Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1864-08-24
Funeral Sermon

DIED-In the thirty-third year OF his
age, at the prison hospital in Richmond
Virginia, March Sth, 1864, Q. NJ. Ser
geant Jacob Osborne Cobern, Co. l, 9th
Michigan cavalry, of Big Rapids, Mer-
corta county, Michigan, eldest son oi
Elder John F. Coburn, of DeKalb county,
Indiana The cause and circumstances
of his death are shown in the following
letter from his fellow prisoner and
deathbed companion, Albert s. Patrick
of New York, to the father of the de-
ceased
"Your son fell victim to the inhuman
cruelty and barbarous treatment of our
] captors, and / do not overstate the truth
when i say that ne literally starved to
death on Belle Isle. He came to the
prisoners hospital on the l4th day of
FEBRUARY, sick with chronic diarrhea. 1
was acting steward at the time, and when
he came in, noticed he was a man of
more than ordinary intelligence, and
soon made his acquaintance. furnished
him every comfort possible under the
circumstances, and he so far recovered
as to come down stairs and try to do my
writing. l felt greatly encouraged in re-
gard to his case, and cheered him all
could, but three days had not passed be-
fore he relapsed, and in forty eight hours
was dead. His system was completely
worn ont and nature could not rally
To give you some idea of how fearfully
emaciated he was, l will tell you that
his ankle was far larger than his thigh,
and his hip bones protruded through his
skin. y
His mind was clear up to his latest
breath, and he ,conversed in regard to
his approaching end, calmly, and never
before saw a man to whom death had so
few horrors; and whenever l think of
him pray my last end may be like
his.
Three thousand of our men are filling
prisoners graves in Richmond, and this
since September both, '63. am in pos
session of facts and figures taken from
the hospital records, that if compiled in
shape, would cause the entire civilized
world to cry out, Shame on the abortion of
a Davis Government" y
What think you of 10 OF. of bread made
of unsifted meal, 2 OF. of poor beef and
one pint of black pea soup, without the
peas, as a ration for a convalescept sick
man? By rations, l mean twenty-four
hours supply of food"
The funeral services were conducted
by Elder James Hadsell, at the Christia n
Church in the Cobern settlomenr in Con-
cord, DeKalb County, Indiana, May 1st,
1864, at the close of which the congrega-
ton, at the suggestion of Elder Coburn,
requested Elder HadselI to cause the SER
mon to be published.
Will the newspapers in DeKalb Coun-
ty, Indiana, Mecosta County, Michigan,
and Trumbull County. Michigan, and
Trumbull County, Ohio, please copy the
above. and if they have room, also the
OF owing:
FUNERAL DISCOURSE.
BAsIs:-"Behold. conspired against my master
and slew him. but who slew all theseH" Kings.
But ,0ko sle,s all these?
This question, which was first asked by
Jehu, upon the occasion of the death of
the seventy sons of Ahab, King of
Israel, now comes home to us upon every
breeze that floats over our distracted
country. And the friends of the de-
ceased whose death we now mourn, turn
appealingly to me and demand of me
that on this solemn occasion, shall an
swer this question. who slew all these?"
Who is responsible for the many thou
sands of lives lost on the battlefield, or
in the army hospitals, or more terrible
than all, tortured and starved in the
hands of merciless enemies?
From the beginning of this reforma-
ton, We have been the advocates of the
dignity of human nature, denying the
old system of total depravity, and claim
ing for man nobleness and dignity ca
pable of the highest developement in vir-
tue and holiness, and by the power of di-
vine truth, approximating to the per-
fection of the Deity. Human sympathy
is a part of our very nature. The child,
before he is hardened or corrupted by ed
ucation, can not look upon the sutferings
of worm withoutpain and the most ten
der emotions, and if man becomes cru
ell and barbarous it is on account of the
circumstances by which he is surrounded
AN educator forcing his nature away
from those tender emotions which his
Creator has SO largely endowed him
with.
The cruelty of our enemies to their
helpless prisoners who, by the fortunes
of war, have fallen into their hands, and
who, by all the laws of civilized nations,
are entitled to their sympathy, can not
be accounted for only upon the principles
of their education. There is no differ
ence in human nature between the
North and South. The most sympathi-
zing Abolitionists would, under the insti
tutions of the South, become as barbar-
Gus as those whohave been corrupted by
slavery. This system has become the
great educator of those..who have become
the enemies and haters of QUA free insti-
tutions.
And now we must look at the institu-
tion of slavery, in order to correctly un-
derstand the cause of this barbarity.