18 THE OAK. 



an oak was chosen because of its symbolic meaning 

 for all ages. The poetical character of the oak is 

 acknowledged again in the time-honoured allusion 

 to the defenders of our country as " hearts-of-oak." 

 No one disputes the fact that our sailors are made 

 of this capital material ; yet how absurd the state- 

 ment if taken in any other light than that of poetry ! 

 This shows that although much which holds the form 

 and outward shape of poetry may be unmeaning and 

 foolish, the inmost and true spirit finds a response 

 in universal human nature, and that its genuine 

 language will ever bear interpreting. 



The oak is not only a tree, it is a garden and a 

 country; for living things innumerable find their 

 homes and security, either among the branches or 

 upon some portion of the surface. Birds, insects, 

 epiphytic plants, are identified with the natural 

 history of the oak to the number probably of several 

 hundreds ; so that to study the inmates of an oak- 

 tree, is like exploring the streets and squares of a 

 populous town, and taking a census of the occupa- 

 tions of the inhabitants. There is no special or 

 particular bird found only or chiefly amid the foliage, 

 nor indeed are birds ordinarily found in definite 

 kinds of trees; only now and then, as in the case 

 of the crossbill and the fir, do we find any direct 

 consociation. For trees are to birds what the ocean 

 is to the nations of earth, free to the visits of all in 

 turn, and witnessing every day new arrivals and 



