It has been a godsend to many people of no particular importance or position who have used it as a stepping-stone to get into society.

They were mostly English and Welsh, with a few Frenchmen, and though I had little to say for their doings, they left British ships in the main unmolested, and were welcomed as a godsend by our coast dwellers, since they smuggled goods to them which would have been twice the cost if bought at the convoy markets.

But he was elated also by the prospect of his travels, and by the godsend of a six months' leave of absence.

Now to be taken as a prisoner of war was to most men more of a Godsend than a tragedy.