Delaware weekly Republican. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1841-188?, 1857-08-20
-A PArRInTIn sERMnN

Shaimyer, q deceased patriot of tho Revolu- I
ton 1t is u discourse delivered on the eve of
the battle Of Brandywine by the Rev. Jacob
rroute, to large portion of the American
soldiers, in presence of General Washington,
General Wayne, and other oficersot the army.
GO They that take the sword, shall perish by
the sword.n
Soldiers and Couatrynen w 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 |
Of the foreign oppression. We have sat, night |
AFTER night, by the campfire. We have togeth-
er heard the roll of the reveille which calls 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 knapsack
for his pillow.
And now, soldiers and brethren, we have
met in this peaceful valley on the eve of bat
tie, in the sunlight that tomorrow morn will
glmmer in scenes of blood, We have met
amid the whitening tents of our encampment-
in the time of terror and gloom have gathered
together. God grant that 1t may not be for the
last timel
Tits solemn moment. Brethren, does not
the soem voice of nature seem to echo the
sympathes of the hour7 The flag of our
country drops heavily from yonder staff; the
breeze has died away along the green plain OF
Chadd's Ford; the plain that spreads before
us glitters in the sunlight the heights of Bran
DIVINE arise, gloomy and grand, beyond the
waters of yonder stream; all nature holds
pause OF solemn silence on the eve of the up
roar and bloody strife of tomorrow.
"They that take the sword, shall perish by
| the sword''
And have they not taken the swordi
Lot tho desolate plain, the blood-sodden val
ley, the burned farmhouse, blackening in the
sun, the sacked village and the ravaged town
answer. Let the whitened bones of the butch
cred farmer, strewn along the fields of his
homestead, answer. Let the starving mother,
with her babe clnging to the wretched breast
that can afford no sustenance, let her answer
with fhe death.rattle mingling with murmer-
! ing tones that marked the last moment of her
life, let the mother and the babe answer. 1t
was but day past, and our land slept in the
quiet of peace. War was not there. Fraud
and wo and want dwelt not among us. From
the solitude of the green woods arose the blne
smoke Of the settlers cabin, and golden fields
of corn looked from amid the waste of the will
derness, and the glad music of human voices
awoke the silence of the forest.
Now, God of mercy, behold the changed
Under the shadow of pretext, under the sane
tity of the name of God, invoking the Re-
deemer to their aid edo these foreign hireings
STAY our people. They throng our towns, they
darken our plains, and now they encompass
|
"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 sealed. Think me not vain when / tell yon
that, beyond the cloud that nov enshrouds us,
l see gathering thick and fast the darker cloud
and thicker storm of Divine retribnton.
They may coHquor tomorrow. Might and
wrong may prevail, and we may he driven from
the field; hut the h0urof Gods own vengeance
will yet come.
Aye, IL in the vast solitudes OF eternal space
there throbs the being of an awful God, quick
I TO avenge and sure to punish guilt, then the
man, George Brunswick, called the king, will
feel in his brain and hear the vengeance of the
! eternal Jehovah A blight will light upon his
life-a withered brain and an accursed intel
lect; blight will I've upon his people. Great
3 God, how dread the punishment A crowded
pupulace, peopling the dense towns, whore
: men OF money thrive, while the labOrer staryesi
want striding among the people in all forms OF
n terror; an ignorant, God. defying priesthood
q chuckling over the miseries Of millions; n
: proud and merciless nobility adding wrong Ia
" wrong, and heaping insult upon robbery and
e fraud; royalty corrupted TO the very heart, ans
d arstocracy rotten to the core; crime and wan
linked hand in hand, and tempting men (,
l., deeds Of woe and death. These are part o
!, the doom and retrihution that shall come upol
a the English throne and English people.
1t Soldiers, look around upon familiar face
IS with strange interest! Tomorrow morning
Ii VIC go forth to the battle; for need toll vol
d your unworthy minister will march with 20,
l. and invoke Gods aid in the fight 1-Nvo wi
march forth to battle Need eyhort you t.
d, fight the good tight--to fight for your home
fe steads, for your wives and children?
n Ny friends, might urge you to fight by tn
ey glllng memories of British wrong. Walton,
might tell you of your father, butchered in III
err silence OF the night, on the plains OF Trentol
,e l might picture his gray hairs tabbled j
b, bloodi might ring his death-shriek in you
ID cars. Shelmer, | might tell you OF hutch
,r cred mother and sister outraged, tho lionel.
d farmhouse, the night assault, the roof il
10 flames, the shouts of tho troops as they dis
Il patched their victim, the cries Tor mercy, and
pleadingS Of innocence for pity. might paint
i this all again, in the vivid cOlors of the terrible
: reality, ii thought courage needed such wild
4 | excitement.
But 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
aVenging the dead--may rest heavily IN your
souls.
And IN the hour Of battle, when all around
, is darkness, lit hy the lurid cannon glare and
the piercing musket-tash, when the wounded
strew the ground, and the dead litter youi
4 path, then remember, soldiers, that God is
with yon. The eternal God fights for yOn ; he
rides on the battle-cloud he sweeps onward
1 the march of the hurricane charge.
. God, the awful and infinite, fights for you
4 and you will triumph.
!. "They that take the sword, shall perish b,
= the sword"
lon have taken the sword, hut not in tht
/. spirit of wrong and revenge. You have takel
/, the sword for your homes, for your wives, TO
: your little ones, You have taken the swor,
v for truth, justice and right, and TO you tn
l. promise is, Be of good cheers for you
/. foes have taken the sword in defiance Of o
l. that men hold dear, in blasphemy Of God
rs they shall perish by the sword.'
Iv And now, brethren and soldiers, bid 20
Ia all farewell. Many Of MS will fall in the battl
N Of tomorrow. Many of us may live to tell ii
nj story of the fight tomorrow, and in the men
m DRY of all will ever rest and linger the qni
scene Of this autumnal eve.
Solemn twilight advances over the vale,
Y. the woods on the opposite heights fling the
ne long shadows over the green of the meadoI
s. around US are the tents of the continental no:
an the suppressed hustle of the camp, the hurri
in tramp of the soldiers to and no, among I
tents, the stiffness and awe that mark the e
De of battle.
TO When we meet again, may the shadows
asst twilight he flung over the peaceful land. G
'Te in heaven grant T. Let us pray.
lti- HAPPINEss.--rhere is one fact which ii
rs not likely the world will ever learn, TO wit Il
o. happiness is not necessarily dependent an
ty, ward condition. The man of robust hea
I've often complains of trifng, and even imagin
bed diseases, as much as the confirmed yaletu
ese marian a man with millions OF wealth may
J to really be pauper, stlnting himself and dre
ia a ing poverty, as the day-aborer, who has
lui- certainty in the morning that he may h.
'ry- bread enough during the day TO satisfy
,us- hunger he who acquires fame and influen