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BY SAMUEL BOYKIN. 50 NOS. IN A VOL. OUR ARMY CORRESPONDENCE. Condition of the troop3 —Determination of the men to “fight the war through”—Review of the past campaign affords no ground of dis couragment. Religious statu s. Chapel building—Bible classes&c —“Indexes” wan ted—Georgia soldiers comp'aining of being neglected by Georgia preachers. • Camp near Petersburg, Jan. 12,’65. I received the other day the first coppy of the Index I h*ve seen eineo Now. and hailed it as a long absent friend returned again. I have not furnished my weekly let ters for some weeks, because 1 thought they would not reach their destination. And in deed your readers have lost very little by my failure, as there has been but little worth writing transpiring here-abouts. Since the failure of his expedition against Bellefield, the“great flanker” has kept pretty close with in his lines, and the condition of the roads is such at present as to preclude all military operations—even cavalry raids. Our troops have completed their winter quarters, and most of them are very comfortable. The scarcity of wood immediately around Peters burg, has been largely remedied by the use of coal which can be furnished in abundance from the pits of Chesterfield, The “bomb proofs” with their grates and nice coal fires are really very comfortable. But I confess that 1 prefer the nicely daubed log cabins, with their large fireplaces, and real old Vir ginia fires, to be found on the greater part of the lines. There has been an occasional irregularity in the issue of rations (owing to the dificulties of transportation,) but for the most part the men are faring as well, or per haps better than this time last winter. They tell me that they can make out very well with the rations now furnished. And I be lieve that I have never seen the troops bet ter clothed than at present. The Q 31. in charge of the clothing for the 3rd corps told me yesterday that he had issued all the blan kets, shoes, and under clothing which had been asked for, and hoped to supply the full demand for and pants within a few dayfi. * Th ere is a scarcity of socks but it Is 1 hoped that tho deficiency will soon be sup plied by the energy of eur noble women. The morale of the’ army is improving.— There was a natural feeling of disappoint ment and despondency on the fall of Savan nah, and the defeat of Hood, but our boys are fast rallying from-that and will take the field next Spring with the same dauntless spirifipthey have hitherto shown. I wish that any faint-hearted ones amotfptfyou c uld have heard, as I did to-day, some gallant Georgia..boys speaking of the traitorous Mayor of Savannah,- and his sixteen associ ates in treason who tried to barter the honor of their city for Yankee gold. With flash ing eye these war-worn veterans denounced the vile traitors, and expressed the wish that their loved old State should be everywhere ravaged “with fire and sword, rather than yield to such dishonor. Whatever may be the feeling of the people at home, the men of this army have no thought of submision. They are not yet prepared to give up their homes to pillage, their wives, mothers, and sisters to insults, and themselves to be slaves ol a hireling soldiery. They are not [yet prepared to swear, on the Evangelists of Almighty God, that they have been traitors to the “best government the world ever saw,” and that the comrades who have so nobly fallen at their sides on many a blood y field, perished in an unholy and wicked attempt at treason. They are tired of the war—they long to return to home and loved ones —but (as I heard a gallant Georgian express it to.day,) “they will return as freemen or not at all.” And since theirs is t'.ie feeling of the army who have borne and suffered so much, what r’ghthavo the people at home who have scarcely felt the war, to dream of submission ? Shame on the faint-heafted coward who would seek to escape the ills of war by flying to the far greater evils of subjugation A calm review of the campaign in Virgin ia, leaves no ground of discouragement.— Grant’s plans have all been foiled, his army has been repulsed in every attack upon our lines, and has lost three hundred thousand men, (at the lowest calculation) to gain a position which he might easily have taken twelve mouts ago without the loss of a man. We, too, have lost heavily; many of our best officers and men have fallen, but we have been able to fepair our losses.beyond the expectation of all, and we have present for duty to-day, fnll ten thousand more men than we had twelve months ago. Besides the works which we have thrown up along these lines, and are daily strengthening, un til they can be held by a bare skirmish line, will be worth to us seventy-five thousand men. On the other hand, it is very doubt ful whether Grant will be able to muster a larger force next Spring than he did last. Sherman or Thomas may reinforce him; but in that case, Hood or Hardee could reinforce Gen. Lee, and we would lose nothing by having all of our armies under.the immedi ate command of that great .military Chieftai^. t with serious disasters in the Valley, but he held on with characteristic obstinacy, and defeated the main object of Sheridan’s campaign, which was to capture Lynchburg, aad operate on our Southern com’ munications. Sherman’s march through Georgia, and capture of Savannah, is cer tainly bad, but it is very doubtful whether he can injure us as much from Savannah, as he could have done from Atlanta as a base. Hood’s defeat before Nashville, is a severe blow to us, but hardly worse than “3iission ary Ridge” was. In Trans-Mississippi, we had last year a series of brilliant successes; and at Wilmington we have defeated the most powerful armada the world has ever seen. In viewing the last campaign then, we have no cause for despondency butabun daut reason to “thank God and take cour age. ” If we are true to ourselves, we can never he sujugated. If the people will stand by the army, and meet tt.e present crisis with brave hearts, aud a firm reliance on the “Lord of hosts,” 1 verily* believe that anoth er campaign will end the war in the- estab lishment ofour independence. The past few weeks have been very unfa vorable for religious services, as the weather has been too cold for outdoor exercises, and but few chapels have been completed, owing to scarcity of timber and transportation. I refer in this remark to the lines South of the Appomattox. Between the Appomat tox and the James, and North cf the James too, (I believe,) every Brigade have one or more chapels, and there have been very de cided manifestations of the revival spirit. the brigades they axe enjoying; precious seasons of revival. A number 1 of chapels have now been completed on our part of the lines, others are in process of erection, and we are hoping for a like visitation ol God’s spirit. Indeed we have not been without manifestations of His goodness, but every week there have been a Few to find peace in believing—the first droppings we trust, of the copious shower in store for us. The prayer-meetings, bible classes, schools &c, of last winter have been revived, and bid fair to be as interesting and profitablo as then. Alas ! it is sad to miss so many of those who last winter were the leaders in these enterprises ; but it is sweet to think of them as now engaged in more blest em. ploy, away from the sufferings of earth, and free from “war’s rude alarms.” We shall need now larger supplies of religious read ing matter, and it is hoped that the good brethren of Georgia, will offer freely of what Sherman has not taken, to send the Index to our brave soldiers. Our Virginia Baptist Coloprtage Board, now that our Southern communications are so liable to interrupt ion, and the Rail Roads are impressed by the Government, will have to supply a larger proportion than ever of the religious reading and the preachers of this army; and as the funds of the Board are running low, ife-is to be hoped that our Georgia brethren will give liberally of their means to ‘help it send the Gospel to their sons and brothe; s in this army. lam sure that Bro Boykin, (while Bro Wharton is in Virginia) will gladly receive and foward any contributions that may be sent him for this object. Breth ren whose homes have not been molested by the enemy,should send large thank offerings, and those who have lost, or are liable to lose by the enemy, should imitate the example of a good brother, who, after the enemy had robbed him of nearly everything he had, sent Bro. Dickinson one hundred dollars for the soldiers, with the request that he would at least make a safe investment of that.— And we are in pressing need of more Preach ers. Cannot some of the brethren who have been driven from their charges by the ene my, come to this wide spread field of useful ness ? I have heard some of the Georgia sol diers, (both officers and privates) say very hard things about the Georgia Baptist Preachers not coming to the army. I have tried to defend my brethren, but have found it very hard to get over the fact that SoEr rell’s, Wofford’s, Benning’s, and Colquit’s Brigades are all without a Baptist Chaplain or 3lissionary—that the artillery and cavalry from Georgia are equally destitute—that there are at present only five chaplains, and not a single missionary to represent the great THE PASTOR'S AID: THE CHRISTIAN#* GUIDE: THE SINNER'S FRIEND. MACON, GEORGIA, THURSMY, FEBRUARY 2, 1865. Baptist denomination of Georgia in this ar my—and that we have not had a missionary in twelve tognths, that I have heard of.— “Brethren, these things ought not to be.” But enough for the present. J. W. J. OUR RICHMOND CORRESPONDENCE. Richmond, January 9, 1865. : Prospects —Cheerful soldiers—,A .sugggsJjou— grFsV—Tfie curr ehcy Acts—The Habeas Corpus—Conscription of Ministers—Reas ons against it—Virginia Legislature—Rev. J. B. Taylor, jr. The year has opened with no new or more favoring aspects for our cause. We are about as well off as we had a right to ex pect. There is no cause for despondency. The army is cheerful, and our prospects of success as bright as ever before. I have just parted with a young officer who declares his unabated confidence in our triumph; he says we will certainly whip the Yankees the next’ Spring. The part of voices from the army are of the same character, and while our army is hopeful we have noth ing to fear. We are never subdued with a large, well disciplined, and brave soldiery, espousing our cause in the field; and we can sprely lay claim to this much. What the Spring will disclose we cannot say, hut we are sure of this: that if our people go on resolving to be successful; if there be no sad divisions among us, we have every reas on to expect that our arms will be victoiious. Grant that the enemy lias larger numbers than ourselves —this war has demonstrated agaiu and again that victories are not meas ured by the numbers of combatants. We have had reason to repeat on a hundred di£ ferent occasions, with grateful hearts, “ The race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong.” Our God has given us the victory wheij. the odds against us were so great as to compel even the sturdiest sometimes to doubt our success. With such examples before us, neither officers nor soldiers, nor people, should give way to despondency. The fact ic VC-. aiWcl frl.ffivfiOU foeS SO much help as woifcm be afforded them by our de spondency. He would be the strongest all we could send to their assistance. We must be hopeful, cheerful, and confident.— If soldiers and citizens shall unite in cher ishing these feelings,, we shall not doqbt that the event will prove our right to cherish them; if on the other hand a gloomy, mel ancholy, and despondency, shall settle down upon us; if we give place to distraction in our councils; if we* get to looking for safe methods of relieving ourselves from the re sponsi -ilities of the war, our cause will be hopeless indeed; we shall be unworthy of success, and our doom is certain. Congress has matured nothing though it has in hand many important measures, some of which grgue good to the country. The currency measures will, if carried out, se cure the confidence of the country in the Confederate issues. And if after these measures are enacted, the price of gold shall remain so high as it now is, I shall Suspect that the fear of our failure is wide spread and alarming. But no, it’will not be so.— Our people must see that come weal or woe, their interests are identified, and must be identified with their government, and they will give support to the money fir the re demption of which all the property and (may I say it) all the honor of the Confed erate States are pledged. It has not yet, transpired whether the Habeas Corpus Act has been suspended in secret session. The Courts are besieged with applications every day. Petitioners flock to them as “ doves to the windows “; and gentlemen fiver fifty and under fifty, Marylanders, contract men, and the rest, for every cause and for none, are begging for discharges from the illegal custody of mili tary officers. Many of these applications are meritorious, and I would not say a word to defeat them, but others have not a shad ow of merit to sustain them. Ido not think the suspension of the writ the wisest thing. The writ will work no harm in itself. Its suspension is not needed. What is needed is, to increase the crimes act and to take away some of the restrictions on the con scription law. This might he done without difficulty, and the country be spared the jeremiads which will be lifted up*in the event the writ ia suspended. I do not think Congress will conscribe the ministers. There is a strong feeling against but I believe an equally strong feeling for putting these ministers in the army who have been speculating either .in the necessaries of life or otherwise. < There might be justice in this, but even thus far it would be impolitic. lam not an apolo- for speculation. I think it deserves jnuph, of the hard things which have been igail against it. But I can readily under hteLdjhow a fervent-hearted Christian min ister may have engaged (at least once) in a tolkcoo speculation without impairing his chptlkn influence, or doing anything worthy Sos boifeure. The wants of h family, a feeble vahy furnish apologies for the course of such a minister; and will our legislators lay down an inexorable rule, and inflict a penalty upon the practice when it is no crime ? I strongly object to this provision for this reason, but more strongly for another. We ought not to regard our army as a place of punishment, a prison to which the moral delinquent is sent for the purpose of correction; and yet this will be so treating it if the minister who does not speculate is relieved from ser vice, and the minister who does is sent into the army. Let us hope that wise may prevail on this important subject. I shall regard it as a sad day for the Southern cause when ministers are cqpscribcd, not so mueh because there shall ccme upon us a token ot divine for the act as’ for the reason, that the ministry furnish more of hopefulness and comfort to.the peo ple at home, and thus incidentally help the common work of defence in energizing the hearts of our brave soldiers than they could do by going into the ranks and shouldering their muskets. Our Virginia Legislature sat with closed doors to-day. Why, we know not. The rumors are scarcely worth repeating. There is much which may-have occasioned it. — Surmises are abundant—none of them of apy value. Brother James B. Taylor, junior, arrived in the city two or three days ago. Ho will return again to his Southern work. I am sure that those who met him before will greet him again, and there are others who will desire to see him ere he leaves again for the sunny South. Do not decoy.liiinfo Georgia: Virginia cannot afford to give up all her preachers. SE3IEI. INCHESTING RICHMOND LETTER. Richmond, Jan. 10th, 1865. Congress and some of its actors —The Presi dent—Doubts. Dear. Bro Boykin —We reached this city a week ago this morning, and have had some opportunity of seeing and hearing matters and things in general. The day of our ar rival, we went to the House of Representa tives,'and sent in our names to Judge C., the Representative from our District. In the absc ce of the Speaker, he was occupying the chair, but kindly gave instructions to have us conducted to seats on the floor, while we listened with no small interest to the de bate on the bill to consolidate the army.— The principal speakers were Messrs. 3Jiles of 3. C., the Chairman of the Military com mitt .e—a member from Miss, whose name I did not learn—Mr Snead from Mo., Gen. Marshal from Ky.,and Mr. Conrad from La. The Bill was under discussion when we en tered the hall, and it continued until the ad journment. Indeed it has been the princi pal subject before the House for several days. The impression l made upon me by the- House was afavocable one. 3lr. Bocock, the Speak er, is a fine looking man possessed of great su aviter in modo, but seems to be rather wan ting in the fortite in re. In the kindness of “his heert, he sometimes permits what a stern presiding officer such as Dr. Mell would rap down with his hammer. Inihe Virginia|del egation, Mr. De Jarnette struck me as be ing the ablest representative ot the Old Do minion. He has not the appearance of being a hijlliant man, but a man of sound judg ment and sterling integrity. Among the Kentucky delegation, I found an old friend and school-mate, Hon. I. L. Barnett. We were boys together under the shade of the old oaks that grew around the school-house, where our young ideas were first taught how to shoot—We had grown up together, and were fast friends until I left the scenes of my childhood for a home in the sunny South. When our troubles com menced, he espoused the cause of the South, and Was elected a member of Congress from that;State. Long and deeply interesting were the talks Jwe had of the days gone by, and of the future now overshadowed with clouds. Mr Bruce from Kentucky is a man of fine appearance: looks rather like a merchant prince, than a Statesman, and accordingly I was told that** he had made an immense amount during the war, running the block ade, and in divers other ways. Os the dele- gation from Tennessee, Mr Atkins struck me favorably. He is comparatively a young nian; above medium height, with a hansdome face and open frank expression, well calcu lated to 1 win upon the stranger. The few remarks I heard him make upon the floor of the House, lead me to think that he was eloquent, if not able in debate. Mr Foote, t&efeflfc es ♦lt*’- . M-fc- Miles of Charleston impressed me mere than any other man from his State/ He is evidently one of the ablest men of the House. He is very courteous and graceful as a speaker. His atacks upon the position of his antagonist are always well directed and sometimes overwhelming,and when acting up on the defensive, he parries the blow of his adversary with so much dexterity and kindli ness of manner that he not unfrequently dis arms him. But when fully aroused he would make a discourteous opponent feel through hi ß silken glove the grasp of his iron hand—would transfix him with his lanoe or demolish him with a blow. As most of your readers know the delegation from Georgia, of it I need not speak. The representation from our own State (Alabama) is headed by Pugh of Eufaula, and Chilton of 3lontgomery. -We missed the gifted Curry. He no longer holds a seat in the Hall which he graced by his presence, and to which his abilities so justly entitled him- He is serving his Country in the field, and if his life is not offered up as a sacrifice upon her altars, a bright future awaits him. God spare him to the State and to the Confederacy. The quiet unobtrusive Clopton whose genial face is seen near the middle of the * hall, seemed to me to be inspired by the spirit of peace, and, by a gentle yet powerful influence, to leave his impress upon the measure before the House. Judge Chilton who temporari ly occupied the chair, we are told has more influence in Congress than any other man in the delegation. You know that he is a Baptist deacon of the- church in Montgom ery; a man whose heart and hands are ready for every good word and work. We were pleased to meet with another Babtist broth er in this delegation—Mr Dickinson, repre senting the 3lobile District— a cousin to our good brother, A E Dickinson of Vir ginia* The next morning in company with 3lessrs. Chilton and Pugh from Ala., We called to see the President on the subject of our mis sion. He received uk very kindly, read the communications which we 1 Jbrought, and frankly stated his willingness for us to go North,and his apprehensions of insuperable obstacles on the other side of our lines.. He instructed *Tudge Ould, the Commissioner of exchange, to ask permission of the Fed eral authorities for us to pass through.— Finding that no flag of truce had passed for some time, we had several interviews with Judge 0. as to the best way of communica ting with the Federal authorities. -The flag of truce boat having arrived, we will go down with Judge Ould tomorrow. What will be the success of our application, we cannot foresee, but have little hope of getting through. If we should have to await an answer to our application, I may write you again. If we do not succeed, I shall proahly-see you in 3lacon before long. Good bye. Your Brother I. T. Tichenor. OUR AUGUSTA CORRESPONDENCE. Where is the Index ?—Our ‘employment in Augusta. Departure of Refugees. In crease of Drunkenness. Augusta, January 21st, 1865. Is the Index dead ? or does “the old man yet live ?” It has been months since I have had any evidence of his existence by com munications direct from his home. This may’ be owing either to the interruption of mail transmissions, or to the erasure of my name by the old gentleman, from the list of his friends. If the former, I fear that I . must wait until the war is over before the difficulty is fully removed, if the latter, may I beg that you will-use your influence to re store me to favor ? We are busy here in repairing the dama ges which our city has suffered by the re cent disastrous freshet. Have you ever been in a large city when it was completely submerged by water? The spectacle is most exciting, I can assure you. Our whole town including the commons nnd suburbs was suddenly converted into one vast rushing river, varying from one to two miles in width and ranging from two feet to forty feet in depth! Had it not been that such’ sights were not unparallelled here, the late inun dation would have produced no little hydro- TERMS, $20.00 IN ADVANCE VOL. XLIV-NO. 5 phobia, as it was, people coolly (the ther mometer was only about fifteen degrees above the freezing point) addressed themselves to the work of preparing for the flood. Wa ter, strange to say, became in great request. The deluge cut off our ordinary supply and compelle 1 us to seek elsewhere some of • the article which-was pure enough to drink. Errry-agfcUahle vegsrel ia % YiHed and in the midst of the river we are guard ing againt thirst with as much zeal as if we expectedarepetitionot the Tantalean punish ment. After water wood is the great desid eratum. Then comes the removal of all the poultry tribe, (if you are so fortunate as to have any) to the place of safety. This is succeeded by the transfer of everything which is movable, and which the water can damage to the upper story. A walk through the business thoroughfares exhibits the ra pid disgorgement of cellars wherein have been concealed rice, sugar, Balt and other artiles whose owners had not intended for them so abrupt an exhumation. Meanwhile the water rises, the cellars arc filled, the yards are overflowed, the houses are enter ed and our people continue to “go up” just as certainly as Savannah went up when the Yankees went down. • * How impressively does such a scene as that to which I have referred make us feel the power of the Creator and the weakness of ourselves! Had the freshet continued in violence for twenty-four hours longer—had a few feet been added to the depth of the water every living thing in the city would have perished I How easily could the Om nipotent One have done this! How easily could the same awful power by a slight pressure on the tide of the ocean drown a whole continent! How much we owe him every moihent for saying to the destructive element, “Hitherto shalt thou come, but no farther I” • < We are not suffering so much at the pres ent time from a plethora of population as W'e were a few weeks ago. This is’ owing to the return of many persons to their homes in those parts of the State which have been recently liberated from the presence of the enemy. But our depletion is owing still more to the apprehension which exists lest the enemy may do for us what he has done for a sister city. Every one who can command a comfortable home elsewhere is emigrating, in ihe hope of escaping a little longer the yoke which the advancing armies are preparing to impose. •To remove one temptation, perhaps the most powerful, to the cupidity of the invader, Gen. Hill has ordered all the cotton to be removed to dis tant points, or to be so dispose*! as to be - for the application of the torch when the capture of the city becomes inev itable. Gen. Sherman will not be able to dupli cate his Savannah present with the spoils which he will gather in Augusta. But we are contending with a foe more insidious and destructive than our undis guised enemies. Whisky is committing fear ful havoc among our soldiers aind citizens. I have noticed more drunken men since the fall of Savannah than I have observed for m&ny a day before. One would suppose with whisky at 55 a drink inebriates would be scarce, but las ! they meet you every where. Asa consequence fights and brawls are of common occurrence in our heretofore orderly streets/ It is melancholy to see men in Confederate uniforms privates and officers (and more of the latter in proportion) occupying the whole pavement in their marches find counter-marches, and anon measuring their length in full on the side walk. I wish Congress would pass a law cashiering every officer who gets drunk. Is a man who “puts poison in his month to steal away his brains” fit to be entrusted with the lives of hundreds, or it may be, of thousands of his fellow-citizens ? The whis ky loving officer is rendering more aid and comfort to the enemy than any other class with whom I am acquainted I have nothing, I am sorry to say, of any religious interest to report. love of many waxes cold and iniquity abounds.” There is a goodly number of ladies in at tendance upon the prayer-meetings for tho country; but ot males sometimes there are six present and sometimes less. There is a deep and wide spread yearning for peace in almost every heart. The rod will be lift ed when our Father sees that we are prop erly humbled. Can we reasonably expect that he will withdraw his chastening hand sooner? Theopiiilus. The way to be happy—“Do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God ”