Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1864-05-25
For the. YorkvIlle Enquirer.
. EXTRACT

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sa For the. .YorkvIlle Enquirer.
EXTRACT
From a Sermon preached IN the Presbyte.
rian Church at Rock HM, York Dis
trict, s. O., on Sabbath, March 13ss, By
Reu. Leander Kerr, Chaplain, O. s. G..
Furnished by request.
There is another class of men, to whom
wish to pay my respects before I have
done: class peculiar to no country, but
common to all, yet worthy of none. A class
whom the circumstances and exigencies of
war call into existence and activity; who
live, thrive, and fatten, upon its misfortunes
and calamities /: who are found everywhere,
but where they should beg and engaged 10
doing everything they ought not to do. =
They do nothing for our gallant soldiers,
nothing for the country, and nothing for
the army, unless to follow it with the instinct
of the Vulture, the wolf and the hyena,
that scents afaEthe field Of carnage and
death, and that only to rob the dead in safe
ty and impunity, to strip the dying soldier
Of bis coat and bis blanket and sell them
for What they will bring: and then return
to traffic in the, Widows tears, the orphans
cries, and converts the blood of the soldier
into gold or Confederate bonds. It is in
vain to expostulate, to reasop, or to preach
to agoh men for like Ephraim of old, they
are joined to their idols and let alone.-
And yet it is possible some such may be
present here to day: though they seldom,
if ever, visit'the sanctuary of God; but in
ths temple of Mammon you can find them,
morning, noon and hight. Would you .ap.
peal u their honorT They have no honor.
Would address their honestly Tat, if
they ever had IT, Is swept away by their oft
repeated acta of dishonesty and fraud
Would you solicit their humanity They
long since sold out their small stock of that,
for . tiaipg peouuiary consideratioo.-
Wolla you appeal to their patriotism (? They
know not the meaning Of the term. Would
you address their religion? Alas, they
have no religion, but that of ldolatry and
Ooyetoasnsss, Fhsy eooguize no God, but
gold, aud no. Redeemer, but Confederate
stocks and bonds: and not one dollar Of
these will lthey give for their oounsry's
cause, unless they ara assured Of their 300,
or 500 per cent.
There are times and circumstances, my
christian friends and brethren, when the
violation Of any, or of all the command,
mehts in the Deeaiogae are trivial in COM
parison to the conductof these men. The
former, affect only iudiyidusls; but the
latter, communities, States and qs,iapa the
former are temporary and transient conaid.
erations !. the latter are oiten Unlimited and
permanent: the former sends grief and an.
guish, sorrow aud shame into q, few families
and limited localities but the latter spresds
suffering, distress and ain through the
length and breadth of the most extended
State or nation. - - - -
But merciful Providence has ordained
that these men can neither live always, nor
live long. They must DIE. This is we'll;
and when they die, they must go to their
own appointed place. And when they
safely reach their destination, as they most
surely will. aud this is better, then and
there forever they will be- the scorn, con.
tempt, reproach and ,ridicule, and the sub
jects of unceasiug torture of fends aud
devils, inferior to themselves 10 meauuess,
turpitude and crime. Aud when their vile
bodies are consigned to the dust, uosweet
flowers will bloom, no green grass grow on
their unhallowed graves; but+the slimy SER
pent as he.crawls over and around them
will hiss: their shame, nd,its seorn. and
for them; and the hungry worms
that riots in the putresueuoe Of the tomb,
will crawl away in disgust and adherence
from such wretches. ~
Such, oh !! traitor, tory, coward, extortiop.
er, speculator, cheat, swindler, robbsr, vii
lian, is your character; such will be your
destiny and doom !; and such the portion Of
your sordid souls forever. Go then, and
hope in it; hope on, and hope ever as best
you can. Amen.