of that place, the colonel went incognito
to the camp in the middle of the night; for he sometimes lodged at his
quarters in the town. One of the sentinels then on duty had abandoned
his post, and, on being seized, broke out into some oaths and profane
execrations against those that discovered him--a crime of which the
colonel had the greatest abhorrence, and on which he never failed to
animadvert. The man afterwards appeared much ashamed and concerned for
what he had done. But the colonel ordered him to be brought early the
next morning to his own quarters, where he had prepared a picket, on
which he appointed him a private sort of penance; and while he was put
upon it, he discoursed with him seriously and tenderly upon the evils and
aggravations of his fault, admonished him of the divine displeasure which
he had incurred, and urged him to argue, from the pain which he then
felt, how infinitely more dreadful it must be to "fall into the hands of
the living God," and, indeed, to meet the terrors of that damnation
which he had been accustomed impiously to call for on himself and his
companions. The result of this proceeding was, that the offender accepted
his punishment, not only with submission, but with thankfulness. He went
away with a more cordial affection for his colonel than he ever had
before, and spoke of the circumstance some years after to my friend, in
such a manner that there seemed reason to hope it had been instrumental
in producing a change not only in his life, but in his heart.

There cannot, I think, be a more proper place for mentioning the great
reverence this excellent officer always expressed for the name of the
blessed God, and the zeal with which he endeavoured to suppress, and if
possible to extirpate, that detestable sin of swearing and cursing which
is every where so common, and especially among our military men. He often
declared, at the head of his regiment, his sentiments with respect to
this enormity, and urged his captains and their subalterns to take the
greatest care that they did not give the sanction of their example to
that which by their office they were obliged to punish in others. Indeed
his zeal on these occasions wrought in a very active, and sometimes in a
remarkably successful manner, not only among his equals, but sometimes
among his superiors too. An instance of this in Flanders I shall have an
opportunity hereafter to produce; at present I shall only mention his
conduct in S