FLORA'S LEXICON. 151 



AK. Quercus. Class 5, PENTANDRIA. Or-! 

 der: POLYANDRIA. The ancients believed i 

 that the oak, created with the earth, offered 

 food and shelter to the first parents of our 

 kind. This tree is said to have shaded the 

 cradle of Jupiter, to whom it was conse- | 

 crated, after his birth, upon Mount Lycseus, ! | 

 j in Arcadia. The oaken crown was less esteemed -by the Greeks 



than the crown of gold ; but the Romans considered it the most 



desirable of all rewards. 



HOSPITALITY 



Proud monarch of the forest ! 



That once, a sapling bough, 

 Didst quail far more at evening's breath 



Than at the tempest now, 

 Strange scenes have pass'd, long ages roll'd 



Since first upon thy stem, 

 Then weak as osier twig, Spring set 



Her leafy diadem. 



To thee but little recks it 



What seasons come or go, 

 Thou lovest to breathe the gale of spring 



And bask in summer's glow, 

 But more to feel the wintry winds 



Sweep by in awful mirth, 

 For well thou know'st each blast will fix 



Thy roots more deep in earth. 



Would that to me life's changes 



Did thus with blessings come ! 

 That mercies might, like gale of spring, 



Cause some new grace to bloom ! 

 And that the storm which scattereth 



Each earth-born hope abroad, 

 Might anchor those of holier birth 



More firmly on my God ! ANON. 



