The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1874-08-06

The correspondent of the Baltimore An,eyi-
can, at Long Branch, in his letter of Sunday
last, says:
A little incident connected with the dress pa
rade this ev ,ning, seems to the mind of your
correspondent to be so well worthy of asDec;aI
mention that he cannot refrain from dwelling
somewhat upon it, as all well know camp life
is not calculated co develop the religious ell
ment in mans nature. The sounds of the tr,,m-
pet the roll Of drums the tented field the tread OF
armed men, the waving of banners, even in
tiue of peace, are all sights and sounds which
appeal to other feeling and emotions than those
of reverent awe and plons aspiration, and
hence the pleasing little incident which occur
red ON the parade ground Of Camp Monmouth
this evening, just referred to- seems to be all
the none worthy Of mention. About half-past
O'Clock, as the parade was near its close, and
whilst the long line of soldiers was standing
with statue-like steadness at parade rest, this
incident occurred, which coming as it did quite
unexpectedly to the large throng Of spectators,
was of course all the more impressive. just as
the last notes of the 'sretie at'' were sounded,
the band gave forth with touching sweetness
aud solemnity the sacred air so familiarly ASSOC
ciated with that most exquisite hymn, COM
mencing:
Nearer, my God, to Thee!
Nearer to Tlee!"
The effect was thriliinsly impressive lstant-
~ there was d solemn lush throughout the
tn ong Of spectators, mlny of whom pelc,lanee
had Ill then been quite forgetfnl OF the sa-
cred character of the Gay, carried away with
the gaities and frvoliies so natrlal at orch a
resort. All SCENE ri to feel at least something
of That which those sweet sounds eXprcased
with such wonderful pathos: Nearer my Cod
to Thee!'' All discording sounds We're III aet,
as every ear and many a heart, too, drank in
The tender strains expressive of sIch leve ent
hope and humble trust, whilst the hour, the lol-
emn evening hour, and all
THE VOTES OF NATURE
seeme'. to echo and re-echo the loving tones OF
Player to The great Father Of all-''Mearer to
Ihe =! The day was quite overland the even
ing sna ies were gathering fast; the sun he'd
gone down behind the curtains of The NIGHT
the full-orbed moon was shining in the clesr
blue vault OF heaven, aud already the lledN'i,,y
waters OF 5he great ocean were beginningto
reflect its slvery beam and tie only otll.1
sounds than those of the hymn We're the soft
WHISTLE OF the evening air and the ceasele-s
song OF the surf, pom the not distant shore.sll
telling OF Ialh TO whom, and for whom. the sl-
cred a pllitions and warnings were addie ~sed
-'Nearer to Thee ~ No other sounds, did I
say, l am wrong; there was one other sound,
but by no means a dscort,ant one, for lust as
the last notes of the melody died aNay bro tn
ing out the holy aspiration. 'sNearer to THE;
Nearer, my God, to Thee there came waited
on the evening breeze, from beneath the mod
est little sple OF a pretty village church. jrt
visible above the tree tops half mile awav,t the
sound Of .sthe vesper bell, ~ inviting wo snip
pers to the house of prayer, as if reve.bel ating
with the burden Of the sacred refrain, s'Nea. ~.
Ny God, to Thee; Nearer to the.'
1t was, indeed, an impressive incidant-one
not soon to be forgotten by those who really
felt it-and am glad to be able to say that 1
know that many did feel 1t.