The _Wheat_ and the _Grapes_ would not only be {79} the emblems of abundance and rejoicing, but would be enriched with suggestions of the Holy Eucharist. The _Olive-branch_, borne by the dove, recalling the story of the flood, would stand for the thought of security and peace. [Illustration: Olive-branch] The _Almond_, with name derived from a word meaning haste, in allusion to its hasty growth and early maturity, was the symbol of hopefulness even in the days of Jeremiah. "The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond-tree. Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten My word to perform it." The _Palm_ is the emblem of victory. This symbolism attached to it not only from the familiar associations of its pagan use as such, but from a very early period, as seen on ancient mosaics, a reference to the palm was recognized in St. John's description of the Tree of Life, "which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month." "Thus the palm-branch of Christian martyrs was not only the emblem of victory adopted from the well-known heathen use of it, but typified still more {80} strikingly their connection with the tree of divine life, 'whose leaves were for the healing of the nations.'" The palm, however, was not the only instance of such adoption into Christian symbolism from pagan use. The influence of Christianity was felt in many like cases. Trees and plants held sacred to heathen gods became associated with holier names and ideas. Thus the _Laurel_, "the meed of mighty conquerors and poets sage," became for the humble Christian who had "fought a good fight, and finished his course," the emblem of triumph and glory. The _Pomegranate_, with mystic association from remote antiquity with the idea of life, became the symbol of a hopeful future, the emblem of immortality. The _Oak_ is the representative of supernatural strength and power. In pagan antiquity it was especially dedicated in the West to Thor, the thunder-god. The familiar story of St. Boniface, the apostle of Germany, relates how he found in the country of the Hessians an enormous tree, called the Oak of Thor, greatly revered by the people and held inviolably sacred. St. Boniface cut it down in token of the triumph of Christ. When it fell with a mighty crash, and Thor gave no sign, the {81} heathen folk, who stood about in awe, accepted the token and were converted. The stroke of St. Boniface's ax overthrew Thor, but could not altogether destroy the associations of the ancient belief. The reverence for the oak long survived; and the veneration for it, Christianized in meaning, led to its reproduction, with symbolic reference to the power of the God of gods, in many beautiful forms of leaf and spray and clustered acorn, in church decoration.