CONCLUSION
If true love and constancy are noble qualities in the heart of man, and
prompt him to deeds of generous philanthropy, they deserve to be
recorded and imitated from the example of John Barry. And if sincerity
and repentance be qualities worthy the charitable consideration of good
Christians, Margaret Catchpole's career in this life, and especially her
latter days, will not afford a bad example of the promise of "the life
that now is, and of that which is to come." The remaining history of
this singular individual was one of quiet calm, and yet benevolent
exertion in all good works of faith and love. She lived highly respected
in the situation to which her husband's good qualities and good fortune
had raised her. She lived a retired, though not a secluded life, on the
banks of the Hawkesbury, fulfilling the duties of her station as a good
wife, aunt, sister, and mother, in an exemplary manner. Charitable as
she was rich, she never thought she could do enough to relieve the
distresses of others.
Not many months after her marriage she received another chest of goods
from her benevolent mistress in England, and wrote her last epistle of
thanks, dated
"WINDSOR, HAWKESBURY, June 25th, 1812.
"MY DEAR MADAM,
"The contents of this letter will surprise you. I hope that I am
not the less grateful for your goodness because God has blessed me
with such abundance, that I no longer require that aid from England
which has hitherto been such a blessing to me. Indeed, my dearest
madam, my good and early friend, I am most grateful for all your
past favours, though I do not wish to tax a generosity which I do
not now, in the same manner, need. May Heaven bless your warm
heart, which will glow with fervent praise to God when you read
this letter from your former poor servant!
"Everything that I could wish for, and, oh! how much more than I
deserve, have I had granted to me in this place of probation! God
grant I may not set my heart too much upon their value! Dearest
lady, I have men-servants and maid-servants, horses and cattle,
flocks and herds in abundance. I have clothing and furniture above
what you can imagine, and a house wide enough to entertain in it
all your numerous family. But, more than all this, I have an
excellent husband, one whose constancy from his youth has been
beyond the praise which I could find language to express.
"You may remember what I once told you of a young man whom I had
rejected for a less worthy one. He has proved his love for me in
such a manner as I am sure could never have been seen in any but
the most noble of his nature. He told me in England that he would
never marry any other, and through years of industry and prosperity
(and as I have every reason to believe he would have done to the
last day of this life) has kept himself single on my account. Did
you ever chance to hear of such a case as this? When I reflect upon
it, as I often do, I find it more and more wonderful.
"You must remember my telling you of Mr. John Barry's attachment to
me. He left me when I lived at Nacton, and came out here among the
earliest free settlers in the country, and has prospered beyond his
utmost anticipations. He found me out here by accidental inquiries
of my dear Mrs. Palmer, and obtained for me my free pardon. My
wishes to return again to my native land became absorbed in the
sense of duty and obligation to my benefactor, who, when he had
obtained that pardon, gave me the option of sharing my life and
freedom with him, or of being independent here or elsewhere. Noble
generosity! Does it not win your heart? It won mine. I am his
faithful wife: happy, happy, as the days are long. He is good,
virtuous, amiable, and truly religious; constant in his love to God
and man. I could fill many letters in speaking of his virtues; but
I forget that you never saw him, though he lived upon the shores of
the same river that you do.
"He is very good to me, so that I want nothing more from England.
How proud shall I be to send you now anything which this country
produces!
"Herewith I send you a sketch of my present beautiful abode, done
by Mrs. Palmer. It will give you a slight idea of my situation. I
send you also a present of various seeds, skins of animals (one of
the ursine opossum), and dried plants, which I think will be
valuable to you; and also some curious weapons and instruments of
the natives, for my dear friend, Dr. Stebbing.
"What a wonderful life has mine been! You only, my dear lady, know
its reality. There may be others equally eventful; but how few are
there who find such a place of unmerited repose as I have? My dear
sister's words often recur to my mind when she told me whom I
should not marry: I wonder if she ever thought of the one I have
married. There are many very excellent people in this flourishing
country. The governor and his family have received us, and have
been very kind to me. My dear friend, Mrs. Palmer, is now staying
in my house. She is my benefactress here, as you were in England.
Oh! if I could but bring you both together, and could sit quietly
listening to your conversation, it would be such an intellectual
treat as few could more enjoy! She is, like yourself, very clever.
I believe I should die happier if I could see your dear, loved face
in this land; but if that never may be, nor I see old England
again, then may Heaven bless you; and God bestow His brightest
gifts of grace upon you and your children!
"I am this moment engaged, and lay down my pen to give directions
concerning the work in that most interesting of all female
employments, preparing for the coming of a family of my own. Mrs.
Palmer, who sees me writing these words, says, 'How astonished you
will be!' You will rejoice in my happiness. I know you will.
Forgive, dear lady, all my errors, both of the weakness of my head
and heart. Give my love to all my dear friends. Any person coming
to this country, with a recommendation from you to me, will find
the warmest reception. In justice to my husband, I would forget
what I have been, and I speak seldom of my past errors, though,
before God, I never cease to lament and repent of them; and did I
not know who 'died for the ungodly,' my grief for the past would be
without consolation. Blessed faith, that teaches the contrite how
to be comforted! Who can value Thee as he ought in this struggling
state!
"I can add but a few more words, and I do so with tears and
trembling. It is not from pride of heart. Dear lady, you must judge
of its propriety. I am likely to increase my family; and I would
conceal from them, in future years, their mother's early history,
at least those parts which are so unworthy to be mentioned. But I
feel that my maiden name cannot be forgotten in your neighbourhood.
Hundreds will speak of it when you and I shall be no more. Oh that
it could be represented to the world in its proper light, as a
warning to that portion of my countrywomen to which I belonged,
that they never give way to their headstrong passions, lest they
fall as I did! But 'the tender mercies of God are over all His
works,' and I can never magnify that mercy too much, as it has been
shown to me.
"If, dear lady, as years increase, our correspondence should not be
so frequent, because of my altered situation in this country, do
not think me proud. Your feelings as a mother will point to the
nature of my own. You would not have your children know your
faults. Pardon this, perhaps, my greatest weakness.
"Should you ever think fit, as you once hinted in your letter to
me, to write my history, or should leave it to others to publish,
you have my free permission at my decease, whenever that shall
take place, so to do. But let my husband's name be concealed.
Change it, change it to any other; not for his sake, for it is
worthy to be written in golden characters, but for mine and my
children's sake! And now, dear lady, farewell. God's peace be with
you! and ever think of me as
"Your grateful and affectionate servant,
"MARGARET BARRY."
So ends the correspondence of Margaret with her mistress. That lady
wrote one more letter to her, assuring her of her joy and thankfulness
at her providential settlement in the land of her adoption. She told her
that she had kept the early facts of her history in such order, that on
some future day they might perhaps be published, but that her wishes
should be strictly attended to, and her parental anxieties respected.
She took an affectionate leave of her in that last letter, promising not
to intrude anything of past obligation upon her notice, but leaving it
entirely to her own heart to recognize any friends of hers, from the
county of Suffolk, who might, either in military, naval, or civil
capacity, go out to Sydney. How delicately those wishes were observed,
some can well remember.
Margaret Barry lived many years at Windsor, greatly respected and
beloved. She had one son and two daughters, who received the best
education which England could afford, and returned to settle in their
native land. Among the foremost for intelligence, benevolence, activity,
and philanthropy, is the distinguished son of Margaret; and in the
future history of Australia he will bear no unimportant share in her
celebrity and greatness. The daughters are amiable and accomplished, and
have married gentlemen of the first respectability in the country.
After fifteen years of the tenderest and most uninterrupted domestic
comfort, Margaret had the severe affliction to undergo of losing her
devoted and excellent husband, who died September 9th, 1827, leaving the
bulk of his property at her disposal. She removed to Sydney in 1828,
where she was conspicuous only for the mildness of her manners, and the
unostentatious character of her habits of life.
She had a great desire that her son should settle in her native county
of Suffolk, and he came over to this country with that view; and when
the sale of Kentwell Hall took place, he was nearly the last bidder for
it. His resolution, however, seemed to fail him at the last moment, and
he did not become the purchaser of the estate. He stayed a year in
England, and then returned, with a determination not to settle in any
other country than his native one. He returned to close the eyes of his
affectionate parent, who died September 10th, 1841, in the sixty-eighth
year of her age.
SUPPLEMENT
BY THE AUTHOR
A. D. 1858
Since the first publication of the _Life of Margaret Catchpole_, many
have been the correspondents who have addressed the author upon the
subject of her life and character. Many have been the inquiries made
concerning her, and many things, which the author never heard of her,
have since come to light. They would fill a volume. The author has no
intention of inflicting any further pain upon the sensitive minds of
some, who, in writing to him, have quite overlooked the idea that he,
the author, had any sensitiveness whatsoever. He has no intention of
reviving any feeling of the past, respecting what may or may not be mere
local descriptive scenic representation; but there are certain moral
representations which the author gave, both of her early respectability
and character, which he deems it but a mere act of common justice to her
memory to substantiate, and thus furnish the only defence which can ever
be in his power to make against those who accused him of wilful
misrepresentation. Though all the documents relating to this
extraordinary female are duly filed and preserved,--and her own letters
in her own handwriting have been transmitted for inspection to several
inquirers,--there are some facts which may be interesting as proof
positive of the assertions contained in the narrative. To a few of such
the author now refers the reader.
The first is a letter from the Reverend William Tilney Spurdens,
formerly head-master of the Grammar School at North Walsham, Norfolk; a
celebrated scholar, the translator of Longinus, the early and beloved
tutor and friend of the author. This gentleman had an uncle at
Brandiston in Suffolk, with whom he used to stay, and to that uncle and
to Peggy's aunt he refers in this letter.
"NORTH WALSHAM, 30th Oct. 1846.
"MY DEAR FRIEND,
"I cannot delay to put you in possession of my '_love-passages_'
with your heroine, albeit, at this present writing, suffering much
pain from asthma and chronic bronchitis, which are both aggravated
by our foggy air for some days past.
"In my early childhood I had an uncle, an aged widower with no
family, who did me the favour of being very fond of me. He had one
domestic in his house, and another out of it, the former a female,
the latter a male. The former rejoiced in the name of Nanny, I
suppose there was another postfixed to it, but of this I am not
cognizant: but Nanny had a niece, or cousin, or something of the
kind, named _Peggy Catchpole_; and whenever the old uncle's
favourite paid him a visit, the maid's paid a visit to her,
'_for_,' as Nanny used to say, '_it was so comfortable for the
children, like; and the little dears helped to amuse one another_;'
and so it was that Peg and I walked together, played together, and
slept together.
"I wish I could give you dates, which are the sinews of history,
you know. There is one event which my mind connects very exactly
with this period, and which will afford you one date. Peggy and her
young swain were going on philandering at supper, at the time of
the loss of the _Royal George_, at Spithead. The newspaper came in
while my good relative was playing a hit at backgammon with his
neighbour, the doctor, as was their frequent practice; and by dint
of spelling, and a lift or two over hard words, I read to them the
mournful narrative. For this I received sixpence, and laid it out
in figs, of which Peg and her swain each ate so many as to make
themselves ill.
"Now all this would unquestionably have been forgotten, had it not
been made fresh in the memory from Peggy's subsequent career.
Whilst she was in Ipswich Gaol I made interest with the personage,
then usually called '_Old Rip_,' to see her, intending to give her
money. I must then have been a young man. She, however, would not
know anything of me--in fact, '_cut me_:' and so I kept my money.
But I afterwards learned that Ripshaw would not have permitted it
to be given! '_And that's all._'
"I am afraid that, with all the exuberance of your imagination, you
would be puzzled to concoct a chapter out of this.
"I am beginning to long for our young friend's visit in order to
[] my introduction to your other heroine.
"Meanwhile I am,
"My dear Sir,
"Yours very truly,
"W. T. SPURDENS."
There is no need to concoct a chapter out of this letter. It is the
genuine offering of a kind heart and clear head, and sufficiently
explains the purpose in view; viz. that Margaret was regarded in her
early career with respect and pure affection, by one who sought to
relieve her in her distress, and in a day of degradation and adversity
owned her as his early playmate, and would have ministered to her
necessity. Both, I trust, are now awaiting that final day when the cup
of cold water, given with a good heart for Christ's sake, shall meet
with a blessed reward.
The second letter is from a gentleman in Lincolnshire, a solicitor and
banker, and speaks to the career of that brother Edward who is mentioned
in the narrative.
"ALFORD, LINCOLNSHIRE, 10th Dec. 1846.
"SIR,
"I have lately read the _Life of Margaret Catchpole_, and was
deeply interested in it. Her brother _Edward_ was several years in
the preventive service in this neighbourhood, at
Sutton-in-the-Marsh, about six miles hence, where he died and was
buried a few years ago.
"I often saw him in his rounds on the sea-coast, and have had
conversations with him. He was rather a tall person, and of stern
manners. I could readily obtain a copy of the inscription on his
grave-stone, which refers to his former residence at Ipswich, and
forward it to you, should you wish it. His widow, who was a Norwich
person, still lives in this neighbourhood.
"I remain, Sir,
"Your very obedient servant,
"HENRY T. BOURNE.
"REV. RICH. COBBOLD,
"Wortham Rectory,
"Diss, Norfolk.
"P.S. Since writing the above I have heard that Mr. Edward
Catchpole became a decidedly religious character for the last few
years of his life, and died a very happy death."
From the same gentleman is the memoir here inserted of Margaret's
brother Edward, obtained from an authenticated source, the substance of
which is given in a note, page 294.
"Mr. Edward Catchpole was born near Ipswich in Suffolk, in the year
1778. Of his early days we know but little; he was led to choose a
sea-faring life in preference to any other line of business; he served
an apprenticeship on board a merchant ship. Some time afterwards he
became mate on board the _Argus_ Revenue Cutter, of Harwich. Whilst in
this service, a most interesting circumstance occurred, which deserves
to be noticed. Sept. 18th, 1807, the _Argus_ succeeded in rescuing an
English coal-brig from the _Star_, French privateer. Having put some men
on board the brig, elated with success, they go in pursuit of the
privateer. They soon fall in with her, and a sharp engagement ensues,
and at 10 o'clock at night the captor was captured; they came to close
quarters, and, owing to the great disparity in numbers, the privateer
having eighty-six men, and the cutter only twenty-seven, they were
boarded, overpowered, taken into a French port, and sent to prison. Mr.
C. was about seven years in a French prison. Frequently his expectations
were raised by hopes of liberation, an exchange of prisoners was often
talked of, but still they were kept in bondage and suspense. A
favourable opportunity occurring, he made his escape, and came over to
England. His arrival at home was so sudden and unexpected to his wife,
that he seemed to her almost like one come from the dead. Subsequently
he was appointed chief officer in the Coastguards; his last station was
at Sutton-in-the-Marsh, in the county of Lincoln; there his health
failed, and there he finished his earthly course, and made a good end.
His conversion to God was most satisfactory. In his affliction the Lord
graciously supported him, he had a hope full of immortality, and his end
was peace. He died on the 17th of December, 1836. He changed mortality
for life. He was interred in the churchyard at Sutton, and a stone has
been placed at the head of his grave, with the following inscription:
IN MEMORY OF
EDWARD CATCHPOLE,
A NATIVE OF IPSWICH,
IN THE COUNTY OF SUFFOLK,
AND LATE CHIEF OFFICER OF THE
COAST GUARD
STATIONED AT THIS PLACE,
WHO DIED DECEMBER THE 17TH, 1836,
AGED 58 YEARS.
As some correspondents have actually accused the author of producing
before the public a fictitious character, and in terms of unmeasured
reprobation told him plainly that they understood there never was such a
person as Margaret Catchpole in existence, the author here gives a copy
of the document signed by her judge, the Lord Chief Baron Macdonald.
This document was not obtained until after the publication of the work.
The original is preserved in the Corporation Chest at Ipswich.
Copy of a Certificate from the Right Honourable Lord Chief Baron
Macdonald, to exempt from all parish offices, for having prosecuted
Margaret Catchpole at Bury Assizes, Aug. 11th, 1797.
"These are to certify, That at the delivery of the Gaol of our Lord
the King, of the County of Suffolk, holden at Bury St. Edmunds, in
the County aforesaid, on Wednesday, the ninth day of August
instant, before me, whose name is hereunto subscribed, and other
his Majesty's Justices, assigned to deliver the aforesaid Gaol of
the Prisoners, therein being Margaret Catchpole, late of the Parish
of St. Margaret, in the Town of Ipswich, in the County aforesaid,
single woman, convicted of feloniously stealing a Gelding, of the
price of twenty pounds, of the goods and chattels of John Cobbold,
on the twenty-third day of May last, at the Parish aforesaid, in
the Town and County aforesaid; and that the said John Cobbold was
the person who did apprehend and take the said Margaret Catchpole,
and did prosecute her, so apprehended and taken, until she was
convicted of the Felony. Therefore, in pursuance of an Act of
Parliament made in the tenth and eleventh years of the reign of his
late Majesty king William the Third, _intituled_, An Act for the
better apprehending, prosecuting, and punishing of felons that
commit burglary, housebreaking, or robbery, in shops, warehouses,
coachhouses, or stables, or that steal horses; I do hereby further
certify, that by virtue hereof and of the said Act of Parliament,
he, the said John Cobbold, shall and may be, and is hereby,
discharged of and from all manner of Parish Offices within the
Parish of St. Margaret, in the Town of Ipswich aforesaid, in the
County aforesaid.
"In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this eleventh day
of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and
ninety-seven.
"AR. MACDONALD."
The author now approaches a most painful, and yet he trusts a
pleasurable, duty. Painful, because his own mind and that of others have
been excessively hurt by a misconception of the identity of that
Margaret Catchpole whose life he has written, and pleasurable, because
of the opportunity afforded him of contradicting the fact so often
asserted, that Mrs. Reibey of New Town, Sydney, was the identical
Margaret Catchpole.
The relatives and friends of that highly-esteemed lady, lately deceased,
will be glad to read a letter from the late Bishop of Australia, written
to one of his clergy, the Rev. H. D. D. Sparling, of Appin, New South
Wales, the good Bishop himself, as well as hundreds of others, having
been deceived in that identity from a strange but very simple mistake,
viz. that of two places bearing the same name in England, though one be
in Suffolk,--Bury, and the other in Lancashire--_Bury_.
Hence originated the grand mistake concerning _Mrs. Reibey_ who
emigrated from _Bury_ in Lancashire, and Margaret Catchpole, who was
tried at Bury in Suffolk. It appears from original letters in the
possession of the author, and from Mrs. Reibey's herself, that Suffolk
was totally unknown to her. She was very justly hurt at presents being
sent to her, under the idea that she was that poor girl, whose
correspondence and gratitude to her benefactress, the late Mrs. Cobbold
of Holywells, showed her to be honest and exemplary. She was justly
hurt, because therein was the supposition that she had been tried and
convicted as a felon, and was transported for horse-stealing.
The friends and relatives of Mrs. Reibey, as well as all Christians,
will be glad to read the amiable Bishop's letter; and even the author,
whom it condemns, gives it to the public, because his own heart is in
full accordance with the charity therein breathed; and he is even more
anxious to turn the hearts of that lady's relatives in gratitude to that
spirit and testimony which this good man gives of all the branches of
their respectable family.
Notwithstanding the remonstrance conveyed in the Bishop's letter,
concerning the publication of the Life of the real Margaret Catchpole,
over which the author had _then_ no more control than he now has, he
cannot help here expressing his gratitude to all those who, viewing the
narrative in the light of truth, and intention on the author's part to
convey a moral and spiritual warning and lesson in an easy and
instructive style, have written to him letters of approbation.
The Bishop's letter, whilst it will animate the hearts of Mrs. Reibey's
real relatives, will also speak equally kindly to the descendants of the
real Margaret Catchpole, and will be the author's best proof of his
desire to convey the Bishop's love to them along with his own. The
wildest olive, when grafted into the true stem, must be productive of
good fruit.
Mrs. Reibey, a high-spirited, romantic girl, from the neighbourhood of
Bury in Lancashire, of good family, with friends and relatives of
England's noblest merchants, conceived the idea that she should be
happier in our distant colony than in the Mother Country. She left
England very young, and, like many of her sex, succeeded in proving that
her enterprising spirit was not unrewarded. She lived respected by her
family and friends in England, and although mistaken by the good Bishop
himself, yet noble testimony is borne to the excellence of her
character. She was a clever woman of business, and of a noble
disposition. The author can only hope, that all her relatives and
friends who have written to him will thus accept at his hands the
apology for all the mistakes that have arisen; whilst, at the same time,
he rejoices to keep concealed the name of Margaret's real descendants
until they shall themselves divulge it.
"SYDNEY, 18th April, 1845.
"REVEREND SIR,
"I was very much vexed to learn from your letter of the 15th inst.
the course which it is intended to be taken with reference to the
publication named in the Prospectus which you forwarded, and which
is now returned. My opinion entirely coincides with yours and Mr.
Hossall's as to the inexpediency of such an undertaking. It would
be cruel even to the individual, whoever it may be, to have early
offences thus placed permanently on record as a memorial of shame
and cause of annoyance to her younger and perfectly innocent
connexions. Indeed, if the party meant be the one whom allusions in
your letter lead me to conjecture, they who would suffer in their
feelings are not only innocent, but praiseworthy in a very high
degree for exertions in the cause of religion, and of the Church of
England, scarcely to be paralleled by any instance I have ever
known. The Bishop of Tasmania would regret equally with myself,
perhaps even more, that any pain should be occasioned to parties so
worthy of respect. If my conjecture be right, I happened once to be
in circumstances which placed other members of the same family
(young females just attaining to womanhood) under my close and
special attention, and I can truly testify the impression by me
was, that they were in character and deportment altogether
unexceptionable, and in habits of devotion very exemplary. Others I
know, are regarded by the clergyman of their parish as among the
best instructed and sober-minded of the communicants in his church.
"My acquaintance with Mr. Cobbold is not such as I think would
justify my taking any step which would so carry the air of
remonstrance as that of my writing to him would.
"It appears to me that as you have, through various circumstances,
been brought into correspondence with him, it would be more proper
that you should make a statement of the true facts, and of the view
which is taken of his proposal. At the same time, if you think it
would strengthen your case if he were acquainted with my
sentiments, I can have no objection to your communicating them; as
all my statements to you upon the subject have been in accordance
with them, and expressive of my satisfaction at witnessing the
exemplary conduct of the individuals whom I suppose to be alluded
to.
"I remain,
"Reverend Sir,
"Your very faithful servant,
"W. G. AUSTRALIA.
"REV. H. D. D. SPARLING,
"Parsonage, Appin."
Mrs. Reibey is no more, and the author acknowledges the receipt of very
satisfactory letters from her and her relatives, all conveying their
free pardon for any unintentional pain, which might have been given to
an innocent and praiseworthy individual, but assuredly they did not
endure, and never could endure, the pangs which the author himself
received at the very thought of giving pain to others.
He ever did admire the conduct of his mother towards her erring servant,
believing it to be as magnanimous and Christian-like as that of the
Bishop towards her supposed relatives, and though circumstances
compelled the prosecution in question, and the very prevalence of the
crime at the time made it too notorious to be disregarded,--the years of
intercourse, and passing presents to and fro, between the prosecutor and
the prisoner, made too deep an impression upon the young heart of the
author to be obliterated even in these his old days.
He cannot help thinking that the removal of the _card_ which was placed
at the foot of the "Manura Superba," the first Lyra Pheasants sent from
that country to England, as a present from Margaret Catchpole to her
mistress, and presented by Mrs. Cobbold's eldest son to the Ipswich
Museum, simply because it stated the fact of her transportation, was,
however kind in intention, a mistake in point of judgement. The object
of all records of crime ought to be taken as warnings to others; though
the simple fact of such birds being sent as a grateful present from a
once poor transport, proves that the heart was not totally devoid of
grace, and that we should ourselves be more glad to see such a noble
token of love, in the days of poverty, than the most splendid monuments
of accumulated wealth.
One duty only remains for the author, and that is the last and very
simple one of gratitude to the memory of those who loved his mother, as
well as to those living who were subscribers to the monument placed in
the Tower Church, Ipswich, to her memory. That duty is simply to record
the inscription engraved upon it; and the author does so, because, as
years increase, so much the brighter in his mind is the memory of the
talents and virtues of the departed.
AS A PUBLIC TESTIMONY OF RESPECT
FOR EXALTED TALENTS AND UNWEARIED EXERTION
IN THE CAUSE OF BENEVOLENCE AND CHARITY
THIS MONUMENT IS ERECTED BY THE GENERAL
CONCURRENCE OF AN EXTENSIVE CIRCLE OF FRIENDS
TO THE MEMORY OF
ELIZABETH COBBOLD
THE BELOVED WIFE OF JOHN COBBOLD, ESQ.
OF HOLYWELLS
SHE DIED OCTOBER XVII, MDCCCXIV
AGED LIX
Rectory, Wortham, Oct. 21st, 1858.
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE:
The intent of the corrections listed below is to restore the text to the
author's intent, as best as that can be surmised. Usually, a space is
left where a missing character should have appeared. Spelling varies and
has been retained, with the single exception noted below.
p. 108 ["]Why he has got"
p. 150 and be industrious[.]
p. 171 they treat me scurvily[?/!]
p. 264 Did you ever see a better shape[?]
p. 310 the escape of any prisoner from the g[oa/ao]l
p. 415 in order to [] my introduction: missing word
p. 417 and came over to England[,/.]
p. 420 Bishop[s'/'s]