He read his Bible and spent many hours in prayer, and finally yielded completely to God.

He made his mother inexpressibly happy by sending her the glad news, and thenceforward throughout his stirring life he was one of the most humble, devout and consecrated of Christians.
Like Havelock, he did an amount of good among those placed under his charge, the full extent of which can never be known in this world.

While on duty at the Naval Asylum in Philadelphia he persuaded the men to give up their grog rations and sign a pledge of total abstinence, and when executive officer on the _Cumberland_ he did the same thing with its crew.

He was a voluntary chaplain and gave a religious address on the berth deck every Sunday evening to those who wished to listen.
Disease of the eyes incapacitated him for duty for a long time, and he was much disappointed that he was not permitted to take any part in the Mexican war.

One of his most practical temperance addresses was that, while engaged off the coast of Africa in suppressing the slave trade, he persuaded the men under him on the _Perry_, of which he was the commander, to give up the use of liquor.