the week's end any little circumstance of
interest that might have come under his notice. At the date of Sunday,
_May_ 6_th_, 1759, I find "That fifteen French prisoners escaped from the
Tower, Durand amongst the number"; and then follows a narrative which I
shall presently transcribe. I may say, incidentally, that the
prisoners-of-war in the Tower were principally Frenchmen, who had been
captured during some of our naval engagements with them. They employed
their time in making many curious and tasteful articles, and displayed
great ingenuity in many ways. Discipline in the Tower was not very
stringent, so that escapes of prisoners frequently occurred. From the
want of energy displayed by the authorities in recapturing those that did
escape, it was thought that government was not sorry to get rid of some
of these persons at so easy a rate, for they were a great burden on the
nation. The reason why Durand's name was mentioned as one of those who
had fled, was this:--my mother had a very curiously-constructed foreign
box, which had been broken, and which the tradesmen in the town had one
and all declined even to attempt to repair. As "the Frenchmen" in the
Tower were noted for their ingenuity, my father made some inquiry as to
whether any of them would undertake the restoration of this box. Amongst
others to whom it was shown was one Felix Durand, who at once said he
would try to put it in order if my father was in no hurry for it, as it
would be a tedious task in consequence of having so many separate pieces
to join together, and it would be necessary to wait the fast binding of
each cemented piece to its corresponding fragment.

My father often went to see Durand, and was much pleased with his
conversation, amusing stories, and natural abilities. My father spoke
French well, so that they got on capitally together, and the consequence
was that my father obtained several little favours for him, and even
interceded with some friends in the government to obtain his release.
Durand knew of this, and, therefore, when my father found he had escaped
with the others, he was much annoyed as it completely frustrated his good
intentions towards him. My father used to tell us that according to
agreement he went for his box on a certain day when it was to be
finished. On reaching the gaol he was told of the escape of the party,
and that some of them had already been recaptured. It seems that as soon
as they got into the s