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fceltaimtf. * v * THE RELIiiIOCS SOLDIER: An Interesting Nat rative taken from THE CHMtshjM OBSERVER* We have received the following communication from a correspon dent on whose fidelity and accu racy we place such implicit reli ance. that we have no hesitation in vouching for the truth of the narrative. Sir, m t situation as minister of a parish» in a part of the kingdom where a great many soldiers have been successively quartered during the late war, has afforded me much opportunity of observing and en quiring into the state of religion a* mongst that class of men. Although for the most part, the character and conduct of the military presents a picture of impiety and licentiousness from which the mind of the serious turns with mingled abhorrence and pity, yet I feel much satisfaction in being able tp bear testimony to seve* ; ral instances of genuine piety, even, tinder all the difficulties and disad-i wantages which are attached to the life and habits of the soldier. 1 have spent many hours in the course of the last five years, in very profita ble and edifying communication With men of this description, who have withstood the temptations and> opposition which the present state of the militaiy calling presents; and v’’o have unremittingly preserved in., tke protbttWQO and practice of r l gi c notwithstanding the influence & persuasion of evil companion*, nay, too often the threats and persecution of their officers The trials l to which those, who *re more than u suiliy co- certvtd for tne welfare of. their souls, are exposed to from the ill-will and derision of the world is well known, but few, if any, are plac ed under more trying circumstances than the religious soldier. The ha tred, s^orn,'and persecution, which he general!v meets with, is far great-’ er than that which usually falls to the lot of religious people of the lowet classes, who are placet! in other si tuations of life. Shortly after the return es Duke of York from Holland, one of the regiments which had suffered ve h rv materially in the different engage* incuts, was quartered in my parish. A private soldier called upon me one evening after divine service*, with a request that-1 would explain a par ticular part cf my discourse* which he had just heard, expressing, at the time, much interest in the general subject of it. I found him to be u very well informed man, *of distin guished piety* and much religions knowledge. * His language and ad* dress betrayed evident marks of strong natural sense* aided by an unnsu.aV acqy Aintance with the word of God, and the operations of his grace upon the heart. From this man 1 received & most interesting detail of circumstances which occurred during the campaign in Holland, including a particular Recount of the temper and behavi our of many individuals before and during the heat of battle, buch a* neodotes, from a sensible and pious man I consider as Very valuable ; for although we are at no loss in obtaining minute details of military operations from various quarters, both public and private, yet the re ligious history of a battle is one not always to be procured. I may pos sibly take soirte future opportunity of communicating to you this good man's remarks on the comrades during that awful suspense between life and death which a bat tle occasions. * > k j He frequently called upon me dur ing the continuance of the regiment in my neighborhood and every suc ceeding interview gave me fresh pt oofs of his religious attainments. At that time he was the only pian in the regiment who made any profess •ion 6f religion, and on that account was ridiculed and despised by the greater part of his companions. , . ‘** At length tne regiment having pearly’ repaired* by fresh recruits, the loss , sustained in Holland, was •rdered to join a camp then forming, for the purpose of collecting troop* , for the Egyptian expedition under the command 6f Sir Ralph Aber crombie. A lew day* be tore the de parture* W—-, for that Was hfa irame, brought with him another private of the same regiment, who had expressed a particular desire to •peak ‘Utah tae, but of whom be knew very little, except that in some of the engagements in Holland he had been observed voluntarily* tb seek danger, and needlessly to hazai and his pci son, as if with a desperate lotion of rjdding himself of hfe.— being introduced to meabnt, the ■y^ranger said, tltat he hoped I should ||mt»e the liberty he had taken of* jk fcg’O request that i would ♦pui he baa brought, tn order to enable him to’ supply himself ‘with a few necessa ries preparatory to his voyage to E gypt, as he had no other means of raising a little money. <■ He’ was a tall young man. * of a dark ,sun-burnt countenance, having something in his *aspect, ‘ speech, * and address, which struck me above his present appearance. On opening his parcel, which he did not do with out some confusion, it proved'to con sist of some clergyman's bands, one or two religious books, and some manuscript sermons. 4 Sir’, said he, • you will hear with surprize, and, I cannot mention it without some un easiness, what I have for a long time concealed from every one around me, that fr am in reality la brother clergyman, though now disguised in the habit of a common soldier.—My father is a clergyman in Wales : he educated me himself for the church, and procured me ordination, with a title to a curacy at—in the coun ty of W——: my name is E ‘¥*mi l continued upon that cure three years, during which time, I am sor ry to say, through much imprudence and inattention to the decorum which suited xhy character, I contracted several debts, which I had neither means nor prospect of paying.— Fearing disgrace and and knowing my father's inability to assist me, t quitted the town, and formed the resolution of enlisting ast. a soldier. Which l shortly afterwards did, and'Was soon sent on the expe dition to Holland, whence I lately , returned, that you may have no doubts as to the truth of my story, which may possibly induce you to sympathize with a brother clergy man in distress, I will shbw you se veral letters and papers which, when you have: read, I trust you Will give me credit for the truth of my relav tioti.* He also wrote some senten ces in my presence, which proved his hand writing to be the same with rhat of the manuscript sermons he j had requested the to purchase. On I examiugthe letters, some of which j were from hi* father,.expostulating j with him on his extravagance ; and j putting a variety of questions to him j l felt fully satisfied as tfr the truth of his story* ,4 I was greatly concerned at what he had related, and began to enter into a close and friendly expostula tion with him on the inconsistency of his present situation with the sa cred profession to which he Was bound by ties the most indissoluble. I urged the duty of his endeavoring to return, if possible, to the discharge of his ministerial duties, with a mind influenced and improved by the ex perience of past hardships and mis* fortunes.: As he did not appear dis posed to follow this advice, Ibrodght forward, with much earnestness, e very argument Watch scripture Or t'easpn suggested to my mind-on the subject, and begged that he wdhld permit me toendearor tO procure his discharge from the arriVy, by a reV presentation oi his case to the -Duke' 1 of Vork. Although he spoke to me with much civility, and thanked me for my advice, and the offer I had made, yet I was sorry to perceive a great reluctance oh his part to avail himself of my counsel, and but little appearance of remorse, fdr what had past ; he talked like a man weary of the world, who had no desire td continue in it, arid no hope of sus taining a respectable character in it; it was plain that no impression of a religious kind, had been made upon his mitidT The peculiarity of his situation, and tlie occasion of His coming,- led*him, at the same time to pay attention to what I had said.-* ’ I entered into a*long conversation with him on the nature and design of Christianity iri general, as well as of the pastoral office in particular. ! examined him as to his views of the doctrines of the gospel, and explain ed my ’ own to him very fully ; I entreated him to take what I had said’in good part, and urged him, by every sabred consideration, to act the part which it appeared tome his du ty and iaterest to adopt. *He said little in reply, and almost de clined Saying any more. I there fore purchased his little parcel,gave him a coupie books, and dismissed him with a blessing, once more en treating him to lay to heart what I had said. In two days the regiment went away, nor did I see either W —, or Mr. E ijSifc before their de . parturc. A circumstance of so singular a l nature frequently occupied my tho'ts ! afterwards, and whenever! wore the bands which J had purchased from Mr. E——, 1 felt an encrcased inte rest in his behalf,From that time till the return of our troops from E gypt* 1 hac * oppermmity of hear ing any thing respecing him, except that a clergyman of name had officiated at the town phich he had a few years since: this I learned from a native of the place. , in June last,’ niy old acquaintance ,W . - - called upon me and said he wa % J U6I ved from Egypt, and great tieul to aajr lo .ins— With thfe same excellence of heart and head, as he had testified on eve ry former occasion* he entered into tt clear and satisfactory accoOflt of the events of the Egyptian expedi tion, describing in a ve**y affecting manner, the outwardYiardships and dangers he had encountered, as well as the inward consolation and sup port which he had derived from the power of religion on his mind* ; ‘ I have now/ continued he, c a story to relate which l am certain vdu will feel a deep concern in.- You, without doubt, remember that young clergyman whom I brought to your house the year before last, the Rev. Mr. E . At that time I knew very little of him ; he, how ever, shortly after we had left you* observed with some emotion, that what you said to him had more im pression upon his mind than any thing he had ever heard in the course of his life, fle/tlien made me also acquainted with his history, to which I was before a stranger. From that day I was confined “in the hospital with a fever* and did not see him a* gain before our departure for Egypt. We embarked on board of different ships ; it was not, therefore, till our arrival at Maita that we, met toge hter., M. E—— took an immediate opportunity of saying, W— I.have long wished to see you, 1 want to tell you how greatly indebted I feel to that dear friend of yours at—l can never forget him* his words made a deep impression bn my heart and I trust, by the blessing of God, they ‘will yet make a still deeper.’ k I found on conversing with him, that since I saw him he had become affected with a deep sense of his spi ritual danger, and by meditation and secret prayer during the voyage, had acquired much insight into re legion. .He showed strong murks of penitence, and gave a favorable hope of ah important change having ta ken place in his views and disposi- * tions. I was also happy to find, on the reassembling of the regiment afi* ter the voyage, that among the re cruits were a few very seriously dis posed. Mr. E—— and myself soon formed a little religious society a mongst them, which gradually in creased to the number of twenty four. We met as often as possible to .read the Bible together, converse on the concerns* of eternity, and fi nite m prayer to Almighty God for his blessing on our endeavors. We derived hrnich ben-fir frorii these meetings. Mr. E ■a, in particu lar, expressed himself highly de lighted by such a profitable mode 6f passing those hours whic.<i, in our line of life, are too generally devot ed to drinking, debauchery, and pro faneness. In his confidential con versations .with mej he frequently mentioned your name, and showed me -the substance of your friendly advice to him, which ne had from Ihemory committed to paper.* ‘ When we arrived on the 003,510? Africa, Mr. E-p- and myself Were in the Vape boat at the time of ofir landing at Aboukir. Throughout the whole of the tremendous fire Jhich, fdr a considerable time, the French artillery kept upon u», I ob served great coolness and patient fortitude in his countenance. His deportment was very different from what I had- seen when W served to* gether in Holland. .At that time he always appeared desperate and care less ; now I thought 1 co^lid per ceive a courage blended with humil ity/which evidently j>roceeded front a much more exalted source; We both, byVhe mercy of God, escaped unhurt on that day. Our little soci ety continued its meetings as regu larly as the tryirig circumstances of bur situation would permit. Mr. E was three or four . tinted engaged with the enertiy afterwards, and al ways behaved both before and during the battle with much steady, and I may call it, godly courage. * On the evening preceding the 21st of March, our wiiole society met together* v Mr. E— said in the presence of the rest, k 1 cannot account for the strong impression IWhich has seized tny mind, that I shall not survive the event of to morrows engagement? no* .such prepossession ever occupied my thoughts on anyibrraer occasion, I feel, therefore, strongly affected by this ; but if it be thy will, O God, thy will be done l We then united in prayer together for him, for our selves, and for our brethren in arms, beseeching God to prepare us for the awful trial, and give its grace either vto meet death with joyful hope, or to receive his sparing mercy, if oui 4 lif es? should* be preserved, with titude. Knowing the importance of the next day's battle, and the little chance we stood of all meeting a gain in this world, we embraced .each , other with peculiar attachment, and L mutual recommendation tQ the Gqd of battle and preserver of souls.- Oh, Sir! it was a happy, but a. try ing : season to us ! I Saw Mr. E —'an hour before the horrors of that bloo dy day. commenced ; his words were ‘ pray earnestly for me, and if i am } killed and you should he spared, give’ my lxnt blessing to our Worthy and Hear friend at » -•-« ; tell Mr.——,* continued he. * that I owe him more than worlds can repays he first o p ied ray heart to conviction, and Gol has blessed it to repentance : through the unspeakable mercies of Christ I cm die with comfort/ v - 4 After the severe engagement which followed, wherein the brave Abercrombie fell, according to a greement, our little society met.— Every life was spared, except that of poor Mr. E whose head was taken off by a cannon ball at an ear* ly period of the action. Such was. the will of God* Whilst, therefore, we i returned hearty thanks for our preservation, wfe blessed God's good ness for sparing the life of our de parted brother, till by a lively exer cise of faith ahd repentence, as we had every reason to trust, God had made him his own. I now also bless God, that I have had this op portunity of Seeing and relating to you a story, which I know you re joice to hear.* Without further comment, Mr. Editor, I sei\d you the above rela- j tion, which I have committed to writing with as much faithfulness | and accuracy as I am able* ADMINISTRA I'OR s SALE. On Thursday the Jlsf of April next at the late dwelling house of Garret W, Park , * r ‘ WILL BE SOLD ALL the personal property of said t deceased, consisting of horses, cat- j tie, hogs, a still, a waggon, black- > smith's tools, household and kitchen 1 furniture and other articles » too tedious to mention. Conditions’ made known on the day of sale. iRUbSEL JONES, JOHN ESPY, - , Administrators. Jackson county, March 9, 1814. _ R. ts JLjIN’G I * s HAS LATELY RECEIVED A SUPPLY Os BOOKS ‘* ; ; >■ f , r.y A'*’ ■ ‘ v; *r ‘>. FfoUk ’Fht ladel'phib) which he wiil dis - - of on moderate terms for cash , among them are the following Afflicted Man's Companion Atheists confuted . ‘ Pilgrim’s Progress Come and Welcome Village Dialogues * Village Sermons | Blaif/s Lectures AbridgtJ j Rise and Progress [ Glad Tididgs r Brown’s concordance Baptist confession of faith / Baptist cathechisms jCcelebs in Search of, a ,Cstse of cohscieqce * ‘ i Religion of the Fashionable World I Hymns of Dobell ! Derveys Meditations K l Life of Christ 1 School Testaments ’ r/y-. * "\f' ! 1 School Bibles / “ Pocket Bibles ‘Alfred and Galba History of Mechamsfit JBeauties of Sterne Broad Grins British Cicero Columbian Miscellany Clermont Contrast .. Cart's Holland . Northern Summed f ■—- France Dominican, a Romance Danger in Delay \ ; ; Dyer’s Assistant . Epistles on Woman Franklin's Works ■% Georgia Speculatio n; . Ferielon on Eloquence Goldsmith’s England Ditto Greece Ditto Rome The Illiad of Homer ~ % . t Immortal Mentor ‘ < f ■ Letters of Junius Life of Kotzebu#’ ; f/,’ I Lay of an Irish Harp Moral Sketches . Moderti Europe Abridged Ossian's Poems Will’s Philosophy Park's Travels Half's Distiller American Preceptor Ditto Tutor Ditto Orthographer Ditto Selections * ‘ Columbian Orator : Essay on Punctuation . > -Murray’s Introduction Ditto English Head© Ditto Grammar«v v Ditto Introductidn Ditto Grammar Abridged Parish’s Geography Ditto Ditto Abridged Webster’s Elements ;•?,< Walkers Dictionary \ y* J j Webster's Spelling,Book* I Ditto Grammar ’ i Ditto Philosophy v Roman History Abridged Prlmmers, Toy Books, Sc Stafr*A Ary, February 17, 1814. FEMALE AC \MDEY, AT ATM KNS. BY the first of April nekt Mr* Smith will open a SCHOOL, irt this town for the instruction of m TOUNG LADIES. j She will teach all the com mo* ’ brandies ol an English education, \ti eluding English Grammar. Ge6* graph* and History*—the French Language,, grammatically-“-Needle Work, Embroidery, Drawing, &c»’ A Music Master of unquestionable** abilities will be employed to give lessons on the Forte Piano, three times a week* Board and tuiiioi from 100 dollars to I*o. February 24, 1814. GEORGIA , Clark Counts WHEREAS Matilda Durham hat’ applied to me for letters of adminis* trusion on the estate and effects of John Durham late of said count# deceased. These are therefore to cite an 4 admonish all and singular the km* dred and creditors of #aid deceased to file their objections; in my office, if any they have, within the timk prescribed by law or said letters will be granted. . Given upder my hand and seal £9 office ihis 1 7th dav February , 1814 k john Hodge , a c. a. GEORGIA , Clark County. * W’ HE REAS Avery Roberts har applied to me for letters of adminis tration on the estate and effects of John Roberts, late of said county, deceased. f These are therefore to cite and admonish all and singular the kin* Ahed and creditors of the said de ceased, to, file their objections in my office, if any they have, within th« time prescribed by law, or said let# ters will be grafted. , r Given uuder my hand and seal aB office this*2sth of January, 1814# JOHN HODGE y Q. C. O. GEORGIA , Clark Cousrr . 1 WHEREAS Ezekiel Stanley an£ Richard Stuart have applied to m* for letters of administration on th* estate and effects of John Rutledge, late of. said county, deceased. These are therefore to cite and admonish all and singular the kin dred and creditors of said deceased to file their objections in my office, if any they, have, within the tim* prescribed by law or said letters will be granted. Given under my hand and seal at office this 17 th day of February , 1814*. JOB N JIOD GE y C/C. O. m ’ » ■ ■ i ■’ i GEORGIA. ‘Clark county. WHEREAS Jesse Roberts hai applied to me for letters of adminis* tration on the estate and effects of James Hagons late of said ebuntf deceased. *. * v-^-;■. f\’ These are therefore to cite and admonish all and singular the kin* dre'd and creditors,of said deceased, file their objections in my office# qaany they have, within the time if escribed by law of said letters will jpr granted. . - . - Given und'en my hand and seal office this i7th day of February, 1814 JOHN HODGE C. C. 0 . Georgia, pacts™ county. ■ , ■ At an Inferior Court held sot o r* ‘dinary purposes, in for the counjX foresaid, on Tuesday the fish day of February , 1814. %*. 1 Present David Witt, Charles Vcnajtjf and Joseph Davis y Esqrs. - > , UPON the petition , of Samuel Henderson assignee of Hoimai\Free- man stating that Thomas M’C.aitf in his life time executed his bonds to make titles to a certain bounty of of land containing two hundred ~aftd eighty seven ancl half acres, and tfie said Thofnas departed this life in testate and without executing titles to the said bounty oflandand praying the Court to direct the administra tor of the estate of the said Thomas: M’Cain to execute titles in terror of the law. It is therefore ordered that, the administrator of the, iaid deceased will at the Court of Ordi nary to be held in and for this coun ty on the first Monday in'July, be directed to execute titles to the said tract of land in terms of the law unless cause be shewn to the contrary, and that this rule be pub. lished in one of the public gazetted of this state at least three months before the sitting of said court and advertised in two or more public places in this county, A true copy from the minutes , EDWARD ADAMS, C.C.O ‘ ‘ . ~~ NOTICE., I roawARX all persona from trading for a note given by me Moses Gowen for seventy-seven dal. Tara & thirty eight cents, oh which note I have paid, and am’ de-> iter ro* »o’nay again, as I call i pAvrsent by - sreral : L -l 5 WtP :; W• . • ••; ‘ ‘•’ W .«y£3jl |