CHRONICLE. 



283 



escape from Lichfield. Mr. Adam 

 cautioned him against criminating 

 himself, and informed him of the 

 heavy punishment that awaited 

 him, in case of his being found 

 guilty of assisting prisoners of war 

 to make their escape. Proctor, 

 however, persisted in giving an ac- 

 count of his conduct, which he 

 did in the most candid manner. 

 He stated that he went to France 

 very young for his education, and 

 married there a relation of one of 

 the officers ; they were made pri- 

 soners, and remained confined for 

 a considerable time : he, however, 

 made his escape tohis native coun- 

 try, by the assistance of one of the 

 officers, and he had pledged him- 

 self, on his arrival in England to 

 use every endeavour in his power, 

 in return, to effect the escape of his 

 friend's brother, in this countrj', 

 and procure his return to France ; 

 and he had found himself bound to 

 pursue this conduct by every tie of 

 honour and friendship. On search- 

 ing him 28/. in bank notes were 

 found, which belonged to the offi- 

 cers, and some papers which corro- 

 borated the suspicions that they 

 had come from Lichfield. They 

 were all secured, and taken to 

 Tothill-fields Bridewell ; and on 

 Wednesday alternoon they were 

 fully examined before Mr. Read 

 at Bow-street : when a post-boy 

 who drove them, and several other 

 witnesses were produced, to prove 

 their coming from Lichfield to- 

 gether, and that Proctor was the 

 managing man. They were all 

 remanded to Tothill-fields Bride- 

 well. The officers were sent on 

 board the prison-ship at Chatham; 

 and Proctor will be tried for as- 

 sisting them in their escape. 

 25. Jcfl'cry the seaman arrived 



in town on Monday last, when 

 the lords of the admiralty gave 

 him his free discharge from the 

 service ; and the friends of captain 

 Lake made him a liberal compen- 

 sation for the hardships he had 

 sustained. He is a good-looking 

 young fellow, and confesses that he 

 made the X for his name, though 

 he can write ; but he says that it 

 is common among sailors to use 

 the cross for shortness. 



In his account of his sufferings 

 and preservation he says, that at 

 first he did not believe that it was 

 intended to leave himon the island ; 

 he saw the ship the morning after 

 he was put on shore, and expected 

 everymomentthata boat would be 

 put off to take him on board. He 

 suffered at first very much from 

 thirst, and to allay it he drank a 

 considerable quantity of salt water, 

 which only increased it. Most for- 

 tunately for him some rain fell on 

 the third day after he was put on 

 shore, and the quantities that re- 

 mained in the cavities of the rocks 

 supplied him while he remained 

 there : he was under the necessity 

 of sucking it out with a quill. He 

 saw great numbers of birds of the 

 gull kind, rather larger than a 

 goose, but he could not catch any 

 of them. He found only one egg, 

 but it was in such a putrid state 

 that he could not eat it: the only 

 food (if it may be called food) that 

 he had was some bark, which he 

 found on the shore. He saw five 

 ships pass by while he was on the 

 island, but at too great a distance 

 for him to be visible to the people 

 on board : and the vessel by which 

 he was at last taken off would pro- 

 bably have passed on in the same 

 manner, if the captain had not 

 hove-to from motives of curiosity, 



