Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1862-01-01
REMIHIscENcE OF THE REVOLUTION.
A Sermon.

| Sermon,
| BY Rev. Joan PRoUr Delivered on the eve of the
battle of Brand ywine Sept 10 I777 in preseno.
OF WASHINGTON, WAYNE and others of the ARMY
"They that take the sword shall perish by the
| s,c0rd."
SOLDIERS AND CoUNTRYMEN.-We have met,
this evening, perhaps for the last time. We
nave shared the tolls of the march, the peril
OF the fight, the dismay of the retreat-aike
we have endured cold and hunger, the con-
tumeIy OF internal foes and outrage Of the for
elgn oppressor. We have sat night after night
by the same camp fire, shared the same rough
soldiers fare we have together heard the
roll of the reveille, which called us to duty
or the beat of the tattoo, which gave the sig
nal for the hardy sleep of the soldier. with the
earth for his bed, the knapsack for his pillow.
And now, soldiers and brethren, we have
met in this peaceful valley, on the eve of tho
battle, while the sunlight is dying away be-
yond yonder nights, the sunlight that to-
morrow morn will glimmer on scenes of blood.
we have met amid the whitened tenta of our
encampment; in times of terror and of gloom
we have gathered together God grant it may
not he for 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 yonder staff; the
breeze has died away along the green plains of
us, glistening in sunlight-the heights OF the
Brandywine arise gloomy and grand beyond
the waters of yonder streams, and all nature
holds pause Of solemn silence, on the eve of
the uproar OF the bloodshed and strife of to-
morrow.
"1hey that take the sword shall perish by The
s,cord.' And have they not taken the sword
Let the desolated plain, the blood soddened
valley, the burned farm house blackcning in
ha
owner answer; let the whitening bones of the
butchered farmer strcwd along the field of his
homestead answer--let the starving mother,
with babe clinging to the whitening breast that
can afford no sustenance, let her answer with
the death rattle mingling with the murmuring
ones that mark the last struggle for life-let
the dying mother and the babe answer,
1t was but 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 across the blue
smoke of the settlers cabin, and golden fields
of corn looked forth from 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
Under the shadow OF pretext, under the
sanctity of the name of God, invoking the
Redeemer to their aid, do these foreign hire
llngs slay our people. They throng our towns,
tHcs uaiheH our ana now tney encOm-
pass our post on the lonely plain OF Cnadd's
Ford.
"They that take The srord shall perish By the
spord.''
Brethren, think me not unworthy of belief
when tell you that beyond the cloud that
now crshronds us, l see gathering thick and
fast, the dark cloud and the blacker storm of
a Divine Retribution
They may conquer on the morrow. Might
and wrong may prevail, and we may be driven
from the feld-but the hour of Gods own
vengeance will come
Ay, if in the vast solitudes of eternal space |
it in the heart of the boundless universe there
throbs the being OF an awful God, quick to
avenge, and sure to punish guilt, 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 upon |
his life-a withered brain IAN accursed intellect;
a blight will be upon his children, and on his |
people. Great God how dread the punish
mcnt
A crowded populace, peopling the dense
towns where the man of money thrves while
the iaborer starves want striving among the
people IN all its forms of terror, and ignorant
and God defying priesthood, chuckling over
he miseries of millions proud, a mercless
lob1llty adding wrong to wrong and insult up
'n robbery and fraud royalty corrupt to the
'ery heart; aristocracy rotten to the core
crime and want linked hand in hand, and
tempting men to deeds of woe aud death
hese are part of the doom and the retri button
hat shall come upon the English throne and
he English people --
Soldiers-I look around upon your familiar
aces with strange interest Tomorrow
morning we will all go forth to battle-for
eed tell you that your unworthy minister
'ill march with you, invoking Gods aid to
he tight We will march forth to battle
iced exhort you to fight the good fight, to
ght for your homesteads, and for your wives
nd children!
My friends, might urge you to fight by the
alilng memories OF British wrong! Walton
might tell you of your father butte cbered>in
ne silence of midnight on the plains of Tren-
% (; might picture his grey hairs dabbled in
lood F.; l might ring his death shrek in your !
ars. Shelmibe-I might tell you of a mother
ufchered and sister outraged--the lonely
the night assault, the roof in 1ames
he shouts of the troopers as they dispatched
ieir victim, the cries for mercy /; the plead /.
lgs OF innocence for pity. might paint this !.
Il again in the terrible colors of vivid reality, 7
L thou ght your courage needed such wild !,
xcitement.
But l know you are strong in the might of |,
lie Lord. You might 60 forth to battle on = !
le morrow with light hearts aud determined = :
'irits, though the solemn duty-the duty of .
Tenging the dead-may rest heavy on your
,uis.
And in the hour of battle, when all around I
darkness, lit by the lurid cannon glare and l
Ie piercing musket fash, when the wounded
rev the ground and the dead line your path,
ZEN remember, soldiers, that God is with you.
ne Eternal God fights for you-he rides on
'e battle clouds, he sweeps onward with the +
arch OF the hurricane charge-God, the awful h
I'd the infinite fights for you, and you will L
iumph. ''They that take the s,cord shall per- h
h by the sword.'' a
You have taken the sword, but not in the :