The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-12-02
TALMAeE AND CONGRESS.
THE LAWMAKERS SALUTED WITR
WORDS OF GOOD CHEER.

of Fire Regiments Wheeling
Down the Sky-FiguratiVe Ian
sSuaGe cf thc Great Preacher.
Washington. D. c. Dec. las to+ror-
row the congress Of the United States
assemblies. and many of the members
were present at the delivery Of this ser
mon. Dr. Talmage took a most appropri-
ate theme. showing that in all thcir
work they might realize that God mas
ALWAYS been on the side OF this Hation.
Text: .. Kings 6:I7 And the Lord ooeued
the ewes of the young man and he SAW:
and behold. the mountain was fan of
horses and chariots of fire round about
Elisha"
The American congress is assembling.
Arriving or already arrived are the rep
resentatiyes OF ali sections of this be-
loved land. Let US welcome them with
prayers and benedictions. A nobler sroup
Of men never entered Washington than
those who VIII tomorrow take their
places in the Senate chamber and the
House of Representative. Whether they
come alone. or leave their families at
the homestead far away, may the bless
ings of the Eternal God be upon them!
We invite them to our churches, and To-
gether. they in political spheres, and We
in religious circles. will give the coming
months to consideration of the best in
ferests of this country which GOl has
blessed so much IN the past that I pro-
pose TO show you and show them so
Ear as | may now reach their ear, or to-
morrow their eye through the printing
press, that God viii be with them 10
help them as I'm the text he filled the
mountains with help for Elisha
AS it cost England many regiments ana
a Il "a
q troublesome captive at St Helena, so
the King Of Syria sends out whole army
TO capture one minister OF relision-per-
haps 10000 men-tO take Elisha. During
the night the army of Syrians came
around the village Of Dothan, where the
prophet was staying. At early daybreak
the man servant of Elisha rushed in ana
said what shall we do? there is a
whole army come to destroy you! We
must die, we must die.' But Elisha was
not scared bit. for he looked up and saw
the mountains all around full of super
natural forces, and he knew that II there
were 5000 Syrians against him, there were
10000 angels for him. ana IN answer to
the prophets PRAYER IN behalf of his az
frighted man servant. the young man
saw il, too. Horses OF fire harnessed TO
chariots of fire. and drivers OF ire pulling
reins of fire, on bits of fire. and warriors
of fire with brandished swords of fire, ana
the brilliance of that morning sunrise was
eclipsed by the galloping splendors Of the
celestial caValcade And the Lord opened
the eyes Of the young man; and he saw;
and behold the mountain was fun of
horses and chariots of fire round about
Elisha" / speak of the upper forces of
the text that are TO fight on our side as
a nation. If all the low levels are flied
with armed threats. ] have to tell you
that the mountains of our hope and cour-
age and faith are full of the horses and
chariots OF Divine rescue.
You will notice that the Divine equip
age is always represented as chariot of
fire. Ezekiel and Isaiah and John, when
they come to describe the Divine equipage
always represent il as a wheeled, a har-
messed, and upholstered cOntlagratiOn. 1t
is not a chariot like kings and cOnquerers
of earth mount. but an organized and
compressed FIRE That means purity, JUS
tice. chastisement, deliverance through
burning escapes. Chariot of rescueT yes,
hut a chariot of fire All our national dis
entertainments have been through scorch-
ing agonies and red disasters. Through
tribulation the individual rises. Through
tribulations nations rise. ChariOts Of res
cue, but chariots of fire. But how do /
know that this Divine equipage is on the
side of our institutions? l know IL by the
history of the last one hundred and nine
teen years. The American revolution
started from the pen of James Hancock
in Independence Hall in l716 The colo
MES, without ships, without ammunition,
without guns, without trained warriors.
tige. On the other side. the
the largest armies. the grandest nayies,
and the most distinguished commanders,
and resources ineXhaustiOe, and nearly
all nations ready TO back them up in the
night. Nothing, as against immensely.
The cause OF the American colonies,
which started at zero. dropped still lower
through the quarreling of the generals,
and through the jealousies at small sue
cesses, and through the winters which
surpassed all predecessors in depth of
SHOWS and horrors of congealment. Elisha
surrounded by the whole Syrian army
did not seem to be worse of than did
the thirteen colonies encOmpassed and
overshadowed by foreign assault. What
decided the contest in our favor? The uD-
per forces, the upper armies. The Green
and White mountains of New England
the Highlands along the Hudson, the
MOUNTAINS OF virginia, all the Appala-
chan ranges were fun of requirements
which the young man Washington saw
by faith and MS men endured the frozen
feet, and the gangrened wounds, and the
eXhaustlng hunger, and the long march,
because the Lord opened the eyes of
Inc young man; and he saw; and behold
the mountains were full of horses and
ehartots Of fire round about Elisha 3"
Washington himself was a miracle What
Joshua was in sacred history the first
American President was in secular his
tory. A thousand other men eXcelled him
an different things, but he eXcelled them
all IN roundness and completeness of char
acter. The world never saw his like and
probably never viii see his like again he
cause there probably never Will be an
other such eXigency. He was let down a
divine interposition. He was from God
l do not know how many can read the
history OF those times without admitting
the contest was decided by the upper
forces. Then. in 1851. when our civil war
opened, many at the north and at the
south pronounced il national suicide 1t
was not courage against cowardice il was
NOT wealth against poverty il was not
large states against small states 1t was
heroism against herOism. il was the re
sources OF many tions, against
the resources of generations. il was tho
prayer of the north against the prayer OF
the south, it was One-half of the nation
IN armed wrath. meeting the other hall
OF the nation in armed indignation. What
could come but determinations
[ the opening of the war the command
er-in-chief OF the United States forces
was man who had been great in battle
but old age had come. with many infirmi.
ties, and he had right TO quietude H5
could not mount a horse, and he rode or
the battle field in a carriage asking the
driver not to jolt it too much. During the
most Of the four years Of the contest OF
The southern side. was a man in mid-life
VINO had in his veins the blood Of many
generations of warriors himself one ol
the heroes Of Cherubusco and Cerro Cor.
do, Contreras and ChapulteDec As The
years passed on and the scroll of carnage
unrolled, there came out from both side,
a heroism, and a strength and a deter
mination that the world had never seer
marshalled. And what but extermfna tior
could come when Philip Sheridan am