When under this temper of mind, I happened, with a number of other soldiers of the regiment, to be at the meeting-house one evening; and after the ordinary service of praise and prayer was over, the preacher desired the soldiers to remain, intimating that he had something to say to us. He then addressed us, on the propriety of joining in a class meeting, informing us how many soldiers had joined in a class meeting, in a neighbouring town, in his circuit. He said that some of us might scruple, because he was not of the same religious principles as those we had been brought up in. This might be true; but he remarked that we had no opportunity of joining with those, who were of the principles in which we might have been educated, there being none in the place; that, if we chose to form a class meeting, he did not require that we should be of the same principles with him in every thing; but that if we were concerned for the salvation of our souls, it would be for our benefit, while we were absent from home, to be united together, for the purpose of social worship and instruction.--I thought the proposal candid and reasonable, and put down my name, as one willing to join in a class meeting. I thought it would be a means of helping me in the work of personal reformation. For a short time I went on pretty well in my own estimation, abstaining from any thing that was open and flagrant; but secret sins overcame me, although I had set myself to resist them with all my might; and this broke my peace of mind. It happened, that there were a number of the regiment, and amongst them some of my own comrades, taken ill with dysentery; and several died of the disorder. This alarmed me much. I began more seriously than ever, to contemplate the uncertainty of life. I read seriously, and with great attention, those portions of Young's Night Thoughts that treat on that subject. I entered fully into the spirit of the poet, and applied to my conscience his reflections. My security of life was completely broken. Every night I lay down to sleep, I was afraid I might never awake, and every morning I arose, I was afraid I might die before night. I would say to myself in the morning, "Some of my fellow creatures, who are living at this moment, will be dead before night; and how can I tell but I may be one of them!" This subject never made so strong an impression on my mind as at this time. I never was so much afraid of death, except on occasions of evident danger. I could no longer place death at a distance. I saw myself in danger of being snatched away every moment in numberless ways, and put the question to myself, "Were I to die this moment, what hope have I of escaping hell and getting to heaven?" and I concluded, that I had no hope of heaven whatever, but every reason to fear that hell should be my portion.