cerns, and turned his thoughts with any degree of religious earnestness, towards that invisible protector, who had conducted him through so many and such great dangers, and preserved his life under sufferings so intense, is at best very doubtful. Certain it is, that the state of society and the tone of morals prevalent at this time in British India, were very unfavourable to the growth or even birth of religious feelings.

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The inadequate provision made for the maintenance of public worship, even in the capital of our eastern dominions, and the want of chaplains in the subordinate settlements and military cantonments, had produced among the Company's servants in general, a total indifference to the grand concerns of a future state, and an apparent disregard of the doctrines received, and principles imbibed in early life. In the splendid metropolis of Calcutta, the service of the English church was confined to an apartment over the gate of the old fort; while the lofty towers of the Portuguese and Arminian churches, rearing their heads in the capital, proclaimed from afar to the zealous Hindoo and Mahometan, the irreligious epicurism of their English sovereigns, who had the wealth of rich and extensive provinces at their command. The dawning of brighter days, let it be gratefully acknowledged, has succeeded to this æra of speculative and practical infidelity; and the pure wor

ship of the true God, administered by men who feel the power of religion of religion on their own souls, and are qualified to communicate the sacred flame to others, is now frequented, and upheld by senators and presidents. In all ages, the written word of God without a preacher to expound it to the understandings, and apply it to the consciences of men, has proved ineffectual as well to the maintenance as to the further diffusion of divine truth; and a few instances of individuals, who, destitute of a living guide, and debarred the means of previous instruction, have been partially enlightened and reformed by the Bible alone, will not invalidate the assertion, which refers only to the general course of God's dispensations. Wherever therefore preachers are wanting, a famine of the word of God will ensue. The effects of such a famine, arising chiefly from this eause, were remarkably conspicuous in our eastern empire. Through all its extensive territories, a few stations excepted, there was no temple, no priest, no worshipper. Religion was of all con cerns the most neglected and forgotten.

Having devoted two entire years to the care of his health, and the gratification of his fraternal affections, and having now no professional object to detain him in the East, he took his passage early in the year 1786, in a private ship destined for Leghorn, but under an engagement to put him and other English passengers ashore at Cadiz. The

vessel proving leaky in consequence of a violent storm, put into the Isle of France to refit. A residence of three months, in this healthy and populous island, the French depôt for arms, shipping, and oriental commerce; enriched through royal encouragement, and a series of ingenious experiments with the natural productions of both Indies, yielded an agreeable relief to the tediousness of so long a voyage; and while it regaled his mind with a variety of new and interesting objects, improved also the state of his health. It gave him likewise an opportunity of acquiring a sufficient knowledge of the French language, to enable him to read and relish the best authors: in these, at one time he took great delight, but in his latter and better days he neglected them; finding purer sources of instruction, and sentiments more congenial to his mind, in the authors of his own country.

At length he arrived in safety at Cadiz, whence, after indulging his curiosity with a few days residence in this renowned, and strongly fortified city, he embarked in an English vessel. On entering the Channel, his impatience to set foot on British ground, would not suffer him to proceed further by sea, and getting into a boat he landed at Falmouth. On entering the harbour he was struck with the elevated site, and noble aspect of Pendennis Castle, which made such an impression upon his mind, that he often spoke of it as a desirable residence, bearing

some resemblance in its situation to Dunbar, and where, if free to choose, he would prefer to settle. This the Lord, in the course of his good providence brought to pass, and gave him there the sweetest foretastes of heavenly bliss.

From Falmouth he proceeded to London, and so on to his native town Dunbar, where a brother and a sister still remained to welcome his return, and to sympathize with him in their common loss. Since the death of their parents, they had removed from the family dwelling, which was now occupied by strangers. What a mournful reverse to pass the house of his nativity, the asylum of his youth, the scene of parental tenderness, unheeded and unknown! He had not felt the burthen of his grief, till it was thus renewed. Dunbar could now afford him no gratification but that of weeping over the ashes of the dead, with those who could appreciate his loss by their own.

The prosecution of his just claims at the WarOffice for such limited promotion as an invalid might expect, abridged his stay at Dunbar, and recalled him to the metropolis. The memorial, which he drew up, stated with modesty and precision his services and sufferings; the wounds he had received, and the effects resulting from them, by which he was disabled for any other service than that of a home-garrison. It was pre

sented by him to the Secretary at War, who received it with humane attention, and answered it soon after with an assurance, that his name should stand on the list of officers to succeed to the command of invalid companies, as vacancies occurred. About this time the wounds in his left arm opened anew, with fresh exfoliations of the bone, little of the substance of which was eventually left. This arm needed the support of a scarf, and the hand belonging to it was almost useless. A sabre-wound, received on his right arm, had divided the elevator muscles of the wrist, so that the right hand could not raise itself, or, when raised by external force, retain an upright or horizontal position without a rest. Providentially the fingers, and the system of muscles connected with them, were uninjured, and the natural ability of using a pen was unimpaired. Few, indeed, wrote with greater ease or celerity. To commit his thoughts to paper, and to make extracts from the authors he perused, was his constant practice for more than thirty years. Every little vacancy of time was thus filled up both in a pleasant and a profitable manner, being made subservient to various purposes; religious, moral, and intellectual.

Having no hope, that a promise dependent on many contingences, would be speedily fulfilled, he now turned his thoughts towards Dunbar; London, as a residence, had no attractions for him.

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