--The following eloquent and patriotic language is extracted from the annual address of
Bishop Davis, of
South Carolina:
‘
"Having now, beloved brethren, brought before you my official acts for the past year, I must now call your attention to more anxious and more thrilling thoughts.
We are in the midst of war and its consequences.
We are looking out every day for exciting events.--Our hearthstones are upturned.
Our brothers and our children are in the field.
Our youths, with whom we have heretofore only sported, have sprung up into armed men. This is not confined to a few. It is spread throughout the land.
There is not a heart which it does not reach.
We are filled with deep emotions and trying expectations.
But this is no time for weakness or for fears. A country was never so saved.
We are called upon for manly resolution, and for Christian hope and trust.
Our cause is right, and God is true.
Let us show the world that we can trust both.
Let us show them, too, that we are Southern men, and claim independent opinions and a sustaining individuality.
We are not dependent upon circumstances or combinations, or numbers, for our inward strength, but can stand erect in personal character in the sense of integrity and the fear of God.
Before Him, indeed, let us humble ourselves, confessing our sine, implore His pardon, and supplicate His grace and spiritual benediction.
We have done so. We thank God that, by the appointment of the
Chief Magistrate of our Confederacy, our whole country and people have come before him in supplication and prayer.
Let us continue thus to always seek His face and depend upon His favor and grace.
‘"In all our trials, and the convulsions of the world, let us lift up our hearts to Him, and hear Him say, 'Be still, and know that I am God.'"’
’
