"Are you a temperance man ?" asked the Captain-his counenance looking rather equivocal.

"Yes, Sir," he replied.

"How long has that been the case?" the Captain inquired. "I knocked off, Sir, Saturday night."

The Captain was rather interested in so young and fresh a recruit in the cold-water cause, and concluded to receive him, although his complement of men was so nearly made out, that he had no especial need of a doubtful character.

This same man afterwards came forward voluntarily to be admitted to the carpenters' meeting, apparently quite anxious about his religious interests.

A few days after the mate came to the Captain and said, "Jones has knocked off swearing too." "Has he?" said the Captain, "I wonder what he will do next." He continued while I knew him uncommonly attentive at the religious exercises at morning prayers. And there is no little reason to hope that he may yet be led, in truth, to embrace his

Saviour.

It is interesting to notice how Providence leads those, to whom he will show mercy, in a way which they know not! Little did he suppose, when struggling with his resolution to forsake his cups, and seeking a berth on board the Poland, that his kind Heavenly Father was directing his steps to that ship, whose hallowed influence, under the guidance of the morning devotions of its master, might be the means of his everlasting salvation.

For the Religious Magazine.

STORIES OF A REVOLUTIONARY OFFICER.

THE following little narrative is nothing more than an exact transcript of the words of an old Revolutionary Officer, caught as they fell from his lips, a few days since, without his having an idea of their ever going (to human observation) farther than the ear of his auditor; though, with his never-failing consciousness that, for every word of his mouth and every thought of his heart, he must give account hereafter.

He is one of the few of our Patriot Fathers, who, to borrow the words of the Prophet, are now in the land that owes so much to their virtuous heroism, "as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries on the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof."

Soon they must all be gone, and when a laudable curiosity, or gratitude and respect towards them, would suggest a question respecting their services, there will be no ear to hear, no tongue to reply.

This thought gives a kind of sacredness to what they still live to relate, concerning their soldier lives, and the events of the Revolution, which belongs to the words of no other living

men.

We may read of the things they did, and of their greatest achievements, and hardly feel the lively truth, that it was in our land, and by our fathers that they were accomplished. But, coming in a tale of simple truth, from the living lips of one who was himself engaged in the scenes he describes, the slightest incidents touch the heart with a power that no book or written thing possesses.

I have often been solicited by my friends to preserve some of the anecdotes told, from time to time, by the venerable man whose words I give in this article. And though they may not be given to the public in order, as to the occurrence of events and the course of time, I shall take them in little snatches of narrative, just as it shall suit the mood of my hoary-headed. chronicler, who is a man of few words, of more than fourscore years, and one who seldom tells a tale, unless something takes place to remind him of things that happened "during the Revolutionary war.”

These I shall give, if at all, under the above head; and if their importance as events be smal!, I hope the simplicity and ungarnished truth of the words will render them worth a perusal.

The scene of this little story, it will be perceived, opens at Lake Champlain, in the autumn of 1777. H.

ARTICLE 1.

THE SCOUTING PARTY.

I was then a Lieutenant in Col. Johnson's regiment; and of the party of about five hundred men, who, under him, were sent out to scout, and if possible, to re-take Mount Independence; while Col. Brown, with about as large a body, had gone to try their power at Mount Defiance, where a large number of our men were held prisoners by the British.

He had succeeded in his attack, and recovered Mount Defiance, and had released the prisoners and brought them away, when our party, whose work lay upon the side of the lake, opposite to the one where he had been engaged, arrived at the

Narrows. Here we found that the British were so strong at Mount Independence, and everything was so much against us, that it would not only be in vain, but it was like throwing ourselves away, to atteinpt an attack, or to proceed any farther down the lake, towards the enemy. One company of Col. Brown's men had been left behind, when he crossed the lake to return; so I took some batteaux, and went over after them; and when they got across, and our corps were preparing to return from their expedition, our commanding officer said he felt unwilling to go back without knowing what the enemy were about; nor did he like to order any of us to go and spy out their motions, for he knew there would be great danger in the enterprize; but, that, if any felt like volunteering, he should be glad to have us go.

Upon this, about fifteen offered to undertake the expedition; but, when we reached the edge of the lake, and were going to step into the boats, one after another felt their hearts fail, until only two beside myself persevered in going forward.

It was late in the evening, when, with only four days' provisions, and no outside garments or blankets, we pushed our boat from the shore, expecting soon to return and find our company where we left them.

We continued our sail down the lake till near the morning, when, supposing ourselves where, if the morning light should dawn upon us, it would expose us to the view of the enemy from their ships, if we remained on the water, we hauled our boat up, and, making her fast, buried ourselves in the wood that bordered the water, to make the rest of the excursion on foot, and on the Mount Defiance side of the lake.

As the light dawned upon us, we found ourselves in a wild country, of which we knew not a step of the way, at a great distance from our friends, and on the other side of the lake, with mountains, rocks and forests on one side, the water on the other, and right in the mouth of the enemy. We were so near to them, that before we left the boat we could distinctly hear the voices of the night watch, as they went over the lake, with the word, "All's well! all's well!" passing from ship to ship.

While through this wild scene we made our way along, as silently as possible, till towards the decline of day, not knowing what we should come to at the next step, or if our foot-fall on the dry leaves would not start some lurking foe from his hiding place, we saw, at about a gun-shot before us, on a little rising ground, the figure of a man who stood leaning against a tree.

From his dress, as it appeared at that distance, we took him to be a British sentry; for a light-colored upper garment opening

a little on the breast, seemed to disclose the red coat of the enemy. After a moment's consultation on the safest mode of action, we concluded that we would not retreat without knowing what we had seen; so we all three presented our guns, and then hailed him, telling him to drop his arms, or he was a dead man! for, we supposed his arms only hidden from us by the bushes.

He cried aloud, "For God's sake, don't fire!"- and at the same moment threw open his blanket, and disclosed the uniform of one of our own officers, and his arm slung up in a red handkerchief, that, passing round his neck, had showed in contrast with his blanket, like the dress which we at first supposed he wore.

We found that he was one of our officers who had been wounded in the action at Mount Defiance; and with several others who were sick and wounded, he had strayed away and been concealed in the woods, so that they were not found, and had been left behind when the prisoners and the other sick were carried away.

In a small hollow below where we stood we found this suffering group, who had despaired of ever seeing their homes or their friends again.

We distributed among them what little provisions we had; and it was agreed that they should take our boat, and one of our company to assist them, and go back to our friends at the Narrows, while the other two, myself and P should re

main on shore, and return on foot.

They informed us of the position of the enemy, and told us that just over the hill, and at about a mile's distance, there was a number of their fine horses and fat cattle feeding on the green that bordered the lake near the landing.

When we had assisted them to get into the boat, and seen them fairly off, my companion and I went back to the spot where we had found them, and remained in and about the little hollow till night drew near, when we set out to see if we could take some of the horses and cattle, many of which had halters on their necks; and one we found with a saddle and bridle on.

We succeeded in leading away some of the horses, which we tied to the trees near our hiding-place, and then went back, under covert of the night, for more. We took one, and an ox, which we led by the halter on his neck, while a cow and several other horses followed us a part of the way, and then returned to their grazing. The ox we fastened to a tree till the twilight of the morning; but how to kill him so as to get some food for

our sustenance we did not know, for I had lost among the bushes, the little hatchet that I took with me, and we could not shoot him, lest the sound of the gun should betray us. We therefore took him by the halter, and running him into the marshy ground near a small cove, got him mired so that he could not start, and then, with a pocket-knife, (the only noiseless instrument of death we had,) cut his throat.

But the danger of discovery compelled us to such haste that we could hardly wait for the animal to be entirely dead, before we took the same knife, and raising a patch of skin on his thigh, took out a large piece of flesh and bore it away.

We then took the four horses that we had secured to ourselves, and made the best of our way off.

The ground over which we passed was so uneven, and so covered with woods, that it was impossible for us to ride, and we sometimes led the horses, at others they would follow us of their own accord, until they at length became so attached, that they kept by us just like dogs. Sometimes we had to climb and descend such steeps, that in going up they would pitch backward, and roll down; and then regain their footing and resume their upward way. In going down hill, they would often get to the bottom in the same manner, falling headlong and finishing with a roll, so that I wondered at their perseverance, and that their necks were not broken.

The first day of our march, we did not stop till it drew so near night, that we thought it time to look about for a place to make ourselves a bed of leaves, and a fire to warm us, and to scare away wild beasts that might attack us, as well as to banish the gloom of the night in a wilderness, and to cook a piece of the steak that we had obtained by the slaughter of the inorning.

When we had struck and kindled a fire, and gathered a heap of faggots and dried branches, large enough to keep up a brisk blaze all night, we broiled a piece of the beef, and having eaten it, lay down on the withered leaves, and made ourselves as comfortable as we could under such circumstances.

In the morning, we had begun our route, and having no guide or compass to steer by, but the sun and my watch, I looked to the one, and felt for the other, but found the latter was gone. We turned back, and finding the place.where we had made the fire, searched about to see if any remains of the watch could be found, for I supposed it must have been hitched in the brush that I had cast on the fire and destroyed.

On looking where the pile of fuel had been thrown, I found