when I was to receive my accustomed dose of laudanum, from which I could expect a temporary suspension of pain. Now I no longer required laudanum; my spirits were composed and happy, and although incapable of moving, I was insensible of confinement. Fearful of agitating me too much in my weak state, your mother had come into my room alone, but she was soon followed by my sweet cherubs, full of health and joy. We had the comfort of procuring the same house at Alverstoke, near Haslar hospital, where we had formerly lived; and happy as those early days of our marriage had been, they were not so much so, as the time which we now passed there; although I was so weak as to be confined to my bed, or my chair, walking a few steps occasionally with my crutches. Whenever I look back upon the past events of my life, this period always starts forward as pre-eminent in happiness. My mind was entirely free from care; all was peace, and I hope gratitude. I had received the most flattering testimonies of the approbation of the Admiralty, particularly in that most delightful instance of it, the appointment of my brother to succeed me in the command of the Spartan. The joy and affection which beamed from the eyes of my beloved Isabella, during her unremitting attendance upon me, would in itself have been a source of the most perfect happiness. She felt, as she has since informed me, the deepest anxiety from my dangerous situation, but she never allowed me to perceive it. To her tenderness and care, under the blessing of Providence, I owe my recovery. Her society had before changed captivity into happiness; she now dispelled all the weariness attendant upon languor and confinement.”[18]