ffe
encountered the utmost danger, standing in the midst of the firing, and
doing as much duty as the lowest soldiers in the ranks. But his life was
spared only to encounter a more disastrous termination, after a long and
wearisome exile. When, being invested on all sides by the enemy, the
insurgents proposed a capitulation, the gallant young man exclaimed,
"that he would rather die, with his sword in his hand, like a man of
honour, than be dragged to the gallows, there to die like a dog." These
exclamations fell unheeded; and he was obliged to submit with the rest;
soon afterwards, this fine, high-spirited youth, was carried to Newgate,
there to await his trial, in company with his companions in error and
misfortune.

In Newgate, Mr. Radcliffe witnessed a scene of desperation, accompanied
with the ordinary circumstances of licentiousness, and reckless misery,
which, unchecked by adequate regulations, the prisons of that day
afforded. Until after the execution of Lord Derwentwater and of Lord
Kenmure had taken place, hopes of a reprieve sustained the unhappy
prisoners in Newgate, and, "flaunting apparel, venison pasties," wine,
and other luxuries, for which they paid an enormous price, were the
ordinary indulgences of those who were incarcerated in that crowded
receptacle.[406]

Contributions were made from many different quarters for the prisoners;
and the friends of the "rebels" were observed to be also very generous
to the turnkeys. Numbers of ladies visited the prison, and a choice of
the most expensive viands was daily proffered by the lavish kindness of
their fair enthusiasts. Of course much scandal followed upon the steps
of this dangerous and costly kindness; and escapes were facilitated,
perhaps, not without connivance on the part of Government. On the
fourteenth of March an attempt was made by some of these unfortunate
people to get out of the press-yard, by breaking through a part of the
wall, from which they were to be let down by a rope; but they were
discovered, and, in consequence, heavily ironed. Nevertheless, on the
twenty-third of March almost all of the prisoners were released from
their fetters, an indulgence which was a proof of the lenity of the
Government, as the ordinary keepers of the prison would not have dared
to have allowed it.[407] After this, Mr. Forster and others amused
themselves with the game of shuttlecock, at which, relates the author of
the Secret History of the Rebels in Newgate,