the dragoons of the 22d. regiment, enraged, as they were, by the loss which they had sustained. As their barrack was in our rere, they had to pass our open window, going in or out. Hence, our ears were stunned with their imprecations, oaths, and declarations to our sentinels, that," were they so placed, they would not leave one of us alive." On more occasions than one, some of them got into the Prevost, made their way to the door of our apartment, and threw ia dead fingers, thumbs, &c. &c. On one occasion, an individual wrested a musket from one of our sentinels, levelled it successively at our heads, as we sat on the floor and swore that, "if he had his will, for five minutes, he would do for us every man." Perhaps, he would then have done so, in the fury which agitated him, had not James Bell, Prevost serjeant, rushed forward, laid hold of the musket, and dragged him away. In justice to said Bell, whose office of executioner had not yet extinguished the feelings of the man, I add, that he immediately reported this outrage to the commanding officer, on which such orders were given, as prevented a repetition of the like afterwards.

1

Though we now thought that the situation, in which we were placed, could scarcely be rendered worse, we soon found ourselves miserably mistaken. After the insurrection took

place in the county of Down, the number of prisoners was greatly increased, and they were generally huddled together, without regard to either age or station. Of these, many were destitute of the means of procuring a morsel of bread, or a wad of straw to spread over the boards on which they were obliged to lie, and, in the prevailing alarm and ferment, no altention was paid, for some weeks, either to their wants or their distresses, by the servants of government. In fact, they must have died of hunger, had they not been supported by their fellow-prisoners, and a number of families in Belfast, who generously supplied them with food, and other necessaries. This, in addition to the expenses of self-support, pressed very heavily on some among us, who, regardless of prudence, implicitly obeyed the calls of humanity. Besides, from the multitude of prisoners, the house was daily becoming dirty, and the air noxious; and, from the accumulated, and accumulating, filth in the yard, our open windows, instead of relief, only admitted air more offensive, and almost equally dangerous. Though some of these things were, unavoidable in our situation, yet others certainly afforded cause of complaint; and all of them were sources of sufferings, or danger, to us.

As

As the frequent change of sentinels, which I have already mentioned, and the circumstances attending it, nearly deprived us of sleep, the execution of a new order was equally unfavorable to our composure of mind. After the several battles, in the county of Down, though the insurrection was quelled, alarm seemed to gain strength. In consequence, on each change of our guards, the soldiers were made to load with ball-cartridge, in our presence; and, ordered, if any new disturbance should arise, to put us every man to death. In justice, I here mention with pleasure, that not one officer, so far as I recollect, offered us an insult, on these occasions; and that few gave the orders, before mentioned, without evident symptoms of sensibility and regret,

Under the uneasiness, which these orders occasioned within, we were not free from anxiety about things without. We knew that trials had commenced, and that executions, spiking of heads, &c. &c. were taking place; but as our friends were denied admission to us, we owed all our circumstantial information to what we overheard among the soldiers, and the communications of the Prevost serjeant, who frequently visited us; and these were, generally made with marked emphasis, and accompanied with hints not very pleasing, to which his bloodbesprinkled

besprinkled trowsers, and, sometimes, hauds stained with blood, gave the force of plainer language.

Before the commencement of these trials, resolutions of extending them seem to have been formed, and measures taken to procure information against individuals, who had been arrested before the insurrection, of whom I was one. To attain this, it was deemed expedient to apprehend some of their least suspected dealers in information: denounce them, as ringleaders in sedition, whose conviction was certain; and, under this denunciation, place them among the victims devoted to death. This measure seems to have been adopted, in the hope, that compassion would be excited, among their fellowprisoners, by the supposed certainty of their fate; and that, in the warmth of that compassion, confidential conversation might be brought about, in which something would be elicited, to confirm their information, and ensure the ruin of their devoted neighbours.

The first of these, of whom I had any knowledge, or by whom I was beset, was the notorious John Hughes-a man, some years before, of considerable respectability, but with whom I never had any particular connexion, or even intimate acquaintance. However, he was fixed on, as most likely to succeed in entrapping me

and

and a few others. With a view to this, oppor tunity was taken to excite our compassion, either on the day of, or after, his arrest. We were entertained with a fable truly affecting"that there was no hope of saving his lifethat his mind was deranged-that he was treated with great cruelty-and, that he was placed among a crowd of poor wretches, with whom he could neither have conversation, nor comfort." This pathetic fiction was immediately followed with an observation that, "if we could possibly make room for him, taking him to us would be an act of the greatest charity." Completely imposed on by the tale, we instantly yielded to the application, and smothering though we were, received him into our stove. On his entrance, his looks and manner were wild, unsettled, and strongly marked with melancholy. Afterwards, he talked in a desponding tone, of the certainty of his conviction, and sometimes of a secret conspiracy against him, in which, as appeared, he considered some of us concerned. At other times, he would start, with seeming horror, and exclaim that the sentinel was about to shoot him. On the whole, though he sometimes talked soberly, and generally listened attentively to our conversation, he acted his part so well, at intervals, that during two nights, and the intermediate day I was as fully convinced of his derangement, as I was of my own existence; and under this impression, not only