INTRODUCTION 



Wise with the lore of centuries, 



What tales if there " be tongues in trees," 



Those giant oaks could tell, 



Of beings born and buried here; 



Tales of the peasant and the peer, 



Tales of the bridal and the bier, 



The welcome and farewell, 



Since on their boughs the startled bird 



First, in her twilight slumbers, heard 



The Norman's curfew bell! l 



"They are haunted with the recollections 

 of great spirits who have sought for relax- 

 ation here from the tumult of arms, or the 

 toils of state, or who have wooed the muse 

 beneath their shade." 2 



No small portion of the history of our own 

 country could be told by its trees if they 

 could speak. The silent Indian made his 

 attack from the cover of the forest, and, if 

 successful, often bound his victim to a tree 

 for torture. When Braddock marched his 

 command through the wilderness in solid 

 formation, he would have lost every man 

 but for the timely assistance of Washington 

 who was familiar with the possibilities of 

 trees as defenses, and who fought the Indians 

 in their own method. Trees proved most 



1 Fitz-Greene Halleek, "AInwick Castle." 



2 Irving, " Bracebridge Hall," " Forest Trees." 



