POST BAG. 237 



at present; for if it then bore the same 

 appearance it now does, there was little 

 to be devastated, and nothing to carry 

 away ; therefore nothing to invite the 

 presence of the roving Viking, or to 

 reward the courage of a conquering 

 army, or a rival nation. 



Many were the recognitions that passed 

 between the companion of my walk 

 and the townspeople we met ; and I 

 could but smile at the rude dialect and 

 primitive manners and appearance of the 

 generality of the inhabitants of this isolated 

 district a district, devoid as it was of 

 that first step towards civilization, a 

 stage-coach : for it only communicated 

 with the world by a boy, the sound 

 of whose horn immediately reminded me 

 of Cowper's animated description 



" Hark, 'tis the twanging horn o'er yonder bridge ! 

 He comes, the herald of a noisy world, 

 With spattered boots, strapt waist, and frozen locks, 

 News from all nations lumbering at his back." 



