The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1878-11-13

compass our post on the lonely plain
of Chadd's Ford.
"They tat take The s,cord shall perish
by the s,cord."
Brethren, think me not unworthy of
belief when | tell you the doom of the
British is near! Think me not vain,
when tell you that beyond the cloud
that now enshrouds us | see gathering,
thick and fast, the darker cloud and
blacker storm of divine retributiOn !!
They may conquer us tomorrow.
Might and wrong may prevail, and we
may be driven from this field, but the
hour of Gods own vengeance will
come!
Ay, if in the vast solitudes of eter-
nal space, if in the heart o. the bound
less 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 heart the vengeance
of the eternal Jehova? A blight will
be upon his life, withered brain and
accused intellect; a blight will be up
on his children. and on his people
Great God, how dread the punishment!
A crowded populace, peopling the
dense towns, where the man Of money
thrives while the laborer starves; want
striding among the people in al its
forms of terror; proud and merciless
nobility adding wrong to wrong, and
heaping insult upon robbery and fraud;
God-defying priesthood royalty cor
rupt to the very heart, and aristocracy
rotten to the core crime and want
linked hand in hand, and tempting
men to deeds of wo and death these
are part of the doom and retribution
that will come upon the English throne
and the English people!
Soldiers, | look around upon your
familiar faces with strange interest.
Tomorrow morning We will all go
forth to the battle; for, need tell you,
that your unworthy minister will
march with you. invoking Gods aid
in the fight? We will march forth to
the battle! Need | exhOrt you to
fight the good fight; to fight for your
homcsteads, for your wives and chill
dren?
Ny friends, I might urge you TO fight
by the CALLING memories of British
wrong. Walton, l might tell you of
your father, butchered in the silence
of night on the plains of Trenton; |
might picture his gray hairs dabbled
in blood; might ring his death-shriek
in your ears!
Shelmire, | might tell you of a
butchered mother; the lonely farm
house, the night assault, the roof in
flames, the shouts of the troopers as
they dispatched their victims the
cries for mercy, the pleadings of inno-
cence for pity. / might paint this all
again in the vivid colors of the terrible
reality. if | thought your courage need
ed such wild excitement.
But know you are strong in the
might of the Lord. You will march
forth to the battle ON the morrow with
light hearts and determined spirit.
though the solemn duty, the duty of
avenging the dead, may rest heavy on
your souls.
And in the hour of battle, when all
around the darkness is lit by the lured
cannon glare, and the piercing musket
flash, when the wounded strew the
ground and the dead litter your path,
then, soldiers, remember that God is
with you The eternal God fights for
you He rides on the battle cloud /;
he sweeps onward with the majesty of
the hurricane charge! God, the awful
and the infinite, fights for you, and
will triumph
"7'hey that take the slcord shall perii.h
by the slrord."
You have taken the sword, but not
in the spirit of wrong and ravage.
You have taken the sword for your
homes, for your wives, for your little
ones. You have taken the sword for
truth, for justice and right; and to you
the promise is, "Re of good cheer, for
your foes have taken the sword in def
ance of all that man holds dear, the
blasphemy of God" They shall per-
ish by the sword.
And now, brethren and soldiers, /
bid you farewell
Many of us may fall in the battle
tomorrow. God rest the souls of the
fallen Many of us NAV live to tell
the story of the fight tomorrow, and
in the memory of all will ever rest
and linger the quiet scene of this au-
tumnsl night. Solemn twilight advan-
ces over valley. The woods ON the
opposite nights fling their long shadows
over the green of the meadow. Around
us are the tents of the continetal host !;
the suppressed hustle of the camp, the
hurried tramp of the soldiers to and
I fro amOnp the tents. the stiffness and