The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1901-05-02
A. A. HCNES & CO,
Phar maCists of Belfast

of terrible suspense. All the churches
were opened from dawn till midnight,
the people praying on their knees for
deliyerance from their enemies, and
going barefoot, mobiles and all, in pro-
cessions along the snow-strewn streets
chanting solemn Gtanies. Of course
they could not know the fate of the
little boat they had cast upon the wa
tiers. 1t reached Genoa in safety and a
fleet with reinfOrcements for the/garri-
son and stores Of food was Immediately
fitted out: but for weeks a succession
of storms prevented its leaving port.
At last, when hope had almost died out
of every heart in the beleaguered city,
the dispatch-bo crept under the rocks
by night. and at given signal, its crew
was hauled up over the precipice, to
announce that the Genoese fleet was
close at hand. Then what was the Joy
in Bonifazio Merry chimes rang out
from all the church-towers, Signatures
blaZed on every vantage-point, and the
ArragOneSe, in their Sullen camps, lis
tened in establishment to the exultant
shouts that rent the air. The day of
surrender arrived, and the Spaniards,
unaware Of the approach of the &C.
noese in their rear, pressed for admis-
sion at the gates of Boniofazio, accord.
ing to the terms agreed upon. The
soldiers replied that the Genoese had
arrived during the night; and behold,
armed figures, carrying the Genoese
standard, were seen marching round
and round the battlement, their lances
shining in the morning light. 1t was
the women of Bonifazio, every one of
whom had put on armor, and in this
way the force of the town seemed
trebled. Said Alfonso, ''Have the Gen
oese wings, that they can reach this
rock when we command every approach
to it?' He ordered the attack to be re-
newed and just as the Spanish ships
were ready to begin another lombard
ment of the furnishing town, the Gen
oese ships burst through the chains
that closed the harbor. The long stair
way leading up to the citadel, known as
''Escallier du Rio d'Aragon' is said to
have been built by King Alfonso in his
futile efforts to take the town; but that
tradition is probably untrue. Again, in
1854, Henry w. of France, besieged the
place, in alliance with a Turkish fleet.
After a gallant resistance, it fell,
through treachery, into the hands Of
the French; but was afterwards re-
stored to the Genoese, who repaired and
enlarged it's Notifications. AS garri-
soned by the present owners of Corsica,
the French, it is place of almost i'm
pregnable strength, and yet preserves
its original character of fortified town
Of the Middle Ages. There are the
same old towers, walls and churches;
the extremely tall houses, with the
arms Of noble Genoese families carved
in stone over their portals; and net
work of narrow and irregular streets,
spreading all over the plateau within
the walls, which rise from the very edge
of the cliff. The only entrance is under
the vaulted archway of the barbican,
which is still as jealousy guarded as if
Saracen, Turk and Spaniard threatened
immediate attack. This tower, with
its bristling guns, commands the only
approach from the sea, by a long, in
clined plane, at sharp angle: and all
day long troops of little donkeys toll