that it would put an end to my life in less than half
an hour. However, in time, it did not feel so very
offensive, and becoming habituated to it, I was able
to eat my meals with a good appetite.

Elisha Boudinot

(now President of the American
Bible Society) was then commissary of prisoners;
I consulted with him, and he behaved very friendly
towards me. One day, it was reported that a woman
had offered to swear that she had seen me, a short
time before this, at New Brunswick. This was false,
as I had not been out of New York for more than a
year. It was said, if she would swear I was there,
it would enable them to prove me a spy. This served,
of course, to alarm me extremely; however, in a little
time, no more was said about it. We remained in
this loathsome place about eight or ten days, and
were then removed to Springfield, six miles from
Elizabethtown. At Springfield, we had the liberty
of a mile round the village, and in about a month,
were exchanged for, I believe, two soldiers of the
militia, and returned safe to our friends in New York.
Soon after this, Hannah Hartshorne came to the city
on a visit to her brother, which afforded me frequent
opportunities of being in her company, and resulted
in our forming an affectionate and lasting attach-
ment towards each other. We were married on the
twentieth of 3d month, 1782, at the old Meeting
House in Liberty street. I continued in business till
peace was concluded in 1783, and in the 11th month
of that year, the British troops evacuated the city.
This was a trying period to myself, and others, who
had taken refuge in New York, as all persons of our
description had thereby incurred the ill-will of those
of the opposite party, and we much feared that we
should be exceedingly persecuted by them. Great
numbers went to Nova Scotia, and amongst others,
my brother in law, Lawrence Hartshorne, and his
family. I could not reconcile leaving my mother and
near connexions in Philadelphia, and this considera-