The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-12-17
THE STRASBURG PULPIT.

rre.osed in the Captured ony Af.or Its
The following sermon was preaohed in st.
Thomas Church, Strasburg September 80,
by Emf Frommel, chaplain in the army, be-
fore the Prussian and Baden division which
had aided in the taking of the city. II was
given to the press, by permission of the
General commanding the besieging army, and
subsequently printed in the periodical
DGAetn:-
lSamuel vii, l2:-"Then Samuel took a stone
ana set t tbetween Mlzpeh and Shen, and called the
nsme Of it Ebenezer, saying Hitherto hath the Lord
Ralped u.s."
While we still stood outside of this be-
sieged oity, upon the ground which had wit
messed our tolls and our conflicts, we did not
forget, dear friends and companions-in-arms,
to give to God the glory of our successes
Aud now that we have entered within the
walls, il is fitting that our steps should turn
first of all to this time-honored church of
God, and utter the joyful song, "Glory be to
God on high" Yet it is not the place, but
the spirit of deep and earnest thankfulness,
which gives value to our service. While we
remain in the city it becomes us continually
to say to one another, "Come, let US fall
down and worship the Lord" and when all
the labor and the suffering of the past weeks
are forgotten, our hearts must still turn to
lle
inscribed with the grateful words, ''Hitherto
hath the Lord helped u.s."
This inscription looks to the past, the pre-
sent, and the future. 1t speaks joyful graft
tude for the past, humility in the present,
hope and adm onition for the future.
Lord open Thou my lips, that I may speak
to Thy glory, and touch the hearts of this
people, that they may hear Alright; and let us
adj leaye Thy house blessed and strengthened
for Thy earvica An1an
First. "Hithert0." With what deep emo
tion do we use that word When we entered
upon this war, with all confidence in our God,
in the Justice of our cause, in the wisdom of
our leaders, and the bravery Of our armies,
our hearts were still full of trembling anx-
iety. With tears in his eyes had our dear
old King taken his sword and called his peo-
pie to his side; we were prepared not only for
battle, but for possible defeat at first. And
now, what has happened since those July
dsysp "hitherto, and no further, has our
Lord spoken to the proud waves that rose up
against us, and they have been stayed-and
the Lord of hosts, the keeper of Israel, who
neither slumbers nor sleeps, has Himself kept
the "watch on the Rhine," that no hostile
foot should tread its shores. But to us this
word "hitherto" has yet another meaning.
We oan go back to Weissenburg and
Woerth. from them to Metz and Sedan, and
to the gates of Paris, and with gratitude say
that every battle was avictory-adding monu-
mont to monument in acknowledgment of
what God has done 'hitherto." To-day we
como to add another to this glorious list.
But we all feel that to-day our "hitherto" has
new ring. The name of Strasburg strikes
a chord in the heart of German which
vibrates to no other city's name. At that
sound his eye flashes, his cheek burns. In
their songs and their dreams of the past and
future glory of their country, this city has
long been the synonym for sorrow and long
ing desire. In our own day, when it is nearly
two hundred years since the city was lost to
us through weakness, if not through treachery
and falsehood, in the midst of profoundest
peace-taken when Germany lay bleeding
mother, unable to protect her child-to us its
grand cathedral has ever raised itself aloft
before our eyes monument of our disgrace.
But he who would rightly understand the
lesson here taught, must see and hear more
than this.
An appeal is here made to all Germans
30 unite, in order to gain by union what
WAS lost by discord; for not as we lost
it have We regained this city. Only after
bloody conflict and brave resistance Qor this
testimony We owe to oHr adversaries) has it
become ours. We may well consider it the
most hardly-won, if also the most valuable,
conquest Of the war. But we have fought
for it as united people. Therefore we say,
''Hitherto hath the Lord helped u.s." with
special significance in the little word "us. ="
Is it accident or Providence, that this war
has brought together before this city SOL
diersfrom the extreme north and the distant
south, from Konigsberg and from Constance?
That. in sight of this purely German
city, oomradeship should be seen
such as no German eye for centuries has be-
heldS All yes, it is surely evidence that the
winter of discord is over and sDrino has
come again to our dear fatherland. Beloved! |!
1t has been said of the cathedral in this city
that it has been so compactly built that a
shock at the lowest depth of its foundation
would cause the crown at the highest point
to tremble, and the whole building to culver
with the blow. So II is now with our German
fatherland. A common danger has so united
our several parts, that the blow struck at the
crown has been felt throughout the whole
great edifoe Because we have as one people
fought for this city, that through united
acknowledge "hitherto hath the Lord helped
as.
Second. Butto whom dove owe our thanks?
Ny brethren, l know and appreciate your
labors and your courage. i have been a wit
ness of it all. / know what head and hand
has had to do here. The enemy must also
bear testimony to this. 1t has been self
denying work; for it is one thing to fight a
decisive battle in the course of a few hours,
in an open field, man against man, eye to
eye, and a very differant thing to lie for long
weeks before city, seeing no enemy, and
liable to be struck down by an unseen hand
at any moment. AS the Scripture saith,
"a patient man is better than a strong
one, and he that ruleth his
own spirit than he that taketh city," In this
also, beloved, can we say hitherto hath the