"It was an article in the Druids' creed, and one to which they strictly adhered, that no temple with a covered roof was to be built in honor of the gods. All the places appointed for public worship were in the open air, and generally on some eminence from which the moon and stars might be observed; for to the heavenly bodies much adoration was offered. But to afford shelter from wind or rain, and also to ensure privacy and shut out all external objects, the place fixed upon, either for teaching their disciples or for carrying out the rites of their idolatrous worship, was in the recess of some grove or wood. An oak-grove was supposed to be the favorite of the gods whom they ignorantly worshiped, and therefore the Druids declared the oak to be a sacred tree. The Druid priest always bound a wreath of oak-leaves on his forehead before he would perform any religious ceremony. One of these ceremonies was to go in search of the mistletoe, which sometimes grows on the oak and was considered as sacred as the tree itself, being much used in their worship. One priest would climb to the branch on which the misletoe was growing and cut it with a golden knife, while another priest stood below and held out his white robe to receive it. "These sacred groves were all cut down by the Romans, who waged fierce war against the Druids, and nothing is left of them now but the circles of stones that formed their temples. At a place called Stonehenge, 'cromlechs,' or altar-tables, are still standing, and very ancient oaks stood in a circle round these stones for many centuries after the Druids were swept away." "Miss Harson," said Clara when all had expressed their horror of the Druids and rejoiced that they _were_ swept away, "are there any oak trees in the Bible?" "Look and see," was the reply; "and first you may find Genesis xxxv. 4." Clara read: "'And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hands, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the _oak_ which was by Shechem.'" "In the eighth verse of the same chapter," said Miss Harson, "we read that Rebekah's nurse was buried under an oak at Bethel. We are told in the book of Joshua[2] that 'Joshua took a great stone and set it up there under an _oak_, that was by the sanctuary of the Lord;' and in Judges[3], 'There came an angel of the Lord and sat under an _oak_ which was in Ophrah.'--Malcolm, you may read Second Samuel, eighteenth chapter, ninth verse." [2] Josh. xxiv. 26. [3] Judg. vi. II. Malcolm read: "'And Absalom met the servants of David. And Absalom rode upon a mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great _oak_, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth; and the mule that was under him went away.'" "Poor Absalom!" said Edith, softly. "Wasn't that dreadful?"