' llB Pr , ineniiest this difficulty about the mili
profession. A man -in the ranks can
not choose whether there there shall be war,
or not, ‘or-whether he shall the in the ranks
or out, .of them, if he is ozonscripted or in
any other limy forced to staythere. An other
chooses 'whether thelight shall begin, or not.
Men in thuCabinet, politicians, demagogues
settle tim question of or peace ;he must
go and kill - hishrother, perhaps to carry out
the basest .of .schemes. have always . won
. rd what a soldier's conscience does with
that question. But when this war came, the
4ground was &dear; there sus no such ques
'; on to settle. Kill any man that will try to
-°
tear down this government ! Kill any man
that will trample the banner of the United
States under this feet! ,It is a clear case:;
And the mere question Is whether I shall
;guide my musket here .or there ; my con
sAcienee is clear, no matter-who stands hefore
Iny musket That appears to me to be the
character of this war ; and I hope this side
of Mason and Dixon's line, there is not a
man who questions that point. I am afraid,
there are. It is the. weakness of our cause
that there are so many faint hearted men,
'this side of the line, who hold in suspense
the vital questitin : are we right or, wrong?`
Before God, and the judgment, and eternity,
I have no question; and therefore I honor
the soldier. He has not gone there as an
automaton. Ile has gone with an enlight
ened conscience; he has gonewith a noble
heart. There may be exceptions ; I speak
of the mass ; as a body 'of men, they love
law,—they love, the most beneficent govern
ment, and they are willing to die for it. Ah I
do you think the bounty influences them?
No doubt it was a question of prudence with
a great many, whether they should go, and
the bounty turned the scale with them, be
cause others were depending on them. But
do, you think any bounty fortified the hearts
of men who fought eight days on the banks
of the Rapidan. No! Do you think that a
'wild spirit of adventure sustained them.
No I When we began the war we thought
the rowdies of the great cities and the zouaves
would do the - best work. But that delusion
has all passed away. Yon require men to
stand the brunt of battle,—men, calm, clear;
settled in their convictions, earnest in pur
pose, who are willing to meet their God with
the issues of the case.
Fellow-citizens, such an army we have this
day, such men are out, there, as a wall of fire,
between us and our homes, and what is dearer
than our homes, the sacred institutions of our
Government. The men of the army are no
ble men. When you have seen Gen. WADSWORTIt leaving his fortune, leaving his family,
leaving his high social position,---going out to
the privatiOns of the camp' and the perils of
the field, leading on his' hosts, fearless of
death,—you have got I believe, the spirit of
the army. When you seethe man who held
the flag over Fort Sumter first, [turning to
Gen. Robert Anderson, who was on the prat
form] and did - not blanch, you have got the
spirit of the army before you.
I feel some embarrassment. I would
want, my fellow-citizens, to talk with you
two hours on the subject ; but I feel that God
is guiding us, to-night, in another channel,
and on our friend Mr.,Stuart must devolve
the work of telling you how things are just
now. And here I will pass over what 'I could
have wished to say, and simply allude to two
or three matters of my visit to the camp, for
it is for that reason, I suppose, I am selected,
with others, to address you to-night.
We entered the cars at Philadelphia,
which were there nearly filled with soldiers.
The whole scene began then. The peculiari
ties of the Christian Commission and its
operation, then opened on our eyes ; for Mr.
Stuart, with those immediately accompany
ing him from the city, who were old veterans
in the work, had their haversacks on their
shoulders, which were filled with tracts.
They did not wait to get on the = ground.
They did the strange work of distribution on
the call; and the strangest part of it was,
that no one seemed to think it out of place.
What a strange day we have come to ! A
merchant of Philadelphia coming into the
cars,, with a haversack of tracts, which he
distributes around, and every one thinks it
just right. Here is a group of card-players
before ' I:look with interest to see what
my filiendStuartiEt ingenuity will do in re
gard to them. It is not ten minutes after
his sweet, smiling face is among them, before
the cards are laid aside, the tracts take their
place, and soon one of the party thanks him
that he interrupted their proceedings—that
he wondered how he had become so engaged.
This was the beginning of my acquaintance
with the operations of the Christian Com
mission.
The next scene that opened was in the
Teamster's camp. Here I began to discover
how impossible it was-for the Government to
provide for the spiritual instruction of the Ar
my. As to the Government selecting the best
chaplains, and watching over them to see
that they performed their duty, it is all but
impossible. That work must be thrown back
upon the churches. It used to be that rigid
military rule excluded all civil interference.
But the Government has been wise_enough to
see that an organization under the necessary
restrictions of military life, such as ours, can,
under God, best perform the work, and from
President Lincoln down to the soldier in the
camp, I have heard nothing, seen nothing
but welcome to, the Christian Commission,—
and (if you let Me echo the soldier's lan
guage) " Bully for the Christian Commis
sion 1' "God bless the Christian Commis
sion!"
.% We went into the Teamster's , camp—a
camp containing at that time, five thousand
men, and no chaplain. There the Christian
Commission has come in to do a most blessed
work of church building. Yes, they build
claurchw---‘churches that go up in the morn
ing and can come down at night, but as well
pleasing to God as the finest structure; for
Godklbokii not on ornamentation or solid ma
sonary, but seeks those to worship him who
worship him in spirit and in truth. The
Christian Commission says to the soldiers,
just ,what the Church Building Society say
to churches 'in the West; if you go to work
and lay out some labour and money, we will
enable you to finish it. It is a good plan.
They say to the soldiers, build up the log
sides of a cabin, and we will put on a canvas
covering. When the regiment moves, the
canvas covering"is taken clown, and the logs
are left.
But this temporary church - had no chap
lain. We entered while a party was at
dinner, and I found in what way the Chris
tian Commission went to work. Friend
, Stuart, who considers himself a , privileged
.I:eiiiiracter, rapped on the table, and said :
4g Mr. Kirk will preach to you," I had to
make my sermon and preach it on the spot,
—good discipline for us. It was a glorious
.sermon; for it was all the precious name of
e Christ. I told them how Moses lifted up the
s erpent in the wilderness, as a type-of him
who was lifted up, that the chief of sinners
might look and live. Those rough men, cover
"ad with the sacred soil, stopped from their
;dinner, they gazed and heard, and Mr.
II 'Stuart completed • the service by giving to
each a book.
We then went to the Hospital There
I went from bed to bed, conversing with the
minified andsick, and soot), Lwascalled upon
.friti: !Ohl' Christian'brethren, it was a
,p r ivilege to pray there ! Yes it was a privi
i+ke tepira:y with these men. Fellow-Chris
tiiitisiriAGhrist, it is worth a journey'down to'
the Potomac, down to the Rapidan and as
much further as they choiise to send you, to
help those men to lift their thoughts and
hearts to Gad and the Saviour in prayer ; for
in the Imidst of that prayer there was such
sobbing all , around the room. Oh ! was it not
good to help those sad-hearted, those sick
and weary'mien, our defenders, to pray?
Yes, it was:most blessed. •
I will .pass on until we come to a tent
where•they seat for the colonel of the regi
mentovho-was just converted to God. He
comes in, and..after some services we ask him
how he found Christ, and with all a soldier's
candor and• fire ardor of a young disciple, he
tells us what .great 'things God has done for
him ; :how he found the Saviour;—and we
agturi-conseerakd hira'to: the Redeemer, and
the service of his God.
We went-on to-Camp Distribution, which
used to be Camp Convalescent. Here the
soldieramere favored with ft larger :Peg cabin.
It was full,-Lftfil every night, of - praying,
praising soldiers, listeuina b to the preaching
of the Word. (One gentleman addressed
them, and then-another, and another ; until,
in 'turn, we'had all spoken. What an inte
resting seenelt was.' - -As I was 'speaking , to
them, the tap of the drum was heard, a sol
dier started here, another there, to leave.
Then'here: was the ;Sound of the I trumpet,
that called. out some more. A gentleman
arose at my right hand (whom I afterwards
learned to be the- colonel of the regiment,who
told me himself he had heen a skeptic) and.
said I hope it will he understood. That it
is a sufficient excuse for any soldier not to re
gard these calls, to say that he was in this
religious meeting; and I hope," (he con
tinued) " for the honor of the profession,
that not . another man will leave the. room
until the services are ended." That is the
kind of reception your &legates and their
services meet in the camp.
We went to Brandy Station. I preached
there the Sabbath before'-Br. AdamS, in the
same neat tent at Meade's: head-quarters,
where some of his staff were round him.; and
I will repeat here a remark Intade to my
own people : "Dear friends, iam accustom
ed to attentive audiences, but I must say I
am not accustomed to eager audiences ; and
at Gen. Meade's head-quarters, it was an
eager audience." Letme explain to you my
solution of the case. You will meet a man
in the streets of Boston. or New York and
you offer him a tract; he will spurn it, and
probably make you some retort. He enlists.
To-morrow approach him, and you find a; bet
ter reception, he is more serious; he begins
to'feel himself an exile from home. You.
follow him, and...when he gets to the front,
as they Call ,it, (and what the "front"
never knew ,before,—a" word pregnant- with
death and solemnity)—the man- stands in
the face of eternity, and he is another being.
Oh ! if thechurch of God 'would onlyknow
'what a mission field this war has opened—
what a mission field the army is, and how
it calls upon us to cast in the seed. Yes, these
men have left their trifling ; they are serious
in the presence of death, and they long for
the words of eternal life.
I am deeply impressed at seeing in the pa
pers that Major Robinson of the cavalry is
wounded ; for I must be allowed to say
(though it is a personal remark about him)
that I do not know a figure or face in the
army that has impressed itself upon my
• heart like the face of that gentleman, for he
leaned with his elbow on his knee, his hand
supporting his face, and gazed into;my eyes
while I was preaching the whole discourse,
just as if he wanted to look into eternity, to
see God and the Saviour and understand all
about them.
• That is the kind of audience we address
when we go do down to the camp, and I. do
not wonder at the remark a preacher made
within my hearing, a few days ago " I do
not know how to meet the tameness of my
audiences now."
On we went to Pony Mountain, there to
gaze on both carnps in part, the rebel camp
and our own. Arrangements had been made
by an artillery company which had kindly
furnished us with horses, and soon apart - of
the programme was developed of which I was
not informed. As I sat in the saddle, having
a lame foot, the whole company was arrang
ed before me in military order, and friend
Stuart then said to me : " You have got to
preach to, these men." There was another
exterhpore sermon ; and there was another
eager audience ; and so impressed was
friends and brethren, with the attention of
these inen, that I ventured to say, at the
close of the remarks. "If any of you wish
to talk with me, personally, about the Saviour,
I have no doubt you will be at liberty to
leave the ranks for that purpose." One man
came to my side and talked about Jesus, and
he, I found was the child of prayer, the son
of. a Methodist minister. What impressed
me chiefly was to find that those who had
been lounging about, or playing quoits, had
formed another audience in the rear, not
quite as regular in attitude, but as attentive.
This, Christian friends, willegive you a suf
ficient specimen of what it is for your dele
gates to go down to the camp. It is not
merely on the battle-field, nor in the hos
pital that the work is done. We have a
most blessed opportunity for labor in the
Winter, when there is no fighting. If the
war is to be continued, or if the army is to
continue without fighting for any length of
time, it does present to the Christian Church
one of the most interesting, one of the most
imposing fields of Christian labour that the
Church of Christ has ever had.
The simple question now is this: Shall we
who stay at home, who do not go, who can
not go, or for any reason should not go—shall
we not say, by our actions and our words, to
the whole army " We are enlisted with you
our money, our Sympathy, ourselves, are as
much in the cause as you; and Whatever we
can do to alleviate your sufferings,.whatever
we can do to minister to your spiritual wel
fare, we are-ready to do I'
If you ask what can be done? I answer
briefly ; first, we can save life ! Yes, we can save
life. A computation has been made, that
out of all who die in war, only one-fifth are
killed by the ball, bfthe sabre and bayonet,
the other four-fifths die after battle. It is
the neglected wounds ; it is the exhaustion;
it is the dying by sun stroke; it is the unal
leviated anguish of days and nights which
sums up the dreadful work of war. The
army, the Government ; the whole Military
Administration, has but one great object in
war ; it is to conquer ;not to save life ; and all
they do to save the life of the wounded
weakens them immediately in the work
they have in hand. There is a place here
for Christian and patriotic charity. You can
save these four-fifths. I was very much im
pressed by the remarks made by Speaker
Colfax in an address recently; that in the 1
war of the Peninsula, the proportion of
deaths was 163 to 1000; in the Crimean war
it began at 190, went on to 511, and when
the ravages of diseases that visited their
camp, began to be felt, it reached the awful
proportion of 913 in every thousand, dying.
What Is the proportion of deaths in the
American Army ? 53 to 1000 . . Is not that
progress ? Will it not speak to the world
something for free institutions, for republi
can government, for the Christian religion,
even in a Republic which is supposed to have
so little military power and efficiency?
Brethren, we can save life. Rush.! rush
to the hattle-field„ and save it! spare - no
money, spare no one Rush to the battle
field and. save your.defenders ! ,One-fifth of
'them have gone, God has called them . . The
other four-fifths of them, are lying, appealing
• - r
. • II A
•I I • 111 4110 • •• S -
. .
a
to Ton: " Will you-save us ?" Do you ask
how:? it will give you one specimen, not of
what:you and I can ido, but just to showithe
entirety novel methods known to the church
of iGod;,to save life. There is a man in
Philadellpia—a plain eitizen, but an earnest,
worker. !He rushedcdown to the terrible' ,
battlerfield of Gettysburg, and found this
streage4ight ; .a hundred men lying in one.
piace,2vounded, on the edge of a stream.
They•eaald not move,rthe water was rising,
and there:they were looking, without the
powertto avoid 'it, upon a slowly approadh-:
it:lg death! This gentleman- got down onf
his hands-and knees, and with a`few others
whom he. got ,to his assistance, rernoveti
these - pear wounded nierato a place of safety.
No red tape, no rigid military rule, but the:
love ofnahrist working in,their hearts to do
what could be done.. A'young pastor ofl
Philadelphia, spent threw entire .days in
simply ettarying water. ''Water Water 1" ,
is one of ithe terrible cries on the battle.:
field, after Ithe stillness that succeeds the
shock of combat. He spent three days in
carrying • water, and so labiate:red were his
feet that be ,could not walk :'or. stand, in
ministering to•their wants. Wi'e can dimin
ish suffering greatly. Wonderful is the
power God gives us to bind up those broken
hearth, those bleeding wounds,—to dry those
weeping eyes.
Christian friends, is there any question
whether the men and means will tome that
are wanted? That is what we have come
here to-night practically to settle.= Have
you got a dollar that you would withhold,
if it is needed down there ? I believe not.
Somehow or other the Christian Commis
sion has kept itself back too long. It is
time it came but end told the Church and
the, world what it has done and what it can
do, if you hut.give it the means it, needs.
The chairman read the following letter,
stating that when he came to his office and
found it he feared there would be a great
disappointment here to-night; but he was
happy to. say, Mr. Stuart was present, and
would be able to give them some account of
the working of the Commisaion.
U. E. emusrun Comaussioa, 11 Bank street,
PHILADELPHIA., May 13,1864. J -
Wilma& E. DODOS, Esti. : Dear Friend and Brother:
We greatly need your help, and,l am sure we shall not
appeal for it in'tum. The case is this: The unprece
dented extent, Obstinacy . and ion.. continuance of the
great struggle in Virginia, has exfausted oursupplies,
overtaxed our men arid means of transportation, and
is calling - upon us to 'double and more than - double
everything. Amessenger from the front -came in last
night to urge forward two hundred additional delegates
at least, and battle-field stores in proportion. During
the marching and fighting up,to Sunday last, we had a
wagon loaded with stores, &c., with each army corps,
and an agent with a band of delegates in charge of
each wagon.
In the. Wilderness they rendered. great service and
saved many lives. By the time they reached Chancel
lorsville the Government stores for the wounded gave
out. Ours became the chief reliance.-
With the 2d corps, two of our delegates made and
distributed 'beef tea. -Two others with bandages,
sponges, basins, stimulants, ke., went amongst the
Wounded, and so on.
The same thing in all the corps. This continued
through all Friday in, the 'Wilderness; all Saturday and
Saturday night the same thing at Chancellorsville.
Sunday the wounded were taken to Fredericksburg,
and all their food and care by the way was from the
delegates of the Christian Commission.
At Fredericksburg, the remaining supplies were all
divided amongst the thousands of wounded.
One surgeon begged—in . the 2d corps hospital—for all
we had for his corps, saying: "For God's sake, let me
have it all, my men are clyingfor want of it." -
Our tents and fly - chapels in the winter, are serving
grandly for hospitals in the field now. Everything
mins to have fitted exactly the emergency, only that
it oughttO have been four times more extensive.
We shall spare netting.; shall not even wait to hear
from you, or from anybOdy, but do what is, demanded,
trusting in God and our friends.
Can you not, in your meeting' Sabbath evening, or in
any way that will be effectual, se bring up your funds
as to be able to appropriate fifty thousand dollars for
our field work, in this emergency?
We may have to ask you to double it if you do, but if
you will help us this much now, you will not lose your
reward. Yours very truly, Gee. EL STUART.
Mr. Dodge continued "to say that on read
ing that letter in his office, aloud, two gen
tlemen who were there on business came
forward ; one who had a salary of some
$3OOO or $4OOO a year, gave him $5OO, say
ing he had been thinking what he could do
for the soldiers, and the other gave him
$2OO.
Mr. Dodge then introduced Geo. H.
Stuart, Esq., of Philadelphia, as one whom
we all knew, whom the country honoured,
and whom the soldier would never forget
Address of Geo. H. Stuart, Esq
I can pack boxes on a Sabbath, for our
soldiers when they are in need ; I can give
a little of my means ; but the occasion and
the circumstances under which we are as
sembled together,—the magnitude of this
gathering to night, overwhelms my soul, and
I cannot speak.
Were the tidings to come into this house
at this time that every man, every woman
and every child in Jersey City were not
merely lying in their beds, surrounded with
beloved friends, suffering from wounds that
no human tongue could describe, but that
there were.the same number in population
that Jersey City contains,in the roughest
pines of Nevsrjersey, with no brother, or
father, or mother, or sister, no drugstore, or
surgeon within reach,—you would not wait
for the ferry boats, you would not wain for
row-boats, you would go over, if you could
not swim, on rafts; you would do anything
that human ingenuity could invent, but go
there you would' to save suffering - hu
manity..
To night, my friends, away on the other
side of the Rappahannock, away on the
other side of the Rapidan, our brothers, our
husbands, our fathers, our loved ones, who
have offered th.eir lives a willing sacrifice
lzpon . their country's altar, are bleeding and
'dying. We are living at ease, seated around
luxurious boards ,- almost, if we are to judge
(I do not speak now of. New York) but of
those I have met in the thoroughfares of
Philadelphia almost unconscious of the fact
that such scenes as no human tongue or pen
can describe are to-day to be witnessed—not
.in far off China or distant India—but in our
own beloved America, and within twenty
four hours of our own homes.
No human government ever made such
provision for the sick and wounded as our
government has done, before this campaign,
but instead of one, two or three day's battle,
we have had Gen. Grant, the noble hero of
the present contest, fighting for one, two,
three, four, five, six, seven,•eight long days,
and, as be says himself, determined to fight
all the Summer, if needs be, until this re
bellion is overthrown. (Applause).
My friends, I did not allude to that sub
ject to call down applause. It is no - time
for applause : it is a time for weeping, for
deep solemnity,—a time for the church of
Christ, and the whole nation to get on its
knees as never before,—a time to be humble
in the presence of God, who is speaking to
this:nation and saying to us to night, "Be
still, and know that lam God." His hand
is mercifully outstretched for our deliver-
ante. - -Let us be humble, as .we; should be
and prepared for it.
I say, with all this preparation of the
Government, and with the stores of the
Christian and Sanitary Commissions, an
emergenci is upon the Government, andlhe
country such as no human foresight could
have looked for, and it is to meet that emer
)gency we are here to-night.
Let me.say a single word for the. Armyof
the• Potomac ; and what. I say of it is true
of all our armies. 'I know you will be patient: -
I spoke this night week, to an audience
larger than this, standing in a church, and
_
„
in the grave yard, wherever they.could bear,
for two hours; and although net a wealthy
people, when we, made a collection, we found
the amount to be $22,000. And why?'Be
, cause you could not look r into ,a ;pew in that
church in which you 'would 'net see some
beating heart, that palpitated to , my own;
those who had loved ones in the army. The
hours of the night were not 'thought of at
sucks time. When, the Artnyof the. Pot
omac went into Winter-quartersithe Christian
Commission resolved that, although their
treasury was ahnout, empty,. they would offer
the Gospel of Christ to every iman in the
army. Howler they have filled'that design,
judge by the figures. Seventy-taio places of
worship have been established, where the
mord of God was not preached merely on the
:Sabbath, but every day 'in the `week, Often
twice. 'ln the total we are enabled to sum
tup - "10,800- religious services held with this
Army, befote it was , called to move,—in
eye* , one of which Jesus Christ and . Him
'crucified, was offered to the soldier, as the
ti
grond, and the alone ground • of his sa.lVa
'Oen. These services you have heand de-•
senibe to-night,'by two: brethren in the min
istry who have ,spoken ; and I thank God
that they have been blessed in a remarkable
degree to the conversion of souls. ' ' 1
degree
Monday night, a week ago, wag one Of the
saddest nights of my life. I could not sleep ;
I hathrepeived a letter from a faithful agent,
in reply to one in which I had requested the
return .of a delegate who' was an efficient
`speaker. that he might 'come ,before the
churches and plead our eause._And I got a
reproof, _ My.friend wrote; " We cannot let
him go. Souls are more precious than gold.
Brother L. is preaching to soldiers every.
day Who are going to 'a' soldiers grave, and
we cannot part with him.". That young
man returned last Friday night, broken
dolin and he is now in his bed. On the
Wednesday night of that terrible battle, he
preached to a regiment of 700 men, standing
upon'their arms, and ready to receive the
word to form into line of battle. The next
day there were only 100 of, that regiment
left. That letter also contained the:fact,
communicated to me in confidence. "Mon
day morning next the Army moves;:it - will
be a a bloody, fearful campaign. Our trea
sury was empty. We had sent along our
five wagons loaded .With stores, and drawn
by Pennsylvania 'CAMs of four horSes each,
every wagon aceoniptinied by a large and
experienced corps Qf delegates, who had
been to the battle fields , of- Gettysburg, An
tietam and Chancellorsville. But what to
do when news came Mack that the battle had
begun,—that our sto es had been exhausted,'
that Our delegates w e worn down—without
men to reinforce the or additional stores
to send! We looke ;freight - up to God and
laid the matter befOre him. Our Brethren
Bishop Mal lvain,Kirk and Duryda addressed
the church in Philada. ; and in the Church
of the Epiphany, where the lamented Tyng
miniatered, the respOnae was $50,000, since
increased to nearly $70,000. Pittsburg, as I
told you, gave $22,000, which has since in
creased to $35,000 ; Boston, on the Mer
chants' Exchange opened a subscription list,
which has amounted to nearly $30,000 al
ready, without speeches.—[The "Boston sub
scription list has since reached over $35,000.
---Rzemixeit.] A' little town in Western
Pennsylvania, with only 425 - inhabitants, to
which we had no opportunity of making
a direct appeal, raised' $9OO arid sent. it to
the treasury. We felt that our prayer was
being answered.
• I need not describe what- these delegates
have done. I speak it to the honor of
Christ's church, and not to the managers of
this Association,—that we were on the field,
I believe, s - before any other agency. We
were orrtlio field to stand by the noble Gen.
Rice ;—to ,take the dying message from the
loved boy—to receive the lock of hair, the
last word 'to father, or mother, to administer
words of consolation and of hope, to give
food and' apply soothing remedies to the
suffering body ;--doing all for - a coin richer
than was ever coined , on earth, the " God bless
you !" of the Ainerican soldier.
We cannot tell you what these delegates .
do. The principle upon which the Associa
tiOn is governed is this: Personal distribution
of Hospital stores, accompanied by personal min-,
istration- That which you contribnte goes
directly without any circumvention, - to the
[wounded soldier lying on the battle field
After that has been - attended to, then the
delegate kneeling by his side, tells of Him
who said, " I am the resurrection and the
life, that "It is a faithful saying and worthy
1 of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came
into the world to save sinners." Oh lif you
have never been to the battle field, you
know nothing of the comfort of having some
one standing by the dying form, where, from
the exigencies of a state of war, the father,
the mother, the wife and sister cannot go.'
It being impossible that they should -be al
lowed within the lines. Government has
wisely selected those -who are permitted to
go—the Christian and Sanitary Commissions.
I say you can have no coneeption of what
these men do unless you were' down there
- yourself. A surgeon who took tea with me
a few evenings ago, said : "Not long ago, I
had charge of 2000 wounded men in the
woods; one night I had scarcely any help,
2000 wounded had come in wagons, to be
transferred to Alexandria by the first train.
What to do that long night, with one or two
or three assistants, I did not know; I was
oppressed with the thought, when eight of
your delegates presented themselves. I said
"eight angels have come, God bless tb • Chris
tian Commission t" All they could do that
night was to -go through the long train of
cars, down to °a, little spring, fill their buck
ets with water, and go from man to man,
giving each a cup of cold water.
We ask you for $lOO,OOO to night—the pal
try sum of 's2 "for each' wounded soldier
including the ''rebel wounded, whom we
take in our hands when we meet them ; for
the Christian Commission knows neither
rebel nor Union soldier on the battle field,
but follows in the footsteps of our blessed
Master, " If thine enemy hunger, feed him,
if he thirst give him drink." Said a rebel
officer at Gettysburg-: "Sir we do not
understand your work here; when you meet
- us upon the battle field, you fight us like
devils ; but when we fall into your hands,
your Christian Commission treats us like
angels." I have in my possession a 'docu
ment which I would - not give • for $5OOO,
signed by 63 rebel officers on Johnson's
Island, tendering us a vote of thanks for
saving the lives of hundreds of their men
on the battle field of Gettysburg. That is
the work of the Christian 'Commission. That
is - the stock we have here to night to offer
' you to invest in.
I tried to make an appeal, last Sabbath
night, when we got $22000, but I could not,
I first said: My only appeal is: - I want to
.take this audience across the Allegheny
River .and up the bank, to the house of Gerr.
Hays, the noble defender of our country,
and ask his widow what sacrifice she has
made for the land. Go with me, to-night '
to a desolate house in this city, and ask the
youthful widow of the lamented, but now
sainted Rice, what sacrifice she has made
for our country. And you, men of New
York, who have rolled up your wealth by the
hundredi of thOusands, even in consequence
of ; this very war, what is 'your response, to
night? As you shall meet these dying men,
who were' the instruments, under ocl; Of
saving your property and your honies, what
is your response ? What would your bonds,
and mortgages and property. be worth to
night if that gallant army. were .not there?
You will meet these men at the judgment
seat of Christ, and as you shall meet them,
then, I want you to answer to-night, before
God. If $lOO,OOO is too large a draft to make
upon the City of New York, when Philadel
phia has given $70,000, Pittsburg $30,000,
Boston $30,000 which will soon be $50,000
then I have not a single word more to say
about the Empire City. But if you do not
give us the money, we will go and bind
„up
the wounds of every New York soldier we
will send home to, fathers, -to mothers, to
wives, the messages of dying ones. We'care
not what State or section of the country a
man, belongs to, who is in dietress, we go in
the name of Jesus, and in his name desire
to pour wine and oil into the ^bleeding
wounds, bind up the suffering hearts and
speak words of tenderneal and, consolation
to the departing soul.
I go, to the front tomorrow in company
With the reverend father from Ohio, Bishop
Mcllvaine.
I lave.no language of words at command!
to pourtray the sufferings we go .to 'Witness.'
Shall I go before your brave defenders and
tell them' that the Academy was filled to:
overflowing' on a wet night, that we asked
the men and women of New York for $100;
000, and it was refused? "Tell it not in
Gath : publish it not in the streets of Aske
lon !"
While a dollectionn was being taken up
WILLIAM H. ASPINWALL, Esq., read the fol
lowing resolutions :
Resolved, That the objects' and labors of the Christian
Commission eminently commend . themselves to the
Patriotism and Christanity of our Country. •
Resolved, - That the men who are periling-life, and
health, and fortune, for the preservation of our country,
should receive the full hearted - Christian sympathynnd
support of the people of this land. -
Resolved, That in these 'ministrations of mercy, the
wants and claims of the - thousands who, in the provi
'deuce of God, are committed to our hands as prisoners
of War, should not be overlooked or neglected. To care
for' uch is peculiarly in accordance with the precepts
and caste ple of our , Divine Lord, whose name we bear
and in whose service we are engaged.
Resolved, That it be urged Apart all our chureheS and
citizens that their prayers, and,contributionsand efforts
be given promptly and 'without stint to the work so
wisely commenced and so effectually carried on by'the
Christian Commission. * •
Gen. ANDERsox rose and said : " second
these resolutions with all my heart." They
were then passed unanimously.
The Cumattax :I—Rev. Mr. Duryea was
invited by the Committee. to address the
meeting, but as it is the intention of the
Christian Commission to have other meet
ings in some of the churches, and as Mr.
Duryea thinks the audience is now too much
exhausted, he desires to defer, his remarks
to some other occasion. .
There were repeated calls for Mr. Duryea,
who came forward.
Address by Rev. Joseph T. Duryea.
One . of the most important lessons that
was taught me, when preparing for the
ministry, was, never to speak for the sake of
speaking. "If you can do good, speak; if
not, be silent."
I have felt that the tide of this meeting
has been rising, rising, rising, until it is far
beyond me, and that I should only-bring it
down if I should place myself before you at
this point. I felt that when Brother Stuart's
heart overflowed into yours then the time
had come for contributions. I thought that
the contribution was the crisis of the meet
ing, and therefore you might better go
home to your prayers and your thoughts
than to be longer detained.
If any thought might be added to what has
been stated to-night, it is a thought connected
with the heart of the Army of the Potomac.
You have heard depicted before you the horri
ble sufferings on the battle-field. You have.
had put graphically before your eyes the
the sorrows and agonies of those wounded and
dying men. Remember that this is , a sacrifice,
a voluntary sacrifice, a cheerful sacrifice,' an
unregretted sacrifice. Those boys knew the
war was coming ; they knew the, disaster at
tendant upon a conquering campaign, as they
fondly believed and hoped it would be.
I stood one morning , upon Stony Hill, two
miles beyond the pickets, with a staff of officers
about me. At an elevated point in the dis
tance was the flag of the Army headquarters;
spreading all along from that, far over towards
the• Blue Ridge, the white camps were lying;
the Blue Ridge sparkling, silvered in the
morning MI ; yonder Pony Mountain, signal
ling to Gen. Meade's headquarters ; meandering
before us lay the Rapidan; yonder the rebel
pickets ; while beyond them, far beyond, tier
upon tier, were the-embrasures and earthworks,
behind theni the rebel army in review ; a mock
skirmish giving us a view of the opening
battle; the artillery shelling a point at which
some imaginary enemy had been placed. As
we looked into these fortifications, running
miles on miles, tier upon tier beyond, not an
exclamation escaped. these soldiers ; - they
looked into each other's eyes, turned away and
shook the head. It did not change their , de
termination. These very men had tried some
of those further tiers. They were on the
march, under the order of - General Meade, to
Mine Run. They came there in the night,
and slept at the foot of a hill. As the grey of
the morning dawned the boys wanted to see
the point they were to assail; they climbed to
the brow of the hill, looked beyond the valley,
saw the bristling muskets and heard the clash
ing spades, as the busy workmen were bringing
the fortifications to completion. They crawled
back again, took their morning ration, and
just before nine o'clock, when the order came
to form for the assault, these heroes began to
meet round the chaplain. One bared his arm
and said: " Let the surgeon take it off, if it
gives > me. an excuse from service to-day."
Then they began to say, " Boys ; some of us
must die; most of us must die ;" but at nine
o'clock the order came to form, and every
man stood to the, mark, waiting for the•
ringing tone ' Charge! After waiting for ba!f
an hour, the muskets were stacked again.
They climbed the hill and peeped over at those
earth-works, now clearly defined in the morn
ing sun. Then these men gathered around
the chaplains and the musicians, and began to
disburthen themselves of .tokens for friends at
home ; giving messages to wives and mothers
'and sisters. 31ere a memento was given to
faithful hands ; there a message was recorded,
to be carried off to those who might listen for
the tidings of the dead. Then they sat down,
unbuttoned their coats, wrote out in a fair
hand , their names and pinned' them to their
shirts, that their bodies might be known and
a rude head-board guide the searching friend
to where the husband or the son was sleeping. •
Then they stood up to the musket again in
line of battle, hour after hour, unblenching,
unchanged in their determination.
This is the spirit that has already left' those
fortifications far in the rear.
But there is another element at work in this'
army which has never so wrought before. The
religious element at last pervade!, from head
quarters down to the young private 'soldier.
That courage, untiring, unshrinking, unrelent
ing, yet cool, careful, well-poised, which is
born of faith in God has impelled the arniy.:
There is a limit to physical, animal courage.
There is no limit to the courage which feels
God inspiring it. All that there is in God
is in that courage ; it is omnipotent.
It is not for nothing that the chapel-tent has
been opened at headquarters, and that the
master-spirits, of the army have bowed in
prayer and listened to the gospel; it is not lor
nothing that fifty-four of these rude temples
have been crowded night after -night with
praying
,inen,, and on the Sabbath with men
clustering at the feet of the preacher of Christ';
it is not for nothing that these have gathered,
knee to knee, in the crowded tent, to pray for
country and for the cause. Said one of the
editors of the Evening Post, when taken into a
prayer meeting at the front; " When I heard
those men whom I saw on guard during the
day, and engage& in various duties— rough,-
sun -burnt men—lift up their hands and eyes
to 'Heaven, and pray as they prayed, I said
to - myself, When this army moves it must
ponquer.'',
3lr. Phillips said, on the other side of the
square beyond, that the great peril of the
country was to be when the army should
return. Let me tell that gentleman that ,he
has not been in the army. That army has not •
been uncitizenized. That army is more in
tensely citizen than -when it went into the .,
field ; it is now ten hundred times more in—
tensely American.; and; blessed;be God! it is .
rapidly, I believe,. bearing the character of
Christian. They have said tome ; "You need
not wrangle about the soldier voting now ; we
want to fight it out. The politicians have
nearly ruined us at home; for the dear sake of
country do not let them come here to elec
tioneer among us. Let them stay in the
public places ; let them stand "round the
President, and lift up their hands to God, and
pray for the country, and leave• us to fight -it
out to the bitter last end. Then we will come
home, and then we will vote."
Ah ! if some men in this country could hear
that pledge they might tremble for the main
tenance of the decreasing shadow of theft
hopes for any position in the United States
again. •
One thing more:. The soldier not only
knows the sacrifices he makes when battle
opens, but patiently, uninurmuringly, unre
grettingly he renders it. I asked some of the
delegates of the Christian- Commission, who
saw a train of freight cars come into the depot
covered with 'wounded men, lying si.de by side
like sticks of cord wood on the platform cars ;
"As the train held up, and you met them, was
there groaning? was there murmuring?" Only
that which was forced from them, which could
not be restrained- As they heard the whistle
blow for putting on the• brakes, they would
begin to gather up and shut their teeth like
steel, that no groan might escape." I asked
-the delegates of the Christian Commission ;
"Have you ever heard a man say, 4Oh ! if I
had my arm back ! Oh ! if I had my leg
back 1' " Never." I have tried them myself
in the hospital, from bed to bed, through the
bare ward,,and the response has echded back,
strongly or faintly, " Never."
A beautiful boy, fair as a girl, was found,
when the army had advanced, line facing line,
picked up by the rebels, carried across to their
lines. They found they must drop him, threw
him on a wagon, which was at angle so that
the sun directly struck it. They gave him a
pint of water and left him between the lines.
The lines fell back, both sides picketed, and.
there, under a broiling July sun, he lay with
out a helper, without a word of sympathy.
The pint of water was drank down at once,
then came that thirst, that burning thirst, that
consuming thirst, the tongue began to swell,
until it pressed out of his mouth, and be could
hardly breathe. He placed his finger on his
throat and compressed it, so as with difficulty
to. draw breath, he threw up his cap ; eight
times was it fired at from one side or the other,
at length one of our officers ran across, rescued
him,and took him to the hospital. He was
placd upon a couch and examined. They
were unable at first to reduce the swelling of
his togue; they gave him stimulants to bring
up his strength, until the time for amputation
had come. The surgeon struggled with him
self. Said he : "I cannot tell him ;so fair and
delicate, and pure and girl like, it will kill him
to tell him, you (said he to the chaplain) must
tell him." He went devising means of soften
ing down the harsh truth, and' at length said,
coming boldly up to him, relying upon his for
titude, your leg must come off this morning
he turned his face away, put his hands up to
his eyes for a few minutes, wiped away two
pearly tears and said : "How soon, Chaplain ?"
Then his face was covered with a cloth satu
rated with chloroform, the limb removed,
gathered up and secured rapidly, like magic,
were the bleeding ends of those life ducts, and
suddenly he came forth from unconsciousness
and said : " Oh! chaplain, why did you do
that? why did you let me come back from
sleep before it was done ?" "Oh ! thank God,my
boy, it is all over," and such a smile of grati
tude to him and to God. Day after day the
chaplain used to hold his head upon his lap,
and stroke his curls,' and talk to him, until one
day the rebels came down and got possession of
him. Again he was retaken. The surgeon
then feared that he must die. He told him he
must take a long journey to Alexandria-20 or
30 miles in an ambulance, just after amputa
tion " which will you do—be left to the rebels
or go ?" "I will go." The chaplain went to
bid him good • bye ! That was the end, he
mounted his horse, and before he bad gone
far, he picked up a man exhausted. As he
was carrying him along, be came behind.
another, whose tread he noticed as being so
careful, so steady, and so measured.; and when
passing he observed the fixedness of his eye,
and the determination of his look ; and he
noticed that his limb was shattered, and swung
upon a pivot, Said he : "God bless you! He
will carry you through, you are so brave." He
carried his burden into Alexandria, and there
under s..tree sat the boy, with a pictorial news
paper smiling. Well, Chaplain, Igot through,
not' one murmur from beginning to end. This
is the universal testimony.
Will you suffer such men, who go at least
with what they belieVe to be the spirit of pa
triotism, who, at least make what they believe
to be an awful sacrifice r —will you suffer these
men to die without sympathy, without care,
without the ministrations of humanity and
religion ?
I remember how the tears coursed down the
cheeks of these men as I told them, when
preaching at General Meade's head-quarters
for seven days, riding here and there. Re
member boys, the church of God is behind
you—the church of God is watching you, the
church of God is praying for you, the church
of God will march step by 'step behind you in
this campaign and catch you when you fall,
will minister gently to your needs, and bless
•
you with the consolations of the Gospel.
There is but one more thought, and with
that I leave you. There is a face painted on
my mind that I will not soon forget. I was
passing from the old North Church, by the
Herald office. Behind the desk stood a woman
in black. The clerk had before him a list
spread out upon the desk; she was watching
as he traced the list, I could see her eye almost
burn into the,paper, as she followed his finger
eagerly, eagerly, fearing lest she might see
what her heart was already broken in antici
pation of—the name written in her memory,
Oh ! the pale fixedness—Oh I the soul condens
ing earnestness of that look; it went me
through and through. How many read the
papers every day with such an eye ; how many
list to the tidings all night long, with ears
quickeried by love. A.h I for these women
who have s given up fathers, and sons, and hus
bands and brpthers, for these too, the church
of God will stand in the field and say, either
thetlad tidings, we have found them well and
safe ; or, we will do as gently by them as you
could do—the best that we—a good Providence
helping us—shall be able to do.
Remember, then, the battle field, remember
the desolate home ; carry the two pictures be
fore you in thought and say, shall we plead in
vain for men or means ?
The cluiirman announced that nearly thirty
thousand dollars had been collected. He
hoped those present would exert themselves
next day, and have the balance of the one
hundred thousand, lodged in the hands of Mr)
/limes K. Brown, the Treasurer.
The. Doxology.
„ "•Praise Gocl from whom all blessings flow,”
VIM sung and the benediction pronounced by
Bishop Mlilvaine, after whiph the vast assem
bly separated at half past ten o'clock.