A recent writer commenting on the development of Providence Spring refers to the marble fountain erected by the Ex-Prisoners of War Association inside the granite pavilion built over the spring by the Woman’s Relief Corps, remarks, “The waters flow strong and sweet with a never-ceasing stream into the marble basin. It is said to be the best water in all Georgia; that which gushes forth from the side of the little hill in Andersonville.” Confirmatory to this statement is the following incident:
In 1896, when the writer lectured in Warsaw, N. Y., on “Reminiscences of Battle-fields and Prisons,” a prominent war veteran of the town, who had been a member of the staff of General Grant, showed him a bottle of water from Providence Spring which nine years before had been hermetically sealed by the Rev. G. Stanley Lathrop of Atlanta. So pure was the content that no sediment existed.
The further comment is: “The scientific fact of Providence Spring is that in the August electrical storm the rocks (clay) which held back this spring were cracked or broken open by a lightning bolt and the waters gushed forth. No one ever believed that it was a sort of Moses intervention for the prisoners, but it was undoubtedly looked upon in that light by the poor, thirsty, half-starved prisoners.”
To which we reply that if we believe in prayer as an instrumentality by which human and divine forces cooperate to a beneficent end, and the result takes place, why should we question the efficacy of intercession?
The fact that a number of believing men in the prison were engaged for some days in protracted prayer for relief from water-famine was not ostentatiously announced at the time, and was little noticed by the crowd. Thus has it ever been with the origin of great spiritual movements.
The relief came and a new spirit of hope and gladness, such as prevailing prayer engenders, swept through the multitude.
The scientific fact of a mightly rain storm being the visible agency of completing the opening of Providence Spring fitly coordinates with the moral force of prayer, as in numberless instances such convergence occurs in history. Nevertheless, this explanation will probably be accepted or challenged according to the personal experience of the reader in matters of Christian faith.
In the case of the smitten rock of the Palestine desert water doubtless existed in an abundant, although unknown supply. The Almighty, by the agency of Moses, brought it forth for the satisfying of a great multitude.
The prophet was commanded to speak to the rock and it would give forth water. The response could be from none other than the Creator of all mountains and flowing streams. And although Moses went beyond the Divine command, and struck with a rod instead of speaking with his voice, yet the Divine goodness was not withheld, “and the water came abundantly.” So at Andersonville the sufficient, though unknown, supply was close at hand. Human voices pleading for relief were answered by Him who spoke by the wind, the lightning and the flood.
It is said that the spiritual desires of our hearts are the reflection of what God is waiting to do for us through our own co-operation. Surely then, the prayers of the Andersonville prisoners for water were incited by Him who saw their dire necessity, and who waited only for human hands to aid in the release of the fountain of water which his Omnipotence had created.