5

4 
 
 13 
 
 to ashes, and nothing left but. a cow, 
 two sheep,and a few farming implements, 
 which had escaped the hands of the 
 plunderers : but what affected him most, 
 was the loss of his two children, who 
 were carried he knew not whither. His 
 wife did not live to see this sad disaster, 
 she having died two years before. 
 
 These misfortunes determined him 
 to take leave of the busy world, and 
 
 Here his voice failed him, he gave 
 a dreadful sigh, and expired. Judge 
 what must be the stale of my mind at 
 that moment ? I flew from the monster, 
 and hastened to Carlisle, where a com- 
 pany of cavalry were in quarters. The 
 commanding officer ordered his men 
 immediately to mount, and penetrate 
 every part of the forest ; but they re- 
 turned unsuccessful, and I gave myself 
 uptodespair. I formed hunting patties, 
 with no other view than that I might 
 perhaps one day discover the melan- 
 choly sight of their remains; but how 
 
 16 
 
 pleased to preserve, to close my eyes 
 in death ! " 
 
 He continued some days in almost a 
 senseless state ; but, by the care and 
 attention of his daughters, he soon re- 
 covered, and consented to spend the 
 remainder of his days with them. His 
 daughters informed hint that some of 
 their friends had followed the plunder- 
 ers, rescued them, and part of their 
 property, and that the neighbouring 
 gentlemen rebuilt their house and 
 stocked their land, towards which Mr. 
 Simpson had most liberally contributed. 
 
 The two children Honestas so pro- 
 videntially saved from famine in the 
 wood, and restored to their father, 
 were afterwards married to two of his 
 grand children, and are proverbial (or 
 goodness and generosity throughout 
 the surrounding country. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 THE CHILDREN 
 II THE WOOD 
 
 RESTORED, 
 By Honestas, the Hermit of the Forest ; 
 
 OR 
 
 PERFIDY DETECTED. 
 
 000 
 
 They were supposed to have been either 
 murdered or starved to death, by order of 
 their inhuman Uncle; — being 
 
 The Sequel to the History of the 
 Children in the Wood. 
 
 ooo • 
 
 BANBURY : 
 PRINTED BY J. G. RUSHER. 
 


8 
 
 You must be hungry, said he; he 
 then set them down, and made a fire, 
 wanned them some milk, and put inlo 
 it some brown bread ; and while they 
 were refreshing themselves, he made 
 them the best bed he was able. It con- 
 sisted, at bottom, of straw ; a few leaves 
 of trees over that, and the covet lid was 
 composed of hare-skins sewed together. 
 
 As soon as they had finished their 
 repast, Honestas laid them down on 
 the bed he had made, and they soon 
 
 9 
 
 fell into a sound sleep, which appeared 
 to him a proof of their having been 
 much fatigued. When they awoke, he 
 endeavoured to learn who, or what 
 accident, had brought them to his hut; 
 but they could give him no other ac- 
 count, than that their uncle had sent 
 men with them into the wood, who gave 
 them a piece of gingerbread, and then 
 left them, one of them saying he would 
 come again to them presently; that 
 
 12 
 
 dear babes. All my inquiries after them 
 proved ineffectual. I was informed, that 
 my brother lay at the point of death, 
 and wished to speak with me. I went 
 to him with all speed, when he made 
 the following confession :" — 
 
 " You here see an unworthy bro- 
 ther, whom heaven will soon justly 
 punish with untimely death. But, 
 ah ! What will be my punishment here- 
 after ? Forgetful of the ties of blood, 
 I resolved on enjoying your estate at 
 your death, which I could not while 
 your children were living. I sent them 
 into the forest of Englewood, by two 
 ruffians, where they now undoubtedly 
 lie dead. On quitting them, at the en- 
 trance of the forest, my horse stumbled, 
 threw me, and gave me a mortal bruise. 
 I cannot hope for your forgiveness; 
 and what can I plead, with repentance, 
 when I shall meet your children in a 
 (ew moments before our Maker ! " 
 
 6 
 
 spend the remainder of his days in a 
 cell. He therefore drove his only re- 
 maining cow and two sheep into the 
 thickest part of the forest of Englewood, 
 taking with him his farming implemen ts. 
 
 Having selected a spot, he cut down 
 some trees, to make an opening for the 
 admission of the air, and to afford pas- 
 turage for his cattle. 
 


Restoration of the 
 CHILDREN IN THE WOOD. 
 
 IN the romantic forest of Englewood, 
 which formerly composed a great 
 part of the county of Cumberland, lived 
 a celebrated Hermit, whose name was 
 Honestas. He was once a very con- 
 
 15 
 
 with sheep and oxen. He entered the 
 farm-yard, and had there stood some- 
 time, when two young women rushed 
 out of the house, each seizing on one 
 o f his arms. And one of them cried out, 
 " Yes, yes, it is our dear father ! " He 
 looked at them with bewildered eyes, 
 and fainted in their arms. It was along 
 time before he could utter a word. At 
 last.he stammered out,—" Yes, they are 
 my children, whom heaven has been 
 
 14 
 
 3 
 
 great is the bounty of heaven to me 
 this day, in restoring them alive to my 
 arms! My wife died when we were 
 both dangerously ill, but 1 lived un- 
 known to my brother, who took the 
 children to his home, in a distant country. 
 
 Honestas begged earnestly that they 
 would leave him there, to bemoan the 
 loss of his daughters; all his entreaties 
 were to no purpose, they carried him 
 to Mr. Simpson's, but he refused almost 
 every kind of sustenance; and his friend, 
 fearing he would starve himself to 
 death, permitted him to take his leave, 
 and set out for his hut. On his return, 
 he determined to pay a visit to his 
 former habitation, shed a tear over its 
 ruins, and the loss of his dear children : 
 but the ruins were no where to be 
 found; the ground was covered with a 
 neat building, the lands were in the 
 highest state of cultivation, and crowded 
 
 siderable farmer; the Scots, who fre- 
 quently plundered the northern parts 
 of England, very much reduced him. 
 The last excursion they made on his 
 estate, they carried off his children, 
 drove away his cattle, and set fire to his 
 barns and houses, he himself escaping 
 with great difficulty. 
 
 Coming out of his place of conceal- 
 ment the next day, he had the melan- 
 choly prospect of his premises reduced 
 


6 
 
 He then built a hut, and was 
 fortunate enough to meet with a spring, 
 with plenty of sweet water. He passed 
 ten years in this retreat, without seeing 
 a human creature. 
 
 Onesummer morning about the tenth 
 year of his retreat, he was surprised 
 with hearing a voice ; he started tip, 
 and went to the door of his hut, where 
 he saw two sweet infants, lying on the 
 ground, crying. One appeared about 
 
 1 I 
 
 could reach that place ; and they, on 
 their side, w r ere no less surprised. Both 
 parties looked at each other for some 
 minutes, without asking a question ; but 
 in the midst of this silence, on a sudden, 
 the two children cried out together, 
 " My dear papa ! mvpapa ! my papa ! " 
 In a moment one of the gentlemen 
 leaped from his horse, and catching the 
 two children in his arms, bedewed their 
 cheeks with his tears, but was incapable 
 of uttering a word. 
 
 " It is now a year and four days 
 (said Mr. Simpson) since I missed my 
 
 10 
 
 they sat down by the side of a brook, 
 and ale what they had, and drank of 
 the stream ; that they wandered all 
 night in the wood, and in the morning, 
 arrived at this hut, and laid themselves 
 down at his door, where he found them. 
 
 Honestas frecptently related stories 
 to amuse them ; and as he was one 
 morning instructing them, he was sur- 
 prised with the sound of a horn, the cry 
 of dogs, and the shouts of huntsmen. 
 In short, it was a company of sports- 
 men, whom a fox had led through the 
 forest ; and as Honestas and the two 
 children were standing at the door of 
 the cottage, a fox, almost spent, rushed 
 between them, and took shelter in the 
 hut. The dogs, following the scent, 
 made up directly to the cottage, which 
 was now shut against them. Honestas 
 was at a loss to conceive how horsemen 
 
 7 
 
 three, and the other four years of age. 
 Honestas was struck with surprise, and 
 the children on seeing him ceased to 
 cry, and stood up. He took the child- 
 ren in his arms, kissed them, and said 
 they brought to his mind the fate of 
 his own children, and a flood of tears 
 interrupted his saying any more. The 
 two infants then threw their arms around 
 the neck of Honestas, put their cheeks 
 to his, and played with his beard.