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6 Ons of the Many Hindrances to Prayer. Anger is a perfect alienation of the mind from prayer; and therefore is contaray to that atten tion which presents ouv prayers in a right line to God. For so hare I seen a lark rising from his bed of grass and soaring upwards, singing as he rises, and hopes to get to heaven and climb above the clouds ; but the poer bird was beaten back with the loud sigfifngs of an eastern wind and his motion made irregular and inconstant —descending more at every breath of the tem pest than it could recover by the libration and frequent weighing of -tiis wings, till the little creature was forced to sit down and pant, and stay till the storm was over; and then it made a prosperous flight, and did rise and sing as if it had learned music and motion from an angel, as he‘passed some time through the air about his ministries hero below. So it is with the prayer of a good man ; when his affairs have required business, and his business was matter of discipline, and his discipline was to pass upon a sinning person, or had a design of charity, his duty met with the infirmities of a man, and au ger was its instrument; and t lie instrument be came stronger than the prime agent, and raised a tempest and overruled the man ; and then his prayer was broken, and his thoughts were trou bled, and his words went up towards a cloud, and his thoughts pulled them back again, and made them without intention ; and the good man sighs for his infertility, but must be content to loose that prayer; and then he must, recover it, when his anger is removed and hi* spirit ig be calmed— mail* even as tiic brow of Jesus—and then it ascends to heaven upon the wing* of the holy l)ove, and dwells with God, til! it returns like the useful bee, ladencd with a blessing and the dew of heaven '.—Jeremy Taylor. ,®, .A Cure for Duelling. “It was in one of the Prussian,campaigns/’ says Ilarte. in bis life of Gustavns Adolphus, king of Sweden, “ that, the irrational practice of duelling rose to such a height in the Swed ish army, not only among persons of rank and fashion, b*ut even between the common soldiers, that Gusfavuspublished a severe edict, denoun cing death against every delinquent. Soon af ter there arose a quarrel between two ofiicers very high in command, and as they knew the kind's firmness in preserving his word inviola ble, they agreed to request an audience, and • esoitght his permission t.o decide the affair like men of honor, ilis majesty repressed his pas sion, and under the appearance of pitying brave men who thought their reputation injured, lie told them that though he blamed much their mistaken notions of fame and glory, yet as this unreasonable determination appeared to be the resnlt of deliberate, reflection, he would allow them to decide !he affair at a time and place specified: “ And, gentlemen,” said he, “ I my self Will be a witness of your extraordinary va lor.” At tlie hour appointed, Gustavus arrived, accompanied with a small body of infantry, whom lie drew up around the combatants. Hav ing done this, he desired them to fight on till one of them should bo killed, and calling the executioner of the army to him, he ordered him tho moment one should fall, to be ready instant ly to behead tho survivor. Astonish, dat such inflexible firmness, the two generals, after paus ing a moment, fed upon their knees, and asked the king s forgiveness, who made them embrace each other, and give their promise to continue faithful friends to their last moments ; as they both did with sincerity and thankfulness. From Gen. Johnston’s Army.—We learn that dispatches have been received from per sons connected with the army under General Johnston, dated at Smithfield, N. C.. the 27th, (Monday). This place, it will be remembered, is about twenty-seven miles from Raleigh, and on the railroad, about mid-way between that city and Goldsboro’. We should judge that this is a position where Gen. lirngg can form a junction with General Johnston, if that is desirable, or has not al ready taken place, while it is one from which Sherman must force him, (if lie cam) before lie attempts a forward movement on Raleigh, as Sherman will hardly dare advance in that di rection with such a force under such an an tagonist, able, ready and willing to strike hi/, on his flank or rear. Kach day now adds to the interest of the situation, both in North Ca rolina and Virginia.— Tel. and Confcd. “ Tiiy Wti.i. be Done.”—At an anniversary" meeting of the London Sunday School Union, the Rev. S. Kilpin remarked, that in catechiz ing some children on the subject, “ Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” the following were the questions and answers : Wliat is to be done? The will of God. Where is it to fee done? On earth. How is it to be done ? As it is in heaven. How do you think the angels do the will of God in Heaven, as they are our pattern? The first replied, “they do it imme diately,” The second, “they doit actively.” The third, “they do it unitedly.” Here a pause ensued, and no other child appeared to have any answer; but after some time a little girl arose and said, “ Why, sir, they do it without asking any questions.” THE ARMY & NAVY HERALD. On Providential Preservations. HY OLD HUMPHREY. It is a profitable thing for a pilgrim to look forward to the city with the golden gates; for a sight of the shining portals of heaven animates him to bear with patience, and to overcome with perseverance, the | trials he meets with on earth. Not that he ! can always do this : for oftentimes there is j a cloud in the, distance, and a mist around 1 him that obscures his view: hut when he | can catch a glimpse of his heavenly inheri j tance, it gives strength to his fainting soul. I Nor is it an unprofitable thing, while resting besides the King’s highway, to give a back ward glance at the crooked lanes, the thor ny places, and the quagmit os through*'?,'lnch he had been led and mercifully sustained. Let us apply these observations to ourselves. It may be that you are younger than I am, and have not borne so long the heat and burden of the.day; or it may be, that your years outnumber mine: in either case, your memory will no doubt serve to remind you of many narrow escapes, or rath er of many merciful preservations, from im minent danger. Now it seems to me that we hardly think enough of these things ; for consider, what can be a stronger pledge that (Jod will pro tect us in future dangers, than the knowl edge that he has preserved those which are past? lam trot calling on you to enu merate your mercies, for you may as well try to count tho blades of grass, as attempt to do that; bt.it you may recall to your mind such particular instances of God’s al mighty and merciful preservation, as may constrain you to say, “ 0 Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.” IVa li. 15. In order that you may be persuaded to sum up your preservations, Twill here re late to you a few of mine. By them you will see that if the heart l*ating in the bo som of Old. Humphrey be not grateful, it must be harder than stone. In the days of my childhood, a servant brought a pan of hot coals to warm the bed. wherein I had been pul without her knowl edge. You may guess wliafc.followed. My agonizing screams confused and confounded poor Betty, and the pan of coals was not re moved til! it had. indicted on me injuries that placed my life in danger On what .a spider’s thread our existence seems to hang ! What is our life? “It is 1 even a vapor, that appeared) for a little time, and then vynisheth away.” James iv. 14. Not long after I had recovered my strength from my accident by the warming pan, l fell through the cellar window of a haif-ithished house, by which misfortune, my forehead striking against the sharp edge of the brick-work, was laid open. Lor some time I lay bleeding, and was taken up for dead. Grey hairs are now growing on my.head, but the soar on my brow is visible still. Truly nitty we say to one another, whether we are old or young, “ Boast not thyself of to-morrow; for thou knowest not • wliat a day i/tay bring forth.” 1 'rov. xxyii. 1. \\ hen a school-hoy, in attempting' to des ; ceud a high rocky bank, my toe caught un- S der the root of a tree, and i. was pitched ! down headlong into the hollow way beneath. ! A sloping heap of sand at the bottom eased i'my fall, and most probably saved my neck j from being broken. Surely dangers are i ever around us, and “our days upon earth ! are a shadow.” Jobviii. 9\ Before I could swim I was a good diver, ; and often amused myself with diving in j deep water to a certain point, where I caught | hold of the top of the granite stones which j foimed the side of the basin. On one oc- I casiou, the water was So low, that when I | arrived tit the accustomed point, I could not : reach the granite stones. Again and again i l struggled desperately to effect my pur ! pose, but in vain, and was on the point of l sinking, being out of my depth, when a ! swimmer caught hold of me. I The result is the same, whether God of : his goodness sends an angel from his heav | enly throne to save us when in danger, or I strengthens the arm of a fellow-mortal for ] the work of our deliverance. To him, in I'either case, be the glory and the praise. | “ It is a good .thing to give thanks unto the j Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, | O Most High.” i\sa. xcii. 1. | In going, on a certain occasion, in an up | per room of a very old house, the crazy floor gave way under iny feet. Had I not caught hold of the joist, most Ukely I should have found my way into the cellar, and this re cord of mishaps would never have been no ted down by Old Humphrey. “ Lord make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that'l may know h«w j frail I am.” Psa. xxxix. 4. I once accompanied a friend of mine to j examine the roof of a chapel, and, while the ringer of the bell was absent from the | belfry, we climbed up past the bell to the roof. The place we clambered through was narrow, so that the hell, which then stood with its clapper upwards, when swinging round occupied almost the whole space. My friend arid I had crept through a trap door to the roof, and were on the point of returning; already had I bent my body to creep through the trap-door, when a loud creak made me vftthdra# my head. The sound of the ponderous bell at that moment thrilled through my heart. The ringer had returned to the belfry, and had pulled off the bell, not knowing that any one was above. Had not that timely creak warned me of inv danger, the massy bell must of necessity have dashed me in pieces. In such danger, my language might indeed have been, “ There is but a step between me and death.” 1 Sam. xx. 3. At % period of my life, when T was some what more nimble than 1 am now* I fool ishly ventured to cross a precipice on the side of a mountainous hill. The hill was several hundred feet in height, and the pre cipice, perhaps one or two hundred. I had supposed the side of the precipice to be hard and firm ; but no soonqr had I got to the steepest part, than the ground gave Gray beneath me. There was no hope but in dashing on, and this I did with qjl the headlong energy of despair, the earth crum bling beneath my foot every step l took. When I stood on the opposite side of the precipice in safety, I looked back with a de gree of terror on the jeopardy that had well nigh destroyed me. “ Walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time.’ Eph. v. 1», 16. During my first visit to Loadon, a friend and I took a boat oh the river Thames. Those who remember the fall of water through the centre arch of old London Bridge, when the tide was returning, well know, that to pass through it safely, in a small boat, without a very skilfull boatman, was very dangerous. My friend and I,,both inexperienced in rowing, had taken up the oars to paddle about in the stream, giving the boatman & cheese-cake or two, with which to employ himself. Imperceptibly we got. into the strong current, and in a few minutes should have been hurried through the centre arch, and perhaps into eternity, had not the boat man hashing down his cheese-cakes, suddenly caught hold of the oars and rowed for his life. We sh ot through one of the side ar ches like an arrow from a bow, and escaped with our lives, not unmindfuLof our danger, nor unthankful for our preservation by Him “ in whoso hand is the soul of eyery living thing, and the breath of all mankind.” Job xii. 10. In France, I was one night, when travel ling, so beset with peril, and driven to such extremity, that I took out my knife, hold ing it ready open in my hand to defend my self from auy sudden attack of my treacher ous companion. I had reason to “offerun to Gad thanksgiving,” and to pay my “ vows unto the Most High.” Psa. i 14. Never was I in.greater danger than on the occasion of seeing a female relative home late at night. Not being able to make the servant hear by ringing the bell, and fearing lest an accident had taken place, I went round to the back of the house, to clamber over the garden wall. As I stood on the wall, the casement of a cottage near was gently opened ; little did 1 then dream of my perilous situation. At that moment" a loaded pistol was directed against my life. The owner of the cottage, hearing people talking, had got up to the window, and see ing as he supposed, a robber scaling the wall, he stepped back, laid hold of his load ed pistol, cocked it, and placed his finger on the trigger, aimed it at me. At this in stant, he thought that he recognized his neighbor’s voice speaking to me; and thus was I again mercifully preserved. “ O give thanks unto Lord, for he is good ; be cause his mercy endureth for ever.” Psa. cxviii. 1. The last instance of imminent peril that I shall now record, is one of a singular kind. ! had descended a copper mine, habited in the flannel jacket and slouched hat of a mi- - ner, carrying a candle in iny left hand. If I remember right, the miae was double the depth of an ordinary coal mine. I went down not less than forty or fifty ladders placed perpendicularly against the sides of the different shafts. After reaching the bottom, visiting every part of the mine, and observing the differ ent operations performed by the miners, I began to ascend the perpendicular ladders, bathed with perspiration occasioned by beat and fatigue. I had ascended about midway, when grasping one of the rounds of the ladder on which 1 stood, it came out loose in my hand. It happened at the moment, that my left hand, which held the candle, had a suffi cient hold of the ladder to prevent my fall, otherwise I must have been precipitated down the fearful abyss beneath me. Now, ought not Old Humphrey to be among first and foremost of those whose hearts and tongues cry aloud, “ Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord?” Psa. el. 6.’ Haply these instances of providential pre servation will recall to your memory some of your own that you had forgotten, * and prompt you to pay some fraction of the debt of gratitude you owe to your Heavenly Fa ther, for his parental care and continued loving-kindness ; so that we may together “sing u»to the Lord, and make a joyful noise to the re ck of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.” Psa. xcv. 1,2. “ When nil thy mtreies, 0 my #©d, My rising soul surveys, Transported with the view I’m lest, In wonder, lore and praise.” How a True Soldier and Patriot Feels, The Columbus Times has been permitted to make the following extract from a private letter, written by General Cockrell, to a friead iu that city. This officer is a Missou rian, and commands a brigade in French’s division. He has not been at home in four years, but has L ecu constantly in the field except when wounds (of which he has many) compelled his absence. His brigade of Missourians, with himself at their head, lias won a name that •tn never die. Tit* letter was written in the freedom of private corre*- pondeice, and, of cource, was never intend ed lo he published; but the sentiments it utters are so honorable to the author, and are, moreover, so well calculated to inspire faith and hope in the cause, that we trust he will excuse the liberty taken.— Telegraph and Confederate. “ Since 1 saw you last, I have gone ! through a regular flint mill. My noble bri gade has been almost obliterated. At A 11a toona. Georgia, 1 lost one third of the num ber taken into the fight, and at Franklin Tennessee, ! lost two thirds—having had every fourth man killed dead, or mortally wounded, and since died. This was by far the fiercest, and bloodiest and hottest battle I have ever been in. My brigade acted more handsomely, defiantly and recklessly than on any field of the war; and you know what it required to eclipse all former con duct on so many bloody fields. They march ed quietly, and boldly, and steadily through the broken and fleeing ranks of at least twice their own numbers, and no man waver ed—ail to the step, with colors six paces in front, just like a drill, and never brought their guns from a “ right shoulder shift” uulii with'ii thirty or forty yards of the en emy’s works, and then fired by order, and hurled- themselves against the works. It was grand and terrible in the extreme. A1 most all were killed ami wounded very near •the works, or iu the ditches of the works. I have no language,to paint the scene. “ We hear that Col. Gates lias escaped the enemy, and is now somewhere in our lines. I hope it is true. He is the noblest and best soldier I ever saw. “ I bad a rough time getting out of Ten nessee, but would hare ventured almost any thing before falling into Yankee hands. I rejoined my brigade at West Point, Miss., January 30, 1895, just sixty days from tlie day I was "wounded. I have been on crutch es up to March 4, 1865. Laid them aside on that day to take an even start with Old Abe forthe coming four years. lam in for that time, and four more if necessary-forever if required. We arrived in Mobile, Februa ry 4th, and since then, I have bceu com manding French’s division. “I am not well yet.. My right leg is still not well. ,1 have six pieces of bone which have worked out, and think more pie ces will yet work out. “ I got" disgusted with the rear—could scarcely keep from breaking my crutches over the rear men, who talked so loudly of demoralization, peace, etc. I never want any man to gas to me of peace. I don’t think of any such good thing. I think of war—Litter, cruel, devastating war—am ful ly prepared for the worst. I expect Rich mond to fall; and even when all Our large armies are disbandoued by force of" the ene my —our cities, rail-roads and rivers in their possession—then I will just commence fight ing iu earnest. Will take to the mountains and swamps, and fight on, fight ever. Let us all resolve to do this, and we are free. Re not overjoyed with victory, and draw new, fresh inspiration from disasters and re verses. Trust in God and our own arms, and all will be right. I firmly believe in our entire ability to maintain our separate nationality and achieve our independence.” - The Christian’s burden is like the wings of a bird which she carries, yet they support her in her flight to heaven.