Longevity of Trees. 95 



" Seeds, to our eyes invisible, will find 



On the rude rock the bed which fits their kind ; 



There in the rugged soil they safely dwell, 



Till showers and snows the subtle atoms swell, 



And spread the enduring foliage ; then we trace 



The freckled flower upon the flinty base ; 



These all increase, till in unnoted years 



The stony tower as gray with age appears, 



With coats of vegetation thinly spread, 



Coat above coat, the living on the dead. 



These then dissolve to dust, and make a way 



For bolder foliage, nursed by their decay. 



The long enduring ferns in time will all 



Die and depose their dust upon the wall ; 



Where the winged seed may rest, till many a flower 



Shows Flora's triumph o'er the ruined tower." 



LONGEVITY OF TREES. 



At Ellerslie,in Scotland, the birthplace of William Wallace, 

 exists an oak which is celebrated as having been a remarka- 

 ble object in his time, and which can therefore be scarcely less 

 than 700 years old. Near Staines, in England, there is a yew 

 tree known to be older than Magna Charta, which was granted 

 by King John in 1215; and the Yews at Fountain's Abbey, in 

 Yorkshire, are probably more than 1200 years old. In the 

 Garden of Olives at Jerusalem are eight Olive trees, known to 

 have existed at least 800 years. Every American has heard 

 of the celebrated Charter Oak, at Hartford, in Connecticut, 

 and knows the story which gave it its name. This tree must 

 have been of considerable age in 1687, the year when the 

 charter was hidden in it ; for the case, containing the parch- 

 ment on which the charter is written, is at least three feet in 

 length by -six inches in diameter, and the hollow part of the 

 oak must have been of still larger dimensions. This remarka- 

 ble oak is still flourishing, a hale old tree. 



Incidents in the Life of Thomas Paine. 



