Delaware Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1843-1874, 1874-01-26
Revolutionary Relic.

Revolutionary Relic.
The following interesting document was re-
Gently found among the papers of Major Jacob
Schaefmyer, deceased Patriot Of the revolu-
ton. H. Ia a discourse delivered on the eve of
the Battle Of fBrandywine, by Rev. jacob Trout
to large portion of the American Soldiers in
the presence of General Washington, Gen.
Wayne, and other officers of the army.
Text. -'rhey that take the Sword shall perish
by theSword."
SOLDIERS AND CoUNTRYMEN We have
met this evening perhaps for the last time we
have shared the toll of the march, The peril of
the fight and the dismay of the retreat alte;we
have endured the cold and hunger, the contume-
ly Of the internal foe, and courage Of the lDreign
oppressor We have sat night after nj yht bes de
the Campfire; we have together heard the roll
OF tine reveille, which called aus lp duty, or the
beat of the tattoo, which gave The signal for
hardy sleep ofthe soldier, with the earth for his
bed and the knapsack for his pillow; aua
snhiars end hratharn lava shnt.4fn ttlis
peaceful valley, on the eve Of battle, willie the
sunlight is dying away beyond yonder heights:
| the sunlight that tu-morroy morn will gliInner
| scenes of blood; we have met amid the whiten-
| ing tents OF our encampment i'll the time Of
| terror and gloom; we have gathered together,
| God grant that IL may not be for the last time;
| 1t Is solemn moment Brethren; does not the
|
ptlhies Of the hour the flag Of our country
| droops heavily from yonder staff! the breeze has
died away along the green plain ci Chadds
Ford.
The plain that spreads before US, is glitter
ing in sunlight, the heights OF the Drandywine
arise gloomy and grand beyond the waters of
yonder stream; all nature holds pause of SOL
emn silence on the eve of uproar and blUodshea
and strife of tomorrow.
"They that take the sword shall perish by the
Sword" and have they not taken the sword?
Let the desolated plain. the blood sodden val
ley, the burned farm house blackeniug in the
sunlight, the sacked village, and the ravaged
town answer. Let the whitened bones of the
butchered farmer. strewn along the fields Of
his homestead answer Let the starving mother
! with her babe clingng 10 the withered breast
that can afford no sustenance, let her answer,
with the death rattle miEsllng with the muir.
murihg tones that marked ihe last strug, le Of
her life; let the dying mother and babe answer
| 1t was but a ,lay passed, and our land slept In
the quiet OF peace, war was not here, wloue
was not here, fraud and woe and misery aud
want dwelt not among us. From the eternal
/ solitude OF the green woods arose tho blue
! smoke of the settlers cabin, and golden flAld,
l ofcorn looked forth from amid the waste Of tht
wilderness,and The glad music of human voices
awOke The silence Of the fores'.
Ill Now God Of mercy behold the change unle
t the shadow of pretext, under the sanctity o
the name of GOD invoking tie redeemer 10 thei
y aid, do these foieign hrelings stay our people
they throng our towns, they darken our plain
and now encompass our posts on tho lOnel
plains Of Chadd's Ford "rhey thai take tht
Sword shall perish by the Sword"
Brethern, think me not unworthy of belle
when tell you that the doom of the British |
near, think me not vain when tell you tha
| beyond the cloud that now enshrouds US, Sc
gathering thick and fast, the darker cloud an
blackening storm of divine retrbution, The
may conquer us tomorrow, might and wron
may prevail aid we may DO driven from tn,
field bnt the hour Of Gods own vengeance will
come; aye, If in the vast solitude of etelna
space, in the heart ofthe boundless universe
throbs the being OF an awful God quick to II
D. verge and sure TO punish guilt, then will tn
5, man George Brunswick called king, feel in h
ID brain and heart the vengeance of the eterni
S' Jehovah, blight will be upon his lle,a wilhe
lip red brain and accursed intellect, a blight
Or be upon his children, and on his people.
=, Great God how dread the punishment
Ie- CROWDED popplace peoping tho dense town
as where the man of money thrives while tho Ii
al. borer staryes; want striding among the poop
r in all its forms ofterror; an ignorant and Gt
- defying priesthood chuckling over the miseri
of millions; proud and merciless nobility q
ding wrong to wrong, and heaping insult upC
robbery and fraud; royalty corrupt to the va
"a, heart, and aristocracy rotten TO the core; Crit
III and want lined hand in hand, and tenpti
men TO deeds Of woe and death. These are
rus part of the doom of retnbution that shall COZ
cry upon the Epglsh throne and English psopl
he Soldiers look around upon yonr familiar fac
MA nas with strange interest, to morrow morning
In will 60 forth to battle, for need tell you Il
,te- your unworthy minister will march with y
, ,Ie invoking Gods aid; need exhort you TO fis
in for your homesteads, your wives and childre
II my friends might urge you to ii ,ht by the g
ate, ling memories of British wrong Walton,
&c. Of might tell you Of your father butchered iu
IN = silence of the night on the plains of Trenton
ters might picture his grey hairs dsbbled in bouo
ithe might ring his death shriek in your ears; 81
,,a mire, might tell you Of a butchcred mott
urss and sister outraged; the lonely farmhouse,
the night assault, the roof in flames, the shouts
her, the troops as they dispatch their victims,
tcrs cries for mercy and the pleadings Of innoce
for pity; might paint this all again in
tee. vivid cUlors Of tie terrible realty, if thou!
IL your courage needed such wild eXctemen
But know YOU are strong in the might u
g. Lord.
You will march forth TO battle, on the II
,blio row, with light hearts and determined spii
and though the solemn duty, the duty of avenl
o,y the dead may rest heavy on your soul. am
IN IN the hour of battle when all around is dark,
'H'' come tho lurld glare of the cannon aud
to in piercing musket flash; when the woun
II strew the ground and the dead litter your p'