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194 suddenly destroyed. After this catastrophe we returned for provisions. I transferred my passengers to H.M.S. Talbot, which happened to be in the harbour, and resuming my voyage, reached Liverpool in eight days.

'When I arrived in London I found that the Talbot had got in before me, and that the captain had represented to the Ministry that I had established a republican government in the island, for the purpose of harbouring all the disaffected persons in Europe, though nothing was farther from my thoughts. And, further, that I was not qualified to hold the governorship, because I had been an apprentice on board an English collier, and a midshipman in a man-of-war; fine reasons truly with which to crush rising genius! Nelson was also a midshipman; one of the Popes had been a cowboy; and Captain Cook a cabin-boy. At the instance of this false captain, I was arrested, and charged with having broken my parole, though I had never given it at all. They sent me to Tothill Fields' Prison, where I met with some sparkling fellows, who initiated me into the mysteries of gambling; and then to the hulk appointed for the reception of prisoners of war. After having resided in these places for twelve months, I was allowed to retire to Reading, on my parole of honour, and began to devote myself to literature; but going to London, with permission to employ myself as a British subject, I fell in with my friends from Tothill Fields, and was, in the space of six months, considerately stripped of every farthing I possessed. I advise all here, and all who may read my memoirs, never to sit down to a gaming-table, never even to look on while others are gambling. The fascination accompanying this dreadful vice is stronger than that of drunkenness itself. It absorbs every faculty, and steeps the soul in tremulous delight, leading only to disappointment, remorse, and despair. The professional gamester knows only too well how to cajole his