Donat Henchy O'Brien

“ Our concealment in woods, and terrors at towns, our swampy beds, drenched backs, and starved stomachs, were most pleasurable reminiscences, when we felt that they had led us to the “high top gallant of our joy,” and that we now saw our glorious element, with a little frigate under old England’s flag, blockading the port, and keeping the whole line of coast in awe. The marine of this coast, I verily believe, thought that they might as easily fight the devil himself as attempt to compete with an English squadron. ”

“ We now set firm foot upon the spacious high-road, and were about to proceed with the elated feelings that made us think we could defy the world, and laugh at the book of fate or the tricks of the treacherous and fickle goddess, when, at our first step, a hoarse voice called on us to surrender, and up sprung four German soldiers from their hiding-place, behind a rock on the verge of the wood, and each presented a rifle at our heads. ”

“ I have frequently known prisoners of war, through malice, to be taken out of their beds in the night, fettered, and conducted, under an escort of gendarmes, to the depots of punishment, without ever being informed of the crime or fault of which they had been accused; and merely from some of those miscreants giving false information, in order to be revenged for any private animosity they might have had against the person so treated.
The long-wished-for moment at length arrived: the intermediate time had passed in great excitement. We met. Everything seemed quiet, and favourable to our escape. ”

“ I frankly own that I was deeply affected at the poor simple old creature’s kindness. There are cases in which neither old age nor the gaol can harden the heart.
My guards lifted me into the carriage, and one of them sat on each side, for they seemed to think that I might yet try to escape—as if the ponderous chains and huge padlock had been silken bands fastened by some true-lover’s knot. “God bless you!” cried the gaoler’s kind old wife, bathed in tears. “God bless you, kind old mother!” I replied. “Drive on!” roared the guard to the postilion. ”

“ Not a boat of ours was in sight, every minute we expected to be hailed by the fort, and not a soul amongst us could speak a word of French. We were almost perishing and starved from the fatigue and sufferings of the night, the few provisions we had being totally destroyed by the salt water. Seeing no alternative but the pain and mortification of delivering myself and my boat’s crew prisoners of war, I came at length to that resolution. Accordingly I ordered all the small arms in my boat to be hove overboard, and at eight cut the grapnel rope, and ran into Brest Harbour under the foresail. ”

“ He was tender-hearted and compassionate, and reflected honour on the nation that gave him birth, and even upon Nature herself. Under this excellent man, with the indulgence he bestowed upon us, and with the confidence he reposed in our honour, not one of us would have taken an advantage of even the most favourable opportunity of escape. Each would have felt it a disgrace to the character of our country, and a proof of an individual badness of heart and insensibility to honour.
At half-past eight o’clock we had to commence our march to Cambray. ”

“ We kept the path through the wood, and in a short time we got a sight of the high-road; and, to the joy of exhausted lungs and palpitating hearts, we found that we were full a mile in the rear of the Austrian barrier. This was indeed happiness: happiness so great, so unexpected, and so much in contrast with all the circumstances of our previous position, that we distrusted even our senses that so plainly assured us of the fact. ”

“ Never had we had to contend with dangers more numerous or extreme. It appeared but too evident to us, that, when the woman told her husband of what Hewson had stated to her, a pursuit of us would be commenced, and a hue and cry raised for our apprehension. If the Austrian officer had refused to let Hewson pass without a passport when he was unsuspected, it was evident that he would not let us go through when the Bavarian soldiers were in chase of us. ”

“ All the visions of a good cheer, an excellent fire, repose and concealment amongst apparently some of “the best people in the world,” were destroyed in a moment. I suddenly arose, and assuming a tone of great gratitude and a sense of obligations, I thanked them cordially for their hospitality, and thanked them most hypocritically for their extreme goodness in wishing to procure me the honour of a visit from the mayor; and I expressed my great regret that I could not wait to receive his worship, as I was in the greatest haste to get to Strasbourg. ”

“ Solitude appeared to me dreadful, and I looked upon a “living death” as my final lot; but I found in the dungeon Mr. Worth, midshipman, and a Captain Brine of the merchant service. The latter was one of those who came from Verdun with me. They were on a door, which they had managed to unhinge, and which lay as a platform to keep them out of the excrement and wet, that were more than ankle deep: they had a little straw and a blanket. They informed me, they had been companions of the unfortunate Essel in the late attempt to get over the ramparts. ”

“ On one side we had to reflect upon the mortification of capture, with an increased severity, and, what to us seemed infinitely worse, a prolonged duration of confinement; whilst, on the other, should success crown our determined efforts, our hearts thrilled with the thoughts of once more walking the deck of a British ship-of-war, in all the elation of a confidence that we were serving our king and our country in a righteous cause. ”

“ I instantly proposed that we should try to elude and pass the Austrian guard by avoiding the barrier, and crossing the boundary how we could, at any other point; and then, if we were taken, our last resource would be to claim the protection of the Austrian officer, as English subjects, and formerly, though not now, the allies of the emperor. At any risk, even at the cost of our lives, we were to avoid falling into the hands of the Bavarians, for then our inevitable fate would be a journey in chains back to the Mansion of Tears, a trial at Metz, and a sentence to the galleys. ”

“ At seven in the evening it was tolerably dusk, and, having shouldered our knapsacks and made all other arrangements, we left the wood, and recommenced our march, making a direct N.W. course through the country, over hill and dale, mountain and plain; traversing ploughed fields, wading through bogs and marshes, leaping ditches, and clearing all enclosures with a buoyancy of spirit that gave us astonishing strength and vigour: nothing could intercept or retard our progress. ”

“ This officer had been at the opera—from the refined and luxurious enjoyment and splendour of which he had returned to his rougher quarters, and could scarcely have got into his cot, when the diabolical assassin applied his match to the powder, and the noble vessel, with her full complement of (I doubt not) brave men, was in an instant blown to atoms; for only four of them were left to tell this wretched tale.
The Flore frigate, that had so shamefully made her escape after she had struck to us, had been wrecked some time back off the coast of Venice ”

“ We fell in with a Sicilian privateer, that informed us she had just been chased by the enemy, who were steering for Corfu. Our calculations were thus verified; every sail was crowded, and our hearts rebounded with the expectation that the dawn would present to us the enemy in the offing. The morning came, however, and in vain did our eyes traverse in all directions within the verge of the horizon. Not a foe was to be seen, and the glowing hopes of a battle vanished. We stood for Brindisi, across to Cattaro, on the Albanian coast, and ran down the whole Adriatic ”

“ The brave and ingenious Pell had now succeeded both in his stratagem and manœuvre; and, seizing on the critical moment, he poured into the astonished Frenchmen the full contents of grape and canister of four guns; and, following this up by a volley of musketry, he rushed with his men (whom he had hitherto kept concealed) upon the enemy’s deck, and soon was the English flag floating over the tricolour. The enemy had four men killed and ten wounded; the Thunder had only two wounded. This was a fortunate finale to our gallant officer’s cruise. ”

“ Ashworth went into a public-house to reconnoitre, and to inquire if food and shelter could be supplied to our suffering friend. He returned shortly with the glad tidings that he had succeeded, and he assured us that, from all he could observe, he was convinced that we should incur no danger by remaining at the inn for the whole night, and even for the next day. The joy this intelligence spread amongst us is hardly conceivable. ”

“ All was joy and happiness under this rustic and hospitable roof, if I except the twinges of apprehension that now and then would disturb me and my friends. Nothing, however, could surpass the attention and kindness of this good farmer. He supplied us spontaneously with everything that his house could afford. Certain it is that he took us for Frenchmen and conscripts, and thought, perhaps, that we were going to fight for the glory of France, under the eagles of the new emperor. ”

“ Who can conceive my pride and elation when I thus found myself participating in the glories of my profession, and reflected how short a time had elapsed since I had been either a prisoner in a dungeon, or a sort of Nebuchadnezzar wandering in the fields and forests. My good fortune was excessive, in being thus, as it were at a tangent, thrust into active service,—a ship’s cutlass, a black musket, were good substitutes for my chains and padlock ”

“ The enthusiastic cheers of nearly a thousand men made a most powerful noise: it was music to our ears as we sat at table, our lodgings being contiguous. The commandant, who was greatly alarmed, imagined that the seamen had revolted and had actually got out of prison: so great was this officer’s hurry that he made but one step from the top of the stairs to the bottom. ”

“ We were quitting the territory of Würtemberg, and entering Bavaria. We saw a bridge, but imagined also that we could distinguish a look-out house or turnpike on it, which alarmed us not a little; so we concealed ourselves in a wood until dusk, and then advanced, and crossed the bridge without any difficulty. There were several houses on each side, but, fortunately, we saw no police-officer, or any person that could cause the least apprehension. We continued our route above a league, when we came to a tavern thronged with waggoners; but we got a private room and went very early to bed. ”

“ He paid me many compliments, and expressed his regret that this had been the first opportunity he had had of bestowing a commission in his own gift; adding that he cheerfully gave it to me as some reparation for my sufferings, and as a reward of my enterprise and fortitude. His lordship warmly expressed his approbation of my conduct during the time I had been under his immediate command; and rewards as well as praise were doubly valuable from a veteran officer, so highly and so justly celebrated for his nautical skill and consummate valour. ”

“ The Amphion and Volage were in a most helpless state; the hull of the Cerberus was a perfect riddle, though less damaged in masts, spars, and rigging than her consorts. At about four o’clock the Favorite blew up; the explosion caused a terrible shock, which was felt by the whole squadron; and we, on board the Bellona, were most thankful for our having so providentially escaped the same fate, by Captain Duodo being wounded.
At about nine P.M. the Corona was in imminent danger, having caught fire in the maintop, when in tow by the Active; she was, of course, instantly cut adrift. ”

“ Danger and sufferings, excessive fatigue and hunger, would make the worst of food seem good and delicious.
After my refreshing meal, and my comfortable rest by the side of the fire, at about two o’clock I took my leave, and proceeded on my journey fearlessly, keeping the high road to Friburg. To a man who feels himself free, the very air of Heaven seems sweeter and more refreshing than to the bondsman, and I felt myself in freedom, compared at least to what I long had been. ”

“ Weilheim was the next large town in our route, but we halted at a small village. We were dreadfully knocked up, and having obtained refreshment, we went to bed, and found that the best soporific on earth was fatigue. Not all “the drowsy syrups of the world” could “medicine us to a more sweet sleep” than the long and dreary march we had taken. ”

“ The wind being fair for the Adriatic, we crowded all possible sail, as if making a passage up the Gulf without perceiving the enemy’s flotilla, which lowered their sails and hauled in under the high cliffs of the island. The moment we lost sight of them, we shortened sail, and stood over close-hauled on a wind, for Otranto, in the hope of cutting them off on the morning following. At midnight we were made happy by a number of letters from England, which the Weazle had recently received. ”

“ Our Liliputian voyage was only about four miles, and yet, in the midst of it, I had nearly exposed or betrayed myself; for a sudden puff of wind or slight squall, coming off the land, would have upset the boat, had I not snatched the sheet (of the sail) from the hand of the clumsy fellow that managed it. This was “the ruling passion” strong in everything. ”

“ Brine, answering to the name of O’Brien, is captured instead of me—I escape from the dungeon and regain my own cell—Feign illness, and avoid suspicion.
As soon as I could collect my scattered senses and compose my distracted mind, I found that I was stared at from all sides by my unhappy countrymen, who at that moment happened to be out of their souterrains, on their permission to take those few gasps of fresh air that were essential to their being able to exist for the rest of the day in their noxious dungeons. ”

“ It was hopeless to go directly to the Austrian guard, confess who and what we were, and surrender ourselves as prisoners, on the confidence of the amity which had formerly existed between England and{259} Austria, and of the good feelings which the Austrians ought to entertain towards the English. Whichever way we turned, new difficulties presented themselves, and we were distracted with the thought of being taken after having overcome so many dangers, travelled so many hundred miles, and arrived at a point at which even a few yards over an imaginary line of separation might save us. ”