h as possible. At one o'clock in the morning of the 11th
of August, the Bath King at Arms repaired to King Henry the Seventh's
Chapel in Westminster Abbey, and there, under a warrant signed by Lord
Sidmouth, the Secretary of State, removed the banner of Lord Cochrane,
which was suspended between those of Lord Beresford and Sir Brent
Spencer. His arms were next unscrewed, and his helmet, sword, and
other insignia were taken down from the stall. The banner was then
kicked out of the chapel and down the steps by the official, eager to
omit no possible indignity. It was an indignity unparalleled since the
establishment of the order in 1725.

CHAPTER III.

LORD COCHRANE'S BEARING IN THE KING'S BENCH PRISON--HIS STREET
LAMPS.--HIS ESCAPE, AND THE MOTIVES FOR IT.--HIS CAPTURE IN THE HOUSE
OF COMMONS, AND SUBSEQUENT TREATMENT.--HIS CONFINEMENT IN THE STRONG
ROOM OF THE KING'S BENCH PRISON.--HIS RELEASE.

[1814-1815.]

During the first period of his imprisonment Lord Cochrane was not
treated with more than usual severity. Two rooms in the King's Bench
State House were provided for him, in which, of course, all the
expenses of his maintenance devolved upon himself. He was led
to understand that, if he chose to ask for it, he might have the
privilege of "the rules," which would have allowed him, on certain
conditions, a range of about half-a-mile round the prison. But he
did not choose to ask. Rather, he said, than seek any favour from
the Government, he would lie in a dungeon all through the term of his
unjust imprisonment. Throughout that period he resolutely avowed his
perfect innocence, to friends and foes alike; and the consciousness
of his innocence helped him to bear up under a degradation that, to
a nature as sensitive and chivalrous as his, was doubly bitter. Good
friends, like Sir Francis Burdett, came to cheer him in his solitude,
and over-zealous, yet honest, friends, like William Cobbett, came to
take counsel with him as to ways of keeping alive and quickening the
popular indignation which, without any stimulants from headstrong
demagogues, was strong enough on his behalf.

The tedium of his captivity was further relieved by his devotion to
those scientific and mechanical pursuits which, all through life,
yielded employment very solacing to himself, and very profitable to
the world. While in the King's Bench Prison he was especially occupied
in completing a plan for lighting the public streets by means o