Baptist General Association of Virginia.
--The meeting of this body, on yesterday, was quite interesting.
Various reports were made in reference to the several departments of religious enterprise.
The following report was read by
Rev. A. F. Dickinson, the
Superintendent of Colportage, and is published by request of the Association:
At the last annual meeting of this body, resolutions were adopted that ‘"appointment of colporteurs should be restricted to the army,"’ and that ‘"special contributions to colportage among the soldiers should be solicited from such persons in all parts of the country as feel interested to the spiritual welfare of the brave men who are gathered from the various Southern States to fight our common battles on the soil of
Virginia."’ --Acting under these instructions, the Sunday School and Publication Board has made such an appeal, and with the most remarkable success.
Everywhere, from men of all denominations and of no denomination, a liberal response has been made.
The following is a brief summary of what has been effected, so far as it is needful to state result.
We have collected $24,000, with which forty tracts have been published, six million one hundred and eighty seven thousand pages of which have been distributed, besides six thousand and ninety-five Testaments, thirteen thousand eight hundred and forty-five copies of the little volume called Camp Hymns, and a large number of religious books.
Our policy has been to seek the cooperation of chaplains and other pious men in the army, and, as far as possible, to work through them.
Thus it is that a vast amount of labor has been performed without any expense to the Board and these scores of voluntary tract distributors, while carrying joy and peace to the hearts of their comrades, have themselves been greatly benefited.
By having something to do, they have realized the fulfilment of the promise.
‘"He that watereth shall be watered also himself."’ In order the better to reach and supply the various divisions of the army throughout the
Confederacy, we have established depositories in various cities and towns.
In every such place some pious man has been found who, for the luxury of doing good to the soldiers, has been willing to furnish a suitable room and to act as our agent.
Thus Testaments and tracts have been carried to the very doors of thousands of ministers and private Christians, who, but for these little depots of religious literature, might not have been induced to act as tract distributors.
We have depositories in
Goldsboro',
Raleigh and
Wilmington, N. C. in
Savannah and
Atlanta, Ga.; in
Mobile and
Montgomery, Aia; at
Corinth, Miss.; in
Knoxville, Tenn; and in
Richmond,
Lynchburg,
Staunton and Denville, Va. How pleasant to think of the facilities thus furnished for spreading the word of the
Lord among these who defend our altars and homes — of the thousands who, far from their loved ones, are every hour in every day, in the loneliness and gloom of the hospital, and in the bustle and mirth of the camp, reading some of these millions of pages which have been distributed, and thus been led to turn unto the
Lord'.
When we entered upon these labors in the army, the field was entirely unoccupied.
No similar agency had been organized at that time and set at work in this direction.
We had at least two- thirds of all the colporteurs at the
South in our employ — the result of our effort to build up a Southern colportage enterprise from the time when the American Tract Society determined to publish on the question of slavery.
From the first,
Virginia has, to a large extent, been the battle field of the struggle for our independence.
It seemed, therefore, that we, with this trained hand of laborers, were called of God to engage in the work which had been brought to our very doors.
Appeals for tracts camp to us from chaplains and other pious men in the army, as well as from those at home, of all evangelical denominations; and at the same time contributions were made by Christians of different ecclesiastical connections, to aid in the publication and distribution of these tracts.
We were thus doubly encouraged to address a
general appeal to all good people within the
Confederate States.
While asking for the money of all, we have held ourselves ready to assist the labors of all among the soldiers, and such as wished our publications — chaplains, officers,
privates, godly men and women at home — have been freely supplied with them.
We are glad to be able to record that we have.
It been left to cultivate this field alone.
The
South Carolina Tract Society and other institutions, which were already in existence have been publishing tracts for soldiers; as have been
Rev. R. Gate wood, under Episcopal auspices in
Virginia, and
Rev. W. J. W. Crowder, with the concurrence of ministers of all denominations in
North Carolina.
New institutions, also, have been called into being by this demand for religious literature, among which the
Virginia Methodist Tract Society and the Evangelical Tract Society of
Petersburg are doing a good work.
We rejoice in this development of Christian zeal, and in every token of the divine blessing upon it.
Still, enough remains to call forth all our efforts, sacrifices, and prayers.
The field before us is now more inviting than at any previous time.
The fact that we were the first to inaugurates this enterprise; that we have so many hundreds of laborious men scattered throughout the Confederate army at work for us, that our depository agents in the various cities have to faithfully bought to aid all, and that our Board is located at the seat of the
Government and center of travel, all combine to attest that the
Lord of the harvest has not yet released us from this service — that he holds still greater and richer fruits in reserve for us.
The Association yesterday adopted the report of the
Committee on the
State of the Country.
which, includes a series of eminently patriotic resolutions, reiterating the firm conviction of the Association of the rectitude of the cause in which the
Confederate States are now straggling, and unwavering confidence of its ultimate triumph.
The report also urges prayer to the God of peace for the success of the cause, sympathizes with those who have been driven from their homes, and extends to them a cordial hospitality, deems it the duty of every one to submit to any toiled, sacrifices, and sufferings which may be necessary to prevent a failure that must issue in our enslavement, degradation, and fain, recommends the exercise of a Christian spirit, even towards our enemies, and concludes with expressing the deliberate opinion that no citizen owing allegiance to the
State of Virginia, and falling within the lines of the enemy's army, can, while the contest between the two Governments is still pending, take the oath of allegiance to the
Government of the
United States, without incurring the guilt of treason or of perjury, and the committee fervently hope that no person connected with the Association will bring so foul a blot on his own character, or on that of the denomination.
