Florence, which he despatched on the 25th following. A subsequent entry notices his disappointment in not again hearing from his mother, whom, amidst all his wanderings from the path of integrity and virtue, he evidently regarded with unfeigned reverence and affection; while another states the arrival of an answer from her to a recent letter of enquiry from himself, which, either from the favourable account of his parent's welfare, or its salutary influence upon his own mind, appears to have afforded him much pleasure.

It cannot, however, be a matter of surprise to any one, who considers the imprudent manner in which Mr. Buchanan had left his native country, the deceit which he was practising upon his friends, the faint prospect which he could reasonably entertain of any considerable success in the world, and, above all, the pious education which he had received, to find, that the memoranda in question exhibit frequent marks of his inward per plexity and unhappiness. Thus, on the 10th of May 1789, he records, in Latin, with an emphasis of expression which evidently proves the depth and sincerity of the feelings with which he wrote; "I "have lived, I know not how, in a state of forget"fulness, or mental intoxication, to this day!" And on the 15th of July following, he briefly extends the same painful confession to that time. Within three days after the first of these dates, Mr. Bu chanan was seized with a severe attack of fever

during which, he observes, that he had experienced, as might very naturally be expected, most uncomfortable reflections on his present situation. These, however, appear to have made no deep or lasting impression upon him, but, as in too many similar instances, to have vanished with the temporary alarm which occasioned them. Accordingly he soon afterwards states, that he had on that morning written part of a letter to his mother, telling her, with the careless levity which in irreligious and impenitent minds returns, when relieved from the immediate fear of punishment, that he had altered his "plan of death and misfortune, to "that of fortune and festivity."

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He laments also, that on his recovery he had broken some salutary resolutions which he had made during his illness, and adds, in the tone of fretful but impotent violence which characterizes those who are irritated rather than humbled by the consciousness of their weakness, and are ignorant of its only effectual remedy, "I swear I'll do so no "more. O! that I knew how to persevere in good "resolutions, as well as to make them! This has "been my failing from my infancy.". Who has not been compelled to make the same humiliating reflection, until acquainted with Him of whom the subject of these Memoirs was as yet practically ignorant? without whom we can do nothing, but by whose gracious assistance the Christian can do all things!

Among the various notices of his feelings and engagements, which occur in these memoranda, there are several, which prove that, amidst the incessant labour of an employment, which occupied nearly twelve hours of each day, Mr. Buchanan occasionally contrived to devote a part of his scanty leisure to literary pursuits. Unhappily, he was at this period so little under the influence of religion, that the Sabbath was too often spent in the study of Virgil and Horace; though at other times his reading on that sacred day appears to have been of a graver nature. But the later hours of his evenings, which were not dedicated to amusement, seem to have been laudably employed in storing his mind with classical and general knowledge, and occasionally in improving his memory by artificial rules and practice.

Though the irreligious state, in which he was at this time living, led him too generally to neglect public worship, his early habits still induced him sometimes to enter the house of God. Upon one of these occasions he appears to have been much struck with the conduct of a young friend, who was so deeply alarmed while the preacher was displaying the terrors of the Lord in the future punishment of the wicked, that he rose up, leaving his hat behind him, and walked out of the church. It is understood that Mr. Buchanan considered this person as having been afterwards made spiritually useful to him.

Two short notes in the summer of the year 1789 indicate, that there were, even at that period, seasons in which he thought much and seriously upon his own state, and upon religious subjects; during which his reflections were sometimes gloomy and desponding, and resembling "the sighing of "the prisoner" for deliverance; and at others cheered by a faint and distant hope of one day enjoying, through the infinite grace of God, the comforts of religion.

In the following year some traces of pious feeling occur, in the brief journal from which the preceding circumstances are extracted. He notices a religious conversation with a friend, and adds, that he had in consequence thought seriously of a reformation. He mentions emphatically a season of private prayer, and his intention of purchasing a new Bible, when he could afford it; and while he confesses on one occasion, with evident regret, his disinclination to religion, and alleges as one of the immediate causes, or symptoms, of this evil, the indulgence of morning slumbers, he observes, on another, that he had declined the invitation of a friend to a visit in the country on the following Sunday, upon religious principle, though he did not at the moment distinctly avow it. All these are circumstances indicative of a mind awaking from the deadly sleep of sin to the life of righteousness, and introductory to that important

change of sentiment and conduct which was now

approaching.

It is possible, indeed, that some may be at a loss to understand the meaning of this language, or to conceive the necessity of any other alteration in the religious character of Mr. Buchanan, than the acknowledgment and correction of a few venial errors and irregularities, or the supply of certain obvious omissions in his conduct. The determination of this question must undoubtedly depend upon the general views of those who consider it. In proportion as the standard of practical religion is either elevated or depressed, will be the judgment of every one as to the actual state, at this period of his life, of the subject of these Memoirs. If slight and superficial views are entertained of the guilt and danger of a sensual and worldly life, and of the nature and extent of Christian faith and holiness, the moral and religious deficiencies of Mr. Buchanan will certainly appear trivial and unimportant. But if, as the Scriptures unequivocally assert, to live in the habitual neglect of Almighty God, though a formal acknowledgment of his being and attributes may be professed, is virtual impiety; to avow the name of Christian, but to refuse the homage of the heart to Jesus Christ as a Saviour, is real unbelief; and occasionally to indulge in wilful sin, though the external manners may be decent and

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