The Yale expositor., 1895-05-31


church. DIR. Talmage chose for his
subject: 1.-THE Greatest Soldier or All
Time" the text being Joshua 1: D:
There shall not any man be able TO
stand before thee all the days or thy
life"
The gallant Thirteenth" as this
regiment is generally and appropriate
ly called, has gathered tonight for the
worship of God, and to hear the annual
sermon. And first 1 look with hearty
salutation into the faces OF the vet
Grams who, though now not in active
service, have the same patriotic ana
military enthusiasm which character
ICED them when. in 1863, they bade
farewell to home and loved ones, ana
started for the field, and risked all they
held dear on earth for the re-establish-
ment of the falling United
! States government. "Al that
a man hath will he give Tor
his life," and you showed yourselves
willing to give your lives. we nan
you! We thank you! We bless you,
the veterans Of the Thirteenth. Moth
| ing can ever rob you of the honor or
having been soldiers in one of the most
tremendous wars of all history war
with Grant, and Sherman. and Han
cock, and Sheridan, and Farragut on
| one side, and Lee, and Stonewal jack
son, and Longstreet. and Johnston on
the other AS in Greek assemblages,
when speakers would rouse the audi
ence. they shouted "Marathon" so If
wanted to stir you TO reclamation, L
would only need to speak the words,
Lookout Mountain" "Chancellors-
ville," Gettysburg" And thoufSs
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 1 think your ankles
would be supple again, and your arms
would grow strong again. ard your
! eye would be keen enough to follow the
stars OF the old flag wherever they
might lead.
And next I greet the Colonel and his
| staff, and all the officers and men Of
this regiment. It has been an eventful
year in your history. If never before,
Brooklyn appreciates something of the
value of the armories, and the impor-
lance 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
het never fought unless God told him
to fight. In my text. he gets his mill
tary equipment, and one would think
it must have been plumed helmet for the
brow, greaves of brass for the feet,
! habergeon for the breast There shall
not any man be able to stand before
thee all the days Of thy life" "Oh,"
you say, anybody could have courage
with such backing up as that" Why.
my friends, have to tell you that the
God of the universe and the Chieftain
of eternity promises 10 do just as much
for us as for him. All the resources Of
eternity are pledged in our behalf, II
we so out in the service of God, and
no more than that was offered to
Joshua. God fulfilled this promise OF
my text. although Joshuas first battle
was with the spring freshet; and the
next with a stone wall; and the next.
leading on a regiment of whipped cow
ards; and the next battle. against
darkness, wheeling the sun and the
moon into his battalion, and the last
against the King of Terrors, Death
FIVE 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 or
der that he may get his courage up and
he may rally his troops and get them
drilled for greater conflicts; but this
first undertaking of Joshua was great
er than the leveling Of Fort Pulaski, or
the laundering down Of Gibraltar. or
the overthrow of the Bastille 1t 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 q raging tor
rent. SO the Canaanites stand on one
bank and they look across and See
Joshua and the Israelites, and they
laugh and say: AHA! aha! they can
not disturb us until the freshets fall
it is impossible for them TO reach us.
! But after a while they look across the
water and they see a movement in thu
, army OF joshua. Iney say, What
the matter now? Why. there must be
n panic among these troops, and they
are going to fly, or perhaps they arr
going to try to march across the river
J Jordan. Joshua is a lunatic" But
Joshua, the chieftain of the text. looks
at his army and cries: Forward
march, and they start for the banl
of the Jordan.
One mile ahead go two priests carry.
ing a glittering box four feet long and
two feet wide. 1t is the Ark of tho
Covenant. And they come down, ant
no sooner do they just touch the rim OF
the water with their feet. than by ar
Almighty fat Jordan parts. The army
, of Joshua marches right on without
getting their feet wet, over the bottom
of the river. a path OF chalk and brok
en- shells and pebbles, until they get e
, the other bank. Then they lay hold q
: the oleanders and tamarisks and will
/ sooner have they reached the banl
thirty or forty feet high, and havins
, gained the other bank, they clap theii
|, shields and their cymbals. and sing IN,
/, praises of the God OF Joshua. But M
! coonar haua fhav raacboH ha 10