The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1889-01-16
CHAPLAIN TALMAGE
Preaches to the Thirteenth Regt>
ment at Psekskil, N. Y,
o. uses of St-atageno"-Four Lessons
which He Learns From Jeshua's AS
sault on the City OF Ala Vic
toriops Retreat.

Chaplain T. Dewitt Talmage rpreached
last Sunday to the Thirteenth Regiment Of
the New York State National Guards, en-
eampe6 at Peekskill, n. Y. The subject Of
his sermon was s'Uses Of Stratage1," and it
was based on Joshua, chapter viii, verse q:
''Then We shall rise up from the ambush,
upon the city" He said:
Men Of the Thirteenth Regiment and their
-Atvrc5 rcre garre-ce., an UccUpaGio0s,
and professions, men Of the city, and men
Of the fields, here is a theme fit 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, I realized what thrilling drama
it was. There is the old city, shorter
BY nane chan any other city in the
eyes, spelled with two letters-AI-Ai.
Joshua and his men want to take it. How
to do it is the question. On former
occasion, in a. Straightforward, face to face
aght, they had been defeated; but now they
are going TO take it by ambuscade. General
Joshua has two divisions in his army-the
cne division the battle-worn commander
VIZ lead himself, the other division he sends
OF 70 encanp in an ambush on the west side
Of the city Of Al. No torchesSno lanterns.
no sound Of heavy battalions but $1,000
ewarthy warriors moving in silence, speak
Ag only In a whisper; no clicking CT swords
against shields, lest the watchmen OF Al dis
cover it and the stratsgem be failure. II
. registering soldier in the Israelitsh army
zosgets himself, all along the line the word IS
'rEusk" Joshua takes the other division,
She one with which he is to march, and puts it
o. the north side Of the city Of Al, and then
spends the night IN accommodating in the
valley. There he is, thinking over the for
times Of the coming day, with something OF
the feelings Of Wellington the night before
Waterloo, or Of Meade and Lee the night be-
fore Gettysburg. There he stands in the
night, and says to himself, 'sYonder is the
division in ambush on the west side Of Al.
Eore Is the division I have under my
especial command on the north side OF Al.
There is the old city slunbering in its sin.
Tomorrow will be the battle. Look! the
morning already begins to tip the hills. The
military officers Of Al look out in the morn
ing very early, and while they do not see the
division in ambush, they behold the other
division of Joshua and the cry, ITO arms'
10 armsp' rings through all the streets OF
Shs old town, and every sword, whether
hacked and bent or newly welded, is brought
oat and all the inhabitants Of the city Of Al
pov4 through the gates, an infurlated tor
rent, and the cry is: s'Come, We'll make
rrict work with Ieshra endt hi- e-coPss' No
sooner had these people Of Al come out
against the troops Of Joshua than Joshua
gave such command as he seldom gave:
aFsn bsckl''- Why, they could not believe
their own ears. Is Joshua's courage failing
HINT
The retreat is beaten and the IsraeEtes
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 huzza too soon. The men lying
IN ambush are straining their vision
% get some signal from Joshua that
they may know what time TO drop
upon the city. Joshua takes his bur
nishsd spear, glittering in the sun like a
shaft Of doom, and points ittoward the city;
and when the men up Wonder in the ambush
$50 It, with hawk-like swoop they drop upon
Al, and without stroke of sword or stab Of
soesr eake the city and put it to the torch.
SO much for the division that was
sn ambush. How about the divis-
eoooar does Joshua stop in the flight
sSan al his men stop with him, and as he
wheels they wheel, for in voice OF thunder
hs oyied, 'sHaltr' One strong arm driving
back torrent o. flying troops. And then,
as he points his spear through the golden
tight toward that fatal city, his troops know
that they are to start for 1t. What scene
It was when the division in ambush which
he'd taken the city marched down against
the men Of Al on one side, and the troops OF
Joshua dou bed up sheir enemies from the
other side, and She men Of Al were caught
between these two hurricanes OF Israehtlsh
courage, thrust before and behind, stabbed
IN breast and back, ground between the up
per and the neither uillstones CT Gods IN
dignation. Woe to the city Of Al! Cheer
FOR the triumphs Of Israel!
Lesson the first: There is such thing as
victorious retreat. Joshpa's falling back
was the Srst chapter in his successful be-
siegement And there are times in your
life when the best thing you can do IS to run.
iYou were once the victim of strong drink.
The derniiohn ana the decanter were your
fierce foes. They came down upon you with
areatse fury than the men Of Al upon the
men Of Joshua. Your only safety IS to
eet away from then Your dissipatins
comnsnious RiI!-coUe around you for
yopr overthrow. Run for your life! Fau
baekl FsN bacl: from the drinking saloon.
Fall back from She wine party. Your fight
% your advance. Your retreat is your VIC
tory. 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
medical purposes by a man who, twenty
wears 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
his faith in the Gospel he says he can read
any thing. What are you readinga Boiling
broke2 Andrew Jackson Davis tractss
Eyrdau's Glasgow University addresse
Drop them and run. You will be an inidel
before you die unless you quit that. These
men Of Al viii be too much for you. Turn
your back on the rank and file Of unbelief.
fly before they cut you with their swords
and transfx you with sheir javelins.
There are people who have been well
rsisn ruined because they risked a fool
hardy expedition in the presence Of mighty
and overwhelming temptations, and the men
-ss Al made morning meal Of them. So
ssso there is such thing as victorious re-
treat IN the religious world. Thousands OF
Pstnss the kingdom Of Christ has seemed to
ieall back. When the blood Of the Scotch
Coyensnters gave deeper dye to the
heather Of the Highlands, when the Faudols
!af Francs chose determination rather than