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trees. Heaven, in its mercy, prevented them from 

 searching the old tree, whose intermingling branches 

 formed a close and impervious shelter. Yet they passed, 

 and repassed, beneath the shade, and their words were 

 hard to bear. They vowed to have no pity on him, nor 

 on his children, nor on anything that he possessed ; and 

 they said, " that if they could discover him in his retreat, 

 they would hew him small as herbs for a porridge-pot." 

 Being foiled in their search, they wreacked their ven- 

 geance on his mansion, and during his dolorous sojourn 

 of three days and nights in the tree, he saw the burning 

 of his once happy home, and heard at intervals the 

 voices of his pursuers, as they sought for him again, 

 among the glens, and through the secret passes of the 

 wood. We know not how, nor when the family were 

 reunited ; nor can I speak concerning the joys and 

 thankfulness with which they met, for the mists of time 

 rest on this also. 



The yew-tree is still standing; around it are the re- 

 mains of the old forest, and beside it the wild common, 

 with its thyme and flowers among the grass. All else 

 has changed since the days when the noble ancestor of 

 him who fled for refuge to the ample branches of the 

 yew, first landed on the English coast. Neither is the 

 surrounding country such as it was, in the days of 

 Richard. The castles of Beverstone, of Brimsfield, and 

 Dursley, whose turrets were seen in ancient times from 

 the summits of the hill, are fallen to decay, and instead 



