The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1888-07-27
USES OF STRATAGEM.
OR. TALMAGE ADDRESSES HIS COM
RADEs OF THE THIRTEENTH.

/
Wicked Is short-Theatres and Drink
Ing saloons 20 BE Turned Into Asyiums,
Art Galleries and Churches.
PEEKsKILL, n Y, July a. Chaplain T.
De- Witt Talmage preached today to the
Thirteenth regiment Of the New York state
national guards, now encamped here. The
regiment assembled at 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 Etratagem,n was
based on Josh. viii, z: aThen We shall rise
up from the ambush, and seize upon the city. I"
He said:
Men Of the thirteenth regiment, and their
friends here gathered, OF ali occupations and
professions, men of the city and men Of the
fields, here Is theme ct for all of us.
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 a 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 men want
to take it. How to do this is the question On
former occasion, in 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
of to encamp in an ambush on the west side
of the city of Al. No torches, no lanterns,
no sound of heavy battalions, but 5000
swarthy warriors moving In silence,
speaking only in a whisper; no click
ing of swords against shields, lest
the watchmen Of Al discover it and the
stratagem be a failure II a registering
soldier in the Israelitish army forgets him
self, all along the line the word is "Hush T"
Joshua takes the other division, the one with
which he is to march, and puts 1t 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 feelings of
Wellington the night before Waterloo, or of
Meade and Lee the night before Gettysburg.
There he stands in the night and says to him.
self: "Yonder Is the division in ambush on
the west side Of Al Here is the division
have under my especial command on the
north side of Al There is the old city slum-
bering in its sin. Tomorrow will be the
battle. Looki the morning already begins
TO tip the hills. The military officers Of All
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 armsi" 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 infuri-
ated torrent, and their cry is: "Come, we'll
make quick work with Joshua and his
troops.o No sooner had these people of Al
come out against the troops Of Joshua than
Joshua gave such command as he seldom
gave, Fall backr' Why, the, could not be-
Lieve their own ears. Is Joshua's courage
failing himf
The retreat is beaten and the Israelites are
flying, throwing blankets and canteens 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
huzzah 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
Furnished spear, glisteSing in the sun like a
city; and when the men I'D yonder
In 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. So much for the di-
vision that was In ambush. How about the
division under Joshuas commando No sooner
does Joshua stop In the fight than all his
men stop with him, and as he wheels they
iuErl.oo For. in, ~ h.. ,Snl
"Haltw One strong arm driving back tor
rent Of flying 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 1t. What scene it was when
the division in ambush which had taken the
city marched down against the men
Of Al on the one side, and the
troops under Joshua doubled up their enc
mics from the other side, and the men Of Al
were caught between these two hurricanes Of
lEaelitish courage, thrust before and behind,
stabbed in breast and back, ground between
the upper and the neither millstones Of Gods
Indignation Woe to the city Of Ali Cheer
for the triumph of Israeli
Lesson the first: There Is such thing as
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 fury then the men Of Al upon the
men of Joshua Your only safety Is to get
away from them. Your dissipating COM
panions win come around you for your
overthrow. Run for your ifei Fall backi
Fall back from the drinking saloon. Fall
back from the wine party. Your flight is
your advance. Your retreat is your victory.
There is saloon down on the next street
that has almost been the ruin of your soul
Then why do you go along that street, 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 man who twenty years before
had been reformed from drunkenness, hurled
into inebriety and the grave one of the best
friends ] ever had. Your retreat is your
victory. Here is a converted infidel He is
30 strong now in his faith in the Gospel he
says he can read anything. What are you
readingi Bolingbrokei Andrew jackson
Davis tracts2 Tyndall's Glasgow Univer-
sity addressa Drop them and run. You win
be an infidel before you die unless you quit
that. These men of Al will be too much for
y4u. Turn your back on the rank and file
otunbelief. Fly before they cut you with
their swords and transfx you with their
javelins.
There arc people who have been well nigh
ruined because they risked a foolhardy ex-
petition in the presence Of mighty and over
whelming temptations, and the men Of Al
made morning meal of them Soalso there
Is such thing as victorious retreat in the re-
hgious world. Thousands Of times the king
dom Of Christ has seemed to fall back When
the blood Of the Scotch covenanters gave a
deeper dye to the heather Of the highlands;
when the Vaudois OF France chose cxtermina-
ton rather than make an unchristiau sur
render; when on st. Bartholomew day
mounted assassins rode through the streets OF
Paris crying: "Killl Blood letting is good
In August KILL Death to the Huguenotsi
KillF when Lady Jane Crews heal rolled
| from the executioner's block, when Calvin
was imprisoned in the castle, when John
Knox died for the truth; when John Bunyan
lay rotting in Bedford jail, saying: "f God
win help me, and my physical life continues,
willstay here until the moss grows on my
| eyebrows rather than givs up my faith, y the
dayssof retreat for the church were days OF
victory.
The Pilgrim Fathers fell back from the
other side Of the sea to Plymouth Rock, but
now are marshaling a continent for the
Contamination Of the world. Tue Church
of Christ, falling back from Piedmont, fall
ing back from Rue St. Jacques, falling back
| from ST. Denis, falling back from Wurtem-
burg castles, falling back from the Brussels
market. place, yet all the time triumphing.
Notwithstanding all the shocking reverses
which the church Of Christ suffers, what do
we see todayl Three thousand missionaries
Of the cross on heather ground; sixty thou
sand ministers Of Jesus Christ In this land;
at least two hundred millions Of Christians
..n..4k .,aAinr.. kz..iax. kl..Alis.I.