The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-05-31
DIR. TALMAGE'S SERMON.
nY bad REv. FRANK DE wIrr rALMAeE. 9. 9.

And go he did. Are not our failures, my hearers, due to a like cause? If we had the faith in God that we ought to have should We not accomplish more?
 Sailors in the Civil War.
 But the American navy has also been willing at all times to do it's routine work as well as to unlimber its batteries and clear it's decks in time of conflict. There Is something inspiring, something terrific and overwhelming, in the thought of two great naval monsters coming closer and closer together to grapple in mortal com bat. What man is there whose cheek does not flush when he hears about the duel of the Constitution and the Guer- riere? What American's eye does not flash when he sees Commodore Hull com manding his flag officer, Lieutenant Nor ris, to withhold the fire of his gunners until the two vessels were In speaking distance, then, with cannon double shotted. to send forth their messengers of death? But the greatest work of a navy is not always in fighting, but may
 be in controlling blockade. The vic- tories of U. S. Grant would never have been won had he not had the assistance of the American sailor as well as of the soldier in blue. The value of the ser vices the sailors rendered In that awful l conflict cannot be exaggerated. It was they who intercepted the supplies that the southern armies so sorey needed. It was their vigilance that produced the | destitution which not even the sublime self sacrifice of the southern people | could relieve. Day in and day out, year | in and year out, the northern ships | blockaded the southern ports. The south | ern armies were more starved to death l than they were shot to pieces by Federal I guns.
 In all the pages of history you cannot | find any nobler record of self denial and suffering than that of the southern lady | and the soldier in gray in 1S62-64. caused | for the most part by the poverty result ing from that memorable naval blockade. As l said before, the southern Confeder- | acy was simply starved to death by the routine work of the American navy. Grant and Lee, Sherman and Johnson and Thomas and Hood, Sheridan and | Longstreet, won immortal fame upon the land, yet very few people have stopped to give due credit to the faithful naval officers and sailors who uncomplainingly | sailed backward and forward in front of | Charleston and Savannah ..nd the other southern harbors.
 Navy Should be Honored.
 Let us ask ourselves if we are ready | to do the necessary routine work of our | lives as the American sailors in the past have been ready to do theirs. Are we | sulking in our homes and refusing to | faithfully perform the vital daily tasks of an inconspicuous life merely because the newspapers do not report the orders we give to the cook or tell about how | many yards of cloth we week by week l sell over the counter? David Farragut had to wait until he was over sixty years 1 of years before he had opportunity to distinguish himself in batrie. If the l great American naval officer could pa- l a ini plv faif 1 perform the humber duties of daily life | until ne was an old man. near to the | grave, surely we can afford to be brave and true In the inconspicuous duties God l has given us to do.
 1 The American navy should be honored. l Upon It's glorious muster roll are to be | found the names of international states l men as well as heroic fighters-men who | have brilliantly served our country with l brain and pen as well as with the sword. | Many of our presidents have been elected l to the White House on account of their | military records Washington and Fay l Tor and Jackson and William H. Harrison | and Grant and Hayes and Garfield are 1 among the number. But the American | soldier rarely has the opportunity to l study statecraft has the sailor It was l only comparatively few years ago that l foreign lands were brought into cable 1 touch with our national capital. Thus | | port not only had to have a captain who | could sail the seas, but also a naval dip 1 lomat, who, independent of the home gov 1 ernment had to decide many questions l which, wrongly decided, might involve 1 his country in bloody international strife.
 We all honor Admiral Dewey for his l memorable victory in Manila harbor. It | Is easy enough now for deprecating crit 1 ics to declare that he merely sank a few old rotten hulks, armed for the most 1 part with antiquated guns. But when l Dewey went into that harbor he went l with heart as brave and fearless as l that of Farragut when he sailed into Mo- l bile bay. As far the Americans knew l those waters were mined with torpedoes. l Those forts guarding the outlets were | supposed to be impossible The Spanish l admirals fleet, on paper, was a powerful | f1otilla of death. Only Spaniard could | have any conception of how corrupt the Spanish navy had become. Only Span iard. who was a tyrant in Cuba Porto Rico and the Philippines, could suspect | that Spains own naval officers would fill | their torpedoes with sand and pocket the money which ought to have purchased powder and would thus leave their war ships absolutely defenseless, because the funds which were voted to the Spanish navy had been stolen.
 UphoIdng the Flag.
 | Our ndlioHal lnueDleuneSS 10 our navy Is not confined to it's prowess in battle l We owe much to the tact and statesman ship of our naval commanders. They have not only to uphold the honor of our flag in distant seas, but to display the courtesy and consideration to the navies of other nations which are necessary to the maintenance of friendly relations. It would have been possible for Admiral Dewey by an indiscreet act while he lay In Manila bay to have involved us In an international quarrel. Thousands of miles away from home, there he lay, sur rounded by the cannon of foreign ships
 By one false move he could have made Germany an enemy and involved us in war with Emperor William. Had he been careless there might have ensued a scramble on the part of other nations to gain possession of some of the Philip pine Islands for themselves There was similar danger in the Hawaiian difficulty. During all the negotiations over the Ha- waiian Islands there lay the American war ship Philadelphia by careful diplom- acy compelling the foreign governments to keep their hands off, until at last the American flag flew from above the ex- queens throne room. What honor is too great for the memory of Commodore Matthew c. Perry who in March, 1852 negotiated the famous treaty with Japan which for the first time opened the ports of the mikado to the ships from other | Ia tt,oi lo