The conduct of the officers on parole both as regards the breaking of their parole and their general orderly behaviour, varied greatly in different districts, as also did the attitude of the surrounding population towards the prisoners when they attempted to escape. A population which for centuries had been accustomed to receive the benefits of, and to ignore or assist in, the trade of smuggling, would view the attempt to escape in a different light to that in which the quiet agricultural population of the Midlands and East Anglia would regard it. The father of the writer, who had seen and heard much of the prisoners of war during his boyhood in Perth, said that while the British prisoners in France contrasted unfavourably with the French in England, because they showed none of the skill and industry which enabled the French to produce work, by the sale of which they raised large sums of money, the French displayed a moral inferiority by the frequency with which they broke their parole, that is, disregarded the pledge given on their word of honour. The following return shows that in the three years included in the table, about one in every ten of the officers of the army and navy who were on parole broke their pledge. The proportion cannot be calculated in the case of other persons of promiscuous occupations, as the table does not give the total number of the prisoners of this class, but only the actual number, 218, who broke their parole. TRANSPORT OFFICE, 25_th June_ 1812. NUMBER OF ALL FRENCH COMMISSIONED OFFICERS, PRISONERS OF WAR, ON PAROLE IN GREAT BRITAIN Total No. No. that Been Effected of Com. broke their retaken. escape. Off. on Parole. Parole. Year ending 1,685 104 47 57 5th June 1810 ,, ,, ,, ,, 2,087 118 47 71 1811 ,, ,, ,, ,, 2,142 242 63 179 1812 5,914 462 157 307 Beside the above 218 85 133 Commissioned Officers, other French Prisoners, such as Masters and Mates of Merchant Vessels, Captains, 2nd Captains, and Lieutenants of Privateers, Civilians holding situations connected with the Army and Navy, Passengers and other Persons of respectability, have broken their Parole in the three years above mentioned 682 242 440 N.B.—The numbers stated in this Account include those Persons only who have actually absconded from the places appointed for their Residence. A considerable number of Officers have been ordered into confinement, for various other breaches of their Parole Engagements.