THE SQUIRE AND HIS VOLUNTEERS. 169 



Till the proud peak unfurled the flag o'er Derwent's rocky- 

 dales, — 

 Till like volcanoes flared to heaven the stormy hills of Wales, — 

 Till twelve fair counties saw the blaze on Malvern's lonely- 

 height, — 

 Till streamed in crimson on the wind the Wrekin's crest of 



light,— 

 Till broad and fierce the star came forth on Elsig's stately fane, 

 And tower and hamlet rose in arms o'er all the boundless plain." 



"Within a mile of Willey Hall a tenant of Squire 

 Forester, and, as we liave seen, an occasional guest 

 — John Wilkinson, "the great ironmaster'' — was 

 urging his men day and night to push the manufac- 

 ture of shot, shell, howitzers, and guns, which Mr. 

 Forester believed were for the government of the 

 country, but many of which were designed for its 

 enemies. Mght and day heavy hammers were 

 thundering, day and night the " great blast " was 

 blowing. He was well known to the French 

 government and French engineers, having erected 

 the first steam engine there in 1785, for which he 

 was highly complimented by the Duke d' Angouleme, 

 M. Bertrand, and others, and treated to a grand 

 banquet, given to him on the 14th of January, 1786, 

 at the Hotel de Yille. Arthur Young, in his 

 travels in France, tells us that until this well- 

 known English manufacturer arrived the French 



