DELIVERED TO THE 
 
 SECOND PRESBYTERIAN SOCIETY 
 
 IN NEWBURYPORT, AUGUST 20, 1812: 
 
 THE DAY RECOMMENDED BY 
 
 THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 FOR 
 
 National Humiliation and Prayer. 
 
 BY THE REV. JOHN GILES. 
 
 • m 
 
 NEWBURYPORT, 
 
 Printed by W. &: J. Gilman, Essex-street. 
 
 1812. 
 
 t 
 
Newburyport , August 24, 18 i 2. 
 
 i?^. and Dear S:r, 
 
 WE the subscribers have been requested, bv your parishioners and 
 others, who attended on the delivering of your very patriotic and interest¬ 
 ing discourses on the late Fast, to solicit a copy of them for the press. 
 
 We are, dear sir, with sentiments of very great respect, your obedient 
 servants, JOHN O’BRIEN, 
 
 WILLIAM DAVIS, 
 
 STEPHEN FROTHINGHAM. 
 
 Rev. John Giles. 
 
 To Capt. John O’Brien, Capt. William Davis, and 
 Mr. Stephen Frothingham. 
 
 Gentlemen , 
 
 IN compliance with your request, I furnish you with copies of the 
 discourses which were delivered, with the design of attaching my parish¬ 
 ioners, still more, if possible, to our invaluable rights and privileges, and 
 to incite in them increasing gratitude to that God who has so eminently 
 distinguished us above every other nation. 
 
 I am, your servant in the gospel of Christ, 
 
 J. GILES. 
 
 Newburyport, August 26, 1812. 
 
PSALM 106. 24. 
 
 YEA > they despised the pleasant land. 
 
 ThIS Psalm is a short and concise history of the multiplied 
 and unprovoked rebellions of the ungrateful Israelites; and the 
 water of it enumerates their sins and provocations against the 
 goodness and blessings of God unto them. Jehovah had con 
 ducted them safely through scenes the most trying, and through 
 dangers the most formidable and imminent, and brought them 
 to the confines of the promised land; but the spies brought an 
 
 a r T° rl °, lt ’.„ thou P h the y owned it was a land which over, 
 no wed with milk and honey; but that there were such difficul¬ 
 ties to possess it, which they thought insuperable; and hence 
 the people despised it—m as much as when they were bid to 
 go and possess it, they refused; and did not chuse to be at any 
 difficulty in subduing the inhabitants of it, or run any risk or 
 hazard oi their lives in taking it, though the Lord had promis- 
 ta to git e it them and settle them in it. But they seemed rather 
 ■nchned to make themselves a captain, and return to Egypt 
 which was interpreted a despising the pleasant land. See 
 
 1 ins history conveys much instruction to us, and is well 
 adapted to the designs of the day And, before we proceed in 
 
 ''p? anc ‘ improving it ; the speaker must premise, that 
 it is not his intention to irritate and inflame the feelings of anv 
 m "hat he may deliver upon the present occasion. "His mo’ 
 tn es ai e the discharge of duty, and publicly to avow his warm 
 in m, and decided attachment, to the country which has adopt¬ 
 ed mm as its citizen, and to the illustrious character who at 
 puscnt piesides over it; and to this duty he is urged by live¬ 
 s' grain nee, and the solemn oath, which he has taken, of tin- 
 deviating allegiance to it. 
 
 45248 
 
ooooo 
 
 2'/Vs£...ENqUIRE, WHAT ARE THOSE THINGS WHICH 
 ARE ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY TO CONSTITUTE A LAND 
 
 pleasant. And we observe, 
 
 1. That a climate the most salubrious, and a soil the most 
 fertile and luxuriant, which may spontaneously produce, not 
 only all the necessaries, but even the luxuries of life, may be 
 rendered unhappy, anc} all these sweets blighted, and marredj 
 through the intruding hand of some assuming and unfeeling 
 tyrant. Such has been the state with the fertile lands of Por¬ 
 tugal, Spain, and Italy ; and such is the still existing state of 
 more prolific Turkey. The God of nature has, in those coun¬ 
 tries, scattered his gifts most profusely; but they are placed 
 beyond the reach of the great mass of the people ; a favoured 
 few, engross the sweets to themselves, and like the forbidden 
 fruit of Paradise, no hand dare pluck them without incurring 
 the displeasure of their lords and masters. Thus, the kind 
 bounties of an indulgent providence, are prostituted, and his 
 creatures, who have a natural right to enjoy them, are tantal¬ 
 ized with having them in continual view, but never are filled 
 with the sweetness them. This must turn the most pleasant 
 and fruitful land into a sterile and painful wilderness ; a land, 
 which none of us, my hearers, would chuse as his home to 
 dwell in, or as his place of sojourneying. 
 
 2. To render a land pleasant, its inhabitants must enjoy 
 equal rights and privileges, otherwise it can be pleasant only 
 to a favoured few, while the great majority are rendered ob¬ 
 jects of misery, through penury and distress ; and thus, the 
 comforts and blessings of civilized society, be abused and sub¬ 
 verted, and even prostituted to the most ignoble and basest of 
 purposes. We will demonstrate and illustrate this, not only 
 from ancient, but modern governments. And here w^e ob¬ 
 serve, that society in every state is a blessing ; but government 
 in its best state is but a necessary evil,—in its worst state, an 
 intolerable one. For when we suffer, or are exposed to the 
 same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a 
 country without government, our calamity is heightened, by 
 reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer.— 
 Government, like dress, is the badge of lost innocence, r j he 
 palaces of kings, are built on the ruins of the bowers of Para¬ 
 dise. In ancient Greece, monarchy was the government 
 which they first formed ; but this they soon found degenerate 
 
5 
 
 into tyranny. Hence the term tyrant , was justly applied to 
 them. And, indeed, the word originally signified no more 
 than king, and was anciently the title of lawful princes. But 
 monarchy gave way to a republican government, which, how¬ 
 ever, was diversified into almost as many various forms as 
 there were different cities, according to the different genius 
 and peculiar character of each people. But stih there was a 
 tincture, or leaven, of the ancient monarchical government, 
 which frequently inflamed the ambition of private citizens, and 
 made them desire to become masters of the country. In al¬ 
 most every state of Greece, some private persons advanced 
 themselves, by cabal, treachery, and violence, and exercised a 
 sovereign authority, with a despotic empire ; and in order to 
 support their unjust usurpations, in the midst of distrusts and 
 alarms, they thought themselves obliged to prevent imaginary 
 or suppress real conspirators, by the most cruel proscriptions, 
 and to sacrifice to their own security, all those whom rank, 
 merit, wealth, zeal for libertv, or love of their country, render- 
 ed obnoxious to a suspicious and unsettled government, and 
 which found itself hated by ail, and was sensible, it deserved to 
 be so. What we have remarked of Greece, will, with lew 
 shades of difference, apply to ancient Rome. 
 
 Let us now take a view of the modern governments of Eu¬ 
 rope, and examine how far they are calculated to add to the 
 peace, comfort, and happiness of mankind ; and in the attempt 
 our souls must overflow with gratitude to God, if sensible of 
 the superiour blessings and privileges we enjoy in this aur fa¬ 
 voured land. For, 
 
 3. A land to be pleasant, must have governors and magis¬ 
 trates, qualified and suited to the dignity and high stations they 
 fill; nor can they command the respect and affection of those 
 they rule over, unless they are the men of their choice. For 
 the truth of this, I appeal to your judgment. Should we feel 
 happy, were a man to be forced upon us, as governor of this 
 State, or as president of the United States ? And, granting the 
 man, even qualified, in every point of view, would noc our 
 feelings revolt ? But should such an one act the part of a ty¬ 
 rant, by oppressing your persons, taking from you your pro¬ 
 perty, and reducing you and your posterity, from affluence to 
 extreme want and beggary, the case would be still more af¬ 
 flicting. This-representation is not ideal ; it exists, in all the 
 
6 
 
 ooeoo 
 
 aggravating' circumstances here stated, and that, in the fast- 
 anchored isle of Great-Britain. The chief magistrate, or what 
 they call king, is hereditary. How degrading this to an en¬ 
 lightened people ! It is a system of mental leveling. It in¬ 
 discriminately admits every species of character to the same 
 authority. Vice and virtue, ignorance and wisdom, in short, 
 every quality, good or bad, is put on the same level. Kings 
 succeed each other, not as rationals ; it signifies not what their 
 mental or moral characters are. Such a government appears 
 under all the various characters of childhood, decrepitude, and 
 dotage ; a thing at nurse, in leading-strings, or in crutches. 
 It reverses the wholesome order of nature ; it occasionally puts 
 children over men, and maniacs to rule the wise. It requires 
 some talents to be a common mechanic; but to be a king re¬ 
 quires only the animal figure of a man, a sort of breathing au¬ 
 tomaton. But I must observe, that I am not the personal en¬ 
 emy of kings. No man more heartily wishes, than myself, to 
 see them ail in the happy and honorable state of private indi¬ 
 viduals. But. I am the avowed and open enemy of what is 
 called monarchy; and I am such, by principles which nothing 
 can either alter or corrupt—that is, by my attachment to hu- 
 manity—by the anxiety, which I feel within myself, for the 
 ease and honor of the human race—by the disgust which I ex¬ 
 perienced, when I observed men, directed bv children, and 
 governed by brutes—by the horrors, which all the evils that 
 monarchy has spread over the earth, excite within my breast— 
 and by those sentiments, which make me shudder at the calam- 
 
 y 
 
 ities, the exactions, the wars, and the massacres with which 
 monarchy has crushed mankind. Would not you, my hear¬ 
 ers, consider such a land, however salubrious the clime, how¬ 
 ever fertile the soil, however embellished with the progress of 
 the arts and sciences, deprived of its birth-right and groaning 
 under special marks of divine displeasure ? Let us rejoice, that 
 we are in the full possession and free exercise of the privilege 
 of selecting from ourselves, men, to be our rulers ; and while 
 we give them a compensation for the services which they ren¬ 
 der the public, in their several stations, which is but just and 
 reasonable ; for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Yet gov¬ 
 ernment in America is what it ought to be, a matter of honour 
 and trust, and not made a trade of, as in England, for the pur¬ 
 pose of lucre. 
 
I 
 
 7 
 
 4. That which constitutes a land pleasant, is the state of 
 society. To see every member of it in the enjoyment of all 
 the essential necessaries of life; we do not mean, that one and 
 all should possess equal property, for this never was designed 
 by the God of nature ; for there will be some who are compar¬ 
 atively poor, for the exercise of the benevolence ol the rich. 
 But that none should suffer through want or hunger, all who 
 are in the enjoyment of health, and are industrious, should be 
 able by moderate labour, to procure the comforts of life. We 
 bless God that such a pleasant land is our inheritance. Here 
 is a sufficiency of bread for all. Let the people here be but 
 diligent, and a few years will place them in a state of indepen¬ 
 dence. O how different is this, from what we see on the 
 other side of die atlantic ! Should the enquiry be, what makes 
 the difference, has not providence favored them with a fruitful 
 land ? We reply, providence has not been to them sparing in 
 its gifts : but through the cunning craft of men, these gifts 
 are engrossed by a few choice spirits, who hot in luxury, at 
 the expence of the labourer, the mechanic, and the husband¬ 
 man. We will explain our meaning—The chief magistrate 
 of England receives a million sterling, every year ; the other 
 branches of his family, nearly the same sum, and a long list of 
 placemen and pensioners, swell the burden to an enormous 
 size. And all this is wrung from the hard earnings of the 
 labouring poor. It is this wretched system which causes the 
 land to mourn, which crowds the streets with beggars, and 
 which drives men to the desperate act of invading the proper¬ 
 ty of others ; for what will not hunger impel men to ! This 
 picture is not overcharged; some present have seen with their 
 eyes, these things, and can bear witness to the facts. But let 
 us turn our view from these sickening scenes, and contem¬ 
 plate our own condition on these happy shores, and we see an 
 extent of territory, twelve times larger than England, and the 
 expence of the several departments of the general representa¬ 
 tive government not amounting to what is allowed even to the 
 king alone. 
 
 5. To render a land pleasant, it is essential that the means 
 of grace should be enjoyed. It is these which add to the glo¬ 
 ry of any land, and render a people truly great. This it was, 
 which made the Israelites so much greater than other nations* 
 Thus Moses describes them : “ What nation is there so great. 
 
8 
 
 eoooo 
 
 that hath statutes and judgments so righteous, as all this Law 
 which I set before you this day?” Without the Gospel, 
 the most enlightened people, are no better than refined savages. 
 The Gospel is a pearl of great price ; it is the glory and hon¬ 
 our of a church, a people, or a person. This only instructs 11 s 
 in the way of salvation. Trade and commerce, may gain and 
 preserve an estate, bread may support the body, but this only 
 can nourish and prop up the soul. When the Gospel is re¬ 
 moved, the light is removed which is able to direct us, the 
 pearl is removed which can only enrich us. In the want of 
 this, is introduced a spiritual darkness, which terminates in an 
 eternal darkness. As the Gospel is compared to Heaven, and 
 so called the kingdom of heaven ; and a people in the enjoy¬ 
 ment of it are said to be lifted up to heaven ; so in the want 
 of it, they are said to be cast down to hell. See Matth. 10. 23. 
 So that what resemblance there is between heaven and the 
 means of grace ; that there is between the want of them and 
 hell. Both are a separation from God ; so that when the Gos- 
 ]xs departs, all other blessings depart with it, and judgments 
 succeed. When the glory of God was gone up from the first 
 cherub to the threshold of the house, see Ezek. 9. 3. the an¬ 
 gels are commanded to execute the destructive sentence against 
 the city. v. 4, 5. When the word of God is removed, the 
 strength of a nation departs. The ordinances of God are the 
 towers of Sion. The temple was not only a place of worship, 
 but a bulwark too. The ark was often carried by the Israel¬ 
 ites into the camp, because there their strength lay. And when 
 David was chased away by his son Absalom, he takes the ark 
 of the tabernacle, as his greatest strength against the defec¬ 
 tion of his son and subjects. This blessing, my hearers, we 
 enjoy in a peculiar manner. The heavenly manna profusely 
 descends around our tents, and every one may worship God 
 in that form and manner which he thinks accords best with the 
 volume of inspiration. 
 
 6. That which renders our land the glory of all lands, is to 
 be free from all religious establishments, the bane of society, 
 and curse of human nature. Let us enlarge a little on this 
 sentiment. All religions are in their nature mild and benign, 
 and united with principles of morality. They could not have 
 made proselites at first by professing any thing which was 
 vicious and persecuting, or immoral. How is it then, that they 
 
eoooo 
 
 lose their native mildness, and become morose and intolerant ? 
 It proceeds from an alliance between church and state The 
 inquisition in Spain and Portugal, does not proceed from the 
 religion originally professed, but from this mule animal, as one 
 calls it, engendered between church and state. The burnings 
 m Smithfield, proceeded from the same heterogeneous produc¬ 
 tion ; and it was the regeneration of this strange animal, after • 
 wards , in the na tion now called the bulwark of our religion , 
 which revived rancour and irreligion among the inhabitants 
 there, and which drove the people called dissenters and quak- 
 ers to this country. Persecution is not an original featui e in 
 any religion ; but it is always the strongly-marked feature of 
 all law-religions, or religions established by law. Take away 
 the law-establishment, and every religion reassumes its orig¬ 
 inal benignity. Here in America, a catholic priest is a good 
 citizen, a good character, and a good neighbour ; the same 
 may be said of ministers of other denominations, and this pro¬ 
 ceeds, independent of men, from there being no law-establish¬ 
 ment in America. 
 
 The Constitution of the United States hath abolished or 
 renounced toleration, and intoleration also; and hath establish¬ 
 ed universal right of conscience. Toleration is not the oppos¬ 
 ite of intoleration, but is the counterfeit of it; both are despot¬ 
 isms. The one assumes to itself the right of withholding the 
 liberty of conscience, and the other of granting it. The one 
 is the pope armed with lire and faggot, and the other is the 
 pope selling or granting indulgences. The former is church 
 and state; the latter is church and traffic. This is the pervert¬ 
 ed state of things in that kingdom, called the world's last hope . 
 And though the gospel is there preached, yet it is the misfor¬ 
 tune of many who love it, to have a minister imposed upon 
 them,who is an enemy to it; and which minister they must 
 support, with the tenth of their tythes; even though dissenters 
 from the established church ; and what adds to the turpitude 
 of all this, no man can hold any place of trust or employ under 
 the government, who is not an episcopalian, without first receiv¬ 
 ing the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, on his bended knees, 
 to qualify him for office. Must it not be duplicity, nay, the very 
 essence of hypocrisy, in any man, to call such a kingdom, 
 “ the bulwark of our religion.” 
 
 R 1 
 
to 
 
 T 
 
 Use 1. Let us to-day, deplore, and lament over our me L 
 fold sins, which have tempted God to let loose upon us 01 ? f 
 his sore judgments, 'idle sword is drawn, and more than pro¬ 
 bable, while i am addressing you, it is bathed in the blood of 
 some of our fellow-citizens- It is true, that at present, throne h 
 mercy, it is placed at a distance from us ; but some on our 
 frontiers, and on the sea, have already fallen sacrifices, and we 
 know not how soon it may be permitted to approximate our habi¬ 
 tations. The kite of war is always precarious and uncertain. Let 
 not him whoputteth on his armour, boast like him whoputteth it 
 off Remember it is God alone who giveth us the victory. Let 
 our eyes then be directed to him, and all our expectations from 
 him. This by no means supercedes the necessity of our 
 warmest exertions. No, it is the sword of the Lord and Gid¬ 
 eon. Let us then assist the brave, generous defenders of our 
 country, who are vindicating our rights, and redressing our 
 wrongs. Let us, I say, assist them by prayer and fervent cries, 
 for prayer has ever proved a powerful weapon. If it over¬ 
 comes God, it certainly will overcome men. Thus, while the 
 hand of Moses was upheld by the prayer of Aaron and Hurr, 
 he prevailed in the battle against Amaick. And it is promised, 
 that one such, shall chace a thousand, and two, put ten thous¬ 
 and to flight. Thus jehoshaph.it, after he had proclaimed a 
 fast, when a great multitude came against him, addresses God 
 in prayer : G, our God, wilt thou not judge them, for we have 
 no might against this great company, which comcth against us, 
 neither know we what to do, but our eyes-are upon thee. And 
 when they began to sing, and to praise, the Lord routed their 
 enemies, with a great slaughter. 
 
 2. Let us encourage ourselves in the Lord, from the na¬ 
 ture of the enemv we are now engaged with. In our infancy, 
 we humbled their pride, and chained to the chariot wheels of 
 our triumph, two of their most celebrated generals; one of. 
 which boasted on the floor of Parliament, that with 3000 men, 
 he would march in triumph, from one end of our continent to 
 die other. Part of his assertion seemed to be prophetic, for 
 he passed through a section of cur continent, not as a conquer¬ 
 or, but a crest-fallen prisoner. If we atchieved such exploits 
 in our infant state, what shall we not, through providence, be 
 able to do now in our manhood ? Add to this the multiplied 
 crimes of the government we are opposed to ; a government, 
 
11 
 
 eoooo 
 
 founded and cemented in blood, and its tottering state, still up¬ 
 held by blood ; a government with which, it is evident, the 
 Lord has a controversy. How different the state of this, our 
 happy land. Never had a country so many openings to hap¬ 
 piness as this; her setting out into life, like the rising of a fair 
 morning, was unclouded and promising; her cause was good ; 
 her principles just and liberal; her conduct regulated by the 
 nicest steps, and every tiling about her wore the mark of hon¬ 
 our. Here I will give you the language of Mr. Rush, the or¬ 
 ator of the clay, at the seat of our government, the 4th of July 
 last. When, let as ask with exultation, when have embassa¬ 
 dors from other countries been sent to our shores, to complain 
 of injuries done by the American States ? What nation have 
 the American States plundered ? What nation have the Amer¬ 
 ican States outraged ? Upon what rights have the American 
 States trampled ? In the pride of justice and true honour, we 
 say, none. Blit we have sent forth from ourselves the mes- 
 sengers of peace and conciliation, again and again, across seas, 
 and to distant countries—To ask, earnestly to sue, for a ces¬ 
 sation of the injuries done to us. They have gone to protest, 
 under the sensibility of real suffering:, against that course which 
 made the persons and the property of our countrymen, th 
 subjects of indiscriminate and rapacious spoliations. Thes 
 
 have been the ends they were sent to obtain. Ends too fair 
 
 **• 
 
 for protracted refusal!, too intelligible to have been entangled 
 in evasive subtiities, too legitimate to have been neglected in 
 hostile silence. When their ministers have been sent to us, 
 what has been the aim of their missions ? To urge redress 
 for wrongs done to them, shall wc ask again ? No, the melan¬ 
 choly reverse. For in too many instances, they have come to 
 excuse, to palliate, or even to endeavour, in some shape, to 
 rivet, those inflicted by their sovereigns upon us. 
 
 We, my hearers, have nothing to fear eventually, in our 
 contest with a government so depraved and corrupt, as that of 
 the British. Her fictitious wealth is depreciating ; her most 
 wise and virtuous statesmen cannot be prevailed upon to join, 
 and unite in her councils; her prince regent has, by his intem¬ 
 perance and debaucheries, reduced himself to the stale of an id- 
 eot; and the multitudes of her poor, rendered desperate by hun¬ 
 ger, are aircadvthreatening to overwhelm it with their vengeance, 
 ui short, every sign of the times., indicates her speedy dissolu- 
 
 n 
 
 
12 
 
 00003 
 
 lion. Certainly the righteous God will not suffer her wicked 
 and horrid ravages to go unavenged, even here upon earth. 
 Let us wait awhile, and we may live to see the time, wherein 
 it shall not be said by the voice of faith, but by the voice of 
 sense itself, Babylon, the great, is fallen, is fallen ! 
 
 PSALM 106. 24. 
 
 YEA, THEY DESPISED THE PLEASANT LAND . 
 
 HE speaker, in the forenoon, called your attention, to the 
 distinguishing goodness of God, which has exempted us as 
 a people, from the burdens, oppressions, and calamities, un¬ 
 der which the nations of Europe groan, and which wring from 
 the inhabitants, the most piercing cries. Our lines are fall¬ 
 en in pleasant places; yea, we have a goodly heritage : 
 but some among us, like Jeshurun of old, have waxed fat 
 and are kicking against the rock of salvation. This leads us, 
 Second ...To exhibit the characters who despise 
 
 THE PLEASANT LAND. 
 
 » ' • \ » • 
 
 We charge no party, solely, as implicated in this crime; 
 but shall attempt to demonstrate that there are such men a- 
 mong us. And we will, as we proceed in our description, 
 adhere to the criterion laid down by our Saviour—you shall 
 know them by their fruit. 
 
 1. Men may be said to despise it, when they make light 
 of their privileges, either in a natural, moral, or political view. 
 
 First, in a natural view. The mercies, which we call nat¬ 
 ural, are those which are necessary for our nourishment and 
 support; and that we, as a people, abound in these, is evident 
 to all. We live in a land overflowing with a rich variety of 
 God’s providential goodness. Here is no leanness of teeth ; 
 our streets are not crowded with our fellow-creatures, solicit¬ 
 ing the aid of our benevolence — nor our ears assailed with the 
 
15 
 
 ©oooo 
 
 melancholy tales of indigence and distress. The parent, with 
 pallid cheeks, hollow eyes, and trembling limbs, arrest notour 
 steps with importunate cries for relief to their helpless infants, 
 pining in want, and the lamp of life ready to expire, because 
 destitute of means to nourish it. We are placed far from these 
 sickening scenes. But, alas ! do we not make light of these 
 mercies ? We enjoy the mercies, and forget the donor. 
 We rake what he gives ; but pay not the tribute he deserves. 
 The Israelites forgot God their Saviour, which had done great 
 things in Egypt. We send God’s mercies, where we would 
 have him send our sins, into a land of forgetfulness ; and write 
 his benefits, where he himself will write the names of the wick¬ 
 ed, in the dust, which every wind effaces. We forget his 
 goodness in the sun, while it warms us—in the showers, while 
 they enrich us—and in the corn, while it nourishes us. It is 
 an injustice to forget the benefits we receive from man, but a 
 crime, of a higher nature, to forget those dispensed to us by 
 the hand of God, who gives us those things which all the world 
 cannot furnish us without him. It is, in God’s judgment, a 
 brutishness beyond that of a stupid ox, or a duller ass. The 
 ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib, but Isra¬ 
 el doth not know, my people do not consider. How horrible, 
 that God should lose more by his bounty, than he would by his 
 parsimony. If we had blessings more sparingly, we should 
 remember him more gratefully. If he had sent us a bit of 
 bread in distress, by a miracle, as he did to Elijah, by the ra¬ 
 vens, we should retain it in our memories. But the sense of 
 daily favours, soonest wear out of our minds, which are as 
 great miracles, as any in their own nature, and the products of 
 the same power. 
 
 Secondly, We despise our moral and spiritual privileges, 
 when we reject the truths of revealed religion. This is one of 
 the crying sins of our land. Errors which were almost obso¬ 
 lete, are reviving, and the professors of those pernicious doc¬ 
 trines, are daily multiplying and increasing, by which the 
 glories of Christ are laid prostrate in the dust; and the ob¬ 
 ject of the Christian’s dearest hope is degraded, and brought 
 down to a level with a creature, so that we had need to trem¬ 
 ble at the prospects before us ; for these sentiments, like the 
 explosion of a subterraneous fire, may ere long burst forth and 
 spread ruin, slaughter, and death, all around, should they be- 
 

 come the creed of an established religion. Let no one say, we 
 live in an age too enlightened, for religious persecution to gain 
 head. But stop ; let us for a moment examine the force of 
 this reasoning ; and one remark shall suffice. Could any of 
 tou, venerable patriots, who joyfully took the spoiling of your 
 goods, and waded your way through blood to gain the pinna¬ 
 cle of liberty, could you suppose, at the close of your national 
 struggle, that in the year 1812, your fellow-citizens should 
 become objects of persecution, for an attachment to those very 
 sentiments, for which so many of our fathers bled and died ? 
 And who are the characters who foment and the very ring¬ 
 leaders of this intolerant spirit ? Are they not those who pro¬ 
 fess the aforesaid sentiments ? 
 
 Men despise the pleasant land, who make light of the gos¬ 
 pel, and will not attend to the preaching of it ; or if they give 
 it a hearing, refuse to comply with its just and reasonable re¬ 
 quisitions. It is not enough, to be within the visible ark ; so 
 was a cursed Ham. Let us not receive the grace of God in 
 vain ; but adorn the gospel, by a gospel spirit, and a gospel 
 practice, and walk as children of light. Let us not trample it 
 under our leet, but put our souls under the efficacy of it, and 
 get from it the foretastes of a heavenly and everlasting light. 
 Let us not loiter while the sun shines, lest we be benighted, 
 and bewildered, and misled, and finally miscarry. 
 
 Those may, with the strictest propriety, be ranked among 
 the despisers, who dragoon religion into their service, and make 
 it the trumpet of sedition and rebellion. The gospel, is the 
 gospel of peace. It was introduced by angels with Glory to 
 God in the highest , and on earth good will to man. Christ, 
 the author of it, is called the Prince of peace ; and it inculcates 
 peace on all its followers. How malignant, then, must that 
 soul be, which would convert it into an engine to irritate, goad, 
 and inflame the passions of men, to strife, blood, and slaughter ? 
 When the sacred desk, is converted into a vehicle ofscandal, and 
 
 calumny, and charges predicated on misrepresentation and the 
 most glaring falsehood ; this is a prostitution, not only of place, 
 but office, and sinking the ministerial character into that of a 
 public informer. It is a melancholy consideration, that such 
 occurrences should have taken place, as to force from tire 
 speaker such observations ; but when the poison is openly 
 and widely’ diffused, it is the duty of every good man to ad- 
 
15 
 
 oeooo 
 
 minister an antidote, to counteract the effects of it. Such con¬ 
 duct strikes at the root, and is subversive of a free govern¬ 
 ment, and has a tendency to introduce anarchy and confusion. 
 It likewise flies in the face of divine authority, and subserves 
 the cause of infidelity ; for no truth is more explicitly reveal¬ 
 ed, than due subordination to government. We will quote 
 a few to corroborate our assertion. Exod. 22. 28. Thou shalt 
 not revile the Gods, nor curse the rulers of thy people. And 
 Rom. 13. 1, 2. 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. Whosoever resisteth the power, re¬ 
 sisted! the ordinance of God ; and they that resist shall receive 
 to themselves damnation. Jude calls these disorganizers, v. 8. 
 Filthy dreamers, who defile the flesh, despise dominion, and 
 speak evil of dignities. Can there be a greater prop to infi¬ 
 delity ? Did Thomas Paine, with all his frantic ravings against 
 the Christian religion, give it so fatal a stab as these pretended 
 advocates of it, who, in direct opposition to its express com¬ 
 mands, defame and pour a torrent of abuse upon our worthy 
 President; a man who, when first inducted into the presiden¬ 
 cy, was represented, by these his now defamers, as a convert¬ 
 ed man, and an experimental Christian. But all these puny at¬ 
 tempts to sink, will but elevate him the higher, in the esteem 
 of every genuine American; and with dignified composure, 
 and silent contempt, he hears all these unfounded accusa¬ 
 tions, as the ebullitions of ignorance or of a maniac ; and he 
 who has so long withstood the roaring of lions, has nothing 
 to fear from the braying of an ass. 
 
 3. Men despise our political privileges, when they use 
 every stratagem to render our government contemptible, and 
 to alienate the affections of their fellow-citizens from it. This 
 is to imitate satan, who would rather reign in hell, than be 
 subordinate in heaven. Never did human wisdom devise 
 so fair a fabrick as our Federal Government. Each state 
 united to the other, like the several members of the human 
 body, co-operating for the good of the whole ; so that one 
 cannot say, I have no need of you. All are bound by sol¬ 
 emn compact, to adhere to each other; for the good of the 
 whole, is the good of each* How malicious ! how cruel ! 
 how savage ! to attempt to mutilate so fair a fabrick, and 
 to loose the bond of union, and destroy a system, which. 
 
16 
 
 ooooo 
 
 with its increasing years, hath produced increasing prosper ¬ 
 ity. We grant that our apparent prosperity, has partially 
 been interrupted ; but this arose not from any defect in our 
 government, nor in those at the head of it ; but from the 
 existing state of the European world, which, for a few years 
 past, has been in an uncommon fermentation. Nor could 
 Solomon, had he presided over us, have guarded us against 
 the collisions of the belligerent powers. French ambition, 
 and British cupidity, have committed spoliations on our com¬ 
 merce to a vast amount. But must not every impartial 
 person admit, that, to promote a spirit of discord and dis¬ 
 union among ourselves, is not the way to redress, but the 
 sure method to incite them to greater aggressions. Let us 
 frown, indignant, at every attempt to dissolve our federal 
 constitution, however sacred may be their functions; let us 
 regard them as missionaries of him who is the father of lies, 
 and a murderer from the beginning. 
 
 When men counteract the means which the wisdom of 
 our Executive devise to assert our rights, redress our wrongs, 
 and maintain our national dignity and honour—or even when 
 they be cold and lukewarm in promoting them, they come 
 within the charge of our text. Such characters may use 
 plausible pleas, to extenuate their conduct—such as the tem¬ 
 per of the public mind, the persecutions they shall be ex¬ 
 posed to, and the losses they shall sustain ; but if these pleas 
 are valid now, they were valid during our revolutionary war ; 
 and had the patriots of that day, displayed the same spirit, 
 we should be groaning now in Egyptian bondage. Let such 
 tremble; let them arise from their torpor, lest they subject 
 themselves to the anathema pronounced against some in days 
 of old. See Judges 5. 23. Curse ve Meroz, said the an- 
 
 O v 7 
 
 gel of the Lord ; curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof, 
 because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help 
 of the Lord against the mighty. 
 
 When men turn liberty into licentiousness, and take shel¬ 
 ter under the lenity of our law, to degrade and abuse the 
 majesty of the law; this has a tendency to destroy the lib¬ 
 erty we enjoy, and lay prostrate in ruin, the fair edifice, 
 which has for thirty years withstood all the rude shocks to 
 which it has been exposed; either by exciting our legisla¬ 
 tors to lay some restrictions on the press, which at present 
 
17 
 
 ©©©©<© 
 
 teems with so many inflamatory, virulent, and infamous pub 
 lications, or else reducing us to a state of anarchy. Let 
 me, on this occasion, advise you my hearers, to adhere, in¬ 
 flexibly adhere, to the principles of Republicanism. But at 
 the same time, bear and forbear, with the insults which your 
 principles may expose you to. Remember, our constitution 
 is founded on the right of private judgment, and that prin¬ 
 ciples cannot be destroyed by the force of arms. No; let: 
 reason and argument be the only weapons which you will 
 use ; and if violence be heard in our land, wasting and de¬ 
 struction within our borders, let them not originate from 
 those who call themselves republicans, and friends of our 
 government; but from those who assume to themselves, the 
 exclusive privilege of being the friends of good order. 
 
 U se 1 . Let us, to-day, lament over the ruin of lapsed 
 nature, and over the jarring, discordant, and destructive ef¬ 
 fects, which sin has introduced, in all our national calami¬ 
 ties, under all the pressure of the times, and in the midst 
 of personal sufferings. Let us hear the answer of God to 
 all our murmurings : Thy way, and thy doings, have pro¬ 
 cured these things unto thee : This is thy wickedness, be¬ 
 cause it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thy heart. Let 
 us humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, and 
 by faith in the Redeemer, and genuine repentance, disarm 
 a frowning God of that vengeance which we have demcr- 
 ited at his hands. 
 
 2. Let us, like so many Moseses, stand in the gap, and 
 plead with God, that he would spare us, a guilty people, 
 and still indulge us with a continuance of those privileges 
 for which our fathers fought, bled, and died. O, let us not 
 barter diem away for present enjoyments, but patiently sub¬ 
 mit to, and bear a few privations whilst the present contest 
 continues ; and though much of our property may be exhaust¬ 
 ed in the struggle, yet it is better to leave our families the pos¬ 
 session of our present privileges, without the possession of a 
 cent, than to leave them millions of dollars, with the entail- 
 ment of slavery. 
 
 3. Let those, who openly express their disaffection to our 
 government, pause, and reflect upon the criminality of their 
 conduct; for God himself bears witness against those sins 
 which disturb society. In these cases, he is pleased to inter- 
 
 C 
 
18 
 
 cooo© 
 
 cst himself in a most signal manner, to cool those, who make it 
 their business to overturn the order he hath established lor the 
 good of the earth. He doth not so often in this world punish 
 those faults committed immediately against his own honour, 
 as those which put a state into a hurry, and confusion. It is 
 observed, that the most turbulent, seditious persons in a state, 
 come to most violent ends : As Corah, Adonijah, Zimri : 
 Ahitophel draws Absalom's sword against David and Israel, 
 and the next lie twists an halter for himself. Absalom heads 
 a party against his father, and God, by a goodness to Israel, 
 hangs him up, and prevents not its safety, by David’s indul¬ 
 gence, and a future rebellion, had life been spared by the fond¬ 
 ness of his father. His providence is more evident in discov¬ 
 ering disturbers, and the causes which move them, and in dig¬ 
 ging the contrivers out of their caverns, and lurking holes. 
 He doth more severely in this world, correct those actions, 
 which unlink the mutual assistance between man and man, and 
 the charitable and kind correspondence he would have kept up. 
 
 4. How lost to gratitude, and love of country, must be such 
 of our deluded citizens, who can rejoice in the disasters of 
 those, who are engaged in warfare, against our proud, insult¬ 
 ing foe ; and are ready to weep at any success which attends 
 our arms. Even the brute beast is attached to the spot which 
 affords it pasture ; but they, more brutish, would tear to pie¬ 
 ces the foliage of the tree which screens them from the storm, 
 and, unlike the beast, maliciously invite others to join them in 
 blasting our fairest prospects, and laying all in wide ruin and 
 destruction ! Is not this too evidently the wish of those a- 
 mong us, who make use of every artifice, and twist and turn 
 all the patriotic measures of our Executive, as being under the 
 controul of French influence? which their own conscience can¬ 
 not subscribe to, neither do thev themselves believe so. But 
 the evil object they have in view, they studiously conceal; and 
 this outcry against French influence, is raised as a mist to blind 
 the eyes of the publick, and to subserve the design of pulling 
 down our present rulers, and to raise themselves on their ruin. 
 Should they succeed in their nefarious plan, what would be 
 the destructive consequence ? Why, we soon should see these 
 very same people, who are so clamorous against foreign influ¬ 
 ence, forming an alliance w ith Grcat-Britain, offensive and de¬ 
 fensive, which would involve us in the same ruin with herseik 
 
19 
 
 ooaoo 
 
 Let us, for the truth of this, appeal to stubborn facts. Who 
 is it that justify, and, if they cannot justify, palliate all the in¬ 
 sults which we have for ten years past received from that gov¬ 
 ernment? If they outrage all laws, moral and divine, by im¬ 
 pressing thousands of our gallant seamen ; and if, either by 
 bribes, or cruel whippings and Hoggings, they are forced to 
 enter the service, their advocates extenuate their conduct, by 
 observing, that it is impossible for them to discriminate be¬ 
 tween our people and their .own, as our features and language 
 are so similar. With such reasons and arguments, they justify 
 the cruel wrongs, inflicted on our unhappy countrymen, who 
 are forced to join and assist the common enemy, in their mur¬ 
 derous work, and who are perhaps this moment, embruing their 
 hands in the blood of their nearest friends and dearest ielative. 
 These predilections for a government, which is sowing among 
 us the seed of discord, sedition, and treason, and which wish¬ 
 es to tear from us our dearest rights, demonstrates where the 
 bias of their minds tends to. Nor can a word be uttered in 
 their hearing against the British, but what they resent more 
 than they would blasphemy ; this speaks volumes, and evident¬ 
 ly points to us the object which they have in view. But let 
 . them tremble for their conduct. The great mass of our citi¬ 
 zens, have too long tasted the sweets of liberty, to exchange it 
 for the gew-gaws of monarchy. It is enough for us to will to 
 be free , and, maugre all the attempts of anarchists and mon¬ 
 archists, we are free. And let them not suppose, that their 
 misdeeds shall go unpunished. The day of reckoning is fast 
 approaching, when the strong arm of law and justice, will ov¬ 
 ertake them, and make them sensible that even in a republican 
 government, there is energy enough to crush the guilty. 
 
 5. Let not the exertions of the religious inhabitants of Eng¬ 
 land, influence your attachment to the British government, as 
 if the large donations contributed for the support of Missiona¬ 
 ries, the distribution of Bibles, and other religious purposes, 
 were the acts of government. These are the generous efforts 
 of its subjects, of individuals, groaning under the pressure of 
 taxes. And how much more would these individuals contri¬ 
 bute toward these benevolent purposes, were the demands of 
 
 us ! So far is it from true, that the 
 dly, that it is opposed to the spread 
 illions in Asia. For, within eight 
 
 government not so numcro 
 British government is 
 of the gospel among the mi 
 

 ao 
 
 years past, the government of England rejected the application 
 cf the Missionary Society to send missionaries to India, to 
 preach the gospel; ^nd which subjected that society to the ex¬ 
 pence of sending them to New-York, from whence they em¬ 
 barked to the place of their destination. To conclude. 
 
 Men, Brethren, and Fathers, 
 
 7 9 •> 
 
 Let us, to-day, take a fresh survey of our our 
 
 Lx. end our personal Blessings, and let us entertain then 
 with a godly jealousy. Let no man, under a pretext of liber¬ 
 ty, cjjclc u . 'lit of our privileges. With ail our edarnitie?; 
 ve are comparatively, a happy people. We can boast cf what 
 no oilier people can. The sovereignty is in our own hards. 
 We are not bound, as in France and England, to crouch like 
 beascs of burden to those who goad, and add to the weight of 
 their chains. Our rulers, are our servants, and not our mas- 
 ters. It is by our free suffrage#, they have been elevated to 
 their exalted stations ; and if they swerve from the principles 
 of liberty, we can destroy their official dignity, and reduce 
 them to the ranks of private citizens, without having recourse 
 to acts of violence. The miseries attending the French revo¬ 
 lution, must be yet fresh in your memories ; and we hope, and 
 vpray, that no aspiring demagogues may be permitted to rise 
 up among us, whereby the proscriptions, assassinations, and 
 murders, of a ferocious Marat, and an ensanguined Robespierre, 
 may pollute and stain our hallowed land of liberty and equality. 
 
 And you, my young hearers, read, frequently read, the 
 \ history of your country. Emulate the deeds of your sires, 
 whose patriotic arms, put to flight the ruffian hordes, which 
 Britain vomited on our shores. O, prove yourselves to 
 be the descendants of those, whose names will shine with 
 lustre on the historic page ; and should you, like them, be 
 called to avenge your country’s wrongs, prove, that you not 
 only j nherit their names, but likewise their courage ; that 
 you will Sot detract horn their glon^but maintain with yotir 
 blood, undiminished, the fair inheritance which they have be¬ 
 queathed yop. And, O r .that a double portion of their spirit 
 may rest on you. AMEN,] and AMEN.