Litchfield enquirer., 1879-12-11

ed more than three months or that lnceSSanC torture in the hottest season of the year, de- prived almost entirely of food, and light, and air. and shut out from all possibility of con- municating W ith his friends, or with any hu- man beings except the beasts that surrounded him.
 To poor MT, Egerton the shock was almost as great as if the bleeding body of his son had been suddenly flung at his feet. It was only gradually that he came to see that our great difficulty was surmounted, and that there was hope, and good hope, of soon freeing Harry from his wretched position.
 By large bribes we soon persuaded the keep CT of the prison to let us have an iAte.,Eiew with his captive, but only throughsa grating, and in the presence of two turnkeys. None of uscould refrain from weeping My poor friends appearance was even more wan aud haggard than we had at first thought it. Three months of imprisonment had left on him more traces of age and suffering than would have been produced by ten years of liberty
 He did not know precisely on what charge he had been arrested, except that he was SUD- posed to be revolutionary agent. letter had been found in his portmanteau which oul Italian master at Nice had begged him to con- vey to relative at Naples. Harry had for gotten all about it, until it was discovered by one of the customs officials, among whom il seemed to be considered a missive about as safe as small bomb shell. After that every thing belonging to him was ransacked. Papers and books of all kinds were seized, and his pockets were rifed. Strong confirmation oi his dangerous character was found in the shape of small revolver. He had then been hur ried before another official, and after few brief questions, had been thrown into the loathsome den in which we discovered him, and fettered to the wretch who stood scowl ing by his side even during our interview.
 We strove hard with the of ffiAn is mserY s ahtbb1 bI without much success. Nothing that we could or even to remove that last unspeakable hor TOT, the double chain. We were allowed, in. deed, to supply him with food and wine, but were obliged to bring enough also for the four or five and twenty prisoners who shared the same apartment, and who would otherwise have devoured everything. Poor creatures we did not grudge it them. Their evil deeds could scarcely have been bad enough to deserve a Neapolitan prison.
 Leaving Mir. Egerton at 'Fondi, to hold with his son such occasional communication as was permitted, 1 started for Naples. l scarcely hoped to find our minister there at that time of the year, and was relieved to find that he was no further-of than Sorrento. To Sorrento
 
 Thomas Dudley.
 Sir Thomas was member of that privileged caste which used (of course long time ago) to enjoy vested interest in the management of the foreign affairs of the British Empire. The founder o1 his family had been distin- guished diplOmatist some two or three hun dred years since, and concluded a treaty of alliance which led England into war. That war, like all other wars ended in botE parties being so extremely disgusted, that ''just and necessary war" was followed by no less just and considerably more necessary neaee- -Paace was ,nado1--upon terms honorabk to both hations," phrase which, being inter- preted, means that both discovered that they could very well do without what they went to war for, and that thousands of brave men had died in agony, and provinces had been ravag- ed, and wives and maidens had suffered all that wives and maidens do suffer from infuri- ated soldiers, and money enough to feed and educate all the children in Europe had been worse than wasted, all for a name, shadow, an impalpable something, the want of which would never trouble the sleep or the digestion of single subject of either of the beligerent powers.
 The distinguished diplomatist whose firm. ness and foresight had led to this righteous and glorious war was of course ennobled and pensioned. and his descendants to the remotest generation of course acquired an hereditary right to conduct the foreign relations of Eng land. There was great variety of places for them. There were quiet places. There were bustling places. There were even stormy places for those who liked them. There were places in warm eli mates, places in cold climates places in tenn perate climates, and all tolerably well paid, so that each might choose the post best adopted, not only to his abilities and temper, but also to his habits and temperament, and thus be emphatically the right man in the right place, to his own comfort, and to the immense ad- vantage of his grateful country. May con- petitive examination never disturb so excel lent an arrangement!
 Sir Thomas Dudley had now for some years adorned the court of Naples. He was dplo- matist of the old school. (One would like to know where that school was, at which SO many excellent people were educated.) His were stately yet easy that is, he was dIgnified himself, and yet put hls guests quite at their ease. He was hospitable as became the representative of England, an epicure even among diplomatists, connoisseur of art even among Italians. His conversation was at tractive, his wit graceful and without effort, his Freuch was the French of Louis XIV, un- tainted by the slang of the post-revolutionary era. He was scarcely known to fame, nor did he wish for her acquaintance. He was most popular among his friends, and for himself he found the world pleasant world, and hated nothing in it except business.
 However, he was so shocked at my descrip- tion of poor Harry's sufferings, that he at once proceeded to Naples, had an interview with the Prime Minister, and afterwards with King Ferdinand himself. But l can fancy that his representations somewhat resembled the way in which Sir Plume pleaded for the restoration of Be lindas lock. At any rate nothing came of them. His Majesty was inexorahle, = He affec ted to believe thet all the troubles in his dominions arose from the machlnations of English agents, and, now he had caught one of them. he professed his intention of making n;tieation of the he.4Urs of poor Harry's dun pef,n. ..or TX a day for his trlal.
 It was clear thatwe must appeal to higher tribunal. Parliament was not sitting but wrote to a political friend to bring the case to the attention of the Ministry, and to another friend to bring it before the public. A great introduced it into speech to his Every paper in the United Kingdom and half the papers on the Continent echoed his account of the outrage, and soon there burst forth a storm of public opinion such as even the impudence of the Nea- politan government could scarcely bear with put finching: After some three weeks of ago. nizing excitement. poor Harry's irons were struck of, he was remoyed to a solitary cell in the prison at Naples, was allowed to receive an occasional visit .from hls father and my self, and was informed that his trial would shortly commence.
 It was indeed time that some change should be made. Egerton's reason was beginning to give away, and it seemed as if the king really desired such a termination to the affair. Even after the prisoners removal to Naples, delays of all kinds were interposed: Days and weeks and months passed by, and our hearts were sickened with the bitter draught of hope deferred. ~
 Christmas had passed, and another year had when the trial at last began. Our consul had kindly made all needful prepa- rations for the defence and had engaged the best counsel. We were sanguine that day pr two would show what a mistake the whole thing had been, and that Harry would be at once restored to liberty.
 We knew not the depth of Neapolitan injus- tiee Right or wrong, the king had determin- ed to wreak on our poor friend his accumulat- ed spite against the English nation. The PrOcurator- Genera unitetl in his own person