LEAF AND BRANCILI 
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 
The so- 
called senti- 
ment of 
trees, 
Life of the 
oak. 
