The United States Christian Commission. Great Meeting to Inaugurate a National Subscription of Half a Million Dollars ! [SPECIALLY REPORTED FOR OUR COLUitiS.I We give below a full report of an immense meeting held in the Church of the Epiplia •!ny, Philadelphia, on Tuesday evening, May 3d, on behalf of the United States Christian Commission. The great object of the meet ing was to commence a grind national sub scription of HALF A MILLION DOLLARS, to re plenish the exhausted treasury of the Coni minion. This movement is intended to reach throughout all the loyal States, and meetings similar to the one held in Phila delphia are to be held in all the large cities. -41. this meeting FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS were subscribed on the spot. This is a good be .'ginning, and we' earnestly hope . : the effort may be even more successful elsewhere. . In former reports of meetings of the ChriS • Commission, we have said, that while IN'e , gave a phonographic report of the speeches, it was utterly impossible to describe the spirit and enthusiasm of the meeting. We`may say the same thing now of this meeting. It seldorri, indeed, that such an array of elo quent and distinguished men can be got to-. gether on any occasion, but the Church of Christ has a peculiar interest in the success of the Christian Commission, and when its cause is to be presented 'to the people, it is . fitting that some of her best men should '"perform the task. The presence of the vene rable Bishop Mcllvaine, of Ohio, who pre sided, did much to give dignity and power . to the meeting, The addresses of Rev. Dr. - Birk, of Eoston, Rev. J. T. Duryea, of Neiv York, E. S. Tobey, Esq., the Christian mer chant of Boston, were listened to by the great audience with intense interest. At half -past seven o'clock the exercises were begun by singing the hynin, God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to per form." 4 The .Rev. Richard Newton, D. D., rector of the church offered prayer, when the vene rable and beloved chairman proceeded to make the opening address as follows: Bishop Alollvaine's Address. CHRISTIAN ' Barrusaw; We are gathered together here to-night, by the favor of God's good Providence, and in the presence of God our Father, and in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to warm our hearts around the fires of this most benevolent Christian institution, and to co-operate together to the utmost of our power for the promotion of its great and' glorious ends. Never, in the his tory of our land, has a meeting come together in so solemn a time, in the , presence of such solemn events in the :immediate future. One feels as if it were better to be always upon our knees just now, calling upon God in supplication, and not addressing one another. The whole land seems to be hold ing its breath in expectation of that which is about to come. The business of the land waits. The anxieties of loyal hearts wait. The prayers of Christians, calling upon God, strive, and trust, and wait. All the history of our Tition, from its birth to the present time; all its deep concerns; all its sacred interests will hardly equal the intense, the solemn, the awful interests that are wrapped together, as it were, in the events to be ushered in by the two or three weeks just, before us. Hundreds of years hence, what', a month this will be for our posterity to look: back upon 1 And how all the events of these hundreds of years will take their col oring and their character from the deep dyes which are to be wrotikht out in the history of the three or four weeks now before us , Dear brethren, when we think of the awful conflicts now just about to take place ; of the hundreds of thousands of men on our side and on the side arrayed against us that are to come into deadly strife with one another ; and• when we, think of the sots& that are to pass now ; in a few days beyond the reach of time intoeternity, whose everlasting destiny is to be settled now, settled beyond the pos sibility of change ; and when we think of how the hospitals are to be filled, and how the benevolence,and sympathies and human ity of Christians and patriots, and loyal hearts everywhere will be called forth, and not only for our own men, but will be ready to bleed for the sorrows and sufferings of those who are arrayed against as ; and when we think of the exceeding and infinite inter ests of the souls that are at stake, and of the pressing necessity of carrying the gospel now, wow, by as many voices as can be possibly enlisted in its behalf, to this soldier and to that, by this , means and by that, everywhere we may tell of Christ and beseech dying sinners to come to Him--0h ! then we begin to realize the importance, the infinite importance of multiplying the agencies of the Gospel jus(now. But when we turn away from the sight of our noble men arranged now in line of bat tle, in the East and in the West, to the homes, and think of the hundreds of thou sands of fathers and mothers,-who are look ing with intense suspense and anxiety to the preparing conflict, thinking of the deaths, the wounds, the' aptivities, the suf ferings of their sons and their brothers, which may only too soon be realized ; and when we think of the prayers of mothers, ' 01 that my sonmight hear just once again of Jesus, before he goes into battle 1" and " 0, if he lie prostrate on the field with wounds, that some one may be there to --bend over his fallen form and minister to his soul, and tell him of Jesus 1 and,O, if he be in captivity, that he may fall into the hands of some who will point him to Christ, that if his body fall a sacrifice, his soul may be saved 1": When we think of all this, and when we remember that such is precisely the work of this Christian Commission, pre cisely what its ramified agencies are seeking to do and to supply, to meet the anxious wishes of these hundreds of thousands of mothers, to go wherever the dying, wound ed, sick and suffering are to be found, we cannot but thank God and take courage. We rejoice that the Christian Commission in addition to this carries supplies for the body. We rejoice that they are able to take- 1 stimulants to those who are faint, and food to those who are hungry. We think it ex'-' ceedinglY 'Precioue that they d are able to minister to :such? necessities; but, 0, dear brethren, there ; is,,a joy unspeakable above such jeys as that, that they are permitted to share. It, is lirecions to hear one sty should have died upon, the battle-field but ' for the supplies that the Christian Commis sion, brought me," but Qh ! how unspeakably more precious is it to you and to me, breth ren, to hear one saying in addition to this " I should have perished in my sins had it not been for the precious words which Christ spoke to me through the men 'whom the Christian Commission sent to me!' Sinners saved on the field of conflict! Oh, how precious 1 I tell you, brethren, as it is not my office to speak to you to-night, but only to Introduce others, that from what I have lately heard, and from what I have seen since I have come here, I am more deeply impressed than ever that there is not in the whole world at this present time such a harvest field for the gospel, as the army and navy presents to us, which this Christian Commisstori is now trying to cultivate and to reap. And my confident belief is that there is not now afield anywhere to be found, upon which Christian affection, Christian earnestness, Christian benevolence is bound to be more concentrated—not merely because of the souls that are to be saved, butbecause of the unspeakable debt of gratitude we owe Jo , our- men in the. field., Our gratitude ' ought to be concentrated, then, upon these noble armies. Moreover, lam struck most solemnly with the impression that there is not a ministry in our land at the present day - so blessed of God, that result-3 in so many immediate and manifest conversions to God, as the ministry that is now' aboring in Christ amongst our soldiefs. I think the instances of God's hand in the conversion of souls to Christ in our armies within the last year, and more especially within the last two or three months, are the most wonderful, the moat impressive, the' most' joyful;' and they tell me that God's hand is in.this work marvellously, and I read in it God's sign that his blessing is upon our cause. ..I can not comprehend that such an outpouring of the Spirit of God should be granted to us except it has thus pleased him to tell us that our cause is the cause of right and truth, and order and peace, of loyalty, of duty, of Christian duty, of patriot duty, and of every sort of duty. Then let na go forward. Let us give to our brethren in this Christian work our hearts and our hands to sustain them in it, and through this work sustain. our govern ment; and let us all, at home and here, and everywhere, with a pure and full heart, with loyaltyito our God and to the 'land he las given us, calf upon him. for his blessing, and for his deliverance in the conflicts soon to come.. • The venerable and revered Chairman then introduced the Rev. B. N. 'Kirk, D. D., of Boston, who addressed the audience. Remarks of Rey. Dr. Kirk The remarks of the venerable and beloved chairman seemed to Dr. Kirk to be most timely and appropriate, that supplication to God, and not speeches to man, was the great duty of the hour. It did, indeed, seem fitting that Christian people especially should assem hie together to ball upon God, and to inquire calmly, Solemnly, what were their duties-and responsibilities in a time like this. An insur rection had summoned a great nation to save its life. An insurrection generally unanticipa ed, utterly indefensible *before the bar of human reason or divine judgment, an insur rection without a parallel in the perfidy of its beginning and the atrocity of its proceeding, and the ignominy of its anticipated termina tion. More than a million of men had gone forth to the high places of the field, while twenty millions remain at home. Why? he would ask. Let each answer before God. Are you, am I, here a coward, asking other men to shed their blood for a country, that I would not defend with my own ? Am I here half a traitor, neglecting and forgetting the soldier to spare myself ? regarding him as only food for powder, or as a cotton bale to ward the bullets from my own bOdy ? God forbid it ! Oh that there were 'a thoroughly sound heart at the North, and that every man who does not love his country would go South (Amen, amen.) Honor, InfManity, patriotism, piety, urge us to identify ourselves with the soldiers, to make common cause with them for Our common country, to consider ourselves just as much "enlisted" as they, to seek with earnestness, and bear with fortitude and joy lour share of the common burden, and press to the altar with our portion of the common 'sacrifice. But what can we do ? Each of us can do something. First of all, you and I can save the lines of the soldiers.. Bullets and bayonets and sabras, according to computation, de stroy one life, where subsequent neglect of the sick and wounded and exhausted and exposed destroysfour lives. It was a sticking fact, stated by Speaker Colfax at the- Chris tian Commission's meeting at Washington, that in the battles of the Crimea where but one. Florence Nightingale could labor, when disease invaded the camps of the allied forces, the mortality grew until it reached the frightful proportion of 917 deaths out of every 1,000 men I But in our`army God be praised, that through the hundreds of Flor ence Nightingales and the Sanitary and Christian Commissions, and the other benev olent agencies, apart from what the paternal care of the government has done, our propor tion has been but 53 deaths to a thousand men. The Doctor _now referred t.o.the necessarily exclusive character of the military sphere. It was Simply to fight. Saving life with it was subordinate. It Was, embarrassing to the movements of an army. The surgeon can only wait upon the most hopeful cases. But here we can come in and aid. There is, bles sed be - wide door opened here for Christian charitY. The Christial Commission, by its delegates, like the good Samaritan, take such cases as these into their charge. There is here preSentnow a young man given up by the Surgeon, Whom a delegate of the Christian Commission thus saved, and who has since been appointed a chaplain in the army. Thank God for what the Christian Commissien ha clone. To take only the lowest view° of the subject, can you or I do anything to bind up a wound, to pour in the oil and wine, to speak a kind and soothing -word to, a suffering soldier. Yes, thank God, we can ! Then shall we hold back our hand, our purse, or anything God has given us, that we might bless our brothers? We do accomplish this work through the ChriStian 'Corinnission. It is a voluntary, unpaid agency. No other could do it. This is its most beautiful feature. Unpaid, willing, fraternal. It sends a broth er's voice; to speak into a - wounded brother's ear, and a brother's land to' wash off the clotted blood that lids fastened the stocking to his feet, gently to draw, it off as if Jesus' feet were there, and bind it up, and speak to the heart in Jesus' precious name. Thank God I can stand hi the pUlpit and preach to' my own dear people, and yet indirectly be doing this work on the battle-field. 'On the terrible field, of Gettysburg a young pastor from the city of Philadelphia spent three days in carrying water to the thiraty. Did you ever thirst.? ,resus did as lie cried I thirst. And now to-day, he cries in 'the persons of these, wounded soldiers, thirst,", and it is blessed work when a pastor can leaVe his peqple for it tiine and go and carry : around . the cup of water. This young minister, lam told, blistered his feet so that he- could walk no longer in this, ministry. of .charity Brethren, itis ahlessedworkthus to miti-. 'gate - the isufferi4 of 'theieliraire men. .now let us take a higher view still.; :Nan is' not merely an animal. lie has a soul, an immortal soul. He is a sinner against God. PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, MAY 12, 1864. There is no remedy for him but in a Saviour. There is but one way of salvation. Nothing will save the soul but repentance toward God and &Lilt in our Lord Jesus Christ. By the spoken word, enforced by the living exam ple, by the printed page telling of Jesus, preaching his work and love, and sacrifice and death, and mediation, God saves souls. These soldiers are immortal beings. They must dwell in heaven or in hell. Every one of them must be washed in the blood of atonement, must be renewed by the Holy Ghost,.or he is , lost forever. Now we want to take to him this precious news of salvation through Christ. 'We want to hold to his lips the cup of salvation that he may drink and live forever. Wounded or sound, living or' dying, sick or well, we. want to, preach Christ, and" him crucified. Oh, what a view does this present to the Church of Christ. What responsibilities, what duties does it lay upon her ! Such a vast, missionary, ,field the ;world does not present to-day as' the AMOican fumy— • 1 The Doctor ' then alluded to thematerial :vac niatt,,., prepared to Christian hands. The strange service in which these men were called to serve, had a softening and subduing 'effect upon them. In the streets of the city and in the drill camp, they were. 'gay i • thoughtless, profane, wicked. When they got ddwn to the front, they were changed men, net con, verted men, but wonderfully changed: They now receive the tract and thank you for it, and hear with -patience the preached and spoken word. Indeed, such audiences were not found in the circles of petice and, secur ity. The speaker referred to? one Atajor of, ' cavalry, who sat with his Oho* on his knee, his hand supporting his cheek, and eye fixed as If he would gaze iiitO the ddpths of his soul as he talked of the great salvation. The facilities of reaching ithe field were tow spoken of. The whole army is accessible o 'the labors of the Ch?istian Commission. Their 'delegates are welcomed everywhere. Their passes are acknowledged with a courte ous bow., Smiles and: welcomes, no frowns attend thern. Steamboats; milroatla, tele graphs vie in doing there. service. What' does it all mean? It is an invitatiOn for Christ's. Church to come 'in and . reap the great harVeSt. 'O, brethren, said the speaker,, in view of these wonderful openings, I could not help saying to my people on iny , return, weare Asleep ! asleep ! We do not appreci.-‘ ate the day in which .we live,or the work God is rolling upon .us. Our missionaries in India and China meet with no welcome, but With -the' averted eye, the cold, scornful glance. This is the baptism through which they have to pass for year S—an - then the strange language. But here, if You but speak the king's English, and can tell of Christ from alUll heart, you are ready to be a missionary. 0, is it not wonderful, glori ous ? Shall we not thank God, and congrat tilate.each other that we are Christians in the Midst of this war ? The speaker now told of two delegates of the Commission, who went where no religi ous service had been held for two months, established a prayer-meeting, which was al ways crowded, and marked with' the utmost solemnity. Many backsliders were reclaim ed, and many souls were converted. At one Of the meetings an officer arose and con fessed that he had been a church member once, but had dreadfully backslidden. His wife, qn parting with him, urged him to live near to Christ ; and after Wards finding, from the tone of his letters, that he was in a cold and dead state, if not perfectly reckless and wicked, wrote to him that it would break her heart if he should die in battle in that condition:, He was now detettnined, like the prodigal, to return to hiseither's house. It was not until these services iyere held that this man was reclaiMed. He ia now a Chris tian soldier. Doctor Kirk then gave a graphic sketch of his recent tour in the arniy, detailing several incidents of interest, showing the ac cessibility of the men to religious impres sions, and the urgent need that such an op portunity for extending the kingdom of Christ should not be passed by—that now was in truth the day of merciful visitation for the church, and that she should improve it before it should be forever hid from her eyes. • An incident.happening in the cars on the start was encouraging. A mother belonging to Dr. K.'s congregation had prayed that her son might be enabled to see and converse ,with her pastor before setting out, for the front. But it seemed to be impossible. On the cars from Philadelphia, Mr. Stuart being employed in speaking a word to this young man and to that, handing tracts, 4.tc., came across this boy, took him to the pastor, and there on the cars, that mother's prayer was ' answered, and the boy self, down with the diVine benediction, and with kind with counsel and urgent appeal to give his 'heart to Christ. The speaker narrated incidents of conver sions in camp and prayer-ineetings held by officers and soldiers together. ',He had visit ed the teamsters' camp of 5,060 men near Washington, for whom the government pro vided no pastor or chaplain. Impelled to do so by Mr. Stuart, he had preached a short sermon. as they sat at dinner. They lis tened with' earnest attention, and when he next preached in the hospital the scene was of tears and prayers, with the urgent request, " send such teachers to us to remain with us." At Camp Distribution he found a Christian Colonel, who was leading his men in prayer. During one of the services at this camp the signal drum was beat, and several men rose to go out. But an officer rose and said he hoped that no one would think of ,interrupting the service by going out. His being at the meeting was sufficient reason for his not obeying the military call ; for the honor of the profession heo hoped they would remain. And they remained. From Brandy Station he went.to Pony Moun tain, where a view of both armies could be seen, and there he found himself preaching on horseback to a line of men drawn up for review. Wherever he went he was listened to with simplicity confidence, and the most eager attention. The speaker concluded by putting in. strong contrast the efforts made in the name of GOd and of religion for our noble soldiers, with that made in the name of mere hu . inan ity and philanthropy. Infidelity and skeP tioisin Might raise money and dispenSe it to the eoldier, but he needed something more, something better than this ; needed the. care and attention and thenlinistrators that spoke of home, of Jesus, of 'heaven. This it was thatstrengthened the heart find nerved the arm. A man who feels that he is prepared to die, has made his peace With God, does not fear to face the enemy: A captain, not a ChriStabt, said to a friend, "religion - makes a man a hero." It is true. This war has furnished an exhibition on a - vast scale, of what the actual piety of the nation, is. NV,e are showing the world, now, that the religion of the people is in the heart. We are also exhibiting Christianity to the skeptic in a striking light. Christianity has shown it 7. self to be the pillar. of; the civil Govern ment. The 'soldier will not rise and bless: the skeptic: ,W,e'are not boasting, Skeptical; friends. - ;taught "Us SkeptiCall fellow we challenge you to bring bearline ,aty,ipflpenceolport the soldiers' hear This then is Ate service we'May do the soh- [ dier. XI/16ply copies of the blessed hymn hooks relig ious papers. Send the living preacher and Christian. Nearly two thousand of them have already gone. May God in his mercy send another two thousand after them, that they may preachArist, and they will come back better preaaers, and when the soldiers themselves comeback they will want a living religion, they will come back not to curse the name of God, to be licentious, intem perate, vile, but they w,ill come back a whole race of reformers ! The women of the land can work, they have been at work. Let them now organize every - where in our cities and in our churches in aid of this noble Christian Commission, and we shall soon have the million of dollars we need.. We have come to ask for this sum. Your Presi dent, in his modesty has put it at half a mil lion:. But my heart strikes for, a mdllon I And I hear the brave :boys in thO army say- Mg, to-night, ‘.‘ Send it, send it ! we Want it !" Ladies' Christian. Cortimissions Formed. Mr. Stuart: now announced that at 10 o'clock the nest morning; the ladies of the city wonld rneet-at Concert Hall; to organize Ladies' Christian Commissions in - every church and conaregation: He wished it ex . pressliunderstood that the Christian Coin mission claimed not to, interfere with any other organization. whatever. .-The Ladies' :Aid Association of Philadelphia, was the oldest organiiation of the kind that, under God, had done more good than any other in existence. It had sent out Mrs. Harris, who, with her own hands, had closed the eyes of one thousand dying men, and. whose frame had been subjected tb fatigues and toils that were almost incredible. The Christian Commission seeks to send the means, of evangelization to the army, and while it sends comfots for the body sends alSo the tidings of Christ and him crucified. The field was a great one. When leading a prayer-Meeting in camp; a short time ago, •he -had known several soldiers to offer to give two dollar 4 to their comrades to take their places on 'guard that they might join in the exercisea.of the prayer-meeting Address of E. S. Tobey, Esq., of Boston. " Stand up for Jesus" is the sacred exhor tation that fell from the dying lips of that saint who once ministered from this sacred altar. It has become a watchword of the church of Christ, and will be to the end of time. 'lt has been ringing in my heart throughout this day, and I may sincerely and truthfully say to you that but for that, I perhaps should not have dared to come here in this presence to bear my humble testimony to the cause' in whose interests we are assembled here to-night. I do not feel that 'I can refuse to tell you something of what I have witnessed of this noble insti tution, whose claims have been so ably presented to you now and before. I am here simply as a witness, not art advocate ; as a practical man, if I may be permitted to say it, looking at this great subject from a practical point of view. I am obliged to confess to you that when I was first connect ed with this organization in the first conven tion formed in the city of New York, I had great doubts and apprehensions as to its practical character. I confess that as I had seen the soldiers of our land go forth to the defence of country and homes, with their hilarity and mirth, and reckless air, I doubt ed whether they would care to hear a word in regard to their soul's salvation, or read the religious books and tracts that had been prepared for them. And more than that, I am obliged to confess that I distrust, ed the Christian heart of the people. I did not believe that we could find any consider able number of voluntary agents to go for ward to this work. I thought that perhaps five or six or ten men might be induced to spend a little while in Christian work in the army, but now since we are enabled to say that 1,800 such men have been found, that more than a million of dollars has been ap propriated, and wisely appropriated, to this work, that there are now more than 150 del gates in the army, the representativei of the church of Christ, there ministering to the bodies and souls of the men, I must say that I am glad of the opportunity to confess to you that my faith stands rebuked. And I have no doubt in expressing this sentiment that I am expressing the sentiment of the whole Church, in view of the facts that are now, patent to the whole country. Brethren and Christian friends, it has recently been my privilege, in company with the devoted Chairman of the Commis sion, to visit the Army of the Potomac. I shall not attempt to describe to you the impresions made on my mind, or the thril ling, scenes I witnessed there. It would require the descriptive powers of an Irving, and for eloquence the trumpet tones of Webster, and then it would be inadequate to convey to the churches the impression created by actual observation among the men who are standing for 118 to-night at the bat tle-front. I stood amazed ; and I came back to give you my impressions, not attempting to describe the scenes themselves. I will ask you to go with our party, repre sentatives of the Christian Commission, to the Night of Pony Mountain, which rises a thousand feet above the river Rapidan, just this aide of it; It is the outer signal station of our army. From this summit we may look down on the rebel encampments on the other side. And backward as far as the eye can reach, for fifteen, and twenty, and thirty miles, stretch away the white sea of camps, looking like white New England villages, and in them the vast hosts assembled before the deadly conflict, and on whom depends, shall I say, even now the destinies of the nation. Was it not a sublime scene'? But sublimest of all when the Chairman of the Commission, ever in the spirit to recognize the divine arm, then and there called on us,on that high field,nearest to heaven that we could get, to bow the knee, in humble supplication to Almighty God for his blessing upon that army. It was indeed an impressive and sub lime scene; and when again, after that day, we were permitted to take by the hand our Commander-in-Chief, Gen. Grant, the per sonification and • the embodiment ,of the military power of the land, and in the `sin cerity and depth of 'My soul, as I felt the warm grasp of that hand in response, and looked into that enkindled eye, that humble, unpretending countenance, and felt that I had struck a chord of sympathy which he recognized and felt, I implored the blessing of Almighty God upon him, and thanked God that he had placed over our army a man who, at leastos far as we could judge, had that prime element of power, humility and Want of pretension. For I believe, brethren; that when the church itself is bowed in humiliation before. God, then will come the victory to our arms. Do you ask me for evidence? Let me refer you to Scrip ture.' You will recollect, many'of you ; that when . the tribes of thelEoabites and Ammonites catneup,,to war, against thp King of Judah, the ` first thing the king did was to re-, cogriiiis God. The Sacred Record Says he .was afraid to 'go bitt.“agaitit the enemy; although the. cities, were . Walled chi** and his arm_y..was' a ; powerful' one, yet ; h 6 ,was afraid to put confidence' in the Military power of his nation until he had implored ; • the help of God, and called a solem - n fast of the people, and all the people men, women and children of Jtida.l2,lowed themselves in penitent humility, and the king addressed the throne in j that sublime and touching ptayer imploring Almighty God to give lain strength and victory. And when the prayer Was offered we read that .the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel, and he said to the people this is not your cause, it is God's cause, the battle is not yours,' but God's, ye shall not need to.fightit, only stand ye still and see the sahiration Of the Lord. With this heaven-inspired confidence, they. went forward, not vainly self-trusting, and appoint ed singers who should go to the ,front, and sing " Praise the Lord, and the beantyOf his holiness, for his mercy entliireth forever:" Wei. there .ever a - grander spectacle in -a inighty host, Moving forward to battlel. They Went fortraid ; but to find the enemy -an easy prey, for they had fallen-upon and de stroyed each other„ and it' required three, da y s for the victors to takeaway the spoils.' . • -Now, brethren, what is the Sacred Record • for ? Is it an idle tale, or is it the record of inspiration given to the clitirch' of • God throughout all time, to lead every nation to j put its trust alone in God and not in an arm jof flesh ? For myself, I may say that I have confidence in the military resources of our country ; and as a merchant; to speak pro fessionally, I may say . that I have all confi dence in our financial resources. I see that God in his providence has concealed the gold mines of California till the developing exigencies of commerce called for them ; and then he keeps them from an old effete foreign race and wills them to be brought to light-and given into the hands of the Anglo Saxon race, which in ten years concentrates I there a population greater than seventy-five years or a century of ordinary growth would have secured, and then siniultanedusly he opens on the other side of the hemisphere -the gold mines of Australia as if to indicate that he did not want all the population of Europe there. And more ; after the enter prise of the northern nations had chased the whales, in search of oil, to the far-off arctic regions, and it'seemed the illuminating pow er of the world would fade away, at at mo ment petroleum wells abound, and the springing oil literally coming to light, from the bowels of the earth. Again, when I look at Colorado, and consider that at this moment machinery has been sent out worth five mil lions of dollars, 'to break up the quartz rock, j am not disposed to distrust the resources of him who holds the elements thus in his hands and dispenses them so graciously to this• favored land. And yet, I place no con fidence in any or all of these—alone... Our only hope is in God. In him we trust. We will go forward in the exercise of faith and prayer, as did the king of Judah. And if, singers are net appointed for the fore-front of the Army of the Potomac, we have singers in the main body, and we. have heard their voices, their deep-toned voices, sounding the praises of Almighty God. Here then, in. the army itself, are the moral and religious .re 7 sources which are to secure the favor of Heaven, and lead on to victory. Will you reinforce' these resources? Will yob. not send forward the delegates of the Christian Commission, yea, and multiply them a hun dred fold ? I am sure you will. If I could but convey to you a tithe of the impressions we have received of the importance of this work, I am sure that neither money nor men nor means would be wanting. Are we willing to stand by and ask that mother to send her only child, and stimulate others by speeches to enlarge the bounty and encourage enlist ments and say to our brethren go forward and stand as a wall of fire between us and our enemies, as they did here on your own soil, so that by their valor under the blessing of God we are to-night permitted to sit here in heavenly places in Christ—l say are we wil ling to see this done, and yet not ourselves bear a part•of the burden ? 0, no ! Can the Church of Christ take so low a view of her duty? Can she see these brave thousands offering their blood upon the altar, and then do so little for immortal souls soon, to be ushered before the judgment seat of Christ ? I believe not upon reflection will the church be guilty of this wrong. She will not allow these heroes to go down into battle unpro tected by her prayers, unattended by those who will minister Christ by the sick and dy ing bedside, and console and comfort in the hour of death. Talk about a million of dol lars—why, [the sum aimed at by the Com missiond it d.on't begin to touch the resources of the people! It is within the power of fifty men in this city even, to say nothing of the other cities of the land, to raise a million dollars, and never feel it! Who, my mercan tile friends, let me ask, who has yet begun to touch the point of sacrifice? You have been liberal, I know, and I honor you for it. The efforts made to establish the Sanitary Com mission will be a bright page in our history; but it creates in myjudgment a corresponding obligation on the Church of Christ to do as much, at least, for the immortal souls of men as has already been done on the broad principles of a common humanity. And I feel a confidence in appealing to the church, • and to my mercantile friends here and else ' where, when I say, brethren', you have not touched your resources. Is it not infinitely more blessed :to give in such a cause than to receive? Who has lived fifty years in the possession of property and, has not seen cause to mourn and to strive against the corrupting influences of wealth ? For my own part,_j Providence has placed niesin good look-outs of observation in various circles of religious and educational charities, and I have noticed , how, as money increased, calls for charity ' became more troublesome, apologies and ex cuses for not giving more frequent, until I have rejoiced' in the fact that there was for some of us an outlet of our means, that: we might be delivered'from the awful shrivelling consequennes , • of the" posSession of wealth. Never have I more deeply seen and felt the meaning of that Scripture passage, "It is easier for a'Camel to .pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to,enter into the kingdom of God," than When r have seen the people so afraid at parting with ten or Meen or twenty per cent. Of their income for the 'glorious country God has given. us. So that I said • to a • friend some time since that I should hardly dare to risk the experiment of being worth amillion of dollars ; but since I have come in. contact with this blessed insti tution, it does seem to me that it Would be ahnest safe to trust the with such a sum; for should know what to do with it-,at any rate I should make one'good and wise appro priation I know ! My. Mercantile, brethren have, done and are doing nobly for the Sanitary Commission, And are, pouring their money, most freely into its coffers ; now let us have it for the Christian CommisSien, and then I - shall feel that there is hope our nation will be redeemed. • Let me confess to you, brethren, that in my cold and indifferent faith, I should have been chilled , to death even in this cause, had it not been for the warm heart and earnest faith of the devoted Chairman of the Commis sion; and when he asked me to calla conven tion for this cause in Boston, I told him we could 'not stir up the people. My own cOnvic 'tions were not deep enough. Buthe'eatne on to help us'. We "weritlin froinliine to . -time holding meetings; Am from ta meetingithat he addressed.tlie largest;ebliectioiiqbakwas Aver.gathered frOMAC , O?;.OBtOg 'audience ~ Wee, secured.. -Checks were ba#4:lo in fo u r ;4006, $2,000; ind . s:3.ooo. in , Th the fire was 'kin dled from your altar. On other occasions we have beentindebted to Philadelphia. An ex-Governor of your Commonwealth kindly came on to us, to stir up the hearts of our people. 1 shall never forget. the patriotic sentiment with which he opened his mouth—" Independence Hall sen d s 0 B l inker Hill greeting !" And now let me say that we looked to your capital city and saw it threatened by the invading foe, feeling that it was well nigh impossible to hold him back, and that. then the city of Independence Hall, your beloved Philadel phia, might be overrun and desolated. 0, we felt deeply, deeply. And when the Chairman of the Christian Commission tele graphed us that ten thousand dollars would be needed for the sick and wounded of the Gettysburg field of immortal name, I had no appeal to make in editorials in newstagers, but simply to put up a blackboard - in the Merchants' Exchange, and to stand and take the voluntary offerings which in. thiee days amounted to thirty-five thousand dollars, and transmit it by the wires to your `Chairman as the response of Massachusetts! , Therefore I think I may be permitted to saiy ) to night, " Bunker Hill sends to Independence Hall greeting," and rejoices in this broad aim of the 'United States Christian COmmislion in seeking, to nationalize Christian working and giving in behalf of our soldiers. We then, as Massachusetts men, extend the right hand of fellowship to you, and say; let its be united not only in the:support of she glori ous flag of our common country, but in, up holding the blood-stained banner of the cross, on which is inscribed in characters of living light, By this we conquer." Christian friends, this is no ordinary oc .casion, that throngs the aisles of this church of God.to-night. Never, in all our previous history, have there been more momentous circumstances to us as a Christian people. 0 let us realize it and fall into the arms of the Almighty. And in the far future, when the history of our country shall be read, there will not be found a page of more undying .lustre than that which shall record the huin ble deeds of the humble delegate of the Christian Commission. Shall not these men, then, be nobly sustained? Sisters, daugh ters, mothers, uphold them in your prayers to Almighty God. You who are looking for an immortal crown, uphold these men, and through them the faint and dying soldier, to whom the Master says that if ye give but a cup of cold water, in the name of a disciple, ye shall not fail of your reward. Rev, Mr. Duryea's Address. About a mile and a half south of Brandy Station there stands a little hut. It is con structed partly of logs and partly of canvas. The logs are notched at the ends, and jointed together at the corners. They are piled up about as high as the head of a man of ordi nary size. The interstices are plastered with 'mud. It is built up to a peak on the front and rear. A pole is thrown across and the canvas covering is spread over it and but toned down. In that soldier's hut I spent the nights of a week which I would not exchange for any six months in my life. I say this thoughtfully ; I say it calmly. Standing there beholding the sun set over the snowy peaks'of the Blue Ridge, and the lighting up of myriads of tents. stretching along down on the left of the Rapidan, and on the right in an immense sweep to Cul peper. I thought of the vastness of - the conflict before us, the vastnese of the inter ests of immortal souls lying under me. As the soldiers kindled their fires upon the hearths of these canvas huts, and lighted up the candles for evening, the rays of light would come shimmering through the canvas coverings until that valley seemed to be belted with gold as far as the eye could reach, on either hand. Down before me lay a regiment. The drum call was beat. The men were then seen issuing from their huts, and hurrying towards a log chapel behind me, which -the Christian Commission to. gether with the chaplains had built. In five minutes the chaplain would tap at my door and say, " Your congregation is ready." With some difficulty I would work my way up the aisle between the rude log benches to the pulpit ; and holding the Bible to the candle faintly glimmering in my face, and reflecting oft upon the strange, strange con gregation before me. I would give forth to them some of the utterances of the mind of the Spirit ; and then some simple ; practical theme coming right out of the heart of evangelical doctrine, and poured out of my own heart into the heart of that congrega tion, a whole half hour would pass before I knew that five minutes were gone. Such leaning forward, such straining of the eyes, such opening of the mouth, such turning of the ear, such lifting of the hands to catch every cadence, I never yet have seen in our ,congregations trained to hear. And then after sermon the clustering of God's people around me, having to shake hands with every one of them, and to hear the " God bless yous !" over and over again, until it ,echoes in my heart now, and will echo there till I die, and God grant it may echo to all eternity ! And often after they were all dismissed I would stand on the hill and look for the lights to go out and darkness to spread over all the host. -It was not time yet to go to my homely couch. Listen a mo ment ! You hear a voice. It begins, Oh, God ;" it is some one praying ; a prayer meeting has begun. Let us creep softly down, so that the boys won't know it, and open their tent and look in. There is hardly a place for you, so you have to stand outside. There are two men kneeling at the head of the hunk, where a pillow ought to be but a knapsack is, two others are kneeling . feet to feet, heels to heels, with their' faces turned toward the side of the hut, and on the ground another, with the toes of, : some of them in the ashes of the fire-place. I try to get in. They do not know 1 am, there. 1 don't want them to know it , I want to hear them pray. I touch one toe here and 'an other there, and' stand stretched over the group ; my back:aching as with rheumatism, and there in that position I hear five -men pray, one after another—hear them praying for their country, praying for their "'com mandinc, officers, praying that God will 'make bare his mighty arm aid decide for us, praying that the General recently-sent to them may have no confidence his own skill, may have no thought of the increasing numbers of his armies, may have no reliance on his strategy in the field,Or On the counsel in the Cabinet, but may look up to the Lord God omnipotent, and there find the strength that is to give theni victory. and then, softening -down the' tone, 0, how tenderly would come " God - bless those we have left behind"and then a sob here—" and our dear little children"—an audible burst there that the full heart could not hold, and must let out,—and' then for Christians who have come down: amongst them to do them good, and A) they lay the burdens of their souls before God." They prayed the sermon all over again, condensed it into a form better than the analysis that I had in my mind be fore I began to preach ; and in an experi mental form, showing that it had got, satu rated into, their hearand exPerience because - the heart had beenprepared to take it in as the sand of the dry' and thirsty desert to drink in the water 'of the shower. :Then I would go back, open the tent door and steal Out,. Yonder.isthe Blue Ridge, its top sil vered by the c rising light of thaingibn., I Yon der is Ilopy ,Memittiiii With:its signals goinfi hack andlerth to headquarters: Yoinier ;= Cedar Mountain. where that (2 . reat mitalse
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