Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1842-07-07
Early History of Delaware, and Of the
Drawers Congregation, &c.

TINS congregduOQ, 1t is manifest that
great changes have occurred. The
forests have disappeared the wildness
( of an unsubdued country no Longer
meets the eye; but fields clothed with
beauty, unsurpassed by any portion O
country, surround you, The spirit O.
improvement has gathered around you
| the institutions and comforts and even
the luxuries of society. The waves OF
incompetence, which had swept over
this region, whitening as the gales Of
the desert, have almost ceased to flow,
and the spirit of industry is rapidly ma
| king it the very garden Of America.
( We also find that many families have
abandoned the sanctuary, the institu-
tions and faith Of their forefathers, and
even principles of the Reformation, on
which the liberties of our country and
and the world are based. Did time
| permit, we might show the principles
embraced by this church, in common
with others, then on this field, have led
their sons to endure toll and privation,
and even to shed their blood in defence
of our liberties, and the establishment
of our independence, while in another
quarter the cause of liberty was basely
deserted.
Would those whose views and SYM
pathies are with this congregation,
make it matter of conscience to be
found in their place in the Sanctuary
on the Sabbath~day, the former pros
perity of this congregation in its best
days would be realised in a solitary
month.
To God, and to society around, shall
we be responsible, if we neglect to do
this.
How solemn and affecting the lesson
which these limited details of your his
tory afford! How much effort has been
made, and how many tolls and trials
| cave been endured, in order to perpet-
uate the church Of God with it's privile-
ges on this spot! And how will those
fathers who bequeathed to us this edl-
fee, these funds, and these fields, cry
out against us at the final day, if we
fail to improve the means of life afford
ed us9 As you look back, and see how
death has traversed this field, and con-
signed it's former inhabitants to the 81
lent tomb; as you see how the grave
has spread the waves Of oblivion over
their memory and their names, how
worthless does this world appear -
You may live now in ease and in plea
sure. You may crafty your love of
wealth, of equipage, and your pride,
for a short period. But all how silent
and unknown hereafter.
In making these Investigations, |
had occasion to visit the grave of "a for
mer governor of this state. The faml-
ly graveyard lay unenclosed in the
field, and overgrown with briars. The
tombstone, erected by surviving
daughter as token of affectionate re-
membrane of her father, the governor
of this state, of her mother, and of a
brother who died far hence a lieuten-
ant in the navy, had fallen from the
mouldered pillars of masonry on which
it rested. l inquired of the.occupant
of the spot whether there was any 9th
er bury-place in the vicinity. He told
me that, in digging to set posts in his
barn-yard few rods distant from the
family ground above described, he dis
| covered human bones. This, ala this,
| is the end of mans career! His pos
sessions will pass to others. His pride
will be extinguished; his equipage will
all vanish away; his very name will
perish; and the brambles will flourish,
and the reptiles will crawl over him !;
the oxen Of the stall will feed and lie
| down upon his grave, and will know
Just as much of bis history, after few
| years are gone, as the living of the hu-
man family to which he belonged.
/ visited the site of an ancient church
in this vicinity for similar purpose.
| Not stone or mound remained. The
living had removed the enath from a
portion of the graveyard. Glowing
| lime kilns stand where once the affilc-
| ted father, the heart-broken mother,
the affectionate child, committed their
dead to the dust, as a sure retreat from
the molestations of earth. | fingered
| long on this field of desolation in search
of some memorial of the dead. At
length l discovered skull, and other
bones which had fallen from their rest
| ing place; while from the earth above
me bone here protruded from its
grave, and there another.
All! this is all for which man can
hope; the grave, the coffin, and the
winding sheet; while those who sue