West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1888-08-02
STRATAGEM.
JosHUAs CAPTURE OF Al
DIR. TalmaGe breaches to the ThIr-
teenth New York Regiment

ambush and seize upon the city."-Joshua,
viii, ~
Men Of the Thirteenth Regiment, and their
friends here gathered, OF all occupations, and
professions. men OF the city and men OF tho
nelds, here Is theme fit for all OF us
One Sabbath evening with my family
around mo, we were talking over the scene
Oh the text. In the wide-open eyes and the
cheeks, l realized what thrilling drama it
was. There is the old city, shorter by name
than any other city in the ages, spoiled with
Two letters-A, I-Ai. Joshua and his men
want to take IL. How to do IL Is che
question. On former occasion, in
a straightforward, face to face fight
they had been defeated; but now they are
| going TO take It by ambuscade. General
Joshua has two divisions In his army-the
one division the battle-worn commander will
lead himself, the other division he sends Off
20 encamp in an ambush on the west side OF
the city OF Al No torches, no lanterns, no
sound OF heavy battalions, but 10000
s s,nnniy warriors moving IN silence,
Clicking Of pn swords against whi'pe sSi.ld no
lest the watchmen OF All discover IL, and the
stratagem be q failure. III registering
soldier in the lsraelitish army forgets him
SER all along the line the word is "Hushl"
Joshua takes the other division, the one with
which he is 10 march, and puts IL on the north
side OF the city OF Al, and then spends the
night III reconnoitering in the valley. There
ne Is, thinking over the fortunes of the
coming day, with something of the feelings
OF Wellington the night before Waterloo, or
OF Meade and Lee the night before Getty
burg: There he stands in the night and saws
70 himself; "Yonder is the division I'm am
push on the west side Of All. Here Is the
on the north side Of All. There Is the old city
slumbering in its sin. Tomorrow will be the
battle. Lookl the morning already begins
To- TO up tne nils. 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 armsl To armsIb
rings through all the streets of the
ola town, and every sword, whether
brought out, and all the inhabitants Of
! the city OF Al pour through the gates an in
furiated torrent, and their cry is: "Come,
| Wen make quick work with Joshua and his
troops No sooner had these people of Az
come out against the troops of Joshua than
Joshua gave such command as he seldom
! gave; Fall backln Why, they could not
believe their own ears. Is Joshua's courage
| falling himl
The retreat is beaten, and the Isrnelites are
hyinR, throwing blankets and canteens on
| every side under this worse than Bull Run de-
teat, And you ought TO hear the soldiers OF
| al cheer and cheer and cheer. But they huzza
700 soon The men lying i'm ambush are strain
ing, their vision to get some signal from
Joshua that they may know what
time TO drop upon the city. Joshua takes his
FURNISHED spear, glistening in the SIM like
smart OF doom, and points IL toward the city;
and when the men up yonder i'm the ambush
see it, with hawk-like swoop they drop upon
Al, and without stroke of sword or stab of
spear take the city and put it to the torch
90 much for the division that was in am
bush. How about the division under Joshua's
commando NO sooner does Joshua stop in
the flight than all his men stop with him,and
as ne wheels they wheel, for in a voice of
thunder he cried: "Haltm One strong arm
driving back torrent of flying troops And,
tnen, as ne points his spear through the
golden light toward that fatal city, his
troops know that they are to start for il
what scene it was when the division in am
bush, which had taken the city marched down
against the men of All on the one side, and
the troops under Joshua doubled upon their
enemies from the other side and the men of
al were caught between these two hurricanes
or israeiltish courage, thrust before and
penlnd stabbed in breast and back, ground
ne I. the upper and the 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 an
victorious retreat. Joshua's falling back
was the first chapter in his successful besiege-
ment. And there are times in your life when
the best thing you can do is to 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
Jury than the men OF Al upon the men of
| Joshua. Your only safety is to get AWAY
from them. Your dissipating companions
VIII come around you for your overthrow
Run for your lifel Fall back Fall back
from the drinking saloon. Fall 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 the ruin of your
soul Then why do you go along that
streeH why do you not pass through
some other street rather than by the place OF
your calamityi spoonful Of brandy taken
Tor medicinal purposes by man who twenty
years before had been reformed from drunk
enness, huTled into inebriety and the grave
one OF tne best friends ever had. Your re-
treat Is your victory. Here is a converted
inhdeL He is so strong now in his
faith In the Gospel he says he
can read anything. What are Won
readingf BOlingbrokel Andrew jackson
Davis's tractsl Tyndallis Glasgow Univers-
ny address Drop them and run You will
be an inildel before you die unless You unit
that. These men of All will be too much for
You. Turn your back on the rank and file
OF unbelief. Fly before they cut You with
their swords and transax you with their
There are people who have been well-nigh
ruined because they risked a fOOl-hardy expe-
dition in the presence Of mighty and over
whelmnR temptations, and the men of Al
made morning meal Of them. SO also there
~ ouNh bhlhk as NlcJOflOus retreat in the
religious world Thousands Of times the
kingdom Of Christ has seemed
70 fall back. When the blood of
the Scotch Covenanters gave a deeper
l-dye 70 the heather Of the Highlands, when
the VaudOis Of France chose determination
rather than make an uuchristian surrender.
when on st. Bartholomew Day mounted as.
sassins rode the streets Of Paris crying:
xiii Blood-letting Is good in August
Kill Death to the HuguenOtsi Ki1lP
when Lady Jane Grey's head rolled from the
eIecutoner's block, when Calvin was inn
prisOned In the castle, when John Knox died
for the truth; when John Bunyan lay rotting
in Bedford Jail, saying; '1f God will help
me and my physical life continues viii stay
here until the moss grows on my eyebrows
rather than give up my faith" tho DAYS OF
retreat for the church were days Of victory
The Pilgrim Fathers fell back from the
other side Of the sea 20 Plymouth Rock, but
now are marohaling q continent for the
Contamination Of the world. The Church
o. Christ falling back from Piedmont
falling back from Rue st JACQUES. falling
back from Sc Denis, falling back from
Wurtemburg castles, falling back from
the Brussels market place, yet al thu
time triumphing. Notwithstanding al
the shocking roverses which the Church OF
Christ suffers, what do we see tO-day1 Three
thousand missionaries Of the cross on heather
ground; sixty thousand ministers Of Jo5u,
Christ in this land at least two hundred
millions Of Christians on the earth. An
nations today kiudling in n blaze Of revival
railing back, yet advancing until the old
wesleyan hymn viii prove true:
"Ihe ZION Of Judah shan break The chain,