OAK-TREE. 73 



necessity of union among all classes; and that, further, 

 union constituted strength. Three divisions of society were 

 likewise typified, namely, the productive, the defensive, 

 and those who rule in church or state ; while the cross, 

 which all Christians are called manfully to fight under, and 

 to bear without respect to birth, or fortune, or talent, was 

 a suitable emblem of an order that embraced every class 

 of the community. 



I have said, that ancient poets, equally with those of 

 modern times, sang concerning me. The former even at- 

 tributed to oak-trees, not only a vegetative power, which 

 imparts eternal duration, but they conjectured, that, in 

 common with all forest trees, they were indwelt by dryads 

 and hamadryads. Some such, they sang, loved to haunt 

 the green- wood shades, and to wander by clear streams, or, 

 looking tranquilly from their fostering trees, passed a 

 dreamy existence in listening to the soothing sound of 

 winds among the leaves. Others, on the contrary, and 

 such especially as inhabited our stately trunks, imparted to 



