178 LIFE OF A TREE. 
and claimed as its only occupants the plants 
which sprung up in its once merry hall, and 
the cawing rooks, which took a particular fancy 
to live in its smokeless chimneys. Yet the tree 
lived on, and the wind and rain fought as before 
with a foe to whom they themselves communi- 
cated strength and resistance. Now where is 
the castle-tower — where the massive wall, the 
lady-chamber, and the banquet-hall? The green 
and smiling earth covers their remains; and 
the great tree looks mournfully and in vain 
for the mere remnant of a building, that in its 
youth seemed strong enough to last out all 
time ! 
Let this thought give courage and strength 
to ourselves. Has God so strengthened the trees 
of the field and enabled them to gather force 
out of the very storms which threaten to up- 
root them, and is He less mindful of us, his 
creatures? No! if it be so that we are one 
with Christ, joined to and abiding in Him, 
‘“ who is the True Vine,” we are safe. A thou- 
sand storms may rage around us, they cannot 
tear us from Him: nay more, they themselves 
cause us to cling closer to’ Him; and thus, 
