164 POETICAL LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
through a long line of ancestors, with all it contained, 
had been burnt to the ground by the Royalisls, during 
the commencement of the wars which so long deso¬ 
lated England. Even the very woods that sheltered it. 
had been cut down for fuel by the Cavaliers when 
they encamped in the neighborhood: — all that re¬ 
mained of his ancient estate was the broad lands, 
blackened over by the traces of the consuming fire. 
He was one of those who wished to overturn the old 
monarchy through the purest of motives—who from 
his soul believed King Charles to be a tyrant, an op¬ 
pressor, and an enemy of his people—and who, like 
the noble-hearted patriot Hampden, made up his mind 
to sacrifice both estate and life, when he rushed into 
the struggle, to do battle for the good of his fellow- 
men. 
More than one of the confiscated estates which be¬ 
longed to the Royalists had before been offered to him, 
as a compensation for the losses he had sustained 
through the wars, but these he had steadily refused, 
from honorable motives, when he asceitained that the 
heirs were still alive, although in exile , noi could he 
be induced to take possession of the ancient manor- 
house of the Nevilles, until the most solemn assurance 
