Year: 1861

10 800 5and that He has promised to succor


the right and destroy the wrong, does but


show the propriety of recognizing and ap-


pealiug to Him for protection and aid in the


direful extremity of the battle. This spirit


has its appropriate illustrations in all those


who have adorned the worlds history as


Christian heroes. Apart from the Bible ex-


amples, and to cite case made more stri-


king by its familiarity, see the father Of his


country always committing the cause of his


country to God, and imploring the Divine


interposition in its behalf. In view Of the


almost miraculous preservation of Washing


ton, amidst all the dangers of hundred


fields of battle-the wonderful victories that


marked his leadership, and that too, in a


warfare burdened with so many uufavorable


circumstances-the power and benefit of


prayer are exhibited. The same appears In


thousand other instances, some of which


will be hereafter mentioned; and the same


is worthy of you, gentlemen, as a part of
the spiritual armor, in which, as true SOL
diers, you should be clad.


Fourth!y: To all these it is requisite that
there should be added willingness to as
cribe the honor and glory Of success to God.
Let not one iota be derogated or detracted
from the importance of military discipline
and skill, nor from the necessity Of courage
and generalship, and the employment ofeven
circumstantial advantage. All these are
component parts of successful warfare
But they are only means and instruments to
be recognized as subservient to the hand and
will of God. When His ruling power has
made all human instrumentalities to COM
bine to lead to victory, the honor must be
given to Him. This is no minor point; for
whilst on the one hand, at this day, human
ambition and unparalleled advancement in
the military art, and the undoubted valor of
our soldiery, do furnish temptation to
glorify these, in their agency in battle; on
the other hand, failure to see Gods hand
and subtraction from His agency, tend to
provoke the most High, and invite His
judgments against those who would rob Him
of His dues.


As practical illustration of this whole
spirit of good soldier, as thus far depic-
ted, the character and example of David
are commended to you. For more than
thirty years he was subjected to the bur.
dens and perils of war; and during that
time, every feature of his character must
have been apparent When you have stud
led that character, you will learn that the
is an outline Of his experience
and life. His heroism was derived from
God. All his strength, his courage, his
wisdom, his success, his superiority over
other men, was in God. The deepest con-
viction of his heart, as we'll as the unenvia-
bic confession of his lips, was that he owed
all he had ever done or attained, to God
alone. He seems ever to have felt that
whilst he was nothing without God, he
could do all things with the help of God.
Unlike the mighty conqucrors of other
lands, who trusted in the strength of their
own swords, and in the pride of conscious
genius boasted that destiny was their own,
David trusted in the living God alone, and
acknowledged Him as E'teaching his hands
to war and his fingers to fight" The spirit
in which he went forth to meet the Philis-
tian champion, Goliath, was the ruling prin-
ciple of his life. Said he to the giant,
ssThou comest to me with sword and with
o spear and with a shield; but come to
thee in the name of the Lord Of hosts" l
Sam. II AS. And besides this confidence
in God and reliance upon Him, David was
also noted for his attributing all the glory
of his battles to God. David, then, was
model warrior in all things, and his bril-
liant achievements were proofs of what God,
through the true soldier, can and will ac-
complisb. What has been said might, per-
haps suffice, but as there are some other
traits that at least are an ornament, if not
an essential part of a soldiers true spirit,
o brief note is made of them. Let self-de-
NAL be designated. Placed under laws
which are rigid, and in some respects des-
potic, you will need to deuy your own will
in order to obey those in lawful authority.
A good soldier will not disobey the laws,
unless they are in conflict with the laws of
God. So too, the privations and sometimes
absence of bodily comforts, incident to war
-. H. aaxAa mill all for rnnn danuinn