Sir Thomas said that more than half a century ago the
rooks used to inhabit another grove of lofty trees, close in front of the
house; but being noisy, and not altogether cleanly in their habits, the
ladies of the family grew weary of them and wished to remove them.
Accordingly, the colony was driven away, and made their present
settlement in a grove behind the house. Ever since that time not a rook
has built in the ancient grove; every year, however, one or another pair
of young rooks attempt to build among the deserted tree-tops, but the old
rooks tear the new nest to pieces as often as it is put together. Thus,
either the memory of aged individual rooks or an authenticated tradition
in their society has preserved the idea that the old grove is forbidden
and inauspicious to them.
A soil of General Arnold, named William Fitch Arnold, and born in 1794,
now possesses the estate of Little Messenden Abbey, Bucks County, and is
a magistrate for that county. He was formerly Captain of the 19th
Lancers. He has now two sons and four daughters. The other three sons
of General Arnold, all older than this one, and all military men, do not
appear to have left children; but a daughter married to Colonel Phipps,
of the Mulgrave family, has a son and two daughters. I question whether
any of our true-hearted Revolutionary heroes have left a more prosperous
progeny than this arch-traitor. I should like to know their feelings
with respect to their ancestor.
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