Third Graudliational Anniversary OF THE U. S. CHRISTIAN COMMISSION, HELD IN THE HALL OF THE House of Representatives, WASHINGTON, DC. On the evening of Sabbath, the 29th -of Janu ary, one of the largest audiences ever convened in the Nation's Capitol assembled in the Hall of the House of Representatives, to listen to,, and be impressed with, the claims and the work of the United States Christian Commission. the meeting was certainly of wonderful breadth •01, power and interest. It is impossible to give .1 . - adequate idea of it. The place, the compo .nents, the character of the speakers, and the eloquence of their utterances, the e f fect of the vzhele, cannot be conveyed even by the most fijthful and ardent descriptions. The galleries, end , , the doorways, avenues, and even stair waStelleading to them, were crowded. The churches of nearly all denominations had closed the**rs, and invited their congregations to d y ers, to hear what God had done and was ' lig in the armies of the Republic. Cabinet ~ ders, SenatorS, Representatives, Generals, A l Admirals, Governors of States, and representa tive men in every position of eminence, were a part of ..the audience. President Lincoln and Mrs. Lincoln were there. Vice-President Ham lin, Speaker Colfax, Secretary Seward, Secre tary Welles, Chief Justice Chase, Postmaster- Generathennison,Vice-Admiral Farragut, Gen eral Plancockppeneral Patrick, Surgeon-Gene ral Barnes, Governor Yates, Governor Sprague, the leading members of the Senate and House of Representatives,and many other distinguished names on our country's roll of honor, lent their countenance and their words to the great cause. At 7 o'clock Secretary Seward took the chair. The exercises were opened by the singing of a high-sounding anthem of praise, sung by the Washington Handel and Haydn Society, who sang at appointed intervals throughout the ser vices. The Rev. E. ,H. Gray, D. D., read se lections of Scripture most fitting the occasion, and prayer was offered by the Rev. Samuel Hanson Cox, D. D., of New York— The na tional hymn— " My country, 'tis of thee, Swes.t land of liberty,"— was then sung by the whole audience, thing, "and with indescribable earnestness and power. The introductory remarks were then made by the Chairman, as follows : SECRETARY SEWARD'S OPENING AD DRESS. Fellow-Citizens:—lncoming once more into these halls of the National Legislature, although for only an occasional purpose, my thoughts re vert to the circumstances under which I left them four years ago. Misguided legislators had found at last the long delayed occasion, and had organized a fearful rebellion. They had appointed their leader, had seized by surprise important forts, ports, and places, and their armies were rush ing into the field. One after another the con spirators threw off the mask and departed from this Capitol, hurling back curses and defiance against the Government of our fathers. Foreign nations, confounded by the magnitude and bold ness of the insurrection, prepared to acknow ledge here a divided empire. On the side of eGovernment were seen and heard only alarm and confusion. Unavailing appeals to reflec tion .and propositions for conciliation came forth from every section of a country which re garded fraternal war as the greatest of crimes, and the most irretrievable of calamities. The people called first upon the outgoing President, then upon the incoming President, and then, successively, upon each one of our bravest gene rals and most honored statesmen ' to save the Union, and to save it quickly, and by one mas ter-stroke. To these frantic appeals only one truthful answer could be given or was given. That answer was, that by no one act, and by no one man, could the'Union be saved. It could be saved only by the voluntary, energetic, heroic, and persistent effort of the whole people. The people promptly arose to make that su preme effort i they have faithfully persevered -in it, and it is now, thanks to Almighty God, seen to be successful: Lost forts. .ports, and plapes, without which the insurrection cannot succeed, have been regained. The corner stone of the rebellion has been uplifted and cast out, and we wait only at the hands of the rebels for the submission, which, however delayed, necessarily follows military defeat and over throw. In this achievement the people of the United' States have not waited to follow, but they have gone before the executive, the legis lative, and the judicial authorities of the Gov ernment. I have heretofore borne my testimony to this energy in the departments of war, finance, and politics. But the war has opened another field ."of activity and labor, a field not less important or interesting than those which usually lie di rectly in review. That field is the department of charity. We have here in our country no established church or recognized ecclesiastical authority. They taunt us with not even recog o'ltizing a God in our national Constitution. All effort, all association, and all submission is puiely . voluntary. Nevertheless, the Christian Commission and the Sanitary Commission, working together in perfect harmony, unorgan ized, unpaid, unprompted, and even unnoticed by the Government, have cultivated the broad field to which I have adverted, with complete and full success. They have left no wounds, - or sickness, or sorrows, unheeded and unre lieved, which could be reached by any other than a Divine hand. I have consented to take this chair, only be cause it affords me a fitting opportunity to pro , claim my sincere conviction- that the charities of this, the greatest and most fearful of all civil wars, though voluntarily rendered, have, never-' theless, been administered by the Christian ,people of the United States without any sacri legious holding back, and in a spirit of lofty patriotism, and pure and undefiled religion. ADDRESS OF GEORGE - IL STEART. ; Mr. President, Ladies, and Gentlemen: The United States Christian Commission stands be -Icire the Government of the United States this evening, to render an account of its stewardship for the past year. And in doing so, we cannot izlfrain from asking the President, his Cabinet, A nt .' the members of both Houses of Congress, a,"41-the departments of the Government, with t hi s i e ge audience, to unite with us in giving n g" g od thanksgiving to God 'for the recent vic t or ies iyhich have attended the efforts of our -Governmenitto crush this wicked rebellion. We d es i re h ere , tally to recognize the hand of God from the very moment that our flag on Sumpter was fired,at down to the taking of Fort Flsher. We are not here to make a speech, to-night, but simply to say to those wile may not be famil jar with us as an organization, that we are represen tatives of all the loyal churches in the land who are loyal to Jesus Christ as the King of kings and the Lord of lords; and are endeavoring to follow hie blessed example and walk in his footsteps in the track of war; to mitigate, as far as human aid and human sympathy can, the fearful evils which accompany it in its march onward to vie THE AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1865. tory. Thus organized, we aim to distribute, personally, the supplies that are put into our hands by a generous public, to distribute per sonally hospital stores and reading matter, and to administer personally to the men who so gal lantly fight the battles of Liberty. The speaker then made a brief exhibit of the work that the Commission had done the past year, remarking that he believed it to be right and proper for a charity•entrusted with such funds, to give a full exhibit of every dollar and of every cent that had been placed in its trea sury. This exhibit in its details had been made at the convention of members of the Commission assembled from the loyal States from Maine to California, which had for days'een in session in their city, to confer over the vast and growing in terests of this great institution. These figures would be given in full in the annual report soon to be published. The grand totals should, how ever, be known, that the audience might feel the impress of the vastness of the work, and be cheered by the exhibit they gave of the noble liberality of the Church of Christ in the land. And these sums were reached not by extraordi nary efforts, but simply by the siatement of the case to the churches and the Christian public. The amount of cash receipts for the year is in round numbers $1,300,000; and adding to this the value of facilities granted, services rendered, and donations given, the grand total of values is $2,882,347 86 for the year jest closed! This, with the total values since the organization of the Commission, swell the great 'aggregate received to over four millions of dollars! The second exhibit shows the work of distribution. The number of ministers and laymen commissioned last.year, who served for no other pay than the simple "God bless you" of the American soldier and sailor,—and —and he, Mr. Stuart, and these dele gates with him, would not exchange this bene ' diction for all the coin ever'coined in Uncle Sam's mints,—was 2,217,. and the number no w'in the field was 276, averaging during the year 217 constantly at work in their ministrations of love and mercy. The aggregate of working _days served by these delegates is 78,869. They dis tributed over 47,000 boxes of stores and.publi cations received, directly into the - hands and hearts of the men for-whom they were intended. Nearly 670,000 copies of the Bible and portions of the Bible have been sent to the army, fur nished gratuitously by 'that noble, national, catholic institution, the American Bible Society —making the total distribution by the Commis sion, of the Word of God, 1,137,000 copies since its organization. Then they had helped the sol diers to sing of Jesus and of heaven, of hcime and of country, by the good old songs of Zion, and the songs of patriotism, which they had scattered among them in the shape of 490,000 copies of the soldier's hymn and psalm /woks, so that ,the camps, and fields, and hospitals were sounding aloud the praises of God. They had-given them during the year 4,326,000 copies of little books, neatly prepared full•of whole some?hopeful reading, intended to bring them to Jeans, and to confirm their faith, and to counsel, warn/:and encourage them. Some of these had the dear old flag on them, some the badge of the various Corps—and all were gotten up to attract the sqldier and the sailor, to make him feel that they we're prepared for them. Then they had circulated nearly eight millions of the religious newspapers of all evangelical denominations of Christians ? , fresh and full of the warm life of the Cfiristaan heart as it beats at home in sym pathy with the soldiers in the, field, and urges their claims upon the churches of the land and, merges Aikve. of country with the love of God. And oh,e how these weekly messengers are re ceived! Eerily the speaker believed that if they werad scatter gold dollars in camp, the excitement would not be greater than when these religious papers arrive and are distributed to the hungry men. Then for the sick and wounded on beds of pain, in the hospitals espe cially, thy had furnished 3691 " Silent Com forters,":`t which, without weariness of the flesh, th turn their eyes and drink in the water tit life—the texts of Scripture that were printed in bold type and hung up before them. Thespeaker then alluded to the touch ing significance Of many of the gifts received by the Commission. From all quarters of the globe representative gifts had come. From the mountains cifl %hitt; .a box from a native con vert, with pieleS iof the cedars of Lebanon, and a crown of plaited thorns—and $lBO as a reli gious and patriotic thank offering. The miners of the silver mountains' of Nevada had sent a silver brick, valued at many hundred dollars, the evidence of their love, and a confirmation of our faith in the greakresources of our land, "for, Mr. President, scrilong as the mines of California and the , rnoutitiiiiis of Nevada stand, your greenbackstiwiLreVritinue to be good.'_' The immense amount so - Niospital stores dis tributed—over $1700,000`;-worth—and 'other items, were alludedto, together, with the feature of chapels for the army of which 205 had been built, and upon which God hid poured out his Spirit, manifested his power, and magnified his grace, iu the conversion and upbuilding of many souls. The speaker closed with a word of tribute to the noble unselfishness of many of the business men Of the land,:4who had given their time, their money, their all to this work of God among our soldiers. He introduced Mr. A. E. Chamberlain, of Cincinnati, as one such. A. E. CHAMBERLAIN'S ADDRESS. After a felicitous reply to the flattering intro duction he had received, the speaker alluded to the Christian character of the Commission. He thanked God for its name. The blessed Master himself had commissioned and sent forth the disciples to heal the sick, to de the, same;work that the Commission contemplates. He was the origin of the work. In his name and by his people it had been carried on. They dis pensed " the Gospel of clean shirts" side by side with the glorious gOspel .of salvation in 'Jesus Christ, to the noble soldiers who were standing between us and danger. They had been told that he had just returned from the fields at Nashville. It was true. He had seen those noble men who had perilled. their lives for their •country, and who had lost their limbs and shed their blood freely for us—and he felt that all the sacrifices that, the delegates and friends of the Christian Commisson had made were ,not worthy to be compared with what these men had endured. Their absence from loved ones, their sufferings, their heroism in it all, made them, in his eyes, the noblest of the noble. They were indeed worthy to be cared for. The best Government in the world does, indeed, do much for them; but it is im possible to do all. The diet kitchen, established recently by the Christian Commission at Nash ville, for the army of-the Cumberland, was a great: supplementary blessing to the govern mental care. There the sick and wounded are tenderly nursed, and delicately nurtured. On a single day eight hundred and fifty-two men were thus cared for. Why',the bill of fare would do credit to half the hotels in the land. There were to be had chicken soup, all kinds of toast, stewed fruits, oysters, corn bread, ham, baked potatoes, etc., etc., all prepared in the best style by the noble ladies in waiting there, of whom as much could be said as was ever said of Florence Nightingale. One of them, a lady from Pittsburg, met him one morning at the door of the diet kitchen, and said that forty or fifty men in' the hospital must die, unless they•could be induced to take some nourishment. She went through the ward and found that forty-five men, whose names she had taken down, needed and must have chicken broth. The commissary could not furnish it till next day. "To-morrow they may die," she replied. And was it so, that forty-five brave soldiers of the , Union must die for want of that which the people of the North could so well supply? It came home directly to the speaker. The agent at Nashville had asked if he might buy chickens at seventy-five cents for the hospital, but he had answered no, the price was too high. After that, he told him to pur chase at any price, and the people of the North would pay for them: And Oh, if they but un silerstand the value of these things, would they not? The speaker then traced, in several re mar:kable casei, the :hind of a gracious Provi] dence,in swiping their wants, and in supply iiig them just at the needed time with the needed help. When the hospital was first established, word came that they needed onions. There was not a dollar in the treasury. The order must be filled. The Lord will furnish the means. So fifty barrels were sent'down by the boat on the same day that the order was received. The bill came in for payment. At the same time two letters were laid upon the desk. On opening one was found to contain a check for $2OO, and the other a check for sloo— parties the speaker had not known before, and the precise amount required to pay for the onions I (Applause.) At another time, word came from the army of the Cumberland that the men were dying of scurvy, and that no thing would check and cure it but crout and pickled cabbage. They did not know were to find the articles. There was the letter—" the men are dying, for the want of the crout and cabbage—nothing else will answer." The speaker stepped into his office, and looking out of the window saw his greys backing upon the sidewalk a load of casks. He called to the driver to know what they were. He did not know, but "I left a letter on the desk for you," was the reply. The letter was opened. It was an invoice from the town of Lebanon, Ohio, of thirty four barrels of crout and pickled cab bage! He could not refrain from ejaculating on the spot, " Thank God for Lebanon ! Thank God for,the crout and cabbage!" That very .1, day theybent it down to the army and received back a g ateful letter from a surgeon, saying that if th y, had sent barrel% of gold dust it would not ave compared in worth with that. Again, immediately after the battle of Nash ville, they received orders for stores to be sent immediately. They had sent everything in the honse on a previous order from Louisville. In the meantime God had come to their help and replenished them. But agairi- tneir supplies were cleared out, and they were now trustl4 him to fill them again, when the imploring'dk' mand came from IsTashville. 'lt could not wait delay or denial; for,2o6lpOor fellows had come from the late battle-field near the city, and they, il were needing shirts, aid: 'drawers' and socks,, and ".they.had not a shirt to bury, man in for three days." Oh, noW,for the tr lof faith I What were they to do?._. Trust in od for, the event, but the articles must go . wn by that afternoon's boat. Just then the e ress wagon came with-. several boxes, and thr w„ them on the sidewalk, and his boy brough two letters; from Rossville and Zanesville, 0 *o. The let ters were invoices of goods in thg boxes. In one box, among. Other, things, wee 27 shirts, 33 pairs of drawers, 70 pairs of sdeks. In an other, 33 pairs of socks; and so irabe three rin voices. They were shipped to th front that night. " Now," asked' the spec er, "if the Lord did not send these artioles n answer to ' our prayers, where did.they come rom ?" One most important, feature of he Commis sion's work, , and one intensely, aplireciated by the soldiers, was the supply of writing materials to them. After the battle of Nash Ville, for four or five days an average of 35,000 sheets of letter paper and envelopes were distributed daily by the delegates .of the CommissionJ Oh, how many hundreds of grateful letters *ere received by mothers, wives, and• sisters, whose anxiety the Commission was thus enabled so effectually to relieve. . . The-speaker cloSed with iiii affecting irk:Mei:it of an Indiana boy, of the Eighty fifth Regiment. Ha sent at midnight for a delegide of the Com mission. He Was dying and wished to leave his little treasures:with lam; to Send...them with a letter to his poor mother. "Are yOu a Chris tian?" the delegate aaked, ' " Oh, yes ; I' was before I 'ioined the army. Tell mother that God is with me.; all ,is, $.lL?' ; T o tten giving three rings to the delegate, he said, "that is for mother, that for sister, and sister will know whom to give the other to. There is one thing more," he allied, after a pause. A little pack age was taken , from his knapsack and brought to him. In it were three photographs. He took up the fiat, looked at it intently, and said; " Oh, thank God for a pious mother I , Through her prayers add iritrumentality I was brought to Christ. Good-by, mother, we shall meet in heaven." He kissed it, and laid it down on the cot. He took tip, the second, and said, " Thank God for a pion's - sister 1 We haVe held sweet communion on earth, sister, and will hold sweeter communion in heaven. Good-by, sis ter," and he laid it down With the,other. He took up the third, the name Ass one, and as he looked fondly at it, his eyes 'filled" with tears. "Oh," said he, "I did hopOhat you and I would have many precious seasons on earth; fl but God has ordered otherwise. y country demanded my services. I gave the chem:fiilly. .But, thank God I ere long we'll b hbe where there'll be no wars, but all wil be peace throughout eternity. Yes, tttank God I we'll meet again ;" and he put thprecimus picture to his lips and kissed it, and by thed his last with the.photograph lying on his ips. A sweet hymn, called'" Your fission," was now admirably sung by Mr. Ph' lip Phillips, of Cincinnati. It was so warm received that the singer was obliged to sing ain, which he did, selecting, however, anoth , piece. To wards the close of the meeting,. Atha the spe cial written request of Mr.:..14 ,e.odn, the, first hymn was repeated as follows :--' 4 • YOUR; MISSON". If youeannot on the ocean, Sail among the swiftest Se. Rocking on the highest billo Laughing at the storms yo You can stand among the sai Anchored yet within, the b. You can lend a hand to help .1 As they launch their boats e If you are too weak to journe Up the mountain steep, and . You can stand within the val • While the multitudes go by You can chant in happy e, As they slowly pass along, Though they may forget the s ger, They will not forget the so • If you have not gold andsilver Ever ready to command, If you cannot towards the ne.dy Reach an ever open hand; You can visit the.adlieted, O'er the-erring you can wee ) You can be a true disciple sitting at the Saviour's fee Ifpin cannot in the conflict ' Prove yourself a soldier tru , If. where fire and smoke are t• 1 kest, There's no work for you to do When the battle-field is silent, You can go with careful trea. You can bear away the wounde , You can cover up the dead. Do not then stand idly waiting For some greater work to do Fortune is a lazy goddess, She will never comp to you; Go and toil in any vineyard, Do not fear to do or dare; Ifyou want a field of labor, You can find it anywhere. The next speaker was the Rev. Smith D. D. 'of'Philadelphia. REV. J. iVkEATON SMITH'S Mr. President; 'Ladies, and GentNpien : To' the casual - observer, even, this is ,ii unusual assembly. This evening hour of] a tranquil Sabbath; this audience, graced by tie presence of the distinguished and the good ; lis Hall of the nation's capital ; this cause, wa-ri with the ceaseless beatings of the nationslheart, Con spire to mark and consecrate tI:W occasion. But, sir, there is something more. This hour, and this cause, and this audience, tell of some thing of more than merely passing interest. As the little flower imbedded in the rocks tells of the dew and the sunlight of other centuries,, so would this Christian Commission,jif it should; go down the path of history alone' and unat-, tended by the story of these times,ldecide 'the type of Christian civilization which prev6iled in this year of grace. Do . you know, gentle men, that it is our privilege to live in an age which is the first to garnish a great vfar with such an institution as this? One }lordly knows whether to admire most the popular virtue from which this institution has sprUn e , or the rovernmental recognition which it receives.. lor what is this Christian Commissio ? What does it do.? Let me tell you. There are those here who can spea] larger experience; but on the 18th da last it was my privilege, with some fif ty gentlemen associated with me in ' good work, to land at Belle Plain,_tot our knapsacks filled with nutriments'' ulants along the muddy road to Fredericks burg, to meet the soldier as he lay by the way side exhausted, to administer a little draught to cheer and strengthen him, to speak some word of consolation. And passing along, all the way from Belle Plain to the White Oak Church, all the way from White Oak Church to Fredericks burg, we saw these wounded brave men were lying or halting, and we ministered to them. On reaching Fredericksburg, it fell to my lot to be placed in the old theatre there, filled with some three hundred very bad cases. The Gov ernment was .doing all that it could; but the fighting was going on; men were there at night who were that day in the smoke 'of battle ; sur geons were busy in the army ;- the men were started from the field for the hospitals ; they were brought to Fredericksburg—were suffer ing, dying there. As I passed up that aisle in the old theatre, a man spoke to me : "Sir, will you give me something to eat?" "Sir, will you reach me that little bolster to put- un der my stump?" One man had not eaten any thing for fifty hours, and with one limb off at that. One poor fellow said to me, taking me fora doctor, "Sir, will you dress my wound?" I am not a doctor, lau. 4 7. Y.-best. I' took off the bandage, s ehatil iricrus tion that had both • , e.wound, and found that his e. , - e' ' gone:;; Lk: - had been shot thro . ngh`--the - e3reii and the brdge of his nose. "Poor' fellow,' I said to him, this is hard." , "Yes, it is hard ; But I would go throughoagain for mycountry.”- (Applause.) Bighti'lieside him - there lay a - man upon a stretcher, "strong, robust, :noble looking, but he was shot through thehead. His ey.es were closed apithe seemed to-know no .- one, to answer to nrt.voice, and yet he still breathed. I never shall forgethowlhat massive chest heaved up and d-Pwn. . I Ye watched him for hours,think ing dieryhoUr would be his last. All night he laytherpo.pri the . morning he was no better, Sitt he begun to move his feet. He seemed to be marching, and he marched till he died— tramp, tramp, tramp—dead, but marching on l • ' llis sufferings ended with the day, Yet lived,he till its close, .. • And breathed the long, long night away In statue-like repose ; But when the morn ; in all his state. Illumed the eastern sky. Ile passed through glory's morning gate, And walked in Paradise." I saw there one man, who said to me, " Sir, if you can help me a little, I shall be glad. My limb is off above the knee. It pains me very much ; and if you will put a little larger bolster there it will alter my position." I did so, and sponged his wound with cold water. I then asked him how it felt. " Oh, bless you, it feels so good, so comfortable." Said I, "My dear fellow, are you a' Christian man?" " Yes, sir, I am; I was a Christian at home, and I have been'" enabled live a Christian life, in some respects, in the army. I hope, sir, if I should be called away as the result of this wound, that • 7, I arn resdy to go. My next case was not so good a one. This Man was without the Christian's consolation; yet he, as all of them here, are ready to speak and to be spoken to of the realities of religion. One of•the first questions that these men ask is, "Who sent you here, sir? Who pays you for coming? You dress our wounds, give us food and stimulants,. and speak kindly words to us." Now, Mr. President, the point of the whole usefulness of this Commission consists, in a great, degree, right here—that we. are able to say to these men that we come by your sanc tion. We speak these words in behalf of Jesus by the permission of this our Chief Magistrate, for whom we pray in our pulpits and our closets, and around our family altars, and. I tell the men that I come to them by permission of the President, under a sort of Abraharnie covenant (laughter)—that the Government has recognized thejiruth at last, that men have immortal souls ; that an army such as ours is, made up as never was : -an army made up before it, has higher deeds than the needs of mere:brute nature. But, good and great.,as are these influences of the Christian Commission, they do not stop here.. 0, sirs, the reflex influences of any ac tion are always the most important. Here's a blacksmith at his' anvil. The iron comes out white hot. Nowwield that ponderous hammer. Did you ever , think of it, that it is striking two places, doing two things—moulding a bit of iron to the master's will, not only, but developing an arm like Jupiter's. That blow strikes back as well as down. The great blessing of this voluntary institution, then, is that, it gives the people something noble to do. Would you bring the people up to the magnitude of a great cause like that of our country's triumph over rebellion, you must use them in the cause, not merely in the payment of taxes, not simoly in answer to the draft, not simply at the other end of war despatches and bulletins, but you must bring them into living, actual contact with the realities of war, and then their heart is moved. Wherein lies the secret of the great change that has swept over this great nation? The people. of the land have been busy. for our noble sol •diers. We have grown into the spirit of the work, have entered into full sympathy with the noblest part of it. In the beautiful hymn just sung we were told that tbere is a mission for us all. We are here to-night to do something. And it occurs to me that, a fortnight ago to night we &id brethren who were doing some thing else. A •fortnight ago to-night, only a little earlier than this, the deadly assault was being made upon Fort Fisher. .A.ll day the guns of our fleet had been thuddering at its gates. The evening came. The gallant boys in blue are storming the sea face. Every eye is watching them. All hope seems to centre upon the assault. But no {—they do not carry it! Staggering, falling, With many a wounded, many a dying one, they are being forced back. The smoke opens a little; " W s h e a e t l fi w ut h t e e r r e s o th n e t s h m e o o k u t te b r r w ea a k ll? s through 1 ~ nurse! huzzal it's Terry's flag— , It's Terry's flag, his battle-flag of blue l' Beside it floats another flag, . • All torn and gashed with scars; Watch how it flashes through the smoke, The grand old Stripes and Stars I" (Applause.) These were our brethren there;. we are their brethren here. We stand behind them ready to follow them with comforts to the, field. In the cause of humanity we are here. The work of the Christian Commission will live when Grant's cannon come home l when our torn' and tattered . battle-flags are hung up in our village churches, and our mothers point their children there, and tell them how the field was won. Then will the work be rehearsed; this work which Christian men, and women too,, perform for humanity. and for' God. And still,' in, a farther future, fpr Oh, there is something beyond the present, 1 • ‘ t Think Arou the notes of holy song • • On Milton's tuneful ear have died? Think you that Raphael's angel throng 1 Has.vanished from his side? . oh, no! we live our lives again. All warmly touched or coldly dim: he pictures of the past remain, \ c Man's works shall follow on. Wheaton DRESS. Still shall the soul around it call !The shadows that it gathered here: - Ahd painted on the eternal wall ' The past shall reappear. • We shape ourselves the joy or fear f Of which the coming life is made, And fill our future atmosphere With sunshinoorwith shade. The tissue of the life to be We weave in colors all our own, And in the, field of destiny We reapwhat, we have sown. The Chair next introduced the Rev. Dr. But ler formerly of Washington, now of the Phila delphia Divinity School of the Protestant Epis copal Church. ADDRESS OF REV. C. M. BUTLER, D.D. He said that lie stood in the place, he would not say " filled" the place, of the venerated Bishop of Ohio, Bishop licllvaine, whose patri otic exertions at home and abroad, and whose love and labor for the Christian Commission, pile country knows. He feared that the sub stitute system, in the army of benevolence at least, would in his case prove a poor one. He also felt some diffidence, since he had been abroad for more than two years. Yet he could . . from a of May I , or six he same tart with d t3tim- speak of the past. He did not know bat he ' could claim to be one of the first in ministering religious consolations to soldiers after the out break of the war. He followed the first squad ' frOm Pennsylvania from the depot to the Capi tol, and spoke words of Christian cheer ; and when the noble Sixth Massachusetts arrived, he also followed them to the Capitol, which, in the language of an offices at the time, was to be their tomb. He obtained permission to preach to that regiment after they had taken their place in the Senate House, and occupied the seats only just vacated by traitors. By some. unavoidable hindrance the programme was not carried out, but he had the privilege of addressing the Eighth Massachusetts regiment, some two weeks after, and adjuring them, in the name of the Lord of hosts, to be strong and to quit them like men. And again, in- connec tion with Bishop Mcllvaine, who called upon him on the Friday preceding the battle of Bull Run, he went to Alexandria, on a mission to the soldiers. Information had been sent him by General Scott, that" it' battle had probably taken, place,, and that the wounded in large rainifiritiAiouldhe sent, to the hospitals at Alex and he proposed they, Bishop Mellvame and the speaker, ShAtld 4 c) down to minister unto them. They *intuit faxitialair fax dourt - House, and as nobattle had".lnicen , PlaCiii they timing& to return that night; but being 'admonished of danger; they remained at a private house, where the then Secretary and Assistant , Secretary of War, and several army officers and correspondents, to the number of twenty, spent the night. The circle formed for --family worship that night, with the venerable Bishop in the centre with open Bible, the speaker should never forget. In Isis clear, rich tones, he read, "The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge," and thus strength ened our hearts. Afterwards, the Secretary of War, returning from Russia, meetingthe speaker in Rome, told him that he had since learned that a- party of Virginia Black Cavalry were hovering near, waiting to capture the Secretary and his party. This incident was mentioned as a claim of the speaker to address his brethren, since if he had not the Commission itself, he bad the spirit of it in that early day. He had received the first order of General Scott to preach to the " Confederate" prisoners at the Capitol Prison—an office no the most pleasant for some reasons at that time. One prisoner, a fiery Georgian doctor, did all he could to oppose him and to dissuade his fellows from attending divine service. On being remonstrated with, he said, and the speaker almost feared to repeat it, " You have been sent here to preach North ern Christianity. I want men with Southern principles, with a Southern Bible, and a South ern God." But the Commission had since made a surprising history. He had heard of it abroad ; he had seen and admired its workings, and as a poor teacher of preaching in a theo logical seminary, he would say that if his students would enter the work of the Commis sion, they could learn such homileties as no books or professors could ever tech h, and he would recommend his own and otherstudents, as many of them had already done, to spend at least a part of their vacation in its service. Let them stand face to face with death, if they would learn to speak of the Conqueror of death ; let them go down into the places of blasphemy, and ribaldry, and sin, if they would learn to speak of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and of the solemnities of the judgment; let them go where plain, honest men, from the depth of strong convictions, are speaking of the love of Jesus and of the sufficiency of his salvation, if they would learn to speak from the heart to the heart as dying men to dying men; let them minister to the dying, if they would learn how to preach to the living. The first impression the Doctor had received on returning from abroad, was the immediate connection between the church and the home with the army. The men in the army have tasted this sympathy, and praised God for it: . The Christian Com mission had contributed largely to bring this about. Self-denying men, before whom his soul bowed in homage and gratitude, had gone down into these devoted labors ,• the old pas tors of the soldiers had gone down to cheer their hearts, and godly, noble women had gone, yea, the mothers, and the wives, and the sis ters I Oh, sirs, the standards of England wave rightfully in the presence of Florence Nightin gale, for the gem on the brow of Queen Vic toria bows in homage before that gracious pres ence ,• but our Florence Nightingales are num bered by hundreds. Woman in her graciouS maturity, and the sweet maiden in the camp and the hospital, minister to the sick and the dying, and the poor boy soldier; in the contu sion of his mind, does not know, but begins to think, that it is his mother's kiss that is upon his brow, and he dies soothed and happy;.or in the failing consciousness of his wandering mind, cannot tell whether the bright young forms hovering near him are the angels that he's going to, or the angel-like ones he is .leaving. Another strongly marked feature he had noted on his return was, the, sanction of Chris tianity to the war. Christianity had said to the ' magistracy or the land, " his in the very spirit of St. Paul that you wield the sword not in vain." ' It says to the soldier, " You may feel that the benediction of the minister of the peo ple of God, and of the Word of God, and the God orthem both, is with you as you go forth to fight the battles of your country.' This might be called enthusiasm, but no evil was ever struck a blow. but it started up the cry of " fanaticism." Oh, airs, the time has come, the glorious emancipation time. ' The Amen can pulpit is emancipated 1 American Chris tianity is emancipated ! The ministers of God have made up their minds that they will not accept from the lowest-toned men in the land, with brutal dictation, what they shall preach or what they shall not preach ; but that-they will preach the truth as it is in Jesus. • Our eman cipated pulpits have said, and will say with in creasing volume of utterance, that loyalty to government is obedience to God, and that re bellion is as the sin of witchcraft; it will Cry out that human slavery is' an outrage to man and disloyalty to God, and it will not hereafter be silenced, even though a member of Congress should call it fanaticism. The speaker then pictured a great future for the Church of Christ. The war had strangely educated the American people. He had found a shade of sorrow on all classes. Alas! what home has not felt the thick ,darkness? But be had found also unwonted energy—almost of desperation, an intense activity in all depart ments of life;'and the chard]. of Christ had - felt it, in giving and in praying. If only now the Holy Ghost should descend on the ground broken up and prepared, what harvests of souls should we reap I The prominence of lay efforts, the opportunity 01 the church to enter and pos sess the wonderful` field before her, were forci bly presented, and the blessedness of the work of the Christian COMmission eloquently set forth, with a closing prayer arid benediction. "Brethren, let the Spirit of the living God ani mate you. Not only this generation, but the generations which are to come will rise up and call you blessed, as I call you blessed !" ABSENCE OF BISHOP AMES. . _ Mr 2 Stuart her; explained the absence of the Rev. Bishop Ames, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, who was announced to speak. He had come all the m from his home. in Indiana, to Baltimore, where he was taken quite ill, and was unable to proceed further. His, interest in and love for the Christian Commission had often been well tested. As_his subititute, the speaker was glad to introduce. General Patrick as one who had specially befriended the. Commission from its very beginning ; and, speaking for the army and navy, he could take the , opportunity to say that from General. Grant and all' the generals under him, down, the Commission had'received every attention and all the facili tieS that they could desire. After alluding . to the presence of General Fiske, Vice Admiral Farragut, and others, by way of sharpening the appetite of the audience for what was to come, Mr. Stuart made way for General Patrick. GENERAL PATRICK'S ADEIRZSS. He came merely to testify what he had seen, from his stand-point in the army. At the out break of the war, the various bureaus of the Government were unprepared to meet the de mends of so vast and sudden an emergency as had arisen. As the States sent their quotas into the field, they sent with them agents supply them with what they needed, over and. above what was supplied by the general GO- 1 vernment. Independent and local relief asso ciations were formed all over the...land, and, what they had gathered was sent •to -particular regiments. In the course of time,lhowever, and in the first year of the war, the Govern mental departments of supply were so extended: as to be able 'to meet every military want of the soldiery. From that moment the necessity for State agencies ceased, and, experience had shown him that, for want of system in making up and distributing supplies raised by local re lief committees, very little good was accom plished and much evil, from waste, and want of system in their special distribution. He would not for a moment dry up these fountains of liberality—God forbid I but he would have the generous streams that flow from them di rected through such channels that they would reach ;thesoldiery with the greatest safety and despatch. and. dititributed wrta.„.discretion and economy. There are two .grW*oltintary. agencies rum in the fieldt-the• - • and the Christian Commissions It wasel*rit the medical department that theSinitall Com mission was organized. Through its' agency an immense amount of stores had been distributed, and an immense amount of good had been done. The vast amounts of money paid into its trea sury shows well the strong hold it has upon the affections of the people. , But it was soon dis covered that something more than ministries to material wants was demanded. Chaplains were few, and those few were tied to their regiments by the inexorable laws of the military ser vice. Beyond their regiments and regimental hospitals their labors extended not. Who, then, should give spiritual advice and consola tion to those who, on the march, or in the charge, fell by the way, or were borne to the rear of the line of battle, wounded, agonizing, dying? Who should enter the great hospitals of the corps and armies in the field, where no chaplains are known, and minister to those who crowded its tents, multitudes of whom must soon appear before the judgment seat of Christ, where some other claim than that of patriotism or bravery must be presented ere they could hope to exchange the soldier's garb and the musket for the white robe and the palm of victory? It was to meet such wants as these that the Christian Commission was organized, and to such labors it has mainly addressed it self. But in a campaign, and wherever battles are fought, the Good Samaritan is ever needed, and it was found that every delegate should be supplied with a small stock of cordials, restora tives, articles of nutritious diet; and to supply these, store wagons, and coffee carts,—boilers on wheels,—were found to be necessary, and these ; under the direction of dele g ates have contributed vastly to the comfort and well being of multitudes of our suffering soldiers in a par ticular, for which hitherto there had been no adequate provision. Again, during the cold season, in the late autumn, winter, and early spring, when the army is of necessity mostly stationary, it has been found that religious ser vices could not be held profitably or safely in the open air. Chapel tents were not known under the returns of the quartermaster's de partment. These the Christian Commission fbrnished for the morning and evening Sabbath service, and for the daily hour of prayer. Again, where mammon reigns with the great mass of those who follow our armies to fatten on its necessities, how is good reading to be supplied. Traders will not or cannot furnish it except at most exorbitant rates ; it is only through the Commission that it can be supplied at cost—and that not at the soldier's cost—and its character guaranteed. But the speaker would not go further into the details of this great and good organization. It was a grand off spring of the hour, and the country. Nothing like it had ever before existed. During the seven long years of the Florida war it was un known; and not until the last year of the war with Mexico had we anything even of its kind. Then books and papers were sent from the American Bible and Tract Societies, and a New Orleans Society, to the small army of General Scott, which had swept through frona`the coast to the City of Mexico. Everything passed through the single port of Vera Cruz. Books and papers were sent to the speaker's care; arid the colporteurs reported through his office and issued their supplies thence, and were sent to their labors whereVer the flag could protect them. But that war was on foreign soil, against a people of strange tongue. How different the work now. Now people of the same tongue and blood and customs—a divided family—op pose each other, and every man must be vouched for, and not only his allegiance demanded, but fervent loyalty and love for every stripe of that flag that everywhere greets;his eye and pro 'claims in every breeze that lifts its folds to heaven a nation's hope and faith uncrushed ! The General then suggested 'several requisites in the work of the Commission. They should have agents somewhat permanently retained, that they may become well acquainted with the rules and regulations of the army. There should be a considerable force of these minis terial and othe;laborers always in the field. He knew well that these; suggestions were not heartily seconded by some of the best friends of the Commission, but the main reason was the want of funds to sustain the measure. Should it be said that such. an organization should want for means to make. it just as efficient as it is possible to make it, when the silver and the gold and the cattle on a thousand hills are His? The General also desired to see more frequently on the field the pastors of the leading churches of the great cities. Oh what a blessing would they carry to their old church members in the field, whose souls yearn to hear their familiar voices as, in_ bygone days! What audiences they would gather. How their own souls would be blest; and returning to their people fresh from the fiebrand full of its inspirations, they could in turn touch their people's hearts and bring them into closer sympathy with those who have gone out for a season from them, taking their Hies in their hands, for the sake of their country, their altars, and their homes. Let notthe great and wealthy churches of. the land withhold their :dearest, most venerated pastors and teachers, but send them forth to this glorious work in the field from which they and all shall most surely reap a rich reward. There was one other phase of the Commis sion's work to - which he would allude. In the providence Of God we had now reached a stand point in the war from which it required no pro phet's ken to see the downfall of the Confede racy. Internal dissensions through all rebel dom, now known to few, would soon be known to all. The foe, by the movements of our armies and fleets, are -so hemmed in and be , leagured, as to crush out all hope in the hearts of their leaders, and to fan,tbe fires of freedom in multitudes of hearts throughout the rebel land, who would hail with joy the downfall of a cursed goVerinept. Not, long shall we have to Wait„ it the smiles of the Lord of hosts con tinue to rest•upon us,'and I believe they will, ere the cursed fabric that pride and ambition have reared will be cast to the earth, and they whO have worshipped therein in their madness and folly will be scattered to the winds. With thedownfall of rebellion, the glorious agency of the Christian Commission - will be summoned to heal the wounds that war has made, to bind up the broken in heart, to comfort all that mourn, to open the doors of progress to the liberated captive, and,—who so well?—to disabuse the masses of their prejudices and aid in bringing back into the folii those have been led away by strange shepherds. God grant that-the time may speedily comewhen the Commission shall enter upon the. work! '(Antent) A word' in conclusion. Until this night my feet have - never stood within the walls of this rebnilded temple of our broken covenant. Is it any. wonder, then,.that as I survey the grand proportions of thrii,lall, my thoughts go back to the days of old, the years of other genera-
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