) 1, I,v j A ,ti SO N , rit.iross I'..II".VERSON, 3 JANIES ALLISON & CO., Proprietors. II TENNIS IN ADVANCE. 14 , t r o vgly or In ........ $2,00 i)ri ITURro tN EITHER OW TIM CITIRE 2.50 P us UN eutiscriliers and upwards, wilt ur tiii,6o,lltitlfd to it paper without charge, and another rtra l eper for t tie second ten; At. ii,IIPWI4IP 3110111111 m prompt, a tittle before the year expiry', rue all WWI , to JAMES ALLISON & CO., PITTSBURGIII, PA Letter From the Army. CAMP STOSRMAN, ARMY OF POTOMAC. 1 1 a. JOSEPH ALBREE, Treasurer of U. (11 ri'st lam Commission: Dear Sir :—My t ern of service as a delegate of the Chris ti;,;, Commission having expired, I wish, ih.otigh the medium of the press, to make root of my labors at Camp Stoneman. always consider it one of the greatest privileges of my life, that I have been per- Illitted to go out as a delegate of the Chris rou Commission, to labor and pray for the 'rave defenders of our country. My field of Iti'vr was Camp Stoneman. This. Camp i s near Washington City, and is among the nt e- , t important Stations in the Army of the ii, , toinae. It is a cavalry camp. New regi utotts are sent there to draw their horses, ;a t i drill a short time before leaving for the Bat perhaps it might be interesting to the readers of the .Banner,, to eye some :tatktics and facts connected with Camp t orienian, to show the magnitude of the work, and the great responsibility resting t yrou the delegates. In addition to the av- Li g o of fifteen thousand soldiers at the there is an average of ten thousand or fifteen thousand white men and " contra -I,,tatis," who are in the employ , of the Gov t mutat, and who are not soldiers. ' These Li eu are not reached with religious matter 1111 preaching apart "from the Christian c.2tumission, There are eleven forts under the supervision of this Camp. At the vimpel tent connected with the Station, tilde is preaching and prayer-meeting every It tOit; but there are at least twenty-five cuts where religious services are some t.uuts held. The Station was organized October 28d, hi:l, Since that time, (or at the date the writer loft, March 9th,) three hundred have 1 , 00, anxious; and it is supposed of that n'onber there have been one hundred and genuine conversions It was organized .n a Sibley Tent, but it has now given 16.,N to the gl Chapel Tent," much more and comfortable. At first they had r , ,ents ' but the soldiers came and stood, without fire, during Divine service. The nligious interest soon began at that camp, 51i3 still continues. Soon after its organi . ton, the soldiers moved to welcome the ,Pgates of the Christian Commission in :r midst. I arrived at the Station on Saturday hence my fait day in camp was •',e Holy Sabbath. But oh, how different m a Sabbath at home ! Instead of the hotness and stillness of the Sabbath ::ruing at home, you see men on the _,,yo, hear musical instruments calling the ',Jails to duty; also the axe, busily en :,1141 in getting wood ready to prepare ~(kfast. But before the hours of my Sabbath in camp closed, I enjoyed, 11(11 a few professed, followers of Christ, • :r, delightlul privilege of commemorating z•avieur's dying love. That Communion • ,un can never be forgotten by me. .. re, far from home, sitting down with :•diren from all parts of the land, to ob- re the dying command of Christ 1 I it was good to be there.". There ,re present three Methodist ministers, Congregational, one Baptis‘, Olle Pres ; but those little differ-nces, about ]lch many are so ilk home, re no annoYlinei.C) us . ' We reitll9,llrere Albers of the'Chilstisiii Cenamission, and ed to meet at last where there are no Aminational dafferences. lie writer Introduced the ordinance v extended an invitation to those who 7 Cll the Saviour, to commune; and whilst came forward to occupy certain seats , rred for communicants, that beautiful .sa was read and sung— `.l,t, Lord's my Shepherd, I'll not want," gte. n, in that canvas tent—with no walls •Cy frescoed, no beautiful carpet, but for suktitute hay, for seats pine boards; e , oetounion vessels, not costly silver c. but tin cups—we, l 6bierved the Sa a'', dying command ".This do in re- Urance of me." • Isring this solemn. tie se on, I 'saw, the mart from the eoldier's eye, and And wa) down his care-worn cheek, When Communion service closed, an opportu• was afforded to any who might wish to Twelve soldiers spoke: Prom full .I() they wert, thankful for another priv oi•observing the command of Christ, the first they had enjoyed since they kft their homes—some of whom had ( May from them, and their churches, almost three years. Had you heard 0 then speak, they would have exploded idea, that a soldier must drop has roll :11(.4n he goes to the army. Soldiers with great readiness and originality. "rd meetings are enjoyed on earth, and refreshing, what must heaven be? ;, not uncommon for soldier's to arise rdizious meetings, .and acknoWredge they are very.great sinners, and ask to :%; , ed for, It is astonishing bow many army are backsliders—.had backslid they went to the army, To use r (ma language, "They had left their , • , %e, and bad awfully departed from r profession." But many of these are Lei by means of the Christian Commis- addition to preaching to the Soldiers, Lkonally conversing with them, and D~ in prayer.meetzogs; another im- At agency in reaching them is the die :%,,a of the printed page. Men in 'd!) , l in the hospitals are very anxious reading matter. They not only it thankfully and cheerfully, but in . .F Instances offer to pay for it. Say the soldiers told me, after having `' books and tracts given them, they to their families, to read, and to ' - ' c ryed• A soldier to whom I gave a and tract, (one lately enlisted ) ) told , he had been contributing to the o Commission, since its organiss ,,ut he then personally received its lefit-11 Cast thy bread upokt the . ke. Did our friends at home tth what gladness and delight our receive reading matter, the donors amply remunerated b 7 the ex- God bless the Christian Com- papers, books, and trade, remind (lays spent at home. Said a boy, I gave a paper, "This reminds Sabbath Sotiool at home; times rueeived papers in my Sabbath gune into tents and found Bol ' "ling their Testaments and Bibles. a young man, told me that since fle to the army he bad quit swear he, (pointing , to it,) • This Tes -I,frbids me to swear." Another, who erien cod religion, said : This re - !rive s all the weir out of me." A "'an whom I saw die, ff!fif minutes I .t‘ breathed his last, hearing anoth , I rotane language, said : " What is : t rffsgo sound?" Certainly a strange 79 fall upon the ears of a dying man s wight add, upon the ears of any one. :vviteenta appear to swear more than sho have been longer in the service. upon entering the army, seem to in order to be a good soldier, they 'wear. What a grand mistake! For the Preebyterlan Banner ( I) 104 t$ 4 t VOL. XII. NO. 33 I found the soldiers very approachable, and free to converse on the subject of re ligion. There is no way in which a sol dier can be touched so readily, as to speak to him of home, and of the absent loved ones—of the prayers offered for them by dear ones at home. Said a soldier to whom I gave a paper, with a piece headed, "My Mother is at home, Praying," " That is true,; my mother is at home, praying for me." I heard him use profane language, as .I entered the tent, but when he saw the piece, "My Mother," tfz,c.i it reminded him of home and its associations, and that his " mother was praying for, him:" Going Into another tent .where, there were four persons, among whom was a minister's eon, I asked them if they_wishcd some religious reading. The minister's son was the first to reply, "No, we do not want any." I then asked him if he 'was not a minister's son, and reminded him of the prayers which were daily offeied for him by pious parents at home. I gave him some good reading matter, and invited him to preaching. He attended, ras awakened and interested, and, soon took part in the religious exercises, and 'seemed to be quite active in his new duties. But it is not a wonder that so many are converted in the army, since so many prayers are offered at home for the soldier. God is the hearer of prayer. I preached several . titnes to the " Con trabands." One evening, at the close of the service, two were requested to lead in prayer. Both were very earnest, and prayed for ig de preacher, , for de President, de Governor, do white man and de black man, de white women and de black women." To show doubtless their appreciation of the Gospel, money was placed in our hands, when passing out, with heaity•thanks, "to come again," but thanks were sufficient re muneration without the money, and the money was returned. But I must forbear. In my next, I ei pect to give some incidents' which came under my own observation in the hospitals. WM. F. MORGAN. Rural Valley, Pa. Por the Presbyterian Banner Army Correspondence. BRANDY STATION, April 15, 1864. Dear Banner :—Some of your readers requested me to send, through your paper, details from the Army—incidents actually occurring, leaving them to make their own inferences. I know lot how to do this better, than by keeping a sort of diary, or running narrative of what strikes me as it occurs. Leaving Washington—the cars are under military care—you enter on one side only, at the other a bayonet guards the platform. A raw Irishman held this weapon, and -it greatly unused me to see him use his brief authority. Some shoulder-straps blustered, others entreated, one plead inability to walk to the Other side of the ears—all in' vain. Patrick obeyed orders, all the more rigidly, perhaps, because Gen. Grant was aboard. Happy world! if God's orders were as literally obeyed. We passed a number of battle-fields. Oh, the graves I—some in clusters, under --a grove of evergreens; some alone, where a comrade had marked the spot; and hun dreds from which all marks had disap peared, 3 11 ,4 - Ito.oUndo itself leireled... From- the records of an office at Waehink-- ton, 130,000 have'Sallen ; how many-more have perished in this cruel war, time will never reveal. ' THE LOST PIN A valuable breast-pin ? No 1 a real com mon pin. Nonsense, to chroniele such a trifle. Stop; a poor fellow; wounded at Gettysburg, was arranging bandage, with youthful, big hands, and dropped his pin—could not find it—no females in the ears—the males bad none. blyfirit ser vice lor the Christian Commission was to bind his wound, and supply him with pins. He saw my badge, and said, "0, I know that, and never saw a bad fellow behind it. We privates like to see it, in the hospital, or field." Immediately upon arriving, I was sent, on horseback, to the 6th Corps, to assist Cbap.ain James. A Lawrenceville boy recognized me---had the church-roil played —invited all to come. Thus aided, the chapel was full After preaching, a sol dier rose and spoke as follows : " Boys, take my venerable friend's advice. - You all know that two years ago I lead you into all kinds of devilment; now I. am march ing under Jesus. You took my example then; let me urge you now. Christ is a better leader than the Devil. I hate se cession, and the Devil', the first secession ist." Pre sat down; and while I was pon dering upon the fact that I must now be Called, henceforth, old, another arose, ex claiming, " O r comrades, enlist! the bounty is large I My Jesuill" Here he broke down;,he rallied, but tears came, his norn reacts' tears followed. I may as well con fess it—l never shad so many tears myself, never saw so great a proportion of a con- gregation weeping, as in that military chapel. The meeting was held until log after tattoo. We shall never meet again here; and how soon will many of them be in their graves Over thirty in one regi ment have made a profession of religion since they enlisted. It. L. ARMY OF POTOMAC!, April 21, 1864. Dear Banner :—Every description would fail to give you an adequate idea of camp life. Tents of every deseription, from the graceful Sibley to the rudest turf-base, black, tattered canvas cover, meet your eye—pitched on a hill for air and view—in a swamp for water—any where for wood, &o. Pets of all kind are cherished—even rats and mice grow fat and tame upon of fal and toleration. Dogs and eats are, however, the greatest favorites. - Enter the tents—the same 'variety meets your eye. Here is one with every conve nience which 'wealth, home and the sutler can furnish, down to squalor and hard tack. Let a stranger be lost,' and every one will politely give him all the information pos sible. Let him be hungry, and everyone is willing to share. The boys will sleep on the floor to accommodate the lodger in his bank. In your own tent you may gamble, 'or read, pray, or swear, sing or write, with out molestation. They expect a man with the Commission badge to talk with them upon the subject of religion; and so much time have they when in quarters, that you may use your own discretion. The chaplains are largely frem the Meth odist and Baptist persuasion _ ; and I have not found one yet unworthy of his office. Some °four workingtnen are here ' and stand in the army about as they did :in Presbytery, or among the churches at home. The men may go or not to hear them preach, and they will not go here, any more than at home, for nothing. Besides, here you miss the comforts of a place of worship, and the im portant aid of the ladies. I have never seen men anywhere pay a closer attention to a preacher, or comrade who was talking sense. I have been amused to see how some of our brethren,' who at , home would be shocked with a hymn or instrument, here tolerate, , 6 Jame i love thy charming name," - and cidettaftwally the aiocimpanirnent of a PITTSBURGH, WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 1864 whole band. The men themselves arise when he has done, and say let us sing so and so, and all chime in, whether the preacher'does or not. The men will Wier- I ate a good Chaplain's whim, if he dare not give out any thing but a psalm; but, then, he must not silenoe, : thern. 'lndeed, one of the grandest results of this war will be to annihilate sectarianism, I would pity the man who could go home and tamely submit his neck to the ecclesiastical collar which he broke to pieces himself, or saw others as good as himself and' as beloied of God and man as he could hope to be, drop as not only uselesi, but injurious. The great problem here as at home, is what to do with the contrabands? At pres ent they draw rations, are paid for their labor, hold their religious meetings, pray for de Union," and for " forgihness for de Marster." I have not heard a word of revenge breathed against their former op pressors, and instead of wishing to deluge the North, they bare intense longings for permission to go South, as soon as they can go as freemen. Yesterday 'I saw a waggon 'load of refu gees—one of the daily arrivals at' the quar ters of Gen. Patrick, where their claims are examined, and if all , is right, they en joy rest and medical attendance, draw ra tions and receive eicorts or passes for the North. Poor creatures, they . corne stripped of all things, from the God-fersaken confed eracy, to shun something of the plenty and freedom of 'the glorious North. If this war should continue for years, we could easily enlist refugees, negroes, and foreign emigrants to carry it on—the first class most dangerous opponente of their vile rob bers and oppressors. - R. L. [Original.] Linos to a Yoang Fritad. Th; bloom of youth is on your brow, No anxious cares distract you now ; The glow of health is in your veins, And mercy still your life sustains. Whose bounteous hand provides you food, And gives you every needful good ? Preserves you from each hurtful snare, And guards you with a watchful ease t And who his gracious Spirit sends; To make his enemies his friends— To take Our stony hearts away, And lead us in the heavenly, way Be calls you now, in early youth, To choose the pleasant way of truth ; To leave the world's alluring toys, And seek for more substantial joy& 0 will you not obey his call, And haste to seek in him your. all Your life, your soul, your being give To Him who died that you might live 1 Let your example others win From paths of folly and of sin; Till you, at length, in heaven appear, To join in higher service there. Emlenton, March, 1664. ; MARY. For the Presbyterian Mintier Something you tan do for our Soldiers. "Christian reader, you are deeply inter ested in the great struggle now going on in our country. Yon look forward to an active campaign, soon to open, with bright hope that it will be successful; gi And yet, and yet, you cannot forget • ...,That many brave boys must falV And you long for their immediate convex.. lion, lest some should die unprepared, end, though martyrs to a glorious cause, shOuld be lost forever. You have heard with joy and gratitude of the great tiiork God is doing in the awakening 'and conversion of soldiers—you can pray for the biave and noble detenders=of our country whose souls are in -such peril. The early Christians sympathizedso deeply with Peter; that prayer was made without ceasing; , of the Church, unto God for -him, (Acts air). And surely the tens of thousands of Satan's eaptivein our armies ought to awaken all our sympatbieo, ~ , God delivered Peter, - and will deliver these, if the, whole. Church unites its prayers for them. 0 for united, believing, importunate prayer I There is probably at least one in the army, with whom what you might say would have more weight than all that= could be uttered by his chaplain, or any one else. You know his history. Write him an earnest, affectionate letter, pleading with him to give God his. heart at once. Let it be steeped in prayer, and if it is blotted with tears, all the better. As you value these precious souls—as you desire to be pure from the blood of all men, I beg you do all you can, and do it now. The above is extracted from the Banner of the Covenant of March 17th, and I hope it may call the attentiantof those addressed, to these forgotten, yet doomed men of our army. In this city they &re never prayed for, that I hear. Except a petition on Bab 'bath morning, for the President and those in authority, our bleeding country and its defenders are entirelyignored. The ladies over all the land are endeavoring to meet the wants of the expected wounded; but those who fall on the battle-field cannot re ceive the - supplies furnished, and no man cares for their souls, so 'soon to be beyond the reach of hope. When the fever visited Norfolk and Portsmouth, our• churches were opened, again and again, to pray for its removal; and also in 1857, our ministers prayed for the triumph of British arms and the over throw of the , Sepoy rebellion—the protec tion of the missionaries and their converts, or their happy deaths; but for our unpre pared, devoted soldiers, gt there is no pub.: lie prayer made." Surely, as in Jeremiah x : 21, we are become brutish, or"we could not look so unconcernedly on the destruc tion of our' people ! 0 for an" Esther 'to arise in our land, to join with the Florence Nightingales of it, so that our prayers, with our alms, may come up for a memorial before God, that his anger maybe' turned away from us, that we perish not. H. Baltimore. Presbytery of . Carlisle. The Presbytery of Carlisle met in the Presbyterian church of Hagerstown, Md., on Tuesday, April 12th, at 7i— o'clock P. M. Rev. John C.. Bliss preached the opening sermon, from Matt. xxviii 20-- " Le, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.: Rev. Robert F. Sam ple Was elected Moderator. The Presbytery ,being impressed 'with the importance of seeking a baptism of the Holy Spirit, set apart more than the usual time for devotional exercises, at- the be ginning of each session. On the second day, Rev. Thomas Creigh, D.D., preached from Col. 28—" Whom we preach," &a. The Reports on the State of Religion revealed the pleasing fact that a feiv of the churches in. this Presbytery had enjoyed a rich blessing from the Lord daring the past year ; but most of the others, though having hopeful indications of better things, yet, greatly mourned over their' spifitctal. dearth. -Almost Amery church testified" the increase ,of intemperance and" other ontbreaking . sins. Many of our churches along the Sduthern border have Nen very " CHAPLAIN. 'or the Presbyterian Banner. destitute of the means of grace since the beginning of the war. They are now, how ever, being supplied with ministers ; and for ;he better protection of their houses of worship, Presbytery appointed a committee to confer with then military authorities at Washington, with a view to obtain a gen eral order against the occupation of the churches of this Presbytery for military purposes, except in the most extreme cases., The 'fallowing COmmissionere were ap pointed to the next General Assembly, viz.: Rev. John R. Warner, with Rev. 11. G. Finney, alternate; , .Rev. J. Smith Gor don, with Rev. Henry Reeves, alternate'; Elders :S. M. Gray,dini, with Mr. Mower, alternate; Mr. Bridges,,,with Bobert G. M'Creary, alternate. • ' The churches, with perhaps - a single ex ception, reported the payment of the, pas tors' salaries. Several had `attgrne'nted the same • to meet the greatly increased ex pensteof living; othere had relieved their ministers from embarrassment by 'liberal donations; and nearly all are in the habit of paying the expenses of the - ministers and elders to the meetings of Preibitery and Synod. InasinucVhowever, as many of the- pastors are destittite of an adequate: support, Presbytery adopted, the i following resolutions : Resolved, That thia ;Pr` eabYtery has heard with pleasure that `several of the congregations under their care have in creased the salary of their pastors. • We commend these examples to the careful at tention of the churches which have as yet taken no action upon this subject. The increased prices of living have seriously embarrassed many who in More favorable times had but: a moderate salary. While those who are .engaged in secular, op,cupa 7 dons • can remedy this' by demanding in creased remuneration, it is not so - with the minister. It is 'then nothing morn than. an act , of justice On the' part of the con gregations to make such , additions to the salary as shall support `to pastors, arid give them that support to Which they are morally entitled. Resolved, That 'the chirch Sessions be enjoined to have these. resolutions read from the pulpits, and to report at the next meeting of Presbytery,, whether or' not they attended to thie 'duty: Mr. Benjamin Merrill, a licentiate of the "Presbytery. of New-York, having been dis missed to put himself under the care of this. Presbytery, WWI received. Rev. Philip H. Mowry was' received from the Presby tery of Philadelphia, and' a call was put into his hands from the church of Big Spring, which he accepted. Rev. Samuel J. Donnelly was. received. from the Pres bytery of Newcastle, and': is laboring as a Stated Supply at' :Hancock, and other plaCes near by. Mr. J. D. Randolph, a .licentia.te of this• Presbytery, was dismissed to put himself under the care of the Pres- . bytery of Raritan. Special attention was given to the' sub ject of Missions , within our own bounds. Many places within this' Presbytery, pecu liarly adapted in their.population to the labors of Presbyterians, • hare: long been. overlooked, but are now beinedared for. The next regular meeting oPPreshytedr is to be held. at Shippenaburg i on the .first - Tuesday of Ootoher;oattzll Rev. J. W. Wightmaa 'was - appointed preach the opening sermon, and Rev. Wm. C. Stitt, alternate. Rev. Henry Reeves was also appointed to preach the second day, and Rev. John Warner, alternate. An adjourned meeting will be held at I4ewville, the first Tuesday'of June, at 10f, o'clock A. M. If the way be clear, Rev. Philip H. Mowry will then be installed pastor of the church in that place; and Mr. Benjamin. Merrill will be ordained as an Evangelist, to labor in part of our mission ary field. Having anent a' very pleasant, and we trust profitable season together, and having greatly enjoyed the Christian kindness and hospitality of the, good people 'of Hagers town, Presbytery closed with prayer and benediction. W. H. Drns.monz, Temporary Clerk. For the Presbyterian 'Ginner. The Presbytery of Fairfield Met at Ottumwa, on the' 15th inst., and had quite a full and pleasant session— spending the Sabbath together, and enjoy ing a precious season,. The church at this place, under the care of the Rev. 3. M. McElroy, is growing even in these times of public distraction, and, like their pastor, extended to Presbytery the-kind hospitali ties of their hearts and of their homes. During the course of business, Presby tery received Mr. Charles Magill, a li centiate of the Presbytery of Washington, and in response to a call from the .church of Birmingham, lowa, have made arrange ments to ordain and install him. Presby tery also licensed Mr. Alexander G. Wil son, now of the - Seminary of the North west, and recently under the care of the Presbytery of Mississippi. ' The following paper on the State of the' country was adopted unanimously : WHEREAS, This is a gloomy time; of great political excitement and civil war in our beloved nation ; and whereas, it is of the first importance- that, the Nortk should be united, and every man and every body of men should be ready and willing, to lend their