prompt and tender to meet the wants of our suffering, bleeding thousands in the camp and on the battle-field. They were dying in large numbers - dying in agonies indescribable for the want of attention. These facts were brought out, and the heart of the nation was moved. Plans for organizing relief were promptly submitted to the government; and on the 9th of June, 1861, "a commission of inquiry and advice, in respect of the sanitary interests of the United-States forces," was appointed. Henry W. Bellows, D.D., was at its head; and, in an incredibly short time, an army of philanthropists moved into the field, and ample stores of medicines, clothing, and food suitable for the sick, were supplied by the liberal. The Commission, with its of fices of kindness, and by its generous hands and sympathizing hearts, was everywhere, upon the battle-field, in the hospitals, on the track of advance and retreat, bearing away the wounded, putting the cup of cold water to the lips of the dying, dressing wounds, nursing the sick, and thus saving thousands of valuable lives. Money flowed into their treas ury like water. California alone gave $1,233,831.31; other Pacific States and Territories, with the greatest liberality, added to these contributions; till the aggregate amount from that coast swelled to the large sum of $1,473,407.07,- all to send relief to our suffering soldiers in the field of slaughter. From every State and every town in the loyal Union, and from other countries far off and near, these supplies came in, amounting in all, from Dec. 4, 1862, to Jan. 1, 1866, to $4,924,048.99. The world stood amazed before these efforts of humanity, rising up from the pervading Christian sense of the American people. THE UNITED-STATES CHRISTIAN COMMISSION arose from the conviction, that, with relief for the bodies of our soldiers, there was an imperative demand for more thorough attention to the wants of their souls. Just as the Sanitary Commission came in to supplement the labors and supply the defects of the medical staff and commissariat of the army, the Christian Commission came in to the aid of chaplains and other Christian philanthropists, to give the blessings of experimental Christianity, with temporal supplies, to our needy soldiers. It was organized in Philadelphia on the 16th of November, 1861, in response to a call from the Young Men's Christian Association. George H. Stewart, Esq., its most prominent man, and a multitude of other noble philanthropists, devoted time and wealth and prayers to this great enterprise until the war was over. "In both means and men there was no lack, but a steady and rapid growth, of abundance, without a parallel in the history of Christian charities. Every day of its existence seems to have given the Commission a wider range, and a firmer hold upon the affection and confidence of the churches and patriots of the land. In the first year, its receipts amounted to $231,000; in the second year, they reached $916,837; in the third year, $2,282,347. From January to May of the fourth and last year of its activity, the donations were $2,228,105." For the whole period of its services, from the 16th of November, 1861, to May, 1866, in cash, services, provisions, clothing, &c., its Christian charities and labors for the relief of our soldiers were estimated at $6,291,107.68. Delegates commissioned, 4,859,- working in the aggregate, without compensation, 185,562 days; boxes of stores and publications, 95,066; Bibles, Testaments, and other portions of Scripture, 1,466,748; hymn and psalm books, 1,370,953; knapsacks, books in paper and flexible covers, 8,308,052; bound library-books, 296,816; magazines and pamphlets, 767,861; religious weekly and monthly periodicals, 18,126,002; pages of tracts, 39,104,246; "Silent Comforter," &c., 8,572; sermons preached by delegates, 58,308; prayermeetings held by delegates, 77,744; letters written by delegates for soldiers, 92,321.* *For the above extracts and figures, I am indebted to Rev. T. A. FERNLEY. "The home-comforts, provisions, delicacies, clothing, and ten thousand appliances, for the relief of the suffering, which people showered upon the army, were conveyed to the soldiers through the hands of volunteer laborers fresh from home, whose only pay for their toil was the blessing of God, and the gratitude and happiness of those for whom they labored. Coffee-wagons, called by the soldiers Christian artillery,' were drawn along the lines, furnishing the men with hot coffee, fresh toast, &c., during the battle. On the field, gathering up the wounded; in the field-hospitals, bathing and dressing wounds; by the side of the dying, offering prayer, or snatching a few last words for the bereaved family at home,- these laborers were found in large numbers. It was estimated by the officers and surgeons of the Army of the Potomac, that, during the Wilderness campaign alone, at least three thousand lives were saved, besides all the suffering alleviated. But while these men carried in one hand bread which perisheth, in the other they carried the bread of heaven. While they labored to heal the wounds of the body, they also aided the wounded soul to step into the fountain opened, and be healed."* WOMAN IN THE WAR was an angel of mercy. From the common walks of virtuous life, from the highest circles of culture and affluence, Christian women entered the hospitals and the fields of blood, to sacrifice comfort, health, and even life itself, to relieve our sick and dying soldiers; to bless them with woman's tenderness, her gentle voice, her kind instructions, and faithful prayers. From Maine to California, they bore incredible hardships, toiled night and day in societies, festivals, and fairs, and in manufacturing lint and bandages for the wounds of our martyr-heroes. Christian labor went beyond direct army-work; and noble, heroic men volunteered without pay to bear all the trials of the camp and the march and the field, rushing into the very jaws of death to save souls. Everywhere the build *Communication of Rev. C. P. LYFORD. ing of rude chapels, faithful preaching, and meetings for prayer, frequently amid the bursting of shells, revealed the noblest Christian heroism in the work of regeneration. Gracious revivals and conversions, numbering hundreds and thousands, resulted from these self-sacrificing labors. Let it now be observed that every church in the loyal North, in all their official bodies, sustained the government by the most hearty resolutions, the outpouring of their treasures and men, and the boldest action. The religious life poured through the nation's heart to its very extremities, giving great force to these words from our beloved President, Abraham Lincoln. They were spoken in response to a thoroughly loyal message, through their committee, of the General Conference of the Methodist-Episcopal Church, in the midst of the bloody march of Grant to Richmond. 66 Nobly sustained as the government has been by all the churches, I would utter nothing which might in the least appear invidious against any. Yet, without this, it may fairly be said that the Methodist-Episcopal Church, not less devoted than the best, is, by its greater numbers, the most important of all. It is no fault in others that the Methodist Church sends more soldiers to the field, more nurses to the hospitals, and more prayers to Heaven, than any. God bless the Methodist Church, bless all the churches! And blessed be God, who, in this our great trial, giveth us the churches!" No mind in America rose more grandly up to the religious significance of the war than that of Abraham Lincoln. Let us record the solemn words uttered in his last inaugural address: "Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, 'The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."" MURDEROUS REVENGE. The nation was in triumph. A day had burst upon our sky more glorious than any which ever before shone upon any land beneath the sun. Joy and gratitude swelled the hearts of our free millions. The Rebellion was crushed; slavery was dead. Peace came, with her rich consolations, to bless our land, so long distressed and bleeding. No oppressed heart, no tired brain, felt such relief as the heart and brain of Abraham Lincoln. No spirit of haughty triumph appeared. He had tears for the suffering and the bereaved, pity for the conquered, and pardon for the rebellious. He was the grandest type in existence of a great, magnanimous, conquering, Christian nation. From these heights of exultant joy, the millions of American citizens were suddenly plunged into the deepest distress. Abraham Lincoln was slain! The hand of a vile assassin had taken away the most precious life on the continent. No intelligence so direful ever burdened the telegraphic wires, no sorrow so deep and awful ever settled down upon the heart of a nation. At twenty-two minutes past seven o'clock, on the morning of the 15th of April, 1865, the great and good Mr. Lincoln breathed his last. The last expression of the vileness of slavery, the fell revenge of expiring oppression, the concentrated malignity of thirty years, struck the highest, purest representative of American freedom; and he died for the country, which, in the hands of God, he had lived to save. War and darkness o'er the nation gloomed ; What reck we now the assassin's word or blow? |