Torreopoutence, FROM OUR WASHINGTON OORRESPON- DENT DEAR BROTHER :-I have thought that nothing I could write from Washington would be more interesting to you and your readers than an account of the condition and numbers of the contra bands in and around the capital. This people have been gradually accumulat , ing around Alexandria and Washington,- for three years. Two colored regiments have been raised in the District. As our armies have advanced into Virginia the number of slave families coming within our lines has been constantly on the increase. Two years ago they were repelled by our troops; and many officers in the -army permitted masters to come within, our lines, who were known to be dis loyal, and seize their servants who had ;fled ..to us.for protection. Then it was the spirit of the army to denounce as public enemies and fana tics, those who dared to show any sym cathy for the:. enslaved, or who gave utterance to the conviction that slavery was the cause of the war and must be destroyed before peace wasfound. Then in military circles all those officers who were known to be anti-slavery were ta booed, and to be left out in the cold, in the grand days of a restored Union on the basis of new compromises. But now, thanks to Him who taught us by our reverses, and convinced us of our sin by disappointment and defeats, we no longer retain this on the cata -logue of our transgressions, that we re turn to the miseries of bondage him who fled to us. • Of these refugeea from slavery, there acre now here and. in Alexandria about twenty-five thousand. This does not include the colored troops on Mason Isle and in camp Casey, of whom there are I should think not fewer than eight hundred. AT ALEXANDRIA There are about 7,500 Freedmen. They are in care of a Superintendent of Con trabands, the Rev. Mr. Gladwin. There has been a great improvement in their condition. Some have made sufficient money to purchase lots and build houses. All are comfortably clad. Those who live in houses put up for them by the Government, pay four dollars a month rent. The men receive twenty-five and thirty dollars a month wages, and the - women make two and three dollars a - week by washing and other labors. Of this seven thousand five hundred, there are many aged people ; others -diseased and helpless. Yet it is a strik ing fact that of this number, but two hundred and eighty receive rations from the government as unable to take care of themselves. This is all who have applied for assistance. They are not willing to be dependent; they have been trained to scrape together a living, and living on charity is the last thing they think of. Thus in the multitude of our street beggars, you never see those who have been slaves. Amongst this people, there are twenty schools in Alexandria —in which all ages are taught. Often, the mother, grandmother and the chil dren on the same bench. Some of these schools are models of order. Around most of the :camps of the Freedmen, there are white soldiers on guard for protection, and sometimes for compulsion. But at Alexandria, the colored people relieve themselves of this humiliation, and place their own guards around their barracks, and thus save the government six hundred dollars a month. FREEWMANSVILLE At Arlington or Freedmans - are fifteen hundred of the fugitives from slavery. This village, in which the government has put up not less than one hundred and fifty houses, having a church, shops, &c., is a place of great interest. It is designed to be a model village. The houses and shops have been put up by a fund, accumulating from deducting five dollars a month from the wages of all colored men in the employ of the Qtiartermaster's De partment about Washington. I have understood that this brings eighteen hundred dollars a month, or two hun -dred thousand a year. The plan is, to employ the men and some of the women, in cultivating the confiscated estates. 'The land is not leased to the people, but is under the management of a Superinten dent and Farmer. The people are regu larly taken to the fields and brought - into camp again, as on the old planta .tions. The production of the fields belongs to the government and is sold in the market. The men and their families receive government rations—that is; a man the full ration of the soldier and the women and children half rations. The people are under an absolute mill vtary control; no man can leave the lines of the camp without a pass. Once there with his family, he cannot leave; he can make no contract and has nc, liberty whatever. I must confess this system has, to my mind, many of the worst features of slavery. It heaps the people together in a sweltering mass. It gives them none of the motives which prompt to virtue and industry. It leaves them as poor as when they began. They be come disaffected and spiritless. The women and young girls are without em ployment. This system has its germ in the theory that the fugitives are not able to take care of themselves, while on the con trary, it can be demonstrated, that the Freedmen, if left alone, will generally do well. But few of them are drunk ards. They are not constitutionally in dolent, as their long night walks and v.& mercurial activity in what pleases them plainly show. The negro is like other men ; he needs the stimulating power of those motives to which human nature always responds. As an Asylum for the aged, helpless and sick, Arlington may be valuable. But as a place of education for freedom, as a prosperous, harmonious community, it must disappoint those who nursed it into life. There is here an excellent school, taught by Mr. Livermore and his wife. Rev. Mr. Benedict, a most excellent man of the New York Tract Society, takes charge of the religious interests of the people and preaches to them on the Sabbath and during the week. OTHER SETTLEMENTS There are three other encampments within three and four miles of Arling ton, on the same principle. The num ber in these is three, two, and one hun dred, and the working is better. But in each is the same great defect ; the people are taught nothing. In the same region in Virginia; are several most prosperous communities of Freedmen, who have rented cabins, leased and bought land, and purchased horses and cattle. One such is. at "Falls. Church," where I preached last Sabbath. Of thii com munity, scattered .over several miles, I suppose there are one hundred fimilies. They come together on the Sabbath to learn to read, to write, and then to at tend divine service. I never saw a more orderly, school. Many a man and woman of forty was bending over a spelling book and learning the letters. A large class of twenty read in the New Testament, not one of whom was able to spell a• word six months ago. Such a congregation for order, quiet, attention I never addressed. Even little children remained as quiet and up right as statues in their seats. I was much rejoiced to see the cleanliness and decency of appearance of all, old and young—all the slattern amiwoe-begone look of slavery .was gone. They all looked as if, having found liberty, they had risen many degrees in manhood. I believe, from what we now see, that in the future it will be found, that the portion of the colored race who most rapidly rise to dignity and worth, were those who, in this hour, were emancipa ted. The weary waiting of those years, the trials and experiences of the last days, were to them what the last hours of bitter bondage were to the Israelites in Egypt—the sorrow and travail essen tial for a great deliverance. In another letter I will return to this again and speak of other colored com munities in the neighborhood. FEMALE EXTRAVAGANCE In the meantime, I am rejoiced to see the movements towards redeeming our households from folly and madness. Until our wives and daughters as sume the simplicity of dress becoming the times, we may be certain the na tional heart has not been reached by the sorrow and anguish of the present exigency. I hope the time is near when a lady will be ashamed to be seen in the streets gaily and brilliantly ar rayed. A lady who signs herself "MARY" in the Washington Chronicle says : " This war will never end until the women have beaten into their heads some sense." I know not how it may in your city, but certainly here there never was be fore such reckless extravagance in every thing; in carriages, horses, equipage, furniture; never such wild frenzy in pursuit of pleasure; never, before such crowds at the theatre; never such re spestable audiences, never so many pro fessors of religion in these houses of folly. Have we not reason to, fear, that so long as this folly reigns in the national mind, only "one woe" is past, and more bitter ones are to follow ? Oh ! when will we learn wisdo n, and listen to the voice of the rod ? Most glad was I to hear the call for a meeting of the ladies of this city, to be held in Dr. Sunderland's church, on Monday the 2d inst., to take into con sideration their duty as American wo- PHILADRLPHIA, THURSDAY, MAY 5, 1864. men in this hour, and if thought best, to bind themselves to wear nothing ex travagant or of foreign fabric during this war. May God prosper tbis good beginning 3. 3. M. SCHUYLER PRESBYTERY AND PLY MOUTH CHURCH. BROTHER MEARS :-011 a knoll or mound in an immense prairie stands Plymouth in Hancock county, 111, a half mile from McDonough and Schuylkill counties, and six miles from Brown county. The rail-road from Chicago to Quincy cuts the eastern slope of the emi nence; it is 227 miles from Chicago, 59 from Galesburg, and 41 to Quincy. Plymouth is misnamed ; for I do not know that a son of N. England has ever lived within its bounds, or been enrolled on the list of its Presbyterian Church;: which is one of the oldest in -Schuyler Presbytery A Connecticut Colony (Round Prairie) built their church in the Eastern edge• of Plymouth. These neighbors could not agree. They did not use the same vowel sound in:prononneing calf. , The- Congregationalists were ultra, (once having repealed utterly their confession of faith) and have always had Presby tery.in ;bad odor ; while the Presbyte rians were of the most straightest sort; and such congregationalism, the laxer of us even would not like. Both churches have always been weak, and have been kept alive by foreignsaid, but any attempt to unite them would be chimerical. In Tune 1861, Rev. Win. A. Chamber lain, a most worthy and liberal• man, took charge of the Congregational Church. Our church lastlrear was sup plied each third Sabbath only . , by 'Rev. John L. Jones residing at Camp Point 19 miles away. Our brethren heard Mr. Chamberlain two thirds of the time and liked him. Last fall they proposed to furnish half his support, both churches uniting in one congregation, meeting alternately in each church three months at a time, the Sabbath schools which are both large, remaining distinct. The plan acceded to with great reluctance by some, has worked well ; and Presby tery found them, on the 15th of April, meeting in our house, but using the Sabbath hymn and tune book with which many of our singers had supplied themselves before this arrangement. We had a very pleasant meeting. At communion four were received to the church on profession of their faith, one was a daughter of one member of the Presbytery and sister to another. One adult and two infants were baptized, the last children of a member of Prei: bytery. Rev. I. T. Whittemore was appointed delegate to the General Assembly; Rev. E. K. McCoy, alternate. Presbytery had the pleasure of listen ing to Pres. Curtis, and expressed its deep "interest in the College and Fe male Seminary at Galesburg." Our feeble churches occupied the greatest portion of our attention. Mea sures were taken which will probably result in the removal of four from our list of churches and adding one. Our next greatest interest was in our Publication Committee, in which per haps no Presbytery in the West feels a deeper interest than ours. Possibly the book from which we sang, operating on minds that are a unit in their love for the Church Psalmist, may have stimulat ed us somewhat in our regard to the books the committee have given us to praise God withal—and those it has not. Learning that the delay of a forth coming work was no longer " from want of funds," but because "size and con_ tents" were yet to be agreed on, Presby tery voted to request that there be giv en us "a small book in 24 mo, Familiar Hymns set to Familiar Tunes : .the tunes to be about 100 in number, every one of them old, tried, and ddar, all written in four parts, on a score of two staves, in the smallest music type used, and vary ing in metre to accomodate all the hymns in the church psalmist. The hymns to be about 200 in number, one under each tune adapted to family wor ship ; no two hymns of the same nature set to the same tune; that all the tunes be found in the Eclectic Tune-book, and. all the hymns taken from the Church Psalmist and be all found also in the book used for Sabbath school children. Also that the church psalmist in 64 mo., be issued without delay." It is very plain that had we already received the Familiar Hymns set to Fa miliar gums, and the Sunday school hymn book adjusted to it, we should still have been petitioning for the Psal mist set to tunes from the Eclectic, as the crowning work of this department of the P. P. C.,—something as convenient as the Sabbath Hymn and Tune Bock, the handiness of which we unwillingly were trying. We meet' next at Mount Sterling, 13th September, at 7.30 P. M. Yours I. F. H. • PROM OUR ROCHESTER - OORRESPON-- DENT. Tux lbw ORGAN is now set up, in the Cen tral Presbyterian Church of this city, and is to be tried this evening as we write. It will not be supposed by our distant readers, that the Central Church has hitherto been without an organ. But that which they bought fifteen years ago, when they were called the Wash ington Street Church, and had a much smaller church edifice, although a very good instru ment for its size, was not deemed adequate to the new house of worship. This was recently sold to the Presbyterian church in Mt. Morris, and is being transferred to that place, where it will still be used in the service of sacred song. The new instrument in the Central Church is much larger, said to be the largest but one, within the limits of the State, outside of the city of New YOrk. It has, in all, forty-six stops-, and 1946 pipes; three stops in which the longest pipes are sixteen feet, and the shortest only three quarters of an inch. It has, as the manufactures phrase it, a complete " swell organ," having twelve stops, ten of which run the entire length of the keyboard. It has three manuals, or banks of keys, and a set of pedals. Fortunately the large Sabbath school room of this church, which is also used as the Lec ture room, is directly in the rear of the organ, and here another bank of keys; and pedals, which operate upon the swell organ, are so ar ranged that the instrument may be played for the Sabbath school, and for evening meetings, as well as in the general service of the sanctu ary. In other words, the organ has two faces, although it is not expected that the music of this church, any more than the preaching, will be at all uncertain, as to character or mean ing. The organ is to be opened for public exhibi tion, on Saturday evening, in connection with a grand instrumental and vocal concert, and the church, after having been closed for two weeks, in order to allow opportunity for erect ing the organ, and for Spring cleaning, will be opened again for divine service at the usual hours, morning and evening, next Sabbath, May 1. The pastor, Rev. Mr. Ellinwood, has in the meantime made a flying visit to Wash ington, and to the Army of the Potomac, where he has seen and cheered and encouraged many of his parishioners, who are soldiers in that army. He comes back looking well, and evidently improved by his brief respite from parish duties. NEW CHURCH AT BALDWINSVILLE This place is a considerable village, eleven miles north of Syracuse, on ,the Oswego and Syracuse Railway. Rev. Jno. F. Kendall,. a you'nger brother of Rev. Henry Kendall, D. D., of New York, is pastor of the Presbyterian church. A good evidence of thrift in this So ciety, and of mutual satisfaction between. peo ple and pastor, is the fact that they are moving vigorously and happily to procure a new church edifice in place of an old one, which is regarded as having served its day, and earned an honorable discharge. The church is to be seventy-six feet by forty-five, with twenty-two feet extension in the rear for Lecture room ; and to cost $15,- 000.• Two generous souls give fifteen hundred dollars each, with a pledge off' five hundred more if necessary, a good example, which seems to have been well followed, and it is intended that the church shall be erected With out incurring sty debt. The work has al ready commenced ; and the contract requires the building to be ready for use by the first of December next. Like sensible people, the Building Committee come to Rochester for their outside brick. Of course, they could not do better. The mason work is also to be done by a Rochester man ; and the walls may be expected to go up firm and symmetrical and en during, even though laid in troublous times. SABBATH SCHOOL, LB ROT The recent revival in Le Roy, was felt in special power in the Sabbath school. It is es timated that some sixty conversions occurred in that connection. The-church are looking forward with peculiar interest to tbe ingather ing. The communion is to be observed on the second Sabbath of May, and Rev. C. C. Kim ball, of New Hartford, who was with the church during the height of the ;revival, and preached with great acceptance, is expected to officiate on that occasion. REVIVAL IN LIVERPOOL The Presbyterian church in this place, un der the pasto;,al care of Rev. C. W. Hawley, has recently experienced also a delightful quickening, resulting already in the addition of some thirty persons to its membership, with more to come at succeeding communion sea sons. GENEROUS ATTENTIONS We have before noticed ,the fact that they have recently installed a young pastor, Rev. A. Erdman, over the old << Stone Church" of Clinton. It was to be expected, of course, that the pastor would have a study. But we do not know that any one anticipated that the ladies of his congregation would furnish it, unless it was the ladies themselves. This they have done at a cost of :about $l6O. And we hear that the new pastor is doing finely. He recently preached:a sermon in behalf of mis sions, which excitedlmuch:interest, and de serves to be repeated in other places. Ray. W. B. HAMMOND, formenly of Mor risville, has received and accepted a call to the Congregational church of Benox, Madison County. GENESEE. ROCHESTER, April 30, 1864. NARRATIVE. The Philadelphia Fourth Presbytery, in presenting to the General Assembly their Annual Narrative of the state of religion, report as follows Our churches are generally enjoying a good degree of external and material prosperity. Some of them to such an extent as to have been enabled during the year past to pay off church debts that had been pressing upon them for years ; and nearly all—perhaps all with. out exception—to meet their ordinary and current peCuniary obligations. The reports-from the churches-exhibit sr marked growth in the spirit of . benefi cence and liberality. A few of our churhes indeed are yet delinquent in making their collections for the objects recommended by the General Assembly But in most of them collections are regularly made, net only for these ob jects, but for various others; and it is believed that the aggregate amount contributed by, the churches during the past year, is greater than that of any previous year. Presbytery is- deter mined to leave no effort untried' to pro cure the regular taking of the four col lections-in every church under its care. Several of our.churclies have engaged quite largely in expenditures for the work of church extension at home; as the Philadelphia First Church, now erecting a new house of worship ) at a cost of some sixteen thousand dollars in a destitute section of our city ; and the Third Church also, which, with a liber ality worthy of all praise, has entirely completed. the unfinished edifice of one of our feebler churches, and paid off the debt upon the building;, the whole in volving an expenditure of fifteen thou sand dollars ; thus furnishing a beautiful practical. illustration of the precept : "We that are strong ought to support the weak." . One new church has been organized during_ the year, in a promising locality in New Jersey, not far from the city of Philadelphia, called Vineland. It is a section settled by a company of people from:the New England States; and the church, with a pastor already settled, and a house of worship nearly completed, has.entered at once upon a career of growth and prosperity. The churches of Presbytery regard favorably the effort recommended by the General Assembly to raise the en dowment fund of fifty thousand dollars ,far the publication cause, and are busily ,engaged in securing the sums appor tioned to them for this purpose. The spiritual condition of our churches is fair and hopeful. There has been no general work of revival through the Presbytery. But the attendance upon the services of Divine worship is report ed to be good; Sabbath-schools are in a. flourishing condition; and a few of the churches have enjoyed the blessed re freshing of the Holy Spirit—as, the Germantown Market Square Church, the Reading First, the Central Northern Liberties, the Alanayunk, the Belvidere Second, the Philadelphia Third, the Bethlehem Church where forty, and the Kensington First, where-sixty were re ceived on examination. The spirit of patriotic and Christian devotion to the country, still lives; yea grows in our churchea; contribu tions in men and money for the purpose of sustaining the Government, and sup pressing this great and wicked slave holders' rebellion, are furnished by them as freely as ever; and we doubt not will be, till the end thereof. But one member of Presbytery has died during the year, Rev. Horatio S. Howell. And he died the death of a martyr, being slain by rebel hands while in the discharge of his duties, as a chaplain of, one of our Pennsylvania regiments ministering to the wounded and dying in hospitals at the battle of Gettysburg. We mourn his depature for he was a good man, and a useful minister of God. But he fell in a blessed cause ; and we are fully assured that when he passed on high, he heard from the master the plaudit--" well done good and faithful servant I" All of which is respectfully submitted. REVIVAL IN NEWARK. NEWARK, April 28, 1864. DEA_R Sin :—The enclosed communi cation is from an esteemed member of my church, a young lady, who has been accustomed to communicate through the periodical press. Her statements are reliable and her judg ment is good. I will add that Mr. Hammond has held three meetings in Bloomfield, and it is believed that from one to two hun dred souls were converted there. The pastor of the church in Madison in formed me, that not less than one hurt dred souls were converted among his people, as the results of Mr. Hammond's spending one day with them. Meetings have been held for two days in Caldwell. Some ministers andfriends from Newark, went up to Mr. Ham mond's assistance, audit is believed that not less than a hundred souls have found their Saviour. Yours truly, REVIVAL INTELLIGENCE FROM NEWARK The work of grace which has been in progress in this city for some weeks past, in connection with the labors of Rev. E. P. Hammond, is, in many re spects, the greatest and most remarkable which has ever blessed the community. The rapidity with which it has spread among all classes, the steady advance it has gained over opposition and prejn dice, the irresistible power exerted upon the hearts of many, hardened in sin, living far from Gods and the unity of sentiment and action among all denom inations of Christians, are some of the noticeable features of the work, and stamp it with the unmistakable impress of the Holy Spirit Rarely has there been enjoyed, in any place, a more pow erful and delightfamanifestation of the presence of the Lord among his people. It is truly a time of refreshing,the win dows of heaven are open, we have only to ask and receive the desired blessing. Union meetings have been held regu larly every morning and evening, and almost every afternoon for the children. For a time the attendance was-so larse, two churches were open in the evening and a similar service held in each. Mr. Hammond has labored most earnestly and incessantly, and has evidently been sustained by an Almighty Power. -Unas sisted human strength could not endure such protracted and exhausting effOrt. Two Sabbaths since, he preached in the open air to about five thousand persons, gathered on one of our beautiful parks in the very centre of the city. The ob ject of this meeting was to reach a class who cannot be induced to enter the churches, and subsequent revelations prove that the object was attained. One case in particular is worth recording. The proprietor of a drinking and prat ling saloon was one of the audience, and returned home impressed by the power of God's truth and Spirit. He was ac customed to keep his place open on - the Sabath,but had closed it to attend the meeting on the park, intending to open it again in the evening. His awakened con science would not allow him to do so, and the next morning, being still more convinced of the wickedness of the busi ness in which he had been engaged, he firmly resolved to abandon it and seek some occupation more honest and honorable. As he expressed it, he thought it was time for him to seek God and he wanted nothing in his way. He gave up all for Christ and is now rejoicing in his love. Bis experience, as related at one of our morning meet ings, was deeply interesting and enlist ed theesympathy and prayers of every Christian heart in his behalf. This is but one instance; others.might be given,. showing as clearly the importance of these efforts to reach those who nevet hear the gospel in any other way. In a. large city the mass of the population be long to this class, and hitherto little has. been done to benefit them. We rejoice that it has been decided to sustain open , air meetings in this city, through the I summer, and we hope the example will ;be followed by Christians in otherplaces. ; Mr. Hammond is now visiting some of the surrounding towns and villages, at the earnest solicitation of the resident pastors, previousto taking his finalleave of us, and the blessing of seems to attend him wherever he goes. His la bors in this city, for the present have closed. Two farewell meetings for adults, and one for children have been held. The first, e on Friday- evening last, was on,the part of the ministers of the city, to review the work and to give expression to their heartfelt gratitude to Mr. Hammond for the valuable assist ance he has rendered them, and the impulse his presence and labors have given to the work of saving souls, as well as to express the sympathy and esteem of Christians generally for him, as the devoted servant of their common Lord and Master. Short addresses were made by clergyman of every denomina tion, and a delightful spirit of Christian unity and brotherly love was manifested. On Saturday afternoon, the children's farewell meeting was held, and hundreds of little hearts heaved with emotion as they listened to the parting words of their especial friend and loving guide to Jesus. On Monday evening of this week, Mr. Hammond preached his fare well sermon to an immense audience of more than two thousand people, closely packed in the largest church in the city. He selected for his text the question of the newly conveatsd Paul, " Lord what wilt thou have me to do ?" and addres sed himself . to four classes of hearers, to each of whom he thought the inquiry ap propriate, the old veterans in the Chris tian army, the fresh recruits, those con templating enlistment, and the indiffer ent and rebellious, speaking some memorable parting words to each. At the close of the sermon he called upon those, who had recently entered upon the new life, to rise, and about five hun dred in different parts of the house responded. The service closed with the stirring hymn, Say brothers will you meet us ?" the vast• assemblage uni ting heart and voice in the beautiful sentiment and melody. It was an oc casion of intense interest and will not soon be forgotten. With many of those present, the sadness of parting was min gled with the unspeakable joy of a new found hope of glory, and nearly all could hopefally anticipate the eternal reunion. Mr. Hammond goes. out from us to other fields of labor, but we trust the Spirit will remain. We part with him regretfully, but rejoice that the presence of his Master and ours will still be with us, and we know the precious work, which has so cheered our hearts, need not, will not, cease if each individual Christian does his duty. The union meetings are to be continued and new efforts put forth, which - under the di rection of our exalted Leader and Hi all-conquering Spirit, will, we trust, be effectual to the pulling down of more of the strongholds of Satan in our fav ored city. Thankful for the rich bles sing already received and giving God all the glory, we take courage and go forward. E. NEWARK, N. J., April 27th, 1864. UNION COMMISSION. Those interrested in the organization of a commission, to unionize the South, by charitable, ministerial, educational and. emigrational appliances, are invited to a meeting in Cooper Institute, New York city, May 12, at 3 o'clock P. M. when addresses may be expected.
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