His attitude now--very
largely owing to my sermon--is that of the dove which came to the ark
with an olive leaf plucked off in its mouth."
Simpkins was not apparently prepared to accept the olive leaf. He
asked Meldon whether that dove was the text of his sermon.
"No, it wasn't. I might have alluded to it, but I didn't. I might
have explained, if I'd thought of it at the time--in fact, I will
explain to you now. The dove is of all birds the most peaceful and the
least inclined to quarrel with other birds. You'd know that by the
soothing way it coos, and also by the colour of its breast. Tennyson,
the poet, notes the fact that the peculiar bluey shade of its feathers
arouses feelings of affection in people who weren't thinking of
anything of the sort before they saw it. I'm not prepared to assert
that positively myself, but I shouldn't wonder if there was something
in the idea. Then the olive branch is the regular, recognised symbol
of peace. The reason of that is that oil is got out of olives, and oil
is one of the most soothing things there is. Of course, you get oil
from other sources too--from whales, for instance; but the olive branch
is chosen as a symbol because it's such a much more convenient thing to
carry about than a whale is.
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