There can be no doubt that in a moral sense this calamity, for such it seemed, and such it doubtless was for a time considered by himself, was singularly beneficial. He then found leisure, and for the first time probably in his life, to review his own principles, to consider his own state, and to examine himself whether he was in the faith. It was a blessed opportunity, but it was well that he was prepared to improve it. Other men had it, but it is feared that few used it to the same purpose. If the root of the matter had not been in him; if religion had not been long known and truly honoured; if it had not already secured a hold on his heart and affections; the leisure which was given would have been employed as leisure too frequently is, by those who pass suddenly from the excitement of active life, in indolence or folly. His time would in that case have been wasted, the opportunity would have been lost, and the gracious purpose of God would have been frustrated as to the effect it seemed calculated to produce. Happily for him, his mind was prepared for the trial. That habit of realising God in everything that happened, and of cheerful submission to his will, which formed a chief feature in his character, led in this case to resignation. Conscious that as an officer he had done his duty, he submitted to his lot with calmness; and instead of giving way to regret and despondency as if all was lost because he had been once unfortunate; he turned at once to the duties that were before him, and endeavoured to be the protector and benefactor of those, whom he might have been otherwise leading to victory as their commander. With this wholesome occupation the mind had no leisure to prey upon itself, and to destroy its own energies by comparing what might have been his state with that which was. Captivity ceased to be irksome. The future was no longer gloomy, while the present moment was profitably employed. The withdrawal from the anxieties and fatigues of actual service was salutary, and he felt its beneficial effects in mind as well as in body; and through the influence of religious feelings on a mind prepared to admit them, an interval which might have been past in murmurings and unprofitable recollections, became, as we shall see in the subsequent pages of the memoir, a season of calm enjoyment and of real permanent improvement. CHAPTER VII. REMOVED FROM EPINAL TO PHALSBURG, AND THENCE TO VERDUN.—SUFFERINGS OF THE PEOPLE ON THE MARCH, AND EFFORTS MADE FOR THEIR RELIEF AND IMPROVEMENT.—THE REV. ROBERT WOLFE OFFERS HIS SERVICES AND ASSISTANCE.—MRS. BRENTON’S ARRIVAL AT VERDUN.—RESIDENCE AT CHARNI.—ILLNESS, AND PERMISSION GRANTED TO RESIDE AT TOURS.—CONDUCT OF THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT TOWARDS THE ENGLISH PRISONERS OF WAR.