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layman to got tlic implosion that this Church at
large is not nearly so unaound us it 1ms been
made to appear in some quarters, but that its vast
majority is earnestly evangelical and evangelic
and that the seat ol the trouble is not so much
with Union Seminary (which is like a theological
cancer that can he operated upon once and for
all), as it is with the I'nesbytery of New York
n;^r ...I.:.i. i... 1:1 u i _ ?i i.
\jllj \y men Li/ ut liivc a uuuu-^ttc turuugu
which the poisoning influence of rationalism and
unbelief is alFectiug the Church at large. Just
at the moment when the discussion was becoming
most interesting a motion lor a committal to
a new Committee of Seven to investigate "as to
the doctrinal, theological and spiritual condition"
of this institution was made and carried
and so the matter was thrust forward upon
the shoulders of the next Assembly, which same
has been done many times before with similar
results. It is not a matter to "shy at" in this
manner, but to be faced and dealt with once and
for all and thereafter let tlie Church be at rest.
The three livest questions before the Southern
Assembly were concerning the Brief Statement
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unlearned and ignorant man concerning things
Presbyterian), the Elect Infant Clause, which
seems to be of perennial interest, and the matter
of the withdrawal from the Federal Council of
the Protestant Churches. The first was adopted
and ordered printed for circulation. Concerning
the second, at the time that it was up for
discussion a brother of another denomination
who hannpnpH in and hpard t.ho dispnKsirm tp
marked to th<* writer, in an aside, '"It seems to
me that it would be more profitable and to the
point if they would discuss the question of present
interest, Infaut Mortality, rather than that
of the future fate of 'elect infants dying in infancy.
' '' Maybe he was right, but he wasn't a
Presbyterian!
As for the Federal Council, after buffeting the
matter pro and con, it was decided to remain
in, for the present at least. This was wise, for
no good could come to the Council by losing a
conservative member that would help hold the
balance of orthodoxy, and little, if any, could
came to tlie member thus cutting itseli off.
An occasion of great happiness in the Southern
Assembly was the presenting of the Report on
Foreign Missions, which showed the Church entirely
out of debt, and that this had been a record
year with 41 new missionaries sent to the fields
and a per capita gift to this cause from the
Church at large of $.12, which is high mark for
this denomination.
The similar report made at the Northern Assembly,
and followed by an address by Dr. A.
\V. Iialsey, one of the Secretaries of the Board
of Foreign Missions, was received with an ova
titm.
The Foreign Missions report presented to the
United Presbyterian l?ody was most enthusiastically
received, as this is the leading Christian
denomination in America in its missionary activities;
so that it would seem that all three of these
Presbyterian bodies are placing emphasis upon
the fact that the Presbyterian form of the Christian
religion is a good brand for the work at large
and that they mean to propagate it.
Possibly the report most keenly anticipated
by the United J'resbytenan and the southern
Assemblies was that of the ad interim committee
on the formulating of a practicable basis of
organic union between these two bodies. The
writer happened to be at the United Assembly
when it was presented in a most lucid manner
by Dr. McClurlcin, the chairman of the committee.
It was a masterpiece of presentation and
was received by the entire Assembly rising to its
feet and singing a doxologv. It was also received
with a unanimity of sentiment at the
PRESBYTERIAN OF THE SO
Southern Assembly and was placed 011 the docket
lor discussion at the next Assembly in 11)14.
Throughout the year it will be discussed in tire
press of the two denominations so that it may
come up intelligently lor further action later.
There were joint meetings each evening in the
great Atlanta Auditorium that seats 7,000 people
when the Presbyterians of every color of
badge came together and others from other
churches, but it was not tilled as it had been at
the Grand Opera a few weeks before when the
seats were sold out entirely,at from $1.00 to $7.00
per seat, or at the rate of $90,000 for the week.
But as I intimated before. Atlanta does things on
a colossal scale, even raising a guarantee fund of
$75,000 to persuade the Shriners to come there
in 1914. And this fund was raised in 34 hours'
But the supreme occasion that brought these
Presbyterians the very closest together of all was
the Union Communion Service at the Tabernacle
nn an afternoon when 2 FirtO Prechvferians
from practically every State in the Union packed
the building like sardines in a box. It was a
service that was indeed sacred and made its impress
on every heart. The Moderators of the
several Assemblies presided and the elements
were passed hv a company of twenty-four officers,
being administered simultaneously on the
main floor and in the two galleries. It was a
The Great Revival in
REV. J. H. M
Ab tlie events oi the terrible war or Irtbl-lbbo,
between tne Aoruiern and Southern sections ol
tne (J lilted Staes recede into the past, and tne
history oi that tragic period is written, tne story
is largely taken up with account oi political complications,
oi great military movements, inarch
and battle and siege, oi a country desolated by
tlie cruel hand ol war, oi a people brougut rroiu
aliluence to utter poverty, And tnere is not in
tbie histories i Have lead tlie very sngntest reierenee
to one oi tUe greatest spiritual movements
iii the Aiirnls ol time Ami v?+t tn? irroat rn
vivals of religion which swept through the (Jontederate
Armies was one, it not the strongest
lactor, in sustaining the courage ot the iSouthoioi
people during the horrors oi a savage conflict.
And it was the profound spiritual result
of those revivals, which enabled our people to
endure the worse than savage era of reconstruction;
and to rehabilitate our country from the
waste and ruin left in the wake of invading
armies.
1 have seen but two histories of those great
revivals, both written by able Baptist ministers,
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Dr. J. Win. Jones was entitled "Christ in
Camp." The other by ltev. Dr. W. W. Burnett
was entitled, "The Great Revival in the Southern
Armies." Both of these authors were with
the Army of Northern Virginia, under General
Lee. But by extensive correspondence they
gathered the account of the work in other
Southern armies.
Inasmuch as 1 was connected with the army
of Tennessee and Mississippi during the whole
period of the war, as private and as chaplain,
and had my mess among the rank and hie, I had
good opportunity to judge of the effect of the
revival on the' life and character of the men.
1 have been several times asked by my younger
brethren to write an account of tnat remaricaDie
work of grace of which they have vague ideas,
for religion and war seem thoroughly incongruous,
and hard to reconcile.
In writing of this remarkable work T shall try
to tell of the subjects of it, of the means used,
of the agents and agencies employed, and of the
general results. And I shall tell mainly of those
1
U T H [June 2.~>, 191:1
solemn ami u tender occasion anil those who have
been divided during all those years began to
wonder why it continues to be so and some, at
least, began to feel a little spring-time of hope
on that May afternoon of that time that may yet
be when Presbyterians of whatever section or
name shall stand heart to heart and shoulder to
snouiaer, ana wont without question or triction
tor the discipline of the nations which is the
marching orders oL' the Church. All throughout
this service we had been singing the Psalms in
Metrical Version and I, for one, did not realize
that they had all come from the United Presbyterian
Psalmody, though they were set to uninspired
times' So dull was I, that I thought they
were ordinary hymns as the tunes were so familiar,
but the song in the heart as we wended
our way homeward:
We arc not divided;
All one body we;
One in hope and doctrine.
One in charity.
iTi ore fore:
Onward Christian soldiers.
Marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus
Going on before.
the Confederate Armies
'neilly, d. d.
things that came under my our experience or
personal observation. But my work was largely
typical of the work of other chaplains in preaching
and hospital service. In addition to this,
some of us went wi,th the men into aetion and
ministered to the wounded on the held of battle.
TILL" SUBJECTS OF TiiE REVIVAL.
The (Confederate Armies were made up of the
best men of the South, and there were certain
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giuuuiui iii bucii uvea ami ciiarauici" liiul iuuuu
them peculiarly open to religious influences. The
people of our section, mainly engaged in agriculture,
were not only conservative in thought,
in politics, and in religion, but were ignorant
of many of the isms that flourished in other sections.
They were a religious people by all their
traditions, as well as in their practice. They
were brought up to reverence God, to respect
the Church and its ministers, and a large proportion
of theni were members of some church.
Then there was an intense conviction of the
righteousness of our cause, so that to fight for
it was a religious duty, and they felt that a just
God would surely give success to our effort for
independence, and separation from a people who
gave encouragement to so many strange doctrines,
contrary to the Bible. Indeed this feeling
was so strong that it was often an obstacle to
the gospel; for so many felt that if they fell in
so good a cause they were sure to be saved, and
said that they could not 'believe in the justice of
God if our cause failed.
There was a wonderful spirit of comradeship
among our soldiers. They were gathered from
every walk of life, farmers, mechanics, day laborers,
professional men, college graduates, il
literate toys. There was none of that haughty
exclusiveness that separates men socially, and
which was so falsely charged on the social side
of the South. The humblest private could talk
freely to his superior officer on the subject of religion.
The enthusiasm and equanimity in a
common cause bound the men together in a
worm fellowship, that was strengthened by conversion
and confession of Christ into a religious
brotherhood. It is true that there were grave
hindrances to religious work in our armies, just