not always his judgment entirely at command--which
frequently results from a habit of decision and promptitude, mistaken by
many for impetuosity--he was always fertile in resources, quick in
expedients, and any errors arising from his first impulses were amply
amended by the energy and skill with which he ultimately fulfilled every
tittle of the duty intrusted to him.

When John Shipp stood upon the parade at Chatham, in the October of
1825, he was, as he has himself informed us, performing the last of his
military duties. We have already seen with what feelings he bade adieu
to "the plumed troop and the big war"--to the profession which had been
the choice of his childhood and the pride of his riper years--amid which
he had grown and flourished; and, when he had resigned his command to
the officer of Fort Pitt Barrack, he wandered forth into the world a
melancholy man, because no longer a soldier. His military career was
thus finished, as he truly foreboded, for ever. That eventful and not
inglorious campaign of his existence, of which he has given so vivid an
account, was at an end, and he was now alone in the world, destitute of
occupation, and without immediate aim or object. Hitherto, his life had
been a romance, the various vicissitudes whereof forcibly verify the
adage, that "truth is stranger than fiction." Though the reader will
have henceforth to regard him as a mere civilian, his movements confined
to his native island, where stirring incidents and dashing adventures
are not rife, yet the details of his remaining years are not entirely
destitute of interest and instruction.

Although the first and natural feeling of the gallant ex-lieutenant, at
the contemplation of his position, was one of deep despondency, yet the
manliness of his nature forbid a tame submission to vain and bootless
melancholy. He had before risen superior to the oppression of that
gloomy goddess. His energies soon rallied, and the innate fortitude of
his character came to his aid. He was furnished with excellent
credentials from those officers with whom he had served; and, having
taken up his residence in the metropolis, he set himself sedulously to
work to procure employment. At first he was elated with hope, from the
numerous promises which he received, and the kindness and urbanity with
which his pretensions were entertained. He soon found, however, that
there was a difference between professions and practice--between
hospitality and a