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From that time we supported life by morgaging the few cloaths we had brought upon our backs, without one ray of hope to tempt us to look forward, till they also were all gone, and the misery of cold added to that of hunger. In this condition, we had been two days without taſting bread, or feeling the warmth of fire, calling inceſſantly upon death to put that end to our diſtresses, which a ſense of religion, made ſtronger by my wretchedness, now prevented my daring to haſten, when my daughter ſtole out unknown to us to ſeek for charity in the ſtreets, where ſhe wandered without meeting any thing but inſults, and ſollicitations to vice, till heaven directed your ſteps to her.
Such was the reward of more then twenty years faithful and hard ſervice, in which I had fought the battles of my country, in oppoſite extremities of the globe, with honour, and been inſtrumental in making princely fortunes for the ſeveral commanders, under whom I ſerved.
This, Sir, is the ſum of my ſtory, in which I have been as brief as I could, to avoid giving you pain. We are now your creatures. The lives we enjoy are immediately the gift of your benevolence; a benevolence ſo critically timed, (for we could not have ſubſiſted many hours longer without it) as to raiſe a hope, that Providence, which ſent you to our relief, will not leave its work
