The conference was held in March. In April no Packets were lost, but at the end of May the “Princess of Wales,” outward bound for Jamaica, was taken by a Privateer; and a week or two later the “Prince Adolphus,” which was carrying a mail to Lisbon, met with a similar fate. About the latter vessel there hangs a curious story, which is worth relating. It appears that when the French took possession of the “Prince Adolphus,” they sent Captain Boulderson, her commander, with the greater part of his crew, on board the Privateer. Five men remained on the Packet, among whom the surgeon was the only officer; and a prize crew was instructed to navigate the prize into whatever French port could first be made. Mr. Bullock, the surgeon, was by no means anxious to go to prison; and when the Packet had separated from her captor, he began to work on the cupidity of the prize master, and ultimately persuaded him to give up the ship, and restore all his prisoners to liberty in consideration of receiving a sum equivalent to about £4000, to be paid on the arrival of the vessel at Lisbon, where Mr. Bullock felt confident that the money would be forthcoming. Accordingly, the “Prince Adolphus” was navigated into the Tagus, and Mr. Bullock, persuaded that he had made a good bargain—for, while the Packet itself was not worth less than the stipulated ransom, the goods on board were worth as much again—repaired to the office of the Post-Office agent at Lisbon, Mr. Gonne, and demanded help in carrying out the transaction to which he had pledged the credit of the Government. But here an unexpected check occurred; for Mr. Gonne, asking grimly whether the doctor wished both of them to be drawn and quartered on a scaffold at Tyburn, produced an Act of Parliament, recently passed, which declared it treason for any British subject to remit money to persons owing obedience to the French Government. Mr. Bullock and his companions were thus left to take their choice of three painful alternatives. Firstly, they might break their pledge freely given to the prize master; secondly, they might execute that pledge and submit to the penalties of high treason; or lastly, they might once more go on board the “Prince Adolphus,” and—if indeed the harbour authorities would have allowed a vessel under French command to leave the Tagus in safety—permit the prize master to put to sea, and conduct them whither he would. The last alternative, distressing as it was for men who had once set foot in freedom, seemed the only practicable one. This was recognized by every one concerned, but before adopting it the case was referred to the Postmaster General, who, after consultation with ministers, decided that the ransom should be paid, and that a clause should be inserted in a forthcoming Act of Parliament, indemnifying the persons concerned in the transaction.