Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1895-05-30

menC occupied the DOuy VI ZIG
church. DR.. Talmage chose for his
subject: 1.-THE Greatest Soldier OF All
Time" the text being Joshua 1:5:
'There shall not any man be able to
stand before thee all the days OF 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 look with hearty
salutation into the faces of the vet
Grams who, though now not in active
service, have the same patriotlc anu
military enthusiasm which character
lied them when, in 1863, they pace
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 "AH that
man hath will he give Tor
his life and you showed yourselves
willing to give your lives. We nail
you! We thank you! We bless you
the veterans of the Thirteenth. Noth-
ing can ever rob you of the honor OF
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 Stonewan jack
son, and Longstreet, and Johnston on
the other. AS in Greek assemblages,
when speakers would rouse the audi
ence, they shouted "Marathon!' so II
wanted to stir you to reclamation, l
would only need to speak the words,
Lookout Mountain" "Chancellors-
ville," Gettysburg" 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. I think your ankles
would be supple again, and your arms
would grow strong again, and 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. 1t 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, l have concluded to
hold up before you the greatest soldier
of all time-Joshua, the hero of my
text.
He We 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 to do just as much
for us as for 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 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 starts in a tot Il
would like to have 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
err 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 a raging tor
rent. So the Canaanites stand on one
bank and they look across and See
Joshua and the Israelites, and thew
laugh and say: AHA! aha! they cam
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 movement in the
army of Joshua. They say, Whats
the matter now? Why, there must be
a panic among these troops, and they
are going to fly, or perhaps they are
going to try to march across the river
Jordan. Joshua is lunatic." But
Joshua, the chieftain Of the text, looks
at his army and cries: Forward,
march, and they start for the bank
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 the
Covenant. And they come down. and
no sooner do they just touch the rim of
the water with their feet, than by an
Almighty fiat, Jordan parts. The army
of Joshua marches right on without
getting their feet wet, over the bottom
of the river, path of chalk and brok-
en- shells and pebbles, until they get to
the other bank. Then they lay hold of
the oleanders and tamarisks and will
sooner have they reached the bank
thirty or forty feet high, and having
gained the other bank, they clap their
shields and their cymbals, and sing the
praises of the God of Joshua, But no
SOopar have thew reached he hank