placed, and endeavoured to explain our situation, we were
required immediately after to be present at inspection of arms. We
declined, but an attempt was made to force us to obedience, first, by
the officers of the company, then, by those of the regiment; but,
failing to exact obedience of us, we were ordered by the colonel to be
tied, and, if we made outcry, to be gagged also, and to be kept so till
he gave orders for our release. After two or three hours we were
relieved and left under guard; lying down on the ground in the open air,
and covering ourselves with our blankets, we soon fell asleep from
exhaustion, and the fatigue of the day.

This morning the officers told us we must yield. We must obey and serve.
We were threatened great severities and even death. We seem perfectly at
the mercy of the military power, and, more, in the hands of the inferior
officers, who, from their being far removed from Washington, feel less
restraint from those Regulations of the Army, which are for the
protection of privates from personal abuse.

_26th._ [_9th_ month.]--Yesterday my mind was much agitated: doubts and
fears and forebodings seized me. I was alone, seeking a resting-place
and finding none. It seemed as if God had forsaken me in this dark hour;
and the Tempter whispered, that after all I might be only the victim of
a delusion. My prayers for faith and strength seemed all in vain.

But this morning I enjoy peace, and feel as though I could face
anything. Though I am as a lamb in the shambles, yet do I cry, "Thy will
be done," and can indeed say,--

Passive to His holy will
Trust I in my Master still
Even though he slay me.

I mind me of the anxiety of our dear friends about home, and of their
prayers for us.

Oh, praise be to the Lord for the peace and love and resignation that
has filled my soul today! Oh, the passing beauty of holiness! There is
a holy life that is above fear; it is a close communion with Christ. I
pray for this continually but am not free from the shadow and the
tempter. There is ever present with us the thought that perhaps we shall
serve the Lord the most effectually by our death, and desire, if that be
the service He requires of us, that we may be ready and resigned.

REGIMENTAL HOSPITAL, 4th Vermont. _29th._ [_9th_ month.]--On the evening
of the 26th the Colonel came to us apologizing for the roughness with
which he treated us at first, which was, as he insisted, through
ignor