Sharp County record., 1891-01-15


They march on. He puts the majority
OF the troops behind ledge of rocks Ill
the night, and then he sends compara-
lively small regiments up in front of
4he city. The men of Al come out with
a shout. The small regiments of Israel
ties in stratagem fall back and fall back,
and when all the men of Al have left
the city and are in pursuit of these scat
tered, or seemingly scattered regiments,
Joshua stands on a rock-I see his locks
flying in the wind as he points his spear
toward the doomed city, and that is the
signal. The men rush out from hehind the
rocks and take the city, and ditisput tothe
torch, and then these Israelites in the
city march down, and the flying regi-
ments of Israelites return, and between
these two waves of Israelitish prowess
the men of Al are destroyed, and the Is
raelites gain the victory; and while l
see the curling smoke of that destroyed
city on the sky, and while l hear the
huzza of the Israelites and the groans
of the Canaanites, Joshua hears some
thing lounder than it all, ringing and
echoing through his soul: "There shall
not any man be able to stand before
thee all the days of thy life
But this is no place for the host OF
Joshua to stop. Forward, march,"
cries Joshua to the troops, There is
the city of Gideon. 1t has put itself
under the protection of Joshua. They
sent word. "There are five Kings after
us; they are going to destroy us; send
troops, quick; send us help right away"
Joshua has three days march more
than double quick. On the morning Of
the third day he is before the enemy.
There are two long lines of battle.
The battle opens with great
slaughter, but the Canaanites soon
discover something. They say: "That
is joshua that is the man who
conquered the spring freshet and
knocked down the stone wall and de-
stroyed the city of Al. There is no use
fighting" And they sound retreat,
and as they begin to retreat, Joshua
and his host spring upon them like a
panther, pursuing them over the rocks,
and as those Canaanites with the
sprained ankles and gashed foreheads
retreat, the catapults of the sky pour
volley of hailstones into the valley, and
all the artillery of the heavens, with
bullets of iron, pound the Canaanites
against the lodges of Beth-horon.
"Oh!' says Joshua, "this is surely
victory" "But do you not see the sun
is going down? Those Amorites are
going to get away, after all, and then
they will come up some other time and
bother us, and perhaps destroy u.s." See
the sun is going down. Oh, for longer
day than has ever been seen in this eli
mate! What is the matter with Joshua?
Has he fallen in an apoplectic fit? No.
lie is in prayer. Look out when good
man makes the Lord his ally. Joshua
raises his face, radiant with prayer and
looks at the descending sun over Gibeon
and at the faint crescent of the moon,
for you know the queen of the night
sometimes will linger around the pal
aces of the day. Pointing one hand at
the descending sun anu the other hama
at the faint crescent Of the moon, in the
name of that God who shaped the
worlds, he cries: "Sun, stand thou
still upon Gideon; and thou moon.
in the valley Of Ajalon." They
halted. Whether it was by re.
fraction of the suns rays, or by
the stopping Of the whole plane.
tary system, do not know, and do not
care. leave it to the Christian
scientists to settle that question, while
tell you l have seen the same thing:
"What!" say you, mot the sun standing
still?" Yes. The same miracle is per-
formed nowadays. The wicked do not
live out half their day, and the sun sets
at noon. But let man start out in
battle for God and the truth, and
against sin, and the day of his useful
ness is prolonged and prolonged and
prolonged.
But it is time for Joshua to go home
He is one hundred and ten years old
Washington went down the Potomac
and Mount Vernon closed his days
Wellington died peecefully at Apsley
House. Now, where shall Joshua rest,
Why, he is to have his greatest battle
now. After one hundred and ten years
he has to meet King who has more
subjects than all the present population
of the earth, his throne a pyramid Of
skulls, his parterre the graveyards and
the cemeteries of the world, his chariot
the worlds healse-the King of Ter
rors. But, II this is Joshua's greatest bat.
tie, 1t is going to be Joshua's greatest
victory, He gathers his friends around
him and gives his valedictory, and IL is
f~ll of "Reminiscences. Young men tell
what they are going to do; old men tell
what they have done. And as you have
heard grandfather, or n great-grand-
father, seated by the evening fire, tell
Of Monmouth or Yorktown, and then
lift the crutch or staff MS though II were
muslset to fight, and show how the
old battles were won-so Joshua
gathers his friends around his dying
couch, and tells them the story Of what
he has been through, and as he
lies there, his white locks snow
ing down on his wrinkled fore
head, I wonder II God has kept
........i.. !. a