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Life of Thomas Eddy

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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 womanhad 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 libertyof 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 thetwentieth 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-