night, and had very hard lodging indeed; which reminded me of a saying of the recruiting officer; namely, that I must endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

Early the next morning I was called up to go to drill, which was a term I had never heard before, and never desire to hear again. I went with the rest of the recruits; but, to my great astonishment, there was not one in the company that I had mounted guard with the day before. However I went with them; and found, to my sorrow, that this day afforded me the most unpleasing sensations I had ever felt in a military line. I was entirely to seek through all their manual exercise. Being so profoundly ignorant of the severe discipline, I was exposed to every severity of the petty officers; they twisted my neck to face to the right and left, till it was stiffer than ever it had been before; they smote my shoulders, rapped my knuckles, my elbows and knees, and kicked my shins and toes, till I was as sick of drill as ever a dog was of a clog.

When we were ordered to shoulder and march I said to one of the recruits, who seemed very much dejected through the fatigue of the day as well as myself, This is hard work.' Aye,' said he, 'it is; and so you will find it before you have been in the corps as long as I have.' I asked him the name of the captain. He told me his name was Charity. But,' said he, you will never have any other proof of it than what you have had to

day: this I know, for I have wintered and summered him. Here is nothing but drill; there is neither present pay nor good quarters; for, instead of receiving a penny a day, you are obliged to live by forage, and submit to the humour of every pettifogger that is proud enough to accept the office of lance-corporal, whether male or female, whether Sir John Falstaff or Hannah Snell: a comrade here must be subject to all. I have been five years in the service, and have never repented but once that ever I knew the corps, and that has been ever since. I enlisted, and swore to engage with the world, the flesh, and the devil; or, as one says, with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. But, instead of that, we appear in no other arms nor armour than the world does; and, as for the flesh, we defend it, we exalt it, call it perfect, and are at peace with it: and, touching the devil, we contend and fight for Cain, Judas, and every noted field-marshal that ever appeared in the devil's service: so that all is a mere farce; and I am determined to desert the corps, let the consequence be what it may; for I would sooner be flogged out of the regiment, or have my carcase exposed to a file of musketeers, than be wearied out at drill; for we are never engaged, except in beating the air; so that there is no trial of our valour, no spoils taken by us, nothing but fresh schemes of discipline.'

I asked the name of the regiment; he told me it

went by various names; but, if it had any, it was the Italian Black Cuffs. I replied, with amazement, This is not the regiment that I entered into! I belong to the Royal True Blues;' and mentioned how I was taken by a relieve. He replied, he did not wonder at that, for they kept so many scouting parties, that they were acquainted with the watchwords of all the king's troops, and had deceived thousands that had been famous for military exploits, and valiant for the truth; and no wonder, when Antichrist is so accomplished a mimicker of Christ.

I asked the man if the person that relieved me on guard would continue in my station at the queen's palace; he told me, No; that was only a deception to seduce you from your station. The King hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation. This they know, and hate both Zion and the king's choice of her. Therefore you may depend upon it they will never do duty there. Our duty is at drill, about the old guard-house, or else at the mansion of Hagar. Our having done so much duty at her smoky residence is the reason why our clothes are faced with black; and being so near to a deep blue, it deceives some of your corps in the dark. As for your box, it is empty to this day, depend upon it, except it be filled by one of and you your own company; will be taken up for a deserter if they can find you out, unless you go and make an humble surrender of yourself; which you agree to, I am determined to lay down my

if

back

arms and with go you. But I replied, Will they not pursue and take you?' He answered, No; for they know that I understand too much of their craft to be caught as you was with the word relieve. If a man once deserts this regiment heartily, he is sure never to come back again; nor will they ever attempt at the queen's palace to take a man by force: besides, they are not fond of getting among the True Blues; they mark Zion's bulwarks, and count her towers, and are grieved that she stands so long, and is so defended: this makes them try to weaken her strength by seducing her troops, which is all done by way of kidnapping.

We immediately set off together, and in a few hours came in sight of the palace; where, lifting up my eyes, I saw two of our corps coming towards us, which filled my heart with joy: but it was soon at an end; for they laid hold of me, took me as a deserter, handcuffed me into the bargain, took me to the guard-house, and kept me two days and nights under arms. O the distress that I suffered here! And, when I heard that I was to be tried by a court-martial, the fears of being whipped out of the regiment, and exposed to the scorn of the whole corps, chafed my very soul; for I think a deserter from the True Blues is the blackest character on the frontiers of hell.

On my trial various acts of the military laws were read; but the first clause that cut me was, Stand, stand, shall they cry; but none shall look

back," Nahum ii. 8. I had not commanded my adversary to stand; though I had him under arms, I permitted him to look back, resigned my post, and foolishly followed him.

The next clause that touched me was, "Neither cast ye your pearls before swine." I knew I had betrayed my watchword.

The third sentence cut my girdle, which was, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue," Prov. xviii. 21. I was convinced that I had not demanded their watchword; I had not called for Shibboleth. This was further explained to me from the history of ancient wars; "And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites; and it was so, that, when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over, the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay; then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth; and he said Sibboleth; for he could not frame to pronounce it right: then they took him and slew him at the passages of Jordan. And there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand," Judges xii. 5, 6. Thus I perceived that death and life lay in the power of the tongue. Thousands lost their lives upon this little block л; and our letter h, if it were to be placed in the word length, would be as fatal to thousands at the River Tweed. The two letters s t would be as puzzling at Dover to all that come from France, if placed in the name Stephen, unless they were allowed to call in the