DIIDTlOaVO 
 
ir 3' TRACT ASSOCIATION, \ No. 3. 
 
 Richmond, Va. j 
 
 AN ADDRESS 
 
 TO TUE 
 
 SOLDIERS OF THE SOUTHERN ARIIIBS. 
 
 BY KEY. J. C. GRANBERY, 
 Chaplain of the ElevenUi^irgink Regiment. 
 
 Fellow-Soldiers ! Bear with me, soldiers, while I explain 
 the .motives, which prompt thi.s address. It is natural H; T 
 should feel iq you a deep interest. If you were only ■; 
 iow-meuy bound to me by the tie of our commou huu.i.,;.v, 
 your welfare would concern me. ICven a heathen has 6i«iu, '- i 
 am a man; and nothing human do I count alien from ine." 
 But I may cite as a higher authority these words of t\ - ■ -n-. 
 Apostle to the Gentiles : '' I am debtor both to the Gre 
 to the Burbarlati.'?; bogh to the wise and the unwi.sc. ' We 
 are children of the same Father who hath made of one blood 
 all nations of men. We have been redeemed by one blood, 
 the precious blood of the Lamb of God. You have undying 
 souls, fallen indeed from the glory of that divine ima;;^ in 
 which man was created, but capable, through the atonement 
 of Christ and the sanctilication of the Spirit, of purification 
 from all sin and adornment in the clear and lustrous robe of 
 righteousness, white as the snow and brilliant as the sun. — = 
 Your bodies, too, though vile, mortal and corruptible now, 
 have been included in the redemption by Christ Jesus, and 
 may be made like unto his glorious body, when this mortal 
 Bhall put on immortality, and this coaupuble. iueorruption. 
 
2 An Address to the 
 
 • 
 For all these reasons I must cherish towards every one of you 
 the teudiT and lively solicitude of a brother : for the love of 
 Christ constraiueth nie. But you are nearer to ine than fellow- 
 meu ; you are niy /'-//oi^-ri7/2e/?.s, compatriots in that lieroio 
 struggle through which our young Republic is achieving a 
 honored rank amid the free and independent nations of the 
 earth. I cannot believe that the patriotic fire which warms my 
 heart towards you, as galhint, generous sons of the South, is 
 unworthy of my office as a minister of the gospel. With all 
 the breadth of his world-embracing charity, Paul confessed a 
 peculiar ardor and yearning tenderness of affection for the 
 Jews, his kinsmen according to the flesh. For thera he had 
 "continual heaviness and sorrow in his heart." For them he 
 cried out with mingled patriotism and piety, ''Brethren, my 
 .heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might 
 be saved." And shall I attempt to repress, or be ashamed to 
 acknowledge, the profound solicitude and gushing sympathies 
 of my inmost 'nature for my brethren of the Confederate 
 States, dear to me by their characteristic qualities — by that 
 genial fervor with which their hearts glow like the suns that 
 warm their fruitful soil, thrice dear in this day of our trial,, 
 when we are bound into unity by the fellowship of common 
 sufferings, welded together by the rude blows of calamity and 
 in the blaze and burning heat of intense, absorbing love for 
 our imperilled country — a flame in which all petty, sordid, 
 selfish feelings that might at other times divide us are con- 
 sumed? But you are more to me than fellow-citizens; you 
 are the very flower of our population, our hope and pride, the 
 youth and manhood of the land, on whom has devolved and by 
 whom is borne the grand responsibility of defending at your 
 own peril the liberties, the rights, the honor, the homes of 
 your countrymen, all of worth that has been transmitted to us 
 by our sires, all that is prized by freemen, all that we would 
 bequeath to our children and children's children to the latest, 
 generation. On you is bent the eye of the country, kindling 
 with hope and noble pride as it watches your deeds of daring 
 and march of glory. Towards you is turned the ear of the 
 country, listening with bated breath to catch the shouts of 
 your triumph and the trump'^t-notos of your fame. With you 
 beats the heart o^ your country, swollen and throbbing with 
 ke«»Qisl sytDpithy for ytTur hardships and dad^re, but also 
 
n 
 
 Soldiers of the Southern Armies, B 5/8 
 
 with lofty confidence in your fortitude and valor to hurl back 
 the coimtless hordes of her invaders and shed on the earliest 
 page of her history a lustre unsurpassed in ancient or in mod- 
 ern times. What Southron loves not the gallant soldier who 
 strikes for our altars and firesides? His name shall be writ- 
 ten in immortal story, and sung in immortal song. Nor can 
 I, as a minister of (Jlirisb, forget that you maintain against 
 the oppressor not only our civil, but also our religious privi- 
 leges ; you uphold Church and State. Wherever the foe pos- 
 sesses our- soil the pulpit is silenced, the church shut, the altar 
 desecrated, the minister arrested and loader! wi«h insult.— 
 Shall I not feel a special concern in your spiritual well-being, 
 because you have generously surrendered for the time the ad- 
 vantages not gnly of home, but of the church amid whose 
 institutions you have been reared, in order to secure the right 
 of our people to worsliip God after the dictates of their own 
 consciences, undisturbed by ihe insolent cnemj^ who would 
 thrust false doctrines and traitorous prayers into the throats 
 of our preachers and the ears of their congregations? 
 
 The crowning consideration that moves me to this appeal is 
 suggested in the'title which I have placed at the head of this 
 tract; I address you as my fellow-soldiers. The heart of the 
 soldier warms towards his con:jpanion in arms, the partner of 
 his privations and perils, also of the thrilling joy of his tri- 
 umphs. I am a non-combatant, a chaplain preaching the 
 peace of God and the warfare whose weapons are not carnal, 
 but spiritual. I claim no share in the gratitude of these 
 States and the admiration of all nations which you have earned 
 by the heroic patience with which you have borne manifold 
 hardships and the heroic courage by which you have triumphed 
 over fearful odds on many fields, red with the precious blood 
 of our slain, but rich in imperishable renown. Nevertlieless, 
 I too belong to the army. The relation which I sustain to the 
 soldier has brought me into intimate acquaintance with his 
 character, and so attuned my heart that its every chord vibrates 
 in response to his joys and griefs. I have been with him in 
 camp and on picket, in Northern Virginia and the Peininsula, 
 in the heats of summer, the sforms of autumn, the rigors of • 
 winter. I have trudged by his side on many a long and wea- 
 risome march, in advance and retreat, through mud and snow 
 and sun. I have seen him in the hush and suspense before 
 
 n ^. /% ffrk n 
 
4 An Address to the- • 
 
 battle, in the tempest of shot aud shell, in the jubilant hour 
 of victory and on the sad seene of the, wounded and slain aud 
 freshly buried. I have been with him as he was borne bleed- 
 ing and mutilated from the field of strife; I have sat by his 
 side as he lay sick and comfortless in camp, or on bis lonely 
 couch in the hospital. I still count it an honor to follow his 
 fortunes, and break to him the bread of eternal life. Will 
 you not own me as a comrade, and listen to the message of 
 love and entreaty which I bring to you as an humble ambas- 
 sador of the Lord Jesus '/ 
 
 Perhaps there lurks in your mind a too common notion of 
 the incouipatibility of a soldier's life wilh the experience of 
 piety. If so, I wish to disabuse you of this error, I write 
 not so much of the professional or regular soldier, (though he 
 may be a true christian,) far less of the oppressors of our coun- 
 try who wage a war unholy in its objects and methods, but of 
 the men who have left their pleasant homes to defend against 
 the ruthless foe our precious, God-given heritage. There is 
 nothing in this service inconsistent with the strictest princi- 
 ples of the divine word. Abraham, the father of the faithful 
 aud friend of God, armed his trained servants, born in his 
 house, three hundred and eighteen in number, smote the cap- 
 tors of Lot, and rescued him and his propjrty. Moses, who 
 communed with Jehovah on Sinai and received the law from 
 his lips, led Israel to battle and triumph. David, the man 
 after God's own heart, was a warrior-king, and in heart-stirring 
 strains upon his holy harp blessed the Lord his strength, which 
 taught his hands to war and his fingers to fight. Jesus mar- 
 veiled at the strong faith i\f a lloman centurion, or. captain of 
 a hundred men, and bore witness : " Verily, I have not found 
 so great faith, no,, not in Israel." Honorable mention is made 
 in the Acts of the Apostles of another officer in the Roman 
 army — ** Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian, 
 a devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, 
 which gave much aims to the people, and prayed to God al- 
 way." An angel appeared to him, saying, ''Thy prayers and 
 thine alms are come up for a memorial before God." To him 
 first Peter was sent to announce the grand truth that God is 
 no respecter of persons, but equally ready to accept aud bless 
 Jew aud Gentile who fear him and work righteousness ;. aud 
 on him and those assembled at his house the Holy Ghost do- 
 
Soldiers of the Southern Anniee. 5 
 
 pccndcd. To speak of modern times, who has not read or 
 lieard of Ool. Gardiner, Capt. Vicars and Gen. Havelook, of 
 the British Army, famed equally for their intrepidity a8 
 soldiers and their profound piety ? Our own Washington, the 
 patriot, soldier, sage, bowed in holy reverence and trust before 
 the Lord of lords With devout pleasure I refer to our Con- 
 federate army; how many J^nd how illustrious the names on 
 its rolls that ftre also written in the book of life, honored of 
 man and God I Gens. Lee, Bragg, Jackson, D. H. Hill, and 
 a long list of distinguished officers, count it their loftiest priv- 
 ilege to be humble disciy^Jesof the meek and lowly Jesus, and 
 prove that experimenfal and practical religion is not unfavor- 
 able to the highest qualities of the soldier, and may be retained 
 amid all the strife of war. True piety sanctions and fosters 
 every manly, generous, bravo and lovely sentiment. It has 
 no favor for the cowardly, the sluggish, the sordid, the' selfish. 
 It teaches us to fear God, and not man; to risk and sacrifice 
 all for right and duty. I have known many noble specimens 
 of the christian soldier. I shall never cease to remember with 
 admiration one of the earliest victims of tins war. Major Car- 
 ter Harrison, of the 11th Virginia. He was an earnest ser- 
 vant of Christ, modest, firm, unostentatious, zealous. He 
 seized at once the hearts of the regiment by his many virtues, 
 by his courtesy to all and his kind visits to the sick, to whom 
 he bore a word not only of sympathy, but also of pious exhor- 
 tation. On the lovely morning of July 18, 1861, as we 
 awaited the advance of the enemy and the opening of our first 
 battle, our conversation was on sacred themes. In a few hours 
 he was mortally wounded, and until midaight endured untold 
 agony; but in his soul was the peace of God, and all was pa- 
 tiently borne for the sake of God and country. He was ready 
 to be offered up, and to leave even his loved family, at the call 
 of duty. His flesh rests in hupe ; his spirit rose to God. I 
 recall gratefully an interview in the same house (Major Mc- 
 Clean's) with the sweet-s[)irited and g dlant Captain Lee, of 
 Bichmond. '' How glad I am,'' said he, as he gave me a cor- 
 dial grasp, *'to shake the hand of a brother in Christ I" I 
 referred with sympathy to his intense sufteriag. Witli em- 
 phasis he answered, " 0, they are nothing to the sufferings 
 which Jesus bore for me I" In a few days he too was in the 
 bosom of his Father. There rises before me a vision of 
 
6 An Address to the 
 
 the sweet face of Rev. Dabney Carr Harrison, who reminded 
 all his frieuds of the disci plu whom Jesus h)vod. Ho wus of 
 a gentle, retiring, affectionate disposition, fond of home and 
 friends, and to feed the flock of Christ. No one seemed less 
 fitted for the rude scenes of deadly strife; no one cared less 
 for the pomp and parade of the military profession. Yet in 
 the hour of his country's peril, he girded on the sword and 
 commanded a company that honored him as their captain and 
 as a man of God. Over their morals and souls he w.itched 
 with a pastor's care, while he neglected not to train them as 
 soldiers and inspirit thciu to resist tke foe. At Fort Donel- 
 8on he fell, sword in hand, in front of his company, cheering 
 them to the charge; and with his dying voice rang out the 
 war-cry, " Never surrender !" Neither the church he adorned 
 for year^, nor the comp:iny he formed at the start of hostili- 
 ties, nor the re2;iment of which he was Mnjor at the time of 
 his death, will soon forget John Stewart Walker. His charac- 
 ter was complete in christian graces; his life was fruitful in 
 good works; the influence of his example and exhortation sur- 
 vives in the city of Kichmond and with the soldiers he com- 
 mauded. Warned of the peril to which he exposed himself, 
 but persuaded that duty called, he advanced for observation in 
 front of his regiment, and fell in death during the memorable, 
 struggle of Malvern Hill. I must not forget an uld friend 
 and college-mate, of refined character and cultivated mind, a 
 private in the ranks, John Moody, who died of a wound re- 
 ceived in the same engagement. His brother, with a pained 
 heart, told him that his leg must be amputated. A sweet and 
 placid smile was on his face as he replied, " Well, I. entered 
 the army from a sense of duty, and do not object to the loss 
 of a limb in the service of my country " A few days later 
 his brother informed him that he. must die. With the same 
 seraphic calm of countenance and cheerful tones of voice, he 
 said, " It is well. I am a soldier from the conviction of duty, 
 and willing to offer my life a sacrifice to the cause of my coun- 
 try and my God.*' I will close this list of some of the wor- 
 thy dead of our army whom I myself knew, with the name of 
 that lamented young officer. Gen. Garland, who stood so high 
 in the esteem of our chief Generals, and bade fair to attain 
 the loftiest distinction. He was my class-mate at college, af- 
 terwards my colonel. I was not with him in his last days, but 
 
Soldiers of the Southern Armien, 7 
 
 I remember well bis babits of prayer and of tbe reverent read- 
 ing of tbe scriptures in camp, tbe modest suizgestion of his 
 readiness to co-operate with me in every effort to promote 
 the spiritual interests of his regiment, and the deep pity he 
 cxpre>ssed for the soldier who encountered the perils of a cam- 
 paign without hope of a blessed immortality, lie did his duty 
 for conscience sake, in the fear of God. Fellow-soldier, would 
 you not be glad to emulate the piety of these men, and to die 
 their death ? 
 
 Will you attend now, while I urge some valid reasons why 
 tbe soldier, above other me?i, ought to be a christian? 
 
 1. In order to secure the bkssing of Alm'ujhtij God on our 
 arms. 
 
 I assume your faith in the great truth that '^ God is, and is 
 a rewarder of them that diligently seek him " We have sol- 
 emnly recognized God in tbe Constitution of these (^nfeder- 
 ate States. The acts of our Congress and the prnclamutions 
 of our President have acknowledged him. With wonderful 
 unanimity, with profound emotion, our people have observed 
 days of fasting to avert his righteous wrath, days of thanks- 
 giving to glorify his name for timely succor a,nd glorious vic- 
 tories. Not as a mere form, not with words of studied and 
 frigid grace to round a period, but in evident sincerity and 
 fervor, our Generals have expressed their trust in diyine guid- 
 ance, and attributed their brilliant successes to his favor. " Our 
 gratitude to God for bis mercies rises higher every day," wrote 
 Lee after the second battle of Manassas. In his more- recent 
 disj^atch which briefly announced the repulse of Burnside at 
 Fredericksburg, "Thanks be to God 1" bursts forth from the 
 fullness of a grateful heart. Deep in the breasts of our sol- 
 diery and civilians rests the conviction that the Lord of hosts, 
 the God of battles, the Ruler of the nations, is on our side, 
 and that in this fact lies our safety against all the craft and all 
 the power of tbe Northern army. " Except the Lord" build 
 the house, they labor in vain that build it : except the Lord 
 keep the city, the watchman wakcth but in vain." " Lift not 
 up your horn on high : speak not witii a stiff neck. For pro- 
 motion cometh neither from the East, nor from the West, nor 
 from the South. But God is the judge : he putt-eth down one, 
 and setteth up another." We can appeal with candor and con- 
 fidence to. God iu behalf of our cause, because it is worthy. — 
 
8 All Address to the 
 
 Oppression, robbery, bloodshed, we do not desire, but depre- 
 cate. We would iujure no man. We fight for libcrt}^ inde- 
 pendence, salicty, honor — for these broad and fruitful lands, 
 for institutions that have conse down to us from our fatheis, 
 for our homes and children and God's own truth. We are for 
 peace ; but they are for war. The righteousness of this self- 
 defence on our part, however, is not sufficient by itself to se- 
 cure for us divine help from trouble. God may have a con- 
 troversy with us. He may use that mad people as the rod of 
 his anger to chastise us long and sorely, '' The Lord is with 
 you, while ye be wi^h him; and if ye seek him, he w'll be 
 found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake yQU." 
 What avail will be all our fiistings and thanksgivings, if they 
 are unaccompanied by repentance and turning to the Lord'/ 
 In several of his orders Washington reproved his army for 
 their profanity and other sins, and asked how they could ex- 
 pect God to crown their arms with success, while they daily 
 blasphemed his name. Look at the crimes and impiety of our 
 army, and ask yourself the question whether we do not de- 
 serve the heavy judgments of Heaven. If we were a God- 
 fearing army; if officers and privates worshipped and obeyed 
 him; if with earnest and persevering cries we besought him, 
 the God of justice, the God of mercy, to guide us to wise 
 counsels, to inspire us with steadiness and valor, to break the 
 ranks of the foe, and beat them to pieces small as the dust 
 before the wind ; if after every success our joy arose in songs 
 and shouts to God who had triumphed gloriously — would we 
 not be, indeed, an irresistible power? Let us henceforth lift 
 up our banners in the name of the Lord, and do valiantly. — 
 How soon then may God crush the numerous hosts of the en- 
 emy, or turn his heart to peace, or raise us up friends among 
 other nations. 
 
 2. Because the life and poiver of godlhiefis are needed to 
 preserve j/oufrom the immoraliti/ and utter irrtUyion to which 
 temptatioiu abound in the camps. 
 
 Much has been said artd writ-ten about the demoralizing in- 
 fluence of the war on our people, and especially on our army. 
 Soldiers and their friends have sometimes been offended by the 
 sweeping charges of looseness in morols which have been 
 brought against our troops. They have protested against them 
 as unkind and unjust. T do not wonder that they have felt 
 
Soldier 8 of the South trn Annies. 9 
 
 keenly this reproach. Our array does not consist of hirelings, 
 of the scum of society. In it are largely represented all re- 
 spectable clas<es of the coniuiunity, and also the church of 
 God. Never b^'fore was there so mueh of intellectual, social, 
 moral worth in an'y body of troops. The accusation cannot be 
 sustained against these men that they have thrown off the re- 
 straints of conscience, religion, decency, honor. If it were 
 true, we should bid farewell to our hopes of prosperity and 
 renown for this Confederacy ; for society would be rotten to 
 its very core. But setting aside these extravagant statements, 
 we must still confess, with shame and sorrow and trembling, 
 the injurious influence of their mode of life on our soldiery. 
 Who has not seen — who will not own it ? They have given 
 up the care of their pastors, the fellowship of their christian 
 brethren, the stated services of the sanctuary, the hallowed 
 influences of home and of female society. They are not sub- 
 ject, as formerly, to the control of public sentiment; they^re 
 not occupied in the steady pursuits of industry. It is not 
 strange that they should cast off" the fear of God, and seek 
 pleasure in vices which once they abhorred. Even the stand- 
 ard of truth and honesty has been fearfully lowered by many 
 who had been good citizens, or ar^ the 'children of our most 
 honorable men. Gambling, licentiousness and drinking are 
 very seductive in camp. Profane and lewd conversation 
 abounds. Often military duties employ the whole Sabbath, 
 and in many regiments there is no chaplain to conduct public 
 worship and preach the word of eternal life. Therefore ini- 
 quity abounds, and the love of many waxes cold. There is a 
 great falling off from piet}' and good morals. IMen forget 
 their Creator, and lose the sense of religion. Comrade, have 
 you not felt this tendency to ungodliness — perhaps, also, to 
 vice ? You, perhaps, are the child of many prayers. You 
 early knelt at a mother's knees, and learned from her lips to 
 lisp a prayer. You have been trained amid religious influen- 
 ces. Once you had a tender conscience and keen susceptibil- 
 ity to the appeals of the I^ible; Has not that conscience been 
 blinded and blunted? Has not that heart hardened? Are 
 you not far gone from God ? This is with you a precious sea- 
 son of life. You are still young. Your nature is plastic and 
 is taking shape; soon it wiU be rock. You may be a ruined 
 man in character, in morals, in soul, before the close of the 
 
10 Ari Address to the 
 
 war. Your safeguanl is in tlic cxperionec and practice of re- 
 ligion. Though many christians have made shipwreck of faith 
 and a good conscience in the army, others have stood fast, and 
 will come forth out of the furnace purified like gold. Kin<< 
 Saul and Judas fell away, and were never recovered ; David 
 and Peter were overcome by temptation, but repented and 
 were restored; Joseph' in Totiphar's house, Daniel and the 
 three Hebrew children at the court of Nebuchadnezzar, re- 
 tained their fidelity against seductions and violence. The be- 
 liever in Christ is changed and purified in his very soul; he 
 i« strengthened by the Holy Spirit ; he is inspired by the lof- 
 tiest motives and. hopes. You may not enjoy many religious 
 privileges; but God is a Spirit, and asks a worship in spirit 
 and truth. No external circumstances can keep you from seek- 
 ing God in humble, contrite, believing prayer. Carry your 
 testament in your pocket, and consult its pages daily. Kven 
 iu camp, on the march, in the array of battle, you may be a 
 true disciple of Christ, and grow in grace and knowledge. 
 
 3. Because amid the priuatiojis and sirff'erinr/s of the sol- 
 dier there is peculiar' need of (he rich consolations of reVufion. 
 
 You know the hardships of the soldier. Your food is coarse 
 and often scanty; it is almost im|)ossible to keep a sufficient 
 supply of clothes and blankets ; you suffer from exposure to 
 all kinds of weather; your duties are dull and wearisome ; you 
 mi.ss the comforts of home, and are heartsick with longing to 
 see again the loved ones from whom you have been so long 
 absent. These evils you can bear in health and vigor, but 
 how your spirits sink when they are aggravated by sickness, 
 whether in camp or in hospital. Then you have strength 
 neither of body nor mind to resist gloom and melancholy; 
 you pine for the sweet tones and gentle ministries of wife, 
 mother, sister — for all the inexpressible blessedness of home. 
 Comrade, you may have an.ever present friend in God. He 
 ■will be to you a father, and you shall be his son. Jesus will 
 be to you a brother, and nearer than a brother. The consola- 
 tions of grace are independentof external situation; rather 
 they abound as sufferings abnurul. Penitent for sin, but trust- 
 ing iu the cross, you will have peace with God tliroagh our 
 Lord Jesus Christ. Careful for nothing with tormenting fear, 
 but making your requests known unto God' in prayer, you will 
 liave the peace of God which passeth all understanding to keep 
 
Soldiers of tJie Southern Armies, 11 
 
 your heart, and mind through Christ Jesus. The hope of 
 heaven will be to your spirit an anchor sure and steadfai^t. A 
 well-sprinfT of holy joy will open in your heart, and its living 
 waters will gush forth freely forever. Your meditation of God 
 will be sweet. He will be with you as you walk your solitary 
 beat on guard and' picket. He will watch by your si<le as you 
 lie on your lowly bed. He will be with you in trouble, and 
 n^ake all your bed in sickness. Though every other friend be 
 absent, and every other help fail, God will be the strength of 
 your heart and your portion forever. 
 
 4. Because you are exposed to imminent peril of sudden 
 death. 
 
 Life with us all is short and uncertain. The very means 
 men take to guard against death may prove fatal. A few days 
 ago from the time I am writing, a soldier was returning to 
 camp with a substitute, and by the running off of the cars was 
 hurled instantly into eternity. *' In the midst of life we are 
 in death." But the soldier has peculiar perils both by disease 
 and battle. How often is -he hurried to the grave without 
 warning, either by fierce disease or by the shot of the foe. la 
 the most literal sense, there is frequently but a step betwixt 
 him and death; he feels as ho advances to the front of the 
 battle that the next step may take hiui to death. *' And after 
 death the judgment." ''The sting of death is sin." Friend, 
 are- you prepared to die and appear before God? You are a 
 brave man, I acknowledge; you will stand to your post at all 
 hazards; but do you not tremble and shrink at the sober 
 thought that death is near ? Are you willing to rush into eter- 
 nity with your miuiy crimson sins — with the grievous sin of 
 forgetting your Creator and neglecting the great salvation, un- 
 confessed, unrepented, uuforgiven ? Are you in a right state 
 of heart for death and the bar of Christ? You may die with- 
 out sufficient notice even to- utter the dying cry, '' God be mer- 
 ciful to me a sinner !" ^'0 chaplain, pray for me!" cried a 
 soldier, as he was borne mortally wounded from the battle of 
 "Williamsburg. I could only assure him that I was praying 
 for him, and .with a word direct him to the Lamb of God 
 which taketh away the sins of the world. I have talked to 
 many soldiers in extreme illness who turned on me a vacant 
 stare, their minds being distracted by fever, orwrithed in such 
 agony of body that they c^)lild oot cocopo&e tbeiBeel-nKJ to Us- 
 
12 An Address, tf-c. 
 
 tcu or to prn}-. Seek the Lord while he may bo found ; call 
 upon him while he is near. Behold, now is the accepted time; 
 behold, now is the day of salvation. The love of God Bhed 
 abroad in the heart dispels all fear; it delivers those who had 
 all their lifetime been subject to bondage through fear of death. 
 With the witness of acceptance by God through Christ in your 
 heart, you will meet death, swift or lingering;, by bullet or dis- 
 ease, at home or abroad, without dread or shuddering. The 
 great Shepherd will go with you through the valley. You will 
 sweetly fall asleep in Jesus. It will matter little where your 
 body shall be buried. Dives had his funeral honors of men ; 
 but the beggar Lazarus was borne by angels to Abraham's 
 bosom. 
 
 Comrade, I wish to enlist you as my fellow-soldier in a no- 
 bler cause than even that of Southern independence. *' Fight 
 the good fight of faith." There is no leader comparable to 
 the Captain of our salvation. There is no triumph so sure as 
 the triumph of Jesus over all his foes. There are no rewards 
 so rich as those he gives his failhful soldiers. To-day join 
 this army, and never desert your colors. Though you die, you 
 will live forever. Over your grave comrades will sing, sor- 
 rowing, yet not as others who have no hope : 
 "The pains of death are past, 
 
 Labor and' sorrow cease ; 
 And life's long warfare closed at last, 
 
 His soul is found in peace. 
 Soldier of Christ well done I 
 
 l'rai.se be thy new employ ; 
 And while etei-nal ages run, » 
 
 Rest in thy Saviour's joy." 
 
 .x^) 
 
 Scldiers' I'ra-H^ Aego^iaHcc;-,, M. E Church, South. 
 
 ^^ .' 
 
HoUinga: Corp. 
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