Fremont journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County [Ohio]) 1853-1866, 1855-07-06
MisteIIanrcus.
A Revolutionary Relic.

| n LeeEOluLAOmaKI tSeAlCs
The following interesting document wat
found among the papers of Maj. John !
Schefmyer, deceased patriot OF the revo
luton. Ii is sermon delivered on the eve
of the battle Of Brandywine, by Rev. JOAE
TRoUT. to large portion of the American
soldiers. in presence Of Gen. Washington
Gen. Wayne, and other officers Of the Am
ericsn army:
They that take the sword, shall pc rish by the
sword
SOLDIERS AND CoUETRYMEN;
We have met this evening perhaps for
the last time. We have shared the toll Of
march, the peril of the fight, and the dis
may of the retreat alike; we have endur-
ed the cold and hunger and contumely Of
.he internal foe, and the courage of the
foreign oppressor We have sat, night az
ter night. beside the camp FIRE; we have
together heard the roll of the reveille, which
called us to duty. and the beat Of the tattoo,
which gave the signal for the hardy sleep
Of the soldier, with the earth for his bed
and the knspssck for his pillow.
And now, soldiers and brethren, We have
met in the peaceful valley on the eve Of
battle, while the sunlight is dying beyond
yonder heights, the sunlight that tomorrow
morn will glimmer Oh scenes OF blood. We
have met amid the whitening tents of our
encampment;i in the time Of terror and gloom
have we gathered togeiher-God grant it
that it may not be for the last time.
II is a solemn moment. Brethren, does
not the solemn voice Of nature seem to echo
the sympathies of the hour? The flag of
our country droops heavily froi3 yonder
staf-the breeze has died away along the
green plain of Chadd's Ford-the plain
that spreads before US glittsring in the sun
ight-tbe heights Of the Brsndywine arise
gIoomily and grand beyond the waters of
voDder stresm-sll nature holds pause of
solemn silence, on the eve of uproar and
bloodshed and strife tomorrow.
They that take the sword, shall perish
by tie sword
And have they not taken the sword?
Let the desolated plain, the blood-sOd-
den valley, the burned farmhouse black
ening in the sun, the sacked village, and
the raVaged town, aus9er-let the white
ening bones Ofthe butchered farmer strewn
along the fields Of bis homestead, answer
let the starving mother with her babe cling
ing 10 the withered breast that can afford
no sustenance; let her answer with the
death-rsttle mingling with the murmuring
tones that marked the last struggles of her
life; let the dying mother and her babe
answer.
Il was 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 eternal solitude
of the green woods, arose the blue smoke
Of the settlers cabin, and the golden fields
of coin looked forth from amid the waste
of the wilderness, and the glad music of
human voices aWoke the silence Of the for
est.
Now God of mercy, behold the change.
Under the shadow of pretext under the
sanclity Of the name of God, invoking the
Redeemer to their aid, do these foreign
hirelings slay our people! They throng
our towns-they daiken our plains, and
now they encompass our posts on the lone
" plain of Chadd's Ford.
They that take the sword, shall perish
by the sword
Brethren think me not unworthy of be-
lief when l tell you the doom of the British
is near. Think me not vain when l tell
you that beyond the cloud that now en-
shrouds US. 1 see gathering thick and fast
the darker cloud and blacker storm of Di-
vine retribuiion.
They may conquer us tomorrow. Might
and wrong 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, il in the heart Of the boundless uni
Ferse. there throbs the being Of an awful