thou which thou didst not receive? therefore, glory not as thou hadst not received it." But rather let you and I join with the Psalmist, in a tribute of praise unto him who has delivered us from becoming the prey of the terrible, saying, "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give the glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake." I have already said, that upon the march we endured great fatigues, and also many inconveniences; but, when in barracks, a soldier's life in India is commonly very easy. They have not unfrequently eight or nine successive nights in bed; and, as the climate is generally very dry, they are not liable to get their arms or accoutrements often wet; and many of them likewise keep black boys to clean their things, take their victuals upon guard, and relieve them of other labours. They had consequently much spare time which they did not know how to get rid of; "and an idle man (says Mr. Bucke) is his own tormentor, always full of wants and complaints; while his inactivity often proves fatal both to his body and his mind. The worst importunities, the most embarrassing perplexities of business, are softness and luxury, compared with the incessant cravings of vacancy, and the unsatisfactory expedients of idleness." It is a saying among the Turks, that a "busy man is troubled with one devil, but the idle man with twenty." The want of exercise for both body and mind therefore, and the natural consequences of a sultry climate upon the constitution, rendered a soldier's life in these circumstances truly a burden, for he was unable to walk abroad through the day because of the intense heat, and, moreover, the regiment was not unfrequently confined to barracks, on account of their misconduct. Now, if you consider such numbers of men as I formerly mentioned living together in one barrack-room, some sleeping away their time[6], and others lounging about the piazzas, not knowing what to do with themselves, you will not find much difficulty in perceiving that these poor creatures were eminently exposed to become the prey of him that "walketh about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." Those, on the other hand, who were disposed to improve their time, by reading their Bibles[7], or conversing upon religious or useful subjects, were disturbed by the devil's agents, even those who "were led captive by him at his will;" for when these debauched beings, in their rambles, observed any of their comrades thus employed, they would make up a plot to annoy them, by singing obscene songs, cursing and swearing in their very ears, or by tumbling one another in a riotous manner upon these _Sammy Hawks_[8], as they were called. This species of persecution being frequently repeated, we may wonder the less that those who had not the root of the matter in them, were discouraged, and, in this time of temptation, fell away; and that, in process of time, instead of reading their Bibles, or conversing upon religious subjects, they