fence.1

THE RELIEF OF LONDONDERRY.

6

9

3

159

The

Meantime the tide was rising fast. 2 Mountjoy began to move, and soon passed safe through the broken stakes and floating spars. But her brave master 4 was no more. A shot from one 5 of the batteries had struck him; and he died by the most enviable of all deaths, in sight of the city which was his birthplace, which was his home, and which had just been saved by his courage and self-devotion from the most frightful form 10 of destruction. The night had closed in 11 before the conflict at the boom began;12 but the flash of the guns was seen and the noise heard,13 by the lean and ghastly 14 multitude which covered the walls of the city. When the Mountjoy grounded, and when the shout of triumph rose from the Irish 15 on both sides 16 of the river, the hearts of the besieged died within them.17 One 18 who endured the unutterable anguish of that moment has told us that they looked fearfully livid in each other's eyes.19 Even after the barricade had been passed 20 there was a terrible half-hour of suspense.21 It was ten o'clock before 22 the ships arrived at the quay. The whole population was 23 there to welcome them. A screen 24 made of casks filled with 25 earth

1 Within the fence, en-deçà du barrage-2 was rising, montait3 safe, intact-4 master, commandant-5 one, l'une-6 struck, atteint —7 by, de—8 “the city where he was born, where he had his home” -9 self-devotion, dévouement-10 form, genre-11 had closed in, était survenue-12 before the conflict......began, avant que la lutte fût engagée... -13 was seen, etc., "was perceived, and their noise was heard"-14 lean and ghastly, amaigrie et livide-15 and when the shout of triumph rose from the Irish, et que les Irlandais poussèrent leur cri de triomphe-16 on both sides, des deux côtés-17 the hearts of the besieged died within them, les assiégés se sentirent le cœur faillir-18 one, un de ceux-19 they looked fearfully livid in each other's eyes, ils se trouvaient les uns aux autres un teint affreusement blafard-20 passed, franchie-21 there was a terrible half-hour of suspense, il y eut une demi-heure d'incertitude terrible-22 ten o'clock before, plus de dix heures quand-23 was, imperfect-24 screen, abri-25 with, "of."

13

6

7

8

was hastily thrown up1 to protect the landing-place from 2 the batteries on 3 the other side of the river; and then the work of unloading began. First were rolled 5 on shore barrels containing six thousand bushels of meal. Then came great cheeses, casks of beef, flitches of bacon, ankers of brandy. Not many hours before half a pound of tallow and three quarters of a pound of salted hide had been weighed out with niggardly care to every fighting man.10 The ration which each now received was 11 three pounds of flour, two pounds of beef, and a pint of peas. It is 12 easy to imagine with what tears grace was said over the suppers of that evening.1 There was little sleep 14 on either side 15 of the wall. The bonfires shone bright 16 along the whole circuit of 17 the ramparts. The Irish guns continued to roar 18 all night; and all night the bells of the rescued city made answer 19 to the Irish guns with 20 a peal of joyous defiance. Through the whole 21 of the thirty-first of July the batteries of the enemy continued to play. But soon after the sun had again gone down,22 flames were seen 23 arising 24 from the camp; and when the first of August dawned,25 a line of smoking ruins marked 26 the site lately occupied by the huts 27 of the besiegers; and the citizens 28 saw far off the long column of pikes and 1 Thrown up, élevé-2 to protect......from, pour mettre couvert de 3 on, de- the work of unloading, le déchargement— they rolled"-6 on shore, à terre- not many hours, peu d'heures 8 a, to be left out-9 with niggardly care, avec une précision avare 10 fighting man, combattant-11 "was of" 12 see note a, p. 41— 13 over the suppers of that evening, au souper, ce soir-là-14 there was little sleep, on dormit peu-15 on either side, des deux côtés16 shone bright, brillèrent-17 along the whole circuit of, tout autour de-18 to roar, de gronder-19 made answer, "answered"-20 with, par- 21 through the whole, durant toute la journée-22 had again gone down, fut de nouveau descendu à l'horizon-23 see note ", p. 50 24 see note a, p. 55-25 and when the first of August dawned, et le Ier Août, au point du jour-26 imperf.-27 huts, tentes—28 citizens,

habitants.

à

THE OLD POSTAGE.

161

standards retreating up1 the left bank of the Foyle towards 2 Strabane.

LORD MACAULAY, "History of England."

8

THE OLD POSTAGE.

4

Mr. Rowland Hill, when a young man, was walking through the Lake district, when he one day saw the postman deliver a letter to a woman at a cottage door.5 The woman turned it over and examined it, and then 6 returned it, saying she could not pay the postage, which was a shilling. Hearing that the letter was from her brother, Mr. Hill paid the postage, in spite of the manifest unwillingness of the woman. As soon as the postman was out of sight, she showed Mr. Hill how 10 his money had been wasted,11 as far as she was concerned.12 The sheet was blank. There was an agreement 13 between her brother and herself 14 that as long as all went well with him,15 he should send a blank sheet in this way once a quarter,16 and she thus had tidings of him 17 without expense of postage.

9

Most people would have remembered this incident as a curious story to tell; 18 but Mr. Hill's was a mind which wakened up at once to a sense of the significance

1 Retreating up, en retraite le long de-2 towards, dans la direction de.

3 When a young man, dans sa jeunesse 4 was walking through the Lake district, parcourait à pied le district des Lacs-5" at the door of a cottage"-6 and then, puis-7 "in saying"- 8 a, d'un-9 as soon as the postman was out of sight, aussitôt le facteur disparu— 10 how, comme quoi-11 had been wasted, était perdu-12 as far as she was concerned, en ce qui la concernait- 13 there was an agreement, il était convenu- 14 herself, simply: "her"-15 as long as all went well with him, tant qu'il irait bien (see note, p. 103)—16 once a quarter, une fois tous les trois mois-17 tidings of him, de ses nouvelles-18" to relate.”

M

7

4

5

of the fact. There must be something wrong in a system which drove a brother and sister to cheating, in order to gratify their desire to hear of one another's welfare. It was easy enough in those days for any one whose attention was turned towards the subject, to collect a mass of anecdotes of such cheating. Parents and children, brothers and sisters, lovers and friends, must have tidings of each other, where there is any possibility of obtaining them; 10 and those who had not shillings to spend in postage—who could no more spend shillings in postage than the class above them could spend hundreds 11 of pounds on 12 pictures—would 18 resort to any device 14 of communication, without thinking there was any harm in such cheating,15 because no money was kept back from Government 16 which could have been 17 paid. There was curious dotting in newspapers, by which 18 messages might 19 be spelled out. Newspapers being franked by 20 writing on the covers the names of members of parliament, a set of signals was arranged by which 21 the names selected were made to serve as a bulletin.22 Men of business so wrote letters as

1 But, etc.......of the fact, mais M. Hill était homme à saisir immédiatement toute la portée d'un pareil fait-2 there must be something wrong, il devait y avoir quelque chose de vicieux-—3 to hear of one another's welfare, de se communiquer leurs bonnes nouvelles4 see note ", p. 41-5 in those days, dans ces temps-là-6 the, cemust, veulent à toute force-8 of each other, les uns des autres9 where, là où-10 any, etc....... them, la moindre possibilité d'en obtenir 11 hundreds, des centaines-12 13 on, en- see note a, p. 54-14 any device, n'importe quel moyen-15 there was any harm in such cheating, qu'il y eût le moindre mal à tromper ainsi-16 no money, etc. Government, le gouvernement ne se trouvait frustré d'aucune somme d'argent-17 see note ", p. 27-18 there was, etc.......by which, les journaux étaient curieusement marqués de points, au moyen desquels-19 see note ", p. 2-20 newspapers being franked by, comme on affranchissait les journaux en-21 a set of signals was arranged by which, on arrangeait une série de signes au moyen desquels Iwere made to serve as a bulletin, faisaient l'office de bul

-22

letin.

THE OLD POSTAGE.

163

that several might go on one sheet, which was to be1 cut up and distributed. The smuggling of letters by carriers was enormous.

4

We look back now with a sort of amazed compassion to the old crusading times, when 2 warrior-husbands 3 and their wives, grey-headed parents and their brave sons, parted with the knowledge that it must be 5 months or years before they could hear even of one another's existence. We wonder how they bore the depth of silence. And we feel the same 9 now about 10 the families of the Polar voyagers. But, till a dozen years ago,11 it did not occur to many of us how like this was the fate 12 of the largest 13 classes in our own country. The fact is, there was no full and free epistolary intercourse in the country, except between those who had the command of franks.1 14 There were few families in the wide middle class 15 who did not feel the cost of postage a heavy item in their expenditure; 16 and if the young people sent letters home only once a fortnight,17 the amount at the year's end 1 was a rather serious matter. But it was the vast multitude of the lower orders 19 who

9

18

1 See note, 40p. 2 we look back, etc.......times, when, nous sommes saisis de pitié et d'étonnement aujourd'hui lorsque nous nous reportons à l'époque reculée des croisades, où-3 warriorhusbands, des guerriers-4 see note a, p. 24-5 with the knowledge that it must be, sachant bien qu'il devait s'écouler-6 before, etc....... existence, avant qu'ils pussent se donner réciproquement le moindre signe de vie-7 we wonder, nous nous demandons-8 depth, poidswe feel the same, we experience the same feeling"-10 about, à l'égard de 11 till a dozen years ago, il n'y a qu'une douzaine d'années-12 it did not, etc.......the fate, bien peu d'entre nous songeaient jusqu'à quel point c'était précisément là le sort-13 "the most numerous"14 who had the command of franks, qui avaient leurs ports francs-15 in the wide middle class, dans la grande classe moyenne 16 who did not, etc......expenditure, pour qui les frais de poste ne fussent une lourde dépense-17 once a fortnight, une fois tous les quinze jours-18 the amount at the year's end, la somme totale au bout de l'année-19 lower orders, classes inférieures.