92 TREES . 



sider that where it is most plainly shown, we have a 

 nearer step towards perfection of structure ; and on 

 this ground regard the oak and its congeners as far 

 more noble in the scale of vegetable life even than 

 apple-trees or vines. Acorns would never be devel- 

 oped from the rudiments in question, were the tasselled 

 fringes not to cooperate, and contrariwise the tasselled 

 fringes would yield no acorns. Summer aids the de- 

 velopment ; then comes serene October, and the pretty 

 embossed cups, round as a bubble upon the water, 

 holding them up awhile, as a young mother holds up 

 her child, cast them to the earth in kindly largess. 

 But although the acorns may sprout where they fall, 

 none grow to be even saplings beneath the shade of 

 the parent. Only those that get carried to a little 

 distance become oaks. And this has been observed 

 to be largely through the instrumentality of squirrels. 

 So beautifally are the necessities of the various realms 

 of nature harmonized one to the other. The little 

 quadruped fulfils an instinct proper and needful to its 

 own existence, and in so doing, contributes to the 

 perpetuation of the tree. 



Eepresentatively, — that is, as viewed by the light 

 of poetry, which means, in turn, by the keenest in- , 

 sight of the mind, that penetrating below the surface, 

 and beholding the centres of things, brings out their 

 highest value, that is to say, their Significance, — rep- 

 resentatively, the oak is strength, endurance, and dig- 



