Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1859-07-13
GBpitt gittratnfe
A Revolutionary Relic.

a heVoluuonary henc.
The following interesting document was
found among the papers of Major John ia
cob Schefmyer, deceased patriot of the
Revolution. 1t is discourse delivered on
the eve Of the battle Of Brandywine, by
Rev. Joab Trout, to large portion of the
American soldiers, in presence of Gen.
Washington, Gen. Wayne, and other Off
GERS of the army.
REVOLUTIONARY SERMON.
They that take the sword shall perish
by the sword
Soldiers and Countrynaen:
We have met this evening perhaps for
the last time We have shared the toll Of
the march, the peril Of the fight, and the
dismay Of the retreat alike; we have en-
dured the cold and hunger, the contumely
Of the internal foe, and the courage of the
foreign oppressor. We have sat night af-
ter night beside the camp fire !; we have
together heard the roll of the revellie,
which called us to duty, or the beat of the
tattoo, which gave the signal for the har-
DIV 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 the peaceful valley on the eve Of
battle, while the sunlight is dying away
beyond yonder 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 gathered togeth-
er--God grant that it may not betor the
last time. .....
1t is 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 from yon.
der staff-the breeze has died away along
the green plain Of Chadd's Ford-tbe plain
that spreads before ne glittering in sunlight
the heights of the Brandywine arise
gloomily and grand beyond the waters o
yonder stream-all nature holds pause
of solemn silence on the eve of uproar anC
bloodshed and strife of tomorrow.
They that take the sword, shall perisl
by the 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, an
the ravaged town, answer-let whitening
bones of the butchered farmer, strewn alon
the fields Of his homestead answer-let th
starving mother, with the babe clinging
the withered breast that can afford no SUI
tenance let her answer with the deaf
rattle mingling with the murmuring tone
that marked the last struggle of her life
let the dying mother and her babe answe
1t was but day past, and our land slel
in the quiet of peace. War was not here
wrong was not here. Fraud and woe, an
misery and want dwelt not among u.s.
From the eternal solitude of the greel
woods, arose the blue smoke of the settle
cabin, and golden fields of corn looked fort
from amid the waste of the wilderness, an
the glad music of human voices woke th
silence Of the forest
Now, God Of mercy, behold the chang
Under the shadow of pretext, under tt
sanctity of the name of God, invoking Il
Redeemer to their aid, do these foreig
hirelings slay our people! They throu
our towns-they darken our plains ar
now they encompass our posts on the Ion
ly plain of Chadd's Ford.
They that take the sword, shall peril
by the swordp
Brethren, think me not unworthy of b
lief when tell you the doom of the B
tish is near. Think me not vain when
tell you that beyond the cloud that ne
enshrouds us, | see gathering thick a
fast the darker cloud and blacker storm
Divine retributionl
They may conquer us tomorrow,
Might and wrong prevail, and we may
driven from this field: but the hour
Gods own vengeance will GOMEZ
Ave, if in the vast solitude of eter
i space, il in the heart of the boundless l
verse, there throbs the being Of an av
God, quick to avenge, and sure to pur
guilt, then will the man George Brunsw
called King, feel in his brain and his he
the vengeance of the eternal Jehovah
blight will be upon bis life-a withC
brain, and an accursed intellect bl
will be upon bis children and on his
pie. Great God, how dread the punishm
A crowded populace, peoplng the d.
towns where the man of money thri
while the laborer starves, want stric
among the people in all its forms Of ter
and ignorant and God-defying priesth
chuckling over the miseries Of millions
proud and merciless nobility adding wr
and heaping insult upon the robbery
fraud royalty corrupt to the very h
and aristocracy rotten to the core C
and want linked hand in hand, and tel
ing men TO deeds Of woe and DEATH
IRE a part Of the doom and retribution
come upon the English throne and
English people.
Soldiers.-I look aTOnad upon you1