ak-tree, which stood before the house of the Honorable
Samuel Wyllys, one of the colonial magistrates.

This tree was hollow; the opening slender without, large
within. Deeply into this cavity the fugitive thrust his arm,
pushing the precious packet as far as it would go, and
covering it thickly with fine d['e]bris at the bottom of the
trunk.

[Illustration: THE CHARTER OAK, HARTFORD.]

"So much for Sir Edmund," he said. "Let him now rob
Connecticut of the charter of its liberties, if he can."

Tradition--for it must be acknowledged that this story is
traditional, though probably true in its main
elements--tells us that this daring individual was Captain
Joseph Wadsworth, a bold and energetic militia-leader who
was yet to play another prominent part in the drama of
colonial life.

As for the Charter Oak, it long remained Hartford's most
venerated historical monument. It became in time a huge
tree, twenty-five feet in circumference near the roots. The
cavity in which the charter was hidden grew larger year by
year, until it was wide enough within to contain a child,
though the orifice leading to it gradually closed until it
was hardly large enough to admit a hand. This grand monument
to liberty survived until 1856, when tempest in its boughs
and decay in its trunk brought it in ruin to the earth.

What followed may be briefly told. The charter lost, Sir
Edmund Andros assumed control, declared the privileges
granted by it to be annulled, and issued a proclamation in
which the liberties of the colonies were replaced by the
tyranny of autocratic rule. The colonists were forced to
submit, but their submission was one of discontent and
barely-concealed revolt. Fortunately the tyranny of Sir
Edmund lasted not long. The next year the royal tyrant of
England was driven from his throne, and the chain which he
had laid upon the neck of Britannia and her colonies was
suddenly removed.

The exultation in America knew no bounds. Andros was seized
and thrown into prison in Boston, to preserve him from a
ruder fate from the mob. Early in the next year he was
shipped to England. Captain Wadsworth withdrew the charter
from the hiding-place which had safely kept its secret until
that hour, and placed it in the hands of the delighted
governor. Jurists in England had declared that it was still
in force, and the former government was at once resumed,
amid the most earnest manifestations of joy by the populace.

Yet the libert