NOVEMBER 



F all the forms of vegetable life none 

 is so fit to be a type of manhood as 

 the tree. What nobler object in 

 nature than a grand old elm or 

 oak ? What a sense of companionship it gives, 

 — almost the air of dignified personality, that 

 commands more than aesthetic admiration, it 

 challenges respect. What a combination of 

 distinct and harmonious qualities in the giant 

 and immovable trunk, the graceful, sweeping 

 branches, and the tender, luxuriant, and re- 

 freshing foliage. The stately elm, reigning 

 alone upon the grassy plain, or standing by the 

 dusty highway — how like a venerable patriarch 

 it seems to spread its arms in an umbrageous 

 benediction, inviting one to pause and rest in 

 its cooling shadows, and luring the timid birds 

 to nest and sing in its branches — the best sym- 

 bol of character that the poet could find in nat- 

 ure when he said, — " He shall be like a tree 

 planted by the rivers of water." What an em- 



289 



