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diff --git a/old/60321-0.txt b/old/60321-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index d5ca842..0000000 --- a/old/60321-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,20559 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Prisoners of War in Britain 1756 to 1815, by -Francis Abell - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Prisoners of War in Britain 1756 to 1815 - A record of their lives, their romance and their sufferings - -Author: Francis Abell - -Release Date: September 18, 2019 [EBook #60321] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRISONERS OF WAR IN BRITAIN, 1756-1815 *** - - - - -Produced by Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - -[Illustration: - - _Frontispiece_ - - PLAIT MERCHANTS TRADING WITH THE FRENCH PRISONERS OF WAR AT NORMAN - CROSS - - _From a painting by A. C. Cooke in the Town Hall, Luton_ -] - - - - - PRISONERS OF WAR IN BRITAIN - 1756 TO 1815 - A RECORD OF THEIR LIVES, THEIR ROMANCE AND THEIR SUFFERINGS - - - BY - - FRANCIS ABELL - - - HUMPHREY MILFORD - OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS - LONDON EDINBURGH GLASGOW - NEW YORK TORONTO MELBOURNE BOMBAY - - 1914 - - - - - OXFORD: HORACE HART - PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - PREFACE - - -Two influences have urged me to make a study of the subject of the -prisoners of war in Britain. - -First: the hope that I might be able to vindicate our country against -the charge so insistently brought against her that she treated the -prisoners of war in her custody with exceptional inhumanity. - -Second: a desire to rescue from oblivion a not unimportant and a most -interesting chapter of our national history. - -Whether my researches show the foregoing charge to be proven or not -proven remains for my readers to judge. I can only say that I have -striven to the utmost to prevent the entrance of any national bias into -the presentation of the picture. - -As to the second influence. It is difficult to account for the fact that -so interesting a page of our history should have remained unwritten. -Even authors of fiction, who have pressed every department of history -into their service, have, with about half a dozen exceptions, neglected -it as a source of inspiration, whilst historical accounts are limited to -Mr. Basil Thomson’s _Story of Dartmoor Prison_, Dr. T. J. Walker’s -_Norman Cross_, and Mr. W. Sievwright’s _Perth Depôt_, all of which I -have been permitted to make use of, and local handbooks. - -Yet the sojourn among us of thousands of war prisoners between the years -1756 and 1815 must have been an important feature of our national -life—especially that of officers on parole in our country towns; despite -which, during my quest in many counties of England, Scotland, and Wales, -I have been surprised to find how rapidly and completely the memory of -this sojourn has faded; how faintly even it lingers in local tradition; -how much haziness there is, even in the minds of educated people, as to -who or what prisoners of war were; and how the process of gathering -information has been one of almost literal excavation and disinterment. -But the task has been a great delight. It has introduced me to all sorts -and conditions of interesting people; it has taken me to all sorts of -odd nooks and corners of the country; and it has drawn my attention to a -literature which is not less valuable because it is merely local. I need -not say that but for the interest and enthusiasm of private individuals -I could never have accomplished the task, and to them I hope I have made -sufficient acknowledgement in the proper places, although it is possible -that, from their very multitude, I may have been guilty of omissions, -for which I can only apologize. - - FRANCIS ABELL - - LONDON, 1914. - - - - - CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I. INTERNATIONAL RECRIMINATIONS 1 - - II. THE EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS 25 - - III. THE PRISON SYSTEM—THE HULKS 37 - - IV. LIFE ON THE HULKS 54 - - V. LIFE ON THE HULKS (_continued_) 75 - - VI. PRISON-SHIP SUNDRIES 92 - - VII. TOM SOUVILLE: A FAMOUS PRISON-SHIP ESCAPER 103 - - VIII. THE PRISON SYSTEM—THE PRISONERS ASHORE. GENERAL 115 - - IX. THE PRISONS ASHORE: - - 1. SISSINGHURST CASTLE 125 - X. 2. NORMAN CROSS 133 - XI. 3. PERTH 155 - XII. 4. PORTCHESTER 166 - XIII. 5. LIVERPOOL 186 - XIV. 6. GREENLAW—VALLEYFIELD 196 - XV. 7. STAPLETON, NEAR BRISTOL 207 - XVI. 8. FORTON, PORTSMOUTH 215 - XVII. 9. MILLBAY, PLYMOUTH 220 - XVIII. 10. DARTMOOR 235 - - XIX. SOME MINOR PRISONS 262 - WINCHESTER 262 - ROSCROW AND KERGILLIACK 264 - SHREWSBURY 266 - YARMOUTH 268 - EDINBURGH 269 - - XX. LOUIS VANHILLE: A FAMOUS ESCAPER 278 - - XXI. THE PRISON SYSTEM—PRISONERS ON PAROLE 284 - - XXII. PAROLE LIFE 299 - - XXIII. THE PRISONERS ON PAROLE IN SCOTLAND 316 - - XXIV. PAROLE PRISONERS IN SCOTLAND (_continued_) 338 - - XXV. PRISONERS OF WAR IN WALES 357 - - XXVI. ESCAPE AGENTS AND ESCAPES 365 - - XXVII. ESCAPES OF PRISONERS ON PAROLE 376 - - XXVIII. COMPLAINTS OF PRISONERS 395 - - XXIX. PAROLE LIFE: SUNDRY NOTES 412 - - XXX. PAROLE LIFE: SUNDRY NOTES (_continued_) 432 - - XXXI. VARIORUM: - - 1. SOME DISTINGUISHED PRISONERS OF WAR 442 - 2. SOME STATISTICS 449 - 3. EPITAPHS OF PRISONERS 451 - - INDEX 455 - - - - - LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - - PAGE - - PLAIT MERCHANTS TRADING WITH THE FRENCH PRISONERS OF - WAR AT NORMAN CROSS _Frontispiece_ - _From a painting by A. C. Cooke, Esq., in the Town - Hall, Luton; reproduced here by permission of the - artist._ - - FRENCH SAILORS ON AN ENGLISH PRISON SHIP 42 - _After Bombled._ - - PRISON SHIPS 45 - _From a sketch by the Author._ - - MEMORIAL TO FRENCH PRISONERS OF WAR IN THE ROYAL NAVAL - BARRACKS, CHATHAM _To face p._ 46 - - GARNERAY DRAWING AN ENGLISH SOLDIER 62 - _After Louis Garneray._ - - THE _CROWN_ HULK SEEN FROM THE STERN 67 - _After Louis Garneray._ - - EXTERIOR VIEW OF A HULK 72 - _After Louis Garneray._ - - THE _VENGEANCE_ HULK 74 - _After Louis Garneray._ - - ORLOP DECK OF _BRUNSWICK_ PRISON SHIP, CHATHAM 101 - _After Colonel Lebertre._ - - SISSINGHURST CASTLE _To face p._ 126 - _From an old print in the possession of Henry Neve, - Esq., by whose permission it is reproduced._ - - ARTICLES IN WOOD MADE BY THE PRISONERS AT SISSINGHURST - CASTLE, 1763 _To face p._ 132 - _Reproduced by permission of the owner, Henry Neve, - Esq._ - - MEMORIAL TO FRENCH PRISONERS OF WAR WHO DIED AT NORMAN - CROSS. Unveiled July 28, 1914 134 - - NORMAN CROSS PRISON 137 - _Hill’s Plan_, 1797–1803. - - COLOURED STRAW WORK-BOX, MADE BY FRENCH PRISONERS OF - WAR _To face p._ 148 - _Presented to the Author by Mrs. Ashley Dodd, of - Godinton Park, Ashford, Kent._ - - THE BLOCK HOUSE, NORMAN CROSS, 1809 _To face p._ 152 - _From a sketch by Captain George Lloyd in the United - Service Museum, Whitehall._ - - PORTCHESTER CASTLE _To face p._ 166 - _From the ‘Victoria History of England—South - Hampshire’, by permission of Messrs. Constable & - Co._ - - PLAN OF PORTCHESTER CASTLE, 1793 168 - - CLOCK MADE IN PORTCHESTER CASTLE, 1809, BY FRENCH - PRISONERS OF WAR, FROM BONES SAVED FROM THEIR - RATIONS _To face p._ 173 - _In the Author’s possession._ - - BONE MODEL OF H.M.S. _VICTORY_ MADE BY PRISONERS OF - WAR AT PORTSMOUTH _To face p._ 176 - _In the possession of Messrs. Doxford & Sons, Pallion, - Sunderland, by whose permission it is reproduced._ - - THE OLD TOWER PRISON, LIVERPOOL 187 - _From an old Print._ - - MONUMENT AT VALLEYFIELD TO PRISONERS OF WAR 199 - - STAPLETON PRISON _To face p._ 212 - _From the ‘Gentleman’s Magazine’_, 1814. - - DARTMOOR WAR PRISON, IN 1812 236 - _From a sketch signed ‘John Wethems’ in the Public - Record Office. Reproduced by permission of Basil - Thomson, Esq., and Colonel Winn._ - - DARTMOOR. THE ORIGINAL MAIN ENTRANCE 248 - _From a sketch by the Author._ - - WOODEN WORKING MODEL OF A FRENCH TRIAL SCENE MADE BY - PRISONERS OF WAR AT DARTMOOR _To face p._ 251 - _In the possession of Maberley Phillips, Esq., F.S.A., - by whose permission it is reproduced._ - - BONE MODEL OF GUILLOTINE MADE BY PRISONERS OF WAR AT - DARTMOOR _To face p._ 256 - _Now in the Museum, Plymouth, and reproduced here by - permission of the owner, Charles Luxmoore, Esq., - from a photograph by Mr. J. R. Browning, Exeter._ - - DARTMOOR PRISON, ILLUSTRATING THE ‘MASSACRE’ OF 1815 _To face p._ 260 - _From Benjamin Waterhouse’s ‘Journal of a Young Man of - Massachusetts’._ - - JEDBURGH ABBEY, 1812 _To face p._ 347 - _From a painting by Ensign Bazin, a French prisoner of - war. Reproduced by permission of J. Veitch, Esq._ - - BONE MODEL OF H.M.S. _PRINCE OF WALES_ MADE BY - PRISONERS OF WAR _To face p._ 416 - _Now in the United Service Museum, Whitehall._ - - LA TOUR D’AUVERGNE DEFENDING HIS COCKADE AT BODMIN 443 - _From Montorgueil’s ‘La Tour d’Auvergne’._ - - - - - CHAPTER I - INTERNATIONAL RECRIMINATIONS - - -He who, with the object of dealing fairly and squarely with that -interesting and unaccountably neglected footnote to British history, the -subject of prisoners of war in Britain, has sifted to the best of his -ability all available sources of information both at home and abroad, as -the present writer has done, feels bound to make answer to the -questions: - -1. Did we of Britain treat our prisoners of war with the brutality -alleged by foreign writers almost without exception? - -2. Did our Government sin in this respect more than did other -Governments in their treatment of the prisoners taken from us? - -As an Englishman I much regret to say in reply to the first question, -that, after a very rigorous examination of authorities and weighing of -evidence, and making allowance for the not unnatural exaggeration and -embellishment by men smarting under deprivation of liberty, I find that -foreigners have not unduly emphasized the brutality with which we -treated a large proportion of our prisoners of war, and I am fairly -confident that after a study of the following pages my readers will -agree with me. - -Between our treatment of prisoners on parole and in confinement on land, -and foreign treatment of our countrymen similarly situated, the -difference, if any, is very slight, but nothing comparable with the -English prison-ship system existed anywhere else, except at Cadiz after -the battle of Baylen in 1808, and to the end of time this abominable, -useless, and indefensible system will remain a stain upon our national -record. - -In reply to the second question, the balance appears to be fairly even -between the behaviour of our own and foreign Governments—at any rate, -between ours and that of France—for Britain and France practically -monopolize the consideration of our subject; the number of prisoners -taken by and from the United States, Spain, Holland, Denmark, and other -countries, is comparatively insignificant. - -Each Government accused the other. Each Government defended itself. Each -Government could bring forward sufficient evidence to condemn the other. -Each Government, judging by the numerous official documents which may be -examined, seems really to have aimed at treating its prisoners as -humanely and as liberally as circumstances would allow. Each Government -was badly served by just those sections of its subordinates which were -in the closest and most constant contact with the prisoners. It is -impossible to read the printed and written regulations of the two -Governments with regard to the treatment of war-prisoners without being -impressed by their justness, fairness, and even kindness. The French -rules published in 1792, for instance, are models of humane -consideration; they emphatically provided that foreign prisoners were to -be treated exactly as French soldiers in the matter of sustenance, -lodging, and care when sick. - -All this was nullified by the behaviour of subordinates. It is equally -impossible to read the personal narratives of British prisoners in -France and of French prisoners in Britain without being convinced that -the good wills of the two Governments availed little against the -brutality, the avarice, and the dishonesty of the officials charged with -the carrying out of the benevolent instructions. - -It may be urged that Governments which really intended to act fairly -would have taken care that they were suitably served. So we think -to-day. But it must always be borne in mind that the period covered in -this book—from 1756 to 1815—cannot be judged by the light of to-day. It -was an age of corruption from the top to the bottom of society, and it -is not to be wondered at that, if Ministers and Members of Parliament, -and officers of every kind—naval, military, and civil—were as -essentially objects of sale and purchase as legs of mutton and suits of -clothes, the lower orders of men in authority, those who were in most -direct touch with the prisoners of war, should not have been immune from -the contagion. - -Most exactly, too, must it be remembered by the commentator of to-day -that the age was not only corrupt, but hard and brutal; that beneath the -veneer of formal politeness of manner there was an indifference to human -suffering, and a general rudeness of tastes and inclinations, which make -the gulf separating us from the age of Trafalgar wider than that which -separated the age of Trafalgar from that of the Tudors. - -It is hard to realize that less than a century ago certain human -beings—free-born Britons—were treated in a fashion which to-day if it -was applied to animals would raise a storm of protest from John o’ -Groats to the Land’s End: that the fathers of some of us who would -warmly resent the aspersion of senility were subject to rules and -restrictions such as we only apply to children and idiots; that at the -date of Waterloo the efforts of Howard and Mrs. Fry had borne but little -fruit in our prisons; and that thirty years were yet to pass ere the -last British slave became a free man. Unfortunates were regarded as -criminals, and treated accordingly, and the man whose only crime was -that he had fought for his country, received much the same consideration -as the idiot gibbering on the straw of Bedlam. - -It could not be expected that an age which held forgery and -linen-stealing to be capital offences; which treated freely-enlisted -sailors and soldiers as animals, civil offenders as lunatics, and -lunatics as dangerous criminals; of which the social life is fairly -reflected in the caricatures of Gillray and Rowlandson; which extolled -much conduct which to-day we regard as base and contemptible as actually -deserving of praise and admiration, should be tenderly disposed towards -thousands of foreigners whose enforced detention in the land added -millions to taxation, and caused a constant menace to life and property. - -So, clearly bearing in mind the vast differences between our age and -that covered in these pages, let us examine some of the recriminations -between Britain and France, chiefly on the question of the treatment of -prisoners of war, as a preparation for a more minute survey of the life -of these unfortunates among us, and an equitable judgement thereon. - -In Britain, prisoners of war were attended to by ‘The Commissioners for -taking care of sick and wounded seamen and for exchanging Prisoners of -War’, colloquially known as ‘The Sick and Hurt’ Office, whose business -was, ‘To see the sick and wounded seamen and prisoners were well cared -for, to keep exact accounts of money issued to the receiver, to disburse -in the most husbandly manner, and in all things to act as their -judgements and the necessities of the service should require.’ John -Evelyn, Samuel Pepys, and Home, the author of _Douglas_, had been -Commissioners. On December 22, 1799, the care of prisoners of war was -transferred to the Transport Office, and so remained until 1817. In 1819 -the Victualling Office took over the duty. - -Throughout the period of the Seven Years’ War—that is, from 1756 to -1763—there was a constant interchange of letters upon the subject of the -treatment of prisoners of war. The French king had made it a rule to -distribute monthly, from his private purse, money for the benefit of his -subjects who were prisoners in Britain; this was called the Royal -Bounty. It was applied not merely to the relief and comfort of the -prisoners while in confinement, but also to the payment of their -homeward passages when exchanged, and of certain dues levied on them by -the British Government upon entering and leaving the country. The -payment was made on a graduated scale, according to rank, by regularly -appointed French agents in England, whose exact and beautifully kept -accounts may be examined at the Archives Nationales in Paris. - -This Royal Bounty, the French Government asserted, had been inspired by -the continual complaints about the bad treatment of their countrymen, -prisoners of war in England. To this it was replied that when the French -prisoners arrived it was determined and arranged that they should have -exactly the same victualling both in quality and quantity as British -seamen, and this was actually increased by half a pound of bread per man -per diem over the original allowance. It was asserted that all the -provisions issued were good, although the bread was not always fresh -baked. This should be remedied. The meat was the same in quality as that -served out to British seamen—indeed it was better, for orders were -issued that the prisoners should have fresh meat every meat day (six in -the week) whereas British seamen had it only twice a week, and sometimes -not so often. - -The Commissioners of the Admiralty expressed their difficulty in -believing that the French prisoners were really in need of aid from -France, but said that if such aid was forthcoming it should be justly -distributed by appointed agents. - -They appended a _Table d’Avitaillement_ to this effect: - -Every day except Saturday every man received one and a half pounds of -bread, three-quarters of a pound of beef, and one quart of beer. On -Saturday instead of the beef he got four ounces of butter or six ounces -of cheese. Four times a week each man was allowed in addition half a -pint of peas. - -For money allowance officers of men-of-war received one shilling a day, -officers of privateers and merchant ships sixpence. These officers were -on parole, and in drawing up their report the Admiralty officials remark -that, although they have to regret very frequent breaches of parole, -their standard of allowances remains unchanged. - -With regard to the prison accommodation for the rank and file, at -Portchester Castle, Forton Prison (Portsmouth), Millbay Prison -(Plymouth), the men slept on guard-beds, two feet six inches in breadth, -six feet in length, provided with a canvas case filled with straw and a -coverlid. Sick prisoners were treated precisely as were British. - -At Exeter, Liverpool, and Sissinghurst—‘a mansion house in Kent lately -fitted up for prisoners’—the men slept in hammocks, each with a flock -bed, a blanket, and a coverlid. - -All this reads excellently, but from the numberless complaints made by -prisoners, after due allowance has been made for exaggeration, I very -much doubt if the poor fellows received their full allowance or were -lodged as represented. - -This was in 1757. As a counterblast to the French remonstrances, our -Admiralty complained bitterly of the treatment accorded to British -prisoners in French prisons, especially that at Dinan. We quote the -reply of De Moras, the French Administrator, for comparison. The French -scale of provisioning prisoners was as follows: - -On Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday each prisoner received one and -a half pounds of bread, one pint of beer at least, one pound of good, -fresh meat, well cooked, consisting of beef, mutton, or veal, ‘without -heads and feet’, soup, salt, and vinegar. On Wednesday, Friday, and -Saturday, and ‘maigre’ days, half a pound of beans or peas well cooked -and seasoned, and two ounces of butter. The same allowance was made in -all prisons, except that in some wine took the place of beer. - -The Administrator complained that he had great difficulty in getting -contractors for provisioning prisoners—a fact not without significance -when we note how eagerly the position of contractor for prisoners of war -was competed for in England. - -De Moras further stated that prisoners when sick were sent to the -regular Service Hospitals, where they received the same attention as -Frenchmen. Each officer prisoner received a money allowance of thirty -sous—one shilling and threepence—a day, and renewed clothing when -needed. - -The following remonstrance, dated 1758, is one of many relating to -alleged British peculation in the matter of the French Royal Bounty. - - -‘Plusieurs Français enfermés dans le château de Portchester représentent -l’excessive longueur de leur détention et ont fait connoître une -manœuvre qui les prive d’un secours en argent que le Roy leur fait -donner tous les mois; après avoir changé l’or et l’argent qui leur a été -donné pour une monnoie de cuivre nommée _half pens_ on en a arrêté le -cours et on les a mis dans l’impossibilité de jouir du soulagement que -le Roy avoit voulu leur accorder.’ - - -Commenting upon this De Moras adds: - - -‘Je suis instruit que les châtiments les plus rigoureux sont employés à -l’égard des Français prisonniers pour la faute la plus légère et que -celui qui cherche à s’évader est chargé de fers, mis en cachot, et perd -toute espérance de liberté. Je sais que quelques paroles inconsidérées -lâchées contre votre agent à Portsmouth ont excité sa colère au point de -faire dépouiller 150 Français et de leur faire donner la bastonnade avec -si peu de ménagements que quelques-uns sont morts des suites de cette -barbare punition. Quant à la nourriture elle est assés décriée par tous -les Français qui reviennent d’Angleterre, et il est vray que si on leur -distribue souvent du biscuit aussy mal fabriqué que celuy que -quelques-uns d’eux out raporté, et que j’ay veu, l’usage n’en peut estre -que désagréable et pernicieux. Ils disent aussy que la viande ne vaut -pas mieux, et qu’il en est de même de toutes les espèces de denrées. - -‘Je ne l’attribue qu’à l’infidélité et à l’avidité des entrepreneurs.’ - - -In 1758, as a reply to complaints made to the British Government about -the treatment of prisoners at Portchester, a report to the following -effect was made by De Kergan, an officer of the French East India -Company on parole. - -1. The chief punishment is the _cachot_, which is wholesomely situated -above ground near the entrance gate. It is untrue that prisoners are -placed there in irons. - -2. Prisoners recaptured after escape are put in the _cachot_ upon -half-rations until the expenses of recapture and the reward paid for the -same are made up, but prisoners are never deprived of the French King’s -Bounty or debarred the market. - -3. Only three men have lost everything as a result of recapture: one was -a lieutenant who had broken parole from Petersfield; the others were two -sailors who defended themselves against Hambledon people who tried to -capture them, and killed one. - -4. It is utterly untrue that 150 prisoners have been flogged. - -5. The biscuit sent to M. de Moras as a specimen of the prison food did -not come from Portchester. - -6. He reports well upon the food served out to the prisoners. - -7. All complaints are listened to. - -From the fact that De Kergan was shortly afterwards allowed to go home -to France with his servant, it is difficult to resist the conclusion -that it had been ‘arranged’ by the British authorities that he should -have been selected to make the above report under promise of reward. - -De Moras adds that although the number of English prisoners multiplies -continually, it is owing to the slackness of exchange. On the part of -France, he declares that they are all well treated, and asserts that the -balance of prisoners due to France is 800. Complaints from France about -the non-distribution of the King’s Bounty are continued during the year -1758 and the following years, and a proposal is made that agents should -be stationed in each county to attend solely to the proper arrangement -and distribution of all charitable contributions, for the benefit of the -prisoners. - - -‘C’est le seul moyen,’ says De Moras, ‘qui puisse faire goûter aux -officiers et aux soldats que le sort des armes a privés de la liberté -quelqu’apparence des avantages de la Paix au milieu même des malheurs de -la guerre.’ - - -More complaints from our side brought an answer in which lay the kernel -of the whole matter: ‘L’exactitude des inférieurs demande à estre -souvent réveillée.’ - -In 1759 the care of the French prisoners in England practically devolved -entirely upon us, as their Government unaccountably withdrew all -support. The natural consequence was that their condition became -pitiable in the extreme—so much so that public subscriptions were opened -on behalf of the poor fellows. A London Committee sat at the _Crown and -Anchor_ in the Strand, and the sum of £7,000 was collected. With this -sum were sent to different prisons 3,131 great coats, 2,034 waistcoats, -3,185 pairs of shoes, 3,054 pairs of breeches, 6,146 shirts, 3,006 caps, -and 3,134 pairs of stockings. Letters of grateful acknowledgement and -thanks were received from most of the dépôts. The following will serve -as a specimen. - - - ‘_Cornwall_ Man-of-War at Chatham, 13.1.1760. - -‘Nous les prisonniers de guerre à bord du vaisseau du Roi le “Cornwall”, -dans la rivière de Chatham, reconnoissons d’avoir reçu chacun par les -mains de notre bon commandant Guillaume Lefebre des hardes, consistant -d’un surtout, une chemise, un bonnet, une paire de bas, de souliers et -de coulottes. Nous prions MM. les Anglais qui out eu cette bonté pour -infortunés presque dépourvus auparavant de quoi se garantir de la -sévérité de la saison, et de grandes souffrances par le froid, d’être -persuadés de notre vive reconnoissance qui ne s’oubliera pas.’ - - -The letter of thanks from Sissinghurst contains excuses for some men who -had sold the clothes thus supplied for urgent necessaries, such as -tobacco and the postage of letters, and praying for the remission of -their punishment by being put on half-rations. From Helston, the -collector, W. Sandys, wrote that ‘in spite of vulgar prejudices which -were opposed to this charity, and the violent clamours raised against it -by the author of a letter who threw on its promoters the accumulated -reproach of Traitors, Jacobites and Enemies to their country,’ he sent -£32. - -It was in allusion to the above act of public benevolence that Goldsmith -wrote in the twenty-third letter of the _Citizen of the World_: ‘When I -cast my eye over the list of those who contributed on this occasion, I -find the names almost entirely English; scarce one foreigner appears -among the number.... I am particularly struck with one who writes these -words upon the paper enclosing his benefaction: “The mite of an -Englishman, a citizen of the world, to Frenchmen, prisoners of war, and -naked.”’ - -Even abroad this kindly spirit was appreciated, as appears from the -following extract from a contemporary Brussels gazette: - - -‘The animosity of the English against the French decreases. They are now -supposed to hate only those French who are in arms. A subscription is -opened in the several towns and countries for clothing the French -prisoners now in England, and the example has been followed in the -capital.’ - - -In 1760 the French Government thus replied to complaints on our side -about the ill-treatment of British prisoners at Brest. - - -‘The castle at Brest has a casemate 22 feet high, 22 feet broad, and 82 -long. It is very dry, having been planked especially and has large -windows. Prisoners are allowed to go out from morning till evening in a -large “meadow” [probably an ironical fancy name for the exercising yard, -similar to the name of “Park” given to the open space on the prison -hulks]. They have the same food as the men on the Royal ships: 8 ounces -of meat—a small measure but equal to the English prison ration—the same -wine as on the Royal ships, which is incomparably superior to the small -beer of England. Every day an examination of the prisoners is made by -the Commissioner of the Prison, an interpreter and a representative of -the prisoners. Bedding straw is changed every fifteen days, exactly as -in the Royal Barracks.’ - - -Here it is clear that the Frenchman did exactly as the Englishman had -done. Having to give a reply to a complaint he copied out the Regulation -and sent it, a formal piece of humbug which perhaps deceived and -satisfied such men in the street as bothered their heads about the fate -of their countrymen, but which left the latter in exactly the same -plight as before. - -At any rate, with or without foundation, the general impression in -England at this time, about 1760, was that such Englishmen as were -unfortunate enough to fall into French hands were very badly treated. -Beatson in his _Naval and Military Memoirs_[1] says: - - -‘The enemy having swarms of small privateers at sea, captured no less -than 330 of the British ships.... It is to be lamented that some of -their privateers exercised horrid barbarities on their prisoners, being -the crews of such ships as had presumed to make resistance, and who were -afterwards obliged to submit: Conduct that would have disgraced the most -infamous pirate; and it would have redounded much to the credit of the -Court of France to have made public examples of those who behaved in -this manner. I am afraid, likewise, that there was but too much reason -for complaint of ill-treatment to the British subjects, even after they -were landed in France and sent to prison. Of this, indeed, several -affidavits were made by the sufferers when they returned to England. - -‘On the contrary, the conduct of Great Britain was a striking example of -their kindness and humanity to such unfortunate persons as were made -prisoners of war. The prisons were situated in wholesome places, and -subject to public inspection, and the prisoners had every favour shown -them that prudence would admit of. From the greatness of their number, -it is true, they frequently remained long in confinement before they -could be exchanged in terms of the cartel, by which their clothes were -reduced to a very bad state, many of them, indeed, almost naked, and -suffered much from the inclemency of the weather. No sooner, however, -was their miserable condition in this respect made known, than -subscriptions for their relief were opened at several of the principal -banking-houses in London, by which very great sums were procured, and -immediately applied in purchasing necessaries for those who stood in the -greatest need of them. - -‘The bad state of the finances of France did not permit that kingdom to -continue the allowance they formerly granted for the maintenance of -their subjects who might become prisoners of war; but the nation who had -acquired so much glory in overcoming them, had also the generosity to -maintain such of these unfortunate men as were in her power at the -public expense.’ - - -The American prisoners conveyed to England during the War of -Independence, seem to have been regarded quite as unworthy of proper -treatment. On April 2, 1777, Benjamin Franklin and Silas Deane wrote -from Paris to Lord Stormont, British Ambassador in Paris, on the subject -of the ill-treatment of American prisoners in England, and said that -severe reprisals would be justifiable. On this a writer in the -_Gentleman’s Magazine_, October 1777, commented: - - -‘It must certainly be a matter of some difficulty to dispose of such a -number of prisoners as are daily taken from captured American -privateers; some of whom have from 100 to 300 men on board, few less -than 70 or 80; against whom the Americans can have no adequate number to -exchange.... Were the privateersmen, therefore, to be treated as -prisoners of war, our gaols would be too few to hold them. What then is -to be done? Not indeed to load them with chains, or force them with -stripes, famine, or other cruelties, as the letter charges, to enlist in -Government service; but to allow them the same encouragement with other -subjects to enter on board the King’s ships, and then they would have no -plea to complain of hard usage.’ - - -The letter referred to, sent on by Stormont to Lord North, contained the -chief grievance that ‘stripes had been inflicted on some to make them -commit the deepest of all crimes—the fighting against the liberties of -their country’. The reply to this was the stereotyped one ‘that all -possible was done for the prisoners: that they were permitted to receive -charitable donations, and that complaints were attended to promptly’. A -contemporary number of the _London Packet_ contains a list of -subscriptions for the benefit of the American prisoners amounting to -£4,600. The Committee for the collection and administration of this -money, who sat at the _King’s Arms_ at Cornhill, seem to have occupied -themselves further, for in 1778 they call attention to the fact that one -Ebenezer Smith Platt, a Georgia merchant, had been put in Newgate, and -ironed, and placed in that part of the prison occupied by thieves, -highwaymen, housebreakers, and murderers, without any allowance for food -or clothes, and must have perished but for private benevolence. - -The most absurd reports of the brutal treatment of French prisoners in -England were circulated in France. It was gravely reported to the -Directory that English doctors felt the pulses of French prisoner -patients with the ends of their canes; that prisoners were killed _en -masse_ when subsistence became difficult; that large numbers were -punished for the faults of individuals; and that the mortality among -them was appalling. The result was that the Directory sent over M. -Vochez to inquire into matters. The gross calumnies were exposed to him; -he was allowed free access to prisons and prison ships; it was proved to -him that out of an average total of 4,500 prisoners on the hulks at -Portsmouth only six had died during the past quarter, and, expressing -himself as convinced, he returned, promising to report to the French -minister the ‘gross misrepresentations which had been made to him’. - -A good specimen of the sort of report which sent M. Vochez over to -England is the address of M. Riou to the Council of Five Hundred of the -5th of Pluviôse of the year 6—that is January 25, 1798. - -After a violent tirade against England and her evil sway in the world, -he goes into details. He says that when his Government complained of the -promiscuous herding together of officers and men as prisoners of war, -the English reply was: ‘You are republicans. You want equality, -therefore we treat you here equally.’ Alluding to the harsh treatment of -privateersmen taken prisoners, he declares it is because they do more -harm to England by striking at her commerce than any fleets or armies. -He brings up the usual complaints about bad and insanitary prisons, -insufficient food, and the shameful treatment of officers on parole by -the country people. One hundred Nantes captains and officers had told -him that prisoners were confined in parties of seventy-two in huts -seventeen feet long and ten feet high, some of them being merely cellars -in the hillside; that the water soaked through hammocks, straw, and -bread; that there was no air, that all this was light suffering compared -with the treatment they received daily from agents, officers, soldiers, -and jailors, who on the slightest pretext fired upon the prisoners. ‘Un -jour, à Plymouth même, un prisonnier ajusté par un soldat fut tué. On -envoie chercher le commissaire. Il vient: soulève le cadavre: on lui -demande justice; il répond: “C’est un Français,” et se retire!’ - -Alluding to the precautionary order which had been recently given in -England that all parole should cease, and that all officers on parole -should be sent to prisons and prison ships, he says: ‘There is now no -parole for officers. All are pell-mell together, of all ranks and of -both sexes. A woman was delivered of a child, she was left forty-eight -hours without attention, and even a glass of water was denied her. Even -the body of a dead dog was fought for by the famished prisoners.’ - -He then describes in glowing terms the treatment of English prisoners in -France; he suggests a tax for the relief of the French prisoners of war, -a ‘taxe d’humanité,’ being one-third of the ordinary sumptuary tax, and -winds up his attack: - - -‘Français! Vous avez déposé une foule d’offrandes sur l’autel de la -Patrie! Ce ne sera pas tromper vos intentions que de les employer au -soulagement de l’humanité souffrante. Vous voulez combattre -l’Angleterre: eh bien! Soulagez les victimes; conservez 22,000 -Républicains qui un jour tourneront contre leurs oppresseurs leurs bras -dirigés par la Vengeance! N’oubliez pas que le Gouvernement anglais -médite la ruine de la République; que, familiarisé avec tous les crimes, -il en inventera de nouveaux pour essayer de la renverser; mais elle -restera triomphante, et le Gouvernement anglais sera détruit! Attaquez -ce monstre! Il expirera sous vos coups! Quirot, Le Clerc -(Maine-et-Loire), Riou.’ - - -_The Times_ of January 8, 1798, comments severely upon the frequent -tirades of the Directory, ridiculing the attitude of a Government -remarkable above all others for its despotic character and its wholesale -violation of the common rights of man, as a champion of philanthropy, of -morals, and of humanity, and its appeal to all nations to unite against -the only country which protects the victims of Directorial anarchy. -After declaring that the prisoners in England are treated better than -prisoners of war ever were treated before, a fact admitted by all -reasonable Frenchmen, the writer says: - - -‘And yet the Directory dares to state officially in the face of Europe -that the Cabinet of St. James has resolved to withdraw all means of -subsistence from 22,000 Republican prisoners in England, and has shut -them up in dungeons, as if such a measure, supposing it even to be true, -could have any other object than to force the French Government to -provide for the sustenance of the French prisoners in this country in -the same manner as our Government does with respect to the English -prisoners in France.’ - - -In February 1798 the French Directory announced through Barras, the -president, that it would undertake the subsistence of the French -prisoners in England, meaning by subsistence, provisions, clothing, -medical attendance, and to make good all depredations by prisoners. - -_The Times_ of February 27 said: - - -‘The firm conduct of our Government in refusing any longer to make -advances for the maintenance of French prisoners, has had the good -effect of obliging the French Directory to come forward with the -necessary supplies, and as the French agents have now the full -management of this concern, we shall no longer be subject to their -odious calumnies against the humanity of this country.’ - - -Directly the French Government took over the task of feeding and -clothing the prisoners in England, they reduced the daily rations by one -quarter. This irritated the prisoners extremely, and it was said by them -that they preferred the ‘atrocious cruelty of the despot of London to -the humanity and measures of the Five Directors of Paris’. A -correspondent of _The Times_ of March 16, 1798, signing himself -‘Director’, said that under the previous British victualling régime, a -prisoner on his release showed the sum of four guineas which he had made -by the sale of superfluous provisions, and the same writer declared that -it had come to his knowledge that the new French provision agent had -made overtures to the old British contractor to supply inferior meat. - -In 1798 it was resolved in the House of Commons that an inquiry should -be made to establish the truth or the reverse of the French complaints -about the treatment of French prisoners in England. It was stated that -the reports spread about in France were purposely exaggerated in order -to inflame national feeling against Britain. Mr. Huskisson confirmed -this and alluded to the abominable treatment of Sir Sydney Smith. - -Colonel Stanley affirmed that the prisoners were generally well treated: -he had lately been in Liverpool where 6,000 were confined, and found the -officers had every indulgence, three billiard tables, and that they -often performed plays. - -In May 1798 the Report was drawn up. After hearing evidence and making -every inquiry it was found that the French complaints were gross -exaggerations; the Commissioners observed that ‘our prisoners in France -were treated with a degree of inhumanity and rigour unknown in any -former war, and unprecedented in the annals of civilized nations’, and -reiterated the complaint that all British proposals for the exchange of -prisoners were rejected. - -The Report stated that there was good medical attendance given to -prisoners in Britain; that there were constant checks on fraud by -contractors and officials; that the prisoners appointed their own -inspector of rations; that fraudulent contractors were proceeded -against, and punished, giving as a recent example, a Plymouth contractor -who, having failed in his engagements to supply the prisons with good -provisions of full weight, was imprisoned for six months and fined £300. - -The Report stated that the daily scale of provisions for prisoners in -health was: one and a half pounds of bread, three-quarters of a pound of -beef, one-third of an ounce of salt, and one quart of beer, except on -Saturdays, when four ounces of butter and six ounces of cheese were -substituted; and on four days of the week half a pint of pease, or in -lieu one pound of cabbage stripped from the stalk. - -The prisoners selected their own surgeons if they chose, and the same -diet was given to sick prisoners as to sick British seamen. Each man was -provided with a hammock, a palliasse, a bolster and a blanket, the straw -of bolsters and palliasses being frequently changed. - -A letter written in 1793 to the Supplement of the _Gentleman’s -Magazine_, holds good for 1798, as to the belief of the man in the -street that the foregoing liberal and humane regulations were worth more -than the paper they were written on: - - -‘The Sans Culottes we hold in prison never lived so well in their lives -before: they are allowed every day three-quarters of a pound of good -beef, two pounds of bread with all the finest of the flour in it, the -bran alone being extracted, two quarts of strong well-relished soup, one -pound of cabbage with the heart included, and a quart of good beer. As a -Frenchman can live upon one pound of meat for a week, this allowance is -over-plenteous, and the prisoners sell more than half of it. With the -money so obtained they buy as much strong beer as they can get leave to -have brought them.... Such is the manner in which Englishmen are at this -juncture treating their natural, inveterate, and unalterable enemies.’ - - -On December 22, 1799, the French Government—now the Consulate—repudiated -the arrangement made by the Directory for the subsistence of French -war-prisoners in England, and the British Government was obliged to -undertake the task, the Transport Office now replacing the old ‘Sick and -Hurt’ Office. So the prisoner committees in the dépôts and prisons were -abolished, and all persons who, under the previous arrangement, were -under the French agents and contractors, and as such had been allowed -passports, returned to their original prisoner status. - -The Duke of Portland wrote thus to the Admiralty: - - -‘It is less necessary on this occasion to recall the circumstances which -gave rise to the arrangement under which the two Governments agreed to -provide for the wants of their respective subjects during their -detention, as they have been submitted to Parliament and published to -the world in refutation of the false and unwarrantable assertions -brought forward by the French Government on this subject; but His -Majesty cannot witness the termination of an arrangement founded on the -fairest principles of Justice and Protection due by the Powers of War to -their respective Prisoners, and proved by experience to be the best -calculated to provide for their comfort, without protesting against the -departure (on the part of the French Government) from an agreement -entered into between the two countries, and which tended so materially -to mitigate the Calamities of War. To prevent this effect as much as -possible with respect to the British prisoners now in France, it is His -Majesty’s pleasure that Capt. Cotes should be instructed to ascertain -exactly the rate of daily allowance made to each man by the French -Government, and that he should take care to supply at the expense of -this country any difference that may exist between such allowance and -what was issued by him under the late arrangement. - -‘With respect to all the prisoners not on Parole in this country, it is -His Majesty’s command that from the date of the French agent ceasing to -supply them, the Commissioners of Transports and for taking care of -prisoners of war shall furnish them immediately with the same ration of -Provisions as were granted before the late arrangement took place.’ - - -(Not clothing, as this had always been supplied by the French -Government.) - -Previous to this repudiatory act of France, the British Government made -a similar proposal to Holland, accompanying it with the following -remarks, which certainly seem to point to a desire to do the best -possible to minimize the misery of the unfortunate men. - - -‘We trust that your Government will not reject so humane a proposition, -which, if accepted, will, of course, preclude the possibility of -complaints or recriminations between the respective Governments, and -probably meliorate the fate of every individual to which it relates. In -health their mode of living will be more conformable to their former -habits. In sickness they will be less apt to mistrust the skill of their -attendants, or to question the interest they may take in their -preservation. On all occasions they would be relieved from the suspicion -that the Hand which supplies their wants and ministers to their comfort, -is directed by that spirit of Hostility which is too often the -consequence of the Prejudice and Enmity excited by the State of War -between Nations.’ - - -However, the Dutch Government, no doubt acting under orders from -without, replied that it was impossible to comply. So Dutch prisoners -became also the objects of our national charity. - -The _Moniteur_ thus defended the Act of Repudiation: - - -‘The notification of the abandonment by the French Government of the -support of French prisoners in England is in conformity with the common -customs of war, and is an act of wise administration and good policy. -The old Directory is perhaps the first Government which set the example -of a belligerent power supporting its prisoners upon the territories of -its enemies ... Men must have seen in this new arrangement a sort of -insult. The English papers of that time were filled with bitter -complaints, with almost official justification of this conduct, -supported by most authentic proofs. Well-informed men saw with surprise -the French Government abandon itself blindly to these impolitic -suggestions, release the English from the expense and embarrassment of -making burthensome advances, exhaust of its own accord the remains of -its specie in order to send it to England; deprive themselves of the -pecuniary resources of which they stood in such pressing need, in order -to add to the pecuniary resources of its enemies; and, in short, to -support the enormous expenses of administration. - -‘The English, while they exclaimed against the injustice of the -accusation, gathered with pleasure the fruits of this error of the -Directory; though our old Monarchical Government left England during the -whole war to support the expenses of the prisoners, and did not -liquidate the balance until the return of Peace, and consequently of -circulation, credit, commerce, and plenty, rendered the payment more -easy. The generally received custom of leaving to the humanity of -belligerent nations the care of protecting and supporting prisoners -marks the progress of civilization.’ - - -The results of repudiation by France of the care of French prisoners in -England were not long in showing themselves. - -The agent at Portchester Castle wrote to the Transport Office: - - - ‘August, 1800. - - ‘GENTLEMEN: - -‘I am under the necessity of laying before you the miserable situation -of a great number of Prisoners at this Depôt for want of clothing. Many -of them are entirely naked, and others have to cut up their hammocks to -cover themselves. Their situation is such, that if not provided with -these articles before the cold weather commences they must inevitably -perish. - -‘I beg to observe that it is nearly eighteen months since they were -furnished with any article of wearing apparel by the French Government, -and then only a single shirt to each suit which must necessarily have -been worn out long since. - - JOHN HOLMWOOD.’ - - -And again, later on: - - -‘The prisoners are reduced to a state of dreadful meagreness. A great -number of them have the appearance of walking skeletons. One has been -found dead in his hammock, and another fell out from mere debility and -was killed by the fall. The great part of those sent to the hospital die -in a short time, others as soon as they are received there.’ - - -These were written in consequence of letters of complaint from -prisoners. The Agent in France for prisoners of war in England, Niou, -was communicated with, but no reply came. Otto, the Commissioner of the -Republic in England, however, said that as the French Government clothed -British prisoners, _although they were not exactly British prisoners but -allies_, it was our duty to clothe French prisoners. The British -Government denied this, saying that _we_ clothed our allies when -prisoners abroad, and ascribed much of the misery among the French -prisoners to their irrepressible gambling habits. Dundas wrote a long -letter to the French Commissioners about the neglect of their -Government, but added that out of sheer compassion the British -Government would supply the French prisoners with sufficient clothing. -Lord Malmesbury hinted that the prisoners were refused the chance of -redress by the difficulty of gaining access to their Commissary, which -Grenville stated was absolutely untrue, and that the commonest soldier -or sailor had entire freedom of access to his representative. - -On October 29, 1800, Otto, the French Commissioner in England, wrote: - - -‘My letter from Liverpool states that the number of deaths during the -past month has greatly exceeded that of four previous months, even when -the depôt contained twice the number of prisoners. This sudden mortality -which commenced at the close of last month, is the consequence of the -first approach of cold weather, all, without exception, having failed -from debility. The same fate awaits many more of these unfortunate -beings, already half starved from want of proper food, and obliged to -sleep upon a damp pavement or a few handfuls of rotten straw. Hunger and -their own imprudence, deprived them of their clothes, and now the effect -of the cold weather obliges them to part with a share of their scanty -subsistence to procure clothing. In one word, their only hope is a -change in their situation or death.’ - - -In this account Otto admits that the prisoners’ ‘imprudence’ has largely -brought about the state of affairs. Rupert George, Ambrose Serle, and -John Schenck, the Transport Office Commissioners who had been sent to -inquire, report confirming the misery, and re-affirm its chief cause. -About Stapleton Prison they say: - - -‘Those who are not quite ragged and half naked, are generally very dirty -in their scanty apparel, and make a worse appearance as to health than -they would do had they the power in such a dress to be clean. Profligacy -and gambling add to the distress of many, and it is perhaps impossible -to prevent or restrain this spirit, which can exercise itself in -corners. The Dutch prisoners at Stapleton (1800), being clothed by the -Dutch Government are in much better health than the French.’ - - -The Commissioners sent to Otto an extract of a letter from Forton, near -Gosport. Griffin, the prison surgeon, says that ‘several prisoners have -been received into the Hospital in a state of great debility owing to -their having disposed of their ration of provisions for a week, a -fortnight, and in some instances for a month at a time. We have felt it -our duty to direct that such persons as may be discovered to have been -concerned in purchasing any article of provision, clothing or bedding, -of another prisoner, should be confined in the Black Hole and kept on -short allowance for ten days and also be marked as having forfeited -their turn of exchange.’ - -Callous, almost brutal, according to our modern standards, as was the -general character of the period covered by this history, it must not be -inferred therefrom that all sympathy was withheld from the unfortunate -men condemned to be prisoners on our shores. We have seen how generously -the British public responded to the call for aid in the cases of the -French prisoners of 1759, and of the Americans of 1778; we shall see in -the progress of this history how very largely the heart of the country -people of Britain went out to the prisoners living on parole amongst -them, and I think my readers may accept a letter which I am about to put -before them as evidence that a considerable section of the British -public was of opinion that the theory and practice of our system with -regard to prisoners of war was not merely wrong, but wicked, and that -very drastic reform was most urgently needed. - -Some readers may share the opinion of the French General Pillet, which I -append to the letter, that the whole matter—the writing of the anonymous -letter, and the prosecution and punishment of the newspaper editor who -published it, was a trick of the Government to blind the public eye to -facts, and that the fact that the Government should have been driven to -have recourse to it, pointed to their suspicion that the public had more -than an inkling that it was being hoodwinked. - -In the _Statesman_ newspaper of March 19, 1812, appeared the following -article: - - -‘Our unfortunate prisoners in France have now been in captivity nine -years, and, while the true cause of their detention shall remain unknown -to the country there cannot be any prospect of their restoration to -their families and homes. In some journeys I have lately made I have had -repeated opportunities of discovering the infamous practices which -produce the present evil, and render our exiled countrymen the hopeless -victims of misery....’ - - -(The writer then describes the two classes of prisoners of war in -England.) - - -‘They are all under the care of the Transport Office who has the -management of the money for their maintenance, which amounts to an -enormous sum (more than three millions per annum) of which a large part -is not converted to the intended purpose, but is of clear benefit to the -Commissioners and their employers. The prisoners on parole receiving -1_s._ 6_d._ per diem produce comparatively little advantage to the -Commissioners, who are benefited principally by the remittances these -prisoners receive from France, keeping their money five or six months, -and employing it in stock-jobbing. They gain still something from these, -however, by what their agents think proper to send them of the property -of those who die or run away. The prisoners in close confinement are -very profitable. These prisoners are allowed by the Government once in -eighteen months a complete suit of clothing, which however, they never -receive. Those, therefore, among them who have any covering have bought -it with the product of their industry, on which the Agents make enormous -profits. Those who have no genius or no money go naked, and there are -many in this deplorable state. Such a picture Humanity revolts at, but -it is a true one, for the produce of the clothing goes entirely into the -pockets of the Commissioners. - -‘A certain amount of bread, meat, &c., of good quality ought to be -furnished to each prisoner every day. They receive these victuals, but -they are generally of bad quality, and there is always something wanting -in the quantity—as one half or one third at least, which is of great -amount. Besides, when any person is punished, he receives only one half -of what is called a portion. These measures, whenever taken, produce -about £250 or £300 a day in each depôt according to the number of -prisoners, and of course, are found necessary very often. These are the -regular and common profits. The Commissioners receive besides large sums -for expenses of every description which have never been incurred in the -course of the year, and find means to clear many hundreds of thousands -of pounds to share with their employers.’ - - -The writer goes on to say that - - -‘the real reason for bringing so many prisoners into the country is not -military, but to enrich themselves [i.e. the Government]. For the same -reason they keep the San Domingo people of 1803, who, by a solemn -capitulation of Aux Cayes were to be returned to France. So with the -capitulation of Cap François, who were sent home in 1811 as -clandestinely as possible. Bonaparte could say ditto to us if any of -ours capitulated in Spain like the Duke of York in Holland. - -‘All this is the reason why our people in France are so badly treated, -and it is not to be wondered at. - - ‘HONESTUS.’ - - -The Transport Office deemed the plain-speaking on the part of an -influential journal so serious that the opinion of the Attorney-General -was asked, and he pronounced it to be ‘a most scandalous libel and ought -to be prosecuted’. So the proprietor was proceeded against, found -guilty, fined £500, imprisoned in Newgate for eighteen months, and had -to find security for future good behaviour, himself in £1,000, and two -sureties in £500 each. - -I add the remarks of General Pillet, a prisoner on a Chatham hulk, upon -this matter. They are from his book _L’Angleterre, vue à Londres et dans -ses provinces, pendant un séjour de dix années, dont six comme -prisonnier de guerre_—a book utterly worthless as a record of facts, and -infected throughout with the most violent spirit of Anglophobism, but -not without value for reference concerning many details which could only -come under the notice of a prisoner. - - -‘Mr. Lovel, editor of the _Statesman_, a paper generally inclined in -favour of the French Government, had published in March 19, 1812, a -letter signed “Honestus”, in which the writer detailed with an exactness -which showed he was thoroughly informed, the different sorts of -robberies committed by the Transport Office and its agents upon the -French prisoners, and summed them up. According to him these robberies -amounted to several millions of francs: the budget of the cost of the -prisoners being about 24,000,000 francs. Mr. Lovel was prosecuted. -“Honestus” preserved his anonymity; the editor was, in consequence, -condemned to two years imprisonment and a heavy fine. His defence was -that the letter had been inserted without his knowledge and that he had -had no idea who was the author. I have reason to believe, without being -absolutely sure, that the writer was one Adams, an employé who had been -dismissed from the Transport Office, a rascal all the better up in the -details which he gave in that he had acted as interpreter of all the -prisoners’ correspondence, the cause of his resentment being that he had -been replaced by Sugden, even a greater rascal than he. I wrote to Mr. -Brougham, Lovel’s Solicitor, and sent him a regular sworn statement that -the prisoners did not receive one quarter the clothing nominally served -to them, and for which probably the Government paid; that, estimating an -outfit to be worth £1, this single item alone meant the robbery every -eighteen months of about £1,800,000. My letter, as I expected, produced -no effect; there was no desire to be enlightened on the affair, and the -judicial proceedings were necessary to clear the Transport Office in the -eyes of the French Government. Hence the reason for the severe -punishment of Lovel, whose fine, I have been assured, was partly paid by -the Transport Office, by a secret agreement.’ - - -The General, after some remarks about the very different way in which -such an affair would have been conducted in France, appends a note -quoting the case of General Virion, who, on being accused of cruelty and -rapacity towards the English prisoners in Verdun, blew his brains out -rather than face the disgrace of a trial. - -Pillet wrote to Lovel, the editor, thus: - - - ‘On board the prison ship _Brunswick_, - Chatham, May 19, 1813. - - ‘SIR: - -‘Since I have become acquainted with the business of the letter of -“Honestus” I have been filled with indignation against the coward who, -having seemed to wish to expose the horrible truth about the character -and amount of the robberies practised upon prisoners of war, persists in -maintaining his incognito when you have asked him to come forward in -your justification.... Unhappily, we are Frenchmen, and it seems to be -regarded in this country as treason to ask justice for us, and that -because it is not possible to exterminate France altogether, the noblest -act of patriotism seems to consist in assassinating French prisoners -individually, by adding to the torments of a frightful imprisonment -privations of all sorts, and thefts of clothing of which hardly a -quarter of the proper quantity is distributed.... - -‘We have asked for impartial inquiries to be made by people not in the -pay of the Admiralty; we have declared that we could reveal acts -horrible enough to make hairs stand on end, and that we could bring -unimpeachable witnesses to support our testimony. These demands, even -when forwarded by irreproachable persons, have been received in silence. -Is it possible that there are not in England more determined men to put -a stop to ill-doing from a sense of duty and irrespective of rank or -nation? Is it possible that not a voice shall ever be raised on our -behalf? - -‘Your condemnation makes me fear it is so. - -‘If only one good man, powerful, and being resolved to remove shame from -his country, and to wash out the blot upon her name caused by the -knowledge throughout Europe of what we suffer, could descend a moment -among us, and acquaint himself with the details of our miseries with the -object of relieving them, what good he would do humanity, and what a -claim he would establish to our gratitude!’ - - -Pillet adds in a note: - - -‘Lord Cochrane in 1813 wished to examine the prison ships at Portsmouth. -Although he was a member of Parliament, and a captain in the navy, -permission was refused him, because the object of his visit was to -ascertain the truth about the ill-treatment of the prisoners. Lord -Cochrane is anything but an estimable man, but he is one of those who, -in the bitterness of their hatred of the party in power, sometimes do -good. He complained in Parliament, and the only reply he got was that as -the hulks were under the administration of the Transport Office, it -could admit or refuse whomsoever it chose to inspect them.’ - - - - - CHAPTER II - THE EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS - - -From first to last the question of the Exchange of Prisoners was a -burning one between Great Britain and her enemies, and, despite all -efforts to arrange it upon an equitable basis and to establish its -practice, it was never satisfactorily settled. It is difficult for an -Englishman, reviewing the evidence as a whole and in as impartial a -spirit as possible, to arrive at any other conclusion than that we were -not so fairly dealt with by others as we dealt with them. We allowed -French, Danish, and Dutch officers to go on parole to their own -countries, which meant that they were on their honour to return to -England if they were not exchanged by a certain date, and we continued -to do so in face of the fact that violation of this pledge was the rule -and not the exception, and that prominent officers of the army and navy -were not ashamed thus to sin. Or we sent over shiploads of foreigners, -each of whom had been previously arranged for as exchanged, but so often -did the cartel ships, as they were called, return empty or without -equivalent numbers from the French ports that the balance of exchange -was invariably heavily against Britain. The transport of prisoners for -whom exchanges had been arranged, and of invalids and boys, was by means -of cartel ships which were hired, or contracted for, by Government for -this particular service, and were subject to the strictest regulation -and supervision. The early cartel ports were Dover, Poole, and Falmouth -on this side; Calais, St. Malo, Havre, and Morlaix in France, but during -the Napoleonic wars Morlaix was the French port, Plymouth, Lynn, -Dartmouth, and Portsmouth being those of England. The French ports were -selected with the idea of rendering the marches of exchanged prisoners -to their districts as easy as possible. - -A cartel ship was not allowed to carry guns or arms, nor any -merchandise; if it did the vessel was liable to be seized. The national -flag of the port of destination was to be flown at the fore-top-gallant -mast, and the ship’s flag on the ensign staff, and both were to be kept -continually flying. Passengers were not allowed to carry letters, nor, -if from England, gold coin; the latter restriction being imposed so as -partially to check the lucrative trade of guinea-running, as, during the -early nineteenth century, on account of the scarcity of gold in France, -there was such a premium upon British guineas that the smuggling of them -engaged a large section of the English coast community, who were -frequently backed up by London houses of repute. Passengers going to -France on their own account paid £5 5_s._ each, with a deposit against -demurrage on account of possible detention in the French port at one -guinea per day, the demurrage being deducted from the deposit and the -balance returned to the passenger. - -The early cartel rates were, from Dover to Calais, 6_s._ per head; -between all the Channel ports 10_s._ 6_d._, and to ports out of the -Channel, £1 1_s._ For this the allowance of food was one and a half -pounds of bread, three-quarters of a pound of meat, and two quarts of -beer or one quart of wine, except between Dover and Calais, where for -the meat was substituted four ounces of butter or six ounces of cheese. -Commanding officers had separate cabins; a surgeon was compulsorily -carried; officers and surgeon messed at the captain’s table. It was -necessary that the ship should be provisioned sufficiently for an -emergency, and it was especially ruled that if a ship should be delayed -beyond sailing time owing to weather or incomplete number of passengers, -nobody upon any pretence was to leave the ship. - -In 1808, on account of the discomforts and even the dangers of the -cartel service, as well as the abuse of it by parole-breakers and -others, a request was made that a naval officer should accompany each -cartel ship, but this was refused by the Admiralty upon the ground that -as such he might be arrested upon reaching a French port. As it became -suspected that between the cartel shipowners and captains and the escape -agents a very close business understanding existed, it was ordered in -this same year, 1808, that all foreigners found about sea-port towns on -the plea that they were exchanged prisoners waiting for cartel ships, -should be arrested, and that the batches of exchanged prisoners should -be timed to reach the ports so that they should not have to wait. - -Later, when practically Plymouth and Morlaix had a monopoly of the -cartel traffic, the cartel owner received uniformly half a guinea per -man if his carriage-rate was one man per ton of his burthen; and seven -shillings and sixpence if at the more usual rate of three men to two -tons, and for victualling was allowed fourteen pence per caput per diem. - -In 1757 much correspondence between the two Governments took place upon -the subjects of the treatment and exchange of prisoners, which may be -seen at the Archives Nationales in Paris, resulting in a conference -between M. de Marmontel and M. de Moras, Minister of Marine and -Controller-General of Finances, and Vanneck & Co., agents in England for -French affairs. Nothing came of it except an admission by the French -that in one respect their countrymen in England were better treated than -were the English prisoners in France, in that whereas the French -prisoners were provided with mattresses and coverlids, the English were -only given straw. England claimed the right of monopolizing the -sea-carriage of prisoners; and this France very naturally refused, but -agreed to the other clauses that king’s officers should be preferred to -all other in exchange, that women and children under twelve should be -sent without exchange, and that in hospitals patients should have -separate beds and coverlids. But after a long exchange of requests and -replies, complaints and accusations, England ceased to reply, and -matters were at a standstill. - -In 1758 there was a correspondence between M. de Moras and M. de -Marmontel which shows that in these early days the principle of the -exchange of prisoners possessed honourable features which were -remarkably wanting on the French side during the later struggles between -the two countries. Three French ‘broke-paroles’ who in accordance with -the custom of the time should, when discovered, have been sent back to -England, could not be found. M. de Moras suggested that in this case -they should imitate the action of the British authorities in Jersey, -who, unable to find nine English prisoners who had escaped from Dinan, -stolen a fishing-boat, and got over to Jersey, had sent back the stolen -vessel and nine French prisoners as an equivalent. - -The following was the passport form for French prisoners whose exchange -had been effected. - - -‘By the Commissioners for taking care of sick and wounded seamen, and -for Exchanging Prisoners of War. - -‘Whereas the one person named and described on the back hereof is -Discharged from being Prisoner of War to proceed from London to France -by way of Ostend in exchange for the British prisoner also named and -described on the back hereof; you and every of you (_sic_) are hereby -desired to suffer the said Discharged Person to pass from London to -France accordingly without any hindrance or molestation whatever. This -passport to continue in force for six days from the date of these -presents. - - ‘June 3rd. 1757. - -‘To all and Singular the King’s officers Civil and Military, -and to those of all the Princes and States in Alliance with -His Majesty.’ - - -In 1758 the complaints of the French Government about the unsatisfactory -state of the prisoner exchange system occupy many long letters. ‘Il est -trop important de laisser subsister une pareille inaction dans les -échanges; elle est préjudiciable aux deux Puissances, et fâcheuse aux -familles’, is one remark. On the other hand, the complaint went from our -side that we sent over on one occasion 219 French prisoners, and only -got back 143 British, to which the French replied: ‘Yes: but your 143 -were all sound men, whereas the 219 you sent us were invalids, boys, and -strangers to this Department.’ By way of postscript the French official -described how not long since a Dover boat, having captured two -fishing-smacks of Boulogne and St. Valéry, made each boat pay -twenty-five guineas ransom, beat the men with swords, and wounded the -St. Valéry captain, remarking: ‘le procédé est d’autant plus inhumain -qu’il a eu lieu de sang-froid et qu’il a été exercé contre des gens qui -achetoient leur liberté au prix de toute leur fortune’. - -This and other similar outrages on both sides led to the mutual -agreement that fishing-boats were to be allowed to pursue their -avocation unmolested—an arrangement which in later times, when the -business of helping prisoners to escape was in full swing, proved to be -a mixed blessing. - -I do not think that the above-quoted argument of the French, that in -return for sound men we were in the habit of sending the useless and -invalids, and that this largely compensated for the apparent -disproportion in the numbers exchanged—an argument which they used to -the end of the wars between the two nations—is to be too summarily -dismissed as absurd. Nor does it seem that our treatment of the poor -wretches erred on the side of indulgence, for many letters of complaint -are extant, of which the following from a French cartel-ship captain of -1780 is a specimen: - - -‘Combien n’est-il pas d’inhumanité d’envoyer des prisonniers les plus -malades, attaqués de fièvre et de dissentoire. J’espère, Monsieur, que -vous, connoissant les sentiments les plus justes, que vous voudriez bien -donner vos ordres à M. Monckton, agent des prisonniers français, pour -qu’il soit donné à mes malades des vivres frais, suivant l’ordinnance de -votre Majesté; ou, qu’ils soient mis à l’hôpital.’ - - -It would seem that during the Seven Years’ War British merchant-ship and -privateer officers were only allowed to be on parole in France if they -could find a local person of standing to guarantee the payment of a sum -of money to the Government in the case of a breach of parole. - -The parole rules in France, so far as regarded the limits assigned to -prisoners at their towns of confinement, were not nearly so strict as in -England, but, on the other hand, no system of guarantee money like that -just mentioned existed in England. - -On March 12, 1780, a table of exchange of prisoners of war, with the -equivalent ransom rates, was agreed to, ranging from £60 or sixty men -for an admiral or field-marshal to £1 or one man for a common sailor or -soldier in the regular services, and from £4 or four men for a captain -to £1 or one man of privateers and merchantmen. - -In 1793 the French Government ordained a sweeping change by abolishing -all equivalents in men or money to officers, and decreed that henceforth -the exchange should be strictly of grade for grade, and man for man, and -that no non-combatants or surgeons should be retained as prisoners of -war. How the two last provisions came to be habitually violated is -history. - -On February 4, 1795, the Admiralty authorized the ‘Sick and Hurt’ Office -to send a representative to France, to settle, if possible, the vexed -question of prisoner exchange, and on March 22 Mr. F. M. Eden started -for Brest, but was taken on to Roscoff. A week later a French naval -officer called on him and informed him that only the Committee of Public -Safety could deal with this matter, and asked him to go to Paris. He -declined; so the purport of his errand was sent to Paris. A reply -invited him to go to Dieppe. Here he met Comeyras, who said that the -Committee of Public Safety would not agree to his cartel, there being, -they said, a manifest difference between the two countries in that Great -Britain carried on the war with the two professions—the navy and the -army—and that restoring prisoners to her would clearly be of greater -advantage to her than would be the returning of an equal number of men -to France, who carried on war with the mass of the people. Moreover, -Great Britain notoriously wanted men to replace those she had lost, -whilst France had quite enough to enable her to defeat all her enemies. - -So Eden returned to Brighthelmstone. Later, a meeting at the _Fountain_, -Canterbury, between Otway and Marsh for Britain, and Monnerson for -France, was equally fruitless, and it became quite evident that although -France was glad enough to get general officers back, she had no -particular solicitude for the rank and file, her not illogical argument -being that every fighting man, officer or private, was of more value to -Britain than were three times their number of Frenchmen to France. - -In 1796 many complaints were made by the British cartel-ship masters -that upon landing French prisoners at Morlaix their boats were taken -from them, they were not allowed to go ashore, soldiers were placed on -board to watch them; that directly the prisoners were landed, the ships -were ordered to sea, irrespective of the weather; and that they were -always informed that there were no British prisoners to take back. - -In this year we had much occasion to complain of the one-sided character -of the system of prisoner exchange with France, the balance due to -Britain in 1796 being no less than 5,000. Cartel after cartel went to -France full and came back empty; in one instance only seventy-one -British prisoners were returned for 201 French sent over; in another -instance 150 were sent and nine were returned, and in another 450 were -sent without return. - -From the regularity with which our authorities seem to have been content -to give without receiving, one cannot help wondering if, after all, -there might not have been some foundation for the frequent French retort -that while we received sound men, we only sent the diseased, and aged, -or boys. Yet the correspondence from our side so regularly and -emphatically repudiates this that we can only think that the burden of -the prisoners was galling the national back, and that the grumble was -becoming audible which later broke out in the articles of the -_Statesman_, the _Examiner_, and the _Independent Whig_. - -From January 1, 1796, to March 14, 1798, the balance between Britain and -Holland stood thus: - - Dutch officers returned 316, men 416 732 - British officers returned 64, men 290 354 - ——— - Balance due to us 378 - ——— - -Just at this time there were a great many war-prisoners in England. -Norman Cross and Yarmouth were full, and new prison ships were being -fitted out at Chatham. The correspondence of the ‘Sick and Hurt’ Office -consisted very largely of refusals to applicants to be allowed to go to -France on parole, so that evidently the prisoner exchange was in so -unsatisfactory a condition that even the passage of cartel loads of -invalids was suspended. - -In 1798 an arrangement about the exchange of prisoners was come to -between England and France. France was to send a vessel with British -prisoners, 5 per cent of whom were to be officers, and England was to do -the same. The agents on each side were to select the prisoners. It was -also ruled that the prisoners in each country were to be supported by -their own country, and that those who were sick, wounded, incapacitated, -or boys, should be surrendered without equivalent. - -But in 1799 the French Republican Government refused to clothe or -support its prisoners in Britain, so that all exchanges of prisoners -ceased. Pending the interchange of correspondence which followed the -declaration of this inhuman policy, the French prisoners suffered -terribly, especially as it was winter, so that in January 1801, on -account of the fearful mortality among them, it was resolved that they -should be supplied with warm clothing at the public expense, and this -was done, the cost being very largely defrayed by voluntary -subscriptions in all parts of the Kingdom. - -This was not the first or second time that British benevolence had -stepped in to stave off the results of French inhumanity towards -Frenchmen. - -The letter before quoted from the agent at Portchester (p. 18) and the -report on Stapleton (p. 19) in the chapter on International -Recriminations have reference to this period. - -This state of matters continued; the number of French prisoners in -Britain increased enormously, for the French Government would return no -answers to the continued representations from this side as to the -unsatisfactory character of the Exchange question. Yet in 1803 it was -stated that although not one British prisoner of war, and only five -British subjects, had been returned, no less than 400 French prisoners -actually taken at sea had been sent to France. - -In 1804 Boyer, an officer at Belfast, wrote to his brother the general, -on parole at Montgomery, that the Emperor would not entertain any -proposal for the exchange of prisoners unless the Hanoverian army were -recognized as prisoners of war. This was a sore topic with Bonaparte. In -1803 the British Government had refused to ratify the condition of the -Treaty of Sublingen which demanded that the Hanoverian army, helpless in -the face of Bonaparte’s sudden invasion of the country, should retire -behind the Elbe and engage not to serve against France or her Allies -during the war, in other words to agree to their being considered -prisoners of war. Bonaparte insisted that as Britain was intimately -linked with Hanover through her king she should ratify this condition. -Our Government repudiated all interest in Hanover’s own affairs: Hanover -was forced to yield, but Britain retaliated by blockading the Elbe and -the Weser, with the result that Hamburg and Bremen were half ruined. - -A form of exchange at sea was long practised of which the following is a -specimen: - - -‘We who have hereunto set our names, being a lieutenant and a master of -H.B.M.’s ship _Virgin_, do hereby promise on our word of honour to cause -two of His Christian Majesty’s subjects of the same class who may be -Prisoners in England to be set at liberty by way of Exchange for us, we -having been taken by the French and set at liberty on said terms, and in -case we don’t comply therewith we are obliged when called on to do so to -return as Prisoners to France. Given under our hands in port of Coruña, -July 31, 1762.’ - - -As might be supposed, this easy method of procuring liberty led to much -parole breaking on both sides, but it was not until 1812 that such -contracts were declared to be illegal. - -During 1805 the British Government persisted in its efforts to bring -about an arrangement for the exchange of prisoners, but to these efforts -the extraordinary reply was: - - -‘Nothing can be done on the subject without a formal order from the -Emperor, and under the present circumstances His Imperial Majesty cannot -attend to this business.’ - - -The Transport Board thus commented upon this: - - -‘Every proposal of this Government relative to the exchanging of -prisoners has been met by that of France with insulting evasion or -contemptuous silence. As such [_sic_] it would be derogatory to the -honour of the Kingdom to strive further in the cause of Humanity when -our motives would be misnamed, and the objects unattained. - -‘This Board will not take any further steps in the subject, but will -rejoice to meet France in any proposal from thence.’ - - -In the same year the Transport Office posted as a circular the -Declaration of the French Government not to exchange even aged and -infirm British prisoners in France. - -In 1806 the Transport Office replied as follows to the request for -liberation of a French officer on parole at Tiverton, who cited the -release of Mr. Cockburn from France in support of his petition: - - -‘Mr. Cockburn never was a prisoner of war, but was detained in France at -the commencement of hostilities contrary to the practise of civilized -nations, and so far from the French Government having released, as you -say, many British prisoners, so that they might re-establish their -health in their own country, only three persons coming under the -description have been liberated in return for 672 French officers and -1,062 men who have been sent to France on account of being ill. Even the -favour granted to the above mentioned three persons was by the interest -of private individuals, and cannot be considered as an act of the -Government of that country.’ - - -(A similar reply was given to many other applicants.) - - -Denmark, like Holland, made no replies to the British Government’s -request for an arrangement of the exchange of prisoners, and of course, -both took their cue from France. In the year 1808 the balance due from -Denmark to Britain was 3,807. There were 1,796 Danish prisoners in -England. Between 1808 and 1813 the balance due to us was 2,697. As -another result of the French policy, the Transport Office requested the -Duke of Wellington in Spain to arrange for the exchange of prisoners on -the spot, as, under present circumstances, once a man became a prisoner -in France, his services were probably lost to his country for ever. Yet -another result was that the prisoners in confinement all over Britain in -1810, finding that the exchange system was practically suspended, became -turbulent and disorderly to such an extent, and made such desperate -attempts to break out, notably at Portchester and Dartmoor, that it was -found necessary to double the number of sentries. - -At length in 1810, soon after the marriage of Bonaparte with Marie -Louise, an attempt was made at Morlaix to arrange matters, and the Comte -du Moustier met Mr. Mackenzie there. Nothing came of it, because of the -exorbitant demands of Bonaparte. He insisted that all prisoners—English, -French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italians—should be exchanged, man for man, -rank for rank, on the same footing as the principal power under whom -they fought; in other words, that for 50,000 Frenchmen, only 10,000 -British would be returned, the balance being made up of Spanish and -Portuguese more or less raw levies, who were not to be compared in -fighting value with Englishmen or Frenchmen. - -The second section of the fourth article of Mr. Mackenzie’s note was: - - -‘All the French prisoners, of whatever rank and quality, at present -detained in Great Britain, or in the British possessions, shall be -released. The exchange shall commence immediately after the signature of -this convention, and shall be made by sending successively to Morlaix, -or to any other port in the British Channel that may be agreed on, or by -delivering to the French Commissioners, a thousand French prisoners for -a thousand English prisoners, as promptly and in the same proportion as -the Government shall release the latter.’ - - -As neither party would yield, the negotiations were broken off. The -_Moniteur_ complained that some one of higher rank than Mr. Mackenzie -had not been sent as British representative, and the British paper _The -Statesman_ commented strongly upon our non-acceptance of Bonaparte’s -terms, although endorsing our refusal to accede to the particular -article about the proportion of the exchange. - -General Pillet, before quoted, criticizes the British action in his -usual vitriolic fashion. After alluding bitterly to the conduct of the -British Government in the matters of San Domingo and the Hanoverian -army—both of which are still regarded by French writers as eminent -instances of British bad faith, he describes the Morlaix meeting as an -‘infamous trap’ on the part of our Government. - - -‘We had the greater interest in this negotiation,’ he says; we desired -exchange with a passion difficult to describe. Well! we trembled lest -France should accept conditions which would have returned to their homes -all the English prisoners without our receiving back a single Frenchman -who was not sick or dying ... it was clearly demonstrated that the one -aim of the London Cabinet was to destroy us all, and from this moment it -set to work to capture as many prisoners as possible, so that it might -almost be said that this was the one object of the War!’ - - -Las Cases quotes Bonaparte’s comments in this matter: - - -‘The English had infinitely more French than I had English prisoners. I -knew well that the moment they had got back their own they would have -discovered some pretext for carrying the exchange no further, and my -poor French would have remained for ever in the hulks. I admitted, -therefore, that I had much fewer English than they had French prisoners: -but then I had a great number of Spanish and Portuguese, and by taking -them into account, I had a mass of prisoners considerably greater than -theirs. I offered, therefore, to exchange the whole. This proposition at -first disconcerted them, _but at length they agreed to it_. But I had my -eye on everything. I saw clearly that if they began by exchanging an -Englishman against a Frenchman, as soon as they got back their own they -would have brought forward something to stop the exchanges. I insisted -therefore that 3,000 Frenchmen should be exchanged against 1,000 English -and 2,000 Spaniards and Portuguese. They refused this, and so the -negotiations broke off.’ - - -Want of space prevents me from quoting the long conversation which was -held upon the subject of the Exchange of Prisoners of War between -Bonaparte and Las Cases at St. Helena, although it is well worth the -study. - -As the object of this work is confined to prisoners of war in Britain, -it is manifestly beyond its province to discuss at length the vexed -questions of the comparative treatment of prisoners in the two -countries. I may reiterate that on the whole the balance is fairly even, -and that much depended upon local surroundings. Much evidence could be -cited to show that in certain French seaports and in certain inland -towns set apart for the residence of Bonaparte’s _détenus_ quite as much -brutality was exercised upon British subjects as was exercised upon -French prisoners in England. Much depended upon the character of the -local commandant; much depended upon the behaviour of the prisoners; -much depended upon local sentiment. Bitche, for instance, became known -as ‘the place of tears’ from the misery of the captives there; Verdun, -on the other hand, after the tyrannical commandant Virion had made away -with himself, was to all appearances a gay, happy, fashionable -watering-place. Bitche had a severe commandant, and the class of -prisoner there was generally rough and low. Beauchêne was a genial -jailer at Verdun, and the mass of the prisoners were well-to-do. So in -Britain. Woodriff was disliked at Norman Cross, and all was unhappiness. -Draper was beloved, and Norman Cross became quite a place of captivity -to be sought after. - - - - - CHAPTER III - THE PRISON SYSTEM—THE HULKS - - -The foreign prisoner of war in Britain, if an ordinary sailor or -soldier, was confined either on board a prison ship or in prison ashore. -Officers of certain exactly defined ranks were allowed to be upon parole -if they chose, in specified towns. Some officers refused to be bound by -the parole requirements, and preferred the hulk or the prison with the -chance of being able to escape. - -Each of these—the Hulks, the Prisons, Parole—will be dealt with -separately, as each has its particular characteristics and interesting -features. - -The prison ship as a British institution for the storage and maintenance -of men whose sole crime was that of fighting against us, must for ever -be a reproach to us. There is nothing to be urged in its favour. It was -not a necessity; it was far from being a convenience; it was not -economical; it was not sanitary. Man took one of the most beautiful -objects of his handiwork and deformed it into a hideous monstrosity. The -line-of-battle ship was a thing of beauty, but when masts and rigging -and sails were shorn away, when the symmetrical sweep of her lines was -deformed by all sorts of excrescences and superstructures, when her -white, black-dotted belts were smudged out, it lay, rather than floated, -like a gigantic black, shapeless coffin. Sunshine, which can give a -touch of picturesqueness, if not of beauty, to so much that is bare and -featureless, only brought out into greater prominence the dirt, the -shabbiness, the patchiness of the thing. In fog it was weird. In -moonlight it was spectral. The very prison and cemetery architects of -to-day strive to lead the eye by their art away from what the mind -pictures, but when the British Government brought the prison ship on to -the scene they appear to have aimed as much as possible at making the -outside reflect the life within. - -No amount of investigation, not the most careful sifting of evidence, -can blind our eyes to the fact that the British prison hulks were hells -upon water. It is not that the mortality upon them was abnormal: it was -greater than in the shore prisons, but it never exceeded 3 per cent upon -an average, although there were periods of epidemic when it rose much -higher. It is that the lives of those condemned to them were lives of -long, unbroken suffering. The writer, as an Englishman, would gladly -record otherwise, but he is bound to tell the truth, the whole truth, -and nothing but the truth. True it is that our evidence is almost -entirely that of prisoners themselves, but what is not, is that of -English officers, and theirs is of condemnation. It should be borne in -mind that the experiences we shall quote are those of officers and -gentlemen, or at any rate educated men, and the agreement is so -remarkable that it would be opening the way to an accusation of national -partiality if we were to refuse to accept it. - -The only palliating consideration in this sad confession is that the -prisoners brought upon themselves much of the misery. The passion for -gambling, fomented by long, weary hours of enforced idleness, wrought -far more mischief among the foreign prisoners in England, than did the -corresponding northern passion for drink among the British prisoners -abroad, if only from the fact that whereas the former, ashore and -afloat, could gamble when and where they chose, drink was not readily -procurable by the latter. The report of a French official doctor upon -prison-ship diseases will be quoted in its proper place, but the two -chief causes of disease named by him—insufficient food and insufficient -clothing—were very largely the result of the passion for gambling among -the prisoners. - -A correspondent of _The Times_, December 16, 1807, writes: - - -‘There is such a spirit of gambling existing among the French prisoners -lately arrived at Chatham from Norman Cross, that many of them have been -almost entirely naked during the late severe weather, having lost their -clothes, not even excepting their shirts and small clothes, to some of -their fellow prisoners: many of them also are reduced to the chance of -starving by the same means, having lost seven or eight days’ provisions -to their more fortunate companions, who never fail to exact their -winnings. The effervescence of mind that this diabolical pursuit gives -rise to is often exemplified in the conduct of these infatuated -captives, rendering them remarkably turbulent and unruly. Saturday last, -a quarrel arose between two of them in the course of play, when one of -them, who had lost his clothes and food, received a stab in the back.’ - -‘Gambling among the French prisoners on the several prison-ships in the -Medway has arrived at an alarming height. On board the _Buckingham_, -where there are nearly 600 prisoners, are a billiard table, hazard -tables, &c.; and the prisoners indulge themselves in play during the -hours they are allowed for exercise.’ - - -For the chief cause of suffering, medical neglect, there is, unhappily, -but little defence, for, if the complaints of neglect, inefficacy, and -of actual cruelty, which did manage to reach the august sanctum of the -Transport Office were numerous, how many more must there have been which -were adroitly prevented from getting there. - -Again, a great deal depended upon the prison-ship commander. French -writers are accustomed to say that the lieutenants in charge of the -British prison ships were the scum of the service—disappointed men, men -without interest, men under official clouds which checked their advance; -and it must be admitted that at first sight it seems strange that in a -time of war all over the world, when promotion must have been rapid, and -the chances of distinction frequent, officers should easily be found -ready, for the remuneration of seven shillings per diem, plus -eighteenpence servant allowance, to take up such a position as the -charge of seven or eight hundred desperate foreigners. - -But that this particular service was attractive is evident from the -constant applications for it from naval men with good credentials, and -from the frequent reply of the authorities that the waiting list was -full. If we may judge this branch of the service by others, and reading -the matter by the light of the times, we can only infer that the -Commander of a prison hulk was in the way of getting a good many -‘pickings’, and that as, according to regulation, no lieutenant of less -than ten years’ service in that rank could apply for appointment, the -berth was regarded as a sort of reward or solatium. - -Be that as it may have been, the condition of a prison ship, like the -condition of a man-of-war to-day, depended very largely upon the -character of her commander. It is curious to note that most of the few -testimonies extant from prisoners in favour of prison-ship captains date -from that period of the great wars when the ill-feeling between the two -countries was most rancorous, and the poor fellows on parole in English -inland towns were having a very rough time. - -In 1803 the Commandant at Portsmouth was Captain Miller, a good and -humane man who took very much to heart the sufferings of the war -prisoners under his supervision. He happened to meet among the French -naval officers on parole a M. Haguelin of Havre, who spoke English -perfectly, and with whom he often conversed on the subject of the hard -lot of the prisoners on the hulks. He offered Haguelin a place in his -office, which the poor officer gladly accepted, made him his chief -interpreter, and then employed him to visit the prison ships twice a -week to hear and note complaints with the view of remedying them. - -Haguelin held this position for some years. In 1808 an English frigate -captured twenty-four Honfleur fishing-boats and brought them and their -crews into Portsmouth. Miller regarded this act as a gross violation of -the laws of humanity, and determined to undo it. Haguelin was employed -in the correspondence which followed between Captain Miller and the -Transport Office, the result being that the fishermen were well treated, -and finally sent back to Honfleur in an English frigate. Then ensued the -episode of the _Flotte en jupons_, described in a pamphlet by one -Thomas, when the women of Honfleur came out, boarded the English -frigate, and amidst a memorable scene of enthusiasm brought their -husbands and brothers and lovers safe to land. When Haguelin was -exchanged and was leaving for France, Miller wrote: - - -‘I cannot sufficiently express how much I owe to M. Haguelin for his -ceaseless and powerful co-operation on the numerous occasions when he -laboured to better the condition of his unfortunate compatriots. The -conscientiousness which characterized all his acts makes him deserve -well of his country.’ - - -In 1816, Captain (afterwards Baron) Charles Dupin, of the French Corps -of Naval Engineers, placed on record a very scathing report upon the -treatment of his countrymen upon the hulks at Chatham. He wrote: - - -‘The Medway is covered with men-of-war, dismantled and lying in -ordinary. Their fresh and brilliant painting contrasts with the hideous -aspect of the old and smoky hulks, which seem the remains of vessels -blackened by a recent fire. It is in these floating tombs that are -buried alive prisoners of war—Danes, Swedes, Frenchmen, Americans, no -matter. They are lodged on the lower deck, on the upper deck, and even -on the orlop-deck.... Four hundred malefactors are the maximum of a ship -appropriated to convicts. From eight hundred to twelve hundred is the -ordinary number of prisoners of war, heaped together in a prison-ship of -the same rate.’ - - -The translator of Captain Dupin’s report[2] comments thus upon this part -of it: - - -‘The long duration of hostilities, combined with our resplendent naval -victories, and our almost constant success by land as well as by sea, -increased the number of prisoners so much as to render the confinement -of a great proportion of them in prison-ships a matter of necessity -rather than of choice; there being, in 1814, upwards of 70,000 French -prisoners of war in this country.’ - - -About Dupin’s severe remarks concerning the bad treatment of the -prisoners, their scanty subsistence, their neglect during sickness and -the consequent high rate of mortality among them, the translator says: - - -‘The prisoners were well treated in every respect; their provisions were -good in quality, and their clothing sufficient; but, owing to their -unconquerable propensity to gambling, many of them frequently deprived -themselves of their due allowance both of food and raiment. As to fresh -air, wind-sails were always pointed below in the prison ships to promote -its circulation. For the hulks themselves the roomiest and airiest of -two and three deckers were selected, and were cleared of all -encumbrances. - -‘Post-captains of experience were selected to be in command at each -port, and a steady lieutenant placed over each hulk. The prisoners were -mustered twice a week; persons, bedding, and clothing were all kept -clean; the decks were daily scraped and rubbed with sand: they were -seldom washed in summer, and never in winter, to avoid damp. Every -morning the lee ports were opened so that the prisoners should not be -too suddenly exposed to the air, and no wet clothes were allowed to be -hung before the ports. - -[Illustration: - - FRENCH SAILORS ON AN ENGLISH PRISON SHIP. - - (_After Bombled._) -] - -‘The provisions were minutely examined every morning by the lieutenant, -and one prisoner from each mess was chosen to attend to the delivery of -provisions, and to see that they were of the right quality and weight. -The allowance of food was: - -‘Each man on each of five days per week received one and a half pounds -of wheaten flour bread, half a pound of good fresh beef with cabbage or -onions, turnips and salt, and on each of the other two days one pound of -good salted cod or herrings, and potatoes. The average number of -prisoners on a seventy-four was from six to seven hundred, and this, it -should be remembered, on a ship cleared from all encumbrances such as -guns, partitions, and enclosures.’ - - -Dupin wrote: - - -‘By a restriction which well describes the mercantile jealousy of a -manufacturing people, the prisoners were prohibited from making for sale -woollen gloves and straw hats. It would have injured in these petty -branches the commerce of His Britannic Majesty’s subjects!’ - - -to which the reply was: - - -‘It was so. These “petty branches” of manufactures were the employment -of the wives and children of the neighbouring cottagers, and enabled -them to pay their rent and taxes: and, on a representation by the -magistrates that the vast quantities sent into the market by the French -prisoners who had neither rent, nor taxes, nor lodging, firing, food or -clothes to find, had thrown the industrious cottagers out of work, an -order was sent to stop this manufacture by the prisoners.’ - - -As to the sickness on board the hulks, in reply to Dupin’s assertions -the Government had the following table drawn up relative to the hulks at -Portsmouth in a month of 1813: - - _Ship’s Name._ _Prisoners _Sick._ - in - Health._ - - Prothée 583 10 } - Crown 608 3 } - San Damaso 726 32 } - Vigilant 590 8 } - Guildford 693 8 } - San Antonio 820 9 } - Vengeance 692 7 } - Veteran 592 7 } = 1½% - Suffolk 683 6 } - Assistance 727 35 } - Ave Princessa 769 9 } - Kron Princessa 760 4 } - Waldemar 809 1 } - Negro 175 0 } - ————— ——— - 9,227 139 - ===== === - -Dupin also published tables of prison mortality in England in -confirmation of the belief among his countrymen that it was part of -England’s diabolic policy to make prisoners of war or to kill or -incapacitate them by neglect or ill-treatment. Between 1803 and 1814, -the total number of prisoners brought to England was 122,440. Of these, -says M. Dupin, - - There died in English prisons 12,845 - Were sent to France in a dying state 12,787 - Returned to France since 1814, their health more or less - debilitated 70,041 - —————— - 95,673 - ====== - -leaving a balance of 26,767, who presumably were tough enough to resist -all attempts to kill or wreck them. - -To this our authorities replied with the following schedule: - - Died in English prisons 10,341 - Sent home sick, or on parole or exchanged, those under the two - last categories for the most part perfectly sound men 17,607 - —————— - 27,948 - ====== - -leaving a balance of at least 94,492 sound men; for, not only, as has -been said above, were a large proportion of the 17,607 sound men, but no -allowance was made in this report for the great number of prisoners who -arrived sick or wounded. - -The rate of mortality, of course, varied. At Portsmouth in 1812 the -mortality on the hulks was about 4 per cent. At Dartmoor in six years -and seven months there were 1,455 deaths, which, taking the average -number of prisoners at 5,000, works out at a little over 4 per cent -annually. But during six months of the years 1809–1810 there were 500 -deaths out of 5,000 prisoners at Dartmoor, due to an unusual epidemic -and to exceptionally severe weather. With the extraordinary healthiness -of the Perth dépôt I shall deal in its proper place. - -I have to thank Mr. Neves, editor of the _Chatham News_, for the -following particulars relative to Chatham. - - -‘The exact number of prisoners accommodated in these floating prisons -cannot be ascertained, but it appears they were moored near the old -Gillingham Fort (long since demolished) which occupied a site in the -middle of what is now Chatham Dockyard Extension. St. Mary’s Barracks, -Gillingham, were built during the Peninsular War for the accommodation -of French prisoners. There is no doubt that the rate of mortality among -the prisoners confined in the hulks was very high, and the bodies were -buried on St. Mary’s Island on ground which is now the Dockyard Wharf. - -[Illustration: - - PRISON SHIPS. - - (_From a sketch by the author._) -] - -‘In the course of the excavations in connexion with the extension of the -Dockyard—a work of great magnitude which was commenced in 1864 and not -finished until 1884, and which cost £3,000,000, the remains of many of -the French prisoners were disinterred. The bones were collected and -brought round to a site within the extension works, opposite Cookham -Woods. A small cemetery of about 200 feet square was formed, railed in, -and laid out in flower-beds and gravelled pathways. A handsome monument, -designed by the late Sir Andrew Clarke, was erected in the centre—the -plinth and steps of granite, with a finely carved figure in armour and -cloaked, and holding an inverted torch in the centre, under a canopied -and groined spire terminating in crockets and gilt finials. In addition -to erecting this monument the Admiralty allotted a small sum annually -for keeping it in order. - - -‘The memorial bore the following inscription, which was written by the -late Sir Stafford Northcote, afterwards Lord Iddesleigh: - - - Here are gathered together - -The remains of many brave soldiers and sailors, who, having been once -the foes, and afterwards captives, of England, now find rest in her -soil, remembering no more the animosities of war or the sorrows of -imprisonment. They were deprived of the consolation of closing their -eyes among the countrymen they loved; but they have been laid in an -honoured grave by a nation which knows how to respect valour and to -sympathize with misfortune. - - -‘The Government of the French Republic was deeply moved by the action of -the Admiralty, and its Ambassador in London wrote: - - -The Government of the Republic has been made acquainted through me with -the recent decision taken by the Government of the Queen to assure the -preservation of the funeral monument at Chatham, where rest the remains -of the soldiers and sailors of the First Empire who died prisoners of -war on board the English hulks. I am charged to make known to your -lordship that the Minister of Marine has been particularly affected at -the initiative taken in this matter by the British Administration. I -shall be much obliged to you if you will make known to H.M’s Government -the sincere feelings of gratitude of the Government of the Republic for -the homage rendered to our deceased soldiers. - - (Signed) WADDINGTON. - - -‘In 1904 it became necessary again to move the bones of the prisoners of -war and they were then interred in the grounds of the new naval -barracks, a site being set apart for the purpose near the chapel, where -the monument was re-erected. It occupies a position where it can be seen -by passers-by. The number of skulls was 506. Quite recently (1910) two -skeletons were dug up by excavators of the Gas Company’s new wharf at -Gillingham, and, there being every reason to believe that they were the -remains of French prisoners of war, they were returned to the little -cemetery above mentioned.’ - -[Illustration: - - MEMORIAL TO FRENCH PRISONERS OF WAR IN THE ROYAL NAVAL BARRACKS, - CHATHAM -] - -That a vast system of jobbery and corruption prevailed among the -contractors for the food, clothing, and bedding of the prisoners, and, -consequently, among those in office who had the power of selection and -appointment; and more, that not a tithe of what existed was expressed, -is not the least among the many indictments against our nation at this -period which bring a flush of shame to the cheek. As has been before -remarked, all that printed regulations and ordinance could do to keep -matters in proper order was done. What could read better, for instance, -than the following official Contracting Obligations for 1797: - - ‘Beer: to be equal in quality to that issued on H.M.’s ships. - - Beef: to be good and wholesome fresh beef, and delivered in clean - quarters. - - Cheese: to be good Gloucester or Wiltshire, or equal in quality. - - Pease: to be of the white sort and good boilers. - - Greens: to be stripped of outside leaves and fit for the copper. - - Beer: every 7 barrels to be brewed from 8 bushels of the strongest - amber malt, and 6 or 7 lb. of good hops at £1 18s. per ton. - - Bread: to be equal in quality to that served on H.M.’s ships.’ - -As if there was really some wish on the part of the authorities to have -things in order, the custom began in 1804 for the Transport Board to -send to its prison agents and prison-ship commanders this notice: - - -‘I am directed by the Board to desire that you will immediately forward -to this office by coach a loaf taken indiscriminately from the bread -issued to the prisoners on the day you receive this letter.’ - - -In so many cases was the specimen bread sent pronounced ‘not fit to be -eaten’, that circulars were sent that all prisons and ships would -receive a model loaf of the bread to be served out to prisoners, ‘made -of whole wheaten meal actually and bona fide dressed through an eleven -shilling cloth’. - -Nor was the regulation quantity less satisfactory than the nominal -quality. In 1812 the scale of victualling on prison ships according to -the advertisement to contractors was: - - Sunday. 1½ lb. bread. - - Monday. ½ lb. fresh beef. - - Tuesday. ½ lb. cabbage or turnip. - - Thursday. 1 ounce Scotch barley. - - Saturday. ⅓ ounce salt. - - ¼ ounce onions. - - Wednesday. 1½ lb. bread, 1 lb. good sound herrings, 1 lb. good sound - potatoes. - - Friday. 1½ lb. bread, 1 lb. good sound cod, 1 lb. potatoes. - -In the year 1778 there were 924 American prisoners of war in England. It -has been shown before (p. 11) how the fact of their ill-treatment was -forcibly taken up by their own Government, but the following extract -from a London newspaper further shows that the real cause of their -ill-treatment was no secret: - - -‘As to the prisoners who were kept in England’ (this is the sequel of -remarks about our harsh treatment of American prisoners in America), -‘their penury and distress was undoubtedly great, and was much marked -_by the fraud and cruelty of those who were entrusted with their -government, and the supply of their provisions_. For these persons, who -certainly never had any orders for ill-treatment of the prisoners by -countenance in it, having, however, not been overlooked with the utmost -vigilance, besides their prejudice and their natural cruelty, -_considered their offices as only lucrative jobs which were created -merely for their emolument_. Whether there was not some exaggeration, as -there usually is in these accounts, it is certain that though the -subsistence accorded them by Government would indeed have been -sufficient, if honestly administered, to have sustained human nature, in -the respect to the mere articles of foods, yet the want of clothes, -firing, and bedding, with all the other various articles which custom or -nature regards as conducive to health and comfort, became practically -insupportable in the extremity of the winter. In consequence of the -complaint by the prisoners, the matter was very humanely taken up in the -House of Peers by Lord Abingdon ... and soon after a liberal -subscription was carried on in London and other parts, and this provided -a sufficient remedy for the evil.’ - - -On April 13, 1778, a Contractors’ Bill was brought in to Parliament by -Sir Philip Jenning Clarke ‘for the restraining of any person being a -Member of the House of Commons, from being concerned himself or any -person in trust for him, in any contract made by the Commissioners of -H.M.’s Navy or Treasury, the Board of Ordnance, or by any other person -or persons for the public service, unless the said contract shall be -made at a public bidding’. - -The first reading of the Bill was carried by seventy-one to fifty, the -second reading by seventy-two to sixty-one. Success in the Lords was -therefore regarded as certain. Yet it was actually lost by two votes -upon the question of commitment, and the exertion of Government -influence in the Bill was taken to mean a censure on certain Treasury -officials. - -So things went on in the old way. Between 1804 and 1808 the evil state -of matters was either so flagrant that it commanded attention, or some -fearless official new broom was doing his duty, for the records of these -years abound with complaints, exposures, trials, and judgements. - -We read of arrangements being discussed between contractors and the -stewards of prison ships by which part of the statutory provisions was -withheld from the prisoners; of hundreds of suits of clothing sent of -one size, of boots supposed to last eighteen months which fell to pieces -during the first wet weather; of rotten hammocks, of blankets so thin -that they were transparent; of hundreds of sets of handcuffs being -returned as useless; of contractors using salt water in the manufacture -of bread instead of salt, and further, of these last offenders being -prosecuted, not for making unwholesome bread, but for defrauding the -Revenue! Out of 1,200 suits of clothes ordered to be at Plymouth by -October 1807, as provision for the winter, by March 1808 only 300 had -been delivered! - -Let us take this last instance and consider what it meant. - -It meant, firstly, that the contractor had never the smallest intention -of delivering the full number of suits. Secondly, that he had, by means -best known to himself and the officials, received payment for the whole. -Thirdly, that hundreds of poor wretches had been compelled to face the -rigour of an English winter on the hulks in a half naked condition, to -relieve which very many of them had been driven to gambling and even -worse crimes. - -And all the time the correspondence of the Transport Office consists to -a large extent of rules and regulations and provisions and safeguards -against fraud and wrong-doing; moral precepts accompany inquiry about a -missing guard-room poker, and sentimental exhortations wind up -paragraphs about the letting of grazing land or the acquisition of new -chimney-pots. Agents and officials are constantly being reminded and -advised and lectured and reproved. Money matters of the most trifling -significance are carefully and minutely dealt with. Yet we know that the -war-prison contract business was a festering mass of jobbery and -corruption, that large fortunes were made by contractors, that a whole -army of small officials and not a few big ones throve on the ‘pickings’ -to be had. - -Occasionally, a fraudulent contractor was brought up, heavily fined and -imprisoned; but such cases are so rare that it is hard to avoid the -suspicion that their prominence was a matter of expediency and policy, -and that many a rascal who should have been hanged for robbing -defenceless foreigners of the commonest rights of man had means with -which to defeat justice and to persist unchecked in his unholy calling. -References to this evil will be made in the chapter dealing with prisons -ashore, in connexion with which the misdeeds of contractors seem to have -been more frequent and more serious than with the hulks. - -If it is painful for an Englishman to be obliged to write thus upon the -subject of fraudulent contractors, their aiders and abettors, still more -so is it to have to confess that a profession even more closely -associated with the cause of humanity seems to have been far too often -unworthily represented. - -Allusion has been made to the unanimity of foreign officer-prisoners -about the utter misery of prison-ship life, but in nothing is their -agreement more marked than their condemnation, not merely of our methods -of treatment of the sick and wounded, but of the character of the -prison-ship doctors. Always bearing in mind that Britain treated her own -sailors and soldiers as if they were vicious animals, and that the -sickbay and the cockpit of a man-of-war of Nelson’s day were probably -not very much better than those described by Smollett in _Roderick -Random_, which was written in 1748, there seems to have been an amount -of gratuitous callousness and cruelty practised by the medical officers -attached to the hulks which we cannot believe would have been permitted -upon the national ships. - -And here again the Government Regulations were admirable on paper: the -one point which was most strongly insisted upon being that the doctors -should live on board the vessels, and devote the whole of their time to -their duties, whereas there is abundant evidence to show that most of -the doctors of the Portsmouth, Plymouth, and Chatham hulks carried on -private practices ashore and in consequence lived ashore. - -More will be found upon this unhappy topic in the next chapter of -records of life on the hulks, but we may fittingly close the present -with the report upon hulk diseases by Dr. Fontana, French Officer of -Health to the Army of Portugal, written upon the _Brunswick_ prison ship -at Chatham in 1812, and published as an appendix to Colonel Lebertre’s -book upon English war-prison life. - -He divides the diseases into three heads: - -(1) _External_, arising from utter want of exercise, from damp, from -insufficient food—especially upon the ‘maigre’ days of the week—and from -lack of clothing. Wounds on the legs, which were generally bare, made -bad ulcers which the ‘bourreaux’ of English doctors treated with quack -remedies such as the unguent basilicon. He describes the doctor of the -_Fyen_ prison hospital-ship as a type of the English ignorant and brutal -medical man. - -(2) _Scorbutic diathesis_, arising from the ulcers and tumours on the -lower limbs, caused by the breathing of foul air from twelve to sixteen -hours a day, by overcrowding, salt food, lack of vegetables, and -deprivation of all alcohol. - -(3) _Chest troubles_—naturally the most prevalent, largely owing to -moral despair caused by humiliations and cruelties, and deprivations -inflicted by low-born, uneducated brutes, miserable accommodation, the -foul exhalations from the mud shores at low water, and the cruel -treatment by doctors, who practised severe bleedings, prescribed no -dieting except an occasional mixture, the result being extreme weakness. -When the patient was far gone in disease he was sent to hospital, where -more bleeding was performed, a most injudicious use of mercury made, and -his end hastened. - -The great expense of the hulks, together with the comparative ease with -which escape could be made from them, and the annually increasing number -of prisoners brought to England, led to the development of the Land -Prison System. It was shown that the annual expense of a seventy-four, -fitted to hold 700 prisoners, was £5,869. Dartmoor Prison, built to hold -6,000 prisoners, cost £135,000, and the annual expense of it was £2,862: -in other words, it would require eight seventy-fours at an annual -expense of £46,952 to accommodate this number of prisoners. - -The hulks were retained until the end of the great wars, and that they -were recognized by the authorities as particular objects of aversion and -dread seems to be evident from the fact that incorrigible offenders from -the land prisons were sent there, as in the case of the wholesale -transfer to them in 1812 of the terrible ‘Romans’ from Dartmoor, and -from the many letters written by prisoners on board the hulks praying to -be sent to prison on land, of which the following, from a French officer -on a Gillingham hulk to Lady Pigott, is a specimen: - - - H.M.S. _Sampson_. - - ‘MY LADY: - -‘Je crains d’abuser de votre bonté naturelle et de ce doux sentiment de -compation qui vous fait toujours prendre pitié des malheureux, mais, -Madame, un infortuné sans amis et sans soutiens se réfugie sous les -auspices des personnes généreuses qui daignent le plaindre, et vous avez -humainement pris part à mes maux. Souffrez donc que je vous supplie -encore de renouveler vos demandes en ma faveur, si toutefois cette -demande ne doit pas être contraire à votre tranquillité personnelle. -Voilà deux ans que je suis renfermé dans cette prison si nuisible à ma -santé plus chancellante et plus débile que jamais. Voilà six ans et plus -que je suis prisonnier sans espoir qu’un sort si funeste et si peu -mérité finisse. Si je n’ai pas mérité la mort, et si on ne veut pas me -la donner, il faut qu’on me permette de retourner m’isoler à terre, où -je pourrais alors dans la tranquillité vivre d’une manière plus -convenable à ma faible constitution, et résister au malheur, pour vous -prouver, my lady, que quand j’ai commis la faute pour laquelle je -souffre tant, ce fut beaucoup plus par manque d’expérience que par vice -du cœur. - - ‘JEAN-AUGUSTE NEVEU.’ - - 1812. - - -This letter was accompanied by a certificate from the doctor of the -_Trusty_ hospital ship, and the supplicant was noted to be sent to -France with the first batch of invalids. - -Many of the aforementioned letters are of the most touching description, -and if some of them were shown to be the clever concoctions of desperate -men, there is a genuine ring about most which cannot fail to move our -pity. Lady Pigott was one of the many admirable English women who -interested themselves in the prisoners, and who, as usual, did so much -of the good work which should have been done by those paid to do it. It -is unfortunate for our national reputation that so many of the -reminiscences of imprisonment in England which have come down to us have -been those of angry, embittered men, and that so little written -testimony exists to the many great and good and kindly deeds done by -English men and women whose hearts went out to the unfortunate men on -the prison ships, in the prisons, and on parole, whose only crime was -having fought against us. But that there were such acts is a matter of -history. - - - - - CHAPTER IV - LIFE ON THE HULKS - - -From a dozen accounts by British, American, and French writers I have -selected the following, as giving as varied a view as possible of this -phase of the War Prison system. - -The first account is by the Baron de Bonnefoux, who was captured with -the _Belle Poule_ in the West Indies by the _Ramillies_, Captain -Pickmore in 1806, was allowed on parole at Thame and at Odiham, whence -he broke parole, was captured, and taken to the _Bahama_ at Chatham. - -When Bonnefoux was at Chatham, there were five prison ships moored under -the lee of Sheppey between Chatham and Sheerness. He describes the -interior arrangements of a hulk, but it resembles exactly that of the -painter Garneray whose fuller account I give next. - -Writing in 1835, the Baron says: - - -‘It is difficult to imagine a more severe punishment; it is cruel to -maintain it for an indefinite period, and to submit to it prisoners of -war who deserve much consideration, and who incontestably are the -innocent victims of the fortune of war. The British prison ships have -left profound impressions on the minds of the Frenchmen who have -experienced them; an ardent longing for revenge has for long moved their -hearts, and even to-day when a long duration of peace has created so -much sympathy between the two nations, erstwhile enemies, I fear that, -should this harmony between them be disturbed, the remembrance of these -horrible places would be reawakened.’ - - -Very bitterly does the Baron complain of the bad and insufficient food, -and of the ill-fitting, coarse, and rarely renewed clothing, and he is -one of those who branded the commanders of the prison ships as the -‘rebuts’—the ‘cast-offs’ of the British navy. - -The prisoners on the _Bahama_ consisted largely of privateer captains, -the most restless and desperate of all the prisoners of war, men who -were socially above the common herd, yet who had not the _cachet_ of the -regular officers of the navy, who regarded themselves as independent of -such laws and regulations as bound the latter, and who were also -independent in the sense of being sometimes well-to-do and even rich -men. At first there was an inclination among some of these to take -Bonnefoux down as an ‘aristo’; they ‘tutoyer’d’ him, and tried to make -him do the fagging and coolie work which, on prison ships as in schools, -fell to the lot of the new-comer. - -But the Baron from the first took up firmly the position of an officer -and a gentleman, and showed the rough sea-dogs of the Channel ports that -he meant it, with the result that they let him alone. - -Attempted escapes were frequent. Although under constant fear of the -lash, which was mercilessly used in the British army at this time, the -soldiers of the guard were ready enough to sell to the prisoners -provisions, maps, and instruments for effecting escape. One day in 1807 -five of the prisoners attempted to get off in the empty water casks -which the Chatham contractor took off to fill up. They got safely enough -into the water boat, unknown of course to its occupants (so it seems, at -any rate, in this case, although there was hardly a man who had dealings -with the hulks who would not help the prisoners to escape for money), -but at nightfall the boat anchored in mid-stream; one of the prisoners -got stuck in his water-cask and called for aid; this was heard by the -cabin-boy, who gave the alarm, the result being that the prisoners were -hauled out of their hiding places, taken on board, and got ten days -Black Hole. The Black Hole was a prison six feet square at the bottom of -the hold, to which air only came through round holes not big enough for -the passage of a mouse. Once and once only in the twenty-four hours was -this _cachot_ visited for the purpose of bringing food and taking away -the latrine box. Small wonder that men often went mad and sometimes died -during a lengthened confinement, and that those who came out looked like -corpses. - -The above-mentioned men were condemned to pay the cost of their capture, -and, as they had no money, were put on half rations! - -The time came round for the usual sending of aged and infirm prisoners -to shore prisons. One poor chap sold his right to go to Bonnefoux, and -he and his friend Rousseau resolved to escape en route. Bonnefoux, -however, was prevented from going, as his trunk had arrived from Odiham -and he was required to be present to verify its contents. - -In December 1807, three Boulogne men cut a hole just above the water -near the forward sentry box on the guard gallery which ran round the -outside of the ship, and escaped. Others attempted to follow, but one of -them cried out from the extreme cold, was fired at and hauled on board. -Three managed to get off to Dover and Calais, one stuck in the mud and -was drowned, and the Baron says that the captain of the _Bahama_ allowed -him to remain there until he rotted away, as a deterrent to would-be -imitators. - -Milne, captain of the _Bahama_, the Baron says, was a drunken brute who -held orgies on board at which all sorts of loose and debased characters -from the shore attended. Upon one occasion a fire was caused by these -revels, and the captain, who was drunk, gave orders that the prisoners -should be shot at should the fire approach them, rather than that they -should escape. - -A rough code of justice existed between the prisoners for the settlement -of differences among themselves. One Mathieu, a privateersman, kept a -small tobacco stall. A soldier, who already had a long bill running with -him, wanted tobacco on credit. Mathieu refused; the soldier snatched -some tobacco off the stall, Mathieu struck him with a knife and wounded -him badly. Mathieu was a very popular character, but justice had to be -done, even to a captive. Luckily the soldier recovered, and Mathieu got -off with indemnification. - -During the very bad weather of March 1808, the sentries ordinarily on -the outer gallery were taken on board. To this gallery a boat was always -made fast, and the Baron, Rousseau, and another resolved to escape by -it. So they cut the painter and got off, using planks for oars, with -holes in them for handhold. They reached land safely, and hid all day in -a field, feeding on provisions they had brought from the _Bahama_. At -nightfall they started, and, meeting a countryman, asked the way to -Chatham. ‘Don’t go there,’ he replied, ‘the bridge is guarded, and you -will be arrested.’ One of the prisoners, not knowing English, only -caught the last word, and, thinking it was ‘arrêtez’, drew a piece of -fencing foil, with which each was armed, and threatened the man. The -others saved him, and in recognition he directed them to a village -whence they could cross the Medway. They walked for a long time until -they were tired, and reaching a cottage, knocked for admission. A big -man came to the door. They asked hospitality, and threatened him in case -of refusal. ‘My name is Cole,’ said the man, ‘I serve God, I love my -neighbour, I can help you. Depend on me.’ They entered and were well -entertained by Cole’s wife and daughter, and enjoyed the luxury of a -night’s rest in a decent bed. Next morning, Cole showed them how to -reach the Dover road across the river, and with much difficulty was -persuaded to accept a guinea for his services. - -Such instances of pity and kindness of our country people for escaped -prisoners are happily not rare, and go far to counterbalance the sordid -and brutal treatment which in other cases they received. - -That evening the fugitives reached Canterbury, and, after buying -provisions, proceeded towards Dover, and slept in a barn. Freedom seemed -at hand when from Dover they had a glimpse of the French coast, but -fortune still mocked them, for they sought in vain along the beach for a -boat to carry them over. Boats indeed were there, but all oars, sails, -and tackle had been removed from them in accordance with Government -advice circulated in consequence of the frequent escapes of French -officers on parole by stealing long-shore boats. - -So they went on to Deal, and then to Folkestone. Here they were -recognized as escaping prisoners and were pursued, but they ran and got -safely away. They held a consultation and decided to go to Odiham in -Hampshire, where all of them had friends among the officers on parole -there, who would help them with money. The writer here describes the -great sufferings they underwent by reason of the continuous bad weather, -their poor clothing, their footsoreness, and their poverty. By day they -sheltered in ditches, woods, and under hedges, and journeyed by night, -hungry, wet to the skin, and in constant dread of being recognized and -arrested. For some unknown reason, instead of pushing westward for their -destination they went back to Canterbury, thence to London, then via -Hounslow Heath to Odiham, where they arrived more dead than alive, -shoeless, their clothing in rags, and penniless. At Odiham they went to -one of the little houses on the outskirts of the town, built especially -for French prisoners. This house belonged to a Mr. R——, and here the -three men remained hidden for eight days. Suddenly the house was -surrounded by armed men, the Baron and his companions were arrested and -put into the lock-up. Céré, a friend of the Baron’s, believed that R—— -had betrayed them, and challenged him. A duel was fought in which R—— -was badly wounded, and when he recovered he found that feeling among the -Frenchmen in Odiham was so strong, that the Agent sent him away to -Scotland under a false name. At Odiham lock-up, Sarah Cooper, an old -friend of the Baron’s when he was on parole there, who had helped him to -get away, came to see him and left him a note in which she said she -would help him to escape, and would not leave him until she had taken -him to France. The escape was planned, Sarah contrived to get him a rope -ladder and had a conveyance ready to take him away, but just as his foot -was on the ladder the police got the alarm, he was arrested, chained, -and shut up in the _cachot_. - -For three days the Baron remained in irons, and then was marched to -Chatham, so closely watched by the guards that every night the -prisoner’s clothes and boots were removed, and were not returned until -the morning. They went to Chatham by way of London where they were -confined in the Savoy prison, then used for British deserters. These men -were friendly to the Frenchmen. All of them had been flogged, one had -received 1,100 lashes, and was to receive 300 more. - -On May 1, 1808, the unfortunate men found themselves once more on the -_Bahama_, with a sentence of ten days in the Black Hole. - -Captain Milne of the _Bahama_ was exasperated at these escapes, and -attempts to escape, and was brutal in his endeavours to get hold of the -tools with which the prisoners had worked. He tried the effect of -starvation, but this only fanned the spirit of revolt in the ship, the -state of life in which became very bad, threats, disputes, quarrels and -duels being of everyday occurrence. The climax came when bad weather -prevented the delivery of bread, and the prisoners were put on biscuit. -They assembled in the _parc_, the open space between the two batteries, -forty feet square, and declared they would not disperse until other -provisions were served out. Milne was mad with anger and drink, and -ordered the soldiers to fire upon the prisoners, but the young officer -in command would not respect the order, and, instead, counselled a more -moderate action. Bonnefoux managed to calm the prisoners, and determined -personally to interview Milne, and represented to him that to compel -eight hundred desperate, hungry men to descend from the _parc_ would -mean bloodshed. The captain yielded, and peace was temporarily assured. - -However, more hole-boring was discovered; Rousseau, the Baron’s friend, -slipped overboard and swam away, but was captured just as he was -landing; the result being that the watch kept was stricter than ever. - -The Baron here dilates upon the frightful immorality of the life on the -_Bahama_. He says: - - -‘Il n’existait ni crainte, ni retenue, ni amour-propre dans la classe -qui n’avait pas été dotée des bienfaits de quelque éducation. On y -voyait donc régner insolemment l’immoralité la plus perverse, les -outrages les plus honteux à la pudeur et les actes les plus dégoûtants, -le cynisme le plus effronté, et dans ce lieu de misère générale une -misère plus grande encore que tout ce qu’on peut imaginer.’ - - -There were three classes of prisoners. - -(1) Les Raffalés. (2) Les Messieurs ou Bourgeois. (3) Les Officiers. - -The Raffalés were the lowest, and lowest of the Raffalés were the -‘Manteaux impériaux.’ These had nothing in the world but one covering, -which swarmed with lice, hence the facetious allusion in their name to -the bees of the Imperial Mantle. These poor wretches eat nothing during -the day, for their gambling left them nothing to eat, but at night they -crept about picking up and devouring the refuse of the food. They slept -packed closely side by side on the deck. At midnight the officer of the -evening gave the word, ‘Par le flanc droit!’ and all turned on to their -right sides. At 3 a.m. the word rang out ‘Pare à virer!’[3] and all -turned on to their left sides. - -They gambled with dice for their rations, hammocks, clothes, anything, -and the winners sold for two sous what often was worth a franc. They had -a chief who was fantastically garbed, and a drummer with a wooden -_gamelle_. Sometimes they were a terror to the other prisoners, but -could always be appeased with something to gamble with. - -Bonnefoux’s companions worked in wood and straw. The _Bahama_ had been -captured from the Spaniards and was built of cedar, and the wood -extracted by the prisoners in making escape holes they worked into -razor-boxes and toilette articles. Bonnefoux himself gave lessons in -French, drawing, mathematics, and English, and published an English -Grammar, a copy of which is at Paris, in the Bibliothèque Nationale. - -Gradually the spread of the taste for education had a refining and -civilizing effect on board the _Bahama_, and when Bonnefoux finally -obtained parole leave, the condition of affairs was very much improved. - -In June 1809 the Baron left the _Bahama_ for Lichfield, and with him was -allowed to go one Dubreuil, a rough typical privateer captain, who never -had any money, but had a constant craving for tobacco. He had been kind -to Colonel and Mrs. Campbell, whom he had taken prisoners, and who had -promised to befriend him should luck turn against him. Bonnefoux had -helped him pecuniarily, and in return Dubreuil promised to teach him how -to smoke through his eyes! - -The next relation is that of Louis Garneray, a marine painter of some -note, specimens of whose work during his nine years’ captivity in -England may still be found in Portsmouth and its neighbourhood, and one -at least of whose later pictures is in the Marine Gallery of the Paris -Louvre. - -What follows is an analysis in brief of his book _Mes Pontons_ (which -is, so far as I am aware, the most complete picture of life on a prison -ship yet published), and, being but a brief analysis, is incomplete as -to numberless most interesting details, so that I would recommend any -reader who wishes to be minutely informed upon the subject to read the -original volume of 320 pages. It is caustically, even savagely written, -but nine years cut out of a young man’s life cannot serve to sweeten his -disposition. - -In May 1806 Garneray, who had been captured in the West Indies, was -taken on board the hulk _Prothée_ at Portsmouth, stripped, plunged into -a cold bath, and clothed in an ill-fitting orange-yellow suit, on the -back of which the large letters T. O. proclaimed him as under the care -of the Transport Office. He describes the _Prothée_,—as he is hustled -into the mob of ‘dead people come out for a moment from their graves, -hollow-eyed, earthy complexioned, round backed, unshaven, their frames -barely covered with yellow rags, their bodies frightfully thin,’—as a -black, shapeless sarcophagus, of which the only parts open to air was -the space between the fo’c’sle and the poop and the fo’c’sle itself, -which was unbearable from the smoke of the many chimneys on it. Each end -of the ship was occupied by the garrison, the officers aft and the -soldiers forward. A stout barrier divided the guard from the prisoners, -which was so garnished with heavy-headed nails as to seem like iron, and -was fitted with loop-holes for inspection, and, if needs be, for firing -through. On the lower deck and in the lower battery were packed seven -hundred human beings. - -Only one ladder communicated between the lower deck and the lower -battery. In the latter the only daylight came through port-holes, in the -former through narrow scuttles, all of which had iron gratings. - -All round the ship, just above the water-line, ran a gallery with -open-work floor, and along this paced three sentries by day and seven by -night. The ship was commanded by a lieutenant and a master, and was -garrisoned by forty or fifty soldiers under a marine officer and about -twenty sailors. The day guard consisted of three sentries on the -gallery, one on the ladder communicating with the battery, one on the -fo’c’sle, one on each gangway, and on the poop a dozen armed men ready -for instant action. At night there were seven sentries on the gallery, -one on the battery ladder; an officer, a sergeant, a corporal, and a -dozen sailors were continually moving round, and every quarter of an -hour the ‘All’s well’ rang out. - -The ship’s boats were slung ten feet above the water, and one was -chained to the gallery aft. - -At 6 a.m. in summer and 8 in winter, the port-holes were opened, and the -air thus liberated was so foul that the men opening the port-holes -invariably jumped back immediately. At 6 p.m. in summer and 2 p.m. in -winter, every wall and grating was sounded with iron bars, and one hour -later all the prisoners were driven on deck and counted. - -[Illustration: - - GARNERAY DRAWING AN ENGLISH SOLDIER. - - (_After Louis Garneray._) -] - -The only furniture in the ship was a bench along each side and four in -the middle, the prisoners squatting on deck at mess time. Each prisoner -on arrival received a hammock, a thin coverlet, and a hair mattress -weighing from two to three pounds. For a long time no distinction was -made between officers and men, but latterly a special ship was allowed -for officers. Some idea of the crowding on board may be gained from the -facts that each battery, 130 feet long, 40 feet broad, and 6 feet high, -held nearly 400 prisoners, and that the hammocks were so closely slung -that there was no room to sleep on deck. - -The alimentation of the prisoners, humane and ample as it looks on -paper, seems to have been a gross sham. Not only did the contractors -cheat in quality and quantity, but what with forfeitures on account of -breaches of discipline, and observance of the law imposed by the -prisoners on themselves, that, deductions or no deductions, no man -should have a larger ration than another, and contributions to men -planning to escape, it was impossible for all to touch full rations. - -The prisoners elected their own cooks, and nominally a committee of -fifteen prisoners was allowed to attend at the distribution to see that -quality and quantity were just, but the guards rarely allowed them to do -so. Six men formed a mess; no spoons, knives or forks were supplied, -merely bowls and pannikins. The fish supplied on ‘maigre’ -days—Wednesdays and Fridays—was usually uneatable, and the prisoners -often sold the herrings at a penny each to the purveyors, who kept them -for redistribution, so that it was said that some herrings had done duty -for ten years! With the money thus made the prisoners bought butter or -cheese. The cod they re-cooked; the bread was filthy and hard. -Complaints were useless, and the result was constant hunger. - -All but the Raffalés, the scum, occupied themselves with trades or -professions. There were tobacco manufacturers, professors of dancing, -fencing, and stick-play, who charged one sou for a lesson, which often -lasted an hour. Mathematics and languages were taught at the same rate. -Whilst these and many other occupations were busy, up and down the -battery passed the ‘merchants’ crying their wares, hungry men who -offered their rags for sale, menders of shoes, and the occupants of -favourable positions in the battery inviting bids for them, so that -despite the rags and the hunger and the general misery, there was plenty -of sound and movement, and general evidence of that capability for -adapting themselves to circumstance which so invariably distinguished -the French prisoners in England from the British prisoners in France. - -Garneray’s chief friend on board was a sturdy Breton privateer Captain -named Bertaud. Bertaud hated the English fiercely, and, being somewhat -of a bruiser, had won the esteem of his companions quite as much by his -issue of the following challenge as by his personal qualities. - - -‘Challenge to the English! Long live French Brittany! The undersigned -Bertaud, native of Saint-Brieuc, annoyed at hearing the English boast -that they are the best boxers in the world, which is a lie, will fight -any two of them, in any style with fists, but not to use legs. - -‘He will also, in order to prove his contempt for these boasters, -receive from his two adversaries ten blows with the fist before the -fight wherever his adversaries choose, and afterwards he will thrash -them. Simply, he stipulates that as soon as he has received the ten -blows and before the fight begins he shall be paid two pounds sterling -to compensate him for the teeth which shall have been broken. - -‘Done on board the _Prothée_ where Bertaud mopes himself to death!’ - - -Garneray calls him a madman, and says that the ten blows alone will do -for him. What is his game? - -‘I shall pocket two pounds, and that will go into our escape fund,’ -replied the Breton laughing. - -Garneray and Bertaud had been saving up for some time for the escape -they resolved to attempt, and, although Bertaud’s challenge was not -taken up, they at last owned forty-five shillings, to which Garneray’s -writing lessons at a shilling each to the little girl of the _Prothée’s_ -commander chiefly contributed. Each made himself a bag of tarred cloth -to hold clothes and provisions, they had bored a hole through the ship’s -side large enough to slip through, and only waited for a dark quiet -night. As it was the month of July this soon came. Bertaud got through -first, Garneray was on the point of following when a challenge rang out, -followed by a musket-shot, and peeping through the hole, to his horror -he saw poor Bertaud suspended over the water by the cord of his bag -which had caught in an unnoticed nail in the ship’s side. Then was a -terrible thing done. The soldiers hammered the helpless Frenchman with -their musket butts, Garneray heard the fall of something heavy in the -water; there was silence; then as if by magic the whole river was lit -up, and boats from all the other vessels put off for the _Prothée_. -Garneray slipped back to his hammock, but was presently turned out with -all the other prisoners to be counted. His anxiety about the fate of his -friend made him ask a sailor, who replied brutally, ‘Rascal, how should -I know? So far as I am concerned I wish every Frenchman was at the -bottom of the sea!’ For a consideration of a shilling, however, the man -promised to find out, and told Garneray that the poor Breton had -received three bayonet thrusts, a sabre-cut on the head, and musket-butt -blows elsewhere, but that the dog still breathed! For twenty days the -man gave his shilling bulletins, and then announced that the Breton was -convalescent. - -Garneray and Bertaud made another attempt some months later. Garneray -had saved money he had earned by drawing designs for the straw-workers -among the prisoners, who had hitherto not gone beyond birds and flowers, -and who readily paid for his ships in full sail and other marine -objects. - -It was mid-winter and bitterly cold, so the two adventurers prepared -themselves by rubbing themselves with oil saved from the little lamp by -which Garneray taught his pupils. Without attracting notice they slipped -overboard, and swam for the muddy shore of an island. This they crossed -on _patins_ which Bertaud had provided, and reached the river by -Gosport. Only occasional pulls at the rum flask prevented them from -perishing with cold, and their second swim nearly cost both of them -their lives. Each in turn had to support the other, and they were on the -point of giving up when they reached an anchored vessel. Here a watchdog -greeted them, and kept up his barking until he aroused the crew, who -hailed them in what they thankfully recognized to be broken English. -Alas! Their joy was short-lived. The skipper of the vessel was a Dane, -and so far from promising to help them declared he would send them back -to the hulk, abusing them violently. This was too much for the fiery -Breton, who, seizing a knife, sprang upon the Dane and bore him to the -ground. They tied and gagged him, and, said Bertaud, ‘Now let us be -off!’ - -But Garneray declared himself too exhausted to attempt another swim, -even for liberty, and said he would go back to the hulk. The prospect of -this was too horrible for Bertaud. ‘Better be drowned and be done with -it,’ said he, ‘than live to be killed by inches,’ and before Garneray -could remonstrate, to the amazement of the Danish sailors, he sprang -overboard. - -At four the next morning the Danes brought Garneray back to the -_Prothée_. Instantly, although he was wet through and half dead with -cold, he was put into the _cachot_, and but for the fact that the -carpenters had been working there and had left a pile of shavings, -amongst which he nestled, he could not have lived through the night. -Next day he was released and sent back to the battery, but no fresh -clothes were issued to him, and but for the charity of his fellow -prisoners he would have gone naked. - -Seeing all the prisoners peering excitedly through the grated -port-holes, Garneray, sick in his hammock, asked the reason: ‘See, the -crows!’ was the reply. - -He joined the onlookers, and describes his feelings when he saw -stretched on the mud of the Portchester river the body of Bertaud, -already an attraction for the crows. On the brutal scene which followed, -the dragging of the body to the ship, and the utterly inhuman response -made to Garneray’s prayer for the decent treatment of his friend’s -remains, it is as unnecessary as it is distasteful to dwell. - -Garneray was now changed from the _Prothée_ to the _Crown_—a ship with a -bad reputation among the prisoners. - -Captain R—— of the _Crown_ was a brute in every sense of the word, and -the prisoners maddened him by winning for the _Crown_ the reputation of -being the most unmanageable, because the worst managed, hulk in -Portchester River. Bully, sot, and coward as he was, he by no means had -his own way. On one occasion five prisoners escaped. Although it was -mid-winter and snowing, R—— had the muster of half-clad wretches made in -the open. The number could never be made right, and count after count -was made, during a space of three days. The whole affair was a cleverly -concocted device to gain for the escaped men time to get safely away. A -master-carpenter among the prisoners had cut a means of communication -between two of the batteries, through which, unseen by the authorities, -men could slip from one to the other, get on deck, and so swell or -diminish the muster roll as arranged. The trick was not discovered, but -that there was a trick was evident, and R—— was determined to be -revenged. He summoned the floating fire-engines in harbour, and, -although it was mid-winter, actually pumped icy water into the lower -deck and batteries until they were drenched, as well as the prisoners, -their hammocks, and their clothes. - -[Illustration: - - THE _CROWN_ HULK, SEEN FROM THE STERN. - - (_After Louis Garneray._) -] - -On another occasion when for counting purposes those on the _Crown_ were -transferred _en masse_ on board the _San Antonio_, they returned to find -that during their temporary absence R—— had actually, ‘as a measure of -precaution,’ he said, destroyed all the tools and implements and books -which the prisoners used in their poor little occupations and trades, -and among them Garneray’s canvases, easels, brushes, and colours. The -immediate result was a stupor of impotent rage; this gave way to open -insubordination, insult, and such a universal paroxysm of indignation -that even R—— was cowed, and actually made a show of leniency, offering -terms of mediation which were scornfully rejected. - -Garneray relates another boxing episode with great gusto. A certain -Colonel S——, belonging to a well-known English family, came to visit -Captain R—— accompanied by a colossal negro, gorgeously arrayed, called -Little White, and a splendid Danish hound. His purpose was to match -Little White against a French boxer for the entertainment of his -fashionable friends ashore. At first sight there would seem to be very -poor sport in the pitting of a well-fed, well-trained giant against even -the fittest champion of a crowd of half-clad, half-starved, wholly -untrained prisoners of war. Although the real object of the gallant -Colonel was to show off his black pet, and to charm the beauty and -fashion of Portsmouth with an exhibition of prowess, to prove that he -was simply animated by a love of sport, he had the consent of R—— that -the prisoner champion should be prepared in some way for the contest by -extra feeding and so forth. - -Robert Lange, a quiet, inoffensive Breton with a quenchless hatred of -the English, and a reputed athlete, at once accepted the challenge, -especially as the (to him) enormous prize of twenty guineas was being -offered. - -The day appointed for the contest came. Great preparations had been made -on the poop of the _Crown_ for the reception of the fashionable company -invited to assist at the spectacle of Colonel S——‘s black knocking out -in the first round, and probably killing, a Frenchman. - -Colonel S—— arrived, and with him Little White and the big dog, and -flotillas of boats brought out the company, largely consisting of -ladies, ‘parées avec ce luxe éclatant et de mauvais goût si -essentiellement britannique,’ who settled themselves on the stand rigged -up for the occasion, in laughing and chattering anticipation of -something funny. - -Robert Lange was playing cards below when he was told that the -entertainment was only wanting him. Very coolly he sent word back that -he would come as soon as he had finished his hand, and nothing would -induce him to hurry. Captain R—— wanted to put Lange into the _cachot_ -at once for this impertinence, but Colonel S—— calmed him by assuring -him that it was the custom in England to grant any indulgence to a man -condemned to die. - -Meanwhile Little White divested himself of his gorgeous flunkey dress, -and the appearance of his magnificent physique caused a chorus of -admiration for him, and of pity for the presumptuous Frenchman, to burst -from the company. - -In due course Robert Lange slouched up, his hands in his pockets, a pipe -in his mouth, and his cotton cap on the back of his head. His appearance -brought out a murmur of disappointment from the visitors, who considered -they were being made the victims of one of Colonel S——‘s famous hoaxes. -The murmurs turned to smiles when Robert confessed ignorance about -seconds, and asked what a watch was wanted for. However, these things -being explained to him, he chose Garneray and a fellow Breton as -seconds, told Garneray to pocket the magnificent watch which the Colonel -offered him, said he was ready for the dance to begin, and placed -himself in a fighting position which occasioned roars of laughter from -the polite crowd. - -‘I’m beginning to lose my temper at the mockery of these fools,’ said -Lange to Garneray; ‘what are they waiting for?’ - -‘Colonel,’ said Garneray, ‘my man is ready. May we begin?’ - -‘There is just one formality customary on these occasions,’ replied the -Colonel. ‘The combatants ought to shake hands to show there is no -ill-feeling between them.’ - -The big black thrust forward his hand saying, ‘Shake my hand with -respect. It has bowled over many a Frenchman.’ - -At this gratuitous insult, which the English applauded, a thrill of -indignation agitated the crowd of French prisoners. - -‘What does this chap say?’ asked Lange of Garneray. - -Garneray told him. Instantly there sprang into his face and into his -eyes a light of anger very unusual to him, and what Garneray feared was -that the furious Breton would violate the laws of combat and spring upon -the negro before the latter had taken up his fighting position. But it -was not so. Let me translate Garneray’s description of what followed: -‘At length Robert Lange seized the negro’s hand. Their hands entwined, -their gaze fixed, their inflamed faces close together, the two -combatants motionless, resembled a marble group. By degrees, it seemed -to me that on the face of Little White there was a look of pain. I was -not wrong. Suddenly with a cry of pain which he had been suppressing the -negro bit his lip with passion, half closed his eyes, threw his head -back as he raised his shoulder convulsively, and seemed to lose -consciousness. All this time the Breton was as calm and motionless as a -statue. What was going on was something so unforeseen, so extraordinary -that we did not know what to think of it. Robert Lange solved the -riddle. - -‘“Wretch!” he cried with a resounding voice. “This hand which has done -for so many Bretons shall not henceforth frighten a child!” - -‘In fact, the hand of the Breton had gripped the negro’s with such force -that the blood sprang from its fingers. - -‘“Stop! stop!” cried the black in his agony. But Robert was pitiless, -and did not loosen his grasp until the giant was on his knees before -him.’ - -An enthusiastic burst of cheering rose from the French prisoner -spectators, and, to cut the story short, the Colonel handed Robert Lange -the twenty guineas, and was obliged to apologize to the gay company -assembled to see the triumph of the negro, for the unexpected and brief -character of the entertainment. - -Then he called his big Danish hound and prepared to embark. But the dog -did not appear and could not be found. Somebody said he had last been -seen going into the battery. Captain R—— started, and his face reddened -deeply. ‘Then—then,’ he stammered. ‘If your dog has got into the -battery, you will never see him again!’ - -‘Never see him again! What do you mean?’ roared the Colonel. - -‘I mean that by this time he represents two legs of mutton, several -dishes of “ratatouille”, and any number of _beeftaks_! In other words, -the prisoners have eaten him!’ - -It was even so. The vision of a large plump dog had been too much for -the Raffalés, and as the irate Colonel was rowed shorewards from the -ship, he saw the skin of his pet nailed on to the outer side of it. - -Captain R—— revenged himself for the double fiasco by a series of brutal -persecutions and punishments which culminated in open rebellion, severe -fighting, much bloodshed, and at last in a proclamation by the Captain -that unless the ringleaders were delivered up to him, imploring pardon -for what had happened, he would have every man shot. - -In the meanwhile the long duration and intensity of Captain R——‘s -persecution had reached the ears of the authorities, and just at the -expiration of the hour which he had given the prisoners for decision, -the great folk of the Admiralty arrived, and the result of a court of -inquiry which lasted the whole day, and which even Garneray admits was -conducted with impartiality, was that he was removed. - -A few weeks later Garneray observed two of the worst of the Raffalés -seated on a bench playing ecarté very seriously, and surrounded by a -silent and equally serious crowd. Suspecting that this was no ordinary -gambling bout, he inquired, and was told that by a drawing of lots these -two men had been left to decide who should kill the ship’s master, one -Linch, the worst type of hulk tyrant. In vain Garneray exerted himself -to prevent the committal of so terrible a crime. The game was played -out, and five minutes later the master was stabbed to the heart as he -stood on the upper deck. - -Towards the end of 1811 the _Vengeance_, to which hulk Garneray had been -shifted from the _Crown_, received her quota of the unfortunate -Frenchmen who, after the capitulation of Baylen in 1808, had been -imprisoned by the Spaniards on the island of Cabrera, where they had -been submitted to the most terrible sufferings and hardships, and had -died like flies. Garneray describes the appearance of thirty of these -poor creatures who had been apportioned to the _Vengeance_, as they came -alongside. - - -‘The poor wretches, lying at the bottom of the boat, cried aloud in -their agony and tossed in the delirium of fever; thin as skeletons, pale -as corpses, scarcely covered, although the cold was intense, by their -miserable rags.... Of these thirty only about ten had strength enough to -get on board.’ - - -The doctor of the _Vengeance_ refused to receive them on board, saying -that by their infection they would in a fortnight’s time turn the ship -into one great tomb, and they were ordered to be put on board the -_Pegasus_ hospital ship. While the arrangements for their reception were -being made, the unfortunates were kept in their agony in the boat -alongside, for the captain of the _Vengeance_ said it was not worth -while to disarrange his ship for such men, for so short a time. - -[Illustration: - - EXTERIOR VIEW OF A HULK. - - (_After Louis Garneray._) -] - -More brutality followed. The captain of the _Pegasus_ sent word that the -poor wretches should be bathed before being sent to him, saying that his -hospital was so full that he had no accommodation of this sort. And this -was actually done; they were plunged into icy cold water, and then -packed off to the _Pegasus_, the result being that many of them were -hauled on board dying. - -As the doctor of the _Vengeance_ predicted, the infection brought by the -survivors of Cabrera spread through the ship with terrible severity, and -Garneray himself was seized with fever, and was sent on board the -_Pegasus_. He tells how by the intervention of a fellow-countryman who -was a hospital assistant, he contrived to avoid the horrors of the -compulsory cold bath on entrance, and proceeds to relate a circumstance -which, horrible as it is, I give for what it is worth. - -A neighbour invalid had a diamond ring on his finger. He was a soldier -of Spain, and the ring no doubt had been obtained, as Garneray says, ‘by -the luck of war’. He was very far gone; indeed his death could only be a -matter of a few hours. Garneray, rapidly becoming convalescent, heard -two English attendants conspire to take the dying man away at once to -the mortuary and there to relieve him of his ring. They carried him -away; Garneray called for his French friend, and bid him go at once and -prevent the brutal deed. He did so, and the man actually recovered, but -he told Garneray that it was quite the rule in this crowded hospital -ship for patients to be hurried away before they were dead into the -mortuary in order to make room for others! - -Garneray says: - - -‘It is difficult to give the reader an idea of the barbarous manner in -which the French were treated on this hospital ship. I will only give -one more instance, for my aim is not to horrify, and there were acts of -cruelty which the pen hesitates to describe. One day the English doctor -was asked to authorize wine to be given to a young officer, grievously -ill, in order to strengthen him. “Are you mad?” replied the doctor. “To -dare to ask me to give strength to an enemy? Get out! You must be a -fool!”’ - - -When Garneray returned to the _Vengeance_ he had news of the Baron de -Bonnefoux—extracts from whose life upon the Chatham hulks have already -been given,—and speaks of him as bent upon escaping, and fears he would -be shot one of these days. - -Garneray later is allowed to go on parole to Bishop’s Waltham, about his -sojourn at which place something will be said when the story of the -Prisoners on Parole comes to be told. Suffice it therefore to say that -Garneray got away from Bishop’s Waltham to Portsmouth, and well across -the Channel on a smuggling vessel, when he was recaptured by a British -cruiser, and once again found himself a prisoner on the _Vengeance_. -After more sufferings, brutal treatment, and illness, Garneray was at -length made free by the Treaty of Paris in 1814. - -[Illustration: - - THE VENGEANCE. - - (_After Louis Garneray._) -] - - - - - CHAPTER V - LIFE ON THE HULKS—(_continued_) - - -I next give the remarks of Colonel Lebertre, who, having broken his -parole by escaping from Alresford, was captured, and put on the _Canada_ -hulk at Chatham. This was in 1811. He complains bitterly that officers -in the hulks were placed on a level with common prisoners, and even with -negroes, and says that even the _Brunswick_, which was considered a -better hulk than the others, swarmed with vermin, and that although -cleanliness was strongly enjoined by the authorities, no allowance for -soap was made, no leave given to bathe even in summer, and that fresh -clothing was very rarely issued. - -But most strongly does he condemn the conduct of the idle curious who -would come off from the shore to see the prisoners on the hulks. - - -‘Les femmes même ont montré une indifférence vraiment choquante. On en a -vu rester des heures entières les yeux fixés sur le Parc où se tiennent -les prisonniers, sans que e spectacle de misère qui affecterait si -vivement une Française ait fait couler une seule larme; le rire -insultant était, au contraire, sur leurs lèvres. Les prisonniers n’ont -connu qu’un seul exemple d’une femme qui s’évanouît à la vue du Parc.’ - - -In the House of Commons on December 26, 1812, during a debate upon the -condition of the foreign prisoners of war in England, Croker, Secretary -to the Admiralty, declared that he had inspected the hulks at -Portsmouth, and had found the prisoners thereon ‘comfortable and happy -and well provided with amusement’, and Sir George Warrender said much -the same about Chatham. - -Colonel Lebertre remarks on this: - - -‘Men sensual and hardened by pleasures! You who in full Parliament -outrage your victims and declare that the prisoners are happy! Would you -know the full horror of their condition, come without giving notice -beforehand; dare to descend before daylight into the tombs in which you -bury living creatures who are human beings like yourselves; try to -breathe for one minute the sepulchral vapour which these unfortunates -breathe for many years, and which sometimes suffocates them; see them -tossing in their hammocks, assailed by thousands of insects, and wooing -in vain the sleep which could soften for one moment their sufferings!’ - - -He describes, as did the Baron de Bonnefoux, the Raffalés who sold all -their clothes, and went naked in obedience to one of the laws of their -_camaraderie_, who slept huddled together for warmth in ranks which -changed position by words of command. He says that some of the prisoners -were so utterly miserable that they accepted pay from the authorities to -act as spies upon their fellows. He describes the rude courts of justice -held, and instances how one man who stole five louis received thirty -blows with a rope’s end; he refers to the terrible vice prevalent upon -the prison ships, and remarks that ‘life on them is the touchstone of a -man’s character’. - -When he arrived on the _Canada_ there was no vacant sleeping place, but -for 120 francs he bought a spot in the middle of the battery, not near a -port, ‘just big enough to hold his dead body’. Still, he admits that the -officers treated him with as much consideration as their orders would -allow. - -On August 11, 1812, in response to many urgent remonstrances from -influential prisoners against the custom of herding officers and men -together, all the officers on the hulks at Chatham were transferred to -the lower or thirty-six gun battery of the _Brunswick_, in number 460. -Here they had to submit to the same tyranny as on the other ships, -except that they were allowed to have wine if they could afford to pay -six francs a bottle for it, which few of them could do. Later, General -Pillet and other ‘broke paroles’, on account of the insulting letters -they wrote on the subject of being allowed rum or other spirits, were -confined to the regulation small beer. The Transport Office wrote: -‘Indeed, when the former unprincipled conduct of these officers is -considered, with their present combination to break through the rules, -obviously tending to insurrection and a consequent renewal of bloodshed, -we think it proper that they should immediately be removed to separate -prison ships.’ - -We now come to the most rabid of the Frenchmen, General Pillet. Pillet -was severely wounded and taken prisoner at Vimiero in 1808, and—in -violation, he says, of the second article of the Convention of Cintra, -which provided that no French should be considered prisoners of war, but -should be taken out of Portugal with arms, &c., by British ships—was -brought to England, with many other officers. He was at once allowed to -be on parole at Alresford, but, not considering himself bound by any -parole terms, attempted to escape with Paolucci, Captain of the -_Friedland_ captured in 1808 by the _Standard_ and _Active_, but was -recaptured and sent to the dépôt at Norman Cross. Here his conduct was -so reprehensible that he was sent to the _Brunswick_ at Chatham. From -the _Brunswick_ he tried to escape in a vegetable boat, but this attempt -failed, and it is to the subsequent rigour of his treatment that must be -attributed his vitriolic hatred of Britain. - -General Pillet is of opinion that the particular branch of the Navy told -off for duty on the prison ships was composed of the most miserable scum -of English society; of men who have either been accomplices in or guilty -of great crimes, and who had been given by the magistrates the -alternative of being marines or of being hanged! - -He speaks of the Chatham hulks as abominably situated near foul -marshes—which is undeniably true. The quarters of the prisoners were in -no place high enough for a man to stand upright; fourteen little ports, -unglazed but barred, of seventeen inches square, on each side of the -deck, gave all the light and air obtainable. When they were shut they -were fast shut, so that during the winter months the prisoners breathed -foul air for sixteen hours a day. Hence they went naked, and so, when -the cold air was admitted the results were fatal. The overcrowding of -the hulks, says Pillet, was part of the great Government design of -killing the prisoners, and asserts that even a London newspaper, quoting -the opinion of a medical board in London, said that the strongest of -men, after six years’ life on the hulks, must be physically wrecked for -life. - -The hammock space allowed was six feet in length, but swinging reduced -them to four and a half. Newcomers were often obliged to sleep on the -bare deck, as there was no other vacant space, and there was no -distinction of ranks. However, officers were generally able to buy -spaces, upon which practice Pillet remarks: - - -‘C’est une misérable spéculation pour un pauvre prisonnier affamé; il -consent à vendre sa place afin de se procurer un peu plus de vivre -pendant quelques jours, et afin de ne pas mourir de faim il accélère la -destruction de sa santé, et se réduit dans cette horrible situation à -coucher sur un plancher ruisselant d’eau, l’évaporisation des -transpirations forcées qui a lieu dans ce séjour d’angoisses et de la -mort.’ - - -He declares that the air is so foul when the decks are shut up that the -candles will not burn, and he has heard even the guards call for help -when they have opened the hatches and the air has escaped. The food he -describes as execrable, so that the two boats which had the monopoly of -coming alongside to sell butter, tea, coffee, sugar, potatoes, candles, -and tobacco at a price one-third above that on land, did a roaring -trade. The general reply to complaints was that any food was good enough -for French dogs. - -If they were badly fed, says Pillet, they were worse clothed. Nominally -they received every eighteen months a coat, waistcoat, breeches, two -pairs of stockings, two shirts, a pair of shoes, and a cap. He declares -he can prove that the prisoners did not receive this complete rig-out -once in four years, and that if a prisoner had any rags of his own, or -received any money, he got no clothes! What clothes they did get were so -badly made that they generally had to be re-made. He says that at -Portsmouth, where the hulk agent Woodriff was at any rate conscientious -enough to issue the clothes on the due dates, his secretary would buy -back the shirts at one shilling each, and so, as Government paid three -shillings each for them, and there were at Portsmouth, Forton, and -Portchester some twelve thousand prisoners on the average, his -‘pickings’ must have been considerable! - -In a note he gives the instance of the reply of Commander Mansell, who -commanded the prison-ship police at Chatham in 1813, when the fact that -not one quarter of the clothing due to the prisoners had been delivered -to them, was proved clearly: ‘I am afraid it is too true, but I have -nothing to do with it. I cannot help it.’ - -From the _Carnet d’Étapes du Sergt.-Maj. Beaudouin, 31^e demi-brigade de -ligne_, I take the following account of life on the hulks. - - -‘On October 31st, 1809, Beaudouin left Valleyfield where he had been -confined since June 10th, 1804, and came on board the _Bristol_ hulk at -Chatham. At this time the hulks were the _Glory_, three decker, -_Bristol_, _Crown Prince_, _Buckingham_, _Sampson_ (_mauvais sujets_), -_Rochester_, _Southwick_, _Irresistible_, _Bahama_ (Danes), and -_Trusty_, hospital ship, holding in all 6,550 prisoners.’ - - -Beaudouin says: - - -‘The difference between the land prisons and the hulks is very marked. -There is no space for exercise, prisoners are crowded together, no -visitors come to see them, and we are like forsaken people. There is no -work but the _corvées_ to get our water, and to scrape in winter and -wash in summer our sleeping place. In a word, only to see them is to be -horrified. The anchorage at Chatham is bounded by low and ill-cultured -shores; the town is two miles away—a royal dockyard where there is much -ship-building. At the side of it is a fine, new, well-armed fort, and -adjoining it a little town named Rochester, where there are two -windmills, and two more in Chatham. By the London road, three miles off, -there are four windmills. The people of this country are not so pleasant -and kind as in Scotland, in fact I believe “the sex” is not so -beautiful.’ - - -Very soon the _Bristol_ was condemned and its prisoners transferred to -the _Fyen_, and at the same time the _Rochester_ and _Southwick_ were -replaced by the _Canada_ and _Nassau_. On the _Fyen_ were 850 prisoners, -but during 1810 and 1811 a great many Chatham prisoners were sent to -Norman Cross and Scotland. - -Beaudouin comments thus bitterly: - - -‘It is unfortunate for me that my circle of acquaintances is so limited, -and that I cannot therefore make sufficiently known the crimes of a -nation which aims at the supremacy in Europe. It poses as an example -among nations, but there are no brigands or savages as well versed in -wickedness as it is. Day by day they practise their cruelties upon us, -unhappy prisoners. That is where they are cowardly fighters! against -defenceless men! Half the time they give us provisions which the very -dogs refuse. Half the time the bread is not baked, and is only good to -bang against a wall; the meat looks as if it had been dragged in the mud -for miles. Twice a week we get putrid salt food, that is to say, -herrings on Wednesday, cod-fish on Saturday. We have several times -refused to eat it, and as a result got nothing in its place, and at the -same time are told that anything is good enough for a Frenchman. Therein -lies the motive of their barbarity.’ - - -A short description of the terrible _Sampson_ affair is given elsewhere -(p. 93), but as Beaudouin was evidently close by at the time, his more -detailed account is perhaps worth quoting. - - -‘On the _Sampson_ the prisoners refused to eat the food. The English -allowed them to exist two days without food. The prisoners resolved to -force the English to supply them with eatable provisions. Rather than -die of hunger they all went on deck and requested the captain either to -give them food or to summon the Commandant of the anchorage. The brute -replied that he would not summon the Commandant, and that they should -have no other provisions than those which had been served out to them -two days previously. The prisoners refused to touch them. The “brigand” -then said: “As you refuse to have this food, I command you to return -below immediately or I will fire upon you.” The prisoners could not -believe that he really meant what he said and refused to go below. - -‘Hardly had they made this declaration, when the Captain gave the word -to the guard to fire, which was at once done, the crowd being fired -upon. The poor wretches, seeing that they were being fired upon without -any means of defence, crowded hastily down, leaving behind only the -killed and wounded—fifteen killed and some twenty wounded! Then the -Captain hoisted the mutiny signal which brought reinforcements from the -other ships, and all were as jubilant as if a great victory had been -won. - -‘I do not believe that any Frenchman lives who hates this nation more -than I do; and all I pray for is that I may be able to revenge myself on -it before I die.’ - - -Beaudouin wrote a poem of 514 alexandrines, entitled: - - _Les Prisons d’Albion. - Ou la malheureuse situation des prisonniers en Angleterre. - Bellum nobis haec mala fecit._ - -I give in the original the first and last ‘chants’ of this embittered -production. - - I - - ‘Tu veux, mon cher ami, que ranimant ma verve - Je te peigne sans fard, sans crainte, et sans réserve, - Le Tableau des tourmens et de l’affliction - Sous lesquels sont plongés les captifs d’Albion. - J’obéis à la voix, et ma muse craintive, - Entonnant à regret la trompette plaintive, - Va chanter sur des tons, hélas! bien douloureux, - Les maux, les maux cuisans de bien des malheureux.’ - - - LXIV - - ‘Je t’ai dépeint sans fard l’exacte vérité, - Tels sont les maux cruels de la captivité. - O vous qui de bonheur goûtez en paix les charmes, - Si vous lisez mes vers, donnez-nous quelques larmes; - S’ils n’impriment chez vous une tendre affection, - Vous êtes, plus que nous, dignes de compassion!’ - -Speaking of the horrible moral effects of the bad treatment he says: - - -‘The ruin of their comrades and the depravities which were daily -committed in public, impressed right thinking men with so frightful -force that this place means a double suffering to them.’ - - -In 1812 it was reported that a batch of incurables would be sent home to -France, and Beaudouin resolved to get off with them by making himself -ill. He starved himself into such a condition that he was sent into -hospital, but the doctor would not pass him as an incurable. He -swallowed tobacco juice, and at last, in a miserable state, turned up -with the candidates. Then it was announced that no privateersmen, but -only regular seamen, would be sent. Beaudouin, being a soldier, and -being among the privateersmen, was in despair. However, a kindly English -doctor pitied him, cured him of his self-inflicted illness, and got him -leave to go. - -On June 2, 1812, he was ready to sail, but was searched first for -letters. Luckily none were discovered, although he had sixty sewn -between the soles of his shoes, and 200 in a box with a double bottom. -He sailed on June 4, the king’s birthday—that day eight years previously -he had arrived at Greenock amidst the Royal salutes—arrived at Morlaix, -and so home to Boiscommun (Loiret), canton of Beaune-la-Rolande, -arrondissement of Pithiviers. - -The following experiences of an American prisoner of war are from _The -Journal of a Young Man of Massachusetts_, (1816), who was a surgeon, by -name Benjamin Waterhouse, captured at sea in May 1813, and confined on -Melville Island, Halifax, whence he was transported to Chatham, and then -to Dartmoor. The account is interesting as showing the very marked -difference between the American and the French prisoners of war, and is -otherwise remarkable for the hatred and contempt of the writer for -Britons in general and for Scotsmen in particular, entire pages being -devoted to their vilification. Waterhouse, with a hundred of his -countrymen, was shipped to England on the _Regulus_, and his complaints -are bitter about the shameful treatment on board—the filth, the -semi-starvation, the vermin, the sleeping on stone ballast, the lack of -air owing to the only opening to the lower deck being a hatchway two -feet square, the brutal rule of allowing only two prisoners to go on -deck at a time, and the presence in their midst of the only latrine. The -captain, a Scotsman, would only yield to constant petitions and -remonstrances so far as to sanction the substitution of iron bars for -the hatchway. - -After a miserable voyage the prisoners reached Portsmouth, and, starved, -vermin-eaten, and in rags, were shipped off to the _Crown Prince_, -Captain Hutchison, at Chatham, where were thirteen other prison ships -and some 1,200 Americans. On this hulk, Waterhouse says, they fared ‘as -well as could be expected ... not that we fared so well as British -prisoners fare in America’, the daily allowance being half a pound of -beef, one gill of barley, one and a half pounds of bread, on five days -of the week, and on the others one pound cod fish, and one pound -potatoes, or one pound smoked herring, porter and beer being -purchasable. He dilates bitterly on the extraordinary lack of humanity -in John Bull, as evidenced by the hard fare of soldiers and sailors, the -scoundrelism of some officers, especially those of the provisioning -departments, and, above all, the shockingly cruel punishments in the -Army and Navy. During the daytime, he says, life on a prison ship was -not so unpleasant, but at night the conditions were very bad—especially -as American prisoners were more closely watched and guarded than were -men of other nationalities. ‘The French were always busy in some little -mechanical employ, or in gaming, or in playing the fool, but the -Americans seemed to be on the rack of invention to escape.’ - -Amongst themselves, the Americans elected by voting, every four weeks, a -President, and twelve Committee men, whose functions were to make -wholesome laws, to define crimes and award punishments, and particularly -to insist upon personal cleanliness. The punishments were fines, -whippings, and in very extreme cases the Black Hole. The volubility and -the eloquence of the orators at these Committee Meetings very much -impressed the British officers. The Frenchmen, Waterhouse says, were -almost to a man gamblers: - - -‘Their skill and address at these games of apparent hazard were far -superior to the Americans. They seemed calculated for gamesters; their -vivacity, their readiness, and their everlasting professions of -friendship were nicely adapted to inspire confidence in the unsuspecting -American Jack Tar, who has no legerdemain about him. Most of the -prisoners were in the way of earning a little money; but almost all of -them were deprived of it by the French gamesters. Our people stood no -chance with them, but were commonly stripped of every cent, whenever -they set out seriously to play with them. How often have I seen a -Frenchman capering, singing, and grinning in consequence of his -stripping one of our sailors of all his money; ... the officers among -them are the most adroit gamesters. We have all tried hard to respect -them; but there is something in their conduct so much like swindling, -that I hardly know what to say of them. When they knew that we had -received money for the work we had been allowed to perform, they were -very attentive, and complaisant and flattering.... They would come round -and say: “Ah! Boston fine town, very pretty—Cape Cod fine town, very -fine! Town of Rhode Island superb! Bristol Ferry very pretty! General -Washington _très grand homme_, General Madison _brave homme_!” With -these expressions and broken English, they would accompany, with their -monkey tricks, capering and grinning and patting us on the shoulder, -with: “The Americans are brave men—fight like Frenchmen;” and by their -insinuating manners allure our men once more to their wheels of fortune -and billiard-tables, and as sure as they did, so sure did they strip -them of all their money.’ - -Waterhouse adds that ‘if an American, having lost all his money, wanted -to borrow of a Frenchman under promise of repayment, the latter would -say: “Ah mon ami! I am sorry, very sorry, indeed; it is _la fortune de -guerre_. If you have lost your money you must win it back again; that is -the fashion in my country—we no lend, that is not the fashion!”... - -‘There were here some Danes as well as Dutchmen. It is curious to -observe their different looks and manners.... Here we see the -thick-skulled plodding Dane, making a wooden dish; or else some of the -most ingenious making a clumsy ship; while others submitted to the -dirtiest drudgery of the hulk, for money; and there we see a Dutchman, -picking to pieces tarred ropes ... or else you see him lazily stowed -away in some corner, with his pipe ... while here and there and every -where, you find a lively singing Frenchman, working in hair, or carving -out of a bone, a lady, a monkey, or the central figure of the -crucifixion! Among the specimens of American ingenuity I most admired -their ships, which they built from three to five feet long.... Had not -the French proved themselves to be a very brave people, I should have -doubted it by what I have observed of them on board the prison-ship. -They would scold, quarrel and fight, by slapping each other’s chops with -the flat hand, and cry like so many girls.... Perhaps such a man as -Napoleon Bonaparte could make any nation courageous.’ - - -Very bitter were the complaints of the Americans about the supine and -indifferent attitude towards them of Beasley, their agent, who was -supposed to keep constant watch and ward over the interests of his -unfortunate countrymen. He lived in London, thirty-two miles away, paid -no attention to complaints forwarded to him, and was heartily hated and -despised. Once he paid a visit to the hulks in Gillingham Creek, but -seemed anxious to avoid all interviews and questionings, and left amidst -a storm of hisses and jeers. - -Waterhouse dwells severely on the fact that the majority of the -Americans on the _Crown Prince_ and the other hulks were not men who had -been fairly taken in open combat on the high seas, but men who had been -impressed into the British Navy from American merchant ships previous to -the war between the two countries and who, upon the Declaration of War, -had given themselves up as prisoners of war, being naturally unwilling -to fight against their own country, but who had been kept prisoners -instead of being exchanged. This had been the British practice since -1755, but after the War of Independence it had ceased. All the same the -British authorities had insisted upon the right of search for British -subjects on American ships, and to the arbitrary and forcible exercise -of this ‘right’ was very largely owing the War of 1812. - -Waterhouse admits that on the whole he was treated as well on the _Crown -Prince_ as were the British prisoners at Salem or Boston. Recruiting -sergeants for the British service came on board and tried to tempt -Americans with a bounty of sixteen guineas, but they were only chaffed -and sent off. - -Later on, 500 more prisoners arrived from America in a pitiable -condition, mostly Maryland and Pennsylvania men—‘Colonel Boerstler’s men -who had been deceived, decoyed and captured near Beaver Dams on January -23rd, 1813’. With their cruel treatment on board the _Nemesis_ on their -trans-Atlantic voyage, Waterhouse contrasts favourably the kind -treatment of the prisoners brought by the _Poictiers 74_, Captain -Beresford, after his capture of the American _Wasp_ and her prize the -_Frolic_. - -The author gives a glaring instance of provision cheating. By the terms -of his contract, if the bread purveyor failed to send off to the hulks -fresh bread when the weather was favourable, he forfeited half a pound -of bread to each man. For a long time the prisoners were kept in -ignorance of this agreement, but they found it out, and on the next -occasion when the forfeit was due, claimed it. Commodore Osmore refused -it, and issued hard ship’s bread. The prisoners refused to take it. -Osmore was furious, and ordered his marines to drive the prisoners, now -in open mutiny, below. A disturbance was imminent, but the Americans -remained firm, and the commodore gave way. - -The American prisoners took in newspapers, as they were mostly -intelligent and well-educated men, but paid dearly for them. - -The papers were the _Statesman_, _Star_, _Bell’s Weekly Messenger_, and -_Whig_. The _Statesman_ cost 28_s._ a month, plus 16_s._ a month for -conveyance on board. - -As the weather grew milder, matters were more comfortable on board until -small-pox broke out. Vaccination was extensively employed, but many -prisoners refused to submit to it, not from unbelief in its efficacy, -but from misery and unwillingness to live! Then came typhus, in April -1814. There were 800 prisoners and 100 British on the ship. The hospital -ship being crowded, part of the _Crown Prince_ was set apart for -patients, with the result that the mortality was very high. Still -Beasley, the American agent, never came near the ship to inquire into -affairs. - -The gambling evil had now assumed such proportions that the Americans -determined to put it down. In spite of the vigorous opposition of the -Frenchmen, the ‘wheels of fortune’ were abolished, but the -billiard-tables remained, it being urged by the Frenchmen that the rate -of a halfpenny per game was not gambling, and that the game afforded a -certain amount of exercise. There remained, however, a strong -pro-gambling party among the Americans, and these men insisted upon -continuing, and the committee sent one of them to the Black Hole without -a trial. This angered his mates; a meeting was held, violent speeches -were made in which the names of Hampden, Sidney, and Wilkes were -introduced, and he was brought out. He was no ordinary rough tar, but a -respectable well-educated New England yeoman, with the ‘gift of the -gab’; and the results of his harangue were that the committee admitted -their error, and he was released. - -Finally the billiard-tables were abolished; a great improvement was soon -manifest among the captives, education was fostered, and classes formed, -although a few rough characters still held aloof, and preferred -skylarking, and the slanging and chaffing of passers-by in boats on the -river. - -In May 1814 four men went on deck and offered themselves for British -service. Two got away, but two were caught by their mates, tried, and -sentenced to be marked with indian ink on their foreheads with the -letter T (= Traitor). The Frenchmen were now being shipped home. Some of -them had been prisoners since 1803. Waterhouse comments upon the -appalling ignorance among English people in the educated class of all -matters American, and quotes the instance of the lady who, wishing to -buy some of the articles made by the American prisoners, was confronted -by the difficulty of ‘not knowing their language’! - -Waterhouse describes the surroundings of the _Crown Prince_ thus: - - -‘The Medway is a very pleasant river ... its banks are rich and -beautiful.... The picture from the banks of the river to the top of the -landscape is truly delightful, and beyond any thing I ever saw in my own -country, and this is owing to the hedges.... Nearly opposite our doleful -prison stands the village of Gillingham, adorned with a handsome church; -on the side next Chatham stands the castle, defended by more than an -hundred cannon.... This place is noted for making sulphate of iron.... -Near to this village of Gillingham is a neat house with a good garden, -and surrounded by trees, which was bequeathed by a lady to the oldest -boatswain in the Royal Navy.’ - - -Waterhouse complains strongly of the immorality on board: ‘Such a sink -of vice, I never saw, or ever dreamt of, as I have seen here,’ He -relates a daring escape. A hole was cut through the ship’s side near the -stern, the copper being removed all round except on one side so as to -lap over and be opened or closed at will. Sixteen men escaped through -this, and swam ashore one dark night, the sentry on duty close by being -allured away by the singing of droll songs and the passing of a can of -grog. At the numbering of the prisoners next morning, the correct tale -was made up by the passing through a hole cut in the bulk-head of -sixteen men who had been already counted. At another attempt two men -slipped into the water; one of them got tired and benumbed with cold, -and turned back. The sentry heard him breathing and said: ‘Ah! Here is a -porpoise, and I’ll stick him with my bayonet,’ and only the crying out -of the poor would-be refugee saved him. The ship’s officers on examining -the hole were amazed, and one of them remarked that he did not believe -that the Devil himself could keep these fellows in hell if they made up -their minds to get out. The next day the other poor chap was seen lying -dead on the beach, and to the disgust of the prisoners was allowed to -remain there two days before he was buried. - -Commodore Osmore was always the butt of the American prisoners. A yarn -got about that he had procured a sheep from a farmer ashore without -paying for it. Thereupon his appearance was the signal for a chorus of -‘Baa! Baa!’ He was mad with rage, and ordered the port through which the -insulting chorus had been made to be closed. The Americans forced it -open. The marines drove the prisoners from the fo’c’sle into the -‘Pound’. As more ‘Baa!’s resounded, they were driven below decks, and -all market boats were stopped from approaching the ship, so that for two -days the prisoners were without extra food. However, Captain Hutchison -instituted an inquiry, and peace was arranged. - -In June 1814 three men escaped in a water tank. Others would have -followed, but one of the former party had stupidly written an ironical -letter of thanks to Captain Hutchison, in which he described the method -of escape. - -A daring escape was made from the _Irresistible_ in broad daylight. Four -Americans saw a jolly-boat made fast to the accommodation-ladder under -the charge of a sentry. One of them was a big, strong Indian of the -Narragansett tribe from Rhode Island. The four men dashed down, seized -the sentry, disarmed him, threw him into the boat, and pulled off. They -were fired at from all sides, and boats put off from all the ships to -chase them, but only one man was wounded. They reached shore and struck -across the fields, which were soon covered by people in chase from the -farms and brickfields, who soon ran all the prisoners down except the -Indian, who out-distanced the prisoners, and would have got away had he -not sprained his ankle in getting over a fence, and even then, as he was -sitting down, none of the country folk would approach him, until the -marines came up. The chase had been closely followed with great -excitement on the ship, and on the arrival of the captured men -alongside, they were loudly cheered, their healths drunk, and the Indian -at once dubbed ‘Baron Trenck’. Said the boys: ‘If it took 350 British -seamen and marines to capture four Yankees, how many British sailors and -marines would it take to catch ten thousand of us?’ - -Two Scotsmen Waterhouse excepted from his condemnation of their nation: -Galbraith, the master-at-arms, and Barnes, the sailing-master, who was -wont to reprove them for misdeeds, saying: ‘I expect better things of -you as Americans, I consider you all in a different light from that of a -d—d set of French monkeys.’ - -The British officers were clearly uneasy about their custody of the -Americans, and felt it to be an ignoble business. Said they: ‘The -Yankees seemed to take a pleasure in making us uneasy, and in exciting -our apprehensions of their escape, and then they laugh and make -themselves merry at our anxiety. In fact, they have systematized the art -of tormenting.’ - -The Government, too, appreciated ‘the difficult task which the miserable -officers of this miserable Medway fleet had to perform’. It did not wish -them to be more rigorous, yet knew that more rigour was necessary. -Rumours got about that in desperation the Government was about to -transfer all the Americans from the prison ships to Dartmoor—the place -which, _it was said_, had been lost by the Duchess of Devonshire at a -game of hazard to the Prince of Wales, who determined to utilize it -profitably by making a prison there. - -The national festival on July 4 was duly celebrated on board the two -prison ships _Crown Prince_ and _Nassau_. An additional allowance of -drink was sanctioned, but the American flag was only allowed to be flown -as high as the ‘railings’. There were drums and pipes which played -Yankee Doodle on the fo’c’sle: cheers were exchanged between the ships, -and the toast of the day was drunk in English porter. There was, of -course, much speechifying, especially on the _Nassau_, where one orator -declaimed for half an hour, and another recited a poem, ‘The Impressment -of an American Sailor Boy’, which is too long to be quoted, but which, -says our author, brought tears into many eyes. All passed off quietly, -and acknowledgement is made of the ‘extraordinary good behaviour of all -the British officers and men on board the _Crown Prince_‘. - -Although Commodore Osmore was unpopular with the Americans, his charming -wife exercised a good influence in the ship by her amiability and -appreciation of the fact that American prisoners were not all a gang of -vagabonds; and gradually a better feeling developed between captors and -captured. - -In August 1814 the news of the transfer to Dartmoor was confirmed, and, -says Waterhouse, was received with regret on the _Crown Prince_—the ship -being ‘actually viewed with feelings of attachment’. The last scene, -however, was marked by a disturbance. - -Thirty prisoners had been told off to prepare for embarkation on a -tender. At the appointed hour no tender appeared, and the embarkation -was put off. But all hammocks had been packed, and upon application to -Osmore for hammocks, the prisoners were told to shift as they could for -the night, as the tender would arrive early the next morning, and it was -not worth while to unpack the hammocks. Upon hearing this the prisoners -resolved that if they were to be deprived of their night’s rest, nobody -else should have any. So they harnessed themselves to benches, and ran -about the deck, shouting and singing, and bumping the benches against -everything which would make a noise, jammed down the marines’ crockery -and brought into play every article which could add to the pandemonium. -Osmore sent a marine down to quiet them. The marine returned, -dishevelled, and disarmed. Osmore was furious. ‘I’ll be d—d if I do not -fire on them!’ he roared: ‘Fire, and be d—d,’ was the response. As it -was useless to attempt to quiet them, and to fire would have been -criminal, the commodore retired, and did what he could to sleep amid the -infernal din of bumping benches, jangling metal, shouts and songs, which -lasted throughout the night. - -When the tender took the men off in the morning it was to the -accompaniment of a great roar of ‘Baa! Baa!’ as a parting shot. - -The remainder of the _Crown Prince_ Americans were transferred to the -_Bahama_ on October 15, 1814. Here they found 300 of their countrymen of -the vicious, baser sort, gamblers all, and without any men of influence -to order them. Danes occupied the main deck and Americans the lower. -Jail fever had played havoc among Danes and Americans—no less than 84 of -the latter being buried in the marshes in three months. - -Next to the _Bahama_ lay the _Belliqueux_ hulk, full of harmless and -dull Scandinavians, so that the captain thereof, having nothing to do in -his own ship, started to spy upon the doings aboard the _Bahama_, and -succeeded in getting a marine punished for smuggling liquor. Next day, -the rations were fish and potatoes. The Americans collected all their -potatoes, and watched for the appearance of the _Belliqueux_ commander -for his spying promenade on his quarter deck, the result being that when -he did appear, he was greeted with such a hail of potatoes that he was -fain to beat an undignified retreat. Soon he came off in his boat to -complain to Commander Wilson of the _Bahama_ of his treatment. Wilson, a -passionate, hot-tempered, but just and humane man, said he was very -sorry, but could do nothing, so back the discomfited officer had to go, -pelted with more potatoes and some coals. Said Wilson: ‘These Americans -are the sauciest dogs I ever saw; but d—n me if I can help liking them, -nor can I ever hate men who are so much like ourselves.’ - -In October 1814 two hundred Americans were sent to Plymouth, where they -were at once boarded by an army of loose women. - -With Waterhouse’s experiences at Dartmoor I deal in the chapter devoted -to that prison. - - - - - CHAPTER VI - PRISON-SHIP SUNDRIES - - -Under this heading are included various reminiscences of, and -particulars about, the prison ships which could not be conveniently -dealt with in the foregoing chapters. - -In April 1759 five French prisoners from the _Royal Oak_ hulk at -Plymouth were executed at Exeter for the murder of Jean Maneaux, who had -informed the agent that his comrades had forged passports in order to -facilitate their escape to France. Finding this out, they got Maneaux -into an obscure corner of the ship, tied him to a ringbolt, and gave him -sixty lashes with a rope to the end of which was fastened an iron -thimble as thick as a man’s wrist. He got loose, and fell back; they -jumped on him till they broke his neck, then cut his body into small -pieces, and conveyed them through a waste pipe overboard. The next day -twenty-seven prisoners were arrested, and one of them pointed out the -actual murderers. - -In 1778 two prisoners escaped from the _San Rafael_ at Plymouth, swam -off to a lighter full of powder, overpowered the man in charge, ran down -through all the ships in Hamoaze, round Drake’s Island, and got safely -away to France, where they sold the powder at a handsome price. - -Even more daring was the deed of eleven Frenchmen who, early in the -morning of April 7, 1808, made their escape from the hulk _Vigilant_ at -Portsmouth, by cutting a hole, and swimming to the _Amphitrite_, a ship -in ordinary, fitted up as the abode of the Superintendent Master. They -boarded a boat, hanging on the davits, clothed themselves in the -greatcoats of the boat’s crew, lowered her, and in the semi-darkness -pulled away to the Master Attendant’s buoy boat, one of the finest -unarmed crafts in the harbour, valued at £1,000. They boarded her, -immediately got under way at about five a.m., and successfully navigated -her to Havre, or Cherbourg, which they reached in the evening, and sold -her for £700. She was fitted out, armed with eight six-pounders, and -went forth as a privateer under the name of _Le Buoy Boat de -Portsmouth_. Her career, however, was short, for in November she was -captured by the _Coquette_. - -The above-mentioned prison ship _Vigilant_ seems to have hardly deserved -her name, for in the year 1810 alone no less than thirty-two prisoners -escaped from her, and of these only eight were recaptured. - -On another occasion three prisoners escaped from a hulk, got a small -skiff, rowed to Yantlett Creek, where they boarded a fishing-smack of -which the master and boy were asleep. The master made a stout resistance -and called on the boy to help him, but he was too terrified to do so. -The master was overpowered and severely beaten, and then managed to jump -overboard. The Frenchmen got off, taking the boy with them. - -The _Sampson_ at Chatham was evidently an ill-omened ship. It was on -board her that occurred the disastrous event of May 31, 1811, when the -half-starved prisoners, upon being docked of half their rations for the -misdeeds of a few of their number, broke out into open mutiny, which was -only quelled at the cost of six prisoners being killed and a great many -wounded. On the _Sampson_, also, was fought a particularly terrible duel -in 1812. Two prisoners quarrelled and determined to settle their -difference quietly. So, attended only by their seconds, they betook -themselves to the ordinary ship prison, which happened to be empty, and, -armed with sticks to which scissor-blades had been fastened, fought. One -of them received a mortal thrust in the abdomen, but, although his -bowels were protruding, he continued to parry his opponent’s blows until -he was exhausted. He died in spite of the surgeon’s attentions. - -On board the same ship in 1813, three prisoners decided to murder the -master’s mate and the sergeant of marines—men universally detested for -their brutal behaviour—and drew lots as to who should do it. The lot -fell upon Charles Manseraux. But he had ‘compunction of conscience’ -because the sergeant was a married man with a family. However, he had to -kill some one, and fixed on a private of the Marines. He took the -opportunity when the unfortunate man was doing duty on the fo’c’sle and -drove a knife into his back. Another prisoner saw the deed done, knocked -Manseraux down and secured him. Manseraux and the others were tried at -the Maidstone Assizes, found guilty, and executed. - -Duelling and crimes of violence seem to have been rampant on certain -ships more than on others. The _San Damaso_ at Portsmouth was one of -these, although on the Chatham hulks the unnatural deaths were so -frequent that the Coroner of Rochester in 1812 claimed special fees from -the Transport Office on account of the trebling of his duties, a claim -which was not granted. - -A very bold attempt at escape in broad daylight was made by some -desperate prisoners of the _Canada_ hulk at Chatham in 1812. Beef was -being hoisted on board the prison ship from a lighter alongside, on -board of which were half a dozen American prisoners who were assisting -in the operation. Suddenly, they cut the painter, and, helped by a stiff -breeze, actually sailed off, and, although the guards on all the prison -ships fired at them, would have escaped if they had not run aground off -Commodore’s Hard, Gillingham. They sprang ashore here, and ran, but the -mud was too much for them and they were captured. - -The Americans, whether ashore or afloat, were the hardest prisoners to -guard of any. They seem never to have relaxed in their plans and -attempts to escape, and as they were invariably better supplied with -money than Frenchmen and Spaniards, they could add the power of the -bribe to the power which knowledge of their captors’ language gave them. -Hence no estimate can be formed of the real number of Americans who got -away from the hulks, for, although a very exact system of roll call was -in use, the ingenuity of the Americans, immensely backed by their -purses, contrived matters so that not merely were the numbers on board -always complete at each roll call, but upon more than one occasion, by -some over-exercise of ingenuity, the captain of a hulk actually found -himself commanding more prisoners than there were! - -By way of relief to the monotony of this _guerre à outrance_ between -captors and captives we may quote instances when the better humanity of -the hapless ones came to the fore. - -In 1812 a prisoner made an attempt to set the hulk _Ganges_ on fire at -Plymouth, and a large hole was burned in her side. The other prisoners -helped to extinguish the flames, and were so angry with the incendiary -that they were with difficulty prevented from tearing him to pieces. - -Three officers of the Inverness Militia were sailing in the harbour at -Portsmouth in the same year, when a squall upset their boat, and they -were thrown into the water. One of the officers could not swim, and -seeing him struggling for life, a French prisoner on the _Crown_ hulk at -once sprang overboard and brought him safely to the ship. He was at once -liberated and returned to France. - -But even heroism became a cloak for trickery among these weary, -hopeless, desperate exiles ever on the watch for a chance of escaping. -In 1810 a French prisoner at Plymouth obtained his freedom by saving a -British sentry from drowning, but the number of British sentries who, -after this, met with accidents which tumbled them overboard, and the -unfailing regularity with which heroic prisoner-rescuers appeared on the -scene, awakened the suspicions of the authorities, who found out that -these occurrences were purely commercial transactions. So they stopped -automatically. - -It is equally pleasing to come across, in this continually dreary record -of crime and misery, a foreign testimony to English kindness. The -following letter was kindly lent to me by Mr. J. E. Mace, of Tenterden, -Kent, to whose grandfather it was addressed: - - - ‘Chatham. Le 10 janvier, 1798. - - ‘_A Monsieur Mace, Tenterden._ - - ‘CHER MONSIEUR: - -‘S’il est cruel d’être livré aux dégoûts et aux peines que cause la -captivité la plus dure, il est bien doux de trouver des êtres sensibles -qui, comme vous, cher Monsieur, savent plaindre le sort rigoureux des -victimes de la guerre. Ce que vous avez eu la bonté de m’envoyer, plus -encore, l’expression des beaux sentiments me touche, me pénètre de la -plus vive reconnaissance, et me fait sentir avec une nouvelle force -cette vérité constante:—L’Humanité rapproche et unit tous les cœurs -faits pour elle. Comme vous, cher Monsieur, et avec vous, je désire avec -ferveur que les principes de notre Divin Législateur reprennent leur -Empire sur la terre, la conséquence en est si belle! - - ‘Dieu vous garde beaucoup d’années. - ‘FARBOURIET, Colonel 12^{me} Hussards.’ - - -In 1807, as a consequence of the bombardment of Copenhagen and the -subsequent surrender to England of the Danish fleet, there were 1,840 -Danish prisoners in England, who received double the allowance of French -prisoners, inasmuch as they were rather hostages than prisoners—hostages -for the good behaviour of Denmark as regards Napoleon;—the captain of a -man-of-war got four shillings per diem, a commanding officer two -shillings, the captain of an Indiaman three shillings, and so on. In -other respects they were treated as prisoners of war. - -These Danes were largely taken from the hulks to man our merchant navy, -and one Wipperman, a Danish clerk on H.M.S. _Utile_, seems to have made -this transfer business a very profitable one, until the accusation -brought against him by a Danish prisoner of war of having obtained a -watch and some money under false pretences, brought to light the fact -that his men rarely if ever joined the British merchant service except -to desert at the first opportunity, and generally went at large as free -men. He was severely punished, and his exposure brought to an end an -extensive crimping system by which hundreds of dangerous foreigners had -been let loose from the prison ships, many of them spies and -escape-aiders. - -Foreign writers have included among their various complaints against the -British Government its reluctance to allow religious ministration among -the prisoners of war. But the Transport Office, as we shall see later, -had learned by experience that the garb of sanctity was by no means -always the guarantee of sanctity, and so when in 1808 a Danish parson -applied to be allowed on the prison ships at Chatham, he got his -permission only on the condition that ‘he does not repeat, the old -offence of talking upon matters unconnected with his mission and so -cause much incorrect inferences’—a vague expression which probably meant -talking about outside affairs to prisoners, who had no other source of -information. - -In 1813 the Transport Office replied to the Bishop of Angoulême, who -requested that a priest named Paucheron might minister on the prison -ships at Chatham, that they could not accede inasmuch as Paucheron had -been guilty ‘of highly improper conduct in solemnizing a marriage -between a prisoner of war and a woman in disguise of a man’. - -In no branch of art did French prisoners show themselves more proficient -than in that of forgery, and, although when we come to treat of the -prisons ashore we shall find that, from the easier accessibility to -implements there, the imitation of passports and bank notes was more -perfectly effected than by the prisoners on the hulks, the latter were -not always unsuccessful in their attempts. - -In 1809 Guiller and Collas, two prisoners on _El Firme_ at Plymouth, -opened negotiations with the captain’s clerk to get exchanged to the -_Généreux_, telling him what their object was and promising a good -reward. He pretended to entertain their proposals, but privately told -the captain. Their exchange was effected, and their ally supplied them -with paper, ink, and pencils of fine hair, with which they imitated -notes of the Bank of England, the Naval and Commercial Bank, and an -Okehampton Bank. Not having the official perforated stamp, they copied -it to perfection by means of smooth halfpennies and sail-makers’ -needles. When all was ready, the clerk gave the word to the authorities, -and the clever rascals got their reward on the gallows at Exeter in -1810, being among the first war prisoners to be executed for forgery. - -In 1812 two French prisoners on a Portsmouth hulk, Dubois and Benry, -were condemned to be hanged at Winchester for the forgery of a £1 Bank -of England note. Whilst lying in the jail there they tried to take their -own lives by opening veins in their arm with broken glass and enlarging -the wounds with rusty nails, declaring that they would die as soldiers, -not as dogs, and were only prevented by force from carrying out their -resolve. They died crying ‘Vive l’Empereur!’ - -In 1814 six officers were found to have obtained their liberty by forged -passports. These men were, in their own vernacular, ‘Broke-Paroles’—men -who had been sent from parole places to prison ships, for the crime of -forging passports. Further investigation caused suspicion to be fixed -upon a woman calling herself Madame Carpenter, who was ostensibly a tea -and sugar dealer at 46 Foley Street, Portland Chapel, London, but who -had gained some influence at the Transport Office through having -rendered services to British prisoners in France, which enabled her to -have access to the prison ships in her pretended trade, although she was -a Frenchwoman. I cannot discover what punishment she received. We shall -hear more of her in the chapter upon Stapleton Prison. - -A clever quibble saved the life of a prisoner on the _San Rafael_ hulk -at Plymouth. He was tried at Exeter for imitating a £2 note with indian -ink, but pleaded that as he was under the protection of no laws he had -not broken any, and was acquitted. This was before cases of murder and -forgery were brought under the civil jurisdiction. - -Well-deserved releases of prisoners in recognition of good actions done -by them in the past were not rare. In 1808 a prisoner on the _Sampson_ -at Chatham, named Sabatier, was released without exchange on the -representation of the London Missionary Society, who acted for Captain -Carbonel of the famous privateer _Grand Bonaparte_, who had shown great -kindness to the crew and passengers of the ship _Duff_ which he had -captured. - -In the same year a prisoner at Plymouth, named Verdie, was released -unconditionally on the petition of Lieut. Ross, R.N., for having kindly -treated the Lieutenant’s father when the latter was a prisoner in -France. - -In 1810 a Portsmouth prisoner was unconditionally liberated upon his -proving satisfactorily that he had helped Midshipman Holgate of the -_Shannon_ to escape from imprisonment in France. - -Almost to the very last the care of sick prisoners on the hulks seems to -have been criminally neglected. For instance, the In-letters to the -Transport Office during the year 1810 are full of vehement or pathetic -complaints about the miserable state of the sick on the _Marengo_ and -_Princess Sophia_ hospital ships at Portsmouth. Partly this may be due -to an economical craze which affected the authorities at this time, but -it must be chiefly attributed to medical inefficiency and neglect. Most -of the chief medical officers of the prison ships had their own private -practices ashore, with what results to the poor foreigners, nominally -their sole care, can be imagined, and all of them resented the very -necessary condition that they should sleep on the ships. - -In this year 1810, Dr. Kirkwood, of the _Europe_ hospital ship at -Plymouth, was convicted of culpable neglect in regularly sleeping -ashore, and was superseded. As a result of an inquiry into the causes of -abnormal sickness on the _Vigilant_ and at Forton Prison, Portsmouth, -the surgeons were all superseded, and the order was issued that all -prison-ship surgeons should daily examine the healthy prisoners so as to -check incipient sickness. I append the States of the _Renown_ hospital -ship at Plymouth for February 1814: - - - ‘Staff: 2 surgeons, 1 assistant surgeon, 1 matron, 1 interpreter, 1 - cook, 1 barber, 1 mattress maker, 1 tailor, 1 washerwoman, - and 10 nurses. - - Received 141. Discharged 69. Died 19. Remaining 53. - -‘Fever and dysentery have been the prevalent complaints among the -prisoners from Pampelune, whose deplorable state the Board of Inspection -are in full possession of. (Among these were some forty women “in so -wretched a state that they were wholly destitute of the appropriate -dress of their sex”. Two of the British officers’ wives collected money -for the poor creatures and clothed them.) Pneumonia has recently -attacked many of these ill-conditioned men termed _Romans_, many of whom -were sent here literally in a state of nudity, an old hammock in the -boat to cover them being excepted.’ - - -(The _Romans_ above mentioned were the most degraded and reckless of the -Dartmoor prisoners, who had been sent to the hulks partly because there -was no power in the prison that could keep them in order, and partly -because their filthy and vicious habits were revolting to the other and -more decent prisoners.) - -The horrors of the English prison ships were constantly quoted by French -commanders as spurs to the exertions of their men. Bonaparte more than -once dwelt on them. Phillipon, the gallant defender of Badajos, -afterwards a prisoner on parole in England, reminded his men of them as -they crowded to hurl our regiments from the breaches. ‘An appeal’, says -Napier, ‘deeply felt, for the annals of civilized nations furnish -nothing more inhuman towards captives of war than the prison ships of -England.’ - -The accompanying drawing from Colonel Lebertre’s book may give some idea -of the packing process practised on the hulks. It represents a view from -above of the orlop deck of the _Brunswick_ prison ship at Chatham—a ship -which was regarded as rather a good one to be sent to. The length of -this deck was 125 feet, its breadth 40 feet in the widest part, and its -height 4 feet 10 inches, so that only boys could pass along it without -stooping. Within this space 460 persons slept, and as there was only -space to swing 431 hammocks, 29 men had to sleep as best they could -beneath the others. - -Something with an element of fun in it may serve as a relief to the -prevalent gloom of this chapter. It has been shown how largely gambling -entered into the daily life of the poor wretches on the hulks, and how -every device and excuse for it were invented and employed, but the -instance given by Captain Harris in his book upon Dartmoor is one of the -oddest. - - -‘When the lights were extinguished’, he says, ‘and the ship’s lantern -alone cast a dim glimmer through the long room, the rats were accustomed -to show themselves in search of the rare crumbs to be found below the -hammocks. A specially tempting morsel having been placed on an open -space, the arrival of the performers was anxiously looked for. They were -all known by name, and thus each player was able to select his champion -for the evening. As soon as a certain number had gained the open space, -a sudden whistle, given by a disinterested spectator, sent them back to -their holes, and the first to reach his hole was declared the winner. An -old grey rat called “Père Ratapon” was a great favourite with the -gamblers, for, though not so active as his younger brethren, he was -always on the alert to secure a good start when disturbed.’ - - -In justice to our ancient foe I give here a couple of extracts, for -which I have to thank Mr. Gates of Portsmouth, from the _Hampshire -Telegraph_, illustrative of generous behaviour towards Englishmen who -had been forced to aid prisoners to escape. - -[Illustration: - - ORLOP DECK OF _BRUNSWICK_ PRISON SHIP, CHATHAM. - - (_After Colonel Lebertre._) - - Length, 125 feet. Breadth in widest part, 40 feet. Height, 4 feet 10 - inches. Number of prisoners, 460. -] - - -‘July 20th, 1801. In a cartel vessel which arrived last week from -France, came over one Stephen Buckle, a waterman of this town. Three -gentlemen had hired this waterman to take them to the Isle of Wight, and -they had not proceeded farther than Calshot Castle when they rose upon -him, gagged him, tied him hand and foot, and threatened him with instant -death if he made the slightest noise or resistance. The boatman begged -for mercy, and promised his assistance in any undertaking if they would -spare his life; on which he was released, and was told they were French -prisoners, and ordered to make for the nearest port in France, at his -peril. The darkness of the night, and the calmness of the wind, favoured -their intentions, for after rowing two days and nights in a small, open -skiff, without having the least sustenance, they arrived safe at -Cherbourg. The waterman was interrogated at the Custom House as to the -prisoners’ escape; when, after giving the particulars and identifying -the persons, saying they threatened to murder him, the officers took the -three Frenchmen into custody, to take their respective trials. The poor -man’s case being made known to the Government, he was ordered to be -liberated, and his boat restored.’ - - -‘September 21st, 1807. Between 9 and 10 o’clock on the evening of last -Sunday three weeks, two men engaged Thomas Hart, a ferryman, to take -them from Gosport beach to Spithead, to go on board a ship there, as -they said. When the boat reached Spithead they pretended the ship had -gone to St. Helens, and requested the waterman to go out after her. -Having reached that place, one of them, who could speak English, took a -dagger from under his coat, and swore he would take the life of the -waterman if he did not land them in France. - -‘Under this threat the man consented to follow their directions, and -landed them at Fécamp. The men appeared to be in the uniform of officers -of the British Navy. The waterman was lodged in prison at Havre de -Grâce, and kept there for ten days. He was then released on representing -himself to be a fisherman, his boat was returned to him, and the -Frenchmen gave him six or seven pounds of bread, some cyder, and a -pocket compass, and a pass to prevent his being interrupted by any -French vessel he might meet with. In this state they set him adrift; he -brought several letters from English prisoners in France, and from -French persons to their friends in prison in this country.’ - - - - - CHAPTER VII - TOM SOUVILLE - A FAMOUS PRISON-SHIP ESCAPER - -In old Calais there is or was a _Rue Tom Souville_. No foreigners and -not many Calaisiens know who Tom Souville was, or what he had done to -deserve to have a street named after him. The answer to these questions -is so interesting that I do not hesitate to allow it a chapter. - -About the year 1785, Tom Souville, aged nine, was, in accordance with a -frequent custom of that day, sent to England for the purpose of learning -English in exchange for a little English boy who came over to France. He -was quartered in the house of the Rev. Mr. Wood, of Dover, whose sailor -brother took a great fancy to the little stranger, and made him his -constant companion on cruises up and down the Channel, with the result -that Tom Souville got to know the Channel coasts thoroughly, a stock of -learning which he afterwards made use of in a fashion little dreamed of -by the old salt, his mentor. - -At Christmas 1786, after eighteen months’ happiness at Dover, he -returned to Calais, and in obedience to his irresistible bent, joined -the navy. In 1795, the _Formidable_, with Tom Souville on board, was -taken by H.M.S. _Queen Charlotte_, off Isle-Croix, after a fight in -which she lost 320 killed and wounded out of her complement of 717, and -Tom with his Captain, Linois, of whom mention will be made later in this -work, were taken to Portsmouth. Tom Souville refused to sign a parole -form, so was put into the _cachot_ of the _Diamond_ hulk; but only for a -short time, as he was soon exchanged. However, in 1797 he was again -captured, this time on the _Actif_, and was confined on the _Crown_ -hulk. - -Of life on the _Crown_ he gives the usual description. He speaks of the -prisoner professors (who were known as the ‘Académiciens’) being obliged -to give their lessons at night, as the noise during the daytime made -teaching impossible. But as no lights were allowed ‘tween decks after a -certain hour, they saved up the fat of their ration meat, and put it -into an oyster-shell with a wick of cotton threads, fencing it round -with clothes. Sometimes the air was so foul that the light went out. If -they were discovered, the guards destroyed everything, books, paper, -slates, pens, &c. - -Souville mentions one thing I have not noticed in any account of -prison-ship life, that there were French women on board, ‘de basse -extraction et extrêmement grossières’. - -He emphasizes the incapacity and brutality of the British doctors, and -particularizes one Weiss (not a British name, one is thankful to note!) -as a type. He says that the orthodox treatment of the prisoners from San -Domingo, who were suffering from the _vomito negro_, was to plunge them -into icy water! - -A system of signalling and holding conversation between one prison ship -and another was carried out by the carpenters, who had their benches on -the upper deck, a regular alphabet being arranged by means of hammer -knocks and shifting the position of the benches. He is the first also to -mention that theatricals were performed on a prison ship; the pieces -given being a two-act vaudeville, _Les Aventures d’une voyageuse -sensible_, and a drama in five acts, _La Fiancée du Corsaire_. The -orchestra consisted of a flute and a violin; the female dresses were -lent by the ladies of Portsmouth and Gosport, who also came as -spectators. But the chief amusement, he says, was to vex the authorities -as much as possible, to call the captain, who had an inflated sense of -his own importance, a mere turnkey, to make songs on him, and above all -to play tricks at the roll call, so as to create confusion and -bewilderment. - -The attempts to escape were very frequent, and this in spite of a recent -savage threat that for every prisoner who escaped two should be hanged. -Souville describes a daring escape which inspired him to action. A -cutter laden with powder was alongside one of the hulks, waiting for -morning to discharge into the _Egmont_ man-of-war. Lieutenant Larivière -and four or five other prisoners managed to slip out of the _Crown_ and -board her. They found the crew fast asleep, tied and gagged them -securely, and adopted their clothes. At daybreak they hoisted their -sail, Larivière giving loud commands in English, and passed by the -_Egmont_, waiting for her powder. She hailed them to stop, but they -crowded on all sail, and although the alarm was signalled, and they were -pursued, they crossed safely to Roscoff. - -As Souville, when he refused to be put on parole, had openly declared -that he would escape at the first opportunity, he was carefully guarded. -Thanks to his excellent knowledge of English he made friends among the -bluejackets of the guard, and especially with one Will, whom he had -helped with money when his mother’s home was threatened to be broken up -for debt. - -So he started the delicate and difficult operation of boring a hole in -the ship’s side, large enough to admit the passage of a human body, -above the water line, yet not too near the grated platform running round -the ship, continually patrolled by guards. He counted on Will’s aid, and -confided his scheme to him. - -The very next morning he was conducted to the Black Hole, and was -informed that his design had been betrayed, and he instantly guessed -that his supposed friend Will was the betrayer, as he alone was in the -secret. Whilst in the _cachot_ he found a mysterious note merely saying -that at a certain hour on a certain day the high tide would be over the -mud-banks which had proved fatal to so many fugitives from the hulks. In -the _cachot_ with him were three men who had successfully shammed -madness in order to get sent to France, and who were about to be -liberated. One of them, whose form of assumed madness had been to crow -day and night like a cock, gave Tom a clue to a hole he had commenced to -bore in the event of his sham madness failing. - -Souville found the hole, finished it, and on the date named in the note -slipped out, and started for a three-mile swim towards a light ashore. -After much labour, he negotiated the mud-banks, and landed. Exhausted, -he fell asleep, and was awakened by a man. He sprang to his feet and -prepared to defend himself from arrest; but the man impressed silence, -and pointed to a fisher-hut whence a light shone, evidently that to -which he had steered at first, but of which he had lost sight during his -long struggle in the water. - -He entered the hut and found Will! The whole affair, the arrest, the -_cachot_, and the mysterious note turned out to be Will’s plot, who -explained that if he had not divulged the secret of Souville’s first -escape-hole when it was known that he had discovered it, he would -probably have got a thousand lashes at the triangles, and that to atone -for it he had conveyed to the _cachot_ the note which was the means of -Tom’s escape. - -No time was lost in completely disguising him, and he started. As he -passed along the smuggler’s cliff path he heard the guns which -proclaimed the escape of a prisoner. At 9 a.m. he passed Kingston, and -got to Farlington on the Chichester road. Here he put up at a lodging -house, replying to suspicious inquiries that he was from London, bound -for an American ship coming from Dover. From here he took coach to -Brighton, and in two days was at Dover. At Dover he waited two more days -before he could find a neutral ship to take him across, and then quietly -smuggled himself on to a Danish brig bound for Calais, and hid under a -coil of rope on deck. Whilst here the Admiralty people came on board to -search for fugitives, and one of them actually sat on the heap of rope -under which he was. The brig sailed, and then, to the astonishment of -the master and crew, Tom presented himself. At first the master was -disposed to put back and give Tom up, for the penalties were heavy for -harbouring escaped prisoners, but the promise of a handsome reward and -Tom’s mention of influential friends overcame his scruples and Tom was -safely landed. - -He went home, got the money, of which he gave 1,000 francs to the -skipper, 500 francs to the crew, and 500 to the fisherman who landed -him. - -Souville now started the privateering business which was to make him -famous, and during the years 1806 and 1807 won for his _Glaneur_ a -reputation on both sides of the Channel. At Dunkirk he distinguished -himself on shore by saving two lives from a runaway carriage which had -been upset into the port. He then changed to the _Général Paris_, and -made a number of rich captures, but on November 30, 1808, was captured -off Folkestone by two corvettes and a cutter, and found himself on the -_Assistance_ prison ship at Portsmouth. On the _Assistance_ he made so -many attempts to escape that he was changed to the _Crown_. Here he met -an old shipmate, Captain Havas, of the _Furet_ privateer, but from -policy they agreed not to let it be seen that they were friends, and -they lost no time in setting to work with saws made of barrel-hoops, and -bits of fencing foils for gimlets, to make a hole a square foot in size -through the nine inches of the wooden ship’s side, and, to avoid the -noise they made being heard, they worked while the English soldiers were -scrubbing the decks. - -By the beginning of January 1809 the hole was ready. January 9 was a -suitable day for this project, being foggy, and the only obstacle was -the bitter cold of the water. They had saved up rum, and grease -wherewith to rub themselves, and had a compass, a knife, a flask for the -rum, and a waterproof fishing-basket to hold a change of clothes. At -midnight they opened the hole; Havas slipped out, and Souville followed, -but in doing so made a slight noise, but enough to attract the notice of -the sentry. They swam away amidst a storm of bullets fired at random in -the fog and darkness. Souville was soon caught by one of the boats which -at the first alarm had put out from all the hulks. Havas hung on to the -rudder of a Portuguese ship under repair, and paused to rest. When all -was quiet, he climbed up, boarded the ship, crept down to the hold, got -under a basket, and, utterly worn out, fell asleep. - -A cabin boy coming for the basket in the morning, at the appearance of a -strange man under it was terrified and cried out. Havas rushed up on -deck, but at the mouth of the hatchway was met by an English soldier who -promptly knocked him down, and he was secured. - -The adventurers got a month’s Black Hole, and when they were released -found the precautions against escape were stricter than ever. In May -1809 the news came that all the prisoners taken at Guadeloupe were to be -exchanged. Havas and Souville determined to profit by the opportunity, -and bought two turns of exchange from soldiers, with the idea of getting -away as Guadeloupe prisoners. But, in order to pass the sentry it was -necessary that they should have the appearance of having served in the -tropics, so they had ‘to make themselves up’, with false moustaches and -stained faces. This was effected, and at the signal of departure the two -adventurers joined the Guadeloupe contingent and were taken ashore. But -on the jetty stood Captain Ross, of the _Crown_, scrutinizing the -prisoners. - -‘You didn’t expect me here, my man,’ said he to Havas, at the same time -taking hold of his moustache, which came off in his hand. ‘Never mind; -although I am in duty bound to take you before Commodore Woodriff, I’ll -ask him to let you off; if I don’t you’ll sink my ship with your eternal -hole-boring through her!’ - -He meant what he said, for, although somewhat of a martinet (so says the -biographer of Souville—Henri Chevalier), he was a good fellow at heart, -but Woodriff, who had been in command at Norman Cross in 1797, was of -another disposition: ‘un de ces moroses Anglais dont l’air sombre cache -un caractère plus dur encore que sévère.’ He refused Ross’s request, and -even admonished him for laxity of vigilance, and so our friends were -sent back to the _Crown_, and got another month’s _cachot_. Then they -were separated, Havas being sent to the _Suffolk_ and Tom Souville to -the _Vengeance_. Six uneventful months passed; then the prisoners of the -_Suffolk_ and _Vengeance_ were transferred to the _San Antonio_, and -Havas and Souville were re-united, and took into partnership Étienne -Thibaut. The commander of the _San Antonio_ was an affable Scot with a -soft heart towards his prisoners. He took a fancy to Havas, often -chatted with him, and at last engaged him as a French teacher. Captain -B. had a pretty wife, ‘belle en tout point, blonde, grande, svelte et -gracieuse,’ and a charming little girl, possessing ‘de bonnes joues -roses, de grands yeux bleus, et des cheveux dorés à noyer sa tête si un -ruban ne les eût captivés sur son cou; enfant pétulante et gaie, fraîche -comme une fleur, vive comme un oiseau’. - -Havas makes friends with the child, but aims at the favour of the -mother. Being a dashing, attractive, sailor-like fellow, he succeeds, -and moves her sympathy for his fate. Finally Mrs. B. promises that he -shall go with her to a French theatrical performance ashore, as her -husband rarely quits the ship except on duty. So they go, one fine -spring day, she and Havas, and a Scots Captain R. with them to save -appearances, first to the hulk _Veteran_ where they learn that the play, -to be acted in Portchester Castle, will be Racine’s _Phèdre_, and that -it will commence at 4 p.m. - -They attended the play. An old caulker played Theseus, Phèdre was -presented by a novice, and Hippolyte by a top-man, which probably means -that it was ludicrous. After the play, Captain R. went into the town, -leaving Havas and Mrs. B. to enjoy a beautiful springtime walk together, -winding up with refreshments in an arbour which Mrs. B. had engaged. All -this time, however, Havas was not so intoxicated with the delightful -novelty of a _tête-à-tête_ walk with a pretty Englishwoman on a lovely -day in a fair country, as not to be making mental notes of the local -geography. - -During the long continuance of the fine weather, which was all against -their project, the three men made preparations for escape, and -particularly in the manufacture of wooden skates for use over the two -great mud-banks which separated the hulks from the shore, and which had -always been fatal obstacles to escaping prisoners. At length the -long-looked-for change in the weather came, and at 1 a.m. on a wild, -stormy morning Havas and Souville got off (in the French original I find -no allusion to Thibaut), well furnished with necessaries, including -complete suits of stylish clothing! Once they were challenged, but the -uproar of the storm saved them, and, moreover, the sea, even in the -land-locked part, was so high that the sentries had been withdrawn from -the external gallery. It was a hard struggle, but they reached the first -mud-spit safely, got over it on their skates, swam another bit, and at -the second mud-bank had to rest, as Souville was taken with a sudden -vertigo. Finally, after three terrible hours of contest with wind and -wave, they landed. Thence they made their way into the fields, washed -and scraped the mud off, and with the stylish clothes transformed -themselves, as the account says, into ‘elegants’. - -For four hours they walked until they struck the London road, along -which they tramped for an hour, that is until about 10 a.m., and -breakfasted at an inn. At 3 p.m. they reached Petersfield, went boldly -to the best hotel, dined as became gentlemen of their appearance, and -ordered a post-chaise to be ready to take them to Brighton at 4 a.m. - -They were three days on the journey to Brighton! Souville’s admirable -English was their protection, and the only inconvenience they -experienced was from the remarks of people who contrasted their elegant -appearance with the small amount of luggage they carried, consisting of -a pocket-handkerchief containing their belongings. - -They arrived at Brighton at 10 a.m. on a Sunday morning. The Duke of -York had arrived there to review the troops assembled at Brighton Camp -on account of Bonaparte’s threatened invasion, so that the town was -crowded with soldiers and visitors, accommodation was not to be had, and -no chance of sailing to France was likely to be offered. So they decided -to walk on to Hastings, a risky proceeding, as the country swarmed with -soldiers. They walked for a day and a half, and then resolved to drive. -For the night they had lodged at an inn which was full of soldiers, all -of whom were incited by rewards to look out for spies, so they shut -themselves in their room with food and two bottles of port, and busied -themselves with mending and furbishing up the elegant clothes, which -were beginning to show signs of wear and tear. The next day they left by -coach; their fellow passengers included a faded lady of thirty, a -_comédienne_, so she said, with whom Souville soon became on such -excellent terms that she gave him her address at Hastings, and on the -next day he went for a pleasant walk with her, noting carefully the lie -of the country and looking out for a suitable boat on the beach in which -to get over to France. Boats in plenty there were; but, in accordance -with the Admiralty circular, inspired by the frequent appropriations of -boats by escaping foreigners, from all of them masts, oars, and sails -had been removed. So our friends resolved to walk on to Folkestone. They -reached the ‘Bay of Rice’ (Rye Bay?) and had to pass the night in the -open, as there was no inn, and arrived at Folkestone at 6 p.m. the next -day. - -During these stirring times of war between Britain and France, the -French privateers and the English smugglers found it to be to their -mutual interests to be good friends, for not only were the smugglers the -chief carriers of escaped French prisoners, many of whom were officers -of privateers, but they were valuable sources of information concerning -the movements of war-ships and likely prizes. In return the French -coastal authorities allowed them free access to their ports for purposes -of the contraband trade. During his career afloat Souville had done a -good turn to Mr. J. P., an English smuggler captain living at -Folkestone, and Mr. J. P. promised that he would requite this at the -first opportunity. And so Tom determined to find him at Folkestone. His -excellent English soon procured him J. P.’s address, and there the -fugitives had a royal reception, dinner, bed, a bath the next morning, -fresh clothes and a change of linen. At breakfast they read the news of -their escape and of the big reward offered for their recapture in the -local newspaper. - -They spent five happy days under this hospitable roof, waiting for -favourable weather, and for their host to procure them a suitable boat. -This came about in due course, and after a farewell banquet, the party, -consisting of Souville, arm-in-arm with Mrs. P., Havas with her sister, -J. P., and three friends, proceeded to the beach, and at 9 p.m. Souville -and Havas embarked for Calais, where they arrived after a good passage, -and had an enthusiastic reception, for it had been reported that in -escaping from the _San Antonio_, they had been engulfed in the -mud-banks. - -Tom Souville lost no time in resuming his privateering life, and -continued to be most successful, amassing money and gaining renown at -the same time, but in 1812, when on the _Renard_, having in tow a brig -prize of 200 tons, he was again captured, and once more found himself on -the _Crown_ prison ship, in ‘Southampton Lake’. The _Crown_ was still -commanded by Ross—called in the original (which is in the form of an -interview with Souville by Eugene Sue) ‘Rosa’, that being the sound of -the name in French ears. Ross was a fine old fellow who had lost an arm -at Trafalgar, but he hated the French. Ross, knowing Tom Souville’s -fame, ironically conducts him personally over the _Crown_, pointing out -all the latest devices for the prevention of escape, and tells Tom that -he will have a corporal specially told off to ‘attend to him’. He offers -to allow Tom to go ashore every day if he will give his parole not to -attempt escape, but Tom refuses. - -On the _Crown_ Tom finds an old friend, Tilmont, a privateer captain, -and they at once set to work on a plan for escape. One morning Captain -Ross sends for Tom and quietly informs him that one Jolivet had sold him -the secret of the hole then in the process of being cut by Tom and -Tilmont, and as he tells him this they walk up and down the lower deck -together. Whilst they are walking there is a great noise of tramping -overhead. Ross asks what it is, and Tom replies that the prisoners are -dancing. The captain calls an orderly and tells him to stop the dancing, -‘the noise is distressing to Monsieur here,’ he adds sarcastically. Tom -is annoyed and begs he will allow the poor men to amuse themselves, but -the captain is obdurate. Presently the noise ceases, and to Tom’s horror -he hears in the ensuing silence the sound of Tilmont working away at the -hole. However, it did not attract the captain’s attention. The truth was -that the whole affair, the betrayal of the hole, the dancing on deck, -and the interview with Captain Ross, was of Souville’s arranging. -Jolivet got £10 10_s._ for betraying the secret, which he at once paid -into the ship’s ‘Escape Fund’; he had made it a condition that Souville -and Tilmont should not be punished; the dancing on deck was arranged to -be at the time of the interview between the captain and Tom, so that the -noise of Tilmont’s final touches to the work of boring the hole should -be drowned. - -A few days before this, one Dubreuil had attempted to escape, but had -been suffocated in the mud-bank. On the morning after the interview -above described, the bugle sounded for all the prisoners to be paraded -on the upper deck. Here they found the captain and officers, all in full -uniform, the guard drawn up with fixed bayonets, and on the deck in -front of them a long object covered with a black cloth. The cloth was -removed, and the wasted body of Dubreuil, with his eyes picked out, was -exposed. - -Souville was called forward. - -‘Do you recognize the body?’ asked the captain. - -‘Yes,’ replied Tom, ‘but it does not matter much. He was a bad fellow -who struck his mother.’ - -The horrible exhibition had been intended as a deterrent lesson to the -prisoners in general and to Souville in particular, especially as it was -known that he and Dubreuil had been lifelong acquaintances in Calais, -but, as far as Tom was concerned, his reply sufficiently proved that it -was thrown away on him, whilst among the other prisoners it excited only -disgust and indignation. - -Tom Souville’s escape was arranged for that same night. - -It was quite favourable for his enterprise, dark and so stormy that the -hulk rolled heavily. Tilmont made Tom take a good drink of sugar, rum, -and coffee; the two men greased themselves all over thoroughly; round -Tom’s neck was an eelskin full of guineas, in his hat a map of the -Channel, in a ‘boussole’ tinder and steel, a knife in the cord of his -hat, and a change of clothes in a little leather bag on his back. - -Overboard he slipped (Tilmont’s name is not again mentioned, although he -greased himself, so I presume he did not start. There are many instances -of poor fellows, after much elaborate preparation, being deterred at the -last moment by the darkness, the black depths below, the long swim, and -the extreme uncertainty of the result). It was a hard, long struggle in -the wild night, and throughout appeared the face of Dubreuil with its -empty orbits before the swimmer. However, in two hours and a half he -reached land. He rested for a while, cleaned the mud off, changed his -clothes and started to walk. - -In nine days he reached Winchelsea, walking by night and hiding by day, -for this time his clothes were not of the ‘elegant’ style, and the land -was full of spy-hunters. He went on to Folkestone, and rested by the -garden wall of a villa in the outskirts. As he rested he heard the voice -of a woman singing in the garden. At once he recognized it as the voice -of a captain’s wife who had been of the merry party at J. P.’s house on -the occasion of his last visit to Folkestone, called her by name, and -announced his own. He was warmly welcomed, there was a repetition of the -old festivities, and in due course he was found a passage for Calais, -where he arrived safely. Once more he trod the deck of the famous -_Renard_, and was so successful that he saved money enough to buy a -cutter on his own account. He soon became one of the most famous Channel -_corsaires_; and in addition a popular hero, by his saving many lives at -sea, not only of his own countrymen, but of English fishermen, and in -one case, of the crew of a British ship of war which had been disabled -by foul weather. - -Then came the Peace of 1814; and when, after Waterloo, friendly -relationship was solidly established between the two countries, Tom -Souville, only at home on the ocean, obtained command of the -cross-channel packet _Iris_, which he retained almost up to the day of -his death in 1840, at the age of sixty-four. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - THE PRISON SYSTEM - THE PRISONERS ASHORE. GENERAL - -During the progress of the Seven Years’ War, from 1756 to 1763, it -became absolutely necessary, from the large annual increase in the -number of prisoners of war brought to England, that some systematic -accommodation for prisoners on land should be provided. Some idea of the -increase may be formed when we find that the number of prisoners of war -in England at the end of 1756 was 7,261, and that in 1763, the last year -of the war, it was 40,000. - -The poor wretches for whom there was no room in the already overcrowded -hulks were herded together wherever space could be found or made for -them. - -They were in borough jails—veritable hells on earth even when filled -with native debtors and felons: they were in common prisons such as the -Savoy and Wellclose Square in London: they were in hired and adapted -strong houses such as the Wool House at Southampton, and the old pottery -works in Liverpool, or in adapted country houses such as Sissinghurst in -Kent, or in adapted farms like Roscrow and Kergilliack in Cornwall; or -in barracks as at Winchester, Tynemouth and Edinburgh. Portchester -Castle was but an adaptation, so was Forton, near Gosport, and the only -place of confinement built as a prison, and kept exclusively for -prisoners of war, was for a long time the Millbay prison at Plymouth. - -In 1760 public attention was drawn to the ‘dangerous spirit’ among the -French prisoners in England. Escapes were frequent, were carried out by -large bodies of men, and in many cases were characterized by open acts -of defiance and violence. Inquiries were made about places which could -be prepared to accommodate, between them, from fifteen to twenty -thousand prisoners of war. No place was too sacred for the -prison-hunters. A report upon the suitability of Kenilworth Castle was -drawn up by a Dr. Palmer, who concluded, ‘If the buildings are -completed, some thousands of prisoners will be so accommodated as I -flatter myself will reflect Honour on the British Nation.’ - -General Simon, we shall see later, was confined in Dumbarton Castle. The -Royal Palace at Linlithgow only escaped conversion into a war prison by -the exertions of Viscount Dundas, Lord of the Admiralty—a fact to which -Sir Walter Scott thus alludes in _Waverley_: - - -‘They halted at Linlithgow, distinguished by its ancient palace, which, -Sixty Years since, was entire and habitable, and whose venerable ruins, -_not quite Sixty Years since_, very narrowly escaped the unworthy fate -of being converted into a barrack for French prisoners. May repose and -blessings attend the ashes of the patriotic statesman, who, amongst his -last services to Scotland, interposed to prevent this profanation!’ - - -So the business of searching for suitable places and of adaptation of -unsuitable went on, the prisoners being of course the chief sufferers, -which in that hard, merciless age was not a matter of much concern, and -it was not until 1782 that a move in the right direction seemed to be -made by the abandonment of the old evil place of confinement at Knowle, -near Bristol (visited and commented on by Wesley in 1759 and 1760, and -by Howard in 1779), and the transfer of the prisoners to the ‘Fish -Ponds’ prison, better known later as Stapleton. - -In 1779 Howard says, in his General Report upon the prisons on land, -‘The French Government made an allowance of 3_d._ per diem to Captains, -Mates, sailing masters and surgeons; 2_d._ per diem to boatswains, -carpenters, and petty officers generally, and 1_d._ per diem to all -below these ratings (which is almost exactly the same as the allowances -made by the British Government to its prisoners abroad). There is, -besides, a supply from the same Court of clothes, linen, and shoes to -those who are destitute of these articles; a noble and exemplary -provision much to the honour of those who at present conduct public -affairs in France.’ - -Howard found the American prisoners, except at Pembroke, clean and well -clothed, thanks to liberal supplies from their own country as well as -from England. He noted the care and assiduity of the ‘Sick and Hurt’ -Office in London, and decided that England and France treated foreign -prisoners very much alike on the whole. - -In 1794 Charles Townshend wrote to the Earl of Ailesbury: ‘The French -prisoners have their quarters in Hillsea Barracks (Portsmouth), find our -biscuit and beef much better than their own, and are astonished at the -good treatment they meet with. Most of them are very young, and were -driven on board by the bayonet.’ - -I quote this as I am only too glad when I come across any record or -evidence which can serve to brighten the dark dreary record of these -chapters in our national history. - -In 1795 there were 13,666 prisoners of war in Britain, of whom 1,357 -were officers on parole; of the remainder the largest number, 4,769, -were at Portchester Castle. - -In 1796–7 the great dépôt at Norman Cross near Peterborough, to contain -7,000 prisoners, was built and occupied. In 1798, further inquiries were -made by the Government for prison accommodation, as the inflow of -prisoners was unceasing and ever increasing, the total for this year -being 35,000. The advertised specifications give us an idea of the space -then considered sufficient for prisoners. Besides accommodation for a -garrison calculated at the proportion of one guard for every twenty -prisoners, cells were required measuring eight feet by seven, and eleven -feet high, for four or five prisoners, or rooms twenty-four feet by -twenty-two to be divided into nine cells, and replies were received from -Coldbath Fields, London, Liverpool, Manchester, Preston, Lancaster -Castle, Shrewsbury, and Dorchester. - -In 1799 Stapleton Prison, near Bristol, was to be enlarged so as to be -ready in June 1800, for twice its then complement of prisoners. - -In 1803 a very general impression was prevalent in high places that an -invasion of England was imminent from Ireland with which the prisoners -of war all over the country, but especially the Western counties, were -to be associated, and so, at the request of Sir Rupert George of the -Transport Office, a detailed report was drawn up by Mr. Yorke of the -best means to be taken to guard against this. To this was appended a -memorandum of the capacity and condition of various inland prisons, such -as Manchester, Stafford, Shrewsbury, Dorchester, Gloucester, Coldbath -Fields in London, and Liverpool. - -In 1806 the great prison at Dartmoor, built to hold 6,000 prisoners, and -thus relieve the dangerous congestion at Plymouth, was founded, but the -first prisoners did not enter it until 1809. In 1811 a large dépôt was -formed at Valleyfield near Penicuik on the Esk, about nine miles south -of Edinburgh, which was gradually enlarged until at the Peace of 1814 it -contained 10,000 prisoners. - -So by this time, 1814, there were nine large prisons at Dartmoor, Norman -Cross, Millbay, Stapleton, Valleyfield, Forton, Portchester, Chatham -(where the present St. Mary’s Barracks were first used as a war-prison), -and Perth, holding about 45,000 prisoners; there were about 2,000 -officers on parole; the hulks at Portsmouth, Plymouth, and Chatham—about -fifty ships—would hold nearly 35,000 prisoners, and the grand total -would be well in excess of the largest number of war prisoners in -Britain in one year, that is, 72,000 in 1814. - -In 1812 the following notification was sent to the Admiralty, who -evidently treated it seriously, as a copy of it was sent to the agents -of all the war prisons in the country: - - - ‘Extra Secret Intelligence. - -‘The large fleet here (Boulogne) remain perfectly inactive, but the -Flotilla are only waiting for orders. I was yesterday told by one of the -Captains that 6,000 men would soon be embarked, that the place of -landing was to be as near as possible to Stilton Prison (Norman Cross) -and that every man was to carry two complete sets of arms, &c., in order -to equip the prisoners they may release.’ - - -Three men, named La Ferre, Denisham, and De Mussy, were to land as -American gentlemen, and to take charge quietly and unobtrusively. The -head-quarters were to be near Liverpool, Hull, and between Portsmouth -and Plymouth, whence these emissaries were to gain access to all the -prisons, and prepare the minds of the inmates for the Great Event. - -Nothing came of this, but the correspondence of the Transport Office -reveals the fact that by one means or another a more or less regular -correspondence was kept up between France and the prisons, and that -there were concerned in it some very well known officers on parole, and -even some Englishmen. - -The captaincy of a war prison was no sinecure, and if history shows that -one or two of the officers occupying the position were ill-fitted for -it, assuredly they had no reason to complain of a lack of rules, -regulations, and instructions from head-quarters, and they were called -to order in no measured terms. - -The care of the prisoners themselves, desperate, restless, cunning -rascals as many of them were, seems to have bothered the agent much less -than the care of those who were in any way associated with the working -of the prison—the big and little officials, the officers and soldiers of -the garrison, the contractors, the tradesmen, the workmen, the servants, -the innkeepers, farmers, post-office officials, even the stage coachmen -and guards, not to mention the neighbouring gentry, parsons and old -ladies who, of course, knew very much better how to run a war-prison -than did Captain Pressland, or Captain Cotgrave, or Captain Draper, or -any other selected man. - -Another fact which contributed to the irksomeness of the post was that -although a naval captain was always the head of a war prison, and his -turnkeys were generally of the same service, and he was the responsible -head of the establishment, the guardianship of the prisoners was -absolutely in the hands of the military authorities, who were therefore -responsible for the safe-keeping of the prisoners. Any difference -therefore between the naval captain and the military colonel as to the -arrangement and disposal of the guards—and such differences were -frequent—was sure to betray itself in the condition of the prison. - -It may be easily understood that although it was the naval captain in -charge of a prison who was held responsible for every escape of a -prisoner, he would be pretty sure to put the _onus_ of it on to the -military commander, who, in turn, would be ready to attribute the mishap -to anything but deficiency in the arrangement of sentries or to any -slackness on the part of his men. - -Take again the position of the war prisoner agent, as he was called, -with regard to the numberless appeals to his humanity with which he was -assailed. The period of the Great Wars was not characterized by -hyper-sensitiveness on the score of human suffering and want, although I -thoroughly believe that the men selected for the position of war -prisoner agents were generally as kindly disposed and as sympathetic, as -refined and well-bred Englishmen as could be in an age not remarkable -for gentleness. It must be remembered that they had ever to be on their -guard against ruse and stratagem. - -A forcible illustration is afforded by the much vexed question of the -religious condition of the prisoners. In 1798 the Bishop of Léon asked -that French priests should be allowed to minister to the prisoners at -Portchester and Stapleton, and, although it was notorious that by far -the greater number of Frenchmen were not merely indifferent to religion, -but avowed preachers of atheism, the permission was given, and the Abbés -De La Marc and Pasquier were told off for duty. Later on, however, it -would seem that the privilege thus accorded had been grossly abused, and -the permission cancelled, for the Transport Office writes: - - -‘The T. O. regrets that it is not in their power to permit the _émigré_ -priests to visit War Prisons. We feel it our duty, however, to say that -in the present difficult times when pretended Friends are not always -distinguishable from real Foes, we feel it our Duty to be on our guard -respecting Intercourse with all Prisoners of war under our charge, and -though we have a sincere desire to promote the interests of the -Christian Religion under any Denomination, yet where it has been, and is -uniformly, if not universally, insulted by the Republicans of your -Nation who constitute the bulk of our captives, we must be cautious of -every species of Introduction to men so generally unprincipled, and who -are at best the Dupes of an ignorant and insidious Philosophy. We allow -much when we grant permission to your Priests upon the express desire of -the Parties, and we appeal to you whether it be not an indulgence which -would not be conceded to Protestant Divines under similar circumstances -in any Roman Catholic Country, and particularly in France itself under -its ancient Government.’ - - -The bishop also applies to have a priest at Deal. The Transport Office -refuses, saying that Deal is not a dépôt for prisoners, but only a -receiving place, and there are no turnkeys and clerks, such ‘as the -admission of an Ecclesiastic might render necessary’. - -In 1801, the same Bishop of Léon had the assurance to request the -release of a French priest taken under arms. To this the Transport -Office replied: - - -‘The Board is rather surprised that you should apply to them on behalf -of such a person, as they conceive it to be against the spirit of all -Religion that men in Holy Orders should be found in Military Array, and -they are more convinced that they should not comply with such a request, -as no assurance can be given or be relied on that so unprincipled a man -may not put off his Function for his own purposes a second time and -repeat his enormity.’ - - -In 1808, the Bishop of Moulins was chaplain to the prisoners at Norman -Cross, and, according to the Rev. Arthur Brown, author of a little book -about this prison, devoted his life to the spiritual regeneration of the -poor fellows in captivity, although Dr. Walker, of Peterborough, -estimates the bishop somewhat differently. - -At any rate, his boy attendant, a prisoner, was found guilty of breaking -one of the prison rules by selling straw hats clandestinely made by the -prisoners, and was ordered back into confinement. The bishop, who did -not live in the prison, but was staying at the _Bell_, in Stilton, -applied for another prisoner attendant, but was refused. - -Again, in 1814, the British and Foreign Bible Society asked that the -Transport Office agents should be allowed to distribute New Testaments -among the prisoners at Stapleton and Norman Cross. The Office replied: - - -‘We cannot impress such a duty on our agents, as they consider it an -impossibility to prevent the prisoners from selling them, as all the -Vigilance exercised by the officers of the Department is insufficient to -prevent the prisoners from making away with the most necessary articles -of clothing and bedding.’ - - -That the Transport Office were justified in their refusal is confirmed -by an incident at the final embarkation of the French prisoners from the -Perth dépôt in July of the same year, 1814. A considerable number of -French Testaments were sent from Edinburgh to be distributed among the -prisoners leaving for France. The distribution was duly made, but by the -time the prisoners had reached the waterside, almost every man had sold -his Testament for a trifling sum. - -It cannot be doubted, I think, that the hardships endured by the -prisoners in the war prisons were very much exaggerated, and also that -to a very large extent the prisoners brought them upon themselves. -Especially was this the case in the matter of insufficient food and -clothing. Gambling was the besetting sin of the prisons, and to get the -wherewithal to gamble the prisoners sold clothing, bedding, and not only -their rations for the day, but for days to come. At Dartmoor the evil -occasioned by the existence of the sale of rations by prisoners to -‘brokers’, who resold them at a profit, was so great that Captain -Cotgrave, the Governor, in February 1813, sent a number of the ‘brokers’ -to the _cachot_. To their remonstrance he replied, in writing, much as a -sailor man he would have spoken: - - -‘To the Prisoners in the Cachot for purchasing Provisions. The Orders to -put you on short allowance (2/3rds) from the Commissioners of His -Majesty’s Transport Board is for purchasing the provisions of your -fellow prisoners, by which means numbers have died from want of food, -and the hospital is filled with sick not likely to recover. The number -of deaths occasioned by this inhuman practise occasions considerable -expense to the Government, not only in coffins, but the hospital is -filled with these poor, unhappy wretches so far reduced from want of -food that they linger a considerable time in the hospital at the -Government’s expense, and then fall a victim to the cruelty of those who -have purchased their provisions, to the disgrace of Christians and -whatever nation they belong to. - -‘The testimony of the surgeons and your countrymen prove the fact.’ - - -The appeal was useless, and he issued a proclamation a month later, -threatening to stop the markets if the practice was persisted in. This -was equally fruitless. Charitable people pitied the poor half-naked -prisoners in winter, and supplied them abundantly with clothing; but -when the same men were pointed out to them a few days later as naked as -before, and it was represented to them that by their well-meant -benevolence they were actually encouraging that which it was most -desirable to check, they refused to believe it. Hence it became -necessary to punish severely. The most efficacious form of punishment -was to put an offender’s name at the bottom of the list for being -exchanged against British prisoners to be sent from France or whatever -country we happened to be at war with. But even this had no deterrent -effect upon some, and the frenzy for gain was so remarkable that in all -the prisons there was a regular market for the purchase and sale of -places on the Exchange List, until the Government stopped the practice. -The most common form of punishment was putting offenders on short -allowance. For making away with hammock, bed, or blanket, the prisoner -was put on short allowance for ten days; for making away with any two of -these articles he was docked for fourteen days; for cutting or damaging -bedding or clothes, he had half rations for five days and had to make -the damage good. - -Acts of violence brought confinement in the _cachot_ or Black Hole. A -prisoner who wounded a turnkey was to be kept handcuffed, with his hands -behind him, for not less than twelve hours, and for not more than -twenty-four! - -For murder and forgery the prisoners came under the civil law; death was -the penalty for both, but until 1810 no prisoner-forgers, although -convicted, had been punished with death in England, owing to a doubt in -the minds of judges whether prisoners of war were answerable to -municipal tribunals for this sort of offence, which is not against the -law of nations. - -Prisoners who were not mentally or physically gifted enough to earn -money by the exercise of their talents or employment in handicraft, had -other opportunities of doing so. For working about the prisons as -carpenters, gardeners, washermen, they were paid threepence a day. As -helpers in the infirmaries—one to every ten patients—they received -sixpence a day. Officers recaptured after breaking their parole or sent -to prison for serious offences were glad, if they had means, to pay -prisoners threepence a day to act as their servants, and do their dirty -work generally. At the same rate sweepers were engaged at the ratio of -one to every hundred men; cooks, in the proportion of one for every 400 -men, received 4½_d._ a day, and barbers earned 3_d._ a day. At Dartmoor -some five hundred prisoners were employed in these and other ways, each -man wearing on his cap a tin plate with the nature of his calling -thereon inscribed. A necessarily rough estimate showed that nearly half -of the inmates of the war prisons made honest money in one way or -another; the remainder were gamblers and nothing else. Still, a very -large number of the wage-earners were gamblers also. Of these various -professions and trades much will be said in the accounts of the prison -life which follow, and when comparisons are instituted between the -versatility, the deftness, the ingenuity, the artistic feeling, and the -industry of the French prisoners in Britain, and the helpless indolence -of the British prisoners abroad, testimony is unconsciously given in -favour of that national system by which men of all social grades, of all -professions, and of all trades, are compelled to serve in the defence of -their country, as contrasted with that which, until late years, deemed -only the scum of the population as properly liable to military service. - - - - - CHAPTER IX - THE PRISONS ASHORE - 1. SISSINGHURST CASTLE - -About the Sissinghurst one looks on to-day there is little indeed to -remind us that here stood, one hundred and fifty years ago, a famous war -prison, and it is hard to realize that in this tranquil, picturesque, -out-of-the-way nook of Kent, for seven long years, more than three -thousand captive fighting men dragged out a weary existence. - -Originally the splendid seat of the Baker family, and in the heyday of -its grandeur one of the Kentish halting-places of Queen Elizabeth during -her famous progress in 1571, it had far fallen from its high estate -when, in 1756, Government, hard pressed to find accommodation for the -annually increasing numbers of prisoners of war, leased it. - -Of the ‘Castle’, as it came to be called, of this period, the -gate-house, a line of outbuildings which were partially used as barracks -for the troops on guard, and a few memories, alone survive. The great -quadrangle has disappeared, but the line of the ancient moat, in parts -still filled with water, in part incorporated with garden ground, still -enables the visitor to trace the original extent of the buildings. Part -of the line of ivy-clad buildings which face the approach are said to -have been used as a small-pox hospital, and the name François may still -be seen carved on the brick; the field known as the ‘Horse Race’ was the -prison cemetery, and human remains have sometimes within living memory -been disturbed therein. - -Otherwise, legends of the prison linger but faintly in the -neighbourhood; but from some of these it would seem that -officer-prisoners at Sissinghurst were allowed out on parole. The -place-name ‘Three Chimneys’, at a point where three roads meet, exactly -one mile from Sissinghurst, is said to be a corruption of ‘Trois -Chemins’, so called by the French prisoners whose limit it marked. - -Wilsley House, just out of Cranbrook, a fine old residence, formerly -belonging to a merchant prince of the Kentish cloth trade, now occupied -by Colonel Alexander, is said to have been tenanted by French officers -on parole, and some panel paintings in one of the rooms are said to have -been their work, but I think they are of earlier date. The neighbouring -Barrack Farm is said to have been the prison garrison officers’ -quarters, and the house next to the Sissinghurst Post Office is by -tradition the old garrison canteen. - -The only individual from whom I could gather any recollections of the -French prisoner days was an old farm labourer named Gurr, living at -Goford. He told me that his great-grandfather, ploughing one day near -the prison, suddenly saw three men creeping along a hedgerow close to -him. Recognizing them to be Sissinghurst prisoners, he armed himself -with the coulter of his plough and went up to them. The poor fellows -seemed exhausted and bewildered, and went with him back to the Castle -without offering any resistance, telling him on the way that they had -got out by tunnelling under the moat with small mattocks. Gurr said that -he had often dug up human bones in the meadow opposite the Castle -entrance. - -The following letter, I think, was written from Sissinghurst, but it may -be from Portchester. I insert it here as in all contemporary -correspondence ‘le château’ means Sissinghurst. - - - ‘Le Château, 30^{me} mai, 1756. - - - ‘MONSIEUR: - -‘La présente est pour vous prier de nous donner de délargissement, -attendu que nous ne sommes point obligés pour une personne de nous voir -detenus commes nous sommes. Nous vous avertisons que si nous n’avons pas -l’élargissement nous minerons le Château, et nous sommes résolus de nous -battre contre nos ennemis. Nous ne sommes point obligés de souffrir par -raport d’un joli qui ne nous veu que de la peine. Nous avons des armes, -de la Poudre blanche et des Bales (Balles?) pour nous défendre. Nous -vous prions de nous donner la liberté le plus tôt possible, attendu que -nous sommes tout prêst a suivre notre dessein. On nous a déjà tué un -homme dans le prison, et nous aurons la vengeance. - -‘Nous avons été tranquille jusqu’aujourdui, mais présentement nous -allons jouer à la Françoise des rigodons sans violons attendu que nous -sommes tous d’un accord. - - ‘Jugez de Reste, - ‘Votre très affectionné et - ‘François en général.’ - - -[Illustration: - - SISSINGHURST CASTLE - - _From an old print_ -] - -On June 24, 1758, the following complaint was sent up: - - - ‘NOSSEIGNEURS: - -‘Nous avons eu l’honneur de vous envoyer un placet en date du 17^{me} de -ce mois, et nous là vous tenus [sic] entre les mains de Mr. Paxton, -Secretaire de Mr. Cook [Cooke] le 18^{me} nous y faisions de justes -plaintes touchant le Gouvernement de Mr. Cook qui n’est rien moins que -tyrannique et capricieuse, et nous vous le posions tout au long sa -dernière injustice. Craignans qu’on ne vous ait pas mis celuy la, nous -avons pris la liberté de vous faire cette lettre pour vous prier de nous -rendre justice. Si Mr. Cook n’avoit rien à se reprocher il ne -retiendrait pas les lettres que nous vous addressons. Tout le monde -scait ce que mérite celuy qui détourne des oreilles de justice, les cris -de ceux qui la réclame et qui n’ont d’autre crime que d’être infortunés, -nous espérons nosseigneurs que vous y aurez egarder que vous nous ferez -justice, nous vous aurons à jamais l’obligation. - - ‘Vos humbles et très obeisans serviteurs - ‘Pour tous les prisonniers en général.’ - - -At about the same date twenty-seven paroled naval officers at Cranbrook -signed a complaint that they were not allowed by the one-mile limit of -their parole to visit their crews, prisoners at Sissinghurst, two miles -away, to help them in their distress and to prevent them being robbed by -the English who have the monopoly of getting things for sale into the -prison, notably the jailers and the canteen man, not to mention others. -Also that the prisoners at Sissinghurst had no chance of ventilating -their grievances, which were heavy and many: - - -‘De remédier à une injustice, ou plutôt à une cruauté que les nations -les plus barbares n’exercisions. En effet c’est une tiranie audieuse que -de vouloir forcer des pauvres prisonniers à n’acheter d’autre -marchandises que celles venant des mains de leurs Gardiens, et -d’empécher leurs parens et amis de leur envoyer à beaucoup meilleur -marché aussy bien.’ - - -Many of the letters from relations in France to prisoners at -Sissinghurst are preserved at the Record Office. It is only from -acquaintance with these poor tattered, blotted ebullitions of affection -and despair that the modern Englishman can glean a notion of what -confinement in an English prison of husbands, fathers, brothers, and -lovers meant to hundreds of poor, simple peasant and fisher women of -France. The breath of most of them is religious resignation: in a few, a -very few, a spirit of resentment and antagonism to Britain is prominent; -most of them are humble domestic chronicles blended with prayers for a -speedy liberation and for courage in the meanwhile. There is nothing -quite like these mid-eighteenth century letters in the correspondence of -the succeeding great struggle, when the principles of the Revolution had -penetrated to the homes of the lowliest. One sees reflected in it the -simplicity, the childish confidence in the rightness and fitness of all -in authority, and, above all, the deep sense of religion, which invested -the peasantry of France with a great and peculiar charm. - -During this year, 1758, the letters of complaint are many and pitiful, -the chief subject being the non-delivery to prisoners of their letters, -and the undue surveillance exercised over correspondence of the -tenderest private nature. In 1760 the occupants of Sissinghurst received -their share of the clothes provided by English compassion. Many of them -were accused of selling these clothes, to which they replied that it was -to buy necessaries or tobacco, or for postage, and added that they had -been for a long time on half-rations. - -On October 14 a desperate attempt to escape was made, and frustrated in -an unnecessarily brutal manner. A prisoner named Artus, his brother, and -other prisoners discovered a disused latrine. Into this they crept, -broke through a brick wall by a drain, and reached the edge of the moat, -and crossed it to the opposite bank close to the first of the three -sentries on duty along it. This was at ten o’clock on a moonlight night. -Two of the prisoners passed the first and second sentries and got some -way into the fields. Artus and his brother were to follow, and were -crawling on hands and knees to avoid being seen. The first sentry, who -was close by, did nothing, having probably been bribed; but the other -two sentries, being alarmed by a fourth sentry, who was on the right -hand of the first, ran up and challenged Artus, who cried: ‘Don’t fire! -Surrender!’ But the sentry disregarded this, wounded him in two places -on the arm, tearing his waistcoat, and then fired at him point blank, -blowing off half his head. Artus’s brother, three yards behind, was -secured by a drummer who was armed with nothing but a drumstick, thus -proving the utterly unnecessary killing of Artus. Two other prisoners -were captured later in the drain, ready to come out. - -In the _Annual Register_ we read that on Saturday, July 16, 1760, the -alarm was given that a thousand prisoners had broken out of the Castle -and were abroad in the country. ‘To arms’ was beaten immediately. ‘You -would have been pleased to see with what readiness and alacrity the -Surrey Militia here, universally, officers and men, advanced towards the -place of danger’, says the correspondent, ‘I say, “towards,” because -when they got as far as Milkhouse Street, the alarm was discovered to be -a mistake. Many of the townspeople and countrymen joined them.’ - -On one Sunday morning in 1761 the good people of Cranbrook were sent -flying out of church by the news that the Sissinghurst prisoners had -broken out and were scouring the country fully armed, but this also was -a false alarm. - -It was from the top of the still standing gatehouse-tower that the deed -was perpetrated which caused the following entry in the Cranbrook -Register: - -‘1761. William Bassuck: killed by a French prisoner.’ Bassuck was on -sentry-go below, and the Frenchman dropped a pail on him. - -In 1762 the misery of the prisoners at Sissinghurst culminated in a -Petition to the Admiralty, signed by almost all of them, of so forcible -and circumstantial a character, that in common justice it could not be -overlooked, and so Dr. Maxwell was sent down to examine the charges -against Cooke, the agent. - -The Complaints and their replies were as follows: - -(1) That the provisions were bad in quality, of short measure and badly -served. - - Reply: Not proved. - -(2) That cheese had been stopped four ‘maigre’ days in succession to -make good damage done by prisoners. - - Reply: Only upon two days. - -(3) That prisoners had been put upon half allowance in the _cachot_ or -Black Hole for staying in the wards on account of not having sufficient -clothing to leave them. - - Reply: They were not put in the _cachot_, but upon half allowance for -remaining in the wards during the day contrary to the Regulations. There -was no need for them to lack ‘cloaths’. - -(4) That they were put upon half allowance for appearing at a sudden -muster without clothes. - - Reply: This muster was ordered by the agent, Cooke, because he -suspected the prisoners of embezzling clothes and of gambling them away. - -(5) That the prisoners had been threatened with being deprived of their -turn of Exchange for signing this Petition to the Board of Admiralty. - - Reply: There was no foundation for this statement. - -(6) That Cooke had refused to pay them for more than eighteen days’ work -in carrying coals, although they were twenty-eight days. - - Reply: In reality they had only worked for parts of these days, and -had been paid for the work actually done. - -(7) That Cooke showed no zeal for the welfare of the prisoners. - - Reply: That there is no foundation for this statement. - -(8) That they were ill-treated by the Militia guards. - -This last complaint was the most serious of all, and the examination -into it revealed a state of affairs by no means creditable to the -authorities. Here it should be stated that on account of the great -and constant demand made by the war upon the regular troops, the -task of guarding the prisons was universally performed by the -Militia—undesirable men from more than one point of view, especially -from their lack of self-restraint and their accessibility to -bribery. The following cases were cited. On November 28, 1757, -Ferdinand Brehost, or Gratez, was shot dead by a sentry of General -Amherst’s regiment. The sentry in defence said that he had had -orders to fire upon any prisoners who did not take down the clothes -they hung upon the palisades when ordered to. - -It was adjudged that the sentry fired too precipitately. - -On the night of October 29, 1759, the prisoner Jacobus Loffe was shot -dead in his hammock by a sentry. - -In defence the sentry said that he called out several times for the -prisoners to put out their lights. They refused and bid him fire and be -damned. The evidence showed that all the prisoners were asleep, and that -the light seen by the sentry was the reflection on the window of a lamp -outside the building. - -The same judgement as in the other case was given. - -On July 11, 1760, two prisoners were shot by a sentry. John Bramston, -the sentry, said in defence that a prisoner came too near the forbidden -barrier, refused to keep off when ordered to, with the result that -Bramston fired, killed him, and another prisoner further away. - -Bramston was tried at Maidstone and acquitted, the jury finding that he -did no more than his duty in accordance with the general orders at the -Castle. Still, it came out in evidence that orders had been issued that -sentries were not to fire if the object could be secured by the turnkey. -Colonel Fairfax indeed ordered that sentries were not to fire at all. He -had found out that Bramston was sometimes out of his senses, and he had -discharged him from the service, but he was actually on duty after this -affair, was found to have loaded his piece with two balls, and after the -murder on the 11th had threatened to kill more prisoners. - -On the same day two other prisoners were stabbed by sentries. In one -case, however, a prisoner gave evidence in favour of the sentry, saying -that he did not believe there was any intention to kill, but that the -sentry being surrounded by a crowd of prisoners, pushed his bayonet to -keep them at a distance for fear that they intended mischief. - -It also came out that the soldiers were allowed to strike the prisoners -with the flats of their sabres. This was now forbidden. Also that the -soldiers abused the power they had of taking away the prisoners’ knives -when they made improper use of them, and actually sold the knives thus -confiscated to other prisoners. Also that the soldiers wilfully damaged -forms and tables so that the prisoners should be punished. - -The Commissioners of the ‘Sick and Hurt’ Office, in their summing up of -Dr. Maxwell’s evidence, said that, while there was no doubt much -exaggeration by the petitioners, there was too much reason for -complaint, and found that the person in charge was not so much to blame, -but the ‘common centinels’, whose understanding did not enable them to -distinguish between the letter and the meaning of their orders, and that -this arose from the lack of printed standing orders. The officers of the -guard had arbitrary powers independent of the agent, and the latter said -when asked why he did not complain to the Board, that he did not care to -dispute with the officers. - -It will be noted that this inquiry was not held until 1762, that is to -say, until seven years of tyranny had been practised upon these -unfortunate foreigners, and seven years of nameless horrors suffered in -forced silence. Small wonder that throughout the correspondence of this -period Sissinghurst is spoken of with disgust and loathing. - -The record of only one Sissinghurst prisoner marrying an Englishwoman -exists—that, in 1762, of Laurence Calberte, ‘a prisoner among the French -at Sissinghurst House’, to Mary Pepper. - -I have to thank Mr. Neve of the Castle House, Sissinghurst, for his -kindness in allowing me to have the photograph taken of some exquisite -little articles made in wood by Sissinghurst prisoners, and also to -reproduce a picture of the ‘Castle’, as it was when used as a prison. - -After its evacuation at the Peace of Paris, in 1763, Sissinghurst Castle -became a workhouse, and when it ceased to be used for this purpose -gradually fell into ruin and was pulled down. - -[Illustration: - - ARTICLES IN WOOD MADE BY THE PRISONERS AT SISSINGHURST CASTLE, 1763 -] - - - - - CHAPTER X - THE PRISONS ASHORE - 2. NORMAN CROSS - -It is just as hard for the visitor to-day to the site of Norman Cross, -to realize that here stood, until almost within living memory, a huge -war-prison, as it is at Sissinghurst. Whether one approaches it from -Peterborough, six miles away, through the semi-rural village of Yaxley, -by which name the prison was often called, or by the Great North Road -from Stilton—famous for the sale, not the manufacture, of the famous -cheese, and for the wreck of one of the stateliest coaching inns of -England, the _Bell_—we see but a large, ordinary-looking meadow, dotted -with trees, with three or four houses on its borders, and except for its -size, which is nearly forty acres, differing in no way from the fields -around. - -An examination of the space, however, under the guidance of Dr. Walker, -does reveal remains. We can trace the great ditch which passed round the -prison inside the outer wall; some of the twenty-one wells which were -sunk still remain, and about thirty feet of the original red brick wall, -built in the old ‘English bond’ style, is still above ground. As, with -the exceptions presently to be noted, the prisons proper, with the -offices pertaining thereto, were built entirely of wood, and were sold -and removed when the prison ceased to be, nothing of it remains here, -although some of the buildings were re-erected in Peterborough and the -neighbouring villages, and may still be seen. The only war-time -buildings remaining are the Prison Superintendent’s house, now occupied -by Alderman Herbert, and the agent’s house, now belonging to Mr. Franey, -both, of course, much altered and beautified, and one which has been -variously described to me as the officers’ quarters and the Barrack -Master’s residence. In the Musée Historique Militaire at the Invalides, -in Paris, there is a most minutely and beautifully executed model of the -Norman Cross Prison, the work of one Foulley, who was a prisoner here -for five years and three months. Not only are the buildings, wells, -palisades, pumps, troughs, and other details represented, but tiny -models of prisoners at work and at play are dotted about, and in front -of the chief, the eastern gate, a battalion of Militia is drawn up, -complete to the smallest particulars of arms and equipment. - -Not the least interesting relic of the prison days is the prisoners’ -burial-ground at the lower end of a field sloping down from the west -side of the Great North Road. - -On July 28 of the present year (1914) a memorial to the prisoners of war -who died at Norman Cross was unveiled by Lord Weardale. The idea -originated with Dr. T. J. Walker and Mr. W. H. Sands, and was developed -by the Entente Cordiale Society. The memorial is in the form of a stone -pillar, surmounted by an eagle with outstretched wings, standing upon a -square pedestal approached by steps, the lowermost of which is shaped -like the palisading of the old prison, and faces the Great North Road, -the burial ground being at the bottom of the field behind it. Upon the -monument is inscribed: - - -‘In Memoriam. This column was erected A.D. 1914 to the memory of 1,770 -soldiers and sailors, natives or allies of France, taken prisoners of -war during the Republican and Napoleonic wars with Great Britain, A.D. -1793–1814, who died in the military dépôt at Norman Cross, which -formerly stood near this spot, 1797–1814. - - Dulce et decorum est pro patriâ mori. - - Erected by - -The Entente Cordiale Society and friends on the initiative of the late -W. H. Sands, Esq., Honorary Secretary of the Society.’ - - -One might expect to find at Yaxley Church, as in so many other places in -England associated with the sojourn of war prisoners, epitaphs or -registry entries of officers who died on parole, but there are none. All -that Yaxley preserves of its old connexion with the war prison are the -stone caps of the prison east gate piers, which now surmount the piers -of the west churchyard entrance, and the tablet in the church to the -memory of Captain Draper, R.N., an agent of the prison, which is thus -lettered: - - -‘Inscribed at the desire and the sole Expence of the French Prisoners of -War at Norman Cross, to the memory of Captain John Draper, R.N., who for -the last 18 months of his life was Agent to the Depôt; in testimony of -their esteem and gratitude for his humane attention to their comforts -during that too short period. He died February 23rd, 1813, aged 53 -years.’ - - -[Illustration: - - MEMORIAL TO FRENCH PRISONERS OF WAR WHO DIED AT NORMAN CROSS - - Unveiled July 28, 1914 -] - -The Rev. Arthur Brown, in his little book _The French Prisoners of -Norman Cross_, says that the prisoners asked to be represented at his -funeral, and that their petition concluded with the assurance that, -_mauvais sujets_ as some of them were, not one would take advantage of -the liberty accorded them to attempt to escape. It is gratifying to know -that their request was granted. Other relics of the prisoners, in the -shape of articles made by them for sale with the rudest of tools and the -commonest of materials, are tolerably abundant, although the choicest -are to be seen in museums and private collections, notably those in the -Peterborough Museum and in the possession of Mr. Dack, the curator. -Probably no more varied and beautiful specimens of French prisoner work -in wood, bone, straw, and grass, than these just mentioned, are to be -found in Britain. - -The market at which these articles were sold was held daily from 10 a.m. -till noon, according to some accounts, twice a week according to others. -It was important enough, it is said, to have dwarfed that at -Peterborough: as much as £200 was known to have been taken during a -week, and at one time the concourse of strangers at it was so great that -an order was issued that in future nobody was to be admitted unless -accompanied by a commissioned officer. Visitors were searched, and -severe penalties were imposed upon any one dealing in Government stores, -a Yaxley tradesman in whose possession were found palliasses and other -articles marked with the broad arrow being fined heavily, condemned to -stand in the pillory at Norman Cross, and imprisoned for two years. - - -In the year 1796 it became absolutely necessary that special -accommodation should be provided for the ever-increasing number of -prisoners of war brought to Britain. The hulks were full to congestion, -the other regular prisons,—such as they were,—the improvised prisons, -and the hired houses, were crowded; disease was rife among the captives -on account of the impossibility of maintaining proper sanitation, and -the spirit of revolt was showing itself among men just then in the full -flush of the influences of the French Revolution. Norman Cross was -selected as the site of a prison which should hold 7,000 men, and it was -well chosen, being a tract of land forty acres in extent, healthily -situated on high ground, connected with the sea by water-ways via Lynn -and Peterborough; and with London, seventy-eight miles distant, by the -Great North Road. Time pressed; buildings of stone or brick were not to -be thought of, so it was planned that all should be of wood, surrounded -by a brick wall, but this last was not completed for some time after the -opening of the prison. The skeletons of the prison blocks were framed -and shaped in London, sent down, and in four months, that is to say in -March 1797, the labour of 500 carpenters, working Sundays and week-days, -rendered some of the blocks ready for habitation. - -The first agent appointed was Mr. Delafons, but he only acted for a few -days previous to the arrival of Mr. James Perrot from Portchester, on -April 1, 1797. The superintendent of the transport of the prisoners was -Captain Daniel Woodriff, R.N. - -On March 23, 1797, Woodriff received notice and instructions about the -first arrival of prisoners. On March 26 they came—934 in number—in -barges from Lynn to Yaxley, at the rate of 1_s._ 10_d._ per man, and -victualling at 7_d._ per man per day, the sustenance being one pound of -bread or biscuit, and three quarters of a pound of beef. - -The arrivals came in fast, so that between April 7 and May 18, 1797, -3,383 prisoners (exclusive of seven dead and three who escaped), passed -under the care of the ten turnkeys and the eighty men of the Caithness -Legion who guarded Norman Cross. - -[Illustration: - - 1. Officers’ Barracks. - - 2. Field Officers’ Barracks. - - 3. Barrack Master’s House. - - 4. Soldiers’ Barracks. - - 5. Non-Commissioned Officers. - - 6. Military Hospital. - - 7. Magazines. - - 8. Engine-house. - - 9. Guard Rooms. - - 10. Soldiers’ Cooking-houses, - - 11. Canteens. - - 12. Military Straw Barn. - - 13. Officers’ Privies. - - 14. Soldiers’ Privies. - - 15. Shed for spare soil carts. - - 16. Block House. - - 17. Agent and Superintendent’s House. - - 18. Prisoners’ Straw Barn. - - 19. Dead House. - - 20. Prisoners’ Hospitals. - - 21. Barracks for Prisoners of War. - - 22. Apartments for Clerks and Assistant Surgeons. - - 23. Agent’s Office. - - 24. Store House. - - 25. Prisoners’ Cooking-houses. - - 26. Turnkeys’ Lodges. - - 27. Prisoners’ Black Hole. - - 28. Wash-house to Prisoners’ Hospital. - - 29. Building for Medical Stores. - - 30. Prisoners’ Privies. - - 31. Coal Yards. - - 32. Privies. - - 33. Ash Pits. - - Wells marked thus o. - - A. Airing Grounds. - - B. Lord Carysfort’s Grounds. - - NORMAN CROSS PRISON. (_Hill’s Plan_, 1797–1803.) - -] - -Complaints and troubles soon came to light. A prisoner in 1797, ‘who -appeared above the common class of men’, complained that the bread and -beef were so bad that they were not fit for a prisoner’s dog to eat, -that the British Government was not acquainted with the treatment of the -prisoners, and that this was the agent’s fault for not keeping a -sufficiently strict eye upon his subordinates. This was confirmed, not -only by inquiry among the prisoners, but by the evidence of the petty -officers and soldiers of the garrison, who said ‘as fellow creatures -they must allow that the provisions given to the prisoners were not fit -for them to eat, and that the water they had was much better than the -beer’. In spite of this evidence, the samples sent up by the request of -the ‘Sick and Hurt’ Office in reply to this complaint, were pronounced -good. - -In July 1797 the civil officials at Norman Cross complained of -annoyances, interferences, and insults from the military. Major-General -Bowyer, in command, in his reply stated: ‘I cannot conceive the civil -officers have a right to take prisoners out of their prisons to the -canteens and other places, which this day has been mentioned to me.’ - -By July 18 such parts of the prison as were completed were very full, -and in November the buildings were finished, and the sixteen blocks, -each holding 400 prisoners, were crowded. The packing of the hammocks in -these blocks was close, but not closer than in the men-of-war of the -period, and not very much closer than in the machinery-crowded big ships -of to-day. The blocks, or _casernes_ as they were called, measured 100 -feet long by twenty-four feet broad, and were two stories high. On the -ground floor the hammocks were slung from posts three abreast, and there -were three tiers. In the upper story were only two tiers. As to the life -at Norman Cross, it appears to me from the documentary evidence -available to have been more tolerable than at any of the other great -prisons, if only from the fact that the place had been specially built -for its purpose, and was not, as in most other places, adapted. The food -allowance was the same as elsewhere; viz., on five days of the week each -prisoner had one and a half pounds of bread, half a pound of beef, -greens or pease or oatmeal, and salt. On Wednesday and Friday one pound -of herrings or cod-fish was substituted for the beef, and beer could be -bought at the canteen. The description by George Borrow in -_Lavengro_—‘rations of carrion meat and bread from which I have seen the -very hounds occasionally turn away’, is now generally admitted to be as -inaccurate as his other remarks concerning the Norman Cross which he -could only remember as a very small boy. - -The outfit was the same as in other prisons, but I note that in the year -1797 the store-keeper at Norman Cross was instructed to supply each -prisoner _as often as was necessary_, and not, as elsewhere, at stated -intervals, with one jacket, one pair of trousers, two pairs of -stockings, two shirts, one pair of shoes, one cap, and one hammock. By -the way, the prisoners’ shoes are ordered ‘not to have long straps for -buckles, but short ears for strings’. - -On August 8, 1798, Perrot writes from Stilton to Woodriff: - - -‘If you remember, on returning from the barracks on Sunday, Captain -Llewellin informed us that a report had been propagated that seven -prisoners intended to escape that day, which we both looked upon as a -mere report; they were counted both that night, but with little effect -from the additions made to their numbers by the men you brought from -Lynn, and yesterday morning and afternoon, but in such confusion from -the prisoners refusing to answer, from others giving in fictitious -names, and others answering for two or three. In consequence of all -these irregularities I made all my clerks, a turnkey, and a file of -soldiers, go into the south east quadrangle this morning at five -o’clock, and muster each prison separately, and found that six prisoners -from the Officers’ Prison have escaped, but can obtain none of their -names except Captain Dorfe, who some time ago applied to me for to -obtain liberty for him to reside with his family at Ipswich where he had -married an English wife. The officers remaining have separately and -conjunctively refused to give the names of the other five, for which I -have ordered the whole to be put on half allowance to-morrow. After the -most diligent search we could only find one probable place where they -had escaped, by the end next the South Gate, by breaking one of the -rails of the picket, but how they passed afterwards is a mystery still -unravelled.’ - - -During the years 1797–8 there were many Dutch prisoners here, chiefly -taken at Camperdown. - -William Prickard, of the Leicester Militia, was condemned to receive 500 -lashes for talking of escape with a prisoner. - -On February 21, 1798, Mr. James Stewart of Peterborough thus wrote to -Captain Woodriff: - - -‘I have received a heavy complaint from the prisoners of war of being -beat and otherwise ill-treated by the officials at the Prison. I can -have no doubt but that they exaggerate these complaints, for what they -describe as a dungeon I have examined myself and find it to be a proper -place to confine unruly prisoners in, being above ground, and appears -perfectly dry. How far you are authorized to chastise the prisoners of -war I cannot take upon me to determine, but I presume to think it should -be done sparingly and with temper. I was in hopes the new system -adopted, with the additional allowance of provisions would have made the -prisoners more easy and contented under their confinement, but it would -appear it caused more turbulence and uneasiness.... That liquor is -conveyed to the prisoners I have no doubt, you know some of the turnkeys -have been suspected.’ - - -Two turnkeys were shortly afterwards dismissed for having conveyed large -quantities of ale into the prison. - -Rendered necessary by complaints from the neighbourhood, the following -order was issued by the London authorities in 1798. - - -‘Obscene figures and indecent toys and all such indecent representations -tending to disseminate Lewdness and Immorality exposed for sale or -prepared for that purpose are to be instantly destroyed.’ - - -Constant escapes made the separation of officers from men and the -suspension of all intercourse between them to be strictly enforced. - -Perrot died towards the end of 1798, and Woodriff was made agent in -January 1799. Soon after Woodriff’s assuming office the Mayor of Lynn -complained of the number of prisoners at large in the town, and -unguarded, waiting with Norman Cross passports for cartel ships to take -them to France. To appreciate this complaint we must remember that the -rank and file, and not a few of the officers, of the French -Revolutionary Army and Navy, who were prisoners of war in Britain, were -of the lowest classes of society, desperate, lawless, religionless, -unprincipled men who in confinement were a constant source of anxiety -and watchfulness, and at large were positively dangers to society. If a -body of men like this got loose, as did fifteen on the night of April 5, -1799, from Norman Cross, the fact was enough to carry terror throughout -a countryside. - -Yet there was a request made this year from the Norman Cross prisoners -that they might have priests sent to them. At first the order was that -none should be admitted except to men dangerously ill, but later, Ruello -and Vexier were permitted to reside in Number 8 Caserne, under the rule -‘that your officers do strictly watch over their communication and -conduct, lest, under pretence of religion, any stratagems or devices be -carried out to the public prejudice by people of whose disposition to -abuse indulgence there have already existed but too many examples’. - -That Captain Woodriff’s position was rendered one of grave anxiety and -responsibility by the bad character of many of the prisoners under his -charge is very clear from the continual tenor of the correspondence -between him and the Transport Board. The old punishment of simple -confinement in the Black Hole being apparently quite useless, it was -ordered that offenders sentenced to the Black Hole should be put on half -rations, and also lose their turn of exchange. This last was the -punishment most dreaded by the majority of the prisoners, although there -was a regular market for these turns of exchange, varying from £40 -upwards, which would seem to show that to many a poor fellow, life at -Norman Cross with some capital to gamble with was preferable to a return -to France in exchange for a British prisoner of similar grade, only to -be pressed on board a man-of-war of the period, or to become a unit of -the hundreds and thousands of soldiers sent here and there to be maimed -or slaughtered in a cause of which they knew little and cared less. - -It is worthy of note that these increased punishments were made law with -the concurrence, if not at the suggestion, of the French Agent, Niou, -who remarked with respect to the system of buying and selling turns of -exchange, ‘. . . une conduite aussi lâche devant être arrêtée par tous -les moyens possibles. Je viens en conséquence de mettre les Vendéens (I -am inclined to regard ‘Vendéens’ as a mistake for ‘vendants’) à la queue -des échanges.’ - -The year 1799 seems to have been a disturbed one at Norman Cross. In -August the prisoners showed their resentment at having detailed personal -descriptions of them taken, by disorderly meetings, the result being -that all trafficking between them was stopped, and the daily market at -the prison-gate suspended. - -Stockdale, the Lynn manager of the prison traffic between the coast and -Norman Cross, writes on one occasion that of 125 prisoners who had been -started for the prison, ‘there were two made their escape, and one shot -on their march to Lynn, and I am afraid we lost two or three last -night ... there are some very artful men among them who will make their -escape if possible’. - -Attempts to escape during the last stages of the journey from the coast -to the prison were frequent. On February 4, 1808, the crews of two -privateers, under an escort of the 77th Regiment, were lodged for the -night in the stable of the _Angel Inn_ at Peterborough. One Simon tried -to escape. The sentry challenged and fired. Simon was killed, and the -coroner’s jury brought in the verdict of ‘Justifiable homicide’. - -On another occasion a column of prisoners was crossing the Nene Bridge -at Peterborough, when one of them broke from the ranks, and sprang into -the river. He was shot as he rose to the surface. - -On account of the proximity of Norman Cross to a countryside of which -one of the staple industries was the straw manufacture, the prevention -of the smuggling of straw into the prison for the purpose of being made -into bonnets, baskets, plaits, &c., constantly occupied the attention of -the authorities. In 1799 the following circular was sent by the -Transport Board to all prisons and dépôts in the kingdom: - - -‘Being informed that the Revenues and Manufactures of this country are -considerably injured by the extensive sale of Straw Hats made by the -Prisoners of War in this country, we do hereby require and direct you to -permit no Hat, Cap, or Bonnet manufactured by any of the Prisoners of -War in your custody, to be sold or sent out of the Prison in future, -under any pretence whatever, and to seize and destroy all such articles -as may be detected in violation of this order.’ - - -This traffic, however, was continued, for in 1807 the Transport Board, -in reply to a complaint by a Mr. John Poynder to Lord Liverpool, -‘requests the magistrates to help in stopping the traffic with prisoners -of war in prohibited articles, straw hats and straw plait especially, as -it has been the means of selling obscene toys, pictures, &c., to the -great injury of the morals of the rising generation’. - -To continue the prison record in order of dates: in 1801 the Transport -Board wrote to Otto, Commissioner in England of the French Republic, - - - ‘SIR: - -‘Having directed Capt. Woodriff, Superintendant at Norman Cross Prison, -to report to us on the subject of some complaints made by the prisoners -at that place, he has informed me of a most pernicious habit among the -prisoners which he has used every possible means to prevent, but without -success. Some of the men, whom he states to have been long confined -without receiving any supplies from their friends, have only the prison -allowance to subsist on, and this allowance he considers sufficient to -nourish and keep in health if they received it daily, but he states this -is not the case, although the full ration is regularly issued by the -Steward to each mess of 12 men. There are in these prisons, he observes, -some men—if they deserve that name—who possess money with which they -purchase of some unfortunate and unthinking fellow-prisoner his ration -of bread for several days together, and frequently _both bread and beef -for a month_, which he, the merchant, seizes upon daily and sells it out -again to some other unfortunate being on the same usurious terms, -allowing the former _one half-penny worth of potatoes daily_ to keep him -alive. Not contented with this more than savage barbarity, he purchases -next his clothes and bedding, and sees the miserable man lie naked on -his plank unless he will consent to allow him one half-penny a night to -lie in his own hammock, which he makes him pay by a further deprivation -of his ration when his original debt is paid.... In consequence of this -representation we have directed Capt. Woodriff to keep a list of every -man of this description of merchants above mentioned in order they may -be put at the bottom of the list of exchange.’ - - -In this year a terrible epidemic carried off nearly 1,000 prisoners. The -Transport Board’s Surveyor was sent down, and he reported that the -general condition of the prison was very bad, especially as regarded -sanitation. The buildings were merely of fir-quartering, and -weather-boarded on the outside, and without lining inside, the result -being that the whole of the timbering was a network of holes bored by -the prisoners in order to get light inside. In the twelve solitary cells -of the Black Hole there was no convenience whatever. The wells were only -in tolerable condition. The ventilation of the French officers’ rooms -was very bad. The hospital was better than other parts of the prison. -The report notes that the carpenters, sawyers, and masons were -prisoners, a fact at once constituting an element of uncertainty, if not -of danger. In December 1801 Woodriff found it necessary to post up an -order about shamming ill in order to be changed to better quarters: - - -‘Ayant connaissance que nombre de prisonniers français recherchent -journellement les moyens de se donner l’air aussi misérable que possible -dans le dessein d’être envoyés à l’Hôpital ou au No. 13 par le -chirurgien de visite, et que s’ils sont reçus, soit pour l’un ou -l’autre, ils vendent de suite leurs effets (s’ils ne l’ont déjà fait -pour se faire recevoir) le Gouvernement done [_sic_] avis de nouveau -qu’aucun prisonnier ne sera reçu pour l’Hôpital ou pour le No. 13 s’il -ne produit ses effets de Literie et les Hardes qu’il peut avoir reçu -dernièrement.’ - - -Generals Rochambeau and Boyer were paroled prisoners who seem to have -studied how to give the authorities as much trouble and annoyance as -possible. The Transport Board, weary of granting them indulgences which -they abused, and of making them offers which they contemptuously -rejected, clapped them into Norman Cross in September 1804. They were -placed in the wards of the military hospital, a sentinel at their doors, -and no communication allowed between them, or their servants, and the -rest of the prisoners. They were not allowed newspapers, no special -allowance was made them of coals, candles, and wood, they were not -permitted to go beyond the hospital airing ground, and Captain -Pressland, the then agent of the prison, was warned to be strictly on -his guard, and to watch them closely, despite his favourable remarks -upon their deportment. It was at about this time that the alarm was -widespread that the prisoners of war in Britain were to co-operate with -an invasion by their countrymen from without. General Boyer, at Tiverton -in 1803, ‘whilst attentive to the ladies, did not omit to curse, even to -_them_, his fate in being deprived of his arms, and without hope of -being useful to his countrymen when they arrive in England’. Rochambeau -at Norman Cross was even more ridiculous, for when he heard that -Bonaparte’s invasion was actually about to come off, he appeared for two -days in the airing ground in full uniform, booted and spurred. Later -news sent him into retirement. - - -Extracts from contemporary newspapers show that the alarm was very -general. Said _The Times_: - - -‘The French prisoners on the prospect of an invasion of this country -begin to assume their Republican _fierté_; they tell their guards—“It is -your turn to guard us now, but before the winter is over it will be our -turn to guard you.” - -‘The prisoners already in our hands, and those who may be added, will -occasion infinite perplexity. The known licentiousness of their -principles, the utter contempt of all laws of honour which is so -generally prevalent among the French Republicans, and the audacity of -exertions which may arise from a desire of co-operating with an invading -force, may render them extremely dangerous, especially if left in the -country, where the thinness of the population prevents perpetual -inspection and where alarm flies so rapidly as to double any mischief.’ - - -A suggestion was made that the prisoners should be concentrated in the -prisons of London and neighbourhood, and some newspapers even echoed -Robespierre’s truculent advice: ‘Make no prisoners.’ - -In 1804, in reply to another application that priests might reside -within the prison boundaries, the authorities said: - - -‘As to the French priests and the procurement of lodgings at Stilton, we -have nothing to do with them, but with respect to the proposal of their -inhabitation in our Dépôts, we cannot possibly allow of such a measure -at this critical time to _Foreigners of that equivocal description_.’ - - -The ever-recurring question as to the exact lines of demarcation to be -drawn between the two chief men of the prison, the Agent and the -Commander of the garrison, occupies a great deal of Departmental -literature. We have given one specimen already, and in 1804 Captain -Pressland was thus addressed by his masters in London: - - -‘As the interior regulation and management of the Prison is entirely -under your direction, we do not see any necessity for returns being made -daily to the C.O. of the Guard, and we approve of your reason for -declining to make such returns; but as, on the other hand, the C.O. is -answerable for the security of the Prison, it is not proper that you -should interfere in that respect any further than merely to suggest what -may appear to you to be necessary or proper to be done.’ - - -In the same year a serious charge was brought against Captain Pressland -by the prisoners, that he was in the habit of deducting two and a half -per cent from all sums passing through his hands for payment to the -prisoners. He admitted having done so, and got off with a rebuke. It may -be mentioned here that the pay of a prison agent was thirty shillings -per diem, the same as that of a junior post captain on sea fencible -service—quarters, but no allowances except £10 10_s._ per annum for -stationery. In 1805 the boys’ building was put up. At first the -suggested site was on the old burial ground; but as it was urged that -such a proceeding might produce much popular clamour, as well as ‘other -disagreeable consequences’, it was put outside the outer stockade, north -of the Hospital. It is said that the boys were here brought up as -musicians by the Bishop of Moulins. - -At this time escapes seem to have been very frequent, and this in spite -of the frequent changing of the garrison, and the rule that no soldier -knowing French should be on guard duty. All implements and edged tools -were taken from the prisoners, only one knife being allowed, which was -to be returned every night, locked up in a box, and placed in the -Guard-room until the next morning, and failure to give up knives meant -the Black Hole. Any prisoner attempting to escape was to be executed -immediately, but I find no record of this drastic sentence being carried -into effect. - -From _The Times_ of October 15, 1804, I take the following: - - -‘An alarming spirit of insubordination was on Wednesday evinced by the -French prisoners, about 3,000, at Norman Cross. An incessant uproar was -kept up all the morning, and at noon their intention to attempt the -destruction of the barrier of the prison became so obvious that the C.O. -at the Barrack, apprehensive that the force under his command, -consisting only of the Shropshire Militia and one battalion of the Army -of reserve, would not be sufficient in case of necessity to environ and -restrain so large a body of prisoners, dispatched a messenger requiring -the assistance of the Volunteer force at Peterborough. Fortunately the -Yeomanry had had a field day, and one of the troops was undismissed when -the messenger arrived. The troops immediately galloped into the -Barracks. In the evening a tumult still continuing among the prisoners, -and some of them taking advantage of the extreme darkness to attempt to -escape, further reinforcements were sent for and continued on duty all -night. The prisoners, having cut down a portion of the wood enclosure -during the night, nine of them escaped through the aperture. In another -part of the prison, as soon as daylight broke, it was found that they -had undermined a distance of 34 feet towards the Great South Road, under -the fosse which surrounds the prison, although it is 4 feet deep, and it -is not discovered they had any tools. Five of the prisoners have been -re-taken.’ - - -A little later in the year, on a dark, stormy Saturday night, seven -prisoners escaped through a hole they had cut in the wooden wall, and -were away all Sunday. At 8 p.m. on that day, a sergeant and a corporal -of the Durham Militia, on their way north on furlough, heard men talking -a ‘foreign lingo’ near Whitewater toll-bar. Suspecting them to be -escaped prisoners, they attacked and secured two of them, but five got -off. On Monday two of these were caught near Ryall toll-bar in a state -of semi-starvation, having hidden in Uffington Thicket for twenty-four -hours; the other three escaped. - -One of the most difficult tasks which faced the agents of prisons in -general, and of Norman Cross in particular, was the checking of -contraband traffic between the prisoners and outsiders. At Norman Cross, -as I have said, the chief illicit trade was in straw-plaiting work. -Strange to say, although the interests of the poor country people were -severely injured by this trade, the wealth and influence of the chief -dealers were so great that it was difficult to get juries to convict, -and when they did convict, to get judges to pass deterrent sentences. In -1807, for instance, legal opinion was actually given that a publican -could not have his licence refused because he had carried on the -straw-plait traffic with the prisoners, although it was an open secret -that the innkeepers of Stilton, Wansford, Whittlesea, Peterborough, and -even the landlord of the inn which in those days stood opposite where -now is the present Norman Cross Hotel, were deeply engaged in it. - -In 1808, ‘from motives of humanity’, the prisoners at Norman Cross were -allowed to make baskets, boxes, ornaments, &c., of straw, if the -straw-plaiting traffic could be effectually prevented. The manufacture -of these articles, which were often works of the most refined beauty and -delicacy, of course did not harm the poor, rough straw-plaiters of -Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire; but the radius of its sale was -limited, the straw-plaiting meant quick and good returns, and the -difficulty to be faced by the authorities was to ensure the rightful use -of the straw introduced. In 1808 there were many courts-martial upon -soldiers of the garrison for being implicated in this traffic, and in -each case the soldier was severely flogged and the straw bonnet ordered -to be burned. It was no doubt one of these episodes which so aroused -George Borrows ire.[4] The guard of the coach from Lincoln to Stilton -was put under observation by order of the Transport Office, being -suspected of assisting people to carry the straw plait made in the -prison to Baldock to be made into bonnets. - -In 1809 Pressland writes thus seriously to the Transport Office: - - -‘That every step that could possibly be taken by General Williams -[Commander of the Garrison] and myself to prevent this illicit Traffic -[has been taken], the Board will, I trust, readily admit, and I am well -convinced that without the prosecution of those dealers who are -particularized in the documents forwarded by the Lincoln coach this -evening, it will ever continue, to the great injury of the country in -general; for already eight or nine soldiers have deserted from a dread -of punishment, having been detected by those whom they knew would inform -against them, and I shall leave the Board to judge how far the -discipline of the Regiments has been hurt, and the Soldiers seduced from -their duty by the bribes they are constantly receiving from Barnes, -Lunn, and Browne. It now becomes a serious and alarming case, for if -these persons can with so much facility convey into the Prison sacks of -5 and 6 feet in length, they might convey weapons of every description -to annoy those whose charge they are under, to the great detriment of -H.M.’s service, and the lives of His subjects most probably.’ - - -[Illustration: - - COLOURED STRAW WORK-BOX - - Made by French prisoners of war -] - -A large bundle of documents contains the trial of Barnes, Lunn, Browne, -and others, for, in conjunction with bribed soldiers of the garrison, -taking straw into the prison and receiving the plaited article in -exchange. The evidence of soldiers of the guard showed that James, -ostler at the _Bell_, Stilton, had been seen many times at midnight -throwing sacks of straw over the palisades, and receiving straw plait in -return, and also bonnets, and that he was always assisted by soldiers. -Barnes had said that he would get straw into the prison in spite of -General Williams or anybody else, as he had bought five fields of wheat -for the purpose. He was acting for his brother, a Baldock straw-dealer. - -The trial came off at Huntingdon on March 20, 1811, the result being -that Lunn got twelve months, and the others six months each. It may be -noted here that so profitable for dealers was this contraband trade in -war-prison manufactured straw articles, that a Bedfordshire man, Matthew -Wingrave, found it to be worth his while to buy up wheat and barley land -in the neighbourhood of the great Scottish dépôt at Valleyfield, near -Penicuik, and carry on business there. - -As an instance of the resentment aroused by this judgement among those -interested in the illicit trade, a Sergeant Ives of the West Essex -Militia, who had been especially active in the suppression of the -straw-plait business, was, according to the _Taunton Courier_, stopped -between Stilton and Norman Cross by a number of fellows, who, after -knocking him down and robbing him of his watch and money, forced open -his jaws with savage ferocity and cut off a piece of his tongue. - -In November 1807 a brick wall was built round Norman Cross prison; the -outer palisade which it replaced being used to repair the inner. - -In 1809 Flaigneau, a prisoner, was tried at Huntingdon for murdering a -turnkey. The trial lasted six hours, but in spite of the instructions of -the judge, the jury brought him in _Not Guilty_. - -Forgery and murder brought the prisoners under the Civil Law. Thus in -1805 Nicholas Deschamps and Jean Roubillard were tried at Huntingdon -Summer Assizes for forging £1 bank notes, which they had done most -skilfully. They were sentenced to death, but were respited during His -Majesty’s pleasure, and remained in Huntingdon gaol for nine years, -until they were pardoned and sent back to France in 1814. - -From the _Stamford Mercury_ of September 16, 1808, I take the following: - - -‘Early on Friday morning last Charles François Maria Boucher, a French -officer, a prisoner of war in this country, was conveyed from the County -Gaol at Huntingdon to Yaxley Barracks where he was hanged, agreeable to -his sentence at the last assizes, for stabbing with a knife, with intent -to kill Alexander Halliday, in order to effect his escape from that -prison. The whole garrison was under arms and all the prisoners in the -different apartments were made witnesses of the impressive scene.’ - - -I shall deal later in detail with the subject of prisoners on parole, so -that it suffices here to say that every care was taken to avoid the just -reproach of the earlier years of the great wars that officer prisoners -of war in England were promiscuously herded on hulks and in prisons with -the rank and file, and it was an important part of Prison Agent’s duties -to examine each fresh arrival of prisoners with a view to selecting -those of character and the required rank qualifying them for the -privileges of being allowed on parole in certain towns and villages set -apart for the purpose. - -In 1796 about 100 Norman Cross prisoners were out on parole in -Peterborough and the neighbourhood. The _Wheatsheaf_ at Stibbington was -a favourite house of call with the parole prisoners, says the Rev. A. -Brown in the before-quoted book, and this, when afterwards a farmhouse, -belonged to an old man, born before the close of the war, who told Dr. -Walker that as a child he had often seen the prisoners regale themselves -here with the excellent cooking of his grandmother, the milestone which -was their limit from Wansford, where they lodged, being just outside the -house. - -The parole officers seem to have been generally received with kindness -and hospitality by the neighbouring gentry, and a few marriages with -English girls are recorded, although when it became known that such -unions were not recognized as binding by the French Government, and that -even the English wives of Frenchmen were sent back from Morlaix, the -cartel port, the English girls became more careful. Some of the gentry, -indeed, seem to have interested themselves too deeply in the exiles, and -in 1801 the Transport Office requests the attention of its Agent ‘to the -practices of a person of some property near Peterborough, similar to -those for which Askew was convicted at the Huntingdon Assizes’—which was -for aiding prisoners to escape. - -By the Treaty of Paris, May 30, 1814, Peace was declared between France -and Britain, and in the same month 4,617 French prisoners at Norman -Cross were sent home via Peterborough and Lynn unguarded, but the prison -was not finally evacuated until August. It was never again used as a -prison, but was pulled down and sold. - -We have already become acquainted with General Pillet as a rabid -chronicler of life on the Chatham hulks; we shall meet him again out on -parole, and now let us hear what he has to say about Norman Cross in his -book on England. - - -‘I have seen at Norman Cross a plot of land where nearly four thousand -men, out of seven thousand in this prison, were buried. Provisions were -then dear in England, and our Government, it was said, had refused to -pay the balance of an account due for prisoners. To settle this account -all the prisoners were put on half-rations, and to make sure that they -should die, the introduction of food for sale, according to custom, was -forbidden. To reduced quantity was added inferior quality of the -provisions served out. There was distributed four times a week, -worm-eaten biscuit, fish and salt meat; three times a week black, half -baked bread made of mouldy flour or of black wheat. Soon after eating -this one was seized with a sort of drunkenness, followed by violent -headache, diarrhoea, and redness of face; many died from a sort of -vertigo. For vegetables, uncooked beans were served up. In fact, -hundreds of men sank each day, starved to death, or poisoned by the -provisions. Those who did not die immediately, became so weak that -gradually they could digest nothing.’ (Then follow some details, too -disgusting to be given a place here, of the extremities to which -prisoners at Norman Cross were driven by hunger.) ‘Hunger knows no -rules. The corpses of those who died were kept for five or six days -without being given up by their comrades, who by this means received the -dead men’s rations.’ - - -This veracious chronicler continues: - - -‘I myself took a complaint to Captain Pressland. Next day, the officers -of the two militia battalions on guard at the prison, and some -civilians, arrived just at the moment for the distribution of the -rations. At their head was Pressland who was damning the prisoners -loudly. The rations were shown, and, as the whole thing had been -rehearsed beforehand, they were good. A report was drawn up by which it -was shown that the prisoners were discontented rascals who grumbled at -everything, that the food was unexceptionable, and that some of the -grumblers deserved to be shot, for an example. Next day the food was -just as bad as ever.... Certainly the prisoners had the chance of buying -provisions for themselves from the wives of the soldiers of the garrison -twice a week. But these women, bribed to ruin the prisoners, rarely -brought what was required, made the prisoners take what they brought, -and charged exorbitant prices, and, as payment had to be made in -advance, they settled things just as they chose.’ - - -With reference to the medical attendance at Norman Cross, Pillet says: - - -‘I have been witness and victim, as prisoner of war, of the false oath -taken by the doctors at Norman Cross. They were supplied with medicines, -flannel, cotton stuffs, &c., in proportion to the number of prisoners, -for compresses, bandages, and so forth. When the supply was exhausted, -the doctor, in order to get a fresh supply, drew up his account of -usage, and swore before a jury that this account was exact. The wife of -the doctor at Norman Cross, like that of the doctor of the _Crown -Prince_ at Chatham, wore no petticoats which were not made of cotton and -flannel taken from the prison stores. So with the medicines and drugs. -The contractor found the supply ample, and that there was no necessity -to replace it, so he shared with the doctor and the apothecary the cost -of what he had never delivered, although in the accounts it appeared -that he had renewed their supplies.’ - - -With George Borrow’s description in _Lavengro_ of the brutalities -exercised upon the prisoners at Norman Cross by the soldiers of the -garrison, many readers will be familiar. As the recollection is of his -early boyhood, it may be valued accordingly. - -In 1808 a tourist among the churches of this part of East Anglia remarks -upon the good appearance of the Norman Cross prisoners, particularly of -the boys—the drummers and the ‘mousses’. He adds that many of the -prisoners had learned English enough ‘to chatter and to cheat’, and that -some of them upon release took away with them from two to three hundred -pounds as the proceeds of the sale of their handiwork in drawings, wood, -bone and straw work, chessmen, draughts, backgammon boards, dice, and -groups in wood and bone of all descriptions. - -[Illustration: - - THE BLOCK HOUSE, NORMAN CROSS, 1809 - - _From a sketch by Captain George Lloyd_ -] - -In 1814 came Peace. The following extracts from contemporary newspapers -made by Mr. Charles Dack, Curator of the Peterborough Museum, refer to -the process of evacuation, Norman Cross Dépôt being also known as -Stilton or Yaxley Barracks. - - -‘11th April, 1814. The joy produced amongst the prisoners of war at -Norman Cross by the change of affairs in France (the abdication of -Bonaparte) is quite indescribable and extravagant. A large white flag is -set up in each of the quadrangles of the dépôt, under which the -thousands of poor fellows, who have been for years in confinement, -dance, sing, laugh, and cry for joy, with rapturous delight. - -‘5th May, 1814. The prisoners at Stilton Barracks are so elated at the -idea of being so soon liberated, that they are all bent on selling their -stock, which they do rapidly at 50 per cent advanced prices. Many of -them have realized fortunes of from £500 to £1,000 each. - -‘June 9th, Lynn. Upwards of 1,400 French prisoners of war have arrived -in this town during the last week from Stilton Barracks, to embark for -the coast of France. Dunkirk, we believe, is the place of their -destination. In consequence of the wind having been hitherto -unfavourable, they have been prevented from sailing, and we are glad to -state that their conduct in this town has hitherto been very orderly; -and although they are continually perambulating the street, and some of -them indulging in tolerable libations of ale, we have not heard of a -single act of indecorum taking place in consequence.’ - - -To these notes the late Rev. G. N. Godwin, to whom I am indebted for -many details of life at Norman Cross, added in the columns of the -_Norwich Mercury_: - - -‘The garrison of the dépôt caught the infection of wild joy, and a party -of them seized the Glasgow mail coach on its arrival at Stilton, and -drew it to Norman Cross, whither the horses, coachman and guard were -obliged to follow. The prisoners were so elated at the prospect of being -liberated that they ceased to perform any work. Many of them had -realized fortunes of £500 to £1,000 each in Bank of England notes.’ - - -The _Cambridge Chronicle_ gives a pleasant picture on May 6th: ‘About -200 prisoners from Norman Cross Barracks marched into this town on -Sunday last ... they walked about the town and ‘Varsity and conducted -themselves in an orderly manner.’ - - -Although it was rumoured that the buildings at Norman Cross were to be -utilized, after the departure of the war prisoners, as a barrack for -artillery and cavalry, this did not come about. The buildings were sold -in lots; in Peterborough some of them were re-erected and still exist, -and a pair of slatted gates are now barn-doors at Alwalton Rectory Farm, -but the very memories of this great prison are fast dying out in this -age of the migration of the countryman. - -On October 2, 1818, the sale of Norman Cross Barracks began, and lasted -nine days, the sum realized being about £10,000. A curious comment upon -the condition of the prison is presented by the fact that a house built -from some of it became known as ‘Bug Hall’, which has a parallel in the -case of Portchester Castle; some cottages built from the timber of the -_casernes_ there, when it ceased to be a war prison, being still known -as ‘Bug Row’. - -In Shelley Row, Cambridge, is an ancient timbered barn which is known to -have been regularly used as a night-shelter for prisoners on their way -to Norman Cross. - - - - - CHAPTER XI - THE PRISONS ASHORE - 3. PERTH - -The following particulars about the great Dépôt at Perth are largely -taken from Mr. W. Sievwright’s book, now out of print and obtainable -with difficulty.[5] Mr. P. Baxter of Perth, however, transcribed it for -me from the copy in the Perth Museum, and to him my best thanks are due. - -The Dépôt at Perth was completed in 1812. It was constructed to hold -about 7,000 prisoners, and consisted of five three-story buildings, each -130 feet long and 30 feet broad, with outside stairs, each with a -separate iron palisaded airing-ground and all converging upon what was -known as the ‘Market Place’. Each of these blocks held 1,140 prisoners. -South of the great square was a building for petty officers, -accommodating 1,100, and north of it the hospital for 150 invalids. Both -of these latter buildings are still standing, having been incorporated -with the present General Prison. The sleeping quarters were very -crowded; so much so, says Sievwright, that the prisoners had to sleep -‘spoon fashion’, (as we have seen on the prison ships), the turning-over -process having to be done by whole ranks in obedience to words of -command; ‘Attention! Squad number so and so! Prepare to spoon! One! Two! -Spoon!’ - -Around the entire space was a deep moat, ten feet broad; beyond this an -iron palisade; beyond this a wall twelve feet six inches high, with a -sentry-walk round it. Three or four regiments of Militia were always -kept in Perth for guard duties, which occupied 300 men. Many acres of -potatoes were planted outside the prison. When peace was finally made, -and the prison was emptied, the owners of these profitable acres were in -despair, until one of them discovered the London market, and this has -been kept ever since. - -The first prisoners came from Plymouth via Dundee in August 1812. They -had been lodged the first night in the church of Inchtore.[6] ‘During -the night’, says Penny in his _Traditions of Perth_, ‘the French -prisoners found means to extract the brass nails and purloin the green -cloth from the pulpit and seats in the Church, with every other thing -they could lay their hands on.’ Penny seems to have exaggerated. One -prisoner stole a couple of ‘mort cloths’. This so enraged his fellows -that they tried him by court martial, and sentenced him to twenty-four -lashes. He got seventeen there and then, but fainted, and the remainder -were given him later. - -The prisoners were 400 in number, and had some women with them, and were -in tolerably good condition. A great many came in after Salamanca. They -had been marched through Fifeshire in very bad weather. ‘The poor -creatures, many of them half naked, were in a miserable plight; numbers -of them gave up upon the road, and were flung into carts, one above the -other, and when the carts were full, and capable of holding no more, the -others were tied to the backs with ropes and dragged along.’ - -Kirkcaldy on the Forth was the chief port for landing the prisoners; -from Kirkcaldy they were marched overland to Perth. - -The first attempt at escape from the new Dépôt was made in September -1812, there being at this time about 4,000 prisoners there. A prisoner -slipped past the turnkey as the latter was opening a door in the iron -palisading, and got away. The alarm was given; the prisoner had got to -Friarton Toll, half a mile away, but being closely pursued was captured -in a wheat field. - -One Petite in this year was a slippery customer. He got out of Perth but -was recaptured, and lodged at Montrose on the march back to gaol. Thence -he escaped by unscrewing the locks of three doors, but was again caught -at Ruthven print-field, and safely lodged in his old quarters in Perth -gaol. Shortly after he was ordered to be transferred to Valleyfield, and -a sergeant and eight men were considered necessary to escort him. They -got him safely as far as Kirkcaldy, where they halted, and M. Petite was -lodged for the night in the local prison; but when they came for him in -the morning, he was not to be found, and was never heard of again! - -Here Sievwright introduces a story from Penny, of date previous to the -Dépôt. - - -‘On April 20th, 1811, it was reputed at the Perth Barracks that four -French prisoners had passed through Perth. A detachment of soldiers who -were sent in pursuit on the road to Dundee, found, not those they were -seeking, but four others, whom they conveyed to Perth and lodged in -gaol. On the morning of April 24th, they managed to effect their escape. -By cutting some planks out of the partition of their apartment, they -made their way to the Court Room, from the window of which they -descended to the street. On their table was found a letter expressing -their gratitude to the magistrates and inhabitants of Perth for the -civilities they had received, and promising a return of the kindness to -any Scotsman whom they might find among the British prisoners in -France.’ - - -As a supplement to this, it is recorded that two of the original quarry -were afterwards captured, but were released unconditionally later on, -when one of them proved that he had humanely treated General Walker, -when the latter was lying seriously wounded at Badajos, saved him from -being dispatched by a furious grenadier, and had him removed to a -hospital. The General gave him his name and address, and promised to -help him should occasion arise. - -In January 1813 three prisoners got off in a thick fog and made their -way as far as Broughty Ferry on the Forth. On their way, it came out -later, they stopped in Dundee for refreshment without any apparent dread -of disturbance, and were later seen on the Fort hill near Broughty -Ferry. In the evening they entered a shop, bought up all the bread in it -and had a leather bottle filled with spirits. At nine the same evening -they boarded Mr. Grubb’s ship _Nancy_, and immediately got under weigh -unnoticed. The _Nancy_ was of fifteen tons burden, and was known to be -provisioned for ten days, as she was going to start the next morning on -an excursion. The prisoners escaped, and a woman and two Renfrewshire -Militiamen were detained in prison after examination upon suspicion of -having concealed and aided the prisoners with information about the -_Nancy_ which they could hardly have obtained ordinarily. - -This was on Thursday, January 21. On the night of Monday, 18th, a mason -at the Dépôt, on his way from Newburgh to Perth, was stopped by three -men at the Coates of Fingask on the Rhynd road, and robbed of £1 18_s._ -6_d._ The robbers had the appearance of farm servants, but it seems -quite likely that they were the daring and successful abductors of the -_Nancy_. - -On January 21, 1813, there were 6,788 prisoners at the Dépôt. On the -evening of February 22, 1813, seven prisoners bribed a sentinel to let -them escape. He agreed, but at once gave information, and was instructed -to keep up the deception. So, at the fixed hour the prisoners, awaiting -with confident excitement the arrival of their deliverer, were, instead, -found hiding with scaling-ladders, ropes, and all implements necessary -for escape upon them, and a considerable sum of money for their needs. -They were at once conveyed to the punishment cells under the central -tower. - -At Perth, as elsewhere, the prisoners were allowed to amuse themselves, -and to interest themselves in the manufacture of various knick-knacks, -toys, boxes, and puzzles, from wood, and the bones of their beef; of -these they made a great variety, and many of them are masterpieces of -cunning deftness, and wonderfully beautiful in delicacy and perfection -of workmanship. They made straw plait, a manufacture then in its infancy -in this country; numbers made shoes out of bits of cloth, cutting up -their clothes for the purpose, and it is possible that their hammocks -may have yielded the straw. It is said that after a time straw plait and -shoes were prohibited as traffic. Some of the prisoners dug clay out of -their court-yards and modelled figures of smugglers, soldiers, sailors, -and women. The prisoners had the privilege of holding a market daily, to -which the public were admitted provided they carried no contraband -articles. Potatoes, vegetables, bread, soap, tobacco, and firewood, were -all admitted. Large numbers of the inhabitants went daily to view the -markets, and make purchases. The prisoners had stands set out all round -the railing of the yards, on which their wares were placed. Many paid -high prices for the articles. While some of the prisoners were busy -selling, others were occupied in buying provisions, vegetables and other -necessaries of food. Some of the prisoners played the flute, fiddle, and -other instruments, for halfpence; Punch’s opera and other puppet shows -were also got up in fine style. Some were industrious and saving; others -gambled and squandered the clothes from their bodies, and wandered about -with only a bit of blanket tied round them. - -From Penny’s _Traditions of Perth_ comes the following market trick: - - -‘As much straw plait as made a bonnet was sold for four shillings, and, -being exceedingly neat, it was much inquired after. In this trade many a -one got a bite, for the straw was all made up in parcels, and for fear -of detection smuggled into the pockets of the purchasers. - -‘An unsuspecting man having been induced by his wife to purchase a -quantity of straw plait for a bonnet, he attended the market and soon -found a seller. He paid the money, but, lest he should be observed, he -turned his back on the prisoner, and got the things slipped into his -hand, and thence into his pocket. Away he went with his parcel, well -pleased that he had escaped detection (for outsiders found buying straw -plait were severely dealt with by the law), and on his way home he -thought he would examine his purchase, when, to his astonishment and no -doubt to his deep mortification, he found instead of straw plait, a -bundle of shavings very neatly tied up. The man instantly returned, and -told of the deception, and insisted on getting back his money. But the -prisoner from whom the purchase had been made could not be seen. Whilst -trying to get a glimpse of his seller, he was told that if he did not go -away he would be informed against, and fined for buying the supposed -straw plait. He was retiring when another prisoner came forward and said -he would find the other, and make him take back the shavings and return -the money. Pretending deep commiseration, the second prisoner said he -had no change, but if the straw plait buyer would give him sixteen -shillings, he would give him a one pound note, and take his chance of -the man returning the money. The dupe gave the money and took the -note—which was a forgery on a Perth Bank.’ - - -Attempts to escape were almost a weekly occurrence, and some of them -exhibited very notable ingenuity, patience, and daring. On March 26, -1813, the discovery was made of a subterranean excavation from the -latrine of No. 2 Prison, forty-two feet long, and so near the base of -the outer wall that another hour’s work would have finished it. - -On April 4, 1813, was found a pit twenty feet deep in the floor of No. 2 -Prison, with a lateral cut at about six feet from the bottom. The space -below this cut was to receive water, and the cut was to pass obliquely -upwards to allow water to run down. A prisoner in hospital was suspected -by the others of giving information about this, and when he was -discharged he was violently assaulted, the intention being to cut off -his ears. He resisted, however, so that only one was taken off. Then a -rope was fastened to him, and he was dragged through the moat while men -jumped on him. He was rescued just in time by a Durham Militiaman. - -On the 28th of the same month three prisoners got with false keys into -an empty cellar under the central tower. They had provided themselves -with ordinary civilian attire which they intended to slip over their -prison clothes, and mix with the market crowd. They were discovered by a -man going into the cellar to examine the water pipes. Had they succeeded -a great many more would have followed. - -On May 5, 1813, some prisoners promised a big bribe to a soldier of the -Durham Militia if he would help them to escape. He pretended to accede, -but promptly informed his superiors, who told him to keep up the -delusion. So he allowed six prisoners to get over the outer wall by a -rope ladder which they had made. Four were out and two were on the -burial ground which was between the north boundary wall and the Cow -Inch, when they were captured by a party of soldiers who had been posted -there. The other two were caught in a dry ditch. They were all lodged in -the _cachot_. It was well for the ‘faithful Durham’, for the doubloons -he got were only three-shilling pieces, and the bank notes were -forgeries! - -In June three men escaped by breaking the bar of a window, and dropping -therefrom by a rope ladder. One of them who had got on board a neutral -vessel at Dundee ventured ashore and was captured; one got as far as -Montrose, but was recognized; of the fate of the third we do not hear. - -A duel took place between two officers with sharpened foils. The -strictest punctilio was observed at the affair, and after one had badly -wounded the other, hands were shaken, and honour satisfied. - -About this time a clerk in the Dépôt was suspended for attempting to -introduce a profligate woman into the prison. - -The usual market was prohibited on Midsummer market day, 1813, and the -public were excluded, as it was feared that the extraordinary concourse -of people would afford opportunities for the prisoners to escape by -mixing with them in disguise. - -The Medical Report of July 1813 states that out of 7,000 prisoners there -were only twenty-four sick, including convalescents, and of these only -four were confined to their beds. - -On August 15, 1813, the prisoners were not only allowed to celebrate the -Emperor’s birthday, but the public were apprised of the fête and invited -to attend a balloon ascent. The crowd duly assembled on the South Inch, -but the balloon was accidentally burst. There were illuminations of the -prisons at night, and some of the transparencies, says the chronicler, -showed much taste and ingenuity. Advantage was taken of the excitement -of this gala day to hurry on one of the most daring and ingenious -attempts to escape in the history of the prison. On the morning of -August 24 it was notified that a number of prisoners had escaped through -a mine dug from the latrine of No. 2 prison to the bottom of the -southern outer wall. It was supposed that they must have begun to get -out at 2 a.m. that day, but one of them, attempting to jump the ‘lade’, -fell into the water with noise enough to alarm the nearest sentry, who -fired in the direction of the sound. The alarm thus started was carried -on by the other sentries, and it was found that no fewer than -twenty-three prisoners had got away. Ten of them were soon caught. Two -who had got on board a vessel on the Perth shore were turned off by the -master. One climbed up a tree and was discovered. One made an attempt to -swim the Tay, but had to give up from exhaustion, and others were -captured near the river, which, being swollen by recent rains, they had -been unable to cross; and thirteen temporarily got away. - -Of these the _Caledonian Mercury_ wrote: - - -‘Four of the prisoners who lately escaped from the Perth Dépôt were -discovered within a mile of Arbroath on August 28th by a seaman -belonging to the Custom House yacht stationed there, who procured the -assistance of some labourers, and attempted to apprehend them, upon -which they drew their knives and threatened to stab any one who lay -[_sic_] hold of them, but on the arrival of a recruiting party and other -assistance the Frenchmen submitted. They stated that on Thursday -night—(they had escaped on Tuesday morning) they were on board of a -vessel at Dundee, but which they were unable to carry off on account of -a neap tide which prevented her floating; other three or four prisoners -had been apprehended and lodged in Forfar Gaol. It has been ascertained -that several others had gone Northwards by the Highland Road in the -direction of Inverness.’ - - -The four poor fellows in Forfar Jail made yet another bold bid for -liberty. By breaking through the prison wall, they succeeded in making a -hole to the outside nearly large enough for their egress before they -were discovered. The only tool they had was a part of the fire-grate -which they had wrenched in pieces. Their time was well chosen for -getting out to sea, for it was nearly high water when they were -discovered. Two others were captured near Blair Atholl, some thirty -miles north of Perth, and were brought back to the Dépôt. - - -Brief allusion has been made to the remarkable healthiness of the -prisoners at Perth. The London papers of 1813 lauded Portchester and -Portsmouth as examples of sanitary well-being to other prisoner -districts, and quoted the statistics that, out of 20,680 prisoners -there, only 154 were on the sick list, but the average at Perth was -still better. On August 26, 1813, there were 7,000 prisoners at Perth, -of whom only fourteen were sick. On October 28, out of the same number, -only ten were sick; and on February 3, 1814, when the weather was very -severe, there was not one man in bed. - -The forgery of bank notes and the manufacture of base coin was pursued -as largely and as successfully at Perth as elsewhere. In the _Perth -Courier_ of September 19, 1813, we read: - - -‘We are sorry to learn that the forgery of notes of various banks is -carried on by prisoners at the Dépôt, and that they find means to throw -them into circulation by the assistance of profligate people who -frequent the market. The eagerness of the prisoners to obtain cash is -very great, and as they retain all they procure, they have drained the -place almost entirely of silver so that it has become a matter of -difficulty to get change of a note.... Last week a woman coming from the -Market at the Dépôt was searched by an order of Captain Moriarty, when -there was found about her person pieces of base money in imitation of -Bank tokens (of which the prisoners are suspected to have been the -fabricators), to the amount of £5 17_s._ After undergoing examination, -the woman was committed to gaol.’ - - -It was publicly announced on September 16, 1813, that a mine had been -discovered in the floor of the Officers’ Prison, No. 6, at the Dépôt. -This building, a two-story oblong one, now one of the hospitals, still -stands to the south of the General Prison Village Square. An excavation -of sufficient diameter to admit the passage of a man had been cut with -iron hoops, as it was supposed, carried nineteen feet perpendicularly -down-wards and thirty feet horizontally outwards. - -A detachment of the guard having been marched into the prison after this -discovery, the men were stoned by the prisoners, among whom the soldiers -fired three shots without doing any injury. At 11 o’clock the next -Sunday morning, about forty prisoners were observed by a sentry out of -their prison, strolling about the airing ground of No. 3. An alarm was -immediately given to the guard, who, fearing a general attempt to -escape, rushed towards the place where the prisoners were assembled, -and, having seized twenty-four of them, drove the rest back into the -prison. In the tumult three of the prisoners were wounded and were taken -to the hospital. The twenty-four who were seized were lodged in the -_cachot_, where they remained for a time, together with eleven retaken -fugitives. - -Next morning, on counting over the prisoners in No. 3, twenty-eight were -missing. As a light had been observed in the latrine about 8 o’clock the -preceding evening, that place was examined and a mine was discovered -communicating with the great sewer of the Dépôt. Through this outlet the -absentees had escaped. Two of them were taken on the following Monday -morning at Bridge of Earn, four miles distant, and three more on -Thursday. - -A short time previous to this escape, 800 prisoners had been transferred -to Perth from the Penicuik Dépôt, and these, it was said, were of a most -turbulent and ungovernable character, so that the influence of these men -would necessitate a much sterner discipline, and communication between -the prisoners and the public much more restricted than hitherto. In the -foregoing case the punishments had been very lenient, the market being -shut only for one day. - -Gradually most of the escaped prisoners were retaken, all in a very -exhausted state. - -Not long after, heavy rains increased the waters of the canal so that, -by breaking into it, they revealed an excavation being made from No. 1. - -In the same month three prisoners got out, made their way to Findon, -Kincardineshire, stole a fishing-boat, provisioned it by thefts from -other boats, and made off successfully. - -Yet another mine was discovered this month. It ran from a latrine, not -to the great sewer, but in a circuitous direction to meet it. The -prisoners while working at this were surrounded by other prisoners, who -pretended to be amusing themselves, whilst they hid the workers from the -view of the sentries. But an unknown watcher through a loophole in a -turret saw the buckets of earth being taken to the well, pumped upon and -washed away through the sewer to the Tay, and he gave information. - -Yet again a sentry noticed that buckets of earth were being carried from -No. 6 prison, and informed the officer of the guard, who found about -thirty cartloads of earth heaped up at the two ends of the highest part -of the prison known as the Cock Loft. - -On April 11, 1814, the news of the dethronement of Bonaparte reached -Perth, and was received with universal delight. The prisoners in the -Dépôt asked the agent, Captain Moriarty, to be allowed to illuminate for -the coming Peace and freedom, but at so short a notice little could be -done, although the tower was illuminated by the agent himself. That the -feeling among the prisoners was still strong for Bonaparte, however, was -presently shown when half a dozen prisoners in the South Prison hoisted -the white flag of French Royalty. Almost the whole of their fellow -captives clambered up the walls, tore down the flag, and threatened -those who hoisted it with violent treatment if they persisted. - -The guard removed the Royalists to the hospital for safety, and later -their opponents wrote a penitential letter to Captain Moriarty. In June -1814 the removal of the prisoners began. Those that went down the river -in boats were heartily cheered by the people. Others marched to -Newburgh, where, on the quay, they held a last market for the sale of -their manufactures, which was thronged by buyers anxious to get -mementoes and willing to pay well for them. ‘All transactions were -conducted honourably, while the additional graces of French politeness -made a deep impression upon the natives of Fife, both male and female,’ -adds the chronicler. It was during this march to Newburgh that the -prisoners sold the New Testaments distributed among them by a zealous -missionary. - -Altogether it was a pleasant wind-up to a long, sad period, especially -for the Frenchmen, many of whom got on board the transports at Newburgh -very much richer men than when they first entered the French dépôt, or -than they would have been had they never been taken prisoners. -Especially pleasant, too, is it to think that they left amidst tokens of -goodwill from the people amongst whom many of them had been long -captive. - -The Dépôt was finally closed July 31, 1814. - -During one year, that is between September 14, 1812, and September 24, -1813, there were fourteen escapes or attempted escapes of prisoners. Of -these seven were frustrated and seven were more or less successful, that -is to say, sixty-one prisoners managed to get out of the prison, but of -these thirty-two were recaptured while twenty-nine got clean away. - -From 1815 to 1833 the Dépôt was used as a military clothing store, and -eventually it became the General Prison for Scotland. - - - - - CHAPTER XII - THE PRISONS ASHORE - 4. PORTCHESTER - -Of the thousands of holiday-makers and picnickers for whom Portchester -Castle is a happy recreation ground, and of the hundreds of antiquaries -who visit it as being one of the most striking relics of combined Roman -and Norman military architecture in Britain, a large number, no doubt, -learn that it was long used as a place of confinement for foreign -prisoners of war, but are not much impressed with the fact, which is -hardly to be wondered at, not only because the subject of the foreign -prisoners of war in Britain has never received the attention it -deserves, but because the interest of the comparatively modern must -always suffer when in juxtaposition with the interest of the far-away -past. - -But this comparatively modern interest of Portchester is, as I hope to -show, very real. - -As a place of confinement Portchester could never, of course, compare -with such purposely planned prisons as Dartmoor, Stapleton, Perth, or -Norman Cross. Still, from its position, and its surrounding walls of -almost indestructible masonry, from fifteen to forty feet high and from -six to ten feet thick, it answered its purpose very well. True, its -situation so near the Channel would seem to favour attempts to escape, -but it must be remembered that escape from Portchester Castle by no -means implied escape from England, for, ere the fugitive could gain the -open sea, he had a terrible gauntlet to run of war-shipping and forts -and places of watch and ward, so that although the number of attempted -escapes from Portchester annually was greater than that of similar -attempts from other places of confinement, the successful ones were few. - -Portchester is probably the oldest regular war prison in Britain. In -1745 the _Gentleman’s Magazine_ records the escape of Spanish prisoners -from it, taken, no doubt, during the War of the Austrian Succession, but -it was during the Seven Years’ War that it became eminent. - -[Illustration: - - _An Inside View of PORTCHESTER CASTLE in HAMPSHIRE. Dedicated to the - Officers of the Militia._ - - _Engraved from a Drawing taken on the Spot by an Officer._ -] - -In 1756 Captain Fraboulet of the French East India Company’s frigate -_Astrée_, who appears to have been a medical representative of the -Government, reported on the provisions at Portchester as being very good -on the whole, except the small beer, which he described as being very -weak, and ‘apt to cause a flux of blood’, a very prevalent malady among -the prisoners. He complained, and the deficiency was remedied. Of the -hospital accommodation he spoke badly. There was no hospital in the -Castle itself, so that patients had either to be sent to Fareham, two -miles away, where the hospital was badly placed, being built of wood and -partly on the muddy shores of the river, or to Forton, which, he says, -is seven miles off. This distance, he says, could be reduced, if done by -water, but it was found impossible to find boatmen to take the invalids, -the result being that they were carted there, and often died on the way. -He also complained that in the hospital the dying and the convalescent -were in the same wards, and he begged the Government to establish a -hospital at Portchester. He says that he will distribute the King’s -Bounty no more to invalids, as they spend it improperly, bribing -sentries and attendants, and all who have free access and egress, to get -them unfit food, such as raw fruit, salt herrings, &c. He will only pay -healthy men. He has done his best to re-establish order in the Castle; -has asked the Commissioners of the ‘Sick and Hurt’ Office to put down -the public gaming-tables; to imprison those who gamble and sell their -kits and food, and to stop the sale of raw fruit, salt fish, and all -food which promotes flux of blood. - -In 1766 Valérie Coffre quarrelled with a fellow prisoner, Nicholas -Chartier, and killed him with a knife. He was found guilty and sentenced -to death. He was attended by a Roman Catholic priest, was very earnest -in his devotions, and was executed at Winchester, the whole of his -fellow prisoners being marched thither under a strong guard to witness -the scene. He was a handsome, well-built man of twenty-two. - -In 1784 the Castle was properly fitted up as a War Prison. The ancient -moat outside the walls, which during long years of neglect had become -choked up with rubbish, was filled with water, and the keep was divided -into five stories, connected with a wooden stairway at the side, and the -entire Castle was arranged for the accommodation of about 8,000 -prisoners. - -[Illustration: - - PLAN OF PORTCHESTER CASTLE, 1793. - - A. Kitchens, B. Hospital. C. Black Hole. D. Caserns. E. Great Tower. -] - -In 1794 the prisoners captured in Howe’s victory of the ‘Glorious First -of June’ were lodged in Portchester. One of the prizes taken, the -_Impétueux_, took fire, and at one time there was danger that the fire -would spread. The prisoners at Portchester were delighted, and danced -about singing the _Ça ira_ and the _Marseillaise_, but happily the ship -grounded on a mud-bank, and no further damage was done. - -In 1796 two prisoners quarrelled over politics, one stabbed the other to -death, and was hanged at Winchester. - -In 1797 the agent in charge complained that many Portsmouth people, -under pretence of attending Portchester Parish Church, which stood -within the Castle _enceinte_, came really to buy straw hats and other -forbidden articles manufactured by the prisoners. - -The inconvenience of the position of this church was further manifested -by a daring escape which was made about this time. One Sunday morning, -just as service had begun, the sentry on duty at the Water Gate saw -three naval officers in full uniform come towards him from the -churchyard. Thinking that they were British officers who had seen their -men into church and were going for a walk, he presented arms and allowed -them to pass. Soon after it was discovered that three smart French -privateer captains had escaped, and without doubt they had contrived to -get second-hand British naval uniforms smuggled in to them by -_soi-disant_ worshippers! - -A comical incident is recorded in connexion with Portchester churchyard. -A sentry was always on duty at an angle of the churchyard close to the -South or Water Gate, where there was and still is a remarkable echo. -Upon one wild, stormy night, this position was occupied by a soldier of -the Dorset Militia, which, with the Denbighshire Militia, performed -garrison duty at the Castle. Suddenly the man saw against the wall a -tall, white figure with huge horns. He mastered up courage enough to -challenge it, but the only reply was a distinct repetition of his words. -He fired his piece, but in his agitation evidently missed his aim, for -the figure bounded towards him, and he, persuaded that he had to do with -the Devil, ran, and gave the alarm. Captain M., the officer of the -guard, cursed the man for his fears and, drawing his sword, ran out to -meet the intruder. The figure charged him, bowled him over among the -gravestones, and made for the Landport Gate, the sentry at which had -just opened it at the sound of the disturbance in the churchyard, to see -what was going on. The figure disposed of him as he had done Captain M., -and made straight away for the door of the Denbighshires’ drum-major’s -quarters, where it proved to be the huge, white regimental goat, who, -when disturbed by the sentry, had been browsing upon his hind legs, on -the pellitory which grows on the Castle walls! - -From the Rev. J. D. Henderson’s little book on Portchester I take the -following: - - -‘One Francis Dufresne, who was confined here for more than five years, -escaped again and again, despite the vigilance of his guards. He seems -to have been as reckless and adventurous as any hero of romance, and the -neighbourhood was full of stories of his wanderings and the tricks he -resorted to to obtain food. Once, after recapture, he was confined in -the Black Hole, a building still to be seen at the foot of the Great -Tower, called the “Exchequer” on plans of the Castle. Outside walked a -sentry day and night, but Dufresne was not to be held. He converted his -hammock into what sailors call a “thumb line”, and at the dead of night -removed a flat stone from under his prison door, crawled out, passed -with silent tread within a few inches of the sentry, gained a winding -stair which led to the summit of the Castle wall, from which he -descended by the cord, and, quickly gaining the open country, started -for London, guiding himself by the stars. Arrived in London, he made his -way to the house of M. Otto, the French Agent for arranging the exchange -of prisoners. Having explained, to the amazement of Otto, that he had -escaped from Portchester, he said: - -‘“Give me some sort of a suit of clothes, and a few sous to defray my -expenses to the Castle, and I’ll return and astonish the natives.” - -‘Otto, amused at the man’s cleverness and impudence, complied, and -Dufresne in a few days alighted from the London coach at Fareham, walked -over to Portchester, but was refused admission by the guard, until, to -the amazement of the latter, he produced the passport by which he had -travelled. He was soon after this exchanged. - -‘Sheer devilment and the enjoyment of baffling his custodians seems to -have been Dufresne’s sole object in escaping. For a trifling wager he -would scale the walls, remain absent for a few days, living on and among -the country folk, and return as he went, so that he became almost a -popular character even with the garrison.’ - - -Much romance which has been unrecorded no doubt is interwoven with the -lives of the foreign prisoners of war in Britain. Two cases associated -with Portchester deserve mention. - -The church register of 1812 records the marriage of Patrick Bisson to -Josephine Desperoux. The latter was one of a company of French ladies -who, on their voyage to Mauritius, were captured by a British cruiser, -and sent to Portchester. Being non-combatants, they were of course not -subjected to durance vile in the Castle, but were distributed among the -houses of the village, and, being young and comely, were largely -entertained and fêted by the gentry of the neighbourhood, the result -being that one, at least, the subject of our notice, captivated an -English squire, and married him. - -The second case is that of a French girl, who, distracted because her -sailor lover had been captured, enlisted as a sailor on a privateer on -the bare chance of being captured and meeting him. As good luck would -have it, she was captured, and sent to the very prison where was her -sweetheart, Portchester Castle. For some months she lived there without -revealing her sex, until she was taken ill, sent to the hospital, where, -of course, her secret was soon discovered. She was persuaded to return -to France on the distinct promise that her lover should be speedily -exchanged. - -An attempt to escape which had fatal results was made in 1797. -Information was given to the authorities that a long tunnel had been -made from one of the prison blocks to the outside. So it was arranged -that, at a certain hour after lock-up time, the guards should rush in -and catch the plotters at work. They did so, and found the men in the -tunnel. Shortly afterwards the alarm was given in another quarter, and -prisoners were caught in the act of escaping through a large hole they -had made in the Castle wall. All that night the prisoners were very -riotous, keeping candles lighted, singing Republican songs, dancing and -cheering, so that ‘it was found necessary’ to fire ball cartridges among -them, by which many men were wounded. But the effect of this was only -temporary. Next morning the tumult and disorder recommenced. The -sentries were abused and insulted, and one prisoner, trying to get out -at a ventilator in the roof of one of the barracks, was shot in the -back, but not mortally. Another was shot through the heart, and the -coroner’s verdict at the inquest held upon him was ‘Justifiable -Homicide’. - -On another occasion treachery revealed a plot of eighteen Spaniards, -who, armed with daggers which they had made out of horseshoe files, -assembled in a vault under one of the towers with the idea of sallying -forth, cutting down the sentries, and making off; but the guards crawled -in and disarmed them after a short struggle. - -In 1798 a brewer’s man, John Cassel, was sentenced to six months’ -imprisonment for helping two French captains to escape by carrying them -away in empty beer casks. - -In _The Times_ of July 2, 1799, I find the following: - - -‘Three French prisoners made their escape from Portchester to -Southampton. A party of pleasure seekers had engaged Wassell’s vessel to -go to the Isle of Wight. At an early hour on Saturday morning on -repairing to the Quay, the man could not discover his pleasure boat. -Everyone was concerned for his loss, and many hours elapsed before any -tidings could be heard of her, when some fishing-boats gave information -that they had met her near Calshot Castle about 3 a.m., but had no -suspicion she had been run away with. In the evening news came that in -steering so as to keep as far from Spithead as possible, the Frenchmen -were near running ashore at Ryde. This convinced the pilots that Wassell -was not on board the vessel, when they went to its assistance, secured -the three men and saved the vessel.’ - -‘The bodies of six drowned Frenchmen were found in Portsmouth Harbour; -their clothes were in bundles on their backs, and their swimming, no -doubt, was impeded thereby.’ - -‘1800, August: A naked French prisoner was found in a field near -Portchester. He said he had lived on corn for three days, and that the -body of his friend was lying on the beach close by.’ - - -The quiet pathos of the above two bald newspaper announcements must -appeal to everybody who for a moment pictures in his mind what the six -poor, drowned fellows, and the two friends—one taken, the other -left—must have gone through in their desperate bids for liberty. These -are the little by-scenes which make up the great tragedy of the War -Prisoners in England. - -In December of this year there was great sickness and mortality at -Portchester. - -In the same year a plot to murder sentries and escape was discovered the -day before the date of the arranged deed. Forty men were concerned in -the plot, and upon them were found long knives, sharpened on both sides, -made out of iron hoops. - -In 1807 a Portchester prisoner named Cabosas was fined one shilling at -Winchester for killing a fellow prisoner in a duel, and in the same year -one Herquiand was hanged at Winchester for murder in the Castle. - -[Illustration: - - CLOCK MADE IN PORTCHESTER CASTLE, 1809 - - by French prisoners of war, from bones saved from their rations -] - -In 1810 it was reported that Portchester Castle was too crowded, and -that only 5,900 prisoners could be kept in health there instead of the -usual 7,000. - -I will now give some accounts of life at Portchester, and I begin with -one by an English officer, ‘The Light Dragoon,’ as a relief from the -somewhat monotonous laments which characterize the average foreign -chronicler, although it will be noted that our writer does not allow his -patriotism to bias his judgement. - -Placed on guard over the prisoners, he says: - - -‘Whatever grounds of boasting may belong to us as a nation, I am afraid -that our methods of dealing with the prisoners taken from the French -during the war scarcely deserves to be classed among them. Absolute -cruelties were never, I believe, perpetrated on these unfortunate -beings; neither, as far as I know, were they, on any pretence whatever, -stinted in the allowance of food awarded to them. But in other respects -they fared hardly enough. Their sleeping apartments, for instance, were -very much crowded. Few paroles were extended to them (it is past dispute -that when the parole was obtained they were, without distinction of -rank, apt to make a bad use of it), while their pay was calculated on a -scale as near to the line of starvation as could in any measure -correspond with our nation’s renown for humanity. On the other hand, -every possible encouragement was given to the exercise of ingenuity -among the prisoners themselves by the throwing open of the Castle yard -once or twice a week, when their wares were exhibited for sale, amid -numerous groups of jugglers, tumblers, and musicians, all of whom -followed their respective callings, if not invariably with skill, always -with most praiseworthy perseverance. Moreover, the ingenuity of the -captives taught them how on these occasions to set up stalls on which -all manner of trinkets were set forth, as well as puppet shows and -Punch’s opera.... Then followed numerous purchases, particularly on the -part of the country people, of bone and ivory knick-knacks, fabricated -invariably with a common penknife, yet always neat, and not infrequently -elegant. Nor must I forget to mention the daily market which the -peasantry, particularly the women, were in the habit of attending, and -which usually gave scope for the exchange of Jean Crapaud’s manufacture -for Nancy’s eggs, or Joan’s milk, or home-baked loaf.... - -‘It happened one night that a sentry whose post lay outside the walls of -the old Castle, was startled by the sound as of a hammer driven against -the earth under his feet. The man stopped, listened, and was more and -more convinced that neither his fears nor his imagination had misled -him. So he reported the circumstance to the sergeant who next visited -his post, and left him to take in the matter such steps as might be -expedient. The sergeant, having first ascertained, as in duty bound, -that the man spoke truly, made his report to the captain on duty, who -immediately doubled the sentry at the indicated spot, and gave strict -orders that should as much as one French prisoner be seen making his way -beyond the Castle walls, he should be shot without mercy. - -‘Then was the whole of the guard got under arms: then were beacons fired -in various quarters; while far and near, from Portsmouth not less than -from the cantonments more close at hand, bodies of troops marched upon -Portchester. Among others came the general of the district, bringing -with him a detachment of sappers and miners, by whom all the floors of -the several bedrooms were tried, and who soon brought the matter home to -those engaged in it. Indeed one man was taken in the gallery he was -seeking to enlarge, his only instrument being a spike nail wherewith to -labour. The plot thus discovered was very extensive and must, if carried -through, have proved a desperate one to both parties. For weeks previous -to the discovery, the prisoners, it appeared, had been at work, and from -not fewer than seven rooms, all of them on the ground floor, they had -sunk shafts 12 feet in depth, and caused them all to meet at one common -centre, whence as many chambers went off. These were driven beyond the -extremity of the outer wall, and one, that of which the sentry was thus -unexpectedly made aware, the ingenious miners had carried forward with -such skill, that in two days more it would have been in a condition to -be opened. - -‘The rubbish, it appeared, which from these several covered ways they -scooped out, was carried about by the prisoners in their pockets till -they found an opportunity of scattering it over the surface of the great -square. Yet the desperate men had a great deal more to encounter than -the mere obstacles which the excavation of the castle at Portchester -presented. - -‘Their first proceeding after emerging into the upper air must needs -have been to surprise and overpower the troops that occupied the -barracks immediately contiguous, an operation of doubtful issue at the -best, and not to be accomplished without a terrible loss of life, -certainly on one side, probably on both. Moreover, when this was done, -there remained for the fugitives the still more arduous task of making -their way through the heart of the garrison town of Portsmouth, and -seizing a flotilla of boats, should such be high and dry upon the beach. -Yet worse even than this remained, for both the harbour and the roads -wore crowded with men-of-war the gauntlet of whose batteries the -deserters must of necessity have run....’ - - -One wishes that the British officer could have given us some account of -the inner life at Portchester, from his point of view, but the foreign -narratives which follow seem to have been written in a fair and broad -spirit which would certainly have not been manifest had the _genius -loci_ of the hulks been influencing the minds of the writers. - -The two following accounts, by St. Aubin and Philippe Gille, were -written by men who were probably in Portchester at the same time, as -both had come to England from Cabrera—that terrible prison island south -of Majorca, to which the Spaniards sent the captives of Baylen in July -1808—unfortunates whose prolonged living death there must ever remain an -indelible stain upon our conduct during the Peninsular War. - -St. Aubin describes the Castle as divided into two by a broad road -running between palisades, on the one side of which were a large and a -small tower and nine two-storied wooden buildings, and on the other a -church, kitchens, storehouses, offices, and hospital. It is evident that -what he calls the large tower is the castle keep, for this held from -1,200 to 1,500 prisoners, while each of the nine barracks accommodated -500. - -St. Aubin gives us the most detailed account of the Portchester -prisoners and their life. At 6 a.m. in summer, and 7 in winter, the bell -announced the arrival of the soldiers and turnkeys, who opened the doors -and counted the prisoners. At 9 o’clock the market bell rang and the -distributions of bread were made. The prisoners were divided into -_plats_ or messes of twelve, each _plat_ was again subdivided, and each -had two _gamelles_ or soup-pots. At midday the bell announced the -closing of the market to English sellers, who were replaced by French, -and also the distribution of soup and meat. At sunset the bell went -again, jailers and soldiers went through the evening count, all were -obliged to be within doors, and lights were put out. - -Occasionally in the _grand pré_, as the enclosure within the walls was -called, there was a general airing of prisons and hammocks, and the -prisoners were obliged to stay out of doors till midday; during this -performance the masons went round to sound walls and floors, to see that -no attempts to escape were being engineered. Each story of the tower and -the prisons had two prison superintendents at eight shillings per month, -who were responsible for their cleanliness, and a barber. The doctor -went through the rooms every day. - -The prisoners prepared their own food, the wages of the master cooks -being sevenpence per diem. St. Aubin complains bitterly of the quality -of the provisions, especially of the bread, and says that it was quite -insufficient on account of the avarice of the contractors, but at any -rate, he says, it was regularly distributed. - -In spite of all this, Portchester was preferred by the prisoners to -other dépôts, because it was easy to get money and letters from France; -and it may be noted that while we get little or no mention of recreation -and amusement at Norman Cross, or Stapleton, or Perth, unless gambling -comes within the category, we shall see that at Portchester the -prisoners seem to have done their very best to make the long days pass -as pleasantly as possible. - -Portchester was a veritable hive of industry. There were manufacturers -of straw hats, stockings, gloves, purses, and braces. There were cunning -artificers in bone who made tobacco boxes, dominoes, chessmen, models of -all kinds, especially of men-of-war, one of which latter, only one foot -in length, is said to have been sold for £26, as well as of the most -artistic ornaments and knick-knacks. There were tailors, goldsmiths (so -says St. Aubin), shoemakers, caterers, limonadiers, and comedians of the -Punch and Judy and marionette class. There were professors of -mathematics, of drawing, of French, of English, of Latin, of fencing, of -writing, of dancing, of the _bâton_, and of _la boxe_. St. Aubin quotes -as a strange fact that most of the prisoners who, on going to -Portchester, knew neither reading nor writing, ‘en sont sortis la tête -et la bourse passablement meublées.’ - -But the unique feature of Portchester industry was its thread lace -manufacture. - -[Illustration: - - BONE MODEL OF H.M.S. _VICTORY_ - - Made by prisoners of war at Portsmouth -] - -The brilliant idea of starting this belonged to a French soldier -prisoner who had been born and bred in a lace-making country, and had -been accustomed to see all the women working at it. He recalled the -process by memory, took pupils, and in less than a year there were 3,000 -prisoners in Portchester making lace, and among these were ‘capitalists’ -who employed each as many as from fifty to sixty workmen. So beautiful -was this lace, and so largely was it bought by the surrounding families, -that the English lace-makers protested, its manufacture within the -prison was forbidden, and it is said that the work of suppression was -carried out in the most brutal manner, the machines being broken and all -lace in stock or in process of manufacture destroyed. - -Gambling, says St. Aubin, was the all-pervading vice of Portchester, as -in the other prisons. For ‘capitalists’ there was actually a roulette -table, but the rank and file gambled upon the length of straws, with -cards or dominoes, for their rations, their clothes, or their bedding. -The authorities attempted occasionally to check the mania among the most -enslaved by placing them apart from their fellows, reclothing them, and -making them eat their rations, but in vain, for they pierced the walls -of their places of confinement, and sold their clothes through the -apertures. Duels, as a consequence, were frequent, the usual time for -these being the dinner hour, because all the prisoners were then -temporarily in the _salles_. - -St. Aubin thus describes his fellow prisoners. Sailors, he says, were -brusque but obliging; soldiers were more honest, softer and less prompt -to help; maîtres d’armes were proud and despotic. The scum of the -community were the Raffalés, who lived in the top story of the tower. -Among the two hundred of these there were only two or three suits of -clothes, which were worn in turn by those who had to go out foraging for -food. These men terrorized the rest, and their captain was even held in -some sort of fear, if not respect, by the authorities. - -The prison amusements were various. The prisoners who had no occupations -played draughts, cards, dominoes, and billiards. On Sundays the beer-man -came, and much drunkenness prevailed, especially upon fête days, such as -St. Martin’s, Christmas, and August 15, the Emperor’s birthday: the -principal drinks being compounds of beer and spirits known as ‘strom’ -and ‘shum’. On St. Cecilia’s Day the musicians always gave an -entertainment, but the chief form of amusement was the theatre. - -This was arranged in the basement of the large tower—that is, the keep, -where three hundred people could be accommodated. Part of the boxes were -set apart for English visitors, who appreciated the French performances -so much that they even said that they were better than what they were -accustomed to in Portsmouth, and flocked to them, much to the disgust of -the native managers, who represented to the authorities that those -untaxed aliens were taking the bread out of their mouths. The Government -considered the matter, and upon the plea that the admission of the -English public to the French theatre was leading to too great intimacy -between the peoples, and thus would further the escapes of prisoners, -took advantage of the actual escape of a prisoner in English dress to -ordain that although the theatre might continue as heretofore, no -English were to be admitted. The result of this was that the receipts -dropped from £12 to £5 a night. - -St. Aubin remarks, _en passant_, that Commander William Patterson and -Major Gentz, who were chiefly responsible for the retention of the -theatre, were the only Englishmen he ever met who were worthy of -respect! - -Of the pieces played, St. Aubin mentions _L’Heureuse Étourderie_ by -himself; the tragedies _Zaïre_, _Mahomet_, _Les Templiers_; the comedies -_Les Deux Gendres_, _Les Folies amoureuses_, _Le Barbier de Séville_, -_Le Tyran domestique_, _Défiance et Malice_; many dramas, and even -vaudevilles and operas such as _Les Deux Journées_, _Pierre le Grand_, -_Françoise de Foix_, of which the music was composed by prisoners and -played by an orchestra of twelve. - -A terrible murder is said to have been the outcome of theatricals in the -prison. In describing it St. Aubin starts with the opinion that ‘Les -maîtres d’armes sont toujours fort vilains messieurs’. There was a -quarrel between a gunner and a _maître des logis_; some said it was -about a theatrical part, but others that the gunner, Tardif, had -committed a crime in past days, had described it in writing, that the -paper had fallen from his hammock into that of Leguay, the _maître des -logis_, and that Tardif determined to get the possessor of his secret -out of the way. So he attacked Leguay, who ran bleeding to his hammock, -followed by Tardif, who then dispatched him, and displayed a strange, -fierce joy at the deed when overpowered and tied to a pillar. He was -tried, and condemned to be hanged at Portchester in the sight of all the -prisoners. ‘The scaffold was erected on the Portsmouth road’, says St. -Aubin, not within the Castle precincts, as another account states. He -had previously sold his body for ten francs to a surgeon for dissection. - -At the request of the prisoners the body of Leguay was buried in -Portchester churchyard. All joined to raise funds for the funeral, and -the proceeds of a performance of _Robert, chef de brigands_, was devoted -to the relief of the widow and children of the murdered man. - -At the funeral of Leguay, sous-officiers of his regiment, the 10th -Dragoons, carried the coffin, which was preceded by a British military -band, and followed by the sous-officiers in uniform, British officers, -and inhabitants of the neighbourhood. - -Tardif was conveyed from Winchester to the _King’s Arms_ Inn at -Portchester, where Mr. White, the Roman Catholic priest, tried to get -him to take the last Sacrament, but in vain: Tardif only wanted the -execution to be got over as soon as possible. He was taken in a cart to -the prison yard, where were assembled 7,000 prisoners. Again the priest -urged him to repent, but it was useless. The cap was drawn over his -face, but he tore it away, and died as he had lived. The behaviour of -the spectator prisoners was exemplary. - -At the Peace and Restoration of 1814, although the Portchester prisoners -were Bonapartists almost to a man, quite a boyish joy was exhibited at -the approaching liberation: great breakfasts were given in the village, -and by the end of May the Castle was empty. - -The notes on Portchester of Philippe Gille, author of _Mémoires d’un -Conscrit de 1798_, are as interesting as those of St. Aubin, -particularly as regards the amusements of the prisoners, and I make no -apology for adding to them his immediately previous experiences, as they -are not distasteful reading. - -Gille was taken prisoner in Baylen, and at first was put on board No. 27 -Hulk, at Cadiz, in which ship, he says, were crowded no less than 1,824 -prisoners! Thence he was sent to Cabrera and relates his frightful -experiences on that prison island. - -After a time the prisoners were taken on board British ships, and -learned that their destination was an English prison—perhaps the dreaded -hulks! - -Gille was on board the _Britannia_. Let me tell the effect of the change -in his own words, they are so gratifying: - - -‘Aux traitements cruels des féroces Espagnols succédaient tout à coup -les soins compatissants des soldats et matelots anglais; ces braves gens -nous témoignaient toutes sortes d’égards. Ils transportèrent à bras -plusieurs de nos camarades malades ou amputés. Les effets qui nous -appartenaient furent aussi montés par leurs soins, sans qu’ils nous -laissaient prendre la peine de rien.’ - - -On board there were cleanliness and space, good food for officers and -men alike, and plenty of it, the allowance being the same for six -prisoners as for four British. Rum was regularly served out, and Gille -lays stress on a pudding the prisoners made, into the composition of -which it entered. - -They duly reached Plymouth; the beautiful scenery impressed Gille, but -he was most astonished when the market-boats came alongside to see -fish-women clothed in black velvet, with feathers and flowers in their -hats! - -Thence to Portsmouth, where they got a first sight of the hulks, which -made Gille shudder, but he was relieved to learn that he and his fellows -were destined for a shore prison. - -On September 28, 1810, they arrived at Portchester. Here they were -minutely registered, and clothed in a sleeved vest, waistcoat, and -trousers of yellow cloth, and a blue and white striped cotton shirt, and -provided with a hammock, a flock mattress of two pounds weight, a -coverlet, and tarred cords for hammock lashings. - -Gille gives much interesting detail about the theatre. The Agent, -William Patterson, found it good policy to further any scheme by which -the prisoners could be kept wholesomely occupied, and so provided all -the wood necessary for the building of the theatre, which was in charge -of an ex-chief-machinist of the Théâtre Feydau in Paris, Carré by name. -He made a row of boxes and a hall capable of holding 300 people, and -thoroughly transformed the base story of the keep, which was unoccupied -because prisoners confined there in past times had died in great -numbers, and the authorities deemed it unwholesome as a sleeping-place. - -Carré’s Arabian _Féerie_ was a tremendous success, but it led to the -Governmental interference with the theatre already mentioned. An English -major who took a lively interest in the theatre (probably the Major -Gentz alluded to by St. Aubin) had his whole regiment in to see it at -one shilling a head, and published in the Portsmouth papers a glowing -panegyric upon it, and further invited the directors of the Portsmouth -Theatre to ‘come to see how a theatre should be run’. They came, were -very pleased and polite, but very soon after came an order from the -authorities that the theatre should be shut. However, by the influence -of the Agent, it was permitted to continue, on the condition that no -English people were to be admitted. - -Carré painted a drop-scene which was a masterpiece. It was a view of -Paris from a house at the corner of the Place Dauphine on the Pont-Neuf, -showing the Café Paris on the point of the island, the Bridges of the -Arts, the Royal and the Concorde, and the Bains des Bons-Hommes in the -distance, the Colonnade of the Louvre, the Tuileries with the national -flag flying, the Hôtel de Monnaies, the Quatre Nations, and the -‘théatins’ of the Quai Voltaire. It may be imagined how this home-touch -aroused the enthusiasm of the poor exiles! - -New plays were received from Paris, amongst them _Le Petit Poucet_, _Le -Diable ou la Bohémienne_, _Les Deux Journées_ and _Adolphe et Clara_. -The musical pieces were accompanied by an orchestra (of prisoners, of -course) under Corret of the Conservatoire, who composed fresh music for -such representations as _Françoise de Foix_ and _Pierre le Grand_, as -their original music was too expensive, and who played the cornet solos, -Gourdet being first violin. - -Gille’s own _métier_ was to make artificial flowers, and to give lessons -in painting, for which he took pupils at one franc fifty centimes a -month—the regulation price for all lessons. He also learned the violin, -and had an instrument made by a fellow prisoner. - -At Portchester, as elsewhere, a Masonic Lodge was formed among the -prisoners. - -In 1812 was brought to light the great plot for the 70,000 prisoners in -England to rise simultaneously, to disarm their guards, who were only -militia men, and to carry on a guerilla warfare, avoiding all towns. At -Portchester the 7,000 prisoners were to overpower the garrison, which -had two cannon and 800 muskets, and march to Forton, where were 3,000 -prisoners. The success of the movement was to depend upon the -co-operation of the Boulogne troops and ships, in keeping the British -fleet occupied, but the breaking up of the Boulogne Camp, in order to -reinforce the Grand Army for the expedition to Russia, caused the -abandonment of the enterprise. - -The news of the advance of the Allies in France only served to bind the -Imperialists together: the tricolour cockade was universally worn, and -an English captain who entered the Castle wearing a white cockade was -greeted with hisses, groans, and even stone-throwing, and was only saved -from further mischief by the Agent—a man much respected by the -prisoners—who got him away and gave him a severe lecture on his -foolishness. On Easter Day, 1814, the news of Peace, of the accession of -Louis XVIII, and of freedom for the prisoners came. The Agent asked the -prisoners to hoist the white flag as a greeting to the French officer -who was coming to announce formally the great news, and to arrange for -the departure of the prisoners. A unanimous refusal was the result, and -a British soldier had to hoist the flag. Contre-amiral Troude came. -There was a strong feeling against him, inasmuch as it was reported that -in order to gain his present position he had probably given up his fleet -to England, and a resolution was drawn up not to acclaim him. All the -same, Gille says, the speech he made so impressed the prisoners that he -was loudly cheered, and went away overcome with emotion. - -The next day his mission took him to the prison ships. Here he did not -succeed so well, for as he approached one of the hulks he had a large -basket of filth thrown over him, and he had to leave without boarding -her. By way of punishment, the prisoners on this ship were made the last -to leave England. - -On May 15, 1814, the evacuation of Portchester began. Gille left on the -20th, carrying away the best of feelings towards the Agent and the -Commandant, the former showing his sympathy with the prisoners to the -very last, by taking steps so that the St. Malo men, of whom there were -a great many, should be sent direct to their port instead of being -landed at Calais. - -Gille describes a very happy homeward voyage, thanks largely to the -English doctor on the ship, who, finding that Gille was a Mason, had him -treated with distinction, and even offered to help him with a loan of -money. - -Pillet, the irrepressible, tells a yarn that ‘Milor Cordower (Lord -Cawdor), Colonel du régiment de Carmarthen’, visiting the Castle one -day, was forgetful enough to leave his horse unattended, tied up in the -courtyard; when he returned there was no horse to be found, and it -turned out that the prisoners, mad with hunger, had taken the horse, -killed it, and eaten it raw. Pillet adds that all dogs who strayed -Portchester way suffered the same fate, and that in support of his -statement he can bring many naval officers of Lorient and Brest. - -Pillet’s story, I think, is rather better than Garneray’s about the -great Dane on the prison ship (see pp. 68–71). - -The last French prisoners left Portchester at the end of May 1814, but -American prisoners were here until January 1816. After the Peace all the -wooden buildings were taken down and sold by auction (a row of cottages -in Fareham, built out of the material, still enjoys the name of ‘Bug -Row’). Relics of this period of the Castle’s history are very scanty. -The old Guard House at the Land Gate, now the Castle Custodian’s -dwelling, remains much as it was, and a line of white stones on the -opposite side of the approach marks the boundary of the old prison -hospital, which is also commemorated in the name Hospital Lane. - -The great tower still retains the five stories which were arranged for -the prisoners, and on the transverse beams are still the hooks to which -the hammocks were suspended. Some crude coloured decoration on the beams -of the lowest story may have been the work of the French theatrical -artists, but I doubt it. - -Names of French and other prisoners are cut on many of the walls and -wooden beams, notably at the very top of the great tower, which is -reached by a dark, steep newel stair of Norman work, now almost closed -to the public on account of the dangerous condition of many of the -steps. This was the stair used by Dufresne, and the number of names cut -in the topmost wall would seem to show that the lofty coign, whence -might be seen a widespread panorama, stretching on three sides far away -to the Channel, and to these poor fellows possible liberty, was a -favourite resort. I noted some twenty decipherable names, the earliest -date being 1745 and the latest 1803. - -Only one death appears in the Church Register—that of ‘Peter Goston, a -French prisoner’, under date of December 18, 1812. - -There seems to have been no separate burial ground for the rank and file -of the prisoners, but it is said that they were shovelled away into the -tide-swept mud-flats outside the South Gate, and that, for economy, a -single coffin with a sliding bottom did duty for many corpses. But human -remains in groups have been unearthed all around the Castle, and, as it -is known that at certain periods the mortality among the prisoners was -very high, it is believed that these are to be dated from the -prisoner-of-war epoch of the Castle’s history. - -No descendants of the prisoners are to be traced in or about -Portchester; but Mrs. Durrand, who is a familiar figure to all visitors -to the Castle, believes that her late husband’s grandfather was a French -prisoner of war here. - -It may be noted that Arthur Wellesley, afterwards Duke of Wellington, -was at one time an officer of the garrison at Portchester. - - - NOTE ON THE PORTCHESTER THEATRICALS - -A correspondent of the French paper _L’Intermédiaire_, the equivalent of -our _Notes and Queries_, gives some details. The Portchester Theatricals -originated with the prisoners who came from Cabrera and the Isle de -Léon. On these awful islands the prisoners played entirely as amateurs, -but at Portchester the majority of the actors were salaried; indeed, -only three were not. - -I give a list of the actors in or about the year 1810: - - 1. _Sociétaires_ (salaried subscribers). - - Hanin, an employé in the English prison office, with the purely - honorary title of Director. - Breton, Sergeant, 2nd Garde de Paris Comique. - Reverdy, Sergeant, 2nd Garde de Paris père noble. - Lafontaine, Sergeant, 2nd Garde de Paris jeune premier. - Gruentgentz, Sergeant, 2nd Garde de Paris mère et duègne. - Moreau, Captain 2nd Garde de Paris les Colins. - Blin de Balue, Sergeant, Marine Artillery les tyrans. - Sutat (?), Maréchal des logis jeune première. - Wanthies, Captain, 4th Legion soubrette et jeune première. - Defacq, fourrier, chasseurs à cheval jeune premier en séconde. - Siutor or Pintor, marin jouant les accessoires. - Palluel, fourrier, 2nd Garde de Paris bas comique. - Carré, soldat, 2nd Garde de Paris machiniste. - Montlefort, Marine artificier. - - 2. _Amateurs._ - - Gille, fourrier, 1st Legion jeunes premiers. - Quantin, fourrier, 1st Legion les ingénues. - Iwan, chasseurs à cheval les confidents. - -The orchestra consisted of four violins, two horns, three clarinets, and -one ‘octave’. - -In the above list both Gille and Quantin wrote memoirs of their stay at -Portchester. The former I have quoted. - -A French writer thus sarcastically speaks of the dramatic efforts of -these poor fellows: - -‘Those who never have seen the performances of wandering _troupes_ in -some obscure village of Normandy or Brittany can hardly form an idea of -these prison representations wherein rough sailors with a few rags -wrapped about them mouth the intrigues and sentiments of our great poets -in the style of the cabaret.’ - -No doubt the performances on the hulks were poor enough. The wonder to -us who know what life was on the hulks is, not that they were poor, but -that there was any heart to give them at all. But there is plenty of -evidence that the performances in such a prison as Portchester, wherein -were assembled many men of education and refinement, were more than -good. At any rate, we have seen that they were good enough to attract -English audiences to such an extent as to interfere with the success of -the local native theatres, and to bring about the exclusion from them of -these English audiences. - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - THE PRISONS ASHORE - 5. LIVERPOOL - -Liverpool became a considerable dépôt for prisoners of war, from the -force of circumstances rather than from any suitability of its own. From -its proximity to Ireland, the shelter and starting and refitting point -of so many French, and, later, American privateers, Liverpool shared -with Bristol, and perhaps with London, the position of being the busiest -privateering centre in Britain. - -Hence, from very early days in its history, prisoners were continually -pouring in and out; in, as the Liverpool privateers, well equipped and -armed by wealthy individuals or syndicates, skilfully commanded and -splendidly fought, swept the narrow seas and beyond, and brought in -their prizes; out, as both sides were ready enough to exchange men in a -contest of which booty was the main object, and because the guarding of -hundreds of desperate seafaring men was a matter of great difficulty and -expense in an open port with no other than the usual accommodation for -malefactors. - -Before 1756 the prisoners of war brought into Liverpool were stowed away -in the common Borough Gaol and in an old powder magazine which stood on -the north side of Brownlow Street, where Russell Street now is. -Prisoners taken in the Seven Years’ War and the American War of -Independence were lodged in the Tower Prison at the lower end of Water -Street, on the north side, where now Tower Buildings stand, between -Tower Garden and Stringers Alley, which remained the chief jail of -Liverpool until July 1811. It was a castellated building of red -sandstone, consisting of a large square embattled tower, with -subordinate towers and buildings, forming three sides of a quadrangle of -which the fourth side was occupied by a walled garden, the whole -covering an area of about 3,700 square yards. - -[Illustration: - - THE OLD TOWER PRISON, LIVERPOOL. - - (_From an old print._) -] - -In 1756 the Admiralty had bought the dancing-room and the buildings -adjoining at the bottom of Water Street, and ‘fitted them up for the -French prisoners in a most commodious manner, there being a handsome -kitchen with furnaces, &c., for cooking their provisions, and good -lodging rooms both above and below stairs. Their lordships have ordered -a hammock and bedding (same as used on board our men of war), for each -prisoner, which it is to be hoped will be a means of procuring our -countrymen who have fallen into their hands better usage than hitherto, -many of them having been treated with great inhumanity.’ - -One of the most famous of the early French ‘corsaires’, Thurot—who -during the Seven Years’ War made Ireland his base, and, acting with the -most admirable skill and audacity, caused almost as much loss and -consternation on this coast as did Paul Jones later—was at last brought -a prisoner into Liverpool on February 28, 1760. - -The romance of Felix Durand, a Seven Years’ War prisoner at the Tower, -is almost as interesting as that of Louis Vanhille, to which I devote a -separate chapter. - -The wife of one P., an ivory carver and turner in Dale Street, and part -owner of the _Mary Ellen_ privateer, had a curiously made foreign box -which had been broken, and which no local workman could mend. The French -prisoners were famous as clever and ingenious artisans, and to one of -them, Felix Durand, it was handed. He accepted the job, and wanted ample -time to do it in. Just as it should have been finished, fifteen -prisoners, Durand among them, escaped from the Tower, but, having -neither food nor money, and, being ignorant of English and of the -localities round Liverpool, all, after wandering about for some time -half-starved, either returned or were captured. - -Says Durand, describing his own part in the affair: - - -‘I am a Frenchman, fond of liberty and change, and I determined to make -my escape. I was acquainted with Mr. P. in Dale Street; I did work for -him in the Tower, and he has a niece who is _tout à fait charmante_. She -has been a constant ambassadress between us, and has taken charge of my -money to deposit with her uncle on my account. She is very engaging, and -when I have had conversation with her, I obtained from her the -information that on the east side of our prison there were two houses -which opened into a short narrow street [perhaps about Johnson Lane or -Oriel Chambers]. Mademoiselle is very kind and complacent, and examined -the houses and found an easy entrance into one.’ - - -So, choosing a stormy night, the prisoners commenced by loosening the -stone work in the east wall, and packing the mortar under their beds. -They were safe during the day, but once when a keeper did come round, -they put one of their party in bed, curtained the window grating with a -blanket, and said that their compatriot was ill and could not bear the -light. So the officer passed on. At last the hole was big enough, and -one of them crept through. He reported an open yard, that it was raining -heavily, and that the night was _affreuse_. They crept out one by one -and got into the yard, whence they entered a cellar by the window, -traversed a passage or two, and entered the kitchen, where they made a -good supper, of bread and beef. While cutting this, one of them let fall -a knife, but nobody heard it, and, says Durand, ‘Truly you Englishmen -sleep well!’ - -Finally, as a neighbouring clock struck two, they managed to get past -the outer wall, and one man, sent to reconnoitre, reported: ‘not a soul -to be seen anywhere, the wind rushing up the main street from the sea.’ - -They then separated. Durand went straight ahead, ‘passed the Exchange, -down a narrow lane [Dale Street] facing it, in which I knew Mademoiselle -dwelt, but did not know the house; therefore I pushed on till I came to -the foot of a hill. I thought I would turn to the left at first, but -went on to take my chance of four cross roads—’ (Old Haymarket, Townsend -Lane, now Byron Street, Dale Street, and Shaw’s Brow, now William Brown -Street). - -He went on until he came to the outskirts of Liverpool by Townsend Mill -(at the top of London Road), and so on the road to Prescot, ankle-deep -in mud. He ascended Edge Hill, keeping always the right-hand road, lined -on both sides with high trees, and at length arrived at a little village -(Wavertree) as a clock struck three. Then he ate some bread and drank -from a pond. Then onwards, always bearing to the right, on to ‘the -quaint little village of Hale,’ his final objective being Dublin, where -he had a friend, a French priest. - -At Hale an old woman came out of a cottage and began to take down the -shutters. Durand, who, not knowing English, had resolved to play the -part of a deaf and dumb man, quietly took the shutters from her, and -placed them in their proper position. Then he took a broom and swept -away the water from the front of the door; got the kettle and filled it -from the pump, the old woman being too astonished to be able to say -anything, a feeling which was increased when her silent visitor raked -the cinders out of the grate, and laid the fire. Then she said something -in broad Lancashire, but he signified that he was deaf and dumb, and he -understood her so far as to know that she expressed pity. At this point -he sank on to a settle and fell fast asleep from sheer exhaustion from -walking and exposure. When he awakened he found breakfast awaiting him, -and made a good meal. Then he did a foolish thing. At the sound of -horses’ hoofs he sprang up in alarm and fled from the house—an act -doubly ill-advised, inasmuch as it betrayed his affliction to be -assumed, and, had his entertainer been a man instead of an old woman, -would assuredly have stirred the hue and cry after him. - -He now took a wrong turning, and found himself going towards Liverpool, -but corrected his road, and at midday reached a barn where two men were -threshing wheat. He asked leave by signs to rest, which was granted. We -shall now see how the native ingenuity of the Frenchman stood him in -good stead in circumstances where the average Englishman would have been -a useless tramp and nothing more. Seeing some fresh straw in a corner, -Durand began to weave it into a dainty basket. The threshers stayed -their work to watch him, and, when the article was finished, offered to -buy it. Just then the farmer entered, and from pity and admiration took -him home to dinner, and Durand’s first act was to present the basket to -the daughter of the house. Dinner finished, the guest looked about for -work to do, and in the course of the afternoon he repaired a stopped -clock with an old skewer and a pair of pincers, mended a chair, repaired -a china image, cleaned an old picture, repaired a lock, altered a key, -and fed the pigs! - -The farmer was delighted, and offered him a barn to sleep in, but the -farmer’s daughter injudiciously expressed her admiration of him, -whereupon her sweetheart, who came in to spend the evening, signed to -him the necessity of his immediate departure. - -For weeks this extraordinary man, always simulating a deaf-mute, -wandered about, living by the sale of baskets, and was everywhere -received with the greatest kindness. - -But misfortune overtook him at length, although only temporarily. He was -standing by a very large tree, a local lion, when a party of visitors -came up to admire it, and a young lady expressed herself in very purely -pronounced French. Unable to restrain himself, Durand stepped forward, -and echoed her sentiments. - -‘Why!’ exclaimed the lady. ‘This is the dumb man who was at the Hall -yesterday repairing the broken vases!’ - -The result was that he was arrested as an escaped prisoner of war, sent -first to Ormskirk, and then back to his old prison at the Liverpool -Tower. - -However, in a short time, through the influence of Sir Edward Cunliffe, -one of the members for Liverpool, he was released, and went to reside -with the P.’s in Dale Street. In the following September Mr. Durand and -Miss P. became man and wife, and he remained in Liverpool many years, as -partner in her uncle’s business. - -In 1779 Howard the philanthropist, in his tour through the prisons of -Britain, visited the Liverpool Tower. He reported that there were -therein 509 prisoners, of whom fifty-six were Spaniards, who were kept -apart from the French prisoners, on account of racial animosities. All -were crowded in five rooms, which were packed with hammocks three tiers -high. The airing ground was spacious. There were thirty-six invalids in -a small dirty room of a house at some distance from the prison. There -were no sheets on the beds, but the surgeons were attentive, and there -were no complaints. - -At the prison, he remarked, the bedding required regulation. There was -no table hung up of regulations or of the victualling rate, so that the -prisoners had no means of checking their allowances. The meat and beer -were good, but the bread was heavy. The late Agent, he was informed, had -been very neglectful of his duties, but his successor bore a good -character, and much was expected of him. - -It has been said that most of the prisoners of war in Liverpool were -privateersmen. In 1779 Paul Jones was the terror of the local waters, -and as his continual successes unsettled the prisoners and incited them -to continual acts of mutiny and rebellion, and escapes or attempts to -escape were of daily occurrence, a general shifting of prisoners took -place, many of the confined men being sent to Chester, Carlisle, and -other inland towns, and the paroled men to Ormskirk and Wigan. - -In 1779 Sir George Saville and the Yorkshire Militia subscribed £50 to -the fund for the relief of the French and Spanish prisoners in -Liverpool. The appeal for subscriptions wound up with the following -complacent remark: - - -‘And as the Town of Liverpool is already the Terror of our Foes, they -will by this means (at the time they acknowledge our Spirit and Bravery) -be obliged to reverence our Virtue and Humanity.’ - - -In 1781 the Rev. Gilbert Wakefield wrote: - - -‘The American and French Wars had now been raging for some months, and -several hundred prisoners of the latter nation had been brought into -Liverpool by privateers. I frequently visited them in their confinement, -and was much mortified and ashamed of their uniform complaints of hard -usage and a scanty allowance of unwholesome provision. What I -occasionally observed in my visits gave me but too much reason to -believe the representations of this pleasing people, who maintained -their national sprightliness and good humour undamped even in captivity. -I was happy to learn later from the prisoners themselves the good -effects of my interference, and the Commissary, the author of their -wrongs, was presently superseded.... When I met him in the street later -there was fire in his eye, and fury in his face.’ - - -In 1793, the New Borough Gaol in Great Howard Street, (formerly Milk -House Lane), which had been built in 1786, but never used, was made -ready for prisoners of war. - -The following letter to the _Liverpool Courier_ of January 12, 1798, was -characterized by _The Times_ as ‘emanating from some sanguinary Jacobin -in some back garret of London’: - - -‘The French prisoners in the dungeons of Liverpool are actually -starving. Some time ago their usual allowance was lessened under -pretence of their having bribed the sentinels with the superfluity of -their provisions. Each prisoner is allowed ½ lb. of beef, 1 lb. bread, -&c., and as much water as he can drink. _The meat is the offal of the -Victualling Office_—the necks and shanks of the butchered; the bread is -so bad and so black as to incite disgust; and the water so brackish as -not to be drunken, and they are provided with straw. The officers, -contrary to the rule of Nations, are imprisoned with the privates, and -are destined with them to experience the dampness and filth of these -dismal and unhealthy dungeons. The privileges of Felons are not allowed -them. Philanthropos.’ - - -So the Mayor and Magistrates of Liverpool made minute inspection of the -prison (which had been arranged in accordance with Howard’s -recommendations), and published a report which absolutely contradicted -the assertions of ‘Philanthropos’. There were, it said, six large -detached buildings, each of three stories, 106 feet long, twenty-three -feet high, and forty-seven feet wide; there were two kitchens, each -forty-eight feet long, twenty feet broad, and thirteen feet high. In the -two upper stories the prisoners slept in cells or separate compartments, -nine feet long, seven feet broad, and eleven feet high, each with a -glazed window, and in each were generally three or four, never more than -five, prisoners. The Hospital occupied two rooms, each thirty-three feet -long, thirty feet broad, and eleven feet high. The officer-prisoners, -seventy in number, occupied a separate building, and the other -prisoners, 1,250 in number, were in the five buildings. The mortality -here, from May 15 to December 31, 1798, among 1,332 prisoners was -twenty-six. - -Richard Brooke, in _Liverpool from 1775 to 1800_, says: - - -‘Amongst the amusements some of the French prisoners during their -confinement here performed plays in a small theatre contrived for that -purpose within the walls, and in some instances they raised in a single -night £50 for admission money. Many of my readers will recollect that -with the usual ingenuity of the French the prisoners manufactured a -variety of snuff-boxes, rings, trinkets, crucifixes, card-boxes, and -toys which were exhibited in a stand at the entrance of the Gaol and -sold for their benefit.’ - - -One famous prisoner here was a Pole, named Charles Domery, whose -voracity was extraordinary. He ate anything. After the surrender of the -frigate on which he was captured he was so hungry that he was caught -tearing the mangled limb of one of his fallen comrades. In one year he -ate 174 cats, some of them alive, besides dogs, rats, candles, and -especially raw meat. Although he was daily allowed the rations of ten -men, he was never satisfied. One day the prison doctor tested his -capacity, and at a sitting he ate fourteen pounds of raw meat and two -pounds of candles, and washed it all down with five bottles of porter. -Some of the French prisoners used to upbraid him with his Polish -nationality, and accuse him of disloyalty to the Republic. Once, in a -fit of anger at this, he seized a knife, cut two wide gashes on his bare -arm, and with the blood wrote on the wall ‘Vive la République!’ - -He stood six feet two inches, was well made, and rather thin, and, -despite the brutality of his taste in food, was a very amiable and -inoffensive man. - -The following touching little letter was evidently written by a very -poor prisoner whose wife shared his confinement. - - - ‘De Livrepool: Ce 21 Septanbre 1757. - -‘Mon cher frere je vous dis ses deux mot pour vous dire que ma tres cher -femme à quitte ce monde pour aller à lotre monde; je vous prit de priyer -pour elle et de la recommender a tous nos bons paran. - - ‘Je suis en pleuran votre - ‘Serviteur et frere - ‘JOSEPH LE BLAN.’ - - -From Brooke’s _Liverpool_ I also take the following: - - -‘A considerable number of prisoners were confined in the Borough Gaol, a -most ill-judged place of confinement when its contiguity to Coast and -Shipping, and the facilities afforded for escape of prisoners in case of -the appearance of an Enemy off the Coast are considered. In general the -prisoners were ill clad and appeared dispirited and miserable, and the -mortality among them was very considerable; the hearse was constantly in -requisition to convey from the Gaol the corpse of some poor Frenchman to -the public cemetery at St. John’s Church (where they were buried -unmarked in a special corner set apart for felons and paupers). Soon -after the Peace of Amiens, 1802, eleven hundred were liberated, some of -whom had been there for years.’ - - -One of these men had accumulated three hundred guineas by his -manufactures. - -As no book alludes to Liverpool as possessing a war-prison after 1802, -it may be concluded that it ceased to have one after that date. This, I -think, is probable, as it was eminently unsuitable owing to its position -and its proximity to disturbed Ireland.[7] - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - THE PRISONS ASHORE - 6. GREENLAW—VALLEYFIELD - -About a mile and a half on the Edinburgh side of Penicuik, on the great -south road leading to Peebles and Dumfries, is the military station of -Glencorse, the dépôt of the Royal Scots Regiment. Until about ten years -ago the place was known as Greenlaw, but the name was changed owing to -postal confusion with Greenlaw in Berwickshire. - -In 1804, when, for many reasons, war-prisoners were hurried away from -England to Scotland, the old mansion house of Greenlaw was bought by the -Government and converted into a dépôt for 200 prisoners of war. It was -situated in the south-west corner of a park of sixty acres, and -consisted of a great square building, which was surrounded by a high -wooden palisade, outside which was an airing ground, and space for the -necessary domestic offices, guard rooms, garrison quarters, and so -forth, within an outer stone wall. Other buildings, chiefly in wood, -were added, and until 1811 it was the only Scottish war-prison south of -Edinburgh. - -For a year Greenlaw depended upon regulars from Edinburgh for its -garrison, but after 1805 the drain upon the army for foreign service was -so great, that the Militia was again requisitioned to do duty at the -war-prisons. The garrison at Greenlaw consisted of one captain, four -subalterns, eight sergeants, four drummers, and 155 rank and file, the -head-quarters being at the Old Foundry in Penicuik. Discipline seems to -have been strict, and special attention was given to the appearance and -turn-out of the men. Eleven sentries were on duty night and day, each -man having six blank and six ball cartridges, the latter only to be used -in case of serious need—a very necessary insistance, as the militiamen, -although of a better class generally than their successors of recent -years, were more apt to be carried away by impulse than seasoned -regulars. A private of the Stirling Militia was condemned in 1807 to -receive 800 lashes for being drunk and out of quarters after tattoo, for -having struck his superior officer, and used mutinous language—and this -was a sentence mitigated on account of his previous good conduct and his -expression of regret. - -After the Peace of 1814, Greenlaw seems to have remained untenanted -until 1846, when extensive buildings were added—mostly of wood—and it -was made the military prison for Scotland. This it continued to be until -1888. In 1876 still further additions were made in a more substantial -fashion, as it was decided to make it also the Scottish South Eastern -Military Dépôt. In 1899 the old military prisons in wood were -demolished, and with them some of the original war-prison buildings, so -that all at present existing of the latter are the stone octagon Guard -House, in the war-times used as the place of confinement for officers, -and the line of building, now the married men’s quarters, then the -garrison officer’s quarters, and some of the original stone boundary -wall. - -In 1810 the Government bought the Esk Mills at Valleyfield, and on -February 6, 1811, the first batch of 350 prisoners arrived. Building was -rapidly pushed forward to provide accommodation for 5,000 prisoners at a -cost of £73,000, the new war-prison being known as Valleyfield. - -‘About nine miles south of Edinburgh,’ says a writer in _Chambers’s -Journal_ for 1887, ‘on the main road to Peebles, stands the village of -Penicuik, for the most part built on the high road overlooking and -sloping down the valley of the North Esk. Passing through the village, -and down the slope leading to the bridge that spans the Esk and -continues the road, we turn sharply to the left just at the bridge, and -a short distance below are the extensive paper-mills of Messrs. -Alexander Cowan and Sons, called the Valleyfield Paper Mills.’ - -I followed this direction, and under the courteous guidance of Mr. Cowan -saw what little remains of one of the most famous war-prisons of -Britain. - -Until 1897 one of the original ‘casernes’ was used as a rag store. In -August of that year this was pulled down. It measured 300 feet long, -‘and its walls were eleven feet six inches thick.’[8] It had formed one -of the first buildings at Glencorse. Valleyfield House, now the -residence of Mr. Cowan, was in the days of the war-prison used as the -Hospital. - -In 1906, during excavations for the new enamelling house at the Mills, a -dozen coffins were unearthed, all with their heads to the east. The new -buildings of 1812 at Valleyfield consisted of six ‘casernes’, each from -80 to 100 feet long, of three stories, built of wood, with openings -closed by strong wooden shutters. They were without fire-places, as it -was considered that the animal heat of the closely-packed inmates would -render such accessories unnecessary! The whole was surrounded by a stout -wooden stockade, outside which was a carriage-road. - -Notwithstanding apparent indifference to the comfort of the prisoners, -the mortality at Valleyfield during three years and four months was but -309, being at the rate of 18·5 per mille, and in this is included a -number of violent deaths from duels, quarrels, and the shooting of -prisoners attempting to escape. - -In the beautiful hillside garden of Valleyfield House is a monument, -erected by Mr. Alexander Cowan, to the memory of these prisoners, -inaugurated on June 26, 1830, the day on which George IV died. On it was -inscribed: - - -‘The mortal remains of 309 prisoners of war who died in this -neighbourhood between 21st March, 1811, and 26th July, 1814, are -interred near this spot.’ - -‘Grata Quies Patriae: sed et Omnis Terra Sepulchrum.’ ‘Certain -inhabitants of this parish, desiring to remember that all men are -brethren, caused this monument to be erected in the year 1830.’ - - -On the other side: - - -‘Près de ce Lieu reposent les cendres de 309 Prisonniers de Guerre morts -dans ce voisinage entre le 21 Mars 1811 et le 26 Juillet 1814. Nés pour -bénir les vœux de vieillissantes mères, par le sort appelés à devenir -amants, aimés époux et pères. - -‘Ils sont morts exilés. Plusieurs Habitants de cette Paroisse, aimant à -croire que tous les Hommes sont Frères, firent élever ce monument l’an -1830.’ - - -It may be noted that Sir Walter Scott, who showed a warm interest in the -erection of the monument, suggested the Latin quotation, which is from -Saumazarius, a poet of the Middle Ages. Despite the inscription, the -monument was raised at the _sole expense_ of Mr. Alexander Cowan. - -[Illustration: - - MONUMENT AT VALLEYFIELD TO PRISONERS OF WAR. -] - -An interesting episode is associated with this monument. In 1845, Mr. -John Cowan of Beeslack, on a visit to the Paris Invalides, found an old -Valleyfield prisoner named Marcher, and on his return home sent the old -soldier a picture of the Valleyfield Memorial, and in the Cowan -Institute at Penicuik, amongst other relics of the war-prison days, is -an appreciative letter from Marcher, dated from the Invalides, December -1846. - -Marcher, when asked his experience of Valleyfield, said that it was -terribly cold, that there were no windows, no warmth, no fruit, but that -the cabbages were very large. He lost an arm at Waterloo. - -The guard consisted of infantry of the Ayr and Kircudbright militia and -artillery, who had their camp on the high ground west of Kirkhill -Village. On one occasion an alarm that prisoners were escaping was -given: the troops hurried to the scene of action, the artillery with -such precipitancy that horses, guns, and men were rolled down the steep -hill into the river, luckily without injuries. - -The attempts to escape were as numerous here as elsewhere, and the Black -Hole, made of hewn ashlar work, never lacked occupants. One man, a -sailor, it was impossible to keep within, and, like his fellow -countryman, Dufresne, at Portchester, was used to getting in and out -when he liked, and might have got away altogether, but for his raids -upon farm-houses and cottages around, which caused the natives to give -him up. On one occasion three prisoners rigged a false bottom to the -prison dust-cart, hid themselves therein, and were conveyed out of the -prison. When the cart stopped, the prisoners got out, and were entering -a wood, when a soldier met them. Him they cut at, and he, being unarmed, -let them go. They were, however, recaptured. On December 18, 1811, -fourteen prisoners got out, but were all recaptured. One memorable -attempt to get out by a tunnel from one of the original buildings, to -another in course of erection, and thence to the outer side of the -stockade, was made in the same year. The tunnel was one hundred yards -long, and the enormous quantity of earth excavated was carried out in -the men’s pockets, dropped about on the airing ground, and trodden down. -The venture only failed owing to the first man mistaking the hour of -day, and emerging before sunset, whereupon he was seen by a sentry and -fired on. - -It was at the daily market when the country people were brought into -acquaintance with the prisoners, that many attempts to escape were made, -despite the doubling of the guards. One prisoner had arranged with the -carter who came every morning to take away the manure that he would -conceal himself in the cart, keep himself covered up with the filth, and -thus pass the sentries. The field where the rubbish was emptied was just -outside the village, and the prisoner would know that it was time for -him to crawl out and run away when the cart halted. All started well; -the cart passed through the gate, and passed the first, second, and -third sentries, and was close to where the Free Church manse now stands, -when a friend of the carter hailed him in a loud voice. The cart pulled -up, and the poor prisoner, thinking that this was the signal, jumped -out, and was shot down before he had gone many yards. - -Another prisoner, by name Pirion, broke his parole, and was making his -way to London by the coach road, and took shelter from the rain when he -had got as far south as Norman Cross, not knowing where he was. He was -recognized as an old Norman Cross prisoner, and was arrested and brought -back. - -In 1812 the report upon the condition of Valleyfield was very bad, and -in particular it was recommended that a special stockade should be built -to hide the half-naked prisoners from public view at the market. - -In 1813 a Valleyfield prisoner was released in order that he might help -a Mr. Ferguson in the cod and herring fishery: almost as easy a release -as that of the Norman Cross prisoner who was freed because he had -instructed the Earl of Winchester’s labourers at Burleigh, by Stamford, -in the use of the Hainault scythe! - -At one time very few of the prisoners at Valleyfield were Frenchmen. -About twenty of them were allowed to live on parole outside the prison, -and some of them enjoyed the friendship of the Cowan family; one in -particular, Ancamp, a Nantes merchant, had been a prisoner nine and a -half years, and had had a son born to him since his capture, whom he had -never seen. - -In 1814, Valleyfield was evacuated, and remained unoccupied until 1820, -when, after having been advertised for sale and put up to auction -several times without success, it was purchased by Cowan for £2,200. - -In Penicuik many relics of the prisoners’ manufactures may still be -seen, and what is now the public park was formerly the vegetable garden -of the prison. - -An elderly lady at Lasswade told Mr. Bresnil of Loanhead that she -remembered in her childhood an old farmer who was pointed out as having -made his fortune by providing oatmeal to the prisoners at Valleyfield of -an inferior quality to that for which he had contracted. - -I shall now give two accounts of life at these prisons. The first is by -Sergeant-Major Beaudouin, of the 31st Line Regiment, whom we have met -before in this book on the hulks at Chatham. He was captured off Havana, -26th Germinal, An XII, that is, on April 16, 1804, on board one of the -squadrons from St. Nicholas Mole, San Domingo, and brought via Belfast -to Greenock, at which port he happened to arrive on June 4, in the midst -of the celebrations of the King’s birthday. (It may be mentioned that he -quitted England finally, eight years later, on the same day.) Bonaparte -in effigy, on a donkey, was being paraded through the street preparatory -to being burned, and the natives told him that they hoped some fine day -to catch and burn Bonaparte himself, which upset Beaudouin and made him -retort that despite all England’s strength France would never be -conquered, and that 100,000 Frenchmen landed in England would be -sufficient to conquer it, whereupon a disturbance ensued. - -Beaudouin landed at Port Glasgow, and thence to Renfrew and Glasgow, of -which city he remarks: - - -‘Cette ville paraît très grande et belle; costume très brillant. Ce -qu’il y a de remarquable c’est que les paysans sont aussi bien mis comme -ceux de la ville; on ne peut en faire la différence que par le genre. Ce -qui _jure_ beaucoup dans leur costume, c’est que les femmes marchent -presque toujours nu-pieds. La quantité de belles femmes n’est pas -grande, comme on dit; en outre, en général elles out les bouches commes -des fours.’ - - -From Glasgow the prisoners marched to Airdrie, ten miles, where the -people were affable. For the six prisoners there was an escort of a -sergeant, a corporal, and eight men. - -From Airdrie they proceeded to Bathgate, fourteen miles, thence to -Edinburgh, twenty-two miles, where they were lodged for the night in the -guard-house of the Castle. From Edinburgh they came to Greenlaw, ten -miles, June 10, 1804. - -Beaudouin thus describes Greenlaw: - - -‘Cette prison est une maison de campagne. À deux milles où loge le -détachement qui nous garde est Penicuik. Cette maison est entourée de -deux rangs de palissades avec des factionnaires tout autour; à côté est -situé un petit bois qui favorise quelquefois des désertions.’ - - -At first they were quartered with Dutch prisoners, but when peace was -made between Britain and Holland, these latter left. - -At Greenlaw there were 106 French and 40 Spanish prisoners. The -Spaniards were very antagonistic to the French, and also among -themselves, quarrelling freely and being very handy with their knives. -Beaudouin gives many instances of their brutality. At call-over a -Spaniard waited for another to come through the door, and stabbed him in -the face. An Italian and a Spaniard fought with knives until both were -helpless. Two Spaniards quarrelled about their soup, and fought in -public in the airing ground. The guard did not attempt to interfere—and -wisely. - - -‘Les Espagnols,’ says Beaudouin, ‘possèdent toutes les bonnes qualités. -Premièrement ils sont paresseux à l’excès, sales, traîtres, joueurs, et -voleurs comme des pies.’ - - -He describes Valleyfield as cold, with very little fine weather, but -healthy. At the end of a week or so the newly arrived prisoners settled -to work of different kinds. Some plaited straw for bonnets, some made -_tresse cornue_ for baskets and hats; some carved boxes, games, &c.; -some worked hair watch-chains; some made coloured straw books and other -knick-knacks, all of which they sold at the barriers. - -Beaudouin learned to plait straw, and at first found it difficult as his -fingers were so big. The _armateur_, the employer, gave out the straw, -and paid for the worked article three sous per ‘brasse’, a little under -six feet. Some men could make twelve ‘brasses’ a day. Beaudouin set to -work at it, and in the course of a couple of months became an adept. -After four years came the remonstrance of the country people that this -underpaid labour by untaxed men was doing infinite injury to them; the -Government prohibited the manufactures, and much misery among the -prisoners resulted. From this prohibition resulted the outside practice -of smuggling straw into the prison, and selling it later as the -manufactured article, and a very profitable industry it must have been, -for we find that, during the trial of Matthew Wingrave in 1813, for -engaging in the straw-plait trade with the prisons at Valleyfield, it -came out that Wingrave, who was an extensive dealer in the article, had -actually moved up there from Bedfordshire on purpose to carry on the -trade, and had bought cornfields for the purpose. The evidence showed -that he was in the habit of bribing the soldiers to keep their eyes -shut, and that not a few people of character and position were -associated with him in the business. - -Beaudouin then learned to make horsehair rings with names worked into -them: these fetched sixpence each: rings in human hair were worth a -shilling. For five years and a half he worked at this, and in so doing -injured his eyesight. ‘However,’ he said, ‘it kept me alive, which the -rations would never have done.’ - -Nominally the clothing was renewed every year, but Beaudouin declares -that he had only one change in five and a half years. To prevent the -clothes from being sold, they were of a sulphur-yellow colour. - -‘En un mot, les Anglais sont tous des brigands,’ he says, and continues: - - -‘I have described many English atrocities committed in the Colonies; -they are no better here. In the prison they have practised upon us all -possible cruelties. For instance, drum-beat was the signal for all -lights to be put out, and if by chance the drum is not heard and the -lights remain, the prisoners are fired upon without warning, and several -have been shot.’ - - -The prisoners signed a petition about their miserable condition -generally, and this outrage in particular, and sent it up to the -Transport Board. Fifteen days later the Agent entered the prison -furious: ‘I must know who wrote that letter to the Government,’ he -roared, ‘and I will put him into the _blokhall_ (Black Hole) until he -says who put it in the post.’ - -It ended in his being dismissed and severely punished. Ensign Maxwell of -the Lanark Militia, who had ordered the sentry to fire into the prison -because a light was burning there after drum-beat, whereby a prisoner, -Cotier, was killed, was condemned to nine months’ imprisonment in the -Tolbooth. This was in 1807.[9] Many of the prisoners went to Edinburgh -as witnesses in this case, and thereafter an order was posted up -forbidding any firing upon the prisoners. If lights remained, the guard -was to enter the prison, and, if necessary, put the offenders into the -Black Hole, but no violence was to be used. - -On March 30, 1809, all the French prisoners at Greenlaw were ordered to -Chatham, of which place very bad reports were heard from men who had -been on the hulks there. - - -‘Ils disent qu’ils sont plus mal qu’à Greenlaw. Premièrement, les vivres -sont plus mauvais, excepté le pain qui est un peu meilleur: en outre, -aucun ouvrage ne se fait, et aucun bourgeois vient les voir. Je crains -d’y aller. Dieu merci! Jusqu’à ce moment-ci je me suis monté un peu en -linge, car, quand je suis arrivé au prison mon sac ne me gênait point, -les Anglais, en le prenant, ne m’ont laissé que ce que j’avais sur le -dos. Quand je fus arrivé au prison ma chemise était pourrie sur mon dos -et point d’autre pour changer.’ - - -On October 31, 1809, Beaudouin left Greenlaw, where he had been since -June 10, 1804, for Sheerness, Chatham, and the _Bristol_ prison-ship. - -The next reference to Greenlaw is from James Anton’s _A Military Life_. -He thus describes the prison at which he was on guard: - - -‘The prison was fenced round with a double row of stockades; a -considerable space was appropriated as a promenade, where the prisoners -had freedom to walk about, cook provisions, make their markets and -exercise themselves at their own pleasure, but under the superintendence -of a turnkey and in the charge of several sentries.... The prisoners -were far from being severely treated: no work was required at their -hands, yet few of them were idle. Some of them were occupied in culinary -avocations, and as the guard had no regular mess, the men on duty became -ready purchasers of their _labscuse_, salt-fish, potatoes, and coffee. -Others were employed in preparing straw for plaiting; some were -manufacturing the cast-away bones into dice, dominoes, paper-cutters, -and a hundred articles of toy-work ... and realized considerable sums of -money.... Those prisoners were well provided for in every respect, and -treated with the greatest humanity, yet to the eye of a stranger they -presented a miserable picture of distress, while some of them were -actually hoarding up money ... others were actually naked, with the -exception of a dirty rag as an apron.... And strangers who visited the -prison commiserated the apparent distress of this miserable class, and -charity was frequently bestowed on purpose to clothe their nakedness; -but no sooner would this set of despicables obtain such relief, than -they took to the cards, dice, or dominoes, and in a few hours were as -poor and naked as ever.... When they were indulged with permission to -remain in their hammocks, when the weather was cold, they drew the -worsted out of the rags that covered them, wound it up in balls, and -sold it to the industrious knitters of _mitts_, and left themselves -without a covering by night. The inhabitants of Penicuik and its -neighbourhood, previous to the establishment of this dépôt of prisoners, -were as comfortable and contented a class of people as in any district -in Britain. The steep woody banks of the Esk were lined with prospering -manufactories.... When the militiamen were first quartered here, they -met with a welcome reception; ... in the course of a few years, those -kindly people began to consider the quartering of soldiers upon them -more oppressive than they at first anticipated. Trade declined as -prisoners increased.... One of the principal factories, Valleyfield, was -afterwards converted into another dépôt for prisoners, and Esk Mills -into a barrack for the military; this gave a decisive blow to trade.’ - - -To Mr. Robert Black, and indirectly to Mr. Howden, I am much indebted -for information about Greenlaw. To Mr. Cowan for helping me at -Valleyfield I have already expressed my obligation, but I must not omit -to say that much of the foregoing information about Valleyfield and the -Esk Mills has been taken from _The Reminiscences of Charles Cowan of -Logan House, Midlothian_, printed for private circulation in 1878. - - - - - CHAPTER XV - THE PRISONS ASHORE - 7. STAPLETON, NEAR BRISTOL - -Bristol, as being for so many centuries the chief port of western -England, always had her full quota of prisoners of war, who, in the -absence of a single great place of confinement, were crowded away -anywhere that room could be made for them. Tradition says that the crypt -of the church of St. Mary Redcliff was used for this purpose, but it is -known that they filled the caverns under the cliff itself, and that -until the great Fishponds prison at Stapleton, now the workhouse, was -built in 1782, they were quartered in old pottery works at Knowle, near -Totterdown and Pile Hill, on the right-hand side of the road from -Bristol, on the south of Firfield House. - -In volume XI of Wesley’s _Journal_ we read: - - -‘Monday, October 15, 1759, I walked up to Knowle, a mile from Bristol, -to see the French prisoners. About eleven hundred of them, we were -informed, were confined in that little place, without anything to lie on -but a little dirty straw, or anything to cover them but a few foul thin -rags, either by day or night, so that they died like rotten sheep. I was -much affected, and preached in the evening, Exodus 23, verse 9. £18 was -contributed immediately, which was made up to £24 the next day. With -this we bought linen and woollen cloth, which was made up into shirts, -waistcoats, and breeches. Some dozens of stockings were added, all of -which were carefully distributed where there was the greatest want. -Presently after, the Corporation of Bristol sent a large quantity of -mattresses and blankets, and it was not long before contributions were -set on foot in London and in various parts of the Kingdom.’ - - -But it was to be the same story here as elsewhere of gambling being the -cause of much of the nakedness and want, for he writes: - - -‘October 24, 1760. I visited the French prisoners at Knowle, and found -many of them almost naked again. In hopes of provoking others to -jealousy I made another collection for them.’ - - -In 1779 John Howard visited Knowle on his tour of inspection of the -prisoners of England. He reported that there were 151 prisoners there, -‘in a place which had been a pottery’, that the wards were more spacious -and less crowded than at the Mill Prison at Plymouth, and that in two of -the day rooms the prisoners were at work—from which remark we may infer -that at this date the industry which later became so notable a -characteristic of the inmates of our war-prisons was not general. The -bread, he says, was good, but there was no hospital, the sick being in a -small house near the prison, where he found five men together in a dirty -and offensive room. - -In 1782 the prison at Fishponds, Stapleton, was built. Howard visited it -in that year, and reported that there were 774 Spaniards and thirteen -Dutchmen in it, that there were no chimneys to the wards, which were -very dirty, as they were never washed, and that an open market was held -daily from 10 to 3. In 1794 there were 1,031 French prisoners at -Stapleton, of whom seventy-five were in hospital. - -In 1797 the ferment among the prisoners caused by reports of the success -of Tate’s ‘invasion’ at Fishguard, developed into an open riot, during -which a sentry fired and accidentally killed one of his comrades. -Tradition says that when the Bristol Volunteers were summoned to take -the place of the Militia, who had been hurried away to Fishguard, as -there could be found no arms for them, all the mop-sticks in Bristol -were bought up and furnished with iron heads, which converted them into -very respectable pikes. It was on this occasion that, in view of the -desperate feeling among the prisoners and the comparative inefficiency -of their guards, it was suggested that all the prisoners should be -lowered into the Kingswood coal-pits! - -In 1799 the prison was enlarged at the contract price of £475; the work -was to be done by June 1800, and no Sunday labour was to be employed, -although Sanders, of Pedlar’s Acre, Lambeth, the contractor, pleaded for -it, as a ship, laden with timber for the prison, had sunk, and so -delayed the work. - -In 1800 the following report upon the state of Stapleton Prison was -drawn up and published by two well-known citizens of Bristol, Thomas -Batchelor, deputy-governor of St. Peter’s Hospital, and Thomas Andrews, -a poor-law guardian: - - -‘On our entrance we were much struck with the pale, emaciated appearance -of almost every one we met. They were in general nearly naked, many of -them without shoes and stockings, walking in the Courtyard, which was -some inches deep in mud, unpaved and covered with loose stones like the -public roads in their worst state. Their provisions were wretched -indeed; the bread fusty and disagreeable, leaving a hot, pungent taste -in the mouth; the meat, which was beef, of the very worst quality. The -quantity allowed to each prisoner was one pound of this infamous bread, -and ½ lb. of the carrion beef weighed with its bone before dressing, for -their subsistence for 24 hours. No vegetables are allowed except to the -sick in the hospital. We fear there is good reason for believing that -the prices given to the butcher and baker are quite sufficient for -procuring provisions of a far better kind. On returning to the outer -court we were shocked to see two poor creatures on the ground leading to -the Hospital Court; the one lying at length, apparently dying, the other -with a horse-cloth or rug close to his expiring fellow prisoner as if to -catch a little warmth from his companion in misery. They appeared to be -dying of famine. The majority of the poor wretches seemed to have lost -the appearance of human beings, to such skeletons were they reduced. The -numbers that die are great, generally 6 to 8 a day; 250 have died within -the last six weeks.’ - - -After so serious a statement made publicly by two men of position an -inquiry was imperative, and ‘all the accusations were [it was said] -shown to be unfounded’. It was stated that the deaths during the whole -year 1800 were 141 out of 2,900 prisoners, being a percentage of 4¾; but -it was known that the deaths in November were forty-four, and in -December thirty-seven, which, assuming other months to have been -healthier would be about 16 per cent., or nearly seven times the -mortality even of the prison ships. The chief cause of disease and death -was said to be want of clothing, owing to the decision of the French -Government of December 22, 1799, not to clothe French prisoners in -England; but the gambling propensities of the prisoners had even more to -do with it. ‘It was true,’ said the Report of the Commission of Inquiry, -‘that gambling was universal, and that it was not to be checked. It was -well known that here, as at Norman Cross, some of the worst gamblers -frequently did not touch their provisions for several days. The chief -forms of gambling were tossing, and deciding by the length of straws if -the rations were to be kept or lost even for weeks ahead. This is the -cause of all the ills, starvation, robbery, suicide, and murder.’ But it -was admitted that the chief medical officer gave very little personal -attention to his duties, but left them to subordinates. - -It was found that there was much exaggeration in the statements of -Messrs. Batchelor and Andrews, but from a modern standard the evidence -of this was by no means satisfactory. All the witnesses seem to have -been more or less interested from a mercantile point of view in the -administration of the prison, and Mr. Alderman Noble, of Bristol, was -not ashamed to state that he acted as agent on commission for the -provision contractor, Grant of London. - -Messrs. Batchelor and Andrews afterwards publicly retracted their -accusations, but the whole business leaves an unpleasant taste in the -mouth, and one may make bold to say that, making due allowance for the -embellishment and exaggeration not unnaturally consequent upon -deeply-moved sympathies and highly-stirred feelings, there was much -ground for the volunteered remarks of these two highly respectable -gentlemen. - -In 1801, Lieutenant Ormsby, commander of the prison, wrote to the -Transport Board: - - -‘Numbers of prisoners are as naked as they were previous to the clothing -being issued. At first the superintendants were attentive and denounced -many of the purchasers of the clothing, but they gradually got careless. -We are still losing as many weekly as in the depth of winter. The -hospital is crowded, and many are forced to remain outside who ought to -be in.’ - - -This evidence, added to that of commissioners who reported that -generally the distribution of provisions was unattended by any one of -responsible position, and only by turnkeys—men who were notoriously in -league with the contractors—would seem to afford some foundation for the -above-quoted report. About this time Dr. Weir, the medical inspection -officer of the Transport Board, tabulated a series of grave charges -against Surgeon Jeffcott, of Stapleton, for neglect, for wrong treatment -of cases, and for taking bribes from the prison contractors and from the -prisoners. Jeffcott, in a long letter, denies these accusations, and -declares that the only ‘presents’ he had received were ‘three sets of -dominoes, a small dressing box, four small straw boxes, and a line of -battle ship made of wood,’ for which he paid. The result of the inquiry, -however, was that he was removed from his post; the contractor was -severely punished for such malpractices as the using of false measures -of the beer quart, milk quart, and tea pint, and with him was implicated -Lemoine, the French cook. - -That the peculation at Stapleton was notorious seems to be the case, for -in 1812 Mr. Whitbread in Parliament ‘heartily wished the French -prisoners out of the country, since, under pretence of watching them, so -many abuses had been engendered at Bristol, and an enormous annual -expense was incurred.’ - -In 1804 a great gale blew down part of the prison wall, and an agitation -among the prisoners to escape was at once noticeable. A Bristol Light -Horseman was at once sent into the city for reinforcements, and in less -than four hours fifty men arrived—evidently a feat in rapid locomotion -in those days! - -From the Commissioners’ Reports of these times it appears that the law -prohibiting straw plaiting by the prisoners was much neglected at -Stapleton, that a large commerce was carried on in this article with -outside, chiefly through the bribery of the soldiers of the guard, who -did pretty much as they liked, which, says the report, was not to be -wondered at when the officers of the garrison made no scruple of buying -straw-plaited articles for the use of their families. - -As to the frequent escapes of prisoners, one potent cause of this, it -was asserted, was that in wet weather the sentries were in the habit of -closing the shutters of their boxes so that they could only see straight -ahead, and it was suggested that panes of glass be let in at the sides -of the boxes. - -The provisions for the prisoners are characterized as being ‘in general’ -very good, although deep complaints about the quality of the meat and -bread are made. - -‘The huts where the provisions are cooked have fanciful inscriptions -over their entrances, which produce a little variety and contribute to -amuse these unfortunate men.’ - -All gaming tables in the prison were ordered to be destroyed, because -one man who had lost heavily threw himself off a building and was -killed; but billiard tables were allowed to remain, only to be used by -the better class of prisoners. The hammocks were condemned as very bad, -and the issue of the fish ration was stopped, as the prisoners seemed to -dislike it, and sold it. - -In 1805 the new prison at Stapleton was completed, and accommodation for -3,000 additional prisoners afforded, making a total of 5,000. Stapleton -was this year reported as being the most convenient prison in England, -and was the equivalent of eight prison-ships. - -In 1807 the complaints about the straw-plaiting industry clandestinely -carried on by the Stapleton prisoners were frequent, and also that the -prison market for articles manufactured by the prisoners was prejudicial -to local trade. - -Duelling was very frequent among the prisoners. On March 25, 1808, a -double duel took place, and two of the fighters were mortally wounded. A -verdict of manslaughter was returned against the two survivors by the -coroner’s jury, but at the Gloucester assizes the usual verdict of -‘self-defence’ was brought in. In July 1809 a naval and a military -officer quarrelled over a game of marbles; a duel was the result, which -was fought with sticks to which sharpened pieces of iron had been fixed, -and which proved effective enough to cause the death of one of the -combatants. A local newspaper stated that during the past three years no -less than 150 duels had been fought among the prisoners at Stapleton, -the number of whom averaged 5,500, and that the coroner, like his -_confrères_ at Dartmoor and Rochester, was complaining of the extra work -caused by the violence of the foreigners. - -In 1809 a warder at Stapleton Prison was dismissed from his post for -having connived at the conveyance of letters to Colonel Chalot, who was -in prison for having violated his parole at Wantage by going beyond the -mile limit to meet an English girl, Laetitia Barrett. Laetitia’s letters -to him, in French, are at the Record Office, and show that the Colonel -was betrayed by a fellow prisoner, a rival for her hand. - -In 1813 the Bristol shoemakers protested against the manufacture of list -shoes by the Stapleton prisoners, but the Government refused to issue -prohibiting orders. - -[Illustration: - - STAPLETON PRISON - - _From the Gentleman’s Magazine_, 1814 -] - -Forgery was largely practised at Stapleton as in other prisons, and in -spite of warnings posted up, the country people who came to the prison -market were largely victimized, but Stapleton is particularly associated -with the wholesale forgery of passports in the year 1814, by means of -which so many officer prisoners were enabled to get to France on the -plea of fidelity to the restored Government. In this year a Mr. Edward -Prothero of 39, Harley Street, Bristol, sent to the Transport Office -information concerning the wholesale forgery of passports, in the sale -of which to French officers a Madame Carpenter, of London (already -mentioned in Chapter VI), was concerned. - -The signing of the Treaty of Paris, on May 30, 1814, stopped whatever -proceedings might have been taken by the Government with regard to -Madame Carpenter, but it appears that some sort of inquiry had been -instituted, and that Madame Carpenter, although denying all traffic in -forged passports, admitted that she was on such terms with the Transport -Board on account of services rendered by her in the past when residing -in France to British prisoners there, as to be able to ask favours of -it. The fact is, people of position and influence trafficked in -passports and privileges, just as people in humbler walks of life -trafficked in contracts for prisons and in the escape of prisoners, and -Madame Carpenter was probably the worker, the business transactor, for -one or more persons in high place who, even in that not particularly -shamefaced age, did not care that their names should be openly -associated with what was just as much a business as the selling of legs -of mutton or pounds of tea. - -In spite of what we have read about the misery of life at Stapleton, it -seems to have been regarded by prisoners elsewhere as rather a superior -sort of place. At Dartmoor, in 1814, the Americans hailed with delight -the rumour of their removal to Stapleton, well and healthily situated in -a fertile country, and, being near Bristol, with a good market for -manufactures, not to speak of its being in the world, instead of out of -it, as were Dartmoor and Norman Cross; and the countermanding order -almost produced a mutiny. - -It appears that dogs were largely kept at Stapleton by the prisoners, -for after one had been thrown into a well it was ordered that all should -be destroyed, the result being 710 victims! They were classed as ‘pet’ -dogs, but one can hardly help suspecting that men in a chronic state of -hunger would be far more inclined to make the dogs feed them than to -feed dogs as fancy articles. - -It is surprising to read that, notwithstanding the utter irreligion of -so many French prisoners in Britain, in more than one prison, at Millbay -and Stapleton for instance, Mass was never forgotten among them. At -Stapleton an officer of the fleet, captured at San Domingo, read the -prayers of the Mass usually read by the priest; an altar was painted on -the wall, two or three cabin-boys served as acolytes, as they would have -done had a priest been present, and there was no ridicule or laughter at -the celebrations. - -After the declaration of peace in 1815, the _raison d’être_ of Stapleton -as a war-prison of course ceased. In 1833 it was bought by the Bristol -Poor-Board and turned into a workhouse. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI - THE PRISONS ASHORE - 8. FORTON, NEAR PORTSMOUTH - -Although the Fortune Prison, as it seems to have been very generally -called, had been used for war-prisoners during the Seven Years’ War, its -regular adaptation to that purpose was probably not before 1761, in -which year 2,000 prisoners were removed thither from Portchester -‘guarded by the Old Buffs’. During the War of American Independence many -prisoners of that nationality were at Forton, and appear to have been -ceaselessly engaged in trying to escape. In 1777 thirty broke out, of -whom nineteen were recaptured and were so harshly punished that they -complained in a letter which somehow found its way into the London -papers. The next year, the Westminster Militia, encamped on Weovil -Common, attracted by alarm guns at Forton, marched thither, and found -American and French prisoners escaping through a hole in the outer wall, -but were too late to prevent five-and-twenty from getting away -altogether. The attempt was supposed to be the sequel of a plot by -which, a fortnight previously, eleven Americans had escaped. On the same -day there was a mutiny in the prison hospital, provoked, it was alleged, -by the neglect and the callous treatment of patients by the doctors and -their subordinates. - -In the same year, 1778, another batch of no less than fifty-seven -Americans made a desperate attempt to get out. The Black Hole at Forton -was underneath part of the prisoners’ sleeping quarters. A hole large -enough for the passage of a man was made in the floor of a sleeping -room, being covered by a bed—that is, a mattress—and through this the -earth from a tunnel which led from the Black Hole to beyond the prison -walls, was brought and hidden in the chimney and in hammocks until -opportunities came for its removal elsewhere. As no report was published -of the recapture of these men, we may presume that they got away. - -In 1779 Howard made his report upon Forton. He found there 251 Americans -and 177 Frenchmen. The condition of the former, he says, was -satisfactory—probably a result of the generous public subscription of -the previous year in aid of them. - -Of the French part of the prison he speaks badly. The meat was bad, the -bread loaves were of short weight, the straw in the mattresses had been -reduced to dust by long use, and many of them had been emptied to clear -them of vermin. The floors of the hospital and the sleeping quarters, -which were laid rough, were dirty and offensive. - -The prisoners complained to Howard, who told them to write to the -Commissioners of the ‘Sick and Hurt’ Office. They replied that, as every -letter had to be examined by the Agent, this would be of no good. - -Howard emphasizes severely the evident roguery of the contractors -employed in the furnishing of provisions and clothing. - -The year 1793 was marked at Forton, as elsewhere, by a general -insubordinate feeling among the Frenchmen, of whom there were 850 in the -prison. In April, a sentry on guard outside the palisade heard a -mysterious scraping sound beneath his feet, and gave the alarm. -Examination revealed two loose planks in one of the sleeping-rooms, -which, being taken up, exposed the entrance to a tunnel, afterwards -found to run twenty-seven feet to the outer side of the palisade. One of -the prisoners confessed that a plot had been made to kill the Agent and -his officers. - -In July the following report was made upon Forton: - - -‘The French at Forton continue extremely restless and turbulent, and -cannot bear their captivity with moderation and temper though they are -exceedingly well supplied with provisions and every necessity their -situation requires. A sailor made a desperate attempt to disarm a -sentinel through the bar of the compartment where he was confined. The -sentry with great exertion disengaged himself, and fired at the -offender, but wounded unfortunately another prisoner, not the aggressor. -Friday se’nnight, the guard discovered a plot by which several prisoners -had planned an escape over the wall by tying together their hammocks and -blankets. The sentry on duty fired in at the windows, and hit one of the -rioters, who is since dead. - -‘Three French prisoners were dangerously wounded while endeavouring to -escape from Forton. One of them with a drawn knife rushed upon the -guard, a private of the Anglesea Militia, who fired at him. The -Frenchman seized him by the coat, whereupon the guard ran the offender -through the body.’ - - -General Hyde, the Commandant at Portsmouth, ordered, in consequence of -the insubordination fomented by the French political excitement of the -time, that no prisoners should be allowed to wear the national cockade, -or to scribble seditious statements on the prison walls, or to play any -national music, under penalty of the _cachot_. It is almost unnecessary -to say that the enforcement of these orders was physically impossible. - -In 1794 an epidemic at Forton caused the deaths of 200 prisoners in one -month. - -In 1806 the great amount of sickness at Forton brought about an official -inquiry, the result of which was the superseding of the head surgeon. - -In 1807, a fire broke out one day in the prison at 2 p.m., which -continued until 9 a.m. The prisoners behaved very well, helping to put -the fire out, and not attempting to escape. - -In November, 1810, no less than 800 prisoners were on the sick list. - -In 1811, Sous-lieutenant Doisy de Villargennes, of the 26th French line -regiment, arrived at Portsmouth, a prisoner of war, taken after Fuentes -d’Oñoro, and was allowed to be on parole ashore pending his dispatch to -an inland parole town. He knew that his foster-brother was in prison at -Forton, and got leave to visit him. I am particularly glad to give the -testimony of a French prisoner of war to the improved state of -affairs—at Forton, at any rate. He says: - - -‘Il y régnait l’ordre le plus parfait, sous un règlement sévère mais -humain. Nous n’entendîmes pas de sanglots de désespoir, nous ne vîmes -point la tristesse dans les yeux des habitants, mais de tous côtés, au -contraire, c’étaient des éclats de rire ou des chansons patriotiques qui -résonnaient. . . . Mon frère de lait me conduisit vers un petit coin -confortable qu’il occupait en compagnie d’un camarade. J’y remarquai un -lit de bonne apparence, ainsi que d’autres meubles modestes qu’ils -avaient pu acheter avec leur propre argent. La cuisine occupait le -compartiment voisin; elle servait à 200 hommes, et l’odeur qu’elle -répandait ne faisait nullement présumer que les habitants pussent être -affamés. Je restai à dîner. Je ne dirai pas que le repas était -somptueux, mais les mets étaient suffisants et de bonne qualité, et bien -que servis dans des plats et assiettes d’étain, avec des couteaux et des -fourchettes du même métal, ils étaient accompagnés d’une si cordiale -réception que le souvenir de ce dîner m’a toujours laissé sous une -agréable impression.’ - - -There were no wines or liqueurs, but abundance of ‘the excellent ale -which England alone produces’. Doisy asked whence came the money to pay -for all this abundance. His host told him that, being a basket-maker’s -son, and knowing the trade, he got permission to work at it and to sell -his goods. For a time this was very successful, but the large output of -cheap, untaxed work from the prison brought remonstrance from the -straw-workers of Portsmouth, Barnstaple, and other places, with the -result that Government prohibited it. But the ingenious Frenchman soon -found another string for his bow, and he became, with many others, a -manufacturer of ornaments and knick-knacks, boxes, combs, toys, and -especially ship models, from the bones of his food. These beef and -mutton bones were carefully saved on all sides, and those who could not -work them, sold them at good prices to those who could. Germain Lamy, -his foster-brother, told Doisy that he and his comrade worked at the -bone model of a seventy-four, with rigging made of hair, for six months, -and sold it for £40. - -Lamy was released at the peace of 1814. He took back to France 16,500 -francs; bought a little farm, married, and settled down, but died of -cholera in 1832. - -In 1813 took place the ‘Brothers murder,’ a crime which made a very -great and lasting sensation. - -Three Frenchmen—François Relif, Jean Marie Dauze, and Daniel du Verge, -escaped from Forton, and engaged George Brothers, a pilot and boatman, -to take them, they said, from the Point to one of the ships at Spithead. -Off the Block-House they told him that they intended to escape, and -proposed that he should take them over to France. He refused: they -threatened, but he persisted and tried to signal the shipping. Whereupon -they attacked him, stabbed him in sixteen places, threw his body -overboard, and set their course seaward. This was seen from the shore, a -fleet of boats set off in pursuit, and, after a smart chase—one account -says of fifteen miles—the fugitives were captured, although it was -thought that they would have escaped had they known how to manage a -sailing boat. They were taken on board H.M.S. _Centaur_, searched, and -upon them were found three knives and a large sum of money. They were -taken then to jail ashore. One of the prisoners was found to have thirty -crown pieces concealed about him, and confessed that having saved up -this money, which he had made by the sale of lace, toys, and other -manufactures, he had bought a suit of decent clothes, and, mixing with -visitors to the dépôt, thus disguised had got off. In the meanwhile the -body of Brothers had been recovered, placed first in one of the -casemates of Point Battery, and then taken amidst an enormous crowd to -his house in Surrey Street, Landport. - -The three murderers were executed at Winchester. The funeral of Brothers -in Kingston churchyard was the occasion of a large public demonstration, -and, be it recorded, the prisoners at Forton expressed their abhorrence -of the crime by getting up a subscription for the murdered man’s widow -and children, to which it is said one of the murderers contributed £7. - - - - - CHAPTER XVII - THE PRISONS ASHORE - 9. MILLBAY, NEAR PLYMOUTH - -Saxon prisoners taken at Leuthen were at the ‘New Prison,’ Plymouth, in -1758. In this year they addressed a complaint to the authorities, -praying to be sent elsewhere, as they were ostracized, and even reviled, -by the French captives, and a round-robin to the officer of the guard, -reminding him that humanity should rule his actions rather than a mere -delight in exercising authority, and hinting that officers who had made -war the trade of their lives probably knew more about its laws than Mr. -Tonkin, the Commissioner in charge of them, appeared to know. - -In 1760 no less than 150 prisoners contrived to tunnel their way out of -the prison, but all except sixteen were recaptured. - -Of the life at the old Mill Prison, as it was then called, during the -War of American Independence, a detailed account is given by Charles -Herbert of Newburyport, Massachusetts, captured in the _Dolton_, in -December 1776, by H.M.S. _Reasonable_, 64. - -With his sufferings during the voyage to England we have nothing to do, -except that he was landed at Plymouth so afflicted with ‘itch’, which -developed into small-pox, that he was at once taken to the Royal -Hospital. It is pleasing to note that he speaks in the highest terms of -the care and kindness of the doctor and nurses of this institution. - -When cured he was sent to Mill Prison, and here made money by carving in -wood of boxes, spoons and punch ladles, which he sold at the Sunday -market. - -Very soon the Americans started the system of tunnelling out of the -prison, and attempting to escape, which only ceased with their final -discharge. Herbert was engaged in the scheme of an eighteen feet long -excavation to a field outside, the earth from which, they rammed into -their sea-chests. By this, thirty-two men got out, but eleven were -captured, he being one. - -Men who could make no articles for sale in the market sold their clothes -and all their belongings. - -Theft among the prisoners was punished by the offenders being made to -run the gauntlet of their comrades, who were armed with nettles for the -occasion. - -Herbert complains bitterly of the scarcity and quality of the -provisions, particularly of the bread, which he says was full of -straw-ends. ‘Many are tempted to pick up the grass in the yard and eat -it; and some pick up old bones that have been laying in the dirt a week -or ten days and pound them to pieces and suck them. Some will pick -snails out of holes in the wall and from among the grass and weeds in -the yard, boil them, eat them, and drink the broth. Men run after the -stumps of cabbages thrown out by the cooks into the yard, and trample -over each other in the scuffle to get them.’ - -Christmas and New Year were, however, duly celebrated, thanks to the -generosity of the prison authorities, who provided the materials for two -huge plum-puddings, served out white bread instead of the regulation -‘Brown George’, mutton instead of beef, turnips instead of cabbage, and -oatmeal. - -Then came a time of plenty. In London £2,276 was subscribed for the -prisoners, and £200 in Bristol. Tobacco, soap, blankets, and extra bread -for each mess were forthcoming, although the price of tobacco rose to -five shillings a pound. Candles were expensive, so marrow-bones were -used instead, one bone lasting half as long as a candle. - -On February 1, 1778, five officers—Captains Henry and Eleazar Johnston, -Offin Boardman, Samuel Treadwell, and Deal, got off with two sentries -who were clothed in mufti, supplied by Henry Johnston. On February 17, -the two soldiers were taken, and were sentenced, one to be shot and the -other to 700 lashes, which punishment was duly carried out. Of the -officers, Treadwell was recaptured, and suffered the usual penalty of -forty days Black Hole, and put on half allowance. Continued attempts to -escape were made, and as they almost always failed it was suspected that -there were traitors in the camp. A black man and boy were discovered: -they were whipped, and soon after, in reply to a petition from the -whites, all the black prisoners were confined in a separate building, -known as the ‘itchy yard.’ - -Still the attempts continued. On one occasion two men who had been told -off for the duty of emptying the prison offal tubs into the river, made -a run for it. They were captured, and among the pursuers was the prison -head-cook, whose wife held the monopoly of selling beer at the prison -gate, the result being that she was boycotted. - -Much complaint was made of the treatment of the sick, extra necessaries -being only procurable by private subscription, and when in June 1778, -the chief doctor died, Herbert writes: ‘I believe there are not many in -the prison who would mourn, as there is no reason to expect that we can -get a worse one.’ - -On Independence Day, July 4, all the Americans provided themselves with -crescent-shaped paper cockades, painted with the thirteen stars and -thirteen stripes of the Union, and inscribed at the top ‘Independence’, -and at the bottom ‘Liberty or Death’. At one o’clock they paraded in -thirteen divisions. Each in turn gave three cheers, until at the -thirteenth all cheered in unison. - -The behaviour of a section of blackguards in the community gave rise to -fears that it would lead to the withdrawal of charitable donations. So -articles were drawn up forbidding, under severe penalties, gambling, -‘blackguarding’, and bad language. This produced violent opposition, but -gradually the law-abiders won the day. - -An ingenious attempt to escape is mentioned by Herbert. Part of the -prison was being repaired by workmen from outside. An American saw the -coat and tool-basket of one of these men hanging up, so he appropriated -them, and quietly sauntered out into the town unchallenged. Later in the -day, however, the workman recognized his coat on the American in the -streets of Plymouth, and at once had him arrested and brought back. - -On December 28, 1778, Herbert was concerned in a great attempt to -escape. A hole nine feet deep was dug by the side of the inner wall of -the prison, thence for fifteen feet until it came out in a garden on the -other side of the road which bounded the outer wall. The difficulty of -getting rid of the excavated dirt was great, and, moreover, excavation -could only be proceeded with when the guard duty was performed by the -Militia regiment, which was on every alternate day, the sentries of the -13th Regular regiment being far too wideawake and up to escape-tricks. -Half the American prisoners—some two hundred in number—had decided to -go. All was arranged methodically and without favour, by drawing lots, -the operation being conducted by two chief men who did not intend to go. - -Herbert went with the first batch. There were four walls, each eight -feet high, to be scaled. With five companions Herbert managed these, and -got out, their aim being to make for Teignmouth, whence they would take -boat for France. Somehow, as they avoided high roads, and struck across -fields, they lost their bearings, and after covering, he thinks, at -least twenty miles, sat down chilled and exhausted, under a haystack -until daybreak. They then restarted, and coming on to a high road, -learned from a milestone that, after all, they were only three miles -from Plymouth! - -Day came, and with it the stirring of the country people. To avoid -observation, the fugitives quitted the road, and crept away to the -shelter of a hedge, to wait, hungry, wet, and exhausted, during nine -hours, for darkness. The end soon came. - -In rising, Herbert snapped a bone in his leg. As it was being set by a -comrade, a party of rustics with a soldier came up, the former armed -with clubs and flails. The prisoners were taken to a village, where they -had brandy and a halfpenny cake each, and taken back to Plymouth. - -At the prison they learned that 109 men had got out, of whom thirty had -been recaptured. All had gone well until a boy, having stuck on one of -the walls, had called for help, and so had given the alarm. Altogether -only twenty-two men escaped. Great misery now existed in the prison, -partly because the charitable fund had been exhausted which had hitherto -so much alleviated their lot, and partly on account of the number of men -put on half allowance as a result of their late escape failure, and so -scanty was food that a dog belonging to one of the garrison officers was -killed and eaten. - -Herbert speaks in glowing terms of the efforts of two American -‘Fathers’, Heath and Sorry, who were allowed to visit the prison, to -soften the lot of the captives. - -Finally, on March 15, 1779, Herbert was exchanged after two years and -four months’ captivity. - -In a table at the end of his account, he states that between June 1777, -and March 1779, there were 734 Americans in Mill Prison, of whom -thirty-six died, 102 escaped, and 114 joined the British service. Of -these last, however, the majority were British subjects. - -In 1779 Howard reported that there were 392 French and 298 American -prisoners in Millbay. He noted that neither the wards nor the -court-yards apportioned to the Frenchmen were so spacious and convenient -as were those in the American part of the prison, nor were the -provisions so good. In the hospital there were fifty patients; it was -dirty and offensive, and Howard found only three pairs of sheets in use. - -(Herbert, above quoted, said that the hospital was not worthy of the -name, that when it rained the wet beat upon the patients as they lay in -their beds.) - -A new hospital was building, Howard continues, but he considered the -wards were being made too low and too close, being seventeen feet ten -inches wide, and ten feet high. In the American blocks the regulations -were hung up according to rule, and he notes Article 5 of these to the -effect that: ‘As water and tubs for washing their linen and clothes will -be allowed, the prisoners are advised to keep their persons as clean as -possible, it being conducive to health.’ - -I now make an extract from _The Memoirs of Commodore Barney_, published -in Boston, 1832, chiefly on account of his stirring escape from Millbay, -therein described. - -Barney was captured in December 1780 by H.M.S. _Intrepid_, Captain -Malloy, whom he stigmatizes as the embodiment of all that is brutal in -man. He was carried to England on the _Yarmouth, 74_, with seventy other -American officers. They were confined, he says, in the hold, under three -decks, twelve feet by twenty feet, and three feet high, without light -and almost without air. The result was that during the fifty-three days’ -passage in the depths of winter, from New York to Plymouth, eleven of -them died, and that when they arrived at Plymouth, few of them were able -to stand, and all were temporarily blinded by the daylight. - -It sounds incredible, but Mrs. Barney, the editress of the volume, says: -‘What is here detailed is given without adornment or exaggeration, -almost in the very words of one who saw and suffered just as he has -described.’ - -Barney was sent first to a hulk, which he describes as a Paradise when -compared with the _Yarmouth_, and as soon as they could walk, he and his -companions went to Mill Prison, ‘as rebels.’ - -He lost no time in conspiring to escape. With infinite pains he and -others forced their way through the stone walls and iron gratings of the -common sewer, only to find, after wading through several hundred feet of -filth, their exit blocked by a double iron grating. He then resolved to -act independently, and was suddenly afflicted by a sprain which put him -on crutches. He found a sympathetic friend in a sentry who, for some -reason or other, had often manifested friendship for the American -prisoners. This man contrived to obtain for him a British officer’s -undress uniform. One day Barney said to him, ‘To-day?’ to which the -laconic reply was ‘Dinner’, by which Barney understood that his hours on -duty would be from twelve till two. - -Barney threw his old great coat over the uniform; arranged with his -friends to occupy the other sentries’ attention by chaff and chat; -engaged a slender youth at roll-call time to carry out the old trick of -creeping through a hole in the wall and answer to Barney’s name as well -as his own; and then jumped quickly on to the shoulders of a tall friend -and over the wall. - -Throwing away his great-coat, he slipped four guineas into the -accomplice sentry’s hand, and walked quietly off into Plymouth to the -house of a well-known friend to the American cause. No little alarm was -caused here by the sudden appearance of a visitor in British uniform, -but Barney soon explained the situation, and remained concealed until -night, when he was taken to the house of a clergyman. Here he found two -Americans, not prisoners, desirous of returning to America, and they -agreed to buy a fishing boat and risk the crossing to France. - -So the British uniform was exchanged for fisher garb, the boat -purchased, and the three started. As his companions were soon prostrate -from sea-sickness, Barney had to manage the craft himself; passed -through the British war-ships safely, and seemed to be safe now from all -interference, when a schooner rapidly approached, showing British -colours, and presently lowered a boat which was pulled towards them. - -Instantly, Barney resolved to play a game of bluff. Luckily, in changing -his attire he had not left the British uniform behind. The boat came -alongside and a privateer officer came aboard and asked Barney his -business. - -‘Government business to France,’ replied Barney with dignity—and -displayed the British uniform. - -The officer was not satisfied, and said that he must report to his -captain. This he did; the privateer captain was no more satisfied than -his lieutenant, and politely but firmly declared his intention of -carrying Barney back to Plymouth, adding that it must be funny business -to take a British officer in uniform over to France in a fishing boat. - -‘Very well,’ said Barney, calm and dignified to the end; ‘then I hold -you responsible, for the interruption of my errand, to Admiral Digby, to -whose flag-ship I will trouble you to take me.’ - -All the same Barney saw that the game was up, and back towards Plymouth -he had to turn. Barney’s story is not very clear as to how he managed to -escape the notice of the crew of the privateer, on board which he now -was, but he slipped into a boat alongside, cut her adrift, and made for -‘Cawsen’. Landing here, and striking away inland, he thought it best to -leave the high road, and so, climbing over a hedge, he found himself in -Edgcumbe Park. Presently he came upon an old gardener at work. Barney -accosted him, but all the reply he got was: ‘It’s a fine of half a -guinea for crossing a hedge.’ Barney had no money, but plenty of -pleasant talk, the result of which was that the old man passed him out -by a side gate and showed him a by-way towards the river. Barney, for -obvious reasons, wished to avoid the public ferry, so crossed over in a -butcher’s boat, and passing under the very wall of Mill Prison, was soon -in Plymouth and at the clergyman’s house. - -He had had a narrow escape, for in less than an hour after Admiral Digby -had received the privateer captain’s report, a guard had been sent off -from Mill Prison to Cawsand, and had he kept to the high road he would -assuredly have been captured. Whilst at the clergyman’s house, the Town -Crier passed under the window, proclaiming the reward of five guineas -for the apprehension of ‘Joshua Barney, a Rebel Deserter from Mill -Prison’. - -Barney remained here three days. Then, with a fresh outfit, he took a -post chaise for Exeter. At midnight the Town Gate was reached, and a -soldier closely examined Barney and compared him with his description on -the Apprehension bill. Again his _sang-froid_ came to the rescue, and he -so contorted his face and eyes that he was allowed to proceed, and his -escape was accomplished. - -In 1783 Barney was at Plymouth again; this time as a representative of -the Republic in a time of peace, and although an individual of -importance, entertaining all the great officials of the port on the -_George Washington_, and being entertained by them in return, he found -time not only to visit the kindly clergyman who had befriended him, but -to look up the old gardener at Mount Edgcumbe, amply pay the fine so -long due, and discover that the old man was the father of the sentry who -had enabled him to escape from Mill Prison! - -An account by another American, Andrew Sherburne, published at Utica, in -1825, of a sojourn in Mill Prison in 1781, is quoted only for his -remarks on the hospital system, which do not accord with those of other -writers. He says: - -‘However inhuman and tyrannical the British Government was in other -respects, they were to be praised and respected for the suitable -provision they made for the sick in the hospitals at Mill Prison.’ - -In 1798 Vochez, the official sent to England by the French Directory to -inquire into the true state of French prisoners under our care, brought -an action against certain provision contractors for astounding breaches -of their engagements, in the shape of a system of short weightage -carried on for years, and of supplying provisions of an inferior -character. In this he was supported by Captain Lane, a travelling -inspector of prisons, and an honest official, and this, wrote Vochez, -‘despite the contradiction by a number of base and interested prisoners -brought to London for that express purpose to attack the unblemished -character of that officer.’ - -Captain Lane insisted that the Governor of the Prison should give -certificates as to the badness of the provisions supplied; this was -done, and Vochez’s case was established. The Admiralty entirely endorsed -Captain Lane’s recommendation that in every case the Governors of -Prisons should certify as to the character of provisions supplied by -contractors, highly complimented him on his action, and very heavily -mulcted the rascally contractors. Unhappily, the vile system was far -from being abolished. The interests of too many influential people were -linked with those of the contractors for a case such as the above to be -more than a flash in the pan, and the prison contractors continued to -flourish until the very end of the Great War period. - -In 1799 Mill Prison was practically rebuilt, and became known as -Millbay. The condition of it at this time seems to have been very bad. -It was said that some of the poor inmates were so weak for lack of -proper food that they fell from their hammocks and broke their necks, -that supplies of bedding and clothing were only to be had from -‘capitalists’ among the prisoners, who had bought them from the -distribution officers and sold them at exorbitant rates. - -In 1806, at the instance of some Spanish prisoners in Millbay, a firm of -provision contractors was heavily mulcted upon proof that for a long -time past they had systematically sent in stores of deficient quality. - -In 1807 the Commissioners of the Transport Office refused an application -that French prisoners at Millbay should be allowed to manufacture -worsted gloves for H.M.’s 87th Regiment, on the grounds that, if -allowed, it would seriously interfere with our own manufacturing -industry, and further, would lead to the destruction by the prisoners of -their blankets and other woollen articles in order to provide materials -for the work. - -I now proceed to give a very interesting account of prisoner life in -Millbay Prison from Édouard Corbière’s book, _Le Négrier_. - -When a lad of fifteen, Corbière was captured on the _Val de Grâce_ -privateer by H.M.S. _Gibraltar_, in 1807. The _Val de Grâce_ must have -been a very small craft, for not only did she not show fight, but the -_Gibraltar_ simply sent off a boat’s crew, made fast hawsers and -tackles, and hoisted the Frenchman bodily on board. Corbière and his -fellows were sent to Millbay. Before describing his particular -experiences, he gives a page or so to a scathing picture of our shore -prisons, but he impressively accentuates the frightful depravity brought -about by the sufferings endured, and says that nobody who had not lived -in an English war-prison could realize the utter depths of wickedness to -which men could fall. At Millbay, he says, the _forts à bras_ ruled all -by mere brute strength. Victories at fights or wrestling matches were -celebrated by procession round the airing grounds, and the successful -men formed the ‘Government’ of the _Pré_, as the airing ground was -called, regulating the gambling, deciding disputes, officiating at -duels—of which there were many, the weapons being razors or compass -points fixed on the ends of sticks—and generally exercising despotic -sway. They were usually topsmen and sailors. The _Romains_ were the -pariahs at Millbay, and the _Rafalés_ the lowest of all, naked rascals -who slept in ranks, spoon fashion, as described elsewhere. - -The usual industries were carried on at Millbay. Much money was made by -the straw plaiters and workers, some of the latter earning 18 sous a -day. But the straw ‘capitalists’, the men who bought straw wholesale -through the soldiers of the guard, and who either employed workers -themselves, or sold the straw to other employers, accumulated fortunes, -says Corbière, of from 30,000 to 40,000 francs. There were teachers of -sciences, languages, music, dancing and fencing. There were -eating-cabins where a ‘beef steak’ could be got for four sous. There -were theatrical performances, but not of the same character or quality -as, for instance, at Portchester. - -On Sundays, as at Stapleton, the prayers of the Mass were read. Each -province was particular in observing its own festivals—Basques and -Bretons notably. - -A great many ‘broke-paroles’ were here, and, Corbière remarks, the -common sailors took advantage of their fallen position and -ostentatiously treated them as equals, and even as inferiors. Not so the -soldiers, who punctiliously observed the distinctions of rank; and there -were even instances of private soldiers helping officers not used to -manual labour to supplement their daily rations. - -Corbière also emphasizes the fact that, notwithstanding the depth of -degradation to which the prisoners sank among themselves, they always -preserved a proud attitude towards strangers, and never begged of -visitors and sight-seers. - -In the prison, regular Courts of Justice were held, the chief _maître -d’armes_ being generally elected President _if he could read_. The Court -was held within the space of twelve hammocks, shut in by hangings of old -cloth. The only ordinary punishment was flogging, but a very terrible -exception was made in the following case. One of the grandest and -boldest projects for escape from a war-prison which had ever been -conceived had been secretly proceeded with at Millbay for some time. It -consisted of a tunnel no less than 532 yards long (Corbière’s words are -‘half a quarter league’, and the French league of this time measured 2 -miles 743 yards) coming out in a field, by which the whole of the 5,000 -prisoners were to get away after overcoming and disarming the guard. The -enormous quantity of earth excavated was carried by the workers in their -pockets and emptied into the latrines, and although I give the account -as written, I cannot repress a doubt that Corbière, who was then but a -boy, may have been mistaken in his figures, for this process alone of -emptying a tunnel, big enough to allow the passage of a man, in -continual fear of detection, must have been very long and laborious. - -At any rate one Jean Caffé sold the secret to the authorities, the -result being that on the appointed night, when the tunnel was full of -escaping prisoners, the first man to emerge at the outlet was greeted by -Scots soldiers, and the despairing cry arose, _Le trou est vendu_! - -Drums beat, the alarm brought more soldiers from Plymouth, and the -would-be escapers were put back into prison, but, so maddened were they -at the failure at the eleventh hour of their cherished plot, that they -refused to put out the lights, sang songs of defiance, and broke out -into such a riot that the guard fired into them, with what result -Corbière does not state. - -The next morning, search was made for Caffé, who no doubt had been -hidden by the authorities, and the miserable man was found with some -guineas in his pocket. The rage of his countrymen was the deeper because -Caffé had always been regarded as a poor, witless sort of fellow, for -whom everybody had pity, and who existed upon the charity of others, and -the cry arose that he should be at once put to death. But the chief of -the _Pré_, who happened to be Corbière’s captain on the _Val de Grâce_, -and of whom more anon, said ‘Non! Il faut auparavant le flétrir!’ - -So Caffé was dragged before the entire assembly of prisoners. A -professional tattooer then shaved his head, laid him on a table, and -held him down whilst on his forehead was pricked: ‘Flétri pour avoir -VENDU 5000 de ses camarades dans la nuit du 4 Septembre 1807.’ - -This accomplished, he was taken to a well, thrown down it, and stones -hurled on him until he was hidden from sight, and his cries could be -heard no more. Corbière adds that, so far from the authorities trying to -stop this summary execution, the British commander said that it served -him right, and that he would have done the same. - -Ivan, the privateer captain who had been chief official at the foregoing -execution, had won his position as a _Chef de Pré_ in the following way. -He was dancing at a ball in Calais when the news was brought him that a -rich British prize had been sighted, and without stopping to change his -costume, he had hurried on board the _Val de Grâce_, so that the prize -should not escape him. Hence, when captured by the _Gibraltar_, he was -in full dancing kit,—laced coat, ruffles, silk stockings and all—and in -the same garb had been introduced into Millbay Prison, much to the -amusement of his fellow countrymen. Particularly did he attract the -attention of the chief _fort à bras_, who had a good deal to say about -carpet knight and armchair sailor, which was so distasteful to Ivan that -he challenged him, fought him, and half-killed him. The result of which -was that the same night he was elected a _Chef de Pré_ with much pomp -and circumstance. Furthermore, discovering among the prisoners old -comrades of the _Sans Façon_ privateer, they elected him head cook, a -position in the prison of no small consideration. - -Now Mr. Milliken, purser of the prison, had a pretty wife who took such -a fancy to the handsome, dashing young French privateer captain that she -made him a present of a New Testament, although it was well she did not -hear his description of it as ‘le beau fichu cadeau’. At the same time -Milliken, socially superior, Corbière remarks, to his wife, pitying the -boy (Corbière himself) thus thrust by fate at the very threshold of his -life into the wild, wicked world of a war-prison, offered him employment -in his office, which he gladly accepted, going there every day, but -returning every night to the prison. Milliken’s office was on the ground -floor of his dwelling-house, and Mrs. Milliken with her servant Sarah -were constantly in and out, the result being that the boy became very -friendly with them, and their chief object seemed to be to make his life -as happy as possible, the only cloud upon it being his separation every -day from Ivan, for whom he had an affection bordering upon idolatry. For -weeks Corbière had the happiest of lives, indulged in every way by Mrs. -Milliken, and made much of by her visitors, to most of whom a lively, -intelligent, French lad was a refreshing novelty. To dress him up in -feminine attire was a favourite amusement of the ladies, ‘and’, says -Corbière, ‘they were good enough to say that, except for my rolling -gait, begot of a lifetime spent afloat, I should pass well for a -distinguished-looking girl.’ - -One morning Mrs. Milliken gave him bad news. Ivan had escaped from the -prison. He says: ‘Whatever feeling I had of gladness that my dear friend -was out of prison, was smothered not merely by the sense of my own -desolate position, but by surprise that he should have left me.’ - -A day or two later a young woman appeared at the back door of the -Millikens’ house, which gave on to the street, looked around cautiously -for a few moments, and then rapidly passed down the street. It was -Corbière. It was a daring move, and it was not long before he wished he -had not made it, for Plymouth streets in these piping war-times were no -place for a respectable girl, and no doubt his flurried, anxious look, -and palpable air of being a stranger, commanded unusual attention. -Whither he was going he had no idea, and for an hour he went through -what he confesses to have been one of the severest trials of a life full -of adventure and ordeal. He was on the point of trying to find his way -back to the Millikens’ house, when an old Jew man, with a bag over his -shoulder, brushed against him, and at the same time whispered his name. -It was Ivan. The boy could have shouted for joy, but Ivan impressed -silence, and motioned him to follow. Arrived at Stonehouse, Ivan paused -at a house, whispered to Corbière to walk on, return, and enter, and -went in himself. This was done, and Corbière describes how, when at last -together in the house, they unrestrainedly indulged their joy at being -again together, and Ivan explained how both of their escapes had been -arranged by Mrs. Milliken. Then Ivan detailed his plan for getting out -of England. He had thirty false one-pound notes, manufactured in Millbay -Prison, which he had bought for a guinea, and the next day they would -start off on foot for Bigbury, about fifteen miles distant, on the -coast, near which they would charter a smuggler to take them across. - -That evening they went into the town to make a few necessary purchases, -and in his delight at being free again, Ivan proposed that they should -go to the theatre at Plymouth Dock. They did, and it nearly proved the -undoing of them, for some American sailors were there who naturally -regarded as fair game a nice-looking, attractively dressed girl in the -company of a bearded old Jew, and paid Corbière attentions which became -so marked as to provoke Ivan, the result being a row, in the course of -which Ivan’s false beard was torn off, and Corbière’s dress much -deranged, and the cry of ‘Runaway prisoners!’ beginning to be heard, the -two rushed out of the theatre, and through the streets, until they were -in the open country. - -They spent the night, which luckily was warm and fine, in a ditch, and -the next morning saw an anchored boat riding close in shore. They swam -out and boarded her, and found that there were rudder and oars chained, -but no sails or mast. Ivan broke the chain, and rigged up some of -Corbière’s female clothes on an oar, for sail and mast. Some days ensued -of much suffering from hunger and thirst, as, being without bearings, -they simply steered by the sun, south-east, and at last they were -sighted and picked up by the _Gazelle_, French ‘aventurier’, of St. -Malo, and in her went to Martinique. - -In 1809 the Transport Office, in reply to French prisoners at Millbay -asking leave to give fencing lessons outside the prison, refused, adding -that only officers of the guard were allowed to take fencing lessons -from prisoners, and those in the prison. - -In 1811 a dozen prisoners daubed themselves all over with mortar, and -walked out unchallenged as masons. Five were retaken. Another man -painted his clothes like a British military uniform, and got away, as he -deserved to. - -In 1812 additional buildings to hold 2,000 persons were erected at -Millbay. - -In 1813 a notable scene, indicative of the prevalence occasionally of a -nice feeling between foes, was witnessed at Millbay, at the funeral of -Captain Allen of the United States ship _Argus_, who had died of wounds -received in the action with the _Pelican_. Allen had been first -lieutenant of the _United States_ in her victorious action with the -British _Macedonian_, and had received his promotion for his bravery in -that encounter. Moreover, all the British prisoners taken by him -testified to his humanity and kindness. A contemporary newspaper says: - - -‘The Funeral Procession as it moved from the Mill Prison to the Old -Church, afforded a scene singularly impressive to the prisoners, who -beheld with admiration the respect paid by a gallant, conquering enemy -to the fallen hero. 500 British Marines first marched in slow time, with -arms reversed; the band of the Plymouth Division of Marines followed, -playing the most solemn tunes. An officer of Marines in military -mourning came after these. Two interesting black boys, the servants of -the deceased, then preceded the hearse. One of these bore his master’s -sword, and the other his hat. Eight American officers followed the -hearse, and the procession was closed with a number of British Naval -officers. - -‘On the arrival of the body at the Old Church, it was met by the -officiating Minister, and three volleys over the grave closed the -scene.’ - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII - THE PRISONS ASHORE - 10. DARTMOOR - -In July 1805, the Transport Office, impressed by the serious crowding of -war-prisoners on the hulks at Plymouth and in the Millbay Prison, -requested their representative, Mr. Daniel Alexander, to meet the Hon. -E. Bouverie, at the house of Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt, warden of the -Stannaries, at Tor Royal, with the view of choosing a site for a great -war-prison to hold 5,000 men. - -Mr. Baring-Gould more than hints that the particular spot chosen owed -its distinction entirely to the personal interests of Sir Thomas. Says -he: - - -‘It is on the most inclement site that could have been selected, -catching the clouds from the South West, and condensing fog about it -when everything else is clear. It is exposed equally to the North and -East winds. It stands over 1,400 feet above the sea, above the sources -of the Meavy, in the highest as well as least suitable situation that -could have been selected; the site determined by Sir Thomas, so as to be -near his granite quarries.’ - - -On March 20, 1806, the first stone was laid; on May 24, 1809, the first -prisoners came to it; in July the first two prisoners got out of it by -bribing the sentries, men of the Notts Militia. The Frenchmen were -recaptured, one at a place called ‘The Jumps’, the other at Kingsbridge. -The soldiers, four in number, confessed they had received eight guineas -each for their help, and two of them were condemned to be shot. - -[Illustration: - -DARTMOOR WAR-PRISON, IN 1812. - -FROM A SKETCH SIGNED ‘JOHN WETHEMS’ IN THE PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE. -(_Reproduced by kind permission of Mr. Basil Thomson and Col. Winn._) - -KEY TO THE PLAN. - - 1A Prison. - - 2A Prison. - - 3A Prison. - - 4A Prison. - - 5A Prison. - - 6A Prison. (New Building). - - 7A Prison. (New Building). - - B Cookeries. - - C Cachot or Dungeon. - - D Watch-houses. - - E Basins. - - F Petty Officers’ Prison. - - G Market-place. - - H Hospital. - - I Receiving-house. - - J Pharmacy. - - K Bathing-place. - - L Matron’s House. - - M Washing-house. - - N Storage. - - N Store-houses. - - O Storage. - - P Jailor’s Lodgings - - Q Jailor’s Lodge. - - R1 Mr. Holmden’s (Clerk) House. - - R2 Mr. Bennet’s House. - - R3 Mr. Winkworth’s House. - - S Captain Cotgrave’s House. - - T Agent’s Office. - - U Agent’s Garden. - - V Doctor’s House. - - W Doctor’s Garden. - - X Stables. - - Y Reservoir. - - Z Barracks. - - 1 Mr. Carpenter’s House. - - 2 Bakehouse. - - 3 Bell. - - 4 Miller’s House. - - 5 Burial-ground. - - 6 Dead-house. - - 7 Military Walk. - - 8 Ramparts. - - 9 Iron Rails, inside of which prisoners are confined. - - 10 Streams of water running from the reservoir. - - 11 Tavistock Road. - - 12 Princetown Road. - - 13 Morton Road. - - 14 Prison where Mr. V. made his first entry on December 12, 1811, with - the track. - - 15 Prison where Mr. V. lives now, and track of walk allowed. - - 16 Mr. V. has liberty to go as far as 5th _Gate_. - - 17 New latter wall, is a mile in circumference. - -] - -Thirty acres were enclosed by stone walls, the outer of which was -sixteen feet high,[10] and was separated by a broad military way from -the inner wall, which was hung with bells on wires connected with all -the sentry boxes dotted along it. One half of the circle thus enclosed -was occupied by five huge barracks, each capable of holding more than -1,000 men, with their airing grounds and shelters for bad weather, their -inner ends converging on a large open space, where was held the market. -Each barrack consisted of two floors, and above the top floor ran, the -length of the building, a roof room, designed for use when the weather -was too bad even for the outdoor shelters, but, as we shall see, -appropriated for other purposes. On each floor, a treble tier of -hammocks was slung upon cast-iron pillars. Each barrack had its own -airing ground, supply of running water, and Black Hole. The other -half-circle was occupied by two spacious blocks, one the hospital, the -other the petty officers’ prison, by the officials’ quarters, the -kitchen, washing-houses, and other domestic offices, and outside the -main, the Western Gate, the barrack for 400 soldiers and the officers’ -quarters. The cost of the prison was £135,000. - -By the foreign prisoners of war Dartmoor was regarded, and not without -reason, as the most hateful of all the British prisons. At Norman Cross, -at Stapleton, at Perth, at Valleyfield, at Forton, at Millbay, they were -at any rate within sight and hearing of the outer world. Escape from any -one of these places was, of course, made as difficult as possible, but -when once an exit was effected, the rest was comparatively easy. But -escape from Dartmoor meant very much more than the mere evading of -sentries, the breaching and scaling of walls, or the patient labour of -underground burrowing. When all this was accomplished the fugitive found -himself not in a crowded city, where he could be lost to sight among the -multitude, nor in the open country where starvation was at any rate -impossible, nor by a water highway to freedom, nor, in short, in a world -wherein he could exercise his five senses with at least a chance of -success; but in the wildest, most solitary, most shelterless, most -pathless, and, above all, most weather-tormented region of Britain. Any -one who has tried to take his bearings in a Dartmoor fog, or who has -been caught by a Dartmoor snowstorm at the fall of day can realize this; -those who have not had one or other of these experiences, cannot do -better than read _The American Prisoner_, by Mr. Eden Phillpotts. - -More than this: at the other prisons a more or less sympathetic public -was near at hand which kept the prisoners in touch with the free life -without, even if many of its members were merely curious gapers and -gazers, or purchasers of manufactures. At Dartmoor the natives who came -to the prison gates, came only to sell their produce. Being natives of a -remote district, they were generally prejudiced against the prisoners, -and Farmer Newcombe’s speech in Mr. Phillpotts’ _Farm of the Dagger_, -accurately reproduces the sentiments prevalent among them: - - -‘Dartymoor’s bettern they deserve anyway. I should like to know what’s -too bad for them as makes war on us. ’Tis only naked savages, I should -have thought, as would dare to fight against the most civilized and -God-fearing nation in the world.’ - - -Finally, it is much to be feared that the jacks-in-office and petty -officials at Dartmoor, secure in their seclusion as they thought, were -exacting and tyrannical to a degree not ventured upon in other places of -confinement more easily accessible to the light of inspection, and -unsurrounded by a desert air into which the cries of anguish and -distress would rise in vain. - -All the same, it was not long before the condition of prison life in -Dartmoor became known, even in high places. - -In July 1811, the _Independent Whig_ published revelations of the state -of Dartmoor which caused Lord Cochrane, member for Westminster, to bring -the facts before the notice of the House of Commons, but he expressed -his disappointment that his exposure had been without result, asserting -that the Government was afraid of losing what little character it had. -He declared that the soil of Dartmoor was one vast marsh, and was most -pestilential. Captivity, said he, was irksome enough without the -addition of disease and torture. He asserted that the prison had been -built for the convenience of the town, and not the town for the -convenience of the prison, inasmuch as the town was a speculative -project which had failed. ‘Its inhabitants had no market, were solitary, -insulated, absorbed, and buried in their own fogs.’ To remedy this it -was necessary to do something, and so came about the building of the -prison. - -The article in the _Independent Whig_ which attracted Lord Cochrane’s -attention was as follows: - - -‘To foreigners, bred for the most part in a region the temperature of -which is so comparatively pure to the air of our climate at the best of -times, a transition so dreadful must necessarily have fatal -consequences, and indeed it is related that the prisoners commonly take -to their beds at the first arrival, which nothing afterwards can induce -them to quit.... Can it bear reflection, much less inspection? Six or -seven thousand human beings, deprived of liberty by the chance of war -... consigned to linger out probably many tedious years in misery and -disease! - -‘While we declaim against the injustice and tyranny of our neighbours, -shall we neglect the common duties of humanity? If we submit to crowd -our dungeons with the virtuous and the just of our country, confounding -moral guilt with unintentional error, and subjecting them to -indiscriminate punishment and the most inhuman privations, though we -submit to this among ourselves, do not let us pursue the same system -towards individuals thrown on our compassion by the casualties of war, -lest we provoke a general spirit of retaliation, and plunge again the -civilized world into the vortex of Barbarism. Let us not forget that the -prisoner is a living trust in our hands, not to be subject to the -wayward fancy of caprice, but a deposit placed at our disposal to be -required at a future hour. It is a solemn charge, involving the care of -life and the principle of humanity.’ - - -‘Humanitas’ wrote in the _Examiner_, commenting upon Whitbread’s defence -and laudation of Dartmoor as a residence, and amazed at the selection of -such a place as the site for a prison: - - -‘The most inclement climate in England; for nine months there is no sun, -and four and a half times as much rain as in Middlesex. The regiments on -duty there have to be changed every two months. Were not the deaths -during the first three years 1,000 a year, and 3,000 sick? Did not from -500 to 600 die in the winter of 1809? Is it not true that since some -gentlemen visited the prison and published their terrible experiences, -nobody has been allowed inside?’ - - -The writer goes on, not so much to condemn the treatment of the -prisoners as to blame the Government for spending so much money on such -a site. - -The Transport Office took counsel’s opinion about prosecuting these two -newspapers for libel. It was as follows: - - -‘In my opinion both these papers are libellous. The first is the -strongest, but if the statement of deaths in the other is, as I conceive -it is, wholly unsupported by the fact, this is equally mischievous. It -is not, however, by any means clear to me that a jury will take the same -view of the subject, ... but unless some serious consequences are to be -apprehended from suffering these publications to go unnoticed, I should -not be inclined to institute prosecutions upon them. - - V. GIBBS.’ - - -Later on, Vicary Gibbs thinks that they should be prosecuted, but wants -information about the heavy mortality of November 1809 to April 1810, -and also tables of comparison between the deaths in our own barracks and -those in French prisons. - -I cannot trace the sequel of this, but, reading by the light of the -times, it is probable that the matter was hushed up in the same way as -were the exposures of Messrs. Batchelor and Andrews at Stapleton a few -years previously. The heavy mortality of the six months of 1809–10 was -due to an epidemic of measles, which carried off no less than 419 -persons in the four months of 1810 alone. - -Violent deaths among Dartmoor prisoners, whether from suicide or duel or -murder, were so frequent, even in the earliest years of the prison, that -in 1810 the coroner of this division of the county complained, praying -that on account of the large numbers of inquests held—greater, he said, -since the opening of the prison than during the preceding fourteen -years—the ordinary allowance to jurors of 8_d._ per man be increased to -1_s._ He emphasized the difficulty of collecting jurors, these being -principally small farmers and artificers, who had in most cases to -travel long distances. The Parish of Lydford paid the fees, and the -coroner’s request was granted. - -From the _Story of Dartmoor Prison_ by Mr. Basil Thomson, I have, with -the kind permission of the author, taken many of the following facts, -and with these I have associated some from the pen of the French writer, -Catel. - -In the preface to the latter’s book we read: - - -‘About six leagues to the North of Plymouth, under a dark and melancholy -sky, in a cold and foggy atmosphere, a rocky, dry and almost naked soil, -covered eight months of the year with a mantle of snow, shuts in a space -of some square leagues. This appearance strikes the view, and -communicates a sort of bitterness to the soul. Nature, more than -indifferent in complete stagnation, seems to have treated with -avaricious parsimony this corner of land, without doubt the ugliest in -England. It is in this place, where no human thought dare hope for the -smallest betterment, that British philanthropy conceived and executed -the double project of building a prison in time of war for French -prisoners, in time of Peace for her own criminals condemned to penal -servitude. Comment is needless. The reader will appreciate the double -humanitarian thought which is apparent in its conception.’ - - -Mr. Thomson informs us that the present Infirmary was the old petty -officers’ prison. Here were confined officers who had broken their -parole and who had been recaptured. Some of Rochambeau’s San Domingo -officers were here, and the building was known as the ‘Petit -Cautionnement’. As most of the officers here had private means, they -formed a refined little society, dressed and lived well, and had -servants to attend on them, taken from the ordinary prisoners, who were -paid 3_d._ a day. Duels were frequent. In 1809, on the occasion of some -national or provincial festival, there was a procession with band and -banners. One Souville, a _maître d’armes_, felt himself slighted because -he had not been chosen to carry the national flag, and snatched it from -a youth of eighteen, to whom it had been entrusted. The youth attacked -him with his fists and gave him a thrashing, which so enraged the other, -whose _métier_ was that of arms, that he challenged him. The youth could -not fence, but as the weapons were sticks with razor-blades affixed, -this was not of serious moment. Souville, however, cut one of the -youth’s fingers off. - -In 1812 two prisoners fought with improvised daggers with such ferocity -that both died before they could be carried to the hospital. In 1814, -two fencing masters, hitherto great friends, quarrelled over the merits -of their respective pupils, and fought with fists. The beaten man, Jean -Vignon, challenged the other to a more real trial by combat, and they -fought in the ‘cock-loft’ of No. 4 Prison—where are now the kitchen and -chapel. Vignon killed his opponent while the latter was stooping to pick -up his foil, was brought up before the civil court, and condemned to six -months for manslaughter. - -Every day, except Sunday, a market was held from nine to twelve. Here, -in exchange for money and produce, the prisoners sold the multifarious -articles of their manufacture, excepting woollen mittens and gloves, -straw hats or bonnets, shoes, plaited straw, obscene toys and pictures, -or articles made out of prison stores. - -The chief punishment was relegation to the _cachot_ or Black Hole. At -first this was a small building in the Infirmary Yard of such poor -construction that it was frequent for the inmates to break out of it and -mix with the other prisoners. But in 1811 the French prisoners built a -new one, twenty feet square, arch-roofed, and with a floor of granite -blocks weighing a ton each. - -Some escapes from Dartmoor were notable, one, indeed, so much so that I -have given the hero of it, Louis Vanhille, a chapter to himself. -Sevegran, a naval surgeon, and Aunay, a naval officer, observing that -fifty men were marched into the prison every evening to help the -turnkeys to get the prisoners into their respective _casernes_, made -unto themselves Glengarry caps and overcoats out of odds and ends of -cloth and blanket and, with strips of tin to look like bayonets, calmly -fell in at the rear of the guard as they left the prison, and, favoured -by rain and darkness, followed out of the prison, and, as the troops -marched into barracks, got away. They had money, so from -Plymouth—whither they tramped that night—they took coach to London. In -order that they should have time to get well away, their accomplices in -the prison at the call-over the next morning got up a disturbance which -put the turnkey out of his reckoning, and so they were not at once -missed. - -Next evening, three other prisoners, Keronel, Vasselin, and Cherabeau, -tried the same trick. All went well. At the third gate, the keeper asked -if the locking-up was finished, and as there was no reply he said: ‘All -these lobsters are deaf with their caps over their ears.’ The men -escaped. - -Dr. Walker quotes an attempt of a similar character from Norman Cross: - - -‘A French prisoner made himself a complete uniform of the Hertfordshire -Militia, and a wooden gun, stained, surmounted by a tin bayonet. Thus -equipped, he mixed with the guard, and when they were ordered to march -out, having been relieved, Monsieur fell in and marched out too. Thus -far he was fortunate, but when arrived at the guard room, lo! what -befell him. - -‘His new comrades ranged their muskets on the rack, and he endeavoured -to follow their example; but, as his wooden piece was unfortunately a -few inches too long, he was unable to place it properly. This was -observed, so of course his attempt to get away was frustrated.’ - - -The bribing of sentries was a very necessary condition of escape. One or -two pounds would generally do it, and it was through the sky-light of -the ‘cock-lofts’ that the prisoners usually got out of the locked-up -barracks. - -In February 1811, four privates of the Notts Militia were heavily bribed -for the escape of two French officers. One of them, thinking he was -unfairly treated in the division of the money, gave information, and a -picket was in waiting for the escaping Frenchmen. The three men were -sentenced to 900 lashes each. Two were pardoned, but one, who had given -the prisoners fire-arms, got 450. - -In March, 1812, Edward Palmer, a ‘moorman,’ was fined £5 and got twelve -months’ imprisonment for procuring a disguise for a French prisoner -named Bellaird. - -Early in the same year three prisoners escaped with the connivance of a -Roscommon Militiaman. The sequel moves one’s pity. Pat was paid in -bank-notes. He offered them for exchange, and, to his amazement, was -informed not only that he could receive nothing for them, but that he -must consider himself under arrest for uttering forged notes. It was too -true. The three Frenchmen had paid him handsomely in notes fabricated by -one Lustique. The Irishman would not say where he got the notes, and it -really did not matter, for if he had admitted that he received them as -the price of allowing French prisoners to escape, he would have been -flogged to death: as it was, he and Lustique were hanged. - -Forgery was a prominent Dartmoor industry. Bank of England notes were -forged to some extent, but local banks such as Grant, Burbey and Co. of -Portsmouth, Harris, Langholme, and Harris of Plymouth, the Plymouth -Commercial Bank, the Tamar Bank, the Launceston and Totnes Bank, were -largely victimized. To such an extent were these frauds carried out that -it was ordered that an official should attend at the prison market to -write his name on all notes offered by prisoners in payment for goods -received. - -It was no doubt with reference to the local knowledge of soldiers on -guard being valuable to intending escapes from the prison that the -authorities refused the application of the 1st Devon Militia to be on -guard at Dartmoor, as there were ‘several strong objections to the men -of that regiment being employed’. - -There were distinct grades among the Dartmoor prisoners. First came ‘Les -Lords’—‘broke parole’ officers, and people with money. Next came ‘Les -Laboureurs’, the clever, industrious men who not only lived comfortably -by the sale of the articles they manufactured, but saved money so that -some of them left the prison at the Declaration of Peace financially -very much better off than when they came. These were the ‘respectable -prisoners’. After the labourers came the ‘Indifférents’—loafers and -idlers, but not mischief-makers or harm-workers; the ‘Misérables’, -mischievous rascals for ever plotting and planning; and finally, the -most famous of all, the ‘Romans’, so called because they existed in the -cock-loft, the ‘Capitole’, of one of the barracks. These men, almost -entirely privateersmen, the scum and sweepings of sea-port towns, or -land rascals with nothing to lose and all to gain in this world, formed -a veritable power in the prison. Gamblers to a man, they were mostly -naked, and held so faithfully to the theory of Communism, that when it -was necessary that someone should descend from the cock-loft eyrie in -order to beg, borrow, or, what was more usual, to steal food or rags, -the one pair of breeches was lent to him for the occasion. The only -hammock among them belonged to the ‘General’ or, to be more correct, was -his temporarily, for not even in Hayti were generals made and unmade -with such dispatch. The sleeping arrangement was that, mention of which -has already been made, known as the ‘spoon’ system, by which the naked -men lay so close together for warmth that the turn-over of the ranks had -to be made at certain intervals by word of command. Catel tells an -excellent story of the ‘Romans’. These gentry held a parade on one of -the anniversaries, and were drawn up in order when a fine plump rat -appeared on the airing ground—a new arrival, clearly, or he would have -kept carefully away. This was too much for half-famished men; the ranks -were instantly broken and the chase began. As luck would have it, the -rat ran into the garrison kitchens, where the day’s rations were being -prepared, and in a very few minutes the pots and pans were cleared of -their contents. Soldiers were at once hurried to the scene, but being -few in number they were actually overpowered and disarmed by the -‘Romans’, who marched them to the Governor’s house. Here the ‘General’, -with a profound salute, spoke as follows: - - -‘Sir, we have come here to deliver over to you our prisoners and their -arms. It is a happy little occurrence this, as regards your soldiers, -quiet now as sheep. We beg, you, therefore, to grant them as reward -double rations, and to make up the loss we have caused in the provisions -of our honoured visitors.’ - - -Catel adds that the rat was caught and eaten raw! - -Gradually, their violence and their thieving propensities made them a -terror to the other prisoners; the Americans, in particular, objected to -their filthy habits, and at length their conduct became so intolerable -that they were marched off to the Plymouth hulks, on which they were -kept until the Peace of 1814. - -It is an interesting fact that when an epidemic swept the prisons and -carried off the decent and cleanly by hundreds, the impregnable -dirt-armour of the ‘Romans’ kept them unscathed. This epidemic was the -terrible visitation of malignant measles which from November 1809 to -April 1810 inclusive, claimed about 400 victims out of 5,000 prisoners. -The burial-ground was in the present gas-house field; the mortuary, -where the bodies were collected for burial, was near the present General -Hospital. No funeral rites were observed, and not more than a foot of -earth heaped over the bodies. - -Catel also relates a very clever and humorous escape. Theatricals were -largely patronized at Dartmoor, as in the other prisons. A piece -entitled _Le Capitaine Calonne et sa dame_ was written in eulogy of a -certain British garrison officer and his lady, and, being shown to them -in manuscript, so flattered and delighted them, that, in order that the -piece should not lack local colour at the opening performance, the -Captain offered to lend a British suit of regimentals, and his lady to -provide a complete toilette, for the occasion. - -These, of course, were gladly accepted. The theatre was crowded, and the -new piece was most successful, until the opening of the third act, when -the manager stepped forward, and, amidst whistles and catcalls, said: -‘Messieurs, the play is finished. The English Captain and his lady are -out of the prison.’ This was true. During the second act the -prisoner-Captain and his lady quietly passed out of the prison, being -saluted by guards and sentries, and got away to Tavistock. Catel relates -with gusto the adventure of the real captain and his wife with the said -guards and sentinels, who swore that they had left the prison some time -before. - -The delight of the prisoners can be pictured, and especially when it was -rumoured two days later that the real Captain received his uniform, and -his lady her dress, in a box with a polite letter of thanks from the -escaped prisoners. - -An escape of a similar character to the foregoing was effected from one -of the Portsmouth hulks. On one occasion a prisoner acted the part of a -female so naturally, that an English naval Captain was deceived -completely. He proposed to the supposed girl to elope. The pseudo-maiden -was nothing loth, and (said the late Rev. G. N. Godwin in a lecture from -which I take this) there is an amusing sketch showing the Captain in -full uniform passing the gangway with the lady on his arm, the sentry -presenting arms meanwhile. Of course, when the gallant officer -discovered his mistake, there was nothing for it but to assist in the -escape of the astute prisoner. - -In 1812, Hageman, the bread contractor, was brought up for fraudulent -dealing, and was mulcted in £3,000, others concerned in the transactions -being imprisoned for long terms. - -I am glad to be able to ring a change in the somewhat monotonous tone of -the prisoners’ complaints, inasmuch as American prisoners have placed on -record their experiences: one of them, Andrews, in a very comprehensive -and detailed form. - -From the autumn of 1812 to April of 1813, there were 900 American -prisoners at Chatham, 100 at Portsmouth, 700 at Plymouth, ‘most of them -destitute of clothes and swarming with vermin.’ On April 2, 1813, the -Transport Board ordered them all to Dartmoor, no doubt because of their -ceaseless attempts to escape from the hulks. They were horrified, for -they knew it to have the reputation of being the worst prison in -England. - -From the Plymouth hulks _Hector_ and _Le Brave_, 250 were landed at New -Passage, and marched the seventeen miles to Dartmoor, where were already -5,000 French prisoners. On May 1, 1813, Cotgrave, the Governor, ordered -all the American prisoners to be transferred to No. 4 _caserne_, where -were already 900 French ‘Romans’. - -[Illustration: - - DARTMOOR. THE ORIGINAL MAIN ENTRANCE. - - (_From a sketch by the Author._) -] - -The garrison at Dartmoor consisted of from 1,200 to 1,500 men, who, says -Andrews, without the smallest foundation of fact, had been told off for -this duty as punishment for offences. The truth is, that as our small -regular army was on duty in many places elsewhere, the Militia had to be -drawn upon for the garrisoning of war-prisons, and that on account of -the many ‘pickings’ to be had, war-prison duty was rather sought than -shunned. The garrison was frequently changed at all the war-prisons for -no other reason than that between guards and guarded an undesirable -intimacy usually developed. - -The American prisoners, who, throughout the war, were generally of a -superior type to the Frenchmen, very much resented this association of -them with the low-class ruffians in No. 4. I may here quote Mr. Eden -Phillpotts’s remarks in his _Farm of the Dagger_. - - -‘There is not much doubt that these earlier prisoners of war suffered -very terribly. Their guards feared them more than the French. From the -hulks came warnings of their skill and ingenuity, their courage, and -their frantic endeavours to regain liberty. The American Agent for -Prisoners of War at Plymouth, one Reuben Beasley, was either a knave or -a fool, and never have unhappy sufferers in this sort endured more from -a callous, cruel, or utterly inefficient and imbecile representative. -With sleepless rigour and severity were the Americans treated in that -stern time; certain advantages and privileges permitted to the French at -Princetown were at first denied them, and to all their petitions, -reasonable complaints, and remonstrances, the egregious Beasley turned a -deaf ear, while the very medical officer at the gaol at that season -lacked both knowledge of medicine and humanity, and justified his -conduct with falsehood before he was removed from office.’ - - -Theirs was indeed a hard lot. This last-mentioned brute, Dyer, took note -of no sickness until it was too far gone to be treated, and refused -patients admission to the hospital until the last moment: for fear, he -said, of spreading the disease. They were, as Mr. Phillpotts says, -denied many privileges and advantages allowed to Frenchmen of the lowest -class; they were shut out from the usual markets, and had to buy through -the French prisoners, at 25 per cent. above market prices. - -On May 18, 1813, 250 more Americans came from the _Hector_ hulk, and on -July 1, 100 more. - -July 4, 1813, was a dark day in the history of the prison. The -Americans, with the idea of getting up an Independence Day celebration, -got two flags and asked permission to hold a quiet festival. Captain -Cotgrave, the Governor, refused, and sent the guard to confiscate the -flags. Resistance was offered; there was a struggle and one of the flags -was captured. In the evening the disturbance was renewed, an attempt was -made to recapture the flag, the guard fired upon the prisoners and -wounded two. The feeling thus fostered burst out into a flame on July -10, when the ‘Romans’ in the two upper stories of No. 4 Prison collected -weapons of all sorts, and attacked the Americans unexpectedly, with the -avowed purpose of killing them all. A terrible encounter was the result, -in the midst of which the guards charged in and separated the two -parties, but not until forty on both sides had been badly wounded. After -this a wall fifteen feet high was built to divide the airing ground of -No. 4. - -Andrews describes the clothing of the prisoners as consisting of a cap -of wool, one inch thick and coarser than rope yarn, a yellow jacket—not -large enough to meet round the smallest man, although most of the -prisoners were reduced by low living to skeletons—with the sleeves -half-way up the arms, a short waistcoat, pants tight to the middle of -the shin, shoes of list with wooden soles one and a half inches thick. - -An epidemic of small-pox broke out; complaints poured in to Beasley -about the slack attention paid to it, about the overcrowding, the -consequent vermin, and the frauds of the food contractors, but without -results. Then came remonstrances about the partiality shown in giving -all lucrative offices to French prisoners, that is to say, positions -such as one sweeper to every 100 men at threepence a day, one cook to -every 200 at fourpence halfpenny; barber at threepence; nurses in the -hospital at sixpence—all without avail. As a rule the Americans were -glad to sell their ration of bad beef to Frenchmen, who could juggle it -into fancy dishes, and with the money they bought soap and -chewing-tobacco. - -At length Beasley came to see for himself, but although he expressed -surprise at the crowding of so many prisoners, and said he was glad he -had not to be in Dartmoor, he could promise no redress. - -Andrews alludes to the proficiency of the French prisoners in the -science of forging not only bank-notes, but shillings out of Spanish -dollars which they collected from the outside of the market, making -eight full-weight shillings out of every four dollars. The performers -were chiefly officers who had broken parole. The ordinary run of -Dartmoor prisoners, he says, somewhat surprisingly, so far from being -the miserable suffering wretches we are accustomed to picture them, were -light-hearted, singing, dancing, drinking men who in many cases were -saving money. - -[Illustration: - - WOODEN WORKING MODEL OF A FRENCH TRIAL SCENE - - Made by prisoners of war at Dartmoor -] - -Isaac Cotgrave he describes as a brutal Governor, who seemed to enjoy -making the lot of the prisoners in his charge as hard as possible, and -he emphasizes the cruelty of the morning out-of-door roll-call parade in -the depth of winter; but he speaks highly of the kindness and -consideration of the guards of a Scottish Militia regiment which took -over the duty. - -Hitherto the negroes, who formed no inconsiderable part of American -crews, were mixed with the white men in the prisons. A petition from the -American white prisoners that the blacks should be confined by -themselves, as they were dirty by habit and thieves by nature, was -acceded to. - -Gradually the official dread of American determination to obtain liberty -was modified, and a general freedom of intercourse was instituted which -had not been enjoyed before. A coffee-house was established, trades -sprang up, markets for tobacco, potatoes, and butter were carried on, -the old French monopoly of trade was broken down, and the American -prisoners imitated their French companions in manufacturing all sorts of -objects of use and ornament for sale. The French prisoners by this time -were quite well off, the different professors of sciences and arts -having plenty of pupils, straw-plaiting for hats bringing in threepence -a day, although it was a forbidden trade, and plenty of money being -found for theatrical performances and amusements generally. - -The condition of the Americans, too, kept pace, for Beasley presently -announced further money allowances, so that each prisoner now received -6_s._ 8_d._ per month, the result being a general improvement in outward -appearance. - -On May 20, 1814, peace with France was announced amidst the frenzied -rejoicings of the French prisoners. All Frenchmen had to produce their -bedding before being allowed to go. One poor fellow failed to comply, -and was so frantic at being turned back, that he cut his throat at the -prison gate. 500 men were released, and with them some French-speaking -American officers got away, and when this was followed by a rumour that -all the Americans were to be removed to Stapleton, where there was a -better market for manufactures, and which was far healthier than -Dartmoor, the tone of the prison was quite lively and hopeful. This -rumour, however, proved to be unfounded, but it was announced that -henceforth the prisoners would be occupied in work outside the prison -walls, such as the building of the new church, repairing roads, and in -certain trades. - -On July 3, 1814, two _Argus_ men fought. One killed the other and was -committed to Exeter for manslaughter. - -On July 4, Independence Day celebrations were allowed, and money being -comparatively abundant, a most successful banquet on soup and beef was -held. - -On July 8, a prisoner, James Hart, died, and over his burial-place the -following epitaph was raised: - - ‘Your country mourns your hapless fate, - So mourn we prisoners all; - You’ve paid the debt we all must pay, - Each sailor great and small. - Your body on this barren moor, - Your soul in Heaven doth rest; - Where Yankee sailors one and all, - Hereafter will be blest.’ - -The prison was much crowded in this year, 1814; in No. 4 barrack alone -there were 1,500 prisoners, and yet the new doctor, Magrath, who is -described by Andrews as being both skilful and humane, gave very strong -testimony to its healthiness. - -In reply to a general petition from the prisoners for examination into -their grievances, a Commission was sent to Dartmoor in 1813, and the -next year reported that the only complaints partially justifiable were -that of overcrowding, which was largely due to the preference of the -prisoners for the new buildings with wooden floors, which were finished -in the summer of 1812; and that of the ‘Partial Exchange’, which meant -that whereas French privateers when they captured a British ship, landed -or put the crew in a neutral ship and kept the officers, British captors -kept all. - -Two desperate and elaborate attempts at escape by tunnelling were made -by American prisoners in 1814. Digging was done in three barracks -simultaneously—from No. 4, in which there were 1,200 men, from No. 5, -which was empty, and from No. 6, lately opened and now holding 800 -men—down in each case twenty feet, and then 250 feet of tunnel in an -easterly direction towards the road outside the boundary wall. On -September 2 Captain Shortland, the new Agent, discovered it; some say it -was betrayed to him, but the prisoners themselves attributed it to -indiscreet talking. The enormous amount of soil taken out was either -thrown into the stream running through the prison, or was used for -plastering walls which were under repair, coating it with whitewash. - -When the excitement attendant on this discovery had subsided, the -indefatigable Americans got to work again. The discovered shafts having -been partially blocked by the authorities with large stones, the -plotters started another tunnel from the vacant No. 5 prison, to connect -with the old one beyond the point of stoppage. Mr. Basil Thomson has -kindly allowed me to publish an interesting discovery relative to this, -made in December, 1911: - - -‘While excavating for the foundations of the new hall at Dartmoor, which -is being built on the site of IV. A and B Prison, the excavators broke -into what proved to be one of the subterranean passages which were -secretly dug by the American prisoners in 1814 with a view to escape. -Number IV Prison, then known as Number V, was at that time empty, and, -as Charles Andrews tells us, the plan was to tunnel under the boundary -walls and then, armed with daggers forged at the blacksmith’s shop, to -emerge on a stormy night and make for Torbay, where there were believed -to be fishing boats sufficient to take them to the French coast. No one -was to be taken alive. The scheme was betrayed by a prisoner named -Bagley (of Portsmouth, New Hampshire), who, to save him from the fury of -the prisoners, was liberated and sent home.... One of these tunnels was -disclosed when the foundation of IV. C Hall were dug in 1881. The tunnel -found last month may have been the excavation made after the first shaft -had been filled up. It was 14 feet below the floor of the prison, 3 feet -in height, and 4 feet wide. More than one person explored it on hands -and knees as far as it went, which was about 20 feet in the direction of -the boundary wall. A marlin spike and a ship’s scraper of ancient -pattern were found among the débris, and are now in the Prison Museum.’ - - -At this time (Sept. 1814) there were 3,500 American prisoners at -Dartmoor, and so constant were they in their petty annoyance, almost -persecution, of their guardians; so independent were they of rules and -regulations; so constant with their petitions, remonstrances, and -complaints; so untiring in their efforts to escape; so averse to -anything like settling down and making the best of things, as did the -French, that the authorities declared they would rather be in charge of -20,000 Frenchmen than of 2,000 Americans. - -After the above-related attempts to escape, the prisoners were confined -to Nos. 2 and 3 barracks, and put on two-thirds ration allowance to pay -for damage done. - -In October, 1814, eight escaped by bribing the sentries to procure them -military coats and caps, and so getting off at night. Much amusement, -too, was caused one evening by the jangling of the alarm bells, the -hurrying of soldiers to quarters, and subsequent firing at a ‘prisoner’ -escaping over the inner wall—the ‘prisoner’ being a dummy dressed up. - -In November, 5,000 more prisoners came into the prison. There was much -suffering this winter from the cold and scanty clothing. A petition to -have fires in the barracks was refused. A man named John Taylor, a -native citizen of New York City, hanged himself in No. 5 prison on the -evening of December 1. - -Peace, which had been signed at Ghent on December 24, 1814, was declared -at Dartmoor, and occasioned general jubilation. Flags with ‘Free Trade -and Sailors’ Rights’ thereon paraded with music and cheering, and -Shortland politely requested that they should be withdrawn, but met with -a flat refusal. Unfortunately much of unhappy moment was to happen -between the date of the ratification of the Treaty of Ghent in March, -1815, and the final departure of the prisoners. Beasley was -unaccountably negligent and tardy in his arrangements for the reception -and disposal of the prisoners, so that although _de jure_ they were free -men, _de facto_ they were still detained and treated as prisoners. -Small-pox broke out, and it was only by the unwearying devotion and -activity of Dr. Magrath, the prison surgeon, that the epidemic was -checked, and that the prisoners were dissuaded from going further than -giving Beasley a mock trial and burning him in effigy. - -On April 20, 1815, 263 ragged and shoeless Americans quitted Dartmoor, -leaving 5,193 behind. The remainder followed in a few days, marching to -Plymouth, carrying a huge white flag on which was represented the -goddess of Liberty, sorrowing over the tomb of the killed Americans, -with the legend: ‘Columbia weeps and will remember!’ Before the -prisoners left, they testified their gratitude to Dr. Magrath for his -unvarying kindness to them, by an address. - -‘Greenhorn,’ another American, gives little details about prison life at -Dartmoor, which are interesting as supplementary to the fuller book of -Andrews. - -‘Greenhorn’ landed at Plymouth on January 30, 1815, after the Treaty of -Ghent had been signed, but before its ratification, and was marched via -Mannamead, Yelverton, and the Dursland Inn to Dartmoor. - -He describes the inmates of the American ‘Rough Alleys’ as corresponding -in a minor degree to the French ‘Romans’, the principal source of their -poverty being a gambling game known as ‘Keno’. - -He says—and it may be noted—that he found the food at Dartmoor good, and -more abundant than on board ship. The American prisoners kept Sunday -strictly, all buying, selling, and gambling was suspended by public -opinion, and every man dressed in his cleanest and best, and spent the -day quietly. He speaks of the great popularity of Dr. Magrath, although -he made vaccination compulsory. Ship-model making was a chief industry. -The Americans settled their differences in Anglo-Saxon fashion, the -chief fighting-ground being in Bath Alley. Announcements of these and of -all public meetings and entertainments were made by a well-known -character, ‘Old Davis,’ in improvised rhyme. Another character was the -pedlar Frank Dolphin. - -In dress, it was the aim of every one to disguise the hideous -prison-garb as much as possible, the results often being ludicrous in -the extreme. - -Everybody was more or less busy. There were schoolmasters and music -teachers, a band, a boxing academy, a dancing school, a glee-club, and a -theatre. There were straw-basket making, imitation Chinese wood-carving, -and much false coining, the lead of No. 6 roof coming in very handy for -this trade. Washermen charged a halfpenny a piece, or one penny -including soap and starch. - -No. 4 was the bad prison—the Ball Alley of the roughs. Each prison, -except No. 4, was managed by a committee of twelve, elected by the -inmates. From their decisions there was no appeal. Gambling was -universal, ranging from the penny ‘sweet-cloth’ to _Vingt-et-un_. Some -of the play was high, and money was abundant, as many of the -privateersmen had their prize-money. One man possessed £1,100 on Monday, -and on Thursday he could not buy a cup of coffee. The rule which -precluded from the privilege of parole all but the masters and first -mates of privateers of fourteen guns and upwards brought a number of -well-to-do men into the prison, and, moreover, the American Government -allowance of 2½_d._ a day for soap, coffee, and tobacco, circulated -money. - -The following notes from the _Journal of a Young Man of Massachusetts_, -Benjamin Waterhouse by name, whom we have already met on the Chatham -hulks, are included, as they add a few details of life at Dartmoor to -those already given. - -Waterhouse says: - - -‘I shall only say that I found it, take it all in all, a less -disagreeable prison than the ships; the life of a prudent, industrious, -well-behaved man might here be rendered pretty easy, for a prison life, -as was the case with some of our own countrymen and some Frenchmen; but -the young, the idle, the giddy, fun-making youth generally reaped such -fruit as he sowed. Gambling was the wide inlet to vice and disorder, and -in this Frenchmen took the lead. These men would play away everything -they possessed beyond the clothes to keep them decent. They have been -known to game away a month’s provision, and when they had lost it, would -shirk and steal for a month after for their subsistence. A man with some -money in his pocket might live pretty well through the day in Dartmoor -Prison, there being shops and stalls where every little article could be -obtained; but added to this we had a good and constant market, and the -bread and meat supplied by Government were not bad; and as good I -presume as that given to British prisoners by our own Government.’ - - -[Illustration: - - BONE MODEL OF GUILLOTINE - - Made by prisoners of war at Dartmoor -] - -He speaks very highly of the tall, thin, one-eyed Dr. Magrath, the -prison doctor, but of his Scots assistant, McFarlane, as a rough, -inhuman brute. Shortland, the governor, he describes as one who -apparently revelled in the misery and discomfort of the prisoners under -his charge, although in another place he defines him as a man, not so -much bad-hearted, as an ill-educated, tactless boor. - -Waterhouse describes the peculiarly harsh proceeding of Shortland after -the discovery of the tunnel dug from under No. 6 caserne. All the -prisoners with their baggage were driven into the yard of No. 1: thence -in a few days to another yard, and so on from yard to yard, so that they -could not get time to dig tunnels; at the same time they were subjected -to all kinds of petty bullyings, such as being kept waiting upon -numbering days in the open, in inclement weather, until Shortland should -choose to put in an appearance. On one of these occasions the Americans -refused to wait, and went back to their prisons, for which offence the -market was stopped for two days. - -At the end of 1814 there were at Dartmoor 2,350 Americans. There seemed -to be much prosperity in the prison: the market was crowded with food, -and hats and boots and clothes; Jew traders did a roaring trade in -watches, seals, trinkets, and bad books; sharp women also were about, -selling well-watered milk at 4_d._ a gallon; the ‘Rough Alleys’ were in -great strength, and kept matters lively all over the prison. - -Number 4 caserne was inhabited by black prisoners, whose ruler was ‘King -Dick,’ a giant six feet five inches in height, who, with a huge bearskin -hat on head, and a thick club in hand, exercised regal sway, dispensing -justice, and, strange to say, paying strict attention to the cleanliness -of his subjects’ berths. Nor was religion neglected in No. 4, for every -Sunday ‘Priest Simon’ preached, assisted by ‘Deacon John’, who had been -a servant in the Duke of Kent’s household, and who at first urged that -Divine Service should be modelled on that customary on British -men-of-war and in distinguished English families, but was overruled by -the decision of a Methodist preacher from outside. ‘King Dick’ always -attended service in full state. He also kept a boxing school, and in No. -4 were also professors of dancing and music and fencing, who had many -white pupils, besides theatricals twice a week, performed with ludicrous -solemnity by the black men, whose penchant was for serious and tragical -dramas. Other dramatic performances were given by an Irish Regular -regiment from Spain, which relieved the Derby Militia garrison, in the -cock-loft of No. 6 caserne, the admission thereto being 6_d._ - -Still, there was much hunger, and when it was rumoured that Jew -clothes-merchants in the market were dealing with undue sharpness with -unfortunate venders, a raid was made by the Americans upon their stalls -and booths which wrought their destruction. - -Beasley was still a _bête noire_. His studied neglect of the interests -of those whose interests were in his charge, his failure to acquaint -himself by personal attention with their complaints, made him hated far -more than were the British officials, excepting Shortland. One day he -was tried in effigy, and sentenced to be hung and burnt. A pole was -rigged from the roof of No. 7 caserne, Beasley’s effigy was hung -therefrom, was cut down by a negro, taken away by the ‘Rough Alleys’, -and burnt. On the same day, ‘Be you also ready’ was found painted on the -wall of Shortland’s house. He said to a friend: - -‘I never saw or ever read or heard of such a set of Devil-daring, -God-provoking fellows, as these same Yankees. I had rather have the -charge of 5,000 Frenchmen, than 500 of these sons of liberty; and yet I -love the dogs better than I do the d——d frog-eaters.’ - -On March 20, 1815, came the Ratification of Peace, but, although this -made the Americans virtually free men, much of a lamentable nature was -to happen ere they practically became so. - -As is so often the case in tragedy, a comparatively trifling incident -brought it about. - -On April 4, 1815, the provision contractors thought to get rid of their -stock of hard bread (biscuit) which they held in reserve by serving it -out to the prisoners instead of the fresh bread which was their due. The -Americans refused to have it, swarmed round the bakeries on mischief -intent, and refused to disperse when ordered to. Shortland was away in -Plymouth at the time, and the officer in charge, seeing that it was -useless to attempt to force them with only 300 Militia at his command, -yielded, and the prisoners got their bread. When Shortland returned, he -was very angry at what he deemed the pusillanimous action of his -subordinate, swore that if he had been there the Yankees should have -been brought to order at the point of the bayonet, and determined to -create an opportunity for revenge. - -This came on April 6. According to the sworn testimony of witnesses at -the subsequent inquiry, some boys playing at ball in the yard of No. 7 -caserne, knocked a ball over into the neighbouring barrack yard, and, -upon the sentry on duty there refusing to throw it back, made a hole in -the wall, crept through it, and got the ball. Shortland pretended to see -in this hole-making a project to escape, and made his arrangements to -attract all the prisoners out of their quarters by ringing the alarm -bell, and, in order to prevent their escape back into them, had ordered -that one of the two doors in each caserne should be closed, although it -was fifteen minutes before the regulation lock-up time at 6 o’clock. It -was sworn that he had said: ‘I’ll fire the d——d rascals presently.’ - -At 6 p.m. the alarm bell brought the prisoners out of all the -casernes—wherein they were quietly settled—to see what was the cause. In -the market square were ‘several hundred’ soldiers, with Shortland at -their head, and at the same time many soldiers were being posted in the -inner wall commanding the prison yards. One of these, according to a -witness, called out to the crowd of prisoners to go indoors as they -would be charged on very soon. This occasioned confusion and alarm and -some running about. What immediately followed is not very clear, but it -was sworn that Shortland ordered the soldiers to charge the prisoners -huddled in the market square; that the soldiers—men of the Somerset -Militia—hesitated; that the order was repeated, and the soldiers charged -the prisoners, who retreated into the prison gates; that Shortland -ordered the gates to be opened, and that the consequent confusion among -hundreds of men vainly trying to get into the casernes by the one door -of each left open, and being pushed back by others coming out to see -what was the matter, was wilfully magnified by Shortland into a -concerted attempt to break out, and he gave the word to fire. - -It was said that, seeing a hesitation among his officers to repeat the -command, Shortland himself seized a musket from a soldier and fired the -first shot. Be that as it may, the firing became general from the walls -as well as from the square; soldiers came to the doors of two of the -casernes and fired through them, with the result, according to American -accounts, that seven men were killed, thirty were dangerously wounded, -and thirty slightly wounded; but according to the Return signed by -Shortland and Dr. Magrath, five were killed and twenty-eight wounded. - -A report was drawn up, after the inquiry instituted directly following -the event, by Admiral Duckworth and Major-General Brown, and signed by -the Assistant Commissioners at the Inquiry, King for the United States, -and Larpent for Great Britain, which came to no satisfactory conclusion. -It was evident, it said, that the prisoners were in an excited state -about the non-arrival of ships to take them home, and that Shortland was -irritated about the bread affair; that there was much unauthorized -firing, but that it was difficult exactly to apportion blame. This -report was utterly condemned by the committee of prisoners, who resented -the tragedy being styled ‘this unfortunate affair’, reproached King for -his lack of energy and unwarrantable self-restraint, and complained of -the hurried and imperfect way in which the inquiry was conducted and the -evidence taken. At this distance of time an Englishman may ask: ‘If it -was known that peace between the two countries had been ratified on -March 20, how came it that Americans were still kept in confinement and -treated as prisoners of war on April 6?’ On the other hand, it is hardly -possible to accept the American view that the tragedy was the deliberate -work of an officer of His Majesty’s service in revenge for a slight. - -By July, 1815, all the Americans but 450 had left, and the last Dartmoor -war-prisoners, 4,000 Frenchmen, taken at Ligny, came in. These poor -fellows were easy to manage after the Americans; 2,500 of them came from -Plymouth with only 300 Militiamen as guard, whilst for Americans the -rule was man for man. - -[Illustration: - - DARTMOOR PRISON - - Illustrating the ‘Massacre’ of 1815 - - A. Surgeon’s House. B. Captain Shortland’s House. C. Hospital. D. - Barracks. E. _Cachot_, or Black Hole. F. Guard Houses. G. Store - Houses. -] - -The last war-prisoners left Dartmoor in December, 1815, and from this -time until 1850 it was unoccupied, which partially accounts for the -utter desecration of the burial-ground, until, under Captain Stopforth, -it was tidied up in garden fashion, divided into two plots, one for -Americans, the other for Frenchmen, in the centre of each of which was -placed a memorial obelisk in 1865. - -The present church at Princetown was built by war-prisoners, the -stone-work being done by the French, the wood-work by the Americans. The -East Window bears the following inscription: - - -‘To the Glory of God and in memory of the American Prisoners of War who -were detained in the Dartmoor War Prison between the years 1809 and -1815, and who helped to build this Church, especially of the 218 brave -men who died here on behalf of their country. This Window is presented -by the National Society of United States Daughters of 1812. Dulce est -pro patria mori.’ - - - - - CHAPTER XIX - SOME MINOR PRISONS - - -As has been already stated, before the establishment of regular prisons -became a necessity by the increasing flow of prisoners of war into -Britain, accommodation for these men had to be found or made wherever it -was possible. With some of these minor prisons I shall deal in this -chapter. - - - WINCHESTER - -Measured by the number of prisoners of war confined here, Winchester -assuredly should rank as a major establishment, but it seems to have -been regarded by the authorities rather as a receiving-house or a -transfer office than as a real prisoner settlement, possibly because the -building utilized—a pile of barracks which was originally intended by -Charles the Second to be a palace on the plan of Versailles, but which -was never finished, and which was known as the King’s House Prison—was -not secure enough to be a House of Detention. It was burned down in -1890. - -In 1756 there were no less than 5,000 prisoners at Winchester. In 1761 -the order for the withdrawal of the military from the city because of -the approaching elections occasioned much alarm, and brought vigorous -protests from leading inhabitants on account of the 4,000 prisoners of -war who would be left practically unguarded, especially as these men -happened to be just then in a ferment of excitement, and a general -outbreak among them was feared. Should this take place, it was -represented that nothing could prevent them from communicating with the -shipping in Southampton River, and setting free their countrymen -prisoners at Portchester and Forton Hospital, Gosport. - -In 1779 Howard visited Winchester. This was the year when the patients -and crew of a captured French hospital ship, the _Ste. Julie_, brought -fever into the prison, causing a heavy mortality. - -Howard reported that 1,062 prisoners were confined here, that the wards -were lofty and spacious, the airing yards large, that the meat and beer -were good, but that the bread, being made with leaven, and mixed with -rye, was not so good as that served out to British prisoners. He -recommended that to prevent the prisoners from passing their days lying -indolently in their hammocks, work-rooms should be provided. Several -prisoners, at the time of his visit, were in the Dark Hole for -attempting to escape, and he observed that to be condemned to forty -days’ confinement on half-rations in order to pay the ten shillings -reward to the men who apprehended them seemed too severe. The hospital -ward was lofty and twenty feet wide. Each patient had a cradle, bedding, -and sheets, and the attendance of the doctor was very good. He spoke -highly of Smith, the Agent, but recommended a more regular system of -War-Prison inspection. - -Forgery was a prevalent crime among the Winchester prisoners. In 1780 -two prisoners gave information about a systematic manufacture of false -passports in the prison, and described the process. They also revealed -the existence of a false key by which prisoners could escape into the -fields, the maker of which had disappeared. They dared not say more, as -they were suspected by their fellow-prisoners of being informers, and -prayed for release as reward. - -To the letter conveying this information the Agent appended a note: - - -‘I have been obliged this afternoon to take Honoré Martin and Apert out -of the prison that they may go away with the division of prisoners who -are to be discharged to-morrow, several prisoners having this morning -entered the chamber in which they sleep, with naked knives, declaring -most resolutely they were determined to murder them if they could find -them, to prevent which their liberty was granted.’ - - -In 1810 two prisoners were brought to Winchester to be hanged for -forging seven-shilling pieces. I think this must be the first instance -of prisoners of war being hanged for forgery. - - - ROSCROW AND KERGILLIACK, NEAR PENRYN, CORNWALL - -In spite of the great pains I have taken to get information about these -two neighbouring prisons, the results are most meagre. Considering that -there were war-prisoners there continuously from the beginning of the -Seven Years’ War in 1756 until the end of the century, that there were -900 prisoners at Roscrow, and 600 at Kergilliack, it is surprising how -absolutely the memory of their sojourn has faded away locally, and how -little information I have been able to elicit concerning them from such -authorities on matters Cornish as Mr. Thurstan Peter, Sir Arthur -Quiller-Couch, Mr. Otho Peter, and Mr. Vawdrey of St. Budock. The -earliest document referring to these prisoners which I have found is a -letter of thanks from the prisoners at Kergilliack in 1757, for the -badly needed reform of the hospital, but I do not think that the two -places ranked amongst the regular war-prisons until twenty years later. -At no time were they much more than adapted farms. Roscrow consisted of -a mansion, in a corner of which was a public-house, to which a series of -substantial farm-buildings was attached, which, when surrounded by a -wall, constituted the prison. Kergilliack, or Regilliack, as I have seen -it written, was of much the same character.[11] - -In 1797 the Roscrow prisoners, according to documents I found at the -Archives Nationales in Paris, were nearly all privateersmen. Officers -and men were herded together, which the former deeply resented; as they -did much else, such as being bullied by a low class of jailers, the -badness of the supplies, the rottenness of the shoes served out to them, -the crowded sleeping accommodation, the dirt, and lastly the fact that -pilchards formed a chief part of their diet. - -In this year a Guernsey boy named Hamond revealed to the authorities a -mine under the foundation of the house, five feet below the ground and -four feet in diameter, going out twenty yards towards the inside fence. -He had found the excavated earth distributed among the prisoners’ -hammocks, and told the turnkey. He was instantly removed, as he would -certainly have been murdered by the other prisoners. - -The tunnel was a wonder of skill and perseverance. It was said that the -excavators had largely worked with nothing but their hands, and that -their labour had been many times increased by the fact that in order to -avoid the constant occurrence of rock they had been obliged to make a -winding course. - -Complaints increased: the bad bread was often not delivered till 5 p.m. -instead of 8 a.m., the beer was undrinkable, and the proportion of bone -to meat in the weighed allowance ridiculous. The Agent paying no -attention to reiterated complaints, the following petition, signed at -Kergilliack as well as at Roscrow, was sent to the Transport Office -Commissioners for - - -‘that redress which we have a right to expect from Mr. Bannick’s [the -Agent] exertions on our behalf; but, unfortunately for us, after making -repeated applications to him whenever chance threw him in our way, as he -seldom visited the prison, we have the mortification of finding that our -reasonable and just remonstrances have been treated with the most -forbidding frowns and the distant arrogance of the most arbitrary Despot -when he has been presented with a sample of bread delivered to us, or -rather, rye, flour, and water cemented together, and at different times, -and as black as our shoes. - - (Signed) - ‘THE GENERAL BODY OF FRENCH OFFICERS - CONFINED IN ROSCROW PRISON.’ - - -A further remonstrance was set forth that the Agent and his son, who was -associated with him, were bullies; that the surgeon neglected his -duties; and that the living and sleeping quarters were bad and damp. - -The only result I can find of these petitions, is a further exasperation -of the prisoners by the stopping of all exchange privileges of those who -had signed them. - -The following complaints about the hospital at Falmouth in the year 1757 -I have placed at the end of this notice, as I cannot be sure that they -were formulated by, or had anything to do with, foreign prisoners of -war. From the fact that they are included among a batch of documents at -the Record Office dealing with prisoners of war, I think it is quite -possible that they may be associated with them, inasmuch as Falmouth, -like Dover, Deal, and other coast ports, was a sort of receiving office -for prisoners captured on privateers, previous to their disposal -elsewhere. - -It was complained that: - - 1. No bouillon was served if no basin was brought: the allowance being - one small basin in 24 hours. - - 2. Half the beds had no sheets, and what sheets there were had not - been changed for six months. - - 3. Beds were so scarce that new arrivals were kept waiting in the open - yards. - - 4. The attendants were underpaid, and therefore useless. - - 5. No bandages were supplied, so that the patients’ own shirts had to - be torn up to make them. - - 6. Stimulants and meat were insufficient, and the best of what there - was the attendants secured beforehand. - - 7. Half-cured patients were often discharged to make room for others. - -From what Mr. Vawdrey, the Vicar of St. Budock, Falmouth, has written to -me, it is certain that French officers were on parole in different -places of this neighbourhood. Tradition says that those who died were -buried beneath a large tree on the right hand of the north entrance of -the church. There are entries in the registers of the deaths of French -prisoners, and, if there is no evidence of marriages, there is that -‘some St. Budock girls appear to have made captivity more blessed for -some of them’. Some people at Meudon in Mawnan, named Courage, farmers, -trace their descent from a French lieutenant of that name. Mawnan -registers show French names. Pendennis Castle was used as a war-prison, -both for French from the Peninsula, and for Americans during the war of -1812. - - - SHREWSBURY - -I am indebted to Mr. J. E. Anden, M.A., F.R. Hist. S., of Tong, Shifnal, -for the following extracts from the diary of John Tarbuck, a shoemaker, -of Shrewsbury: - - -‘September, 1783. Six hundred hammocks were slung in the Orphan -Hospital, from which all the windows were removed, to convert it into a -Dutch prison, and as many captive sailors marched in. Many of the -townspeople go out to meet them, and amongst the rest Mr. Roger Yeomans, -the most corpulent man in the country, to the no small mirth of the -prisoners, who, on seeing him, gave a great shout: “Huzza les Anglais! -Roast beef for ever!” This exclamation was soon verified to their -satisfaction, as the Salop gentry made a subscription to buy them some -in addition to that allowed by their victors, together with shoes, -jackets, and other necessaries. ’Twas pleasing to see the poor -creatures’ gratitude, for they’d sing you their songs, tho’ in a foreign -land, and some companies of their youth would dance with amazing -dexterity in figures totally unlike the English dances with a kind of -regular confusion, yet with grace, ease, and truth to the music. I -remember there was one black boy of such surprising agility that, had -the person seen him, who, speaking against the Abolition of the -slave-trade, said there was only a link between the human and the brute -creation, it would have strengthened his favourite hypothesis, for he -leaped about with more of the swiftness of the monkey than the man. - -‘I went one Sunday to Church with them, and I came away much more -edified than from some sermons where I could tell all that was spoken. -The venerable appearance and the devotion evident in every look and -gesture of the preacher, joined to the grave and decent deportment of -his hearers ... had a wonderful effect on my feelings and tended very -much to solemnize my affections. - -‘May, 1785. Four of the Dutch prisoners escape by means of the privy and -were never retaken. Many others enlist in the English service, and are -hissed and shouted at by their fellows, and deservedly so. The Swedes -and Norwegians among them are marched away (being of neutral nations) to -be exchanged.’ - - -A newspaper of July 1784 (?) says: - - -‘On Thursday last an unfortunate affair happened at the Dutch Prison, -Shrewsbury. A prisoner, behaving irregular, was desired by a guard to -desist, which was returned by the prisoner with abusive language and -blows, and the prisoner, laying hold of the Centinel’s Firelock, forced -off the bayonet, and broke the belt. Remonstrance proving fruitless, and -some more of the Prisoners joining their stubborn countryman, the -Centinel was obliged to draw back and fire among them, which killed one -on the spot. The Ball went through his Body and wounded one more. The -man that began the disturbance escaped unhurt.’ - - -The prisoners left Shrewsbury about November 1785. - -A correspondent of a Shrewsbury newspaper in 1911 writes: - - -‘A generation ago there were people living who remembered the rebuilding -of Montford Bridge by prisoners of war. They went out each Monday, -tradition says, in carts and wagons, and were quartered there during the -week in farm-houses and cottages near their work, being taken back to -Shrewsbury at the end of each week.’ - - -The correspondence evoked by this letter, however, sufficiently proved -that this was nothing more than tradition. - - - YARMOUTH - -Prisoners were confined here during the Seven Years’ War, although no -special buildings were set apart for their reception, and, as elsewhere, -they were simply herded with the common prisoners in the ordinary -lock-up. In 1758 numerous complaints came to the ‘Sick and Hurt’ Office -from the prisoners here, about their bad treatment, the greed of the -jailer, the bad food, the lack of medical attendance and necessaries, -and the misery of being lodged with the lowest class of criminals. -Prisoners who were seriously ill were placed in the prison hospital; the -jailer used to intercept money contributed by the charitable for the -benefit of the prisoners, and only paid it over after the deduction of a -large commission. The straw bedding was dirty, scanty, and rarely -changed; water had to be paid for, and there was hardly any airing -ground. - -After the building of Norman Cross Prison, Yarmouth became, like Deal -and Falmouth, a mere receiving port, but an exceedingly busy one, the -prisoners being landed there direct from capture, and generally taken on -by water to Lynn, whence they were conveyed by canal to Peterborough. - -From the _Norwich Mercury_ of 1905 I take the following notes on -Yarmouth by the late Rev. G. N. Godwin: - - -‘Columns of prisoners, often 1,000 strong, were marched from Yarmouth to -Norwich, and were there lodged in the Castle. They frequently expressed -their gratitude for the kindness shown them by the Mayor and citizens. -One smart privateer captain coolly walked out of the Castle in the -company of some visitors, and, needless to say, did not return. - -‘From Yarmouth they were marched to King’s Lynn, halting at Costessy, -Swanton Mosley (where their “barracks” are still pointed out), East -Dereham, where some were lodged in the detached church tower, and thence -to Lynn. Here they were lodged in a large building, afterwards used as a -warehouse, now pulled down. [For a further reference to East Dereham and -its church tower, see p. 453.] - -‘At Lynn they took water, and were conveyed in barges and lighters -through the Forty Foot, the Hundred Foot, the Paupers’ Cut, and the Nene -to Peterborough, whence they marched to Norman Cross. - -‘In 1797, 28 prisoners escaped from the gaol at Yarmouth by undermining -the wall and the row adjoining. All but five of them were retaken. In -the same year 4 prisoners broke out of the gaol, made their way to -Lowestoft, where they stole a boat from the beach, and got on board a -small vessel, the crew of which they put under the hatches, cut the -cable, and put out to sea. Seven hours later the crew managed to regain -the deck, a rough and tumble fight ensued, one of the Frenchmen was -knocked overboard, and the others were ultimately lodged in Yarmouth -gaol.’ - - - EDINBURGH - -For the following details about a prison which, although of importance, -cannot from its size be fairly classed among the chief Prisoners of War -dépôts of Britain, I am largely indebted to the late Mr. Macbeth Forbes, -who most generously gave me permission to use freely his article in the -_Bankers’ Magazine_ of March 1899. I emphasize his liberality inasmuch -as a great deal of the information in this article is of a nature only -procurable by one with particular and peculiar facilities for so doing. -I allude to the system of bank-note forgery pursued by the prisoners. - -Edinburgh Castle was first used as a place of confinement for prisoners -of war during the Seven Years’ War, and, like Liverpool, this use was -made of it chiefly on account of its convenient proximity to the waters -haunted by privateers. The very first prisoners brought in belonged to -the _Chevalier Bart_ privateer, captured off Tynemouth by H.M.S. -_Solebay_, in April 1757, the number of them being 28, and in July of -the same year a further 108 were added. - - -‘In the autumn of 1759 a piteous appeal was addressed to the publishers -of the _Edinburgh Evening Courant_ on behalf of the French prisoners of -war in Edinburgh Castle by one who “lately beheld some hundreds of -French prisoners, many of them about naked (some without any other -clothing but shirts and breeches and even these in rags), conducted -along the High Street to the Castle.” The writer says that many who saw -the spectacle were moved to tears, and he asked that relief might be -given by contributing clothing to these destitute men. This letter met -with a favourable response from the citizens, and a book of -subscriptions was opened forthwith. The prisoners were visited and found -to number 362. They were reported to be “in a miserable condition, many -almost naked,” and winter approaching. There were, however, revilers of -this charitable movement, who said that the public were being imposed -upon; that the badly clothed were idle fellows who disposed of their -belongings; that they had been detected in the Castle cutting their -shoes, stockings, and hammocks into pieces, in the prospect of getting -these articles renewed. “One fellow, yesterday, got twenty bottles of -ale for a suit of clothes given him by the good people of the town in -charity, and this he boasted of to one of the servants in the sutlery.” - -‘The promoters of the movement expressed their “surprise at the -endeavours used to divert the public from pursuing so humane a -design.”.... They also pointed out that the prisoners only received an -allowance of 6_d._ a day, from which the contractor’s profit was taken, -so that little remained for providing clothes. An estimate was obtained -of the needs of the prisoners, and a list drawn up of articles wanted. -Of the 362 persons confined 8 were officers, whose subsistence money was -1s. a day, and they asked no charity of the others; no fewer than 238 -had no shirt, and 108 possessed only one. Their other needs were equally -great. The “City Hospitals for Young Maidens” offered to make shirts for -twopence each, and sundry tailors to make a certain number of jackets -and breeches for nothing. The prisoners had an airing ground, but as it -was necessary to obtain permission before visiting them, the chance they -had of disposing of any of their work was very slight indeed.’ - - -William Fergusson, clerk to Dr. James Walker, the Agent for the -prisoners of war in the Castle, described as a man of fine instincts, -seems to have been one of the few officials who, brought into daily -contact with the prisoners, learned to sympathize with them, and to do -what lay in their power to mitigate the prisoners’ hard lot. - -Early in May 1763, the French prisoners in the Castle, numbering 500, -were embarked from Leith to France, the Peace of Paris having been -concluded. - -During the Revolutionary War with France, Edinburgh Castle again -received French prisoners, mostly, as before, privateersmen, the number -between 1796 and 1801 being 1,104. In the later Napoleonic wars the -Castle was the head-quarters of Scotland for distributing the prisoners, -the commissioned officers to the various parole towns of which notice -will be taken in the chapters treating of the paroled prisoners in -Scotland, and the others to the great dépôts at Perth and Valleyfield. -We shall see when we come to deal with the paroled foreign officers in -Scotland in what pleasant places, as a rule, their lines were cast, and -how effectively they contrived to make the best of things, but it was -very much otherwise with the rank and file in confinement. - -‘An onlooker’, says Mr. Forbes, ‘has described the appearance of the -prisoners at Edinburgh Castle. He says:—These poor men were allowed to -work at their tasteful handicrafts in small sheds or temporary workshops -at the Castle, behind the palisades which separated them from their free -customers outside. There was just room between the bars of the palisade -for them to hand through their exquisite work, and to receive in return -the modest prices which they charged. As they sallied forth from their -dungeons, so they returned to them at night. The dungeons, partly rock -and partly masonry, of Edinburgh Castle, are historic spots which appeal -alike to the sentiment and the imagination. They are situate in the -south and east of the Castle, and the date of them goes far back.’ It is -unnecessary to describe what may still be seen, practically unchanged -since the great war-times, by every visitor to Edinburgh. - -In 1779 Howard visited Edinburgh during his tour round the prisons of -Britain. His report is by no means bad. He found sixty-four prisoners in -two rooms formerly used as barracks; in one room they lay in couples in -straw-lined boxes against the wall, with two coverlets to each box. In -the other room they had hammocks duly fitted with mattresses. The -regulations were hung up according to law—an important fact, inasmuch as -in other prisons, such as Pembroke, where the prison agents purposely -omitted to hang them up, the prisoners remained in utter ignorance of -their rights and their allowances. Howard reported the provisions to be -all good, and noted that at the hospital house some way off, where were -fourteen sick prisoners, the bedding and sheets were clean and -sufficient, and the medical attention good. - -This satisfactory state of matters seems to have lasted, for in 1795 the -following letter was written by the French prisoners in the Castle to -General Dundas: - - -‘Les prisonniers de guerre français détenus au château d’Edinburgh ne -peuvent que se louer de l’attention et du bon traitement qu’ils ont reçu -de Com.-Gén. Dundas et officiers des brigades Écossoises, en foi de quoi -nous livrons le présent. - - ‘FR. LEROY.’ - - -Possibly the ancient _camaraderie_ of the Scots and French nations may -have had something to do with this pleasant condition of things, for in -1797 Dutch prisoners confined in the Castle complained about ill -treatment and the lack of clothing, and the authorities consented to -their being removed to ‘a more airy and comfortable situation at -Fountainbridge’. - -In 1799 the Rev. Mr. FitzSimmons, of the Episcopal Chapel, an -Englishman, was arraigned before the High Court of Justiciary for aiding -in the escape of four French prisoners from the Castle, by concealing -them in his house, and taking them to a Newhaven fishing boat belonging -to one Neil Drysdale, which carried them to the Isle of Inchkeith, -whence they escaped to France. Two of them had sawn through the dungeon -bars with a sword-blade which they had contrived to smuggle in. The -other two were parole prisoners. He was sentenced to three months’ -imprisonment in the Tolbooth. - -A French prisoner in 1799, having learned at what hour the dung which -had been collected in the prison would be thrown over the wall, got -himself put into the hand-barrow used for its conveyance, was covered -over with litter, and was thrown down several feet; but, being -discovered by the sentinels in his fall, they presented their pieces -while he was endeavouring to conceal himself. The poor bruised and -affrighted fellow supplicated for mercy, and waited on his knees until -his jailers came up to take him back to prison. - -In 1811 forty-nine prisoners contrived to get out of the Castle at one -time. They cut a hole through the bottom of the parapet wall at the -south-west corner, below the ‘Devil’s Elbow,’ and let themselves down by -a rope which they had been smuggling in by small sections for weeks -previously. One man lost his hold, and fell, and was mortally injured. -Five were retaken the next day, and fourteen got away along the Glasgow -road. Some were retaken later near Linlithgow in the Polmount -plantations, exhausted with hunger. They had planned to get to -Grangemouth, where they hoped to get on board a smuggler. They confessed -that the plot was of long planning. Later still, six more were -recaptured. They had made for Cramond, where they had stolen a boat, -sailed up the Firth, and landed near Hopetoun House, intending to go to -Port Glasgow by land. These poor fellows said that they had lived for -three days on raw turnips. Not one of the forty-nine got away. - -I now come to the science of forgery as practised by the foreign -prisoners of war in Scotland, and I shall be entirely dependent upon Mr. -Macbeth Forbes for my information. - -The Edinburgh prisoners were busy at this work between 1811 and the year -of their departure, 1814. - -The first reputed case was that of a Bank of Scotland one-guinea note, -discovered in 1811. It was not a very skilful performance, for the -forged note was three-fourths of an inch longer than the genuine, and -the lettering on it was not engraved, but done with pen and printing -ink. But this defect was remedied, for, three weeks after the discovery, -the plate of a guinea note was found by the miller in the mill lade at -Stockbridge (the north side of Edinburgh), in cleaning out the lade. - -In 1812 a man was tried for the possession of six one-pound forged notes -which had been found concealed between the sole of his foot and his -stocking. His story as to how he came into possession of them seems to -have satisfied the judge, and he was set free; but he afterwards -confessed that he had received them from a soldier of the Cambridge -Militia under the name of ‘pictures’ in the house of a grocer at -Penicuik, near the Valleyfield Dépôt, and that the soldier had, at his, -the accused man’s, desire, purchased them for 2_s._ each from the -prisoners. - -In July 1812 seven French prisoners of war escaped from Edinburgh -Tolbooth, whither they had been transferred from the Castle to take -their trial for the forgery of bank-notes. ‘They were confined’, says a -contemporary newspaper, ‘in the north-west room on the third story, and -they had penetrated the wall, though very thick, till they got into the -chimney of Mr. Gilmour’s shop (on the ground floor), into which they -descended by means of ropes. As they could not force their way out of -the shop, they ascended a small stair to the room above, from which they -took out half the window and descended one by one into the street, and -got clear off. In the course of the morning one of them was retaken in -the Grass Market, being traced by the sooty marks of his feet. We -understand that, except one, they all speak broken English. They left a -note on the table of the shop saying that they had taken nothing away.’ - -Afterwards three of the prisoners were taken at Glasgow, and another in -Dublin. - -From the first discoveries of forgeries by prisoners of war, the -Scottish banks chiefly affected by them had in a more or less -satisfactory way combined to take steps to prevent and to punish -forgeries, but it was not until they offered a reward of £100 for -information leading to the discovery of persons forging or issuing their -notes that a perceptible check to the practice was made. This -advertisement was printed and put outside the dépôt walls for the -militia on guard, a French translation was posted up inside for the -prisoners, and copies of it were sent to the Agents at all parole towns. -With reference to this last, let it be said to the credit of the foreign -officers on parole, both in England and Scotland, that, although a -Frenchman has written to the contrary, there are no more than two -recorded instances of officers on parole being prosecuted or suspected -of the forgery of bank-notes. (See pp. 320 and 439.) Of passport -forgeries there are a few cases, and the forgery mentioned on p. 439 may -have been of passports and not of bank-notes. - -In addition, says Mr. Macbeth Forbes, the military authorities were -continually on the _qui vive_ for forgers. The governors of the -different dépôts ordered the turnkeys to examine narrowly notes coming -in and out of prison. The militiamen had also to be watched, as they -acted so frequently as intermediaries, as for instance: - - -‘In November 1813 Mr. Aitken, the keeper of the Canongate Tolbooth, -detected and took from the person of a private soldier in a militia -regiment stationed over the French prisoners in Penicuik, and who had -come into the Canongate Prison to see a friend, forged guineas and -twenty-shilling notes on two different banks in this city, and two of -them in the country, amounting to nearly £70. The soldier was -immediately given over to the civil power, and from thence to the -regiment to which he belonged, until the matter was further -investigated.’ - - -In July 1813 the clerk of the Valleyfield Dépôt sent to the banks -twenty-six forged guinea notes which were about to be sold, but were -detected by the turnkey. - -The Frenchmen seem to have chiefly selected for imitation the notes of -the Bank of Scotland, and the Commercial Banking Company of Scotland, as -these had little or no pictorial delineation, and consisted almost -entirely of engraved penmanship. The forgers had to get suitable paper, -and, as there were no steel pens in those days, a few crow quills served -their purpose. They had confederates who watched the ins and outs of the -turnkey; and, in addition to imitating the lettering on the face of the -note, they had to forge the watermark, the seals of the bank, and the -Government stamp. The bones of their ration food formed, literally, the -groundwork of the forger’s productions, and as these had to be properly -scraped and smoothed into condition before being in a state to be worked -upon with ordinary pocket-knives, if the result was often so crude as to -deceive only the veriest yokel, the Scottish banks might be thankful -that engraving apparatus was unprocurable. - -The following advertisement of the Bank of Scotland emphasizes this -crudity of execution: - - -‘Several forged notes, in imitation of the notes of the governor and -company of the Bank of Scotland, having appeared, chiefly in the -neighbourhood of the dépôts of French prisoners of war, a caution is -hereby, on the part of the said governors and company, given against -receiving such forged notes in payment. And whoever shall, within three -months from the date hereof, give such information as shall be found -sufficient, on lawful trial, to convict any one concerned in forging or -feloniously uttering any of the said notes, shall receive a reward of a -hundred pounds sterling. These forged notes are executed by the hand -with a pen or pencil, without any engraving. In most of them the body of -the note has the appearance of foreign handwriting. The names of the -bank officers are mostly illegible or ill-spelled. The ornamental -characters of the figures generally ill-executed. The seals are very -ill-imitated. To this mark particular attention is requested.’ - - -The seals, bearing the arms of the Bank of Scotland, are of sheep’s -bone, and were impressed upon the note with a hammer, also probably of -bone, since all metal tools were prohibited. The partially executed -forgery of a Bank of Scotland guinea note shows the process of imitating -the lettering on the note in dotted outline, for which the forgers had -doubtless some good reason, which is not at once patent to us. - -Until 1810 the punishment for forgery was the hulks. During that year -the law in England took a less merciful view of the crime, and offenders -were sentenced to death; and until 1829, when the last man was hanged -for forgery, this remained the law. - -As to Scotland Mr. Forbes says: ‘The administration was probably not so -severe as in England ... no French prisoner suffered anything more than -a slight incarceration, and a subsequent relegation to the prison ships, -where some thousands of his countrymen already were.’ - -Armed with a Home Office permit I visited the prisons in the rock of -Edinburgh Castle. Owing to the facts that most of them have been -converted into military storerooms and that their substance does not -lend itself readily to destruction, they remain probably very much as -when they were filled with the war-prisoners, and, with their heavily -built doors and their strongly barred apertures, which cannot be called -windows, their darkness and cold, the silence of their position high -above even the roar of a great city, convey still to the minds of the -visitors of to-day a more real impression of the meaning of the word -‘imprisonment’ than does any other war-prison, either extant or -pictured. At Norman Cross, at Portchester, at Stapleton, at Dartmoor, at -Perth, there were at any rate open spaces for airing grounds, but at -Edinburgh there could have been none, unless the narrow footway, outside -the line of caverns, from the wall of which the precipice falls sheer -down, was so utilized. - -Near the entrance to the French prisons the following names are visible -on the wall: - -Charles Jobien, Calais, 1780. - -Morel de Calais, 1780. - -1780. Proyol prisonnier nee natif de bourbonnais (?). - -With the Peace of 1814 came the jail-delivery, and it caused one of the -weirdest scenes known in that old High Street so inured to weird scenes. -The French prisoners were marched down by torchlight to the transport at -Leith, and thousands of citizens lined the streets. Down the highway -went the liberated ones, singing the war-songs of the Revolution—the -_Marseillaise_ and the _Ça ira_. Wildly enthusiastic were the pale, -haggard-looking prisoners of war, but the enthusiasm was not exhausted -with them, for they had a great send-off from the populace. - -In Sir T. E. Colebrooke’s _Life of Mountstuart Elphinstone_, Mr. John -Russell of Edinburgh writes that when he first knew Mountstuart, his -father, Lord Elphinstone, was Governor of Edinburgh Castle, in which -were confined a great number of French prisoners of war. With these -prisoners the boy Mountstuart loved to converse, and, learning from them -their revolutionary songs, he used to walk about singing the -_Marseillaise_, _Ça ira_, and _Les Aristocrates à la Lanterne_, much to -the disgust of the British officers, who, however, dared not check such -a proceeding on the part of the son of the Governor. Mountstuart also -wore his hair long in accordance with the revolutionary fashion. - - - - - CHAPTER XX - LOUIS VANHILLE: A FAMOUS ESCAPER - - -I devoted Chapter VII to the record of Tom Souville, a famous -ship-prison-breaker, and in this I hope to give quite as interesting and -romantic an account of the career of Louis Vanhille, who was remarkable -in his method in that he seemed never to be in a hurry to get out of -England, but actually to enjoy the power he possessed of keeping himself -uninterfered with for a whole year in a country where the hue and cry -after him was ceaseless. - -At the outset I must make my acknowledgement to M. Pariset of the -University of Nancy, for permission to use his monograph upon this -really remarkable man. - -Louis Vanhille, purser of the _Pandour_ privateer, was sent to -Launceston on parole May 12, 1806. He is described as a small man of -thirty-two, of agreeable face and figure, although small-pox marked, -fair as befitted his Flemish origin, and speaking English almost -perfectly. He was socially gifted, he painted and caricatured, could -dress hair, and could make mats, and weave bracelets in seventeen -patterns. He was well-off to boot, as the _Pandour_ had been a -successful ship, and he had plenty of prize money. - -In Launceston he lodged with John Tyeth, a pious Baptist brewer. Tyeth -had three married daughters and two unmarried, Fanny and a younger, who -kept the Post Office at Launceston. Although Tyeth was a Baptist, one of -his daughters was married to Bunsell, the Rector of Launceston, so that -decorum and preciseness prevailed in the local atmosphere, to which -Vanhille politically adapted himself so readily as to become a convert -to Tyeth’s creed. In addition he paid marked attention to Miss Fanny, -who was plain-looking but kept the Post Office; an action which -occasioned watchfulness on the part of Tyeth _père_, who, in common with -most Englishmen of his day, regarded all Frenchmen as atheists and -revolutionaries. Vanhille’s manner and accomplishments won him friends -all round. Miss Johanna Colwell, an old maid, a sentimental worker of -straw hats, who lived opposite the brewery, pitied him. Further on, at -Mr. Pearson’s, lodged Vanhille’s great friend, Dr. Derouge, an army -surgeon, who cured Vanhille of small-pox. Then there was Dr. Mabyn of -Camelford, Dr. Frankland, R.N., John Rowe the tailor, Dale the -ironmonger, who, although tradesmen, were of that well-to-do, highly -respectable calibre which in old-time country towns like Launceston -placed them on a footing of friendliness with the ‘quality’. Vanhille -seems to have settled himself down to become quite Anglicized, and to -forget that he was a prisoner on parole, and that any such individual -existed as Mr. Spettigue, the Agent. He went over to Camelford to dine -with Dr. Mabyn; he rode to Tavistock on the Tyeth’s pony to visit the -Pearces, ironmongers of repute, and particularly to see the Misses Annie -and Elizabeth Penwarden, gay young milliners who spoke French. He was -also much in the society of Fanny Tyeth, made expeditions with her to -see ‘Aunt Tyeth’ at Tavistock, and was regarded as her _fiancé_. - -Dr. Derouge began to weary of captivity, and tried without success to -get exchanged. The reason given for his non-success was that he had got -a girl with child. Launceston was scandalized; only a Frenchman could do -such a thing. The authorities had to find some one to pay for the -child’s subsistence as the mother could not afford to, and so Proctor, -Guardian of the Poor, and Spettigue, the Agent, fastened it on Dr. -Derouge, and he was ordered to pay £25. But he could not; so Vanhille, -who had come into some money upon the death of his mother, paid it. What -followed is not quite clear. In a letter dated December 5, 1811, -Spettigue, in a letter to the Admiralty, says that Derouge and Vanhille -tried to escape, but were prevented by information given by one -Burlangier, ‘garde-magasin des services réunis de l’armée de Portugal.’ -He reported their absences at Camelford, and finally they were ordered -to Dartmoor on December 12, 1811. The Transport Office instructed -Spettigue to keep a watch on Tyeth and others. Launceston was angry at -this; it missed Derouge and Vanhille, and went so far as to get the -Member of Parliament, Giddy, to address the Transport Office on the -matter, and request their reinstatement on parole, but the reply was -unsatisfactory. - -At Dartmoor, Vanhille and Derouge were sent to the subalterns’ quarters. -Very soon the attractive personality of Vanhille led him to an -influential position among the prisoners, and he was elected their -representative in all matters of difference between them and the -authorities, although Cotgrave, the Governor, refused to acknowledge him -as such, saying that he preferred a prisoner of longer standing, and one -whom he knew better. - -Vanhille now determined to get out of Dartmoor. To reach France direct -was difficult, but it was feasible by America, as he had a sister well -married in New Orleans who could help him. - -At the daily market held at the prison gate Vanhille became acquainted -with Mary Ellis. Piece by piece she brought him from Tavistock a -disguise—an old broad-brimmed hat, big boots, and brown stockings, and -by August 21, 1812, he was ready. On that day he received from his -comrades a sort of testimonial or letter of recommendation for use after -his escape at any place where there might be Frenchmen: - - -‘Le comité représentant les officiers militaires et marchands détenus -dans la prison Royale de Dartmoor certifient que Louis Vanhille est un -digne et loyal Français, et un compagnon d’infortune digne de tous les -égards de ses compatriotes . . . pour lui servir et valoir ce que de -raison en cas de mutation de prison.’ - - -The next day he put on his disguise, mixed with the market folk, crossed -the court of his quarter, and the market place, passed two sentries who -took him for a potato merchant, got to the square in the middle of which -were the Agent’s house and offices, passed another gate, the sentry at -which took no notice of him, turned sharp to the right by the stables -and the water reservoir, and got on to the main road. He walked rapidly -on towards Tavistock, and that night slept under the Tyeth roof at -Launceston—a bold policy and only to be adopted by one who knew his -ground thoroughly well, and who felt sure that he was safer, known in -Launceston, than he would be as a stranger in Plymouth or other ports. - -Next day he went to Camelford, and called on Dr. Mabyn, who said: -‘Monsieur Vanhille, comme ami je suis heureux de vous voir, mais à -présent je ne puis vous donner asile sous mon toit,’ Thence he went to -Padstow, but no boatman would take him to Bristol or Cork, so he -returned to Launceston and remained there two days. Here he bought a -map, changed his disguise, and became Mr. Williams, a pedlar of odds and -ends. Thence he went on to Bideford, Appledore, and by boat to Newport, -thence to Abergavenny, a parole town, where he met Palierne, an old -Launceston comrade; thence back to Launceston, where he rested a couple -of days. Then, always on foot, he went to Exeter, Okehampton, and -Tawton, took wagon to London, where he only stayed a night, then on to -Chatham—a dangerous neighbourhood on account of the hulks, and back to -Abergavenny via Guildford, Petersfield, Alresford, Winchester, -Salisbury, Warminster, Bath, and Bristol, arriving at Abergavenny on -September 21, 1812.[12] - -From Abergavenny Vanhille went by Usk to Bristol, but could find no -suitable ship to take him to America, so he took coach back to -Launceston, and spent two weeks there with the Tyeths, which would seem -to show that Spettigue was either purposely blind or very stupid. -Vanhille then crossed Cornwall rapidly to Falmouth—always, be it -remembered, as a pedlar. Falmouth was a dangerous place, being the chief -port for the Cartel service with Morlaix, and a strict look-out was kept -there for passengers intending to cross the Channel. Vanhille went to -the _Blue Anchor_ Inn, and here he met the famous escape agent, Thomas -Feast Moore, _alias_ Captain Harman, &c., who at once recognized what he -was, and proffered his services, stating that he had carried many French -officers over safely. This was true, but what he omitted to state was -that he was at present in the Government service, having been pardoned -for his misdeeds as an escape agent on condition that he made use of his -experience by giving the Government information about intending -escapers.[13] - -Vanhille wanted no aid to escape, but he cleared out from Falmouth at -once, was that evening at Wadebridge, the next day at Saltash, then, -avoiding Launceston, went by Okehampton, Moreton-Hampstead, and Exeter -to Cullompton, and thence by coach to Bristol, where he arrived on -October 15, 1812. - -After his escape from Dartmoor, this extraordinary man had been -fifty-five days travelling on foot, in carriage, and by boat, and had -covered 1,238 miles, by far the greater number of which he tramped, and -this with the hue and cry after him and offers of reward for his arrest -posted up everywhere. - -He now dropped the pedlar pretence and became an ordinary Briton. At -Bristol he learned that the _Jane_, Captain Robert Andrews, would leave -for Jamaica next month. He corresponded with his Launceston friends, who -throughout had been true to him, and, in replying, the Tyeths had to be -most careful, assuming signatures and disguising handwriting, and Miss -Fanny at the Post Office would with her own hands obliterate the -post-mark. Old Tyeth sent him kind and pious messages. On November 10 -the _Jane_ left Bristol, but was detained at Cork a month, waiting for a -convoy, and did not reach Montego Bay, Jamaica, until January 2, 1813. -From Jamaica there were frequent opportunities of getting to America, -and Vanhille had every reason to congratulate himself at last on being a -free man. - -Unfortunately the Customs people in Jamaica were particularly on the -alert for spies and runaways, especially as we were at war with the -United States. Vanhille was suspected of being what he was, and the -examination of his papers not being satisfactory, he was arrested and -sent home, and on May 20, 1813, found himself a prisoner at Forton. He -was sent up to London and examined by Jones, of Knight and Jones, -solicitors to the Admiralty, with a view of extracting from him -information concerning his accomplices in Launceston, a town notorious -for its French proclivities. - -Jones writes under date of June 14, 1813, to Bicknell, solicitor to the -Transport Office, that he has examined Vanhille, who peremptorily -refuses to make any disclosures which may implicate the persons -concerned in harbouring him after he had escaped from Dartmoor, and who -ultimately got him out of the kingdom. He hopes, however, to reach them -by other means. - -Harsh treatment was now tried upon him, he was half starved, and as he -was now penniless could not remedy matters by purchase. In three weeks -he was sent on board the _Crown Prince_ hulk at Chatham, and later to -the _Glory_. Correspondence between him and Dr. Derouge at Launceston -was discovered, and Derouge was sent to a Plymouth hulk. Dale, the -Launceston ironmonger, who had been one of the little friendly circle in -that town, had fallen into evil ways, and was now starving in Plymouth. -Jones, the Admiralty lawyer, received a communication from him saying -that for a consideration he would denounce all Vanhille’s friends. He -was brought up to London, and he told all their names, with the result -that they were summoned. But nothing could be got out of them. Mrs. -Wilkins at the inn, who for some reason disliked Vanhille, would have -given information, but she had none to give. - -Dale was sent back to Plymouth, saying that if he could see Dr. Derouge, -who would not suspect him, he would get the wanted information. So the -two men met in a special cabin, and rum was brought. Derouge, -unsuspecting, tells all the story of the escape from Dartmoor, and -brings in the name of Mary Ellis, who had provided Vanhille with his -disguise. Then he begins to suspect Dale’s object, and will not utter -another word. - -Dale is sent to Launceston to get more information, but fails; resolves -to find out Mary Ellis at Tavistock, but five weeks elapse, and no more -is heard of him, except that he arrived there half dead with wet and -fatigue. - -The Peace of 1814 brought release to Vanhille, and on April 19 he -reached Calais. - -M. Pariset concludes his story with the following remark: ‘Vanhille -avait senti battre le cœur anglais qui est, comme chacun sait, -bienveillant et fidèle, après qu’il s’est donné.’ - -I should here say that M. Pariset’s story does not go further than the -capture of Vanhille in Jamaica. The sequel I have taken from the -correspondence at the Record Office. I have been told that the name of -Vanhille is by no means forgotten in Launceston. - - - - - CHAPTER XXI - THE PRISON SYSTEM - PRISONERS ON PAROLE - -When we come to the consideration of the parole system, we reach what is -for many reasons the most interesting chapter in a dark history. Life on -the hulks and in the prisons was largely a sealed book to the outside -public, and, brutal in many respects as was the age covered by our -story, there can be little question that if the British public had been -made more aware of what went on behind the wooden walls of the prison -ships and the stone walls of the prisons, its opinion would have -demanded reforms and remedies which would have spared our country from a -deep, ineffaceable, and, it must be added, a just reproach. - -But the prisoners on parole played a large part in the everyday social -life of many parts of England, Wales, and Scotland, for at least sixty -years—a period long enough to leave a clear impression behind of their -lives, their romances, their virtues, their vices, of all, in fact, -which makes interesting history—and, although in one essential -particular they seem to have fallen very far short of the traditional -standard of honour, the memory of them is still that of a polished, -refined, and gallant race of gentlemen. - -The parole system, by which officers of certain ratings were permitted, -under strict conditions to which they subscribed on their honour, to -reside in certain places, was in practice at any rate at the beginning -of the Seven Years’ War, and in 1757 the following were the parole -towns: - -In the West: Redruth, Launceston, Callington, Falmouth, Tavistock, -Torrington, Exeter, Crediton, Ashburton, Bideford, Okehampton, Helston, -Alresford, Basingstoke, Chippenham, Bristol, Sodbury (Gloucestershire), -and Bishop’s Waltham. In the South: Guernsey, Ashford, Tenterden, -Tonbridge, Wye (Kent), Goudhurst, Sevenoaks, Petersfield, and Romsey. In -the North: Dundee and Newcastle-on-Tyne. Kinsale in Ireland, Beccles in -Suffolk, and Whitchurch in Shropshire. At first I had doubts if -prisoners on parole were at open ports like Falmouth, Bristol, and -Newcastle-on-Tyne, but an examination of the documents at the Record -Office in London and the Archives Nationales in Paris established the -fact, although they ceased to be there after a short time. Not only does -it seem that parole rules were more strictly enforced at this time than -they were later, but that violation of them was regarded as a crime by -the Governments of the offenders. Also, there was an arrangement, or at -any rate an understanding, between England and France that officers who -had broken their parole by escaping, should, if discovered in their own -country, either be sent back to the country of their imprisonment, or be -imprisoned in their own country. Thus, we read under date 1757: - - -‘René Brisson de Dunkerque, second capitaine et pilote du navire _Le -Prince de Soubise_, du dit port, qui étoit détenu prisonnier à Waltham -en Angleterre, d’où il s’est évadé, et qui, étant de retour à Dunkerque -le 16ème Oct. 1757, y a été mis en prison par ordre du Roy.’ - - -During 1778, 1779, and six months of 1780, two hundred and ninety-five -French prisoners alone had successfully escaped from parole places, the -greatest number being, from Alresford forty-five, Chippenham -thirty-three, Tenterden thirty-two, Bandon twenty-two, Okehampton -nineteen, and Ashburton eighteen. - -In 1796 the following ratings were allowed to be on parole: 1. Taken on -men-of-war: Captain, lieutenant, ensign, surgeon, purser, chaplain, -master, pilot, midshipman, surgeon’s mate, boatswain, gunner, carpenter, -master-caulker, master-sail-maker, coasting pilot, and gentleman -volunteer. - -2. Taken on board a privateer or merchantman: Captain, passenger of -rank, second captain, chief of prizes, two lieutenants for every hundred -men, pilot, surgeon, and chaplain. - -No parole was to be granted to officers of any privateer under eighty -tons burthen, or having less than fourteen carriage guns, which were not -to be less than four-pounders. - -In 1804 parole was granted as follows: - -1. All commissioned officers of the Army down to sous-lieutenant. - -2. All commissioned officers of the Navy down to gardes-marine -(midshipmen). - -3. Three officers of privateers of a hundred men, but not under fourteen -guns. - -4. Captains and next officers of merchant ships above fifty tons. - -The parole form in 1797 was as follows: - - -‘By the Commissioners for conducting H.M’s. Transport Service, and for -the care and custody of Prisoners of War. - -‘These are to certify to all H.M’s. officers, civil and military, and to -whom else it may concern, that the bearer ... as described on the back -hereof is a detained (French, American, Spanish or Dutch) prisoner of -war at ... and that he has liberty to walk on the great turnpike road -within the distance of one mile from the extremities of the town, but -that he must not go into any field or cross road, nor be absent from his -lodging after 5 o’clock in the afternoon during the six winter months, -viz. from October 1st to March 31st, nor after 8 o’clock during the -summer months. Wherefore you and everyone of you [_sic_] are hereby -desired and required to suffer him, the said ... to pass and repass -accordingly without any hindrance or molestation whatever, he keeping -within the said limits and behaving according to law.’ - - -The form of parole to be signed by the prisoner was this: - - -‘Whereas the Commissioners for conducting H.M’s. Transport service and -for the care and custody of French officers and sailors detained in -England have been pleased to grant ... leave to reside in ... upon -condition that he gives his parole of honour not to withdraw one mile -from the boundaries prescribed there without leave for that purpose from -the said Commissioners, that he will behave himself decently and with -due regard to the laws of the kingdom, and also that he will not -directly or indirectly hold any correspondence with France during his -continuance in England, but by such letter or letters as shall be shown -to the Agent of the said Commissioners under whose care he is or may be -in order to their being read and approved by the Superiors, he does -hereby declare that having given his parole he will keep it inviolably.’ - - -In all parole towns and villages the following notice was posted up in -prominent positions: - - -‘Notice is hereby given, - -‘That all such prisoners are permitted to walk or ride on the great -turnpike road within the distance of one mile from the extreme parts of -the town (not beyond the bounds of the Parish) and that if they shall -exceed such limits or go into any field or cross-road they may be taken -up and sent to prison, and a reward of Ten Shillings will be paid by the -Agent for apprehending them. And further, that such prisoners are to be -in their lodgings by 5 o’clock in the winter, and 8 in the summer -months, and if they stay out later they are liable to be taken up and -sent to the Agent for such misconduct. And to prevent the prisoners from -behaving in an improper manner to the inhabitants of the town, or -creating any riots or disturbances either with them or among themselves, -notice is also given that the Commissioners will cause, upon information -being given to their Agents, any prisoners who shall so misbehave to be -committed to prison. And such of the inhabitants who shall insult or -abuse any of the Prisoners of War on parole, or shall be found in any -respect aiding or assisting in the escape of such prisoners shall be -punished according to law.’ - - -The rewards offered for the conviction of prisoners for the violation of -any of the conditions of their parole, and particularly for recapturing -escaped prisoners and for the conviction of aiders in escape, were -liberal enough to tempt the ragamuffins of the parole places to do their -utmost to get the prisoners to break the law, and we shall see how this -led to a system of persecution which possibly provoked many a foreign -officer, perfectly honourable in other respects, to break his parole. I -do not attempt to defend the far too general laxity of principle which -made some of the most distinguished of our prisoners break their -solemnly pledged words by escaping or trying to escape, but I do believe -that the continual dangling before unlettered clowns and idle town -loafers rewards varying from ten guineas for recapturing an escaped -prisoner to ten shillings for arresting an officer out of his lodging a -few minutes after bell ringing, or straying a few yards off the great -turnpike, was putting a premium upon a despicable system of spying and -trapping which could not have given a pleasurable zest to a life of -exile. - -Naturally, the rules about the correspondence of prisoners on parole -were strict, and no other rules seem to have been more irksome to -prisoners, or more frequently violated by them. All letters for -prisoners on parole had to pass through the Transport Office. -Remittances had to be made through the local agent, if for an even sum -in the Bank of England notes, if for odd shillings and pence by postal -orders. It is, however, very certain that a vast amount of -correspondence passed to and from the prisoners independently of the -Transport Office, and that the conveyance and receipt of such -correspondence became as distinctly a surreptitious trade called into -existence by circumstances as that of aiding prisoners to escape. - -Previous to 1813 the money allowance to officers on parole above and -including the rank of captain was ten shillings and sixpence per week -per man, and below that rank eight shillings and ninepence. In that -year, complaints were made to the British Government by M. Rivière, that -as it could be shown that living in England was very much more expensive -than in France, this allowance should be increased. Our Government -admitted the justice of the claim, and the allowances were accordingly -increased to fourteen shillings, and eleven shillings and eightpence. It -may be noted, by the way, that this was the same Rivière who in 1804 had -denied our right to inquire into the condition of British prisoners in -France, curtly saying: ‘It is the will of the Emperor!’ - -The cost of burying the poor fellows who died in captivity, although -borne by the State, was kept down to the most economical limits, for we -find two orders, dated respectively 1805 and 1812, that the cost was not -to exceed £2 2_s._, that plain elm coffins were to be used, and that the -expense of gloves and hat-bands must be borne by the prisoners. Mr. -Farnell, the Agent at Ashby-de-la-Zouch, was called sharply to order for -a charge in his accounts of fourteen shillings for a hat-band! - -In 1814 funerals at Portsmouth were cut down to half a guinea, but I -presume this was for ordinary prisoners. The allowances for surgeons in -parole places in 1806 were: - -For cures when the attendance was for more than five days, six shillings -and eightpence, when for less, half that sum. Bleeding was to be charged -sixpence, and for drawing a tooth, one shilling. Serious sick cases were -to be sent to a prison hospital, and no allowance for medicines or extra -subsistence was to be made. - -We must not allow sentimental sympathy with officers and gentlemen on -parole to blind our eyes to the fact constantly proved that it was -necessary to keep the strictest surveillance over them. Although, if we -except their propensity to regard lightly their parole obligations, -their conduct generally may be called good, among so many men there were -necessarily some very black sheep. At one time their behaviour in the -parole towns was often so abominable as to render it necessary to place -them in smaller towns and villages. - -In 1793 the Marquis of Buckingham wrote thus to Lord Grenville from -Winchester (_Dropmore MSS._): - - -‘I have for the last week been much annoyed by a constant inundation of -French prisoners who have been on their route from Portsmouth to -Bristol, and my officers who, during the long marches have had much of -their conversation, all report that the language of the common men was, -with very few exceptions, equally insolent, especially upon the subject -of monarchy. The orders which we received with them were so perfectly -proper that we were enabled to maintain strict discipline among them, -but I am very anxious that you should come to some decisions about your -_parole prisoners_ who are now nearly doubled at Alresford and -(Bishop’s) Waltham, and are hourly more exceptionable in their language -and in their communication with the country people. I am persuaded that -some very unpleasant consequences will arise if this practice is not -checked, and I do not know how it is to be done. Your own good heart -will make you feel for the French priests now at Winchester to whom -these people (230 at Alresford, 160 at Waltham) have openly avowed -massacre whenever the troops are removed.... Pray think over some -arrangement for sending your parole prisoners out of England, for they -certainly serve their country here better than they could do at sea or -in France (so they say openly).’ - - -The authorities had to be constantly on their guard against deceptions -of all kinds practised by the paroled prisoners, in addition to the -frequent breaches of parole by escape. Thus applications were made -almost daily by prisoners to be allowed either to exchange their places -of residence for London, or to come to London temporarily ‘upon urgent -private affairs’. At first these permissions were given when the -applicants were men whose positions or reputations were deemed -sufficient guarantees for honourable behaviour, but experience soon -taught the Transport Office that nobody was to be trusted, and so these -applications, even when endorsed by Englishmen of position, were -invariably refused. - -For instance, in 1809, the Office received a letter from one Brossage, -an officer on parole at Launceston, asking that he might be removed to -Reading, as he was suffering from lung disease. The reply was that as a -rule people suffering from lung disease in England were only too glad to -be able to go to Cornwall for alleviation or cure. The truth was that M. -Brossage wanted to exchange the dullness of a Cornish town for the life -and gaiety of Reading, which was a special parole town reserved for -officers of distinction. - -Another trick which the authorities characterized as ‘an unjustifiable -means of gaining liberty’, was to bribe an invalid on the roster for -France to be allowed to personate him. Poor officers were as glad to -sell their chance in this way, as were poor prisoners on hulks or in -prisons. - -In 1811 some officers at Lichfield obtained their release because of -‘their humane conduct at the late fire at Mr. Lee’s house’. But so many -applications for release on account of similar services at fires came in -that the Transport Office was suspicious, and refused them, ‘especially -as the French Government does not reward British officers for similar -services.’ - -In the same year one Andoit got sent to Andover on parole in the name of -another man, whom no doubt he impersonated, although he had no right to -be paroled, and at once made use of the opportunity and escaped. - -Most touching were some of the letters from paroled officers praying to -have their places of parole changed, but when the Transport Office found -out that these changes were almost invariably made so that old comrades -and friends could meet together to plan and arrange escapes, rejection -became the invariable fate of them. For some time many French officers -on parole had been permitted to add to their incomes by giving lessons -in dancing, drawing, fencing, and singing in English families, and for -these purposes had special permits to go beyond the usual one mile -limit. But when in 1811, M. Faure applied to go some distance out of -Redruth to teach French, and M. Ulliac asked to be allowed to exceed -limits at Ashby-de-la-Zouch to teach drawing, the authorities refused, -and this despite the backing up of these requests by local gentry, -giving as their reason: ‘If complied with generally the prisoners would -become dispersed over all parts of the country without any regular -control over their conduct.’ Prisoners were not even allowed to give -lessons away from their lodgings out of parole hours. - -Very rarely, except in the cases of officers of more than ordinarily -distinguished position, were relaxations of parole rules permitted. -General Pillet at Bishop’s Waltham in 1808, had leave to go two miles -beyond the usual one mile limit two or three times a week, ‘to take the -air.’ General Pageot at Ashbourne was given eight days’ leave to visit -Wooton Lodge in 1804, with the result related elsewhere (p. 414). - -In 1808 General Brenier, on parole at Wantage, was allowed 3_s._ a day -‘on account of the wound in his thigh’, so unusual a concession as to -cause the Transport Office to describe it as ‘the greatest rate of -allowance granted to any prisoner of war in this country under any -circumstances’. Later, however, some prisoners at Bath were made the -same allowance. - -At first sight it seems harsh on the part of the Transport Office to -refuse permission for a prisoner at Welshpool to lodge with the -postmistress of that place, but without doubt it had excellent reason to -think that for purposes of escape as well as for carrying on an -unsuspected correspondence, the post-office would be the very place for -a prisoner to live at. Again, the forgery of documents was very -extensively carried on by the prisoners, and in 1803 the parole agents -were advised: - - -‘With respect to admitting prisoners of war at Parole we beg to observe -that we think it proper to adhere to a regulation which from frequent -abuses we found it absolutely necessary to adopt last war; namely, that -no blank form of parole certificates be sent to the agents at the -depots, but to transmit them to the Agents, properly filled up whenever -their ranks shall have been ascertained at this office, from lists sent -by the agents and from extracts from the _Rôle d’Équipage_ of each -vessel captured.’ - - -Of course, the reason for this was that blank parole forms had been -obtained by bribery, had been filled up, and that all sorts of -undesirable and dangerous rascals got scattered among the parole places. - -So long back as 1763 a complaint came from Dover that the Duc de -Nivernois was in the habit of issuing passes to prisoners of war on -parole in England to pass over to Calais and Boulogne as ordinary -civilians, and further inquiry brought out the fact that he was not the -only owner of a noble name who trafficked in documents which, if they do -not come under the category of forgeries, were at any rate false. - -In 1804 a letter from France addressed to a prisoner on parole at -Tiverton was intercepted. It was found to contain a blank printed -certificate, sealed and signed by the Danish vice-consul at Plymouth. -Orders were at once issued that no more certificates from him were to be -honoured, and he was accused of the act. He protested innocence, and -requested that the matter should be examined, the results being that the -documents were found to be forgeries. - -Of course, the parole agents, that is to say, the men chosen to guard -and minister to the wants of the prisoners in the parole towns, occupied -important and responsible positions. At first the only qualifications -required were that they should not be shopkeepers, but men fitted by -their position and their personality to deal with prisoners who were -officers, and therefore _ipso facto_, gentlemen. But during the later -years of the great wars they were chosen exclusively from naval -lieutenants of not less than ten years’ standing, a change brought about -by complaints from many towns and from many prisoners that the agents -were palpably underbred and tactless, and particularly perhaps by the -representation of Captain Moriarty, the agent at Valleyfield near -Edinburgh, and later at Perth, that ‘the men chosen were attorneys and -shopkeepers for whom the French officers have no respect, so that the -latter do just what they like’, urging that only Service men should -occupy these posts. - -The duties of the parole agent were to see that the prisoners under his -charge fulfilled all the obligations of their parole, to muster them -twice a week, to minister to their wants, to pay them their allowances, -to act as their financial agents, to hear and adjust their complaints, -to be, in fact, quite as much their guide, philosopher, and friend as -their custodian. He had to keep a strict account of all receipts and -payments, which he forwarded once a month to the Transport Office: he -had to keep a constant watch on the correspondence of the prisoners, not -merely seeing that they held and received none clandestinely, but that -every letter was to pass the examination of the Transport Office; and -his own correspondence was voluminous, for in the smallest parole places -there were at least eighty prisoners, whilst in the larger, the numbers -were close upon four hundred. - -For all this the remuneration was 5 per cent. upon all disbursements for -the subsistence of the prisoners with allowances for stationery and -affidavits, and it may be very naturally asked how men could be found -willing to do all this, in addition to their own callings, for such pay. -The only answer is that men were not only willing but anxious to become -parole agents because of the ‘pickings’ derivable from the office, -especially in connexion with the collection and payment of remittances -to prisoners. That these ‘pickings’ were considerable there can be no -doubt, particularly as they were available from so many sources, and as -the temptations were so many and so strong to accept presents for -services rendered, or, what was more frequent, for duty left undone. - -On the whole, and making allowance for the character of the age and the -numberless temptations to which they were exposed, the agents of the -parole towns seem to have done their hard and delicate work very fairly. -No doubt in the process of gathering in their ‘pickings’ there was some -sharp practice by them, and a few instances are recorded of criminal -transactions, but a comparison between the treatment of French prisoners -on parole in England and the English _détenus_ in France certainly is -not to our discredit. - -The Transport Office seems to have been unremitting in its watchfulness -on its agents, if we are to judge by the mass of correspondence which -passed between the one and the others, and which deals so largely with -minutiae and details that its consideration must have been by no means -the least heavy of the duties expected from these gentlemen. - -Mr. Tribe, Parole Agent at Hambledon, seems to have irritated his -superiors much by the character of his letters, for in 1804 he is told: - - -‘As the person who writes your letters does not seem to know how to -write English you must therefore in future write your own letters or -employ another to write them who can write intelligibly.’ - - -And again: - - -‘If you cannot really write more intelligibly you must employ a person -to manage your correspondence in future, but you are not to suppose that -he will be paid by us for his trouble.’ - - -Spettigue, Parole Agent at Launceston, got into serious trouble in 1807 -for having charged commissions to prisoners upon moneys paid to them, -and was ordered to refund them. He was the only parole agent who was -proved to have so offended. - -Smith, Parole Agent at Thame, was rebuked in February, 1809, for having -described aloud a prisoner about to be conveyed from Thame to Portsmouth -under escort as a man of good character and a gentleman, the result -being that the escort were put off their guard, and the prisoner -escaped, Smith knowing all the time that the prisoner was the very -reverse of his description, and that it was in consequence of his having -obtained his parole by a ‘gross deception’, that he was being conveyed -to the hulks at Portsmouth. However, Kermel, the prisoner, was -recaptured. - -Enchmarsh, Parole Agent at Tiverton, was reprimanded in July 1809 for -having been concerned in the sale, by a prisoner, of a contraband -article, and was reminded that it was against rules for an agent to have -any mercantile transactions with prisoners. - -Lewis, Parole Agent at Reading, was removed in June 1812, because when -the dépôt doctor made his periodical round in order to select invalids -to be sent to France, he tried to bribe Dr. Weir to pass General Joyeux, -a perfectly sound man, as an invalid and so procure his liberation. - -Powis, Parole Agent at Leek in Staffordshire, son of a neighbouring -parson, was removed in the same year, having been accused of withholding -moneys due to prisoners, and continually failing to send in his -accounts. - -On the other hand, Smith, the Agent at Thame, was blamed for having -shown excessive zeal in his office by hiring people to hide and lie in -wait to catch prisoners committing breaches of parole. Perhaps the -Transport Office did not so much disapprove of his methods as un-English -and mean, but they knew very well that the consequent fines and -stoppages meant his emolument. - -That parole agents found it as impossible to give satisfaction to -everybody as do most people in authority is very clear from the -following episodes in the official life of Mr. Crapper, the Parole Agent -at Wantage in 1809, who was a chemist by trade, and who seems to have -been in ill odour all round. The episodes also illustrate the keen -sympathy with which in some districts the French officers on parole were -regarded. - -On behalf of the prisoners at Wantage, one Price, J.P., wrote of -Crapper, that ‘being a low man himself, he assumes a power which I am -sure is not to your wish, and which he is too ignorant to exercise’. It -appears that two French officers, the generals Maurin and Lefebvre, had -gone ten miles from Wantage—that is, nine miles beyond the parole -limit—to dine with Sir John Throckmorton. Crapper did his duty and -arrested the generals; they were leniently punished, as, instead of -being sent to a prison or a hulk, they were simply marched off to -Wincanton. The magistrates refused to support Crapper, but, despite -another letter in favour of the generals by another J.P., Goodlake, who -had driven them in his carriage to Throckmorton’s house, and who -declared that Crapper had a hatred for him on account of some -disagreement on the bench, the Transport Office defended their agent, -and confirmed his action. - -From J. E. Lutwyche, Surveyor of Taxes, in whose house the French -generals lodged, the Transport Office received the following: - - - ‘GENTLEMEN, - -‘I beg leave to offer a few remarks respecting the French generals -lately removed from Wantage. Generals Lefebvre and Maurin both lodged at -my house. The latter always conducted himself with the greatest -Politeness and Propriety, nor ever exceeded the limits or time -prescribed by his parole until the arrival of General Lefebvre. Indeed -he was not noticed or invited anywhere till then, nor did he at all seem -to wish it, his time being occupied in endeavouring to perfect himself -in the English language. When General Lefebvre arrived, he, being an -object of curiosity and a man of considerable rank, was invited out, and -of course General Maurin (who paid him great attention) with him, which -certainly otherwise would never have been the case. General Lefebvre has -certainly expressed himself as greatly dissatisfied with the way in -which he had been taken, making use of the childish phrase of his being -entrapped, and by his sullen manner and general conduct appeared as if -he was not much inclined to observe the terms of his parole.’ - - -Another anti-Crapperist writes: - - - ‘GENTLEMEN, - -‘I take this liberty in informing you that in case that the Prisoners of -War residing here on Parole be not kept to stricter orders, that they -will have the command of this Parish. They are out all hours of the -night, they do almost as they have a mind to do: if a man is loaded ever -so hard, he must turn out of the road for them, and if any person says -anything he is reprimanded for it. - -‘They have too much liberty a great deal. - - ‘I am, Gentlemen, - ‘With a good wish to my King and Country, - ‘A TRUE ENGLISHMAN.’ - - -Another correspondent asserted that although Mr. Crapper complained of -the generals’ breach of parole, he had the next week allowed thirty of -the French prisoners to give a ball and supper to the little tradesmen -of the town, which had been kept up till 3 a.m. - -Crapper denied this, and said he had refused the application of the -prisoners for a dance until 10 p.m., given at an inn to the ‘ladies of -the town—the checked apron Ladies of Wantage’. - -Yet another writer declared that Crapper was a drunkard, and drank with -the prisoners. To this, Crapper replied that if they called on him as -gentlemen, he was surely entitled to offer them hospitality. The same -writer spoke of the French prisoners being often drunk in the streets, -of Crapper fighting with them at the inns, and accused him of -withholding money from them. Crapper, however, appears as Parole Agent -for Wantage, with 340 prisoners in his charge, some time after all this. - -I have given Crapper’s case at some length merely as an instance of what -parole agents had to put up with, not as being unusual. Ponsford at -Moreton-Hampstead, Smith at Thame, and Eborall at Lichfield, seem to -have been provoked in much the same way by turbulent and defiant -prisoners. - -For very palpable reasons the authorities did not encourage close -_rapprochements_ between parole agents and the prisoners under their -charge. At Tavistock in 1779, something wrong in the intercourse between -Ford, the Agent, and his flock, had led to an order that not only should -Ford be removed, but that certain prisoners should be sent to -Launceston. Whereupon the said prisoners petitioned to be allowed to -remain at Tavistock under Ford: - - -‘A qui nous sommes très sincèrement attachés, tant par les doux façons -qu’il a scu toujours avoir pour nous, même en exécutant ses ordres, que -par son honnêteté particulière et la bonne intelligence qu’il a soin de -faire raigner autant qu’il est possible entre les différentes claces de -personnes qui habitent cette ville et les prisonniers qu’y sont;—point -sy essentiel et sy particulièrement bien ménagé jusqu’à ce jour.’ - - -On the other hand, one Tarade, a prisoner, writes describing Ford as a -‘petit tyran d’Afrique’, and complains of him, evidently because he had -refused Tarade a passport for France. Tarade alludes to the petition -above quoted, and says that the subscribers to it belong to a class of -prisoners who are better away. Another much-signed petition comes from -dislikers of Ford who beg to be sent to Launceston, so we may presume -from the action of the authorities in ordering Ford’s removal, that he -was not a disinterested dispenser and withholder of favours. - -In Scotland the agents seem generally to have been on very excellent -terms with the prisoners in their charge, and some friendships were -formed between captors and captives which did not cease with the release -of the latter. Mr. Macbeth Forbes relates the following anecdote by way -of illustration: - - -‘The late Mr. Romanes of Harryburn (whose father had been Agent at -Lauder) says about M. Espinasse, for long a distinguished French teacher -in Edinburgh, who was for some time a parole prisoner at Lauder: “When I -was enrolled as a pupil with M. Espinasse some fifty years ago, he said: -‘Ah! your fader had _me_!’ supplying the rest of the sentence by -planting the flat part of his right thumb into the palm of his left -hand—‘Now I have _you_!’ repeating the operation. And when my father -called to see M. Espinasse, he was quite put out by M. Espinasse seizing -and hugging and embracing him, shouting excitedly: ‘Ah, mon Agent! mon -Agent!’“’ - - -Smith at Kelso, Nixon at Hawick, Romanes at Lauder, and Bell at -Jedburgh, were all held in the highest esteem by the prisoners under -them, and received many testimonials of it. - -The following were the Parole Towns between 1803 and 1813: - - Abergavenny. - Alresford. - Andover. - Ashbourne. - Ashburton. - Ashby-de-la-Zouch. - Biggar. - Bishop’s Castle. - Bishop’s Waltham. - Brecon. - Bridgnorth. - Chesterfield. - Chippenham. - Crediton. - Cupar. - Dumfries. - Hambledon. - Hawick. - Jedburgh. - Kelso. - Lanark. - Lauder. - Launceston. - Leek. - Lichfield. - Llanfyllin. - Lochmaben. - Lockerbie. - Melrose. - Montgomery. - Moreton-Hampstead. - Newtown. - Northampton. - North Tawton. - Odiham. - Okehampton. - Oswestry. - Peebles. - Peterborough. - Reading. - Sanquhar. - Selkirk. - South Molton. - Tavistock. - Thame. - Tiverton. - Wantage. - Welshpool. - Whitchurch. - Wincanton. - - - - - CHAPTER XXII - PAROLE LIFE - - -The following descriptions of life in parole towns by French writers may -not be entirely satisfactory to the reader who naturally wishes to get -as correct an impression of it as possible, inasmuch as they are from -the pens of men smarting under restrictions and perhaps a sense of -injustice, irritated by ennui, by the irksomeness of confinement in -places which as a rule do not seem to have been selected because of -their fitness to administer to the joys of life, and by the occasional -evidences of being among unfriendly people. But I hope to balance this -in later chapters by the story of the paroled officers as seen by the -captors. - -The original French I have translated literally, except when it has -seemed to me that translation would involve a sacrifice of terseness or -force. - -Listen to Lieutenant Gicquel des Touches, at Tiverton, after Trafalgar: - - -‘A pleasant little town, but which struck me as particularly monotonous -after the exciting life to which I was accustomed. My pay, reduced by -one-half, amounted to fifty francs a month, which had to satisfy all my -needs at a time when the continental blockade had caused a very sensible -rise in the price of all commodities.... I took advantage of my leisure -hours to overhaul and complete my education. Some of my comrades of more -literary bringing-up gave me lessons in literature and history, in -return for which I taught them fencing, for which I always had much -aptitude, and which I had always practised a good deal. The population -was generally kindly disposed towards us; some of the inhabitants urging -their interest in us so far as to propose to help me to escape, and -among them a young and pretty _Miss_ who only made one condition—that I -should take her with me in my flight, and should marry her when we -reached the Continent. It was not much trouble for me to resist these -temptations, but it was harder to tear myself away from the -importunities of some of my companions, who, not having the same ideas -as I had about the sacredness of one’s word, would have forced me to -escape with them. - -‘Several succeeded: I say nothing about them, but I have often been -astonished later at the ill-will they have borne me for not having done -as they did.’ - - -Gicquel was at Tiverton six years and was then exchanged. - -A Freemasons’ Lodge, _Enfants de Mars_, was opened and worked at -Tiverton about 1810, of which the first and only master was Alexander de -la Motte, afterwards Languages Master at Blundell’s School. The Masons -met in a room in Frog Street, now Castle Street, until, two of the -officers on parole in the town escaping, the authorities prohibited the -meetings. The Tyler of the Lodge, Rivron by name, remained in Tiverton -after peace was made, and for many years worked as a slipper-maker. He -had been an officer’s servant. - -The next writer, the Baron de Bonnefoux, we have already met in the -hulks. His reminiscences of parole life are among the most interesting I -have come across, and are perhaps the more so because he has a good deal -of what is nice and kind to say of us. - -On his arrival in England in 1806, Bonnefoux was sent on parole to Thame -in Oxfordshire. Here he occupied himself in learning English, Latin, and -drawing, and in practising fencing. In the Mauritius, Bonnefoux and his -shipmates had become friendly with a wealthy Englishman settled there -under its French Government at l’Île de France. This gentleman came to -Thame, rented the best house there for a summer, and continually -entertained the French officer prisoners. The Lupton family, of one son -and two daughters, the two Stratford ladies, and others, were also kind -to them, whilst a metropolitan spirit was infused into the little -society by the visits of a Miss Sophia Bode from London, so that with -all these pretty, amiable girls the Baron managed to pass his unlimited -leisure very pleasantly. On the other hand, there was an element of the -population of Thame which bore a traditional antipathy to Frenchmen -which it lost no opportunity of exhibiting. It was a manufacturing -section, composed of outsiders, between whom and the natives an -ill-feeling had long existed, and it was not long before our Baron came -to an issue with them. One of these men pushed against Bonnefoux as he -was walking in the town, and the Frenchman retaliated. Whereupon the -Englishman called on his friends, who responded. Bonnefoux, on his side, -called up his comrades, and a regular _mêlée_, in which sticks, stones, -and fists were freely used, ensued, the immediate issue of which is not -reported. Bonnefoux brought his assailant up before Smith, the Agent, -who shuffled about the matter, and recommended the Baron to take it to -Oxford, he in reality being in fear of the roughs. Bonnefoux expressed -his disgust, Smith lost his temper, and raised his cane, in reply to -which the Baron seized a poker. Bonnefoux complained to the Transport -Office, the result of which was that he was removed to Odiham in -Hampshire, after quite a touching farewell to his English friends and -his own countrymen, receiving a souvenir of a lock of hair from ‘la -jeune Miss Harriet Stratford aux beaux yeux bleus, au teint éblouissant, -à la physionomie animée, à la taille divine’. - -The populace of Odiham he found much pleasanter than that of Thame, and -as the report of the part he had taken in the disturbance at Thame had -preceded him, he was enthusiastically greeted. The French officers at -Odiham did their best to pass the time pleasantly. They had a -Philharmonic Society, a Freemasons’ Lodge, and especially a theatre to -which the local gentry resorted in great numbers, Shebbeare, the Agent, -being a good fellow who did all in his power to soften the lot of those -in his charge, and was not too strict a construer of the laws and -regulations by which they were bound. - -Bonnefoux made friends everywhere; he seems to have been a light-hearted -genial soul, and did not spare the ample private means he had in helping -less fortunate fellow prisoners. For instance, a naval officer named Le -Forsiney became the father of an illegitimate child. By English law he -had to pay six hundred francs for the support of the child, or be -imprisoned. Bonnefoux paid it for him. - -In June 1807, an English friend, Danley, offered to take him to Windsor, -quietly of course, as this meant a serious violation of parole rules. -They had a delightful trip: Bonnefoux saw the king, and generally -enjoyed himself, and got back to Odiham safely. He said nothing about -this escapade until September, when he was talking of it to friends, and -was overheard by a certain widow, who, having been brought up in France, -understood the language, as she sat at her window above. Now this widow -had a pretty nurse, Mary, to whom Bonnefoux was ‘attracted’, and -happening to find an unsigned letter addressed to Mary, in which was: -‘To-morrow, I shall have the grief of not seeing you, but I shall see -your king,’ she resolved upon revenge. A short time after, there -appeared in a newspaper a paragraph to the effect that a foreigner with -sinister projects had dared to approach the king at Windsor. The widow -denounced Bonnefoux as the man alluded to: the Agent was obliged to -examine the matter, the whole business of the trip to Windsor came out, -and although Danley took all the blame on himself, and tried to shield -Bonnefoux, the order came that the latter was at once to be removed to -the hulks at Chatham. - -In the meanwhile a somewhat romantic little episode had happened at -Odiham. Among the paroled prisoners there was a lieutenant (_Aspirant de -première classe_) named Rousseau, who had been taken in the fight -between Admiral Duckworth and Admiral Leissegnes off San Domingo in -February, 1806. His mother, a widow, was dying of grief for him, and -Rousseau resolved to get to her, but would not break his parole by -escaping from Odiham. So he wrote to the Transport Office that if he was -not arrested and put on board a prison ship within eight days, he would -consider his parole as cancelled, and would act accordingly, his -resolution being to escape from any prison ship on which he was -confined, which he felt sure he could do, and so save his parole. -Accordingly, he was arrested and sent to Portsmouth. - -Bonnefoux, pending his removal to Chatham, was kept under guard at the -_George_ in Odiham, but he managed to get out, hid for the night in a -new ditch, and early the next morning went to a prisoner’s lodging-house -in the outskirts of Odiham, and remained there three days. Hither came -Sarah Cooper, daughter of a local pastry-cook, no doubt one of the -dashing young sailor’s many _chères amies_. She had been informed of his -whereabouts by his friends, and told him she would conduct him to -Guildford. - -The weather was very wet, and Sarah was in her Sunday best, but said -that she did not mind the rain so long as she could see Bonnefoux. Says -the latter: - - -‘Je dis alors à Sara que je pensais qu’il pleuvrait pendant la nuit. -Elle répliqua que peu lui importait; enfin j’objectai cette longue -course à pied, sa toilette et ses capotes blanches, car c’était un -dimanche, et elle leva encore cette difficulté en prétendant qu’elle -avait du courage et que dès qu’elle avait appris qu’elle pouvait me -sauver elle n’avait voulu ni perdre une minute pour venir me -chercher. . . . Je n’avais plus un mot à dire, car pendant qu’elle -m’entraînait d’une de ses petites mains elle me fermait gracieusement la -bouche.’ - - -They reached Guildford at daybreak, and two carriages were hired, one to -take Bonnefoux to London, the other to take Sarah back to Odiham. They -parted with a tender farewell, Bonnefoux started, reached London safely, -and put up at the Hôtel du Café de St. Paul. - -In London he met a Dutchman named Vink, bound for Hamburg by the first -vessel leaving, and bought his berth on the ship, but had to wait a -month before anything sailed for Hamburg. He sailed, a fellow passenger -being young Lord Onslow. At Gravesend, officers came on board on the -search for Vink. Evidently Vink had betrayed him, for he could not -satisfactorily account for his presence on the ship in accordance with -the strict laws then in force about the embarkation of passengers for -foreign ports; Bonnefoux was arrested, for two days was shut down in the -awful hold of a police vessel, and was finally taken on board the -_Bahama_ at Chatham, and there met Rousseau, who had escaped from the -Portsmouth hulk but had been recaptured in mid-Channel. - -Bonnefoux remained on the Chatham hulk until June 1809, when he was -allowed to go on parole to Lichfield. With him went Dubreuil, the rough -privateer skipper whose acquaintance he made on the _Bahama_, and who -was released from the prison ship because he had treated Colonel and -Mrs. Campbell with kindness when he made them prisoners. - -Dubreuil was so delighted with the change from the _Bahama_ to -Lichfield, that he celebrated it in a typical sailor fashion, giving a -banquet which lasted three days at the best hotel in Lichfield, and -roared forth the praises of his friend Bonnefoux: - - De Bonnefoux nous sommes enchantés, - Nous allons boire à sa santé! - -Parole life at Lichfield he describes as charming. There was a nice, -refined local society, pleasant walks, cafés, concerts, réunions, and -billiards. Bonnefoux preferred to mix with the artisan class of -Lichfield society, admiring it the most in England, and regarding the -middle class as too prejudiced and narrow, the upper class as too -luxurious and proud. He says: - - -‘Il est difficile de voir rien de plus agréable à l’œil que les réunions -des jeunes gens des deux sexes lois [_sic_] des foires et des marchés.’ - - -Eborall, the Agent at Lichfield, the Baron calls a splendid chap: so far -from binding them closely to their distance limit, he allowed the French -officers to go to Ashby-de-la-Zouch, to the races at Lichfield, and even -to Birmingham. Catalini came to sing at Lichfield, and Bonnefoux went to -hear her with Mary Aldrith, his landlord’s daughter, and pretty Nancy -Fairbrother. - -And yet Bonnefoux resolved to escape. There came on ‘business’ to -Lichfield, Robinson and Stevenson, two well-known smuggler -escape-agents, and they made the Baron an offer which he accepted. He -wrote, however, to the Transport Office, saying that his health demanded -his return to France, and engaging not to serve against England. - -With another naval officer, Colles, he got away successfully by the aid -of the smugglers and their agents, and reached Rye in Sussex. Between -them they paid the smugglers one hundred and fifty guineas. At Rye they -found another escaped prisoner in hiding, the Captain of the _Diomède_, -and he added another fifty guineas. The latter was almost off his head, -and nearly got them caught through his extraordinary behaviour. However, -on November 28, 1809, they reached Boulogne after a bad passage. - -Robinson with his two hundred guineas bought contraband goods in France -and ran them over to England. Stevenson was not so lucky, for a little -later he was caught at Deal with an escaped prisoner, was fined five -hundred guineas, and in default of payment was sent to Botany Bay. - -General d’Henin was one of the French generals who were taken at San -Domingo in 1803. He was sent on parole to Chesterfield in Derbyshire, -and, unlike several other officers who shared his fate, was most popular -with the inhabitants through his pleasing address and manner. He married -whilst in Chesterfield a Scots lady of fortune, and for some years -resided with her at Spital Lodge, the house of the Agent, Mr. Bower. He -and Madame d’Henin returned to Paris in 1814, and he fought at Waterloo, -where his leg was torn off by a cannon shot. - -His residence in England seems to have made him somewhat of an -Anglophile, for in Horne’s _History of Napoleon_ he is accused of -favouring the British at Waterloo, and it was actually reported to -Napoleon by a dragoon that he ‘harangued the men to go over to the -enemy’. This, it was stated, was just before the cannon shot struck him. - -From Chesterfield, d’Henin wrote to his friend General Boyer at -Montgomery, under date October 30, 1804. After a long semi-religious -soliloquy, in which he laments his position but supposes it to be as -Pangloss says, that ‘all is for the best in this best of worlds’, he -speaks of his bad health, of his too short stay at ‘Harrowgate’ (from -which health resort, by the way, he had been sent, for carrying on -correspondence under a false name), of his religious conversion, and of -his abstemious habits, and finishes: - - -‘Rien de nouveau. Toujours la même vie, triste, maussade, ennuyeuse, -déplaisante et sans fin, quand finira-t-elle? Il fait ici un temps -superbe, de la pluie, depuis le matin jusqu’au soir, et toujours de la -pluie, et du brouillard pour changer. Vie de soldat! Vie de chien!’ - - -All the same, it is consoling to learn from the following letters -written by French officers on parole to their friends, that compulsory -exile in England was not always the intolerable punishment which so many -authors of reminiscences would have us believe. Here is one, for -instance, written from a prisoner on parole at Sevenoaks to a friend at -Tenterden, in 1757: - - -‘I beg you to receive my congratulations upon having been sent into a -country so rich in pretty girls: you say they are unapproachable, but it -must be consoling to you to know that you possess the trick of winning -the most unresponsive hearts, and that one of your ordinary looks -attracts the fair; and this assures me of your success in your secret -affairs: it is much more difficult to conquer the middle-class sex.... -Your pale beauty has been very ill for some weeks, the reason being that -she has overheated herself dancing at a ball with all the Frenchmen with -whom she has been friendly for a certain time, which has got her into -trouble with her mother.... Roussel has been sent to the “Castle” -(Sissinghurst) nine days ago, it is said for having loved too well the -Sevenoaks girls, and had two in hand which cost him five guineas, which -he had to pay before going. Will you let me know if the country is -suitable for you, how many French there are, and if food and lodgings -are dear? - - ‘To Mr. Guerdon. A French surgeon on parole at Tenterden.’ - - -The next is from a former prisoner, then living at Dunkirk, to Mrs. -Miller at the Post Office, Leicester, dated 1757. Note the spelling and -punctuation: - - - ‘MADAME,— - -Vous ne scaurié croire quell plaisire j’ai de m’entretenir avec vous mon -cœur ne peut s’acoutumer à vivre sans vous voire. Je nait pas encore -rencontré notre chère compagnon de voyage. Ne m’oublié point, ma chère -Elizabeth vous pouvé estre persuadé du plaisire que j’auré en recevant -de vos nouvelles. Le gros Loys se porte bien il doit vous écrire aussi -qu’à Madame Covagne. Si vous voye Mrs. Nancy donne luy un baisé pour -moy’. - - -A prisoner writes from Alresford to a friend in France: - - -‘I go often to the good Mrs. Smith’s. Miss Anna is at present here. She -sent me a valentine yesterday. I go there sometimes to take tea where -Henrietta and Betsi Wynne are. We played at cards, and spent the -pleasantest evening I have ever passed in England.’ - - -A Captain Quinquet, also at Alresford, thus writes to his sister at -Avranches: - - -‘We pass the days gaily with the Johnsons, daughters and brother, and I -am sure you are glad to hear that we are so happy. Come next Friday! Ah! -If that were possible, what a surprise! On that day we give a grand ball -to celebrate the twenty-fifth wedding anniversary of papa and mamma. -There will be quite twenty people, and I flatter myself we shall enjoy -ourselves thoroughly, and if by chance on that day a packet of letters -should arrive from you—Mon Dieu! What joy!’ - - -He adds, quite in the style of a settled local gossip, scraps of news, -such as that Mrs. Jarvis has a daughter born; that poor Mr. Jack Smith -is dead; that Colonel Lewis’s wife, a most amiable woman, will be at the -ball; that Miss Kimber is going to be married; that dear little Emma -learns to speak French astonishingly well; that Henrietta Davis is quite -cured from her illness, and so forth. - -There is, in fact, plenty of evidence that the French officers found the -daughters of Albion very much to their liking. Many of them married and -remained in England after peace was declared, leaving descendants who -may be found at this day, although in many cases the French names have -become anglicized. - -In Andover to-day the names of Jerome and Dugay tell of the paroled -Frenchmen who were here between 1810 and 1815, whilst, also at Andover, -‘Shepherd’ Burton is the grandson of Aubertin, a French prisoner. - -At Chesterfield (Mr. Hawkesly Edmunds informs me), the names of Jacques -and Presky still remain. - -Robins and Jacques and Etches are names which still existed in Ashbourne -not many years ago, their bearers being known to be descended from -French prisoners there. - -At Odiham, Alfred Jauréguiberry, second captain of the _Austerlitz_ -privateer, married a Miss Chambers. His son, Admiral Jauréguiberry, -described as a man admirable in private as in public life, was in -command of the French Squadron which came over to Portsmouth on the -occasion of Queen Victoria’s Jubilee Naval Review in 1887, and he found -time to call upon an English relative. - -Louis Hettet, a prisoner on parole at Bishop’s Castle, Montgomeryshire, -in 1814, married Mary Morgan. The baptism of a son, Louis, is recorded -in the Bishop’s Castle register, March 6, 1815. The father left for -France after the Peace of 1814; Mrs. Hettet declined to go, and died at -Bishop’s Castle not many years ago. The boy was sent for and went to -France. - -Mrs. Lucy Louisa Morris, who died at Oswestry in 1908, aged 83, was the -second daughter of Lieutenant Paris, of the French Navy, a prisoner on -parole at Oswestry. - -In 1886 Thomas Benchin, descendant of a French prisoner at Oswestry, -died at Clun, in Shropshire, where his son is, or was lately, living. -Benchin was famed for his skill in making toys and chip-wood ornaments. - -Robinot, a prisoner on parole at Montgomery, married, in June 1807, a -Miss Andrews, of Buckingham. - -At Wantage, in 1817, General de Gaja, formerly a prisoner on parole, -married a grand-daughter of the first Duke of Leicester, and his -daughter married, in 1868, the Rev. Mr. Atkinson, vicar of East Hendred. - -At Thame, François Robert Boudin married Miss Bone, by banns, in 1813; -in the same year Jacques Ferrier married Mary Green by banns; Prévost de -la Croix married Elizabeth Hill by licence; and in 1816 Louis-Amédée -Comte married Mary Simmons, also by licence. All the bridegrooms were or -had been prisoners on parole. - -In the register of Leek I find that J. B. B. Delisle, Commandant of the -port of Caen, married Harriet Sheldon; François Néan married Mary Lees, -daughter of the landlord of the _Duke of York_; Sergeant Paymaster -Pierre Magnier married Frances Smith, who died in 1874, aged 84; Joseph -Vattel, cook to General Brunet, married Sarah Pilsbury. Captains -Toufflet and Chouquet left sons who were living in Leek in 1880 and 1870 -respectively, and Jean Mien, servant to General Brunet, was in Leek in -1870. - -Notices of other marriages—at Wincanton, for instance—will be found -elsewhere. - -Against those who married English girls and honourably kept to them, -must, however, be placed a long list of Frenchmen who, knowing well that -in France such marriages were held invalid, married English women, and -basely deserted them on their own return to France, generally leaving -them with children and utterly destitute. The correspondence of the -Transport Office is full of warnings to girls who have meditated -marriage with prisoners, but who have asked advice first. As to the -subsistence of wives and children of prisoners, the law was that if the -latter were not British subjects, their subsistence was paid by the -British Government, otherwise they must seek Parish relief. In one of -the replies the Transport Office quotes the case of Madame Berton, an -Englishwoman who had married Colonel Berton, a prisoner on parole at -Chesterfield, and was permitted to follow her husband after his release -and departure for France, but who, with a son of nineteen months old, on -arrival there, was driven back in great want and distress by the French -Government. - -In contrast with the practice of the British Government in paying for -the subsistence of the French wives and children of prisoners of war, is -that of the French Government as described in the reply of the Transport -Office in 1813 to a Mrs. Cumming with a seven-year-old child, who -applied to be allowed a passage to Morlaix in order to join her husband, -a prisoner on parole at Longwy: - - -‘The Transport Office is willing to grant you a passage by Cartel to -Morlaix, but would call your attention to the situation you will be -placed in, on your arrival in France, provided your husband has not by -his means or your own the power of maintaining you in France, as the -French Government make no allowance whatever to wives and children -belonging to British prisoners of war, and this Government has no power -to relieve their wants. Also to point out that Longwy is not an open -Parole Town like the Parole Towns in England, but is walled round, and -the prisoners are not allowed to proceed beyond the walls, so that any -resources derivable from your own industry appears to be very -uncertain.’ - - -The Transport Office were constantly called upon to adjudicate upon such -matters as this: - - -‘In 1805, Colonel de Bercy, on parole at Thame, was “in difficulty” -about a girl being with child by him. The Office declined to interfere, -but said that if the Colonel could not give sufficient security that -mother and child should not be a burden upon the rates, he must be -imprisoned until he did.’ - - -By a rule of the French Government, Englishwomen who had already lived -in France with their husbands there as prisoners of war could not return -to France if once they left it. This was brought about by some English -officers’ wives taking letters with them on their return from England, -and, although as a matter of policy it could not be termed tyrannical, -it was the cause naturally of much distress and even of calamity. - -The next account of parole life in England is by Louis Garneray, the -marine painter, whose description of life on the hulks may be remembered -as being the most vivid and exact of any I have given. - -After describing his rapture at release from the hulk at Portsmouth and -his joyous anticipation of comparative liberty ashore, Garneray says: - - -‘When I arrived in 1811 under escort at the little village (Bishop’s -Waltham in Hampshire) which had been assigned to me as a place of -residence, I saw with some disillusion that more than 1,200 [_sic_] -French of all ranks [_sic_] had for their accommodation nothing but some -wretched, tumble-down houses which the English let to them at such an -exorbitant price that a year’s rent meant the price of the house itself. -As for me, I managed to get for ten shillings a week, not a room, but -the right to place my bed in a hut where already five officers were.’ - - -The poor fellow was up at five and dressed the next morning: - - -‘What are you going to do?’ asked one of my room mates. ‘I’m going to -breathe the morning air and have a run in the fields,’ I replied. - -‘Look out, or you’ll be arrested.’ - -‘Arrested! Why?’ - -‘Because we are not allowed to leave the house before six o’clock.’ - - -Garneray soon learned about the hours of going out and coming in, about -the one-mile limit along the high road, that a native finding a prisoner -beyond the limit or off the main road had not only the right to knock -him down but to receive a guinea for doing so. He complained that the -only recreations were walking, painting, and reading, for the Government -had discovered that concerts, theatricals, and any performances which -brought the prisoners and the natives together encouraged familiarity -between the two peoples and corrupted morals, and so forbade them. -Garneray then described how he came to break his parole and to escape -from Bishop’s Waltham. - -He with two fellow-prisoner officers went out one hot morning with the -intention of breakfasting at a farm about a mile along the high road. -Intending to save a long bit they cut across by a field path. Garneray -stumbled and hurt his foot and so got behind his companions. Suddenly, -hearing a cry, he saw a countryman attack his friends with a bill-hook, -wound one of them on the arm, and kill the other, who had begun to -expostulate with him, with two terrible cuts on the head. Garneray, -seizing a stick, rushed up, and the peasant ran off, leaving him with -the two poor fellows, one dead and the other badly wounded. He then saw -the man returning at the head of a crowd of countrymen, armed with -pitchforks and guns, and made up his mind that his turn had come. -However, he explained the situation, and had the satisfaction of seeing -that the crowd sided with him against their brutal compatriot. They -improvised a litter and carried the two victims back to the cantonment, -whilst the murderer quietly returned to his work. - -When the extraordinary brutality of the attack and its unprovoked nature -became known, such indignation was felt among the French officers in the -cantonment that they drew up a remonstrance to the British Government, -with the translation of which into English Garneray was entrusted. -Whilst engaged in this a rough-mannered stranger called on him and -warned him that he had best have nothing to do with the remonstrance. - -He took the translated document to his brother officers, and on his way -back a little English girl of twelve years quietly and mysteriously -signed to him to follow her. He did so to a wretched cottage, wherein -lived the grandmother of the child. Garneray had been kind to the poor -old woman and had painted the child’s portrait for nothing, and in -return she warned him that the constables were going to arrest him. -Garneray determined to escape. - -He got away from Bishop’s Waltham and was fortunate enough to get an -inside place in a night coach, the other places being occupied by an -English clergyman, his wife, and daughter. Miss Flora soon recognized -him as an escaped prisoner and came to his rescue when, at a halting -place, the coach was searched for a runaway from Bishop’s Waltham. -Eventually he reached Portsmouth, where he found a good English friend -of his prison-ship days, and with him he stayed in hiding for nearly a -year, until April 1813. - -Longing to return to France, he joined with three recently-escaped -French officers in an arrangement with smugglers—the usual -intermediaries in these escapes—to take them there. To cut short a long -story of adventure and misadventure, such as we shall have in plenty -when we come to that part of this section which deals with the escapes -of paroled prisoners, Garneray and his companions at last embarked with -the smugglers at an agreed price of £10 each. - -The smugglers turned out to be rascals; and a dispute with them about -extra charges ended in a mid-Channel fight, during which one of the -smugglers was killed. Within sight of the French coast the British ship -_Victory_ captured them, and once more Garneray found himself in the -_cachot_ of the Portsmouth prison-ship _Vengeance_. - -Garneray was liberated by the Treaty of Paris in 1814, after nine years’ -captivity. He was then appointed Court Marine Painter to Louis XVIII, -and received the medal of the Legion of Honour. - -The Marquis d’Hautpol was taken prisoner at Arapiles, badly wounded, in -July 1812, and with some four hundred other prisoners was landed at -Portsmouth on December 12, and thence sent on parole to ‘Brigsnorth, -petite ville de la Principauté de Galles’, clearly meant for Bridgnorth -in Shropshire. Here, he says, were from _eight to nine hundred_ other -prisoners, some of whom had been there eight or nine years, but -certainly he must have been mistaken, for at no parole place were ever -more than four hundred prisoners. The usual rules obtained here, and the -allowance was the equivalent of one franc fifty centimes a day. - -Wishing to employ his time profitably he engaged a fellow-prisoner to -teach him English, to whom he promised a salary as soon as he should -receive his remittances. A letter from his brother-in-law told him that -his sisters, believing him dead, as they had received no news from him, -had gone into mourning, and enclosed a draft for 4,000 francs, which -came through the bankers Perregaux of Paris and ‘Coutz’ of London. He -complains bitterly of the sharp practices of the local Agent, who paid -him his 4,000 francs, but in paper money, which was at the time at a -discount of twenty-five per cent, and who, upon his claiming the -difference, ‘me répondit fort insolemment que le papier anglais valait -autant que l’or français, et que si je me permettais d’attaquer encore -le crédit de la banque, il me ferait conduire aux pontons’. So he had to -accept the situation. - -The Marquis, as we shall see, was not the man to invent such an -accusation, so it may be believed that the complaints so often made -about the unfair practice of the British Government, in the matter of -moneys due to prisoners, were not without foundation. The threat of the -Agent to send the Marquis to the hulks if he persisted in claiming his -dues, may have been but a threat, but it sounds as if these gentlemen -were invested with very great powers. The Marquis and a fellow prisoner, -Dechevrières, adjutant of the 59th, messed together, modestly, but -better than the other poorer men, who clubbed together and bought an ox -head, with which they made soup and ate with potatoes. - -A cousin of the Marquis, the Comtesse de Béon, knew a Miss Vernon, one -of the Queen’s ladies of honour, and she introduced the Marquis to Lord -‘Malville’, whose seat was near Bridgnorth, and who invited him to the -house. I give d’Hautpol’s impression in his own words: - - -‘Ce lord était poli, mais, comme tous les Anglais, ennemi mortel de la -France. J’étais humilié de ses prévenances qui sentaient la protection. -Je revins cependant une seconde fois chez lui; il y avait ce jour-là -nombreuse compagnie; plusieurs officiers anglais s’y trouvaient. Sans -égards pour ma position et avec une certaine affectation, ils se mirent -à déblatérer en français contre l’Empereur et l’armée. Je me levai de -table indigné, et demandai à Lord Malville la permission de me retirer; -il s’efforce de me retenir en blâmant ses compatriotes, mais je -persistai. Je n’acceptai plus d’invitations chez lui.’ - - -All good news from the seat of war, says the Marquis, was carefully -hidden from the prisoners, so that they heard nothing about Lützen, -Bautzen, and Dresden. But the news of Leipsic was loudly proclaimed. The -prisoners could not go out of doors without being insulted. One day the -people dressed up a figure to represent Bonaparte, put it on a donkey, -and paraded the town with it. Under the windows of the lodging of -General Veiland, who had been taken at Badajos, of which place he was -governor, they rigged up a gibbet, hung the figure on it, and afterwards -burned it. - -At one time a general uprising of the prisoners of war in England was -seriously discussed. There were in Britain 5,000 officers on parole, and -60,000 men on the hulks and in prisons. The idea was to disarm the -guards all at once, to join forces at a given point, to march on -Plymouth, liberate the men on the hulks, and thence go to Portsmouth and -do the same there. But the authorities became suspicious, the generals -were separated from the other officers, and many were sent to distant -cantonments. The Marquis says that there were 1,500 at Bridgnorth, and -that half of these were sent to Oswestry. This was in November, 1813. - -So to Oswestry d’Hautpol was sent. From Oswestry during his stay escaped -three famous St. Malo privateer captains. After a terrible journey of -risks and privations they reached the coast—he does not say where—and -off it they saw at anchor a trading vessel of which nearly all the crew -had come ashore. In the night the prisoners swam out, with knives in -their mouths, and boarded the brig. They found a sailor sleeping on -deck; him they stabbed, and also another who was in the cabin. They -spared the cabin boy, who showed them the captain’s trunks, with the -contents of which they dressed themselves. Then they cut the cable, -hoisted sail and made off—all within gunshot of a man-of-war. They -reached Morlaix in safety, although pursued for some distance by a -man-of-war. The brig was a valuable prize, for she had just come from -the West Indies, and was richly laden. This the Frenchmen at Oswestry -learned from the English newspapers, and they celebrated the exploit -boisterously. - -Just after this the Marquis received a letter from Miss Vernon, in which -she said that if he chose to join the good Frenchmen who were praying -for restoration of the Bourbons, she would get him a passport which -would enable him to join Louis XVIII at Hartwell. To this the Marquis -replied that he had been made prisoner under the tricolour, that he was -still in the Emperor’s service, and that for the moment he had no idea -of changing his flag, adding that rather than do this he preferred to -remain a prisoner. Miss Vernon did not write again on this topic until -the news came of the great events of 1814—the victories of the British -at San Sebastian, Pampeluna, the Bidassoa, the Adur, Orthez and -Toulouse, when she wrote: - - -‘I hope that now you have no more scruples; I send you a passport for -London; come and see me, for I shall be delighted to renew our -acquaintance.’ - - -He accepted the offer, went to London, and found Miss Vernon lodged in -St. James’s Palace. Here she got apartments for him; he was fêted and -lionized and taken to see the sights of London in a royal carriage. At -Westminster Hall he was grieved to see the eagle of the 39th regiment, -taken during the retreat from Portugal, and that of the 101st, taken at -Arapiles. Then he returned to France. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIII - THE PRISONERS ON PAROLE IN SCOTLAND - - -With the great Scottish prisons at Perth, Valleyfield, and Edinburgh I -have dealt elsewhere, and it is with very particular pleasure that I -shall now treat of the experiences of prisoners in the parole towns of -Scotland, for the reason that, almost without exception, our involuntary -visitors seem to have been treated with a kindness and forbearance not -generally characteristic of the reception they had south of the Tweed, -although of course there were exceptions. - -As we shall see, Sir Walter Scott took kindly notice of the foreigners -quartered in his neighbourhood, but that he never lost sight of the fact -that they were foreigners and warriors is evident from the following -letter to Lady Abercorn, dated May 3, 1812: - - -‘I am very apprehensive of the consequences of a scarcity at this -moment, especially from the multitude of French prisoners who are -scattered through the small towns in this country; as I think, very -improvidently. As the peace of this county is intrusted to me, I thought -it necessary to state to the Justice Clerk that the arms of the local -militia were kept without any guard in a warehouse in Kelso; that there -was nothing to prevent the prisoners there, at Selkirk, and at Jedburgh, -from joining any one night, and making themselves masters of this dépôt: -that the sheriffs of Roxburgh and Selkirk, in order to put down such a -commotion, could only command about three troops of yeomanry to be -collected from a great distance, and these were to attack about 500 -disciplined men, who, in the event supposed, would be fully provided -with arms and ammunition, and might, if any alarm should occasion the -small number of troops now at Berwick to be withdrawn, make themselves -masters of that sea-port, the fortifications of which, although ruinous, -would serve to defend them until cannon was brought against them.’ - - -The Scottish towns where prisoners of war on parole were quartered, of -which I have been able to get information, are Cupar, Kelso, Selkirk, -Peebles, Sanquhar, Dumfries, Melrose, Jedburgh, Hawick, and Lauder. - -By the kind permission of Mrs. Keddie (‘Sarah Tytler’) I am able to give -very interesting extracts from her book, _Three Generations: The Story -of a Middle-Class Scottish Family_, referring to the residence of the -prisoners at Cupar, and the friendly intercourse between them and Mrs. -Keddie’s grandfather, Mr. Henry Gibb, of Balass, Cupar. - - -‘Certainly the foreign officers were made curiously welcome in the -country town, which their presence seemed to enliven rather than to -offend. The strangers’ courageous endurance, their perennial -cheerfulness, their ingenious devices to occupy their time and improve -the situation, aroused much friendly interest and amusement. The -position must have been rendered more bearable to the sufferers, and -perhaps more respectable in the eyes of the spectators, from the fact, -for which I am not able to account, that, undoubtedly, the prisoners had -among themselves, individually and collectively, considerable funds. - -‘The residents treated the jetsam and flotsam of war with more than -forbearance, with genuine liberality and kindness, receiving them into -their houses on cordial terms. Soon there was not a festivity in the -town at which the French prisoners were not permitted—nay, heartily -pressed to attend. How the complacent guests viewed those rejoicings in -which the natives, as they frequently did, commemorated British -victories over the enemy is not on record. - -‘But there was no thought of war and its fierce passions among the youth -of the company in the simple dinners, suppers, and carpet-dances in -private houses. There were congratulations on the abundance of pleasant -partners, and the assurance that no girl need now sit out a dance or -lack an escort if her home was within a certain limited distance beyond -which the prisoners were not at liberty to stray. - -‘I have heard my mother and a cousin of hers dwell on the courtesy and -agreeableness of the outlanders—what good dancers, what excellent -company, as the country girls’ escorts.... As was almost inevitable, the -natural result of such intimacy followed, whether or not it was -acceptable to the open-hearted entertainers. Love and marriage ensued -between the youngsters, the vanquished and the victors. A Colonel, who -was one of the band, married a daughter of the Episcopal clergyman in -the town, and I am aware of at least two more weddings which eventually -took place between the strangers and the inhabitants. (These occurred at -the end of the prisoners’ stay.)’ - - -Balass, where the Gibbs lived, was within parole limits. One day Gibb -asked the whole lot of the prisoners to breakfast, and forgot to tell -Mrs. Gibb that he had done so. - - -‘Happily she was a woman endowed with tranquillity of temper, while the -ample resources of an old bountiful farmhouse were speedily brought to -bear on the situation, dispensed as they were by the fair and capable -henchwomen who relieved the mistress of the house of the more arduous of -her duties. There was no disappointment in store for the patient, -ingenious gentlemen who were wont to edify and divert their nominal -enemy by making small excursions into the fields to snare larks for -their private breakfast-tables. - -‘Another generous invitation of my grandfather’s ran a narrow risk of -having a tragic end. Not all his sense of the obligation of a host nor -his compassion for the misfortunes of a gallant foe could at times -restrain race antagonism, and his intense mortification at any -occurrence which would savour of national discomfiture. Once, in -entertaining some of these foreign officers, among whom was a _maître -d’armes_, Harry Gibb was foolish enough to propose a bout of fencing -with the expert. It goes without saying that within the first few -minutes the yeoman’s sword was dexterously knocked out of his hand.... -Every other consideration went down before the deadly insult. In less -time than it takes to tell the story the play became grim earnest. My -grandfather turned his fists on the other combatant, taken unawares and -not prepared for the attack, sprang like a wild-cat at his throat, and, -if the bystanders had not interposed and separated the pair, murder -might have been committed under his own roof by the kindest-hearted man -in the countryside.’ - - -This increasing intimacy between the prisoners and the inhabitants -displeased the Government, and the crisis came when, in return for the -kindness shown them, the prisoners determined to erect a theatre: - - -‘The French prisoners were suffered to play only once in their theatre, -and then the rout came for them. Amidst loud and sincere lamentation -from all concerned, the officers were summarily removed in a body, and -deposited in a town at some distance ... from their former guardians. As -a final _gage d’amitié_ ... the owners of the theatre left it a a gift -to the town.’ - - -Later—in the ‘thirties—this theatre was annexed to the Grammar School to -make extra class-rooms, for it was an age when Scotland was opposed to -theatres. - - - KELSO[14] - -For some of the following notes, I am indebted to the late Mr. Macbeth -Forbes, who helped me notably elsewhere, and who kindly gave me -permission to use them. - -Some of the prisoners on parole at Kelso were sailors, but the majority -were soldiers from Spain, Portugal, and the West Indies, and about -twenty Sicilians. The inhabitants gave them a warm welcome, hospitably -entertained them, and in return the prisoners, many of whom were men of -means, gave balls at the inns—the only establishments in these -pre-parish hall days where accommodation for large parties could be -had—at which they appeared gaily attired with wondrous frills to their -shirts, and white stockings. - -‘The time of their stay’, says Mr. Forbes, ‘was the gayest that Kelso -had ever seen since fatal Flodden.’ - -Here as elsewhere there were artists among them who painted miniatures -and landscapes and gave lessons, plaiters of straw and manufacturers of -curious beautiful articles in coloured straw, wood-carvers, botanists, -and fishermen. These last, it is said, first introduced the sport of -catching fish through holes in the ice in mid-winter. Billiards, also, -are said to have been introduced into Scotland by the prisoners. They -mostly did their own cooking, and it is noted that they spoiled some of -the landladies’ tables by chopping up frogs for fricassees. They bought -up the old Kelso ‘theatre’, the occasional scene of action for wandering -Thespians, which was in a close off the Horse-Market, rebuilt and -decorated it, some of the latter work still being visible in the ceiling -of the ironmongery store of to-day. One difficulty was the very scanty -dressing accommodation, so the actors often dressed at home, and their -passage therefrom to the theatre in all sorts of garbs was a grand -opportunity for the gibes of the youth of Kelso. Kelso was nothing if -not ‘proper’, so that when upon one occasion the postmistress, a married -woman, was seen accompanying a fantastically arrayed prisoner-actor to -the theatre from his lodging, Mrs. Grundy had much to say for some time. -On special occasions, such as when the French play was patronized by a -local grandee like the Duchess of Roxburgh, the streets were carpeted -with red cloth. - -Brément, a privateer officer, advertised: ‘Mr. Brément, Professor of -Belles-Lettres and French Prisoner of War, respectfully informs the -ladies and gentlemen of Kelso that he teaches the French and Latin -languages. Apply for terms at Mrs. Matheson’s, near the Market Place.’ -He is said to have done well. - -Many of the privateersmen spoke English, as might be expected from their -constant intercourse with men and places in the Channel. - -One prisoner here was suspected of being concerned with the manufacture -of forged bank-notes, so rife at this time in Scotland, as he ordered of -Archibald Rutherford, stationer, paper of a particular character of -which he left a pattern. - -Escapes were not very frequent. On July 25, 1811, Surgeon-Major -Violland, of the _Hebe_ corvette, escaped. So did Ensign Parnagan, of -the _Hautpol_ privateer, on August 5, and on 23rd of the same month -Lieutenant Rossignol got away. On November 11 one Bouchart escaped, and -in June 1812 Lieutenant Anglade was missing, and a year later several -got off, assisted, it was said, by an American, who was arrested. - -In November 1811 the removal of all ‘midshipmen’ to Valleyfield, which -was ordered at all Scottish parole towns, took place from Kelso. - -Lieutenant Journeil, of the 27th Regiment, committed suicide in -September 1812 by swallowing sulphuric acid. He is said to have become -insane from home-sickness. He was buried at the Knowes, just outside the -churchyard, it being unconsecrated ground. - -A Captain Levasseur married an aunt of Sir George Harrison, M.P., a -former Provost of Edinburgh, and the Levasseurs still keep up -correspondence with Scotland. - -On May 24, 1814, the prisoners began to leave, and by the middle of June -all had gone. The _Kelso Mail_ said that ‘their deportment had been -uniformly conciliatory and respectable’. - -In Fullarton’s _Imperial Gazetteer_ of Scotland we read that: - - -‘From November 1810 to June 1814, Kelso was the abode of a body, never -more than 230 in number, of foreign prisoners of war, who, to a very -noticeable degree, inoculated the place with their fashionable follies, -and even, in some instances tainted it with their laxity of morals.’ - - -Another account says: - - -‘Their stay here seems to have been quiet and happy, although one man -committed suicide. They carried on the usual manufactures in wood and -bone and basket work; gave performances in the local theatre, which was -decorated by them; were variously employed by local people, one man -devoting his time to the tracking and snaring of a rare bird which -arrived during severe weather.’ - - -Rutherford’s _Southern Counties Register and Directory_ for 1866 says: - - -‘The older inhabitants of Kelso remember the French prisoners of war -quartered here as possessed of many amiable qualities, of which “great -mannerliness” and buoyancy of spirits, in many instances under the -depressing effects of great poverty, were the most conspicuous of their -peculiarities; the most singular to the natives of Kelso was their habit -of gathering for use different kinds of wild weeds by the road side, and -hedge-roots, and killing small birds to eat—the latter a practise -considered not much removed from cannibalism. That they were frivolous -we will admit, as many of them wore ear-rings, and one, a Pole, had a -ring to his nose; while all were boyishly fond of amusement, and were -merry, good-natured creatures.’ - - -One memorable outbreak of these spirits is recorded in the _Kelso Mail_ -of January 30, 1812: - - -‘In consequence of certain riotous proceedings which took place in this -town near the East end of the Horn Market on Christmas last, by which -the peace of the neighbourhood was very much disturbed, an investigation -of the circumstances took place before our respectable magistrate, -Bailie Smith. From this it appeared that several of the French prisoners -of war here on parole had been dining together on Christmas Day, and -that a part of them were engaged in the riotous proceedings.’ - - -These ‘riotous proceedings’ are said to have amounted to little more -than a more or less irregular arm-in-arm procession down the street to -the accompaniment of lively choruses. However, the Agent reported it to -the Transport Office, who ordered each prisoner to pay £1 1_s._ fine, to -be deducted from their allowance. The account winds up: - - -‘It is only an act of justice, however, to add that in so far as we have -heard, the conduct of the French prisoners here on parole has been -regular and inoffensive.’ - - -On the anniversary of St. Andrew in 1810, the Kelso Lodge of Freemasons -was favoured with a visit from several French officers, prisoners of -war, at present resident in the town. The Right Worshipful in addressing -them, expressed the wishes of himself and the Brethren to do everything -in their power to promote the comfort and happiness of the exiles. After -which he proposed the health of the Brethren who were strangers in a -foreign land, which was drunk with enthusiastic applause. - -There is frequent mention of their appearance at Masonic meetings, when -the ‘harmony was greatly increased by the polite manners and the vocal -power of our French Brethren’. - -There are a great many of their signatures on the parchment to which all -strangers had to subscribe their names by order of the Grand Lodge.[15] - -The only war-prisoner relics in the museum are some swords. - -I have to thank Sir George Douglas for the following interesting letters -from French prisoners in Kelso. - -The first is in odd Latin, the second in fair English, the third in -French. The two latter I am glad to give as additional testimonies to -the kindly treatment of the enforced exiles amongst us. - -The first is as follows: - - -‘Kelso: die duodecima mensis Augusti anni 1811. - -‘Honorifice Praefecte: - -‘Monitum te facio, hoc mane, die duodecima mensis Augusti, hora decima -et semi, per vicum transeuntem vestimenta mea omnino malefacta fuisse -cum aqua tam foetida ac mulier quae jactavit illam. - -‘Noxia mulier quae vestimenta mea, conceptis verbis, abluere noluit, -culpam insulsitate cumulando, uxor est domino Wm. Stuart Lanio -[Butcher?] - -‘Ut persuasum mihi est hanc civitatem optimis legibus nimis constitutam -esse ut ille eventus impunitus feratur, de illo certiorem te facio, -magnifice Praefecte, ut similis casus iterum non renovetur erga captivos -Gallos, quorum tu es curator, et, occurente occasione, defensor. - -‘Quandoquidem aequitas tua non mihi soli sed cunctis plane nota est, spe -magna nitor te jus dicturam expostulationi meae, cogendo praedictam -mulierem et quamprimum laventur vestimenta mea. In ista expectatione -gratam habeas salutationem illius qui mancipio et nexo, honoratissime -praefecte, tuus est. - - ‘MATRIEN. - - ‘Honorato, Honoratissimo Domino Smith, - ‘Captivorum Gallorum praefecto. Kelso.’ - - -The gist of the above being that Mrs. Stuart threw dirty water over M. -Matrien as he passed along the street in Kelso, and he demands her -punishment and the cleansing of his clothes. - -The second letter runs: - - - ‘Paris, on the 6th day of May, 1817. - - ‘DEAR SIR, - -‘I have since I left Kelso wrote many letters to my Scots friends, but I -have been unfortunate enough to receive no answer. The wandering life I -have led during four years is, without doubt, the cause of that silence, -for my friends have been so good to me that I cannot imagine they have -entirely forgotten me. In all my letters my heart has endeavoured to -prove how thankful I was, but my gratitude is of that kind that one may -feel but cannot express. Pray, my good Sir, if you remember yet your -prisonner, be so kind as to let him have a few lignes from you and all -news about all his old good friends. - -‘The difficulty which I have to express myself in your tongue, and the -countryman of yours who is to take my letter, compel me to end sooner -than I wish, but if expressions want to my mouth, be assure in revange -that my heart shall always be full of all those feelings which you -deserve so rightly. - -‘Farewell, I wish you all kind of happiness. - - ‘Your friend for ever, - ‘LE CHEVALIER LEBAS DE STE. CROIX. - -‘My direction: à Monsieur le Chevalier Lebas de Ste. Croix, Capitaine à -la légion de l’Isère, caserne de La Courtille à Paris. P.S.—All my -thanks and good wishes first to your family, to the family Waldie, -Davis, Doctor Douglas, Rutherford, and my good landlady Mistress Elliot. - - ‘To Mister John Smith Esq., - ‘bridge street, - ‘Kelso, Scotland.’ - - -(In Kelso, towards the end of 1912, I had the pleasure of making the -acquaintance of Mr. Provost Smith, grandson of the gentleman to whom the -foregoing two letters were addressed, and Mr. Smith was kind enough to -present me with a tiny ring of bone, on which is minutely worked the -legend: ‘I love to see you’, done by a French officer on parole in Kelso -in 1811.) - -The third letter is as follows: - - -‘Je, soussigné officier de la Légion d’Honneur, Lieutenant Colonel au -8^e Régiment de Dragons, sensible aux bons traitements que les -prisonniers français sur parole en cette ville reçoivent journellement -de la part de Mr. Smith, law agent, invite en mon nom et en celui de mes -compagnons d’infortune ceux de nos compatriotes entre les mains desquels -le hasard de la guerre pourroit faire tomber Mesdemoiselles St. Saure -(?) d’avoir pour elles tous les égards et attentions qu’elles méritent, -et de nous aider par tous les bons offices qu’ils pourront rendre à ces -dames à acquitter une partie de la reconnaissance que nous devons à leur -famille. - - ‘Kelso. 7 Avril, 1811. - - ‘DUDOUIT.’ - - - SELKIRK - -In 1811, ninety-three French prisoners arrived at Selkirk, many of them -army surgeons. Their mile limits from the central point were, on the -Hawick road, to Knowes; over the bridge, as far as the Philiphaugh -entries; and towards Bridgehead, the ‘Prisoners’ Bush’. An old man named -Douglas, says Mr. Craig-Brown (from whose book on Selkirk, I take this -information, and to whom I am indebted for much hospitality and his many -pains in acting as my mentor in Selkirk), remembered them coming to his -father’s tavern at Heathenlie for their morning rum, and astonishing the -people with what they ate. ‘They made tea out of dried whun blooms and -skinned the verra paddas. The doctor anes was verra clever, and some of -them had plenty o’ siller.’ - -On October 13, 1811, the prisoners constructed a balloon, and sent it up -amidst such excitement as Selkirk rarely felt. Indeed, the Yeomanry then -out for their training could not be mustered until they had seen the -balloon. - -A serious question came up in 1814 concerning the public burden which -the illegitimate children of these gentlemen were causing, and -complaints were sent to the Transport Office, whose reply was that the -fathers of the children were liable to the civil law, and that unless -they should provide for their maintenance, they should go to prison. - -Two of the prisoners quarrelled about a girl and fought a bloodless duel -at Linglee for half an hour, when the authorities appeared upon the -scene and arrested the principals, who were sent to jail for a month. - -Mr. J. John Vernon wrote: - - -‘In an article upon the old Selkirk Subscription Library, reference is -made to the use of the Library by the officers who were confined in -Selkirk and district during the Napoleonic wars. - -‘Historical reference is furnished incidentally in the pages of the Day -Book—the register of volumes borrowed and returned. There is no mention -of such a privilege being conferred by the members or committee, but, as -a matter of fact, all the French officers who were prisoners in Selkirk -during the Napoleonic wars were allowed to take books from the Library -as freely and as often as they chose. Beginning with April 5th, 1811, -and up to May 4th, 1814, there were no less than 132 closely written -foolscap pages devoted exclusively to their book-borrowing transactions. -They were omnivorous readers, with a _penchant_ for History and -Biography, but devouring all sorts of literature from the poetical to -the statistical. Probably because the Librarian could not trust himself -to spell them, the officers themselves entered their names, as well as -the names of books. Sometimes, when they made an entry for a comrade -they made blunders in spelling the other man’s name: that of Forsonney, -for instance, being given in four or five different ways. As the total -number of prisoners was 94, it can be concluded from the list appended -that only two or three did not join the Library. - -‘Besides the French prisoners, the students attending Professor Lawson’s -lectures seem to have had the privilege of reading, but for them all -about two pages suffice. It is said that, moved by a desire to bring -these benighted foreigners to belief in the true faith, Doctor Lawson -added French to the more ancient languages he was already proficient in, -but the aliens were nearly all men of education who knew their Voltaire, -with the result that the Professor made poor progress with his well -meant efforts at proselytism, if he did not even receive a shock to his -own convictions.’ - - -There were several Masonic Brethren among the foreign prisoners at -Selkirk, and it is noteworthy that on March 9, 1812, it was proposed by -the Brethren of this Lodge that on account of the favour done by some of -the French Brethren, they should be enrolled as honorary members of the -Lodge, and this was unanimously agreed to. - -It should be noted that the French Brethren were a numerous body, -twenty-three of their names being added to the roll of St. John’s; and -we find that, as at Melrose, they formed themselves into a separate -Lodge and initiated their fellow countrymen in their own tongue. - -In what was known as Lang’s Barn, now subdivided into cottages, the -French prisoners extemporized a theatre, and no doubt some of their -decorative work lies hidden beneath the whitewash. The barn was the -property of the grandfather of the late Andrew Lang. - -The experiences of Sous-lieutenant Doisy de Villargennes, of the 26th -French line regiment, I shall now relate with particular pleasure, not -only on account of their unusual interest, but because they reflect the -brightest side of captivity in Britain. Doisy was wounded after Fuentes -d’Oñoro in May 1811, and taken prisoner. He was moved to hospital at -Celorico, where he formed a friendship with Captain Pattison, of the -73rd. Thence he was sent to Fort Belem at Lisbon, which happened to be -garrisoned by the 26th British Regiment, a coincidence which at once -procured for him the friendship of its officers, who caused him to be -lodged in their quarters, and to be treated rather as an honoured guest -than as a prisoner, but with one bad result—that the extraordinary good -living aggravated his healing wound, and he was obliged to return to -hospital. These were days of heavy drinking, and Lisbon lay in the land -of good and abundant wine; hosts and guest had alike fared meagrely and -hardly for a long time, so that it is not difficult to account for the -effect of the abrupt change upon poor Doisy. However, he pulled round, -and embarked for Portsmouth, not on the ordinary prisoner transport, but -as guest of Pattison on a war-ship. Doisy, with sixty other officers, -were landed at Gosport, and, contrary to the usual rule, allowed to be -on parole in the town previous to their dispatch to their -_cautionnement_. - -At the Gosport prison—Forton—whither he went to look up comrades, Doisy -was overjoyed to meet with his own foster-brother, whom he had persuaded -to join his regiment, and whom he had given up as lost at Fuentes -d’Oñoro, and he received permission to spend some time with him in the -prison. I give with very great pleasure Doisy’s remarks upon captivity -in England in general, and in its proper place under the heading of -Forton Prison (see pp. 217–18) will be found his description of that -place, which is equally pleasant reading. - - -‘I feel it my duty here, in the interests of truth and justice, to -combat an erroneous belief concerning the hard treatment of prisoners of -war in England.... No doubt, upon the hulks they led a very painful -existence; execrable feeding, little opportunity for exercise, and a -discipline extremely severe, even perhaps cruel. Such was their fate. -But we must remember that only refractory prisoners were sent to the -hulks.’ - - -(Here we must endorse a note of the editor of Doisy’s book, to the -effect that this is inaccurate, inasmuch as there were 19,000 prisoners -upon the hulks, and they could not all have been ‘refractory’.) - - -‘These would upset the discipline of prisons like Gosport. Also we must -remember that the inmates of the hulks were chiefly the crews of -privateers, and that privateering was not considered fair warfare by -England.’ (Strange to say, the editor passes over this statement without -comment.) ‘At Forton there reigned the most perfect order, under a -discipline severe but humane. We heard no sobbings of despair, we saw no -unhappiness in the eyes of the inmates, but, on the contrary, on all -sides resounded shouts of laughter, and the chorus of patriotic songs.’ - - -In after years, when Germain Lamy, the foster-brother, was living a free -man in France, Doisy says that in conversation Lamy never alluded to the -period of his captivity in England without praising warmly the integrity -and the liberality of all the Englishmen with whom as a prisoner-trader -he had business relations. ‘Such testimonies,’ says Doisy, ‘and others -of like character, cannot but weaken the feelings of hatred and -antagonism roused by war between the two nations.’ - -In a few days Doisy was marched off to Odiham, but, on account of the -crowded state of the English parole towns, it was decided to send the -newcomers to Scotland, and so, on October 1, 1811, they landed at Leith, -190 in number, and marched to Selkirk, via Edinburgh and the dépôt at -Penicuik. - -There was some difficulty at first in finding lodgings in the small -Scottish town for so large a number of strangers, but when it was -rumoured that they were largely gentlemen of means and likely to spend -their money freely, accommodation was quickly forthcoming. - -Living in Scotland Doisy found to be very much cheaper than in England, -and the weekly pay of half a guinea, regularly received through Coutts, -he found sufficient, if not ample. His lodging cost but half a crown a -week, and as the prisoners messed in groups, and, moreover, had no local -hindrance to the excellent fishing in Ettrick and Tweed, board was -probably proportionately moderate. As the French prisoners in Selkirk -spent upon an average £150 a week in the little town, and were there for -two years and a half, no less a sum than £19,500 was poured into the -local pocket. - -The exiles started a French café in which was a billiard table brought -from Edinburgh, to which none but Frenchmen were admitted; gathered -together an orchestra of twenty-two and gave Saturday concerts, which -were extensively patronized by the inhabitants and the surrounding -gentry; and with their own hands built a theatre accommodating 200 -people. - - -‘Les costumes,’ said Doisy, ‘surtout ceux des rôles féminins, nous -nécessitaient de grands efforts d’habilité. Aucun de nous n’avait -auparavant exercé le métier de charpentier, tapissier, de tailleur, -ou . . . fait son apprentissage chez une couturière. L’intelligence, -toutefois, stimulée par la volonté, peut engendrer de petits miracles.’ - - -They soon had a répertoire of popular tragedies and comedies, and gave a -performance every Wednesday. - -On each of the four main roads leading out of the town there was at the -distance of a mile a notice-board on which was inscribed: ‘Limite des -Prisonniers de Guerre.’ As evidence of the goodwill generally borne -towards the foreigners by the country folk, when a waggish prisoner -moved one of these boards a mile further on, no information was lodged -about it, and although a reward of one guinea was paid to anybody -arresting a prisoner beyond limits, or out of his lodgings at forbidden -hours, it was very rarely claimed. Some of the prisoners indeed were -accustomed daily to go fishing some miles down the rivers. - -The French prisoners did not visit the Selkirk townsfolk, for the -‘classy’ of the latter had come to the resolution not to associate with -them at all; but the priggish exclusiveness or narrow prejudice, or -whatever it might have been, was amply atoned for by the excellent -friendships formed in the surrounding neighbourhoods. There was Mr. -Anderson, a gentleman farmer, who invited the Frenchmen to fish and -regaled them in typical old-time Scots fashion afterwards; there was a -rich retired lawyer, whose chief sorrow was that he could not keep sober -during his entertainment of them: there was Mr. Thorburn, another -gentleman farmer, who introduced them to grilled sheep’s head, -salmagundi, and a cheese of his own making, of which he was particularly -proud. - -But above all there was the ‘shirra’, then Mr. Walter Scott, who took a -fancy to a bright and lively young Frenchman, Tarnier by name, and often -invited him and two or three friends to Abbotsford—Doisy calls it -‘Melrose Abbey’. This was in February 1812. Mrs. Scott, whom, Doisy -says, Scott had married in _Berlin_—was only seen some minutes before -dinner, never at the repast itself. She spoke French perfectly, says -Doisy. Scott, he says, was a very different man as host in his own house -from what they judged him to be from his appearance in the streets of -Selkirk. ‘Un homme enjoué, à la physionomie ordinaire et peu -significative, à l’attitude même un peu gauche, à la démarche vulgaire -et aux allures à l’avenant, causées probablement par sa boiterie.’ But -at Abbotsford his guests found him, on the contrary, a gentleman full of -cordiality and gaiety, receiving his friends with amiability and -delicacy. The rooms at Abbotsford, says Doisy, were spacious and well -lighted, and the table not sumptuous, but refined. - -Doisy tells us that what seemed to be the all-absorbing subject of -conversation at the Abbotsford dinner-table was Bonaparte. No matter -into what other channel the talk drifted, their host would hark back to -Bonaparte, and never wearied of the anecdotes and details about him -which the guests were able to give. Little did his informants think -that, ten years later, much that they told him would appear, as Doisy -says, in a distorted form rarely favourable to the great man, in Scott’s -_Life of Bonaparte_. He quotes instances, and is at no pains to hide his -resentment at what he considers a not very dignified or proper -proceeding on the part of Sir Walter. - -Only on one prominent occasion was the friendly feeling between the -prisoners and the Selkirk people disturbed. - -On August 15, 1813, the Frenchmen, in number ninety, united to celebrate -the Emperor’s birthday at their café, the windows of which opened on to -the public garden. They feasted, made speeches, drank numberless toasts, -and sang numberless patriotic songs. As it was found that they had a -superabundance of food, it was decided to distribute it among the crowd -assembled in the public garden, but with the condition that every one -who accepted it should doff his hat and cry ‘Vive l’Empereur Napoléon!’ -But although a couple of Frenchmen stood outside, each with a viand in -one hand and a glass of liquor in the other, not a Scotsman would comply -with the condition, and all went away. One man, a sort of factotum of -the Frenchmen, who made a considerable deal of money out of them in one -way and another, and who was known as ‘Bang Bay’, from his habit, when -perplexed with much questioning and ordering, of replying ‘by and by’, -did accept the food and drink, and utter the required cry, and his -example was followed by a few others, but the original refusers still -held aloof and gathered together in the garden, evidently in no -peaceable mood. - -Presently, as the feast proceeded and the celebrants were listening to a -song composed for the occasion, a stone was thrown through the window, -and hit Captain Gruffaud of the Artillery. He rushed out and demanded -who had thrown it. Seeing a young man grinning, Gruffaud accused him, -and as the youth admitted it, Gruffaud let him have the stone full in -the face. A disturbance being at once imminent, the French officers -broke up chairs, &c., to arm themselves against an attack, and the -crowd, seeing this, dispersed. Soon after, the Agent, Robert Henderson, -hurried up to say that the crowd had armed themselves and were -re-assembling, and that as the Frenchmen were in the wrong, inasmuch as -they had exceeded their time-limit, nine o’clock, by an hour, he -counselled them to go home quietly. So the matter ended, and Doisy -remarks that no evil resulted, and that Scots and French became better -comrades than ever. - -Another event might have resulted in a disturbance. At the news of a -victory by Wellington in Spain, the Selkirk people set their bells -ringing, and probably rejoiced with some ostentation. A short time -after, says Doisy, came the news of a great French victory in Russia -(?). The next day, Sunday, some French officers attended a Quakers’ -meeting in their house, and managed to hide themselves. At midnight a -dozen of their comrades were admitted through the window, bringing with -them a coil of rope which they made fast to that of the meeting-house -bell, and rang vigorously, awakening the town and bringing an amazed -crowd to the place, and in the confusion the actors of the comedy -escaped. Then came the Peace of 1814, and the Frenchmen were informed -that on April 20 a vessel would be at Berwick to take them to France. -The well-to-do among them proposed to travel by carriage to Berwick, but -it was later decided that all funds should be united and that they -should go on foot, and to defray expenses £60 was collected. Before -leaving, it was suggested that a considerable increase might be made to -their exchequer if they put up to auction the structure of the theatre, -as well as the properties and dresses, which had cost £120. Tarnier was -chosen auctioneer, and the bidding was started at £50, but in spite of -his eloquence the highest bid was £40. So they decided to have some fun -at the last. All the articles were carried to the field which the -prisoners had hired for playing football, and a last effort was made to -sell them. But the highest bid was only £2 more than before. Rather than -sell at such a ridiculous price, the Frenchmen, armed with sticks and -stones, formed a circle round the objects for sale, and set fire to -them, a glorious bonfire being the result. - -The day of departure came. Most of the Frenchmen had passed the previous -night in the Public Garden, singing, and drinking toasts, so that all -were up betimes, and prepared for their tramp. Their delight and -astonishment may be imagined when they beheld a defile of all sorts of -vehicles, and even of saddle-horses, into the square, and learned that -these had been provided by the people of Selkirk to convey them to -Kelso, half way to Berwick. - -Says Doisy: ‘Nous nous séparâmes donc de nos amis de Selkirk sans garder -d’une part et d’autre aucun des sentiments de rancune pouvant exister -auparavant’. - -Mr. Craig-Brown relates the following anecdote: - - -‘Many years after the war, in the Southern States of America, two young -Selkirk lads were astonished to see themselves looked at with evident -earnestness by two foreigners within earshot of them. At last one of the -latter, a distinguished-looking elderly gentleman, came up and said: -“Pardon, I think from your speech you come from Scotland?” - -‘“We do.” - -‘“Perhaps from the South of Scotland?” - -‘“Yes, from Selkirk.” - -‘“From Selkirk! Ah! I was certain: General! It is true. They are from -Selkirk.” Upon which his companion came up, who, looking at one of the -lads for a while, exclaimed: - -‘“I am sure you are the son of ze, ze, leetle fat man who kills ze -sheep!” - -‘“Faith! Ye’re recht!” said the astonished Scot. “My father was Tudhope, -the flesher!” - -‘Upon which the more effusive of the officers fairly took him round the -neck, and gave him a hearty embrace. Making themselves known as two of -the old French prisoners, they insisted on the lads remaining in their -company, loaded them with kindness, and never tired of asking them -questions about their place of exile, and all its people, particularly -the sweethearts they and their comrades had left behind them.’ - - - PEEBLES - -Although Peebles was not established as a parole town until 1803, a -great many French prisoners, not on parole, were here in 1798–9, most of -them belonging to the thirty-six-gun frigates _Coquille_ and _Résolue_, -belonging to the Brest squadron of the expedition to Ireland, which was -beaten by Sir John Warren. They were probably confined in the town jail. - -The first parole prisoners were Dutch, Belgians, and Danes, ‘all of whom -took to learning cotton hand-loom weaving, and spent their leisure time -in fishing’, says Mr. W. Chambers. In 1810 about one hundred French, -Poles, and Italians came: ‘Gentlemanly in manner, they made for -themselves friends in the town and neighbourhood, those among them who -were surgeons occasionally assisting at a medical consultation. They set -up a theatre in what is now the public reading-room, and acted Molière -and Corneille. In 1811 all the “midshipmen” (gardes-marines) among them -were suddenly called to the Cross, and marched away to Valleyfield, -possibly an act of reprisal for Bonaparte’s action against English -midshipmen.’[16] - -Shortly after their removal, all the other prisoners were sent away from -Peebles, chiefly to Sanquhar. This removal is _said_ to have been -brought about by the terror of a lady of rank in the neighbourhood at so -many enemies being near Neidpath Castle, where were deposited the arms -of the Peeblesshire Militia. - -Mr. Sanderson, of the Chambers Institute at Peebles, my indefatigable -conductor about and around the pleasant old Border town, told me that -there is still in Peebles a family named Bonong, said to be descended -from a French prisoner; that a Miss Wallink who went to Canada some -years ago as Mrs. Cranston, was descended from a Polish prisoner; that -there was recently a Mr. Lenoir at the Tontine Hotel (traditionally the -‘hotle’ which was Meg Dodd’s bugbear in _St. Ronan’s Well_), and that a -drawing master named Chastelaine came of French prisoner parentage. - -In the Museum of the Chambers Institute are four excellent specimens of -French prisoner-made ship models, and on the plaster walls of a house -are a couple of poorly executed oil frescoes said to have been painted -by prisoners. - -I have the kind permission of Messrs. Chambers to quote the following -very complete descriptions of French prisoner life at Peebles from the -_Memoirs of William and Robert Chambers_ by Mr. William Chambers. - - -‘1803. Not more than 20 or 30 of these foreign exiles arrived at this -early period. They were mostly Dutch and Walloons, with afterwards a few -Danes. These men did not repine. They nearly all betook themselves to -learn some handicraft to eke out their scanty allowance. At leisure -hours they might be seen fishing in long leather boots as if glad to -procure a few trout and eels. Two or three years later came a _détenu_ -of a different class. He was seemingly the captain of a ship from the -French West Indies, who brought with him his wife and a negro -servant-boy named Jack. Black Jack, as we called him, was sent to the -school, where he played with the other boys on the town green, and at -length spoke and read like a native. He was a good-natured creature, and -became a general favourite. Jack was the first pure negro whom the boys -at that time had ever seen. - -‘None of these classes of prisoner broke his parole, nor ever gave any -trouble to the authorities. They had not, indeed, any appearance of -being prisoners, for they were practically free to live and ramble about -within reasonable bounds where they liked. - -‘In 1810 there was a large accession to this original body of prisoners -on parole. As many as one hundred and eleven were already on their way -to the town, and might be expected shortly. There was speedily a vast -sensation in the place. The local Militia had been disbanded. Lodgings -of all sorts were vacant. The new arrivals would on all hands be -heartily welcomed. On Tuesday, the expected French prisoners in an -unceremonious way began to drop in. As one of several boys, I went out -to meet them coming from Edinburgh. They came walking in twos and -threes, a few of them lame. Their appearance was startling, for they -were in military garb in which they had been captured in Spain. Some -were in light blue hussar dress, braided, with marks of sabre wounds. -Others were in dark blue uniform. Several wore large cocked hats, but -the greater number had undress caps. All had a gentlemanly air, -notwithstanding their generally dishevelled attire, their soiled boots, -and their visible marks of fatigue. - -‘Before night they had all arrived, and, through the activity of the -Agent appointed by the Transport Board, they had been provided with -lodgings suitable to their slender allowance. This large batch of -prisoners on parole were, of course, all in the rank of naval or -military officers. Some had been pretty high in the service and seen a -good deal of fighting. Several were doctors, or, as they called -themselves, _officiers de santé_. Among the whole there were, I think, -about half a dozen midshipmen. A strange thing was their varied -nationality. Though spoken of as French, there was in the party a -mixture of Italians, Swiss, and Poles; but this we found out only after -some intercourse. Whatever their origin, they were warm adherents of -Napoleon, whose glory at this time was at its height. Lively in manner, -their minds were full of the recent struggle in the Peninsula. - -‘Through the consideration of an enterprising grocer, the prisoners were -provided with a billiard table at which they spent much of their time. -So far well. But how did these unfortunate exiles contrive to live? How -did they manage to feed and clothe themselves, and pay for lodgings? The -allowance from Government was on a moderate scale. I doubt if it was -more than one shilling per head per diem. In various instances two -persons lived in a single room, but even that cost half-a-crown per -week. The truth is they must have been half starved, but for the -fortunate circumstance of a number of them having brought money—foreign -gold-pieces, concealed about their persons, which stores were -supplemented by remittances from France; and in a friendly way, at least -as regards the daily mess, or _table d’hôte_, the richer helped the -poorer, which was a good trait in their character. The messing together -was the great resource, and took place in a house hired for the purpose, -in which the cookery was conducted under the auspices of M. Lavoche, one -of the prisoners who was skilled in _cuisine_. My brother and I had some -dealings with Lavoche. We cultivated rabbits in a hutch built by -ourselves in the backyard, and sold them for the Frenchmen’s mess; the -money we got for them, usually eighteenpence a pair, being employed in -the purchase of books. - -‘Billiards were indispensable, but something more was wanted. Without a -theatre, life was felt to be unendurable. But how was a theatre to be -secured? There was nothing of the kind in the place. The more eager of -the visitors managed to get out of the difficulty. There was an old and -disused ball-room. It was rather of confined dimensions, and low in the -roof, with a gallery at one end, over the entrance, for the -musicians.... Walter Scott’s mother, when a girl, (I was told,) had -crossed Minchmoor, a dangerously high hill, in a chaise, from the -adjacent country, to dance for a night in that little old ball-room. Now -set aside as unfashionable, the room was at anybody’s service, and came -quite handily for the Frenchmen. They fitted it up with a stage at the -inner end, and cross benches to accommodate 120 persons, independently -of perhaps 20 more in the musicians’ gallery. The thing was neatly got -up with scenery painted by M. Walther and M. Ragulski, the latter a -young Pole. No licence was required for the theatre, for it was -altogether a private undertaking. Money was not taken at the door, and -no tickets were sold. Admission was gained by complimentary billets -distributed chiefly among persons with whom the actors had established -an intimacy. - -‘Among these favoured individuals was my father, who, carrying on a -mercantile concern, occupied a prominent position. He felt a degree of -compassion for these foreigners, constrained to live in exile, and, -besides welcoming them to his house, gave them credit in articles of -drapery of which they stood in need; and through which circumstance they -soon assumed an improved appearance in costume. Introduced to the family -circle, their society was agreeable, and in a sense instructive. Though -with imperfect speech, a sort of half-English, half-French, they related -interesting circumstances in their careers. - -‘How performances in French should have had any general attraction may -seem to require explanation. There had grown up in the town among young -persons especially, a knowledge of familiar French phrases; so that what -was said, accompanied by appropriate gestures, was pretty well guessed -at. But, as greatly contributing to remove difficulties, a worthy man, -of an obliging turn and genial humour, volunteered to act as -interpreter. Moving in humble circumstances as hand-loom weaver, he had -let lodgings to a French captain and his wife, and from being for years -in domestic intercourse with them, he became well acquainted with their -language. William Hunter, for such was his name, besides being of ready -wit, partook of a lively musical genius. I have heard him sing _Malbrook -s’en va t’en guerre_ with amazing correctness and vivacity. His services -at the theatre were therefore of value to the natives in attendance. -Seated conspicuously at the centre of what we may call the pit, eyes -were turned on him inquiringly when anything particularly funny was said -requiring explanation, and for general use he whisperingly communicated -the required interpretation. So, put up to the joke, the natives -heartily joined in the laugh, though rather tardily.... As for the -French plays, which were performed with perfect propriety, they were to -us not only amusing but educational. The remembrance of these dramatic -efforts of the French prisoners of war has been through life a continual -treat. It is curious for me to look back on the performances of the -pieces of Molière in circumstances so remarkable. - -‘My mother, even while lending her dresses and caps to enable performers -to represent female characters, never liked the extraordinary intimacy -which had been formed between the French officers and my father. Against -his giving them credit she constantly remonstrated in vain. It was a -tempting but perilous trade. For a time, by the resources just -mentioned, they paid wonderfully well. With such solid inducements, my -father confidingly gave extensive credit to these strangers—men who, by -their positions, were not amenable to the civil law, and whose -obligations, accordingly, were altogether debts of honour. The -consequence was that which might have been anticipated. An order -suddenly arrived from the Government commanding the whole of the -prisoners to quit Peebles, and march chiefly to Sanquhar in -Dumfriesshire: the cause of the movement being the prospective arrival -of a Militia Regiment. - -‘The intelligence came one Sunday night. What a gloom prevailed at -several firesides that evening! - -‘On their departure the French prisoners made many fervid promises that, -should they ever return to their own country, they would have pleasure -in discharging their debt. They all got home in the Peace of 1814, but -not one of them ever paid a farthing, and William Chambers was one of -the many whose affairs were brought to a crisis therefrom.’ - - -It will be seen later that this was not the uniform experience of -British creditors with French debtors. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIV - PAROLE PRISONERS IN SCOTLAND (_continued_) - - - SANQUHAR - -The first prisoners came here in March 1812. They were chiefly some of -those who had been hurried away from Wincanton and other towns in the -west of England at the alarm that a general rising of war-prisoners in -those parts was imminent, and on account of the increasing number of -escapes from those places; others were midshipmen from Peebles. In all -from sixty to seventy prisoners were at Sanquhar. A letter from one of -the men removed from Peebles to Mr. Chambers of that town says that they -were extremely uncomfortable; such kind of people as the inhabitants had -no room to spare; the greater part of the Frenchmen were lodged in barns -and kitchens; they could get neither beef nor mutton, nothing but salted -meat and eggs. They applied to the Transport Office, in order to be -removed to Moffat. - -The prisoners at Sanquhar left behind them, when discharged at the Peace -of 1814, debts amounting to £160, but these were paid by the French -Commissioners charged with effecting the final exchanges in that year. - -One duel is recorded. It was fought on the Washing Green, and one of the -combatants was killed. Mr. Tom Wilson, in his _Memorials of Sanquhar -Kirkyard_, identifies the victim as Lieutenant Arnaud, whose grave bears -the inscription: - - -‘In memory of J. B. Arnaud, aged 27 years, Lieutenant in the French -Navy, prisoner of war on parole at Sanquhar. Erected by his companions -in arms and fellow prisoners as a testimony of their esteem and -attachment. He expired in the arms of friendship, 9th November, 1812.’ - - -It had been announced that he died of small-pox, but Mr. Wilson thinks -this was put out as a blind. - -Some changes of French names into English are to be noted here as -elsewhere. Thus, Auguste Gregoire, cabin boy of the _Jeune Corneille_ -privateer, captured in 1803, was confined at Peebles, and later at -Sanquhar. He married a Peebles girl, but as she absolutely refused to go -with him to France when Peace was declared in 1814 he was obliged to -remain, and became a teacher of dancing and deportment under the name of -Angus MacGregor. So also one Etienne Foulkes became Etney Fox; Baptiste -became Baptie, and Walnet was turned into Walden. - -There was a Masonic Lodge at Sanquhar—the ‘Paix Désirée’. - -The banks of Crawick were a favourite resort of the prisoners, and on a -rock in the Holme Walks is cut ‘Luego de Delizia 1812’, and to the -right, between two lines, the word ‘Souvenir’. The old bathing place of -the prisoners, behind Holme House, is still known as ‘The Sodger’s -Pool’. - -Hop-plants are said to have been introduced hereabouts by the -prisoners—probably Germans. - -Mr. James Brown thus writes about the prisoners at Sanquhar: - - -‘They were Frenchmen, Italians and Poles—handsome young fellows, who had -all the manners of gentlemen, and, living a life of enforced idleness, -they became great favourites with the ladies with whose hearts they -played havoc, and, we regret to record, in some instances with their -virtue.’ - - -‘This’, says the Rev. Matthew Dickie, of the South United Free Church, -Sanquhar, ‘is only too true. John Wysilaski, who left Sanquhar when -quite a youth and became a “settler” in Australia, was the illegitimate -son of one of the officers. This John Wysilaski died between 25 and 30 -years of age, and left a large fortune. Of this he bequeathed £60,000 to -the Presbyterian Church of Victoria, and over £4,000 to the church with -which his mother had been connected, viz. the South Church, Sanquhar, -and he directed the interest of this sum to be paid to the Minister of -the South Church over and above his stipend. The same Polish officer had -another son by another woman, Louis Wysilaski, who lived and died in his -native town. I remember him quite well.’ - - - DUMFRIES - -The first detachment of officer-prisoners arrived at Dumfries in -November 1811, from Peebles, whence they had marched the thirty-two -miles to Moffat, and had driven from there. The agent at Dumfries was -Mr. Francis Shortt, Town Clerk of the Burgh, and brother of Dr. Thomas -Shortt, who, as Physician to the British Forces at St. Helena, was to -assist, ten years later, at the post-mortem examination of Bonaparte. - -At first the prices asked by the inhabitants for lodgings somewhat -astonished the prisoners, being from fifteen to twenty-five shillings a -week, but in the end they were moderately accommodated and better than -in Peebles. Their impressions of Dumfries were certainly favourable, for -not only had they in Mr. Shortt a just and kindly Agent, but the -townsfolk and the country gentry offered them every sort of hospitality. -In a letter to Mr. Chambers of Peebles, one of them says: ‘The -inhabitants, I think, are frightened with Frenchmen, and run after us to -see if we are like other people; the town is pretty enough, and the -inhabitants, though curious, seem very gentle.’ - -Another, after a visit to the theatre, writes in English: - - -‘I have been to the theatre of the town, and I was very satisfied with -the actors; they are very good for a little town like Dumfries, where -receipts are not very copious, though I would have very much pleasure -with going to the play-house now and then. However, I am deprived of it -by the bell which rings at five o’clock, and if I am not in my lodging -by the hour appointed by the law, I must at least avoid to be in the -public meeting, at which some inhabitants don’t like to see me.’ - - -It was long before the natives could get used to certain peculiarities -in the Frenchmen’s diet, particularly frogs. A noted Dumfries character, -George Hair, who died a few years ago, used to declare that ‘the first -siller he ever earned was for gatherin’ paddocks for the Frenchmen’, and -an aged inmate of Lanark Poorhouse, who passed his early boyhood at -Dumfries, used to tell a funny frog story. He remembered that fifteen or -sixteen prisoners used to live together in a big house, not far from his -father’s, and that there was a meadow near at hand where they got great -store of frogs. Once there was a Crispin procession at Dumfries, and a -Mr. Renwick towered above all the others as King. - - -‘The Crispin ploy, ye ken, cam frae France, an’ the officers in the big -hoose askit the King o’ the cobblers tae dine wi’ them. They had a gran’ -spread wi’ a fine pie, that Maister Renwick thocht was made o’ rabbits -toshed up in some new fangled way, an’ he didna miss tae lay in a guid -stock. When a’ was owre, they askit him how he likit his denner, an’ he -said “First rate”. Syne they lauched and speered him if he kent what the -pie was made o’, but he said he wasna sure. When they tell’t him it was -paddocks, it was a’ ane as if they had gien him a dose of pizzen. He -just banged up an’ breenged oot the hoose. Oor bit winnock lookit oot on -the Frenchmen’s backyaird, an’ we saw Maister Renwick sair, sair -forfochen, but after a dainty bit warsle, he an’ the paddocks pairtit -company.’ - - -It is recorded that the French prisoners considered a good fat cat an -excellent substitute for a hare. - -At a fire, two French surgeons who distinguished themselves in fighting -it, were, on a petition from the inhabitants to the Transport Board, -allowed to return immediately to France. But another surgeon who applied -to be sent to Kelso as he had a relative there, was refused permission—a -refusal, which, it is quite possible, was really a compliment, for the -records of parole life in Britain abound with evidence of the high -estimation in which French prisoner-surgeons were held in our country -towns. - -Between thirty and forty officers tried to escape from Dumfries during -the three years of its being a Parole Town; most of these were -recaptured, and sent to Valleyfield Prison. Four officers took advantage -of the fishing-licence usually extended to the officers on parole here, -by which strict adherence to the mile limit was not insisted upon, and -gradually got their belongings away to Lochmaben, eight miles distant, -where were also parole prisoners. One of them actually wrote to the -Colonel of the Regiment stationed in Dumfries, apologizing for his -action, explaining it, promising that he would get an English -officer-prisoner in France exchanged, and that he would not take up arms -against her, and that he would repay all the civilities he had received -in Scotland. But all were recaptured and sent to Valleyfield. - -As instances of the strictness with which even a popular agent carried -out his regulations, may be cited that of the officer here, who was sent -to Valleyfield because he had written to a lady in Devonshire, enclosing -a letter to a friend of his. a prisoner on parole there, without first -showing it to the Agent. In justice to Mr. Shortt, however, it is right -to say that had the letter been a harmless one, and not, as was -generally the case, full of abuse of the Government and the country, so -extreme a view would not have been taken of the breach. Another instance -was the refusal by the Agent of a request in 1812 from the officers to -give a concert. In this case he was under orders from the Transport -Office. - -In March 1812, a number of the prisoners had at their own request copies -of the Scriptures supplied them in English, French, German, Italian, and -Spanish. - -That the French officers on parole in Britain politically arranged their -allegiance to the Powers that were, is exemplified by the following -incidents at Dumfries. On the re-establishment of the Bourbon Dynasty, -the following address was drawn up and sent to the French Commissioners -for the release of prisoners: - - - ‘Dumfries, le 6 Mai 1814. - -‘Les officiers détenus sur parole donnent leur adhésion aux actes du -Gouvernement Français qui rappelle l’illustre sang des Bourbons, au -trône de ses ancêtres. Puissent les Français compter une longue suite de -rois du sang de Saint Louis et de Henri IV, qui a toujours fait leur -gloire et assuré leur bonheur! Vive Louis XVIII! Vivent les Bourbons!’ - - -On the 24th of the same month a French officer, seeing in the window of -a bookseller’s shop a ludicrous caricature of Bonaparte, went into the -shop in a violent passion, bought two copies, and tore them in pieces -before a crowd of people, uttering dreadful imprecations against those -who dared to insult ‘his Emperor’. The fact is that the army to a man -was Bonapartist at heart, as after events showed, but at Dumfries, as -elsewhere, personal interests rendered it politic to assume loyalty and -devotion to the re-established Royalty. Most of the prisoners, however, -who elected to remain in Britain after the Declaration of Peace were -unswerving Royalists. Lieutenant Guillemet at Dumfries was one of these. -He became a professor of French at Dumfries Academy and also gave -lessons in fencing, and was a great favourite with his pupils and the -public. His son was for many years a chemist at Maxwelltown. - -The average number of prisoners was about 100: they were mostly -soldiers, and not sailors, on account of the proximity of Dumfries to -the sea. I cannot refrain from adding to the frequent testimonies I have -quoted as illustrating the good understanding which existed between -captors and captives in Scotland, the following extract from a Farewell -Letter which appeared in the _Dumfries Courier_, April 26, 1814, -contributed by Lieutenant De Montaignac of the ‘Parisian Guard’. - - -‘I should indeed be very ungrateful were I to leave this country without -publicly expressing my gratitude to the inhabitants of Dumfries. From -the moment of my arrival in Scotland, the vexations indispensable in the -situation of a prisoner have disappeared before me. I have been two -years and five months in this town, prisoner on my parole of honour; and -it is with the most lively emotion that I quit a place where I have -found so many alleviations to my melancholy situation. I must express my -thanks to the generous proceedings with which I have been loaded by the -most part of the inhabitants of Dumfries during my captivity, -proceedings which cannot but give an advantageous opinion of the -Scottish nation. I will add that the respectable magistrates of this -town have constantly given proofs of their generous dispositions to -mitigate the situation of the prisoners; and that our worthy Agent, Mr. -Shortt, has always softened our lot by the delicate manner in which he -fulfilled the duty of his functions. It is then with a remembrance full -of gratitude, esteem, and consideration for the honest inhabitants of -Dumfries, that I quit the charming banks of the Nith to return to the -capital of France, my beloved country, from which I have been absent -seven years.’ - - -For the following romantic incidents I am indebted to Mr. William -McDowell’s _Memorials of St. Michael’s, Dumfries_. - -Polly Stewart, the object of one of Burns’s minor poems, married a -Dumfries prisoner of war. She lived at Maxwelltown, and her father was a -close friend of Burns. A handsome young Swiss prisoner, Fleitz by name, -loved her and married her, and when Louis XVIII came to the French -throne, he, being in the Swiss Guard, took her to France. When Louis -Philippe became king, the Swiss body-guard was disbanded, and Mr. and -Mrs. Fleitz went to Switzerland. It is said that poor Polly had an -unhappy married life, but at any rate nothing was heard of her for -thirty years, when she returned to Scotland, and not long after her -husband died and she went to a cousin in France. Here her mind gave way, -and she was placed in an asylum, where she died in 1847, aged 71. - -On the tombstone, in St. Michael’s churchyard, of Bailie William -Fingass, who died in 1686, is an inscription to a descendant, Anna -Grieve, daughter of James Grieve, merchant, who died in 1813, aged 19, -with the following lines subjoined: - - ‘Ta main, bienfaisante et chérie, - D’un exil vient essuyer les pleurs, - Tu me vis loin de parens, de patrie, - Et le même tombeau, lorsque tu m’as ravie, - Renferme nos deux cœurs.’ - -The story is this. One of the French prisoners on parole at Dumfries -fell in love with pretty Anna Grieve, and she regarded his suit with -kindness. Had she lived they would probably have been married, for he -was in a good position and in every way worthy of her hand. When she -died in the flower in her youth, he was overwhelmed with grief, and -penned the above-quoted epitaph. After a lapse of about forty-six years, -a gentleman of dignified bearing and seemingly about seventy years old, -entered St. Michael’s churchyard, and in broken English politely -accosted Mr. Watson, who was busy with his chisel on one of the -monuments. He asked to be shown the spot where Mademoiselle Grieve was -buried, and on being taken to it exhibited deep emotion. He read over -the epitaph, which seemed to be quite familiar to him, and it was -apparent that it was engraved upon the tablets of his memory, he being -none other than the lover of the lady who lay below, and for whom, -although half a century had elapsed, he still retained his old -attachment. - -(I should say here that for many of the details about Sanquhar and -Dumfries I am indebted in the first place to Mrs. Macbeth Forbes, for -permission to make use of her late husband’s notes on the prisoner-life -at these places, and in the second to the hon. secretary of the -Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society, for -the use of a résumé by him of those notes.) - - - MELROSE - -In the life of Dr. George Lawson, of Selkirk, the French prisoners on -parole at Melrose are alluded to. The doctor astonished them with his -knowledge of the old-world French with which they were unacquainted, and -several pages of the book are devoted to the eloquent attempts of one of -the prisoners to bring him to the Roman Catholic communion. - -Appended to the minutes of the Quarterly Meeting of the Melrose -Freemasons on September 25, 1813, in an account of the laying the -foundation-stone of a public well, there is the following reference to -the French prisoners interned at Melrose (the minutes of the Kelso, -Selkirk, and other lodges record the fraternal exchange of courtesies, -and the reception of these alien Brethren into the lodges, but at -Melrose it would seem that these Brethren held a lodge of their own, -which they no doubt worked in their native tongue and style, by leave -and warrant of the Melrose Lodge): - - -‘The French Brethren of the Lodge of St. John under the distinctive -appellation of _Benevolence_ constituted by the French prisoners of war -on parole here, were invited to attend, which the Master, -office-bearers, and many of the Brethren accordingly did.’ - - -The lodge has preserved in its archives a document with the names of the -French prisoners, adhibited to an expression of their appreciation of -the kindness they had received during their sojourn at Melrose, which -was given to the Brethren at the conclusion of the war when they were -permitted to return to their own country and homes. - - - JEDBURGH - -Mr. Maberley Phillips, F.S.A., from whose pamphlet on prisoners of war -in the North I shall quote later (pp. 388–9) a description of an escape -of paroled prisoners from Jedburgh, says: - - -‘Jedburgh had its share of French prisoners. They were for the most part -kindly treated, and many of them were permitted a great amount of -liberty. One of these had a taste for archaeology and visited all the -ruins within the precincts of his radius, namely, a mile from the Cross. -There is a tradition that on one of his excursions, he was directed to a -ruin about a quarter of a mile beyond his appointed mark, which happened -to be a milestone. He asked the Provost for permission to go beyond; -that worthy, however, refused, but he quietly added: “If Mr. Combat did -walk a short distance beyond the mile and nobody said anything, nothing -would come of it.” But the Frenchman had given his word of honour, and -he could not break it. A happy thought struck him. He borrowed a barrow -one afternoon, and with it and the necessary implements proceeded out to -the obnoxious milestone. Having “unshipped” the milestone, he raised it -on to the barrow, and triumphantly wheeled it to the required distance, -where he fixed it.... For a generation the stone stood where the -Frenchman placed it, no one being any the worse for the extra extent of -the Scotch mile.’ - - -Many of the prisoners were naval officers and were deeply versed in -science, including navigation and astronomy. A favourite resort of these -was Inchbonny, the abode of James Veitch, the self-taught astronomer. -Inchbonny is situated up the Jed about half a mile from Jedburgh. Among -the prisoners who made a point of visiting Veitch’s workshop we may -mention Scot, an old naval lieutenant, who with a long grey coat was to -be seen at every gleam of sunshine at the Meridian line with compasses -in hand, resolving to determine the problem of finding the longitude, -and M. Charles Jehenne, who belonged to the navy, and who was captured -at the battle of Trafalgar. He on that memorable day from the masthead -of his vessel observed the British fleet under Nelson bearing down upon -the French and Spanish vessels. ‘They saw us’, he was wont to say, -‘before we saw them.’ He was a constant visitor to the workshop, and -constructed a telescope there for his own use. He was most agreeable in -his manner, and careful not to give any trouble when doing any work for -himself with Veitch’s tools. He also was an astronomer, and would often -stay out at Inchbonny, in order to view the stars through Veitch’s -telescopes, until long after the tolling of the bell which warned the -prisoners that the daily period of liberty had again expired. In order -that he might escape being noticed by the observant eyes of any who -might be desirous of obtaining the reward given for a conviction, he -usually got the loan of Veitch’s plaid, and, muffled in this, reached -his quarters undetected. - -[Illustration: - - JEDBURGH ABBEY, 1812 - - _From a painting by Ensign Bazin, a French prisoner of war_ -] - -Billeted along with Jehenne, and staying in the same room, was Ensign -Bazin, of St. Malo, a man of quiet demeanour, captured on the _Torche_ -corvette in 1805. He was very talented with his pencil, and fond of -drawing sketches of Jedburgh characters, many of which are preserved at -Inchbonny. He made a painting of Jedburgh Abbey, which he dedicated to -Mr. Veitch, dated 1812. In this picture the French prisoners are seen -marching on the ramparts, and, in the original, their faces and forms, -as also those of many local characters, are so admirably sketched as to -be easily recognizable. A duplicate of this picture he sent home to his -mother. Mrs. Grant of Laggan perhaps had Bazin in view when in her -_Memoir of a Highland Lady_, she wrote: - - -‘A number of French prisoners, officers, were on parole at Jedburgh. -Lord Buchanan, whom we met there, took us to see a painting in progress -by one of them; some battlefield, all the figures portraits from memory. -The picture was already sold and part paid for, and another ordered, -which we were very glad of, the handsome young painter having interested -us much.’ - - -In October 1813, Bazin received a pass to be sent to Alresford, and he -was noted, ‘to be exchanged at the first opportunity. Has been long -imprisoned, and is a great favourite.’ He was of wealthy parents, and -got back to France some time before his fellow prisoners were released. - -Mrs. Grant thus spoke of the Jedburgh prisoners: - - -‘The ingenuity of the French prisoners of all ranks was amazing, only to -be equalled by their industry; those of them unskilled in higher arts -earned for themselves most comfortable additions to their allowance by -turning bits of wood, bones, straw, almost anything in fact, into neat -toys of many sorts, eagerly bought up by all who met with them.’ - - -At Mr. Veitch’s house, Inchbonny, may be seen by those fortunate enough -to have a personal introduction, much of the French prisoner -handiwork—sketches, telescopes, and an electric machine with which the -poor fellows had much fun, connecting it with wires to a plate on the -window-sill below, whereto they would invite passers-by—generally -girls—for a chat and a joke, the result being a shock which sent them -flying. - -It is stated that when the word came that the Frenchmen were to be -allowed to return to their native land, they caused their manufactures -and other articles to be ‘rouped’. One of the prisoners whose knowledge -of the English language, even after his prolonged stay in this quarter, -was very limited, was delegated to obtain the sanction of the Provost of -the Burgh to hold such roup. He who at this time graced the office of -provostship had a draper’s shop in Canongate, and hither the Frenchman -went on his errand. His lack of knowledge of the popular tongue, -however, proved to be an inconvenience, for, on arriving at the shop, he -could only request ‘A rope! A rope!’ The draper had his customary supply -of old ropes, and, willing to oblige, brought them out, to the -perplexity of the visitor, and commenced to ‘wale out the best of them’. -Seeing that his would-be benefactor was obviously mistaken, the French -envoy reiterated his former request, and supplemented this by adding in -a style which would have done credit to any auctioneer, ‘One, Two, -Tree!’ Light dawned upon the Provost’s comprehension, and the necessary -permission was not long in being granted. - -Many of the prisoners are supposed to have rejoined Bonaparte on his -return from Elba, and to have fallen at Waterloo. - -The officers were billeted among private citizens, says Mr. Forbes, -while several occupied quarters immediately under the Clock Tower. Being -young and lusty, they were dowered with an exceedingly good appetite, -and as they got little to eat so far as their allowance went, some of -them used to have a pulley and hoist their loaves of bread to near the -ceiling to prevent themselves from devouring them all, and to ensure -something being left over for next repast. - -The prisoners were not commonly spoken of by name, but were known by the -persons with whom they resided, e.g., ‘Nannie Tamson’s Frenchman’, -‘Widow Ross’s Frenchman’. The boys were a great plague to the Frenchmen, -for when a great victory was announced their dominie gave them a -holiday, and the youngsters celebrated it too frequently by jeering the -prisoners, and by shouting and cheering. The boys at a school then -beside the road at No. 1 Milestone, were prominent in these triumphant -displays, and sometimes pelted the prisoners with stones. - -The manners of the Jedburgh prisoners are thus alluded to in the _False -Alarm_, a local pamphlet: - - -‘They were very polite, and not infrequently put us rough-spun Scotchmen -to the blush with their polished manners. They came in course of time to -be liked, but it seems some of the older members of the community could -never be brought to fraternize with them. One old man actually pointed -his gun at them, and threatened to fire because they had exceeded their -walking limit.’ - - -An aged Jedburgh lady’s reminiscences are interesting. She says: - - -‘Among the officers was M. Espinasse, who settled in Edinburgh after the -Peace and engaged in teaching; Baron Goldshord or Gottshaw, who married -a Jedburgh lady, a Miss Waugh; another, whose name I do not remember, -married a Miss Jenny Wintrope, who went with him to the South of France. -There was a Captain Rivoli, also a Captain Racquet, and a number of -others who were well received by the townspeople, and frequently invited -to parties in their homes, to card-clubs, etc. They were for the most -part pleasant, agreeable gentlemen, and made many friends. Almost all of -them employed themselves in work of some kind, besides playing at -different kinds of games, shooting small birds, and fishing for trout. -They much enjoyed the liberty granted them of walking one mile out of -the town in any direction, as within that distance there were many -beautiful walks when they could go out one road, turn, and come back by -another. During their stay, when news had been received of one great -British victory, the magistrates permitted rejoicing, and a great -bonfire was kindled at the Cross, and an effigy of Napoleon was set on a -donkey and paraded round the town by torchlight, and round the bonfire, -and then cast into the flames. I have often heard an old gentleman, who -had given the boots and part of the clothing, say he never regretted -doing anything so much in his life, as helping on that great show, when -he saw the pain it gave to these poor gentlemen-prisoners, who felt so -much at seeing the affront put upon their great commander. - -‘The French prisoners have always been ingenious in the use they made of -their meat bones ... they took them and pounded them into a powder which -they mixed with the soft food they were eating. It is even said that -they flourished on this dissolved phosphate of lime and gelatine. - -‘There was an old game called “cradles” played in those days. Two or -three persons clasp each other’s hands, and when their arms are held -straight out at full length, a person is placed on these stretched -hands, who is sent up in the air and down again, landing where he -started from. A farmer thought he would try the experiment on the -Frenchmen. Some buxom lassies were at work as some of them passed, and -he gave the girls the hint to treat the foreigners to the “cradles”. -Accordingly two of them were jerked well up in the air to fall again on -the sturdy hands of the wenches. The experiment was repeated again and -again until the Frenchmen were glad to call a halt.’ - - -Parole-breaking was rather common, and began some months after the -officers arrived in the town. A party of five set out for Blyth in -September 1811, but were brought to Berwick under a military escort, and -lodged in jail. Next day they were marched to Penicuik under charge of a -party of the Forfarshire Militia. Three of them were good-looking young -men; one in particular had a very interesting countenance, and, wishing -one day to extend his walk, in order to get some watercress for salad, -beyond the limit of the one-mile stone, uprooted it, and carried it in -his arms as far as he wished to go. - -Three other officers were captured the same year, and sent to Edinburgh -Castle, and in 1813 occurred the escape and capture to be described -later (p. 388). - -The highest number of prisoners at Jedburgh was 130, and there were -three deaths during their stay. - - - HAWICK - -I owe my best thanks to Mr. J. John Vernon, hon. secretary of the Hawick -Archaeological Society, for the following note on Hawick: - - -‘Not many of Napoleon’s officers were men of means, so to the small -allowance they received from the British Government, they were permitted -to eke out their income by teaching, sketching, or painting, or by -making little trifles which they disposed of as best they could among -the townspeople. At other times they made a little money by giving -musical and dramatic entertainments, which proved a source of enjoyment -to the audience and of profit to themselves. - -‘Though “prisoners”, they had a considerable freedom, being allowed to -go about as they pleased anywhere within a radius of a mile from the -Tower Knowe. During their residence in Hawick they became very popular -among all classes of the people and much regret was expressed when the -time came for their returning to the Continent. Hawick society was -decidedly the poorer by their departure. Paradoxical it may seem, but -most of those who were termed “French Prisoners” were in reality of -German extraction: Fifteen of their number became members of the -Freemasons, St. John’s Lodge, No. 111. They were lodged in private -houses throughout the towns. No. 44 High Street was the residence of a -number of them, who dwelt in it from June 1812 to June 1814.’ - - -Speaking of Freemasonry in Hawick, Mr. W. Fred Vernon says: - - -‘Each succeeding year saw the Lodge more thinly attended. An impetus to -the working and attendance was given about 1810 by the affiliation and -initiation of several of the French prisoners of war who were billeted -in the town, and from time to time to the close of the war in 1815, the -attendance and prosperity of the Lodge was in striking contrast to what -it had been previously.’ - - -The following extracts are from a book upon Hawick published by Mr. J. -John Vernon in November 1911. - - -‘One of Bonaparte’s officers, compelled to reside for nearly two years -in Hawick, thus expressed himself regarding the weather during the -winter, and at the same time his opinion of the people. In reply to a -sympathetic remark that the weather must be very trying to one who had -come from a more genial climate, the officer said: - -‘“It is de devil’s wedder, but you have de heaven contré for all dat. -You have de cold, de snow, de frozen water, and de sober dress; but you -have de grand constitution, and de manners and equality that we did -fight for so long. I see in your street de priest and de shoemaker; de -banker and de baker, de merchant and de hosier all meet together, be -companions and be happy. Dis is de equality dat de French did fight for -and never got, not de ting de English newspapers say we want. Ah! -Scotland be de fine contré and de people be de wise, good men.... De -English tell me at Wincanton dat de Scots be a nation of sauvages. It -was a lie. De English be de sauvages and de Scots be de civilized -people. De high Englishman be rich and good; de low Englishman be de -brute. In Scotland de people be all de same! Oh! Scotland be a fine -contré! - -‘The fact that so many of the French prisoners of war were quartered in -Hawick from 1812–14 did much towards brightening society during that -time. Pity for their misfortunes prevailed over any feeling that the -name “Frenchman” might formerly have excited, and they were welcomed in -the homes of the Hawick people. It heartened them to be asked to dinner; -as one of them remarked: “De heart of hope do not jump in de hungry -belly”, and many valued friendships were thus formed.’ - - -‘The presence of so many well-dressed persons for so long a period -produced a marked reform in the costume of the inhabitants of Hawick,’ -says James Wilson in his _Annals of Hawick_. - -The first prisoners came to Hawick in January 1812. Of these, -thirty-seven came from Wincanton, forty-one came direct from Spain a -little later, thirty-seven from Launceston. The prisoners had been sent -hither from such distant places as Launceston and Wincanton on account -of the increasing number of escapes from these places, the inhabitants -of both of which, as we have seen, were notoriously in sympathy with the -foreigners. Two surgeons came from the Greenlaw dépôt to attend on them. -Mr. William Nixon, of Lynnwood, acted as agent, or commissary, and by -the end of 1812 he had 120 prisoners in his charge. A few of the Hawick -prisoners were quite well-to-do. There is a receipt extant of a Captain -Grupe which shows that he had a monthly remittance from Paris of £13 -4_s._ 6_d._, in addition to his pay and subsistence money as a prisoner -of war. - -In the _Kelso Mail_ of June 20, 1814, is the following testimony from -the prisoners, on leaving, to the kind and hospitable treatment they had -so generally received: - - - ‘Hawick, May 2, 1814. - -‘The French officers on parole at Hawick, wishing to express their -gratitude to the inhabitants of the town and its vicinity for the -liberal behaviour which they have observed to them, and the good opinion -which they have experienced from them, unanimously request the -Magistrates and Mr. Nixon, their Commissary, to be so kind as to allow -them to express their sentiments to them, and to assure them that they -will preserve the remembrance of all the marks of friendship which they -have received from them. May the wishes which the French officers make -for the prosperity of the town and the happiness of its inhabitants be -fully accomplished. Such is the most ardent wish, the dearest hope of -those who have the honour to be their most humble servants.’ - - -In some cases intercourse did not cease with the departure of the -prisoners, and men who had received kindnesses as aliens kept up -correspondence with those who had pitied and befriended them. - -On May 18, 1814, the officers at Hawick, mostly, if not entirely, -Bonaparte’s soldiers, drifted with the Royalist tide, and sent an -address to Louis XVIII, conceived in much the same terms as that from -Dumfries already quoted, speaking of ‘the happy events which have taken -place in our country, and which have placed on the throne of his -ancestors the illustrious family of Bourbon’, and adding, ‘we lay at the -feet of the worthy descendant of Henry IV the homage of our entire -obedience and fidelity’. - - -The prisoners were always welcome visitors at the house of Goldielands -adjoining the fine old peel tower of that name, and I give the following -pleasant testimony of one of them: - - - ‘To Mr. Elliott of Goldielands: - - ‘SIR, - -‘Very sorry that before my leaving Scotland I could not have the -pleasure of passing some hours with you. I take the liberty of -addressing you these few lines, the principal object of which is to -thank you for all the particular kindness and friendship you honoured me -with during my stay in this country. The more lively I always felt this -your kindness since idle prejudices had not the power over you to treat -us with that coldness and reserve which foreigners, and the more so, -prisoners of war in Britain, so often meet with. - -‘If in the case only that my conduct whilst I had the honour of being -acquainted with you, has not met with your disapproval, I pray you to -preserve me, even so far off, your friendship. To hear sometimes of you -would certainly cause me great pleasure. - -‘Pray acquaint Mrs. Elliott and the rest of your family of the high -esteem with which I have the honour to be, Sir, - - ‘Your humble servant, - ‘G. DE TALLARD, Lieut. - - ‘Hawick, March 11, 1814.’ - - - LAUDER - -I am indebted to the late Mr. Macbeth Forbes for these notes. - -There hangs in one of the rooms of Thirlestane Castle, the baronial -residence of the Earls of Lauderdale, an oil-painting executed by a -French prisoner of war, Lieutenant-Adjutant George Maurer of the -Hesse-Darmstadt Infantry. He is described in the Admiralty Records as a -youth of twenty, with hazel eyes, fresh complexion, five feet nine and -three-quarter inches in height, well made, but with a small sword scar -on his left cheek. Although his production is by no means a striking -work of art, it is nevertheless cherished as a memento of the time -when—a hundred years ago—French prisoners were billeted in Lauder, -Berwickshire, and indulged in pleasant intercourse with the inhabitants -of this somewhat remote and out-of-the-way country town. In the left -corner of the painting, which represents Lauder as seen from the west, -is a portrait, dated August 1813, of the artist decked in a sort of -Tam-o’-Shanter bonnet, swallow-tailed coat, and knee breeches, plying -his brush. - -The average number of prisoners at Lauder was between fifty and sixty, -and the average age was twenty-six. They appear to have conducted -themselves with great propriety in the quiet town; none of them was ever -sent to the Tolbooth. They resided for the most part with burgesses, one -of whom was James Haswell, a hairdresser, whose son remembered two of -the prisoners who lived in his father’s house, and who made for him and -his brothers, as boys, suits of regimentals with cocked hats, and -marched them through the town with bayonets at their sides. - -About the end of January 1812, Captain Pequendaire, of _L’Espoir_ -privateer, escaped. At Lauder he never spoke a word of English to any -one, and about six weeks after his arrival he disappeared. It came out -that he had walked to Stow, near Lauder, and taken the coach there, and -that he had got off because he spoke English so perfectly as to pass for -a native! - -Angot, second captain of _L’Espoir_, was released upon the -representation of inhabitants of St. Valery, that he with others had -saved the lives of seventy-nine British seamen wrecked on the coast. - -A duel took place on a terrace on the east side of Lauderdale Castle -between two prisoners armed with razors fastened to the end of -walking-sticks. No harm was done on this occasion. - -The prisoners were always kindly and hospitably treated by the -inhabitants. On one occasion some of them were at a dinner-party at Mr. -Brodie’s, a farmer of Pilmuir. The farm was beyond the one-mile limit, -but no notice would have been taken if the prisoners had duly reported -themselves and enabled the Agent to make the necessary declaration, but, -unfortunately, a heavy snowstorm prevented them from getting back to -Lauder, and the report went in that So-and-so had not appeared. The -Transport Board at once dealt with the matter, and the parish Minister, -the Rev. Peter Cosens, who had been one of the party at Pilmuir, wrote -to the authorities by way of explaining, and the reply received was very -severe, the authorities expressing surprise that one in his position -should have given countenance to, and should seek to palliate or excuse, -the offence. The result to the prisoners is not known, but they were -probably let off with a fine stopped out of their allowance. - -Many of the prisoners knew little or no English when they came to -Lauder. On the occasion of a detachment coming into the town, some of -the baggage had not arrived, and the interpreter of the party appeared -before the Agent, and made a low bow, and held up a finger for each -package that was wanting, and uttered the only appropriate English word -he knew, ‘Box’. Another, who wished to buy eggs, went into a shop, and, -drawing his cloak around him, sat down and clucked like a hen. - -Many of the prisoners in the Scottish towns were Germans in French -service. In January 1813, the Lauder St. Luke’s Lodge of Freemasons -admitted eight Germans and one Frenchman, and it is related that on the -occasion of their induction, when the time for refreshments after -business came, the foreign installations delighted the company with -yarns of their military experiences. When the great movement for German -liberty got into full swing, Britain encouraged the French prisoners of -German nationality to fight for their own country. Accordingly the -eleven German prisoners in Lauder, belonging to the Hesse-Darmstadt -regiment, received £5 each at the end of February 1814, to pay their -expenses to Hawick, whence to proceed to the seat of war. It is related -that the joy they felt at their release was diminished by their regret -at leaving the town where they had been treated by the inhabitants with -so much marked hospitality and kindness. The evening previous to their -departure, the magistrates gave them an entertainment at the _Black -Bull_ Inn, and wished them all success in their efforts to restore -liberty and prosperity. The remaining twenty-two prisoners finally left -Lauder, June 3, 1814; others having been previously removed to Jedburgh, -Kelso, and Dumfries. While they were in Lauder some of the merchants -gave them credit, and they were honourably repaid on the prisoners’ -return to their own country. Maurer, the artist before alluded to, often -revisited his friends in Lauder, and always called on and dined with the -Agent, and talked over old times. - - - LOCKERBIE AND LOCHMABEN - -About a score of prisoners were at each of these places, but as the -record of their lives here is of very much the same character as of -prisoner life elsewhere, it hardly makes a demand upon the reader’s -attention. In both places the exiles conducted themselves peaceably and -quietly, and they, especially the doctors, were well liked by the -inhabitants. - - - - - CHAPTER XXV - PRISONERS OF WAR IN WALES - - - IN MONTGOMERYSHIRE - -I am indebted to Canon Thomas of Llandrinio Rectory, Llanymynech, for -information which led me to extract the following interesting details -from the Montgomeryshire Archaeological Collections. - -Batches of French officers were on parole during the later years of the -Napoleonic wars at Llanfyllin, Montgomery, Bishop’s Castle, Newtown, and -Welshpool. - - - _Llanfyllin_ - -About 120 French and Germans were quartered here during the years 1812 -and 1813. Many of them lived together in a large house, formerly the -Griffith residence, which stood where is now Bachie Place. Others were -at the ‘Council House’ in High Street. In a first-floor room of this -latter may still be seen thirteen frescoes in crayon executed by the -prisoners, representing imaginary mountain scenery. Formerly there were -similar frescoes in a neighbouring house, once the _Rampant Lion_ Inn, -now a tailor’s shop, but these have been papered over, and according to -the correspondent who supplies the information, ‘utterly destroyed’. -These prisoners were liberally supplied with money, which they spent -freely. An attachment sprang up between a prisoner, Captain Angerau, and -the Rector’s daughter, which resulted in their marriage after the Peace -of 1814. It is interesting to note that in 1908 a grandson of Captain -Angerau visited Llanfyllin. - -The following pleasing testimony I take from _Bygones_, October 30, -1878: - - -‘The German soldiers from Hessia, so well received by the inhabitants of -Llanfyllin during their captivity, have requested the undersigned to -state that the kindness and the favour shewn them by the esteemed -inhabitants of Llanfyllin will ever remain in their thankful -remembrance. - - ‘C. W. WEDIKIND. - - ‘Newtown, June 17, 1817.’ - - - _Montgomery_ - -A correspondent of the _Gentleman’s Magazine_ contributed a notice of -the death at Montgomery of an old gentleman named Chatuing who had been -nearly four years a prisoner in that town, and who had preferred to -remain there after the Peace of 1814. - -Occasionally we come across evidence that there were men among the -prisoners on parole who were not above acting as Government spies among -their fellows. One Beauvernet at Montgomery was evidently one of these, -for a Transport Office letter to the Agent in that town in 1806 says: - - -‘Mr. Beauvernet may rest perfectly satisfied that any information -communicated by him will not in any way be used to his detriment or -disadvantage.’ - - -Allen, the Montgomery Agent, is directed to advance Beauvernet £10, as -part of what ultimately would be given him. One Muller was the object of -suspicion, and he was probably an escape agent, as in later letters -Beauvernet is to be allowed to choose where he will ‘work’, and -eventually, on the news that Muller has gone to London, is given a -passport thither, and another £10. Of course it does not follow from -this that Beauvernet was actually a prisoner of war, and he may have -been one of the foreign agents employed by Government at good pay to -watch the prisoners more unostentatiously than could a regular prisoner -agent, but the opening sentence of the official letter seems to point to -the fact that he was a prisoner. - -A French officer on parole at Montgomery, named Dumont, was imprisoned -for refusing to support an illegitimate child, so that it came upon the -rates. He wrote, however, to Lady Pechell, declaring that he was the -victim ‘of a sworn lie of an abandoned creature’, complaining that he -was shut up with the local riff-raff, half starved, and penniless, and -imploring her to influence the Transport Board to give him the -subsistence money which had been taken from him since his committal to -prison to pay for the child. What the Transport Board replied does not -appear, but from the frequency of these complaints on the part of -prisoners, there seems no doubt that, although local records show that -illicit amours were largely indulged in by French and other officers on -parole, in our country towns, much advantage of the sinning of a few was -taken by unprincipled people to blackmail others. - -In the _Cambrian_ of May 2, 1806, is the following: - - -‘At the last Quarter Sessions for Montgomeryshire, a farmer of the -neighbourhood of Montgomery was prosecuted by order of the Transport -Office for assaulting one of the French prisoners on parole, and, -pleading guilty to the indictment, was fined £10, and ordered to find -sureties for keeping the peace for twelve months. This is the second -prosecution which the Board has ordered, it being determined that the -prisoners shall be protected by Government from insult while they remain -in their unfortunate position as Prisoners of War.’ - - - _Bishop’s Castle_ - -At Bishop’s Castle there were many prisoners, and in _Bygones_ Thomas -Caswell records chats with an old man named Meredith, in the workhouse, -who had been servant at the _Six Bells_, where nine officers were -quartered. ‘They cooked their own food, and I waited upon them. They -were very talkative ... they were not short of money, and behaved very -well to me for waiting upon them.’ - -The attempted escape of two Bishop’s Castle prisoners is described on -page 391. - - - _Newtown_ - - -‘Mr. David Morgan of the Canal Basin, Newtown, who is now (February -1895) 81 years of age, remembers over 300 prisoners passing through -Kerry village on their way from London via Ludlow, to Newtown. He was -then a little boy attending Kerry school, and the children all ran out -to see them. All were on foot, and were said to be all officers. A great -number of them were billeted at various public-houses, and some in -private houses in Newtown. They exerted themselves greatly in putting -out a fire at the _New Inn_ in Severn Street, and were to be seen, says -my informant, an aged inhabitant, “like cats about the roof “. When -Peace was made, they returned to France, and many of them were killed at -Waterloo. The news of that great battle and victory reached Newtown on -Pig Fair Day, in June 1815. I have a memorandum book of M. Auguste -Tricoche, one of the prisoners, who appears to have served in the French -fleet in the West Indies, and to have been taken prisoner at the capture -of Martinique in 1810.’ - - - _Welshpool_ - - -‘On the occasion of a great fire at the corner shop in December 1813, -there was a terrific explosion of gunpowder which hurled portions of -timber into the Vicarage garden, some distance off. The French prisoners -were very active, and some of them formed a line to the Lledan brook -(which at that time was not culverted over), whence they conveyed water -to the burning building to others of their comrades who courageously -entered it. - -‘Dr. P. L. Serph, one of the prisoners, settled down at Welshpool, where -he obtained a large practice as a physician and surgeon, and continued -to reside there until the time of his death. Dr. Serph married Ann, the -daughter of John Moore, late of Crediton in the county of Devon, -gentleman, by Elizabeth his wife. Mrs. Serph died in 1837, and there is -a monument to their memory in Welshpool churchyard. - -‘There is at Gungrog a miniature of Mrs. Morris Jones painted by a -French prisoner; also a water colour of the waterfall at Pystyl Rhaiadr, -which is attributed to one of them. I recollect seeing in the possession -of the late Mr. Oliver E. Jones, druggist, a view of Powis Castle, -ingeniously made of diverse-coloured straws, the work of one of the -prisoners. - -‘It is said that French blood runs in the veins of some of the -inhabitants of each of these towns where the prisoners were located. - - ‘R. WILLIAMS.’ - - - IN PEMBROKESHIRE - - - _Pembroke_ - -In 1779 Howard the philanthropist visited Pembroke, and reported to this -effect: - -He found thirty-seven American prisoners of war herded together in an -old house, some of them without shoes or stockings, all of them scantily -clad and in a filthy condition. There were no tables of victualling and -regulations hung up, nor did the prisoners know anything more about -allowances than that they were the same as for the French prisoners. The -floors were covered with straw which had not been changed for seven -weeks. There were three patients in the hospital house, in which the -accommodation was very poor. - -Fifty-six French prisoners were in an old house adjoining the American -prison. Most of them had no shoes or stockings, and some had no shirts. -There was no victualling table and the prisoners knew nothing about -their allowance. Two or three of them had a money allowance, which -should have been 3/6 per week each, for aliment, but from this 6_d._ was -always deducted. They lay on boards without straw, and there were only -four hammocks in two rooms occupied by thirty-six prisoners. There was a -court for airing, but no water and no sewer. In two rooms of the town -jail were twenty French prisoners. They had some straw, but it had not -been changed for many weeks. There was no supply of water in the jail, -and as the prisoners were not allowed to go out and fetch it, they had -to do without it. On one Sunday morning they had had no water since -Friday evening. The bread was tolerable, the beer very small, the -allowance of beef so scanty that the prisoners preferred the allowance -of cheese and butter. In the hospital were nine French prisoners, -besides five of the _Culloden’s_ crew, and three Americans. All lay on -straw with coverlets, but without sheets, mattresses, or bedsteads. - -This was perhaps the worst prison visited by Howard, and he emphatically -recommended the appointment of a regular inspector. In 1779 complaints -came from Pembroke of the unnecessary use of fire-arms by the militiamen -on guard, and that 150 prisoners were crowded into one small house with -an airing yard twenty-five paces square—this was the year of Howard’s -visit. His recommendations seem to have had little effect, for in 1781 -twenty-six prisoners signed a complaint that the quantity and the -quality of the provisions were deficient; that they had shown the Agent -that the bread was ill-baked, black, and of bad taste, but he had taken -no notice; that he gave them cow’s flesh, which was often bad, thinking -that they would refuse it and buy other at their own expense; that he -vexed them as much as he could, telling them that the bread and meat -were too good for Frenchmen; that on their complaining about short -measure and weight he refused to have the food measured and weighed in -their presence in accordance with the regulations; that he tried to get -a profit out of the straw supplied by making it last double the -regulation time without changing it, so that they were obliged to buy it -for themselves; and that he had promised them blankets, but, although it -was the raw season of the year, none had yet been issued. - -In 1797 the Admiralty inspector reported that the condition of the dépôt -at Pembroke was very unsatisfactory; the discipline slack, as the Agent -preferred to live away at Hubberstone, and only put in an occasional -appearance; and that the state of the prisoners was mutinous to a -dangerous degree. - - - _The Fishguard affair of 1797_ - -If the Great Western Railway had not brought Fishguard into prominence -as a port of departure for America, it would still be famous as the -scene of the last foreign invasion of England. On February 22, 1797, -fifteen hundred Frenchmen, half of whom were picked men and half galley -slaves, landed from four vessels, three of which were large frigates, -under an Irish General Tate, at Cerrig Gwasted near Fishguard. They had -previously been at Ilfracombe, where they had burned some shipping. -There was a hasty gathering of ill-armed pitmen and peasants to -withstand them, and these were presently joined by Lord Cawdor with -3,000 men, of whom 700 were well-trained Militia. Cawdor rode forward to -reconnoitre, and General Tate, deceived, as a popular legend goes, into -the belief that he was opposed by a British military force of great -strength, by the appearance behind his lordship of a body of Welshwomen -clad in their national red ‘whittles’ and high-crowned hats, -surrendered. - -Be the cause what it might, by February 24, without a shot being fired, -700 Frenchmen were lodged in Haverfordwest Jail, 500 in St. Mary’s -Church, and the rest about the town. Later on, for security, 500 -Frenchmen were shut up in the Golden Tower, Pembroke, and with this last -body a romance is associated. Two girls were daily employed in cleaning -the prison, and on their passage to and fro became aware of two handsome -young Frenchmen among the prisoners selling their manufactures at the -daily market, who were equally attracted by them. The natural results -were flirtation and the concoction of a plan of escape for the -prisoners. The girls contrived to smuggle into the prison some shin -bones of horses and cows, which the prisoners shaped into digging tools, -and started to excavate a passage sixty feet long under the prison walls -to the outer ditch which was close to the harbour, the earth thus dug -out being daily carried away by the girls in the pails they used in -their cleaning operations. Six weeks of continuous secret labour saw the -completion of the task, and all that now remained was to secure a vessel -to carry the performers away. Lord Cawdor’s yacht at anchor offered the -opportunity. Some reports say that a hundred prisoners got out by the -tunnel and boarded the yacht and a sloop lying at hand; but at any rate, -the two girls and five and twenty prisoners secured the yacht, and, -favoured by a thick fog, weighed anchor and got away. For three days -they drifted about; then, meeting a brig, they hailed her, represented -themselves as shipwrecked mariners, and were taken aboard. They learned -that a reward of £500 was being offered for the apprehension of the two -girls who had liberated a hundred prisoners, and replied by clapping the -brig’s crew under hatches, and setting their course for St. Malo, which -they safely reached. - -The girls married their lovers, and one of them, Madame Roux, ci-devant -Eleanor Martin, returned to Wales when peace was declared, and is said -to have kept an inn at Merthyr, her husband getting a berth at the -iron-works. - -Another of General Tate’s men, a son of the Marquis de Saint-Amans, -married Anne Beach, sister-in-law of the Rev. James Thomas, Vicar of St. -Mary’s, Haverfordwest, and head master of the Grammar School. General -Tate himself was confined in Portchester Castle. - - - IN MONMOUTHSHIRE - - - _Abergavenny_ - -There were some two hundred officers on parole here, but the only memory -of them extant is associated with the Masonic Lodge, ‘Enfants de Mars et -de Neptune’, which was worked by them about 1813–14. Tradition says that -the officers’ mess room, an apartment in Monk Street, remarkable for a -handsome arched ceiling, also served for Lodge meetings. De Grasse -Tilly, son of Admiral De Grasse, who was defeated by Rodney in the West -Indies, was a prominent member of this Lodge. At the present -‘Philanthropic’ Lodge, No. 818, Abergavenny, are preserved some collars, -swords, and other articles which belonged to members of the old French -prisoners’ Lodge. - - - IN BRECKNOCKSHIRE - -Prisoners were at Brecon; tombs of those who died may be seen in the old -Priory Churchyard, and ‘The Captain’s Walk’ near the County Hall still -preserves the memory of their favourite promenade. - -In 1814 the Bailiff of Brecon requested to have the parole prisoners in -that town removed. The reason is not given, but the Transport Office -refused the request. - - - - - CHAPTER XXVI - ESCAPE AGENTS AND ESCAPES - - -To the general reader some of the most interesting episodes of the lives -of the paroled prisoners of war in Britain are those which are -associated with their escapes and attempts to escape. Now, although, as -has been already remarked, the feeling of the country people was almost -unanimously against the prisoners during the early years of the parole -system, that is, during the Seven Years’ War, from 1756 to 1763, during -the more tremendous struggles which followed that feeling was apparently -quite as much in their favour, and the authorities found the -co-operation of the inhabitants far more troublous to combat than the -ingenuity and daring of the prisoners. If the principle governing this -feeling among the upper classes of English society was one of chivalrous -sympathy with brave men in misfortune, the object of the lower -classes—those most nearly concerned with the escapes—was merely gain. - -There were scores of country squires and gentlemen who treated the -paroled officers as guests and friends, and who no doubt secretly -rejoiced when they heard of their escapes, but they could not forget -that every escape meant a breach of solemnly-pledged honour, and I have -met with very few instances of English ladies and gentlemen aiding and -abetting in the escapes of paroled prisoners. - -So profitable an affair was the aiding of a prisoner to escape that it -soon became as regular a profession as that of smuggling, with which it -was so intimately allied. The first instance I have seen recorded was in -1759, when William Scullard, a collar-maker at Liphook, Hampshire, was -brought before the justices at the Guildford Quarter Sessions, charged -with providing horses and acting as guide to assist two French prisoners -of distinction to escape—whence is not mentioned. After a long -examination he was ordered to be secured for a future hearing, and was -at length committed to the New Jail in Southwark, and ordered to be -fettered. The man was a reputed smuggler, could speak French, and had in -his pocket a list of all the cross-roads from Liphook round by Dorking -to London. - -In 1812 Charles Jones, Solicitor to the Admiralty, describes the various -methods by which the escapes of paroled prisoners are effected. They are -of two kinds, he says: - - -‘1. By means of the smugglers and those connected with them on the -coast, who proceed with horses and covered carriages to the dépôts and -by arrangement rendezvous about the hour of the evening when the -prisoners ought to be within doors, about the mile limit, and thus carry -them off, travelling through the night and in daytime hiding in woods -and coverts. The horses they use are excellent, and the carriages -constructed for the purpose. The prisoners are conveyed to the coast, -where they are delivered over to the smugglers, and concealed until the -boat is ready. They embark at night, and before morning are in France. -These escapes are generally in pursuance of orders received from France. - -‘2. By means of persons of profligate lives who, residing in or near the -Parole towns, act as conductors to such of the prisoners as choose to -form their own plan of escape. These prisoners generally travel in -post-chaises, and the conductor’s business is to pay the expenses and -give orders on the road to the innkeepers, drivers, &c., to prevent -discovery or suspicion as to the quality of the travellers. When once a -prisoner reaches a public-house or inn near the coast, he is considered -safe. But there are cases when the prisoners, having one among -themselves who can speak good English, travel without conductors. In -these cases the innkeepers and post-boys alone are to blame, and it is -certain that if this description of persons could be compelled to do -their duty many escapes would be prevented.... The landlord of the -_Fountain_ at Canterbury has been known to furnish chaises towards the -coast for six French prisoners at a time without a conductor.’ - - -The writer suggested that it should be made felony to assist a prisoner -to escape, but the difficulty in the way of this was that juries were -well known to lean towards the accused. In the same year, 1812, however, -this came about. A Bill passed the Commons, the proposition being made -by Castlereagh that to aid in the escape of a prisoner should cease to -be misdemeanour, and become a felony, punishable by transportation for -seven or fourteen years, or life. Parole, he said, was a mere farce; -bribery was rampant and could do anything, and an organized system -existed for furthering the escape of prisoners of rank. Within the last -three years 464 officers on parole had escaped, but abroad _not one -British officer_ had broken his parole. The chief cause, he continued, -was the want of an Agent between the two countries for the exchange of -prisoners, and it was an extraordinary feature of the War that the -common rules about the exchange of prisoners were not observed. - -The most famous escape agent was Thomas Feast Moore, _alias_ Maitland, -_alias_ Herbert, but known to French prisoners as Captain Richard Harman -of Folkestone. He was always flush of money, and, although he was known -to be able to speak French very fluently, he never used that language in -the presence of Englishmen. He kept a complete account of all the dépôts -and parole places, with the ranks of the principal prisoners thereat, -and had an agent at each, a poor man who was glad for a consideration to -place well-to-do prisoners in communication with Harman, and so on the -road to escape. Harman’s charge was usually £100 for four prisoners. As -a rule he got letters of recommendation from the officers whose escapes -he safely negotiated, and he had the confidence of some of the principal -prisoners in England and Scotland. He was generally in the neighbourhood -of Whitstable and Canterbury, but, for obvious reasons, owned to no -fixed residence. He seems to have been on the whole straight in his -dealings, but once or twice he sailed very closely in the track of -rascally agents who took money from prisoners, and either did nothing -for them, or actually betrayed them, or even murdered them. - -On March 22, 1810, General Pillet, ‘Adjudant Commandant, Chef de -l’État-Major of the First Division of the Army of Portugal,’ and -Paolucci, commander of the _Friedland_, taken by H.M.S. _Standard_ and -_Active_ in 1808, left their quarters at Alresford, and were met half a -mile out by Harman with a post-chaise, into which they got and drove to -Winchester, alighting in a back street while Harman went to get another -chaise. Thence they drove circuitously to Hastings via Croydon, -Sevenoaks, Tunbridge, Robertsbridge, and Battle, Harman saying that this -route was necessary for safety, and that he would get them over, as he -had General Osten, in thirty-four hours. - -They arrived at Hastings at 7 p.m. on March 23, and alighted outside the -town, while Harman went to get lodgings. He returned and took them to -the house of Mrs. Akers, a one-eyed woman; they waited there four days -for fair weather, and then removed to the house of one Paine, for better -concealment as the hue and cry was after them. They hid here two days, -whilst the house was searched, but their room was locked as an empty -lumber room. Pillet was disgusted at the delays, and that evening wanted -to go to the Mayor’s house to give himself up, but the landlord brought -them sailor clothes, and said that two women were waiting to take them -where they pleased. They refused the clothes, went out, met Rachael -Hutchinson and Elizabeth Akers, and supposed they would be taken to the -Mayor’s house, but were at once surrounded and arrested. All this time -Harman, who evidently saw that the delay caused by the foul weather was -fatal to the chance that the prisoners could get off, had disappeared, -but was arrested very shortly at the inn at Hollington Corner, three -miles from Hastings. He swore that he did not know them to be escaped -prisoners, but thought they were Guernsey lace-merchants. - -During the examination which followed, the Hastings town crier said that -he had announced the escape of the prisoners at forty-three different -points of the eight streets which composed Hastings. - -Pillet and Paolucci were sent to Norman Cross, and Harman to Horsham -jail. - -At the next examination it came out that Harman had bought a boat for -the escape from a man who understood that it was to be used for -smuggling purposes by two Guernsey lace men. The Mayor of Hastings gave -it as his opinion that no Hastings petty jury would commit the prisoners -for trial, although a grand jury might, such was the local interest in -the escape-cum-smuggling business. However, they were committed. At -Horsham, Harman showed to Jones, the Solicitor to the Admiralty, an iron -crown which he said had been given him by the French Government for -services rendered, but which proved to have been stolen from Paolucci’s -trunk, of which he had the key. - -Harman, on condition of being set free, offered to make important -disclosures to the Government respecting the escape business and its -connexion with the smugglers, but his offer was declined, and, much to -his disgust, he was sent to serve in the navy. ‘He could not have been -disposed of in a way less expected or more objectionable to himself,’ -wrote the Admiralty Solicitor, Jones, to McLeay, the secretary. - -But Harman’s career was by no means ended. After serving on the -_Enterprise_, he was sent to the _Namur_, guardship at the Nore, but for -a year or more a cloud of mystery enveloped him, and not until 1813 did -it come out that he must have escaped from the _Namur_ very shortly -after his transfer, and that during the very next year, 1811, he was -back at his old calling. - -A man giving the name of Nicholas Trelawney, but obviously a Frenchman, -was captured on August 24, 1811, on the Whitstable smack _Elizabeth_, -lying in Broadstairs Roads, by the _Lion_ cutter. At his examination he -confessed that he was a prisoner who had broken parole from Tiverton, -and got as far as Whitstable on July 4. Here he lodged at an inn where -he met Mr. ‘Feast’ of the hoy _Whitstable_. In conversation the -Frenchman, not knowing, of course, who Mr. ‘Feast’ really was, described -himself as a Jerseyman who had a licence to take his boat to France, but -she had been seized by the Customs, as she had some English goods in -her. He told ‘Feast’ that he much wanted to get to France, and ‘Feast’ -promised to help him, but without leading the Frenchman to suppose that -he knew him to be an escaped prisoner of war. - -He paid ‘Feast’ £10 10_s._, and went on board the _Elizabeth_ to get to -Deal, as being a more convenient port for France. ‘Feast’ warned him -that he would be searched, and persuaded him to hand over his watch and -£18 for safe keeping. He saw nothing more of Mr. ‘Feast’ and was -captured. - -When the above affair made it clear that Harman, alias Feast Moore, was -at work again, a keen servant of the Transport Office, Mantell, the -Agent at Dover, was instructed to get on to his track. Mantell found -that Harman had been at Broadstairs, to France, and in Dover, at which -place his well-known boat, the _Two Sisters_, was discovered, untenanted -and with her name obliterated. Mantell further learned that on the very -night previous to his visit Harman had actually been landed by -Lieutenant Peace of the armed cutter _Decoy_, saying that he bore -important dispatches from France for Croker at the Admiralty. The -lieutenant had brought him ashore, and had gone with him to an inn -whence he would get a mail-coach to London. Mantell afterwards heard -that Harman went no farther than Canterbury. - -Mantell described Harman’s usual mode of procedure: how, the French -prisoners having been duly approached, the terms agreed upon, and the -horses, chaises, boats with sails, oars, charts and provisions arranged -for, he would meet them at a little distance outside their place of -confinement after dark, travel all night, and with good luck get them -off within two days at the outside. Mantell found out that in August -1811 Harman got four prisoners away from Crediton; he lived at Mr. -Parnell’s, the _White Lion_, St. Sidwell’s, under the name of Herbert, -bought a boat of Mr. Owen of Topsham, and actually saw his clients safe -over Exmouth bar. - -His manner, said Mantell, was free and open; he generally represented -his clients to be Guernseymen, or _émigrés_, or Portuguese, and he -always got them to sign a paper of recommendation. - -In July 1813 news came that Harman was at work in Kelso, Scotland. A -stranger in that town had been seen furtively carrying a trunk to the -_Cross Keys_ inn, from which he presently went in a post-chaise to -Lauder. He was not recognized, but frequent recent escapes from the town -had awakened the vigilance of the Agent, and the suspicious behaviour of -this stranger at the inn determined that official to pursue and arrest -him. The trunk was found to belong to Dagues, a French officer, and -contained the clothes of three other officers on parole, and from the -fact that the stranger had made inquiries about a coach for Edinburgh, -it was clear that an arrangement was nipped in the bud by which the -officers were to follow, pick up the trunk at Edinburgh, and get off -from Leith. - -Harman was disguised, but the next morning the Kelso Agent saw at once -that he answered the description of him which had been circulated -throughout the kingdom, and sent him to Jedburgh Jail, while he -communicated with London. - -The result of Harman’s affair was that the Solicitor-General gave it as -his opinion that it was better he should be detained as a deserter from -the navy than as an aider of prisoners to escape, on the ground that -there were no sufficiently overt acts on the parts of the French -prisoners to show an intention to escape! What became of Harman I cannot -trace, but at any rate he ceased to lead the fraternity of escape -agents. - -Waddell, a Dymchurch smuggler, was second only to Harman as an extensive -and successful escape agent. In 1812 he came to Moreton-Hampstead, ‘on -business’, and meeting one Robins, asked him if he was inclined to take -part in a lucrative job, introducing himself, when in liquor afterwards -at the inn, as the author of the escape of General Lefebvre-Desnouettes -and wife from Cheltenham, for which he got £210, saying that while in -France he engaged to get General Reynaud and his aide-de-camp away from -Moreton-Hampstead for £300 or 300 guineas, which was the reason of his -presence there. He added that he was now out on bail for £400 about the -affair of Lefebvre-Desnouettes, and was bound to appear at Maidstone for -trial. If convicted he would only be heavily fined, so he was anxious to -put this affair through. - -Robins agreed, but informed the Agent, and Waddell was arrested. As -regards General Reynaud, above alluded to, that officer wrote to the -Transport Office to say that the report of his intention to abscond was -untrue. The Office replied that it was glad to hear so, but added, ‘In -consequence of the very disgraceful conduct of other French officers of -high rank, such reports cannot fail to be believed by many.’ - -As a rule the prisoners made their way to London, whence they went by -hoy to Whitstable and across the Channel, but the route from Dymchurch -to Wimereux was also much favoured. Spicer of Folkestone, Tom Gittens -(known as Pork Pie Tom), James King, who worked the western ports; Kite, -Hornet, Cullen, Old Stanley, Hall, Waddle, and Stevenson of Folkestone; -Yates, Norris, Smith, Hell Fire Jack, old Jarvis and Bates of Deal; -Piper and Allen of Dover; Jimmy Whather and Tom Scraggs of Whitstable, -were all reported to be ‘deep in the business’, and Deal was described -as the ‘focus of mischief’. The usual charge of these men was £80 per -head, but, as has been already said, the fugitives ere they fairly set -foot on their native soil were usually relieved of every penny they -possessed. - -An ugly feature about the practice of parole-breaking is that the most -distinguished French officers did not seem to regard it seriously. In -1812 General Simon escaped from Odiham and corresponded with France; he -was recaptured, and sent to Tothill Fields Prison in London, and thence -to Dumbarton Castle, where two rooms were furnished for him exactly on -the scale of a British field officer’s barrack apartment; he was placed -on the usual parole allowance, eighteenpence per day for himself, and -one shilling and threepence per day for a servant, and he resented very -much having to give up a poniard in his possession. From Dumbarton he -appears to have carried on a regular business as an agent for the escape -of paroled prisoners, for, at his request, the Transport Office had -given permission for two of his subalterns, also prisoners on parole, -Raymond and Boutony by name, to take positions in London banks as French -correspondents, and it was discovered that these men were actually -acting as Simon’s London agents for the escape of prisoners on parole. -It was no doubt in consequence of this discovery that in 1813 orders -were sent to Dumbarton that not only was Simon to be deprived of -newspapers, but that he was not to be allowed pens and ink, ‘as he makes -such a scandalous and unbecoming use of them.’ - -In May 1814 Simon, although he was still in close confinement, was -exchanged for Major-General Coke, it being evidently considered by the -Government that he could do less harm fighting against Britain than he -did as a prisoner. - -The frequent breaches of parole by officers of distinction led to severe -comments thereon by the Transport Board, especially with regard to -escapes. In a reply to General Privé, who had complained of being -watched with unnecessary rigour, it was said: ‘With reference to the -“eternal vigilance” with which the officers on parole are watched, I am -directed to observe that there was a little necessity for this, as a -great many Persons who style themselves Men of Honour, and some of them -members of the Legion of Honour, have abandoned all Honour and Integrity -by running from Parole, and by bribing unprincipled men to assist in -their Escape.’ - -Again: - - -‘Certain measures have been regarded as expedient in consequence of the -very frequent desertions of late of French officers, not even excepting -those of the highest rank, so that their Parole of Honour has become of -little Dependence for their Security as Prisoners of War. Particularly -do we select General Lefebvre-Desnouettes, an officer of the Legion of -Honour, a General of Division, Colonel commanding the Chasseurs à cheval -de la Garde. He was allowed unusually great privileges on parole—to -reside at Cheltenham, to go thence to Malvern and back to Cheltenham as -often as he liked; his wife was allowed to reside with him, and he was -allowed to have two Imperial Guardsmen as servants. Yet he absconded, -May 1, 1812, with his servants and naval lieutenant Armand le Duc, who -had been allowed as a special favour to live with him at Cheltenham.’ - - -Lord Wellington requested that certain French officers should be given -their parole, but in reply the Transport Office declined to consent, and -as a reason sent him a list of 310 French officers who had broken their -parole during the current year, 1812. - -The _Moniteur_ of August 9, 1812, attempted to justify these breaches of -parole, saying that Frenchmen only surrendered on the condition of -retaining their arms, and that we had broken that condition. - -At the Exeter Assizes, in the summer of 1812, Richard Tapper of -Moreton-Hampstead, carrier, Thomas and William Vinnacombe of Cheriton -Bishop, smugglers, were convicted and sentenced to transportation for -life for aiding in the attempted escape of two merchant captains, a -second captain of a privateer, and a midshipman from Moreton-Hampstead, -from whom they had received £25 down and a promise of £150. They went -under Tapper’s guidance on horseback from Moreton to Topsham, where they -found the Vinnacombes waiting with a large boat. They started, but -grounded on the bar at Exmouth, and were captured. - -In the same year, acting upon information, the Government officers -slipped quietly down to Deal, Folkestone, and Sandgate, and seized a -number of galleys built specially for the cross-Channel traffic of -escaped prisoners. They were beautifully constructed, forty feet long, -eight-oared, and painted so as to be almost invisible. It was said that -in calm weather they could be rowed across in _two hours_! - -The pillory was an additional punishment for escape-aiders. Russel, in -his _History of Maidstone_, says that ‘the last persons who are -remembered to have stood in the pillory were two men, who in the first -decade of the present (nineteenth) century, had assisted French -prisoners of War to escape while on Parole’. - -But I find that in 1812, seven men were condemned at Maidstone, in -addition to two years’ imprisonment, to stand in the pillory on every -market-day for a month, for the same offence. In this year, Hughes, -landlord of the _Red Lion_ and postmaster at Rye, Hatter, a fisherman, -and Robinson, of Oswestry, were sentenced to two years in Horsham Jail, -and in the first month to be pilloried on Rye Coast, _as near France as -possible_, for aiding in the escape of General Phillipon and Lieutenant -Garnier. - -Men, not regular escape agents, as well as the latter, often victimized -the poor Frenchmen under pretence of friendship. - -One Whithair, of Tiverton, was accused, at the Exeter Summer Assizes of -1812, by French prisoners of having cheated them. He had obtained £200 -from six officers on parole at Okehampton—he said to purchase a boat to -get them off, and horses to carry them to the coast—through the medium -of Madame Riccord, the English wife of one of the French officers. -Whithair had also persuaded them to send their trunks to Tiverton in -readiness. They waited four months, and then suspected that Whithair was -tricking them, and informed the Agent. Whithair was arrested, and -condemned to pay £200, and to be imprisoned until he did so. Later, -Whithair humbly petitioned to be released from Newgate on the plea that -during his imprisonment he would have no chance of paying the fine, and -the Superintendent recommended it. - -It may be imagined that the profession of escape-aiding had much the -same fascination for adventurous spirits as had what our forefathers -called ‘the highway’. So we read of a young gentleman of Rye, who, -having run through a fortune, determined to make a trial of this career -as a means of restoring his exchequer, but he was evidently too much of -an amateur in a craft which required the exercise of a great many -qualities not often found in one man’s composition. His very first -venture was to get off two officers of high rank from Reading, for which -he was to receive three hundred guineas, half paid down. He got them in -a post-chaise as far as the inn at Johns Cross, Mountfield, about -fourteen miles from Hastings, but here the Excise officers dropped upon -them, and there was an end of things. - -At Ashbourne in Derbyshire, a young woman was brought up on March 13, -1812, charged with aiding prisoners on parole to escape, and evidently -there had been hints about improper relationship between her and the -Frenchmen, for she published the following: - - -‘_To the Christian Impartial Reader._ - -‘I the undernamed Susanna Cotton declares she has had nothing to do with -the escape of the French prisoners, although she has been remanded at -Stafford, and that there has been no improper relationship as rumoured. - -‘Judge not that ye be not judged. Parents of female children should not -readily believe a slander of their sex, nor should a male parent listen -to the vulgar aggravation that too often attends the jocular whispering -report of a crime so important. For it is not known what Time, a year or -a day, may bring forth. - -‘Misses Lomas and Cotton take this opportunity (tho’ an unpleasant one) -of returning their grateful acknowledgement of Public and Individual -Favours conferred on them in their Business of Millinery, and hope for a -continuance of them, and that they will not be withheld by reason of any -Prejudices which may have arisen from the Slander above alluded to.’ - - -The prosecution was withdrawn, although Miss Cotton’s denials were found -to be untrue. - - - - - CHAPTER XXVII - ESCAPES OF PRISONERS ON PAROLE - - -The newspapers of our forefathers during the eighteenth and early -nineteenth centuries contained very many advertisements like the two -following. The first is from the _Western Flying Post_, of 1756, dated -from Launceston, and offering Two Guineas reward for two officers, who -had broken their parole, and were thus described: - - -‘One, Mons. Barbier, a short man, somewhat pock-marked, and has a very -dejected look, and wore a snuff-coloured coat; the other, Mons. Beth, a -middle-aged man, very strongly set, wore his own hair and a blue coat. -The former speaks no English, but the latter very well. They were both -last seen near Exeter, riding to that city.’ - - -The second is from the London _Observer_ of April 21, 1811: - - - BREACH OF PAROLE OF HONOUR.—Transport Office, April 12, 1811. - -‘Whereas the two French Officers, Prisoners of War, named and described -at the foot hereof, have absconded from Chesterfield in violation of -their Parole of Honour; the Commissioners for conducting His Majesty’s -Transport Service, etc., do hereby offer a Reward of Five Guineas for -the recapture of each of the said Prisoners, to any Person or Persons -who shall apprehend them, and deliver them at this office, or otherwise -cause them to be safely lodged in any of the Public Gaols. Joseph -Exelman, General of Brigade, age 36, 5 feet 11½ inches high, stout, oval -visage, fresh complexion, light brown hair, blue eyes, strong features. - -‘Auguste de la Grange, Colonel, age 30, 6 feet high, stout, round -visage, fair complexion, brown hair, dark eyes, no mark in particular.’ - - -Excelmans was one of Bonaparte’s favourites. He and De la Grange induced -Jonas Lawton, an assistant to Doctor John Elam, the surgeon at -Chesterfield, to make the necessary arrangements for escape, and to -accompany them. They left Chesterfield concealed in a covered cart, and -safely reached Paris. Here Lawton was liberally rewarded, and provided -with a good post as surgeon in a hospital, and retained the position -long after the conclusion of peace. - -Merely escaping from the parole town did not become frequent until it -was found necessary to abolish virtually the other method of returning -to France which we allowed. By this, an officer on parole upon signing a -declaration to the effect that unless he was exchanged for a British -officer of similar rank by a certain date he would return to England on -that date, was allowed to go to France, engaging, of course, not to -serve against us. But when it became not a frequent but a universal rule -among French officers to break their honour and actually to serve -against us during their permitted absence, the Government was obliged to -refuse all applications, with the result that to escape from the parole -town became such a general practice as to call into existence that -profession of escape-aiding which was dealt with in the last chapter. - -The case of Captain Jurien, now to be mentioned, is neither better nor -worse than scores of others. - -On December 10, 1803, the Transport Office wrote to him in Paris: - - -‘As the time allowed for your absence from this Kingdom expired on -November 22nd, and as Captain Brenton, R.N., now a prisoner of war in -France, has not been released in exchange for you agreeably to our -proposal, you are hereby required to return to this country according to -the terms of your Parole Agreement.’ - - -But on March 16, 1804, Jurien had not returned. One result was that when -a Colonel Neraud applied to be sent to France upon his giving his word -to have a British officer exchanged for him, the Transport Office -reminded him that Jurien had been released on parole, August 22, 1803, -on the promise that he would return in three months, if not exchanged -for Captain Brenton, and that seven months had passed and he was still -away. They added that the French Government had not released one British -officer in return for 500 French, who had been sent on parole to France, -some of whom, furthermore, in violation of their parole, were in arms -against Britain. ‘Hence your detention is entirely owing to the action -of your own Government.’ - -As time went on, and Jurien and the others did not return, the Transport -Office, weary of replying to the frequent applications of French -officers to go to France on parole, at last ceased to do so, with the -result that attempted escapes from parole places became frequent. - -At the same time it must not be understood that laxity of honour as -regards parole obligation of this kind was universal. When in 1809 the -Transport Office, in reply to a request by General Lefebvre to be -allowed to go to France on parole, said that they could not accede -inasmuch as no French officer thus privileged had been _allowed_ to -return, they italicized the word ‘allowed’, and cited the case of -General Frescinet, ‘who made most earnest but ineffectual Intreaty to be -allowed to fulfil the Parole d’Honneur’ he had entered into, by -returning to this country. - -Thame seems to have been a particularly turbulent parole town, and one -from which escapes were more than usually numerous. One case was -peculiar. Four prisoners who had been recaptured after getting away -justified their attempt by accusing Smith, the Agent, of ill-behaviour -towards them. Whereupon the other prisoners at Thame, among them -Villaret-Joyeuse, testified against them, and in favour of Smith. - -The experiences of Baron Le Jeune are among the most interesting, and -his case is peculiar inasmuch as although he was nominally a prisoner on -parole, he was not so in fact, so that his escape involved no breach. In -1811 he was taken prisoner by Spanish brigands, who delivered him to the -English garrison at Merida. Here he was treated as a guest by -Major-General Sir William Lumley and the officers, and when he sailed -for England on H.M.S. _Thetis_ he had a state-cabin, and was regarded as -a distinguished passenger. On arriving at Portsmouth his anxiety was as -to whether the hulks were to be his fate. ‘And our uneasiness -increased’, he writes in the _Memoirs_, whence the following story is -taken, ‘when we passed some twenty old vessels full of French prisoners, -most of them wearing only yellow vests, whilst others were perfectly -naked. At this distressing sight I asked the captain if he was taking us -to the hulks. To which he replied with a frown: “Yes, just as a matter -of course.” At the same moment our boat drew up alongside the _San -Antonio_, an old 80–gun ship. We ascended the side, and there, to our -horror, we saw some five to six hundred French prisoners, who were but -one-third of those on board, climbing on to each other’s shoulders, in -the narrow space in which they were penned, to have a look at the -newcomers, of whose arrival they seemed to have been told. Their -silence, their attitude, and the looks of compassion they bestowed on me -as I greeted them _en passant_ seemed to me omens of a terrible future -for me.’ - -The captain of the hulk apologized to the baron for having no better -accommodation. Le Jeune, incredulous, made him repeat it, and flew into -a rage. He snatched a sword from an Irishman and swore he would kill any -one who would keep him on a hulk. The French prisoners shouted: ‘Bravo! -If every one behaved as you do, the English would not dare treat us so!’ - -The captain of the hulk was alarmed at the possible result of this with -1,500 desperate prisoners, and hurried the baron into his boat. - -Thus Baron Le Jeune escaped the hulks! - -He was then taken to the Forton Dépôt, where he remained three days, and -was then ordered to Ashby-de-la-Zouch. So rapidly was he hurried into a -coach that he had not time to sign his parole papers and resolved to -profit by the omission. He passed many days on a very pleasant journey -via Andover and Blenheim, for he paused to see all that was interesting -on the way, and even went to theatres. He found about a hundred French -prisoners at Ashby (some of whom, he says, had been there fifteen -years!), and reported himself to the Agent, Farnell, a grocer, -‘certainly the tallest, thinnest, most cadaverous seller of dry goods in -the world.’ - -At Ashby he found old friends, and passed his time with them, and in -learning English. He was invited to Lord Hastings’ house about a mile -from Ashby. Hastings was brother to Lord Moira, a friend of the Prince -of Wales, and here he met the orphan daughter of Sir John Moore. He was -most kindly treated, and Lord Hastings said he would try to get leave -for him to live in London. - -Then came a change. - - -‘A man came to me one morning, and said to me privately that the Duke of -Rovigo, minister of Police in France, authorized by the Emperor, had -sent him to propose to me that I should let him arrange for me to get -out of England, and return to France. I distrusted him, for I had heard -of the tricks of escape Agents, and said I would first consult my -friend, Colonel Stoffel. I did so. Stoffel said it was a _bonâ fide_ -offer, but the emissary had brought no money with him, and it would cost -probably 200 guineas.’ - - -Where was the baron to get such a sum? He went to Baudins, a merchant, -and asked him for a loan, and at a ball that night Baudins signalled -that the loan was all right. Farnell was at the ball, and the baron -describes his comical assumption of dignity as the guardian of the -French prisoners. Baudins lent Baron Le Jeune the money in gold without -asking interest on it. - - -‘I was invited to a grand dinner by General Hastings the very evening we -were to start, and I duly appeared at it. The evening passed very -brightly, and at dessert, after the ladies had retired, the men remained -behind to drink wine together, beginning with a toast to the ladies. As -a matter of taste, as well as of design, I kept my head clear, and when -my companions were sufficiently exhilarated by the fumes of the claret -they had drunk, they returned with somewhat unsteady steps to the -drawing-room, where tea had been prepared by the ladies.’ - - -The baron won the goodwill of all and was invited to return the next -day. - -At 11 p.m., it being very dark, he slipped out through the park to meet -Colonel Stoffel and a guide. He waited an hour, but at last they arrived -in a post-chaise, and they drove off. Passing through Northants, North -Middlesex [_sic_], London, and Reigate, they came to Hythe, where they -stopped the next night. They pretended to be invalids come for a course -of sea baths, and the baron was actually assisted out of the carriage by -Custom-house officers. The chaise dismissed, tea was ordered while the -guide went to make inquiries about Folkestone. He returned with a -horror-struck face, and wrote on a slate: ‘Pay at once and let us be -off.’ Le Jeune gave the girl of the house a guinea, and told her to keep -the change, which made her look suspicious, as if the money had not been -honestly come by. No time was to be lost, for Hythe was full of troops. -The guide advised the baron to drop the erect bearing of a soldier, and -assume a stoop. They got away, and hid in a wheat-field during the day -while the guide again went into Folkestone. He was away seventeen hours. -At length they got to Folkestone, and Le Jeune was introduced to a -smuggler named Brick, a diabolical-looking man, who said he would take -them safely over to France. - -Brick asked the Baron for 200 guineas, and got them. The wind was -contrary, he said, but he would lodge them well. A decent room was hired -with a trap-door under the bed for escape, and here they remained -thirteen days. Le Jeune became impatient, and at last resolved to risk -weather and everything else and go. ‘Well! follow me! like the others!’ -growled Brick ferociously to the sailor with him. But the woman of the -house implored Le Jeune and Stoffel not to go with Brick: they remained -determined, but she persisted and held them back, and so, now persuaded -that she had good reasons for her action, and she seeming a decent body, -they remained. Later on they learned how close to danger they had been, -for the woman told them that Brick had taken the money of a score of -fugitives like themselves, promising to land them in France, hiding them -under nets to avoid the coast-guard, and as soon as they were well out, -murdering them and flinging their bodies overboard with stones tied to -them, knowing that transportation awaited him if he was caught aiding -prisoners to escape. - -They asked the woman to help them, for now they had no money. The baron -told the sailor that he would give him fifty livres at Boulogne, if he -landed them there. He was an honest fellow, brought them a sailor’s -clothes, and went along the beach with them, replying, ‘Fishermen’ to -the many challenges they got. Finding a small boat, they shoved it off, -and got in, so as to board a fishing-smuggling smack riding outside. It -was a foul night, and three times they were hurled back ashore, wet to -the skin; so they returned. The next day the weather moderated and they -got off, under the very lee of a police boat, which they deceived by -pretending to get nets out. In six hours they were within sight of -Boulogne, but were obliged to keep off or they would be fired upon, -until they had signalled and were told to come in. - -At this time England sent by smugglers a quantity of incendiary -pamphlets which the French coast-guard had orders to seize, so that Le -Jeune and Stoffel were searched and, guarded by armed men, marched to -the Commissary of Police, ‘just as if’, Le Jeune said, ‘we were infected -with the plague.’ - -Luckily, the Commissary was an old friend of the baron, so they had no -further trouble, but paid the sailor his fifty livres, and went to -Paris. At an interview with the Emperor, the latter said to Le Jeune, -‘And did you see Lefebvre-Desnouettes?’ - -‘No, sire, but I wrote to him. He is extremely anxious to get back to -you, and is beginning to lose hope of being exchanged. He would do as I -have done if he were not afraid of your Majesty’s displeasure.’ - -‘Oh! Let him come! Let him come! I shall be very glad to see him,’ said -the Emperor. - -‘Does your Majesty give me leave to tell him so in your name?’ - -‘Yes, yes. Don’t lose any time.’ - -So Madame Lefebvre-Desnouettes got a passport, and went over to England, -and her presence did much to distract the attention of the general’s -guardians, and made his escape comparatively easy. The general, as a -German or Russian Count, Madame in boy’s clothes as his son, and an -A.D.C. got up as a valet-de-chambre, went in a post-chaise from -Cheltenham to London, where they rested for a couple of hours at -Sablonière’s in Leicester Square, then at midnight left for Dover and -thence to Paris. - -General Osten, second in command at Flushing, on parole at Lichfield, -was another gentleman who was helped to get off by a lady member of his -family. His daughter had come with him from Flushing, and in December -1809 went away with all her father’s heavy baggage. In February 1810, -Waddell, the escape agent, met the general and two other officers in -Birmingham, and forty-six hours later landed with them in Holland. - -In this year, 1810, the escapes were so numerous by boats stolen from -the shores that the Admiralty issued a warning that owners of boats on -beaches should not leave masts, oars, and tackle in them, and in 1812 -compensation was refused to a Newton Abbot and to a Paignton fisherman, -because prisoners had stolen their boats, which had been left with their -gear on the beach, despite warning, and when the prisoners were -recaptured it was found that they had destroyed the boats. - -In October 1811, six French officers—Bouquet, army surgeon, Leclerc, -lieutenant of hussars, Denguiard, army surgeon, Jean Henry, ‘passenger’ -on privateer, Gaffé, merchant skipper, and Glenat, army lieutenant, -under the guidance of one Johns, left Okehampton, crossed the moor to -Bovey Tracey, where they met a woman of whom they asked the way to -Torbay. She replied, and while they consulted together, gave the alarm -so that the villagers turned out and caught three of the runaways. The -other three ran and were pursued. Johns turned on the foremost pursuer -and stabbed him so that he died, and two others were wounded by the -Frenchmen, but the latter were caught at Torquay. Johns got off, but on -November 2 was seen at Chesterfield, where he got work on a Saturday; -instead of going to it on Monday morning, however, he decamped, and was -seen on the Manchester road, eight miles from Chesterfield. In 1812 a -man named Taylor, of Beer Alston, said to be Johns, was arrested, but -proved an alibi and was discharged. - -In 1812 General Maurin, who may be remembered in connexion with the -Crapper trouble at Wantage, escaped with his brother from Abergavenny, -whither he had been sent, the smuggler Waddell being paid £300 for his -help. At the same time General Brou escaped from Welshpool. Both these -officers had been treated with particular leniency and had been allowed -unusual privileges, so that the Transport Office comments with great -severity upon their behaviour. - -On November 8, 1812, a girl named Mary Clarke went in very foggy weather -from Wolverhampton to Bridgnorth to meet a friend. She waited for some -time, but he did not come; so she turned back towards her inn, where her -chaise was waiting. Here was Lieutenant Montbazin, a French naval -officer, who had broken his parole from Lichfield, who politely accosted -her and asked her if she was going to Wolverhampton. She replied that -she was. Was she going to walk? No; she had her chaise. Would she let -him have a seat if he paid half expenses? She agreed, and went back for -the chaise while he walked on, and she picked him up half a mile on, -between some rocks by the roadside. So they went on to Wolverhampton—and -to Birmingham. In the meantime he had been missed at Lichfield, and -followed, and in the back parlour of the _Swan_ at Birmingham was -arrested with the girl. - -This was Mary Clarke’s evidence in court. - -In defence, Montbazin said that he had been exchanged for four British -seamen, who had been landed from France, but that the Transport Office -had refused to let him go, so he had considered himself absolved from -his parole. - -It is hardly necessary to say that the girl’s story was concocted, that -her meeting with Montbazin was part of a prearranged plan, and the Court -emphasized their opinion that this was the case by sending the -lieutenant to a prison afloat, and Mary Clarke to one ashore. - -In October 1812, eight French officers left Andover quietly in the -evening, and, a mile out, met two mounted escape-aiders. Behind each of -them a prisoner mounted, and all proceeded at a walk for six miles, when -they met another man with three horses. On these horses the remaining -six prisoners mounted, and by daybreak were at Ringwood, thirty-six -miles on their road to liberty. All the day they remained hidden in the -forest, living upon bread, cheese, and rum, which their guides procured -from Ringwood. At nightfall they restarted, passed through Christchurch -to Stanpit, and thence to the shore, where they found a boat waiting for -them; but the wind being contrary and blowing a gale, they could not -embark, and were obliged to remain hidden in the woods for three days, -suffering so much from exposure and want that they made a bargain with a -Mrs. Martin to lodge in her house for £12 until the weather should -moderate sufficiently for them to embark. They stayed here for a week, -and then their suspense and anxiety, they knowing that the hue and cry -was after them, became unbearable, and they gave the smuggler-skipper of -the _Freeholder_ a promissory note for six hundred guineas to hazard -taking them off. He made the attempt, but the vessel was driven ashore, -and the Frenchmen were with difficulty landed at another spot on the -coast; here they wandered about in the darkness and storm, until one of -them becoming separated from the others gave himself up, and the -discovery of his companions soon followed. - -The result of the trial was that the officers were, of course, sent to -the hulks, the master of the _Freeholder_ was transported for life, four -of his men for seven years, and the _aiders acquitted_. This appears -curious justice, which can only be explained by presuming that the -magistrates, or rather the Admiralty, often found it politic to get -escape-aiders into their service in this way. - -Of course, all ‘escapes’ were bad offences from an honourable point of -view, but some were worse than others. For instance, in 1812, the Duc de -Chartres wrote a strong letter of intercession to the Transport Office -on behalf of one Du Baudiez. This man had been sent to Stapleton Prison -for having broken his parole at Odiham, and the duke asked that his -parole should be restored him. The Transport Office decidedly rejected -the application, and in their reply to the duke quoted a letter written -by Du Baudiez to his sister in France in which he says that he has given -his creditors in Odiham bills upon her, but asks her not to honour them, -because ‘Les Anglais nous ont agonis de sottises, liés comme des bêtes -sauvages, et traités toute la route comme des chiens. Ce sont des -Anglais; rien ne m’étonne de ce qu’ils ont fait ... ce sont tous des -gueux, des scélérats depuis le premier jusqu’au dernier. Aussi je vous -prie en grâce de protester ces billets ... je suis dans la ferme -résolution de ne les point payer.’ - -On one occasion an unexpected catch of ‘broke-paroles’ was made. The -Revenue Officers believed that two men who were playing cards in an inn -near Canterbury were escaped prisoners, and at 8 p.m. called on a -magistrate to get help. The magistrate told them that it was of no use -to get the constable, as at that hour he was usually intoxicated, but -authorized them to get the military. - -This they did, but the landlord refused to open the door and, during the -parleying, two men slipped out by the back door, whom the officers -stopped, and presently two others, who were also stopped. All four were -French ‘broke-paroles’ from Ashby-de-la-Zouch, and the card-players -within were not prisoners at all. The captured men said that on -Beckenham Common they had nearly been caught, for the driver of the cart -stopped there at 10 p.m. to rest the horse. The horse-patrol, passing -by, ordered him to move on. As he was putting the horse to, the -Frenchmen, all being at the back of the cart, tilted it up and cried -out. However, the horse-patrol had passed on and did not hear. - -In the two next cases English girls play a part. In 1814 Colonel Poerio -escaped from Ashbourne with an English girl in male attire, but they -were captured at Loughborough. At the trial an Ashbourne woman said that -one day a girl came and asked for a lodging, saying that she was a -worker at ‘lace-running’; she seemed respectable, and was taken in, and -remained some days without causing any suspicion, although she seemed on -good terms with the French prisoners on parole in the town. One evening -the woman’s little girl met the lodger coming downstairs, and said: -‘Mam! _she_ has got a black coat on!’ When asked where she was going, -she replied, ‘To Colonel Juliett’s. Will be back in five minutes.’ -(Colonel Juliett was another prisoner.) She did not return, and that was -the last witness saw of her. - -Upon examination, the girl said that she kept company with Poerio, but -as her father did not approve of her marrying him she had resolved to -elope. She took with her £5, which she had saved by ‘running’ lace. They -were arrested at the _Bull’s Head_, Loughborough, where the girl had -ordered a chaise. Counsel decided that there was no case for -prosecution! - -I am not sure if this Colonel Poerio is identical with the man of that -name who, in 1812, when on a Chatham hulk, applied to be put on parole, -the answer being a refusal, inasmuch as he was a man of infamous -character, and that when in command of the island of Cerigo he had -poisoned the water there in order to relieve himself of some 600 -Albanian men, women, and children, many of whom died—a deed he -acknowledged himself by word and in writing. - -Colonel Ocher in 1811 got off from Lichfield with a girl, was pursued by -officers in a chaise and four, and was caught at Meriden, on the -Coventry road, about two miles beyond Stone Bridge. Upon examination, -Ann Green, spinster, lodging at 3, Newman Street, Oxford Street, London, -said that she came to Birmingham by the ‘Balloon’ coach, according to -instructions she had received from a Baron Ferriet, whom she knew. He -had given her £6, paid her fare, and sent her to the _Swan with two -Necks_ in Ladd Lane, where she was given a letter, which, as she could -not read, the waiter read to her. The letter told her to go to Lichfield -to the _St. George_ hotel, as the baron had business to attend to which -kept him in London. At the Lichfield hotel there was a letter which told -her to go to Mr. Joblin’s, where Colonel Ocher lodged. Here she left -word she would meet him in the fields, which she did at 9 p.m., when -they went off, and were captured as above. - -In defence, ‘Baron Ferriet’ told a strange story. He said he had been in -the British Secret Service in France. He lived there in constant danger -as there was a reward of 40,000 francs offered for him by the French -Government. At Sables d’Olonne, Colonel Ocher’s family had hidden him -when the authorities were after him, and had saved him, and Madame Ocher -had looked after his wife and family. So, in a long letter he explains -in very fair English that he determined to repay the Ochers in France -for their kindness to him by procuring the escape of General Ocher, a -prisoner on parole in England, and regarded him as ‘his property’. - -Although the prisoners on parole had no lack of English sympathizers, -especially if they could pay, a large section of the lower class of -country folk were ever on the alert to gain the Government reward for -the detection and prevention of parole-breaking. The following is a -sample of letters frequently received by the ‘Sick and Hurt’ Office and -its agents: - - - ‘MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN, - -‘This informs your lordships that on ye 30th July 1780, I was on -Okehampton road leading to Tavistock, saw four French prisoners, on -horseback without a guide. They signified to me that they had leave to -go to Tavistock from there company at Okehampton. After I was past -Tavistock four miles they came galloping on towards Buckland Down Camp. -I kept in sight of them and perceived them to ride several miles or -above out of the Turnpike Road taking of what view they could of -Gentlemen’s seats, and ye Harbour and Sound and Camp, and I thought -within myself it was very strange that these profest Enemies should be -granted such Libertys as this, by any Company whatever. Accordingly came -to a Resolution as soon as they came within the lines of the Camp ride -forward and stopt them and applyd to the Commanding Officer which was -Major Braecher of the Bedfordshire Militia, who broke their letter, and -not thinking it a proper Passport the Major ordered them under the care -of the Quarter Guard. - -[Winds up with a claim for reward.] - - ‘JOSEPH GILES, - ‘Near ye P.O., Plymouth Dock.’ - - -It turned out in this case that the Agent at Okehampton had given the -Frenchmen permission to go to Tavistock for their trunks, so they were -released and returned. The ‘Sick and Hurt’ Office said that to allow -these prisoners to ride unguarded to Tavistock was most improper, and -must, under no circumstances, be allowed to occur again. - -From a paper read by Mr. Maberley Phillips, F.S.A., before the Newcastle -Society of Antiquaries, I take the following instances of escapes of -parole prisoners in the North. - -In 1813 there were on parole at Jedburgh under the Agent, George Bell, -about a hundred French prisoners. At the usual Saturday muster-call on -June I, all were present, but at that of June 4, Benoît Poulet and -Jacques Girot were missing. From the evidence at the trial of the -accomplices in this escape, all of whom except the chief agent, James -Hunter of Whitton, near Rothbury, were arrested, and three of whom -turned King’s evidence, the story was unfolded of the flight of the -men—who were passed off as Germans on a fishing excursion—across the -wild, romantic, historic fell-country between the Border and Alwinton on -the Coquet; and so by Whitton, Belsay, and Ponteland, to the _Bird in -Bush_ inn, Pilgrim Street, Newcastle; whence the Frenchmen were supposed -to have gone to Shields, and embarked in a foreign vessel for France. - -I quote this and the following case as instances of the general sympathy -of English country people with the foreign prisoners amongst them. The -_Courant_ of August 28, 1813, says: ‘The trial of James Hunter occupied -the whole of Monday, and the court was excessively crowded; when the -verdict of Not Guilty was delivered, clapping of hands and other noisy -symptoms of applause were exhibited, much to the surprise of the judge, -Sir A. Chambers, who observed that he seemed to be in an assembly of -Frenchmen, rather than in an English court of justice. The other -prisoners charged with the same offence, were merely arraigned, and the -verdict of acquittal was recorded without further trial.’ - -Hunter had been arrested in Scotland, just before the trial. Quoting -from Wallace’s _History of Blyth_, Mr. Phillips says: - - -‘One Sunday morning in the year 1811, the inhabitants were thrown into a -state of great excitement by the startling news that five Frenchmen had -been taken during the night and were lodged in the guard-house. They -were officers who had broken their parole at Edinburgh Castle [? -Jedburgh], and in making their way home had reached the neighbourhood of -Blyth; when discovered, they were resting by the side of the Plessy -wagon-way beside the “Shoulder of Mutton” field. - -‘A party of countrymen who had been out drinking, hearing some persons -conversing in an unknown tongue, suspected what they were, and -determined to effect their capture. The fugitives made some resistance, -but in the end were captured, and brought to Blyth, and given into the -charge of the soldiers then quartered in the town. _This act of the -countrymen met with the strongest reprobation of the public_’ (the -italics are mine). ‘The miscarriage of the poor fellows’ plan of escape -through the meddling of their captors, excited the sympathy of the -inhabitants; rich and poor vying with each other in showing kindness to -the strangers. Whatever was likely to alleviate their helpless condition -was urged upon their acceptance; victuals they did not refuse, but -though money was freely offered them, they steadily refused to accept -it. The guard-house was surrounded all day long by crowds anxious to get -a glimpse of the captives. The men who took the prisoners were rewarded -with £5 each, but doubtless it would be the most unsatisfactory wages -they ever earned, for long after, whenever they showed their faces in -the town, they had to endure the upbraiding of men, women, and children; -indeed, it was years before public feeling about this matter passed -away.’ - - -The continuance and frequency of escapes by prisoners on parole -necessitated increased rigidity of regulations. The routes by which -prisoners were marched from place to place were exactly laid down, and -we find numberless letters of instruction from the Transport Office like -this: - - -‘Colonel X having received permission to reside on parole at -Ashby-de-la-Zouch, his route from Chatham is to be: Chatham, Sevenoaks, -Croydon, Kingston, Uxbridge, Wendover, Buckingham, Towcester, Daventry, -and Coleshill.’ - - -The instructions to conductors of prisoners were as follows: - -Prisoners were to march about twelve miles a day. Conductors were to pay -the prisoners sixpence per day per man before starting. Conductors were -to ride ahead of prisoners, so as to give notice at towns of their -coming, and were to see that the prisoners were not imposed upon. -Conductors (who were always mounted), were to travel thirty miles a day -on the return journey, and to halt upon Sundays. - -Of course, it was in the power of the conductors to make the journeys of -the prisoners comfortable or the reverse. If the former, it was the -usual custom to give a certificate of this kind: - - -‘_April 1798._ This is to certify that Mr. Thomas Willis, conductor of -134 Dutch and Spanish prisoners of war from the _Security_ prison ship -at Chatham, into the custody of Mr. Barker, agent for prisoners of war -at Winchester, has provided us with good lodgings every night, well -littered with straw, and that we have been regularly paid our -subsistence every morning on our march, each prisoner sixpence per day -according to the established allowance. - - ‘(Signed).’ - - -The ill-treatment of prisoners on the march was not usual, and when -reported was duly punished. Thus in 1804 a Coldstream guardsman on -escort of prisoners from Reading to Norman Cross, being convicted of -robbing a prisoner, was sentenced to 600 lashes, and the sentence was -publicly read out at all the dépôts. - -In 1811 posters came out offering the usual reward for the arrest of an -officer who had escaped from a Scottish parole town, and distinguished -him as lacking three fingers of his left hand. A year later Bow Street -officers Vickary and Lavender, ‘from information received’, followed a -seller of artificial flowers into a public-house in ‘Weston Park, -Lincolns Inn Fields.’ The merchant bore the distinctive mark of the -wanted foreigner, and, seeing that the game was up, candidly admitted -his identity, said that he had lived in London during the past twelve -months by making and selling artificial flowers, and added that he had -lost his fingers for his country, and would not mind losing his head for -her. - -In the same year a militia corporal who had done duty at a prisoner -dépôt, and so was familiar with foreign faces, saw two persons in a -chaise driving towards Worcester, whom he at once suspected to be -escaped prisoners. He stopped the chaise, and made the men show their -passports, which were not satisfactory, and, although they tried to -bribe him to let them go, he refused, mounted the bar of the chaise, and -drove on. One of the men presently opened the chaise-door with the aim -of escaping, but the corporal presented a pistol at him, and he -withdrew. At Worcester they confessed that they had escaped from -Bishop’s Castle, and said they were Trafalgar officers. - -In 1812 prisoners broke their parole in batches. From Tiverton at one -time, twelve; from Andover, eight (as recorded on pp. 384–5); from -Wincanton, ten; and of these, four were generals and eighteen colonels. - -In the _Quarterly Review_, December 1821, the assertion made by M. -Dupin, in his report upon the treatment of French prisoners in Britain, -published in 1816, and before alluded to in the chapter upon -prison-ships, that French officers observed their parole more faithfully -than did English, was shown to be false. Between May 1803, and August -1811, 860 French officers had attempted to escape from parole towns. Of -these, 270 were recaptured, and 590 escaped. In 1808 alone, 154 escaped. -From 1811 to 1814, 299 army officers escaped, and of this number 9 were -generals, 18 were colonels, 14 were lieutenant-colonels, 8 were majors, -91 were captains, and 159 were lieutenants. It should be noted that in -this number are not included the many officers who practically -‘escaped’, in that they did not return to England when not exchanged at -the end of their term of parole. - -From the Parliamentary Papers of 1812, I take the following table: - - Transport Office, June 25, 1812. - - ──────────────────┬────────┬────────┬─────────┬──────────┬───────────────────── - │ _Total │ │ │ │ - │No. Com.│ _No. │ │ │ - │Officers│ that │ │ │ - │ on │ broke │ _Been │ │ - │parole._│parole._│retaken._│_Escaped._│ - ──────────────────┼────────┼────────┼─────────┼──────────┼───────────────────── - Year ending 5th │ │ │ │ │N.B. The numbers - June 1810 │ 1,685│ 104│ 47│ 57│stated in this - Year ending 5th │ │ │ │ │account include those - June 1811 │ 2,087│ 118│ 47│ 71│persons only who have - Year ending 5th │ │ │ │ │actually absconded - June 1812 │ 2,142│ 242│ 63│ 179│from the places - │ —————│ ———│ ———│ ———│appointed for their - │ 5,914│ 464│ 157│ 307│residence. - Besides the above,│ │ │ │ │ - the following │ │ │ │ │A considerable number - other prisoners │ │ │ │ │of officers have been - of rank │ │ │ │ │ordered into - entitling them │ │ │ │ │confinement for - to be on parole,│ │ │ │ │various other - have broken it │ │ │ │ │breaches of their - during the three│ │ │ │ │parole engagements. - years above │ │ │ │ │ (Signed) - mentioned. │ │ 218│ 85│ 133│ RUP. GEORGE. - │ —————│ ———│ ———│ ———│ J. BOWEN. - │ │ 682│ 242│ 440│ J. DOUGLAS. - ──────────────────┴────────┴────────┴─────────┴──────────┴───────────────────── - -During the above-quoted period, between 1803 and 1811, out of 20,000 -British _détenus_, not prisoners of war, in France, it cannot be shown -that more than twenty-three broke their parole, and even these are -doubtful. - -Sometimes the epidemic of parole-breaking was severe enough to render -drastic measures necessary. In 1797 orders were issued that all French -prisoners, without distinction of rank, were to be placed in close -confinement. - -In 1803, in consequence of invasion alarms, it was deemed advisable to -remove all prisoners from the proximity of the coast to inland towns, -the Admiralty order being: - - -‘At the present conjunction all parole prisoners from the South and West -towns are to be sent to North Staffordshire, and Derbyshire—that is, to -Chesterfield, Ashbourne, and Leek.’ - - -General Morgan at Bishop’s Waltham resented this removal so far away, in -a letter to the Transport Office, to which they replied: - - -‘This Board has uniformly wished to treat Prisoners of War with every -degree of humanity consistent with the public safety: but in the present -circumstances it has been judged expedient to remove all Prisoners of -War on Parole from places near the Coast to Inland towns. You will -therefore observe that the order is not confined to you, but relates -generally to all Prisoners on Parole: and with regard to your comparison -of the treatment of prisoners in this country with that of British -prisoners in France, the Commissioners think it only necessary to remark -that the distance to which it is now proposed to remove you does not -exceed 170 miles, whereas British prisoners in France are marched into -the interior to a distance of 500 miles from some of the ports into -which they are carried.’ - - -Morgan was allowed eventually his choice of Richmond or Barnet as a -place of parole, a privilege accorded him because of his kindness to a -Mr. Hurry, during the detention of the latter as a prisoner in France. - -In 1811, so many prisoners escaped from Wincanton that all the parole -prisoners in the place were marched to London to be sent thence by sea -to Scotland for confinement. ‘Sudden and secret measures’ were taken to -remove them, all of the rank of captain and above, to Forton for -embarkation, except General Houdetôt, who was sent to Lichfield. From -Okehampton sixty were sent to Ilfracombe, and thence to Swansea for -Abergavenny, and from Bishop’s Waltham to Oswestry in batches of twelve -at intervals of three days. - -Many parole towns petitioned for the retention of the prisoners, but all -were refused; the inhabitants of some places in Devon attempted to -detain prisoners for debts; and Enchmarsh, the Agent at Tiverton, was -suspended for not sending off his prisoners according to orders. Their -departure was the occasion in many places for public expressions of -regret, and this can be readily appreciated when it is considered what -the residence of two or three hundred young men, some of whom were of -good family and many of whom had private means, in a small English -country town meant, not merely from a business but from a social point -of view. - -In _The Times_ of 1812 may be read that a French officer, who had been -exchanged and landed at Morlaix, and had expressed disgust at the -frequent breaches of parole by his countrymen, was arrested and shot by -order of Bonaparte. I merely quote this as an example that even British -newspapers of standing were occasionally stooping to the vituperative -level of their trans-Channel _confrères_. - - - - - CHAPTER XXVIII - COMPLAINTS OF PRISONERS - - -It could hardly be expected that a uniform standard of good and -submissive behaviour would be attained by a large body of fighting men, -the greater part of whom were in vigorous youth or in the prime of life, -although, on the whole, the conduct of those who honourably observed -their parole seems to have been admirable—a fact which no doubt had a -great deal to do with the very general display of sympathy for them -latterly. In some places more than others they seem to have brought upon -themselves by their own behaviour local odium, and these are the places -in which were quartered captured privateer officers, wild, reckless -sea-dogs whom, naturally, restraint galled far more deeply than it did -the drilled and disciplined officers of the regular army and navy. - -In 1797, for instance, the inhabitants of Tavistock complained that the -prisoners went about the town in female garb, after bell-ringing, and -that they were associated in these masquerades with women of their own -nation. So they were threatened with the Mill Prison at Plymouth. - -In 1807 complaints from Chesterfield about the improper conduct of the -prisoners brought a Transport Office order to the Agent that the -strictest observation of regulations was necessary, and that the mere -removal of a prisoner to another parole town was no punishment, and was -to be discontinued. In 1808 there was a serious riot between the -prisoners and the townsfolk in the same place, in which bludgeons were -freely used and heads freely broken, and from Lichfield came complaints -of the outrageous and insubordinate behaviour of the prisoners. - -In 1807 Mr. P. Wykeham of Thame Park complained of the prisoners -trespassing therein; from Bath came protests against the conduct of -General Rouget and his A.D.C.; and in 1809 the behaviour of one -Wislawski at Odiham (possibly the ‘Wysilaski’ already mentioned as at -Sanquhar) was reported as being so atrocious that he was at once packed -off to a prison-ship. - -In 1810, at Oswestry, Lieutenant Julien complained that the Agent, -Tozer, had insulted him by threatening him with his cane, and accusing -him of drunkenness in the public-houses. Tozer, on the other hand, -declared that Julien and others were rioting in the streets, that he -tried to restore order, and raised his cane in emphasis, whereupon -Julien raised his with offensive intent. - -Occasionally we find complaints sent up by local professionals and -tradesmen that the prisoners on parole unfairly compete with them. Here -it may be remarked that the following of trades and professions by -prisoners of war was by no means confined to the inmates of prisons and -prison-ships, and that there were hundreds of poor officers on parole -who not only worked at their professions (as Garneray the painter did at -Bishop’s Waltham) and at specific trades, but who were glad to eke out -their scanty subsistence-money by the manufacture of models, toys, -ornaments, &c. - -In 1812 a baker at Thame complained that the prisoners on parole in that -town baked bread, to which the Transport Office replied that there was -no objection to their doing it for their own consumption, but not for -public sale. It is to be hoped the baker was satisfied with this very -academic reply! - -So also the bootmakers of Portsmouth complained that the prisoners on -parole in the neighbourhood made boots for sale at lower than the -current rates. The Transport Office replied that orders were strict -against this, and that the master bootmakers were to blame for -encouraging this ‘clandestine trade.’ - -In 1813 the doctors at Welshpool complained that the doctors among the -French parole prisoners there inoculated private families for small-pox. -The Transport Office forbade it. - -In the same year complaints came from Whitchurch in Shropshire of the -defiant treatment of the limit-rules by the prisoners there; to which -the Transport Office replied that they had ordered posts to be set up at -the extremities of the mile-limits, and printed regulations to be posted -in public places; that they were fully sensible of the mischief done by -so many prisoners being on parole, but that they were unable to stop it. - -Still in 1813, the Transport Office commented very severely upon the -case of a Danish officer at Reading who had been found guilty of forging -a ‘certificate of succession’, which I take to be a list of prisoners in -their order for being exchanged. I quote this case, as crimes of this -calibre were hardly known among parole prisoners; for other instances, -see pages 320 and 439. - -Many complaints were made from the parole towns about the debts left -behind them by absconded prisoners. The Transport Office invariably -replied that such debts being private matters, the only remedy was at -civil law. - -When we come to deal with the complaints made by the prisoners—be they -merely general complaints, or complaints against the people of the -country—the number is so great that the task set is to select those of -the most importance and interest. - -Complaints against fellow prisoners are not common. - -In 1758 a French doctor, prisoner on parole at Wye in Kent, complains -that ten of his countrymen, fellow prisoners, wanted him to pay for -drinks to the extent of twenty-seven shillings. He refused, so they -attacked him, tore his clothes, stole thirty-six shillings, a -handkerchief, and two medals. He brought his assailants before the -magistrates, and they were made to refund twenty-five shillings. This so -enraged them that they made his life a burden to him, and he prayed to -be removed elsewhere. - -In 1758 a prisoner on parole at Chippenham complained that he was -subjected to ill treatment by his fellow prisoners. The letter is -ear-marked: - - -‘Mr. Trevanion (the local Agent) is directed to publish to all the -prisoners that if any are guilty of misbehaviour to each other, the -offenders will immediately be sent to the Prison, and particularly that -if any one molests or insults the writer of this letter, he shall -instantly be confined upon its being proved.’ - - -Later, however, the writer complains that the bullying is worse than -ever, and that the other prisoners swear that they will cut him in -pieces, so that he dare not leave his lodgings, and has been besieged -there for days. - -In the same year Dingart, captain of the _Deux Amis_ privateer, writes -from confinement on the _Royal Oak_ prison-ship at Plymouth that he had -been treated unjustly. He had, he says, a difference with Feraud, -Captain of _Le Moras_ privateer, at Tavistock, during which the latter -struck him, ran away, and kept out of sight for a fortnight. Upon his -reappearance, the complainant returned him the blow with a stick, -whereupon Feraud brought him up for assault before the Agent, -Willesford, who sent him to a prison-ship. - -At Penryn in the same year, Chevalier, a naval lieutenant, complained of -being insulted and attacked by another prisoner with a stick, who, -‘although only a privateer sailor, is evidently favoured by Loyll’ -(Lloyd?) the Agent. - -In 1810 one Savart was removed from Wincanton to Stapleton Prison at the -request of French superior officers who complained of his very violent -conduct. - -These complaints were largely due to the tactless Government system of -placing parole prisoners of widely different ranks together. There are -many letters during the Seven Years’ War period from officers requesting -to be removed to places where they would be only among people of their -own rank, and not among those ‘qui imaginent que la condition de -prisonnier de guerre peut nous rendre tous égaux.’ - -Nor was this complaint confined to prisoners on parole, but even more -closely affected officers who, for breaches of parole, were sent to -prisons or to prison-ships. There are strong complaints in 1758 by -‘broke-paroles’, as they were termed, of the brutal class of prisoners -at Sissinghurst with whom they were condemned to herd; and in one case -the officer prisoners actually petitioned that a prison official who had -been dismissed and punished for cutting and wounding an ordinary -prisoner should be reinstated, as the latter richly deserved the -treatment he had received. - -Latterly the authorities remedied this by setting apart prison-ships for -officers, and by providing separate quarters in prisons. Still, in -dealing with the complaints, they had to be constantly on their guard -against artifice and fraud, and if the perusal of Government replies to -complaints makes us sometimes think that the complainants were harshly -and even brutally dealt with, we may be sure that as a rule the -authorities had very sufficient grounds for their decisions. For -example, in 1804, Delormant, an officer on parole at Tiverton, was sent -to a Plymouth hulk for some breach of parole. He complained to Admiral -Colpoys that he was obliged there to herd with the common men. Colpoys -wrote to the Transport Board that he had thought right to have a -separate ship fitted for prisoner officers, and had sent Delormant to -it. Whereupon the Board replied that if Admiral Colpoys had taken the -trouble to find out what sort of a man Delormant really was, he would -have left him where he was, but that _for the present_ he might remain -on the special ship. - -One of the commonest forms of complaint from prisoners was against the -custom of punishing a whole community for the sins of a few, or even of -a single man. In 1758 a round-robin signed by seventy-five prisoners at -Sissinghurst protested that the whole of the inmates of the Castle were -put upon half rations for the faults of a few ‘impertinents’. - -At Okehampton in the same year, upon a paroled officer being sent to a -local prison for some offence, and escaping therefrom, the whole of the -other prisoners in the place were confined to their lodgings for some -days. When set free they held an indignation meeting, during which one -of the orators waved a stick, as the mayor said, threateningly at him. -Whereupon he was arrested and imprisoned at ‘Coxade’, the ‘Cockside’ -prison near Mill Bay, Plymouth. - -We see an almost pathetic fanning and fluttering of that old French -aristocratic plumage, which thirty years later was to be bedraggled in -the bloody dust, in the complaints of two highborn prisoners of war in -1756 and 1758. In the former year Monsieur de Béthune strongly resented -being sent on parole from Bristol into the country: - - -‘Ayant appris de Mr. Surgunnes (?) que vous lui mandé par votre lettre -du 13 courant si Messire De Béthune, Chevalier de St. Simon, Marquis -d’Arbest, Baron de Sainte Lucie, Seigneur haut, et bas justicier des -paroisses de Chateauvieux, Corvilac, Lâneau, Pontmartin, Neung et autres -lieux, étoit admis à la parole avec les autres officiers pour lesquels -il s’intéresse, j’aurai l’avantage de vous répondre, qu’un Grand de la -trempe de Messire De Béthune, qui vous adresse la présente, n’est point -fait pour peupler un endroit aussi désert que la campagne, attendu -qu’allié du costé paternel et maternel à un des plus puissans rois que -jamais terre ait porté, Londres, comme Bristol ou autre séjour qu’il -voudra choisir, est capable de contenir celui qui est tout à vous. - - ‘De Bristol; le 15 Xbre. 1756.’ - - -Later he writes that he hears indirectly that this letter has given -offence to the gentlemen at the ‘Sick and Hurt’ Office on Tower Hill, -but maintains that it is excusable from one who is allied to several -kings and sovereign princes, and he expects to have his passport for -London. - -The Prince de Rohan, on parole at Romsey, not adapting himself easily to -life in the little Hampshire town, although he had the most rare -privilege of a six-mile limit around it, wrote on July 4, 1758, -requesting permission for self and three or four officers to go to -Southampton once a week to make purchases, as Romsey Market is so -indifferent, and to pass the night there. The six-mile limit, he says, -does not enable him to avail himself of the hospitality of the people of -quality, and he wants leave to go further with his suite. He adds a -panegyric on the high birth and the honour of French naval officers, -which made parole-breaking an impossibility, and he resents their being -placed in the same category with privateer and merchant-ship captains. - -However, the Commissioners reply that no exceptions can be made in his -favour, and that as Southampton is a sea-port, leave to visit it cannot -be thought of. - -In 1756 twenty-two officers on parole at Cranbrook in Kent prayed to be -sent to Maidstone, on the plea that there were no lodgings to be had in -Cranbrook except at exorbitant rates; that the bakers only baked once or -twice a week, and that sometimes the supply of bread ran short if it was -not ordered beforehand and an extra price paid for it; that vegetables -were hardly to be obtained; and that, finally, they were ill-treated by -the inhabitants. No notice was taken of this petition. - -In 1757 a prisoner writes from Tenterden: - - -‘S’il faut que je reste en Angleterre, permettez-moi encore de vous -prier de vouloir bien m’envoier dans une meilleure place, n’ayant pas -déjà lieu de me louer du peuple de ce village. Sur des plaintes que -plusieurs Français ont portées au maire depuis que je suis ici, il a -fait afficher de ne point insulter aux Français, l’affiche a été le même -jour arrachée. On a remis une autre. Il est bien désagréable d’être dans -une ville où l’on est obligé de défendre aux peuples d’insulter les -prisonniers. J’ai ouï dire aux Français qui ont été à Maidstone que -c’était très bien et qu’ils n’ont jamais été insultés ... ce qui me fait -vous demander une autre place, c’est qu’on déjà faillit d’être jeté dans -la boue en passant dans les chemins, ayant eu cependant l’intention de -céder le pavé.’ - - -In reply, the Commissioners of the ‘Sick and Hurt’ Office ask the Agent -at Tenterden why, when he heard complaints, he did not inform the Board. -The complainant, however, was not to be moved, as he had previously been -sent to Sissinghurst for punishment. - -In 1758, twenty officers at Tenterden prayed for removal elsewhere, -saying that as the neighbourhood was a residential one for extremely -rich people, lodgings at moderate prices were not to be had, and that -the townspeople cared so little to take in foreign guests of their -description, that if they were taken ill the landlords turned them out. -This application was ear-marked for inquiry. - -No doubt the poor fellows received but scanty courtesy from the rank and -file of their captors, and the foreigner then, far more than now, was -deemed fair game for oppression and robbery. In support of this I will -quote some remarks by Colonel Thierry, whose case certainly appears to -be a particularly hard one. - -Colonel Thierry had been sent to Stapleton Prison in 1812 for having -violated his parole by writing from Oswestry to his niece, the Comtesse -de la Frotté, without having submitted the letter, according to parole -rule, to the Agent. He asks for humane treatment, a separate room, a -servant, and liberty to go to market. - - -‘Les vexations dont on m’a accablé en route sont révoltantes. Les -scélérats que vos lois envoyent à Tyburn ne sont pas plus mal traités; -une semblable conduite envers un Colonel, prisonnier de guerre, est une -horreur de plus que j’aurai le droit de reprocher aux Anglais pour -lesquels j’ai eu tant de bontés lorsqu’ils sont tombés en mon pouvoir. -Si le Gouvernement français fût instruit des mauvais traitements dont on -accable les Français de touts grades, et donnait des ordres pour user de -représailles envers les Anglais détenus en France ... le Gouvernement -anglais ordonnerait-il à ses agents de traiter avec plus d’égards, de -modération, d’humanité ses prisonniers.’ - - -In a postscript the Colonel adds that his nephew, the Comte de la -Frotté, is with Wellington, that another is in the Royal Navy, and that -all are English born. One is glad to know that the Colonel’s prayer was -heard, and that he was released from Stapleton. - -In 1758 a prisoner writes from Tenterden: - - -‘Last Thursday, March 16th, towards half-past eight at night, I was -going to supper, and passed in front of a butcher’s shop where there is -a bench fixed near the door on which three or four youths were sitting, -and at the end one who is a marine drummer leaning against a wall -projecting two feet on to the street. When I came near them I guessed -they were talking about us Frenchmen, for I heard one of them say: “Here -comes one of them,” and when I was a few paces beyond them one of them -hit me on the right cheek with something soft and cold. As I entered my -lodging I turned round and said: “You had better be careful!” Last -Sunday at half-past eight, as I was going to supper, being between the -same butcher’s shop and the churchyard gate, some one threw at me a -stick quite three feet long and heavy enough to wound me severely....’ - - -Also at Tenterden, a prisoner named D’Helincourt, going home one night -with a Doctor Chomel, met at the door of the latter’s lodging a youth -and two girls, one of whom was the daughter of Chomel’s landlord, ‘avec -laquelle il avait plusieurs fois poussé la plaisanterie jusqu’à -l’embrasser sans qu’elle l’eût jamais trouvé mauvais, et ayant engagé M. -Chomel à l’embrasser aussi.’ But the other girl, whom they would also -kiss, played the prude; the youth with her misunderstood what -D’Helincourt said, and hit him under the chin with his fist, which made -D’Helincourt hit him back with his cane on the arm, and all seemed at an -end. Not long after, D’Helincourt was in the market, when about thirty -youths came along. One of them went up to him and asked him if he -remembered him, and hit him on the chest. D’Helincourt collared him, to -take him to the Mayor, but the others set on him, and he certainly would -have been killed had not some dragoons come up and rescued him. - -Apparently the Agents and Magistrates were too much afraid of offending -the people to grant justice to these poor strangers. - -At Cranbrook a French officer was assaulted by a local ruffian and hit -him back, for which he was sent to Sissinghurst. - -In 1808 and 1809 many complaints from officers were received that their -applications to be allowed to go to places like Bath and Cheltenham for -the benefit of their health were too often met with the stereotyped -reply that ‘your complaint is evidently not of such a nature as to be -cured by the waters of Bath or Cheltenham’. Of course, the Transport -Office knew well enough that the complaints were not curable by the -_waters_ of those places, but by their life and gaiety: by the change -from the monotonous country town with its narrow, _gauche_ society, its -wretched inns, and its mile limit, to the fashionable world of gaming, -and dancing, and music, and flirting; but they also knew that to permit -French officers to gather at these places in numbers would be to -encourage plotting and planning, and to bring together gentlemen whom it -was desirable to keep apart. - -So in the latter year the Mayor of Bath received an order from the Earl -of Liverpool that all prisoners of war were to be removed from the city -except those who could produce certificates from two respectable doctors -of the necessity of their remaining, ‘which must be done with such -caution as, if required, the same may be verified on oath.’ The officers -affected by this order were to go to Bishop’s Waltham, Odiham, -Wincanton, and Tiverton. - -Of complaints by prisoners on parole against the country people there -must be many hundreds, the greater number of them dating from the period -of the Seven Years’ War. During this time the prisoners were largely -distributed in Kent, a county which, from its proximity to France, and -its consequent continuous memory of wrongs, fancied and real, suffered -at the hands of Frenchmen during the many centuries of warfare between -the two countries, when Kent bore the brunt of invasion and fighting, -may be understood to have entertained no particular affection for -Frenchmen, despite the ceaseless commerce of a particular kind which the -bitterest of wars could not interrupt. - -A few instances will suffice to exemplify the unhappy relationship which -existed, not in Kent alone, but everywhere, between the country people -and the unfortunate foreigners thrust among them. - -In 1757 a prisoner on parole at Basingstoke complained that he was in -bed at 11 p.m., when there came ‘7 ou 8 drôles qui les défièrent de -sortir en les accablant d’injures atroces, et frappant aux portes et aux -fenêtres comme s’ils avoient voulu jeter la maison en bas.’ Another -prisoner here had stones thrown at him ‘d’une telle force qu’elles -faisoient feu sur le pavé,’ whilst another lot of youths broke windows -and almost uprooted the garden. - -From Wye in Kent is a whole batch of letters of complaint against the -people. One of them is a round-robin signed by eighty prisoners -complaining of bad and dear lodgings, and praying to be sent to Ashford, -which was four times the size of Wye, and where there were only -forty-five prisoners, and lodgings were better and cheaper. - -At Tonbridge, in the same year, two parole officers dropped some milk -for fun on the hat of a milk-woman at the door below their window. Some -chaff ensued which a certain officious and mischief-making man named -Miles heard, who threatened he would report the Frenchmen for _improper -conduct_, and get them sent to Sissinghurst! The authors of the ‘fun’ -wrote to the authorities informing them of the circumstances, and asking -for forgiveness, knowing well that men had been sent to Sissinghurst for -less. Whether the authorities saw the joke or not does not appear. - -The rabble of the parole towns had recourse to all sorts of devices to -make the prisoners break their paroles so that they could claim the -usual reward of ten shillings. At Helston, on August 1, 1757, Hingston, -the Parole Agent, sent to Dyer, the Agent at Penryn, a prisoner named -Channazast, for being out of his lodgings all night. At the examination, -Tonken, in whose house the man was, and who was liable to punishment for -harbouring him, said, and wrote later: - - -‘I having been sent for by the mayor of our town this day to answer for -I cannot tell what, however I’ll describe it to you in the best manner I -am able. You must know that last Friday evening, I asked Monsieur -Channazast to supper at my house who came according to my request. Now I -have two Frenchmen boarded at my house, so they sat down together till -most ten o’clock. At which time I had intelligence brought me that there -was a soldier and another man waiting in the street for him to come out -in order to get the ten shillings that was orders given by the Mayor for -taking up all Frenchmen who was seen out of their Quarters after 9 -o’clock. So, to prevent this rascally imposition I desired the man to go -to bed with his two countrymen which he did accordingly altho’ he was -not out of my house for the night——’ - - -Reply: ‘Make enquiries into this.’ - -From Torrington in the same year eighteen prisoners pray to be sent -elsewhere: - - -‘Insultés à chaque instant par mille et millions d’injures ou menaces, -estre souvent poursuivis par la popullace jusqu’à nos portes à coups de -roches et coups de bâtons. En outre encore, Monseigneur, avant hier il -fut tirré un coup de fusil à plomb à cinque heures apres midy n’etant -distant de notre logement que d’une portée de pistolet, heureusement -celuy qui nous l’envoyoit ne nous avoit point assez bien ajusté . . . -qu’il est dans tous les villages des hommes proposés pour rendre justice -tres surrement bien judiscieux mais il est une cause qui l’empeche de -nous prouver son equité comme la crainte de detourner la populasce -adverse . . . nous avons été obligés de commettre à tous moments à -suporter sans rien dire ce surcrois de malheurs. . . .’ - - -Two more letters, each signed by the same eighteen prisoners, follow to -the same intent. The man who fired the shot was brought up, and -punishment promised, but nothing was done. Also it was promised that a -notice forbidding the insulting of prisoners should be posted up, but -neither was this done. The same letters complain also of robbery by -lodging keepers, for the usual rate of 4_s._ a week was raised to 4_s._ -6_d._, and a month later to 5_s._ One prisoner refused to pay this. The -woman who let the lodging complained to ‘Enjolace,’ the Agent, who tells -the prisoner he must either pay what is demanded, or go to prison. - -A prisoner at Odiham in the same year complained that a country girl -encouraged him to address her, and that when he did, summoned him for -violently assaulting her. He was fined twelve guineas, complains that -his defence was not heard, and that ever since he had been insulted and -persecuted by the country people. - -In 1758 a letter, signed by fifty-six prisoners at Sevenoaks, bitterly -complains that the behaviour of the country people is so bad that they -dare not go out. In the same year a doctor, a prisoner in Sissinghurst -Castle, complains of a grave injustice. He says that when on parole at -Sevenoaks he was called in by a fellow countryman, cured him, and was -paid his fee, but that ‘Nache’, the Agent at Sevenoaks, demanded half -the fee, and upon the prisoner’s refusal to pay him, reported the case -to the Admiralty, and got him committed to Sissinghurst. - -A disgraceful and successful plot to ruin a prisoner is told from -Petersfield in 1758. - -Fifteen officers on parole appealed on behalf of one of their number -named Morriset. He was in bed on December 22, at 8 a.m., in his lodging -at one ‘Schollers’, a saddler, when Mrs. ‘Schollers’ came into the room -on the pretext of looking for a slipper, and sat herself on the end of -the bed. Suddenly, in came her husband, and, finding his wife there, -attacked Morriset cruelly. Morriset to defend himself seized a knife -from a waistcoat hanging on the bed, and ‘Schollers’ dropped his hold of -him, but took from the waistcoat three guineas and some ‘chelins’, then -called in a constable, accused Morriset of behaving improperly with his -wife, and claimed a hundred pounds, or he would summons him. Morriset -was brought up before the magistrates, and, despite his protestations of -innocence, was sent to Winchester Jail. In reply to the appeal, the -Commissioners said that they could not interfere in what was a private -matter. - -In the same year a prisoner wrote from Callington: - - -‘Lundy passé je fus attaqué dans mon logement par Thomas, garçon de Mr. -Avis qui, après m’avoir dit toutes les sottises imaginables, ne s’en -contenta pas, sans que je luy répondis à aucune de ses mauvaises -parolles, il sauta sur moy, et me frapa, et je fus obligé de m’en -défendre. Dimance dernier venant de me promener à 8 heures du soir, je -rancontray dans la rue près de mon logement une quarantaine d’Anglois -armés de bâtons pour me fraper si je n’avois peu me sauver à la faveur -de mes jambes. Mardy sur les 7 heures de soir je fus attaqué en pleine -place par les Anglois qui me donnèrent beaucoup de coups et m’étant -défait d’eux je me sauvai à l’oberge du _Soleil_ ou j’ai été obligé de -coucher par ordre de Mr. Ordon, veu qu’il y avoit des Anglois qui -m’attendoient pour me maltraiter.’ - - -But even in 1756, when the persecution of prisoners by the rural -riff-raff was very bad, we find a testimony from the officers on parole -at Sodbury in Gloucestershire to the kindly behaviour of the -inhabitants, saying that only on holidays are they sometimes jeered at, -and asking to be kept there until exchanged. - -Yet the next year, eighteen officers at the same place formulate to the -Commissioners of the Sick and Wounded the following complaints: - -1. Three Englishmen attacked two prisoners with sticks. - -2. A naval doctor was struck in the face by a butcher. - -3. A captain and a lieutenant were attacked with stones, bricks, and -sticks, knocked down, and had to fly for safety to the house of Ludlow -the Agent. - -4. A second-captain, returning home, was attacked and knocked down in -front of the _Bell_ inn by a crowd, and would have been killed but for -the intervention of some townspeople. - -5. Two captains were at supper at the _Bell_. On leaving the house they -were set on by four men who had been waiting for them, but with the help -of some townspeople they made a fight and got away. - -6. Between 10 and 11 p.m. a lieutenant had a terrible attack made on his -lodging by a gang of men who broke in, and left him half dead. After -which they went to an inn where some French prisoners lodged, and tried -to break in ‘jusqu’au point, pour ainsy dire, de le demolir,’ swearing -they would kill every Frenchman they found. - -From Crediton a complaint signed by nearly fifty prisoners spoke of -frequent attacks and insults, not only by low ruffians and loafers, but -by people of social position, who, so far from doing their best to -dissuade the lower classes, rather encouraged them. Even Mr. David, a -man of apparently superior position, put a prisoner, a Captain Gazeau, -into prison, took the keys himself, and kept them for a day in spite of -the Portreeve’s remonstrance, but was made to pay damages by the effort -of another man of local prominence. - -The men selected as agents in the parole towns too often seem to have -been socially unfitted for their positions as the ‘guides, philosophers, -and friends’ of officers and gentlemen. At Crediton, for instance, the -appointment of a Mr. Harvey called forth a remonstrance signed by sixty -prisoners, one of whom thus described him: - - -‘Mr. Harvey à son arrivée de Londres, glorieux d’être exaucé, n’eut rien -de plus pressé que de faire voir dans toutes les oberges et dans les -rues les ordres dont il était revetu de la part des honorables -Commissaires; ce qui ne pourra que nous faire un très mauvais effet, veu -que le commun peuple qui habite ce pays-ci est beaucoup irrité contre -les Français, à cause de la Nation et sans jusqu’au présent qu’aucun -Français n’est donné aucun sujet de plainte.’ - - -Again, in 1756 the _aumonier_ of the Comte de Gramont, after complaining -that the inhabitants of Ashburton are ‘un peuple sans règle et sans -éducation’, by whom he was insulted, hissed, and stoned, and when he -represented this to the authorities was ‘garrotté’ and taken to Exeter -Prison, ridicules the status of the agents—here a shoemaker, here a -tailor, here an apothecary, who dare not, for business reasons, take the -part of the prisoners. He says he offered his services to well-to-do -people in the neighbourhood, but they were declined—deceit on his part -perhaps being feared. - -From Ashford, Kent, a complainant writes, in 1758, that he was rather -drunk one evening and went out for a walk to pick himself up. He met a -mounted servant of Lord Winchilsea with a dog. He touched the dog, -whereupon the servant dismounted and hit him in the face. A crowd then -assembled, armed with sticks, and one man with a gun, and ill-treated -him until he was unconscious, tied his hands behind him, emptied his -pockets, and took him before Mr. Tritton. Knowing English fairly well, -the prisoner justified himself, but he was committed to the _cachot_. He -was then accused of having ill-treated a woman who, out of pity, had -sent for her husband to help him. He handed in a certificate of injuries -received, signed by Dr. Charles Fagg. His name was Marc Layne. - -Complaints from Goudhurst in Kent relate that on one occasion three men -left their hop-dressing to attack passing prisoners. Upon another, the -French officers were, _mirabile dictu_, playing ‘criquet’, and told a -boy of ten to get out of the way and not interfere with them, whereupon -the boy called his companions, and there ensued a disturbance. A -magistrate came up, and the result was that a Captain Lamoise had to pay -£1 1_s._ or go to Maidstone Jail. - -That the decent members of the community reprobated these attacks on -defenceless foreigners, although they rarely seem to have taken any -steps to stop them, is evident from the following story. At Goudhurst, -some French prisoners, coming out of an inn, were attacked by a mob. -Thirty-seven paroled officers there signed a petition and accompanied it -with this testimony from inhabitants, dated November 9, 1757: - - -‘We, the inhabitants of the Parish of Goudhurst, certifie that we never -was insulted in any respect by the French gentlemen, nor to their -knowledge have they caused any Riot except when they have been drawn in -by a Parcel of drunken, ignorant, and scandalous men who make it their -Business to ensnare them for the sake of a little money. - - (Signed.) - - STEPHEN OSBOURNE. THOS. BALLARD. JOHN SAVAGE. - JASPER SPRANG. RICHARD ROYSE. J. DICKINSON. - W. HUNT. JOHN BUNNELL. ZACH. SIMS.’ - - -The complainants made declaration: - -1. That the bad man Rastly exclaimed he would knock down the first -Frenchman he met. - -2. Two French prisoners were sounding horns and hautboys in the fields. -The servant of the owner ordered them to go. They went quietly, but the -man followed them and struck them. They complained to Tarith, the Agent, -but he said that it did not concern him. - -3. This servant assembled fifteen men with sticks, and stopped all exit -from Bunnell’s inn, where five French prisoners were drinking. The -prisoners were warned not to leave, and, although ‘remplis de boisson’, -they kept in. Nine o’clock, ten o’clock came; they resolved to go out, -one of them being drunk; they were attacked and brutally ill-used. - -The Agent assured them that they should have justice, but they did not -get it. - -As physical resistance to attacks and insults would have made matters -worse for the Frenchmen, besides being hopeless in the face of great -odds of numbers, it was resolved in one place at any rate, the name of -which I cannot find, to resort to boycotting as a means of reprisal. I -give the circulated notice of this in its original quaint and illiterate -French: - - -‘En conséquence de la délibération faite et teneu par le corps de -François deteneus en cette ville il a esté ordonné qu’après qu’il aura -cette Notoire, que quelque Marchand, Fabriquant, Boutiquier etcetera de -cette ville aurons insulté, injurié, ou comis quelque _aiesais_ (?) au -vis à vis de quelque François tel que puis être, et que le fait aura été -averée, il sera mis une affiche dans les Lieus les plus aparants portant -proscription de sa Maison, Boutique, Fabrique etcetera, et ordonné et -defendeu à tout François quelque qualité, condition qu’il soy sous Paine -d’être regardé et déclaré traité à la Patrie et de subire plus grande -Punition suivent l’exsigence du cas et qu’il en sera decidé. - - ‘LA FRANCE.’ - - -The above is dated 1758. - -In 1779 the parole prisoners at Alresford complained of being constantly -molested and insulted by the inhabitants, and asked to be sent -elsewhere. Later, however, the local gentry and principal people -guarantee a cessation of this, and the prisoners pray to be allowed to -stay. The officer prisoners asked to be allowed to accept invitations at -Winchester, but were refused. In the same year prisoners at Redruth -complained of daily insults at the hands of an uncivilized populace, and -from Chippenham twenty-nine officers signed a complaint about insults -and attacks, and stated that as a result one of them was obliged to keep -his room for eight days. - -On the other hand, prisoners under orders to leave Tavistock for another -parole town petition to be allowed to remain there, as the Agent has -been so good to them; and as a sign that even in Kent matters were -changing for the better, the prayer of some parole prisoners at -Tenterden to be sent to Cranbrook on account of the insults by the -people, is counterbalanced by a petition of other prisoners in the same -town who assert that only a few soldiers have insulted them, and asking -that no change be made, as the inhabitants are hospitable and kindly, -and the Agent very just and lenient. - -Much quiet, unostentatious kindness was shown towards the prisoners -which has not been recorded, but in the Memoir of William Pearce of -Launceston, in 1810, it is written that he made the parole prisoners in -that town the objects of his special attention; that he gave them -religious instruction, circulated tracts among them in their own -language, and relieved their necessities, with the result that many -reformed and attended his services. One prisoner came back after the -Peace of 1815, lived in the service of the chapel, and was buried in its -grave-yard. _En parenthèse_ the writer adds that the boys of Launceston -got quite into the habit of ejaculating ‘Morbleu!’ from hearing it so -constantly on the lips of the French prisoners. - -In the _Life of Hannah More_, written by William Roberts, we read: - - -‘Some French officers of cultivated minds and polished manners being on -their parole in the neighbourhood of Bristol, were frequent guests at -Mr. More’s house, and always fixed upon Hannah as their interpreter, and -her intercourse with their society is said to have laid the ground of -that free and elegant use of their language for which she was afterwards -distinguished.’ - - - - - CHAPTER XXIX - PAROLE LIFE. SUNDRY NOTES - - -In this and the succeeding chapter I gather together a number of notes -connected with the life of the paroled prisoners in Britain, which could -not conveniently be classed under the headings of previous chapters. - - - BEDALE, YORKSHIRE - -During the Seven Years’ War prisoners were on parole at Bedale in -Yorkshire. The following lines referring to them, sent to me by my -friend, Mrs. Cockburn-Hood, were written by Robert Hird, a Bedale -shoemaker, who was born in 1768: - - ‘And this one isle by Frenchmen then in prisoners did abound, - ’Twas forty thousand Gallic men. Bedale its quota found: - And here they were at liberty, and that for a long time, - Till Seventeen Hundred and Sixty Three, they then a Peace did sign, - But though at large, they had their bound, it was a good walk out, - Matthew Masterman in their round, they put him to the rout; - This was near to the Standing Stone: at Fleetham Feast he’d been, - And here poor Matthew they fell on. He soon defeated them; - His arms were long, and he struck hard, they could not bear his blows, - The French threw stones, like some petard; he ran, and thus did lose. - James Wilkinson, he lived here then, he’d sons and daughters fair, - Barber he was in great esteem, the Frenchmen oft drew there.’ - -To this the sender appended a note: - - -‘In the houses round Bedale there are hand-screens decorated with -landscapes in straw, and I have a curious doll’s chair in wood with -knobs containing cherry stones which rattle. These were made by French -prisoners, according to tradition.’ - - - DERBY - -I am indebted to Mr. P. H. Currey, F.R.I.B.A., of Derby, for the -following extract, dated June 20, 1763, from All Saints’ Parish Book, -quoted in Simpson’s _History of Derby_: - - -‘These men (the prisoners during the Seven Years’ War), were dispersed -into many parts of the nation, 300 being sent to this town on parole -about July 1759, where they continued until the end of the War in 1763. -Their behaviour at first was impudent and insolent, at all times vain -and effeminate, and their whole deportment light and unmanly, and we may -venture to say from our observation and knowledge of them, that in any -future war this nation has nothing to fear from them as an enemy. During -their abode here, the road from this place to Nottingham was by act of -Parliament repaired, the part from St. Mary’s Bridge (which by reason of -the floods was impassable) being greatly raised. Numbers of these people -were daily employed, who worked in their _bag-wigs_, _pig-tails_, -_ruffles_, etc., etc., a matter which afforded us much merriment. But, -to their honour let it be remembered, that scarce _one_ act of fraud or -theft was committed by any of them during their stay among us. These men -were allowed 6_d._ a day each by the British Government.’ - - -We read that an Italian prisoner on parole at Derby in 1797 went to -Leicester and bought a pair of pistols, thus committing a double breach -of his parole by going beyond the limit, and by possessing himself of -arms. ‘It is presumed,’ remarks the chronicler, ‘from the remarkable -anxiety he showed to procure possession of these offensive weapons, that -he has some particular object to accomplish by them—perhaps his -liberation.’ - -It is much more likely that his object was to fight a duel. - - - ASHBOURNE, DERBYSHIRE - -Mr. Richard Holland, of Barton under Needwood, Staffordshire, has -favoured me with this note about Ashbourne. - - -‘Here in 1803 were Rochambeau and 300 of his officers. The house where -the general resided is well known, and a large building was erected in -which to lodge the prisoners who could not afford to find their own -houses or apartments. I have heard that the limit of parole was two -miles.... I never heard of any breaches of parole or crimes committed by -the prisoners.... - -I have often heard that the prisoners made for sale many curious -articles, models, etc., ... but I remember a fine drawing of a -man-of-war on the outside wall of the prison referred to, which now -happens to belong to me.... Even fifty years ago very little was -remembered of the prisoners. One of them was a famous runner, and I knew -an old man who told me he ran a race with the Frenchman, and beat him -too!’ - - -In 1804 General Pageot was on parole at Ashbourne. Here he seems to have -been received, like so many of his countrymen prisoners, on a footing of -friendship at the houses of the neighbouring gentry, for he received -permission to live for eight days at Wooton Lodge, the seat of Colonel -Wilson. In granting this unusual indulgence the Commissioners remark -that ‘as our people are very strictly treated in France, it is improper -that unusual indulgences be given to French prisoners, and we hope that -no other applications will be made’. - -Later on the Commissioners wrote to Colonel Wilson: - - -‘As it appears by letters between General Pageot and some of his -countrymen that he is paying his addresses to a Lady of Respectability -in or near Ashbourne, the Board think it proper that you should be -informed that they have good authority for believing that he is actually -a married man, and has a family in France.’ - - -Still later, writing to Mr. Bainbrigge, the Commissioners say that -General Pageot has been sent to Montgomery, and they recommend Mr. -Bainbrigge to take measures to prevent him having any communication with -the lady, Mr. Bainbrigge’s niece. - -Say they: - - -‘From Motives of Public Duty the Commissioners, when they first heard of -the intended connexion between General Pageot and Miss Bainbrigge, they -caused such suspicious circumstances respecting the General as came to -their knowledge to be communicated to the young lady’s mother, and that -it affords them very much satisfaction now to find that her Friends are -disposed to prevent an union which could promise very little comfort to -her or Honour to her Family.’ - - - CHESTERFIELD - -My best thanks are due to Mr. W. Hawkesly Edmunds, Scarsdale House, -Chesterfield, for these notes: - - -‘Mrs. Roberts, widow of Lieutenant Roberts, R.N., left some interesting -reminiscences among her papers. She says: - -‘Different indeed was the aspect of the town from what one sees to-day. -Grim visages and whiskered faces met one at every turn, to say nothing -of moustaches, faded uniforms, and rusty cocked hats. At certain hours -of the day it was difficult to walk along the High Street or the middle -Causeway, for these were the favourite promenades of the officers on -parole. When the weather permitted, they assembled each morning and -evening to the number of 200 to exchange friendly greetings with all the -extravagance of gesture and high-pitched voice for which the Frenchman -is remarkable.’ - - -The French prisoners in Chesterfield in the years around 1806 were for -the most part, if not wholly, officers and their servants, and their -treatment by the English Government was liberal and mild. All officers -down to the rank of Captain, inclusive, were allowed ten shillings per -week, and all below that rank, seven shillings each. On giving their -parole they were allowed the greatest freedom; had permission to walk -one mile from the town in any direction, but had to be in their lodgings -at 8 each evening. At that hour a bell rang, known as the Frenchman’s -Bell. It was, in fact, the very bell in the tower of the church formerly -used as the curfew bell. It was in connexion with this mile regulation -that a little fraud was perpetrated by Sir Windsor Hunloke, Bart., which -was winked at by the authorities. Wingerworth Hall, the residence of Sir -Windsor, was just outside the mile limit, but with the desire that many -of the prisoners, who, like himself, were Roman Catholics, should visit -him, he caused the milestone to be removed along the road to the other -side of the hall, and so brought his residence within the mile limit. -This old milestone is still to be seen. - -The prisoners were first in charge of a Commissary, a local solicitor, -Mr. John Bower, of Spital Lodge, but later the Government appointed -superannuated lieutenants in the Navy. The first of these, Lieutenant -Gawen, found that there had been so many escapes during Mr. Bower’s -kindly but lax régime that he instituted more stringent regulations, and -mustered the men twice a week instead of once, and he inspected all -correspondence both to and from the prisoners. The first detachment of -prisoners arrived in 1803, officers both of the Army and Navy; most of -them had undergone the greatest privations. These were the prisoners -from San Domingo, whose sufferings during the sieges of the blacks, and -from sickness, famine, and sword, are matters of history. Indeed, had -not the British squadron arrived, it is certain all their lives would -have been sacrificed by the infuriated blacks in revenge for the -barbarities practised on them by the French Commander-in-Chief General -Rochambeau, who, with Generals D’Henin, Boyer, and Lapoype, Commodore -Barré, and the other naval officers, with the staffs of the generals, -were all at Chesterfield. - -The successes of Wellington in Spain brought many more prisoners to -Chesterfield, and a great number captured at San Sebastian and -Pampeluna. - -Most of the prisoners in the town managed to add to the Government -allowance by teaching languages, drawing, and music. Others produced -various articles for sale. Many of them were excellent ornamental -workers in hair and bone, and there were not a few who were adept -wood-carvers. Making bone models of men-of-war was a favourite -occupation, and the more elaborate of these models were disposed of by -means of lotteries. Another of their industries was the working of -straw, which they dyed in gay colours, or plaited. Silk-hat making and -silk-weaving they are said to have introduced into the town. They were -also experts at making woollen gloves, &c., with a bone crook. One -Bourlemont opened a dépôt for British wines. One prisoner got employment -as a painter, but another had to seek work as a banksman at the Hady -coal-pits. - -Several of the prisoners were surgeons, and practised in the town, and -it is reported that so great were the services some of these gentlemen -rendered the poor of the town gratuitously, that representations were -made to the Government, and they were given free pardons and -safe-conducts back to France. - -Some prisoners married, one the daughter of Turner the Parish Clerk, but -generally beneath them. - -[Illustration: - - BONE MODEL OF H.M.S. _PRINCE OF WALES_ - - Made by prisoners of war -] - -The Abbé Legoux tried to have religious services in a private house, but -they were poorly attended, the Republicans nearly all being atheists, -and preferring to pass their Sundays at card-tables and billiards. - -Mrs. Roberts thus describes some peculiarities of the prisoners’ dress -and manners: - - -‘Their large hooped gold ear-rings, their pink or sky-blue umbrellas, -the Legion of Honour ribbons in their button holes; their profuse -exchange of embraces and even kisses in the public street; their -attendant poodles carrying walking-sticks in their mouths, and their -incessant and vociferous talking. A great source of amusement was the -training of birds and dogs. - -‘There were few instances of friction between the prisoners and the -townsfolk, but there was one angry affray which led to six of the -prisoners being sent to Norman Cross to be kept in close confinement. -The wives of some of the prisoners had permission to join their husbands -in confinement, but “they were very dingy, plain-looking women.” - -‘Colonel Fruile married a Miss Moore, daughter of a Chesterfield cabinet -maker, and she, like the English wives of other of the prisoners, went -to France when Peace was proclaimed. Rank distinctions between officers -were rigidly observed, and the junior officers always saluted their -superiors who held levées on certain days of the week. The fortunes of -Napoleon were closely followed; defeats and victories being marked. -During the sojourn of the French prisoners at Chesterfield, took place -the battles of Wagram, Jena, Vienna, Berlin, and the Russian campaign. -The news of Trafalgar produced great dismay, and the sight of -rejoicings—of sheep and oxen roasted whole, of gangs of men yoked -together bringing wood and coals for bonfires, was too much to bear, and -most of them shut themselves up in their lodgings until the rejoicings -were over. - -‘After the Peace a few of the prisoners remained in Chesterfield, and -some of their descendants live in the town to-day. Many died, and were -buried in the “Frenchmen’s Quarter” of the now closed Parish -churchyard.’ - - - OSWESTRY - -Oswestry, in Shropshire, was an important parole town. In 1803, when -rumours were afloat that a concerted simultaneous rising of the French -prisoners of war in the Western Counties was to be carried out, a -hurried transfer of these latter was made to the more inland towns of -Staffordshire and Shropshire. and it has been stated that Oswestry -received no less than 700, but this has been authentically contradicted, -chiefly by correspondents to _Bygones_, a most complete receptacle of -old-time information concerning Shropshire and the Welsh border, access -to which I owe to the kindness of Mr. J. E. Anden of Tong, Shifnal. - -Among the distinguished prisoners at Oswestry were the Marquis -d’Hautpol, on whose _Memories of Captivity in England_ I have already -drawn largely; General Phillipon, the able defender of Badajos, who -escaped with Lieut. Garnier from Oswestry; and Prince Arenburg, who was -removed thither to Bridgnorth upon suspicion of having aided a fellow -prisoner to escape. - -The prisoners were, as usual, distributed in lodgings about the town; -some were at the _Three Tuns_ inn, where bullet marks in a wall are said -to commemorate a duel fought between two of them. - -From the _London Chronicle_ of May 20, 1813, I take the following: - - -‘There is in this town (Oswestry) a French officer on parole who is -supposed by himself and countrymen to possess strength little inferior -to Samson. He is Monsieur Fiarsse, he follows the profession of a -fencing-master, and is allowed to have considerable skill in that way. -He had been boasting that he had beat every Englishman that opposed him -in the town where he was last on parole (in Devonshire), and he sent a -challenge the other day to a private of the 64th Regiment to a -boxing-match. It was accepted. The Frenchman is a very tall, stout-built -man, of a most ferocious countenance; the soldier is a little, -round-faced man, as plump as a partridge. Five rounds were fought; the -first, I understand, the Frenchman threw a blow at his adversary with -all his strength which brought him down; he rose, however, in a moment, -and played his part so well that I think M. Fiarsse will never like to -attack a British soldier again! The little fellow made him spin again, -he dealt his blows with such judgement. After the fifth round, Fiarsse -said: “It is ‘nough! I vill no moe!”’ - - -There were French Royalist refugees at Oswestry as elsewhere, and one of -the hardest tasks of local parole agents was to prevent disturbances -between these men and their bitter opponents the Bonapartist officer -prisoners, dwelling in the same towns. In fact, the presence of large -numbers of French Royalists in England, many of them very highly -connected, brought about the very frequent attacks made on them in -contemporary French literature and journalism for playing the parts of -spies and traitors, and originated the parrot-cry at every French -diplomatic or military and naval reverse, ‘Sold by the princes in -England!’ - -There are graves of French prisoners in Oswestry churchyard. Upon one is -‘Ci-gît D. J. J. J. Du Vive, Capitaine-Adjudant aux États-Majors -généraux: prisonnier de guerre sur parole; né à Pau, Dép^t des -Basses-Pyrénées, 26 Juillet 1762; décédé à Oswestry, 20 Juillet 1813.’ - - - LEEK - -Leek, in Staffordshire, was also an important parole centre. - - -‘The officer prisoners at Leek received all courtesy and hospitality at -the hands of the principal inhabitants, with many of whom they were on -the most intimate terms, frequenting the assemblies, which were then as -gay and as well attended as any within a circuit of 20 miles. They used -to dine out in full uniform, each with his body-servant behind his -chair.’ (Sleigh’s _History of Leek_.) - - -The first prisoners came here in 1803 from San Domingo. In 1809 and 1812 -many more arrived—some accounts say as many as 200, and one fact -considered worthy of record is that they were to be met prowling about -early in the morning in search of snails! - -A correspondent to _Notes and Queries_ writes: - - -‘All accounts agree that these unfortunates conducted themselves with -the utmost propriety and self-respect during their enforced sojourn -among us; endearing themselves to the inhabitants generally by their -unwonted courtesy and strictly honourable behaviour. But as to their -estimate of human life, it was unanimously remarked that they seemed to -value it no more than we should crushing a fly in a moment of -irritation.’ - - -The Freemasons had a Lodge ‘Réunion Désirée,’ and a Chapter ‘De -l’Amitié,’ working at Leek in 1810–11. - - - ALRESFORD - -At Alresford the prisoners were at first unpopular, but their exertions -at a fire in the town wrought a change of feeling in their favour. It is -interesting to note that when the Commune in Paris in 1871 drove many -respectable people abroad, quite a number came to Alresford (as also to -Odiham), from which we may deduce that they were descendants of men who -had handed down pleasant memories of parole life in these little -Hampshire towns. - -The Rev. Mr. Headley, Vicar of Alresford, kindly allowed me to copy the -following from his Parish Records: - - -‘1779. The Captain and officers of the Spanish man-of-war who behaved so -gallantly in the engagement with the _Pearl_, and who are prisoners of -war at Alresford, lately gave an elegant entertainment and ball in -honour of Capt. Montagu and his officers, in testimony of the high sense -they entertain of the polite and most generous treatment they received -after their capture. Capt. Montagu and his officers were present, also -Capt. Oates and officers of the 89th Regiment, and many of the most -respectable families from the neighbourhood of Alresford.’ - - -I am indebted also to Mr. Headley for the following entries in the -registers of his church: - - - _Burials._ - - 1794. July 21. St. Aubin, a French prisoner on parole. - - 1796. July 11. Baptiste Guillaume Jousemme; aged 21, born at - Castillones in France. A prisoner on parole. - - 1803. June 27. Thomas Monclerc. Aged 42. A French servant. - - 1809. Dec. 12. Jean Charbonier. A French prisoner. - - 1810. Dec. 14. Hypolite Riouffe. A French prisoner. - - 1811. Aug. 2. Pierre Garnier. A French prisoner. - - 1811. Dec 25. Ciprian Lavau. A French prisoner. Aged 29. - - 1812. Feb. 7. Louis de Bousurdont. A French prisoner. Aged 44. - - 1812. April 13. Marie Louise Fournier. A French prisoner. Aged 44. - - 1812. Aug. 8. Jean de l’Huille. A French prisoner. Aged 51. - -Mr. Payne of Alresford told me that the clock on the church tower, which -bears the date 1811, is said to have been presented by the French -prisoners on parole in the town in gratitude for the kindly treatment -they received from the inhabitants. - - - THAME - -At Thame, in 1809, Israel Eel was charged at the Oxford Quarter Sessions -with assaulting Ravenau, a French prisoner on parole. To the great -surprise of all, _not a true bill_ was returned. - -Some of the prisoners at Thame were lodged in a building now called the -‘Bird Cage’, once an inn. A memory of the prisoners lingers in the name -of ‘Frenchman’s Oak’ still given to a large tree there, it having marked -their mile boundary. - -General Villaret-Joyeuse, Governor of Martinique, was one of the many -prisoners of fame or rank at Thame. He brought upon himself a rebuke -from the Transport Office in 1809, for having said in a letter to his -brother, ‘Plusieurs Français se sont détruits ne pouvant supporter plus -longtemps l’humiliation et l’abjection où ils étaient réduits.’ The -Transport Office told him that he had been grossly misinformed, and that -during the past war only two prisoners were known to have destroyed -themselves: one was supposed to have done so in consequence of the -deranged state of his account with the French Government, and the other, -having robbed his brother prisoner of a large amount, when detected, -dreading the consequence. ‘When you shall have better informed yourself -and altered the said letter accordingly, it will be forwarded to -France.’ - -General Privé, one of Dupont’s officers, captured at Baylen, was called -to order for making false statements in a letter to the French minister -of war, in an offensive manner: ‘The Board have no objection of your -making representations you may think proper to your Government -respecting the Capitulation of Baylen, and transmitting as many Truths -as you please to France, but indecent Abuse and reproachful Terms are -not to be suffered.’ - - - WINCANTON - -To Mr. George Sweetman I am indebted for some interesting particulars -about parole prisoner life at Wincanton in Somersetshire. The first -prisoners came here in 1804, captured on the _Didon_, and gradually the -number here rose to 350, made up of Frenchmen, Italians, Portuguese, and -Spaniards. In 1811 the census showed that nineteen houses were occupied -by prisoners, who then numbered 297 and 9 women and children. An ‘oldest -inhabitant’, Mr. Olding, who died in 1870, aged eighty-five, told Mr. -Sweetman that at one time there were no less than 500 prisoners in -Wincanton and the adjacent Bayford. Some of them were men of good -family, and were entertained at all the best houses in the -neighbourhood. - -‘After the conquest of Isle of France,’ said Mr. Olding, ‘about fifty -French officers were sent here, who were reputed to have brought with -them half a million sterling.... They lived in their own hired houses or -comfortable lodgings. The poorer prisoners took their two meals a day at -the _Restaurant pour les Aspirants_. The main staple of their diet was -onions, leeks, lettuce, cucumbers, and dandelions. The richer, however, -ate butchers’ meat plentifully.’ - -Altogether the establishment of Wincanton as a parole town must have -been of enormous benefit to a linen-weaving centre which was feeling -severely the competition of the great Lancashire towns, and was fast -losing its staple industry. - -Mr. Sweetman introduces an anecdote which illustrates the great trading -difficulties which at first existed between foreigners who knew nothing -of English, and natives who were equally ignorant of French. - -One of the many butchers who attended the market had bought on one -occasion some excellent fat beef to which he called the attention of a -model French patrician, and, confusing the Frenchman’s ability to -understand the English language with defective hearing, he shouted in -his loudest tones, which had an effect contrary to what he expected or -desired. The officer (noted for his long pig-tail, old round hat, and -long-waisted brown coat), to all the jolly butcher’s earnest appeals to -him to buy, answered nothing but ‘Non bon, non bon!’ - -‘Well, Roger,’ said a brother butcher, ‘If I were you, he should have -bone enough next time!’ - -‘So he shall,’ said Roger, and on the next market-day he brought a fine -neck and chine of bull beef, from which lots of steaks were cut, and -soon sold. - -Presently the old officer came by, and Roger solicited his custom for -his line show of bones. The indignant Frenchman again exclaimed, ‘Non -bon! non bon!’ - -‘Confound the fellow,’ said Roger, ‘what can he want, why, ’tis a’al -booin, idden it?’ - -Both men were becoming really angry, when a boy standing by, who had -speedily acquired some knowledge of French, explained the matter to both -men. When at length they understood each other they both laughed -heartily at the misunderstanding, but the incident became a standing -joke against Roger as long as he lived. - -The mile boundaries of the prisoners were Bayford Elm on the London -road; Anchor Bridge on the Ilchester road; Abergavenny Gate on the -Castle Cary road; and Gorselands on the Bruton road. The prisoners -frequently promenaded the streets in great numbers, four abreast. The -large rooms in the public-houses were often rented for holding meetings -of various kinds. On one occasion the large room at the _Swan_ Inn was -used for the lying in state of a Freemason, who was buried in a very -imposing manner. Two other great officers lay in state at the -_Greyhound_ and _The Dogs_. Many died from various causes incidental to -captivity. They were buried in the churchyard, and a stone there marks -the resting-place of a Russian or a Pole who was said to have died of -grief.[17] One of them committed suicide. Another poor fellow became -demented, and every day might have been heard playing on a flute a -mournful dirge, which tune he never changed. Others bore their -estrangement from home and country less sorrowfully, and employed their -time in athletic sports or in carving various articles of different -kinds of wood and bone. Some were allowed to visit friends at a -distance, always returning faithfully to their parole. - -During the winter months they gave, twice a week, musical and theatrical -entertainments. Many of the captives, especially those of the upper -ranks, were good musicians. These held concerts, which were attended by -the people of the town. - -Sunday was to them the dullest day of the week; they did not know what -to make of it. Some of them went to the parish church and assisted in -the instrumental part of the service. A few attended the Congregational, -or as it was then called, the Independent Chapel. The majority of them -were, in name at least, Roman Catholics; whatever they were, they spent -Sundays in playing chess, draughts, cards and dominoes,—indeed, almost -anything to while the time away. - -The prisoners used to meet in large rooms which they hired for various -amusements. Some of them were artists, and Mr. Sweetman speaks of many -rooms which they decorated with wall-pictures. In one—the ‘Orange Room’ -at _The Dogs_ in South Street—may still be seen wall-paintings done by -them; also in the house of Mr. James, in the High Street, three panels -of a bedroom are painted with three of the Muses. Miss Impey, of Street, -has some drawings done by a prisoner, Charles Aubert, who probably did -the paintings above alluded to. - -As time went on and the prisoners became more homesick and more -impatient of restraint, desertions became frequent, and it was necessary -to station a company of infantry in Wincanton, and they were ‘kept -lively’. One night a party was escaping and the constable of the town, -attempting to prevent them, was roughly handled. The soldiers were on -guard all night in the streets, but nevertheless some prisoners managed -even then to escape. - -‘In 1811’, said the _Salisbury Journal_, ‘Culliford, a notorious -smuggler, was committed to Ilchester Gaol for conveying from Wincanton -several of the prisoners there to the Dorsetshire coast, whence they -crossed to Cherbourg. Culliford was caught with great difficulty, and -then only because of the large reward offered.’ - -There was at Wincanton, as in other parole towns, a Masonic Lodge among -the prisoners; it was called (as was also the Lodge at Sanquhar) ‘La -Paix Désirée’. There were English members of it. Mr. Sweetman -reproduces, in the little book upon which I have drawn for my -information, the certificate of Louis Michel Duchemin, Master Mason in -1810. This M. Duchemin married Miss Clewett of Wincanton, and settled in -England, dying in Birmingham in 1854 or 1855. His widow only survived -him a week, but he left a son who in 1897 lived in Birmingham, following -his father’s profession as a teacher of French. M. Duchemin was -evidently much esteemed in Wincanton, as the following testimonial -shows: - - - ‘Wincanton, June 1821. - -‘I, the undersigned, having been His Majesty’s Agent for Prisoners of -War on Parole in this place during the late war, do certify that Monsr. -L. M. Duchemin was resident for upwards of six years on his Parole of -Honour in this Town, from the time [1805] of the capture of the French -frigate _La Torche_ to the removal of the Prisoners to Scotland, and -that in consequence of his universal good conduct, he was excepted (on a -memorial presented by Inhabitants to the Commissioners of H. M. -Transport Service) from a previous Order of Removal from this place with -other prisoners of his rank. Monsr. Duchemin married while resident in -this place into a respectable family, and, having known him from 1806 to -the present time, I can with much truth concur in the Testimonial of his -Wells friends. - - ‘G. MESSITER.’ - - -This Mr. George Messiter, a solicitor, was one of the best sort of -parole agents, and is thus eulogized by Mr. Sweetman: - - -‘He was a gentleman well qualified for the office he held: of a noble -mien, brave, and held in respect by all who knew him. Under his -direction the captives were supplied with every accommodation he could -give them. Several years after his death one of the survivors, an army -surgeon, came to the scene of his former captivity, when he paid a high -tribute to the Commissary, and spoke in terms of affection of the -townspeople amongst whom he had sojourned.’ - - -When it is remembered that Messiter had to deal with such troublesome -fellows as Generals Rochambeau and Boyer (who were actually sent away -from Wincanton, as they had already been sent away from other parole -places, on account of their misdeeds), the worth of this testimony may -be appreciated. - -Not many marriages between prisoners and Englishwomen are recorded at -Wincanton, for the same reason that ruled elsewhere—that the French law -refused to regard such marriages as valid. - -Alberto Bioletti, an Italian servant to a French officer, married and -settled in the town as a hairdresser. He married twice, and died in -1869, aged ninety-two. William Bouverie, known as ‘Billy Booby’, married -and settled here. John Peter Pichon is the very French name of one who -married Dinah Edwards, both described as of Wincanton, in 1808. In 1809 -Andrée Joseph Jantrelle married Mary Hobbs. - -Mr. Sweetman says: - - -‘Here, as in all other parole towns, a large number of children were -born out of wedlock whose fathers were reputed to be our visitors. Some -indeed took French names, and several officers had to pay large sums of -money to the parish authorities before they left. One of the drawbacks -to the sojourn of so many strangers among us was the increase of -immorality. One informant said: “Not the least source of attraction to -these gallant sons of France, were the buxom country maidens, who found -their way into the town, but lost their way back. I regret to say that -our little town was becoming a veritable hotbed of vice.”’ - - -The prisoners were suddenly withdrawn from Wincanton, on account of the -alarm, to which I have alluded elsewhere, that a general rising of the -prisoners of war all over England, but chiefly in the west, had been -concerted, and partly on account of the large numbers of escapes of -prisoners, favoured as they were by the proximity of the Dorsetshire -coast with its gangs of smugglers. - -Mr. Sweetman continues: - - -‘In February 1812, a company of infantry and a troop of cavalry arrived -at the South Gate, one morning at roll-call time. Before the roll had -been completed the troop entered the town and surrounded the captives. -The infantry followed, and those who had not presented themselves at -roll-call were sent for. So sudden had been the call, that although many -had wished for years to leave, they were unprepared when the time came. -At 4 o’clock those who were ready departed; some had not even -breakfasted, and no one was allowed to have any communication with them. -They were marched to Mere, where they passed the night in the church. -Early next morning, those who were left behind, after having bestowed -their goods (for many of them had furnished their own houses), followed -their brethren, and, joining them at Mere, were marched to Kelso. Deep -was the regret of many of the inhabitants at losing so many to whom they -had become endeared by ties of interest and affection. A great gap was -made in the life of the town which it took years to fill.’ - - -Seventeen burials are recorded in the Wincanton registers from the end -of July 1806 to the end of May 1811. - -Prominent prisoners at Wincanton were M. de Tocqueville, Rear-Admiral de -Wailly-Duchemin, and Rochambeau, whom Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, in his -story _The Westcotes_, the scene of which he lays at ‘Axcester’—i.e. -Wincanton—paints as quite an admirable old soldier. It was the -above-named rear-admiral who, dying at Wincanton, lay in state in the -panelled ‘Orange Room’ of _The Dogs_. This is now the residence of Dr. -Edwards, who kindly allowed me to inspect the paintings on the panels of -this and the adjoining room, which were executed by French officers -quartered here, and represent castles and landscapes, and a caricature -of Wellington, whose head is garnished with donkey’s ears. - -The ‘Orange Room’ is so called from the tradition that Dutch William -slept here on his way from Torbay to London to assume the British crown. - -Later on a hundred and fifty of the French officers captured at -Trafalgar and in Sir Richard Strachan’s subsequent action, were -quartered here, and are described as ‘very orderly, and inoffensive to -the inhabitants’. - -The suicide mentioned above was that of an officer belonging to a highly -respectable family in France, who, not having heard from home for a long -time, became so depressed that he went into a field near his lodgings, -placed the muzzle of a musket in his mouth, and pushed the trigger with -his foot. The coroner’s jury returned a verdict of ‘Lunacy’. - -I have said that the frequency of escapes among the prisoners was one of -the causes of their removal from Wincanton. The Commissary, Mr. George -Messiter, in November 1811 asked the Government to break up the Dépôt, -as, on account of the regularly organized system established between the -prisoners and the smugglers and fishermen of the Dorsetshire coast, it -was impossible to prevent escapes. Towards the close of 1811 no fewer -than twenty-two French prisoners got away from Wincanton. The -Commissary’s request was at once answered, and the _Salisbury Journal_ -of December 9, 1811, thus mentions the removal: - - -‘On Saturday last upwards of 150 French prisoners lately on their parole -at Wincanton were marched by way of Mere through this city under an -escort of the Wilts Militia and a party of Light Dragoons, on their way -to Gosport, there to be embarked with about 50 superior officers for -some place in Scotland. Since Culliford, the leader of the gang of -smugglers and fishermen who aided in these escapes, was convicted and -only sentenced to six months’ imprisonment, they have become more and -more daring in their violations of the law.’ - - - ASHBY-DE-LA-ZOUCH - -Ashby occupies an interesting page in that little-known chapter of -British history which deals with the prisoners of war who have lived -amongst us, and I owe my cordial thanks to the Rev. W. Scott, who has -preserved this page from oblivion, for permission to make use of his -pamphlet. - -In September 1804, the first detachment of prisoners, forty-two in -number, reached Ashby, and this number was gradually increased until it -reached its limit, 200. The first arrivals were poor fellows who had to -board and lodge themselves on about ten shillings and sixpence a week; -but the later officers from Pampeluna had money concealed about their -clothing and in the soles of their boots. - -On the whole, Mr. Scott says, they seem to have had a tolerably good -time in Ashby. Their favourite walk was past the Mount Farm near the -Castle, along the Packington Road, then to the left to the Leicester -Road, across the fields even now sometimes called ‘The Frenchman’s -Walk’, but more generally, Packington Slang. The thirty-shilling reward -offered to any one who should report a prisoner as being out of bounds -was very rarely claimed, for the officers were such general favourites -that few persons could be found who, even for thirty shillings, could be -base enough to play the part of informer. - -An indirect evidence of the good feeling existing between the -townspeople and their guests is afforded by the story of two dogs. One -of these, named Mouton, came with the first prisoners in 1804, spent ten -years in Ashby, and returned with the men in 1814. The other dog came -with the officers from Pampeluna, and was the only dog who had survived -the siege. Both animals were great pets with the people of Ashby. - -There seem to have been at least two duels. Mr. Measures, a farmer of -Packington, on coming to attend to some cattle in Packington Slang, saw -a cloak lying on the ground, and upon removing it was horrified to see -the body of a French officer. It proved to be that of Captain Colvin. He -was buried in the churchyard of Packington, and, honour being satisfied, -the man who had slain him was one of the chief mourners. There is a -brief entry of another duel in Dr. James Kirkland’s records: ‘Monsieur -Denègres, a French prisoner, killed in a duel, Dec. 6th, 1808.’ - -Good friends as the prisoners were with the male inhabitants of the -town, and with the neighbouring farmers, who on more than one occasion -lent horses to officers who wished to escape, it was with the ladies -that they were prime favourites. One of the prisoners, Colonel Van Hoof, -was the admirer of Miss Ingle, the reigning beauty of Ashby. The -courtesy and good nature of the prisoners bore down all obstacles; and -the only ill-wishers they had were the local young dandies whose noses -they put out of joint. The married dames were also pleased and -flattered: many of the prisoners were excellent cooks, and one who made -a soup which was the envy and despair of every housekeeper in Ashby, -when asked by a lady the secret of it, said: ‘I get some pearl barley -and carry it here several days,’ placing his hand melodramatically over -his heart. - -In spite of the mile-limit regulation, they went to picnics in Ashby Old -Parks, riding in wagons, and going along the tram road which ran from -Willesley to Ticknall. On these occasions the officers were accompanied -by the better class girls of the town and their admirers. Music was -supplied by one of the Frenchmen who played a violin. For this or for -some other reason he seems to have been a first favourite. When passing -through the tunnel underneath Ashby Old Parks Hill, it was no unusual -thing for him to lay aside his fiddle to kiss the girls. Of course, they -always asked him to play while in the tunnel in order to keep him from -obliging them in this manner, and of course he would know what they -meant. - -The permanent result of this love-making is shown by the parish register -of Ashby; from 1806 to June 1, 1814, the following weddings took place -between local girls and French ‘Prisoners of War resident in this -Parish’, or ‘on parole in this Parish’: - - 1806. Francis Robert to Jane Bedford. - - 〃 Pierre Serventie to Elizabeth Rowbottom. - - 〃 Anthony Hoffmann to Elizabeth Peach. - - 1809. Louis Jean to Elizabeth Edwards. - - 1810. Francis Picard to Charlotte Bedford. - - 〃 Henry Antoine to Sarah Roberts. - - 〃 Pierre Geffroy to Phillis Parkins - - 1812. Casimir Gantreuil to Elizabeth Adcock. - - 〃 Louis François Le Normand Kegrist to Mary Ann Kirkland. - - 〃 Louis Adoré Tiphenn to Ann Vaun. - - 〃 Frederic Rouelt to Ann Sharp. - - 1813. Auguste Louis Jean Segoivy to Elizabeth Bailey. - - 〃 Francis Peyrol to Martha Peach. - - 1814. Francis Victor Richard Ducrocq to Sarah Adcock. - - 〃 Richard le Tramp to Mary Sharpe. - -Two Masonic Lodges and a Rose Croix Chapter were established in -Ashby—the above-mentioned Louis Jean was a member of the ‘Vrais Amis de -l’Ordre’ Lodge, and four relics of his connexion are still preserved. -Tradition says that the constitution of the Lodge was celebrated by a -ball given by the French officers, the hosts presenting to each lady two -pairs of white gloves, one pair long, the other short. - -The second Lodge was ‘De la Justice et de l’Union’. - -When Peace was declared, the French Masons at Ashby disposed of their -Lodge furniture to the ‘Royal Sussex’, No. 353, of Repton, in -Derbyshire. In 1869 the Lodge removed to Winshill, Burton-on-Trent, -where the furniture is still used. - -There is the register of three burials: - - 1806. Étienne Lenon. - - 1807. François Rabin. - - 1808. Xavier Mandelier. - -Here, as elsewhere, the Frenchmen gave proofs of their skill in fine -handiwork. They did ornamental work in several new houses; they taught -the townsfolk the art of crochet-work (I quote from Mr. Scott); they -were artists, carvers, &c. Some of the officers worshipped in the -Baptist Church, and became members of it. The conversion of Captain Le -Jeune is an interesting little story. Shocked by certain phases and -features of the Roman Catholic religion, he became a deist and finally -an atheist, and during the Revolution joined readily in the -ill-treatment of priests. At San Domingo he was taken prisoner in 1804, -and sent to Ashby on parole. Four years later the death of his father -very deeply impressed him, and he began to think seriously about the -existence of God. A fellow prisoner, De Serre, a member of the Baptist -Church in Ashby, a devout Christian, became intimate with him, persuaded -him to join the Church, and he finally became an active and zealous -missionary in his own country; and until his death corresponded with the -Ashby pastors, and particularly with the Rev. Joseph Goadly, who -exercised an wholesome and powerful influence among the French prisoners -of war. - - - - - CHAPTER XXX - PAROLE LIFE: SUNDRY NOTES (_continued_) - - - ASHBURTON, DEVON - -Mr. J. H. Amery says in _Devon Notes and Queries_: - - -‘We can hardly credit the fact that so little reliable information or -even traditional legend, remains in the small inland market towns where -so many officers were held prisoners on parole until as recently as -1815. It certainly speaks well for their conduct, for had any tragedy -been connected with their stay, tradition would have preserved its -memory and details. For several years prior to 1815 a number of educated -foreigners formed a part of the society of our towns. At one time they -were lively Frenchmen, at others sober Danes or spendthrift Americans. -They lodged and boarded in the houses of our tradesmen; they taught the -young people modern languages, music and dancing; they walked our -streets and roads, and took a general interest in passing events; yet -to-day hardly a trace can be discovered of their presence beyond a few -neglected mile-stones on our country roads, and here and there a grave -in our Parish churchyards. This is particularly the case with -Ashburton.’ - - -He goes on to say that he got more information about the American -prisoners at Ashburton from a Bostonian who was at the post-office -there, making inquiries, than from anyone else. This Bostonian’s -grandfather was a naval surgeon who had been captured on the _Polly_; -had been sent to Dartmoor, but was released on parole to Ashburton. - -Mr. Amery gives as an instance of this local indifference to the past -the fact that the family of Mr. Joseph Gribble, solicitor and county -coroner, who had been prisoner agent at Ashburton, had lived opposite to -the entrance to the vicarage until 1899, but that by that time -everything about the prisoners had been forgotten by them. - -Mr. Amery writes to me: - - -‘I have heard our people say that my great-uncle who lived here at that -time used to have open house for the prisoners on parole. The French -were very nice and gentlemanly, but the Americans were a much rougher -lot, and broke up things a good deal. The French used to teach French -and dancing in the town.’ - - -The following Masonic Petition from Ashburton is interesting: - - -‘Ashburton, April 6, 1814, of our Lord, and in Masonry 5814. To the -Grand Master, Grand Wardens, and Members of the Grand Lodge, London. - - ‘BRETHREN, - -‘We, the undersigned, being Ancient York Masons, take the liberty of -addressing you with this Petition for our Relief, being American -prisoners of war on parole at this place. We are allowed 10_s._ 6_d._ -per week for our support. In this place we cannot get lodgings for less -than 3_s._ per week, and from that to 5_s._ per week. Meat is constantly -from 9_d._ to 1_s._ per lb., and other necessaries in proportion. Judge, -brethren, how we live, for none of us have any means of getting money. -Our clothes are wearing out, and God knows how long we shall be kept -here; many of us have been captured 9 or 10 months, as you will see -opposite our signatures. We form a body in this place by ourselves for -the purpose of lecturing each other once a week, and have had this in -contemplation for some time, but have deferred making application until -absolute want has made it necessary. We therefore pray that you will -take into consideration and provide some means for our relief. You will -please address your letter to Edwin Buckannon. - -‘We humbly remain your pennyless brethren. - - ‘EDWIN BUCKANNON. G. W. BURBANK. PIERSON BALDWIN. WM. MILLER. - ARCHD. TAYLOR, JUNR. EZRA OBER. WM. SMITH. JAMES LANS. JOHN - SCHERS.’ - - -There was also a French Lodge at Ashburton, ‘Des Amis Réunis’, but the -only record of its existence is a certificate granted to Paul Carcenac, -an initiate. It is roughly drawn by hand on parchment, and is entirely -in French, and, as the recipient is under obligation to affiliate -himself to some regularly warranted French Lodge immediately on his -return to his native land, it would seem that the Lodge at Ashburton was -only of a temporary or irregular character. - -The foregoing references to Freemasonry remind us that this universal -brotherhood was the occasion of many graceful acts during the Great Wars -between men of opposing sides. - - - TAVISTOCK - -There were upon an average 150 prisoners here. The Prison Commissioners -wrote: - - -‘Some of them have made overtures of marriage to women in the -neighbourhood, which the magistrates very properly have taken pains to -discourage.’ - - -This, of course, refers to the ruling of the French Government that it -would regard such marriages as invalid. That French women sometimes -accompanied their husbands into captivity is evident from not infrequent -petitions such as this: - - -‘The French woman at Tavistock requests that Sir Rupert George (Chairman -to the Transport Office) will interest himself to procure rations for -her child who was born at the Dépôt, and is nearly five months old.’ - - - OKEHAMPTON - -Here, very little information is obtainable, as very few of the ‘oldest -inhabitant’ type are to be found, and there are very few residents whose -parents have lived there for any length of time—a sign of these -restless, migrating days which makes one regret that the subject of the -foreign prisoners of war in Britain was not taken up before the movement -of the rural world into large towns had fairly set in. One old resident -could only say that his father used to talk of from five to six hundred -prisoners being at Okehampton, but in the rural mind numbers are handled -as vaguely as is time, for assuredly in no single parole town in Britain -were there ever so many prisoners. Another aged resident said: - - -‘They were all bettermost prisoners: the rough ones were kept at -Princetown, but these were quartered in various houses, and paid very -well for it. Their bounds were a mile out of town, but I have heard they -were very artful, and shifted the milestones and borough stones. My -father told me that one escaped, but he was shot down in the -neighbourhood of the Bovey Clay Works. There was a riot in the town one -day amongst them, and old Dr. Luxmoore, who was a big, tall man, mounted -his big horse, and, armed with his hunting whip, rode down through the -prisoners, who were fighting in the town, and with the cracks of it -dispersed them in every direction.... The Mess Room was the St. James’ -Street schoolroom, and stood opposite the South entrance of the Arcade -which was pulled down a few years ago. In their spare time the prisoners -made many small articles such as cabinets, chairs, cribbage-boards, and -various models of churches and houses. Some taught their languages to -the inhabitants.’ - - - ODIHAM - -General Simon was at Odiham. We have had to do with him before, and he -seems to have been thoroughly bad. He had been concerned with Bernadotte -and Pinoteau in the Conspiracy of Rennes against Bonaparte’s Consular -Government, had been arrested, and exiled to the Isle of Rhé for six -years. When Bonaparte became emperor he liberated Simon and gave him a -command. At the battle of Busaco, September 27, 1810, Simon’s brigade -led the division of Loison in its attack on the British position, and -Simon was first man over the entrenchments. ‘We took some prisoners,’ -says George Napier, ‘and among them General Simon. He was horribly -wounded in the face, his jaw being broken and almost hanging on his -chest. Just as myself and another officer came to him a soldier was -going to put his bayonet into him, which we prevented, and sent him up -as prisoner to the General.’ - -Simon reached England in October 1810, and was sent on parole to Odiham. -The prisoners lived in houses in Bury Square, opposite the stocks and -the church, and some old redbrick cottages on the brink of the chalk-pit -at the entrance to the town, all of which are now standing. They -naturally made the fine old _George_ Inn their social centre, and to -this day the tree which marked their mile limit along the London road is -known as ‘Frenchman’s Oak’. Simon absconded from Odiham, and the -advertisement for him ran: - - -‘One hundred pounds is offered for the capture of the French general -Simon, styled a baron and a chevalier of the Empire, who lately broke -his parole and absconded from Odiham.’ - - -_The Times_ of Jan. 20, 1812, details his smart capture by the Bow -Street officers. They went first to Richmond, hearing that two -foreigners of suspicious appearance were there. The information led to -nothing, so they went on to Hounslow, thinking to intercept the -fugitives on their way from Odiham to the Kent Coast, and here they -heard that two Frenchmen had hired a post-chaise to London. This they -traced to Dover Street, Piccadilly, but the clue was lost. They -remembered that there was a French doctor in Dover Street, but an -interview with him revealed nothing. On they went to the house of a -Madame Glion, in Pulteney Street, late owner of a Paris diligence, and, -although their particular quarry was not there, they ‘ran in’ three -other French ‘broke-paroles’. Information led them to Pratt Street, -Camden Town. A female servant appeared in the area of No. 4 in reply to -their knocks, denied that there was any one in the house, and refused -them admittance. The officers, now reinforced, surrounded the house, and -some men were seen sitting in a back-parlour by candle-light. Suddenly -the candles were put out. Lavender, the senior officer, went again to -the front door and knocked. The servant resisted his pretext of having a -letter for a lady in the house, and he threatened to shoot her if she -still refused admission. She defied him. Other officers had in the -meanwhile climbed over the back garden wall and found Simon and another -officer, Surgeon Boiron, in the kitchen in darkness. - -The mistress and servant of the house were both Frenchwomen, and they -were carried off with Simon and Boiron: altogether a capital haul, as -the women were found upon examination to be ‘deep in the business’ of -aiding and abetting in the escape of prisoners. With Simon’s subsequent -career I have dealt in the chapter upon Escapes and Escape Agents. - - - LEICESTER - -To Mr. John Thorp of this town I am indebted for the following notes: - - -‘In 1756 Count Benville and 30 other French officers were on parole at -Leicester. Most of them were men of high rank, and were all well -received by the townpeople.[18] They were polite and agreeable in -manner, and as they expended about £9,000 during their stay in the town -it was of benefit to a large part of the inhabitants. - -‘A number of French prisoners came from Tavistock in 1779, and remained -in the town about six months. They behaved well and produced agreeable -impressions upon the inhabitants by their light-hearted and amiable -manners, and, in consequence, were very civilly treated. They were free -from boasting, temperate, and even plain in living, and paid the debts -they had contracted during their residence in the town.’ - - - TRAGIC EVENTS - -Tragic events were by no means so common among the prisoners on parole -as in the prisons, no doubt because of the greater variety in their -lives, and of their not being so constantly in close company with each -other. - -A French officer, on parole at Andover in 1811, at what is now Portland -House in West Street, fell in love with the daughter of his host, and -upon her rejection of his suit, retired to a summer-house in the garden, -opened a vein in his arm, and bled to death. - -Duels were frequent, and not only would there have been more, had -weapons of offence been procurable, but the results would have been more -often fatal. - -In 1812 two French officers at Reading fought in a field near the _New -Inn_ on the Oxford road. They could not get pistols, but one gun. They -tossed for the first shot with it at fifty paces, and the winner shot -his opponent through the back of the neck so that he died. - -At Leek in Staffordshire in the same year, a Captain Decourbes went out -fishing and came in at curfew. At 8 p.m. in the billiard-room of the -_Black’s Head_, a Captain Robert chaffed him about his prowess as an -angler, words were exchanged, and Robert insulted and finally struck -him. Decourbes, of course, challenged him. The only weapon they could -get was a cavalry horse-pistol which they borrowed from a yeomanry -trooper. They met at Balidone on October 17. Decourbes won the toss for -first shot and hit Robert in the breech. Robert, who had come on to the -ground on crutches, then fired and hit Decourbes in the nape of the -neck. Decourbes managed to walk back to Leek, but he died in ten days. - -A very different version of this affair was given in a contemporary -_Times_. According to this, Decourbes, about ten days before the duel, -was out of his lodgings after the evening bell had rung, and the boys of -Leek collected and pelted him with stones. His behaviour caused one of -his brother officers to say that he was ‘soft’ and would faint at the -sight of his own blood. Decourbes gave him the lie, the other struck -him, and the result was a challenge and the duel as described. But the -verdict, ‘Died by the visitation of God,’ was questioned, and the writer -of a letter to _The Times_ declared that there was no evidence of a -duel, as Decourbes’ body was in a putrid state, and that three French -and two English surgeons had declared that he had died from typhus. - -In 1807 a tragedy was enacted at Chesterfield which caused much stir at -the time. Colonel Richemont and Captain Méant were fellow prisoners, -released from the Chatham hulks, and travelling together to Chesterfield -where they were to live on parole. On the road thither they slept at -Atherstone. When Richemont arrived at the Falcon Hotel at Chesterfield -he found that his trunk had been robbed of a quantity of gold dust, a -variety of gold coins, and of some gold and silver articles. Suspecting -that it had been done at the inn in Atherstone, he caused inquiry to be -made, but without result. He then suspected his fellow traveller Méant, -caused his box to be searched, and in it found silver spoons and other -of his missing property. - -Méant, on being discovered, tried to stab himself, but, being prevented, -seized a bottle of laudanum and swallowed its contents. Then he wrote a -confession, and finding that the laudanum was slower in action than he -expected, tried to stab himself again. A struggle took place; Méant -refused the emetic brought, and died. Méant’s brother-in-law brought an -action against Richemont, declaring that the latter in reality owed the -dead man a large sum of money, and that Méant had only taken his due. -During the trial Colonel Richemont was very violent against the British, -and especially when the jury decided the case against him, and found -that the dead man was his creditor, although, of course, the means he -employed to get what was his were illegal. - -Méant was buried, according to usage, at the union of four cross roads -just outside the borough boundary, with a stake driven through his body. -The funeral took place on a Sunday, and great crowds attended. - -On April 13, 1812, Pierre de Romfort or De la Roche, a prisoner on -parole at Launceston, was hanged at Bodmin for forgery. ‘He behaved very -penitently, and was attended to at the last moment by Mr. Lefers, a -Roman Catholic priest living at Lanhearne.’ - -I quote this because it is one of the very few instances of this crime -being committed by a prisoner on parole. - - - INTERNATIONAL COURTESIES - -It is gratifying to read testimonies such as the following, taken out of -many, to chivalry and kindness on the part of our enemies, and to note -practical appreciations of such conduct. - -In 1804 Captain Areguandeau of the _Blonde_ privateer, captured at sea -and put on the parole list, was applied for by late British prisoners of -his to whom he had been kind, to be returned to France unconditionally. -The Commissioners of the Transport Board regretted that under existing -circumstances they could not accede to this, but allowed him a choice of -parole towns—Tiverton, Ashbourne, Chesterfield, Leek, or Lichfield. - -In 1806, Guerbe, second captain of a transport, was allowed to be on -parole although he was not so entitled by his rank, because of his -humane treatment of Colonel Fraser and other officers and men, lately -his prisoners. - -Lefort, on parole at Tiverton, was allowed to go to France on parole -because of his kindly treatment of the wounded prisoners on the -_Hannibal_ (which, after a heroic resistance, ran aground in 1801 at -Algeciras and was captured). - -In 1813 Captain Collins of H.M.S. _Surveillante_ successfully obtained -the unconditional release of Captain Loysel because of the splendid -manner in which the latter had risked his life in protecting two British -officers, who were wounded in the unsuccessful first attack on San -Sebastian, from being killed by some drunken or infuriated French -soldiers. - -A French marine officer named Michael Coie, a prisoner on parole, died -at Andover, November 9, 1813. It happened that the 2nd battalion, 5th -Regiment was halting on the march in the town, and the commanding -officer, Captain Boyle, at once offered to attend the funeral, with the -battalion, the regimental band at the head. This was done, all the -French officers in Andover being present. The act of grace was much -appreciated by the prisoners. - -So also when General Rufin—a great favourite of Bonaparte, captured at -Barossa in 1811—died in the May of that year on his passage to England, -his body was interred in the Garrison Chapel at Portsmouth, with every -rank of honour and distinction, minute guns, flags half-mast high, and -three rounds of nine pieces of cannon at the close. - -In 1814, an officer on parole at Oswestry was liberated for having -rescued an infant from the paws of a lion. - -The following is pleasing reading: - -General Barraguay-Hilliers, who with his suite was captured in the -_Sensible_ by H.M.S. _Seahorse_ in June 1798, arrived at Portsmouth in -August, and on the very day after his arrival was allowed to go on -parole to France with his aides-de-camp, Lamotte and Vallie. But before -they could get out of England an amusing incident occurred which -afforded an English gentleman an opportunity for displaying a graceful -courtesy. The officers reached Lewes _en route_ for Dover, where they -hoped to get a neutral vessel to France, but, as Brighton races were on, -not for love or money could they get a conveyance to carry them on their -journey. None of them could speak English; they were not allowed by the -terms of their parole to go to London, which they might have done by -mail-coach, so they resolved to send their baggage on by cart, and -themselves proceed on foot. Sir John Shelley of Maresfield Park heard of -their predicament, and at once sent carriages to take them on to Dover. - -It is also pleasant to read that at Tiverton the French officers on -parole there, with scarcely an exception, conducted themselves in such a -way as to win the esteem and regard of their hosts, and in many cases -lasting friendships were formed with them. After the establishment of -Peace in 1815, some, rather than return to France, remained. Among these -was M. Alexandre de la Motte, who lived at Tiverton, acquired property -there, and gained much respect as French master at Blundell’s School. - -That so gregarious a race as the French should form clubs and -associations for social purposes among themselves in all circumstances -can be readily understood, and in almost every parole town some such -institution existed, and in no small degree contributed to the -enlivenment of local social life. There were also no less than -twenty-five lodges and chapters of Freemasons in England, and others in -Scotland. Still, the Government, from politic motives, warned their -Agents to keep these institutions under observation, and were disposed -to regard with suspicion such clubs as the ‘Des Amis Réunis’ at -Ashburton and Plymouth, the ‘Enfants de Mars et de Neptune’ at -Abergavenny and Tiverton, and others of like character, as being -institutions for the fomentation _sub rosâ_ of agitation and -disaffection. For the same reasons all amusements which gathered crowds -were discouraged among the prisoners. - - - - - CHAPTER XXXI - VARIORUM - - - (1) SOME DISTINGUISHED PRISONERS OF WAR - -When the roll of the 46th Regiment (or, as it was, the 46th -demi-brigade), of the French Army is called, the name of La Tour -d’Auvergne brings forward the sergeant-major of the Grenadier Company, -who salutes and replies: ‘Dead upon the field of honour!’ - -This unique homage to Théophile de La Tour d’Auvergne—who won the -distinguishing title of ‘First Grenadier of the Republican Armies’ in an -age and an army crowded with brave men, quite as much, so says history, -by his modesty as by his bravery in action—was continued for some time -after his death in 1800, was discontinued, was revived in 1887, and has -been paid ever since. - -In 1795, after the taking of San Sebastian by the French, he applied for -leave of absence on account of his health, and started by sea for his -native Brittany, but the ship in which he sailed was captured by British -cruisers. He was brought to England and sent to Bodmin on parole. Here -he insisted upon wearing his Republican cockade, a silly, unnecessary -act of bravado which so annoyed some English soldiers that they mobbed -him, and, as he showed a disposition to resent the attack, matters would -have gone hard with him but for timely rescue. (I reproduce a picture of -one of these attacks from his biography by Montorgueil, not on account -of its merit, but of its absurdity. La Tour d’Auvergne, it will be -noted, uses his sword toasting-fork wise. Not even the most -distinguished of parole prisoners was ever allowed to wear his sword, -although some were not required to give them up according to rule.) This -inspired the following letter from him to the Agent at Bodmin: - -[Illustration: - - LA TOUR D’AUVERGNE DEFENDING HIS COCKADE AT BODMIN -] - - - ‘1st October, 1795. - - ‘SIR, - -‘I address myself to you as the Agent entrusted by your Government with -the immediate care of the French prisoners at Bodmin, to acquaint you -with the outrage just perpetrated upon me by some soldiers of the -garrison in this town, who, on their return from drill, attacked me with -their arms, and proceeded to violent extremes with the object of -depriving me of my cockade, a distinctive part of my military uniform. I -have always worn it during my detention in England, just as your -officers, prisoners in my country, have always worn theirs without being -interfered with. It is impossible, Sir, that such behaviour towards an -officer of the French Republic should have been encouraged by your -Government, or that it should countenance any outrage upon peaceable -prisoners who are here under your protection. Under these circumstances, -Sir, I beg you without delay to get to the root of the insult to which I -have been subjected, so that I may be able to adapt my conduct in future -accordingly. Into whatever extremity I may find myself reduced by my -determination not to remove my distinctive badge, I shall never regard -as a misfortune the ills and interferences of which the source will have -been so honourable to me.’ - - -The reply of the Agent was probably much the same as the Transport -Office made in 1804 to a letter from the Agent at Leek, in -Staffordshire, to whom a French midshipman had complained of similar -interference. - - -‘We think the French midshipman very imprudent in wearing his Cockade, -as it could answer no good purpose, and might expose him to evils -greater than he has already experienced from the rage of the populace, -and you are to inform him if he persists he must not expect protection -from the consequences.’ - - -In 1797 the inhabitants of Bishop’s Waltham complained of the constant -wearing by the prisoners there of Republican cockades, and the reply was -exactly as above. - -In Cornwall La Tour d’Auvergne occupied himself with literary pursuits, -especially with philology, and was pleased and interested to find how -much there was in common between phrases and words of Cornwall, and -those of Brittany. Concerning his captivity he wrote thus to Le Coz, -Archbishop of Besançon: - - -‘I will not bother you with an account of all I have had to suffer from -the English during a year of captivity, they being no doubt egged on by -our French é[migrés] and p[rinces]. My Republican spirit finds it hard -to dissemble and to adapt itself to circumstances, so I shall show -myself to be what I always have been, Frenchman and patriot. The revered -symbol of my nation, the tricolour cockade, was always on my hat, and -the dress I wore _dans les fers_ was that which I wore in battle. Hence -the hatred let loose against me and the persecutions which I have had to -endure.’ - - -He returned to France from Penryn, February 19, 1796, and was killed at -Oberhausen in Bavaria in June 1800. - -From the following extract from Legard’s biography, and from the phrase -_dans les fers_ which I have italicized above, La Tour d’Auvergne would -seem to have been in prison, possibly for persistent adherence to -cockade-wearing: - - -‘It was horrible to see the misery of so many brave Frenchmen, crammed -into unwholesome dungeons, struggling against every sort of want, -exposed to every rigour and every vexation imaginable, and devoured by -cruel maladies. La Tour d’Auvergne kept up their courage, helped them in -every way, shared his money with them, and was indignant to hear how -agents of the Government tried to seduce them from their fidelity, -corrupt them, and show them how hateful was the French Government.’ - - -After Trafalgar the Spanish prisoners were confined at Gibraltar, the -French, numbering 210 officers and 4,589 men, were brought to England. -The rank and file who were landed at Portsmouth were imprisoned at -Forton, Portchester, and in seven hulks; those at Plymouth in the -Millbay Prison and eight hulks; those at Chatham in four hulks. The -officers from the captured ships _Fougueux_, _Aigle_, _Mont-Blanc_, -_Berwick_, _Scipion_, _Formidable_, _Intrépide_, _Achille_, and _Duguay -Trouin_, were sent to Crediton and Wincanton. - -Admiral Villeneuve and his suite were first at Bishop’s Waltham, where -he was bound by the ordinary rules of a prisoner on parole, except that -his limits were extended; he was allowed to visit Lord Clanricarde, and -to retain, but not to wear, his arms. - -He had asked to be sent to London, but, although this was not granted -him, he was allowed to choose any town for parole, north or west of -London, but not within thirty miles. - -He had leave to visit any of the neighbouring nobility and gentry, and -his lieutenants could go three miles in any direction. He chose Reading, -which was not then a regular parole town, although it became one later. -Hither he went with Majendie, his captain, whose third experience it was -of captivity in England (he had been actually taken prisoner five times, -and had served two years, one month, twenty-five days as prisoner in -England), Lucas of the _Redoutable_, and Infernet of the _Intrépide_. -Villeneuve and Majendie attended Nelson’s funeral in London, and a -little later Majendie had permission to go to France to try to arrange -some definite system of prisoner-exchange between the two countries. In -March 1806 Villeneuve was exchanged for four post-captains, and went to -France with his officers and suite on the condition that once in every -two months he gave notice to a British agent of his place of residence, -and was not to change the same without notifying it. - -Upon his arrival in Paris Villeneuve found that Lucas and Infernet had -been much honoured by Bonaparte and made rear-admirals. No notice was -taken of him by Bonaparte, who had always disliked and despised him, and -one day he was found stabbed at the Hôtel de la Patrie, Rennes. -Bonaparte was suspected of foul play, and again was heard the saying, -‘How fortunate Napoleon is! All his enemies die of their own accord!’ At -St. Helena, however, Bonaparte strenuously denied the imputation. - -Lucas, captain of the _Redoutable_, the ship whence Nelson received his -death-shot, was at Tiverton. His heroic defence, his fight against the -_Téméraire_ and the _Victory_ at the same time, resulting in a loss out -of 645 men of 300 killed and 222 wounded, are among the immortal deeds -of that famous day. Only 169 of his men were made prisoners, and of -these only 35 came to England; the rest, being wounded, went down with -the ship. - -Villeneuve said when he wrote to congratulate Lucas upon being honoured -by Bonaparte: - - -‘Si tous les capitaines de vaisseaux s’étaient conduits comme vous, à -Trafalgar, la victoire n’eût pas été un instant indécisive, certainement -personne ne le sait aussi bien que moi.’ - - -His conduct was so much appreciated in England, that at a supper given -him by Lady Warren his sword was returned to him. - -Rear-Admiral Dumanoir of the _Formidable_ was also at Tiverton. Although -he fought at Trafalgar, he was not captured there, as it was thought in -many quarters he should have been or have died with his ship. From -Tiverton he wrote, with permission, under date of January 2, 1806, to -_The Times_, replying to some rather severe remarks which had been made -in that paper concerning his behaviour at Trafalgar, tantamount to -saying that during the greater part of the battle he had remained a mere -passive spectator. It is not necessary to relate the facts, which are -fully given by James, the naval historian. - -In 1809 he had special leave to go on parole to France to defend -himself, but the Transport Office refused to allow three captains and -two adjutants to go with him, because of the continual refusal of the -French Government to release British prisoners. At first he was not -allowed to take even his secretary, a non-combatant, but later this was -permitted. The Court Martial in France acquitted him, and in 1811 he was -made a vice-admiral and Governor of Danzig, and behaved with great -credit during the siege of that city by the Allies in 1814. In connexion -with this, it is interesting to note that the only British naval flag -trophy at the Invalides in Paris was captured by Dumanoir at Danzig. - -It is not out of place here to note that Cartigny, the last French -survivor of Trafalgar, who died at Hyères in 1892, aged 101, had a -considerable experience of war-prisoner life, for, besides having been -on a Plymouth hulk, he was at Dartmoor and at Stapleton. He attended the -Prince Imperial’s funeral at Chislehurst in 1879. - -Marienier, a black general, captured at San Domingo, was, with his four -wives, brought to Portsmouth. The story is that, being entitled to -parole by his rank, when the Agent presented him the usual form for -signature, he said: ‘Je ne connais pas le mystère de la plume; c’est par -ceci (touching the hilt of his sword) que je suis parvenu au grade que -je tiens. Voilà mon aide-de-camp; il sait écrire, et il signera pour -moi.’ - -Tallien, Revolutionist writer, prominent Jacobin, agent of the Terror in -Bordeaux, and largely responsible for the downfall of Robespierre, was -captured on his way home from Egypt, whither he had gone with -Bonaparte’s expedition. As he was a non-combatant he was only a prisoner -a short time, and went to London, where he was lionized by the Whig -party. He married Madame de Fontenai, whose salon in Paris was the most -brilliant of the Directory period, and where Bonaparte first met Madame -de Beauharnais. - -In 1809 François, nephew of the great actor Talma, was taken prisoner. -He was nobody in particular, but his case is interesting inasmuch as his -release on January 1, 1812, was largely brought about by the interest of -Talma’s great friend, John Kemble. - -Admiral Count Linois was as worthy a prisoner as he had proved himself -many times a worthy foe. A French writer describes him as having -displayed during his captivity a philosophic resignation; and even the -stony-hearted Transport Board, in acceding to his request that his wife -should be allowed to join him at Bath, complimented him on his behaviour -‘which has formed a very satisfactory contrast to that of many officers -of high rank, by whom a similar indulgence has been abused.’ - -Lucien, Bonaparte’s second brother, was a prisoner in England, but very -nominally, from 1810 to 1814. He could not fall in with the grand and -ambitious ideas of his brother so far as they touched family matters. -Bonaparte, having made his brothers all princes, considered that they -should marry accordingly. Lucien married the girl he loved; his brother -resented it, and passed the Statute of March 30, 1806, by which it was -enacted that ‘Marriages of the Imperial Family shall be null and void if -contracted without the permission of the Emperor, as the princes ought -to be devoted without reserve to the great interests of the country, and -the glory of our house.’ He wanted Lucien to marry the Queen of Etruria, -widow of Louis I, Prince of Parma, a match which, when Tuscany should be -annexed to the Empire, would mean that their throne would be that of -Spain and the Indies. - -So Lucien sailed for the United States, but was captured by a British -cruiser carried to Malta, and thence to England. He was sent on parole -to Ludlow, where he lived at Dinham House. Then he bought Thorngrove, -near Worcester, where he lived until 1814, and where he wrote -_Charlemagne, ou l’Église sauvée_. - -Cambronne, wounded at the head of the Imperial Guard at Waterloo, and -reputed author of a famous _mot_ which he never uttered, was for two -hours on a Portsmouth hulk, but was soon placed on parole, and was at -Ashburton in Devonshire until November 1815. The grand-daughter of Mrs. -Eddy, at whose house Cambronne lodged, still preserves at the _Golden -Lion_ a portrait of the general, given by him to Mrs. Eddy. From England -he wrote to Louis XVIII, professing loyalty, and offering his services, -but on his arrival in Paris was brought up for trial on these counts: - -(1) Having betrayed the King. (2) Having made an armed attack on France. -(3) Having procured aid for Bonaparte by violence. He was adjudged Not -Guilty on all three. - -Admiral De Winter, Commander of the Dutch fleet at Camperdown, was a -prisoner for a year in England, but I cannot learn where. It is -gratifying to read his appreciation of the kindly treatment he received, -as expressed in his speech at his public entry into Amsterdam after his -release in December 1798. - - -‘The fortune of war previously forced me to live abroad, and, being -since then for the first time vanquished by the enemy, I have -experienced a second state of exile. However mortifying to the feelings -of a man who loves his country, the satisfactory treatment I met with on -the part of the enemy, the English, and the humane and faithful support -and assistance they evinced towards my worthy countrymen and fellow -sufferers, have considerably softened the horrors of my situation. Nay! -Worthy burghers! I must not conceal from you that the noble liberality -of the English nation since this bloody contest justly entitles them to -your admiration.’ - - -De Winter’s flag-ship, the _Vryheid_, was for many years a hulk at -Chatham. - - - (2) SOME STATISTICS - -Statistics are wearisome, but, in order that readers may form some idea -of the burden cast on the country by the presence of prisoners of war, I -give a few figures. - -During the Seven Years’ War the annual average number of prisoners of -war in England was 18,800, although the total of one year, 1762, was -26,137. This, it must be remembered, was before the regular War Prison -became an institution, so that the burden was directly upon the people -among whom the prisoners were scattered. Of these, on an average, about -15,700 were in prisons healthy, and 1,200 sick; 1,850 were on parole -healthy, and 60 sick. The total net cost of these prisoners was -£1,174,906. The total number of prisoners brought to Britain between the -years 1803 and 1814 was 122,440. Of these 10,341 died whilst in -captivity, and 17,607 were exchanged or sent home sick or on parole. The -cost of these was £6,800,000. - -The greatest number of prisoners at one time in Britain was about 72,000 -in 1814. - -The average mortality was between one and three per cent., but epidemics -(such as that which at Dartmoor during seven months of 1809 and 1810 -caused 422 deaths—more than double the total of nineteen ordinary -months—and that at Norman Cross in 1801 from which, it is said, no less -than 1,000 prisoners died) brought up the percentages of particular -years very notably. Thus, during the six years and seven months of -Dartmoor’s existence as a war-prison, there were 1,455 deaths, which, -taking the average number of prisoners as 5,600, works out at about four -per cent., but the annual average was not more than two and a quarter -per cent., except in the above-quoted years. The average mortality on -the prison ships was slightly higher, working out all round at about -three per cent., but here again epidemics made the percentages of -particular years jump, as at Portsmouth in 1812, when the average of -deaths rose to about four per cent. - -Strange to say, the sickness-rate of officers on parole was higher than -that of prisoners in confinement. Taking at random the year 1810, for -example, we find that at one time out of 45,940 prisoners on the hulks -and in prisons, only 320 were in hospital, while at the same time of -2,710 officers on parole no less than 165 were on the sick-list. -Possibly the greater prevalence of duels among the latter may account -for this. - - - (3) EPITAPHS OF PRISONERS - -I do not claim completeness for the following list, for neglect has -allowed the obliteration of many stones in our churchyards which -traditionally mark the last resting-places of prisoners of war. - -At New Alresford, Hampshire, on the west side of the church: - - -‘Ici repose le corps de M. Joseph Hypolite Riouffe, enseigne de vaisseau -de la Marine Impériale et Royale qui mourut le 12 Dec. 1810, âgé 28 ans. -Il emporta les regrets de tous ses camarades et personnes qui le -connurent.’ - - -‘Ci-gît le corps de M. P^{re} Garnier, sous-lieut. au 66^{me} régiment -d’Infanterie Française, né le 14 Avril 1773, mort le 31 Juillet 1811.’ - - -‘Ci-gît le corps de M. C. Lavau, officier de commerce, décédé le 25 de -Xbre 1811, et la 29 de son âge.’ - - -‘Ici est le corps de Marie Louise V^{ve} Fournier, épouse de François -Bertet, capitaine au Corps Impérial d’Artillerie Française, décédée le -11^{me} Avril 1812, âgée de 44 ans.’ - - -‘Ci-gît Jean de l’Huille, lieutenant d’Artillerie Française, décédé le 6 -Avril 1812, âgé de 51.’ - - -At Leek, Staffordshire: - - -‘Çy-gît Jean Marie Claude Decourbes, enseigne de vaisseau de la Marine -Impériale de France, décédé 17 Octobre 1812, âgé de 27 ans—Fidelis -Decori Occubuit Patriaeque Deoque.’ - - -‘Jean-Baptiste Milloy. Capitaine 72^{me} cavalerie, décédé 2 Sept. 1811, -âgé de 43 ans.’ - - -‘Joseph Debec, Capitaine du navire “La Sophie” de Nantes. Obiit Sept. -2^{me} 1811, âgé de 54 ans.’ - - -‘Charles Luneaud, Capitaine de la Marine Impériale. Mort le 4^{me} Mars -1812.’ - - -There also died at Leek, but no stones mark their graves, General Brunet -(captured at San Domingo, with his A.D.C. Colonel Degouillier, and his -Adjutant-General, Colonel Lefevre), Colonel Félix of the Artillery, -Lieut.-Col. Granville, Captain Pouget, Captain Dupuis of the 72nd -Infantry, Captain François Vevelle (1809), Lieut. Davoust of the Navy, -son of the General, and Midshipmen Meunier, Berthot, and Birtin—the -last-named was a prisoner eleven years, and ‘behaved extremely well’. -Also there are registered the burials of Jean le Roche, in 1810, aged -44, J. B. Lahouton, died 1806, aged 28; ‘C.A.G. A French Prisoner’ in -1812, aged 62; and Alexander Gay, in 1850. - -At Okehampton, Devon: - - -‘Cette pierre fut élevée par l’amitié à la mémoire d’Armand Bernard, né -au Havre en Normandie, marié à Calais à Mlle Margot; deuxième officier -de commerce, décédé Prisonnier de Guerre à Okehampton, le 26 Oct. 1815. -Agé 33 ans. - - A l’abri des vertus qui distinguaient la vie, - Tu reposes en paix, ombre tendre et chérie.’ - - -‘Ci-gît Adelaïde Barrin de Puyleanne de la Commune de Montravers, Dép^t -des Deux-Sèvres, née le 21 Avril 1771, décédée à Okehampton le 18 Fév. -1811. Ici repose la mère et l’enfant.’ - - -In the churchyards of Wincanton and Andover are stones to the memories -of Russian and Polish officers. - -In the churchyard at Tenterden, Kent, there is a tomb upon which is -carved a ship and a recumbent figure, with the epitaph: - - -‘Hier Legt Begraven Schipper Siebe Nannes, Van de Jower in Vriesland, is -in den Heere Gernstden, 8 November, 1781. Oudt 47 Jaren.’ On the other -side is inscribed: - - - ‘As he’s the first, the neighbours say, that lies - First of War captives buried in this place: - So may he hope to be the first to rise - And gain the Mansions of Eternal Peace.’ - -By the way, it may be remarked, in association with the above Dutch -burial, that there are to-day in Tenterden work-people named -Vanlanschorten, who are said to be descended from a prisoner of war. - -At Bishop’s Castle church, in Montgomeryshire, there is a stone opposite -the belfry door inscribed: - - -‘A la Mémoire de Louis Pages, Lieut.-Col. des chevaux-légers; chevalier -des ordres militaires des Deux Siciles et d’Espagne. Mort à Bishop’s -Castle le 1^{er} Mai 1814, âgé de 40 ans.’ - - -In the Register of the same church is recorded the baptism of a son of -Antoine Marie Jeanne Ary Bandart, Captain of the 4th Regiment of Light -Infantry, Member of the Legion of Honour, a prisoner of war; and fifteen -months later the burial of the child. These are in 1813 and 1814. In the -latter year also is recorded the baptism of a son of Joseph and Maria -Moureux. - -In the churchyard of Moreton-Hampstead, Devon, are ranged against the -wall stones with the following epitaphs: - - -‘A la mémoire de Louis Ambroise Quanti, Lieut, du 44 Rég^t du Corps -Impérial d’Artillerie de Marine. Agé de 33 ans. Décédé le 29 Avril -1809.’ The Masonic compass and dividers follow the inscription. - - -‘Ici repose le corps de M. Armand Aubry, Lieut, du 70^{me} Rég^t -d’Infanterie de Ligne. Agé de 42 ans. Décédé le 10 Juin 1811. Priez Dieu -pour le repos de son âme.’ This is followed by two crossed swords. - - -‘A la mémoire de Jean François Roil; Aspirant de la Marine Impériale, -âgé de 21 ans. Décédé le 22 Janvier 1811.’ This has as emblem a sword -and anchor crossed. - - -There are still in Moreton-Hampstead two shops bearing the name of -Rihll. To the register-entries of two of the above deaths is added: -‘These were buried in Wooling, according to Act of Parliament.’ - -In the churchyard of Ashburton, Devon, is a stone thus inscribed: - - - ‘Ici - -Repose François Guidon natif de Cambrai en France, Sous-Lieutenant au -46^{me} Rég^t de Ligne. Décédé le 18 7bre 1815. Agé de 22 ans. -Requiescat in Pace.’ - - -At East Dereham, Norfolk: - - -‘In memory of Jean de la Narde, son of a notary public of Saint Malo, a -French prisoner of war, who, having escaped from the bell tower of this -Church, was pursued and shot by a soldier on duty. October 6th, 1799. -Aged 28.’ - - -Mr. Webb, of Andover, sends me the following registrations of death: - - -J. Alline. Prisoner of War. March 18, 1802. - -Nicholas Ockonloff. Prisoner of War. March 19, 1808. - -Michael Coie. Prisoner of War. November 9, 1813. [For an account of his -funeral see pp. 439–40.] - - -At Odiham, in Hampshire, are the graves of two French prisoners of war. -When I visited them in August 1913, the inscriptions had been repainted -and a memorial wreath laid upon each grave. The inscriptions are as -follows: - - -‘Cy-gît Piere Feron, Capitaine au 66^e Régiment de Ligne, Chevalier de -l’Empire Français, né à Reims, Départ^t de la Marne, le 15 Août 1766, -décédé à Odiham le 8 Mai 1810.’ - - -‘Pierre Julian Jonneau, son of Jean Joseph Jonneau, de Daure, and of -Marie Charlotte Franquiny de Feux, officer in the administration of the -French Navy. Born in the Isle of Rhé. Died at Odiham, September 4th, -1809, in the 29th year of his age. - -‘“He was a Prisoner of War. Death hath made him free.”’ - - -During the Communist trouble in France in 1871, quite a large number of -French people came over to Odiham until order should be restored, and it -was during their stay here, but not by them, that the above-mentioned -graves were put in order. The old houses facing the Church and the -stocks in Bury Close, and those by the large chalk-pit at the entrance -to the town, remain much as when they were the lodgings of the prisoners -of war. - - - - - INDEX - - - Abergavenny, 281, 298, 363–4, 383, 393, 423. - - Admiralty, controlling exchange of prisoners, 26, 30; - responsible for safety of prisoners, 106, 110, 279, 354, 366, 368–9, - 383, 385, 392, 406; - responsible for well-being of prisoners, 5, 16, 24, 71, 75, 129, 188, - 362. - - Agents, Parole, 407–8; - censured and dismissed, 393; - their duties and powers, 279, 286–7, 291, 313, 335, 341–2, 358, 370, - 388, 397, 409, 418, 442–4; - frauds by, 312, 406; - friendly relations with prisoners, 298, 340, 352–3, 410, 415–16, 425; - unfriendly relations, 301, 396. - - Agents, War-Prisoner, censured and dismissed, 192, 204; - their duties, 18, 21, 29, 31, 47, 58, 119–20, 132, 144, 147, 150–1, - 192, 274, 361–2, 369–70; - friendly relations with prisoners, 135, 164–5, 181, 263; - unfriendly relations, 12, 216, 265. - - Alresford, 75, 77, 281, 284–5, 289, 298, 306–7, 347, 367, 410, 420, - 451. - - Amatory relations of prisoners on parole (_see also_ Marriages _and_ - Illegitimate children), 266, 305–7, 325, 359, 375, 386–7, 402, 405, - 414, 429, 437. - - American prisoners, 2, 11, 48, 82–91, 116, 183, 186, 213, 215–16, - 220–7, 247–61, 266, 286, 361, 432–3. - - Amiens, Peace of, 194–5. - - Andover, 290, 298, 307, 379, 384, 391, 437, 439–40, 452–3. - - Andrews, Charles (American prisoner), 247–8, 250–3. - - Angling, by paroled prisoners, 319, 328–9, 333–4, 341, 349, 437. - - Anton, James, _A Military Life_ (quoted), 205–6. - - Arbroath, 162. - - Arenburg, Prince, 418. - - Articles made by prisoners (_see also_ Paintings, Ship-model making), - 60, 84, 132–5, 148, 153, 158, 173, 176, 181–2, 193, 203–5, 211, 220, - 243, 278, 319, 321, 324, 347, 360, 391, 412, 414, 416, 430, 435. - - Ashbourne, 291, 298, 307, 375, 386, 392, 413–14, 439. - - Ashburton, 284–5, 298, 408, 432–3, 449, 453. - - Ashby-de-la-Zouch, 288, 291, 298, 304, 379, 386, 390, 428–31. - - Ashford, 284, 404, 408. - - _Assistance_ (Portsmouth hulk), 43, 107. - - Auctions, prisoners’, 331–2, 348. - - - _Bahama_ (Chatham hulk), 54–6, 58–60, 79, 90–1, 303. - - Barnet, 393. - - Barney, Commodore Joshua, 224–7. - - Basingstoke, 284, 404. - - Bath, 281, 291, 395, 403, 448. - - Bazin, Ensign, 347. - - Beasley, Reuben (Agent for American prisoners), 84, 86, 249–51, 254, - 258. - - Beaudouin, Sergeant-Major, 79–82, 202–5. - - Beccles, 285. - - Bedale, 412. - - Belgian prisoners, 333–4. - - Bell, George, agent at Jedburgh, 298, 388. - - Bertaud (Breton privateer prisoner), 64–6. - - Berwick, 316, 331–2, 350. - - Béthune, M. de, 399, 400. - - Bibles among the prisoners, 121–2, 165, 232, 342. - - Bideford, 281, 284. - - Billeting of prisoners on parole, 335, 348, 351, 354, 359, 418, 422, - 432; - of soldiers, 206. - - Billiards, 15, 39, 83, 86, 177, 212, 304, 319, 328, 335, 417. - - Birmingham, 304, 384. - - Bishop’s Castle, 298, 307, 359, 391, 452. - - Bishops, French, and the prisoners, 97, 120–1, 146. - - Bishop’s Waltham, 74, 284–5, 289, 291, 298, 310–11, 393, 396, 403, - 444–5. - - Bitche, 36, 333 _n._ - - Black Hole, as punishment for attempted escapes, 6, 7, 55, 58, 66, - 105–8, 158, 160, 163, 170, 200, 221, 263, 312; - for acts of violence, 123; - for parole prisoners, 58, 408; - in shore prisons, 20, 122, 130, 139–41, 143, 146, 204–5, 215, 217, - 238, 243; - on the hulks, 69, 103. - - Blackmailing of prisoners, 359, 405. - - Blyth, 350, 389. - - Boat-stealing by escaping prisoners, 27–8, 57, 92–3, 110, 161, 164, - 172, 233, 269, 273, 363, 383. - - Bodmin, 439, 442–4. - - Bonaparte, Lucien, 448. - - Bonaparte, Napoleon, 22, 32–6, 84, 99, 110, 144. 153, 164–5, 179, 314, - 330, 333, 342, 380, 382, 394, 435, 446–8. - - Bones, use of, made by prisoners, 135, 176, 205, 218, 221, 275–6, 347, - 349–50, 363. - - Bonnefoux, Baron de, 54–60, 73, 76, 300–304. - - Borough jails, 115, 117–8, 186, 192, 194, 268, 333, 361. - - Borrow, George, 138, 148, 152. - - Botanists among the prisoners, 319, 321, 324. - - Boulogne, 28, 56, 118, 182, 292, 304, 381–2. - - Bounty, French Royal, 4, 6–7, 167. - - Bower, John (agent at Chesterfield), 305, 415. - - Boycotting by prisoners, 222, 410. - - Boyer, General, 32, 144, 305, 416, 425. - - Boys among the prisoners, 121, 146, 152. - - Bread supplied to prisoners, quality of, 4, 5, 12, 15, 21, 42, 47, 49, - 63, 79, 85, 136, 151, 176, 191–3, 205, 208–9, 211, 221, 258, 263, - 265, 361. - - Brecon, 298, 364. - - Brest, 9, 30, 183, 332. - - Breton prisoners, 64–6, 229. - - Bribes from prisoners (_see also_ Collusion), 94–5, 128, 130, 158, 160, - 167, 193, 225, 235, 244, 254, 292, 373; - other bribery, 148–9, 204, 210–11, 294. - - Bridgnorth, 298, 312, 314, 383, 418. - - Brighton (Brighthelmstone), 30, 106, 110. - - Bristol, 116–7, 186, 207–8, 210–14, 221, 281–2, 284–5, 289, 399–400, - 411. - - _Bristol_ (Chatham hulk), 79, 205. - - _Brunswick_ (Chatham hulk), 23–4, 51, 75–77, 100, 101. - - _Buckingham_ (Chatham hulk), 39, 79. - - - Cachot; _see_ Black Hole. - - Calais, 25–6, 56, 103, 106, 111, 113, 183, 276, 283, 292. - - Callington, 284, 406. - - Calshot Castle, 102, 172. - - Cambridge, 154. - - Cambronne, 449. - - Camelford, 279–80. - - _Canada_ (Chatham hulk), 75–6, 79, 94. - - Canterbury, 30, 57–8, 366–7, 370, 385. - - ‘Capitalists’ among the prisoners, 177, 203 (_armateurs_), 228–9. - - Carlisle, 192. - - Carpenter, Madame, 98, 213. - - Carré (French prisoner), 181, 185. - - Cartel ports, 25, 150; - service and cartel ships, 10, 25–7, 29, 30–1, 102, 140, 281, 309. - - Castlereagh, Lord, 366. - - Catel, 241, 245–7. - - Cawdor, Lord, 183, 362–3. - - Chambers, William, 333–8, 340. - - Chartres, Duc de, 385. - - Chatham, 54–6, 58, 79, 87, 118, 247, 281; - hulks at, 8, 22–4, 31, 38–9, 41, 44, 51–2, 54, 75–9, 82, 84, 87, 89, - 93–8, 100–1, 118, 152, 202, 205, 247, 256, 281, 283, 302–3, 386, - 390, 438, 445, 449. - - Cheltenham, 371, 373, 382, 403. - - Cherbourg, 93, 102, 424. - - Chester, 192. - - Chesterfield, 298, 305, 307, 309, 376–7, 383, 392, 395, 415–17, 438–9. - - Chippenham, 284–5, 298, 397, 410. - - Churches, prisoners lodged in, 156 _n._, 207, 426. - - Civil law, as applying to prisoners of war, 98, 123, 149, 242, 275, - 301, 325, 337, 397, 406. - - Clothing of prisoners (_see also_ Nakedness among prisoners), 6, 8, 14, - 17–19[don’t need the 1?], 21, 24, 32, 38, 49, 51, 54, 60, 75, 78, - 138–9, 180, 204–5, 250, 255, 361, 378. - - Cochrane, Lord, 24, 239. - - Coie, Michael, 439–40, 453. - - Coining by prisoners, 162–3, 250, 255–6, 263, 275. - - Collusion between prisoners and sentries (and other undesirable - intimacies), 55, 95, 105, 139–40, 146, 178, 221, 225, 227, 245, - 248–9, 273–5, 297, 318. - - Commandants of prison-ship anchorages, 40, 41, 80. - - Commanders of prison-ships, 39–41, 47, 54, 56. - - Competition; _see_ Unfair trading by prisoners. - - Complaints and remonstrances, International, 2, 5–7, 9, 11, 14, 15, 18, - 19. - - Complaints by prisoners (_see also_ Inquiries, Petitions, - Round-robins), 5, 7, 11, 18, 24, 40, 48–9, 126–7, 129, 136, 143, - 151–2, 176, 192–3, 204, 211, 220–2, 251–2, 265, 311, 322–3, 361, - 406, 410. - - Concerts given by prisoners, 178, 301, 304, 310, 328, 342, 350, 423. - - Contraband traffic in prisoners (_see also_ Straw-plaiting, Unfair - trading), 43, 121, 142, 147–9, 158–9, 169, 203–4, 211–12, 218, 243, - 251, 288, 294. - - Contractors, 6, 14, 47–50, 119, 209–10, 258, 270; - fraudulent (_see also_ Frauds practised on prisoners), 2, 6, 15, - 47–50, 63, 85, 152, 201–2, 209, 211, 216, 227–8, 247, 250. - - Cooke, agent at Sissinghurst, 127, 129–30. - - Cooper, Sarah, 58, 302–3. - - Corbière, Édouard, 228–33. - - Correspondence of prisoners, 26, 53, 102, 127–8, 132, 194, 322–4, 353; - clandestine, 81, 118–19, 176, 212, 282, 291–2, 305, 309, 372; - of parole prisoners, to be submitted to the agent and to Transport - Office, 286–8, 293, 341–2, 401, 416, 421. - - Corsaires; _see_ Privateers. - - Cost of hulks and prisons, 51–2, 197, 208, 238, 240. - - Cotgrave, Captain Isaac, Governor of Dartmoor Prison, 119, 122, 248–9, - 251, 280. - - Courts and codes of justice among prisoners (_see also_ Self-government - among prisoners), 56, 76, 83, 86, 156, 221–2, 230. - - Coutts’ Bank, 312, 328. - - Cowan family, 197–9, 201, 206. - - Cranbrook, 126–7, 129, 400, 403, 410. - - Crediton, 284, 298, 370, 407–8, 445. - - Croker, J. W., 75, 370. - - _Crown_ (Portsmouth hulk), 43, 66–71, 95, 103–8, 111–12. - - _Crown Prince_ (Chatham hulk), 79, 82, 84–90, 152, 283. - - Cupar, 298, 317. - - - Danish prisoners, 2, 25, 34, 41, 84, 90, 96, 333–4. 396, 432 (_see - also_ 65–6). - - Dartmoor, 34, 44, 52, 82, 89–90, 99, 100, 118, 122–3, 166, 212–13, - 235–61, 276, 279–80, 283, 432, 447, 450. - - De Winter, Admiral, 449. - - Deal, 57, 120, 266, 268, 304, 369, 371–2, 374. - - Debts of prisoners, 337–8, 356, 385, 393, 397, 437. - - Decourbes, Captain, 437–8, 451. - - Derby, 413. - - Derouge, Dr., 279–80, 283. - - Descendants of prisoners, 184, 307–8, 333, 360, 417, 424, 452. - - Directory, French, 12–14, 16–18, 227. - - Disguise, Escapes in, 92, 102, 107–9, 160–1, 169, 178, 219, 221–2, - 225–6, 232–4, 243–4, 247, 254, 280–1, 368, 381–2, 388. - - Dismissal of officials, 71, 99, 140, 204, 211–12, 217, 294, 297, 393, - 398. - - Doctors, prison, 12, 152, 191, 210, 217, 222, 249, 265; - prison-ship, 51, 52, 72–3,81, 99, 104; - doctors and surgeons among the prisoners, 30, 306, 324. 333, 335, 341 - 356, 360, 383, 396–7, 416, 432. - - Dogs and prisoners, 13, 70–1, 183, 213–14, 223, 428. - - Doisy de Villargennes, Sous-lieut., 217–18, 326–32. - - Dorchester, 117–18. - - Dover, 25–6, 28, 56–7, 103, 106, 266, 292, 369, 371, 382. - - Draper, Captain, agent at Norman Cross, 36, 119, 134–5. - - Dubreuil, prisoner on Portsmouth hulks, 112–3. - - Dubreuil, privateer captain, 60, 303–4. - - Duckworth, Admiral, 260, 302. - - Duels in the prisons, 172, 177, 198, 203, 212, 241, 255; - between prisoners on parole, 58, 325, 338, 413, 418, 428–9, 437–8, - 450; - on the hulks, 59, 93–4; - with improvised weapons, 93, 161, 229, 242, 355. - - Dufresne, Francis, 170, 184, 200. - - Dumanoir, Rear-Admiral, 446–7. - - Dumbarton Castle, 116, 372. - - Dumfries, 196, 298, 317, 339–44, 356. - - Dundas, General, 272. - - Dundas, Viscount, 19, 116. - - Dundee, 156–7, 161–2, 285. - - Dunkirk, 106, 153, 204 _n._, 285, 306. - - Dupin, Captain (afterwards Baron), 40, 43–4, 391. - - Durand, Felix, his escape from Liverpool, 188–91. - - Dutch prisoners, 2, 17, 20, 25, 31, 34, 84, 139, 203, 208, 266–7, 272, - 286, 333–4, 390, 449, 452. - - Dyer, agent at Penryn, 404. - - Dyer, doctor at Dartmoor, 249. - - Dymchurch, 371. - - - East Dereham, 269, 453. - - Eborall, parole agent at Lichfield, 297, 304. - - Edinburgh, 115, 202, 269–77, 316, 328, 350, 389. - - Elphinstone, Mountstuart, 277. - - Enchmarsh, agent at Tiverton, 294, 393. - - Epidemics, 38, 44, 86, 90, 99, 143, 217, 241, 246, 250, 254, 263, 450. - - Epitaphs on prisoners, 252, 339, 344, 419, 451–4 - - Escape agents (_see also_ Smugglers), 26, 29, 281, 304, 365–75, 380, - 382–3. - - Escape-aiders, 29, 57–8, 96, 100, 102, 106, 111, 151, 158, 172, 221, - 244, 247, 272, 281–2, 287–8, 299, 304–5, 311–2, 320, 365–7, 373–7, - 381, 384–5, 418, 424, 429, 436. - - Escape funds, 63–4, 112. - - Escapes and attempted escapes, 27–8; - from shore prisons, 115; - Sissinghurst, 128–9; - Norman Cross, 139–40, 146–7, 150; - Perth, 156–8, 160–65; - Portchester, 166, 169–72, 178; - Liverpool, 188–92; - Valleyfield, 200–1; - Stapleton, 211; - Forton, 215–19; - Millbay, 220–7, 230–4; - Dartmoor, 235, 238, 243–4, 246–7, 251–4, 280, 283; - other prisons, 263, 267, 269, 273–4, 363; - from the hulks, 51, 55–8, 64–6, 77, 81, 83, 87–8, 92–4, 102, 104–13, - 247; - of prisoners on parole, 54, 57, 74, 77, 242, 278–83, 285, 289–91, - 300, 302–4, 310–12, 314, 341, 352, 365–94, 399, 415, 424, 426–7, - 435–6; - in Scotland, 316, 320, 341, 350, 354–5, 370, 389; - in Wales, 363; - of prisoners on the march, 136, 142, 268, 453. - - Esk Mills, 197, 206. - - Espinasse, M., 297–8, 349. - - Evacuations of prisons, 132, 151, 153, 165, 179, 183, 201, 255, 260, - 268, 270–1, 277; - of the hulks, 86, 183; - of parole places, 320–1, 332, 348, 356. - - _Examiner_ (newspaper), 31, 240. - - Excavations by prisoners; _see_ Tunnelling. - - Exchange of prisoners, 7, 10, 11, 15, 25–36, 40, 107, 170, 171, 186, - 224, 252, 265, 267, 341, 347, 367, 372, 377, 382, 384, 391, 394, - 446; - at sea, 33; - turn of exchange forfeited, 20, 123, 130, 141, 143, 265; - bought and sold, 107, 123, 141, 290. - - Executions, for forgery, 97, 123, 244, 263, 276, 439; - for murder or attempted murder, 92, 94, 123, 150, 167–8, 172, 179, - 219; - threatened for attempted escapes, 104, 146. - - Exeter, 5, 92, 97–8, 227, 252, 281–2, 284, 373–4, 376, 408. - - Exmouth, 370, 373. - - - Falmouth, 25, 265–6, 268, 281–2, 284–5. - - Fareham, 167, 170, 183. - - Farnell, agent at Ashby-de-la-Zouch, 288, 379–80. - - Feeding of prisoners, 4–7, 14–17, 47; - in the hulks, 42, 47–8, 82; - in the prisons, 138, 191; - on the march, 136; - on the cartel-ships, 26–7; - complaints as to food, 4–7, 12, 14, 21, 47, 49, 63, 78–9, 85, 136, - 151–2, 176, 191–3, 204, 209, 211, 216, 221, 258, 263, 265–6, 361. - - Fines and forfeitures, 295, 322, 355, 358, 361. - - Fires on the hulks, 95, 168; - in the prisons, 217; - in parole places, 290, 341, 359–60, 420. - - Fishguard, 156 _n._, 208, 362–3. - - Fishing-boats in time of war, 28, 40. - - Fishponds Prison, 116, 207–8. - - Floggings in Army and Navy, 55, 58, 82, 106, 139, 148, 197, 221, 244, - 390; - of prisoners, 6–7, 139–40. - - Folkestone, 57, 107, 110–11, 113, 367, 371, 374, 380–1. - - Forfar, 162. - - Forgery (_see also_ Coining), 123, 263, 439; - of bank-notes, 97–8, 149, 160, 162–3, 213, 233, 244, 250, 269, 273–6, - 320; - documents, 291–2, 396–7; - passports, 92, 97–8, 213, 263, 274, 291–2. - - Forton Prison, 5, 20, 78, 99, 115, 118, 167, 182, 215–19, 229, 238, - 262, 282, 327, 379, 393, 445. - - Fournier, Marie Louise, 420, 451. - - Frauds on prisoners by officials (_see also_ Contractors), 2, 6, 15, - 21–4, 47–9, 85, 146, 152, 216, 268, 294, 296, 312, 361–2, 406. - - Freemasons among prisoners, 182–3, 300, 301, 322, 326, 339, 345, 351, - 355, 363–4, 419, 423–4, 430, 433, 441, 453. - - French prisoners, _passim_. - - Friendly feeling towards prisoners (_see also_ Parole prisoners—insults - and injuries), 20, 150, 319, 352–3, 355–6, 387–9, 395, 411, 420, - 424–5, 428–9, 432–3, 436–7, 439–40. - - Frog- and snail-eating among French prisoners, 221, 319, 340–1, 419. - - _Fyen_ (Chatham hospital-ship), 51, 79. - - - Gambling among prisoners, 19; - on hulks, 38–9, 41, 49, 59–60, 71, 83–4, 86, 90; - in shore prisons, 100, 122, 124, 130, 141, 159, 167, 176–7, 206–7, - 209–12, 222, 245, 255–6. - - Garneray, Louis, 54, 60–74, 183, 310–12, 396. - - Garnier, Lieut., 374, 418. - - Garnier, Sous-lieut. Pierre, 420, 451. - - Garrison in prisons and prison-ships (_see also_ Floggings, Marines, - Militia), 61, 77, 119, 126, 136, 146, 148–9, 152–3, 169–70, 196, - 248. - - Gentz, Major, 178, 181. - - George, Sir Rupert, 19, 117, 392, 434. - - German prisoners, 220, 339, 342, 351, 355–7. - - Ghent, Treaty of, 254–5. - - Gibb, Henry, 317–18. - - Gibbs, Vicary, 241. - - Gicquel des Touches, Lieut., 299–300. - - Gille, Philippe, at Portchester, 175, 179–83, 185. - - Gillingham, 44, 46, 52, 84, 87, 94. - - _Glory_ (Chatham hulk), 79, 283. - - Gosport, 65, 102, 104, 115, 156 _n._, 262, 327, 427. - - Goudhurst, 284, 408–10. - - Grades among prisoners, 59, 245. - - Gramont, Comte de, 408. - - Grand pré (_see also_ Parc, Pré), 176. - - ‘Greenhorn,’ an American prisoner (quoted), 255–6. - - Greenlaw, 196–206, 352. - - Grenville, Lord, 19, 289. - - Guernsey, 264, 284. - - Guildford, 281, 302–3, 365. - - - Half-rations, and other short allowances, as punishments, 7, 8, 20, 21, - 55, 63, 93, 122–3, 128–30, 139, 141, 151, 193, 221, 223, 254, 263, - 283, 399. - - Hambledon, 7, 294, 298. - - Hanoverian army, 32, 35. - - ‘Harman, Captain Richard’ (_see_ Herbert, Feast Moore,) escape agent, - 281, 367–71. - - Hastings, 110, 367–8, 375. - - d’Hautpol, Marquis, 312–15, 418. - - Havas, Captain (privateer), 107–11. - - Haverfordwest, 156 _n._, 362. - - Havre, 25, 40, 93. - - Havre de Grâce, 102. - - Hawick, 298, 317, 324, 350–4, 356. - - _Hector_ (Plymouth hulk), 248–9. - - Helston, 8, 284, 404. - - d’Henin, General, 305, 416. - - Herbert, Charles, American prisoner, 220–4. - - Herbert, _alias_ of Feast Moore (q. v.), 367, 370. - - Hesse-Darmstadt Infantry, 354, 356–7. - - Hole-boring by prisoners (_see also_ Tunnelling), on the hulks, 56, 59, - 60, 64, 66–7, 87, 92, 105, 107–8, 112; - in shore-prisons, 143, 147, 162, 177, 189, 215, 225, 259, 273–4. - - Hospitals, 6, 18, 20, 27, 29, 51, 122, 144, 155, 167, 183, 191, 193, - 198, 208, 210, 220, 224, 227, 263–6, 272, 288–9, 361, 450; - hospital ships, 51–2, 72–3, 79, 86, 98–9, 262. - - Howard, John, 116, 191–3, 208, 216, 224, 262–3, 271–2, 360–1. - - l’Huille, Jean de, 420, 451. - - Hulks (_see also_ Chatham, Portsmouth, _and_ Plymouth hulks), 1, 24, - 37–114, 135, 185, 225, 276, 284, 313, 327, 384–5, 395, 398. - - Hunter, James, 388–9. - - Huntingdon, 149–51. - - Hutchison, Captain, 82, 88. - - Hythe, 380–81. - - - Ilfracombe, 362, 393. - - Illegitimate children of prisoners on parole, 279, 301, 308–9, 325, - 339, 358–9, 426. - - Immorality among prisoners, 59, 76, 81, 87, 91, 161, 229. - - Impressment of prisoners (_see also_ Recruiting), 11, 84, 89, 96. - - Inchbonny, 346–7. - - Independence Day (American) celebrated in prisons, 89, 222, 249, 252. - - _Independent Whig_ (newspaper), 31, 239. - - Indian (American) prisoner, 88. - - Informers, 92, 160, 230, 253, 263–5, 279, 283, 302, 388. - - Inquests on prisoners, 142, 171, 212, 241, 427, 438. - - Inquiries, Official, into prisoners’ complaints, 14, 15, 19, 71, 88, - 129–30, 138, 209, 252, 260. - - Insubordination and mutiny among prisoners, 34, 93, 115, 136, 141, 146, - 164, 171, 192, 208, 215–7, 262, 314, 362. - - Invalided prisoners, 25, 28–9, 31, 52, 55–6, 81. - - Invasion of England, Rumoured, 117–18, 144–5, 182, 392. - - _Irresistible_ (Chatham hulk), 79, 88. - - Italian prisoners, 34, 203, 333, 335, 339, 342, 413, 422, 425. - - Ivan, privateer captain, 231–3. - - - Jedburgh, 298, 316–17, 345–50, 356, 371, 388–9. - - Jew traders in the prisons, 257–8. - - Johns, escape-agent, 383. - - Jones, Charles (Admiralty solicitor), 282–3, 366, 368–9. - - Jones, Paul, privateer, 192. - - - Kelso, 298, 316–7, 319–24, 332, 341, 345–356, 370, 426. - - Kemble, John, 448. - - Kergilliack, 115, 264–5. - - King’s Lynn, 25, 136, 139–41, 151, 153, 268–9. - - Kinsale, 285. - - Kirkcaldy, 156–7. - - Knight and Jones, Admiralty solicitors (_see also_ Jones, Charles), - 282. - - Knowle, near Bristol, 116, 207, 208. - - - La Tour d’Auvergne, 442–5. - - Lace-manufacture at Portchester, 176–7. - - Lamy, Germain, 217–18, 327. - - Lanark, 298. - - Lane, Captain, inspector of prisons, 227–8. - - Language difficulties, 348, 355, 422. - - Larpent, Commissioner, 260. - - Lauder, 297–8, 317, 354–6, 370. - - Launceston, 278, 280–4, 290, 294, 297–8, 352, 376, 411, 439. - - Lavau, Ciprian, 420, 451. - - Lavender, Bow Street officer, 390, 436. - - Lawson, Dr. George, 325–6, 345. - - Lebertre, Colonel, 51, 75, 100, 101. - - Leek (Staffs.), 294, 298, 308, 392, 419, 437, 439, 444, 451–2. - - Lefebvre, General, 295–6, 378. - - Lefebvre-Desnouettes, General, 371, 373, 382. - - Leicester, 306, 413, 436–7. - - Le Jeune, Baron, 378–82. - - Le Jeune, Captain, 430–1. - - Lessons given by prisoners, on the hulks, 60, 63–5, 86, 104, 108; - in shore prisons, 176, 181, 229, 234; - in Dartmoor, 242, 251, 255, 257; - on parole, 290–1, 299, 312, 416, 418, 432–3, 435; - in Scotland, 319–20, 342, 350; - after release, 297–8, 300, 342, 349, 440. - - L’Huille, Jean de, 420, 451. - - Lichfield, 60, 290, 297–8, 303–4, 382, 384, 387, 393, 395, 439. - - ‘Light Dragoon, The’, 173–5. - - Linlithgow, 116, 273. - - Linois, Captain (afterwards Admiral Count), 103, 448. - - Liverpool, 5, 15, 19, 115, 117–8, 186–95, 269. - - Liverpool, Lord, 142, 403. - - Llanfyllin, 298, 357–8. - - Lochmaben, 298, 341, 356. - - Lockerbie, 298, 356. - - Lodgings of parole prisoners, 328, 334, 338, 340, 400–1, 404–5, 418, - 432–3. - - Louis XVIII, 182, 312, 314, 342–3, 353, 449. - - Lowestoft, 269. - - Lucas, Captain, of the _Redoutable_, 446. - - Ludlow, 358, 448. - - Lynn; _see_ King’s Lynn. - - - Mackenzie, representative of Great Britain, 34–5. - - Magrath, prison doctor at Dartmoor, 252, 254–6, 260. - - Maidstone, 94, 131, 371, 374, 400, 401, 409. - - Majendie, Captain, French prisoner on parole, 446. - - Malingering, 81, 105, 144. - - Manchester, 117–18. - - Mantell, agent at Dover, 369–70. - - Marines on prison-ships, 77, 85, 88, 90, 91, 94. - - Markets in the prisons, 155, 161, 163, 175, 201, 205, 213, 238–9, 245, - 250, 327–8; - daily markets, 200, 208, 242, 280, 363; - for foodstuffs, &c., 158–9, 173, 239, 251, 256–7; - for prisoners’ manufactures, 135, 158–9, 165, 173, 193, 203, 212–13, - 221, 242–3, 252, 270–1, 363; - Sunday markets, 220; - markets stopped (or prisoners debarred from market) as punishment, 7, - 88, 122, 141, 164, 249, 257; - market boats, 78, 88. - - Marriages of prisoners, 97, 132, 150, 170–1, 191, 266, 305, 307–9, 317, - 320, 338, 343–4, 349, 357, 360, 363, 374, 414, 416–17, 424–5, - 429–30, 434. - - Maurer, Lieut., 354, 356. - - Maurin, General, 295–6, 383. - - Maxwell, Dr., Admiralty Commissioner, 129, 131. - - Meadow (_see also_ Grand pré, Parc, Pré), 9. - - Medical attendance (_see also_ Doctors, Epidemics, Hospitals, - Surgeons), 12, 14–15, 39; - in the prisons, 5, 122, 152, 161, 176, 191, 210, 222, 249; - on the hulks, 39, 41, 43, 50–2, 72–3, 98–9, 104; - on cartel ships, 26; - for parole prisoners, 288, 352. - - Melrose, 298, 317, 326, 345. - - Memorials to prisoners (_see also_ Epitaphs), 46, 134, 198–9, 261. - - Merchant sailors as prisoners, 5, 29, 84, 285–6, 373, 383, 400. - - ‘Merchants’ in the prisons, 63, 143. - - Mere, Wilts., 156 _n._, 426–7. - - Midshipmen, French and English, 286, 320, 333, 335, 338, 373, 444, 451. - - Milestone stories, 329, 346, 350, 415, 434. - - Military and Naval authority in prisons, Relations of, 119, 132, 138, - 145, 148. - - Militia, 95, 192, 215, 316, 333–4, 337, 362, 388; - as prison-garrison, at Dartmoor, 235, 243–5, 248, 251, 258–60; - at Greenlaw and Valleyfield, 196–7, 200, 204, 206; - at Norman Cross, 134, 146–7, 149, 151; - at Perth, 155, 158, 160; - at Portchester, 169, 182; - at other prisons, 129–30, 208, 217, 223, 273–5, 350, 361, 391. - - Millbay Prison, 5, 115, 118, 208, 214, 220–35, 238, 395, 399, 445. - - Milne, Captain, of the _Bahama_, 56, 58–9. - - Money-allowances to prisoners, 4–6, 16, 96, 116, 143, 173, 251, 256, - 270, 361; - on parole, 5, 21, 288, 292, 299, 312, 322, 328, 335, 352, 355, 358, - 360–1, 372, 413, 415, 428, 433; - on the march, 136, 390. - - Money earned or saved by prisoners, 14, 65, 123–4, 130, 153, 165, 176, - 181, 193, 203, 205, 218–20, 229, 242, 245, 250–1, 256; - on parole, 350; - on the hulks, 65. - - Monopoly of sales to prisoners, 78, 127, 152, 222, 249. - - Montgomery, 32, 298, 305, 308, 358–9, 414. - - Montrose, 156, 161. - - Moore, Thomas Feast (escape agent), _alias_ Harman, Herbert, q. v., - 281, 281 _n._, 367–71. - - Moras, De, French Administrator, 5–7, 27. - - More, Hannah, 411. - - Moreton-Hampstead, 282, 297–8, 371, 373, 453. - - Moriarty, Captain, 163–5, 292. - - Morlaix, 25, 27, 30, 34–5, 81, 150, 281, 309, 314, 394. - - Mortality among prisoners, 12, 19, 32, 43–4, 143, 151, 172, 184, 193, - 198, 207, 209, 217, 240–1, 246, 263, 450; - on parole, 450; - on the hulks, 12, 38, 41, 43–4, 86, 90, 450. - - Motte, Alexander de la, 300, 440. - - Murders and other crimes of violence by prisoners, 7, 39, 56, 71, 92–4, - 123, 129, 149, 160, 167–8, 172, 178–9, 198, 210, 218–19, 231, 241, - 252, 314. - - - Nakedness among prisoners, 9, 10, 18, 21, 49, 66, 77, 99, 156, 172, - 201, 209, 247, 270, 378; - due to gambling, 19, 38, 122, 130, 205–7, 209–10, 245; - due to improvidence, 76, 143, 177, 229. - - Napoleon; _see_ Bonaparte. - - Negro prisoners, 75, 221–2, 251, 257–8, 267, 334, 447. - - Newburgh, 158, 165. - - Newcastle-on-Tyne, 285, 388. - - Newtown, 298, 358–60. - - Niou, French agent, 18, 141. - - Nivernois, Duc de, 292. - - Nixon, Agent at Hawick, 298, 352–3. - - Norman Cross, 31, 36, 38, 77, 79, 108, 117–18, 121, 133–54, 144, 166, - 176, 201, 209, 213, 238, 243, 268–9, 276, 368, 390, 417, 450. - - North Tawton, 281, 298. - - Northampton, 298. - - Norwegian prisoners, 90, 267. - - - Obscene toys and pictures made by prisoners, 140, 142, 243. - - Odiham, 54, 56–8, 298, 301–3, 307, 328, 372, 385, 395, 403, 405, 420, - 435–6, 453–4. - - Officers and privates imprisoned together, 12, 62–3, 75–7, 140, 150, - 193, 229–30, 264, 398–9. - - Okehampton, 97, 281–2, 284–5, 298, 374, 383, 387–8, 393, 399, 434–5, - 452. - - Oratory of American prisoners, 83, 86, 89. - - Ormskirk, 191–2. - - Osmore, Commodore, 85, 87–90. - - Osten, General, 368, 382. - - Oswestry, 298, 307–8, 314, 374, 393, 396, 401, 417–19, 440. - - Otto, French agent in England, 19, 20, 143, 170. - - Overcrowding in prison-ships, 51, 63, 77, 115, 135, 235, 379; - in prisons, 136, 173, 250, 252, 361. - - - Pageot, General, 291, 414. - - Paintings by prisoners, 126, 181, 183, 278, 319, 334, 336, 347, 350, - 354, 357, 360, 414, 424, 427. - - Paolucci, 77, 367–9. - - Parc (_see also_ Grand pré, Meadow, Pré), 9, 59, 75. - - Paris, 382; - Peace of, 132, 271; - Treaty of, 74, 151, 213, 312. - - Parole, 58, 60, 74, 125–7, 150, 274, 278, 284–454; - abuse of parole, 119, 372; - breaches of parole (_see also Escapes_), 7, 25–7, 29, 33, 54, 57, - 74–7, 98, 201, 212, 229, 242, 250–1, 285, 289–90, 301, 304, 310, - 350, 365–94, 398–9, 413–14, 435–6; - in Scotland, 271, 316–56; - in Wales, 357–60, 363–4; - insults and injuries offered to prisoners on parole, 12, 40, 287, - 299–301, 311, 313, 348–9, 359, 390, 400–10, 421, 437–8, 442–4; - numbers on parole, 117, 118, 293, 297, 310, 312, 314, 321, 325, 334, - 343, 350, 352, 354, 356–7, 359, 379, 388, 404, 413, 415, 421, 428; - parole-limits (_see also_ Milestone-stories, Rewards), 126, 150, - 286–7, 291, 295, 310, 317, 324, 328–9, 331, 334, 346, 349, 355, - 366, 396, 400, 412–3, 415, 421, 423, 428–9, 432, 434–5, 445; - parole relaxations, 289–91, 383, 400; - parole obligations refused by prisoners, 103, 105, 112, 302; - parole withdrawn, 13, 320, 333, 392; - prisoners allowed abroad on parole, 25, 377–8, 391; - ranks admitted to parole, 5, 37, 256, 285–6, 271, 447. - - Patterson, Commander William, 178, 180, 183. - - Peebles, 196–7, 298, 317, 332–40. - - Pembroke, 116, 271, 360–3. - - Pendennis Castle, 266. - - Penicuik, 118, 149, 164, 196–7, 199, 201–2, 206, 273–4, 328, 350. - - Penryn, 264, 398, 404, 445. - - Perrot, James, agent at Norman Cross, 136, 139–40. - - Perth, 44, 118, 121, 155–66, 176, 238, 271, 276, 292. - - Peterborough, 117, 133, 135–6, 139, 142, 146–7, 150–1, 154, 268–9, 298. - - Petersfield, 7, 110, 281, 284, 406. - - Petitions from prisoners, for change of residence, 289–90, 297, 341, - 397, 403, 405, 410. - - Phillipon, General, 99, 374, 418. - - Phillpotts, Mr. Eden, 238–9, 249. - - Pillet, General, 20, 22–4, 35, 76–8, 151–2, 183, 291, 367–8. - - Pillory, 135, 374. - - Plymouth (_see also_ Millbay), 15, 25, 27, 49, 91–2, 98, 115, 118, 156, - 180, 220, 223–7, 230–3, 243, 247, 258, 283, 292; - hulks at, 51, 92, 95, 97–9, 118, 235, 246–9, 283, 314, 397, 399, 445, - 447. - - Poerio, Colonel, 386. - - Polish prisoners, 194, 321, 333, 335–6, 339, 395, 423, 452. - - Portchester Castle, 5–7, 18, 32, 34, 78, 109, 115, 117–8, 120, 126, - 136, 154, 162, 166–85, 200, 215, 229, 262, 276, 363, 445. - - Portchester River, 66. - - Portsmouth (_see also_ Forton, Gosport, Portchester), 6, 25, 40, 60, - 74, 78, 82, 98, 103–4, 117–18, 162, 168, 172, 174–5, 179, 181, - 217–18, 247, 288–9, 294, 302, 311–12, 327, 396, 440, 445, 447; - hulks at, 12, 24, 43–4, 51, 60, 75, 78, 92–5, 97–8, 103, 118, 175, - 180, 182–3, 247, 294, 302–3, 310, 312, 314, 378–9, 445, 449–50. - - Portuguese prisoners, 34, 36, 422. - - Pré (_see also_ Grand pré, Meadow, Parc), 229. - - Pressland, Captain, 119, 144–6, 148, 151–2. - - Princetown, 249, 261, 434. - - Prison-hunting, 115–17, 125, 135. - - Privateersmen, on the hulks, 54, 56, 64, 81, 107, 327, 397–8; - in shore prisons, 142, 170, 192, 231, 245, 256, 264–6, 269–71; - on parole, 29, 60, 278, 285–6, 303, 314, 320, 354, 373, 383, 395, - 397–8, 400, 439; - American, 11, 186, 188; - English, 29, 226; - French, 10, 12, 93, 98, 106–7, 110–13, 186, 188, 229, 233, 252, 269; - money allowances to, 5. - - Privé, General, 372, 421. - - _Prothée_ (Portsmouth hulk), 43, 61, 64–6. - - Public works by prisoners, 252, 261, 268, 413. - - Pugilism, 64, 68–70, 242, 255. - - Puppet shows in the prisons, 159, 173, 176. - - - Quanti, on parole at Moreton-Hampstead, 453. - - Quantin, prisoner at Portchester, 185. - - Quiller-Couch, Sir A., 264, 427. - - - Raffalés, Les, 59, 63, 71, 76, 177, 229. - - Reading, special parole town, 290, 294, 298, 375, 390, 396, 437, 445. - - Recruiting among prisoners, 85–6, 224, 267. - - Redruth, 284, 291, 410. - - Regilliack, 264–5. - - Regulations, Prison-, to be hung in sight of prisoners, 191, 224, - 271–2, 360–1. - - Releases of prisoners, 86, 95, 98, 157, 191, 201, 251, 255, 303, 347, - 355, 356, 402, 416, 439–40. - - Religious ministrations among prisoners, 96–7, 120–1, 140–1, 145, 167, - 179, 214, 224, 229, 257, 267, 411, 417, 424, 430–1, 439. - - Remittances to prisoners, 176, 288, 293, 312–13, 335, 352. - - Residence of prisoners in England after release, 297–8, 300, 307, 339, - 342–3, 349, 358, 360, 411, 417, 424–5, 440. - - Rewards offered, for information as to breaches of parole, 287, 310, - 329, 346–7, 387, 404–5, 428; - as to escape-aiders, 363, 424; - as to escaped prisoners, 7, 263, 376, 389, 390, 435; - as to forgeries, 274–6; - by French Government, 387. - - Richmond, Surrey, 393, 435. - - Riotous proceedings of prisoners on parole, 321–2, 330–1. - - Riouffe, a French prisoner, 420, 451. - - Rochambeau, General, 144–5, 242, 413, 416, 425–7. - - Rochester, 79, 94, 212. - - Rohan, Prince de, 400. - - Roll-call on prison-ships, 41, 62, 65–6; - roll-call tricks, 66–7, 87, 94, 104, 139, 225, 243; - in the prisons, 163, 175, 251, 257; - of parole prisoners, 292, 388, 416, 426. - - Romanes, agent at Lauder, 297–8. - - ‘Romans’, 52, 99, 229, 245–50, 255. - - Romsey, 284, 400. - - Roscoff, 30, 105. - - Roscrow, 115, 264–6. - - Ross, Captain, of _Crown_ hulk, Portsmouth, 108, 111–12. - - ‘Rough Alleys’ in Dartmoor, 255–8. - - Round-robins, 220, 399, 404. - - Rousseau, a French prisoner, 56, 59, 302–3. - - Roxburgh, 316; Duchess of, 320. - - Royal Bounty (French), 4, 6–7, 167. - - _Royal Oak_ (Plymouth hulk), 92, 397. - - Royalists among the French prisoners, 165, 179, 182, 342, 353, 418–9. - - Rufin, General, 440. - - Russian prisoners, 423, 452. - - Rye, 110, 304, 374–5. - - - St. Aubin, on parole at Alresford, 420; - prisoner at Portchester, 175–9, 181. - - St. Budock, Falmouth, 264, 266. - - St. Malo, 25, 183, 233, 314, 363, 453. - - St. Valéry, 28, 355. - - Salaries of parole agents, 293; - prison agents, 146; - prison-ship commanders, 39. - - Sale and purchase (or loss by gambling) of clothes and bedding, 8, 19, - 20, 38, 41, 60, 63, 76, 78, 122, 128, 130, 143–4, 159, 167, 177, - 206, 210, 221, 270; - of rations, 14, 16, 20, 39, 41, 60, 63, 122, 143, 167, 177, 209–10, - 250, 256–7; - of rights to exchange and transference, 56, 107, 123, 141, 290; - of sleeping accommodation, 63, 76, 78. - - _Sampson_ (Gillingham hulk), 52, 79, 80, 93, 98. - - _San Antonio_ (Portsmouth hulk), 43, 67, 108, 111, 379. - - _San Damaso_ (Portsmouth hulk), 43, 94. - - _San Rafael_ (Plymouth hulk), 92, 98. - - Sands, Mr. W. H., 134. - - Sanquhar, 298, 317, 333, 337–9, 395. - - Savoy prison, London, 58, 115. - - Scott, Sir Walter, 116, 199, 316, 329–30, 335. - - Self-government among prisoners (_see also_ Courts and codes of - justice), 15, 16, 60, 63, 76, 83, 86, 229, 231, 245–6, 256. - - Selkirk, 298, 316–17, 324–32, 345. - - Seven Years’ War, 4, 29, 115, 167, 186, 188, 215, 264, 268–9, 284, 365, - 398, 403, 412–3, 449. - - Sevenoaks, 284, 305–6, 367, 390, 406. - - Sheerness, 54, 205. - - Ship-model making, 176, 211, 218, 255, 334, 416. - - Shooting and stabbing of prisoners, 61, 205; - a cautionary measure, 56; - a coercive measure, 59, 171, 250, 259–60, 267; - a punitive measure, 80, 204; - by jailors and sentries, 12–13, 130–2, 208, 361; - of escaping prisoners, 56, 64, 88, 94, 107, 128–9, 142, 163, 174, - 198, 200, 201, 216–7, 254, 453; - threatened, 71. - - Shortland, Captain, agent at Dartmoor, 253–4, 257–60. - - Shrewsbury, 117–8, 266–8. - - ‘Sick and Hurt’ Office, 3, 4, 16, 28, 30–1, 117, 131, 138, 167, 216, - 268, 387–8, 400, 401, 406–7. - - Simon, General, 116, 372, 435–6. - - Sissinghurst Castle, 5, 8, 115, 125–32, 306, 398–9, 401, 403–4, 406. - - Sleeping accommodation of prisoners, on the hulks, 62–3, 76–8, 90, - 100–1; - in the prisons, 5, 12, 15, 19, 27, 138, 173, 180, 183, 188, 191, 193, - 212, 216–8, 238, 264–5, 268, 271, 361; - on ships of war, 82; - in French prisons, 9, 27; - in the hospitals, 216, 263, 266, 272. - - Smith, J., agent at Kelso, 298, 321–4. - - Smith, agent at Thame, 294–5, 297, 301, 378. - - Smith, agent at Winchester, 263. - - Smugglers, 26; - as escape-aiders, 74, 110–11, 233, 273, 304, 312, 366, 368–9, 371, - 373, 381–3, 385, 424, 426–8. - - Sodbury, Glos., 284, 407. - - South Molton, a parole town, 298. - - Southampton, 115, 172, 400. - - Southampton Water, 111, 262. - - Souville, _maître d’armes_, 242. - - Souville, Tom, 103–114. - - Spanish prisoners, 2, 34, 36, 94, 166, 171, 191–2, 203, 208, 228, 286, - 342, 390, 420, 422, 445. - - Spettigue, agent at Launceston, 279, 281, 294. - - Spies among the prisoners, 76, 96, 358. - - ‘Spoon-fashion’, Sleeping in, 59–60, 155, 229, 245. - - Stapleton Prison, 19, 20, 32, 98, 116–18, 120–1, 166, 176, 207–14, 229, - 238, 241, 252, 276, 385, 398, 401–2, 447. - - _Statesman_ (newspaper), 21–3, 31, 35, 85. - - Stevenson, escape-agent, 304, 371. - - Stilton, 118, 121, 133, 139, 145–9, 153. - - Stoffel, Colonel, 380–2. - - Straw-plaiting by prisoners, 43, 65, 158, 176, 190, 203, 205, 229, 255, - 319, 416; - a contraband trade, 43, 121, 142, 147–9, 158–9, 169, 203–4, 211–12, - 218, 243, 251. - - Subscriptions in aid of prisoners, 7–11, 20, 32, 48, 99, 122, 128, 192, - 206–7, 216, 221–3, 267–70. - - _Suffolk_ (Portsmouth hulk), 43, 108. - - Suicides among prisoners, 210, 212, 241, 251, 254, 320–1, 421, 423, - 427, 437–8. - - Support of prisoners by their own country, 8, 10, 14, 16–19, 31–2, - 116–17, 209. - - Surgeons as prisoners of war, 29–30. - - Surveillance of contractors and officials, 2, 8, 15, 136, 227, 263, - 293, 362. - - Swedish prisoners, 41, 90, 267. - - Swiss prisoners, 335, 343. - - - Tallien, 447–8. - - Talma, 448. - - Tate, General, his invasion of England, 208, 362–3. - - Tavistock, 247, 279–80, 283–4, 297–8, 387–8, 395, 398, 410, 434, 436. - - Tawton, 281, 298. - - Tenterden, 95, 284–5, 305, 400–2, 410, 452. - - Thame, 54, 294–5, 297–8, 300, 301, 308–9, 378, 395–6, 421. - - Theatrical performances by prisoners, on the hulks, 104, 185; - in Dartmoor, 246–7, 251, 255, 257–8; - at Liverpool, 15, 193; - at Millbay, 229; - at Portchester, 108–9, 178, 180–1, 183–5; - on parole, 301, 310, 423; - in Scotland, 318–21, 326, 328, 331, 333, 335–7, 350–1. - - Tiverton, 33, 144, 292, 294, 298–300, 369, 374, 391, 393, 398, 403, - 439–40, 446–7. - - Tonbridge, 284, 404. - - Topsham, 370, 373. - - Torrington, 284, 405. - - Tothill-fields prison, 372. - - Trades and professions among the prisoners (_see also_ Articles made by - prisoners, Lessons given, Money earned), on the hulks, 63, 103–4; - in the prisons, 123–4, 144, 173, 176, 218, 251–2, 255, 271; - on parole, 333–4, 349, 396, 416. - - Transferences of prisoners, 38, 52, 79, 89, 90–1, 164, 192, 213, 215, - 289, 314, 318, 337, 392–3, 395, 398, 417, 425–8. - - Transport Office, _passim_. - - _Trusty_ (Chatham hospital ship), 52, 79. - - Tunnelling, &c., as a means to escape (_see also_ Hole-boring), at - Dartmoor, 252–3, 257; - Millbay, 220–3, 230; - Perth, 160–4; - at other prisons, 126, 147, 171, 173–4, 200, 215–16, 264–5, 269, 363. - - - Unfair trading by prisoners, Complaints of, 43, 142, 147–8, 177–8, 181, - 185, 203–4, 211–12, 218, 228, 396. - - - Valleyfield, 79, 118, 149, 157, 197–206, 238, 271, 273, 275, 292, 320, - 333, 341. - - Vanhille, Louis, 243, 278–83. - - Veitch, James, 346–7. - - _Vengeance_ (Portsmouth hulk), 43, 71–4, 108, 312. - - Ventilation, on the hulks, 41–2, 51, 61–2, 76–8, 104; - on ships of war, 82; - in the prisons, 12, 143–4. - - Verdun, 23, 36, 333 _n._ - - _Veteran_ (Portsmouth hulk), 43, 109. - - _Vigilant_ (Portsmouth hulk), 43, 92–3, 99. - - Villaret-Joyeuse, General, 378, 421. - - Villeneuve, Admiral, 445–6. - - Virion, General, 23, 36. - - Vochez, French official, 12, 227–8. - - - Waddell, smuggler and escape-agent, 371, 382–3. - - Wales, Prisoners of War in, 357–64. - - Wansford, 147, 150. - - Wantage, 212, 291, 295–8, 308, 383. - - Waterhouse, Benjamin, 82–91, 256. - - Weapons, wearing of, by prisoners, 442, 445–6. - - Weir, Dr., of the Transport Board, 210, 294. - - Wellington, Duke of, 34, 184, 373, 427. - - Welshpool, 291, 298, 360, 383, 396. - - Wesley, John, 116, 207. - - Whitbread, Samuel, M.P., 211, 240. - - Whitchurch, 285, 298, 396. - - Whitstable, 367, 369, 371. - - Wigan, 192. - - Wincanton, 156 _n._, 295, 298, 308, 338, 351–2, 391, 393, 398, 403, - 421–8, 445, 452. - - Winchester, 97, 115, 167–8, 172, 179, 219, 262–3, 281, 289, 367, 390, - 406, 410. - - Winter, Admiral De, 449. - - Wives of paroled prisoners, 194, 373–4, 382, 417, 434, 448, 451–3. - - Women prisoners, 13, 99, 104, 156, 170–1. - - Woodriff, Captain Daniel, R.N., 36, 78, 108, 136, 139–41, 143–4. - - Worcester, 391, 448. - - Wye, in Kent, 284, 397, 404. - - - Yarmouth, 31, 268–9. - - Yaxley, 133–6, 150, 153. - ------ - -Footnote 1: - - Vol. iii. (1790 ed.), pp. 66–7. - -Footnote 2: - - _Quarterly Review_, vol. xxvi, No. 51, Art. I (December 1821). - -Footnote 3: - - ‘Prepare to tack!’ - -Footnote 4: - - See _Lavengro_, chap. iv. - -Footnote 5: - - _Historical Sketch of the old Dépôt or Prison for French Prisoners of - War at Perth._ By William Sievwright. Perth: 1894. - -Footnote 6: - - This is not the only instance of a church being used as a dormitory - for prisoners on the march. When the officers at Wincanton were - marched to Gosport _en route_ for Scotland in 1812 they slept in the - church at Mere, Wiltshire, and the prisoners taken at Fishguard in - 1797 were lodged in the church at Haverfordwest. - -Footnote 7: - - In addition to other sources of information, the foregoing notes on - the war-prisoners in Liverpool are taken from Picton’s _Memorials of - Liverpool_; the Histories of Muir and Barnes; Stonehouse’s - _Recollections of Old Liverpool_; Gomer Williams’s _Liverpool - Privateers_; and Richard Brooke’s _Liverpool from 1775 to 1800_. - -Footnote 8: - - I quote this between inverted commas, as I cannot help questioning its - accuracy. - -Footnote 9: - - In Glencorse churchyard is a cross upon which is engraved: ‘Ici repose - Charles Cotier de Dunquerque, mort 8 Janv., 1807.’ - -Footnote 10: - - Other authorities give the height of the outer wall as eight feet, - which was raised in 1812 to twelve feet, and of the inner wall as - twelve feet. - -Footnote 11: - - A recent visit to Kergilliack revealed nothing more than a large field - behind Kergilliack upper farm, bounded by an unusually massive wall, - and said to have been the prison exercising ground, and outside it a - tumulus locally reputed to mark the prison burial-place, and held to - be haunted. - - An elaborately moulded plaster ceiling at Meudon Farm in Mawnan, five - miles from Kergilliack, is said to have been the work of foreign - prisoners of war. - -Footnote 12: - - To account for this extraordinary, and apparently quite unnecessary - journey, during which Vanhille seems always to have had plenty of - money, M. Pariset thinks it possible that he was really an emissary of - the committee which was at this time earnestly considering the plan of - a general rising of all the prisoners of war in England. - -Footnote 13: - - I give this as in M. Pariset’s original. I have not been able to find - that Moore ever was thus employed. He made the offer at his trial, but - the Government declined it. - -Footnote 14: - - For much pertaining to Kelso, as for other matters associated with - prisoners of war on parole in Scotland, I have to thank Mr. J. John - Vernon, Hon. Secretary of the Hawick Archaeological Society. - -Footnote 15: - - The above, and other Masonic notes which follow, are from the _History - of Freemasonry in the Province of Roxburgh, Peebles, and - Selkirkshire_, by Mr. W. Fred Vernon. - -Footnote 16: - - The rank of garde-marine in the French Navy corresponded with that of - sub-lieutenant in the British Navy; there was no rank actually - equivalent to our midshipmen. - - The British midshipmen were sources of continued anxiety and annoyance - to their custodians in their French prisons. They defied all rules and - regulations, they refused to give their parole, and were ceaseless in - their attempts to escape. ‘I wish to goodness’, said a French officer - at Bitche one evening at dinner, ‘I knew what to do to keep those - English middies within bounds!’ - - ‘There is only one way, Sir,’ said a lady at the table. - - ‘What is that?’ asked the officer eagerly. - - ‘Put them on their honour,’ replied the lady. - - General Courcelles, at Verdun, shut up 140 middies in the monastery at - St. Vannes, and made them pay for maintenance. - -Footnote 17: - - I failed to find a single grave-stone of a French prisoner of war at - Wincanton. - -Footnote 18: - - For a letter from a former Leicester prisoner of this date, the reader - may be referred to p. 306. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES - - - 1. P. 297, changed “trés sincèrement attachés, tant par les doux façons - qu’il a scu toujours avoir pour nous, même en executant” to “très - sincèrement attachés, tant par les doux façons qu’il a scu - toujours avoir pour nous, même en exécutant”. - 2. P. 405, changed “netant” to “n’etant”. - 3. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling. - 4. Retained anachronistic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as - printed. - 5. Footnotes have been re-indexed using numbers and collected together - at the end of the last chapter. - 6. 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