#511 
 
 I milium 
 
No. 34. 
 
 WHERE ARL THE CHRISTIANS IN THE ARMY? 
 
 BY A LADY- OF NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 Not long since, a returned soldier WM lament- 
 ing the immorality of the camp. Though not a 
 professor of religion' himself, he deeply deplored 
 the desolating tide which is sweeping almost unre- 
 sisted over the arms, and threatening to engulf, 
 in one common ruin, the hopes of the country and 
 the church. 
 
 "Where," he was asked, 'are the christian 
 men who have gone to the army ? Is not their in- 
 fluence ielt in checking this fearful flood V 
 
 "Ah, no! they lose their religion as soon aw 
 they come into camp," was the mournful re- 
 ply- 
 
 Young man, is this your sad case? Have you 
 Lost your religion since you Joined the army ? 
 What position do you occupy? You profa& to be 
 a christian. You have enlisted under the great 
 Captain of our salvation, thus engaging to fight 
 his battles and to induce all. whom you can influ- 
 ence, to join his ranks. How many recruits have 
 you rallied to His standard? TTow often have you 
 borne aloft that bright and unsullied banner, with 
 
2 WHERE ARE THE CHRISTIANS, AC 
 
 the name, '* Immanuel," emblazoned on its ample 
 folds ? Are the weapons of your warlare tarnished 
 by disuse? Does your sword rust in its scabbard 
 because it is no longer wielded? Are you sleep- 
 ing on your post? Laying aside figures, I ask, 
 are you living up to your profession in spite of the 
 temptations around you ? Are you" letting your 
 light so shine, that, others "may see your good 
 .works, and glorify your Father which is in heav- 
 en?" 
 
 . While at home, surrounded by the influences of 
 the sanctuary, and enjoying the other means of 
 grace, you found it comparatively easy to be con- 
 sistent. Loved ones believed that all was well 
 with you and you were held up as a model. Now, 
 however, the scene is changed. You go forth, 
 from the influence of a godly mother or sister, and 
 are ushered into scenes of vice and wickedness of 
 which you had formed no previous conception. 
 The hours of morning and evening devotion, which 
 before, had been so carefully observed in the retire- 
 ment of your closet, are now disturbed by the scot-, 
 fer's jest and the rude laugh. The holy Sabbath, 
 which has been devoted to communion with your 
 God,#i now profaned by sounds of sinful merri- 
 ment. That name, which you have been taught to 
 utter with profoundest reverence, you now hear 
 echoed in fearful desecration. 
 
 How have these things affected you ? At first, I 
 know you shuddered to breathe the atmosphere of 
 pollution, and your soul recoiled, with horror, from 
 
contact with such depravity. Gradually, however, 
 the ribald jest and the profane invocation became 
 familiar sounds and no longer grate on the ear. 
 You, ere long, contentedly " stand in the way of 
 sinners, " and, before you are aware of the growing 
 influence of the Evil One, are sitting " in the seat 
 of the scornful." Where now is the mtmory of 
 that mother's parting admonition? Where the 
 hallowed influence of the closet and of that Vol- 
 ume, now neglected, which, was once a light to 
 your path and a lamp unto your feet? Where are 
 the vows ot consecration, by which you were 
 pledged to labor for your Captain ? 
 
 In the hour of battle, when such solemn inter- 
 ests are at stake, does not your General call on 
 each man to do his duty? That is a moment when 
 there can be no faltering. Let a man cower and 
 shrink back — how quickly he is branded as a cow- 
 ard! Let him become a deserter — how fearful is 
 his doom ! ' 
 
 Thus, in the sterner conflict of this daily war- 
 fare, does the great Captain of our salvation call on 
 each christian soldier to fight his battles. Will 
 you strain every nerve to achieve the victory? Or 
 will you fall back from his ranks and prove a de- 
 serter? In this hour so trying to men's souls; 
 wheiT our adversary is casting his skillful net far 
 and wide, and entangling numbers of precious ones in 
 its dreadful ineshcs ; when so many are being hurried 
 into the realities of eternity; oh, christian man, do you 
 stand by, eager to speak a. word for your Master? 
 
4 WHERE ARE THE CHRISTIANS, AC. 
 
 Do you tell dying sinners of the love of Jesus? Do 
 you point them to the Lamb of God which taketh 
 away the sin of the world? Do you whisper in 
 their ear the preciousness of the believer's joy ? 
 When this bloody strife is over, and you return to 
 your quiet home, will you then have the sweet rec- 
 ollection of having led one wanderer in the path to 
 heaven? In this field, white unto the harvest, 
 how many sheaves are you binding for your Mas- 
 ter? Keflect on these things, and work while the 
 day lasteth. 
 
 WATCH AND PRAY. 
 
 My soul, be on thy guard, 
 
 Ten thousand foes arise; 
 The hosts of sins are pressing hard, 
 
 To draw thee from the skies. 
 
 Oh, watch, and fight, and pray; 
 
 The battle ne'er give o'er ; 
 Ilenew it boldly every day, 
 
 And help divine implore. 
 
 Ne'er think the victory won, 
 
 Nor once at ease sit down : 
 Thy arduous work will not be done 
 
 Till thou hast got thy crown. 
 
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