Sunday, June 7.—Have had quite a number of men die to-day. I have not been very well for some days, and hence have not visited the sick. Mrs. W. has been paying them all attention. She has told me about two, whom she has been attending in the room near ours. One was a Mr. Allison from Louisiana, between sixty and seventy years of age. He was a substitute; and has left eight children, the most of whom are in the service. The other one, Mr. Johnson, in the next bunk to him, was in his seventeenth year. About the same time the spirits of the aged pilgrim and youthful martyr were wafted to realms on high, where I trust they are now at rest in the “balm-breathing presence of God.”
We have a very nice lady, Mrs. Ellis, wife of one of the officers, in the hospital, who takes charge of the linen department, and is of great assistance.
A chaplain preached this afternoon in one of our wards; his text was, “Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven.” The sermon was a very impressive one. The men listened to it with the most profound attention. I have observed that soldiers generally are very attentive listeners during divine service. I should have enjoyed the sermon much better if my attention had not been drawn to the extravagant dress of the Speaker. I could not but think, if he had worn a gown to hide it, that it would have been much more in keeping with his priestly office. His uniform was one of the most showy I have ever seen worn by any of our officers since the war; it was of the finest black broadcloth, cut “a la militaire,” with the usual amount of gilt buttons. As I gazed at him, I thought, with Cowper,
“A heavenly mind
May be indifferent to her house of clay,
And slight the hovel as beneath her care;
But how a body so fantastic, trim,
And quaint in its deportment and attire
Can lodge a heavenly mind, demands a doubt.”
I am told he is much beloved in the army, and has been the means of doing a great deal of good. His clothes were presented to him by his brigade, for his kindness to the men; but I do wish he would not wear them, especially at this time, when such clothes are certain to be the subject of remark, worn by any one, but much more by an embassador of the lowly Jesus. I often wish I was not quite so prejudiced against these things. Affectation in dress I dislike, as much as in manners.
“In man or woman, but most in man,
And most of all in man that ministers
And serves the altar, in my soul I loath
All affectation; ’tis my perfect scorn.”
