Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1904-03-28

IEe OUlIeu states army. ana the Trans
formation in my life which immediate
~ took place on account of that oath
The Spanish-American war had broken
ont. At that time | was living in Chi
cago, and was chaplain of one of the
largest regiments in Illinois. AS soon
rs war was declared, the colonel tele-
graphed Governor Tanner, placing ouI
whole regiment at the service Of the
state. What to do / knew not. My
duty to my church and to my family
required he to stay; my duty to my
country called me to go.
The Divine Commander.
Worried and fretted by these con-
fiicting duties, / was narrowed by day
and could not sleep by night But no
sooner did l enter the exposition
! grounds at Springfield, ILL.,. where we
encamped. no sooner did the mastering
officer tell me to raise my right hand
over the open Bible and take the oath
of enlistment, than all worry and
doubt and trouble faded from my mind.
Why? One minute before l took that
oath Of enlistment l was free to do
as / would One minute after 1 took
that oath of enlistment l was United
States soldier, subject to the orders of
the president Of the United States.
What is true in reference to the Eng
llsh soldier or the French soldier or the
American soldier is true of the gospel
soldier. You cannot do effective serv-
ice as n soldier of Jesus Christ unless
you publicly give to him your oath Of
enlistment And when you once do
give that oath then you are no longer
your own master. Then you are in
exactly the same position toward your
divine commander as was Captain
Clark toward his earthly commander.
After he had brought the Oregon on
her famous trip from the Pacific ocean
around South Americas s0uthernmOst
cape, up past the coast OF Brazil, Cap
tain Clark Immediately went into the
first United States port he could find
and telegraphed President Mckinley,
1.-THE Oregon has arrived safe and is
awaiting orders" So when you be-
come a Christian soldier or Christian
sailor you must first take your oath
of enlistment and then always be
waiting orders" In the public church
aisle and by the table Of the holy COM
munion you give open testimony of
your purpose to surrender your will to
the divine will. You must say, Il am
ready, o Christ, to do what thou wilt
have me to do, and go where thou
commanded me to CO."
The GospeI Soldier.
What does it mean to be q gospel sol
der? To be assigned to some distinct
part of some distinct command in the
great Christian army, following the
standards of Jesus Christ. To have an
individual place reserved for you in
the gospel ranks, where you are to
fight for the church militant, as each
private American soldier during the
civil war had place reserved for him
in the ranks, whether he belonged to
| the cavalry or the artillery, the in
| fantry or the engineering corps. AS q
| military organization of a great aggre-
CATION of individuals, SO the success
of the army depends upon that mill
tary organization being divided and
Subdivided and divided again by or
derby arrangement. The individual,
the private soldier, must have his dis
tinct place just as the general or the
colonel or the major OF the captain has
his place.
Let US study for a moment the con-
struction OF an American army. Take,
for Illustration, that which followed
Sherman to the sea. There were i'll
that host about one hundred thousand
men. These one hundred thousand
men were divided first into three parts,
each commanded by a major general.
Generals Schofield, Mcpherson and
Slocum had respectively charge of the
right wing. the center and the left
wing Of that army. Then each wing
and center was again divided into
corps, under such leaders as Generals
Logan, Howard and kirkpatrick. Then
these corps were again subdivided into
divisions, and these divisions again
into brigadeS, and these brigades into
regiments, and these regiments into
companies. and each private soldier
was assigned to a distinct company,
the letter of which was marked on his
hat and the number Of the regiment
marked upon the lapel of his coat.
Each American soldier always had
distinct place reserved for him in
the ranks where he was supposed to
fight Sometimes in battle an Amer
lean soldier might get separated from
his company. During the two days
fighting before Santiago an American
lieutenant saw a colored trooper Of the
Tenth cavalry fighting by the side of
his white men. When the lieutenant
asked the black man why he was there
he replied, 81 have lost my command,
and so, sir, if you WILL l. would like to
fight in your company" The permits
sion was given. That night, when the
colored soldier was about to hunt up
his command, he asked the lieutenant
to give him a note to his captain to
prove that he had been in battle and
not skulkirg in the rear. The next