The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-07-23
TALMAGE TO THE TROOPS
STRATEGY PERMISSIBLE IN THE
WAR AGAINST SIN

PEEKsKILL, n. Y, July 22.-Chaplain T.
Dewitt Talmage preached to-day to the
Thirteenth regiment of the New York
state national guards, now encamped
here. The regiment assembled at
o'clock p. m, when people from
| the neighboring country, towns and
! cities were present in immense numbers. A
military band conducted the musical part
of the service. 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 occupa-
tions and professions, men of the city and
men Of the fields. here is theme fit for all
of us.
One Sabbath evening, with my family
around me, we were talking over the scene
the text. In the wide-open eyes and the
quick interrogations and the blanched
cheeks, l realized what thrilling drama it
was. There is the old city, shorter by name
than any other city in the ages, spelled
with two letters-A, I-Ai. Joshua and his
mon want to take it. How to do it is the
question. On a former occasion, in
straightforward, face to face fight, they
| had been defeated; but now they are going
| to take 1t by ambuscade. General Joshua
has two divisions in his army-the one di-
vision the battle-worn commander will
lead himself, the other division he sends off
to encamp in an ambush on the west side of
the city of All. No torches, no lanterns,
no sound of heavy battahons, but 80, 900
swarthy warriors moving in silence,
speaking only in a whisper; no click
ing of swords against shields,
est the watchmen of All discovered 10 and
the stratagem be failure. If a registering
soldier in the Israelitsh army forgets him
self. all along the line the word is Hush !"
Joshua takes the other division, the one
with which he Is to march, and puts it on
the north side of the city of All, and then
spends the night in reconnoitering in the
valley. There he is, thinking over the for
tunes of the coming day, with something
OF the feelings Of Wellington the night be-
fore Waterloo, or of Meade and Lee the
night before Gettysburg. There he stands
| in the night, aud says to himself: "Yonder
| is the division in ambush on the west side
of All Here is the division | have under
my especial command on the north side of
Al. There is the old city slumbering in
| its sin. Tomorrow will be the BATTLE.
Look! the morning already begins to tip
the hills. The military officers of All
| look out in the morning very early, and
while they dc not BEE the division in am
| bush, they behold the other divisio On of
Joshua, and the cry,s"TO arms! TO armsw
! 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 Al 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 All come out against the
troops of Joshua, than Joshua gave such a
command as he seldom gave: Fall back p
Why, they could not believe their own
ears. Is Joshuas courage failing himf
The retreat is beaten, and the Israelites
are flying, throwing blankets and cauteens
on every side under this worse than Bull
Run defeat. And you ought to hear the
soldiers of Al cheer, and cheer, and cheer.
But they huzza too soon. The mon lying in
ambush are straining their vision to get
some signal from Joshua, chat they may
know what timc to drop upon the city.
Joshua takes his FURNISHED 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 hawk
like swoop they drop upon All, 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 i'll ambush. How
about the division under Joshua's
commando No sooner does Joshua stop in
the flight tnan all his men stop with him,
and as be wheels they wheel for in a voice
of thunder he cried "Haltw One strong
arm driving hack torrent of flying troops.
And then, as he points his spear through
tle golden light toward that fatal city, his
troops know that they are TO start for it.
What a scene it was when the division In
ambush, which mad taken the city, marched
down against the men of Al, on the one
side, and the troop under Joshua doubled
up their enemies from the other side, and
tho men of Al were caught between these
two hurricanes Of Israeitish courage,
thrust before and behind, stabbed in breast
and back, ground between the upper and
neither millstones of Gods indignation.
Woe to the city of All Cheer for the
triumphs OF Israeli
Lesson the first There is such a thing as
victorious retreat. Joshua's falling back
was the first chapter in his successful be-
siegement And there are times in your
life when the best thing you can do is 10
run. You were once the victim of strong
drink. The demijohn and the decanter
were your fierce foes. They came down
upon you with greater fury than the men
of All upon the men of Joshua Your only
safety is TO get away from them. Your
dissipating companions will come around
you for your overthrow. Run for your life :
Fall back Fall back from the drinking
saloon. Fail back from the wine party.
Your flight is your advance. Your retreat
is your victory. There is a saloon down on
the next street that has almost been tho
ruin Of your soul. Then why do you go
along that streets Why do you not pass
through some other street rather than by
the place of your calamityl A spoonful of
brandy taken for medicinal purposes by
man who twenty years before had been re-
formed from drunkenness, hurled into inc
briefly and the grave one of the best friends
ever had. Your retreat is your victory.
Here is converted infidel He is 50 strong
now in his faith in the gospel he says he can
read anything What are you readingi
Bolinbrokef Andrew Jackson Davis's
tracts Tyndal's Glasgow University ad-
dressi Drop them and run. You will be
ali inhdel before you die unless you quit
that 1 hese men Of Al will be too much
for you. Turn your back on tho rank and
file Of urbeief Fly before they cut you
with their swords and transfx you with
their javelins.
There are people who have been we'll
nigh ruined because they risl1ed fool
hardy expedition In the presence Of mighty
and overwhelming temptations, and the
men Of Al made morning meal OF them.
So also there is such thing as victorious
retreat IN the religious world. Thousands
OF times tho kingdom OF Christ has seemed
20 fall back. When the blood of the Scotch
coyenanters gave a deeper dye 30 the
heather OF the highlands, when the Vaudois
N1ft.sfaa oaf.aft a. NN.s.