Page:Narrative of a captivity and adventures in France and Flanders between the years 1803 and 1809.djvu/84

 one, and gave us permission to take the diligence, to Valenciennes; adding—"Gentlemen, I rely upon your honour." Now, severity would have been more acceptable than this act of politic kindness; but to have declined the offer, would have exposed my intentions, and drawn upon me the accumulated vigilance of the whole guard. This method evinced the impolicy of harsh measures, and insured the safety of all those worth securing; for the germ of honour buds in the spring of our days; and if, at that epoch, an officer violates her principles, it were better for him that he were never after intrusted with the performance of any act, in which his own immediate interest might clash with his country's honour. We set out in the diligence, with one gendarme, the mere formality of a guard, and passing through a village met four English seamen, with scarcely a rag to cover them, strongly guarded, chained to each other by the neck, and handcuffed. They told us, that having escaped from Arras, they had gained the coast, seized a vessel, and put to sea.