H. The other
prisoners were very kind to young Sherburne, gave him clothing and
sent him to a school which was kept in the prison. Ship building and
other arts were carried on in this place, and he learned navigation,
which was of great service to him in after life.
The fare, he declared, was tolerably good, but there was not enough of
it. He amused himself by making little toy ships. He became ill and
delirious, but recovered in time to be sent to America when a general
exchange of prisoners was effected in 1781. The rest of his
adventures has nothing to do with prisons, in England, and shall not
now be detailed.
Although the accounts of the English prisons left by Herbert,
Sherburne and others are so favorable, yet it seems that, after the
year 1780, there was some cause of complaint even there. We will quote
a passage from the British Annual Register to prove this
statement. This passage we take from the Register for 1781, page 152.
"A petition was presented to the House the same day (June 20th) by
Mr. Fox, from the American prisoners in Mill Prison, Plymouth, setting
forth that they were treated with less humanity than the French and
Spanish, though by reason that they had no Agent established in this
country for their protection, they were entitled to expect a larger
share of indulgence than others. They had not a sufficient allowance
of _bread_, and were very scantily furnished with clothing.
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