In order to countenance this her Scheme, she told the supposed Object of her Love, that as soon as she arrived at London, and received her Wages, she would remit the same to her; and when she had visited, and tarried some time with each of her nigh Relations and intimate Friends, she would then return to Portsmouth, according to Agreement, and consummate their matrimonial Ceremonies with a Solemnity suitable to her Abilities.
The next Night, being Saturday the 2d of June, Hannah’s Bedfellow, who had lain with her the Night before, went out of Town, and one James Moody, who had been a Ship-mate with her on board the Eltham from Fort St. David’s to England, coming in the Evening of that Day, and wanting a Lodging, he was received by the Landlord, and as Hannah was his intimate, he was admitted to be her Bedfellow, which continued for two Nights together, without the least Suspicion in Life.
It is here worthy of Observation, that this Woman should lay three Nights with two different Men, one of whom who had been her Companion and Fellow-adventurer, during the Space of fifteen Months and more; and never, during that Space of Time, discover the least Hint of her being of the female Kind; and this Man had often been her Assistant in the most dangerous Exploits, and could not avoid acknowledging, that she behaved upon all Occasions, with the greatest Bravery and Resolution.
Whitmonday, being the 4th of June, she set out from Portsmouth for London; accompanied by George Orley, a Serjeant of Marines, who was a Partner with her in her Adventures, and who, together with nine Marines, accompanied her to London: She received before they set out from Portsmouth, five Shillings Conduct-money. The first Place she traveled to after her departure from Portsmouth, was Petersfield, in Hampshire; where she lay all Night, with one Andrew Gray a Marine, not only in the same Regiment, but in the same Company: Next Day travel’d as far as Guildford, where the aforesaid Andrew Gray and she were Bedfellows; next Night she arrived in London, where she disingaged herself from her old Intimates, and lodged along with her Brother, Mr. James Gray, Carpenter, in Ship-Street, Wapping; where she now resides.
Now I have brought my female Adventurer home again to her native Country, after near five Years Adventures; prompted thereto by the ill Usage of a faithless Husband, who, after first stripping her of her all, and then eloping, prompted her to the Resolution of disguising herself, by putting on Men’s Apparel, going into the Country without the Knowledge of her Brother, Sister, or any other of her Friends, in search of him who had thus abused her; and entering into Colonel Guise’s Regiment of Foot, then lying at Coventry, who from thence marched to Carlisle, where she was ill used, the Particulars of which, are set forth at large in the foregoing Pages: How she received five hundred Lashes at Carlisle, as a Punishment for her virtuous Conduct, her Resolution to desert, and her puting this Determination into Execution; her changing her military Cloathing about a Mile from Town, for the rustick Garb of a Shepherd; her Arrival at Portsmouth, her entering into General Fraser’s Regiment of Marines, her being draughted out for the East Indies; her embarking on board the Swallow Sloop of War, under the Command of Admiral Boscawen, and the many Vicissitudes she underwent during the Series of her Adventures, until her safe (though unexpected) return to her Native Country, where, after her Arrival, she met with sundry humorous Incidents; with many other material Circumstances, the Particulars of which is here set down at large; but not to swell this Treatise with any Thing fictitious or doubtful, I have asserted nothing but plain Matter of Fact as here set down.
I would have my candid Readers survey in Imagination, the many various Scenes that here display themselves with a most surprizing Lustre. Here is a Woman, and an English Woman, who, notwithstanding the many Dangers and Vicissitudes she underwent for near the Space of five Years, during her Travels, was never found out to be of the feminine Gender. It is true many threatned Discoveries were attempted by her Shipmates and Fellow-Adventurers, which derived its Influence from her not having a Beard; but her ready Turns of Mind undeceived all those who shewed themselves overbusy in prying into this Secret: This her Conduct, very surprizingly preserved her Virtue from becoming a Sacrifice to the Impetuosity of the carnal Desires of both her Superiors and Inferiors; for can it be imagined, that in the midst of so many Dangers, where there was no Back-Door to creep out at, if her Sex had been discovered, but she must have fallen a Victim to the loose, disorderly, and vitious Appetites of many on board, especially those whom she was more immediately concerned with, to wit, her Officers. These Reflections must possess the Reader with generous Sentiments of this our Heroine, who by her Subtilty, and ready Inventions, destroyed in the Embrio, every Thing advanced by her Fellow-Shipmates, that she imagined might be a Means of exposing her Virtue.
Such an Adventure as this, is not to be met with in the Records of either antient or modern Observations, therefore, for the Sake of the British Nation, ought to be recorded in Golden Characters on a Statue of Marble for succeeding Ages, to peruse with Admiration, that an English Woman should, Amazon like, not only enter herself upon the List in behalf of her Country at Home, but boldly and resolutely launch out into the most remote Corners of the Earth, upon enterprizing and dangerous Adventures, the like never attempted before by any of her Sex, even daring Fate, as it were, to execute her most rigorous Inflictions upon her; the many Struglings and Conflicts she encounter’d during the Course of her Travels, not being used to the watery Element, and the many Revolutions that often happen upon the Surface of the Deep; the many Duties she was obliged to execute, in the midst of Hundreds of the most unpolite Part of Mankind, such as Tars; the many Fears and Suspicions she harboured least her Sex should be discovered, to avoid which, she proved her own Physician, in extracting the Ball out of her Wound, to prevent that Discovery which must unavoidably have happened, had she permitted the Surgeons to have performed their regular Operations: These, with many more, (seemingly insurmountable Difficulties) did this our British Heroine undergo, and overcome, by her safe Arrival in her native Country, as before-mentioned.
When she arrived in London, she went to her Brother in Law’s House, in Ship-Street, Wapping; where he lived at the Time when she went abroad; she no sooner entered the House, than her Sister (notwithstanding her Disguise) knew her, but her Brother in Law, Mr. Gray being in Bed, she went to his Bedside, being desirous to see him, where he lay in a Slumber, and embraced him, upon which he awoke, and seeing a Person in a Soldier’s Dress, coming to his Bedside in such a Manner and imbracing him, surprised him much, however, he was soon freed from this Surprize by her discovering herself, which afforded him a great deal of Satisfaction; as she was his great Favourite before she went abroad, and her sudden and unexpected Appearance, caused a great deal of Joy, in the whole Family; after refreshing herself with a Part of what the House afforded, she diverted her Brother and Sister ’till Bed-time, with some Part of her Adventures, which relation forced Tears from their Eyes.
There was at this Time a Female Lodger in Mr. Gray’s House, of whom Mr. Gray requested, that she would admit a Sister of his for a Bedfellow, to which she readily agreed: But when the Sister was introduced, the young Woman, who was then in Bed, was very much surprized to see a Soldier sit down to undress himself in her Bed-Chamber; but Mr. Gray and his Wife discovered the Secret, which, notwithstanding, she would not Credit, until she had occular Demonstration. This was the first, next to her Brother and Sister, that she discovered herself to, and ever since they have been Bedfellows, which made the Neighbours report (imagining her to be a Man) that the young Woman was married to a Soldier, and this great Untruth was reported for Fact throughout the whole Neighbourhood.
Sometime after this, she, in Company with her Sister and supposed Wife, went to Westminster, in order to see her Friends, who were very much dissatisfy’d at her carrying a strange Woman in Company with her supposed Brother, who perhaps, upon receiving his Money, might decoy him into some Place of bad Fame, where he might chance to lose it all in an Instant. This, together with some former Passages, constrains me to observe how much the Publick, both at Home and Abroad, have been deceived in this Woman, she being so long in the Army and Navy, where there were many penetrating clear-sighted Gentlemen, and ashore in foreign Countries amongst Men, Women and Children; and notwithstanding all these publick Characters, her Sex not discovered. This must cause Admiration in every Reader; but she counterfeited the Man so dextrously, and does to this very Day, that the most excellent Judge of Features, Semetry or Gesture, cannot discover the Deceit.