lions, when the Hebrew poet, looking at his nation's capital, burst forth in words of song, " Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion on the sides of the north, the city of the great Sing 1 Our feet shall stand within thy gates, oh, Jerusalem. Jerusalem, whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony' of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the Lord." May we not hope that ere the year upon which we have now en tered shall be numbered with the years of the past, that the same great King whiom the poet of the Hebrews invoked as the Jehovah, Lord of hosts, and God of battles, having accom plished his work, his strange work throughout our broad land, may come to reign over us in his milder character as the Prince of Peace, as the Wonderful, the Counsellor, the mighty God, inspiring the heart of those who, like the idola trous tribes of the Hebrew race, have turned away from the temple of their faith, to return from their wanderings, from their waste cities and the lands they have made desolate, and with peace offerings and vows, re-enter these temple gates of our Jerusalem, and with the,re presentatives of every State our flag has ever owned, give thanks unto the name of the Most High, who had redeemed and reunited us in'one great nation, whose God is the lord,' the Lord our Rock, our Deliverer, our King I (Protratt ed applause.) t ;; VICE•La IOI B4 4 1 01;,ttiOi 61:1A0 On the 'conclusion General PatrielYs ad dress, Sthaiitof Clarke of New Rampihiie, -rose on the floor and said . :—',tltrustl shall be ex cused for expressing the'desire of the people about me, that our gallant Vice-Admiral shall go into the maintop I" Cheers greeted this re quest, when Mr. Stuart remarked that he was just about to rise on a similar, motion, and he hoped that our gallant Vice-Admiral would also make a speech. Admiral Farragut then prehsed his way to the speaker's stand, amid cheers and the waving of handkerchiefs. He said:—" have simply risen at your request, friends and fellow-citizens, to thank you for this manifesta tion of kind feelings for me. This is all I have to say." Mr. Stuart then introduced Chaplain McCabe as the next speaker. CHAPLAIN HeCABE , S ADDRESS. The best reason I have ever heard for giving to the Christian Commission—and I believe a collection is in order very soon—was that of an old gentleman in Illinois, a plain farmer. Per haps his name has seldom, if ever, been heard in this glorious temple, and I will speak it to night—Jacob Strawn, the giant farmer of the West. He was riding in the cars to the capitol of the State, when Mr. Reynolds, a noble mer chant of Peoria, who consecrates all he makes to the Christian Commission, to God and his ,country, and myself, went in the car where he was. I sat down beside him, hoping to get one hundred dollars out of him. He asked who I was. I told him. •He asked what the Com mission was. I triedto tell him, but could not; I told him, however, all I could of its' opera tions. " Well," said he, "I have a son in the army." " What army ?" "In Sherman's army ;" and what father would not be proud to say it? " I have a son there, and you may save his life some day," he said musingly. " Sure enough, Mr. Strawn ; we have done such things. We might save your son also." " Well, I'll.think about it," and he put his head down upon the seat. I saw the tears rolling down his cheeks. Arrived at Springfield, he went to see Mr. Yates, the noble Governor of Illinois for several years past, who has wielded the power of a great State so successfully against this giant rebellion. On greeting him he said, "Mr. Yates, what is the Christian Commission?" The governor tried to tell him. "Well, governor, shall I give it ten thousand dollars?' " Give, it . a hundred thousand; you are able to do it," was the reply. He came down from the inter view, and we met him. Taking a small bottle of ink from his pocket he write a check for five. hundred dollars, saying, "I will give you this now. If you will come into Morgan County and raise $lO,OOO, I will make my subscription $lO,- 000." In a few days we had raised $28,000 in all, which included his check for the additional $9,500. As he gave his check, he said that the act did him more good than any other of his whole life. Mr. Strawn had a son in the army that was his reason for giving—there can be no; better. The Christian Commission standi in the place of father, mother, and sister. It is the, nation's almoner. Now they were about to ask for the "collection," and he hoped it would be worthy of the nation's capital, and worthy of the cause of its defenders; for, after all that we shall give and do, it will be less, far less, than. what many, many noble men in the army are doing. How little our deeds seem compared, with theirs I In a hospital at Nashville, a short time ago, a wounded hero was lying on the am putating table, under the influence of chloroform. They cut off his strong right arm, and cast it, all bleeding, upon the pile of human limbs. They then laid him gently upon his couch. He .awoke from his stupor and missed his arm.: With the left arm be lifted the cloth, and there was nothing but the gory stump 1 "Where's my arm ?" he cried ; " get my arm ; I want to see it once more—my strong, right arm." They brought it to, him. He took hold of the cold, clammy fingers; and looked at the poor, dead member, and thus addressed it with tear ful earnestness : " Good-by, old arm. We have been a long time t- ' , then We must part now. Good-by, old , arm. never fire another carbine nor awing an i er sabre for the Govern ment" L--and the tears rollqd down his cheeks. He .then '• said to those standing by, "under stand, I don't regret its loss. It has been torn from my body ) that not one State should be torn from this glorious Timm". He might have added : "Some things are worthless, some others are good, That nations that buy them pay only in blood ; For Freedom and Union eaett man.owes his.part: And here I pay my share, all warm from my heart.' This is what that man gave. What is, your share and mine? What will you give to this glorions;Commission that is down in the - army following the bleeding trail of our brave boys' and ministering so tenderly to their wants? I haie bees asked to sing "The Battle Rymn of the Republic." I will, premising only that we have more reason, thank God,to sing it, now than when I sang it one year ago in these halls. .then the man from the masthead has lOOked.down upon the crumbled walls of Rids Gaines and Morgan in Mobile Bay; since then Atlanta hags fallen ? Sherman has entered Savan nah, Fort Fisher is in our hands, and the two national millstones, Grant's and Sherman's ar mies, are settling to the grinding point, and very soon the last remnant of rebellion shall be ground to powder; since then Maryland and Tennessee and Missouri have flung off the dire ful curse of slavery, and the brightening hori zon betokens the , dawn of universal liberty. (Long applause.) Now let rus sing it, ,and let all unite in the chorus. The vast congregation rose, the President's ^ tall forin conspicuus among - the rest, awaiting the song. The , sight of our worthy Chief Magistrate suggested a story to, the speaker. There was a Colonel:in Libby prison under sentence Of death, who has since led the advance in Sheridan's glorious battles in the Shenandoah. He was condemned for a crime of which he was never guilty, and im mured in the dungeon below. This brave, chi valrons officer, now Brigadier-General William' H. Powell, of Ironton, Ohio, stood, before you one year ago in this hal. life wrote us a letter telling us of his condition. I had that letter placed in the sole of the boot of a surgeon about to be,released, and instructing him to force his way into the, presence of the Piesident himself and deliver the letter. I never knew certainly whether the President received it ; he never in 'formed me; but one thing I know, that the rebel government shortly afterwards received a few lines signed "A. LINCOLN," in which it was said he had taken an officer of equal rank and put him in the same condition, and what. was done •to Powell should be done to him, and that very day the stalwart form of Powell stood erect, on an equallooting with Other priSoners of war. His life was saved. (Applause.) - The grand' .Battle iaYmn.ll ~,, was then sung, with the whole heart, by 'the whole assembly, Mr. Lincoln, rising again, joining in the chorus. The very walls seemed to shake with the reso nant notes. Not a soul, surely, but was stirred. Not a song, surely, was ever sung with such grand unison.Rf sound and sentiment. It was thrilling beyond description. I think, continued the speaker, if that rebel soldier who stood on the top of Lookout Moun tain, in that fortress which he thought impreg nable, were here to-night, he would be more than ever convinced that the rebellion is doomed. There he stood and looked. He saw our lines advancing. They came nearer and nearer. It never occurred to him that Lookout Mountain was to exchange owners. And as our ascend ing legions,leaped the parapet, bearing, up through the very clouds the dear old banner of blue, he stood spell-bound. He forgot to run• with the rest of his comrades. The great stream passed by him and left him there a prisoner. He was riveted to the spot. A moment's shade of consciousness passed over him. Then de liberately pulling off his coat" and throwing down his gun upon it, he mounted a rock, and looking away toward, the South, stretched far before him,he called out: "How are you, Southern Co nfederaey?" , Therek-Ota soldierly roughneialn the expression" I know, but that inatowei was of nieaning. He' read in the war' that took full, the iiiilititeould take anything" he rebellion could eriinse to the onward march cif Lowry: He read.,4sn the wall the handwriting which our soldiers traced with their haynnets of iteel: God grant that this year may be the closing year of the rebellion, that this year it may :die, with its cause. Even now I feel that " Their .graves are dug amid the dismal clouds of war, While Treason's minions are assembling round their bier." The collection was next in order upon the programme, but owing to the densely crowded audience, making it impossible to move among them, it was requested that collectors station themselves at the exit doors and receive'the free gifts of the delighted auditors. General Clinton B. Fisk, of. Missouri, being introduced, then spoke as follows: GENERAL FISH'S ADDRESS. Mr. President, Fellow- Soldiers, Ladies and Gentlemen, :—lt is with reluctance that I occupy a single moment of this precious hour in the presence of so many much better qualified. It is only in soldierly obedience to my superior officer, the Lieutenant-General of the Christian Commission, George H. Stuart, whom the country delights to honor, that I yield. This gentleman has given us a most faithful account of his Stuart-ship for the last year.. I have had the honor of perusing the papers and footing up the grand totals, arta I assure you they are right. After other pleasant introductories, the Gene ral came to the Commission's work. He had the honor of being one of the twelve who first composed the Commission's membership. He enlisttd in the army_ from the Commission. He had been one of its delegates ; had seen' ts • workings, and could testify of its grand - mission in bringing the bread of life, and clean garments, and needed food and delicacies to his own sick, and wounded, and dying men. He could, therefore, say, "that since the morning stars sang of the advent of Him who gave his life for a suffering world, no nobler charity was ever registered in its history than that in behalf of which they were gathered that night." It had been a part of the grand army of the Union. Wherever the stars of glory floated- from our standards, there too floated the banner of the cross, as unfurled by the Christian Commission, with its star of Bethlehem and its stripes for our healing. The Commission had gone with Grant's conquering legions from Cairo to the. Gulf, when the gallant freedmen of the great Northwest hewed out a passage with their gleam ing swords, and, with, their bayonet points, turned back bolt after bolt in the locks that the rebellion had placed across our great Missis sippi; and when the "Father of Waters" went once more unvexed to the sea, in camp.and fortress, on field and flood, it lifted up its grate ful, sacred song, " Praise Gad from whom all blessings flow." Crossing the mountains a Tennessee and Georgia, above the clouds on Lookout Mountain, at Atlanta, and Nashville, and Gettysburg, and Chickamauga, amid the storm of iron fire when our noble friend was lashed' to the masthead, on the coast where ",try again" ,gave us - the victory over defiant Fisher: evvywhere has this banner of Abe cross been intertwined with the banner of WI. country. _intertwined is well then that we thus gather in, the nation's capital to do honor to an institution that is carrying the gospel of peace and the ",gospel of clean shirts," to the million men who have gone forth in defence of the unity and freedom of this Government ! The last days of the rebellion, the speaker believed, were draw ing nigh. Let us thank God, said he, that al• though four years of fearful, bloody'strife had written their history upon the tablets of " States dissevered, discordant, and bellig,er ent," yet the glorious ensign of the Republic is still full high advanced, and streaming not only with its original lustre, but with new beauty, and new lustre, for hundreds of hard-fought fields for liberty have added imperishable brightness to, its ancient glory ! The General then alluded to the constant re minder that the presence of the Christian Com— mission was among the men of their duty to • God, that they owed allegiance to God as well as to their country, of its help in enabling them to resist temptation, and of the constant need of some such agency to keep , the soul on guard against the many evils of camp life. The regi ment raised 'by the speaker in Missouri had many good, religious men in it;' he invited such to enlist with him.' They had many precipus seasons, especially at Benton Barracks, near St. Louisa One Sabbath afternoon 10,000 men had gathered on the fair ground, a grand am , phitheatre, to be addressed by Dr. Nelson. He told that vast audience the story Of the captain of a war vessel who desired to do all the swear ing on that ship, and not a man ever shipped on board that vessel but he at once made the contract with him. "The doctor asked .. .my boys whether they would make the same agree ment with me, that I should do the entire pro fanity for the regiment." Some of the boys thought it a big bargain, but they all voted, stood with heads uncovered in that vast amphi theatre, and.vowed that in. all that glorious 33d Missouri, no profane wearing should be heard except s Colonel Fisk should first utter it. They went to'-'the field. No swearing was 'Openly . heard. One day, as I sat at my headquarters at Helena, Arkansas, I heard terribly profane words coming to me across the immense bottom. I looked out and discovered that - it was by one of mkteamsters, John Todd,—and a glorious . soldier he was, too,—who was driving a six mule team, was two feet deep in the mud, loaded down with forage, had broken the pole off his wagon, and was balancing the account by swearing terribly at the mules. By-and-by John came up to the headquarters and salute& me. •" , Jcihn, didn't I hear you swearing ter ribly down on the bottom just now ?" "Yes, General, you did." " Well, don't you remem ber the old contract you made at Benton Bar racks, that there should be no swearing except I did it?" "Of course I did, General ; but `you weren't there to do it, and it had to be done then!" The speaker then referred feelingly, to Mis- L souri in her great sufferings and tribulation, to I the intense heat of the furnace of her hffiietion. Treason was blatant in her great city, St. Louis; it stalked. abroad in the streets, threatened defiantly on change, crowded them even from their pews in the sanctuary, stood in the pulpit and tortured the Word of God into an endorse ment of a most wicked rebellion, and had well nigh destroyed them. Could the friends of the Union and of freedom see the desolation in once happy homes, and the fearful traces of destruction over once fruitful fields and valleys, and see the thousand graves of the murdered martyrs of Missouri in the cause of home and country and freedom, oh' none would wonder •at the-cry of radicalism and fanaticism raised against them. Then might they understand how, in the majesty of their remaining strength, they resolved to rise ip and null rebellion in Missouri, and rise up . and CRUSH the cause of rebellion in Missouri. (Applause.) The at- THE AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1.865 tempts to rid themselves of slavery were al luded to. Finally, on one glad day, just eighteen days ago, the gates of Liberty, on golden hinges turning, were swung wide open in Missouri. (Applause.) The hard shackles have fallen off from every slave in our borders, and WE ARE FREE! Missouri may now take her place with her sisters in the Union, on the golden pathway of freedom and empire I These feelings he was rather encouraged to express, since he had found here in the nation's Capitol such words as had been uttered, and such sen timents applauded. He thanked God for this progress. The people were moving. They began to see the spirit and to shun the curse of the great barbarism. The soldiers understood the signs and the movements of these grand, • awful times. May God give us grace to do our whole duty. May the palace of Liberty, in "these walls, be placed, on a' .surer and safer foundation. In prayerful expectation the na tion and the world were waiting for the glad tidings of great joy which should announce that in that council chamber of the land the consti-4 tutional amendment had passed, which was to prohibit slavery forever in the United States of Arnerica, " the land of the free and the home `of 'the bra's." [These sentiments were re ceived with, the utmost enthusiasm, with long and loud," demOnatiations.of delight by the en tire vast' assembly.] g • And when the glad news shall b announced; continued the speaker, that'l', rty and Union shall dwell together in the Aine Republic, it will go over - the lattPlike-t 'Music of the songs of .angelty like the , music many gurg ling wateru, like the songs'of the 'gas of God over 13ethlekkeM's. plains, ,"Glory `God in the highest, and On earth peace, gOod Lo men." It will carry joy to 'landa''across th oteatc, will shake the-thrones of despots there ; and herald in the world's jubilee! (ApplatzieVcl. it will be God's work, not ours... We... him all the glory: , • ' ' . '"Speed on-thy work; 0 God of hosts 1 And when the bondmatt's ohaine are riven, ' And swells from all' nr.grriltr,coaets The anthems of the free to healen; Oh, not to those whom thou hasti l ed.' As with thy cloud and fire before, < But unto Theeln fear and dread, Be praise and glory evermore!" • The Hon. Lafayette S. Foster, Senator:fro Connecticut, was next introduced. SENATOR FOSTER'S REMARKS. Who does not love his country to-night ? th: honorable Senator asked. Whose heart doe-. not beat with exultation, if he can say, "La.. an American citizen?" True, a fiery desola tion had passed over our land, and scarcely domestic circle could be fonnd in which tear had not been shed over the dead and wounde. and suffering. And yet who will say that the war has not been and is not a blessing? How otherwise than through the path of fire and of blood'was our country to be delivered from th curse of slavery? How otherwise was freedo of the press and of speech, even in the nation halls of legislation, to be secured? HoW othe wise were the people to be aroused from the' sleep, and the mercenary, avaricious, mormyi making, and money-grasping spirit to be eradi cated, and the principles of charity and benevo lence tb be developed? Faith in an overruling Providence had been' strengthened, and through war, as the strange work of Him who rules the, world, results beneficent and kind to the race were sorely to be wrought.' But the speaker would not attempt to say much, since, f'rom what he had already heard, he .had almost come to the conclusion that soldiers, and those who had mingled with sol -fliers in kind ministrations, were the best speech Makers ; and, indeed, he felt that they were to make our best men in all the walks of life, when they should be permitted to return to peaceful avocations. The fact was, that since the war'began a new element had been intro duced into the American character—" new energy, new impulse, and new feelings." The cause of civilization and Christianity had felt it. Ideas and institutions that had long been held under bondage had been emancipated. And these changes were to revolutionize the world. They must have an effect broad in its extent as fife world itself. Why, we hear that from Asia, from China, from India, from the islands of the sea, contributions have already been made to this good cause of the Christian Commission. Think you that all this is not to react? Is not the reflex influence of our final triumph to illu mine the farthest corner of this globe? Who, doubts it? For his part, he believed that the world was about making a step vaster and grander than any yet recorded in the history of, our race; and war, terrible, fearful, bloody, cruel as it is, may be the means, and the only means, in the hand of God, of bringing about results so sublime, so. momentous. THE REJECTED CONCRICISSIONERS. Mr. Stuart here unfurled before the audience a piece of white linen, wrapped around a slender hazel twig, and related its history. A collector of relics years hence would bid high for it. It was the flag of truce which carried to the rebel government at Richmond a letter permitted to be sent through bur lines, tendering the names' of Bishop Malvaine of- Ohio; .Bishop Lee, of. Delawfve, Bishop Janes, of New York, Rev.e Dr. William Adams,. of. .New York, Horatio Gates Jones, Esq., of Philadelphia, and their humble servant, as ''a -commission .to .go and\ minister to the wants of our suffering prisoners. in their hands, and giving them the privilege of appointing an equal number of men of equal standing'm their citizenship, to enter 'our lines and visit-their prisoners in our _hands. Three of the Commission, Bishops Janes, Lee, and Mr. Jones, were sent in a special steamer pro l vided by General Grant. The communication! was received, but awaited the reply, which was delayed twenty-four hours at Richmond ; it was to the effect " that it was inexpedient at pre sent." The flag of truce was given to them by Colonel Mulford, and was also the same under which so many of our brave men were recently, .exchanged from the horrors of rebel captivity. THE ESCAPED CORRESPONDENT. The. Hon. Schuyler Colfax, Speaker of the House, now introduced his old friend, Mr. A. D. Richaldson, ' correspondent of 0.3 Newt 1 York Tribu'ne, who had just escaped f: om th rebel prison at Salisbury, North Carolina. H narrated the circumstances of his friend's cap ture with two 'other correspondents, as they, were attempting to run past the rebel batteries' at Vicksburg, in a small tug. Instead of their being paroled, as was promised them, _when their captors found that they were connected with the newspaper press, and with journal which.they Elated, they retained, them in cap-4 tivity, and, for twenty long months they tasted the',ineffable'delights" of seven rebel prisons, after every exchange proffered for them had been refused, though they were not iu the mili tary service of the United States, and though our. Government had releaf'd hundreds and thOusands of civilians that it had captured. His friend and his companion had suffered un told privation, ' hunger want, and wretched ness, were persecuted from. city to city and from prison to prison, and were during' that time as faithful to out- noble cause as was the apostle of the Gentiles when persecuted from city to city by those who reviled the religion of his Master which he preached. And they ever bore before their persecutors, an unfaltering mein, an unbroken determination kopreach to them of. the judgment that was certain to come upon 'them. At last, with no thanks to the. men that had broken faith with them they es caped from their dungeon, and he, the speaker, had now the preasure to introduce to them his friend who had so lately come "out of the jaws of death, out of the gates of hell." MR RICHARDSON'S REMARKS Six weeks ago, that very night, the speaker had the satisfaction of refusing.to answer to his name at a certain roll-call, because he thought the custom more honored in the bread' than in the observance. He felt, as one Of the speakers before him had expressed, that he had come from a foreign country, where I* had for twenty months been languishing—but no! he would recall the thought, tor, God hell:l -ing us, not afoot of American soil is ever to become foreign to any of us (amen.) He might rather say that lie was as one coming out of the tombs. The words of patiotism and of freedom, so fully, and so earnestly expressed and heartily received, had fallen strangely but sweetly on his ears. He felt truly that " God was marching on." • But he must speak of an institution which was not a stranger to him, which had crtissed his path so frequently in camp and hospital, in the transport and in the battle-field, and even in the rebel prisons ; for there, too, his suffer ing fellowiprisone rs had been relieved from its bounty. He had seen so much of its noiseless yet all-bounding charity, that he was glad to greet here those who represented it and offer his feeble meed of encouragement to them. He had seen many things since the war began that had made his heart to bound with a glad pride that he was an American citizen ; but the scenes he had witnessed on the battle-fields of the West after. the conflict, in crowded trans-' ports, among the wounded in post hospitals, where the cots where crowded with the bleeding and dying, and where, .side by side ' withour heroes were their enemies, who had ceased to be enemies because• humanity and.Ohristianity had been Railed upon to aid them—there, to see the noble men and women from . Cincinnati, and Chicago and St. Louis, representing the Christian Commission and kindred orgabiza tions, moving about 'from cot to cot, bathing the fevered brow, administering the strengthen ing cordial, combing Out the 'matted locks, washing . the blood-stained laces, and with it all pouring out their hearts of sympathy and love; making themselvei to stand in the places of mothers and sisters to these suffering men. Oh, these things ,Ma0o: hini feel - doubly proud that be was an Arneriban citizen—they were the best things he had seen during the war. The speakerthen proceeded to deliver the message wit Which his heart was burdened— th'eA aitiiiiii of`the prisoners whom he had left behind him in 01%1-bondage. He had been . asked what, preciselyl.was their condition. A word ef-,lds own -experience would afford the /answer:: Two' 'months - , before his escape, Salisbury: prison, North' Carolina, which' up to that tune, had been a' comparatively comforta ble and healthy place for a rebel prison, was changed from a receptacle' for hostages; hold ing 600 . prisonerS, to receptacle. for prisoners of war, and.10;000 were brought there. From that hour the condition fonpfthings was utterly changed, thtisottecameoleseenec horrorsiofhorrorthaheeouldnotthinf upon without sbuddering: t . Two of his journal istie comrades and himself were placed by the rebel authorities in eliarge of all the hospitals in the garrison—and:tliey were nine in number. He could-riot tell in detail the condition of all those hospitals which were always filled to overflowing, and contained on an average 600 Of our prisoners, while there were always many more mitside who needed admission into them. We tried to do something to miti gate the condition of our prisoners there but, Oh, how we missed and how we longed for the blessed ministrations of some such agency. as the Christian Commission, and of the men and WOMen of the North ! were these hoipitals one-half 'of the patienta were con fined in rooms without- the least fire whatever during the inclement December days, when snows, were,. vry. frequent. And they, had been 'robbed of their clothing, so that theY were almost literally half naked. The rebel authorities never - furnished a single blanket, a .single pillow, or a single bed, for nine of these wards,"and the men were compelled to ;lie on the floor just 'as close as they could lie, part of the time. with a little straw spread 'under them; bat the greater part of the time without even that, because they could not get 'it with all their applications, - after- they bad been compelled `to throw out that'which they had. They always suffered from the cold; eyen the sick men sometimes suffered from hunger; he had knoWn them to go forty-eight hours at a time Without food; even these sick patients. The surd of it was, that while these men were said, by' the surgeons to be dying from pneumonia*, or catarrh, or dysentery, they were dying from hunger and from cold, and rebel surgeons in coversation always. admitted it., Our poor men usually died in a 'few days after entering these hospitals. The condition of the men,outside of the hospitals was almost as'ipaii as those within. Many of them for forty eight hours at a time, more than once or twice, were without food. It was a very freqaent thing for them to be twenty-four hours without fo d ; and once, on the 25th of November, a fe of them, without any matured plan, wheri they had gone forty-eight hours without food, said in their desperation, we may as well die one way as another, "let us force our way out of this place." So, withou any concert of ac art among, the prisoners, a few seized the gang from the rebel relief, called the men to heir . assistance, Wand attempted to make a breach through the fence. But every gun in , the garrison was turned on them, and this fee le attempt to escape was made the preteit Or a general massacre; for in his own gnar l) ers, one hundred and fifty yards from the 'scene of the outbreak, and where there was no outbreak, for twenty minutes after it was over throughout the yard, the guard shot down help less innocent men—killing fifteen and wound ing sixty of them, nine-tenths of whOm not on ly, did not participate in the outbreak, but were entirely ignorant of it until they heard the guns I .I am not guilty of exaggeration, and state no thing but the plainest fact, when I say that any sentinel on the fence, at anytime, could raise his musket and'shoot down any-prisoner, black or white, in that yard, and would not even be removed from his post for it! The distributien of, the clothing left by the dead, to the living, was placed in the speaker's hands. In the sixty days before he left be issued garments to more than two thousand soldiers, yet when he came away he,left in that garrison full five hundred prisoners without a shoe or stocking, full as many more without a coat, and as many more without a blouse. Every weak a rebel recruiting officer came into the prison to obtain enlistments to the rebel army, offering sometimes bounties, always offering good food and warm clothes to those who should enlist; and in those sixty days about 1,500, certainly from 1,200 to 1,300 of our men enlisted ! It was a very common occurrence for these poor men to comer to them and'ask, with tears in their eyes, " What shall we do ? We cannot stay here and starve to death, and we are certain if we do remain, , we too, shall follow our comrades into the dead house. We feet that we are growing weaker every day; if we enlist we may possible find an opportunity to escape and go back once more to our lines.' It is easy for those who sit at home in comfort to indulge in theories about " inhuman and unchristian" things, to say "we cannot afford to do any inhuman or unchristian thing, therefore we must shut our ear to the agonizing cry which comes up from so many rebel prisons." But can we afford to do these inhuman and unchristian things toward those noble Men who carry mir'flag, who wear our uniform, who bear the scars of wounds they have received in fighting our battles, who. are our sous and', our brothers? No ! we cannot l else God help them, for there is no remedy in man. ' Yet, we can do this ; if we cannot have them exchanged, we may exercise that severity towards those who have deluged the country with blood, who are responsible for all this terrible suffering- , -Who are prisoners in our own hands. The speaker was urged, by weightiest obligations, by the most solemn necessity, and by the most sacred appeals of humanity, to represent these things, and to endeavor to impress them upon the nation's heart, that some affe,ctual assistance be afforded. And" Oh 1 help must come soon, sooN I or there will be few left to help. His associate, Mr. Browne, who was especially charged with visit ing the prisoners out of doors, and, dispensing medicines among them, and who was better advised than any one else of their condition, states, under the solemnities of an oath, that of all the prisoners in that garrison there were not five hundred well men, and that their sick iless was directly traceable to their hunger and their cold, and he, the speaker, had himself heard rebel surgeons in charge, when the matter rd of it ' The percentage they believed every wo . was presented to them, endorse it, and say that at which they were- dying off will leave very few of them to rescue, unless they are rescued soon. It is six weeks since he left them, and at the percentage at which they were passing away, one man out of every five of those whom he left behind has already gone through that " dead house" 'to his long home. Therefore he adjured. those who had the power and the responsibility, to act, and to act quickly, in the name of God and of humanity. Now what will be done? He would suggest two possible and only adequate ways: one, an immediate general exchange, which would return to us all. our Salisbury prisoners in two weeks; and all our prisoners in the South in a month. The other remedyhe had suggested before. It was simply retaliation. But not indiscriminate retaliation. Not upon the rank and file of the rebel army, prisoners in our hands—for they were not re sponsible for this dreadful rebellion—but upon the clgeers. And how? By placing these offi cers in our hands, in Charge of returned pri soners? But "returned prisoners" means almost anybody. No; he would have our Go vernment say to the rebel authorities, "We have selected from your officer's in our hands the equivalent, as established by, the cartel, for our Rrivates whom you hold at Salisbury. We are giving them, as nearly as possible, the same food, the same clothing, the same fuel, and the same shelter. We shall continue to do this 'until, you furnish us satisfactory evidence that you are giving to oar soldiers, as far as your resources will permit, the treatment due to pri soners of war.' Will this remedy the evil? There are two precedents whiCh may throw some light upon it. • When the rebels had selected Sawyer and Flynn for execution, our Government did not protest or threaten, but quietly ordered the comman dant at Fortress Monroe, the moment he shauld learn that they had carried out the menace, to execute Lee and Winder. On that summer -morning at daylight, when we learned of this action, one uproarious and spontaneous'shout of delight went up from the inmates of Libby Prison. We were satisfied that they would never harm a hair of the heads of Captains Sawyer and Flynn, and they never did. One day last summer the Richmond authorities re ceived a letter running in this wise.:—'" Learn ing that you have placed certain negro soldiers of the United. States at work on your fortifica tions under fire, I hereby inform you"—what? " That I protest against it?" No. " That I propose to appoint commissioners to adjust it." No. " That we will retaliate unless you stop it ?" No. But "I hereby inform you that I have placed an equal number of your Officers at work on my fortifications under fire, and shall keep them there until you extend to the negro soldiers the treatment due to prisoners of war. I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your obedint servant, Benjamin F. Butler, Major-General Commandinding." Before that day's sun 'went down in Richmond, the negroes were kit - back in Libby Prison, with the other prise Mrs of war ; and, so far as tlae most dili gent inquiry could find, they never were placed imthe fortifications afterwards. The speaker believe& that- this conga would be speedily_ effectual. He invoked most so lemnly, here in the. Nation's Capitol, theinstant and constant efforts of. the Governmerit in this matter, in the name of these stiffetitig, dying men ; he invoked from the ladies and gentle men of the Christian Commission, their sympa thy and their prayers, and the weigllt of their devotion in the cause of the suffering soldier and humanity. At the conclusion of Mr. Rich,ardson's ad - .4A dress, Mr. Phillips repeated the beautiful hymn, "Your Mission," which was again received with the greatest delight. The hour for closing had now4ome. The audience had been raised to iheAighest pch of enthusiasm and of sympathy.;:l A few mo ments and midnight would :beieached. So after a word of congratulatiot4nd thanks, by Mr. Stuart, upon the happy inspices of the day and hour for the glorious ciitti*Of our country and of the Christian Connittssi§n, the audience still unwearied, sang with"Niitinn the grandest of doxologies, "Praise , lod*m whom all blessings flow," and thaaistitis . semblv was dis missed with the bent4ctiini .by the Reverend Bishop Janes, of NO . York. Thus ended what was, without . „doubt, altogether the most remarkable meetineof 'the kind ever held in this country. *too of our eljitttilfz. DEDIOA4OE.—Thp neat and commodious edifice recently erected in Flourtown, in the neighborhoUd of this City, for the use of the Springfield First Church, was dedicated to its holy service on Sabbath, the 29th ult. The paiter, Rev. A. J. Snyder, was assisted on the occasion by'' !,eir. Messrs. Robert Adair,l. Y. Mitchell, and Roger Owen, by each of whom an appropriate discourse was delivered. The services through all parts of the day were , well; sustained, and, in the matter of collections, a fair advance was made against a debt which the congregation now expect to extinguish in the course of a few weeks. The pastor writing to us in a grate ful strain, says :--" We have struggled long and hard, but we have reason to be thankful that God has blessed us both with temporal and spiritual good. We ask an interest in your prayers for our success." NonTHERN NEW YORIC.—At a meeting of the Presbytery of Champlain on the 10th ult., an invitation was received from the church in Black Brook to the Presbytery to comp in a body to .the dedication of its newly erected house of worship. The invitation was ac cepted, and the dedication took place, companied by a sacramental communion more than usually solemn and delightful. The sermon was preached by Rev. Andrew Mil lar, of Chateaugay, the dedicatory prayer offered by Rev J. T. Willett. Rev. Messrs. Willett and Hurdee officiated at the Lord's table. The Presbytery appointed as Com missioners to the nest General Assembly, Rev. J. Copeland, of Champlain, and ruling elder Zephaniah Platt, of Plattsburgh. At a subsequent meeting, the Presbytery or dained Mr. Henry E. Butler as an Evangel ist. Mr.' B. is supplying the church in Keeseville. ,DRYDEN, N. Y.—The pastor of the Pres byterian church in this place writes to the Evangelist that, since the week of prayer, some thirty or, more have hopefully given their hearts to Christ; among them heads of families, students at our Academy, and mem bers of the Sabbath-school. We hold ser vices afternoon and evening. The work of grace is free from excitement, and in the in quiry-meeting we find many who are led there by the Holy Spirit, and are asking; what must I do to be sawed? CAZENOVIA, N. Y.—We learn, through our exchanges, that about one hutuired'hope ful conversions have taken place in our church in this' beautiful village. Other li churches in the place are participating in the hglorious blessing. The Sabbath-schools are enjoying large measures of it.' THE FRONTIER. -Rev. John Fairchild writes to the Presbytery Reporter from Ma rietta, Wisconsin:—" We have now a (N. S.) Presbyterian church organized, of twenty members, (the pioneer) with three good sub stantial elders, with a probability of increase at our next Communion, a weekly prayer meeting, a Sabbath-school and Bible class. We have a very good congregation, and a degree of serious attention on the part of some which is very hopeful. Our new school house is now completed, and we have a flour-, ishing graded school in it. My sister and daughter teach it. •We meet for worship, now in one of the rooms, which is quite com fortable, and a great improvement on the small house in which we formerly met. We have just purchased a five octave organ for, the use of our choir, which we shall, receive in a few days. I have continued to labor at Peshtigo one-third of my time, and have, in: some respects, met with quite , as much couragement as at this point. My congreio Lions have been quite as large ; and the bath-school numbers sixty or seventy scho, This people have a good organ, and areq4; spirited in building up the interests of gion as they regard them. My family AO enjoyed very fine health since we came, and have lived quite comfortably arilrt tentedly. The people are generous. anitkiiid. Taking every thing into the acepuntlftlaey are doing remarkably well." • t 4 b PRESBYTERY OF ROCKA*AL the , meeting of this Presbytery, held on tlietfth ult., it was found that most of its chin?* have, in consequence of the increased expe* of living, supplemented the salaries of 'Mit ministers. The churches of Mendham, Bocini ton, Succa,sunnay, and others, by liberal &tart Lions ; the churches of Hanover, Rockaway, and others, by a direct increase of the salary. The church of Dover has adopted both methods: having added one-third to the pastor's-salary for the past as well as the cur rent year, they surprised him by a social visit, leaving in his possession another third; the ladies of the congregation taking the same opportunity to make a testimonial of their regard to the'pastor's wife. The Evan gelist; to which we are indebted for the above statement, says that it is believed that the few churches which have not yet taken action on this subject, are about doing so, whereby the m o vement will be complete throughout the Presbyt CHRISTIA , I)EL. ; ithvivA_L AND A CALL.--:Thi little church in'our neighbour ing State is enjoying a precious refreshing from the Holy Spirit. There is now a va cancy in the pastorate, and. Rev. Mr. Aik man,' of Wilmington, amid the overfullness of his own pastoral work, undertook the su perintendence of a special , effort there, which has already resulted in some sixteen hopeful conversions and a great revival on the part of the church. In this work, Mr. Aikman has been efficiently aided by Rev. J. Hervey Beale, late chaplain of the let Penna. Cay., who served with so much acceptance that the congregation has tendered him a unani mous call to the pastorate. We learn that Mr. Beale has the call under advisement. MONROEVILLE, ORIO.-Our church in this place, Rev. S. D. Wells, pastor, has enjoyed special tokens of the Divine presence since the week of prayer. Several hears of fami lies and other persons have become decided Christians. This church, though few in numbers, made for itself a•good record in the matter of Christian liberality during the last year. Witness, $lBOO for a parsonage, more than $3OO for outside benevolent objects, $2OO in presents to the pastor, and an addi tion of $lOO to his regular salary. The Sab bath-school embraces persons of all ages up to near eighty, and with the beginning of the year commenced the study of the Assembly's Shorter Catechism. PEORIA, ILL—There is one church in our ecclesiastical connection at this important point, which, since its organization eight years ago, has maintained an earnest effort to reach the point where the enterprise might be safely set down as, under God, a success. This point now appears to be attained, and it takes its place among the churches of solid standing. Rev. Frank ,Gilbert, an Auburn graduate of 1863, has recently been invited to the pastorate, and the invitation hasbeen accepted. When installed, he will be the first regular pastor in that field. SiLvER CREEK, N. Y.—The church in this place has renovated and completely remo delled its house of worship, at an expense of some $4OOO, made a liberal increase of the ministerial salary, and secured the pastoral services of an excellent minister in the person of Rev. Albert Bigelow, late of Jackson, Michigan. NEIGHBORHOOD MISSIONS.—The Presby tery of Utica is moving energetic* in this matter. We have received :a copy of its ac tion on the subject, but too late for our pre sent number. It limy be expected to appear next week. CELENANGIO PRESBYTERY. —The Commis sioners to the next General Assembly are— Principals, Rev. E. Curtis and ruling elder E. A. Phillips ; Alternates, Rev. E. Cope and ruling elder L. De Forest. TH - E EMANCIPATION AMENDMENT.—In our abstract of Congressional proceedings will be found this most memorable act of our Na tional Legislature since the existence of the Republic. . Our views of it are elsewhere expressed. It is yet, too early to predict whether the entire number Of State Legisla tive ,endorsements, necessary to its comple tion, will be instantly obtained. Twenty-five are sure enough, and the remaining .two are not out of the reach of probability. Mary land, after having just emancipated herself, leads off gloriously in advance of all, her House of Delegates having ratified the amendment on the Ist instant, the day fol lowing its passage at Washington. It was not, however, ratified by the Senate until the 3d. The other States, which up to the hour of our going to press, have ratified it; are Illinois, Rhode Island, Michigan, West Vir ginia, Massaehussetts; NewTork,•Pennsyl vania.
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