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myself warm. Drank off a glass of rum, and ate a piece of bread, which my sergeant brought me very kindly, and felt pretty jolly under creditable circumstances." The enemy still kept up firing. I saw the bright flashes of the guns quite plainly; then came a rushing sound over my head through the air, and then the booming report followed. However, we were protected by a rising ground, and none of the shot came near us. About eleven my tent came up; I pitched it, and, wrapping myself in a cloak, went to sleeponly awakened at intervals by the excessive cold.

THE PROPER FOOD FOR POWDER.

The man of our regiment who was taken prisoner yesterday was brought in this morning by four Sikhs, with "Shere Singh's compliments." He is such a perfect fool that they could get nothing out of him. No more can we: though questioned by several of the staff, he could give no information whatever. He said that "the murthering thieves had tied him to a log, and put a guard over him," but "sorra a bit did he get to ate or drink," and he was half-famished. He is a perfect Yahoo, just caught from the wilds of Ireland, and can speak very little English. He belongs to my company, to its credit; but as we only want hands, not heads, it's no matter.

SOLDIER'S FATIGUE.

Started at ten, and marched along the river to the right. The sun was fearfully hot, and the men were so knocked up with night-work, that it was quite painful to see their haggard appearance: they haven't had their accoutrements off for two days. I had got no horse, so I had to trudge along too, as well as I could; and hard work it was, I can tell you. After having walked about all night, reached the river at four o'clock, and halted while the boats were got ready. From two o'clock until evening we heard a heavy cannonading on the other side of the river. Thackwell and Campbell evidently hard at work. We were halfmad at the idea that there was an action going on, and we should be too late. We could see plainly immense

clouds of smoke and dust rolling along on the other side, and though we worked like horses, the boats were not ready until five. All the officers were up to their waists in water until seven o'clock, keeping the men back from crowding into the boats; and such a scene of shouting, struggling, and confusion, you never saw. It was all we could do to restrain the men from overloading the boats; but at last we succeeded in crossing the whole regiment over: the 70th and 45th, however, were unable to cross that night. Drew up on the other side; piled arms, and prepared to bivouack for the night in our wet clothes. One man in my company managed to lose his shoes and unmentionables; so I, in the softness of my heart, lent him my cloak, and spent the night as well as I could, which, without covering, food, or fire, was miserably enough. I was obliged to walk about until my clothes dried, and then lay down on the damp ground. and slept at intervals of a quarter of an hour; varying the amusement by starting up and rushing furiously up and down, until I got into a glow; then lying down again, until the cold obliged me to repeat the process. And thus we passed the night, all of us most excessively miserable; and never, I believe, was dawn of day more welcomed.

THE CHARGE.

On the morning of the 13th we marched at seven, struck our tents, took a glass of wine all together, and drank to every man's safety in the approaching action. Marched about ten miles, and came upon a thick jungle, where we were halted about an hour. The artillery went ahead, and presently we heard the cannonading commence; bang, bang went the guns, one after the other, in one continued, stunning roar; and our hearts beat, and our pulses quickened with anticipation. The enemy took it up, and a tremendous fire was kept up for about halfan-hour, when the word came for the infantry to advance. "Fix bayonets! Load! Deploy into line! Quick march!" And just then came a roll of musketry, that drove us almost to madness. Quick march!" And into the jungle we plunged in line, with a

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deafening cheer, the roll of musketry increasing every moment. On we went at a rapid double-dashing through the bushes, and bounding over every impediment; faster rolled the musketry -crash upon crash the cannon poured forth its deadly contents. On swept our brigade, and, gaining an open space in the jungle, the whole of the enemy's line burst on our view. "Charge!" rang the word through our ranks, and the men bounded forward like angry bull-dogs, pouring in a murderous fire. The enemy's bullets whizzed above our heads; the very air seemed teeming with them; man after man was struck down, and rolled in the dust. But a passing glance was all we could give them. And onward we went, bearing on their line with a steadiness which nothing could resist. They fired a last volley, wavered, and then turned and fled, leaving the ground covered with dead and wounded.

A REPETITION.

The fire was fearful; the atmosphere seemed alive with balls: I can only compare it to a storm of hail. They sang above my head and ears so thick, that I felt that if I put out my hand it would be taken off. A man was knocked over on either side of me, and I expected every moment to be hit, so incessant was the storm of balls. I thought about you all, and breathed a short prayerit was all I had time for, for we were obliged to be almost everywhere at once, keeping the men in line, which, from the jungle, was extremely difficult. Our firing was beautiful: every man was as steady as a rock, and fired low and well; while the sepoys on our right were blazing away into the air, and taking no aim whatever.

All this time the enemy were dodging about the bushes, banging away at us, and then disappearing. At last General Gilbert rode up, and said to Steel, "Well, Major, how are you? Do you think you are near enough to charge ?" "By all means," said Steel. "Well, then, let's see how you can do it." "Men of the 2nd Europeans, prepare to charge-Charge!" And on we went with a stunning cheer. Poor Nightingale was shot in the head, and fell at ray feet. I had just time to order two

men to pick him up. The Sikhs fought like devils. They charged down on us singly, sword in hand, and strove to break through our line. But it was no go; and after a short struggle we swept them before us, and remained masters of the field. This is only what happened in our part of the field.

AFTER THE VICTORY.

At sunset we collected as many of our wounded as we could find, blew up all the ammunition that we had taken, and moved out of the jungle into the open ground, where we piled arms and bivouacked on the ground. A more wretched night I never passed: it came on a thick drizzling rain, and we were wet to the skin; to sleep was impossible, and we were almost perishing with thirst. In my wanderings about in search of water, I came upon the field hospital, and the sight I saw there I shall remember to my dying daypoor wounded wretches lying on the ground, without a thing to cover them. "Water-water-water!" was their ceaseless cry, and not a drop was there to slake their thirst. All the hospital apparatus was behind, and there was not a single comfort for the poor fellows: even medical assistance was very scarce; many were lying bleeding on the cold earth for hours, without having a soul near them. The ghastly sight of suffering, the fearful wounds and hideous gashes that met my eyes, would poison an angel's dreams. Never was dawn-a miserable and a rainy one as it was-so welcome.

THE BATTLE OF GOOJERAT.

No attempt was made at rallyingthe route was complete; and long will the Sikhs have cause to remember the battle of Goojerat. The whole line of their flight was strewed with dead. We advanced into their camp over heaps of dead and dying. It wanted nothing more to show the gallant stand they had made. Everything was in confusion-tumbrils overturned, guns dismounted, waggons with their wheels off, oxen and camels rushing wildly about, wounded horses plunging in their agony; beds, blankets, boxes, ammunition, strewed about the ground in a perfect chaos; the wounded lying there

groaning-some begging to be despatched, others praying for mercy, and some, with scowling looks of impotent rage, striving to cut down those who came near them, and thereby insuring their own destruction; for but little quarter, I am ashamed to say, was given, and even those we managed to save from the vengeance of our men were, I fear, killed afterwards. But, after all, it is a war of extermination. The most heart-rending sight of the day was one I witnessed in a tent I entered. There, on the ground, bleeding to death, lay a young mother; her leg had been carried off by a round shot, and the jagged stump protruded in a ghastly manner through the man

gled flesh. She held a baby to her breast, and as she bent over it, with maternal anxiety, all her thoughts seemed to be of her child. She appeared totally regardless of the agony she must have been suffering, and to think of nothing but the poor infant which was drawing its nourishment from her failing breast. I gave her some water, and she drank it greedily, raising her large imploring eyes to my face with an expression that was heartrending to witness. I was obliged to leave the poor creature, and go on with the regiment; but the remembrance of that sight will live with me till my dying day.

The Fragment Basket.

MORAL DUTY OF LIFE
ASSURANCE.

FROM the equitable and beneficial principles on which life-assurance societies are established, it is clear that they present to men in the enjoyment of income, but possessing little property, a most suitable and favourable means of providing, in a greater or less measure, for the endeared and helpless relatives who may survive them. That only about 80,000 persons in the United Kingdom should have taken advantage of life assurance, being one in sixty-two of the supposed number of heads of families, surely affords a striking view of, shall we call it, the improvidence of mankind, or shall we not rather designate it as their culpable selfishness? For what is the predicament of that man who, for the gratification of his affections, surrounds himself with a wife and children, and peaceably lives in the enjoyment of these valued blessings; with the knowledge that, ere three months at any time shall have passed, the cessation of his existence may throw wife and children together into a state of destitution? When the case is fully reflected upon, it must certainly appear as one of gross selfishness, notwithstanding that the world has not been accustomed to regard it in that light.

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ture of another to that vast bourn chase articies of trade, and that he was whence no traveller returns.

A YOUNG JEW.

A FEW years ago, a young Jew, who had been admitted into an asylum for the benefit of that nation, near Dusseldorf, in the Prussian dominions, after having long given pain by his improper behaviour, became very deeply impressed under a sermon preached by the Rev. Mr. Schmidt, and afterward furnished evidence that his impressions were deep and abiding.

In the course of one of his sermons,

the minister to whom we have referred, was led to speak of persons who glory in their shame, and even boast of their crimes in having robbed or defrauded their neighbour. This young man became visibly affected, turned pale, fell into fits, and was carried out of the place. He was afterwards visited by the minister, to whom he exclaimed, "I am lost; lost without remedy." In the course of the conversation he confessed he had robbed a widow of one thousand dollars, and that his life had been one whole series of awful crimes. The minister did not attempt to palliate his sins, but explained to him the atonement of Jesus, and the efficacy of

his blood to take away all sin, encouraging him in this way to seek pardon. This at length afforded him rest. He now felt it his duty to travel to the residence of the widow, to acknowledge his crime, and thus to subject himself to the punishment of the law. When he was last heard of, he had set out on his journey, with the determination

that, if the widow did not prosecute him, he would, by his labour, pay the debt due to her.

POWER OF THE TRUTH. THE Rev. Mr. Lacroix, of Calcutta, says, that some native preachers from Serampore went recently into the interior to proclaim the gospel, and visited a large native town where a fair was being held. A Hindoo, who heard them speak of Christianity in the bazaar, exclaimed, "Well, you are teaching the very doctrines which my gooroo is teaching me!" On inquiring who this gooroo was, he replied that he was a merchant from the district of Coniollah, who had come to the fair to pur

then actually in the neighbourhood.

The native preachers sought this gooroo out, and learned from him that he had never heard the gospel from any missionary; in fact, that he had had found their way, together with a copy of the Gospels, into his possession. These, he said, he perused attentively, and soon became convinced of the error and sin of idolatry, and of the truth of Christianity. He gave up his idols, and commenced speaking to his neighbours he had found. Twenty-five individuals about the new way of salvation which have already joined themselves to him, having all renounced idol worship. With these he daily reads some of his tracts when at home; and on the Lord'sday a portion of the "great book," as he calls the gospel, and prays with them.

never seen one; but that some tracts

His adherents are on the increase, although, through fear of the heathen zemindars, they keep themselves very quiet. This gooroo, according to the report of the native preachers, seems to be well acquainted with the gospel, as far as he has read it; and the time is now come when it would be very desirable that more perfect instruction should be imparted to him. This will, no doubt, be done. He received the native preachers with great gladness; invited them without the least regard to caste to take their meal with him; and expressed himself extremely happy to have so unexpectedly met with men of the same religious views, and of feelings congenial with his own.

THE FRUIT OF SIN. WHAT is the fruit of sin! Sometimes it brings honour and fame, as it did to the prophet Balaam; sometimes it bears a wedge of gold, as it did for Achan; at other times it produces purple and fine linen, as it did to Dives. Do you say, then, "I will sin?" Stop! It bears another fruit besides. DEATH. The honours of Balaam, the gold of Achan, the linen of Dives, were all poisoned with death. Sweet in the mouth, and bitter and destructive when swallowed, is the characteristic of sin. Do not forget, reader, if you WILL sin, you MUST die the second death!

Juvenile Biography.

ANNIE SHADFORTH.

ANNIE SHADFORTH was born in the city of Durham, on the 5th of November, 1832. Up to the last year of her brief existence there was nothing very remarkable in her history. She had been kind and amiable in her disposition, and was all that her parents could, wish, excepting her want of decision in those great and important concerns connected with the salvation of the soul. Though of delicate constitution, there was nothing to lead her friends to anticipate a speedy removal from earth, until the summer of 1847, when she became very poorly and weak; but by the blessing of God on a voyage to Edinburgh, and a change of air and scenes, she was restored to health, and there was the prospect of her being spared many years to her family and friends. But, alas! how often are we doomed to disappointment! how often are our fondest hopes blighted!

In the summer of last year there was a return of her illness, and, in a few weeks, so much was she weakened as to be unable afterwards to sit up for more than an hour at a time. During her illness she was visited by Mr. Goodall and other friends; but owing to her very reserved disposition, the real state of her mind could not be ascertained until five or six weeks before her death. Her father having been from home for a few days, on his return home she said to him, "Father, I find I am getting much weaker, and I think I shall not get better; will you pray with me?" "Yes," he said, and then asked her what he should read to her. "Read me,

'Rock of Ages, shelter me.'

After doing so, he said, "Is there anything else I can read to you?" "Yes," she replied, "read me the hymn with the line in it,

'Till all my wanderings cease.'"

From this time she became exceedingly communicative, and it was delightful to be with her, and to listen to

her remarks. How many will have to bless God through eternity for afflic tion! It was affliction, combined with the kind instruction of her pastor and other friends, which were the means of leading her to think more seriously, and to seek an interest in the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Never before had the writer of this memoir seen so much the importance of Sabbath-school and fireside instruction. She had been the child of many prayers, instruction had been poured into her mind from her infancy; and when a passage of Scripture or the verse of a hymn was quoted, she could immediately take it up and finish it. And in her dying experience and happy dismissal what encouragement is there to the faithful pastor, parent, and Sabbath-school teacher, in the morning to sow the seed, and in the evening not to withhold the hand; to cast our bread upon the waters, and wait for the Divine blessing! Perhaps a few of her dying sayings will not be altogether uninteresting to the young readers of the PENNY MAGAZINE.

From the time she first opened her mind so freely to her father, she was in the most happy state imaginable, with the exception of one or two short intervals of anxiety and distress. She said to her father one day, "Father, I have been very much distressed all this morning; I cannot account for it. I was so happy yesterday. I think Satan is tempting me." Her father told her of the power of Christ to save her, and his willingness to save her also, telling her to cast all her cares on Jesus, to rest on him for her salvation, and if she perished to perish at his feet After a little while she said, "Then I will not doubt his willingness," and her mind again resumed its wonted composure. At another time, when very unhappy. and her mind exceedingly anxious and perplexed, she said she prayed very earnestly to God, and her fears were removed. She had very humbling views of herself as a sinner in the sight

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