Speech of Rev. Breckinridge* The venerable Rev. Dr Breckinridge, of Kentucky, was the temporary presid ing officer of' tho Union Presidential Con vention held in Baltimore, June 7th. 'O4. On taking the Chair he addressed the Convention as follows: Gentlemen of the. Convention — \ ou can not lie more sensible than I am that the part I have to porform hereto-day is mere ly a matter of form, and. acting upon the principles of my whole life. I was inclin ed, when the suggestion was made to me from various quarters, that it was in the minds of many members of the Conven tion to confer this distinction upon me, to earnestly declineto accept, because I have nevor sought honors; I have never sought distinction; I have been a workiug man and nothing else but certain considera tions led me to change my mind. (Ap plause.) There is a class of men in the country far to small for tho good of the countrv; these men who, merely by their example, by their pen. by their voice, try to do good, and all the more in perilous times, without regard to tho reward that may come. It was given to many such men to understand by the distinction con ferred upon one of the humblest of their class that they were men whom the coun try would cherish, and who would uot be forgotten. There is another motive relative to your selves and to the country at largo. It is good for you, it is good for every nation and every people every State and every party, to cherish all generous impulses, to follow all noble instincts; and where are men more noble, moregenerous than when they labor to purge themselves of all .self seekers and betrayers, and to-confer hon ors. if only iii mere forms, upon those who arc worthy to be trusted, and ask nothing more? [Applause.] Now, according to my convictions of propriety, having said this, I should say nothing more, (cries of go 011), but it has been intimated to me from many quarters, and in a way which I cannot disregard, that I should disap point the wishes of my friends, and per haps tho just expectations of the Conven tion, if I did not, as briefly and yet aspre cisely as I could, say something upon the great matters which have hrot' us here. Therefore, in a very few words, and as plainly as I can. I will endeavor to draw your attention to one and another of these great matters in which wc arc all engag ed. In the first place, nothing can be more plain than the fact that you are hero as the representatives of a great nation, vol untary representatives, chosen without forms of law, but as really representing feelings, principles, and, if you choose, prejudices of the American people, as if it were written in the laws and already pass by the votes; for the man that you will nominate here for the Presidency of the United States, and a ruler of a great peo ple in a great crisis, is just as certain. I suppose, to become that ruler as anything under heaven is certain before done.— ( Prolonged cheering.) And, moreover, you will allow me to say, though perhaps it is hardly strictly proper that I should, but as far as I know your opinions, I sup pose it is just as certain now, before you utter it, whose name vou will utter, and which will be responded to from one end to the other of this nation, as it will be after it has been uttereTl and recorded by your Secretary. Does any man doubt that this Convention intends to say that Abra ham Lincoln shall be the nominee? (Great I applause.) What t wish, however fo call your at- [ tention to is the grandeur of the mission j upon which you arc met, and. therefore, the dignity and solemnity, earnestness and conscientiousness, with which represent- 1 ingoneof the greatest, and certainly one ! of the first people of the world, you j ought to discharge these duties. (Ap-1 phrase.) Now, besides the nomination of Prcsi-! dent and Vice President, in regard to which sacred offices I will say nothing, because I know there is more or less dif ference of opinion among you ; but bo sides these nominations yon have other j most solemn duties to perform. You have to organize this party throughout the ! United States. Yon have to put it in j whatever form your wisdom will suggest j that will unite all your wisdom, energy and determination to gain the victory ! which I have already said wasinourpow-1 cr; More than that; you have to lay down, with clearness and precision, the principles on which you intend to carry 011 this great political contest, anil prosecute the war which is underneath them, and the glory of the country which lies be fore us if we succeed. Plainly, not in a double sense; briefly, not in a treatise; with the dignity anil precision of a great people, to utter, by its representatives,the political principles by which they arc wil ling to live, and for the sake of which they are willing to die, so that all men, everywhere,may understand precisely what we mean, and lay that furrow so deeply ! and clearly, that while every man who is j worthy to associate with freemen, may see I it and pass over it, every man who is uu- ! worthy may be cither unable to pass it, or i may be driven far from it. We want none 1 but those who arc like us to be with us. (Applause.) Now among those principles, if you will allow rae to say it, the first and most distinct is that we do not intend to per mit this nation to be destroyed. (Ap plause.) Wc arc a nation—no doubt a pe culiar ofle—formed of States, and no na tion except as these States form it; and these States arc no States except as they arc States in that nation. They had no more right to repudiate them. Not one of them had even the kliadow of a right to do this, and, God helping us, we will vindicate the truth go that it sh»ll never t>C disputed any more in the world. (Ap plause.) It is a fearful alternative that is ! set before us, but there arc great compen- j satious for it. Thoso of you who have attended to this ; subject know that from tho foundation of. the present Government, before and since ; our present Constitution was formed, there have always been parties that had no faith in our Government. The men that form ed it were doubtful of its success, and the men that opposed its formation did not desire its success, and I am bold to gay, without detaining you ou this subject, that for all the outcry against our viola tions of the Constitution, this presentliv- Inggeneration and this present Union pnr ty are more thorougnly devoted to that Constitution than any generation that has ever lived under it. (Applause.) While I say that, and Bolmemnly believe it, and believe it is capable of the strong est proof I may also add that it is the great error which is being propagated in the land to say that our national life de pends merely upen the sustaining of the Constitution. Our fathers made it.and we lovo it. lie intended to maintain it; but if it suits us to change it we can do so [Applausejs and when it suits us to change it wc will change it. (Applause.) If it were torn into ten thousand pieces the nation would be as much a nation as it was before the Constitution was made ; a na tion always that declared its independ ence ag a united people, and lived as a united people until now; a nation inde pendent of all particular institution un der which they lived, capable of model ing them precisely as thetr interest re quire. Wo ought to have it distinctly understood by friends and ememies, that while we lovo that instrument wc will maiutaiain it, and will, with undoubt ed certainty put to death friends or foes who undertake to trample it under foot. Yet, beyond a doubt, wo will reserve the right to alter it to suit ourselves, from time to time, and from generation to gen eration. (Applause.) One more idea on that subject. We have incorporated in the instrument the right of revolution, which gives us, with out doubt, the right to change it. It nev er existed before the American States, and by the right to change there is no need of rebellion, insurrection or civil war, except upon a denial of the fundamental principle of all free Goverments; that the major part must rule; and there is no other method of carrying on society, ex cept that the will of the majority shall be the will of the whole, or that the will of the minority shall he the will of the whole. .So that, in one word, to deny the princi ples I have tried to state, is to make a dogmatic assertion that the only form of Government that is possible with perfect liberty, and acknowledged by (lod, is a pure and absolute despotism. The principles, therefore, which lam trying to state before you arc principles which, if they be not true, freedom is im possible, and no Government but one of pure force can exist, or ought to endure among men. But the idoa which I wish to carry out as the remedy for these troub les and sorrows is this; Dreadful as they arc, this fearful truth runs through the whole history of mankind, that whtaevcr else may be done to give stability to au thority, whatever slse uiaybe done to per petuate its institutions, however wise, however glorious, practicable and just may be the philosophy of it, it has been found that the only enduring,only imper ishable cement of all free institutions has been the blood of traitors. No Gov ernment has ever been built upon imper ishable foundations which foundations were not laid in the blood of traitors. It is a fearful truth, but we had as well avow it at once, and every blow you strike, and every rebel you kill, every battle yon win, dreadful as it is to do it, you are adding, it may be a year, it may be ten years, it may be a century, it may be ten centuries, to the life of the Government and free dom of your children. (Great applause.) Now, passing ovfcr that idea—passing over many other things which it Would be right for 1110 to say. did time serve, and were this the occasion—let me add, you arc a Union party. Your origin has been referred to as having occurred eight years ago. In the one sense it is true, but you arc far older than that. I sec before me not only primitive Republicans and primitive Abolitionists, but I see also primitive Democrats and primitive Whigs, primitive Americans, and if you will al low me to say so, I myself am here, who all my life have been in a party to my self. (Laughter a.id applause.) As a Union party I will follow you to tl « ends of the earth, and to the gates of death. (Applause.) Hut as an Abolition party, as a Republican party, as a Whig party, as a Democratic party, as an American party. 1 will not follow you one foot. (Ap plause.) 15ut it is true of the mass of the American people, however you may divide and scatter, while this war lasts, while the country is in peril, while you call yourselves, as you do in the call of the Convention, the " Union party," you are for the preservation of the I'nion and the destruction of this rebellion, " root aud branch." And, in my judgment, one of the great errors that has been committed by our Administration of the General Govern ment—tho chief of which we are about to nominate for another term of office— has been to believe that wc have succeed ed where we have not succeeded, and to act in a manner which is appropriate for those who have succeeded. You will not, you cannot succeed until you have utter ly broken the military power of this peo ple. (Applause.) I will not detain you upon these inci dental points, one of which has been made priAiiuent in the remarks of tho ex cellent Chairman of tho National Com mittee. Ido not know that I would be willing togo so far as. probably he would, but I cordially agree with him in this. L think, considering what has been done about slavery, taking the thing as it now stands, overlooking altogether, cither in tho way of condemnation or approval, any act that has brought us to the point where we are. bet believing in my con science aud with all my heart, that what has brought us where \."e are in tho mat ter of slavery is the origin*' sin and folly of treason and secession—because you re member that tho Chicago conversion it self was understood to say, and I beJieve it virtually did explicitly state that they would not touch slavery in the States— leaving it therefore altogether out of the question—how we e»me where wo are on that particular point, wc are prepared to go further than the original Republic ans themselves were prepared to go. We are prepared to demand not only that the whole territory of the United States shall uot be made slave, but that the general Government of the Americau people shall do one of two things—and it appears to me that there is nothing else that can be done either to uso the whole power of the Government, both the war power and the peace power, to put slavery as nearly as possible back where it was—for al though that will be a fearful state of so ciety, it is better than anarchy—or else to use the whole power ofthe Government, both of war and peace, and all the parti cal power tllat the people of the United States will give them, to exterminate aud extinguish it. (Prolonged applause.) I have 110 hesitatoin in saying for my self that if I were a pro-slavery man, if I believed this institution was an ordinance of God and was given toman, I would un hesitatingly join those who demanded the Government should be put back where it was. But lam not a pro-slavery man. I never was. I write myself with those who believe it is contrary to the brightest interests of all men and of all Govern ments, contrary to the spirit of Christ ian religion, and incompatible with the natural rights of man. I join myself with those who say, "Away with it for ever," (applause), and I fervently pray God that the day may come when through out the whole land every man may be as free as you are, and as capable of en joying regulated liberty. I will not detain you any longer. One single Word you will allow.ine to say in behalf of the State from which I come. We know very well that our eleven votes are of no consequence in a Presidential election. We know very well that in our present unhappy condition it is by no means certain that we are here to-day, representing the party that will east the majority of votes in that unhappy State. I know very well that the sentiments which lam uttering will cause me great odium in the State ill which I was born, which I love, where the bones of two generations of my ancestors and some of my chilereu are, and where soon I shall lay my own. I know very well that my colleagues will incur odium if they oil dorse what I say, and they too know it. But we have put our faces toward the way in which we intended togo, and we will go in it to the end. If we are to perish we will perish iu that way. All I have to say to you is, help us if you can : if you cannot believe injyour hearts that wc have died like men, [Great applause.] Sherman nml Joliiislon. Atlanta is thronged with famished fugi tives from northern Georgia and Alabama, and an aspect of gloom pervades the place. Johnston has buoyed up the rebels of At lanta with hopes of what lie was going to do. until at length they find every point of exterior defence abandoned successive ly, and Johnston beaten in conflict ind thwarted in strategy. He made an at tempt to save Atlanta bymnrchingtowards Dallas, to cover the turnpike leading to | Atlanta; but after erecting formidable ; works and fighting useless battles, he finds that Sherman was all the time amusing him there while portions of his army wore marching by the flank toward Marietta, which they have now reached, and are thus established on the direct railroad to Atlanta, at the principal town 011 the road, south of all the formidable positions and within easy reach of Atlanta. If Johnson now remains in his fortified I position near Dallas, Sherman will take possession of the railroad and run his for ces to Atlanta. If Johnston brcakscamp there and moves to Marietta, Sherman then has the turnpike road open to Atlan ta, and can move by it. A pitched bat tle of the most desperate character would be Johnston's true policy, and this will account for his assuming the offensive and attacking Sherman ; but he does not seem to have the courage or resolution to 1 risk a decisive battle, and therefore his fights never amount to much. We pre- j sume that he will retreat to the line of the Chattahoochie, and attempt to defend it against Sherman. This will be a diffi cult task at present, in consequence of the position Johnston finds himself in, with Sherman's forces occupying both the rail road and the turnpike. The possession of Mariette by Sherman will cause the immediate abandonment by the rebels of all points 011 the railroad north oT that place, including Kenesuw and Alatoona. the two strongest jtositions south of Buzzard's Roust; and as Sher man always keeps his locomotive ready, the cars will soon reach him at Marietta, and open communications through to Kingston and Chattanooga. We are aware that is this a long line of commu nications toman tain, aud against a gener al of the capacity of Lee it might be per ilous; the Johnston'B policy is so purely defensive, and Sherman's so incessantly offensive, that the lino is pretty safe, more especially since Kingston has been con verted into a l y base. In approaoaWrAtlanta, Shcrqym will now he apt to nolJfTte turnpike, roads south of the railroad, because he thereby pro tects the approaches to his own communi cations, there being no roads north aud east of the railroad running to Atlanta from the north except by a very circuit ous route. Ho will be apt to do so also for another reason. In undertaking the scige of Atlanta, ho would desire it to be severed from the railroad which would cnonnect it with the most available rein forcements, which being the one leading to Mobile, comes in the way of his march ! from Dallas. Should Johnston retreat to the line of the Chattahoochie on finding Marietta in possession of our forces, Sherman would probably follow the same policy he pursued at Kingston and other places—keep his main army on the lino of the railroad and send a column marching by the parallel turbpikes. If the direct one to Sandtown and Atlanta was open, he might thereby secure ail available crossing of the Chat tahoochi; but as Johnston would proba bly defend the river at Sandtown, it would be necessary for sherman's detach ed praties to march by the circuitous route from Dallas to Campbellton. In point of fact, Jonliston has retreat ed so far, and lost so many good possi tions, that he has now got himself in to a very awkward dilemma, where the defence of Atlanta seems almost impos sible. Without moving on Dallas, Sher man has but to send a detachment by the turnpik to Villa Rica, and he would hold a possition commanding a short and direct road to Kingston, on the north, and another to Compbellton, Sandtown and Atlanta, on the east. This route completely turns the flank of any availa ble position Johnston is likely to take on the line of tho Chattahoochie, and also gi¥e"us access to the great southern rail way connection of Atlanta. ithc gmmfim (Eittectt. THOMAS ROBINSON, lEdItoPCYRUSl EdItoP CYRUS E. ANDERSON, j* 0 " o™- 0 ™- M. W. NPK4R, Publisher. _ BUTLER PA. hedxesday jihe is, iso». 43-"Liberty and Union, Now and Forever, One end inseparable."—D. Webster. FOB PRESIDENT IN 1804 : AItItAIIAYI LIXCOM. FOR VICE president: ANDREW JOHXNTOK. l'renldenlial Elccfors, SENATORIAL. Morton M'MlrhnH, Philadelphia Thumoa 11. Uuiiuinghttra, IVnver couutjr. REPRESENTATIVES. 1 Robert r. Klo*. I 2 Geo. Morrison Contoa, S jlcnrv Butnm, 4 tfUIHm II K.-rn, ft Barton 11. Ji'tikff, ft Charles M. Hunk, 7 Robert Parkor, 8 Aaj-on Moll, 9 .Tohn A. I!if*tand, 10 lllrhard 11. C'orrell, | 11 EdwaH Ilollldav, 12 Cb«rle« F. Uoeil, | 113 EH»k W. Hull. 14 (iiarlet* If. Phrinar, 15 John Winter, I in David MT.»nan|hy, jl7 IHtrid W. Wood, IS l8»nr Itanaon, 'Hi John Pit ton. *2O gunmel 11. Dick, 21 Ev-rard Bterer, 22 John P Ponner, 23 Ehniie7.fr M'Jtutkln, 124 .lohn W. DlanHiard. IjOCAli TICKET. CONGRESS. JOHN M. THOMPSON. (Subject to. District Conferees.') LEGISLATURE. WM. HAHLETT, JOHN II.NEOLBV. (Subject to District Nomination.) COMMISSIONER. A. C.CIIRISTY. AUDITOR. LEAN'DEI! WISE. 112 Presidential Nomina (ion. In tlio first issue of our paper, we hoist ed the name of Abraham Lincoln, for re-clefclion. On several occasions since then, wo insisted that a National Conven tion was not necessary —that the people were for him, and that they would elect him, whether the politicians were for him or not. The Baltimore Convention met however, but only to give form to the popular will already well understood. It only remains now for the people to ratify their own action at the November elec tion, which they v:ill do as sure as that day conies round. Andrew Johnston, of Tennessee, is as sociated with him as the candidate IV r Vice President. No better nomination could be made. "He is a patriot of the first stamp. With Lincoln and Johnston as our leaders, victory is sure—and that victory will have an object. It will be a fresh announcement to the world that " the Union must be preserved." The people should goto work at once to organize for the coming contest. BSaf On the first page of our paper to day, will be found a synopsis of the great speech of our able inend>ej ofjCongrcss, Hon. Thomas WilliamsAV'e would fain have given this speech entire; .but owing to its great length its also to the*crowded state of our columus with war nqftsj. we have been, reluctantly compelled to forego the pleasure of laying it entire before our readers. A gentleman like Mr. whose reputation as a scholar, an orator and a statesman, dates back beyond a quarter of a century, cannot be injurey by witholding one of his many produc tions from the public, or by having it abridged, it is the people who are bene fitted by its publication. But as it has been published in pamphlet form, we trust it will get a wide circulation. We advise all who can, to procure a oopy— read it and hand it to your neighbor—it has been favorably noticed by the press generally—for our self, we believe it to be the greatest speech we have read for a long time. A friend in Washington wrote us that its delivery was listened to with profound interest, and that at its conclusion the members gathered around him to extend their gratulatiops, long may he live to *erv« his country. Our Ticket. We hoist to our mast head the uames of Lincoln and Johnston, which have been putin nomination by the Baltimore Convention. Of Mr. Lincoln, nothing commendatory need be saij. His nomi nation was made by the people, and the Convention had simply to ratify their ac tion. His election by the voice of every loyal State in tho Union is morally cer tain. The nomination of Andrew Johnston, of Tennessee, is also a happy one—a life long Democrat, he still refused to follow his party into rebellion—preferring to stand alone beneath the folds of the old flag. No better nomination could have been made- Major Thompson, our nominee for Con gress, is well known to all our readers; has served with distinction in the State Legislature—his nomination by the Dis trict Conference, will be received as a mark of confidence in him, and respect for the just claims of our county; but should some other gvntlom.iu he tho fa vored one, none will acquiesce more cheer fully than he and his friends. Our nominees for Assembly, Messrs. Haslett and Negley, are novo our repre sentatives—their re-nomination is but a fresh endorsement of the time honored custom of a re-election; So far as we have been able to observe, their record is all right—they are therefore, entitled to our continued confidence. ' Our candidate for Commissioner, A. C. not extensively known. by all wTiiTtnow him—he was disabled while in the ser vice ofhis country ; his nomination there fore, is a renewal of the assurance so of teu given by our party, that we will take care of our disabled heroes. Of Mr. Leandcr Wise, our candidate for Auditor, we need only say, that he is the patron poet of the Citizen —being the author of the poem which appeared in our paper last winter, entitled "The call for Lincoln," and several others of kin dred character. Of course we will all vote for him. To those who were not the successful ones at this time, we would say, have faith, and all will come right, for all cannot suc ceed at once. There is a good time com ing. County Convention. The Committee of Return Judges of the primary election, held throughout Sut ler county, June 11th, 1804, met at the Court House in Butler Monday June 13th. and organized by the appointment of Hon. James Kerr of Mercer township, as Pres ident. and ]>r. A. Lusk of Zeltenople, ami James A. Philips of Oakland, as Sec retaries. DELEGATES PRESENT. Adams, Benjamin Douthctt. Allegheny, Joseph Rosenberry. Rrady, Zeph. Snyder. Buffalo, John I'. .Barker. Butler tp. Win. S. Boyd. Cherry Jtnnes Smith. Centre, Thomas llichards. ('lay, Allen Wilson. Concord, Win. Magill. Cranberry. J. P. Roll. Clinton. .John Montgomery. Connoquenessing, J. K Kennedy. I Donegal. Klisha Wick. Fairview, Matthew Ray. Forward, Dr. Win. lrvin. Franklin, Robert L. I'etars. Jefferson. John Lefever. Jackson. James Jonas. Lancaster. James Morison. Marion, Robert Gilchrist. Mercer, James Kerr. Middlesex. J. B Flick. Muddycreek, John W. Forester. Oakland, James A. Philips. Parker, John W. Turner. Penn, Nathan Brown. Slipperyrock, E. 1). PeWolf. Summit. S. Mitchell. Venango, David lloover. Washington, A H. Campbell. Worth, R. Barron. Wiufield, Wm. Crookshank. Butler boro., Thomas Robinson. Centrcville boro., O. C. Campbell. Zelionople boro., Amos Lusk. On Motion, Nathan Brown, Dr. Wm. Irvin, Zephaniah Snyder, Wm. S. Boyd and Benjamin Douthctt, were appointed a committee to draft resolutions. The fol lowing having been reported by them were unanimously adopted. Resolred, That the re-nomination of Abraham Lincoln for President, and the nomination of Andrew Johnston, for Vice President, meets with our cordial appro bation—that the action of the National Convention, lately assembled at Balti more, is eminently propor and patriotic; and we hereby reaffirm and adopt the res olutions of said convention, as expressive of the sentiment of the. Loyal and Union of this county. i Resolved, That the remembrance of our " friends who have fallen or been wounded in the service of their country, will ever be cherished. Over the grave of the fal len hero, w6"~ slied the tear of sorrow, while to the surviving SoJdier, we extend the hand of friendship, and bid hiiu God speed in his holy cause. Resolved, That the families of our dead and wounded soldiers, deserve, and will receive our constant and jealous care, and that Government should provide .» com fortable support for the family of every soldier left destitute by his fall or wounds in his countrys service Resolved, That the jiersoos this day nominated) merit, this mark of the pen pies favor and confidence, and we here y pledge ourselvestou.se all honorihle mean to insure their election—thereby strength ening the Government, in this its hour <>f trial. On motion, Judge Mitchell. W. »\V. ! Dodds and K. D. DeWolf, were appointed representative conferees, tonieei with ill sc : from Mercer and counties anu j Isaac Ash. James Kerr and Thomas Bob- t inson, Congressional conferees, to met-; ' similar conferees from Armstrong and Ai- j legheny counties. On motion, it was resolved, that the hx.Committee consist of two members in the borough and one from each election district, and that the President of this Convention appoint the chairman of said Committee. The returns from the various townships, having been summed up it appeared that for Congress, John M. Thompson, had 1032 Thomas Williams, 326 Assembly—John H. Negley, 1165 William Haslett, 930 William Suiyth, 493 Commissioner—And. C. Christy, 1012 Solomon Flecger, 372 Auditor—Lcaodcr wise. 979 On motion Adjourned. The names of the Executive Commit tea will apjiear next week. JAMES KERR, Pres't. Amos Lusk, James A. Philips, Secre taries. COJUM tmiCATlO^ii. For the Citizen. EDITORS OP AMERICAN CITIZEN : Having been an occasional visitor from J one of the Rural Districts to your peace ful and quiet town, and having observed ' some of tb K aud conduct of your citizens; of many I cannot Spcc.k in terms of too much praise, while there are otherc. whose conduct .cannot be too severely re primanded. I mean those who forsake that place which is called " giccet home" and congregate in groups in Bar Rooms and remain there until an untimely hour of the night. Those men who forsake the company of their bototn friends and those tender ones who should be as dear to them as the apple of their eye. Those men who forget home only when necessity com pels them togo, either to satisfy the " in ner man" or to slumber away the few re maining hours of the night. In this group may be found the man bordering on " three score years," the middle aged and the youth or the man in the vigor or prime of life. And perhaps you will also find men who once made profession of Religion , who in former days occupied a seat at the table of their Lord and Master in commemoration of I their Saviour's death ; who have said by their former profession that they would be for their Lord and Master and not for another; who doubtless have heard from the month of their former Pastor, that the " vows of God were upon them', aud that it was better not to vow, than vow and not pay." Ilut the Religion of such I men is like the " seed which was sown on I stony places which sprung up, but not having much depth if earth soon wither ed awayor perhaps, may be compared to the " Sow which was washed and re | turned to her wallowing in the mire again." If y>>u ask such men the reason why j tin 1 ive absented them-elves l'roni (he ! Ordinances of God's hou«e, doubtless the reply will be: ''O we had a Political I'reaihcr," or perhaps, "some of the ai ders disputed our loyally, and therefore,it woutd not be right for us togo to church, aud there enjoy the ordinances of God's house whilst there is animosity between us and our brother." Having therefore, absented themselves from the church,they very soon become good members in this home forsaken group,where doubtless they feel more pleasure than in the Church of the living God. In this group while sitting between the two fluids, tho burning and the drinking. you will hear the great topics of the day discussed—the Rail Road, in all its prac tical bearings, the coal and oil specula tions. a general lecture on the Legislative department of the Government, and all other subjects from thesubiiuio to the ri diculous—especially on the latter, —-.and all interests discussed buyheirinterest for eternity. An association of this kind, where its tendency is to make men absent them selves from their peaceful homes, when the earth is clothed in her robe of dark ness and prevents their exercising the pa rental care over their tender offspring.and from the enjoyment of those true pleas ures which alone are found in the family circle, and also, to learn those who are brought within its coils to partake of the intoxicating cup—is certainly a dangerous association to be connected with, for al though it may seem to give pleasure at the present,, and be as a sweet morsol un der their tongue; yet, it will eventually " bite like a serpent and sting like an ad der," and bring upon its members shame and everlasting disgrace, therefore, Re form ere it be too late. HOME. Army (orrcHpoiMlcncc. CAMP NEAR MECHANICSVILLE, J 62d, Reg. P. V. June 1, 1864. j Messrs Editors : —Having a few leisure moments this evening, and knowing the friends at home will be anxious to know what we are doing, I thought I would write a short communication to your pa |>er, for publication, provided you have not enough better, to fill the columns of I the name. Weave now encamped on the | southern shore of the ••Pauiuiikey," with in four miles of the old battle field of Me : chmiicsville, where the i'enna. Reserves i fought on the 26th of June 1862, under i lien. M'Olellan. We have succeeded in I driving the Rebels from the shores of the I "liappahannock, back to their fortifica i iion> around Richmond Ourlosset. have , oeeu very heavy during this campaign, j I but one consolation is, their losses are j ! equally as heavy as ours —the enemy ae j j knowledge this in their papers. The loss I j of the 62d, during the campaign, from j May stb to the present date, is 26U men. . killed, wounded and missing. The loss ! of the entire army, as near as cau be as- , certained, is about 50,000. killed, woun- j ded and missing, very few of whom are prisoners. The enemy is strongly forti- j fied here, and in all probability, they will make one Inst and desperate effort to drive i us ere they abandon their present posi tion, unless Gen. Meade should try anoth er of his flank movements on them—you know he in pretty good on a flank. Thnee of the enemy, who are fortu- 1 nate as to be taken prisoner, say their ar my is still confident of victory, but I hardly credit that report, as their men do not fight with the same determination uow, that they did in the first battles of this campaign; a good "Yankee" cheer is now sufficient to route their entire skir mish line, without firing a shot. In for mer engagements, their pickets would fight a line of battle, but, (to use a soldier's phrase) this is played out now." Our army is in excellent spirits, and seem ea ger for the prey, knowing that the sooner tho war is over, the sooner they will get to their homes. The general belief throughout the army is, the war will bo overwhelm Richmond is taken; be that as it may, th& wurwill be overwheu there are no more to fight us and I think a few similar to the one now thin their ranks considerably, acknowledge they cannot recruit their SWv, while we are every tlay receiving sufficient to lffeep our army np^^M^Jj> r mer standard. v/' ? If the "Copperheads" at home, fcish to see the south victorious, I would advise them to leave immediately for the South ern climes, for they will need all the nor thern Copperheads to secure their inde pendence, (might need more.) Yours Truly, 9 G. W. F. Company D, 62d, P. V. B@~ Through the kindness of Capt. E. L. Gillespie, of Co. G, 4th Pa. Caval ry, we have been permitted to publish the following extract of a letter from Andrew N'ellis, O. S. of said company It will be gratifying to the many friends and rela tives of the memhersof this Co., to know that thus far in the great and sanguinary conflict that has been going on since the army crossed the Rapidan, this company has not lost a single man. CAMP 4TII I'A. CAVALRY, 10 miles from Richmond, June 4, 1864. 112 CAPT E. L. GILLESPIE— Dear Sir: We are fighting every day and night.and it is hard to say how it will end. The regiment has been lucky so far. Lt. Row an, of Co. L, is wounded, one leg shot off report is th«' he is dead Co. G. has not lost one man, and 30 recruits have arri ved for the company; all in the best of spirits and confident of success. ANDREW NELLIS O. S.,Co.G. An Act, To provide tor the payment of bounties to volunteers in the County of Jiuiler. SECTION I. BO it enacted by the Sen ate and IIOUBO of Representatives of tho Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in Gen oral Assembly met, and it is hereby enac ted by the authority of the same. That tho School Directors or a majori ty of them, of tho several townships ami boroughs of tho County of Butler shall have the power to levy, assess and collect on the property JIOW taxable for State and county purposes a tax sufficient to pay a bounty of not exceeding Three Hundred Dollars to each volunteer enlisted and credited on the quotas of said districts for the present or any future calls and drafts. SECTION 2. That ill levying and collect ing said tax the said Directors shall have power to include in the same a Poll or Per capita tax on Each taxable Citizen who is, or may be subject to a draft, of not exceeding Twenty-five Dollars. SECTIONS. That in case said Bounties have already been raised and paid to said volunteers in any of said districts, by mon ey sulwcribed, loaned, advanced or paid by oi through individuals or Committees acting for the Citizens, and with the un derstanding or Condition that the samo should be repaid by general taxation, tho said Directors are hereby authorized and required to repay the same to said persons out of said monies so assessed and collect ed. SECTION 4. Th at in assessing and col lecting said taxes said Directors shall have power to make such exonerations and cr emptiimx as they may deem just and prop er, and shall hava power to appoint such COLLECTORS and issue such WARRANTS and take such BONDS for the collecting and safety of such monies as is provided by existing Laws for the assessing and col- ■ Iccting of State and county taxes, and do all other acts and things necessary in the premises. SECTION 5. All funds so faised for said purposes shall be audited hythe township or borough Auditors of any of said dis tricts, and if any surplus exists, the same shall be paid over by said Directors to the Common School fund of said districts. SECTION 6. The said county of Butler shall be exempt from the provisions of the General Bounty Law approved Twenty fifill March Anno Domini, one thousand eight hundred and sixty four, wherever said provisions are inconxistent with the provisions of' this act. HFNRY JOHNSTON, Speaker of the House of Rep's. JOHN P. PENNY. Speaker of I he Senate. A; rovoil/l he Fourteenth day of April j Anno iJOniini, one thousand eight hundred j and sixty four. A G. CURTIN. A correspondent with Gen. Sherman,. ' writing under date of (he Ist. refers to as | sail Its on Hookers and the . 3d corps on, i the 30th ult., which were repulsed with j disaster to the enemy. Of the result of I the five day's fighting t# that date, Gen- MePherson had closed upon our right wing, ready for the next important move ! mcnt. A Tribune correspondent dispatches ; from White House, Saturday, that two ! officers just arrived there brought the news 1 of the capture of Fort Darling, stating that an order convoying this intelligence j bos been read to the army the previous evening, and that the cheers of tho st/l --! dicrs could be hoard for miles around,