owing in what _we_ call dirt; next to them, we may observe the
love of what _we_ call filth in savages, and of those persons in our
cities who stand nearest to them. Extreme cleanliness is the offspring
of riches, leisure, luxury, and extreme refinement; nevertheless it is
true what Swift says, that "persons with nice minds have nasty ideas."
I suffered greatly, and so did many of our countrymen, on our first
acquaintance with filth and vermin in this our British captivity. Many
a time have I got up from my dinner as hungry as I sat down, when
disgust has been greater than appetite. I have, however, gradually
surmounted antipathies I once thought insurmountable. I am not the
only one who has often retired from our disgusting repast, to my bunk
or sleeping birth, in silent agony, there to breathe out to my Maker,
woes too great for utterance. _O, Britain! Britain!_ will there not
be a day of retribution for these thy cruelties!

There are some in this dismal prison, who have been used all their
lives, not to conveniences only, but to delicacies; who are obliged to
submit to the disagreeables of this uncivilized mode of incarcerating
brave men, for one of the first of Grecian, Roman, English and
American virtues, the _love of country_, or _patriotism_. These
unfortunate men, with minds far elevated beyond the officers who are
placed here to guard, and to torment them, submit to their confinement
with a better grace than one could have expected. When these men have
eaten their stinted ration, vilely cooked, and hastily served up, they
return to their hammocks, or sleeping births, and there try "to steep
their senses in forgetfulness," until the recurrence of the next
disgusting meal. On the other hand, some have said that they never
before eat with such a keen appetite; and their only complaint has
been, that there was not one quarter enough for them to devour. I was
often satisfied with a quantity of food that was not half enough for
my companions. Some have since said, that they devoured their daily
allowance at Dartmoor, with more relish than they ever have since,
when set down at tables, covered as our American tables are, with
venison, poultry, the finest fish, and the best fruits of our country,
with choice old cider, and good foreign wines.

A thing very disagreeable to me, arose from causes not occasioned by
the enemy. I have been squeezed to soreness, by a crowd of rough,
overbearing men, who oft times appeared t