Milford chronicle., 1904-09-30
CalmaQe
Sermon
By Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmase, D. D.

Los Angeles Cal. Sept 25.-At tn
close of the vacation season and tn
opening of a new period of activity il
the churches this sermon comes as
call to arms to all who are eager fo
spiritual conquest. The text is Revela
tion iii. s. Il have set before thee ar
open door, and no man can shut it."
Have you ever roamed over any ot
the great battle6elds OF the world
Have you ever stood upon Lookout
mountain and had an old Federal OF
Confederate soldier point out to you
the chief places where the great bat
tie above the clouds" was fought
Have you ever walked along the stone
fence of Fredericksburg, toward which
Fighting Joe" Hooker drove his troops
in three heroic charges, but near to
which that great giant of war; James
Longstreet, had planted his cannon?
Have you ever walked over the histor-
&c sites of Bull Run or Antietam or
Shiloh or Fair Oaks or Vicksburg?
Well. if you have and at the same
time if you have studied these battle
fields intelisently. you have been i'm
pressed with one gigantic idea A bat
tlefield is not, as a rule, a mere hap
hazard place of meeting where two
great armies wrestle in mortal combat,
but carefully chosen position, afford
ing opportunities for attack or defense.
Thus the Japanese armies have been
ffso rtrr for rf~nol-s he 70
acquire q commanding position at Port
Arthur and have been seizing strategic
points from which they could drive the
Russian armies which were being sent
to its relief. These strategic move
ments are planned in advance with the
utmost care in selection of the ground |
so as to get, the advantage of elevated /
positions from which to fire upon the /
enemy. The generals on both sides are /
aware that the conquest of the region /
depends in no small degree on the skill /
exercised in this important matter.
Months before an invading army |
moves for the subiugatiOn of a coun-
try trained military minds study its
natural features and intuitively settle
the strategic points which it is essen
tial to capture and to hold and the
course which the various corps must
take to cooperate in the general
scheme. 1t is related that before our
own civil war, as far back as the po-
litical campaign which resulted in Lin
coins election and when a war was
but a dim and dreaded possibility, the
plan to be pursued in the event of hos
tilities was considered. William T.
Sherman, with one of his fellow Off
GERS. George Henry Thomas. after
ward nicknamed the Rock of Chicka-
mauga." was visiting his brother, the
late Senator John Sherman of Ohio.
John Sherman, in his subsequent biOg-
raphy, relates that at that time these
two soldiers placed a map of the
southern states upon the dOOr. Then
upon this map they practically traced
out every important military move
ment which was to follow. With one
line they showed how the great army
of the west must fight its mighty bat
ties before Shiloh and Vicksburg to
open the gateway of the Mississippi
With another line they traced the
movements Of a central army fighting
on to Atlanta. and on to the sea, where
William I. Sherman was to win i'm
mortal fame. although. as Henry w
Grady. the great Georgian orator. once :
quantity put it, Some people did think
that he showed himself a little care
less with ire With another line
they traced the movements of the Army I
Of the Potomac. lighting its way from
Arlington heights to Richmond. All |
those movements OF these different ]
armies We're cG.efully traced by the J
two soldiers, studying the map of the I
southern states stretched out upon the '
floor Of Senator John Sherman's par t
'or months before Major Anderson in q
Fortress Monroe heard the booming Of a
the gun which started the most gigan- i
tic war of modern times (
Campaigns Must Be Planned. C
Thus coming campaigns or the mill. a
AIRY lines Of summer operations are
planned for the most part by the diff q
erent commanders Of invading armies
while their armies are encamped 10
winter quarters Therefore the ques- 6
lOu WHICH at lulS season naturally Il
Orces itself upon my mind is this: a
What is the gospel campaign ahead II
f the Christian church for the ensu. o
ng ten months? | am a captain in the ii
rmy of Christ. How am | to lead my n
eOple? Where am | to go? In the n
eginning of this winters work I am N
xactly in the same position as the mil. y
-ary leader of an invading army who ! II
; about to break up winter quarters / q
ummer is really the time for winter o
uarters in a city church. When July II
ONES many of the Christian soldiers K
D large city pastOrate HE themselves tc
way to sea beach or to mountain ol
tream for rest. They are very tired v
rom their winters labor. But by the IN
me the middle of September is here is
he schools are all opened and the ki
LENDERS Of the city congregations are II
ack TO their winter homes and are n
ling their church pews. When they 81