FLORA'S LEXICON. 



223 



HITE OAK. Quercus Alba. Class 21, 

 MoNfficiA. Order: POLYANDRIA. The White 

 Oak is found in most parts of the United 

 States, but in general too thinly scattered 

 to supply even the local demand. It abounds 

 most in the middle States, and particularly 

 in west Pennsylvania and Virginia. Of all 

 the American oaks, it affords the best timber for general purposes, 

 and that most frequently used, being strong, durable, and of large 

 size ; inferior, indeed, to the English oak in strength and dura- 

 bility, though more elastic. 



INDEPENDENCE. 



I care not, Fortune, what you me deny : 



You cannot rob me of free Nature's grace : 



You cannot shut the windows of the sky 



Through which Aurora shows her brightening face; 



You cannot bar my constant feet to trace 



The woods and lawns, by living stream, at eve : 



Let health my nerves and finer fibres brace, 



And I their toys to the great children leave: 



Of fancy, reason, virtue, nought can me bereave. 



THOMSON. 



Thy spirit, Independence, let me share, 



Lord of the lion-heart and eagle-eye, 

 Thy steps I follow with my bosom bare, 



Nor heed the storm that howls along the sky. 



Deep in the frozen regions of the north, 

 A goddess violated brought thee forth, 

 Immortal Liberty! whose look sublime 

 Hath bleach'd the tyrant's cheek' in every varying clime. 



SMOLLETT. 



For me, my lot is what I sought ; to be, 

 In life or death, the fearless and the free. 



BYRON. 



