186 



THE HAWTHORN. 



were changed, who could tell how the credit of 

 this miraculous plant might be affected ? In short, 

 with the fortitude of a Jewish seer, he ventured to 

 expostulate with the King upon the subject ; and 

 informed his Majesty, in a letter, of the disgrace 

 that might possibly ensue if he persisted in his 

 design of altering the natural course of the year. 

 But though his conscience urged him upon this 

 bold action, he could not but own that the flesh 

 trembled. He had not the least doubt, he said, 

 but the King would immediately send dov.ii and 

 have him hanged. He pointed to the spot where 

 the last Abbot of Glastonbury was executed for 

 not surrendering his Abbey ; and he gave us to 

 understand there were men now alive who could 

 suffer death, in a good cause, with equal fortitude. 

 His zeal, however, was not put to this severe trial. 

 The King was more merciful than he expected, 

 for though his Majesty did not follow his advice, 

 it never appeared that he took the least offence at 

 the freedom of his letter." 



Both Gilpin and his simple-minded informant 

 were in error in supposing the tree then standing 

 to have been the identical one with which the le- 

 gend is connected. The original Holy Thorn," 

 which stood on Weary -all-hill (the spot where 

 Joseph and his companions are said to have sat 

 do^ra aU-iueary with their journey), originally had 

 two distinct trunks, one of which was destroyed 

 by a Puritan in Queen Elizabeth's reign, and the 

 other, together with many yet more interesting 

 relics of antiquity, shared the same fate during the 

 Great Rebellion. If we may credit James Howell, . 

 the author of Dodona's Grove (printed in 1644), 

 the mistaken fanatic who completed the work of 



