goes on to say, "then were comparatively new things, so that our
attentions were more valued then than they would be nowadays."

The next important event in Mary's life was her marriage with her
cousin Henry, by which she became the "Mrs. Sherwood" whose name has
been a household word to generations of children. Henry Sherwood had
had a curious history, and had endured many hardships and adventures in
his youthful days. As a boy of about thirteen he had made a voyage on
a rotten old French coasting-vessel, which was very nearly wrecked; was
run into in the night by an unknown ship; and all but foundered in the
Bay of Biscay. The French Revolution had just begun; and when the brig
touched at Marseilles this young lad saw terrible sights of men hung
from lamp-posts; heard the grisly cry, "A la lanterne! a la lanterne!"
and was even himself seized by some of the mob, though he happily
contrived, in the confusion, to slip away. In Marseilles, too, he first
saw the guillotine; it was carried about the streets in procession
whilst the populace yelled out the "Marseillaise Hymn." Later on in the
Revolution he was seized, as an Englishman, and imprisoned with a
number of others at Abbeville; but, escaping from there, he made a
wonderful journey through France, Switzerland, and Germany with his
father, step-mother, and their five young children; being driven by the
state of affairs from town to town, and wandering further and further
afield in the effort to reach England. At length, after difficulties
and hardships innumerable, they landed at Hull; and Henry made his way
to some of his relations, who took care of him and set him on his legs
again.

Henry Sherwood soon afterwards entered the army, joining the regiment
then known as the 53rd Foot; and about the same time he began to come
to Bridgnorth, where his pretty young cousin, Mary Butt, was growing
more and more attractive. After a while he wrote her a letter, asking
if she would be his wife; and on June 30, 1803, they were married at
Bridgnorth.

Mary's marriage made a great change in her life. She had married into
what used to be called a "marching regiment," which was constantly on
the move from one station to another. After being transferred from
place to place several times within a year, with long, wearisome
journeys both by sea and land, following the regiment as it marched,
the news came that the 53rd was ordered on foreign service, which meant
a longer journey