MEMOIRS

OF

PHILIP MELVILL, ESQ.

CAPTAIN PHILIP MELVILL, the subject of these memoirs, was the fourth and youngest son of John Melvill, Esq. the descendant of a respectable and well allied family in the south of Scotland. His father resided in the pleasant and flourishing town of Dunbar, where he held the office of Collector of the Customs. Here his son Philip was born, on the seventh of April 1762, who appears, from letters written a few years before his decease, to have retained a lively attachment to this his native spot, and its vicinity. He describes its situation as high and healthy, gently sloping to the sea; having on one side an open bay, above which stands the church, and on the other, the venerable ruins of a castle, the asylum of Mary, Queen of Scots, before her ill-advised flight into England. "I think," he proceeds, "I could trace every building between my school and my home, and

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recount each circumstance of social sport, or puerile adventure, which passed between my schoolfellows and myself, within the well-known distance. Thinking of thee, my native town, how many other thoughts rush into my mind! my parents, my paternal home, my youthful days.Let me dwell upon these tender ties. My beloved parents! how shall I mark my respect for your memory? O that I could recall the day or hour, when I repaid your kindness with ingratitude! I would endeavour to wipe away the tear which my undutiful folly had caused you to shed: I would respectfully take your dear hands, and implore forgiveness on my knees. May the great God and Father of my youth forgive me! I trust he has, for the sake of Him who is enthroned in glory on his right hand. My beloved parents too have passed into the skies; I wish and hope to be there in the Lord's good time. Meanwhile, may I be an humble instrument in his hands of bringing my dear children to the promised inheritance, the heavenly Canaan, now possessed by their pious forefathers!"

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In this pleasant town, embellished with the adjacent beauties of the land and sea, and with these dear and worthy parents, he chiefly passed his juvenile years. The scenery of Presmennen, a country seat five miles from Dunbar, the summer residence of the family, fixed in his mind that

sincere love for rural nature, which even a constant residence in populous cities, and the most confirmed habits of commercial life, are found unable to extinguish. The delightful sensations inspired by surrounding objects were improved into grateful adoration, when the God of nature was pleased to reveal himself to his heart as the God of grace. The house, as he describes it, was a venerable pile, seated in the middle of a wood, extending to the right and left; below it flowed a stream, and opposite rose a hill of considerable height, clothed with lofty trees. A garden on each side of the house gave additional pleasantness and salubrity to the mansion. This retreat was endeared to his recollection by many a sweet proof of parental love. His father seems to have merited the veneration with which he dwells upon his name: he speaks of him as "gentle and affectionate, but firm to rebuke what was wrong in his children. With eyes lifted up to heaven, and his hand gently raised, he used to say, Philip, Philip! remember on all occasions to speak the truth, detest falsehood of every kind, be exact to keep your word, be prudent in the management of your concerns :-you are now about to engage in all the dangers and temptations of a military life, God only can preserve you from them, study to make him your friend.' Frequently did the most pious and salutary advice flow from him; so anxious was he to instruct me in my duty both to God and man:

when I kissed his dear lips, before I retired to rest, he would impressively say, Consider, Philip, life is uncertain; I am drawing to my grand climacteric, I have had already several warnings, and may soon be taken from you: look from me to God, and remember your Creator in the days of your youth.' Thus was I admonished by the person whom on earth I most revered. But alas! I trifled with my eternal interests, slighted the admonitions of the best of fathers, and my rebellious heart led me to violate his authority, and to wound his feelings. In particular, I remember, (and how painful the remembrance now is!) I ventured once to go to a place of entertainment without his leave, and that too (which was no small aggravation of my fault) at a time when he was recovering from a dangerous illness, for which I thought myself sincerely thankful. How dark and imperfect are our views while in a state of nature, and how transient even the best feelings of the youthful mind! Little of genuine gratitude is to be found in us, even towards those who are the visible agents of all the good we receive in our helpless years: what wonder then if the invisible Dispenser of all blessings, mediate and immediate, should be far from our thoughts and affections."

Of his mother he speaks with a tenderness rather heightened than abated by the lapse of

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years, and a review of his past life : Dear, dear mother," he exclaims," how soothing and delightful is the very name; how much more the remembrance of thy kind offices of love, and of all the sweets of thy society; the frequent walk by thy dear side along the flowery path, the benign expression of thy countenance, the instruction which flowed from thy lips, gentle and insinuating as the dew; thy pious concern to raise my childish thoughts from nature up to nature's God; thy faithful and earnest expostulations when my sinful heart led me astray! This excellent parent, by her example, shewed me how engaging is piety, when it flows from a sincere heart: she taught me to pray, she instructed me in Christian principles, and led me to the altar. In Scotland the day of our Lord's nativity was little observed; sorry am I to say this of my native land, it was regarded there merely as a day of feasting. My dear mother was an honourable exception to this irreverent practice, which it is devoutly to be wished, may be increasingly discountenanced and abandoned. I remember she once called me to her side on this great anniversary, and said with much feeling, My child, this is a sacred day, the day on which your adored Redeemer was born; it ought to be observed in a solemn manner, keep it holy through life, and follow not, with regard to this day, the custom of your native country.' By frequent repetition she endeavoured to impress upon my mind