The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1895-06-21

great slaughter. but The eanaaniios soon
discover something. They SAYS "lnai b.
Joshua That q the man who conquered
tho spring freshel aud knocked down the
stone wall and destroyed chs clty 90 A.
There 81 no nee aehtlng" And they sound
q retreat, and ne they begin % retreat
Joshua and his host spring upon them Ike
panther, pursuing them over Che rocks, ana
ua these Canannltes, with sprnined ankles
and gashod ioreh0ads, r1truat the caApulia
of the sky pour a yolley of hallsione into
the valley, and nll the artillery OF the
heavens with bullets Of iron pounds the
Canaanites against the Lodges Of Belh-horon.
"Oh. says Joshua, "thls is surely %
ylctoyl' "But do you see the sun Is going
DOWN Those Amontes are going 90 get away
after All, and they viii come up some other
time and bolherua and perhaps destroy us. ~
See. the sun Is going down. Oh, Tor longer
day than has ever been seen Ia this climatel
What d the matter with joshua Has he
fallon I'm an ap0pletlc nY No. He rs I'm
prayer. Look out when q good man makes
the Lord his ally. Joshua raises bis face,
radiant with prayer, aud looks az the de-
sconding sun over Gideon and ne the faint
crescent Of the moon, for you know the
queen Of the night sometimes with hnger
around the palaces Of the day. Pointing one
hand at the descending sun and the other
hand az the faint crescent OF the moon. in the
name Of that God who shaped the w0rldsnnd
moves the worlds, he cries, "Sun, stand thou
stll upon Gibe6n. and thou. moon. I'm
the valley OF Alalon." Ana they stood
still Whether II was by relraction Of the
suns rays or by the stopping OF the whole
planetary system L do not know and do not
care. / leave IL 90 the Christian scientists
and the inadel scientists 20 settle that ques-
tion while 1 tell you / have seen the same
thing. "What, say you, "not the sun stand
ing still?' Yes. The same miracle Is per-
formed nowadays The wicked DO not live
out half their day, and the sun sets ut noon:
But let a man start out and battle for God,
and the truth, and against SIM aud the day
OF his usefulness Is prolonged and prolonged
and prolonged.
But It is time for Joshua 10 60 home. lie
Is lie years old. Washington went down the
Potomac. and at Mount Vernon closed his
days. Wellington died peacefully at Apsley
House. Now, where shall Joshua resty
Why. he is 10 have his greatest battle now.
After 40 years he has 10 meet a king who
has more subjects than all the present popu-
lation OF the earth. his throne a pyramid Of
skulls. his parterre the graveyards and the
cemeteries OF the world, his chariot the
worlds hearse-the king Of terrors. But II
this Is Joshua's greatest battle it Is going TO
be Joshua's greatest victory. He gathers
his friends around him and gives his vale
dictory and Il Is full of "reminiscences.
Young men tell what they are going 10 DO.
/ Old men tell what they have DONE
And rs you have heard a grandfather or q
/ great-grandiather, seated by the evening
/ fire, tell Of Monmouth or Yorktown and then
] lift the cruteh or staf as though it were a
/ musket TO fight and show how the old battles
/ were won, so Joshua gathers his friends
! around his dying couch, and he tells them
! the story OF what he has been through, and
| as he lies there, his white locks showing
/ down on his wrinkled forehead, wonder il
! God has kept His promise all the way
/ through-the promise ofthe text. AS he lie.
there he tells the story one, two or three
times-you have heard old people tell a story
| two or three times overland he answers: 81
| gothic way ofall the earth, and not one word O
the promise has failed, not one word thereo
has failed. All has come to pass; not on,
word thereof has failed. And then h,
turns to his family, as dying parent will
and says: CHOOSE now whom y9 will serv
the God of Israel or the God Of the Amor
ties. As for me and my house, we will serv
the Lord A dying parent cannot be reck
less or thOughtless in regard to his children
Consent to part with them at the door o
the tomb we cannot. by the cradle IN Whicl
their infancy was rocked, by the bosom Oh
which they first lay, by the blood OF tn
Covenant, by the God of Joshua, it shall no
be. We win not part. We cannot part
Jehovah Jireh, we fake Thee at Thy promise
81 will be a God to thee and thy seed afte
thee"
Dead, the old chieftain must be laid out
Handle him very gently. That sacred bod
is over 10 years of age. Lay him out. Stretc
out those feet that walked dry shod the parte
Jordan. Close those lips which helped blo'
the blast at which the walls OF Jericho fell
Fold the arm that lifted the spear toward tn
doomed city Of All. Fold it right over tn
heart that exulted when the five kings Eel
But where shall we get the FURNISHED grant
for the headstone and tho footstone? l be
think myself now. imagine that for tn
head it shall be the sun that stood still upo
Gideon, and for the foot the moon that stoo
still in the valley of AjaloD.