TOPICS - click to expand or collapse

CHRISTIAN MINISTERS - THEIR INFLUENCE IN FORMING OUR CIVIL INSTITUTIONS - VIEWS OF BANCROFT AND OTHERS - THE PULPIT THE MEDIUM OF REACHING THE PEOPLE - PREACHING OF MAYHEW - WRITINGS OF WISE - HOWARD - CLARK - CHAMPION - WEBSTER - ADDRESS OF THE PROVINCIAL CONGRESS OF MASSACHUSETTS TO THE CLERGY - DR. LANGDON - JOURNAL OF A REVOLUTIONARY CHAPLAIN - CALDWELL - DUFFIELD - WOODHULL - THE DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH OF NEW YORK - LIVINGSTONE'S SERMON - SMITH'S SERMON IN PHILADELPHIA IN 1775 - GREEN - BEATTY - ROGERS - DWIGHT - BISHOP WHITE - REV. DAVID JONES - ADDRESS TO THE ARMY - SERMON TO THE ARMY - SERMON ON DUELLING - REV. JACOB TROUTE - ADDRESS OF THE CLERGY OF NEWPORT TO WASHINGTON - HIS REPLY - ADDRESS OF THE CLERGY OF PHILADELPHIA TO WASHINGTON ON HIS RETIREMENT FROM THE PRESIDENCY - REPLY - ADDRESS OF THE CONGREGATIONAL MINISTERS OF MASSACHUSETTS TO JOHN ADAMS - REPLY - WEBSTER'S STATEMENT OF AMERICAN MINISTERS.

In the civil and Christian institutions which the providence of God directed to be established on the North American continent, ministers of the gospel acted a distinguished and leading part. As teachers of religion, Christian educators, assistants and often leaders in the great work of framing civil governments, they were by our Puritan fathers regarded as essential. Every band of colonists, for a century or more, beginning with the settlement at Jamestown and Plymouth, brought in their company one or more ministers of the gospel. They were in many cases the leaders in the emigration from Europe to the New World, and pioneers in the colonization of this continent. The legislation of the colonies, their "godly frames" of government, and the whole structure of society received their moulding influence and finish from ministers. The people looked up to them for counsel, legislators sought the aid of their learning and piety, and in every crisis to the civil liberties of the colonies ministers stood firm to freedom and animated the people by their patriotic sermons and fervent prayers.

"The earliest constitution of government in New England was a theocracy; under it the clergy had peculiar powers and privileges, which, it is but fair to say, they turned to the advantage of the commonwealth more than has generally been the case with any privileged order. Religion was the deep, underlying stratum on which their whole life was built. Like the granite frame-work of the world, it sunk below all and rose above all else in their life. They were always governed by the most profound reverence for God and his word; and they constituted the strong mental and moral discipline needed by a people who were an absolute democracy."

"The Puritan preachers," says Lossing, "promulgated the doctrine of civil liberty, that the sovereign was amenable to the tribunal of public opinion and ought to conform in practice to the expressed will of the people. By degrees their pulpits became the tribunes of the common people, and on all occasions the Puritan ministers were the bold asserters of that freedom which the American Revolution established." They deduced from the Bible the true doctrine of popular sovereignty, - that government is from the people as well as for the people. They proclaimed that God is the Supreme Ruler in government, and that the people are to exercise their power "not according to their humors, but according to the blessed will and law of God." And so influential and authoritative were their teachings, that it is said of one of the Puritan ministers, John Cotton, "that what he preached on the Lord's day was followed by the synod, and that what he preached in the Thursday lecture was followed by the General Court."

"From the sermons of memorable divines," says Bancroft, "who were gone to a heavenly country, leaving their names precious among the people of God on earth, a brief collection of testimonies to the cause of God and his New England people was circulated by the press, that the hearts of the rising generation might know what had been the great end of the plantations, and count it their duty and their glory to continue in those right ways of the Lord wherein their fathers walked before them. Their successors in the ministry, with the people and of the people and true ministers to the people, unsurpassed by the clergy of an equal population in any part of the globe for learning, ability, and virtue, and for metaphysical acuteness, familiarity with the principles of political freedom, devotedness, and practical good sense, were heard, as of old, with reverence by their congregations in their meeting-houses on every Lord's day, and on special occasions of fasts, thanksgiving, lectures, and military musters. Their exhaustless armory was the Bible, whose scriptures were stored with weapons for every occasion, furnishing sharp swords to point their appeals, apt ex- amples of resistance, prophetic denunciations of the enemies of God's people, and promises of the Divine blessing on the defenders of his law."

The ministers of the Revolution were, like their Puritan predecessors, bold and fearless in the cause of their country. No class of men contributed more to carry forward the Revolution and to achieve our independence than did the ministers of that grand era of liberty. They esteemed the cause just and right, and by their prayers, patriotic sermons, and services rendered the highest assistance to the civil government, the army, and the country.

"Ministers nursed the flame of piety and the love of civil liberty. On Sundays they discoursed on them, and poured out their hearts in prayer for the preservation of their precious inheritance of liberty." "They harangued the people, during the Revolutionary struggle, ardently and patriotically. Many of them went into the armies as chaplains; some, more zealous, even took up temporal arms; while the greater number of them showered the enemy with sermons, tracts, and pamphlets."

"As a body of men the clergy were pre-eminent in their attachment to liberty. The pulpits of the land rang with the notes of freedom. The tongues of the hoary-headed servants of Jesus were eloquent upon the all-inspiring theme, while the youthful soldier of the cross girded on the whole armor of his country, and fought with weapons not carnal.”

"The Christian ministers," said another, "did as much as the civilian or the soldier to prepare the way for the American Revolution, and to sustain its spirit. If Christian ministers had not preached and prayed, there might have been no revolution as yet; or had it broken out, it might have been crushed. The deep, dauntless, uncompromising, truthful, hopeful, religious spirit of our fathers, who revered and whose love gathered around their ministers, imparted to the Revolution its most striking characteristic."

Trumbull, the historian of Connecticut, bears this honorable testimony to the patriotism and labors of the clergy: - "Many of the clergy had good estates, and assisted their poor brethren and parishioners. The clergy possessed a very great proportion of the literature of the colonies. They were the principal instructors of those who received an education for public life. For many years they were consulted by the legislature in all affairs of importance, civil or religious. They were appointed committees with the governor and magistrates to assist them in the most delicate concerns of the commonwealth. They taught their hearers to reject with abhorrence the divine right of kings, passive obedience and non-resistance, and to hold that all civil power is originally with the people."

"The clergymen of New England," said Thatcher, in his "Military Journal," May, 1775, "are, almost without exception, advocates of Whig principles; there are few instances only of the separation of a minister from his people in consequence of a disagreement in political sentiment. The tories censure, in a very illiberal manner, the preacher who speaks boldly for the liberties of the people, while they lavish their praises on him who dares to teach the absurd doctrine that magistrates have a divine right to do wrong, and are to be implicitly obeyed. It is recommended by our Provincial Congress that, on other occasions than the Sabbath, ministers of parishes adapt their discourses to the times, and explain the nature of civil and religious liberty, and the duties of magistrates and rulers. Accordingly, we have from our pulpits most fervent and pious effusions to the throne of grace in behalf of our bleeding and afflicted country."

"To the clergy," says Charles Francis Adams," as the fountains of knowledge and possessing the gifts most prized in the community, all other ranks in society most cheerfully gave place. If a festive entertainment was meditated, the minister was sure to be the first on the list of those to be invited. If any assembly of citizens was held, he must be there to open the business with prayer. If a political question was in agitation, he was among the first whose opinion was to be consulted. Even the civil rights of the other citizens, for a long time, depended, in some degree, on his decision; and, after that rigid rule was laid aside, he yet continued, in the absence of technical law and lawyers, to be the arbiter and judge in the differences between his fellow-men.

"The vast body of the ministry of the country advocated the Revolution, in public and private, on Christian principles. They justified the war on religious grounds. They believed that human rights and liberties would be gainers by its success. Among the most faithful of religious men, modest and painstaking in their parishes, there was no concealment of their sympathy. Scarcely was there a battlefield in the Revolutionary War where the clergy were not present, as chaplains or surgeons, to cheer and bless. Their patriotism was a thing of general admiration. They reasoned themselves and the country out of all hesitancy and scruples, as they knew how to reason. They abounded in what Sir John Hawkins calls 'precatory eloquence,' calling down the blessings of the Almighty upon the country; and the depth and sway of their influence in achieving the independence of the colonies cannot be too highly extolled. Withal, it was with them a time of great personal privation and hardship. They shared in the largest measure the calamities of the country. They practised the extremes of frugality to eke out their scanty subsistence. They were exposed to violent opposition in their distracted parishes. But they were, as a body, brave, patient, meek, pious, patriotic, and learned, an honor to any land. Under God, we owe it to the ministry of that day that the morals of the country were not hopelessly wrecked in the convulsions of the Revolution.”

"They extended the ægis of a Divine religion over the battered and exhausted form of the colonial confederation, and inspired fortitude in all who were faint. They were agitated with a lofty inspiration, as the earth is shaken with the convulsions of an earthquake, not by the assaults of external power, but by the irresistible fires of freedom and piety which burned within their patriotic hearts.

"Then the people assembled in their churches to invoke the blessing of God on their arms, while their pastors preached to them under the frowns of power and in prospect of martyrdom. This gave fervor to their thoughts, depth to their sympathies, earnestness and solemnity to their daring resolutions. They seemed more like prophets than priests, master-spirits raised up to mould the destinies of mankind. Each one of those moral heroes who glorified the era of 1776 was a colossus among ordinary men, and stood forth, in native majesty, indomitable, unmoved, sublime."

"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 that won our independence."

The clergy, in all the colonies, were bold and frequent in their pulpit enunciations of the great principles of civil and religious liberty, and in rebuking despotism and the evils of the time. John Adams, writing to his wife, from Philadelphia, at the first meeting of the Continental Congress, 1774, says, -

"Does Mr. Willibrand [pastor at Quincy] preach and pray against oppression and the cardinal vices of the times? The clergy here, of all denominations, thunder and lighten every Sabbath. They pray for Boston and Massachusetts. They thank God explicitly and fervently for our remarkable successes. They pray for the American army : they seem to feel as if they were among you."

The clergy of New England, and of all the colonies, from Puritan times to the Revolutionary era, were men not only of eminent piety and of profound Biblical learning, but were ardent lovers of liberty and thoroughly versed in the history and science of civil government. The peculiar circumstances in which they were placed, and the great reverence in which they were held by all classes, qualified them to be leaders of liberty and government, as they were of religion. "The profound thought and unanswerable arguments," says Headley, in his work on the chaplains and clergy of the Revolution, "found in their sermons, show that the clergy were not a whit behind the ablest statesmen of the day in their knowledge of the great science of human government. In reading them, one gets at the true pulse of the people, and can trace the progress of the public sentiment."

The election sermons, preached by the special appointment of the civil authorities, were especially full of the grandest ideas of freedom, and of thorough and just views of the rights of men and the nature and workings of civil government. "The publication of these sermons," says Headley, "in a pamphlet form was a part of the regular proceedings of the Assembly, and, being scattered abroad over the land, clothed them with the double weight of their high authors and the endowment of the legislature, became the text-books of human rights in every parish. They were regarded as the political pamphlets of the day. The pulpit was the most direct and effectual way of reaching the masses. The House of Representatives of Massachusetts knew this, and passed resolutions requesting the clergy to make the question of the rights of the colonies, and the oppressive conduct of the mother-country, the topic of the pulpit on weekdays. They thus proclaimed to all future time their solemn convictions of their dependence on the pulpit for that patriotic feeling and unity of action which they knew to be indispensable to success. Here is the deep, solid substratum that underlaid the Revolution.

"The preachers did not confine themselves to a dissertation on doctrinal truths or mere exhortation to godly behavior. They grappled with the great questions of the rights of man, and especially the rights of colonists in their controversy with the mother-country. In reading their discourses one is struck with the thorough knowledge these divines possessed of the origin, nature, object, character, and end of all true government. They went to the very foundations of society, showed what the natural rights of man were, and how those rights became modified when men gathered into communities, how all laws and regulations were designed to be for the good of the governed, that the object of concentrated power was to protect, not invade, personal liberty, and when it failed to do this and oppressed instead of protected, assailed instead of defending rights, resistance became lawful, nay, obligatory. They also showed the nature of compacts and charters, and applied the whole subject to the case of the colonies."

A brief sketch of the character and labors of some of these patriotic preachers, who swept the great heart of the country with their electric eloquence and power, and caused it to respond to the calls of liberty and the Revolution, will give the reader the highest admiration of the preachers of those days of Christian ideas and heroic action.

Rev. Dr. Mayhew gave the key-note, on the part of the clergy of New England, to the great cause of liberty and of revolution. Robert Treat Paine called Mayhew "the father of civil and religious liberty in Massachusetts and America." On the 25th of August, 1765, he preached in his own church, in Boston, a sermon against the Stamp Act, from the text, "I would they were even cut off which trouble you. For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another." (Gal. v. 12, 13.) This sermon, full of the noblest sentiments and of thorough views of the nature of civil government, was by John Adams called "the morning gun of the Revolution." "He was," says Adams, "a clergyman equalled by very few of any denomination in piety, virtue, genius, and learning. This transcendent genius threw all the weight of his great fame into the scale of his country." "Whoever," says Bancroft, "repeats the story of the Revolution will rehearse the fame of Mayhew. He spent whole nights in prayer for the dangers of his country. Light dawned on his mind on a Sabbath morning of July, 1766, and he wrote to Otis, saying, 'You have heard of the communion of the churches: while I was thinking of this in my bed, the great use and importance of the communion of the colonies appeared to me in a striking light. Would it not be decorous in our Assembly to send circulars to all the rest, expressing a desire to cement a union among ourselves? A good foundation has been laid by the Congress of New York. It may be the only means of perpetuating our liberties.' This suggestion of a 'more perfect union' for the common defence, originating with Mayhew, was the first public expression of that future Union which has been the glory of the American republic; and it came from a clergyman, on a Sabbath morning, under the inspiration of Heaven."

"It is my fixed resolution," said Mayhew, as early as 1764, "to do all I can for the service of my country, that neither the republic nor the churches of New England may sustain injury." "Having," says he,"been initiated in youth in the doctrines of civil liberty, as they were taught by such men as Plato, Demosthenes, Cicero, and other renowned persons among the ancients, and such as Sidney and Milton, Locke and Hoadly, among the moderns, I liked them: they seemed rational. And having learned from the Holy Scriptures that wise, brave, and virtuous men were always friends to liberty; that God gave the Israelites a king in his anger, because they had not sense and virtue enough to like a free commonwealth; that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty: this made me conclude that freedom was a great blessing."

In the year 1766, Thomas Hollis, of a distinguished Baptist family, in England, wrote to the Rev. Dr. Mayhew, "More books, especially on government, are going to New England. Should those go safe, it is hoped that no principal book on that FIRST subject will be wanting in Harvard College, from the days of Moses to these times. Men of New England, brethren, use them for yourselves and for others; and God bless you."

Expressing most fervent feelings for the purity and liberties of New England, and that the "spirit of luxury which was consuming us to the very marrow may be kept from the people of New England," Hollis said, again, -

"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 accomplished of men that art or wealth can obtain; for nations rise and fall by individuals, not numbers, - as I think all history proveth. With ideas of this kind have I worked for the public library at Cambridge, New England."

"The books he sent," says a writer, "were often political, and of a republican stamp. And it remains for the perspicacity of our historians to ascertain what influence his benefactions and correspondence 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."

"There were extant American reprints of Locke, Hoadly, Sidney, Montesquieu, Priestley, Milton, Price, Gordon's Tacitus, or of portions of their works issued prior to and during the Revolution, in a cheap form, for popular circulation, addressing not passion, but reason, diffusing sound principles and begetting right feelings. 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 during that period.

"Who can limit the influence 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? These books and libraries 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."

Rev. John Wise, pastor of the Congregational church of Ipswich, Massachusetts, published in 1705 a work on the vindication of the government of the New England churches. This work, abounding in sentiments of freedom and liberal ideas and profound views on civil government, was studied by the statesmen and the people during the Revolution; and "some of the most glittering sentences in the immortal Declaration of Independence are almost literal quotations from this essay of John Wise. 1 And it is a significant fact that in 1772, only four years before that declaration was made, a large edition of his works was published, by subscription, in one duodecimo volume. It was used as a political text-book in the great struggle for freedom then opening. Distinguished laymen in all parts of New England, who were soon to be heralded to the world as heroes in that great struggle, are on the list of subscribers for six, twelve, twenty-four, thirty-six, and two of them for a hundred, copies each."

This author, after discussing the various kinds of governments, and their principles and workings, says, -

"A democracy. - This is a form of government which the light of nature does highly value, and directs to as most agreeable to the just and natural prerogatives of human beings. This was of great account in the early times of the world. And not only so, but, upon the experience of several thousand years, after the world had been troubled and tossed from one species of government to another, at a great expense of blood and treasure, many of the wise nations of the world have sheltered themselves under it again, or at least have blended and balanced their governments with it.

"It is certainly a great truth, namely, that man's original liberty, after it is resigned (yet under due restrictions), ought to be cherished in all wise governments; or, otherwise, a man in making himself a subject, alters himself from a freeman into a slave, which to do is repugnant to the laws of nature. Also the natural equality of men amongst men must be duly favored; in that government was never established by God or nature to give one a prerogative to insult over another: therefore, in a civil as well as in a natural state of being, a just equality is to be indulged so far as that every man is bound to honor every man, which is agreeable both to nature and religion, (1 Pet. ii. 17): Honor all men. The end of all good government is to cultivate humanity, and promote the happiness of all, and the good of every man, in all his rights, his life, liberty, estate, honor, &c., without injury or abuse done to any one."

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1) REV. MR. HOWARD,

A Puritan preacher and patriot, before the legislative council of Massachusetts, in 1780, presented the following views on the duties and influence of civil rulers: -

"Our political fathers and civil rulers will not fail to do all they can to promote religion and virtue through the community, as the surest means of rendering their government easy and happy to themselves and the people. For this purpose they will watch over their morals with the same affectionate and tender care that a pious and prudent parent watches over his children, and, by all methods which love to God and man can inspire and wisdom point out, endeavor to check and suppress all impiety and vice, and lead the people to the practice of that righteousness which exalteth a nation. They will render themselves a terror to evil-doers, as well as an encouragement to such as do well. They will promote to places of trust men of piety, truth, and benevolence. Nor will they fail to exhibit in their own lives a fair example of that piety and virtue which they wish to see practised by the people. They will show that they are not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, by paying a due regard to his sacred institutions, and to all the laws of his kingdom. Magistrates may probably do more in this way than in any other, and perhaps more than any other order of men, to preserve or recover the morals of a people. The manners of a court are peculiarly catching, and, like the blood in the heart, quickly flow to the most distant members of the body. If, therefore, rulers desire to see religion and virtue flourish in a nation over which they preside, they must countenance and encourage them by their own examples."

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2) JONAS CLARK,

The pastor of the Congregational Church of Lexington, Massachusetts, was among the foremost and ablest champions of liberty and the Revolution. His field of spiritual labor is immortalized in American history as the field where the first battle for independence was fought, and Lexington is as noble and memorable as Bunker Hill in the annals of freedom. The pastor of this Christian flock had early indoctrinated his people into an ardent love for civil and religious liberty.

"His congregation," says Headley, "were ripe for revolution, ready to die rather than to yield to arbitrary force." "The people had become so thoroughly indoctrinated in his views, and been so animated by his appeals from the pulpit and in public meetings, that the 'General Court' had them embodied in instructions to their delegate to the Provincial legislature, as the expression of their wishes and determination." "This document," says Edward Everett, "in which the principles and opinions of the town are embodied, has few equals, and no superiors, among the productions of that class. Mr. Clark was of a class of citizens who rendered services second to no others in enlightening and animating the popular mind on the great questions at issue: I mean the patriotic clergy of New England."

"It was to a congregation educated by such a man," says Headley, "that Providence allowed to be intrusted the momentous events of the 19th of April, events which were to decide more than the fate of a continent, - that of civil liberty the world over. In surveying the scenes of carnage after the battle of Lexington, Mr. Clark, who had been an active participator, exclaimed, 'From this day will be dated the liberty of the world.' He believed the war to be as just a one as ever was waged by the Israelites of old, and as much under the direction of God. The teachings of the pulpit of Lexington caused the first blow to be struck for American Independence."

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3) JUDAH CHAMPION,

Of Litchfield, Connecticut, was one of the most earnest and eloquent advocates of the Revolution, and during the whole of those eventful times was active and influential in the cause of his country. He was remarkable for the fervor and power of his prayers for the success of the great cause of liberty. On one occasion a regiment of cavalry reached Litchfield on Saturday night, and remained over the Sabbath. The presence of the military raised the devotions of the patriotic pastor to the highest ardor, and in his prayer he spoke of "the hostile invasion, the cruel purpose for which it was set on foot, - of their enmity to the American Church, and the ruin to religion which their success would accomplish, - of congregations scattered, churches burned to the ground, and the Lord's people made a hissing and a by-word among their foes," till his own feelings and those of his hearers were roused into intense excitement in view of the great wrongs and sufferings designed for them and the Church of God, and he burst forth as follows: -

"O Lord, we view with terror and dismay the enemies of our holy religion: wilt thou send storm and tempest to toss them upon the sea, to overwhelm them in the mighty deep, or scatter them to the uttermost parts of the earth. But, peradventure should they escape thy vengeance, collect them together again, O Lord, as in the hollow of thy hand, and let thy lightnings play upon them. We beseech thee, moreover, that thou do gird up the loins of these thy servants who are going forth to fight thy battles. Make them strong men, that one shall chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight. Hold before them the shield with which thou wast wont in the old time to protect thy people. Give them swift feet, that they may pursue their enemies, and swords terrible as that of thy destroying angel, that they may cleave them down. Preserve these servants of thine, Almighty God, and bring them once more to their homes and friends, if thou canst do so consistently with thy high purpose. If, on the other hand, thou hast decreed that they shall die in battle, let thy Spirit be present with them, that they may go up as sweet sacrifices into the courts of thy temple, where habitations are prepared for them from the foundation of the world."

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4) SAMUEL WEBSTER,

In the spring of 1777, preached the election sermon before the House of Representatives of Massachusetts. It was delivered "after the successive disasters that had overtaken the American army, the defeat on Long Island, the fall of New York and Fort Washington, and the flight of Washington and his disorganized army through the Jerseys, - a year wrapped in gloom and fraught with sad forebodings, with only one gleam of sunshine - the battle of Princeton - to cheer the desponding hearts of the patriots." The sermon was full of the fire and patriotism of the times, and closed with the following remarkable prayer: -

"Awake, O Lord, for our help, and come and save us. Awake, O Lord, as in ancient times. Do with them, O Lord, if it be thy will, as thou didst unto the Midianites and their confederates, and to Sisera, and to Jabin, when they invaded thy people, and make their lords and nobles and great commanders like Oreb and Zeeb, and like Zeba and Zalmunna. Though these angry brethren profess to worship the same God with us, yet because it is in a somewhat different mode they seem to have said, Come, let us take the houses of God in possession. Accordingly they have vented a peculiar spite against the houses of God, defaced and defiled thy holy and beautiful sanctuaries where our fathers worshipped thee, turning them into houses of merchandise and receptacles of beasts, and some of them they have torn in pieces and burned with fire. Therefore we humbly pray that thou wilt hedge up their way, and not suffer them to proceed and prosper. Put them to flight speedily, if it be thy holy will, and make them run fast as a wheel downward, or as far as stubble and chaff is driven before the furious whirlwind. As the fire consumes the wood, and sometimes lays waste whole forests on the mountains, so let them be laid waste and consumed if they obstinately persist in their bloody designs against us. Lord, raise a dreadful tempest and affright them, and let thy tremendous storms make them quake with fear; and pursue them with thy arrows, till they are brought to see that God is with us of a truth, and fighteth for us, and so return unto their own land, covered with shame and confusion, and humble themselves before thee and seek to appease thine anger by a bitter repentance for their murderous designs. And let them have neither credit nor courage to come out any more against us. That so all nations, seeing thy mighty power and thy marvellous works, may no more call themselves supreme, but know and acknowledge that thou art God alone, the only supreme Governor among men, doing whatsoever pleaseth thee."

In 1774 the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts acknowledged their 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 acknowledge the goodness of Heaven in constantly supplying us with preachers of the gospel, whose concern has been the temporal and spiritual happiness of the people.

In a day like this, when all the friends of civil and religious liberty are exerting themselves to deliver this country from its present 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 to adhere to the resolutions of the Continental Congress, at Philadelphia, in October, 1774, as the most peaceable and probable method of preventing confusion 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 this province.

Samuel Langdon, D.D., President of Harvard College, preached before the Honorable Congress of Massachusetts Bay, in May, 1775, on the theme "Government corrupted by vice and recovered by righteousness."

"Let us consider," says he, "that for the sins of a people God may suffer the best government to be corrupted or entirely dissolved, and that nothing but a general reformation can give good ground to hope that the public happiness will be restored by the recovery of the strength and perfection of the state, and that Divine Providence will interpose to fill every department with wise and good men.

"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 state; virtue prevails; every thing 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 generally tends to corrupt 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 from Heaven, especially upon 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.

"We have rebelled against God. We have lost the true spirit of Christianity, though we retain the outward profession 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 refinements 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.

"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 distinguished them by the signal favors of his providence when they fled from tyranny and persecution into Western deserts? Have we not departed from their virtues? 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 luxuries 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 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 to carry a vote to secure a particular 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 commands, and joined to promote the Redeemer's kingdom and the public welfare? I wish we could more fully justify ourselves in all these respects. We must 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 judgments, 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.'

"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.' Let us repent, and implore the Divine mercy; let us amend our ways and our doings, REFORM EVERY THING which has been provoking to the Most High, and thus endeavor to obtain the gracious interposition 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 conversation, - we may hope for the direction and blessing of the Most High, while we are using our best endeavors to preserve the civil government of this colony and defend America from slavery.

"And may we not be confident that the Most High will vindicate his own honor, and plead our righteous cause against such enemies to his government as well as our liberties? Oh, may our camp be free from every accursed thing! May our land be purged from all its sins! May we be truly a holy people, and all our towns cities of righteousness! Then the Lord will be our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble, and we shall have no reason to be afraid, though thousands of enemies set themselves against us round about, though all nature should be thrown into tumults and convulsions. He can command the stars in their courses to fight his and our battles, and all the elements to wage war with his and our enemies. He can destroy them with innumerable plagues, or send faintness into their hearts, so that the men of might shall not find their hands. In a variety of methods he can work salvation for us, as he did for his people in ancient days, and according to the many remarkable deliverances granted in former times to New England.

"May the Lord hear us in this day of trouble, and the name of the God of Jacob defend us, send us help from his sanctuary, and strengthen us out of Zion! We will rejoice in his salvation, and in the name of our God will we set up our banners. Let us look to him to fulfil our petitions."

The following is an interesting and solemn scene of the Revolution, published in a religious newspaper of 1858: -

"June 10, 1775. - This has been one of the most important and trying days of my life. I have taken leave of my people for the present, and shall at once proceed to the American camp at Boston and offer my services as chaplain in the army. Ever since the battle of Bunker Hill my mind has been turned to this subject." "God's servants are needed in the army to pray with and for it. This is God's work; and his ministers should set an example that will convince the people that they believe it to be such. But the scene in the house of God to-day has tried me sorely. How silent, how solemn, was the congregation! and when they sang the sixty-first Psalm, commencing, -

'When, overwhelm'd with grief,

My heart within me dies,' -

sobs were heard in every part of the building. At the close, I was astonished to see Deacon S., now nearly sixty years of age, arise and address the congregation. ' Brethren,' said he, 'our minister has acted right. This is God's cause; and as in days of old the priests bore the ark into the midst of the battle, so must they do it now. We should be unworthy of the fathers and mothers who landed on Plymouth Rock, and suffered privations and dangers to secure freedom for us, if we did not cheerfully bear what Providence shall put upon us in the great conflict now before us. I had two sons at Bunker Hill, and one of them, you know, was slain. The other did his duty, and for the future God must do with him what seemeth him best. I offer him to liberty. I had thought I was getting too old to offer myself, and that I would stay here with the church. But my minister is going, and I will shoulder my musket and go too.' In this strain he continued for some time, till the whole congregation was bathed in tears. Oh, God must be with this people in this unequal struggle: else how could they enter upon it with such solemnity and prayer, with such strong reliance on his assistance, and such a profound sense of their need of it? Just before separating, the whole congregation joined in singing, -

'O God, our help in ages past,

Our hope for years to come.' "

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5) REV. JAMES CALDWELL,

Pastor of the Presbyterian church of Elizabethtown, New Jersey, was a martyr for liberty. His church was burned by the British, and he and his family were murdered, in 1780. Rev. Nicholas Murray, pastor of the same church for many years, in a memorial to Congress, in 1840, for payment of the church property destroyed by the British, said, -

"When the glorious war of our Revolution commenced which resulted in our independence, the Rev. James Caldwell was then pastor of this church. His name and fame are interwoven with the history of his country, and are as dear to the State as to the Church. He became early and deeply interested in the conflict, and devoted all his powers no less to the freedom of his country than to the service of his God. Such was his influence over his people that, with few exceptions, they became one with him in sentiment and feeling; and thenceforward he and they were branded as the rebel parson and parish. To the enemies of his country he was an object of the deepest hatred; and such was their known thirst for his life, that, while preaching the gospel of peace to his people, he was compelled to lay his loaded pistols by his side in the pulpit."

"In the exciting scenes," says Headley, "that immediately preceded the Revolution, he bore a prominent and leading part. His congregation upheld him, almost to a man; and when we remember that such patriots as Elias Boudinot, William Livingston, Francis Barber, the Daytons and Ogdens, composed it, we cannot wonder that both pastor and people were looked upon as head rebels of the province, and became peculiarly obnoxious to the loyalists. In intelligence, ardor, and patriotism they had no superior, and formed a band of noble men of which New Jersey is justly proud.

"At the first call to arms, the State offered its brigade for the common defence, and Mr. Caldwell was elected its chaplain. His immense popularity gave him an influence that filled the tories with rage and made his name common as a household word among the British troops. They offered a large reward for his capture. For his personal safety, he went armed.

"So entire was the confidence of the people in his integrity that, when the army became greatly reduced, and both provisions and money were hard to be obtained, he was appointed Assistant Commissary-General. He not only was earnest and eloquent in his pulpit for the cause of his country, but was active and brave in battle. In one of the engagements near Springfield, New Jersey, Mr. Caldwell was in the hottest of the fight, and, seeing the fire of one of the companies slacken for want of wadding, he galloped to the Presbyterian meeting- house near by, and, rushing in, ran from pew to pew, filling his arms with hymn-books. Hastening back with these into battle, he scattered them about in every direction, saying, as he pitched one here and another there, "Now, boys, put Watts into them."

"The unselfish and entire devotion of this gifted man to his country was of the Washington type, - a devotion in which life itself and all its outward interests were forgotten, or remembered only as an offering ever ready to be made to her welfare. The cause of freedom, and especially the State of New Jersey, owe him a large debt of gratitude."

A monument to Dr. Caldwell stands in the burial-ground of the First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethtown, New Jersey, where sleep many of the heroes of the Revolution. The inscription is as follows: -

EAST SIDE. - "This monument is erected to the memory of the Rev. James Caldwell, the pious and fervent Christian, the zealous and faithful minister, the eloquent preacher, and a prominent leader among the worthies who secured the independence of his country. His name will be cherished in the Church and in the State so long as virtue is esteemed and patriotism rewarded."

WEST SIDE. - "Hannah, wife of the Rev. James Caldwell, and daughter of Jonathan Ogden, of Newark, was killed at Connecticut Farms, by a shot from a British soldier, June 24th, 1780, cruelly sacrificed by the enemies of her husband and of her country."

NORTH SIDE. - "The memory of the just is blessed.' 'Be of good courage, and let us behave ourselves valiantly for our people, and for the cities of our God, and let the Lord do that which is good in his sight.' 'The glory of children are their fathers.' "

SOUTH SIDE. - "James Caldwell, born in Charlotte County, in Virginia, April, 1734. Graduated at Princeton College, 1759. Ordained pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethtown, 1762. After serving as chaplain in the army of the Revolution, and acting as commissary to the troops in New Jersey, he was killed by a shot from a sentinel at Elizabethtown Point, November 24th, 1781.

"THE MEMORY OF THE JUST IS BLESSED."

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6) GEORGE DUFFIELD,

Of Philadelphia, was an eminent preacher and patriot of the Revolution, and devoted to the cause of his country. He was among the first chaplains to the Colonial Congress, and did good service to the civil council as well as to the armies of his country. Dr. Sprague, in his "Annals of the American Pulpit," says of this pious and patriotic preacher, -

"He was a bold and zealous assertor of the rights of conscience, an earnest and powerful advocate of civil and religious liberty. During the pending of the measures which were maturing the Declaration of Independence, while the prospects of the colonies seemed most gloomy, his preaching contributed greatly to encourage and animate the friends of liberty. So much did he value prayer, and so important did he feel it to be to excite and encourage the men that had left their homes and perilled their lives in the cause of freedom, to look to God and put their trust in Him, that he would, occasionally, in the darkest hour of the Revolution, leave his charge, and repair to the camp, where the fathers and sons of many of his flock were gathered, and minister to them in the public preaching of the word and personal service." "He was with the army in their battles and retreats through Jersey, during that dark and nearly hopeless period of the Revolution."

The patriots of the first Congress attended his church; and John Adams and his compeers were often his hearers.

His soul could infuse courage in the hour of danger, and sheer the disheartened in disaster, by example, precept, and prayer. He was well known in camp; and his visits were always welcome, for the soldiers loved the eloquent, earnest, fearless patriot.

The following is a fine specimen of the eloquence and fervor of Dr. Duffield's piety and patriotism, and a precious relic of Revolutionary times, taken from a discourse preached

At Pine Street Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, March 17, 1776, by Rev. George Duffield, D.D., Pastor. Isaiah xxi . 11, 12: - "The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will inquire, inquire ye: return, come."

* * * * * * * *

The instruction afforded in these words is as follows: -

I. That it is the duty of a people, under a pressure of trouble and distress, to be earnest in applying to God respecting their affairs.

II. That such a people have encouragement to expect God will answer them, and with the affliction administer comfort to them.

I. What is implied in applying to God in such circumstances?

1. A generous concern for the public good. 

Idumea's watchman, representing all those of the inhabitants of that country suitably exercised in that day of trial (and every true patriot in our day), seems to have abandoned every meaner consideration, to have lost every thought of private concern for himself or his own peculiar interest, in an ardent glow of zeal for the good of the common cause, by which, while others indulge in repose, his eyes slumber not; he watches for his country's good; his thoughts are all on this; and his busy, laboring mind is consulting, planning, and inquiring for its good. 

View him a moment on his watch-tower on Mount Seir: his looks are the picture of deep concern; anxious care dwells seated on his brow; painful study for his country's good has emaciated his frame, spread a solemn composure over his countenance, and hastened his age faster far than hurrying time itself would roll away his years!

Such a patriot was good Hezekiah, who lived only to serve his country, whose days were measured by diligence for its good and planning for its greatest benefit, and whose constitution was so enfeebled by unremitting care that ere he had reached his fortieth year he had sunk before the first attack of disease, had not a miracle interposed for his deliverance. 

Such patriots of old were Samuel and Ezra, and, in the field, the brave Uriah. Such may thy councils, O America, and and such thine armies, ever contain.

2. A sense of the overruling government of God determining the affairs of men.

Without this, the Idumean patriot had never called with such ardor to the watchman God had appointed to observe and declare his will. So intimately is a reverence for God connected with the proper discharge of every duty we owe to our fellow-men, as individuals, or the community at large, - both proceeding from the same good principle within, - that never can there be a proper and sincere discharge of the latter where the former is neglected. TRUE PATRIOTISM IS FOUNDED IN TRUE RELIGION; and where the latter is not, there is great danger of the former being bought or bribed by an adequate price, or in some way blasted, lilke the seed sown in stony ground, that perished through want of root.

3. A diligent attention to the use of means.

God has so determined, in the ordinary course of his providential dispensations, that the blessings he designs to bestow are yet to be sought after and obtained in the use of the proper means. Eden itself was not to nourish Adam without dressing. The same God that fed Elijah by the brook could have commanded the ravens to feed the family of Jacob, but they must travel to Egypt for bread. Canaan was given to Israel, but they must march and fight and toil to subdue and possess it. Paul was assured that the ship's crew would all be saved, but the mariners must stay aboard and ply their endeavors, or not a soul would be safe. And who that considers the engagedness of this earnest Edomite, "calling from Seir," can doubt his diligence in every measure adapted to obtain the end?

4. The true patriot must be earnestly engaged in prayer.

In the common affairs of life, as well as in religion, we may adopt the language of the apostle, and, whether Paul plant or Apollos water, it is God must give the increase. This is the Psalmist's idea (Ps. cxxvii. 1), "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it, " &c. It is this blessing that makes prosperous as well as rich, &c. To him, therefore, with great propriety does the pious Idumean look, and ardently pray, in our text; and it will generally be found that when God is about to bestow any remarkable favor on a person or people, he previously pours upon that people or person a spirit of earnest supplication to God for his favor.

That it is the incumbent duty of a people, and especially when involved in calamitous circumstances, thus to pray; consider -

1. God has commanded it, and to his injunction added great encouragement. Ps.1.15 : "Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me." Ps. xxxviii. 5: “Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass." Joel ii. 32: "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord has said." Hence, -

2. Prayer is one of the most probable means of obtaining deliverance from trouble.

As the calamities of a people are the chastening of God for their sins, and one end designed therein is to bring them back to Him from whom they have departed, the more they are brought to a sense of their dependence on God, and engaged in returning and making supplication to him, the greater is their prospect not only of being delivered, but of having their calamities converted into blessings . Micah iv. 6: And "I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted, and I will make her that was cast off a strong nation."

3. Prayer brings down the perfections of God to the assistance of those who are thus exercised. Ps . xvi. 1: “Preserve me, O God; for in thee do I put my trust." Ps. cxviii. 5-12: "I called upon the Lord in distress: the Lord answered me, and set me in a large place. The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me? The Lord taketh my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes. All nations compassed me about: but in the name of the Lord will I destroy them. They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about; but in the name of the Lord I will destroy them. They compassed me about like bees; they are quenched as the fire of thorns: for in the name of the Lord I will destroy them."

II. Let us now consider THE ANSWER, and point out some signs that promise a morning of deliverance to a people afflicted.

Known unto God are all his ways from the beginning; and from the perfections of Deity we may safely assert that all moral and natural evil will finally be rendered subservient to the perfection of the Divine plan; but in what manner this shall be done surpasses the contracted power of the feeble mind of man to determine, and rests perhaps among the mysteries of heaven that Gabriel himself has not explained, but waits for the finishing scene to explain the mysterious drama. Yet so it is. As day and night succeed each other in the natural, so both the natural and the moral world have their nights and their days in successive interesting periods, since the memorable hour when Adam forsook his God, and introduced moral evil, and its inseparable attendant, natural evil, into this small province of the Great Creator's kingdom. The whole world throughout is as of the Jews in our text, "The morning cometh, and also the night," and so shall continue until night and day be blended no more.

Eternal day and eternal night will possess their eternally-separated regions, and separate the inhabitants in endless happiness and joy, or everlasting horror and despair.

The particular time of the Jewish state, designed in our text by the morning and the night here mentioned, may be hard to determine; but it will with great propriety apply to various periods.

It was, at the time of the prophecy, a night of sore impending distress from Sennacherib the Assyrian king. A MORNING of deliverance came in the destruction of Rabshakeh's army. (2 Kings xix.)

The troubled state of affairs for a series of years before and through the Babylonish captivity was a season of night. A morning came in the return under Cyrus.

It was a long night, in respect of religion, through the whole of their ceremonial service: this was still darker before the coming of Christ, but in him arose a bright morning.

"A dayspring from on high visited them, to give light to those that were in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide their feet into the way of peace." ( Luke i. 78, 79.)

Night came on them in the destruction of their city and nation, and has continued now 1700 years; but the prophets and the Apostle Paul (Rom. xi. 15, 26) promise them a glorious morning in the latter days of the world.

The Christian Church has had its nights and its mornings.

And the like has been the case with every nation in a measure.

But it more especially concerns us to attend to the improvement of this doctrine, both with respect to individuals and to the present state of our own public affairs.

Improvement. - 1. In the way of comfort to the people of God: for -

(a.) All their affairs are ordered by God, who is their God, and to whom they have a right to go as their God and inquire.

(b.) Though they have a night, there is an eternal morning in reserve. But -

2. Our subject is full of gloom to sinners out of Christ. Now they have a night of spiritual darkness and death; an eternal night of dreadful misery and despair awaits you - very shortly - hereafter.

3. The improvement of our subject naturally leads our thoughts to the state of our public affairs.

It is at present a night scene over this vast northern part of the New World. God, to chastise us for our offences, and for wise and important purposes, has suffered dark clouds to envelope our sky. It becomes every one, who wishes his own or his country's good, to inquire, "Watchman, what of the night?" It is a time for earnest prayer, joined with diligent endeavor. There is in store an answer of mercy! There is a morning in reserve, though the night may continue some time.

REASONS TO EXPECT A MORNING. - 1. God never has cast off and destroyed a nation so soon, as it would be to deliver America now to ruin. Look at the antediluvian world, - the Amorites, and other nations of Canaan - the Jews, &c.

2. The western world appears to have been retained for that purpose, and designed by an ordinance of Heaven as an ASYLUM for LIBERTY, civil and religious. Our forefathers, who first inhabited yonder eastern shores, fled from the iron rod and heavy hand of tyranny. This it was, and no love of earthly gain or prospect of temporal grandeur, that urged them, like Abraham of old, to leave their native soil and tender connections behind, to struggle through winds and waves, and seek a peaceful retreat in a then howling wilderness, where they might rear the banner of liberty and dwell contented under its propitious shade, esteeming this more than all the treasures of a British Egypt, from whence they were driven forth. Methinks I see them on the inhospitable shore they were hastening to leave, and hear them adopt the sentiment of the Psalmist, lv. 6, 7, to give it in the expressive language of Watts, with a small variation: -

"Oh, were I like a feather'ddove,

And innocence had wings;

I'd fly, and make a far remove,

From persecuting kings."

Nor was it the fostering care of Britain produced the rapid populating of these colonies, but the tyranny and oppression, both civil and ecclesiastical, of that and other nations, constrained multitudes to resign every other earthly comfort, and leave their country and their friends, to enjoy in peace the fair possession of freedom in this western world. It is this has reared our cities, and turned the wilderness, so far and wide, into a fruitful field. America's sons, very few excepted, were all refugees, the chosen spirits of various nations, that could not, like Issachar, bow down between the two burdens of the accursed cruelty of tyranny in Church and State. And can it be supposed that the Lord has so far forgot to be gracious, or shut up his tender mercies in his wrath, to favor the arms of oppression and to deliver up this asylum to slavery and bondage? Can it be supposed that the God who made man free, and engraved in indefeasible characters the love of liberty in his mind, should forbid freedom, already exiled from Asia, Africa, and under sentence of banishment from Europe, - that he should forbid her to erect her banner here, and constrain her to abandon the earth? As soon shall he reverse creation, and forbid yonder sun to shine! To the Jews he preserved their cities of refuge; and while sun and moon endure, America shall remain a CITY OF REFUGE FOR THE WHOLE EARTH, until she herself shall play the tyrant, disgrace her freedom, and provoke her God! When that day shall come, if ever, then, and not till then, shall she also fall, "slain with those that go down to the pit."

3. The spirit and ardent love of liberty that has possessed these colonies so wide and far, is a strong evidence of a morning, a bright morning, hastening on. It is the same spirit that inspired our forefathers' breasts when first they left their native shores and embarked for this then howling desert. Their mortal part has mingled with the dust, but the surviving spirit has triumphed over death and the grave, and descended to their sons; and it is this spirit, beating high in the veins of their off-spring, has roused them so unanimous and determined in the present struggle. 'Tis this spirit has formed our extensive UNION, and inspired our councils with that magnanimity and lustre that astonishes half the world. 'Tis this spirit has enrolled your Congresses and conventions in the annals of immortal fame. 'Tis this spirit has enabled your dear, suffering brethren in yonder once flourishing city [Boston], now almost a ruinous heap, to endure joyfully the spoiling of their goods, glorying to be accounted worthy to suffer in the honorable cause! 'Twas this spirit that ranked a WARREN, A MONTGOMERY, and others, upon the list of protomartyrs for American liberty. And this same spirit has led you forth, ye patriot bands, associated in your country's cause, and will, I trust, still urge you on to noble deeds, and bravely to prefer a glorious death to slavery and chains!

And this - what shall I call it less than a DIVINE AFFLATUS so generally prevailing through all ranks, in the cabinet and in the field - is an argument from heaven that America shall rise triumphant over the proud waves and raging billows that now threaten her ruin! When a nation is to be destroyed, she is, as described by Hosea vii. 11, "like a silly dove without heart;" but when this divine afflatus comes upon a nation, and it is refreshed like a giant with new wine, the omen is sure and the victory inevitable.

4. There is great reason to believe that the Church of Christ is yet to have a glorious day in America.

Religion, like the sun, rose in the east, and has continued its progress in a western direction. Once it flourished in Asia. Now it is almost total darkness there. From thence it came to Europe, and there shone bright for a season; but scenes of persecution harassed it, and the shadows of a dark evening have long been gathering round it. AMERICA seems to have been prepared as the wilderness to which the woman should fly from the face of the dragon and be nourished for a long series of time. ( Rev. xii. 6.) God has here planted his Church; he has hedged it round, and made it to flourish; and though there have been some few, some very few remains of a mistaken zeal for piety, in attempting to fetter the minds of men with pains and penalties, yet it may with great justice be said, in no part of the earth does religious liberty equally prevail, and just sentiments of the rights of conscience obtain, as in this land. Here has pure and undefiled religion lengthened her cords and strengthened her stakes. Yonder to-day are the praises of God singing, and the word of his grace proclaimed, where but a few years back his name was not known, nor any thing heard but the yells of savage beasts, or poor indarkened Indian tribes, equally ignorant of the true God as the beasts themselves.

How large an addition to the kingdom of Christ has been made in this land! The King of glory has here indeed gone forth, with his sword on his thigh, riding prosperously in state, conquering and to conquer! The progress of this kingdom is still continued with a rapid career; and shall his foes tear the laurels from the brow of the great Redeemer, and deliver his victory and glorious prospects into slavery and thraldom? Forbid it, Jesus, from thy throne! It shall not take place! The Church shall flourish here and hold on her way triumphant, in spite of kings, lords, Commons, and devils, until yonder vast unexplored western regions shall all resound the praises of God, and the unenlightened tribes of the wilderness shall know and adore our Immanuel. And as civil and religious liberty live or languish together, so shall the civil liberty of America hold pace with the triumphs of the gospel throughout this extensive land.

Though we are wicked enough, God knows, and have much need of repentance and returning to our God, as we would wish and hope for his favor, yet we are not arrived to that degree of impiety, or that so generally prevailing as is usually, and, I may say, always, the case before God gives up and delivers a land into the hand of their enemies; and this is an argument why we may yet hope for a morning and a further day.

5. The peculiar hand of Providence that has evidently led us hitherto, and the remarkable smiles of Heaven on our attempts thus far for our defence, and his frowns upon those that have risen up against us, afford also a pleasing prospect. "Had not the Lord," now may America say, "had not the Lord been on our side, ... the proud waters had gone over our soul." "Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth." ( Psalm exxiv.)

In all these things I have mentioned, to which more might be added, God speaks clearly in his providence, as on Sinai out of the cloud; and to us is the watchman's reply, The MORNING COMETH, though a space of night may intervene. How long before it may arise, or in what manner the clouds shall break before it, or what connection America then shall have with any other nation (Britain going down to the deep,) or whether with any at all, that God who directs her counsels will determine!

At the conclusion of the war, Dr. Duffield delivered a sermon in the Pine Street Presbyterian Church, on the thanksgiving day appointed for the peace of 1783, in which he said, -

"The establishment of America in the peaceable possession of her rights stands an instance of the Divine favor unexampled in the records of time. Who does not remember the general language when the war commenced, cheerfully to pay one-half of our property to secure our rights? But even half of this has not been required. Taken on a national scale, the price of our peace, when compared with the advantages gained, scarce deserves the name.

"In whatever point of light we view this great event, we are constrained to say, 'It is the doing of the Lord, and marvellous in our eyes.' And to him be rendered thanks and praise. Not unto us, not unto us, but to thy name, O Lord, be the glory. Both success and safety come of thee. And thou reignest over all, and hast wrought all our works, in us and for us. Praise, therefore, thy God, O America; praise the Lord, ye his highly favored United States. Nor let it rest in the fleeting language of the lip, or the formal thanksgiving of a day. But let every heart glow with gratitude, and every life, by a devout regard to his holy law, proclaim his praise. It is this our God requires, as that wherein our personal and national good and the glory of his great name consist, and without which all our professions will be but an empty name. It is that we love the Lord our God, to walk in his ways and keep his commandments, to observe his statutes and judgments, that we do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God. Then shall God delight to dwell amongst us, and these United States shall long remain a great, a glorious, and a happy people."

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7) REV. JOHN WOODHULL, D.D.,

Pastor of the Freehold Presbyterian Church of New Jersey, was distinguished for his devotion to the cause of freedom. "He was one of the most active patriots of his day, and his zeal in the cause of his country was largely infused into his congregation. On one occasion every man in his parish went out to oppose the enemy, except one feeble old invalid, who bade them God-speed. The zealous minister went with them as pastor."

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8) REV. DR. JOHN H. LIVINGSTON

Was a distinguished patriot and preacher of the Dutch Reformed Church of New York. Shortly after the War of the Revolution began, the British gained possession of the city, and those who were favorable to the American cause, with their families, sought refuge and sojourned during the war in different places in the country. The congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church was strongly united in the cause of independence. During the occupation of the city by the British, several of the churches, especially where the congregations generally espoused the cause of freedom, were sadly desecrated and abused. Conspicuous among these were the Middle and North Reformed Dutch Churches, where Dr. Livingston preached. The Middle Church was used as a prison, and afterwards as a riding-school for the British officers and soldiers, and became the scene of habitual ribaldry, profanity, and dissipation. The whole of the interior, galleries and all, was destroyed, leaving the bare walls and roof.

The treaty of peace was concluded in 1783, and the British forces left the city on the 25th of November. On the 2d of December the Consistory of the Dutch churches met, and by resolution expressed their gratitude to God for his blessing, which had granted success in the struggle for independence and returned them in peace to their homes and to the house of God. Whilst they rejoiced in this long-desired reunion, they contemplated with sadness the desolations which had taken place, but at once arose unitedly, with prayer and in faith, to build again the waste places. The Middle Dutch Church was re-opened for divine service on the 4th of July, 1790, when Dr. Livingston preached an eloquent and patriotic sermon. It closed as follows: -

"To these great purposes this building was formerly devoted, and for these important ends it is now raised from its ruins. But the mention of ruins calls back our thoughts to past scenes, and presents disagreeable ideas to our minds. When destruction is caused by the immediate hand of Heaven, by earthquakes, storms, or fire, we are silent before God, and dare not reply. But when men have been the instruments, it is difficult, although proper, to look up to the overruling Power and to forget the interposition of the means. I dare not speak of the wanton cruelty of those who destroyed this temple, nor repeat the various indignities which have been perpetrated. It would be easy to mention facts which would chill your blood! A recollection of the groans of dying prisoners which pierced this ceiling, or the sacrilegious sports and rough feats of horsemanship exhibited within these walls, might raise sentiments in your mind that would, perhaps, not harmonize with those religious affections which I wish at present to promote and always to cherish.

"The Lord has sufficiently vindicated our cause and avenged us of those who rose up against us. He girded our Joshua (Washington) for the field, and led him, with his train of heroes, to victory. Heaven directed our councils and wrought deliverance. Our enemies themselves acknowledged an interposing Providence, and were obliged to say, The Lord hath done great things for them; while we repeat the shout of praise, The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad. Through the long avenue of danger and perplexity, while discouragements like dark clouds were hovering all around, who could penetrate the gloom and foresee that God would soon bring order out of confusion, so soon dismiss the horrors of war and grant an honorable peace, - perfect revolution? Where was it ever seen, excepting only in Israel, that God took a nation out of the midst of another nation, with such a mighty hand and a stretched-out arm?

"Who could have predicted that from such indigested materials, with such short experience, and within so few years, an efficient, liberal, and pervading government would have been formed? A station and a rank are now obtained among the nations of the earth; and if the full enjoyment of civil and religious liberty is a constitutional part of social happiness, if the prospects of the rising importance, strength, and greatness of our new empire are of any weight in the scale, we may safely pronounce ourselves on this day to be the happiest nation in the world, a nation where all the rights of man are perfectly secured, without a monarchy, without hereditary nobility, and without an hierarchy.

"Hail, happy land! A land of liberty, of science and religion! Here an undisturbed freedom in worship forms the first principle of an equal government, and is claimed as a birthright which none of our rulers dare call in question or control. Here no sect is legally professed with exclusive prerogatives, the chief magistrate worships as a private citizen, and legislators by their influential example, not by penal laws, prove nursing fathers to the Church of Christ. In this happy and elevated situation, the ruins of our temples and all we have sustained appear a price too small to mention. We are more than compensated. We have forgiven, and we forget, past injuries. God has abundantly made up all our former griefs. When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing.

"We are a happy people; we feel and know that we are so. The labors of the husbandman prosper, and there is plenty in all our borders. Commerce is enlarged, and public credit established. The education of youth is universally patronized, and there is no complaining in our streets. In safety we sit every man under his own vine and fig-tree, and there are none to make us afraid. With sufficient room to accommodate nations, and a government adequate to all the important purposes of society, we are not only at ease ourselves, but extend our arms and cordially invite an oppressed world to come under our shade and share in our happiness. Happy is that people that is in such a case! Yea, happy is that people whose God is the Lord. Whether we shall continue thus happy will greatly depend upon our wisdom and justice, our industry and manners, but principally upon our faithfully remembering the name of the Lord. According to the measure in which the religion of the blessed Jesus is honored and prevails, our land will be truly happy and our liberty secure. This holy religion establishes the purest morality, and inculcates the reciprocal obligations which members of society are under to each other. It engages men of all ranks, by the highest sanctions, conscientiously to fulfil the duties of their stations, and it is, without controversy, the surest pledge of Divine protection.

"The maintenance of this in its purity will most effectually establish our invaluable blessings, and as this declines our ruin will hasten. See the rule of Providence with respect to nations (Jer. xviii. 9, 10): 'At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it. If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good wherewith I said I would benefit them.'

"While others, at our political anniversary, in their animated orations, employ all the powers of eloquence to confirm your title of liberty, and by enraptured views of civil blessings touch with transport all the springs of life, I desire, with plainness of speech, but with a zeal becoming a minister of the gospel, to raise your views to heaven and persuade you wisely to improve your present privileges. Seven years are not elapsed since we returned to this city in peace. And, lo! in less than seven years two ruined churches have been repaired. The Lord hath strengthened our hands, and given success to our efforts. Let an humble sense of our dependence upon him, and recollection of his numerous mercies, call forth lively gratitude upon this occasion. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul! and forget not all his benefits. It is, my brethren, a circumstance which upon our part is altogether fortuitous, but it deserves your notice, that, in the direction of Providence, you have more than one object upon this memorable Fourth of July that claims your attention.

"While you glow with patriotic ardor for your country, and pour out fervent prayers for its rising honor and happiness, you are also exulting that the gates of this house are opened to you. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise; be thankful unto him, and bless his name."

William Smith, D.D., Provost of the College at Philadelphia, preached, June 23, 1775, at the request of the officers of the third battalion of that city, and the district of Southwark, a sermon on American affairs, from which the following are extracts: -

You are now engaged in one of the greatest struggles to which freemen can be called. You are contending for what you conceive to be your constitutional rights, and for a final settlement of the terms upon which this country may be perpetually united to the parent state. Look back, therefore, with reverence. Look back to the times of ancient virtue and renown. Look back to the mighty purposes which your fathers had in view when they traversed a vast ocean and planted this land. Recall to your minds their labors, their toils, their perseverance, and let a divine spirit animate you in all your actions.

Look forward also to a distant posterity. Figure to yourselves millions and millions to spring from your loins, who may be born freemen or slaves, as Heaven shall now approve or reject our councils. Think that on you it may depend whether this great country, in ages hence, shall be filled and adorned with a virtuous and enlightened people, enjoying liberty and all its concomitant blessings, together with the religion of Jesus as it flows uncorrupted from his holy oracles, or covered with a race of men more contemptible than the savages that roam the wilderness, because they once knew the things which belong to their happiness and peace, but suffered them to be hid from their eyes.

And, while you thus look back to the past and forward to the future, fail not, I beseech you, to look up to "the God of gods, the rock of your salvation." As "the clay in the potter's hands," so are the nations of the earth in the hands of him, the everlasting JEHOVAH. He lifteth up, and he casteth down. He resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. He will keep the feet of his saints. The wicked shall be silent in darkness, and by strength shall no man prevail.

The bright prospects of the gospel, a thorough veneration of the Saviour of the world, a conscientious obedience to his divine laws, faith in his promises, and the steadfast hope of immortal life through him, these only can support a man in all times of adversity as well as prosperity. You might more easily "strike fire out of ice" than stability or magnanimity out of crimes. But the good man, he who is at peace with the God of all peace, will know no fear but that of offending Him whose hand can cover the righteous, "so that he needs not fear the arrow that flieth by day, nor the destruction that wasteth at noonday; for a thousand shall fall beside him, and ten thousand at his right hand; but it shall not come nigh to him, for he shall give his angels charge over him to keep him in all his ways."

On the omnipotent God, therefore, through his blessed Son, let your strong confidence be placed; but do not vainly expect that every day will be to you a day of prosperity and triumph. The ways of Providence lie through mazes too intricate for human penetration. Mercies may often be held forth to us in the shape of sufferings; and the vicissitudes of our fortune, in building up the American fabric of happiness and glory, may be various and checkered.

But let not this discourage you. Yea, rather let it animate you with a holy fervor, a divine enthusiasm, ever persuading yourselves that the cause of virtue and freedom is the cause of God upon the earth, and that the whole theatre of human nature does not exhibit a more august spectacle than a number of freemen, in dependence upon Heaven, mutually binding themselves to encounter every difficulty and danger in support of their native and constitutional rights and for transmitting them holy and unviolated to their posterity.

It was this principle that inspired the heroes of ancient times, - that raised their names to the summit of renown and filled all succeeding ages with their unspotted praise. It is this principle, too, that must animate your conduct if you wish your names to reach future generations, conspicuous in the roll of glory; and so far as this principle leads you, be prepared to follow, whether to life or to death.

While you profess yourselves contending for liberty, let it be with the temper and dignity of freemen, undaunted and firm, but without wrath or vengeance, so far as grace may be obtained to assist the weakness of nature. Consider it as a happy circumstance, if such a struggle must have happened, that God hath been pleased to postpone it to a period when our country is adorned with men of enlightened zeal, - when the arts and sciences are planted among us to secure a succession of such men, - when our morals are not much tainted by luxury, profusion, or dissipation, when the principles that withstood oppression, in the brightest era of the English history, are ours as it were by peculiar inheritance, - and when we stand upon our own ground, with all that is dear around us, animating us to every patriotic exertion. Under such circumstances and upon such principles, what wonders, what achievements of true glory, have not been performed!

For my part, I have long been possessed with a strong and even enthusiastic persuasion that Heaven has great and gracious purposes towards this continent, which no human power or human device shall be able finally to frustrate. Illiberal or mistaken plans of policy may distress us for a while, and perhaps sorely check our growth; but if we maintain our own virtue, if we cultivate the spirit of liberty among our children, if we guard against the snares of luxury, venality, and corruption, the GENIUS OF AMERICA will still rise triumphant, and that with a power at last too mighty for opposition. This country will be free, - nay, for ages to come, a chosen seat of freedom, arts, and heavenly knowledge; which are now either drooping or dead in most countries of the Old World.

To conclude, since the strength of all public bodies, under God, consists in their UNION, bear with each other's infirmities, and even varieties of sentiment, in things not essential to the main point. The tempers of men are cast in various moulds. Some are quick and feelingly alive in all their mental operations, especially those which relate to their country's weal, and therefore are ready to burst forth into flame upon every alarm. Others, again, with intentions alike pure, and a clear unquenchable love of their country, too steadfast to be damped by the mists of prejudice or worked up into conflagration by the rude blasts of passion, think it their duty to weigh consequences, and to deliberate fully upon the probable means of obtaining public ends. Both these kinds of men should bear with each other, for both are friends to their country.

One thing further let me add: that without order and just subordination there can be no union in public bodies. However much you may be equals on other occasions, yet all this must cease in a united and associated capacity, and every individual is bound to keep the place and duty assigned him, by ties far more powerful over a man of virtue and honor than all the other ties which human policy can contrive. It had been better never to have lifted a voice in your country's cause than to betray it by want of union, or to leave worthy men, who have embarked their all for the common good, to suffer or stand unassisted.

Lastly, by every method in your power, and in every possible case, support the LAWS of your country. In a contest for liberty think what a crime it would be to suffer one freeman to be insulted, or wantonly injured in his liberty, so far as by your means it may be prevented.

Thus animated and thus acting, we may then sing, with the prophet, -

"Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things. Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig-tree and the vine do yield their strength."

Thus animated and thus acting, we may likewise PRAY, with the prophet, -

"O Lord, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee. Be thou our arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble. Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. O thou hope of Israel, the Saviour thereof in time of need, thou art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name; LEAVE US NOT. Give us one heart and one way, that we may fear thee forever, for the good of ourselves and our children after us. We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, but behold we are in trouble. Yet will we trust in the Lord forever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. He will yet bind up the broken-hearted, and comfort those that mourn." Even so, O our God, do thou comfort and relieve them, that so the bones which thou hast broken may yet rejoice. Inspire us with a high and commanding sense of the value of our constitutional rights; may a spirit of wisdom and virtue be poured down upon us all, and may our representatives, those who are delegated to devise and appointed to execute public measures, be directed to such as thou in thy sovereign goodness shalt be pleased to render effectual for the salvation of a great empire and reuniting all its members in one sacred bond of harmony and public happiness! Grant this, O Father, for thy Son Jesus Christ's sake, to whom, with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, be glory, honor, and power, now and forever. AMEN.

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9) REV. JACOB GREEN, D.D.,

Was a distinguished Presbyterian divine, and among the earliest defenders of his country. "He was," says Dr. Sprague, "an earnest advocate for independence. He published a pamphlet to show its reasonableness and necessity at a period when such an opinion was very extensively branded as a political heresy. He was elected a member of the Provincial Congress of New Jersey, which set aside the royal Government of that province and formed the present Constitution of the State; and he was Chairman of the Committee that drafted the Constitution."

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10) REV. DR. BEATTY

Gave four sons to the Revolutionary army, - men of learning and true courage, who served their country with patriotism and marked ability. Their father was an earnest and able friend to his country, and prayed and preached patriotism in his pulpit.

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11) REV. JOHN ROGERS, D.D.,

For many years a Presbyterian pastor of the city of New York, was distinguished as a patriot in the Revolution. He and Drs. Mason and Laidlie, of the Associate Reformed Church, with others, instituted a weekly prayer-meeting, to invoke God's blessing on the country and to counsel the best means to aid it. Rogers was on intimate terms with Washington, and the commander-in-chief often consulted the patriot minister on subjects connected with the war. In 1776 he was appointed chaplain in General Heath's brigade, the duties of which he performed "with great zeal and fidelity, exhibiting at once a spirit of earnest piety and glowing patriotism." At the close of the war, on the day of national thanksgiving, he preached a sermon, which was published, on "The Divine Hand displayed in the American Revolution." In that sermon, alluding to the destruction of the churches by the British, he says, -

"It is much to be lamented that the troops of a nation who have been considered one of the bulwarks of the Reformation should act as if they had waged war with the God whom Christians adore. They have, in the course of this war, utterly destroyed more than fifty places of worship in these States. Most of these they burned; others they levelled with the ground, and in some places left not a vestige of their former situation; while they have wantonly defaced, or rather destroyed, others, by converting them into barracks, jails, hospitals, riding-schools, &c. Boston, Newport, Philadelphia, and Charleston all furnished melancholy instances of this prostitution and abuse of the houses of God; and of nineteen places of public worship in this city, when the war began, there were but nine fit for use when the British troops left it. It is true, Trinity Church, and the old Lutheran, were destroyed by fire, that laid waste so great a part of the city, a few nights after the enemy took possession of it. The fire was occasioned by the carelessness of their people, and they prevented its extinguishment. But the ruinous situation in which they left two of the Low Dutch Reformed churches, the three Presbyterian churches, the French Protestant church, the Anabaptist church, and the Friends' new meeting-house, was the effect of design, and strongly marks their enmity against those societies."

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12) REV. TIMOTHY DWIGHT,

An eloquent and learned minister, and for many years a distinguished and learned President of Yale College, was a fearless patriot and preacher. "He entered," says Goodrich, in his "Recollections of a Lifetime," "the American Revolutionary army as chaplain to General Putnam's regiment, with the ardor of a youthful Christian patriot, - preached with energy to the troops in the camp, sometimes with a pile of the regiment's drums before him instead of a desk. One of his sermons, intended to raise the drooping courage of his country when Burgoyne had come down from Canada with his army and was carrying all before him, was published, and a copy read to the garrison in Fort Stanwix, on the Mohawk River, when Sir John Johnson had cut off their communication with Albany and threatened their destruction. The venerable Colonel Platt, many years after, affirmed that it was owing to this sermon that the garrison determined to hold out to the last extremity, and made the sally in which they routed and drove off their besiegers, delivered Albany from imminent danger, and contributed materially to the defeat of the British in their campaign of 1777."

Previous to the Declaration of Independence, Mr. Dwight urged that act before the public. He says, "I urged, in conversation with several gentlemen of great respectability, firm Whigs and my intimate friends, the importance, and even the necessity, of a declaration of independence on the part of the colonies. For myself, I regarded the die as cast and the hope of reconciliation as vanished, and believed that the colonists would never be able to defend themselves, unless they renounced their dependence on Great Britain."

In 1777 he was licensed as a minister of the gospel, and in the same year offered himself as a chaplain, and rendered important services to his country as a preacher and an active patriot. He became a great favorite with the army, and especially with General Putnam.

On the 7th of October, 1777, the surrender of Burgoyne took place, which thrilled the American army with new hope and joy. General Putnam, overjoyed at the news, immediately spread it through the army, and shouts and firing of cannon signalized the glorious event. The Rev. Timothy Dwight, a chaplain in the army, preached a sermon at head-quarters the next day, from the text, "I will remove far off from you the northern army." Never was a sermon so listened to before by the officers and troops. Putnam could not refrain from nodding, winking, and smiling during the discourse at the happy hits with which it was filled, and at its close was loud in his praises of Mr. Dwight and the sermon, - though, to be sure, he said, there was no such text in the Bible, the chaplain having coined it to meet the occasion. When shown the passage, he exclaimed, "Well, there is every thing in that book; and Dwight knows just where to lay his finger on it."

The victory at Saratoga filled Dwight's mind with the brightest anticipations of the future glory of the country, and, under the inspiration of the memorable victory, he wrote the popular American song, commencing, -

Columbia, Columbia, to glory arise,

The queen of the world, and child of the skies!

Thy genius commands thee: with rapture behold,

While ages on ages thy splendors unfold.

Thy reign is the last and the noblest of time,

Most fruitful thy soil, most inviting thy clime;

Let the crimes of the East ne'er encrimson thy name,

Be freedom, and science, and virtue thy fame.

Mr. Dwight also wrote several other patriotic songs, which became great favorites, not only in the army, but throughout the country. During the war he wrote an extended poem on "The Conquest of Canaan," reciting the patriotic scenes of the wars of Joshua, and by permission dedicated it to "George Washington, Esq., commander-in-chief of the American armies, - the savior of his country, the supporter of freedom, and the benefactor of mankind."

Washington, in answer to Dwight's letter, wrote him as follows: -

HEAD-QUARTERS, VALLEY FORGE, March 18, 1778.

DEAR SIR: - Nothing can give me more pleasure than to patronize the essays of genius, and a laudable cultivation of the arts and sciences, which had begun to flourish in so eminent a degree before the hand of oppression was stretched over our devoted country; and I shall esteem myself happy if a poem which has employed the labors of years will derive an advantage, or bear more weight in the world, by making its appearance under a dedication to me.

G. WASHINGTON.

The fame of Dwight as a theologian, his eloquence as a preacher, his success as President of Yale College, and his excellence as a man and Christian, are known throughout the land. A devoted patriot and faithful preacher, his brilliant talents and best efforts were given to God and his country.

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13) BISHOP WILLIAM WHITE,

The father of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, was a fast and firm friend of liberty. He had carefully studied the reasons for the rebellion, espoused the American cause, and placed himself in the attitude of a rebel to his king; so that when the British army was advancing towards Philadelphia he deemed it prudent to retire with his family to the house of his brother-in-law, Mr. Aquila Hall, in Harford county, Maryland. "At this eventful crisis," he writes, "I received notice that Congress, which had fled to Yorktown, had chosen me their chaplain, and with me the Rev. Mr. Duffield, of the Presbyterian communion. Nothing could have induced me to accept the appointment at such a time, even had the emolument been an object, - as it was not, but the determination to be consistent in my principles and in the part taken. Under this impression, I divided my time between Congress and my family, which the double chaplaincy permitted, until the evacuation of 'Philadelphia, the June following." "The acceptance of this chaplainship," writes his biographer, "was a few days before the arrival of the news of the surrender of Burgoyne. It was at one of the gloomiest periods of the American Revolution that he entered upon this duty. Philadelphia was soon in possession of the British. Burgoyne was marching, without having received any serious check, so far as was then known, through the northern parts of New York, the success of whom would have cut off all intercourse between the Eastern and Southern States. Having removed his family to Maryland, he was on a journey between Harford county and Philadelphia, when he was met by a courier from Yorktown, informing him of his appointment and requesting his immediate attendance. The courier found him at a small village where he had stopped for refreshment. He thought of it only a short time, when, with all the ill-forebodings of the non-success of the American cause, but with confidence in the right, and with a trust in God, he turned his horses' heads and travelled immediately to Yorktown, to encourage by his presence that little Congress, which was then deliberating as to how they should against such fearful odds maintain their cause. Such, then, was the adherence to principle and decision of character in the chaplain who fol- lowed that Congress as it was driven a fugitive, from place to place, while directing the Revolutionary War. The services of those chaplains could not have been without their effect in strengthening the hearts of the men who marked out our American independence."

One of the most thrilling reminiscences in the annals of the American Revolution is related of General Peter Muhlenberg, whose ashes repose in the burying-ground of "The Old Trappe Church," in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. When the war broke out, Muhlenberg was the rector of a Protestant Episcopal Church in Dunmore county, Virginia. On a Sunday morning he administered the communion of the Lord's Supper to his charge, stating that in the afternoon of that day he would preach a sermon on "the duties men owe to their country." At the appointed time the building was crowded with anxious listeners. The discourse was founded upon the text from Solomon, "There is a time for every purpose and for every work. " The sermon burned with patriotic fire; every sentence and intonation told the speaker's deep earnestness in what he was saying. Pausing a moment at the close of his discourse, he repeated the words of his text, and then, in tones of thunder, exclaimed, "The time to preach has passed; THE TIME TO FIGHT HAS COME!" and, suiting the action to the word, he threw from his shoulders his episcopal robes and stood before his congregation arrayed in military uniform. Drumming for recruits was commenced on the spot; and it is said that almost every male of suitable age in the congregation enlisted forthwith.

In defending his course in leaving the pulpit for the army, he said, "I am a clergyman, it is true, but I am also a member of society as well as the poorest layman, and my liberty is as dear to me as to any man. Shall I then sit still, and enjoy myself at home, when the best blood of the continent is spilling ? Heaven forbid it! Do you think if America should be conquered I should be safe? Far from it. And would you not sooner fight like a man than die like a dog? The cause is just and noble. Were I a bishop, even a Lutheran one, I should obey without hesitation; and, so far from thinking that I am wrong, I am convinced it is my duty so to do, a duty I owe to my God and to my country."

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14) REV. JOHN BLAIR SMITH

Was President of Hampden Sidney College, Virginia, and afterwards of Union College, New York, and for many years pastor of the Pine Street Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia.

"His influence was great in the cause of liberty. When the war of the Revolution spread terror and desolation through the regions in which he lived, and interrupted the regular exercises of the college, instead of finding an apology in his profession for remaining inactive at home, he raised a company of volunteers from among his students and marched at their head as captain; joined the army, and performed a tour of military duty in pursuit of the British legions who were carrying desolation through the seaports and lower counties of Virginia. He subsequently set out to join a company of volunteers to assist General Morgan in a probable encounter with Cornwallis; but when he overtook the company his feet were blistered by travelling, and he was, though not without great difficulty, persuaded by Colonel Martin, one of his elders, to abandon the expedition and return home.

"The Federal Constitution was warmly opposed by Patrick Henry. He appointed a day on which to meet the people of Prince Edward's county to show the defects of the Constitution and the reasons why it should not be adopted. Dr. Smith designed to meet the great orator and answer him, but was prevented by a providence. He sent a student, however, who took down Henry's speech in short-hand. Afterwards, before a numerous audience in college, among whom was Henry, one of the students delivered Henry's speech, and another followed with one prepared by Dr. Smith, in which he put forth all his energies in defence of the Constitution."

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15) REV. DAVID JONES

Was an eminent minister of the Baptist denomination, and pastor of the church in Freehold, New Jersey. His life was threatened by the tories on account of his active services for his country, and he moved to Chester county, Pennsylvania, in 1775, and took charge of the Great Valley Baptist church. He preached a sermon on the Continental fast-day, before a division of the army, entitled "Defensive War in a Just Cause Sinless." It was printed and circulated through the colonies, producing a powerful influence.

In 1776 he was chaplain to a regiment under Colonel Arthur St. Clair. He was with St. Clair at Ticonderoga, October 20, 1776, when the enemy was hourly expected from Crown Point. He was in the battles of Brandywine and Germantown, was with Wayne in the battle of Monmouth, and in all his subsequent campaigns, until the surrender of Cornwallis. He was so active in the cause of freedom and independence that a reward was offered for him by General Howe, and a detachment was sent to the Great Valley to arrest him. He was a fearless patriot, and ardently devoted to his country. The following address is a noble illustration of his love of country, as well as of his views and eloquence as a minister of the gospel. He seems to have had the mantle of some old prophet, as he poured out his fiery words of truth.

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16) ADDRESS

TO GENERAL ST. CLAIR'S BRIGADE AT TICONDEROGA, WHEN THE ENEMY WAS HOURLY EXPECTED , OCTOBER 20, 1776.

MY COUNTRYMEN, FELLOW-SOLDIERS AND FRIENDS: -

I am sorry that during this campaign I have been favored with so few opportunities of addressing you on subjects of the greatest importance both with respect to this life and that which is to come. But what is past cannot be recalled, and now time will not admit of enlargement, as we have the greatest reason to expect the advancement of our enemies as speedily as Heaven will permit. (The wind blew to the north strongly.) Therefore, at present, let it suffice to bring to your remembrance some necessary truths.

It is our common faith, and a very just one too, that all events are under the notice of that God in whom we live, move, and have our being: therefore we must believe that, in this important contest with the worst of enemies, he has assigned us our post here at Ticonderoga. Our situation is such, that, if properly defended, we shall give our enemies a fatal blow, and in a great measure prove the means of the salvation of America.

Such is our present case, that we are fighting for all that is near and dear to us, while our enemies are engaged in the worst of causes, their design being to subjugate, plunder, and enslave a free people that have done them no harm. Their tyrannical views are so glaring, their cause so horribly bad, that there still remains too much goodness and humanity in Great Britain to engage unanimously against us: therefore they have been obliged (and at a most amazing expense, too) to hire the assistance of a barbarous, mercenary people, that would cut your throats for the small reward of sixpence. No doubt these have hopes of being our taskmasters, and would rejoice at our calamities.

Look, oh, look, therefore, at your respective States, and anticipate the consequences if these vassals are suffered to enter! It would fail the most fruitful imagination to represent, in a proper light, what anguish, what horror, what distress, would spread over the whole land! See, oh, see the dear wives of your bosoms forced from their peaceful habitations, and perhaps used with such indecency that modesty would forbid the description. Behold the fair virgins of your land, whose benevolent souls are now filled with a thousand good wishes and hopes of seeing their admirers return home crowned with victory, would not only meet with a doleful disappointment, but also with insults and abuses that would induce their tender hearts to pray for the shades of death. See your children exposed as vagabonds to all the calamities of this life. Then, oh, then, adieu to all felicity this side of the grave!

Now, all these calamities may be prevented, if our God be for us, and who can doubt this who observes the point in which the wind now blows? - if you will only acquit yourselves like men, and with firmness of mind go forth against your enemies, resolving either to return with victory or to die gloriously. Every one who may fall in this dispute will be justly esteemed a martyr to liberty, and his name will be had in precious memory while the love of freedom remains in the breasts of men. All whom God will favor to see a glorious victory will return to their respective States with every mark of honor, and be received with joy and gladness of heart by all friends to liberty and lovers of mankind.

As our present crisis is singular, I hope, therefore, that the candid will excuse me if I now conclude with an uncommon address, in substance principally extracted from the writings of the servants of God in the Old Testament; though, at the same time, it is freely acknowledged that I am not possessed of any similar power either of blessing or cursing.

1. Blessed be the man who is possessed of true love of liberty; and let all the people say, Amen.

2. Blessed be the man who is a friend to the common rights of mankind; and let all the people say, Amen.

3. Blessed be the man who is a friend to the United States of America; and let all the people say, Amen.

4. Blessed be the man who will use his utmost endeavor to oppose the tyranny of Great Britain, and to vanquish all her forces invading North America; and let all the people say, Amen.

5. Blessed be the man who resolves never to submit to Great Britain; and let all the people say, Amen.

6. Blessed be the man who in the present dispute esteems not his life too good to fall a sacrifice to his country: let his posterity, if he has any, be blessed with riches, honor, virtue, and true religion; and let all the people say, Amen.

Now, on the other hand, as far as is consistent with the Holy Scriptures, let all these blessings be turned into curses to him who deserts the noble cause in which we are engaged, and turns his back to the enemy before he receives proper orders to retreat; and let all the people say, Amen.

Let him be abhorred by all the United States of America.

Let faintness of heart and fear never forsake him.

Let him be a major miserabile, a terror to himself and all around him.

Let him be accursed in his outgoing, and cursed in his incoming; cursed in lying down, and cursed in uprising; cursed in basket, and cursed in store.

Let him be accursed in all his connections, till his wretched head with dishonor is laid low in the dust; and let all the soldiers say, Amen.

And may the God of all grace, in whom we live, enable us, in defence of our country, to acquit ourselves like men, to his honor and praise. Amen, and Amen.

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17) EXTRACT FROM A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY THE CHAPLAIN OF GENERAL POOR'S BRIGADE, OCTOBER 17, 1779.

The fashionable gentleman thinks it an affront to delicacy and refinement of taste to observe that day set apart by the law of God and man for religious worship. The sublime truths of Christianity, the pure and simple manner of the gospel, are despised and insulted even where decency and policy, reason and virtue apart, they ought to hold them in the most profound veneration. How, then, can liberty exist, when neither supported by purity of manners, the principles of honor, nor the influence of religion? From this unhappy prospect I am led in imagination to sympathize with America drowned in tears and overwhelmed with distress. Methinks I hear her pathetically addressing her sons, and venting the anguish of her heart in this mournful language: - "Am I not the only friend to liberty on all this peopled globe? And have I not, when she was excluded from every other region of the earth, opened the arms of my protection and received the persecuted stranger to my friendly and virtuous shores? But when the tyrant of Britain, not satisfied with expelling her from his dominions, pursued her with hostile rage even to those shores, did I not rouse you, my sons, in her defence, and make you the honorable protectors of insulted Liberty? Inflamed with love of this friend of mankind, you armed in her defence, you made a brave and successful resistance to her persecutors, and have rescued her from the vindictive malice of all her foreign foes. Thus far have you merited the titles of guardians of liberty, and deserve to be enrolled the heroes of the present age. But ah, my sons and citizens of the United States, whither is fled that patriotic zeal which first. warmed your disinterested breasts? Whither that public spirit which made you willing to sacrifice not only your fortunes, but also your lives, in defence of Liberty? Whither is fled that happy union of sentiment in the great service of your country? And whither is fled that honorable love and practice of virtue, and that divine and generous religion, which cherishes the spirit of liberty and elevates it to an immortal height?" She paused and wept, nor gained an answer; and then, in a suppliant posture, again renewed her address: - "I entreat you to rekindle that public and generous zeal which first blazed forth in the defence of that liberty which you have now too long slighted. I beseech you to banish from your breasts that lust of gain which is the baneful murderer of a generous and public spirit. I entreat you to silence the demons of discord and animosity, and to banish them from the shores of America, and let them find no place to set their feet, but in the assemblies of the enemies of this country.

"I conjure you, by the spirit of heaven-born Liberty, that you invite her to your bosom and kindle your love for her in a never-dying flame. By the blessing of posterity I conjure you, by the precious blood of the heroes, who have nobly shed it in the cause of their country, I conjure you, to practise and encourage that private and public virtue which ennobles the soul and erects the temple of Liberty on an everlasting foundation, not to be shaken by the threatening storms of war nor the impotent rage of tyrants. I conjure you, by the toils and dangers, by the suffering and poverty, of my brave armies now in the field, not to desert them in their defence of freedom, but to support them with that assistance which will save you and yours from internal and public ruin. Serve your country according to your abilities, and with the same zeal with which my persevering soldiery serve you. Then will a happy conclusion crown the war, and your independence be established immovable as the everlasting mountains."

The following pithy and ironical discourse on duelling will be read with interest, as a relic of the Revolution. It is entitled a

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18) SERMON ON THE COMBAT OF THE DUEL.

BY THE REV. WILLIAM MACFEE, A CHAPLAIN IN THE ARMY. PREACHED AT THE CAMP AT VALLEY FORGE, FEBRUARY, 1778.

"Two men of the Hebrews strove together." - EXODUS i.

The sacred books have several instances of duels. The first that we read of is that of Cain and Abel, where the elder brother sent a challenge to the younger because his sacrifice had been more acceptable to the Lord. They met, and Abel fell, having received the end of a club, as is generally supposed, somewhere above his right temple.

The second instance of which we read is that of the text, where two young Hebrews had met, with their seconds, to decide a small difference; but what it was, has perplexed all commentators. Moses, like a young man as he was, endeavored to quiet their resentment to each other, or to overcome it by putting them in mind that they were brethren. The conduct of the young man was indiscreet, and he received a proper check, by the rebuke of the two bricklayers.

The next instance we read of is that of a young officer of a bear who sent a challenge to young David, who reported that he was fond of eating sheep; which calumny, true or false, it behooved him, as a bear of honor, to resent. David met him, and, having discharged their pistols, they took to the points, and in the scuffle, while the bear had thrown himself too far forward, in attempting a lunge, David caught him by the beard and smote him through the body.

Having given these few instances from the Scriptures, I shall go on to show the necessity of the duel, and then to press it a little on my audience.

It is necessary, for it is not every man that has command of his passions; and these, unless they are suffered to evaporate in some manner, will burst out into robberies and burglaries, and do damage to society. The passion of pride is one of the most troublesome among men, and to this there is nothing so powerful an antidote as fear, which never fails to be excited when the challenge comes to hand. The man who this moment was boiling hot with pride and every haughty passion is now calm and moderate; for somebody has sent him a challenge. It is the only misfortune that this very principle of fear prevents the certainty of execution, for, by giving a trembling to the hand, it comes to pass that very few are wounded, and still fewer fall, in the combat. To remedy this, I would propose that the duellists should stand nearer, and put their noses into each other's hands, while the pistols are discharged. Swift says "he should be sorry to see the legislatures make any more laws against duelling; for if villains and rascals will dispatch one another, it is for the good of the community." But the misfortune is, they will not dispatch one another; for this principle of fear, and the distance at which they stand, prevents any shot being effective.

The philosophers of the former times, and the ecclesiastics of the present, are against duelling, forsooth, because, by studying and thinking, their warm passions are rendered tame, and they have no need of blood-letting; but they do not consider that there are many others who, if they were not suffered to give themselves vent in this way, would rage and roar like mad bears, and set the world on fire.

Having now seen the necessity of this excessive passion, it remains that I press it a little on my audience. Who is there among you that did not praise the corporal the other day, who, having observed something like a smile on the countenance of his neighbor, and not being able to assign the cause of it, sent him a challenge? The corporal, it is true, received a ball through the rim of his belly, and was buried that evening; but it is his consolation that he is now with the angel Michael in Abraham's bosom.

When I mention the angel Michael, it brings to my mind the circumstance of the devil sending him a challenge. But, according to the Apostle Jude, he (that is, Michael) durst not accept of it, or, as it is in the translation, "bring a railing accusation," but said, "The Lord rebuke thee." I do not know what to say for Michael, for certainly it must be granted that in this instance he did not act like an angel of honor.

The only objection I know of against the practice of the duel, is that in the New Testament it is considerably discouraged, by the spirit of forbearance inculcated in these words: - "If any smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." But to this it is to be said that "the pilot of the Galilean lake," as Milton calls him (for I know my business better than to speak plainly out and to say "Christ" in an army), the pilot of the Galilean lake, I say, and his apostles, among whose discourses and writings sentiments like these are found, were not what we call men of honor. Bred up about the Sea of Tiberias, they had not the best opportunity, by travelling, to become acquainted with the world. Nay, our Saviour himself plainly tells you so: - "Verily, I say unto you, my kingdom is not of this world." Now, as men of honor never propose to go into his kingdom, why should they frame themselves agreeably to its customs? It is absurd; and while they live in this world, let them live as becomes men that know the world; and when they go to the devil, let them send challenges, as he has done, and fight duels according to his dictates.

The following interesting document was recently found among the papers of Major John Shaefmyer, a deceased patriot of the Revolution. It is a discourse delivered on the eve of the battle of Brandywine, by Rev. Jacob Troute, to a large portion of the American soldiers, in presence of General Washington, General Wayne, and other officers of the army.

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19) "They that take the sword shall perish by the sword."

SOLDIERS AND COUNTRYMEN: -

We have met this evening perhaps for the last time. We have shared the toils of the march, the peril of the fight, and the dismay of the retreat, alike. We have endured the cold and hunger, the contumely of the internal foe, and the scourge of the foreign oppressor. We have sat night after night by the camp-fire, we have together heard the roll of the reveillé which calls us to duty, or the beat of the tattoo which gave the signal for the hardy sleep of the soldier, with the earth for his bed and the knapsack for his pillow.

And now, soldiers and brethren, we have met in this peaceful valley, on the eve of battle, in the sunlight that tomorrow morn will glimmer on the scenes of blood. We have met amid the whitening tents of our encampments; in the time of terror and gloom we have gathered together. God grant that it may not be for the last time.

It is a solemn moment! Brethren, does not the solemn voice of nature seem to echo the sympathies of the hour? The flag of our country droops heavily from yonder staff; the breeze has died away along the green plain of Chadd's Ford; the plain that spreads before us glitters in the sunlight; the heights of Brandywine arise gloomy and grand beyond the waters of yonder stream; all nature holds a pause of solemn silence on the eve of the uproar and bloody strife of to-morrow.

"They that take the sword shall perish by the sword."

And have they not taken the sword?

Let the desolate plain, the blood-sodden valley, the burned farmhouses, blackening in the sun, the sacked village and the ravaged town, answer; let the withered bones of the butchered farmer, strewed along the fields of his homestead, answer; let the starving mother, with her babe clinging to the withered breast that can afford no sustenance, let her answer, with the death-rattle mingling with the murmuring tones that marked the last moment of her life; let the mother and the babe answer.

It was but a day past, and our land slept in the quiet of peace. War was not here. Fraud and woe and want dwelt not among us. From the eternal solitude of the green woods arose the blue smoke of the settler's cabin, and golden fields of corn looked from amid the waste of the wilderness, and the glad music of human voices awoke the silence of the forest.

Now, God of mercy, behold the change. Under the shadow of a pretext, under the sanctity of the name of God, invoking the Redeemer to their aid, do these foreign hirelings slay our people. They throng our towns, they darken our plains, and now they encompass our posts on the lonely plain of Chadd's Ford.

"They that take the sword shall perish by the sword."

Brethren, think me not unworthy of belief when I tell you the doom of the British is sealed. Think me not vain when I tell you that, beyond the cloud that now enshrouds us, I see gathering thick and fast the darker cloud and thicker storm of Divine retribution.

They may conquer to-morrow. Might and wrong may prevail, and we may be driven from the field; but the hour of God's own vengeance will come!

Ay, if in the vast solitudes of eternal space there throbs the being of an awful God, quick to avenge and sure to punish guilt, then the man George Brunswick, called king, will feel in his brain and heart the vengeance of the eternal Jehovah. A blight will light upon his life, - a withered and an accursed intellect; a blight will be upon his children and on his people. Great God, how dread the punishment! A crowded populace, peopling the dense towns where the men of money thrive, where the laborer starves; want striding among the people in all forms of terror; an ignorant and God-defying priesthood chuckling over the miseries of millions; a proud and merciless nobility adding wrong to wrong, and heaping insult upon robbery and fraud; royalty corrupt to the very heart, and aristocracy rotten to the core; crime and want linked hand in hand, and tempting men to deeds of woe and death: - these are a part of the doom and retribution that shall come upon the English throne and English people.

Soldiers, I look around upon your familiar faces with strange interest! To-morrow morning we go forth to the battle, - for need I tell you that your unworthy minister will march with you, invoking the blessing of God's aid in the fight? - we will march forth to the battle. Need I exhort you to fight the good fight, - to fight for your homesteads, for your wives and your children?

My friends, I urge you to fight, by the galling memories of British wrong. Walton, I might tell you of your father, butchered in the silence of the night on the plains of Trenton; I might picture his gray hairs dabbled in blood; I might ring his death-shrieks in your ears. Shaefmyer, I might tell you of a butchered mother and sister outraged, the lonely farm-house, the night assault, the roof in flames, the shouts of the troops as they dispatched their victims, the cries for mercy, and the pleadings of innocence for pity. I might paint this all again, in the vivid colors of the terrible reality, if I thought courage needed such wild excitement.

But I know you are strong in the might of the Lord. You will march forth to battle to-morrow with light hearts and determined spirits, though the solemn duty - the duty of avenging the dead-may rest heavy on your souls.

And in the hour of battle, when all around is darkness, lit by the lurid cannon-glare and the piercing musket-flash, when the wounded strew the ground and the dead litter your path, then remember, soldiers, that God is with you. The eternal God fights for you; he rides on the battle-cloud, he sweeps onward with the march of a hurricane charge. God, the awful and infinite, fights for you, and you will triumph.

"They that take the sword shall perish by the sword."

You have taken the sword, but not in the spirit of wrong or revenge: you have taken the sword for your homes, for your wives and your little ones. You have taken the sword for truth, justice, and right, and to you the promise is, be of good cheer, for your foes have taken the sword in defiance of all that men hold dear, in blasphemy of God: they shall perish by the sword.

And now, brethren and soldiers, I bid you all farewell. Many of us will fall in the battle of to-morrow, and in the memory of all will ever rest and linger the quiet scene of this autumnal eve.

Solemn twilight advances over the valley; the woods on the opposite height fling their long shadows over the green of the meadow; around us are the tents of the Continental host, the suppressed bustle of the camp, the hurried tramp of the soldiers to and fro, and among the tents the stillness and awe that mark the eve of battle.

When we meet again, may the shadows of twilight be flung over the peaceful land. God in heaven grant it! Let us pray.

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20) The following is the address of the clergy of the town of Newport, in the State of Rhode Island, to George Washington, President of the United States.

SIR: -

With salutations of the most cordial esteem and regard, permit us, the clergy of the town of Newport, to approach your person, entreating your acceptance of our voice, in conjunction with that of our fellow-citizens, to hail your welcome to Rhode Island.

Shielded by Omnipotence during a tedious and unnatural war, you were as a messenger sent from Heaven, in conducting the counsels of the cabinet, and under many embarrassments directing the operations of the field. Divine Providence crowned your temples with unfading laurels, and put into your hand the peacefully waving olive-branch.

Long may you live, sir, highly favored, of God and beloved of men, to preside in the grand council of our nation, which we trust will not cease to supplicate Heaven that its select and Divine influences may descend and rest upon you, endowing you with grace, wisdom and understanding, to go out and in before this numerous and free people, to preside over whom Divine Providence has raised you up.

And therefore, before God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom all the families both in heaven and earth are named, according to the law of our office, and in bounden duty, we bow our knee, beseeching him to grant you every temporal and spiritual blessing, and that, of the plenitude of his grace, all the families of these wide-extended realms may enjoy, under an equal and judicious administration of government, peace and prosperity, with all the blessings attendant on civil and religious liberty.

(Signed)

SAMUEL HOPKINS,

Pastor of the First Congregational Church,

and by other ministers.

20.1) ANSWER.

GENTLEMEN: -

The salutations of the clergy of the town of Newport on my arrival in the State of Rhode Island are rendered the more acceptable on account of the liberal sentiments and just ideas which they are known to entertain respecting civil and religious liberty.

I am inexpressibly happy that, by the smiles of Divine Providence, my weak but honest endeavors to serve my country have hitherto been crowned with so much success, and apparently given such satisfaction to those in whose cause they were exerted. The same benignant influence, together with the concurrent support of all real friends to their country, will still be necessary to enable me to be in any degree useful to this numerous and free people over whom I am called to preside.

Wherefore I return you, gentlemen, my hearty thanks for your solemn invocation of Almighty God that every temporal and spiritual blessing may be dispensed to me, and that under my administration the families of these States may enjoy peace and prosperity, with all the blessings attendant on civil and religious liberty. In the participation of which blessings may you have an ample share.

G. WASHINGTON.

Washington closed his public life, as President of the United States, on the 4th of March, 1797. The day before this event the ministers of the gospel, of all denominations, in and near Philadelphia, sent him the following paper: -

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21) To George Washington, President of the United States.

SIR: -

On a day which becomes important in the annals of America, as marking the close of a splendid public life, devoted for near half a century to the service of your country, we the undersigned, clergy of different denominations in and near the city of Philadelphia, beg leave to join the voice of our fellow-citizens in expressing our deep sense of your public services in every department of trust and authority committed to you. But, in our special characters as ministers of the gospel of Christ, we are more immediately bound to acknowledge the countenance which you have universally given to his holy religion.

In your public character we have beheld the edifying example of a civil ruler always acknowledging the superintendence of Divine Providence in the affairs of men, and confirming that example by the powerful recommendation of religion and morality as the firmest basis of social happiness,-more particularly in the following language of your affectionate parting address to your fellow-citizens: -

"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, - the firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principles."

Should the importance of these just and pious sentiments be duly appreciated and regarded, we confidently trust that the prayers you have offered for the prosperity of our common country will be answered. In these prayers we most fervently unite, and with equal fervor in those which the numerous public bodies that represent the citizens of these States are offering for their beloved chief. We most devoutly implore the Divine blessing to attend you in your retirement, to render it in all respects comfortable to you, to satisfy you with length of days, and finally to receive you into happiness and glory infinitely greater than this world can bestow.

PHILADELPHIA, March 3, 1797.

THOMAS USTICK,

ANDW. HUNTER,

JNO. DICKING,

JOSHUA JONES,

JOSEPH TURNER,

EZEKIEL COOPER,

SAMUEL JONES,

WM. FRENDEL,

NICHOLAS COLLIN,

ROBERT ANNAN,

WILLIAM MARSHALL,

JOHN MEDER,

JOHN ANDREWS,

ANDW. J. RHEES,

JAM. ABERCROMBIE,

F. HENRY CH. HELMITH,

WM. WHITE,

SAM. MORGAN,

ASHBEL GREEN,

J. FREDERICK SCHMIDT,

ROBT. BLACKWELL,

WILLIAM SMITH,

JOHN EWING,

WM. ROGERS.

21.1) ANSWER.

GENTLEMEN: -

Not to acknowledge with gratitude and sensibility the affectionate addresses and benevolent wishes of my fellow-citizens on my retirement from public life, would prove that I have been unworthy of the confidence which they have been pleased to repose in me. And among those public testimonials of attachment and approbation, none can be more grateful than that of so respectable a body as yours.

Believing as I do that religion and morality are the essential pillars of society, I view with unspeakable pleasure that harmony and brotherly love which characterizes the clergy of different denominations as well in this as in all parts of the United States, exhibiting to the world a new and interesting spectacle, at once the pride of our country and the surest basis of universal harmony. That your labors for the good of mankind may be crowned with success, that your temporal enjoyments may be commensurate with your merits, and that the future rewards of good and faithful servants may be yours, I shall not cease to supplicate the Divine Author of life and felicity.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

The following correspondence of the Congregational ministers of Massachusetts with John Adams, President of the United States, refers to a very critical era in the history of the Government, and finely illustrates the patriotism and piety of American ministers. The atheism of France in 1795 had engulfed that empire in anarchy and blood. It was the first experiment in the history of the world, of the national reign of infidelity, and its results shocked the civilized world with horror, and demonstrated its terrific nature and evils on civil government and society. "God permitted," said Robert Hall, of England, in his masterly sermon on Modern Infidelity Considered, "the trial to be made. In one country and that the centre of Christendom - revelation underwent a total eclipse, while atheism, performing on a darkened theatre its strange and fearful tragedy, confounded the first elements of society, blended every age, rank, and sex in indiscriminate proscription and massacre, and convulsed all Europe to its centre; that the imperishable memorial of these events might teach the last generations of mankind to consider religion as the pillar of society, the safeguard of nations, the parent of social order, which alone has power to curb the fiery passions and to secure to every one his rights.

"Those who prepared the minds of the people for that great change, and for the reign of atheism, were avowed enemies to revelation; in all their writings the diffusion of skepticism and revolutionary principles went hand in hand; the fury of the most sanguinary parties was especially pointed against the Christian priesthood and religious institutions, without once pretending, like other persecutors, to execute the vengeance of God (whose name they never mentioned) upon his enemies; their atrocities were committed with a wanton levity and brutal merriment; the reign of atheism was avowedly and expressly the reign of terror; in the full madness of their career, in the highest climax of their horrors, they shut up the temples of God, abolished his worship, and proclaimed death to be an eternal sleep, as if by pointing to the silence of the sepulchre and the sleep of the dead these ferocious barbarians meant to apologize for leaving neither sleep, quiet, nor repose to the living. No sooner were the speculations of atheistical philosophy matured than they gave birth to a ferocity which converted the most polished people in Europe into a horde of assassins, the seat of voluptuous refinement and of arts, into a theatre of blood. Atheism is an inhuman, bloody, ferocious system, equally hostile to every useful restraint and to every virtuous affection; that, leaving nothing above us to excite our awe, nor round us to awaken our tenderness, wages war with heaven and with earth. Its first object is to dethrone God, its next to destroy man."

The French rulers, under the reign of atheism, during the Administration of John Adams, plied every art to bring the Government of the United States into political alliance with the French nation, and we were on the eve of a war with our ancient ally and friend. So imminent was the danger that Washington was appointed again commander-in-chief of the American armies, and accepted the appointment, with the understanding that he was not to take the field till actual war had begun. The President, during this crisis of our nation, received, from all parts of the country, numerous addresses, urging him to resist all influences and machinations, either at home or abroad, which aimed to make the United States an ally with atheistical France, who was "grasping at universal domination, had abandoned every moral and religious principle, trampled on sacred faith, sported with national laws, and demanded pecuniary exactions which would bankrupt our nation and render us slaves instead of a free, sovereign, and independent people." Among other addresses was the following: -

We, the Congregational ministers of Massachusetts, met in annual Convention, feel ourselves called upon, as men, as American citizens, and as public professors and teachers of Christianity, to address you at this solemn and eventful crisis.

While the benevolent spirit of our religion and office prompts our fervent wishes and prayers for the universal extension of rational liberty, social order, and Christian piety, we cannot but deeply lament and firmly resist those atheistical, licentious, and disorganizing principles which have been avowed and zealously propagated by the philosophers of France, which have produced the greatest crimes and miseries in that unhappy country, and, like a moral pestilence, are diffusing their baneful influence even to distant nations. From these principles, combined with boundless avarice and ambition, have originated, not only schemes of universal plunder and domination, but insidious attempts to divide the American people from their rulers and involve them in a needless, unjust, and ruinous war; arbitrary and cruel depredations on their unoffending commerce; contemptuous treatment of their respected messengers and generous overtures of peace; rapacious demands and insulting threats in answer to the most fair and condescending proposals.

In this connection, we offer to you, sir, our tribute of affectionate esteem and gratitude, and to Almighty God our devout praise, for the wise, temperate, and benevolent policy which has marked your conduct towards the offending Power, and which has given a new and splendid example of the beauty and dignity of the Christian spirit contrasted with the base and profligate spirit of infidelity. We also bless God for your firm, patriotic, and important services to your country from the dawn of its glorious Revolution, and for the conspicuous integrity and wisdom which have been constantly displayed both by you, sir, and your excellent and beloved predecessors.

As ministers of the Prince of peace, we feel it our duty both to inculcate and exemplify the pacific spirit which adorns his character and doctrine. We remember his injunction to forgive and love our most injurious enemies. But neither the law of Christianity nor of reason requires us to prostrate our national independence, freedom, prosperity, and honor at the feet of proud, insatiable oppressors, - especially of a Government which has renounced the gospel and its sacred institutions and has transferred to imaginary heathen idols the homage due to the Creator and Redeemer of the world. Such a prostration would be treason against the Being who gave us our inestimable privileges, civil and religious, as a sacred deposit to be defended and transmitted to posterity. It would be criminal unfaithfulness and treachery to our country, our children, and the whole human race.

The fate of Venice, and other countries subdued by France, though held up to intimidate us to degrading submission, shall teach us a far different lesson: it shall instruct us to shun that insidious embrace which aims not only to reduce us to the condition of tributaries, but to strip us of the gospel, the Christian Sabbath, and every pious institution. These privileges we consider the chief glory of our country, the main pillars of its civil order, liberty, and happiness; as, on the other hand, we view its excellent political institutions as, under God, the guardians of our religious and ecclesiastical privileges. This intimate connection between our civil and Christian blessings is alone sufficient to justify the decided part which the clergy of America have uniformly taken in supporting the constituted authorities and political interests of their country. While we forgive the censure which our order has received from some persons on this account, we will still, by our prayers and examples, by our public and private discourses, continue the same tenor of conduct which has incurred this malevolent or misguided abuse.

Amidst the fashionable skepticism and impiety of the age, it is a matter of consolation and gratitude that we have a President who, both in word and action, avows his reverence for the Christian religion, his belief in the Redeemer and Sanctifier of the world, and his devout trust in the Providence of God. May that Being, whose important favor you recently led us to implore, graciously answer our united prayers in behalf of our common country. May he preserve your valuable life and health, your vigor, firmness, and integrity of mind, and your consequent public usefulness, and at length transfer you, full of days and honor, to the possession of an eminent and everlasting reward.

The President replied as follows: -

This respectful and affectionate address from the Convention of the clergy of Massachusetts, not less distinguished for science and learning, candor, moderation, liberality of sentiment and conduct, and for the most amiable urbanity of manners, than for unblemished morals and Christian piety, does me great honor, and must have the most beneficial effects upon the public mind at this solemn and eventful crisis.

To do justice to its sentiments and language, I could only repeat it sentence by sentence and word for word: I shall therefore confine myself to a mere return of my unfeigned thanks.

JOHN ADAMS

These facts, so honorable to the patriotism, piety, learning, and zealous labors of ministers of all denominations during the era of the Revolution, and subsequently, fully justify the declaration of Mr. Webster, in the Supreme Court of the United States, expressed in his celebrated argument on the Girard Will Case, in 1844: -

"I take upon myself to say that in no country in the world, upon either continent, can there be found a body of ministers of the gospel who perform so much service to men, in such a free spirit of self-denial, under so little encouragement from Government of any kind, and under circumstances almost always much straitened and often distressed, as the ministers of the gospel in the United States, of all denominations. They form no part of an established order of religion; they constitute no hierarchy; they enjoy no peculiar privileges. And this body of clergymen has shown, to the honor of our country and the admiration of the hierarchies of the Old World, that it is practicable in free governments to raise and sustain, by voluntary contributions alone, a body of clergymen which, for devotedness to their calling, for purity of life and character, for learning, intelligence, piety, and that wisdom which cometh from above, is inferior to none, and superior to most others.

"I hope that our learned men have done something for the honor of our literature abroad. I hope that the courts of justice and members of the bar have done something to elevate the character of the profession of law. I hope that the discussions above [in Congress] have done something to ameliorate the condition of the human race, to secure and strengthen the great charter of human rights, and to strengthen and advance the great principles of human liberty. But I contend that no literary efforts, no adjudications, no constitutional discussions, nothing that has been done or said in favor of the great interests of universal man, have done this country more credit, at home and abroad, than the establishment of our body of clergymen, their support by voluntary contributions, and the general excellence of their character, their piety and learning."

These views of Mr. Webster are confirmed by Dr. Gardiner Spring, for more than forty years a Presbyterian pastor of the city of New York, and whose father, Dr. Samuel Spring, of Massachusetts, was an able and patriotic preacher of the Revolution. In his work on "The Power of the Pulpit," Dr. Gardiner Spring says, -

"The office of religious teacher among the Jews was a noble office. Without them the Hebrew State had been an irreligious, ignorant, disjointed community. The nation was exalted or debased as their religious teachers were honored or dishonored, and as they exerted or failed to exert their appropriate influence. So long as the nation was in its glory, its religious teachers were the glory and strength of the nation ....

"The voice of the pulpit," Dr. Spring continues, "has been often heard on subjects of high public interest. Its influence has been felt in scenes which 'tried men's souls.' That great event in the history of the world, the American Revolution, never would have been achieved without the influence of the pulpit. Political society 'moved on the axis of religion. The religious movement gave its character to the social movement.' "

The facts in this chapter fully vindicate the patriotism and piety of the American clergy, and reveal one of the great sources of the civil institutions of the United States. They prove the mighty and beneficent power of the pulpit on the progress, prosperity, and true glory of the republic, and their essential relations to its very life and perpetuity. The pulpit, in every age, and in the battles and conflicts of truth and liberty with error and despotism, has always been on the side of the right. It has stood forth as the champion of the oppressed, and has ever been, with all the darkness that has enveloped the nations, the educator of the world in all the arts, refinements, and charities which adorn Christian civilization, and has, during the course of these ages, diffused the spirit and precepts of the Christian religion into the science of politics and the government and legislation of nations.

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