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To the next coffee-house he speeds, Takes up the news, soh Carminster was a cathedral city, the Special General Post only cah storreat an event as is now the co in of a mail steamer to a colonial harbour The "post" was a stout countrye hat He rode a strong horse, which carried, en croupe, an ih to support his back, while he blew a long horn to announce his arrival

Letters were rare and very expensive articles unless franked by a Mee portion of his freight No private gentlee Herries went to the extravagance of taking in a newspaper on his own account, but there was a club who subscribed for the Daily Gazetteer, the Tatler, and one or two other infant forms of periodical literature These were hastily skion, lay on the table to be more deliberately conned for a week, and finally were divided a the faether

Major Delavie never willingly ave him keen interest in the war between France and Austria, and he watched the ca enthusiaseneral interpreter and guide to his neighbours through the scanty articles on foreign intelligence

It was about ten days after the syllabub party, when he had quite recovered his ordinary health, that he mounted his stout pony in his military undress, his cocked hat perched on his well-powdered bob-ith a queue half-way down his dark green gold-laced coat, and with his long jack-boots carefully settle by Palive hi on his way distant toots of the posth Street, broad and unpaved, with rows of lime or poplar trees before the principal houses, the most modern of which were of red brick, with heavy sash-s, large stone quoins, and steps up to the doors

The White Dragon, dating froe, was built of crea the traveller into a courtyard worthy of Chaucer, with ranges of galleries running round it, the balustrades of dark carved oak suiting with the tiables, and with the noble outside stair at one angle, by which they coood Major was entirely insensible He only sighed at the trouble it gave his lame knee to mount the stair to the first storey, and desired the execution of the landlord's barbarous design of knocking down the street front to replace it with a plain, oblong assembly room, red brick outside, and within, blue plaster, adorned reaths and bullocks' faces in stucco