St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1907-03-02

bled, and he beheld strange things IN
his dreams. He thought Moses stood
by his side and was pointing towards
the people gathered before the taber-
nacle, and saying:
How soon they will forget! How
soon they will forget! As in former
time SO will they again turn from the
Lord
i And as he turned to protest, Moses
vanished from his sight and he awoke
with start.
| The dream troubled him and for
days he studied over it, until it seemed
that it must have been a vision and
not a dream, and that Moses had
really spoken to him. Would the peo-
pie turn from the Lord after he had
gone? Would they forget his mercies
and blessings and go after the gods
of the people about them? he asked
himself, over and over again
Before go I must warn them. My
last message shall be an appeal to
them to be faithful to the God who
has been so faithful to them"
And SO Joshua sent his messengers
through all the land whittier the
children of Israel had settled, asking
that they all come to Shechem. Now
Shechem was the place where sol
emn conVocation had been held when
they had first come into the land
| years before, and the blessings and
the cursings of God had been read in
their ears by the Levites. And it was
here that Joshua gathered the people
together with their elders and their
officers and judges, and said unto
| them:
Thus saith the Lord God of Israel:
Your fathers dwelt on the other side
of the flood in old time, even Terah,
the father of Abraham, and the father
Of Nachor; and they served other
gods. And took your father Abra-
ham from the other side of the flood,
and led him throughout all the land
of Canaan, and multiplied his seed
and gave him Isaac. And I gave unto
Isaac Jacob and Esau; and 1 gave
unto Esau Mount SER, to possess it;
but Jacob and his children went down
into Egypt"
/ Joshua paused in his hasty review
Of the early history of the nation, and
If there had been any fnattention at
the beginning, at the mention Of
| Egypt all eyes and ears were turned
| towards him. He then went on to
rapidly cover Gods wonderful deal
ings with them in Egypt, of his lead
ing them out under the hand of
Moses; of his miraculous deliverances
and care all through the wilderness
| journey, and of his bringing them at
/ last into the promised land and CIV
ing them the victory over all their
| enemies.
Now, therefore" he concluded,
fear the Lord and serve him in sin
cerity and truth; and put away the
gods which your fathers served on the,
other side of the flood and in Egypt,
and serve ye the Lord. And if it seem
evil unto you to serve the Lord,
choose you this day whom ye will
serve; whether the gods which your
| fathers served that were on the other
| side of the flood, or the gods of the
Amorites, in whose land We dwell;
but as for me and my house we will
serve the Lord"
The voice of the aged Joshua was
almost sob as he concluded his ap-
peal, and with difficulty he controlled
| his feelings, for, as he was speaking,
| there was but one vision before him,
| that of Moses standing at his side
| pointing at the people and saying:
"As in former time so will they
| again turn from the Lord"
But all this faded before the shout
| which went up from the people as
they answered and said:
God forbid that we should forsake
the Lord, to serve other gods; for the
Lord our God, he it is that brought us
up. and our fathers out Of the land of
Egypt, from the house of bondage,
and which did those great signs in
our sight, and preserved us in all the
way wherein we went, and among all
the people through whom we passed.
And the Lord drove out from before
I'D c1AA t14C pCOp4CJ CFCL II1C 6AA11Ol4ICO
which dweIt in the land; therefore
will we serve the Lord; for he is our
Cod
And Joshua said unto the people:
eye are witnesses against your
selves that We have chosen the Lord,
to serve him."
And they said:
1--WE are witnesses"
So Joshua, the aged leader, made a
covenant with the people that day,
and set them statute and an ordi-
nance in Shechem. And he wrote
these words of the people in the book
Of the law of God, and took a great
stone and set it up there under an
oak, that was by the altar that had
been reared to the Lord in that place.
And Joshua said unto all the people:
Behold, this stone shall be a wit
ness unto us; for it hath heard all the
words of the Lord which he spake
unto us; it shall be therefore wit
ness unto you lest We deny your
God"
Prey of the Sparrow Hawk.
The fact is that the sparrow hawk al