DECEMBER 287 



that much that was direct and honest and 

 broad in the words and deeds of their day, and 

 the day of the young republic, was learned in 

 the stately box walks that led up to the statelier 

 homes which the men of the eighteenth century 

 loved. The aristocratic principle noblesse oblige 

 is the insistent note in those houses and 

 gardens, and for that reason they were the 

 most perfect exemplification of the democratic 

 ideal. 



A man never plants a red-oak for himself. 

 It is his hostage to a fortunate posterity, 

 and a good deed done without thought of 

 personal benefit. He does not set out his 

 box, or laurel, or holly without thought of 

 others. Every one he plants is a silent affirma- 

 tion in his belief in many things faith in the 

 unseen Power which has directed all things 

 from the beginning, and which will not fail 

 in oversight of the tree ; faith in the sun and 

 rain, and all of the marvellous forces without 

 which no smallest seed could germinate ; faith 

 that those who come after him will have his 

 own need of shade and fuel and refreshment 

 and beauty, and faith in the dignity and 

 stability of his country. In a wide and deep 



