Rev. Mr. Mackinnon on the Mosaic History of Joseph. [July 1, 492 MR. EDITOR, V. M. H. AFTER what is given us in the Bible on Joseph, and from what hath been written by the learned respecting that patriarch, we ought not to doubt the statement of the former, or deny the conjectures of the latter, if they are founded on sacred Scripture; for by raising doubts, or imagining that the fact recorded is inconsistent, we only sharpen the edge of infidelity, and shake the minds of the dubious. If the INQUIRER thinks that Joseph was destitute of filial affection, or that commentators have not been sufficiently explicit on this head, it must appear presumption in me to attempt now to explain the matter with greater erudition or more perspicuity than those gone before me have already done; especially as these have been men of the profoundest learning and acknowledged experience, who have turned their thoughts, and employed their talents, in supporting its consistency and confirming its truth; yet, Mr. Editor, I trust that I shall be excused, not only by you, but also by a generous public, for again obtruding myself into your pages, and attempting, though but very deficiently, to answer a question proposed in a late number of your miscellany. I have been induced to take upon myself this task, as I conceive it the duty of every one, particularly those who are called to the high and important duties of our venerable establishment, "to be able to give an answer to every one that asketh;" yet, after all, a question of the nature of that now proposed may be allowed to be unprofitable, as its illustration depends, not on the criticism of words, or the interpretation of language, but is dictated by a mind seeking for difficulties where not one of a thousand would find any difficulty. We might as well inquire why God made the world, or created beings to sin against his holy laws? or what would have been the present state of man had our first parents continued in a state of innocence-as pretend at this remote period to inquire why Joseph did not send immediately after he was raised to a situation of such high authority to his father Jacob. If the INQUIRER will read the history of Joseph through, he will, I think, find it. to be described as fully as any other character in sacred writ. The great aim of the inspired penman was to record circumstances and persons generally, and frequently omitting those trifling incidents which the critic has metamorphosed into the greatest difficulties, and on account of which omission the sceptic denies the truth of the whole; but the great end of the historian was to relate these matters in such a manner as should ultimately lead to, and be completed in, the great event of our Redemption. If we read the account of Joseph, as well indeed as all the other characters in the Bible, it will be found to harmonize with itself, and with the whole. Joseph being his father's favourite, was looked upon with jealousy by his was this their animobrethren; nor sity diminished from the narration of their brother's dreams, the second of which even moved the anger of Jacob. Here then we find both his father and brethren angry with him after the interpretation of this his second dream; he is sent by his father to inquire after the state of his brethren, who now only waited for a favourable opportunity to destroy him; but Reuben having more compassion than the rest, dissuaded them from the bloody deed, and Joseph was therefore sold to the Ishmaelites, and passing through many changes, was at length advanced to the second post in the kingdom of Pharaoh. Had Joseph at the commencement, or during the seven years of plenty, communicated his situation to his father or brethren, they in all probability would have made light of it: the purpose of his being raised, that of humbling them, would have been lost. During the seven years of plenty they no doubt had been living regardless of the fate of their brother Joseph; but at length the days arrived when famine and scarcity forced them to seek for food in Egypt, and ask it of that very brother whom they had so shamefully treated. Their situation and distress now brought to their recollection their past wickedness; but Joseph, when he saw and was convinced of their sorrow, loses no time in making himself known: "I am Joseph;" and inquires after his father, " Doth my father yet live?" This could not have been more than the second year of the famine. If Joseph had been destitute of filial affection, he might not 1816.] Account of the Battle of Waterloo, by a Serjeant in the Guards. 493 have discovered himself until the conclusion of the seven years; if he had been moved to revenge, he might have refused them corn, consequently they must have perished. But neither of these was the case-free from revenge, he abounded with affection; he wept for joy; he sent for his father, and supported him until the day of his death. I am, &c. J. MACKINNON. Bassingham, April 4, 1816. MR. EDITOR, BY inserting the following particulars relative to the ever-memorable and glorious battle of Waterloo-extracted from a letter of a serjeant in the Guards, remarkable for the explicit and manly manner in which it is written, as well as for the unshaken loyalty to his king, love to his country, piety, fortitude, magnanimity, firmness, confidence, composure, and undaunted courage of the writer you would, I am persuaded, gratify many of your readers, as well as oblige yours, &c. A. B. May 7, 1816. Camp, Bois du Bologne, Paris, SIR, My departure from England was very sudden; I had not the happiness of seeing you; but I received your kind note, which, amidst the sufferings of my mind in parting from a beloved wife and very dear children, helped to revive me. I can truly say, I never so much regretted a separation from my wife and family, and God's church and people. After baving been so long absent in Holland, Sicily, Spain, and France, I thought Europe was weary of war, and that I was safe and comfortably situated with my family at home: but the Lord says "Boast not thyself of to-morrow, and put not confidence in uncertain riches; but trust thou in the living God." Yet, amidst all the sufferings of my mind in parting from my friends, I felt it my duty to go in search of that enemy of peace, the Tyrant of the World; and if it were required, to die in the cause; for I was fully sensible we were defending truth and justice. Our object was Europe's peace and happiness; and I was confident that God had only permitted the evil, to bring about the greater blessing, which I hope is nearly accomplished, though it has cost much blood. While we lay at Hovis, near Enghien, in the Netherlands, I opened a place for our religious duties, where many found it NEW MONTHLY MAG.-No. 30. their privilege to attend. It was tolerably well filled. I preached three times on the Sabbath, and once on Wednes day. Class meetings were held on Monday, and prayer meetings on Friday. All were refreshing seasons to me; I cannot live without the means of grace. Al. though when in close contest with the enemy we are obliged to desist from our public meetings on account of our da ties, yet we then as often as possible commune with each other; and I am happy to say that only one of our so. ciety was killed (Serjeant Silver, 3d reg. of Guards) and three wounded; two are doing well; the other I have not yet heard of. Serjeant-major Dixon and Serjeant Rippon, wounded on the 16th June, are both doing well. On the 16th June we marched, at four o'clock in the morning, the distance of about twenty-four miles, and then rushed into action. The Lord gave us great strength both of body and mind, on that day, and through the whole of our labours. We arrived just in time, or the enemy would have forced the Belgians. With one hour and a half's hard fighting, we maintained our position with some little advantage; but our loss was great. As you have received a more perfect account in the public dispatches, I shall only, as briefly as possible, insert a few facts which have not yet been mentioned. On the 18th of June, the day of Waterloo, we took up a good position; at the same time leaving the enemy one they would accept. We opened on the enemy seven guns before they returned an answer; then most tremendously the action commenced; but God was with us. I addressed my company in a few words: "Be steady and attentive to orders; keep perfect silence; and put your whole trust in God's help, for he is with us. Be strong and determined; use all your skill in levelling; make sure your mark, and in the charge use all your strength; and you shall see, by the close of this day's sun, your enemies fly, and the shout of victory shall be yours." I felt my mind stayed upon God; and my confi dence was so firm, that neither the thunder of our enemy's cannon and musquetry, nor the boast of his guards, nor the threats of his cavalry in mail, either larined my breast, or concerned my mind: God I knew was my father, ny shield, and refuge. I cannot say that I attempted to boast myself with confidence of escape unhurt, as I now experience; but this VOL. V. 3 S 494 Account of the Battle of Waterloo, by a Serjeant in the Guards. [July 1, one thing I knew-my peace was made with God, having a bright evidence in my own soul; and that while I lived I would play my part for the victory. It was the Sabbath-day; and while you were praying to and praising the King of Glory in his church, I was doing the same in the field of blood: I was truly in the spirit of a Christian and of a soldier on the Lord's day. The enemy fired round shot and shell, grape and canister, and new horse-nails tied up in bundles, nine bundles in a gun: these I saw and handled on the 19th. Unlawful carnage! --but the portrait of the man is blood, murder, and desolation. My eyes have seen much. Sir, I have the happiness to serve in the 3d battalion of the 1st Guards, who in a particular manner distinguished themselves, determined to shout "Victory!" or return no more; and God blessed their endeavours. Our 3d battalion of the 1st Guards, and a battalion of rifle of the King's German Legion, (say 1,200 men,) advanced 300 paces in front of the whole Fue, into a valley which lay between the two positions, and within 100 yards of about 6,000 cavalry and 3,000 infantry of the enemy. They viewed us with astonishment; and, to prove that God had filled them with fear, they formed square, and neither charged nor fired upon us, except from the heights of their position; but we suffered much from those guns. We remained firing at them for half an hour, and then retired into our post in line. The cavalry in armour charged us many times in the course of the day, but made no impression: we repulsed them with great slaughter. We never fired at the cavalry till they came within 30 yards. Towards the evening Buonaparte directed against us his choice 105th regiment; and in half an hour we cut them all to pieces, and took one stand of colours. He then sent against us his grenadier Imperial Guards; they came within 100 yards of us, and ported arms to charge; but we advanced upon them in quick time, and opened a brisk file fire by two ranks. They allowed us to come within about 30 yards of them; they stood till then looking at us, as if panic-struck, and did not fire; they then, as we approached, faced about and fled for their lives in all directions: they did not like the thought of the British bayonets, for we had just commenced the charge: they ran very fast, but many of them fell while we pursued, and with them one stand of colours; and I have the honour to wear a colonel's sword of the French Imperial guard.* Though not mentioned in the dispatch, (they all fought so well,) yet it was our 3d battalion of the 1st Guards, and the rifle battalion of the King's German Legion, that first completely turned the day in our favour. It was at this moment of the charge that I prayed thus: "Lord, stretch forth thine arm!" and this I did unceasingly until the enemy was driven. When the Imperial Guards (the dependence of Buonaparte) ran, bis defence departed from him, and his *The serjeant, in a letter to his wife, had mentioned a particular fact of his waying an officer's coat, and cheering the men in a critical moment of the battle. A friend, who had seen this letter, made some inquiry respecting the circumstance; and the serjeant in a subsequent letter adds the following particulars : "When the French 105th regiment advanced up the low ground, their cannon at the horse-nails, and our line was so shattered that same time raked us with grape, canister, and I feared they could not stand; in fact, I was for a moment really afraid they would give way; and if we had given way, it would have gone hard with the whole line, as our 3d battalion and the rifle battalion of the King's German Legion were the manoeuvre of the day. Our officers exerted themselves to the very uttermost, as also the serjeants: Major-gen. Maitland, Col. Lord Saltoun, Col. Reeve, and Brigade-major Gunthorp, were in the front face of the square, in the hottest part of the contest: our loss at this time was most tremendous. It was at this juncture that I picked up Ensign Purdo's coat, Had I known that the coat would have been 1816.] Account of the Battle of Waterloo, by a Serjeant in the Guards. 495 whole line, as has been stated, hecame confusion. Much to the honour of his Grace (as in every case throughout the day) he seized the moment, and in the space of five minutes he formed a line in the valley for a general charge, and then the shout of "Victory! victory!" was heard. The very element rang with voices and cannon on Britain's side-and what was my shout?-in a loud voice I cried Out: Glory be to God! he is with us! I now rejoice; my prayers are answered fully, and my labours crowned." The fight at one time was so desperate with our battalion, that files upon files were carried out to the rear from the carnage, and the line was held up by the serjeants' pikes, placed against the rear-not for want of courage on the men's part, for they were desperate; only for the moment our loss so unsteadied the line.* I lost of my company, killed and wounded, three officers, three serjeants, and fifty-four rank and file, out of ninetyseven: several of them, after their wounds were dressed, returned to the field and fought out the battle. It will rejoice your heart to hear that the Methodists in this action have completely refuted the slanders propagated against them in that pernicious publication (The Anti-Jacobin Review) respecting which Mr. Griffiths wrote to me. Our names are known, and our conduct seen. Our surviving officers may be referred to; and on inquiry it will be found, that we who fear God, love our King, and have fought his battles with undaunted courage, and, according to our rank, have as great a share in the honour of that day as any part of the line; and C. W. is ready to vindicate the character of the religious soldier on his return from the field of blood to the land of peace. O how happy was my soul, even in the sea of blood, in Britain's cause and Europe's safety! I do not know that I ever experienced greater peace In a subsequent letter, the serjeant mentions that "the serjeants placed their pikes against the men's backs in line, for they were getting eight or ten deep, and bore them up by their shoulders by main strength. Some of the men kept up firm in the line, but others fell back to get out ammunition, and others were begging ammunition in the rear, as all their own was spent, which, with our continual loss, quite unsteadied the line; so the pikes were intended to prevent any from falling back for ammunition, as we wanted the men to use the bayonet, for now depended the honour of Britain, and the safety of Europe." was and serenity of mind, and such confidence that the arm of God stretched out in our behalf; that he was in the midst of us, and gave wisdom to our commander, strength to our mind. and body, and confusion to our enemies. -I have, as colour-serjeant, stood by the King's colours from the moment of our march till borne in Britain's name within the gates of Paris. Seven of our colour-serjeants entered the field, and there are only myself and one more that stand. What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon his name; my tongue shall not cease to proclaim his mercy, nor my heart to adore his goodness. The French behaved very ill to our prisoners on the 16th; several of our wounded the blood-thirsty cowards ran through with their bayonets and swords. These were not the old soldiers we used to fight with. Some have lived so long as to testify against them, and to show us their wounds; but the British have in return rescued many of their enemies from death, and given them bread and water, and looked as much to their safety as to our own. The duke has greatly endeared himself to the British soldiers; more so in these actions than in all before. I ever loved and reposed confidence in him as my commander; but the example he gave us on the 18th, and again on the 26th of June, was sufficient to influence every man with that fortitude and determination: "With Wellington we will conquer, or with Wellington we will die!" He was continually in the first line, and frequently with our battalion. I have seen some of the enemy's cavalry charge within fifty yards of him. I prayed to God most earnestly for his protection, and I bless the Lord for his preservation: I hope his heart will rejoice in the fruit of his labour, giving God the glory due for his many signal victories. I am happy to say that Major-gen. Maitland is safe and well; he is an example to all around. I lament the sufferings of my late Col. Cook: he was severely wounded on the 18th: I pray God to spare his valuable life. You have often heard me speak of him. But what shall I say in honour of my late Lieut.-col.Wm. Miller, my great friend, my helper?-a servant to the cause of Christ, in the Isla de Leon, and to his latest breath. He is no more to be seen in this world!--he was mortally wounded on the 16th of June, and on the 13th he breathed his last. 496 Account of the Battle of Waterloo, by a Serjeant in the Guards. [July 1, As for Col. Miller's attention to his company, none excelled; he was continually inquiring what could be done to nake them more comfortable. "I do not care for the expense," he would say; "money is no object to me." On the close of a day's march, his first care was to see his men comfortable, and then he Considered himself; and after an absence of any time, his first inquiry was concerning their health and conduct. Before the enemy he was cool and delibeate, vigilant and brave, firm and determined; and on the 16th June, at the head of his company in very close action, cheering his men, he received a wound in his breast which proved mortal. As he passed to the rear, borne by four men, he said, "Let me see the colours." The last office I could do for him was to place the colour in Ensign Batty's hand, to pay him his funeral honours while living. He then said: "I thank you; that will do; I am satisfied." His meaning was, that he died for his country, and in a just cause. I have lost my greatest friend, and my company a father; England a valuable officer; his parents a beloved son; and the Church of Christ a friend: but may our loss be his eternal gain! Serjeant Clarke, who attended him, informs me that his last breath was prayer. I hope his soul is at rest!-his labours of love and charity follow him! I shall see him no more in this world; but his name will be a lasting treasure to my heart. Believe me, sir, I never felt a loss like this before; I cannot find words to express the feelings of my heart. I should like our friends to know, that an officer, a friend to God and the truth, hath, in the late glorious victory, sealed the justness of our cause with his blood. I am very sorry for the commanding officer of our battalion, and first major, Lieut.-col. Stuart, and Lieut.-col. the Hon. H. Townshend, who are severely wounded; they are most excellent officers and brave soldiers. May God in mercy restore them shortly to health! On our march to Paris we passed through a most beautiful and fruitful country, with but little opposition. At Peronne, on the 26th of June, after a long day's march, on our arrival, his Grace gave the first brigade a job. Our second battalion carried the fascines, and the third battalion stormed the outworks in a most masterly manner, and the citadel surrendered immediately. Major-gen. Maitland commanded; and here again the duke was himself in the midst of it. It has been expressed that our beloved commander is not much exposed: I can fully contradict that assertion; for he is often first, and always in the midst: he will not permit others to do his duty. I believe Britain is his treasure, and his life he has pledged for its safety. The Prussians fight exceedingly well. When we arrived off Paris they shouted for joy, and the French trembled. Several villages on the road were deserted, for which the inhabitants suffered: protection was given to those that remained. Much damage has been done to the corn. France, by her deceit, licentiousness, and abominable wickedness, has gathered this cloud over herself; and it has burst upon her head, and no doubt many now repent their folly. The appearance of religion is not seen, and to speak of it is foolishness to them. The Sabbath is not known by that solemn worship which is due to God; it is only known by pleasure: and as for common decency, it seems to be very trifling. The element of the trades-people is imposition. In Paris all is peace and tranquillity-a good reason why. But the people tell us: "As soon as you are gone, we shall be Frenchmen again."— I think the only thing we can do is to guarantee the outposts of this country by ourselves and allies, until they have destroyed the fortifications and arsenals, and leave only what may be necessary for internal defence. However, I hope God is with the sovereigns and ministers in Paris, as he was with us at Waterloo, and in all our undertakings; and that peace may be settled upon a good foun dation. The entrance into the city and palace is most beautiful, as also the triumphal arches and picture-gallery, and Napoleon's brazen monument of ambition, wreathed with trophies of victory and homage paid him from the different countries he conquered. There is a small vacant place near the top, and the people tell us it was intended to place Britannia there. But in his presumptuous thought he falls; his strength and glory depart: he sues at the feet of our sovereign for mercy, and proves himself no more a monarch, but a captive! We soldiers feel grateful for the gracious thanks given to us by our sove reign, his ministers, and the honourable houses of parliament of our beloved country, for our zealous exertions at Waterloo, and the glorious victory God has crowned us with. Be assured, sir, we feel this as an invaluable treasure: it |