The Red Cloud chief., 1889-05-10
GUARDED BY THE LORD.
An Appropriate Centennial DIS
course by Dr.. Talmage.
Our Country Guarded BY the Divine Hests
-Serugsies Of the Thirteen colonies
Other reriIs Safely P.ssed-A
Bright Future.

At the BROOKLYN Tabernacle on the Sun.
dsv before the centennial OF the inaugu'
ration OF George Washington rs President
oP the United States. DIR. Taimsge
preached q sermon appropriate to the ap.
proaching anniversary. b text was
from 2 Kings vi II: "And the Lord
opened the eyes Of the young man; and
he saw; and, beho,d, the mountain was
full OF horses and charlots Of fire round
about Elisha" Dr.. Talmage said:
As il cost England many regiments and
81 900, O)o a veal to keep safely a trouble
soa,s captive ut st. Helena, SO the King OF
Syria sends out a whole army 10 capture
one minister OF religion-perhaps 5o,ON
men to take Elisha. During the night the
amy OF Assyrians came around the VIII
lage Of DOthan. where the prophet was
slaviDg. At early daybreak the man serv-
ant Of Elisha rushed i'm and said: what
shall We do: there is a whole army come
% destroy YOU. We shall die. we shall
die" But Elisha was not scared a bit, Tor
he looked up and saw the mountains
all around full OF supernatural
forces, aud he knew that il there were
q 900 Assyrians against him. there were
100. 900 for him; and in answer TO the
prophets praye in behalf Of his affrighted
man servant, the young man saw 1t too.
Horses OF fire harnessed to charioss OF
fire. and drivers Of fire pu ling reins OF fire
on bits Of fire, and warriors OF fire with
brandished swords Of fire, and the bril-.
liance Of that morning sunrise was
eclipsed BY the ~galloping splendors Of the
celestial cavalcade. And the Lord
opened h eyes of the young man; and
he saw; and, behold, the mountain was
full Of horses and chariots Of fire
about Elisha" I have often spoken to
you OF the Assyrian perils which threaten
our American institutions. but now. rs We
are assembling to keep the centennial
celebration Of the inau ,uration OF ash
ingtOn, I speak of the upper forces Of the
ext hat are to fight On our side.
You will notice that the divine equipage
IN ALWAYS represented as a chariot 1T fire.
Ezekiel and Isaiah and John, when they
como to describe the divine equipase, al
ways represent IL as a wheeled, a har-
ne .sed, an upholstered confiagra;ion. II
u not o chariot like kings and cOnquerors
Of earth mount but an organized aud
compressed fire. That means purity, JUS
tice, chastisement, deliverancs through
burning escapes. Chariot Of rescue: Yes,
hut chariot Of fire. All our national dis.
enthraliments have ben through scorcii-
ing agOnies and red disasters. Through
t~ribuiation the individual! rises. Thrr"g!l
t~ribulation nations rise. Chario:s Of .ss.
cue. but chariOts Of fire.
n.,s hnv. IL, 4 l,nvv Chat thic AiUina
Cquipage is on the side OF our institutions:
i know il by the history Of the last one
hundred and eight years. The American
revolution started from the pen Of John
Hancock in Independence Hall in 1876
The olOnies without ships, without am
munitiOn. without guns, without trained
warriors. without MONEY!, without prestige.
On the other side. the mightiest nation OF
the Garth, the largest armies and the
grandest navles and the mos, distinguished
commanders. and resources in. Xhausiible
and nearly all nations ready to back them
up in the fight. Nothing as against i'm.
mensity.
The cause Of the American colonies
which started at zero. dropped still lower
through the quarreling OF the General.
and through the jealousies at small sue
cess and through the winters which sur.
passed all predecessors in depth o
SNOW and horrors OF c0ngealmant. Elishs
surrounded by the whole Assyrian army
did not seem To be worse of than did tn,
thirteen colonies encompass, ed snd over
shaiowed by foreign assault. What de
cided the contest in our favor: The upper
forces. the upper armies. The Green an,
White mountains of New England, tn,
highlands along the Hudson. the mount
aims of Virginia, ali the Appalachian
ranges were full Of reinfOrcements whicl
the young man. Washington, saw by
faith; and his men endured the frozel
feet and the gangrsned wounds aud tn
exbausting hunger and the long marcl
because 1.-The Lord opened the ives Of tn
young man; and he saw; and. behold. tn
mountains were full Of horses and chariot
of fire round about Elisha"
Washington himself was a miracle
What Joshua was in sacred history th
first American President was in secula
history. A thousand other men excelle'
him In different things. but he excelle,
them all in ~roundness aud completeness
OF character. The world never saw hi
like and probably never will see his lik
again, because there probably never ~il
b another such EFFICIENCY. He was lie
down . divine interposition. He wa
from God direct do not know nov an,
man can cad the history of those time
without admitting that the contest va
decided bv the upper forces.
Then In 1861. when our civil wal va
opeued, many at the North and al tn
South pronounced il national suicide. !
was not courage against c~owardics. il va
not wealth against poverty. il Was nc
large States against small States 1t va
heroism aGainst heroism. & was the re
sonrcss Of many generations against tn
resourcea Of generations. il vas the praye
al he North against the prayer OF tn
S,outh. it was ons-half OF the Nation i
armed wrath meeting the other half q
the Nation In armed indignation. Wha
could como hut determination!
At the opening Of the war the command
er.in.chief Of the United States forces VI
old ago had come with many infirmitie
and he had . right to quietude. He coul
not mount Q horse and he rode on the bal
dc neld In . carriage asking the drive
not Jolt e to much. During the most
TIE four years Of h contest on the South
>rn aide was Q man in mid life. who ha
4. his veins the blood OF many generation
OF warriors, himsslf one Of the heroes
Cherubusco and Cerro Gordo. Contrera
and Chapaltspec As the years passed o
and the scroll OF carnage uuroIied. ihes
cams out from both sides . heroism and
.tre.Rth and . determination that th
vorld had never seen marshaied. An
\ but determination could come whe
PAilip Sheridan and Ssonswai JacSso
net, and Nathaniel Lyon and Sidne
Johnston rode In from North and Soutl
IA Grant aud La the two t~hunderbolt