LETTER, POM HUNTSVILLE, ALA, Huntsville, Ala., March 1804. Dear Editor : In tins second lein-r; ■which I write you as a udeg-aw <>f the j ' Christian C oimnrssion, 1 resume u■ in : Distributing reading, matter, visiting the hospitals,, preaching, and teachmg in a negro school. Of these in their order, i First —Distributing! reading 'matter. The mas ter,itself is of course all religious. : consisting'.qf,; tracts and newspapers. The newspapers, are of u|t denominations -rrthat’ is, (evangelical denominations, and • we -liave ’thelri in the fullest Variety. indeed, it seems, to mo that, ’ SChYoely a religious paper published m ' the cbuntrjg but wo have copies of it. Hence let-a man ask us for what paper he may arid we ®e able to supply him.. And oh! how it gladdens, the liearts of ■the soldiers to receive the very paper of their dear, old, familiar sheet, maybe, that theyhave been: accustomed to see'and to read from their boyhood! ■ One of-the family faces, it seems to do. them as much good as a 1 visit from a. father or a brother would. In distributing these papers we do 3t as delegates, only in those regiments that are not provided with eh aplains. Where there is a chaplain, we give l him the papers and suffer him to distribute them, never wishing''in any Way whatever to '/bopie bletwebd' the chaplain and his men. We go from tent to tent in distributing, ■ and leave one, two or three papers' in jach tent, aecol'ding to the number of its inmates, In thus going from font to tent, we get acquainted with the soldier’s inner life, as it were. And alas! in' how many cases do we find it no very credit able one. Card-playing and even'gam bling we find, not indeed universal (for we riot unfrequently light' upon men singing hymns and reading {he Bible) yet fearfully common, alarmingly general. Happening upon any so engaged, ‘we liliver sipfer them to go nnrfeprovcd; we always, kindly and yet as forcibly as we are able, protest against their employ ment, and though we have done so hundreds of times, have in no case re ceived other than the kindest replies. In these distributing visits,besides our paper’s and tracts wC sorrietimes cany with us horiiewives comfort bags. And how Willingly' these are received —yea, eagerly sought after! Why, scarcely do you appear in camp with them but you are surrounded by a! crowd, each begging . most eloquently for one. However, our own practice is never to give them indis criminately in a crowd. We distribute them the same as we do the papers, from tent to tent, and one, two or three in each. Thus, each mess to some degree reaps of their, handful, and not, as Otherwise would be the ease, al! of one mess getting and perhaps none of another. That soldier considers himself the most fortunate and is the envy of all the others, who gets a real pen and ink letter from the donor in his housewife. And doing so, down be sits alihost immediately and .writes a thankful, acknowledgment to the little boy or girl from whom it has come. And now let this be an encourage ment to the little boys arid girls that are. accustomed to read this paper, to have a 'hand in this good 'work. Yes, my little friends, make up a housewife or comfort bag; fill it with needles, and’ thread,,and buttons' and pins, arid put a littleletter of your, own writing in it, and start it off to some soldier through the Christian Commission. So doing, I guarantee you that,, whilst 'you will bestow a great fayoi- upon shine brave soldier, so -also in' the. course of time you Will receive from him a nice letter of thanks, which will repay , you tenfold (qr your expense trouble. " ' . : ‘ ' ! .Second— Visiting"hospitals. At ; some points this is the delegate’s principal work. Here, however, it occupies hut little of his time and attention. The reason is that wc have but two hospitals in the place, arid in them both only from thirty to forty patients. Still, though the patients are so' few we don't over look them. We distribute papers and tracts among them, hold religious services from time to time in their'-wards, con verse individually with such as are particularly sick, and write letters for them to their friends at borne. Wc came provided with delicacies and undercloth ing for such’ as might need them, but so far have found very little occasion to use ■ them. Two sanitary commissions are here, whole peculiar work it is to provide those things, and as they-do it most abundantly, all aid from iri is entirely forestalled; A third thing in our work is preach ing. Here-again our work at this point is somewhat limited. Hot from the fewness of men or Regiments, but: from the multiplicity of Chaplains.- Ho part of the army, I suppose’-is belter supplied-' in ibis way Ihan the ray. Every evening thousands gather in the chapels to pray. Can you not spend at least apart of the hour between seven and eight o’clock each evening in “effectual earnest prayer” for tlic bravo and noble de fenders of our country whose souls are in such peril? The early Christians sympathized so deeply With Peter when he was in prison that prayer was made without ceasing, of the church, unto God for him. (Acts xii.) And surely the tens of thousands of Satan’s captives in our artnieS 'ought to- awaken all, our sympathies! God delivered Peter and will deliver these' if the whole; church Unites its prayers for them. A father wrote me recently, that in praying for his son in my regiment,, be had been as sured that he would be converted. Then the son was far from God; but before the letter reached me he was; rejoicing in the pardon qE sin. O for united, be lieving, importunate prayer! '. Second, You can write. There is probably at least one in the'army,' with whom what you might say would jhave more weight than all that could be ut tered by his Chaplain, or any one else. You know his history. He -may have made you vows as yet unfulfilled. You understand the secret spring of his na ture. At any rate, you lore Aim and he loves you, and if- any: one can Influence him you can. Write him an earnest, af fectionate letter, pleading With him to give-Grid his heart at once. Let it be steeped inprdyer, and if it is blotted with tears all the; better. The Spirit-will at tend it to his soul and he will be saved. As you value these precious souls—as you desire to be pure from the blood of all men, T beg you do am, von can, and do it now. Chaplain. Veneration for the maxims of an tiquity, and respect for long established customs, are elementary principles in the human soul. So strong is their hold upon the majority of persons, and so great their influence, that more than ordinary courage.is requisite to free one’s. self from their powerful grasp,' and none but the strongest reasons will be accepted as a sufficient justification for attacking them, and desiring to abo lish theto. Hence it. was not without a good .'deal of fear and trembling, that we determined to make some strictures upon a practice so ancient and wide spread, as sleeping in church. Apart from the presumption with which we may be charged, and the cry of innova tion that may be raised against us, we felt that it was a hazardous enterprise, and one which would not fail to excite opposition, to attempt, to do or say any thin" which would, interfere with the o weekly slumbers of so many good men: for very few Christians have grace enough to enable them to bear to be wakened in the middle of a comfortable nap without feeling irritated., much less to be entirety deprived of it; in rousing them out pf sleep, you are liable to rouse their anger. We are willing, however, to run this risk; for we are firmly con vinced, and this is our onty apology for saying anything against so vbnerable and respectable a habit, that sleeping in church is wrong, and therefore ought not to go unrebuked. In making we are not una ware of its gravity, nor of the many ex cuses that have been framed in defense or rather in palliation of this evil habit, and- shall therefore endeavor to make goodour statement by arguments as pro found as church slumbers generally are. it is said by .some that sleeping in church is a mark of confidence in the preacher that they are sure of his being orthodox, that it is a compliment, there fore, instead of a slight. This certainly is very soothing, and ought to be per fectly satisfactory. But we reply that it is reposing too much l in the faithful ness of man, forgetful of the exhortation, “put not your trust in man. nor in the son of man, in whom there is no stay.” It would also seem to recognize the Po pish doctrine of clerical infallibility, and it is a well-known fact that those minis ters who most need watching, are the very ones under whom their slumbers are unbroken, and their sleep most re freshing. And how do these sleepers know, but that, while they are enjoying a most delightful doze, and dreaming about something in no way connected with points of Vlocirine, their minister may inserting the wedge of errOi-jihto theilr system of truth, or slyly, insinuating, some dreadful heresy ? The abovje excust- is clearly unsatisfac- SLEEPING IN CHURCH. tory; these sleepers ought to he wide awake. It has been asserted that the nodding 01 the head, observable in some -persons while lost in sleep, must bo very encou raging to the preacher, because it signifies their cordial assent to the truths which he may be uttering. This is another “ quieting” argument, but equally flimsy with the one preceding. Hot to speak of the fact that ministers know right well, particularly When their preaching is ofa “personal” character, that they do not coincide With all their statements; we refuse, 011 philosophical grounds, to give to this downward, motion of the head any such interpretation. It is an involuntary thing, caused- by the action of gravitation,and, therefore has no more, significance than the well-known shaking of the head produced by palsy. In ad dition to this, there is the painful feel ing which is (excited in the breast of the and of all who may be cogni-- zant of it, lest this' very important por tion of the human frame, in its sudden descent,, should, by its own weight, break the ligaments which connect it with the rest of the body, and tumble to the ground. “ The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak,” is another plea urged in extenu ation of this offence, but it cannot bo sa tisfactorily maintained. Where, we ask, are the signs of “ weakness in the flesh” in those who constitute (the vast ma jority of sleepers? By a euphemism, we know, all bad habits are called weak nesses ; as, for example, when we see a man too feeble to stand alone, but must lean against a-wall or lamp-post, we at tribute this weakness of his to a weak ness. Upon this principle, we readily admit that sleeping in church may be ascribed to a weakness, but, most as suredly, it cannot be imputed ;to weak ness. ; We are inclined to think that the “ willingness” which these persons speak of, is a willingness to sleep. This habit of theirs cannot, therefore, be called a sin of “infirmity," owing to “ weakness in the flesh.” ’ But, perhaps some of these sleepers may say that, in their case, itisa “work of necessity and mercy.” Well, we re member seeing somewhere an account of an old lady, who lived in a place where they had onty occasional preach ing. During the interval between the visits of the minister, she slept little or none. When there was preaching, her children always took her to church, not with the expectation that she would de rive any benefit from the sermon, for she could not hear a word, but because she was sure to go to sleep, and she re turned home, if not edified, ■ at least greatly refreshed. In this case we might admit the plea of “ necessity arid mercy.” .But, as a man,once said when the ad vice of Paul to Timothy was quoted to him, in order to persuade him to drink, “my name is not Timothy and there is nothing the matter with my stomach;” so we would say in regard to the sleepers in our churches, they are not old women, they are riot deaf nor are they insomni ous. This excuse is evidently unavail ing. In regard to the cause or causes which make a Church, during the hours of pub lic worship, so favorite and so favorable a place for sleeping, we shall not say any thing; for, on this subject we could not speak with any degree of definiteness. One thing we know, and it is a very con soling fact to those who are conscious of being somewhat “heavy” and “dry,” that it is not always nor altogether in the minister, for under the greatest preachers, Paul the Apostle, for ex ample, persons have gone asleep. Where 'then lies the blame? Could we only get to. the root of the matter, a cure might be proposed, a remedy might he applied. R. W. HOW GOD ANSWERED PRAYER IN THE . EARLY CHURCH. A SCRAP PROM ANCIENT HISTORY, • In .the fourth century, during the reign of Constantine, the church had rest from a persecution which had been almost continuous under the Emperors. of pagan Borne from the days of the Apostles. In this reign lived Arms, the founder of the great heresy known as Arianism, a belief very similar to that of the Unitarians of the present day, who deny that Christ was divine, looking upon him as a wonderful man endowed by God with miraculous powers. A great council of bishops was called by the Emperor Constantine, at Hice, to determine wliat the true doctrine was in relation to the divinity of Christ. Constantine was not clear in his own convictions as to the truth in this matter, nor was he very particular as to wliat he did believe, but the discus sion upon this topic was running, high, throughout the Empire. The Christian world.-was the segne of constant ani mosity and contention; the absorbing subject 'everywhere was’ this; religious; controversy, and Constantinb desired pence. Tho council of 818 losliops iron’, a!! parts of the Christian world mot at Nice, A. D. 325. Constantine paid all their traveling expenses and also main tained them while there. Some of t bc«e good bishops hail been sorely persecuted in former days for tho faith of Josns. One had had “ both hands horribly burned by 3iot irons; others appeared deprived of their right eyes; others deprived of their right legs. A crowd of martyrs, in truth, were seen collected in one body.” Twenty-two favored Arius. The re sult was,, ho was deposed and excom municated. Gbnstantia, the sister of Constantine,, had great influence over him, and on her death-bed, she being secretly in the interest of the Arian party, persuaded the. Emperor to take measures to restore Arius. By degrees tho Arians suc ceeded in gaining a new foothold, accom plishing by arts, subtlety and ingenious falsehoods what good.men would not dare to undertake. . Arias came to. Constantinople, the capital, by order of the Emperor. His friends, who were influential and power ful,'determined that lie should proclaim in'the church his doctrines. The good bishop of Constantinople, Alexander, kno w that bis subtlety and artifice were dangerous elements to contend with. He was unwilling to admit a wolf who would devour the sheep. by insinuating his poison, into the church. He spent several days and nights in prayer alone in his church. The faithful followed diis example, and prayer was made, by the church without ceasing, that God would interfere on this occasion. Constantine examined Arius as to his faith, requiring:him to subscribe to the truth of the decrees of the Nicene coun cil, which he did readily, and confirmed it by his oath, thus unscrupulously pei’- juring himself. Bishop Alexander was then ordered by the Emperor to receive Arius into his church. “The good bishop had given himself to fasting and prayer, by renewing his supplication that day with great fervor in the church,prostrate before the altar: He begged that if Arius was in the right, he himself might not live to see the day of contest; but if the faith was true that he professed, that Arius, the 1 author of all the evils, might suffer the punishment of his impiety. The next day teemed to he a triumphant one to the Arians. The heads of the party paraded through the city with Arius in their midst, and drew the attention of all toward them. When they came .nigh to the forum of Constantine, a sudden terror with extreme pain in the bowels seized Arius. He fainted, and in a few minutes expired with a fearful hemorrhage. The place of liis death was' memorable to posterity, and was pointed out for many years.” Finally a rich' Allan purchased the spot and built a house upon it, that tho judgment upon Arius might be forgotten. Thus did God answer the prayer of the faithful Christians of the fourth century. EXTRACTS FROM THE JOURNAL OP EEV. E. E. ADAMS, DURING A VISIT TO THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC. On the morning of Feb. 23. we set off for the army. Met in the ears some ma rines, who gladly took the reading mat ter we offered, and listened to our Chris tian advice. One among them, a boy, had deserted, and was returned by Ins mother. Ho was full of fun, regarding his desertion as a good joke. Soldiers gathered about me earnestly asking for tracts and books. At the station of the Christian Commission, we nu inhered five in the ; little attic dormitory. Retiring first, my heart went up grateful to Cod for rest. The moon looked kindly in through the windows, and stars peered out from their far pavilions, as if beckon ing me upward. It was blessed to feel the calm of the hour, to have gone aside from the noise and sin, and clashing of the world, and he alone with night, with heaven, with God. With these still serene thoughts I sank to sleep. “ O sleep, sweet sleep; Whatever form thou takest, thou are fair. Holding unto our lips thy goblet filled, Out of oblivion’s well, a healing draught.” Awaking at the sound of the bell, I saw in the surrounding conches, wakers like myself, We interchanged u good morning .” “ We are ignorant of each other’s names,” said I, “ but doubtless on the same errand.” Whereupon one after another sat, up and the introduction went around: “ I am Mr. Adams from Easton,” and “ I am Mr. Adams from Philadelphia,” and “ I am Mr. Tenney from Maine; and I am Mi-. from Hew Hampshire,” and “ l am Mr. from Connecticut.” And we laughed for joy. “How,” said one, “let ns see what we are ecclesiastically,” and .the response began; “ f am H. S. Presby terian,” and “l am 0. H,” and' “ lam Congregational,” .“-I am a Methodist,”' and lam n Covenanter and then wo laughed again. Is not 'this a token of the great hour, when the •• reveille ” shall be sounded by angel trumpet.* awaking dead millions to eternal dav? Wiil there not be greetings and kit:''auctions, and instructive views of life and character and personality? Gathered g-G!!! .pj quarters of tlie earth, from all branches of the church, standing up together by our deserted graves, shall we not know tho oneness of all Christ s children ? It .is pleasant to .meet men .as. we met in that chamber... We haye no antagonisms. We .see each other in our best mien, we are communicative, We exchange our best thoughts, and part with happy re membrances. The work .of the Christian Commission offers many, such occasions, gives many such delightful introductions, in and On the way to the camps. And there will be hours in eternity for the review of these meetings, as there will be friendships also which were formed in this casual, but providential manner. Long shall I earrjk in my heart t p e j m _ ages of those whom these reunions brought together. ROMAN CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT CHURCH BUILDINGS IN THE WAR. Bro'. Mears :—Your correspondent J. L. L., writing from Chattanooga, mentions a fact which is by no means agreeable, either to truly loyal, or Pro testant feeling. I refer to the especial care of the commanding general, to pre vent the use of a Homan Catholic church for sheltering our sick and wounded sol diers. This it seems was too sacred to be used for such unnecessary purpose; and hence a guard was detailed to keep itfrom being so used, and that too, while pur suffering soldiers were perishing for the want of proper shelter! Roman Catho lic churches are too holy to be used save the lives of those who are fighting for their country! To the commanding general, a church of his faith, is a more sacred thing, than the lives of the brave boys who are fighting under him. The suffering men are lost sight of in his zeal for the church. And this is one of the characteristics of popery. Of this, the conduct of the Romish priests, at the burning of the Jesuit’s church in Santi ago, is an illustration. They could busy themselves in Saving their idolatrous trumpery, while thousands of their de luded followers were perishing amid the flames. And so, General Rosecrans must preserve the church, at the expense of the lives of the soldiers! Protestant churches are cheerfully off. fered when required, for the comfort of our sick and wckmded soldiers. Com manding officers do not hesitate to ap propriate them for such a purpose ; but holy 1 Roman Catholic church-buildings must not be so desecrated! Out upon such invidious discriminations. I knew an in stance here in Kansas, where a Protest ant church was : used last Winter, not to shelter soldiers ' from the inclemency of of the weather, but their horses; and, I suppose, if such a thing had been done to apapal church,there would have been a terrible indignation all over the land among the papal devotees, and their dear friends, certain politicians who are ever trimming their sails that they may catch the popular breeze ; and, I suppose too, that some of the dignitaries at Washing ton would have written letters of sym pathy and condolence on the occasion : and perhaps Congress would have made a special appropriation to heal the terri ble desecration, and to pacify the papal conscience. G. W. M, This is a Protestant H ation. Our re ligion is the religion of the Bible; Roman Catholics are not entitled to any peculiar privileges ; and when some of our civil and military officers show them special favors, such become “ unsavory” to all true Protestants. ’ S. 11. W. DEATH OF DE. JONATHAN EDWAEDS, Returning from Sabbath evening ser vice recently, we passed a church whose denomination we did not know, but hearing a preacher’s voice, we quietly stepped to the door ajar, and listened. The theme was “Death, a benevolent provision of the Almighty.” Among the illustrations, was the removal of Dr. Edwards, giving place to those who would cast off his errors, and extend the area of truth. The speaker said ear nestly, “We are greatly in advance of him! But for death, he would still have been preaching up the lake of fire &c.”—We do not, give with perfect ac curacy, perhaps, the expression, but nearly so. We looked at the young man with a smile of incredulity. The scholarly theologian, the devout and eloquent preacher, dwarfed in the dis tance, by a youthful divine, commanding an audience of about 100 people! He farther insisted, that each generation of the race, was an improvement every way on the preceding. We thought in reference to such teachers, of David’s holy irony f “He that sittoth in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in derision.” 11.