Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1857-08-05
A Patriotic Sermon.

recently found among the papers of Ma
jor John Shafmyer, deceased patriot of
the Revolution. 1t is discourse deliver
ed on the eve of the battle of Brandywine
by the Rev. Jacob Troute to large por-
tion of the American soldiers, in presence |
of General Washington, General Wayne,
and other officers of the army:
"Phey that take the sword shall perish
by the sword"
sSotdsers and Countryn,en! We ha We
met this evening, perhaps for the last
/ time We have shared the toll of the
/ maroh, she peril Of the Gght, and dismayt
of the retreat alike we have endured the
cold and hunger, the contumely of the in
ternal foe and the courage of the foreign
oppressor. We have sat night after night
by the campfire; we have together 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 sol
dier, 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
battle, in 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 gathered together. God grant
that it may not be for the last time
/ It is a solemn moment. Brethren, does
7 not the solemn voice of nature seem to
echo the sympathies Of the hour? The
flag 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 glitters in
: the sunlight; the heights OF Brandywine
arise, gloomy and grand, beyond the wa
: ter's of yonder stream all nature holds a
pause of solemn silence on the eve of the
i uproar and bloody strife of tomorrow.
: "They that take the sword shall perish
: by the sword"
) And have they not taken the sword
Let the desolate plain, the blood-sodden
, valley, the burned farm house, blackening
in the sun, the sacked village and the
town answer; let the whitened bones of
E the butchered farmer, strewn along the
fields of his homestead, answer; let the
starving mother, with her babe clingiug to
, the wretched breast that can afford no sus-
, tenance, let her answer-With the death
rattle mingling with murmuring tones that
: marked the last moment of her life; let
S the mother and the babe answer. It was
e buta day past, and our land slept in the
r quiet of peace. War was not here
Fraud and woe and want dweit not among
) US. From the eternal solitude of the
a green woods arose the blue smoke of the
= settlers cabin, and golden fields of corn
looked from amid the waste of the wilder
,, ness, and, the glad music of the human
voices awoke the silence Of the forest.
- Now God of mercy, behold the change
Y Under the shadow of pretext, under the
= sanctity of the name of God, invoking the
y Redeemer to their aid, do these foreign
ol ol hirelings slay our people. They throng
~ our towns, they darken our plains, anC
w now they encompass our posts on the lone
es ly plain of Chadd's Ford.
ne "They that take the sword shall perish
by the sword"
ur Brethren, think me not unworthy of be
nd lief when I tell you that the doom of tn
Ou British is sealed. Think me not in vail
it. when I tell you that beyond the cloud tha
now enshrouds US, [ see gathering thic
h and fast the darker cloud and thicke
nd storms of Divine retribution.
rs They may conquer tomorrow. Nigh
at. and wrong may prevail, and we may /
re- driven from the field, but the hour
uf- Gods own vengeance will yet come
ng Aye, if in the vast solitudes of eterni
al space there throbs the being of an awft
th God, quick to avenge and sure to puniS
an guilt, then the man, George Brunswick
called the king will feel in his brain an
on hear the vengeance of the eternal JehC
er. yah !! A blight will light upon his life
~. withered brain and an accursed intellect
IS. a blight will be upon his people. Grea
me God how dread the punishment A crowd
his ed populace, peopling the dense town
z where men. of money thrive, while the la
h;g borer starves; want striding among tn
people in all forms of terror; an ignoran
- God-defying priesthood chuckling over tn
~ ~ miseries of millions; proud merclless nc
.on " bility adding wrong to wrong, and heapins
- insult upon robbery and fraud; royalt
- corrupt to the very heart, and aristocrac
q. eu rotten to the core; crime and want linke
y, y hand in hand, and tempting men to deed
~ of woe and death these are part of th
~ - doom and retribution that shall came upo
y the English throne and English people
~ Soldiers, look around upon familia
80 faces with strange interest! To-morro
~ morning we go forth to the battle-fc
nd need I tell you your unworthy ministe
- will march with you and invoke Gods al
"a in the fight? We will march forth to ba
'Ia ba tie! Need | exhort you to fight the GOO
~ - fight-to fight for your homesteads; fl
~ your wives and children?
ole My friends, I might urge you to Ggl
by the CALLING memories of British wronj
Walton, might tell you Of your fathe
+! butchered in the silence of night, on I'll
! plains Of Trenton; might picture b
leel gray hairs dabbled in blcod-I might rir
his death shrek in your ears. Shelmie
,m- / might tell you of butchered moth
AXE aud sister outraged, the lonely farm-hous
im, the night assault, the roof in flames, I'll
po- shouts of the troops as they dispatch,
and their victim, the cries for mercy, and pie
rest dings of innocence for pity. l mig
lice paint this all again, in the vivid colors
Ich- the trrrible reality, if I thought coura
needed such wild excitement.
nest But know you are strong in the mig
the Of the Lord, You will march forth
,un- battle on the morrow with light hearts a
determined spirits, though the solemn