As soon as I addressed him, he started and said, "Oh! is
it you, Squire? come and sit down by me, my friend. I
can talk to _you_, and I assure you I take great pleasure
in doing so I cannot always talk to Sam: he is excited
now; he is anticipating great pleasure from his visit to
England, and is quite boisterous in the exuberance of
his spirits. I own I am depressed at times; it is natural
I should be, but I shall endeavour not to be the cause
of sadness in others. I not only like cheerfulness myself,
but I like to promote it; it is a sign of an innocent
mind, and a heart in peace with God and in charity with
man. All nature is cheerful, its voice is harmonious,
and its countenance smiling; the very garb in which it
is clothed is gay; why then should man be an exception
to every thing around him? Sour sectarians, who address
our fears, rather than our affections, may say what they
please, Sir, but mirth is not inconsistent with religion,
but rather an evidence that our religion is right. If I
appear dull, therefore, do not suppose it is because I
think it necessary to be so, but because certain reflections
are natural to me as a clergyman, as a man far advanced
in years, and as a pilgrim who leaves his home at a period
of life, when the probabilities are, he may not be spared
to revisit it.

"I am like yourself, a colonist by birth. At the revolution
I took no part in the struggle; my profession and my
habits both exempted me. Whether the separation was
justifiable or not, either on civil or religious principles,
it is not now necessary to discuss. It took place, however,