VY.JAES A LL I S ON r ttlTotts yo)IASST PATTERSON, JIOILS ALLISON & CO., Proprietors. TERMS IN ADVANCE. iST MAIL, (Singly or la Clabs,)...„. $2.00 nra.crznao Ix 11Taet 07 2011 Clint! 2.50 rotor. s ending ua To subscribers and upwards, will a t thereby entitled ton paper without charge, and another 11 4 papa for the second ten ; , tre, s,aettuls should Ls prompt, a little bchsre the year expirea. I`..rect all lettere to JAMES ALLISON & CO., PITTSBURGH, PA. For the Prdsbyterian Danner. Letter from Siam, BANKOK, Feb. 25, 1864. p ea r 13anner :—We Americans here breathe a little more freely since the recap tkiu of the last mail. Indeed we had been ho i n g a dearth in the way of news. The Ittle steamer Chow Paya, which has been' supplying us so faithfully with our mails the lust three years, has•been obliged to .• into dock for repairs; and•to wait on a song vessel for mails at this season of the fo3r against the monsoon, and in such ex ,'sting times as these, is rather trying on the patience. We have been in the habit ufreceiving the substance of the semi monthly overland mail, several days in ad 53occ of the mail itself, by 'telegraph via limebay to Singapore. The liat news we, na d before• the steamer stopped, littui one of I pso telegrams, which gave the folleiVing in:eresting news : 14 Federals defeated' qv , it ywhere. Roseanne defeated---losi 814. 0 4, Meade defeated. Three Confederate victories in Texas?' Under the burden of igh news we were obliged to remain for ;anal weeks. 0 • we had long since learned to use our ab !traction in reference to the telegrams, for t hey were generally either . carelessly or wilfully distorted in favor of the Confeder ates; but still we knew there must be some f ou ndation for the news. We were amply repaid, however, for our suspense, when the neat mails brought us suchmenies as Grant's great victory at Chattnenteitasy And tlleot•e. pulse and retreat Longstreet trcui ville. v We are just havag ; our shire of the re bullion here now. You have doubtless long since heard of the tnagnifleent reception to the Pirate, Semmes, and the _Ala 4ania,by the authorities at Capet Own. It is said that even the stumps of cigars thrown away by that arch-pirate, were col ;mod by the Governor's son and others, and laid up as precious, The Ala -4lnia made her way thence. to the. Straits of Malacca, where she destroyed' several 'me vessels, with very valuable : cargoes. She coated at Singapore, and was even re= ported in the Gulf of Slam. Marty ship owners at home had sent their vessels east, =opposing that the pirates would not be able to leach these waters;. but when the Alabama made her sudden appearance here, Ship-masters were taken by surprise, and were obliged tdrernain in whatever neutral port they might .be, for they can neither get cargo 'nor insurance. Many of the finest American ships are now lying in this river, waiting for bettor times, among which is the N. B. Palmer, owned by A. A. Lowe S: Bros., New-York. She is acknowledged to be the best merchant vessel afloat any where, and has carried more missionaries to tha East than any other vessel. Several Inc vessels have been sold to the Siamese. The stay of some or those vessels here, however, appears to be providential for us, for we find among them some real good, warm-heartad Christians, who have sought as out, and worship with us. The master of one of the 'vessels has his wife and daughter on board, and is a good old fash ioned Methodist. He keeps up prayer . meetingsregularly on board, besides Sab bath services, and has been blessed during the last voyage with a revival on board, and several hopeful: conversions, among whom is his daughter,. youns girl about fifteen. One of the converts is a Seotehman by birth, and has been well trained, when young, in the Soriptures, and also in the Shorter Catechism ) but has latterly been a rery hard care,: and was not inside of a house of worship for eleven years. He sow appears full of Christ, and is perfectly delighted when talking on the subject of religion. The master of another vessel was originally a sailor boy, but was con rerted, and concluded to study fbr the min istry. Ho accordingly passed through Yale College, and partly through Union Semina ry, but his health failing, he again tcrek to the sea. Ho is now master and part owner of one of' the finest clipper barques afloat. lie also holds a license from the Fourth Presbytery, New-York, (N. S.). whir* en ables hint to preaeh,on board, and wherever else in the providence of God be may be. called to do so. He has given us several discourses in our 'mission chapel here, which would do honor to any pulpit; and brought. out to hear 'him, a number of seamen and others who otherwise would not have been present. I mention these eases, because they are so rare among seamen, and espe cially here in the East; and it does our heart good to meet with these here, who will worship with us insincerity, and sym pathizo with us in the great work in which we are engaged. Notwithstanding all that has already been written concerning this people, and notwithstanding they have' had embassies both to England and France, very little as yet appears to be known of their manners and customs. I was amused the other day to find in the Youths' Department of no lees a paper than the N. Y. Observer, dated Nov. 5,1863, the following statement : " In the country of Siam, a kingdom al Asia, he who tells a lie is punished according to law, by having his mouth sewed up." How such an absurd story got afloat, it is impos sible now to say, but I can only remark that if such were to be the puniahment for lying, the consumption of rice throughout the kingdom would soon materially de crease, for they are emphatically a nation or liars. I also saw a statement equally ridiculous ' not long since, in a number of Harper's Weekly:. Mostbooks concerning Eastern countsfes, are written by mere cur sory travelers, whose business is book mak 'V. They are totally ignorant of the lan guages 'of the countries through which they pars, and do, not remain sufficiently long to learn the customs of the people. The book must be filled up, and in the ab sence of better material, they give publici ty to such stories as meet their ears. .Ells Majesty, the first king of Siam, is sometimes rather whimsical, and hp lately been indulging himself with a little miff with the missionaries. Dr. 8., of a neigh boring mission, is in the habit of publish ing annually a calendar for the use of the. European citizens hero. Among the news items last year, he gave she number of wives and children of the kings of Siam, and perhaps rather imprudently .took roooa -510r; to give them a .short lecture op _,the evils of polygamy. This did not suit the royal palate of the first king, so this year when Dr. B. milled again fi'r the additions to hie family during the year, His Majesty refused for a time to give them. He and Dr. B. then got into a controversy in re gard to a new system of Rocoanising East ern languages by hfr. Bunsen, a Prussian, ante for not adopting which, his Majesty rather blames the missionaries. This peo ple can't discriminate, and when they ho noree offended with one of a certain class of people, they include all. His Majesty Paid some very hard things about all the missionaries. The clouds have, however, pasted away, and the royal sun again shines. At , member of our mission:, Ire-_.lately,Bo/Tad tO make a visit home hi h h W e n raluoisid to do at his own expense, but his fund& were in America, and 'to - get them out hero at the present rates of exchange, would be &killing bulbous i• so he &terrainode 3t ~ #O, WM, - the MO 9011m7. ' l 'i .7 t.ltiltei : 1 1'ttStrt)l . /tTi41t: .. .,, -- H ,:__..,_ _. + VOL. XII. NO. 37. amount here, and run the risk of exchange improving. He accordingly called on his Majesty, and found him very gracious in deed. He offered to lend him any sum he needed o for any time, without interest; and as a donation, offered to pay his passage to Singapore. A feeling of gratitude, too, which is such a rare virtue among the Si amese, also came up in his Majesty's heart. When hewas still a prince, Rev. J. Cass: well One of, the early missionaries here, spent much time in teaching him the-Eng lish language, of which he has now consid erable knowledge. His Majesty now feels truly ,grateful for the faior„ and not long since, he sent $l,OOO to America for the use of Mrs. Outman and children. He has now also instructed oir brother, when he goes home, to pay her $5OO more, making in m 1141,500 whteh his Majesty has sent to the destitute • family, of his old teacher. This , is very •little in proportion to his great wealth, but it is considerable for a heathen king, and especially a Siamese, among whom gratitude is generally a mi nus. quantity. - DNB. has, also lately, called on his rMaj estli; received some presents from' him in t -701 fairor. During his cdriversa t,lori, hoWever, with our brother, Dr. H., his Majesty took Malden to express his hatred for the Bible He has evidently received a little Colerisoiiim from some of those here, who ought to assist in teaching him the,only way of life. ' tie, said the Bible was .only a it collection of, old men's fables." Whether the Gospel . will ever take .hold or not upon the heart of His Majesty, none but its great `Author can tell; to all human appearances, it'is very doubt ful. It is still his cuitom, as it was of all former kings, to gild in idol every day of his reign. At the proper time a small idol is'brought to him ' which he gilds, with his ()Wu hands, so that the digs of his reign are numbered by idols. 'He also gilds every day a volume of their. sacred books. . The whole city and surrounding coun try has been absorbed for some time in preparations for the funeral services of the young princess, Chow Fa, only daughter of his Majesty by his late Queen consort. The child, seven, years old, died some months since" and her body has been lying in state. The preparations are on a grand er scale than any we have previously seen here. His Majesty says he is now in his sixtieth year and must make , a special ef fort, but there , is probably another reason. There have been quite a number of deaths of late in the royal family, and this special effort may be to acquire a great amount of merit, and try to avert coming calamities. Governors of provinces have been called in, and-men levie#:from almost all parts of the kingdom to work on the edifice. The funeral- edifice is placed upon an artificial mountain, about one hundred and fifty-feet high. The edifice on the top of the moun tain is in the form of, a. cross, something like other buildings on similar occasions, a photograph of one of Ithich I send you. On several promontories around the edifice were placed, in golden urns, the ashes of the King's ancestors. The ceremonies lasted about two-weeks. To bring out the ashes of each one of the ancestors required a procession. Then came the corpse itself in a large pro#ession, and was placed in the - edifice. After the burning; it again re quired several days to remove all the relics back again to the pal - ace. The grounds around the edifice were richly ornamented after the Siamese style, and around in many places were theatres, rope-dancers, &c. Several picas of, new gold coin were distributed, in :addition to the usual pres ents given on such occasions to priests and others. Fire-works were also kept : up ev ery night, and the match applied by the royal hand, The whole expenses will prob ably exceed $158,000. When will this people receive the Christian religion,. and bury their dead after the simple, Christian manner? Yours truly, 1110 D. For the Preebytertan Banner CIIATTANOOGA, 1 1 11.88 RS. EDITORS:_ I haveno doubt it; will gladden- the hearts of many of your readers, to hear of the good. work in pro gross in the Army af - the ,Outnberland. God has been pouring out hie Spirit hore, as well as elsewhere in the army. There is preaching everrnight in 'the Post Chap el, in this place, end almost -every night, there are some preciouS souls inquiring the way of life through a eruoifie&•.Saviour. Notwithstanding the. army has moved for ward, last Sabbath the chapel was filled both in the morning and it malt with sol diers. It was a strangely interesting congrega tion. No -little boys nor girls, and -no women. Nothing but the bronzed faces of war-worn veterans, were to be seen in that audience. The attention, teo,yrae marked, indicating clearly thafGed_was ;there. 0, how- it gladdens the ChtistintOs' heart to • see the answers to tha-prayers-Which have been aicending ,from many congregations, in times that are past. Verily, God is a prayer-hearing, and prayerranswering God; Sand here we•have the evidence. At Ringgold, in Georgia, 'a more power - Tl4l work of grace has been going forward, than here., ,Quite a number have been baptized, and. some Ave hundred conversions are reported. At Cleveland, also, a good work was in progress when the army moved. Oti the.night of the last Sabbath of April;thare were eighty inquirers in one congregation in .Cleveland.. Gen. How ard's Division lay here, and 'this Christian hero not only attended Divine service him self, bit rose. and exhorted his men to be folloWers of jeans. Would` to . - God • that we had many such Generals Then would" God be :honored, and high-handed wicked ness would skulk away, abashed,Trom their presence. Let us pray that God would make all our Generals Christian men. He is able to do so. And let us pray that this •work of grace ) which is now in progress, may go on increading in-power until all ; our, soldiers shall'llecolne good soldiers of Jesus Christ. I)iope that our good people at home will not forget to send the Presbyterian Banner to the soldiers. r see very few copies of the Banner hde. For this I am sorry, and I hope means will be placed at the dis losal of the Editors otthe Banner, so that the delegates of the Christian Commission may find the Presbyterian Banner in Chat tanooga as well as elsewhere. S. P. tJNICAID. Pride.—Mr; Astor ; the wealthy million airo of .New-York, was reluctant to sell some goods to a" mpg except for cash. The merehan'tqpsid , _for them, and took them on his shoulder to carry them out of the store. Mr. Astor looked in sur prise ; but before the merchant had gone many steps, he called him back, saying : You, may buy ou credit to any amount. lowa trust you, , sir. A man who is not ashainedilaydo his Own " work is kip to ape -6" IT O lesson for false pride. 4". There is ne ein , a man may , be tempted to) Vail's lint flita - Nroit9 l: ;: 6ol rfrat iTCre ,lfietidetb4niadvdting.- PITTSBURGH, WEDNESDAY, JUNE L 1864. PROCEEDINGS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, IN SESSION AT NEWARK, N.J. Fourth Day. MONDAT, May 23,1864. - Assembly met and. spent the first half hour in devotional exercises ; .prayer, being offered by the Moderator, Dr. McAlester, and elder Hast ings. Special prayer was made for the son of the pastor of the church in which the Assembly is meeting, who is very low from disease. The Minutes of Saturday were - read, corrected, and approved. The Permanent Clerk read a telegram from the New School General Assembly, stating .that that body cordially and unanimously seceded to the request of this Assembly, and would' unite with us in prayer for the'country next Wednes day afternoon. . . • An appeal and complaint from a decision of the Synod of Illinois was referred to the ju:dicial Committee. Dr. - Tuitin ,rose to a question of privilege. One of his colleagues from the Synod of Balti more had,'in the missionary meeting held in this schwa last night, denonneed the war which this country is now engaged, as wicked, tmneaes eery, and cruel. If he spoke of the war as waged by the Southern Confederacy, :well enough. But— At this point, Atr. Hays arose and said he meant no such thing as was attributed to him by the ven erable Doctor. His language was altogether in tended to designate the rebellion of the south. Mr. De Lancey called attention to the fact that this was altogether out of order, since the remarks in question were made in a meeting out side of the Assembly. Rev. Mr. De Lancey, from the Committee on the Bofird of Edgcation, made a report on that Board, commending its faithfulness and success during the year, recommending that the annual appropriation be increased—that of Academical students, from $BO to $100; College atudents, fiom $lOO to $120; Theological students, froth $l2O to slso—making favorable mention of Ashmun Institute ; calling the attention of the Board and the churches to the necessity of do ing something in the way of educating the Freedmen; and also advising that the funds en,. trusted to the Board by the Piesbytery of Cik cago,' for the promotion of Education among the French on the Kankakee, bo returned to the Presbytery, to be used as originally appro priated. Dr. Chester, Secretary of the Board, spoke of the difficulties encountered lent year, and of his desire not,to trespitss on the patience of the As sembly. Many of the young men under the 'care of the Board have • gone into the army., From one of our Colleges, seventeen of our can didates have fallen in defence of our country. In another College the entire Senior Class went into the service of our country. During the year the standard of education and qualifications had been raised. The rule requiring--examina tion or recommendation every year, before re ceiving any farther appropriations, had worked well. The oldest Theological Professor in our Church had remarked that, after a careful ex amination of the workings of the Board for forty years, he was convinced that no other arm of the Church's benevolence had done so much for the ,Church and the world. In the znost.in tluential Presbytery in the Church, which had had in all more than. one 'hundred and' thirty candidates under its care, there had not been a single failure. All of them were preaching the Gospel, or had gone to their reward. - • The Doctor made a direct;appeel in favor of authority being granted the