By his persuasion
Charles consented to pass the day[b] with him amidst the branches of an old
and lofty oak.[1] This
[Footnote 1: This day Humphrey Penderell, the miller, went to Skefnal to
pay taxes, but in reality to learn news. He was taken before a military
officer, who knew that Charles had been at Whiteladies, and tempted, with
threats and promises, to discover where the king was; but nothing could be
extracted from him, and he was allowed to return.--Boscobel, 55. This, I
suspect, to be the true story; but Charles himself, when he mentions the
proposal made to Humphrey attributes it to a man, at whose house he had
changed his clothes.--Account from the Pepys MS. p. 9.]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1651. Sept. 5.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1651. Sept. 6.]
celebrated tree, which was afterwards destroyed to satisfy the veneration
of the Cavaliers, grew near to the common path in a meadow-field, which lay
in the centre of the wood. It had been partially lopped a few years before,
and the new shoots had thrown round it a thick and luxuriant foliage.
Within this cover the king and his companion passed the day. Invisible
themselves, they occasionally caught a glimpse of the red-coats (so the
soldiers were called) passing among the trees, and sometimes saw them
looking into the meadow.
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