The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1890-06-12
1UE SWORD.
IT nAS PLhfED A GREAT PART. BUT
1T Is DOOMED.

ihmc Is coming When Nation Sh IL M
MorcLif' p Sword Against Nation.
Brook ~, n. Y, June 5.-Chap-
lain II. d.: Witt Talmagc last Sun
day preached the annual sermon be
fore the Thirteenth regiment, in the
Academy of Music. The staff. officers
and members of the regiment were
Immediately III front of the platform,
and their friends throngcd the GAL
lcrics. The hymn sung was the Nat
iOnal Air:
"My cou try. It's II ,hr,,
Sweet land OF liberty"
The subject Of the sermon WAS.
1.-The SwOrd--Its Mission and its
Doom. The text, Isaiah Xxxiv. 5:
My sword shall be bathed IN Ecay
en-"
Three hundred and tifty-one times
docs tho Bible speak of that sharp,
keen, curved, incXorablo weapon,
which flashes upon us from the text
tho sword. Yomctimcs the mention
IS applaullatory and sometimes damn
atOry, sometimes as drawn, some
times us sheathcd. In the Bible, and
III much secular literature, the sword
represents all javclins, all muskcts.,
all clrbmes, III guns, all police clubs,
all battlc-axcs, all 'w22auomry FOR phys
ical defence or nttfck II would be
an interesting tfliHg to give the his
tory of the Plough, and follow it's fur
row all down TIN ough the ages, from
the first crop III Chaldea to the last
III Minnesota. 1t would be interest
ing to follow the pen as it has track
cd its way on down through the liter
aturc of nations, from it's first word
in the first book to the last word
which some author last night wrote
as he closed his manuscript 1t would
be IN interesting thing to count the
echoes Of the hammer from the first
nail driven, down through all the
mechanism Of centuries to the last
stroke in the carpenters shop ycstcr-
day. But in this, my annual sermon
as chaplain of the Thirteenth rcgi-
ncnt, L propose taking up q weapon
that llas done u work that neither
plow nor pen nor hammer ever nc
complished. My theme is the sword |
its mission and its doom.
The sword of the text was bathcd |
III heaven: that is, ii wa; Il sword of |
righteousness, as another sword may
be bathcd in hell and he the sword of
cruelty and wrong. There is q great
difference between the sword OF
Wmllcrcid and the sword of Cataline.
between the sword of Lconidas and
the sword of Benedict Arnold In
our effort to hasten the end IF war,
VIC have hung the sword with abuses
and cXccrations, when it has had a
divine mission, and when many crises
of the worlds history it has swung
for liberty and Justice, civilization
and righteousness and God At the
very opening OF the Bible, and on the
cast side of the Garden Of Eden God
placed Il flaming sword to defend the
tree of life. or tho officer of the law,
st. Paul declares: "Hc bearcth not
the sword in VAIL" Through Noses
God commanded: Put every man
his sword by his side" David, in
his prayer, says: "Gird thy sword
upon thy thigh, O most mighty" One
of the old battle shouts of the Old
Testament was, 'Ihc sword of the
Lord and of Gideon" Christ, in
great oXigency said, that such wca-
pon was moro important than o coat,
for Tic declared: "Ho that hath no
sword, lot him sell his garment and
buy one Again He declares: II
como not to send peace, but Il sword"
or Christ's second coming it is said:
"Out OF His mouth went q sharp,
two edged sword Thus, sometimes
fgurntlvcly, but oftcncr literally, the
dlVlne mission Of the sword is an
nOuncod.
What moro concentrated thing in
the world than Joshuas sword or
Calcb's sword, on Gideon's sword. or
Davids sword, or Washincton's
sword or Marion's sword, or Lafay-
cite ) sword, or Wcllington's sword.
or KoSciusllo>s sword, or Garibaldis !
sword, or hundreds of thousands of
American swords that have again and
again been bathcd III heaven. Swords
of that kind have been the best friends
of the human race. They have slain {
tyrannics, pricd open dungeons, and
cleaned the way for nations in their
march upward. 1t was better for
them TO take the sword and be free.
''''til l'C unucf inc OpprcSSOr s heel
and suffer. There is something worse
than ccath and that is life if it must
Grlngo and crouch before tho wrong.
rum over the leaves of the worlds
history, and find that there has never
been tyranny stopped or n nation
hberatGd except by tho sword. I nm
not talking to you about tho wov
things ought to be, but about tho
way they have been. What forno
drove back the Saracens at Tonrs
and kept Europe from being over,
whclmod by Mohammcdanism, and,
subsequently, all America given over
to Mohammedanism? The sword of
Charles Martol and his mcn. Who
c9n deal enough in infinities to tell
what wasaccomplishod for the worlds
good by the sword of Joan of Arc?