d, under a guard of _Hanoverians_, then
stationed in England. I, reading an account of this in a London
newspaper, called the COURIER, expressed my indignation at it in such
terms as it became an Englishman to do. The Attorney General, Gibbs, was
set on upon me; he harassed me for nearly a year, then brought me to
trial, and I was, by Ellenborough, Grose, Le Blanc, and Bailey,
sentenced to _two years' imprisonment_ in Newgate, to pay a fine to _the
king_ of _a thousand pounds_, and to be held in heavy bail for _seven
years_ after the expiration of the imprisonment! Every one regarded it
as a sentence of _death_. I lived in the country at the time, seventy
miles from London; I had a farm on my hands; I had a family of small
children, amongst whom I had constantly lived; I had a most anxious and
devoted wife, who was, too, in that state, which rendered the separation
more painful ten-fold. I was put into a place amongst _felons_, from
which I had to rescue myself at the price of _twelve guineas a week_ for
the whole of the two years. The _King_, poor man! was, at the close of
my imprisonment, not _in a condition_ to receive the _thousand pounds_;
but his son, the present king, punctually received it _'in his name and
behalf_;' and he keeps it still.

169. The sentence, though it proved not to be one of _death_, was, in
effect, one of _ruin_, as far as then-possessed property went. But this
really appeared as nothing, compared with the circumstance, that I must
now have _a child born in a felons' jail_, or be absent from the scene
at the time of the birth. My wife, who had come to see me for the last
time previous to her lying-in, perceiving my deep dejection at the
approach of her departure for Botley, resolved not to go; and actually
went and took a lodging as near to Newgate as she could find one, in
order that the communication between us might be as speedy as possible;
and in order that I might see the doctor, and receive assurances from
him relative to her state. The nearest lodging that she could find was
in Skinner-street, at the corner of a street leading to Smithfield. So
that there she was, amidst the incessant rattle of coaches and butchers'
carts, and the noise of cattle, dogs, and bawling men; instead of being
in a quiet and commodious country-house, with neighbours and servants
and every thing necessary about her. Yet, so great is the power of the
mind in such cases, she, though the circumstances proved uncom