Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1895-05-31
THE HEROIC JOSHUA.
HOW HE COMMANDED THE SUN TO
STAND STILL.

Rev. DIR. TaImage breaches Another Ser
mon Of Surprising Interest and Power.
The Greatest Soldier of All Time-The
Gallant Thirteenth.
BROOKLYN, May 26.-In the Embury
Memorial church a large audience as
sembled this evening to listen to the an
nual sermon of Chaplain 7. De Witt Tai
mage of the Thirteenth regiment, n. G.
s n. Y. The members of the regiment
occupied the body Of the church. DR..
Talmage chose for his subject "The
Greatest Soldier Of All Time" the text
being Joshua i, 5, "There shall not any
man be able to stand before thee all the
days Of thy life. "
The gallant Thirteenth, " as this reg
iment is generally and appropriately
called, has gathered tonight for the wor-
ship of God and to hear the annual
sermon. And first look with hearty
salutation into the faces of the veterans,
who, though now not in active service,
have the same patriotic and military en-
lhusiasm which characterized them
when, in 1868, they bade farewell to home
and loved ones and started for the field
and risked all they held dear on earth for
the re establishment of the falling Unit
ed States government. All that man
hath will he give for his life, and you
showed yourselves willing to give your
lives. We hail you We thank you We
bless you, the veterans of the Thirteenth.
Nothing can ever rob you of the honor
of having been soldiers in one Of the
most tremendous wars of all history, a
war with Grant and Sherman and Han
cock and Sheridan and Farragut on one
side, and Lee and StOnewan Jackson
and Longstreet and Johnston on the
other.
As in Greek assemblages, when speak
ers would rouse the audience, they shout
ed Marathon so if wanted to stir
YOU to acclamation 1 would only need
to speak the words, Lookout Noun
tain" "Chancellorsville, " "Gettys-
burg" And though through the passage
of years you are forever free from duty
of enlistment, if European nations should
too easily and too quickly forget the
Monroe doctrine and set aggressive foot
upon this continent think your ankles
would be supple again, and your arms
would grow strong again, and your eyes
would be keen enough to follow the stars
of the old flag wherever they might lead.
Great Fighter.
And next l greet the colonel and his
staff, and all the officers and men OF this
regiment. 1t has been an eventful year
in your history. If never before, Brook
lyn appreciates something Of the value
of its armories, and the Importance OF
the men who there drill for the defense
and safety Of the city. The blessing of
God be upon all of you, my comrades OF
the Thirteenth regiment And looking
about for a subject that might be most
helpful and inspiring for you, and our
veterans here assembled, and the citizens
gathered tonight with their good wishes,
| have concluded to hold up before you
the greatest soldier Of all time-Joshua,
the hero Of my text.
He was a magnificent fighter, but he
always fought on the right side, and ne
never fought unless God told him to
fight. In my text he gets his military
pouipment and one would think it must
have been plumed helmet for the brow,
yreayes Of brass for the feet, habergeon
for the breast. "There shall not any
man be able to stand before thee all the
davs Of thy life " "Oh," you say, "any-
BODY could have courage with such q
backing up as that" Why, my friends,
have to tell you that the God Of the
universe and the Chieftain Of eternity
promises 70 do just as much for US as Tor
him. All the resources of eternity are
pledged in our behalf, if we go out in
the service of God, and no more than
that was offered to Joshua. God fulfill
ed this promise Of my text, although
Joshua's first battle was with the spring
Ireshet. and the next with stone wall,
and the next leading on a regiment OF
whipped towards, and the next battle
against darkness, wheeling the sun and
the moon into his battalion, and the last
against the king of terrors, death-hye
great victories.
For the most part, when the general
Of an army starts out in a conflict he
would like to have a small battle IN
Drder that he may get his courage up
and he may rally his troops and get
them drilled for greater conflicts, but this
6rst undertaking Of Joshua was greater
than the leveling Of Fort Pulaski, OF
the laundering down of Gibraltar, OF
the overthrow Of the Bastille IL was
, the crossing of the Jordan at the time
Of the spring freshet. The SHOWS OF
Mount Lebanon had just been melting,
and they poured down into the valley
and the whole valley was raging tor
rent SO the Canaanites stand ON one
bank. and they look across and see
Joshua and the Israelites, and they
o laugh and say; AHA ahal They can
not disturb us until the freshets fall II
is impossible for them to reach us.
Rut after awhile they look across the
water, and they see a movement IN the
army of Joshua. They say what
.he matter now? Why, there must be
] panic among these troops, and they are
roing to fly, or perhaps they are going
10 try to march across the river Jordan
Joshua is lunatic. Bat Joshua, the
r thieftain Of the text, looks at his army
and cries, Forward, march, and they
start for the bank of the Jordan
Sure Of the Promise.
3 One mile ahead go two priests, carry
n Ing a glittering box 4 feet long and
Ieet wide. 1t is the ark Of the covenant
And they come down, and no sooner d'
Ihey Just touch the rim Of the watel
with their feet than by an almight,
4 Fat Jordan parts. The army of Joshu'
marches right ON without getting thei
Ieet wet, over the bottom Of the river
, path of chalk and broken shells ant
!, pebbles, until they get to the othe
- Oank. Then they lay hold Of the olean
" iers and tamarisks and willows ant
quill themselves up bank 30 or 40 fee