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

THE NOTED DIyINEs SUNDAY
DISCOURSE.
Subject, "The Greatest Soldier OF
All Tlme.n

OF the church. DR.. Taimngo chose Tor his
subject 'rho Greatest Soldier OF An
Time, the text being "There shall not any
man be able 20 stand before thee an the days
Of thy life Joshua T., D.
The "gallant Thirteenth" az this reg
iment Ia generally and appropriately called.
has gathered tonight Tor the worship OF
God aud TO hear the annual sermon. And
first look with hearty salutaiion into the
faces OF the veterans, who, though now not
In active service, have the same patriotic and
military enthusiasm which characterized
them when, In 1863 they babe farewell 90
home aud loved Onos and started for the
field and risked an they held dear on earth
Tor the re-establshment Of the falling United
States Government. GAN that a man hath
viii give for his life" and you showed
yourselves willing 90 give your lives. We
hail you'll We thank youl 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
oiall history, a war with Grantand sherman
and Hancock aud Sheridan and Fauagut on
one side and Lee and StOneWall Jackson aud
Longs,reet and Johnston on the other.
As In Greek assemDlages. when speakers
would arouse the audience, they shouted
Marathon" so II wantod to STIR you 10 ac-
ciamation 1 would only need 10 speak the
words, Lookout Mountain" "Chaucelors-
vile, f" Gettysburg" Aud though through
the passage Of years you arc forever free
from duty OF enlistment, ifEuropean nations
should too easily and too quickly forget the
Monroe doctrine and set aggressive foot upon
this continent think your ankles would DO
supple again, and your arms would grow
strong again, and your eyes would be keen
enough 70 follow the stars Of the old flag
wherever they might lead
And next greet the colonel and his staff,
and all the officers and men OF this regiment
II has been an eventful year In your history.
II never before, Brooklyn appreciates some
thing 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 COM
rades OF the Thirteenth Regiment Aud
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 al
ways fought on the right side, and he never
fought unless God told him 10 fight. In my
text he gets his military equipment and one
would think Il must have been plumed he'll
met for the brow, greaves Of brass for tho
feet, habergeon for the breast. "There shall
not any han be able to stand before thee all
the days Of thy lfe." ooh" you say. "any-
body could have courage with such back
ing up as that" Why, my friends, haveto
tell YOU that the God Of the universe and the
Chieitain OF eternity promises to do Just as
much for us rs for him. Allthe resources Of
eternity are pledged in our behalf, If we 60
out In the service Of God, and no more than
that was offered to Joshua. God fulfilled this
promise OF my text, although Joshua's first
battle was with the spring freshet and the
next with a 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 We
great victories.
For the most part, when the general OF an
army starts out in conflict he would like
to have asmalt battle in order 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
greater than the leveling of Fort Pulaski, or
the laundering down of Gibraltar, or the
overthrow of the Bastile. 1t was the crossing
OF tho 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 a
raging torrent. So the Canaanites stand on
one bank. and they look across and see
Joshua and the Israeites, and they laugh
and say! "Aha! aha! They cannot disturb
us until the freshets fall. It is impossible
for them to reach us" But after awhile they
look across the water, and they see a move.
ment in the army of Joshua. They say
"What's the4natter now? Why, there must
be panic among these troops, aud they are
going to fly, or perhaps they are going &c
try to march across the river Jordan. Joshua
! Is a lunatic." But Joshua, the chieftain oil
| thetext, looks at mis- army and cries, "For.
| ward, march" and they start for the bank
| OF the Jordan.
! One mile ahead 90 two priests, carrying q
| glittedng box four feet long and two feet
/ wide. Ii is the ark of the covenant. AnC
! they come down. and no sooner do they
! just touch the rim Of the water with theft
feet than by an almighty fiat Jordan parts
1 The army Of Joshua marches right on with
| out getting their feet wet over the bottom o
| the river. a path Of chalk and broken she'll
and pebbles. until they get to the other bank
| Then they lay hold of the oleanders anC
tamars6s ana willows and pull themselve
! up a bank thirty.Or forty feet high, and hav
Ing gained the other bank they clap thei
shields and their symbals and sing tbs
! ptb4e5S Vi tue OD4 Vi joshua.
But no sooner have they reached the banl
than the waters begin to dash and roar, an,
with terrific rush they break loose from
their strange anchorage. Ont yonder the
have stopped thirty miles up yonder the
| halted. On this side the waters roll oil
toward the salt sea. Bat as the hand of tn
Lord God is taken away from the thus up
lifted waters-waters perhaps uplifted half
nile-as the Almighty hand is taken ava
those waters rush down, and some Of the III
believing Israelites say: "Alas, alas, what
misfortune! Why could not those water
have stayed parted2 Because, perhaps, W
may want to go back. Oh, Lord I'VE are en-
gagged ina risky business. Those Canaauite
may eat US up. How if we want to so back
Would it not have been a more complet
miracle II the Lord had parted the waters
let us come through and kept them parte
to iet us 90 back If we are defeGted2' NJ
friends, God makes no provision for
Christians retreat. He clears the pat
all the way to Canaan. To go back is to di