The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1902-01-08

sermon From q Veteran to Comrades.
Confederate Veteran.


Soldiers Home, quoting his text from
9 Timothy ii. 3:5, he said:
Thou therefore endure hardness,
as a good soldier Of Jesus Christ. no
man who warrcth cntanglcth himself
with the ailars Of this life; that he
may please him who hath chosen him
to be ,odicr And if man also
strive for mastcrics. yet he is not
crowned except he strive lawfully
Whether right or wronL, it has been
con,it crcd from time immcmorial an
honor to be :! good soldier. The post
Q! honor has been assigned to brave,
true sol'Iic 5 from the beginning Of
history to ,hc prcScn; time Orators,
poets and painters have cssaycd TO
give honor to brave, obcdicnt. self
sacrificing soldiers. 'Thi- may bc one
reason why Christians are call~l sol
dlers, and also why Christ is called the
Captain Of our salvation In he Ian
guagc just read Tie apostle Paul cx-
horts Timothy to "cnGur hardness as
good soldier Of Jesus Christ" In
his first letter to Timothy, sixth chap
ter, he bids him fight the good fgh,
Of faith" and clay hold on eternal
life
Ithas been understood through the
ages that, when frcsidcs are to be de-
ferdcd, when wives and children and
friends are to be protected, the bray
est and best men and boys have ever
Lccn willing to defend and protect
them, to shield and save home and
we'd ones. | heard United States
Senator Daniel Voorhees,, the "Tall
Sycamore Of the Wabash in q great
speech sey, i'Thc best blood of our
country was in the army on both
sides, alludiDg to the men in our
great war. Nothing said indicated
any bitterness in his heart toward
soldiers on either side. j.. God
wants people to be what is best for
them-best for body, soul and spirit,
for time and for eternity-and he
wants them to be honored as they are
honorable in that relationship. :.
The Scriptures clearly indicate
that Goc's Church is an army, and
that every member of it is u soldier.
About forty years ago call was
made throughout our Southland for
boys and men to enlist in the army.
We needed the call for volun-
teers, to fight for what we regarded
the sacred rights of self and loved
ones. The call then was for def
mite number to follow the Stars and
Bars for definite period of time.
When we were in the Confederate
army it was natural for us to love our
leaders and to follow them at every
peril. If VS. were good soldiers, we
were ready and willing to obey their
orders till death.
My first general officer was Zol!icof-
fer. His soldiers loved him, and be-
lieved him to be loader worthy of
their love and confidence. When, on
the dark and drizzly 10Th Of January,
1862, he fell at the head of his army,
his faithful soldiers sorrowed not so
much because the battle was lost as
because their leader had fallen.
Though we had heard terrible things
of the army in blue, when the time
came for men to be detailed to go back
under flag of truce for his body it
was not hard TO get men to 60. 1
think all of US wanted to go. we'll
remember that l considered myself
exceedingly fortunate in being one of
those who were designated. We had
neither dread of danger nor fear of
death. A little group of us, under
white flag, went back for the body of
our fallen leader, the leader whom we
loved
Albert Sidney Johnston was my
next general officer. His soldiers low
ed him and had high confidence in him.
Well do some Of us remember when,
on Apri! E, 1862, he fell, and under
the weeping heavens, Oh april Z, his
battle-scarred army fell back from
Shiloh's bloody field. The battle was
lost, and we sighed for the compan-
ionship of many missing comrades,
but especially did we mourn for our
leader
We, as soldiers of the cross-if we
are soldiers Of the cross, and I hope
we are-have leader infinitely great
er and better than these. :.
This Leader has been tested and tried
throughout the ages, and has never
been found wanting. No mortal has
ever trusted him in vain. I know not