Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1899-11-10
"BEHOLD THE SHIPS"
DR.. Talmage breaches on the Glory
Of the Navy.
An Appropriate Sermon for Admiral
Dewcy's Home Coming - USE
full Lessons from the Lives
of Naval Heroes.

Copyright, 1899. by Louis Klopseho
Washington.
At a time when the whole nation is
stirred with patriotic emotion at the re-
turn of Admiral George Dewey and his
gallant men on the cruiser Olympia and
the magnificent reception accorded to
them, Rev. DIR. I. Dewitt Talmage, in
this sermon, preaching to vast audi
ence, appropriately recalls for deyout
and patriotic purposes some OF the
great naval deeds of olden and more re-
cent times. Text, James iii, A: "Behold
also the ships"
If this exclamation was appropriate
about 1872 years ago, when it was writ
ten concerning the crude fishing smacks
that sailed Lake Galilee, how much
more appropriate in an age which has
launched from the drydocks for pur-
poses of peace the Oceanic, of the White
Star line; the Lucania, of the Cunard
line; the st. Louis, of the American
line; the Kaiser Wilhelm der Crosse,
of the North German Lloyd line; the
Augusta Victoria, of the Hamburg
American line, and in an age which. for
purposes of war has launched the Ore
gon, the Brooklyn, the Texas, the Olym-
pia, the Iowa, the Massachusetts, the
Indiana, the New York, the Marietta of
the Iowa, the Massachusetts, the In
diana, the New York, the Marietta of
the last war, and the SCARED veterans
of war shipping, like the Constitution,
or the Alliance, or the Constellation,
that have swung into the naval yards
to spend their last days, their decks
now all silent of the feet that trod them,
their rigging all silent of the hands
that clung to them, their portfolios 81
lent of the brazen Threats that once
Numbered out of them.
If in the first century, when war YES
sells were dependent. on the oars that
padded at the side of them for propul-
sion, my text was suggestive, with how
much more emphasis and meaning and
overwhelming Renaissance we can cry
out as we see the Kearsarge lay across
the bows OF the Alabama ana sink it,
teaching foreign nations they had bet
ter keep their hands off our American
| fight, or as we see the ram Albemarle
of the confederates running out and in
the Roanoke and up and down the coast,
throwing everything into confusion as
no other craft ever did, pursued by the
| Miami, the Ceres, the Southfeld, the
| Sassacuss, the Mattabesett, the White
| head, the Commodore Hull, the Louisi-
| ana, the Minnesota and other armed YES
sells, all trying in vain to catch her, I'M
til Capt. Cushing, 81 years of age, and
his men blew her up, himself and only
one other escaping, and as | see the flag
ship Hartford, and the Richmond, and
the Monongahela, with other gunboats,
sweep past the batteries of Port Hud'
son, and the Mississippi flows forever
free to all northern and southern craft
and under the fire of Dewey and his men
the Spanish ships at Manila burn OF
sink, and the fleet rushing out of San
tiago harbor are demolished by oul
| guns. and the brave Cervera surrenders
| cry out with patriotic emotion that
] cannot suppress if | would, and would
not if | could behold also the ships!'
Full Justice has been done to the mcr
who at different times fought on the
land, but not enough has been said o.
those who on ships deck dared and suf
fered all things. Lord God of the rivers
and the sea, help me in this sermon
So, We admirals, commanders, captains
pilots, gunners, boatswains, sailmak
ers, surgeons, stokers, messmates ant
seamen of all names, to use your owl
parlance, we might as well get unde
way and stand out to sea. Let all LAND
lubbers 20 ashore. Full speed now
Four bells!
Never since the sea fight of Lepantc
where 300 royal galleys, manned ~ So
OO0 warriors, at sunrise September
1911, met $50 royal galleys, manned b.
$4,000 men, and in the four hours o
battle 5000 fell on one side and $500
on the other; yea, never since the da
when at Actum, 81 years before Christ
Augustus with 2G0 ships scattered Tn
22O ships of Mark Antony and game
universal dominion as the prize; yea
since the day when at Salamis the 30
galleys of the Persians, manned b
100000 men, were crushed by Greek
with less than third of that force; yea
never since the time Of Noah, the frs
ship captain, has the world seen sue
miraculous creation as that of tn
American navy in 1861.
There were about 200 available SET
men in all the naval stations and n
, ceiving ships, and here and there a
old vessel. Yet orders were given
, blockade $500 miles of seacoast, create
than the whole coast of Europe; ant
besides that, the Ohio, Tennessee, Gun
berland, Mississippi and other gret
rivers, covering an extent of 1000 moi
! miles, were to be patrolled. No VOL
der the whole civilized world burst int
outlaws of laughter at the seeming in
possibility. But the work was don
/. done almost Immediately, done tho
! oughly and done with a speed and col
: 'summate skill that eclipsed all the hi
: tory of naval architecture.
a In the cemeteries for federal an
: confederate dead are the bodies of mos
: of those who fell on the land. b
where those are who went down in Il
I war vessels will not be known unit
| the sea gives up its dead The jack tai
). knew that while loving arms migl
6 carry the men who fell on the Lar
/, and bury them with solemn liturgy an
the hon0rs of war, for the bodies I
3. those who dropped from the ratlin'
into the sea or went down with all c
: board under the stroke of a gunbo
there remained the shark and the wha
a and the endless tossing of the sea whiC
cannot rest. Once year, ] the dec
D ration of the graves, those who fell
the land were remembered. But ho