The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1878-11-13
A SERMON.
Preached on the Eve or the Rattle
Of Brnndywine. BY Rev. JOab
Trout, Sept. 10, IVY.

From Recolleciions of the Revelation.
Not long since." writes Mr.. Ham
lton Schefmyer. searching into the
.apers of my grandfather, Major John
Jacob Schefmyer, who was out in the
days of the Revolution, l found the
following discourse, delivered in the
presence of large portion of the
American soldiery. General Washing
ton, General Wayne, and other Off
GERS of the army, on the eve of the
battle OF B,andywine."
"THFr THAT rAKs THE sw RID SHALL rErIsu
BY The swoRD."-St Matthew, chap. 2I,v So.
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 alike ;
we have endured the cold and hunger,
the contumely of the internal foe, and
courage of the foreign Oppressor. We
have sat, night after night, beside the
camp fire; we have heard together the
roll of the reville, which called us to
duty, or the beat of the tattoo, which
gave the signal for the hardy sleep of
the soldier, with the earth for his bed
and the knapsack for his pillow.
And now, soldiers and brethren, we
have met in the peaceful valley on the
eve of the battle, while the sunlight is
dying away behind yonder heights
the sunlight that tomorrow morn will
glimmer on scenes of blood!
We have met amid the Whitening
tents of our encampment; in time of
terror and of gloom have we gathered
together. God grant that it may not
be for the last time!
1t IS a solemn moment, brethren.
Does not the solemn voice of nature
seem to echo the sympathies of the
hour? The flag of our country droops
heavily from yonder staff; the breeze
has died away along the green plain of
Chadds Ford, the plain that spreads
before US glittering in the sunlight.
The nights of Brandywine arise gloomy
and grand beyond the waters of yon-
der stream. All nature holds a solemn
silence on the eve of the uproar, of the
bloodshed and strife of tomorrow
"Ihey that take the spord shall perish
By the s,Oord."
And have they not taken the sword
Let the desolatcd plain, the blood
sodden valley, the burned farm house,
blackening in the sun, the sacked vii,
lage, and the ravaged town, answer
Let the whitening bones of the butch,
cred farmer, strewed along the fields OF
his homestead answer Let the starry.
ing mother. with the babe clinging to
the withered breast that can afford no
sustenance, let her answer, with the
death-rattle mingling with the muir,
muring tones that mark the last strug.
gle of life! Let that dying mother
and her babe answer!
1t was bu ia day past, and our land
slept in the quiet of peace. War was
not here; wrong was not here. Fraud
and wo, and misery, and want dwelt
not among us. From the eternal soil.
tude of the green woods rose the blue
smoke of the settlers cabin, and gold
en- fields of corn looked forth amid the
waste of the wilderness, and the glad
music of human voices awoke the 81
lence of the forest.
Now-God of mercy behold the
change! Under the shadow of pre-,
text, under the sanctity of the name OF
God, invoking the Redeemer TO Their
aid, do these foreign hierlings Stay OIL
people! They throng our towns, they
darken our plains, and now they en-