Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1902-01-01


81 - couraEt humanity and shows
how the eyenIn OF life may be bright
ened. The te a. l. Kings Xxx. II. Let
. not him thar S5eth on his harness boast
himself as he 4ai putteth it off"
Harness is a obsolete word for armor.
1t means harnss for the man, not har-
ness for the ID st. harness for battle, not
harness for tBsplow. The ancient armor
consisted of htmet for the head, breast
plate and sid for the heart, greayes
for the feet. he text makes a compari-
son betweenk man enlisting for some
war and 4 reran returning. the one
putting OIL IL, arnor and the other put
ting il Of.
Bepha'ad. e king of Syria. thought
he could easy overcome the king Ct
Israel iEGde. the Syrian was so sure
of the victo ythat he spread an antebel-
lun banquet. With thirty-two kings he
was cclebratE what they were going to
do. Their Fre in all thrity-three kings
at the carous, and their condition is de-
sc"ibed in Ii Bible not as convivial or
stimulated dnltation, but drunk. Their
g.lded and banered pavilions were sur
rounded by hsh mettled horses, neighing
and champtn, and hitched to chariots
such as king rode in. Benhadad sends
officers overst the king of Israel demand
ing the surinder of the city. saying,
Thou shat deliver ME thy silver and
thy gold and by wives aud thy child.ea,"
and afterwa1 sends other officers, say
ing that tie palace of the king will be
searched aIldeverything Benhadad wants
he viii take without asking. Then the
king of Isral called council of war,
and word Is sent back to Benhadad that
his unreasdn bic demand will be re>isted.
Then Benh;lad sends another message
to the king If Israel, a message full of
arrogance ald bravads, practically say
ing: I'VE Fill destroy you utterly. L
will grindA Samaria into the dust, but
there will DIT be dust enough to make
handful fdr ZACH one OF my troops" Then
the king of Israel replied to Benhadad,
practically saying: Let me see you do
what you Eay. You royal braggart, you
might bettr have postponed your BAN
quet until after the battle instead of
spreading before the battle. You huzza
too soonk Let not him that girdeth on
his harnes boast himself as he that put
teth it of.
An avafaiche of courage and righteous
ness, thef kraelitish army came down on
BenhadaSAnd his host. 1t was a hand to
hand fight each Israelite hewing down
Syrian. kBenhadads on horseback, gets
away viii some of the cavalry, but is
only SAVED for a worse defeat, in which
100000 S.rian infantry were slaughter
ed in oneiay. Now we see the sarcasm
and the egrammatic power of the mes
sage of ny text sent by the king of Is
rael to penhadad, LET not him that
girdeth 4 his harness boast himself as
he that iitteth it off. -
Pr ,e Goeth Before FAN.
All up md down history we see such
too early o0asting. Soult, the marshal of
France, lYas so certain that he would
conquer tiat he had proclamation print
ed Announcing himself king of Portugal
and had a grand feast prepared for t
O'Clock Fnat afternoon, but before that
hour he fed in ignominious defeat, and
Wellington of the conquering host sat
down at4 o'clock at the very banquet the
marshal of France had ordered for him
self. Chlrles V. invaded France and was
so sure of conquest that he requested
Paul Jefins the historian, to gather to-
gether a large amount of paper on which
to write the story of his many victories,
but disease and famine seized upon his
troopers, ana he retreated in dismay. So
Benhadad's behavior has been copied in
all ages Of the world. 1t will be my OBJ
ject, among other lessons, to show that
he who puts off the armor having finish
ed the battle, is more to be congratulated
than he who begins.
First, | had encouragement in this sub
ject for the aged who have got through
the work and struggle of earthly life. My
venerable friends, if you had at twenty
five years of age full appreciation of
what you would have to go through in
the thirties and the forties and the fifties
of your lifetime you would have been APP
palled. Fortunately the bereavements,
the temptations, the prosecutions, the
were curtained from your
sight With more or less fortitude you
passed through the crises of pain and
sadness and disappointment and fatigue
and still live to recount the divine help
that sustained you. At twenty or thirty
years Of your age at the tap of the drum
you put on the harness. Now, at sixty
Or seventy or eighty, you are peacefully
putting it off. Gud would not want to
Try the battle of life over again. So
many of just your temperament and with
as good a starting and as fine a parent
age and seemingly with as much equi-
Doise of character as you had have made
complete shipwreck that you would rot
want again to run the risks. Though
you can look back and see many mis-
axes, the next time you might make
worse mistakes. Instead of being de-
pressed over the fact that you are being
counted out or omitted in the great un-
of the church and the world,
'ejoice that you have a right TO hang mp
Tour helmet and sheathe your sword and
free your hands from the gauntlets and
FOUR feet from the boots of mail.
Glad to BE at Peace.
At the Soldiers Home in the suburbs
" this city / often admire the peaceful
ind contented looks Of the venerable he
oes as they sit under the trees or go in
ind out the fine aboue that our govern
nent has appropriately provided for
hem. They are not longing for other
They do not want to un-
Iertake another South Mountain. Their
GOT does NOT ache to get into the stirrup
# the cavalryman. They are not long
ng for the bareback Of the soldiers
breakfast along the Chickahominy. They
ave no desire for another ride in the
ambulance TO the field hospital When
he Spanish war broke out. they some
lines wondered if their rheumatic knee
would allow them to keep step in
march, and il their sight was good enough
o see an advancing foeman, and If their
ar was alert enough TO hear the com
aand 'Chargss' But for the most part
hey are glad that there is no more war