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 Duke University Libraries 
 
 Conversation in 
 Conf Pam 12mo #821 
 
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CONVERSATION IN A TENT. 
 
 BY A. SHERWOOD, D. 3>. 
 
 I had a conversation with a private in the 47'.h Georgia 
 iment, something like the following: First, I related an an- 
 ecdote which I had heard from a Revolutionary eoldicr. Ad 
 officer was called as a witness at a Court-3Iartial, to whom the 
 Jud; U Come forward and tell us what you know. — 
 
 Make way i' sdldieT to give in his testimony;" who an- 
 
 Bwered, "I am not a soldier, but an officer.' 1 "Well," re- 
 plied t\\2 Judge, " mahe way for that officer, who is not a sol- 
 dier" much to the merriment of the company and chagrin of 
 the minltrith epaulettes. 
 
 I address you as soldiers, as men that have not sought of- 
 fice — as men that will fight, but never run from the enemy — . 
 as those that love their country, and will contend for its rights 
 to the death, though you wear no lace or gold on your uni- 
 form : you are privates, but men of strong arms and courageous 
 hearts, and in the language of Burns' song, " a poor but hon- 
 est sojer." Home and friends are dear to you, and rights and 
 interests are precious, to be watched with sleepless vigilance : 
 bat all these are not of so much importance as the soul. Have 
 you thought of this ? Have you cared for the interests of 
 your undying spirit ? Have you ever been concerned about 
 your future condition, whether it will be happy or miserable ? 
 Your love of country, your patriotism, is not questioned. If 
 the invader comes, he will pass your threshold only orer 
 
2 CGIiVERSATION IN A THS?. 
 
 your lifeless eorpse. This is right -an J praise- worthy j but 
 patriotism cannot be substituted for religion, nor save the 
 
 t'Oul. 
 
 "You say a soldier cannot be religious?" Cornelius, a 
 Centurion, in charge of 100 Roman soldiers, was a derout 
 man, one that feared God, and prayed to God always. [See 
 Acts 10th.] God heard his petitions, and his alms were had 
 in remembrance before his Maker. More temptations assailed 
 him than can possibly affect you ; yet he was a christian, and 
 his piety approved of God. Gen. Havelock, in command of 
 troops in India, during the mutiny, when thousands of British 
 soldiers, women and children, were massacred, was a man of 
 devotion. He used to pray with his regiment, and ia£k to 
 them on religious subjects; many of whom became pious. — 
 AVhen any hazardous work was to be accomplished any dan- 
 gerous expedition undertaken, " Send Havelock \s saints " 
 was the common word of commard, for it was known they 
 were the most courageous men in India. Gen. Stonewall 
 Jackson is represented as a pious man, and we arc told that 
 he offered public prayer at Richmond some few weeks prior 
 to his successful battles with Banks, Fremont and Shields. — 
 Soldiers can be religious, and all of them ought to be. If 
 officers in high position can find time for prayer and religious 
 
 duties, much more can a private soldier. Does not Gen. 
 Beauregard ascribe the victories botli at Manassas and at Shi- 
 loh to the interposition of the Almighty ? 
 
 " Religion is laughed at in the camps." You may hav« 
 
CONVERSATION IN A TENT. 
 
 been laughed at in school, but did that prevent you learning 
 your lessons, or render education valueless ? So in the camps, 
 duties will not hinder you from -. ■;!::„- to understand some- 
 thing about the science of salvation. A laugh or sneer does 
 not kill as docs a bullet, nor do th<*j destroy the truth of the 
 Bible, the value of the soul, nor the hopes of the good man 
 in God's promises to save all that fear and obey Him. No 
 wise man, no true soldier, mocks at religion. 
 
 " Soon as the war is over, I mean to be religious." You 
 may not live to see that day ; you may fall in 'he first battle, 
 or by disease, before you come in contact with the enemy : 
 hence, be prepared for death, or you are lost forever. Now, 
 now, .not to-morrow, is the accepted period ft r preparation, 
 the day of salvation. Delay is dangerous. How many 
 thousands of our soldiers have died of disease since the be- 
 ginning of the war ? — five to one that have died by bullets or 
 weapons of the enemy. 
 
 " I cannot fed the danger as you represent it." But God's 
 Book so declares it : this would mot be full of warnings unless 
 it were dangerous to live in a state of irreconciliation to God 
 and unfit to die. Repent and believe the Gospel, is a portion 
 of the first Gospel sermon ever delivered. 
 
 Haste, sinner — now return, 
 
 Stay not for the morrow's sun — 
 
 Leat thy lamp should cease to burn 
 
 Ere salvation's work is done. 
 
 V 
 " My conscience does not condemn me." It may be asleep, 
 
 but it will wake up by and by when too late, when delirium 
 
0G2SYIIIISA.TI0N IX A XENT. 
 
 has seized you. or you are too feeble io militate on eternal 
 tilings; it will awake refreshed by its slumbers, give you 
 dreadful agony, and the foretaste of unutterable despair. 
 
 u My mother used to pray for me,"when a child, but she is 
 now in heaven." TI113 should encourago you to pray for 
 yourself, that you way reach the same happy place. Begin 
 to-day, soldier, — thousands are praying throughout the land 
 for soldiers. Pray before you lay down this Conversation in 
 a Tent, this word of advice and warning. Pray that God 
 may give you a new heart, a new taste — that you may feel 
 the danger, the imminent peril of living a foe to your Maker. 
 
 I saw a soldier on his dying bed. He was tenderly nursed 
 by mother, sisters and other friends; but their efforts were in 
 vain to save his valuable life. A few days prior to dissolution, 
 delirium seized his brain. What a sad sight! He xnutrtered 
 incoherent sentences about the camps, the batul : field, and 
 cars in which he came home ; but not a word about Jesus or 
 hi3 soul. As he had given that no concern in life, as his 
 friends understood, it is feared all is lost. lie was brave 
 amidst the showers of bullets and grape, and escaped death. 
 But disease, soon after a mighty contest, accomplished what 
 the weapons of the enemy could not. Such may be your end, 
 and such the instrument used to stop your pulse and chill the 
 Warm current of your life. Believe in Jesus, repent of sin, 
 become a soldier of the cross; then you will be prepared to 
 live usefully and die happily. 
 
 Ga. Bib. & Col. Society, Macon, Ga. No. 13, 
 
 JOIIN L. JENKINS A CO., PRINTERS, COTTON AVENUE, MACON, OA. 
 
Hollinger Corp. 
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