Daily Democrat and news. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1859-1864, 1859-11-24

preached on the 10Th Of September,
I771, on the era of the battle Of Bran.
DIVINE, by the Rev. Jacob Prout, to
large portion of the American soldiers
in the presence of General Washing
ton, GeneraI Wayne, and Others Of
the Continental army, was recently
discovered among the old papers Of Ma
the Revolution. 1t should beperused by
every lover of patriotism MI. Vernon
Hec0rd
REVOLUTIONARY SERMON.
"They who take the Sword, shall perish by the
Sword"
Soldiers and Esllow- Countryme,a -
We have met this evening, perhaps
for the last time. We have shared the
toll OF the march, the dismay of the re-
treat alike we have endured cold and
hunger, the contumely Of the internal
foe, and the outrage Of the foreign op~
pressor. We have sat MIG ht after night
beside the same camp fire, shared the
same rough soldiers fare VIC have to-
gether heard the roll OF the reville, which
called us to duty, or the beat of the
tattoo, which gave the signal for the
hardy sleep fthc 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
era Of battle, while the sunlight is dying
away beyond yonder heights; the sun
light. that tomorrow morn will glimmer
on scenes of blood. We have met amid
the whitening tents of our encampment !;
in times Of terror and gloom have we
gathered together-God grant it may
not he for the last time.
| 1t is q solemn moment. Brethren,
does not the solemn voice Of nature
seem to echo the sympstIlies Of the
hour The flag of our country droops
heavily from yonder staff; the breeze
has died along the green plain of Chadd's
Ford-the plain that spreads before Us,
glstenng i'll sunlight the heights OF
the Brandywine arise gloomy and grand
beyond the waters Of yonder stream,and
MI nature holds pause of solemn silence
on the eve OF the uproar Of the blood
shed and strife of tomorrow.
They who take the Sword, shall perish by
| tho Sword"
and have they not taken the sword
Let the desolate plain-the blood sod
dcncd vallcy-the burned farm house,
blackening in the sun-the sacked vii
lage, and ravaged town, answer-let the
whitening bones of the butchered farmer
strewn along the fields of his homestead,
answer-let the starving mother with the
babe clinging to her withered breast, that
can afford no nourishment, let her an
swcr, with the death rattle minglins with
the murmuring tones, that mark the last
struggle for llfe-lct the dying mother
and her babe answer!
1t was but a day past and our land
slept in the light Of peace. War was
not here-wrong 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 gold.
en- fields Of corn looked forth from amid
the waste of the wilderness, and the glad
music of human voices awoke the 81
lencc Of the forest.
Now. God of mercy behold the
change
Under the sanctity of the name of
God, invoking the Redeemer to their
aid, do these foreign hirelings slav our
people They throng our towns, they
darken our plains, and now they en-
compass our posts on the beautiful
plain of Chadd's Ford.
'They who take the Sword, shall perish by the
| Sword
Brethren think me not unworthy OF
belief, when | teli you the doom of the
British is near. Think me not vain when
| tell you that beyond the cloud which
now cnsLrouas us, ! see gathering thick
and fast. the darker cloud and the black
CIR storm of a Divine relribution.
They may conquer Us tomorrow
Might and wrong may prevail. aud we
may be driven from the tell-bat the
hour OF Gods own vengeance will come.
Ay, if in the vast solitudes of eternal
spacc-if in the heart of the bounlIess
universe, there throbs the being of an
awful God, quick to avenge and sure to
punish, then will the man George Of
Brunswick, called King, feel in his brain
and In his heart, the VENGEANCE of the
eternal Jehovah, a blight will be up
on his llfe-a withered brain, an accused
intellect; a blight will be upon his
children, and upon his people. Great
God low great the punishment.
A crowded populace, peopling tie
dense towns, where the man of money
thrives, while the laborer starves; want
striding among the people in all the
forms of terrors; an ignorant and God
defying priesthood chuckliug over the
miserics of millions proud and merci>
less nobility adding wrong to wrong,
and heaping insult upon robbery and
fraud royalty corrup: to the very heart;
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 retri-
button that shall come upon the English
throne and the English people!
Soldiers l look around upon your
familiar faces with a strange interest!
Tomorrow morning we will all 60 forth
to battle-for need ! tell you your un-
worthy Minister will march with you,
invoking Gods aid in the fight! We
~,;l1 al ~ oroL fo.%b a lAx,j NJ T