Loudon free press. (Loudon, Tenn.) 1852-1855, 1852-11-13
A REVOLUTIONARY RELIC

ton. 1t is a discourse delivered on the eve of
the battle OF Brandywine, by the Reverend Joab
Trout, to large portion of the American sol
dlers, in presence of Gen. Washington, Gen.
Wayne, and other officers Of the army.
REVOLUTIONARY SERMON.
'They that take the sword shall perish by the sword
Soldiers and C0unt,ymen:
we have met this evening perhaps for the
last time. We have shared the tolls of the
march, the peril of the fight, and the dismay of
the retreat alike; we have endured the cold and
hunger, the contumely of the internal foe. and
the courage ofthe foreign oppressor. We have
sat- night after night, beside the campfire; we
have together heard the roll of the reveille.
which called us to 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 KNAPP
sack for his pillow.
And now soldiers and brethren, we have met
in the peaceful valley the eve of battle, while
the sunlight is dying away beyond Wonder
heights-the sunlight that tomorrow morn will
glimmer on scenes of blood We have met,
amid the whitening tents of our encampment;
in the time of terror and gloom have we gather
ed together, God grant that it may not be the
last time!
1t is a solemn moment. Brethren, does not
the solemn voice of nature seem to echo the
sympathies of the hour? The flag of our coun-
try drOops heavily from yonder staff-the breeze
has died away along the green plain of Chadd's
Ford-the plain heights of Brandywine arise
gloomily and grand beyond the waters of Wonder
stream, all nature holds pause of solemn 81
lence, on the eve ofthe uproar and bloodshed
and strife of tomorrow
They that take the sword shall perish by the sword
And have they not taken the.sword?
Let the disconsolate plain, the blood-reddened
valley, the burned farmhouse backening in the
sun, the sacked village, and ravaged town an
swer-let the starving mother with her babe
clinging to the withered breast that can afford
no sustenance let her answer with the death
rattle minging in the numbering tones that
marked the last struggle of her life; let the dying
mother and her babe answer
Now God ofmercy, behold the change! I'm
der the shadow of pretext, and sanctity of the
name of God, invoking the Redeemer totheir aid,
do these foreign hirelings slay our people!
They throng our towns, they darken our plains,
and they encompass our post on the lonely plain
of Chads Ford.
"They that taketh sword shall perish by the sword"
Brethren, think me not unworthy of belief
when | tell you the doom of the British is near.
Think me not vain when tell you that beyond
the thick cloud that now enshrouds us, see
gathering thick and fast, the darker cloud and
blacker storm of divine retribution.
They may conquer us tomorrow. Might and
wrong may prevail; and we may be driven from
this field; but the hour of Gods own vengeance
will come!
Aye, if in the vast solitude of eternal space,
if in the heart of the bounGless universe, there
throbs the being of an awful God, quick to a
venge and sure to punish guilt, then will the
man George of Brunswick, called King, feel in his
brain and his heart, the vengeance of the eter-
nal Jehovah! A blight will be on his life, a
withered brain, and an acursed intellect; blight
will be on his children and on his people.
Great God, how dread the punishment
A crowded populace, peopling the dense
towns where the man of money thrives, while
the laborer starves; want striding among the peo-
pie in all its forms of terror; an ignorant and
God-defying priesthood chuckling over the mis-
cries of millions; proud and merciess nobility
adding wrong, and heaping insult upon robbery
and fraud royalty corrupt to the very heart and
aristocracy rotten to the very core; crime and
want linked hand in hand, and tempting men to
deeds of woe and death-these are part of the
doom and retribution that come upon the Eng
fish peoplel
Soldiers look around upon your familiar
faces with strange interest. Tomorrow morn
ing we will 60 forth to the battle-for need
tell you that your unworthy minister will march
with you invoking Gods aid in the fght-we
will march forth to battle! Need l exhort you
to fight the good fight, to fight for your
homesteads, for your wives and children?
Ny friends, l might urge you to fight by the
CALLING memory Of British wrongs.-Wa[
ton, might tell you of your father butchered in
the silence of the night on the plains of Trenton;
l might picture his grey hairs dabbled in blood;
l might ring his death shrek in your ears.
Shemire, might tell you of butchered mother,
and sister outraged; the lonely farmhouse, the
night assault; the roof in flames, the shouts OF
the troops, as they dispatched their victims, the
cries for mercy and the pleadings of innocence
for pity. might paint this all again in the
vivid colors of the terrible reality, If thought
YOUR courage needed such wild excitement.
But l know you are strong in the might of the
Lord. You will march forth to battle on the
morrow with light hearts and determined spirits
though the solemn duty-the duty of avenglng
the dead-may rest heavy on your souls.
And in the hour of battle, when all around Is
darkness, lit by the lurid cannon glare, and the
piercing musket flash, when the wounded strew
the ground and the dead litter your path, then
remember, soldiers, that God is with you. The
eternal God fights for you-he rides on the bat
tie cloud, he sweeps onward with the march of
the hurricane charge. God the awful and inhn-
lite fights for you, and you will triumph.
They that take the sword shall perish by the sword"
You have taken the sword, but not in the spir-
it ofwrong or ravage. You havetakenthe sword
for your homes, foryour wives, for your little ones
You have taken the sword for truth, and justice,
and right, and to you the promise is, be of good
cheer, for your foes have taken the sword in de.
fance of all that men hold dear, in blasphemy OF
God-they shall perish by the sword.
And now brethren and soldiers, bid you all
farewell Many of US may fall in the battle to-
morrow. God rest the souls of the fallenl Ma,
ny of us may live to tell the story of the fight to-
morrow, and in the memory OF all will hnger
the quiet scene of this autumnal night
Solemn twilight advances over the valley; the
woods on the opposite heights fling their long
shadows over the green of the meadow; around
us are the tents of the continental host, the sup
pressed hustle of the camp, the hurried tramp of
the soldiers to and fro among the tents, the still
ness and awe that mark the eve of battle.
When we meet again, may the shadows OF
twilight be flung over peaceful land. God IN
heaven grant it. Let us pray.
Prayer of the Revolution.
Great Father we bow before thee: we invoke