The poets, who are naturally lovers of trees, as they are of every thing that is beautiful, have artfully awakened great interest in their favour, by representing them as the habitations of sylvan deities; insomuch that every great tree had its tutelar genius, or a nymph, whose existence was limited to its duration.
"Bracebridge Hall, or The Humorists"
Washington Irving
We use the word "genius" indifferently in speaking of the tutelar demon of a town of antiquity, or an artist, or a musician.
"A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 5 (of 10) From "The Works of Voltaire - A Contemporary Version""
François-Marie Arouet (AKA Voltaire) Commentator: John Morley Tobias Smollett H.G. Leigh
1837, November 30. This being the anniversary of the tutelar Saint of Scotland, we had in addition to our usual dinner a roasted swan and a moose-nose, a rice pudding, a cranberry tart, and a glass of wine.
"The New North"
Agnes Deans Cameron