I was aroused from my reverie by a person touching my elbow, and inquiring if I wanted lodgings. He was a keeper of a boarding-house; and thinking I might as well be imposed upon by him as by any other of the fraternity, I accepted his offer to show me to his house. I went home with him, and agreed to pay him a guinea per week for such board and accommodations as might be had for half that price by any one but a stranger. I ate more fresh salmon during the short time I tarried with him, than I ever did before or since. I infer from this that it must have been very cheap, as his object was more to make money than to accommodate. I was in London about three weeks, and during that time made the best use of my poor means to learn all I could of a place I had longed but never hoped to see. As I traversed Tower Hill, my mind wandered back for centuries, and dwelt upon the strange events in history which had been enacted there; of the soil where I stood, that had been moistened by the blood of monarchs, soldiers and statesmen. As I gazed upon the massive gray walls of the Tower, the magic scenes of Shakspeare arose, and passed in review before me. I thought of Gloucester, Clarence, Hastings, Henry VI., his two murdered nephews: then came forth the unhappy Jane Shore, pale, exhausted, and starving; no one daring to offer a mouthful of food to save the poor wretch from death. But the scene changes. It is night; and I see Falstaff and his companions at the rising of the moon, ‘by whose light they steal.’ They go forth and are lost sight of in the misty shadows of those dark, time-worn buildings; and anon we hear him waging battle with the ‘ten men in buckram suits.’
Bartholomew Fair came on while I was in London. This I was desirous of witnessing; to see how far it would accord with the descriptions by ‘rare Ben Jonson,’ some centuries before. The weather proved remarkably fine, and I set out with my curiosity on tip-toe to see the sport. I had some distance to go; and as I turned up one street and down another, the throng of people increased, until my arrival at Smithfield, where the fair was held, and where the crowd became so dense as to be hardly passable. The spectators consisted of both sexes, of all ages and degrees. But how shall I describe the scene that presented itself? A large field of several acres was filled with tents, stages and booths, with Punch and Judys, quack doctors, mountebanks and monkeys, and cages containing wild animals of various kinds. The shouting of people, the cry of beasts, the beating of drums, the discord of the abortive attempts at music, producing such a triumph of discord as beggars description. ‘Verily,’ thought I, ‘time cannot have diminished the glories of Bartholomew Fair.’
Years have rolled on and passed by like the waves of the ocean, since I traversed the streets of London, but many a laugh have I had to myself as memory recalled a whimsical mistake which I stumbled upon in my peregrinations. In passing the streets I frequently saw fine portly-looking men dressed in blue coats, faced and trimmed with a profusion of broad gold lace; breeches and white stockings, and shoes with large buckles, and on their heads cocked hats or chapeaux, as large as coach-wheels. ‘Thinks I to myself,’ the continental wars are over, England has recalled her fleets, and the streets of London are swarming with admirals of the white and blue, off duty. What a blunder! They were a pack of fat, lazy footmen! My respect for what I supposed were the heroes of ‘England’s wooden walls’ was turned into contempt for men who could debase themselves by strutting about in the livery of those whom God created of the same materials as themselves. I sometimes (but very rarely) see such things in my own country; but when I do, my face burns with indignation at both master and man, to think that the one should require, and that the other should submit to such degradation.
I spent two or three weeks, as above stated, endeavoring in the mean time to get away as a hand on board some vessel bound to any port out of the jurisdiction of the British government. This I found more difficult than I had supposed; for London was at this time literally crowded with seamen dismissed from the China, Bengal and West-India fleets. I began to be anxious, as my money was getting rather low; and although I felt comparatively safe from being discovered among so great a multitude, still I thought it much the safest plan to get off if I could. It would have been well for me if I could have accomplished it, for notwithstanding my supposed security, I was suspected and watched. One day as I was seeking to obtain a situation on board a vessel bound to Marseilles, I was accosted by a suspicious individual. I was soon made acquainted with his business, and in a few hours I was on my way to prison. I did not much regret it. My money was all gone; and as the date of my first imprisonment was from an early period, I was in hopes of being among the first sent home, should a cartel be despatched with any of the prisoners. I was in a sad mistake, as it was only United States’ seamen and soldiers who were exchanged. Had I imagined half of the trouble and sorrow that awaited me, I should have acted with more caution; but it was too late, and I had to abide my fate.
It was a beautiful morning in autumn, and our journey was through a delightful country. The fields were enclosed in hedges instead of fences, which had a novel and pleasing effect, especially to me, as I was not accustomed to seeing the like; and I should have enjoyed it very much had I been on any other errand than going to prison. It was near sunset when we arrived at a bend in the river Medway, where lay moored several huge dark hulls, that were once the bulwark of the fast-anchored isle, but now used as receptacles for those who had the misfortune to become prisoners of war. We were soon swept alongside by one of the watermen in attendance, and in a few moments more were on board the ‘Irresistible.’ I was conducted below and introduced to my future associates.
It was several minutes before I could discern the objects around me. It was like going into a cellar. The only air and light were admitted through port-holes, few and far between, which were left open for the purpose, and secured by strong iron gratings to prevent escape. As soon as I regained the use of my sight, I began to look around me to ‘define my position;’ and I believe it would have puzzled the ingenuity of the most acute politician to know where he stood, had he been placed in the same ‘fix’ as myself. Casting a glance around, I found myself amidst a squalid, cadaverous throng of about six hundred, ranging from about fourteen to sixty years of age; and I never beheld a set of more wretched human beings. They were nearly starved and almost naked, and wholly unable to take exercise, from their crowded condition. It was too dark to read, and they yielded their minds up to corroding despondency, and became sullen and morose. Their features became rigid; and to see a smile upon a face was like a sunbeam illumining a thunder-cloud.
I must here record an unparalleled instance of self-denial, love and devotion in the female character, seldom to be met with. One of the prisoners in making frequent voyages to the English ports, (I believe Liverpool,) had become acquainted with and married a young English woman early in the war. He was taken and sent on board one of these ships. No sooner was this made known to his young and affectionate wife, than she resolved to partake of all the hardships, privations, and imprisonment with him; and never ceased her exertions until she had accomplished her purpose. In admiration and respect for her heroic virtues, and kind feelings toward her husband, the prisoners screened off a small space for them with old canvass, etc., although much to their inconvenience, owing to the crowded condition of the ship. It was amid these trials and privations that she became a mother, and was covered by the American flag. They are now living in Newark, New-Jersey, enjoying each other’s society in the down-hill of life, and surrounded by a numerous family.
The prisoners were divided into companies or messes of six each; the provisions, which were very coarse and scanty, were prepared in a cook-house erected on the forward part of the upper-deck, and when ready, passed to the prisoners down below. Hammocks were provided for them to sleep in, which were slung side by side, so close as hardly to admit a passage between them. They were three tiers deep, bringing the lower ones within three feet of the floor. No light was allowed, and of course all was in utter darkness. And it was quite a perilous undertaking to go on a necessary excursion across the deck at night. Many was the one who became so bewildered in his journey that he could not find his lodgings, and had to sit down and quietly wait until morning; at which time all hands must turn out, lash up the hammocks and pass them upon the upper deck to be stowed away until night came round again, in order to make more room below. Several guards with loaded muskets and fixed bayonets constantly paced the upper deck; and aft, on the quarter-deck, were two carronades loaded to the muzzle and pointed forward. Two or three of the prisoners were permitted to come on deck at a time; but at night none were allowed on deck for any purpose whatever; the entrance being secured by strong gratings, and sentries stationed by them continually.
Time passed wearily on. Days seemed months and months appeared to be lengthened into years; and even existence itself had become as it were paralyzed by the monotonous life we led. It was an interposition of Divine Providence, that in our destitute and helpless condition we were not afflicted with any pestilential disease; as in the crowded state we were in, it must have made rapid and fearful havoc in our midst. At length it was rumored that the prisoners were to be removed; but where to, none of them knew. Several weeks passed on, and they were relapsing into their ordinary indifference to the state of things around them, when one morning word was passed among us that a draft of one hundred was to be sent to Dartmoor prison, and those who thought proper might volunteer; but that that number must go at any rate. So seeing it was ‘Grumble you may, but go you must,’ was the order of the day, the number required soon availed themselves of the privilege, and were sent in barges on board the vessel which was to convey them to their future abode. Other drafts were sent from time to time, until the whole were removed. For myself, I remained until the last: I felt a reluctance to leave what I knew to be bad, for what I feared might be worse. It was to a ‘bourne whence no traveller returned’ to disclose the secrets of the prison-house.
At last the time had arrived when the remnant were to leave. We were all mustered upon deck, numbering about one hundred and fifty. Our baggage, poor and scant as it was, we had need to take the utmost care of, as winter was advancing, and we knew of no means of procuring more. We were then conveyed in barges and put on board the ‘Leyden,’ an old sixty-four gun ship, taken from the Dutch in by-gone days, and now used for a transport for troops, prisoners, etc. In due course of time we were landed in Plymouth. It was early on a bleak, cloudy morning, late in the autumn, that we disembarked, and were placed in immediate line of march, under a guard of a sufficient number of soldiers with loaded muskets, who had orders to shoot down the first who evinced a disposition to leave the line. The whole was under the command of a captain, lieutenant, etc., who were on horseback. We had been on the road scarcely an hour, when the rain, which had been threatening all the morning, now came down with sweeping fury; and although not sufficiently cold to freeze, yet it possessed a keenness that appeared to penetrate the skin. The roads being of a clayey soil soon became of the consistency of mortar by the tramping of so many feet, and our march might have been traced for several miles by the old boots, shoes, and stockings, which were left sticking in the mud in the hurry of the march. I have no doubt that we made a very grotesque appearance, and raised many a smile from some of the passers-by. Our march continued throughout the day without interruption, save occasional short halts to bring up those who lagged behind; for many began to be exhausted from cold, fatigue and hunger. We had not tasted a morsel of food since the day before.