Iowa territorial gazette and advertiser. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa Territory [Iowa]) 1840-1846, 1846-03-14
REVOLUTIONARY SERMON
NOlIis md Co,ntrumen:


"They that take the swold, shall perish by N;
sword"
sSolI'srs md Countrymen:
We have met this evening perhaps 70,
the last time. We have shared the toll 0
the march, the peril of the fight, and III.
dis'nay Of the retreat alike; we have en-
dured the cold and hunger, the contumel,
df the internal lue, and the courage of the
foreign oppressor. We have sat, night al.
ter night, beside the camp fire; we have
tosether heard The roll Of the revsllIe;
which called us 10 duty, or the beat of The
tattoo, which gave the Signal for The hardy
sleep Of the soldier, with the earth for his
bed and the knapsack for his pillow.
And now, soldiers and brethl en-, We have
met IN the peaceful valley Oh The exc of
Dattie, Willie The sunlight IS dying away
beyond yonder heights, the sunlight that
tomorrow morn will glmmer on scenes
Of blood. We have met, amid the whi,en-
Ing tents Of our encalnpihent; in the time of
terror and gloom have we gathered toselh-
er-God grant it may not be the last time.
1t Is solemn moment. Brethren, does
not the solemn voice of nature seem to echo
the sympathies Of the hour? The nag Of
our country droops heavily from yonder
staff--the breeze has died away along the
green plain Of Chadd's Ford-the plain
that spreads before. us gli,tering in sun
light-the heights Of the Brandywine al se
gloomy and grand beyond the waters of
yunder stream-all nature holds a pause of
Solemn silence, on the eve Of blood shed
and strife Of tomorrow.
''They that take the sword, shall perish
by the sword"
And have not they taken the sword?
Bet the desolated plain, the blobtasodden
valley, the burned farmhouse blackening
in the sun, the sacked village, and the raw
aged town answer--lett The whitening bones
OF the butchered farmets strewn along the
fields Of their homestead answer-let The
starving mother, with her babe clinging to
the withcred breast that can afford no sns-
tenance, let her answer with the death
rattle mingling with the murmnring tones
that marked the last struggle oil her life;
let the dying mother and her babe answer.
1t Was as but day past and our land
slept in the quiet of peace. War was not
here. Fraud and woe, and misery and
want dwelt not among US. From the eter-
nal solitude of the greet woods; arose the
blue smoke Of the settlers cabin, and gold
en- fields Of corn looked forth from amid
the waste; and happy voices awoke the ST.
lence Of the forest.
Now, God Of mercy, behold the change!
Under the shadow Of a pretext, under the
sanc,ity Of the name Of God, invoking the
Redeemer to their aid, do these foreign
hirelings slay our people! They throiig
biir towns-they darken our plains, and
now they encompass our posts on the ldne1
" plain Of Chadd's Ford. .s
''rhey that take the sword shall perish
by the sword" era sw SIX
s Brethren, think me not unworthy ofbe-
lief. when tell sou the doom of the Brit.
ish is near. Think me not vain when
tell you that beyond the cloud that now en-
shrouds us, see gathering thick and fast;
the darker cloud and blacker storm of Di-
vine retrlbution! f5a6s Na W a84
5 They may conquer US Tomorrow
Might and wrong may prevail, and we
may be driven floin this field; butthe hour
Of Code own vengeance will come!
Aye. il in the vast solitudes Of eternal
space, II in the heart Of The boundless uni
verse, there throbs The being of ali awful
God, quick to ayenge and sure to punish
guilt. then win tile man George Bruins
wick, called King, feel in his brain and in his
heart the vengeance Of the eternal Jeho-
yah! A blight will be upon his children
and oil his people. Great God, how dread
the Ipuiiishment.sneloa ~ sT .A ii
SAcrowded popnlace, peoplldg the dense
towns where the man Of money thrives,
while the labofer starves; want striding
among the people in all its forms Of terror;
an Ignorant and God-defying priesthood
chuckling over the Iniscries of, millions; q
proud and merciless nobility adding WRONG
iogwSong, and heapiny insult upon rob.
berg and fraud, roy ally cCFfuptto The tkfj