From ‘House Warming’, Walden

But I was interested in the preservation of the venison and the vert
more than the hunters or wood-choppers,
and as much as though I had been the Lord Warden himself;
and if any part was burned, though I burned it myself by accident,
I grieved with a grief that lasted longer
and was more inconsolable than that of the proprietors;
nay, I grieved when it was cut down by the proprietors themselves.
I would that our farmers when they cut down a forest
felt some of that awe which the old Romans did
when they came to thin, or let in the light to,
a consecrated grove, (lucum conlucare,)
that is, would believe that it is sacred to some god.
The Roman made an expiatory offering, and prayed,
Whatever god or goddess thou art to whom this grove is sacred,
be propitious to me, my family, and children, etc.

HDT