LEAF AND BRANCH 



259 



sometimes assign to them attributes peculiar to 

 humanity. A century-old oak has about it 

 something more than sturdiness and bulk, it 

 seems to have dignity, nobility, and forti- 

 tude. How proudly it stands against the ele- 

 ments, and how nobly it was designed to stand ! 

 Its roots are driven deep into the rock ledges ; 

 its massive trunk and branches are constructed 

 to endure all weather. It has sensation, and it 

 seems almost human as it stands there year 

 after year, changing its garmenting with the 

 seasons, sighing as the wind passes through 

 its branches. And how serenely it lives and 

 dies ! The growths of nature are in no way 

 hurried. Time is a human check-system of 

 which the bud, the leaf, and the branch know 

 nothing. They grow to maturity, and pass 

 on into old age and decay with patience. The 

 oak has its portion of earth-glory, something 

 of beauty in light and color, something of 

 usefulness as shadow and screen. These it 

 receives, reflects, reveals ; and having fulfilled 

 its destined end, it sinks back to the earth 

 whence it sprung, never questioning the reason 

 of life or the wisdom of death. Such personi- 

 fication is no doubt mere pathos and fallacy ; 

 and yet, for all that, there seems to be a nobility 



