52 STAGE-COACH AND MAIL IN DAYS OF YORE 



oioportuuity for putting up a few ejaculations to 

 Heaven to preserve tliem all from the dangers of 

 ferryboats and tyrants. 



But the voyage at last came to an end. So 

 soon as they were landed on the south side of the 

 river Tyne, they were saluted by a blackbird, Avho 

 welcomed them to the county of Durham. It 

 seemed to take pleasure in seeing them fairly out 

 of the domains of Charon, and whistled cheerfully 

 on their arrival. " Nature," said Mr. James 

 Murray to himself, " is the mistress of real 

 pleasure : this same blackbird cannot suffer us to 

 pass by without contributing to our happiness. 

 Liberty (he continued) seems to be the first prin- 

 ciple of music. Slaves can never sing from the 

 heart." 



No : they sing, like everyone else, from the 

 throat. 



But these observations carried them beyond 

 Gateshead and to the ascent of the Pell, along 

 whose steep sides the jileasures of the morning 

 increased ujion them. The Avliins and briars sent 

 forth a fragrance exceedingly delightful, and on 

 every side of the coach peerless dro2)s of dew hung 

 dangling upon the blossoms of the thorns, adding 

 to the perfume. Aurora now began to streak 

 the western sky^ — something wrong Avitli the solar 

 system that morning, for the sun commonly rises 

 in the east — and the spangled heavens announced 

 the advent of the King of Day. Sol at last 

 appeared, aiul spread his healthful beams over 

 the hills and valleys, and the wild beasts now 



