Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-08-21
Revolutionary sermon.
~They that take the sword shal perish By th0 sword

laroe portion of the American soldiers, in pres
ence Of General Washington, General wayne
and other officers of the army;
SOLDIERS AND COUETRYmER-W nave
met this evening perhaps, for the last Tune. ne
have shared the toll of the march, the peril OF
the frbt. and the DISNEY of the retreat alike
we have endured the cold and hunger, the con
tumelv of the eternal foe and the courage OF the
foreign oppressor. We have sat, night after
night. beside the campfire; we have together
heard the roll of the reyeille which called 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 knspsack ior his
pillow.
And now. soldiers and brethren, we have met
in this peaceful valley on the eve of battle while
the sunlight is dying away beyond yonder
biobts The sunlight that tomorrow morn VIII
rlinroer on scenes of blood. We have met amid
tbe whitening tents of our encampment ia the
time of terror and gloom have gathered together.
God grant that It may not be for the last time
1t IS a solemn moment Brethren, does not
the solemn voice Of nature seem to echo the
sympsthies Of the hour The hag OF our ceun-
try droops heavily from yondeT staff the breeze
has died away along the green plain Of Chadd's
Ford, the plain that spreads before US, gittering
in sunlight the nights of Brsndywine arises
gloomy and grand beyond the waters of yonder
stream; sll nature holds a pause Of solemn 81
lence on the eve Of uproaT and bloodshed and
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 val
ley, the burned farm house blaekeRing in the
sun, the sacked village and the rsyaged town
answer let the whitened bones of the butehered
farmer, strezn along the fields of his homestead,
answer let the starving mother, with the babe
elinging TO the withered breast that can afford
no sustenance, let her answer with the death
raHle mingling with the murmuring tones that
marked the last struggle Of her life LET the
mother and her babe answer.
1t was but day past and our land slept in
the quiet Of peace. War was not here. FTsud
snd woe and want dwelt not among US. From
the eternal solitude Of the green woods arose
the blue smoke Of the settlers cabin, and golden
fields OF corn looked from amid the waste of the
wilderness, and the glad music OF human voices
awoke the silence Of the forest
Now, God Of mercy, behold the change. Un-
der the shadow of pretext, under the sanctity
of the name of God, invoking the Redeemer to
their aid do these foreign hirelings slay our peo-
plei They throng our toWns-they daTken our
plains and now they encompass our posts on the
lonely plain of Chadd's Ford
=. They that take the sword shall perish by the
sword.
Brethren, think me not unworthy CT belief
when I tell you the doom Of the British is near.
Think ple not vain when tell you that beyond
the cloud that now enshreuds US, l see gathering
thick ard fast the darker cloud andthicker storm
of divine retribution!
They may. conquer US tomorrow. Might and
wrong may prevail, and we may be driven from
the field, but the hour OF Gods own vengeance
will come!
AYE, if in the vast solitude Of eternal space
there throbs the being of an awful God, quick
to avenge and sure to punish guilt, then will the
man George Brunswick, called King, feel in his
brain and heart the vengeance OF the eternal Je-
hovah A blight viii light upon his lite-s with
ering brain and an aceursed intellect; a blight
viii be upon his children and on bis people
Great Gcd how dread the punishment!
A crowded populace, peopling the dense towns
where the man Of money thrives, while the la
borer starves want striding among the people
in all forms of error an ignorant and God DEFY
ing priesthood chuckling over the mlserles OF
millions; a proud and merciless nobility adding
wrong to wrong, and hesping insult upon rob
berry and fraud; royalty corrupt to the very
heart, ard aristocracy rotten to the core crime
and want linked hand in hand, and tempting
men to woe and death-these are part of the
doom and retributi0n that shall come upon the
English throne and the English people
Soldiers 1 look A.ound upon your familiar
faces with a strange interest Tomorrow morn
ing we 90 forth to battle-for need tell you
that your unworthy minister will march with
you, invoking Gods aid in the ight-we viii
march forth to the battle Need | exhort you 70
fight the good fight to fight for your homesteads,
| for your wives and children
Ny friends, l might urge you to fight by the
| CALLING memories of British wrong-W alton-l
might tell you of your father butchered in the
sileEce Of the night on the plains Of Trenton 1
might wiring his death shrek in your ears.
Shefmire-I might tell you of butehered
mother and a sister outraged, the lonely isrm
house, the night assault, the roof in flames, the
shouts Of the troopers as they dispatched their
victims, the cries of mercy, and the pleadings OF
innocence, for pity. / might paint this all again
in the vivid colors of the terrible reality, II
thought courage needed such wild excitement.
But know you are strong in the might OF
| the Lord You viii march forth to battle on the
morrow with light hearts and determined spirit,
/ though the solemn duty-the duty OF avenglDg
the dead-may rest heavy on your souls.
| And in the hour of battle, when all around is
| darkness lit by the lurid cannon glare and the
piercing musket fash, when the wounded strew
| the ground, and the dead Litter your path, then
remember, soldiers, that God is with you. The
eternal God fights for you ne rides on the bat
| tie cloud ne sweeps onward, with the march OF
| the hurricane charge.
| God, the awful and Infinite, fights for you,
and you win triumph.
They that take the sword shall perish by the
sword"
You have taken the sword, but not in the
spirit of wrong or rsvage. You have taken the
| sword for your homes, for your wives, for ycur
| little ones You have taken the sword for tTnth,
| Justice and right, and to you the promise is-Be
| of good cheer, for your foes have taken the
| =, 1,cavoo of oil that man hold dear. in
blasphemy of GOd-they shall perish by the
sword
And now, brethren and soldiers, 1 bid you all
farewell Many Of us viii fall in the battle OF
to morrow. God rest the souls of the fallen
Many Of rs may live TO tell the story of the
fight tomorrow, and the memory of all viii ever
rest and hnger on the quiet scene Of this sutum
nal eve
Solemn twilight advances over the valley; the
woods on the opposite nights fling their long
shadows over the green Of the meadow around
US are the tents of the continental host, the
suppressed hustle Of the camp, the hurried tramp
of the soldiers TO and fro among the tents, the
| stiffness aud awe that marks the eve of battle
When we meet again, may the shadows o.
twilight be flung over the peaceful land. Goo
in heaven grant it! Let US pray
II Colts revolvers are being manufactured
near Macon, Georgia. The Telegraph Of tina
city says
The weapon had just passed the inspection ot
the Confederate superintendent Of aimorles al
this place, and contract had been made for as
many as the manufacturers could produce, which
they thought would be, for the present, abou
FIVE day. The pistol, TO our inexperienced
eyes, was as well-fnished as those made by th'
patentee himself, and have 10 doubt equally al
efficient These weapons are designed for the
cavalry service.
The specimen before Us was the first fruit ie
. the skill and inventive ingenuity in celebrating
machinery and tools for the purpose, and of meI