The Press.
London, England, 1856-08-30 00:00:00

SratianV.

THE TENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE EVAN •
OELICAL ALLIANCE WaS held last week in Glasgow.
Beyond clerical circles the meetings did not attract
much interest. The annual report noticed "with
regret" the "perversions to Popery" which had
taken place of persons connected with Scotland during
the year—such as the Marchioness of Lothian, the
Duchess of Buccleuch, and Mr. Hope Scott, d:c. At
the last meeting the Rev. Dr. Blackwood, late chap-
lain to the army in the East, gave some interesting
statements regarding the state and prospects of
Christianity in the army. He said :
The whole means for supplying spiritual instruction to
the British soldier are most deplorably de eciive. He had
nothing to say against the Thaplaii's of the army, bat the
whole system of their appointment was defective. Among
the soldiers and officers there were many men of God,
more particularly among the artillery and engineers—met
whose hearts were burning with love to add anything they
could to the spiritual condition of their fellow-soldiers.....
Captain Hedley Vicars, who had fallen in a Russian sortie,
was much asked after by soldiers in hosnitil. He wqs led
to inquire why so much interest was evinced on behalf of
that officer, when he found that he had ben iii the habit
of calling on his men of the 97th, in tents and elsewhere,
when be prayed with them. Many of these poor men had
assured hini that the first light of God's Word which they
ever received was from the lips of Captain Vicars, that
martyred man of God. General orders from head-quarters
prohibited the chaplains from etnnleying any clergymen
but those sanctioned by the War Department. Now, he
thought the council of the Evangelical Alliance snout('
seek out men of God who were in possession of Christian
love, so that, wherever they might be cast, there would
always be a little nucleus of evangelical soldiers ready to
call together their friends. His next proposition was to
form 11 military low° for this object. He was not me

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whether this was so practicable as the first suggestion, but
this he knew, that there were many soldiers who would
willingly join with them. There might, indeed, be a spe-
cific alliance formed fur this very purpose.

Dr. Blackwood alluded to the miserable condition of
soldiers' wives :

In the march from Bulgaria to Varna they were left des-
titute and helpless, and under those trials they had first
taken to drink, and ultimately their morai character gave
way altogether. So full were the hands of Miss Nightin•
gale that she could pay no attention to these women; and
he, with others, took them under his notice. In one room
he found fifty-seven women lying among men and children
with but scanty clothing to cover them, and nothing to sepa-
rate one sex from the other, unless it might be a rag hung
upon a line, which was only an apology for a separation. He
brought these facts before the meeting as he hoped to
enlist the sympathies of the ladies in the amelioration of
the soldier, by ameliorating the condition of the soldier's
wife. The best soldier they had was the married
soldier. Cdonel Lefroy had said that no amelioration
could be extended to the soldier's wife on account of the
expense necessary for barrack accommodation; but he had
told him that the British people would not shrink from
providing for the comfort of the soldiers' wives, and he
thought the ladies of that Alliance might do much good in
this matter by forming themselves into small committees
for the advancement of the cause.

In conclusion the rev. doctor suggested, with refe-
rence to the state of Christianity in the East, that
the council should take into consideration two things
—viz., to appoint and pay a correspondent at Con-
stantinople to remit to London all details of the suf-
ferings of the Christians which exist, and make that
liberty of worship real which existed now only on
paper; and also to enable these persons to pay depu-
tations to the Sultan to represent their cases, which
were mainly occasioned by the chicanery of the infa-
mous and ungodly Ministers of the Porte. He
thought the Alliance should also take some steps to
reach the Bulgarians and Mahommedans. He saw
no obstacle to it himself, and he hoped the council
would take the matter into their serious consideration.

THE LORD ADVOCATE, owing to the use of
strychnia by gamekeepers for the destruction of
vermin, has given instructions that it shall be made
known as publicly as possible that any one placing
strychnia or other poison within the reach of the
public, or using it without such precautions as are
needful to prevent injury, will be held responsible
for the consequences, and that if death or injury to
health is the result the party offending will be liable
to be prosecuted criminally. Similar proclamations
have been issued by the sheriffs of counties.
THE EARL OF SOUTHESK has given instructions
to the tenants on his estates to make returns of all
the houses and cottages occupied by servants and
others employed in agricultural labour, specifying
the dimensions of the different departments and
other particulars, with the view of introducing a
thorough reform in the dwellings of the humbler
classes in this quarter (Brechin).
THE CROPS THROUGHOUT SCOTLAND, though late,
are generally reported heavy, and promises a high
average return. The oats crop is not equal to the
wheat. The potatoe blight has set in in Wigtown-
shire, and is progressing throughout the country.