It is a maxim with me to do my duty, ac2 cording to the dictates of conscience, endeavouring in the performance of it to avoid giving offence by ány breach of courtesy or politeness. Acting upon this plan, whether approved or not by others, I have nothing with which to reproach myself. The attempt to please universally, betrays to versatility of conduct, and thus merits the disappointment that awaits it. Our concern should be to secure the approbation of the faithful monitor in our own bosoms; to study the happiness of our fearest connections; to be humane and affable to äll. If upon these terms we can please the world in general, we may enjoy the additional satisfaction it will yield, without the painful reflection of having purchased it by sinful compliances.

Few young men have experienced such a succession of dangers and deliverances. Shall I not say, What hath God wrought!' shall I not testify my gratitude by works of obedience and a zeal for his glory?

Religion is the primary obligation; our social duties grow out of it, and are subordinate to it. Its language is, give me thy heart and mind, and soul and will." Without this dedication of ourselves to the Lord, bodily worship is a mockery. It may deceive our fellow-creatures, who can

judge only from the outward appearance; it may for a time stifle the voice of conscience; but God will not accept a sacrifice where the heart is wanting. There is however an open profaneness of behaviour, sometimes intruding itself into the house of God, which soars to a higher pitch of impiety, by dispensing with that decorum in the courts of the Most High, which even our equals challenge as their right. How peculiarly shocking, when such indecent levities are seen in the female

sex.

I am happy, in the persuasion that you feel a particular comfort and satisfaction in the regular distribution of our time. Each hour of the day has its allotted employment, or its innocent recreation. Blanks, in time, leave room for blots; the well-written page is exempt from both, and our religious and social duties provide us with abundant materials to fill it. 'Occupy, till Į come,' is the injunction of the great householder; in our present humble endeavours to fulfil it, we have a foretaste of the promised reward. Blessed is the man, whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing.'

I go to the castle this forenoon, to see and inquire into the situation of my soldiers. If I feel no interest in their concerns, who will? You

have no engagement to keep you from church, where the thought of the approaching anniversary (Good-Friday) will be uppermost in your mind, and render the service of the day more affecting and profitable.

Where religion is the ruling principle, lively and susceptible feelings are the sources of great delight. They give wings to devotion, and animation to a sense of duty. They at once excite and reward us. It is true they are inlets to sorrow likewise; but, religion extracts the bitter, or rather: converts it into a healing balm.

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I cannot say our worldly prospects are such as our equals in condition would congratulate themselves upon. Sufficiency for comfort, enjoyed with a contented mind, and the means of providing decently for our children is all we can rationally hope to attain. But let us look around, and see whether we have not abundant cause to be thankful. We are happy in ourselves and in each other; we have an income not subject to casualties, and a house completely furnished : œconomy will enable us to lay by a small sum yearly, which, before our children arrive at an expensive age, will, by accumulation, suffice to advance then in the world. In addition to this, we have distant prospects, and though they may

not be realized to ourselves, they probably will to our children.

I cannot express to you what pleasure I feel, when I reflect on our conformity of taste with respect to the amusements of a garden, and other rural concerns. The gay world, slaves of vanity and show, despise that simplicity of mind, which can recreate itself in tending a flower garden, feeding poultry, and observing the process of nature in the vegetable tribes. To minds like theirs the paradisiacal state with all its charms would be insupportable. Its simple innocent pleasures would not answer the largeness of their demands. A single day would almost exhaust them.

Sept. 10. The anniversary of my great deliverance. Prepare my mind, O Lord, for humble and serious meditation. When I lay a miserable wounded outcast on the field of battle, thy hand, O gracious Saviour, was still upon me for good. But what am I, a sinful worm, that such care, such watchful care, should have been taken of my life? My heart must be of stone, entirely destitute of every tender and generous feeling, if it is not filled with the deepest gratitude for such wonderful goodness shewn to me so entirely undeserving of it. And have I then rendered unto thee, according to the multitude of thy mercies? Far, far from it. Humble thyself, O my soul, and

implore the divine grace, that thou mayest feel a heart rending repentance for all thy past trans→ gressions, omissions, and inadvertencies. I look for mercy to the throne of grace, to the all perfect righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. I look to the Holy Spirit of God, purchased for me by the blood of the Lamb, for that personal holiness without which no one shall see the Lord. May the God and Father of all grant peace and happiness to my dear wife and children, to my relations, friends, and (as on this anniversary I am more especially bound to pray) to my dear friend Captain Forbes, who, by a noble act of friendship, and at the peril of his life, shared the field of battle with me on the first night. Peace on earth and joy in heaven over all mankind. Full forgiveness with love to all my enemies. May all whom I have offended, by word or deed, forgive

me.

It is very painful to be under the necessity of inflicting punishment, but military discipline requires it, and justice must take its course, where the offence cannot be pardoned with safety. The Lord enable me to discharge this branch of my duty with a view to the reformation of the offender, as well as to the good of the service.

Yesterday, on returning from the table of the Lord, I was much discomposed and expressed