XX A SHORT BIOGRAPHY OF 



beloved retreat. The swallows, his favourite object of notice 

 among the * winged people,' were at the moment careering 

 in circles round the house, and twittering among its eaves. 

 In looking over the garden-fence, I thought of its quondam 

 tenant, and his old familiar friends, his tortoise, whose habits 

 he has so quaintly described ; and at last the form of the 

 venerable naturalist himself almost rose up in fancy before 

 me. In the churchyard is an ancient yew, which I do not 

 remember that "White has noticed, and measuring full sixteen 

 feet in girth." 



And here we may set this tasteful traveller right. 

 Although no mention is made of this tree in the Natural 

 History, it occurs in the fifth letter of the " Antiquities 

 of Selborne," where White says that in the churchyard 

 of the village is a yew-tree whose aspect bespeaks it to be 

 of a great age. It seems to have seen several centuries, and 

 is probably coeval with the church, and therefore may be 

 deemed an antiquity. The body is short, squat, and thick, 

 and measures twenty-three feet in the girth, supporting a head 

 of suitable extent to its bulk. This is a male tree, which in the 

 spring sheds clouds of dust, and fills the atmosphere around 

 with farina. We may mention, while speaking of the Sel- 

 borne churchyard, that on the fifth grave from the north wall 

 of the chancel, the following inscription may be seen on a 

 head-stone : 



G. W. 



26 JUNE, 



% 



1793. 



There is "a slight heave of the turf," and this marks the 

 humble grave of the naturalist and philosopher. In the church 

 there is the following inscription on a monument : 



