The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1888-07-26
USES OF STRATAGEM.
DR.. TALMAGE ADDRESSES HIS CON-
RADES OF THE THIRTEENTH.

Victorious Retreat-The Triumph of the
Wicked Is short-Theatres6apd Drink
ing Saloons to Be Turned Iiff6 AsyIums,
Art Galleries and Churches.
PEEKsK1LL, N. Y, July 22.-Chaplain
7. De Witt Talmage preached today to the
Thirteenth regiment of the New York
State National Guards, now encamped
here. The regiment assembled at D.
M, when people from the neighboring
country, towns and cities were present
in immense numbers. A military band
conducted the musical part of the SER
vice. Chaplain Talmage's sermon, which
was on ''Uses of Stratagem, was based
on Joshua viii, Z: "Then ye shall rise up
from the ambush, and seize upon the
city" He said:
Men of the Thirteenth regiment and
their friends here gathered, of all occu-
pations and professions, men of che city
and men of the fields, here is theme fit
for all of u.s.
One Sabbath evening, with my family
around me, we were talking over the
scene of the text. In the wide open eyes
and the quick interrogations and the
blanched cheeks realized what thrill
ing drama it was. There is the od city,.
shorter by name than any other city in
the ages, spelled with two letters-A, I
Al. Joshua and his men want to take
it. How to do it is the question On
former occasion, in a straightforward,
face to face fight, they had been defeated;
but now they are going to take it by am
buscade. General Joshua has two divis-
ions III his army-the one division the
battle worn commander will lead him
self, the other division he sends off to
encamp in an ambush on the west side
of the city of All. No torches, no lam
terms, no sound of heavy battalions, but
10000 swarthy warriors moving in
silence, speaking only in whisper;
no clicking Of swords against shields.
lest the watchmen Of Al discover 1t and
the stratagem be failure. If royster-
ing soldier in the Israelitish army for
gets himself, all along the line the word is
''Hush!' Joshua takes the other di-
vision, the One with which he is to
march, and puts it on the north side of
the city of Al, and then spends the night
in accommodating in the valley. There
he is, thinking over the fortunes of the
coming day, with something of the feel
ings of Wellington the night before
Waterloo, or of Meade and Lee the night
before Gettysburg. TlcEe he stands in
the night, and says to himself: "Yon-
der is the division in ambush on the west
side of Al. Here is the division 1 have
under my especial command on the north
side of All. There is the old city slum-
bering in its sin. Tomorrow will be the
battle. Look! the morning already be-
gins to tip the hills The military officers
OF Al look out in the morning very early,
and while they do not see the division in
ambush, they behold the other division
of Joshua, and the cry, TO arms! to
arms!' rings through all the streets of
the old town, and every sword, whether
hacked and bent or newly welded, is
brought out, and all the inhabitants of
the city of All pour through the gates, an
infuriated torrent, and their cry is:
Come, We'll make quick work with
Joshua and his troops" No sooner had
these people of Al come out against the
troops of joshua than Joshua gave such
a command as he seldom gave: ''Fall
backr' Why, they could not believe
their own ears. Is Joshua's courage fail
ing him2
The retreat is beaten, and the Israelites
are flying, throwing blankets and cam
teens on every side under this worse than
Bull Run defeat. And you ought to hear
the soldiers of All cheer and cheer and
cheer. But they huzza too soon. The
men lying in ambush are straining their
vision to get some signal from Joshua
that they may know what time to drop
upon the city. Joshua takes his bur-
nished spear, glittering in the sun like
shaft of doom, and points it toward the
city; and when the men up yonder in
the ambush see it, with hawklike swoop
they drop upon Al, and without stroke
of sword or stab of spear take the city
and put it to the torch. So much for
the division that was in ambush. How
about the division under Joshuas COM
mand? No sooner does Joshua stop in
the flight than all his men stop with him,
and as he wheels they wheel, for in a
voice of thunder he cried ''Halt?' One
strong arm driving back torrent of fly
ing troops. And then, as he points his
spear through the golden light toward
that fated city, his troops know that they
are to start for it. What scene it was
when the division in ambush which had
taken the city marched down against the
men of All on the one side, and the troops
under Joshua doubled up their enemies
from the other side, and the men of A
were caught between these two hurri
canes of Israelitish courage, thrust before
and behind, stabbed in breast and back,
ground between the upper and the neither
millstones of God s indignation Woe to
the city of All! Cheer for the triumphs of
Israel!
Lesson the first: There is such thing
as victorious retreat. Joshua's falling
back was the first chapter in his success
ful besiegeinent. And there are times in
your life when the best thing you can do
is to run. You were were once the vic
tim of strong drink The demijohn and
the decanter were your fierce foes. They
came down upon you with greater fury
than the men of Al upon the men Of
Joshua, Your only safety is to get
away from them. Your dissipating COM
panions will come around you for your
overthrow. Run for your lifel Fall
back from the drinking saloon. Fall
back from the wine party. Your flight
is your advance. Your retreat is your
victory. There is q saloon down on the
next street that has almost been the
ruin of your soul. Then why do
you go along that street2 Why
do you not pass through some
other street rather than by the place
of your calamity? A spoonful of brandy
taken for medicinal purposes by mar
who twenty years before had been re-
formed from drunkenness, hurled into
inebriety and the grave one of tho best
friends ] ever had. Your retreat is your
victory. Here is n converted infidel.
He is so strong now in his faith in the
Gospel he says he can read anything.
What are you reading2 Bolipgbroke'