28 John Bachman. 



purest and best men it had ever been my privilege 

 to be associated with." The young pastor's pale 

 face disturbed and distressed his parishioner ; " You 

 must live much in the open air and ride on horse- 

 back," he said. The next day a good pony was put 

 at his disposal. He rode out, and this was the 

 scene that presented itself : 



" I found our citizens working on the lines of 

 defence thrown around the land-side of our city- 

 even ladies went there with hoes and spades to cheer 

 the citizen-soldiers by their presence, their counte- 

 nance, and example ; and I, too, joined, at least in 

 form, for it was our common country that was to be 

 defended. In the meantime, the battle of New 

 Orleans had been fought on the 8th of January, and 

 a treaty of peace had been signed at Ghent ; but 

 these important events were not known until some 

 time afterwards. The war had fallen heavily on 

 our Southern people. The principle staple of our 

 commerce, cotton, had for several years, during the 

 embargo and war, been sold at a mere nominal 

 value, and was stored away in various depositories 

 in King street. Men had the necessaries of life, 

 and these were cheap; but all the means of enter- 

 prise, and all the avenues to wealth, were closed up. 

 Fortunately men w r ere driven to the necessity of 

 manufacturing their necessary articles, and they 

 were compelled to deny themselves luxuries ; they 

 studied economy, and hence there was not much 

 suffering among our people from any want of the 

 necessaries of life. But the constant dread of in- 

 vasion and the sufferings and dangers to which our 

 friends, who were in the army and at sea, were con- 

 stantly exposed, kept the minds of our citizens in an 

 unsettled and feverish state. 



