William W. Bennett, A narrative of the great revival which prevailed in the Southern armies during the late Civil War

[416] the many and great blessings which he has vouchsafed to us.

Let the hearts of our people turn contritely and trustfully unto God; let us recognize in his chastening hand the correction of a Father, and submissively pray that the trials and sufferings which have so long borne heavily upon us may be turned away by his merciful love; that his sustaining grace be given to our people, and his Divine wisdom imparted to our rulers; that the Lord of Hosts will be with our armies, and fight for us against our enemies; and that he will graciously take our cause into his own hand and mercifully establish for us a lasting, just, and honorable peace and independence.

And let us not forget to render unto his holy name the thanks and praise which are so justly due for his great goodness, and for the many mercies which he has extended to us amid the trials and sufferings of protracted and bloody war.

To this earnest call there came a response from all parts of the South. In the churches, in the hospitals, in the camps and in the trenches, thousands bowed in humble prayer for the blessing and mercy of God.

And, as in earlier periods of the war, many of the brightest examples of endurance and faith were found in the army. The anchor of hope held more securely as the storm increased. The serene courage and perfect trust of Christian soldiers were the richest legacies of those gloomy days. The Rev. Thomas A. Ware, of the M E. Church, South, who labored with untiring zeal as a Chaplain in the army of Northern Virginia, gives a vivid picture of a scene after a day of blood. In the midst of the surgeon's work, as he spoke to the sufferers stretched upon the ground, his ear caught the soft murmur of prayer.

“I turned,” he says, “to catch the words. I saw one form bent over another, prostrate on the grass, until the ”