nt chains till I had, for
some months, carefully observed the mode of their examination, and which
parts they supposed were perfectly secure. The cruelty of depriving me
of my bed was still greater: I was obliged to sit upon the bare ground,
and lean with my head against the damp wall. The chains that descended
from the neck collar were obliged to be supported first with one band,
and then with the other; for, if thrown behind, they would have strangled
me, and if hanging forward occasioned most excessive headaches. The bar
between my hands held one down, while leaning on my elbow; I supported
with the other my chains; and this so benumbed the muscles and prevented
circulation, that I could perceive my arms sensibly waste away. The
little sleep I could have in such a situation may easily be supposed,
and, at length, body and mind sank under this accumulation of miserable
suffering, and I fell ill of a burning fever.

The tyrant Borck was inexorable; he wished to expedite my death, and rid
himself of his troubles and his terrors. Here did I experience what was
the lamentable condition of a sick prisoner, without bed, refreshment, or
aid from human being. Reason, fortitude, heroism, all the noble
qualities of the mind, decay when the corporal faculties are diseased;
and the remembrance of my sufferings, at this dreadful moment, still
agitates, still inflames my blood, so as almost to prevent an attempt to
describe what they were.

Yet hope had not totally forsaken me. Deliverance seemed possible,
especially should peace ensue; and I sustained, perhaps, what mortal man
never bore, except myself, being, as I was, provided with pistols, or any
such immediate mode of despatch.

I continued ill about two months, and was so reduced at last that I had
scarcely strength to lift the water-jug to my mouth. What must the
sufferings of that man be who sits two months on the bare ground in a
dungeon so damp, so dark, so horrible, without bed or straw, his limbs
loaded as mine were, with no refreshment but dry ammunition bread,
without so much as a drop of broth, without physic, without consoling
friend, and who, under all these afflictions, must trust, for his
recovery, to the efforts of nature alone!

Sickness itself is sufficient to humble the mightiest mind; what, then,
is sickness, with such an addition of torment? The burning fever, the
violent headaches, my neck swelled and inflamed with the irons, enraged
me almost