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purcbaseo  for  tbe  Xibrarp  of  tbe 

Tflniversit^  of  Toronto 
out  of  tbe  proceeos  of  tbe  funo 

bequeatbefc  b£ 
B.  pbillips  Stewart,  B.B.,  XOL.B. 

OB.  A.D.  1892. 


THE   RUSSELLS  OF  BIRMINGHAM 


WILLIAM    RUSSELL   (1740-1818) 
from  a  water  colour. 


THE   RUSSELLS  OF 
BIRMINGHAM 

IN   THE   FRENCH    REVOLUTION 
AND    IN   AMERICA 

1791-1814 


BY 


S.    H.   JEYES 


WITH    ILLUSTRATIONS 


LONDON 
GEORGE  ALLEN  &  COMPANY,  LTD. 

44  &  45    RATHBONE  PLACE 

1911 

[All  rights  reserved] 


Printed  by  BALLANTYNE,  HANSON  6s  Co. 
At  the  Ballantyne  Press,  Edinburgh 


PREFATORY   NOTE 

IT  had  always  been  the  intention  of  my  father  to 
allow  these  family  diaries  and  letters  to  be  published. 
In  order,  however,  to  present  them  to  the  public  in 
a  connected  and  interesting  form,  he  felt  that  it  re- 
quired some  one  not  only  with  an  aptitude  for  con- 
densing the  mass  of  material  and  bringing  out  its 
salient  points,  but  possessing  also  an  accurate  and 
wide  knowledge  of  the  history  of  the  period.  No 
suitable  opportunity  presented  itself  until  his  friend 
Mr.  S.  H.  Jeyes  expressed  his  willingness  to  under- 
take the  work. 

Mr  Jeyes  had  completed  the  book  before  his 
lamented  death,  with  the  exception  of  two  short 
passages  on  pages  14-18  and  117-119,  which,  based 
on  matter  prepared  by  him,  have  been  added  in 
accordance  with  his  wishes,  expressed  when  illness 
compelled  him  to  resign  his  work.  These  additions, 
also  the  final  revision  of  the  text  and  the  correction 
of  the  proofs,  have  been  sympathetically  carried  out 
by  his  friend  Mr.  David  Hannay,  to  whom  our  grate- 
ful thanks  are  due. 

T.  H.  RUSSELL. 
LONDON,  August  30,  1911. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   I 

RELIGIOUS  AND  POLITICAL  INTOLERANCE  AT  THE  END 
OF  THE   EIGHTEENTH   CENTURY 

PAGE 

The  Russell  family  in  Birmingham — Intimate  relations  with  Dr. 
Priestley — His  unpopularity  explained— Theological  heresies 
and  the  High  Church  party — His  devout  frame  of  mind — Letter 
to  Martha  Russell — William  Russell's  close  alliance  with . 
Priestley — Their  sympathy  with  the  French  Revolution — Pro- 
posed celebration  of  the  capture  of  the  Bastille — Rumours  of 
vengeance  on  the  Radical  Dissenters — Slackness  of  the  Bir- 
mingham authorities — The  banquet  undisturbed — An  ominous 
gathering — Beginning  of  the  riots 8 

CHAPTER   II 


Attack  on  the  New  Meeting-house — Total  destruction — Similar  fate 
of  the  Old  Meeting-house — The  mob  in  possession — Flight  of 
the  Priestleys — William  Russell  confronts  the  rioters— Return 
to  Showell  Green — Priestley's  house  burnt  down — Martha 
Russell's  reflections — Savage  hunt  for  Priestley — William 
Russell  again  faces  the  mob — Flight  of  the  Russell  girls — Help 
of  poor  neighbours — An  unfriendly  acquaintance — Magistrates 
indifferent — Russell's  house  destroyed  by  fire — Advance  by  the 
mob — Further  retreat  of  the  Russell  girls — Adventures  on  the 
road — Rioters  on  horseback — Father's  anxiety — A  farm-house 
dormitory — Drive  to  London — MaidenheadThicket — A  drunken 
post-boy — Refuge  in  the  Adelphi — Return  to  the  ruined  home.  23 

CHAPTER   III 

RUSSELL'S   AND   PRIESTLEY'S   EMIGRATION 

Three  days  of  mob-law — Inaction  of  authorities — Charges  against 
ministers  and  local  magistrates — King  George's  letter — Detes- 
tation of  French  Revolution  and  French  nation — Intolerance  in 


viii  CONTENTS 


PAGE 


the  eighteenth,  nineteenth,  and  twentieth  centuries — Russell's 
agitation  for  justice — Appeal  to  Pitt — Priestley's  relations  with 
Whig  leaders — Unpopularity  of  Radical  Dissenters  general 
and  increasing — Priestley's  encouragement  of  Russell — The 
appeal  to  the  public — His  confidence  shaken — England  no 
place  for  his  sons — Russell  leaves  Birmingham — Decides  to 
emigrate  to  America' 39 


CHAPTER   IV 
A  COACH-DRIVE  TO   FALMOUTH 

Martha  Russell's  diaries — The  family  start  in  state — Visits  to 
Berkeley  Castle  —  Bristol  —  Wells  Cathedral  —  Glastonbury 
Abbey — An  old  family  friend — Exeter — A  primitive  inn — 
French  prisoners  of  war  at  Bodmin — Dreary  Cornwall — Ar- 
rival at  Falmouth — Meeting  with  future  companions — Captain 
Prebble  of  the  Mary — Preparations  for  the  voyage — An  un- 
comfortable start 51 


CHAPTER   V 
CAPTURED  BY  THE  FRENCH 

A  French  frigate  in  sight — English  travellers  ordered  on  board — 
Assurances  of  kind  treatment — Accompanied  by  Captain 
Prebble — Scene  on  the  man-of-war — Emblems  of  Liberty — 
Singing  the  Marseillaise — The  ladies'  good  humour — Close 
quarters  on  board — Vermin  and  suffocating  heat  .  .  .61 


CHAPTER   VI 
PRISONERS   OF  WAR 

Monotonous  life — Hunting  for  prizes — Burning  a  Dutch  vessel — 
Preparing  for  action — A  strange  sail — French  sailors  dancing 
— In  view  of  Brest — The  Land  of  Liberty — Martha  Russell's 
enthusiasm — An  unconquerable  nation — Hopes  of  speedy  re- 
lease— Disappointment  and  collapse — Removed  to  another 
prison  ship — Execution  of  Robespierre — A  favourable  circum- 
stance— Guillotine  at  Brest — Thomas  Russell's  illness — Harsh- 


CONTENTS  ix 

PACE 

ness  of  the  commanding  officer — Shortness  of  provisions  and 
increasing  appetites — French  cookery — A  naval  spectacle — A 
kindly  captain — His  remembrances  of  captivity  in  England — 
William  Russell's  curious  adventure 70 

CHAPTER   VII 

FIVE   MONTHS   OF  CAPTIVITY 

Transfer  to  the  Achille — Companions  in  adversity — Cramped 
quarters — Disagreeable  associates — A  lively  quarrel — More 
castles  in  the  air  and  renewed  disappointment — Delights  of 
making  apple  dumplings — A  family  observance — The  promised 
order  of  release — Accouchement  of  the  Russells'  servant — Brest 
guillotine  at  work — Death  of  a  girl  prisoner — Fears  of  diph- 
theria— William  Russell  breaking  down — A  cruel  order — Cap- 
tain Bryan's  intervention  —  Happy  revulsion  —  Officers  and 
sailors  dirty  in  the  extreme — Fresh  hopes  of  release — The  Com- 
mittee of  Public  Safety's  procrastination — British  sailors  as 
prisoners  of  war — Bullying  the  other  English  and  intimidating 
their  captors — Martha  Russell's  feelings — Arrival  of  the  order 
of  release — Its  limited  terms — Disappointment  of  friends  and 
sympathy  of  the  Russells — Affecting  scenes — Christmas  Day 
spent  in  freedom — Causes  of  five  months'  delay — Text  of  the 
Decree — Captain  Bryan's  exertions — William  Russell's  testi- 
mony— Good  faith  of  English  prisoners — A  pleasing  remem- 
brance .  .  . 85 

CHAPTER  VIII 
JOURNEY  TO  PARIS  BY  ROAD 

Start  for  Paris — A  quaint  turn-out — The  peasants'  costumes — Diffi- 
culty of  posting — Official  delays  and  landlord's  impositions — 
A  desecrated  church — Royalists  and  "brigands"  on  the  road 
— The  Mayor  of  Morlaix — Entertaining  company — Stories  of 
the  guillotine — A  bread  riot — Stupid  officials — Horses  unshod 
— Awkward  workmen — A  dangerous  stage — The  driver's  for- 
tunate barbarity — A  Republican  officer's  advice — Sugar  in  the 
warming-pan — Misery  of  the  peasants — A  chateau  destroyed 
Impassable  roads — Scarcity  of  bread — A  plain  breast  of  mutton 
— Charms  of  Caen — The  approach  to  Paris— A  girl  Republican's 
enthusiasm — "  The  centre  and  zenith  of  the  magnificence  of  the 
world"  ...'........  104 


x  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  IX 
THE  FRENCH   REVOLUTION  AT  CLOSE  QUARTERS 

PAGE 

A  circle  of  friends — An  Irish  adventurer — Advanced  lady — Gor- 
geous apartment — General  Miranda — Victims  of  anarchy — 
Philosophical  instruments  of  Citoyen  Charles — Visit  to  the 
Convention — Grotesque  Republicans — Disorderly  proceedings 
— The  Observatory — A  Jacobin  astronomer — Women  furies  in 
the  street — Sound  of  the  Tocsin — The  city  under  arms — Rising 
against  the  Convention— General  Pichegru  in  charge  of  Paris 
— Trial  of  Fouquier — Scene  in  court — His  audacious  behaviour 
— Execution  witnessed  by  the  Russells — The  guillotine — Veteran 
soldiers  at  the  Hospital — A  novel  view  of  the  Revolution — 
Municipal  bakeries — The  distress  in  Paris — Persecutions  and 
arrests — Brissot's  sister-in-law — Madame  Roland's  daughter — 
Another  alarm — Summary  measures 116 


CHAPTER   X 
SOCIAL  LIFE  IN  PARIS  (1795) 

Reviving  gaiety  of  Paris — Carriages  in  the  streets — Dress  of  children 
and  women — Food  of  the  people — Theatre-going — Mary  Russell 
on  the  French  drama — Stage  realism — Teaching  of  the  deaf 
and  dumb — Sicard's  system — A  clever,  good  girl — Visit  to  a 
convent — Hardships  of  the  Sisters  during  the  Revolution — The 
days  of  terror — A  charming  Englishman — William  Russell's 
commercial  undertaking — Claim  for  damages  against  the 
French  Government — Captain  Prebble — Purchase  of  properties 
in  France — Preparations  for  the  voyage  to  New  York — Live- 
stock on  board 140 


CHAPTER  XI 
FROM   PARIS   TO   NEW  YORK 

Reflections  on  leaving  Paris — By  coach  to  Havre — A  French  rural 
scene — A  little  white  cat — Dirty  Rouen — Normandy  caps — 
William  Russell's  visit  to  Abbey  Ardennes — Boarding  the  Nancy 
— Rough  weather — Suitable  reflections — Cards  under  difficulties 
— The  recovered  ham — A  notable  anniversary — Land  in  sight 
— Beautiful  America 1 56 


CONTENTS  xi 

CHAPTER  XII 

IN   SEARCH   OF  A   HOME 

PAGE 

Hunting  for  rooms  in  New  York — Start  for  Philadelphia — Road 
scenery — Visit  to  Priestley  in  Northumberland — Sunday  ob- 
servance in  New  Jersey — Golden  rod  and  Michaelmas  daisy — 
Impressive  tavern-keeper — Scene  at  Dobbs's  Ferry — Entering 
Connecticut — M.  Talleyrand  de  Perigord — The  epidemic — 
Evasive  replies — Valley  of  the  Connecticut — Like  place,  like 
people — A  vision  of  Middletown— Springfield  in  1795 — A.  self- 
possessed  beggar-woman — Road  adventures — Manners  in  New 
England — Priestley's  remarks — Fever  almost  universal — Ap- 
proach to  Boston 167 


First  view  of  Boston — The  clergy  and  churches — Chief  industries — 
The  beauty  of  the  women — A  dinner-table  story — Prices  of  pro- 
visions— Journey  to  Rhode  Island — Untidy  farming — A  vener- 
able joke — The  Malbon  Estate — Advantages  of  the  island — 
Society  at  Newport — A  chance  lost — Return  to  Middletown — 
The  corn-fed  girls  of  Connecticut — Admiration  for  Yankees — 
New  England  vocabulary — A  winter  in  Philadelphia — Public 
spirit  in  New  York 183 

CHAPTER  XIV 
THE   EARLY   SETTLER 

Untidiness  of  American  towns — Disregard  for  beauty  in  estate 
management — The  earlysettler — His  successor — ThePriestleys 
at  Northumberland — An  unflattering  picture — Early  history  of 
New  Haven — Influence  of  prosperity  on  national  character — 
Luxury  in  Boston — Social  dissipations  in  Philadelphia — General 
Washington's  friendship  —  Extravagance  of  upstarts  —  Com- 
mercial dishonesty  in  America — Priestley  as  a  guest — Infirmities 
of  great  men — Study  of  the  prophecies — Curious  interpretations 
— Piety  in  Philadelphia — A  country  house  in  Maryland — The 
easy  life — A  runaway  marriage — American  depravity — Re- 
publican manners — A  friendly  disputation — Society  in  Middle- 
town — Innocent  familiarities — A  young  gentleman's  misgivings 
— Unbending — An  unedifying  minister — Views  on  a  domestic 
institution 194 


xii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   XV 

JAMES   SKEY 

PAGE 

Ske/s  lack  of  sympathy  with  provincial  American  life — His  obser- 
vations on  Ireland  en  route — A  long  voyage — Devastations  of 
fever  in  Philadelphia — A  pathetic  figure — Desolation  in  New 
York — Welcome  at  Middletown — Divorce  facilities  in  New 
England — Unceremonious  courts  of  law — Heavy  taxation — 
Rates  and  special  calls — Limits  of  religious  toleration — Faith 
and  works — Sunday  observance — Sanctimonious  deacons — A 
candid  confession — Church  government — The  school  system — 
Superficial  training — Agriculture  in  Connecticut — Hessian  fly 
— Slovenly  farming — Hard  life  in  the  small  holdings — Lack  of 
cash  and  want  of  credit — The  maize  crops— Neglect  of  live 
stock — Dullnessofthelife — Frame  houses —The  smoke  chamber 
— Provincial  self-satisfaction — Superfluity  of  ladies — Lack  of 
charm — Scandalous  stories — The  men  unsociable — Dishonest 
adventuress — Meeting-house  anecdotes — The  Russells  held  up 
for  Sabbath  breaking — Malice  and  envy — The  right  law — Free 
and  easy  domestics — Partisan  rancour — Treatment  of  Priestley 
— New  England  idioms — The  class  of  small  country  gentlemen 
— A  tale  of  home  life — Excursion  to  Maryland — An  ineffectual 
claim  against  the  State — Law  and  justice  in  the  Assembly  .  217 


CHAPTER  XVI 
HOME  LIFE  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 

Original  plans  for  a  settlement — Pennsylvania  unsuitable — Farm- 
ing in  Connecticut — William  Russell's  business  enterprises — 
Litigations — Mount  Vernon — General  and  Mrs.  Washington — 
Notes  on  Virginia — A  black  cook  for  sale — Drawbacks  of  life 
at  Middletown — Mary  Russell's  explanation — A  limited  range 
of  interests — Trip  to  New  Haven — Commencement  at  Yale — 
Mary  Russell's  criticisms — Animosity  against  the  French — 
Danger  of  war — Priestley  and  President  Adams — Reasons  for 
leaving  Middletown — William  Russell's  offer  to  Priestley — Re- 
turn of  the  family  to  Europe  .  .  .  .  .  .  .256 


CONTENTS 


Xlll 


CHAPTER   XVII 
THE   RETURN  TO  EUROPE 

PAGE 

William  Russell's  arrival  at  Bordeaux — His  anomalous  position — 
Perils  of  doubtful  nationality — Investment  in  French  land — 
Residence  at  Abbey  Ardennes — Technical  felony — Pardon  sug- 
gested —  Erskine's  opinion  —  Russell's  attitude  —  Correspon- 
dence with  his  son  in  Paris — Suspicious  French  authorities — 
Proposed  petition  to  the  English  Government — Fear  of  pre- 
judicing title  of  French  property — Political  gossips — The  Em- 
peror of  Russia — Lord  Lauderdale's  mission — Death  of  Fox — 
Prolonged  suspense — Thomas  Russell  and  the  First  Empire — 
Bonaparte's  marriage — Public  fetes  in  Paris — Return  of 
William  Russell 277 


APPENDIX 

Genealogical  Tables  showing  the  relationships  of  the  members  of 
the  Russell  and  Skey  families  whose  names  are  mentioned 
in  the  book 305 


INDEX 307 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


BOOKPLATE  OF  WILLIAM  RUSSELL       ....      On  Cover 
WILLIAM  RUSSELL  (1740-1818)     (Colour)  .         .         .  Frontispiece 

A  photograph  of  the  original  painting  hangs  in  the 
Assay  Office  in  Birmingham,  of  which  he  was  a 
Guardian  and  Warden  1787-1791 

GILBERT  WAKEFIELD Facing  page     14 

After  a  painting  by  W.  ARTAUD 

DESTRUCTION  OF  DR.  PRIESTLEY'S  HOUSE  AND 
LABORATORY,  FAIR  HILL,  BIRMINGHAM, 
JULY  14,  1791  .  .  .  „  „  26 

After  a  picture  sketched  on  the  spot,  now  in  the  possession 
of  MADAME  BELLOC,  London 

RUINS  OF  SHOWELL  GREEN,  THE  RESIDENCE 
OF  WILLIAM  RUSSELL,  DESTROYED  JULY 
16,  1791  ....  ,,  „  30 

From  an  engraving  published  May  1792 

WILLIAM  RUSSELL  (1740-1818).         ...         „        ,,       96 

From  a  miniature  painting 

NEW  YORK  CITY  IN  1768  ....  „        ,,     166 

ClTY   OF   MlDDLETOWN    IN    1825  ....  „  „       176 

From  an  engraving 

MlDDLETOWN,    CONNECTICUT         .  .  .  .  „  „       l8o 

From  a  water-colour  drawing  by  Miss  M.  RUSSELL, 
about  1800,  which  was  presented  to  the  CONNECTICUT 
HISTORICAL  SOCIETY,  HARTFORD,  by  her  nephew, 
DR.W.  J.  RUSSELL,  in  1889.  (Reproduced  by  kind 
permission. ) 


xvi  LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

THOMAS  POUGHER  RUSSELL  (1775-1851)  .         .   Facing  page  194 

From  a  water-colour  drawing 

JOSEPH  PRIESTLEY „        ,,198 

From  a  pastel  (g  in.  Y.J  in.)  by  MRS.  SHARPLES,  in  the 
possession  o/T.  H.  RUSSELL 

JAMES  SKEY  (1754-1838) „        „     216 

From  a  miniature  painting  by  J.  MILLAR  (1797) 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON „        „     262 

From  a  pastel  (9  in.  x  7  in.)  ascribed  to  MRS.  SHARPLES, 
in  the  possession  ofl.  H.  RUSSELL 

FACSIMILE   OF   LETTER   FROM   GEORGE  WASH- 
INGTON TO  WILLIAM  RUSSELL    ...         „        ,,     266 

THE  ABBEY  ARDENNES,  NEAR  CAEN.        .  „        ,,     280 

The  church  (13^  and  i^th  centuries)  now  used  as  a  barn. 
From  a  photograph  by  T.  H.  RUSSELL,  April  1909 

WILLIAM  JAMES  RUSSELL  (1830-1909)       .  ,,        „     298 

From  a  photograph  by  RUSSELL  &  SONS  (1905) 


RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 


INTRODUCTION 

IF  an  excuse  were  required  for  adding  another  volume 
to  the  recent  stream  of  memoirs  relating  to  the  end 
of  the  eighteenth  and  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
century  it  might  be  found  in  the  intrinsic  interest  of 
adventures  here  described  at  first  hand.  But  there  is 
another  justification.  The  ground  covered  in  these 
authentic  contemporary  jottings,  if  not  absolutely  un- 
broken, is  comparatively  novel.  Most  of  the  lately 
published  reminiscences  deal  with  great  folks  ;  the 
sayings,  doings,  and  feelings  of  persons  distinguished 
in  society,  politics,  or  literature.  In  dozens  of  these 
posthumous  confidences  we  have  been  taken  behind 
the  scenes  of  famous  events,  notorious  controversies, 
and  memorable  scandals.  Courtiers  and  gallants, 
statesmen  and  plotters,  leaders  of  fashion  and  chartered 
demireps  cross  the  pages,  and  we  are  privileged,  so 
we  fancy,  to  overhear  their  conversations,  and  read 
their  secret  thoughts.  Nothing  can  be  more  delight- 
ful than  thus  to  mix  at  one's  ease  with  the  ghosts 
of  the  illustrious,  gratifying  one's  taste  for  good 
company  and  appetite  for  gossip,  while  all  the  time 
one  affects  to  be  studying  the  sources  of  history.  In- 
cidentally one  may  compare  the  verified  tattle  of  three 


2  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

generations  ago  with  the  dark  hints  and  whispered 
rumours  about  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  who  figure 
in  modern  society  journals.  It  is  a  veritable  branch 
of  comparative  mythology. 

No  such  entertainment  or  edification  is  provided 
in  these  annals  of  a  middle-class  family  who  neither 
sought  adventures  nor  made  history.  Against  their 
will,  almost  without  their  knowledge,  these  prosperous, 
cultivated,  inconspicuous  persons  were  thrust  from 
the  humdrum  routine  of  a  sheltered  life  and  caught  in 
the  vortex  of  international  strife.  Their  journals  and 
correspondence,  casually  composed  and  accidentally 
preserved,  show  us  how  the  vicissitudes  of  war  and 
peace  affected  a  class  of  English  people  who  have 
been  given  little  space  in  the  printed  records  of  a 
momentous  age.  On  the  Russells  of  Birmingham 
was  visited  the  wrath  of  a  nation  panic-stricken  at 
the  excesses  of  a  foreign  Revolution.  They  were 
Radicals,  Nonconformists,  and  sympathisers  with  what 
they  regarded  as  a  cosmopolitan  effort  for  the  emanci- 
pation of  the  human  race.  Overtly  the  head  of  the 
family  had  done  nothing  to  offend  his  neighbours' 
opinion  beyond  being  one  of  Dr.  Priestley's  staunchest 
and  most  generous  supporters,  and  though  that  scien- 
tific divine  was  known,  alike  in  religion  and  politics, 
to  favour  the  new  ideas,  he  enjoyed  amongst  educated 
persons  all  over  the  world  a  distinguished  and  per- 
haps exaggerated  reputation  both  as  theologian  and 
chemist.  To  the  perfunctory  tolerance  of  these  times  it 
seems  almost  unaccountable  that  friendship  with  Joseph 
Priestley  should  have  entailed  not  merely  social  ex- 
communication but  active  persecution.  In  the  mildly 


INTRODUCTION  3 

heterodox  circle  at  Birmingham  of  which  he  was  the 
centre  nothing  was  said  or  thought  more  outrageous 
than  what  passed  with  Fox  and  his  party  as  common- 
places of  debate,  or  than  the  epigrams  exchanged 
between  Lady  Holland  and  her  pet  philosophers  at 
Holland  House.  But  it  was  one  thing  "  daring  to  be 
a  Daniel"  in  London  society,  where  the  Tory  lions 
were  likely  to  meet  their  match  ;  another,  to  celebrate 
the  Fall  of  the  Bastille  and  defy  the  local  big-wigs 
in  a  provincial  town  already  noted  for  the  vigour  of 
its  public  spirit. 

The  irony  of  the  Russells'  destiny  was  that,  driven, 
literally,  by  fire  from  their  home,  and  seeking  refuge 
in  more  enlightened  foreign  countries,  they  underwent, 
at  French  hands,  treatment  more  painful  than  they 
had  suffered  in  England,  and  when,  after  an  ex- 
hausting odyssey  by  sea  and  land,  they  reached  an 
American  haven,  they  gained  little  relief  from  the 
narrowness  of  thought  and  religious  intolerance  to 
which,  when  they  sailed  from  their  native  shores,  they 
believed  they  had  bidden  a  long  farewell. 

The  account  here  given  of  the  hardships  inflicted 
on  an  elderly  traveller  and  his  girl  daughters  after  the 
American  vessel  on  which  they  were  sailing  had  been 
overhauled  by  a  French  privateer  reflects  no  special 
discredit  on  their  captors  and  gaolers.  It  was  not 
characteristic  of  the  times  to  make  provision  for  the 
comfort  of  prisoners  of  war.  Possibly  it  would  be 
unwise  on  this  point  for  an  Englishman  to  challenge 
comparison  with  the  arrangements  made  for  French 
guests  on  a  British  man-of-war.  Of  malicious  in- 
humanity in  the  treatment  of  the  Russells  we  find  in 


4  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

these  diaries  no  suggestion — simply  there  was  neglect, 
with  almost  incredible  ignorance  of  sanitary  con- 
ditions. Individual  Republican  officers  showed  the 
utmost  kindness  and  thoughtful  courtesy — neverthe- 
less, the  wretched  captives  were  nearly  done  to  death. 
We  are  also  given  some  glimpses  of  the  efforts  made 
by  kindly  outsiders,  chiefly  Americans,  to  mitigate 
the  rigours  of  confinement.  The  quite  inexcusable 
prolongation  of  the  Russells'  imprisonment  on  board 
was  but  part  and  parcel  of  the  comprehensive  incom- 
petence displayed  in  Paris  by  the  Committee  of 
Public  Safety.  There  had  been  no  time  to  elaborate 
a  system,  and  without  a  system  the  French  official, 
then  as  now,  is  a  lost  soul. 

As  to  the  feelings  with  which  the  elder  Russell  viewed 
the  inner  working,  when  he  saw  it  at  close  quarters, 
of  the  two  young  Republics  of  the  Old  and  the  New 
Worlds  there  is  no  evidence  in  these  pages.  Those  of 
his  letters  which  have  been  preserved  relate  in  the 
main  to  matters  of  private  business.  But  his  daughters, 
who  had  started  on  their  travels  with  enthusiasm  for 
everything  Republican,  found  their  zeal  cooling  after  a 
few  weeks'  residence  in  Paris.  They  witnessed  some  of 
the  so-called  trials  of  public  offenders,  and  were  within 
an  ace  of  being  present  at  an  execution.  With  the 
disorders,  sufferings,  and  discontent  in  Paris  and  in 
the  country  they  had  become  personally  familiar,  and, 
though  they  did  their  best,  as  loyal  Radicals,  to  shut 
their  eyes  to  abominations  practised  in  the  name  of 
liberty,  they  were  too  candid,  on  quitting  Paris  and 
saying  good-bye  to  their  dear  captivating  General 
Miranda,  not  to  confess  to  their  disillusion. 


INTRODUCTION  5 

Disappointment  in  France,  however,  did  not  dull 
their  expectations  of  happiness  in  America.  When 
first  they  were  settled  in  the  beautiful  Valley  of  the 
Connecticut,  and  for  a  long  time  afterwards,  Martha 
and  Mary  Russell  congratulated  themselves  on  being 
partners  in  a  primitive  yet  not  unprogressive  com- 
munity, where  the  charms  of  a  bountiful  nature  were 
enhanced  by  the  pleasures  of  a  rational  society.  They 
were  happy,  they  felt,  in  having  at  last  made  good 
their  escape  from  the  vices  and  prejudices  of  a  sophisti- 
cated feudalism.  How  they  came  to  change  their 
sentiments  does  not  quite  unmistakably  appear.  Their 
young  brother  Thomas  had  all  along  been  something  of 
a  John  Bull,  and  hardly  tried,  worthy  lad,  to  accommodate 
himself  to  new  conditions.  Radical  and  Rationalist, 
Gilbert  Wakefield's  favourite  and  admiring  pupil,  he 
had  nevertheless  brought  with  him  a  stock  of  old- 
fashioned  British  prejudices.  No  such  charge  can  be 
urged  against  the  sisters,  who,  under  the  most  severe 
tests,  on  board  ship  as  well  as  in  Paris,  had  displayed 
a  remarkable  talent  for  "  getting  on  with  people,"  and 
contemplated  the  new  Republic  with  feelings  of  affec- 
tionate veneration.  At  Middletown,  however,  after 
a  fairly  good  start,  they  seem  to  have  broken  down. 
Very  soon  they  either  found  themselves  avoided 
by  their  neighbours  or  of  their  own  choice  withdrew 
from  social  intercourse.  Martha's  marriage  with  an 
English  suitor  was  for  some  time  kept  secret  from  the 
neighbours,  probably  because  the  Russells  did  not 
wish  to  entertain  people  for  whom  they  had  but  slight 
regard,  or  because  they  feared  that  an  English  marriage 
would  be  locally  unpopular.  Here  it  should  be  pointed 


6  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

out  that  the  inability  revealed  by  these  willing  young 
settlers  to  fit  themselves  into  the  social  life  of  the 
American  States  was  by  this  time  a  common  ex- 
perience amongst  English  people  who  had  hoped  in 
the  New  World  to  find  a  sort  of  realised  Heaven.  In 
the  letters  from  Gilbert  Wakefield  (a  typical  British 
Radical,  who  suffered  in  person  for  the  intemperance 
of  his  opinions)  addressed  to  young  Thomas  Russell 
we  come  upon  some  unreasonably  bitter  references 
to  the  conditions  of  American  life.  Dr.  Priestley  him- 
self, though  a  considerable  personage  in  Philadelphia, 
and  duly  honoured  by  distinguished  citizens,  in  private 
letters  expressed  himself  somewhat  harshly  about  the 
social  behaviour  and  moral  standard  of  the  people 
about  him  in  Northumberland.  Evidence  of  the  like 
kind  is  plentiful  in  such  books  as  Henry  Bradshaw 
Fearon's  Sketches  of  America — a  series  of  reports 
expressly  prepared  for  a  group  of  English  families 
who  had  wished  to  "ascertain  whether  any  and  what 
part  of  the  United  States  would  be  suitable  for  their 
residence."  The  intending  emigrants  are  warned  that 
a  "  cold  uniform  bigotry  "  pervades  all  American  sects 
in  regard  to  religion.  Again,  though  any  industrious 
man  could  earn  a  living,  the  place  is  "  not  a  political 
Elysium."  Mechanics  and  labourers  would  do  well,  but 
there  was  no  room  for  men  of  letters  or  artists.  Shop- 
keepers might  do  as  well  as  in  London,  but  not  better. 
A  good  deal  is  said  about  American  speculativeness 
in  business,  and  this  complaint  is  often  coupled,  by 
Priestley  and  the  Russells,  with  a  charge  of  prevailing 
dishonesty.  These  ethical  generalisations  which  the 
wise  traveller  never  expresses,  which  a  prudent  settler 


INTRODUCTION  7 

in  a  new  land  lives  to  banish  from  his  mind,  and  which 
a  genuine  citizen  of  the  world  knows  to  be  delusive, 
were  passed  freely  from  hand  to  hand,  and  helped,  no 
doubt,  to  breed  mutual  suspicion  and  generate  mis- 
understandings. It  was  a  long  time  before  the  British 
and  the  Americans  even  began  to  understand  each 
other,  and  at  the  time  of  the  eighteenth  century 
the  sense  of  reciprocal  repugnance  was  the  stronger, 
because  in  essentials  the  two  nations  were  identical. 
Each  expected  the  other  to  be  exactly  like  itself,  and 
every  difference  on  either  side  was  made  ground  of 
offence.  Curiously  enough,  the  hostility  seems  to 
have  been  at  its  sharpest  between  those  Englishmen 
who  sympathised  with  the  Republican  ideal  and  those 
Americans  who  professed  themselves  eager  to  welcome 
refugees  from  a  land  groaning  under  priestcraft  and 
aristocratic  oppression.  On  this,  as  on  many  other 
neglected  or  comparatively  unexplored  passages  in  the 
social  life  of  the  two  peoples  a  hundred  years  ago,  these 
homely  memoranda  throw  informing  and  interesting 
sidelights.  Nothing  here  quoted  was  written  with  a 
view  to  publication.  The  widest  audience  contem- 
plated by  the  Russell  girls,  by  James  Skey,  the  Eng- 
lishman who  married  first  one  and  then  the  other,  or 
by  their  brother,  was  the  little  circle  of  relatives  and 
friends  at  Birmingham  or  in  Gloucestershire.  In  a 
formal  and  full-dress  generation  we  are  presented  in 
these  pages  to  a  little  group  of  candid,  observant, 
shrewd,  if  slightly  prejudiced  young  people  writing 
down,  in  confidential  deshabille,  what  they  saw  and 
thought,  or  thought  they  saw. 


CHAPTER   I 

RELIGIOUS  AND  POLITICAL  INTOLERANCE  AT  THE 
END   OF  THE  EIGHTEENTH   CENTURY 

The  Russell  family  in  Birmingham — Intimate  relations  with  Dr. 
Priestley — His  unpopularity  explained — Theological  heresies  and 
the  High  Church  party — His  devout  frame  of  mind — Letter  to 
Martha  Russell — William  Russell's  close  alliance  with  Priestley — 
Their  sympathy  with  the  French  Revolution — Proposed  celebra- 
tion of  the  capture  of  the  Bastille — Rumours  of  vengeance  on  the 
Radical  Dissenters — Slackness  of  the  Birmingham  authorities — The 
banquet  undisturbed  —  An  ominous  gathering — Beginning  of  the 
riots. 

WILLIAM  RUSSELL  of  Birmingham,  whose  remarkable 
adventures  at  the  turn  of  the  eighteenth  century,  in 
England,  France,  and  America,  as  well  as  on  the  high 
seas,  are  set  out  in  the  diaries  and  family  papers  that 
form  the  substance  of  this  book,  was  a  gentleman  of 
ample  means,  irreproachable  character,  and  wide  in- 
tellectual sympathies.  By  circumstances  as  by  nature 
he  seemed  to  be  marked  out  for  a  career  of  civic  use- 
fulness, and  perhaps  of  public  distinction.  He  was  a 
liberal  subscriber  to  such  causes  as  the  abolition  of 
slavery,  promoted  various  philanthropic  agencies  at 
home,  and  was  on  intimate  terms  with  many  distin- 
guished Englishmen.  Chief  amongst  them  were  Dr. 
Joseph  Priestley,  the  famous  chemist  and  divine,  and 
the  erratic  genius,  Gilbert  Wakefield,  scholar  and 
pamphleteer,  to  whom  he  entrusted  the  training  of 
his  son  Thomas  Russell.  In  a  few  words,  he  was  a 


RELIGIOUS  AND   POLITICAL  INTOLERANCE     9 

broad-minded,  public-spirited,  if  perhaps  somewhat 
viewy  man — a  local  personage  who  should  have  stood 
well  with  all  his  neighbours.  But  within  a  few  years 
this  prosperous  and,  to  all  appearances,  easy-going 
citizen  had  his  house  burned  almost  over  his  head,  was 
driven  out  of  his  native  country  by  social  ostracism, 
made  prisoner  of  war  and  nearly  done  to  death  by 
officers  of  a  Government  and  people  to  whom  he  had 
looked  as  vindicators  of  human  liberty,  established  a 
new  home  in  the  young  American  Republic,  gave  it  up, 
and  on  returning  to  Europe  found  himself  threatened 
with  prosecution  for  treasonable  correspondence  with 
the  King's  enemies. 

Of  all  these  troubles  the  origin  was  his  friendship 
with  Dr.  Joseph  Priestley,  a  man  whose  solid  and  en- 
during work  as  a  pioneer  in  chemical  science  was, 
in  his  lifetime,  somewhat  overshadowed  by  polemical 
labours  in  theology  and  politics.  It  has  been  the 
fashion  amongst  his  admirers  to  speak  of  him  as  a 
peculiarly  gentle  and  inoffensive  divine.  In  point 
of  fact,  one  has  but  to  glance  along  the  titles  of  his 
books  and  pamphlets,  or  read  a  few  pages  of  his 
argument,  in  order  to  understand  the  exasperation  of 
his  adversaries.  When  he  is  not  dealing  them  hard 
knocks  in  the  old-fashioned  style,  he  is  tormenting 
them  with  a  sort  of  Socratic  ingenuity.  The  occa- 
sional quietness  of  his  exposition  was  itself  an  affront, 
as  though  he  were  a  kindly  pedagogue  seeking  to 
instruct  a  class  of  rather  dull  pupils,  while  the  irony  of 
which  he  made  frequent  use  was  equally  efficacious 
and  irritating.  As  well  might  one  have  expected 
Kingsley  to  appreciate  Newman's  exquisite  urbanity  in 


io  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

making  mincemeat  of  Broad  Church  theology  as  ask 
Priestley's  opponents  to  relish  the  tone  and  temper  of 
his  attacks  on  the  High  Church  doctrine  of  their  day. 
The  Roman  cardinal  and  the  Unitarian  minister 
were  comparable  in  the  simplicity,  charm,  and  purity 
of  their  private  lives,  as  in  their  power  of  inspiring 
all  who  knew  them  with  deep  personal  affection. 
Intellectually,  however,  they  were  hard  and  even 
ruthless.  In  controversy  their  assumption  of  sweet 
reasonableness  was  but  their  blameless  way  of  em- 
ploying dum-dum  bullets  in  warfare  against  persons 
whom  they  regarded  as  little  better  than  savages. 

During  the  happy  and  intellectually  prolific  time 
which  Priestley  spent  at  Birmingham,  enjoying  the 
public  support  and  private  friendship  of  William 
Russell,  he  produced  his  History  of  the  Corruptions 
of  Christianity.  The  sufficiently  adventurous  promise 
of  the  title-page  was  well  borne  out  by  the  contents 
of  the  volume.  Not  only  did  it  shock  the  suscepti- 
bilities of  High  Church  people1  in  England:  it  was 
repudiated  by  Calvinists  and  Lutherans  abroad.  At 
Dordrecht  (as  Sir  Edward  Thorpe  reminds  us  in  his 
pleasant  memoir  of  Priestley  published  in  1906)  it 
was  burned  in  public  by  the  common  executioner. 
This  inflammatory  treatise  Priestley  followed  up  pre- 
sently with  a  History  of  Early  Opinion  concerning 
Jesus  Christ  and  a  series  of  pamphlets  in  defence  of 
Unitarian  doctrine.  At  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, it  should  be  remembered,  the  average  believer 
in  Christianity,  especially  in  this  country,  recognised 

1  They  must  not  be  considered  ecclesiastical  ancestors  of  the  present 
High  Church  Anglicans. 


RELIGIOUS  AND  POLITICAL  INTOLERANCE      n 

no  great  difference  between  a  Unitarian  and  a  Deist 
— or  between  a  Deist  and  a  Atheist.  Priestley  him- 
self and  the  Unitarians  for  whom  he  spoke  claimed 
the  name  of  Christians,  warmly  denounced  the  errors 
of  Deism,  and,  indeed,  clung  to  many  articles  of  faith 
discarded  by  the  New  Theology  of  our  own  times,  but 
the  depth  and  breadth  of  their  creed  did  not  count  with 
ordinary  orthodox  men  and  women.  In  a  rough-and- 
ready,  intolerant  way  they  banned  all  heretics  together, 
and  looked  upon  Priestley  as  a  peculiarly  mischievous 
ringleader. 

This  confusion  of  thought  was  played  upon,  no 
doubt,  by  some  High  Church  controversialists  who 
knew  better.  They  had  conceived  a  special  animus 
against  Priestley  and  his  associates  at  Birmingham 
because,  not  content  with  waging  a  war  of  books  and 
pamphlets  against  the  Establishment,  the  local  Non- 
conformists set  up  a  rivalry  with  the  Church  of 
England  in  the  matter  of  Sunday-schools.  Priestley 
delivered  a  sermon  in  1789  on  behalf  of  the  New 
Meeting  School,  and  took  an  active  part  in  the  teach- 
ing. Russell,  meantime,  as  Priestley's  letters  show, 
was  a  substantial  and  open-handed  supporter  of  the 
militant  Nonconformist  divine.  In  addition  to  solid 
sums  of  money  which  he  contributed  from  his  own 
purse  or  raised  amongst  members  of  the  congregation, 
he  placed  his  horses  and  carriages  regularly  at  the 
minister's  disposal,  and  in  the  general  work  of  Uni- 
tarian organisation  in  Birmingham  was  his  right-hand 
man  and  something  more.  The  value  of  Russell's 
services  is  warmly  recognised  by  Priestley's  autobio- 
graphy and  in  his  correspondence  (as  collected  in 


12  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

1832  by  J.  T.  Rutt).  Writing  from  Leeds  in  October 
1790,  during  a  temporary  absence  from  Birmingham, 
he  regrets  that  a  friend  and  fellow-minister  whom  he 
is  visiting,  though  possessing  as  much  zeal  as  himself, 
"has  no  Mr.  Russell  to  second,  or  rather  to  lead  him, 
as  I  have."  This  letter  is  addressed  to  the  Martha 
Russell,  William  Russell's  daughter,  much  of  whose 
work  will  appear  in  the  following  chapters,  and 
expresses  his  condolence  with  her  on  the  loss  of  her 
mother,  killed  in  a  carriage  accident : — 

"Your  affecting  letter,  which  I  could  not  read 
without  many  tears,  abundantly  repays  me  for  any 
pains  I  may  have  taken  to  instil  Christian  principles 
into  the  minds  of  the  young  persons  of  the  congrega- 
tion, as  it  shows  that  in  some  at  least  it  has  had  its 
full  effect.  It  also  proves  to  myself  that  Christianity 
is  not  a  mere  speculation,  but  of  the  greatest  practical 
use  on  the  most  serious  and  trying  occasions.  I  find 
it  so  myself  now  as  well  as  at  other  times.  As  to 
death,  I  have  habitually  considered  it  as  no  great  evil, 
except  in  particular  circumstances,  and  in  your  case 
there  is  much  to  alleviate  your  sorrow ;  and  in  the 
midst  of  judgment  we  should  not  forget  our  mercies. 

"  My  wife,  who  desires  to  be  most  kindly  remem- 
bered to  you,  is  but  poorly,  but  better  than  she  has 
been.  However,  we  hope  to  arrive  at  Fairhill  on 
Friday.  With  my  earnest  prayers  for  the  best 
interests  of  all  the  family,  and  my  most  affectionate 
respects  to  your  father  and  sister  (to  whom,  indeed,  I 
consider  myself  as  writing  not  less  than  to  yourself), 
I  am,  &c.,  &c." 


RELIGIOUS  AND   POLITICAL  INTOLERANCE      13 

These  passages,  with  many  others  in  Priestley's 
private  letters,  might  of  course  be  cited  to  prove  that 
his  theological  heresies  were  consistent  with  what 
used  to  be  called  a  devout  Christian  spirit ;  but  the 
purpose  for  which  they  have  here  been  quoted  is  to 
establish  the  closeness  of  the  tie  between  the  minister 
and  his  chief  lay  supporter.  Elsewhere  it  appears 
that  Priestley  assisted,  informally  perhaps,  in  the 
education  of  Martha  and  Mary  Russell,  and  possibly 
it  may  have  been  due  to  his  teaching  that  the  elder 
sister  acquired  her  quite  remarkable  quality  of  simple 
and  orderly  narration,  together  with  a  tendency,  not 
always  resisted,  towards  stilted  language  and  senti- 
mental platitudes. 

Hereafter  it  will  appear  how  confidently  Priestley 
relied,  in  time  of  trouble,  upon  Russell's  advice  and 
assistance.  For  the  present  it  is  enough  to  have 
shown  that,  in  the  mind  of  their  neighbours  and 
enemies,  it  would  be  impossible  to  hit  one  man  with- 
out also  striking  at  the  other.  If  Priestley  were  to 
be  prosecuted,  Russell  could  not  be  spared.  Perhaps 
it  may  be  thought  that  the  reasons  already  explained 
sufficiently  account  for  the  virulent  prejudice  which 
had  been  aroused  against  men  like  Priestley,  Russell, 
and  other  leaders  of  the  little  body  of  earnest,  enlight- 
ened, and  possibly  somewhat  supercilious  reformers 
who  had  pitted  themselves,  as  it  were,  against  the 
prevailing  sentiment  of  the  place.  But  it  should  be 
added  that  the  agitation  against  the  Unitarians  of 
Birmingham  was  not  in  origin  purely  theological. 
Largely,  if  not  predominantly,  it  was  political.  Though 
there  is  no  logical  or  necessary  connection  between 


14  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

latitudinarianism  in  religion  and  progressivism  in 
politics,  at  the  time  of  the  French  Revolution  it  had 
been  rendered  impracticable,  in  any  European  country, 
to  distinguish  the  two  movements.  People  who  took 
up  the  one  adopted  the  other,  and  those  who  hated 
either  impartially  detested  both. 

[Gilbert  Wakefield  was  a  man  who  bore  a  decided 
likeness  to  Priestley.  Their  intellectual  interests  were 
not  the  same,  for  Wakefield  was  mainly  a  critic  and  a 
classical  scholar.  But  in  type  and  method  they  were 
alike.  Joseph  de  Maistre,  the  great  Savoyard  Ultra- 
montane— or  we  may  even  say  Tory — publicist,  when 
speaking  (with  overflowing  rancour)  of  Hume  makes 
a  curious  remark  on  the  "  cruelty  of  the  syllogism." 
This  was  his  figurative  way  of  explaining  that  the 
reasoner  who  attacks  the  cherished  beliefs  of  simple- 
minded  people  can  inflict  as  much  pain  and  humilia- 
tion as  if  he  struck  a  blow  with  a  whip.  In  private 
life  Wakefield  was  a  good  friend,  husband,  and  father, 
but  it  is  allowed  that  his  pen  was  "  dipped  in  gall " 
when  he  took  part  in  controversy.  And  unfortunately 
he  did  not  confine  himself  to  debating  questions  of 
classical  scholarship  with  Person,  who  was  eminently 
capable  of  giving  him  the  counter-check  quarrelsome. 
He  had  a  brilliant  career  at  school  at  Nottingham 
and  Kingston,  and  then  at  Jesus  College,  Cambridge. 
He  was  a  Fellow  of  the  college,  had  been  Second 
Wrangler  in  1776  (though  he  found  algebra  "odious 
beyond  conception  "),  and  Chancellor's  Medallist.  It 
was  natural  enough,  but  it  was  none  the  less  unfor- 
tunate for  him,  that  he  began  by  an  ill-judged  entry 
into  the  Church  with  innocent  views  on  a  college  living. 


GILBERT   WAKEFIELD 

After  the  painting  by  W.  ARTAND 


RELIGIOUS  AND   POLITICAL    INTOLERANCE      15 

He  did  not  go  beyond  taking  deacon's  orders,  for  so 
soon  as  he  applied  his  mind  to  the  study  of  theology 
he  found  himself  quite  unable  to  accept  the  orthodox 
creed.  He  inevitably  fell  away  from  the  Church,  but 
not  from  theology — which  meant  that  he  became  a 
dissenter,  holding  Unitarian  or  Arian  views,  therefore 
an  assailant  of  the  Established  Church,  and  therefore, 
as  was  then  inevitable,  no  friend  to  the  established 
political  order.  The  morning  of  a  battle,  or  the  stress 
of  a  siege,  are  not  opportune  moments  for  revising  the 
articles  of  war.  Wakefield  was  regarded  as  a  mutineer 
when  he  professed  only  to  be  a  candid  critic. 

Of  course  he  held  his  country  responsible  for  the  war 
with  France.  Every  writer  of  authority,  from  Herbert 
Marsh,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Llandaff  and  of  Peter- 
borough, whose  Politics  of  Great  Britain  and  France 
appeared  in  1799,  down  to  M.  A.  Sorel,  whose  Europe 
et  la  Revolution  Fran$aise  was  recently  concluded, 
agree  that  the  struggle  was  forced  on  us  by  the  action 
of  the  French  parties,  Jacobins  and  Girondins  alike, 
for  each  hoped  that  war  would  enable  it  to  destroy 
the  other.  Englishmen  knew  the  truth,  and  were  not 
unnaturally  angry  with  dissidents  such  as  Wakefield. 
When  in  1798  he  published  a  controversial  pamphlet, 
in  which  he  declared  that  the  poor  would  lose  nothing 
by  a  French  invasion,  he  was  naturally  tried  for  a 
seditious  publication.  His  imprisonment  in  Dor- 
chester Jail,  where  he  was  allowed  to  see  his  friends 
and  left  free  to  work,  was  a  very  gentle  martyrdom, 
if  we  compare  it  to  the  savage  treatment  of  "  aristo- 
crats "  and  priests,  who  would  not  submit  to  the  civil 
constitution  of  the  Church,  in  France. 


16  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

His  correspondence  with  William  Russell  is  rich  in 
outspoken  statements  of  his  political  views  as  well  as 
of  his  religious  sentiments,  and  he  was  equally  out- 
spoken in  his  letters  to  Thomas  Russell,  who  had  for 
a  time  been  his  pupil — for  Wakefield  took  refuge  in 
keeping  a  school  when  he  had  shut  himself  out  by  his 
heterodoxy  from  all  other  professions.  On  the  i3th 
August  1793,  we  find  him  writing  as  follows  to 
Thomas  Russell,  then  in  Madrid  : — 

"The  gross  stupidity  of  the  Spaniards  is  certainly 
a  sufficient  ground  for  sceptical  speculations ;  and  yet 
a  knowledge  of  the  conduct  of  Englishmen  blessed  by 
more  knowledge  and  light  and  more  liberty,  is  no  less 
a  subject  for  national  admiration.  We  see  here  a  set 
of  people  who  fancy  themselves  to  possess  a  reformed 
religion,  and  although  that  religion  principally  consists 
in  useful  and  benevolent  actions,  joining  in  prayers  to 
the  Supreme  Being  to  assist  them  out  of  His  infinite 
mercy  in  murdering  His  image — their  own  fellow- 
creatures — with  whom  they  have  not  the  least  reason 
to  interfere,  and  with  whose  conduct  at  home  they 
cannot  make  out  the  smallest  privilege  thus  to  concern 
themselves.  I  defy  any  absurdities  of  the  Catholics 
to  transcend  this,  numerous  and  prodigious  as  they 
may  be.  Many  other  singularities  might  be  exempli- 
fied in  our  countrymen,  which  would  advance  them 
very  far  to  a  level  with  these  infatuated  sons  of  slavery 
and  superstition  ;  but  the  villains  at  the  post-office,  the 
subordinate  agents  of  greater  villains,  must  be  some 
restraint  even  upon  one  who  fears  them  less  and  de- 
spises them  more  than  any  calculation  can  specify." 


RELIGIOUS  AND    POLITICAL  INTOLERANCE      17 

This  is  a  pretty  explicit  statement  of  Wakefield's 
point  of  view.  It  is  characteristic  of  him  and  his 
whole  party,  that  he  always  holds  the  enemies  of 
France  exclusively  responsible  for  the  bloodshed.  By 
a  natural  process  he  is  led  to  rejoice  in  their  defeat, 
and  of  course  in  the  defeat  of  his  own  country.  In 
the  month  after  he  had  written  the  passage  quoted 
above,  he  penned  this  wholesale  condemnation  : — 

"  It  is  truly  dreadful  to  see  such  havoc  of  the 
human  species  to  gratify  the  infatuation  of  a  set  of 
unprincipled  governors,  whose  guilt  rises  to  a  magni- 
tude of  enormity  beyond  all  calculation.  I  look  upon 
the  death  of  every  Frenchman  that  is  killed  in  battle 
by  the  invading  armies  to  be  as  absolute  murder  as 
was  ever  committed ;  and  in  the  eye  of  God  and 
reason  will  be  estimated  accordingly.  The  chief  actors 
will  rue  their  conduct  a  hundred-fold,  or  I  am  greatly 
mistaken  ;  and  I  suppose  they  begin  to  repent  heartily 
of  their  abomination  by  this  time,  at  least  those  of  our 
own  country. 

"  Certainly  on  such  grand  emergencies  we  should 
not  acquiesce  in  a  bare  discharge  of  stipulated  duty, 
but  should  attempt  great  enterprises  ;  otherwise  I  am 
inclined  to  think  that  Custine  was  severely  dealt  with, 
and  that  some  of  the  French  leaders  are  not  governed 
by  such  sentiments  of  humanity  and  disinterestedness 
as  become  their  station,  but  our  means  of  forming  a 
judgment  are  few  and  defective. 

"  Biron  and  one  or  two  have  not  yet  been  brought 
to  their  trial,  and  I  hope  no  guilt  will  appear.  I  most 
cordially  abhor  the  shedding  of  blood,  and  would  not 


i8  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

have  a  drop  spilled  scarcely  on  any  supposable 
occasion  :  and  the  horror  with  which  I  reflect  on  the 
conduct  of  our  king  and  ministers  in  this  view,  who 
ought  to  know  better  than  to  act  so  vile  a  part,  is 
beyond  all  power  of  language  to  express ;  but  murderous 
instincts  are  so  incompatible  with  every  affection  of 
humanity  and  every  principle  of  religion,  with  every 
feeling  essential  to  the  grand  intention  of  the  creature, 
the  happiness  of  the  world — that  such  minds  will 
surely  undergo  a  long  and  painful  purgatory  before 
they  will  be  qualified  for  the  society  of  Godlike 
spirits." 

It  is  amusing  to  compare  Wakefield's  hesitating 
criticism  of  the  French  with  his  hearty  condemnation 
of  his  own  king  and  ministers.  His  letters  serve  a 
purpose  he  certainly  never  contemplated.  They  show 
how  great  was  the  measure  of  freedom  allowed  in 
England  in  those  days  of  "tyranny."  Though  he 
constantly  referred  to  the  risk  that  his  letters  would  be 
opened  by  the  police,  he  had  plainly  no  fear  of  serious 
danger.  If  a  Frenchman  or  any  other  continental 
malcontent  had  written  with  equal  freedom  he  would 
have  run  a  very  grave  hazard  of  a  worse  fate  than 
mild  imprisonment  in  Dorchester  Jail,  after  fair  and 
open  trial.] 

It  would  not  be  unfair  to  describe  the  Birmingham 
riots  in  1791  as  a  mean  and  dirty  back- wash  of  the 
year  1789  in  Paris.  The  relation  was  direct.  In  a 
good  many  English  towns  the  advanced  persons  had 
resolved  to  celebrate  the  fourteenth  of  July  of  two 
years  before  as  a  date  marking  the  emancipation  of 


RELIGIOUS  AND    POLITICAL   INTOLERANCE      19 

mankind  and  the  commencement  of  a  new  cosmo- 
politan era.  As  a  feat  of  arms  (so  the  late  Captain 
D.  Bingham  well  showed)  the  capture  of  the  Bastille 
was  contemptible  :  as  an  act  of  State,  it  was  all  but 
useless.  On  the  other  hand,  as  a  Revolutionary 
advertisement  it  was  a  huge  success.  Naturally  it 
was  seized  upon  by  foreign  sympathisers  as  a  symbol 
of  Liberty,  while  the  party  of  Law  and  Order,  as 
represented  by  street-corner  politicians,  was  driven  to 
fury  by  the  mere  mention  of  that  ridiculously  exagger- 
ated event.  Some  days  before  the  proposed  demon- 
stration on  the  part  of  the  Birmingham  Radicals,  it 
became  known  that  the  roughs  on  the  other  side 
meant  mischief.  Inflammatory  hand-bills  had  been 
circulated  in  the  town,  misrepresenting  the  purpose 
of  the  Radical  banquet,  and  the  promoters  thought  it 
necessary  to  counteract  them  by  means  of  an  explana- 
tion printed  in  a  local  newspaper.  They  declared 
their  "entire  disapprobation  of  the  hand-bills  and 
their  ignorance  of  the  authorship."  Sensible  them- 
selves of  the  advantages  of  a  free  government,  they 
rejoiced  in  the  extension  of  liberty  to  their  neighbours, 
at  the  same  time  avowing,  in  "  the  most  explicit 
manner,  their  firm  attachment  to  the  Constitution  of 
their  own  country,  as  vested  in  the  Three  Estates  of 
the  King,  Lords,  and  Commons.  Surely  no  free- 
born  Englishman  can  refrain  from  exulting  in  this 
addition  to  the  general  mass  of  human  happiness.  It 
is  the  cause  of  Humanity,  it  is  the  cause  of  the  People." 
Apart  from  the  fact  that  the  Sovereign  is  not  an 
Estate  of  the  Realm,  this  avowal  of  constitutional 
principles  was  not  altogether  sincere.  Some,  at  least, 


20  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

of  the  signatories  were  in  theory  Republican.  Still, 
it  was  all  that  could  be  expected — and  a  good  deal 
more — from  men  who  were  being  threatened  with 
lawless  persecution  because  they  claimed  the  right  to 
form  and  express  their  reasoned  convictions  upon  the 
great  questions  of  the  day.  The  authorities  were 
legally  bound  to  protect  them,  and,  after  this  formal 
declaration,  had  no  excuse  for  neglecting  the  duty. 
But  while  we  are  not  obliged  to  believe,  with  Priestley 
and  some  of  his  friends,  that  certain  justices  of  the 
peace  were  in  secret  league  with  the  rioters,  or  that 
leading  clergymen  instigated  the  disorder,  it  is  certain, 
though  Russell  himself  had  a  seat  on  the  local  bench, 
that  the  magistrates  omitted  to  take  such  precaution 
as  the  conveners  of  the  banquet  might  fairly  have 
required.  On  the  morning  of  July  I4th,  so  it  appears 
from  a  statement  contributed  by  W.  Russell  to  a 
Birmingham  newspaper,  rumours  were  still  current 
that  violence  was  contemplated.  It  was,  therefore, 
decided  to  postpone  the  celebration.  A  notice  to  that 
effect  was  despatched  to  the  printer,  but,  before  a  proof 
had  been  returned,  the  keeper  of  the  hotel  where  the 
dinner  was  to  have  been  held  protested  against  its 
being  countermanded.  He  was  sure  that  no  danger 
need  be  apprehended  if  the  gentlemen  would  break 
up  early.  Mr.  Badley's  opinion  was,  unhappily, 
accepted.  "  Accordingly,  there  was  a  meeting  of 
eighty-one  gentlemen,  inhabitants  of  the  town  and 
neighbourhood,  at  the  great  room  in  the  hotel,  where 
they  dined  and  passed  the  afternoon  with  that  social, 
temperate,  and  benevolent  festivity  which  the  con- 
sideration of  the  great  event  that  has  diffused  liberty 


RELIGIOUS  AND    POLITICAL    INTOLERANCE     21 

and  happiness  among  a  large  portion  of  the  human 
race  inspired." 

The  room  was  decorated,  Russell  mentions,  with 
three  elegant  pieces  of  emblematic  sculpture.  The 
central  object  was  a  finely  executed  medallion  of  his 
Majesty,  encircled  with  a  glory,  on  each  side  of  which 
was  an  alabaster  obelisk,  one  exhibiting  Gallic  Liberty 
breaking  the  bands  of  Despotism,  and  the  other  re- 
presenting British  Liberty  in  its  present  enjoyment. 
The  chair  was  taken  by  a  truly  respectable  gentleman 
belonging  to  the  Church  of  England,  Mr.  Keir,  and 
other  members  of  "that  profession,"  we  read,  were 
present.  "  Nor  was  any  single  sentiment  uttered,  or, 
I  believe,  conceived,  that  would  hurt  the  feelings  of 
any  one  friend  to  liberty  and  good  government  under 
the  happy  Constitution  we  are  blessed  with  in  this 
kingdom." 

Although  a  mob  had  begun  to  assemble  outside 
the  hotel  before  this  Feast  of  Reason  had  come  to  its 
end,  the  company  were  permitted  to  take  their  de- 
parture in  peace.  It  was  not  till  two  hours  later  that 
the  organisers  of  the  riot  gave  the  signal  to  their  chief 
confederates.  At  the  cry  of  "Church  and  King"  all 
the  windows  in  the  front  of  the  hotel  were  suddenly 
broken  with  stones — just  to  hearten  up  the  mob. 
This  done,  a  march  was  made  to  the  New  Meeting- 
house, the  place  where  Priestley  used  to  preach. 
Quickly  the  building  was  broken  into,  gutted,  and  set 
on  fire.  Next  came  the  turn  of  the  Old  Meeting- 
house, which  was  treated  in  the  same  manner.  But 
the  ignominious  story  can  hardly  be  better  told  than 
by  Martha  Russell,  who  has  already  been  mentioned 


22  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

as  Priestley's  correspondent.  This  is  the  only  im- 
portant document  here  printed  which  has  previously 
seen  the  light.  It  was  contributed  to  the  Christian 
Reformer,  May  1835,  having  been  composed  in  1794, 
when  Martha  Russell  was  upon  her  way  to  America 
and  while  the  matter  was  fresh  in  her  memory. 
Probably  from  what  we  shall  learn  of  her  methodical 
diary-keeping,  it  was  then  compiled  from  notes  taken 
at  the  very  time  of  the  events  to  which  it  relates. 
Anyhow,  it  has  become  the  locus  classicus  for  a  dis- 
graceful episode  which  in  its  time  did  more  harm  to 
the  cause  of  Church  and  King  than  all  the  theorising 
subtleties  of  latitudinarian  divines,  all  the  arguments 
of  philosophic  Radicals,  all  the  mistakes  of  a  perverse 
because  unimaginative  sovereign  and  maladroit  or 
prejudiced  statesmen. 


CHAPTER    II 

A   PERSONAL  HISTORY   OF  THE 
BIRMINGHAM  RIOTS 

Attack  on  the  New  Meeting-house — Total  destruction — Similar  fate  of 
the  Old  Meeting-house — The  mob  in  possession — Flight  of  the 
Priestleys — William  Russell  confronts  the  rioters — Return  to  Showell 
Green — Priestley's  house  burnt  down — Martha  Russell's  reflections 
— Savage  hunt  for  Priestley — William  Russell  again  faces  the  mob 
— Flight  of  the  Russell  girls — Help  of  poor  neighbours — An  un- 
friendly acquaintance— Magistrates  indifferent — Russell's  house 
destroyed  by  fire — Advance  by  the  mob — Further  retreat  of  the 
Russell  girls — Adventures  on  the  road — Rioters  on  horseback — 
Father's  anxiety — A  farm-house  dormitory — Drive  to  London — 
Maidenhead  Thicket — A  drunken  post-boy — Refuge  in  the  Adelphi 
— Return  to  the  ruined  home. 

FROM  Martha  Russell's  account  of  the  events  pre- 
ceding the  destruction  of  her  father's  house  at  Showell 
Green,  it  appears  that  it  was  his  advice  that  pre- 
vented Priestley  from  attending  the  French  Revolu- 
tion banquet.  On  its  apparently  peaceful  termination, 
he  had  called  upon  the  Doctor  to  exchange  congratu- 
lations, and  then  came  on,  with  a  few  other  friends  of 
liberty,  to  take  tea  with  his  family.  There  they  all 
inspected  a  conservatory  which  had  that  day  been 
finished. 

"  How  delighted  we  were  with  its  appearance  and 
the  prospect  of  the  interesting  and  gratifying  amuse- 
ment it  would  afford  us,  upon  which  we  hoped  to 

enter  on  the  following  morning,  little  suspecting  what 

23 


24 

the  morning  would  bring  forth.  As  we  were  at 
supper,  W.  T.,  our  footman,  came  in  with  a 
countenance  as  pale  as  ashes,  and  told  my  father  a 
messenger  was  just  arrived  to  inform  him  that  a  mob 
had  collected  and  set  fire  to  the  New  Meeting-house, 
and  were  then  employed  in  destroying  the  Old 
Meeting-house  also,  and  they  declared  their  intention 
to  come  from  thence  to  Dr.  Priestley's  house  and 
then  to  ours — and  that  no  magistrates  appeared  or 
could  be  found  to  disperse  them.  Consternation  and 
alarm  now  filled  our  minds.  My  father  ordered  his 
horse,  intending  to  go  and  meet  the  mob,  and  search 
out  the  justices  to  quell  it.  Whilst  he  was  loading 
his  pocket-pistols  to  carry  with  him,  a  chaise  drove 
up  to  the  door,  with  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Priestley  and  Mr. 
S.  Ryland.  The  latter  had  taken  alarm,  and,  pro- 
curing a  chaise,  had  hurried  the  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Priestley 
away  from  their  house,  fearing  the  mob  would  be 
there  immediately." 

William  Russell  was  implored  not  to  face  an 
ungovernable  concourse  of  people.  The  magistrates 
would  certainly  be  set  in  action  by  friends  in  Birming- 
ham. He  would  listen  to  no  remonstrance,  however, 
and  declared  "he  would  be  his  own  master  that 
night."  His  daughters  Martha  and  Mary  could  dis- 
tinctly hear  the  shouting  of  the  rioters,  and  paced  up 
and  down  on  the  foot-road  in  a  dreadful  state  of 
suspense.  Presently,  like  practical  and  plucky  young 
women,  they  slipped  away,  and  without  alarming  Mrs. 
Priestley,  packed  up  the  plate  in  trunks,  and  sent  it 
to  a  neighbour's  house. 


THE    BIRMINGHAM    RIOTS  25 

In  about  three  hours  their  father  returned.  He 
had  gone  to  Priestley's  house  and  instructed  the  son 
William  to  remove  the  manuscripts  most  likely  to  be 
valuable.  Afterwards  Russell  had  ridden  on  to  Dig- 
beth,  where  he  met  the  mob.  There  he  also  came 
upon  many  of  his  friends,  who  begged  him  to  return, 
telling  him  of  the  threats  uttered  against  him. 

"At  length,  one  of  them,  I  believe  Mr.  J.  F., 
suddenly  turned  his  horse,  and,  giving  him  a  cut  with 
his  whip,  the  press  was  so  great,  and  the  spirit  of  the 
horse  so  roused,  my  father  found  himself  obliged  in  a 
manner  to  return.  Arriving  at  Dr.  Priestley's  gate 
before  the  mob,  he  stationed  himself  within-side  till 
the  mob  came  up  and  then  addressed  them,  en- 
deavouring to  induce  them,  by  fair  words  and  money, 
to  desist  and  return  home.  At  first  they  seemed  a 
little  pacified  and  inclined  to  listen,  till  one  more  loud 
than  the  rest,  and  who  had  the  appearance  of  a  ring- 
leader, cried  out,  '  Don't  take  a  sixpence  of  his 
money;  in  the  riots  of  '80  in  London,  a  man  was 
hanged  for  only  taking  sixpence.'  They  all  then 
vociferated,  '  Stone  him,  stone  him ! '  and  began  to 
fling  stones." 

Driven  back,  Russell  rode  to  Showell  Green,  and 
decided  that  the  Priestleys  should  be  taken  out  of 
danger  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Hawkes,  half  a  mile  off, 
at  Moseley.  Several  messages  of  warning  were  re- 
ceived at  Showell  Green,  and  the  advice  was  given 
(and  taken)  that  a  barrel  of  beer  should  be  set  out 
on  the  lawn  by  way  of  pacifying  or  at  least  occupying 


26  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

the  rioters.  The  whole  party  then  walked  up  to 
Moseley,  where  they  distinctly  heard  the  cries  of  the 
mob  at  Priestley's  house — such  a  din  as  cannot  be 
imagined.  Presently  "  the  flames  burst  forth  and  all 
was  quiet  then." 

"What  were  the  emotions  of  our  minds  at  this 
moment  [Martha  Russell  exclaims]  no  one  can  imagine, 
unless  they  had  beheld  our  countenances  and  heard 
the  broken  short  sentences  that  formed  all  the  conver- 
sation which  passed  among  us  :  yet  the  extreme  agita- 
tion of  our  minds  did  not  prevent  us  from  admiring  the 
divine  appearance  of  the  excellent  Dr.  Priestley.  No 
human  being  could  in  my  opinion  appear  in  any  trial 
more  like  divine,  or  show  a  nearer  resemblance  to 
our  Saviour  than  he  did.  Undaunted  he  heard  the 
blows  which  were  destroying  the  house  and  laboratory 
that  contained  all  his  valuable  and  rare  apparatus  and 
their  effects,  which  he  had  made  it  the  business  of 
his  life  to  collect  and  use.  All  this  apparatus,  together 
with  the  uses  he  had  made  of  them,  the  laborious 
exertions  of  his  whole  life,  were  being  destroyed  by 
a  set  of  merciless,  ignorant,  lawless  banditti,  whilst 
he,  tranquil  and  serene,  walked  up  and  down  the 
road  with  a  firm  yet  gentle  pace  that  evinced  his 
entire  self-possession,  and  a  complete  self-satisfaction 
and  consciousness  that  rendered  him  thus  firm  and 
resigned  under  the  unjust  and  cruel  persecution  of 
his  enemies,  and  with  a  countenance  expressing  the 
highest  devotion,  turned  as  it  were  from  this  scene, 
and  fixed  with  pure  and  calm  resignation  on  Him 
who  suffered  the  administration  of  this  bitter  cup. 


THE    BIRMINGHAM    RIOTS  27 

Not  one  hasty  or  impatient  expression,  not  one  look 
expressive  of  murmur  or  complaint,  not  one  tear 
or  sigh  escaped  him ;  resignation  and  a  conscious 
innocence  and  virtue  seemed  to  subdue  all  these 
feelings  of  humanity." 

About  four  o'clock  Russell  reported  that  the  work 
of  destruction  was  complete,  and  the  mob,  having 
waded  ankle-deep  in  liquor,  had  taken  their  departure. 
The  Russells  then  made  their  way  to  their  home, 
thankful  that  it  had  been  spared.  "  We  all  looked  and 
felt  all  gratitude,  but  the  Doctor  appeared  the  happiest 
amongst  us." 

Presently  William  Russell  returned  with  the  news 
that  the  mob  had  re-assembled — they  had  sworn  to 
find  Dr.  Priestley  and  take  his  life.  Forthwith  the 
Doctor  and  his  wife  got  up  from  their  bed,  and  with 

Mr.  Ryland  were  driven  to  Mrs.  's  house,  near 

Dudley.  The  Russells  at  the  same  time  set  to  work 
on  packing  their  best  furniture,  carrying  it  to  the 
custody  of  friends,  amongst  whom  their  former  neigh- 
bours were  most  active  in  giving  help.  Parties  of  the 
mob  were  constantly  coming  to  the  gates,  but  persons 
were  stationed  there  to  appease  them  and  send  them 
away.  The  main  body  of  rioters  had  gone  to  Mr. 
Ryland's  house,  Easy  Hill,  but  W.  Russell  insisted  on 
his  daughters  and  son  making  their  way  at  once  to 
a  neighbour's  house  lying  about  half  a  mile  distant  in 
a  retired  spot. 

"As  we  passed  across  the  fields  we  were  alarmed 
by  parties  of  men  in  their  shirt  sleeves,  without  hats  ; 


28  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

all  half  drunk ;  they  were  breaking  the  boughs  from 
the  trees  and  hedges,  shouting,  laughing,  swearing, 
and  singing  in  a  manner  that  seemed  hideous  beyond 
expression.  After  much  alarm,  and  frequently  hiding 
ourselves  behind  the  hedges  and  trees,  we  at  length 
arrived  at  the  place  of  our  destination.  We  found 

our   good    neighbour,    Mrs.    G ,    very   ready   to 

receive  us,  though  we  had  never  been  upon  anything 
of  a  sociable  footing  with  her.  Her  house  was  a 
superior  sort  of  cottage,  and  here  we  hoped  to  find 
an  asylum  till  the  storm  was  over-blown." 

At  dinner  they  were  joined  by  their  father,  who 
was  disheartened  at  getting  no  reply  from  his  friends, 
and  especially  from  the  magistrates  in  Birmingham, 
to  whom  he  had  made  urgent  appeals.  He  decided 
that  his  family  must  go  farther  for  safety,  and  selected 
the  house  of  an  old  servant  (Mrs.  Cox),  who  lived  at 
Warstock,  about  five  miles  away.  They  were  to  start 
immediately  on  foot,  while  he  would  return  to  Showell 
Green  and  send  the  coach  after  them.  The  men- 
servants  were  staying  there  to  take  what  care  they 
might  of  the  place,  but  all  the  females  had  left  except 
the  cook,  who  stayed  to  the  end  and  "showed  astonish- 
ing courage  and  spirit." 

"  Walking  up  the  common,  we  passed  Mr.  Ander- 
ton's  (Moseley  Wake  Green),  a  neighbour  with  whom 
we  had  been  upon  friendly  terms,  but  who  was  of  the 
Church  and  King  party,  and  had  refused  to  shelter 
a  waggon-load  of  our  goods  in  his  barn,  saying,  he 
did  not  choose  to  risk  his  barn  to  save  them ;  thus 


THE    BIRMINGHAM    RIOTS  29 

letting  his  poor  illiterate  neighbours  outdo  him  in  real 
friendship  and  charity.  As  we  passed,  he,  with  Mrs. 
Anderton,  &c.,  were  on  the  lawn,  and  they  had  the 
assurance  to  accost  us  and  express  sorrow  for  our 
trouble.  We  received  their  compliment  with  coolness, 
and  pursued  our  way." 

The  carriage  overtook  them  when  they  had  pro- 
ceeded about  two  miles,  and  William  Russell  with  it. 
On  arriving  at  Mrs.  Cox's,  the  coachman  and  Mr. 
Cox  were  sent  back,  one  to  help  guard  at  Showell 
Green,  and  the  other  to  reconnoitre.  At  one  o'clock 
in  the  morning  the  latter  returned  and  reported  that 
the  mob  had  destroyed  the  houses  of  Mr.  Ryland  and 
Mr.  Hutton  (the  historian  of  Birmingham),  and  were 
then  at  Mr.  Taylor's,  Bordesly  Hall,  where  they  were 
"committing  the  most  inhuman  depredations." 

"  My  father  now  thought  it  right  to  go  again 
himself  and  try  if  the  magistrates  could  not  by  some 
means  be  persuaded  to  act.  We  did  what  we  could 
to  dissuade  him  from  it,  not  now  fearing  for  anything 
so  much  as  his  safety,  and  as  there  is  no  answering  for 
the  fury  of  a  mob — and  some  envious,  malicious  spirits 
had,  we  knew,  spared  no  pains  to  inflame  them  against 
my  father — our  apprehensions  for  him  when  absent  from 
us  were  cruel,  for  we  were  well  aware  that  his  active 
and  bold  daring  spirit  might  lead  him  into  danger 
before  he  was  sensible  of  it.  This  we  represented  to 
him,  and  urged  him  as  much  as  we  could  to  remain 
in  safety  with  us,  but  all  in  vain  ;  go  he  would, 
promising  to  return  soon.  We  did  not  think  of  going 


30  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

to  bed,  or  even  taking  off  our  clothes  through  the 
night,  though  this  was  the  second  we  had  passed  in 
this  state.  To  think  of  sleep  or  quiet  was  impossible 
in  our  state  of  mind,  and  all  about  us  in  the  same 
state  of  agitation  with  ourselves." 

During  the  Friday  night  and  Saturday  morning 
the  girls  and  their  companions  were  distracted  with 
alarming  reports  from  terrified  neighbours  as  to  the 
unabated  fury  of  the  mob  and  by  the  long  absence  of 
their  father.  Not  until  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
did  he  reappear.  He  had  been  in  Birmingham 
trying  to  rouse  the  magistrates  to  exertion,  but  had 
been  met  with  such  indifference  from  them  as  "in 
the  present  state  of  things  seemed  almost  incredible 
and  quite  unnatural." 

Returning  to  Showell  Green  in  the  hope  of  defend- 
ing it,  he  disregarded  for  a  time  the  urgent  entreaties 
of  his  friends  and  servants  that  he  should  go  away. 
At  length,  however,  he  yielded  to  a  private  request, 
from  a  friend  belonging  to  the  other  party,  who  begged 
him  to  depart  "as  he  valued  his  life,"  for  the  fury  of 
the  mob  had  become  ungovernable.  "  His  counte- 
nance," records  Martha  Russell,  "  was  altogether 
changed  by  the  fatigue  he  had  undergone,"  but  he 
decided  that  it  was  not  yet  safe  to  rest.  He  would 
ride  on  to  Alcester  to  the  "White  Lion,"  and  his 
family  were  to  follow  him  as  soon  as  their  coach 
should  arrive. 

All  the  afternoon  the  Russell  girls  and  their  com- 
panion, Miss  Sarah  Smith,  were  wandering  about  the 
grounds  "listening  and  fearing."  Often  and  often 


a     s 


THE    BIRMINGHAM    RIOTS  31 

they  expressed  a  wish  to  start  on  foot,  but  they  did 
not  know  the  way,  and  were  naturally  afraid  of  a 
seven  miles'  tramp  along  a  road  "  infested  by  a  set 
of  demons." 

"  About  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening,  we  perceived 
a  cloud  of  smoke  arise  from  that  quarter  which  almost 
amounted  to  a  certainty  with  us  to  be  our  house  in 
flames.  Hence,  we  supposed,  sprung  the  reason  of 
the  coachman's  delay.  Now  a  sort  of  melancholy 
filled  our  bosoms,  hitherto  torn  by  lively  and  different 
apprehensions.  To  contemplate  the  awful  columns 
of  smoke  ascending  from  that  beloved  mansion  where 
I  had  passed  all  my  days  in  a  calm,  virtuous,  and  a 
happy  tranquillity,  where  all  my  pleasure  seemed  to 
centre,  and  where  alone  I  felt  as  if  happiness  could  be 
tasted,  pierced  me  to  the  soul :  it  seemed  as  if  a  dear 
friend  were  expiring  before  me  in  whom  my  happiness 
centred.  My  whole  soul  was  moved  and  distressed, 
but  the  luxury  of  tears  was  denied :  spent  and  ex- 
hausted, my  feelings,  though  not  violent,  were  acute 
and  quiet. 

"  In  this  state  we  continued,  looking  towards  the 
smoke,  and  wandering  up  and  down  the  garden,  till 
ten  o'clock,  till,  all  of  a  sudden,  the  dreadful  shouts 
of  the  mob  assailed  our  ears,  and  almost  at  the  same 
instant  two  women  came  running  as  if  for  their  lives, 
and  quite  out  of  breath ;  they  begged  us  for  God's 
sake  to  go  away,  for  that  the  mob  was  coming — they 
would  be  there  immediately.  ...  In  a  few  minutes  after 
the  alarm  was  given,  my  brother,  sister,  Sarah  Smith, 
and  myself  set  off  to  walk  to  Alcester,  apparently  with 


32  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

as  much  spirit  and  strength  as  we  ever  had  in  the 
whole  course  of  our  lives  set  off  upon  the  most  agree- 
able walk  ;  hedges,  ditches,  and  gates,  nothing  stopped 
us.  All  we  surmounted  with  an  agility  inconceivable  ; 
for  some  distance  we  ran  as  fast  as  possible.  The 
continued  and  increased  shouts  of  the  mob  strengthened 
us  most  wonderfully.  At  length  we  got  into  the  public 
road,  and  were  there  soon  stopped  in  our  career  by 
hearing  a  party  of  men  on  horseback  galloping  full 
speed.  We  stopped  and  hid  ourselves  under  a  hedge 
till  they  had  passed,  and  by  their  conversation  found 
that  they  belonged  to  the  mob :  they  were  in  liquor, 
and  swore  dreadfully  as  they  passed  the  place  we  were 
concealed  in  ;  and  we  heard  one  of  them  distinctly  say 

'  I   know  there's  a  d d   Presbyterian  somewhere 

hereabouts ;  we'll  have  him  before  morning.'  This, 
we  had  no  doubt,  applied  to  my  father,  and  our  fears 
for  him  consequently  increased.  They  galloped  on, 
and  we  came  from  our  lurking  place  and  continued 
our  route ;  but  as  these  ruffians  were  going  towards 
my  father's  we  feared  they  might  meet  him  on  the 
road,  as  it  was  possible  he  might  return  to  seek  for  us. 
We  had  not  proceeded  far  before  these  men  stopped 
their  horses,  and  we  not  perceiving  it,  and  coming  on 
our  way,  were  almost  upon  them  before  we  were 
sensible  of  it;  but  as  the  moon  shone  uncommonly 
bright,  and  we  thought  it  impossible  but  they  must 
see  us,  it  seemed  most  prudent  to  continue  on  quietly 
as  if  we  did  not  notice  them. 

"Had  we  left  the  road  it  might  have  excited 
suspicion  ;  accordingly,  we  passed  them  ;  they  looked 
hard  at  us,  but  said  nothing,  and  presently  galloped 


THE    BIRMINGHAM    RIOTS  33 

up  and  repassed  us,  then  stopped  their  horses  till  we 
again  passed  them,  and  this  they  continued  to  do 
in  such  a  manner  that  each  of  us  was  alive  to  secret 
apprehension.  No  other  person  was  to  be  seen,  and 
no  house  appeared  in  sight :  three  young  girls  walking 
at  that  time  of  night,  with  no  other  protection  than  a 
boy,  might  find  cause  for  apprehending  insult  at  any 
time,  but  in  our  state  of  mind  and  in  the  present  state 
of  the  country,  how  much  must  these  fears  be  in- 
creased !  My  brother  and  our  faithful  little  dog  was 
all  the  protection  we  had.  We  continued  thus  for 
about  three  miles,  marching  with  a  firm  pace,  but  with 
almost  a  deadly  silence.  The  moon  shone  un- 
commonly bright,  the  shadows  it  cast  therefore  were 
unusually  strong,  and  almost  every  shade  of  a  tree  or 
bush  that  fell  across  our  path  startled  us.  The  men 
on  horseback  were  sometimes  by  our  side,  sometimes 
out  of  sight  behind  us,  sometimes  before ;  their  in- 
tentions we  feared,  and  our  situation  powerfully  aided 
our  apprehensions. 

"  After  a  little  time,  we  now  heard  a  horse  coming 
after  us,  and  were  at  first  alarmed,  but  afterwards 
relieved  by  finding  it  was  our  own  servant,  who  had 
gone  to  Cox's,  and,  not  finding  us  there,  had  rode 
on  after  us.  He  informed  us  of  the  truth  of  our 
conjectures,  for  that  our  house  was  burnt,  and  all 
the  gardens  and  premises  most  dreadfully  laid  waste. 
Though  he  brought  us  this  sad  intelligence,  we  were 
all  truly  relieved  to  see  him  and  to  keep  him  with 
us  as  guard  from  these  men.  Shortly  after  we  met 
my  father  in  the  greatest  distress.  His  fears  for  us 
had  almost  distracted  him ;  he  had  set  out  to  meet 

c 


34  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

us,  and  by  some  unlucky  chance  his  horse  had  got 
away  from  him,  and  to  get  him  again  had  taken  him 
a  long  time,  and  almost  exhausted  his  remaining 
strength.  He  had  just  caught  him  as  we  came  up, 
and  our  meeting  was  joyful  and  happy,  though  under 
such  sad  circumstances. 

"  My  father  now  sent  the  servant  back,  with  orders 
to  have  our  chaise  sent  to  meet  us  at  Stratford,  as 
he  had  resolved  to  go  straight  up  to  London  and 
remonstrate  with  Mr.  Pitt  on  these  outrageous  pro- 
ceedings. My  father  now  accompanying  us,  we  now 
continued  our  route,  comparatively  speaking,  with 
pleasure,  for  the  men  had  gone  on  before  us  since 
William  joined  us,  and  we  saw  nothing  more  of  them. 
We  now  passed  several  houses — at  the  door  of  each 
the  family  was  collected  in  a  solemn  sort  of  silence ; 
they  all  gazed  at  us  as  we  passed ;  not  a  word  was 
spoken,  except  sometimes  by  some  of  them  in  a 
whisper.  We  held  our  peace,  not  knowing  whether 
any  we  might  address  or  put  any  questions  to  were 
friends  or  enemies.  In  about  half  an  hour  we  met 
an  honest  and  respectable  farmer,  a  brother  of  one 
of  my  father's  tenants,  who  had  heard  of  our  being 
in  the  neighbourhood,  and  had  set  out  to  seek  for 
and  assist  us ;  he  accompanied  us  the  remainder  of 
our  walk,  and  when  we  arrived  at  the  end  of  seven 
miles,  which  in  the  afternoon  we  imagined  it  quite 
impossible  for  us  to  accomplish,  we  found  ourselves 
sufficiently  strong  to  walk  another  seven." 

On  entering  the  inn,  at  which  they  found  a  good 
many  disorderly  persons  assembled,  the  fugitives 


THE    BIRMINGHAM    RIOTS  35 

decided  that  they  must  at  once  go  on.  Neither  bed 
nor  refreshment  offered  them  any  temptation.  The 
girls  felt  they  would  walk  twenty  miles  rather  than 
stay  where  their  father  might  be  recognised.  Luckily, 
when  they  had  arrived  at  this  heroic  determination, 
their  belated  coach  came  up.  With  a  pair  of  horses 
which  had  never  before  drawn  a  coach,  and  with  a 
man  on  the  box  (a  tenant  of  Mr.  Russell's)  who  had 
never  before  acted  as  coachman,  they  went  off  to 
the  house  of  a  friend  whom  they  had  met  at  the 
"  White  Lion  "  (another  tenant). 

"  We  arrived  safe  at  Mr.  Greaves's,  and,  he  not 
being  arrived  with  the  chaise,  we  took  some  refresh- 
ment offered  us  by  the  good  lady,  and  at  her  earnest 
request  went  upstairs  to  get  a  little  repose.  Here 
a  curious  scene  presented  itself:  we  three  ladies  were 
shown  into  a  room  with  four  beds  in  all,  but  whether 
occupied  by  men  or  women  we  did  not  know  ;  but 
the  loud  nasal  concert,  and  the  different  notes  of  which 
it  was  composed,  seemed  to  indicate  both.  We  were 
amused  at  our  situation,  and  felt  sufficiently  at  ease  to 
laugh  at  it.  We  lay  down  upon  the  bed,  and  our 
faithful  little  dog  by  the  side ;  but  the  room  was 
suffocatingly  hot,  and  the  number  of  persons  in  it 
made  the  air  very  oppressive :  this,  together  with  the 
music  that  assailed  our  ears,  and  a  most  numerous 
swarm  of  fleas,  which  attacked  us  all,  keep  rest  and 
even  quiet  at  a  distance." 

Presently  Mr.  Greaves  came  up  with  the  chaise, 
and  the  Russells  all  got  into  it,  being  here  left  by 
Miss  Sarah  Smith,  who  went  to  meet  her  family, 


36  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

staying  half  a  mile  away  with  some  Roman  Catholic 
friends  at  Claughton.  Having  made  their  way  to 
Stratford,  the  Russells  started  at  five  o'clock  on 
Sunday  morning  for  London.  Their  only  further 
adventure  was  comparatively  mild  and  almost  comical. 
Their  post-boy  proved  to  be  hopelessly  intoxicated, 
and  William  Russell  had  to  try  his  hand  at  driving. 
Just  as  they  reached  "that  place  noted  for  robbers," 
Maidenhead  Thicket,  they  were  overtaken  by  the 
mail  coach.  Russell,  thinking  it  would  be  wise  to 
keep  pace  with  this  public  conveyance,  drove  pretty 
fast — much  to  the  indignation  of  the  drunken  post- 
boy, who  did  not  like  his  animals  being  so  hard 
pressed,  and  also  because  he  found  it  difficult  to  keep 
his  seat. 

"  He  clenched  his  fist,  called  and  swore,  but  all  in 
vain ;  we  galloped  on  in  fear  every  moment  of  the 
fellow's  falling  under  the  wheel,  and  also  under  some 
little  expectation  of  robbers.  Though  we  thought  it 
likely  we  might  be  attacked,  none  of  us  felt  at  all 
alarmed,  and  had  they  come,  such  was  our  state  of 
mind,  I  am  convinced  we  should  have  met  them  with 
cheerful  calmness :  as  for  myself,  I  seemed  fully  to 
expect  them,  but  did  not  feel  as  if  it  was  anything  to 
be  alarmed  at.  We  had  some  rings  and  other  valu- 
ables about  us,  which  we  had  in  our  haste  put  in  our 
pockets ;  these  we  hid  in  our  hat-crowns  and  shoes. 
However,  we  got  safe  through  the  Thicket,  and  when 
nearly  arrived  at  Henley-on-Thames  my  father  suffered 
the  postillion  to  mount  again,  who  by  this  time  was 
pretty  well  sobered. 


THE    BIRMINGHAM    RIOTS  37 

"  On  Monday,  July  i8th,  about  seven  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  we  arrived  at  Bates's  Hotel  in  the  Adelphi, 
the  house  we  were  accustomed  to  be  at  in  town.  Mr. 
Bates  was  not  up,  but  soon  rose  and  came  to  meet  us 
with  tears  in  his  eyes,  so  happy  was  he  to  meet  us ; 
he  had  heard  reports  on  the  disturbances,  and  was 
truly  relieved  to  see  us  all  safe.  On  sitting  down 
here,  for  the  first  time  since  Thursday  had  we  thought 
ourselves  safe  or  at  rest.  Now  we  found  both,  and 
the  greatest  refreshment  from  washing  off  the  dust 
and  filth  from  our  skins,  and  in  changing  our  clothes. 
My  father  soon  waited  upon  Mr.  Pitt,  and  very  soon 
after  arriving  we  learned  that  Dr.  Priestley  was  in 
town,  as  well  as  Mr.  G.  Russell's  family,  and  many 
others  of  our  Birmingham  friends.  This  evening  we 
went  to  bed  very  early,  and  enjoyed  it  in  such  a 
manner  as  cannot  be  imagined.  Soon  after  getting  to 
sleep  we  were  awakened  by  what  we  thought  a  most 
terrible  shouting  :  we  jumped  up,  crying  out  the  mob 
had  followed  us ;  we  rose  up  and  in  great  alarm  slipped 
on  our  cloaks,  and  went  out  to  see  how  matters  were. 
We  found  the  servants,  who,  in  turns,  sat  up  through 
the  night ;  they  informed  us  that  it  was  as  quiet  as 
usual,  and  we  need  not  be  at  all  alarmed,  for  the  noise 
we  had  heard  was  only  the  gardeners  coming  to 
Covent  Garden  Market.  Thus  happily  relieved,  and 
smiling  at  our  own  fears,  we  returned  to  comfortable 
rest. 

"  After  staying  a  few  days  in  London  we  returned 
to  Birmingham — my  father,  sister,  and  self;  Thomas 
remained  there  at  school.  Nothing  material  occurred 
upon  the  journey,  but  the  sentiments  I  felt  on 


38  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

approaching  dear  Showell  Green,  and  first  beholding 
the  ruin  of  our  much-loved  mansion,  I  shall  not  forget. 
At  a  distance  of  two  or  three  miles  we  discerned  the 
spot,  and  on  a  nearer  approach  descried  a  part  of  the 
shell  of  the  building  rearing  its  head,  blackened  by 
smoke,  despoiled  of  its  windows,  and  so  defaced  and 
demolished  as  scarce  to  leave  a  trace  of  its  original 
form.  The  fine  tall  elms  that  grew  at  the  back  of 
the  house,  which  shaded  our  nursery  windows,  and 
which  I  loved  almost  as  if  they  were  my  sisters,  still 
stood ;  they  reared  their  venerable  heads  above  these 
melancholy  ruins,  but  had  partaken  in  their  fate — 
their  fine  foliage  was  all  burnt  on  the  side  next  the 
house,  and  their  stems  blackened  by  smoke.  What 
dismal  feelings  filled  my  soul  on  contemplating  this 
sad  spectacle !  It  seemed  as  if  I  viewed  the  distorted 
and  mangled  corpse  of  a  dear  friend,  a  parent  to  whom 
I  was  indebted  for  much  of  my  past  happiness,  and 
who  could  never  again  be  restored  to  me.  Passing  on, 
we  beheld  Mr.  G.  Humphrey's  house  (now  J.  Bate- 
man's,  Sparkbrook),  the  shell  complete,  but  despoiled 
of  all  its  windows.  Dr.  Priestley's  was  as  melancholy 
a  piece  of  ruin  as  our  own.  Arriving  at  New  Hall 
Street  (G.  Russell's),  we  met  a  hearty  welcome  from 
our  friends  there,  and  took  up  our  residence  under  the 
hospitable  roof  of  my  good  uncle,  till  my  father  could 
procure  a  house  for  us.  All  I  saw,  felt,  and  observed 
seemed  like  a  dream,  and  it  was  a  long  time  before  I 
could  realise  what  had  passed." 


CHAPTER   III 

RUSSELL'S  AND  PRIESTLEY'S  EMIGRATION 

Three  days  of  mob-law — Inaction  of  authorities — Charges  against 
ministers  and  local  magistrates — King  George's  letter — Detestation 
of  French  Revolution  and  French  nation — Intolerance  in  the 
eighteenth,  nineteenth,  and  twentieth  centuries — Russell's  agitation 
for  justice — Appeal  to  Pitt — Priestley's  relations  with  Whig  leaders 
— Unpopularity  of  Radical  Dissenters  general  and  increasing — 
Priestley's  encouragement  of  Russell — The  appeal  to  the  public — 
His  confidence  shaken — England  no  place  for  his  sons — Russell 
leaves  Birmingham — Decides  to  emigrate  to  America. 

FROM  Thursday  afternoon  to  Sunday  evening,  as  we 
have  seen,  the  town  and  neighbourhood  of  Birming- 
ham had  been  abandoned  to  the  mercy  of  a  drunken 
and  destructive  mob.  No  serious  attempt  was  made 
by  the  authorities  to  put  down  the  disorder.  A  body 
of  constables  had  indeed  been  got  together  to  rescue 
Mr.  Ryland's  house  at  Easy  Hill,  but  they  were 
driven  back  with  heavy  loss.  The  victorious  wreckers, 
however,  did  not  all  escape  unpunished.  A  number 
of  them  were  caught  by  the  collapse  of  a  burning 
roof;  many  were  badly  injured,  and  ten  perished  in 
the  ruins.  But  more  than  three  days  had  been 
allowed  to  pass  before  the  military  were  brought  up. 
On  the  arrival  of  three  troops  of  dragoons  the  rioters 
saw  that  their  game  was  up  and  quickly  dispersed. 
What  could  be  done  on  the  Sunday  night  might  as 
easily  have  been  done  on  the  previous  Friday — nor 

39 


40  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

has  any  satisfactory  explanation  been  given  of  the 
official  delay.  In  these  circumstances  it  was  natural 
for  Priestley  and  his  friends  to  suspect  complicity  in 
the  very  highest  quarters,  and  if  they  went  beyond 
the  proved  facts,  they  might  in  justification  point  to 
the  astonishing  letter  which  the  King  addressed  to 
Dundas,  the  Secretary  of  State,  in  approval  of  troops 
having  been  sent  to  Birmingham.  "Though  I  can- 
not but  feel  the  better  pleased  that  Priestley  is  the 
sufferer  for  the  doctrines  he  and  his  party  have  in- 
stilled, and  that  the  people  see  them  in  their  true 
light,  yet  I  cannot  approve  of  their  having  employed 
such  atrocious  means  of  showing  their  disapproval." 

In  order  to  understand  the  ferocity  with  which 
Priestley  and  his  associates  were  pursued,  and  the 
condonation  extended  by  respectable  persons  to  this 
persecution,  we  must  look  beyond  the  heresy  of  his 
religious  opinions  and  his  pamphleteering  way  with 
Madan  and  other  High  Church  leaders  in  Birming- 
ham. Nor  will  the  peculiar  animosity  be  explained 
by  the  special  energy  and  exceptional  talent  displayed, 
amongst  the  Nonconformists  of  the  day,  by  the 
Unitarian  section  in  pressing  for  repeal  of  the  Test 
and  Corporation  Acts.  A  large  part  of  the  mischief 
was,  of  course,  due  to  odium  theologicum.  Political 
animus  also  has  to  be  allowed  for.  But  in  justice 
to  the  men,  whether  educated  organisers  or  ignorant 
agents  of  persecution,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that 
average  English  people  of  the  time  looked  upon 
friends  of  the  French  Revolution  as  enemies  of  their 
own  country.  That  memorable  uprising  was  neither 
represented  by  its  friends  nor  regarded  by  its  enemies 


RUSSELL'S    EMIGRATION  41 

as  a  merely  national  movement.  In  purpose  and  effect 
it  was  cosmopolitan.  The  Constituent  Assembly,  in 
proclaiming  the  Rights  of  Man,  was  asserting  the 
rights  of  all  men  and  attacking  the  authority  of  every 
established  Government.  The  Revolutionists,  as 
Seignobos  has  succinctly  observed,  "  were  not  content 
to  reorganise  France  according  to  the  principles  of 
1 789  ;  they  wished  also  to  revolutionise  Europe,  to 
destroy  abuses,  and  to  establish  the  reign  of  justice 
and  equity."  Briefly,  the  movement  was  international 
and  universally  upsetting.  To  the  ordinary  English- 
man's mind,  therefore,  it  was  anti-English,  and  the 
men  in  England  who  supported  it  were  looked  on  as 
little  better  than  traitors  to  their  country.  Burke's 
Reflections,  published  in  1790,  had  been  a  powerful 
agent  in  working  up  English  feeling  against  the 
Revolution,  and  against  all  who  sympathised  with  its 
objects  or  condoned  its  methods. 

During  the  previous  hundred  years  England  and 
France  had  been  engaged  in  almost  incessant  warfare 
— from  1689  to  J^97  (League  of  Augsburg);  from 
1702  to  1713  (Spanish  Succession)  ;  from  1740  to 
1748  (Austrian  Succession);  from  1756  to  1763  (the 
Seven  Years'  War),  and  from  1778  to  1783  (American 
Independence).  For  their  expulsion  from  Canada  the 
French  had  taken  a  bitter  and  effective  revenge  when 
they  intervened  in  the  quarrel  between  the  British 
American  Colonies  and  the  King's  Government. 
Compelled  at  the  same  time  to  fight  France  and 
Spain,  and  to  protect  Ireland  against  occupation,  the 
British  Parliament,  disgusted  alike  with  the  King's 
perversity  and  his  Ministers'  bungling,  disheartened 


42  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

by  the  incapacity  of  some  generals  and  the  difficulties 
confronting  others,  insisted  upon  peace  being  made 
with  the  American  Congress.  Although  few  sensible 
men  have  ever  supposed  that  the  Colonial  system,  as 
practised  in  the  eighteenth  century,  could  have  stood 
the  strain  of  many  more  years'  usage,  the  readjustment 
might  have  been  pacific,  and  the  separation,  if  separa- 
tion there  must  be,  should  have  been  rendered 
honourable  to  both  parties.  In  England  there  were 
plenty  of  reasonable  and  influential  politicians  who 
would  gracefully  have  yielded  all  the  legitimate  de- 
mands of  the  Colonists.  Infinite  mischief  was  done 
by  the  hot-heads  on  both  sides.  They  counteracted 
the  influence  of  statesmen  such  as  Chatham  and 
Washington,  who  would  have  rejoiced  in  the  oppor- 
tunity of  escaping  a  sort  of  civil  war.  This  happy 
solution  was  finally  excluded  when  Franklin  and 
Vergennes  formed  their  momentous  compact.  For 
the  ignominious  termination  in  1783  of  a  war  equally 
wanton  and  unpopular,  Englishmen  in  1791  could 
hardly  have  forgotten  that  they  had  to  thank  the 
French  nation. 

Nor  did  it  require  any  remarkable  gift  of  prescience 
to  understand  that  war  on  a  great  scale  would  soon  be 
recommenced  between  England  and  France.  Whigs 
of  the  Holland  House  circle  and  abstract  thinkers  like 
Priestley  and  his  friends  might  cherish  hopes  of  a 
lasting  peace  with  the  "hereditary  foe."  But,  distin- 
guished as  many  of  the  Whig  leaders  were  for  par- 
liamentary eloquence  and  literary  talents,  they  seem 
at  this  period  to  have  lost  touch  with  national  senti- 
ment. They  failed  to  discern — what  a  statesman  of 


RUSSELL'S    EMIGRATION  43 

comparatively  limited  intellect  such  as  the  younger  Pitt 
grasped  as  by  instinct — that  it  would  soon  be  incum- 
bent on  England  to  fight  the  French  Revolution,  with 
all  that  it  embodied,  in  defence  of  the  national  liberty. 
In  a  word,  France  was  the  enemy,  and  friends  of 
France,  so  the  popular  argument  ran,  were  enemies 
of  England.  This  of  course  does  not  justify,  but  it 
helps  to  explain,  the  brutal  and  blackguardly  conduct 
of  the  roughs  who  broke  loose  in  1791  at  Birmingham, 
and  accounts  in  some  degree  for  the  negligence  of 
the  authorities,  who,  if  they  had  chosen,  might  at  the 
outset  have  put  down  the  trouble  before  it  had  become 
unmanageable.  They  had  received  ample  warning, 
but  perhaps,  like  the  King,  they  thought  it  would  do 
no  harm  to  let  the  Radical  and  Dissenting  dogs  get 
a  sharp  lesson. 

Before  we  raise  our  hands  in  righteous  deprecation 
of  our  grandfathers'  misbehaviour  let  us  ask  ourselves 
whether  our  own  practice  is  much  superior.  Are 
there  no  recent  instances  of  authority  standing  by 
with  folded  arms  while  an  unpopular  person  has  the 
"  place  made  too  hot  to  hold  him"  ?  In  one  respect, 
no  doubt,  "  we  may  boast  ourselves  to  be  greatly 
better  than  our  fathers."  If  the  object  of  loud  con- 
demnation is  well  known  in  the  country  at  large — if 
he  is  a  prominent  member  of  Parliament,  for  instance 
— he  may  reckon  upon  being  given  police  protection 
when  he  chooses  (at  Birmingham  or  elsewhere)  to 
proclaim  his  political  heresies.  On  the  other  hand, 
should  a  number  of  humbler  recusants,  such  as  miners 
not  enrolled  in  a  federation,  be  visited  with  tokens  of 
trade  unionist  disapproval,  it  has  not  been  remarked 


44  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

that  the  local  authorities  were  either  vigilant  to  prevent 
outrage  or  quick  to  punish  it.  Before  we  pass  judg- 
ment upon  the  intoxicated  rioters  and  craven  magis- 
trates of  Birmingham  in  1791  let  us  then  be  sure  that 
our  modern  code  of  tolerance  is  more  strictly  enforced. 

It  was  not,  however,  likely  that  two  men  such  as 
Priestley  and  Russell  would  sit  down  quietly  under 
gross  maltreatment.  Whatever  might  be  their  politi- 
cal opinions,  or  their  views  on  foreign  affairs,  they 
were  thoroughly  English  in  their  love  of  personal 
liberty,  and  neither  regard  for  the  Court  nor  fear  of 
Ministers  would  deter  them  from  standing  up  for 
their  rights.  Moreover,  they  could  make  themselves 
heard.  The  one,  besides  being  a  militant  Dissenter, 
was  a  philosopher  of  universally  recognised  attain- 
ments :  the  other  had  an  ample  fortune,  powerful 
friends  in  London,  and  a  stout  heart  of  his  own.  The 
man  who  had  twice  ridden  out  alone  to  face  an  angry 
mob  would  not  easily  be  restrained  from  seeking 
redress  in  the  courts  of  law.  From  Priestley's  letters 
we  see  that  Russell  conducted,  largely  at  his  own 
expense,  a  thorough  inquiry,  as  the  result  of  which  it 
appears  that  solid,  if  not  adequate,  compensation  was 
eventually  obtained.  The  sum  of  ,£26,961,  of  which 
Priestley  received  £2542,  was  raised  by  a  rate  on  the 
Hundred — about  half  the  estimated  damage  to  pro- 
perty. In  August,  at  the  Warwick  Assizes,  two  of 
the  more  conspicuous  rioters  were  put  on  trial,  found 
guilty,  and  sentenced  to  death. 

Meantime,  Priestley,  by  no  means  a  child  in  worldly 
affairs,  had  been  entering  into  relations  with  Fox  and 
Sheridan,  who  professed  great  zeal  to  take  up  his 


RUSSELL'S    EMIGRATION  45 

cause.  He  dined  with  Sheridan,  who  gave  him  a 
message  from  Fox.  Clearly,  they  meant  to  use  him 
against  Pitt.  "They  conceive,"  Priestley  writes  to 
Russell  on  July  29,  "that  the  encouragement  given 
by  the  Court  to  the  High  Church  party  was  intended 
to  crush  Mr.  Fox  and  those  who  took  our  part,  and 
to  intimidate  both  them  and  us."  Priestley  and 
Russell,  however,  did  not  mean  to  be  made  Whig 
catspaws.  "  I  cannot  think  that  there  is  much  in 
this,  and  I  am  very  unwilling  to  connect  our  cause 
with  any  political  party,  as,  upon  the  face  of  it,  it  is 
evidently  of  a  purely  religious  nature.  I,  therefore, 
differ  from  most  of  our  friends  here,  and  wish,  with 
you,  to  show  no  distrust  of  Government,  since  our 
end  will  be  answered  whether  they  appear  in  earnest 
to  redress  our  grievances  or  not.  Our  tribunal  is  our 
country  and  the  world  ;  and  before  this  our  Court,  as 
well  as  ourselves,  must  appear,  and  we  cannot  doubt 
an  equitable  decision." 

Priestley,  of  course,  was  tactically  well  inspired  in 
desiring  to  ignore  the  political  side  of  the  affair  and 
assume  it  to  be,  what  on  its  face  it  was,  purely  religious. 
But  in  spite  of  his  repeated  assurances  of  confidence 
in  an  ultimate  triumph  the  immediate  conditions  were 
discouraging.  In  his  refuge  near  London  he  realised 
that  "  the  same  bad  spirit "  was  pervading  the  whole 
kingdom.  If,  he  writes,  Dr.  Price  had  been  alive 
Hackney  would  have  suffered  as  much  as  Birmingham 
had,  nor  would  the  College l  itself  have  been  spared. 
Feeling  was  equally  bitter  in  Manchester,  and  bad 

1  Hackney  College,  of  which  Dr.  Price  was  Principal,  a  famous  centre 
of  Nonconformist  education. 


46  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

accounts  were  received  from  the  West  of  England. 
"It  is  indeed  an  alarming  crisis  that  things  are  come 
to."  Whatever  may  have  been  his  regret,  and  it  is 
frequently  expressed  in  his  letters,  he  felt  no  hesita- 
tion about  severing  his  connection  with  Birmingham. 
Russell,  on  the  other  hand,  returned  to  the  scene  of 
danger.  "It  gives  me  great  concern,"  writes  Priestley 
to  him,  "  that  so  great  a  share  of  this  great  burden  occa- 
sioned, though  innocently,  by  myself  should  fall  upon 
you  (if  not  endanger  your  valuable  life),  while  I  am 
out  of  the  way  and  can  bear  no  part  of  the  burden, 
and  run  no  part  of  the  risk."  Meantime  he  was 
working  upon  his  Appeal  to  the  Public.  As  to  the 
prudence  of  this  treatise  his  friends  were  divided  in 
opinion,  since  it  was  well  calculated  to  exasperate  the 
"  shocking  spirit  of  party  "  which  the  author  lamented 
as  increasing  in  Birmingham.  On  September  29, 
through  Russell,  he  bade  a  sort  of  farewell  to  his  work 
in  the  Midlands,  wishing,  at  the  same  time,  that  it  were 
possible  to  keep  up  "  something  like  a  connection  with 
Birmingham."  He  did  not  like  the  idea  of  being 
driven  off  or  abandoning  a  charge  in  which  he  had 
been  so  happy.  A  few  days  later  he  wrote  that, 
go  where  he  might,  he  would  never  find  such  a 
friend  as  Russell  had  been  to  him.  "  Whatever  I 
did  at  Birmingham  was  much  more  yours  than  mine, 
for  without  you  I  should  not  have  been  able  to  do 
much." 

Russell  was  working  indefatigably  to  obtain  res- 
titution for  the  sufferers  by  the  riots,  a  task  involv- 
ing no  little  outlay  of  cash  besides  the  trouble  and 
odium  incurred.  Moreover,  he  seems  to  have  been 


RUSSELL'S    EMIGRATION  47 

maintaining  "two  of  the  cleverest  young  ministers  in 
England  "  in  the  place  of  Priestley,  so  that  the  evicted 
preacher's  enemies  would  discover  they  had  gained 
nothing  by  expelling  him.  But  Russell  would  feel, 
so  Priestley  tells  him,  that  the  eyes  of  the  whole 
country,  and,  in  some  measure,  of  all  Europe,  were 
upon  him ;  that  money  could  not  be  expended  to 
better  purpose ;  and  that  when  the  history  of  his 
conduct  went  down  to  posterity  it  would  be  to  his 
immortal  honour.  He  was  stimulated  to  further  activity 
against  the  Birmingham  magistrates  by  the  remark 
of  a  friend  that  formerly  the  Court  hated  the  Dis- 
senters, but  now,  if  they  did  not  prosecute  the  magis- 
trates, it  would  despise  them. 

So  Priestley  wrote  in  January  1792,  and  seems 
to  have  believed,  not  being  in  the  thick  of  the  fight, 
that  victory  was  already  assured.  In  this  sanguine 
opinion  he  was  supported  by  the  attitude  of  his  friends 
in  London.  "  All  the  Dissenters  here  that  I  con- 
verse with  hold  this  language.  Now  is  not  the  time 
to  feel  intimidation  or  despondence.  Our  enemies 
have  much  more  cause  for  fear,  and  they  will  find 
more  so  every  day,  as  new  publications  and  free  dis- 
cussion will  demonstrate  how  much  they  have  been 
in  the  wrong.  You  need  not  fear  any  more  riots, 
and  the  clergy  of  your  town  will  be  over-awed  by 
the  ability  and  spirit  of  your  ministers."  He  flattered 
himself  also  that  a  great  effect  would  be  produced 
by  his  Appeal  to  the  Public. 

In  a  few  months  his  confidence  was  shaken  by 
the  appointment  of  Dr.  Madan,  the  leader  of  the 
High  Church  party  in  Birmingham,  as  Bishop  of 


48  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

Bristol.  This,  he  remarks  on  April  25,  revealed  the 
disposition  of  the  Court,  and  should  be  considered 
a  signal  of  hostility  by  all  Dissenters.  "  Time  may 
come,  and  not  be  far  distant,"  he  adds,  "when  the 
Court  may  want  our  assistance."  What  precisely 
he  meant  by  this  expression  does  not  appear,  for, 
about  six  weeks  later,  he  confesses  that  the  battle 
had  been  lost.  On  June  12  he  writes  to  Russell, 
"  I  see  that  the  country  is  against  us,  and  that  no 
justice  is  to  be  had  for  us  in  it ;  and  since  our  friends 
will  not  rouse  themselves  from  their  present  de- 
spondency, I  approve  your  resolution  of  retiring  from 
the  game  for  a  time,  though  the  idea  of  your  final 
emigration  is  more  than  I  can  bear,  so  intimately  and 
happily  connected  as  we  have  been.  I  wish  it  could 
suit  me  to  accompany  you,  but  to  that  there  are  those 
who  will  never  consent." 

This  is  the  first  intimation  of  Russell's  intention 
to  make  a  new  home  in  America — a  country  with 
which  he  had  a  family  and  business  connection  of 
long  standing.  It  appears  that  his  exertions  on  behalf 
of  the  Dissenters  had  involved  him  in  almost  intoler- 
able unpleasantness  at  home.  "  I  am  concerned," 
writes  Priestley  on  June  22,  1792,  "to  hear  of  the 
rancour  with  which  you  continue  to  be  visited  at 
Birmingham,  where  your  public  spirit  and  disinterested 
services  have  been  unexampled  ;  but  in  this  manner 
has  not  patriotism  almost  always  been  requited  ? 
We  must  not  look  for  our  recompense  here."  It  is 
a  bad  look-out  for  a  fighting  man  like  Russell  when 
his  companion-in-arms  bids  him  be  content  with 
spiritual  comfort. 


RUSSELL'S    EMIGRATION  49 

Priestley,  though  clinging  to  the  hope  of  con- 
tinuing his  work  and  ending  his  days  in  England, 
had  made  up  his  mind  that  England  was  no  -place 
for  his  sons.  One  of  them  had  been  settled  in  Man- 
chester and  was  doing  well,  but,  after  the  Birmingham 
riots,  his  partner  felt  himself  obliged  to  propose  a 
separation.  Deciding  to  go  to  America,  the  young 
man  wished  to  study  farming  with  an  eminent  agri- 
culturist, but  the  proposal  was  declined.  The  second 
son  became  a  naturalised  Frenchman,  but  afterwards, 
with  his  elder  and  a  younger  brother,  settled  in 
America.  Meantime,  the  father,  with  plentiful  lack 
of  discretion,  paraded  his  sympathy  with  the  Revolu- 
tion. He  lamented  the  "horrid  violences  committed 
in  France,  especially  on  my  old  friend  and  corre- 
spondent, the  Duke  de  la  Rochefoucauld."  Still,  he 
was  in  such  close  relations  with  some  of  the  Revolu- 
tionists that  he  received  with  gratification — though 
he  declined — an  offer  to  sit  in  the  approaching  National 
Convention.  Writing  on  September  21,  1792  (which 
he  describes  as  the  Fourth  Year  of  Liberty),  he  prays 
that  the  Supreme  Being  may  destroy  the  machina- 
tions of  the  enemies  of  the  Revolution. 

It  does  not  appear  that  the  sympathies  of  Priestley 
and  Russell  with  the  French  movement  were  estranged 
by  the  atrocities  of  the  Revolution,  or  even  by  the 
quasi-legal  murder  of  the  King,  or  by  the  renewal 
of  hostilities  between  England  and  France,  for  in 
March  1793  we  come  upon  a  letter  in  which  Priestley 
laments  to  Russell  that  the  times  were  very  critical, 
and  required  the  united  counsels  of  all  the  friends  of 
liberty.  "  I  fear  the  worst,  as  the  Court  party  are 

D 


50  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

triumphant  everywhere,  especially  on  account  of  the 
repulse  of  the  French  armies  and  the  distracted  state 
of  France,  from  which,  indeed,  everything  is  to  be 
feared."  The  illness  from  which  Russell  was  at  this 
time  suffering  had  apparently  increased,  and  on  April 
30  he  left  Birmingham.  "  I  do  not  wonder,"  says 
Priestley ;  "  your  merit  is  too  great  to  be  forgiven, 
and  your  associates  unworthy  of  you."  For  some 
reason  unexplained  he  declared  Pitt  to  be  tired  of 
the  war,  and  persisting  in  it  only  because  he  was 
overruled.  But  this  truly  remarkable  piece  of  thought- 
reading  did  not  blind  Priestley  to  the  "increasing 
malignancy  on  every  side  against  all  things  Liberal." 
On  June  17  he  suggests  that  in  the  following  year, 
1794,  he  may  join  his  sons  in  America,  and  if  he 
should  go,  so  he  writes,  Russell's  daughters  might 
count  upon  finding  with  him  a  home  and  protection. 
Russell  himself  had  settled  for  a  time  in  Gloucester- 
shire, in  an  "  agreeable  situation,"  but  was  intending 
to  go  to  America.  Priestley  thinks  that  he  will 
himself  be  "  drawn  into  the  vortex,  though  not  im- 
mediately." In  point  of  fact,  the  two  friends  started 
within  a  few  months  of  each  other.  Priestley  sailed 
from  London  on  April  8,  1794,  and  reached  New 
York  on  June  4 ;  Russell  took  ship  at  Falmouth  on 
August  13,  but,  for  reasons  which  will  appear,  did  not 
arrive  on  American  soil  till  close  on  the  end  of  the 
same  month  in  the  following  year  (1795). 


CHAPTER    IV 

A   COACH-DRIVE   TO   FALMOUTH 

Martha  Russell's  diaries — The  family  start  in  state — Visits  to  Berkeley 
Castle — Bristol — Wells  Cathedral—  Glastonbury  Abbey — An  old 
family  friend — Exeter — A  primitive  inn — French  prisoners  of  war 
at  Bodmin — Dreary  Cornwall — Arrival  at  Falmouth — Meeting  with 
future  companions — Captain  Prebble  of  the  Mary — Preparations 
for  the  voyage — An  uncomfortable  start. 

AT  this  point  the  family  story,  hitherto  pieced  together 
from  stray  memoranda  and  casual  references  in  letters, 
may  be  taken  up  for  a  time  by  Martha  Russell. 
Throughout  the  most  disconcerting  experiences  this 
admirably  trained  young  lady  hardly  ever  interrupted 
the  habit  of  writing  up  her  diary.  With  the  formal 
though  not  inelegant  style  of  the  period  she  combined, 
it  will  be  seen,  a  rare  capacity  for  noting  anything 
remarkable,  and  as  a  rule,  omitting  what  might  be 
uninteresting  or  irrelevant.  Her  accounts  here  of  her 
journeys  in  three  countries  have  been  considerably 
abridged,  because,  as  a  faithful  chronicler,  she  con- 
ceived herself  under  an  obligation  to  describe  at  length 
many  places  and  scenes  which  to  this  more  travelled 
generation  are  tolerably  familiar. 

Again,  she  dealt  somewhat  particularly  with 
matters  of  purely  domestic  importance,  and  often,  as 
was  inevitable,  repeated  herself.  Perhaps  it  was 
partly  due  to  her  training  under  Priestley,  and  to  her 


52  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

lively  concern  in  serious  questions,  that  she  too 
frequently  indulged,  as  clever  young  people  will,  a 
pretty  gift  of  moralising.  If  all  her  reflections  were 
to  be  reproduced  here  they  would  give  a  false  idea 
of  her  character,  which,  if  perhaps  a  trifle  prim,  was 
charmingly  accessible  to  laughter  and  amusement.  A 
little  Quakerish  she  may  have  been,  but  not  Puri- 
tanical, while  her  shrewd  natural  intelligence  was  no 
doubt  sharpened  by  the  exciting  adventures  described 
in  the  previous  chapter  and  by  the  subsequent  period 
of  anxiety,  strife,  and  social  persecution. 

William  Russell,  when  he  started,  with  his  daughters 
Martha  and  Mary  and  his  son  Thomas,  to  make  him- 
self a  settlement  in  the  New  World,  travelled  in  the 
style  becoming  a  gentleman  of  fortune.  He  and  his 
son  rode  on  horseback,  while  his  daughters,  accom- 
panied by  men-servants  and  maids,  sat  in  the  family 
carriage.  He  had  stood  out  stiffly  against  intolerant 
neighbours,  and  his  departure  was  not  to  be  that  of  a 
fugitive.  On  the  leisurely  journey  from  his  Gloucester- 
shire resting-place  to  his  port  of  embarkation  he  took 
the  opportunity  of  showing  his  young  people  some- 
thing of  the  country  which  they  intended  for  ever  to 
abandon.  But  Martha's  observations  on  the  route 
from  Matson l  to  Falmouth  have  here  been  ruthlessly 
abbreviated,  though  some  of  them,  sufficiently  quaint 
or  acute,  illustrate  the  manifold  discomforts  of  travel- 
ling in  England,  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, even  for  persons  who  did  not  need  to  study 
economy. 

1  Two  miles  from  Gloucester.     Charles  I.  occupied  Matson  House 
during  the  siege  of  Gloucester  in  1643. 


A    COACH-DRIVE    TO    FALMOUTH  53 

"  Wednesday,  July  23,  1794. — Left  Matson  at 
half-past  seven  in  the  morning,  arrived  at  Newport 
about  one,  where  we  got  a  very  good  dinner,  and  after- 
wards went  to  see  Berkeley  Castle,  which  has  been 
built  464  years  ;  the  walls  are  from  13  to  15  feet  thick. 
Here,  after  passing  through  a  long  suite  of  rooms,  we 
came  into  a  small  garden,  in  which  was  a  cold  bath, 
and  here  to  our  great  surprise  we  found  ourselves 
on  the  top  of  the  castle.  So  imperceptibly  had  we 
ascended  by  a  step  or  two  to  each  room,  that  we  had 
not  the  smallest  idea  of  being  so  high.  Passing  across 
this  garden  we  entered  a  passage  which  brought  us  to 
a  room  detached  from  the  other  building,  in  which 
Edward  the  Second  was  murdered.  The  hangings 
of  the  bed  and  room  were  of  very  fine  thick  scarlet 
cloth  finely  embroidered,  the  curtains  of  the  bed 
lined  with  different  coloured  silks  in  patchwork — the 
tester  and  head  of  carved  wood.  In  the  window 
lay  a  plaster-of- Paris  head  of  Edward,  and  an  iron 
instrument  with  which,  tradition  says,  he  was  mur- 
dered." 

The  next  stop  was  at  Bristol,  which  was  reached 
at  nine  o'clock.  But  the  town  was  so  full  that  the 
party  could  not  gain  admittance  either  at  the  Bush  or 
White  Hart,  and  therefore  were  obliged  to  go  to  the 
White  Lion,  where  the  people,  we  learn,  were  "civil 
but  dirty."  On  Thursday  the  travellers  went  to  Bath, 
and  stopped  at  "  Pickwick's  "  (the  White  Stork),  where 
they  found  "  very  good  beds,  &c."  Friday  was  spent 
in  exploring  the  new  part  of  the  city.  The  streets 
they  pronounced  very  handsome,  but  "  owing  to  the 


54  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

dullness  of  trade  " — no  doubt  caused  by  the  war — "  all 
was  at  a  stand." 

On  Friday  evening  about  nine  o'clock  Wells  was 
reached,  and  before  breakfast  the  Cathedral  was 
visited — "  superb  and  grand  beyond  imagination  and 
description.  .  .  ." 

"Among  the  finest  curiosities  this  magnificent 
edifice  has  to  boast  is  a  clock  brought  from  Glaston- 
bury  400  years  old.  It  was  made  by  a  monk,  and  is 
the  largest  piece  of  mechanism  of  the  kind  I  ever 
heard  of.  It  has  a  large  dial  plate  within  the  church, 
the  middle  of  which  shows  the  age  of  the  moon. 
Round  are  two  rows  of  figures.  The  hour  and  minute 
hands  are  a  small  and  large  star :  on  the  top  are 
two  rows  of  soldiers  on  horseback,  which  move  round 
and  pass  each  other.  Against  the  wall  which  runs 
from  the  end  of  that  against  which  is  this  dial,  and  at 
a  good  distance  from  it,  is  a  small  figure  of  a  man 
sitting,  which  strikes  the  quarters  with  his  heels  and 
the  hours  with  his  hands  against  two  bells  that  are 
suspended  before  him.  Beside  this  is  a  still  larger 
clock  on  the  outside  of  the  building,  which  can  be 
heard  seven  miles  off.  All  is  the  same  piece  of 
mechanism — we  heard  them  both  strike  at  once.  .  .  . 

"  The  organist  belonging  to  this  Cathedral,  of  the 
name  of  Jenkins,  is  remarkably  clever  at  instructing 
in  singing — a  pupil  of  his  whom  we  heard  at  the  new 
Drury  Theatre  in  the  winter,  and  who  has  a  remark- 
able fine  voice,  is  engaged  by  the  proprietors  of  that 
place  at  ^400  per  annum  for  five  years,  and  his 
brother,  who  is  older,  at  ^200  per  annum  for  taking 


A    COACH-DRIVE    TO    FALMOUTH  55 

care  of  him.     This  young  man's  home  is  Welsh ;  I 
suppose  he  is  about  twelve  years  of  age." 

On  Saturday  evening,  after  a  passing  glance  at 
Glastonbury  and  Bridge  water,  the  party  came  to  Taun- 
ton,  where  they  fell  in  with  several  Nonconformist 
friends. 

"Sunday  the  i>]th. — Mr.  Broadhurst,  a  minister, 
called  on  us  before  breakfast,  and  we  afterwards  went 
to  hear  Mr.  Toulmine  preach.  Before  dinner  a  Mr. 
Wood  called  on  us,  who  introduced  himself,  saying  he 
knew  my  grandfather  Russell,  and  was  a  great  com- 
panion of  his.  He  was  eighty-two  years  of  age,  and  was 
highly  gratified  with  seeing  my  father  and  inquiring 
after  his  old  friends,  most  of  whom,  however,  were 
dead.  He  went  to  see  my  grandfather  previous  to 
his  going  to  America,  and  now  called  upon  my  father 
on  the  like  occasion." 

At  Exeter,  on  the  28th,  the  Cathedral  was  duly 
inspected  and  admired. 

"  The  shops  here  are  very  good ;  we  made  several 
purchases.  This  part  of  the  county  abounds  with 
clothiers  ;  a  manufactory  of  coarse  flannel  is  carried 
on  here,  and  some  carpeting.  The  landlord  of  the 
London  Inn  is  building  a  very  good  new  house,  which 
we  went  to  see ;  it  has  eighteen  sitting  rooms  below- 
stairs  and  several  more  above.  Mr.  Renwick,  the 
minister,  called  on  us  with  a  Mr.  Shate.  The  latter  has 
a  son  settled  in  America.  A  Mr.  Davey  also  called,  who 


56  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

has  a  brother  there,  who  intends  going  himself;  like- 
wise a  Mr.  G.  a  young  man  of  fortune,  who  is  going 
to  America  principally  for  his  health.  He  much  wished 
to  have  gone  with  us  in  the  Mary,  but  we  had  not 
room." 

"  This  county,"  remarks  Martha  Russell  on  her 
way  to  Crockernwell,  "  is  the  most  hilly  I  ever  was 
in."  On  Tuesday  they  passed  through  Okehampton 
(a  borough  town,  though  miserably  poor),  and  reached 
Launceston,  but  the  tremendous  hill  at  the  entrance 
"  almost  knocked  up  our  poor  coach  horses." 

"  Wednesday r,  30/^5. — After  breakfast  we  left  Laun- 
ceston, dined  at  the  Jamaica  Inn,  a  small  house  in  the 
middle  of  a  common,  or  moor,  with  not  a  tree  or 
house  to  be  seen  for  miles.  Here  in  the  kitchen  were 
pigs  and  ducks,  which,  with  children,  hardly  left  room 
to  stir.  The  good  woman  had  nothing  in  the  house 
but  a  piece  of  pork,  which  in  the  course  of  an  hour 
and  a  half  we  got  boiled,  and  a  few  potatoes  with  some 
brown  or  rather  black  bread.  No  cheese  was  to  be 
had,  and  the  butter  looked  almost  like  lard.  Their  fires 
were  of  turf,  which  they  told  us  was  the  best  that 
could  be  to  cook  by.  Indeed,  I  was  surprised  to  see 
it  burn  so  clear,  and  so  soon  light  up.  Such  a  very 
barren,  dreary  country  as  this  I  never  before  saw. 
The  good  woman  took  a  great  deal  of  pains  to  make 
us  believe  that  they  often  had  people  stop  there, 
though,  in  spite  of  all  her  endeavours,  we  remained 
rather  incredulous.  Such  a  poor,  mean,  dirty  place  I 
never  before  was  in,  and  such  a  scarcity  of  everything 


A    COACH-DRIVE    TO    FALMOUTH  57 

bespoke  no  great  intercourse  with  society.  No 
hay  could  we  get  for  our  horses,  and  nothing  to  drink 
ourselves.  The  malt  liquor,  as  well  as  the  water, 
was  very  bad.  After  staying  about  two  hours  we 
went  on  to  Bodmin,  a  small,  poor  town,  but  which 
afforded  tolerable  accommodation.  A  number  of 
French  prisoners  who  were  walking  about  the  town 
amazed  us." 

Martha  Russell,  like  most  eighteenth  -  century 
people,  had  no  relish  for  rugged  scenery,  for  on  the 
way  from  Bodmin  she  remarks  that  "the  country  still 
continues  the  most  dreary  I  ever  saw."  Truro,  how- 
ever, she  liked,  as  being  a  "  neat,  pretty  town."  She 
afterwards  "heard"  that  there  were  some  parts  of 
Cornwall  "  very  pleasant  and  fertile." 

The  county  of  Cornwall,  she  notes,  had  sub- 
scribed very  strongly  towards  the  internal  defence  of 
the  country,  and  at  Truro  she  saw  boys  about  fourteen 
years  old  in  regimentals.  "  There  is  a  society  formed 
of  them  all  near  of  a  size.  They  were  going  to 
exercise  just  as  we  left  Truro,  from  whence  we  came 
through  Penryn  to  Falmouth."  This  town,  which 
struck  them  as  "small  and  dirty,"  the  party  reached 
on  Friday,  ist  August.  There  they  found  a  friend. 
Mr.  W.  Chambers,  who  was  waiting  to  embark  for 
Spain.  Next  morning  they  came  upon  Mr.  Saunders, 
Dr.  and  Mr.  Edwards,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Terry,  and  Miss 
Clarkson,  who  were  to  be  of  their  party  on  board  the 
Mary  for  New  York.  On  Tuesday  they  were  joined 
by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Huddy.  In  the  evening  they  "raised 
a  little  dance,  the  waiter  playing  the  violin."  On 


58  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

Wednesday  evening  they  repeated  the  entertainment. 
On  the  following  three  days  of  the  week  nothing 
very  particular  happened,  except  that  Mr.  Chambers 
sailed  for  Spain. 

"  Sunday. — We  all  went  to  Meeting.  Mr.  Terry  we 
found  to  be  a  Deist,  fond  of  turning  every  argument 
for  religion  into  ridicule  ;  is  noisy  and  rude  whenever 
the  subject  is  introduced  ;  omits  no  opportunity  of 
ridiculing  religion  in  general,  and  sneering  at .  Dis- 
senters in  particular.  We  begin  to  fear  now  he  will 
not  prove  a  very  desirable  companion  ;  he  seems  to 
be  a  forward,  upstart,  bold  fellow.  Neither  is  Mrs. 
Terry  remarkably  pleasing,  nor  has  she  seen  anything 
of  the  world,  but  appears  lifted  up  by  her  mere 
marriage  out  of  her  station. 

"  Just  as  we  were  returning  from  Meeting  in  the 
morning  a  sailor  accosted  my  father  at  the  door  of  the 
hotel  with  '  So  your  ship  is  in  sight ' — and  very  true 
it  proved,  to  our  no  small  joy.  But  it  seemed  quite 
astonishing  that  at  so  great  a  distance  they  could  tell 
that  it  was  an  American  vessel.  Immediately  the  glass 
was  applied,  we  saw  the  American  flag,  and  therefore 
hoped  it  might  prove  the  Mary,  and  some  time  after 
dinner  we  had  the  felicity  to  see  her  come  into  har- 
bour. Dr.  Edwards  with  the  glass  saw  Captain 
Prebble  and  my  father's  dog,  which  confirmed  our 
hopes.  At  length  we  saw  the  boat  hoisted  out  and 
Captain  Prebble  get  in ;  we  walked  to  meet  him  on 
his  landing  and  gave  him  a  hearty  welcome.  We 
were  all  much  pleased  with  his  appearance,  and  we  all 
agreed  that  if  we  liked  the  vessel  as  well  as  we  did 


A    COACH-DRIVE    TO    FALMOUTH  59 

the  captain  our  voyage  must  most  likely  be  an  agree- 
able one." 

Monday  and  Tuesday  were  spent  in  packing  and 
buying  provisions  for  the  voyage. 

"  Wednesday,  \^th  [August]. — After  tea  we  all 
went  on  board  the  Mary  ;  the  tide  was  just  coming  in 
and  there  was  a  swell  of  the  sea  ;  our  boat  was  heavily 
loaded,  and  some  of  the  party  were  a  little  alarmed, 
Mrs.  Terry  particularly.  No  sooner  were  we  got  on 
board  the  Mary  than  Miss  Clarkson  and  my  sister 
were  obliged  to  run  down  into  the  cabin,  and  this 
with  all  possible  expedition.  Mrs.  Huddy  was  also 
very  soon  ill,  as  well  as  Lyddy  and  Betsy  (maid 
servants),  for  although  the  vessel  was  at  anchor,  the 
swell  being  heavy  there  was  a  good  deal  of  motion. 
After  the  invalids  were  all  gone  to  bed  my  father, 
brother,  Mr.  Terry,  Mr.  Saunders  and  I  supped  upon 
deck  on  a  cold  mutton  pie  we  had  brought  with  us. 
The  evening  was  fine,  and  I,  feeling  quite  well,  really 
enjoyed  much  the  novelty  of  the  scene,  and  watched 
the  moonbeams  playing  on  the  water.  About  eleven 
o'clock  we  went  to  bed,  and  I  never  slept  better  in  my 
life,  although  through  the  night  there  was  a  good  deal 
of  motion. 

"  About  seven  in  the  morning  of  Thursday,  the 
wind  being  fair,  we  weighed  anchor.  The  morning  was 
delightful,  the  sea  calm,  and  all  charmingly  pleasant. 
Mrs.  Terry  and  myself  were  the  only  ladies  that  were 
well  enough  to  join  the  breakfast  party,  and  Mrs. 
Terry  after  breakfast  was  very  sick.  Mr.  Huddy  was 


60  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

also  to-day  one  of  the  worst,  and  Mr.  Terry  did  not 
escape.  In  short,  all  except  my  father,  brother,  and 
myself  were  more  or  less  indisposed ;  however,  at 
dinner  they  all  managed  to  make  their  appearance, 
though  for  a  short  time  only.  Very  soon  they  were 
all  obliged  to  retreat  again  to  their  berths,  finding 
that  bed  was  far  the  most  comfortable  place.  All  the 
servants  were  now  ill  except  one,  so  that  I  had  very 
full  employment  in  waiting  upon  the  invalids,  and  had 
sometimes  much  fear  lest  I  must  also  have  joined  the 
sick  party. 

"  Saturday,  1 6tk. — All  continue  ill ;  the  weather 
fine,  but  the  wind  ahead.  Had  a  little  pig  roasted  for 
dinner,  and  I  never  relished  a  dinner  more  in  my  life, 
although  it  was  attended  with  many  circumstances 
that  in  almost  any  other  situation  would  have  taken 
away  my  appetite.  But  the  sea  air,  I  find,  fully 
counteracts  all  necessities  of  this  kind  by  creating  an 
appetite  too  keen  to  admit  of  attending  much  to  trifles. 
This  evening  the  sea  was  rather  rough,  and  the  vessel 
rolled  a  good  deal." 

On  Sunday  there  was  a  great  swell  at  sea.  Mr. 
Terry  and  Martha  Russell  were  still  the  only  persons 
able  to  get  about.  By  this  time,  perhaps,  she  may 
have  hoped  she  was  beginning  to  see  the  end  of  her 
troubles.  She  had  not  yet  begun  them. 


CHAPTER   V 


A  French  frigate  in  sight — English  travellers  ordered  on  board — Assur- 
ances of  kind  treatment — Accompanied  by  Captain  Prebble — Scene 
on  the  man-of-war — Emblems  of  Liberty — Singing  the  Marseillaise 
— The  ladies'  good  humour — Close  quarters  on  board — Vermin  and 
suffocating  heat. 

NEXT  morning  the  thoughts  of  the  emigrants  were 
forcibly  diverted  from  the  ordinary  perils  and  dis- 
comforts of  a  long  voyage  in  a  sailing  vessel. 

"Monday,  \%th  [August]. — This  morning  I  lay 
late  till  10  o'clock,  having  been  much  disturbed  with 
the  roughness  of  the  weather  during  the  night.  Just 
as  I  was  beginning  to  dress  my  brother  came  to  tell 
us  there  was  a  French  frigate  coming  up  with  us.  I 
hurried  on  my  clothes,  well  pleased  with  the  thought 
of  seeing  the  good  Republicans,  and  running  up  on 
deck  found  nearly  all  our  party,  sick  and  well,  assembled 
together,  and  the  Frenchmen  nearly  alongside  of  us. 

"I  returned  to  prevail  on  Mary  to  come  up  like- 
wise, which  she  did.  When  we  got  on  deck  we  found 
Captain  Prebble  speaking  to  them  ;  they  hoisted  at 
first  English  colours,  but  on  seeing  that  ours  were 
American  took  them  down  and  ran  up  their  own. 
Their  questions  with  the  trumpet  were,  if  the  vessel 
was  American,  where  bound,  with  what  laden,  and 


61 


62  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

who  the  passengers  were.  After  this  they  hoisted 
their  little  boat  and  came  on  board  us.  We  all  re- 
joiced to  see  them,  and  had  no  idea  of  their  being 
come  for  anything  but  news.  However,  it  proved 
otherwise  ;  they  commanded  of  Captain  Prebble  a  list 
of  his  passengers  and  of  us  passports.  With  these 
none  of  us  were  provided,  except  Dr.  Edwards,  and 
he  had  only  an  old  one,  which  he  had  secured  when 
he  went  to  Holland.  This,  with  the  testimonials  he 
produced  of  his  being  an  American,  satisfied  them  for 
himself,  Mrs.  Edwards,  and  Miss  Clarkson,  who 
passed  as  his  niece.  With  regard  to  the  rest  of  us 
they  appeared  suspicious,  merely  from  our  being 
British  and  having  no  passport  to  America.  By 
means  of  the  speaking  trumpet  with  their  captain, 
Captain  Prebble  was  ordered  on  board  the  frigate. 
I  still  had  not  the  least  suspicion  that  they  could  think 
of  making  us  prisoners  when  our  situation  had  been 
made  known  to  their  captain,  which  Captain  Prebble 
— who  could  speak  French — promised  to  explain. 

"There  was  this  morning  a  very  great  swell  of  the 
sea,  and  we  wondered  at  the  Frenchmen  in  the  first 
instance  for  venturing  on  so  high  a  sea  in  a  small 
boat.  Soon  after  Captain  Prebble  was  got  on  board  a 
fresh  party  of  French  were  sent  to  tell  us  we  must  pre- 
pare to  go  on  board  their  frigate.  This  order  both 
astonished  and  alarmed  us  beyond  conception  :  we  re- 
monstrated most  earnestly,  and  as  there  was  one  among 
this  party  who  could  talk  English  we  were  better  off. 
However,  all  we  could  say  was  of  no  avail.  My  father 
was  ordered  on  board  immediately,  and  we  were  desired 
to  get  ready  all  we  wished  to  take.  Struck  with 


CAPTURED    BY   THE    FRENCH  63 

amaze,  and  scarce  knowing  what  I  did,  I  ran  down  to 
collect  what  I  could,  for  the  servants  were  quite  unable 
to  do  anything  from  sickness.  Our  beds  were  tied  up 
first,  and  then  we  scrambled  together  a  few  cloaks  and 
other  little  things.  But  so  great  was  our  hurry  that 
we  scarce  knew  what  was  taken  or  what  it  would  be 
proper  to  take  ;  fearing  that  if  we  were  made  prisoners 
all  we  had  with  us  would  be  seized.  Fortunately, 
among  other  things,  we  remembered  our  medicine- 
chest.  All  the  time  we  were  putting  up  our  things 
the  French  officers  were  hurrying  us  and  saying  their 
Captain  was  angry  at  our  staying  so  long. 

"We  were  now  to  go  ourselves  in  the  same  little 
boat  and  on  the  same  high  sea  which  had  made  us 
wonder  at  the  boldness  of  the  Frenchmen  for  ven- 
turing to  face ;  and  yet  so  agitated  were  our  spirits 
at  the  idea  of  being  made  prisoners,  and  taken  on 
board  the  frigate,  which  seemed  to  swarm  with  men, 
that  we  hardly  thought  of  the  danger,  although  the 
sea  ran  mountains  high,  and  once  came  over  on  the 
side  of  the  boat  where  I  was  sitting,  so  as  to  com- 
pletely wet  me  down  one  side.  The  motion  of  the 
boat  and  vessel  during  the  time  that  the  party  were 
getting  in  appeared  to  me  to  cause  a  good  deal  of 
danger  to  us  who  were  in  the  boat  first.  However, 
I  seemed  to  care  for  nothing,  and  felt  now  composed 
enough,  or  rather  so  stupefied  as  to  be  able  to  meet 
any  danger. 

"  The  young  man  who  spoke  English  accompanied 
us,  and  appeared  to  be  humane  and  kind  :  he  assured 
us  that  we  should  be  well  treated,  and  begged  we 
would  not  distress  ourselves.  On  getting  to  the  side 


64  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

of  the  frigate  we  found  we  could  not  be  hoisted  up 
in  the  chair,  but  must  climb  up  the  sides  of  the 
vessel.  This,  which  in  almost  any  other  circum- 
stances we  should  have  thought  impossible,  was  soon 
overcome.  I  went  up  first,  but  it  was  literally  like 
clambering  up  the  side  of  a  house.  I  shall  never 
forget  my  feelings  on  finding  myself  at  the  top,  with 
300  dirty,  filthy,  ragged-looking  sailors  crowded  on 
the  deck  to  see  us. 

"  We  were  met  by  my  father  and  Captain  Prebble, 
the  expression  of  whose  countenances  plainly  testi- 
fied the  agitation  of  their  minds  and  their  fears  for 
us.  They  led  us  to  a  seat  there  was  in  the  middle 
of  the  deck ;  here,  when  seated,  the  scene  was  beyond 
description  novel  and  distressing.  The  doctor  be- 
longing to  the  vessel,  who  could  talk  English  a  little, 
came  up  to  us  and  assured  us,  in  the  most  urgent 
manner,  that  if  we  were  what  we  said  we  should  find 
ourselves  among  friends  and  brethren,  and  should  be 
treated  as  such,  and  that  we  need  fear  nothing,  for 
he  would  be  answerable  that  we  should  receive  no 
insult,  and  desired  that  if  any  one  offered  the  least 
we  should  let  him  know.  Several  of  the  officers  who 
stood  round  assured  us  of  the  same,  both  by  the 
expression  of  their  countenances,  as  well  as  their 
words ;  they  appeared  to  feel  much  for  us. 

"  Still,  all  this  did  not  stifle  our  apprehensions  ;  we 
were  on  board  a  ship  of  war,  with  between  300  and 
400  men,  few  of  whom  felt,  as  we  supposed,  any 
restraint  from  principle ;  and,  although  the  officers 
were  well  disposed,  among  such  a  number  of  men 
they,  we  feared,  could  not  be  answerable,  and  there 


CAPTURED    BY    THE    FRENCH  65 

was  no  female  on  board  till  we  arrived.  Over- 
whelmed with  apprehensions  of  what  was  to  come, 
and  foreboding  ill  from  everything  almost  that  I  saw, 
my  feelings  had  now  almost  overcome  me,  when 
Captain  Prebble,  seeing  and  feeling  for  our  distress, 
kindly  said  he  would  go  to  France  with  us,  in  order 
that  when  we  arrived  in  Bresthaven,  where  the  frigate 
was  bound,  he  might  go  himself  to  the  American 
Ambassador  at  Paris  on  our  behalf.  This  was  a 
drop  of  comfort  that  seemed  to  calm  my  troubled 
breast,  for  till  this  moment  I  had  seen  no  end  to  our 
imprisonment  as  long  as  the  war  lasted. 

"  After  we  had  been  seated  on  the  deck  about  half- 
an-hour  the  Captain  made  his  appearance  ;  he  bowed 
to  us  and  we  all  rose  and  acknowledged  it.  His 
countenance  was  placid  and  prepossessing,  and  I 
augured  well  from  his  manner.  The  men,  as  may 
naturally  be  supposed,  all  crowded  round  to  view  us. 
All  our  invalids  had  lost  their  sickness  from  the 
fright.  We  were  now  asked  to  walk  down  into  the 
cabin  to  dinner.  Here  was  a  scene  novel  indeed. 
The  room  was  perhaps  20  feet  by  18  ;  along  the 
middle  was  a  table,  covered  with  an  oilcloth,  on 
which  stood  the  dinner.  On  one  side  of  the  table, 
about  the  middle,  was  a  small  pillar  against  which 
was  a  small  bush  to  represent  the  Tree  of  Liberty, 
with  a  bunch  of  national  ribbons  under,  and  a  small 
Cap  of  Liberty  on  the  top.  Even  with  the  top  of 
this  pillar,  and  just  over  the  centre  of  the  table,  was 
a  circle  of  small  swords  or  scimitars,  I  suppose  about 
thirty  or  forty,  put  in  a  frame,  which  frame  was  fixed 
to  the  ceiling.  Along  the  walls  at  the  top  and  bottom 

E 


66  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

of  the  cabin  were  fixed  two  rows  of  muskets,  and  a 
large  cannon  on  each  side.  Along  the  top  and 
opposite  to  the  door  were  the  windows,  under  which 
was  a  broad  seat  with  lockers.  From  the  window 
to  where  the  muskets  were  arranged  on  the  sides, 
the  walls  were  covered  with  strong  network,  as  I 
afterwards  found,  to  prevent  the  splinters  of  wood 
flying  about  in  case  of  a  ball  coming  through. 

"  Our  bedding  and  trunks  lay  all  in  a  heap  on  one 
side,  and  we  were  desired  to  see  that  all  was  there. 
After  that  we  sat  down  to  dinner.  As  soon  as  the 
company  were  assembled,  they  all  sung  one  verse  of 
the  Marseillaise  Hymn,  with  the  chorus,  and  then  fell 
to  heartily — taking  care,  however,  to  help  us  first,  and 
that  in  a  very  polite  manner.  Of  the  dishes  we  had 
for  dinner  I  could  make  out  but  few.  Indeed,  my 
attention  was  more  fixed  on  the  company  than  the 
table.  Such  a  set  I  never  before  saw,  some  with  hats 
on,  some  without,  others  with  the  '  bonnet  rouge,'  all 
dirty  and  all  merry,  and  chattering  away  as  fast  as 
possible.  They  were  waited  on  by  little  boys  ;  every 
officer  had  one,  who  brought  him  his  napkin,  knife, 
fork,  spoon,  and  glass,  and  each  had  a  bottle  of  wine. 
They  did  not  sit  at  all  after  dinner,  but  drank  their 
wine  with  it ;  the  bread  was  excellent,  and  we  had  a 
very  good  rice  pudding. 

"  After  dinner  we  went  on  deck  again,  and  I  began 
to  feel  more  comfortable  from  the  great  attention  and, 
really  I  may  say,  tenderness  of  the  officers.  They 
seemed  to  have  but  one  wish  respecting  us,  and  that 
was  to  assure  us  we  should  be  kindly  treated,  and 
that  they  had  not  a  doubt  of  our  being  liberated  as 


CAPTURED    BY    THE    FRENCH  67 

soon  as  our  case  was  known  ;  yet  they  said  their  taking 
us  was  unavoidable,  for  the  English  had,  they  said, 
lately  set  them  an  example  of  it,  and  they  had  orders 
to  let  no  English  escape  them  whatever.  This  frigate, 
it  appeared,  belonged  to  a  squadron  that  had  been 
cruising  in  the  Channel  for  twenty  days ;  the  officers 
told  us  they  expected  to  return  to  Brest  very  soon. 
This  was  grateful,  for  of  all  things,  we  seemed  to 
dread  most  an  engagement.  The  name  of  this  frigate 
was  the  Proserpine ;  she  carried  forty  guns,  thirty-six 
pounders,1  and  was  twenty-two  years  old.  In  the  last 
cruise  she  had  sprung  a  leak,  and,  but  for  the  English 
prisoners  on  board,  had  been  lost.  Against  the  main- 
mast was  the  mark  of  a  cannon  ball,  just  under  a 
national  cockade  which  was  fixed  in  the  mast.  They 
pointed  out  to  us  as  a  matter  of  exultation  that  it  had 
gbne  so  near  and  had  not  hurt  it. 

"  One  thing  I  heard  this  afternoon  added  much  to 
my  anxiety,  which  was  that  there  was  a  very  bad 
putrid  fever  on  board,  which  had  carried  off  numbers. 

"  At  four  o'clock  all  the  boys  assembled  and  placed 
themselves  in  ranks  in  the  middle  of  the  deck,  where 
they  sang  the  Marseillaise  Hymn.  They  made  a 
practice  of  singing  it  three  times  a  day,  morning,  noon, 
and  night.  After  supper  they  very  earnestly  pressed 
us  to  sing,  and  sang  themselves  several  songs,  and, 
though  our  feelings  were  ill-disposed  to  cheerfulness, 
yet  so  very  pressing  were  they,  and  so  desirous  were 
we  to  show  we  wished  to  oblige  them  in  return  for 
their  kindness,  that  somehow  or  other  Mrs.  Terry, 
Mary,  and  I  managed  to  sing  together,  although 

1  A  lady  was  not  bound  to  know,  but  this  is  impossible. 


68  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

none  of  us  had  ever  before  attempted  it  in  company, 
and  no  one  of  the  three  knew  anything  at  all  about 
the  matter.  However,  the  attempt  had  the  desired 
effect  of  pleasing  them  much,  and  the  Captain  as 
much  as  any  of  them.  He  afterwards  gave  us  a  song 
himself. 

"  About  nine  o'clock  we  were  handed  by  the  officers 
to  the  place  where  we  were  to  sleep,  the  sight  of  which 
made  us  feel  very  sensibly  that  we  were  prisoners.  It 
was  at  one  end  of  the  vessel,  between  decks,  about  10 
or  1 1  feet  square,  partitioned  out  from  the  other  part 
with  canvas.  One  part  at  the  top  was  something 
higher  than  the  rest,  being  raised  with  boxes,  and 
here  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Terry  lay.  Our  beds  were  spread 
on  the  floor,  and  Mrs.  Huddy,  Lyddy,  Betsy,  Mary, 
and  I  lay  in  a  row  ;  Mr.  Huddy  at  the  entrance  across 
our  feet.  On  one  side  of  the  canvas  joined  another 
smaller  partition  of  the  same  kind,  and  here,  on  the 
floor  likewise,  slept  my  father  and  brother  and  Mr. 
Saunders.  Opposite  to  them,  upon  a  store  of  cannon 
balls,  our  men-servants  laid  their  beds.  The  officers 
slept  in  small  berths  round  our  canvas,  and  were  con- 
tinually passing  backwards  and  forwards,  so  that  it  was 
absolutely  necessary  to  extinguish  our  light  as  soon 
as  possible,  though  we  all  laid  down  in  our  clothes. 
The  gentlemen  waited  on  the  outside  till  we  were 
ready,  and  then  giving  the  light  to  the  man  who  had 
also  been  waiting  there  for  it,  came  into  the  hole  (for 
nothing  better  can  I  term  it). 

"  Left  to  my  own  reflections,  the  feelings  of  my 
mind  are  not  to  be  described.  The  recollection  of 
what  had  passed  in  the  course  of  the  day — the  forlorn, 


CAPTURED    BY    THE    FRENCH  69 

sad  situation  in  which  we  then  were,  and  the  fear  that 
all  of  us  might  not  have  strength  of  mind  and  body 
sufficient  to  carry  us  through  what  was  to  come — 
almost  overcame  me.  These  reflections,  added  to  the 
effects  of  our  confinement,  deprived  me  entirely  of 
sleep.  The  vermin  we  encountered  were  inconceiv- 
able ;  but  what  was  to  me  really  worse  was  the  great 
closeness  of  the  place.  With  the  greatest  difficulty 
could  I  breathe  at  all,  and  was  every  now  and  then 
obliged  to  jump  up  through  fear  of  suffocation.  Apart 
from  these  circumstances  the  noise  was  enough  to 
have  prevented  any  one  from  sleeping ;  the  creaking 
of  the  vessel  was  really  tremendous,  and  the  rolling  of 
the  cannon  not  less  so.  ...  On  first  going  into  the 
air  I  felt  ready  to  faint,  but  soon  recovered,  and  was 
refreshed  by  breathing  it  freely  more  than  can  be 
described." 


CHAPTER   VI 

PRISONERS    OF  WAR 

Monotonous  life — Hunting  for  prizes — Burning  a  Dutch  vessel — Pre- 
paring for  action — A  strange  sail — French  sailors  dancing — In  view 
of  Brest — The  Land  of  Liberty — Martha  Russell's  enthusiasm — An 
unconquerable  nation — Hopes  of  speedy  release — Disappointment 
and  collapse — Removed  to  another  prison  ship — Execution  of 
Robespierre — A  favourable  circumstance — Guillotine  at  Brest — 
Thomas  Russell's  illness — Harshness  of  the  commanding  officer — 
Shortness  of  provisions  and  increasing  appetites — French  cookery 
— A  naval  spectacle — A  kindly  captain — His  remembrances  of 
captivity  in  England — William  Russell's  curious  adventure. 

NEXT  morning  the  prisoners  on  board  the  Proserpine 
were  visited  by  Dr.  Edwards,  who  gave  them  a  letter 
to  his  very  particular  friend,  Mr.  Monroe,  the  American 
Minister  in  Paris,1  and  also  promised  to  look  after 
their  property  on  the  Mary.  Captain  Prebble,  hand- 
ing over  the  command  of  his  vessel  to  his  mate,  made 
arrangements  to  accompany  them  to  France.  About 
six  o'clock  in  the  evening,  with  "  acheing  hearts,"  they 
bade  farewell  to  the  Mary.  But  in  the  evening,  after 
supper,  they  were  again  bidden  to  sing,  "  which  we  did 
all  round."  The  fare  upon  the  French  frigate  was  very 
coarse,  and  persons  not  possessing  their  own  knives  and 
forks  had  to  manage  without  any.  Captain  Prebble's 
spoon  usually  served  them  all.  So  monotonous 

1  Afterwards  (1816)  elected  President  of  the  United  States,  whose 

name  was  given  to  the  famous  doctrine  of  international  usage. 

70 


PRISONERS    OF    WAR  71 

was  the  daily  life  that  the  indefatigable  diarist  gave 
up  mentioning  the  distinct  dates.  The  prisoners 
simply  rose,  breakfasted,  dined,  and  supped  and  went 
to  bed  at  the  same  time  and  in  the  same  manner.  In 
fine  weather  they  sat  or  walked  on  deck  :  when  it  was 
wet  they  played  cards  or  read  books  (if  any  book 
could  be  found)  in  the  cabin.  But  Martha  and  Mary 
Russell,  like  sensible,  good-humoured  young  ladies, 
made  the  best  of  their  plight.  They  taught  English 
to  the  officers,  who  taught  them  French  in  return. 

Regretfully  it  must  be  added  that  they  began  to 
find  an  unholy  joy  in  the  operations  of  war.  The 
squadron  consisted  of  five  frigates  besides  corvettes. 
During  the  cruise,  which  lasted  forty  days,  they  took 
thirty  prizes — so  Martha  exultingly  records,  having 
seemingly  forgotten  the  peace  principles  imbibed  from 
Dr.  Priestley.  It  was  "comparatively  uninteresting," 
we  read,  when  a  ship  was  burnt  because  they  knew 
that  there  was  nobody  on  board — much  as  though  a 
motoring  lady  of  our  own  day  were  to  complain  of 
a  drive  being  dull  because  no  chickens  had  been 
killed  !  Let  Martha  speak  for  herself : — 

"  The  evening,  or  rather  afternoon,  on  which  we 
came  on  board,  we  saw  a  Dutch  vessel  sunk  after 
they  had  taken  out  the  crew  and  cargo.  A  large  hole 
was  bored  in  the  bottom,  but  it  was  many  hours  before 
it  went  down :  the  masts  were  to  be  seen  the  next 
morning.  Another  day  they  set  fire  to  a  vessel ;  this 
was  a  small  English  sloop,  and  never  did  I  see  a  more 
terrible  sight.  No  description  either  of  pencil  or  pen 
can  equal  the  reality,  no  scene  can  ever  be  more 


72  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

tremendous,  though  the  idea  of  no  person  being  on 
board  rendered  the  sight  comparatively  uninteresting. 
The  only  diversion  we  had  was  going  in  chase  of  prizes, 
and  this  the  officers  enjoyed  so  much  that  it  was  im- 
possible for  us  not  to  enter  also  into  the  spirit  of  it  in 
a  degree.  The  moment  a  signal  was  hoisted  by  the 
Commodore,  we  were  all  impatience  to  know  what  it 
meant,  hoping  from  the  first  day  for  commands  to 
steer  for  Brest,  as  the  officers  had  told  us  their  time 
was  expired,  or  at  least  what  was  fixed  for  the  cruise. 
The  hopes  of  the  officers  constantly  were  for  signals 
to  go  in  chase ;  when  these  came  they  all  appeared 
intoxicated  with  joy,  all  hands  were  aloft  to  set  the 
sails  and  off  we  went.  It  really  was  very  pleasant  to 
sail  away  so  fast  in  so  large  a  ship.  Though  we  never 
went  more  than  12  knots  an  hour,  yet  from  her  size 
we  seemed  to  glide  along  so  smoothly  as  rendered  it 
delightful.  .  .  . 

"  On  coming  up  with  our  prize  the  officers,  all 
dressed  in  their  regimentals,  buckled  on  swords  and 
pistols,  and  boarded  her.  After  examining  her  papers, 
the  trumpets  were  hoisted  and  they  informed  the 
Captain  particularly.  He  then  gave  them  orders  what 
to  do.  The  sailors  and  passengers  were  uniformly 
sent  on  board.  If  a  part  only  of  the  cargo  was  valu- 
able, that  was  sent  also,  and  the  rest  destroyed  in  the 
vessel.  If  the  cargo  proved  a  valuable  one  French 
sailors  were  sent  on  board.  But  the  first  sight  of  our 
prize  was  always  the  most  trying  time  to  us,  and  the 
first  and  most  interesting  question  '  Is  she  a  ship  of 
war  ? '  and  till  this  was  answered  agitation  had  com- 
plete possession  of  our  minds.  Relieved  from  this 


PRISONERS    OF    WAR  73 

fear,  we  afterwards  entered  the  more  into  the  general 
pleasure  of  the  moment  from  having  felt  it.  On  going 
on  board  the  prize  the  officers  generally  privately 
asked  us  what  they  would  bring  us.  We  were  at  first 
content  with  wishing  only  for  potatoes,  there  being 
none  then  on  board.  After  having  returned  several 
times  without  them,  and  disappointed  themselves  much 
more  than  us,  they  at  length  returned  from  a  Dutch- 
man, tugging  a  large  bag  up  the  side  of  the  ship. 
Throwing  it  upon  the  deck  before  us  they  cried  'Vive 
la  Republique ! '  One  day  a  vessel  appeared  in  sight, 
taken  for  a  ship-of-war  by  all  the  squadron.  Prepara- 
tions were  now  made  for  an  engagement ;  every 
partition  was  taken  away  between  decks,  and  nothing 
was  to  be  seen  but  the  cannon  ranged  on  each  side. 
The  officers  put  on  their  best,  loaded  their  pistols, 
buckled  on  their  swords,  and  everything  was  in  readi- 
ness. They  all  declared  they  would  sink  the  vessel 
sooner  than  be  taken — we  were  to  have  our  choice  of 
going  into  the  hold  or  cockpit." 

Happily  the  ladies  were  not  put  to  this  embarrass- 
ing selection.  The  vessel  proved  to  be  an  American. 
For  a  little  longer  they  were  allowed  to  enjoy  the 
more  pleasant  side  of  life  on  board  a  man-of-war. 
They  were  particularly  struck  with  the  cleverness  and 
high  spirits  of  the  French  sailors. 

"  One  evening  we  were  highly  pleased  with  seeing 
the  sailors  dance.  The  astonishingly  light  manner  in 
which  they  move,  many  in  wooden  shoes,  was  matter 
of  surprise  to  us  all.  They  appeared  to  be  particularly 


74  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

made  to  excel  in  dancing,  for  really  I  never  saw  any 
dancing  master  in  England  acquit  himself  better  than 
these  dirty,  mean,  awkward-looking  fellows.  The 
contrast  between  the  French  and  English  sailors,  or 
rather  peasantry  (for  these  are  all  requisition  men)  is 
striking  indeed.  The  uniform  good  humour  of  these 
men  one  to  another,  together  with  their  playfulness, 
is  amazingly  pleasing  all  the  day ;  the  sides  of  the 
deck  were  filled  between  the  cannon  with  different 
parties  playing  at  cards,  and  always  were  they  play- 
ing tricks  on  each  other,  which  jokes  are  uniformly 
well  received." 

On  August  29th,  after  the  Russells  and  their 
English  companions  from  the  Mary  had  been  prisoners 
of  war  on  the  Proserpine  for  eleven  days,  another 
American  vessel  (the  Ivor,  bound  from  Bristol  to  New 
York,  Capt.  Gooderich)  was  captured,  and  the  English 
passengers  were  taken  on  board.  The  new-comers, 
twenty-seven  in  number,  naturally  encroached  upon 
the  scanty  accommodation  available  for  passengers. 
For  some  reason  not  explained  by  the  diarist — possibly 
the  strangers  were  not  sufficiently  open-handed — they 
were  treated  with  small  consideration.  One  gentleman 
was  quartered  in  the  hold,  very  near  the  oven,  and  fed 
upon  bread  and  water,  while  another,  taken  for  an 
aristocrat,  was  constantly  mocked  and  refused  leave 
to  promenade  on  deck. 

Meantime  the  fever  was  increasing :  of  the  four 
hundred  persons  on  board  more  than  one  hundred 
were  sick,  the  ship's  doctor  amongst  them.  Another 
anxiety  that  pressed  upon  the  emigrants  was  the  fear 


PRISONERS    OF    WAR  75 

of  being  captured  by  "  our  enemies  and  countrymen." 
On  September  2nd  the  Proserpine  had  a  narrow 
escape.  Off  Ushant  the  French  sighted  twenty-six 
British  sail,  and  had  to  thank  the  dirty  weather  for 
getting  away  in  safety.  Presently  they  were  in  view 
of  Brest.  A  thick  fog  did  not  prevent  the  Russell 
family  from  going  on  deck  early  in  the  morning  in 
order  to  get  a  peep  at  the  coast  of  France,  the  Land  of 
Liberty.  "It  had  in  my  eyes,"  writes  Martha  Russell, 
"  more  charm  than  ever  land  held  before."  At  noon 
they  entered  the  harbour,  and  were  impressed  with 
the  appearance  of  the  five  fine  three-deckers,  especially 
the  Admiral's  flag-ship,  La  Montague,  with  1200  men 
on  board.  The  in-coming  squadron  was  hailed  with 
cries  of  "  Vive  la  Re"publique !  "  The  crews  seemed  as 
one  man  to  be  inspired  in  the  cause  for  which  they 
were  engaged. 

"  The  ardour  they  all  felt  and  expressed  in  the 
cause  of  Liberty  really  astonished  me,  although  I  was 
prepared  to  find  it  at  a  high  pitch.  It  seems  the  only 
thing  for  which  they  wished  to  live,  and  the  only 
cause  in  which  they  wished  to  die.  Very  often  have 
I  exclaimed,  '  This  people  will  never  be  conquered.' 
At  present  all  their  religion  is  Liberty,  and  in  this 
there  sure  never  were  greater  enthusiasts.  A  time 
will,  I  am  convinced,  come,  and  that  shortly,  when  the 
Maker  of  the  World  will  be  held  in  the  highest  vene- 
ration by  that  people  whose  hearts  glow  with  such 
generous  sentiments  towards  His  creatures." 

In  this  amiable  and  expansive  frame  of  mind  Martha 
Russell  and  her  companions  were  making  ready  for 


76  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

their  assured  release.  First  there  was  to  be  a  thorough 
washing — "  the  extreme  filth  of  the  vessel  could  scarce 
be  imagined  " — and  a  hardly  less  welcome  change  of 
linen.  Presently  came  an  order  to  take  them  to  another 
ship !  This  was  indeed  an  unexpected  stroke.  They 
found  about  one  hundred  others  in  the  same  plight.  A 
little  comfort  they  got  from  the  assurance  of  some 
kindly  Americans,  who  promised  to  watch  where  they 
were  taken  to,  and  provide  them  with  anything  they 
might  require.  The  poor  ladies  had  fairly  broken 
down  under  their  disappointment,  when  happily  they 
were  discovered  in  their  new  prison  by  Captain  Prebble, 
who  undertook  to  fetch  for  them  from  the  Proserpine 
certain  things  which  in  the  hurry  of  changing  ship 
they  had  overlooked.  The  accommodation  in  La 
Belle  d1  Orient  proved  to  be  much  the  same  as  on  the 
Proserpine,  but  the  personal  kindness  was  missing. 
The  servants  fared  badly,  being  compelled  to  sleep 
in  the  hold.  The  gentlemen  were  not  much  better 
treated.  When  the  eight  o'clock  bell  rang  they  were 
all  ordered  to  carry  down  their  beds !  No  sooner  were 
they  got  down,  and  so  crowded  that  literally  they 
could  not  stir,  than  the  light  was  put  out,  and  they 
were  obliged  to  remain  all  night  just  in  the  posture 
they  were  when  it  was  extinguished.  Some  of  the 
party  found  themselves  on  large  casks,  and  the  fear  of 
slipping  between  them  deterred  them  from  moving, 
as  they  found  by  dropping  things  down  that  the 
cavities  between  the  casks  were  very  deep.  "The 
sailors  appeared  to  be  the  refuse  of  all  nations, 
English,  Dutch,  and  Portuguese,  each  vying  with  the 
other  in  noisy  and  opprobrious  language." 


PRISONERS    OF    WAR  77 

Next  day  (September  3)  the  Russells  were  visited 
on  board  by  Captain  Prebble  as  well  as  by  Captain 
Bryan,  Captain  Hooper,  and  a  Mr.  Wilson,  who  had 
been  struck  with  their  forlorn  condition.  But  any 
hopes  which  they  may  have  rested  on  the  possession 
of  "  friends  at  Court "  were  dashed  next  day.  Having 
undergone  persecution  in  their  native  land  on  account 
of  the  French  Revolution,  they  were  now  suffering 
from  "the  very  people  whose  cause  they  had  espoused." 
The  American  Consul  at  Brest  was  either  impotent 
or  indifferent,  and  it  became  apparent  that  no  influence 
which  William  Russell  could  exercise,  either  personally 
or  through  his  friends,  would  avail  except  in  Paris 
itself.  "  It  was  now  but  a  short  time,"  Martha  Russell 
quietly  remarks,  "  since  Robespierre  had  been  guillo- 
tined (July  28,  1794),  and  the  change  this  measure 
was  likely  to  make  in  the  Government  was,  we  hoped, 
favourable  for  us."  From  the  stern  gallery,  the  lady 
adds,  they  had  a  view  of  the  guillotine  at  Brest,  which 
was  credited  with  having  recently  dispatched  twenty 
persons  in  thirty  minutes. 

Captain  Prebble  and  Captain  Bryan  undertook  to 
go  to  Paris  on  behalf  of  the  Russells,  though  they 
were  almost  afraid  to  venture,  as  "so  many  murders " 
had  lately  been  committed  on  the  road  by  the  Royalists 
of  La  Vendee. 

On  the  following  Sunday  morning  young  Russell 
when  he  arose  complained  of  a  headache,  and  by 
evening  was  down  with  fever. 

"Monday. — My  brother  had  a  very  indifferent  night, 
and  was  so  ill  this  morning  that  we  became  seriously 


78  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

alarmed  for  him ;  we  gave  him  James's  Powder,  but 
to  be  ill  in  such  a  situation  was  a  trial  I  had  dreaded 
all  along  for  some  or  other  of  us,  and  to  which  I  feared 
we  should  not  be  equal.  Captain  Bryan  called  to-day 
and  brought  us  fruit,  chocolate,  sugar,  butter,  and 
biscuits.  His  humanity  and  philanthropy  seemed  un- 
bounded. This  evening  my  brother  was  quite  delirious. 
All  our  fears  increased  much,  and  our  prospects  on 
his  account  appeared  gloomy  indeed,  for  they  were 
here  afraid  of  getting  a  fever  on  board,  so  that  any 
one  among  the  crew  who  was  at  all  indisposed  was 
sent  directly  to  the  hospital.  This  we  dreaded  most 
awfully.  The  doctor  on  board  appeared  to  be  as 
ignorant  as  possible,  and  great  secrecy  was  therefore 
necessary.  We  continued  giving  him  James's  Powder. 

"  Thursday. — My  brother  still  very  ill. 

"Saturday. — My  brother  something  better,  his 
fever  abating. 

"  Sunday. — Better  still. 

"Monday. — He  got  on  deck  to  walk,  and  though 
very  weak  was  much  better. 

"  Tuesday. — My  brother  well,  except  a  great  degree 
of  weakness,  which  we  feared  he  would  not  lose  for 
some  time." 

But  even  the  hardships  on  board  seemed  prefer- 
able to  those  of  a  prison  ashore,  and  William  Russell 
wrote  to  the  Admiral  begging  that  they  might  not  be 
sent  away.  A  sympathetic  reply  was  received.  Their 
unkind  treatment  on  the  Belle  d  Orient  seems  to  have 
been  probably  due  to  the  officer's  fear  that  as  an  ex- 
aristocrat  he  might  be  under  Republican  surveillance. 


PRISONERS    OF    WAR  79 

"  Bold  and  unfeeling  to  a  degree,  he  had  remain- 
ing about  him  many  traits  of  aristocracy.  He  kept 
us  as  much  at  a  distance  as  possible,  and  on  many 
occasions  behaved  with  bare  civility.  At  meals  we 
particularly  felt  his  unfeeling  disregard  of  us,  for  he 
placed  us  on  each  side  of  him,  and  took  care  never 
to  ask  us  to  have  anything,  as  well  as  to  eye  every- 
thing we  got  in  such  a  manner  that  we  could  suppose 
nothing  less  than  that  he  grudged  us  every  bit  we 
ate.  We  had  thought  ourselves  short  of  provisions 
on  board  the  Proserpine,  but  here  we  really  felt  ill. 
Every  sort  of  provisions  was  extremely  dear  at  Brest, 
and  not  only  so,  but  nothing  could  be  had  without 
a  maximum^  or  order  from  the  municipality.  The 
bread  we  ate  was  what  they  called  Equality  Bread ; 
very  brown,  very  hard,  and  very  dry,  full  of  grit, 
straw,  and  barley-corns,  and  often  excessively  sour. 
At  first  we  were  tired  of  eating  before  we  were  satis- 
fied— it  was  so  hard — but  use  not  only  reconciled  us 
to  it,  but  gave  it  a  relish,  and  never  shall  I  forget 
the  astonishing  gout  with  which  we  used  to  eat  our 
breakfast." 

In  spite  of  her  French  sympathies,  Martha  Russell 
did  not  take  easily  to  French  cookery.  The  dishes, 
she  says,  looked  and  smelt  well,  but  on  closer  in- 
spection proved  to  be  little  more  than  vegetables 
dressed  in  a  variety  of  ways. 

"Soup  we  had  every  day,  and  the  beef  of  which 
it  was  made  was  always  served  round  before  any  of 
the  other  dishes  were  touched.  It  was  boiled  to  a 


8o  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

chip,  and  resembled  horseflesh  much  more  than  beef. 
We  dined  in  general  about  thirty  people,  and  I  do 
not  think  it  an  unfair  calculation  on  the  average  to 
say  that,  one  day  with  another,  dinner  and  supper, 
we  had  not  more  than  3  or  4  Ibs.  of  meat  (with  the 
bones)  at  a  meal.  Very  seldom  was  it  that  we  got 
any  meat  besides  the  '  bouilli.'  Happily  for  us,  we 
had  cheese  every  day  after  dinner  for  the  first  part 
of  the  time,  though  towards  the  last  that  luxury  failed 
us.  As  we  were  stinted  for  food  our  appetites  seemed 
to  increase." 

Great  was  their  rejoicing  when  their  sour  jailer, 
with  his  wife,  went  ashore,  and  his  place  was  taken 
by  a  genial  officer.  He  welcomed  the  party  in  his 
cabin  and  joined  them  in  a  game  of  whist.  He  was 
an  expansive  Frenchman,  and  told  them  about  his 
private  circumstances  —  how  he  had  not  seen  his 
mother  for  thirty  years,  had  buried  his  wife  and  seven 
children,  and  was  then  attached  to  a  lady  whom  he 
would  marry  as  soon  as  the  war  was  over.  In  return 
Martha  Russell  listened  to  his  fiancee's  letters  and 
worked  him  a  cravat  in  the  national  colours. 

On  September  27th  the  Russells  were  transferred 
to  another  ship  as  a  temporary  abode,  so  they  were 
assured,  before  they  could  be  landed  in  Brest.  But 
so  amazing  was  the  variety  of  tales  which  had  been 
told  them  that  they  were  beginning  to  despair  of 
release. 

"  Wednesday,  October  ist. — Great  rejoicings  at 
Brest  on  account  of  a  victory  over  the  Duke  of  York. 


PRISONERS    OF    WAR  81 

All  the  ships  in  the  harbour  were  decorated  with  their 
different  coloured  signals ;  about  twelve  o'clock  the 
men  mounted  in  the  rigging,  and  all  united  in  one 
cry,  '  Vive  la  Re"publique.'  On  the  mast  heads  many 
boys  were  clinging,  and  the  crowd  of  men  that 
filled  the  yards,  &c.  was  astonishing :  I  can  compare 
them  to  nothing  but  a  swarm  of  bees  on  each  vessel. 
They  all  mounted  together  in  the  different  ships, 
remained  up  about  ten  minutes,  and  then  dismounted. 
Immediately  after  was  seen  a  procession  of  boats 
decorated  with  flags  ;  this  proved  to  be  the  repre- 
sentatives going  to  dine  on  board  the  Montague. 
This  evening  brought  one  of  the  finest  sights  I  ever 
witnessed — a  grand  illumination  of  the  Admiral's  ship 
and  the  other  three-deckers,  namely  the  Majestueux 
and  the  Revolution,  but  the  Admiral's  ship  far  sur- 
passed the  others  from  the  vast  number  of  lamps 
that  filled  every  porthole.  Their  blaze  of  light,  ex- 
hibited without  apparent  order  or  device,  formed  a 
good  groundwork  for  the  lightness  and  elegance  that 
shone  among  the  rigging.  All  three  of  the  masts 
were  decorated  to  the  top  with  wreaths  of  lamps 
twining  round  them,  and  from  one  to  the  other  lamps 
were  suspended  in  different  and  beautiful  forms,  such 
as  festoons,  &c.,  and  none  of  the  rigging  was  visible 
except  what  was  illuminated.  Consequently  the  lamps 
appeared  to  be  suspended  in  the  air,  and  the  whole 
had  a  most  beautiful  effect.  The  evening  was  dark 
but  serene,  and  the  water  perfectly  smooth,  so 
that  the  reflection  from  the  lamps  illuminated  its 
surface  a  good  way  and  produced  a  most  charming 
appearance." 


82  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

The  vessel  on  which  they  were  confined  (the 
ElizabetJi)  had  become  a  sort  of  home  to  the  Russells. 
They  had  it  all  to  themselves,  and  the  Captain  was 
like  an  affectionate  father.  He  had  spent  several 
years  in  England  as  a  prisoner  of  war,  and  cherished 
quite  a  pleasant  recollection  of  his  time  there.  He  had 
several  companions,  French  officers,  and  they  spent 
their  time  pleasantly.  He  mentioned  in  particular  a 
circumstance  that  happened  at  Stratford-on-Avon, 
where  they  were  made  amazingly  happy  and  gay 
from  the  great  civility  and  kindness  of  their  landlord, 
at  the  White  Lion.  Here  they  raised  a  dance  and 
invited  several  lasses  of  the  town  to  it.  A  Lord, 
whose  name  the  officer  had  forgotten,  happened  to 
be  at  the  inn  at  the  time  with  his  two  daughters. 
He  heard  of  it,  and  brought  them  to  join  the  dance ; 
they  were  very  affable,  pleasing  women,  and  the 
gentlemen  were  not  a  little  gratified  by  their  attend- 
ance. In  the  morning,  on  going  away,  the  Lord, 
whoever  he  was,  left  thirty  guineas  with  the  land- 
lord to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  dance. 

Captain  Clement  apparently  tried  to  make  a  re- 
turn for  the  kindness  he  had  received  by  making 
the  lot  of  his  prisoners  tolerable.  He  provided  them 
with  the  best  fare  obtainable,  rigged  up  a  sort  of 
kitchen  for  them,  and  allowed  them  to  do  part  of 
their  own  cooking.  They  were  supplied  with  a  few 
books,  and  Martha  Russell  derived  special  pleasure 
from  the  Tales  of  Marmontel  and  the  Ruins  of 
Memphis.  "  We  experienced  a  tranquillity  and  de- 
gree of  ease  and  enjoyment  that  had  been  a  long 
time  banished  from  our  breasts." 


PRISONERS    OF    WAR  83 

It  was  while  they  were  on  board  this  homelike 
prison  that  a  curious  accident  befell  William  Russell. 

"He  had  received  a  large  quantity  of  assignats1 
from  Captain  Bryan.  They  were  put  into  his 
pocket-book,  and  this  he  carried  in  his  side  pocket. 
One  morning,  when  washing  himself  in  the  stern 
galley,  he  took  off  his  coat  and  hung  it  over  the 
rails.  Soon  after  he  returned  into  the  cabin,  having 
finished  washing,  and  had  occasion  to  use  his  pocket- 
book  for  something,  when  to  his  great  surprise  it 
was  gone,  though  he  had,  as  he  thought,  had  it  not 
more  than  half-an-hour  before.  As  he  clearly  re- 
membered having  it  when  he  went  to  bed  the  night 
before,  we  all  set  to  to  examine  the  beds,  which  were 
tied  up  in  bundles  and  placed  upon  one  another  in 
the  corner  of  the  cabin.  My  father  was  quite  dis- 
tressed about  this,  as  the  money  was  of  no  small 
value  at  any  time,  but  particularly  now.  Whilst  we 
were  all  busily  employed  pulling  the  beds  about,  in 
came  Mr.  Huddy  with  the  pocket-book  in  his  hand, 
and  as  wet  as  possible.  He  did  not  know  either  of 
our  loss,  or  that  it  was  my  father's  book,  but  said 
there  had  just  been  a  boat  with  oysters  alongside 
the  ship.  He  went  to  buy  some  of  them,  and  saw 
the  sailors  take  it  up  out  of  the  sea.  He  thought  it 
appeared  to  be  English,  and  that  therefore  it  most 
probably  belonged  to  some  one  of  our  party,  and 
therefore,  with  some  to-do,  prevailed  upon  them  to 
give  it  him.  No  doubt  it  fell  out  of  the  pocket  at 

1  A  paper  currency  issued  by  the   Revolutionary   Government  of 
France. 


84  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

the  time  my  father  hung  the  coat  over  the  rails, 
but  it  was  singular  enough  that  the  boat  should 
come  by  just  at  that  time,  and  that  Mr.  Huddy 
should  see  them  take  it  up,  but  above  all  that  he 
should  persuade  them  to  relinquish  their  prize,  as  he 
did  not  speak  the  language." 

William  Russell's  luck  had  not  quite  run  out ! 


CHAPTER   VII 
FIVE   MONTHS   OF    CAPTIVITY 

Transfer  to  the  Achille — Companions  in  adversity — Cramped  quarters 
— Disagreeable  associates — A  lively  quarrel — More  castles  in  the 
air  and  renewed  disappointment — Delights  of  making  apple  dump- 
lings— A  family  observance — The  promised  order  of  release — 
Accouchement  of  the  Russells'  servant — Brest  guillotine  at  work — 
Death  of  a  girl  prisoner — Fears  of  diphtheria — William  Russell 
breaking  down — A  cruel  order — Captain  Bryan's  intervention — 
Happy  revulsion — Officers  and  sailors  dirty  in  the  extreme — Fresh 
hopes  of  release — The  Committee  of  Public  Safety's  procrastination 
— British  sailors  as  prisoners  of  war — Bullying  the  other  English 
and  intimidating  their  captors — Martha  Russell's  feelings— Arrival 
of  the  order  of  release — Its  limited  terms — Disappointment  of 
friends  and  sympathy  of  the  Russells — Affecting  scenes — Christmas 
Day  spent  in  freedom — Causes  of  five  months'  delay — Text  of  the 
Decree — Captain  Bryan's  exertions — William  Russell's  testimony — 
Good  faith  of  English  prisoners — A  pleasing  remembrance. 

ON  October  2nd  the  prisoners  were  informed,  with 
profuse  regret,  by  Captain  Clement,  that  they  were 
about  to  be  transferred  to  another  ship,  the  Achille. 
Not  only  were  they  grieved  to  part  with  their  kind 
friend,  but  they  felt  their  worst  misgivings  confirmed 
— that  they  would  remain  in  captivity  until  peace 
should  be  arranged.  On  board  the  Achille  they 
found  crowds  of  prisoners — "dirty-looking  fellows  as 
ever  they  saw  " — and  on  being  shown  into  the  cabin 
they  came  again  upon  their  own  party  from  the 
Elizabeth.  Amongst  the  new  prisoners  were  a 

Captain   and    Mrs.    James,   captured    on   the  way  to 

85 


86  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

Jamaica,  where  his  regiment  was  stationed.  Another 
lady  was  a  Madame  Duver,  French  by  birth,  who 
had  married  a  Flemish  artist  and  settled  in  Rome. 
On  account  of  their  Republican  principles  they  had 
found  their  position  there  unpleasant,  so  embarked  in 
a  Swedish  vessel  for  Stockholm.  Another  artist,  also 
from  Italy,  was  named  Skirving.  Owing  to  Captain 
Clement's  intercession,  the  new-comers  were  given  a 
room  to  themselves  (the  lower  cabin),  and  of  this 
the  Russells,  now  experienced  foragers,  secured  one 
corner,  with  a  good  closet,  a  cupboard,  and  two 
windows.  They  also  got  a  couple  of  small  iron  bed- 
steads, in  which  the  father  and  brother  lay,  while  the 
window-seat  was  wide  enough  for  Martha  and  Mary 
to  sleep  upon. 

The  cabin  was  twenty  feet  by  eighteen,  and  thirty 
persons  had  to  live  in  it. 

"  We  agreed  to  divide  ourselves  into  two  messes, 
one  consisting  of  seventeen  in  number,  to  take  in  all 
the  children,  steerage  passengers,  and  servants ;  and 
the  other  of  fourteen,  which  included  all  the  ladies  and 
gentlemen.  We  were  to  divide  our  rations  after  this 
manner,  and  each  mess  to  procure  what  they  could 
besides.  This  was  for  dining,  but,  as  we  each  had 
our  own  tea  and  sugar,  we  thought  it  would  be  best 
to  divide  again  into  smaller  parties  for  breakfast  and 
tea.  Therefore  we  took  Mr.  Saunders  with  us,  which 
made  our  party  five  in  number.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Terry 
were  by  themselves,  also  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Huddy  and 
Mr.  Sharpler  and  family  ;  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Morgan  took 
in  Mr.  Bolton — the  seventeen  also  divided  again  both 


FIVE    MONTHS    OF    CAPTIVITY  87 

for  dinner  and  supper.     The  two  steerage  passengers, 

Mrs.  J and  Mrs.  B ,  showed  their  dispositions 

on  the  first  afternoon,  for  we  proposed  that  their  party 
should  always  dine  and  breakfast  first,  so  that  they 
might  go  up  on  deck  whilst  we  ate  ours.  To  this  they 
both  objected,  saying  they  had  as  much  right  to  the 
cabin  as  any  of  us,  they  were  as  good  as  we,  all  being 
prisoners  alike.  In  short  their  behaviour  was  very 
impertinent  and  disagreeable,  and  they  proved  sad 
plagues  to  us  the  remaining  time  of  our  imprisonment, 
particularly  Mrs.  B ,  who  was  really  a  virago." 

It  will  be  noted  that  Martha  Russell's  French 
Revolution  principles  did  not  go  very  deep.  She 
suffered  from  the  close  association  with  ill-bred  persons 
quite  as  keenly  as  from  the  physical  discomforts  of 
captivity.  Next  day,  however,  her  heart  was  lightened 
by  a  letter  from  Captain  Prebble,  saying  that  the 
Committee  of  Public  Safety  in  Paris  had  promised 
him  an  immediate  order  for  the  release  of  the  Russells. 
"  This  inspired  a  joy  not  to  be  described,  and  dispersed 
a  cloud  that  hung  heavy  on  our  spirits.  We  all  looked 
upon  it  as  certain  that  a  few  days  must  terminate  our 
confinement,  and  began  each  to  settle  where  they 
should  go  on  being  set  free.  With  these  airy  castles 
we  amused  ourselves  happily  enough."  The  fare  was 
plentiful — coffee,  butter,  cake,  fresh  meat  (procured 
through  their  American  friends  or  through  the  cook), 
pudding  and  potatoes,  rice  and  currants,  in  addition 
to  the  ship's  rations — plenty  of  bread  with  a  very  small 
quantity  of  salt  pork  or  beef,  salt  fish,  and  occasionally 
fresh  beef.  The  favourite  dainty  of  the  Russells  was 


88  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

apple  dumplings — "  when  they  could  afford  butter  to 
make  them." 

To  the  delights  of  apple  dumplings  on  board  further 
testimony  is  borne  in  Mary  Russell's  diary.  The 
indefatigable  and  indispensable  Captain  Bryan  supplied 
them  whenever  possible  with  flour  and  apples.  But 
they  had  no  rolling  pin,  and  were  therefore  obliged  to 
use  a  glass  bottle.  Also  they  were  short  of  cloths, 
and  had  to  make  it  a  rule  that  the  lady  whose  turn  it 
was  to  prepare  the  dumplings  should  also  provide  the 
cloths  for  boiling  them  in.  As  fourteen  dumplings 
were  required  on  every  occasion,  nobody  being  content 
without  a  full  ration,  the  cook's  work,  according  to 
Mary  Russell,  was  sometimes  a  "tiresome  job."  At 
the  time,  probably,  the  occupation  was  found  exhilara- 
ting. Anyhow  the  observance  was  long  cherished  in 
the  family  after  the  occasion  had  been  forgotten. 
Amongst  the  descendants  of  these  prisoners  of  war  it 
has  been  an  inviolable  custom  to  serve  apple  dumplings 
on  a  certain  day  in  the  year — the  day  of  their  release 
— but  until  these  diaries  had  been  ransacked  no  expla- 
nation had  been  forthcoming.  It  is  a  curious  modern 
instance  of  the  principle  which  runs  through  all  folk 
lore — of  tenacity  in  ritual  as  compared  with  the  rapid 
decay  in  tradition. 

Occasionally  the  Russells  tried  to  play  whist 
amongst  themselves.  As  the  cabin's  only  light  was  a 
single  candle  (in  a  lantern),  reading  was  out  of  the 
question.  The  nightly  scene,  says  Martha  Russell, 
was  one  which  only  a  Hogarth  could  depict : — 

"In   our   corner   were    John,   Betsy,  and   Lyddy 


FIVE    MONTHS    OF    CAPTIVITY  89 

(servants)  (with  ourselves)  unbundling  our  beds,  we 
sometimes  assisting  and  sometimes  not ;  putting  our- 
selves in  any  corner  where  we  could  find  room  to 
stand,  though  this  was  by  no  means  an  easy  matter. 
Next  to  us  was  Mr.  Sharpler's  family ;  Mrs.  Sharpler 
generally  sitting  in  the  corner  with  the  infant  at  her 
bosom,  three  of  the  children  in  a  little  bed  in  the 
corner ;  Mr.  Sharpler,  without  his  coat,  making  the 
beds  on  the  floor  and  Betsy  the  servant  girl  assisting. 
Next  was  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Terry,  both  busy  making  their 
bed,  then  Mr.  Morgan's ;  next  to  them  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Huddy  ;  behind  them,  on  the  locker,  Mrs.  Lumly,  and 

further  still  on  the  locker  and  next  our  bed  Mrs.  B ; 

in  the  middle  were  Mr.  Bolton  and  Mr.  Saunders  busy 
slinging  their  cots,  and  under  them  lay  our  servants' 
beds  in  bundles,  and  upon  these  beds  sat  the  children, 
some  half-undressed,  others  more.  The  great  bustle 
of  the  scene,  the  variety  of  droll  figures  and  attitudes 
that  it  every  night  presented,  cannot  be  imagined." 

The  worst  of  their  sufferings  was  caused  by  the 
inconceivable  heat  and  stuffiness.  The  steerage  lady 

(Mrs.  B )  asserted  her  position  by  refusing  to 

have  the  windows  opened.  On  this  question  she  fell 
foul  of  Mr.  Bolton,  and  the  language  used  on  both 
sides  was  "  such  as  I  never  heard  before."  Once 
he  got  up  and  opened  a  window  in  defiance  of  her 
orders,  whereupon  she  "hit  him  a  slap."  The  scene, 
adds  our  proper  Miss  Martha,  "  was  ludicrous  though 
disagreeable." 

So  a  week  passed,  but  with  no  order  of  release  for 
the  Russells.  The  father  began  to  ail,  and  Lyddy, 


90  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

one  of  the  servants,  who  was  to  become  a  mother, 
gave  them  a  good  deal  of  concern.  A  few  days  later 
she  was  prematurely  delivered  of  a  boy — "a  circum- 
stance which  of  itself  in  our  present  situation  was 
almost  enough  to  have  overcome  us."  The  child  was 
stillborn.  It  is  fair  to  add  that  every  possible  con- 
sideration had  been  shown  to  the  mother  by  the  officers 
on  board.  In  Mary  Russell's  diary  it  appears  that  a 
small  berth  was  found  for  her  in  the  gun-room. 
Another  weary  week  had  now  passed  away,  the  only 
excitement  being  the  execution  at  Brest  of  a  woman 
and  two  priests.  "  We  plainly  saw  the  guillotine  and 
crowd  of  people,  but  no  more."  On; Monday,  October 
24th,  a  little  girl  on  board  (Helen  Sharpler)  was  taken 
with  croup,  and  the  doctor  comfortingly  suggested 
that  it  might  turn  to  "  putrid  sore  throat,"  which  would 
"probably  go  the  round."  But  there  was  no  help — 
"she  could  not  be  moved,  neither  could  we."  On 
Friday  she  died,  and  her  body  was  carried  off  to  the 
hospital  on  shore  for  a  post-mortem  examination.  This 
was  an  absolute  rule  in  regard  to  persons  dying  in 
prison,  and  "  certainly  the  medical  men  at  Brest  stand 
in  need  of  all  the  information  possible,  for  such  a  set 
of  ignorant,  unfeeling  creatures  I  never  heard  of." 

Meantime  the  father's  health  seemed  to  be  giving 
way,  partly  through  the  unwholesome  surroundings, 
partly  through  repeated  disappointments  as  to  the 
release — another  fortnight  had  passed  without  definite 
news. 

"  I  felt  ill  beyond  expression,  but  saw  that  every 
exertion  possible  was  now  necessary.  Accordingly 


FIVE    MONTHS    OF    CAPTIVITY  91 

as  much  as  possible  I  kept  up  my  spirits.  Our  only 
consolation  was  the  confidence  we  felt  in  the  great 
Ruler  of  All ;  He  had  hitherto  preserved  us,  and  I 
trusted  His  mercy  would  not  quite  forsake  us  in  this 
time  of  trouble.  Among  those  around  us  were  un- 
believers and  libertines ;  their  conversation  was  full 
of  despair,  murmuring,  and  profane  language.  Our 
sources  of  trouble  were  various,  more  than  I  can 
mention.  Strength  both  of  body  and  mind  failed  fast, 
nothing  but  clouds  hung  round  us,  and  they  appeared 
so  heavy  as  though  of  themselves  to  overpower  us, 
and,  what  very  much  increased  our  sufferings,  our 
friends  in  England  seemed  to  have  forgotten  us,  for 
we  had  not  yet  heard  a  word  from  them." 

Then  befell  what  "  seemed  the  final  stroke."  An 
order  was  issued  for  the  women  and  children  to  get 
up  into  the  country  while  the  men  should  be  kept  on 
board,  "  and,  we  doubted  not,  put  down  into  the  hold." 
In  the  state  of  the  father's  health,  when  he  required 
every  attention,  this  would  mean  death.  Martha 
Russell  had  resolved  not  to  be  taken  away  except  by 
force.  Her  father,  however,  managed  to  communicate 
with  the  Admiral,  and,  through  Captain  Bryan,  got 
the  cruel  order  revoked. 

"  Now  the  scene  was  changed  indeed  :  husbands 
and  wives,  parents  and  children,  regarded  each  other 
with  a  joy  inexpressible.  Satisfaction  and  pleasure 
dwelt  in  every  countenance,  trouble  of  all  kind  died, 
and  the  world  did  not  contain  a  more  enviable  set  of 
beings  as  to  their  feelings  than  we  then  were.  The 


92  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

influence  of  this  happiness  was  felt  a  long  time ;  it 
rendered  our  situation  more  bearable  by  making  us 
more  content.  We  thought  that  this  order  originated 
with  the  officers  of  the  ship,  who  wanted  the  cabin  of 
which  we  had  possession,  but  this  for  certain  we  never 
knew." 

The  officers  and  sailors,  we  read,  were  dirty  and 
filthy  in  the  extreme,  while  the  soldiers,  who  were 
stationed  and  messed  outside  the  cabin,  smelt  shock- 
ingly of  garlic  and  swarmed  with  live  creatures. 

On  November  ist  news  was  received  by  Mr. 
Sharpler  (father  of  the  little  girl  who  had  died  a  few 
days  before)  from  Captain  Gooderich  that  the  decree 
of  release  had  been  passed.  Still  there  was  no  news 
for  the  Russells  from  Captain  Prebble.  M.  and 
Madame  Duver,  however,  had  got  their  liberty,  and 
often  came  to  visit  their  old  companions  in  distress. 
"Yet  another  week  passed,  and  then  a  letter  came 
from  Captain  Prebble,  but  with  no  mention  of  our 
liberation."  The  party  got  leave,  however,  to  visit 
an  American  vessel  lying  in  the  harbour — returning 
to  their  own  grimy  quarters  the  more  discontented 
after  having  seen  the  comfort  and  cleanliness  on  a 
strange  vessel.  Occasionally  they  found  a  little  diver- 
sion over  a  bowl  of  punch  or  wine  and  water  in  the 
gun-room,  and  the  Captain  sometimes  joined  them, 
though  he  would  not  touch  the  punch.  The  ladies 
worked  him  a  cravat  in  the  national  colours. 

Prices  ran  up  to  a  great  height,  and  the  meat  was 
almost  uneatable.  One  whole  sheep — that  is,  the  two 
sides  of  it — weighed  only  7^  Ibs. !  A  side  of  mutton 


FIVE    MONTHS    OF    CAPTIVITY  93 

cost  35  livres  (at  this  time  40  livres  went  to  the  guinea). 
Horse  beans,  very  grubby,  were  served  as  rations — 
half-a-pint  each — and  next  day,  perhaps,  there  might 
be  a  salted  pilchard. 

On  December  7th  Captain  Gooderich  came  and 
explained  that  the  delay  in  the  order  of  release  was 
caused  only  by  the  multiplicity  of  business  in  which 
the  Committee  of  Public  Safety  had  been  engaged. 
It  had,  however,  passed  a  decree  against  the  future 
seizure  of  passengers  in  similar  circumstances — cold 
comfort  to  those  still  held  in  durance.  Fever  was 
spreading  on  board.  On  the  I2th  one  of  the  boat- 
swains died,  and  next  day  two  English  officers.  A 
British  vessel  of  forty  guns  had  recently  been  captured, 
and  the  English  sailors  were  brought  on  board,  where, 
according  to  the  traditions  of  the  service,  they  soon 
made  themselves  at  home  ! 

"  They  were  a  most  desperate  set  of  fellows — a 
complete  contrast  to  the  French  sailors — fine,  tall,  lusty 
men,  well  clothed,  and  clean  to  a  degree.  They  obliged 
us  all,  very  soon  after  they  came  on  board,  to  take  off 
our  cockades.  My  father  and  we  were  the  last  who 
did  it,  not  being  willing  to  submit  to  English  tyranny 
in  France.  At  last  we  were  obliged  to  take  them  out, 
hardly  daring  to  go  on  deck  with  them  for  fear  of 
their  insults.  My  father  continued  obstinate  till  they 
threatened  to  throw  him  overboard  if  he  did  not  take 
it  off.  They  sent  message  after  message  to  him,  some 
in  a  haughty  tone,  others  begging  him  not  to  wear  the 
colour  of  his  country's  enemy.  He  remonstrated  with 
them  by  saying  England  was  no  longer  his  country. 


94  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

France  was  a  friend  to  America,  and  his  principles  led 
him  to  admire  the  French  Government.  At  last  all 
our  party  appeared  to  be  uneasy,  fearing  my  father's 
persisting  might  bring  trouble  upon  them  all.  He, 
therefore,  to  relieve  them,  permitted  us  to  take  off  our 
cockades.  These  fellows  threatened  to  get  off  with 
the  ship,  and,  had  they  been  on  board  after  the  fleet 
sailed,  I  have  no  doubt  but  they  would.  The  French 
certainly  were  a  little  in  awe  of  them.  Soon  after  the 
first  fifty  came  on  board  they  moved  the  station  of  the 
vessel  under  the  forts.  These  men  were  marched  up 
the  country  with  the  other  prisoners,  fifty  at  a  time." 

In  spite  of  her  Republican  sympathies  Martha 
Russell  seems  a  little  proud  of  her  unruly  countrymen. 
A  pardonable  aberration. 

Another  letter  from  Captain  Prebble,  saying  that 
the  order  of  release  had  only  to  be  signed.  "  Hope, 
that  great  supporter  of  the  human  mind,  revived  and 
exhilarated  our  spirits.  Trouble  and  distress  ap- 
peared, in  our  view  of  things,  to  be  flying  before  joy 
and  happiness." 

"  Thursday  was  a  very  fine  day,  and  clear  frost ;  the 
country,  which  we  had  so  often  viewed  with  longing 
eyes  and  ardent  wishes,  now  appeared  more  beautiful 
than  ever  because  the  hope  of  soon  enjoying  its  plea- 
sures illumined  our  view.  Formerly  I  used  to  feel  afraid 
of  suffering  my  eyes  to  dwell  upon  its  objects,  because 
it  was  impossible  to  see  green  fields  and  gardens,  fine 
trees  and  thick  bushes,  without  longing  to  ramble 
among  them,  after  so  long  a  confinement  upon  the  water, 
and  because  by  a  combination  of  ideas  I  generally 


FIVE    MONTHS    OF    CAPTIVITY  95 

ended  by  recollecting  the  paradise  we  had  left  at 
Matson,  where  we  fully  enjoyed  everything  heart 
could  wish  for.  This  induced  the  most  poignant  re- 
gret from  connecting  my  dear  and  valuable  friends  in 
England  with  these  past  pleasures,  and  a  compari- 
son of  my  present  situation  generally  followed.  The 
anxiety  I  knew  our  friends  all  felt  for  us,  the  sincere 
regard  I  had  for  them,  the  fear  we  might  never  meet 
again,  in  short  a  thousand  nameless  but  poignant 
reflections,  succeeded  each  other  in  so  quick  and  pain- 
ful a  succession  upon  these  occasions  that  to  avoid 
this  I  generally  endeavoured  to  direct  my  attention 
from  the  beauties  of  the  country,  and  in  short  from 
every  other  circumstance  that  led  me  to  recollect  my 
friends  and  the  past  comforts  of  life.  All  the  re- 
solution and  exertion  possible  was  necessary,  and 
everything  that  could  at  all  damp  this  I  found  must 
be  carefully  avoided.  However,  notwithstanding  all 
philosophy,  the  feelings  of  humanity  often  overpowered 
me.  Reflection  always  made  me  deeply  melancholy — 
save  for  the  firm  persuasion  that  the  same  Almighty 
Being  who  gave  us  our  pleasures  also  willed  these 
sufferings ;  and  that  His  fatherly  hand  guided  all 
events.  Therefore  all  was  for  the  best,  and  ere 
long  we  should  be  convinced  of  this,  though  at 
present  clouds  and  distress  seemed  to  hide  His  mercy 
from  us. 

"  On  December  2Oth  another  letter  arrived  from 
Captain  Prebble.  We  all  expected  that  it  would  con- 
tain an  account  of  our  release.  My  father  opened  it 
with  no  small  degree  of  emotion,  and  read  with  a 
faltering  voice,  '  I  am  happy  to  inform  you  your 


96  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

release  is  sent;  it  went  on  the  i2th' — a  general  ex- 
clamation of  joy ! — but  here  my  father  stopped,  his 
countenance  changed  astonishingly,  he  turned  as  pale 
as  death.  All  now  anxiously  fixed  their  eyes  upon 
him,  to  divine,  if  possible,  what  was  amiss  by  his  ex- 
pression. Suspense  had  not  long  possession  of  our 
minds ;  he  soon  continued  reading,  and  the  next 
sentence  was  a  blow  indeed,  '  but  I  am  sorry  to  add 
that  it  is  for  your  family  only.'  What  surprise,  con- 
sternation, and  disappointment  now  filled  every  coun- 
tenance. It  was  some  minutes  before  any  of  us  could 
speak  a  word.  This  was  a  most  cruel  stroke.  To  have 
experienced  so  much  suspense,  and  for  so  long  a  time 
to  depend  fully  upon  receiving  the  joyful  order  soon, 
to  have  the  letter  expected  to  contain  it  arrive  to 
say  that  the  release  was  sent,  according  to  the  hopes 
and  expectations  of  each  in  the  company,  and  after 
all  to  find  they  were  not  included,  but  must  go  through 
the  same  suspense  again,  and  perhaps  for  a  longer 
time,  was  a  trial  of  the  most  cruel  kind" 

William  Russell,  it  was  added  by  Captain  Prebble, 
was  expected  to  proceed  at  once  to  Paris.  This  he 
was  the  more  ready  to  do  as  he  might  then  be  able 
to  help  in  the  liberation  of  their  detained  friends,  and 
also  because  it  would  be  more  pleasant  to  spend  the 
winter  in  France  than  on  a  voyage  to  America. 
Martha  Russell's  pleasure  in  the  prospect  of  freedom 
was  damped  by  the  sorrow  of  her  friends.  The 
family  servants,  however,  were  all  ecstasy,  and  she 
felt  she  had  never  loved  them  so  much.  They  had 
suffered  severely  themselves  (especially  poor  Lyddy), 


WILLIAM   RUSSELL   (1740-1818) 
From  a  miniature 


FIVE    MONTHS    OF    CAPTIVITY  97 

but  had  done  everything  they  could  to  alleviate  the 
troubles  of  their  employers. 

All  Sunday  the  approach  of  "  the  little  boat  from 
Brest"  was  eagerly  awaited.  On  Monday  still  no 
news,  and  some  of  the  fellow-prisoners  began  to  scoff. 
Not  till  Tuesday,  December  23rd,  was  the  suspense 
terminated,  when  the  American  consul,  Mr.  Anderson, 
came  on  board  and  presented  William  Russell  with 
the  long-looked-for  paper.  "No  treasure,  however 
immense,  was  ever  more  acceptable,  no  jewel,  however 
precious,  was  ever  eyed  with  more  delight,  or  ever 
excited  equally  exquisite  sensations.  No  one  who 
has  not  felt  the  loss  of  liberty  can  estimate  its  worth, 
nor  fully  conceive  that  next  to  life  it  is  the  first  of 
blessings,  or  that  without  it  life  scarce  deserves  the 
name  of  a  blessing  but  is  merely  a  dragging  on  of 
existence." 

William  Russell  and  his  son  were  soon  ashore. 
His  daughters  busied  themselves  with  "  packing  up 
their  matters."  They  transferred  themselves  joyfully 
to  the  American  vessel  Alexander.  On  the  night  of 
the  24th  they  "  slept  luxuriously,"  though  their 
slumbers  were  interrupted  by  a  storm  in  which  a 
French  man-of-war  was  lost  with  1 1 2  men.  They 
saw  it  quite  plainly,  Mary  Russell  testifies,  and  "  a 
very  sad  and  shocking  sight  it  was."  Next  morning 
they  were  rejoined  by  their  father  and  brother,  and  in 
their  company  they  ate  an  excellent  Christmas  dinner. 
On  the  26th  they  set  their  feet  on  terra  firma  "  with 
feelings  hardly  to  be  imagined."  In  Brest  they  met 
their  faithful  friend  Captain  Bryan  with  "  good  Captain 
Clement."  In  the  afternoon  they  visited  their  friends 

G 


98  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

on  the  Achille,  where,  in  Martha  Russell's  quaintly 
formal  words,  they  "  experienced  a  mixture  of  feelings 
not  altogether  agreeable " — meaning,  probably,  that 
all  the  ladies  had  a  good  cry — kissed — and  cried 
again. 

If  only  for  the  sake  of  the  signatures  appended  it 
may  be  interesting  to  read  the  text  of  the  document 
which  marked  the  end  of  the  imprisonment  of  William 
Russell  and  his  family — an  imprisonment  which  had 
commenced  with  an  unwarrantable 1  extension,  if  not 
absolute  defiance,  of  the  rules  of  war,  and  which  was 
prolonged,  over  nearly  five  months,  by  the  inexcusable 
procrastination  and  red-tape  methods  practised  by  the 
Committee  of  Public  Safety. 

Bureau 

des  prisonniers  PARIS,  le  2t>frimaire,  3""'  annfe 

de  Guerre.  (15  December  1794) 

Le  Commission  de  la  Marine  et  des  Colonies 
A  1'Agent  Maritime  a  Brest. 

CITOYEN, — La  Commission  t'envoye  I'exp&lition 
d'un  arret£  que  le  Comite  de  Salut  public  a  pris  le  16  de 
ce  mois  en  faveur  de  William  Russell,  et  de  sa  famille. 
Elle  te  charge  de  faire  mettre  sur  le  champ  cet  arret£ 
a  execution. 

Signd  DAVID. 

Pour  Copie 
GENAY 

Au  Cen  Anderson. 


1  It  was  alleged  by  the  French  that  the  British  had  set  the  bad 
example. 


FIVE    MONTHS    OF    CAPTIVITY  99 

Extrait  du  Registre  des  arret^s  du  Comite  de  Salut 

public  de  la  Convention  nationale. 
Du  1 6  frimaire  1'an  3me  de  la  Republique  fran9aise  une 

et  Indivisible. 


Le  Comite  de  Salut  public,  apres  avoir  entendu 
la  Commission  d' Agriculture  et  des  Arts  sur  la  peti- 
tion de  William  Russell,  ci-devant  manufacturier  de 
Birmingham,  actuellement  detenu  comme  Anglois  a 
Brest  a  bord  du  Vau  de  la  Republique  FAchille. 

Le  Comit6  instruit  que  cet  etranger,  lors  de  son 
arrestation,  abandonnoit  PAngletere  ou  il  etoit  perse- 
cute", a  cause  de  la  manifestation  de  ses  sentimens  pour 
la  liberte",  et  la  revolution  fransoise,  arrete  ce  qui  suit 
Art.  ier  William  Russell  sera  sur  le  camp  mis  en 
liberte"  avec  sa  famille. 

ART   2eme 

II  se  rendra  sans  delai  aupres  du  Comite  pour  con- 
f£rer  sur  des  objets  d'industrie  manufacturiere,  il  lui 
sera  tenu  compte  des  frais  de  son  voyage  a  Paris. 

ART    3. 

La  commission  de  la  Marine  est  tenu  de  veillir  a 
1'execution  du  present  arrete.  Signe  Cambaceres, 
Boissy,  Carnot,  J.  J.  B.  Delmar,  Pelet,  L.  B.  Guyton, 
Prieur  (D.l.m.)  pour  copie  conforme.  Signe  David. 

Pour  Copie 

GENAY. 


ioo  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

The  two  following  documents  explain  them- 
selves : — 

PARIS,  le  3  PluviSse,  Pan  3  ... 

(22  January  1795) 

Le  Comit£  de  Salut  Public  de  la  Convention  Nationale 
A  William  Russell. 

C'est  avec  satisfaction  que  le  Comite"  de  Salut 
public  vient  d'apprendre  ton  arrivee  a  Paris.  II 
t'invite  a  te  rendre  a  la  Commission  d' Agriculture  et 
des  Arts,  rue  Dominique,  Faubourg  Germain  :  le 
citoyen  Berthollet,  Commissaire  d' Agriculture,  te 
recevra  avec  rempressement  que  meritent  tes  malheurs 
et  tes  travaux.  Tu  conf^reras  avec  lui  des  arts  et 
manufactures,  et  nous  ne  doutons  pas  que  ton  zele  a 
servir  une  nation  qui  t'accueille  comme  un  ami  de  la 
Liberte",  n'equale  tes  connoissances  et  la  reputation 
qui  t'a  precede". 

Les  membres  du  Comite"  de  Salut  Public. 

L.  B.  GUYTON. 
DUBOIS-CRANC£.  CARNOT. 

MARU. 
BOISSY.  PRIEUR. 

MIHAROI.  (d.l.m.) 

Addressed  to — 

Au  Citoyen 

William  Russel, 

Maison  de  thuileries, 

Rue  Vivienne. 

PARIS,  leflordal,  an  3" 

(April  or  May) 

La  Commission  d' Agriculture  et  des  Arts 
Au  Citoyen  Russel. 

Nous  avons  re$u,  citoyen,  la  derniere  lettre  que 
tu  nous  as  ecrite. 

Nous  t'assurons  que  nous  saisirons  avec  le  plus 


FIVE    MONTHS    OF    CAPTIVITY  101 

vif  empre'ssement  toutes  les  occasions  qui  se  pre"- 
senteront  d'encourager  et  d'activer  L'Establissement 
que  tu  te  proposes  de  former.  Sois  persuade"  que 
nous  ferons  (pres  des)  Comite's  du  Gouvernement 
toutes  les  demarches  qui  pourront  contribuer  au  succes 
des  projets  dont  tu  nous  as  fait  part. 

Salut  et  fraternit^ 
Addressed  to—  le  Commissaire-adj. 

Au  Citoyen  J.  Q  DuBOIS. 

Russel,  Maison  du 
Carousel,  Place  du  Carousel, 
a  Paris. 


Maison  des  thuillerie,  rue 
honore". 

It  will  be  observed  that  no  explanation  of  the 
official  delays  is  offered  by  this  dilatory  Committee 
of  the  National  Convention.  We  may  fairly  assume 
that  the  eventual  concession  to  William  Russell  was 
brought  about,  not  by  the  inherent  justice  of  his 
demand,  but  by  the  persistence  and  adroitness  of  his 
American  friend,  Captain  Joseph  Bryan.  Though  the 
original  cordiality  between  the  French  and  American 
Governments  had  recently  been  exchanged  for  an 
attitude  of  mutual  suspicion,  citizens  of  the  United 
States  still  spoke  in  Paris  with  a  certain  authority. 
Already  their  official  representatives  showed  the 
resolute  spirit  which  they  have  subsequently  displayed 
in  their  dealings  with  foreign  powers.  Captain  Bryan, 
the  unofficial  seaman,  was  in  this  respect  a  worthy 
progenitor  of  American  diplomatic  tradition. 

In  a  letter  addressed  to  the  Monthly  Magazine 
and  dated  September  5,  1801,  a  full  acknowledgment 


102  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

is  made  by  William  Russell  of  his  deep  obligations  to 
Joseph  Bryan.  A  touching  tribute  is  paid  to  the 
courage,  kindness,  and  self-sacrifice  of  the  sailor's 
devotion  to  his  fellow-citizens,  whether  actual  or  pro- 
spective. "  In  spite  of  the  jealousy  of  the  French,  in 
spite  of  the  remonstrances  of  some  of  his  countrymen, 
whose  narrow  souls  dare  not  show  compassion  to  the 
enemies  of  France,  in  spite  of  difficulties  we  were 
afterwards  informed  of  by  others,  his  exertions  to 
serve  us  in  every  way  that  our  wishes  would  lead 
us  to  mention,  or  his  generosity  could  suggest,  were 
indeed  truly  extraordinary."  His  liberality  in  provid- 
ing helpless  persons  with  the  comforts  and  luxuries 
which  meant  so  much  to  them  was  hardly  more  re- 
markable than  the  personal  sacrifice  which  he  under- 
went, even  when  he  was  ailing,  in  order  to  raise  their 
spirits  and  keep  up  their  courage.  Nor  was  it  only 
to  influential  persons  like  the  Russells,  who  might 
one  day  repay  his  favours,  that  he  extended  his 
beneficence.  He  distributed  his  bounty  among  people 
of  whom  he  knew  nothing,  and  who  could  give  him  no 
security  but  their  word  for  his  indemnification.  A  long 
panegyric,  in  which  the  heartfelt  sincerity  is  not  dis- 
guised by  the  somewhat  Johnsonian  style,  is  concluded 
with  a  pleasing  remembrance. 

Amongst  the  objects  of  Captain  Bryan's  generosity 
were  English  people — not  in  the  position  of  the 
Russells,  nor  intending  to  become  American  citizens, 
but  ordinary  prisoners  of  war.  He  distributed  amongst 
them  several  hundreds  of  pounds,  and  could,  of  course, 
obtain  from  them  no  acknowledgment  of  their  debt 
beyond  letters  to  their  friends  at  home.  Not  a  single 


FIVE    MONTHS    OF    CAPTIVITY  103 

case  occurred  in  which  the  obligation  was  ignored  by 
the  friends  of  the  sufferers,  or  in  which  the  payment  of 
the  debt  was  not  accompanied  by  handsome  expres- 
sions of  gratitude.  Amongst  the  Russell  family  he 
inspired  an  affection  not  second  to  their  regard  for 
Dr.  Priestley  himself.  They  were  always  full  of 
praises  of  this  "  Guardian  Angel,"  for  that  was  the 
appellation  given  to  him  by  common  consent.  But 
Joseph  Bryan  was  something  more  than  an  open- 
handed  philanthropist.  He  also  possessed  the  busi- 
ness-like quality  of  getting  justice  done — even  by  the 
Committee  of  Public  Safety. 


CHAPTER   VIII 
JOURNEY  TO  PARIS   BY  ROAD 

Start  for  Paris — A  quaint  turn-out — The  peasants'  costumes — Difficulty 
of  posting — Official  delays  and  landlord's  impositions — A  desecrated 
church — Royalists  and  "  brigands  "  on  the  road — The  Mayor  of 
Morlaix — Entertaining  company — Stories  of  the  guillotine — A 
bread  riot — Stupid  officials — Horses  unshod — Awkward  workmen — 
A  dangerous  stage — The  driver's  fortunate  barbarity — A  Republican 
officer's  advice — Sugar  in  the  warming-pan — Misery  of  the  peasants — 
A  chateau  destroyed — Impassable  roads — Scarcity  of  bread — A  plain 
breast  of  mutton — Charms  of  Caen — The  approach  to  Paris — A  girl 
Republican's  enthusiasm — "  The  centre  and  zenith  of  the  magnifi- 
cence of  the  world." 

ON  December  30,  1794,  the  Russell  family  started 
from  Brest  to  Paris — their  vehicle,  which  cost  them 
about  ;£8o,  was  like  "  what  in  England  would  have 
been  called  a  very  small  coach."  It  had  a  deep  well, 
which  held  the  luggage  so  that  the  seats  were  com- 
fortable. The  horses — six  of  them — looked  fit  for 
nothing  but  food  for  dogs.  The  harness  was  made 
of  ropes,  which  broke  several  times  on  the  road  to 
Landerneaux.  The  two  "drivers"  wore  great  jack 
boots  and  woollen  caps  with  large  hats  over  them,  and 
had  pipes  in  their  mouths.  This  comical  turn-out  was 
the  best  that  could  be  procured  by  a  gentleman  of 
means  anxious  to  reach  Paris  without  delay.  In 
hoping  for  speed  he  counted  without  the  citoyens  with 
whom  he  had  to  deal  on  the  road.  On  no  account 

would  they  be  hurried.     On  the  other  hand,  Martha 

104 


JOURNEY    TO    PARIS  105 

Russell  noted  with  approval  the  neat  dress  of  the 
peasant  women,  mob  caps  with  the  ends  turned  up 
and  pinned  at  the  top  instead  of  under  the  chin, 
coloured  woollen  petticoats,  and  short  skirts,  like 
jackets,  of  different  colour.  The  wooden  shoes  worn 
by  men,  women,  and  children  made  an  astonishing 
noise  ;  when  they  went  to  work  in  the  morning  it  was 
like  a  drove  of  cart-horses. 

Arrived  at  Landerneaux  and  their  passports 
examined,  the  travellers'  first  care  was  to  arrange  for 
horses.  William  Russell  and  his  son  requested  the 
municipality  to  instruct  the  post-master  that  they 
should  have  the  next  horses  he  got.  But  in  the 
morning  they  discovered  that  the  six  destined  for 
them  had  been  claimed  by  a  Representative  of  the 
People.  The  landlord  offered  some  at  sixty  livres 
each  for  the  two-league  stage,  whereas  the  regular 
charge  was  forty-five  livres.  Like  a  true  Englishman, 
Russell  preferred  suffering  inconvenience  to  being 
fleeced  by  a  foreigner,  and  waited  another  day.  Two 
churches  were  noted,  "  apparently  of  Saxon  architec- 
ture." One  was  being  used  as  a  barn  ;  the  other  kept 
for  reading  the  Mass  and  singing  the  Marseillaise 
Hymn,  "which  we  understood,  is  all  the  service  they 
have  on  the  dead."  This  church  was  inscribed  on  the 
door,  Le  peuple  Fran$ais  reconnait  FEtre  Supreme  et 
I' Immortalite  de  r Ame. 

At  Morlaix  on  January  ist  they  were  delayed 
because  the  guard  insisted  upon  the  drivers  producing 
passports — which,  of  course,  they  did  not  possess. 
At  the  inn  the  travellers  fell  into  conversation  with  a 
talkative  stranger,  who  told  them  the  danger  of  meeting 


106  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

brigands  on  the  road  had  been  exaggerated,  "as  an 
amnesty  for  a  month  had  been  agreed  upon."  Still, 
there  was  some  risk,  and  it  would  be  well  to  inquire  at 
Guingamp  whether  an  escort  would  be  necessary. 

Russell  and  his  son  called  upon  M.  Deot,  Mayor 
of  Morlaix,  and  American  Consul.  In  the  evening 
the  whole  party  went  to  his  house  and  met  a  large 
company,  all  French  except  a  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Macnamara 
who  had  been  prisoners  for  nineteen  months,  but 
"  since  a  system  of  moderation  prevailed,  were  allowed 
to  be  on  parole,  residing  with  a  guard  at  their  own 
expense  in  M.  Deot's  house."  Mr.  Macnamara  de- 
scribed some  of  the  scenes  of  distress  which  he  had 
himself  witnessed. 

"  Among  his  fellow-prisoners  were  a  number  of 
ci-devant  nobles,  people  who  had  been  accustomed  to 
all  the  comforts  and  luxuries  of  life,  and  reduced  to 
living  on  a  small  portion  of  bread  and  water  and 
sleeping  on  the  bare  ground.  The  number  of  these 
was  lessened  almost  daily  by  the  guillotine.  Innocent 
persons  who  had  committed  no  crime  but  that  of  having 
been  among  the  noblesse  were  selected  one  by  one. 
Mrs.  Macnamara  mentioned  having  formed  several 
pleasing  and  gratifying  attachments  with  charmingly 
amiable  characters,  but  they  were  one  by  one  snatched 
away.  The  distress,  consternation,  and  terror  that 
always  seized  the  whole  company  when  thegens  ctarmes 
appeared  cannot  be  conceived.  Each  was  alarmed  for 
him  or  herself,  no  one  knowing  who  was  then  the  object, 
or  whose  turn  would  come  next.  Mr.  Macnamara  had 
some  hopes  of  going  to  England  in  a  cartel  ship  (for 


JOURNEY    TO    PARIS  107 

exchange  of  prisoners)  which  was  soon  to  be  sent  with 
Lady  Ann  Fitzroy,  who,  he  informed  us,  was  a  prisoner 
at  Quimper  and  during  her  captivity  had  lost  her 
husband,  and  had  suffered  much  distress  ;  but,  Mr. 
Macnamara  added,  she  had  met  with  a  most  feeling 
friend  among  the  American  captains,  who  had  visited 
her  often,  much  alleviated  her  sorrows,  and  had  been 
the  chief  promoter  of  this  cartel  on  her  account.  The 
circumstances  mentioned  of  this  American  so  much 
resembled  what  we  had  experienced  in  our  friend 
Bryan  that  I  could  not  forbear  asking  the  name  of  the 
person,  although  it  was  carefully  intended  to  be  con- 
cealed during  the  whole  of  the  relation.  My  question 
was  answered,  though  in  a  whisper,  that  it  was  Captain 
Bryan." 

M.  Deot  did  not  appear  until  nine  in  the  evening, 
and  then  explained  that  as  mayor  he  had  been  com- 
pelled to  help  in  dealing  with  a  riot.  A  mob  of  500 
persons,  on  account  of  the  scarcity  of  bread,  had 
broken  windows  in  the  town,  and  he  feared  that  they 
would  be  made  to  suffer. 

"At  Belle  Isle,  a  small,  poor  place,  no  horses  were 
to  be  got.  Consequently  we  went  to  the  municipality, 
the  members  of  which  were  very  civil,  but  seemed  to 
be  a  set  of  clowns  that  scarcely  knew  their  right  hand 
from  their  left.  It  took  three  of  them  at  least  ten 
minutes  to  read  our  passport  and  order  for  horses.  It 
was  as  much  as  they  could  all  three  do  to  make  it  out. 
After  this  process  was  over,  and  they  had  explained 
one  to  another  the  different  words  as  they  went  on, 


io8  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

they  set  to  making  out  an  order  for  horses  for  us, 
but  it  was  in  vain  that  we  with  our  broken  French 
endeavoured  to  render  them  sensible  that  we  were 
in  haste,  having  another  stage  to  perform  before 
night,  and  that  therefore  despatch  was  necessary. 
It  was  at  least  half-an-hour  before  the  order  was 
ready." 

It  was  impossible,  the  Russells  found,  to  quicken 
the  movements  of  French  officialism.  When  eventu- 
ally the  horses  had  been  produced  they  were  not  shod, 
so  the  night  had  to  be  spent  at  an  inn,  where  the 
travellers  were  served  with  an  excellent  supper — 
partridge,  woodcock,  fowls,  and  veal,  with  apples  and 
butter — but  had  to  sleep  in  a  huge  draughty  room 
without  a  fire  or  blankets.  Young  Russell  was  the 
only  one  of  the  party  who  could  speak  French,  and 
he  had  to  contend  all  the  way  against  a  conspiracy,  so  it 
seemed,  of  inn-keepers,  post-masters,  and  postilions  to 
delay  and  defraud  the  English  party.  For  mending 
a  broken  shaft,  which  an  English  blacksmith  would 
have  done  in  half-an-hour,  fifty  livres  were  charged, 
on  the  plea  that  the  job  had  taken  till  two  in  the 
morning.  The  cord  harness  was  continually  breaking, 
and  the  awkward  way  of  mending  it  made  these 
stoppages  ten  times  longer  than  they  need  have 
been. 

"  At  Guingamp  it  was  the  old  story  over  again. 
Here,  as  in  almost  all  other  places  we  had  stopped  at, 
the  horses  wanted  shoeing  before  they  could  be  put  to 
the  carriage.  My  brother  attempted,  as  he  had  done 


JOURNEY   TO    PARIS  109 

before,  to  persuade  them  to  shoe  them  for  frost. 
But  they  would  not  be  put  out  of  their  way ;  they 
said  it  was  not  the  custom  of  the  country,  and  they 
therefore  did  not  choose  to  do  it.  This  to  be  sure 
was  a  curious  sort  of  an  apology  when  they  had  just 
broken  down  their  old  political  system,  and  are  erect- 
ing an  entirely  new  one,  and  consequently  are  intro- 
ducing numberless  new  customs  which  before  they 
had  no  idea  of.  But  the  awkwardness  of  the  peasantry 
is  astonishing,  as  well  as  their  careless  indifference 
and  universal  vivacity  and  cheerfulness.  There  are 
in  general  three  stout  lusty  men  employed  to  shoe  a 
horse.  One  of  them  holds  his  head,  another  his  foot, 
and  the  third  operates  upon  it.  He  is  in  general  half- 
an-hour  about  one  shoe,  having  often  to  take  it  off 
two  or  three  times  before  it  is  right.  All  the  time 
they  are  chattering  as  fast  as  their  tongues  can  run, 
and  every  now  and  then  stopping  to  laugh  at  some- 
thing or  other." 

Already  it  appears  that  Martha  Russell,  though 
she  had  shaken  the  dust  of  England  off  her  feet,  was 
falling  into  the  British  habit  of  comparing  domestic 
with  foreign  ways  and  manners. 

Proceeding  from  Lamballe  to  Jugon  the  travellers 
found  themselves  going  through  the  "brigands' 
country  " — that  is,  where  the  Royalists  were  holding 
their  own.  They  were  rather  thankful,  it  seems,  that 
their  postilion  was  a  "  brute  of  a  fellow  with  his  horses." 
By  his  barbarity  he  kept  the  half-starved  animals  to 
the  full  exertion  of  their  strength.  It  was  distressing 
to  sit  behind  him.  Still  they  got  on  rather  better 


no  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

than  they  had  expected  at  first  starting.  But  it  was 
nervous  work,  and  the  ladies  were  glad  enough  to  be 
joined  by  a  foot  traveller. 

"An  amazing  stillness  reigned  on  all  sides,  no 
living  creatures  of  any  kind  were  to  be  seen,  and  it 
appeared  as  if  we  had  the  whole  world  to  ourselves 
or  were  in  an  uninhabited  island.  However,  we 
travelled  the  whole  way  without  the  least  molesta- 
tion from  brigands  or  anything  else,  though  not  en- 
tirely without  something  like  fear,  which  made  us 
now  and  then  take  bushes  for  men,  and  start  at 
every  noise  that  appeared  at  all  like  human  voices 
— imagination  was  all  alive  and  heated  to  a  degree 
by  apprehension." 

At  the  inn  in  Jugon  the  party  were  joined  at 
supper  by  the  Commander  of  the  West  Republican 
force — a  pleasant,  rattling  fellow,  who  told  them  about 
his  work  in  fighting  the  "  brigands."  As  the  ladies 
were  evidently  tired  he  advised  them  to  put  a  little 
brown  sugar  in  the  warming-pan  for  their  beds.  It 
dried  the  linen,  he  said,  and  was  infinitely  refreshing. 
But  this  interesting  experiment  could  not  be  tried,  as 
the  good  woman  of  the  inn  flatly  refused  to  waste  her 
good  sugar !  At  Dinan  the  direct  road  was  reported 
to  have  been  made  impassable  by  baggage  waggons 
and  artillery,  so  the  travellers  were  advised  to  go 
round  by  Chateau-neuf  past  St.  Malo  and  then  to 
Dol.  Afterwards  they  received  different  counsel  and 
got  into  difficulties.  The  road  was  frozen  so  hard 
and  the  ruts  were  so  deep  that  they  had  to  walk 


JOURNEY    TO    PARIS  in 

most  of  the  way.  They  had  ample  time,  therefore, 
to  note  the  wretched  condition  of  the  peasantry,  who 
lived  in  miserable  hovels  made  of  mud,  with  no 
window  but  a  hole  in  the  wall.  At  Chateau-neuf 
they  saw  the  work  of  the  Revolution  in  the  ruins  of 
a  fine  old  mansion  which  had  belonged  to  a  ci-devant 
nobleman.  They  also  saw  something  of  the  devasta- 
tion wrought  by  the  Royalists. 

On  January  9  the  party  reached  Villedieu,  where 
they  were  much  alarmed  at  a  fit  of  spasms  which 
seized  William  Russell.  They  would  not  call  in  a 
physician,  "  having  no  opinion  of  these  gentry  in 
France."  Next  day,  however,  he  was  well  enough 
to  go  on,  and  reached  St.  Sever.  Presently  they 
found  the  road  to  be  a  "mere  sheet  of  ice"  over  an 
almost  perpendicular  hill.  Having  harnessed  three 
extra  cart-horses  to  the  carriage,  they  got  it  up 
about  a  tenth  of  the  way,  and  then  the  driver  aban- 
doned the  ascent  and  determined  to  go  round  on  a 
by-way.  But  how  to  get  the  carriage  down  again  ? 
It  was  decided  to  lock  all  the  wheels  and  let  it  slide 
down. 

At  a  later  stage  the  travellers  were  cheered  with 
nice  fresh  eggs  and  some  brown  bread  and  butter, 
though  the  latter  were  not  much  to  be  boasted  of. 
The  landlady,  however,  showed  them,  as  a  curiosity, 
some  bread  sent  to  her  from  Paris — white  and  nice 
— which  was  sold  there  at  three  sous  the  pound.  The 
people  in  the  country  already  were  "  obliged  to  pay 
fourteen  sous  for  very  bad,  and  glad  to  get  it."  The 
old  lady  did  not  think  this  a  good  Republican  prac- 
tice, and  complained  loudly. 


H2  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

In  another  roadside  village  the  fare  offered  was 
a  breast  of  mutton  plainly  roasted  and  served  with 
nothing  but  pepper  and  salt.  This  was  such  a  treat 
to  our  English  people  that  they  voted  nothing  could 
be  nicer.  Here  also  they  came  on  "the  first  symp- 
tom of  religion."  On  going  downstairs  after  supper 
young  Russell  "found  them  all  at  Mass  as  busy 
as  they  could  be."  He  retreated  without  disturbing 
them. 

"The  road  to  Caen  was  charmingly  fine  and 
level,  though  now  very  slippery  from  the  snow  and 
frost,  the  country  tolerably  level  and  finely  outlined, 
orchards  on  each  side  of  the  road,  and  the  road 
straight  as  usual.  The  spires  of  Caen  we  saw  rising 
a  long  while  before  we  reached  the  town  itself,  which 
was  by  far  the  most  considerable  we  had  seen  in 
France  :  it  is  the  capital  of  Lower  Normandy,  and 
had  formerly  sixteen  convents,  a  celebrated  Univer- 
sity, and  several  churches.  The  Cathedral  is  a  very 
fine  old  Gothic  building.  It  is  a  fine  old  town,  and 
seems  to  contain  plenty  of  good  things.  Here  William 
the  Conqueror  is  buried.  The  inn  we  found  good, 
and  more  like  an  English  one,  except  in  dirt,  than 
any  we  had  yet  seen." 

It  was  no  doubt  the  favourable  impression  then 
produced  by  Caen  that  predisposed  William  Russell 
afterwards  to  acquire  an  important  property  in  this 
neighbourhood. 

From  Caen  onwards  the  travelling  became  easy, 
and  the  country,  to  the  travellers'  eighteenth-century 


JOURNEY    TO    PARIS  113 

eyes,   delightful.     Here  is  one  of   Martha    Russell's 
descriptions : — 

"The  next  stage,  La  Riviere,  the  bonne- ville,  was 
a  most  beautiful  place  situated  at  the  foot  of  a  fine 
hill,  before  which  the  river,  meandering  along  through 
a  rich  and  highly  cultivated  plain,  was  truly  orna- 
mental. On  mounting  a  hill  a  most  charming  view 
opened  upon  the  sight;  a  superb  mansion  rose  in 
front  among  a  rich  group  of  trees.  Before  it  was 
spread  a  fine  lawn  bounded  by  the  river,  and  this 
surrounded  by  the  finest  valley  imaginable  even  at 
this  season,  when  the  ground,  half  covered  with  snow, 
assumed  an  unpleasant  greyish  colour.  What  must 
the  country  be  when  Nature,  clothed  in  all  her  rich 
variety  of  colour,  exhibits  these  objects  in  their  gay 
attire ! " 

The  girl's  excitement  on  nearing  Paris  is  naively 
confessed.  The  beauty  and  grandeur  of  the  road 
from  St.  Germains  onwards  produced  "sensations 
unknown  before."  She  felt  a  strange  kind  of  re- 
luctance to  believe  that  they  really  were  approaching 
the  place  concerning  which  her  earliest  impressions 
had  been  as  of  the  "  centre  and  zenith  of  the  magni- 
ficence of  the  world." 

"  These  ideas  were  imbibed  from  a  set  of  pictures 
we  had  seen  in  a  show  of  the  different  places  round 
and  in  Paris.  Seeing  this  show  was  one  of  our 
greatest  indulgences,  and  from  this  circumstance  my 
infantine  ideas  had  been  impressed  so  strongly  with 

H 


ii4  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

admiration  of  this  city  that  the  effect  of  it  still  re- 
mained. Add  to  this  the  more  permanent  impres- 
sions recently  made  of  this  place  as  the  scene  where 
the  great  acts  of  the  greatest  of  revolutions  had  been 
transacted.  I  was  quite  amazed  to  reflect  that  I  was 
approaching  the  spot  and  the  people  of  which  and 
of  whom  I  had  heard  and  read  such  astonishing 
things.  I  appeared  to  be  in  a  dream  rather  than 
a  reality." 

The  passage  is  interesting  as  revealing  the  light 
in  which  this  amiable  and  clever  gentlewoman  had 
been  taught  to  view  acts  and  scenes  such  as  the 
execution  of  Louis  XVI.  and  Marie  Antoinette,  the 
mock  trials  and  murders  in  the  Reign  of  Terror,  and 
the  worship  of  the  Goddess  of  Reason.  In  Martha 
and  Mary  Russell's  nature  there  was  nothing  harsh 
or  unwomanly,  but  crimes  committed  in  the  name  of 
Liberty  were,  to  their  enthusiastic  spirits,  sufficiently 
condoned  by  the  pretence  under  which  they  had  been 
perpetrated. 

The  lighting  on  the  roads  was  hardly  less  re- 
markable in  this  "emporium  of  politics"  than  were 
the  Elysian  Fields.  Having  duly  admired  the  Re- 
volution Bridge  and  the  temporary  statue  of  Liberty, 
the  party  got  a  peep  at  the  Gardens  of  the  Tuileries 
and  the  Palace.  Thence  they  drove  through  streets, 
narrow  and  dirty  enough,  to  the  Paston  Hotel,  where 
they  found  Captain  Prebble.  The  shops,  they  re- 
marked, were  very  smart.  Their  senses  were  all 
alive  to  take  in  every  object  that  presented  itself. 
On  the  way  to  their  lodgings  in  the  Place  de 


JOURNEY    TO    PARIS  115 

Carousel,  opposite  the  Louvre,  they  beheld  "a  most 
amazingly  smart  lady,  rouged  most  wonderfully,  so 
that,  in  fact,  we  all  burst  out  with  a  unanimous 
laugh."  Their  first  meal,  sent  in  from  a  traiteurs, 
they  did  not  relish  at  all.  Even  the  few  things  that 
might  otherwise  have  been  tolerable  to  an  English 
palate,  were  spoilt  by  the  onions,  garlic,  and  oil. 


CHAPTER    IX 
THE   FRENCH   REVOLUTION   AT   CLOSE   QUARTERS 

A  circle  of  friends — An  Irish  adventurer — Advanced  lady — Gorgeous 
apartment — General  Miranda — Victims  of  anarchy — Philosophical 
instruments  of  Citoyen  Charles — Visit  to  the  Convention — Gro- 
tesque Republicans — Disorderly  proceedings — The  Observatory — A 
Jacobin  astronomer — Women  furies  in  the  street — Sound  of  the 
Tocsin — The  city  under  arms — Rising  against  the  Convention — 
General  Pichegru  in  charge  of  Paris — Trial  of  Fouquier — Scene  in 
court — His  audacious  behaviour — Execution  witnessed  by  the 
Russells — The  guillotine — Veteran  soldiers  at  the  Hospital — A 
novel  view  of  the  Revolution — Municipal  bakeries — The  distress  in 
Paris — Persecutions  and  arrests — Brissot's  sister-in-law — Madame 
Roland's  daughter — Another  alarm — Summary  measures. 

ALMOST  before  the  Russells  had  settled  down  in  Paris 
they  found  themselves  surrounded  by  a  little  circle  of 
friends,  old  and  new,  who  took  pleasure  in  showing 
them  the  sights  of  the  city.  Active  amongst  these 
was,  of  course,  Henry  Prebble,  who  had  been  com- 
pensated for  leaving  his  ship  the  Mary  to  follow  his 
passengers'  fortunes  by  being  associated  in  some  of 
William  Russell's  many  commercial  ventures.  Since 
they  had  last  seen  him  he  had  married  a  young  woman 
of  lively  disposition,  who  was  nothing  loth  to  join  in 
their  social  gaieties.  Another  acquaintance  in  whom 
the  girls  became  interested  was  Archibald  Hamilton 
Rowan,  a  political  Irishman  with  a  happy  knack  of 
getting  into  trouble  and  out  of  it  again.  He  was 
accompanied  by  Mary  Wollstonecraft,  author  of  the 

116 


THE    REVOLUTION    AT    CLOSE    QUARTERS     117 

justly  famous  Vindication  of  the  Rights  of  Women. 
Her  supposed  husband,  Gilbert  Imlay,  author  of  an 
account  of  Kentucky,  was  then  in  England.  She 
had  much  information,  Mary  Russell  says,  and  was 
fond  of  communicating  it.  Also  she  possessed  a 
little  girl  of  eight  months  old,  whom  she  was  bring- 
ing up  "quite  on  her  own  plan."  In  the  intervals  of 
applying  her  educational  theories  she  was,  it  appears, 
engaged  in  writing  a  history  of  the  French  Revolution 
— a  task  somewhat  prematurely  undertaken.  Mary 
Russell's  language  seems  to  indicate  that  in  a  demure 
way  she  is  making  fun  of  her  gifted  friend. 

[We  can  gather  from  the  references  made  to  "  Mrs. 
Imlay"  that  Mary  Russell  believed  her  to  be  married 
to  the  light-of-love  American  who  was  the  father  of 
her  little  girl.  Fully  emancipated  as  the  Russells 
may  have  been  from  political  and  religious  orthodoxy, 
they  were  not  the  people  to  condone  lightly  the  laxity 
of  a  woman  who  lived  openly  with  another  woman's 
husband.  Now  we  know  that  this  was  the  position 
of  Mary  Wollstonecraft  in  1795.  She  had  fled  to 
Paris  in  December  1792,  not  to  study  the  language, 
nor  even  to  observe  the  Revolution,  but  to  escape  from 
the  untenable  position  into  which  she  had  been  swept 
in  her  passion  for  Fuseli,  the  painter  and  writer  on 
art,  who  it  may  be  observed  was  also  a  married  man. 
Her  offer  to  live  in  the  same  house  with  the  Fuselis, 
and  as  a  member  of  the  family,  in  order  that  she 
might  enjoy  the  daily  pleasure  of  his  company,  had 
been  declined  by  his  wife.  Fuseli,  who  had  a  keen 
sense  of  the  ridiculous,  and  who  was  a  man  of  over  fifty, 
eluded  the  ardour  of  her  attack.  Mary  Wollstonecraft 


n8  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

fled  to  Paris.  The  history  of  her  connection  with 
Imlay  may  be  said  to  have  been  an  illustration  of 
La  Rochefoucauld's  maxim — that  there  are  women 
who  never  have  an  affair  of  gallantry,  but  there  never 
was  a  woman  who  had  only  one.  No  marriage  was 
possible  for  them,  but  Mary  Wollstonecraft  was 
registered  as  Mrs.  Imlay  at  the  American  Legation, 
was  accepted  as  his  wife,  and  passed  by  that  name 
till  she  did  actually  marry  Godwin  in  1797,  a  month 
before  her  death.  We  will  not  go  further  into  her 
unhappy  history,  the  infidelity  of  Imlay,  her  frantic 
efforts  to  maintain  her  hold  on  him,  her  two  unsuc- 
cessful attempts  to  commit  suicide,  her  liberation  from 
the  American  by  Godwin,  and  her  tardy  marriage  to 
him.  She  died  in  childbirth,  of  a  daughter,  the  Mary 
Wollstonecraft  Godwin  who  became  the  second  wife 
of  Shelley. 

The  Russell  girls  must  have  been  acquainted  with 
Mary  Wollstonecraft's  work — with  her  Thoughts  on 
the  Education  of  Daughters,  her  so-called  "  answer  " 
to  Burke's  Reflections  on  the  Revolution  in  France,  and 
certainly  with  her  widely-read  Vindication  of  the 
Rights  of  Women,  published  in  1792.  There  was 
nothing  in  it  to  offend  such  open-minded  people  as 
the  Russells.  The  author  pleads  in  substance  that 
women  should  be  treated  neither  as  "  saints  nor  brutes," 
but  as  "reasonable  beings."  The  Russells  had  been 
themselves  treated  as  reasonable  beings  by  their 
father.  Their  position  as  daughters  of  a  humane,  right- 
minded  man  of  fortune  protected  them  against  the  evils 
which  had  beset  Mary  Wollstonecraft  herself— poverty 
and  the  obstacles  placed  in  the  way  of  a  woman  who 


THE    REVOLUTION    AT    CLOSE    QUARTERS      119 

was  compelled  to  earn  her  livelihood.  But  their  good 
sense  and  knowledge  of  the  world  must  have  shown 
them  how  large  an  element  of  truth  there  was  in 
the  Vindication.  The  work  on  which  she  was  engaged 
when  the  Russells  met  her  in  Paris  was  her  Historical 
and  Moral  View  of  the  Origin  and  Progress  of  the 
French  Revolution.  A  first  volume  appeared  in  1794. 
She  no  doubt  spoke  of  continuing  the  work,  but  no 
second  volume  was  published.  Mary  Wollstonecraft, 
who  like  so  many  others  had  "  hailed  the  dawn  of 
freedom"  in  1789,  was  greatly  disillusioned  by  the 
course  of  the  Revolution,  but  not  for  the  same  reasons 
as  most  English  people.  With  a  sagacity  which  does 
her  considerable  credit,  she  saw  that  the  overthrow  of 
the  nobility  had  so  far  served  mainly  to  add  to  the 
power  of  the  moneyed  bourgeoisie.  The  poor  were 
but  little  if  at  all  the  better  off.] 

Clearly,  the  Russells  were  impressed  with  Rowan's 
story  of  adventures,  though  they  might  perhaps  suggest 
that  he  sat  somewhat  lightly  to  his  obligations,  whether 
of  matrimony  or  parole.  He  was  born  in  1751,  and  his 
original  name  was  Archibald  Hamilton  :  the  Rowan 
he  took  from  his  maternal  grandfather,  from  whom 
he  inherited  a  fortune  on  condition  that  he  should  be 
educated  at  an  English  University,  and  should  not 
go  to  Ireland  before  he  was  twenty-five  years  of  age. 
At  Queen's  College,  Cambridge,  he  had  been  noted 
as  a  dog-fancier,  as  also  for  threatening  to  pitch  his 
tutor  into  the  river.  In  Portugal  he  served  in  the 
army,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-six  obtained  the  rank 
of  lieutenant-colonel.  About  the  year  1788  he 
settled  for  a  time  in  Ireland  at  his  place,  Killyleugh 


120  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

Castle.  In  1791,  he  became  a  "  United  Irishman," 
and  three  years  later  was  arrested  on  the  charge  of 
distributing  a  seditious  pamphlet.  Believing  that  the 
Government  meant  to  make  an  example  of  him,  he 
fled  to  France,  where,  as  we  see,  he  soon  became 
acquainted  with  the  Russells.1 

He  had  arrived  in  a  small  boat  with  four  sailors ; 
as  soon  as  he  landed,  he  applied  to  the  municipality, 
stating  his  situation.  The  answer  they  gave  him  was 
that  as  he  had  escaped  once  from  prison  they  would 
take  care  he  should  not  do  it  a  second  time.  He 
hoped  the  sailors  who  brought  him  would  have  escaped, 
but  he  heard  in  a  few  days  that  they  had  been  pur- 
sued, taken,  and  imprisoned,  which  seemed  to  hurt 
him  very  much.  The  place  where  he  first  landed 
was  near  Brest,  and  he  was  soon  removed  there,  where 
he  remained  many  months,  making  continual  applica- 
tions to  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety,  but  for  a 
long  time  receiving  no  answer.  At  last  an  order 
came  for  his  removal  to  Paris  under  a  guard,  and 
there,  on  his  case  being  known,  he  was  set  at  liberty. 
He  said  he  much  wished  to  go  to  America,  but  feared 

1  Subsequently  he  went  vid  Hamburg  to  America.  The  Govern- 
ment, however,  did  not  confiscate  his  estates,  and  allowed  his  wife  to 
send  him  ^300  a  year.  He  was  a  supporter  of  the  Union  and  of  Roman 
Catholic  Emancipation.  He  was  pardoned  in  1803,  acted  as  justice  of 
the  peace,  and  was  a  guest  at  the  Castle.  In  1821  he  was  received  by 
the  King  himself.  In  1825  Sir  Robert  Peel  got  himself  into  a  scrape  in 
the  House  of  Commons  by  describing  Rowan  as  an  "attainted  rebel." 
He  was  soundly  lectured  by  Hutchinson,  so  we  read  in  Lord  Broughton's 
Recollections  (vol.  iv.).  "  Never  did  Minister  get  such  a  whipping,  as 
the  Americans  call  it.  Peel  looked  so  red  and  silly,  and  all  those  who 
had  cheered  him  looked  so  red  and  silly,  and  we  so  roared  and  cheered 
our  champion,  that  a  by-stander  would  have  thought  the  Opposition 
certain  of  a  victory." 


THE    REVOLUTION    AT    CLOSE    QUARTERS     121 

he  should  not  get  a  passport.  He  escaped  from 
prison  by  getting  leave  to  sup  with  his  wife  (along 
with  the  gaoler)  and,  while  the  latter  was  regaling 
himself  with  the  servants,  escaped  out  of  the  window 
of  the  apartment  by  means  of  a  ladder  that  was 
ready  provided.  He  said  he  had  a  wife  and  eight 
children,  and  seemed  hardly  able  to  mention  them 
without  great  emotion.  He  had  never  once  heard 
from  them  since  he  left. 

Rowan,  no  doubt  was  excellent  company,  and 
presented  a  type  unfamiliar  to  girls  who  had  hitherto 
mixed  only  in  the  rather  serious  society  of  a  highly 
educated  and  thoughtful  English  circle.  Amongst 
the  well-known  people  to  whom  he  introduced  them 
was  Rouget  de  Lisle,  author  of  the  Marseillaise. 
Perhaps  it  was  on  Rowan's  advice  that  the  family, 
after  a  month  in  the  lodgings  chosen  for  them  by 
Captain  Prebble,  removed  to  more  elegant  quarters 
in  the  Hotel  des  Tuileries — an  apartement  of  almost 
pagan  magnificence. 

"  We  had  a  very  large  saloon  with  two  handsome 
sets  of  furniture  ;  one,  blue  and  white  silk  damask,  the 
frames  of  the  chairs  gilt ;  the  other,  white  silk  worked 
with  coloured  ribbon.  Over  one  of  the  sofas  was 
thrown  a  white  satin  cover  painted  in  Chinese  figures 
very  delicately  ;  a  handsome  cut  glass  chandelier  hung 
in  the  middle  of  the  room  ;  the  ceiling  was  well  painted 
in  clouds  with  stars  and  Cupids.  In  the  four  corners 
of  it  were  the  four  seasons.  The  door  was  panelled 
with  looking-glass,  the  walls  gilt  in  panels,  beside 
which  were  two  exceedingly  large  mirrors.  Three 


122  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

large  windows  on  one  side  reaching  to  the  ground, 
and  one  at  the  end  opening  on  a  fine  large  terrace  in 
front  of  the  gardens  of  the  Tuileries,  made  the  room 
delightfully  pleasant.  The  saloon  opened  into  another 
which  also  opened  upon  the  terrace.  In  a  recess  stood 
a  handsome  chintz  bed  where  my  father  slept,  and  in 
this  room  we  most  commonly  sat,  for  we  were  so  far 
become  French  as  to  forget  that  it  was  a  lodging 
room  that  we  occupied  when  sitting  there.  A  door 
covered  with  morocco  led  out  of  this  room  into  a  little 
boudoir,  the  walls  of  which  were  ornamented  with 
paintings  of  natural  flowers,  as  large  as  life,  in  the 
prettiest  bunches,  so  that  you  might  fancy  yourself  in 
a  little  summer  house." 

Here  the  ladies  gave  a  grand  tea-party :  the 
company  included — 

"  Mrs.  Henderson,  an  English  lady  settled  in 
Paris,  Miss  Adams,  another  English  lady  at  a  pension 
and  a  friend  of  Mrs.  Prebble,  two  French  American 
ladies  from  the  same  pension,  two  Misses  Dulens 
with  their  father  (French  people),  Miss  Dupont, 
the  sister-in-law  of  Brissot,  Miss  Williams  and  her 
sister  Mrs.  Lockart,  General  Miranda,  Mr.  Stone, 
Captain  Cowper,  Colonel  Fulton  and  Mr.  Skipwith, 
Americans,  the  latter  the  consul  in  Paris ;  Mr. 
Kearney,  a  ci-devant  Abbe\  now  our  great  friend  and 
French  master ;  M.  Holenboc,  a  Dane,  a  Mr.  Jones, 
Mr.  Cockerel,  Mr.  Beresford,  a  Worcestershire  man, 
and  Mr.  White,  also  an  Englishman,  and  one  of  our 
most  intimate  associates." 


THE    REVOLUTION    AT    CLOSE    QUARTERS     123 

The  last  was  a  mechanical  inventor  of  great  ability 
with  whom  the  Russells,  father  and  son,  afterwards 
came  to  be  intimately  related  in  business. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  reproduce  either  girl's  descrip- 
tions of  the  Paris  of  those  days.  To  tell  the  truth, 
they  are  written  in  the  regulation  guide-book  style, 
though  the  zest  of  the  young  sight-seers  lends  a  cer- 
tain charm  to  their  formal  appreciations.  Some  of 
their  reflections,  however,  are  worth  quoting ;  e.g.,  on 
a  walk  with  General  Miranda,  after  visiting  the  old 
Louvre,  they  passed  the  Chatelet,  the  "gloomy  place 
where  so  many  persons  lost  their  lives  on  September 
2nd  and  3rd." 

"It  was  through  a  dark  large  gateway  we  passed, 
on  the  side  of  which  was  formerly  a  door,  now 
bricked  up,  through  which  the  unhappy  victims  were 
brought.  Here  our  ideas  naturally  took  a  gloomy 
cast.  Hence  we  walked  to  the  Conciergerie  and  the 
Revolutionary  Tribunal :  in  the  former  the  good 
General  [Miranda]  was  confined  eighteen  months,  and 
in  the  latter  he  had  not  been  since  he  was  carried  from 
thence  amidst  the  acclamations  of  the  people  after  his 
trial.  Poor  man,  how  much  he  seemed  to  feel,  and  how 
much  his  feelings  awakened  ours !  What  kind  of 
sensation  struggled  in  my  breast  in  mounting  the  steps 
of  the  Tribunal  cannot  easily  be  imagined.  How  my 
heart  shrank  within  me  on  the  recollection  of  the 
many,  many  aching  hearts  that  had  mounted  and  dis- 
mounted these  steps,  the  number  of  innocent  victims 
that  have  here  been  condemned  to  suffer  by  the  cruel 
hand  of  anarchy  and  party.  Humanity  cannot  forget 


124  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

even  should  ages  of  happiness  flow  from  this  bloody 
source." 

The  General,  at  this  time  a  man  of  forty,  had 
already  gone  through  many  adventures.  By  birth  a 
Venezuelan,  he  had  fought  in  the  Spanish  Army,  with 
the  French  allies  of  the  North  Americans,  commanded 
a  division  in  the  French  Army  of  the  Republic,  and  in 
1793  was  tried  before  the  Revolutionary  Tribunal. 
At  this  time  he  was  engaged  in  Paris  with  plots  for 
the  emancipation  of  Spanish  America.  On  his  return 
to  Venezuela,  he  was  made  first  commander  of  the 
patriot  army  and  afterwards  dictator.  Eventually,  how- 
ever, he  was  vanquished  and  sent  as  a  prisoner  to 
Spain,  where  he  died  in  1816. 

At  the  Louvre  the  Russells  had  been  specially 
interested  in  a  collection  of  philosophical  instruments. 

"  They  are  the  property  of  an  individual  of  the  name 
of  Charles.  In  the  middle  of  the  room,  in  a  cupola,  is 
suspended  the  car  in  which  he  ascended  in  a  balloon 
with  Blanchard.  He  has  two  astonishingly  large  elec- 
trical machines,  besides  several  smaller  ones,  and 
curious  machines  of  all  kinds,  hydraulic  and  all  others. 
Among  other  things  we  were  much  pleased  with  a 
little  harmonium,  with  keys  the  same  as  a  harpsichord, 
but  not  larger  than  a  portable  writing  desk ;  also  a 
curious  piece  of  metal,  round  and  bent  in  the  middle. 
On  the  least  touch  of  a  kind  of  sponge  he  had  at  the 
end  of  a  stick,  it  sent  forth  such  an  amazing  sound 
as  almost  stunned  you,  and  by  repeating  the  blows 
though  ever  so  gently  it  increased  to  that  extent  it 


THE    REVOLUTION    AT    CLOSE    QUARTERS     125 

was  not  to  be  borne.  It  appears  like  brass,  and  looks 
more  like  a  large  brass  kettle  lid  than  anything  else : 
it  comes  from  China,  but  it  is  not  known  what  metal  it 
is.  He  has  the  largest  camera  obscura  I  ever  saw. 
It  has  a  charming  effect,  showing  the  opposite  part  of 
the  Louvre  and  all  the  passing  to  and  fro  through 
the  court,  which  is  very  great.  Here  is  also  a  most 
curious  collection  of  time-pieces,  the  exquisite  work- 
manship of  which,  together  with  the  ingenuity  displayed 
in  their  construction,  as  well  as  the  great  variety,  is 
astonishing ;  also  curious  mirrors  of  all  kinds — in 
short,  to  mention  all  the  curiosities  is  impossible. 
Citoyen  Charles  has  been  indefatigable  in  making 
this  collection,  and  at  his  death  means  to  give  them 
to  the  nation." 

On  several  occasions  the  girls  visited  the  National 
Convention.  Martha  Russell  was  painfully  disillu- 
sioned on  seeing  at  close  quarters  these  makers  of  the 
Republic.  Her  first  experience  is  thus  recorded  : — 

"The  confusion,  noise,  low  language,  the  nervous 
attempts  to  overpower  one  another  by  the  loudness  of 
voice  in  place  of  the  strength  of  argument,  the  stamp- 
ing, raving,  and  uncouth  attitudes,  menacing  each 
other  with  clenched  fists,  some  jerking  their  arms 
suddenly  as  if  throwing  stones  at  their  adversaries, 
others  while  speaking  moving  their  whole  bodies  like 
a  pendulum  of  a  clock — in  fact  such  a  variety  of  un- 
couth gestures  and  vulgar-looking  people  I  should 
have  thought  could  be  found  but  among  a  set  of 
old-clothesmen.  In  truth  their  appearance  was  much 


126  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

more  like  this  than  anything  else — dirty,  mean,  shabby- 
looking  fellows,  all  of  them ;  some  in  fur  caps,  others 
in  red  and  blue  caps,  some  apparently  in  dirty  night- 
gowns, others  shabby  great  coats,  many  that  had 
not  been  shaved  for  a  week  at  least,  and  some  that 
had  not  a  comb  in  their  hair  that  day.  A  few  among 
them  there  were  who  looked  clean  and  had  smooth 
locks — among  these  the  first  day  we  were  there  was 
Relle,  who  was  their  President,  Tallien,  Bourdon, 
De  TOise,  Loudret,  and  some  others.  This  day  the 
President  broke  three  bells  trying  to  keep  silence,  and 
this  circumstance,  together  with  the  unparalleled  tur- 
bulence of  the  meeting  in  my  idea,  made  me  suppose 
that  this  was  an  uncommonly  tumultuous  meeting. 
Much  was  I  astonished  on  inquiry  afterwards  to  find 
that  it  was  not  more  so  than  common,  and  in  fact  very 
seldom  indeed  were  there  then  more  peaceable  meet- 
ings. It  seemed  to  me  impossible  that  any  business 
could  be  there  settled,  particularly  the  business  of  a 
great  nation.  That  this  was  the  National  Convention 
of  France,  of  which  I  have  read  and  heard  so  much, 
appeared  to  be  almost  impossible. 

"  Immediately  on  one  member  finishing  a  speech 
four  or  five  would  start  up  and  begin  in  the  most 
vociferous  manner,  and  continue  trying  to  overpower 
each  other  by  the  strength  of  their  lungs,  till  the  Pre- 
sident by  means  of  his  bell  overpowered  them  all  and 
decided  who  should  speak  first.  This  generally  was 
he  who  had  the  oftenest  attempted  it  before.  He 
then  advanced  to  the  tribune,  but  generally  stood 
there  a  long  time  before  he  could  gain  silence  to  be 
heard.  The  gestures  and  oratory  of  each  of  the 


THE    REVOLUTION    AT    CLOSE    QUARTERS     127 

speakers  were  to  me  perfectly  original,  and  not  less 
curious  than  that  of  the  President,  who,  all  the  while 
any  one  is  speaking,  on  the  least  noise  (and  that  is 
nearly  always)  stands  up  with  his  arms  extended  and 
hands  spread,  and  moving  them  up  and  down,  as  if  by 
that  means  he  was  keeping  the  people  down  in  their 
seats.  In  short,  the  whole  of  the  scene  excited  in  my 
breast  a  degree  of  disappointment,  disgust,  and  aston- 
ishment scarcely  to  be  imagined." 

At  the  Observatory  the  Russells  were  conducted 
over  the  sights  by  an  official  who  seemed  to  be  a 
man  of  high  culture  and  scientific  knowledge.  They 
could  not  help  envying  him  his  "  delightful  employment 
amongst  such  a  charming  collection  of  instruments  in 
so  quiet  a  spot " — free  from  the  strife  and  turbulence 
of  the  disordered  city.  On  their  next  visit  they  heard 
that  their  friend  had  been  arrested  for  a  Jacobin  and 
was  lying  in  prison. 

For  some  few  days  there  had  been  rumours  of 
renewed  trouble.1  It  was,  of  course  a  regular  thing  in 
the  Tuileries  to  see  groups  of  men  and  women  dis- 
puting about  politics  (or  bread) ;  latterly,  however,  the 
quarrels  had  become  more  frequent  and  acrimonious 
between  the  two  parties,  the  Jacobins  and  Muscadins 
— enemies  and  friends  of  the  National  Convention. 
The  vehemence  of  the  women  was  incredible,  and 
William  Russell,  though  he  could  not  understand  their 
language,  was  so  shocked  that  he  lost  all  patience  with 
them.  Martha  could  only  compare  them  to  a  "  set  of 

1  This  was  the  abortive  insurrection  of  the  Jacobins  commonly  called 
the  1 2th  Germinal. 


128  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

Furies,  and  that  of  the  most  vulgar,  impudent  cast 
possible." 

"  On  the  evening  of  the  i  ith  of  Germinal  (March 
31)  our  friend  Mr.  White,  who  seldom  missed  spending 
his  evenings  with  us,  and  in  whose  society  we  ever 
found  the  truest  pleasure,  told  us  he  expected  some 
disturbances  might  take  place  soon.  The  guard  at 
his  section  was  doubled,  and,  he  believed,  at  most  of 
the  sections  in  Paris.  The  next  morning,  as  we  passed 
through  the  Tuileries,  we  met  Mr.  Kearney  :  he  begged 
we  would  not  walk  in  those  gardens  after  two  o'clock,  as 
he  thought  it  very  likely  they  would  be  suddenly  shut 
and  that  we  should  not  then  get  out.  It  happened 
that  we  had  appointed  this  morning  for  doing  some 
errands  with  Miss  Adams,  who  was  come  to  spend  a 
few  days  with  us.  Towards  one  o'clock  the  streets 
became  uncommonly  crowded,  particularly  with  women, 
and  we  were  insulted  once  or  twice.  We  had  walked 
the  first  part  of  the  morning,  and  intended  to  take  a 
fiacre  when  we  were  tired,  not  then  having  got  horses 
to  our  own  coach.  But  behold,  on  seeking  a  coach, 
they  had  all  left  the  streets,  and  we  were  obliged  to  get 
home  as  well  as  we  could.  By  three  o'clock  we  heard 
the  tocsin  sound — which  I  had  really  wished  to  hear, 
though  I  did  not  long  for  any  disturbances.  It  is 
merely  the  sound  of  a  chapel  bell,  when  the  clapper 
hits  one  side  only,  but  it  touches  a  string  of  dreadful 
ideas  in  one's  mind. 

"  About  four  o'clock  Mr.  White  came.  He  told  us 
all  Paris  was  under  arms,  and  a  plot  had  been  discovered 
by  means  of  a  billet  found  in  a  small  piece  of  cheese 


THE    REVOLUTION    AT    CLOSE    QUARTERS     129 

that  was  going  to  be  sent.  Fouquier-Tinville  and  his 
accomplices  were  in  custody  and  on  their  trial  at  the 
Revolutionary  Tribunal.  The  message  informed  them 
that  when  a  number  of  eggs  should  be  sent  them,  half 
of  them  white,  and  half  coloured,  then  they  might 
depend  upon  it  the  plot  was  ripe  ;  and  as  many  eggs  as 
were  sent,  so  many  days  would  it  be  before  they  should 
be  delivered.  The  word  of  ralliement  was  to  be  '  Vive 
la  Montagne ! '  The  Faubourg  Antoine  were  to  go  to 
the  arsenal,  and  by  surprise  get  possession  of  the  arms, 
then  repair  to  the  Convention  and  demand  the  arrest 
of  Jullien,  Fre*ron,  Barras,  Dubois-Crance",  Legendre, 
Louvet,  and  many  others.  The  reinstatement  of 
Barrere,  Billaud,  and  Collot,  by  a  decree  of  the  Con- 
vention was  to  be  effected.  Cambon  and  Thuriot  were 
likewise  to  be  brought  in,  the  telegraph  was  to  be 
seized,  and  the  prisons  opened,  and  in  short  the  terrible 
Mountain  again  to  rear  its  head. 

"  Happily,  however,  this  plot  was  discovered,  the 
papers  found  and  seized,  which  proved  its  existence, 
and  proper  measures  taken  to  prevent  its  ripening. 
Every  one  being  under  arms  and  prepared,  our  fears 
were  quite  calmed,  and  we  walked  out  in  the  streets 
in  the  evening  on  purpose  to  see  what  was  going  on. 
How  different  a  scene  presented  itself  to  what  we  had 
witnessed  in  the  morning  ;  every  shop  shut  up,  the 
streets  filled  with  armed  men,  different  sections  march- 
ing about,  some  with  pikes,  and  others  muskets  and 
bayonets,  also  a  great  many  horse  and  foot  military, 
but  all  as  quiet  as  possible.  The  citizens  continued 
under  arms  all  night ;  the  next  day  was  extremely  dis- 
turbed, and  the  contest  by  no  means  over.  The  garden 

I 


130  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

of  the  Tuileries  was  filled  with  armed  men.  Sentence 
of  banishment  was  passed  upon  Barrere,  Collot,  and 
Billaud,  and  the  Convention  were  resolved  it  should 
be  executed.  They  had  attempted  to  send  them  off 
thrice,  and  the  populace,  or  rather  the  Jacobins,  had 
brought  them  back.  General  Pichegru  was  sent  for, 
and  this  day  commanded  the  troops  in  Paris  (of  which 
many  more  were  arrived).  With  the  well-disposed 
citizens  who  carried  arms,  they  were  said  to  amount 
to  100,000  men.  We  managed  this  morning  to  get 
to  Mrs.  Imlay's,  whose  rooms  were  just  over  our  old 
lodgings  in  the  Carousel,  and  fronted  the  Committee 
of  Public  Safety.  Here  we  were  so  fortunate  as  to 
arrive  in  time  to  see  Barrere  brought  in.  He  was  in 
a  hackney  coach  with  two  gens  cfarmes.  The  place 
and  the  street  opposite,  as  well  as  the  square  of  the 
Tuileries,  were  filled  with  armed  men,  through  the 
midst  of  which  Pichegru  with  a  company  of  horse 
soldiers  made  his  way.  As  soon  as  he  had  arrived 
opposite  the  Committee  he  addressed  a  short  but 
energetic  speech  to  the  citizens  under  arms,  exhorting 
them  to  patience,  and  to  recollect  how  his  soldiers  had 
fought  for  them  and  been  for  weeks  without  tasting  a 
mouthful  of  bread  while  exposed  to  hardships  they 
had  no  idea  of. 

"  Soon  after  this  we  saw  the  carriage  moving  slowly 
along,  and  had  full  time  to  view  the  villain's  counte- 
nance [Fouquier-Tinville's],  which  betrayed  a  mixture 
of  impudent  hardiness  and  villainy  I  hope  never  to  see 
equalled. 

"In  the  afternoon  we  were  engaged  out  to  tea. 
Not  supposing  any  danger  as.  the  party  for  the 


THE    REVOLUTION    AT    CLOSE    QUARTERS      131 

Convention  were  so  strong  and  so  well  upon  their  guard, 
we  set  off  to  walk  it,  being  but  just  across  the  water. 
We  passed  through  crowds  of  armed  men,  some  with 
their  arms  on  the  ground  and  themselves  trying  to 
get  a  little  rest,  others  parading  about.  Cannon  were 
placed  round  the  Convention,  at  the  end  of  every 
street  leading  to  it,  and  through  most  of  these  no  one 
could  pass  :  the  shops  all  shut  up ;  in  short,  the  whole 
scene  wore  so  much  the  appearance  of  a  besieged  town, 
that  it  was  impossible  not  to  be  much  impressed  by 
the  sight. 

"  Just  as  we  were  got  half-way  there  was  a  smoke 
seen  from  some  of  the  cannon  we  had  passed  and  a 
general  cry  of  '  To  arms.'  It  seemed  as  if  some 
enchantment  had  been  employed,  for  in  a  moment  in- 
numerable bayonets  glittered  in  the  air.  We  stopped 
to  look,  but  were  commanded  to  pass  on  and  not  stand 
still.  It  appeared  afterwards  that  just  at  the  moment 
a  Jacobin  had  found  means  to  put  a  lighted  match  to 
the  mouth  of  the  cannon,  from  which  we  had  seen  the 
smoke,  with  the  intent  to  set  it  off  among  the  people ; 
luckily  he  was  discovered.  Barrere  was  this  evening 
sent  off  again,  and  again  brought  back  in  face  of 
Pichegru  himself.  In  the  night,  however,  they  once 
more  packed  him  off,  and  then  he  was  suffered  to  go : 
after  which  all  grew  quiet." 

As  illustrating  Martha  Russell's  serenely  observant 
frame  of  mind,  it  is  worth  mention  that  from  this  lively 
account  of  the  attempted  rising  against  the  Convention 
she  passes  on  to  the  remark  that  the  French  are  "  very 
fond  of  eggs  boiled  hard,"  and  "  you  see  great  quantities 


132  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

of  them  exposed  for  sale  in  the  market ;  but  they 
are  always  coloured  on  the  outside  to  distinguish  them 
from  those  that  are  not  boiled."  Having  disposed  of 
this  housewifely  item,  the  diarist  turns  to  the  tragic 
events  which  are  in  progress  about  her.  The  sisters 
were  fortunate  enough  to  get  seats  for  one  day  of 
Fouquier-Tinville's  trial  at  the  Revolutionary  Tribunal. 
They  were  "gratified  as  well  as  disgusted"  by  what 
they  saw  there.  It  was  impossible,  as  Martha  justly 
observed,  to  enter  without  sensations  of  horror  and 
disgust  the  place  where  so  many  innocent  victims  had 
heard  their  last  sentence  pronounced,  in  many  cases 
without  accusation  or  leave  to  make  a  defence. 

The  Tribunal  was  an  oblong  room,  about  two-thirds 
portioned  off  for  women,  the  rest  for  the  public.  At 
the  upper  end  sat  the  President  in  black  robes  and  a 
black  hat,  looped  up  in  front,  with  a  large  plume  of 
black  feathers ;  on  each  side  were  the  judges,  robed 
like  him  and  wearing  similar  hats.  On  the  right, 
against  the  side  wall,  were  seats  one  above  another 
where  sat  "  the  execrable  Fouquier  and  his  gang."  In 
the  centre  were  the  seats  reserved  for  spectators  hold- 
ing tickets  from  a  Judge  or  a  Senator  in  attendance. 

"  Fouquier  was  of  a  tall,  meagre  figure,  visage 
long,  thin,  and  sallow,  hair  dark,  dirty  with  powder, 
greasy,  and  looking  as  if  it  had  not  been  combed  the 
last  week.  His  beard  also  had  not  for  some  time 
been  impeded  in  its  growth,  and  a  filthy,  greasy  great- 
coat accorded  well  with  the  other  parts  of  his  person. 
On  first  entering  we  thought  his  countenance  betrayed 
dismay  mixed  with  its  ferocious  villainy.  But  soon 


THE    REVOLUTION    AT    CLOSE    QUARTERS     133 

did  he  convince  us,  both  by  its  expression  and  his 
words,  that  impudence  and  hardiness  still  held  their 
places  among  the  wickedness  of  his  heart.  He  brought 
under  his  arm  a  box,  out  of  which  as  soon  as  he  was 
seated,  he  drew  an  abundance  of  papers,  and  a  pen 
and  ink.  As  soon  as  a  witness  was  called  and  sworn 
he  began  making  notes  of  the  evidence  given,  and 
often  interrupted  him  in  the  course  of  his  evidence  in 
the  most  impudent  manner.  As  soon  as  the  witness 
had  finished,  he  endeavoured,  by  means  of  equivoca- 
tion and  the  most  bare-faced  lies,  to  set  aside  the 
evidence.  Among  the  witnesses  examined  this  morn- 
ing was  a  young  lady  whose  name  had  been  placed  by 
Fouquier  on  the  list  to  be  guillotined.  She  was  in 
prison,  not  knowing  the  cause,  and  was  very  near 
her  time  of  lying  in.  On  receiving  her  sentence  she 
demanded  to  know  the  offence  charged  upon  her,  and 
the  brutish  refusal  to  this  request  given  her  by 
Fouquier,  together  with  her  unhappy  fate,  affected  her 
so  as  to  bring  on  premature  labour.  The  next  morn- 
ing, which  was  to  have  carried  her  to  the  guillotine, 
from  her  weak  state  she  was  suffered  to  remain  for 
another  time,  and  afterwards,  fortunately  for  her, 
among  the  crowd  of  prisoners  that  there  were,  she 
escaped  observation. 

"  The  chief  argument  that  Fouquier  made  use  of 
was  that  he  was  only  the  instrument  in  the  hands  of 
Robespierre  and  Barrere,  and  did  but  execute  their 
commands,  and  that,  as  Barrere  had  preserved  his 
life  and  was  only  to  be  transported,  it  was  very  hard 
that  he,  the  servant  only,  should  suffer ;  but  facts 
proved  that  he  was  a  hearty  accomplice  in  all  their 


134  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

guilt.  Fouquier-Tinville  was  the  President  of  the 
Revolutionary  Tribunal  at  the  time  when  France  was 
so  stained  with  innocent  blood,  and  the  jury  who  were 
now  on  their  trial  with  him  all  appeared  to  be  equal  in 
hardiness  and  guilt  with  himself.  The  open,  candid, 
and  patient  behaviour  of  the  Judges  and  President  now 
was  very  pleasing,  and  offered  a  striking  contrast  to 
what  was  laid  before  us,  the  conduct  of  the  then  culprits. 
The  populace  behind  was  very  noisy,  and  at  last  were 
so  provoked  by  the  impudence  of  Fouquier  and  one  or 
two  others  as  not  scarcely  to  suffer  them  to  speak." 

The  impudence  displayed,  as  Martha  Russell 
thought,  by  Fouquier  and  some  of  his  associates  was 
explained,  she  suggests,  by  thejr  knowledge  of  the 
plot  previously  described,  for  their  rescue.  "  My 
father  and  brother,"  Mary  Russell  writes,  "  went  to 
the  execution.  The  sixteen  condemned  men  were 
guillotined  in  thirteen  minutes.  Fouquier  was  the  last, 
and  as  the  multitude  showed  great  signs  of  joy  when 
he  mounted  the  scaffold,  he,  not  being  able  to  express 
the  resentment  he  felt  any  other  way,  turned  round 
and  grinned  at  them." 

At  this  point  the  younger  sister  mentions  that  she 
went  once  with  Martha  to  see  the  guillotine  erected 
for  an  execution.  They  thrilled  with  horror  at  behold- 
ing the  knife  which  had  deprived  so  many  innocent 
fellow-creatures  of  existence.  Then  they  walked 
away  in  the  direction  of  the  Champs  Elys^es,  but 
returned  another  way,  thinking  the  execution  was 
over.  To  their  great  distress,  however,  they  met  the 
poor  victim  going  in  a  cart,  with  his  neck  shaved,  and 


THE    REVOLUTION    AT    CLOSE    QUARTERS      135 

in  his  shirt  and  trousers.  He  was  a  mulatto,  and 
leader  of  an  insurrection  in  the  Faubourg  Antoine. 
"  We  were  not  only  hurt  by  seeing  the  poor  man  that 
was  to  be  soon  launched  into  eternity,  but  also  by 
meeting  such  throngs  of  people  going  with  the  great- 
est gaiety  to  witness  the  execution." 

Among  the  sights  that  shocked  the  girls  in  a  minor 
degree  was  the  deplorable  spoliation  of  the  churches. 
Round  some  of  the  most  famous  ecclesiastical  and 
other  buildings  they  were  escorted  by  General  Miranda, 
a  man  who  had  travelled  widely  in  four  continents, 
had  studied  the  Fine  Arts  in  Athens  and  Rome,  and 
who  perhaps  inspired  some  of  the  sound  if  rather 
obvious  aesthetic  criticism  which,  though  not  repro- 
duced here,  appears  in  the  young  ladies'  diaries. 

At  the  hospital  they  found  the  veteran  soldiers 
going  in  to  dinner. 

"  The  sight  of  the  long  tables  so  nicely  spread  for 
them,"  says  Martha,  "  was  very  pleasant.  Soup  plates, 
with  a  napkin  in  each,  were  set  all  round,  and  every- 
thing looked,  though  coarse,  as  clean  and  comfortable  as 
possible.  The  sight  of  so  many  poor  maimed  fellows 
as  you  here  meet  is  distressing,  but  to  see  how  happy 
they  are  altogether  does  one's  heart  good :  a  great 
many  with  wooden  legs,  and  some  without  arms,  others 
on  crutches  ;  all  merry,  and  singing,  or  laughing,  with 
their  pipes  smoking  away,  both  old  and  young  ;  but  the 
young  ones  I  could  not  but  look  upon  with  the  superior 
degree  of  veneration,  strange  as  it  may  seem  :  it  was 
because  they  had  been  maimed  in  fighting  for  the  liberty 
of  their  country." 


136  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

In  conversation  with  one  of  the  women  who 
showed  them  over  the  Hospital  the  Republican  young 
ladies  discovered  to  their  surprise  that  two  opinions 
prevailed  amongst  poor  people  as  to  the  effects  of 
the  Revolution.  The  men  in  power,  so  this  woman 
said,  did  not  know  what  they  would  be  at.  What 
they  had  done  one  day  they  would  undo  the  next. 
In  fact  the  country  was  going  to  destruction.  This 
despondency,  however,  Martha  attributes  to  the  per- 
sonal misfortunes  of  the  speaker — a  pretty  young 
woman  with  seven  small  children,  whose  husband 
was  disabled  by  rheumatism,  and  only  able  to  get 
for  them  all  one  pound  of  bread  a  day — and  that  only 
fit  for  pigs.  It  was  indeed  a  severe  winter  in  Paris. 
Food  and  fuel  were  scarce  and  costly.  Many  poor 
families  underwent  privations  "  compared  to  which 
even  the  fangs  of  despotism  they  had  not  thought 
hard." 

Bread,  we  read,  was  distributed  by  bakers  ap- 
pointed by  the  Sections  (private  sale  being  forbidden), 
and  before  you  could  get  any  of  it  you  must  obtain 
from  your  Section  a  card  testifying  to  the  number  of 
your  family.  During  the  greater  part  of  the  winter 
the  Russells,  being  six  in  family,  could  only  draw  one 
pound  a  day,  and  that  so  bad  that  if  you  threw  it 
against  the  wall  it  would  stick  there.  Many  days 
they  obtained  no  bread  at  all,  but  had  to  content 
themselves  with  one  or  two  mouldy  hard  biscuits  or 
with  rice,  and  for  this  their  man-servant  was  obliged 
to  stand  many  hours  ^  la  queue.  Poor  women  often 
waited  all  night  so  as  to  get  a  good  place  the  next 
morning.  In  a  general  way  they  stayed  peaceably 


THE    REVOLUTION    AT    CLOSE    QUARTERS     137 

side  by  side  chattering  and  laughing  (for  "  une  Fran- 
faise  feels  but  at  intervals").  But  too  often  the  miser- 
able objects  seen  in  the  streets  showed  that  there 
was  much  justification  for  the  cry,  Du  pain,  du  bain 
pour  nous  et  pour  nos  pauvres  enfants. 

Presently  this  famous  experiment  in  municipal 
trading  was  given  up  as  a  proved  failure,  and  bread 
became  both  cheaper  and  better. 

Authentic  accounts  of  the  prevailing  distress  were 
given  to  the  Russells  by  a  Mile.  Dulens,  whose  father 
was  a  member  of  the  Faubourg  Saint  Antoine  Section 
— where  most  of  the  ouvriers  lived.  But  the  hard- 
ship was  by  no  means  confined  to  the  working  classes 
— "  many  of  the  deputies  and  wives  of  deputies  made 
away  with  themselves."  One  fine  young  woman, 
wife  of  a  deputy,  threw  herself  out  of  a  window  just 
opposite  the  Russells'  hotel. 

"  The  dismal  histories  we  were  continually  hearing 
from  those  we  fell  in  company  with  about  the  suffer- 
ings that  they  and  their  friends  had  endured  in  the 
time  of  Robespierre  made  one's  heart  shrink  within 
one.  Never  were  we  in  company  when  more  than 
two  were  present  who  had  not  been  in  prison.  Often, 
very  often,  did  it  happen  that  not  one  present  had 
escaped,  and  the  sufferings  they  had  there  experienced 
were  as  little  to  be  imagined  as  the  causes  of  their 
imprisonment.  .  .  . 

"  Among  our  friends  was  the  sister-in-law  of  Brissot. 
Her  order  for  arrest  I  read  myself,  and  the  cause  of 
it  was  solely  for  being  la  belle-sozur  de  Brissot.  In 
short  it  is  now  considered  as  an  honour  and  a  card  of 


138  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

civism  to  have  been  in  arrest.  Brissot's  mother  and 
this  sister-in-law  were  among  the  friends  we  saw 
oftenest.  Once  we  had  the  melancholy  pleasure  of 
being  in  company  with  the  wife  of  Petion  and  the 
daughter  and  only  child  of  the  unfortunate  and  great 
Madame  Roland.  She  is  an  uncommonly  interesting 
girl,  has  a  fine  open  countenance,  and  a  degree  of 
simplicity  in  her  manners  and  dress  seldom  met  with 
among  the  French." 

A  certain  alarm  was  caused  in  Paris  on  the  First  of 
Prairial  (May  20)  by  the  report  which  the  Russell 
ladies  received  from  their  drawing-master — it  was  said 
that  the  Mountain  that  day  would  make  another  great 
effort.  The  girls  went  out  at  noon  and  returned  with- 
out molestation.  But  during  their  absence  their 
father  and  Captain  Prebble  had  felt  some  anxiety,  as 
they  had  seen  some  well-dressed  ladies  being  led  to 
the  Convention  by  a  party  of  fish-women.  The  streets 
were  filled  with  parties  of  these  furies — apparently 
drunk  with  passion.  After  dinner  the  Russells  wit- 
nessed the  ducking  of  a  Muscadin  in  one  of  the 
Tuileries  ponds.  Meantime,  several  guns  had  been 
brought  into  the  garden  and  turned  upon  the  Conven- 
tion. The  Faubourg  Antoine  had  assembled,  and 
sent  a  deputation  to  the  Convention  to  state  what  laws 
they  desired  to  be  passed.  The  guns  were  to  back 
up  their  demand ! 

"  After  dinner  the  gentlemen  walked  out  and  found 
the  streets  filled  with  armed  men ;  they  were  obliged 
to  go  out  armed,  no  one  being  now  suffered  to  walk 


THE    REVOLUTION    AT    CLOSE    QUARTERS     139 

the  streets  without ;  several  times  were  they  stopped, 
but  showing  their  American  passports  secured  them. 
After  tea  Mr.  Prebble  leftjus,  but  Mr.  Skipwith  seemed 
rather  fearful  of  venturing  alone  lest  he  might  get 
ducked  for  a  Muscadin,  as  he  was  neatly  dressed. 
However,  after  putting  on  the  shabbiest  greatcoat  we 
could  find,  and  hiding  his  little  cane  under  it,  he 
walked  off,  though  with  a  pale  face.  .  .  . 

"  The  number  of  reports  we  heard  through  the  day 
was  astonishing :  the  disturbances  continued  through  the 
night ;  by  three  o'clock  the  next  day  troops  arrived, 
but  all  in  great  disorder.  In  the  evening  Mr.  Kearney 
brought  us  an  account  that  the  insurgents  had  gained 
possession  of  the  arsenal,  and  that  he  much  feared 
the  party  for  the  Convention  would  be  overpowered. 
The  struggle  through  this  night  was  severe  indeed. 
Feraud,  one  of  the  members  of  the  Convention,  was 
killed  in  the  Convention  itself,  and  through  the  night 
this  body  was  insulted  in  the  most  alarming  manner  by 
the  Jacobin  party.  But  the  sitting  was  declared  per- 
manent, and  the  members  remained  at  their  posts. 
Boissy  d'Anglas  showed  much  courage  as  President. 
The  next  day  more  troops  arrived  ;  in  the  evening 
they  went  round  the  Faubourg  Antoine  and  made 
prisoners  of  the  principal  conspirators  ;  we  saw  them 
brought  up  in  much  triumph  by  the  horse  soldiers  to 
the  Surety  General.  The  next  day  the  guillotine  was 
erected  and  the  principal  of  them  executed." 

Then  everybody  was  happy  and  comfortable  again. 


CHAPTER   X 

SOCIAL  LIFE  IN   PARIS  (1795) 

Reviving  gaiety  of  Paris — Carriages  in  the  streets — Dress  of  children  and 
women — Food  of  the  people — Theatre-going — Mary  Russell  on  the 
French  drama — Stage  realism — Teaching  of  the  deaf  and  dumb — 
Sicard's  system — A  clever,  good  girl — Visit  to  a  convent — Hardships 
of  the  Sisters  during  the  Revolution — The  days  of  terror — A  charm- 
ing Englishman — William  Russell's  commercial  undertaking — Claim 
for  damages  against  the  French  Government — Captain  Prebble — 
Purchase  of  properties  in  France — Preparations  for  the  voyage  to 
New  York — Live-stock  on  board. 

"  THE  longer  we  stayed  in  Paris,"  wrote  Mary  Russell, 
"  the  gayer  it  became.  Every  day  seemed  to  add 
something  to  it.  The  people  were  by  degrees  recover- 
ing from  the  times  of  terror  during  Robespierre's 
reign,  when  every  one  was  afraid  of  appearing  not 
merely  smart  but  even  clean."  The  two  girls — though 
they  dutifully  studied  French  and  drawing — threw 
themselves  heartily  into  the  social  life  of  the  city. 
They  were  delighted,  as  healthy-minded  young 
Englishwomen  should  be,  with  walking  in  the  Palais 
Royal,  which  was  then  the  fashionable  shopping-place 
for  Parisian  ladies.  The  cheapness  and  beauty  of  the 
shops  were,  they  declared,  indescribable,  especially 
when  they  were  lighted  up  in  the  evening.  When  the 
ladies  first  drove  out  in  their  carriage  they  had  encoun- 
tered some  unpleasantness,  being  pointed  at  and  called 

Aristocrats — a   form   of  infamy   which   the   ordinary 

140 


SOCIAL    LIFE    IN    PARIS    (1795)  141 

unregenerate  person  is  apt  to  enjoy  unless  the  demo- 
cratic censure  takes  too  material  a  form,  as,  for  instance, 
on  their  first  outing,  when  a  man  had  "aimed  a  large 
stick  at  the  glass  and  threatened  much."  After  a 
little  time,  however,  the  streets  were  filled  with 
carriages,  and  no  further  trouble  was  experienced. 

Martha  Russell  was  "disgusted,"  she  says,  with 
the  manner  in  which  French  children  generally  used 
to  be  dressed — like  little  men  and  women.  But 
already  this  fashion  was  wearing  out  and  the  English 
simplicity  adopted. 

"The  method  of  swaddling  the  infants  is  terrible. 
They  are  girded  round  and  round  as  tight  as  possible 
with  a  broad  band  of  dimity  and  then  rolled  up  tight 
in  a  piece  of  thick  flannel,  the  head  only  coming  out, 
and  the  flannel  doubled  about  the  feet  and  bound  as 
tight  as  possible,  so  that  the  poor  thing  cannot  stir 
any  one  of  its  limbs  and  feels  more  like  a  mummy  or 
that  sort  of  statue  called  Hermes,  viz.  a  long  block  of 
stone  with  a  head  at  the  top.  It  is  certainly  owing  to 
this  circumstance  that  many  more  deformed  people  are 
seen  among  the  French  than  the  English." 

Nevertheless,  Martha  notes  that  Frenchwomen 
in  general  have  good  shapes,  carry  themselves  well, 
and  walk  much  better  than  the  English.  This  obser- 
vation may  be  comforting  to  English  ladies  of  our 
own  days,  who  are  often  reproached  with  falling  away 
from  the  ease  and  grace  displayed  by  their  ancestresses 
of  three  or  four  generations  ago. 


142  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

"  Of  wine  an  astonishing  quantity  is  drunk  in  Paris, 
it  being  the  common  beverage.  They  have  no  water 
but  that  of  the  Seine,  which  is  conveyed  to  different 
parts  by  pipes,  where  are  fountains  from  which  men 
carry  it  about  the  city  in  buckets.  It  is  very  un- 
pleasant, dirty  water,  and  on  the  least  rain  very  thick. 
Most  of  the  floors  are  of  large  red  brick  or  tile, 
except  the  state  rooms  or  saloons,  which  are  of  bright 
oak  inlaid  in  different  forms.  The  tile  floors  and 
stone  staircases  are  very  generally  a  great  preserva- 
tion against  fire.  The  common  people  live  chiefly 
on  bread,  butter,  hard  eggs,  fruit,  salad  and  rice. 
They  make  little  use  of  tea,  but  are  immoderately 
fond  of  coffee.  The  coffee-houses  here  are  as  nume- 
rous as  the  ale-houses  in  England." 

"  French  people,"  says  Martha  Russell,  "  would  sell 
the  clothes  from  their  backs  rather  than  give  up  theatre- 
going."  This  taste  seems  to  have  been  rather  quickly 
acquired  by  two  young  Englishwomen  then  resident 
in  Paris,  though,  to  be  sure,  Mary  Russell  accounts 
for  their  assiduity  by  saying  that  it  was  the  best 
means  of  perfecting  themselves  in  the  French  language. 
She  was  a  little  disappointed,  however,  at  the  Theatre 
de  la  R^publique,  which  they  visited  a  few  days 
after  their  arrival  in  Paris.  The  actors  were  very 
few,  the  scene  never  changed,  and  the  house,  though 
good,  was  not  equal  to  the  New  Drury.  It  was 
badly  lighted  and  "the  company  by  no  means  smart." 
But  the  girls  were  not  discouraged ;  thirteen  other 
theatres  were  open,  and  in  time  Mary  Russell  qualified 
as  a  critic  of  the  drama.  "The  French,"  she  says, 


SOCIAL    LIFE    IN    PARIS    (1795)  143 

with  delicious  juvenile  confidence,  "exceed  the  Eng- 
lish in  comedy,  though  in  tragedy  they  cannot  dispute 
the  palm." 

"  Their  comedies  in  general  are  full  of  good  moral 
sentiments,  and  have  none  of  those  low  scenes  which 
are  too  often  introduced  on  the  English  stage.  I 
never  hardly  went  to  an  English  play  without  being 
disgusted  with  some  immodest  sentiment,  but  never 
saw  anything  of  the  kind  here,  though  in  general 
their  manners  are  more  free  than  the  English — I  mean 
the  manners  of  the  people  in  general.  One  piece 
called  Fdnelon  we  were  particularly  struck  with.  It 
is  the  most  interesting  thing  I  ever  saw.  The 
chief  of  the  scenes  are  in  a  convent  where  the  Lady 
Abbess  and  all  the  nuns  appear  just  in  the  dresses 
they  used  to  wear.  Another  very  pretty  piece  we 
saw  was  called  William,  Tell,  where  the  father  shot 
the  apple  off  his  son's  head.  We  went  with  Mrs. 
Imlay  to  the  opera ;  it  was  one  of  the  most  famous 
ones  called  Castor  and  Pollux.  The  scenery  and 
dancing  were  excellent.  The  manner  in  which  they 
managed  their  scenes  was  very  ingenious.  They 
seemed  to  rise  out  of  the  ground  in  a  very  quick 
manner.  One  scene  was  very  pretty  in  which  he 
was  taken  up  to  heaven  in  a  triumphal  car.  The 
scenery  then  changed  to  heaven,  and  he  descended 
apparently  in  the  midst  of  the  clouds.  The  scenery 
of  heaven  was  more  beautiful  than  anything  I  ever 
saw.  We  saw  a  representation  of  heaven  and  hell  at 
the  opera  in  London,  but  the  French  heaven  was,  I 
must  confess,  much  superior  in  taste  and  beauty  to 


144  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

the  English,  though  the  English  hell  was  far   more 
terrific  and  dreadful  than  the  French. 

"  Vestris,  the  famous  dancer,  was  ill  this  evening 
and  could  not  perform.  We  therefore  went  again 
some  time  after  to  see  him  perform.  The  opera  was 
called  Telemachus — it  was  very  well  acted.  Vestris 
danced  wonderfully.  It  is  almost  incredible  with 
what  agility  and  ease  he  danced.  Several  of  the 
girls  danced  exceeding  well.  The  opera  house  is 
a  very  fine  one,  but  not  equal,  in  my  opinion,  to  the 
New  Drury  in  London.  Both  the  play  and  opera 
in  Paris  are  exceeding  cheap,  not  a  third  of  what  they 
are  in  England." 

An  instructive  day  was  spent  on  May  4th,  when 
the  party  visited  the  Academy  for  the  Deaf  and 
Dumb. 

"  The  Abbe"  Sicard,  the  governor,  when  we  en- 
tered was  delivering  his  lecture  to  the  poor  subjects, 
which  he  does  publicly  three  times  a  week.  I  regretted 
we  had  not  come  earlier  to  have  heard  the  begin- 
ning, but  learned  that  he  divided  all  words  into  different 
families,  making  his  pupils  understand  and  express 
many  things  by  signs.  Morning  he  represented  by 
putting  the  fingers  of  the  right  hand  behind  the  back 
of  the  left,  and  causing  them  to  rise  up  gradually  to 
represent  the  rising  sun  :  time  past,  by  passing  the 
right  hand  quickly  over  the  left ;  a  large  number  by 
closing  the  fingers  of  one  hand  over  those  of  the  other  ; 
giving,  by  laying  the  hand  upon  you  and  letting  it 
remain  some  time  ;  lending,  laying  the  hand  upon 


SOCIAL    LIFE    IN    PARIS    (1795)  145 

you  and  taking  it  away  quickly  ;  asking  to  borrow  and 
beg,  by  laying  your  hand  the  same  way  upon  them- 
selves ;  building,  putting  the  hands  repeatedly  and 
quickly  one  over  the  back  of  the  other. 

"  When  we  entered,  one  of  the  pupils,  a  young  man 
of  perhaps  twenty-one,  was  explaining  to  the  others 
the  use  of  the  definite  article,  and,  as  a  sign  of  it,  drew 
a  semicircular  score  from  one  word  to  another  where 
it  was  wanted.  He  explained  it  by  tying  a  piece  of 
string  to  his  watch  and  then  to  himself,  and  giving 
the  watch  afterwards  to  another ;  he  then  wrote  his 
name,  Massieu,  and  the  word  '  watch,'  and  drew  a  line 
from  one  to  the  other,  which  showed  them  the  watch 
tied  to  Massieu. 

"  The  Abbe"  Sicard  is  a  most  humane  and  ingenious 
man,  and  deserves  the  highest  encomium  for  the  un- 
remitting attention  he  pays  these  poor  unfortunates. 
Massieu  was  an  acquaintance  of  our  friend  Mr.  White, 
and  we  invited  him  to  return  and  dine  with  us,  which 
pleased  him  highly,  and  equally  gratified  us.  As  we 
walked  along  he  conversed  chiefly  with  Mr.  White 
by  signs,  and  interested  us  most  amazingly.  His 
countenance  is  lively,  and  expressive  of  great  sensibility 
and  quickness ;  not  the  least  vacancy,  but  everything 
opposite  to  it.  He  wrote  a  most  excellent  hand  and 
with  the  greatest  ease,  and  thus  with  a  slate  and 
pencil  conversed  with  us  most  freely.  All  his  answers 
or  questions  were  sensible,  and  discovered  him  to  be 
well  informed  on  every  subject  started,  which  from 
curiosity,  were  not  a  few.  He  wrote  and  seemed  to 
understand  English  as  well  as  French,  and  never  all 
the  day  spelt  one  word  wrong  in  either,  or  committed 

K 


146  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

the  least  grammatical  error  that  we  observed.  He  is 
the  most  excellent  mimic  I  ever  saw,  and  acted  a 
monkey,  lion,  and  President  of  the  Convention,  Louis 
XVI.,  Marie  Antoinette,  Virtue,  Vice,  a  coquette,  a 
gallant,  &c.,  most  wonderfully.  He  delighted  us  so 
much  that  we  urged  him  at  parting  to  repeat  his  visit 
frequently,  to  which  he  appeared  to  have  no  objection. 
He  was  very  inquisitive  to  know  our  history,  and 
seemed  very  sorry  to  learn  we  were  going  to  leave 
France,  telling  us  about  a  sister  he  had  who  was  also 
deaf  and  dumb.  He  said  she  was  a  clever,  good  girl 
— she  never  laughed  but  when  there  was  occasion." 

An  admirable  definition  of  a  clever,  good  girl ! 
This  much  abbreviated  account  of  the  sisters'  ex- 
periences and  observations  in  Paris  may  be  wound  up 
with  Martha's  description  of  their  visit  to  a  convent  of 
English  nuns.  They  were  taken  to  it  by  their  friend 
Mr.  Kearney,  formerly  Head  of  the  Irish  College,  but 
(so  it  may  be  inferred)  withdrawn  from  active  exercise 
of  his  orders.  Their  interest  in  this  particular  convent 
was  due  to  a  letter  from  Mr.  Skey,  a  friend  of  one  of 
the  White  Nuns  (Mrs.  Fitz-Herbert),  and  intimately 
associated  with  the  Russells. 

"  On  Monday  morning,  the  loth  of  April,  we  took  a 
walk  to  their  residence,  situated  in  Rue  Sainte  Victoire 
— the  house  the  White  Nuns  have  always  occupied. 
There  were  formerly  in  Paris  three  sorts  of  English 
nuns,  the  White,  Black,  and  Blue ;  all  that  now 
remain  of  each  reside  in  one  building.  The  one 
among  them  Mr.  Kearney  was  most  acquainted  with 


SOCIAL    LIFE    IN    PARIS    (1795)  147 

and  for  whom  he  inquired  was  the  youngest  among 
the  Blue  Nuns.  The  house  stands  in  a  court  back 
from  the  street.  On  ringing  the  bell  a  portress 
appeared,  who  accosted  us  in  English,  which  at 
first  surprised  us,  not  immediately  recollecting  that  it 
was  among  our  own  countrywomen  we  were  going. 
Having  inquired  for  Sister  Theresa,  Mr.  Kearney's 
acquaintance,  we  were  desired  to  walk  in  the  garden 
till  they  should  call  her.  There  we  found  a  very 
pleasing  retreat  consisting  of  delightful  walks,  shaded 
by  fine  old  trees.  We  had  not  walked  many  minutes 
before  Sister  Theresa  appeared  with  another  Sister, 
also  known  to  Mr.  Kearney.  They  both  accosted  us  in 
the  most  affectionate  manner,  after  the  French  fashion, 
with  a  salute  on  each  cheek.  The  open  simplicity  of 
their  manner,  and  the  unfeigned  pleasure  they  testified 
on  seeing  us,  their  countrywomen,  much  increased  the 
interest  I  before  felt  in  their  situation,  and  I  believe 
we  all  felt  much  more  like  old  friends  than  new 
acquaintances. 

"  We  were,  as  is  natural  to  suppose,  fully  employed 
answering  the  numerous  questions  of  our  friends  con- 
cerning their  native  land,  from  which  they  had  not 
seen  any  person  for  many  years,  and  also  concerning 
our  own  sufferings  and  expectations. 

"  Their  ignorance  of  the  world  and  all  passing  there 
much  astonished  us.  After  we  had  a  little  gratified 
their  curiosity,  they  began  to  recount  to  us  their 
sufferings,  which  they  appeared  to  think  greater 
than  any  one  else's,  though  in  fact  to  those  who  had 
been  in  the  world  (or  rather  in  France)  they  were 
scarcely  to  be  named  as  sufferings,  when  compared 


148  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

with  what  others  had  to  recount.  The  having  to 
leave  off  their  nuns'  dress  seemed  to  be  their  greatest 
trial,  and  was  looked  upon  by  them  as  a  most  severe 
one.  The  next  grievance  was  that  they  had  been 
brought  from  their  own  convent.  They  in  common 
with  others  had  suffered  from  a  scarcity  of  provisions, 
though  this  they  laid  little  stress  upon.  Their 
property  had  been  seized,  and  they  had  scarcely 
anything  to  live  upon,  but  this  they  seemed  to  esteem 
a  trifle  in  comparison  with  having  been  forced  to 
quit  their  beloved  convent  and  lay  aside  their  vestal 
attire.  These  nuns  had  never  been  in  prison,  but 
were  sent  here  from  their  own  convent.  They 
acknowledged  having  been  treated  very  kindly  by  the 
White  Nuns,  to  whom  the  house  belonged. 

"  The  Black  Nuns  only  had  been  in  prison,  and  they 
had  suffered  much,  having  been  sent  to  Vincennes, 
with  a  number  of  other  unfortunate  people,  among 
whom  were  several  profligate  women — from  some  of 
whom  the  nuns  received  great  kindnesses.  This 
house  in  the  time  of  Robespierre  had  been  used  as 
a  prison  for  some  Englishwomen  and  a  few  friends 
of  distinction.  Happy  was  it  for  those  who  happened 
to  be  sent  here,  as  in  all  probability  there  was  not 
in  or  near  Paris,  perhaps  not  in  all  France,  another 
place  of  arrestation  so  comfortable.  The  liberty  of 
rambling  in  the  garden,  with  the  solacing  society 
and  good  offices  of  the  nuns,  who  studiously  did  all 
in  their  power  to  relieve  their  distress,  were  allevia- 
tions but  too  sadly  contrasted  in  the  other  prisons. 
In  these  sad  times  our  friend  witnessed  many  trying 
and  heart-wringing  scenes ;  amiable  and  charming 


SOCIAL    LIFE    IN    PARIS    (1795)  149 

women,  with  whom  she  had  formed  a  feeling  at- 
tachment, suddenly  and  without  notice  or  reason 
dragged  from  her  to  the  guillotine  by  the  ferocious 
%ens  d'armes,  on  whom  prayers,  entreaties,  or  any 
signs  of  distress  had  no  other  effect  than  exciting 
laughter  and  derision.  A  rap  at  the  outer  gate  was 
never  heard  by  any  of  them  without  raising  terror 
and  dismay  not  to  be  described  or  imagined,  and 
numerous  were  the  tryingly  affecting  scenes  which 
passed  in  this  place  only,  during  that  horrid  reign 
of  terror  and  cruelty.  What  then  can  be  said  or 
thought  of  those  passing  in  the  numerous  other 
prisons,  all  of  which  were  as  a  dungeon  to  a  palace 
when  compared  with  this  ? 

"  The  present  dress  of  these  nuns  was  neat  and 
clean — cotton  gowns,  delicately  white  handkerchiefs 
and  aprons,  mob  caps,  with  borders  quilled,  close 
round  the  face,  and  little  plain  black  bonnets. 
Theresa  begged  to  introduce  us  to  her  Mother 
Abbess  and  the  rest  of  the  Sisters  ;  we  were  therefore 
shown  upstairs.  The  house  was  large,  and  seemed 
to  consist  entirely  of  long  galleries  with  small  rooms 
on  each  side,  which  served  as  cells  for  the  nuns, 
five  of  whom  had  died  since  their  arrest.  Theresa 
said  in  consequence  of  it  there  were  now  only 
seventeen  of  the  Black  Nuns.  The  Lady  Abbess 
we  found  to  be  a  very  cheerful,  good-humoured 
woman ;  she  had  nothing  at  all  of  the  morose  about 
her,  which  I  had  expected  to  have  seen,  and  all 
the  Sisters  appeared  so  likewise,  and  greatly  attached 
to  each  other ;  in  short  I  could  not  but  be  much 
pleased  as  well  as  surprised  at  the  simple,  truthful  life 


150  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

they  led  in  the  midst  of  this  disordered  city.  They 
had  no  idea  of  the  distress  that  had  been  felt  there, 
never  having  been  beyond  their  own  door,  and 
spending  their  time  in  praying,  reading,  and  working. 
After  sitting  a  little  while  we  took  leave,  not  without 
first  promising  to  pay  them  another  visit  soon,  and 
offering  to  execute  any  little  commissions  they  might 
have  in  the  city.  It  was  not  long  before  we  fulfilled 
our  promise,  and  sending  our  man  one  morning  with 
two  meat  pies,  some  cakes,  tea,  sugar,  &c.,  Mr. 
Kearney,  Mary,  and  I  went  in  the  afternoon  to 
taste  the  tea  with  them,  and  thereby  made  them 
very  happy.  In  the  course  of  our  first  visit  Theresa 
had  given  us  each  a  curious  satin  pin-cushion  of  her 
own  making  as  a  keepsake,  and  in  return  for  mine 
I  now  took  her  a  red  morocco  thread-case,  which 
seemed  to  please  very  much.  She  was  yet  quite 
young,  although  it  was  six  years  since  she  had  taken 
the  veil.  There  was  something  very  interesting  in 
her  manner  as  well  as  graceful  in  her  person,  though 
I  found  more  to  admire  in  the  former  than  in  the 
latter. 

"  The  next  time  we  visited  this  convent,  to  our  great 
astonishment  we  found  Theresa  gone  to  England 
with  three  other  Sisters  and  the  priest.  Never  was 
I  more  surprised.  We  had  several  times  proposed 
it  to  her,  really  wishing  to  see  her  released,  as  her 
health  was  evidently  much  impaired,  and  I  thought 
she  was  going  into  a  decline.  She  appeared  to  have 
such  a  dread  of  going  into  the  world  that  I  should 
have  supposed  nothing  hardly  could  have  overcome : 
but  it  seems  hard  living  and  the  fear  of  a  decline  had 


driven  her  to  it,  for  they  had  really  not  enough  to 
subsist  upon.  She  and  those  who  accompanied  her 
applied  for  passports,  though  without  the  smallest 
expectation  of  obtaining  them,  which,  however,  they 
did,  and  were  ordered  to  leave  the  city  in  forty -eight 
hours  after,  so  that  no  choice  or  time  for  deliberation 
was  allowed  them.  Our  visit  this  time  was  to  one 
of  the  White  Nuns,  for  whom  we  had  been  requested 
to  inquire  by  letters  from  England.  A  neighbour 
of  our  friend  Mr.  James  Skey  (Mrs.  Homeholds)  had  a 
sister  here,  of  whom  she  had  not  heard  for  two  years, 
and  he  wrote  to  ask  that  we  would  inquire  for  her. 
This  commission  we  executed  with  much  pleasure, 
and  found  Mrs.  Fitz- Herbert,  the  lady  in  question, 
a  most  worthy,  good  woman.  She  was  exceedingly 
gratified  to  receive  news  of  her  friends,  and  more  so 
with  the  opportunity  offered  her  of  writing  to  them. 
Mrs.  Fitz- Herbert  was  about  forty  years  of  age,  had 
received  a  good  education,  and  had  superintended  the 
education  of  eight  Sisters,  all  of  whom  had  been  in 
the  convent  under  her  care.  She  alone  had  taken 
the  veil. 

"She  showed  us  up  into  her  little  room,  or  cell, 
which  was  charmingly  pleasant,  being  at  the  corner 
of  the  house,  and  having  a  window  each  way.  Each 
of  them  presented  a  sweet,  though  different  view  ; 
from  one  was  seen  an  extensive  part  of  the  city  with 
the  country  beyond  it,  and  from  the  other  nothing 
but  the  fine,  stately  trees  and  close,  retired  walks  of 
their  own  garden.  Here  were  the  cooing  wood- 
pigeon  and  sweet  warbling  blackbird  striving  to 
welcome  us  to  their  hallowed  retreat,  for  they  began 


152  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

tuning  their  sweet  notes  as  soon  as  we  entered  the 
room.  This  little  cell  was  cleanliness  itself,  the  walls 
as  white  as  snow,  and  also  the  little  calico  bed  and 
coverlid ;  the  door  and  chest  of  drawers  were  oak  as 
bright  as  a  mirror.  In  one  corner  was  a  little  row 
of  shelves  filled  with  books,  opposite  to  it  a  large 
crucifix,  and  under  that  a  St.  Augustine,  the  saint 
of  this  convent,  and  at  the  bed's  head  was  suspended 
another,  but  very  small,  crucifix.  The  floor  was  so 
clean  you  might  have  eaten  off  it,  especially  after 
you  had  been  accustomed  a  little  to  the  French  filth. 
To  us,  who  had  now  seen  a  great  deal  of  it,  the  sight 
of  this  room  was  a  real  treat.  We  visited  Mrs.  Fitz- 
Herbert  several  times,  and  always  found  much  pleasure 
in  her  society.  Among  the  Blue  Nuns  is  the  Vis- 
countess of  Stafford,  who  has  a  pension  of  £200  per 
annum,  or  rather  ought  to  have,  for  she  has  not 
received  it  for  the  last  two  years.  She  is  an  odd- 
looking  old  woman  of  fifty  years  of  age  and  half 
crazy." 

Mrs.  Fitz- Herbert  fairly  captivated  the  whole 
Russell  family,  even  Mary,  the  staunch  anti-clerical, 
who  had  disapproved  of  the  decree  by  which  the 
Convention  restored  liberty  of  worship.  She  had 
agreed  with  people  who  "  looked  beyond  the  present 
moment,"  and  feared  that  its  influence  would  be  bad : 
the  "  priests  might  regain  their  power  and  corrupt 
the  minds  of  the  people."  On  William  Russell  the 
impression  produced  by  the  good-looking  and  pleasant- 
mannered  Mrs.  Fitz- Herbert  was  still  more  favour- 
able— she  had,  he  told  James  Skey,  much  elevated 


SOCIAL    LIFE    IN    PARIS    (1795)  153 

his  conception  of  a  nun.  Her  agreeable  conversa- 
tion and  refined  bearing  were  much  superior  to  his 
expectation.  But  what,  perhaps,  most  surprised  him 
was  her  refusal  to  take  money  for  her  charities.  He 
was  ready,  he  wrote,  to  give  her  ^500,  but  she  would 
only  accept  £5.  Probably  in  his  English  experience 
he  had  never  before  encountered  a  religious  person 
who  was  not  beating  up  subscriptions. 

His  correspondence  at  this  period  relates  chiefly 
to  his  business  concerns.  He  had  at  last  come  up 
with  the  letters  withheld  during  his  five  months  of 
captivity,  and  began  to  understand — what  had  given 
him  so  much  anxiety  while  he  was  a  prisoner  of  war 
— the  long  silence  of  his  friends  in  England,  especi- 
ally of  his  brother  and  late  partner,  George  Russell. 
When  the  rumour  was  first  received  in  Birmingham 
that  the  English  passengers  on  the  Mary  had  been 
seized  by  the  French  it  was  discredited,  and,  even 
when  confirmed  in  William  Russell's  letters  from 
Brest,  his  friends,  not  unnaturally,  assumed  that  he 
would  almost  immediately  be  released.  The  pro- 
longation of  their  captivity  was  as  unexpected  in 
England  as  it  was  unexplained  in  France. 

Russell,  with  the  courage  and  persistence  dis- 
played against  his  persecutors  in  Birmingham,  now 
set  himself  to  get  damages  from  the  Republic,  and 
filed  a  claim  for  the  expenses  incurred  through  his 
capture  and  for  the  maintenance  of  himself  and 
family  in  prison.  To  the  end  of  his  stay  in  Paris 
he  seems  to  have  persevered  in  the  sanguine  belief 
that  he  would  obtain  satisfaction.  His  more  practical 
thoughts,  however,  were  devoted  to  complicated 


154  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

dealings  in  various  kinds  of  merchandise  and  to  setting 
up  Prebble  as  master  and  owner  of  a  ship.  He  had 
withdrawn  the  captain  from  a  seafaring  life,  hoping 
to  make  him  useful  in  a  more  profitable  line  of  busi- 
ness. Finding,  however,  that  the  experiment  was 
not  successful,  he  resolved,  with  his  accustomed  gene- 
rosity, to  reinstate  Prebble  in  his  old  profession.  His 
first  hope  was  to  purchase  the  Mary  for  him,  but 
she  had  been  lost  at  sea,  so  he  set  aside  ^1500  for 
acquiring  a  similar  vessel.  He  was  also  concerned 
in  the  purchase  of  large  plots  of  house  property  in 
Paris,  and  of  a  considerable  estate  near  Caen,  the 
Abbey  Ardennes.  In  these  monetary  transactions  he 
does  not  seem  to  have  been  altogether  successful, 
being  disposed  to  place  overmuch  reliance  in  agents 
or  partners  whom  he  had  not  sufficiently  tested. 
Some  of  them,  as  was  to  be  expected,  took  advan- 
tage of  his  generous  confidence.  Nor  does  he  seem 
to  have  considered  adequately  the  position  in  which 
he  had  placed  himself,  while  still  a  British  subject, 
by  purchasing  landed  property  in  France  while  the 
two  countries  were  at  war.  It  is  true  that  his  fixed 
purpose  was  to  reside  permanently  in  the  United 
States  and  become  a  naturalised  American.  But 
having,  as  it  appears,  entertained  and  firmly  rejected 
the  idea  of  applying  to  be  made  a  French  citizen,  he 
should  have  taken  into  account  the  possibility — soon 
to  be  realised — of  strained  relations  arising  between 
the  two  Republics. 

Apart  from  what  then  seemed  the  impossibility 
of  his  ever  wishing  to  live  again  in  England  (which 
would  introduce  a  special  set  of  difficulties),  his  legal 


SOCIAL    LIFE    IN    PARIS    (1795)  155 

advisers  should  have  warned  him  of  the  embarrass- 
ments that  might  befall  a  person  not  a  French  citizen 
who  should  acquire  property  in  France. 

His  original  purpose  had  been  to  stay  on  in  Paris 
till  the  autumn.  But  by  midsummer  he  had  com- 
pleted his  business  arrangements,  while  his  family, 
somewhat  disillusioned  with  Revolution  principles  as 
seen  in  operation  at  close  quarters  in  Paris,  were 
eager  to  embark  for  America,  which  they  were  sure 
would  realise  their  dreams  of  a  Land  of  Tranquillity 
and  Peace. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  take  note  of  the  pro- 
visions collected  by  William  Russell  for  the  voyage 
on  the  Nancy.  He  ordered  large  quantities  of  beef, 
pork,  and  salmon  in  cases,  while  his  daughters  asked 
for  a  good  stock  of  preserves  (currants,  gooseberries, 
cherries,  strawberries,  and  bilberries).  The  bottled 
peas  did  not  answer,  we  read,  but  satisfaction  was 
given  by  a  fine  store  of  prunes  and  figs.  Then  there 
were  tamarinds,  biscuits,  and  drugs,  good  French 
brandy,  wine,  and  cider,  porter;  cheese,  gingerbreads, 
eggs  in  salt,  butter,  and  dried  haricots. 

With  these  stores  was  to  be  a  good  supply  of 
live  stock.  Russell  instructs  his  agents  at  Havre  to 
provide  him  with  a  goat  (fresh  milk)  which  had 
previously  gone  to  sea  ;  five  dozen  fowls  ;  three  dozen 
ducks  ;  some  fat,  middle-sized  porkets  (not  too  large), 
and  a  sow  with  sucking-pigs  eight  or  ten  days  old. 

Evidently  the  travellers  felt  no  misgivings  about 
their  digestions  at  sea. 


CHAPTER   XI 
FROM  PARIS   TO  NEW  YORK 

Reflections  on  leaving  Paris — By  coach  to  Havre — A  French  rural 
scene — A  little  white  cat — Dirty  Rouen — Normandy  caps— William 
Russell's  visit  to  Abbey  Ardennes — Boarding  the  Nancy — Rough 
weather — Suitable  reflections — Cards  under  difficulties — The  re- 
covered ham — A  notable  anniversary — Land  in  sight — Beautiful 
America. 

ON  June  25,  1795,  the  Russell  family,  travelling  in 
their  own  coach  with  hired  horses,  started  from  Paris 
for  Havre  en  route  for  New  York.  The  weather, 
recorded  Martha,  favoured  their  flight  as  they  rattled 
down  the  Rue  Honore  and  passed  the  Place  Victoire. 
She  departed  without  regret  from  the  city  which  about 
six  months  before  she  had  entered  with  hope,  affection, 
and  enthusiasm.  One  tear  she  shed — on  passing,  in  the 
Rue  Florentine,  the  windows  of  their  "  great  and  good 
friend  General  Miranda."  In  the  sorrow  of  parting 
she  was  grateful  that  she  had  ever  been  allowed  to 
know  such  a  man.  On  driving  through  the  Place  de 
la  Revolution  the  girl  thought  sadly  of  the  hundreds 
and  thousands  of  guillotined  persons,  and  confessed 
on  leaving  the  French  people  that  her  original  ideas 
of  their  Revolution  had  been  somewhat  modified. 

The  first  stage  ended  at  Gaillon — "  a  poor,  miser- 
able dirty  town,  as  all  French  towns  are,"  remarks  Mary 

Russell ;  but  near  it  was  a  fine  castle  once  belonging 

156 


FROM    PARIS    TO    NEW    YORK  157 

to  the  Duke  de  la  Rochefoucauld,  but  then  being  used 
as  a  jail  for  Austrian  prisoners  of  war.  The  travellers 
walked  about  the  park,  and  Martha,  though  she  had 
no  eye  for  the  wild  and  rugged  in  nature,  could  keenly 
enjoy  a  scene  of  typical  French  comfort  and  plenty. 

"  We  walked  up  the  side  of  a  hill  in  the  park,  and 
enjoyed  one  of  the  sweetest  views  that  ever  met  the 
eye  of  man  ;  immediately  under  the  hill  lay  a  fine  old 
wood,  broken  in  places  by  the  appearance  of  a  garden 
well  kept  and  laid  out.  Adjoining  this  were  cottages 
and  farm  houses,  each  enjoying  its  garden,  orchard, 
well-stocked  farmyard,  and  the  different  little  enclosures 
and  etceteras  necessary  to  complete  the  picture  of 
a  cottager's  treasure.  Through  the  midst  of  these 
interesting  objects  meandered  the  Seine,  reflecting 
in  its  limpid  waters  the  rich  fringe  that  adorned  its 
banks.  Beyond,  the  ground  exhibited  the  sweetest 
intermixture  of  villages  and  enclosures,  of  different 
shades  of  green  and  yellow,  and  spotted  here  and 
there  with  comfortable-looking  chateaux  and  their 
appendages.  The  boundary  line  of  this  sweet  picture 
was  a  fine  range  of  hills,  beautifully  wooded,  and 
appearing  more  beautiful  to  us  because  they  resembled 
what  we  have  so  often  looked  upon  with  so  much 
pleasure  in  Gloucestershire." 

On  returning  to  their  gloomy  quarters  in  the  town 
they  were  cheered  by  the  welcome  of  their  white  cat. 
The  animal  which  they  were  taking  with  them  to 
America  had  a  history  which  threw  a  light  on  the 
general  destitution  in  Paris.  In  the  streets  of  Paris 


158  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

their  friend  Mr.  White  had  seen  a  little  ragged  girl, 
with  a  deeply  concerned  face,  running  as  hard  as  she 
could  from  a  traiteurs  door.  He  found  that  she  had 
deposited  there  a  kitten  which  her  father  and  mother 
had  no  food  for,  but  at  a  cookshop  she  thought  there 
must  be  plenty  for  it.  The  traiteur,  however,  said  he 
already  had  too  many  mouths  to  feed,  and  was  about 
to  despatch  the  kitten,  when  it  was  rescued  by  Mr. 
White  and  given  to  the  Russells.  On  the  road  to 
Havre  the  travellers  met  with  no  remarkable  adven- 
tures. Sometimes  they  could  not  get  rooms  and  had 
to  sleep  in  their  coach.  Everywhere  they  found  it 
difficult  to  obtain  horses.  Apparently  they  were  not  im- 
pressed with  Rouen — "a  very  ugly  town,"  says  Mary, 
"the  streets  very  narrow  and  crooked,  the  houses  very 
high."  Rather  than  be  detained  over  the  night  at  such 
a  place  they  paid  an  exorbitant  price  for  horses — 800 
livres  for  two  stages.  After  an  expensive  dinner, 
hastily  consumed,  they  set  off,  not  without  fear  and 
trembling,  as  the  driver  was  rather  drunk.  "  However, 
we  got  on  very  well."  At  the  next  stage  they  met 
Mr.  Astor,  who  was  to  be  their  companion  on  board 
ship.  No  details  are  given  about  him  in  the  diary. 
But  he  was  a  New  York  gentleman,  married,  and  evi- 
dently of  substantial  position.  At  Havre  they  drove 
to  the  best  inn  in  the  town,  which  was  "about  as 
filthy  a  place  as  could  well  be." 

Mary  Russell  had  been  favourably  struck,  on  the 
approach  to  Havre,  with  the  number  of  gentlemen's 
seats  bearing  a  certain  resemblance  to  country  houses 
in  England.  But  the  Normandy  caps  of  the  peasant 
women  she  thought  preposterous.  "They  are  the 


FROM    PARIS    TO    NEW    YORK  159 

inner  part  in  the  form  of  a  sugar  loaf,  made  of  silk  or 
satin  richly  embroidered  with  gold  spangles  :  over 
this  are  very  high  pleated  lappets  which  reach  down 
very  low — I  am  sure  some  of  them  were  near  three- 
quarters  of  a  yard  high." 

Here  it  may  be  mentioned  that  William  Russell 
had  hurried  the  journey  to  Havre  in  order  that  before 
the  sailing  of  the  Nancy  he  might  have  a  few  days 
to  spare  for  a  visit  to  his  property  near  Caen,  which, 
apparently,  he  had  not  yet  seen  except  in  passing. 
The  estate  he  found  far  better  than  he  had  expected, 
and  the  house  fit  for  a  nobleman. 

During  the  stay  at  Havre  the  anti-clerical  Mary 
was  annoyed  at  the  occurrence  of  a  Saint's  day,  which 
prevented  her  doing  anything  active  in  the  way  of 
preparation  for  the  voyage.  The  fears  she  had  ex- 
pressed in  Paris  as  to  the  "  revival  of  superstition  " 
were  already  being  realised  in  Normandy,  and  "  the 
priests  seemed  to  be  resuming  their  power  very  fast." 

On  July  3rd  the  emigrants  rose  betimes  and 
boarded  the  Nancy,  a  vessel  of  350  tons  burden,  built 
for  the  West  Indian  trade.  Captain  Butler  was  said 
to  be  one  of  the  best  American  officers,  and  the  ac- 
commodation for  the  party  was  pronounced  excellent. 
Martha  and  Mary  had  a  state-room  with  two  comfort- 
able beds  and  a  window  looking  upon  deck.  Round 
the  cabin  were  four  berths,  occupied  by  William 
Russell,  his  son,  his  secretary  (an  Irish  gentleman 
named  Carstairs),  and  Mr.  Astor.  It  was,  therefore, 
with  light  hearts  that  they  bade  farewell  to  the 
"  French  rogues,"  who  had  "  pinched  us  through  the 
nose  to  the  very  last." 


160  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

Travelling  by  sea,  for  people  who  had  plenty  of 
money,  were  not  pressed  for  time,  and  were  tolerably 
good  sailors,  was  in  those  days,  the  risks  of  war 
excepted,  rather  more  comfortable  than  the  hurry  and 
scurry  of  a  crowded  modern  steamer.  Most  of  Martha's 
diary  is  occupied  with  notes  on  the  weather  and 
memoranda  of  their  meals.  The  pigs  and  sheep  gave 
thorough  satisfaction,  but  the  fowls  and  ducks  did  not 
thrive,  and  had  "fallen  away  sadly"  before  they  ful- 
filled their  destiny  on  the  table.  The  weather  at  the 
outset  was  fair  and  suggested  suitable  reflections  to 
Martha  : — 

"  This  immense,  this  beautiful,  this  grand  body 
of  water,  of  which  the  depth  is  unfathomable,  what 
a  wonder  in  creation  is  it,  how  does  it  display  the 
unbounded  power  of  our  Almighty  Creator !  and  this 
little  vessel  of  wood,  the  work  of  man,  to  us  a 
world  of  itself  in  the  midst  of  this  great  sea,  how  does 
it  display  the  extent  of  those  faculties  with  which  the 
Almighty  has  blest  His  offspring !  To  see  the  proud 
sails  swell  with  the  wind  and  waft  the  vessel  along 
which  thus  rides  upon  the  waves,  and  seems  to  defy 
their  swell,  is  nearly  as  beautiful  and  to  us  more  inter- 
esting to  contemplate  than  the  ocean  itself.  Gratitude 
to  the  Almighty  and  His  rich  gifts  to  us  as  intelligent 
creatures  and  for  His  rich  display  of  magnificence  in 
creation,  always  fills  my  mind  on  the  review." 

On  July  yth  the  Nancy  was  passing  "  in  triumph  " 
from  the  "proud  shores  of  England,"  as  Mary  re- 
marked, though  she  could  not  help  feeling  a  pang  of 
regret  for  the  "many  valuable  friends"  left  behind, 


FROM    PARIS    TO    NEW    YORK  161 

or  without  wishing  that  they  too  were  bound  for  the 
"peaceful  America." 

Presently  the  sea  became  rougher,  but  Martha's 
confidence  is  not  shaken,  either  in  the  care  of  Provi- 
dence or  the  skill  of  Captain  Butler.  But  the  party 
did  undergo  a  fright  when  they  saw  a  strange  sail 
bearing  down,  so  they  thought,  upon  them,  and  the 
captain  suggested  that  it  might  be  an  Algerine.  He 
had  once  been  chased  by  one  of  these  gentry,  and  did 
not  wish  to  repeat  the  experiment.  The  Nancy  put 
on  all  sail,  and,  favoured  with  a  brisk  wind,  got  clear 
away.  A  few  days  later  the  alarm  was  renewed,  but 
this  time  the  stranger  proved  to  be  a  harmless  brig 
from  Baltimore. 

One  serious  storm  the  Nancy  encountered,  and 
Martha  Russell  suggests  that  the  sailors  were  fright- 
ened. The  Captain  was  laid  up,  and  they  had  been 
demoralised  by  the  bad  behaviour  of  the  mate. 

"  We  all  sat  up  till  nearly  one  o'clock,  when,  being 
quite  exhausted  with  balancing  ourselves  to  the  motion 
of  the  vessel,  and  having  hitherto  waited  ineffectually 
for  the  abatement  of  the  storm,  we  thought  it  best  to 
go  to  bed  or  rather  lie  down,  for  to  sleep  was  not 
possible.  I  could  not  persuade  myself  to  undress, 
but  threw  myself  down  to  give  vent  to  these  reflections 
which  the  continuance  of  so  awful  a  situation  naturally 
called  forth.  After  adoring  the  power  of  the  Almighty 
in  whose  hands  we  were,  and  whose  power  and 
omnipotence  we  then  so  particularly  experienced  ;  after 
feeling  in  a  most  forcible  manner  that  we  were  in  His 
hands  to  do  with  us  as  seemed  good  in  His  sight,  and 

L 


162  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

that  perhaps  the  next  moment  He  might  send  us  to 
Eternity ;  after  recollecting  the  great  sum  of  enjoy- 
ment and  happiness,  the  mercy  and  indulgence  of  the 
same  Almighty  Being  we  now  adored  with  trembling, 
had  kindly  allotted  me  in  past  life,  gratitude  warmed 
my  bosom,  and  excited  a  glow  of  hope  that  the  same 
bounty  would  still  be  with  us,  and  preserve  us  happily 
through  this  storm.  Added  to  these  and  such  like 
reflections,  the  remembrance  of  my  dear  friends  in 
England  pressed  upon  my  mind  and  excited  a  pleasure, 
though  a  melancholy  one." 

The  Nancy  had  fallen  in  with  the  tail  of  a  West 
Indian  hurricane,  and  not  till  four  in  the  afternoon  did 
she  get  into  quiet  water.  "  FewT  can  conceive  of  the 
degree  of  happiness  we  all  felt  at  having  been  so 
mercifully  delivered  in  such  an  extremity."  The 
storm-tossed  mariners'  dinner  that  afternoon  was 
reasonably  substantial — "  boiled  mutton  and  soup, 
fowl,  pork,  cold  plum  pudding,  cheese  and  figs."  But 
though  the  water  was  calm  enough  for  the  party  to 
enjoy  that  good  old  English  repast,  the  motion  of  the 
vessel  was  still  lively. 

"  After  dinner,  whilst  I  am  writing  this,  our  gentle- 
men form  so  laughable  a  group,  that  I  cannot  help 
minuting  down  their  appearance.  Mary  and  I  are 
tossing  about  in  the  window-seat  writing  as  we  can, 
in  the  opposite  corner  are  the  four  gentlemen  playing 
at  whist.  Their  party  commenced  by  lashing  each 
his  chair  as  he  could.  Then  down  they  sat,  with  a 
board  upon  their  knees  to  serve  for  a  table ;  about 
every  five  minutes  the  four  heads  went  clang  together, 


FROM    PARIS    TO    NEW    YORK  163 

and  swing  they  go,  first  towards  one  corner  of  the 
room,  and  then  the  other.  Just  now  I  heard  an  out- 
cry, turned  to  look  and  saw,  instead  of  four  heads, 
three  heads  and  two  heels.  They  had  all  rolled  upon 
Mr.  Astor,  and  thrown  him  over.  They  hoisted  him 
up  again,  shouting  as  the  sailors  do  when  pulling  the 
ropes,  and  again  they  fastened  their  chairs  and  set  to. 
This  we  saw  three  times  over.  Poor  Mr.  Astor  got 
three  falls  in  a  short  time,  but  escaped  unhurt." 

Mr.  Astor,  it  appears,  was  a  bad  sailor,  nervous  at 
the  least  breath  of  wind,  and  anxious,  at  any  expense, 
to  abbreviate  the  voyage. 

On  July  3Oth  they  had  a  shark  adventure : — 

"  This  evening  the  Captain  caught  a  shark.  One  of 
our  steerage  passengers  had  put  a  nice  piece  of  fat 
ham  in  a  net,  and  tied  it  to  a  drag  in  the  sea,  in  order 
to  soak  out  the  salt  a  little.  Near  this  the  Captain 
had  suspended  a  hook  for  the  purpose  of  catching 
fish :  towards  evening  the  ham  was  gone,  and  about 
an  hour  afterwards  the  shark  was  caught.  The 
Frenchman  who  had  owned  the  ham  immediately  sug- 
gested that  it  might  be  in  the  belly.  If  so,  he  hoped  the 
Captain  would  give  it  him.  This  diverted  us  all  very 
much.  However  the  poor  shark  was  dragged  upon 
deck  and  his  tail  cut  off,  after  this  his  head,  and  then  his 
stomach  opened,  in  which  sure  enough  was  the  French- 
man's ham.  Amidst  a  burst  of  laughter  Captain  Butler 
surrendered  it  to  the  owner." 

According  to  Mary's  account,  "  the  Frenchman 
put  the  ham  in  soak  for  dinner  next  day,  but  the  smell 


164  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

was  very  strong  and  disagreeable."  The  mate  after- 
wards regaled  the  party  with  a  pleasing  story  of  a 
shark  which  he  had  captured  with  a  button  of  the 
Fifty-seventh  Regiment  in  its  belly. 

On  August  13,  1795,  the  anniversary  of  the 
embarkation  at  Falmouth  on  the  Mary,  the  Nancy 
fell  again  upon  rough  weather.  When  the  storm  had 
abated  Martha  Russell  found  leisure  for  reminiscences. 
"  What  a  year  we  have  passed !  "  she  exclaimed.  "  It 
appears  more  like  a  dream  than  a  reality  being  a 
twelvemonth  going  to  America." 

On  August  i  Qth,  a  year  and  a  day  after  their 
capture,  the  travellers  saw  land  and  smelled  it — the 
delightful  fragrance  from  the  pine  trees.  Presently 
they  got  the  scent  of  hay  from  Long  Island.  After  a 
good  many  exasperating  little  delays  and  disappoint- 
ments, the  Captain  told  them  on  August  21  that  he 
could  see  the  high  land  of  Never  Sink.  By  evening 
they  should  make  Sandy  Hook ! 

"How  this  rejoiced  our  hearts !  We  now  were  as 
happy  as  a  few  hours  ago  we  had  been  miserable,  and 
immediately  set  to  putting  our  things  together  for 
going  on  shore,  intending  to  go  up  in  the  pilot  boat 
this  evening,  provided  we  reached  the  Hook  early 
enough  to  admit  of  it.  We  were  thus  happily  employed 
till  dinner  when,  about  four  o'clock,  having  accom- 
plished all  our  odd  jobs,  we  went  upon  deck  to  view 
the  happy  land  we  were  approaching,  and  here  was 
a  view  never  to  be  equalled  or  forgotten  from  the 
feelings  it  inspired. 

"  Never  did  I  see  such  beautiful  land  before  :  it  had 


FROM    PARIS    TO    NEW    YORK  165 

a  thousand  charms  not  to  be  described :  it  was  the 
land  to  which  my  eyes  had  been  directed  for  more 
than  a  year  ;  it  was  the  land  of  virtue,  of  peace,  and  of 
plenty.  In  short  it  was  America,  though  to  believe 
this  I  found  no  easy  matter.  It  appeared  as  if  I  were 
in  a  dream.  Sure,  I  thought,  it  is  impossible  that  I 
really  see  America,  the  place  of  which  I  have  heard 
and  thought  so  much,  and  to  which  I  have  looked 
forward  as  the  place  of  rest  from  all  our  troubles.  I 
felt  giddy,  I  could  hardly  breathe  on  seeing  the  beauti- 
ful rich  country  within  a  mile  and  a  half  of  us  :  the 
sandy  beach  appeared  close  to  us,  and  beyond  that 
finely  wooded  hills  and  rich  green  fields  offered  as 
highly  cultivated,  as  rich,  and  a  far  more  pleasing 
view,  than  any  part  of  England  could  boast." 

At  6.30  P.M.  the  Nancy  cast  anchor  in  Sandy 
Hook,  but  the  pilot  told  the  travellers  that  he  could 
not  take  them  to  New  York  till  next  morning,  as  his 
boat  was  wet  and  his  men  tired. 

For  conveyance  in  the  pilot's  boat  the  sum  of  $30 
was  asked.  At  this  demand  William  Russell  kicked, 
but,  on  Mr.  Astor,  eager  at  all  costs  to  be  safe  on 
land,  offering  to  pay  one-third,  he  gave  way  as  to  the 
$20.  The  pilots,  it  was  said,  became  quite  rich  men. 
That  was  easy  to  believe. 

Martha's  epithets  of  joy,  admiration,  and  enthu- 
siasm seem  to  fail  her  when  she  tries  to  describe  the 
first  voyage  in  American  water — the  verdure  on  the 
shore,  the  beautiful  trees  ornamenting  the  tops,  the 
fields  of  Indian  corn  like  vineyards,  the  comfortable 
houses,  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson  River.  It  was 


166  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

impossible  to  express  the  pleasure  felt  in  feasting  the 
eyes  on  fair  America. 

"How  beautiful  did  everything  now  appear  in 
our  eyes !  Every  tree,  every  green  field,  every  house, 
and  in  short  every  object  wore  a  thousand  charms 
unknown  before.  '  Oh  that  our  friends  in  England 
did  but  know  how  happy  we  are  now ! '  did  we  often 
exclaim — and  also  how  many  thousands  there  were 
in  the  world  that  would  be  glad  to  exchange  situations 
with  us  if  they  could.  That  we  had  been  preserved 
through  all  our  trials  and  brought  safe  to  our  des- 
tined port  filled  our  hearts  with  gratitude  to  the  great 
Author  of  all  our  mercies,  that  Great  Being  who  had 
protected  us." 


CHAPTER   XII 

IN   SEARCH  OF  A  HOME 

Hunting  for  rooms  in  New  York — Start  for  Philadelphia— Road  scenery 
— Visit  to  Priestley  in  Northumberland — Sunday  observance  in 
New  Jersey — Golden  rod  and  Michaelmas  daisy — Impressive  tavern- 
keeper — Scene  at  Dobbs's  Ferry —Entering  Connecticut — M.  Tal- 
leyrand de  Perigord  —  The  epidemic — Evasive  replies — Valley  of 
the  Connecticut — Like  place,  like  people — A  vision  of  Middletown — 
Springfield  in  1795 — A  self-possessed  beggar-woman — Road  ad- 
ventures— Manners  in  New  England — Priestley's  remarks — Fever 
almost  universal — Approach  to  Boston. 

BETWEEN  the  New  York  of  1795  and  that  of  to-day 
the  difference  cannot,  perhaps,  be  more  vividly  marked 
than  by  the  fact  that  the  Russells  had  considerable 
difficulty  in  providing  themselves  with  board  and 
lodging.  Eventually  they  were  taken  in,  almost  as 
a  favour,  at  a  coffee-house  recommended  by  Mr. 
Astor — who  had  incontinently  rushed  off  to  meet  his 
wife  and  children — and  made  themselves  tolerably 
comfortable.  Indeed,  they  were  not  in  a  mood  to  be 
critical.  Never  was  such  cold  beef  and  pickles  as 
they  ate  upon  landing,  never  bread  so  delicious.  But 
they  were  not  given  much  time  for  enthusiasm  over 
New  York,  where,  by  the  way,  "  the  fever  "  was  raging 
with  unusual  virulence.  William  Russell  was  eager 
to  reach  Philadelphia,  then  the  capital  city  of  the 
United  States.  On  the  26th  the  start  was  made  in 

their   Parisian    coach,    drawn    by   four   hired    horses. 

167 


168  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

Along  the  winding  way  the  girls  feasted  their  eyes 
on  the  arbutus,  oleander,  and  other  flowering  shrubs, 
which  at  home  they  had  cultivated  only  under  'glass. 
They  counted  the  sail  gliding  along  the  river.  The 
road,  to  be  sure,  was  terrible.  For  miles  it  was  made 
on  logs  laid  in  the  swamp  and  loosely  covered  with 
stones  and  soil. 

Newark  was  voted  enchanting.  It  was  a  fine 
evening,  and  the  rural  scene  was  illumined  with  the 
sun's  parting  rays : — 

"  Children  were  playing  under  the  trees,  and  the 
neat  houses  at  different  distances  from  each  other, 
around  the  green,  completed  this  charming  picture  of 
rural  felicity.  What  a  different  scene  is  here  presented 
to  those  we  used  to  behold  in  Paris.  Here  they  know 
not,  '  the  busy  hum  of  men/  nor  the  vain  hurry  of 
the  bustling  great.  Intrigue,  licentiousness,  and  the 
various  vices  abounding  there  are  here  unknown,  and  in 
their  place  reside  quiet,  content,  happiness,  and  virtue 
(though  in  some  cases,  perhaps,  of  a  negative  kind)." 

The  young  immigrants  were  naturally  struck  with 
the  distinctive  feature  of  the  American  village  : — 

"  The  houses  here  are  all  what  they  call  frame,  that 
is  a  frame  of  logs,  one  single  brick  wall  within  it,  and 
a  casing  of  shingles  or  boards  cut  in  small  planks  and 
laid  one  just  over  the  edge  of  the  other  on  the  outside. 
These  are  painted,  some  white,  others  red,  and  others 
again  stone  colour  and  yellow,  with  red  and  slate- 
coloured  roof.  All  of  them  have  sash  windows,  and 


IN    SEARCH    OF    A    HOME  169 

they  have  a  small  garden  and  trees  before  them,  and 
neat  white  rails  round  them." 

At  Philadelphia  the  family  stayed  some  time  while 
William  Russell  looked  around  him  a  little.  Also 
they  visited  Dr.  Priestley  at  Northumberland,  Penn- 
sylvania. The  next  journey  recorded  by  Martha 
Russell  commenced  on  October  3rd,  with  Boston  as 
destination.  A  stage-waggon  had  been  engaged  for 
the  party,  and  as  "  the  springs  were  very  short "  the 
diarist  gently  remarks  that  the  "exercise  was  much 
more  than  they  had  been  accustomed  to  in  their  own 
carriages."  Her  brother,  less  cheerfully,  complained 
of  the  intolerable  jolting  with  four  excellent  horses 
and  on  a  good  road — unusually  good,  the  remark  is. 
They  soon  reached  Bristol,  but  at  a  Frankfort  tavern 
were  stopped  for  health  certificates.  On  reaching 
Princeton  they  found  a  capital  inn  and  civil  landlord, 
but  were  told  that  he  could  not  let  them  have  horses 
the  next  day  (being  Sunday).  By  the  law  of  the  State 
of  New  Jersey  he  would  be  liable  to  a  penalty  of  £$. 
William  Russell,  however,  wrote  a  note  to  Judge 
Beattie,  who  very  politely  sent  an  open  order  to  all 
whom  it  might  concern  to  suffer  the  party  to  proceed. 
Passing  Kingston  and  Brunswick,  they  had  a  delight- 
ful drive  to  Woodbridge.  Here  they  noted  the  fine 
turf  and  beautiful  shrubs,  "  so  that  it  appeared  like 
riding  through  a  gentleman's  park  "  and,  as  usual,  the 
still  unregenerate  Englishwoman  "caught  herself 
looking  for  the  house." 

"  The  prettiest  shrubs  of  which  we  knew  the  names 


170  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

in  this  ride  were  the  arbutus,  which  was  in  blossom, 
and  the  juniper,  which  last  grows  very  luxuriantly : 
and  among  the  flowers  fine  golden-rod  and  Michaelmas 
daisy,  far  superior  to  any  I  have  ever  seen  in  England 
for  the  beauty  of  its  colour.  Stopped  at  Woodbridge 
only  to  change  our  horses  and  carriage,  and  then  pro- 
ceeded on  to  Elizabeth  Town,  where  we  found  all  the 
good  people  at  church,  and  were  astonished  at  the 
number  of  carriages,  chairs,  and  other  sorts  of  vehicle 
which  stood  waiting.  At  the  door  of  one  church  I 
counted  between  seventy  and  eighty.  This  we  had 
observed  at  two  other  country  chapels  as  we  came 
along,  one  in  the  morning  and  the  other  this  after- 
noon. At  one  small  chapel  stood  forty-five  and  at 
another  thirty." 

From  Elizabeth  Town  they  went  to  Newark,  where 
they  were  cordially  greeted  as  old  friends  by  Mr. 
Gifford,  the  landlord.  On  their  asking  him  to  get 
them  a  carriage  so  that  they  could  join  the  high  road 
between  New  York  and  Boston,  he  introduced  a 
"  genteel-looking  man  in  black,"  a  General  Cousins,  as 
the  person  who  would  let  them  the  carriage.  "So  it 
is  commonly  here,"  remarks  Martha ;  "  men  of  property 
are  the  tavern-keepers  and  have  the  hiring  of  carriages." 

"The  title  of  Major,  General,  Colonel,  &c.,  is  very 
frequently  met  with  indeed  in  the  country  places,  as 
there  they  are  fonder  of  retaining  them  than  in  the 
towns.  Whilst  we  were  at  Northumberland  an  excur- 
sion was  one  day  proposed  to  a  Major  Beatts'  in  the 
neighbourhood.  As  we  went  thither  I  inquired  if 


IN    SEARCH    OF    A    HOME  171 

we  did  not  take  a  great  liberty  in  going  such  a  large 
party  without  sending  him  word.  I  had  no  idea  that 
a  Major  would  keep  a  tavern — which  was  in  fact  the 
case." 

From  Newark  the  road  lay  over  Dobbs'  Ferry — 
passengers  and  horses  having  to  cross  first,  the  carriage 
afterwards.  The  tavern  on  the  other  side  was  also  a 
general  store,  and  the  only  window  a  wooden  shutter. 
Under  the  shed  running  along  the  front  of  the  house 
sat  a  number  of  decent  young  women.  They  had 
started  down  the  river  with  their  goods  for  the  New 
York  market,  and,  as  the  wind  had  left  them,  were 
waiting  for  its  return. 

On  October  6th  the  Russells  arrived  at  Stamford 
— the  country  astonishingly  stony.  Next  day  they  got 
to  Norwalk,  a  pretty  town  with  several  neat  frame 
houses. 

"  These  houses  outwardly  are  the  prettiest  pictures 
of  content  and  cleanliness.  Here  as  well  as  Newark, 
Hackensack,  and  indeed  in  most  of  the  country  towns 
they  stand  at  regular  distances  from  each  other.  In 
front  of  them  is  a  fine  green  turf ;  between  each  is  a 
garden  railed  round,  with  sometimes  the  addition  of 
plot  of  land." 

In  this  part  of  the  country  the  travellers  saw 
nothing  inviting  except  "  the  fine  variety  of  tints 
which  the  hand  of  autumn  exhibits."  At  Fairfield 
(Connecticut),  they  met  M.  Talleyrand  de  P^rigord. 
The  former  Bishop  of  Autun,  the  future  member  of 


172  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

the  Directoire  and  Foreign  Minister  of  Napoleon  and 
Louis  XVIII.,  was  then  in  the  United  States.  He 
had  fled  to  London  to  escape  the  Jacobins,  and  then 
went  on  to  America  to  avoid  the  suspicious  English 
Ministers.  In  America  he  engaged  in  rather  obscure 
land  speculations.  The  Russells  would  know  of  him 
through  Mme.  de  Stael,  the  friend  who  finally  obtained 
leave  for  him  to  return  to  France,  and  whom  he  treated 
with  cool  ingratitude.  Though  unwieldy  and  de- 
formed, he  had  a  distinguished  manner  and  garcious 
speech. 

"  After  dinner  we  left  Fairfield  and  went  to  Strat- 
ford, a  charming  road  through  a  pleasanter  country, 
and  not  near  so  stony  as  that  we  had  last  come  through. 
Passed  a  pretty  town  called  Herefield,  a  seaport, 
where  is  a  very  long  wooden  bridge,  nearly  200  yards 
in  length.  Ever  since  we  have  been  in  Connecticut 
we  have  observed  the  country  has  been  much  more 
enclosed  and  bears  marks  of  having  been  longer  in- 
habited. The  orchards,  of  which  there  are  many, 
appear  to  have  an  old  turf  like  those  we  have  been 
used  to  see  in  Gloucestershire,  and  the  trees  are  quite 
old.  The  fences  here  are  chiefly  stone  walls.  We 
observed  at  every  place  we  came  to  that  they  said 
they  were  healthy  there,  but  that  the  country  round 
was  extremely  unhealthy.  No  one  seems  willing  to 
own  that  his  own  spot  is  sickly,  but  at  Fairfield  and 
at  Stratford  they  have  had  the  dysentery,  and  some 
children  have  died  of  it." 

Newhaven  was   reached  on  the  8th.     The  town 


IN    SEARCH    OF    A    HOME  173 

made  a  conspicuous  figure  in  the  landscape,  and  had 
"  several  brick  buildings." 

"  Having  heard  reports,  and  seen  many  accounts  in 
the  papers  of  this  place  being  unhealthy,  we,  not  only 
to  satisfy  our  curiosity,  but  also  to  see  if  they  would 
not  find  some  ingenious  way  or  other  to  throw  the 
sickness  a  little  distance  from  them,  inquired  into  the 
matter.  So  in  fact  it  proved,  for  on  asking  the  boy 
who  waited  on  us  if  the  dysentery  did  not  prevail  in 
the  town,  he  replied  '  Yes,  but  only  three  have  died 
this  morning '  (it  was  now  nearly  eleven  o'clock),  and 
'  we  are  very  healthy  in  this  house.'  They  call  the 
disorder  prevalent  here  the  camp  disorder,  or  dysen- 
tery. It  is  principally  confined  to  children,  young 
persons,  and  old  women.  There  are  very  few  instances 
of  its  being  fatal  to  men  ;  they  had  this  same  disorder 
much  worse  last  year  than  this." 

9 

On  the  way  to  Durham  the  travellers  were  "much 
incommoded  by  the  abominable  stench  of  the  swamps 
and  gutters,  which,  no  doubt,  was  increased  by  the 
rain,  but  which  as  certainly  is  the  cause  of  the  people's 
unhealthiness."  However,  the  stony  ground  was  now 
passed,  the  hills  were  left  behind,  and  the  roads  good. 

"  Supposing  that  we  could  not,  from  the  time  we 
had  set  off,  be  far  from  Durham,  we  stopped  to  in- 
quire of  a  man  how  far  it  was  ;  he  told  us  we  were  in 
the  town,  but  that  the  tavern  was  two  miles  off.  We 
looked  round  to  see  for  the  houses.  Only  one  was  to 
be  seen,  and  we  rode  on  for  another  quarter  of  a  mile 


174  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

before  we  saw  any  other  houses  in  these  streets  than 
those  inhabited  by  the  birds  and  squirrels.  So  it  was 
very  well  that  we  inquired,  for  had  not  this  good  man 
informed  us,  we  should  never  have  discovered  that  we 
were  riding  through  a  town.  At  length  we  came  to  a 
meeting-house,  and  half  a  mile  farther  off  we  found  a 
comfortable  tavern." 

Durham  town,  the  landlord  said,  was  five  miles 
square,  but  all  the  people  lived  close  together. 

In  spite  of  delay  at  Durham  over  the  shoeing  of  a 
horse — almost  as  long  an  operation  there  as  in  France 
— the  immigrants  were  delighted  with  this  part  of  New 
England.  They  well  might  be.  A  fairer  land  than 
the  Valley  of  Connecticut  on  a  fine  October  day — then 
or  now — it  would  be  difficult  to  imagine.  But  let 
Martha  Russell  speak,  not  her  editor  : — 

"  Indeed  I  do  not  recollect  a  day's  ride,  either  here, 
in  England,  or  France  which  has  given  me  so  much 
satisfaction  and  pleasure.  A  fine  undulating  country, 
richly  and  extensively  cultivated,  although  finely 
wooded  and  watered  by  the  clear,  beautiful  river  Con- 
necticut, and  populated  beyond  any  spot  I  have  ever 
seen  of  like  extent.  Here  are  no  signs  of  poverty 
either  in  the  country  or  the  inhabitants.  The  houses 
all  show  a  degree  of  taste,  elegance,  and  neatness  not 
to  be  found  in  Pennsylvania ;  the  breed  of  cattle  also 
indicates  a  degree  of  spirit  and  ambition  among  them. 
In  short,  here  you  feel  to  be  not  only  in  the  world  but 
in  a  most  delightful  part  of  it.  Every  comfort  seems 
here  to  be  within  the  easy  reach  of  all :  to  which  is 


IN    SEARCH    OF   A    HOME  175 

added  simple  elegance,  devoid  of  ostentation  and 
parade.  Were  I  to  sit  down  and  in  idea  paint  a  country 
as  I  could  wish  to  find  it,  no  visionary  fancies  could 
approach  nearer  to  my  wishes  than  this  day's  reality. 

"The  beauty  of  the  houses  it  is  not  possible  to 
describe.  They  are  all  framed,  painted  different 
colours,  some  white,  others  different  shades  of  yellow 
stone  colour,  and  a  few  light  green  ;  most  of  them  are 
double  houses,  and  apparently  very  roomy  ;  some  of 
them  have  wings  adjoining  the  body  of  the  house, 
others  attached  to  piazzas,  and  others  without  them. 
Many  of  them  have  square  roofs,  and  flatter  than  those 
we  have  been  accustomed  to  see  in  Pennsylvania, 
which  gives  them  a  much  more  light  and  tasty  appear- 
ance, and  most  of  them  have  a  small  garden  before 
the  door  with  neat  white  rails  running  round  it.  In 
short,  the  extreme  neatness,  comfort,  simplicity  and 
elegance  of  these  sweet  dwellings  quite  enchant  me. 
Sure,  the  inhabitants  of  them  must  be  happy !  It 
seems  almost  impossible  that  discord  or  any  evil 
passions  should  dwell  in  such  Arcadian-looking  places. 
Although  the  judgment  of  the  Almighty  may  visit 
them,  I  cannot  help  expecting  that  the  constructors  of 
these  temples  to  neatness  must  possess  minds  cast  in 
a  finer  mould  than  the  inhabitants  of  the  other  States 
we  have  seen ;  but  I  ought  to  recollect  that  this 
country  is  more  than  as  old  again  as  some  of  them, 
and  has  therefore  had  so  much  the  longer  time  for 
improvement." 

On  that  principle,  however,  the  Russells  would 
have  been  wrong  in  going  to  the  New  World  and 


176  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

leaving  the  Old,  which  had  enjoyed  so  much  more  time 
to  make  itself  perfect.  The  truth  is,  and  Martha's 
diary  makes  it  evident,  that  the  girls  fell  in  love  at 
first  sight  with  the  region  through  which  they  were 
passing,  and  had  practically  decided  that,  if  they 
could,  they  would  make  their  home  there  and  nowhere 
else. 

"  Six  miles  from  Durham  we  came  to  Middletown, 
without  exception  the  prettiest  place  I  have  seen  in 
America.  It  is  situated  on  a  rising  ground,  about 
half  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  river,  beyond  the 
river,  whose  waters  admit  vessels  of  200  and  300  tons 
up  it.  It  is  a  most  enchanting  country,  exhibiting  the 
riches  of  nature  brightened  and  improved  by  the  hand 
of  cultivation,  and  ornamented  by  numerous  villages, 
with  detached  orchards  and  farms,  &c.,  without  number. 
The  streets  are  all  covered  with  the  finest  green  turf 
imaginable,  excessively  wide,  and  the  houses  all  good, 
and  mostly  detached  from  each  other  by  neat  gardens. 
Trees  stand  here  and  there  in  the  streets,  and  children, 
pigs,  and  poultry  each  in  their  way  under  their  shade. 

"  I  very  very  much  lamented  that  it  did  not  accord 
with  my  father's  arrangements  for  the  day  to  stop  here, 
especially  as  we  heard  at  Durham  that  several  English 
were  settled  here,  some  of  them  lately  come.  Perhaps 
if  we  could  have  stopped  we  might  have  found  some 
one  we  knew,  and  from  them  have  learned  if  the 
inhabitants  are  in  any  degree  as  superior  to  the  rest 
of  the  Americans  as  their  houses  are." 

Other  "  small  but  sweet  places  "  were  passed,  but 


2    I 

R 
*       £ 


IN    SEARCH    OF    A    HOME  177 

none  quite  so  charming  as  Middletown.  At  Hartford, 
a  pretty  considerable  place  with  four  thousand  inhabi- 
tants, they  fell  in  with  a  man  who  had  a  carriage  and 
horses,  which  he  would  let  them  take  to  Boston  for 
$60 — an  offer  that  William  Russell  thought  too  good 
to  refuse. 

At  West  Springfield,  not  without  difficulty,  the 
Connecticut  river  was  ferried  by  lantern  light.  At 
Sykes's  tavern  the  travellers  found  that  they  could  not 
be  entertained,  owing  to  the  camp  disorder  having 
broken  out  in  the  house.  The  next  inn,  two  miles 
away,  promised  well  in  the  distance,  but,  "  within  all 
was  filth  and  nastiness."  Here  also  there  was  camp 
disorder,  but  the  people  offered  to  provide  breakfast. 
The  party  would  not  stay  for  meat  ("  which  it  is  here 
the  universal  custom  to  eat  at  breakfast"),  but  con- 
tented themselves  with  a  dish  of  tea  ("  terrible  stuff 
it  was,  as  black  as  your  hat ")  and  rye  bread,  which 
they  had  often  inquired  for.  On  this  occasion,  how- 
ever, they  did  not  find  it  preferable  to  white — being 
"  mighty  weighty." 

It  was  here  that  the  Russells  met  with  the  second 
beggar  whom  they  had  seen  in  America — a  neat, 
cleanly  dressed  woman,  who  said  she  was  waiting 
for  a  chance  to  get  to  Bushfield,  where  she  had 
plenty  of  friends.  She  was,  she  said,  crippled  with 
rheumatism  and  for  half  the  year  unable  to  work. 
Coming  into  the  room  where  Martha  and  William 
Russell  were  sitting — 

"  She  preferred  her  complaint  to  my  father. 
As  there  was  an  empty  chair  by  him  where  my 

M 


178  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

brother  had  been  sitting,  she  quietly  sat  herself  down, 
giving  us  an  instance  thereby  of  the  plebeian  manners 
of  which  we  had  heard  so  much  whilst  in  England, 
but  as  yet  had  seen  but  little — none  that  to  my 
feelings  was  in  the  least  offensive.  Presently  she 
began  to  admire  Mary's  shawl,  feeling  it  and  at  the 
same  time  exclaiming,  'Well,  this  is  the  most  curi- 
ousest  shawl  I  ever  saw.'  After  breakfast,  seeing 
my  father  use  his  glass  to  look  at  something  across 
the  road,  she  jumped  up  in  a  violent  hurry,  ex- 
claiming, 'Well,  I've  seen  a  great  variety  of  glasses, 
but  that  is  the  most  curiousest  I  ever  saw.' " 

The  country  on  the  way  from  Springfield,  though 
pretty,  did  not  excite  Martha  Russell's  admiration 
as  the  Valley  of  the  Connecticut  had  done,  though 
she  was  struck  with  the  fine  larches  covered  with 
long  white  moss.  Brookfield,  a  pretty  town  though 
not  containing  many  houses,  had  a  church.  Thence 
to  Leicester  they  found  the  road  very  rough,  and 
on  coming  within  five  miles  of  Worcester  were  told 
that  they  could  not  get  on. 

"  The  rain  had  swollen  a  small  river  so  much, 
a  little  farther  on,  and  had  carried  away  a  bridge. 
A  waggon  that  had  just  attempted  to  cross  had  been 
carried  away  and  much  damaged.  Soon  after  a  boy 
came  up  who  told  us  we  might  go  through.  Accord- 
ingly we  drove  on  to  see  how  the  matter  really  was  ; 
but  a  stage  overtaking  us  just  as  we  got  to  the  place, 
we  suffered  them  to  pass  us,  thinking  to  let  them 
make  the  attempt  first.  My  father,  getting  out  to 


IN    SEARCH    OF    A    HOME  179 

examine,  thought  it  most  prudent  to  turn  back  and 
go  to  a  tavern  we  had  observed  about  i|-  miles  off, 
as  it  was  now  grown  very  dark,  and  would  be  quite 
dark  long  before  we  could  get  to  Worcester.  This, 
added  to  the  danger  of  crossing  the  water,  determined 
him,  for  they  said  the  horses  must  swim  and  the 
water  would  come  into  the  carriage.  We  accordingly 
turned  back  and  soon  reached  the  tavern,  which, 
though  not  very  inviting  on  the  outside,  proved  clean 
and  comfortable  within,  and  was  kept  by  very  civil 
people — '  The  Black  House.' 

"  Observed  as  we  rode  along  this  afternoon,  also 
yesterday  and  the  day  before,  several  grave-yards, 
as  they  call  them  here,  uninclosed  by  the  side  of  the 
road,  and  oftentimes  on  each  side  of  it — the  road 
as  it  were  running  through  the  middle  of  it.  These 

O  C5 

grave-yards,  sometimes  enclosed  and  at  other  times 
not,  you  often  see  a  long  distance  from  the  chapel 
or  meeting-house." 

But  if  the  roads  in  Massachusetts  115  years  ago 
left  something  to  be  desired,  autumn  tints  on  the 
leaves  were  irresistible. 

"  The  fine  colouring  upon  the  woods  seems  to 
get  finer  every  day ;  its  variety  and  richness  is  incon- 
ceivable ;  many  trees  we  see  all  of  the  finest  orange 
possible,  others  as  fine  a  red,  and  others  green  in 
the  inner  part,  and  the  outer  branches  as  a  kind 
of  border  of  red  or  yellow.  It  is  chiefly  the  gum 
and  maple  that  turn  the  finest  red,  and  the  orange 
is  principally  pleasing.  The  variety  of  colours  in 


i8o  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

a  clump  of  wood,  and  also  the  beauty  of  the  trees 
standing  singly,  is  not  to  be  described  or  imagined. 
The  fields  of  buck  wheat  now  just  reaped  made 
a  pretty  variety  in  the  view.  The  stubble  is  the 
most  beautiful  red  that  can  be,  and  the  orchards  also, 
with  their  trees  laden  so  that  literally  in  many  places 
the  fruit  is  as  thick  as  reaves  of  onions  tied  close 
together ;  and  their  apples,  piled  in  heaps  here  and 
there  on  the  turf,  are  no  unpleasing  objects  among 
the  great  variety  that  attract  our  notice." 

In  Massachusetts  at  that  time  it  was  noted  that 
you  scarcely  ever  passed  a  person  without  receiving 
a  bow  or  a  curtsy.  Nothing  of  the  sort  was  offered 
in  Pennsylvania,  though  in  other  respects  the  people 
had  been  equally  civil. 

Priestley,  in  a  letter  from  Pennsylvania,  remarks 
that  his  State  compared  unfavourably  in  this  respect 
with  Connecticut.  "  I  believe  the  lower  class  of 
people  with  you,"  he  wrote  to  Russell  at  Middle  town, 
"are  more  decent  than  with  us  and  something  better 
than  in  England.  But  I  think  there  is  not  as  generally 
a  principle  of  honour  and  honesty  in  any  class  of  men 
as  in  England,  and  their  religion  is  chiefly  form  and 
bigotry,  which  does  not  tend  to  improve  the  heart." 

Here  also,  the  travellers  found,  sickness  was  dis- 
tressingly prevalent — a  putrid  fever  and  "  canker  rash  " 
—the  latter  attacking  adults  as  well  as  children  and 
frequently  carrying  them  off  in  forty-eight  hours.  In 
almost  every  district  which  the  Russells  had  visited 
they  had  come  upon  some  formidable  malady.  Read- 
ing and  Northumberland  had  been  fairly  healthy,  but 


>J 

B  I 

CJ          03 

J-1       5 


8  § 


a    g 


IN    SEARCH    OF    A    HOME  181 

along  the  Genesee  there  was  a  bad  fever  very  general 
and  very  fatal.  All  the  way  to  Philadelphia  fever  and 
ague  were  very  prevalent.  At  Philadelphia  there  was 
the  fall  fever,  and  in  New  York  dreadful  ravages  were 
made  by  yellow  fever.  In  all  small  places,  Martha 
Russell  declares,  it  was  discovered  on  inquiry  that 
sickness  was  about,  though  an  attempt  was  made  to 
conceal  it.  But  the  disorders  in  Massachusetts,  she 
thought,  were  of  a  more  dangerous  kind,  as  well  as 
more  peculiar  and  dangerous  than  in  Pennsylvania. 

"  i2th  [October]. — Rose  soon  after  five,  not  having 
had  a  very  comfortable  night's  rest  from  a  little  fear 
we  had  of  getting  some  disorder  from  a  sick  woman, 
who  we  found  out  just  before  we  got  to  bed  was  in  a 
room  adjoining  that  in  which  Mary  and  I  slept.  A 
door  opened  out  of  it  into  ours  which  would  not  shut 
close.  On  seeing  a  fire  through  it  in  the  next  chamber 
we  made  inquiry,  and  were  told  by  the  landlady  that 
one  of  her  daughters  had  had  a  tooth  drawn  that  day, 
and  was  very  ill  after  it.  Her  countenance  said  much 
more  than  her  tongue,  and  we  found  on  a  little  further 
inquiry  she  had  been  well  blistered,  and  had  pains  all 
over  her  as  well  as  in  her  teeth.  However,  thinking 
it  best  not  to  be  too  minute  in  our  questions,  since 
there  was  now  no  remedy,  as  our  room  went  through 
my  father's  and  brother's  and  they  were  now  in  bed, 
we  shut  the  door,  and  stopped  the  crevices  as  well  as 
we  could  with  our  petticoats  and,  keeping  the  window 
a  little  open,  went  to  bed,  though  not  perfectly  at  ease." 

Next  morning  an  early  start  was  made,  as  water 


i82  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

had  to  be  crossed.  Men  had  been  at  work  during  the 
night,  and  the  flood  was  reduced,  but  the  bridge  had 
been  partly  moved  from  its  foundations,  so  the  driver 
was  sent  across  upon  one  of  the  horses  to  test  the 
depth  of  the  stream.  But  soon  after  the  passage  had 
been  made  the  tyre  came  off  one  of  the  wheels.  This 
meant  a  long  visit  to  the  blacksmith's,  and  hardly  had 
the  party  started  again  when,  on  going  down  an  ugly 
bit  of  road,  the  pole  broke.  After  breakfast  at 
Jenison's  tavern,  they  passed  through  Henborough 
and  Marlborough,  though,  if  they  had  not  been  ap- 
prised beforehand,  they  would  hardly  have  known 
these  places  to  be  towns.  The  roads,  they  remarked, 
were  still  bad,  though  at  Jenison's  tavern  they  were 
within  forty-two  miles  of  Boston.  But  every  three  or 
four  miles  they  found  a  good  inn.  They  hired  their 
last  horses  at  Munro's,  where  they  enjoyed  an  excel- 
lent beef-steak,  and  were  charmed  with  his  daughter, 
a  very  pretty  girl  of  pleasing  behaviour — with  very 
light  hair  and  complexion  and  fine  blue  eyes.  The 
prevailing  type  in  the  neighbourhood,  they  were  told, 
was  fair  complexions,  with  dark  hair.  From  Captain 
Hogg's  tavern  they  passed  through  Waterton,  a  neat 
pretty  place,  and  on  to  Great  Cambridge,  where  they 
were  delighted  with  the  sight  of  a  number  of  pretty 
seats.  Except  that  the  buildings  were  of  wood,  the 
scene  recalled  the  villages  about  London. 


CHAPTER   XIII 
THE  JOURNEY  CONTINUED 

First  view  of  Boston — The  clergy  and  churches — Chief  industries — The 
beauty  of  the  women — A  dinner-table  story — Prices  of  provisions — 
Journey  to  Rhode  Island — Untidy  farming — A  venerable  joke — The 
Malbon  Estate — Advantages  of  the  island — Society  at  Newport — A 
chance  lost — Return  to  Middletown — The  corn-fed  girls  of  Con- 
necticut— Admiration  for  Yankees — New  England  vocabulary — A 
winter  in  Philadelphia — Public  spirit  in  New  York. 

MARTHA  Russell  was  impressed,  as  she  could  not  help 
being,  by  the  fine  approach  to  Boston.  It  may  be 
worth  noting  how  it  looked  in  1795.  "The  city," 
she  writes,  ''appears  almost  to  stand  in  the  water — 
at  least  to  be  surrounded  by  it — and  the  shipping, 
with  the  houses,  trees,  and  churches,  have  a  charming 
effect.  We  passed  over  a  long  causeway  and  bridge 
— the  latter  wood,  but  excessively  neat,  with  lamps 
on  each  side.  This  bridge  and  causeway  together, 
they  say,  is  a  mile  and  a  half  long." 

In  1795  the  population  of  Boston  was  18,000:  in 
1900  it  was  560,892,  and  since  that  time  has  very 
largely  increased. 

Unfortunately  for  the  readers  of  Martha  Russell's 
diary  she  did  not  stay  very  long  in  the  capital  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, already  the  centre  of  a  vigorous  political 
and  intellectual  life.  Truth  to  tell,  it  was,  like  most 

American   cities  at  that  time,  a  little  clergy-ridden, 

183 


184  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

though  the  divines  there,  so  Martha  Russell  says, 
were  the  most  liberal  and  enlightened  of  any  on  the 
Continent. 

"  The  number  of  churches  I  do  not  know  :  the  one 
we  attended  (called  the  Stone  Chapel),  where  a  Mr. 
Freeman  officiates,  is  a  handsome,  neat  building,  and 
has  a  very  numerous  and  genteel  congregation.  This 
is  a  Unitarian  Church  where  they  use  the  reformed 
liturgy  of  the  Church  of  England.  They  have  a 
custom  here  and  I  believe  in  most  towns  upon  the 
Continent  I  like  much,  which  is  that  all  sects  meet 
to  worship  at  the  same  time  and  the  same  bells  call 
them.  The  first  rings  about  an  hour  before  service 
both  parts  of  the  day,  and  at  the  second  many 
church-goers  turn  out,  so  that  the  streets  are  filled 
with  people  going  to  worship,  some  going  one  way 
and  some  another,  but  to  see  all  so  quietly  and 
cheerfully  thus  going  to  worship  at  the  same  time 
each  in  his  own  way  inspires  one  with  pleasurable  and 
animating  reflections." 

The  Russells  duly  inspected  the  chief  industries 
of  Boston  (shipping,  candles,  cord,  paper-hanging 
&c.)  :  visited  a  beautiful  theatre  (where  the  perform- 
ance was  better  than  the  scenery),  the  Assembly- 
room,  and  "a  most  noble  State-house,  in  as  fine  a 
situation  as  can  be  imagined,  on  the  side  of  Beacon 
Hill,  and  commanding  a  superb  view.  From  the  top 
of  this  hill  is  such  a  prospect  as  I  never  before 
beheld." 

But  the  chief  ornament  of  Boston — here  Martha 


THE    JOURNEY    CONTINUED 


Russell  does  but  anticipate  the  verdict  of  subsequent 
visitors — lies  in  the  beauty  of  its  women ;  while  its 
greatest  boast  is  the  hospitality  and  kind,  friendly 
manners  of  its  inhabitants.  Streets,  however,  were 
so  ill  paved  in  1795  that  the  fact  was  pleaded  as  "  an 
apology  for  the  ladies  walking  so  little  and  walking 
so  badly."  "The  water,"  we  read,  "was  so  brackish 
that  when  a  Bostonian  travelled  he  was  obliged  to 
add  salt  to  the  wa,ter  in  order  to  make  it  taste." 
Already,  it  seems,  the  American  cities  had  begun  to 
drive  a  factory  in  jokes  at  one  another's  expense — 
especially  New  York  and  Boston. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  quality  of  the  water, 
the  longevity  of  the  inhabitants  was  a  subject  of 
general  remark.  A  Dr.  Parker  in  twelve  months 
had  buried  eleven  people,  whose  united  ages  made 
loooyears.  As  a  good  housekeeper,  Martha  Russell 
noted  the  prices  of  provisions  at  Boston  : — 


Beef,  6d.~9d. 
Pork,  8d. 
Mutton,  7d.-gd. 
Butter,  is.  4d. 
Eggs,  doz.  is.  8d. 
Eels,  6d.  per  Ib. 
Sucking  pig,  gd. 
Flour,  Si 6  barrel. 
Ducks,  $i  couple. 
Fowls,  2S.  to  45.  6d. 
Turkeys,  gd.-i  id.  Ib. 


Cheese,  6d.-8d. 
Wood,  per  load,  333. 
Partridges,      couple, 

3s.-6s. 

Fish,  4d.  per  Ib. 
Cider,  133.  barrel. 
Pigeons,  73.  6d.  doz. 
Geese,   each    33.    to 

43.  8d. 
Hams,  cured,  is.  2d. 

Ib. 


Milk  (goat's),  4d.  pt. 
Potatoes,  33. 
Apples,  43. 
Carrots,  43. 
Onions,  43. 
Cranberries,  35.  6d. 
Soap,     is.    6d.     per 

Ib. 
Candles,  is.  to  is.  4d. 

Ib. 


For  our  lodgings  and  boarding  $7  per  week  each,  exclusive  of  fire 
and  wine. 

Men-servants'  wages  were  from  $12  to  $14  a  month:  women's 
from  $3  to  $7,  and  washing,  if  "done  out,"  was  $i  a  dozen. 


i86 


RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 


At  New  York  in  December  :- 


Beef,  from  lod.  to  23. 
Butter,  as.  to  25.  6d. 

EggS,    2S.    2d.    tO    2S. 

6d.  per  dozen. 


Flour,  $14  barrel. 
Wood,  Si 8  load. 
Potatoes,  45. 
Apples,  $5 

Wages  as  in  Boston,  but  no  charwoman  to  be  had  under  $i 
per  day. 

A  friend  of  ours  paid  a  man  for  sawing  wood  half  a  day  $2. 


Washing,  $i  per  day. 
Oysters  IDS.  to  123. 

per  hundred. 
Geese,  55.  each. 


At  Middletown  in  November: — 


Beef,  3|d.  to  4d. 
Chickens,     is.      6d. 

couple. 
Turkeys    and   geese, 

5d.  per  Ib. 
Butter,  lod.  to  is. 


Eggs,  5d.  to  gd.  per 

dozen. 

Potatoes,  is.  6d. 
Apples,  is.  6d.  to  23. 
Flour,  $13  barrel. 


Wood,  $4  to  $6  load. 
Women's  wages,  $2 

to  $2^  per  month. 
Washing,  35.  per 

dozen. 


These  household  notes  were  not  made  without  a 
purpose.  Already  it  was  in  the  mind  of  Martha  and 
Mary  to  make  out  a  case  for  settling  at  Middletown. 

The  family  with  their  servants  from  England 
(whom  they  had  picked  up  at  Boston)  started  on 
November  6th.  About  Stoughton  they  pronounced 
the  country  the  most  dreary  they  had  ever  seen — 
nothing  but  stones,  stumps,  dead  leaves,  and  stunted 
trees.  They  were  astonished  that  the  farmers  could 
make  it  answer.  After  passing  Norton  and  Taunton 
they  came  to  a  romantic  scene,  where  "  the  Fall  River 
tumbles  most  sublimely  down  a  rock  of  fifty  or  sixty 
feet,  with  different  beds  and  interruptions  of  trees  and 
projecting  pieces  of  rock,  and  runs  at  length  into 
Providence  River."  The  rest  of  the  way  to  Tiverton 
is  dismissed  as  "  vile  country."  Presently  the  travellers 
found  rest  in  a  tavern  opposite  the  still  unfinished 


THE    JOURNEY    CONTINUED  187 

bridge  to  Rhode  Island.  It  was  there,  in  spite  of 
Middletown's  attractions,  that  William  Russell  hoped 
to  make  his  residence. 

"  After  peeping  over  the  bridge,  where  we  paid  a 
toll  of  fourpence,  we  came  upon  a  neck  or  projection 
of  land,  which  formed  one  end  of  the  island,  and  the 
appearance  of  this  strip  of  land  pleased  us  much,  as  it 
was  clothed  in  a  fine  rich  turf,  and  wore  a  different 
face  to  the  stony  land  we  had  left  on  the  other  side  of 
the  water.  Soon  we  mounted  upon  the  island  itself, 
and  found  a  most  charming  road,  on  each  side  of 
which,  at  different  distances,  were  comfortable-looking 
farm-houses,  the  grounds  about  which,  such  as  the 
yards  and  gardens,  appeared  neat,  and  much  more  like 
English  than  the  generality  on  the  Continent.  For  an 
apathy  and  indifference  to  everything  which  does  not 
immediately  relate  to  the  comfort  of  the  inhabitants 
are  but  too  evident  in  most  places  we  have  yet  seen, 
and  this  is  particularly  obvious  as  relates  to  gardens 
and  farm-yards  on  the  land  round  the  house.  In  the 
former  as  many  weeds  are  permitted  to  thrive  as 
Nature  pleases  so  as  the  vegetables  they  sow  have 
a  space  left  them.  As  to  their  farm-yards,  so  little 
trouble  do  they  give  themselves  that  in  Pennsylvania 
we  actually  saw  a  stable  door  one-third  filled  up  by 
dung  that  lay  on  the  outside.  Mr.  Wallis,  who  was 
with  us,  remarked  that  he  had  no  doubt  that  the  stable 
would  soon  be  moved  from  the  dung,  as  it  could  be 
effected  with  more  ease  than  moving  the  manure." 

Mr.  Wallis,  it  is  to  be  feared,  was  an  unprincipled 


i88  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

wag.  This  is  one  of  the  Old  English  jokes  believed  to 
have  gone  out  to  America  in  the  Mayflower.  Eleven 
miles'  drive  brought  our  home-hunters  to  Newport, 
where  they  were  taken  by  a  Mr.  Channing  to  the 
Malbon  Estate — 700  acres  of  meadow  and  upland, 
with  the  ruins  of  a  capital  stone  house  (destroyed  by 
fire)  and  extensive  gardens.  The  view  was  delightful, 
commanding  Newport  and  the  ocean,  Providence 
River,  Massachusetts,  and  Cannonicut  Island. 

"  We  admired  this  spot  so  much  as  to  think  we 
should  here  find  everything  necessary  for  our  happi- 
ness, especially  as  in  the  course  of  our  ride  this 
morning  we  saw  that  there  was  plenty  of  room  for 
any  of  our  friends  who  might  have  an  inclination  to 
settle  near  us.  Several  farms  around  were  upon  sale, 
and  so  great  is  the  spirit  of  emigration  up  into  the 
back  country,  that  it  is  thought  nearly  all  the  island 
might  be  had.  However,  we  did  not  find  the  island 
itself  so  beautiful  as  we  expected,  though  certainly  the 
season  now  is  bad  for  judging  of  it,  yet  the  weather 
proved  delightful.  The  land  is  by  no  means  what  it  was 
described  to  us,  neither  as  to  the  state  of  its  cultivation 
nor  its  quality  ;  and  the  scarcity  of  trees,  they  having 
been  all  burned  down  in  the  time  of  war,  with  the 
universal  stone  wall  fences,  gives  the  whole  a  very 
cold  and  barren  appearance. 

"The  advantages  which  might  here  be  derived  from 
uniting  agriculture  and  commerce  are  by  no  means 
inconsiderable,  as  Newport  is  one  of  the  finest  and 
safest  harbours  on  the  Continent,  and  you  might  have 


THE    JOURNEY    CONTINUED  189 

a  wharf  on  your  own  farm.  The  water  communication 
with  New  York  and  Philadelphia  offers  also  a  very 
advantageous  method  of  disposing  of  your  produce, 
and  this  easy  communication  would  also  be  productive 
of  many  conveniences,  as  the  packet  boats  are  con- 
stantly going  to  New  York  and  the  stages  to  Boston. 
The  society  in  Newport  is  at  present  small,  though  in 
an  increasing  state.  As  a  proof  of  which  the  houses 
in  the  town  sell  for  just  double  what  they  did  last  year, 
an  advance  seldom  to  be  equalled,  and  the  place,  from 
its  great  salubrity,  is  much  resorted  to  in  summer  by 
people  of  property  from  all  parts,  particularly  the  south, 
so  that  in  this  season  we  should  find  as  much  society 
as  we  could  wish.  This  evening  we  drank  tea  at  a 
Mr.  Gibb's,  where  we  found  a  large  party  of  ladies, 
dressed  up  most  amazingly,  but  all  of  whom  we  found 
sensible  and  chatty." 

For  the  Malbon  Estate  William  Russell  offered 
$40  an  acre,  expecting  it  would  be  accepted,  but  the 
vendors  would  not  take  less  that  $45.  "This  we  all 
thought  too  much,"  so  on  Nov.  loth,  "having  seen  all 
worthy  of  notice  on  the  island,"  they  went  away. 
They  had  to  spend  two  hours,  owing  to  the  badness 
of  the  boat,  in  crossing  Bristol  Ferry.  The  night 
they  spent  at  Providence,  between  which  place  and 
Newport  there  was  a  keen  rivalry.  "  The  moon's 
bright  beams  discovered  to  us  that  its  situation  was 
pleasant  and  its  apparent  convenience  beyond  that  of 
Newport." 

At  this  time  the  population  of  Newport  was  about 
8000  persons.  What  the  profit  on  a  purchase  of 


190  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

the  700  acres  in  the  Malbon  Estate  at  $40  an  acre 
would  have  reached  by  this  time  is  a  sum  that  would 
stagger  the  statistician.  Of  all  William  Russell's  bad 
investments  the  most  unlucky  was  the  one  he  did  not 
make  in  Rhode  Island.  On  the  i4th  the  "Fishes' 
Tavern  "  was  reached  and  the  country  of  stones  re- 
entered. 

"It  seems  really  astonishing  how  any  one  could  be 
induced  to  settle  in  such  a  country  as  that  around  the 
Tavern ;  and  yet  the  inhabitants  appeared  to  think  it 
very  pleasant,  and  not  to  have  a  wish  ungratified. 
The  house  was  newly  built  and  clean,  and  they  appar- 
ently had  everything  quite  comfortable  about  them, 
though  not  many  neighbours.  Could  a  Deucalion 
spring  up  in  this  region,  and  turn  the  stones  into  men, 
it  would  become  populous  indeed — beyond  most  of 
the  European  States." 

From  Norwich  on  the  I5th,  through  Lebanon, 
to  East  Hartford,  and  on  the  i6th,  from  Hartford 
(where  the  travellers  had  a  visit  from  a  Captain 
Wordsworth  and  a  Mr.  Bull),  they  made  their  way 
back  to  the  fascinating  Middletown — which  had  not 
lost  the  high  estimation  they  first  set  upon  it. 

"  My  sister  and  self  by  means  of  a  letter  we  had 
to  a  Mrs.  Allsop,  as  well  as  through  Mrs.  Philips, 
became  acquainted  with  all  the  Middletown  ladies, 
and  a  more  sociable,  pleasant  set  of  acquaintance  I 
never  wish  to  meet  with.  There  is  a  simplicity  in  the 
manners  here  I  have  never  seen  equalled  anywhere. 


THE    JOURNEY    CONTINUED  191 

Here  are  several  French  people  from  the  Cape, 
who  have  been  well  brought  up  and  who  have  lived 
in  great  affluence,  but  have  unhappily  lost  their  all, 
and  suffered  much.  They  make  a  pleasant  variety, 
and  had  it  not  been  for  these  gentlemen  we  should 
have  had  no  beaux  at  all.  As  to  the  situation  of  this 
place  and  the  beauty  of  the  country  round  I  cannot 
say  enough,  and  shall  not  therefore  enlarge,  but  only 
just  mention  that  it  resembles  some  of  the  prettiest 
parts  of  Devonshire  more  than  any  other  place  I 
have  seen. 

"  There  are  about  eight  thousand  inhabitants  in 
the  township  of  Middletown,  and  in  the  town  are 
two  meetings  and  a  church,  but  no  market-house. 
The  streets  are  wide  and  adorned  with  trees,  the 
houses  in  general  are  in  a  pretty  style,  neat  and 
elegant  without,  and  within  neat  and  clean.  The 
ladies  here  are  very  pretty  in  my  opinion,  much  more 
so  than  in  Rhode  Island,  and  their  sociability  charms 
us.  We  passed  a  month  here  in  all.  Part  of  the 
time  my  father  and  brother  were  with  us ;  and  all 
the  time  we  were  so  full  of  enjoyment  that  not  one 
day  did  we  spend  alone,  and  I  believe  had  we  stayed 
two  months  longer  it  would  have  been  the  same.  In 
short  we  all  admire  the  Yankees  much,  and  thought 

o 

ourselves  half  become  Yankees  already.  That  we 
shall  in  time  be  so  altogether  by  residing  among 
them  does  not  appear  very  improbable. 

"  The  corn-fed  girls  of  Connecticut,  it  seems,  are 
noted  for  health  and  beauty,  and  I  admire  them 
much,  and  also  relish  their  fare,  such  as  wheat  and 


192  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

Indian  and  rye  bread,  Indian  pudding,  mush, 
pumpkin  pudding  and  pie  squash,  buckwheat  cake, 
waffles,  &c.  .  .  . 

"  Some  of  their  phrases  much  diverted  us,  and  the 
strange  way  in  which  they  use  some  words,  as  for 
instance,  fetch  for  bring  ('  Did  you  fetch  that  from 
Boston  with  you  ? '),  a  likely  man  or  a  likely  woman, 
for  a  good-looking  person,  spry  for  nimble,  wont  for 
-will  ('Won't  you  come  to  dinner?')  Horses  they 
call  creatures,  but  this  is  general  over  the  Continent. 
My  son  or  my  daughter  instead  of  the  names,  and 
I  guess  for  I  suppose ;  elegant  does  for  everything 
(elegant  house,  elegant  prospect,  elegant  horse,  &c.). 
Throughout  the  Continent  they  use  clever  as  meaning 
good,  and  on  inquiring  your  way  they  universally 
direct  you  to  the  point  of  the  compass  the  place  lies 
in  (keep  to  the  eastward  or  westward).  They  also 
call  their  chambers  the  north  and  south  chamber. 
To  those  other  phrases  might  be  added  ;  suffice  these 
for  a  memorandum. 

"  My  father  and  brother  were  highly  pleased  with 
their  ride  up  the  river ;  the  land  they  found  good 
and  cheap,  the  country  beautiful,  and  the  roads 
charming,  and  every  ten  or  twelve  miles  was  a  neat, 
pretty  town  all  the  way  they  went  (beyond  Brattle- 
borough),  but  I  do  not  think  any  place  can  equal 
Middletown  for  advantages.  At  least  none  have 
fewer  objections.  Northumberland  has  its  agues, 
Boston  its  easterly  winds,  and  Rhode  Island  its 
fogs  ;  here  is  a  situation  unrivalled  in  its  healthiness 
as  in  its  beauty  ;  possessing  equal  advantages  for 
commerce  and  agriculture,  and  through  which  the 


THE    JOURNEY    CONTINUED  193 

mail   and   other   stages  from   Philadelphia  and   New 
York  to  Boston  are  daily  passing." 

In  spite  of  Middletown's  charms  and  advantages 
it  was  wisely  decided  to  spend  the  winter  in  Phila- 
delphia, and  the  servants  were  sent  ahead  to  make 
ready  the  house  that  William  Russell  had  taken  for 
a  short  period.  On  December  i2th  the  family  drove 
to  Newhaven,  Stratford,  Fairfield,  Horsenach,  and 
slept  at  New  York  on  the  i4th.  The  city  was 
pronounced  "very  healthy,"  as  750  persons  (chiefly 
poor  and  low  Irish)  had  died  off,  and  presumably  the 
survivors  were  regarded  as  immune !  These  had 
almost  been  confined  to  one  quarter  of  the  town 
where  the  docks  were  filthy.  Martha  Russell  in- 
quired of  the  landlady  whether  the  Corporation  or 
some  private  inhabitants  would  not  some  day  take 
measures  to  drain  the  unwholesome  district.  "  It 
was  to  be  feared,"  she  was  told,  "  that  there  was 
nobody  in  New  York  with  sufficient  public  spirit." 


N 


CHAPTER   XIV 
THE  EARLY  SETTLER 

Untidiness  of  American  towns — Disregard  for  beauty  in  estate  manage- 
ment— The  early  settler — His  successor — The  Priestleys  at  Northum- 
berland— An  unflattering  picture — Early  history  of  New  Haven — 
Influence  of  prosperity  on  national  character — Luxury  in  Boston — 
Social  dissipations  in  Philadelphia — General  Washington's  friend- 
ship— Extravagance  of  upstarts — Commercial  dishonesty  in  America 
— Priestley  as  a  guest — Infirmities  of  great  men — Study  of  the 
Prophecies — Curious  interpretations — Piety  in  Philadelphia — A 
country  house  in  Maryland — The  easy  life — A  runaway  marriage — 
American  depravity — Republican  manners — A  friendly  disputation 
— Society  in  Middletown — Innocent  familiarities — A  young  gentle- 
man's misgivings — Unbending — An  unedifying  minister — Views  on 
a  domestic  institution. 

WHILE  Martha  Russell,  delighted  in  the  sense  of 
novelty  and  adventure,  and  giving  way  gracefully  to 
her  girlish  enthusiasm,  was  recording  her  impressions 
of  American  life  and  scenery,  her  brother  Thomas,  as 
became  a  very  young  man,  maintained  a  critical, 
detached,  almost  pessimistic  attitude.  He  will  concede 
praise  when  it  is  deserved,  not  otherwise,  nor  will  he 
shrink  from  speaking  his  mind  when  he  finds  that  they 
order  things  better  in  England.  In  New  York,  for 
instance,  Thomas  Russell  saw  but  one  good  street — 
Broadway — though  that  was  "  noble."  Philadelphia, 
however,  struck  him  as  a  city  of  considerable  beauty, 
with  the  streets  regularly  disposed  and  crossing  each 

other  at  right  angles. 

194 


THOMAS   POUGHER   RUSSELL 
From  a  water-colour 


THE    EARLY    SETTLER  195 

"  A  large  market-place  standing  in  the  middle  of  the 
street  extends  from  front  to  Fourth  Street,  and  greatly 
diminishes  the  beauty  of  the  street,  but  you  are  still 
more  hurt  by  the  constant  sight  of  waggons,  some- 
times to  the  number  of  twenty,  standing  in  the  street 
with  the  horses  tied  to  the  shafts,  where  they  remain 
night  and  day  as  long  as  the  waggons  stay  in  town. 
For  they  belong  entirely  to  persons  who  come  out  of 
the  country  to  bring  their  produce  to  market,  and  not 
choosing  to  be  at  the  expense  of  stabling,  bring  food 
for  their  horses  with  them  and  fix  a  trough  behind  the 
waggon  which  they  put  upon  the  shafts  for  them  to 
feed  out  of :  thus  is  this  noble  street  rendered  offensive 
from  filth  and  the  horses  exposed  to  all  the  incle- 
mencies of  the  weather,  for  want  of  a  good  police." 

The  young  Englishman  is  offended  by  the  general 
disregard  for  beauty  and  art.  Everything  is  sacrificed 
to  order  in  the  management  of  profit. 

"  There  are  a  great  number  of  gentlemen's  seats 
(if  they  deserve  the  name)  on  the  Skulkhill,  Delaware, 
and  other  parts,  where  families  retire  during  the  hot 
summer  months  and  raise  fruit  and  vegetables  sufficient 
for  the  supply  of  their  own  table  and  perhaps  hay  and 
corn  for  their  horses,  but  they  have  no  idea  of  taste  in 
the  disposition  of  their  grounds,  of  beauty  in  a  flower 
garden,  or  the  management  of  a  hot-house  ;  indeed  the 
same  observation  will  apply  to  the  Arts  in  general, 
owing  chiefly  to  the  absence  of  that  class  of  men  who, 
inheriting  large  fortunes,  have  leisure  to  attend  to 
these  delightful  pursuits.  But  this  will  not  entirely 


196  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

excuse  them,  as  many,  though  they  may  not  have 
inherited  an  independent  fortune,  have  acquired  one, 
and  that  in  a  short  space  of  time ;  but  when  a  man  has 
once  devoted  himself  to  the  gaining  of  money,  it  is 
difficult  to  change  the  object. 

"As  far  as  Harrisburg  the  land  on  each  side  the 
road  was  generally  cultivated ;  houses  were  frequent 
and  towns  at  no  great  distance  from  each  other,  but 
having  passed  that  place  we  often  travelled  many 
miles  through  thick  woods  without  seeing  the  least 
signs  of  cultivation  except  at  the  regular  taverns  and 
those  miserable  holes  with  a  few  acres  of  clear  ground, 
an  apple  or  peach  orchard,  around  them.  The 
inhabitants  were  chiefly  Germans  ;  indeed  in  several 
towns  we  passed  through  we  could  scarce  find  a 
person  that  could  speak  English." 

After  a  brief  account  of  the  various  methods 
employed  at  the  time  for  clearing  the  ground  of  useless 
timber,  we  come  to  an  interesting  sketch  of  the  stages 
in  an  agricultural  settlement. 

"  New  settlers  are  commonly  of  the  poorest  order, 
and  their  object,  of  course,  is  to  make  their  land  produce 
them  the  necessaries  of  life  as  soon  as  they  possibly  can. 
These  people,  when  they  first  go  upon  a  tract  of  land, 
build  themselves  a  bark  hut,  where  they  live  till  they 
have  cut  down  an  acre  or  two  of  ground.  They  then 
chop  the  logs  into  proper  lengths,  notch  them  so  as  to 
fit  into  each  other,  and  when  all  is  ready  they  make  a 
frolic  of  it.  That  is,  if  they  should  happen  to  have 
any  neighbours,  they  are  collected  together  upon  the 


THE    EARLY    SETTLER  197 

appointed  day,  and  all  assist  in  raising  the  logs.  This 
is  generally  completed  before  evening,  when  they  are 
regaled  with  whisky  and  such  provisions  as  the 
situation  may  afford.  The  interstices  of  the  logs  are 
filled  up  with  clay,  and  a  rough  framed  roof  is  after- 
wards put  on  the  top  of  the  logs  and  covered  with 
shingles.  This  house  serves  them  for  a  few  years,  by 
which  time,  as  one  settler  generally  attracts  others, 
they  probably  get  a  saw-mill  erected  in  the  neighbour- 
hood, if  there  was  none  before,  and  begin  to  build  a 
frame  house  by  the  side  of  the  log  house,  which  serves 
afterwards  as  a  stable  or  barn.  This  being  done, 
they  begin  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  their  labour,  and 
please  themselves  with  the  thoughts  of  having  advanced 
the  value  of  the  property  at  the  same  time  that  they 
have  been  procuring  the  necessities  of  life." 

As  a  rule,  however,  the  first  settlers  do  not  stay. 
They  sell-  the  property  to  men  of  a  different  type — 
retreating  themselves  into  the  backwoods,  there  to 
repeat  the  process.  The  improvement  of  the  land  is 
carried  on  by  the  second  settlers,  who  frequently  are 
skilled  mechanics.  They  are  followed  presently  by 
the  tavern-keeper,  next  come  the  physician,  the 
lawyer,  and  the  priest,  who,  our  young  philosopher 
adds,  "  disturb  the  peace  of  society  with  their 
quackeries,  litigations,  and  superstitious  doctrines." 

Of  Dr.  Priestley  and  his  family,  who  had  been 
settled  for  some  time  in  Northumberland,  we  are 
given  a  not  altogether  engaging  picture  : — 

"  Dr.    Priestley    and    his    family    have    selected 


198  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

Northumberland  for  their  residence.  He  has  bought 
a  frame  house,  and  it  is  fitted  up  with  all  that  neatness 
for  which  his  wife  is  well  known,  but  still  it  is  a  mere 
hut  in  comparison  with  the  one  they  lived  in  formerly. 
His  eldest  son,  Joseph,  lives  with  his  wife  in  a  large 
brick  house.  William  and  Henry,  his  other  sons, 
cultivate  a  farm  three  miles  from  town.  The  Doctor 
is  enveloped  in  his  studies,  partly  philosophical  and 
partly  theological.  Joseph  is  both  a  farmer  and  a 
speculator ;  he  has  sturdiness  enough  for  the  former, 
and  is,  I  believe,  a  pretty  good  adept  in  the  latter. 
He  is  concerned  in  several  large  tracts  of  land  in 
the  back  country,  and  has  bought  several  small 
places  about  the  town,  and,  I  imagine,  thought 
the  value  of  his  property  would  be  much  increased 
if  his  father  should  settle  there,  by  which  others 
would  be  attracted,  and  a  considerable  settlement 
formed. 

"  He  might  probably  think  it  as  good  a  place  for 
his  father  to  reside  in  as  any  that  could  be  found  out 
of  the  great  cities.  But  an  impartial  person  would 
be  far  from  making  the  same  conclusion.  There  is 
not  a  family  except  his  own,  and  perhaps  Mr.  Cooper, 
with  whom  Dr.  Priestley  can  enjoy  that  kind  of  society 
to  which  he  has  always  been  accustomed.  From  its 
remote  situation  there  is  very  little  communication 
with  Philadelphia.  The  post  only  comes  in  once  a 
week,  and  the  intercourse  by  water  is  so  uncertain 
that  anything  more  bulky  than  a  letter  is  sometimes 
longer  coming  from  Philadelphia  to  Northumberland 
than  it  would  have  been  coming  from  England  to 
Philadelphia." 


JOSEPH   PRIESTLEY 
From  a fastelly  MRS.  SHAKPLES 


THE    EARLY    SETTLER  199 

The  climate  is  unhealthy,  and  has  told  severely 
on  some  of  the  family,  especially  on  Henry  Priestley. 
Thomas  Russell's  pessimism  in  this  case  was  justified, 
for  Henry  died  while  quite  a  youth.  He  and  William 
were  farming  together  on  a  place  they  had  purchased, 
"  with  a  bad  situation,  and  on  a  bad  soil."  But  the 
unsteadiness  of  William's  disposition  would  "  soon 
make  him  discontented."  Henry  had  more  persever- 
ance and  inclination  for  the  employment,  but  weak 
health.  A  Mr.  Cooper  of  Manchester  was  also  apply- 
ing himself  to  agriculture  on  "  as  barren,  rude  a  farm 
as  he  could  have  selected."  If  they  had  been  banished 
by  law  to  this  spot,  Thomas  thinks,  they  would  have 
been  right  to  make  the  best  of  the  situation.  But  to 
retire  into  voluntary  exile,  appeared  to  him  extra- 
ordinary and  unaccountable. 

With  all  his  youthful  foibles,  Thomas  was  evi- 
dently a  man  of  judgment  and  character.  Probably 
it  was  the  son's  strong  view  against  Northumberland 
that  determined  the  father  against  his  original  idea 
of  joining  forces  with  Priestley,  and  making  a  sort 
of  colony.  Already  William  Russell's  agent,  Mr. 
Watson,  had  bought  some  farms  for  him  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood, and  hopes  were  entertained  that  the  pro- 
perty would  largely  improve  in  value.  But  that  was 
a  different  matter  from  living  on  the  place,  even  with 
the  advantage  of  Dr.  Priestley's  society.  Quid  non 
potest  auri  sacra  fames  ?  asks  the  young  philosopher. 
But  it  should  not  blind  them,  he  trusted,  so  that  for 
the  acquisition  of  a  little  more  wealth  they  would 
sacrifice  the  main  blessings  of  life.  His  business 
judgment  was  not  less  sound  than  his  moral  principle, 


200  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

for  in  point  of  fact  the  Northumberland  settlement, 
partly  through  young  Joseph  Priestley's  errors  of 
judgment,  did  not  turn  out  prosperously. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  quote  the  brother's  notes  on 
places  which  the  sister  has  described  with  more  sym- 
pathy, but  occasionally  he  drops  an  amusing  or  edify- 
ing remark,  as,  e.g.  on  reaching  New  Haven,  one  of 
the  first  places  settled  in  the  Eastern  States,  and — 

"  Chief  witness  of  those  horrid  scenes  of  monstrous 
tyranny,  and  barbarous  enthusiasms,  which  the  first 
inhabitants,  who  had  themselves  but  just  escaped 
from  persecution,  exercised  in  the  name  of  religion. 
Their  government  was  then  ecclesiastical,  to  the  great 
misfortune  not  only  of  their  own  brethren,  but  of  the 
poor  Indians,  thousands  of  whom  were  massacred 
under  the  banners  of  the  Lamb.  Alas,  how  anxious 
have  Christians  hitherto  been  to  protract  the  coming 
of  the  time,  when  that  emblem  of  innocence  shall  be 
at  peace  with  the  savage  lion — savage  indeed  when  com- 
pared with  the  lamb,  but  meek  and  compassionate  in 
comparison  with  these  defenders  of  Christianity." 

Another  admirable  reflection  is  suggested  by  the 
lack  of  architectural  interest  in  scenes  of  rural  life. 

"The  eye," says  Thomas  Russell,  "would  be  gratified 
by  the  occasional  view  of  a  ruined  tower  or  elegant 
country  seat,  but  a  rich  compensation  arises  from  the 
reflection  that  the  general  distribution  of  property 
causes  general  plenty  and  general  contentment. 
Happy  will  it  be  for  them  if  this  plenty,  which  already 


THE    EARLY    SETTLER  201 

seems  to  produce  apathy,  does  not  beget  indolence  and 
end  in  corruption.  The  simplicity  of  their  present 
mode  of  life,  added  to  their  distance  from  the  sources 
of  corrupt  example,  may  preserve  them  for  some  time. 
Perhaps  the  general  diffusion  of  information,  which  the 
Government  encourages  as  much  as  it  can,  though 
still  the  means  of  acquiring  it  are  very  scanty,  may  so 
increase  as  to  make  succeeding  generations  sensible 
that  public  happiness  is  best  promoted  by  private 
virtue.  That,  it  is  true,  will  be  unprecedented  in  the 
history  of  nations,  though  it  is  doubtless  consistent 
with  the  intentions  of  the  great  Governor  of  the  Uni- 
verse that  the  period  shall  arrive  when  nations  shall 
act  upon  that  principle,  though  probably  this  continent 
will  not  be  the  first  to  reduce  it  to  practice." 

At  Boston  the  young  Englishman  was  less  pleased 
with  the  buildings,  the  prospects,  and  the  physical 
surroundings  than  with  the  company. 

"  Upon  arrival  our  good  friend  Mr.  C.  Vaughan 
came  to  see  us,  and  in  a  few  days  after  we  were  waited 
upon  by  many  gentlemen  of  the  town,  Mr.  Bulfinch, 
Stonor,  Mr.  Russell,  the  principal  merchant  here, 
Judge  Sullivan,  Mr.  Freeman,  a  Unitarian  minister, 
Mr.  Elliot,  Judge  Tudor,  Mr.  Craigie,  Dr.  Deyton, 
Dr.  Smith,  Mr.  Gore,  &c. :  each  of  whom  showed  us 
every  civility  in  their  power,  so  that  the  whole  time 
of  our  stay  there  was  one  continued  succession  of 
dining,  tea,  or  supper  visits. 

"  As  to  the  pleasures  of  the  table,  few  places  display 


202  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

more  abundance  or  more  luxuries,  and  still  fewer  can 
boast  that  concord,  goodwill,  and  real  sociability  which 
reign  here  but  are  never  found  in  the  fastidious  osten- 
tation of  high  life,  or  in  the  gluttony  and  clamour  of 
intemperate  circles. 

"When  we  dined  at  Mr.  Russell's  the  third  course 
was  served  in  a  most  elegant  service  of  brilliant  cut 
glass,  with  everything  proportionally  splendid ;  he  is 
one  of  the  most  courteous,  free  and,  as  common  con- 
sent says,  the  most  generous  of  men.  What  the  dis- 
position of  his  wife  may  be,  who  is  young  and  beautiful, 
I  cannot  say.  My  father  while  at  Boston  was  made 
an  honorary  member  both  of  the  Humane  and  Agri- 
cultural Societies  there,  the  latter  of  which  he 
frequently  attended,  and  speaks  highly  of  the  intelli- 
gence and  enterprise  of  its  members." 

With  Rhode  Island,  and  especially  with  Newport, 
Thomas  Russell  confesses  himself  a  little  disappointed. 
Though  the  climate  is  moderate,  there  are  daily  fogs 
in  spring  and  autumn,  which  perhaps  account  for  the 
prevalence  of  consumption.  The  island  is  famous,  he 
remarks,  for  the  beauty  of  its  females,  but  "  though  I 
examined  the  streets  and  windows  very  attentively 
I  did  not  encounter  one  pretty  face."  Perhaps  he 
would  not  give  the  same  verdict  if  he  were  a  young 
man  in  Newport  to-day. 

William  and  Thomas  Russell,  after  returning  to 
Middletown,  where  they  left  Martha  and  Mary  for  a 
short  time,  went  on  a  prospecting  expedition  through 
Suffield,  Westfield,  Northampton,  Greenfield,  Deer- 
field,  Barnardstown,  and  Brattleborough.  Another 


THE    EARLY    SETTLER  203 

journey  was  made  to  Springfield,  where  the  arsenal, 
with  a  stand  of  6000  arms,  besides  cannon  and  accou- 
trements, was  visited  and  admired. 

During  the  winter  spent  at  Philadelphia  (i  795-96), 
the  Russells  found  themselves  absorbed  in  what 
Thomas,  not  without  secret  complacency,  describes 
as  a  "vortex  of  luxury  and  dissipation."  He  used, 
with  his  father,  to  attend  President  Washington's 
levees,  and,  with  his  sisters,  occasionally  went  to  the 
drawing-rooms.  The  formal  relationship  was  to  ripen 
into  a  personal  friendship,  and  already  the  Russells 
were  sometimes  invited  to  drink  tea  with  General  and 
Mrs.  Washington.  They  were  on  such  terms  that 
they  could  take  their  friends  with  them — a  privilege 
by  which  the  Priestleys  profited  on  their  visit  to 
Philadelphia.  The  Doctor  was  greatly  delighted  with 
the  General's  cordial  reception  of  him. 

Amongst  the  Russells'  American  friends  occur  the 
names  of  a  good  many  persons  known  in  the  early 
records  of  the  United  States  :  Mr.  Breck  and  Mr. 
Travis,  Judge  Wilson,  Dr.  Rush,  Mr.  Dallas,  Mrs. 
Pembroke,  Miss  Shoemaker  (since  Mrs.  Morris),  Mrs. 
Capper,  Mr.  Nicklin,  Mr.  Sharpies,  Mrs.  Serjeant 
and  Mrs.  Waters,  daughters  of  Dr.  Rittenhouse,  Major 
Butler,  Senator  from  S.  Carolina,  while  a  number  of 
gentlemen  also  called,  who  were  strangers  in  town  or 
had  no  families,  such  as  many  members  of  Congress. 

English  friends  were  less  numerous ;  their  French 
acquaintances  numbered  the  M.  Talleyrand- Pe"rigord 
already  mentioned,  the  Due  de  Liancourt,  M.  Volney 
(brother  of  the  Minister),  and  M.  Guillemard. 

In    January    1796,  the   arrival    of  Dr.   and   Mrs. 


204  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

Priestley  "  involved  the  family  still  more  deeply  in  the 
turbulence  of  never-ceasing  calls  and  daily  visits." 
Scarcely  ever  did  they  go  to  a  dinner-party  of  less 
than  twenty  persons  ;  the  luxury  and  profusion  far 
exceeding  the  display  made  by  English  persons  in  the 
same  circumstances.  Dr.  Priestley  declared  that  in  the 
days  when  he  was  tutor  in  the  Marquis  of  Lansdowne's 
house  he  never  witnessed  such  display  as  was  made 
by  the  merchants  of  Philadelphia.  But  listen  to  our 
young  moralist : — 

"  When  men  either  by  good  fortune  or  address  find 
themselves  suddenly  in  the  possession  of  a  much  larger 
property  than  they  ever  expected  to  enjoy,  it  is 
commonly  found  that  they  dispose  of  it  profusely, 
unless  the  passion  of '  still,  still  to  be  getting,  never, 
never  cease,'  obliterates  every  other  thought ;  and  often, 
by  grasping  at  too  much,  they  not  only  lose  all,  but 
involve  themselves  in  difficulties,  troubles,  anxieties, 
and  disappointments." 

Fortunes  had  been  rapidly  amassed  by  speculating 
in  back  lands,  town  lots,  and  house  property,  as  well 
as  by  navigation  and  commerce.  But  a  stranger  must 
be  on  his  guard  in  dealing  with  these  adventurers — 
men  of  all  nations,  all  characters,  and  all  professions. 
There  was  as  yet  no  national  character,  nor  did  these 
people  regard  the  rules  universally  observed  amongst 
the  inhabitants  of  European  countries. 

"  Here  a  man  may  break  his  word  with  impunity, 
and  may  without  disgrace  flagrantly  violate  those 


THE    EARLY    SETTLER  205 

established  customs,  the  infringement  of  which  would 
in  England  irretrievably  ruin  his  character.  He  may 
have  been  two  or  three  times  a  bankrupt  and  be 
known  to  have  defrauded  his  creditors,  and  if  he  there- 
by reacquires  considerable  wealth,  he  will  nevertheless 
be  received  in  the  first  company.  One  who  rises  on 
the  ruins  of  a  benefactor  whose  property  he  may  have 
purloined  would  meet  with  respect  from  his  rich  neigh- 
bours, and  a  land  jobber,  though  he  made  his  fortune 
by  the  sale  of  lands  that  never  were  created,  would 
yet  be  received  in  the  first  circles.  In  short,  as  wealth 
is  the  darling  object  of  their  attention,  so  a  person 
with  that  needs  no  other  letter  of  recommendation." 

In  this  judgment,  harsh  as  it  was,  Thomas  Russell 
was  evidently  sincere,  and  over  and  over  again  in  his 
private  letters  to  his  father  he  reaffirms  the  view  here 
set  out.  A  metropolis,  he  adds  here,  has  ever  been 
a  seat  of  corruption,  and  Philadelphia  could  be  no 
exception  to  the  general  rule.  The  example  and  in- 
fluence of  the  Quakers,  who  were  very  numerous,  had 
not  counteracted  the  general  tendency.  The  elder 
Russell,  it  should  be  added,  was  of  his  son's  opinion, 
and  on  several  occasions  roundly  denounced  the 
morals  of  American  cities. 

Priestley,  we  are  told,  preached  in  a  chapel  be- 
longing to  the  Universalists,  and  his  sermons  were 
largely  attended — amongst  others  by  Vice- President 
Adams  (of  whom  more  anon),  Pickering,  and  many 
members  of  Congress.  But  most  of  Priestley's  audi- 
tors, Thomas  Russell  declares,  were  attracted  more 
by  curiosity  than  any  other  motive,  and  were  "too 


2o6  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

worldly-minded  to  receive  any  lasting  benefit  from  his 
teaching." 

"  The  cause  of  religion  has  need  of  the  exertions  of 
every  learned  and  candid  man  like  him,  by  dissemi- 
nating rational  ideas  of  Christianity  and  clearing  it 
from  the  superstition  and  prejudice  that  has  hitherto 
concealed  its  true  form,  may  perhaps  in  some  degree 
arrest  the  process  of  infidelity,  which  now  stalks 
through  this  city  with  unrestrained  rapidity.  He  had 
brought  with  him  a  set  of  Sermons  on  the  Evidences 
of  Revelation,  and  as  he  preached  but  once  a  day,  he 
was  detained  in  Philadelphia  till  the  month  of  April 
before  he  had  delivered  the  whole  of  them." 

This  long  visit  paid  by  his  father's  famous  friend 
was  not  altogether  to  Thomas  Russell's  taste.  He 
was  not  the  first  humble  person,  however,  to  remark 
on  the  difference  between  a  great  man's  public  char- 
acter and  his  private  aspect : — 

"  Dr.  Priestley  is  undoubtedly  a  very  virtuous, 
learned,  and  agreeable  man,  and  his  name  will  be 
handed  down  to  posterity  as  a  great  philosopher,  and 
as  one  who  dared  to  reduce  religion  to  the  laws  of 
reason  and  common  sense  by  chasing  the  superstitions 
and  prejudices  that  had  till  then  veiled  not  only  the 
Catholic  but  Protestant  faith,  yet  he  is  not  one  with 
whom  one  could  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  domestic  inter- 
course. In  the  little  occurrences  of  a  family  he  is  apt 
to  be  discontented  and  fretful.  In  case  everything 
does  not  go  to  his  mind,  he  will  be  upon  the  fidgets 


THE    EARLY    SETTLER  207 

until  it  is  rectified,  and  perhaps  for  some  time  after.  In 
short  he  displays  a  degree  of  selfishness  which  I  should 
never  have  suspected  from  one  who  acts  so  disinter- 
estedly in  greater  things.  But  who  can  lay  a  just 
claim  to  the  title  of  a  consistent  character  through  all 
events  and  circumstances  ? " 

It  appears  that  Priestley  was  "much  disgusted  at 
the  depravity  and  narrow,  worldly  tempers  of  the 
Philadelphians."  His  intercourse  with  Mr.  Ritterhorn 
was  interrupted  by  death,  and  it  was  only  with  Dr. 
Rush  that  he  could  share  the  pleasures  of  the  intellect. 
Hence  it  was  without  reluctance  that  he  returned  to 
Northumberland. 

On  a  subsequent  visit  the  Russells  found  Priestley 
living  with  his  son  Joseph,  Mrs.  Priestley  having  died. 
The  old  Doctor  felt  the  loss  very  deeply,  but  kept 
his  mind  occupied  with  his  theological  and  philosophi- 
cal pursuits.  For  intellectual  society  he  might  have 
turned  to  his  neighbour,  Mr.  Cooper,  but  their  senti- 
ments on  religion  were  so  opposite  that  they  would 
probably  fall  into  dispute.  They  both  professed  great 
liberality  of  sentiment,  says  Thomas  Russell,  but 
there  were  very  few  even  of  modern  freethinkers 
who  would  not  disclaim  the  lengths  to  which  Mr. 
Cooper  proceeded.  Another  of  Priestley's  neighbours 
was  Mr.  John  Humphreys,  but  he  also  was  a  professed 
unbeliever,  and  his  political  sentiments,  though  he 
practised  reserve  as  to  them,  were  certainly  not  Re- 
publican or  Radical.  Thus  the  lonely  old  divine  was 
thrown  back  upon  himself  and  upon  his  curious  cogi- 
tations on  the  fulfilment  of  the  Prophecies. 


208  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

Upon  this  topic,  it  may  here  be  mentioned,  he 
corresponded,  quite  late  in  life,  with  William  Russell, 
who  was  equally  interested  in  the  subject.  When 
the  French  arms  seemed  likely  to  be  victorious  in 
Europe,  Russell  speaks  of  France  as  being  an  instru- 
ment in  the  hand  of  Providence.  In  April  1799, 
he  writes  that  the  present  state  of  the  world  baffled 
all  calculation.  But  he  would  not  be  shaken  in  his 
conviction  that,  amidst  all  scenes  of  violence  and 
commotion,  the  Ruler  of  the  Universe  was  bringing 
about  the  speedy  deliverance  of  the  human  race 
from  the  power  of  Anti-Christ  and  all  its  adherents, 
with  the  complete  overthrow  of  Superstition  and 
Tyranny,  which  had  so  long  ruled  the  Old  World — 
but  for  whose  destruction  all  the  Prophecies  led 
men  to  hope  with  a  cheerful  assurance. 

In  the  following  September  Priestley  feels  sure 
that  England  cannot  be  exempt  from  the  impending 
punishment.  "  If  all  anti-Christian  tyranny  and 
persecution  is  to  be  punished,  and  where  the  spirit 
of  persecution  has  imbued  the  land  with  the  blood 
of  the  Protestants,  or  the  tyrants  of  the  country 
have  persecuted  and  oppressed  the  views,  the  aveng- 
ing sword  of  destruction  is  now  to  execute  Divine 
vengeance,  Britain,  who  is  not  free  from  either  of 
these  charges,  must  expect  to  drink  of  the  bitter 
cup,  and  I  cannot  but  think  there  is  great  reason  to 
fear  her  day  of  humiliation  may  speedily  approach, 
notwithstanding  her  unprecedented  career  of  naval 
successes." 

Such  passages  as  these,  representing  so  intensely 
Biblical  a  point  of  view,  however  perverted  we  may 


THE    EARLY    SETTLER  209 

think  the  interpretation,  prove  the  injustice  of  con- 
founding Unitarians  like  Priestley  and  Russell  with 
the  Deists  whose  heresies  they  were  incessantly 
striving,  in  their  own  words,  to  root  out. 

An  attractive  episode,  which  Thomas  affects  to 
regret,  was  a  visit  to  the  house  of  his  father's  sister 
(Mrs.  Sheredine)  near  Baltimore  in  Maryland — a 
well-to-do,  hospitable  lady,  widow  of  an  iron-master, 
with  grown-up  boys  and  girls.  The  eldest  daughter, 
Maria,  was  brought  by  her  mother  to  Philadelphia, 
and  spent  a  fortnight  in  one  long  round  of  gaiety. 
Thomas  (the  impudent  young  dog)  describes  his 
aunt  as  a  well-meaning,  excellent  old  lady  without 
any  of  the  refinement  of  high  life  but  full  of  simple 
decorum.  Maria  has  a  "  fine  person,"  but,  while  free 
from  affectation,  lacks  the  polish  of  genteel  society : 
Fanny  and  Nancy  are  hardly  less  attractive,  and 
seem  to  have  "  shaken  up "  their  English  cousin 
with  some  considerable  success.  As  for  their  brother, 
he  is  "  rough  in  mind  and  appearance,  but  has  a  good 
temper  and  a  great  deal  of  genuine  naivetd." 

To  these  relatives  Thomas  Russell  paid  a  return 
visit,  and  was  given  an  opportunity  of  describing 
Maryland  society.  In  a  few  days  spent  at  Baltimore 
he  saw  more  gentility  and  good  breeding  (with  equal 
luxury  and  profusion)  than  in  a  whole  winter  in 
Philadelphia. 

"  Col.  Howard,  the  Governor,  is  now  finishing  a 
most  elegant  seat  in  as  elegant  a  situation,  and  is 
worthy  of  the  large  property  he  possesses.  Col. 
Rogers  and  Mr.  Nicol  are  men  of  superior  manners, 

o 


2io  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

as  Mr.  Caton  and  Mr.  Fredk.  Smith  also.  With  all 
these  we  dined  and  received  other  marks  of  politeness, 
as  we  did  also  from  Mr.  Pleasants,  Mr.  Merriman, 
Mr.  Gittings  and  several  others.  Although  it  is  very 
pleasing  to  receive  attentions  from  persons  of  this 
description,  yet  it  is  disagreeable  from  one  point  of 
view.  In  accepting  their  civilities  you  are  necessarily 
obliged  to  give  in  to  an  excess  both  of  eating  and 
drinking  which  the  laws  of  temperance  cannot  justify, 
yet  which  they  cannot  altogether  condemn,  as  it  was 
never  carried  beyond  what  the  modern  rules  of 
hospitality  and  good  fellowship  require." 

Here  it  may  be  mentioned  that  one  of  these 
personable  young  women  (Miss  Fanny  Sheredine) 
afterwards  got  herself  into  a  sad  scrape.  For  no 
assignable  reason  she  made  a  runaway  match,  and 
thus  threw  her  mother  into  deep  affliction.  The 
husband  of  her  choice  was  in  no  way  detrimental, 
but  she  was  resolved — though  not  otherwise  resem- 
bling Miss  Lydia  Languish — to  have  a  romance  in 
her  young  life.  It  was  the  fashion  of  the  houK. 
Uncle  Russell  was  called  in  to  counsel  the  grieving 
household,  and  very  sensibly  declared  that  there  was 
nothing  to  make  a  fuss  about.  So  everybody  was 
happy  again.  But  it  is  not  uninteresting,  in  the 
records  of  a  quiet  Maryland  family,  to  come  upon 
an  echo  of  Sheridan's  recently  published  Rivals. 

Thomas  Russell,  like  his  father,  was  deeply  im- 
pressed with  the  sinfulness  of  American  cities.  Stay- 
ing near  Boston,  he  came  across  a  young  Englishman 
named  Greenway,  who  had  been  sent  out  to  transact 


THE    EARLY    SETTLER  211 

business  for  his  father,  and  also,  no  doubt,  "  with  the 
idea  that  in  this  land  of  simplicity  and  virtue  he  would 
be  free  from  the  temptations  which  assail  young  men 
in  the  corrupt  cities  of  Europe."  "  It  will  be  his  own 
merit,"  adds  Thomas  sardonically,  "  if  he  returns  as 
virtuous  as  he  came." 

At  the  house  of  Mrs.  B.  Vaughan  in  Little  Cam- 
bridge, he  met  a  Mr.  Merrick,  who  had  come  over  as 
tutor  to  her  children.  He  was,  like  Thomas  Russell, 
one  of  those  men,  who  in  England  had  formed  en- 
thusiastic ideas  on  the  happiness  of  a  Republic,  "  but 
he  had  not  yet  stayed  long  enough  in  America  to  have 
his  ardour  cooled." 

"  I  told  him  I  contemplated  with  pleasure  the  very 
small  amount  of  misery  that  was  to  be  found  in  this 
country,  when  compared  with  most  parts  of  Europe, 
but  that  I  attributed  this  not  to  the  form  of  its  govern- 
ment, so  much  as  to  its  particular  situation  ;  for  as 
yet  the  population  bears  so  small  a  proportion  to  the 
extent  of  country,  that  land  is  comparatively  of  little 
value,  and  consequently  agriculture  is  the  chief  employ 
of  the  middling  and  lower  classes,  who  with  a  moderate 
share  of  industry  may  soon  gain  a  comfortable  liveli- 
hood. The  scarcity  of  labour  is  such  that  those  of 
the  lower  class  who  are  not  disposed  to  possess  land 
of  their  own  may  earn  a  comfortable  subsistence  by 
the  price  of  their  own  labour.  By  their  Constitution, 
they  certainly  enjoy  a  greater  degree  of  religious  and 
of  civil  liberty  than  the  people  of  England,  but  I 
believe  the  sum  of  virtue  is  as  great  there  as  it  is 
here,  and  perhaps,  as  the  country  advances  in  age,  the 


212  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

corruptions,  the  luxuries,  the  vices  of  Europe  will  be 
introduced,  and  make  an  easy  prey  of  the  present  inde- 
pendent spirit  of  Republicanism.  But  as  neither  the 
horrors  of  superstition  nor  the  political  abuses  that  we 
have  beheld  in  Europe  may  be  here  endured  to  so 
extreme  a  degree,  we  may  hail  the  Revolution  as 
a  step,  though  almost  an  imperceptible  one,  towards 
the  general  improvement  of  the  human  race." 

Mr.  Merrick  rejoined  that  it  gave  him  pleasure  to 
see  the  lower  class  riding  about  in  their  horse  chairs 
and  enjoying  all  the  pleasures  of  life.  He  did  not 
trouble  about  their  posterity. 

"  In  returning  home,  we  met  some  of  these  citizens 
in  chairs  on  a  narrow  bridge,  and  they  were  very  near 
overturning  us  into  the  river — in  showing  us  that  they 
were  free  to  run  against  our  carriage  if  they  chose, 
though  there  was  abundance  of  room  to  pass  clear  of 
us.  A  little  later  we  met  some  independent  bakers 
and  independent  butchers  in  their  carts,  whose  pride 
it  is  to  show  their  freedom  by  making  every  one  turn 
out  of  the  road  indiscriminately,  and  should  any  one 
refuse  it  would  be  at  the  risk  of  his  life." 

In  due  course,  as  described  in  the  last  chapter,  the 
Russell  family  found  their  way  back  to  Middletown, 
and  they  had  agreed  that  no  other  place  would  suit 
them  so  well  for  the  home  they  wished  to  make  in 
New  England.  Although  a  town,  it  had  all  the  ap- 
pearance of  what  in  England  would  be  called  a  country 
village,  containing  about  200  houses.  It  was  situated 


THE    EARLY    SETTLER  213 

on  a  beautiful  eminence  and  surrounded  by  undulating 
plains.  It  lay  on  the  main  road  from  the  three  great 
cities  of  the  United  States — Boston,  New  York,  and 
Philadelphia.  While  the  air  was  exceptionally  salu- 
brious the  society  appeared  equally  free  from  "  osten- 
tatious pride  and  disgusting  ceremony."  A  house  was 
found  without  difficulty — a  large  brick  building  with  a 
fine  view,  standing  with  garden  and  stables  in  a  lot 
of  4  acres.  It  belonged  to  Mr.  Thompson  Phillips, 
brother  of  General  Phillips,  who  offered  it  at  £60  New 
York  currency  or  $200  per  annum  on  an  eight  years' 
lease.  With  it  could  be  taken  about  30  acres  of  land 
near,  on  the  same  terms — the  whole  being  just  half 
what  William  Russell  had  been  paying  for  a  house  in 
Philadelphia  not  nearly  so  large. 

The  new  comers  were  received  kindly  by  the  old 
inhabitants,  and  Thomas  Russell,  though  perhaps  a 
little  surprised,  took  pleasure  in  the  comparative  free- 
dom of  New  England  manners.  He  was  invited  to 
go  out  for  a  ride  with  Miss  H.  Phillips.  The  reserve 
so  general  in  England  is  discarded  between  young 
people  and  apparently  not  regretted  by  the  parents. 
"In  society  with  each  other  they  are  perfectly  free 
and  often  indelicately  so.  It  seems  to  make  very  little 
difference  whether  other  elderly  people  are  present  or 
not,  and  even  these  appear  not  to  have  the  smallest 
objection  to  a  young  man's  visiting  their  daughters 
when  alone,  and  attach  no  idea  of  impropriety  to  their 
riding  or  walking  together.  "  Thomas  confessed  that 
in  the  company  of  Miss  Phillips  he  felt  no  disposition 
to  moralise.  He  even  derived  "some  pleasure"  from 
the  ride,  nor  did  he  think  that  she  was  altogether 


214  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

displeased.  Still,  he  had  his  misgivings  about  the 
American  custom,  though  hardly  on  the  grounds 
which  one  would  have  expected  a  young  philosopher 
to  assume.  The  English  reserve  had,  he  saw,  a  certain 
advantage — that  the  swain  to  whose  favour  a  lady 
relaxes  feels  the  favour  heightened,  while  it  is  "  rather 
humiliating"  in  America  to  reflect  that  the  "same 
condescension  would  probably  be  granted  with  equal 
benignity  to  any  one  whom  chance  should  place  in 
the  same  situation." 

But  pleasant  communications  corrupt  austere 
manners,  and  Thomas  easily  fell  into  the  ways  of 
the  place. 

"  This  evening  there  was  a  public  ball  in  town,  to 
which  all  the  elderly  people  were  invited,  say  all  above 
five  or  six  and  twenty  (a  curious  distinction).  General 
and  Mrs.  Phillips  were  of  the  party  :  we  drank  tea 
with  Mr.  Bull  and  in  the  evening  I  walked  with  one 
of  his  daughters  (a  comely  lass)  down  to  General 
Phillips  to  bear  Miss  Hannah  company.  We  found 
another  young  lady,  Miss  Warner,  with  her,  and  being 
all  of  us  in  good  humour  we  amused  ourselves  in 
dancing,  singing,  &c.  ;  till  at  length,  our  spirits  con- 
tinuing to  rise,  laying  aside  all  English  reserve,  I 
joined  them  in  what  they  termed  a  proper  frolic. 
However,  we  had  no  game  more  romping  than  Blind 
Man's  Buff,  though,  to  be  sure,  the  candle  happened 
to  be  thrown  down  by  the  blind  man  ;  the  fair  damsels 
might  be  ranked  among  those  who  as  Boileau  says — 

'  Mollement  resiste,  et  par  un  doux  caprice, 
Quelquefois  le  refuse,  afin  qu'on  le  ravisse.'  " 


THE    EARLY    SETTLER  215 

Amongst  the  Russells'  neighbours  was  a  U.S. 
senator  who,  like  Cato  of  Utica,  when  released  from 
the  service  of  his  country,  employed  himself  in  farming. 
Mr.  Hillhouse  drove  his  own  team  and  held  his  own 
plough,  though  it  would  probably  appear  that  his 
present  energy  was  due  to  necessity  rather  than  desire 
of  independence.  From  his  features  he  appeared  to 
have  some  Indian  blood  in  his  veins.  He  presented 
no  appearance  of  being  either  an  orator  or  statesman. 
Still,  as  Thomas  genially  remarks,  he  must  have  pos- 
sessed some  merit,  or  he  would  hardly  have  been 
made  a  senator. 

At  Christiania  Bridge  one  day  Thomas  came  across 
"a  Presbyterian  parson,"  who  ''appeared  to  be  in  the 
Baptist  way."  He  had  lived  seventeen  years  in 
America  and  persuaded  two  congregations  to  elect 
him  as  their  teacher. 

"In  the  course  of  conversation,  this  worthy  minister 
of  that  Gospel  which  teaches  us  that  'all  men  are 
brethren'  told  us  with  perfect  indifference  that  he 
had  just  been  purchasing  a  slave. 

'  Mihi  frigidus  horror 
Membra  quatit,  gelidusque  coit  formidine  sanguis.' 

"  Is  it  possible  that  this  man  can  pretend  to  explain 
the  Gospel  of  Christ  ?  Is  it  possible  that  he  should 
dare  blasphemously  to  invoke  the  blessing  of  that 
God,  who  formed  us  '  all  of  one  flesh '  and  '  whose 
tender  mercies  are  over  all  His  works,'  with  a  heart 
so  callous  to  all  the  feelings  of  benevolence  ?  This  is 
what  he  would  call,  I  suppose,  an  accommodating  spirit, 


216  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

and  there  are  probably  not  many  of  his  brethren  in 
England,  but  what  in  like  circumstances  would  show 
the  same  condescension." 

Here  perhaps  Thomas  overdoes  his  indignation. 
His  father,  one  of  the  most  benevolent  of  men,  entered, 
as  will  be  seen,  into  negotiation  for  the  purchase  of 
a  negro  cook.  Only  a  few  pages  later  in  Thomas's 
own  diary,  the  fact  is  mentioned  that  in  the  Southern 
States  the  labour  difficulty  was  solved  by  the  use 
of  slaves.  Why  should  he  have  applied  to  this 
unfortunate  Baptist  minister  a  rule  of  conduct  from 
which  he  exempted  such  men  as  General  Washington 
and  his  own  father  ? 


- 


JAMES   SKEY   (1754-1838) 
From  a  miniature  by  J.  MILLAR  (1797) 


CHAPTER  XV 

JAMES   SKEY 

Skey's  lack  of  sympathy  with  provincial  American  life — His  observations 
on  Ireland  en  route — A  long  voyage — Devastations  of  fever  in 
Philadelphia — A  pathetic  figure — Desolation  in  New  York — Wel- 
come at  Middletown — Divorce  facilities  in  New  England— Uncere- 
monious courts  of  law — Heavy  taxation — Rates  and  special  calls — 
Limits  of  religious  toleration — Faith  and  works — Sunday  obser- 
vance—  Sanctimonious  deacons  —  A  candid  confession  —  Church 
government — The  school  system — Superficial  training — Agriculture 
in  Connecticut — Hessian  fly — Slovenly  farming — Hard  life  in  the 
small  holdings — Lack  of  cash  and  want  of  credit — The  maize  crops 
— Neglect  of  live  stock — Dullness  of  the  life — Frame  houses — The 
smoke  chamber — Provincial  self-satisfaction — Superfluity  of  ladies — 
Lack  of  charm — Scandalous  stories — The  men  unsociable — Dis- 
honest adventuress — Meeting-house  anecdotes — The  Russells  held 
up  for  Sabbath  breaking — Malice  and  envy — The  right  law — Free 
and  easy  domestics — Partisan  rancour — Treatment  of  Priestley — 
New  England  idioms — The  class  of  small  country  gentlemen — A 
tale  of  home  life — Excursion  to  Maryland — An  ineffectual  claim 
against  the  State — Law  and  justice  in  the  Assembly. 

JAMES  SKEY,  of  Upton-on-Severn,  has  several  times 
been  mentioned  as  one  of  William  Russell's  friends. 
His  correspondence  with  Martha  had  led  to  an  engage- 
ment, and  in  August  1798  he  started  from  his  Wor- 
cestershire home  to  celebrate  the  marriage  and  bring 
away  his  bride.  From  frequent  references  to  him  in 
the  family  papers  as  well  as  from  his  own  diary  it  is 
evident  that  he  was  a  good  man  of  business  and  a 
shrewd,  humorous,  kindly  man  of  the  world.  In  the 

narrow,    censorious,    and  rather    primitive   society  of 

217 


218  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

Middletown  he  was  a  fish  out  of  water.  His  criticisms 
of  the  people  amongst  whom  he  was  thrown  should, 
perhaps,  be  taken  with  a  certain  allowance  both  for 
British  prejudice  and  personal  incompatibility.  But 
the  picture  which  he  draws — somewhat  maliciously, 
perhaps — of  provincial  American  life  at  the  end  of  the 
eighteenth  century  is  not  altogether  unhistorical.  It 
is  in  some  degree  corroborated  by  more  charitably 
disposed  observers.  His  judgments,  however,  were 
hastily  formed.  Altogether  he  spent  only  a  few 
months  on  American  soil,  and  for  a  considerable 
period  of  his  stay  he  was  engaged  in  travelling  about 
the  country  on  business  errands.  He  was  tempted, 
perhaps,  to  generalise  freely  from  a  few  particular 
cases,  and  he  seems  to  have  been  galled  by  his  failure 
to  make  a  favourable  impression  on  the  Russells' 
neighbours  in  Connecticut.  At  home  he  had  been 
a  popular  and  acceptable  person ;  naturally  he  was 
puzzled  and  vexed  at  being  viewed  in  Middletown  with 
undisguised  coldness.  Clearly  the  ladies  did  not 
make  much  of  him,  and  the  gentlemen  declined  to 
laugh  at  his  jokes.  The  result  was  that  he  saw  no 
beauty  in  the  women  and  lamented  the  absence  of 
humour  amongst  the  men. 

Having  sailed  on  August  the  2nd  in  a  vessel 
of  about  300  tons  from  Liverpool  he  had  to  undergo 
five  days'  tossing  in  the  Irish  Channel  before  he  made 
Cork  Harbour — "  one  of  the  safest,  largest,  and  best 
defended  of  any  belonging  to  Great  Britain."  There 
the  Betsy  had  to  wait  some  time  for  convoy.  Owing 
to  the  expected  arrival  of  the  fleet,  and  the  disturbed 
condition  of  the  country,  it  was  impossible  to  make 


JAMES    SKEY  219 

long  excursions  into  the  interior.  Martial  law  was 
then  in  force.  The  insurgents  appeared  by  their 
conduct  to  have  formed  no  regular  system  of  defence. 
They  were  without  leaders,  without  resources,  and 
even  in  general  without  arms  and  ammunition.  A 
wild  and  barbarous  fury,  almost  peculiar  to  the  lower 
Irish,  led  them  to  actions  of  extravagant  rashness  and 
mad  conduct,  not  only  in  exposing  their  own  persons 
but  also  in  the  destruction  of  those  who  fell  into  their 
hand  inimical  to  their  cause. 

"  However  lamentably  popular  all  insurrections 
generally  are,  and  though  it  may  naturally  be  antici- 
pated," writes  Skey,  "  that  rapine  and  barbarity  will 
accompany  the  steps  of  the  enraged  and  undisciplined 
rabble,  excesses  of  this  kind  would  not  be  expected 
from  a  well-ordered  military.  But  it  must  be  acknow- 
ledged by  every  impartial  observer  of  the  soldiery 
at  this  period  in  Ireland,  that  they  are  distinguished 
by  acts  of  unprovoked  cruelty  and  extreme  injustice. 
It  was  distressing  to  see  the  sad  ruins  of  numerous 
little  cabins  set  on  fire  by  the  military  and  to  hear  the 
miserable  tales  of  helpless  women  and  little  innocent 
children  who  were  necessitated  to  sleep  under  the 
hedges  and  to  subsist  upon  what  they  found  in  the 
fields.  A  guard  of  one  or  two  soldiers  were  placed 
upon  the  roads  and  on  the  side  of  the  rivers  to  en- 
quire of  the  passenger  where  he  came  from  and  where 
he  was  going,  and  if  this  was  not  to  their  satisfaction, 
the  traveller  was  confined." 

Skey  experienced  great  hospitality  in   Ireland — 


220  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

"  courteous  and  friendly  without  ostentation,"  but 
lamented  the  backward  and  wasteful  methods  of  agri- 
culture. 

"There  is  something  in  the  lower  order  of  people, 
their  look  and  manner,  which  indicates  a  savage  dis- 
position. This  alarmed  me  when  surrounded  by  a 
multitude  of  them  at  my  first  landing,  but  I  soon 
found  this  was  without  cause,  for  although  this  place 
is  inhabited  by  poor  people  principally  sailors  and 
fishermen,  yet  such  is  the  confidence  of  the  shop- 
keepers, that  I  observed  they  have  but  one  small  bolt 
to  their  doors  and  no  shutters  to  their  windows.  A 
house  broke  open,  highway  or  footpad  robbery  has  not 
been  heard  of  in  the  neighbourhood  ;  not  one  instance 
of  either  can  be  recorded.  Several  murders  have  been 
committed,  but  all  were  the  effect  of  passion  and  the 
impulse  of  momentary  resentment,  generally  occasioned 
by  too  large  a  portion  of  whisky." 

The  voyage  was  continued  on  August  26  on  the 
Chesapeake,  a  very  fine  ship  and  good  sailer,  1400  or 
1500  tons,  bound  for  Philadelphia.  On  September  10, 
she  was  followed  by  a  French  privateer,  which  in  turn 
was  chased  by  the  accompanying  man-of-war.  Except 
for  some  rough  weather,  the  crossing  was  unadven- 
turous,  if  slow — 4195  miles  having  been  traversed — and 
on  October  26  the  Chesapeake  reached  American 
waters. 

"  I  could  hardly  persuade  myself  that  I  had  crossed 
the  Atlantic  and  that  I  was  arrived  in  America.  Cold 
and  inanimate  indeed  must  be  that  heart,  which  on 


JAMES    SKEY  221 

such  an  occasion  was  not  only  full,  but  would  not 
overflow  with  emotional  sensibility  ;  and  a  sense  of 
gratitude  for  personal  preservation,  together  with  the 
wonderfully  expanded  works  of  nature  now  before  me, 
must  excite  in  the  breast  of  a  rational  being  those 
devotional  feelings  which  of  all  others  must  be  '  in 
spirit  and  in  truth,'  the  most  natural  worship  we  can 
pay  to  the  great  and  benevolent  Parent  of  the 
Universe." 

Opposite  Newcastle  the  ship  was  boarded  by  a 
Custom-house  officer,  who  advised  that  owing  to  the 
fever  nobody  should  disembark  before  Chester.  The 
coach-drive  to  Philadelphia  was  pleasant  enough,  but 
on  entering  the  American  capital  the  dreadful  effects 
of  the  prevailing  fever  became  manifest. 

"It  would  be  impossible  to  relate  the  many  in- 
stances I  saw,  as  they  were  apparent  in  almost  every 
carriage  which  passed  us,  all  flying  from  the  infected 
city,  and,  as  I  was  told,  were  the  survivors  of  families 
who  had  been  detained  there  waiting  the  sad  termina- 
tion of  the  fever  to  some  part  of  the  family  which 
had  been  infected.  Not  one  carriage  did  I  see  pass 
us  for  the  city. 

"  A  sad  and  very  striking  scene  now  presented 
itself  to  view.  The  police  of  Philadelphia,  which  is 
perhaps  the  best  of  any  city  in  the  world,  had  wisely 
and  benevolently  provided  the  lower  order  of  the 
inhabitants,  who  had  not  the  means  of  flying  from  the 
pest,  with  tents,  which  were  placed  on  a  common  or 
green,  just  at  the  outside  of  the  city.  The  number 


222  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

which  inhabited  these  tents,  several  told  us,  were  about 
ten  thousand  ;  in  each  eight  were  admitted.  Through 
this  range  of  temporary  inhabitations  I  passed.  What 
rendered  the  scene  more  affecting  was  that  these  poor 
people  appeared  to  be  in  want  of  many  necessaries. 
In  many  places,  the  pot  was  boiling  in  the  open  air 
between  two  bricks,  but  as  there  was  no  wood  to  be 
seen  for  this  or  any  other  purpose,  they  were  obliged 
to  collect  it  at  a  distance. 

"When  I  had  passed  these  tents,  we  came  to  the 
commencement  of  the  city,  and  here  the  coachee 
stopped,  while  my  companion  and  myself  determined 
whether  we  should  enter  or  avoid  it  by  taking  a  road 
through  the  suburbs.  Curiosity  and  a  natural  desire 
to  see  the  first  city  in  the  United  States  invited,  but 
prudence  and  caution  directed  us  to  pass  by. 

"After  some  deliberation  we  resolved  to  enter  it, and 
we  proceeded  within  sight  of  the  very  long  range  of 
the  Market  Buildings,  but  were  shocked  to  see  almost 
all  the  houses  shut  up,  and  scarce  any  persons  in  the 
streets ;  as  well  as  the  signals  from  the  windows  of 
infected  houses.  We  did  not  stop,  but  turned  again  to 
the  main  road :  affected  by  the  very  dismal  scenes 
we  had  left,  we  journeyed  on  through  Frankford  to 
the  General  Washington,  ten  miles  from  Philadelphia, 
in  silent  contemplation.  We  had  scarcely  sat  down 
when  rather  a  young  man  and  six  small  children 
entered,  all  in  black.  By  his  fixed  and  melancholy 
look,  and  also  by  the  silent,  attentive  manner  in  which 
these  six  children  stood  round  him,  we  readily  saw  he 
was  flying  with  some  remaining  part  of  his  family  from 
the  plague.  I  never  longed  so  earnestly  to  communicate 


JAMES    SKEY  223 

consolation  had  it  been  in  my  power,  but  this  was  im- 
possible. Our  concern  was  expressed  by  the  silence 
we  observed  till  his  horses  were  baited,  and  then  he 
left  us.  We  were  afterwards  informed  that  he  had 
lost  his  wife  and  mother." 

The  condition  of  New  York,  which  was  reached 
on  October  30,  was  little  better.  Most  of  the  houses, 
James  Skey  records,  were  empty :  few  persons  were 
walking  the  streets,  and  half  of  these  wore  mourning. 
Hardly  anybody  who  had  long  resided  in  the  city  but 
had  cause  for  putting  on  his  sable. 

"  This,  however,  was  forborne  by  numbers,  at  the 
public  request  of  the  magistrates.  Dreadful  as  the 
accounts  given  in  the  public  papers  were  of  the  fever 
in  different  places,  yet  they  did  not  express  the  extent 
of  the  calamity.  Every  city  and  town  cautiously 
avoided  publishing  the  ravages  they  had  experienced, 
nor  for  a  time  would  it  be  known  that  the  fever  had 
visited  them  till  it  became  too  notorious  for  conceal- 
ment. The  alarm  lest  it  should  injure  the  trade  and 
the  fixed  property  of  the  place  induced  the  inhabitants 
to  secrete  it.  From  the  best  accounts  I  could  collect 
at  this  time  there  had  died  in  Philadelphia  from  5000 
to  6000  and  at  New  York  from  3000  to  4000. 

"  Soon  after  I  had  got  out  of  the  city  the  driver 
pointed  out  a  piece  of  ground,  closely  adjoining  the 
road,  where  those  persons  who  had  been  infected  with 
the  fever  were  buried.  The  manner  in  which  this 
was  performed  in  so  public  a  place  was  not  only 


224  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

shocking  but  very  unsafe.  The  bodies  were  placed  on 
the  ground  and  the  mould  on  each  side  thrown  over 
them,  so  that  these  receptacles  of  the  dead  seemed  like 
long  ranges  resembling  potato  buries.  In  excuse  of 
this  it  may  be  said,  so  great  and  immediate  was  the 
mortality  that  time  would  not  admit  of  a  better  dis- 
position of  the  dead." 

On  arriving  at  Middletown,  where  Skey  was  affec- 
tionately welcomed  by  "the  best  of  women"  (Martha) 
and  the  Russell  family  in  general,  he  learned  that 
they  had  written  to  him  to  avoid  both  Philadelphia 
and  New  York,  but  their  letters  had  miscarried. 
Before  settling  down  to  a  study  of  American  life  as 
presented  in  Connecticut,  the  lover  congratulates 
himself,  in  the  round  but  not  inelegant  language  of 
the  time,  upon  the  "invaluable  acquisition  of  a  virtuous, 
faithful,  and  affectionate  friend  and  partner  in  domestic 
life  and  a  kind  and  tender  parent  to  my  children." 
(He  had  already  been  twice  married.) 

In  the  leisurely  but  very  sensible  fashion  of  the 
period  the  traveller  transcribed,  and  thus  fixed  in  his 
memory,  long  passages  from  Swift's  Laws  of  Connec- 
ticut. He  omitted,  however,  the  author's  frequent 
deviations  in  honour  of  the  wisdom,  virtue,  and  happi- 
ness of  the  people.  Skey's  own  observations  are  less 
complimentary  ;  the  law,  he  say,  was  good  enough, 
but  it  was  apt  to  be  in  some  instances  perverted  and 
in  others  badly  administered.  We  may  pass  over  his 
summary  of  Swift's  book  and  his  comments  upon 
particular  passages.  But  his  personal  experience  and 
inquiries,  are  not  without  interest.  He  was  shocked, 


JAMES    SKEY  225 

apparently,  at  the  ease,  even  in  primitive  and  virtuous 
Connecticut,  with  which  marriages  were  dissolved. 

"  Within  the  town  of  Middletown,  eight  divorces 
took  place  in  the  course  of  five  years  last  past.  The 
ceremony  which  sanctions  the  matrimonial  engagement 
is  not  of  that  serious,  solemn  nature  as  in  England  ; 
it  is  considered  as  a  civil  institution  rather  than  a 
religious  one.  A  person  may  be  married  when  and 
where  he  pleases,  either  by  a  minister  or  magistrate, 
who  is  not  bound  to  follow  any  particular  form  of 
words ;  he  may  vary  them  at  his  pleasure.  The 
marriage  fee  is  one  dollar.  A  respectable  parson  in 
the  next  State,  Vermont,  informed  me  that  in  his 
parish,  a  needy  magistrate  was  applied  to  upon  all 
matrimonial  cases  ;  he  united  all  who  came  to  him. 
When  ill  with  the  gout,  he  would  marry  from  his 
chamber  window,  and,  if  unable  to  walk  when  required 
to  attend  at  any  distance,  he  would  ride  up  to  the 
door  of  the  house  appointed  and  there  perform  the 
ceremony,  sitting  on  his  horse's  back." 

At  every  assize,  so  Skey  says,  much  of  the  Court's 
time  was  occupied  with  matrimonial  causes.  In  case 
the  suit  of  one  party  was  not  opposed  by  the  other, 
judgment  was  forthwith  given,  the  fees  amounting  to 
the  not  extravagant  figure  of  us.  3d.  In  case  of  a 
defence,  however,  the  expense  was  somewhat  greater. 
In  England  at  this  time  the  cost  of  a  divorce,  not  to 
mention  the  legal  delay,  was  almost  prohibitive  to 
persons  of  moderate  means. 

Skey  was  a  little  scandalised  to  note  that  the 
judges  were  not  distinguished  by  their  dress  on  the 

p 


226  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

bench  from  the  ordinary  layman.  They  wore  coarse 
brown  coats  with  large  capes,  and  instead  of  cravats 
two  of  them  had  common  silk  handkerchiefs  round 
their  throats. 

"  I  have  frequently  lamented  that  in  the  Church 
and  at  the  Bar  with  us,  the  externals  of  their  profession 
should  be  so  conspicuous.  But  I  am  now  convinced 
that  an  extreme  in  this  way  is  far  better  than  having 
no  investment  or  badge.  In  these  enlightened  times 
men  in  general  are  too  discerning  to  admit  of  any 
improper  influence  from  them.  Entirely  to  discard 
them  will  tend  to  diminish  and  destroy  all  that  defer- 
ence and  respect  which,  tho'  not  attached  to  the 
person,  adhere  to  the  office.  At  the  American  Bar, 
there  is  such  a  want  of  dignity  as  gave  me  no  high 
opinion  of  its  decisions. 

"  The  five  judges  left  the  bench  for  the  comfortable 
enjoyment  of  a  good  fire  in  the  hall  or  court  house, 
and  in  this  way  the  business  of  the  day  passed  on  : 
the  judges  now  and  then,  while  the  attorneys  were 
pleading,  would  enter  into  familiar  conversation  with 
the  farmer-like  men  who  surrounded  them,  and  I  even 
observed  a  transaction  of  some  money  concern  during 
a  trial,  between  a  juryman  and  a  person  on  the  outside 
of  the  box  in  which  they  were  confined  ;  but  no  notice 
of  this  was  taken  by  the  Court." 

Taxation  in  the  United  States,  though  not  to  be 
compared  with  the  burdens  then  laid  upon  English- 
men, was  severe,  and  likely,  Skey  thought,  to  increase 
rapidly  "on  account  of  the  preparation  for  war  with 
France"  (1798).  A  new  and  general  tax  on  houses 


JAMES    SKEY  227 

was   expected  in   1799.     The  list  appended  is  suffi- 
ciently formidable : 


£ 

J. 

d. 

Polls  from  21  to  70  years  (males) 

.     18 

7 

o 

„        „    16  to  21     „           „               ... 

9 

o 

o 

4  years  old  oxen  or  bulls       ..... 

•      4 

o 

o 

Cows  and  bull,  oxen,  heifers  and  steers,  3  years  old 

•       3 

o 

o 

»               „            »            »            »        2      „      „ 

2 

o 

o 

»                     j>                 »                 »                 »            x         »        » 

I 

o 

o 

Hornkind,  3  years  old           .... 

•       3 

o 

o 

,,              2       ,,          ,,                   .             .             .             .             . 

2 

o 

o 

1 

o 

o 

Swine  of  i  year  old      ...... 

I 

o 

o 

Acres  of  ploughed  land         ..... 

O 

10 

o 

„        upland,  mowing  and  pasture,  &c.    . 

O 

8 

o 

„        boggy  meadow,  mowed   .... 

o 

5 

o 

„            „            „         not  mowed 

0 

2 

o 

„        meadow  land  in  Hartford  County    . 

o 

15 

o 

„        other  meadow  land          .... 

o 

7 

o 

„        bush  pasture  ...... 

o 

2 

o 

,,        unenclosed  land,  first  rate 

o 

2 

o 

„                ,,              „     second  rate  . 

o 

I 

o 

„               „             „     third  rate      . 

o 

O 

6 

Tons  of  vessels  at  per  ton    ..... 

o 

15 

o 

Coaches       ........ 

•   25 

O 

o 

Chariots       ........ 

.        20 

o 

o 

Phaetons      ........ 

•   15 

o 

o 

Curricles      ........ 

IO 

o 

0 

Chaises        ........ 

•      5 

o 

o 

Riding  chairs  with  open  tops         .... 

•       3 

o 

o 

Gold  watches       ....... 

•      5 

o 

o 

Silver  and  other  watches       ..... 

I 

IO 

o 

Steel  and  brass  wheeled  clocks     .... 

•       3 

o 

o 

Wooden  wheeled  clocks        ..... 

i 

0 

o 

6  per  cent,  on  silver  plate  at  6s.  8d.  per  ounce. 

Money  at  interest  at  6  per  cent. 

Houses  of  ...  fireplaces  at  153. 

o 

15 

0 

,,                        „         depreciated  i  qr.    . 

o 

II 

3 

„                         „                 „           half      . 

o 

7 

6 

i>                 »            »        3  qrs«  «       • 

0 

3 

9 

228  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

These  taxes  did  not  cover  the  occasional  levies  for 
such  purposes  as  highways,  bridges,  churches  and 
schools.  In  Middletown,  for  instance,  in  the  year  of 
Skey's  visit,  a  new  meeting-house  was  erected  by  the 
members  of  the  congregation.  Everybody,  be  it 
noted,  had  to  belong  to  some  definite  sect  and  bear 
his  share  of  the  burdens.  In  this  case  the  money 
was  raised  from  about  2500  persons,  from  a  special 
rate  of  43.  6d.  in  the  pound,  or  what  was  known 
as  the  grand  levy.  The  building  would  hold  3000 
people :  it  was  built  entirely  of  wood,  and  had  a 
neat  cupola  with  a  single  bell.  There  were  but  three 
sects  in  Connecticut  worth  notice — Congregationalists 
(far  the  most  numerous),  Episcopalians,  and  Baptists 
or  New  Lights.  In  practice  there  was  complete  re- 
ligious toleration  so  far  as  public  worship  was  concerned. 
Every  one  could  attend  what  service  he  chose  or  absent 
himself  from  all.  But  he  must  pay  his  proportion  as 
assessed  by  the  Church  levy ;  all  he  could  do  was  to 
appropriate  the  money  to  what  society  he  might  favour. 
According  to  the  strict  letter  of  the  law,  however,  there 
was  a  certain  limit  to  free  thought.  Any  person  in 
Connecticut,  who  had  been  educated  in  or  had  pro- 
fessed the  Christian  religion,  was  liable  to  prosecution 
if  "  by  writing,  printing,  teaching,  or  advised  speak- 
ing "  he  denied  the  existence  of  God,  the  deity  of  the 
three  persons  of  the  Trinity,  the  truth  of  the  Christian 
religion,  or  the  divine  authority  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments.  On  conviction  before  a  superior  Court 
he  would  be  declared  incapable  of  holding  any  office, 
ecclesiastical,  civil  or  military.  On  a  second  conviction 
he  would  be  disabled  from  suing,  prosecuting,  pleading, 


JAMES    SKEY  229 

or  maintaining  any  action  or  information  in  law  or 
equity.  Nor  could  he  be  appointed  guardian,  exe- 
cutor, or  administrator. 

Skey  was  harsh  in  his  judgment  of  the  Congrega- 
tionalists  in  Middletown.  He  compares  them  with 
the  Calvinistic  Presbyterians  in  England,  and  asserts 
that  they  insisted  far  more  upon  dogma  than  duty. 
"  To  be  faithful,  honest,  and  just,  charitable  and  bene- 
volent, is  not  esteemed  as  essential  as  faith  in  their 
unintelligible  doctrines."  If  he  did  not  generalise  from 
a  few  cases  he  certainly  formed  his  judgments  too 
rapidly.  He  was  particularly  affronted  by  the  rigid 
observance  of  the  Sabbath. 

"  Tything  men,  grand  jurymen  and  constables  are 
directed  to  preserve  order  on  the  Sabbath  Day  by 
seizing  the  persons  of  offenders,  on  whom  fines  are 
levied,  who  shall  engage  or  employ  themselves  in  any 
secular  business  whatever.  Sport,  play  or  any  recre- 
ation are  expressly  forbidden.  No  vessel  is  allowed 
to  depart  from  any  harbour,  to  sail  or  pass  by  any 
town  or  society  in  Connecticut  River  on  the  Lord's 
Day.  To  walk  or  travel  is  contrary  to  law,  which 
expressly  says :  '  No  persons  shall  convene  or  meet 
together  in  company  or  in  companies  in  the  street  or 
elsewhere,  or  go  from  his  or  her  place  of  abode  on 
the  Lord's  Day,  unless  to  attend  to  the  public  worship 
of  God  or  some  work  of  necessity  or  mercy,  on  penalty 
of  five  shillings.' " 

Other  punishable  offences  on  the  Sabbath  (which 
began  at  sunset  on  Saturday)  were  running  or  "walking" 


230  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

in  one's  garden  (or  elsewhere  except  reverently 
to  or  from  meeting).  Travelling,  cooking  victuals, 
making  beds,  sweeping  houses,  cutting  hair  or  shaving, 
even  for  a  mother  to  kiss  her  child,  were  forbidden. 
In  case  the  minister  was  disabled  by  illness  the  duty 
of  holding  service  fell  upon  one  of  the  four  deacons, 
who  therefore  must  be  persons  of  great  sanctity  and 
consequence.  One  of  these  in  Middletown  had  lately 
admonished  a  young  woman  for  attending  Sacrament 
with  her  hat  a  little  on  one  side.  The  same  giddy 
offender  had  subsequently  to  be  reprimanded  for 
taking  dinner  with  a  female  friend  on  the  Lord's  Day. 
Numerous  tales,  Skey  says,  were  in  circulation  as 
to  the  hypocrisy  and  dishonesty  practised  by  the 
deacons.  Himself  he  preferred  to  relate  an  anecdote 
which  showed  that  one  deacon  at  least  was  "  not 
devoid  of  liberality."  A  member  of  a  Congregationa- 
list  body  had  been  reported  to  have  been  seen  in  a 
state  of  intoxication. 

"  A  meeting  was  accordingly  holden  of  deacons, 
grand  jurors,  and  select  men.  The  general  voice 
was  against  the  criminal  ;  one  deacon  only  dissented. 
'  I  cannot  vote  for  expelling  this  man  for  getting 
drunk,'  he  said,  '  because  I  sometimes  get  drunk  my- 
self, and  (turning  to  his  brethren)  you  get  drunk,  and 
you  and  you ;  we  all  get  drunk.  Therefore,  if  the 
Lord  will  have  a  society  upon  earth,  He  must  take 
up  with  us  such  as  we  are.'  And  by  this  speech,  he 
prevented  the  impending  disgrace." 

The  Episcopalian  Church  at  Middletown  was  a 
"  very  neat  building,"  and  possessed  an  organ. 


JAMES    SKEY  231 

"  The  present  officiating  clergyman  is  Dr.  Abraham 
Jervis,  Bishop  of  Connecticut,  a  man  of  good  moral  char- 
acter, tho'  perhaps  somewhat  too  much  of  the  Bishop 
for  his  situation  and  circumstances.  His  emolument 
from  his  Church  does  not  exceed  ninety-four  pounds 
per  annum,  nor  from  the  Episcopalian  see  more  than 
twenty-four  pounds  per  annum,  so  that  he  derives 
little  more  from  it  than  his  dignity,  which,  however, 
does  not  entitle  him  to  the  appellation  of  '  my  Lord.' 
He  reads  well  and  has  a  good  delivery.  The  Com- 
mon Prayer  Book  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  Church 
of  England,  except  that  instead  of  praying  for  the 
King,  &c.,  &c.,  is  substituted  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  the  Senate,  and  Assembly." 

The  Congregational  minister's  stipend  was  ^124 
(with  firewood).  He  was  a  respectable  character, 
Skey  admits,  but  as  a  preacher  laboured  under  the 
defect  that  his  utterances  were  scarcely  intelligible. 
This  misfortune — due,  it  was  thought,  to  a  lung  com- 
plaint— was  not  much  felt  by  his  congregation.  They 
"assemble  from  habitual  custom,"  and  "derive  satis- 
faction and  self-complacency  from  it." 

An  interesting  criticism  is  passed  by  Skey  on  the 
"  excellent  institution  of  schools  at  the  public  ex- 
pense." The  benefit  that  should  have  flowed  from 
the  system  was  diminished  by  the  introduction  of 
Greek  and  Latin,  the  learning  of  which  was  thought 
to  be  more  valuable  than  the  acquirement  of  "  useful 
and  practical  knowledge."  The  period  of  education 
being  very  brief,  since  able-bodied  boys  in  the  lower 
orders  would  not  long  be  spared  from  farm  work, 


232  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

their  school  attainments  were  quite  inconsiderable. 
In  the  higher  ranks  there  was  no  desire  for  a  thorough 
training.  Parents  were  satisfied  that  their  children 
should  give  a  single  "  quarter  "  to  such  "  accomplish- 
ments "  as  music,  drawing,  and  dancing,  or  even  to 
more  solid  studies. 

Skey  devoted  a  good  deal  of  his  time  to  learning 
American  methods  of  agriculture.  He  complains  of 
the  conservative,  indolent  disposition  of  the  average 
Connecticut  farmer.  In  particular  no  systematic  at- 
tempt was  made  to  deal  with  the  Hessian  fly,  which 
had  worked  havoc  amongst  the  maize,  wheat,  and 
barley.  Rye  alone  seemed  capable  of  defying  the 
pest. 

"It  is  generally  credited  that  this  fly  was  first  intro- 
duced to  America,  at  the  time  of  the  American  War, 
in  the  corn  imported  for  the  Hessian  horse,  and  from 
hence  it  is  called  the  Hessian  fly.  It  first  appeared 
about  that  period,  but  the  conjecture  of  its  being  im- 
ported in  the  Hessian  corn  is  improbable,  as  we  hear 
of  no  such  destructive  fly  in  Germany." 

The   only  person  in  America  from   whom   Skey 

obtained   any  useful    information   about    the   fly  was 

a  Quaker  in  Pennsylvania,  who  wrote  to  William 
Russell. 

"The  first  appearance  of  the  Hessian  fly  upon  my 
place  was  in  the  autumn  of  1788,  when  they  did  me 
great  damage  by  destroying  the  early  grain,  but  the 
early  part  of  the  succeeding  winter  was  so  warm  that 


JAMES    SKEY  233 

they  came  out  to  fly,  and  the  nights  being  cold  and 
frosty  they  perished  before  their  eggs  were  deposited, 
which  almost  annihilated  them.  They  did  me  but 
little  damage  till  the  spring  of  1791,  when  they 
appeared  again  very  numerous.  In  the  month  of 
April  I  took  some  entire  plants  of  wheat  with  these 
insects  in  their  brown  state  attached  to  them,  which 
I  put  into  glasses  covered  with  paper  to  prevent  their 
escape.  In  about  a  week  they  began  to  appear,  a 
perfect  fly,  nearly  in  shape,  size,  and  colour  like  a 
Mosqueto  of  the  smaller  kind.  At  this  time  the  fly 
was  general  upon  the  wheat  in  the  fields,  soon  after 
which  I  found  the  maggots  very  numerous,  which 
were  undoubtedly  from  the  second  hatching  that  spring. 
When  the  fruit  came  to  form  the  ear  a  great  part 
of  it  fell  and  perished,  The  same  year  an  acquaint- 
ance of  mine  in  Burlington  County  sowed  a  field  of 
wheat  very  early  in  the  autumn  which  was  all  de- 
stroyed by  the  Hessian  fly.  The  beginning  of 
October,  he  sowed  about  an  acre  in  a  field  adjoining 
the  former,  which  had  borne  pumpkins  that  year,  highly 
manured  and  in  excellent  order.  This  wheat  flourished 
for  a  while,  and  then  dwindled  till  there  was  scarce 
a  blade  of  wheat  to  be  seen.  Upon  examining  the 
cause  he  found  the  roots  full  of  this  insect,  from 
which  circumstance  it  appears  to  me  he  raised  the 
fly  in  his  first  corn  which  destroyed  the  last." 

Skey's  love  of  English  trimness  was  offended  by  the 
prevailing  untidiness  of  American  farms.  The  houses 
in  Connecticut,  he  complained,  were  cold,  comfortless, 
and  dirty.  There  seemed  to  be  no  "  management " 


234  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

in  the  place,  or  the  neat  cleanness,  which  it  was  so 
pleasant  to  see  in  a  country  cottage,  conveying  to 
the  mind  the  idea  of  comfort  and  wholesomeness, 
while  the  want  of  it  suggested  wretchedness  and 
poverty.  This  is  a  criticism  which  has  not  altogether 
been  antiquated  by  the  hundred  years  which  have 
passed  since  it  was  written,  though  it  should  be  borne 
in  mind  that  the  English  regard  for  domestic  appear- 
ances is  by  no  means  a  guarantee  either  of  prosperity 
or  sanitary  conditions. 

Life  on  a  small  holding,  even  when  the  cultivator 
has  the  fee  simple,  is  everywhere  and  always  has  been 
hard  and  frugal. 

"  This  State  is  divided  into  small  farms,  and  the 
little  farmer,  in  this  as  well  as  in  any  other  State, 
is  a  poor,  miserable  being.  What  though  he  be  the 
proprietor  of  thirty,  fifty,  or  even  a  hundred  acres? 
It  is  an  ungrateful  soil,  which  he  cultivates  with  his 
own  hands.  On  this  he  wholly  depends  for  every 
produce  on  which  himself  and  family  subsist.  The 
aid  of  tillage  workmen  is  not  within  the  reach  of 
the  common  farmer,  as  the  price  of  their  labour  is 
from  four  to  six  shillings  a  day.  All  therefore  is 
obtained  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow — the  mowing, 
reaping,  &c.,  beneath  the  scorching  sun  which  so 
enfeebles  and  exhausts  him,  that  his  countenance 
displays  great  pallid  languor  and  striking  symptoms 
of  premature  old  age.  Perhaps  his  daily  food  tends 
very  much  to  produce  this,  for  though  in  winter 
he  may  venture  to  kill  an  ox  or  a  cow,  and  keep  some 
part  of  it  for  his  family  use  (because,  being  frozen, 


JAMES    SKEY  235 

he  can  preserve  it  as  long  as  he  likes),  yet  in  the 
most  laborious  season  he  subsists  upon  salt  beef  or 
pork,  which  with  potatoes  served  up  in  the  same 
dish  and  Indian  pudding  is  the  farmer's  general  fare 
if  the  time  of  killing  is  excepted. 

"  In  this  city  of  Middletown  there  is  not  one  indi- 
vidual who  would  purchase  an  ox  or  a  cow  and  could 
be  confided  in  for  the  payment  of  it.  The  farmer 
is  therefore  under  the  necessity  of  turning  butcher 
himself,  and  any  person  in  this  place  or  neighbourhood 
who  may  feed  any  cattle  for  his  amusement  either 
sends  his  servants  to  his  acquaintance  to  dispose  of 
the  joints  here  and  there  before  he  kills  it,  or  sends 
him  to  stand  by  the  sale  and  receive  the  money  as 
the  person,  who  is  the  butcher,  disposes  of  it.  Very 
little  money  ever  reaches  the  hands  of  a  Connecticut 
farmer,  as  almost  all  his  transactions  are  done  by 
barter.  With  his  beef  or  pork  he  discharges  the 
annual  demands  of  his  doctor,  tailor,  collar  maker,  &c., 
&c.,  and  if  he  has  grain  or  any  other  article  for  sale, 
which  he  cannot  dispose  of  to  private  families,  he 
applies  to  those  who  keep  public  stores  (as  it  is  called 
here) — that  is,  shops,  where  the  farmer  barters  to  great 
disadvantage,  as  he  receives,  in  return  for  what  he 
has  for  sale,  the  store-keeper's  commodity  on  which 
a  most  enormous  profit  has  been  put." 

Skey  was  much  impressed  with  the  value  of  maize, 
as  being  easily  cultivated  and  rapidly  coming  to 
maturity.  He  points,  however,  to  the  general  practice 
of  leaving  the  stalks  in  the  ground  until  the  land 


236  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

is  ploughed  for  the  next  crop  as  a  proof  of  Connecticut 
slovenliness.  Nobody  there  had  any  notion  of  making 
manure  from  straw  and  stubble  or  of  farmyard  man- 
agement. The  one  care  of  the  farmer  was  to  save 
labour,  and  this  caused  everything  to  be  ill  done. 
The  ox-plough  was  primitive  and  inefficient.  The 
working  oxen,  Skey  said,  were  well  looked  after,  but 
all  -the  other  farm  animals  were  in  a  starved  and 
miserable  condition.  The  currycomb  and  brush,  he 
said,  were  unknown  instruments.  No  attention  was 
paid  to  a  horse's  coat,  nor  was  he  cleansed  after  work. 
In  hot  and  cold  weather  alike,  he  would  be  left  stand- 
ing at  the  door  of  a  tavern,  and  never  cost  the 
proprietor  more  than  the  corn  brought  to  him. 

"  Thus  of  a  Sunday,  the  horses  of  the  congregation 
are  tied  to  a  rail  which  is  near  the  Meeting,  from 
morning  till  night,  as  those  who  come  from  any 
distance  do  not  return  home  to  dinner,  but  bring 
it  in  their  pockets  with  them.  The  horses  are  early 
inured  to  the  treatment,  and  therefore  no  injury 
arises  from  it,  but  on  the  contrary,  for  here  it  is  a 
rare  thing  to  see  an  unsound  horse.  In  every  part 
the  stable  is  universally  boarded  with  plank  floors, 
and  this  becomes  necessary  in  such  a  climate,  as 
the  flies  in  summer  cause  them  to  strike  so  violently 
that,  was  the  floor  of  brick,  it  would  break,  if  not 
occasion  the  shoe  to  come  off. 

"  This  treatment  of  the  horse — hard  and  injurious 
as  it  may  appear  to  those  who  are  accustomed  to  feed 
and  dress  him  perpetually  as  well  as  to  keep  him  wrapt 
in  warm  clothing — is  much  more  suitable  to  the  nature 


JAMES    SKEY  237 

of  this  useful  animal  than  so  much  attention.  Not- 
withstanding the  little  care  which  is  taken  of  American 
horses,  they  are  more  sound  and  will  travel  farther 
with  less  apparent  fatigue  than  the  horses  of  England. 
I  have  been  taken  by  one  pair  of  horses  several 
hundred  miles,  at  the  rate  of  forty  to  forty-five  miles 
a  day,  sometimes  stages  of  twenty  and  five-and-twenty 
miles,  and  even  by  allowing  them  fifteen  or  twenty 
minutes  only  for  eating  one  feed  of  corn,  they  have 
been  on  the  road  from  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning 
till  eight  at  night,  and  that  without  their  sustaining 
injury,  altho'  they  drew  a  four-wheeled  coachee  of  the 
country,  with  my  friend,  myself,  driver  and  baggage." 

How  thoroughly  out  of  sympathy  James  Skey 
found  himself  with  American  life  may  be  seen  from 
his  contrast  of  the  scenery  with  the  people  of  Middle- 
town. 

"  I  have  neither  seen  nor  heard  of  any  part  of 
America  more  pleasant  nor  more  healthy  than  this, 
but  what  is  there  here  for  the  enjoyment  of  a  liberal, 
social,  and  rational  man  ?  He  sees  with  wonder  and 
pleasure  for  a  time  the  vast  rivers,  the  stupendous 
rocks,  and  the  immense  forests,  which  in  every  direction 
present  themselves  to  his  unbounded  view.  But  when 
these  are  become  familiar  to  the  sight,  he  soon  feels 
a  longing  desire  to  turn  from  the  grand  and  rugged 
scene,  which  now  no  longer  excites  surprise,  to  those 
varied  views  of  plenty  which  appear  in  every  part  of 
Britain.  If  the  hand  of  Nature  has  not  wrought  in 
a  way  so  stupendously  majestic  in  that  favoured  isle, 


238  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

yet  her  operations  are  infinitely  more  rich  and  bounti- 
ful than  this  continent  can  display.  To  taste  her 
productions  from  the  soil  and  climate  ;  to  enjoy  with 
discerning  relish  the  rational  social  intercourse,  which 
in  a  peculiar  manner  and  degree  is  found  in  Britain ; 
to  feel  the  glow  of  friendship,  and  to  be  delighted  with 
beholding  the  virtuous,  God-like  effusions  of  benevo- 
lence, a  man  should  cross  the  Atlantic  and  examine 
the  state  of  these  things  here.  Then  he  will  return  to 
his  native  country  and  be  satisfied  that  with  all  its 
present  evils  and  abuses,  it  is  by  comparison  to  be 
preferred,  as  holding  out  the  means  of  solid  rational 
happiness  in  such  a  degree  as  is  not  to  be  found  upon 
the  continent  of  America. 

"  There  are  indeed  some  kinds  of  men  who  value 
above  everything  the  means  of  procuring  a  mere 
animal  existence  at  a  cheap  rate ;  who  can  enjoy 
content  at  a  distance  from  the  delicate  manners  of 
refinement  and  the  tender,  generous  feelings  of  the 
heart.  They  would  do  right  to  embark  for  America, 
as  their  expenses  and  taxes  would  be  considerably  less 
than  in  England,  and  they  could  not  fix  upon  a  place 
more  adapted  to  the  several  purposes  of  health, 
economy,  and  congeniality  of  disposition  in  the  people 
than  at  Middletown." 

Skey  describes  rather  minutely  the  building  of  a 
frame  house.  Bricks  and  mortar  were  seldom  employed, 
and  even  regarded  as  unwholesome.  The  wooden 
structure  was  laid  upon  stone  foundations. 

"  Nothing  is  more  easy  or  common  than  to  travel 
with  your  house  and  furniture  from  one  street  to 


JAMES    SKEY  239 

another.  The  Town  Hall,  or  as  it  is  called  here 
Court  House,  at  Hartford,  a  very  extensive  building, 
was  in  this  way  not  long  since  removed  without 
injury,  but  here  (in  Middletown)  a  business  of 
this  kind  was  not  so  happily  conducted.  In  this 
place  are  two  venerable  old  gentlemen  famous  for 
their  skill  in  moving  buildings  from  one  place  to 
another:  it  is  become  the  hobby-horse  of  their  old 
age,  and  any  one  who  wishes  to  set  his  house  in 
motion  applies  for  advice  or  assistance  to  either  one 
or  the  other  of  them.  It  lately  happened  that  a  very 
cautious  inhabitant,  desirous  of  changing  the  situation 
of  his  house,  separately  solicited  the  assistance  and 
counsel  of  these  two  able  directors.  On  the  appointed 
day  they  both  met,  but  unfortunately,  as  no  previous 
consultation  had  taken  place,  each  hooked  on  his  oxen 
and  began  the  operation  by  drawing  in  a  different 
direction,  and  down  fell  the  whole  edifice,  proving 
that  the  old  proverb  of  safety  in  a  multitude  of  coun- 
sellors is  not  always  verified."1 

A  contrivance  which  Skey  admired  was  the  "  smoke 
house "  for  drying  and  keeping  bacon  or  other  pre- 
served flesh.  The  fires  being  of  wood,  at  the  top  of 
the  house  some  boards  were  closely  jointed  by  the 
side  of  the  chimney.  In  this  way  a  closet  was  formed 
through  which  the  smoke  passed  by  a  communication 
from  the  chimney  at  the  bottom  and  into  it  again  at 
the  top.  Thus  the  smoke  could  be  turned  on  or  cut 
off  by  opening  or  closing  the  communication. 

1  The  practice  of  moving  houses  in  America  has  not  yet  become 
quite  extinct.  Quite  recently  one  of  the  financial  magnates  had  his 
mansion  taken  up  stone  by  stone  and  re-erected  elsewhere. 


240  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

American  slackness  gave  offence  to  Skey.  The 
mails  from  Middletown  to  Newport  (115  miles)  never 
took  less  than  three  days,  though  the  roads,  except 
for  a  few  days  in  the  year,  were  not  bad.  For 
this  slowness  he  could  never  find  any  other  reason 
than  that  it  "  had  always  been  the  custom."  The 
people  of  Middletown,  he  goes  on,  were  far  more 
refined  and  polite  than  those  of  the  inland  towns  and 
cities  generally.  Indeed  they  plumed  themselves  a 
good  deal  upon  their  advantages. 

"  But  with  all  this,  in  the  eye  of  those  who 
have  been  used  to  good  company  in  England  the 
contrast  is  so  great,  so  much  inferior  to  what  he  has 
been  accustomed  to,  that  when  the  novelty  of  the 
change  is  abated,  he  must  be  disgusted  by  that 
general  ignorance,  that  contracted  little  way  of  think- 
ing and  acting,  which  the  most  candid  observer 
must  admit.  There  is  also  in  the  disposition  of  the 
American  people  of  all  descriptions  such  a  marked 
indifference  to  everything  which  does  not  relate  either 
to  themselves  or  their  country  as  is  very  striking : 
they  are  so  perfectly  satisfied  both  with  one  and  the 
other,  and  they  listen  to  whatever  is  said  to  them 
with  a  cold  indifference  should  a  foreigner  endeavour 
either  to  amuse  or  inform  them." 

It  would  be  impossible,  says  Skey,  for  a  French- 
man to  live  in  any  of  the  New  England  States.  This 
we  know  to  be  an  exaggeration,  for  at  this  time 
several  were  residing  at  Middletown.  It  was,  how- 
ever, an  unpleasant  situation,  and  if  they  appeared  in 


JAMES    SKEY  241 

public  they  ran  the  risk  of  inconvenience.  But  at  this 
time,  it  should  be  remembered,  there  was  imminent 
danger  of  war  between  France  and  the  United  States. 
Even  an  Englishman,  Skey  goes  on,  if  he  wished  to 
be  popular  would  not  contrast  an  American  custom  or 
institution  unfavourably  with  those  at  home.  That, 
one  may  remark,  should  be  an  elementary  rule  for  the 
traveller  whatever  be  his  race,  and  wherever  he  may 
be,  if  he  wishes  to  have  a  good  time  amongst  his 
hosts.  Unhappily  the  rule  is  almost  universally 
broken,  and  Skey  it  seems  was  a  rank  offender. 

''The  American  who  knows  nothing  of  the  world, 
and  whose  travels  have  never  been  extended  beyond 
the  limit  of  the  State  in  which  he  was  born,  arrogantly 
assumes  to  determine  that  under  heaven  there  is  no 
such  country  as  America.  Virtue,  science,  and  the 
arts  are  more  highly  cultivated  than  in  the  Old  World. 
At  the  assize  here,  as  I  was  attending  to  a  pleader 
who  had  for  some  time  addressed  the  judges  for  his 
client,  in  a  miserable  harangue  of  bad  English  and  by 
much  in  the  worst  manner  and  language  I  ever  saw 
addressed  to  the  Bar,  an  attorney,  the  best-informed 
young  man  in  the  city,  came  to  me  and  with  great 
exultation  said,  '  Can  your  Erskine  equal  this  ? ' ' 

There  was  little  hospitality  in  Connecticut,  Skey 
complains,  and  at  the  few  banquets  he  attended  the 
fare  seems  to  have  been  rather  monotonous — roast 
turkey  at  one  end  of  the  table,  boiled  turkey  at  the 
other.  He  was  inclined  to  scoff,  on  another  occasion, 
at  the  sacrifice  of  a  hen  and  her  nine  young  chickens. 

Q 


242  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

(Probably  those  little  "squabs"  were  excellent.) 
Again  he  experienced  a  painful  shock  at  a  dinner 
when,  having  been  twice  pledged  by  his  host  in  ex- 
cellent Madeira,  he  was  counting  upon  a  comfortable 
English  sitting  with  the  decanters.  Saving  himself  up 
for  the  good  time  coming,  he  drank  water  with  the 
rest  of  the  meal.  What  was  his  surprise  when  the 
cloth  was  removed  to  see  the  wine  also  taken  away ! 

The  ladies  of  Middletown  spared  no  trouble  or 
expense,  he  records,  for  their  dress  on  public  occasions, 
though,  whether  through  frugality  or  lack  of  servants, 
they  clean  the  house,  cook  the  dinner,  and  wash  the 
dishes.  It  was  not  the  custom  to  give  a  portion  with 
a  bride  ;  if  her  father  furnished  the  house  that  was  all 
the  husband  had  a  right  to  expect.  Yet  one  might 
have  supposed,  if  Skey's  story  be  true,  that  the  dowry 
system  would  have  been  introduced  by  stress  of  com- 
petition. He  solemnly  asserts  that  the  proportion  of 
women  to  men  in  Middletown  was  as  15  :  i,  and  goes 
on  to  explain  his  estimate.  Most  of  the  young  men, 
he  says,  were  either  brought  up  to  the  sea  or  were 
engaged  in  farming  at  a  distance  from  their  place  of 
birth.  At  balls  it  was  the  custom  for  every  gentleman 
to  be  responsible  for  two  ladies,  dancing  alternately 
with  one  and  the  other. 

"  I  cannot  say  the  ladies  here  are  very  captivating  ; 
most  undoubtedly  they  fall  very  short  of  equalling 
Englishwomen  either  in  beauty,  accomplishments,  or 
amiableness  of  manner.  The  general  conduct  of 
the  females  in  Connecticut  is  not  restrained  by  that 
prudent  reserve  to  the  other  sex  which  distinguishes 


JAMES    SKEY  243 

the  British  fair,  by  whom  the  ladies  here  would,  with 
much  reason,  be  deemed  very  forward  and  indiscreet. 
Now  and  then  the  consequences  of  this  unguarded 
conduct  produce  some  unpleasant  effects.  When  such 
circumstances  do  appear,  the  parties  marry,  and  by  so 
doing  they  give  ample  satisfaction  to  themselves,  their 
friends,  and  the  world  for  their  irregularity.  For  there 
is  not  that  disgrace  attached  to  it  with  them,  as  would 
be  in  England,  where  such  circumstances  rarely  occur. 

"  Tho1  the  Connecticut  women  may  very  justly  be 
charged  with  some  degree  of  frailty  before  marriage, 
yet  afterwards  they  become  very  faithful  to  their 
domestic  duties ;  infinitely  more  so  than  their  mates, 
who  are  notoriously  known  to  form  criminal  intrigues 
with  other  women.  The  law  for  punishing  this  crime 
seems  very  defective  ;  it  says,  '  Be  it  enacted  by  the 
authority  aforesaid,  that  if  any  man  be  found  in  bed 
with  another  man's  wife,  the  man  and  woman  so 
offending,  being  thereof  convicted,  shall  be  severely 
whipped,  not  exceeding  thirty  stripes,  unless  it  appears 
upon  trial  that  one  party  was  surprised  and  did  not 
consent,  which  shall  excuse  such  party  from  punish- 
ment.' 

"  This  law,  however,  such  as  it  is,  is  seldom  exe- 
cuted, for  though  this  species  of  profligacy  is  very 
common,  little  notice  is  taken  of  it." 

For  these  rather  scandalous  generalisations  it 
would  probably  have  puzzled  Skey  to  quote  chapter 
and  verse.  But  if  he  misdoubted  the  women's  virtue 
he  also  disliked  the  men's  company.  They  had,  he 


244  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

said,  no  esteem  for  social  virtues — not  even  a  disposition 
to  enjoy  conviviality  and  mirth.  They  were  dull,  and 
without  ideas  except  as  to  country  life  ;  content  merely 
to  answer  questions  and  (here,  perhaps,  was  the  rub) 
with  no  relish  for  wit  and  humour.  At  home  Skey 
passed  for  a  merry  gentleman,  and  in  America  was 
disgusted  to  find  that  his  good  things  fell  flat.  It  was, 
he  said,  impossible  to  communicate  one  spark  of 
vivacity  to  their  torpid  souls. 

"  If  you  invite  a  party  to  dine  with  you,  and  exert 
every  faculty  to  promote  cheerful  social  mirth,  it  is 
labouring  quite  in  vain,  for  if  you  attempt  to  give  them 
useful  information  from  the  example  of  other  countries, 
they  hear  you  with  unconcerned  indifference,  and  all 
your  endeavours  to  excite  mirth  will  scarcely  produce 
a  smile. 

"  Before  tea  is  announced,  the  company  is  dispersed, 
as  it  is  not  usual  to  sit  long  after  dinner ;  this  is  not 
the  time  for  American  intemperance,  or  the  moderate 
enjoyment  of  wine  ;  they  are  more  accustomed  to  what 
they  term  '  frolicking,' which  is  getting  drunk  upon 
some  instigation  of  the  moment,  without  regarding 
whether  it  be  morning,  noon,  or  night.  I  recollect  a 
frolic  from  the  circumstance  of  a  person  having  a  cask 
of  wine  brought  home,  which  being  seen  by  his 
neighbours  quite  late  in  the  evening,  eleven  of  them 
descended  into  the  cellar,  where  they  became  so 
immoderately  intoxicated  as  not  to  be  able  to  walk 
away  without  assistance." 

As  to  the  prevalence  of  commercial   dishonesty, 


JAMES    SKEY  245 

Skey  does  but  corroborate  the  views  of  Thomas 
Russell  as  well  as  the  severe  though  less  sweeping 
judgments  passed  by  William  Russell  and  Priestley. 
The  credulity  of  Englishmen  in  trusting  their  property 
to  Transatlantic  adventurers  was  a  surprise  to  Ameri- 
cans. Men  from  Connecticut  had  got  credit  in  Eng- 
land for  ^6000  or  ^7000  whom  their  neighbours 
would  not  have  trusted  with  £10. 

"  The  general  disposition  to  speculate  with  English 
property  is  notorious ;  the  trading  American,  rather 
than  wait  the  slow  and  sure  means  by  honest  industry 
to  acquire  wealth,  with  eager  impatience  launches 
into  some  speculative  scheme,  either  by  the  purchase 
of  tracts  of  uncleared  or  uncultivated  land,  or  in  an 
adventure  by  sea,  in  which  he  will  embark  not  only 
the  whole  of  his  own  property,  but  also  that  of  his 
creditors,  and  with  astonishing  sangfroid  wait  the 
issue.  If  he  is  successful,  he  boldly  launches  into 
more  extensive  plans  of  enterprise,  till  at  last  he 
meets  with  disappointment  and  ruin. 

"  An  Englishman,  who  has  not  resided  in  this 
country,  can  form  no  just  idea  how  very  different  a 
thing  it  is  to  be  ruined  here  and  ruined  in  England, 
where  it  is  attended  with  poverty  and  disgrace. 
Here  the  circumstance  of  bankruptcy  is  so  common 
that  it  creates  no  surprise,  nor  does  it  cause  any  dis- 
grace or  change  in  the  style  of  living  or  expense. 
This  has  been  secured  by  previous  management,  for 
the  arts  of  fraud  and  evasion  are  more  easily  con- 
ducted than  in  England,  and  the  common  disposition 
much  more  prone  to  practise  them.  By  persons  in 


246  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

business  here,  I  am  informed  that  justice  and  common 
honesty  have  so  little  influence,  that  of  demands  upon 
the  effects  of  a  deceased  person  seven  instances  in  ten 
are  not  of  the  smallest  value,  for,  whatever  property 
they  may  leave  behind  them,  it  is  all  secured  to  the 
heir  from  creditors  by  a  previous  assignment." 

To  the  general  condemnation  of  American  busi- 
ness methods,  Skey  makes  an  exception  in  favour  of 
the  Philadelphian  Quakers.  But  the  dishonesty  was 
less  offensive  to  him  than  the  hypocrisy  and  self- 
righteousness  with  which  it  was  cloaked.  He  returns 
to  the  attack  on  the  detested  deacons. 

"  A  good  old  man  in  this  place,  having  had  the 
misfortune  to  derange  the  watch  he  usually  wore,  had 
recourse  to  an  old  family  repeater  which  had  been 
brought  from  England  by  his  ancestors.  Without 
intending  to  profane  the  Lord's  Day,  or  behave 
irreverently  in  the  Sanctuary,  he  took  his  seat  in 
Meeting  with  this  same  watch  in  his  pocket,  when 
lo !  the  sound  thereof  was  heard  in  the  midst  of  the 
congregation.  The  next  day  the  Deacons  and  Select- 
men assembled  themselves  together,  and  caused  the 
Man  of  Belial  to  stand  before  them,  and  they  levied 
a  fine  upon  him  for  his  wickedness  in  profaning  the 
House  of  the  Lord.  And  it  came  to  pass  that  as  the 
congregation  was  assembled  on  the  Sabbath  Day,  the 
wind  blew  violently  in  at  the  door  of  the  House,  so 
that  it  caused  the  Garments  of  a  certain  Deaconess 
to  be  lifted  up.  Now  this  was  a  reproach  to  seven 
young  women  of  the  congregation,  for  they  did  laugh. 


JAMES    SKEY  247 

These  were  also  made  to  appear  before  the  righteous 
elders  of  the  people,  and  they  were  compelled  to  make 
an  offering  of  silver  for  the  sin  they  had  committed." 

Carrying  on  this  humorous  vein,  Skey  relates  the 
parable  of  Thomas  Russell  and  his  sisters  : — 

"  There  was  a  certain  young  man  of  the  City 
of  Middletown,  who  journeyed  with  his  two  sisters 
into  the  Land  of  Pennsylvania,  and  upon  his  return 
he  halted  at  the  town  of  Durham,  and  tarried  there, 
for  it  was  the  Lord's  Day.  Now  when  evening  was 
come,  he  was  minded  to  take  a  Sabbath  Day's  journey 
and  reach  his  own  home.  But  this  thing  displeased 
the  holy  men  of  Durham,  who  gathered  round  the 
chariot,  taking  hold  of  the  reins  of  the  horses,  and 
they  brought  the  young  man  and  his  two  sisters  to 
the  Inn,  and  there  they  imprisoned  them.  And  four 
Selectmen  of  the  congregation,  men  of  great  valour, 
kept  watch  over  them  all  that  night,  lest  they  should 
escape.  And  when  the  morning  was  come,  they 
brought  them  forth  and  carried  them  before  a 
magistrate  of  that  place,  saying :  '  These  profane 
persons  would  have  broken  the  Sabbath,  which  the 
Senate,  the  Assembly,  the  priests  and  the  Levites, 
have  ordered  to  be  kept  holy ;  we  have  therefore 
brought  them  before  thee  to  be  judged.'  Then  the 
magistrate  opened  the  Book,  containing  the  Law,  and 
read  :  '  No  person  shall  be  permitted  either  to  walk 
or  run  or  ride  upon  the  Lord's  Day,  but  reverently 
to  or  from  the  Tabernacle.'  He  commanded  them 
therefore  to  be  punished  by  the  payment  of  ninety-six 


248  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

shillings,  and  when  they  had  so  done  they  departed. 
Now  the  name  of  this  young  man  was  Thomas,  and 
the  names  of  his  sisters  were  Martha  and  Mary. 
Their  father  was  surnamed  Russell,  and  had  brought 
them  from  a  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey  for  to 
sojourn  in  the  wilderness." 

In  candour  Skey  confesses  that  the  Americans 
were  hospitable,  and  so  little  was  theft  apprehended, 
that  windows  and  doors  were  seldom  made  secure 
with  bolts  and  bars.  On  the  other  hand,  envy  and 
malice  were  rife.  "  If  you  are  richer  than  your  neigh- 
bours they  will  plunder  you,"  said  a  respected  minister ; 
"  if  better,  they  will  defame  you." 

"  The  doctrine  of  equality,  in  its  worst  and  per- 
verted sense,  is  strictly  adhered  to.  The  desire  is 
that  there  should  be  an  equality  of  property,  but  also 
of  genius  and  industry,  of  virtue  and  vice.  If  inquiry 
is  made,  why  such  and  such  an  ornament  or  improve- 
ment is  not  made,  it  is  common  in  reply  to  be  told, 
'  Why,  my  neighbours  would  destroy  it  some  night  or 
other.'  This  most  detestable  disposition  of  maliciously 
injuring  and  destroying  the  property  of  others,  veiled 
by  the  darkness  of  the  night,  is  so  common  that  there 
is  a  particular  law  for  the  punishment  of  it,  which  is 
called  the  Night  Law.  This  gives  a  power  to  any 
person  injured  to  carry  before  a  magistrate  as  many 
persons  as  he  may  suppose  at  all  suspicious,  and  they 
are  bound  to  render  an  account  of  themselves  how 
and  where  they  passed  the  night ;  if  discharged,  any 
expense  which  may  have  been  incurred  is  paid  by  the 
person  suspected." 


JAMES    SKEY  249 

Soon  after  William  Russell's  arrival  in  Middle- 
town,  the  harness  of  a  coach,  particularly  fine,  attracted 
this  spirit  of  envy,  and  was  cut  to  pieces.  Again,  a 
neighbour  had  made  a  hot-bed  for  forcing  melons. 
His  garden  was  entered  at  night,  the  fruit  broken  off, 
and  the  plants  chopped  up. 

The  "servant  difficulty"  was  already  a  domestic 
anxiety  in  the  American  household.  Slaves,  says 
Skey,  could  not  be  purchased  in  Connecticut,  and 
with  white  servants,  it  seems,  the  mistress  would  not 
be  too  rigid  about  "characters." 

"  Amongst  the  lower  order  of  the  women  they  are 
notoriously  addicted  to  a  certain  licentious  frailty. 
This  has  no  worse  effects  than  that  which  the  laws 
of  nature  impose ;  the  character  of  a  woman  is  not 
injured,  for,  if  she  is  a  good  servant,  a  natural  child 
or  two  is  no  impediment  at  all  to  prevent  her  getting 
immediately  into  a  good  situation  as  a  servant,  and 
she  takes  her  family  with  her.  None  of  them  engage 
but  from  one  week  to  another  ;  as  to  hire  themselves 
for  a  year  is  too  much  resembling  slavery,  and  not 
the  custom  of  the  country." 

As  it  was  always  easy  for  a  woman  with  a  good 
pair  of  hands  to  get  a  place,  she  would  not  make  any 
trouble  if  sent  away.  The  servants  considered  them- 
selves on  the  same  footing  as  their  employers,  and, 
as  a  rule,  associated  with  the  family  on  terms  of 
equality. 

"Mr.  Field,  an  emigrant  from  Worcester,  was  the 


250  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

other  day  mentioning  that  his  servant  maid  would 
dress  herself  as  fine  as  she  possibly  could,  and  enter 
into  the  parlour  where  he  was  sitting  with  his  family, 
for  the  benefit  of  a  large  glass,  to  place  black  patches 
upon  her  face,  and  after  all  things  were  adjusted 
she  sallied  forth  to  pay  a  visit,  without  saying  one 
word.  If  the  mistress  should  take  the  liberty  of 
hinting  that  her  going  out  at  that  time  was  incon- 
venient as  she  was  going  to  receive  company,  the 
reply  would  be :  '  I  can't  help  it,  for  I  must  pay  my 
visit,  as  it  is  an  engagement  I  made  some  time  past.' " 

It  is  strange  to  find  the  son-in-law  of  a  man  who 
had  practically  been  driven  from  England  for  assert- 
ing unpopular  opinions  complaining  of  the  bitter 
partisan  spirit  ruling  in  America.  The  rancour  which 
Skey  observed  between  Federalists  and  anti-Federa- 
lists far  surpassed  anything  of  the  sort  in  his  own 
country.  "If  your  friend  is  of  the  unpopular  party, 
and  should  your  intimacy  continue  and  you  are  known 
to  visit  him,  you  will  be  unpopular  too  and  abused." 
Here  we  have  an  incidental  light  thrown  upon  the 
growing  reluctance  of  the  Russell  family  to  stay  at 
Middletown.  They  had  sympathised  and  associated 
with  some  French  residents,  and  certainly  were  not 
the  sort  of  people  to  give  up  friends  who  had  incurred 
local  dislike. 

An  interesting  passage,  which,  no  doubt,  was 
partly  derived  from  William  Russell,  relates  to  the 
American  treatment  of  Priestley  : — 

"  His  reception  among  them  was  with  that  cold 


,  JAMES    SKEY  251 

civility  peculiar  to  Americans.  At  that  time  a  few 
literary  men  of  the  then  popular  party  showed  him 
some  attention,  and  with  them  he  formed  an  acquain- 
tance. But  since  that  period  political  opinions  have 
undergone  a  sudden  and  violent  change,  and  Dr. 
Priestley's  former  acquaintance  are  now  considered 
in  the  public  mind  as  Jacobins  and  traitors.  Unin- 
fluenced by  this  political  revolution,  or  without  at- 
tending to  the  subject  of  politics  at  all,  he  continued 
occasionally  the  same  intercourse  as  heretofore  with 
his  literary  friends.  But  this  was  a  crime  too  atrocious 
not  to  meet  with  the  severest  reprehension ;  he  has 
therefore  been  abused  and  vilified  with  the  lowest 
scurrility  of  party  rage,  and  is  become  extremely 
unpopular. 

"In  a  generous  nation  some  would  undoubtedly 
be  found  to  protect  from  insult,  and  vindicate  the 
injured  reputation  of  a  stranger  who  had  fled  to  it  as 
an  asylum  from  the  prejudices  and  persecution  of  his 
own  country,  or  to  advocate  the  cause  of  this  very 
eminent  promoter  of  science  and  virtue,  but  in 
America  the  influence  of  such  sentiments  is  languid 
and  feeble.  No  such  advocate  has  appeared.  This 
great  and  most  excellent  man,  in  a  short  time  after 
arriving  in  this  country,  perceived  that  the  public 
mind  was  not  sufficiently  liberal  and  enlightened  for 
hope  that  his  public  exertions  would  be  attended  with 
any  beneficial  effects.  He  therefore  retired  to  North- 
umberland, a  remote  part  of  Pennsylvania,  and  there 
devotes  himself  to  philosophical  pursuits. 

"  From  this  place  he  wrote  me  a  letter  dated  7th 
November  1798,  to  Middletown.  In  this  he  speaks  of 


252  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

the  illiberal  treatment  he  experienced  in  the  following 
words : — 

" '  I  find  myself  exposed  to  more  gross  abuse  here, 
on  account  of  my  supposed  attachment  to  the  cause  of 
France,  than  I  was  in  England,  tho'  I  have  nothing  to 
do  or  say  about  the  politics  of  the  country,  which 
indeed  I  hardly  give  any  attention  to,  looking  as  I 
continually  do  towards  Europe,  which  is  the  great 
theatre  of  interesting  transactions.'  " 

It  would,  however,  be  misleading  to  suggest  that 
Priestley  suffered  acute  annoyance  or  discomfort.  We 
shall  see  that  he  was  comfortable  enough  in  America 
to  decline  without  hesitation  Russell's  offer  to  make  a 
more  congenial  home  for  him  in  France.  But  his 
popularity  had  declined,  and  he  was  unable  to  exercise 
the  influence  on  which  he  had  reckoned. 

The  language  of  the  United  States  was,  Skey 
testifies,  beyond  all  comparison  more  correct  than  in 
the  Old  Country,  and  even  amongst  the  lower  classes 
it  was  free  from  the  lingoes  and  dialects  of  England. 
He  notes  various  idioms  (especially  "  help "  and 
"  guess  ")  : — 

"  Such  as  '  Give  me  a  cut  of  beef  on  the  west  side ' 
or  '  Shall  I  help  you  to  anything  ? '  It  always  is 
'  Try  this  beef,'  or  '  Do  try  this  mutton,'  and  what  is 
singular,  the  custom  is  to  have  or  try  two  or  three 
different  kinds  of  meat  at  the  same  time  and  on  the 
same  plate.  Nothing  is  more  common  than  to  hear 
sentences  concluded  with  to.  '  I  am  going  to,'  '  I 


JAMES    SKEY  253 

should  like  to,'  'I  intend  to,"  &c.,  and  the  word 
depend  as  often  occurs,  as  '  It  rains,  you  may  depend? 
'It  is  a  warm  day,  you  may  depend'  To  express  a 
short  space  of  time,  it  is  a  spell,  and  cheerfulness  or 
activity  is  being  very  spry.  Young  pigs  are  called 
suckers,  then  choats,  and  when  full  grown  hogs.  The 
clock,  watch,  or  gun  is  always  of  the  feminine  gender. 
'What  o'clock  is  it?'  'She  has  just  struck  one.' 
'Have  you  got  your  watch  in  your  pocket?'  'No, 
she  did  not  go  well,  and  therefore  she  is  at  the  watch- 
maker's.' '  This  is  a  good  gun,  but  she  is  out  of 
order  as  she  has  not  been  cleaned.' 

"The  Meeting  House  everywhere  is  the  general 
point  to  or  from  any  place.  If  you  ask,  How  far  to 
Hartford  ?  '  So  many  miles  to  the  Meeting  House! 
or  '  Such  a  distance  from  the  Meeting  House,'  and  to 
your  inquiries  as  to  the  road  to  any  place,  they  invari- 
ably employ  the  cardinal  points  as  directors,  as  '  Keep 
on  to  the  eastward  and  when  you  come  to  such  a 
place,  then  turn  to  the  northward,'  and  so  very  general 
and  so  well  understood  is  this  mode  of  expression  that 
it  is  employed  upon  every  common  occasion." 

Skey  notes  with  pleasure,  as  became  an  English 
country  gentleman,  the  existence  of  a  class  of  inde- 
pendent and  substantial  freeholders,  owning  and  farm- 
ing 400  or  500  acres  of  good  land,  living  upon  and 
from  their  estates.  Besides  getting  every  kind  of  food 
from  their  own  property  they  made  their  soap  and 
candles,  spun  their  flax  and  hemp,  wool  and  silk.  A 
member  of  this  fortunate  class  told  Skey  that  his  out- 
side expenditure  for  the  year  on  behalf  of  his  whole 


254  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

family  had  been  ^19,  175.  This  was  one  side  of  the 
picture.  But  they  led  a  secluded  and  almost  solitary 
life.  Their  enjoyments  were  primitive,  and  if  the 
following  story  be  illustrative,  as  Skey  suggests,  of 
the  social  life  in  general,  their  sense  of  humour  was 
rudimentary.  Skey  was  passing  the  night  at  one  of 
these  farmers'  houses. 

"Tho"  a  person  of  some  notoriety  in  his  neigh- 
bourhood, a  justice  of  the  peace,  &c.,  he  had  no 
female  servant  in  the  house.  His  daughters  per- 
formed every  part  of  the  domestic  business,  and 
these  were  young  women  of  irreproachable  characters. 
Yet  such  is  the  peculiar  taste  for  humour  in  this 
country,  that  soon  after  I  was  in  bed  I  found  that  a 
very  thin  boarded  partition  divided  my  lodging  from 
the  ladies,  which  was  not  fixed  to  the  floor,  but  was 
suspended  by  hooks  from  the  ceiling  so  as  to  swing. 
Against  this  partition  my  bed  was  closely  placed  on 
the  one  side,  and  on  the  other  two  of  my  landlord's 
daughters  had  placed  their  bed  also.  The  joke 
appeared  to  them  very  amusing,  and  consisted  in  their 
attempts  to  keep  me  from  sleeping ;  but  in  this  they 
did  not  long  succeed,  for  having  for  a  time  endured 
their  laughing,  whispering,  scratching  and  moving  the 
partition  from  one  bed  against  the  other,  I  changed 
my  position  by  taking  my  pillow  to  the  foot  of  the  bed, 
and  being  much  fatigued,  I  soon  fell  asleep.  This  is 
termed  frolicking.  All  things  of  this  kind  are  con- 
sidered as  innocent  in  themselves,  and  therefore  the 
parents  are  more  disposed  to  forward  the  joke  than 
disapprove  of  it." 


JAMES    SKEY  255 

Partly  for  pleasure  and  partly  on  William  Russell's 
business  Skey  made  an  excursion  through  "  the  States 
of  Connecticut,  New  York,  Jersey,  Pennsylvania, 
Delaware,  and  to  Annapolis  in  Maryland,"  where  he 
attended  a  meeting  of  the  Assembly.  An  interesting 
debate  was  held  upon  William  Russell's  claim  against 
the  State  on  account  of  "some  paternal  land,  which  it 
confiscated  at  the  time  of  the  American  War,  contrary 
to  the  Act  for  selling  British  property."  The  respect- 
able part  of  the  Assembly,  says  Skey,  were  unanimous 
and  eager  for  restoring  the  property — Russell's  claim 
being  supported  both  by  law  and  equity.  A  Com- 
mittee appointed  by  the  Assembly  itself  had  reported 
nem.  con.  in  favour  of  this  course.  Nevertheless,  on  a 
division,  the  payment  of  compensation  was  negatived. 
In  spite  of  Russell's  case  being  warmly  supported, 
"  arguments  founded  both  on  the  laws  of  the  State  and 
the  immutable  law  of  right  and  common  justice  had  no 
influence  with  the  majority  of  the  members,"  many  of 
whom,  Skey  declares,  were  retained  in  the  Assembly 
"  avowedly  because  they  were  known  never  on  any 
occasion  to  vote  for  any  payment  from  the  public 
purse."  This,  perhaps,  was  an  extreme  statement  of 
a  disappointed  suitor's  grievance,  but  from  William 
Russell's  letters  it  is  clear  that  he  had  cherished  an 
honest  faith  in  his  case,  and  considered  himself  to 
have  been  scurvily  used  by  the  Maryland  House  of 
Assembly. 


CHAPTER   XVI 


Original  plans  for  a  settlement—  Pennsylvania  unsuitable — Farming  in 
Connecticut — William  Russell's  business  enterprises — Litigations — 
Mount  Vernon — General  and  Mrs.  Washington — Notes  on  Virginia 
— A  black  cook  for  sale — Drawbacks  of  life  at  Middletown — Mary 
Russell's  explanation — A  limited  range  of  interests — Trip  to  New 
Haven — Commencement  at  Yale — Mary  Russell's  criticisms — Ani- 
mosity against  the  French — Danger  of  war — Priestley  and  President 
Adams — Reasons  for  leaving  Middletown — William  Russell's  offer  to 
Priestley — Return  of  the  family  to  Europe. 

"  You  will  never  stay  here,"  wrote  Priestley  from 
America  in  1794  to  William  Russell,  "while  England 
is  tenable  for  you."  House  rent  and  other  expenses 
were,  he  said,  extravagantly  high,  and  except  in  the 
large  towns  there  was  no  society.  He  would  not  him- 
self have  gone  to  America  but  for  the  purpose  of 
settling  his  sons.  It  is  doubtful  whether  this  letter, 
dated  June  25,  was  received  by  Russell  before  he 
sailed  on  August  13  from  Falmouth.  But  at  that 
time  no  advice  would  have  turned  him  from  his  pur- 
pose— to  abandon  for  ever  the  country  where  he  had 
been  so  harshly  treated.  His  fixed  intention  was  to 
withdraw  his  property  from  England  (having  wound 
up  his  partnership  with  George  Russell,  his  brother 
in  Birmingham)  and  become  a  naturalised  citizen  of 
the  United  States.  In  the  bustle  of  preparations 

for  departure  he  expressed  to  James  Skey  his  deep 

256 


HOME    LIFE    IN    NEW    ENGLAND          257 

satisfaction  at  leaving  "  your  proud  isle, "and  to  another 
friend  wrote  that  soon  he  would  be  "  steering  on  the 
mighty  waters  towards  the  land  of  peace."  In  Paris 
he  had  already  assumed  the  name  of  an  American 
citizen,  as  being  more  in  harmony  than  that  of  an 
Englishman  with  his  feelings  and  opinions.  His 
daughters,  as  we  have  seen,  thoroughly  shared  his 
enthusiasm  for  the  free  Republic  in  the  New  World, 
and  at  the  outset  their  young  brother,  indignant  at 
the  father's  wrongs,  was  very  much  of  their  way  of 
thinking. 

The  original  plan  was  for  the  Russells  to  make 
their  home  near  to  Priestley's.  There  may  even  have 
been  some  idea  of  founding  a  little  Unitarian  com- 
munity— a  model  colony  of  friends  and  neighbours 
sympathetic  in  culture,  pursuits,  and  religion.  While 
the  emigrants  were  still  detained  on  French  soil, 
Russell's  agent  had  purchased  some  considerable 
farms,  on  what  was  then  considered  to  be  improving 
land,  near  to  Priestley's  property  at  Northumberland, 
and  after  landing  at  New  York,  Russell's  first  care 
was  to  visit  his  old  friend  and  inspect  the  new  estate. 
Apparently,  the  son  had  already  seen  enough  of 
America  to  decide  him  against  settling  in  Northumber- 
land, and,  from  his  remarks  about  Priestley  in  private 
life,  it  is  clear  that  he  was  not  altogether  in  love  with 
the  idea  of  having  him  as  a  near  neighbour.  Being 
a  lad  of  strong  character  and  sound  judgment,  he,  no 
doubt,  turned  his  father's  mind.  The  driving  tour 
which  the  family  had  taken  in  New  England  had  shown 
them  more  attractive  situations,  and  the  girls,  though 
prepared  to  make  their  home,  if  required,  in  Rhode 


258  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

Island,  had  really  set  their  hearts  on  the  valley  of  the 
Connecticut,  and  especially  on  Micldletown,  then  a 
little  place  of  two  hundred  houses,  which  now  counts 
its  inhabitants  in  five  figures.  Their  father  was  soon 
persuaded  to  fall  in  with  their  views  because,  though 
still  a  man  of  ample  fortune,  he  was  a  little  terrified 
at  the  scale  of  expenditure  practised  by  the  leading 
people  of  Philadelphia,  where  he  spent  his  first  winter, 
and  also  because  the  profits  from  his  numerous  trade 
ventures  were  rendered  highly  precarious  by  the  war 
between  England  and  France.  His  correspondence 
at  this  period  with  George  Russell  largely  consists  of 
warnings  to  his  brother  against  undertaking  any  con- 
siderable commitments.  Moreover,  he  had  rather 
changed  his  mind  as  to  the  easiness  of  making  money 
in  America.  At  first  he  was  convinced,  he  wrote, 
that  he  could  make  four  times  as  much  as  in  England 
with  less  trouble  and  less  hazard.  Later  on,  we  find 
him  pointing  out  the  peculiar  conditions  of  American 
commerce — the  long  credit  required  and  the  small 
profits  obtained.  At  the  same  time  he  retained  faith 
in  the  agricultural  prospects  of  the  country.  He  should 
have  room,  he  wrote  to  Birmingham,  for  every  kind 
of  stock — those  of  human  kind  not  excepted,  who  were 
honest  and  industrious.  But  the  great  cities,  so  he 
told  his  brother,  were  better  places  for  making  war, 
spending  money,  for  exertion  and  diligence  in  early 
life,  than  for  that  "  sedate  retrospective  inactivity 
relished  and  desirable  in  our  mature  and  declining 
days." 

In  these  circumstances  he  naturally  looked  for  a 
place  where  his  family  might  live  with   credit  and  at 


HOME    LIFE    IN    NEW    ENGLAND          259 

small  expense,  while  he  and  his  son  could  indulge  the 
Englishman's  natural  taste  for  amateur  farming.  For 
this  captivating  pursuit  they  both  possessed  aptitude, 
nor  did  they  fall  into  the  common  error  of  applying 
British  methods  to  foreign  soil  and  climate.  The  son, 
as  his  letters  show,  carefully  studied  the  different 
American  systems  of  agriculture,  while  the  father 
chiefly  devoted  himself  to  stock-breeding — a  pursuit  on 
which  he  found  a  congenial  correspondent  in  General 
Washington,  whom  he  visited  at  his  lovely  home  in 
Virginia  on  the  River  Potomac.  Whether  the  farm- 
ing operations  carried  on  by  the  Russells  in  Connecti- 
cut were,  from  the  money  point  of  view,  profitable 
does  not  appear.  Certainly  they  had  either  paid  too 
much  for  their  lands  at  Northumberland  or  received 
too  little  on  giving  them  up,  but  a  man's  agricultural 
merits  cannot  fairly  be  judged  by  the  result  of  his 
dealings  in  land.  That  is  another  story. 

Whether  under  different  conditions  the  Russells, 
father  and  son,  could  ever  have  settled  down  as 
prosperous  Connecticut  agriculturists  it  is  difficult  to 
say.  They  never  gave  themselves  the  chance. 

In  speaking  here  of  William  Russell's  business 
transactions  in  America,  would  it  not  be  well  to  give 
him  credit  for  the  ceaseless  perseverance  and  indomi- 
table energy  with  which  he  devoted  himself  to  collecting 
(no  salary)  his  late  partner's  (George  Russell's)  out- 
standing debts  (many  thousands  of  pounds)  in  Phila- 
delphia and  the  principal  cities,  while,  from  April  1796 
to  April  1800,  he  acted  as  the  American  agent  (i.e. 
while  he  sent  Zaccheus  Walker  on  his  own  behalf  to 
Paris)  ?  This  also  accounts  for  much  of  the  travelling 


260  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

William  Russell  did  in  America  at  this  period.  His 
efforts  were  rewarded  by  complete  success  in  almost 
every  instance,  even  in  many  cases  which  Zaccheus 
Walker  had  always  regarded  as  hopeless. 

If  I  remember  correctly,  in  several  letters  it  is 
stated  the  "  courts  of  law,"  banks,  and  "  leading  houses 
of  business"  were  closed  for  weeks,  if  not  months, 
together,  owing  to  the  complete  hold  yellow  fever  got 
of  the  inhabitants  of  certain  of  the  principal  towns 
which  the  writers  visited. 

William  Russell  was  evidently  a  man  of  specula- 
tive, adventurous  disposition  and  boundless  energy. 
His  letters  show,  in  spite  of  the  sage  lesson  adminis- 
tered to  his  brother  at  home,  that  he  was  constantly 
engaged  in  heavy  undertakings,  which  involved  peri- 
odical anxiety  as  to  meeting  large  payments  due  in 
Boston,  Philadelphia,  or  New  York.  Faithful  himself 
to  the  very  letter  of  his  bond,  he  could  not  always 
count  upon  equal  punctuality  in  some  of  his  American 
business  connections.  In  justice  to  the  commercial 
men  of  the  New  Country,  whose  failings  are  so 
sharply  castigated  by  Thomas  Russell,  it  should  be 
remembered  that  even  moderate  and  reasonable  cal- 
culations might,  at  this  period,  be  suddenly  upset 
through  the  risks  of  war,  the  recurrent  uncertainties 
about  peace,  and  the  frightful  ravages  wrought  in  the 
great  cities  by  yellow  and  other  fevers.  There  were 
times  when  the  courts  of  law  suspended  their  sittings 
and  the  leading  houses  of  business  were  brought 
absolutely  to  a  standstill. 

In  addition  to  these  troubles,  Russell  had  a  taste 
for  what  is  generally  the  most  hopeless  of  human 


HOME    LIFE    IN    NEW    ENGLAND          261 

undertakings — prosecuting  a  private  citizen's  claim 
against  a  public  authority.  Perhaps  he  had  been  in- 
fected with  this  passion  by  his  success  at  Birmingham 
in  recovering  damages  from  the  Hundred  for  the  de- 
struction of  his  property  at  Showell  Green,  though, 
even  in  that  case,  he  had  been  obliged,  in  his  capacity 
of  rate-payer,  to  contribute  handsomely  towards  his 
solatium  as  an  injured  house-owner.  His  next  attempt 
was  made  in  France,  where  he  tried  to  extract  com- 
pensation from  the  Republican  Government  for  the 
destruction  of  his  property  on  the  Nancy  when  cap- 
tured by  a  French  man-of-war,  and  for  the  expenses 
of  maintaining  himself  and  his  family  in  prison.  His 
failure  in  Paris  did  not  deter  him  from  entering  into 
expensive  and  tiresome  litigation  with  the  State  of 
Maryland.  The  result  was  set  out  in  the  previous 
chapter  by  James  Skey.  In  pressing  a  claim  against 
the  State  of  Virginia  on  behalf  of  a  country  in  which 
he  was  personally  interested  he  appears  to  have  had 
some  success,  though  at  the  outset  he  was  inclined  to 
despair  of  his  single-handed  fight  against  "a  combina- 
tion of  rascals  in  a  strange  land."  Again,  in  Penn- 
sylvania, he  appears  to  have  established  his  right  as 
heir  to  a  small  property,  which  had  been  confiscated 
during  the  War  of  Independence.  He  was  also  much 
occupied,  though  without  remuneration,  in  getting  in 
debts  due  to  his  brother  in  Birmingham.  On  this 
work  he  expended  as  much  energy  as  on  business 
of  his  own.  Whether  lucky  or  unlucky,  all  these 
enterprises  helped  to  wear  out  the  strength,  though 
not  to  quench  the  energy,  of  an  elderly  and  in  some 
respects  disappointed  man. 


262  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

Now  and  again  he  seems  to  have  rested  in  his 
charming  Connecticut  home.  Sometimes,  when  his 
health  had  really  been  failing  or  his  deafness  was 
especially  troublesome,  he  would  allow  his  son  to  go 
alone  upon  these  business  errands.  But  he  could  not 
long  remain  sedentary.  Eminently  sociable,  he  enjoyed 
travelling,  and  particularly  liked  to  look  up  old  friends. 
Amongst  the  most  notable  of  his  visits  was  one  of 
several  which  he  paid  to  General  and  Mrs.  Washington 
at  Mount  Vernon.  An  interesting  glimpse  of  that 
famous  household  is  given  by  William  Russell  in  a 
letter  to  his  son  written  from  Dumfries  in  Virginia  on 
October  24,  1797.  Apparently  he  had  not  informed 
his  host  of  his  intended  visit,  for  a  short  distance  from 
the  house  he  met  General  and  Mrs.  Washington  in 
their  state  coach  with  four  horses. 

"  They  both  knew  me  at  once,  and  expressed  great 
concern  that  they  were  under  an  engagement  to  dine 
at  Alexandria,  but  he  told  me  they  should  be  at  home 
in  the  evening.  But  I  did  not  choose  to  lose  a  day  in 
that  manner,  and  therefore  excused  myself  then,  but 
promised  to  make  my  visit  upon  my  return.  Both 
the  old  General  and  his  wife  appeared  to  be  in  better 
health  than  I  ever  saw  in  their  countenances  in  Phila- 
delphia, and  they  both  said  they  thought  themselves 
to  be  so.  He  inquired  after  my  daughters  cheerfully, 
and  seemed  pleased  to  hear  you  were  so  well  in  health 
and  so  well  pleased  with  your  situation  in  Middletown. 
The  Spanish  Ambassador,  I  am  told,  is  there  on  a 
visit  to  the  niece.  It  was  rumoured  that  he  came  to 
Annapolis  to  see  Miss  Carroll,  but,  as  he  made  too 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON 

Prom  a  pastel  ascribed  to  MRS.  SHAKPLES 


HOME    LIFE    IN    NEW    ENGLAND          263 

short  a  stay  for  that  report,  his  errand  is  now  said  to 
be  for  the  purpose  of  making  his  addresses  to  the 
other  lady — and  probably  with  no  more  truth  than  the 
former." 

On  November  8th  Russell  jotted  down  for  Skey's 
benefit  some  sound  observations  about  Virginia  : — 

"  I  am  much  better  pleased  with  this  part  of 
Virginia  than  what  I  saw  before.  These  fine  roads 
and  the  breed  of  very  light  horses  they  have  here  in- 
duced them  all  to  use  Sulkies,1  which  are  as  much  the 
carriage  of  the  country  as  a  single  horse  chair  is  with 
your  neighbours.  The  Sulkies  are,  however,  very  fre- 
quently upon  four  wheels,  and  it  is  the  general  practice 
for  ladies  to  use  them,  but  then  they  are  always  driven 
by  a  servant  and  never  drive  themselves.  The  style 
and  etiquette  of  this  State  is  as  different  from  Con- 
necticut as  that  is  from  Philadelphia.  Here  a  family 
scarcely  ever  visit  in  any  other  carriage  than  a  hand- 
some English  coach  or  chariot  drawn  by  four  horses 
with  two  drivers  upon  saddles  with  caps,  liveries,  &c., 
&c.,  as  in  England,  but  then  all  the  servants  have  black 
faces,  which  to  me  always  proves  a  sad  take-off  when 
I  see  the  smart  liveries,  &c.,  at  a  distance  and  the 
black  faces  when  they  drive  up  to  me.  Through 
all  Maryland  and  this  State  I  have  never  once  met  a 
gentleman  with  a  white  servant.  I  have  heard  of  a 
capital  black  cook,  a  man  cook  (the  female  cooks  are 
not  valued  here).  The  fellow  I  refer  to  would  I  think 
suit  us  admirably  well .  .  .  the  price  is  $500,  but  he  would 

1  Progenitor  of  the  light  two-wheel  car  used  for  trotting  matches. 


264  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

be  sold  for  100  guineas,  and  if  what  I  hear  of  him  is 
true  would  be  cheap  to  us  at  that  price.  It  seems 
now  very  evident  to  me  that  we  should  have  either 
all  white  or  all  black  servants.  Had  our  finances 
been  in  good  plight  and  we  had  concluded  upon  the 
blacks  I  have  a  fine  opportunity  of  getting  them. 
But  I  do  not  precisely  know  upon  what  footing  we 
could  have  or  hold  them  in  Connecticut.  I  wish  to 
be  informed  of  this  in  your  next  letter.  ..." 

Letter  from  Richmond  continued  : — 

"November  10,  1797. — I  was  really  surprised  upon 
my  arrival  at  the  capital  of  this  State  to  see  in  what  a 
scattered,  disjointed  state  it  is  :  the  appearance  as  I 
entered  from  Fredericksberg  reminded  me  very  much 
of  the  Federal  City,  and  I  still  think  it  more  like  that 
than  any  other  city  I  have  seen  upon  the  continent. 
They  have  an  enormous  pile  of  building  which  they  are 
very  proud  of  and  call  their  Capitol.  It  has  been  built 
about  twelve  years,  and  they  have  now  just  finished 
the  fourth  roof  which  has  been  put  upon  it.  It  contains 
the  archives,  &c.,  belonging  to  the  State  and  all  the 
different  offices  upon  the  ground  floor,  which  is  all 
arched  with  brick,  and  the  doors  plated  with  iron,  so  as 
to  be  effectually  secured  against  fire.  ...  I  was  pleased, 
however,  to  see  a  full  statue  of  General  Washington, 
which  appears  a  good  likeness  :  there  is  also  a  bust 
of  the  Marquis  de  la  Fayette,  who  is  in  my  opinion 
more  honoured  by  his  company  than  his  deserts  entitled 
him  to." 

The  deferred  visit  to  Mount  Vernon  was  duly  paid, 


HOME    LIFE    IN    NEW    ENGLAND          265 

and  briefly  described  in  a  letter  to  Thomas  Russell 
written  on  November  27  from  Bladensberg. 

"  I  reached  Mount  Vernon  in  the  morning,  before 
General  Washington  was  prepared  for  his  morning's 
ride,  and  gained  two  mornings  with  him  instead  of 
one,  which  was  all  I  should  have  otherwise  allowed 
myself.  Two  very  interesting  mornings  they  were  to 
me,  and,  if  I  can  trust  to  my  own  judgment  and  the 
repeated  and  very  cordial  invitation  he  again  and 
again  gave  me  at  parting,  I  really  believe  he  was  not 
a  little  pleased  with  my  visit.  Mrs.  Washington  I 
found  the  same  attentive,  good-humoured  old  lady  she 
has  always  appeared  to  us.  They  were  quite  alone,  but 
had  an  invalid  in  the  house  whom  Mrs.  Washington 
announced  to  me,  but  I  did  not  hear  what  she  said. 
My  hearing  was  very  bad,  and  still  continues  so,  to 
my  very  great  mortification,  but  I  have  no  remedy 
but  patience,  and  therefore  endeavour  to  acquiesce 
as  cheerfully  as  I  can.  ...  I  wish  you,  my  dear 
Thomas,  not  to  sell  the  two  best  of  the  ram  lambs  at 
any  price.  I  propose  to  keep  the  best  for  myself,  and 
am  to  send  the  second  to  General  Washington,  whose 
sheep  are  by  no  means  near  mine.  ..." 

Meantime,  Thomas  Russell,  as  is  clear  from  his 
views  given  in  the  preceding  chapter,  had  conceived  a 
hearty  dislike  of  the  American  people  and  their  insti- 
tutions. A  genial  and  generous  lad,  adored  by  his 
sisters,  to  whom  he  was  the  best  of  brothers,  leader  in 
home  gaieties  and  country  diversions,  he  seems  to 
have  been  ruffled  by  the  social  aspect  of  Republican 


266  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

life  as  developed  at  the  turn  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
As  soon  as  he  touches  upon  the  manners  and  customs 
of  New  England  the  bright,  clever  lad  becomes  sen- 
tentious and  unsympathetic.  He  soon  made  it  evident 
that  he  would  never  agree  to  settle  permanently  in 
America,  and  his  chief  hope,  as  expressed  to  friends  of 
his  own  age,  was  for  an  eventual  return,  as  soon  as 
might  be,  to  his  native  country. 

At  first,  the  sisters  found  it  more  easy  than  the 
brother  to  accommodate  themselves  to  the  new  sur- 
roundings. For  the  first  year  or  two  of  their  residence 
in  Middletown  we  have  only  Mary's  diaries  on  record. 
The  indefatigable,  observant,  and  enthusiastic  Martha's 
pen  was  stayed,  at  first  by  illness,  and  afterwards  by 
pre-occupation.  At  some  date,  not  stated,  her  corre- 
spondence with  James  Skey  of  Upton-on-Severn  had 
passed  into  an  exchange  of  love-letters,  and,  when  he 
arrived  at  Middletown  in  the  autumn  of  1798,  it  was 
with  the  purpose  of  making  her  his  wife.  The  wedding 
was  celebrated  on  December  i3th  of  that  year,  "very 
quietly."  So  quietly  indeed,  that  not  before  a  fort- 
night afterwards  were  the  neighbours  informed  of  that 
important  family  event. 

From  this  remarkable  secrecy  it  is  sufficiently 
obvious  that  the  Russells  had  more  or  less  withdrawn 
from  the  social  life  of  the  little  township.  Almost  as 
much  is  confessed  in  the  first  page  of  Mary's  diary, 
written  after  twelve  months'  trial  of  their  Connecticut 
home. 

"  With  respect  to  the  natural  beauties  of  the 
country  round  this  place  " — she  begins  on  November 
5,  1797,  with  charming  old-fashioned  formality — "  they 


HOME    LIFE    IN    NEW    ENGLAND          267 

quite  exceed  the  expectation  I  had  formed  of  them 
and  indeed  'tis  generally  the  case  with  all  Dame 
Nature's  works  that  the  more  we  examine  them  the 
more  reason  we  find  for  admiration  whereas  in  the 
works  of  Man  a  closer  examination  is  but  too  apt  to 
discover  to  "us  faults  which  on  a  slight  observation 
were  not  observed."  After  this  unpunctuated  exordium 
Mary  comes  to  the  point.  "  This  has  been  too  much  the 
case  with  the  people  here.  Many  with  whom  we  were 
much  pleased  on  first  acquaintance  have  not  justified 
the  good  opinion  we  had  formed  of  them.  But  the 
feeling  and  enlarged  mind  of  an  European  cannot  be 
expected  in  this  situation,  where  in  general  the  sphere 
of  observation  is  very  narrow,  and  so  much  of  the  time 
always  occupied  (and  in  the  present  state  of  society 
almost  necessarily  so)  in  the  care  of  and  provision  for 
a  family  that  it  leaves  but  little  leisure  to  attend  to  any 
of  those  literary  pursuits  and  elegant  accomplishments 
which  not  only  enlarge  the  mind  but  heighten  the 
sensibility  and  improve  the  heart." 

Very  true.  But  it  was  a  dangerous  discovery  to 
be  made  by  young  girls  fixed — apparently  for  an  in- 
definite term — in  a  small  country  town  amongst  neigh- 
bours of  narrow  circumstances  and  limited  interests. 
At  Birmingham,  already  the  centre  of  a  bustling  intel- 
lectual life,  they  had  lived  among  people  who  read 
(and  wrote)  the  newest  books,  indulged  in  the  most 
advanced  speculation,  and  were  actors  or  sufferers  in  a 
struggle  which,  for  a  time,  had  held  the  attention  of  all 
England.  Dr.  Priestley  was  not  merely  a  local  divine 
or  simply  an  esteemed  philosopher.  He  was  also  a 
public  person  who  had  crossed  swords  with  Mr.  Burke 


268  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

and  (in  the  opinion  of  his  friends)  had  held  his  own. 
Their  father's  reputation  was  not  a  mere  reflection 
from  his  intimacy  with  Priestley.  He  was  a  leading 
magistrate  of  Birmingham,  well  known  in  London, 
and,  when  ill-treated,  could  speak  confidently  about 
laying  his  case  in  person  before  Mr.  Pitt. 

From  youth  upwards  Martha  and  Mary  Russell 
had,  more  or  less,  shared  in  the  intellectual  and  politi- 
cal movements  of  public  life  in  England,  and  before 
setting  foot  in  the  New  World  they  had  graduated  in 
the  most  thrilling  experiences  of  the  Old.  If  they 
could  pass,  without  conscious  transformation,  through 
the  prolonged  trials  of  their  imprisonment  on  succes- 
sive French  men-of-war,  they  must  at  least  have  un- 
dergone a  moral  awakening  when  they  were  brought 
face  to  face  with  the  French  Revolution.  The  worst, 
perhaps,  was  over.  Louis  XVI.  and  Marie  Antoinette, 
Mirabeau,  Marat,  and  Robespierre  had  been  removed. 
But  the  Russell  girls  had  witnessed  an  attempted 
revolution ;  had  seen  Paris  under  arms,  and  were 
present  at  the  agony  of  Fouquier-Tinville.  They  had 
walked  and  talked  with  some  people  who  had  done — 
or  still  were  doing — great  or  notorious  things  in  Paris. 
They  knew  Madame  de  Stael  and  some  of  her  circle  : 
they  were  united  in  affectionate  friendship  with  men 
like  General  Miranda.  They  were  intimate  with 
famous  philosophers.  They  had  read,  studied,  and 
been  taught.  It  was  not  likely,  therefore,  that  they 
would  comfortably  settle  down  in  a  hum-drum  town- 
ship, where  the  most  exciting  subject  of  conversation 
would  be  criticism  of  the  preacher's  doctrine,  or  gossip 
about  some  boy-and-girl  love  match,  or  speculations  on 


HOME    LIFE    IN    NEW    ENGLAND          269 

the  coming  harvest.  From  a  world  of  books,  thought, 
action,  of  noble  aspiration  and  strenuous  endeavour,  of 
war  and  crime  and  civil  strife,  the  new-comers  were 
transplanted  to  a  village  scene,  more  remote  and 
limited  than  could  nowadays  be  matched  in  the  most 
world-forsaken  retreat  of  the  New  England  or  the  Old. 

At  first  sight,  of  course,  the  girls,  exhausted  by 
a  long  series  of  violent  sensations,  weary  with  travel, 
believed  that  they  would  always  be  happy  in  Middle- 
town  and  never  could  be  happy  elsewhere.  With 
genuine  zest  they  threw  themselves  into  the  little  life 
of  the  place.  Mary's  diary  is  full  of  the  rural  pleasures 
on  which  they  are  feeding — the  multiplicity  of  gor- 
geous flowers,  the  heavenly  notes  of  unknown  birds, 
the  long  rides  on  horseback  in  the  summer  mornings, 
the  thrills  of  sleighing  through  the  winter  months. 
Almost  equal  pleasure  they  experienced  in  the  simple 
hospitalities  of  kindly  neighbours — the  picnic  parties 
in  the  woods,  the  friendly  little  dances,  the  games 
amongst  the  young  people,  Dumb-crambo  and  the  like, 
with  the  occasional  formality  of  an  Assembly.  At 
first  all  this  was  very  charming  and  satisfying.  Only 
twice  during  the  first  twelve  months  had  the  Russell 
girls  gone  outside  the  range  of  Middletown.  Once 
was  to  pay  a  visit  to  a  friend  at  Hartford,  no  great 
distance.  The  other  occasion  was  to  attend  "Com- 
mencement "  at  New  Haven. 

Graduates  of  Yale  University  may  be  interested 
to  hear  Mary  Russell's  account  of  the  proceedings  in 
1797. 

"In  the  morning  at  9  o'clock  we  were  to  be  at 


270  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

the  Brick  Meeting  House,  where  the  young  men  were 
to  give  specimens  of  their  learning.  We  found  a  very 
crowded  audience  assembled.  The  president  occupied 
the  pulpit,  and  the  Corporation  were  in  a  semicircle 
under  him.  Under  him  in  front  of  the  pulpit  a  stage 
was  erected  for  the  speakers.  When  we  arrived  a 
young  man  was  delivering  a  Latin  oration,  which  he 
appeared  to  do  with  great  ease  and  to  pronounce  well. 
"  After  that  came  a  long  and  very  foolish  debate 
concerning  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  first 
settlers  of  this  State.  It  was  maintained  by  four  of 
the  students.  One  argued  the  superiority  of  the 
manners  of  the  Greeks  in  the  time  of  Plato.  Another 
indicated  the  character  of  a  fine  gentleman.  The 
very  frequent  and  ill-natured  sarcasms  that  were 
thrown  out  during  all  this  piece  against  the  French 
nation  were  very  disgusting.  The  evident  conscious- 
ness of  the  great  superiority  which  they  thought  their 
State  in  particular  to  enjoy  was  too  apparent.  A 
debate  on  Divorce  was  then  introduced,  and,  after 
that,  one  of  the  most  ridiculous  that  could  be  for  such 
an  exhibition  as  that.  For  a  set  of  strolling  players 
it  might  have  been  tolerable,  but  for  young  men 
assembled  to  give  specimens  of  their  learning  it  was 
quite  out  of  character.  It  was  a  short  farce  or  tragedy 
performed  by  some  of  the  students.  The  young  man 
who  was  going  to  commit  suicide  had  two  pistols  and 
put  them  to  his  head  to  shoot  himself  with,  when  a 
friend  interposed  and  stopt  him.  Though  some  round 
us  were  wiping  their  eyes,  to  us  it  was  truly  ludicrous, 
and  we  had  some  difficulty  in  restraining  our  counte- 
nances. 


HOME    LIFE    IN    NEW    ENGLAND          271 

"  The  last  piece  we  were  much  pleased  with.  It 
was  in  poetry,  composed  by  the  young  man  who 
delivered  it,  was  well  spoken,  and  had  some  fine  ideas 
in  it.  It  was  on  the  Being  and  Providence  of  God, 
in  answer  to  some  of  M.  Volney's  opinions.  In  the 
afternoon  we  did  not  go,  as  we  were  to  attend  the 
Ball  in  the  evening." 

This,  no  doubt,  the  girls  thoroughly  enjoyed, 
though  no  record  is  given  of  their  adventures.  Per- 
haps one  may  conjecture  that  Mary's  criticism  of  the 
dramatic  piece  would  have  been  more  sympathetic 
(since  some  of  the  company  were  moved  to  tears)  if 
she  had  not  been  irritated  and  pained  by  the  previous 
attack  upon  the  beloved  French.  Though  the  young 
ladies  had  been,  as  they  confessed,  put  a  little  out  of 
conceit  with  Revolutionary  methods,  they  still  clung 
tenaciously  to  the  central  idea  of  Liberty,  Equality 
and  Fraternity,  and  to  Paris  as  the  great  world-beacon 
of  Light  and  Learning.  In  Middletown  their  most 
intimate  and  best  liked  friends  were  French  settlers — 
a  fact,  as  we  have  seen,  which  largely  accounts  for 
their  apparently  growing  estrangement  from  some  of 
their  American  neighbours. 

At  this  time  (1797)  the  relations,  once  so  friendly, 
between  France  and  the  United  States,  were  danger- 
ously strained.  The  trouble  arose  out  of  the  Jay 
Treaty  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States. 
The  French  took  it  amiss  that,  after  having  so 
materially  helped  to  bring  about  American  Indepen- 
dence in  1783,  they  were  now  left  alone  to  fight  out 
as  best  they  might  their  renewed  struggle  with  the 


272  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

English.  The  behaviour  of  the  French  diplomatists 
had  for  some  time  been  overbearing,  and  in  1796 
some  unpopularity  fell  upon  President  Adams  for 
preserving  a  conciliatory  attitude  towards  Paris.  Next 
year  a  storm  of  patriotic  fury  broke  out  when  the 
United  States  Minister  was  ordered  to  leave  France  ; 
it  was  renewed  when  the  three  Commissioners  subse- 
quently sent  by  the  United  States  were  addressed  in 
terms  which,  to  the  excited  American  sentiment, 
seemed  to  constitute  a  demand  for  tribute.  Instantly, 
an  agitation  was  worked  up  with  characteristic  vigour, 
and  a  large  party  clamoured  for  war  against  France. 
The  ill-feeling  did  not  pass  away  until  Bonaparte, 
having  got  rid  of  the  Directory,  restored  cordial 
relations  between  the  two  countries. 

Meantime  it  was  a  difficult  position  for  French 
people  living  in  the  United  States ;  not  less  difficult 
for  their  friends.  It  made  no  difference  that  they 
disapproved,  as  the  Russells  did,  the  insolent  action 
of  the  Directory.  Patriotic  indignation  does  not 
make  nice  discriminations.  Priestley,  who  stood 
bravely  by  his  French  Revolution  friends,  suffered  in 
American  repute,  and  remarked  sarcastically  upon  the 
conduct  of  that  enlightened  statesman  Adams,  who, 
as  the  term  of  his  Presidency  came  within  view, 
thought  it  wise  to  withdraw  (with  something  very  like 
an  apology)  from  his  support  of  the  pro-French 
divine.  Mary  Russell  says  distinctly  that  her  people 
became  unpopular  because  they  were  faithful  to  their 
French  neighbours  in  Middletown. 

In  other   respects  her  diary  is  almost  free  from 
political   references.     She  does  indeed  allude  to  the 


HOME    LIFE    IN    NEW    ENGLAND          273 

approaching  competition  for  the  Vice-Presidency 
between  Jefferson  and  Aaron  Burr,  but  only  to  say 
that  she  hopes  the  latter  will  fail  because,  though 
a  man  of  great  political  ability,  he  was  personally  an 
evil-liver.  On  the  question  of  slavery  she  also 
mentions  that  her  father,  on  returning  from  a  visit 
to  the  South,  had  not  condemned  the  institution, 
but  regretted  its  universal  prevalence  in  Maryland 
and  Virginia,  and  was  pained  by  the  inhuman  manner 
in  which  the  negroes  were  treated.  "  It  must  shock 
the  feelings  of  every  friend  to  humanity  whose  heart  is 
not  hardened  by  education  and  habit  to  regarding  the 
negroes  in  a  light  not  superior  to  beasts."  But,  as 
we  have  seen,  William  Russell,  like  most  white  people 
in  the  United  States  at  this  time,  saw  little  objection 
to  domestic  servitude  as  practised  in  kindly  and 
enlightened  families. 

The  crops  of  the  field,  the  promise  in  the  orchard, 
the  prevalence  of  hydrophobia  amongst  cattle  as  well 
as  dogs,  the  arrival  of  a  new  settler,  or  possibly  the 
sermon  of  the  previous  Sunday — these  are  the  topics 
that  fill  most  of  Mary  Russell's  neatly  written  pages. 
There  is  no  discontent  expressed  with  the  retired 
life,  no  harsh  criticism  of  individual  neighbours,  but 
gently  and  unobtrusively  the  writer  lets  it  be  seen 
that  she  is  weary  of  the  uneventful  daily  routine  and 
the  lack  of  congenial  society. 

Martha's  engagement  and  approaching  marriage, 
to  be  followed  by  her  return  to  England,  fill  Mary 
with  a  sense  of  almost  intolerable  loneliness.  From 
the  day  when  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Skey  sail  for  the  bride- 
groom's home  it  is  clear  that  the  days  of  the  Russells 

s 


274  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

in  Middletown — and  in  America — are  numbered. 
The  parting,  when  it  comes  in  May  1799,  is  a  sharp 
wrench  to  the  father  and  sister  left  behind.  William 
Russell  writes  that  he  is  "  tremblingly  alive "  to  the 
perils  from  French  privateers,  and  curiously  enough 
this  was  the  one  alarm — happily  a  false  one — that 
broke  the  monotony  of  the  young  couple's  prosperous 
voyage  home.  A  strange  sail  was  sighted,  and  all 
hands,  passengers  included,  made  ready  to  fight  the 
vessel  bearing  down  upon  them — whether  she  should 
be  French  or  Algerine.  Happily,  it  was  a  false 
alarm. 

William  Russell,  though  not  yet  old  in  years,  was 
somewhat  broken  in  health.  Always  a  little  delicate, 
he  had,  during  his  captivity,  undergone  hardships 
that  might  have  tried  a  strong  constitution,  and  he 
never  altogether  recovered  from  the  long  strain. 
Neither  in  his  own  business  nor  in  his  friends'  did 
he  spare  himself.  At  one  time  he  wrote  to  his 
brother  that  he  was  rising  with  the  sun  and  going 
to  rest  not  before  midnight — working  all  day  and 
every  hour.  Clearly  he  had  already  caught  the 
American  restlessness.  To  so  energetic  a  man  it 
must  have  been  peculiarly  vexatious  that  his  hearing 
should  fail  him.  He  was  troubled  with  deafness 
to  such  a  degree  that  much  of  the  zest  was  taken 
from  his  life.  On  returning  from  one  of  his  many 
business  journeys  he  found  it  painful  that  he  could  not 
understand  what  his  daughters  were  trying  to  make 
him  understand.  On  one  occasion  he  gave  up  a  pro- 
mised visit  to  Priestley  because  he  would  not  be  able 
to  enjoy  his  old  friend's  conversation.  Nevertheless 


HOME    LIFE    IN    NEW    ENGLAND          275 

he  formed  plans,  or  dreamed  dreams,  of  a  close 
association.  When  in  1800  he  had  so  arranged  his 
rather  complicated  investments  and  commitments  that 
he  could  see  his  way  to  revisiting  Europe  on  the 
first  news  of  peace,  he  suggested  that  Priestley  should 
come  to  live  with  him  at  Abbey  Ardennes,  and 
establish  a  Unitarian  organisation  in  France. 

The  divine,  who,  in  some  respects,  was  a  better 
man  of  the  world  than  his  lay  supporter,  would  not 
listen  to  these  proposals.  His  French  was  not  good 
enough  for  a  theological  propaganda  amongst  French- 
men. The  scheme,  he  gently  suggested,  was  some- 
what Utopian,  and  his  friend  should  wait  until  he 
had  spent  some  time  in  the  country  before  he  embarked 
in  any  large  project.  As  for  himself — on  that  point 
he  was  quite  decided — he  could  not  and  would  not  leave 
his  Northumberland  home,  at  least  until  peace  had 
been  assured  in  Europe.  He  might  have  added, 
with  a  contemporary  French  cynic,  that  there  was 
not  enough  faith  in  the  country  to  support  two 
religions ! 

It  was,  therefore,  as  a  weary  though  not  dis- 
heartened man  that  William  Russell  in  1801  left 
the  land  to  which  in  1795  he  had  sailed  as  to  "a  clime 
where  peace  and  serenity  prevail."  In  his  letters 
there  is  nothing  to  suggest  that  he  had  abandoned 
the  ideas  which  he  had  so  valiantly  maintained  or  the 
ideals  that  he  struggled  to  uphold.  But,  as  a  man 
advanced  in  years,  he  did  not  wish  to  live  with  the 
ocean  between  himself  and  his  dearly  loved  children. 
When  he  asks  his  son-in-law  in  England  to  send 
him  over  a  "bob  wig" — the  fashionable  wear  in 


276  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

London,  so  he  had  heard — he  adds  that  the  order 
must  not  be  taken  to  mean  that  he  has  given  up  the 
purpose  of  leaving  America  on  the  first  good  oppor- 
tunity. Martha  Skey  and  her  husband  had  gone 
away  with  no  intention  of  coming  back,  two  years 
before,  and  now  Mary  and  Thomas  Russell  were 
sailing  for  England — never  to  return,  writes  exultant 
Thomas.  It  only  remained  for  their  father  to  follow 
them — though  not  to  England.  For  the  present, 
and  for  a  good  many  years  to  come,  his  country  was 
barred  to  him,  and  he  could  live  no  nearer  to  his  own 
flesh  and  blood  than  on  his  estate  near  Caen. 


CHAPTER   XV11 
THE   RETURN   TO   EUROPE 

William  Russell's  arrival  at  Bordeaux — His  anomalous  position — Perils 
of  doubtful  nationality — Investment  in  French  land — Residence  at 
Abbey  Ardennes — Technical  felony — Pardon  suggested — Erskine's 
opinion — Russell's  attitude — Correspondence  with  his  son  in  Paris — 
Suspicious  French  authorities — Proposed  petition  to  the  English 
Government — Fear  of  prejudicing  title  of  French  property — Political 
gossips — The  Emperor  of  Russia — Lord  Lauderdale's  mission — 
Death  of  Fox — Prolonged  suspense — Thomas  Russell  and  the  First 
Empire — Bonaparte's  marriage — Public  fetes  in  Paris — Return  of 
William  Russell. 

MARY  and  Thomas  Russell,  happy  in  the  thought  of 
their  return  to  Europe,  lamented  that  their  pleasure  was 
to  be  spoiled  by  parting  with  their  father.  It  was 
impossible  for  William  Russell  either  to  travel  with 
his  children  or  rejoin  them  on  British  soil.  Indeed 
his  legal  position  in  1801,  and  for  many  years  after- 
wards, was  sufficiently  complicated,  if  not  perilous. 
As  a  reputed  and  formally  adopted  citizen  of  the 
United  States  he  had  resolved  to  profit  by  the  settle- 
ment of  outstanding  disputes  between  Washington 
and  Paris.  It  was  safe,  so  he  considered,  to  take  up 
residence  on  his  Normandy  estate.  But  in  point  of 
fact  he  could  not  divest  himself  of  British  nation- 
ality. He  ran  a  certain  risk,  therefore,  of  being 
denounced  in  France  as  an  Englishman  and  once 

again  becoming  a  prisoner  of  war.     That  the  danger 

277 


278  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

was  by  no  means  imaginary  appears  from  his  corre- 
spondence with  his  son,  in  which  he  speaks  of  the 
suspicion  entertained  by  the  local  French  authorities 
as  to  foreigners  living  near  the  coast  and  receiving 
letters  from  abroad. 

On  the  other  hand,  he  could  not  return  to  England 
so  long  as  it  remained  at  war  with  France.  His 
purchase  of  land  in  Paris  and  Normandy  in  1 799  had 
been  a  felony  in  the  eye  of  the  English  law.  Though, 
perhaps,  he  had  no  personal  enemies  in  England,  there 
were  plenty  of  political  adversaries  who  might  rejoice 
in  setting  the  law  in  motion  against  a  well-known 
public  character.  It  is  true  that  the  purchase  of  these 
French  estates  had  been  conducted  in  the  name  of 
Mr.  Fulwar  Skipwith,  American  Agent-General  in 
Paris,  and  Russell  had  carefully  enjoined  his  agents 
that  nothing  should  be  done  that  would  reveal  the 
real  ownership.  But  that  sort  of  fiction  is  not  easily 
maintained  in  regard  to  a  landed  property  of  very 
considerable  value.  The  investment  in  the  Quai 
Voltaire  was  quite  important,  and  the  rental  of  the 
portion  of  the  Ardennes  estate  not  occupied  by 
Russell  himself  was  about  ^800  a  year.  Although 
at  first  he  did  not  contemplate  a  permanent  abode  in 
Normandy,  a  few  days  after  his  arrival  at  Bordeaux 
(July  2,  1 80 1 )  he  wrote  to  his  agent  at  Caen,  asking 
him  to  arrange  for  temporary  house  accommodation. 
He  proposed,  he  said,  to  take  an  active  part  in  the 
management  of  the  estate,  and  wished  the  tenants  to 
understand  that  he  would  soon  be  amongst  them.  In 
such  circumstances  it  was  evidently  useless  to  think 
of  concealing  his  true  position.  He  had  not  long 


THE  RETURN  TO  EUROPE       279 

installed  himself  when  he  set  up  a  Protestant  place  of 
worship  in  Caen,  and  on  this  proof  of  spiritual  energy 
he  received  warm  congratulations  from  Priestley. 
Himself  too  old  and  weary  to  help  in  familiarising  the 
French  people  with  "  rational  Christianity,"  the  divine 
praised  the  layman's  energy,  and  regretted  that  similar 
efforts  were  not  made  in  other  parts  of  the  country. 
For  though  the  Protestants  in  France  were  pretty 
numerous  they  were,  he  said,  excelled  in  zeal  by  the 
Roman  Catholics. 

At  first  Russell  had  been  very  happy  in  his  gardens 
and  orchards  and  farm.  He  is  frequently  inviting 
Martha  Skey,  his  married  daughter,  now  a  mother,  to 
pay  him  a  visit. 

"  You  see,  my  dear  Martha,  I  include  you  in  the 
number  whom  I  invite  to  come,  for  I  think  your  being 
a  nurse  is  not  an  insuperable  objection,  and  the 
packet,  which  oftentimes  reaches  Havre  in  twelve 
hours,  may  for  a  trifling  expense  be  engaged  for 
yourselves,  and  will  bring  you  and  all  your  family 
with  great  convenience.  At  least  they  had  such 
vessels  before  the  war,  and  such  are  expected  again. 
I  can  assure  you  I  have  room  not  only  for  you  and 
all  your  family,  but  for  all  our  relations,  and  all 
their  families  with  them.  I  shall  have  plenty  of 
provisions  of  all  sorts,  for  as  many  as  will  come — even 
now  at  this  barren  season.  We  have  fish,  wild  fowl, 
game,  and  poultry  in  great  plenty  (particularly  the 
former).  I  buy  all  sorts  of  shambles  meat  (veal  ex- 
cepted)  at  3^-d.pr.  lb.,fine  wheat  bread  i^d.  pr.  lb., butter 
7^d.,  vegetables  in  abundance,  I  wish  I  could  send  your 


280  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

young  folks  a  present  of  some  of  the  fine  apples  and 
pears  I  now  have  in  TKy  fruitier^  where  I  have  a  store 
that  will  last  for  many  months  to  come.  I  told  your 
husband  in  my  last  that  I  drink  very  good  wine  at 
i5d.  pr.  bottle,  and  I  have  since  learnt  that  there  is 
good  beer  and  ale  too  at  Caen.  As  to  cider  I  have 
a  large  magnificent  mill  within  my  precincts,  where 
more  than  one  of  my  farmers  have  made  above  1000 
gallons  for  the  consumption  of  their  own  family  and 
workmen.  Every  farmer  I  have  makes  more  or  less 
for  the  like  purpose,  and  all  from  the  trees  upon  their 
respective  farms.  What  is  the  quality  of  the  malt 
liquor  or  the  cider  I  cannot  say,  for  I  have  never 
tasted  a  drop  of  either,  nor  yet  of  spirituous  liquor 
of  any  kind  since  I  landed  in  France,  If  you  drink 
water,  as  I  do,  at  dinner,  I  shall  give  you  as  much  as 
you  please  from  a  very  fine  spring  at  my  own  door." 

"...  I  said  in  my  last  to  your  sister  [he  writes 
in  December  1 80 1]  that  I  was  then  preparing  some 
apartments  in  the  Convent,  and  I  have  now  to  say 
that  I  have  taken  up  my  abode  there,  and  find  it  very 
comfortable — for  such  a  situation,  at  a  distance  from 
every  friend  and  relation,  and  with  all  my  infirmities 
about  me.  It  is  certainly  a  bad  season  of  the  year 
for  a  single  person  to  enter  upon  such  large  and  lofty 
rooms  as  mine  are,  each  of  them  being  22  by  25  and 
1 6  feet  high.  I  have  a  sleeping-room,  a  breakfast 
room,  a  dining-room,  a  noble  kitchen,  and  a  servant's 
bedroom,  all  contiguous  and  in  a  line,  with  a  garden 
in  each  front.  In  addition  to  these  I  have  store  rooms, 
cellars  and  a  fruitier,  &c.,  in  abundance.  I  found  the 


THE  CHURCH,   ABBEY   ARDENNES,   NEAR   CAEN 
From  a  photograph  fy  T.  H.  RUSSELL 


THE  RETURN  TO  EUROPE      281 

whole  of  the  old  as  well  as  the  new  Convent  in  the 
most  neglected,  ruinous  condition  that  such  buildings 
could  possibly  be  reduced  to,  but  the  old  one  in  as 
firm  a  state  as  the  new,  and  likely  to  last  as  long, 
according  to  all  present  appearances.  But  all  was 
in  a  state  of  degradation  and  depredation,  and  the 
whole  were  exhibited  as  a  property  whereon  was 
stamped  neglect  and  an  idea  of  its  being  of  no  value. 
My  judgment  had  led  me  to  conclude  that  it 
was  my  duty  to  alter  the  word  "no"  before  "value" 
and  make  it  appear  of  much  value,  and  it  is  the  pro- 
secution of  this  plan  which  has  occupied  much  of  my 
attention  since  I  arrived  here,  and  has  contributed  not 
a  little  to  the  satisfaction  I  find  in  fixing  my  residence 
in  retirement.  Yet,  in  the  midst  of  such  a  property 
as  I  never  possessed  before  or  can  ever  hope  to  do 
again,  I  intend  to  come  and  see  my  friends  and  rela- 
tions in  England  a  few  months  hence  (if  the  definitive 
treaty  is  ratified),  whether  any  of  you  come  here  from 
thence  or  not — and  you  are  all  at  liberty  to  do  as 
you  like  as  to  coming  here. 

"  I  am  intending  to  turn  a  wilderness  of  a  court  into 
a  French  garden,  and  when  any  of  you  come  to  see 
me  I  am  persuaded  you  will  be  pleased  with  this 
metamorphosis,  whatever  you  admire  besides.  I  wish 
you  to  prepare  me  a  packet  of  choice  flower  seeds  that 
will  flourish  in  the  natural  ground  without  any  hot- 
beds, for  I  shall  not  be  likely  to  give  in  to  any  ex- 
penses of  that  kind,  however  I  may  labour  and  till  the 
grounds  around  me,  whether  for  use  or  ornament. 
This  reminds  me  of  having  mentioned  to  our  dear 
Mary,  Darwin's  Botanic  Garden,  and  to  add  that  if 


282  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

your  husband  has  not  seen  his  later  publication  en- 
titled Phytologia,  I  would  recommend  it  to  him  and 
your  brother  to  procure  it  forthwith.  I  have  it  here 
as  well  as  the  Botanic  Garden,  and  am  highly 
pleased  with  both  as  far  as  I  have  read  of  them,  but 
that  is  not  much,  and  was  chiefly  whilst  on  my  passage 
from  the  Western  World." 

Amongst  other  books  which  Russell  wishes  to 
have  brought  or  sent  from  England  (1801)  are 
Belsham's  Philosophy  of  the  Mind  and  Paley's  Natural 
Theology. 

But  neither  the  pleasures  of  a  country  gentleman 
nor  the  recreations  of  a  scholar  contented  the  old 
man's  heart.  He  yearned  for  daily  intercourse  with 
his  family  and  hankered  after  his  native  land.  He 
was  for  ever  plotting  and  planning  how  to  get  back  to 
England.  For  a  time  the  two  countries  were  at  peace, 
but  nobody  believed  that  the  happy  state  of  affairs 
could  last.  There  was  therefore  no  time  to  be  lost. 
As  he  had  so  plainly  identified  himself  with  Ardennes, 
it  occurred  to  James  Skey,  his  son-in-law,  that  the 
boldest  would  be  the  most  judicious  course.  Why  not 
approach  the  British  Government,  confess  the  technical 
crime,  and  sue  for  a  free  pardon  ?  In  November  1802, 
a  case  was  stated  for  Erskine's1  opinion.  By  an 
ingenious  selection  and  arrangement  of  facts  it  was 
made  to  appear  that  Russell,  while  staying  in  Paris, 
and  intending  to  become  an  American  citizen,  had 
obliged  the  American  envoy  in  Paris  (Skipwith)  with 
a  loan  of  several  thousand  pounds.  This  advance 

1  Afterwards  Lord  Chancellor. 


THE  RETURN  TO  EUROPE      283 

was  to  be  repaid  soon  after  Russell's  arrival  in 
America.  Not  receiving  it  at  the  time  appointed, 
Russell  sent  his  agent,  a  Mr.  Walker,  to  obtain  either 
the  money  or  some  security.  Mr.  Walker,  accordingly, 
took  a  conveyance  of  a  house  in  Paris  and  an  estate 
at  Ardennes.  At  this  time,  it  was  explained,  neither 
Walker  nor  Russell  was  aware  of  the  Statute  passed 
in  the  thirty-third  year  of  George  III.,  though  in 
point  of  fact,  even  if  they  had  possessed  such  know- 
ledge, they  might  still  have  acted  as  in  fact  they  did 
act,  since  at  that  time  Russell  had  no  intention  of 
returning  to  England.  Afterwards  his  plans  had  been 
changed  by  the  fact  of  his  daughter  having  married 
an  English  gentleman,  and  come  to  live  with  him  in 
England. 

This  recital  of  assorted  facts  was  followed  by  a 
legal  argument  based  on  the  language  of  the  Act : — 

"If  any  person  being  a  subject  of  his  Majesty,  and 
out  of  his  Majesty's  dominions,  shall  in  any  such 
manner  as  aforesaid,  make  or  authorise,  direct,  pro- 
cure, or  cause  to  be  made,  any  such  buying,  purchase, 
contract,  agreement,  loan,  or  advancement  as  afore- 
said, or  shall  aid  or  assist  therein,  and  shall  after 
voluntarily  return,  or  come  to  Great  Britain,  every 
such  person  so  returning  or  coming  to  Great  Britain, 
being  thereof  convicted,  or  attainted,  by  due  course  of 
law,  shall  be  deemed,  declared,  and  adjudged  to  be  a 
felon,  and  shall  suffer  the  pain  of  death,  and  also  lose 
and  forfeit  as  in  cases  of  high  treason." 

On   behalf  of   Russell   it   was   suggested    by    his 


284  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

attorneys  that,  though  the  intention  of  the  Legislature 
was  pretty  obvious,  the  words  of  the  Act  were  ambigu- 
ous. The  point  might  be  raised  "  whether  the  return- 
ing to  England  did  not  constitute  an  essential  part  of 
the  newly  created  offence,  and,  if  so,  as  Mr.  Russell 
had  not  yet  returned,  the  offence  was  not  complete 
during  the  continuance  of  the  war,  to  which  period  by 
the  first  enacting  clause  the  operation  of  the  Act  was 
confined." 

In  giving  his  opinion  the  great  lawyer  (after  the 
manner  of  his  kind)  brushed  aside  legal  subtleties  not 
invented  by  himself.  He  went  for  a  straightforward 
construction  of  the  Act.  "  In  the  strict  construction 
of  a  Statute  so  highly  penal  it  might  be  fairly  argued 
that  the  offence  should  be  committed  during  the  con- 
tinuance by  a  person  who  at  the  time  of  committing  it 
was  resident  in  Great  Britain ;  but  I  am  afraid  that 
the  law  would  attach  upon  any  person  who  had  been 
in  Great  Britain  during  the  continuance  of  the  war, 
and  who,  during  such  continuance,  purchased  lands  in 
France. 

"  It  is  also  clear  [Erskine  continued]  that  the 
consent  to  and  adoption  of  the  purchase  during  the 
war  is  the  same  as  original  employment  of  an  agent 
to  make  it;  but  under  the  circumstances  of  Mr. 
Russell's  case  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  upon  a 
proper  representation  to  Government  he  would  obtain 
a  pardon,  and  I  advise  him  to  pursue  that  course." 

This  opinion  was  forwarded  next  day  to  Russell 
by  Skey,  who  mentions  various  friends  in  Parlia- 
ment as  being  likely  to  support  the  petition.  The 
present  Administration  (Addington's)  have,  he  says, 


THE  RETURN  TO  EUROPE      285 

"  conducted  themselves  with  candour  and  liberality : 
they  seem  to  act  upon  very  different  principles  from 
those  of  their  predecessors  (Pitt's)." 

Skey's  letter  was  received  at  Ardennes  on  2oth 
November,  and  endorsed  by  William  Russell  as 
"  answered,"  but  what  the  reply  was  there  is  no  docu- 
ment to  show,  nor  has  any  tradition  been  preserved  in 
the  family.  For  some  reason,  however,  Erskine's 
advice  was  not  followed.  William  Russell's  keen  dis- 
appointment was  expressed  in  a  letter  six  weeks  later. 
He  had  apparently  made  sure  of  getting  leave  to 
return  to  England.  The  disappointment  threw  him 
into  "an  agony  from  which  he  did  not  know  when  he 
would  be  free."  On  March  14,  1803,  he  renewed 
the  attack  with  a  long  letter  addressed  to  Lord 
Whitworth,  British  Ambassador  in  Paris,  war  not 
having  yet  broken  out  again.  He  gives  a  brief  recital 
of  his  adventures  by  sea,  leading  up  to  the  arrange- 
ments under  which  he  acquired  the  estates  in  Paris 
and  Normandy.  His  return  to  France  on  the  way 
from  America  to  England  he  represented  as  due  to 
anxiety  about  the  properties ;  he  had  no  idea  that  it 
was  felony  for  an  Englishman  during  the  continuance 
of  war  to  reside  in  France.  He  begs  Whitworth, 
therefore,  to  grant  him  an  indemnity  in  order  that 
he  may  "return  to  the  bosom  of  his  country  and  the 
endearments  of  his  friends."  "  As  a  proof  of  my  steady 
attachment  to  my  native  land,"  he  winds  up,  "and 
my  hopes  that  your  Lordship  may  thereby  be  induced 
to  think  me  worthy  of  your  patronage,  I  entreat  your 
Lordship's  indulgence  whilst  I  add  that  upon  the 
estate  I  possess,  and  from  whence  I  have  the  honour 


286  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

of  addressing  your  Lordship,  there  are  two  convents 
in  high  preservation,  with  a  seaport  almost  adjoining ; 
and  that  I  am  in  a  part  of  the  Republic  where  the 
price  of  labour  is  peculiarly  inviting  to  a  manu- 
facturer." 

In  spite  of  all  these  commercial  and  agricultural 
advantages  his  "  attachment  to  natate  solum  prepon- 
derates," and  he  begs  Whit  worth  to  remove  the  present 
unexpected  impediments  to  his  return.  The  letter, 
delivered  in  person  by  Thomas  Russell,  was  favour- 
ably acknowledged,  and  once  again  the  old  man's 
hopes  revived.  "  But  what  a  dismal  change  does  the 
present  hostile  appearance  in  England  threaten  us 
with.  May  a  kind  and  gracious  God  avert  the  im- 
pending evil.  I  hope  the  blow  is  not  already  struck, 
but  I  see  no  newspaper,  and  am  content  with  such 
political  intelligence  as  Thomas  transmits  me  once  a 
week."  On  May  16  Russell  laments  the  departure  of 
Lord  Whitworth.  On  June  28,  after  referring  to 
"  this  unhappy  war  now  threatening  to  rage  with  un- 
exampled severity,"  he  complains  that  his  newest 
friend  and  only  English  interpreter  had  been  ordered 
to  Fontainebleau.  Almost  completely  deaf,  unable  to 
make  himself  understood  by  his  neighbours,  cut  off 
from  his  daughters,  and  only  seeing  his  son  for  short 
periods  at  long  intervals,  the  old  man  got  little  pleasure 
from  life  beyond  what  he  found  in  his  property.  At 
this  point  the  records  of  his  experiences  break  off,  but 
from  account-books  preserved  in  the  family  it  appears 
that,  except  for  a  few  visits  to  Paris,  he  spent  all  his 
time  at  Ardennes.  In  1807  he  seems  to  have  given 
up  the  expectation  of  returning  to  England,  for  on 


THE  RETURN  TO  EUROPE      287 

May   1 1   he  was  admitted  to  the  rights  of  a  French 
citizen. 

For  a  long  time  the  old  man  was  cut  off  from  his 
family.  His  daughters  were  tied  to  England,  and 
their  only  hope  of  again  seeing  their  father  lay  in  the 
prospect,  alternately  approaching  and  receding,  that 
peace  was  about  to  be  made  between  England  and 
France.  Thomas  Russell,  whose  letters  at  this  period 
demonstrate  him  as  a  shrewd  man  of  the  world, 
experienced  almost  beyond  his  years,  and  a  keen 
observer  of  political  tendencies,  spent  a  good  deal  of 
time  in  Paris.  He  corresponded  frequently  with  his 
father  at  Ardennes,  but  was  extremely  cautious  about 
compromising  their  somewhat  delicate  positions  by 
personal  intercourse.  On  August  20,  1806,  he 
writes  that  he  had  been  looking  forward  to  a  meeting 
at  Ardennes.  Evidently  William  Russell  had  been 
pressing  him  to  come  down,  and  the  son  was  anxious 
to  "relieve  the  solitude"  of  his  father's  situation. 
But  the  plan  had  to  be  postponed,  and  on  October 
2nd  he  is  writing  again  that  he  cannot  leave  Paris 
without  the  formalities  of  petitions  and  reports,  "which 
always  take  up  so  much  time  that  I  am  really  afraid 
the  vacation  will  be  nearly  expired  before  I  can  obtain 
the  permission."  Besides,  there  was  a  risk  of  the 
Prefet  de  Police  referring  him,  "  as  before,"  to  the 
military  authorities — which  would  be  disagreeable.  It 
was  of  course  possible  to  dispense  with  a  passport  and 
yet  escape  molestation,  but  the  risk  would  be  rather 
serious.  Two  days  later,  having  taken  counsel  with 
friends  in  Paris,  he  wrote  that  it  would  be  unadvisable 
to  awaken  the  attention  of  the  police.  He  must 


288  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

therefore  submit  to  the  "mortification  of  not  paying  a 
visit  to  his  father  this  Fall." 

It  might  be  easier,  Thomas  suggested,  for  his 
father  to  come  to  Paris.  Probably  there  would  be  no 
difficulty  about  a  passport,  and  he  could  have  his 
lodgings  on  the  same  terms  as  before. 

Meantime,  James  Skey  was  working  for  his  father- 
in-law's  return  to  England  by  means  of  a  petition 
to  the  Government.  He  wrote  to  Thomas  that  he 
was  confident  of  success,  though  delay  might  be  occa- 
sioned by  the  difficulty  of  gaining  access  to  men  in 
office.  But  was  it  at  the  present  moment  wise  to 
press  the  application  ?  Besides,  how  would  it  affect 
the  property  in  France  ?  If  William  Russell  should 
go  back  to  England  and  openly  resume  his  English 
nationality  it  might  affect  his  title  to  French  lands. 
First,  it  would  seem,  the  property  should  be  sold. 
Here,  it  seems  likely,  the  doubtful  status  of  the  pro- 
prietor, if  not  absolutely  fatal  to  a  transfer,  might  re- 
duce the  price.  Moreover,  from  the  correspondence 
between  William  Russell  and  his  son,  it  is  clear  that 
the  old  man  loved  Ardennes  and  enjoyed  living  upon 
it.  Nor  did  Thomas,  even  when,  subsequently,  a 
good  offer  had  been  received,  urge  his  father  to  agree 
to  what  he  would  feel  as  a  painful  sacrifice.  Thomas 
himself  did  not  relish  the  idea  of  settling  down  to 
an  agricultural  life  in  Normandy,  but  in  some  of  his 
letters  he  used  expressions  which  implied  that  he 
might,  for  his  father's  sake,  adopt  that  career. 

Year  after  year  the  suspense  was  continued.  It 
seemed  inadvisable  to  take  any  decisive  step  while 
the  question  of  peace  or  war  was  still  unsettled.  Action 


THE  RETURN  TO  EUROPE      289 

on  the  part  of  the  Russells  in  their  private  affairs  was 
paralysed  almost  as  much  by  the  recurrent  hope  of 
peace  as  by  the  continuance  of  war.  Naturally  the 
family  letters  are  full  of  political  gossip. 

At  one  time  the  highest  expectations  are  founded 
on  the  noble  character  of  the  Emperor  Alexander. 
"What  renovations  amongst  mankind  may  we  not 
hope  for,"  exclaims  William  Russell,  "  when  so  splendid 
a  man  is  sitting  upon  the  throne  of  Russia."  Russell 
had  been  talking  to  the  Czar's  tutor  (Col.  La  Harpe), 
who  had  related  a  "variety  of  interesting  anecdotes" 
about  his  late  pupil.  According  to  La  Harpe  the 
young  ruler's  desire  to  do  good  was  something  more 
than  principle.  It  was  positively  a  passion.  When 
speaking  of  his  people  he  did  not  allude  to  them  as 
subjects  but  as  fellow-citizens.  In  referring  to  himself 
he  never  used  the  title  of  Emperor,  but  expressed  for 
his  people  the  affection  of  a  father  rather  than  the 
authority  of  a  magistrate.  Many  were  the  legends 
about  the  Czar,  and  deep  the  disappointment  which 
in  every  country  of  Europe  that  gallant  and  well- 
meaning  ruler  inflicted  upon  sanguine  cosmopolitan 
reformers. 

An  arrangement  for  the  exchange  of  prisoners  is 
talked  about,  and  this,  the  Quid-nuncs  declare,  will 
be  followed  by  a  general  understanding.  On  the 
prospects  of  Lord  Lauderdale's  mission  in  the  autumn 
of  1806,  the  speculations  are  almost  of  daily  recurrence, 
and  vary  with  every  day  of  the  week.  What,  again, 
will  be  the  effect  of  Mr.  Fox  having  been  successfully 
tapped  for  the  dropsy  ?  Will  his  death,  which  had 
occurred  a  few  days  later,  destroy  all  hope  of  a  treaty  ? 


290  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

So  it  goes  on — men's  minds  alternating  between 
the  expectation  of  early  peace  and  dull  resignation  to 
a  perpetual  state  of  warfare.  But  what  most  strikes 
one,  on  reading  the  intimate  letters  of  this  period,  is 
how  thoroughly  accustomed  people  had  become  to 
victories  and  defeats,  how  quietly  they  put  up  with 
the  personal  inconveniences,  the  loss  and  suffering 
and  sheer  misery,  how  stoically  they  went  about  their 
ordinary  business.  Apart  from  the  interest  of  the 
scenes  at  which  the  Russells  of  Birmingham  assisted, 
either  as  actors  or  spectators,  the  diaries  and  letters 
here  summarised  have  a  special  value  as  illustrating 
the  manner  and  degree  in  which  the  fortunes  of 
private  persons,  essentially  non-combatants,  may  be 
influenced  by  the  strife  of  rulers  and  the  feuds  of 
Governments.  This  sort  of  a  side  light  on  history 
is  more  clearly  visible,  when  we  follow  the  adventures 
of  a  quiet,  unambitious  family,  as  recorded  in  docu- 
ments never  intended  for  publication,  than  if  we  study 
the  correspondence  and  journals  of  illustrious  or  self- 
conscious  personages  writing  with  one  eye  on  posterity. 

On  May  n,  1807,  William  Russell  had  been 
admitted  to  the  rights  of  a  French  citizen,  but  the 
nominal  change  of  status  did  not  affect  his  way  of 
living.  Practically  the  whole  of  his  time  was  spent 
at  Ardennes. 

Young  Thomas  Russell,  who  had  been  admitted 
to  French  citizenship  in  1809,  and  was  a  Major  in 
the  Garde  Nationale,  lived  in  Paris  and  witnessed 
some  of  the  most  brilliant  events  in  the  First  Empire. 
He  used  to  entertain  his  aged  father  at  Normandy  with 
accounts  of  the  bustle  and  gaiety  of  the  preparations 


THE  RETURN  TO  EUROPE      291 

for  Bonaparte's  second  marriage.     He  had  got  a  ticket 
for  the  gallery. 

With  quiet  gusto  he  describes  the  apparel  (it  is 
still  preserved  in  the  family),  which  he  procured  for 
the  splendid  ceremony.  With  another  English  gentle- 
man, three  English  and  two  French  ladies,  he  set  out 
in  a  private  coach,  at  an  early  hour  in  the  morning. 
The  gates  were  to  be  opened  at  nine  o'clock. 

"  Two  staircases  had  been  erected,  one  on  each 
side  the  Louvre,  by  which  the  persons  invited  to  the 
gallery  were  to  enter,  so  that  the  carriages  set  down 
the  company  at  the  colonnade  which  runs  under  the 
gallery.  This  had  been  covered  on  each  side  within 
by  rich  tapestry,  and  along  it  was  placed  on  each  side 
a  row  of  orange  trees,  the  same  that  are  in  the  Garden 
of  the  Tuileries  in  the  summer,  so  that  we  advanced 
along  this  beautiful  walk  to  the  staircase,  and,  as  the 
opening  between  different  columns  allowed  of  several 
entrances,  many  other  persons  were  flocking  in  at  the 
same  time  as  us,  which  made  a  still  more  lively  scene. 
On  entering  the  gallery  we  were  struck  beyond  measure 
with  the  beauty  of  the  sight.  Though  we  were  so 
early,  yet  more  than  half  the  places  were  already 
occupied,  and  the  rest  filling  apace,  so  that  we  made 
haste  to  secure  the  best  we  could  find,  and  seated  our- 
selves very  advantageously  about  half  way  down — 
that  is,  the  ladies  seated  themselves  and  the  gentle- 
men stood  behind.  We  enjoyed  at  leisure  the  novelty 
and  elegance  of  this  beautiful  sight,  which  was  like 
an  enchantment.  All  was  animation.  Pleasure  and 
surprise  were  painted  on  every  countenance.  The 


292  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

elegance  of  the  company  gave  a  new  splendour  to  the 
place,  and  the  grandeur  of  the  place  gave  a  new  rich- 
ness to  the  brilliancy  of  the  company.  It  was  such  a 
varied  and  lively  scene  that  we  did  not  find  the  time 
at  all  long,  though  it  was  near  three  o'clock  before  the 
cortege  entered  the  gallery ;  there  was  a  constant 
stream  of  persons  coming  in  till  one  o'clock,  when  the 
doors  were  shut,  and  after  that  others  were  continu- 
ally walking  up  and  down  the  gallery,  which  was 
covered  with  rich  carpets  all  the  way  along.  It  is 
impossible  to  conceive  a  more  pleasing  prospect  than 
this  walk  offered  to  the  view.  It  was  so  gay,  and  at 
the  same  time  so  grand  as  to  the  general  effect,  that 
every  one  was  delighted,  and  this  general  satisfaction 
added  a  new  life  to  the  scene.  The  ladies  were 
dressed  with  great  taste,  but  without  any  excessive 
richness,  which  was  reserved  for  those  of  the  cortege, 
who  were  covered  with  gold  and  silver  embroidery, 
Between  two  and  three,  the  cannon  announced  the 
arrival  of  the  Emperor  at  the  Tuileries,  and  in  about 
half-an-hour  afterwards  the  cortege  entered  the  gallery 
in  the  order  which  you  have  no  doubt  seen  in  the 
newspapers.  All  eyes  were  naturally  fixed  on  the 
Emperor  and  Empress — especially  the  latter,  who 
appeared  with  some  dignity  and  without  being  much 
disconcerted.  She  is  of  a  good  figure  though  not  a 
beauty,  and  even  rather  an  ordinary  expression  of 
countenance.  She  is  said  to  be  of  a  good  disposition, 
though  not  of  very  bright  parts,  and  to  be  quite  bigoted 
in  religion — which  is  generally  looked  upon  here  as 
an  unfavourable  circumstance.  The  train  of  queens, 
princesses,  maids  of  honour,  &c.,  that  followed  her 


THE  RETURN  TO  EUROPE      293 

was  dazzling ;  they  were  all  confounded,  as  it  were,  in 
a  general  blaze  reflected  from  their  splendid  dresses. 
The  ceremony  of  the  marriage  was  much  shorter  than 
we  expected,  so  that  we  had  not  to  wait  long  before 
the  return  of  the  cortege,  when  we  had  again  an 
opportunity  of  viewing  the  new  married  couple,  who 
seemed  now  in  better  spirits  than  as  they  went.  She 
had  on  her  head,  besides  the  crown,  a  diadem  set  in 
diamonds  of  great  value ;  her  gown  was  also  em- 
broidered with  diamonds,  and  is  said  to  have  cost 
three  millions  of  livres." 

Thomas  Russell  was  also  present  at  the  ball  given 
to  their  Imperial  Majesties  by  the  Ville  de  Paris. 
Writing  on  June  13,  1810,  he  says  :— 

"  The  company,  from  600  to  700  persons,  was 
ranged  on  benches  on  each  side — the  ladies  first, 
elegantly  dressed  as  you  may  suppose,  and  the  gentle- 
men behind.  At  one  end  of  the  room  were  seats 
somewhat  elevated,  and  a  rich  canopy  for  the  Emperor 
and  his  attendants.  On  his  arrival,  about  10  o'clock, 
he  took  his  seat  with  the  Empress  and  the  Queens 
of  Westphalia  and  Naples  at  his  left — the  King  of 
Westphalia  and  the  Viceroy  of  Italy  at  his  right. 
The  concert  then  began,  which  consisted  merely  of 
some  verses  for  the  occasion.  After  that  the  Empress 
opened  the  ball  before  us  ;  when  the  dance  was  over, 
she  returned  to  her  seat.  The  Emperor  then  mixed 
with  the  company,  went  round,  and  spoke  to  all  the 
ladies  one  after  the  other  who  happened  to  be  placed 
on  the  first  and  second  benches,  and  that  with  great 


294  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

good  humour  and  affability.  After  this  he  retired, 
and  the  dances  then  recommenced,  and  were  followed 
by  a  very  abundant  supper.  It  was  a  most  brilliant 
and  interesting  sight  I  could  not  wish  a  more  favour- 
able opportunity  for  seeing  the  Emperor  and  his 
Court.  The  room  was  not  at  all  crowded,  and  there 
was  so  much  order  that  every  one  was  as  much  at  his 
ease  as  in  a  private  company." 

A  longer  account  is  given,  again  from  personal 
observation,  of  the  Fete  of  the  Garde  Imperiale. 
Thomas  Russell  was  even  more  strongly  impressed 
as  to  the  vast  orderly  crowd  of  200,000  or  300,000 
persons  outside  than  with  the  splendours  of  the  ball- 
room. 

"  Soon  after  the  Court  was  gone  we  got  into 
the  ball-room,  which  afforded,  to  be  sure,  a  most 
brilliant  spectacle.  It  is  ascertained  that  there  were 
near  5000  assembled  in  it,  so  that  you  may  judge  of 
its  extent.  All  the  decorations  were  of  a  piece,  and  it 
was  lighted  by  above  sixty  large  and  elegant  chande- 
liers with  wax  candles — which,  however,  was  attended 
with  this  inconvenience,  that  on  being  nearly  burnt 
down  they  ran  over,  and  dropt  on  the  company  below, 
so  that  a  great  number  of  gentlemen  had  their  coats  all 
bespotted  with  wax.  The  room  was  of  an  oval  form, 
and  the  seats  for  the  ladies  were  disposed  in  amphi- 
theatre, with  a  broad  corridor  behind  all  round  for  the 
gentlemen  and  for  the  company  to  circulate  in.  The 
dancers  were  in  the  middle.  It  was  a  most  splendid 
collection  of  beauty  and  elegance,  such  as  one  can 
hardly  expect  to  see  assembled.  There  was  indeed 


THE  RETURN  TO  EUROPE      295 

a  certain  part  that  was  not  of  this  stamp,  but  in  such 
a  collection  it  was  impossible  it  should  be  otherwise. 
Upon  the  whole,  however,  I  prefer  the  effect  of  the 
gallery  of  the  Louvre  on  the  day  of  the  marriage  to 
this  ball,  which  was  dazzling  by  its  magnificence,  but 
the  other  scene  had  something  grand  and  imposing  in 
it,  which  flattered  the  feelings  in  a  more  agreeable 
manner.  We  had  much  difficulty  in  getting  into  the 
Salle  du  Banquet,  which  was  also  very  elegant,  and 
where  above  100  tables  were  laid  holding  from  twelve 
to  twenty  persons,  and  each  loaded  with  everything 
that  was  good.  The  scene  was  more  lively  on  this 
side,  as  there  was  less  restraint,  and  as  a  good  supper 
was  no  unpleasant  thing  after  the  fatigue  inevitable 
from  the  heat  and  the  crowd.  It  is  said  that  the 
supper  was  ordered  at  a  louis  per  head  without  wine, 
but  this  I  doubt,  though  it  is  said  to  come  from  the 
restaurateur  who  undertook  it.  It  was  not,  however, 
so  well  served  as  the  supper  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville." 

Meantime  the  old  gentleman  (he  was  now  seventy 
years  of  age)  to  whom  these  accounts  of  gay  doings 
in  Paris  were  addressed  was  leading  with  more  or  less 
contentment  the  life  of  a  squire  and  farmer  at 
Ardennes.  Much  as  he  delighted  in  the  place,  and 
keen  as  he  was  to  improve  it,  he  was  always  ready 
to  consider  offers  of  purchase,  and  frequently  consults 
his  son  as  to  terms  and  conditions.  An  amusing 
instance  of  his  tenacity  is  related  in  a  letter  from  his 
son  to  James  Skey  (May  1812). 

"You  would  have  laughed  heartily  if  you  could 
have  seen  what  a  drubbing  the  poor  cow  had  the 


296  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

other  day — she  had  got  once  or  twice  into  the  en- 
closure from  the  gate  of  the  farmyard  being  left  open 
inadvertently.  In  consequence  of  this  an  idea  presented 
itself  to  the  old  gent,  to  accustom  her  to  see  the 
gate  open  without  daring  to  go  through.  No  sooner 
thought  than  done.  He  placed  himself  on  the  other 
side  so  as  not  to  be  seen,  with  a  stick  to  beat  her 
back.  She  advanced,  of  course,  directly  to  the  gate, 
and  when  she  was  half  through  he  ran  forwards  in 
great  haste  to  stop  her.  Unfortunately  the  ground 
was  slippery  and  down  he  came,  while  the  cow  pushed 
forwards,  cocked  her  tail,  and  scampered  over  the 
field,  stopping  every  now  and  then  to  browse  on  what- 
ever she  found.  It  was  some  time  before  we  could 
stop  her,  but  at  length  the  old  gent,  got  hold  of  one 
of  her  horns  and  led  her  back,  shaking  her  head  and 
scolding  her  when  she  offered  to  resist.  Arrived  in 
the  yard,  he  set  about  her  with  all  his  might,  holding 
on  by  the  horn  with  one  hand  and  beating  her  with 
the  other.  At  length  she  escaped  him  into  the  cow- 
house. Away  he  ran  after  her,  fury  in  his  eye  and 
menace  in  his  actions.  Out  she  sallies  again,  into  the 
yard ;  out  he  bounces  after  her,  crying  out  to  every 
one  to  pursue  the  poor  beast  unconscious  of  the  dire 
offence  it  had  given,  though  he  was  determined  to 
make  her  remember  it.  But  he  will  not,  I  believe, 
soon  attempt  to  give  her  another  lesson  of  this  kind — 
depending  rather  on  the  gate  being  kept  shut  than  on 
the  cow's  docility.  .  .  ." 

On  August  19,  1812,  after  alluding  to  the  "dread- 
ful  din   of  war "    between     England   and    America, 


THE  RETURN  TO  EUROPE      297 

William  Russell  wrote  to  his  daughter  as  though  he 
were  almost  reconciled  to  ending  his  days  in 
Normandy. 

"  I  will  now  acknowledge  to  you  that  I  have  been 
much  influenced  by  an  idea  that  I  am  more  extensively 
useful  amongst  the  poor  here  than  I  can  be  elsewhere. 
Poverty  is  truly  in  its  meridian  here,  and  has  attend- 
ants you  have  no  conception  of.  There  are  from  two 
to  three  thousand  poor  in  one  small  village  within  little 
more  than  100  yards  from  my  boundary.  There 
are  no  parish  rates,  and  in  general  no  relief  but  by 
begging.  The  late  scarcity  has  rendered  it  necessary 
for  Government  to  send  supplies,  or  otherwise  many 
must  have  been  absolutely  starved.  I  have  distributed 
1 80  soups  twice  in  the  week,  in  addition  to  100  Ibs. 
of  bread  which  it  has  been  my  practice  to  distribute 
weekly  for  several  years  past,  and  so  necessary  is  it 
that  I  scarcely  know  what  I  shall  do  should  I  remove 
my  residence.  .  .  . 

"  They  are  a  hardy,  stout,  robust  race  beyond  all  you 
can  conceive.  Tall,  bony,  sallow,  with  countenances 
and  complexions  accordingly :  more  calculated  to 
terrify  and  intimidate  than  to  please.  Were  your 
husband  to  make  a  tour  here  in  summer  he  would 
have  an  ample  field  for  his  amusing  drollery." 

In  the  same  year,  however,  his  thoughts  again 
turned  to  natale  solum.  In  1812,  rightly  or  wrongly, 
Russell  made  up  his  mind  that  he  might  safely  risk 
the  penalties  incurred  under  the  Intercourse  Act,  and 
he  renewed  his  attempt  to  return.  Again  he  was 


298  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

disappointed,  but  in  1 8 1 3  he  sold  a  part  of  the  Ardennes 
estate,  but  it  was  not  till  September  of  the  following 
year,  Bonaparte  having  been  interned  at  Elba  and 
Louis  XVIII.  placed  on  the  throne  of  France,  that 
advantage  was  taken  of  the  peace,  and  William 
Russell's  passport  made  out  from  Caen  to  England. 
On  October  25,  1814,  it  was  vise"d  at  Calais.  His 
journey  home  was  made  in  his  son's  company.  No 
record  exists  in  the  family  of  the  terms  on  which 
Russell  made  his  peace  with  the  authorities.  Probably 
his  technical  offence  was  appropriately  purged  by  the 
legal  fiction  of  a  friendly  prosecution.  William 
Russell  was  spared  to  live  four  years  in  England. 
On  January  26,  1818,  he  died  at  his  son-in-law's  house 
near  Upton-upon-Severn,  aged  78,  a  long-suffering 
man  who  had  met  all  his  troubles  with  a  cheery 
spirit  and  indomitable  courage.  On  the  whole,  per- 
haps, he  had  enjoyed  his  life,  so  full  of  adventures 
and  experiences,  as  heartily  as  though  he  had  never 
been  persecuted  for  conscience'  sake  and  driven  into 
a  long  exile.  During  his  worst  times  (and  some  of 
them  were  pretty  bad)  he  never  lost  heart,  or  dropped 
a  word  of  repining,  weariness,  or  resentment.  He 
was  buried  at  St.  Philip's  Church,  Birmingham,  not 
very  far  from  the  house  which,  twenty-seven  years 
before,  had  been  burnt  and  wrecked  by  a  mob  of 
fellow-townsmen. 


WILLIAM   JAMES   RUSSELL   (1830-1909) 
From  a  photograph  by  RUSSELL  &  SONS 


POSTSCRIPT 

THOMAS  POUGHER  RUSSELL,  who  has  been  so  fre- 
quently mentioned  in  the  foregoing  pages,  married 
in  May  1817,  Mary,  daughter  of  James  Skey  by  his 
second  wife,  Eleanor  (ne'e  Brockhurst),  and  had  issue 
two  daughters  and  one  son.  For  the  last  thirty  years 
of  his  life  he  was  a  banker  in  Gloucester,  being  in 
partnership  with  James  Skey  and  others ;  this  private 
bank  afterwards  became  the  Gloucestershire  Banking 
Co.,  of  which  he  was  a  director.  He  also  served  for 
many  years  on  the  Committee  of  the  Gloucester  and 
Berkeley  Canal,  and  died  in  1851  at  Gloucester,  of 
which  city  both  he  and  his  son  were  Freemen. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  during  his  stay  in 
Paris  in  the  years  1801-3  he  attended  the  lectures  of 
eminent  French  men  of  science,  particularly  of  the 
chemist  Vauquelin. 

His  son,  WILLIAM  JAMES  RUSSELL,  who  died 
on  November  12,  1909,  may  have  been  in  the 
first  instance  turned  by  his  example,  sympathy,  and 
guidance  to  the  chemical  researches  in  which  he 
earned  a  distinguished  reputation.  A  brief  and 
appreciative  summary  of  his  life  and  work  appeared 
in  Nature  on  November  25,  1909,  over  the  initials 
G.  C.  F.  (Professor  G.  Carey  Foster,  F.R.S.)  of  which 
the  following  is  a  somewhat  abbreviated  version. 


299 


300  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

DR.   W.  J.   RUSSELL,   F.R.S. 

William  James  Russell  was  born  in  May  1830, 
at  Gloucester,  where  his  father  was  a  banker.  He 
was  educated  at  private  schools — Dr.  Wreford's  at 
Bristol,  and  afterwards  at  Mr.  Bache's  at  Birming- 
ham. In  passing,  it  may  be  noted  that  this  was 
before  the  educational  revival  that  produced  and  was 
furthered  by  the  Public  Schools  Commission  of  1859, 
and  that  in  those  days  there  were  very  many  private 
schools  where  scholarship  was  carried  to  quite  as  high 
a  level,  and  where  the  conditions  of  out-of-school  life 
were  in  some  respects  much  better  than  in  most  of  the 
public  schools  of  the  time. 

After  leaving  school  in  1847,  Russell  entered  Uni- 
versity College,  London,  where  he  studied  chemistry 
under  Thomas  Graham  and  Williamson.  In  1851 
he  was  appointed  the  first  Demonstrator  of  Chemistry 
under  Frankland  in  the  then  newly-founded  Owens 
College,  and  helped  to  plan  and  superintend  the  build- 
ing of  the  first  chemical  laboratory  of  the  college. 
This  laboratory,  built  on  what  had  been  the  garden 
attached  to  the  original  college  building  (Mr.  Cobden's 
old  house  in  Quay  Street),  was  the  cradle  of  the  great 
Manchester  School  of  Chemistry,  which  has  become 
as  famous  in  its  way  as  the  Manchester  School  of 
Politics.  After  two  years  at  Owens  College,  Russell 
went  to  Heidelberg,  where  he  worked  under  Bunsen 
from  the  autumn  of  1853  to  the  end  of  the  session 
1854-55.  During  his  stay  at  Heidelberg,  he  graduated 
as  Ph.D.  After  his  return  to  England,  he  lectured  at 
the  Midland  Institute,  Birmingham,  and  near  the  end 


POSTSCRIPT  301 

of  1857  came  again  to  London  to  act  as  assistant  to 
Williamson,  his  former  teacher,  at  University  College. 
He  was  associated  with  Williamson  in  working  out  a 
method  of  gas-analysis  whereby  many  corrections 
were  eliminated.  The  results  of  this  investigation 
were  published  in  the  Journal  of  the  Chemical  Society 
and  elsewhere,  and  the  form  of  apparatus  finally  arrived 
at  was  the  forerunner  of  the  most  improved  modern 
types  of  gas-analysis  apparatus  and  instruments  for 
the  application  of  the  measurements  of  gases  to 
quantitative  analysis. 

From  1868  to  1870,  Dr.  Russell  was  Lecturer  on 
Chemistry  in  the  Medical  School  of  St.  Mary's  Hos- 
pital. In  the  latter  year  he  was  appointed  to  a  similar 
office  at  St.  Bartholomew's,  and  retained  this  appoint- 
ment until  1897.  After  his  retirement,  he  continued 
his  experimental  work,  and  until  very  recently  was 
actively  occupied  at  the  Davy-Faraday  Laboratory. 
He  died  at  his  house  at  Ringwood,  after  a  very 
short  illness,  on  the  i2th  of  the  present  month 
(November  1909). 

At  the  time  of  his  death,  Dr.  Russell  was  one  of 
the  oldest  Fellows  of  the  Chemical  Society,  having 
been  elected  in  1851.  He  served  on  its  Council,  and 
was  successively  a  Vice-President,  Secretary,  Treasurer, 
and  President.  The  Society,  which  was  only  ten 
years  old  when  Russell  joined  it,  celebrated  the  jubilee 
of  its  foundation  in  1891,  during  his  term  of  office  as 
President.  It  naturally  devolved  upon  him  to  take 
the  leading  part  in  the  proceedings,  and  all  who  were 
present  must  have  been  struck  by  the  admirable 
manner  in  which  he  acquitted  himself.  He  had  to 


302  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

make  many  speeches,  long  or  short,  and  they  were 
always  simple  and  appropriate.  Without  wasting 
words,  or  any  apparent  striving  after  effect,  he 
managed  every  time  to  say  exactly  what  wanted 
saying. 

He  was  elected  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society  in 
1872,  and  served  twice  on  the  Council,  and  was  a  Vice- 
President  from  1897  to  1899.  He  was  an  original 
member  of  the  Institute  of  Chemistry,  founded  in  1877, 
and  was  its  President  from  1894  to  l%97- 

Dr.  Russell's  connection  with  Bedford  College 
for  Women  (London)  began  with  his  being  appointed 
Professor  of  Natural  Philosophy  in  1860.  He  retained 
this  office  until  1870,  and  opened  in  1860  the  first 
laboratory  accessible  to  women-students  tor  practical 
work  at  science.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Council 
of  the  College  from  1878  to  1903,  being  its  Chairman 
from  1887. 

Dr.  Russell's  contributions  to  the  methods  of  gas- 
analysis  have  been  mentioned  already.  Among  other 
investigations,  we  may  refer  to  those  relating  to  the 
atomic  weights  of  nickel  and  cobalt,  which  were  im- 
portant in  consequence  of  the  way  in  which  results 
obtained  by  very  different  methods  were  employed  to 
check  each  other ;  papers  in  conjunction  with  Dr. 
Samuel  West,  on  a  new  method  of  estimating  urea, 
which  gave  rise  to  a  valuable  clinical  method ;  on 
absorption  spectra,  and  researches  on  the  absorption 
bands  in  the  visible  spectra  of  colourless  liquids ;  a 
remarkable  series  of  papers  on  the  action  of  metals, 
resins,  wood  and  other  materials  on  a  photographic 
plate  in  the  dark.  Some  of  the  results  of  these  latter 


POSTSCRIPT  303 

investigations  were  given  to  the  Royal  Society  as  the 
Bakerian  lecture  for  1898.  By  well-directed  and  per- 
severing experiments,  the  effects  observed  were  traced 
to  the  generation  of  peroxide  of  hydrogen.  In  another 
set  of  experiments  on  the  figures  formed  by  the 
deposition  of  dust,  Dr.  Russell  demonstrated  the 
curiously  definite  course  of  the  currents  of  air  that  rise 
from  a  heated  solid  body. 

A  report  made  to  the  Science  and  Art  Department, 
in  conjunction  with  Sir  William  Abney,  on  the  action 
of  light  on  water-colours  was  published  as  a  Blue 
Book  in  1888.  It  involved  a  very  careful  investiga- 
tion of  the  subject,  and  was  highly  appreciated  by 
artists.  A  committee  consisting  of  the  President  and 
other  prominent  members  of  the  Royal  Academy,  in 
reporting  on  it,  said  that  they  "  unanimously  desired 
to  record  their  sense  of  the  very  great  value  and  of 
the  thoroughness  and  ability  with  which  so  laborious 
an  inquiry  had  been  conducted." 

In  manner,  Russell  was  quiet,  and  entirely  free  from 
anything  approaching  self-advertisement,  but  he  was 
genial  and  hearty  with  his  friends,  and  was  gifted 
with  a  sympathetic  laugh  that  it  was  always  refreshing 
to  hear.  As  some  indication,  both  qualitative  and 
quantitative,  of  the  estimate  formed  of  him  by  his 
fellows,  it  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  mention  that, 
as  a  young  man,  he  was  the  first  Secretary,  Treasurer, 
and  Keeper  of  the  Archives  of  the  B  Club — originally 
a  society  of  young  chemists  which  grew  out  of  Sec- 
tion B  of  the  British  Association,  first  took  definite 
shape  at  the  Oxford  meeting  in  1860,  and  kept  itself 
alive  between  the  meetings  of  the  Association  by 


304  RUSSELL    MEMOIRS 

consuming  monthly  beef-steak  puddings  at  the 
"  Cheshire  Cheese " — and  that,  in  later  life,  he  was 
elected  to  serve  on  the  committee  of  the  Athenaeum 
Club.  His  death  will  be  felt  as  a  sore  personal  loss 
by  very  many.  He  was  liked  by  all  who  knew  him, 
and  by  all  who  knew  him  intimately  he  was  held  in 
affectionate  esteem. 

Dr.  Russell  married,  in  1862,  Fanny,  daughter  of 
the  late  A.  Follett  Osier,  F.R.S.,  of  Edgbaston.  He 
leaves  one  son,  and  a  daughter  married  to  Dr.  Alexander 
Scott,  F.R.S. 


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INDEX 


Ackille,  English  prisoners  in,  85 
Alexander,  English  prisoners  in,  97 
Alexander  I.,  Tzar,  289 
Anderson,  Mr.,  American  Consul, 

brings    order    of    release    to 

Russells,  97 
Ardennes,  Abbey,  William  Russell's 

property  in,  278  et  seq. 
Astor,  Mr.,  159, 163  ;  helps  Russells 

in  New  York,  167 

BASTILLE,  capture  of,  19 

Be  lie  (f  Orz'ent,La,'Eng\ish.  prisoners 

in,  76  et  seq. 

Bingham,  Captain  D.,  quoted,  19 
Birmingham  Riots,  19  et  seq. 
Boston  described,  183-185  ;  prices 

at,  185-186 
Bryan,  Captain,  befriends  Russells, 

77,  97,  101,  102 
Burke,  Edmund,  41 
Butler,  captain  of  Nancy,  161 

CLEMENT,  French  captain,  85,  97 

Comite  de  Salut  Publique,  order 

of  release  from,  98  et  seq. 

DUNDAS,  Secretary  of  State,  letter 
of  George  III.  to,  40 

Elizabeth,  English  prisoners  in,  82 
Erskine,  Lord,  legal  opinion,  284 

FOUQUIER-TlNVILLE,  129,  13°',  his 
trial,  132  et  seq. 


Fox,  Charles  James,  3,  289 
Fox,  Lady,  3 

GEORGE  III.,  letter  to  Dundas,  40 
Germinal   I2th  (ist  April),  rising 
on,  127,  129  et  seq. 

HOLLAND,  Elizabeth  Vassall,  3 

IMLAY,  see  Wollstonecraft 
Ivor,  prize,  74 

KEARNEY,  Mr.,  warns  Russells, 
128 

LYDDY,  maid-servant,  89,  90,  96 

MADAN,  Spencer,  Bishop  of  Bristol 

and  Peterborough,  40,  47 
Mary,  Russells  sail  in,  59 
Miranda,  General,  4,  124,  135 

Nancy,    155  ;  voyage  to   America 

in,  1 59  et  seq. 
Napoleon,  marriage  of,  291 

PARIS,  Russells  in,  113  et  seq. 

Pitt,  William,  William  Russell 
appeals  to,  34 

Prebble,captain  of  Mary,  58,61 ;  ac- 
companies Russells  to  France, 
65,  70,  116,  121 

Priestley,  Dr.  Joseph,  2,  6  ;  chemist 


3o8 


INDEX 


and  divine,  8-9 ;  his  History 
of  the  Corruptions  of  Chris- 
tianity and  Of  Early  Opinion 
concerning  Jesus  Christ,  10 ; 
letter  to  Martha  Russell,  12, 
13;  recovers  damages  for 
burning  of  his  house,  44,  45  5 
his  Appeal  to  the  Public,  46, 
47  ;  decides  to  emigrate,  48- 
49 ;  sympathy  with  France, 
49,  50 ;  at  Northumberland, 
Pennsylvania,  169,  180,  198, 
205,  206,  208,  256 

Proserpine,  French  frigate,  67  et 
seq.,  74 

ROWAN,  Archibald  Hamilton,  116, 
119  et  seq. 

Russell,  Martha,  5  ;  account  of 
Birmingham  Riots  quoted, 
19-38  ;  her  diary,  51  ;  quoted, 
53  et  seq.,  71  et  seq.,  77,  79, 
80,  83,  84,  86,  89,  90,  93  et  seq., 
106,  108,  no,  113,  122,  124, 
125,  128,  129,  130,  132  et  seq. 
137,  138,  141  et  seq.,  146-152, 
157,  160,  161,  164,  165,  168, 
170,  172,  173,  174,  175,  176, 
177,  178,  179,  181,  183,  184, 
187,  190-193 ;  marriage  to 
James  Skey,  266 

Russell,  Mary,  5  ;  quoted,  140 ; 
discontent  in  America,  266- 
267,  269, 272,  273 

Russell,  George,  256 

Russell,  Thomas  Pougher,  5  ;  edu- 
cated by  Wakefield,  8;  ill  at 
Brest,  77,78;  views  on  America 
quoted,  195,  216;  his  dislike  of 
America,  265  ;  French  sub- 
ject, 290 ;  at  marriage  of 
Napoleon,  291  et  seq.  ;  quoted, 
295  et  seq. ;  marriage  and 
death,  299 


Russell,  William,  4 ;  position  and 
character,  8-9,  20;  recovers 
damages  for  burning  of  his 
house,  44,  46;  decides  to 
emigrate,  48  ;  leaves  England 
52  et  seq. ;  ill  in  France,  1 1 1  ; 
plans  in  Paris,  152-155  ;  buys 
property  near  Caen,  1 59  ;  de- 
clines to  buy  Malbon  Estate, 
189 ;  endeavours  to  recover 
money  from  State  of  Mary- 
land, 255  ;  his  plans  in  America, 
257,  263  ;  his  visit  to  General 
Washington,  265,  274  ;  returns 
to  Europe,  275 ;  settles  in 
Normandy,  277 ;  fears  pro- 
secution in  England,  282  et 
seq. ;  residence  -in  France,  287 
et  seq. ;  French  subject,  290  ; 
letter  to  his  daughter,  297; 
return  to  England  and  death, 
298 

Russell,  William  James,  biographi- 
cal notice  of,  299-304 

Russells  of  Birmingham,  2,  3,  4 ; 
adventures  in  riots,  23  et  seq. ; 
captured  by  French,  62 

Rutt,  J.  T.,  his  Correspondence  of 
Priestley,  n,  12 

SHEREDINE,  Miss  Fanny,  her  run- 
away match,  210 

Sheredine,  Mrs.,  109 

Showell  Green,  house  of  William 
Russell,  burning  of,  23  et  seq. 

Sicard,  Abbe",  Deaf  and  Dumb 
Hospital,  144-146 

Skey,  James,  6 ;  his  observations 
on  America,  217-255 ;  his 
marriage,  266  ;  looks  after 
interest  of  William  Russell  in 
England,  282  et  seq. 

TALLEYRAND-P£RIGORD,  Russells 
meet  in  America,  171 


INDEX 


3°9 


Thorpe,  Sir  Edward,  his  Life  of 
Priest  ley  >  10 

WAKEFIELD,  Gilbert,  5, 6 ;  scholar 
and  pamphleteer,  8  ;  his  life, 
14-17 

Wallis,  Mr.,  his  joke,  157 


White,  Mr.,  gives  account  of  dis- 
turbances, 128 

White  Nuns,  visit  to,  146-152 
Wollstonecraft,  Mary,  116-119 

YALE,  Mary  Russell's  account  of, 
269-271 


THE    END 


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