There were officers from both armies all around us, and there were pieces of shell that had just burst. Then as we rode home, people were pouring out of Balaklava, and every available height was covered. Windows had been broken in the town, at a distance of about six miles, and even our ship at sea was violently shaken by the explosion. Next day, I rode over to look at the place, and found it an awful sight. Large guns were blown about, and dead bodies were being dug out of the ruins. The French had their hospital close by. The huts were blown over and the beds were all out in the open air; whilst the tents were torn into ribbons. I will not take up more time and space by detailing the horrors of the event, but am very thankful that I escaped, especially as I was so close at the time – not more than three quarters of a mile off. I suppose you have heard of it by the papers.”. Nov. 23rd. We have just arrived at Malta.”
“J. Quaife.”
“On the War”
(By “Anon” and published in the Hastings News of Sept. 28, 1855)
“Tis the voice of our country, from centre to shore;
It calls on each Briton to slumber no more;
It bids us arise ere our birthrights be gone,
And rally like men round the altar and throne.
“The God of that altar, through tumult and war,
E’er beamed upon England His bright morning star;
And poured on our fathers His blessing divine;
And ne’er should His children prove false to his shrine.
“Round thrones of our monarchs for ages have stood
Saints, heroes and sages, the great and the good;
No foe from without dared the ramparts to win,
Nor must it be cankered by foes from within.
“Too long, oh, too long, has a faction held sway,
That piecemeal would dribble Old England away;
And take from the Sov’reign and people their own
And cover with insult the altar and throne.
“It shall not avail them; the voice has gone forth;
It rings through the empire – East, West, South and North;
For Britain aroused and indignant at length,
Now bears, like a giant, the arm of her strength.
“We stand for Old England – her rights and her laws;
‘Tis the cause of our country – God prosper that cause!
Unimpaired to our children, those rights shall descend,
So let us preserve them, or die to defend!”
