There is just one circumstance, which I will mention before I take my leave of this place, which appears fully as important to myself as any thing I have seen or experienced since I came to it; and it is this:—I had frequently been in heaviness, through manifold temptations, in consequence of my remaining ignorance, and corresponding want of faith, since my blessed affliction in the Prince of Wales's Island, and particularly after my kind instructor A. C. left the regiment with his company for Masulipatam, for I then lost him who had formerly "comforted me in all my tribulations, with that comfort wherewith he himself had been comforted of God;" but here I again found, as I had often formerly done, the loving kindness of the Lord, in a gracious providence, for he provided relief for me from a quarter whence I could have very little expected it, as I shall now relate:

There was a person in the regiment, of the name of Serjeant Gray, with whom I had hitherto a very slender acquaintance. He was a married man, and I had never seen any thing but what led me to believe that he and his wife were what are generally called very decent, well-behaved people; though whether

they were at all concerned about religion or not, was a matter I was entirely ignorant of; but one day, when I was in a very melancholy mood, I thought I would go over to their barrack-room, and get a little social converse with them, to cheer me, which I accordingly did, and found only Mrs. Gray at home, industriously engaged in sewing. After having made inquiry for each other's welfare, I said it was a pity that there was no such thing as getting any good books, when a person had a little spare time, to improve his mind. She said it was, but immediately added, that she had at present the loan of what she thought a very excellent book, belonging to one of the men. I, somewhat eagerly, expressed a desire to see it, which she instantly complied with; but how was my astonishment excited, when I found it to be a book that my grandfather highly respected, and expressed his esteem for it by saying, that if he was condemned to spend the remainder of his earthly pilgrimage in an uninhabited island, like the Apostle John, and had it in his power to choose a few books to take along with him, the next he would select after his Bible, would be Dod. dridge's Rise and Progress of Religion in the

Soul. In the circumstances in which I was at that moment placed, I need scarcely give the Christian reader any unnecessary information, in saying, that "I rejoiced like one who had found great spoil." I then made so free with Mrs. Gray as to ask her to which of the men it belonged, and if she would let me have it" for a day or two, that I might peruse it? She said I was very welcome to do that, and also told me who was the proprietor; but if I went to see her with a heavy heart, I returned home with a light one, for I was so overjoyed that I hardly knew that my weak limbs had a body to support. I had heard, as I have already said, that there was such a book existing, but I had never inquired after it when I could have made it my own, nor ever had seen it until this happy hour; and little could I have expected to find it in this wilderness, where, alas! there were no refreshing waters to satisfy the longing desires of a thirsty soul; and this book, I think, of all other human compositions I have yet known, was best adapted to my condition; neither is it necessary to add, that I read it over again and again, until I had almost the whole substance of those parts of it by heart which more immediately corresponded with

the present state of my mind, and with my former experience. I must be plain enough to say, that I did not desire to keep this book altogether to myself, but wished also that others might derive benefit from its contents; but this I will also state, that I thought I would be a man possessed of great wealth if I could call it my own. I therefore inquired at the person to whom it belonged if he was disposed to part with it, and if so, that I would give him whatever price he would ask. He said that I was welcome to have it for sixteen finams, (about three shillings.) I therefore closed with him immediately for that small sum. I was now blessed with ample means of instruction, and I would indulge a hope that I was not only made wiser by it, but I trust also better, by the blessing of God upon my search after truth, and that it has not been to me the savour of death unto death, but the savour of life unto life. I shall add no more at present respecting this excellent work, as I shall have occasion to speak of it again.

CHAPTER VIII.

Marches to Masulipatam.-Finds Alexander Chevis in the Hospital. His dying address and death.Wickedness of the Regiment.-Courtney shoots two men with one ball.-His hardened character.A singular incident.-Suicide of a Nabob.-Increasing profligacy of the army.-Causes thereof.-The Sabbath beyond the Line.-History of J. F.-His aversion to swearing.-Melancholy change in his character. His awful death.-Account of W. H. -His friendship with the Author.-Their pleasant and profitable intercourse.-Corrupted by his comrades. His illness and death.

WE left Secundrabad on the 11th February, 1811, and proceeded, by forced marches, to Masulipatam, where I had not long been when I was again thrown into a very disordered state, in consequence of the hot winds, being so ill with my breathing that my wife was under the necessity of fanning me during two whole days. After I recovered, there being some of my fifers in the hospital, I went in one day to see how they were getting on; and, to my great astonishment, as I entered the hospital, whom did I see there but my dear friend Alexander Chevis, lying like a skeleton in one of the cots. I looked at him for some time before I could believe my own eyes; and