At the expiration of three weeks the dresser informed me he was about
to case my fractured limb in splints and bandages, when I might quit my
mattress, don my garments, and hop about the room or seat myself by the
fireside.
This was good news, but my joy was somewhat dampened by the intelligence
that I could not be furnished immediately with a pair of crutches,
all belonging to the establishment being in use. I borrowed a pair
occasionally for a few minutes, from an unfortunate individual who was
domiciled in my apartment, and sometimes I shuffled about for exercise
with a stout cane in my right hand, and a house-brush, in an inverted
position under my left arm, in lieu of a crutch.
I witnessed many interesting scenes during my stay in the Infirmary, and
fell in with some singular individuals, all of which showed me phases of
human life that I had never dreamed of. The tall, military-looking man,
with whom I became acquainted soon after I entered the establishment,
proved to have been a soldier. He had served for years in a regiment
of heavy dragoons, and attained the rank of corporal. He had sabred
Frenchmen by dozens during the unsuccessful campaign in Holland under
the Duke of York. He fought his battles over again with all the ardor
and energy of an Othello, and to an audience as attentive, although, it
may be, not so high-born or beautiful.
There was also present during my stay a young native of the Emerald
Isle, who had seen service in the British navy. In an obstinate and
bloody battle between English and French squadrons off the Island of
Lissa, in the Adriatic, about nine months before, in which Sir William
Hoste achieved a splendid victory, his leg had been shattered by a
splinter. After a partial recovery he had received his discharge, and
was returning to his home in "dear Old Ireland," when a relapse took
place, and he took refuge in the hospital. He also could tell tales of
wondrous interest connected with man-of-war life. He loved to talk of
his cruises in the Mediterranean, of the whizzing of cannon balls, the
mutilation of limbs, decks slippery with gore, levanters, pressgangs,
boatswains' calls, and the cat-o'-nine tails of the boatswains' mates.
The patient, from whom I occasionally borrowed a pair of crutches,
although a pleasant companion, bore upon his person unequivocal marks of
having met with rough handling on the ocean or on the land. He was MINUS
an eye, his nose had been knocked athwart-ships to the great injury of
his beauty, and a deep scar, from a wound made with a bludgeon, adorned
one of his temples! I learned that this man, who seemed to have been the
football of fortune and had received many hard kicks, had never been in
the army or the navy, that his wounds had been received in CIVIL wars,
battling with his countrymen. I was further told by the nurse, as a
secret, that although he was so amiable among his fellow-sufferers in
the hospital, when outside the walls, if he could obtain a glass of gin
or whiskey to raise his temper and courage to the STRIKING point, he
never passed a day without fighting. He was notorious for his pugnacious
propensities; had been in the Infirmary more than once for the tokens he
had received of the prowess of his opponents. In his battles he always
came off second best, and was now in the "accident ward" in consequence
of a broken leg, having been kicked down stairs by a gang of rowdies
whom he had insulted and defied!
There were also in the Infirmary inmates of a more pacific character.
Fortunately for mankind it is not the mission of every one to fight.
Among them was a gardener, a poor, inoffensive man, advanced in years,
who with a cleaver had chopped off accidentally, he said two fingers of
his right hand. The mutilation was intentional without doubt; his object
having been to procure a claim for subsistence in the Infirmary for a
time, and afterwards a passport to the poorhouse in Chester for life. He
had experienced the ills of poverty; had outlived his wife and children;
and able to talk well and fluently, entertained us with homely but
forcible narratives illustrating life in the lowest ranks of society.
When his wounds were healed he was reluctant to quit his comfortable
quarters, and was actually driven from the establishment.
Other patients were brought in from time to time, and their wounds
dressed. Some were dismissed in a few days; others detained for months.
One intelligent young man, an English mechanic, was afflicted with a
white swelling on his knee and suffered intolerable pain. His sobs
and groans through the night, which he could not suppress, excited
my sympathy, but grated harshly on the nerves of my tall friend the
corporal of dragoons, who expostulated with him seriously on the
unreasonableness of his conduct, arguing, like the honest tar on board
the brig Clarissa, that these loud indications of suffering, while they
afforded no positive relief to the sufferer, disturbed the slumbers of
those who were free from pain or bore it with becoming fortitude.
In the evening, after we had partaken of the regular meal, those of
us who were able to move about, and to whom I have more particularly
alluded, would gather around the hearth, a coal fire burning in the
grate, and pass a couple of hours in conversation, in which agreeable
occupations, having read much and already seen something of the world,
I was able to bear a part. There are few persons who are unable to
converse, and converse well too, when their feelings are enlisted and
they labor under no restraint; and very few persons so dull and stupid
as to fail to receive or impart instruction from conversation with
others.
Notwithstanding the rules of the infirmary to the contrary, the inmates
of "number one" were not altogether deprived of the advantages and
charms of female society. To say nothing of the old nurse, who was a
host in gossip herself, her two daughters, both young and pretty girls,
were sometimes smuggled into the Infirmary by the connivance of the grim
and trustworthy porter, and remained there days at a time, carefully
hid away in the pantry whenever "the master" or the surgeons went their
regular rounds, which was always at stated hours. When the wind raged
without, and the rain, hail, or snow sought entrance through the
casement, while sitting near a comfortable fire, listening to female
prattle and gossip, narratives of incidents of real life, discussions on
disputed points in politics, philosophy, or religion between my friend
with the crutches and the tall corporal of dragoons, who were both as
fond of controversy as Mr. Shandy himself; or drinking in with my ears
the Irish tar's glowing descriptions.
"Of moving accidents by flood and field;
And of the cannibals that each other eat;
The anthropophagi, and men whose heads
Do grow beneath their shoulders!"
I was led to confess there were worse places in the world than the
Liverpool Infirmary.
After a week's delay I came into possession of a pair of crutches, and
could move around the room at pleasure, take exercise in the hall, and
even visit an acquaintance in either of the other apartments. The garden
attached to the establishment was thrown open to the patients at stated
hours on particular days. The season was not inviting; nevertheless,
one sunny day, accompanied by my lame friend of pugnacious reputation, I
visited the garden, and rejoiced at finding myself once more in he
open air. The ramble on crutches through the lonely walks was truly
refreshing. Our spirits mounted to fever heat, and as we returned
towards the building through the neatly gravelled avenue, my companion
proposed a race, to which I assented. I have forgotten which won
the race; I know we both made capital time, and performed to our own
satisfaction, but not to the satisfaction of others. The gardener
grumbled at the manner in which his walks were perforated and disfigured
by our crutches. He complained to the authorities, and greatly to our
regret a regulation was adopted by which all persons using crutches were
forbidden to enter the garden.
I remained six weeks in the Infirmary, and became accustomed to the
place, and made myself useful in various ways. I held the basin when
a patient was let blood; I took charge of the instruments and bandages
when a serious wound was closed by sutures and afterwards dressed; and
was particularly busy when a fracture was examined or a dislocation
reduced. Indeed I took a strange kind of interest in witnessing and
aiding in the various operations, and was in a fair way to become a
good practical surgeon, when I was discharged, and found myself a poor
sailor, friendless, penniless, and lame. But the surgical knowledge,
inaccurate and desultory as it was, which I acquired in the Liverpool
Infirmary, and the power to preserve coolness and presence of mind,
and minister relief in cases of wounds and dangerous diseases, when no
medical adviser could be applied to, has often since been of valuable
service to myself and others.
I took an affectionate farewell of my friends and acquaintances in the
establishment, not forgetting the nurse and her pretty daughters, and,
accompanied by the landlord of the house where the crew of the
ship Packet boarded, passed through the gateway without meeting any
obstruction on the part of the porter, who, on the contrary, grinned his
approbation of my departure.
The distance to the boarding house was about half a mile; nevertheless
I accomplished it easily on crutches without being fatigued, and
congratulated myself when I passed the threshold and arrived at what I
considered my home. But my troubles were not ended. The landlady, who
was actually "the head" of the house, did not welcome my return with
the cordiality I expected. She expressed a hope that the American
consul would lose no time in providing means for my return to the United
States, and favored me with the interesting information that while the
regular charge for board without lodging was eighteen shillings a week,
the American government allowed only twelve shillings a week for board
and lodging. The inevitable inference was, that I was an unprofitable
boarder, and the sooner they got me off their hands the better.
Another circumstance was a source of greater chagrin. When I reached
the house, one of my first inquiries was for my chest and other
property which I left in the forecastle of the ship. My chest was safely
deposited with the landlord; BUT IT WAS NEARLY EMPTY! To my dismay I
found that my stock of clothing for a two years' voyage jackets, boots,
hats, blankets, and books had vanished. A few "old duds" only were left,
hardly enough for a change of raiment. The officers had neglected to
lock my chest and look after my little property; the men were bound on
a long and tempestuous voyage, some of them scantily furnished with
clothing; the ship was to sail in a day or two after I was carried to
the hospital; the temptation was irresistible; they helped themselves
freely at the expense of their unfortunate shipmate!
The United States consul at Liverpool was a merchant, of large means
and extensive business; a man of great respectability, and it was
confidently asserted, of generous feelings. I doubted not that when my
case was represented to him he would grant me some relief, especially as
Captain Bacon had recommended me to his care. I had heard nothing from
him in the Infirmary. He was notified, officially, of my discharge; and
as vessels were every day leaving Liverpool for Boston and New York,
I expected to be immediately provided with a passage to one of those
ports. But when days passed away, and I seemed to be forgotten, I
mounted my crutches one morning and hobbled off through the crowded
streets to a distant part of the town, in quest of an interview with
the consul, intending to solicit that assistance to which every American
citizen in distress was entitled.
With some difficulty, for Liverpool is not a rectangular town, I
found the counting room of the consul, into which I boldly entered,
confidently anticipating not only relief but sympathy for my misfortune.
My appearance was not prepossessing, as my garments, although of the
true nautical cut, were neither new nor genteel; and although I was
in perfect health, my complexion was sallow from long confinement.
But these drawbacks on my respectability, I thought, under the
circumstances, might be excused. I found myself in a comfortable
apartment in which two or three young men were writing at desks, one
of whom, a dapper little fellow, dressed with as much precision and
neatness as if he had just escaped from a bandbox, came towards me with
a stern, forbidding look, and asked me what I wanted.
"I want to see the American consul."
"The consul is not in."
"When do you expect him?" I inquired, in a tone of disappointment.
"'Tis uncertain. He may not be here today."
"I am sorry, as I have some important business with him."
"What is your important business?" demanded the clerk, in an
authoritative manner. "Perhaps I can attend to it."
"I am the young American sailor, who met with an accident on board
the ship Packet, and was sent to the Infirmary. I have recently
been discharged, and am in want of some articles of clothing, and
particularly a pair of shoes. I also want to know if the consul has
taken steps towards procuring me a passage to Boston"
"Very IMPORTANT business, truly!" replied the Englishman, with a sneer.
"How does it happen that you are so poorly off for clothing?"
I explained the circumstances connected with the robbery of my chest by
my shipmates.
"A likely story!" he exclaimed. "As to giving you a pair of shoes, my
fine fellow, that is out of the question. When any step is taken towards
sending you to the United States, you, or the man you board with, will
hear of it." Saying this, the worthy representative of our government,
after pointing significantly to the door, turned away and resumed his
occupation at the desk. Disappointed and shocked at such a reception,
I ventured to inquire if I should be able to see the consul on the
following day.
"No," replied the clerk, abruptly, without raising his eyes from the
desk; "neither tomorrow nor the day after."
I left the counting room, hobbled down the steps, and returned to my
temporary home, feeling like "the Ancient Mariner," "a sadder and a
wiser man!"