that part of the sacred word of God, which some years afterwards when in England I heard preached from by my venerable pastor, Dr. Gifford. At which time, I trust, it had a proper effect upon my mind. The words to which I refer, are, "When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I, the Lord, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the vallies: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water." Isa. xli. 17, 18.

Should it be asked, What use could I make of my valuable jewel, or how could I improve it? I answer, that though I could not through my ignorance enjoy all the benefit which might otherwise have been, with a divine blessing, derived from the oracles of God; yet I could not but esteem it a peculiar favour, and always secured it with my provision, and carried it about with me wherever I went; though in long and tedious marches every thing added to the burden. It is true, I had but little opportunity to look into it; and when I did it was like a spring shut up, or a fountain sealed. Had the same question been put to me which was pro

posed to the Ethiopian Eunuch, "Understandest thou what thou readest?" my answer, with propriety, might have been like his, "How can I, except some man should guide me?" Though this was the case, blessed be God, I could not again part with it.

At this time my mind was very uncomfortable. I had before me a scene of misery; behind me the avenger of blood; conscience, a faithful monitor; those words sounding in my ears, "How often would I have gathered thee, even as an hen gathereth her chicken under her wings; but thou wouldest not." Thus was the Holy Spirit, with his two-edged sword, pleased as it were to sever asunder my very inmost parts, so that I have often wandered about like one in a state of melancholy stupidity.

Thus I continued the first campaign, which proved very long, it being the month of November before the camp broke up; though the weather was exceedingly severe, so that we were obliged to quit the field; but this was only a little present relief, to bring on greater calami, ties. The situation of the armies was such, that we could only retire into cantonments, where we lay so thick, and the change was so great

from being in the open field, exposed to the se

2

verity of the weather, now we were shut up in a hot stove, where we could hardly breathe; that the consequences were dreadful, particularly to such of our troops as had not been long in the country. Many of our men died, and many others were rendered unfit for duty. About three days after the frost broke we were ordered to march immediately, though the depth of winter, in pursuit of the enemy. We had scarcely cleared the town, before we were stopped by the flood, produced by the melting of the snow, and much rain. We were obliged to proceed, wading through the stream sometimes knee-deep, then through the ploughed fields, which the frost had rendered so rotten that we could scarcely drag along. The third day we halted, and I was prevented proceeding any further with them. I was seized with the ague, and a violent fever followed. Surely had not the Lord been my helper, I must have perished. Lying on the ground-floor, in an old house, not an handful of straw to lay under me, nor any thing to cover me from the inclemency of the weather but the clothes upon my back, without a sufficiency of the necessaries of life. The inhabitants, who were Papists, after the army was gone, refusing many times to give me a drop of water to cool my parched

tongue; but the Lord supported me, till an officer who was left to take care of the sick found me out, and removed me to another house, where lay a poor fellow-creature nearly in the same condition, but not so much exposed to the cold. Here we lay groaning, not knowing which would survive the longest. My chief support here was a little water, which I was often obliged to seek after upon my hands and knees in the night season, when burning with a fever. The other poor man died, after being removed to an hospital some miles distant. I remained in this state many weeks, at which time I was reported dead, both at the regiment and in England. But the Lord had mercy on me, and in his own due time, without the assistance of external means, restored me again, and put a new song into my mouth, even praise to our God.

Thus the Lord, having in mercy spared my life, and so far restored me again, I was obliged to follow the army, which was at this time lying upon the heights of Hamburg, an exceeding cold place. I was again seized with the ague, and rendered unfit for service, but obliged to continue with the army, which was so much reduced by sickness and death, that some of the regiments were not able to relieve their own

guard, or protect their own colours. Our regiment, which at the first consisted of a thousand fighting men, beside officers, was now reduced to less than seven hundred, and many of those rendered unfit for service; but I was spared, and again restored to health and usefulness.

Bless, O my soul, the God of grace,
His favours claim thy highest praise :
Let not the wonders he has wrought
Be lost in silence and forgot.

Thus ended our first campaign in Germany!

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