Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1904-07-11
Calnase
Sermon
By Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmaae. d. d.

satisfied, this sermon conveys prac-
teal lesson. The text is Exodus xiv,
13, stand still and see the salvation of
the Lord"
To fall back, in order to go forward;
10 retreat, in order to advance; to
evacuate, in order to conquer; aye, that
Is the course most great military chief
tains have had to take. at least once in
life, before they won their ultimate
triumphs. Such a line of tactics won
for our nation that independence the
anniversary festival of which we are
soon to celebrate George Washington
at Yorktown would never have been
possible had there not first been a
Washington's retreat from Long Is
land. When General Miffiin, with q
small detachment of troops acting as
sentineis over wooden guns, deceived
the British army while the American
troops, in dense fog, quietly padded
past Lord HOwe's feet and slipped
through the fingers of Sir Henry Gin
ton, Americas liberties were rescued
from almost certain strangulation. Had
Washington stayed to obstinately hold
his ground after the bloody battle of
Long Island, the American army would
have been annihilated or captured. 1t
is not always a good plan for general
to cut his bridges behind him. Had
there been no retreat from Bohemia
after the battle of Kolin, and no evacu-
alton of Berlin after the slaughter of
Kunersdorf, there would have been no
humiliation of a Maria Theresa, and no
Frederick the Great, whose name has
been the marvel not only of Prussia,
but of all Europe and the civilized
world. Nathaniel Greene, the mighty
military leader of the Revolutionary
war, second only in power to George
Washington, was aptly called ''The
Great Retreater." He never won a
decisive battle in his life. So it has
been with other military chieftains.
There is strategy in Guiding a foe
whose strength is superior. Many a
general has kept the field and worn out
the patience of an enemy by avoiding
a decisive battle and in the end has
proved victorious.
Can Do Nothing but Wait
of life when a man is to fight, and
times when a man is to run. There
also come other times when a man is
to be like a Moses ''encamped before
Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the
sea, over against Baal-zephon." On the
one side of him was the Red sea, on the
other side of him were the pursuing
hosts of the Philistines. He could not
run. There was no place to run to.
He could not fight Pharaoh. He knew
p he would have been annihilated in the
conflict. He could do nothing but wait.
He had to stand still and see the sal
walton of the Lord" Moses was like
Sir Henry Lawrence, entrapped in the
residency of Lucknow during the sepOy
rebellion of 1857. For three long months
the little English garrison, surrounded
by hundred thousand murderous de-
mons, had to do nothing but wait.
They just kept on waiting for the
rescuers, who fought their way up from
calcutta under the leadership Of that
hero of heroes, Sir Henry Hayelock.
Moses was like General Charles George
Gordon, who for ten long months just
had to wait and coatinge TO wait in
the besieged city of Khartum, and
then gave mp his life only a few days
before fhes English rescIers hove il
-sight Moseszwas like the foreigners
praying and hoping and hoping ant
praying in the missionary compound
of Picking, waiting for the allied troop
to deliver them from their impending
~ Of
ma in 1900. They were too strong a
q body to have to surrender. The.
were not strong enough as body t
fight their way to the English ships
And So hemmed in and driven in o.
all sides, they just stood their ground
fighting for their existence by day an
sleeping on their guns by night. The
were waiting-simply waiting. The
were standing still, to see the salvation
of the Lord.
Very easy it is for most of us to g
forward in the battle of life when tn
divine command is given clearly an
distinctly: Charge! Let the whole lin
charger Easy it is for most of US I
retreat when the command is give
clearly and distinctly: Fall back! LIE
the whole line fall back" But it
another matter for us to stand still.
is another matter TO patiently wal
Yet waiting is a very great element i
spiritual success, as it is in tempora
success. How much factor is 9TH
waiting crisis in the successes of hf
can be we'll learned in the words whic
DR.. Cuyler taught few years ag'
when he said, 81 have been conversa1
in my time with thousands OF failure
of talented men, both in New York an
RrookIvn. and l can bear testmon
that ninety-nine hundredths of a
those failures were, without doubt du
to the lack of patience, both in spiri
ual sense as well as in temporal
1t is to teach the important lessons {
sanctified patience that l am preacl
Ding this sermon.
The waiting crisis comes TO tho'