FROM THE LIBRARY OF REVj LOUIS FITZGERALD BENSON. D. D. BEQUEATHED BY HIM TO THE LIBRARY OF PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY V /._ /zUi^ •I'Tliomtoai F. THE Ny" S^' A ^, APR 29 1932 PULPIT (^■i ^ .^ OOW^L BH' AMEEICAN REVOLUTION: ^0litiral Sa-mons 0f tl^t ^mntr oi 1776, HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION, NOTES, AND ILLUSTRATIONS. BY ^'LrMITED SUBMISSION A>T) ^"ON-EESISTA^■CE TO THE HIGHER POWERS — THE MYSTERY OS" KI>G CHARLES'S 8A1XTSHIP AXD MARTYRDOM UXRIDDLED, DISCOURSE II. DR. CHAUNCY'S THANKSGIVING SERMON ON THE REPEAL OF THE STAMP ACT, 1766. THB NEWS OP THE REPEAL — REASONS FOR REJOICING AND THANKSGIV- ING—THE PROPER USE TO BE MADE OP THE "GOOD NEWS," . . 105 DISCOURSE III. MR. COOKE'S ELECTION SERMON, 1770. CIVIL GOVERNMENT IS FOR THE GOOD OP THE PEOPLE — THE CHARACTER OP GOOD RULERS, AND THE DUTIES OP CITIZENS, 147 DISCOURSE IV. MR. GORDON'S THANKSGIVING SERMON, 1774. THE CHRISTIAN DUTY OF RESISTANCE TO TYRANTS — PREPARE FOR WAR — APPEAL TO HEAVEN, 187 VIII CONTENTS. DISCOURSE V. PAGE DR. LANGDON'S ELECTION SERMON AT WATERTOWN, 1775. THE RIGHT OP SELF-GOVERNMENT IS FROM GOD — THE DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS EXPLODED, 227 DISCOURSE VI. MR. WEST'S ELECTION SERMON, 1776. THE TRUE PRINCIPLES OF GOVERNMENT — THE MAGISTRATE'S AUTHORITY — ARBITRARY POWER SUBVERSIVE OF THE DESIGN OF CIVIL POLITY — OBEDIENCE TO THE WILL OF GOD, ^59 DISCOURSE VII. MR. PAYSON'S ELECTION SERMON, 1778. POPULAR GOVERNMENT — THE TRUE SPIRIT OF LIBERTY — REQUISITES TO A FREE GOVERNMENT — ITS DANGERS — THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF RUL- ERS AND OF CITIZENS, DISCOURSE VIII. MR. HOWARD'S ELECTION SERMON, 1780. THE NECESSITY OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT TO THE HAPPINESS OF MANKIND — THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO CHOOSE THEIR OWN RULERS — THE DUTIES AND QUALIFICATIONS OF CHRISTIAN RULERS, .... 355 DISCOURSE IX. DR. STILES'S ELECTION SERMON, 1783. "THE UNITED STATES EXALTED TO GLORY AND HONOR," . . . 399 INDEX, 521 INTRODUCTION. This collection of Sermons presents examples of the politico- theological phase of the conflict for American Independence, — a phase not peculiar to that period. Its origin was coeval with the colonization of New England ; and a brief review of some leading points in our history will afford the best expla- nation of its rise and development. There is a natural and just union of religious and civil counsels, — not that external alliance of the crosier and sword called " Church and State," — but the philosophical and deeper union which recognizes God as Supreme Ruler, and which is illustrated in this volume of occasional Discourses and " Election Sermons," — a title equivalent, in the right intent of the term, to " political preaching." There is also a historical connection, which is to be found rather in the general current of history than in particular instances. In this we may trace the principle, or vital cord, which runs through our own separate annals since our fathers came to the New World, and also marks the progress of liberty and individual rights in England. "New England has the proud distinction of tracing her origin to causes purely moral and intellectual, — a fact which fixes the character of her founders and planters as elevated and refined, — not the destroyers of X INTRODUCTIO N. cities, provinces, and empires, but the founders of civilization in America." The word clergie is in itself historical, meaning, in the Norman tongue, literature. In early times, -when learning was almost exclusively with the clergy, they, by this monopoly, held almost the whole power of church and state. We may see an illus- tration of this union of civil and ecclesiastical functions in the Annals of the See of Bath and Wells, which yielded from its diocesan list to the civil state of England six Lord Chancel- lors, eight Lord High Treasurers, two Lords Privy Seal, one Master of the Kolls, one Lord President of Wales, one prin- cipal Secretary of State ; and to higher Episcopal office, five Archbishops of Canterbury, three Archbishops of York, and, says the annalist of the diocese, " to the Protestant Episcopal Church, the cause of Monarchy, and of Orthodoxy, one martyr, WilUam Laud." But, of all the names in that priestly catalogue, to Arthur Lake belongs the transcendent honor, the highest distinction ; for it was his missionary spirit that originated the movement which led to the colonization of Massachusetts, — an enterprise greatly indebted for its success to the unhappy zeal of his im- mediate successor in the office of bishop, the " martyr " Laud. As this execrable^ prelate embodied the principles and spirit of the hierarchy ; as he had a controlling agency in the settle- ment of New England, by " harrying " the Puritans out of Old England; and as he has ever been remembered with abhorrence by their descendants, some of whose early Puritan " prejudices," not yet eradicated, may very possibly reach future generations, mention of a characteristic act in his official life may be per- 1 For an opposite view of Archbishop Laud's character, and the principles involved in it, read his " Life and Times," by John Lawson Parker. 2 vols. 8vo. London : 1829. I NTRODUCTI ON. XI tinent to our inquiry. It was this : Mr. Leighton, a Scotch divine, being convicted of writing a book denouncing the severities of the hierarchy, Bishop Laud pulled off his hat when sentence was pronounced on the offender, and gave God thanks for the victory. This was in the Star Chamber, and in keeping with the general tone of proceedings which prevailed in this court, in the council, and in the government generally, during Laud's time. Mr. Leighton " was severely whipped ; then, being set in the pillory, his ear was cut off, his nose slit, and his cheek was branded, with a red-hot iron, S. S., as a Sower of Sedition. On that day week — the sores on his back, ears, nose, and face not being cured — he was whipped again at the pillory, in Cheapside, and the remain- der of his sentence executed by cutting off his other ear, slitting the other side of his nose, and branding his other cheek." This man. Laud, who conceived, perpetrated, revelled in, and recorded in his private diary these disgusting details, was by Charles L promoted step by step in Episcopal office, till, in 1633, three years after the outrage on Leighton, and the next after his brutality on Prynne, — this man was consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury, the primate of the Episcopal Church, the representative man of the hierarchy. The New Englanders always spoke of him as " our great enemy." Early in the next year — 1634 — this primate, " with my Lord Privy Seal," after an examination in council of Governor Cradock ^ 1 Governor Mathewe Cradock, though prominent in early Massachusetts annals, never set foot in New England. The house built on his plantation, in what is Medford, in 1634, is yet standing, — one of the precious memorials of early times. Brooks' History of Medford honors him as " the founder '' of the town, and contains a picture of the house. After the removal of the colony from Cape Ann to Salem, in 1626, under Governor Conant, some of the persevering members of " the Dorchester Company," Avhich had originated the enterprise of colonizing Massachusetts, effected, with new associates, a new organization, for continuing and exjmnding the colonization of New England, which was at a later period — March 4, 1628-9— " confirmed " by charter from Charles I. Of this new "coTwpani/" Cradock was appointed the first governor, and John Endecott was XII INTRODUCTION. and other friends of the colonists, and of" all tlieir correspondence" with "the brethren "in New England, called them all " imposturous knaves," promised " the cropping of ]\ir. Winthrop's ears," the loss of the colonial charter, and a " general governor " over all the colo- nies, to do his bloody behests. "If Jove vouchsafe to thunder, the charter and the kingdom of the separatists will fall asunder," and so end " King Winthrop, with all his inventions, and his Amsterdam and fantastical ordinances, his preachings, marriages, and other abusive ceremonies, which exemplify his detestation of tlie Church of England^ and contempt of his Majesty's authority and wholesome laws"! "Winthrop's ears were not cropped, and Laud became a — '■'■ martyr" ! From such a gospel the New England Puritans fled ; and in the celebrated pulpit at Saint Paul's Cross, in London, its clergy preached often and bitterly against the New England colonies and planters, especially Massachusetts, who, by limiting their franchise to members of tlieir own communion, kept out of political power those enemies^ who followed them hither, and who would have overturned the Commonwealth, — which some attempted, as in the case of Child, Vassal, the infamous Maverick, and others. When the Colony became a State, with an educated people, the bars were let down, and suffrage was extended. the first, if not the only, goveruor of the colony under this charter. — Massachu- setts Col. Kec, " The Landing at Cape Ann," and authorities there cited. See note 1, p. xxiii. 1 In the admirable state paper from Massachusetts Bay to the Tarliament, in 1651, they say: " We, . . being men able enough to live in England with our neighbours, and being helpfull to others, and not needing the help of any for outward thinges, about three or four and twenty years since, seeing just cause to feare the persecution of the then bishops and high commission, for not conform- ing to the ceremonies then pressed upon the consciences of those under their power, we thought it our safest course to get outside of the world, out of their vietv, a7id beyond their reach, .... coming hither at our proper charges without the help of the State, . . . having expended, first and last, . . . . divers hundreds of thousands pounds." INTRODUCTION. XIII It was well said in Stoughton's Election Sermon, preached in 1668, that " God sifted a whole nation that he might send choice grain over into this wilderness." ..." They were men of great renown in the nation from whence the Laudian persecution exiled them ; their learning, their holiness, their gravity, struck all men that knew them with admiration. They were Timothies in their houses, Chrysostoms in their pulpits, Augustines in their disputa- tions." Indeed, this exodus of so many of the choicest of England's educated and Christian sons, consequent upon this fanaticism for the church, — not religion, — alarmed the sober-minded. We find an expression of this in the anecdote of the vice-chancellor's strenuous exception to printing the two lines in Herbert's " Temple," — *' Religion stands a-tiptoe in our land, Keady to pass to the American strand," — when they requested his imprimatur for that poem ; and his reluctant assent .was given with the " hope that the world would not take Herbert for an inspired prophet." This was in 1633. Towards the close of Queen Elizabeth's reign, the judicious Hooker defined the "clergy as a state" — or order of men — " whereunto the rest of God's people must be subject, as touching " — only — " things that appertain to their soul's health." This was a great advance in the right ; but the leaven of Puritanism had then been some time fermenting in England, and many of the churchmen now chal- lenged this claim of the priesthood. A late able writer ^ sums up clearly " the points upon which the Puritan clergy and their lords were at issue. In substance the pre- lates claimed that every word, ceremony, and article, written in the Book of Common Prayer, and in the Book of Ordination, was as faultless and as binding as the Book of God, and must be acknowl- 1 Hopkins, " Puritanism and Queen Elizabeth," vol. ii. p. 2 XIV INTRODUCTION. edged as such. The Puritans dared not say it. The prelates claimed to themselves — or, more modestly, to the church which they personified — an infallibility of judgment in all things pertain- ing to religion. The Puritans denied the claim. The prelates claimed obedience ; the Puritans, manhood 5 the prelates, spiritual lordship ; the Puritans, Christian liberty." And these preposter- ous claims of the prelates rested upon acts of Parliament ! The quarrel was in the church. Some of these Puritans fled to New England. They came hither protesting against these prelatical assumptions, and were really a church rather than a state. Separa- tion from the Church of England was at first viewed by those of Massachusetts with repugnance; but it was facilitated by a quasi adoption of a very mild type of the Genevan or Presbyterian polity, the validity of whose ordination had been repeatedly recog- nized by the hierarchy, and also declared by Act of Parliament, 13th Elizabeth; the very same authority which created the "Estab- lished " Church, and tinkered its " infallibility " to suit the changing times. But soon " they read this clearly," as did Oliver Cromwell, John Milton, and John Cotton, that " New Presbyter is but Old Priest writ large." As they were already imbued with the spirit, they gradually adopted the principles of Independency, — absolute democracy, — essen- tially as held and taught by their Plymouth brethren. This was the legitimate result of the Reformation, and it was distinctly conceded to be such by one of Hooker's ablest scholars, George Cranmer. In a letter to his teacher, he said : " If the positions of the Reform- ers be true, I cannot see how the main and general conclusions of Brownism " — Independency — " should be false." ^ That great man. Sir James Mackintosh, incidentally renders them a noble tribute, in 1 In the Appendix to Izaak Walton's Life of Mr. Richard Hooker. INTRODUCTION. XV his admirable article on the philosophical genius of Bacon and Locke. Mr. Locke was admitted to Christ Chui-ch College In 1651, when Dr. Owen, the Independent, was Dean, — the same who was thought of for the presidency of Harvard College. " Educated," says Sir James, " among the EngUsh Dissenters, during the short period of their political ascendency, he early imbibed the deep piety and ardent spirit of liberty which actuated that body of men ; and he probably imbibed also, in their schools, the disposition to metaphysical inquiries which has everywhere accompanied the Cal- vlnlstic theology. Sects, founded on the right of private judgment, naturally tend to purify themselves from intolerance, and In time to learn to respect in others the freedom of thought to the exercise of which they owe their own existence. By the Independent di- vines, who were his Instructors, our philosopher was taught those principles of religious liberty ichicli they were thefrst to disclose to the worldr Such was the origin of New England ; such the men who founded it Religion, the church, was the great thought, and civil interests were only incidental. This is not only evident In our history, as already narrated, but it is distinctly avowed and reiterated in the writings of the fathers of New England from the very beginning. Thus Roger Conant, the first Governor of Massachusetts Colony, suggested to the Rev. John White, of Dorchester, that It might be a refuge from the coming storm "on account of religion."'^ Protes- tantism seemed to be in great danger on the Continent and in Eng- land, where the king, court, and many of the hierarchy were more than suspected of sympathy with Popery. ^Mr. White conferred with Bishop Lake, who favored the suggestion, especially as an opportunity for Christian missions among the Indians, and entered 1 History of Xew England, Edit. 184S, p. 107, by Hubbard, who, no doubt, had the facts from Governor Conant himself, who lived at Beverly, near Ipswich, Hubbard's residence. XVI INTRODUCTION. into it with such zeal as to say to Mr. AYhite that " he would go himself but for his age."-^ This most Christian bishop availed himself of an early and prov- idential opportunity to speak, with apostolic earnestness, on the national neglect and duty in this matter. On the second of July, 1625, he " preached in Westminster, before his Majestie, the Lords, and others of the Upper House of Parliament, at the opening of the Fast,"^ which had been ordered throughout the kingdom, on petition of the Puritan Parliament. It was on account of the pub- lic calamities, civil and religious. He spoke with great plainness. " There is," he said, " a kind of metaphysical locusts and caterpillars, — locusts that come out of the bottomless pit, — I mean popish priests and Jesuits, — and caterpillars of the Commonwealth, projectors and inventors of new tricks " — well known to the king and others who listened to these words — " how to exhaust the purses of the sub- jects, covering private ends with public pretences ; ... in well-governed states they were wont to be called Pestes Reipublicce, Plagues of the Commonwealth." Near the close of his sermon, the preacher said : " Neither is it enough for us to make much of God's truth for our own good, but also we should propagate it to others. And here let me tell you, that there lieth a great guilt upon Christian states, and England among the rest, that they have not been careful to bring them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death to the knowledge of Christ and participation of the gos- 1 The anecdote seems to come direct from the lips of Mr. White to Mr. Hugh Peter, who records it in his autobiography, — " Last Legacy to his Daugh- ter," Boston, Ed. 1717, p. 77, — and says, " That good man, my dear firm friend, Mr. White, of Dorchester, and Bishop Lake, occasioned, yea, founded that ■work;" i. e., Massachusetts Colony. It is a curious fact, tliat part of Archbishop Laud's library came into the possession of Mr. Teter, who intended to send it to New England. There is an interesting reference to Mr. White and Mr. Teter in Governor Cradock's letter to Governor Endecott. Mass. Records, i. 384. 2 " Svndrie Sermons de tempore, by Arthur Lake, D. of Diuinitie, Lord Bishop of Bath and Welles." London, 1629: folios 200—220. INTRODUCTION. XVII pel. Much travelling to the Indies, East and West, but -wherefor ? Some go to possess themselves of the lands of the infidels, but most, by commerce, to grow richer by their goods. But where is the prince or state that pitieth their souls, and, without any ■worldly respects, endeavours the gaining of them unto God ? Some show we make, but it is a poor one ; for it is but an accessorie to our worldly desire ; it is not our primary intention ; whereas Christ's method is, first seek ye the kingdom of God, and then all other things shall he added unto you ; you shall fare the better for it in your worldly estate. If the apostles and apostolic men had aflfected our salvation no more, we might have continued to this day such as sometimes we were, barbarous subjects of the Prince of Darkness." In exact accordance with these teachings, the king and colonists declared "the principal ende of this plantation" of Massachusetts to be, " to win and incite the natives of the country to the knowl- edge and obedience of the only true God and Saviour of mankind, and the Christian faith ; " and to complete the moral unity of the bishop's missionary sermon, and the designs of our fathers, we par- allel with his anathema against the Papacy the first of their " gen- eral considerations for the plantation in New England," which was in these words : " It will be a service to the church, of great conse- quence, to carry the gospell into those parts of the world, and to 7'aise a bulwarke against the kingdom of antichrist, which the Jesuits* labor to rear up in all places of the world." When the "governor and companie" — that branch of the Massachusetts government which, under the charter, had its legal residence in England — were about emigrating to the colony, they issued a manifesto, April 7, 1630, declaring themselves to be a 1 " The Jesuits," wrote John Cotton, in 1647, " have professed to some of our merchants and marriners, they look at our plantations (and at some of us by- name) as dangerous supplanters of the Catholick cause " in America, especially in Canada. 2* XVIII INTRODUCTION. CHURCH, " a weake colonie from their brethren in and of the Church of England," as " the Church of Philippi was a colony of the church at Rome." The Rev. John Norton, in the Election Sermon of 1661, said that they came " into this wilderness to live under the order of the gospel ; " " that our polity may be a gospel polity, and may be compleat according to the Scriptures, answering fully the Word of God : this is the work of our generation, and the very work we engaged for into this wilderness ; this is the scope and end of it, that which is icritten upon the forehead of New England, viz., the compleat walking in the faith of the gospel, according to the order of the gospel." The venerable Higginson, of Salem, in his Election Sermon of 1663, stated the point with great fulness, as follows : " It concerneth New England always to remember that they are originally a plantation religious, not a plantation of trade. The profession of the purity of doctrine, worship, and discipline, is written upon her forehead. Let merchants, and such as are increasing cent, per cent., remember this : that worldly gain was not the end and design of the people of New England, but religion. And if any man among us make religion as twelve, and the world as thirteen, such an one hath not the spirit of a true New England man." In the Election Sermon of 1677, the Rev. Dr. Increase Mather uttered these words : " It was love to God and to Jesus Christ which brought our fathers into this wilderness. . . . They did not, in their coming hither, propound any great matters to themselves respecting this world; only that they should have liberty to serve God, and to walk with him in all the waves of his worship. . . . There never was a generation that did so per- fectly shake off the dust of Babylon, both as to ecclesiastical and civil constitution, as the first generation of Christians that came into this land for the gospel's sake." The Rev. William Hubbard, the historian, in a Fast-day sermon, INTRODUCTION. XIX preached June 24, 1682, declared that the fathers "came not hither for the world, or for land, or for traffic ; but for religion, and for liberty of conscience in the worship of God, which was their only design." The historical fact was stated by President Stiles, of Yale College, in 1 783 : " It is certain that civil dominion was but the second motive, religion the primary one, with our ancestors, in coming hither and settling this land. It was not so much their design to es- tablish religion for the benefit of the state, as civil government for the benefit of religion, and as subservient, and even necessary, towards the peaceable enjoyment and unmolested exercise of religion — of that religion for which they fled to these ends of the earth." ^ The result of all this was, a new community, voluntarily gathered in New England, primarily for religion, organized into many " independent " churches, each of them a petty democracy, electing its officers and ministers, making its own laws, and regulating its own affairs, so far as possible, by the system of polity indicated with more or less distinctness in holy Scripture. Out of this condition of things the state was gradually developed. Here was individualism, — an admirable system for making good full-blooded Puritan citizens, but very poor and unmanageable subjects. So George HI. and George Grenville, " The Gentle Shepherd," found it in 1763 and afterward. By the change, the clergy could retain no authority, but their influence was probably increased. They had " great power in the people's hearts," says Winthrop. Religion predominated over all other interests. " As near the law of God as they can " be, was the instruction of the General Court to their committee of laity and ministry, ap- 1 This very exact statement of fact explains the exclusive policy of the early legislation. It was at that time absolutely necessary to self-preservation against the plottings of the hierarchy, to confine the privilege of franchise to tlieir known friends. XX INTRODUCTION. pointed to frame laws for the Commonwealth. Their first ^ written code, under the charter of 1629, was drawn by a minister. Rev. Nathaniel Ward, of Ipswich, Hugh Peter, and Thomas Welde, min- isters, were the colonial agents from Massachusetts to the mother country in 1641, to aid. " m /ur^/imn^ the work of the reformation of the churches there" and in relation to our colonial affairs; but " some reasons were alleged " — though ineffectually — " that offi- cers should not be taken from their churches for civil occasions." This was coincident, in time and spirit, with the exclusion of the bishops from Parliament, which, says Hallam, was the latest concession that the king made before his final appeal to arms at the battle of Edgehill, October 23, 1642. Sir Edward Verney, who was there killed, declared his reluctance to fight for the bishops, whose cause he took it to be. The name of Hugh Peter reminds us that New England shared in the English revolution of 1640 ; sent preachers and soldiers, aid and comfort, to Cromwell ; gave an asylum to the tyrannicides, Whalley, Goffe, and Dixwell; reaffirmed the same maxims of liberty in the revolution of 1688, and so stood right on the record for the third revolution of 1776. Hutchinson says that the Rev. John Cotton was supposed to have been more instrumental in the settlement of their civil as well as ecclesiastical polity than any other man. He too, the representa- tive man of New England, was, as could not be otherwise expected, remembering his life, a sound " Commonwealth's " man. To him, "Pastor of the Church at Boston, in New England," Cromwell wrote,^ in a letter from London, 2d October, 1651: ... "I received yours a few days since. It was welcome to me because 1 Kev. Dr. Felt (Ecclesiastical History, vol. i. p 166) shows that laws had been enacted, under Governor Endecott's administration, prior to the transfer of the " companie " to the colony in 1629. 2 Carlyle's Cromwell, Letter cxxv., and Harris's Lives, iii. 518, where the letter was first published. Cotton's letter is in Hutchinson's Coll. 233. INTRODUCTION. XXI signed by you, -whom I love and honor in the Lord ; but more to see some of the same grounds of our acting stirring in you that are in us, to quiet us in our work, and support us therein." Here we cannot but stop for a moment by the way to notice a beautiful and significant incident, of recent date, which must excite delight, if not exultation. It is this : The. very Episcopal au- thorities which silenced the voice of Cotton within the venerable walls of Boston Church, in Lincolnshire, in England, and banished him and his Puritan brethren, after the lapse of two centuries invited us, the descendants of those exiles, to join with them in brotherly union to render distinguished honors to his memory. The " Founder's Chapel " of the noble church, beautifully renovated, was reopened as " Cotton Chapel," and in the eastern arch was set a large, highly ornamented memorial tablet of brass, bearing an inscription in Latin, from the classical pen of Mr. Everett ; in English, as follows : In perpetual remembrance of JOHN COTTON, "Who, during the reigns of James and Charles, Was for many years a grave, skilful, learned, and laborious Vicar of this Church. Afterwards, on account of the miserable commotion amongst sacred affairs In his own country. He sought a new settlement in a New World, And remained even to the end of his life A pastor and teacher Of the greatest reputation and of the greatest authority In the first church of Boston, in New England, Which receives this venerable name In honor of Cotton. Ccxxv years having passed away since his migration, His descendants and the American citizens of Boston were incited to this pious work by their English brethren, In order that the name of an illustrious man, The love and honor of both worlds. Might not any longer be banished from that noble temple. In which he diligently, learnedly, and sacredly Expounded the divine oracles for so many years; And willingly and gratuitously caused this shrine to be restored and this tablet to be erected, In the year of our recovered salvation 1857. XXII INTRODUCTION. The American flag and the British color floated majestically from St. Botolph's tovver.^ The BishojD of Lincoln, the Bishop of London (Laud's successor), and other clergy, took part in the proceedings of the day. The Bishop of Lincoln preached, taking for his text the fourth chapter of Ezra, fourth verse ; "Xei us build with you, for we seek your God as ye do ; " and this reopening of St. Botolph's, as if to give more emphasis to the occasion and the words, was his first official act as diocesan of Lincoln. The significance of this celebration can be best appreciated, perhaps, by conjecturing the amazement of Archbishop Laud, and his victim, the Rev. John Cotton, could they have witnessed the occasion ! Each of them will be judged according to his works ; and the world has learned wisdom by them. To resume our point: In 1662, at the earnest solicitation of the General Court and of the ministry, Mr. Simon Bradstreet and Rev. John Norton went to England, as colonial agents, to se- cure the charter against their ancient foes, who had distinguished their restoration to power by the cruel Act #f Uniformity ; and twenty-five years later, in a most important crisis, we find Massa- chusetts again represented by a clergyman, the Rev. Dr. Increase Mather, who procured the provincial charter of 1694. Indeed, the clergy were generally consulted by the civil authorities ; and not infrequently the suggestions from the pulpit, on election days and other special occasions,^ were enacted into laws. The 1 Boston, Lincolnshire, England, derives its name from Mr. Botolph, or St. Botolph, who there built a monastery in 654 j and in Botolph's town the present magnificent church, 245 by 98 feet within its walls, was built in 1309; and its lofty tower, 300 feet in height, is named in honor of St. Botolph. Mr. Pishey Thompson's History of Boston contains an elegant engraving and a minute account of this venerable pile. 2 Among the causes for *' fasting and humiliation," or " thanksgiving," as they appeared upon the records, are, » to seek the Lord for his direction " — «' to intreat the help of God " — " for humiliation to seek the face of God " — INTRODUCTION. XXIII statute-book, the reflex of the age, shows this influence. The State icas developed out of the Church. The annual " Election Sermon " — a perpetual memorial^ con- tinued down through the generations from century to century — still bears witness that our fathers ever began their civil year and its responsibilities with an appeal to Heaven, and recognized Christian morality as the only basis of good laws. The origin of this anniversary is to be found in the charter of "the. governor and companie of the Massachusetts Bay in New England," which provided that " one governor, one deputy-gov- ernor, and eighteen assistants, and all other oflicers of the said companie," — not of the colony^ — should be chosen in their " novelties, oppression, atheism, excess, superfluity, idleness, contempt of author- ity, and troubles in other parts" of the world "to be remembered" — "for the want of rain, and help of brethren in distress " — " in regard of our wants, and the dangers of our native country" — "for God's great mercy to the churches in Germany and the Palatinate " — " for a bountiful harvest, and for the arrival of persons of special use and quality " — "for success and safe return of the Pequot expedition, success of the conference at Newton, and gojod news from Germany" — "sad condition of our native country." These occurred before the year 1644. May 29th, of that year, it was " ordered, the printer shall have leave to print the Election Sermon, with Mr. Mather's consent, and the Artillery Sermon, with Mr. iSorton's consent." 1 These were the officers of the " companie " in England; but the charter also provided for another government in New England — " for the formes and cere- monies of government and magistracie fitt and necessary" in and for the " plan- tation," or colony. Thus the charter ordained two governments, — one for the " COMPANIE " in England, and resident there, and one in and for the colony in New England, — and two such governments existed, Mathewe Cradock being governor of the " companie," and Endecott governor of the colony. The illegal transfer of the government of the " companie" to New England invalidated both governments, and rendered the colonial government, as provided for by the charter, practically impossible. As we have seen, Endecott was the legally elected governor of the " plantation," and he was never legally displaced. On tlie 20th of October, 1629, Cradock resigning, Winthrop succeeded him as gover- nor of the " companie," but not of the colony, for one year; and as the records show no election after, till May 18, 1631, there was an interregnum of about seven months, till Winthrop became defacto^ but not dejure, governor, — the charter distinction between the " companie " and the " plantation " being winked out of sight, and the two made one in fact. " The whole structure of the charter pre- XXIV INTRODUCTION. " general court, or assemblie," on " the last Wednesday in Easter Terme, yearely, for the yeare ensuing." About the year 1633, the governor and assistants began to appoint one to preach on the day of election, and this was the first of our " Election Sermons." In a few years, the deputies, or repre- sentatives, jealous of the power of the magistrates, challenged the appointment as theirs ; and the magistrates, unwilling " to have any fresh occasion of contestation with the deputies," yielded, though some judged it " a betraying, or, at least, weakening, the power of the magistrates, and a countenancing of an unjust usurpation. For," says Winthrop, " the deputies could do no such act, as an act of court, without the concurrence of the magistrates ; and out of court they had no power at all, but only for regulating their own body ; and it was resolved and voted at last court, according to the elders'" — ministers' — " advice, that all occurrents " — orders — " out of court belong to the magistrates to take care of, being the standing council of the Commonwealth." Such were the trifles which involved the popular character of our institutions. The occasion was simple ; the principle was momentous. So it was when Hampden refused to pay twenty shillings, and when our grandfathers resisted the Stamp Act and tea duty. Governor Winthrop's critical notice of the discourse by the Rev. Nathaniel Ward, of Ipswich, in June 1641, is, perhaps, the earliest sketch of an " Election Sermon" now to be found. It appears that " some of the freemen, without the consent of the magistrates or governor, had chosen Mr. Nathaniel Ward to preach at this court, pretending that it was a part of their liberty. The governor (whose right, indeed, it is, — for, till the court be assembled, the freemen are but private persons) would supposes the residence of the company in England, and the transaction of all its business there." The removal was an "usurpation of authority ; " but of its expediency and wisdom there can be no doubt. — Story on the Constitution, 1. §§ 64, 65. Winthrop was not, de jure, governor, as were Conant and Endecott. See note 1, p. xi. INTRODUCTION. XXV not strive about it ; for, though it did not belong to them, yet, if they would have it, there was reason " — since it could not be helped — " to yield it to them. Yet they had no great reason to choose him, — though otherwise very able, — seeing he had cast off his pastor's place at Ipswich, and was now no minister by the received deter- mination of our churches. In his sermon he delivered many useful things, but in a moral and political discourse, grounding his propo- sitions much upon the old Roman and Grecian governments, which sure is an error ; for, if religion and the word of God make men wiser than their neighbors, and these men have the advantage of all that have gone before us in experience and observation, it is proba- ble that, by all these helps, v:e may better frame rules of government for ourselves than to receive others upon the bare authority of the wisdom, justice, etc., of those heathen commonwealths. Among other things, he advised the people to keep all their magistrates in an equal rank, and not give more honor or power to one than to another, which is easier to advise than to prove, seeing it is against the prac- tice of Israel (where some were rulers of thousands, and some but of tens), and of all nations known or recorded. Another advice he gave, that magistrates should not give private advice, and take knowledge of any man's cause before it came to public hearing. This icas debated after in the general court, where some of the deputies moved to have it ordered " and enacted into a law. By the charter of William and Mary, October 7th, 1691, the last Wednesday of ^lay was established as election-day, and it remained so till the Revolution. The important part which this institution of the Election Sermon played at that period, and an account of its observance, are minutely and accurately presented by the Rev. William Gordon, of Roxbury, the contemporary historian of the Revolution, and in a manner so pertinent to our purpose that we give it entire. He says that the " ministers of New England, being mostly Con- 3 XXVI INTRODUCTION. gregatlonalists, are, from that circumstance, in a professional way, more attached and habituated to the principles of liberty than if they had spiritual superiors to lord it over them, and were in hopes of possessing, in their turn, through the gift of government, the seat of power. They oppose arbitrary rule in civil concerns from the love of freedom, as well as from a desire of guarding against its introduction into religious matters. The patriots, for years back, have availed themselves greatly of their assistance. Two sermons have been preached annually for a length of time, the one on gen- eral election-day, the last AVednesday in May, when the new general court have been used to meet, according to charter, and elect coun- sellors for the ensuing year ; the other, some little while after, on the artillery election-day, when the officers are reelected, or new officers chosen. On these occasions political subjects are deemed very proper ; but it is expected that they be treated in a decent, serious, and instructive manner. The general election preacher has been elected alternately by the council and House of Assembly. The sermon is styled the Election Sermon^ and is printed. Every repre- sentative has a copy for himself, and generally one or more for the minister or ministers of his town. As the patriots have prevailed, the preachers of each sermon have been the zealous friends of lib- erty ; and the passages most adapted to promote the spread and love of it have been selected and circulated far and wide by means of newspapers, and read with avidity and a degree of veneration on account of the preacher and his election to the service of the day. .Commendations, both public and private, have not been wanting to help on the design. Thus, by their labors in the pulpit, and by furnishing the prints with occasional essays, the ministers have forwarded and strengthened, and that not a little, the oppo- sition to the exercise of that parliamentary claim of right to bind the colonies in all cases whatever." Protestantism exchanged the altar for the pulpit, the missal for INTRODUCTION. XXVII the Bible ; the " priest " gave way to the " preacher," and the gos- pel was " preached." The ministers were now to instruct the people, to reason before them and with them, to appeal to them ; and so, by their very position and relation, the people were constituted the judges. They were called upon to decide ; they also reasoned ; and in this way — as the conflicts in the church respected polity rather than doctrine — the Puritans, and especially the New Englanders, had, from the very beginning, been educated in the consideration of its elementary principles. In this we discover how it was, as Gov- ernor Hutchinson remarked, that " men took sides in New England upon mere speculative points in government, when there was noth- ing in practice which could give any grounds for forming parties." This was a remarkable feature in the opening of the Revolutionary war. It was recognized by Edmund Burke, in his speech of March 22d, 1775, "on conciliation with the colonies." "Permit me, sir," he said, " to add another circumstance in our colonies, which contrib- utes no mean part towards the growth and effect of this untractable spirit, — / mean their education. In no country in the world, per- haps, is the law so general a study. The profession itself is numer- ous and powerful, and in most provinces it takes the lead. The greater number of the deputies sent to the congress" — at Philadel- phia — " were lawyers. But all who read — and most do read — endeavor to obtain some smattering in that science. I have been told by an eminent bookseller, that in no branch of his business, after tracts of popular devotion, were so many books as those on the law exported to the plantations. The colonists have now fallen into the way of printing them for their own use. I hear that they have sold nearly as many of Blackstone's Commentaries in America as in England. General Gage marks out this disposition very par- ticularly in a letter on your table. He states that all the jyeople in his government are laicyers, or smatterers in law ; and that in Boston they have been enabled, by successful chicane, wholly to evade XXYIII INTRODUCTION. many parts of your capital penal constitutions. . . . Aheunt studia in mores. This study renders men acute, inquisitive, dexter- ous, prompt in attack, ready in defence, full of resources. In other countries, the people, more simple, and of a less mercurial cast, judge of an ill principle in government only by an actual grievance ; here," — in the colonies — "they anticipate the evil, and judge of the pressure of the grievance by the badness of the principle. They augur misgovernment at a distance, and snuff the approach of tyr- anny in every tainted breeze." Mr. Webster studied this phase of our history. He says our fathers " went to war against a preamble ; they fought seven years against a declaration ; " that " we are not to wait till great public mischiefs come, till the government is overthrown, or liberty itself put in extreme jeopardy. We should not be worthy sons of our fathers were we so to regard great questions affecting the general freedom. Those fathers accomplished the Revolution on a strict ques- tion of principle. The Parliament of Great Britain asserted a right to tax the colonies in all cases whatsoever ; and it was precisely on this question that they made the Revolution turn. The amount of taxation was trifling, but the claim itself was inconsistent with lib- erty ; and that was, in their eyes, enough. It was against the recital of an act of Parliament, rather than against any suffering under its enactments, that they took up arms They poured out their treasures and their blood like water, in a contest in opposition to an assertion, which those less sagacious, and not so well schooled in the principles of civil liberty, would have regarded as barren phraseology, or mere parade of words. " They saw in the claim of the British Parliament a seminal principle of mischief, the germ of unjust power ; they detected it, dragged it forth from underneath its plausible disguises, struck at it; nor did it elude either their steady eye or their well-directed blow till they had extirpated and destroyed it to the smallest INTRODUCTION. XXIX fibre. On this question of principle, -while actual suffering was yet afar off, they raised their flag against a power to which, for purposes of foreign conquest and subjugation, Eome, in the height of her glory, is not to be compared ; a power which has dotted over the surface of the whole globe with her possessions and military posts ; whose morning drum-beat, following the sun and keeping company with the hours, circles the earth daily with one continuous and unbroken strain of the martial airs of England." It is in this habit- ual study of political ethics, of " the liberty of the gospel," — perhaps the principal feature in New England history, — that we discern the source of that earnestness which consciousness of right begets, and of those appeals to principle which distinguished the colonies, and which they were ever ready to vindicate with life and fortune. It is an interesting fact, in this connection, that the very able and learned defence of the ecclesiastical polity of Xew England, written by the Eev. John Wise, of Ipswich, one of the victims of the des- potism of the infamous Andros, in 1687, was republished in the year 1772, as a sound political document for the times, teaching that " Democracy is Christ's government in Church and in State." Thus the church polity of Xew England begat like principles in the state. The pew and the pulpit had been educated to self-gov- ernment. They were accustomed " to consider." The highest glory of the American Revolution, said John Quincy Adams, was this : it connected^ in one indissoluble bond, the principles of civil gov- ernment with the principles of Ch-istianity. "With these antecedents of history and principle, it is apparent that nothing could be more revolting to the heart and head of Xew England than the idea of a bishopric within her borders ; and the rumor of such a project excited general alarm, and deepened the old loathing. Lord Chatham, in his celebrated letter to the king, wi'ote : '• They left their native land in search of freedom, and found it in a desert. Divided as they are into a 3* XXX INTRODUCTION. thousand forms of policy and religion, there is one point in winch they all agree : they equally detest the pageantry of a king, and the supercilious hypocrisy of a bishop." Mr. Thomas Hollis, of London, wrote to E,ev. Doctor Mayhew, of Boston, in the year 1763 : "You are in no real danger at present in respect to the creation of bishops in America, if I am rightly Informed, though a matter extremely desired by our clergy and prelates, and even talked of greatly at this time among themselves. You cannot, however, be too much on your guard on this so very Important an affair." Seeker, the Archbishop of Canterbury, had connived at the sending of a popish bishop to Quebec; and this exposed to full view the dishonesty, the utter recklessness of principle, and the popish sympathies, which then distinguished the government of England. The pulpit and the press were alive to the danger, and this alarm was but Initiatory to the coming contest against civil wrong. They detected the same foe under the mitre and the gown. " If Parlia- ment could tax us, they could establish the Church of England, with all Its creeds, articles, tests, ceremonies, and tithes, and pro- hibit all other churches, as conventicles and schism-shops." ^ A contemporary print, entitled " An Attempt to land a Bishop in America," gives the pressure of the times. The scene is at the wharf. Exclamations from the colonists, " No lords, spiritual or temporal, in New England!" "Shall they be obliged to maintain bishops who cannot maintain themselves !" salute the bishop's cars. On a banner, surmounted by a liberty-cap, is " Liberty and Free- dom of Conscience ; " and " Locke," " Sydney on Government," " Calvin's Works," and " Barclay's Apology," bless his eyes ! The ship Is shoved off shore ; on the deck is the bishop's carriage, the wheels off; the crosier and mitre hang in the rigging; and the " saint in lawn," with his gown floating ir the breeze, has mounted 1 John Adams's Works, x. 287, 288. - r/. r // ' /f/r /?//// /^^ /^//u/, i/ J c a f yr- >/?/"// ^/f ^S ////r^/r^/ INTRODUCTION. XXXI the shrouds halfway to the mast-head, and ejaculates, " Lord, now Lord, lettest thou thy servant depart in peace ! " ^ The unanimity and efficient service of the Puritan clergy in the war of the Kevolution, and the zeal of the Episcopal ministers and "missionaries" in their hostility to it, — in perfect consistency with their spirit and principles, as exhibited by Dr. Mayhew, in 1750, in his discoui-se on King Charles's " Saintship and Mart}T- dom," — are stated with almost statistical accuracy in a letter from Rev. Charles Inglis, Rector of Trinity Church, New York, October 31, 1776. The writer was an Oxford D. D., and a missionary " for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts." He was rewarded by a bishopric in Xova Scotia, none being attainable in the other colonies, except in Canada, where the preference of the government was for one direct from Rome. He states " that all the Society's missionaries, . . . and all the other clergy of our church, . . . have, to the utmost of their power, opposed the spirit of disaffection ; . . . . and, although their joint endeavors could not wholly prevent the rebellion, yet they checked it considerably for some time, and prevented many thousands from plunging into it, who otherwise would certainly have done so In their sermons they confined themselves to the doctrines of the gospel" — as lioiior the king — "without touching on politics.^ 1 For the use of this plate, reengraved from the Political Register of 17G9, for Mr. Frothiugham's History of the Siege of Boston, grateful acknowledgment is made to that gentleman. 2 " Without touching on politics"! The honesty of this Rev. Dr. is trans- parent. His letter is wholly a boast of the iwlitical fidelity and services of the Episcopal clergy. The spirit of this " gospel " can be understood by the Rev. Dr. Tucker, Dean of Gloucester's, eulogy on the Roman Catholics, in 1779, which concludes that, " as to the behaviour of the Popish Priests of Canada, would to God that those who call themselves the Protestant ministers of the Gospel of Peace in New England had behaved half as well"! Could the Crown have flooded the country with its clergy of Oxford, or Rome, and " gospel ■' of abso- lute obedience, and have silenced the Puritan clergy, who. with apostolic fidelity, •' shunned not to declare unto you all the counsel of God," every '• seditious'' or ''rebellious"' aspiration, would have been hushed into the silence of t— death. XXXII INTRODUCTION. . Altl^pugh liberty was the ostensible object, ... It Is now past all doubt that an abolition of the Church of England was one of the principal springs of the dissenting leaders' conduct, and hence the unanimity of the dissenters. . . . Nor have I. been able, after strict Inquiry, to hear of any who did not, by preaching, and every effort in their power, promote all the measures of the Congress, however extravagant. ... I have not a doubt but ... his Majesty's arms will be successful. ... In that case. If the steps are taken which reason, prudence, and common sense dictate," — lords spiritual, tithes, etc., — " the church win Indubitably Increase. . . . The dissenters will ever clamor against anything that will tend to benefit or Increase the church " — hierarchy — " here. The present rebellion is cer- tainly one of the most causeless, unprovoked, and unnatural, that ever disgraced any country ; a rebellion with peculiarly aggravated circumstances of guilt and Ingratitude." ^ The religious character and views of the founders of New England also appear In bold relief In the foundation of the venerable seat of learning at Cambridge. " Christo et Eccle- si^" heads the ancient seal of Harvard College, and the church was the colony. On the long roll of the benefactors of Harvard, the name of Hollis^ must ever stand preeminent In the regard of the whole country. In the year 1766, Thomas Hollis^ wrote to the Rev. Dr. Mayhew, " More books, especially on government^ are going for New England. Should those go safe, It is hoped that no principal books on that first subject will be wanting in Har- 1 Copied from " Hawkins's Missions" into the Congregational Quarterly, 1860, p. 311. 2 For an account of this distinguished Baptist family, see President Quincy's History of Harvard College, index. 3 He caused the reprint and circulation in England of James Otis's " Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved," John Adams's "Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law," and Dr. Mayhew's writings. Allibone's "Dic- tionary of Authors" has an ample notice of him. INTRODUCTION. XXXIII vard College, from the days of ISloses to these times. Men of New England, brethren, use them for yourselves, and for others ; and God bless you ! " And again : " I confess to bear propensity, affec- tion, towards the people of North America, those of Massachusetts and Boston in particular, believing them to be a good and brave people. Long may they continue such ! and the spirit of luxury, now consuming us to the very marrow here at home, kept out from them! One likeliest means to that end will be, to watch well over their youth, by bestowing on them a reasonable, manly education ; and selecting thereto the wisest, ablest, most accom- plished of men that art or wealth can obtain ; for nations rise and fall by individuals, not numbers, as I think all history proveth. AVith ideas of this kind have I worked for the public library at Cambridge, in New England." An eloquent writer, thoroughly imbued with the spirit of those days, remarks, that " this truly ingenuous Englishman, in the range and direction of his literary beneficence, effectually refuted the seeming paradox, that a loyal subject of the monarchy in Britain might be an ardent and intelligent friend of the cause of free- dom in America. The books he sent were often political, and of a republican stamp. And it remains for the perspicacity of our historians to ascertain what influence his benefactions and cor- respondence had in kindling that spirit which emancipated these States from the shackles of colonial subserviency, by forming ' high- minded men,' who, under Providence, achieved our independence. " Doubtless at the favored Seminary her sons drank deeply of the writings of Miltox, Harrington, Sydney, Ludlow, Mar- yell, and LocKE.^ These were there, by Mr. Hollis's exer- 1 In 1775, Dr. Tucker, Dean of Gloucester, announced as '• preparing for the press, An expostulatory Letter, addressed to the Ministers of the several De- nominations of Protestants in North America, occasioned by their preferring and inculcating principles of Mr. Lock, instead of those of the Gospel, relative to the original titles of civil governors." XXXIV INTRODUCTION. tions, political text-books. And the eminent men of that day ■were — ' By antieut learning to the enlightened love Of antieut freedom warmed.' "1 President Stiles, of Yale College, said, in 1 783 : " The colleges have been of singular advantage in the present day. When Britain withdrew all of her wisdom from America, this Revolution found above two thousand in New England only, who had been educated in the colonies, intermixed among the people, and com- municating knowledge among them." In Dr. Franklin's library were Locke, Hoadley, Sydney, Montes- quieu, Priestley, Milton, Price, Gordon's Tacitus ; and in a picture of John Hancock, published in 1780, are introduced portraits of Hampden, Cromwell, and Sydney. There are extant American reprints of these authors, or of portions of their works, issued prior to and during the Revolution, in a cheap form, for popular circu- lation, addressing, not passion, but reason, dlifuslng sound principles, and begetting right feeling. There could hardly be found a more impressive, though silent, proof of the exalted nature of the contest on the part of the Americans, than a complete collection of their publications of that period. Who can limit the influences exerted over the common mind by these volumes of silent thought, eloquent for the rights of man and the blessings of liberty, fervid against wrong, the miseries of oppression and slavery, — teaching that resistance to tyrants is obedience to God ? Who can doubt from what fountains he drank who dedicated " to all the patrons of real, perfect, and unpolluted liberty, civil and religious, throughout the world," his history of Whallcy, Goffe, and Dixwell, " three of Its most Illustrious and heroic, but unfortunate defenders" ? These books and libraries 1 Rev. Dr. William Jenks's Eulogy on Bowdoin, Sept. 2d, 1812. INTRODUCTION. XXXV were the nurseries of " sedition ; " they were as secret emissaries propagating in every household, in every breast, at morning, in the noonday rest, by the evening light, in the pulpit, the forum, and the shop, principles, convictions, resolves, which sophistry could not overthrow, nor force extinguish. This was the secret of the strength of our fathers. Let us cherish it as worthy sons of noble sires. One yet among us, whose first inspiration was of the air breathed by the sons of hberty, whose patriot father's laurels are green around his own brow,^ has given a lively picture of the reverential regard for the clergy at the period of the Revolution. " The whole space before the meeting-house was filled with a waiting, respectful, and expecting multitude. At the moment of service, the pastor issued from his mansion, with Bible and man- uscript sermon under his arm, with his wife leaning on one arm, flanked by his negro man on his side, as his wife was by her negro woman, the little negroes being distributed, according to their sex, by the side of their respective parents. Then followed every other member of the family, according to age and rank, making often, with family visitants, somewhat of a formidable procession. As soon as it appeared, the congregation, as if moved by one spirit, began to move towards the door of the church ; and, before the procession reached it, all were in their places. As soon as the pastor entered 1 Hon. Josiali Quincy's sketch of Rev. Jonathan French, of Andover, in Sprague's Annals of the American Pulpit, vol. ii. p. 48. It is of singular inter- est to refer to the following affectionate tribute to the memory of one of the noblest patriots, coupled as it is with a prayer for his only son, whose living presence among us is its answer. The passage is in a letter from the Rev. Wil- liam Gordon, of Roxbury, dated April 26th, 1775. He says: " My friend Quincy has sacrificed his life for the sake of his country. The ship in which he sailed arrived at Cape Anne within these two days; but he lived not to get on shore, or to hear and triumph at the account of the success of the Lexington engagement. His remains will be honorably interred by his relations. Let him be numbered with the patriotic heroes who fall in the cause of liberty ; and let his memory be dear to posterity. Let Ms only surviving child., a son of about three years, live to possess his noble virtues, and to transmit his name down to future gener- ations.^^ XXXVI INTRODUCTION. the church the whole congregation rose, and stood until the pastor was in the pulpit and his family were seated, — until which was done, the whole assembly continued standing. At the close of the service, the congregation stood until he and his family had left the church, before any one moved towards the door. Forenoon and afternoon the same course of proceeding was had, expressive of the reverential relation in which the people acknowledged that they stood towards their clergymen." But this was not " obedience ; " for there was no " authority," and no wish for it. The idea was foreign to New England ; for resistance to it was the proximate cause of her colonization. It was a nobler, voluntary offering of respect, — the decorum of the times. Such are the history, principles, education, position, and influence of the clergy, except the few, of foreign sympathy, and alien to the Commonwealth, who, at the open- ing of the war, *' Left their country for their country's good ; " and with what spirit, with what wisdom, with what learning and power they preached the liberty of the gospel, let these pages — their own words — bear witness. The story of their passive endur- ance, their personal bravery and manly participation in their country's service in the years of her deepest misery, belongs not here ; they yet wait for justice from the historian. "VVe have room for only one or two illustrations. In Danvers, the deacon of the parish was elected captain of the minute-men, and the minister his lieutenant. The company, after its field exercise, would sometimes repair to the meeting-house to hear a patriotic sermon, or partake of an entertainment at the town-house, where the zealous sons of liberty would exhort them to fight bravely for God and their coun- try. At Lunenburg, the minute company, after going through sev- eral military manoeuvres, marched to a public house, where the officers had provided an elegant entertainment for the company, INTRODUCTION. XXXVII a number of the respectable inhabitants of the town, and patriotic ministers of the towns adjacent. They then marched in military procession to the meeting-house, where the Rev. Mr. Adams deliv- ered an excellent sermon, suitable to the occasion, from Psalm xxvii. 3. Mr. Frothingham, from whose excellent history of the siege of Boston these instances are taken, says that the journals of the period abound in paragraphs of similar interest. In 1774, when the whole country was in misery, in the travail which preceded the birth of the nation, the First Provincial Con- gress of Massachusetts acknowledged with profound gratitude the public obligation to the ministry, as friends of civil and religious liberty, and invoked their aid, in the following address : " Reverend Sirs : — When we contemplate the friendship and assistance our ancestors, the first settlers of this province (while overwhelmed with distress), received from the pious pastors of the churches of Christ, who, to*enjoy the rights of conscience, fled with them into this land, then a savage wilderness, we find ourselves filled with the most grateful sensations. And we cannot but ac- knowledge the goodness of Heaven in constantly supplying us with preachers of the gospel, whose concern has been the temporal and spiritual happiness of this people. " In a day Hke this, when all the friends of civil and religious liberty are exerting themselves to deliver this country from its pres- ent calamities, we cannot but place great hopes in an order of men who have ever distinguished themselves in their country's cause ; and do, therefore, recommend to the ministers of the gospel in the several towns and other places in the colony, that they assist us in avoiding that dreadful slavery with which we are now threatened, by advising the people of their several congregations, as they wish their prosperity, to abide by, and strictly adhere to, the resolutions of the Continental Congress," at Philadelphia, in October, 1774, " as the most peaceable and probable method of preventing confusion 4 XXXVIII INTRODUCTION. and bloodshed, and of restoring that harmony between Great Britain and these colonies, on which we wish might be established not only the rights and liberties of America, but the opulence and lasting happiness of the whole British empire. " Resolved, That the foregoing address be presented to all the ministers of the gospel in the province." Thus it is manifest, in the spirit of our history, in our annals, and by the general voice of the fathers of the republic, that, in a very great degree, — To THE Pulpit, the PURITAN PULPIT, we owe the MORAL FORCE WHICH WON OUR INDEPENDENCE. J. W. T. Boston, October, 1860. DISCOURSE CONCERNING Unlimited Submiffion AND Non-Reliftance TO THE Higher Powers: With fome Reflections on the Resistance made to King Charles I. And on the Anniversary of his Death: In which the mysterious Do6lrine of that Prince's Saintfhip and Martyrdom is unriddled : The Subftance of which was delivered in a Sermon preached in the Weft Meeting- Houfe in Eofton the Lord's-Day after the 30th of January^ i749 | 5o- Publijhed at the Requeft of the Hearers. By Jonathan Mayhew, A. M. Paftor of the Weft Church in Bofton. Fear GOD, honour the King. Saint Paul. He that ruleth onjer Men, muft be juft, ruling in the Fear of GOD. Prophet Samuel. / ha--ue faid, ye are Gods — but ye fhall die like Men, and fall like one of the PRINCES. King David. Quid memorem infandas csedes ? quid fafta TYRANNI Eff"era ? Dii CAPITI ipfius GENERIQUE refervent— Necnon Threicius longa cum 2 Thess. ii. 4. d 2 Peter ii. 16. 1 Especially in America, toward which they did cast longing eyes. — Ed. PREFACE. 51 over different in all others ; — it was " as a grain of mustard- seed." * This grain was sown in Italy, that fruitful field, and, though it were " the least of all seeds," it soon became a mighty tree. It has long since overspread and darkened the greatest part of Christendom, so that we may apply to it what is said of the tree which Nebuchadnezzar saw in his vision : — " The height thereof reacheth unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth ; and the beasts of the field have shadow under it." Tyranny brings ignorance and bru- tality along with it. It degrades men from their just rank into the class of brutes ; it damps their spirits ; it suppresses arts ; it extinguishes every spark of noble ardor and gener- osity in the breasts of those who are enslaved by it ; it makes naturally strong and great minds feeble and little, and tri- umphs over the ruins of virtue and humanity. This is true of tyranny in every shape : there can be nothing great and good where its influence reaches. For which reason it be- comes every friend to truth and human kind, every lover of God and the Christian religion, to bear a part in opposing this hateful monster. It was a desire to contribute a mite towards carrying on a war with this common enemy ^ that a Matt. xiii. 21. 1 To Dr. George Benson he wrote: "I was, about this time, much provoked by the senseless clamors of some tory-spirited Churchmen ; this being the strange spirit which seems to prevail among the Episcopal clergy here even to this day. " — Ed. 52 PREFACE. produced the following Discourse ; and if it serve in any measure to keep up a spirit of civil and religious liberty amongst us, my end is answered. There are virtuous and candid men in all sects ; all such are to be esteemed. There are also vicious men and bigots in all sects, and all such ought to be despised. "To Virtue only and her friends a friend; The world beside may murmur or commend : Know, all the distant din that world can keep Kolls o'er my grotto, and but soothes my sleep." — Pope. JONATHAN MAYHEW. DISCOURSE I UNLIMITED SUBMISSION AND NON-RESISTANCE TO THE HIGHER POWERS. LET EVERY SOUL BE SUBJECT UNTO THE HIGHER POWERS. FOR THERE IS KO POWER BUT OP GOD: THE POWERS THAT BE ARE ORDAINED OP GOD. WHOSOEVER THEREFORE RESISTETH THE POWER, RESISTETH THE ORDI- NANCE OF god: and they that resist SHALL RECEIVE TO THEMSELVES DAMNATION. FOR RULERS ARE NOT A TERROR TO GOOD WORKS, BUT TO THE EVIL. AVILT THOU THEN NOT BE AFRAID OF THE POWER? DO THAT WHICH IS GOOD, AND THOU SHALT HAVE PRAISE OF THE SAME ; FOR HE IS THE MINISTER OP GOD TO THEE FOR GOOD. BUT IF THOU DO THAT WHICH IS EVIL, BE AFRAID; FOR HE BEARETH NOT THE SWORD IN VAIN: FOR HE IS THE MINISTER OF GOD, A REVENGER TO EXECUTE WRATH UPON HIM THAT DOETH EVIL. WHEREFORE YE MUST NEEDS BE SUBJECT, NOT ONLY FOR WRATH, BUT ALSO FOR CONSCIENCE' SAKE. FOR, FOR THIS CAUSE PAY YOU TRIBUTE ALSO: FOR THEY ARE GOD'S MINISTERS, ATTENDING CONTINUALLY UPON THIS VERY THING. RENDER THEREFORE TO ALL THEIR DUES: TRIBUTE TO WHOM TRIBUTE IS DUE; CUSTOM TO WHOM CUSTOM; FEAR TO WHOM FEAR; HONOR TO WHOM HONOR. — RomauS Xiii. 1—8. It is evident that the affairs of civil government may properly fall under a moral and religious consideration, at least so far forth as it relates to the general nature and end of magistracy, and to the grounds and extent of that submission which persons of a private character ought to yield to those who are vested with authority. This must be allowed by all who acknowledge the divine original of Christianity. For, although there be a sense, and a very plain and important sense, in which Christ's kingdom is not of this world,^ his inspired apostles have, nevertheless, laid down some general principles concerning the office a John xviii. 36. 5* 64 UNLIMITED SUBMISSION AND of civil rulers, and the duty of subjects, together with the reason and obligation of tliat duty. And from hence it follows, that it is proper for all who acknowledge the au- thority of Jesus Christ, and the inspiration of his apostles, to endeavor to understand what is in fact the doctrine which they have delivered concerning this matter. It is the duty of Christian magistrates to inform themselves what it is which their religion teaches concerning the na- ture and design of their office. And it is equally the duty of all Christian people to inform themselves what it is which their religion teaches concerning that subjection which they owe to the higher powers. It is for these rea- sons that I have attempted to examine into the Scripture account of this matter, in order to lay it before you with the same freedom which I constantly use with relation to other doctrines and precepts of Christianity ; not doubting but you will judge upon everything offered to your con- sideration with the same spirit of freedom and liberty with which it is spoken. The passage read is the most full and express of any in the New Testament relating to rulers and subjects; and therefore I thought it proper to ground upon it what I had to propose to you with reference to the authority of the civil magistrate, and the subjection which is due to him. But, before I enter upon an explanation of the several l^arts of this passage, it will be proper to observe one thing, which may serve as a key to the whole of it. It is to be observed, then, that there were some persons amongst the Christians of the apostolic age, and particu- larly those at Rome, to whom St. Paul is here writing, who seditiously disclaimed all subjection to civil authority; refusing to pay taxes, and the duties laid upon tlicir traffic and merchandise ; and who scrupled not to speak of their rulers witliout any due regard to their office and character. NON-RESISTANCE TO THE HIGHER POWERS. 55 Some of these turbulent Christians were converts from Judaism, and others from Paganism. The Jews in general had, long before this time, taken up a strange conceit, that, being the peculiar and elect people of God, they were therefore exempted from the jurisdiction of any heathen princes or governors. Upon this ground it was that some of them, during the public ministry of our blessed Sav- iour, came to him with that question, " Is it lawful to give tribute unto Ciesar, or not?"* And this notion many of them retained after they were proselyted to the Christian faith. As to the Gentile converts, some of them grossly mistook the nature of that liberty which the gospel prom- ised, and thought that by virtue of their subjection to Christ, the only king and head of his church, they were wholly freed from subjection to any other prince; as though Christ's kingdom had been of this world in such a sense as to interfere w^ith the civil powers of the earth, and to deliver their subjects from that allegiance and duty which they before owed to them. Of these visionary Christians in general, who disowned subjection to the civil powers in being where they respectively lived, there is mention made in several places in the New Testament. The apostle Peter, in particular, characterizes them in this manner: them that " despise government, presumptuous are they ; self-willed; they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities."^ Now, it is with reference to these doting Christians that the apostle speaks in the passage before us. And I shall now give you the sense of it in a paraphrase upon each verse in its order ; desiring you to keep in mind the char- acter of the persons for whom it is designed, that so, as I go along, you may see how just and natural this address is, and how well suited to the circumstances of those against whom it is levelled. a Matt. xxii. 17. b 2 Pet. ii. 10. 66 UNLIMITED SUBMISSION AND The apostle begins thus: "Let every soul'' be subject •unto the higher powers;^ for there is no power ° but of God; the powers that be"^ are ordained of God;^"^' q. d.^ " Whereas some professed Christians vainly imagine that they are wholly excused from all manner of duty and sub- jection to civil authority, refusing to honor their rulers and to pay taxes ; which opinion is not only unreasonable in itself, but also tends to fix a lasting reproach upon the Christian name and profession — I now, as an apostle and ambassador of Christ, exhort every one of you, be he who he will, to pay all dutiful submission to those who are vested with any civil ofiice ; for there is, properly speak- ing, no authority but what is derived from God, as it is only by his permission and providence that any possess it. Yea, I may add, that all civil magistrates, as such, although they may be heathens, are appointed and ordained of God. For it is certainly God's will that so useful an a <' Every soul." This is a Hebraism, which signifies every man; so that the apostle does uot exempt the clergy, such as were endowed with the gift of prophecy or any other miraculous powers which subsisted in the church at that day. And by his using the Hebrew idiom, it seems that he had the Jewish con- verts principally in his eye. b " The higher powers;" more literally, the over-ruling poivers ; which term extends to all civil rulers in common. c By " power" the apostle intends, not lawless strength and brutal force, with- out regulation and proper direction, but just authority; for so the word here used properly signifies. There may be power where there is no authorit)'. No man has any authority to do what is wrong and injurious, though he may have the power to do it. d " The powers that be." Those persons who are in fact vested with authority; those who are in possession. And who those are, the apostle leaves Christians to determine for themselves; but whoever they are, they are to be obeyed. e " Ordained of God." As it is not without God's providence and permission that any are clothed with authority ; and as it is agreeable to the positive will and purpose of God that there should be some persons vested with authority for the good of society ; — not that any rulers have their commission from God, the supreme Lord of the universe. If any assert that kings, or any other rulers, are ordained of God in the latter sense, it is incumbent upon them to show the com- mission which they speak of under the broad seal of heaven. And wheu they do this, they will, no doubt, be believed. f Rom. xiii. 1. NON-RESISTANCE TO THE HIGHER POWERS. 57 institution as that of magistracy should take place in the world for the good of civil society." The apostle pro- ceeds: "Whosoever, therefore, resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God ; and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation."^ q, d., "Think not, therefore, that ye are guiltless of any crime or sin against God, when ye factiously disobey and resist the civil authority. For magistracy and government being, as I have said, the ordinance and appointment of God, it follows, that to resist magistrates in the execution of their offices, is really to resist the will and ordinance of God himself; and they who thus resist will accordingly be punished by God for this sin, in common with others." The apostle goes on : " For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil.'* Wilt thou, then, not be afraid of the power ? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same ; for he is the minister of God to thee for good." ° q. cl, "That you may see the truth and justness of what I assert (viz., that magistracy is the ordinance of God, and that you sin against him in opposing it), consider that even pagan rulers are not, by the nature and design of their office, enemies and a terror to the good and virtuous actions of men, but only to the injurious and mischievous to society. Will ye not, then, reverence and honor magis- tracy, when ye see the good end and intention of it? How can ye be so unreasonable ? Only mind to do your duty as members of society, and this will gain you the a Rom. xiii. 2. b "• For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil." It cannot be supposed that the apostle designs here, or in any of the succeeding verses, to give the true character of Nero, or any other civil powers then in being, as if they were in fact such persons as he describes, a terror to evil works only, and not to the good. For such a character did not belong to them; and the apostle was no sycophant, or parasite of power, whatever some of his pretended successors have been. He only tells what rulers would be, provided they acted up to their char- acter and office. c Ilom. xiii. 3, 4. 68 UNLIMITED SUBMISSION AND applause and favor of all good rulers. For, while you do thus, they are by their office, as ministers of God, obliged to encourage and protect you : it is for this very purpose that they are clothed with power." The apostle subjoins : " But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid ; for he bear- eth not the sword in vain. For he is the minister of God, a revenger, to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.''"^ q, c?., " But, upon the other hand, if ye I'efuse to do your duty as members of society ; if ye refuse to bear your part in the support of government ; if ye are disorderly, and do things which merit civil chastisement, — then, indeed, ye have reason to be afraid. For it is not in vain that rulers are vested with the power of inflicting punishment. They are, by their office, not only the minis- ters of God for good to those that do well, but also his ministers to revenge, to discountenance, and punish those that are unruly, and injurious to their neighbors." The apostle proceeds: "Wherefore ye must needs be subject not only for wa*ath, but also for conscience' sake." "^ q. c?., " Since, therefore, magistracy is the ordinance of God, and since rulers are by their office benefactors to society, by discouraging what is bad and encouraging what is good, a It is manifest tliat when the apostle speaks of it as the oflSce of civil rulers to encourage what is good and to punish what is evil, he speaks only of civil good and evil. They are to consult the good of society, as such; not to dictate in reli- gious concerns; not to make laws for the government of men's consciences, and to inflict civil penalties for religious crimes. It is sufficient to overthrow the doctrine of the authority of the civil magistrate in aftairs of a spiritual nature (so far as it is built upon anything which is here said by St. Paul, or upon anything else in the New Testament) only to observe that all the magistrates then in the world were heathen, implacable enemies to Christianity; so that, to give them authority in religious matters, would have been, in effect, to give them authority to extirpate the Christian religion, and to establish the idolatries and supersti- tious of paganism. And can any one reasonably suppose that the apostle had any intention to extend the authority of rulers beyond concerns merely civil and political, to the overthrowing of that religion which he himself was so zealous in propagating? But it is natural for tliose whose religion cannot be supported upon the footing of reason and argument, to have recourse to power and force, which will serve a bad cause as well as a good one, and, indeed, much better, b Kom. xiii. 4. c Rom. xiii. 5. NON-RESISTANCE TO THE HIGHER POWERS. 59 and so preserving peace and order amongst men, it is evident that ye ought to pay a willing subjection to them; not to obey merely for fear of exposing yourselves to their wrath and displeasure, but also in point of reason, duty, and conscience. Ye are under an indispensable obligation, as Christians, to honor their office, and to submit to them in the execution of it." The apostle goes on : " For, for this cause pay you tribute also ; for they are God's minis- ters, attending continually upon this very thing." ^ q. d.^ " And here is a plain reason also why ye should pay tribute to them, — for they are God's ministers, exalted above the common level of mankind, — not that they may indulge themselves in softness and luxury, and be entitled to the servile homage of their fellow-men, but that they may execute an office no less laborious than honorable, and attend continually upon the public welfare. This being their business and duty, it is but reasonable that they should be requited for their care and diligence in perform- ing it ; and enabled, by taxes levied upon the subject, effectually to prosecute the great end of their institution, the good of society." The apostle sums all up in the follow- ing words : " Render, therefore, to all their dues ; tribute^ to whom tribute is due ; custom^ to whom custom ; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor." *= q. c?., "Let it not therefore be said of any of you hereafter, that you contemn government, to the reproach of yourselves and of the Christian religion. Neither your being Jews by nation, nor your becoming the subjects of Christ's king- dom, gives you any dispensation for making disturbances a Eom. xiii. 6. b Grotius observes, that the Greek words here used answer to the trilnifum and vectigal of the Eomaus: the former was the money paid for the soil and poll, the latter the dues laid upon some sorts of merchandise. And what the apostle here says deserves to be seriously considered by all Christians concerned in that common practice of carrying on an illicit trade and running of goods. c Rom. xiii. 7. 60 UNLIMITED SUBMISSION AND in the government under which you live. Approve your- selves, therefore, as peaceable and dutiful subjects. Be ready to pay to your rulers all that they may, in respect of their olRce, justly demand of you. Render tribute and custom to those of your governors to whom tribute and custom belong; and cheerfully honor and reverence all who are vested with civil authority, according to their deserts." The apostle's doctrine, in the passage thus explained, concerning the office of civil rulers, and the duty of sub- jects, may be summed up in the following observations,'* viz. : That the end of magistracy is the good of civil society, as such. That civil rulers, as sucJi^ are the ordinance and minis- ters of God ; it being by his permission and providence that any bear rule, and agreeable to his will that there should be some persons vested with authority in society, for the well-being of it. That which is here said concerning civil rulers extends to all of them in common. It relates indifferently to mon- archical, republican, and aristocratical government, and to all other forms which truly answer the sole end of govern- ment — the happiness of society ; and to all the different degrees of authority in any particular state ; to inferior officers no less than to the supreme. That disobedience to civil rulers in the due exercise of their authority is not merely a political sin, but a heinous offence against God and religion. That the true ground and reason ^ of our obligation to be a The Fevpral observations here only mentioned were handled at large in two preceding discourses upon this subject. b Some sujjpose the apostle, in this passage, enforces the duty of submission with two arguments quite distinct from eacli other; one taken from this consid- eration, that rulers are the ordinance and the ministers of God (vs. 1, 2. 4), and NON-RESISTANCE TO THE HIGHER POWERS. 61 subject to tlie highei* powers is, the usefulness of magis- tracy (when properly exercised) to human society, and its subserviency to the general welfare. That obedience to civil rulers is here equally required under all forms of government which answer the sole end of all government — the good of society ; and to every degree of authority, in any state, whether supreme or subordinate. From whence it follows — That if unlimited obedience and non-resistance be here required as a duty under any one form of government, it is also required as a duty under all other forms, and as a duty to subordinate rulers as well as to the supreme. And, lastly, that those civil rulers to whom the apostle enjoins subjection are the persons in possession ; the powers that be ; those who are actually vested with au- thority.^ the other from the benefits that accrue to society from civil government (vs. 3, 4, 6). And, indeed, these may be distinct motives and arguments for submission, as they may be separately viewed and contemplated. But when we consider that rulers are not the ordinance and the ministers of God but only so far forth as they perform God's will by acting up to their office and character, and so by being benefactors to society, this makes these arguments coincide, and run up into one at last; at least so far that the former of them cannot hold good for submission where the latter fails. Put the supposition, that any man bearing the title of a magistrate should exercise his power in such a manner as to have no claim to obedience by virtue of that argument which is founded upon the useful- ness of magistracy, and you equally take off the force of the other argument also, which is founded upon his being the ordinance and the minister of God; for he is no longer God's ordinance and minister than he acts up to his ofl[ice and character by exercising his power for the good of society. This is, in brief, the reason why it is said above, in the singular number, that the true ground and reason, etc. The use and propriety of this remark may possibly be more appar- ent in the progress of the argument concerning resistance. a This must be understood with this proviso, that they do not grossly abuse their power and trust, but exercise it for the good of those that are governed. Who these persons were — whether Xero, etc., or not — the apostle does not say, but leaves it to be determined by those to -whom he writes. God does not inter- pose in a miraculous -way to point out the persons who shall bear rule, and to whom subjection is due. And as to the unalienable, indefeasible right of primo- geniture, the Scriptures are entirely silent, or, rather, plainly contradict it, — Saul being the first king among the Israelites, and appointed to the royal dignity during his own father's lifetime; and he was succeeded, or rather superseded, by " David, the last bom among many brethren." Now, if God has not invariably 6 62 UNLIMITED SUBMISSION AND There is one very important and interesting point which remains to be inquired into, namely, the extent of that subjection to the higher powers which is here enjoined as a duty upon all Christians. Some have thought it warrant- able and glorious to disobey the civil powers in certain circumstances, and in cases of very great and general op- pression, when humble remonstrances fail of having any effect ; and, when the public welfare cannot be otherwise provided for and secured, to rise unanimously even against the sovereign himself, in order to redress their grievances ; to vindicate their natural and legal rights; to break the yoke of tyranny, and free themselves and posterity from inglorious servitude and ruin.^ It is upon this principle that many royal oppressors have been driven from their thrones into banishment, and many slain by the hands of their subjects. It was upon this principle that Tarquin determined this matter, it must, of course, be determined by men. And if it be determined by men, it must be determined either in the way of force or of com- pact; and which of these is the most equitable can be no question. 1 Milton was of the same mind. " It is not," said he, " neither ought to be, the glory of a Protestant state never to have put their king to death; it is the glory of a Protestant king never to have deserved death. And if the Parhament and military council do what they do without prece- dent, if it appear their duty, it argues the more wisdom, virtue, and magnanimity, that they know themselves able to be a precedent to others, who perhaps in future ages, if they prove not too degenerate, will look up with honor, and aspire towards these exemplary and matchless deeds of their ancestors, as to the highest top of their civil glory and emula- tion; which heretofore, in the pursuance of fame and foreign dominion, spent itself vaingloriously abroad; but henceforth may learn a better for- titude, to dare execute highest justice on them that shall by force of arms endeavor the oppressing and bereaving of religion and their liberty at home. That no unbridled potentate or tyrant, but to his sorrow, for the future may presume such high and irrepressible license over mankind, to havoc and turn upside down whole kingdoms of men, as though they were no more in respect of his perverse will than a nation of pismires." — The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates. — Ed. NON-RESISTANCE TO THE HIGHER POWERS. 63 was expelled from Rome, and Julius Coesar, the conqueror of the world and the tyrant of his country, cut off in the senate-house. It was upon this j^rinciple that King Charles I. was beheaded before his own banqueting-house.^ It was upon this principle that King James II. was made to fly that country which he aimed at enslaving ; and upon this principle was that revolution brought about which has been so fruitful of happy consequences to Great Britain. But, in opposition to this principle, it has often been asserted ^ that the Scripture in general, and the pas- sage under consideration in particular, makes all resistance to princes a crime, in any case whatever. If they turn tyrants, and become the common oppressors of those Whose welfare they ought to regard with a paternal af- fection, we must not pretend to right ourselves, unless it be by prayers, and tears, and humble entreaties. And if these methods fail of procuring redress, we must not have recourse to any other, but all suffer ourselves to be robbed and butchered at the pleasure of the "Lord's anointed," lest we should incur the sin of rebellion and the punishment of damnation ! — for he has God's authority and commis- sion to bear him out in the worst of crimes so far that he may not be withstood or controlled. Now, whether we are obliged to yield such an absolute submission to our prince, or whether disobedience and resistance may not be justifiable in some cases, notwithstanding anything in the j^assage before us, is an inquiry in which we all are con- cerned ; and this is the inquiry which is the main design of the present discourse. 1 Charles employed Inigo Jones to prepare the plans for a magnificent Whitehall, —now Whitehall Chapel, — from the centre window of which the unhappy tyrant passed to his scaffold. — Ed. 2 By Filmer, Brady, Mackenzie, Sherlock, and generally by the Church of England writers, with few exceptions. — Ed. 64 UNLIMITED SUBMISSION AND Now, there does not seem to be any necessity of suppos- ing that an absolute, unlimited obedience, whether active or passive, is here enjoined, merely for this reason — that the precept is delivered in absolute terms, without any excep- tion or limitation expressly mentioned. We are enjoined to be " subject to the higher powers ; " "■ and to be " subject for conscience' sake." ^ And because these expressions are absolute and unlimited, or, more properly, general, some have inferred that the subjection required in them must be absolute and unlimited also, — at least so far forth as to make passive obedience and non-resistance a duty in all cases whatever, if not active obedience likewise; — though, by the way, there is here no distinction made betwixt active and passive obedience ; and if either of them be* required in an unlimited sense, the other must be required in the same sense also, by virtue of the present argument, because the expressions are equally absolute with respect to both. But that unlimited obedience of any sort can- not be argued merely from the indefinite expressions in which obedience is enjoined, appears from hence, that ex- pressions of the same nature frequently occur in Scripture, upon which it is confessed on all hands that no such abso- lute and unlimited sense ought to be put. For example : " Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world," ^ " Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth," ^ " Take therefore no thought for the morrow," *^ are precepts expressed in at least equally absolute and un- limited terms ; but it is generally allowed that they are to be understood with certain restrictions and limitations ; some dejection; who are not above the laws, but bound by them ; . . . but whatever power en- ables a man, or wliatsocATr magistrate takes upon him, to act contrary to 68 UNLIMITED SUBMISSION AND of universal obedience and non-resistance to the higher powers cannot be argued from the absolute, unlimited ex- pressions which the apostle here uses, so neither can it be argued fi'om the scope and drift of his reasoning, considered with relation to the persons he was here opposing. As was observed above, there were some professed Christians in the apostolic age who disclaimed all magistracy and civil authority in general, despising government, and speak- ing evil of dignities ; some, under a notion that Jews ought not to be under the jurisdiction of Gentile rulers, and others that they were set free from the temporal powers by Christ. Now, it is with persons of this licentious opin- ion and character that the apostle is concerned ; and all that was directly to his point was to show that they were bound to submit to magistracy in general. This is a cir- cumstance very material to be taken notice of, in order to ascertain the sense of the apostle ; for, this being con- sidered, it is sufficient to account for all that he says con- cerning the duty of subjection and the sin of resistance to the higher powers, without having recourse to the doctrine of unlimited submission and passive obedience in all cases whatever. Were it known that those in opposition to whom the apostle WTote allowed of civil authority in general, and only asserted that there were some cases in which obedience and non-resistance were not a duty, there would then indeed be reason for interpreting this passage as containing the doctrine of unlimited obedience and non-resistance, as it must, in this case, be supposed to have what St. Paul makes the duty of those that are in authority, neither is that power nor that maj^istrate ordained of God. And consequently to such a magistrate no subjection is commanded, nor is any due, nor are the people forbidden to resist such authority ; for in so doing they do not resist the power nor the magistracy, as they are here excellently well described, but they resist a robber, a tyrant, an enemy."— Ed. NON-RESISTANCE TO THE HIGHER POWERS. 69 been levelled against such as denied that doctrine. But since it is certain that there were iDcrsons who vainly im- agined that civil government in general was not to be regarded by them, it is most reasonable to suppose that the apostle designed his discourse only against them; and, agreeably to this supposition, we find that he argues the usefulness of civil magistracy in general, its agreeableness to the will and purpose of God, who is over all, and so deduces from hence the obligation of submission to it. But it w^ill not follow that because civil government is, in general, a good institution, and necessary to the peace and happiness of human society, therefore there are no supposable cases in which resistance to it can be innocent. So that the duty of unlimited obedience, whether active or passive, can be argued neither from the manner of ex- pression here used, nor from the general scope and design of the passage. And if we attend to the nature of the argument with which the apostle here enforces the duty of submission to the higher powers, we shall find it to be such a one as concludes not in favor of submission to all who bear the title of rulers in common, but only to those who actually perform the duty of rulers by exercising a reasonable and just authority for the good of human society. This is a point which it will be proper to enlarge upon, because the question before us turns very much upon the truth or falsehood of this position. It is obvious, then, in general, that the civil rulers whom the apostle here speaks of, and obedience to whom he presses upon Christians as a duty, are good rulers,"" such as are, in the exercise of their office a By " good rulers" are not intended such as are good in a moral or religious, but only in a political, sense; those who perform their duty so far as their office extends, and so far as civD society, as such, is concerned in their actions. l 1 Dr. Mayhew may have liad in mind the apologies often made for 70 UNLIMITED SUBMISSION AND and power, benefactors to society. Such they are described to be throughout this passage. Thus, it is said that they are not a terror to good works, but to the evil; that they are God's ministers for good ; revengers to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil ; and that they attend continu- ally upon this very thing. St. Peter gives the same account of rulers : They are " for a praise to them that do well, and the punishment of evil doers." ^ It is manifest that this character and description of rulers agrees only to such as are rulers in fact, as well as in name ; to such as gov- ern well, and act agreeably to their office. And the apostle's argument for submission to rulers is wholly built and grounded upon a presumption that they do in fact answer this character, and is of no force at all upon supposition of the contrary. If rulers are a terror to good works, and not to the evil ; if they are not ministers for good to society, but for evil and distress, by violence and oppres- sion ; if they execute wrath upon sober, peaceable persons, who do their duty as members of society, and suffer rich a See notes, pp. 57, 58. Charles the First and other tyrants — their good lives as private men ; but certainly he did not mean that it is a thing of indifference that bad men should be rulers. In his Election Sermon of 1754, he says that morals and religion " ought doubtless to be encouraged by the civil magistrate by his own pious life and good example." What is the security, or prob- ability, that the weak or the bad, in private life, will be able and good men in public life, especially if it be, as Hume says, " that men are gener- ally more honest in a private than in a public capacity, and will go greater lengths to serve a party than when their own private Interest is alone con- cerned"? "Nations rise and fall by individuals, not numbers, as I think all history proveth," said HoUis. It was the virtue of Washington only that saved the republic, when, in 1782, the suffering army suggested to their leader the "title of king." Had his been a "Zow ambition," what then would have been our history ? The political motto, " Principles, not men," is a dangerous doctrine. The monument to Pitt, in the Guildhall, London, was raised to show " that the means by which Providence raises a nation to greatness are the virtues infused into great men." — Ed. NON-RESISTANCE TO THE HIGHER POWERS. 71 and honorable knaves to escape with impunity; if, instead of attending continually upon the good work of advanc- ing the public welfare, they attend continually upon the gratification of their own lust and pride and ambition, to the destruction of the public welfare ; — if this be the case, it is plain that the apostle's argument for submission does not reach them; they are not the same, but different persons from those whom he characterizes, and who must be obeyed, according to his reasoning. Let me illustrate the apostle's argument by the following similitude (it is no matter how far it is from anything which has, in fact, happened in the world) : Suppose, then, it was allowed, in general, that the clergy^ were a useful order of men ; that they ought to be " esteemed very highly in love for their works' sake,* and to be decently supported by those they serve, " the laborer being worthy of his reward." ^ Suppose, further, that a number of reverend and right reverend drones, who worked not; who preached, per- haps, but once a year, and then not the gospel of Jesus Christ, but the divine right of tithes, the dignity of their ofllce as ambassadors of Christ, the equity of sinecures and a plurality of benefices, the excellency of the devo- tions in that prayer-book which some of them hired chap- lains to use for them, or some favorite point of church- tyranny and anti-Christian usurpation ; — suppose such men as these, spending their lives in effeminacy, luxury, and idleness, — or, when they were not idle, doing that which is worse than idleness ; — suppose such men should, merely by the merit of ordination and consecration, and a peculiar, a 1 Thess. V. 13. b 1 Tim. v. 18. 1 The Church of England does not recognize as " clergy" any but its own ministry, unless that of the papal church ; but at one time it was less exclusive, and recognized Presbyterian ordination. — Hopkins's Puritans and Queen Elizabeth, vol. ii. ch. 4. — Ed. 72 UNLIMITED SUBMISSION AND odd habit, claim great respect and reverence from those whom they civilly called the beasts of the laity,*" and de- mand thousands per annum for that service which they never performed, and for which, if they had performed it, this would be more than 2, quantum meruit ; — suppose this should be the case (it is only by way of simile, and surely it will give no offence), would not everybody be astonished at such insolence, injustice, and impiety?^ And ought not such men to be told plainly that they could not rea- sonably expect the esteem and reward due to the ministers of the gospel unless they did the duties of their office ? Should they not be told that their title and habit claimed no regard, reverence, or pay, separate from the care and work and various duties of their function ? — and that, while they neglected the latter, the former served only to render them the more ridiculous and contemptible?^ The application of this similitude to the case in hand is very easy. If those who bear the title of civil rulers do not perform the duty of civil rulers, but act directly counter to the sole end and design of their office ; if they injure and oppress their subjects, instead of defending their rights and doing them good, they have not the least pretence to be honored, obeyed, and rewarded, according a Mr. Leslie. 1 Charles Leslie, whose works were republished at Oxford, in 1832, in seven volumes, lived from 1650 to 1722. He was an eminent controver- sialist. His expression " fheir beasts, the laity," twice quoted by Dr. May- hew, indicates his principles. He resigned his preferments on the flight of James II., and was ever a firm adherent to the Stuarts. He contended for absolute power, despotism — denying all right in the people either to confer or coerce government. — Ed. 2 This was the American view of the Chm-ch of England, and they loathed the idea of its establishment in America, — a scheme assiduously prosecuted under pretence of " propagating the gospel in foreign parts," etc. — Ed. NON-RESISTANCE TO THE HIGHER POWERS. 73 to the apostle's argument. For his reasoning, in order to show the duty of subjection to the higher powers, is, as was before observed, built wholly upon the supposition that they do, in fact, perform the duty of rulers. If it be said that the apostle here uses another argument for submission to the higher powers besides that which is taken from the usefulness of their office to civil society when properly discharged and executed, namely, that their power is from God, that they are ordained of God, and that they are God's ministers ; and if it be said that this argument for submission to them will hold good, although they do not exercise their power for the benefit, but for the ruin and destruction of human society, — this objection was obviated, in part, before.'' Rulers have no authority from God to do mischief They are not God's ordinance, or God's ministers, in any other sense than as it is by his permission and providence that they are exalted to bear rule ; and as magistracy duly exercised, and authority rightly applied, in the enacting and executing good laws, — laws attempered and accommodated to the common welfare of the subjects, — must be supposed to be agree- able to the will of the beneficent Author and supreme Lord of the universe, whose " kingdom ruleth over all," ^ and whose "tender mercies are over all his works." ^ It is blasphemy to call tyrants and oppressors God's ministers. They are more properly " the messengers of Satan to buffet us."*^ Xo rulers are properly God's ministers but such as are "just, ruling in the fear of God."® When once magistrates act contrary to their office, and the end of their institution, — when they rob and ruin the public, instead of being guardians of its peace and welfare, — they a See notes, pp. 60, 61. c Ts. cxlv. 19. e 2 Sam. xxiii. 3. b Ps. ciii. 19. d 2 Cor. xii. 7. 74 UNLIMITED SUBMISSION AND immediately cease to be tlie ordinance and ministers of God, and no more deserve that glorious character than common pirates and highwaymen.^ So that, whenever that argument for submission fails which is grounded upon the usefulness of magistracy to civil society, — as it always does wiien magistrates do hurt to society instead of good, — the other argument, which is taken from their being the ordinance of God, must necessarily fail also ; no person of a civil character being God's minister, in the sense of the apostle, any further than he performs God's will by exercising a just and reasonable authority, and ruling for the good of the subject. This in general. Let us now trace the apostle's reason- ing in favor of submission to the higher powers a little more particularly and exactly ; for by this it will appear, on one hand, how good and conclusive it is for submission to those rulers who exercise their power in a proper man- ner, and, on the other, how weak and trifling and incon- nected it is if it be supposed to be meant by the apostle to show the obligation and duty of obedience to tyranni- cal, oppressive rulers, in common with others of a different character. The apostle enters upon his subject thus : " Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers ; for there is no power but of God : the powers that be are ordained of 1 Parallel with this is Milton's distinction, where he says : " If I inveigh against tyrants, what is this to kings ? whom I am far from associating with tyrants. As much as an honest man differs from a rogue, so much I contend that a king differs from a tyrant. Whence it is clear that a tyrant is so far from being a king, that he is always in direct opposition to a king." — The Second Defence. James I., in 1603 and 1G09, in his speeches to parliament, said : " A king ceases to be a king, and degenerates into a tyrant, as soon as he leaves off to rule according to his laws." And Locke, of "Civil Government," says: ''Wheresoever the authority ceases, the king ceases too, and becomes like other men who have no authority." — Ed. NON-RESISTANCE TO THE HIGUER POWERS. 7d God." •* Here he urges tlie duty of obedience from this topic of argument : that civil rulers, as they are supposed to fulfil the pleasure of God, are the ordinance of God. But how is this an argument for obedience to such rulers as do not perform the pleasure of God by doing good, but the pleasure of the devil by doing evil ; and such as are not, therefore, God's ministers, but the devil's ? " Whoso- ever, therefore, resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God ; and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation."^ Here the apostle argues that those who resist ^a reasonable and just authority, which is agreeable to the will of God, do really resist the will of God himself, and will, therefore, be punished by him. But how does this prove that those who resist a lawless, unreasonable power, which is contrary to the will of God,^ do therein resist the will and ordinance of God ? Is resisting those who resist God's will the same thing with resisting God ? Or shall those who do so " receive to themselves damna- tion ? For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same. For he is the minister of God to thee for good." ^ Here the apostle argues, more explicitly than he had before done, for revering and submitting to magistracy, from this consideration, that such as really performed the a Rom. xiii. 1. b Eom. xiii. 2. c Kom. xiii. 3, 4 1 This lesson was well conned : hear one of Dr. Mayhew's disciples, John Adams, twenty -five years afterward, in 1775, in defence of resistance to the despotism of the British Parliament : " We are not exciting rebellion. Op- position, nay, open, avowed resistance by ai-ms against usurpation and law- less violence, is not rebellion by the law of God or the land. Resistance to lawful authority makes rebellion. Hampden, Russell, Sydney, Soraers, Holt, Tillotson, Burnet, Hoadley, etc., were no tyrants nor rebels, although some of them were in arms, and the others undoubtedly excited resistance airainst the tories." — Ed. 76 UNLIMITED SUBMISSION AND duty of magistrates would be enemies only to the evil actions of men, and would befriend and encourage the good, and so be a common blessing to society. But how is this an argument that we must honor and submit to such magistrates as are not enemies to the evil actions of men, but to the good, and such as are not a common blessing, but a common curse to society? "But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid : for he is the minister of God, a revenger, to execute wrath upon him that doth evil.""* Here the apostle argues, from the nature and end of magistracy, that such as did evil, and such only, had rea- son to be afraid of the higher powers ; it being part of their office to punish evil-doers, no less than to defend and encourage such as do well. But if magistrates are un- righteous, — if they are respecters of persons, — if they are partial in their administration of justice, — then those who do well have as much reason to be afraid as those that do evil : there can be no safety for the good, nor any peculiar ground of terror to the unruly and injurious ; so that, in this case, the main end of civil government will be frus- trated. And what reason is there for submitting to that government which does by no means answer the design of government ? " Wherefore ye must needs be subject not only for wrath, but also for conscience' sake." ^ Here the apostle argues the duty of a cheerful and conscientious submission to civil government from the nature and end of magistracy, as he had before laid it down ; ^. e., as the design of it was to punish evil-doers, and to support and encourage such as do well; and as it must, if so exercised, be agreeable to the will of God. But how does what he here says prove the duty of a cheerful and conscientious subjection to those who forfeit the character of rulers ? — to «Rom xiii. 4. b Rom. xiii. 5. NON-RESISTANCE TO THE HIGHER POWERS. 77 those who encourage the bad and discourage the good ? The argument here used no more proves it to be a sin to resist such rulers than it does to resist the devil, that he may flee from us.'^ For one is as truly the min- ister of God as the other. "For, for this cause pay you tribute also; for they are God's ministers, attend- ing continually upon this very thing." ^ Here the apos- tle argues the duty of paying taxes from this consid- eration, that those who perform the duty of rulers are continually attending upon the public welfare. But how does this argument conclude for paying taxes to such princes as are continually endeavoring to ruin the public ; and especially when such payment would facilitate and promote this wicked design ? " Render therefore to all their dues ; tribute to whom tribute is due ; custom to whom custom ; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor." *^ Here the apostle sums up what he has been saying con- cerning the duty of subjects to rulers ; and his argument stands thus : " Since magistrates who execute their office well are common benefactors to society, and may in that respect properly be called the ministers and ordinance of God, and since they are constantly employed in the service of the public, it becomes you to pay them tribute and custom, and to reverence, honor, and submit to them in the execution of their respective offices." This is apparently good reasoning. But does this argument con- clude for the duty of jDaying tribute, custom, reverence, honor, and obedience to such 2:)ersons as, although they bear the title of rulers, use all their power to hurt and injure the public? — such as are not God's ministers, but Satan's ? such as do not take care of and attend upon the public interest, but their own, to the ruin of the public? — that is, in short, to such as have no just claim at all to a James iv. 7. b Rom. xiii. 6. c Rom. xiii. 7. 7* 78 UNLIMITED SUBMISSION AND tribute, custom, reverence, honor, and obedience ? It is to be hoped that those who have any regard to the apostle's character as an inspired writer, or even as a man of com- mon understanding, will not represent him as reasoning in such a loose, incoherent manner, and drawing conclusions which have not the least relation to his premises. For what can be more absurd than an argument thus framed ; " Rulers are, by their office, bound to consult the public welfare and the good of society ; therefore, you are bound to pay them tribute, to honor, and to submit to them, even when they destroy the public welfare, and are a common pest to society by acting in direct contradiction to the nature and end of their office"? Thus, upon a careful review of the apostle's reasoning in this passage, it appears that his arguments to enforce submission are of such a nature as to conclude only in favor of submission to such rulers as he himself describes ; i. e., such as rule for the good of society, which is the only end of their institution. Common tyrants and public oppressors are not entitled to obedience from their sub- jects by virtue of anything here laid down by the insj^ired apostle. I now add, further, that the apostle's argument is so far from proving it to be the duty of people to obey and submit to such rulers as act in contradiction to the public good,"" and so to the design of their office, that it proves the direct contrary. For, please to observe, that if the end of all civil government be the good of society ; if this be the thing that is aimed at in constituting civil rulers ; and if the motive and argument for submission to gov- ernment be taken from the apparent usefulness of civil a This does not intend their acting so in a few particular instances, which the best of rulers may do through mistake, etc., but their acting so habitually, and in a manner which plainly shows that they aim at making themselves great by the ruiu of their subjects. NON-RESISTANCE TO THE HIGHER POWERS. 79 authority, — it follows, that when no such good end can be answered by submission, there remains no argument or motive to enforce it ; and if, instead of this good end's being brought about by submission, a contrary end is brought about, and the ruin and misery of society effected by it, here is a phiin and positive reason against submis- sion in all such cases, should they ever happen. And therefore, in such cases, a regard to the public welfare ought to make us withhold from our rulers that obedience and submission which it would otherwise be our duty to render to them. If it be our duty, for example, to obey . our king merely for this reason, that he rules for the public welfare (which is the only argument the apostle makes use of), it follows, by a parity of reason, that when he turns tyrant, and makes his subjects his prey to devour and destroy, instead of his charge to defend and cherish, we are bound to throw off our allegiance to him, and to resist; and that according to the tenor of the apostle's argument in this passage. Not to discontinue our allegiance in this case would be to join Avith the sovereign in promoting the slavery and misery of that society, the welfare of which we ourselves, as well as our sovereign, are indispensably obliged to secure and promote, as far as in us lies. It is true the apostle puts no case of such a tyrannical prince ; but, by his grounding his argument for submission wholly upon the good of civil society, it is plain he implicitly authorizes, and even requires us to make resistance, when- ever this shall be necessary to the public safety and happi- ness. Let me make use of this easy and familiar similitude to illustrate the point in hand : Suppose God requires a family of children to obey their father and not to resist him, and enforces his command with this argument, that the superintendence and care and authority of a just and kind parent will contribute to the happiness of the whole 80 UNLIMITED SUBMISSION AND family, so that they ought to obey him for their own sakes more than for his ; suppose this parent at length runs distracted, and attempts in his mad fit to cut all his chil- dren's throats. Now, in this case, is not the reason before assigned why these children should obey their parent while he continued of a sound mind — namely, their com- mon good — a reason equally conclusive for disobeying and resisting him, since he is become delirious and attempts their ruin ? It makes no alteration in the argument whether this parent, properly speaking, loses his reason, or does, while he retains his understanding, that which is as fatal in its consequences as anything he could do were he really deprived of it. This similitude needs no formal application. But it ought to be remembered that if the duty of uni- versal obedience and non-resistance to our king or prince can be argued from this passage, the same unlimited sub- mission, under a republican or any other form of govern- ment, and even to all the subordinate powers in any particular state, can be proved by it as well, which is more than those who allege it for the mentioned purpose would be willing should be inferred from it ; so that this passage does not answer their purpose, but really overthrow's and confutes it. This matter deserves to be more particularly considered. The advocates for unlimited submission and passive obedience do, if I mistake not, always speak with reference to kingly and monarchical government as distin- guished from all other forms, and with reference to sub- mitting to the will of the king in distinction from all subordinate officers acting beyond their commission and the authority which they have received from the crown. It is not pretended that any persons besides kings have a divine right to do what they please, so that no one may resist them without incurring the guilt of factiousness and NON-RESISTANCE TO THE HIGHER POWERS. 81 rebellioD. If any other powers oppress the people, it is generally allowed that the people may get redress by resistance, if other methods prove ineffectual. And if any officers in a kingly government go beyond the limits of that power which they have derived from the crown (the supposed original source of all power and authority in the state), and attempt illegally to take away the properties and lives of their fellow-subjects, they may be forcibly resisted, at least till application can be made to the crown. But as to the sovereign himself, he may not be resisted in any case, nor any of his officers, while they confine them- selves within the bounds which he has prescribed to them. This is, I think, a true sketch of the principles of those who defend the doctrine of passive obedience and non-resist- ance. IRow, there is nothing in Scripture which supports this scheme of political principles. As to the passage under consideration, the apostle here speaks of civil rulers in general, — of all persons in common vested with au- thority for the good of society, without any particular reference to one form of government more than to another, or to the supreme power in any particular state more than to subordinate powers. The apostle does not concern himself with the different forms of government.* This he a The essence of government (I mean good government, and this is the only government which the apostle treats of in this passage) consists in the making and executing of good laws — laws attempered to the common felicity of the governed. And if this be, in fact, done, it is evidently in itself a thing of no consequence at all what the particular form of government is; — whether the legislative and executive power be lodged in one and the same person, or in dif- ferent persons; whether in one person, whom we call an absolute monarch; whether in a few, so as to constitute an aristocracy; whether in many, so as to constitute a republic; or whether in three coordinate branches, in such manner as to make the government partake something of each of these forms, and to be, at the same time, essentially different from them all. If the end be attained, it is enough. But no form of government seems so unlikely to accomplish this end as absolute monarchy. Nor is there any one that has so little pretence to a divine original, unless it be in this sense, that God first introduced it into, and thereby overturned, the commonwealth of Israel, as a curse upon that people for 82 UNLIMITED SUBMISSION AND supposes left entirely to human prudence and discretion. Now, the consequence of this is, that unlimited and passive obedience is no more enjoined in this passage under mon- archical government, or to the supreme j^ower in any state, than under all other species of government which answer the end of government, or to all the subordinate degrees of civil authority, from the highest to the lowest. Those, therefore, who would from this passage infer the guilt of resisting kings in all cases whatever, though acting ever so contrary to the design of their office, must, if they will be consistent, go much further, and infer from it the guilt of resistance under all other forms of government, and of resisting any petty officer in the state, though acting beyond his commission in the most arbitrary, illegal manner possible. The argument holds equally strong in both cases. All civil rulers, as such, are the ordinance and ministers of God, and they are all, by the nature of their office, and in their respective spheres and stations, bound to consult the public welfare. With the same rea- son, therefore, that any deny unlimited and passive obedi- ence to be here enjoined under a republic or aristocracy, or any other established form of civil government, or to sub- ordinate powers acting in an illegal and oppressive manner; with the same reason others may deny that such obedi- ence is enjoined to a king or monarch, or any civil power whatever. For the apostle says nothing that is, peculiar to kings ; what he says extends equally to all other persons whatever vested with any civil office. They are all, in exactly the same sense, the ordinance of God and the ministers of God, and obedience is equally enjoined to be paid to them all. For, as the apostle expresses it, there is their folly and wickedness, particularly in desiring such a government. (See 1 Sam. eh. viii.) Just so God before sent quails amongst them, as a j^lague and a curse, and not as a blessing. Numb. ch. xi. NON-RESISTANCE TO THE HIGHER POWERS. 83 no power but of God ; and we are required to render to all their dues^ and not more than their dues. And what these dues are, and to whom they are to be rendered, the apostle saith not, but leaves to the reason and consciences of men to determine. Thus it appears that the common argument grounded upon this jDassage in fiivor of universal and passive obedi- ence really overthrows itself, by proving too much, if it proves anything at all, — namely, that no civil officer is, in any case whatever, to be resisted, though acting in express contradiction to the design of his office, — Avhich no man in his senses ever did or can assert. If we calmly consider the nature of the thing itself, nothing can well be imagined more directly contrary to common sense than to suppose that millions of people should be subjected to the arbitrary, precarious j^leasure of one single man, — who has naturally no superiority over them in point of authority, — so that their estates, and everything that is valuable in life, and even their lives also, shall be absolutely at his disposal, if he happens to be wanton and capricious enough to demand them. What unprejudiced man can think that God made all to be thus subservient to the lawless pleasure and frenzy of one^ so 1 This will suggest to many readers Milton's noble passage : " Our liberty is not Caesar's; it is a blessing we ha^'e received from God himself; it is what we are born to ; to lay down this at Caesar's feet, which we derive not from him, which we are not beholden to him for, were an unworthy action, and a degrading of our very nature. If one should consider attentively the countenance of a man, and inquire after whose image so noble a creature were framed, would not any one that heard him presently make answer, that he was made after the image of God himself? Being, therefore, peculiarly God's own, and consequently things that are to be given to him, we are entirely free by nature, and cannot without the great- est sacrilege imaginable be reduced into a condition of slavery to any man, especially to a wicked, unjust, cruel tyrant."— Defence of the People of England. — Ed. 84 UNLIMITED SUBMISSION AND that it shall always be a sin to resist him ? ]^othing but the most plain and express revelation from heaven could make a sober, impartial man believe such a monstrous, unaccountable doctrine ; and, indeed, the thing itself ap- pears so shocking, so out of all proportion, that it may be questioned whether all the miracles that ever were wrought could make it credible that this doctrine really came from God. At present there is not the least syllable in Scripture which gives any countenance to it. The hereditary, inde- feasible, divine right of kings, and the doctrine of non- resistance, which is built upon the supposition of B«ch a right, are altogether as fabulous and chimerical as tran- substantiation, or any of the most absurd reveries of an- cient or modern visionaries. These notions are fetched neither from divine revelation nor human reason ; and, if they are derived from neither of those sources, it is not much matter from whence they come or whither they go. Only it is a pity that such doctrines should be propagated in society, to raise factions and rebellions,^ as we see they have, in fact, been, both in the last and in the j^resent reign. But, then, if unlimited submission and passive obedience to the higher powers, in all possible cases, be not a duty, it will be asked, " How far are we obliged to submit ? If we may innocently disobey and resist in some cases, why not in all ? Where shall we stop ? What is the measure of our duty? This doctrine tends to the total dissolution 1 As, for instance, those of the high-church, divine-right party, in 1714, 1715, which occasioned the Riot Act, the law of the land to this day. "Down with the Roundheads! God bless Dr. Sacheverell! " was their cry when they destroyed the meeting-houses of the dissenters ; and their vio- lences were unprecedented. They sought to replace the Stuarts, as at Preston, Nov. 13, 1715, and at Culloden Moor, April 16, 1746. These will call to mind Campbell's celebrated poem, "Lochiel's Warning," and Scott's romance, " Waverley."— Ed. NON-RESISTANCE TO THE HIGHER POWERS. 85 of civil government, and to introduce such scenes of wild anarchy and confusion as are more fatal to society than the worst of tyranny." After this manner some men object ; and, indeed, this is the most plausible thing that can be said in favor of such an absolute submission as they plead for. But the worst, or, rather, the best of it is, that there is very little strength or solidity in it ; for similar difficulties may be raised with respect to almost every duty of natural and revealed reli- gion. To instance only in two, both of which are near akin, and indeed exactly parallel to the case before us : It is unquestionably the duty of children to submit to their parents, and of servants to their masters ; but no one as- serts that it is their duty to obey and submit to them in all supposable cases, or universally a sin to resist them. Now, does this tend to subvert the just authority of pa- rents and masters, or to introduce confusion and anarchy into jDrivate families ? No. How, then, does the same principle tend to unhinge the government of that larger family the body politic ? We knoAV, in general, that chil- dren and servants are obliged to obey their parents and masters respectively ; we know also, with equal certainty, that they are not obliged to submit to them in all things without exception, but may, in some cases, reasonably, and therefore innocently, resist them. These princij^les arQ acknowledged upon all hands, whatever difficulty there may be in fixing the exact limits of submission. Now, there is at least as much difficulty in stating the measure of duty in these two cases as in the case of rulers and subjects ; so that this is really no objection — at least, no reasonable one — against resistance to the higher powers. Or, if it is one, it will hold equally against resistance in the other cases mentioned. It is indeed true, that turbulent, vicious-minded men may take occasion, from this princi- 8 86 UNLIMITED SUBMISSION AND pie that their rulers may in some cases be lawfully resisted, to raise factions and disturbances in the state, and to make resistance where resistance is needless, and therefore sin- ful. But is it not equally true that children and servants, of turbulent, vicious minds, may take occasion, from this principle that parents and masters may in some cases be lawfully resisted, to resist when resistance is* unnecessary, and therefore criminal? Is the principle, in either case, false in itself merely because it may be abused, and applied to legitimate disobedience and resistance in those instances to which it ought not to be applied? According to this way of arguing, there will be no true principles in the world ; for there are none but what may be wrested and perverted to serve bad purposes, either through the weak- ness or wickedness of men.*^ a We may very safely assert these two things in general, without undermining government: One is, that no civil rulers are to be obeyed when they enjoin things that are inconsistent with the commands of God. All such disobedience is lawful and glorious; particularly if persons refuse to comply with any legal establishment of religion, because it is a gross perversion and corruption — as to doctrine, worship, and discipline — of a pure and divine religion, brought from heaven to earth by the Son of God, — the only King and Head of the Christian church, — and propagated through the world by his inspired apostles. All com- mands running counter to the declared will of the Supreme Legislator of heaven and earth are null and void, and therefore disobedience to them is a duty, not a crime. (See note a, p. 58.) Another thing that may be asserted with equal truth and safety is, that no government is to be submitted to at the expense of that which is the sole end of all government— the common good and safety of society. Because, to submit in this case, if it should ever happen, would evi- dently be to set up the means as more valuable and above the end, than which there cannot be a greater solecism and contradiction. The only reason of the in- stitution of civil government, and the only rational ground of submission to it, is the common safety and utility. If, therefore, in any case, the common safety and utility would not be promoted by submission to government, but the con- trary, there is no ground or motive for obedience and submission, but for the contrary. Whoever considers the nature of civil government, must indeed be sensible that a great degree of implicit confidence must unavoidably be placed in those that bear rule : this is implied in the very notion of authority's being originally a trust committed by the people to those who are vested with it, — as all just and righteous authority is. All besides is mere lawless force and usurpation ; neither God nor nature having given any man a right of dominion over any society independently of that society's approbation and consent to be governed by him. NON-RESISTANCE TO THE HIGHER POWERS. 87 A people, really oppressed in a great degree by their sovereign, cannot well be insensible when they are so op- pressed ; and such a people — if I may allude to an ancient fable — have, like the hesperian fruit, a dragon for their Now, as all men are fallible, it cannot be supposed that the public affairs of any state should be always administered in the best manner possible, even by persons of the greatest wisdom and integrity. Nor is it sufficient to legitimate disobe- dience to the higher powers that they are not so administered, or that they are in some instances very ill-managed; for, upon this principle, it is scarcely suppos- able that any government at all could be supported, or subsist. Such a princi- ple manifestly tends to the dissolution of government, and to throw all things into confusion and anarchy. But it is equally evident, upon the other hand, that those in authority may abuse their trust and power to such a degree, that neither the law of reason nor of religion requires that any obedience or submis- sion should be paid to them; but, on the contrary, that they should be totally discarded, and the authority which they were before vested with transferred to others, who may exercise it more to those good purposes for which it is given. Nor is this principle, that resistance to the higher powers is in some extraordi- nary cases justifiable, so liable to abuse as many persons seem to apprehend it. For, although there will be always some petulant, querulous men in every state, — men of factious, turbulent, and carping dispositions, glad to lay hold of any trifle to justify and legitimate their caballing against their rulers, and other se- ditious practices, — yet there are, comparatively speaking, but few men of this contemptible character. It does not appear but that mankind in general have a disposition to be as submissive and passive and tame under government as they ought to be. Witness a great, if not the greatest, part of the known world, who are now groaning, but not murmuring, under the heavy yoke of tyranny ! While those who govern do it with any tolerable degree of moderation and jus- tice, and in any good measure act up to their office and character by being public benefactors, the people will generally be easy and peaceable, and be rather inclined to flatter and adore than to insult and resist them. Nor was there ever any general complaint against any administration, which lasted long, but what there was good reason for. Till people find themselves greatly abused and oppressed by their governors, they are not apt to complain ; and whenever they do, in fact, find themselves thus abused and oppressed, they must be stupid not to complain. To say that subjects in general are not proper judges when their governors oppress them and play the tyrant, and when they defend their rights, administer justice impartially, and promote the public welfare, is as great treason as ever man uttered. 'Tis treason, not against one single man, but the state — against the whole body politic; 'tis treason against mankind, -tis treason against common sense, 'tis treason against God. And this impious principle lays the foundation for justifying all the tyranny and oppression that ever any prince was guilty of. The people know for what end they set up and maintain their governors, and they are the proper judges when they execute their trust as they ought to do it ; — when their prince exercises an equitable and paternal authority over them; when from a prince and common father he exalts himself into a tyrant ; when from subjects and children he degrades them into the class of slaves, plunders them, makes them his prey, and unnaturally sports himself with their lives and fortunes. 88 UNLIMITED SUBMISSION AND protector and guardian. Nor would they have any reason to mourn if some Hercules should appear to dispatch him. For a nation thus abused to arise unanimously and resist their prince, even to the dethroning him, is not criminal, but a reasonable way of vindicating their Hberties and just rights: it is making use of the means, and the only means, which God has put into their power for mutual and self defence. And it would be highly criminal in them not to make use of this means. It would be stupid tameness and unaccountable folly for whole nations to suffer one unreasonable, ambitious, and cruel man to wanton and riot in their misery. And in such a case, it would, of tlie two, be more rational to suppose that they that did not resist, than that they who did, would receive to them- selves damnation. And this naturally brings us to make some reflections upon the resistance which was made, about a century since, to that unhappy prince King Cliarles I., and upon the an- niversary of Iiis death. This is a point which I should not have concerned myself about, were it not thatf some men continue to speak of it, even to this day,^ with a great deal of warmth and zeal, and in such a manner as to un- dermine all the principles of liberty, whether civil or reli- gious, and to introduce the most abject slaveiy both in church and state — so that it is become a matter of univer- sal concern. AYhat I have to oiFer upon this subject will be comprised in a short answer to the following queries, viz. : 1 " The Episcopalians in New England, as well as the parent kinTRY. — Proverbs xxv. 25. Wb are so formed by the God of nature, doubtless for wise and good ends, that the uneasy sensation to which we give the name of thirst is an inseparable attendant on the want of some proper liquid ; and as this want is in- creased, such proportionably will be the increase of un- easiness; and the uneasiness may gradually heighten, till it throws one into a state that is truly tormenting. The application of cooling drink is fitted, by an established law of heaven, not only to remove away this uneasiness, but to give pleasure in the doing of it, by its manner of acting upon the organs of taste. There is scarce a keener per- ception of pleasure than that which is felt by one that is athirst upon being satisfied with agreeable drink. Hence the desire of spiritual good things, in those who have had excited in them a serious sense of God and religion, is represented, in the sacred books, by the " cravings of a thirsty man after drink." Hence the devout David, when he would express the longing of his soul to " appear be- fore God in his sanctuary," resembles it to the " panting of a hart after the water-brooks." In like manner, " cold water to a thirsty soul " is the image under which the wise man would signify, in my text, the gratefulness of "good 120 A THANKSGIVING SERMON news." 'T is refresliiug to the soul, as cold waters to the tongue when parched with thirst. Especially is good news adapted to affect the heart with pleasure when it comes "from a far country," and is big with important blessings, not to a few individuals only, but to communi- ties, and numbers of them scattered over a largely ex- tended continent. Such is the "good news" lately brought us^ from the other side the great waters. No news handed to us from Great Britain ever gave us a quicker sense, or higher de- gree, of pleasure. It rapidly spread through the colonies, and, as it passed along, opened in all hearts the springs of 1 The Massachusetts Gazette Extraordinary, Thursday, April 3, 1766, contains an account of the earliest rumor in Boston of the repeal, and of the public enthusiasm : — " Upon a Report from Philadelphia of the Re- peal of the Stamp Act, on Tuesday last, a great Number of Persons assem- bled under Liberty Tree," — near the corner of Essex and Washington streets, — " where two Field Pieces were carried, a Royal Salute fired, and three Huzzas given on such a joyful Piece of Intelligence. A con- siderable Number of the Inhabitants of this Town assembled at Faneuil- Hall on Tuesday last, when they made choice of the Hon, James Otis, Esq., as Moderator of the Meeting. The Moderator then acquainted the Assembl}^ that the Probability of very soon receiving authentic Accounts of the absolute Repeal of the Stamp Act had occasioned the present Meet- ing; and as this would be an Event in which the Inhabitants of this Me- tropolis, as well as North America, would have the greatest Occasion of Joy, it was thought expedient by many that this Meeting should come into Measures for fixing the Time when those Rejoicings should be made, and the Manner in which they should be conducted; — whereupon it was " Voted, That the Selectmen be desired, when they shall hear the certain News of the Repeal of the Stamp Act, to fix upon a Time for general Rejoicings; and that they give the Inhabitants seasonable Notice in such Manner as they shall think best." The expressions of joy were as ex- travagant throughout England as they were in the colonies. " There were upwards of twenty men, booted and spurred, in the lobby of the Hon. House of Commons, ready to be dispatched express, by the mer- chants, to the different parts of Great Britain and Ireland, upon this important affair." — Ed. ON THE REPEAL OF THE STAMP ACT. 121 joy. The emotion of a soul just famished with thirst upon taking down a full draught of cold water is but a faint emblem of the superior gladness with which we were universally filled upon this great occasion. That was the language of our mouths, signifying the pleasurable state of our minds, "As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is this good news from a far country." What I have in view is, to take occasion, from these words, to call your attention to some of the important ar- ticles contained in the good news we have heard, which so powerfully fit it to excite a pungent sense of pleasure in the breasts of all that inhabit these American lands. The way will then be prepared to jooint out to you the wisest and best use we can make of these glad tidings " from a far country." The first article in this "good news," obviously present- ing itself to consideration, is the kind and righteous re- gard the supreme authority^ in England, to which we inviolably owe submission, has paid to the "commercial good " of the nation at home, and its dependent provinces and islands. One of the expressly assigned reasons for the repeal of the Stamp Act is declared in these words : "Whereas the continuance of said act may be productive of consequences greatly detrimental to the commercial interests of these kingdoms, may it therefore please " — The English colonies and islands are certainly included in 1 This doctrine was expressed by Mr. James Otis, early in 1764, that we " ought to yield obedience to an Act of Parliament, though erroneous, till repealed." And by the Council and House of Representatives, Nov. 3d, 1764 : " We acknowledge it to be our duty to yield obedience to it while it continues unrepealed." But want of representation, and, next, that the colonies were not within the realm, soon led to a denial of the authority of Parliament, for a submission to a tax of a farthing would have aban- doned the great principle. It was not the amount of the tax, but the right to tax, that was in issue. " In for a penny, in for a pound." — Ed, 11 122 A THANKSGIVING SERMON the words "these kingdoms,"^ for they are as truly parts of them as either Scotland, Ireland, or even England itself. It was therefore with a professed view to the com- mercial good, not only of the nation at home, but of the plantations also abroad, that the authority of the British King and Parliament interposed to render null and void that act, which, had it been continued in force, might in its consequences have tended to the hurt of this grand in- terest, inseparably connected with the welfare of both. From what more noble source could a repeal of this act have proceeded ? !N"ot merely the repeal, but that benev- olent, righteous regard to the public good which gave it birth, is an important ingredient in the news that has made us glad. And wherein could this "good news" have been better adapted to soften our hearts, soothe our passions, and excite in us the sensations of unmingled joy ? What that is conducive to our real happiness may we not expect from a King and Parliament whose regard to " the commercial interest"^ of the British kingdoms has over- 1 That " the colonies were without the realm and jurisdiction of Parlia- ment," was demonstrated in the learned and able answers of the Council and House of Representatives to Governor Hutchinson's speech of Janu- ary 6, 1773 : " Your Excellency tells us, ' you know of no line that can be drawn between the supreme authority of Parliament and the total inde- pendence of the colonies.' If there be no such line, the consequence is, either that the colonies are the vassals of the Parliament, or that they are totally independent." In his gratitude. Dr. Chauncy took quite too gen- erous a view of the "repeal." The interests of the colonies were always subordinate. The Navigation Act, 12th Chas. II. ch. 19, and the colonial policy of England, as of all nations, considered only the interests of the realm. — Ed. 2 Mr. Burke, in his speech on " American taxation," years afterward, 1771, said the laws were repealed " because they raised a flame in Amer- ica, for reasons political, not commercial: as Lord Hillsborough's letter well expresses it, to regain ' the confidence and affection of the colonies, on which the glory and safety of the British empire depend.' " — Ed. ON THE REPEAL OF THE STAMP ACT. 123 powered all opposition from resentment, the display of sovereign pleasure, or whatever other cause, and influ- enced them to give np even a crown revenue for the sake of a greater national good ! With what confidence may we rely upon such a supreme legislature for the redress of all grievances, especially in the article of trade, and the devising every wise and fit method to put and keep it in a flourishing state ! Should anything, in time to come, un- happily be brought into event detrimental in its operation to the commerce between the mother country and these colonies, through misrepresentations from " lovers of them- selves more than lovers " of their king and country, may we not encourage ourselves to hope that the like generous public spirit that has relieved us now wdll again interpose itself on our behalf? Happy are we in being under the government of a King and Parliament w^ho can rejDcal as well as enact a law, upon a view of it as tending to the public happiness. How preferable is our condition to theirs who have nothing to expect but from the arbitrary will of those to whom they are slaves^ rather than sub- jects! Another thing, giving us singular pleasure, contained in this " good news," is, the total removal of a grievous bur- den we must have sunk under had it been continued. Had the real state of the colonies been as well known at home as it is here, it is not easily supposable any there would have thought the tax imposed on us by the Stamp Act was suitably adjusted to our circumstances and abili- ties. There is scarce a man ^ in any of the colonies, cer- 1 " If we are not represented, we are slaves." — Letter to Massachusetts agent, June 13, 1764. — Ed. 2 Mr. Burke, in 1763, showing the difficulties of American representation in Parliament, said: " Some of the most considerable provinces of Amer- ica — such, for instance, as Connecticut and Massachusetts Baj^ — have not 124 A THANKSGIVING SERMON tainly there is not in the New England ones, that would be deemed worthy of the name of a rich man in Great Britain. There may be here and there a rare instance of one that may have acquired twenty, thirty, forty, or fifty thousand pounds sterling, — and this is the most that can be made of what they maybe thought worth, — but for the rest, they are, generally speaking, in a low condition, or, at best, not greatly rising above it ; though in different degrees, variously placing them in the enjoyment of the necessities and comforts of life. And such it might natu- rally be expected would be the true state of the colonists; as the lands they possess in this new country could not have been subdued and fitted for profitable use but by labor too expensive to allow of their being, at present, much increased in wealth. This labor, indeed, may prop- erly be considered as a natural tax, w^hich, though it has made way for an astonishing increase of subjects to the British empire, greatly adding to its dignity and strength, has yet been the occasion of keeping us poor and low. It ought also to be remembered the occasions, in a new country, for the grant or purchase of property, with the obligations arising therefrom, and in instances of compara- tively small value, are unavoidably more numerous than in those that have been long settled. The occasions, also, for recourse to the law are in like manner vastly multi- plied ; for which reason the same tax by stamped paper would take vastly more, in proportion, from the people in each of them two men who can afford, at a distance from their estates, to spend a thousand pounds a year. How can these provinces be repre- sented at Westminster?" Governor Pownall, at Boston, Sept. 6th, 1757, wrote to Admiral Holbourn : " I am here at the head and lead of what is called a rich, flourishing^, powerful, enterprising country. 'Tis all puff, 'tis all false; they are ruined and undone in their circumstances. The first act I passed was an Act for the Relief of Bankrupts." — Ed. ON THE REPEAL OF THE STAMP ACT. 125 here than in England. And what would have rendered this duty the more' hard and severe is, that it must have been paid in addition to the government tax here,^ which 1 Massachusetts, of about two hundred and forty thousand inhabitants, expended in the war eight hundred and eighteen thousand pounds ster- ling, for four hundred and ninety thousand pounds of which she had no compensation. Connecticut, with only one hundred and forty-six thou- sand inhabitants, expended, exclusive of Parliament grants, upwards of four hundred thousand pounds sterling. Dr. Belknap's pertinent inquiry, in view of the parliamentary pretence for their revenue acts " to defray the expenses of protecting, defending, and securing " the colonies, was, " If we had not done our part toward the protection and defence of our country, why were our expenditures reimbursed by Parliament," even in part? Dr. Trumbull says that Massachusetts annually sent into the field five thousand five hundred men, and one year seven thousand. Connecti- cut had about three thousand men in the field, and for some time six thou- sand, and for some years these two colonies alone furnished ten thousand men in actual service. Pennsylvania disbursed about five hundred thou- sand pounds, and was reimbursed only about sixty thousand pounds. New Hampshire, New York, and especially Rhode Island in her naval en- terprise, displayed like zeal. Probably twenty thousand of these men were lost, — " the most firm and hardy young men, the flower of their country." Many others were maimed and enervated. The population and settlement of the country Avas retarded, husbandry and commerce were injured. " At the same time, the war was imfriendly to literature, destructive of domestic happiness, and injm-ious to piety and the social virtues." In 1762 Mr. Otis said : " This province " — Massachusetts — " has, since the year 1754, levied for his Majesty's service, as soldiers and seamen, near thirty thousand men, besides what have been otherwise employed. One year in particular it was said that every fifth man was engaged, in one shape or another. "We have raised sums for the support of this war that the last generation could have hardly formed any idea of. We are now deeply in debt." Mr. Burke, in 1775, cited from their records " the repeated acknowledg- ment of Parliament that the colonies not only gave, but gave to satiety. This nation has formally acknowledged two things : first, that the colonies had gone beyond their abilities — Parliament having thought it necessary to reimburse them; secondly, that they had acted legally and laudably in their grants of money and their maintenance of troops, since the compen- sation is expressly given as a reward and encouragement." Indeed, the 11* 126 A THANKSGIVING SERMON was, I have good reason to think, more heavy on us in the late war, and is so still, on account of the great debt then contracted, at least in this province, in proportion to our numbers and abilities, than that which, in every way, was laid on the people either of Scotland, Ireland, or England.* This, if mentioned cursorily, was never, that I remember, enlarged upon and set in a striking light in any of the papers written in the late times, as it might easily have been done, and to good purpose. Besides all which, it is a I have been assured, by a gentleman of reputation and fortune in this town, that in the late time of war he sent one of his rate-bills to a correspondent of note in London for his judgment upon it, and had this answer in return from his friend : " That he did not believe there was a man in all England who paid so much, in proportion, towards the support of the government." It will render the above account the more easily credible if I inform the reader that I have lately and purposely conversed with one of the assessors of this town, who has been annually chosen by them into this office for a great number of years, for which reason he may be thought a person of integrity, and one that may be de- pended on, and he declares to me that the assessment upon this town, particularly in one of the years when the tax on account of the war was great, was as fol- lows : On personal estate, thirteen shillings and fourpence on the pound; that is to say, if a man's income from money at interest, or in any other way, was sixty pounds per annum, he was assessed sixty times thirteen shillings and fourpence, and in this proportion, whether the sum was more or less. On real estate the assessment was at the rate of six years' income; that is to say, if a man's house or land was valued at two hundred pounds per annum income, this two hundred pounds was multiplied by six, amounting to twelve hundred pounds, and the interest of this twelve hundred pounds — that is, seventy-two pounds — was the sum he was obliged to pay. Besides this, the rate upon every man's poll, and the polls of all the males in his house upwards of sixteen years of age, was about nineteen shillings lawful money, which is only one quarter part short of sterling. Over and above all this, they paid their part of an excise that was laid upon tea, coffee, rum, and wine, amounting to a very considerable sum. How it was in the other provinces, or in the other towns of this, I know not; but it may be relied on as fact, that this was the tax levied upon the town of Boston ; and it has been great ever since, though not so enormously so as at that time. Every one may now judge whether we had not abundant reason for mournful complaint when, in addition to the vast sums — considering our numbers and abilities — we were obliged to pay, we were loaded with the stamp duty, which would in a few years have taken away all our money, and rendered us absolutely incapable either of supporting the government here or of carrying on any sort of commerce, unless by an exchange of commodities. " Albany Plan of Union," a scheme by which America could protect her- self against France, had been sent " home" for government approbation; but it was not sanctioned. — Ed. ON THE REPEAL OF THE STAMP ACT. 127 undoubtedly true that the circulating money in all the colonies would not have been sufficient to have paid the stamp duty only for two years ;^ and an effectual bar was put in the way of the introduction •f more^ by the re- straints that were laid upon our trade in those instances wherein it might in some measure have been procured. It was this grievance that occasioned the bitter com- plaint all over these lands : " We are denied straw, and yet the full tale of bricks is required of us ! " Or, as it was otherwise uttered, We must soon be obliged "to borrow money for the king's tribute, and that upon our lands. Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children : and lo ! we must bring into bondasje our sons and our daus^hters to be servants." We should have been stupid had not a spirit been excited in us to apply, in all reasonable ways, for the removal 1 Dr. Franklin testified, in 1766: "In my opinion there is not gold and silver enough in the colonies to pay the stamp duty for one year." — Ed. 2 " Most of our silver and gold, . . . great part of the revenue of these kingdoms, . . . great part of the wealth we see," says an Eng- lish statistical writer of 1755, we "have from the northern colonies." This silver and gold was obtained by the colonial trade with the "West Indies, and other markets, where fish, rice, and other colonial products and British manufactures were sold or bartered. This coin, or bullion, was remitted to English merchants, monopolists, who always held a balance against the colonists. "The northern provinces import from Great Britain ten times more than they send in return to us." — Burke. This left very little " circulating money" in their hands, and much of their trade had to be done by barter. The act of April 5, 17G4, for raising a revenue in America, exacted the duties in specie, and at the same time the "regulations" for restricting their trade with the West Indies, enforced by armed vessels and custom officers, cruising on our coasts, suddenly destroyed this best portion of their commerce, and the flow of gold and silver through New England hands as quickly ceased. This spread a universal consternation throughout the colonies, and they likened the threatened slavery under George III. and the Parliament to the Hebrew bondage to Pharaoh. — Ed, 128 A THANKSGIVING SERMON of SO insupportable a burden. And such a union in spirit was never before seen in the colonies, nor was there ever such universal joy, as upon the news of our deliverance from that which fhight have proved a yoke the most grievous that was ever laid upon our necks. It affected in all hearts the lively perceptions of pleasure, filling our mouths with laughter. No man appeared without a smile in his countenance. No one met his friend but he bid him joy. That was our united song of praise, " Thou hast turned for us our mourning into dancing ; thou hast put off our sackcloth, and girded us with gladness. Our glory [our tongue] shall sing praise to thee, and not be silent : O Lord our God ! we will give thanks to thee forever." Another thing in this "news," making it "good," is, the hopeful prospect it gives us of being continued in the enjoyment of certain liberties and privileges, valued by us next to life itself. Such are those of being "tried by our equals," and of " making grants for the support of govern- ment of that which is our own, either in person or by representatives we have chosen for the purpose." Whether the colonists were invested with a right to these liberties and privileges which ought not to be wrested from them, or whether they were not, 't is the truth of fact that they really thought they were ; all of them, as natural heirs to it by being born subjects to the British crown, and some of them by additional charter-grants, the legality of which, instead of being contested, have all along, from the days of our fathers, been assented to and allowed of by the supreme authority at home. And they imagined, whether justly or not I dispute not, that their right to the full and free enjoyment of these privileges was their righteous due, in consequence of what they and their forefathers had done and suffered in subduing and defending these American ON THE REPEAL OE THE STAMP ACT. 129 lands, not only for their own support, but to add extent, strength, and glory to the British crown. And as it had been early and deeply impressed on their minds that their charter privileges were rights that had been dearly paid for by a vast expense of blood, treasure, and labor,^ with- out which this continent must have still remained in a wilderness state and the property of savages only, it could not but strongly put in motion their passion of grief when they were laid under a parliamentary restraint as to the exercise of that liberty they esteemed their greatest glory. It was eminently this that filled their minds with jealousy, and at length a settled fear, lest they should gradually be brought into a state of the most abject slavery. This it was that gave rise to the cry, which became general throughout the colonies, " We shall be made to serve as bond-ser- vants ; our lives will be bitter with hard bondage." Nor were the Jews more pleased with the royal provision in their day, which, under God, delivered them from their bondage in Egypt, than were the colonists with the repeal of that act which had so greatly alarmed their fears and troubled their hearts. It was to them as " life from the dead." They "rejoiced and were glad." And it gave strength and vigor to their joy, while they looked upon this repeal not merely as taking off the grievous restraint that had been laid upon their liberties and privileges, but as containing in it an intention of continued indulgence^ 1 These various considerations were set forth at length in statements of the services and expenses of the colonies, which were sent to England to furnish the colonial agents with arguments why the colonies should not be taxed. — Ed. 2 The colonists claimed the repeal as matter of right, and not of favor. The English merchants urged it as a commercial necessity, and the politi- cians dared not do less. Hutchinson says : " The act Avhich accompanied it, with the title of ' Securing the Dependency of the Colonies," caused no alloy of the joy, and was considered as mere naked form." — Ed. 130 A THANKSGIVING SERMON in the free exercise of them. 'T is in this view of it that they exult as those who are " glad in heart," esteeming themselves happy beyond almost any people now living on the fiice of the earth. May they ever be this happy people, and ever have " God for their Lord " ! This news is yet further welcome to us, as it has made way for the return of our love, in all its genuine exercises, towards those on the other side of the Atlantic who, in common with ourselves, profess subjection to the same most gracious sovereign. The affectionate regard of the American inhabitants for their mother country^ was never exceeded by any colonists in any part or age of the world. We esteemed ourselves parts of one whole, members of the same collective body. What aifected the people of England, affected us. We partook of their joys and sorrows — "rejoicing when they rejoiced, and w^eeping when they wept." Adverse things in the conduct of Providence towards them alarmed our fears and gave us pain, while prosperous events dilated our hearts, and in proportion to their number and greatness. This tender sympathy with our brethren at home, it is acknowledged, began to languish from the commencement of a late par- liamentary act. There arose hereupon a general suspicion whether they esteemed us brethren and treated us with that kindness we might justly expect from them. This jealousy, w^orking in our breasts, cooled the fervor of our love ; and had that act been continued in force, it might have gradually brought on an alienation of heart that would have been greatly detrimental to them, as it would also have been to ourselves. But the repeal, of which we have had authentic accounts, has opened the channels 1 This sentiment was ever appealed to in all our difficulties. Burke and Pitt made frequent use of it. — Ed. ON THE REPEAL OF THE STAMP ACT. 131 for a full flow of our former affection towards our brethren in Great Britain. Unhappy jealousies, uncomfortable sur- misings and heart-burnings, are now removed ; and we perceive the motion of an affection for the country from whence our forefxthers came, which would influence us to the most vigorous exertions, as we might be called, to promote their welfare, looking upon it, in a sense, our own. We again feel with them and for them, and are happy or unhappy as they are either in prosperous or adverse circumstances. We can, and do, with all sincerity, " pray for the peace of Great Britain, and that they may prosper that love her;" adopting those words of the devout Psalmist, "Peace be within thy walls, and pros- perity within thy palaces. For our brethren's sake we will say, peace be within thee." In fine, this news is refreshing to us " as cold waters to a thirsty soul," as it has effected an alteration in the state of things among us unspeakably to our advantage. There is no way in which we can so strikingly be made sensible of this as by contrasting the state we were lately in, and the much worse one we should soon have been in had the Stamp Act been enforced, with that happy one we are put into by its repeal. Upon its being made certain to the colonies that the Stamp Act had passed both Houses of Parliament, and received the king's fiat, a general spirit of uneasiness at once took place, which, gradually increasing, soon discov- ered itself, by the wiser sons of liberty,^ in laudable en- 1 This name, " Sons of Liberty," was used by Colonel Isaac Barre, in his ofF-hand reply to Charles Townshend, Wednesday, February 6, 1765, when George Grenville proposed the Stamp Act in Parliament. Jared IngersoU heard Colonel Barre, and sent a sketch of his remarks to Gover- nor Fitch, of Connecticut, who published it in the New London papers ; and, says Bancroft, " May had not shed its blossoms before the words of 132 A THANKSGIVING SERMON deavors to obtain relief; though by others, in murmurings and complaints, in anger and clamor, in bitterness, wrath, and strife ; and by some evil-minded persons, taking occa- sion herefor from the general ferment^ of men's minds, in those violent outrages upon the property of others, which, by being represented in an undue light, may have reflected dishonor upon a country which has an abhorrence of such^ injurious conduct. The colonies were never before in a Barre were as household words in every New England town. Midsum- mer saw it distributed through Canada, in French; and the continent rung from end to end with the cheering name Sons of Liberty." Mr. Ingersoll, in a note to his pamphlet (New Haven, 1706), p. 16, says: "J believe I way claim the honor of having been the author of this title ( Sons of Liberty), however little personal good I may have got by it, having been the only person, by Avhat I can discover, who transmitted Mr. Barre's speech to America." Boston voted that pictures of Colonel Barre and General Conway " be placed in Faneuil Hall, as a standing monument to all posterity of the virtue and justice of our benefactors, and a lasting proof of our grati- tude." But the pictures are not there; and Mr. Drake (History of Boston, p. 705) aptly suggests that the city " would lose none of its honor by re- placing them." The town of Barre, in Massachusetts, perpetuates the memory of this statesman, and of the public indignation toward Hutchin- son, whose name it had borne from 1774 to 1777. Towns in Vermont, New York, and Wilkesbarre in Pennsylvania, also bear the honored name. — Ed, 1 In August, 1765, when Lieut. Governor Hutchinson's house, Andrew Oliver's, William Storey's, and the stamp-office in Kilby Street, were ran- sacked or demolished. A minute account of places and names, and de- tails in these riots, fill several interesting pages in Drake's History of Boston, chap. Ixix.; Bancroft's United States, chap, xvi., 1765. President Adams said, " None were indicted for pulling down the stamp-office, because this was thought an honorable and glorious action, not a riot." And in 1775 he said : " I will take upon me to say, there is not another province on this continent, nor in his Majesty's dominions, where the people, under the same indignities, would not have gone to greater lengths." " I pardon something to the spirit of liberty," said Burke. The Bishop of St. Asaph said : " I consider these violences as the natu- ral effects of such measures as ours on the minds of freemen."— Ed. ON THE REPEAL OF THE STAMP ACT. 133 state of such discontent, anxiety, and perplexing solici- tude ; some despairing of a redress, some hoping for it, and all fearing what would be the event. And, had it been the determination of the King and Parliament to have car- ried the Stamp Act into effect by ships of war and an embarkation of troops, their condition, however unhappy before, would have been inconceivably more so. They must either have submitted to what they thought an in- supportable burden, and have parted with their property without any will of their own, or have stood upon their defence ; in either of which cases their situation must have been deplorably sad. So far as I am able to judge from that firmness of mind and resolution of spirit which ap- peared among all sorts of persons, as grounded upon this principle, deeply rooted in their minds, that they had a constitutional nght* to grant their own moneys and to be tried by their peers, 't is more than probable they would not have submitted^ unless they had been obliged to it by a The colonists may reasonably be excused for their mistake (if it was one) in thinking that they were vested with this constitutional right, as it was the opinion of Lord Camden, declared in the House of Lords, and of Mr. Pitt, sig- nified in the House of Commons, that the Stamp Act was unco7istitutio7ial. This is said upon the authority of the public prints. i 1 Lord Camden said: "The British Parliament have no right to tax the Americans Taxation and representation are coeval with and essential to this constitution." Mr. Pitt said: " The Commons of Amer- ica, represented in their several assemblies, have ever been in possession of the exercise of this, their constitutional right, of gi^'ing and granting their own money. They would have been slaves if they had not enjoyed it."— Ed. 2 An examination of the newspapers and legislative proceedings of the period admits of no doubt of this. From the passage of the Stamp Act till certain news of its repeal, April, 17G6, the newspaper, " The Boston Post Boy," displayed for its heading, in large letters, these words : " The united voice of all His Majesty's free and loyal subjects in America, — Liberty and Property, and no Stamps." Dr. Gordon savs the Stamp Act was treated with the most indignant 12 134 A THANKSGIVING SERMON superior power. Not that they had a thought in their hearts, as may have been represented, of being an inde- pendent people.^ They esteemed it both their happiness and their glory to be, in common with the inhabitants of contempt, by being printed and cried about the streets under the title of The folly of England and ruin of America. It was now— May, 1765 — that Patrick Henry, in bringing forward his resolutions against the act, exclaimed, " Casar had his Brutus ; Charles the First had his Cromwell; and George the Third "—"Treason! " cried the Speaker; " Treason ! " cried many of the members — " may profit by their example," was the conclusion of the sentence. "If this be trea- son," said Henry, "make the most of it! " President John Adams, referring to this sermon in 1815, said : " It has been a question, whether, if the ministry had persevered in support of the Stamp Act, and sent a military force of ships and troops to force its exe- cution, the people of the colonies would then have resisted. Dr. Chauncy and Dr. May hew, in sermons which they preached and printed after the repeal of the Stamp Act, have left to posterity their opinions upon this question. If my more extensive familiarity with the sentiments and feel- ings of the people in the Eastern, Western, and Southern counties of Mas- sachusetts may apologize for my presumption, I subscribe without a doubt to the opinions of Chauncy and Mayhew, What would have been the consequence of resistance in arms?" (See note to page 136.) Dr. Frank- lin, before the House of Commons in 1766, said : " Suppose a military force sent into America, they will find nobody in arms; what are they then to do ? They cannot force a man to take stamps who chooses to do without them. They will not find a rebellion, hut they can make one. " — Ed. 1 Not one of the English colonies, or provinces, would now submit for a moment to the control which the American colonies would then have cheer- fully accepted. The royal governors are accepted as pageants on which to hang the local governments, which are essentially independent, but enjoy a nationality by this nominal connection with the crown; and it maybe doubted if any of them have that degree of loj'^alty which once animated the " rebellious " colonies of 1776. Happily time has destroyed the ani- mosities engendered by a vicious policy, and there is now that nobler unity (for we be brethren) which is cultivated by commerce and the amenities of literature and science. In this view, the cordial reception, at this time, of England's royal representative in our chief cities, and by our National Executive, is an event of great interest. See p. 143 and note. — Ed. ON THE REPEAL OP THE STAMP ACT. 135 England, Scotland, and Ireland, the subjects of King George the Third, whom they heartily love and honor, and in defence of whose person and crown they would cheerfully expend their treasure, and lose even their blood. But it was a sentiment they had imbibed, that they should be wanting neither in loyalty to their king, or a due re- gard to the British Parliament, if they should defend those rights which they imagined were inalienable, upon the foot of justice, by any power on earth.** And had they, upon this principle, whether ill or well founded, stood upon their defence, what must have been the effect? There would have been opened on this American continent a most doleful scene of outrage, violence, desolation, slaugh- ter, and, in a word, all those terrible evils that may be expected as the attendants on a state of civil war. No language can describe the distresses, in all their various kinds and degrees, which would have made us miserable. God only knows how long they might have continued, and whether they would have ended in anything short of our total ruin. Nor would the mother country, whatever a The great Mr. Pitt would not have said, in a certain august assembly, speak- ing of the Americans, "I rejoice that they have resisted," if, in his judgment, they might not, in consistency with their duty to government, have made a stand against the Stamp Act. 'T is certainly true there may be such exercise of power, and in instances of such a nature, as to render non-submission warrant- able upon the foot of reason and righteousness; otherwise it will be difficult, if possible, to justify the Revolution, and that establishment in consequence of it upon which his present Majesty sits upon the British throne. That non-submis- sion would have been justifiable, had it been determined that the Stamp Act should be enforced, I presume not to say: though none, I believe, who are the friends of liberty, will deny that it would have been justifiable should it be first supposed that this act essentially broke in upon our constitutional rights as Englishmen. Whether it did or not, is a question it would be impertinent in me to meddle with. It is the truth of the fact that the colonists generally and really tliought it did, and that it might be opposed without their incurring the guilt of disloyalty or rebellion ; and they were led into this way of thinking upon what they imagined were the principles which, in their operation, gave King William and Queen Mary, of blessed memory, the crown of England.! 1 See Dr. Mayhew's Sermon of 1750, p. 39. — Ed. 136 A THANKSGIVING SERMON some might imagine, have been untoucbed with- what was doing in the colonies. Those millions that were due from this continent to Great Britain could not have been paid ; a stop, a total stop, would have been put to the importa- tion of those manufactures which are the support of thou- sands at home, often repeated. And would the British merchants and manufacturers have sat easy in such a state of things? There would, it may be, have been as much clamor, wrath, and strife in the very bowels of the nation as in these distant lands ; nor could our destruction have been unconnected with consequences at home infinitely to be dreaded.^ But the longed-for repeal has scattered our fears, re- moved our difficulties, enlivened our hearts, and laid the foundation for future prosperity, equal to the adverse state we should have been in had the act been continued and enforced. 1 Dr. Chauncy's speculations upon the probable consequences of the enforcement of the Stamp Act,both in the colonies and " at home," as the colonists affectionately called England, the mother country, are singulai'ly coincident with Edmund Burke's" Observations" — published three years later, 1769 — on Grenville's " Present State of the Nation." He said : " We might, I think, without much difRculty, have destroyed our colonies; . . . . but four millions of debt due to our merchants, the total cessation of a trade worth four millions more, a large foreign traffic, much home manu- facture, a very capital immediate revenue arising from colony imports, — indeed the produce of every one of our revenues greatly depending on this trade, — all these were veiy weighty, accumulated considerations ; at least well to be weighed before that sword was drawn which, even by its victo- ries, must produce all the evil eff'ects of the greatest national defeat." Really it was a question of life or death, not only to the colonics, but to the commerce of England, — whose dealings with European nations had in- creased very little since 1700, — which had risen from colony intercourse; " a new world of commerce, in a manner created," says Burke, " grown up to this magnitude and importance within the memory of man; nothing in history is parallel to it." The repeal of the Stamp Act was a commercial necessity; to enforce it would have been like killing the goose that laid the golden egg.— Ed. ON THE KEPEAL OP THE STAMP ACT. 137 We may now he easy in our minds — contented with our condition. We may he at peace and quiet among ourselves, every one minding his own business. All ground of complaint that we are " sold for bond-men and bond-women" is removed away, and, instead of being slaves to those who treat us with rigor, we are indulged the full exercise of those liberties which have been trans- mitted to us as the richest inheritance from our forefathers. We have now greater reason than ever to love, honor, and obey our gracious king, and pay all becoming rever- ence and respect to his two Houses of Parliament ; and. may with entire confidence rely on their wisdom, lenity, kindness, and power to promote our welfare. We have now, in a word, nothing to " make us afraid," but may "sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree," in the full enjoyment of the many good things we are favored with in the providence of God. Upon such a change in the state of our circumstan- ces, we should be lost to all sense of duty and gratitude, and act as though we had no understanding, if our hearts did not expand with joy. And, in truth, the danger is lest we should exceed in the expressions of it. It may be said of these colonies, as of the Jewish people upon the repeal of the decree of Ahasuerus, which devoted them to destruc- tion, they " had light and gladness, joy and honor; and in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, they had joy and gladness, a feast day, and a good day ; " saying within themselves, "the Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad." May the remembrance of this memorable repeal be preserved and handed down to future generations, in every province, in every city, and in every family, so as never to be forgotten. We now proceed — the way being thus prepared for it 12* 138 A THANKSGIVING SERMON — to point oat the proper use we should make of this "good news from a far country," which is grateful to us " as cold waters to a thirsty soul." We have already had our rejoicings, in the civil sense, upon the "glad tidings" from our mother country; and 'tis to our honor that they were carried on so universally within the bounds of a decent, warrantable regularity. There was never, among us, such a collection of all sorts of people upon any public occasion. Nor were the meth- ods in which they signified their joy ever so beautifully varied and multiplied ; and yet, none had reason to com- plain of disorderly conduct. The show was seasonably ended, and we had afterwards a perfectly quiet night.^ There has indeed been no public disturbance since the outrage at Lieut. Governor Hutchinson's house. That was so detested by town and country, and such a spirit at once so generally stirred up, particularly among the peo- ple, to oppose such villanous conduct, as has preserved us ever since in a state of as great freedom from mobbish actions as has been known in the country. Our friends at home, it should seem, have entertained fears lest upon the lenity and condescension of the King and Parliament we 1 The repeal was celebrated throughout the colonies by all possible expressions of joy, — by ringing of bells, firing of guns, processions, bon- fires, illuminations, thanksgivings. Prisoners for debt were released; Pitt, Camden, and Barre' were eulogized; and in Boston "Liberty Tree itself was decorated with lanterns till its boughs could hold no more Never Avas there a more rapid transition of a people from gloom to joy." — Bancroft. The Sons of Liberty triumphed. " It has at once," said Mayhew, in his Thanksgiving Sermon, May 23, " in a good measure restored things to order, and composed our minds. Commerce lifts up her head, adorned with golden tresses, pearls, and precious stones ; almost every person you meet wears the smile of con- tentment and joy; and even our slaves rejoice, as though they had received their manumission." See Drake's History of Boston, ch. Ixxi., for an account of the celebration in Boston. — Ed. ON THE REPEAL OF THE STAMP ACT. 139 should prove ourselves a factious, turbulent people ; and our enemies hope we shall. But 't is not easy to conceive on what the fears of the one or the hopes of the other should be grounded, unless they have received injurious representations of the spirit that lately prevailed in this as well as the other colonies, which was not a spirit to raise needless disturbances, or to commit outrages upon the persons or property of any, though some of those sons of wickedness which are to be found in all places "^ might take occasion, from the stand that was made for liberty, to com- mit violence w4th a high hand. There has not been, since the repeal, the appearance of a spirit tending to public disorder, nor is there any danger such a spirit should be encouraged or discovered, unless the jDeople should be needlessly and unreasonably irritated by those who, to serve themselves, might be willing we should gratify such as are our enemies, and make those so w^ho have been our good friends. But, to leave this digression : a It has been said, and in the public prints, that there have been mobbish, riot- ous doings in Loudon, and other parts of England, at one time and another, and that great men at such times — men far superior to any among us in dignity and power — suffered in their persons by insulting, threatening words and actions, and in their property by the injurious violence that destroyed their substance. Would it be just to characterize London, much more England itself, from the conduct of these disturbers of its peace? It would as reasonably, as certainly, be esteemed a vile reproach, siiould they on this account be represented as, in general, a turbulent, seditious people, disposed to throw off their subjection to government, and bring things into a state of anarchy and confusion. If this has been the representation that has been made of the colonists, on account of what any may have suffered in their persons or effects by the ungoverned, dis- orderly behavior of some mobbishly disposed persons, it is really nothing better than a base slander, and no more applicable to them than to the people of Eng- land. The colonists in general, the inhabitants of this province in particular, are as great enemies to all irregular, turbulent proceedings, and as good friends to government, and as peaceable, loyal subjects, as any that call King George the Third their riglitful and lawful sovereign. 1 1 The sacking of Lord Mansfield's house, the destruction of his library and manuscripts in 1780, and of Dr. Priestley's mansion, books, manu- scripts, and philosophical apparatus, in 1791, greatly exceeded the outrages in Boston. — Ed. 140 A THANKSGIVING SERMON Though our civil joy lias been expressed in a decent, orderly way, it would be but a poor, pitiful thing should we rest here, and not make our religious, grateful acknowl- edgments to the Supreme Ruler ^ of the world, to whose superintending providence it is principally to be ascribed that we have had " given us so great deliverance." What- ever were the means or instruments in order to this, that glorious Being, whose throne is in the heavens, and whose kingdom ruleth over all, had the chief hand herein. He 1 If there be in our early historical literature any one feature more strongly marked than the rest, it is this universal recognition of God in all our affairs ; and Washington was not more true to himself than to the spirit of his country, which, of all men, he best understood, when, in his inaugural address as President of the United States, April 30, 1789, he said: " It would be peculiarly improper to omit, in this first official act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that his benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States a govern- ment instituted by themselves for these essential purposes, and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success the functions allotted to his charge. In tendering this homage , to the Great Author of every public and private good, I assure myself that it expresses your sentiments not less than my own, nor those of my fellow-citizens at large less than either. No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the afl'airs of man more than the people of the United States. Every step by which they have been advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency; and in the important revolution just accomplished in the system of their united government, the tranquil deliberations and voluntary consent of so many distinct communities, from which the event has resulted, cannot be com- pared with the means by which most governments have been established, without some return of pious gratitude, along with a humble anticipation of the blessings which the past seems to presage. These reflections, arising out of the present crisis, have forced themselves too strongly on my mind to be suppressed. You will join with me, I trust, in thinking that there are none under the influence of which the proceedings of a new and free government can more auspiciously commence." — Ed. ON THE REPEAL OF THE STAMP ACT. 141 sat at the helm, and so governed all things relative to it as to bring it to this happy issue. It was under his all- wise, overruling influence that a spirit was raised in all the colonies nobly to assert their freedom as men and English- born subjects — a spirit which, in the course of its operation, was highly serviceable, not by any irregularities it might be the occasion of (in this imperfect state they will, more or less, mix themselves with everything great and good), but by its manly efforts, setting forth the reasons they had for complaint in a fair, just, and strongly convincing light, hereby awakening the attention of Great Britain, opening the eyes of the merchants and manufacturers there, and engaging them, for their own interest as well as that of America, to exert themselves in all reasonable ways to help us. It was under the same all-governing influence that the late ministry, full of projections^ tending to the hurt of these colonies, was so seasonably changed into the present patriotic one,^ which is happily disposed, in all the methods of wisdom, to promote our welfere. It was under the same influence still that so many friends of eminent character were raised up and spirited to ai3pear advocates on our behalf, and plead our cause with irresist- ible force. It was under this same influence, also, that the heart of our king and the British Parliament were so turned in favor to us as to reverse that decree which, had it been established, would have thrown this whole continent, if not the nation itself, into a state of the utmost confusion. In short, it was ultimately owing to 1 Ecclesiastical and civil. — Ed. 2 " The Rockiiijrham Administration " (July 10, 1765— July 30, 1766), in October, had had " letters from all parts of America that a confla;ira- tion blazed out at once in Xorth America — a universal disobedience and open resistance to the Stamp Act;" and because it "raised a flame in America," says Burke, " for reasons political, not commercial," it was repealed. Thus the Grenville policy was abandoned for the time. — Ed. 142 A THANKSGIVING SERMON this influence of the God of Heaven that the thoughts, the views, the purposes, the speeches, the writings, and the •whole conduct of all who were engaged in this great affair were so overruled to bring into effect the desired happy event.^ And shall we not make all due acknowledgments to the great Sovereign of the world on this joyful occasion? Let us, my brethren, take care that our hearts be suitably touched with a sense of the bonds we are under to the Lord of the universe ; and let us express the joy and grat- itude of our hearts by greatly praising him for the great- ness of his goodness in thus scattering our fears, removing away our burdens, and continuing us in the enjoyment of our most highly valued liberties and privileges. And let us not only praise liim with our lips, rendering thanks to his holy name, but let us honor him by a well-ordered conversation. " Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice ; " and " to love the Lord our God with all our heart, and mind, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves," 1 " I remember, sir," said Mr. Burke, in 1774, " with a melancholy pleasure, the situation of the honorable gentleman" — General Conway — "who made the motion for the repeal; in that crisis, when the whole trading interest of this empire, crammed into your lobbies, with a trem- bling and anxious expectation, waited almost to a winter's return of light their fate from your resolution. When, at length, you had deter- mined in their favor, and your doors, thrown open, showed them the figure of their deliverer in the well-earned triumphs of his important victory, from the whole of that grave multitude there arose an involuntary burst of gratitude and transport. They jumped upon him, like children on a long-absent father. They clung about him, as captives about their redeemer. All England, all America joined to his applause I stood near him ; and his face — to use the expression of the Scriptures of the first martyr — * his face was as if it had been the face of an angel.' I do not know how others feel; but if I had stood in that situation, I never would have exchanged it for all that kings, in their profusion, could bestow." — Ed. ON THE REPEAL OF THE STAMP ACT. 143 is better than whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices." Ac- tions speak much louder than words. In vain shall we pretend that we are joyful in God, or thankful to hira, if it is not our endeavor, as we have been taught by the grace of God, which has appeared to us by Jesus Christ, to " deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live so- berly, righteously, and godly in the world;" doing all things whatsoever it has pleased God to command us. And as he has particularly enjoined it on us to be "subject to the higher powers, ordained by him to be his ministers for good," we cannot, upon this occasion, more properly express our gratitude to him than by approving ourselves dutiful and loyal to the gi*acious king whom he has placed over us. Not that we can be justly taxed Avith the want of love or subjection to the British throne. We may have been abused by false and injurious representations upon this head ; but King George the Third has no sub- jects— not within the realm of England itself — that are more strongly attached to his person and family, that bear a more sincere and ardent affection towards him, or that would exert themselves with more life and spirit in de- fence of his crown and dignity. But it may, notwithstand- ing, at this time,^ be seasonable to stir up your minds by 1 In his examination before the House of Commons, in 1766, Dr. Frank- lin ansAvered to the question, "What was the temper of America towards Great Britain before the year 1763 ? " — " The best in the world. They sub- mitted willinjrly to the government of the crown, and paid, in all their courts, obedience to acts of Parliament. Numerous as the people are in the several old provinces, they cost you nothing in forts, citadels, garri- sons, or armies, to keep them in subjection. They were governed by this country at the expense of only a little pen, ink, and paper. They were led by a thread. They had not only a respect, but an affection for Great Britain, — for its laws, its customs, and manners, — and even a fondness for its fashions, that gi-eatly increased the commerce. Natives of Britain were always treated with particular re^jard; to be an Old England Mian. 144 A THANKSGIVING SERMON putting you in remembrance of your duty to " pray for kings, and all that are in subordinate authority under them," and to " honor and obey them in the Lord." And if we should take occasion, from the great lenity and con- descending goodness of those who are supreme in author- ity over us, not to " despise government," not to " speak evil of dignities," not to go into any method of unseemly, disorderly conduct, but to " lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty," — every man moving in his own proper sphere, and taking due care to "render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's," — we should honor ourselves, answer the expectations of those who have dealt thus favorably with us, and, what is more, we should express a becoming regard to the governing pleasure of Almighty God. It would also be a suitable return of gratitude to God if we entertained in our minds, and were ready to express in all proper ways, a just sense of the obligations we are under to those patrons of liberty and righteousness who were the instruments employed by him, and whose wise and powerful endeavors, under his blessing, were effectual to promote at once the interest of the nation at home, and of these distant colonies. Their names will, I hope, be ever dear to us, and handed down as such to the latest poster- ity. That illustrious name in special, Pitt,^ will, I trust, was of itself a character of some respect, and gave a kind of rank among us." Q. "And what is their temper now? " A. " O, very much altered." — See note 1, p. 134. — Ed. 1 No name was more venerated in America than that of William. Pitt. He was born in London, in 1708, grandson of Thomas Pitt, Governor of Ma- dras, and made his first speech in Parliament in 173G. In December, 1756, when " our armies were beaten, our navy inactive, our trade exposed to the enemy, our credit — as if we expected to become bankrupts — sunk to the lowest pitch, so that there was nothing to be found but despondency at ON THE REPEAL OF THE STAMP ACT. 145 be never mentioned but with honor, as the saviour, under God, and the two kings who made him their prime minis- ter, both of the nation and these colonies, not only from the power of France, but from that which is much worse, a state of slavery, under the appellation of Englishmen. May his memory be blessed ! May his great services for his king, the nation, and these colonies, be had in everlast- ing remembrance ! home and contempt abroad " (Address of City of London), the great "Whig statesman graciously accepted the seals of government, and his adminis- tration was the most glorious period of English history since the days of the Commonwealth and of the Revolution of 1688. America rejoiced, and her blood and her treasure flowed freely. She saw the French navy annihilated, and the British flag wave at Louisburg, Niagara, Ticon- deroga, Crown Point, Quebec, and all Canada. " Mr. Pitt left the thirteen British colonies in North America in perfect security and happiness, every inhabitant there glowing with the warmest affection to the parent country. At home all was animation and industry. Riches and glory flowed in from everj' quarter." — Almon. George 11. died, in extreme age, October 25, 1700; succeeded by his grandson, George IIL, with not a drop of Eng- lish blood in his veins ; a very Stnart in principle. He was a youth of twenty-two years, and the cro's^ii was placed on his head by the primate Seeker, who aspired to be his counsellor as well as his spiritual director. Seeker was the very one who suffered at the hands of Dr. Mayhew in the controversy about the society for propagating the hierarchy " in foreign parts;" "and," said the pious Dean Swift, "whoever has a true value for church and state, should avoid " Whigism. Pitt resigned the seals of Secretary of State on the 5th of October, 1761. He opposed \vith his might the proceedings against America. The peculiarly impressive cir- cumstances of his death. May Uth, 1778, hastened, if not caused, by his zeal and energj- in our behalf, are familiar to all by the celebrated picture of the " Death of Chatham," — the piece which established the fame of the eminent Bostonian, Copley, whose son. Lord Lyndhurst, yet lives, one of the most venerable and eloquent members of the House of Peers. Pittsburg in Pennsylvania, Pittsfield in Massachusetts, and many other towns, perpetuate the memory of the national gratitude, which was ex- pressed by legislative addresses, by monuments, and by every mode of public and private regard. He died poor — " stained by no vice, sullied by no meanness." — Ed. 13 146 A THANKSGIVING SERMON. To conclude : Let us be ambitious to make it evident, by the manner of our conduct, that we are good subjects and good Christians. So shall we in the best way express the grateful sense we have of our obligations to that glo- rious Being, to the wisdom and goodness of whose presi- dency over all human affairs it is principally owing that the great object of our fear and anxious concern has been so happily removed. And may it ever be our care to behave towards him so as that he may appear on our be- half in every time of danger and difficulty, guard us against evil, and continue to us all our enjoyments, both civil and religious. And may they be transmitted from us to our children, and to children's children, as long as the sun and the moon shall endure. Amen. A SERMON Preached at Cambridge, IN THE Audience of his HONOR THOMAS HUTCHINSON, Esq.; Lieutenant-Governor and Commander in Chief; The Honorable His Majesty's COUNCIL, AND THE honorable HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Of the Province of the Maffachufetts-Bay in New-England, May 30th, 1770. Being the Anniversary for the Election of His Majesty's Council for the said Province. By SAMUEL COOKE, A. M. Paftor of the Second Church in Cambridge. BOSTON: Printed by EDES and GILL, Printers to the honorable house of REPRESENTATIVES. MDCCLXX. In the House of Representatives, May 30, 1770. Resolved, That Mr. Gardner of Cambridge, Mr. Remington, and Mr. Gardner of Stow, be a Committee to return the thanks of this House to the Rev. Mr. Samuel Cooke for his Sermon preached yesterday before the General Court, being the day of the election of Councillors ; and to desire of him a copy thereof for the press. Attest, SAMUEL ADAMS, Clerk. EDITOR'S PREFATORY NOTE. GLANCE AT THE CUERENT OF EVENTS FROM THE DATE OF DR. CHAUNCY'S SERMON TO THAT OF MR. COOKE, 1770. The happiness of America, on the repeal of the Stamp Act, was as transient as the existence of the ministry which effected it; and the out- burst of joy, of which Dr. Chauncy's sermon was but a single note, by the contrast, presents in deeper gloom the succeeding woe. Excessive jealousy of ministerial control — a desire of personal " influence" — was a source of misery to George III., and of calamity to the nation. He set- tled questions of state on personal, not on national grounds. Thus, in the midst of the American war, he declared respecting Mr. Pitt, whose administration had been the glory of the reign of his grandfather, George II., "No advantage to my country, nor personal danger to myself, can make me address myself to Lord Chatham, or to any other branch of opposi- tion. Honestly, I would rather lose the crown I now wear than bear the ignominy of possessing it under their shackles." His letters to Lord North show that the Avar was his war; and he said to Mr. Adams, on his presentation as first minister plenipotentiaiy from the United States, " I have done nothing in the late contest but what J thought myself bound to do." He never could forget his mother's early precept: " George, be king! " and so capricious was he, that " the question at last was," said Burke, " not who could do the public business best, but who would undertake to do it at all." During the first nine years of his reign there were six succes- sive administrations. The Rockingham Administration, which repealed the Stamp Act, March 18th, 1766, lasted only one year and twenty days. When Chatham, the great friend of America, consented to form a new ministry, he had to frame it of such discordant matei'ials, that during his absence, by reason of ill health, " as if it were to insult him," says Mr. Knight, " as well as to betray him, and even long before the close of the 13* 150 first session of his administration, when everj-thing was publicly trans- acted, and with great parade, in his name, they made an act declaring it highly just and expedient to raise a revenue in America." " He made an administration so checkered and speckled; he put together a piece of joinery so crossly indented and whimsically dovetailed; a cabinet so vari- ously inlaid; such a piece of diversified mosaic; such a tessellated pave- ment without cement, —here a bit of black stone, and there a bit of white; patriots and courtiers, king's friends and republicans, Whigs and Tories, treacherous friends and open enemies, — that it was indeed a very curious show, but utterly unsafe to touch, and unsure to stand on. . . . When his face was hid but for a moment, his whole system was on a wide sea, without chart or compass." i The Act of June 29th, 1767, imposing duties to be paid by the colonists on paper, glass, painters' colors, and teas, and authorizing the appoint- ment of an indefinite number of irresponsible officers, with unlimited salaries, to be paid by the colonies, again put America in an uproar. During the period to INIarch, 1770, every proceeding of the British govern- ment, in Council or in Parliament, served only to exasperate the Amer- icans, and to strengthen them in a common bond of resistance. On the 11th of February, 1768, the House of Representatives of Massachusetts issued a circular letter to the speakers of the legislative assemblies of the other colonies, in which they expressed " a disposition freely to commu- nicate their mind to sister colonies, upon a common concern, in the same manner as they would be glad to receive the sentiments of any other House of Assembly on the continent." They say in the letter that " the House have humbly represented to the ministry their own sentiments ; . . . that it is an essential, unalterable right in nature, engrafted into the British constitution as a fundamental law, and ever held sacred and irrevocable by the subjects within the realm, that what a man has hon- estly acquired is absolutely his own, which he may freely give, but cannot be taken from him without his consent; that the American subjects may, therefore, exclusive of any consideration of charter rights, with a decent firmness adapted to the character of free men and subjects, assert this natural and constitutional right. It is, moreover, their humble opinion, which they express with the greatest deference to the wisdom of the Par- liament, that the acts made there, imposing duties on the people of this province with the sole and express purpose of raising a revenue, are infringements of their natural and constitutional rights; because, as they 1 Burke. editor's prefatory note. 151 are not represented in the British Parliament, his Majesty's Commons in Britain, by those acts, grant their property without their consent. . . . " They have also submitted to consideration, whether any people can be said to enjoy any degree of freedom, if the crown, in addition to its un- doubted authority of constituting a governor, should appoint him such a stipend as it may judge proper, without the consent of the people, and at their expense; and whether, while the judges of the land, and other civil oflScers, hold not their commissions during good behavior, their having salaries appointed for them by the crown, independent of the people, hath not a tendency to subvert the principles of equity, and endanger the happiness and security of the subject. " They take notice of the hardships of the act for preventing mutiny and desertion," — passed at the same session with the repealed Stamp Act, — " which requires the Governor and Council to provide for the king's marching troops, and the people to pay the expenses; and also the com- mission of the gentlemen appointed commissioners of the customs, to reside in America, which authorizes them to make as many appointments as they think fit, and to pay the appointees what sum they please, for whose mal-conduct they are not accountable; from whence it may hap- pen that officers of the crown may be multiplied to such a degree as to become dangerous to the liberty of the people." i Lord Hillsborough thought this circular " unfair," and, on the 22d of April, wrote to Governor Bernard " to require the House of Representa- tives in his Majesty's name to rescind . . . that rash and hasty proceeding." In June, Governor Bernard delivered this message, and the House absolutely declined the proposal ; for " we should stand self-con- demned as unworthy the name of British subjects, descended from British ancestors, intimately allied and connected in interest and inclination with our fellow-subjects, the Commons of Great Britain. . . . We take it to be the native, inherent, and indefeasible right of the subject, jointly or severally, to petition the king for the redress of grievances; . . . and if the votes of the House are to be controlled by the direction of a minis- ter, we have left us but a vain resemblance of liberty. We have now only 1 Mr. Knight, " Popular History of England," vol. vi. 310, quotes an author- ity, that "In 1758 America had been called 'the hospital of England;' the places in the gift of the crown being filled ' with broken members of rarliameut, of bad, if any, principles; valets de chambre, electioneering scoundrels, and even livery servants.' " 152 to inform you that this House has voted not to rescind, and that on a division on the question there were ninety-two nays and seventeen yeas ; " and we shall petition the king to remove Mr. Beniard from the govern- ment of this province. The governor dissolved the Legislature the next day, according to the royal instructions. Several other colonial assem- blies were dissolved for the same reason. Four thousand British troops were sent to Boston this year — 1768 — to aid in the collection of the duties ; but the custom-house ofl&cers fled to the castle for safety, and the collector's boat was dragged through the town and burnt on the common. Now were breathed into life resolves, peti- tions, protests, state-papers, political treatises, that, for vigor of thought and strength and elegance of expression, for profound inquiry into governmental principles and learning, accurate and cogent reasoning, and the noblest love of liberty, must forever remain unsurpassed, and which drove the British government to the last, if not the only argument of despotism — force. These — among the richest legacies ever left by " Sons of Liberty" to their children — demonstrate the intensity of the stmggle, their high and holy principles, the fervor of soul, the indomitable will, with which, consecrated by an unceasing recognition of God over all, the great stake. Liberty, was won. It is only by a diligent and sympathizing study of these writings, and of the hneage and lives of their great authors, that the spirit of the Revolution can be understood. As the Legislature was dissolved, a " convention " was held, at Boston, September 22d, where the public will expressed itself, without the legal forms of authority, but decisively. Non-importation agreements were entered into, and a commercial policy of " masterly inactivity" prevailed, very annoying to the " friends of government," and not comforting to the "swarms" of hungry vampires of the customs. This "insolence" disturbed Parliament, and Governor Bernard was directed to transmit to England the names of the principal offenders, who were to be dragged thither for trial. On election-day. May 31, 1769, the House sent a message to the gov- ernor, "that an armament by sea and land, investing this metropolis, and a military guard, with cannon pointed at the very door of the State House,"— yet standing at the head of State Street, — " where this Assembly is held, is inconsistent with that dignity, as well as that freedom, with which we have a right to deliberate, consult, and deter- mine," and " we have a right to expect that your Excellency will, as his Majesty's representative, give the necessary and effectual orders for the editor's prefatory note. 153 removal of the iibove-mentioned forces by sea and land out of this port and the gates of this city, during the session of said Assembly." The governor's answer Avas: "I have no authority over his Majesty's ships in this port, or his troops in this town; nor can I give any orders for the removal of the same." On the 15th of July, in answer to two petulant messages from Governor Bernard, whether they would provide, according to act of Parliament, for the king's troops, the House " evinced to the whole world and to all posterity" their idea "of the indefatigable pains of his Excellency, and a few interested persons, to procure and keep up a standing force here, by sea and land, in a time of profound peace, under the mere pretence of the necessity of such a force to aid the civil authority. . . . The whole continent has, for some years past, been distressed with what are called acts for imposing taxes on the colonists, for the express purpose of raising a revenue; and that without their consent, in person or by representative In strictness, all those acts may be rather called acts for raising a tribute in America, for the further purposes of dissipation among placemen and pensioners. . . . But of all the new regulations, the Stamp Act not excepted, this under consideration is the most excessively unreasonable. For, in effect, the yet free repre- sentatives of the free assemblies of North America are called upon to repay, of their own and then* constituents' money, such sum or sums as persons, over whom they can have no check or control, may be pleased to expend! . . . therefore, , , . . we shall never make provision for the purposes in your several messages above mentioned." ' Governor Bernard was rewarded, March 20th, by a royal bauble, — a baronetcy, — and, having prorogued the General Court, July 15th, to January 10th, at Boston, he sailed, August 1st, for England, leaving the government in the hands of Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson, who was no less obsequious to the crown, and faithless and ungrateful to his native land. The unanimity of the colonies gained strength; for the cause of one was the cause of all. On the fifth of March, 1770, there was a collision of the soldiers and citizens, — " the horrid massacre," — the anniversary of which was made very serviceable to the patriot cause. Hutchinson, alarmed by the intense public excitement, convened the Council ;i at the same time 1 The elder Adams, in his account of this scene, has left to us a picture of the Council Chamber, which remained as it was when Otis there argued against the 154 editor's prefatory note. the people thronged to Faneuil Hall, and, through a committee, declared to the Governor and Council that " nothing can rationally be expected to restore the peace of the town, and prevent blood and carnage, but the immediate removal of the troops." Governor Hutchinson said : " Nothing shall ever induce me to order the troops out of town;" but Mr. Secretary Oliver whispered: "You must either comply or determine to leave the province." This would have been an end to " his Honor's" advancement. The troops were removed to the castle. In compliance with the mandate of the minister. Governor Hutchinson further prorogued the General Court, to meet at Cambridge, March 15th, instead of at its ancient seat at Boston. They remonstrated, and Hutch- inson answered : " I must consider myself, as a servant of the king, to be governed "— solely — " by what appears to be his Majesty's pleasure." Many messages and speeches were exchanged; and on May 30th the House, before electing the Council, entered on its journal a protest against its session at Cambridge being drawn into precedent. Boston, in the instructions to her representatives in this court, de- nounces the doctrines of the ministry as " political solecisms, which may take root and spring up under the meridian of modei-n Rome; but we trust in God they will not flourish in the soil and climate of British America We, therefore, enjoin j'ou, at all hazards, to deport yourselves (as we rely your own hearts will stimulate) like the faithful representatives of a free-born, awakened, and determined people, who, being impregnated with the spirit of liberty in conception, and nurtured in principles of freedom from their infancy, are resolved to breathe the same celestial ether till summoned to resign the heavenly flame by that omnipotent God who gave it." writs of assistance: "The same glorious portraits of King Charles the Second and King James the Second, to which might be added little, miserable likenesses of Governor "Winthrop, Governor Bradstreet, Governor Endecott, and Gover- nor Belcher, hung up in obscure corners of the room." The latter are now in the Senate Chamber. "Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson, Commander-in-chief in the absence of the governor, is at the head of the council table. Lieutenant- Colonel Dalrymple, Commander-in-chief of his Majesty's military forces, taking rank of all his Majesty's counsellors, must be seated by the side of the Lieutenant- Governor and Commander-in-chief of the province. Eight and twenty counsel- lors must be painted, all seated at the council board. Let me see! — what cos- tume? What was the fashion of that day? Large white wigs, English scarlet cloth cloaks; some of them with gold-laced hats, not on their heads indeed, iu 60 august a presence, but on a table before them." — See pp. 113-14. editor's prefatory note. 155 Such were some of the leading events after Dr. Chauncy's sermon in 1766, and such the condition and spirit of the times when Dr. Cook preached the " Election Sermon" of 1770, — a discourse that must have " come home to men's business and bosoms." The preacher, a graduate of Harvard College in the class of 1735, then in the sixty-second year of his age, was " a man of science, of a social disposition, distinguished by his good sense and prudence, and a faithful servant of the Lord Jesus." i He died June 4, 1783, aged 74. The spirit and formula of legislative action on " election-day," in the revolutionary period, appear in the following contemporary account : "Boston, May 31, 1770. "Wednesday being the Anniversary of the Day appointed by the Royal Charter for the Election of Councillors for this Province, the Great and General Court or Assembly met at Harvard College, in Cambridge, at Nine o'clock in the Morning; when the usual Oaths were administered to the Gentlemen, who were returned to sen'^e as Members of the Honorable House of Representatives, who also subscribed to the Declaration: — The House then made Choice of Mr. Samuel Adams for their Clerk ; after which they chose the Hon. Thomas CusHiNG, Esq., their Speaker. " About Ten o'clock His Honor the Lieutenant-Governor, being escorted by the Ti-oop of Guards from his Seat at Milton, arrived at Harvard College, and being in the Chair, a Committee of the House presented the Speaker elect to His Honor, who afterwards sent a Message in Writing, agreeable to the Royal Explanatory Charter, that he approved of their Choice. The House then chose a Committee to remonstrate to His Honor the Calling of the Assembly at that Place. " At Eleven o'clock His Honor the Lieutenant-Governor, accompanied by the Honorable His Majesty's Council, the Honorable House of Represen- tatives, and a Number of other Gentlemen, preceded by the first Company in Cambridge of the Regiment of Militia, commanded by the Honorable Brigadier Brattle, went in Procession to the Meeting-House, where a Sermon suitable to the Occasion was preached by the Rev'd Mr. Samuel Cooke, of Cambridge, from these words : 2 Sam. xxiii. 3, 4. The God of Israel said, the Bock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over man must be just, ruling in the fear of God, etc. After Divine Service the Procession returned to Harvard-Hall, where an Entertainment was provided. " Previous to the choice of Councillors, — in the afternoon, — Letters 1 Allen. 156 editor's prefatory note. were read from the Hon, Bexjamin Lincoln, Esq.; the Hon. John Hill, Esq.; the Hon. Gamaliel Bradford, Esq.; resigning their Seats at the Council Board, on account of their Age and Bodily Indisposition. "The following gentlemen were elected Councillors for the ensuing year, viz. : For the late Colony of Massachusetts Bat. The Honorable Samuel Danforth, Esq.; James Pitts, Esq.; Isaac Royall, Esq.; Samuel Dexter, Esq.; John Erving, Esq.; t Joseph Gerrish, Esq.; t William Brattle, Esq.; t Thomas Sanders, Esq.; t James Bowdoin, Esq.; t John Hancock, Esq.; Thomas Hubbard, Esq.; t Artemas Ward, Esq.; Harrison Gray, Esq.; t Benja. Greenleaf, Esq.; James Russell, Esq.; t Joshua Henshaw, Esq.; Royall Tyler, Esq. ; t Stephen Hall, Esq. For the late Colony of Plymouth. t James Otis, Esq.; t Jerathmeel Bowers, Esq.; WiLLiA3i Sever, Esq.; t Walter Spooner, Esq. For the late Province of Maine. Nathaniel Sparhaw^k, Esq.; Jeremiah Powell, Esq.; John Bradbury, Esq. For Sagadahock. t James Go wen, Esq. At Large. t James Humphrey, Esq. ; t George Leonard, Jr., Esq. [Those marked t were not of the Council last year.] " The list of Councillors chosen Yesterday being this day, agreeable to the Direction of the Royal Charter, presented to the Lieutenant Governor, His Honor was pleased to consent to the Election of the Gentlemen before-mentioned, except the Hon. John Hancock, Esq., and Jerath- meel Bowers, Esq. Joseph Gerrish, Esq., declined going to the Board." — The Massachusetts Gazette, Monday, June 4, 1770. DISCOURSE III. AX ELECTION SERMON. HE THAT RtTLETH OVER MEN MUST BE jrST, EULnfG TS THE FEAR OF GOD. ASD HE SHALL BE AS THE LIGHT OF THE MORXIXG WHEN THE SO" RISETH, EVEN A MORXIXG WITHOUT CLOUDS: AS THE TEXDER GRASS SPRI>GI>G OUT OP THE EARTH BY CLEAR SHINLSG AFTER RAIX. — 2 Sam. XXiJJ. 3, 4. The solemn introduction to the words now read, re- spectable hearers, is manifestly designed to engage your attention and regard, as given by inspiration from God, and as containing the last, the dying words of one of the greatest and best of earthly rulers, who, by ruling in the fear of God, had served his generation according to the divine will. Transporting reflection ! when his flesh and his heart fliiled, and his glory was consigned to dust. From this and many other passages in the sacred ora- cles, it is evident that the Supreme Ruler, though he has directed to no particular mode of civil government, yet allows and approves of the establishment of it among men. The ends of civil government, in divine revelation, are clearly pointed out, the character of rulers described, and the duty of subjects asserted and explained; and in this view civil government may be considered as an ordinance of God, and, when justly exercised, greatly subservient to the glorious purposes of divine providence and grace : but the particular form is left to the choice and determi- nation of mankind. 14 158 THE TRUE PRINCIPLES In a pure state of nature, government is in a great measure unnecessary. Private property in that state is inconsiderable. Men need no arbiter to determine their rights ; they covet only a bare support ; their stock is but the subsistence of a day; the uncultivated deserts are their habitations, and they carry their all with them in their frequent removes. They are each one a law to himself, which, in general, is of force sufficient for their security in that course of life. It is far otherwise when mankind are formed into col- lective bodies, or a social state of life. Here, their fre- quent mutual intercourse, in a degree, necessarily leads them to different apprehensions respecting their several rights, even where their intentions are upright. Tempta- tions to injustice and violence increase, and the occasions of them multiply in proportion to the increase and opu- lence of the society. The laws of nature, though enforced by divine revelation, which bind the conscience of the upright, prove insufficient to restrain the sons of violence, who have not the fear of God before their eyes. A society cannot long subsist in such a state; their safety, their social being, depends upon the establishment of determinate rules or laws, with proper penalties to en- force them, to which individuals shall be subjected. The laws, however wisely adapted, cannot operate to the public security unless they are properly executed. The execu- tion of them remaining in the hands of the whole com- munity, leaves individuals to determine their own rights, and, in effect, in the same circumstances as in a state of nature. The remedy in this case is solely in the hands of the community. A society emerging from a state of nature, in respect to authority, are all upon a level; no individual can justly challenge a right to make or execute the laws by which it OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 159 is to be governed, but only by the choice or general con- sent of the community. The people, the collective body only, have a right, under God, to determine who shall ex- ercise this trust for the common interest, and to fix the bounds of their authority; and, consequently, unless we admit the most evident inconsistence, those in authority, in the whole of their public conduct, are accountable to the society which gave them their political existence. This is evidently the natural origin and state of all civil government, the sole end and design of which is, not to ennoble a few and enslave the multitude, but the public benefit, the good of the people ; that they may be protected in their persons, and secured in the enjoyment of all their rights, and be enabled to lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty. While this manifest design of civil government, under whatever form, is kept in full view, the reciprocal obligations of rulers and subjects are obvious, and the extent of prerogative and liberty will be indisputable. In a civil state, that form is most eligible which is best adapted to promote the ends of government — the benefit of the community. Reason and experience teach that a mixed government is most conducive to this end. In the present imperfect state, the whole power cannot with safety be entrusted with a single person ; nor with many, acting jointly in the same public capacity. Various branches of power, concentring in the community from which they originally derive their authority, are a mutual check to each other in their several departments, and jointly secure the common interest. This may indeed, in some instances, retard the operations of government, but will add dignity to its deliberate counsels and weight to its dictates. This, after many dangerous conflicts with arbitrary 160 THE TRUE PRINCIPLES power, is now the happy constitution of our parent state. "We rejoice in the gladness of our nation. May no weapon formed against it prosper; may it be preserved inviolate till time shall be no more. This, under God, has caused Great Britain to exalt her head above the nations, restored the dignity of royal authority, and rendered our kings truly benefactors. The prince upon the British throne can have no real interest distinct from his subjects; his crown is his inheritance, his kingdom his patrimony, which he must be disposed to improve for his own and his fam- ily's interest ; his highest glory is to rule over a free peo- ple and reign in the hearts of his subjects. The Peers, who are lords of Parliament, are his hereditary council. The Commons, elected by the people, are considered as the grand inquest of the kingdom, and, while incorrupt, are a check upon the highest offices in the state. A con- stitution thus happily formed and supported, as a late writer has observed, cannot easily be subverted but by the prevalence of venality in the representatives of the people. How far septennial parliaments ^ conduce to this, time may further show ; or whether this is not an infraction upon the national constitution, is not for me to determine. But the best constitution, separately considered, is only as a 1 The Septennial Bill of George I., extending the duration of Par- liaments to seven years, was passed to defeat the intrigues of the Popish faction, Avhosc " conspiracy against the House of Hanover continued," Sir James Mackintosh says, " till the last years of the reign of George II., . .... and whose hostiUty to the Protestant succession was not extin- guished till the appearance of their leaders at the court of George III. proclaimed to the world their hope that Jacobite principles might re- ascend the throne of England with a monarch of the House of Bruns- wick." It was the effrontery of their propaganda in New England that roused Dr. Mayhew in 1750. See his Sermon on the " Martyrdom " of Charles I., p. 102. — En. OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 161 line which marks out the enclosure, or as a fitly organized body without spirit or animal life.^ The advantages of civil government, even under the British form, greatly depend upon the character and con- duct of those to whom the administration is committed. When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn. The Most High, therefore, who is just in all his ways, good to all, and whose commands strike dread, has strictly enjoined faithfulness upon all those who are advanced to any place of public trust. Rulers of this character coo2:>erate with God in his gracious dispensations of providence, and under him are diffusive blessings to the people, and are com- pared to the light of morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds. By the ruler in the text is intended not only the king as supreme, but also every one in subordinate place of power and trust, whether they act in legislative or executive capacity, or both. In whatever station men act for the public, they are included in this general term, and must direct their conduct by the same upright principle. Jus- tice, as here expressed, is not to be taken in a limited sense, but as a general term, including every quality neces- sary to be exercised for the public good by those who 1 Pope's explanation of his two celebrated lines, — " For forms of government let fools contest : Whatever is best administered is best," — was, " that no form of government, however excellent in itself, can be sufficient to make a people happy unless it be administered with inteijrity. On the contrary, the best sort of government, when the form of it is pre- served and the administration corrupt, is most dangerous." When the political institutions of our fathers cease to be animated by their spirit and virtues, the forms only will remain, monuments of their wisdom, and not less of our folly. — Ed. 14* 102 THE TRUE PRINCIPLES accept the charge of it. Justice must be tempered with wisdom, prudence, and clemency, otherwise it will degen- erate into rigor and oppression. This solemn charge given to rulers is not an arbitrary injunction imposed by God, but is founded in the most obvious laws of nature and reason. Rulers are appointed for this very end — to be ministers of God for good. The people have a right to exj^ect this from them, and to require it, not as an act of grace, but as their unquestionable due. It is the express or implicit condition upon which they were chosen and continued in public office, that they attend continually upon this very thing. Their time, their abil- ities, their authority — by their acceptance of the public trust — are consecrated to the community, and cannot, in justice, be withheld ; they are obliged to seek the welfare of the people, and exert all their powers to promote the common interest. This continual solicitude for the com- mon good, however depressing it may appear, is what rulers of every degree have taken upon themselves ; and, in justice to the people, in faithfulness to God, they must either sustain it with fidelity, or resign their office. The first attention of the faithful ruler Avill be to the sub- jects of government in their specific nature. He will not forget that he ruleth over men, — men Avho are of the same species with himself, and by nature equal, — men who are the oflTspring of God, and alike formed after his glorious image, — men of like passions and feelings with himself, and, as men, in the sight of their common Creator of equal importance, — men who have raised him to power, and support him in the exercise of it, — men who are reasonable beings, and can be subjected to no human restrictions which are not founded in reason, and of the fitness of which they may be convinced, — men who are moral agents, and under the absolute control of the High OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 1G3 Possessor of heaven and earth, and cannot, witliout tlie greatest impropriety and disloyalty to the King of kings, yield unlimited subjection^ to any inferior power, — men whom the Son of God hath condescended to ransom, and dignified their nature by becoming the son of man, — men who have the most evident right, in every decent way, to represent to rulers their grievances, and seek redress. The people forfeit the rank they hold in God's creation when they silently yield this important point, and sordidly, like Issachar, crouch under every burden wantonly laid upon them. And rulers greatly tarnish their dignity when they attempt to treat their subjects otherwise than as their fellow-men, — men ^ who have reposed the highest confi- dence in their fidelity, and to whom they are accountable for their public conduct, — and, in a word, men among whom they must, without distinction, stand before the dread tribunal of Heaven. Just rulers, therefore, in making and executing the laws of society, will consider who they are to oblige, and accommodate them to the state and con- dition of men. Fidelity to the public requires that the laws be as plain and explicit as possible, that the less knowing may under- stand, and not be ensnared by them, while the artful evade their force. Mysteries of law and government may be made a cloak of unrighteousness. The benefits of the constitution and of the laws must extend to every branch and each individual in society, of whatever degree, that 1 " Three millions of people, so dead to all the feelings of liberty as voluntarily to submit to be slaves, would have been fit instruments to make slaves of the rest "of the nation. — Pitt. "We have counted the cost of this contest, and find nothing so dreadful as voluntary slavery." — Dec. of Congress, July 6, 1775. — Ed. 2 Perhaps the preacher here caught the eye of a Hutchinson or an Oliver. — Ed. 164 THE TRUE PRINCIPLES every man may enjoy his property, and pursue his honest course of life with security. The just ruler, sensible he is in trust for the public, with an impartial hand will supply the various offices in society ; his eye will be upon the faithful ; merit only in the candidate will attract his atten- tion. He will not, without sufficient reason, multiply lucrative offices in the community, which naturally tends to introduce idleness and oppression. Justice requires that the emoluments of every office, constituted for the common interest, be proportioned to their dignity and the service performed for the public ; parsimony, in this case, enervates the force of government, and frustrates the most patriotic measures. A people, therefore, for their own security, must be supposed willing to pay tribute to whom it is due, and freely support the dignity of those under whose protection they confide.^ On the other hand, the people may apprehend that they have just reason to com- plain of oppression and wrong, and to be jealous of their liberties, when subordinate public offices are made the surest step to wealth and ease.^ This not only increases the expenses of government, but is naturally productive of dissipation and luxury, of the severest animosities among candidates for public posts, and of venality and corruption — the most fatal to a free state. 1 The preacher alludes to the standing controversy with the crown ahout fixed salaries to the crown appointees, which the colony persistently re- fused, but voted such sums from year to year as seemed expedient, thus holding the officers to a certain dependence on the people. Beside, if they were freemen, their property was their own, and not the king's ; and they quoted John Hampden's case. " If the votes of the House are to be controlled by the direction of a minister, we have left us but a faint sem- blance of liberty." — Ed. 2 The reference is to the custom house and revenue officers, whose nunq^ bers and whose salaries were limited only by the " commissioners," who were as irresponsible to the people as is a slave-trader to his victim. —Ed. OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 165 Rulers are appointed guardians of the constitution in their respective stations, and must confine themselves within the limits by which their authority is circumscribed. A free state will no longer continue so than while the con- stitution is maintained entire in all its branches and con- nections. If the several members of -the legislative power become entirely independent of each other, it produceth a schism in the body politic; and the effect is the same when the executive is in no degree under the control of the legislative power,^ — the balance is destroyed, and the exe- cution of the laws left to arbitrary will. The several branches of civil power, as joint pillars, each bearing its due proportion, are the support, and the only proper sup- port, of a political structure regularly formed. A consti- tution which cannot support its own weight must fall ; it must be supposed essentially defective in its form or admin- istration. Military aid^ has ever been deemed dangerous to a free civil state, and often has been used as an effectual engine to subvert it. Those who, in the camp and in the field of battle, are our glory and defence, from the experience of other nations, will be thought, in time of peace, a very improper safeguard to a constitution which has liberty, British liberty, for its basis. "When a people are in sub- jection to those who are detached from their fellow-citi- zens, under distinct laws and rules, supported in idleness and luxury, armed with the terrors of death, under the most absolute command, ready and obliged to execute the 1 The royal governors declared themselves absolutely hound by their ministerial instructions. — Ed. 2 The partisans of despotism — Bernard, Hutchinson, Oliver, and others 0- had induced the crown to send troops, foreign troops, to enforce foreign laws, to dragoon the " subjects " into obedience, in violation of the charter and of the English constitution. — Ed. 166 THE TRUE PRINCIPLES most daring orders — what must, what has been the con- sequence ? Inter arm a silent leges. Justice also requires of rulers, in their legislative ca- pacity, that they attend to the operation of their own acts, and repeal^ whatever laws, upon an impartial review, they find to be inconsistent with the laws of God, the rights of men, and the general benefit of society. This the commu- nity hath a right to expect. And they must have mis- taken apprehensions of true dignity who imagine they can acquire or support it by persisting in wrong measures, and thereby counteracting the sole end of government. It belongs to the all-seeing God alone absolutely to be of one mind. It is the glory of man, in whatever station, to per- ceive and correct his mistakes. Arrogant pretences to infallibility, in matters of state or religion, represent human nature in the most contemptible light. We have a view of our nature in its most abject state when we read the senseless laws of the Medes and Persians, or hear the im- potent thunders of the Vatican. Stability in promoting the public good, which justice demands, leads to a change of measures when the interest of the community requires it, which must often be the case in this mutable, imperfect state. The just ruler will not fear to have his public conduct critically inspected, but will choose to recommend himself to the approbation of every man. As he expects to be obeyed for conscience' sake, he will require nothing incon- sistent with its dictates, and be desirous that the most scrupulous mind may acquiesce in the justice of his rule. As in his whole administration, so in this, he will be am- bitious to imitate the Supreme Ruler, who appeals to his 1 As they had done in the case of the Stamp Act, for instance. — Ed. OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 167 people — "Are not my ways equal ? " Knowing, therefore, that his conduct will bear the light,^ and his public char- acter be established by being fully known, he will rather encourage than discountenance a decent freedom of speech, not only in public assemblies, but among the people. This liberty is essential to a free constitution, and the ruler's surest guide. As in nature we best judge of causes by their effects, so rulers hereby will receive the surest in- formation of the fitness of their laws ^ and the exactness of their execution, the success of their measures, and whether they are chargeable with any mistakes from par- tial evidence or human frailty, and whether all acting under them, in any subordinate place, express the fidelity becoming their office. This decent liberty the just ruler will consider not as his grant, but a right inherent in the people, without which their obedience is rendered merely passive ; and though, possibly, under a just administra- tion, it may degenerate into licentiousness, which in its extreme is subversive of all government, yet the history of past ages and of our nation shows that the greatest dangers have arisen from lawless power. The body of a people are disposed to lead quiet and peaceable lives, and it is their highest interest to support the government under which their quietness is ensured. They retain a reverence for their superiors, and seldom foresee or suspect danger till they feel their burdens. 1 The colony obtained copies of official correspondence with the British ministry, exposing the secrets and plots against their liberties. Six of Governor Bernard's and one of General Gage's letters had been sent by Mr. Bollan, the colonial agent, to the Council, in April, 1769. The disclo- sures enraged the people, and made the writers odious. — Ed. 2 In his letter to England, Oct, 20, 1769, Hutchinson wrote: " I have been tolerably treated since the Governor's" — Bernard — "departure, no other charge being made against me in our scandalous newspapers except my bad principles in matters of government," — Ed. 168 THE TRUE PRINCIPLES Rulers of every degree are iu a measure above the fear of man, but are, equally with others, under the restraints of the divine law. The Almighty has not divested him- self of his own absolute authority by permitting subordi- nate government among men. He allows none to rule otherwise than under him and in his fear, and without a true fear of God justice will be found to be but an empty name. Though reason may in some degree investigate the relation and fitness of things, yet I think it evident that moral obligations are founded wholly in a belief of God and his superintending providence. This belief, deeply impressed on the mind, brings the most convincing evidence that men are moral agents, obliged to act accord- ing to the natural and evident relation of things, and the rank they bear in God's creation; that the divine will, however made known to them, is the law by which all their actions must be regulated, and their state finally de- termined. Rulers may in a degree be influenced to act for the public good from education, from a desire of applause, from the natural benevolence of their temper ; but these motives are feeble and inconstant without the superior aids of religion. They are men of like passions with others, and the true fear of God only is sufiicient to con- trol the lusts of men, and especially the lust of dominion, to suppress pride, the bane of every desirable quality in the human soul, the never-failing source of wanton and capricious power. " So did not I," said the renowned governor of Judah, "because of the fear of God." He had nothing to fear from the people. His commission he received from the luxurious Persian court, where the voice of distress was not heard, where no sad countenance might appear; but he feared his God. This moved him to hear the cries of his people, and without delay redress OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 169 their wrongs. He knew this was pleasing to his God, and, while he acted in his fear, trusted he would think upon him for good. This fear doth not intend simply a dread of the Almighty as the Supreme Ruler and Judge of men, but especially a filial reverence, founded in esteem and superlative love implanted in the heart. This will natu- rally produce a conformity to God in his moral perfections, an inclination to do his will, and a delight in those acts of beneficence which the Maker of all things displays through- out his extended creation. This fear of God is the begin- ning and also the perfection of human wisdom ; and, though dominion is not absolutely founded in grace, yet a true principle of religion must be considered as a necessary qualification in a ruler. The religion of Jesus teacheth the true fear of God, and marvellously discloseth the plan of divine government. In his gospel, as through a glass, we see heaven opened, the mysteries of providence and grace unveiled, Jesus sitting on the right hand of God, to whom all power is committed, and coming to judge the world in righteous- ness. Here is discovered, to the admiration of angels, the joy of saints, and the terror of the wicked, the government of the man Christ Jesus, founded in justice and mercy, which in his glorious administration meet together in perfect harmony. The sceptre of his kingdom is a right scejDtre; he loveth righteousness and hateth wickedness. And though his throne is on high, — prepared in the heavens, — yet he makes known to the sons of men his mighty acts and the glorious majesty of his kingdom. By him kings reign and princes decree justice, even all the nobles and judges of the earth. His eyes are upon the ways of men. His voice, which is full of majesty, to earthly potentates is. Be w^se now, O ye kings ; be in- structed, ye judges of the earth; serve the Lord with fear, 15 170 THE TRUE PRINCIPLES and rejoice in your exalted stations with submissive awe; embrace the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way. The Christian temper, wrought in the heart by the divine Spirit, restores the human mind to its primitive rectitude, animates every faculty of the soul, directs every action to its proper end, extends its views beyond the narrow limits of time, and raises its desires to immortal glory. This makes the face of every saint to shine, but renders the ruler, in his elevated station, gloriously re- splendent. This commands reverence to his person, attention to his counsels, respect to the laws, and author- ity to all his directions, and renders an obedient people easy and happy under his rule ; — which leads to the con- sideration of the last thing suggested in the text, viz. : The glorious effects of a just administration of govern- ment. " And he shall be as the light of the morning when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds ; as the tender grass springing out of the earth, by clear shining after rain." This includes both the disting^uishinor honor and respect acquired by rulers of this character, and the un- speakable felicity of a people thus favored of the Lord. Justice and judgment are the habitation of the throne of the Most High, and he delighteth to honor those who rule over men in his fear. He has dignified them with a title of divinit}^, and called them, in a peculiar sense, the chil- dren of the Highest. And we are not to wonder that, in the darker ages of the world, from worshipping the host of heaven the ignorant multitude were led to pay divine honors to their beneficent rulers, whom they esteemed as demi-gods. The light of divine revelation has dispelled these mists of superstition and impiety, and opened to the pious ruler's OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 171 view the sure prospect of unfading glory in the life to come ; and in the present state he is not without his reward. To find that his conduct meets with public approbation, that he is acceptable to the multitude of his brethren, greatly corroborates his internal evidence of integrity and impartiality, and especially of his ability for public action, and — which is the height of his ambition in this state of probation — enlarges his opportunity of doing good. The shouts of applause — not from sordid parasites, but the grateful, the artless multitude — the i^ious ruler receives as the voice of nature — the voice of God. This is his support under the weight of govern- ment, and fixes his dependence upon the aid of the Al- mighty, in whose fear he rules. How excellent in the sight of God and man are rulers of this character ! Truly the light is good, and a pleasant thing it is to behold the sun. Thus desirable, thus benign, are wise and faithful rulers to a people. The beautiful allusion in the text naturally illustrates this. The sun, as the centre of the solar system, connects the planetary worlds, and retains them in their respective orbits. They all yield to the greater force of his attractive power, and thus with the greatest regularity observe the laws impressed upon tlie material creation. The ruler of the day, as on a throne, shining in his strength, nearly preserves his station, and under the prime Agent directs all their motions, im- parting light and heat to his several attendants and the various beings which the Creator has placed upon them. His refulgent rays dispel the gloomy shades, and cause the cheerful light to arise out of thick darkness, and all nature to rejoice. The planets, Avith their lesser attendants, in conformity to their common head, mutually reflect with feebler beams their borrowed light for the common benefit ; 172 THE TRUE PRINCIPLES and all, in proportion to their distance and gravity, bear their part to support the balance of the grand machine. By this apposite metaphor the divine Spirit has repre- sented the character and extensive beneficence of the faithful ruler, who, with a godlike ardor, employs his authority and influence to advance the common interest. The righteous Lord, whose countenance beholdeth the upright, will support and succeed rulers of this character, and it is an evidence of his favor to a people when such are appointed to rule over them. The natural effect of this is quietness and peace, as showers upon the tender grass, and clear shining after rain. In this case a loyal people must be happy, and fully sensible that they are so, while they find their persons in safety, their liberties preserved, their property defended, and their confidence in their rulers entire. The necessary expenses^ of the govern- ment will be borne by the community with pleasure while justice holds the balance and righteousness flows down their streets. Such a civil state, according to the natural course of things, must flourish in peace at home, and be respectable abroad; private virtues will be encouraged, and vice driven into darkness ; industry in the most effectual man- ner promoted, arts and sciences patronized, the true fear of God cultivated, and his worship maintained. This — this is their only invaluable treasure. This is the glory, safety, and best interest of rulers — the sure protection and durable felicity of a people. This, through the Redeemer, renders the Almighty propitious, and nigh unto a people in all they call upon him for. Happy must the people be that is in such a case ; yea, happy is the people whose God is the Lord. ' See p. 164, note 1. — Ed. OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 173 But the affairs of this important clay demand our more immediate attention. With sincere gratitude to our Almighty Preserver, we see the return of this anniversary, and the leaders of this people assembled — though not, according to the general desire, in the city ^ of our solemnities — to ask counsel of God, and, as we trust, in the integrity of their hearts, and by the skilfulness of their hands, to lead us in ways of righteousness and peace. The season indeed is dark ; but God is our sun and shield. When we consider the days of old, and the years of ancient time, the scene brightens, our hopes revive.^ Our fathers trusted in God; he was their help and their shield. These ever-memorable worthies, nearly a century and a half since, by the prevalence of spiritual and civil tyranny, were driven from their delightful native land to seek a quiet retreat in these uncultivated ends of the earth ; and, however doubtful it might appear to them, or others, w^hether the lands they were going to possess were prop- 1 At the Town-House, in Boston, from which usucal place of legisla- tion the arbitrary interference of the king excluded us. This show of despotism, rather than the inconvenience, is the real objection to sitting at Cambridge. — Ed. 2 Here is a clear and beautiful reference to the principles and history of New England, and of " the glorious Revolution " of 1689 — a reminis- cence very profitable for Governor Hutchinson to reflect on, and very sug- gestive to the Board of Councillors and House of Representatives who hear it, and to all people who may read it. Samuel Adams, Clerk, and now " the most active member of the House," will see that it is published and circulated. It suggests precedents for curing the present ills in our body politic, if gentler remedies, such as petitions and remonstrances, prove to be insufficient. Dr. Mayhew, twenty years before this, considered in his pulpit " the extent of that subjection to the higher powers which is enjoined as a duty upon all Christians. Some," he said, " have thought it warrantable and glorious to disobey the civil powers in certain cases, and in cases of very great and general oppression," etc. See the passage on pages 62, 63. — Ed. 15* 174 THE TRUE PRINCIPLES erly under the English jurisdiction, yet our ancestors were desirous of retaining a relation to their native country, and to be considered as subjects of the same prince. They left their native land with the strongest assurances that they and their posterity should enjoy the privileges of free, natural-born English subjects, which they supposed fully comprehended in their charter. The powers of gov- ernment therein confirmed to them they considered as including English liberty in its full extent ; and however defective their charter might be in form, — a thing common in that day, — yet the spirit and evident intention of it appears to be then understood. The reserve therein made, of passing no laws contrary to those of the parent state, was then considered as a conclusive evidence of their full power, under that restriction only, to enact whatever laws they should judge conducive to their benefit. Our fathers supposed their purchase of the aboriginals gave them a just title to the lands; that the produce of them, by their labor, was their property, which they had an exclusive right to dispose of; that a legislative power, re- specting their internal polity, was ratified to them ; and that nothing short of this, considering their local circumstances, could entitle them or their posterity to the rights and liberties of free, natural-born English subjects. And it does not appear but that this was the general sentiment of the nation and Parliament.^ They did not then view their American adventurers in the light ancient Rome did 1 This was a complimentary and politic view, no doubt; but to Massa- chusetts the price of her liberty had been eternal vigilance. Indifference to the colonies, the changes of government, the contests between liberty and despotism in England, each in turn were opportunities to our fathers for defeathig the ceaseless intrigues of our enemies. The history of our charters, treated as a speciality, would be a proud monument to the pru- dence, judgment, foresight, tact— the statesmanship — of the fathers of New England. — Ed. OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 175 her distant colonies, as tributaries unjustly subjected to arbitrary rule by the dread or force of her victorious arms, but as sons, arrived to mature age, entitled to dis- tinct property, yet connected by mutual ties of affection and interest, and united under the common supreme head. The New England charter was not considered as an act of grace, but a compact between the sovereign and the first patentees. Our fathers plead their right to the priv- ilege of it in their address ^ to King Charles the Second, wherein they say " it was granted to them, their heirs, assigns, and associates forever ; not only the absolute use and propriety of the tract of land therein mentioned, but also full and absolute power of governing all the people 1 After the restoration of monarchy, in 16G0, and the " Charles the Mar- tyr" clergy and coifl-tiers were reinstated, — not by the aid of the Inde- pendents, — the old Laudian hate of New England became rampant, and we find abundant letters from their emissaries to Clarendon, to the Bishop of London, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the like, with a plenty of reports, of " articles of high misdemeanor," writs of quo warranto, dis- courses of petty intrigue, and other spawn of such creatures as Andros, Randolph, and Maverick. The Revolution of 1689, simultaneous in Old England and New England, blasted their hopes. The four commissioners, Nichols, Cartwright, Carr, and Maverick, — any two or three of them to be a quorum, — were commissioned by Charles II., in 1664, to travel through New England to look out for " the reputation and credit of Christian religion, (!) as an evidence and manifestation of our fatherly affection towards all our subjects ... in New England, . . . their liberties and privileges." (!) "All complaints and appeals, in all causes and matters, as well military as criminal and civil," to be " determined . . , according to their good and sound discretions." Thus, by one dash of his pen, " Charles R." proposed to overthrow every institution of government in New England; and his commissioners — one of them the most active and malicious, and a debased and brutal man, as his name then stood on the criminal records of Massachusetts — are simply, " from time to time, as they shall find expedient, to certify us, or our privy coun- cil, of their actings and proceedings touching the premises." This Avas one of the occasions of the address to King Charles, October 25, 16G4. — Hutchinson's Massachusetts, Appendix, xv. xvi. — Ed. 176 THE TRUE PRINCIPLES of this place by men chosen from among themselves, and according to such laws as they shall from time to time see meet to make and establish, not being repugnant to the laws of England ; they paying only the fifth part of the ore of gold and silver that shall be found here, for and in respect of all duties, demands, exactions, and services whatsoever." And, from an apprehension that the powers given by the crown to the four commissioners sent here were in effect subversive of their rights and government, they add: "We are carefully studious of all due subjec- tion to your Majesty, and that not only for wrath, but for conscience' sake." "But it is a great unhappiness to be reduced to so hard a case as to have no other testimony of our subjection and loyalty offered us but this; viz., to destroy our own being, which nature teach eth us to pre- serve, or to yield up our liberties, which dre far dearer to us than our lives ; and which, had we any fears of being deprived of, we had never wandered from our fathers' houses into these ends of the earth, nor laid out our labors and estates therein." But all their humble addresses were to no purpose. As an honorable historian observes : " At this time Great Britain, and Scotland especially, was suffering under a prince inimical to civil liberty ; and New England, with- out a miraculous interposition, must expect to share the same judgments." And, indeed, of this bitter cup, the dregs were reserved for this people, in that and the suc- ceeding happily short but inglorious reign. Our charter was dissolved,^ and despotic power took place. Sir Ed- 1 On the 18th of June, 1C81. James II. was proclaimed in Boston, 1686, April 12th; and. May 15th, Dudley received a commission, as President, with a Council, to govern Massachusetts, which was superseded by the arrival of Andros, December 19, 1686, as Governor of New England. He reigned till 10th of April, 1689, when he was seized by the " sovereign " OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 177 mund Andros, — a name never to be forgotten, — in imi- tation of his royal master, in wanton triumph trampled upon all our laws and rights; and his government was only tolerable as it was a deliverance from the shocking terrors of the more infamous Kirk.^ Sir Edmund at first made high professions of regard to the public good. But it has been observed "that Nero concealed his tyrannical disposition more years than Sir Edmund and his creatures did months." But the triumphing of the wicked is often short.^ The glorious revolution, under the Prince of Orange, displayed people, and late in the year was " sent in safe custody" to England. Andros was a fit instrument for James II., who commended the atrocities of a JeflTries, and would sell his crown and his people to France. — Ed. 1 He was colonel of the troops which assisted Judge Jeffries in his butcheries in the west of England, which the " Catholic" James II. de- lighted to relate to his foreign ambassadors. " Kirke would give his ofiicers a grand dinner; on the removal of the cloth the health of the king and queen was drunk, and at this signal the executioners hanged, under the very eyes of the guests, and to the sound of military instru- ments, the latest prisoners, whose dying agonies merely excited hideous mirth." He thus put to death nearly six hundred persons. "When closely pressed to become a Papist, he answered that he was preengaged ; having promised the Emperor of Morocco, if he ever did change his reli- gion, that he would turn Mohammedan." Randolph, the correspondent of Bancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury, in a letter from Boston, in 1G86, writes to his " Grace" that the colonists " have been struck with a panioke feare upon the apprehension of Col. Kurck's coming hither to be their governor," and entertains " his Grace" with petty scandal and unscrupu- lous plottings about " the affaires of our chm'ch" in Massachusetts. This was in reply to the prelate's inquiries, who was anxious to " propagate the gospel in foreign parts." — Carrel's Counter-Revolution in England, ed. 1857. 197, 213; Hutchinson's Collections, 549, 552. — Ed. 2 Governor Hutchinson cannot have listened to this sermon, and its implied parallel of the times of Andros with his own official period, with- out discomfort, and perhaps regret. His own pen had recorded, in his History of Massachusetts, the infamy of the men of these times, and he himself was plainly on the high road to promotion or to — perdition. — Ed. 178 THE TRUE PRmCIPLES a brighter scene to Great Britain and her colonies ; and though no part of its extended empire did bear a greater part in the joy of that memorable event than this prov- iuce, yet it was then apprehended we were not the great- est sharers in the happy effects of it. I trust we are not insensible of the blessings we then received, nor unthankful for our deliverance from the depths of woe. We submitted to the form of government established under our present charter/ trusting, under God, in the wisdom and paternal tenderness of our gracious sovereign, that in all appointments reserved to the crown a sacred regard would be maintained to the rights of British sub- jects, and that the royal ear would always be open to every reasonable request and complaint. It is far from my intention to determine whether there has been just reason for uneasiness or complaint on this account. But, with all submission, I presume the present occasion will permit me to say that the importance of his Majesty's Council to this people appears in a more conspicuous light since the endeavors which have been used to render this invaluable branch of our constitution wholly depend- ent upon the chair. Should this ever be the case, — which God forbid ! — liberty here will case. This day of the gladness of our hearts will be turned into the deepest sorrow. The authority and influence of his Majesty's Council, in various resj^ects, while hapj^ily free from restraints, is 1 The "province" charter of October 7, 1G91, was suhmittcd to not without reluctance. By it the governor had the sole appointment of military officers, of officers of the courts of justice with the consent of the Council, and a negative on all others chosen by the General Court: so that, as the governor held his commission from tlie crown, they were, in effect, royal appointments, though not salaried by the crown. Under the former charter all were chosen by the General Court, and so accountable to the people. Sec note 1, p. 1G4. — Ed. OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 179 momentous; our well-being greatly dej^ends upon their wisdom and integrity.^ The concern of electing to this important trust wise and faithful men belongeth to our honored fathers now in General Assembly convened. Men of this character, we trust, are to be found; and upon such, and only such, we presume will the eye of the electors be this day. It is with pleasure that we see this choice in the hands of a very respectable part of the community, and nearly interested in the effects of it. But our reliance, fiithers, under God, is upon your acting in his fear. God standeth in the assembly of the mighty, and perfectly discerns the motives by which you act. May his fear rule in your hearts, and unerring counsel be your guide. You 1 It was usual to elect the lieutenant-governor, provincial secretary, attorney -general, and one or more judges of the Supreme Court, to the Council. They were a sort of privy council. But, in 1766, their seats were filled by the opponents to the Stamp Act, and after this the governor found in each successive year fewer friends in council. The lieutenant- goveraor, — Hutchinson, — in his History of Massachusetts, published in the next year, — 1767, — treating of the Council, declared the government of Massachusetts, and of other provinces, defective, for want of a branch with " that glorious independence which makes the House of Lords the bulwark of the British constitution." Still he thought " the colonies not ripe for hereditaiy honors"! In a series of letters, in November and December, 1768, Governor Bernard urges that the king should appoint a royal council, instead of that elected by the people, and suggests an act of Parliament authorizing the king — Governor Bernard being his repre- sentative— to supersede a/Z commissions to improper persons; and Mr. Oliver, in February, 1769, in letters to England, objects to the Council , " as altogether" — too — " dependent on their constituents .... to answer the idea of the House of Lords in the British Legislature." After 1766, the Council and the House harmonized in their measures, and the unhappy governors, left solitary and alone, sought relief by plotting for the overthrow of " this invaluable branch of our constitu- tion." The schemes of these traitors to liberty —names indelible on the darkest roll of pohtical baseness — were adopted by the British ministry four years later, in 1774; but the colonists "trusted in God and kept their powder dry."— Ed. 180 THE TRITE PRINCIPLES have received a Sure token of respect by your being raised to this high trust; but true honor is acquired only by acting in character. Honor yourselves, gentlemen, — honor the council-board, your country, your king, and your God, by the choice you this day make. You will attentively consider the true design of all true government, and, without partiality, give your voice for those you judge most capable and disposed to promote the public interest. Then you will have the satisfaction of having faithfully discharged your trust, and be sure of the appro- bation of the Most High. The chief command in this province is now devolved upon one^ of distinguished abilities, who knows our state, and naturally must care for us, — one who, in early life, has received from his country the highest tokens of honor and trust in its power to bestow ; and we have a right to expect that the higher degrees of them conferred by our gracious sovereign will operate through the course of his administration to the welfare of this people. His Honor is not insensible that, as his power is independent of the people, their safety must depend, under Providence, upon his wisdom, justice, and paternal tenderness in the exercise of it. It is our ardent wish and prayer that his administration may procure ease and quietness to himself 1 Thomas Hutchinson, distinj^uishcd as the historian of the province, and excellent in private life, but whose ambition quickened his conscience only in his duty to the king, and made him an enemy to his country. , Born September 9, 1711, of an ancient and honorable family, he graduated at Harvard College in 1727, at the early age of sixteen ; was of the Coun- cil from 1749 to 17G6; lieutenant-governor from 1758 to 1771; in 1760 ap- pointed Chief Justice, and was now at the head of the government, after the departure of Governor Bernard. Faithful to the British ministry in all its measures, some of which he suggested, he left his native country June 1st, 1774, and died in England in June, 1780, Eliot and Allen have ample notices of him. — Ed. OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 181 and the province ; and, having served his generation according to the Divine will, he may rise to sui^erior honors in the kingdom of God. When the elections of this important day are deter- mined, what further remains to be undertaken for the securing our liberties, promoting peace and good order, and, above all, the advancement of religion, the true fear of God through the land, will demand the highest attention of the General Assembly. We trust the Fountain of light, who giveth wisdom freely, will not scatter darkness in your paths, and that the day is far distant when there shall be cause justly to complain, The foundations are destroyed — what can the righteous do? Our present distresses, civil fathers, loudly call upon us all, and you in special, to stir up ourselves in the fear of God. Arise ! — this matter belongeth unto you ; we also will be with you. Be of good courage, and do it. Whether any other laws are necessary for this purpose, or whether there is a failure in the execution of the laws in being, I presume not to say. But, with all due respect, I may be permitted to affirm that no human authority can enforce the practice of religion with equal success to your example. Your example, fathers, not only in your public administrations, but also in private life, will be the most forcible law — the most effectual means to teach us the fear of the Lord, and to depart from evil. Then, and not till then, shall we be free indeed ; being delivered from the dominion of sin, we become the true sons of God. The extent of the secular power in matters of religion is undetermined ; but all agree that the example of those in authority has the greatest influence upon the manners of the people. We are far from pleading for any established^ 1 " Civil rulers ought undoubtedly to be nursing fathers to the church, 16 182 THE TRUE PRINCIPLES mode of worship, but an operative fear of God, the honor of the Redeemer, the everlasting King, according to his gospel. We, whose peculiar charge it is to instruct the people, preach to little purpose while those in an ad- vanced state, by their practice, say the fear of God is not before their eyes ; yet will we not cease to seek the Lord till he come and rain down righteousness upon us. I trust on this occasion I may without offence plead the cause of our African slaves, and humbly propose the pur- suit of some effectual measures at least to prevent the future importation of them. Difficulties insuperable, I apprehend, prevent an adequate remedy for what is past. Let the time j^ast more than suffice wherein we, the patrons of liberty, have dishonored the Christian name, and de- graded human nature nearly to a level with the beasts that perish. Ethiopia has long stretched out her hands to us. Let not sordid gain, acquired by the merchandise of slaves and the souls of men, harden our hearts against her piteous moans.^ When God ariseth, and when he visiteth, by reproof, exhortation, and their own good and liberal example, as well as to protect and defend her against injustice and oppression; but the very notion of taxing all to support any religious denomination," etc. — Address of the Baptists to the Congress at Cambridge, Nov. 22, 1776. By the amendment of the constitution, in 1833, the absolute sepai'ation of church and state was completed. On this sul>jcct see " Life and Times of Isaac Backus," by Rev. Dr. Hovey, 1838. — Ed. 1 The suggestion of the preacher was heeded. "A Bill to prevent the Importation of Slaves from Africa into this Province" was passed in the House, but an amendment was proposed by the Council, and it seems to have gone no further. In 1767 and 1774, Massachusetts passed laws against slavery, which were vetoed by express instructions from England. The inhabitants of Boston, at a town meeting, held May 26, 1766, for in- structing their representatives, — Otis, Cushing, Adams, and Hancock, — charged them " to be very watchful . . . for the total abolishing of slavery from among us; . . . to move for a law to prohibit the impor- tation and purchasing slaves for the future." In the first draft of the Declaration of Independence was this paragraph: "He"— the king — OP CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 183 what shall we answer? May it be the glory of this prov- ince, of this respectable General Assembly, and, we could wish, of this session, to lead in the cause of the oppressed. This will avert the impending vengeance of Heaven, pro- cure you the blessing of multitudes of your fellow-men ready to perish, be highly approved by our common Father, who is no respecter of ^ persons, and, we trust, an example which would excite the highest attention of our sister colonies. May we all, both rulers and people, in this day of doubtful expectation, know and practise the things of our peace, and serve the Lord our God without disquiet in the inheritance which he granted unto our fathers. These adventurous worthies, animated by sublimer pros- pects, dearly purchased this land with their treasure ; they and their posterity have defended it with unknown cost,* in continual jeopardy of their lives, and with their blood. Through the good hands of our God upon us, we have for a few years past been delivered from the merciless sword of the wilderness,^ and enjoyed peace in our borders ; and there is in the close of our short summer the appear- ance of plenty in our dwellings ; but, from the length of a " Be it far from me, O Lord," said the ancient hero, "that I should do this. Is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? " There- fore he would not drink it. Will not the like sentiments rise in a generous mind thrust into our possessions? » " has waged crael war against hiiman nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. This piratical warfare, the opprobrium of infidel powers, is the warfare of the Christian King of Great Britain. Determined to keep open a market where men should be bought and sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or restrain this execrable commerce." — Ed. 1 Not much troubled by French and Indians since the conquest of Can- ada, in 1759-GO. — Ed. 184 THE TRUE PRINCIPLES our winters, our plenty is consumed, and the one half of our necessary labor is spent in dispersing to our flocks and herds the ingatherings of the foregoing season ; and it is known to every person of common observation that few, very few, except in the mercantile way, from one gener- ation to another, acquire more than a necessary subsistence, and sufiicient to discharge the expenses of government and the support of the gospel, yet content and disposed to lead peaceable lives. From misinformations only, we would conclude, recent disquiets have arisen. They need not be mentioned — they are too well known ; their voice is gone out through all the earth, and their sound to the end of the world. The enemies of Great Britain hold us in derision while her cities and colonies are thus perplexed.^ America now pleads her right to her possessions, which she cannot resign while she apprehends she has truth and justice on her side. Americans esteem it their greatest infelicity that, through necessity, they are thus led to plead with their parent state, — the land of their forefathers' nativity, — whose interest has always been dear to them,-'' and whose wealth they have increased by their removal more than their own. They have assisted in fighting her battles, and greatly enlarged her empire, and, God helping, will yet extend it througji the boundless desert, until it reach from sea to sea. They glory in the British constitution, and are abhorrent, to a man, of the most distant thought of withdrawing their allegiance from their gracious sovereign a Their losses and private expenses, in watches, guards, and garrisons for their defence, and from continual alarms, in all their former wars, have greatly ex- ceeded the public charges. 1 " The enemies of Great Britain " scorned the complaints of the colo- nies against the arbitrary measures of the ministry as unavailing, and laughed at their supposed helplessness against wrong. — Ed. OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 185 and becoming an independent state. And though, with unwearied toil, the colonists can now subsist upon the labors of their own hands, which they must be driven to when deprived of the means of purchase, yet they are fully sensible of the mutual benefits of an equitable com- merce with the parent country, and cheerfully submit to regulations of trade productive of the common interest. These their claims the Americans consider not as novel, or wantonly made, but founded in nature, in compact, in their right as men and British subjects ; the same which their forefathers, the first occupants, made and asserted as the terms of their removal, with their effects, into this wilderness,* and with which the glory and interest of their king and all his dominions are connected. May these alarming disputes be brought to a just and speedy issue, and peace and harmony be restored ! But while, in imitation of our pious forefathers, we are aiming at the security of our liberties, we should all be concerned to express by our conduct their piety and vir- tue, and in a day of darkness and general distress care- fully avoid everything ofiensive to God or injurious to men. It belongs not only to rulers, but subjects also, to set the Lord always before their face, and act in his fear. While under government we claim a right to be treated as men, we must act in character by yielding that subjec- tion which becometh us as men. Let every attempt to secure our liberties be conducted with a manly fortitude, but with that respectful decency which reason approves, a It is apprehended a greater sacrifice of private interest to the public good, both of Great Britain and the colonies, hath at no time been made than that of the patriotic merchants of thiS and all the considerable colonies, by their non- importation agreement. And whatever the effects may be, their names will be remembered with gratitude to the latest generations, by all true friends to Britain and her colonies. 16* 186 TRUE PRINCIPLES OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT. and which alone gives weight to the most salutary meas- ures. Let nothing divert us from the paths of truth and peace, which are the Avays of God, and then we may be sure that he will be with us, as he was with our fathers, and never leave nor forsake us. Our fathers — where are they ? They looked for another and better country, that is, an heavenly. They were but as sojourners here, and have long since resigned these their transitory abodes, and are securely seated in man- sions of glory. They hear not the voice of the oppressor. We also are all strangers on earth, and must soon, without distinction, lie down in the dust, and rise not till these heavens and earth are no more. May we all realize the appearance of the Son of God to judge the world in righteousness, and improve the various talents committed to our trust, that we may then lift up our heads with joy, and, through grace, receive an inheritance which cannot be taken away, even life everlasting ! Amen. DISCOURSE PREACHED December 15th, 1774, Being the day recommended By the Provincial Congrefs ; And Afterwards at the Boston LECTURE. By WILLIAM GORDON Pastor of the Third Church in Roxbury ** And the King confulted with the old men that flood before ** his father, while he yet lived, and faid, how do ye advife, " that I may anfwer this people ? And they fpake unto him, " faying, if thou wilt be a fervant unto this people this day, " and wilt ferve them, and anfwer them, and fpeak good " words to them, then they will be thy fervants for ever." I Kings. 12. 6, 7. " I ardently wifh that the common enemies to both countries " may fee to their difappointment, that thefe difputes be- *' tween the Mother country, and the colonies have termina- " ted like the quarrels of lovers, and increafed the affeflion " which they ought to bear to each other." Governor Gage's Letter to the Hon. Peyton Randolph, Efq; The Second Edition. BOSTON: Printed for, and Sold by Thomas LEVERETT,in Corn-Hill. illS' NOTE The Boston Thursday Lecture, at which Mr. Gordon repeated this sermon, was founded by the Rev. John Cotton, in 1633, and yet retains a lingering existence, as an opportunity for ministerial gatherings. It was the occasion for presenting, and sometimes discussing, questions of general, social, or politi- cal interest; and a collection of the Thursday lectures, or sermons, for the first hundred and fifty years, would be a faithful epitome of the current and progress of public opinion during that period. It would hardly be an exaggeration to say that much of the early colonial legislation was merely declaratory of what had fallen from oracular lips in the Thursday pulpit. So general was the in- terest in the occasion, that it was established by authority as the " market day." The institution illustrates the politico-theological history of New England as stated in the Introduction to this volume. *' The Shade of the Fast " is the title of Rev. N. L. Frothingham's sermon on "The close of the Second Century since the establishment of the Thursday Lecture." Rev. R. C Waterston preached, December 14, 1843, " A Discourse in the First Church on the Occasion of Resuming the Thursday Lecture." — Ed. EDITOR'S PREFATORY NOTE. A BEIEF OF EVENTS FROM MARCH, 1770, TO DECEMBER, 1774. The reasons which led to the repeal of the Stamp Act prevailed also against the act of 1767, which was repealed in March, 1770, excepting as to the duty on tea. The British ministry, with Governor Hutchinson and his fellow-conspirators, found that British bayonets were powerless against non-importation agi-eements, and that British merchants would not wil- lingly lose their American commerce. Yet Lord North, with singular fatuity, while making this second surrender to the spirit of the "rebel" colonies, said: "A total repeal cannot hQ \hong\ii of till America is pros- trate at our feet"! — an anomalous position, offering terms of capitulation, and in the same breath demanding unconditional submission! Mr. Pownall, who had a thorough knowledge of the colonies, moved for a total repeal. " If it be asked," he said, "whether it will remove the apprehensions excited by your resolutions and addi-ess of the last year for bringing to trial in England persons accused of treason in America, I answer, no. If it be asked, if this commercial concession would quiet the minds of the Americans as to the political doubts and fears which have struck them to the heart throughout the continent, I answer, no. So long as they are left in doubt whether the Habeas Corpus Act, whether the Bill of Rights, whether the Common Law as now existing in England, have any operation and effect in America, they cannot be satisfied. At this hour they know not whether the civil constitutions be not suspended and superseded by the establishment of a military force. The Americans think they have, in return to all their applications, experienced a temper and discipline that is unfriendly; that the enjoyment and exercise of the common rights of freemen have been refused to them. Never, with these views, will they solicit the favor of this House ; never more will they wish to bring before Parliament the grievances under which they conceive 190 editor's prefatory note. themselves to labor. Deeply as tliey feel, they suffer and endure \vlth a determined and alarming silence. For their liberty they are under no apprehensions. It was first planted under the genius of the constitution; it has grown up into a verdant and flourishing tree; and should any severe strokes be aimed at the branches, and fate reduce it to the bare stock, it would only take deeper root, and spring out again more hardy and durable than before. They trust to Providence, and wait with firmness and forti- tude the issue." The House of Representatives, relying on the Massachusetts charter as a compact, in a message to Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson, July 31, 1770, deny that " even his Majesty in Council has any constitutional authority to decide any controversies whatever that arise in this province, except- ing only such matters as are reserved in the charter;" and they " are clearly of opinion that your Honor is under no obligation to hold the General Court at Cambridge, let your instructions be conceived in terms ever so peremptory, inasmuch as it is inconsistent and injurious to the province." They quote Mr. Locke on civil government, in the matter of prerogative, that the people have " reserved that ultimate determination to themselves which belongs to all mankind where there lies no appeal on earth, viz., to judge whether they have just cause to make their appeal to Heaven." They add: " We would by no means be understood to suggest that this people have occasion at present to proceed to such extremity." On June 19th, 1771, they again " protest against all such doctrines, prin- ciples, and practices as tend to establish either ministerial or even royal instructions as laws within the province." Hutchinson replied that the charter was a mere grant of " privileges " from the crown, which might be cancelled at any time, and that he must act in conformity to his " in- structions " or not at all. In a message to the governor, on July 5th, they say: "We know of no commissioners of his Majesty's customs, nor of any revenue his Majesty has a right to establish in North America; we know and feel a tribute levied and extorted from those who, if they have property, have a right to the absolute disposal of it." The apparent lull in public feeling in 1770-72 alarmed the patriot lead- ers; but it was the calm before a storm. The sight of foreign soldiery and hostile fleets to enforce an odious despotism from another land, daily demonstrated that non-resistance was slavery. The capture and destruc- tion of one of the British armed revenue vessels whicli lined our coasts — the Gaspee, at Providence, R. I., on the night of June 10th, 1772 — was the first overt act of resistance, and the people said Amen ! editor's prefatory note. 191 It would be difficult, perhaps, to assign to any one specially the idea of committees of correspondence as the most efficient means of unity and of concert of action. As already stated,^ Dr. Mayhew had, in 1766, sug- gested the thought to Mr. Otis. Gordon says that Mr. Samuel Adams visited Mr. James Warren, at Plymouth, to confer with him on the hest plan for counteracting the misrepresentations of Governor Hutchinson that the discontented were a mere faction, and Mr. Warren proposed the committees of con-espondence. Mr. Adams was pleased with it, and the machinery was put in operation at the first favorable opportunity. As the government and defence of a free people depend upon its own volun- tary support, and Governor Hutchinson refused a salary from the province, and accepted it of the crown, the General Court did " most solemnly pro- test that the innovation is an important change of the constitution, and exposes the province to a despotic administration of government." The Boston " Committee of Correspondence," appointed at this junc- ture " to state the rights of the colonists ... as men, as Christians, and as subjects; to communicate and publish the same to the several towns in this province, and to the world," made their report, at a town meeting in Fancuil Hall, on the 20th of November, 1772. They quote freely from " Locke on Government," of which there was a Boston edi- tion published soon after. They declare that, "in case of intolerable oppression, civil or religious, men have a right to leave the society they belong to and enter into another." That in religion there should be mutual tolez-ation of all professions " whose doctrines are not subversiA'e of society," — a principle which excludes the Papists, for they teach " that princes excommunicated may be deposed, and those they call heretics may be destroyed without mercy; besides their recognizing the Pope in so absolute a manner, in subversion of government, by introducing, as far as possible, into the states under whose protection they enjoy life, liberty, and property, that solecism in politics, Imperium in imperio, leading di- rectly to the worst anarchy and confusion, civil discord, war, and blood- shed. . . . That the right to freedom being the gift of God Almightt, it is not in the power of man to alienate this gift and voluntarily become a slave." " The colonists," they say, " have been branded with the odious names of traitors and rebels only for complaining of their grievances. How long such treatment will or ought to be borne, is submitted." They enu- merate, among their grievances, the revenue acts, the presence of stand- ing armies and of hosts of officers for their enforcement; the rendering 1 See page 44. 192 tlie governor, judges,i and other officers, independent of the people by salaries from the crown, " which will, if accomplished, complete our slavery; " the instructions to the governor whereby he " is made merely a ministerial engine ; " the surrender of the provincial fortress, Castle William, to the troops, beyond the provincial control; the suspension of the New York Legislature " until they should quarter the British troops ; " '* the various attempts which have been made, and are now made, to establish an American Episcopate," though " no power on earth can justly give either temporal or spiritual jurisdiction within this province except the great and general court.'"' The report, with " a letter of correspondence," was printed and sent to " the selectmen of every town in the province." It was like the match to a well-laid train, and there burst forth from every quarter responses of such spirit and severity against " these mighty grievances and intolerable wrongs," the change in the state of affairs was " so sudden and unex- pected," as to greatly alarm and perplex the governor, now helpless and friendless, and his subsequent controversies with the House only tended to strengthen the colonial cause. Virginia approved of all this ; the system of correspondence was extended to the colonies, and laid the foundation of that union which resulted in the general congress at Philadelphia, in September, 1774. The report of the proceedings of the Boston town-meetings was reprinted in London in 1773, with a preface, written by Dr. Franklin, to expose the misrepresentations of Lord Dartmouth and the ministry, that the discon- tented were only a faction, and to show that the true causes of discontent might be well understood. This greatly irritated the ministry. The discovery and publication, in 1773, of the confidential letters of Oliver, Hutchinson, and other " government " men, exasperated the people against the authors. Then followed the destruction of the tea in Boston harbor, and similar conduct in Philadelphia and New York; and the sequence was, the Boston Port Bill, which recited " That the opposition to the authority of Parliament had always originated in the colony of Massa- chusetts, and that the colony itself had ever been instigated to such conduct by the seditious proceedings of the town of Boston." It de- stroyed the commerce of the port. Many were distressed for the neces- saries of life; but the act operated as a bond of sympathy between the 1 "No tyranny so secure, none so intolerable, none so dangerous, none so remediless, as that of executive courts." — Josta/t Quincy, Jr., 1772. editor's prefatory note. 193 colonies, and excited a feeling of brotherhood and union against England. General Gage arrived at Boston May 13, 1774, as commander-in-chief of the king's forces, and as Governor of Massachusetts. " The Episcopal clergy" and others addressed Governor Hutchinson, just before he sailed for England, June 1st, " expressing their approbation of his public conduct, and their affectionate wishes for his prosperity," though he was execrated by all others. On his arrival there he found that the ministry had adopted the policy advised in his letters of 1768-9, and annulled the charter, as to the executive and judicial powers, and thus he saw the ruin of his country, — if it could be effected, — the work of his own ingrati- tude and selfish ambition. And, as if intended for a beacon, and an exemplar to the other colonies of the animus and real principles of their enemies, another act established in Canada the Papal Church and a civil despotism in harmony with the history and genius of that hierarchy. In one of their letters, the patriots say, " that a people long inured to hardships lose by degrees the very notions of liberty; they look upon themselves as creatures, at mercy, and that all impositions laid on by superior hands are legal and obligatory ; so debased that they even rejoice at being subject to the caprice and arbitrary power of a tyrant, and kiss their chains. But, thank Heaven ! this is not yet verified in America. We have yet some share of public virtue remaining. We are not afraid of poverty, but disdain slavery. The fate of nations is so precarious, and revolutions in states so often take place at an unexpected moment, when the hand of power has secured every avenue of retreat, and the mind of the subject so debased to its purpose, that it becomes every well-wisher to his country, while it has any remains of freedom, to keep an eagle eye upon every innovation and stretch of power in those that have the rule over us. . . . Let us disappoint the men who are raising themselves on the ruin of this country." The rapid course of events in 1774 electrified the Sons of Liberty. The arrogance of the ministry, and the severity and abruptness of their acts in Parliament, were met by a spirit of stern defiance, and there swept along the Atlantic shores of the American colonies such a chorus for liberty as was never heard before in national tragedy. The Provincial Congress, — representatives of freemen, — assembled now, not by virtue of paltry parchments from blasphemous "sacred Majesty," but by charter from the Almighty, to whom they make solemn appeal, "assumes every power of a legal government; for"— says General Gage — "their edicts are implicitly obeyed throughout the continent." They "resolve," and 17 194 editor's prefatory note. the treasury is supplied; to their call for "immediate defence," minute- men, armed hosts, come with alacrity from peaceful life, the artisan from his shop,i the farmer from his plough, the fisherman from his shallop, the laAvyer from his brief, the merchant from his ledger, and the chaplain from his parish — from field and flood they profiler all for liberty, and mat- ron and maid, with eager hands and hearts, help them to their holy duty. Dr. Joseph Warren Avrotc to Josiah Quincy in November, 1774 : " It is the united voice of America to preserve their freedom, or lose their lives in defence of it. Their resolutions are not the effects of inconsiderate rashness, but the sound result of sober inquiry and deliberation. I am convinced that the true spiritof liberty was never so universally diffused throughout all ranks and orders of people, in any country on the face of the earth, as it now is through all North America." Of the state docu- ments of the General Congress at Philadelphia, Chatham, in the House of Lords, said : " For myself, I must declare and avow, that in all my reading and observation, — I have read Thucydides, and have studied and admired the master states of the world, — that for solidity of reason- ing, force of sagacity, and Avisdom of conclusion, under such complication of circumstances, no nation or body of men can stand in prefei'cnce to the General Congress at Philadelphia." The Provincial Congress, assembled at the meeting-house in Concord, October 13, 1774, in a message to Governor Gage, signed by John Han- cock, President, said, " that the sole end of government is protection and security of the people. Whenever, therefore, that power which was originally instituted to effect these important and valuable purposes is 1 The Blacksmiths' Convention of Worcester County, Massachusetts, November 8, 1774, illustrates the fervid determination of the people. They resolved that, "deeply impressed with a sense of our duty to our country, paternal affectiou for our children and unborn millions, as also for our personal rights and lib- erties, we solemnly covenant . . . that we will not . . . do or perform any blacksmith's work, or business of any kind, .... for any person or persons .... commonly known by the name of tories, . . . mandamus coun- sellors, ... for every person who addressed Governor Hutchinson at his departure from this province; ... all of whom should be held in contempt, and those who are connected with them ought to separate from them, laborers to shun their vineyards, merchants, husbandmen, and others, to withhold their commerce and supplies." This, signed by forty-three of the best men, with strong arms and great hearts, Ross Wyman, of Shrewsbury, President, and Timothy Bigklow, of Worcester, Clerk, was widely distributed in handbills, and publislied in the newspapers. Lincoln's History of Worcester, chapters vi.— ix., admirably illustrates the spirit of the Revolution, 195 employed to harass, distress, or enslave the people, in this case it becomes a curse rather than a blessinp^; .... and we request that you imme- diately desist from the fortress now constructing at the south entrance into the town of Boston, and restore the pass to its natural state." To which the governor answered: "The fortress, unless annoyed, will annoy no- body; . . . and I warn you of the rock you are upon, and require you to desist from such illegal and unconstitutional proceedings." Letters of the famous tory churchman, Peters, of Connecticut, were laid on the President's table. One, dated September 28, said : " Six regiments are coming over from England, and sundry men-of-war. So soon as they come, hanging work will go on. Destruction will attend first the seaport towns The lintel sprinkled on the sidepost will preserve the faithful," i. e., the Episcopalians. On the first of October he wrote to Rev. Dr. Auchmuty, of New York: "The" — Episcopal — " churches in Connecticut must fall a sacrifice, very soon, to the rage of the Puritan mobility, if the old serpent, that dragon, is not bound. . . . Sphitual iniquity rides in high places, with halberts, pistols, and swords. See the proclamation I sent you by my nephew, on their pious Sabbath day, the fourth of last month, when the preachers and magistrates left the pulpit, etc., for the gun and drum, and set off for Boston, cursing the king and Lord North, General Gage, the bishops and their cursed curates, and the Church of England." The occasion of the discourse appears in the following " Resolve recom- mending to the people of this province" — Massachusetts — " to observe a day of public Thanksgiving throughout the same," passed by the First Provincial Congress, held in the meeting-house, at Cambridge, October 22, 1774 : " From a consideration of the continuance of the gospel among us, and the smiles of Divine Providence upon us with regard to the seasons of the year, and the general health which has been enjoyed; and in particular, from a consideration of the union which so remarkably prevails, not only in this province, but throughout the continent, at this alarming crisis, it is resolved, as the sense of this Congress, that it is highly proper that a day of public thanksgiving should be observed throughout this province ; and it is accordingly recommended to the several religious assemblies in the province, that Thursday, the fifteenth day of December next, be observed as a day of thanksgiving, to render thanks to Almighty God for all the blessings we enjoy. And, at the same time, we think it incumbent on this people to humble themselves before God, on account of their sins, 196 for which he hath been pleased, in his righteous judgment, to suffer so great a calamity to befall us as the present controversy between Great Britain and the colonies; as also to implore the Divine blessing upon us, that, by the assistance of his grace, we may be enabled to reform whatever is amiss among us ; that so God may be pleased to continue to us the blessings we enjoy, and remove the tokens of his displeasure, by causing harmony and union to be restored between Great Britain and these colonies, that we may again rejoice in the smiles of our sovereign, and in possession of those privileges which have been transmitted to us, and have the hopeful prospect that they shall be handed down entire to posterity under the Protestant succession in the illustrious House of Hanover. JOHN HANCOCK, President." The preacher, Mr. Gordon, born at Hitchin, in England, pastor of an Independent church at Ipswich, removed to America in 1770, and was ordained pastor of the Jamaica Plain Church, in Roxbury, July 6, 1772. " His soul was engaged in " the American cause. He was chaplain to the Provincial Congress; and several sermons on public occasions during the struggle show his zeal and prudence as a Son of Liberty. He improved his excellent opportunities for fulness and fidelity in his "History of the Rise, Progress, and Establishment of the Independence of the United States of America: including an account of the late war, and of the thirteen colonies from their origin to that period," first published in 1788, — a candid and impartial work, of which there have been several editions. He returned to England in 1786, and died at Ipswich, October 19, 1807, aged 77. — Allibone, Allen. This sermon excited the indignation of " the king's friends," one of whom, " a friend to peace and good order," published " observations" upon it as "daring and treasonable, . . . absurd and impertinent, . . . a firebrand of sedition, . . . audacious and wicked ; " so awful to "every honest man, every virtuous citizen," that " to let it pass disre- garded would argue an inattention to the welfare of the public wholly Inexcusable." " Where could this reverend politician, . . clerical disclaimer, . . Christian sower of sedition, . . notable empiric, , . warfaring priest, . . ordained leader, . . this church-militant general, . . have leanit to preach up doctrines of sedition, rebellion, carnage, and blood? Not, I am sure, from the merciful divulger of his religion, for he only taught the precepts of peace and forgiveness. . . . I most heartily wish, for the peace of America, that he and many others of his profession would confine themselves to gospel truths." DISCOUllSE lY A THANKSGIVING SERMON. IT IS OP THE LORD'S MERCIES THAT WE ARE NOT CONSUMED, BECAUSE HIS COMPASSIONS FAIL NOT. — Lam. iii. 22. The pulpit is devoted, in general, to more important purposes than the fate of kingdoms, or the civil rights of human nature, being intended to recover men from the slavery of sin and Satan, to point out their escape from future misery through faith in a crucified Jesus, and to assist them in their prepafations for an eternal blessed- ness. But still there are special times and seasons when it may treat of politics. And, surely, if it is allowable for some who occupy it, by preaching up the doctrines of non-resistance and passive obedience,^ to vilify the prin- ciples and to sap the foundations of that glorious revolu- tion that exalted the House of Hanover to the British throne, it ought to be no transgression in others, nor to be construed into a want of loyalty, to speak consistently with those approved tenets that have made George the Third the first of European sovereigns, who otherwise, 1 The publications of the period abound in such finger-points to these " missionaries," who were considered as simply ecclesiastical corps of sappers and miners, busy among the people, disguised as teachers of reli- gion, disseminating doctrines subversive of liberty, and who were secretly ill heart as zealous for the British ministry as were their more honorable brethren, the chaplains of the mercenary armies, who took the hazards of open war. Perhaps the sacrifices of the former were the greater. — Ed. 17* 198 A THANKSGIVING SERMON, with all his personal virtues, might have lived an obscure Elector. Having, then, the past morning of this provincial thanksgiving, accommodated the text to the case of indi- viduals, I shall now dedicate it, according to its original intention, to the service of the public, the situation of whose aflfars is both distressing and alarming. The capital of the colony is barbarously treated, pre- tendedly for a crime, but actually for the noble stand she has made in favor of liberty against the partisans of sla- very. She has distinguished herself by her animated oppo- sition to arbitrary and unconstitutional proceedings, and therefore has been marked out, by ministerial vengeance,^ 1 Official insolence and ignorance never received a quicker or more dig- nified rebuke than in the united and decisive voice of the colonies for Boston and against the ministry. In the debates on the Boston bills, Col. Barre said to the ministry: "You point all your revenge at Boston alone; but I think you will very soon have the rest of the colonies on your back." Salem nobly resented and refused the proffered bribe of the diverted com- merce of Boston to her port. The newspapers published numerous ac- knowledgments of such substantial tokens of " aid and comfort " as this : " On Tuesday morning last came to town," — Boston, — " from Marble- head, eight cart-loads of salt fish ; a generous donation from our sympa- thizing brethren of that small town." The people of Massachusetts refusing any supplies for the British troops. Gen. Gage sent a vessel to Baltimore for a load of flour, for blankets, etc., but "the committee of correspondence of that place re- fused to furnish any of the articles until they heard from the General Con- gress, where they had sent an express to receive directions how they should act on the occasion;" yet that same committee were then freely contributing to the necessities of the Boston patriots. Poor Gage's sup- plies from England and elsewhere were intercepted and captured by "Yankee" privateers, and he was often reduced to predatory incursions. A letter from Alexandria, Virginia, of July 6th, 1774, said : " All Vir- ginia and Maryland are contributing for the relief of Boston, — of those who, by the late cruel act of Parliament, are deprived of their daily labor and bread, — to prevent the inhabitants sinking under the oppres- sion, or migrating, to keep up that manly spirit that has made them dear PREACHED DECEMBER 15, 1774. 199 to be made an example of, whereby to terrify other Amer- ican cities into a tame submission. She is an example, and, thanks to Heaven ! an example of patience and forti- to every American." Enclosed was a list of the cargo of "Schooner Nassau," — corn, flour, wheat, etc., — "consigned to the Hon. John Han- cock and James Bowdoin, Esqrs., Mr. Samuel Adams, Isaac Smith, Esq., and the Gentlemen Committee " of Boston, for distribution. The " Ga- zette," which published this letter, says : " Every part of this extensive continent, so far as we have yet heard, appears to be deeply interested in the fate of this unhappy town. Many and great are the donations we have already received, and many more we have good reason to expect." The same paper contains " Resolutions unanimously entered into by the Inhabitants of South Carolina, at a General Meeting held at Charlestown," in July, 1774, which declare " that not only the dictates of humanity, but the soundest principles of true policy and self-preservation, make it necessary for the inhabitants of all the colonies in America to assist and support the people of Boston." Now was to be realized the splendid thought of the Rev. Dr. Mayhew's " Lord's-day Morning " meditations i — " a communion of the colonies." *' Letters of friendship and regard — a desire to cement and perpetuate union among ourselves " — flew like winged messengers of love from col- ony to colony, and from heart to heart; and on the seventh of October, 1774, George III. saw, not Boston and Massachusetts crushed beneath his German foot, not the fratricidal discord of base men in sordid haste to fatten upon the ruin of sister colonies despoiled by despotism, — for so low was his avowed policy, and so brutal the hope of his kingly breast ; but, thank God ! there was too little of Oxford " obedience," and too few of its minions in America, for such thrift; — he saw not that, but a Conti- nental Congress in session at Philadelphia, composed of " the representa- tives of his Majesty's faithful subjects in all the colonies from Nova Sco- tia to Georgia" — a new power in the world. Their committee — Thomas Lynch, of South Carolina, Samuel Adams, of Massachusetts, and Edmund Pendleton, of Virginia — prepared a letter to Gen. Gage, representing " that the town of Boston and province of Massachusetts Bay are considered by all America as suffering in the common cause for their noble and spirited opposition to oppressive acts of Parliament, calculated to deprive us of our most sacred rights and privileges," and remonstrating against his hostile military pi-eparations in that town. His Majesty called them " rebels," and they soon declared and proved themselves to be neither subjects nor rebels, but a free people. — Ed. 1 See his letter on pages 44, 45. 200 tilde, to the no small mortification of her enemies, whose own base feelings led them to imagine that she would immediately become an abject supplicant for royal favor, though at the expense of natural and chartered rights. May some future historian, the friend of mankind and citizen of the world, have to record in his faithful and ever-living page that she never truckled, though British sailors and soldiers, contrary to their natural affection for the cause of liberty, were basely employed to intimidate her, but i3erseveringly held out through the fiery trial till a revolution of men and measures brought on her deliver- ance! But it is not the capital alone that suffers. The late venal Parliament, in compliance with the directions of administration, have, under the false color of regulating the government of the colony, mutilated its charter, and conveyed dangerous powers to individuals for the enforc- ing and maintaining those encroachments that they have A'entured, in defiance of common equity, to make upon the righta of a free people ; and had not the calmness and prudence of others supplied their lack of wisdom, the country might by this time have become an Aceldama.*^ a I take this opportunity of making mv public acknowledgments to his Excel- lency the governor for not having precipitated the country into a civil war — au event wliich, as appears by his letter,! he ardently wishes may never exist. Should the continent be exercised with so great an evil, I promise myself, from the known humanity— the constant attendant of true bravery — the known hu- manity of the British officers and troops, that they will not add barbarity to the unavoidable calamities of war. But should any hellish policy order its being done, the colonies, 't is to be supposed, will dread all less than slavery to those cruel masters that can issue such savage edicts. 1 General Gaj^e, in his reply of October 20th, 1774, to the letter of the Continental Congress just cited, wrote: "I ardently wish that the com- mon enemies to both countries may see, to their disappointment, that these disputes between the mother country and the colonies have termi- nated like the quarrels of lovers, and increased the affection which they ouj-ht to bear to each other." — Ed. PREACHED DECEMBER 15, 1774. 201 Upon the principles which tlie British Legislature have adopted, in their late extraordinary proceedings, I see not how we can be certain of any one privilege, nor what hin- ders our being really in a state of slavery to an aggregate of masters, whose tyranny may be worse than that of a single despot ; nor that a man can with propriety say his soul is his own, and not the spring to move his bodily machine in the performance of whatever drudgery his lords may appoint; nor that the public have a permanent and valuable constitution. If the British Legislature is the constitution, or superior to the constitution, Magna Charta, the Bill of Rights, and the Protestant Succession, these boasts of Britons are toys to please the vulgar, and not solid securities. The operation of the late unconstitutional acts of the British Parliament would not only deprive the colony of invaluable privileges, but introduce a train of evils little expected by the generality, and give the British ministry such an ascendency in all public aflfairs as would be to the last dangerous.* a In support of this paragraph I shall quote the follo-n-ing passages from the protest of the Lords agaiust the regulating act, viz. : " The new constitution of judicature provided by this bill is improper and incongruous with the plan of the administration of justice in Great Britain. " The Governor and Council, thus instituted with powers with which the British constitution has not trusted his Majesty and his privy-council, have the means of returning such a jury in. each particular cause as may best suit with the grati- fication of their passions and interests. The lives, liberties, and properties of the subject are put into their hands without control, and the invaluable right of trial by jury is turned into a snare for the people, who have hitherto looked upon it as their main security against the licentiousness of power. " We see in this bill the same scheme of strengthening the authority of the officers and ministers of state, at the expense of the rights and liberties of the subject, which was indicated by the inauspicious act for shutting up the harbor of Boston. " By that act, which is immediately connected with this bill, the example was set of a large, important city (containing vast multitudes of people, many of whom must be innocent, and all of whom are unheard), by an arbitrary sentence, deprived of the advantage of that port upon which all their means of livelihood did immediately depend. "This proscription is not made determinable on the payment of a fine for an 202 The spirited behavior of the country, under these inno- vations, has charmed and affrighted numbers, and, should offence, or a compensation for an injury, but is to continue until the ministers of the crown shall think fit to advise the king in council to revoke it. " The legal condition of the subject (standing unattainted by conviction for treason or felony) ought never to depend upon the arbitrary -will of any person whatsoever." I would add, also, the clause in the regulating act respecting .town meetings i leaves it in the power of a governor to prevent them all at pleasure, those only excepted for the choice of town officers in March, and for the choice of repre- sentatives. Neither the most trifling nor the most important business can be legally transacted, so as to be binding upon the inhabitants, even in the most distant towns of the government, without leave first had and obtained of the governor, in writing, expressing such special business, though it should happen that if not done within less time than necessary for the obtaining of that leave it cannot be done at all. The townsmen can neither lay out a new road nor raise moneys for mending an old one, nor can they settle a minister, without obtaining the express written leave of the governor. Yea, they are forbid so much as to talk; for they are not to treat of any other matter at their March meeting except the election of their officers, nor at any other meeting except the business expressed in the leave given by the governor, or, in his absence, by the lieutenant-governor. If this is not to establish slavery bj^ legislative authority, I beg to know what is. The arbitrary mandates of the grand monarch, enjoin- ing his slaves silence when state affairs are disagreeable to the public, will scarce be thought by many so great an attack upon the rights of mankind, as an at- tempt to perpetuate something of the like nature by a permanent law. Should the favorite of a governor have embezzled the town's money, how shall a meet- ing be obtained to vote and order a prosecution against him? Should a candi- date be reported as a warm friend to the liberties of the people, how shall leave be had for his being settled, though unanimously approved of and admired? Should an oppressed town be desirous of stating its grievances and praying a redress, how shall the inhabitants do it in a corporate capacity, should the com- mander-in-chief be prejudiced against them? Should the electors be inclined to instruct their representatives upon matters of the highest concern to them, how shall they do it without violating the law, when the ruler's interest prevents his giving them leave? A thousand other events are made to depend upon the arbi- trary will of a governor by the clause before us. And why are all the towns of the colony to be reduced to such a slavish dependence? Because, as the Brit- ish legislative asserts, " a great abuse has been made of calling town meetings, and fhe inhabitants have, contrary to the design of their institution, been misled to treat upon matters of the most general concern, and to pass many dangerous and unwarrantable resolves." Oh, abominable! —that a people should be de- prived of their precious and long-enjoyed liberties, not for any wilfully perverse known crime, but because of their being foolishly misled. Why did not tlie wise ministry ease themselves of the opposition given them by the city of London, by 1 The towns were so many commonwealths, petty democracies, and the British ministers could not have adopted any device which Avould more keenly touch the people than this interference with their wonted assem- blies. — Ed. PREACHED DECEMBER 15, 1774. 203 it be continued with prudence, unremitted zeal, and true fortitude, will produce monuments of praise, more lasting than brass, even though it should not prove successful, which is scarce supposable. The distresses that the late acts have already occa- sioned are many and great, and too well known to require an enumeration; and yet, could we be secure of a speedy relief in the pennanent redress of our grievances, we should soon forget them. But we have our fears lest they should be only the beginning of sorrows, and are in doubt whether we may not be called to experience the horrors of a civil war, unless we will disgrace our descent, meanly submit to the loss of our privileges, and leave to posterity — the many millions that shall people this continent in less than a century — bonds and fetters. The important day is now arrived that must determine whether we shall remain free, or, alas! be brought into bondage, after having long enjoyed the sweets of liberty. The event will probably be such as is our own conduct. "Will we conform to the once exploded but again courtly doctrines of passive obedience and non-resistance, rather than hazard life and property — we may have the honor of burninor under the heats of summer and freezin^c under the colds of winter in providing for the luxurious entertain- ment of lazy, proud, worthless pensioners and placemen.^ a like regulation of their charter, upon the ground of the citizens having been misled? Why do they not, upon the same ground, prevent all corporation and county meetings in Great Britain, that so they may not be pestered with any future petitions or remonstrances? But, should the operation of the regulating act be secured, who can tell how long it will be ere the British legislative will assign the solid reason of having been misled to treat upon matters of the most general concern, and to pass many dangerous and unwarrantable resolves for suspending all the American assemblies, or, at least, for reducing the members of each to the more convenient number of the Yorkers? I decline, as wholly unnecessary, all remarks upon the miscalled act for the impartial administration of justice, etc. a There are some honorable exceptions to this general intimation, but they are 0 204 A THANKSGIVING SERMON, Will we make our appeal to Heaven against the in- tended oppression — venture all upon the noble principles that brought the House of Hanover into the possession of the British diadem, and not fear to bleed freely in the cause, not of a particular people, but of mankind in gen- eral — we shall be likely to transmit to future generations, though the country should be wasted by the sword, the most essential part of the fair patrimony received from our brave and hardy progenitors — the right of possessing and of disposing of, at our own option, the honest fruits of our industry. However, it is alarming to think that, through the mistaken policy of Great Britain, and the ab- surd notion of persisting in wrong measures for the honor of government, we may be obliged to pass through those difficulties, and to behold those scenes, and engage in those services that are shocking to humanity, and would be intolerable but for the hope of preserving and perpet- uating onr liberties. Our trade ruined, our plantations so few that they can save themselves only, and not the list, from deserved re- proach. In the year 1697 the pensions amounted only to seven thousand and seventy- seven pounds sterling, but in the year 1705 they amounted to eighteen thousand one hundred and eleven pounds. Since then they have increased to a most enormous sum. A late publication informs us that about ten years back there was a million of debt contracted on the sixpence per pound tax laid on pensions. Tlie interest of a million at four per cent, being forty thousand pounds per an- num, the pensions, to have answered for it, must have amounted to one million six hundred thousand pounds per annum; if at three per cent., to one million two hundred tliousand. There might, possibly, have been a deficiency in this fun^; but it cannot be thought that the financier would have proposed it had it been very considerably deiicient. I heartily wisli that some who have leisure, and can procure the necessary materials, w-ould inform the public, as near as possible, what sums are exhausted by places and pensions. As to the numerous expenditures in the secret services of rewards, bribery and corruption, jobs and contracts, they must remain among the arcana imperii. But, were a virtuous, patriotic administration to close all those unnecessary drains whereby the wealth of Great Britain is carried off, they would, in a few years of peace, greatly reduce the national debt, and have no temptation to gull the people under a pretence of easing them by American taxes, when they design only to provide for their numerous dependents, and to increase the power of the crown, alias the ministry. PREACHED DECEMBER 15, 1774. 205 trodden down, our cattle slain or taken" away, our property plundered, our dwellings in flames, our families insulted and abused, our friends and relatives wallowing and our own garments rolled in blood, are calamities that we are not accustomed to, and that we cannot realize but with the utmost pain ; and yet we must expect more or less of these should we be compelled to betake ourselves to the sword in behalf of our rights. It is not a little grievous to be alarmed with the apprehension of such severe trials, unless we will in our conduct resemble those simple ones that, for the sake of indulging themselves in present ease and plenty, barter away their w^hole interest in future hap- piness.* But, though the situation of our public affairs is both distressing and alarming, it is by far better than we have deserved from the Sovereign of the universe ; it would have been much worse had we been dealt with according to our demerits. " It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed ; because his compassions fail not." Some may, at first hearing, object against this, as being too strong an expression, and may think, considering the morals of the people when compared with the inhabitants of other places, that it is misapplied. I am ready to allow that the morals of this people, taken collectively, are superior to those of other places, — Connecticut excepted, where, I suppose, they are nearly the same, — whether in the New or the Old World, all things considered ; and I cannot but view a It may be objected that the points in dispute are too trifling to justify the hazard of such severe trials. It will be answered that it is the principles the con- tinent is opposing in its attempts to prevent the establishment of precedents. The real dispute is, whether the long-enjoyed constitution of these American colonies, when they are not consenting to it, shall be liable to every alteration that a legislative three thousand miles off shall think convenient and profitable to tiiemselves, and whether a House of Commons at that distance, to which they neither do nor can send a single representative, shall dispose of their property at pleasure. Obstaprincipiis. 18 206 as a strong proof hereof the order that prevails through the country now that the execution of the laws, because of the peculiarity of the times, is suspended. ^ And yet, after all, I must hold to the text ; and, that we may be fully convinced, and be duly affected with the truth of it, shall make some remarks upon this people considered as the subjects of God's moral government. I. In the first place, I remark, that the prevalency of any vices and immoralities among this people must be peculiarly provoking. Circumstances aggravate or alleviate the crimes of soci- eties no less than of single persons ; and far more and other is expected from some than from many others in a very different situation and condition. 1 The ministry sought not only " to beggar the colonies into submis- sion" by ruinous restraints on trade, but to reduce them to anarchy by paralyzing their governments, whose life was supposed to emanate from the crown, and then necessity would compel submission ; but the I'esult astonished all. New governments sprang directly from the people, and the people obeyed. " Obedience is what makes government," said Burke, commenting on this phenomenon, " and not the names by which it is called; not the name of governor, as formerly, or committee, as at pres- ent. . . . We wholly abrogated the ancient government of Massachu- setts. We were confident that the first feeling, if not the very prospect of anarchy, would instantly enforce a complete submission. The experiment was tried. A new, strange, unexpected face of things appeared. An- archy is found tolerable. A vast province has now subsisted, and sub- sisted in a considerable degree of health and vigor, for nearly a twelve- month, without governor, without public council, without judges, without executive magistrates. ... In effect, we suffer as much at home by this loosening of all ties, and this concussion of all established opinions, as we do abroad. For, in order to prove that the Americans have no right to their liberties, we are every day endeavoring to subvert the maxims which preserve the whole spirit of our own. To prove that the Americans ought not to be free, we are obliged to depreciate the value of freedom itself; and we never seem to gain a paltry advantage over them in debate without attacking some of those principles, or deriding some of those feel- PREACHED DECEMBER 15, 1774. 207 Now, it should be remembered that this is but a young people, not a hundred and fifty years old ; for they were not a people for the few first years of their settlement in this wilderness — no more than a small company, who must have soon perished by the hands of the native Indians had not God interposed. Their youth is an aggravation to the crimes committed by them. For a young person to be given to vice, though he has a corrupted nature the same as others, is highly offensive : we look for a decent, modest, and orderly behavior in him. In like manner a young state should be pure in its morals ; should be addicted to no particular vices ; should observe the utmost regularity of behavior, and should not even think of, much less practise, the crimes too generally to be met with in countries of long standing, when at- tained to their height in power and affluence. There is an utter unfitness in the former's attempting to imitate the latter. Can we say that this rising young state is clear as to this matter; that it has not copied the corrupt manners of its aged parent ; and that it hath not its particular vices that are a reproach to it ? However willing we may be, through self-love and native fondness, to apologize for it, we cannot conscientiously pronounce it not guilty while we know how notorious intemperance, uncleanness, luxury, and irrelig^ion are amonor us. But another thing that makes the vices and immoralities of this people peculiarly provoking is, their descent and education. The sins of a youth descended from pious parents, who has had good examples set him, and who has been carefully educated, are worse than those of a common youth that has not enjoyed such advantages. Now, the ancestors of this people were eminently godly ; it was the strength of their zeal for true, unadulterated religion, and the ardor of their love to God and Christ, 208 A THANKSGIVING SERMON, that prevailed upon them to venture over the great deep, and to seek an abode in this then inhospitable and danger- ous country, and that reconciled them to the numberless difficulties that they had long to encounter without ever attaining to the various comforts that we enjoy. They w^ere concerned to perpetuate the same spirit of piety which they were actuated by ; paid great attention to the rising generation, and wisely provided for the good instruc- tion of succeeding ones. Wherein can we charge them with want either of wisdom or faithfulness to posterity? Do we not still reap the fruits of their contrivance and foresight, though not in so ample a manner as might be, through our own faultiness ? Judge ye, what could have been done more through their instrumentality for this part of the Lord's vineyard than what has been done ? Where- fore, then, hath it brought forth so many wild and bad grapes, when it should have yielded the choicest fruit? Is not this peoi:)le strangely degenerated, so as to possess but a faint resemblance of that godliness for which their forefathers were eminent? And could these last appear for a while again in this colony, with the common passions and sentiments of human nature, would they not stand amazed at the sinfulness of the present generation, and be ready to disown them for their posterity? Is it not another generation of professors, very different both as to sentiments and practice from that which, by tlieir emigra- tions for conscience' sake, first planted the gospel in New England ? Would not the like zeal for the leading doc- trines of Christianity, and the like strictness in morals that prevailed in the first settlers, be severely censured and be stigmatized by some reproachful epithet, as in their day, by the generality among us, though through the spirit of the times the persecution might not be more than that of the tongue? They that will divest themselves of preju- PREACHED DECEMBER 15, 1774. 209 dice, and judge impartially, will be obliged, I apprehend, to acknowledge that this people do not answer to the hon- orableness of their descent, any more than to the care that was taken by their predecessors for their being well edu- cated in the principles and practices of religion; the full benefit of which care though they may not enjoy, through the censurable faultiness of some in neglecting their duty, yet is so far enjoyed as that people in general, including all ranks, are not better instructed and educated anywhere, it is probable, than in this country. But certainly the more honorable their religious descent, and the better their education, the more provoking must their vices and immo- ralities be ; and nothing can be more worthy of their par- ticular consideration, especially in these threatening times, than those words in Amos iii. 2, wherein the Lord ad- dresses the children of Israel, saying : " You only have I known of all the families of the earth ; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities." I might add more particulars to this first remark, but choose to make them distinct ones of themselves. II. I therefore proceed to mention, in the second place, that the obligations this people are under to holiness are special, from the many appearances of God in their favor, and his having so multiplied and exalted them. How oft has the Supreme Governor of the universe wonderfully, next to miraculously, interposed for their deliverance when in the utmost danger! Their enemies expected to swallow them up, and were upon the point of doing it, when Providence hath critically interposed, so that they have escaped like a bird out of a snare that has been thrown over it. When their eagerness to cooperate with the parent state, in reducing the power of the com- mon enemy, led them into a bold and dangerous enter- prise, in which, if they had miscarried, they would have 18* 210 A THANKSGIVING SERMON, been subject to an almost irreparable damage, and which must have miscarried, according to the usual course of human and military affairs, had not special events, carry- ing in them the evident marks of providential appoint- ment,^ though in the account of the unbeliever purely casual, — I say, which must have miscarried had not special events turned up, — it pleased God to order the existence of them, and, by crowning the expedition with success, not only to avert the train of evils that must otherwise have followed, but to give this people, then indeed in their in- fancy, a NAME^ among the warlike veteran states of Europe, and to show the world what a few raw provincials could do, under the smiles and care of Heaven, against fortifica- tions and batteries really strong, and defended by regulars, though not by Britons. May they never lose that name, nor blast the laurels gained at Louisburg by any future cow- ardly conduct, when it is not conquest, but liberty and property, that are at stake ! God hath not only appeared for this people, but hath greatly multiplied and exalted them. They were at first a few men in number, yea, very few, and strangers in the land. They came from a well-cultivated kingdom to a savage people and a wild country, enough to discourage the stoutest. However, they ventured to take up their 1 The French ship Vigilant, of sixty-four guns, and six hundred men, when within two hours' sail of Louisburg, Cape Breton, May 19th, was led off in pursuit of smaller craft, and captured. Her arrival would have been fatal to the enterprise. The New England men, being in want of balls, were supplied by those sent by the French guns, which they put into their own cannon, and fired back again. — Prince's Thanksgiving Sermon, 1745; Par- sons's Life of Sir Wm. Pcpperell, Bart. — Ed. 2 Perhaps the capture of Louisburg, in 1745, as a proof of the military prowess of New England, may be taken as the point of time when the colonies became conscious of their strength, and when England became jealous of their dependence. — Ed. PREACHED DECEMBER 15, 1774. 211 abode in it, and, through the original blessing of Heaven upon them, which, perhaps, never displayed itself and wrought more effectually, except in the instance of the Jews, they are become a considerable nation,^ possess a tolerable share of wealth, and would enjoy much public happiness were the painful disputes between them and the parent country comfortably terminated. The face of the colony is not less changed for the better since first settled than what is set forth in the language of Isaiah's prophecy: "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. It shall blos- som abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing; the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it ; the excel- lency of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God."* These enumer- ated are special obligations on this people to holiness. But does their holiness correspond with them ? Are the fruits yielded by them suited to such benefits? Are they that manner of people that might have been expected, and that they engaged to be when under difiiculties, and in great perplexity through threatening appearances ? — or have they not, like the Jews of old, after singing the divine praises, forgot the works of God and the wonders he hath showed them ? And hath not the cast of their after-con- duct evidenced that, in renewing their engagements with ft Isaiah xxxv. 1, 2. 1 An estimate, made in 1775, by the American Congress : state. People. state. People. Massachusetts, . . 400,000 Pennsylvania, . . 350,000 New Hampshire, . 150,000 Maryland, 320,000 Rhode Island, . . 59,678 Virginia, . . 650,000 Connecticut, . 192,000 North Carolina, . 300,000 New York, . 250,000 South Carolina, . 225,000 New Jersey, . 130,000 Total, . . 3,020,078 Ed. 212 him in the day of their affliction, "they did flatter him with their mouth, and Ued unto him with their tongues ; and that their heart was not right with him ; " for " they have not been steadfast in his covenant," have not walked agree- able to the design and purport of God's covenant of grace, with wliich they have in much mercy been made ac- quainted. III. I shall now remark, in the third and last place, that though the appearances of religion among this people are great and many, yet it is to be feared that real religion is scarce, that the power of godliness is rare, and that while there is much outward show of respect to the Deity, there is but little inward heart conformity to him. Individuals are justly entitled to the benefit of an excep- tion, notwithstanding which it may be applied with too much truth to the community as a body, "This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." ^ What is religion, with the generality, more than being baptized, attending public worship statedly on the Lord's day, own- ing the covenant, coming to the Lord's table, and then being orderly in the outward deportment ? If, besides all now mentioned, there is a strict attendance upon private prayer, and the further addition of family, though the prayers shall consist of nothing more than the repeating of a certain set of words that the tongue has been habitu- ated to, the goodness of such religion must not be ques- tioned, though not proceeding from a work of regenera- tion, not produced originally by any special influences of the Holy Spirit, not accompanied with any saving illumi- nations from above, with any spiritual view of the divine glories, any true hatred to sin, any sense of the beauty of holiness, any soul-sanctifying love to God and the Lord a Matthew xv. 8. PREACHED DECEMBER 15, 1774. 213 Jesus. Is there not a great though uuhappy affinity be- tween the case of this people, religiously considered, and that of the Laodicean church, as described by the Alpha and Omega in Revelation iii. 15 — 18? The above remarks upon this people, considered as the subjects of God's moral government, being duly weighed, shall we not be brought to own with humility and grati- tude that it is of the Lord's mercies that we are not con- sumed, because his compassions fail not? As yet we are not consumed. Though, when we look down from the adjoining hills, and behold the capital, we cannot but lament, saying, " How is the gold become dim ! how is the most fine gold changed! how does her port mourn, because her shipping come not .to her as formerly; all her wharves are deso- late ; how is she possessed and surrounded by an armed force, as though in the hands of an enemy ! — yet, blessed be God, she doth not sit solitary ; she is full of people ; she is honorable among the nations ; she is as a princess among the provinces, seeing that she hath not meanly become tributary. She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks ; but, like beaut}" in distress, she is the more engaging. She hath many lovers to com- fort her, and her friends have not dealt treacherously with her, so far from having become her enemies. Her inhabit- ants are suffering, but not starving. Her priests and her elders have not given up the ghost while seeking meat to relieve their soul. The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth not to the roof of his mouth for thirst. The young children ask not bread without any man's offering to break it unto them. We see not her dwellings and public buildings, both civil and sacred, in flames, and the whole becoming, by a speedy destruction, a horrid heap of ruins." 214 A THANKSGIVING SERMON, Though, when we survey the country, we bemoan the attempts that have been made upon the ancient founda- tions of its civil government, which, if successful, will in all probability, after a time, undermine and destroy its reli- gious liberties ; yet we are thankful that no dwelling has been destroyed, — that none of any party have as yet perished by the shocks they have occasioned in the state, — that the sword hath not been commissioned by Heaven to destroy, and the way to an accommodation been ren- dered still more inaccessible through the shedding of blood. We adore the goodness of God, which has kept us from being consumed by the ravages of war. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. And much more so that, in the distressing and alarming situation of our public affiiirs, there have been so many favorable circumstances to pre- serve us from fainting, to hearten us up, and to encourage our hopes in expecting that we shall at length, in the exercise of prudence, fortitude, and piety, get well through our difficulties. Here allow me to run through a brief summary of these favorable circumstances, composed of the following par- ticulars : The rising and growing consistency of sentiments in the friends of liberty, which hath led one assembly and another on this continent to attempt i3reventing the fur- ther introduction of slaves^ among them, though herein 1 One of the articles of the " American Association," formed by the Congi-ess at Philadelphia, in September, pledged entire abstinence from the slave trade, and from any trade with those concerned in it. The pre- vailing sentiment was expressed by Mr. Jefferson in the original draft of the Declaration of Independence: "Determined to keep open a market ■where men should be bought and sold, he " — George III. — " has pros- tituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or restrain this execrable commerce." On the ministerial plan to excite a slave insurrection, Mr. Burke said, 1774 : "An offer of freedom from Eng- PREACHED DECEMBER 15, 1774. 215 they have been counteracted by governors, and which tlie American Congress has with so much wisdom and justice adopted ; the increasing acquaintance with the rights of conscience in matters of religion, as belonging equally alike to men of all parties and denominations, while they conduct as good members of civil society, with- out endeavoring to injure their neighbors of different or opposite sentiments ; the blundering policy of the British ministry in giving so cruel a cast to the Boston Port Bill, taking away by it private property, and subjecting its res- titution to the pleasure of the sovereign ; in following that so hastily with other acts, equally unjust and more exten- sively pernicious, affecting the whole colony, and built upon principles and claims that rendered every dwelling, plantation, and right through the continent precarious, dependent on the will of the Parliament, or, rather, of the junto or individual that hath the power of managing it ; in declaring openly, while supporting the bills, that their design was not against a single town or colony, but against all America ; in presuming that the other towns and colo- nies, upon receiving the dreadful news, would turn pale and tremble, conceal their spirit of resentment and oppo- sition in sneaking professions of tame submission, and abandon the distressed, though their own ruin must have followed upon it, however slowly ; and, upon such pre- sumption, neglecting to divide in time the different colo- nies by flattering promises suited to their several situa- tions, and by secret purchases, ere they could form a general union ; the reestablishment of arbitrary power and land would come rather oddl v, shipped to them " — the slaves — " in an African vessel, which is refused an entry into the ports of Virginia or Carolina with a cargo of three Angola negroes. It would be curious to see the Guinea captain attemptinj^ at the same instant to publish his proclamation of lib- erty and to advertise his sale of slaves." — Ed. 216 a despotic government in a most extensive and purposely- enlarged country,^ contrary to the royal declaration given a few years before, qualified somewhat to the inhabitants by that formal security of their religious liberty which was noways wanting, but, as is generally, I fear justly taught, with the base, diabolical design of procuring tlieir assistance, if required, in quelling the spirit of freedom among the natural and loyal subjects of Great Britain;* a I have no objection to the Canadians being fully secured in the enjoyment of their religion, however erroneous and auti-Christiau it may appear to me as a Protestant, but to the British legislative's not having given a universal estab- lishment to the rights of conscience among them. The rights of conscience are too sacred for any civil power on earth to interdict, wherein they produce not overt acts against the necessary and essential rights of civil society. I say neces- sary and essential, to guard against the reasonings of interested, designing priests of every denomination, who are for forming unnatural alliances between church and .state, the sword of the Spirit and the sword of the magistrate. Arguments drawn from the ancient Jewish theocracy are of no avail till the existence of a Christian theocracy is proved, in direct opposition to the words of our great Leader, who has said, " My kingdom is not of this world." Should the necessity of our affairs convene another congress, hope, among other things, it will be agreed upon, as the proper solid basis for the firmest and most extensive union, that every colony should retain, while the majority of it are so pleased, whatever is its prevailing form of religion, and admit of a uni- versal toleration to all other persuasions, whether professors of Christianity or not. 'Twas a special pleasure to me, on my first arrival in America [in 1770], among the friendly Philadelphians, to observe how Papists, Episcopalians, Mo- ravians, Lutherans, Calvinists, 3Iethodists, and Quakers, could pass each other peaceably and in good temper on tlie Sabbath, after having broke up their re- spective assemblies, which I could not but take notice of in an early letter to my native country. It may be said that, notwithstanding this apparent regard for the rights of conscience, I am really unfriendly to them unless I will admit of an American episcopate. Though some may be prejudiced against it from the fibbing, ran- corous, and abusive opposition that certain D.D.'s are continually making to measures for preserving the civil rights of this continent (whose conduct I can easily account for, and who have doubtless received intelligence, as well as my- self, that the design of sending a bishop to America, as soon as circumstances will permit, is certainly kept in view, and that is intended for the see; and men 1 This was one of the " causes " set forth in the Declaration of Inde- pendence: " For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighbor- ing province, establisliing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to render it at once an example and fit iiistrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these colonies." — Ed. PREACHED DECEMBER 15, 1774. 217 the speedy arrival of the Port Bill in the common way of conveyance, whereby some diliiculties were avoided and some advantages enjoyed, wliile administration was not so merciful as to attemjit giving us the earliest intelligence ■whose ambitious hopes of a deanery, arch-deaconship, or crosier, are likely to be disappointed bj the public manoeuvres in favor of liberty, will be out of humor, and should be patiently borne with, though they vent their spleen against liberty itself), yet the rights of Episcopalians are not thereby forfeited, and whenever the majority of them, laity included (and not a few of the leading clergy, who are for more homage than the present equality admits), are desirous of an American episcopate, and will see to its being with security that the bishop and every other dignitary shall be confined purely to spiritual matters, shall have no more rule in civil concerns than the parochial priest, shall be maintained by no kind of tax, but by voluntary contributions, or from legacies given a full year before the death of a testator when coming out of a real estate, and shall be deprived of all power to injure or interrupt other denominations, let them be gratified. It Avill have a good effect, and will prevent our young men's making a trip to England for orders, which generally proves dangerous to their love of freedom. But it will be long enough ere some who have been arduously laboring to establish a Protestant American episcopate will, with all their con- scientious attachment to and zeal for it, agree to its existence in this ;Xew "World upon such equitable conditions, as may be inferred from the little attention paid to what Lord Sterling mentioned to them at or in the neighborhood of Amboy. As to the civil establishment given to the Canadians by the Quebec Bill,i the slavery of it has been admirably exposed in the address of the Congress; and yet, was it a fact that the body of the French inhabitants preferred it to every other form, I am of Lord Littleton's opinion, that they should have it while they re- quested it. We have reason, however, to believe that the mode of trial by juries was desired by the bulk of the people, and that it was taken away to gratify the petty noblesse of the country, who were for enjoying, as when under France, the power of oppressing their inferiors. But, surely, care ought to have been taken, by provisos in the act, that Britons should not have been shut out from settling in a country for the conquest of which they did and do contribute, without giv- ing up their liberties and commencing slaves; and that a British gentleman, were he pleased to make the tour of Canada, might not be exposed to an impris- onment by a lettre de cachet from a governor in consequence of secret instruc- tions from home, should he have unhappily fallen under the high displeasure of a British ministry. 1 The debates in the House of Commons, in the year 1744, on the Bill for the Government of Quebec, were not given to the public till 1839, when they were edited and published by Mr. "Wright from manuscript notes of Sir Henry Cavendish, Bart., M. P. They justify the worst apprehen- sions of our fathers, and demonstrate the servile and unmanly spirit of the thirteenth Parliament of Great Britain — May 17G8 to June 1774 — perhaps the worst in British history. The splendor of the great names in it — friends to law and liberty — only sets forth in stronger light the wick- edness of the government and its tools. — Ed. 19 218 of what had been done; its arrival at Boston, Xew York, and Virginia nearly at the same time ; the firmness that the Bostoniaus showed upon the occasion; tlie indigna- tion with which it was received, as the news flew through the continent; the sj^irited behavior^ of the noble Vir- ginian Assembly,* whereby they hastened their own disso- lution; the accounts from different places and colonies forwarded to the capital for her encouragement under her distress, and to assure her of assistance and support, and that they considered hers in the true light of a common cause — not in consequence of, but ere they had received her applications for advice and direction, with the state of her situation ; the forwardness which showed itself every- where to contribute to her relief, and to adopt measures that mio-ht in the issue recover and secure the liberties of this and the other colonies ; the surprising agreement a Many political iriinisterial •vrriters have, with a malicious cunning, attributed to Massachusetts more merit in opposing the attempts against American rights than it is entitled to. The Episcopal colon j' 2 of Virginia bravely led in the movements at the time of the Stamp Act, and was the first that, by their assem- bly, declared against the Boston Port Bill in the strongest terms of an honest indignation. 1 They resolved to keep June 1st — the day when the Port Bill was to take effect — in fasting, humiliation, and prayer. On this the governor dissolved them; but, before separating, they proposed an annual congress of the colonies, and declared that an attack on one colony was an attack on all, and demanded " the united wisdom of the whole." See page 193. — Ed. 2 At this time Virginia cotild hardly be considered as in fact an Episco- pal colony. Baptist missionary communities from New England had imdermined the Established Church, so that fully two-tliirds of the people Avere dissenters. Patrick Henry became illustrious as their advocate, and ]\Ir. Jefferson received his first clear conceptions of a free civil constitution from the practical exhibition of religious liberty and equality in a Baptist church in his neighborhood. The power of " lords spiritual and tem- poral " had been already overturned in Virginia by the verdict in the famous tobacco case, making the colonial law supreme. — Curtis's Prog- ress of Baptist Principles, pp. 49-.'52, 354-57. 1857. — Ed. PREACHED DECEMBER 15, 1774. 219 in opinion that has prevailed in persons at a great distance from each other while consulting for the general good, whereby they have been led to transmit by letters nearly the same proposals to each other as though the inspiration of the Most High gave them the like understanding ; the fixing upon a general congress, and choosing delegates, although in several places governmental chicanery was used to prevent it ; the tender, compassionate feelings that every delegate, of whatsoever denomination, without party distinctions, discovered for the Bostonians, under the free and affecting prayer of a worthy Episcopalian,'* w^hen, at the opening of the congress, they had been alarmed with the filse rumor that Boston had been attacked by the military and navy ; the amazing conse- quences that this false alarm did, and continues to pro-, duce. It j^roved the means of showing that the colonists were not to be intimidated, though martial appearances were to terminate in actual hostilities; that they would be volunteers in the cause of liberty ; and that they meant not to avoid fighting, whenever it became neces- sary. It put many thousands upon boldly taking them- selves to arms, and marching forward, as they apprehended, to the assistance of their oppressed fellow-subjects. It kindled a martial spirit, that has spread through various a The Eev. Mr. Duche.l 1 The Rev. Jacoh Duche, an Episcopal clergyman of Philadelphia, of brilliant talents, distingnished by making the prayer at the opening of the first congress at Philadelphia. He was Invited to oflSiclate, on motion of Mr. Samuel Adams. Mr. John Adams wrote to his wife: "Mr. Duche unexpectedly struck out into an extemporary prayer, which filled the bosom of every man present." He was opposed to independence, and wrote to Washington proposing his resignation of the command of the army. "Washington transmitted the letter to Congress, and Mr. Duche found it well to leave for England, in 1776. He died in January, 1798, aged about sixtv. — Allen's Biog. Diet. — Ed. 220 A THANKSGIVING SERMON, colonies, and put the inhabitants upon perfecting them- selves in the military exercise, that so they may be early prepared for the worst. To that it has been owing, in a great measure, that the continent has put on such a war- like appearance ; that companies have been formed, and are continually training, as far down as to and even in Virginia, if not further;* and that they will be better prepared than was ever before the case to repel all inva- sions that may be made upon their natural and constitu- tional rights, even though supported by a British army. Should British officers and troops wrongly imagine that their commissions and oaths oblige them to act, though in opposition to those very principles of the constitution that supports them and empowers the king to give them their commissions, instead of recollecting that all obligations entered into must necessarily be attended with this pro- viso, that they are not contrary to and subversive of the constitution, and that it is a reverence for and love to the constitution that distinguishes the soldier from the mer- cenary,— still, they would have no inclination to fight with fellow-subjects whose only fault was an excessive love of freedom, and a fixed determination not to submit to what they really believed were designed attacks upon their most precious liberties. In such circumstances, may we not hope that the former would rather wish to escape with honor than to disgrace themselves with conquest, and that the men of might will not find their hands? But sliould it be otherwise, and their native bravery be sacrificed in support of a bad cause, yet it might be too hard a task for them to subdue their brethren when fight- ing, ^9ro arts et focis^ for all that is dear, and who almost universally excel in the art of striking a mark, by which a We are informed of the like in South Carolina. PREACHED DECEMBER 15, 1774. 221 the waste of ammunition will be greatly prevented.'^ The want of field artillery^ will not be much nor long felt under a commander that has skill to avoid being attacked, and to choose his ground for attacking, in a country with which he is perfectly acquainted, and where every inhabi- tant, even the children, are standing spies upon all the motions of an adversary. But, as I earnestly beg of Heaven that the redress of our grievances may be obtained without fighting, I shall not dwell longer upon this point, and proceed to mention those other favorable circumstances, of a pacific kind, that remain to be specified, — such as the generous donations made for the poor of Boston ; ^ the union of the colonies ; the prevailing harmony and una- a Mr. Knoch, then lieutenant in the first regiment of Orange-Nassau, in a trea- tise on " The Insutficiency of Fire-arms for Attack or Defence, demonstrated from Facts," etc., written in about 1759, proves ''that, at a medium taken from any number of battles fought somewhat before that period, not more than one man could have been killed or wounded by eighty shot discharged." 3 1 Four cannon constituted the whole train of artillery of the British colonies in North America at the opening of the war, April 19, 1775; two of which, belonging to the province of Massachusetts, were taken by the enemy. The other two were the property of citizens of Boston. They were constantly in service through the war. In 1788, by order of Con- gress, they were delivered to the Governor of Massachusetts, John Han- cock. On one was inscribed, " The Hancock, — sacred to Liberty; " and on the other, "The Adams."— Holmes's Annals, ii. 369. — Ed. 2 The Continental Congress resolved, September 17, 1774, that all the colonies ought to continue their contributions for " the distresses of our brethren at Boston, so long as their occasions may require; " and, October 8th, that " all America ought to support Massachusetts in their opposition to the late acts of Parliament." — Ed. 3 " This reverend gentleman has found a method of doing without much ammunition; for certain it is that there is at present no appearance of great quantities, and much less prospect of procuring more in future. How marvellous is sacerdotal invention, when set to work! . . . What American has experience enough to cope with" — General Gage — "a commander-in-chief, bred an officer, and highly distinguished? . . . . Where could he possibly have acquired his knowledge? . . . Not in a review before a governor; . . . not by turn-out every now and then, 19* 222 nimity among the individuals composing the grand con- gress ; their approbation of the opposition given by this colony to the acts for altering their ancient form of gov- ernment; their association respecting trade, and the like ;^ the readiness of the people to conform to it ; and the intrepid conduct of the southern inhabitants in preventing the introduction of any more teas among them. These are favorable circumstances, beyond what the most sanguine friends of liberty expected ; that appear to be of the Lord's doing, and are marvellous in our eyes; that, if foretold, would have been deemed morally impossible by those who are still inimical to them, though evidencing a wonderful interposition of Providence ; and that may justly encourage us, as well as keep us from fainting, especially when taken in connection with that spirit of prayer and humiliation which has discovered itself in different places on occasion of the times. Would to God there was more of this ! Did it abound universally, we should have greater ground of encouragement by much ; for the fervent prayers of the humble, penitent, and returning avail with God, through the mediation of the Lord Jesus. However, from what there is, and the other favorable circumstances, we are warranted to expect that at length, in the exercise of prudence, fortitude, and piety, we shall get well through our difficulties. a The resolve of an embodied people, in a contest for liberty, when the voice of the majority has been fairly obtained, to interrupt, and, where necessary, forci- bly to prevent a trade that would ruin the common cause, and cannot be carried on without subjecting them to slavery, notwithstanding the great injury it may occasion to individuals, I apprehend, will, on the same principles that justify a proscribing a traffic that would hazard the introduction of the pestilence, admit of as much stronger a vindication as slavery is the greater plague. with, a few facetious parsons and new-ftinjrlcd minute-men, to make a ridicu- lous parade of arms for the amusement and scoff of every woman and child in the village."— Tory " Observations," quoted before on p. 195.— PREACHED DECEMBER 15, 1774. 223 We must prudently fall in with the measures recom- mended by the congress, that so we may not be reported to other colonies as disregarders of them, whereby first a jealousy may be produced, and then a disunion effected. We must promote unanimity among ourselves, peace and good order, that we may not be represented as desir- ous of contusion in hopes of making an advantage of it. We should let the laws of honor and honesty have their full weight with us, that we may fill under no reproach for abusing the present suspension of human laws. We should diligently provide for the worst, and be upon our guard, that we may not be suddenly stripped of those appurtenances,^ the loss of which will be severely felt should we be called upon, by a du*e necessity, to make our appeal to Heaven. I have been ready at times to infer, from the military spirit that hath spread through the continent, that though we are to be saved, it is not to be without the sword, or, at least, the strong appearance of it, unless Infinite Wisdom (which we shall heartily rejoice to find is the case) should be in this way preparing the colonies for cooperating with the parent state, after that matters in dispute have been settled to satisfaction, in some important struggle with a common enemy ; and therein, by giving her effectual as- sistance, for wiping away the reproaches that interested calumny and malice have throw^n upon them, and for con- firming an eternal friendship. But is it the awful determi- nation of Heaven that we shall not retain our liberties without fighting, let no one despair. The continent, after 1 General Gage's seizure of the province powder, at Charlestown, Sep- tember 1st, was the "first indication of hostile intention;" and in his attempt to destroy the magazines at Concord, in April, the British troops shed the first blood in the war of independence. — Frothinj^ham's Siege of Boston, 13—17, 51— 04. — Ed. 224 having discovered consummate wisdom, can never conduct so absurdly as to leave a single colony alone in the dis- pute. Their own security will constrain them to support whichsoever is attacked. They will rather assist at a dis- tance than have a war upon or within their own borders, and will be sensible that whoever fights on the side of American liberty hazards his life in their battles. Should it be allowed, for argument's sake, that some one province or other, through selfishness or timidity, should basely slink from the common danger, yet would the rest have greater probability of succeeding than had the Dutch when they began to emerge from slavery and to acquire their liberties.* Let us be but brave, and we may promise our- a " The whole country of the seven United Provinces is not as large as one-half of Pennsylvania, and when they began their contest with Philip the Second for their liberty, contained about as many inhabitants as are now in the province of Massachusetts Bay.l Philip's empire then comprehended, in Europe, all Spaiu and Portugal, the two Sicilies, and such provinces of the Low Countries as ad- hered to him; many islands of importance in the Mediterranean ; the Milanese and many other valuable territories in Italy, and elsewhere; in Africa and Asia, all the dominions belonging to Spain and Portugal ; in America, the immense countries subject to those two kingdoms, with all their treasures and yet unex- hausted mines; and the Spanish West Indies. His armies were numerous and veteran, excellently officered, and commanded by the most renowned generals. So great Avas their force, that, during the wars in the Low Countries, his com- mander-in-chief, the Prince of Parma, mai'ched twice into France, and obliged that great general and glorious king, Henry the Fourth, to raise at one time the siege of Paris, and at another that of Roan. So considerable was the naval power of Philip, that, in the midst of the same wars, he fitted out his dreadful armada to invade England. Yet seven little provinces, or counties, as wc should call them (says that eminent Pennsylvanian), inspired by one general resolution 'to die free rather than live slaves,' not only baflled, but brought down into the dust, that enormous power that had contended for universal empire, and for half a century was the terror of tlie world. Such an amazing change indeed took place, that those provinces afterward actually protected Spain against the power of France." 1 The history of the name of " Massachusetts Bay," as it appears on the title-page, leads back to the beginning of the colony. " Massachusets, alias Mattachusets, alias Massatiiscts bay," as it is called in the charter 4th Charles I., originally designating only what is now Boston harbor, was, by force of the royal charters, applied to the colony and to the province, and by custom to the sea within the headlands of Cape Ann and Cape Cod. PREACHED DECEMBER 15, 1774. 225 selves success. Do we join piety to our prudence and for- titude; do we confess and repent of our sins, justify God in his so trying us, accept of our punishment at his hands without murmuring or complaining; do we humble our- selves, amend our ways and doings, give up ourselves to God, become a holy people, and make the Most High our confidence, — we may hope that he will be on our side ; and " if the Lord is for us, what can men do unto us ? " Have we the God of hosts for our ally, we might bid adieu to fear, though the world was united against us. Let us, then, be pious, brave, and prudent, and we shall — some of us, at least — have room for thanksgivings, not merely for promising appearances, but for actual deliver- ance out of present difficulties, though it should not be till we have been conversant with the din of arms and the horrors of war. But should the country be wasted for a few years, and a number of its inhabitants be destroyed, ere the wished-for salvation is granted, how soon, after having secured its liberties, will it regain its former pros- perity ; yea, become far more glorious, wealthy, and popu- lous than ever, through the thousands and ten thousands that will flock to it, with riches, arts, and sciences, ac- quired by them in foreign countries ! And how will the surviving inhabitants and their posterity, together with refugees who have fled from oppression and hardships, whether civil or sacred, to our American sanctuary, daily It was the Indian name of tlie hill at Squantum, on the southern shore of Boston harbor. *' Thence Massachusetts took her honored name."i The affix of "Bay " was discontinued in the constitution of 1780. This was the origin of the popular names, "The Bay People," "The Bay State," "The Old Bay State." 1 From the beautiful poem, by Wm. P. Lunt, D.D., at the laying of the corner- stone of the " Sailors' Snug Harbor " at Quincy. — Ed. 226 A THANKSGIVING SERMON. give thanks to the Sovereign of the universe that this gen- eral asylum was not consumed ! How oft will they, with raptures, think upon that noble exertion of courage that prevented it, celebrate the praises of those that led and suffered in the common cause, and with glowing hearts bless that God who owned the goodness of it, and at length crowned it with success! Hallelujah. The Lord God omnipotent reigneth. The way to escape an attack is to be in readiness to receive it. While administration consists of those that have avowed their dislike to the principles of this conti- nent, and the known friends of America are excluded, there should be no dependence upon the fair speeches or actual promises of any, but the colonies should pursue the means of safety as vigorously as ever, that they may not be surprised. 'T is the most constant maxim of war, that a man ought never to be more upon his guard than while he is in treaty ; for want of attending to it, King Edward the Fourth was suddenly attacked, defeated, and made prisoner, by the Earl of Warwick, in 1470. Government corrupted by Vice^ and recovered by Righteoufnefs. SERMON PREACHED Before the Honorable CONGRESS Of the Colony Of the Majfachufetts-Bay In NEW-ENGLAND, AfTembled at IVMERrO^N, On Wednefday the 31ft Day o^ May^ ^11S' Being the Anniverfary fixed by CHARTER For the Eledion of COUNSELLORS. By Samuel Langdon, D. D. Prefident of Harvard College in Cambridge. As a roaring Lion and a ranging Bear, fo is a wicked Ruler over the poor People. Prov. 28. 15. PV J r E R r 0 PV N: Printed and Sold by BENJAMIN EDES, Mdcclxxv. In Provincial Congress, Watertown. May 31, p. m., 1775. Ordered, That Mr. Gill, Dr. Whiting, Mr. Titts, Mr. Jewet, and Col. Lincoln be a Committee to return the thanks of this Congress to the Rev. Dr. Langdou for his excellent Sermon delivered to the Congress in the forenoon; and to request a copy of it for the press. A true extract from the Minutes. SA3IUEL FREEMAN, Secretary. EDITOR'S PREFATORY NOTE. The last few months in Massachusetts developed a temper in the people, and a persistent policy on the part of Governor Gage, which, manifestly to both parties, must before long end in collision. On the 1st of September, 1774, Governor Gage issued precepts for " the Great and General Court" to be convened at Salem, October 5th; on the 28th of September he issued his " proclamation," that, " from the many tumults and disorders which had since taken place, the extraordinary resolves which had been passed in many of the counties, the instructions given by the town of Boston, and some other towns, to their representa- tives, and the present disordered and unhappy state of the province," he then thought it highly inexpedient that it should be so convened. But ninety of the representatives did meet at Salem on the 5th, and on the next day, Thursday, organized a convention — John Hancock, Chairman, and Benjamin Lincoln, Clerk. On Friday they "resolved themselves into a Provincial Congress," which, after several sessions, was dissolved, De- cember 10th, — having first " recommended " the election of delegates to another congress, February 1st ensuing, to " consult, deliberate, and resolve upon such further measures as, under God, shall be effectual to save this people from impending ruin, and to secure those inestimable liberties derived to us from our ancestors, and which it is our duty to preserve for posterity." The third Provincial Congress assembled at Watertown, May 31, 1775; and before that body President Langdon delivered this Sermon, it being the day fixed by charter for the election of councillors, — " election-day," — and this was the usual " Election Sermon." The first blood of the war of the Revolution was shed at Lexington, on the 19th of April, 1775. The fire of British guns gleamed over the colonies, and beneath its flash every heart throbbed, and every soul felt that the die was cast. Yet it was not Englishmen who were in fratricidal 20 230 editor's prefatory note. war with their American brethren, but Enf^land, palsied by the church "gospel" of unlimited submission, and corrupted by her German king. Even then, though shocked, there yet lingered in the American breast the old yearning towards " home," the mother-land, and the fond pride of British nationality, which might have been rekindled, and the dissolu- tion of the political bands deferred; but German obstinacy smothered the flame, and resistance — " rebellion " — became a revolution. Happily, time heals the wounds and dissipates the asperities of political separation ; and in the indissoluble unity of the nations in blood, in language, and in fiaith, there remains a nobler brotherhood, dear to every manly heart and Christian hope. The resistance and union of the colonies were the very opposite of the results expected by the ministry. Severity defeated its ends. Colonial non-importation, non-exportation, and non-consumption agreements were met by government prohibition of the fisheries and commerce, though it involved a sacrifice of British interests; for it was shown that New England only could successfully prosecute the fisheries, and the table of the House of Commons Avas loaded with statistics of their enormous value and importance to trade. The sword was two-edged; but with George IH. personal feelings were superior to national interests. The Provincial Congress voted, May 5th, that General Gage " ought to be considered and guarded against as an unnatural and inveterate enemy to the country." One hundred thousand pounds lawful money were voted; and thirteen thousand six hundred men, from Massachusetts alone, enlisted, as a superior force was the " only means left to stem the rapid progress of a tyrannical ministry." Force must be met by force; and the colonial militia — men with souls in them, ardent for their own firesides and rights — were ready for the king's mercenary troops. " In the name of the great Jehovah and the Continental Congress" was authority enough. ' Proclamations from royal governors were as the idle wind. Gage was master of Boston only. The trembling tories detained the wives and children of the patriots in Boston, for the security of the town, though in violation of General Gage's faith for their removal. The inhabitants of the seaports, exposed to the enemy by sea, fled from their homes to the interior, and were in want and suff"ering. " How much better," said the preacher, oppressed by the sight of all this misery, " for the inhabitants to have resolved, at all hazards, to defend themselves by their arms against such an enemy!" The day at Lexington and Concord, and other principal events, are referred to in the Sermon. editor's prefatory note. 231 Such, in brief, was the face of affairs on this 31st of May, Avhen the Provincial Congress was convened .at Watertown. The old formula of proceedings was observed as far as possible. It was — ''Ordered, That Mr. Brown, Doct. Taylor, and Colonel Sayer be [a] committee to wait on the commanding officer of the militia of this town, to thank him for his polite offer to escort the Congress to the meeting-house, and to inform him that, as this Congress are now sitting, the Congress think it needless to withdraw for that purpose : but will, with the reverend gentlemen of the clergy, attend them to Mrs. Coolidge's, if they please to escort them thither, when the Congress adjourns." By a special vote, Dr. Langdon's Sermon was sent to each minister in the colony, and to each member of the Congress. The preacher, Samuel Langdon, D. D., born in Boston, in the year 1722, graduated at Harvard College, 1740, and chaplain of a regiment in the antsade against Louisburg, 1745, was pastor of a church in Ports- mouth, N. H., from 1747 till 1774, when, by reason of his eminent talents, learning, and piety, and of his bold and zealous patriotism, he was appointed to the presidency of Harvard College. He was moderator of the annual convention of the ministers, held, by special invitation of the Provincial Congress, at Watertown, June 1st, following election-day, when he signed the following letter: "To the Hon. Joseph Warren, Esq., President of the Provincial Con- gress of the Colony of the Massachusetts Bay, etc. " Sir : — We, the pastors of the Congregational churches of the Colony of the Massachusetts Bay, in our present annual convention," — at Water- town, June 1, 1775, — " gratefully beg leave to express the sense we have of the regard shown by the Honorable Provincial Congress to us, and the encouragement they have been pleased to afford to our assembling as a body this day. Deeply impressed with sympathy for the distresses of our much-injured and oppressed country, we are not a little relieved in beholding the I'epresentatives of this people, chosen by their free and unbiassed suffrages, now met to concert measures for their relief and defence, in whose wisdom and integrity, under the smiles of Divine Provi- dence, we cannot but express our entire confidence. " As it has been found necessary to raise an army for the common safety, and our brave countrymen have so willingly offered themselves to this hazardous service, we are not insensible of the vast burden that their necessary maintenance must" — devolve — "upon the people. We 232 editor's prefatory note. therefore cannot forbear, upon this occasion, to offer our services i to the public, and to signify our readiness, with the consent of our several congregations, to officiate, by rotation, as chaplains to the army. " We devoutly commend the Congress, and our brethren in arms, to the guidance and protection of that Providence which, from the first settlement of this country, has so remarkably appeared for the preserva- tion of its civil and religious rights. " SAMUEL LAXGDOX, Moderator." After an able administration, in a period of peculiar embarrassment, he resigned the presidency of the college, and became pastor of the church at Hampton Falls. In the New Hampshire State Convention of 1788 he was prominent in securing the adoption of the Federal Constitution. He died, November 29th, 1797, beloved and revered for his private and public life.2 1 See Address to the Clergy, p. xxxvii. 2 Rev. Rufus W. Clark's sketch in Sprague's Annals of the American Pulpit, i. 455—459. DISCOURSE Y, AN ELECTION SERMON. AST) I WILL RESTORE THY JUDGES AS AT THE FIRST, AND THT COUNSELLOT".!* AS AT THE BEGINNING; AFTERWARD THOU SHALT BE CALLED THE CITV OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, THE FAITHFUL CITY. — Isaiah i. 26. Shall we rejoice, my fathers and brethren, or shall we weep together, on the return of this anniversary, which from the first settlement of this colony has been sacred to liberty, to jjerpetuate that invaluable privilege of choosing from among ourselves wise men, fearing God and hating covetousness, to be honorable counsellors, to constitute one essential branch of that happy government which was established on the faith of royal charters ? On this day the people have from year to year assem- bled, from all our towns, in a vast congregation, with glad- ness and festivity, with every ensign of joy displayed in our metropolis, which now, alas ! is made a garrison of mercenary troops, the stronghold of despotism. But how shall I now address you from this desk, remote from the capital, and remind you of the important business which distinguished this day in our calendar, without spreading a gloom over this assembly by exhibiting the melancholy change made in the face of our public affairs ? We have lived to see the time when British liberty is just ready to expire, — when that constitution of govern- ment which has so long been the glory and strength of the English nation is deeply undermined and ready to 20* 234 THE ELECTION SERMON tumble into ruins, — when America is threatened with cruel oppression, and the arm of power is stretched out against New England, and especially against this colony, to com- pel us to submit to the arbitrary acts of legislators who are not our representatives, and who will not themselves bear the least part of the burdens which, without mercy, they are laying upon us. The most formal and solemn grants of kings to our ancestors are deemed by our op- pressors as of little value ; and they have mutilated the charter of this colony, in the most essential parts, upon false representations, and new-invented maxims of policy, without the least regard to any legal process. We are no longer permitted to fix our eyes on the faithful of the land, and trust in the wisdom of their counsels and the equity of their judgment ; but men in whom we can have no confi- dence, whose principles are subversive of our liberties, whose aim is to exercise lordship over us, and share among themselves the public wealth, — men who are ready to serve any master, and execute the most unrighteous decrees for high wages, — whose faces we never saw before, and whose interests and connections may be far divided from us by the wide Atlantic, — are to be set over us, as counsellors and judges, at the pleasure of those who have the riches and power of the nation in their hands, and whose noblest plan is to subjugate the colonies, first, and then the whole nation, to their will. That we might not have it in our power to refuse the most absolute submission to their unlimited claims of au- thority, they have not only endeavored to terrify us with fleets and armies sent to our capital, and distressed and put an end to our trade, — particularly that important branch of it, the fishery,^ — but at length attempted, by a sudden 1 Mr. Sabine's learned " Report on the Principal Fisheries of the Amer- ican Seas," 1853, is an invaluable contribution to American history. It is AT WATEKTOVVN, MAY 31, 1775. Z^b march of fx body of troops in the night,^ to seize and destroy one of our magazines, formed by the people merely for their security, if, after such formidable military prep- arations on the other side, matters should be pushed to an extremity. By this, as might well be expected, a skirmish was brought on ; and it is most evident, from a variety of concurring circumstances, as well as numerous depositions both of the prisoners taken by us at that time and our own men then on the spot only as spectators, that the fire began first on the side of the king's troops. At least five or six of our inhabitants were murderously killed by the regulars at Lexington before any man attempted to return the fire, and when they were actually complying with the command to disperse ; and two more of our brethren were likewise killed at Concord bridge, by a fire from the king's soldiers, before ^ the engagement began on our side. But, whatever credit falsehoods transmitted to Great Britain from the other side may gain, the matter may be rested entirely on this : that he that arms himself to commit a robbery, and demands the traveller's j)urse by the terror of instant death, is the first aggressor, though the other should take the advantage of discharging his weapon first, and killing the robber. The alarm was sudden, but in a very short time sj^read far and wide. The nearest neighbors in haste ran together to assist their brethren and save their country. Not more than three or four hundred met in season, and bravely essential to a correct knowledge of American colonization, and of much of our subsequent history. — Ed. 1 April 18-19. — Ed. 2 Mr. Frothingham presents the results of an able and conscientious study of these events in his " History of the Siege of Boston," — " The best of our historic monographs."— Bancroft in Allibone. See also Mr. Henry B. Dawson's elaborate pages in " The Battles of the United States." — Ed. 236 THE ELECTION SERMON attacked and repulsed the enemies of liberty, who re- treated with great precipitation. But, by the help of a strong reinforcement, notwithstanding a close pursuit and continual loss on their side, they acted the part of rob- bers and savages, by burning,^ plundering, and damaging almost every house in their way to the utmost of their 1 Rev. Isaac Mansfield, Jr., chaplain to General Thomas's regiment, in his Thanksgiving Sermon " in the camp at Roxbury, November 23, 1775," says of the event of April 19th : " What but the hand of Providence pre- served the school of the prophets from their- ravage, who would have deprived us of many advantages for moral or religious improvement?" To this he adds the note following : " ' General Gage, as governor of this province, issued his precepts for convening a General Assembly at Boston, designing to enforce a compliance with Lord North's designing motion; they were to be kept as prisoners in garrison, till, under the mouth of can- non and at the point of the bayonet, they should be reduced to a mean and servile submission. To facilitate this matter, he was to send out a party to take possession of a magazine at Concord. Presuming that this might be done without opposition, the said party, upon their return from Con- cord, were to lay waste till they should arrive at Cambridge common; there, after destroying the colleges" — seminaries of sedition — " and other buildings, they were to throAv up an entrenchment upon the said common, their number was to be increased from the garrison, and the next morning a part of the artillery to be removed and planted in the entrenchment aforesaid. This astonishing manoeuvre, it was supposed, would so eflfect- ually intimidate the constituents, that the General Assembly, by the com- pliance designed, would literally represent their constituents.' The author is not at liberty to publish the channel through which he received the fore- going, but begs to assure the reader that it came so direct that he cannot hesitate in giving credit to it. He I'ecollects one circumstance which ren- ders it highly probable: Lord Percy (on April 19), suspicious his progress to Concord might be retarded by the plank of the bridge at Cambridge being taken away, brought out from Boston several loads of plank, with a number of carpenters; not finding occasion to use them, he carried them on his way to Concord, perhaps about a mile and a half from the bridge; about an hour after the plank were returned. If he had intended to repass that river at night, he must have reserved the plank; if he designed to stop in Cambridge, the plank must be an incumbrance. This conduct, in returning the plank, may be accounted for upon supposition of the foregoing plan of operation."— Ed. AT WATERTOWN, MAY 31, 1775. 237 power, murdering the unarmed and helpless, and not re- garding the weaknesses of the tender sex, until they had secured themselves beyond the reach of our terrifying arms.* That ever-memorable day, the nineteenth of April, is the date of an unhappy war openly begun by the minis- ters of the king of Great Brittiin against his good subjects in this colony, and implicitly against all the other colonies. But for what ? Because they have made a noble stand for their natural and constitutional rights, in opposition to the machinations of wicked men who are betraying their royal master, establishing Popery in the British dominions, and aiming to enslave and ruin the whole nation, that they may enrich themselves and their vile dependents with the public treasures and the spoils of America. We have used our utmost endeavors, by repeated hum- ble petitions and remonstrances, by a series of unanswer- able reasonings published from the press, — in which the dispute has been fairly stated, and the justice of our opposition clearly demonstrated, — and by the mediation of some of the noblest and most faithful friends of the British constitution, who have jDowerfully plead our cause in Parliament, to prevent such measures as may soon re- duce the body politic to a miserable, dismembered, dying trunk, though lately the terror of all Europe. But our a Near the meetiug-house in Menotomy i two aged, helpless men, who had not been out in the action, and were found unarmed in a house where the regulars entered, were murdered without mercy. In another house, in that neighborhood, a woman, in bed with a new-born infant about a week old, was forced by the threats of the soldiery to escape, almost naked, to an open outhouse; her house was then set on fire, but was soon extinguished by one of the children which had laid concealed till the enemy was gone. In Cambridge, a man of weak mental powers, who went out to gaze at the regular army as they passed, with- out arms or thought of danger, was wantonly shot at and killed by those inhu- man butchers as he sat on a fence. 1 Now West Cambridge. — Ed. 238 THE ELECTION SERMON king, as if impelled by some strange fatality, is resolved to reason with us only by the roar of his cannon and the pointed arguments of muskets and bayonets. Because we refuse submission to the despotic power of a minis- terial Parliament, our own sovereign, to whom we have been always ready to swear true allegiance, — whose au- thority we never meant to cast off, who might have con- tinued happy in the cheerful obedience of as fliithful sub- jects as any in his dominions, — has given us up to the rage of his ministers, to be seized at sea by the rapacious commanders of every little sloop of war and piratical cut- ter, and to be plundered and massacred by land by mer- cenary troops, who know no distinction betwixt an enemy and a brother, between right and wrong, but only, like brutal pursuers, to hunt and seize the prey pointed out by their masters. We must keep our eyes fixed on the supreme govern- ment of the Eternal King, as directing all events, setting up or pulling down the kings of the earth at his pleasure, suffering the best forms of human government to degen- erate and go to ruin by corruption, or restoring the de- cayed constitutions of kingdoms and states by reviving public virtue and religion, and granting the favorable interpositions of his providence. To this our text leads us ; and, though I hope to be excused on this occasion from a formal discourse on the words in a doctrinal way, yet I must not wholly pass over the religious instruction contained in them. Let us consider — that for the sins of a people God may suffer the best government to be corrupted or en- tirely dissolved, and that nothing but a general reforma- tion can give good ground to hope that the public happi- ness will be restored by the recovery of the strength and perfection of the state, and that Divine Providence will AT WATERTOWN, MAT 31, 1775. 239 interpose to fill every department with "wise and good men. Isaiah prophesied about the time of the captivity of the Ten Tribes of Israel, and about a century before the cap- tivity of Judah. The kingdom of Israel was brought to destruction because its iniquities wei-e full ; its counsellors and judges were wholly taken away because there re- mained no hope of reformation. But the sceptre did not entirely depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, till the Messiah came; yet greater and greater changes took place in their political affairs : their govern- ment degenerated in proportion as their vices increased, till few faithful men were left in any public offices ; and at length, when they were delivered up for seventy years into the hands of the king of Babylon, scarce any re- mains of their original excellent ci\T.l polity appeared among them. The Jewish government, according to the original con- stitution which was divinely established, if considered merely in a civil view, was a pei-fect republic. The heads of their tribes and elders of their cities were their coun- sellors and judges. They called the people together in more general or particular assemblies, — took their opin- ions, gave advice, and managed the public affairs accord- ing to the general voice. Counsellors and judges compre- hend all the powers of that government ; for there was no such thing as legislative authority belonging to it, — their complete code of laws being given immediately from God by the hand of Moses. And let them who cry up the divine right of kings consider that the only form of gov- ernment which had a proper claim to a divine establish- ment was so far from including the idea of a king, that it was a high crime for Israel to ask to be in this respect like other nations ; and when they were gratified, it was rather 240 THE ELECTION SERMON as a just punishment of their folly, that they might feel the burdens of court pageantry, of which they were warned by a very striking description, than as a divine recommendation of kingly authority. Every nation, when able and agreed, has a right to set up over themselves any form of government which to them may appear most conducive to their common wel- fare. ^ The civil polity of Israel is doubtless an excellent general model, allowing for some peculiarities; at least, some principal laws and orders of it may be copied to great advantage in more modern establishments. When a government is in its prime, the public good engages the attention of the -whole ; the strictest regard is paid to the qualifications of those who hold the offices of the state ; virtue prevails ; everything is managed with justice, prudence, and frugality ; the laws are founded on principles of equity rather than mere policy, and all the people are happy. But vice will increase with the riches and glory of an empire ; and this gradually tends to cor- rupt the constitution, and in time bring on its dissolution. This may be considered not only as the natural effect of vice, but a righteous judgment of Heaven, especially uj^on a nation which has been favored with the blessings of religion and liberty, and is guilty of undervaluing them, and eagerly going into the gratification of every lust. In this chapter the prophet describes the very corrupt state of Judah in his day, both as to religion and common morality, and looks forward to that increase of wicked- 1 " Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; .... it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its founda- tions on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to cifect their safety and happiness." — Dec. of Ind., July 4th, 177G. — Ed. AT WATERTOWN, MAY 31, 1775. 241 ness which would bring on their desolation and captivity. They were " a sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil-doers, children that were corrupters, who had forsaken the Lord, and provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger." The whole body of the nation, from head to foot, was full of moral and political disorders, without any remaining soundness. Their religion was all mere cere- mony and hypocrisy ; and even the laws of common justice and humanity were disregarded in their public courts. They had counsellors and judges, but very different from those at the beginning of the commonwealth. Their princes were rebellious against God and the constitution of their country, and companions of thieves, — giving countenance to every artifice for seizing the property of the subjects into their own hands, and robbing the public treasury. Every one loved gifts, and followed after re- wards ; they regarded the perquisites more than the duties of their office ; the general aim was at profitable places and pensions ; they were influenced in everything by bribery ; and their avarice and luxury were never satisfied, but hur- ried them on to all kinds of oppression and violence, so that they even justified and encouraged the murder of innocent persons to support their lawless power and in- crease their wealth. And God, in righteous judgment, left them to run into all this excess of vice, to their own destruction, because they had forsaken him, and were guilty of wilful inattention to the most essential parts of that religion which had been given them by a well-attested revelation from heaven. The Jewish nation could not but see and feel the un- happy consequences of so great corruption of the state. Doubtless they complained much of men in power, and very heartily and liberally reproached them for their noto- rious misconduct. The public greatly suffered, and the 21 242 THE ELECTION SERMON people groaned and wished for better rulers and better management; but in vain they hoped for a change of men and measures and better times when the spirit of religion was gone, and the infection of vice was become universal. The whole body being so corrupted, there could be no rational prospect of any gi^eat reformation in the state, but rather of its ruin, which accordingly came on in Jeremiah's time. Yet if a general reformation of religion and morals had taken place, and they had turned to God from all their sins, — if they had again recovered the true spirit of their religion, — God, by the gracious interpositions of his prov- idence, would soon have found out methods to restore the former virtue of the state, and again have given them men of wisdom and integrity, according to their utmost wish, to be counsellors and judges. This was verified in fact after the nation had been purged by a long captivity, and returned to their own land humbled and filled with zeal for God and his law. By all this we may be led to consider the true cause of the present remarkable troubles which are come upon Great Britain and these colonies, and the only effectual remedy. We have rebelled against God. We have lost the true spirit of Christianity, though we retain the outward pro- fession and form of it. We have neglected and set light by the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and his holy commands and institutions. The worship of many is but mere compliment to the Deity, while their hearts are far from him. By many the gospel is corrupted into a superficial system of moral philosophy, little better than ancient Platonism ; and, after all the pretended re- finements of moderns in the theory of Christianity, very little of the pure practice of it is to be found among those who once stood foremost in the profession of the gospel. In a general view of the present moral state of Great AT WATERTOWN, MAY 31, 1775. 243 Britain it may be said, " There is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery," their wickedness breaks out, and one murder after another is committed, under the connivance and encouragement even of that authority by which such crimes ought to be l^unished, that the purposes of oppression and despotism may be answered. As they have increased, so have they sinned ; therefore God is changing their glory into shame. The general prevalence of vice has changed the whole face of things in the British government. The excellency of the constitution has been the boast of Great Britain and the envy of neighboring nations. In former times the great departments of the state, and the various places of trust and authority, were filled with men of wisdom, honesty, and religion, who employed all their powers, and were ready to risk their fortunes and their lives, for the public good. They were faithful coun- sellors to kings; directed their authority and majesty to the happiness of the nation, and opposed every step by which despotism endeavored to advance. They were fathers of the people, and sought the welfare and prosperity of the whole body. They did not exhaust the national wealth by luxury and bribery, or convert it to their own private benefit or the maintenance of idle, useless ofiicers and dependents, but improved it faithfully for the proper purposes — for the necessary support of government and defence of the kingdom. Their laws were dictated by wisdom and equality, and justice was administered with impartiality. Religion discovered its general influence among all ranks, and kept out great corruptions from places of power. But in what does the British nation now glory? — In a mere shadow of its ancient political system, — in titles of 244 THE ELECTION SERMON dignity without virtue, — in vast public treasures continu- ally lavished in corruption till every fund is exhausted, notwithstanding the mighty streams perpetually flowing in, — in the many artifices to stretch the prerogatives of the crown beyond all constitutional bounds, and make the king an absolute monarch, while the peoj^le are deluded with a mere phantom of liberty. What idea must we entertain of that great government, if such a one can be found, which pretends to have made an exact counter- balance of power between the sovereign, the nobles and the commons, so that the three branches shall be an effectual check upon each other, and the united wisdom of the whole shall conspire to promote the national felicity, but which, in reality, is reduced to such a situation that it may be managed at the sole will of one court favorite ? What difference is there betwixt one^ man's choosing, at his own pleasure, by his single vote, the majority of those who are to represent the people, and his purchasing in such a majority, according to his own nomination, with money out of the public treasury, or other effectual methods of influencing elections ? And what shall we say if, in the same manner, by places, pensions, and other bribes, a minister of the crown can at any time gain over a nobler majority likewise to be entirely subservient to his purposes, and, moreover, persuade his royal master to resign himself lip wholly to the direction of his counsels ? If this should 1 Mr. Burke, in his "Thoughts on the Present Discontents," 1770, said: " The power of the crown, almost rotten and dead as prerogative, has grown up anew, with much more strength, and far less odium, under the name of injiuejice," intrigue, and favoritism ; and a few years later ho refers to the " not disavowed use which has been made of his Majesty's name for the purpose of the most unconstitutional, corrupt, and dishon- orable influence on the minds of the members of this Parliament that ever was practised in this kingdom. No attention even to exterior de- corum," etc, — Ed. AT WATERTOWN, MAY 31, 1775. 245 be the case of any nation, from one seven years' end to another, the bargain and sale being made sure for such a period, would they still have reason to boast of their ex- cellent constitution?^ Ought they not rather to think it high time to restore the corrupted, dying state to its origi- nal perfection ? I will apply this to the Roman senate under Julius Caesar, which retained all its ancient for- malities, but voted always only as Caesar dictated. If the decrees of such a senate were urged on the Romans, as fraught with all the blessings of Roman liberty, we must suppose them strangely deluded if they were persuaded to believe it. The pretence for taxing America has been that the na- tion contracted an immense debt for the defence of the American colonies, and that, as they are now able to con- tribute some proportion towards the discharge of this debt, and must be considered as part of the nation, it is rea- sonable they should be taxed, and the Parliament has a right to tax and govern them, in all cases whatever, by its own supreme authority. Enough has been already pub- lished on this grand controversy, which now threatens a final separation of the colonies from Great Britain. But can the amazing national debt be paid by a little trifling sum, squeezed from year to year out of America, which is continually drained of all its cash by a restricted trade with the parent country, and which in this way is taxed to the government of Britain in a very large proportion ? Would it not be much superior wisdom, and sounder pol- icy, for a distressed kingdom to retrench the vast unneces- 1 This contemporary observation of the English government of that period shows the watchful eye of the colonists on the administration; and by it we can better appreciate their masterly conduct of public affairs, and their superiority over the British statesmen. England knew not her colonists, but she was known of them. — Ed. 21* 246 THE ELECTION SERMON sary expenses continually incurred by its enormous vices ; to stop the prodigious sums paid in pensions, and to num- berless officers, without the least advantage to the public; to reduce the number of devouring servants in the great family ; to turn their minds from the pursuit of pleasure and the boundless luxuries of life to the important inter- ests of their country and the salvation of the common- wealth? Would not a reverend regard to the authority of divine revelation, a hearty belief of the gospel of the grace of God, and a general reformation of all those vices which bring misery and ruin upon individuals, families, and kingdoms, and which have provoked Heaven to bring the nation into such perplexed and dangerous circumstances, be the surest way to recover the sinking state, and make it again rich and flourishing? Millions might annually be saved if the kingdom were generally and thoroughly re- formed ; and the public debt, great as it is, might in a few years be cancelled by a growing revenue, which now amounts to full ten millions per annum, without laying additional burdens on any of the subjects. But the demands of corruption are constantly increasing, and will forever exceed all the resources of wealth which the wit of man can invent or tyranny impose. Into what fatal policy has the nation been impelled, by its public vices, to wage a cruel war with its own chil- dren in these colonies, only to gratify the lust of power and the demands of extravagance ! May God, in his great mercy, recover Great Britain from this fatal infatuation, show them their errors, and give them a spirit of reforma- tion, before it is too late to avert impending destruction ! May the eyes of the king be opened to see the ruinous tendency of the measures into which he has been led, and his heart inclined to treat his American subjects with jus- tice and clemency, instead of forcing them still further to AT WATERTOWN, MAY 31, 1775. 247 the last extremities! God grant some method may be found out to effect a happy reconciliation, so that the col- onies may again enjoy the protection of their sovereign, with perfect security of all their natural rights and civil and religious liberties. But, alas! have not the sins of America, and of New England in particular, had a hand in bringing down upon us the righteous judgments of Heaven? Wherefore is all this evil come upon us ? Is it not because we have forsaken the Lord? Can we say we are innocent of crimes against God? No, surely. It becomes us to humble ourselves under his mighty hand, that he may exalt us in due time. However unjustly and cruelly we have been treated by man, we certainly deserve, at the hand of God, all the calamities in which we are now involved. Have we not lost much of that spirit of genuine Christianity which so remarkably appeared in our ancestors, for which God dis- tinguished them with the signal favors of providence when they fled from tyranny and persecution into this western desert? Have we not departed from their virtues? Though I hope and am confident that as much true reli- gion, agreeable to the purity and simplicity of the gospel, remains among us as among any people in the world, yet, in the midst of the present great apostasy of the nations professing Christianity, have not we likewise been guilty of departing from the living God? Have we not made light of the gospel of salvation, and too much affected the cold, formal, fashionable religion of countries grown old in vice, and overspread with infidelity? Do not our follies and iniquities testify against us ? Have we not, especially in our seaports, gone much too far into the pride and lux- uries of life? Is it not a fact, open to common observation, that profaneness, intemperance, unchastity, the love of pleasure, fraud, avarice, and other vices, are increasing 248 THE ELECTION SERMON among us from year to year ? And have not even these young governments been in some measure infected with the corruptions of European courts ? Has there been no flattery, no bribery, no artifices practised, to get into places of honor and profit, or carry a vote to serve a par- ticular interest, without regard to right or wrong? Have our statesmen always acted with integrity, and every judge with impartiality, in the fear of God ? In short, have all ranks of men showed regard to the divine com- mands, and joined to promote the Redeemer's kingdom and the public welfare ? I wish we could more fully justify ourselves in all these respects. If such sins have not been so notorious among us as in older countries, we must nevertheless remember that the sins of a people who have been remarkable for the profession of godliness, are more aggravated by all the advantages and favors they have enjoyed, and will receive more speedy and signal punish- ment ; as God says of Israel : " You only have I known of all the families of the earth, therefore will I punish you for all your iniquities.* The judgments now come upon us are very heavy and distressing, and have fallen with peculiar weight on our capital, where, notwithstanding the plighted honor of the chief commander of the hostile troops, many of our breth- ren are still detained, as if they were captives ;^ and those that have been released have left the principal part of their substance, which is withheld, by arbitrary orders, contrary to an express treaty, to be plundered by the army.^ a Amos iii. 2. b Soon after tlie battle at Concord, General Gage stipulated, with the select- men of Boston, that if the inhabitants would deliver up their arms, to be depos- 1 One apolo}^y for this bad faith was, that if only tory interests remained in Boston the patriots Avould fire the town. It occasioned extreme anxi- ety and suffering. — Frothingham, 93-9G. — Ed. AT WATERTOWN, MAY 31, 1775. 249 Let me address you in the words of the prophet : " O Israel ! return unto the Lord thy God, for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity." My brethren, let us repent, and implore the divine mercy ; let us amend our ways and our doings, reform everything which has been provoking to the Most High, and thus endeavor to obtain the gracious interposi- tions of Providence for our deliverance. If true religion is revived by means of these public calamities, and again prevails among us, — if it appears in our religious assemblies, in the conduct of our civil affairs, in our armies, in our families, in all our business and con- versation, — we may hope for the direction and blessing of the Most High, while we are using our best endeavors to preserve and restore the civil government of this colony, and defend America from slavery. Our late happy government is changed into the terrors of military execution. Our firm opposition to the estab- lishment of an arbitrary system is called rebellion, and we are to expect no mercy, but to yield property and life at discretion. This we are resolved at all events not to do, and therefore we have taken up arms in our own defence, and all the colonies are united in the great cause of liberty. But how shall we live while civil government is dis- ited in Fanueil Hall, and returned -when circumstances would permit, they should have liberty to quit the town, and take with thera their effects. They readily complied, but soon found themselves abused. With great difficulty, and very slowly, they obtain passes, but are forbidden to carry out anything besides household furniture and wearing apparel. Merchants and shopkeepers are obliged to leave behind all their merchandise, and even their cash is detained. Mechanics are not allowed to bring out the most necessary tools for their work. Not only tiieir family stores of provisions are stopped, but it has been repeat- edly and credibly affirmed that poor women and children have had the very smallest articles of this kind taken from them, which were necessary for their refreshment while they travelled a few miles to their friends; and that even from young children, in their mothers' arms, the cruel soldiery have taken the morj;el of bread given to prevent their crying, and thrown it away. How much better for the inhabitants to have resolved, at all hazards, to defend themselves by their arms against such an enemy, than suffer such shameful abuse! 250 THE ELECTION SERMON solved ? What shall we do without counsellors and judges? A state of absolute anarchy is dreadful. Sub- mission to the tyranny of hundreds of imperious masters, firmly embodied against us, and united in the same cruel design of disposing of our lives and subsistence at their pleasure, and making their own will our law in all cases w^hatsoever, is the vilest slavery, and worse than death. Thanks be to God that he has given us, as men, natural rights, independent on all human laws whatever, and that these rights are recognized by the grand charter of British liberties. By the law of nature, any body of people, desti- tute of order and government, may form themselves into a civil society, according to their best prudence, and so provide for their common safety and advantage. When one form is found by the majority not to answer the grand purpose in any tolerable degree, they may, by common con- sent, put an end to it and set up another, — only, as all such great changes are attended with difficulty and danger of confusion, they ought not to be attempted without urgent necessity, which will be determined always by the general voice of the wisest and best members of the com- munity. If the great servants of the public forget their duty, betray their trust, and sell their country, or make war against the most valuable rights and privileges of the people, reason and justice require that they should be discarded, and others appointed in their room, without any regard to formal resignations of their forfeited power. It must be ascribed to some supernatural influence on the minds of the main body of the people through this extensive continent, that they have so universally adopted the method of managing the important matters neces- sary to preserve among them a free government by corre- sponding committees and congresses, consisting of the AT WATERTOWN, MAY 31, 1775. 251 wisest and most disinterested patriots in America, chosen by the unbiased suffrages of the people assembled for that purpose in their several towns, counties, and provinces. So general agreement, through so many provinces of so large a country, in one mode of self-preservation, is unex- ampled in any history ; and the effect has exceeded our most sanguine expectations. Universal tumults, and all the irregularities and violence of mobbish factions, natu- rally arise when legal authority ceases. But how little of this has appeared in the midst of the late obstructions of civil government ! — nothing more than what has often happened in Great Britain and Ireland, in the face of the civil powers in all their strength ; nothing more than what is frequently seen in the midst of the perfect regula- tions of the great city of London ; and, may I not add, nothing more than has been absolutely necessary to carry into execution the spirited resolutions of a people too sensible to deliver themselves up to oppression and slavery. The judgment and advice of the continental assembly of delegates have been as readily obeyed as if they were authentic acts of a long-established Parliament. And in every colony the votes of a congress have had equal effect with the laws of great and general courts. It is now ten months since ^ this colony has been de- prived of the benefit of that government which was so long enjoyed by charter. They have had no General Assembly formatters of legislation and the public revenue ; the courts of justice have been shut up,^ and almost the 1 Since July 17, 1774, when the General Court at Salem closed the door against the secretary sent by Governor Gage to dissolve the Assembly, chose Thomas Gushing, Samuel Adams, Robert Treat Paine, James Bow- doin, and John Adams, delegates to a congress of the colonies, passed resolves, and separated. — Ed. 2 The power of public opinion in preserving order and safety during the 252 THE ELECTION SERIMON whole executive power has ceased to act ; yet order among the people has been remarkably preserved. Few crimes period from the time when the kinT) TO BE SUBJECT TO PRi:XCIPALITIES AKD POWERS, TO OBEY MAGISTRATES, TO BE READY TO EVERY GOOD "WORK. — TitUS iii. 1. The great Creator, having designed the human race for society, has made us dependent on one another for happi- ness. He has so constituted us that it becomes both our duty and interest to seek the public good ; and that we may be the more firmly engaged to promote each other's welfare, the Deity has endowed us with tender and social affections, with generous and benevolent principles : hence the pain that we feel in seeing an object of distress ; hence the satisfaction that arises in relieving the afflictions, and the superior pleasure which we experience in communi- cating happiness to tlie miserable. The Deity has also invested us with moral powers and faculties, by which we are enabled to discern the difference between right and wrong, truth and falsehood, good and evil : hence the ap- probation of mind that arises uj^on doing a good action, and the remorse of conscience which we experience when we counteract the moral sense and do that which is evil. This proves that, in what is commonly called a state of nature, we are the subjects of the divine law and govern- ment ; that the Deity is our supreme magistrate, Avho has written his law in our hearts, and will reward or punish us according as we obey or disobey his commands. Had the 268 THE ELECTION SERMON, human race uniformly persevered in a state of moral recti- tude, there would have been little or no need of any other law besides that wliich is written in the heart, — for every one in such a state would be a law unto himself. There could be no occasion for enacting or enforcing of penal laws ; for such are " not made for the righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly, and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with man- kind, for men-stealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to" moral recti- tude and the happiness of mankind. The necessity of forming ourselves into j^olitic bodies, and granting to our rulers a j^ower to enact laws for the public safety, and to enforce them by proper penalties, arises from our being in a fallen and degenerate state. The slightest view of the present state and condition of the human race is abun- dantly sufficient to convince any person of common sense and common honesty that civil government is absolutely necessary for the jDcace and safety of mankind ; and, con- sequently, that all good magistrates, while ^ they faithfully discharge the trust reposed in them, ought to be religiously and conscientiously obeyed. An enemy to good govern- ment is an enemy not only to his country, but to all man- kind ; for he plainly shows himself to be divested of those tender and social sentiments which are characteristic of a human temper, even of that generous and benevolent dis- position which is the peculiar glory of a rational creature. An enemy to good government has degraded himself below the rank and dignity of a man, and deserves to be classed with the lower creation.^ Hence we find that wise and good men, of all nations and religions, have ever incul- 1 Sec pp. 72, 75-77. — Ed. 2 gcc pp. 09-74, and notes. — Ed. PREACHED AT BOSTON, 1776. 269 cated subjection to good government, and have borne their testimony against the licentious disturbers of the public peace. Nor has Christianity been deficient in this capital point. We find our blessed Saviour directing the Jews to render to Caesar the things that were Csesar's ; and the apostles and first preachers of the gospel not only exhibited a good example of subjection to the magistrate, in all things that were just and lawful, but they have also, in several places in the New Testament, strongly enjoined upon Christians the duty of submission to that government under which Providence had placed them. Hence we find that those who despise government, and are not afraid to speak evil of dignities, are, by the apostles Peter and Jude, classed among those presumptuous, self-willed sinners that are re- served to the judgment of the great day. And the apostle Paul judged submission to civil government to be a mat- ter of such great importance, that he thought it worth his while to charge Titus to put his hearers in mind to be sub- missive to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work ; as much as to say, none can be ready to every good work, or be properly disposed to perform those actions that tend to piomote the public good, who do not obey magistrates, and who do not become good subjects of civil government.^ If, then, obedience to the civil magistrates is so essential to the character of a Christian, that without it he cannot be disposed to perform those good works that are necessary for the welfare of mankind, — if the despisers of governments are those pre- sumptuous, self-willed sinners who are reserved to the judgment of the great day, — it is certainly a matter of the utmost importance to us all to be thoroughly acquainted iSeepp. 54-61. — Ed. 23* 270 THE ELECTION SERMON, with the nature and extent of our duty, that we may yield the obedience required ; for it is impossible that we should properly discharge a duty when we are strangers to the nature and extent of it. In order, therefore, that we may form a right judgment of the duty enjoined in our text, I shall consider the nature and design of civil government, and shall show that the same principles which oblige us to submit to government do equally oblige us to resist tyranny ; or that tyranny and magistracy are so opposed to each other that where the one begins the other ends.'^ I shall then apply the present discourse to the grand controversy that at this day subsists between Great Britain and the American colonies. That we may understand the nature and design of civil government, and discover the foundation of the magis- trate's authority to command, and the duty of subjects to obey, it is necessary to derive civil government from its original, in order to which we must consider what " state all men are naturally in, and that is (as Mr. Locke ob- serves) a state of perfect freedom to order all their ac- tions, and dispose of their possessions and persons as they think fit, within the bounds of the law of nature, without asking leave or depending upon the will of any man." It is a state wherein all are equal, — no one having a right to control another, or oppose him in what he does, unless it be in his own defence, or in the defence of those that, being injured, stand in need of his assistance. Had men persevered in a state of moral rectitude, every one would have been disposed to follow the law of na- ture, and pursue the general good. In such a state, the wisest and most experienced would undoubtedly be cho- sen to guide and direct those of less wisdom and expe- rience than themselves, — there being nothing else that 1 Sec pages G2, 67 note 1; 09, 74, note 1. —Ed. PREACHED AT BOSTON, 1776. 271 could afford the least show or appearance of any one's hav- ing the superiority or precedency over another ; for the dictates of conscience and the precepts of natural law be- ing uniformly and regularly obeyed, men would only need to be informed what things were most fit and prudent to be done in those cases where their inexperience or want of acquaintance left their minds in doubt what was the wisest and most regular method for them to pursue. In such cases it would be necessary for them to advise with those who were wiser and more experienced than them- selves. But these advisers could claim no authority to compel or to use any forcible measures to oblige any one to comply with their direction or advice. There could be no occasion for the exertion of such a power ; for every man, being under the government of right reason, would immediately feel himself constrained to comply with every- thing that appeared reasonable or fit to be done, or that would any way tend to promote the general good. This would have been the happy state of mankind had they closely adhered to the law of nature, and persevered in their primitive state. Thus we see that a state of nature, though it be a state of perfect freedom, yet is very far from a state of licen- tiousness. The law of nature gives men no right to do anything that is immoral, or contrary to the will of God, and injurious to their fellow-creatures; for a state of nature is properly a state of law and government, even a gov- ernment founded upon the unchangeable nature of the Deity, and a law resulting from the eternal fitness of things. Sooner shall heaven and earth pass away, and the whole frame of nature be dissolved, than any part, even the smallest iota, of this law shall ever be ab- rogated ; it is unchangeable as the Deity himself, being 272 a transcript of his moral perfections. A revelation/ pre- tending to be from God, that contradicts any part of nat- ural law, ought immediately to be rejected as an impos- ture ; for the Deity cannot make a law contrary to the law of nature without acting contrary to himself, — a thing in the strictest sense impossible, for that which implies con- tradiction is not an object of the divine power. Had this subject been properly attended to^ and understood, the world had remained free from a multitude of absurd and pernicious principles, which have been industriously prop- agated by artful and designing men, both in politics and divinity. The doctrine of non-resistance and unlimited passive obeidience to the worst of tyrants could never have found credit among mankind had the voice of reason been hearkened to for a guide, because such a doctrine would immediately have been discerned to be contrary to natural law. In a state of nature we have a right to make the persons that have injured us repair the damages that they have done us ; and it is just in us to inflict such punishment upon them as is necessary to restrain them from doing the like for the future, — the whole end and design of punishing being either to reclaim the individual punished, or to deter others from being guilty of similar crimes. Whenever punishment exceeds these bounds it becomes cruelty and revenge, and directly contrary to the law of nature. Our wants and necessities being such as to render it impossible in most cases to enjoy life in any tolerable degree without entering into society, and there being innumerable cases wherein we need the assistance of others, which if not af- forded we should very soon perish ; hence the law of na- ture requires that we should endeavor to help one another to the utmost of our power in all cases where our assist- 1 Sec pages 0,1 note 1, 80 note a. — Ed. 2 See pages 53, 54. — Ed. 273 ance is necessary. It is our duty to endeavor always to promote the general good ; to do to all as we would be willing to be done by were we in their circumstances; to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly before God. These are some of the laws of nature wdiich every man in the world is bound to observe, and which whoever violates exposes himself to the resentment of mankind, the lashes of his own conscience, and the judgment of Heaven. This plainly shows that the highest state of liberty subjects us to the law of nature and the government of God. The most perfect freedom consists in obeying the dictates of right reason, and submitting to natural law. When a man goes beyond or contrary to the law of nature and reason, he becomes the slave of base passions and vile lusts ; he introduces confusion and disorder into society, and brings misery and destruction upon himself This, therefore, can- not be called a state of freedom, but a state of the vilest slavery and the most dreadful bondage. The servants of sin and corruption are subjected to the worst kind of tyranny in the universe. Hence we conclude that where licentiousness begins, liberty ends. The law of nature is a perfect standard and measure of action for beings that persevere in a state of moral recti- tude ; but the case is far different with us, who are in a fallen and degenerate estate. We have a law in our mem- bers which is continually warring against the law of the mind, by which we often become enslaved to the basest lusts, and are brought into bondage to the vilest passions. The strong propensities of our animal nature often over- come the sober dictates of reason and conscience, and betray us into actions injurious to the public and destruc- tive of the safety and happiness of society. Men of un- bridled lusts, were they not restrained by the power of the civil magistrate, would spread horror and desolation 274 all around them. This makes it absolutely necessary that societies should form themselves into politic bodies, that they may enact laws for the public safety, and appoint par- ticular penalties for the violation of their laws, and invest a suitable number of persons with authority to put in execution and enforce the laws of the state, in order that wicked men may be restrained from doing mischief to their fellow-creatures, that the injured may have their rights restored to them, that the virtuous may be encour- aged in doing good, and that every member of society may be protected and secured in the peaceable, quiet pos- session and enjoyment of all those liberties and privileges w^hich the Deity has bestowed upon him ; i. e., that he may safely enjoy and pursue whatever he chooses, that is consistent with the public good. This shows that the end and design of civil government cannot be to deprive men of their liberty or take away their freedom ; but, on the contrary, the true design of civil government is to j^rotect men in the enjoyment of Uberty.^ From hence it follows that tyranny and arbitrary power are utterly inconsistent wdth and subversive of the very end and design of civil government, and directly contrary to natural law, which is the true foundation of civil gov- ernment and all politic law. Consequently, the authority of a tyrant is of itself null and void ; for as no man can have a right to act contrary to the law of nature, it is impossible that any individual, or even the greatest number of men, can confer a right upon another of which they themselves are not possessed ; i. e., no body of men can justly and lawfully authorize any person to tyrannize over and enslave his fellow-creatures, or do anything con- trary to equity and goodness. As magistrates have no authority but what they derive from the j)eople, whenever 1 Pages 69, 78. — Ed. PREACHED AT BOSTON, 1776. 275 they act contrary to the public good, and pursue measures destructive of the peace and safety of the community, they forfeit their right to govern the people. Civil rulers and magistrates are properly of human creation ; they are set up by the people to be the guardians of their rights, and to secure their persons from being injured or op- pressed, — the safety of the public being the supreme law of the state, by which the magistrates are to be governed, and which they are to consult upon all occasions. The modes of administration may be very different, and the forms ^ of government may vary from each other in differ- ent ages and nations ; but, under every form, the end of civil government is the same, and cannot vary : it is like the laAvs of the Medes and Persians — it altereth not. ThouQ^h maofistrates are to consider themselves as the servants. of the people, seeing from them it is that they derive their power and authority, yet they may also be considered as the ministers of God ordained by him for the good of mankind;^ for, under him, as the Supreme Magistrate of the universe, they are to act : and it is God who has not only declared in his word what are the neces- sary qualifications of a ruler, but who also raises up and qualifies men for such an important station. The magis- trate may also, in a more strict and proper sense, be said to be ordained of God, because reason, which is the voice of God, plainly requires such an order of men to be ap- pointed for the public good. Kow, whatever right reason requires as necessary to be done is as much the will and law of God as though it were enjoined us by an immedi- ate revelation from heaven, or commanded in the sacred Scriptures. From this account of the origin, nature, and design of civil government, we may be very easily led into a thor- 1 Page 82. — Ed. 2 Pages 75-77. - Ed. 276 ough knowledge of our duty; we may see the reason why we are bound to obey magistrates, viz., because they are the ministers of God for good unto the people. While, therefore, they rule in the fear of God, and while they promote the welfare of the state, — i. e., while they act in the character of magistrates, — it is the indispensable duty of all to submit to them, and to oppose a turbulent, fac- tious, and libertine spirit, whenever and wherever it dis- covers itself. When a people have by their free consent conferred upon a number of men a power to rule and gov- ern them, they are bound to obey them. Hence disobe- dience becomes a breach of faith ; it is violating a consti- tution of their own appointing, and breaking a compact for which they ought to have the most sacred regard. Such a conduct discovers so base and disingenuous a tem- per of mind, that it must expose them to contempt in the judgment of all the sober, thinking part of mankind. Subjects are bound to obey lawful magistrates by every tender tie of human nature, which disposes us to consult the public good, and to seek the good of our brethren, our wives, our children, our friends and acquaintance ; for he that opposes lawful authority does really oppose the safety and happiness of his fellow-creatures. A factious, sedi- tious person, that opposes good government, is a monster in nature ; for he is an enemy to his own sj^ecies, and des- titute of the sentiments of humanity.^ Subjects are also bound to obey magistrates, for con- science' sake, out of regard to the divine authority, and out of obedience to the w^U of God ; ^ for if magistrates are the ministers of God, we cannot disobey them without being disobedient to the law of God ; and this extends to all men in authority, from the highest ruler to the lowest officer in the state. To oppose tliem when in the exercise 1 See p. 87, note. — Ed. 2 gee p. 64. — Ed. 1776. 277 of lawful authority is an act of disobedience to the Deity, and, as such, will be punished by him. It will, doubtless, be readily granted by every honest man that we ought cheerfully to obey the magistrate, and submit to all such regulations of government as tend to promote the public good ; but as this general definition may be liable to be misconstrued, and every man may think himself at liberty to disregard any laws that do not suit his interest, humor, or fancy, I would observe that, in a multitude of cases, many of us, for want of being properly acquainted with affairs of state, may be very improj^er judges of particular laws, whether they are just or not. In such cases it be- comes us, as good members of society, peaceably and con- scientiously to submit, though we cannot see the reason- ableness of every law to which we submit, and that for this plain reason : if any number of men should take it upon themselves to oppose authority for acts, which may be really necessary for the public safety, only because they do not see the reasonableness of them, the direct consequence will be introducing confusion and anarchy into the state. It is also necessary that the minor part should submit to the major ; e. g.^ when legislators have enacted a set of laws which are highly approved by a large majority of the community as tending to promote the public good, in this case, if a small number of persons are so unhappy as to view the matter in a very different point of light from the public, though they have an undoubted right to show the reasons of their dissent from the judgment of the public, and may lawfully use all proper arguments to convince the public of what they judge to be an error, yet, if they fail in their attempt, and the majority still continue to approve of the laws that are enacted, it is the duty of those few that dissent peaceably and for conscience' sake to submit 24 278 THE ELECTION SERMON, to the public jiiclgment, unless something is required of them which they judge would be sinful for them to comply with ; for in that case they ought to obey the dictates of their own consciences rather than any human authority w^hatever.^ Perhaps, also, some cases of intolerable op- pression, where compliance would bring on inevitable ruin and destruction, may justly warrant the few to refuse sub- mission to what they judge inconsistent with their peace and safety; for the law of self-preservation will always justify opposing a cruel and tyrannical imposition, except where opposition is attended with greater evils than sub- mission, which is frequently the case where a few are op- pressed by a large and powerful majority.^ Except the above-named cases, the minor ought always to submit to the major; otherwise, there can be no peace nor harmony in society. And, besides, it is the major part of a com- munity that have the sole right of establishing a constitu- tion and authorizing magistrates ; and consequently it is only the major part of the community that can claim the right of altering the constitution, and displacing the magis- trates ; for certainly common sense will tell us that it requires as great an authority to set aside a constitution as there was at first to establish it. The collective body, not a few individuals, ought to constitute the supreme au- thority of the state. The only difficulty remaining is to determine when a people may claim a right of forming themselves into a a This shows the reason why the primitive Christians did not oppose the cruel persecutions that were inflicted upon them by the heathen magistrates. They were few compared witli the heathen world, and for them to have attempted to resist their enemies by force would have been like a small parcel of sheep en- deavoring to oppose a large number of ravening wolves and savage beasts of prey. It would, without a miracle, have brought upon them inevitable ruin and destruction. Hence the wise and prudent advice of our Saviour to them is, " When they persecute you in this city, flee ye to another." 1 iSeep. 295. — Ed. 279 body politic, and assume the powers of legislation. In order to determine this point, we are to remember that all men being by nature equal, all the members of a com- munity have a natural right to assemble themselves to- gether, and act and vote for such regulations as they judge are necessary for the good of the whole. But when a community is become very numerous, it is very difficult, and in many cases impossible, for all to meet together to regulate the affairs of the state ; hence comes the necessity of appointing delegates to represent the people in a gen- eral assembly. And this ought to be looked upon as a sacred and inalienable right, of which a people cannot justly divest themselves, and which no human authority can in equity ever take from them, viz., that no one be obliged to submit to any law excejot such as are made either by himself or by his representative. If representation and legislation are inseparably con- nected, it follows, that when great numbers have emigrated into a foreign land, and are so far removed from the parent state that they neither are or can be properly represented by the government fi-om which they have emigrated, that then nature itself points out the necessity of their assum- ing to themselves the powers of legislation ; and they have a right to consider themselves as a separate state from the other, and, as such, to form themselves into a body politic. In the next place, when a people find themselves cruelly oppressed by the parent state, they have an undoubted right to throw off the yoke,^ and to assert their liberty, if they find good reason to judge that they have sufficient power and strength to maintain their ground in defending their just rights against their oppressors; for, in this case, by the law of self-preservation, which is the first law of 1 Sec pp. 93-95. — Ed. 280 nature, they have not only an undoubted right, but it is their indispensable duty, if they cannot be redressed any other way, to renounce all submission to the government that has oppressed them, and set up an independent state of their own, even though they may be vastly inferior in numbers to the state that has oppressed them. When either of the aforesaid cases takes place, and more espe- cially when both concur, no rational man, I imagine, can have any doubt in his own mind whether such a people have a right to form themselves into a body politic, and assume to themselves all the powers of a fi-ee state. For, can it be rational to suppose that a people should be subjected to the tyranny of a set of men^ who are perfect strangers to them, and cannot be supposed to have that fellow-feeling for them that we generally have for those with whom we are connected and acquainted; and, besides, through their unacquaintedness with the circumstances of the people over whom they claim the right of jurisdiction, are utterly unable to judge, in a multitude of cases, which is best for them ? It becomes me not to say what particular form^ of gov- ernment is best for a community, — whether a pure democ- racy, aristocracy, monarchy, or a mixture of all the three simple forms. They have all their advantages and disad- vantages, and when they are properly administered may, any of them, answer the design of civil government toler- ably. Permit me, however, to say, that an unlimited, absolute monarchy, and an aristocracy not subject to the control of the people, are two of the most exceptionable forms of government : firstly, because in neither of them is there a proper representation of the people ; and, sec- 1 As, for instance, in the case in hand, the British Parliament and the American colonies, pp. 110, 206. — Ed. 2Seepp. 80, 81,82. — Ed. 1776. 281 ondly, because each of them being enth-ely independent of the people, they are very apt to degenerate into tyranny. However, in this imperfect state, we cannot expect to have government formed upon such a basis but that it may be perverted by bad men to evil purposes. A wise and good man would be very loth to undermine a constitution that was once fixed and established, although he might dis- cover many imperfections in it ; and nothing short of the most urgent necessity would ever induce him to consent to it ; because the unhinging a people from a form of gov- ernment to which they had been long accustomed might throw them into such a state of anarchy and confusion as might terminate in their destruction, or perhaps, in the end, subject them to the worst kind of tyranny. Having thus shown the nature, end, and design of civil government, and pointed out the reasons why subjects are bound to obey magistrates, — viz., because in so doing they both consult their own happiness as individuals, and also promote the pubHc good and the safety of the state, — I proceed, in the next place, to show that the same princi- ples that oblige us to submit to civil government do also equally oblige us, where we have power and ability, to resist and oppose tyi'anny ; and that where tyranny begins government ends.^ For, if magistrates have no authority but what they derive from the people ; if they are properly of human creation ; if the whole end and design of their institution is to j^romote the general good, and to secure to men their just rights, — it will follow, that when they act contrary to the end and design of their creation they cease being magistrates, and the people which gave them their authority have the right to take it from them again. This is a very plain dictate of common sense, which uni- 1 See pp. 73, 74, note 1 ; 93-9G. — Ed. 24* 282 versally obtains in all similar cases ; for who is there that, having emj^loyed a number of men to do a particular piece of work for him, but what would judge that he had a right to dismiss them from his service when he found that they went directly contrary to his orders, and that, instead of accomplishing the business he had set them about, they "would infallibly ruin and destroy it? If, then, men, in the common affairs of life, always judge that they have a right to dismiss from their service such persons as counteract their plans and designs, though the damage will affect only a few individuals, much more must the body politic have a right to depose any persons, though appointed to the highest place of power and authority, when they find that they are unfaithful to the trust reposed in them, and that, instead of consulting the general good, they are dis- turbing the peace of society by making laws cruel and oppressive, and by depriving the subjects of their just rights and jorivileges. Whoever pretends to deny this proposition must give up all pretence of being master of that common sense and reason by which the Deity has distinguished us from the brutal herd.^ As our duty of obedience to the magistrate is founded upon our obligation to promote the general good, our readiness to obey lawful authority will always arise in proportion to the love and regard that we have for the welfire of the public ; and the same love and regard for the public will inspire us with as strong a zeal to oppose tyranny a& we have to obey magistracy. Our obligation to promote the public good extends as much to the oppos- ing every exertion of arbitrary power that is injurious to the state as it does to the submitting to good and wliole- some laws. 'No man, therefore, can be a good member of 1 Sec pp. 71,72. —Ed. 1116. 283 the community that is not as zealous to oppose tyranny as he is ready to obey magistracy. A slavish submission to tyranny is a proof of a very sordid and base mind.^ Such a person cannot be under the influence of any generous human sentiments, nor have a tender regard for mankind. Further: if magistrates are no farther ministers of God than they promote the good of the community, then obe- dience to them neither is nor can be unlimited ; for it would imjjly a gross absurdity to assert that, when magis- trates are ordained by the people solely for the purpose of beii]g beneficial to the state, they must be obeyed when they are seeking to ruin and destroy it. This would imply that men were bound to act against the great law of self- preservation, and to contribute their assistance to their own ruin and destruction, in order that they may please and gratify the greatest monsters in nature, who are violat- ing the laws of God and destroying the rights of mankind. Unlimited submission and obedience is due to none but God alone. He has an absolute right to command ; he alone has an uncontrollable sovereignty over us, because he alone is unchangeably good; he never will nor can require of us, consistent with his nature and attributes, anything that is not fit and reasonable; his commands are all just and good ; and to suppose that he has given to any partic- ular set of men a power to require obedience to that which is unreasonable, cruel, and unjust, is robbing the Deity of his justice and goodness, in which consists the peculiar glory of the divine character, and it is representing him under the horrid character of a tyrant.^ If magistrates are ministers of God only because the law of God and reason points out the necessity of such an institution for the good of mankind, it follows, that when- ever they pursue measures directly destructive of the pub- 1 P. f)!. — Ed. 2 Sec p. 95. — Ed. 284 lie good they cease being God's ministers, they forfeit their right to obedience from the subject, they become the pests ^ of society, and the community is under the strongest obli- gation of duty,^ both to God and to its own members, to resist and oppose them, which will be so far from resisting the ordinance of God that it will be strictly obeying his commands.^ To suppose otherwise will imply that the Deity requires of us an obedience that is self-contradictory and absurd, and that one part of his law is directly con- trary to the other ; i. e., while he commands us to pursue virtue and the general good, he does at the same time re- quire us to persecute virtue, and betray the general good, by enjoining us obedience to the wicked commands of tyrannical oppressors. Can any one not lost to the princi- ples of humanity undertake to defend such absurd senti- ments as these ? As the public safety is the first and grand law of society, so no community can have a right to invest the magistrate with any power or authority that will ena- ble him to act against the welfare of the state and the good of the whole. If men have at any time wickedly and foolishly given up their just rights into the hands of the magistrate, such acts are null and void, of course ; to suppose otherwise will imply that we have a right to in- vest the magistrate with a power to act contrary to the law of God, — which is as much as to say that we are not the subjects of divine law and government. What has been said is, I apprehend, abundantly sufficient to show that tyrants are no magistrates,^ or that whenever magistrates abuse their power and authority to the subverting the \)\\\>- lic happiness, their authority immediately ceases, and that it not only becomes lawful, but an indispensable duty to 1 Sec p. 78. — Ed. 3 Sec p. 62, note 1. — Ed. 2 See p. &3, note 1. —Ed. 4 Sec p. 94, note a. — Ed. 1776, 285 oppose them ; that the principle of self-preservation, the affection and duty that we owe to our country, and the obedience we owe the Deity, do all require us to oppose tyranny. If it be asked, Who are the proper judges^ to determine when rulers are guilty of tyranny and oppression ? I an- swer, the public. ISTot a few disaffected indivicluals, but the collective body of the state, must decide this question ; for, as it is the collective body that invests rulers with their power and authority, so it is the collective body that has the sole right of judging whether rulers act up to the end of their institution or not. Great regard ought always to be paid to the judgment of the public. It is true the public may be imposed upon by a misrepresentation of facts ; but this may be said of the public, which cannot always be said of individuals, viz., that the public is always willing to be rightly informed, and when it has proper matter of conviction laid before it its judgment is always right. This account of the nature and design of civil govern- ment, which is so clearly suggested to us by the plain principles of common sense and reason, is abundantly con- firmed by the sacred Scriptures, even by those very texts which have been brought by men of slavish principles to establish the absurd doctrine of unlimited passive obedi- ence and non-resistance, as will abundantly appear by ex- amining the two most noted texts that are commonly brought to support the strange doctrine of passive obedi- ence. The first that I shall cite is in 1 Peter ii. 13, 14: " Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man," — or, rather, as the words ought to be rendered from the Greek, submit yourselves to every human creation, or human con- stitution, — " for the Lord's sake, whether it be to the king 1 See p. 8G, note a. — Ed. 286 as supreme, or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil-doers, and for the praise of them that do well."^ Here we see that the apostle asserts that magistracy is of human creation or appoint- ment ; that is, that magistrates have no power or authority but what they derive from the people; that this power they are to exert for the punishment of evil-doers, and for the praise of them that do well ; i. e., the end and design of the appointment of magistrates is to restrain wicked men, by proper penalties, from injuring society, and to en- courage and honor the virtuous and obedient. Upon this account Christians are to submit to them for the Lord's sake ; which is as if he had said, Though magistrates are of mere human appointment, and can claim no power or authority but what they derive from the people, yet, as they are ordained by men to promote the general good by punishing evil-doers and by rewarding and encouraging the virtuous and obedient, you ought to submit to them out of a sacred regard to the divine authority ; for as they, in the faithful discharge of their office, do fulfil the will of God, so ye, by submitting to them, do fulfil the divine command. If the only reason assigned by the apostle why magistrates should be obeyed out of a regard to the divine authority is because they punish the wicked and encourage the good, it follows, that when they punish the virtuous and encourage the vicious we have a right to refuse yielding any submission or obedience to them ; i. e., whenever they act contrary to the end and design of their institution, they forfeit their authority to govern the peo- ple, and the reason for submitting to them, out of regard to the divine authority, immediately ceases ; and, they being only of human appointment, the authority which the peo- 1 Compare these pages with Dr. Mayhew's, in 1750, p. 23. — Ed. PREACHED AT BOSTON, 1776. 287 pie gave them the public have a right to take from them, and to confer it upon those who are more worthy. So far is this text fi*om favoring arbitrary principles, that there is nothing in it but what is consistent with and favorable to the highest liberty that any man can wish to enjoy; for this text requires us to submit to the magistrate no further than he is the encourager and protector of virtue and the 23unisherof vice ; and this is consistent with all that liberty which the Deity has bestowed upon us.^ The other text which I shall mention, and which has been made use of by the favorers of arbitrary government as their great sheet-anchor and main support, is in Rom. xiii., the first six verses : " Let every soul be subject to the higher powers ; for there is no power but of God. The powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God ; and they that resist shall receive to themselves dam- nation ; for rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same : for he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid ; for he beareth not the sword in vain : for he is the minister of God, a re- venger to execute wrath upon him that doth evil. Where- fore ye must needs be subject not only for wrath, but also for conscience' sake. For, for this cause pay you tribute also; for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this- very thing." A very little attention, I appre- hend, will be sufiicient to show that this text is so far from favoring arbitrary government, that, on the contrary, it strongly holds forth the principles of true liberty. Sub- jection to the higher powers is enjoined by the apostle because there is no power but of God ; the powers that be 1 Seep. 78. — Ed. 288 «nre ordained of God ; consequently, to resist the power is to resist the ordinance of God : and he repeatedly declares that the ruler is the minister of God. Now, before we can say whether this text makes for or against the doctrine of unlimited passive obedience, we must find out in what sense the apostle affirms that magistracy is the ordinance of God, and what he intends when he calls the ruler the minister of God. I can think but of three possible senses in which magis- tracy can with any propriety be called God's ordinance, or in which rulers can be said to be ordained of God as his ministers. The first is a plain declaration from the word of God that such a one and his descendants are, and shall be, the only true and lawful magistrates : thus we find in Scripture the kingdom of Judah to be settled by divine appointment in the family of David. Or, Secondly, By an immediate commission from God, or- dering and appointing such a one by name to be the ruler over the people : thus Saul and David were imme- diately appointed by God to be kings over Israel. Or, Thirdly, Magistracy may be called the ordinance of God, and rulers may be called the ministers of God, be- cause the nature and reason of things, which is the law of God, requires such an institution for the preservation and safety of civil society. In the two first senses the apostle cannot be supposed to affirm that magistracy is God's ordinance, for neither he nor any of the sacred writers have entailed the magistracy to any one particular family under the gospel dispensation. Neither does he nor any of the inspired writers give us the least hint that any per- son should ever be immediately commissioned from God to bear rule over the people. The third sense, then, is the oidy sense in which the apostle can be supposed to affirm that the magistrate is the minister of God, and that magis- PREACHED AT BOSTON, 1776. 289 tracy is the ordinance of God ; viz., that the nature and reason of things require such an institution for the pre- servation and safety of mankind. Now, if this be the only sense in which the apostle affirms that magistrates are ordained of God as his ministers, resistance must be criminal only so far forth as they are the ministers of God, i. e., while they act up to the end of their institution, and ceases being criminal when they cease being the ministers of God, i. e., when they act contrary to the general good, and seek to destroy the liberties of the people. That we have gotten the apostle's sense of magistracy being the ordinance of God, will plainly appear from the text itself; for, after having asserted that to resist the power is to resist the ordinance of God, and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation, he immedi- ately adds, as the reason of this assertion, " For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same : for he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain : for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doth evil." Here is a plain declara- tion of the sense in which he asserts that the authority of the magistrate is ordained of God, viz., because rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil; therefore we ought to dread offending them, for we cannot offend them but by doing evil; and if we do evil we have just reason to fear their power ; for they bear not the sword in vain, but in this case the maofistrate is a revenojer to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil: but if we are found doers of that which is good, we have no reason to fear the authority of the magistrate ; for in this case, instead of being punished, we shall be protected and encouraged. 25 290 THE ELECTION SERMON, The reason Tvhy the magistrate is called the minister of God is because he is to protect, encourage, and honor them that do well, and to punish them that do evil ; there- fore it is our duty to submit to them, not merely for fear of being j^unished by them, but out of regard to the divine authority, under which they are deputed to execute judgment and to do justice. For this reason, according to the apostle, tribute is to be paid them, because, as the min- isters of God, their whole business is to protect every man in the enjoyment of his just rights and privileges, and to punish every evil-doer. If the apostle, then, asserts that rulers are ordained of God only because they are a terror to evil works and a praise to them that do well ; if they are ministers of God only because they encourage virtue and punish vice; if for this reason only they are to be obeyed for conscience' sake; if the sole reason why they have a right to tribute is because they devote themselves wholly to the business of securing to men their just rights, and to the punishing of evil-doers, — it follows, by undeniable consequence, that when they become the pests of human society, when they promote and encourage evil-doers, and become a terror to good works, they then cease being the ordinance of God ; they are no longer rulers nor ministers of God ; they are so far from being the powers that are ordained of God that they become the ministers of the powers of dark- ness, ^ and it is so far from being a crime to resist them, that in many cases it may be highly criminal in the sight of Heaven to refuse resisting and opposing them to the utmost of our power ; or, in other words, that the same reasons that require us to obey the ordinance of God, do equally oblige us, when we have power and opportunity, to oppose and resist the ordinance of Satan. 1 Seep. 73. — Ed. PREACHED AT BOSTON, 1776. 291 Hence we see that the apostle Paul, instead of being a friend to tyranny and arbitrary government, turns out to be a strong advocate for the just rights of mankind, and is for our enjoying all that liberty with which God has invested us ; for no power (according to the apostle) is ordained of God but what is an encourager of every good and virtuous action, — "Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same." Xo man need to be afraid of this power which is ordained of God who does nothing but what is agreeable to the law of God ; for this power will not restrain us from exercising any liberty which the Deity has granted us ; for the minister of God is to restrain us from nothing but the doing of that which is evil, and to this we have no right. To practise evil is not liberty, but licentiousness. Can we conceive of a more perfect, equi- table, and generous plan of government than this whicji the apostle has laid down, viz., to have rulers appointed over us to encourage us to every good and vh'tuous action, to defend and protect us in our just rights and privileges, and to grant us everything that can tend to promote our true interest and happiness ; to restrain every licentious action, and to punish every one that would injure or harm us ; to become a terror of evil-doers ; to make and execute such just and righteous laws as shall effectually deter and hinder men from the commission of evil, and to attend continually upon this very thing; to make it their constant care and study, day and night, to promote the good and welfare of the community, and to oppose all evil practices ? Deservedly may such rulers be called the riiinisters of God for good. They carry on the same benevolent design towards the community which the great Go^rnor of the universe does towards his whole creation. 'T is the indis- pensable duty of a people to pay tribute, and to affoi-d an easy and comfortable subsistence to such rulers, because 292 THE ELECTION SERMON, they are the ministers of God, who are continually labor- ing and employing their time for the good of the com- munity. He that resists such magistrates does, in a very emphatical sense, resist the ordinance of God ; he is an enemy to mankind, odious to God, and justly incurs the sentence of condemnation from the great Judge of quick and dead. Obedience to such magistrates is yielding obe- dience to the will of God, and, therefore, ought to be per- formed from a sacred regard to the divine authority. For any one from hence to infer that the apostle enjoins in this text unlimited obedience to the worst of tyrants, and that he pronounces damnation upon those that resist the arbitrary measures of such pests of society, is just as good sense as if one should affirm, that because the Scrip- ture enjoins us obedience to the laws of God, therefore we njay not oppose the power of darkness; or because we are commanded to submit to the ordinance of God, therefore we may not resist the ministers of Satan. Such wild work must be made with the apostle before he can be brought to speak the language of oppression ! It is as plain, I think, as words can make it, that, according to this text, no tyrant can be a ruler ;^ for the apostle's definition of a ruler is, that he is not a terror to good works, but to the evil; and that he is one who is to praise and encourage those that do well. Whenever, then, the ruler encourages them that do evil, and is a terror to those that do well, — i. e., as soon as he becomes a tyrant, — he forfeits his authority to govern, and becomes the minister of Satan, and, as such, ought to be opposed. I know it is said that the magistrates were, at the time when the afiostle wrote, heathens, and that Nero,^ that monster of tyranny, was then Emperor of Rome ; that therefore the apostle, by enjoining submission to the pow- 1 See p. on, note 1. — Ed. 2 Scc pp. 57 b, 61 a. — Ed. PREACHED AT BOSTOJT, 1770. 293 ers that then were, does require unlimited obedience to be yielded to the worst of tyrants. Now, not to insist upon what has been often observed, viz., that this epistle was written most probably about the beginning of Xero's reign, at which time he was a very humane and merciful prince, did everything that was generous and benevolent to the public, and showed every act of mercy and tender- ness to jiarticulars, and therefore might at that time justly deserve the character of the minister of God for good to the people, — I say, waiving this, we will suppose that this epistle was written after that Xero was become a monster of tyi-anny.and wickedness ; it will by no means follow from thence that the apostle meant to enjoin unlimited subjec- tion to such an authority^ or that he intended to affirm that such a cruel, despotic authority was the ordinance of God. The jDlain, obvious sense of his words, as we have already seen, forbids such a construction to be put upon them, for they plainly imply a strong abhorrence and dis- approbation of such a character, and clearly prove that Xero,^ so far forth as he was a tyrant, could not be the minister of God, nor have a right to claim submission from the people; so that this ought, perhaps, rather to be viewed as a severe satire upon Nero, than as enjoining any submis- sion to him. It is also worthy to be observed that the apostle pru- dently waived mentioning any particular persons that were then in power, as it might have been construed in an in- vidious light, and exposed the primitive Christians to the severe resentments of the men that were then in power. He only in general requires submission to the higher pow- ers, because the powers that be are ordained of God. Now, though the emperor might at that time be such a 1 See pp. 57, 61.— Ed. 25* 294 tyrant that be could with no propriety be said to be ordained of God, yet it would be somewhat sti*ange if there were no men in power among the Romans that acted up to the character of good magistrates, and that deserved to be es- teemed as the ministers of God for good unto the people. If there were any such, notwithstanding the tyranny of Nero, the apostle might with great propriety enjoin sub- mission to those powers that were ordained of God, and by so particularly pointing out the end and design of magistrates, and giving his definition of a ruler, he might design to show that neither Nero, nor any other tyrant, ought to be esteemed as the minister of God. Or, rather, — which appears to me to be the true sense, — the apostle meant to speak of magistracy in general, without any ref- erence to the emperor, or any other person in power, that was then at Rome ; and the meaning of this passage is as if he had said. It is the duty of every Christian to be a good subject of civil government, for the power and au- thority of the civil magistrate are from God; for the pow- ers that be are ordained of God ; i. e., the authority of the magistrates that are now either at Rome or elsewhere is ordained of the Deity. Wherever you find any lawful magistrates, remember, they are of divine ordination. But that you may understand what I mean when I say that magistrates are of divine ordination, I will show you how you may discern who are lawful magistrates, and ordained of God, from those who are not. Those only are to be es- teemed lawful magistrates, and ordained of God, who pur- sue the public good by honoring and encouraging those that do well and punishing all that do evil. Such, and such only, wherever they are to be found, are the ministers of God for orood : to resist such is resisting^ the ordinance of God, and exposing yourselves to the divine wrath and condemnation. 295 In either of these senses the text cannot make anytliing in favor of arbitrary government. Xor could he with any propriety tell them that they need not be afraid of tlie power so long as they did that which was good, if he meant to recommend an unlimited submission to a tyrannical Nero; for the best characters were the likeliest to fall a sacrifice to his malice. And, besides, such an injunction would be directly contrary to his own practice, and the practice of the primitive Christians, who refused to comply with the sinful commands of men in power ; their answer in such cases being this,TVe ought to obey God rather than men.^ Hence the apostle Paul himself suffered many cruel persecutions because he would not renounce Christianity, but persisted in opposing the idolatrous Avorship of the pagan world. This text, being rescued from the absurd interpretations which the favorers of arbitrary government have put upon it, turns out to be a noble confirmation of that free and generous plan of government which the law of nature and reason points out to us. Nor can we desire a more equi- table plan of government than what the apostle has here laid down ; for, if we consult our happiness and real good, we can never wish for an unreasonable liberty, viz., a free- dom to do evil, which, according to the apostle, is the only thins: that the masfistrate is to refrain us from. To have a liberty to do whatever is fit, reasonable, or good, is the highest degree of freedom that rational beings can possess. And how honorable a station are those men jDlaced in, by the providence of God, whose business it is to secure to men this rational liberty, and to promote the happiness and welfare of society, by suppressing vice and immorality, and by honoring and encouraging everything that is honorable, virtuous, and praiseworthy ! Such magistrates ought to be iSeep. 278. — Ed. 296 honored and obeyed as the ministers of God and the servants of the King of Heaven. Can we conceive of a larger and more generous plan of government than this of the apostle ? Or can we find words more plainly ex- pressive of a disapprobation of an arbitrary and tyranni- cal government? I never read this text without admiring the beauty and nervousness of it ; and I can hardly con- ceive how he could express more ideas in so few words than he has done. We see here, in one view, the honor that belongs to the magistrate, because he is ordained of God for the j^ublic good. "We have his duty pointed out, viz., to honor and encourage the virtuous, to promote the real good of the community, and to punish all wicked and injurious persons. We are taught the duty of the subject, viz., to obey the magistrate for conscience' sake, because he is ordained of God ; and that rulers, being continually employed under God for our good, are to be generously maintained by the paying them tribute ; and that disobe- dience to rulers is highly criminal, and will expose us to the divine wrath. The liberty of the subject is also clearly asserted, viz., that subjects are to be allowed to do every- thing that is in itself just and right, and are only to be restrained from being guilty of wrong actions. It is also strongly implied, that when rulers become oppressive to the subject and injurious to the state, their authority, their respect, their maintenance, and the duty of submitting to them, must immediately cease ; they are then to be con- sidered as the ministers of Satan,^ and, as such, it becomes our indispensable duty to resist and oppose them. Thus we see that both reason and revelation perfectly agree in pointing out the nature, end, and design of gov- ernment, viz., that it is to promote the welfare and happi- ness of the community ; arid that subjects have a right to ' 1 See p. 73. — Ed. 297 do everything that is good, praiseworthy, and consistent with the good of tlie community, and are only to be restrained when they do evil and are injm-ious either to individuals or the whole community ; and that they ought to submit to every law that is beneficial to the community for conscience' sake, although it may in some measure interfere with their private interest ; for every good man will be ready to forego his private interest for the sake of being beneficial to the public. Reason and revelation, we see, do both teach us that our obedience to rulers is not unlimited, but that resistance is not only allowable, but an indispensable duty in the case of intolerable tyr- anny and oppression. From both reason and revelation we learn that, as the iDublic safety is the supreme law of the state, — being the true standard and measure by which we are to judge whether any law or body of laws are just or not, — so legislators have a right to make, and require sub- jection to, any set of laws that have a tendency to promote the good of the community. Our governors have a right to take every proper method to form the minds of their subjects so that they may be- come good members of society. The great difierence that we may observe among the several classes of mankind arises chiefly fi'om their education and their laws : hence men become virtuous or vicious, good commonwealths- men or the contrary, generous, noble, and courageous, or base, mean-spirited, and cowardly, according to the impression that they have received from the government that they are under, together with their education and the methods that have been practised by their leaders to form their minds in early life. Hence the necessity of good laws to encourage every noble and virtuous senti- ment, to suppress vice and immorality, to promote indus- try, and to punish idleness, that parent of innumerable 298 evils ; to promote arts and sciences, and to banish igno- rance from among mankind. And as nothing tends like religion and the fear of God to make men good members of the commonwealth, it is the duty of magistrates to become the patrons and pro- moters of religion and piety, and to make suitable laws for the maintaining public worship, and decently supporting the teachers of religion. Such laws, I apprehend, are abso- lutely necessary for the well-being of civil society. Such laws may be made, consistent with all that liberty of con- science which every good member of society ought to be possessed of; ^ for, as there are few, if any, religious socie- ties among us but what profess to believe and practise all the great duties of religion and morality that are necessary for the well-being of society and the safety of the state, let every one be allowed to attend worship in his own society, or in that way that he judges most agreeable to the will of God, and let him be obliged to contribute his assistance to the supporting and defraying the necessary charges of his own meeting. In this case no one can have any right to complain that he is deprived of liberty of conscience, seeing that he has a right to choose and freely attend that worship that appears to him to be most agreeable to the will of God ; and it must be very unreasonable for him to object against being obliged to contribute his part towards the support of that worship which he has chosen. Whether some such method as this might not tend, in a very eminent manner, to promote the peace and welfare of society, I must leave to the wisdom of our legislators to determine ; 1 " Ought to he possessed of." But who is to be the jud j^e ? — Mr. Backus, ■^Ir. West, or tlic Pope? Mr. Backus demanded the repeal of all laws compelling the support of public worship, and that it should be left to the voluntary support of the people. — Ed. 1776. 299 be sure it would take off some of the most popular^ objections against being obliged by law to support public worship while the law restricts that support only to one denomination. But for the civil authority to pretend to establish ^ par- ticular modes of faith and forms of worship, and to punish all that deviate from the standard which our superiors have set up, is attended with the most pernicious conse- quences to society. It cramps all free and rational inquiry, fills the world with hypocrites and superstitious bigots — nay, with infidels and skej^tics ; it exposes men of religion and conscience to the rage and malice of fiery, blind zeal- ots, and dissolves every tender tie of human nature ; in short, it introduces confusion and every evil work. And I cannot but look upon it as a j^eculiar blessing of Heaven that we live in a land where every one can freely deliver his sentiments upon religious subjects, and have the privi- lege of worshipping God according to the dictates of his own conscience,^ without any molestation or disturbance, — a privilege which I hope we shall ever keej) up and strenuously maintain.* No principles ought ever to be discountenanced by civil authority but such as tend to the subversion of the state. So long as a man is a good member of society, he is accountable to God alone for his rehgious sentiments ; but when men are found disturbers of the public peace, stirring up sedition, or practising against the state, no pretence of religion or conscience 1 At this time the Baptists, of whom the excellent, and able, and zealous Backus was the chief, were restless under the then legal obligations. Dr. "West's proposed method was deemed by many a dangerous departure from the old paths, and the complete divorce was not eflfected till many years later, in 1834. — Ed. 2 See pp. 47-52; also p. 86, note a. — Ed. 3 See p. 68, note 1 . — Ed. 4 See p. 58, note a. — Ed. too ought to screen them from being brought to condign jDun- ishment. But then, as the end and design of punishment is either to make restitution to the injured or to restrain men from committing the like crimes for the future, so, when these important ends are answered, the punishment ought to cease ; for whatever is inflicted upon a man under the notion of punishment after these important ends are answered, is not a just and lawful punishment, but is properly cruelty and base revenge. From this account of civil government we learn that the business of magistrates is weighty and important. It requires both wisdom and integrity. When either are wanting, government will be poorly administered ; more especially if our governors are men of loose morals and abandoned principles ; for if a man is not faithful to God and his own soul, how can we expect that he will be faith- ful to the public ? There w^is a great deal of propriety in the advice that Jethro gave to Moses to provide able men, — men of truth, that feared God, and that hated covetous- ness, — and to appoint them for rulers over the people. For it certainly implies a very gross absurdity to suppose that those who are ordained of God for the public good should have no regard to the laws of God, or that the ministers of God should be despisers of the divine commands. David, the man after God's own heart, makes piety a ne- cessary qualification in a ruler : " He that ruleth over men (says he) must be just, ruling in the fear of God." It is necessary it should be so, for the welfare and happiness of the state ; for, to say nothing of the venality and corrup- tion, of tlie tyranny and oppression, that will take place under unjust rulers, barely their vicious and irregular lives will have a most pernicious effect upon the lives and man- ners of their subjects : their authority becomes despicable in the opinion of discerning men. And, besides, with 301 what face can they make or execute laws against vices which they practise with greediness ? A people that have a right of choosing their magistrates are criminally guilty in the sight of Heaven when they are governed by caprice and humor, or ave influenced by bribery to choose magis- trates that are irreligious men, who are devoid of senti- ment, and of bad morals and base lives. Men cannot be sufticiently sensible what a curse they may bring upon themselves and their posterity by foolishly and wickedly choosing men of abandoned characters and profligate lives for their magistrates and rulers.^ We have already seen that magistrates who rule in the fear of God ought not only to be obeyed as the ministers of God, but that they ought also to be handsomely sup- ported, that they may cheerfully and freely attend upon the duties of their station ; for it is a great shame and dis- grace to society to see men that serve the public laboring under indigent and needy circumstances ; and, besides, it is a maxim of eternal truth that the laborer is worthy of his reward. It is also a great duty incumbent on people to treat those in authority with all becoming honor and respect, — to be very careful of casting any asj^ersion upon their char- acters. To despise government, and to speak evil of dig- nities, is represented in Scripture as one of the worst of characters; and it was an injunction of Moses, "Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people." Great mischief may ensue upon reviling the character of good rulers ; for the unthinking herd of mankind are very apt to give ear to scandal, and when it falls upon men in power, it brings their authority into contempt, lessens their influence, and disheartens them from doing that service to 1 Seep, 69, note 1. — Ed. 26 302 THE ELECTION SERMON, the community of which they are capable ; whereas, when they are j^roperly honored, and treated with that respect which is due to their station, it inspires them with courage and a noble ardor to serve the public : their influence among the people is strengthened, and their authority becomes firmly established. We ought to remember that they are men like to ourselves, liable to the same imperfec- tions and infirmities with the rest of us, and therefore, so long as they aim at the public good, their mistakes, mis- aj^prehensions, and infirmities, ought to be treated with the utmost humanity and tenderness. But though I would recommend to all Christians, as a part of the duty that they owe to magistrates, to treat them with proper honor and respect, none can reasonably suppose that I mean that they ought to be flattered ^ in their vices, or honored and caressed while they are seeking to undermine and ruin the state ; for this would be wickedly betraying our just rights, and we should be guilty of our own destruction. We ought ever to perse- vere with firmness and fortitude in maintaining and con- tending for all that liberty that the Deity has granted us. It is our duty to be ever watchful over our just rights, and not suffer them to be wrested out of our hands by any of the artifices of tyrannical oppressors. But there is a wide difference between being jealous of our rights, when we have the strongest reason to conclude that they are invaded by our rulers, and being unreasonably suspi- cious of men that are zealously endeavoring to support the constitution, only because we do not thoroughly compre- hend all their desisrns. The first argues a noble and generous mind ; the other, a low and base spirit. Thus have I considered the nature of the duty enjoined in the text, and have endeavored to show that the same 1 See pp. 97-103. — Ed. 303 principles that require obedience to lawful magistrates do also require us to resist tyrants ; this I have confirmed from reason and Scripture. It was w^th a particular view to the present unhappy controversy that subsists between us and Great Britain that I chose to discourse upon the nature and design of government, and the rights and duties both of governors and governed, tbat so, justly understanding our rights and privileges, we may stand firm in our opposition to minis- terial tyranny, w^hile at the same time we pay all proper obedience and submission to our lawful magistrates ; and that, while we are contending for liberty, we may avoid running into licentiousness ; and that we may preserve the due medium between submitting to tyranny and running into anarchy. I acknowledge that I have undertaken a difficult task ; but, as it appeared to me, the present state of affairs loudly called for such a discourse ; and, therefore, I hope the wise, the generous, and the good, will candidly receive my good intentions to serve the public. I shall now apply this discourse to the grand controversy that at this day subsists between Great Britain and the American colonies. And here, in the first place, I cannot but take notice how wonderfully Providence has smiled upon us by caus- ing the several colonies to unite ^ so firmly together against the tyranny of Great Britain, though differing from each other in their particular interest, forms of government, modes of worship, and particular customs and manners, besides several animosities that had subsisted among them. That, under these circumstances, such a union should take place as we now behold, was a thing that might rather have been washed than hoped for. And, in the next j^lace, who could have thought that, 1 See p. 218. — Ed. 304 THE ELECTION SERMON, when our charter was vacated, when we became destitute of any legislative authority, and when our courts of justice in many parts of the country were stopped, so that we could neither make nor execute laws upon offenders, — who, I say, would have thought, that in such a situation the people should behave so peaceably, and maintain such good order and harmony among themselves? This is a plain proof that they, having not the civil law to regulate themselves by, became a law unto themselves ; and by their conduct they have shown that they were regulated by the law of God written in their hearts. This is the Lord's doing, and it ought to be marvellous in our eyes.^ From what has been said in this discourse, it will appear that we are in the way of our duty in opposing the tyranny of Great Britain ; for, if unlimited submission is not due to any human power, if we have an undoubted right to oi:)pose and resist a set of tyrants ^ that are subverting our just rights and privileges, there cannot remain a doubt in any man, that will calmly attend to reason, whether we have a right to resist and oppose the arbitrary measures of the King and Parliament ; for it is plain to demonstration, nay, it is in a manner self-evident, that they have been and are endeavoring to deprive us not only of the privileges of Englishmen, and our charter rights, but they have en- deavored to deprive us of what is much more sacred, viz., the privileges of men and Christians;* i. 6,, they are rob- bing: us of the inalienable ri^^hts that the God of nature has given us as men and rational beings, and has confirmed a The meaning is not that they have attempted to deprive us of libertj' of con- science, but that they have attempted to take aAvay those riglits which God has invested us with as his creatures and confirmed in his j^ospel, by which believers have a covenant right to the good things of this present life and world. 1 See note 1, p. 200. — Ed. 2 This was very plain En<;lisli for the British Parliament to read, and sliockin": to Oxford divines. — Ed. 305 to us in his written word as Christians and disciples of that Jesus who came to redeem us from the bondage of sin and the tyranny of Satan, and to grant us the most perfect freedom, even the glorious liberty of the sons and children of God ; that here they have endeavored to deprive us of the sacred charter of the King of Heaven. But we have this for our consolation : the Lord reigneth ; he governs the world in righteousness, and will avenge the cause of the oppressed when they cry unto him. We have made our appeal to Heaven, and we cannot doubt but that the Judge of all the earth will do right. Need I upon this occasion descend to particulars ? Can any one be ignorant what the things are of which we com- plain ? Does not every one know that the King and Par- liament have assumed the right to tax us without our consent? And can any one be so lost to the principles of humanity and common sense as not to view their conduct in this affair as a very grievous imposition ? Reason and equity require that no one be obliged to pay a tax that he has never consented to, either by himself or by his repre- sentative. But, as Divine Providence has placed us at so great a distance from Great Britain that we neither are nor can be properly represented in the British Parliament, it is a plain proof that the Deity designed that we should have the powers of legislation and taxation among our- selves ; for can any suppose it to be reasonable that a set of men that are perfect strangers to us should have the uncontrollable right to lay the most heavy and grievous burdens upon us that they please, purely to gratify their unbounded avarice and luxury? Must we be obliged to perish with cold and hunger to maintain them in idleness, in all kinds of debauchery and dissipation ? But if they have the right to take our property from us without our consent, we must be wholly at their mercy for our food 26* 30G THE ELECTION SERMON, and raiment, and we know by sad exj^erience that their tender mercies are cruel. But because we were not willing to submit to such an unrighteous and cruel decree, — though we modestly com- plained and humbly petitioned' for a redress of our griev- ances, — instead of hearing our complaints, and granting our requests, they have gone on to add iniquity to transgres- sion, by making several cruel and unrighteous acts. Who can forget the cruel act to block up the harbor of Boston,^ whereby thousands of innocent persons must have been inevitably ruined had they not been supported by the con- tinent ? Who can forget the act for vacating our charter, together with many other cruel acts which it is needless to mention? But, not being able to accomplish their wicked purposes by mere acts of Parliament, they have proceeded to commence ^ open hostilities against us, and have endeavored to destroy us by fire and sword. Our towns they have burnt,^ our brethren they have slain, our vessels they have taken, and our goods they have spoiled. And, after all this wanton exertion of arbitrary power, is there the man that has any of the feeling of humanity left who is not fired with a noble indignation against such mer- ciless tyrants, who have not only brought upon us all the horrors of a civil war, but have also added a piece of bar- 1 No class in the community rendered more efficient service to their country tlian did the seamen, especially at the commencement of the war. Mr. Sabine's Report on the Fisheries contains a most interesting chapter — pp. 198-210 — on the " Public Services and Character of Fishermen." Newport, R. I., Marblehead, and Boston seamen did invaluable service. See also Lossing's Field Book of the Revolution, ii. 88, and Arnold's His- tory of Rhode Island, ii. 38G; Cooper's Naval History, London cd., 1839, i. 286. — Ed. 2 They shed the first blood at Lexinj^ton, April 19th. — Ed. 3 Charlestown, burnt .Tune 17, and Falmouth, October 18. See Froth- in<;ham's History, and Willis's History of Portland, ii. chap. 8. — Ed. 1776. SOT barity unknown to Turks and Mohammedan infidels, yea, such as would be abhorred and detested by the savages of the wilderness, — I mean their cruelly forcing our brethren whom they have taken prisoners, without any distinction of whig or tory, to serve on board their ships of war,^ thereby obliging them to take up arms against their own countrymen, and to fight against their brethren, their wives, and their children, and to assist in plundering their own estates ! This, my brethren, is done by men who call themselves Christians, against their Christian brethren, — against men w^ho till now gloried in the name of English- men, and who were ever ready to spend their lives and fortunes in the defence of British rights. Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon, lest it cause our enemies to rejoice and our adversaries to triumph! Such a conduct as this brings a great reproach upon the profession of Christianity ; nay, it is a great scandal even to human nature itself. It would be highly criminal not to feel a due resent- ment against such tyrannical monsters. It is an indis- pensable duty, my brethren, which we owe to God and our country, to rouse up and bestir ourselves, and, being animated with a noble zeal for the sacred cause of liberty, to defend our lives and fortunes, even to the shedding the last drop of blood. The love of our country, the tender afi'ection that w^e have for our wives and children, the regard we ought to have for unborn posterity, yea, every- thing that is dear and sacred, do now loudly call upon us to use our best endeavors to save our country. We must beat our ploughshares into swords, and our pruning-hooks into spears, and learn the art of self-defence against our 1 " It is, in truth, notliino; more than the old, and, as I thought, exploded prohlem of tyranny, which proposes to beggar its subjects into submis- sion."— Edmund Burke, 177-5. — Ed. 808 THE ELECTION SERMON, enemies.^ To be careless and remiss, or to neglect the cause of our country through the base motives of avarice and self-interest, will expose us not only to the resent- ^ A large octavo pamphlet of thirty-one pages — " The Manual Exercises, as ordered by his Majesty in 1764, together with Plans and Explanations of the method generally practised at Reviews and Field-Days. Massachu- setts Bay: Boston. Printed and sold by Isaiah Thomas at his Printing- office, near the Mill-Bridge " — was recommended by the " Provincial Con- gress at Cambridge, October 20, 1774, .... as the best calculated for appeai-ance and defence." Another pamphlet of fifteen pages — " Rules and Regulations for the Massachusetts Army. Salem : Printed by Samuel and Ebenezer Hall. 1775" — begins thus: "In Provincial Congress, Con- cord, April 5th, 1775. Whereas the Lust of Power which of old oppressed, persecuted, and exiled our pious and virtuous ancestors from their fair possessions in Britain, now pursues, with tenfold severity, us, their guilt- less children, who are unjustly and wickedly charged with Licentiousness, Sedition, Treason, and Rebellion; and being deeply impressed with a Sense of the almost incredible Fatigues and Hardships our venerable Pro- genitors encountered, who tied from Oppression for the sake of civil and religious Liberty for themselves and their offspring, and began a settle- ment here on bare Creation, at their own expense; and having seriously considered the Duty we owe to God, to the Memory of such invincible Worthies, to the King, to Great Britain, our Country, ourselves and Pos- terity, do think it an indispensable Dut}'^, by all lawful Ways and Means in our Power, to recover, maintain, defend, and preserve the free exercise of all those civil and religious Rights and Liberties for which many of our Forefathers fought, bled, and died, and to hand them down entire for the free Enjoyment of the latest Posterity;" and they " recommend " fifty- three articles for the regulation of " the Army that may be raised," etc. Article one is that " all officers and soldiers .... shall diligently frequent Divine Service and Sermons." The whole is " signed by order of the Provincial Congress. " Joiix Hancock, President." How perfectly Cromwellian is all this! These soldiers were freemen; they chose the delegates to that very congress; from the lips of their own chosen pastors flowed fervid appeals, like that in the text, to which they constantly listened, and which they drank in till their souls were kindled. Could George III. and his mercenary Hessians conquer such soldiers, who fought not for money, but for their homes, — yes, and for us, — with Bi- bles in their pockets, and faith in their hearts, and English Puritan blood in their veins? — Ed. PREACHED AT BOSTON, 1776. 309 ments of our fellow-creatures, but to the displeasure of God Almighty ; for to such base wretches, in such a time as this, we may apply with the utmost propriety that pas- sacre in Jeremiah xlviii. 10 : "Cursed be he that doth the work of the Lord deceitfully, and cursed be he that keep- eth back his sword from blood." To save our country from the hands of our oppressors ought to be dearer to us even than our own lives, and, next the eternal salvation of our ov\'n souls, is the thing of the greatest importance, — a duty so sacred that it cannot justly be dispensed with for the sake of our secular concerns. Doubtless for this reason God has been pleased to manifest his anger against those who have refused to assist their country against its cruel oppressors. Hence, in a case similar to ours, when the Israelites were struggling to deliver themselves from the tyranny of Jabin, the king of Canaan, we find a most bit- ter curse denounced against those who refused to grant their assistance in the common cause ; see Judges v. 23 : "Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the Lord, cui'se ye bit- terly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty." Now, if such a bitter curse is denounced against those who refused to assist their country against its oppressors, what a dreadful doom are those exposed to who have not only refused to assist their country in this time of distress, but have, through motives of interest or ambition, shown themselves enemies to their country by opposing^ us in 1 About this time — March 31?t— Washington wrote of these men: ''One or two have clone what a great number ought to have done long ago — committed suicide. By all accounts there never existed a more miserable set of beings than these wretched creatures now are. Taught to believe that the power of Great Britain was superior to all opposition, and, if not, that foreign aid was at hand, they were even higher and more insulting in 310 the measures that we have taken, and by openly favoring the British Parliament ! He that is so lost to humanity as to be willing to sacrifice his country for the sake of ava- rice or ambition, has arrived to the highest stage of wick- edness that human nature is capable of, and deserves a much worse name than I at present care to give him. But I think I may with propriety say that such a person has forfeited his right to human society, and that he ought to take up his abode, not among the savage men, but among the savage beasts of the wilderness. Nor can I wholly excuse from blame those timid persons who, through their own cowardice, have been induced to favor our enemies, and have refused to act in defence of their country ; for a due sense of the ruin and destruction that our enemies are bringing upon us is enough to raise such a resentment in the human breast that would, I should think, be sufficient to banish fear from the most timid make. And, besides, to indulge cowardice in such a cause argues a want of faith in God ; for can he that firmly believes and relies upon the providence of God doubt w^hether he will avenge the cause of the injured when they apply to him for help ? For my own part, when I consider the dispensations of Providence towards this land ever since our fathers first settled in Plymouth, I find abundant reason to conclude that the great Sovereign of the universe has planted a vine in this American wilder- ness which he has caused to take deep root, and it has their opposition than the regulars. When the order issued, therefore, for embarking the troops in Boston, no electric shock, no sudden explosion of thunder, in a word, not the last trump, could have struck them with greater consternation. They were at their wits' end; and, conscious of tlieir black ingratitude, they chose to commit themselves, in the manner I have above described, to the mercy of the waves, at a tempestuous sea- . son, rather than meet their offended countrymen." — Ed. PREACHED AT BOSTON, 1776. 311 filled the land, and that he will never suffer it to be j^lucked up or destroyed. Our fathers fled^ from the rage of prelatical tyranny and persecution, and came into this land in order to enjoy lib- erty of conscience, and they have increased to a great peo- ple. Many have been the interpositions of Divine Provi- dence on our behalf, both in our fathers' days and ours ; and, though we are now engaged in a war with Great Britain, yet we have been prospered in a most wonderful manner. And can we think that he who has thus far helped us will give us up into the hands of our enemies? Certainly he that has begun to deliver us will continue to show his mercy towards us, in saving us from the hands of our enemies : he will not forsake us if we do not forsake him. Our cause is so just and good that nothing can pre- vent our success but only our sins. Could I see a spirit of repentance and reformation prevail through the land, I should not have the least apprehension or fear of being brought under the iron rod of slavery, even though all the powers of the globe were combined against us. And though I confess that the irreligion and profaneness which are so common among us gives something of a damp to my spirits, yet I cannot help hoping, and even believing, that Providence has designed this continent for to be the asylum of liberty and true religion ; for can we suppose that the God who created us free agents, and designed that we should glorify and serve him in this world that we might enjoy him forever hereafter, will suffer liberty and true religion to be banished from off the face of the earth? But do we not find that both religion and liberty seem to be expiring and gasping for life in the other continent? — where, then, can they find a harbor or place of refuge but in this ? 1 Sec pp. X.— xii. — Ed. 312 THE ELECTION SERMON, There are some ^ who pretend that it is against their consciences to take up arms in defence of their country ; but can any rational being suppose that the Deity can re- quire us to contradict the law of nature which lie has writ- ten in our hearts, a part of which I am sure is the principle of self-defence, which strongly prompts us all to oppose any power that would take away our lives, or the lives of our friends? Now, for men to take pains to destroy the tender feelings of human nature, and to eradicate the prin- ciples of self-preservation, and then to persuade themselves that in so doing they submit to and obey the will of God, is a plain proof how easily men may be led to pervert the very first and plainest principles of reason and common sense, and argues a gross corruption of the human mind. We find such persons are very inconsistent with them- selves ; for no men are more zealous to defend their prop- erty, and "to secure their estates from the encroachments of others, while they refuse to defend their persons, their wives, their children, and their country, against the assaults of the enemy. We see to what unaccountable lengths men will run when once they leave the plain road of com- mon sense, and violate the law which God has written in the heart. Thus some have thought they did God service when they unmercifully butchered" and destroyed the lives of the servants of God ; while others, upon the contrary extreme, believe that they ^^lease God while they sit still and quietly behold their friends and brethren killed by their unmerciful enemies, without endeavoring to defend or rescue them. The one is a sin of omission, and the other is a sin of commission, and it may perhaps be diffi- cult to say, under certain circumstances, which is the most 1 " Whereas tlic people called Quakers profess themselves conscientiously- scrupulous of attending in arms at military musters," they were exempted by a statute of 17G3. — Ed. PREACHED AT BOSTON, 1776. 313 criminal in the sight of Heaven. Of this I am sure, that they are, both of them, great violations of the hiw of God. Having thus endeavored to show the hiwfulness and ne- cessity of defending ourselves against the tyranny of Great Britain, I would observe that Providence seems plainly to point to us the expediency, and even necessity, of our con- sidering ourselves as an independent state.^ For, not to consider the absurdity implied in making war against a power to which we profess to own subjection, to pass by the impracticability of our ever coming under subjection to Great Britain upon fair and equitable terms, we may ob- serve that the British Parliament has virtually declared us an independent state by authorizing their ships of war to seize all American property, wherever they can find it, without making any distinction between the friends of administration and those that have appeared in opposition to the acts of Parliament. This is making us a distinct nation from themselves. They can have no right any longer to style us rebels ; for rebellion implies a particular faction risen up in opposition to lawful authority, and, as such, the factious party ought to be punished, while those that remain loyal are to be protected. But when war is declared against a whole community without distinction, and the proj^erty of each party is declared to be seizable, this, if anything can be, is treating us as an independent state. Now, if they are pleased to consider us as in a state of independency, who can object against our considering ourselves so too ? But while we are nobly opposing with our lives and es- tates the tyranny of the British Parliament, let us not for- get the duty which we owe to our lawful magistrates ; let us never mistake licentiousness for liberty. The more we 1 Within forty days, July 4th, came the " Declaration of Independence." 27 314 understand the principles of liberty, the more readily shall we yield obedience to lawful authority ; for no man can oppose good government but he that is a stranger to true liberty. Let us ever check and restrain the factious dis- turbers of the peace ; whenever we meet with persons that are loth to submit to lawful authority, let us treat them with the contempt which they deserve, and ever esteem them as the enemies of their country and the pests of so- ciety. It is with peculiar pleasure that I reflect upon the peaceable behavior of my countrymen at a time when the courts of justice were stopped and the execution of laws suspended. It will certainly be expected of a people that could behave so well when they had nothing to restrain them but the laws written in their hearts, that they will yield all ready and cheerful obedience to lawful authority. There is at present the utmost need of guarding ourselves against a seditious and factious temper; for when we are engaged with so powerful an enemy from without, our political salvation, under God, does, in an eminent manner, depend upon our being firmly united together in the bonds of love to one another, and of due submission to lawful authority. I hope we shall never give any just occasion to our adversaries to reproach us as being men of turbulent dispositions and licentious principles, that cannot bear to be restrained by good and wholesome laws, even though they are of our own making, nor submit to rulers of our own choosing. But I have reason to hope much better things of my countrymen, though I thus speak. However, in this time of difficulty and distress, we cannot be too much guarded against the least approaches to discord and faction. Let us, while we are jealous of our rights, take heed of unreasonable suspicions and evil surmises which have no proper foundation ; let us take heed lest we hurt the cause of liberty by speaking evil of the ruler of the people. 1776. 315 Let us treat our rulers with all that honor and respect which the dignity of their station requires ; but let it be such an honor and respect as is worthy of the sons of free- dom to give. Let us ever abhor the base arts that are used by fawning parasites and cringing courtiers, who by their low artifices and base flatteries obtain offices and posts which they are unqualified to sustain, and honors of which they are unworthy, and oftentimes have a greater number of places assigned them than any one person of the greatest abilities can ever properly fill, by means of which the community becomes greatly injured, for this reason, that many an important trust remains undischarged, and many an honest and worthy member of society is deprived of those honors and privileges to which he has a just right, whilst the most despicable, worthless courtier is loaded with honorable and profitable commissions. In order to avoid this evil, I hope our legislators will always despise flattery as something below the dignity of a rational mind, and that they will ever scorn the man that will be corrupted or take a bribe. And let us all resolve with ourselves that no motives of interest, nor hopes of preferment, shall ever induce us to act the part of fawning courtiers towards men in power. Let the honor and re- spect which we show our superiors be true and genuine, flowing from a sincere and upright heart. The honors that have been paid to arbitrary princes have often been very hypocritical and insincere. Tyrants have been flattered in their vices, and have often had an idolatrous reverence paid them.^ The worst princes have been the most flattered and adored ; and many such, in the pagan world, assumed the title of gods, and had divine honors paid them. This idolatrous reverence has ever been the inseparable concomitant of arbitrary power and 1 See pp. 98, 99, 100. — Ed. 316 tyrannical government; for even Christian princes, if they have not been adored under the character of gods, j^et the titles given them strongly savor of blasphemy, and the reverence paid them is really idolatrous. What right has a i^oor sinful worm of the dust to claim the title of his most sacred Majesty ? Most sacred certainly belongs only to God alone, — for there is none holy as the Lord, — yet how common is it to see this title given to kings ! And how often have we been told that the king can do no wrong !^ Even though he should be so foolish and wicked as hardly to be capable of ever being in the right, yet still it must be asserted and maintained that it is impossible for him to do wrong ! The cruel, savage disposition of tyrants, and the idola- trous reverence that is paid them, are both most beautifully exhibited to view by the apostle John in the Revelation, thirteenth chapter, from the first to the tenth verse, where the apostle gives a description of a horrible wild beast* a Wild beast. By the beast with seven heads and ten horns I understand the tyranny of arbitrary princes, viz., the emperors and kings of the Eastern and Western Roman Empire, and not the tyranny of the Pope and clergy; for the description of every part of this beast will answer better to be understood of political than of ecclesiastical tyrants. Thus the seven heads are generally inter- preted to denote the several forms of Roman government; the ten horns are understood of the ten kingdoms that were setup in the Western Empire; and by the body of the beast it seems most natural to understand the Eastern, or Greek Empire, for it is said to be like a leopard. This image is taken from Dan- iel vii. 6, where the third beast is said to be like a leopard. Now, by the third beast in Daniel is understood, by the best interpreters, the Grecian Monarchy. It is well known that John frequently borrows his images from Daniel, and I believe it will be found, upon a critical examination of the matter, that when- ever he does so he means the same thing with Daniel; if this be true (as I am fully persuaded it is), then, by the body of this beast being like a leopard in the Revelation of John, is to be understood the Eastern, or Greek Empire, whicii was that part of the old Roman Empire that remained whole for several ages after the Western Empire was broken into ten kingdoms. Further: after the beast was risen it is said that the dragon gave him his seat. Now, by the dragon is meant the devil, who is represented as presiding over the Roman Empire in its pagan state; but the seat of the Roman Empire in its pagan state was Rome. Here, then, is a prophecy that the emperor of the East should become possessed 1 See p. 94, note a. —Ed. PREACHED AT BOSTON, 1776. 317 "whicli he saw rise out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his heads the names of blasphemy. By heads are to be understood forms of government, and by blasphemy, idolatry ; so that it seems implied that there will be a degree of idolatry in every form of tyrannical government. This beast is represented as having the body of a leopard, the feet of a bear, and the mouth of a lion ; i. €., a horrible monster, possessed of the rage and fury of the lion, the fierceness of the bear, and the swiftness of the leopard to seize and devour its prey. Can words more strongly point out, or exhibit in more lively colors, the exceeding rage, fury, and impetuosity of tyrants, in their destroying and making havoc of mankind ? To this beast we find the dragon gave his power, seat, and great au- thority; i. 6., the devil constituted him to be his vicegerent on earth; this is to denote that tyrants are the ministers of Satan, ordained by him for the destruction of mankind. Such a horrible monster, we should have thought, would have been abhorred and detested of all mankind, and that of Eome, which exactly agrees with what we know from history to be fact; for the Emperor Justinian's generals having expelled the Goths out of Italy, Rome was brought into subjection to the emperor of the East, and was for a long time governed by the emperor's lieutenant, who resided at Ravenna. These consid- erations convince me that the Greek Empire, and not the Pope and his clergy, is to be understood by the body of the beast, which was like a leopard. And what further confirms me in this belief is, that it appears to me that the Pope and the papal clergy are to be understood by the second beast which we read of in Revelation xiii. 11—17, for of him it is said that " he had two horns like a lamb." A lamb, we know, is the figure by which Jesus Christ is signified in the Revelation and many other parts of the New Testament. The Pope claims both a temporal and spiritual sovereignty, denoted by the two horns, under the char- acter of the vicar of Jesus Christ, and yet, under this high pretence of being the vicar of Jesus Christ, he speaks like a dragon; t. e., he promotes idolatry in the Christian Church, in like manner as the dragon did in the heathen world. To distinguish him from the first beast, he is called (Revelation xix.) "the false prophet that wrought miracles; " i. e., like Mahomet, he pretends to be a law- giver, and claims infallibility, and his emissaries endeavor to confirm this doc- trine by pretended miracles. How wonderfully do all these characters agree to the Pope! Wlierefore I conclude that the second, and not the first beast, denotes the tyranny of the Pope and his clergy. 27* 318 all nations would have joined their powers and forces together to oppose and utterly destroy him from off the face of the earth ; but, so far are they from doing this, that, on the contrary, they are represented as worshipping him (verse 8) : " And all that dwell on the earth shall worship him," viz., all those "whose names are not written in the Lamb's book of life ; " ^. e., the wicked world shall pay him an idolatrous reverence, and worship him with a godlike adoration. What can in a more lively manner show the gross stupidity and wickedness of mankind, in thus tamely giving up their just rights into the hands of tyrannical monsters, and in so readily paying them such an unlimited obedience as is due to God alone ? We may observe, further, that these men are said (verse 4) to " worship the dragon ; " — not that it is to be sup- posed that they, in direct terms, paid divine homage to Satan, but that the adoration paid to the beast, who was Satan's vicegerent, did ultimately centre in him. Hence we learn that those who pay an undue and sinful venera- tion to tyrants are properly the servants of the devil; they are worshippers of the prince of darkness, for in him all that undue homage and adoration centres that is given to his ministers. Hence that terrible denunciation of divine wrath against the worshippers of the beast and his image : " If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indigna- tion, and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb ; and the smoke of their torment ascendeth for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who wor- ship the beast and his image, and who receive the mark of 1776. 319 Lis name."" T\^e have here set forth in the clearest man- ner, by the inspired apostle, God's abhorrence of tyranny and tyrants, together with the idolatrous^ reverence that their wretched subjects are wont to pay them, and the awful denunciation of divine wrath against those who are guilty of this undue obedience to tyrants. Does it not, then, highly concern us all to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Heaven hath made us free, and to strive to get the victory over the beast and his image — over every species of tyranny ? Let us look upon a free- dom from the power of tyrants as a blessing that cannot be purchased too dear, and let us bless God that he has so far delivered us from that idolatrous reverence which men are so very apt to pay to arbitrary tyrants ; and let us pray that he would be pleased graciously to perfect the mercy he has begun to show us by confounding the devices of our enemies and bringing their counsels to nought, and by establishing our just rights and privileges upon such a firm and lasting basis that the powers of earth and hell shall not prevail against it. Under God, every person in the community ought to contribute his assistance to the bringing about so glorious and important an event ; but in a more eminent manner does this important business belong to the gentlemen that are chosen to represent the people in this General Assem- bly, including those that have been appointed members of the Honorable Council Board. Honored fathers, we look up to you, in this day of calam- ity and distress, as the guardians of our invaded rights, and the defenders of our liberties against British tyranny. You are called, in Providence, to save your country from a Eev. xiv. 9, 10- 1 See pp. 48, note 1; 49, note 1; 98. — Ed. 320 ruin. A trust is reposed in you of the highest importance to the community that can be conceived of, its business the most noble and grand, and a task the most arduous and difficult to accomplish that ever engaged the human mind — I mean as to things of the present life. But as you are engaged in the defence of a just and righteous cause, you may with firmness of mind commit your cause to God, and depend on his kind providence for direction and assistance. You will have the fervent wishes and prayers of all good men that God would crown all your labors with success, and direct you into such measures as shall tend to promote the welfare and happiness of the community, and afibrd you all that wisdom and prudence which is necessary to regulate the affairs of state at this critical period. Honored fathers of the House of Representatives : We trust to your wisdom and goodness that you will be led to appoint such men to be in council whom you know to be men of real principle, and who are of unblemished lives ; that have shown themselves zealous and hearty friends to the liberties of America ; and men that have the fear of God before their eyes ; for such only are men that can be depended upon ^uniformly to pursue the general good. My reverend fathers and brethren in the ministry will remember that, according to our text, it is part of the work and business of a gospel minister^ to teach his hear- ers the duty they owe to magistrates. Let us, their, endeavor to explain the nature of their duty faithfully, and show them the difference between liberty and licen- tiousness ; and, while we are animating them to oppose tyranny and arbitrary power, let us inculcate upon them the duty of yielding due obedience to lawful authority. In order to the right and faithful discharge of this part 1 Scepp. 47, 53, 54.— Ed. PREACHED AT BOSTOX, 1776. 321 of our ministry, it is necessary that we should thor- oughly study the law of nature, the rights of mankind, and tlie reciprocal duties of governors and governed. By this means we shall be able to guard them against the extremes of slavish submission to tyrants on one hand, and of sedition and licentiousness on the other. We may, I apprehend, attain a thorough acquaintance with the law of nature and the rights of mankind, while we remain ignorant of many technical terms of law, and are utterly unacquainted with the obscure and barbarous Latin that was so much used in the ages of popish darkness and superstition.^ To conclude : While we are fighting for liberty, and striving against tyranny, let us remember to fight the good 1 " The old forms of writs and legal process — tlie authority of ' The State,' ' The Commonwealth/ or ' The People/ being substituted for that of the king — were still retained in all the states; and, out of a pedantic spirit of imitation on the part of the lawyers, in spite of the efforts of the state Legislatures to give greater simplicity to legal proceedings, the forms and practice of the courts, even subsequently to the Revolution, were made more and more to conform to English technicalities. This spirit on the part of the lawyers, who formed a very influential portion of every state Legislature, proved a serious obstacle to all attempted reforms and sim- plifications of the law." — BUldreth's History of the United States, vol. iii., 380, 381. By recent legislation in England and in several of the United States, on the subject of evidence, a vast accumulation of legal subtleties and refinements, tending to hinder, if not to frustrate justice, has been thrown aside among the i-ubbish of the past, — curious and useless learning. Much has been done to simplify the conveyance of real estate, and divest it of the encumbrances which originated in early times and another condi- tion of society ; and to secm-e to women their rights to property, by sweep- ing away the fictions which reminded us of former barbarity; and special pleading is added to the magnificent hecatomb. In review it seems as if the intent had been, first, to drive the parties out of court, but, if they were smart enough to keep in, next to prevent justice between them, if the subtlest logic and ingenuity, spun out to the thinnest though gravest nonsense, could do it. — Ed. 322 THE ELECTION SERMON, 1776. jBght of faith, and earnestly seek to be delivered from that bondage of corruption which we are brought into by sin, and that we may be made j^artakers of the glorious liberty of the sons and children of God : which may the Father of Mercies grant us all, through Jesus Christ. Amen. SERMON PREACHED BEFORE THE Honorable COUNCIL, AND THE HONORABLE House of Representatives, OF THE State of Massachusetts-Bay, IN New-England, AT Boston, May 27, 1778. Being the Anniversary for the Election of the honorable council. By PHILLIPS PAYSON, A. M. Pastor of a Church in Chelsea. B O S T O N : N. E, Printed by JOHN GILL, Printer to the general assembly. M. DCC. LXXVIII. State of Massachusetts-Bay, Council Chamber, May 28, 1778. Ordered, That Moses Gill, Henry Gardner, and Timothy Danielson, Esquires, be a Committee to wait on the Rev. Mr. Samuel Phillips Payson, and return him the thanks of the Board for his Sermon delivered yesterday before both Houses of Assembly; and request a copy thereof for the press. JOHN AVERY, D. Secretary. EDITOR'S PREFATORY NOTE. In a note to Lord North, dated February 4, 1774, George III. wrote that "General Gage, though just returned from Boston, expresses his willing- ness to go back at a day's notice, if convenient measures are adopted. He says they will be lions while we are lambs; but if we take the resolute part, they will undoubtedly prove very meek. Four regiments, sent to Boston, will, he thinks, be sufficient to prevent any disturbance. All men now feel that the fatal compliance in 1766 has increased the pretensions of the Americans to thorough independence." Generals Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne, going into Boston, May 25, 1774, asked the skipper of a packet, outward bound, what news there was. He replied that Boston was surrounded by ten thousand country people. "What!" Burgoyne exclaimed, "ten thousand peasants keep five thousand king's troops shut up! Well, let us get in, and we'll soon find elbow-room." The presumptuous and confident general was soon to find snug quarters among those same " peasants," with hardly enough of "elbow-room" for comfortable reflection.! On the 17th of October, 1777, at Saratoga, General Burgoyne surren- dered his sword to General Gates. " After dinner, the American army was drawn up, in parallel lines, on each side of the road, extending nearly a mile. Between these victorious troops the British, with light infantry in front, and escorted by a company of light dragoons, preceded by two mounted officers bearing the American flag, marched to the lively tune of 1 Frothingham's Siege of Boston, 114. Mr. F. says that Burgoyne loved a joke, and used to relate that, "while a prisoner of war, he was received with great courtesy by tlie Boston people as he stepped from the Charlestown ferry- boat, but he was really annoyed when an old lady, perched on a shed above the crowd, cried out, at the top of a shrill voice, ' Make way I make way! — the gen- eral 's coming ! Give him elbow-room ! ' " 28 326 Yankee Doodle." i General Burgoyne glittered in his uniform. Gates was in his plain blue frock, and each of the American soldiers had on "the clothes which he wore in the fields, the church, or the tavern. They stood, however, like soldiers, well arranged, and with a military air, in which there was but little to find fault with. All the muskets had bayonets, and the sharp-shooters had rifles. The men all stood so still that we were filled with wonder. Not one of them made a single motion, as if he would speak with his neighbor. Nay, more, all the lads that stood there in rank-and-file kind nature had formed so trim, so slender, so nervous, that it was a pleasure to look at them, and we were all surprised at the sight of such a handsome, well-formed race. In all earnestness," says the same Hessian officer,2 " English America surpasses the most of Europe in the growth and looks of its male population. The whole nation has a natural talent for war and a soldier's life." The ministry were assailed in Parliament for their employment of the Indians against the Americans. One of the secretaries defended it, con- cluding, " It is perfectly justifiable to use all the means that God and nature have put into our hands." — "That God and nature put into our hands!" repeated Chatham, with contemptuous abhorrence; "I know not what idea that lord may entertain of God and nature, but I know that such abominable principles are equally abhorrent to religion and humanity. What! attribute the sacred sanction of God and nature to the massacre of the Indian scalping-knife ! — to the cannibal and savage torturing, murdering, roasting, and eating — literally, my lords, eating — the mangled victims of his barbarous battles ! . . . The abominable principles, and this most abominable avowal of them, demand most decisive indignation. I call upon i?7ia^ right reverend bench," — pointing to the bishops, — " those holy ministers of the gospel, and pious pastors of the church, — I conjure them to join in the holy work, and to vindicate the religion of their God." That appeal was in vain. The chief of that bench was at the head of the " Society for the Propagation of their Gospel in Foreign Parts" in America; the end justified the means; and, beside, implicit obedience was their "badge." 3 Mayhew had denounced their principles and object in 1750 and afterward. They knew the utter hostility of America* to their rule, and their only hope now was in violence.* 1 Lossing's Field Book of the Revolution, i. 81. 2 living's Washington, Lond. Ed., vol. iii. 905. 3 See p. 42. 4 See pp. xxix., 41, 44, 52, 88, 100, 103, 109, 110, 160, 175, 195, 197, 218. 5 See pp. xxxi., xxxii., and Peters' letter, p. 195. 327 The glad news from Saratoga was like the noonday sun on the gloom, and heaviness, engendered by continued reverses and suffering, pervading the colonies; it sti'engthened the heart of Washington, infused new life into the legislative councils, inspirited the people; and in the providential ordering of events, which human foresight or pmdence could not have anticipated or prevented, and on which hinged the great issue, the faith of all was confirmed that God was with them, as he had been with their fathers. An incident, close in time with this auspicious and splendid achievement, illumines the record of our history, and by its light we may see the source of that marvellous strength in weakness, and endurance in trial, which George III., Lord North, and that "right reverend bench" could never comprehend, nor their wit or power overcome. It was an order of Congi-ess, directing the Committee of Commerce to import twenty thousand copies of the Bible, the great political text-book of the patriots. 1 The enormous and unavailing expenditures of England against her colonies, the failure of her generals, of greatest reputation and success iu Europe, in then- American campaigns, and the animation and good cheer of the patriot heart, dispirited the tories, the " friends of government." On the 1.5th of November, the thirteen colonies confederated under the style of " The United States of America," and presented a consolidated front to George HI., who might see on their national coin, not his own now hated and discarded royal cflflgy, but the motto " We are one," which, passing from palm to palm, linked every heart in one united whole. In the midst of this prosperity, on the recommendation of Congress, the 18th day of December was observed as a day of solemn thanksgiving and praise throughout the United States. On the sixth of February, 1778, France — hesitating till after the tidings of the capture of General Burgoyne, giving decisive evidence of the vigor of the American character, and of their ultimate success — formed an alli- ance with the " United States," as an independent nation, and from this time there was a feeling that the question was not as to the final result of the war, but only how long George HI. would persist in fighting, and how long England would endure his blind obstinacy and folly. As in the other colonies, or "states," as they now were, so in Massachusetts, old ties and authorities being thrown aside, and new governments being only in incep- tion, it was a period when executive authority and decision were most needed, and yet were weakest ; and the disorder of anarchy and revolution 1 See p. 262. 328 editor's prefatory note. were averted only by the virtue and intelligence of the people, demonstrat- ing the truth that " where the spirit of liberty is found in its genuine vigor, it produces its genuine effects, . . . and can never endanger a state unless its root and source is corrupted." A constitution, agreed upon by a State Convention, February 28, 1778, was then before the peo- ple for their consideration, and Mr. Payson's Sermon, appropriate to the time, had particular reference to the subject of government. Its practical wisdom, its profound observations on man, on the dangers and safeguards of liberty, on religion, morality, and education, rather than large statis- tics of material wealth, as the greatest good, and the true test of prosper- ity — on the character and requisites of good magistracy, and on the diffi- culties of free institutions, all are treated on such broad and comprehensive principles of universal and perpetual truth, that his sermon is adapted to all times, and may be pondered, perhaps, with peculiar advantage at this day. The preacher. Rev. Samuel Phillips Payson, son of Rev. Phillips Pay- son, of "Walpole, Massachusetts, was born January 18, 1736, educated at Harvard College, 1754, ordained at Chelsea, October 26, 1757, and died January 11, 1801, aged sixty-four, after a life of great value to his own people and to his country. He was of a family noted in many gener- ations for piety and usefulness. The name of Phillips is identified with venerable institutions of learning, and that of Payson is dear to the Chris- tian world. Mr. Payson was distinguished as a classical scholar, for his studies in natural philosophy and astronomy, and for his fidelity as a Christian pastor and teacher, but has, perhaps, a stronger claim to our grateful remembrance as a high-minded patriot in the days of his coun- try's peril, difficulty, and darkness. We find in the pages of his friend Gordon's History of the Revolution an incident illustrative of the times and of his character. It is this : The British forces, on their inglorious retreat towards Boston, after their raid at Lexington and Concord, suffered from the fire of the provincial sharp-shooters. A few of these, headed by Mr, Payson, who till now had been extremely moderate, attacked a party of twelve soldiers, carrying stores to the retreating troops, killed one, wounded several, made the whole prisoners, and gained possession of their arms and stores, without any loss whatever to themselves. The preacher suited the action to the word and the word to the action, in his part of the national tragedy. DISCOURSE VII ELECTION SERMON. BUT JERUSALEM, WHICH IS ABOVE, IS FREE, WHICH IS THE MOTHER OF US ALL. SO THEN, BRETHREN, WE ARE NOT CHILDREN OF THE BOND WO- MAN, BUT OF THE FREE. — Gal. iv. 26, 31. It is common for the inspired writers to speak of the gospel dispensation in terms applicable to the heavenly- world, especially when they view it in comparison with the law of Moses. In this light they consider the church of God, and good men upon earth, as members of the church and family of God above, and liken the liberty of Christians to that of the citizens of the heavenly Zion. We doubt not but the Jerusalem above, the heavenly society, pos- sesses the noblest liberty to a degree of perfection of which the human mind can have no adequate conception in the present state. The want of that knowledge and rectitude they are endowed with above renders liberty and govern- ment so imperfect here below. Next to the liberty of heaven is that which the sons of God, the heirs of glory, possess in this life, in which they are freed from the bondage of corruption, the tyranny of evil lusts and j^assions, described by the apostle "by being made free from sin, and becoming the servants of God." These kinds of liberty are so nearly related, that the latter is considered as a sure pledge of the former ; and there- fore all good men, all true believers, in a special sense are 28* 330 children of the free woman, heirs of the promise. This religious or spiritual liberty must be accounted the greatest happiness of man, considered in a private capacity. But considering ourselves here as connected in civil society, and members one of another, we must in this view esteem civil liberty as the greatest of all human blessings. This admits of different degrees, nearly projjortioned to the morals, capacity, and principles of a i^eoj^le, and the mode of government they adopt ; for, like the enjoyment of other blessings, it supposes an aptitude or taste in the pos- sessor. Hence a people formed upon the morals and prin- ciples of the gospel are capacitated to enjoy the highest degree of civil liberty, and will really enjoy it, unless pre- vented by force or fraud. Much depends upon the mode and administration of civil government to complete the blessings of liberty ; for although the best possible plan of government never can give an ignorant and vicious people the true enjoyment of liberty, yet a state may be enslaved though its inhabitants in general may be knowing, virtuous, and heroic. The voice of reason and the voice of God both teach us that the great object or end of government is the public good. Nor is there less certainty in determining that a free and righteous government originates from the people, and is under their direction and control ; and therefore a free, popular model of government — of the republican kind — may be judged the most friendly to the rights and liberties of the people, and the most conducive to the public welfare. On account of the infinite diversity of opinions and interests, as well as for other weighty reasons, a govern- ment altogether popular, so as to have the decision of cases by assemblies of the body of the jieople, cannot be thought so eligible ; nor yet that a people should dele- 331 i gate their power and authority to one single man, or to one body of men, or, indeed, to any hands whatever, ex- cepting for a short term of time.^ A form of government may be so constructed as to have useful checks in the legislature, and yet capable of acting with union, vigor, and despatch, with a representation equally proportioned, preserving the legislative and executive branches distinct, and the great essentials of liberty be preserved and secured. To adjust such a model* is acknowledged to be a nice and difficult matter ;=^ and, when adjusted, to render it respectable, permanent, and quiet, the circumstances of the state, and the capacities and morals both of rulers and people, are not only of high importance, but of abso- lute necessity. a The form or constitution of government that has been submitted to the people of this state so amply secures the essentials of liberty, places and keeps the power so entirely in the hands of the people, is so concise and explicit, and makes such an easy step from the old to the new form, that it may justly be con- sidered as a high evidence of the abilities of its compilers; and if it should not be complied with, it is very probable we never shall obtain a better. 1 " Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself; can he, then, be trusted with the government of others ? Or have we found angels, in the form of kings, to govern him ? Let history answer this question." — Jefferson. 1801. — Ed. 2 ** A Constitution and Form of Government for the State of Massa- chusetts Bay, agreed upon by the Convention of said State, February 28, 1778, to be laid before the several Towns and Plantations in said State for their approbation or disapprobation," a pamphlet of twenty-three pages, was disti'ibuted among the towns, by vote of the House of Representatives, March 4, 1778. The constitution was rejected. Ten thousand votes were against it, two thousand Azotes in its favor; one hundred and twenty towms made no returns. It contained no bill of rights ; did not properly separate the legislative, judicial, and executive functions; " allowed'* the free exer- cise and enjoyment of religious worship, whereas that is an inalienable right; did not provide an equal representation; and many other objections were stated. It was thought best to postpone the framing of a constitu- tion till more peaceful and settled times, and that it should then be done by delegates specially chosen for the service. Barry's History of Massa- chusetts, iii. ch. v., gives a very clear account of the subject. — Ed. 332 THE ELECTION SERMOX, It by no means becomes me to assume the airs of a dictator, by delineating a model of government; but I shall ask the candid attention of this assembly to some things respecting a state, its rulers and inhabitants, of high importance, and necessary to the being and continu- ance of such a free and righteous government as we wish for ourselves and posterity, and hope, by the blessing of God, to have ere long established. In this view, it is obvious to observe that a spirit of liberty should in general prevail among a people; their minds should be possessed with a sense of its worth and nature. Facts and observation abundantly teach us that the minds of a community, as well as of individuals, are subject to different and various casts and impressions. The inhabitants of large and opulent empires and kingdoms are often entirely lost to a sense of liberty, in which case they become an easy prey to usurpers and tyrants. Where the spirit of liberty is found in its genuine vigor it pro- duces its genuine effects; urging to the greatest vigilance and exertions, it will surmount great difficulties ; [so] that it is no easy matter to deceive or conquer a people determined to be free. The exertions and effects of this great spirit in our land have already been such as may well astonish the world ; and so long as it generally prevails it will be quiet with no species of government but what befriends and protects it. Its jealousy for its safety may sometimes appear as if verging to faction ; but it means well, and can never endanger a state unless its root and source is corrupted. Free republican governments have been objected to, as if exposed to factions from an excess of liberty. The Gre- cian states are mentioned for a proof, and it is allowed that the history of some of those commonwealths is little else but a narration of factions ; but it is justly denied PREACHED AT BOSTON, 1778. 333 that the true spirit of liberty produced tliese effects. Vio- lent and opposing parties/ shaking the pillars of the state, may arise under the best forms of government. A gov- ernment, from various causes, may be thrown into convul- sions, like the Roman state in its latter periods, and, like that, may die of the malady. But the evils which happen in a state are not always to be charged upon its govern- ment, much less upon one of the noblest principles that can dwell in the human breast. There are diseases in government, like some in the human body, that lie undis- covered till they become wholly incurable. The baneful effects of exorbitant wealth, the lust of power, and other evil passions, are so inimical to a free, righteous government, and find such an easy access to the human mind, that it is difficult, if possible, to keep up the spirit of good government, unless the spirit of liberty pre- vails in the state. This spirit, like other generous growths of nature, flourishes best in its native soil. It has been engrafted, at one time and another, in various countries : in America it shoots up and grows as in its natural soil. Recollecting our pious ancestors, the first settlers of the country, — nor shall we look for ancestry beyond that period,^ — and we may say, in the most literal sense, we 1 " Let me vram rou in the most solemn manner ag:ainst the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally. ... In governments of the popular form it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy; . . . in governments purely elective it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose ; and, there being such constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be, by force of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume." — Washington. — Ed. 2 It is a mistaken pride and a fallacy which would lead ns not to look for our origin beyond the Atlantic. "We cannot know ourselves or our history without this. America, isolated from the Old World bravely warring 334 are children, not of the bond woman, but of the free. It may hence well be expected that the exertions and effects of American liberty should be more vigorous and com- plete. It has the most to fear from ignorance and ava- rice ; for it is no uncommon thing for a people to lose sight of their liberty in the eager pursuit of wealth, as the states of Holland have done ; and it will always be as easy to rob an ignorant people of their liberty as to pick the pockets of a blind man. The slavery of a people is generally founded in igno- rance of some kind or another ; and there are not wanting such facts as abundantly prove the human mind may be so sunk and debased, through ignorance and its natural effects, as even to adore its enslaver, and kiss its chains. Hence knowledge and learning may well be considered as most essentially requisite to a free, righteous government. against and slowly upheaving and overturning hereditary wrong, was exclusively appropriated by the advance guard of Christian humanity, by actual possession, at Plymouth, in 1620; and the spirit of liberty, freed from hoary hindrances, vigorously put forth her strength and glory. But liberty was not born here; and we cannot learn her lineage, nor that of our Puritan ancestors, — her devotees, — nor appreciate the cost and wealth of our inheritance, without the study of English history, and civil- ization, and of the Reformation; for the fruits of all this were simpl}^ trans- planted to our shoi-es by the children of those who wrought it. Alfred is ours, and Runnemede, and Edward VI., and Elizabeth; Raleigh, Bacon, and Shakspeare; Hampden, Milton, Cromwell, Sydney, yes, and "King Charles the martyr," are ours; and it is our glory that we continue the roll with the magnificent names of Washington, Franklin, and Edwards, — an earnest, may we hope, of our future. The beautiful opening of Gibbon's "Memoirs of ray Life and Writ- ings," written in his usual philosophical vein, is a charming passage for all those who feel that " lively desire of knowing and of recording our ancestors," which " so generally prevails, that it must depend on the influ- ence of some common principle in the minds of men." " Remember from whom you sprang," exclaimed John Hancock, when he proposed a gen- eral Colonial Congress. — Ed. 1778. 335 A republican government and science mutually promote and support each other. Great literary acquirements are indeed the lot of but few, because but few in a conmiunity have ability and opportunity to pursue the paths of sci- ence ; but a certain degree of knowledge is absolutely necessary to be diffused through a state for the preserva- tion of its liberties and the quiet of government. Every kind of useful knowledge will be carefully encour- aged and promoted by the rulers of a free state, unless they should happen to be men of ignorance themselves ; in which case they and the community will be in danger of sharing the fate of blind guides and their followers. The education of youth, by instructors properly qualified,'' the establishment of societies for useful arts and sciences, the encouragement of persons of superior abilities, will always command the attention of wise rulers. The late times of our glorious struggle have not indeed been favorable to the cause of education in general, though much useful knowledge of the geography of our country, of the science of arms, of our abilities and strength, and of our natural rights and liberties, has been acquired; great improvements have also been made in several kinds of manufactory.^ But our security and the public welfare n The want of proper instructors, and a proper method of instructing, are the reason that what we call common education, or school-learning, is generally so imperfect among us. Youth should always be taught by strict rule in reading, writing, and speaking, and so in all parts of their education. By this means the advantages of their education will commonly increase with their age, that by a little application in their riper years persons may raise a useful superstruc- ture from a small foundation that was well laid at school in their earlier days. It would be of eminent service if instructors would more generally endeavor to fix in the minds of their scholars the rules of reading, of spelling, of writing, or of whatever branch of knowledge they teach. 1 To the colonics, fringing the Atlantic, and hemmed in by primeval forests, the command to primitive man seemed to be uttered anew : " And God blessed them ; and God said unto them. Be fruitful and multipl}^ and replenish the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the 336 require yet greater exertions to promote education and useful knowledge. Most of the internal difficulties of a state commonly arise from ignorance, that general source of error. The growls of avarice and curses of clowns will generally be heard when the public liberty and safety call for more generous and costly exertions. Indeed, we may never expect to find the marks of public virtue, the efforts of heroism, or any kind of nobleness, in a man who has no idea of nobleness and excellency but what he hoards up in his barn or ties up in his purse. It is readily allowed there have not been wanting states- men and heroes of the generous growth of nature, though instances of this sort are not so common. But if these had been favored with the improvements of art, they would have appeared to much greater advantage, and with brighter lustre. Nothing within the compass of human sea;" and " a man was famous according as he had h'fted up axes on the thick trees." Their thrift Avas in the saw-mill, the ship-yard, the fisheries, commerce, and, last of all, agriculture; and their interest, as well as that of England, was to exchange their staples for the manufactures of the mother country. But the industry and increase of one hundred and fifty years had wrought a change in the condition and wants of the people, so that the more compact populations naturally turned to handicraft, and the new political relations quickened this action. Educated labor made vapid progress in new devices for economy of time and industry. It was encouraged by legislation, and stimulated by the desire of independence. " The great improvements and discoveries" of that day Avould now excite a smile, perhaps. The first cotton-mill in America, established at Beverly in 1788, was visited by Washington, in his tour through the country, in 1789. A periodical of the day described it as " a complete set of machines for carding and spinning cotton, which answered the warmest expectations of the proprietors. The spinning-jenny spins sixty threads at a time, and With the carding-machine foi-ty pounds of cotton can be well carded per day. The warping-machine and the other tools and machinery are complete, performing tlicir varioiLS operations to great advantage, and promise much benefit to the public, and emolument to the patriotic adventurers." — Stone's Beverly, 1843, p. 85. — Ed. PREACHED AT BOSTON, 1778. 337 ability is of that real weight and importance as the educa- tion of youth — the propagation of knowledge.^ Despot- ism and tyranny want nothing but wealth and force, but liberty and order are supported by knowledge and virtue. I shall also mention the love of our country, or public virtue, as another essential support of good government and the public liberties. Xo model of government what- ever can equal the importance of this principle, nor afford proper safety and security without it. Its object being the approbation of conscience, and its motive to exertion being the public welfare, hence it can only dwell in superior minds, elevated above private interest and selfish views. It does that for the public which domestic affec- tion does among real friends ; but, like other excellences, is more frequently pretended to than possessed. In the ancient Roman republic it was the life and soul of the state which raised it to all its glory, being always awake to the public defence and good; and in every state it must, under Providence, be the support of govern- ment, the guardian of liberty, or no human wisdom or policy can support and preserve them. Civil society cannot be maintained without justice, benevolence, and the social virtues. Even the government of the Jerusalem above could not render a vicious and abandoned people quiet and happy. The children of the bond woman, slaves to vice, can never be free. If the reason of the mind, 1 " Patronize every rational effort to encouraj^e schools, colleges, univer- sities, academies, and every institution for propagating knowledge, virtue, and religion among all classes of the people, not only for their benign influence on the happiness of life in all its stages and classes, and of society in all its forms, but as the only means of preserving our constitu- tion from its natural enemies, the spirit of sophistry, the spirit of party, the spirit of intrigue, the profligacy of corruption, and the pestilence of foreign influence, which is the angel of destruction to elective govern- ments."— President Adams's Inaugural, 1797. — Ed. 29 338 man's immediate rule of conduct, is in bondage to cor- ruption, he is verily the worst of slaves. Public spirit, through human imperfection, is in danger of degenerating to selfish passion, which has a malignant influence on public measures. This danger is the greater because the corruption is not commonly owned, nor soon discerned. Such as are the most diseased with it are apt to be the most insensible to their error. The exorbitant wealth of individuals has a most baneful influence on public virtue, and therefore should be care- fully guarded against. It is, however, acknowledged to be a difiicult matter to secure a state from evils and mis- chiefs from this quarter ; because, as the world goes, and is like to go, wealth and riches will have their command- ing influence. The public interest being a remoter object than that of self, hence persons in power are so generally disposed to turn it to their own advantage. A wicked rich man, we see, soon corrupts a whole neighborhood, and a few of them will poison the morals of a whole com- munity. This sovereign j^ower of interest seems to have been much the source of modern politics abroad, and has given birth to such maxims of policy as these, viz., that "the wealth of a people is their truest honor," that "every man has his price," ^ that " the longest purse, and not the longest sword, will finally be victorious." But we trust and hope that American virtue will be sufficient to convince the world that such maxims are base, are ill-founded, and altogether unfit and improper to influence and lead in government. In the infancy of states there is not com- monly so much danger of these mischiefs, because the love 1 Tlohert Walpolc, Eavl of Orford, is the reputed author of the payini^ that oil men have their price ; but his bio'^je du^ prope ma^um fontem erectae, Phoenicios habentes cbaracteres insculptos, qui Pboecicum lingua sic sonant : >'03 11 suMcs QUI FUGERUXT A FACIE JoSHU^ prj;do>'is filii Naue. — Evagr. Hist. ecc. 1. 4, c. 18. Procop. Vandalic, 1. 8. 1 See Gookin's Historical Collections of the Indians, in Massachusetts Historical Collections, i. 144. — Ed. 408 DR. stiles' S ELECTION SERMON, 1783. from America, as certainly appears from the Baron Dul- feldt's voyage round the north of Europe into the Pacific Ocean, A. D. 1769. Amidst all the variety of national dialects, there reigns a similitude in their language, as there is also in complexion and beardless features, from Greenland to Del Fuego, and from the Antilles to Otaheite, which show them to be one people. A few scattered accounts, collected and combined to- gether, may lead us to two certain conclusions : ^ 1. That all the American Indians are one kind of people ; 2. That they are the same as the people in the northeast of Asia. An Asiatic territory, three thousand miles long and fifteen hundred wide, above the fortieth degree of latitude, to the hyperborean ocean, contains only one million of souls, settled as our Indians, as appears from the numera- tions and estimates collected by M. Miiller and other Russian academicians in 1769. The Koreki, Jakuhti, and Tungusij, living on the eastern part of this territory next to America, are naturally almost beardless, like the Samoi- eds in Siberia, the Ostiacs and Calmucks, as well as the American Indians, — all these having also the same custom of plucking out the few hairs of very thin beards. They have more similar usages, and fewer dissimilar ones, than the Arabians of the Koreish tribe and Jews who sprang from Abraham, or than those that subsist among European nations who sprang from one ancestor, or those Asiatic nations which sprang from Shem. The portrait-painter, Mr. Smibert,^ who accompanied Dr. Berkeley, then Dean 1 The learned and judicious paper, by Samuel Foster Haven, Esq., of the American Antiquarian Society, published by the Smithsonian Institute in 1856, gives an elaborate view of the " General Opinions respecting the Origin of Population in the New World," with a critical account of the literature upon this subject. — Ed. 2 Smibert's picture of Dr. Berkeley and his family is in possession of Yale College. — Ed. % THE FUTURE GLORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 409 of Derry, and afterward Bishop of Cloyne, from Italy to America in 1728, was employed by the Grand Duke of Tuscany, wiiile at Florence, to paint two or three Siberian Tartars, presented to the duke by the Czar of Russia. This Mr. Smibert, upon his landing at Narraganset Bay with Dr. Berkeley, instantly recognized the Indians here to be the same people as the Siberian Tartars w^hose pictures he had taken. Moravian Indians from Greenland and South America have met those in our latitude at Bethlehem,^ and have been clearly perceived to be the same people. The Karaschatdale Tartars have been car- ried over from Asia to America, and compared with our Indians, and found to be the same people. These Asiatic Tartars, from whom the American aboriginals derived, are distinct from and far less numerous than the Mon- gul and other Tartars which for ages, under Tamerlane and other chieftains, have deluged and overrun the south- ern ancient Asiatic empires. Attending to the rational and just deductions from these and other disconnected data^ combined together, we may perceive that all the 1 Moravian settlement of Pennsylvania. — Ed. 2 By his foreign correspondence Dr. Stiles was assiduous in learning the progress of discovery on the northwest coast of America. This collection of data, the bases of his " certain" deduction, well illustrate his intellectual life, his untiring acquisitiveness, — for he gathered the facts more from observation than from books, — his system ization, and his penetration and judgment. His theory is adopted by Dr. Charles Pickering, of the United States Exploring Expedition, who says : " I confess it was only on actually visiting the North Pacific that the whole matter seemed open to my view." He describes the islands of the Ale^utian group, the countless inlets and channels connecting the two continents, and says, " Where, then, shall Asia end and America begin? "— " Races of Man," 13ohn's Ed., 1854, p. 296. "The invention all admired, and each how he To be th' inventor missed ; so easy it seemed, Once found, which yet, unfound, most would have thought Impossible.'" — MiLTOK. — Ed. 35 410 DR. STILES'S ELECTION SERMON, 1783. Americans are one people — that they came hither cer- tainly from the northeast of Asia ; probably, also, from the Mediterranean ; and if so, that they are Canaanites, though arriving hither by different routes. The ocean current from the north of Asia might waft the beardless Samoieds or Tchuschi from the mouth of Jenesea or the Oby, around Nova Zembla to Greenland, and thence to Labrador, many ages after the refugees from Joshua might have colo- nized the tropical regions. Thus Providence might have ordered three divisions of the same 4)eople from different parts of the world, and perhaps in very distant ages, to meet together on this continent, or " our island," as the Six Nations call it, to settle different parts of it, many ages before the present accession of Japheth, or the former visitation of Madoc, 1001, or the certain colonization from Norway, A. D. 1001, as well as the certain Christianizing of Greenland in the ninth century, not to mention the visit of still greater antiquity by the Phoenicians, who charged the Dighton^ rock, and other rocks in Narraganset Bay, with Punic inscriptions, remaining to this day ; — which last I myself have repeatedly seen and taken off at large, as did Professor Sewall. He has lately transmitted a copy of this inscription to M. Gebelin, of the Parisian Academy of Sciences, who, comparing them with the Punic paleog- raphy, judges them Punic, and has interpreted them as denoting that the ancient Carthaginians once visited these distant regions. Indians are numerous in the tropical regions; not so 1 Dr. Stiles resided at Dighton for a while, after the war began, Newport being open to the enemy from the sea. The result of Mr. Schoolcraft's more careful study of the Dighton inscription is, that it is simply of Indian origin. The Mananas " inscription," coast of Maine, has excited a like interest. From a personal examination of it, in August, 1855, I believe that the Hand which made the rock made the " inscription."— Ed. THE FUTURE GLORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 411 elsewhere. Baron la Hontan, the last century, and Mr. Carver so lately as 1776 and 1777, travelled northwest beyond the sources of the Mississippi. From their obser- vations it appears that the ratio of Indian population, in the very heart of the continent, is similar to that on this side of the Mississippi. By an accurate numeration made in 1766, and returned into the plantation office in London, it appeared that there were not forty thousand souls, In- dians, from the Mississippi to the Atlantic, and from Florida to the Pole. According to Mr. Carver, there are about thirty,^ and certainly not forty, Indian tribes west of the Senecas and Six Nation confederacy, and from the Mississippi and Ohio northward to Hudson's Bay, and from Niagara to the Lake of the Woods. The chiefs of all these speak the Chippeway language. And perhaps all the remaining territory north of New Spain, and even on this side the northern tropic, and northwestward to Asia, will not exhibit five times that number, at highest. Partly by actual numeration, and partly by estimate, the Indians in the Spanish dominions in America are consid- ered as a million souls in New Spain, and a million and one-half in Peru; or two or three million souls in the whole. And perhaps this would fully comprehend those of Paraguay and the Portuguese provinces. In my opin- ion, great defalcation must be made from these numbers. The aboriginals have been injudiciously estimated at twenty millions ; but I believe they never exceeded two or three million souls in all North and South America, since the days of Columbus. The European population so surpasses them already, that, of whatever origin, they will eventually be, as the most of them have already become, servants unto Japheth. Six hundred and twelve thousand Indians pay tribute in a Carver's Trav., p. 415, 412 DR. STILES'S ELECTION SERMON, 1783. Peru. We are increasing with great rapidity; and the Indians, as well as the million Africans in America, are decreasing as rapidly. Both left to themselves, in this way diminishing, may gradually vanish ;^ and thus an unrighteous slavery may at length, in God's good provi- dence, be abolished, and cease in this land of liberty. But, to return : The population of this land will jDrobably become very great, and Japheth become more numerous millions in America than in Europe and Asia; and the two or three millions of the United States may equal the population of the oriental empires, which far surpasses that of Europe. There are reasons for believing that the English increase will far surpass others, and that the diffu- sion of the United States will ultimately produce the gen- eral population of America. The northern provinces of China spread for ages, and at length deluged the southern with a very numerous and accumulated population. " In the multitude of people is the king's honor."* But a multitude of people, even the two hundred mil- lion^ of the Chinese empire, cannot subsist without civil government. All the forms of civil polity have been tried by mankind, except one, and that seems to have been reserved in Providence to be realized in America. Most a Prov. xiv. 28. 1 The cotton-gin, invented about 1793-4, by Eli Whitney, a native of "Westborough, Massacliusetts, December 8, 1765, turned " the whole course of industry in the southern section of the Union," and the fate of " the million Africans," and their descendants of mingled blood. The total number of Indians in the United States territory was estimated, in 1853, at 400,704. The total number of slaves, in 18.54, was 3,201,313. The shameless ingratitude and wrong to Whitney are narrated in " Siiliman's Journal," January, 1832. — Ed. 2 The reader will readily excuse the omission of the author's long note on Chinese statistics, cited from Hatton's Geography, and Du Halde, v., p. 209. — Ed. THE FUTURE GLORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 413 of the states, of all ages, in their originals, both as to policy and property, have been founded in rapacity, usur- pation, and injustice; so that in the contests recorded in history, the public right is a dubious question, — it being rather certain that it belongs to neither of the contending parties, — the military history of all nations being but a description of the wars and invasions of the mutual rob- bers and devastators of the human race. The invasion of the lawless Macedonian, who effected the dissolution of the Medo-Persian empire ; the wide-spread Roman conquests ; the inundation of the Goths and Vandals; the descents of the Tartars on China; the triumphs of Tamerlane, Ulugh-beg, and Aurengzebe ; and the wide-spread domi- nation of the impostor of Mecca, with his successors, the Caliphs and Mamelukes, down to Kouli-Kan, who de- throned his j^rince, and plundered India of two hundred millions sterling; — these, I say, with the new distribution of property and new erected policies, were all founded in unrighteousness and tyrannical usurpation. The real in- terest of mankind, and the public good, has been generally overlooked. It has really been very indifferent to the great cause of right and liberty which of the belligerent powers prevailed, — a Tangrolij^ix or a Mahomet, an Augustus or an Antony, a Scipio or a Hannibal, a Brennus or an Antiochus, — tyranny being the sure por- tion of the plebeians, be the victory as it should happen. These things have led some very enlightened as w^ell as serious minds to a fixed conclusion and judgment against the right and legality of all wars. In the simplicity of my judgment, I have for years been of this opinion, except as to the offensive wars of Israel and defensive war of America. War, in some instances, especially defensive, has been authorized by Heaven. The blessing given by Melchisedec to Abraham, upon his return from the slaugh- 35* 414 DR. STILES'S ELECTION SERMON, 1783 ter of Chelderlaoraer and the kings of the East, justified that holy patriarch. The war with Amelek, and the extir- pation of the Canaanites by Joshua, were of God. The location of the respective territories to the first nations, was so of God as to give them a divine right defensively to resist the Nimrods and Ninuses, the first invading ty- rants of the ancient ages. The originally free and glori- ous republics of Greece had a right from God to withstand the haughty claims of the Assyrian empire, which they successfully resisted for ages, till the Roman power arose behind them, and at length prostrated their liberties. But after the spirit of conquest had changed the first governments, all the succeeding ones have, in general, proved one continued series of injustice, which has reigned in all countries for almost four thousand years. These have so changed property, laws, rights, and liberties, that it has become impossible for the most sagacious civilians to decide whose is the abstract political right in national controversies ; rather, we know that none of them have any right. All original right is confounded and lost. We can only say that there still remains in the body of the people at large — the body of mankind, of any and every generation — a power, with which they are invested by the Author of their being, to wrest government out of the hands of reigning tyrants, and originate new policies, adapted to the conservation of liberty, and promoting the public welfare. But what is the happiest form of civil government, is the great question. Almost all the polities may be reduced to hereditary dominion, in either a mon- archy or aristocracy, and these supported by a standing army. The Roman and Venetian senates were but a hereditary aristocracy, with an elective head. The sena- torial succession is preserved independent of the people. True liberty is preserved in the Belgic and Hselvetic re- THE FUTURE GLORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 415 publics, and among the nobles in the elective monarchy of Poland. For the rest of the world, the civil dominion, though often wisely administered, is so modelled as to be beyond the control of those for whose end God instituted government. But a democratical polity for millions, stand- ing upon the broad basis of the people at large, amply charged with property, has not hitherto been exhibited. Republics are democratical, aristocratical, or monarchical. Each of these forms admits of modifications, both as to hereditation and powers, from absolute government up to perfect liberty. Monarchy might be so limited, one would think, as to be a happy form, especially if elective ; but both monarchy and aristocracy, when they become hered- itary, terminate in the prostration of liberty. The greater part of the governments on earth may be termed monarch- ical aristocracies, or hereditary dominions independent of the people. The nobles and nabobs, being hereditary, will at first have great power ; but the royal factions have not failed to intrigue this away from the nobles to the prince : the assembly of even hereditary nobles then be- come ciphers and nullities in dominion. The once glori- ous Cortes of Spain experienced this loss of power. It is next to an impossibility to tame a monarch ; and few have ruled without ferocity. Scarcely shall we find in royal dynasties, in long line of princes, a few singularly good sovereigns — a few Cyruses, Antonini, Alfreds, Boroihmeses. Indeed, if we look over the present sovereigns of Europe, we behold with pleasure two young princes, the em- peror,^ and the monarch of France,^ who seem to be raised up in Providence to make their people and mankind happy. 1 Seep. 454, note 1. — Ed. 2 Louis XTL, for the iniquities of his fathers, died upon the scaffold, January 21, 1793, aged thirty-eight. See p. 445, note 1. — Ed. 416 DR. STILES'S ELECTION SERMON, 1783. A Ganganelli in the pontifical throne was a i)hoenix of ages, shone for his moment, and scarcely to be found again in the catalogue of a Platina.^ We see enterprising lit- erary and heroic talents in a Frederick III., and wisdom in a Poniatowski. I add no more. But when we con- template the other European and Asiatic potentates, and especially the sovereigns of Delhi, Ispahaun, and Constan- tinople, one cannot but pity mankind whose lot is to be governed by despots of small abilities, immersed and riot- ing in the splendor of a luxurious effeminacy. Nor could government proceed were not the errors and desultory blunders of royalty frequently corrected by the circum- spection of a Colao, a few sensible characters, venerable for wisdom, called up among the stated councillors of majesty. Lord Bacon said that monarchy had a platform in na- ture ; and, in truth, monarchical ideas reign through the universe. A monarchy conducted with infinite wisdom and infinite benevolence is the most perfect of all possible governments. The Most High hath delegated power and authority to subordinate monarchies, or sole ruling powers, in limited districts, throughout the celestial hierarchy, and through the immensity of the intellectual world ; but, at the same time, he hath delegated and imparted to them wis- dom and goodness adequate to the purposes of dominion ; and thence the government is, as it ought to be, absolute. But in a world or region of the universe where God has imparted to none either this superior power or adequate wisdom beyond what falls to the common share of human- ity, it is absurd to look for such qualities in one man — not even in the man Moses, who shared the government of Israel with the senate of seventy. Therefore there is no foundation for monarchical government from supposed iSeep. 406, note 1.— Ed. THE FUTURE GLORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 417 hereditary superiority in knowledge. If it be said that monarchs always have a council of state, consisting of the wisest personages, of whose wisdom they avail themselves in the government of empires, — not to observe that this is a concession indicating a deficiency of knowledge in princes, — it may be asked. Why not, then, consign and repose government into the hands of the national council, where always resides the superiority of wisdom? The supposed advantage of having one public head for all to look up to, and to concentre the attention, obedience, and affection of subjects, and to consolidate the empire, will not counterbalance the evils of arbitrary despotism and the usual want of wisdom in the sovereigns and potentates of the earth. For the hereditary successions in the dynas- ties of kings, in the effeminate families of the great, seem to be marked and accursed by Providence with deficient wisdom. And where is the wisdom of consigning govern- ment into such hands? Why not much better — since we for once have our option or choice — to commit the direc- tion of the republic to a Wittena-gemot, or an aristocrat- ical council of wise men ? Should we call forth and dig- nify some family, either from foreign nations or from among ourselves, and create a monarch, whether a hered- itary prince or protector for life, and seat him in supremacy at the head of Congi-ess, soon, with insidious dexterity, would he intrigue, and secure a venal majority even of new and annual members, and, by diffusing a complicated and variously modified influence, pursue an accretion of power till he became absolute. The celebrated historian Mrs. Catharine Macaulay,^ that 1 The ei^ht volumes of Mrs. Macaulay's " History of England from the Accession of James I. to that of the Brunswick Line," appeared succes- sively during the years 1763 to 1783. The high republican tone and noble zeal for liberty which distinguished this work, and the time of its publica- 418 DR. stiles' S ELECTION SERMON, 1783. ornament of the republic of letters, and the female Livy of the age, observes : " The man who holds supreme power for life will have a great number of friends and adherents, who are attached by interest to his interest, and who will wish for continuance of power in the same family. This creates the worst of factions, a government faction, in the state. The desire of securing to ourselves a particular unshared privilege is the rankest vice which infests human- ity ; and a protector for life, instead of devoting his time and understanding to the great cares of government, will be scheming and plotting to secure the power, after his death, to his children, if he has any, if not, to the nearest of his kin. This principle in government has been pro- ductive of such bloodshed and oppression that it has in- clined politicians to give preference to hereditary rather than elective monarchies ; and, as the lesser evil, to con- sign the government of society to the increasing and at length unlimited sway of one family, whether the individ- uals of it should be idiots or madmen. It is an uncontro- verted fact, that supreme power never can continue long in one family without becoming unlimited." * We stand a better chance with aristocracy, whether he- reditary or elective, than with monarchy. An unsystem- atical democracy and an absolute monarchy are equally detestable, equally a magormissahib, the terror to all around them. An elective aristocracy is preferable for America, as it is rather to be a council of nations^ — a Mrs. Macaulay's letter to the author, 1771. tlon, coincident with the period of the Revolution, rendered the author a gi-eat favorite with the American patriots and scholars. Dr. Stiles's lan- j^uatre was not an extravajjant expression of her popularity in Enjrland or America. She visited Washinj^ton in 1785. He was one of her corre- spondents. After a remarkable and somewhat eccentric life, she died in 1791. — Ed. 1 See p. 458, and note 1. — Ed. THE FUTURE GLORY OP THE UNITED STATES. 419 agreeable to the humane, liberal, and grand ideas of Henry lY. and the patriot Sully — than a body in which resides authoritative sovereignty ; for there is no real cession of dominion, no surrender or transfer of sovereignty to the national council, as each state in the confederacy is an independent sovereignty.^ In justice to human society it may perhaps be said of almost all the polities and civil institutions in the world, however imperfect, that they have been founded in and carried on with very considerable wisdom. They must have been generally well administered, — I say generally, — otherwise government could not proceed. This may be said even of those governments which carry great defects and the seeds of self-destruction and ruin in their consti- tution ; for even an Ottoman or an Aurengzebe must establish and prescribe to himself a national constitution, a system of general laws and dominion. But the abstract rationale of perfect civil government remains still hidden among the desiderata of politics, having hitherto baffled the investigation of the best writers on government, the ablest politicians, and the sagest civilians. A well-ordered democratical aristocracy, standing upon the annual elec- tions of the people, and revocable at pleasure, is the polity which combines the United States ; and, from the nature of man and the comparison of ages, I believe it will ap- prove itself the most equitable, liberal, and perfect. With the people, especially a people seized of prop- erty, resides the aggregate of original power. They can- not, however, assemble from the territory of an empire, and must, therefore, if they have any share in government, represent themselves by delegation. This constitutes one order in legislature and sovereignty. It is a question whether there should be any other ; to resolve w^hich, it 1 See p. 358, note 1. —Ed. 420 DR. STILES'S ELECTION SERMON, 1783. may be considered that each of these delegates, or repre- sentatives, will be faithful conservators of local interests, but have no interest in attending extensively to the pub- lic, further than where all particular local interests are affected in common with that which one delegate repre- sents in particular. It should seem, then, that the nature of society dictates another, a higher branch, whose superiority arises from its being the interested and natural conservator of the uni- versal interest. This will be a senatorial order, standing, not on local, but a general election of the wiiole body of the people. Let a bill, or law, be read, in the one branch or the other, every one instantly thinks how it will affect his constituents. If his constituents are those of one small district only, they will be his first care; if the people at large, their general or universal interest will be his first care, the first object of his faithful attention. If a senator, as in Delaware, stands on the election of only the same district as a deputy, the Upper House is only the repeti- tion of the lower ; if on the election of several counties combined, as in Virginia, each member of the Upper House stands and feels himself charged with a greater and more extensive care than a member of the House of Burgesses : not but that it is the duty of each deputy to attend to the general interest. Georgia, Pennsylvania,^ and Jersey, have each a Senate or Legislature of one order only; for although in Jersey it seemeth otherwise, yet that interest which will determine a vote in one, will determine it in both Houses. The same is true of the two Carolinas. * The constitutions of Maryland and New York are 1 The single lejrislature was a favorite idea with Dr. Franklin, and it is said that the high authority of his opinions in France aided its adoption there; and from the want of the Senate, or Upper House, as a great balance-wheel, came the hoiTors of the French Revolution. — Ed. THE FUTURE GLORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 421 founded in higher wisdom. The polity of Massachusetts is excellent, and truly grand ; it retains, indeed, some of the shadows of royalty, which may give dignity, but never operate an essential mischief in the hands of a chief magis- trate who is annually elected by the people at large. But Connecticut and Rhode Island have originally realized the most perfect i^olity as to a legislature. Any emendations and improvements may be made by the Assembly, with respect to the establishment of the law courts, and a con- stitutional privy council, which in all future time will be necessary to attend the chief magistrate in the ordinary civil administration. These things are remedied in Yir- ginia, whose constitution seems to be imperfect in but one thing : its twenty-four senators, though elected from local districts, should be elected by the people at large, — being men of such public eminence, and of merit so illustrious, as to be known, not to a few only, but to all the tribes throughout the state. It establishes judges qiiamdiu se bene gesserint. It provides perfectly for legislation and law courts, for the militia, and for that continual admin- istration of government, in absence of assemblies and while the judiciary tribunals are sitting, which must reside in and be uninterruptedly exercised at the head of sover- eignty in every civil polity. It gives me pleasure to find that public liberty is effect- ually secured in each and all the policies of the United States, though somewhat differently modelled. Not only the polity, or exterior system of government, but the laws and interior regulations of each state, are already excel- lent, surpassing the institutions of Lycurgus or Plato; and by the annual appeals to the public a power is reserved to the people to remedy any corruptions or errors in govern- ment. And even if the people should sometimes err, yet each assembly of the states, and the body of the people, 36 422 DR. STILES'S ELECTION SERMOX, 1783. always embosom wisdom sufficient to correct themselves ; so that a political mischief cannot be durable. Herein we far surpass any states on earth. We can correct ourselves, if in the wrong. The Belgic states, in their federal ca- pacity, are united by a perfect system, constituted by that great prince, William of Nassau, and the compatriots of that age ; but they left the interior government of the jural tribunals, cities, and provinces, as despotic and arbitrary as they found them. So the elective monarchical republic of Poland is an excellent constitution for the nobles, but leaves despotism and tyranny, the portion and hard fate of the plebeians, beyond what is to be found in any j^art of Europe. Not so the American states ; their inte- rior as well as exterior civil and jural polities are so nearly perfect, that tlie rights of individuals, even to numerous millions, are guarded and secured. The crown and glory of our confederacy is the amphic- tyonic council ^ of the General Congress, standing on the annual election of the united respective states, and revoca- ble at i^leasure. This lays the foundation of a permanent union in the American Republic, which may at length convince the world that, of all the policies to be found on earth, not excepting the very excellent one of the Chinese Empire, the most perfect one has been invented and realized in America. If, in the multitude of devices for improving and carry- ing our policy to greater perfection and a more permanent and efficacious government, — if, I say, some elevated geniuses should go into the ideas of monarchy, whether hereditary or elective, and others think of a partition of 1 Five 3'cars later, in 1788, James Madison, in the "Federalist," Nos. 18, 38, describes this celebrated institution, as "it bore a very instructive analogy to the present confederation of the American Union." See p. 458, note 1. — Kd. THE FUTURE GLORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 423 the United States into three or four separate independent confederacies, perhaps, upon discussing the subject cahnly and thoroughly, and finding that the policy which will at last take place must stand on plebeian election, they may at length be satisfied that the die is already cast, and the l>olicy has taken its complexion for ages to come. Thus the nine bowls engraved with the map of dominion estab- lished the policy of the Chinese empire for near twenty ages.** The ancient division of the empire subsisted by means of these symbols of dominion, which passed in suc- cession to the nine principal mandarins, or supreme gov- ernors under the imperial sovereignty; and this for the long tract from the'ir first institution by the Emperor Yu, who reigned two thousand two hundred years before Christ, to Chey-lie-vang, who was contemporary with the great philosopher Menzius, three hundred years before Christ. So that symbol of union, the American flag, with its increasing stripes and stars, may have an equally com- bining efficacy for ages. The senatorial constitution and consulate of the Roman Empire lasted from Tarquin to Caesar. The pragmatic sanction has probably secured the imperial succession in the House of Austria for ages. The Medo-Persian and Alexandrian empires, and that of Tam- erlane, who reigned, A. D. 1400, from Smyrna to the Ganges, were, for obvious reasons, of short and transitory duration; but that of the Asspian endured, without mutation, through a tract of one thousand three hundred years, from Semiramis to Sardanapalus. Nor was the policy of Egypt overthrown for a longer period, from the days of Mitzraim till the time of Cambyses and Amasis. Whatever mutations may arise in the United States, perhaps hereditary monarchy and a standing army will be the last. a Du Halde, Hist. China. 424 DR. STILES'S ELECTION SERMOX, 1783. Besides a happy policy as to civil government, it is necessary to institute a system of law and jurisprudence founded in justice, equity, and public right. The Ameri- can codes of law, and the lex non scripta^ the senatus con- sulta^ and the common law, are already advanced to great perfection, — far less complicated and perplexed than the jural systems of Europe, where reigns a mixture of Roman, Gothic, Teutonic, Salic, Saxon, Norman, and other local or municipal law, controlled or innovated and confused by subsequent royal edicts and imperial institutions, superin- ducing the same mutation as did the imperatorial decrees of the CaBsars upon the ancient jus civile, or Roman law. A depuration from all these will take place in America, and our communication with all the world will enable us to bring home the most excellent principles of law and right to be found in every kingdom and empire on earth. These being adopted here may advance our systems of jurisprudence to the highest purity and perfection, — es- pecially if hereafter some Fleta, Bracton, Coke, some great law genius, should arise, and, with vast erudition, and with the learned sagacity of a Trebouianus, reduce and digest all into one great jural system. But the best laws will be of no validity unless the tri- bunals be filled with judges of independent sentiment, vast law knowledge, and of an integrity beyond the pos- sibility of corruption. Even a Bacon should fall from his highest honors the moment he tastes the forbidden fruit. Such infamy and tremendous punishment should be con- nected with tribunal bribery, that a judge should be struck into the horror of an earthquake at the very thoughts of corruption. The legislatures have the insti- tution and revocation of law; and the judges in their decisions are to be sacredly governed by the laws of the THE FUTURE GLORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 425 land.^ Most of the states have judged it necessary, in order to keep the supreme law courts uninfluenced and uncorrupted tribunals, that the judges be honorably sup- ported, and be fixed in office quamcUu se bene gesserint. But I pass on to another subject, in which the welfare of a community is deeply concerned, — I mean the public revenues. National character and national faith depend on these. Every people, every large community, is able to furnish a revenue adequate to the exigencies of govern- ment. But this is a most difficult subject; and what the happiest method of raising it, is uncertain. One thing is certain, that however in most kingdoms and empires the people are taxed at the will of the prince, yet in America the people tax themselves, and therefore cannot tax them- selves beyond their abilities. But whether the power of taxing be in an absolute monarchy a power independent of the people, or in a body elected by the people, one great error has, I apprehend, entered into the system of revenue and finance in almost all nations, viz., restricting the collection to money. Two or three millions can more easily be raised in produce than one million in money. This, collected and deposited in stores and magazines, would, by bills drawn upon these stores, answer all the expenditures of war and peace. The little imperfect ex- periment lately made here should not discourage us. In one country it has been tried with success for ages, — I mean in China, the wisest empire the sun hath ever shined upon. And here, if I recollect aright, not a tenth of the imperial revenues hath been collected in money. In rice, wheat, and millet only, are collected forty million of sacks, — one hundred and twenty each, — equal to eighty million 1 In this connection read Mr. George Sumner's oration, Boston, July 4, 1859, pp. 10, 51-67.— Ed. 36* 426 DR. STILES'S ELECTION SERMON, 1783. bushels; in raw and wrought silk, one million pounds. The rest is taken in salt, wines, cotton, and other fruits of labor and industry, at a certain ratio per cent., and depos- ited in stores over all the enii3ire. The perishable com- modities are immediately sold, and the mandarins and army are paid by bills on these magazines. In no part of the world are the inhabitants less oppressed than there. England has eleven hundred millions property, — real, personal, and commercial, — and five million souls. Their ordinary revenue has for many years been ten or twelve millions ; and during this war the national expenditures have been annually twenty millions. A great part is raised by excise ; by the land tax not above a fifth or sixth, although the annual rental of England is really sixty mil- lions. The funded debt has arisen from one hundred and twenty-three millions, A. D. 1775, to two hundred and thirty millions, in 1783, and can nel'er be paid.^ It is un- paralleled in the annals of empires that six or seven mil- lions of i^eople ever discharged so heavy a burden. The Roman imperial debt was once — in the times of the Caesars — three hundred millions sterling, when the em- pire consisted of thirty million of people. One emperor at his accession wiped out twenty millions, and the Goths and Vandals settled the rest to the ruin of thousands. May God preserve these States from being so involved ! Tlie present war being over, the future increase of pop- ulation and property will in time enable us with conven- ience to discharge the heavy debt we have incurred in the defence of our rights and liberties. The United States have now two hundred and fifty millions of jiroperty, pretty equally shared by two or three million people. 1 The debt of Great Britain is £803,733, 9.')8. The population of the British Islands is 27,000,000, and of all territory under British rule, 215,000,000. — Ed. THE FUTURE GLORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 427 And our national debt * is not ten million sterling, — which is to the whole collectively as it would be for one man possessing an estate of two hundred and fifty pounds in land and stock to oblige himself to pay ten pounds. The interest only of the British national debt, upon six or seven million people, is above ten millions sterling annually ; — that is, greater than the whole national debt of the United States upon half that number. Our population will soon overspread the vast territory from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, which in two generations will become a prop- erty superior to that of Britain. Thus posterity may helj) to pay for the war^ which we have been obliged to fight out for them in our day. It will not, however, be wise to consign to posterity so heavy a debt, lest they should be tempted to learn, like other nations, the practice of public injustice and broken national faith. Another object of great attention in America will be commerce. In order to form some ideas respecting it in the United States, we may take a summary view of it while we were in connection with Britain, and thence a Forty-t-svo millions of dollars at the peace. 1 The iiracious Providence which ordained Washington, no less created Hamilton specially for the nation. His genius brought order out of chaos, and created our permanent financial system. "At the time when our government was organized, we were without funds, though not without resources. To call them into action, and establish order in the finances, "Washington sought for splendid talents, for extensive inform.ation, and, above all, he sought for sterling, incorruptible integrity. All these he found in Hamilton." — Gouverneur Morris. "He smote the rock of the national resources, and abundant streams of revenue gushed forth. He touched the dead corpse of the public credit, and it sprang upon its feet. The fabled birth of Minerva from the brain of Jove was hardly more sudden or more perfect than the financial system of the United States as it burst forth from the conception of Alexander Hamilton." — Daniel Webster. See the admirable sketch of Hamilton and his Works in Aili- bone's Dictionary of Authors, — Ed. 428 DR. STILES'S ELECTION SERMON, 1783. Exports to the Imports from the Continental colonies, 26| mil. ster. 131 mil. ster. West Indies, . . 14i " " 35^ " " Total, 41 " " 49"" judge what it may be after we shall have recovered from the shock of this war. The British merchants represented that they received some profit indeed from Virginia and South Carolina, as well as the West Indies ; but as for the rest of this conti- nent, they were constant losers in trade. Mr. Glover has candidly disclosed the truth ; and he and other writers enable us to form some ideas of the matter. It appears, from an undecennary account laid before Parliament in 1776, that the state of commerce between England only and English America, for the eleven years preceding hostil- ities, was thus : {mostly on acct. of the coutinental colonies. A commerce of twenty-six million exports, and only thir- teen million imports, is self-annihilated and. impossible. The returns from the West Indies comprehended a great part of the continental remittances. The American mer- chants, by a circuitous trade from this continent and from Africa, remitted to London and Britain, by way of the West Indies, in bills of exchange drawn on sugars, the balance of what they seem to fill short in direct remit- tances on the custom-house books. The whole American commerce monopolized by Great Britain must be considered collectively, and was to Eng- land only in the above account forty-one million exports, and forty-nine million imports. This, inclusive of the twelve per cent, charged, amounted to a real annual profit of thirty-two per cent, to the English merchants, in actual remittances of the year, besides a standing American debt, it is said, of six million, carrying interest. Well might THE FUTURE GLORY OF THE UmTED STATES. 429 the British merchants sustain a loss in American bankrupt- cies of a million a year — though probably at an average not five or ten thousand — in so lucrative a trade.^ An idea of the mercantile debt may be thus conceived. There is a district within the United States upon which the state of European trade ^ at the commencement of hostilities was thus; being chiefly carried on by foreign factorages — a mode of commerce which tlie British merchants intended to have been universal. In the course of a systematical trade had at length arisen a standing debt of a million sterling, among about a quarter of a million of people. To feed this the British merchants sent over one quarter of a million sterling annually ; for which, and collected debts, they received in actual remittance half a million sterling within the same year ; i. e., a quarter of a million returned half a million, and fed or kept up a debt of one million, l^aying to Britain an annual lawful interest ; the security of all which complicated system stood upon American mortgages. This is true mercantile secret history. If this specimen applied to all the States — and, God be thanked ! it does not — it would show not only the great- ness and momentous importance of our trade to Europe, but the necessity of legislative regulations in commerce, to invalidate future foreign mortgages, and yet support credit by the enforcement of punctual, speedy, and certain payments, whether with profit or loss. Without this no permanent commerce can be supported. I observed that the above specimen may assist us. It is not necessary for every purpose to come to great exactness in capital esti- mates. The total exterior commerce of Great Britain with all the world is about twelve millions annually ; of 1 See pp. 107, 127, note; 136. — Ed. 2 Boston and Newport were the great marts of foreign trade. — Ed. I 430 which five millions, or near half, was of American connec- tion, and four millions of this directly American, as Mr. Glover asserts ; and the real profit of the American trade was become to Britain equal to nearly half the benefit of her total exterior commerce to the whole world. The total of British exports to all the world, A. D. 1704, was only six millions and a half sterling. The American Brit- ish trade, in its connections, returns, and profits, nearly equalled this, A. D. 1774. We were better to Britain than all the world was to her seventy years before. Despised as our commerce was, it is evident that, had the union continued, our increasing millions would soon have made remittances for more than the fewer millions of Britain could have manufactured for exportation ; for the greater l^art of the manufiictures of every country must be for domestic consumption. A specimen of this we have in the woollen manufacture. England grows eleven million fleeces a year, worth two million sterling, manufactured into eight million ; of which six million is of domestic consumption, and two million only for exportation. When it is considered that a great part of this went to other countries, how weak must be the supposition that Britain clothed America ; while America, from the beginning, in their own domestic manufactures, furnished nine-tenths of their apparel. Our trade opens to all the world. We shall doubtless at first overtrade ourselves everywhere, and be in danger of incurring heavy mortgages, unless prevented.^ The nations will not at first know how far they may safely trade with us. But commerce will find out its own sys- 1 Child, Gee, ITuske, and Glover Avrote largely on American trade, and its value to England. Edmund Burke mastered its principles; and his speeches, especially that of 1775, contain much of the order observable in these pages of Dr. Stiles. — Ed. THE FUTURE GLORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 431 tcm, and regulate itself in time. It will be governed on the part of America by the cheapest foreign markets ; on the part of Europe, by our ability and punctuality of re- mittance. AYe can soon make a remittance of three or four million a year, in a circuitous trade, exclusive of the iniquitous African trade.-^ If Europe should indulge us beyond this, our fliilures and disappointments might lay the foundation of national animosities. Great wisdom is therefore necessary to regulate the commerce of America. The caution with which we are to be treated may occasion and originate a commercial system among the maritime nations on both sides of the Atlantic, founded in justice and reciprocity of interest, which will establish the benev- olence as well as the opulence of nations, and advance the progress of society to civil j^erfection. It is certainly for the benefit of every community that it be transfused with the efficacious motives of universal industry. This will take place if every one can enjoy the fruits of his labor and activity unmolested. All the variety of labor in a well-regulated state will be so ordered and encouraged as that all will be employed, in a just propor- tion, in agriculture, mechanic arts, commerce, and the lit- erary professions. It has been a question whether agri- culture or commerce needs most encouragement in these states. But the motives for both seem abundantly suf- ficient. Never did they operate more strongly than at pres- ent. The whole continent is [in] activity, and in the lively, vigorous exertion of industry. Several other things call for encouragement, as the planting of vineyards, and olive yards, and cotton-walks ; the raising of wool, planting 1 The pulpits of Dr. Stiles and Dr. Hopkins, at Newport, R. I., — then the headquarters of the African slave-trade, — afford models of apostolic fidel- ity in gospel preaching at " the sins of the times." They were Christian heroes. Sec Dr. Park's Memoir of Samuel Hopkins, D. D., 18-54. — Ed. 432 DR. STILES'S ELECTION SERMON, 1783. mulberry trees, and the culture of silk ; and, I add, estab- lishing manufoctories.^ This last is necessary, very neces- sary— far more necessary, indeed, than is thought by many deep politicians. Let us have all the means possible of subsistence and elegance among ourselves, if we would be a flourishing republic of real independent dignity and glory. Another thing tending to the public welfare is, removing causes of political animosities and civil dissension, promot- ing harmony, and strengthening the union among the several parts of this extended community.^ In the memo- rable helium sociale among the Romans, three hundred thousand of Roman blood fought seven hundred thousand brethren of the Italian blood. After a loss of sixty thou- sand, in disputing a trifling point of national honor, they pacificated the whole by an amnesty, and giving the city to the Italians.* ^A^e may find it a wise policy, a few years hence, under certain exceptions, to settle an amnesty and aTid. Velleius paterc. 1 Hildreth, iii. 466. The imports from Great Britain in 1784 and 1785 amounted in value to thirty millions of dollars, while the exports did not exceed nine millions. This ruinous competition was checked by the law of 1789, proposed by Hamilton, for the encouraj^ement of manufactures, to which the war of 1812 . THE FUTURE GLORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 453 ing millions from the hand of oppression, and in laying the foundation of a great empire." " The patriot army merits our commemoration, and so do the great characters in the patriotic Assemblies and Con- gress. Let America never forget what they owe to those first intrepid defenders of her rights, the Honorable Mr. Samuel Adams, and the Hon. James Otis, Esq. ; add to these the Hon. Dr. John Winthrop, Hon. James Bowdoin, Esq., who, with others, were the marked objects of minis- terial vengeance, who early stepped forth and heroically withstood tyranny, and alarmed their country with its danger, while venal sycophants w^ere lulling us to rest and hushing us into silence. His Excellency Mr. President Randolph merits our grateful commemoration, and so do the governors Rutledge, Ward, Livingston, Hoj)kins, Nash, Clinton, the Hon. Messrs. Wythe, Dyer, Sherman, Pen- dleton, Henry, Ellery, the Lees, President Huntington, Lynch, Witherspoon, Wolcott, Gov. Paca, Gov. Hall, Law, Marchant, President McKean, Ellsworth, Vandyke, Jeffer- son — Jefferson, who poured the soul of the continent into the monumental act of Independence. These, and other worthy personages of this and the other states, will be celebrated in history among the cardinal patriots of this revolution. All the ages of man will not obliterate the meritorious name of His Excellency Governor Hancock, as President of Congress at a most critical era, nor the meritorious names of that illustrious band of heroes and compatriots, those sensible and intrepid worthies w^ho, with him, resolutely and nobly dared, in the face of every danger, to sign the glorious act of Independence. May their names live, be preserved, and transmitted to posterity with deserved reputation and honor, through all American a General Wasliiugton's address to the army, in general orders, April 19, 1783, on the cessation of hostilities. 454 DR. STILES'S ELECTION SERMON, 1783. ages!^ Those great civilians and ambassadors, the illustri- ous Franklin, Adams, Jay, and Laurens, have approved themselves equal to the highest negotiations in the courts of nations, been faithful to their country's liberties, and, by their great and eminent services, have justly merited to have their names sent forward to immortality in history with renown and unsullied glory. Great and extensive will be the happy effects of this warfare, in which we have been called in Providence to fight out not the liberties of America only, but the liber- ties of the world itself The spirited and successful stand which we have made against tyranny will prove the salva- tion of England and Ireland, and, by teaching all sovereigns the danger of irritating and trifling with the affections and loyalty of their subjects, introduce clemency, moderation, and justice into public government at large through Europe. Already have we learned Ireland and other nations the road to liberty, the way to a redress of grievances, by tt John Hancock. New Hampshire. —Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton. Massachusetts Bay. — Samuel Adams, John Adams, Kobert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry. Rhode Island. — Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery. Connecticut. — Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott. New York. — William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris. New Jersey. — Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark. Pennsylvania. — Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross. Delaware. — Caesar Rodney, George Read. Maryland. — Samuel Chace, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll (of Ciirrollton). Virginia — George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightf'oot Lee, Carter Braxton. NoiiTH Carolina. — William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, Joiin I'eun. South Va kolina. — Edward Rutledge, Thomas Hey ward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton. Georgia. —Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton. THE FUTURE GLORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 455 open, systematical rneasnres, Committees of Correspond- ence,^ and military discipline of an armed people. Ireland has become gloriously independent of England.^ Nor will the spirit rest till Scotland becomes independent also. It would be happier for the three kingdoms to subsist with parliaments and national councils independent of one another, although confederated under one monarch. The union of 1707 has produced the loss and dismemberment of America.^ It is just possible that within this age some ill-fated counsellor of another connection might have arisen and j^rompted Majesty and Parliament to sanguinary meas- ures against America ; but it is more than probable that their enforcement would have been deferred, or procrasti- nated a century hence, or to a period when our accumu- lated population would have dictated wiser, milder meas- ures to the British court ; and so America, by a gentle, fraternal connection, would have remained cemented 4 to 1 See pp. 44, 191, 199. — Ed. 2 January 1, 1800, ended that independence, and was the date of the legislative union between England and Ireland. — Ed. 3 The intensity of Dr. Stiles's detestation of the two Scotchmen, Bute and Murray, — which led him to say that the " union" of Scotland and Eng- land in 1707 " has produced the loss and dismemberment of America," probably because, by that union, the Scotch statesmen, hated for their arbitrary principles, were eligible to the English councils, — affords an amusing parallel to Dr. Johnson's inveterate prejudice against the Scotch. In his dictionary the Doctor defines oats as " a grain Avhich in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people." Bute was believed to be, by his personal influence, the evil genius of George III. and of England, and was profoundly hated there as well as in America; and the jurist Murray — Lord Mansfield — upheld the worst measures against America. Yet both were exemplary in private life. See pp. 09, 70, 86, 102, 108, 301, 343.— Ed. * The pathos with which Dr. Stiles speaks of " the painful and distress- ing separation and dismemberment" from the mother country, and his vehement denunciation of the " demon" Bute, do not exaggerate the loyal temper of our fathers. They would have then been content with 456 DR. STILES'S ELECTION SERMON, 17&3, Britain for distant ages. But a Rehoboam counsellor stepped in, et actum est de repuhlica — the Ten Tribes are lost.^ Had it not been for the insidious and hauglity counsels of a Bute and a Mansfield, imbued with principles incompatible with liberty, with the unwieldy faction of their despotic connections in the empire, America and Ireland had remained united with Britain to this day. Chagrined and mortified by the defeat and dishonor brought upon them by Butean counsels and dominion, as well as with their own curtailed and unequal w^eight in Parliament, Scotland, emulous of the glory of Ireland, half the rights which the present British American Provinces enjoy. But the blindness of Governor Hutchinson to the character of his countrymen, and the consequent false impressions he gave to the British cabinet, the miserable weakness of Gage and Howe at Boston, and the madness of the king in forcing the colonies to union, show the providential government of God, and that his time for this great epoch in the history of human, society was now come. — Ed. 1 To the second edition, 1785, the author here made this prophetic note: " And very soon will Bengal and the East Indies be lost and delivered from the cruelty and injustice of British government there. This will speedily be the fruit of Great Britain's departing from the commercial to the governmental idea concerning the East. The conflagrating and plun- dering qualities of a Clive, and the absurd haughtiness of the subsequent dominion, will at length rouse the spirit of those populous parts of the oriental empires, having learned the use of artillery and the European modes of war, to make one vigorous exertion and shake off this foreign yoke. It is not within the compass of human probability — it is absurd and absolutely impossible — that fifteen millions of people should long continue subjugated to the government of five or six million at the dis- tance of half the circumference of the globe. This event may be acceler- ated by the necessary tripartite division of the navy in the oriental and Atlantic oceans. The union of European nations cannot fail of taking advantage of the future comparative weakness of British strength arisuig from this division. Too soon, alas! may Britain, with both wings loi)pcd off, the East Indies and America, exhibit the spectacle among nations described by the Franklinean emblem of Magna Britannia with her colo- nies reduced. One cannot refrain from tears at contemplating the fate of nations, the rise and fall of empires." — Ed. THE FUTURE GLORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 457 will wish for and obtain a dissolution of the union, and resume a separate sovereignty. It must be the lenity, the wisdom, the gentle and pacific measures of an Augustan age that can conserve the remnant of the British empire from this tripartite division. Kor will the British isles alone be relieved into liberty, but more extensive still will be the peaceable fruits of our righteous conflict. The question of the mare liherum and the mare clausum, heretofore discussed by the ablest civilians of the last century, will no more require the learned labors of a Milton, a Selden, a Grotius. This war has decided, not by ihejits maritimum of Rhodes, Oleron, or Britain, but on the principles of commercial utility and public right, that the navigation of the Atlantic Ocean shall be free ; and so probably will be that of all the oceans of the terraqueous globe. All the European pow- ers will henceforth, from national and commercial interests, naturally become a united and combined guaranty for the free navigation of the Atlantic and free commerce with America. Interest will establish a free access of all na- tions to our shores, and for us to all nations. The armed neutrality^ will disarm even war itself of hostilities against 1 The authorship of this confederacy, which destroyed Britain's long- established sovereignty of the ocean, and greatly contributed to the ulti- mate independence of the United States of America, is attributed to several persons. 1. Mr. William Lee, of Virginia, a merchant in London, and some time agent of Congress at Vienna and Berlin during the war of the Revolution, wrote, December 10, 1780, to Governor Lee, of Maryland : " I feel no little pleasure in communicating to you the completion, so far, of this confederacy, as the first traces were laid by myself two years ago; and if Congress had now in Europe ministers properly authorized to negotiate with the powers it would not be difficult to obtain a general acknowledg- ment from them of the independence of America, which was my ultimate object informing the outlines of this scheme! " — Sec letter in National Intelli- gencer, August 23, 1859. 2. Mr. John Adams — diary, December 21, 1782 — heard the King of Sweden named as " the first inventor and suggester 39 458 DR. STILES'S ELECTION SERMON, 1783. trade — will form a new chapter in the laws of nations, and preserve a free commerce among powers at war. Fighting armies will decide the fate of empires by the sword, without inteiTupting the civil, social, and commer- cial intercourse of subjects. The want of anything to take will prove a natural abolition of privateering, when the property shall be covered with neutral protection. Even the navies will, within a century, become useless. A gen- erous and truly liberal system of national connection, in the spirit of the plan conceived and nearly executed by the great Henry IV. of France,* will almost annihilate war itself. We shall have a communication with all nations in ■ Sully's Memoirs.l of the plan." 3. On the evidence of " documents in mv possession," says Mr. George Sumner, in his oration, Boston, July 4th, 1859, " I here render the honor" of the real authorship of the armed neutrality to Florida Banca, the minister of Spain. The official documents are in Anderson's Commerce, vi. 302-375, 400, edit. 1790. The universal terror from British privateers was the proximate cause of the league, and England's distress the opportunity. — Ed, 1 Bohn's ed. of Sully, 1850, ii. p. 235; iv.. Book xxx. This political scheme for a general council of the Christian powers of Europe was formed by Elizabeth of England and Henry IV. of France. The Edict of Nantes was intended as a part of the grand design. A senate, of about Bixty-six commissioners, or plenipotentiaries, to be rechosen ever>' three years, from all the governrnents of the Christian republic, was to be in pennanent session, " to deliberate on any affairs which might occur, to discuss the different interests, pacify the quarrels, clear up and determine all the civil, political, and religious affairs of Europe, whether within itself or with its neighbors." The scheme bore a strong reseml)lance to the American " confederation," and was formed in part on the model of the ancient Amphictyons of Greece, an institution referred to by the framers of our own government. See the " Federalist." The total exemption of private property from capture on the high seas, as recently proposed by the United States government to European powers, would go far to realize the splendid prediction of the text, and, indeed, render " the navies useless," except for the noble missions of humanity, of science, and of national courtesies. — Ed. THE FUTURE GLORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 45*.) commerce, manners, and science, beyond anytliinij^ hereto- fore known in the world. Manufacturers and artisans, and men of every description, may perhaps come and settle among us. They will be few indeed in comparison with the annual thousands of our natural increase, and will be incorporated with the prevailing hereditary complexion of the first settlers; — we shall not be assimilated to them, but they to us, especially in the second and third genera- tions.^ This fermentation and communion of nations will doubtless produce something very new, singular, and glo- rious. Upon the conquest of Alexander the Great, statu- ary, painting, architecture, philosophy, and the fine arts were transplanted in pei'fection from Athens to Tarsus, from Greece to Syria, where they immediately flourished in even greater perfection than in the parent state. Not in Greece herself are there to be found specimens of a sublimer or more magnificent architecture, even in the 1 Dr. Cotton Mather says that in 1696, in all New England, there were one hundred thousand souls. Dr. Franklin thought that, of the one million English souls in North America in 1751, not eighty thousand " had been brought over sea." Dr. Stiles, in 17G0, estimated the inhabi- tants of New England at half a million ; and Mr. Savage, in the Preface of his Genealogical Dictionary, supposes that ninetccn-twcntieths of the people of the New England colonics in 1775 were descendants of those here in 1692, and that probably seven-eighths of them were offspring of the first settlers, and originating from England proper. He adds: "A more homogeneous stock cannot be seen, I think, in any so extensive region, at any time since that when the Ark of Noah discharged its pas- sengers on Mount Ararat, except in the few centuries elapsing before the confusion of Babel." In an elaborate paper read before the American Statistical Association, in March, 1&')9, by the President, Edward Jarvis, M. D., it appears, as the result of long and minute calculation, based upon the best avaihible data, that the total persons of New England origin living in the United States, in 1850, including the natives and those born abroad since 1790, was 4,021,192, and that nearly or quite one-third of the native white population have New England blood in their veins. This confinns Mr. Bancroft's estimate. — Ed. 460 DR. STILES'S ELECTION SERMON, 1783. Grecian style, than in the ruins of Baalbec and Pa]m}Ta. So all the arts may be transplanted from Europe and Asia, and flourish in America with an augmented lustre, not to mention the augment of the sciences from American in- ventions and discoveries, of which there have been as capital ones here,^ the last half century, as in all Europe.^ a American Inventio>'8. — 1730, Reflecting Quadrant [commonly called Hadley's], by Mr. Thos. Godfry, at Thiladelphia; 1731, Mercurial Inoculation, by Dr. Muirson; 1750, Electrical Pointed Rods, by Dr. Franklin; [1755, Terres- trial Comets, by President Clap;] 1762, Sand-Iron, by Dr. Jared Elliot; 1769, Quantity of Matter in Comets, by Professor Winthrop ; [1776, Submarine Navi- gation by tbe power of the Screw, by Mr. Bushnel.] l 1 The parts within [ ] were added in the second edition, 1785. — Ed. 2 " Credat qui vult ! " exclaimed a listener, when, with his masterly survey of the elements of empire and their potential future, the wise man in the pulpit opened his grand and comprehensive vision of " The United States elevated to Glory and Honor," and of the national mission of good- will to men; yet some, even of that generation, live to contrast the epoch of the nation's beginning — its three millions of inhabitants, scattered along the Atlantic border — with our present recognized position as " the greatest maritime nation on the face of the earth." The country was for many years embarrassed with the war debt, less in amount than our present annual national expenditure. Populous inland states, cities, and commerce, before whose statistics the national figures of 17^ dwindle to fractions, now press fast towards the Pacific, through whose " golden gate" floats a commerce exceeding the grand total when Washington became President, and whose senators are in the capitol. " Westward the course of empire takes its way." Indeed, there were then living, sons of America, Fitch, in manhood, and Fulton, in youth, the inventors of steam navigation, whose genius was to span oceans, and unite continents as with a bridge, and make highways of rivers; and now Ericsson has revolutionized the marine of the world. Whitney, then a youth, was to create, by his cotton-gin, the chief staple of southci-n agriculture, and the principal even of England's manufactures; Bowditch, then in boyhood, was to rank with the great mathematicians and astronomers. The elder Edwards, the intellectual chief of his age, Avho "ranks with the brightest luminaries of the Christian church, not excluding any country or any age since the apostolic," and " as much the boast of America as liis great countryman, Franklin; " Webster, the great lexicog- THE FUTURE GLORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 461 The rough, sonorous diction of the English language may here take its Athenian polish, and receive its attic urbanity, as it will probably become the vernacular tongue of more numerous millions than ever yet spake one lan- guage on earth. It may continue for ages to be the pre- vailing and general language of North America.^ The rapher, who has no rival but Worcester, another of New England's sons ; Irving, then in arms, preeminent in modern literature; and, in later times, Allibone, of equal rank in critical bibliography; Prescott, Sparks, Bancroft, Hildreth, Motley, in history; Bryant, Whittier, and Longfellow, in poetry; Copley, West, Stuart, Trumbull, AUston, Cole, Church, and Hosmer, among the masters in modern art; Maun and Barnard, in education; Lyndhurst, twice Lord Chancellor of England, Marshall, Jay, Parsons, Story, and Kent, in jui-ispnidence; Morse and Jackson, whose electric wire, "beat- ing with the pulse of humanity," unites cities, kingdoms, and continents, annihilating time and space; Jackson, Wells, Morton, whose splendid discovery of anaesthetics is recognized by the world as one of the greatest boons given by any age to suffering humanity; Agassiz, the chief natu- ralist of the age, abiding with us; Draper, the accomplished delegate of American science at the British Association at Oxford; and Jarvis, the eminent statistician, representing his country with distinguished honor in the International Statistical Congress at London in 18G0; — these, and many others, have already placed the United States in the front rank in science, letters, and art. — Ed. 1 The reader will be glad to compare the profound views presented by Dr. Stiles with the observations of a late able writer, who thinks that " the physical character of our own ten-itory is such as to encourage tho hope that our speech, which, if not absolutely homogeneous, is now em- ployed by twenty -five millions of men in one unbroken mass, Avith a uni- formity of which there is perhaps no other example, will escape that division which has shattered some languages of the Old World into frag- ments, like those of the confusion of Babel. The geogr-aphy of the United States presents few localities suited to human habitation that are at the same time inaccessible to modern improved modes of communication. The carriage7road, the railway, the telegraph, the mails, the newspaper, penetrate to every secluded nook, address themselves to every free in- habitant, and speak everywhere one and the same dialect. Why or how external physical causes, as climate and modes of life, should affect pronunciation, we cannot say; but it is evident that material influences of some sort are producing a change on our bodily constitution, and 39* 462 DR. STILES'S ELECTION SERMON, 1783. intercommunion of the Fnited States with all the world in travels, trade, and politics, and the infusion of letters into our infancy, will probably preserve us from the pro- vincial dialects, risen into inexterminable habit before the invention of printing. The Greek never became the lan- guage of the Alexandrian, nor the Turkish of the Otto- man conquests, nor yet the Latin of the Roman Em- pire. The Saracenic conquests have already lost the pure and elegant Arabic of the Koreish tribe, or the family of Ishmael, in the corrupted dialects of Egypt, Syria, Persia, and Indostan. Different from these, the English language will grow up with the present American population into great purity and elegance, unmutilated by the foreign dia- lects of foreign conquests. And in this connection I may observe with pleasure how God, in his providence, has ordered that, at the Reformation, the English translation of the Bible should be made with very great accuracy — with greater accuracy, it is presumed, than any other translation. This is said, allowing that some texts admit of correction. I have compared it throughout with the originals, Hebrew, Greek, and Syriac, and beg leave to judge and testify it to be a very excellent translation.^ we are just acquiring a distinct national character. That the delicate organs of articulation should participate in such tendencies is alto- gether natural; and the operation of the causes which gave rise to them is palpable even in our handwriting, which, if not uniform with itself, is generally, nevertheless, so much unlike common English script as to be readily distinguished from it." — Geo. P. Marsh, Lecture xxx.. The English Language in America. — Ed. 1 The following decided language from one of our most distinguished scholars and philologists embodies, it may be presumed, the opinion of the great body of competent Greek and Hebrew scholars, and would probably be affirmed by the American and British Bible Societies as the result of their observation. The revision of 1611 is, and seems likely to remain, in its strength and beauty, the standard. " I do not hesitate," says Mr. Marsh, " to avow my conviction, that if any body of scholars of THE FUTURE GLORY OP THE UNITED STATES. 468 Kor do I believe a better is ever to be expected in this imperfect state. It sustained a revision of numerous translators, from Tyndal to the last review by the bishops and other learned divines in the time of James I., one hundred and eighty years ago, and has never been altered since.^ It may have been designed by Providence for the future perusal of more millions of the human race than ever were able to read one book, and for their use to the millennial ages. This great American Revolution, this recent political phenomenon of a new sovereignty arising among the sovereign powers of the earth, will be attended to and contemplated by all nations. Navigation will carry the American flag around the globe itself, and display the thirteen stripes and new constellation at Bengal and Can- ton,^ on the Indus and Ganges, on the Whang-ho and the a Vid. Lewis's Hist. Transl. Bib. competent Greek and Hebrew learning were now (1860) to undertake, not a revision of the existing version, but a new translation, founded on the principle of employing the correct phraseology of the day, it would be found much less intelligible to the mass of English-speaking people than the standard version at this moment is ; " and that to " hope of finding within the compass of the English language a clearer, a more appropri- ate, or a more forcible diction than that of the standard version, is to be- tray an ignorance of the capabilities of our native speech with which it would be in vain to reason ; " and " that as there is no present necessity for a revision, so is there no possibility of executing a revision in any way that would be, or ought to be, satisfactory to even one Protestant sect, still less to the whole body of English-speaking Protestants." — Lec- tures on the English Language, Lecture xxviii., by Geo. P. Marsh. — Ed. 1 To the second edition, 1785, the author added this note : " Since the first edition, in 1783, this voyage has been happily performed, for the first time, in about fourteen months, by the Empress of China, a ship of three hundred and sixty tons, John Green, Esq., of Boston, commander. She sailed from New York Feb. 22, 1784, arrived at Canton, in China, Aug. 30, departed thence Dec. 27, on her return, and aiTived safe at New York, May 11, 178.3, with the loss of but one man in the whole voyage. And Aug. 9, 464 DR. STILES'S ELECTION SERMON, 1783. Yang-tse-kiang, and with commerce will import the wis- dom and literature of the East. That prophecy of Daniel is now literally fulfilling — n^-nn n^^p^ d^a^ rj-ji::^ — there shall be a universal travelling to and fro, and knowl- edge shall be increased. This knowledge will be brought home and treasured up in America, and, being here di- gested and carried to the highest perfection, may reblaze back from America to Europe, Asia, and Africa, and illu- mine the world with truth and liberty. That great civilian Dr. John Adams, the learned and illustrious American ambassador, observes thus:"" "But the great designs of Providence must be accomplished ; — great indeed ! The progress of society will be accelerated by centuries by this Revolution. The Emperor of Ger- many is adopting, as fast as he can, American ideas of toleration and religious liberty; and it will become the fashionable system of Europe very soon.^ Light spreads a Lett. Dec. 18, 1781. 1785, the ship. Pallas, Capt. John O'Donnel, arrived at Baltimore from China. She left Macao, in Canton, the 20th of January preceding. This was the second East India ship from China to America. The same month of Aug., 1785, a Swedish ship arrived also at Baltimore from Calcutta, in the East Indies. This is the third East India ship which arrived in Amer- ica in the year 1785." — Ed. 1 Maria Theresa of Austria thought the cause of George III., against the colonies, to be " the cause of all sovereigns," and had " a high esteem for his Majesty's principles of government." She died November 29, 1780, and was succeeded by her son, Joseph II., then in his fortieth year. He used his despotic power with a wisdom and singularity that startled Eu- rope. He ordered a new translation of the Bible to be made in the Ger- man tongue, established a free press, the equality of all Christian denom- inations, abolished the priestly censorship of books, which had been so rigorous " that on subjects of religion, morality, and government, a valu- able and a prohibited publication were almost synonymous terms," founded public libraries, established educational institutions, abolished feudal slavery, and labored to educate and elevate his people. So precip- itate and radical were his innovations, so fatal were they to superstition THE FUTURE GLORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 465 from the day-spring in the west ; and may it shine more and more until the perfect day." So spreading may be the spirit for the restoration and recovery of long-lost national rights, that even the Cortes of Spain may reexist, and mental and moral darkness, that Pius VI., old and feeble, made a winter journey, in February, 1782, to Vienna, to remonstrate against them, but in vain. At the accession of Joseph 11. the United States government was seeking European alliances. Their history and principles became familiar to the statesmen and leading minds of Europe. Our minister, John Adams, published at Leydcn, in April, 1781, his eloquent " Memo- rial " of their claim to respect and consideration, and in February, 1782, he wi-ote to his government that it had been translated and " inserted in almost every gazette in Europe;" that the King of Sweden had quoted its " very words" in his public answer and reproach to George III. ; that Joseph 11. had desired an interview with its author, and, " what is more remarkable, has adopted the sentiment of it concerning religious liberty into a code of laws for his dominions, — the greatest effort in favor of humanity, next to the American Revolution, which has been produced in the eighteenth century." The Revolution raised Ireland to the position of a kingdom, and the contagion of its republican principles was felt throughout Europe. The French nobles, Lafayette, Rochambeau, D'Estaing, Lausun, and others, conveyed to their own country the popular sympathies and principles for which they had fought in America, and thus gave an impulse to the Rev- olution in France. Historians and philosophers regard the American Revolution as the great epoch in the modern history of human society — of the world ; as " commencing a new series of human history, a new system of political relations, which must involve in its combinations all the countries of the earth." Washington stands out to the world as the grandest object of contem- plation, the Father of the Republic to which is confided the great problem of popular government, of the broadest Christian freedom, and towards which the genius of liberty ever looks with hope, yet with solicitude ; for whose prosperity the nations pray, as for one whose calamity will be the despair of humanity, and the triumph only of him who would destroy the image of God in man. How exalted the trust, how momentous the con- duct of the American citizen! — Coxe's "House of Austria," Bohn's ed., chap, cxxiv. ; "Life and "Works of John Adams," 1852, vii,, 404, 525, 527; Miller's PhUosophy of History, ed. 1854, 145-147, 178, 181, 185, 186. — Ed. 466 DR. STILES'S ELECTION SERMON, 1783 and resume their ancient splendor, authority, and control of royalty.* The same principles of wisdom and enlight- ened politics may establish rectitude in public government throughout the world. The most ample religious liberty will also probably obtain among all nations. Benevolence and religious lenity are increasing among the nations. The reformed in France, who were formerly oppressed with heavy per- secution, at present enjoy a good degree of religious lib- erty, though by silent indulgence only. A reestablishment of the Edict of Nantes would honor the Grand Monarch by doing public justice to a large body of his best and most loyal subjects. The Emperor of Germany last year published an imperial decree granting liberty for the free and unmolested exercise of the Protestant religion within the Austrian territories and dominions.*' The Inquisition a So jealous were the Cortes of their liberties, that the states of Arragon in particular, after sundry previous stipulations, exacted a coronation oath of the king, which was pronounced by the Justitia Arragonensis (who represented the person of the supreme power in the state), a power which they asserted to be superior to kings, in these words: Xos qui valemos tanto comme vos, y podenws mas que vos, vos elegimos Rey : con estas y estas conditioiies, intra vos y nos, un que manda mas que vos. " We who are as powerful as you, and have more au- thority than you, elect you king; with the stipulated conditions, between you and us there is one (viz., the judiciary) higher in command than you." See a learned tract, De jure magistratuum in subdito et oificio subditorum erga magis- tratus: printed at Lyons, 1576, full of jural and political erudition, and, for that age, full of liberty. b The order of Jesuits, suppressed in rapid succession by the European princes, 1765, was finally abolished, 1773, by the sensible and sagacious Ganganelli, who bid fairer to reunite the Protestants, had it been possible, than any pontiff since the secession from Leo X. Nor can the order be revived, nor the suppression of religious houses in Spain and Austria, nor Austrian liberty, be prevented by the bigoted, austere Braschi, the present reigning pontiff.l 1 July 21-23, 1773, Ganganelli, Clement XIV., "established by the Di- vine Providence, over kingdoms and nations, in order to pluck up, destroy, disperse, dissipate, plant, or nourish, as may best conduce to the rij^ht cultivation of the" papal hierarchy, in his hull of that date, said: "After a mature deliberation, we do, out of our c^tain knowledge, and the ful- ness of our apostolical power, suppress and aholish. the said comT^a,Tiy, . . . THE FUTURE GLORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 467 has been, in effect, this year suppressed in Spain, where the king, by an edict of 3d of November, 1782, proclaimed liberty for inhabitants of all religions ; and, by a happily conceived plan for literary reformation, the aurora of sci- ence will speedily blaze into meridian splendor in that kingdom. An emulation for liberty and science is enkin- dled among the nations, and will doubtless produce some- thing very liberal and glorious in this age of science, this period of the empire of reason.^ The United States will embosom all the religious sects or denominations in Christendom. Here they may all enjoy their whole respective systems of worship and church government complete. Of these, next to the Presbyteri- ans, the Church of England will hold a distinguished and principal figure. They will soon furnish themselves with a bishop in Virginia and Maryland, and perhaps another 80 that the name of the company shall be, and is, forever extinguished and suppressed. . . . These our letters shall be forevei- and to all eter- nity valid, permanent, and efficacious, . . . observed by all and every whom they do or may concern, now or hereafter, in any manner what- ever." The reason given was that the Jesuits were an intolerable political and moral curse. They had six hundred and sixty-nine colleges, one hun- dred and ninety-six seminaries, two hundred and twenty-three missions, twenty-two thousand seven hundred and eighty-two members, scattered over the world. August 17, 1814, another infallible Pope, Pius VII., abro- gated the brief of his infallible predecessor, and reestablished the order for political purposes ; and it now infests our own country. The " fathers," leagued with the Pope's " venerable brothers, the archbishops, bishops," priests, etc., and "liberal Protestants" ! aid and comfort these priestly enemies to civil and religious liberty by money, pupils, and approbation. The policy of the Papal church is to keep the people in perpetual infancy, the sole basis of its own existence, and of despotism, its natural result and ally. See p. 416. — Ed. 1 1n the second edition, 1785, the author appends this note : " Justly may we anticipate great alterations in society, and very beneficent improve- ments in the state of mankind, ' from the progressive refinement of man- ners, the growing liberality of sentiment, and, above all, the pure and BENIGN LIGHT OF REVELATION.' — General Washington."— Ed. 468 DR. STILES'S ELECTION SERMON, 1783. to the northward, to ordain their clergy, give confirmation, superintend and govern their churches, — the main body of which will be in Virginia and Maryland, — besides a dia- spora or interspersion in all the other states. The JJnitas Fratrum for above thirty years past have had Moravian bishops in America ; and I think they have three at pres- ent, though not of local or diocesan jurisdiction, their pastorate being the whole unity throughout the world. In this there ever was a distinction between the Bohemian episcopacy and that of the eastern and western churches ; for, in a body of two thousand ancient Bohemian churches, they seldom had above two or three bishops. The Bap- tists, the Friends, the Lutherans, the Romanists, are all considerable bodies in all their dispersions through the states. The Dutch and Gallic and German Reformed or Calvinistic churches among us I consider as Presbyterian, differing from us in nothing of moment save in language. There is a considerable body of these in the states of New York, Jersey, Pennsylvania, and at Ebenezer, in Georgia. There is a Greek Church, brought from Smyrna ; but I think it falls below these states. There are Westleians, Mennonists, and others, all which make a very inconsider- able amount in comparison with those who will give the religious complexion to America, which for the southern parts will be Episcopal, the nortliern, Presbyterian. All religious denominations will be independent of one an- other, as much as the Greek and Armenian patriarchates in the East ; and having, on account of religion, no supe- riority as to secular powers and civil immunities, they will cohabit together in harmony, and, I hope, with a most generous Catholicism and benevolence.^ The example of 1 Of the seven or cig^ht denominations named bj'Dr. Stiles, some hardly survive, while others, as the Methodist and Baptist, have become numerous. Twenty-one religious denominations are enumerated in the census of the THE FUTURE GLORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 469 a friendly cohabitation of all sects in America, proving that men may be good members of civil society and yet differ in religion, — this precedent, I say, which has already been intently studied and contemplated for fifteen years past by France, Holland, and Germany, may have already had an effect in introducing moderation, lenity, and justice among European states. And who can tell how extensive a blessing this American Joseph may become to the whole human race, although once despised by his brethren, exiled, and sold into Egypt? How applica1)le that in Genesis xlix. 22, 26: "Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well ; whose branches run over the wall. The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him. But his bow abode in strength ; the arms of his hands were made strong by the arms of the mighty God of Jacob. The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors, unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hill ; they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separated from his brethren." Little would civilians have thought ages ago that the world should ever look to America for models of govern- United States for 1850, of which, counting the Methodist, Baptist, Pres- byterian, Congregational, and Dutch Reformed, who are named in the order of their numerical ratio, as of the Congregational type, there were 29,607 churches; and of all others, including Episcopal, Roman Catholic, Christian, and Friends, 8045 churches, — an aggregate of 37,652 churches, — showing the ratio of the former to the whole as about 4 to 5. The total of church accommodations was 14,270,139, of which 10,664,656 were of the Congregational type as above, and 3,605,483 of the others, — showing the ratio of the former to the whole as about 3 to 4, or 74.6 per cent, of the whole. The Methodists had 13,338 churches; Baptists, 9360; Congre- gationalists, 1706; Episcopalians, 1461 ; Roman Catholics, 1227 ; Lutherans, 1221. They are unequally distributed over the Union, and the relation of denominational to moral, educational, and social statistics offers a most inviting and instructive inquiry. — Ed. 40 470 DR. STILES'S ELECTION SERMON, 1783 ment and polity ; little did they think of finding this most perfect polity among the poor outcasts, the contemptible people of New England, and particularly in the long de- spised civil polity of Connecticut,^ — a polity conceived by the sagacity and wisdom of a "Winthrop, a Ludlow, Haynes, Hopkins, Hooker, and the other first settlers of Hartford, in 1636. And while Europe and Asia may hereafter learn that the most liberal principles of law and civil polity are to be found on this side the Atlantic, they may also find the true religion here depurated from the rust and corruption of ages, and learn from us to re- form and restore the church to its primitive purity. It will be long before the ecclesiastical pride of the splendid European hierarchies can submit to learn wisdom from those whom they have been inured to look upon with sovereign contempt. But candid and liberal disquisition will, sooner or later, have a great efiect. Removed from the embarrassments of corrupt systems, and the dignities and blinding opulence connected with them, the unfet- tered mind can think with a noble enlargement, and, with an unbounded freedom, go wherever the light of truth directs. Here will be no bloody tribunals, no cardinal's inquisitors-general, to bend the human mind, forcibly to control the understanding, and put out the light of reason, the candle of the Lord, in man, — to force an innocent Galileo to renounce truths demonstrable as the light of day. Religion may here receive its last, most liberal, and impartial examination. Religious liberty is peculiarly 1 "In a 'Conspectus of a Perfect Polity/ the author has given the out- lines of the constitution of a commonwealth, agreeing, in its great princi- ples, with those of the constitution of the United States and of the indi- vidual states. But he maintained that a Christian state ought expressly to acknowledge and embosom in its civil constitution the public avowal of the 'being of a God,' and 'the avowal of Christianity.'" — Kingsley's Life of Stiles. — Ed. THE FUTURE GLORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 471 friendly to fair and generous disquisition. Here Deism will have its full chance ; nor need libertines more to complain of being overcome by any weapons but the gen- tle, the powerful ones of argument and truth. Revelation will be found to stand the test to the ten thousandth examination. There are three coetaneous events to take place, whose futurition is certain from prophecy, — the annihilation of the pontificate,^ the reassembling of the Jews, and the ful- ness of the Gentiles. That liberal and candid disquisition of Christianity which will most assuredly take place in America, will prepare Europe for the first event, with which the other will be connected, when, especially on the return of the Twelve Tribes to the Holy Land, there will burst forth a degree of evidence hitherto unper- ceived, and of efficacy to convert a world. More than three quarters of mankind yet remain heathen. Heaven put a stop to the propagation of Christianity when the church became corrupted with the adoration of numerous deities and images, because this would have been only exchanging an old for a new idolatry. Nor is Christen- dom now larger than it was nine centuries ago. The promising prospects of the Propaganda fide at Rome^ are come to nothing; and it may be of the divine destiny that all other attempts for gospelizing- the nations of the earth shall prove fruitless, until the present Christendom itself be recovered to the primitive purity and simplicity ; at which time, instead of the Babel confusion of contra- 1 By the conquest of Canada in 1759-60, God then and there ordained that America should be a free, and, to this end, a Protestant, nation. It would be a notable, a practical celebration of this era of American liberty if the final conflict of the same great principles should distinguish the years 1859-60 in the Old World's progress. Centuries mark the onward life of nations. — Ed. 2 See p. 466, notes b and 1. — Ed. 472 DR. STILES'S ELECTION SERMON, 1783. dieting missionaries, all will harmoniously concur in speak- ing one language, one holy faith, one apostolic religion, to an uncontroverted world. At this period, and in effect- ing this great event, we have reason to think that the United States may be of no small influence and consid- eration. It was of the Lord to send Joseph into Egypt, to save much people, and to show forth his praise. It is of the Lord that " a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet," and upon "her head a crown of twelve stars," ^ should " flee into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God," ^ and where she might be the repository of wisdom, and "keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus." It may have been of the Lord that Christianity is to be found in such greater purity in this church exiled into the wildernesses of America, and that its purest body should be evidently advancing forward, by an augmented natural increase and spiritual edification, into a singular superiority, with the ultimate subserviency to the glory of God in converting the world. When we look forward and see this country increased to forty or fifty millions,^ while we see all the religious sects increased into respectable bodies, we shall doubtless find the united body of the Congregational, consociated, and Presbyterian .churches making an equal figure with any two of them ; or, to say the least, to be of such mag- nitude as to number that it will be to no purpose for other sects to meditate their eversion. This, indeed, is enterprised, but it will end in a Sisyphean labor. There is the greatest prospect that we shall become thirty out of forty millions.^ And while the avenues to civil improve- a Not to say Thirteen. b Rev. xii. 1. 1 See p. 440, note 1. — Ed. 2 gee p, 4G8, note 1. — Ed. THE FUTURE GLORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 473 ment and public honors will here be equally open to all sects, so it will be no dishonor hereafter to be a Presbyte- rian, or of the religious denomination which will probably ever make the most distinguished figure in this great re- public. And hereafter, when the world shall behold us a respectable part of Christendom, they may be induced by curiosity with calmness and candor to examine whether something of Christianity may not really be found among us. And while we have to lament our Laodiceanism, de- ficient morals, and incidental errors, yet the collective sys- tem of evangelical doctrines, the instituted ordinances, and the true ecclesiastical polity, may be found here in a great degree of purity. Europeans, and some among us, have habituated themselves to a most contemptible idea of the New England churches — conceiving us to be only a coUuvies of error, fanaticism, irregularity, and confusion.* a Peters's History of Connecticut.! 1 This celebrated work, by the famous Rev. S. A. Peters, LL.D., contains curious observations on the wonders of nature, art, and " fanaticism," in New England, the truth of which could be established only by the au- thor's high reputation for veracity and godly simplicity. He describes a "chasm" in the Connecticut River, where "water is consolidated, with- out frost, by pressure, by swiftness, between the pinching, sturdy rocks, to such a degree of induration that no iron crow can be forced into it ; . . . steady as time, and harder than marble, the stream passes irresistible, if not s-\vift as lightning; one of the greatest phenomenons in nature. . . No living creatui'e was ever known to pass through this narrow, except an Indian woman How feeble is man, and how great that Almighty who formed the .... irresistible power and strength of waters!" In Windham the frogs "filled a road forty yards wide, for four miles in length, and were for several hours passing through the town, unusually clamorous The «vent was fatal to several women. ... I verily be- lieve," Mr. Peters says, " an army under the Duke of Marlborough would, under like circumstances, have acted no better than they did." He is hopeless, " for the Church of England has lost_ the opportunity of civiliz- ing, christianizing, and moderating the burning zeal of the dissenters in New England, who were honest in their religion, merely by the sinful 40* 474 DR. STILES'S ELECTION SERMON, 1783 They have taken this idea in part from our brethren in Britain, who have viewed us very much also in the same light to this day. This, on the contrary, is the truth, that, allowing for offences unavoidable, for imperfections and controversies incident to the churches in their most regular state, our churches are as completely reformed, and as well modelled according to the Scripture plan, as can be expected till the millennium. Particularly these essential things may be found among them upon examina- tion : that the churches, or particular congregations, are regularly formed, and duly uphold public worship every Lord's day, and this ordinarily in a very decent, solemn manner; that the preaching of the word, baptism, and the Lord's supper, are regularly and duly administered by the pastors; that the pastors are orderly, and regularly set apart to the ministry by the laying on of the hands of the presbytery, or of those who have regularly derived office power, in lineal succession, from the apostles and omission of not sending a bishop to that country, who would have ef- fected greater things among them than an army of fifty thousand men." But the now mild and desponding Peters was, in 1774, a terrible son of Mars, a bloody-minded leader of the " Church of England " militant, re- joicing in the prospect of " hanging work " among the uncivilized "dis- senters." See his letter on page 195 of this volume. In the second edition of his " History," " printed for the author," London, 1782, Mr. Peters confidingly says : " Whatever other historical requisite it may want, it must, I think, be allowed to possess originality and truth." Its claim to originality has never been questioned, and the work has placed the learned and reverend author among the celebrities of the " Church of England " of that period. He heartily detested " preaching." Mr. Kingsley says that " on examining the more prominent statements of Peters, not one has been found which is not either false, or so deformed by exaggerations and perversions as to be essentially erroneous. To prove a truth upon the leading portions of his history would be, it is be- lieved, an impossible task." — Hist. Disc, at New Haven, 1838, 83-90. The Rev. Dr. Bacon calls it " that most unscrupulous and malicious of lying narratives."— Ed. THE FUTURE GLORY OP THE UNITED STATES. 475 Jesus Christ. We have no classical or synoclical tribunals, yet we have ecclesiastical councils ; and our church dis- cipline, although not sufficiently attended to, is such that persons of evident scandal and immorality, and vicious ministers (of which, God be thanked! there have been but few, very few indeed), cannot live long in our churches. With all our humbling imperfections, I know of no amend- ment necessary, as to our general system of church polity. Nothing of moment, unless it be grace, — no doctrine, no ordinance or institution of the primitive churches, — but may be found in general reception and observance among us. If we are condemned for having no tribunals or judi- catories out of the church, — which, however, is not true, — let it be remembered that neither Christ nor his apostles ever instituted any; and that in this respect we are just in the same state, with regard to ecclesiastical polity, as the one hundred and fifty churches of the apostolic age,* and particularly the seven churches of Asia in the time of St. John. The invalidity of our ordinations is objected against us, and so of consequence the invalidity of all our official ad- ministrations. And, now that we are upon the matter, give me leave to exhibit a true though summary state of it, as the result of a very full, laborious, and thorough inquiry. It was the mistaken opinion of some of our first ministers in New England (than whom there never was a more learned collection, for they einbosomed all the theo- logical and ecclesiastical erudition of all ages), — it was, I say, their opinion, that the power of ordination of all church officers was in the church, by their elders. They well knew, from ecclesiastical and Scripture antiquity, that the power of election was there ; and they judged ordina- a It has been computed that the churches of the apostolic a,£^e did not exceed one hundred and fifty or two hundred congregations in the whole world. 476 DR. STILES'S ELECTION SERMON, 1783. tion the lesser act ; but their great reason was,^ that the church might not be controlled by any exterior authority, whether Episcopal or Presbyterial, and so no more be harassed by bishops' courts, or any other similar tribunal. Our fathers held to an eldership, for they saw it in all antiquity, as well as the Bible ; and it was their judgment* that elders should be ordained by elders of the same church. The most of the first forty churches had ruling elders ; a few had not.''' These few created an early diffi- culty, on which our fathers early made a mistaken decision, that where there were no elders in the church, ordination might be done by the laying on of hands of delegated brethren. The introduction of ministers already ordained into the pastoral charge of a particular church was at first done by the lay brethren ; and this was, from the begin- ning, improperly called ordination, how often soever re- peated. A repetition of ordinations or baptisms does not nullify the first regular administrations. All the first New England ministers were ordained before. Thus Mr. Wilson was first ordained by a bishop in England ; then, 1630, by Governor Winthrop and others, he was ordained teacher in Boston ; he then ordained an elder ; and upon the ac- cession of Mr. Cotton, 1633, he was, by this elder and Governor Winthrop, again, a third time, ordained, and con- stituted pastor. So the learned and courtly Mr. Davenport was ordained by a bishop, then by the brethren, pastor of the church in New Haven, in 1639; and, 1688, was again ordained pastor of the first church in Boston by Elder Penn. Mr. Hooker was ordained a presbyter by a bishop in Eng- 1 See pp. x.-xv. — Ed. 2 On the subject of ecclesiastical polity, see the admirable " Vindication of the Government of the New Enjrland Churches," by John Wise, A.M., fourth edition, Boston, 1860, published by the Con<2;rej;ational Board, vyth Rev. Dr. ClaHi's '* Historical Introductory Note." — Ed. THE FUTURE GLOEY OF THE UNITED STATES. 47T land, and then again by the brethren at JSTewtown, 1633, who removed with his church to Hartford. Mr. Bulkley, of Concord, and Mr. Noyes, of Newbury, and others, ex- pressly adhered to their former ordinations in England by the bishops, though not as bishops, but as presbyters.^ But in general the induction of the ministers of the first churches was performed by lay brethren, and this was called ordination, but should be considered, what in reality it was, only induction, or instalment of those who were vested with official power. These, as I said, were all ordained before by the bishops in England. Nor have I ever found with certainty more than one instance of lay ordination of a person never before ordained, the last cen- tury (and there are few but what I have examined), and this was done by the advice and under the inspection of ministers ordained by the bishops in England, one of whom prayed at the solemnity of the consecration, and all gave their approbation and right-hand of fellowship, which, in my opinion, amounts to their performing the ordination themselves, they being present and assisting in the trans- action. This was at Woburn, 1642. I believe there were two or three more similar ordinations of unordained candi- dates before the ministers saw and corrected their error, which indeed was almost the only error of moment which the ministers went into the last century .^ Immediately upon publishing the Cambridge platform, 1648, our brethren in England remonstrated against allow- 1 In a long note, " Winthrop's entries in a manuscript diary," August 27, October 25, 1630, November 22, 1632, October 10, 11, 1633, " 2m. 6d. 1637," April 24, 1639, are quoted to " evince that the ministers relied upon their ordinations in England." As the diary is now in print (see p. 491, note 2) the note is not reprinted. — Ed. 2 An elaborate and valuable series of papers on the Ecclesiastical Anti- quities of New England was published by the Rev. Samuel SewaU in the American Quarterly Register, 1838-1842. — Ed. 478 DR. STILES'S ELECTION SERMON, 1783. ing lay ordination. They alleged that we had no example in Scripture of lay ordination ; that the sacerdotal gift, or office power, was conferred and given by the laying on of the hands of the presbytery,* and that we had examples of presbyterian ordination in Scripture ; and not only that it was safest to proceed in this way, but that it was the only scriptural ground. These arguments convinced our fathers, and they immediately set about to remedy the practice which had hitherto, providentially, wrought no mischief, as the body of the pastors had been ordained by bishops. It instantly became a custom for some of the ordained ministers present to lay on hands in ordinations ; it being for some time judged necessary that the delegated brethren should join, in token of subjection of the church to the pastoral care of the minister. But at length it became a custom, so early as before 1660, that, at the desire of the church, the ordaining ministers performed the whole — both conferred office power on the pastor elect by the laying on of hands, and committed the church to his pastoral charge, which, with the joint fellowship of the pastors and churches, finished the ordination. Thus ordi- nations were recovered into their right state and order the last century, and before lay ordinations had wrought any evil. Thus office power, by Scripture presbyters, con- tinued to be transfused through the clergy. I have reason and even assurance to believe that there was no candidate ordained in New England before 1746 ^ but whose ordina- tion may be traced to the bishops in England. I have found no instance to the contrary, although I have searched and examined all the ordinations of the first half- century here, and most of them for the first hundred years. a 1 Tim. iv. 14. 1 The author, in the second edition, 1785, adds a note, " The Ordination among the Separates began this year." — Ed. THE FUTURE GLORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 479 And as to the wild and enthusiastic period between 1740 and 1750, though it gave birth to perhaps thirty little Sepa- rate congregations, yet some have dissolved, others become regular, and the ten or a dozen now remaining are more and more convinced of the duty of seeking ordination from among the standing ministers.^ And it is remarkable that Mr. Thomas Dennison, now living, assisted, laid on hands, and gave the charge at the first ordination in 1746, and at the three succeeding ordinations among the Sepa- rates in New England, from whence all the ordinations in the churches of that description have proceeded. And although in the first, but not in the others, he acted as a brother delegated by the church, and in the othei-s as an elder of another church, yet it is remarkable, I say, that he himself had been ordained, in 1743, by one whose ordina- tion I have traced to the Mathers and other Boston minis- ters, and through them up to the Bishop of Chester, and other bishops in England. It is probable the few Separate churches remaining will in time become regular by seek- ing ordinations among the pastors of the standing churches where the ordinations are indubitable. For, as I have said, the ordination of our clergy is regu- lar and scriptural, and may be traced in the line of pres- byters up to the apostolic age ; and so in general may the ordinations in this line through the whole Christian world, especially in the great divisions of Lutherans, Calvinists, and Church of England. So wonderfully has Christ pre- served the sacerdotal or presbyterian order in the church, that the succession in this line is without a doubt. The 1 Prince's " Christian History," Gillie's " Historical Collections," Tracy's " History of the Great Awakeninj;," Dr. Clark's " History of the Congre- gational Churches in Massachusetts," chap, xiii., are among the many works on that memorable period. See article "Whitefield, George, in Allen's Biographical Dictionary. — Ed. 480 DR. STILES'S ELECTION SERMON, 1783 first ninety-four ministers who came over and settled New- England, Long Island, and the Jerseys, before 1669, and chiefly before 1640 — these, I say, were all educated^ in the English universities, and were ordained in England ; some of whom — as Hooker, Davenport, Chauncy, Lee, Bulkley, Noyes, Norton — were men of universal reading in theological literature, and were profoundly versed in the writings of the Greek and Latin churches, in the councils and historians, the fathers, the writers of the middle ages, and the reformers, especially those miracles of human and divine learning, Chauncy and Lee. Of these ninety-four, one or two only were ordained by the Puritans, as the fourteen^ who came over after the ejection of 1662 were ordained by the bishops, or more probably by the Presby- terians in the protectorate : all the rest by the bishops. All these were ordained presbyters by the bishops in Eng- land ; particularly the Rev. Mr. Richard Mather was or- dained a presbyter by Dr. Morton, Bishop of Chester, 1618.* The bishops did not intend to communicate ordaining powers, but they really intended to convey all the power of a Scripture presbyter, and by the Scripture we find this power conferred by the laying on of the hands of the pres- bytery; which demonstrates that presbyters, as such, were endued with the power of ordination.^ If the succession in the line of bishops might have been interrupted at the Reformation, yet not so in the line of presbyters. Office power has unquestionably been preserved in England, among presbyters, not only to the times of its subjugation to Rome by Austin the monk, but ages before, even to Lucius, according to venerable Bede. And indeed we have it more directly to the apostolic age, without going a Life of Dr. Increase Mather. b 1 Tim. iv. 14. 1 Sec pp. xiii.-xv. — Ed. 2 Their names are given in Mather's "Magnalia," Book III. fol. 4. — Ed. THE FUTURE GLORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 481 through Rome, for Bishop Jewel asserts truly that the ancient churches of England were of Greek, that, is orien- tal, derivation. We have in this manner a historical evi- dence and assurance that the New England ordinations in particular may be traced back to the holy apostles. There is not an instance, in the apostolic age, of bishops, priests, and deacons being stated officers of more than a single congregation. I risk this historic assertion with the examination of the whole learned world, although I well know that, like the evidences of revelation, it has been ex- amined a thousand times with different judgments. Every congregation regularly and fully organized had them, as appears from Dionysius the Areopagite and St. Ignatius. The succession of bishops, who were only the first presby- ters, as well as of the other elders, was preserved by ordi- nations performed by presbyters in or out of a church. And though ordinations were usually performed by three or more, yet if only one presbyter laid on hands it was valid. Titus, a single elder, was left thus to ordain elders in Crete. The church of Alexandria, founded by St. Mark, retained presbyterian ordination exclusive for three hundred years, as appears from Eutychius, the patriarch there in the ninth century, who wrote the originals of that church in Arabic, from which I have translated the follow- ing extract, viz. ; " The ninth year of Claudius Caesar, while Mark the evangelist resided at Alexandria, Hananias being converted to Christianity, Mark baptized him, and constituted or ordained him chief father at Alexandria, and he became the j&rst patriarch of Alexandria. Mark the evangelist likewise constituted and ordained tAvelve (Cashisha') presbyters, with Hananias, who should abide with the patriarch, so that when there should be a vacancy in the patriarchate, they should elect one of the twelve presbyters, upon whose head the other a The title Cashies is given to the Coptic clergy to this day. 41 482 DR. STILES'S ELECTION SERMON, 1783 eleven should impose their hands, bless him, and create him patri- arch ; and then elect some eminent person, and constitute him a presbyter with themselves, in the room of him who was made a patriarch, so that there should always be twelve. Nor did this institution concerning the presbyters cease at Alexandria, that they should create the patriarchs out of the twelve presbyters,' until the times of Alexander, patriarch at Alexandria, who was of the num- ber of the three hundred and eighteen " (at the Council of Nice, A. D. 325). " For he forbade the presbyters afterwards to create a patriarch, and decreed that, upon the death of a patriarch, the bishops should assemble and ordain a patriarch. And he farther decreed that, on k vacancy in the patriarchate, they should elect, either from the twelve presbyters, or from any other country, some eminent person, and create him patriarch. And thus evanished the ancient institution by which the patriarch had been created by the presbyters, and there succeeded in its place his decree con- cerning the creation of the patriarchs by the bishops. Thus, from Hananias to the time of Demetrius, who was the eleventh patriarch at Alexandria, there was no bishop in the provinces of Egypt ; nor did any patriarchs before him constitute bishops. But he, being made patriarch, constituted three bishops. And he was the first Alexandrian patriarch who made bishops. Upon the death of Deme- trius, Heraclas became patriarch, and constituted twenty bishops." * Thus, in this most valuable piece or relic of ecclesiasti- cal antiquity, we have preserved and transmitted to us a specimen and exemplar of a truly primitive and apostolic church. And herein we have a full proof that, while there were fifteen hundred pastors or Cashisha, yet there were no bishops in Egypt, in the posterior appropriate sense of the Latin and Greek churches, until the fourth century, although the Christians had by that time become so nu- merous in Egypt that, in the most severe and memorable persecution under Maximianus, the predecessor of Con- stantine the Great, one hundred thousand Christians were put to death there, and seven hundred thousand were sold a Eutychij origines eccl. Alexand. THE FUTURE GLORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 483 for slaves ; a barbarity which satiated and glutted the mal- ice of persecution, and wrought a conviction in the whole Roman Empire of the impossibility of subduing Christianity. Correspondent to this idea of a church and its officers was the form particularly of the church of Ephesus, and the seven churches of Asia, in the apostolic age, and the churches of New England, wherein, at their primitive in- stitutions, were originally two or more elders, besides the pastors and teachers, i. e., four presbyters ; although, hav- ing generally, though not universally, dropped the ruling elders, they now more nearly resemble the church of Philippi, in having at present only bishops and deacons. It might, however, be well to resume the eldership, as in the days of our ancestors. Agreeable to this primitive idea of a church was the church of Ireland, planted and formed by that great light of Christendom, St. Patrick, who — as Titus travelled Crete, and ordained elders in eveiy city — himself trav- elled Ireland, converted it to Christianity, and constituted three hundred and fifty-five churches, and in each ordained a set of elders, with a bishop at their head,*" as did Mark in Alexandria; — agreeable to that of the Irish poet in the psalter of Cashet, which, doubtless, while it retains the historical sentiments, loses its beauty in translation : " The blessed Patrick, with his priestly hands. The rite of consecration did confer Upon the most religious of his clergy, Three hundred and fifty-five in number. He likewise, for the seiwice of the church, As many sacred structures did erect, And presbyters ordained three thousand." i aNonuius, speaking of St. Patrick, says: "Ecclesias 355 fundavit, episcopos ordinavit eodera numero, presbyteros autem usque ad tria millia ordiuavit."— See Nonnius and Keating, 1 See Neander's Church History, Torrey's trans., Bohn's ed. 1858, iii. 172-177. — Ed. 48'!' DR. STILES'S ELECTION SERMON, 1783. [He began the conversion of Ireland about A. D. 432, and labored in it until his death, about A. D. 490, aetat. 122. His ecclesiastical laws and canons continued there four hundred years after his death, until after the Danish invasion. Although St. Patrick was born in Wales, yet he was educated and ordained in Gaul, and borrowed from thence the model of his churches ; which shows that the Galilean churches, before their subjugation to Rome, as well as the Church of England in the time of the bishops and monks of Glastenbury, were similar in their ecclesi- astical polity to the churches in Egypt before the Council of Nice, to those of Ireland in Patrick's day, to the pres- ent Waldensian reliquiae^ or remnant of the ancient Gal- lic churches, and to the Calvinistic churches of the Reformation.] ^ If the whole Christian world were to revert back to this original and truly primitive model, how far more simple, uniform, and beautiful, and even glorious, would the church universal appear, than under the muti- lated, artificial forms of the pontifical or patriarchal con- stitutions of the middle and present ages; and how far more agreeable to the ecclesiastical polity instituted and delivered by the holy apostles. May this be exhibited and displayed in the American churches. Of this, it gives me joy to believe, there is the greatest prospect. The initial revival of this primeval institution is indeed already so well established here, where the Presbyterians hold so great a proportion in the American Republic, that there can be but little doubt but that in the ordinary course of events our increasing and growing interest, without any interference with the other sects, will at length ascend to such a magnitude, and become so great and respectable a part of Christendom, as to command the attention, con- 1 The lines in brackets were added in the edition of 1785. — Ed. THE FUTURE GLORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 485 templation, and fraternal love of our brethren and fellow- Christians of the church universal, and even of the world itself And when the set time to favor Zion shall come in God's good and holy providence, while Christendom may- no longer disdain to adopt a reformation from us, the then newly gospelized heathen may light up their candle at America. In this country, out of sight of mitres and the purple, and removed from systems of corruption confirmed for ages and supported by the spiritual janizaries of an ecclesiastical hierarchy, aided and armed by the secular j^ower, religion may be examined with the noble Berean freedom, the freedom of American-born minds. And revelation, both as to the true evangelical doctrines and church polity, may be settled here^ before they shall have undergone a thorough discussion, and been w^eighed with a calm and unprejudiced candor elsewhere. Great things are to be effected in the world before the millen- nium, which I do not expect to commence under seven or eight hundred years hence ; and perhaps the liberal and candid disquisitions in America are to be rendered exten- sively subservient to some of the most glorious designs of Providence, and particularly in the propagation and diffusion of religion through the earth, in filling the whole earth with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. A time will come when six hundred millions of the human race shall be ready to drop their idolatry and all false religion, when Christianity shall triumph over superstition, as well as Deism, and Gentilism, and Mohammedanism. They will then search all Christendom for the best model, 1 Compare with this the remarkable words of John Robinson, the pas- tor of the Pilgrim Fathers, who said to them, on their embarkation at Delfthaven, in 1G20 : " Brethren, I am fully persuaded, I am very confident, that the Lord has more truth yet to break forth out of his holy Word." He probably had special reference to ecclesiastical polity. — Ed. 41* 486 BR, STILES'S ELECTION SERMON, 1783. the purest exemplification of the Christian church, with the fewest human mixtures. And when God in his provi- dence shall convert the world, should the newly Christian- ized nations assume our form of religion, should American missionaries be blessed to succeed in the work of Chris- tianizing the heathen, — in which the Romanists and for- eign Protestants have very much failed, — it would be an unexpected wonder, and a great honor to the United States. And thus the American Republic, by illuminating the world with truth and liberty, would be exalted and made high among the nations, in praise, and in name, and in honor. I doubt not this is the honor reserved for us ; I had almost said, in the spirit of prophecy, the zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this.^ " So the dread seer in Patmos' waste who trod, Led by the visions of the guiding God, Saw the dim vault of heaven its folds unbend, And gates, and spires, and streets, and domes descend Far down the skies. With suns and rainbows crowned. The new-formed city lights the world around." » a Vision of Columb. b. 2.2 1 How gloriously this prophecy of America's mission to the world is already being accomplished, appears, in part, in the noble history and statistics of the Missionary, Bible, and Tract Societies of the United States in their operations over the round world ; — missionaries not only of the Christian home and civilization, but coadjutors in the fields of science and philosophy. To them ethnolog)', philology, histor}^, geog- raphy, commerce, are willing and continual debtors, as well as aids. Perhaps the conquest of Canada may be adopted as the epoch of modern missionary enterprise, when the door was wide opened to its benevolent designs among the aborigines, — see Wheelock's narratives, — and from that expanding, till it shall illumine the world with the gospel of Chris- tian liberty. The natural political influence of American institutions abroad hardly admits of statistical statement, as it is not the result of organized associations. — Ed. 2 Dr. Stiles must have quoted these lines from the MS. of Mr. Barlow's poem, which was not published till 1787. It was dedicated to the unhappy THE FUTURE GLORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 487 Having sLown wherein consists the prosperity of a state, and what reason we have to anticipate the glory of the American empire, I proceed to show, II. That her system of dominion must receive its finish- ing from religion ; or, that from the diffusion of virtue among the people of any community would arise their greatest secular happiness ; all which will terminate in this conclusion : that holiness ought to be the end of all civil government — "that thou mayest be an holy people unto the Lord thy God." On the subject of religion we might be concise and tran- sient, if indeed a subject of the highest moment ought to be treated with brevity. It is readily granted that a state maybe very prosperous and flourishing without Christianity ; — witness the Egyp- tian, Assyrian, Roman, and Chinese empires. But if there be a true religion, one would think that it might be at least some additional glory. We must become a holy peo- ple in reality, in order to exhibit the experiment, never yet fully made in this unhallowed part of the universe, whether such a people would be the haj^piest on earth. It would greatly conduce to this if Moses and Aaron, if the magis- tracy and priesthood, should cooperate and walk together in union and harmony. The political effort of the present day, through most of the United States, is to disunite, divide, and separate them,^ through fear lest the United Louis XTL, and was republished in Paris. This distinguished states- man's career illustrates the broad and deep influence of the American Revolution on European politics. He regarded the cross not as the em- blem of Christianity, but of its corruptions by Popery. He died Decem- ber 22, 1812, aged fifty-eight. Allen's Biog. Diet, has a full notice of him, with authorities. Where are his large collections, intended for a History of the United States ? — Ed. 1 The external separation of church and state, now complete, leaves a nobler vantage-ground to the Christian Teacher in his duty to his coun- 488 DR. STILES'S ELECTION SERMON, 1783. States, like the five viceroyships of New Spain, should be entangled and oppressed with the spiritual domination of European and Asiatic hierarchies. As if, by the title of minister or pastor, we might not as well be reminded of the ministers of Holland and Geneva, or the mild and peaceable pastors of the primitiv^e church, as of the dom- ineering prelates and other haughty, intriguing dignitaries of the Romish church. Hence Aaron is spurned at a dis- tance, and the Levites are beheld with shy contempt, as a useless, burdensome, dangerous tribe ; and, in some of the states, for the only sin of being priests of the Most High God, they are inhibited all civil offices, and, to a great degree, disfranchised of their civil immunities and rights of citizenship.^ I thank my God for this ordering of his holy providence, — for I wish the clergy never to be vested with civil power, — while I am considering the spirit and disposition of the public towards the Church of God, indi- cated by such events. A general spirit reigns against the most liberal and generous establishments in religion ; against the civil magistrates encouraging or having any- thing more to do about religion than to keep the civil try; and as Christian morals and principles are the true foundation of a free Christian eommonwealth, how momentous is his responsibility to God and man for fidelity in " declaring all the counsel of God!" The zeal, firmness, and integrity of the pulpit in " preaching the gospel," from the time of May hew to Stiles, was of vital importance to the triumph of our national freedom. But Christianity is perpetual, and for daily use. Most legislation involves or relates to public morals, questions in foro consci entice, and here Christianity has sovereign jurisdiction, which can be violated only by the suff'erance of that teacher who, whether from timid- ity, weakness, or open treachery, is false to his Master, unworthy of his great commission, and sure of the contempt of men. Mayhew and Stiles are examples, for all time, of Christian manhood in the pulpit. " Politics and the Pulpit " is the title of an " essay " on the true relations of the pulpit, published by the American Tract Society. — Ed. 1 Sec p. G9, note 1, et seq. — Ed. THE FUTURE GLORY OP THE UNITED STATES. 489 peace among contending sects : as if this was all that is to be done for religion by the friends of Jesus. And hence, in designating to the magistracy and offices of government, it begins to be a growing idea that it is mighty indifferent, forsooth, not only whether a man be of this or the other religious sect, but whether he be of any religion at all ; and that truly deists, and men of indifferentism to all religion, are the most suitable persons for civil office, and most proper to hold the reins of government ; and that, to prevent partiality in governors, and emulation among the sects, it is wise to consign government over into the hands of those who, Gallio-like, have no religion at all.^ This is Machiavellian wisdom and policy; and hence examples are frequently adduced of men distinguished truly for deism, perhaps libidinous morals, and every vice, yet of great abilities, it is said, — great civilians, lawyers, physicians, warriors, governors, patriots, politicians, — while as great or greater and more numerous characters, in the same departments, — a Thuanus, a Grotius, a Paul of Venice, a Sir Henry Wotton, a Sir Peter King, a Selden, a Newton, a Boyle, those miracles of wisdom and friends to religion and virtue, — are passed by with transient cool- ness and neglect. I wish we had not to fear that a neglect of religion was coming to be the road to preferment. It was not so here in our fathers' days. Shall the Most High send down truth into this world from the world of light and truth, and shall the rulers of this world be afraid of it? Shall there be no intrepid Daniels, — great in magistracy, great in religion? How great was that holy man, that learned and pious civilian, when he shone in the supreme triumvirate at the head of an empire of one hundred and twenty provinces — vener- able for political wisdom, venerable for religion ! 1 See p. 69, et seq. — Ed. 490 DR. STILES'S ELECTION SERMON, 1783. If men, not merely nominally Christians, but of real religion and sincere piety, joined with abilities, were ad- vanced and called up to office in every civil department, how would it countenance and recommend virtue ! But, alas! is there not too much Laodiceanism in this land? la not Jesus in danger of being wounded in the house of his friends? Nay, have we gone already such lengths in declension that, if even the Holy Redeemer himself and his apostles were to reappear among us, while unknown to be such, and importune the public government and magistracy of these states to become nursing fathers to the church, is it not to be feared that some of the states, through timidity and fearfulness of touching religion, would excuse themselves, and dismiss the holy messengers, the heavenly visitants, with coldness and neglect, though importuning the spouse with an " Open to me, my beloved, my sister, my dove " ? But after the present period of deism and skeptical indifferentism in religion, of timidity and irresolution in the cause of the great Emmanuel, perhaps there may arise a succession of civil magistrates who will not be ashamed of the cross of Christ, nor of patronizing his holy religion with a generous Catholicism and expanded benevolence towards all of every denomination who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and truth, — patronizing it, I repeat, not with the insidious views of a Hutchinsonian ^ policy, but from a rational and firm belief and love of evangelical truth. Zion's friends will rejoice in Zion's welfare, and the religious as well as civil patriot will shine in the faces of the future Moseses and Joshuas of this land. So shone 1 The theolo