St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1900-05-12
VICTORY IN RETREAT
Dr.. Talmage Gives Suggestions as
to Christian Warfare.

/ ~ SAA4 AOS40A :" "a A0AVe
Soshaa's Plan Of Anbuscade Cited u
. Successful Method Of Fight
Ing Unrighte hteOuAness-Sin's
Triumph Brief.
Ccopyright. 1900. by Louis Klopsch.l
| Washington.
From an old-time battle scene Or
Talmage in this discourse makes some
startling suggestions as to the bes,
styles Of Christian work and points out
the reason of SO many pious failures;
text, Joshua ST: "Then shall we rise
! up from the ambush and seize upon
the city,"
One Sabbath evening, with my family
around me, we were talking over the
scene Of the text. In the wide open
eyes and the quick interrogations and
the blanched cheeks realized what a
thrilling drama it was. There is the
old city, shorter by name than any
other city in the. ages, spelled with two
letters, A, 1, Al. Joshua and his men
want to take it. How to do it is the
question. On a former occasion, in q
straightforward, face to face fight,
they had been defeated, but now they
are going to take it by ambuscade. Gen.
Joshua has two divisions in his army.
The one division the battle-worn COM
mander will lead himself, the other di-
vision he sends of to encamp in an am
bush on the west side of the city of
Al. No torches, NO lanterns, no sound
Of heavy battalions, but $4,000 swarthy
warriors moving in silence. speaking
only in whisper; no clicking Of
swords against shields, lest the watch
men of Al discover it and the stratagem
be failure. II the roistering soldier
in the Israelitish army forgets himself,
all along the line the word il "Hush!"
Joshua takes the other division, the
one with which he is to march, and
puts it on the north side of the city
Of All and then spends the night in re-
connoitering in the valley. There he
il, thinking over the fortunes Of the
coming day with something of the feel
ings Of Wellington the night before
Waterloo or of Meade and Lee the night
before Gettysburg. There he stands
in the night and says to himself: "Yon-
der is the division in ambush on the
west side Of Al. Here is the division I
have under my especial command on
the north side of Al. There is the old
city slumbering in its sin. Tomorrow
will be the battle" Look! The morn
ing already begins to tip the hills. The
military officers of Al look out in the
morning very early, and. while they
do not see the division in ambush, they
behold the other divisions of Joshua,
aud the cry ITO arms! To arms!"
rings through all the streets of the
old town, and every sword, whether
hacked and bent or newly welded, is
brought out. and all the Inhabitants
of the city of Al pour through the gates.
an infuriated torrent, and their cry is:
.Come, We'll make quick work with
Joshua and his troops!"
No sooner had these people Of Al
come out against the troops Of Joshua
than Joshua gave such command as
he seldom gave-"Fal back!" Why,
they could not believe their own ears!
Is Joshua's courage failing him? The
retreat is beaten, and the Israelites are
flying, throwing blankets and canteens
on every side under this worse than
Bull Run defeat. And you ought to
hear the soldiers of Al cheer and cheer.
But they huzza too soon. The men lying
in ambush are straining their vision to
get some signal from Joshua that they
may know what time to drop upon the
city. Joshua takes his FURNISHED
spear, glittering in the sun like q shaft
Of doom, and points it toward the city,
and when the men up yonder in the am
bush see it with hawklike swoop they
irop upon Al and without stroke of
sword or stab Of spear take the city
md put it to the torch.
So much for the division that was in
How about the division under |
Joshua's command? No sooner does |
Joshua stop in the fight than all his |
men stop with him, and as he wheels
hey wheel, for in a voice of thunder |
he cried: "Halt!" one strong arm
driving back q torrent of flying troops.
And then, as he points his spear
through the golden light toward that
ated city, his troops know that they |
ire to start for it. What a scene it was
when the division in ambush which
lad taken the city marched down
Rainst the men Of All on the one side,
nd the troops under Joshua doubled
10 their enemies from the other side,
md the men of Al were caught between
hese two hurricanes Of Israelitish
courage, thrust before and behind,
tabbed in breast and back, ground be-
ween the upper and the neither mill
tones Of Gods Indignation! Woe to
he city of Al! Cheer for Israel!
Lesson the first: There is such a
hing as victorious retreat. Joshua's
alling back was the first chapter in
is successful besiegement. And there
re times in your life wher the best
hing you car do il to run. You were
nee the victim Of strong drink. The 1
emijohn and the decanter were your
erce foes. They came down upon yoG
nth greater fury than the men of Al
pom the men of Joshua. Your only
afety is to get away from them. Your
issipating companions will come
round you for your overthrow. Run
Or your life! Fall back! Fall back
rom the drinking saloon! Fall back
rom the wine party! Your fight is
our advance; your retreat is your
ictory. There is saloon down on the
ext street that has almost been the
uin Of your soul. Then why do you
o along that street? Why do you
OF pass through some other street.
ather than by the place Of your calam-
y? A spoonful of brandy taken for
edicinal purposes by . man who 20
ears before had been reformed from
hurled into inebriety and
le grave one Of the best friends ever ,
Id. Retreat is victory! /,
Here is a converted infidel. He il SO
rong now in his faith in the Gospel ,
} says he can read anything. What
= you reading? Bolingbroke? An