Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1843-12-07
They that take th9 sworl shall perish by the.


They that take tbs sworl shall perish by the
sword.
Soldiers ana couni5-Yasss3:: --iFe have
met this evening for the last time we
have shared he toll of the march, the per-
il of the fight, the disuay Of the retreat
-a-like we have endured Geld and
hunger. The cNhtnmely of the Internal Toe
and outrage Of the foreign oppressor-
We have sat, night after night. bes!d"
the same camp fire: shared the same
rough soldiers fare; we have together
heard the roll OF the reveiIle. which call
Ell US TO duty, or the beat of the tattoo.
which gave the signal for the hardy sleep
pf the soldier. with the earth for his bed
and the kmapsack for his pillow.
And now soldiers and brethren, we
have ret in the peaceful valley, on the
eve Of battle, while the sunlight is dying
away behind yonder heiehts-the sun
light that, Tomorrow morn, will gllmnier
on scenes Of bleed. We have met amid
the Whitening tents Of our Encampment,
intimes oftergor and If gloom. we have
gathered together, God grant 1t may not
be fer the last time.
It IS a solemn moment. Brethren.
does not the soiumn soicesof nature seem
to echo tie sympathies Of the bour?-
The flag of the codntry droops heavily
from yundef staff, the breeze has died
along the green plain of Chadd's Ford
the plain that spreads before Us gllsten-
ing in the sunlight; the heights of the
BrandywiHe arise gloomy and grand be-
You'd the waters Of yonder stream. and
all nature holds a pause of silence, on
the eve OF the uprOar, Of tie bIoodshed
and strife Of tomorrow.
They Mqt take The ssrord stall perish
BY thu Sword.'
And bave they NOS taken the sword?
LettI!e desoiated plain, the blood sod
dened valley, the burned farm house
b!ackening ia the sun. the sacked village
and ravased towns. auswer-let the
whitening bones of the butehered far
Hler. strewn along the fields Of his home
stead, ansWer--let the starving mother
with the babe clinging to her withered
breast that Can afford no sustenance, let
her answer with the death-rattle miagling
with the murmuripg tones that mark the
last struggle for lte; Let the dying moth
eli and her babe answer!
it was bat a day past, and our land
slept i'll the light of peace. War was
not here-wrong was not here. Fraud
and wo, and Wo, a.d misery, and want.
dwet not among US. From the eternal
solitude of the greenwoods, arose the
blue smoke of the settlers cabiA. and
golden fields Of corn locked forth from
amid the waste Of the wilderness, and
the glad music Of human voices aWoke
the silence OF the forest.
Now God of mercy behold the
change! Under the shadow of pretext:
under the sanctity Of the name of God.
invoking the Redee'ner to their aid, do
these foreign hirelinss STAY our people,
They throng our towns, they darken our
plains,a and now they encompass our posts
on the lonely plain Of Chadd's Ford.
They that take the sword shall perish
by the sword
Brethren, think me not unworthy Of
belief, when tell you that the doom Of
the British is near. Think me not vain
wien tell you that beyond the cloud
that now enshrnuds US. | see gathering
thick and fast, the darker cloud and the
blacker storm Of Divine Retribution.
They may conquer US on the morrow.
Might and wrong may prevail, and we
may be driven from this field; but the
hourcf Gods own vengeance will come!
Aye. if in the vast solitu.es Of eternal
space, if in the heart of the boundless u
inverse, there throbs the being Of an aw-
full God, quick 10 avenge and sure to pun
ish guilt, then will the man. George Of
Brunswick, called King, feel in his brain
and in his heart. the vengeance of the
Eternal jehovah! A blight will be upon
his life; . whitening blight will be upon
his life; 3 withered brain, an accursed