Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1890-06-13

Chaplain T. Dewitt Talmaze preached
his annual sermon bsfors the Thirteenth
Regiment n. G.. g. N. Y, In the Brooklyn
Academy Of Music The stan ofic,rs and
members Of the rsgimsnt we're Immediately
n front Of the platform. an their friends
the national air.
Ny country. It's Of thes,
Sweet lant Of liberty.
The following Is ths sermon In full:
Three hundred and fitty-one times does
The Bible speak of that sharp, keen, curved,
hexorable weapon, which flashes upon us
rnm tho text-the sword Sometimes tae
mention Is applau1atory and sometimes
tamnatory, sometimes as drawn, sometimes
b sheathed. In the Bible, aud I'm much
ocular literature, the sword represents all
Iavelins all mussets, all carbineS all guns,
I'll police clubs, all battle axs, all weaponrt
tor physical defense or attack. It would
oe an interesting thing TO give the history
81 the Plow, and follow its fur-row all down
through the ages, from the first crop In
Chaldea to the last crop in Minnesota. II
would be interesting 10 allow thu Pen as
Z has tracked its way on down through the
literature OF nations from its first word In
the first book TO the last word which some
author last night wrote as he closei his
manuscript. 1t would be an interesting
thing TO count ths echoes Of the hammsr
rom the first nail driven, down through nn
The mechanism of centuries to the last stroke
n the carpenters shop yesterday. But in
this, my annual sermon as chaplain OF the
Thirteenth Regiment propose taking upa
keapon that has done q work that neither
plow nor pen nor hammer ever accom-
plished. Ny theme is the sword-its mission
and Its doom.
The sword OF the text was bathei in
heaven; that Is, 1t was q sword OF righteous
ness as another sword may be bathed In hell,
and the sword OF cruelty and wrong. There
Is great difference between the sword OF
Winklereid and the sword of Cataline, be
tween the sword OF Leonidss and the sword
Of Benedict Arnold. In our effort to hasten
the end Of war, We have hung the sword
with abuses and execrations, when 1t has had
q divine mission, and when in many crises Of
the worlds history ith has swung for liberty
and justice civilization and Righteousness
and God. At the very opening OF the Bible
and on the east OF the Garden OF Eden God
placad flaming sword to defend the tree
OF life. or the officer Of the law St Paul
declares: He beareath not the sword in
vain.n Through Moses God commanded:
"Put every man his sword by his side
David in his prayer says 'Gird thy sword
upon thy thigh, most mighty" One OF the
Otu bAttic oitoutt VI tue oiu ic1tdlucub WhS,
''rhe sword OF the Lord and Of Gideon
Christ, In great exigency, said that such a
weapon was more important than coat. for
he declared: "He that hath no sword, let him
sell his garment and buy one" Again He de
clared: II come not to send peace but a
sword.n OF Christ's second coming tis said.
'Out OF His mouth went sharp. two edged
sword" ThuS sometimes fyuratively, but
oftener literally, the divine mission OF the
sword is announced,
What more consecrated thing in the world
than Joshuas sword, or Caleb's sword, or
Gideons sword, or Davids sword, or WASH
ington's sword, or Marion's sword, or Lafay-
cites sword. or Wellington's sword, or
Kosciusko's sword, or GaribaidPs sword, or
hundreds Of thousands Of American swords
that have again and again been bathed in
heaven. Swords OF that kind have been
the best friends of the human race. They
have slain tyrannies, priei open dungeons
and cleared the way for nations In their
march upward. 1t was better for them to
take the sword AMI b. free, than lie under
the oppresspr'S heel ami suffer. There is
something worse than death. and that
| is life il it must cringo and crouch
| before the wrong Turn over the
leaves OF the worlds history, and find that
there has never been tyranny stopped or
. nation liberated except by the sword.
am not talking TO you about the way things
ought to be, but about the way they have
been. What forcs drove back the Saracens
at Tours and kept Europe from being over
whelmed by Mohammedanism, and, subss-
| quently, all America given over to Moham
iuedanisms The sword of Charles MAJ tel and
his men. Who can deal enough in infinities
| to tell what was accomplished for the worlds
| good by the sword Of Joan of Arc.
In December last looked OF and saw in
the distance the battlefield OF Marathon. and
] asked myself what was IL that, on that
most tremendous day In history, stopped the
| Persian hosts, representing nos only Persia,
and Bcloochistan, and Armenia, q host that
had Asia under foot and proposed to put
Europe under foot and, II successful In
that battle would have submerged by Asiatie
barbarism European civilization, and, as q
consequence In after time, American civilizi.
ton. The swords Of Miltiades, and Themisto
cles, and Aristides. At the waving OF thess
swords the eleven thousand lancsrs OF Athens
on the run dashed against the one hundred
thousand insolent Persians, and trampled
them down or pushed them back into the
sea. The sword Of that day saved the best
part Of the hemispheres trinity OF -
steel flashing In the two lights-the light oi
the setting OF the sun Of fbarbarism, the light
OF the rising sun OF civilization. hail 10 thess
three great swords bathed in heaven
What put an end to Infamous Louis XVII
plan Of universal conquest, by which Englant
would have Seen made to kneel on the step.
OF the Tuileries and the Anglo-Saxon rae,
would have been halted and all Europ,
paralyzcdi The sword Of Marlborough a
Blenheim. Time came when the Roman wal
eagles, whose beaks had been punched int
the hearts Of nations, must be brought dowf
from their eyries All other attempts hae
4 disgracefully failed, but the Germans, tn.
mightiest nation for Drawn and brain. un
dertook the work, and, under uod, sue
ceeded. What drove back tho Roman
cavalry till their horses wounded, hung thei
riders and the last rider perished, and tn
Hercynian forest became the scene of Rome
humiliation The sword, the brave sword
the triumphant sword OF Arminius
While passing through France last Janu
ary my nerves tingled with excitement an.
rose In the car, the better to see the battle
field OF Chalons, the mounds and breast
works still visible, though nearly five hun
dred years ago they were shoveled up
Here, Attila, the heather monster, calle'
by himself the "Scourge OF God, for til
punishment OF Christians" his life mas
sacre Of nations, came to ignominious de
feat, and he put into one great pile tn
wooden saddles of his cavalry, and tn
spoils of the cities and kingdoms he hat
sacked, and placed on top OF this holocaus
the women who had accompanied him II
his devastating march, ordering that tn
torch be put TO the pile. What power brok
that sword, and stayed that red scourge o
cruelty that was rolling over Europef Tn
sword of Theodoric and Actius
Tocome down TO later ages, oil inteligen
Englishmen unite with all intelligent Ameri
cans in saying that IL was the best thing tina
the American colonies swung of from tn
government of Great Britain. II woub
have been the worst absurdity OF 1000 year
IL this continent should have continued Il
loyalty TO a throne on the other side OF tn
sea. No one would propose a governor
general for the United States as there Is
governor general for Canada. We hav
had splendid queens In our American capita
but We could hardly be brought TO support