THE START. 



each town it brought rapture with "it, and every living 

 creature connected with it, from' coachman and guard 

 to passenger and horse, was held for the time to be a 

 sharer in the Victory. 



We cannot resist concluding this chapter with the 

 following extract from De Quihcey's spirited account 

 of the night wh^n the news of a Peninsular victorj'' 

 wq,s carried throughout England : 



' The night before us is a night of Victory. . . . 

 The guards, as being officially his Majesty's servants, 

 and the coachmen, such as are within the privilege 

 of the Post Office, wear the royal liveries of course ; 

 and as it is summer, they wear, on this fine evening, 

 thfese liveries exposed to view, without any covering 

 of upper coats. Such a costume, and the elaborate 

 arrangement of laurel in their hats, dilate their hearts, 

 by giving to them openly a personal connection with 

 the great news. Those passengers who happen to be 

 gentlemen are now hardly to be distinguished as 

 such, except by dress; for the usual reserve of their 

 manner in speaking to the attendants has on this 

 night melted away. One heart, one pride, one glory 

 connects every man by the transcendent bond of his 

 national blood. The spectators, numerous beyond 

 precedent, express their sympathy with these fervent 

 feelings by continual hurrahs. Every moment are 



