The groves were God's first temples.

J. C. F. Rupp (1856 -1933)

It is true that

"The groves were God's first temples. Ere man

learned

To hew the shaft, and lay the architrave,

And spread the roof above them-ere he framed

The lofty vault, to gather and roll back

The sound of anthems; in the darkling wood

Amid the cool and silence, he knelt down,•

And offered to the Mightiest solemn thanks and

supplication. "