The Washington times., 1904-12-25
Traveller Stuck Staff in
Glastonbury Mcurtijn.
IT ROOTED AND GREW THERE
Descendant of Famous Tree Now
Thriving at Mount st. Alban,
Near Washington.

ural world that attest and bear witness
to the Divinity of Him who over nine
teen hundred years ego was born in the
manger OF Bethlehem in the humility of
a Little Child.
Ii these are natural phenomena alone
they are happily significant and exceed
ingly well timed, and whether one ac-
cepts the Eegend of the Glastonbury
Thorn as pretty tradition fitting with
exquisite nicely into the Christmas
mosaic or merely as a striking coinci-
dence of time and incident the story is
Well worth the telling.
Particularly 70 WaShingtonians for,
although unknown TO the majority of
the Capital City's fiuctuating tide of
humanity, offshoots from the famous
Glastonbury Thorn are in a hardy state
in Washington.
On Mount st. Alban Slope.
The National Cathedral of SIS. Peter
and Paul, on the heights Of Mount st.
Alban. shelters the strangers from Eng
lands eventful religious past. Here the
several slips are being carefully nur-
tured. Those familiar with the Ca
thedral Close will readily recognize the
location of the Thorn, for it stands a
small tree, perhaps three feet high, just
back Of ..All Haliows Gate and the
Little Sanctuary and hard by the olive
trees from the hills of Palestine.
The history Of the Glastonbury thorn
is almost as ancient as British Chris
tianity Itself. It has been preserved in
story and song for nearly 1906 years.
Minstrels of the post Druid period turned
aside from the recital of the glories of
their barbaric, eernest. but vain re-
ligion that Christianity had mown down
with its sickle of truth, and sang OF
the strange thorn that blossomed when
the other thorns of 'Merrie England
were bare with the frost of winter.
One cf the Traditions.
OF the many traditions of the planting
of the. thorn the one that connects
with Joseph of Arimathea is the best au-
thenticated, attested by scholars and
the chronicles of the early British
church
1t was in the year So A D. that Joseph
Of Arimathea. that Hebrew scholar and
gentleman who gave up his own garden
tomb so the CruCified Body of Christ
might rest there in the sleep of death,
came with twelve companions, apostles
and missionaries of the new faith, into
Britain. In their fraii- boat in which
they had taken to the open sea TO es
cape the wrath of Rome, they had been
driven by storm and the winds of chance
into the ports of Britain
Fired by zeal for the conversion of the
Druid people of the land across the
narrow strip of land between seas of
the mighty little island kingdom they
wended their way TO the west OF Eng
land, to the ancient Isle of Avalon. the
birthplace the court of last resort, the
garden of that flower of English ch1v-
airy that died with the passing OF Ar
thur and his table round of gallant
knights
Approaching Glastonbury.
When Joseph and his companions, foot
sore, hungry, just as the night began 10
usurp the glow Of day. came TO a hill.
half mile southwest of Glastonbury.
and ascending, saw the fair valley be-
low, fairyland Of green verdure and
The silver ribbon of Brent River glisten-
ing madiy with the last sunbeams of the
day, their wander1nss Were over.
for Joseph, as they rested and viewed
the marvellous panorama suddenly stuck
the staff that had been his faithful
companion IN the long Journey from the
holy land lar into the ground as Il
token that there he should remain ard
start his mission
According To the tradition the staff
vas cutting from the very thorn that
some twenty years before had furnish
mocAeryi Tor the Man OF Sorrows a. be
hung az His cross.
Staff Rooted and Crew.
The staff that Joseph 50 impulsively
planted took root and hourished, bios
soming, strange to say, at Christmas,
differing in this from the ordinary Eng
lisil hawthorn. AT the same time the
thorn bears the thorn berries, the ripe
fruit of its kind
An old writer has quantity said of this
double blossoming and bearing that the
White Thorn OF Glastonbury doth bios
sem in the deep Of winter TO testify 10
men of Christianity that religion that
hourishes in persecution and is
strengthened by the seed of martyrs
l1oudon, the celebrated author OF the
monumental work ArpGretufn CT Fru-
Iceturn, has devoted a paragraph TO the
Gsastonbury tnorn III when he says
that he himself saw in December, 1888.
thorn branch from Glastonbury with
and many ot the hawes and berries still
on H. he was ar a loss to explain il
ahd caned Il natural paradox that
set teaches 4 deep truIn.'
Weary Ali Hill"
The hill where St. Joseph rested
and planted rhe thorn is called Weary
FL hliI 10 this day and the thorn pre-
served by gratis ard buds In the Dolit-
ical commotions during the reign of
Bonny Prince Charley the First the
tree was considered relic OF papistry
BY the stern Roundhead and a zeaInt
soldier nearly cut il down but was
killed by splinter flying from II and
SO the sacrile2e was averted.
In I1ao only the stump was remaini,s
but numerous CRAFTS were in existence
In the gardens and glebe farms OF Gas
tonbury, and in 1743 the London Even
ing Post reports that "a vast concorrsa
viewed slip of the Thorn to witness
its blowing, as the blossoning WAS
then termed
Stanley Austin. the present owner of
Glastonbury. Abbey. presented Bishop
Satterlee with slip from the ceie-
brated rhorn. His action was partly
taken because the National Cathedral
OF Washington is named for old GIas-
tonbury Abbey OF SS Peter and Paul
the cradle of British Christian nifty fl
was planted III the Cathedral Close. and
has thriveD, but not as yet bIossomed
but IL is hoped IL viii soon. and that 1t
will be true OF this wonderful little plant
In Washington what an old poet sang
of it in England