A TRUE NOBLEMAN 209 

 A TRUE NOBLEMAN 



BY WASHINGTON IRVING 



THERE is an affinity between all natures, animate 

 and inanimate. The oak in the pride and 

 lustihood of its growth, seems to me to take its 

 range with the lion and the eagle, and to as- 

 similate, in the grandeur of its attributes, to 

 heroic and intellectual man. With its lofty 

 pillar rising straight and direct toward heaven, 

 bearing up its leafy honors from the impurities 

 of earth, and supporting them aloft in free air 

 and glorious sunshine, it is an emblem of what 

 a true nobleman should be: a refuge for the 

 weak, a shelter for the oppressed, a defense for 

 the defenseless; warding off from the peltings 

 of the storm, or the scorching rays of arbitrary 

 power. He who is this is an ornament and a 

 blessing to his native land. He who is other- 

 wise abuses his eminent advantages abuses the 

 grandeur and prosperity which he has drawn 

 from the bosom of his country. Should tempests 

 arise, and he be laid prostrate by the storm, 

 who would mourn over his fall? Should he be 

 borne down by the oppressive hand of power, 

 who would murmur at his fate? "WHY CUM- 



BERETH HE THE GROUN ?" 



