University of California Berkeley A VIEW OF THE CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, THIRTEEN DISCOURSES. A VIEW OF THE CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION; I N THIRTEEN DISCOURSES, Preached in NORTH AMERICA between the Years 1763 and 177$: WITH AN HISTORICAL PH.EFACE. BY JONATHAN BOUCHER, A.M. AND F.A.S. Vicar of EPSOM in the County of Surrey. " At vero cum a ftrepitu tumultuque aures noilrac paulu- " lum conquieverint, quid tandem caufae eft, cur de republica quid " fentiamus taciturnitate diuturniore celemus ?" Pracfat. - the helm. Men who are in the habit of being guided in r their conduct by the fober deductions of cool reafon, arc eafily overpowered by din and clamour; and, in the midd of confufion, they themfelves become confufed. This was p; pably the cafe with his Majefty's Minifters during the war with America. They were fo dunned and nearly dupefied by the cavils and thwartings of Oppofition in Parliament, that no leifure was left to them to think of and attend to other things as they ought : for, even a military campaign was more eafily planned and conducted than one in the chapel of St. Stephen. Many of their bed concerted plans 1 were cruelly frudrated by unforefeen, untoward circum- i dances ; and their faired hopes of an happy termination of I the conted protracted, day after day, and year after year, beyond all rational calculation : thefe circumdances, furely, A were more than fufficient to perplex, confound, and difmay f even men of the mod vigorous minds. Under the impreG v ^r fion of fuch caufes, I dare not take upon me to blame thojfe deady friends of the Conditution, who, having all along given their firm fupport to adminidration, at length, fatally . for the empire, acknowledged the conviction of their minds, ^ Ithat the councils of the Cabinet were as feeble as the coji- i dud of fome of thofe Generals whom by a kind of fatality T they were fo infatuated as to employ. That any conduct* could be more feeble was not poffible. The mifmanage- A ments, PREFACE. ments, indeed, both of Minifters and Generals, became fo great and notorious, that the people were almoft excufable for becoming, in their turn, clamorous, and anxious to get rid at any rate of fo unpropitious a war. In fuch an agitated (late of mind, it was to little purpofe to demonftrate to them, as was done, that, ruinous as the war had been, and appeared likely to continue to be, it could be got rid of only at the ex- pence of much greater evils than could or would have been felt from it's continuance, even if continued under every dif- advantage. The advocates for an immediate peace infilled on the evils then actually endured, which were immediate / and certain, whilft thofe which might arife from a premature s t neace were allowed to be diftant and uncertain. On fuch a topic, no man who is duly aware of the extreme precariouf- 1 nefs of all human events, will allow himfelf to fpeak with .' confidence : but the "pofition is as defenfible as any which depends only on reafoning and flrength of argument can be, that, had the objections of thofe perfons who in 1783 op- pofed the peace been liftened to, many of the dreadful evils which now prefs fo heavily on the world in general, and on '. Great Britain in particular, might have been avoided. An addition of twenty millions more to the national debt at that period, might have prevented it's being now increafed more than an hundred millions. The French revolution, with all thofe other convulfions to which it may yet give birth, . .would then have been nipped in the bud. [The Oppofition of that period was by far the ftrongeft, the mod united, and perfevering, of any that till then had ever been known : and Parliament, where alone public fpeaking , has it's full fcope, is the theatre which men who feek to rife J f by oppofuion, naturally choofe for the difplay'of their talents/ . Hardly in any other way than in Parliament, and by oppofi- - tion, can any man hope to obtain reputation in this kingdom cither as a public fpeaker or public man. Parliamentary debate PREFACE, 31 debate is the ftudy and the bufmefs of fuch public men : and fuch is the adroitnefs and ability which fome of them obtain in thefe exercifes, that I believe a variety of inftances might eafily be adduced to (hew that, merely by their fuperiority in the arts of debate, they gain an afcendancy over men who in judgment are their fuperiors. 1 j^The oppofitioiiifts in the American war, by dint of long (ervic?, became veterans : on their own ground they were indeed, as they were called, a formidable phalanx. No fooner did the popular tide begin to turn and run in their favour, than the zeal and activity of the apoftles of popularity were redoubled. The people were goaded on to fuch a pitch of diflatisfaftion and de- fpondency as would have been hardly pardonable had the (late of things been in all refpecls as difcouraging as the leaders of the oppofition confidently declared it was. So dif- turbed indeed was the public mind, that many fenfible, cool, and well-difpofed men juftified the precipitancy with which the peace was concluded, by reafons fo mallow and frivolous as they would have been amamed of at any other timeA Few points in politics are more familiar to a Brttuh ear " than a change of Miniftry : yet, however common, it never can be a matter of flight moment. It really is in itfelf, an4 people have been trained very generally to think that it is, fomething like a revolution in miniature. The fame means that are ufed to overturn, a Government, are praclifed on 3. fmaller fcale to turn out a Miniftry : thefe means in general are the involving Government in' inextricable difficulties. In various points of view, frequent changes of Miniftry do harm to a country ; whilft they appear to do good only in one. The greateft evil arifing from them is their enuring the minds of the people to revolutionary ideas : and it is a refinement of judgment hardly to be expected from the mafs of mankind, that they mould think it a merit to turn out a Miiiifter, but a demerit to refill the Sovereign by whom that Minifler Xli P R E F A C E, Minifter was employed ; whilft the only way in which it can poflibly do any good, is by withdrawing the minds of the multitude from perfons and objects of ftill greater confe- quence ; as mariners, with the view of keeping a whale from the fhip, are faid to amufe him by throwing out a tub. The perfons who are ufually moft active in the difplacing of Minivers, may, it is "poflible, be fatisfied with difpoflefling them of their places, and then obtaining them for them- felves ; but what affurance can they have for relying that the people by whofe inftrumentality the difmifial was effected will alfo be fatisfied ? Is there no reafon to apprehend, that, having once learned how much it is in their power to reject or retain perfons in high ftations, they may not always wait to be directed when they {hall or (hall not exercife it ? From the character of many of the individuals, of whom during the laft war the Oppofition confided, it would indi- cate as much want of candour to imagine that a majority of them ,were not fatisfied with difplacing the Miniilry, as want yof discernment not to fee that all of them were not fo fatisfied. But I might, for aught I know, calumniate even thofe dif- fatisfied men, were I to charge them v/ith having made fo < inadequate, fo infecure, fo ignominious a peace as was then made, merely for the fake of the peace. That was but the oftenfible pretence : nor was even the removing the Miniftry their primary motive ; th^jaili^g^motiyein allfyftem^tic oppofitions, it is probable, is fuccefs i A change~~omeinures7"^^ or apparent, is one of the natural confequences of a change of men. Hardly had the late leading oppoiitionifts, now converted into Minifters, taken their feats, before a pacification was obtained. Dif- graced, defeated, and dimeartened as the nation had,. been by the war, they now eagerly embraced every glimpfe of better hopes held out to them by the peace. Of courfe, the impolicy of the late war, and the policy of the peace, were P R E PA C E. were the favourite topics of the new Minifters : and as every peace, however deftrutlive it may ultimately be in it's con- fequences, brings fomething like a refpite from the preffurc of inftant danger, there is nothing very extraordinary in the people's having now become as enamoured of peace, as juil before they had been of war. Not only the conduct of the war was reprobated, (as it well might be,) but the war itfelf : not only was Great Britain blamed, but America was pro- nounced to be without blame j and this not fo much for the fake of exculpating the latter, as for the fake of criminating the former. Not only thofe members of Parliament, who had always, and uniformly, been in opposition, but many of the former (launch friends of the ex-miniftry, now cordially Coalescing, rpnc^r^d ? n declaring, thit ^ rrmteft iyjt^ America had been equally cenfurabkL in__principle _gnjL.in policy. This was the teft of the fincerjty ofjhgjr .rgrnprili-. ation, and the cement of their future union. It was thus, (if I may be pardoned for producing a comparifon from the Scriptures,) that when the Saviour of the world was to be condemned, two inveterate parties among the Jews were re- conciled : and the fame day, fays the facred hiftorian, Pilate and Herod 'were made friends together ; for, before, they were at enmity between themfehes. Thafr an phjeft whjcl mpn, theirjey_esjopen. and perfeJ^yj^Qar^ had 1f>rg clared to ^white^fhould all at once, in the eyps nf the. men, u become ag-black as if befm^ared with hejl *,** was certainly not in the common courfe of things. But, a charge of inconfiftency was little regarded by the majorities, which now once more foon and eafily attained their ufual ftandard in Parliament. Undifmayed by the reflection, how very lately, on grounds and principles totally different, they had fupported another Minifter in larger majorities, and for a longer continuance than had ever before been experienced, * Shakefpear, Henry VIII. they P H E F A C i?. they now flocked round the flandard of his triumphant op- ponents; and (as far as could be judged by appearances) tl^liberately fupported meafures which were diametrically oppofite to. thofe they had before abetted. The ex-minifter himfelf was now indeed funk in the deep profound of that xnyfterious union of parties, which has been emphatically called the Coalition ; and with him his party funk, to rife no more. Ever fmce that fatal period, it has been the fafhion with public men of all parties and defcripcions to fpeak of the American war, jufl as we do of the gunpowder treafon, or any other event which is regarded as a foul blot in the hiftory of our nation an event which we regret that it is impoffible totally to forget. And, as though the patriots of both countries had fome particular interefts to ferve by fo extraordinary a courfe of proceeding, or as though in any quarrel public or private it had ever been known that blame attached to only one of the parties, they refufe to Men to any arguments, or to receive any proofs, which might induce a doubt of their confidence being ill-founded. The monument of London is not more confident in it's af- fertions that the Papifts fet fire to that proud city, than every man who has any pretentious to patriotifm, whether on this or on that fide of the Atlantic, is in aflqrting that to the tyranny only of Great Britain the revolt of America is to be afcribed. It may perhaps be thought a fufficient apology for fome exalted pcrfonages who have fmce held, and fome who do flill hold, high ftations under Government, that, were they not now to condemn the part which this country took in en- deavouring to coerce America, they muft condemn their own former conduct. Thus fads are to be falfified, and truth fupprefled, merely to refcue a few diftinguiflied characters from a charge of inconfiftency. This is one of the great evils arifing from our prcfent parliamentary fyftem of oppo- fition. PREFACE, XV fition. Whilft voting againft Miniilers continues to be re- garded as the ted of patriotic principle, and the moft direct and certain, if indeed it be not the only road to power, men of talents muft neceflarily come into office, and even into ad- miniftration, to a certain extent gagged and bound. Men in private life, and as individuals, fometimes have the mag- nanimity to acknowledge that they have been in an error : but this is an exertion of fortitude hardly to be expecled from men invefled with public characters, or from bodies of men. If, under the fair plea, that, having altered their opi- nions on the thorough conviction of their judgments, they muft in confcience alter their conduct, who knows not how little credit would be given to fuch profeffions, and with what foul reproaches they muft be ftigmatifed for their fup- pofed apoftacy ? But, 4 what public ftation, in any free Go- vernment, can any man fill either with credit or comfort to himfelf, who may be deterred from doing his duty by the apprehenfion of fuch reproaches ? The diftinguiihed per- fons here alluded to are not afraid to brave imputations in- finitely more ferious and aweful than thofe which they thus hope to (hun : for, whilft by fome miferable fophiftries they perfift in throwing all the blame of the American in- furrelion on the nation againft which that people rofe, they are at war with France for having acled precifely the fame part. It is beyond even Mr. Burke's abilities to (hew, that, in point of principle, there is a made of difference between the American revolution and the French rebellion *. That ; From this heavy charge of a fatal inconfiftency, this great writer has attempted to defend himfelf, and thofe who thought and adted with him, in his Addrefs to the Old Whigs, p. 37. /This defence confifts chiefly in. his avowal of his difbelief, that the Americans " rebelled merely in order " to enlarge their liberty." If by Americans he means, as no doubt he does, the great body of the people of America, I alfo profefs to difbcheve tlic charge,/' But I do not, like him, reft rry difbeJicf on the difavov. DP. PREFACE* That men of the mofl eminent characters, men confpicu- cms for their rank, ftation, and abilities, fhould, in points of fuch moment, have been fo inconfiftent as to defend in one inftance the fame principles and conduct which in another perfe&ly fimilar they condemn, and mould do fo without incurring any reproach by it, is a feature of the times on. which no wife and good man can contemplate with fatif- faUon. But even fuch eminent inconfiftency becomes in- fignificant, and of little moment, when compared with that of thofe perfons, neither lefs numerous nor lefs refpetable> who, after fupporting the war for many years with inflexible conftancy, now, all at once, without any material change of circumftances, changed fides , and with a new Miniftry adopted new principles. The triumph which, at the Peace, America Dr. Franklin, or any perfons of his defci iption : even whilft I admit that Dr. Franklin might he, and moft probably was, perfe&ly fmcere in the regret he expreffed on the profpeft of the difunion of the two countries. I doubt not it might be proved that Governor Livingftone alfo, who, under an aflumcd title, avowed his predile&ion for the independence of America, v.-ould, in any converfarion where it fuited his purpofe to aflfeft an attach- ment to Great Britain, have exprefied himfelf with not lefs ardour, though poffibly with lefs fincerity, than Dr. Franklin did. To have come at the truth, Mr. Burke fhould have converfed with men of both parties, and above all with difinterefted men, much more than he did ; and fhould alfo have brought their declarations to that only unequivocal ftandard of fincerity, their actions. Had he done this, he would have found that the bulk of the people of America were as innocent of any premeditated purpofe of revolting, as the people of England, properly fo called, were of abetting them in their revolt. But whilft this ftatementleflens their guilt, it probably aggravates their folly. Owing to an unhappy concurrence of x Yario'js caufes, they futfered themfelves to be made the dupes of a few ilefperate democrats in both countries, who thus mifled them (as it is the h :-.}<} fate of the people always to be mifled) merely that they might be made their ftepping-ftones into power. Mr. Burkc's pretence, that the Americans' afted on the defeafive, is a fallacy in argument, which he fhould have fcorncd. They, that is to fay, theif P R P A C E. America gained over the Parent State, was hardly more com- plete, or greater, than that which Oppofition now alfo gained over the former friends of Government. An enemy in open war not unfrequently fhews his lenity, or his prudence, by enlifting and attaching to his own armies fuch deferters or captives as he finds difpofed and qualified : and this was the policy of the Oppofition now become poflefled of power. That the Minifter himfelf, and the many independent and highly refpe&able members of Parliament, who, whilft there was any profped of fuccefs, wifely and virtuoufly fupported his adminiftration, and that part of it in particular which affected America, becoming unwife and unvirtuous at the very moment when firmnefs would have mod become them, ihould fufFer themfelves to be either bullied or overawed into a {ataLdgrcliftion of their_pLrinriplrSi. is an initancej)f_hiiman infirmity on which, jealous for the reputation of virtue and their demagogues, declared that they ought not, and therefore they would not, be taxed by the Parent State : and this declaration they refolved to defend, and did defend, even at the hazard of a rebellion. Juft fo the de- magogues in France declared, that they would no longer be governed by a king, nor have any religion in their land ; and thefe declarations they are now defending) at the hazard of the peace of the world. But do they therefore * aft on the defenfive ?" Confulering the confcffed fcantinefs of all human knowledge even at it's utmoft extent, we cannot but be furprifed that men of eftabliflied re- putation for wifdom Ihould think it any impeachment of their general judgment to own that in one inftance they were miftaken. Had Mr. Burke prefaced his Reflections on the French Revolution with an acknowledge- ment of his having been in an error refpecting that of America, ages to come, as well as the prefent, would have blcfled his memory. Inftead of admiring him, as we now do, only as the firft orator and firft writer of his age, had his fair fame never been tarnilhed by his ftooping to be the par- tifan of Oppofitions of various characters and views, and the abettor of the American revolt, we mould have venerated him as a man equally diftin- guiflied for political wifdom and political integrity, b virtuous P 11 E F A C E. virtuous men, I reflect with forrow and frame. But that the meii of whom I am now fpeaking mould have been fo loft to all proper fenfe of dignity of character, as tamely to fubmit to be handed down to pofterity, either as the weak tools of a weak miniftry, or the venal and corrupt tools of a corrupt miniftry, and this too when the means of a complete vindication were in their own hands*, is fuch an inflance of unconcern about honed fame as could have occurred only in this eighteenth century. V This complete vindication, however, was to be hoped for only from a fair, clear, and full expofition of facts, fuppovted by authentic documents. To fuch documents none but men in office, or thofe to whom they give permimon, can have accefs. They were long in the pofieflion of a man of adequate talents for any undertaking > and from him the world was long encouraged to look for fuch a detail of the event as in point of authority mult have been unrivalled. The perfon here alluded to was the Noble Secretary of the American de- partment , whofe literary attainments did not difcredit the name he bore, though it has long been a favourite one with the Mufes f , Whether hef was difcouraged by forefeeing that fuch a publication would neceflanly be unpopular, and the more fo from its being unanfwerable or by the unpopu- larity of his own character, which, during a large portion of his life, expofed him to the mod unrelenting and (I fmcerely believe) unmerited perfecution which any man of rank has experienced fmce the days of Ariftides I am not enabled to fay : but the Public has infinite reafon to regret that he was put afide from his purpofe. That fatal indifference with refpect to public opinion, (not to call it by an harfher name,) which fo eminently charac- * By the publication of official papers. f Sackville. PREFACE* XIX tenfed the beft-humoiired and be ft -beloved Minifter we have ever known, led the late Earl of Guildford to fhut his ears againft every fimihr propofal. And hencej in addition to all the errors and all the misfortunes of his adminiftration, he is gone to his grave under an indelible fligma of having been the great caufe of the lofs of America. That his own filence on this point, together with an injunction of filence on all over whom he was fuppofed to have any influence, was an article exprefsly ftipulated for in the conditions of that myf- terious coalition, of which the true hiftory is perhaps but little known, I confefs, there is no direct evidence to prove. But, at fome future period, a diligent collector of recondite hiftory, it is poflible, may arife and find materials for Memoirs of the Secret Tranfadions of the Adminiftration of Lord North; * s and it may then be known why and how America was loft, " and what the motives were which induced fo wife and good a man as Lord North confefledly was to fubmit to bear all the blame of it. Pofterity may then fmile to find, that many of thofe mighty events, of which we are now fo perplexed to find the fprings, turned on points as frivolous as (it is fcarcely poflible they ihould be more frivolous than) many of thofc which not long fmce were laid open to public view by Lord Melcombe's Diary. After the Grand Rebellion, and even after the Revolution of 1688, different partifans of the parties which then divided and diftracled the empire (with the view, no doubt, of vindi- cating their refpeHve caufes and themfelves) each published hiftories of their own. It is no wonder that their accounts are often difcordant and contradictory: yet, as the Public was thus enabled to compare the various fentiments and flatements of each party, it was at leaft eafier to form fome judgment on which fide the truth lay. This has not been the cafe with refpect to the American difpute. Whilft it was depending, each party made hardly lefs ufe (or to lefs b 2 purpofe) 3? P R E' F A C E. purpofe) of the pen, than they did of the fword :: I nryfclf poffefs (I believe, not fewer than) forty volumes of mifcel- laneous pamphlets which were written, pro and con, before and during the continuance of the conteft. But the fates of the two parties in this literary warfare were as different a3 they were in the field. In both refpects, victory very gene- rally reftetl with the Britons-, whilft all the advantages of f iclory attached to the Americans. Loyalty and loyal men gained nothing but horiour, either by their fuperior prowefs, or fuperior (kill. Since the determination of the war, the conduct of the two contending parties has continued to be parked by the fame ftriking difference of character. Thofe with whom fuccefs remained, have omitted no opportunity of relating the hiftory in their own favour ; whilft, (as though this had been one of the conditions of the Peace,) inftead of contradicting flatements which are palpably partial and falfe, the humbled champions of the defeated party think it to their credit to do all they can to confirm them. The only hiftories which, with any propriety, can be faid to be in the interefl of this country, are thofe which have been written by Britifh Generals, or by perfons in their confidence. The former are entirely exculpatory compiled on purpofe to vindicate their own characters and conduct. This too feems to be the point chiefly armed at by Captain Anbury and Mr. Stedman : the one is a vindication of General Burgoync, and the other of the Marquis Cornwallis. All that they have written on the fubject, however, relates only to particular periods and parts of the war ; and are wholly military. Of ,eourfe, like the hiftorians in the intereft,of America,, they Iiardly touch on that great point, in which alone mankind in general are materially interefted ; I mean, the caufes and :confequences of the rupture. Add to all this, thefe hiftories Ay our military loyalifts, however refpettable in other points fcf yiew> lofe not a little of their weight by being fo often (not PREFACE. (not indeed on points of great moment) in direct contradiction to each other. Whigs and Tories, as Rebels and Loyalifts were uniformly called in America, (thefe two well-known terms of difficult definition having there, merely through the natural fenfe of the people, found a practical and proper ex- plication,) hardly differ more in dating their rights and their duties, than General Tarleton and Lieutenant Mackenzie, or (to go (till higher) than Sir Henry Clinton and the Marquis Cornvvallis, differ in their narratives. I can account for thefe imperfections refpecting any hif- tories of the American revolt, only by referring them to the unpopularity of the attempt. This has been fo great as to have deterred, it is faid, the celebrated hiftoriographer of Scotland, from adding to his hiftory of South America, one much more likely to be interefting to Britons, that I mean of the North. And, whilft this fo much dreaded unpopularity continues to be directed and managed (as well by the mem- bers and friends of adminiftration as by their opponents) with fuch fkill and effect as to amount nearly to a prohibition I own I do not fee how the fate and fortune of American Loyalifts (whofe reputation, which is now their all, is fo ma- terially interefted in the truth of hiftory) have been better in this refpect than thofe of the Jefuits, who were crufhed with fo high an hand, and with fuch extreme rigour and cruelty, as to have almoft difgraced the Chriftian name. When they were fuppreffed, the fame Bull that pronounced the annihi- lation of their order, forbade them, or any of their friends, on pain of excommunication, to utter or write a fyllable in their defence. With all the encouragement that the moft liberal Govern- ment could give, and all the hopes that an intelligent, tem- perate, candid, and indulgent Public could infpire, the com- piling fuch an hiftory of this event as the occafion calls for mud be difficult. The controverfy, in its origin, progrefs, b 3 and XXll PREFACE. and termination, was entirely an affair of party : and who knows not how next to impoflible it is to develop truth amid thofe mifreprefentations with which party colours every proceeding in which it takes part ? Befides, in a Government formed as ours is, no man poflefling either the talents or the integrity requifite in an hiftorian can be wholly neutral in his principles. Every man capable of forming an opinion has fome leaning ; and is, in fome degree, either a Whig or a Tory. Now the American revolution was clearly a ftruggle for pre-eminence between Whigs and Tories : and therefore, in fpeaking of them, the hiftorian will unavoidably give fome preference, either to the one or the other, according as ho himfelf is difpofed. Were it even poflible that he could fleer his courfe fo evenly as, feeing much to blame in both, and little to commend in either, to beftow his praife and difpraife with real impartiality, the beft returns he could look for would be the being neglected by both. To a truly learned, intelligent and conscientious man, however, thefe difficulties, though confefiedly great, are not infurmountable. Whenever fuch an one fhall attempt this hiftory, which is fufficiently copious in inftrulive and in- terefting matter, I venture to foretell, that though his fuccefs may not be complete, yet he will not totally fail. Calling forth all his beft powers, and keeping down (as far as frail nature will enable him to keep down) all low prejudices, however deep-rooted and inveterate, he will, with a fteady and unbiaffed compofure, purfue his purpofe of examining the pretenfions of each party ; and, diverting their jarring and contradictory accounts of each other, as well as their other accounts, of all party-colourings, he will, if pofTible, afcertain the truth and, when afcertained, dare to ftate it, whether it be for or againft the party whofe caufe he efpoufes. To affift (as far as fo obfcure a perfon, and one of fuch {nimble pretences, can hope to aflift) future enquirers in this arduous PREFACE. xxiii arduous inveftigation, this Volume of Sermons is now, with all due deference, fubmitted to the Public, Merely as Ser- mons, or even as Political Treatifes, in themfelves, and uncon- nefled with the circumftances under which they were written, being the productions of a private clergyman, who began to think ferioufly on fuch fubjects only when he was called upon to write upon them, I am fenfible their claim to the public attention is (lender. Had they not, however, feemed to myfelf, and to fome kind friends to whom they have been {hewn in MS. to contain fome information which has not el fe where been noticed, but which may help to elucidate a difficult but important period of our hiftory, they would never have been drawn from that oblivion to which they had long; been configned. Neither the many fatal confequences which have refulted to this country by the difmemberment of the empire, and flill more from the manner in which that difmemberment was effected ; nor even that yet more awful leffbn which the world has fince been taught by that more fatal exemplification of the effects of falfe principles, th French Revolution ; have fo effectually imprefled the minds of mankind with a fenfe of the danger of liilening to fuch doctrines inculcated by fuch men, as to render this farther warning unneceflary. Tt mud be the world's own fault, if, difcouraged by the fub- jecVs being now fuppofedto be forgotten, by the unpopularity of the principles maintained in thefe Difcourfes, or by the acknowledged feeblenefs of their execution, feme benefit be not derived from them. For fuch a feafon of tranquillity and good humour, when happily there fubfifts a perfect good underftanding between the two countries, I have long wiflied ; from a perfuafion that in no other could a publication, which ftudioufly avoids the flattering of either party by wantonly vilifying the other, hope for a calm and candid confideration. The unpopularity of my principles cannot, I fhould hope, be XXIV PREFACE fairly obje&ed to by any man who really loves truth ; becaufe it is at lead fome proof that my intentions are fincere, and that I am in earned : and though it be true that there is no- thing particularly attradive 01 alluring in the compofition of thefeDifcourfes, yet, as that may in fome degree perhaps arife from their fo often adverting to minute and ordinary fafts and circumftances not likely to be noticed by other writers, even this defect may be pardoned by thofe who are lefs folicitous to be amufed than edified, and are defirous thoroughly to underftand the fubjet. When, for inftance, the future hiftorian of the American revolt mall recollect (and the firft of the following Sermons can hardly fail to bring it to his re- collection) how muchjthe Continental Colonies were favoured by the terms of the Peace of 1763^ he will alfo recollect with how much unmerited obloquy thofe wife men were afperfed, who then forefaw and foretold that it would not be long be- fore the Cplonifts would be led to think of independency. The reafon they gave for this opinion was, that, by the ceffion of Canada, and the total expulfion of the French from the Continent, the Britiih Colonifts, no longer having an enemy on their frontiers, no longer wanted a powerful friend to pro- ject them, and would therefore no longer court that protec- tion by a dutiful and loyal conduct, j Adopting, as I did with great eagernefs, when that Sermon was written, the common but ill-founded notion, that a people's love and habitual at- tachments were fufficient pledges of their allegiance, I now take fhame to myfelf that I was then as loud and vehement as others in declaiming againft, what I thought, the injuftice of fuch fufpicions. In like manner, the careful enquirer after truth will fee, in the fucceeding Difcourfes, how (juft before the rupture) the country was rent and diftrad~ted by fchifms, and by various violent ebullitions of fanaticifm : bow generally, and with virulent perfeverance, Epifcopacy was oppofed, for no reafon PREFACE. reafon whatever befides that of thwarting and irritating thofe who, being known to be friends to the Church, were con-* eluded to be alfo friends to the Crown : how much it was the famion, at the period in queftion, for people of all ranks to fpeculate, philofophize, and project Utopian fchemes of re- ' formation ; which, as it was conducted in America, led, as regularly as ever any caufe produces its correfponding effect, firft, to the demolition of the Church, as that, in its turn, no lefs certainly led to the overturning the State : how very in- fufficiently education was provided for; and that, as though it's fcantinefs had not been an evil fufficiently lamentable, the little which the people were taught was of a kind to do per- haps more harm than good : hoiu^ without any apparent new caufe, and certainly without any frem provocation, all the old prejudices againft Papifts 3 ven more than againfl Popery, were all at once revived ; and the people of that communion forced to forego their principles, (at lead in points relating to government,) that they might preferve their properties from confifcation, and their perfons from exile : and finally, how 9 when at length the difpute was matured into a war, it was conducted with fuch perfevering, deep, and dreadful policy, as to fhew that thofe who directed the ftorm were neither overtaken by it, nor unprepared for it ; and that in ihort the revolt, however unexpected by, and unwelcome to, th great body of the people, was no more than had been planned and refolyed on by their leaders many years before it took place*. Weighing * Among many proofs which might be adduced to fhew that it was the fixed purpofe of a certain party in America to " throw off the yoke," (as they called it,) as foon as ever it ihould be in their power, the Reader is referred to the following extraft from No. 5. in the American Whig. This was a periodical paper, aimed at firft chiefly againfl Epifcopacy ; but which alfo incidentally attacked all the ftrong holds of Government. It \vas written altogether by Diffenters ;aad, principally, by Mr. Livingfton, one XXVI PREFACE. Weighing well all thefe circumftances, and comparing them with occurrences in other ages and countries, as fimilar, or nearly fimilar, as any which hiftory furnifhes, the future eftimatcr of the great political event now under confider- ation (and without fome accurate knowledge of this no clear judgment can be formed of it's acknowledged and moft dif- tinguifhed offspring, the French revolution) will be better able to appreciate the wifdom, or the want of wifdom, that was (hewn both in attempting and effecting it. In the courfe of fuch a comparison, a truth of great importance will be ftrongly imprefied on his mind ; which is this : that, in fimilar circumftances and fituations, mankind continue to be what they have always been ; and, with no other changes than one of the moft eminent of them, who has fince been one of the Republican Governors of New-York : and it was published about nine years before the revolt took place. " Courage, then, Americans ! The finger of God points out a mighty " empire to your fons. We need not be difcouraged. The angry cloud " will foon be difperfed. The day dawns, in which this mighty empire (l is to be laid by the eftablifhment of a regular American Conititution. " All that has hitherto been done feems to be little befide the collection of " materials for the conftruclion of the glorious fabric. 'Tis time to put " them together. The transfer of the European part of the family is fo vaft, and our growth fo fwift, that, before /even years foil over our heads, ** the firft (lone muft be laid. Peace or war, famine or plenty, poverty or *' affluence, in a word, no circumftance, whether profperous or adverfe, 44 can happen to our Parent ; nay, no conduft of hers, whether wife, or im~ " prudent no pqffible temper of hers, whether kind or crofs-grained will " put a Jlop to this building. There is no contending with Omnipotence : " and the pre-difyofitions are fo numerous and well adapted to the rife of " America, that our fuccefs is indubitable." After this explicit avowal by one who was as deep in the councils of the party, as he was active in promoting their meafures, are we ftill to be in- Iblted with the incredulity of our patriots, who wifli to perfuade us, that fuch purpofes were but " in the fecret thoughts of fome of their leaders* " * Mr. Burke 's Appeal to the New and the Old Whigs, p. 37, and PREFACE.' xxvii than merely fuch as times and places may fuggeft, continue to act the fame part which they have always done. They flill are jealous of power, flill fond of change, and ftili eafily perfuaded to believe that they are not fo well govern- ed as they ought to be. Thefe are the ftanding charater- iflics of mankind, verified by almoft every page of every hif- tory. Availing themfelves of thefe propenfities, ambitious and factious men have always found it eafy, and do flill find it eafy, to miflead multitudes (wifer, it may be, and better than themfelves) to throw away real and fubilantial happi- nefs, in the hope of obtaining that which, after all, is but imaginary. Viewed in this light, I am not fure that I was right in declaring the revolt of America to have been almoft without a parallel in the hiftory of the world. In all it's leading features, whether confidered in it's origin, it's con- duel:, or it's end, \ it was but a counterpart of the grand re- bellion in this country in the laft century :i and, as far as the ajnd who, with fuch evidence flaring them in the face, perfift to alledge, that America was driven and forced to revolt by the opprefiive meafures of fome Minifters of the Crown of Great Britain ? Ill-fated Minifters! doomed to ferve a country in which when under your aufpices things go well no praife accrues to you, whilft nothing can Ihelter you from the blame of every thing that is adverfe. Let America revolt, it is the fault of Minifters : let France, in her phrenfy, declare war againft us, and carry it on by means more horrid than pofterity, if not fraternized by the French, will readily credit, that too is owing to the Cabinet of Great Britain : let the Loyalifts in France be encouraged, or our own Jacobins be difcouraged, it is all matter of blame to our Minifters : in fine, let Ireland be abfurd and rebellious ; or let our Tailors, infected with the infatuation of the times, be mutinous, and endanger the life-blood of the nation, Minifters and Minifters only deferve all the blame. " Quis legem tulit ? Rullus. <' Quis ma jorum partem populi fuffragiis privavit ? Rullus. Quis comitiis " prsefuit ? Rullus. Quis tribus, quas voluit, vocavit, nullo cuftode fbr- ' titus ? Rullus. Qujs decemviros, quos voluit, renuntiavit? Idem Rul* f Jus," &c, Cicero, Oratio ada. pro Lege Agraria. philofophy xxvm PREFACE, philofophy of hiftory is concerned, that of Lord Clarendon is perhaps as good as any that could yet be compiled of the American revolution*. I have felecled for this volume fuch Difcourfes as fcemec! to myfelf mod likely to fliew (in a way that can hardly be fufpe&ed of mifreprefentation) the (late of two of the moil valuable Colonies, juft before, and at the time of the breaking out of the troubles. And I am willing to flatter myfelf, * Claffical readers, it is probable, have often been reminded of the flrik- ing refemblance there is between the American revolt, and the quarrel which took place between the people of Corcyra and Corinth, as related by Thucydides. Had Dr. Franklin been a reader of that immortal hif- torian, when he was fent on an embaffy to folicit the alliance and the aid of France, no injuftice would have been done to the pretenfions of his country, had he ufed the very words which the Corcyraean ambaflador, on a fimilar occafion, addrefTed to the Athenians, "HV Si Xeywc-iv j toy; THj afcoinov^ &c.~ Thucyd. Hiftor. .lib. I. 34. Editio Bipont. vol. i. p. 52. ; If, farther, they tax with a breach of injuftice your prefuming to in- " terfere with their Colonies, let them learn, that every Colony, whilft " ufed in the proper manner, paycth honour and regard to it's Mother ' State ; but, when treated with injury and violence, is become an alien. " They are not fent out to be the flaves, but to be the equals of thofe who " remain behind." Smith's Translation of Thucydides, vol. i. p. 29. In thefe words we find the effcnce of all the befl .arguments that ever were or could be advanced on the occafion in behalf of the Americans. The reply of the Corinthian ambafladors is replete with arguments not lefs appofite to the Mother Country : "AWWXW ' o M m;, a^ta-reift T fcawavroff, &c. Thucyd. ut fupra, p. 58. " For, though planted by us, they have even difowned their allegiance " to us, and now wage open war againft us, pleading that they were not 11 fent abroad to be maltreated and opprefled. We alfo aver, in our own " behalf, that neither did we fend them to receive their injurious requitals, " but to retain them in lawful dependence, and to be honoured and re- 41 verenced by them. But though we had actually tranfgreffed, it would *' have been quite decent on their part to have fhewn condefcenfion when we were angry," &c. Smith's Translation, as above, p. 33. 3 PREFACE. XXI* that every attentive reader will find in them fomething to illuftrate the great event to which they chiefly relate. It is not within their compafs, nor do I pretend to give more than an outline of the hiftory : that I may, however, render even this ftetch as perfedt as it's nature will admit of, I will here, in addition to the caufes which I conceive to have led to the revolt, which have already been adverted to either in this Preface or in the Difcourfes, fugged fome others, merely becaufe, though by no means infignificant, they are lefs likely to engage the attention of other writers. Unfortunately that fpirit of Republicanifm, which, afllim- ing the fpecious name of Reform, overturned the Conftitu- tion of Great Britain in 1648, though checked at the Refto- ration, was not extirpated, but has ever fmce fafcinated the Britifh \vorld under the not lefs impofmg name of Liberty. > A large portion of this turbulent fpirit was carried over to the Northern Colonies of America by the firft Puritan emi- grants, who, not having the courage to defend their princi- ples in England where they originated, when Englishmen grew tired of them, tranfplanted them into a more genial foil ; and thus prefervcd them from that humiliating reverfe of fortune which was experienced by their brethren in the Mother Country on the re-eftablimment of Monarchy. How they have thriven by tranfplantation, the revolution of America mews. An able writer *, who knew the New- Englanders well, gives this teftimony of them : " In all the " late American difturbances, and in every attempt againfl " the authority of the Britifti Parliament, the people of MaiTachufet's Bay have taken the lead. Every new move " towards independence has been theirs ; and in every frefli "mode of refiftance againft the law, they have firft fet : * See " A Short View of the Hiftory of the New*England Colonies," &c. by Ifrael MaucUiit. in 1776, p. c, the PREFACE, the example, and then ifliied out admonitory letters * to the other Colonies to follow it *." The firft fettlers of all the New-England Governments were, in general, Independ- * As the ideas it fuggefts agree with this reprefentation, and are an ominous atteftation of it's truth, it dcferves to be noticed and remembered, that the firft firing againft the King's troops in America was from a meet- ing houfe in Maffachufet's Bay. The eminent forwardncfs of that peo- ple in rebellious refiftance is farther confirmed by the ftudiec? denial of a noted writer in the caufe of Independency f. How can they (i. e. the ' Tories) in the face of the fun, charge all our troubles on the New Eng- ' land Prefbyterians J j troubles which or'ginully began |j, and have all " along been kept up, by a wicked adminiftration and a venal parliament \ ** To make them the hatchers of mifchicfs occafioned by unconftitutionai * Acts of Parliament, and the only fomenters of our juft oppofition, which a Pennfylvania Quaker, a Maryland or Virginia Churchman, did more to * effect tii a n all the other men on the Continent put together, is cruelty in, the extreme." If this man had adduced all the refolves of all the committees of all the New-England townfhips denying this charge, I could not have been more thoroughly convinced of its being well founded, than I am by this his evaflve manner of parrying it with a declamatory recri- mination. To implicate Churchmen in the general blame is an old fliift of republican policy. It was thus that Nero fet Rome on fire, and then charged it on the Chriftians : and it was thus, too, that the Puritans of the laft century > when themfelvcs had brought the Royal Martyr to the block, impudently laid the blame on their own fpawn, the Independents : " A butcher thus firlt binds a goat, Then fends his boy to cut his throat." Granvillc, Lord Lanfdownc. To this fentiment, Durell, in his " Hiftoria Rituum Sanfbe Ecck-fcc Anglicana?, cap. i. p. 4, nlfo accedes : " Fateor, h atrocis illius tragedije " tot aclus fuerint, quot ludicrarurn eiTc folent, poftremum fere indepcn- " dcnuum fuifTt : adeo ut non acute magisquam vere dixerit L'Eftrangius 44 nofter, Regem primo a Preftyterianis intercmtum, Carolum deinde ab 41 Independentibus intcrfeftum." J[ ^^ To f Payne. | This writer prob'tbly does not know the difference ; however, the New- Bnglanders are, in general, not Prelbyterians, but Independents. l| Piecnaftic and pretty^ PREFACE. Independents, and a majority of their defcendants are ftill the fame ; for I conceive there is no material difference between Independents and Congregationalifts, as they arc fometimes called. This pertinacity in principles, which, ac- cording to Rapin, were, " as to religion, contrary to thofc a of all the reft of the world ," and " with regard to the " State, they abhorred Monarchy, and approved only a Re- " publican Government f ;" is a very ftriking feature in the character of a people. Their politics, their cuftoms, their religious opinions, (excepting, perhaps, in the article of witchcraft,) their language, and their manners, are all, with very little variation, what thofe of their forefathers were, when, diflatisfied with every fyflem of religion they could find in Europe, they migrated to America; where, Moflieim fays, not without fome ambiguity of expreflion, <4 they claim the honour of carrying the firft rays of divine " truth, and of beginning a work that has ftnce been continued " with fuck pious zen!, and SUCH ABUNDANT FRU1T\" To this general charge of difaffctlion in New- En gland, I am proud to own there were, and are, many honourable exceptions. Neither is it to be denied that there were many (alas ! very many) Churchmen, both in Virginia and in Maryland, who, unmindful of their own principles, became rebels juft as, through the fame common frailry of our nature, there are, all over Chriftendom, profelfing Chriftians who are immoral men. Yet, frail and wicked as we all are, blefled be God there aas never yet been any fyflem of religion which approved of rebellion as rebellion ! Even in New England there were many Diffenters from the Church of England, many who were Independents, of approved loyalty. Worth fo diftinguilh- ed is entitled to peculiar rcfpcdtj being not lefs extraordinary than it would be to find, in a field overrun with weeds, here and there a few vigorous {talks of ufeful plants mooting up and flourilhing in ipite of the general malignity either of the climate or the foil. f Rapin's Hiftory of England, vol. ii, p. 514, folio edit. + Machine's Tranflation of Moflicim's Ecclefiaftical Hiftory, vol. iv. p. 2? 9, gvo edit.- To XXXll PREFACE. To excite fuch a people to rebellion, for the purpofe of fet-* ting up an independent commonwealth, was but to call forth into action the firft and ftrongeft principles of which they felt the influence. Accordingly, when the leading men of the Oppofition in the Britiih Parliament found it neceflary for the fuccefs of their fchemes (the chief of which I fm- cerely believe went no farther than that they mould fucceed, and alfo difplace the Miniftry) that Government (hould be cmbarrafled, they could not long be at a lofs where to look for proper inftruments to efFecl: their purpofe. Fatally for themfelves, as well as for the peace of the empire, the Colo- nifts (by their being able to produce matter apparently new, by their diilance and ftrength, and, above all, by the temper of the times, as well as by their own peculiar character) held forth profpec"ls of an oppofition and refiftance of fuch weight, as well might fliake any adminiftration to it's centre*. Of : " That the Colonies were directly excited to rebellion, either by oppo- 1 jfition in general, or by. any .particular members of it, (though I firmly be* li^ve the fact,) I own I am not able to prove, at lealt by any fuch. evidence as would be requiftte in a court of law. Many hiflorical facts of great moment are thought to be fufficiently eftablifhed, by its being proved, that it is much more probable they fhould be true, than not true : and there arc, I believe, many cafes in which even courts of law a'llow a combination of congruous circumftances to go farther, and with more certainty, to the proof of a fact, than even ocular dcmonflration. With refpect to the matter of fact now under confide ration, neither it's truth nor falfhood can be proved otherwife than by probabilities. My believing that the Oppo- fition in England ftirred up the revolt in America, or, however, very ma- terially contributed to it, I readily admit adds but little, if any thing, to the proofs of the fact ; neither does another perfon's difbelieving it dif- prove it. I can only affirm, that I did not take up the opinion on grounds which appeared to me to be flight, nor merely on public report. I well remember, that, at the time, letters purporting to be written by perfons of no ordinary name and note in the Britifh Senate, were handed about, and Ihewn, to me, with many others. In thcfc letters the people of America were PREFACE. XXxiii Of the thirteen confederated colonies, however, four only were peopled by avowed independents. Admitting, then, that the defection of thofe four has been fatisfa&orily ac- counted for by the encouragement which the difcontented oppofitionifts in England gave to their old principles and prejudices, it ftill remains to be afked, what were the induce- ments and the caufes which led others not fo circumftanced into rebellion ? This is a queftion of great moment, to which I can hope to give a fatisfa&ory anfwer only by adverting to various detached and unnoticed circumftances which feem to bear on it ; and which therefore I will now endeavour to collect and bring forward in fome of the enfuing pages of this Preface. were not only encouraged, but exhorted, (not indeed, in fo many words, direftly to revolt or rebel, but to do, however, what I apprehend meant and was intended to mean the fame thing, that is) to refill Acts of the Britifh Legiflature. But neither csn I prove, that thefe tetters were not forged : feveral, I know, or at leaft I believe, were forged ; but feveral, I have equal reafon to believe, were not forged, as they were addrefled toperfonsof fome confideration in the Colonies, who correfponded with members of the Britifh Parliament ; and had, befides, all the other requifite marks of authenticity. They certainly were not inconfiftent with the characters of the men whofe names were annexed to them. Any other proofs, the cafe feems neither to admit of, nor to-require. For, after all, what more was there in writing fuch private letters, (written, moft probably, on purpofe to be made public,) than there was in the long fuccefllon of violent fpeeches made in Parliament, by many members of Opposition, in defence of the re- fiftance of America ? The great Earl of Chatham himfelf is reported to have faid, in his place in Parliament, that he rejoiced that America had refilled : a declaration for which, in any government poflTcfTeJ cither of energy or vigour, he would undoubtedly have been impeached. " It is not to be denied, that there was, in all thofc Parliaments, feveral " paflfages, and dljlemperedfpeeches^ of parrcnlar perfons, not fit for the dig- " nity and honour of thofe places, and unfuitable to the reverence due to * his Majefty and his councils.'' Lord Clarendon's Hiflory, vol. i. Svo edit, book i. p. c. That XXXIV P R E P A C E. That a people in full poffeflion and enjoyment of all the peace and all the fecurity which the beft government in the world can give *, mould, at the inftigation of another peo- ple, for whom they entertained an hereditary national dif- efteem, confirmed by their own perfonal diflike, fuddenly and unprovoked, and in contradiction to all the opinions they had heretofore profefled to hold on the fubjecl of government, rum into a civil war againfl a nation they loved, without J * The dcfcription which Lord Clarendon gives of the unparalleled pro- fperity which this nation enjoyed juft before the Grand Rebellion, admirable tor it's eloquence, and inftructive on account of the awful confequences of which he iuppofes it to have been the forerunner, is not lefs applicable to America " England was generally thought fccure with the advantages " of it's own climate; the Country rich; the Church flourilhing with " learned and extraordinary men; Trade increafed to that degree that we " were the exchange of Chriftendom : and for a complement of all thefe *' bit-flings, they were enjoyed by and under a King of the moft harmieis " diipofuion, the moft exemplary piety, the greateft fobriety, chaftity, and " mercy, that any prince hath been endowed with (God forgive thofe who *' have not been fenfible of, and thankful for, thofe endowments !), and " who might have faid that which Pericles was proud of upon his death- " bed, concerning his citizens, that no Englilhman had ever worn a mourn- " ing gown upon his occafion. In a word, many wife men thought it a " time wherein thefe two adjuncts, which Ncrva was deified for uniting, " Jmperium & Libertas, were as well reconciled as poflible. " But all thefe blelfings could but enable, not compel, us to be happy : " we wanted that fenfe, acknowledgment and value of our owa happinefs " which all but we had ; and took pains to make, when we could not find, " ourfclves miferable." Hift. of Rebellion, book i. p. 76. vol. i. 8vo edit. Imprcfled with the fame fentiment of the danger arifmg to a State from great profperity.the Roman hiftorian,Florus,had before alked, < Qu^se enim res alia furores civiles pcrperit quam nimiafelicitas ?" Lib. iii. cap. 12. feft. 7. And again: <* Caufa tantae calamitatis eademquae omnium, nhma ** filidta*." Jd. lib. iv. cap. 2. fe6l. 8. well PREFACE. XXXV Well knowing what caufe of complaint they had, and ftill lefs what the object was at which their leaders aimed, (for on both thefe points they frequently (hifted their ground,) with- out an hope, and almoft without a wifh, of fucceeding, is one of thofe inftances of inconfiftency in human conduct which are often met with in real life, but which, when fet down in a book, feem marvellous, romantic, and incredible. This, however, is an unexaggerated defcription of the general tem- per of mind which prevailed in the people of Virginia and Maryland towards thofe of New-England *. The ' i " The pains which the leading men in the Northern Colonies took to engage thofe of Virginia in particular in their long-meditated project of independence, could be tfnknown to no man on the fpot, who was duly careful to watch all thofe little incidents on. which great events fo often turn. Hence, when a Congrefs was refolved on, Mr. Randolph, a Vir- ginian, was pitched on to be it's firft Prefident : and hence too, in regular fucceffion, the nomination of Mr. Walhington, who alfo was of Virginia, to the command of the American army. Both Tacitus and Pliny (indif- pofed as the former of thefe great writers certainly was to cenfure popular encroachments with any feverity) beftow high praifes on Rufus Virginius for having refufed the empire when it was offered to him ; and for having declared, be ivouht not take up arms, even again/I a tyrant y till be had legal authority fo to do ; thut is to fay, till the Senate ordered him. See Plu- tarch's Life of Galba : and fee alfo the mention of this circumftance in Melmoth's Tranflation of Pliny's Letters, vol. i. Rufus Virginius, how- ever, was not that Roman, whom the Virginian Cincinnatus, or (as his countrymen are more proud to call him) the American Fabius, may be fuppofed to have made his model. Virginia, with a fort of proud pre-eminence, had long been in the habit of calling itfelf bis Majejly s ancient dominion. Many of the firft fettlers in it were perfons of refpeftable families and connections in the Parent State: and their defcendants, along with an high fpirit of loyalty, ftill maintained no fmall portion of the fplendid hofpitaiity of the old Englifh gentry. Their character therefore among their Siller Colonies was lofty : and even their central fituation gave them great influence. The gaining over Virginia to the confederacy was, on all thefe accounts, of great mo- ment. I do not know that any thing Ciort of their acceffion could or c a would- XXXVI PREFACE. The Colonies in general feem to have been circumftanced asUzziah is defcribecl to have been by the facred Chroniclerf : He was helped imirvelloujly y till he was Jlrong ; but when he was Jlrongy his heart was lifted up to his own deftruElion. This has been the courfe /in which human affairs have generally run ; and this is not an age to look for any preternatural efforts either of good fenfe or of virtue. Like an elaftic fpring kept down and reflrained from afting by a fuperincumbent would have quieted the fears of the other Southern Colonifts refpe&ing the rcftlefs fpirits of their fellow -fubjets of the North. All the Middle and Southern Colonies (at leaft thofe lying to the South of Pennfylvania) were afraid left, when haply by their united efforts they Should have fuc- ceeded in Shaking off the yoke of Great Britain, a Northern Army, as was the cafe under Cromwell, might give law to-the Continent. There is rcafon to believe, that it was this particular apprehenfion which, more than any thing elfe, induced General Washington to accept of the command of the army when it was offered to him. Thofe perfons who remember, or who now have a copy of, a Letter which he wrote at the time, and which was printed, to the Independent Companies of his own neighbourhood in Fairfax county in Virginia, may alfo remember his alluding in it to this very circumftance, there defignated by the terms " a political motive." On all thefe contiderations, as well as on account of my own particular connexion with Virginia and Maryland, and an undiffembled warm regard to many excellent perfons in both of them, which will laft as long as life fhall laft, I have always contemplated their defection with peculiar Sorrow. " Other devils that fuggeft by treafons, " Do botch and bungle up damnation " With patches, colours, and with forms being fetch'd " From glittering femblances of piety : " 'But he that temper'd you, bade you Stand up, " Gave you no inftance why you Should do treafon, " Unkfs to dub you with the name of traitor. "I will weep for you : " For, this revolt of yours, methinks, is like *' Another fall of man." Shakfpeare, Hen, IV. Acl ii. Sc. 3. \ 2 Chron. ch, xxvi. ver. 15, 16. weight, PREFACE. XXXVli weight, in all Governments, thofe who are governed are merely prevented from rifmg againft and breaking loofe from thofe who govern : but it is " the nature of all Colonies to the patronage of the people was as great as that of the governors was fmall. Of courfe, the latter were neglected, and the former courted ; and the fuitors, like the patrons, being, as might be expected, perfons of democra- tical tempers and talents, it is not to be wondered at that fuch fuits were feldoin preferred in vain. A pofition, therefore, which was once advanced by Governor Bernard, the Governor of MafTachufet's Bay, is the refult not only of long and accurate obfervation, but of found judgment and the more it is examined, the truer it will be found that " the however, (againft which it fs the leading aim of this publication to put the world on it's guard,) are ftill to be regarded as the one great caufe of the American revolt. To fuch an height had this extreme corruption PREP A\? E. Xlv corruption of principle been carried, that, had not tliofe bulky adjuncts of this then great empire feen fit to wreftle with the Parent State for pre-eminence when they did, it is too probable fome other of it's parts might have made a fimilar attempt. It was no doubt in America that the principal efforts to excite murmurings and difcontents were made; becaufe there they could be made with the beft profpecl:s of fucceeding : but they certainly were not made only in America. Nor let either Americans nor Britons even yet be too fecure, that thofe reftlefs men of the fame defcription. (who ftill with equal art and ambiguity are on all occafions fo forward to boaft of their devotion to revolution principles) are even yet fatiated with revolutions. Subordinate to thefe more prominent caufes of revolt, fome others (of inferior moment indeed, yet not wholly in- fignificant) deferve to be noticed, as being chara&eriflical both of the people and of revolts. When the people of the Middle and Southern Colonies were to be tutored to co-ope- rate with thofe of the North, whom till then they had viewed only with jealoufy and diflike, two methods were taken to lull their fufpicions afleep. The being taxed has probably always been a circumftance irkfome to mankind ; they fub- mit to it only from neceflity : but in North America, more perhaps than any where elfe, the people were ftudioufly taught to regard all taxes as the arbitrary exaclions of an oppreflive Government. When, therefore, the fatal duty of three-pence a pound was laid upon tea, the people, thus previoufly prepared and difpofed, were eafily perfuadad to believe alfo, that, by refifting it with the fame firmnefs as they had {hewn in oppofmg the Stamp At, it would cer- tainly be repealed : and they were farther inftru&ed to think that the beft mode of refining this new tax, would be by for- bearing to ufe the taxed article. The policy of this meafure was not at fir ft very obvious ; yet, with it's accompaniments of PREFACE. of fimilar recommendations to " kill lambs fparingly" anet other injunctions of the fame tendency, it's effects on the minds of the people were prodigious. It is well known, that tea (the obnoxious object of the tax) is, comparatively fpeaking, but little ufed by the lower clafles of the people in America. By thus putting thofe clafles, then, (with hardly a facrifice on their parts,) on a footing with their betters, to . whom tea was neceflary, a very artful and acceptable com- pliment was paid to their levelling humours. Befides this, it helped gradually to train the people of all ranks to pay a deference and obedience to perfons inverted with no legal nor constitutional authority over them ; which, however, they would have paid with great reluctance in any cafe that had not flattered their own preconceived notions. Thofe leading men, therefore, to whom it was left to model and con- duel: the rifing revolt, were careful firft to learn what orders would or would not be generally acceptable ; and they took care to iflue none which they were not fure would meet with a gracious reception. Nor were any more acceptable than thofe by which fuperiors were put in the power of inferiors. The poor man, who, if not himfelf a committee man, had it in his power to inform the committee of his diftrict that fome richer neighbour had been feen drinking a dim of tea, killing a lamb, or even making his head only, and looking dejected on reading a congreffional mandate, thus became of confequence, as being enabled to keep his quondam fuperior in awe. Every public order that was iflued, either by Con- grefs, Conventions, or Committees, was framed exactly in the fpirit of the perfons on whom it was to operate ; juft as field preachers level their harangues, not only to the capaci- ties, but alfo to the tempers, of their hearers. A fimijar policy dictated fundry ordinances which were now ifilied refpeding fails. Whatever might be the cafe with the people of the North, thofe of the Middle and Southern P R E F A C E, Southern Provinces were certainly not remarkable for taking much intereft in the concerns of religion. But, carelefs as they were of fafting in it's proper fenfe and purpofe, it was not likely that, in the temper which then prevailed among them, they (hould be indifpofed to fajl for Jirife and debate. Some ufe was thus made of their religious propenfities : and this is a fentiment which, however it may occafionally be enfeebled, whenever it operates at all, muft operate to fome effecl:. It was of ftill more confequence to the caufe of re- volt, that by this device the Southern Clergy, and in par- ticular thofe of the Church of England, were, almoft with- out an option, compelled to become in fome degree fubfer- vient to infurgency. We were inextricably entrapped, be- fore we were well aware that a net had been fpread for us. The minds of the people became unufually agitated : the times feemed big with fome portentous event : and though for fome time the Congrefs made no exprefs mention of a civil war, yet the people were often warned to prepare for the worft. This preparation was foon interpreted to mean that they were to accuftom themfelves to . arms. I have fometimes thought, that there furely muft be fomething par- ticularly alluring, either in the idlenefs of military e;:er- cifmgs, in the drefs and parade of it, or in that air of im- portance which a military character feems to give to thofe xvho are inverted with it. Were this not the cafe, fuch mul- titudes would hardly be found ready and eager to mufter whenfoever or by whomfoever they are called upon. But, whether they were military arrays,, or folemn fafts, which the Congrefs now enjoined, both were implicitly obeyed; and the injunctions were popular. It is true, indeed, that at firft their fafts were not appointed, as was afterwards the cafe, for the exprefs purpofe of u praying for patriotifm and it's fuccefs." They were appointed, that the people might pray to God to avert the impending calamities. And PREFACE. And what good man, or what faithful minifter of God, could refufe to fupplicate Heaven for the reftoration of peace to a diftra&ed land ? No juft objection could lie againft the thing itfelf : all that was objectionable was the incompe- tency of thofe who enjoined it. Some Clergymen indeed foon faw through the flimfy veil ; but, thinking it neither wife nor fafe to fet themfelves directly againft the current of the times, as no particular fervices were prefcribed, they judged it to be beft upon the whole to attend their churches. They did this the more chearfully from a confcioufnefs that it was at lead in their power to avoid gratifying fuch of their hearers as were feditioufly difpofed with any inflammatory harangues. For this conduct they were often infulted and perfecuted by many of thofe loofe and diforderly perfons who had hereto- fore been the lead refpected in fociety, but who now became noify, forward, and afTuming. Too many of the Clergy of the Church of England, however, (and no others are impli- cated in this charge,) either not feeing, or not fufficiently regarding the confequences of any public deviation from the flraight line of rectitude, fell into the fnare : and when the paftor ftrayed, it was no wonder that the flock followed. Some farther enquiry into the caufes of this linking diffe^ rence of conduct in men of the fame order, and under the fame inducements and obligations to act aright, feems necef- fary, from it's having been productive of fome not unimport- ant confequences. The fact flood thus : in all the Colonies to the North of Pennfylvania, the Clergy of the Church of Eng- land were (I believe without a fingle exception) uniformly loyal : arid many of them were called upon to give fuch proofs of fortitude m fu feting for rigkteoufnefs fake, as would not have difcredited primitive martyrs *. In the other Govern- * There arc in the pofTeffion of the Society for propagating the Gofpel in Foreign Parts many letters from their miilionaries, (now become docu- ments PREFACE. Governments, though (blefled be God !) we did not all bow the knee to Baal, yet is it not to be denied that far too many of our order were not fteadfaft. The publication of two patriotic fermons in Philadelphia, by two clergymen of rank and weight in our Church, told the world but too plainly,' that all our Clergy did not think unfavourably either of the infurgents or of their caufe. To account for this inconfiftency, it is to be obferved, that the Northern Clergy were in general miflionaries, and received falaries from the Society for the Propagation of the Gofpel in Foreign Parts. Their brethren in the South were eftabliihed ; but fo eftablifhed as in no fmall degree to be ftill dependent on the People, and on them alone. In Virginia, they were elected to their benefices by the People : and though, by an examination of the Virginia ah of eftablifh- ment, as thofe acls appear upon paper, the Clergy, after their election, might have been thought to have been placed beyond the reach of popular control, yet every man who had a practical acquaintance with that country before the revo- lution muft know that this was not the cafe. In Maryland, where the Clergy obtained their .preferment from the Go- vernor, and where the eftablimment was upon the whole by far the moil refpe&able of any upon the Continent, an Aft, which was pafled juft at the beginning of the troubles, had ments of authentic hiftory,) which would in a very ftriking manner confirm this afTertion. To thefe truly good and great men, that fine encomium of Milton's, on Abdiel, might almoft literally be applied : " Among the faithlcfs, faithful chiefly they " Among innumerable falfe, unmov'd, " Unfhaken, unfeduc'd, unterrified, " Their loyalty they kept, their love, their zeal : " Nor number, nor example, with them wrought ' To fwerve from truth, or change their contlant mind." Paradife Loft, book v. !. 897. d rendered I PREFACE; rendered the Clergy, if poflible, more dependent on the Peo- ple than their brethren of Virginia. In both thefe Colonies it had long been the drift of every legiflative interference, of which the Clergy were the objefts, to withdraw them from any dependence on, or connexion with, Government ; and to attach them to the People. Hence, the Church of England, though eftabliihed, and, as far as I know, found in her doclrines, was, at the period of the revolt, in discipline and church-government, palpably of a more popular form than the Prefbyterian Church under the eftablifhment in Scotland. That many of the Clergymen who conformed (in which number are all thofe who are now bifhops in America) acled confcientioufly in the part they took, it would be great want of charity not to believe : and though, even in human judicatures, erroneous principles or opinions are not allowed to be pleaded in bar of judgment, it would be uncandid not to refleft, that thofe Clergymen were expofed, like the reft of mankind, to the influence of thofe opinions of the times, which, like a torrent, fwept away all cool and fober thought, and all fedatenefs of judgment, in men of all ranks and orders, in one mad phrenfy of ambition. After all, where is the man, who, having read the hiftory of mankind with all proper care, will take upon him to affirm, that nations, as well as individuals, are not liable to paroxyfms of infanity or phrenfy *, and that the revolt of America may not as fairly be afcribed to a itrong fpirit of delufion on the, fubjeft of politics, as the rebellion of 1641 was to a fimilar fpirit on the fubjecl. of religion ? Inftances of religious in- fatuation in communities are too notorious not to be acknow- ledged ; but it feems arbitrary to limit enthufiafm to one fen- timent of the human mind. John of Leyden, or any other fanatical reformer, was reputed a madman only from his at- tempting what he conceived to be a good end by improbable and defperate means j and what more could be faid of the celebrated PREFACE. ll Celebrated knight of La Mancha ; or what lefs of Wat Tyler, Tom Paine, or any other fanatical reformer of States ? I conceive it to be a point yet undecided, whether Mahomet himfelf did not owe his unequalled fuccefs in the Eaft at leaf! as much to his fanaticifm as to his impofture. And far lefs injuftice would have been done to his character, than, in my humble opinion, was done to Alexander, and to Charles the Twelfth of Sweden, when a great poet of our own called them " madmen," had his biographers defcribed him as hav- ing learned, in the words of Horace, " infanire certa ra- " tione, modoque." But if thefe immortal heroes are to be fet down as madmen, what mall we fay of thofe millions o men who either compofed or paid their armies * ? What elfe is madnefs but mifguided paffions and blinded * Were if not that mankind, in forming themfelves irito fects, parties, and fa&ions, very generally renounce the cxercife of their reafon, why fliould their leaders fo often have found it necfcflary to diftinguifh men fo aflbciated, not by any circumftances chara&eriftical of good fenfe and fober judgment, but by fome low and ridiculous names, fome filly peculiarity of drefs, or other fenfelefs badge of diftinUon ? Hence (not to go out of our own country) fuch ftrange names as Puritans, Roundheads, Whigs, Tories, White Boys, Dippers, Ranters, Quakers, &c. &c. : hence thofe prodigious effefts, far beyond uhat it would have been pofTible to produce by the Ibundeft and cleared arguments, which are faid to have refulted from fuch popular tunes as Lillibullero, Ctt-ira, &c. &c. ; and hence trees of liberty, cockades of pieces of buckfkin, and fuits of blue and bujff. If Quakerifm, notwithftanding the inoffenfivenefs of it's tenets, be now on the decline, (as many think that it is,) I can attribute it to no caufe fo probable as this, that fome of the moft diftinguilhed of it's members, afhamcd of being any longer fo ftrongly marked by fome extremely unmeaning, if not abfurd, peculiarities, have, like the reft of their countrymen, lately ceafed to make it a part of their religion not to cock their hats, or put buttons on them ; and have ventured to fay jou, though fpeaking only to one perfon. Had it not been for the oftentatious difplay of fuch childifh fingularities, fo flattering to low pride, it may well be queftioned whether even oppofition and perfecution could have driven fo many to attach themfelves to a fyftem fo unalluring. d 2 reafon ? Ill P U F A C E. reafon ? All the great commotions which have fo often agi* tated thefe kingdoms, when analyfed, appear to have origi- nated, fir ft, in the ill-governed paflions of fome popular leader or leaders ; and, next, in the milled reafon of the peo- ple. For a 1 long fucceflion of reigns, a mere predilection for a particular family, (as in the contefts between the Houfes of York and Lancafter,) armed one part of the kingdom againft the other ; fome hot-headed chieftains led them on, and- the deluded multitudes followed. In fuch contefts, the Jlillfmcill voice of Reafon was liftened to, juft as it would be liftened to by a troop of devotees celebrating the orgies of Bacchus. Not much longer ago than a century, the king- dom was again goaded on almoft to madnefs by fierce con- troverfies about uneffential points of Religion : and now we are once more deluded and diftra&ed by a phantom, mif- called Philofophy , for, our demagogues call themfelves phi- lofophers, with juft the fame propriety that a poor lunatic, with his crown of draw, fancies and calls himfelf an emperor. Our pofterity, it is probable, will fee this modern phrenfy in all it's foulnefs of deformity ; and moralize on it, as we now moralize on the heroes of the crufades, or on the cant and hypocrify of Cromwell and his adherents. The hermit Peter, who is faid firft to have fent fo large a portion of the flower of Europe on a Quixote errand to the Holy Land, was a fober, rational,* and virtuous man, when compared with fuch in- cendiaries as Paine and his abettors. And however decided tour preference may be of the idol of our own fetting up, as it is manifefted by our arbitrarily ordering all men to fall down and worfhip it, there certainly is room to fufpecl: that, with all it's faults and all it's errors, there was lefs folly and lefs injuftice in the beginning of the grand rebellion, than there was in the revolt of America/ I would fain add, what alfo I (Irongly incline to believe was the cafe, that, with all their wrong-headednefs, the leading men under Cromwell, confidered P R E P A C B. onfidered cither as ftatefmen, as warriors, or as writers, were in no refpect inferior to the metaphyfical ftatefmen and rebellious reformers of the prefent times. It is with ftill more confidence that I attribute the fuccefs of the Americans in their revolt to the great improbability there was of their fucceeding. It may well make the great men of thefe kingdoms blufli to recollect who and what thofe felf-tutored ftatefmen and heroes were by whom their counfels were baffled, and their armies defeated and difgraced. To the fuppofed infignificance of the Colonifts there can be no doubt fome of their fuccefs is to be attributed ; as, inftead of caution, it begat contempt in their opponents , and no adverfary is fo mean as that he may fafely be defpifed. In- dependently of this, it is in itfelf more difficult to have to contend with men of irregular and defultory minds, than with perfons of diftinct, clear, and fteady underflandings. Againft feafible projects proper precautions may be taken ; but who knows how to make head againft the wild and dif- orderly, but vehement and impetuous, proceedings of mobs, or of the chieftains of mobs ? All countries have produced MafTaniellos, Joans of Arc, and Jack Cades ; to whom I may perhaps add the redoubtable Robefpierre, and certainly the late mutineer Parker; men who have become formidable chiefly by attempting improbable things by improbable means and this, perhaps, is as fatisfactory an account as could eafily be given of the fuccefs of Mahomet. A certain^ degree of wildnefs and eccentricity pervaded his character j neither his thoughts nor his actions appear to have been regu- lated by any plan ; his fuccefles were probably as unexpected, even by himfelf, as the means by which they were effected were in general unpremeditated ; and it was impofiible for thofe, who wifliedto oppofe him, to counteract projects which it was impoflible for them to forefee, and which were no (boner conceived than executed. And, were I now called on tiV P R E F A C E* to aflign one, and only one, great paramount rcafon, account- ing for the fuccefs with which the arms of the prefent French republicans have lately been crowned, and in particular for their victories in Italy, I certainly fhould pafs by the en- thufiafm of liberty, as fuppofed to operate on their foldiers, as the groundlefs conjecture only of enthufiafts ; and alfo pafs by even the immenfe numbers of their armies, becaufe, when ill-difciplined, that circumilance is as often difadvan- tageous as advantageous ; and afcribe all that has occurred, to the novelty, the irregularity, and the improbability of their attempts. It is of the eflence of fuch caufes, however, to be efficacious only for a feafon ; it muft be an unpardonable fault, both in future Generals and future Stntefmen, if, here- after, either victories or revolutions be effected in the fame way. And npw having, with all the fidelity of which I am capa- ble, enumerated (either in this Preface or in the body of my Work) fuch of the caufes as feemed to me to have been the jnoft efficacious in producing the revolt of America, it is in- cumbent on me, next, to point outTome of the many intereft- ing confequences which it either has already occafioned, or may be expected hereafter to occafion. I reflect (certainly not without being mortified, yet with- out feeing any reafon to blufh either for my fagacity or my fmcerity) how totally a predidion refpeding the attachment of the Coloniils to their Mother Country, which I ventured to fugged in the firft of the following Sermons, has failed. When that Sermon was firft written, mod Americans thought, at leaft on that point, as I thought : it would then have been decreed weaknefs or prejudice to have thought otherwife. To the beft of my recolleaion, one of the public addrefles from Virginia, on the fubjetT: of the Peace, made the fame proteftations, with the fame earneftnefs, and no cioubt with equal fmcerity : indeed, I believe, it was the generaj PREFACE. 1^ general language of American addrefies at that period. Even at this moment (when, according to the appearances fo oftei;- tatioufly difplayed by one defcription of people, the politica.1 horizon of the United States of America is perfectly calm and ferene) it is demonftrably more probable that convulfions fhould arife, terminating in a revolution, and in the deftruc- tion of their prefent fyftem of government, than in 1763 it was that they mould (hake off their dependence on Great Britain. It is more probable, not only becaufe their prefent Government is in itfelf really weaker than even that under which they were happy in 1763, but alfo becaufe the people in general are lefs attached to it both from principle and habit. The Americans do not yet feem to be properly con- fcious how much they loft when they diverted themfelves, or endeavoured to diveft themfelves, of thofe habitudes, cuftoms, and prejudices, to which the old Governments of Europe, in cafe of party contefts, refort and cling with infinite advantage. Merely as Americans, they have no valorous anceftry to boaft of, nor any hiftory but of yeflerday. Be thefe mere pre- judices; man, either individually, or in his focial capacity, is a creature of habits and prejudices : and the Legiflators who fhall attempt to remove them will find, as the reward of alj their pains, that they have but removed the boundary of a delightful near profpecl;, in order to let in a mocking exten- five one *. Thefe new republicans, however, in their hafte to get rid of old prejudices, have alfo been fo unwife, or at leaft fo unfortunate, as, in lieu of old ones, to adopt many new ones lefs prudent and more dangerous. -There is now in the United States a much larger party, than there was in 1763, of perfons who have been educated, and, as it were, trained to revolt i and, as though their own produce of dif- contented and reftlefs men were not fufficient, they have im- ported, and are ftill importing, from the different States of * See Maxims, Charafters, and Reflexions, p. 79 and 107. d 4 Europe, Ivi PREFACE. Europe, patriots who are the reformers of governments by trade, and follow it as a profeflion*. It is fair to infer, that, from fuch a combined union of refources, America is now abundantly flocked with men, whofe modes of thinking and principles are of a nature likely to lead them to be diflatif- fied with any government which may be eftablifhed. Such a party will be always on the watch, and always ready to feize on any opportunity that may offer, to overturn a fettled government : the reputablenefs, or difreputablenefs, of fuch attempts now depend entirely, not on the nature of them abftraledly confidered, but on their fuccefs, or want of fuccefs. Founded as the prefent government of North America was under the aufpices of the People, it mufl have been a folecifm in politics had it not been weak. Strength and weaknefs, as the terms are here applied to thefe States, relate folely to their own intrinfic powers and refources as they operate on themfelves, and without any reference to their ability or difability to cope with other States and Governments. Now, as it was necefTary (not indeed for the fake of the new go- vernment which was to be founded, but for the fake of pulling down the old one) that the whole of the revolution fhould aflame and be of a popular caft, it was not to be expected I wifli we could fay that a change of air had produced a change of " condua in fome of them. The comrades of Muir and Palmer were no fooner landed at New- York laft year, than they began to pick an hole in " the coat of the American Government. They openly declared that it was tarnijbed by the laft and ivorjl dlfgrace of a free Government*, and " faid, that they looked forward to a more ferjefl Jlate of fociety. (See " their Addrefs to the Unitarian Doftor.) I do not fay that they had any " immediate hand in the Weftern afftir : but when rebels from all quar- " ters of the world are received with optn arms as perfecuted patriots,, it is no wonder that rebellion ihquld be looked upon as patriotifm." , A Bone to gnaw for the Democrats. Philadelphia, 1795, *d edition, note, JK?i, Put PREFACE, that the People (now made their own rulers) fhould he dif- pofed to lay any very rigorous reftraints on themfelves. Ac- cordingly it has been obferved that in the fame proportion that any Government is popular it is alfo weak ; and henc^ (from having either feen, or experienced, the unavoidable weaknefs of fuch forms) the bulk of mankind in all ages arid nations have thought, and do flill think, it for their intereft to fubmit to and live under fyflems more defpotic ; not, it may be fuppofed, without a proper fenfe of the many flrong objections which have often been urged againft fuch forms, but influenced folely by the profpec~t which they hold out of greater fecurity and durability. This consideration of the comparative ftrength and weak- nefs of popular and defpotic forms of Government furnimes, if I miftake not, an almoft irrefiftible argument againft the conjectures of thofe fpeculative writers who have taken fo much pains to make the world believe that all Government was originally founded in the confent of the People. Had this been the cafe, all Governments, at leaft in their origin, muft have retained fome of the flrong chara&eriftics of their firft fabrication ; they muft have been at once free and weak. "Whereas moft of the old Governments, of which hiftory has preferved any records, were, at the period when they might be fuppofed to have come frefh from the hands of their firft framers, if not free, yet ftrong ; and, in general, monarchi- chal*. For the truth of thefe aflertions we need not look beyond the United States of America. Ever fince thev have become ~ a diftincl peoplejtheir Government has been unfettled, agi- tated, and fometimes even on the brink of revolution f. ( It is * " Principle rerum, gentium nationumqxie imperium penes reges erat: *' quos ad faftigium hujus majeftatis non ambitio popularis ; fed fpe&ata ** inter bonos moderatio provehebat." Juftin. lib. i. c?p. i. J- It is thus that Mr. Prefident Adams hirnfelf defcribes fome of the im- mediatf Iviii f R E * A c t. is but a few years fince this danger was great and imminent,' A very large body of people actually took up arms againft the exifting government : and the reafons they affigned for their Infurre&ion were neither lefs juft, nor lefs cogent, than thofc which they themfelves, in concurrence with the perfons againft whom they now rofe, had juft before alledged to juflify their general refinance to the Parent State. They complained (not indeed of a duty upon damped paper, or a fmall tax upon tea, but) of unconftitutional, grievous, and oppreflive taxes in general. Nor, for a while, were their profpefts of fuccefs lefs flattering than, at the beginning, thofe of their prototypes, the malecontents in 1775, were. Like their predecefibrs, alfo, they found friends in thofc parties, mediate effefts of their firft Conftitutlon, which, he fays, it was forefeet* could not be durable." " Negligence of regulations, inattention to re- " commendations, difobedience to authority not only in individuals but in " States, foon appeared with their melancholy confequences univerfal lan- ** guor, jealoufies and rivalries of States, decline of navigation and com- ** merce, difcouragement of neceflary manufactories, univerfal fall in the ' value of lands and their produce, contempt of public and private faith, " lofs of confideration and credit with foreign nations, and at length dif- " contents and animofities, combinations,/r//a/ conventions andinfurrec- " //6y threatening Come great national calamity. *' See his Inaugural Speech on his entering on the office of Prcfident : at Phitadelphiai Marcli the 6th, 1797. Of the virulence and audacity of parties in America, and as a fpecimea alfo of the weaknefs even of their new and prefent Conftitution, take the following defcription from the able writer already quoted, who (much to the credit and the happinefs of America) is become one of the moil popular public men among them. " The truth is, thofe among us who " have made the moft noife, and have expreffed the moft rancour againft " Great Britain, feem to have done it only to cover their enmity to the " federal government, and confequently to their country, if we may with ' propriety call it their country. Let any man take a review of their con- " du6t fince the beginning of the prefent European war, and fee if this obfevvation i$ i lo: uniformly true, Jt was they who railed fuch a, cla- mour parties, which it is of the eflence oft he American Govern- ment, like our own, to engender under the impofmg name of an Oppofition. It was a circumftance, however, as un- propitious to the caufe of the Infurgents, as it was fortunate for the Eftablifhed Government, that no pretence was found for the Oppofitionifts in the Britim Parliament to take part with them j nor any powerful Nation difpofed or at leifure to abet the caufe of thefe refractory fubjels. Even the neighbouring countries, which are dill connected with Great Britain, were either too weak or too generous to intermeddle with their quarrel. Hence the Eftablifhed Government, availing themfelves of a ftriking inftance of wife and refolute conduct in the hiftory of Rome *, and profiting by the recent example '< mour againft the Proficient's wife proclamation of neutrality ; it was " they who encouraged an infolent and intriguing foreigner to fet the law* ' of the Union at defiance, and to treat the fupreme executive authority " as if he had been a Talien, or a Barrere, or the Prefident of nothing but *' a Democratic or Jacobin Club ; it was they who brought the vexations " and depredations on the commerce, and then guillotined in effigy the * ( ambaflador extraordinary, the angel of peace, who went to repair their " fault j finally, it was they \\l\o fanned the embers of rebellion in the Wejl " into a flame, and caufed fourteen or fifteen thoufand men to be taken " from their homes, to undergo a moft fatiguing campaign, at the expence *' of a million and a half of dollars to the United States." A Bone to gnaw for the Democrats, p. 27. * When, of the thirty Colonies which Rome pofleiTed, twelve had re- volted, (and, as appears, merely from an unwillingnefs to contribute their fhare to the general exigencies of the State,) the Romans did not, like Great Britain, hope to recover them by coaxing and carelfmg them with an in- creafed fondnefs ; but inftantly had recourfc to the more manly, and (I add) the more merciful, means of coercion and force. ' Nova re confutes ifti, quum abfterrere eos a tarn deteftabili crimine " vellent, cafligando increpcfndoque, plus quam leniter agenda, profe&uros ** rati aiebant non detreftationem earn munerum militiae, fed apertam defeftionem a populo Romano eflfe. Redirent itaque (legati *' fcilicet) properc in colonias, & tanquam Integra re locuti, magis quam < aufi ]x PREFACE. example of a contrary conduct in this country, muttering uj all at once as much ftrength as it could command, exerted It with inftantaneous vigour, and therefore with effecl: : the infurgents were defeated, difperfed, and difgraced. A refpite indeed from the conteft with the Parent State was hardly obtained, before very alarming altercations arofe among the Americans themfelves : they were fo {harp and fierce as to excite ferious apprehenfions in thofe who were entrufted with the executive power. Their leading men then difcovered (and certainly no great fagacity was necefiary to enable them to difcover) that the Conftitution, for which they had been contending at the rifque of every thing that was dear to them, when obtained, was a weak one, and in every refpeft inadequate to their exigencies. The firft very important bufmefs, therefore, which engaged the attention of their Legiflators after the Peace, was the framing a new Conftitution. Every man who knows any thing of the fecret but true hiftory of his own times, muft know with what difficulty the ftronger and belter Conftitution, which ftill exifts, and apparently exifts unimpaired, was at firft ob- tained. But, Conftitutions of Government, unlike thofe of the perfons who form them, grow ftronger by growing older: and, partial as this age may feem to be to new Conftitutions, as well as pratifed in the art of making them, I own I can hardly imagine a cafe in which it is poffible to make a new Conftitution that ihall poflefs fufficient ftrength and ftability. " aufi tantum nefas cum fuis confulerent ; admonerent, non Campanos { neque Tarentinos cos efle, fed Romanes : inde oriumdos ; inde in coloni* piw. sn rSv tin ytytKTWf siyx*f cc. Polvb. lib, vi. fub init. e 2 fcfr PREFACE, kfs difficult to form even a plaufible conjecture tiny of the American States will be : becaufe, fir ft, they have no hiftory of their own 5 fo that, from any thing they have yet clone, little can be inferred refpecting what they will do : and becaufe, alfo, the world does not furnifh us with the hiC- tory of any people circumftanced as they are. This diffi- culty is ftill farther increafed by the fingular character of the times, which (owing to an epidemic laxity of principle, and the total abandonment of all plans and fyftems founded on experience) has already produced fome great events, fai beyond all the ordinary rules of conjecture or calculation. Even in this aweful (late of things, however, we may pre- fume to hope, that the exemplification of the effects of fuch doctrines and practices, as at this moment France is exhibit- ing to the world, maybe fufficient to check this furor, however cxtenfive it's influence may be : and that therefore, like other endemial complaints, this vifi-tation of Heaven, though fevere* will not be perpetual, uhe future fate of France, Polybius feems very explicitly to have foretold : there having never yet been ndvminatio plebis^or popular tyranny, which was not in the long-run followed by the arbitrary government of a fingle perfonj After fpreading confudon and defolation all over Europe, and deluging it with blood ; after putting back their own country at lead a century, checking every valuable improvement in arts and fciences, and miferably diminifh- ing it's population j this diftracted people will at length find fafety and peace once more in a monarchy. Their inter- regnum may be longer, or it may be (horter, than that of England was : a thoufand circumftances, of which no human penetration can take cognizance, may ha den or may protract that happy period : the only conjecture which I prefume to offer on the fubjet, with any confidence, is, that fome time or other there will afiuredly be a reftoration ; and me will owe her reftoration to reafon and fobriety of conduct, as (he owes PREFACE, owes her prefent alienation of mind only to herfelf. A writer of no ordinary abilities * on the American Confiitu- tion, admitting that the Confederated States " contain an ff immenfe extent of territory, prefenting to the Atlantic a " front of fifteen hundred miles," would yet fain perfuade himfelf and his countrymen, that thefe States are an excep- tion to all the world : that a confederate republic has all the force of a monarchical government ; and that, in inert, by adopting fuch a form, notwithstanding " the extent of ter- *' ritory, the diverfity of climate and foil, the number, great- " nefs, and connection of lakes and rivers with which the " United States are interfered and almoft furrounded, " the vigour and decifion of a wide-fpreading monarchy may " be joined to the freedom and beneficence of a contracted " republic f ." Confcious that the only very ftrong point in rhe prefent Conftitution of thefe States is in the attachment and partiality of their people for it, far be it from me in any degree to weaken their reliance, either on this, or on any other opinion that is favourable to the durability of their Government. Bvit, however blind, I add commendably blind, they may be to the defers of their prefent fyftem, they cannot be infenfible that a great and durable republic is cer- tainly a new thing in the world : and that after all the boafled excellence of their confederation, they are, to ufe the words of an intelligent and elegant hiftorian J, in fact, but a feeble combination of ff feveral little republics united only in name; " each too weak to preferve dignity, or even to fecure inde- " pendency to it's feparate governments and pofleffing " nothing fo much in commpn as occafions for perpetual dif- ff agreement."* * Mr. Wilfon. See Commentaries on the Conftitution of die United States of America, p. 26. t Ibid, p. 34. 1: MitforJ. See his Hift. of Greece, vol. 5. p. 47. c 3 AS PREFACE. As it is juft that they who contributed mod to bring this great evil of revolution into credit fhould mod feel it's bitter effects, fo it is highly probable that the people of thefe States will have the moft reafon to lament their fuccefs. They fet out on principles incompatible with liability *, and of courfe it is natural to fuppofe that their people, follow- ing the example of their founders, will always be prone to revolt and rebellion. With the feed of almoft every poli- tical evil that can be named, and perhaps, moft of all, that of tyranny, thickly fown in their Conftitutions, it is hardly poflible they mould be either eafily or well governed ; and by being ill governed, they are fure to become an unworthy people and if unworthy, it is ftill more certain that they muft and will be unhappy *. However little any nation may * Of what kind of people the American States are already compofed, the follow ing defcription, by an avowed friend to Liberty, clearly fhevvs. " What has America to boaft of ? What are the graces, or the virtues, *' that diftinguifti it's inhabitants ? What are their triumphs in war, or " their inventions in peace ? Inglorious foldiers, yet feditious citizens ! " fordid merchants, and indolent ulurpcrs !" Preface to the Dying JSicgro ; a Poem. This account, as written by a poet and an alien, may be fufpected per- hops (though I think unjuftly) of exaggeration. Take, then, the account which follows, of the prefcnt Americans, from a politician, a man once high in office among his countrymen, and a native of America. " If, " indeed, the fmall degree of order, of reftraint and fubordination, which - *' has for the laft feven years prevailed in our country, be now thrown off, *' and the legiflative and executive powers once more return, in effe<5r, into ** the hands of committees and conventions : if, in place of that fubordi- 44 nation to law and government j of thofe decent, frugal, and virtuous ' manners and habits ; of that eafe, and even affluence, in which our fel- 44 low citizens formerly lived in peace and fafety : in a word, if, inflead of *' thofe manners, principles, and circutnftances, which once marked our * character, the reverie fhould in future take place and prevail, under a " Government too weak to prevent or remedy the evils, there cannot then * remain a o^ucftiort on the iubjeft, bvt fuch anarchy and confute muft enfue, PREFACE. ntay have to boaft of, on a review of many incidents in the hiftories of the bed of them, it certainly is fome diminution of their reproach, that for many of their blots and blemifhes they have fmce atoned by the performance of many great and good actions ; and over the reft, Time has thrown her kind oblivious mantle. No advantage of this fort belongs to the Americans. All that they have in their hiilory, that is either ancient or venerable, they have in common with that nation which they have renounced. Even the frnall portion of their hiilory, which is properly their own, is not creditable to them : their revolution began in folly and in- juflice, and ended, if to their advantage, certainly not to their honour. They have none of thofe hereditary attach- ments to country, which are the ftrong ligatures of govern- ment ; nor any of that conftitutional devotion to inftitutions of long {landing, which nothing but long habits can form ; for the want of which no new inftitutions, however wife and falutary, have any adequate compenfations to offer. On all thefe accounts, and many others not neceflary to be here recited, I am tempted to conclude, that, after a long feries of " diffentions and contefts," the great Continent of North America will become a great empire under a great monarch*. Meanwhile, the befl advice which it is in my power to give to thefe beginners in government, I give in the words of Xenophon to the Athenians : " I cannot," fays he, " con- < { fcientiouily commend the form of government you have enfue, as to render our independence a curfe, and the prefent and future < age in America as unhappy as any ages to be met with in the hiftory of " civilized nations have ever been." An Addrefs to the United States of America, by Silas Dcane, Efq. p. 40. * " Non Cinnae, non Sullre, longa dominatio : et Pompeii Crafiique po- tuHia cito in C.efarem : Lepidi atque Antonii arma in Auguftum " ccffere ; qui cuncla difcordiij civil'ibus fefla, nomine PRINClFls fub im. V pcrium accepit." Tacit. Annal. lib. i. left. I. e 4 *' ghofen \ PREFACE. " chofen , yet, fince you have chofen it, I not only exhort " you to fupport it, but I undertake even to fhew you how " to preferve it. And I can think of no better argument to make you tenacious of the Conftitution you have framed for yourfelves, than by afluring you, that, were your Go- < vernment even worfe than I think it, yet it is better for you than even a much better Government, which cannot be obtained without a civil commotion *." If indulging this fpirit of vaticination refpecting the future deftiny of America, I might take upon me ftill farther to form conjectures for ages yet unborn, I would prognofti- cate, that the final downfal of the prefent Confederated Go- vernment will, like it's origin, come from the North. This has been the ufual courfe of human affairs ; and all the predifpofitions riow exifting favour the conjecture. The Northern diftricts of that immenfe Continent are not more likely to produce future Goths, Vandals, Huns or Franks, than thofe of the South are to hold out to them alluring and eafy objects of conqueft. I go one ftep farther, and foretell, that the fnow-clad deferts of Acadia and Canada will at fome future period (I truft, a diflant one) finally give law to all North America, and alfo to the Weft India illands. They will either be called in, as the Saxons were into this ifland, as allies to fome weak and opprefTed State or States, or they will iiTue, like other Northern hordes, from their own over-ftocked hives, in queft of lefs crowded and more fertile fettlements. To prevent (if it be poflible to prevent) for many ages that long fuccefiion of tumults and wars which the profpect * Having formerly, on a different occafion, quoted this very appofite paflage, and marked it as a quotation, I feem to be pretty confident as to it's authenticity and exactnefs : but I regret that it is not now in my power to refer to the particular book or page of the author from \vhom it js taken. of PREFACE. of fuch long-protrated fierce confli&s may be expected to entail on our haplefs pofterity, prompted by an anxious foli- citude for the general weal of mankind, and by an afFe&ion- ate regard for the beft interefts of the people both of America and Great Britain, I here fuggeft an expedient, which, if adopted, feems to bid fair to enfure a permanency of peace to the nations on both fides of the Atlantic. \ I lay it down as a maxim, which can on no good grounds be controverted, that as the interefts of the great bulk of the people both in Great Britain and in the American States are demonftrably the fame ; fo, when fairly dated and properly underftood, all their views refpe&ing thofe interefts are alfo the fame. I alfo affirm, (and certainly with ftronger grounds of probability than any man can have who may fee fit to take the contrary fide,) that it never was the ferious wim either of the one or the other to feparate. It will be remembered, that, in making thefe declarations, I mean the great body of the people in both countries, and with a tQtal difregard to any counter-declarations, however confidently made, of any party men in either country ; fuch men being, at lead in this cafe, utterly unworthy of credit. With this reftriclion, I farther affirm, that it is the fettled perfuafion of their judg- ments, and the mod cordial wi(h of their hearts, to unite It is not more their inclination, than it is. their in- tereft, ' I have no hcfuation to own, that thefe ftrong declarations, refpe&ing the undiminiflied attachment of the people of America to the Parent State, are, as might be expected, made chiefly on the authority of private infor- mation. I know, however, of no public counter-declarations which con- tradict them ; and many might be referred to, where they are directly and ftrongly continued. The following, as one of the lateft, and in other re- Ipefts not the kail remarkable, is fo pointed, that it might almoft be fuf- pedted to have been written with the fame view as that which I am now contemplating : - c - Bora of the fame parents, fpcaking the fame language, endowed with " fimilar PREFACE. terefl, to be again united j not indeed as formerly, that is to fay, as Parent State and Colonies ; nor even on fuch a foot- ing as Great Britain and Ireland, or as England and Scot- land, and ftill lefs as France and her newly created republics are united ; but on the broad bafis of two diilant, dlftincS^ and completely independent States. They mould form an alliance, to comprehend not only a certain community of commercial interefts, but, though perfectly independent, fome confiderable degree of community in government. The fubjecls of the one mould be the fubje&s of the other ; with this difference only, that though each country fnould continue * fimiiar manners, habits, and difpofitions, their hearts" (i. e. thofe of the people of Great Britain, Ireland, and America) " are the fame ; they yearn " towards each other with fraternal affe6tion : and as they are the moft <( natural, fo will they be the rnoft faithful allies'; and the moft beneficial " to each other of all the nations of the earth ; and whofoever would fet *' them at variance, muft be the common enemy of both. United, they " may defy the power of all the world : their profperity, their fovereignty^ '*. their independence, nay their very exiftcnce, are connected together. To A America, Great Britain and Ireland, the allegory of the bundle of twigs " may with rrri<5teft propriety be applied. " They have contended, they have fought, they have bled: the quarrel " is forgotten ; may their wounds never again be opened ! It is not the " genius of this people to bear malice : they are brothers they ftretch " forth their arms acrofs the Atlantic to embrace. Not the fraternizing " hug of France No ! but the tender, the fentimental embrace of chil- '< dren of one family. " America reveres the name, and is proud of the virtues, of England. " It is, I repeat it, their intereft to coalefce to be more clofely united in " friendfhip than ever. But, in their union, they will never forget the " rights of humanity, the welfare and happinefs of mankind at large.'' < I have ever been inclined to regard myfelf as a citizen of Great Britain, as well as of America ; and I am perfuaded the great majority of my " countrymen think in the fame manner." A Defcriptive Sketch of the prefent State of Vermont, by J. A. Graham, LL.D. &c. in 1797, p. i & 5- Apparently PREFACE. 1XXV continue to make laws for themfelves, the fubje&s of eaclv {hould be amenable in all cafes to the laws of that in which they refided, with an unreftri&ed participation of every pri- vilege : fo that an American refiding in Great Britain, or in any of her dominions, {hould, during fuch refidence, be, to all intents and purpofes, a Briton ; and vice verfd* Each {hould guarantee the defence of each, not merely as an all? and a friend, but as an integral part of itfelf, ONE AND INDIVISIBLE. It is no more within my province, than it is within the Apparently in oppofition to the fentiments here recommended, Mr. Pre- fulent Adams, in hisfpeech of the i6th of May Jaft, fays roundly, that the States of America " ought not to involve themfelves in the political fyftetn " of Europe, but to keep themfelves always diftindt and feparate from it, if *' they can." This is fo very generally exprefled, and qualified alfo by fo many fubfequent falvos, as, when fairly analized, to amount to little more than a trueifm. Any of the States or Kingdoms of Europe might fay the fame : it is, in fact, the actual policy which is at prefent put in practice both by Sweden and Denmark. As " the political fyftem of Europe" i* at prefent conftituted, the Prefident's pofition is incontrovertible : but, confcious as the Prefident is of " the weight of America in that balance of " power," which it is the policy of Europe to fupport ;[and confcious alfo that European alliances are not unneceflary to America to preferve her ba- lance of power, will he contend, that, if fuch an alliance with an European Power as has been here fuggefted could be effected, it would then be the intereft of America to ftand aloof, and to "keep themfelves always " ciitlinct and feparate from the political fyftems of Europe j Inftead of thus meanly begging, as it were, by a timid caution, to be permitted to remain neutral, it mould be the high-fpirited yc?t prudent policy of America to render herfelf refpectable and refpecled, by an alliance which could have little to hope and lefs to fear from any of " the political fyftems of " Europe." The Prefident himfelf will perhaps judge more favourably of this policy, when he reflects, that, mould America and Great Britain, through that time- ferving fyftem which has fo often difgraced and been fatal to their politics, neglect to form fuch an alliance, mere neceflity may ere long compel many of the Powers of Europe to form a general coalition IP preferve their own neutrality and. independence t compafsi Ixxvi PREP-AC E, compafs of my abilities, to delineate in detail the plan of fuch a fcuLrul union as I am iolicitous to recommend between thefe two great countries. About ten years ago, Sir John Dalrymple, (truck with the fame ideas on this fubjel as have now very forcibly imprefled themfelvcs on my mind,, gave his thoughts to the Public with great clearnefs, and no lefs fbrength *. It v/ould be difficult to account for the general neglect into which a paper of fuch profound and important political wifdom has been fuffered to fall, were it not known, that this valuable writer, having had the ill fortune, in the courfe .of his refearches, to detect the intrigues and the cor- ruptions of fome eminent patriots in a preceding age, thereby rendered himfelf irretrievably unpopular with their fucceflcrs, the patriots of this age. Few men can be fp little acquainted with the character of the times in which we live, as not to know how eufy it is for any 'of the popular leaders of our parties, by various means, to render a.ny writings and any writer unpopular j and not to know alfo, that no other merits, which either the one or the other may happen to poffefs, can atone for the demerit of unpopularity. Unawed, however, even by the apprehenfions of 3 fimil'ar fate, I go on to obferve, that though perhaps, in the prefent temper of mankind, a project which neither promifes to pull down one party, nor to let up another, has .little chance to find either favourers or friends, both countries may ere long be driven to adopt it through neceffity. Were it poflible that, amidft all this din of party, the JliU fmall voice of the People, properly fo called (which is as far from, being clamo- rous as that of thofe who on all occafions are fo forward to call themfelves the people is fure to be fo,) could be heard, it would not be necellary to wait to be thus driven. But fuch are the untoward circurnftances both of Great Britain and ' : Sec his Memoirs of Great Britain and Ireland, vol. ii. 4:0. Appendix, No. 2, p. 44, PREFACE. America in thefe refpetts, that thofe perfons who are pro- bably the lead qualified, and certainly (as far as having much at flake in the welfare of a State can make it proper for any perfons to take a lead in the direction of ic's public affairs) the leaft proper exclufively to become public men (I mean party men), have notwithstanding, in both countries, long been fuch, and too probably will long continue to be fuch. O that the people, feeing their error, and their misfortune in thus fubmitting to be the dupes of thofe who in general are their ftiperiors only in confidence, would at length have the refolution (the ability they already have) to aflcrt their undoubted right and no longer bear to be the marketable property of a new fpecies of public men, who fludy the arts of debate, and purfue politics merely as a gainful occupation ! Then, (if haply no prior revolution in either country mould before that time have rendered the attempt impracticable,) and then only, might we hope to fee the people aroufed to forne good purpofe, and intermeddling in affairs of State xvith propriety and advantage ; and then, too, would this idea of a new, ftrong and durable confederation be realized. Whenever it is accomplished, it will go a great way towards bringing all the ends of the world together in harmonious conucl:. A triple cord of irrefiftibde flrength would thus be formed by the compact union of three of the happieft countries in three quarters of the world. The Eaft and the Weil would thus confpire, with amicable and generous rival- fhipj to fupply the European market with their refpeclive overflowings: whilft this QUEEN of ISLES offers them a depot, in which they may lodge their various merchandifes, the mod fecure, the moll central, and in all refpects the mod advantageous, of any that is to be found in Europe. Even the fca-itinefs of the dimenflons of this propofed centre of onion would be an advantage to the union, as being moft cafily defended ; and alfo lefs likely to interfere with cither l P H E P A C of the other in any ftaple produce : and it would be a iufli* cient gratification of her ambition, that the other members of the union, however fuperior either in fize or opulence, are ftill her children- j and fhe flill their workfhop. In fuch an allotment there is no degradation j if there were, it would be that only of a parent who, no longer under a necefiity of labouring for the fupport of his children, happily has children who think it their honour and happinefs to u rock the cradle views, have contrived to render them flill more complex, and ftill more difficult, merely by the fubtleties of argumentation. The times alfo were peculiarly difficult : it was oftentimes hardly Icfs neceflary to attend to the manner than to the matter j and it was of lefs moment that an unpalatable fen- timent mould be ftrongly or aptly exprefled than that it fhould, if poffible, be fo exprefled as to afford no handle for very obnoxious exceptions or cavils. Caft, as my lot was, by Providence, in a fituation of difficult duty, in fuch an hour of danger, it would have been highly reproachful to have flept on my poft, Inveftigations of the important fubjeclis of reli- gion and government *, when conducted with' fobriety and decorum, can never be unfeafonable ; but they feem to be particularly called for in times like thofe in which thefe * " The op.ly fubjects worth a wife man's notice are religion andg 11 ment s fuch religion and government, I mean, which exclude not, as too " oft they do, morality and politics ; and thefe are fubjefts that at the fame time moft need his attention. For though they be ordained to one end, " to perfect man's nature ; yet, as they purfue it by different means, they " muft aft in conjunction, left the diverfity of the means ihould retard or " defeat the attainment of the concurrent end."- - Ep. Warburton's Dedication of the Alliance between Church and State. 6 Difcourfes PREFACE. Difcourfes were written times when the kings of tie earth Jlood up t and the rulers took counfel together againjl the Lord and, againft his Anointed, faying, Let us break their bonds afunder^ and caft away their cords from us *. If, therefore, in complying with this call, I have done well, and as is fitting the Jlory, it is that which I defired ; but if Jlenderly and meanly, it is that which I cGuld\ . " Thefe Sermons were preached with a very fingle eye ; " that is, with a fincere intention of confcientioufly perform- " ing my duty, and approving myfelf to God in my ftation, " by doing what lay in me (at a time of exigence) to con- " firm the wavering, to animate the diffident, to contain, ex- " cite, and advance all in their loyalty and firm adhefion to * c his gracious Majefty, our prefent, alone, rightful liege " lord 'and fovereign." And they are publiihed, becaufe " it is not only neceflary and proper that Churchmen {hould " do their duty, but that the world {hould know how they myfelf be a caftavuay .' * The Veftry of the Parifh of Hanover in the County of King George, in that part of Virginia which is called the Northern Neck, did me the honour to nominate me to the Rectory of their Parifh, in 1761, before I was in orders. Tempted by the conveniency of a better houfe and a glebe, I afterwards held the Parifli of St. Mary's, in Caroline County, Virginia, lying on the fame navigable river of Rappahanock. When the late Sir Robert Eden, Bart, became the Governor of Maryland, he was pleafed to appoint me Rector of St. Anne's in Annapolis, and afterwards of Queen Anne's in Prince George's County, from which I was ejected at the Re- volution. This lift of my preferments (fet down here merely to avoid a cumbrous account of them in my title-page) is not large ; but they were honourably obtained, and I reflect on them with gratitude. All I have to add to this lift is, the fmall living which I now hold, beftowed on me thirteen years ago, without felicitation, by an eminent fcholar, who then knew me only by character. CON- CONTENTS, JL RE FACE - ^ from page i. to page xc. DISCOURSE I. ON THE PEACE IN 1763. Pago ISA. ii. 4. They fhall beat their fwords into plow- fhares, and their fpears into pruning-hooks : nation (hall not life up fword againft nation ; neither mall they learn war any more. - . - - j DISCOURSE II. ON SCHISMS AND SECTS. JUDG. xvii. 5, 6. And the man Micah had an houfe of gods, and made an ephod and teraphim, and confecrated one of his fons, who became his prieft. In thofe days there was no king in Ifrael, but every man did what was right in his own eyes - 46 DISCOURSE III. ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE, IN TWO PARTS. ISA. v. 5, 6, 7. And now, go to, I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard : I will take away the hedge thereof, and it fhall be eaten up ; and break down the wall thereof, and it fhall be trodden down. And I will lay it wafte : it fhall not be pruned nor digged, but there fhall come up briers and thorns. I will alfo command the clouds, that they rain no rain upon it. For, the vineyard of the Lord of Hofts is the houfe of Ifrael, and the men of Judah his pleafant plant : and he looked tor judgment, but behold opprefiion ; for righteouf- nefs, but behold a cry 89 CONTENT S. DISCOURSE IV. ON AMERICAN EDUCATION. Page DEUT. vi. 6, 7. And the words which I command thee this day ihall be in thine heart. And thou (halt teach them dili- gently unto thy children, and malt talk of them when thou fitted in thine houfe, and when thou walkeft by the way, and when thou lieft down, and when thou rifeft up - - 152 DISCOURSE V. ON REDUCING THE REVENUE OF THE CLERGY. PROT. xxiv. 21. My Son, fear thou the Lord, and the King ; and meddle not with them that are given to change - - 202 DISCOURSE VI. ON THE TOLERATION OF PAPISTS. JOHN iv. 9. for the Jews have no dealings with the Sa- maritan* 241 DISCOURSE VII. ON FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES., PSAL.XI. 3. If the foundations be deftroyed, what can the righteous do ? - ~ . 294 DISCOURSE VIII. ON THE STRIFE BETWEEN ABRAM AND LOT. GEN. xiii. 7, 8. And there was a ftrife between the herdfmen of Abram's cattle, and the herdfmen of Lot's cattle : and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land. And Abram faid unto Lot, Let there be no ftrife between thee and me, I pray thee ! and between thy herdfmen and my herdf- men j for we be brethren . - 3* CONTENTS. DISCOURSE IX. ON THE CHARACTER OF ABSALOM^ fc SAJ*. xviii. 33. And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept : and as he went, thus he faid, O my fon Abfalom, my fon, my fon Abfalom ! would God I had died for thee, O Abfalom, my fon, my fon ! 3 76 DISCOURSE X, - ON THE CHARACTER OF AHITOPHEL. 2 SAM. xvii. 23, And when Ahitophel faw that his counfel was not followed, he faddled his afs, and arofe, and gat him home to his houfe, and put his houfhold in order, and hanged himfelf, and died, and was buried in the fepulchre of his father - - 40* APPENDIX to the two Sermons on ABSALOM and AHITO- PHEL - - 435 DISCOURSE XI. THE DISPUTE BETWEEN THE ISRAELITES AND THE TWO TRIBES AND AN HALF, RESPECTING THEIR SETTLEMENT BEYOND JORDAN. JOSH, xxii, 22. The Lord God of gods the Lord God of gods he knoweth, and Ifrael he mall know, if it be in re- bellion, or if ifi tranfgreffion againft the Lord (fave us not this day) = 450 DISCOURSE XII. ON CIVIL LIBERTY J PASSIVE OBEDIENCE, AND NON- RESISTANCE. GAL. v. i. Stand faft, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Chrift hath made ui free - 495 CONTENTS* DISCOURSE XIII. A FAREWELL SERMON. NEH. vi. 10, ii. Afterward I came unto the houfe of She- maiah, the fon of Delaiah, the fon of Mehetabeel, who was fhut up : and he faid, Let us meet together in the houfe of God, within the temple, and fet us fhut the doors of the temple ; for they will come to flay thee, yea in the night will they come to flay thee. And I faid, Should fuch a man as I flee ? and who is there that, being as I am, would go into the temple to fave his life I I will not go in - - 561 ERRATA. Tage Line 56 i dele In vain, 109 20 after /aivs, before have, infert to. Hi in the note, dele the commas marking a quotation, 118 1 6 after dtftrine, infert a comma. 149 26 for t hem read the, and before jealous infert people. i So 25 deley> ofcourfe, it is alfo admitted, that the firft and mod direcl reference of the prophecy is to the breaking down of the Jewifh partition wall, and the calling in of the Gentiles. The imagery, as delineated in the text, is natural ; and particularly proper, as applied to Judea : which, being a land of vines, as well as a land of corn, re- quired both the pruning-hook and the plough : and being alfo, notwithstanding all the various advantages, derived either from its fituation, or its government, ftill expofed to the incurfions of various mrrounding warlike nations, its inhabitants were too often under the ON THE PEACE IN 1763* j the neceffity of changing the harmlefs implements of the hufbandman, for the definitive weapons of the foldier. The true fenfe, then, of the whole of my text, feems to be this. When Chriftianity fhould become the univerfal religion of mankind, then, laying afide all former enmities, the whole world fhould unite, and (cemented by the ftrong bonds of Chriftian faith and Chriftian charity) literally be one people *. The Jew . fhould * This almoft miraculous change of temper, effected by Chrifti- anity, is well exemplified by Tertullian, in the inftance of St. Paul ; who, before his converfion, had breathed out threatening* and Jlaughter againft, and even perf touted to death, the converts to Chriftianity. After his converfion, he changed his fword into a pen ; and hi* fpear into the gentler, but more efficacious, weapons of Chriftian argument and perfuafion. A ravenous wolf, like Benjamin, in the morning he divided the frey t and at night he divided thefpoil, Tertull. adverfus Gnofticos, cap. xiii. '* Et continent mach&ras fuas in aratra t & zibynas in fakes : id eft, " animorum nocentium, & linguarum infeftarum, & omnis mali- " tiae atque blafphemias ingenia convertent in ftudia modeftiae & " pacis. Et non accipiet gens fupra gentem machaeram, utiquc " difcordiae; & non difcent amplius bellare, i. e. inimicitias perficere; " ut et hie difcas Chriftum non bellipotentem, fed paciferum, re t( promiffum."- Tertull. adverf. Marcion. lib, iii. cap. 21. " Quanquam ifta quae dicitis bella religionis noilrae ob invidfam <* commoveri, non fit difficile comprobare, poft auditum Chriftum in ' mundo, non tantum non aufta, verum etiam ex parte furiarura ' compreffionibus imminuta. Nara cum hominum vis tanta (nempc per omnes gentes diffufa) magifteriis CJHS acceperimus & legibus, * raalum malo non rependi opportere ; fuum potius fundcre, quam B 3 *' alien* 6 ON THE PEACE IH 1763, fliould embrace the Gentile, and the Gentile the Jew ; and the only rivalfhip between the moft contending nations thenceforward fhould be, who could beft pro- mote the glory of their Mailer's kingdom (not as the Jews had too often fought to advance their temporal glory ; not in the way that has iince been taken by the Impoilor of the Eaft, by arms, and by war ; but) by difplaying that temper of meeknefs and forbear- ance which are the eminent charadleri flics of Chrifli- anity. And the true difciples of Jefus are, in fact, all, of this blefTed evangelical temper. Whatever be their nation or condition JChriftians are, by profeffion, peaceable, and peace-makers., The fpirit of conten- tion, and the fpirit of war, belong not to the character of Chriftians ; who are taught to confider it as the firft condition of their religion to be (like their Mailer) meek and lowly, and not eafily provoked ; and of fuch unbounded charity as to love even their enemies*. After " alieno polluere maims & confcientiam cruore ; habet a Chriftq " jamdudum orbis ingratus, per quern feritatis mollita eft rabies, " atque hoftiles manus cohibere a fanguine cognati animantis oc- " ccepit." Arnobius adv. Gentes, lib. i. p. m. $, 6. * The promulgation of Chriitjanity not only refcued the world from numberlefs other evils, but, in fome degree, from the ravages of war. Such was the f^d flate of things previous to the coming of the Prince of Peace y that, according to Eufebius, even boys learned the art of war : and even in villages, the country men (as though they had been ftung by the oeftrum, or pofTeffed by a demon) were perpetually fighting with each pther. But no fqoner did Chrift appear, ON THE PEACE IN 1763. >J After all, it is not necefTary to reftrain this memor- able prophecy to events that have already happened. Like fome other prophecies, and fome other parts of Scripture, this probably has not yet had its full com- pletion. It will then only be fulfilled when, after a fong day of darknefs, during which the Church of Chrift has been eclipfecl by the thick clouds of igno- rance and irreligion, it (hall pleafe God, by the bright beams of the glorious Sun of the Gofpel, to difpel error, and to caufe truth to fhine forth with all its own celeftial fplendour. The fulnefs of the Gentiles /ball come in, and the Captain of our Salvation, fpiritually going forth conquering and to conquer, (hall fubdue all his enemies. And then we too, and all his fervants, having fought the good fght of faith, (hall accomplijh 9ur warfare, and obtain that blefTed reft promifed to his Church now militant here upon earth. Thus confidered, the text perfectly well harmonizes with the whole fcheme of Chriftianity ; which un- doubtedly is, ihni.righteoufnefs and peace Jhould kifs each other ; and that, in Jefus the world might have appear, than all that had been foretold began to be fulfilled. The power of the Romans, heretofore fo irrefiitible, was no longer in vincible ; and, though the fpiritual kingdom of the Mefliah certainly did not at all interfere with the civil power of any kingdom, yet the cftablifhment of Chriftianity and the decline of this great Pagan empire were almoil co-eval. And, from that time to this, war (all horrid as it ftill is) has worn an afpecl fomewhat lefs ferocious and inhuman,- Eufebii Proeparat. Evangelic, lib, i. folio, p. 10. B 4 feacc* $ ON THE PEACE IN 1763. feace. One of the firft duties of Chriftianity there- fore is that, both as individuals and as communities, we fhould all follow after the things wbicb make for $eace ; and, as far as it is pojfible, live peaceably with all men. Viewed even in a political light only, war feems to be as incompatible with an improved tfate of Society, as it certainly is with the doctrines of the Gofpel ; and it is a circumftance not a little to the credit of our religion, that it fo decidedly dif- countenances it. War is a relict of barbarifm ; and therefore ftill to be confidered as the virtue only of an uncultivated people *. And however offensive it might found in the ears of fome refined nations, who value themfelves on being alfo military nations, were we to go into the invefligation in any detail, there is reafon to believe it would be found that the mofl favage people are in general the moft warlike-}- . When, * The unnatural and mocking confequences of war are fummarily (but pathetically and flrongly) defcribed in a fpeech of Croefus to Cyrus, in the Clio of Herodotus : 1 &= we know not : happily we do know, that the one now ended has ended in our favour. Yet, belides the enormous load of debt with which it has encum- bered the mother country, J(a ihare of which it is highly reafonable we fhould bear 3 )| and bolides all that we fuffered during its continuance, (the recol- lection of which muft Hill be painful,) our joy mufl be not a little checked by the reflection, that we are Hill left expofed to many dangers, and fubjected to many difficulties ; which, though we may and do rejoice in a peace, afford us no ground of rejoicing that there has been a war. Tempted by the imagery of my text, I cannot avoid here remarking, that, wherever war is fpoken of by the facred writers, it is generally confidered as acurfe, on account of the interruption it gives to the labours of the plow. Thus, in the prophet Joel, where the metaphor of the text is reverfed, war is ftill viewed through the medium of its influence on hufbandry. Prepare war ; make up tie mighty men ; let all the mighty men draw near ; let them come up: hat your flow-pares into fwords, and your pi'iming- looks into fpears. And the calamitous effects of war on hufbandry are thus pathetically defcribed : The feld is wafted; the land mourneth, for the corn is wafted ; the new wine is dried up, the oil languijbetb. Be l6 dtt TH PEACE Itf 1763. Be ye afoamed, ye faifbandmen ! Howl, ye drejfers, for tie wheat and for the barley ! becaufe the barveft of the field is pert/bed. The feed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laiddefolate, the barm are broken down, for the corn is withered. How do the beafts groan! The herds of cattle are perplexed, lecaufe they have no pajture ; yea, the flocks cffheep are made defolate. War is the natural element of men of fierce and turbulent minds ; who, like fome ma- rine birds, which are never feen but in a itorm, dwin- dle into infignificance in peace ; becaufe they take no pleafure in rural quiet and domeftic enjoyments. They are foldiers, and have to do with wars ; and, therefore, (to ufe the words, in the firft book of Efdras, of one of the young men, who contended for truth before king Darius,) they do not ufe hujbandry *. When the poflerity of Shimei fettled themfelves in Gedor, it is faid, they found fat pajlures and good. The reafon follows : the land was wide, and quiet, and peaceable. God, in his Scriptures, every where fpeaks of war as one of the heavieft of his judgments, and the moft calamitous punifhment which fin can draw down on the fons of men. Accordingly, he * In a book publiflied in 1790, intitled, Sketches of the Hindoos, 3cc. there is a finking paffage, perfe&ly analogous to this idea. ' The Hindoos are the only cultivators of the land, and the only " manufacturers. The Mahometans, who came into India, were " foldiers, or followers of a camp ; and even now are never to be " found employed in the labours of husbandry or the loom." See Sketch iv. p. 89. 3 who ON THE PEACE IN 1763. IJ who alone can make the creature his weapon, to correct and to controul the refractory and the di obedient, threatened his people, when they walked contrary to him, and would not be reformed, to fend a fword among them, and to bring their land into defla- tion. On the other hand, he held out the bleflings which flow from*" agriculture to the obedient : thus fpeaking to the Jfraelites, If ye will walk inmyflatutes, and keep my commandments to do them ; then I will give you rain in due feafon, and the land Jh all yield her increafe, and the trees of the ji eld Jh all yield their fruit. And your threjhingjball reach unto the vintage, and the vintage fball reach unto the f owing time : and ye Jh all eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your landfafely. And I will give peace in the land\ andyejhall lie down, and none Jh all make you afraid. Peace is welcome to us on ten thoufand accounts : and I do moil cordially congratulate you on the joy- ful occafion of the day. The ordinary occupations of life are now refumed ; and your fwarms of young men, heretofore fo frequently taken from you to go to war, now return to the common hive, to make and to eat the honey of peace. If fome have lefs glory all have more eafe : and even thofe who have only the iiecefTaries of life, now have them without peril. Thofe of our people who go down to the fea injhips and occupy their bufmefs in the deep waters now no longer are terrified by a double danger : if they fall it is into the hands of God ; they no longer have Violent men alfo to fear. C Bear l8 Oft THE PEACE IN 1763. Bear with me, I pray you, if (owing, perhaps, to riiy partiality to agriculture, which I have long re- garded as the moft pleafing of all employments) I congratulate you chiefly on the welcomenefs of peace from the leifure it will afford you to attend to huf- bandry. With every encouragement of a genial climate, and a fertile foil, it is our great fhame, and greater misfortune, inflead of being the foremofl people on the Continent, to be the mod backward : though it might have been expected, as we were the fir It province of North America which was firmly fettled, that we fhould by this time have attained a fuperior degree of improvement. Yet, if it be any excufe for demerit to have to alledge that there are others as faulty as ourfelves, we are not fingular in having incurred this reproach. A kind of fatality feems to attend fome countries. In every place, where na- ture has been unufually bountiful, there human in- duftry is proportionably rernifs. In the Southern parts of Europe, which are naturally fome of the richefl kingdoms in the world, the farmers, even in this age of general improvement, purfue the rnoft wretched fyftem of husbandry *. Their inattention * Spain, for inftance y according to the accounts of a modern traveller, is moft miferably cultivated. " The hufbandmen (hovel up the ftubble, weeds, and tops of " furrows into fmall heaps, which they burn ; then fpread them " out upon the ground, and work them in with a plough, which. ^is little better than a great knife fattened to a fmgle flick, that " ju&fcratches the furface." Swinburne's Travels through Spain, 8vo edit. vol. i, p, no. to ON THE PEACE IN 1763. ig to the moft valuable of the arts may, perhaps, be fairly afcribed to the badnefs of their refpeclive govern- ments. But we have no fuch folid excufe to offer for our fhameful neglect of agriculture. We not only dwell in a land of liberty but in a land abundantly ftored with the gifts of nature. Like the moft favoured people of God we have been brought into a good land ; a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths tbat fpring out of valleys and bills ; a land of oil and honey ; wherein we may eat bread without fcarcenefs. To defcribe Virginia the exacted geo- grapher would be at a lofs to find terms more appo- lite or juft. Yet, fo far from being diftinguifhed by having made a fuitable improvement of fuch rare natural advantages, I fear we are diflinguifhed only by our indolent neglect of them. Were it not for the hope that, owing to many favourable circumftances now providentially thrown in your way, this extreme fupinenefs will not continue to be characteriftjcal of you, he would be far from deferving to be fet down as your enemy, who, feeing the ill ufe ye make of the rich favannahs, and pleafant places, in which the lines are fallen to you, fhould wifh you removed to the bleak and barren mountains of Acadia. There, neceffity would force you to a conduct which neither a fenfe of duty nor a fenfe of interefl have yet been able to excite. You would become induftrious; and Ca by 20 ON THE PEACE IN 1763. by being induftrious you would of courfe alfo become more worthy and more happy. Indolence, it is probable, is every where the cha- racleriflic of the inhabitants of warm countries : I have felt its influence, and therefore have lefs referve in owning that it is ours. As a proof of it permit me to mention, what I have often obferved, that moft of your inventions (in which, as far as mere natural talents go, no people are more ingenious) are calcu- lated, not immediately to improve either arts or fci- ences, but merely to leflen labour. But, however freely I may allow myfelf to cenfure you where you feem to deferve cenfure, it would be unjuft not to allow, as I do with great pleafure, that, in many refpecls, you deferve praife. Your back- \vardnefs in hufbandry is probably not altogether to be afcribed to your indolence. I The marked prefer- ence fo long {hewn to commerce] is a ftrong indica- tion that agriculture has never been much favoured by the fettlers of America. Far be it from me to fug- geft a fentimcnt, or to fuffer an expreffion to efcape me, that is difparaging to trade. Continue to pur- fue it with ardour ; purfue it with fuccefs. When you were firft planted here, it was, I believe, (at leaft in the intention of the fettlers,) almoft for the (ingle purpofe. of. trade. That you fhould be pofTeflbrs of immenfe tradls of landed property, as well as a great trading people ; that you fhould have, almoft literally, an unbounded territory; and (in that refpecT: at leaft) referable ON THE PEACE IN 1763. 21 referable a great kingdom rather than a fettlement of factors ; could hardly be in the contemplation of our founders. And, indeed, unlefs every thing elfe had been made to correfpond and keep pace with this very eflential change of colonial fyftem, it is by no means certain that we have done well in depart- ing from the original flan of tie plantation. Be this as it may, I charge this general preference fhewn to trade, fo injurious to agriculture, to this leading principle of colonization ; which no fubfcquent change of circumitances has yet been able wholly to counteract. It is high time that we fhould begin to adapt our conduct to our circumftances. By the foftering care of our parent- flate, and by our own (oftentimes well- judged) co-operation, and, above all, by the bleffing of Providence, we are become a confiderable people. And whatever policy might be proper in the earlier periods of our fettlement agriculture now claims our efpecial attention. IWe have few inducements to become artifans or manufacturers : our having much land, and but few people, proves that we may employ ourlelves to better purpofe as farmersj Bcfides, we can have manufactures from our fellow-fubjects be- yond the Atlantic better and cheaper than we can make them. But we have every inducement to fol- low the example of Uzziah, and to love bufbandry. Every produce of the Dearth, from almoft every fpot on the globe, will, with due culture, thrive and flourifh in Virginia. Belides wheat and Parley, we poiTefs, C 3 almoft %% ON THE PEACE IN 1 763. almoft exclufively, that wonderful plant*, which I am at fome lofs how, with propriety, to call either a necelTary of life or a luxury. A neceflary it cer- tainly is not,, fince it can neither be ufed as food or raiment ; neither is it a luxury., at leail in the fenfe of a gratification, being fo naufeous and offenfive, that long habit alone can reconcile any conilitution to the ufe of it*f~. We alfo have not only the rich fruits of Perfja and Alia Minor, but all the beft plants and fruits of Europe ; though, like the country from which we came, we can boail of but few indigenous productions. Our woods too are overbrim with lux- priant vines and olives ; a circumftance that fhews with what certainty of great fuccefs they might be cultivated j". Thus, if from the viciffitudes of men's fancies the ufe of tobacco fhould ceafe, you ftill pof- fefs a never-failing refource of plenty, in poffeffing a land, like Paleftine, of corn, and wine, and oil: and it is not unworthy your obfervation, that, in the three arti- cles juft enumerated, moll of the neceflaries, and moil * Tobacco, f Mr. Logke fays, bread or tobacco may be neglected; but reafon at firft recommends their trial, and cuilom makes them pleafant. f The prophetic drains of the immortal Maro might be no lefs realized in America than in Italy :^ " Molli paulatim flavefcet campus arifta, " Incultifque rubens pendebit fentibus uva : " Et durae quercus fudabunt rofcida mella." Eclog, iv. 1. 28. Of ON THE PEACE IN 1763. 2J of the luxuries of life are comprehended. The principal things, fays the wife Son of Sirach, for the whole ufe of mans life, are water, fire, iron, fait, flour of wheat, honey, milk, and the milk of the grafe, and oil, and cloathing. All thefe you do now actually poflefs, or loon may pofiefs. And as by this happy termination of hoftilities (blefled be God !) every man may now Jit under his own 'vine, and under his own fig-tree, and iecurely cultivate and enjoy all the fvveet arts of peace, ye are without excufe, if, hereafter, ye do not, like Noah, begin to be hujbandmen, and to plant vineyards. Whilft you are duly grateful, as it highly becomes you to be, that the lot is fallen to you in a fair ground, and that you have a goodly heritage, forget not, I charge you, by what tenure you hold thefe great bleffings ; nor forget how eafily (as well as certainly) God can and will male a fruitful land barren, for the wickednefs of them that dwell therein *. Much (t * It was but a final country, and a very littel plot of grownde, " which the Ifraelites poffeffed in the land of Canaan ; which, as " now is a very barren country : for that within fifteen miles of " Jerufalem, the countrey is wholey barren, and ful of rockes and " ftpney ; and unles it be about the plaine of Jerico, I know not " anie parte of the countrey, at this prefente, that is fruitfulle, " What it hath binne in tymes pafte, I refer you to the declara- " tion thereof, made in the Holie Scriptures. My opinion is, that " when it was fruitfulle, and a la?id that flowed with milk and t?oney, " in thofe dayes God blefied it, and that as then they followed his *' commandements, but now, being inhabited by infidelles, that * prophane the name of Chrift, and live in all beaftly and filthy C 4 f ' manner, J&4 ON THE PEACE IN 1763* Much has often been faid, and much may ftill be faid, in favour of hufbandry : but its berT recom- mendation is that it is favourable to happinefs by being favourable to virtue*. This circumftance is beautifully illufirated by the author of my text ; a man whofe mind was well flored with all the learn- ing of his age, and flored, in particular, with a knowledge of hufbandry. This will appear from the parable I am about to quote ; a parable well worth the attention of the curious, if it were only for the account contained in it of Jewifh agriculture. Doth the plowman plow all day to Jow ; doth he open and break the clods of his ground f When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not caft abroad the fitches, and Jcatter the cummin ; and caft in the principal wheat, and the anointed barley, and the rye in their place f For, *' manner, God curfeth it, and fo it is made barren ; for it is fo " barren, that I coulde get no bread, when I came nere unto it, &c.""- The Travayles of two Englyfhe Pilgrimes to Jerufa- lem, Grand Cairo, Gaza, and Alexandria, &c. Printed for Thomas Archer in 1608. * " C'eft dans 1'agriculture principalement, que la France doit *' chercher les principaux moyens de fubfiftance pour fon peuple. " D'ailleurs, 1'agriculture conferve les moeurs & la religion. Elle " rend les manages faciles, neceffaires & heureux : elle fait naitre " beaucoup d'enfans, &o." -Etudes de la Nature, par B. de St. Pierre, Lond. edit. vol. i. p. 9 3. See alfo Smith's Wealth of Nations, Svoedit. vol. i. p. 197. and vol. iii. p. 182. and The State of the Poor by Sir F. M. Eden, JJart. vol. i. p. 440 and p. 443, ON THE PEACE 1ST 1763. 45 bis God doth inftruR him to difcretlon, and dot]} teacb him. For, the f teles are not threjhed wi,th a threjbing inftrument, neither is a cart-wheel turned about upon the cummin : but tie fitches are I eat en out with aftaff, and the cummin will) a rod. Bread- corn is bruifed, becaufc he will not ever be threjhing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruife it with his horfemen*. The do61rinal induction, or moral, couched under this parabolical imagery, not only intimates that, in the words of the Son of Sirach, the Moft High hatb * In Virginia and Maryland, wheat, in general, is not thrafhed, but trodden out with horfes ; very much in the manner defcribed ia the following account of this ancient practice. " They (the Euro- " peans) do not thrafh out their corn, but have it trodden put with " oxen or horfes ; nor in a barn, or covered place, but in the open 43 lories either for the variety of its operations, Or the univerfality of its extent, is at length happily termi* nated, cannot but fill every benevolent heart with joy ; even though men with fuch hearts were no otherwife interefted than as they take part in the general in- terefts of humanity. But, befides that near intereft which we cannot fail to feel in whatever materially concerns our mother country, on whom the chief burden of this general war has fallen ; we muft not i-~ ~~ forget, |t hat for us and for our fakes it was firft entered into jjand that our welfare has been principally con- fulted in the terms on which it has been concluded. And, notwithstanding all that a difcontented party has faid, or has written, on the idea .that the con- ditions of the peace are inadequate to our great fuccefs, fo far as they concern us we can have no- thing to object to them. Our particular interefts, indeed, have been fo much attended to, that the happy fituation in which we are now placed has actually excited no little diflatisfaclion among thofe who have long looked upon us with fufpicion and jealoufy :* and our friends are told that the day may not be diftant when even they mall forely rue that fo much has been done for the continental colonifla Away with all fuch finiftrous furmifes ! I join with you in refenting them, as equally ungenerous and unjufl. Your regard to your own interefts, your fenfe of duty, your feelings of gratitude, will all confpire to give the lie to thefe ill-omen'd prognofti- cations. 3 Inftead 44 dr THE PEACE IN 1763. Inftead of dwelling, as we are too apt to do, with aperverfe kind of gratification, on thefe now prevalent topics of difcuflion (which, like ephemeral infedls, buzz around us awhile with a buiy kind of impor- tance, and then are heard of no more), call to mind, I pray you, what your fearchings ofheart were, when, not long fince, on the defeat of General Braddock, you faw (at lead in your panic-ftruck imaginations you faw) your enemies at your very doors, ready to fa allow you up ; when not only a folitary individual or two, but the whole land, with fafting and with prayer exclaimed : Ob, thoii fivord of the Lord! bow long will it be ere thou be quiet ? Put up thyfelf into the fcabbard-, reft and I e ft ill ! Let the flrength of your fears,, and the ardour of your wifhes at that time for a peace on almoft any terms, be fome meafure for your joy and thankfulnefs now ; when you have ob- tained fuch a peace as, I believe, exceeded your moil fanguine expectations on the commencement of the war. And whatever praifes we beftow either on thofe who directed the war, or who negociated the peace ; flill the glory of all belongs unto God. He it was who infpired our ftatefmen with wifdom ; and who covered the heads of our warriors in the day of battle. He it was who turned the counfels of our enemies into fooli/b- nefs ; and who, in his mercy, has lifted us up on high above them that rofe up againft us. God hath indeed done marvellous things for us ; whereof ive rejoice. But ftill, great as is the prefent occaiion of our joy, it muft depend on ourfelves, whether peace, however defirable ON THE PEACE IN 1763. 45 deferable at this moment, (hall continue to be a bleffing to us ; or (hall finally add to our condemnation. War is the juft judgement which God inflicts on a linful people. Had we not deferved it, fo grievous a vilitation would not have been our lot. But as peace has now once more been reftored to us, let us humbly hope that we are become not altogether unworthy of fo great a bleiling. Let us, now that we are made whole, endeavour to Jin no more, left a worfe thing come unto us. Let us again turn our attention to cultivate the arts of peace, the only arts which, as ChrifHans, we ought to be very felicitous to know ; and fo let us regulate our words and actions, fo let us conduct ourfelves towards God and our neigh- bours, that we may lead quiet and feaceable lives in all godlinefs and honejly. " Grant, we befeech thee, O Lord, that the courfe " of this world may be fo peaceably ordered by thy f c governance, that thy Church may joyfully fervc " thee, in all godly quietnefs, through Jefus Chrift our Lord!" DISCOURSE 46 ON SCHISMS AND SECTS. DISCOURSE II. ON SCHISMS AND SECTS*, JUDGES, ch. xvii. ver. 5, 6. jlnd the man Micah lad an houfe of gods, and made an ephod and teraphim, and confecrated one of bis fonsy who became Vis priejl. In thofe days there was no king m Jfrael, but every man did what was right in Us own eyes. JL O give you a proper view of this text, it will be neceflary to enter fomewhat at large into it's hiftory. The facred writer, having now completed the ftory of Sampfon, which he feeras to have been unwilling to interrupt with any digreffions, fets himfelf, in this and the remaining chapters of this book, to record * Preached in 1769, firft, in two Foreft Parifhes of Caroline and Spotfylvania : afterwards, with neceflary alterations, at different times in different places both of Virginia and Maryland ; and once (not in any church, butfub dio) in the Back Woods, near the Blue Ridge ; a country which feemed to bear no faint rcfemblance to Ephraim j and which, like it, was over-run with fe&aries. fome ON SCHISMS AND SECTS. 47 fome other memorable events in the Jewifli hiftory, which happened in the times of the Judges, The * chapter before us relates in what manner idolatry >gained a footing in the tribe of Ephraim, through the mifconduct of Micah, who is fuppofed to have been an Ephraimite. Of Micah we know nothing more than what is related in this and the following chapter. From thefe we learn, that, having either been really ftrait- ened for want of room in the more cultivated parts of the country, or imagining that he was, he had removed and fettled in the mountainous parts of Ephraim. There he dwelt with his mother, who was probably a widow ; and certainly a very fuperftitious woman. It J uot very ealy to underftand what is precifely meant in tSe account, of the eleven hundred Jbekels, here faid to have been taken from this woman, and about which ihe curfed\ and which, it afterwards appears, her fon Micah took. Commentators are ex- ceedingly divided in their conjectures concerning this difficult text. The moil general and moft probable opinion is, that, being inclined to innovations in re- ligion, Hie had fet apart, and devoted to fome reli- gious purpofe, the fum here mentioned ; and that (lie had bound herfelf by an oath (here called curfing> an oath being a conditional curfe, or execration) to do this. It is in this manner fhe herfelf explains the word, when fhc fays that ihe had wholly dedicated fas filler unto the Lord. Her fon, who was deeply tinclured 48 ON SCHISMS AND SECTS. tin&urcd with the fame perverted principles on the fubjecl of religion, availed himfelf alfo of thecircum- fiances of the times, which left him at liberty to do \vhatever was right in his own eyes. Accordingly, being apprifed of his mother's intentions by her hav- ing fpoken of it in his ears, he refolved, (for fome reafon or other which does not appear,) to anticipate her purpofe, and to employ her money in the fame manner as fhe herfelf had propofed. With this view he furreptitioufly took the eleven hundred Jhekeh ; and having done fb, immediately avowed it to his mother. She inftantly faw and admitted the force of his plea ; and, with great confiftency, no longer blamed him. It would, indeed, have ill become her, who herfelf had fhewn fo little deference to the old eftablifhed inftitutions of her country, to have quar- relled with her fon for having followed her example ; and for having regulated his conduct (not by any eftablifhed precedents or rules, but) by his own hafty and crude ideas of propriety. Thus reconciled, they very amicably united in an unhallowed plan to em- ploy a founder, to make them a graven image, and a molten image. We cannot be furprifed to find, that Micah, hav- ing gone thus far, foon fell into greater irregularities ; and that he lad an boufe of gods, and made him an ephod and teraphim ; and confecrated one of his fons, who became his prieft. The phrafe, which is tranf- lated hoiife of gods, is, in the original, undoubtedly plural : yet it is often rendered in the fingular; and I appre- OX SCHISMS AND SECTS. 49 I apprehend, may here fignify an houfe of God ; that is, a Beth-el, or place of worfhip of his own ; diftincl: and feparate from that of Shiloh, to which it was his, and every man's, duty to have reforted. This inter- pretation (which it becomes me to apprize you, though approved of by many, is yet not that which is mofi commonly received) is not a little confirmed by other texts and paflages of Scripture, not ufually ad- duced to fupport it. In the twelfth chapter of Deu- teronomy, God, after exprefsly directing the people to deftroy all the places wherein the nations around them ferved their gods upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree, (places very exactly correfponding with that where Micah had built his houfe of God,) no lefs peremptorily ordered them not to do whatfoever was right in their own eyes. From the manner in which this lafl part of the in- junction is connected with that which preceded it, there feems to be good realbn to infer, that the phrafe, doing whatfoever was right in their own eyes, meant that particular offence, (which is fo often men- tioned in the hiftory of the Jews, and to which they are Jcnown to have been fo remarkably liable,) the falling off, either wholly or in part, to the idolatries of the Gentiles. Micah's apoftacy from the eftablifhed worfhip does not appear to have proceeded from enmity to religion. Like defections in general from rectitude to error, and from virtue to vice, it was gradual. The E epbod 50 ON SCHISMS AXD SECTJS. efbod* he made was a proper facerdotal garment ; appropriated folely to the tabernacle, and to the ufe of the high priefl. But (to ufe the words of a well- known commentator *f-) " whatfoever refemblance " this ephod had, in its fhape and form, to the ephod " of the high priefl, it had none of that rich work in " it, which the high prieft's ephod had ; neither a " girdle, nor a bread-plate belonging to it : being " no more fuch a garment as that golden ephod, " than his Levite was a pried, or his teraphim an " urim and thummim." The interpretation alfo of the word teraphim is no lefs dubious and difficult ; as it is ufed, in Scrip- ture, in a good as well as in a bad fenfe. Prieds, and, in certain cafes, even_ reprefentative images, were ceremonial appendages prefcribed by the Jewifh ritual in the worfhip of the true God ; and common alfo in the worfhip of falfe gods. But Micah was clearly a fchifmatic : in transferring to the worfhip of falfe gods thofe teraphim which had been appropriated to the worfhip of the true God, he worfh'ipped him in a way contrary to his own appointment -, or, in other words, worfhipped him falfely. The whole dory proves, that his aim was to blend together the worfhip of the true God and that of idols. And, therefore, as the ephod and the Levite (who is afterwards fpoken *...." per ephod, velut prascipuatn facerdotalem veftem, omnes caeterae fignificantur." Cornelius a lapide. t Bp. Patrick, of) ON SCHISMS AND SECT?. 51 of) were necefTary and proper in the worfliip of the one, to the graven and the molten images and the tera~ fhim were, if not proper, yet not uncommon, in the worfliip of the other. This deviation alfb, like the others, was fo contrived that (though grofsly erro- neous,) it yet Itill bore the femblance of truth. For, though teraphim * were undoubtedly too often ufed as heathen idols, and certainly fo intended in the inftance before us, yet it is probable that Micah hoped by them to have all the benefit of the urim and thummim, and even of the cherubbinical voice itfelf; which belonged to, and always accompanied, the eftablifhed priefthood. Another innovation, which Micah introduced, was the confecrating one of his fons, who became his prieft* In the Hebrew it is, He filled the hand of one of his fons ; that is, he put facrifices into his hands, to be offered unto God : which was the rite always ufed in the initiation of priefls -}*. In doing this, he alfb departed from the form of worfhip prefcribed by di- vine authority. For this fon (even if he was the eldeft) was not of Aaron's lineage nor tribe ; in whom alone the functions of the priefthood were vefted. Afterwards, indeed, (for the greater folemnity, and in * " Erant ergo theraphim idola domeftica, quae domi colebant, " & quafi oracula confulebant de rebus arcanis vel futuris, quos " Romani deos penates & lares appellabant.'' Cornelius a lapide. " They were reprefentative images of the objed of religious awe " and veneration." Parkhurft's Hebrew Lexicon. f See Exodus xxix. 24. and Levit. viii. 27. E a conformity, 5* ON SCHISMS AND SECTS* conformity, as it were, to the eftablifhment,) he did admit and employ a Levite, who, however, performed the duties of his holy calling very irregularly. The hiftory fully accounts for thefe irregularities : in thofe days there 'was no king in If r a el. There is ibme diverfity of opinion as to the chronology of this event : but it is generally fuppofed to have happened between the death of thofe elders who furvived Jo- fhua,- and the firfl oppreffion of Ifrael by Cufhan ; when the children of 'Ifrael forfook tie Lord ', and did evil in his fght, that is, when they fell into idolatry. This was before the time of the judges ; who had indeed, occafionally, the name of king, but never the power: and therefore were not, in all cafes, equal to the correction of abufes, or the fuppreffion of idolatry. The Jewifh government was a theocracy ; and the fupreme authority was vefted in the high prieft. Judges over all the tribes, however, were occaiionally raifed up by God ; and principally to. lead them to war. To each tribe there was a civil magiftrale called a ruler, who, as well as the judges, was fubordinate to the high prieft, the immediate reprefentative of God. When the people would not obey this mild fyftem of government, nor hearken to the voice of the Lord their king, but corrupted tbemf elves, and degenerated into the idolatries of the nations around them, the Lord delivered them into the hands of their ene- mies ; and they that hated them were lords over them ; until, by crying unto the Lord in their trouble, they ON SCHISMS AND SECTS. 53 they obtained judges, who went before them, and refcued them from their enemies. Some fuch general relaxation of principle (their pronenefs to difobedience being notorious) feems to have prevailed among them at the period of the hif- tory now under coniideration. It was one of thofe periods, in which (according to the phrafeology of Scripture) there was no king in Ifrael ; that is, no good government. No wonder that the people, thus ufurp- ing the power into their own hands, loon became li- centious, felf-willed, and defpifers of dominion ; and that, like the new fettlers of Laifh, they lived carekfs, and after the manner of the Zidonians. There was no magiftrate in the land, to put them tofoame in any thing. As forne excufe for Micah, it may perhaps be air ledged, that the Ephraimites, among whom he dwelt, were an envious, afpiring, and turbulent people. This appears from their fharp expostulation with Gideon in the eighth chapter of the book of Judges ; and from the character given of them by Ifaiah * That fuch a people fhould hanker after innovations, is perfectly confident : and therefore it is not unna- tural to fuppofe, that they might lead Micah to thefc changes, rather than wait to be led by him. It might alfo be urged in his behalf, that Gideon himfelf, (a man of eminent character, and one of their judges), had fet him the example, by actually making an ephod, ^nd put ting it in his city, even in Ofhrah. It is one * Chap, xl ver. 13. E3 <* 54 ON SCHISMS AND SECTS. of the greateft aggravations of wrong conduct in diftinguifhed men that it's evil confequences are not confined to themfelves : many are feduced by their example. Gideon, by the general tenor of his life, fhevved that tie Spirit of tie Lord was indeed with Mm : yet, like other faints and fervants of God, being flill a man, he had many human infirmities. It is not to be denied, that, in the inftance before us, he finned greatly. Inflead of difcouraging the people, already too prone to idolatry, he himfelf was the foremofl to offend. Seduced, it would feem, by the allurements of popular applaufe, he gratified the unreafonable humours of the people in affording them an oppor- tunity of performing divine worfhip in their own city, rather than going to Shiloh, where alone they were commanded to worfhip. But neither the waywardnefs of the people, the Infirmity of Gideon, nor any other peculiarity of temptation, can wholly excufe either Micah, or his mother, for thus fetting up a new mode of worfhip different from what~God had eftablifhed. - In making graven and molten images he palpably adopted a falfe religion : but as to the ephod, the altar, the Levite, and whatever elfe bore any refemblance to the reli- gion of the tabernacle, he was blameable only for intermeddling with religious matters in a way con- trary to the declared will of God ; and for introdu-* cing a feparate houfe, a feparate prieft, and, in fhort, a feparate religion, from that of his country. The ferious and very interefting inference to be drawn ON SCHISMS AND SECTS. 5^ drawn from this ftory is, that though men may pro- fefs the fame doclrines, and even ufethe fame worfhip with the true church of God, flill they may not, in the language of theology, be members of that church. From no paflage does it appear that Micah was either indifferent or carelefs about religion : in the part he took he might be fincere ; nay, it is even poffible, he might flatter himfelf he was a reformer, and more righteoics than others. He continued to reverence the laws, to offer the fame facrifices, and to ufe the fame facramcnts that he had always done : but he introduced innovations for which he had no autho- rity; he led the way to a fchifm and a feparation, which were injurious both to true religion, and to the peace and comfort of his countrymen ; and therefore were pofitively forbidden. In thofe refpedls, it is clear, he was guilty of an heinous fin ; even of as heinous a fin as the fin of Jeroboam, of whom fo much cenfure is frequently exprefled in the Scriptures. For, though Jeroboam perhaps was guilty of herefy as well as of fchifm, yet the charge moft generally brought againfl him is, that he fet up altars, creeled temples, and fixed fymbols of God's prefence in a place different from that in which God had chofen to fix his name. He burned incenfc, and offered facrifices upon fuch altars as God had not appointed ; and he confecrated perfons to minifter at thofe altars, who were not of God's inftitution. Somewhat fimilar to this was the cafe of the Sa- ftiaritans. In all the great eflentials of religion they E 4 a S reed 56 ON SCHISMS AND SECTS. agreed with the Jews. But our Saviour in vain de- clared, in Jerufalem is the place where men ought to worjbip : that was the place fixed on for the centre of unity in worfhip, and thither were the tribes to go up, to teftify that they were all of one communion, and to give thanks with one mouth, and one heart, unto the name of the Lord. From this temple of the Lord the Samaritans had feparated themfelves, and fet up diftinct altars and places of worfhip of their own. This defection conftituted their crime : and this is the true definition and criterion of a finful fchifrn, that it is a needlefs feparation from a church, which has all the requifites and characterises of a true church. Such a church was that of the Jews, with which our Saviour did actually hold communion, though the Samaritans would not. And, no doubt, it was on this principle, and for this reafon, that he would not admit that the Samaritans were within the pale of the church; for he told the woman of Samaria, in exprefs terms, that falvation was of the Jews. And when, in his way through Galilee and Samaria, he once cured a Samaritan leper, he called him ajtranger ; by which term, as is well known, our blefled Lord meant only to intimate, that this Samaritan had no ihare in the peculiar covenant and promife made to Ifrael. This fpirit of divifion and feparation, which has always been fo unfavourable to true religion and the peace of the world, long prevailed in, and diffracted, Jucjea; as it has diffracted every other country in which ON SCHISMS AND SECTS. 57 which it has exifted. As foon as the two principal feels (the Pharifees and the Sadducees) arofe among them, all peace and harmony were deftroyed by their difputes. Both parties, eager to advance themfelves by clepreffing others, courted the favour of their rulers, in order to make ufe of their authority to crufh their adverfaries ; and fometimes the one was upper- mofr, and fometimes the other. We are informed by the Jewifh hiftorians, that Hircan, gained over by the Sadducees, perfecuted the Pharifees without mercy. He made it a capital crime to follow their inftitutions : fome of them he imprifoned ; others he put to death ; and the greateil part he forced to take refuge in deferts. His fon, Ariftobulus, acted the fame part; and fo did Alexander his brother. His widow, however, influenced by his advice, ef- poufed the oppofite caufe. And now the Pharifees, having uncontrolled authority, perfecuted the Sad- ducees no lefs than they had been perfecuted ; and returned evil for evil in ample meafure. In fhort, thefe feclaries never ceafed to perfecute each other, till they ceafed to exift : and their animoiities were perpetuated even until the total ruin of the nation, which they accelerated. No length of time, no in- tenfenefs of fuffering, allayed their hatred : even war did not unite them. They chofe rather to be de- flroyed by their divifions than to fave their country by unanimoufly oppofing its enemies. The Jews, however, are known and acknowledged to have been a religious, a thinking, and a fludious people : 58 ON SCHISMS AND SECTS. people : and, however extraordinary the afTertion may feem, I conceive it to be capable of proof, that it is among fuch a people chiefly that fectarianifin is moft likely firft to take root, and then to get the failed hold. It is therefore not a little difficult to account for the prefent propensity of the people of this colony to run into feels. iFor, I conceive it to be neither a fatire nor a flander, but merely the de- claring a plain and obvious matter of fact, to fay of the prefent age in general, that if it be (as we are fond to boaft it is) enlightened, it certainly is not a learned age ; and that the people of thefe countries, in par- ticular, do not deferve to be charadlerifed as a reli-^ gious, a thinking, a reading, or a ftudious people. ) Unwilling or unable either to think or to read deeply our age has the merit of having found a moft palata- ble fubftitute in, what is called, light reading ; and there are no fubjects to which the principle is not now applied ; none which are not treated in a way intended to be amufing and agreeable rather than inftructive *. In fuch times, and among fuch a people, fr It was chara&eriftical of the people of that part of America where this fermon was written, and when it was delivered, that, differing from people in the fame fpheres of life in other countries, every man who could read, read chiefly fuch publications as were fil- led with fneers at orthodoxy, cavils againlt the national church, and (above all) with incefTant lavifh encomiums on an uncontrolled free- dom of enquiry. Far be it from any wife or good man, in any refpea, to difparage principles of fuch indifputable truth and ex- cellence as the right of private judgment and the freedom of en- quiry; ON SCHISMS AND SECTS. 59 people, it is no wonder that mere fciolifts fhould be preferred to found fcholars ; and that the hafly pro- duclions of fuperficial fmatterers fhould be read and admired, whilft the deep refearches and the clofe reafoning of better writers ar.e unpopular and ne- glected. One who knew them well thus accurately defcribes them : " There is a fort of men, who can- that it is equally their interefl and their duty to abide ftedf aft and unmovealle in tie faith once delivered to the faints : I come to perfuade and exhort, but by no means to compel them to continue in our com- munion. And fo far am I from being of a temper to exafperate thofe among you who are modeft, inge* nuous, and teachable, by any {harp or har(h reprehen- iions, that though I neither can, nor will, ufe flattering words, yet, God is my witnefs, how, leing affectionately defirous of you, I wifli to exhort, to comfort, and to charge every one of you, even as a father doth his chil- dren *. As ajhepherd feeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his Jheep that are fcattered, fo will I feek out my Jheep : Iwillfeek that which was loft, and bring again that which was driven away ; and will hind tip that which was broken, and will Jlrengthen that which wasfick -f . To err is, alas! the general lot of our fallen nature: nor are we, I fear, ever more likely to be wrong than when we are unufually confident that we are right. But, becaufe error is thus infeparable from our na- ture, it is not, therefore, of fo flight moment as that we are not anfwerable for it : always our misfortune, it is oftentimes our fault. Nor, becaufe confidence is fo unbecoming, is it therefore our duty to be fcepti- calj wavering, and unfteady in our opinions. Ficklenefs * i Theff, ii, i. f Ezek. xxxiv. 12. and ON SCHISMS AND SECTS. 63 and unfieadinefs of faith arc almoft as blameable as in- fidelity : and the relinquifhment of old opinions, or the adoption of new ones, without fufficient examination and evidence, are equally proofs of weak minds, and equally criminal. Errors in opinion are but a little (if they are at all) more venial than errors in prac- tice : for fpeculative and practical errors are fo nearly connected that it is very uncommon to meet with the one without the other. In fubjects of import- ance, then, and efpecially in matters of religion, it is particularly incumbent on every man often and care- fully to examine and prove himfelf whether he be in the faith : for, if he be in error, it will be no excufe to him that he erred ignorantly ; inafmuch as ignorance, when the means of information are abundant and am- ple, is almoft always wilful and obftinate. To adopt new opinions without a thorough conviction of their being well founded, "or to retain opinions when thus hailily adopted, through indifference to what is right, is a crime imputable not to any weaknefs of under- flanding, but to the perverfenefs of the will. Let it not, therefore, be thought either bold or harfh in me to aflert, that fuch a wilful error in faith is not lefs fatal and damnable than a wilful wicked- nefs of life. We all profefs to love truth ; and, of courfe, to vvifh that it may generally prevail : and there is no reafon to queftion our fincerity in this profeflion. Hence the general folicitude to make profelytes : but, as truth is fimple and uniform, it is impoffible, when 2 differ- 64 O^ SCHISMS AND SECTS. differences prevail, that we can all be in the right. And though it would be the height of arrogance in any man, or in any body of men, to boaft prefumptu- oufly, that they only have found the truth, and all others are in error ; yet, by one line of conduct, and by one only, we may all of us be fo far in the right, even when we mifs of the truth, as to be guilty of no damnable error. This line of conduct is, what Scrip- ture calls, all holding tie fame faM : an expreffion which by no means imports, that we are all bound, on pain of damnation, to think" exactly alike even in points of faith. However much it is our duty, how- ever defirable it may be that we fhould fo agree, yet, confidering the nature of the human mind, fuch an event is rather to be wifhed than expected. The God of all mercy does not require of his creatures more than he has enabled them to perform : and therefore, when a conformity in religion is required of us, it mud be underftood to be required only as far as it is pojfible* . God is true, though all men fhould be liars ; and his Scriptures are ftill invariably true, even when men mod mifinterpret them. Thefe lively oracles, totally diffimilar to the myftic refponfes of Delphi, do not give ambiguous or equivocal an- * " It is a matter of faith to believe, that the fenfe of them (viz. of obfcure places of Scripture, which contain matters of faith) " whatever it is, which was intended by God, is true ; for, he that '* doth not fo, calls God's truth in queftion. But, to believe this or *< that to be the true fenfe of them, or to believe the true fenfe of " them and to avoid the falfe, is not neceflary either to faith or fal- 4t vation." Chillingworth, part i. cap, ii, p. 90. fwers. ON SCHISMS AND SECTS. 6$ fwers. Whatever be the cafe with its profeffors, our religion is not at variance with itfelf : its doctrines, like their blefTed author, are the fame yefterday, to-day, and for ever. And when men, who appear to be equally intelligent and equally confcientious, are in- duced (as, alas, they often are !) to draw a different conclufion from the fame premifes, if it does not im- pugn the truth of God, it fhould not divide Chriftians from Chriftians. If, like the Apoftles and primitive Chriftians, we refolve to hold all tie fame faith, we muft alfo refolve, with them, to continue united m do flrine and in fellow/hip ; all fp calling the fame truth, and all taking due care that there be no dhi/ions among us. We have all but one Lord, one faith, and one hope of our calling: we are all the fpiritual children of the fame heavenly Father; redeemed by the lame precious blood of Chrifl ; fanclified by the fame gracious Spirit ; members of the fame body, and joint-heirs of the fame inheritance in the world to come : and therefore we are all under the fame bounden duty to walk by the fame rule, and to mind the fame things, and to he knit together in one comnmnion and fellovcjhip. Whilft, however, we permit ourfelves thus humbly to hope that unavoidable differences of opinion on fubjects that relate to religion may be overlooked or forgiven, let us not rafhly run into a contrary extreme, and imagine, that if we be but finccre it is of little moment what we believe. Many favourable circum- fiances muft concur to render any error innocont ; F and 66 ON SCHISMS AND SECTS. and much does it concern us all to reflect, whether that error, which alienates, divides and feparates bro- ther from brother, can have any claim to be confidered as innocent. It is neither illogical nor uncharitable to fay, that the mere circumftance of feparating is no inconfiderable proof that the feparatift is in an error; becaufe it proves him to have loft, or never to have fully poffefled, that Chriftian difpofition and temper which would have made him anxious to be like- minded ; having the fame love ; of one accord, and of one mind with his fellow Chriftians. Allowing, then, in the fulleft latitude, that cafes may eafily be fuppofed, in which it is not only jufti- fiable, but even meritorious, to feparate, flill it is not to be denied, that the almoft endlefs diverfity of opi- nion that has prevailed on the fubjecl of religion, and the numerous feels* into which the Chriftian world has been divided, is one of the greateft calami- ties with which mankind have ever been vifitecl. Thefe diviiions are the fhame, the reproach, and the lin of all who occafion them : and of all the objections which Papifls have urged againft the Reformation there is none to which it is fo difficult to give a fatif- factory anfwer as it is to the divifions among Pro- teftants ; which, they allcdge, it is of the effence of proteftantifm to produce f-. But, with almoft equal * No lefs than fixty-four different fets are faid to prevail at this day in all the different parts of the Britifh dominions. f See Le Deifme refute par lui mefme : par M. Bergier, premiere par tie, p, 215. reafon, ON SCHISMS AND SECTS. 67 reafon, it might be alledged againfl Chriftianity itfelf, that it had been the fruitful parent of divifions. Of thcfe the enemies of Chritlianity take advantage : and it has been chiefly by attacking them that they have been enabled too fucccfsfully to recommend an in- difference to all religion, which they reprefent as fo extremely uncertain that mankind never can agree about it*. When, through our own weaknefs, we have thus given an opportunity to artful and unworthy men to fow the feeds of confujion and every evil ivork^ are we to wonder that God fhould at length be pro- voked to fufFer thofe who cannot agree with one another to be deftroyed of one another ? On no topic are the felf-commiffioned cenfors of our age more eloquent, than in their oft-repeated in- veclives againfl tefts and fubfcriptions ; thofe ufeful barriers, by which the guardians of our Church en- deavour to fccure the orthodoxy of her faith. That moft of their objections are either frivolous or falfe many able men have repeatedly proved ; but that they are all nugatory, or ill-founded, no candid perfon will alledge. We fee, and acknowledge, that fomc (perhaps many) unhappy confequences refult from * " Les fceptiques, frappcs du choc de ces divers fyftcmes, con- " clurcnt qu'il n'y a rien de certain ; qu'en fait de religion dc " morale, un philofophe doit s'en tenir au doute abfolu. De la eft " nee 1'indifFcrence pour toutes les opinions, a laquelle on donne Ic " nom de tolerance. Dans 1'exces du delife, 1'efprit humain ne " peut aller plus loin." Traite Hiltorique & Dogmatique dc fc vraie Religion, &;c. par M. L'Abbe Bergier, tome i. p. 32. l) F a the 68 ON SCHISMS AND SECTS. the caution which our rulers conceive it to be their duty to ufe on this occafion : but that far more and greater inconveniences would refult from the inter- iniffion of fuch cautions, has been demonftrated again and again. In their clamours againft us on this ground, the objeclors feem to be as unwife as they are unjuft : the temper and fpirit with which their objections are urged, too clearly (hew the danger of Jiftening to them : and, whilft fuch men continue to be thus reftlefsly and bitterly bufy, God forbid our left laws fhould be repealed ! Were it not for thefe vvholfome reftri&ions, neither thofe of our Order in particular, nor the members of our Church in general, would any longer be bound together by any common ties. We fhould be let loofe againft one another, with all our diforderly paflions in full force ; and the very foundations of fociety be inevitably deftroyed. For thefe reafons, therefore, as well as many others, (though, on account of the wide difperlion of the Chriftian world, it muft neceflarily be branched out into manydiftincl: focieties, or churches; yet, it being fiill, though many y one body in Chrift, and members one of another,) every feparate communion may, and fhould, confider itfelf as a fmall part of a great whole ; as {till a member of the * Catholic Church, and the Communion * " Thofe two articles in the Apoflles* Creed, the Holy Catho- " lick Churchy and the Communion of Saints, were inferted on purpofe ft to prevent fchifm ; and that alone is their true fenfe and aim. " No fchifmatic, therefore, can, with a fafe conference, repeat thefe tw< ON SCHISMS AND SECTS. 69 Communion of Saints ; and,, as fuch, bound, by fome common, external, viiible means, fome generally ac- knowledged teft of focial unity, itill to maintain a vifible communion. It was thus that the Apoftles and firft Chriftians (who, as well as ourfelves, had the unhappinefs to think differently on various points, fome of them of great importance) ftill were together with one accord in breaking of bread, and in prayer. They wifely thought that a mere difference of opinion in things not abfolutely effential to falvation, inftead of being a reafon for feparation, \vas an argument and motive (and, as fuch, is often fo urged in Scripture) for greater zeal and care to keep up the unity of the fpirit in the bond of peace. Chriftians in deed, as well as in name, they were fo rooted and grounded in love, as never to fuffer any debates about doubtful quejlions to interfere with plain and indifpen- fable duties; nor any ill-informed or ill-regulated folicitude, even for truth, to deftroy that mutual for- bearance, peace, and charity, which conftitute the very efTence of Ghritlianity. Nor will our holy re- ligion ever have that credit or that influence in the world (to both of which it is fo well entitled) till it's profefibrs are more attached to each other ; and till, laying aficle all jealoufic?, animofities, e t vilfurmijings > and perv erf e difputings, they have the wifdom, as well " two articles ; inafmuch as, by his fchifm, he far too clearly and " emphatically declares his difbelief of any peculiar holinefs in the " Catholick Church, and his uifregard of the duty and the bleffing of a " Communion of Saints "~~ King on the Creed, p. 310 aod p. 325. JO ON SCHISMS AND SECTS. as the virtue (like the multitude of them that believed) to be of one heart and one Joul, and to dwell together as brethren in unify. Then, notwithstanding the in- finite diverfity of feels, into which Chriftcndom is unhappily divided, Chriftian unity might dill, in a Chriftian fenfe, fubfift : nor, indeed, can it ever be loft, as long as Chriftian charity is maintained. Were this great evangelical duty but duly praclifed, if it did not remove all differences, it would certainly allay all animolities : and if we ftill differed in judgment, we fhould unite in affection ; we fhould love men's perfons, even when we reprobated their opinions. Let not thefe fincere fuggeftions in favour of mu- tual forbearance and charity be perverfely mifinter- preted, as meant to countenance the loofe and dange- rous, yet not unpopular, notion, that if a man is confcientious in his attachment it is of little moment to what communion he belongs. This is a very dangerous argument, and, if carried to its utmoft length, would juftify any extreme of irreligion. With equal reafon might it be urged, that, provided a man be fincere in his conviction, it is of little moment whether he be a Chriftian, a Mahometan, a Pagan, or an Idolater. The fubtle queftion of the innocency of error is not now under confederation : but permit me to obferve, that if fmcerity in any fyftem of faith be fufficient to entitle a man to falvation all reafon- ing and argument on the fubjecl muft be vain ; nay, (I will add,, though not without horror,) Chrift him- Iclf both lived and died in vain. '- It ON SCHISMS AND SECTS. 7 1 It is not only a neceflary confequence of Chrifti- anity to render thofe who embrace it diflatisfied with their old opinions, and old principles, and anxious to adopt new ones : they do, indeed, to ufe the figni- ficant phrafeology of Scripture, put off the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lufls ; and put on the new man, which, after God, is created in righteoufnefs and true holinefs : but every fincere con- vert to Chriilianity mull be anxious to perfuade others likewife to embrace the true faith. When the Son of God came upon earth to promulgate his gofpel (not to one people only, but) to all nations, the Jews (who we know were in general fincere in their at- tachment to their national church) were as uncon- cerned about recommending their religion to others, as they were zealous to preferve it from being con- taminated by others. The Romans were fo far from being defirous of fubjecling the people whom they conquered to their religion that they frequently adopted their gods and their ceremonies. Nor did the Greeks ever think of fending miffionaries to the Perfians, Egyptians, or any other people. Whilfl the Gentile nations thus acquiefced each in his own fyftem, the Saviour of the world came upon earth ; and, addreffing himfelf, with his Apoftles, equally to Jew and Gentile, preached falvation to mankind through the gofpel. One immediate confequence of his Advent was, that multitudes of fuch asjhould le faved were every where converted and added to the Church. If, then, according to this notion, a fincere F 4 ?2 ON SCHISMS AND SECTS. Pagan was equally in a ftate of falvation with a finecrc Chriftian, it will not be eafy to acquit our Saviour of the charge of having needlefsly diilurbed the repofe of the world,, by interfering with the received opinions of mankind. But, though we humbly truft that the poor be- nighted heathen, on whom the bright fun of reve- lation has never fhone, may, and will, be pardoned for his unavoidable ignorance ; and no lefs confidently hope that all due allowances will be made for thofe who with their mother's milk imbibed the delulions of Popery, or for thofe who have been decoyed from the faith of their fathers by the allurements of the conventicle ; I know not whether I am authorifed to hold out the fame hopes to thofe who (to ufe the words of the article of uniformity) " following their " own fenfuality, and living without due knowledge " and fear of God, do wilfully and fchifmatically ab- *' ftain and refnfe to come to their parifti churches/' If they really do agree (as they fay they do) with our Church in all eflential points *, and yet, (like Micah,) on pretences perfectly infignificant, or at lead of but little importance, feparate from us, fetting up a new houfe of gods y and confecrating, or laying their own * The celebrated Peter Walfh (as we are informed by Bp. Burnet in the Hiftory of his own Times, vol. i. p. I rex) was of opinion, " that no man ought to forfake that religion, in which he was born " and bred, unlefs he was clearly convinced that he muft certainly " be damned if he continue^ in it," -Sir James Ware's Hitt. of Ireland, $d vol. p, 196. hands ON SCHISMS AND SECTS. 73 hands on their own heads ; what can Chanty herfelf fay of them, but that they are fchifmatics, and do all in their power to rend the feamlefs garment of their Saviour ? It is conduct like this that juflifics thofe who reproach the fchifmatic with deitroying the unity (juft as the heretic fubvcrts the faith) of the Holy Catholic Church. It ought to be remembered, that the caufes which thefe our brethren alledge for their feparating from us do not relate to points which we deem indifferent; though, as they concern them, they acknowledge them to be fuch. We have at ilake an eccleiiaitical conftitution, which we are penuaded is truly primitive and apoftolical : we have a liturgy, compiled with fuch found nefs of judgment, and fuch beauty of holinefS) that, whilft it is admirably adapted to the edification of the unlearned, it cannot but engage the efteem and veneration of the moil learned. Thefe things we cannot difpenfe with without annihilating our Church. This is not the cafe with thofe who feparate from us. They may, any and all of them, comply with all that our Church requires, without doing any violence to their conferences : for they not only acknowledge the doctrines of our Church to be found and pure, and her ceremonies to be at lead harmlefs ; but they have, even fince they have left us, fhewn fo much refpect to us, and regard for their own intereft, as to join with us in every part of our worfhip. The points to 74 ON SCHISMS AND SECTS. to which they object are not, according to their own opinion and practice, unlawful ; fo that, if they were inclined to live peaceably with our Church as far as is poffible, they ought to do fo as far as is lawful. The pafTage from them to us is eafy and fafe ; but, for the reafons juft mentioned, not fo from us to them. The adversaries of our common faith too well know the advantages they derive from thefe diflen- fions : and hence they have taken , and too probably will continue to take, great pains to foment and per- petuate them. And in no way can either a church, or a kingdom, be fo effectually defiroyed, as by being divided. It is not an enemy that could do us this wrong. We fight his battles, by turning all our flrength againft ourfelves ; and may hereafter lament our own want of forefight, -fhould we ever live (which God forbid !) to fee Popery again raifed on the ruins of that Church which her own members have over- thrown. This, indeed, we hope, is a very improbable event; but, it is not impoffible. What has hap- pened may happen again. Whilfl we are unhappily bulled in undermining our own foundations, the common enemy ftands ready to enter in at the breaches we make ready for him. The Church of England, befides the ftrong and irrefragable authority of the Scriptures in it's favour, has this farther recommendation, almoft peculiar to itfelfj that all parties differing from it concur in ac- knowledging ON SCHISMS AND SECTS. J^ knovvledging that, next to their own, it is the beft*. It preferves an happy medium between the two ex- tremes of Popery and Prefbyterianifm ; and is, there- fore, inconteftibly the fitted centre of union. And it is owing to her tranfeendent merit in this point of view, as well as for other reafons, that the oppofers of Proteftantifm have always directed their attacks, not againft Prefbyterians and their particular doclrines, nor againft any of our various fedlarifts and their various creeds, but againft the Church of England. But (bleffed be God I) founded on a rock, fhe has * " Ita autem Ecclefiam Anglicanam colo & veneror, ut Prefoy- ' terianos veftros non tarn odio, quam commiferatione, profequor. " Exiftimo enim majorem eorum partem, avitis praejudiciis imbu- *' tos, bona fide agere ; minorem reliquorum fimplicitate abuti." - Jablonfki's Letter to Dr. Nichols, from Berlin, June 10, 1708. which fee in the " Relation des Mefures qui furent prifcs dans les " annees 1711, 12, 13. pour introduire la Liturgic Anglicaine " dans le Royaume de PrufTe, & dans 1'Eledorat de Hanover." p. 47. " Si me conjeftura non fallit, totius reformationis pars integer- ' rima eft in Anglia ; ubi cum ftudio veritatis viget ftudium an- " tiquitatis ; quam certi homines dum fpernunt, in laqueos fe indu- " cunt, unde, nifi mendacio, exuere fe nequeunt." Epitt. If. Cafauboni in Claud. Salmaf. Vide etiim quid de publico Dei apud nos cultu, 8 Aprilis, anno MDCXLV eidem dixerit, Grotius fcilicet : * Liturgia Anglicana ab eruditis omnibus habita femper eft " optima." See " Teftimonia de Hugonis Grotii adfeftu ad Ecclefiam Angli- " canam ;" ufually bound up at the end of his Treatife " de Veritate Religionis ChrillianK." hitherto y5 ON SCHISMS AND SECTS- hitherto withftood, and for the fake of our common Chriftianity, and the peace of the world, we truft (he will long continue to withftand all their efforts*', If ever fhe is undone, it will be by Proteftant, and not by Popifh, hands f ; but whether a motley body of various and varying feels and parties, much di- vided among themfelves, and hardly lefs at variance with each other than with Popery itfelf, will occafion her downfal, I cannot pretend to determine. Whether they, however, are more likely to preferve our com- mon country from fuch a calamity, than the iteady and confident members of a refpec~lable and refpecled Church, (which a learned foreigner once called " the " eye of the reformation J,' f ) one might almofl leave it to our feparatifts themfelves to fay. * " Concerning the v/eakening of the Englifli Church, there can ** no better way poffibly be found out, than by caufing divifions and " diffenfions among themfelves. And as for their religion, it can- *' not eafily be rooted out and extinguifhed here, unlefs there were ** fome certain fchools fet up in Flanders, by means of which there " mould be fcattered abroad the feeds of fchifm, &c." Difcourfe of Spanifh Monarchy, &c. by Campanella, a Jefuit, p. 1^7. c. 25. f* The divifions among Proteftants are not unlike thofe which prevailed among the ancient Britons ; and much does it concern us all to pray, that they may not at length produce the fame effects. " Per principes factionibus & ftudiis trahuntur. Nee aliud ad- ** verfus validiffimas gentes nobis utilius, quam quod in commune ** non confulunt. Rarus duabus tribufve civitatibus ad propulfandum '* commune periculum conventus ; ita dum finguli pugnant, uni- *' verli vincuntur." Tacit, de Vita Agricolse, cap. xii. J " fiorentiffima Anglia, ocellus ilk ecclefiarum peculiura w Chridi fingulare, &c." Diodati. Com- ON SCHISMS AND SECTS, *J>J Compofed as thefe fectaries of our weftern world in general are of a confufcd heterogeneous mafs of infidels and enthufiafts, oddly blended and united, (moft of them ignorant, and all of them {hamefully illiterate,) it is not eafy, in a ferious dilcourfe, to fpeak of them with becoming gravity. St. Paul (with that fpirit of refearch and penetration which diftinguifhes his writings) touches both on the caufe and effect of fuch Reparations, when he defcribes the promoters of them as perfons having itching ears and unftahle in all their ways, and who are therefore eafily tojfed about with every wind of docJrine. They feem to be actu- ated by a fort of fpiritual wantonnefs ; bccaufe, as is obferved by the fame Apoftle, guided by their lufts, and heaping to themf elves teachers, they cannot endure found docJrine. I am loth to add (what yet truth extorts from me) that the picture drawn of them in his epiftle to Timothy is as exact a reprefentation of at leaft a majority of thefe feparatifts as if they had been the very perfons defignecl. They are proud, knowing no- thing, but doting about quejiions and ftrifes of words, whereof cometh envy, railings, evilfurmifings, perverfe diffutings of men of corrupt minds and deftitute of truth. And this being the cafe, let me fairly appeal to the moft candid of my hearers, whether fuch perfons do not clearly and directly fall under the cenfures and the penalties of the 9th, loth, nth, and i2th canons of the Church of England : inafmuch as they " fcpa- " rate themfelves from the communion of faints, as it v is approved by the Apoftles* rules in the Church of " England; 78 ON SCHISMS AND SECTS. " England ; and combine themfelves together in a " new brotherhood^ accounting the Chriftians who " are conformable to the doctrine, government, rites " and ceremonies of the Church of England to be pro- " phane, and unmeet for them to join with in Chrif- " tian profeffion." Of the confequences to be expecled from this ge- neral diflemination of delufion and error, men judge differently according to their different tempers and different degrees of information. Enthufiafts con- ceive it to be the commencement of a millennium t whilft others, of a lefs fanguine temperament, though they cannot fo far give up their common fenfe as to imagine that thefe blind guides can poffibly lead their Hill blinder followers to any thing that is really good, yet plead for their being let alone and fuffered to purfue their own projecls in their own way, from a perfuafion that they are too infignificant to do any harm ; and that the taking any public notice of them is giving them too much confequence, and purfuing that plan which of all others is befl calculated to render them Hill more popular. To this common and trite argument it may be anfwered, that this is not a cafe in which there can be any neutrality : thofe who are not for the Church are again ft it ; and if Micah of old was guilty of a great crime, thefe men cannot be innocent. Nor is there more real weight in the fnggeftions of cautious difcretion, that it is beft not to notice erroneous opinions and mifchievous perfons, left cenfure fhould raife them into confequence, Neither ON SCHISMS AND SECTS. 79 Neither moralifts, nor preachers, norlcgiflators, in de- nouncing vices, regard who the perfons are that arc guilty of them : were the cafe otherwife, and were it true that vice, by being prohibited, becomes popular, moralifts and preachers, and even legiflators, might be charged with being the authors, rather than the cor- rectors, of immorality and impiety. What evils this prevalence of fectarianifm, fb fud- den, fo extraordinary, and fo general, may portend to the State, I care not to think; recollecting with horror, that juft fuch were the Jigns of tbe times previous to the grand rebellion in the laft century. There is no denying that fuch diforders indicate a diftempered government ; juft as blotches and boils indicate a bad habit of body. For, it has been obferved, that feels in religion, and parties in politics, generally prevail together. By a fort of mutual action and re-action they produce one another ; both, in their turns, be- coming caufes and effects. Whenever (to ufe Scrip- ture phrafeology) there is no king in Ifrael, that is to fay, whenever, through any caufe, the reins of govern- ment are relaxed, or it's energies impeded, then are mankind tempted to act the part of Micah, that is, to run into parties, and to frame new fchemes of re- ligion for thernfelves. Indeed, fects in Religion and parties in the State originate, in general, from fimilar principles. A feet is, in fact, a revolt againft the au- thority of the Church, juft as a faction is againft the authority of the State; or, in other words, a feet is a faction in the Church, as a faction is a feet in the State; and go ON SCHISMS AND SECTS. and the fpirit which refufes obedience to the one, 13 equally ready to refill the other *. Nor (however little it may feem to be attended to) is it an ordinary degree either of guilt or of danger when fuch men dare to perfifl to do, in the face of the laws, what thole Jaws exprefsly forbid. It is thus that inftitutions and regulations, which are of great moment to the welfare of fociety, are, imperceptibly and gradually, weakened and deftroyed ; for, when the laws are allowed to be fet at nought in one inftance, they are feldom much regarded at all. In private life, the mifchiefs occalioned by fchifms and feels are more obvious ; and perhaps not much, if at all, lefs grievous. The difcouragement which has thus been given to that exertion and honefl in- duftry by which families fhould be maintained, and the mifapplication and wafte of the hard earnings of many perfons in the inferior clailes of life, which it is now well known this epidemic frenzy has occaiioned, are matters of too much moment not to command a very general attention. In travelling through the country, it is eafy to know the diitricls in which thefe new lights moil abound, by the neglected plantations ; * Extat prudens monitum Mecaenatis apud Dionem Caflium ad hsec verba. " Eos vero qui in divinis aliquid innovant, odio habe tflanted there in their ftead) than they do to the propriety of excluding the avowed enemies of the Church from any participation in it's government : and finally, the tower, which (whatever be it's literal import, both here and in thofe paflages of the gofpel in which our Saviour feems clearly to have adopted the imagery of this parable *) implying fomething of ftrength, defence, and protection j-, may undoubtedly be * See Matth. xxi. 33, 345 and Mark xii. I. j* It is no uncommon imagery among ancient writers to call a perfon who affords a place of retreat, melter and protection to ano- ther, a tower. Thus Medea, meditating the dreadful deftrudion of her ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. 91 be underftood to mean the guardians or governors whom the Almighty faw fit to appoint to the fuper- intendenceof his Church. The parable proceeds to ftate, in a manner equally affecting and forcible, that, admirably as this vineyard was planned and laid out, yet, owing either to the want of care, want of zeal, or want of fidelity in it's protectors, it ran to ruin ; and fo, in/lead of grapes, that is, the fruit of that choice vine which had been planted in it, it brought forth 'wild grapes. This, con- fiftently with the general fcopeof the parable, muft be underftood to imply, that, inflead of thofe fruits of right eoufnefs, which may be looked for from a true Church, this neglected and ill-governed Church, al- luded to in the parable, almoft neceflarily produced, in regular fucceffion, divifions, ilrifes, difputings about religion, latitudinarianifm, deifm, irreligion, and in- fidelity. How applicable all this is to us, and our Church, cannot but be obvious to you. If, in any point, the refemblance may feem to fail, it is in this, that, inftead of having our hedges judicially broken down, trodden on, and taken away, we can hardly be faid ever to have raifed any fence at all. If our Church be not her hufband's houfe, puts it on the condition of her being able to find fome perfon capable and willing to protect her: *Hy /x VK V" ww'fx * orpaAJij (paw, that is, " if any one fliould arife as a tower of fafety to us." Mr. Woodhul, however, more literally renders it" if I can find fome fortrefs." Homer alfo fomewherc fays, Tro? y a^> isvpyos crtvhiro, wholly 92 ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. wholly without rules and ordinances, (he certainly has no conftitutional authoritative guardians to enforce them. It was (I believe) about the middle of the laft century that our want of bifhops was fenfibly felt and lamented, and that applications for remedying the evil were made to the throne. Thefe applications \vere thought fo reafonable, that, under Charles the Second, a patent was actually made out for appoint- ing a bifhop of Virginia. By fome fatality or other (fuch as feems for ever to have purfued all the good meafures of the monarchs of that unfortunate family) the patent was not flgned when the king died : and, from that time to this, all exertions for the attainment of this deferable object,, though they have never wholly ceafed, have been as languid as the oppolition to them has been vehement. Never before, in any period of our hiitory, or in any part of the empire, was a mea- fure fo harmlefs, fo neceflary, and fo falutary, refilled and defeated on grounds fo frivolous, fo unwife, and fo unjuft. An account of it (if an accurate account of it could be given) would not only place the ftate of America in a new point of view, but exhibit a new feature in the hiftory of mankind. So ftriking an inftance of one part of a community being fuffered thus to wrong another on mere furmifes and fufpicions, and without any provocation, (as has been done by the opponents of epifcopacy,) it is hardly poffible to pro- duce. Or if (conlidering how many cafes may be met with in every hiftory, in which mankind have perverfely OST THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. 93 perverfely thwarted and fpited one another) this af- fertion (hould be deemed fomewhat too peremptory, it may at leaft be affirmed with confidence, that never before did any government fufFer itfelf to befb dictated to, and overawed, as the Britifh government did in the cafe before us. It is ftill more extraor- dinary that this part has been acled by the inferior, the benefited, and the obliged party : and that go- vernment has thus done violence to all the common principles of policy, in difobliging it's acknowledged friends, for the fake of obliging thofe whofe greatefl merit, as fubjecls, is that they have not yet, with open force, attempted the deftruclion of that eflential part of our conftitution againft which they omit no oppor- tunity to declare their enmity. If, whilft they are thus hoftile to the Church, we really can believe them to be cordial friends to the State, all I can fay is, that we fhall pay a compliment to their loyalty, at the expence of their con.fi ftency*. Heretofore, * " The Clergy of the Church of England, as in matters of faith " and morality they acknowledge no guide but the Scriptures, fo " in matters of external polity and private right they derive all " their title from the civil magiftrate. They look up to the king * c as their head, to the parliament as their law- giver ; and pride themfelves in nothing fo juftly as in being true members of the " Church, emphatically, by law eftabliftied. Whereas the prin- " ciples of thofe who differ from them, as well in one extreme as the other, are equally and totally deftruaive of thofe ties and obligations, by which all fociety is kept together ; equally en- " croaching on thofe rights which reafon and the original contraa "of 94 OK THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE.' Heretofore, the objectors to epifcopacy were found only among avowed diffenters. Their diflike to it is confident, as it is one of the chief reafons they aflign for feparating from us : however, much as we may, and do, lament their having left us, we have a right to blame thofe of them only, who, not contented with their own diflike, will not bear our continuing to like it. But, it is our fingular fate to have lived to fee a mofl extraordinary event in church hiffory ; profefled churchmen fighting the battles of difienters, and our worjt enemies now literally thofe of our own ioufhold. It can hardly be neceflary to inform you, that I here allude to the protefl of four Clergymen * againft an '* of every free ftate in the univerfe have vefted in the fovereign " power ; and equally aiming at a diftinft and independent fupre- " macy of their own. The dreadful effe&s of fuch bigotry, when *' a&uated by erroneous principles, even of the proteftant kind, was *' fufficiently evident from the hiftory of the anabaptifts in Ger- * many, the covenanters in Scotland, and that deluge of fe&aries c< in England, who murdered their fovereign, fhook every pillar of '* law, juftice, and private property, and moft devoutly eflablifhed a *' kingdom of faints in their ftead." Blackftone, Book iv. ch. 8. Tol. iv. p. 104. * " As for thofe in the Clergy, whofe place and calling is lower, '* were it not that their eyes are blinded, left they mould fee the " thing that of all others is for their good moft effectual, fomewhat " they might confider the benefit they would enjoy, by having fuch an authority over them as are of the fame profeffion, body, and " fociety with them ; fuch as have trodden the fame fteps before ; w fuch as know, by their own experience, the manifold intolerable " contempts ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. 95 an application to the throne for an American epifco- pate, which was drawn up by a convention of the Clergy held in Williamfburg laft June ; and to the thanks voted by the Houfe of Burgefles * to thefe proteflers. This extraordinary meafure (in my humble opinion) is n direct attack on that Church which both the protefters and thofe who thanked them are bound to fupport, and at leaft an acl of difobedi- ence to that king whom both are equally bound to honour and obey. Forbearance on fuch a point the burgefles owed to their conftituents, who elecled them as guardians of that conilitution of which the eftablifhed Church is one eflential part : what re- Ipecl the Clergy owed to the Church, whofe miriifters they are ; to their ordination vows ; and to their own characters, none but themfelves (I think) can be at a lofs to determine. I am not fmgle in lamenting that fo refpecTtable a body of men as the Lower Houfe of Aflembly of Vir- ginia did not acl more cautioufly. Whatever any individuals among them might think of the intro- duction of a bifhop into this country, the queftion ' contempts and indignities, which faithful paftors, intermingled " with the multitude, are conftrained every day to fuffer in the ex- " ercife of their fpiritual charge and function, unlefs their fuperiorf, " taking their caufe even to heart, be, by a kind of fympathy, drawn " to aid and relieve them, in their virtuous proceedings, no lefs than " loving parents their dear children." Hooker's Ecclefiaftical Polity, Book the 7th, p. 417. * That branch of the legiflature in Virginia, which is equivalent to the Houfe of Commons in Great Britain. was $5 Otf THE AMERICAN EPISCOPAT2. was not then before them* I do not fee how it ever can come before them ; but (certainly) nothing has yet occurred relative to it, that calls for their inter- ference. Even admitting that they all thought fuch a meafure ill-judged, or dangerous, the way they took to exprefs their difapprobation was neither pru- dent nor decorous. It was not prudent, becaufe, as far as it has any efFect, it difcourages their friends, and encourages their foes : and it was not decorous, becaufe, inftead of flating any well-founded objec- tions of their own, they ftooped to the meannefs of adopting the appreheniions of others. Whatever be their diflike to epifcopacy, it is hardly within the reach of fuppofition that they can be pleafed with the apoftacy of the protefters ; who, at this moment, are eating the bread of that Church whom they fo ungratefully defert in this her hour of need. After all, there is reafon to believe, that this relblve of thanks was an hafty and inconliderate refolve, and was carried in a thin houfe taken by furprife. This is a misfortune to which all men, in their public ca- pacities, are liable ; and therefore every pofiible al- lowance fhould be made for it. Of thofe who did acquiefce in the vote, feveral might not forefee the confequences of what they were doing. And when -time (hall have cooled men's paffions, and prejudice fhall give way to reafon, not a doubt can be enter- tained but that, both for their own honour, and the honour of the eflablifhed Church, this refolve will be refcinded from their Journals. 3 Many ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. 97 Many old men among us, who had the happinefs to be eftablifhed in their principles in other times than thefe, fee and lament that a great change has taken place with refpect to the Church and Church- men in Virginia. They remember when, excepting a few inoffenfive quakers, there was not in the whole colony a fingle congregation of dhTenters of any denomination. The firft act of affembly pafled in Virginia after the Reftoration was an Act for the Settlement of Religion. It's preamble is curious : " Becaufe it is impoffible " to ferve and honour the king as we ought, unlefs " we ferve God ; therefore be it enacted, &c." thus making the fervice and honour of the king the reafon of the act for the fervice of God and the eftablifhment of religion. This act is founded altogether on the good old principle of obedience for confcience fake. Loyalty was then as eminent as what we call Liberty is now rampant. Loyalty, in its exceffes, may have been abfurd ; but it never was fervile : even in thofe days of exuberant loyalty, our people were capable of think- ing for themfelves ; and what they thought they were not afraid to afTert. Virginia was the laft of the Britifh dominions that fubmitted to CrormVelFs ufurpation, and the firfl that proclaimed Charles II. king. But now, taking our cue from popular de- claimers and popular writers in the Parent State, we are as forward as the boldefl to reprobate all thofe high notions of loyalty which fo honourably diftin- H guiihed $8 dN THE AMERICAN 1 ' gtiifhed us in the bed periods of our hiftory. On fhd principles of an equal zeal for the prerogatives of the crown, and for (he juil liberties of the people, our con- ilitution was founded ; and on thefe alone it can now be maintained : though every pert fmatterer in politics has the hardinefs and irreverence to attack all thofe it's ftrong points, which our anceilors reverenced as it's chief excellence and fupport. It furely was fome- thitig more than ridiculous, when (not long fince) a popular candidate at one of our elections folicited your fuffrages in his favour, on the plea of his being, as to his political tenets, a Whig, and the advocate of revolution principles; and in religion, a Low-church- man. If folly can ever excufe audacity, this man's utter ignorance of the terms he ufed, may be ad- mitted as fome apology for his prefumption. There is (no doubt) a fober fenfe to which thefe now fa- fhionable terms may be reftricled, fo as not to be inconfiftcnt with the duties which every wife and good man owes to his country : but (it is with forrovv I declare) this is not the fenfe in which I have of late generally heard them ufed, or in which they were ufed by the popular candidate in queftion. The conduct of thofe among us who are nioft forward to ailume thefe titles affords but too frequent proofs, that to be a whig conilfts in being haughty and overbearing in domefiic life ; in being infolent to inferiors^ and tyrannical to flaves ; that to fupport revolution principles is, in every thing, to oppofe and thwart the executive power ; and that to be a low- church ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. Of) church-man is to entertain and avow a low opinion of religion in general, and efpecially of eftablifhed religion, manifefted by never going to church. That fo total and important a change in the public mind cannot fail to have a mighty influence on the whole of our colonial iyftem, is evident : but, as the di- cuffion of fuch a point may not perhaps be thought immediately connected with the queftion before us, I wave it ; and (for the prefent) content myfelf with obferving that, though fuch caufes have not hitherto been much infivted on in the controverfy, they ap- pear clearly to be the ground- work of all the prefent oppolition to epifcopacy. A few years ago it was the misfortune of the Clergy of this colony to have a difpute with it's Laity. You will readily recollect, that I allude to the act of af- fembly which was called the Two-penny Acl. Of this act (anxious as I am not to repeat grievances) fuffice it to fay that, on the final decifion of the dif- pute, the Aflembly was found to have done, and the Clergy to have fuffered, wrong. The aggrieved may, and we hope often do, forgive ; but it has been ob- ferved that aggreflbrs very rarely forgive. Ever iince this controverfy your Clergy have experienced every kind of difcourtefy and difcouragement. It is allowed, that the Church is ftill in great want of the public countenance and encouragement : yet fo far are we from being permitted to look up to you as the patrons and protectors of piety and learning, that we are threatened to be reduced to an hum- H2 We JOO 0N THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. ble dependence on popular authority and popular caprice. One confequence of this change in the public opinion and public conduct towards us is, that, al- though thirty years ago there was not in the whole colony a fingle difTenting congregation, there are now, according to the bed information I can obtain, not lefs than eleven dhTenting rninifters regularly fet- tled, who have each from two to four congrega- tions under their care. As to the numbers of fecta- ries and itinerant priefts, (and in particular of thofe fwarms of feparatifts who have fprung up among us within the lall feven years, under the name of ana- baptifls and new-lights,) I might alrnoft as \vell pre- tend to count the gnats that buzz around us in a fummer's evening. Like gnats, moreover, the noife which feclaries make not only difturbs and is difa- greable, but we find, that though they can neither give pleafure, nor do any good, they do not want either the difpoiition or the ability of thofe little in- figniflcant animals to teafe, to fting, and to torment. To thofe who are aware how much more apt all multitudes are to be guided by their paffions than by their judgment, it will not appear extraordinary, that, in fuch times as thefe, a fcheme propofed by the Clergy fhould excite the jealoufy of fuch a people. But, that fuch jealoufies are either neceilary, wife, or juft, can be imagined by thofe only who are fo ill- informed as to think the maintenance of true religion of no moment to a State ; and have fo little judgment or ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. Ill or fo little concern for the true intereft of their coun- try, as to fuppofe, that it's prefent form of civil go- vernment may be thus altered, by multitudes and by mobs, without infinite detriment to our civil as well as to our religious interefts. To oppofe epifco- pacy is in efFecl: to fly in the face of, and to oppofe, the eftablifiied Church. Now, whether this Church be moil favourable to true religion, and to our prefent admirable conilitution ; or thofe other CHURCHES, as they are proud to be called, which too probably hope to rife on her ruins, let the proteilers, and thofe who have thanked the protefters, judge for themfelves : but let them not (as is evidently their aim) judge for others. Every country acls naturally and prudently in mak- ing it's ecclefiaftical polity conformable to it's civil government :|and it certainly is not eafy, if it be pof- fible, to name a government that ever fubfifted long without fome connexion or alliance with religion Aj In arbitrary governments, the Church has a corre- fponding domination ; whilft, in democracies, eccle- fiaftics are in general wholly dependent on the people. Ours is a mixed government, partaking equally of monarchical and popular authority; and confequently, the government of the Church is alfo mixed. Thus formed and fitted for each other, Church and State mutually fupport, and are fupported by, each other. * M. Lally-Tolendal, in his eloquent Defence of the French Emigrants, fliews, that a National Church is eflential even under a republican form of government. H 3 ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. Each is a part of each ; each a part of the conftitution ? and an injury cannot be done to the one without the other's feeling it. Every maxim or principle of this fort that applies to the Parent State is no lefs applicable to this do- minion *. If the civil and eccleliaftical parts of the constitution there be fo intimately connected and blended together that they cannot be diflevered with- out mutual detriment and danger, there muft be no inconfiderable danger and detriment in their being diflevered here ; becaufe the government of this country profefles to be, and is, formed on the model of that. And if we have hitherto fubfifted without fuch a complete and perfect union of Church and State, it is probable (if indeed it be not certain) that this our trans-Atlantic conftitution has been mate- rially injured by it. It has, indeed, been fo palpably and greatly injured by this growing indifference to our religious interefts, that many firm friends of their country think they fee but too much reafon to fear, that if it be not fpeedily and effectually altered, a fad experience will foon convince the moft incredulous and heecllefs, how mifchievous and fatal their error, or their inattention, has been. God forbid any of us fhould live to fee the day when we may be con- vinced of the truth of king James's maxim " No f( bimop, no king !" and when this dominion^ no\v the fair image of one of the beft governments upon * Before the late revolution, Virginia wa3 never 3 like the other colonies, called a province, rarely a colpny : it's general term of de- fignation was dominion. earth a ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. 103 earth, (hall be fo degenerate and mean as to become the ape of New England in her civil inftitutions, and therefore too likely to follow the fame wretched model in what the people of New England call the platform of religion ! And when it is recollected, that, till now, the oppofition to an American epif- copate * has been confined chiefly to the dema- gogues and independents of the New England pro- vinces, but that it is now efpoufed with much warmth by the people of Virginia, it requires no great depth of political fagacity to fee what the motives and views of the former have been, or what will be the confe- quences of the defection of the latter. The conftitution of the Church of England is ap- proved, confirmed, and adopted by our laws, and in- terwoven with them. No other form of church- * " Monf. Caches, one of the mfmfters of Charenton, afks, how " comes it to pafs, that thofe of your (Englifh) Prefbyterians, who " are great, underftanding, and wife men, have fuch an averfion " againfl moderate epifcopacy ? The name of fchifm may do more " harm in one year, than all the excefs of epifcopal authority " can do in an age. And Monf. Le Moyne alfo fays, I cou- '* fefs I conceive not by what fpirit they are led, who oppofe that " (epifcopal) government, and cry it down with fuch violence. For, " I defy any man, whoever he be, to mew me another Order more " fuitable with reafon, or better agreeing with Holy Scripture ; " and of which God made more ufe for the eftablimment of his " truth, and the amplification of his kingdom. In the firft age, " there was always fome fubordination in the Church ; and in the " time of her innocency, me was always conducted by a govern- " ment equivalent to the epifcopal." Durell, p. 122 124, 125. H 4 govern- 104 ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. government than that of the Church of England would be compatible with the form of our civil go- vernment. No other colony has retained fo large a portion of the monarchical part of the Britifh con- flitution as Virginia; and between that attachment to monarchy and the government of the Church of England there is a ilrong connexion *. A levelling republican fpirit in the Church naturally leads to re- publicanifm in the State ; neither of which would heretofore have been endured in this ancient dominion. As the Church of England government is adapted to the laws of our country, fo is the order of bifhops adapted to our liturgy ; which always fuppofes bifhops to be reiident among us. And indeed fome parts of it cannot properly be ufed on any other fuppo- fition. If we are ftill to go on without bifhops, that we may be conliftent, it will be neceflary that we fhould alfo be without a liturgy ; or, at any rate, that the excellent one we now ufe fhould undergo feveral material alterations. Since then // is evident to all men diligently reading tie Scriptures and ancient authors^ (as our Church in * " His Majefty has fummoned this convocation, not only be- " caufe it is ufual upon holding a parliament, but out of pious *' zeal to do every thing that may tend to the eftablifliment of the " Church of England j which is fo eminent a part of the refor- " mation, and is certainly left fulted to the conftitution of this go- " vernment." King William's Speech to the Convention. See Tindall's Continuation of Rapin. the ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. 105 the general preface to her Ordination offices declares,) that from the ApoftUs time there has been this order m ChriJFs Church, hi/hops, friefts and deacons, as federal offices : and that epifcopacy, thus founded, was pro- pagated over the world with the faith .itfelf, (there be- ing no nation that received the one without the other,) let us at length learn to confider bifhops (not with the jaundiced eyes of party pique, but in their true light) as dignified, learned, and faithful guides of fouls, to be fent hither purely on a religious account, to per- form functions, which, in thefe countries and thefc times, feem to be peculiarly neceflary. Thefe fum> tions (befides the government of the Clergy, and be- lides their being the intermediate links to connect the Clergy with the Legiflative or Executive Power) are ordination and confirmation, offices purely epif- copalj and fuch as in no well-ordered church were ever adminiftered by any one under the dignity of a bifhop. The want of ordination is an infringement of reli- gious liberty ; depriving churchmen of an indulgence and advantage which are not withheld from difien- ters. The fame may be faid of the want of confir- mation. It matters not that many Chriftians, who are of a different communion, think lightly of con- firmation. As long as there are many thoufands of good fubjefts, who believe it to be eftenttal to Chrif- tians, no reafon can be given why they fhould not be tolerated as 'well as other Chriftians are in the rites and doctrines of their refpective religions. Confirmation IQl> ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. Confirmation is of great antiquity : it began with the Apoftles, and has been continued down to this day. We are told in the Acts *, that St. Philip, though ordained to preach the gofpel, and even em- powered to work miracles, would not afTurne the of- fice of confirming his own converts, the Samaritans, but left it to the apoitles St. Peter and St. John as their peculiar province. Accordingly they were fent by the College of the Apoftles to lay hands on them, (that is, to confirm them,) a ceremony fHll performed by the laying on of hands. We Proteftants do not, with the Romanifts, make this rite a facrament : yet we underftand and believe it to be a conveyance of grace to the perfon confirmed. This inference is drawn from that paffage in Scripture f, in which we are informed, that the Ephefians, after they were baptized and confirmed by St. Paul, received the Holy Gloft ; as was the cafe with the Samaritans men- tioned in the viiith chapter of the Acts J. And, con- fidering the nature of the ceremony, what can be more proper, than that perfons, who have been bap- tized in their infancy, fliould, when they come to years, of difcretion, take upon themfelves their baptifrnal vows ; and in their own perfons ratify and confirm what their fureties, ly reafon of their tender age, did then promife for them ? And however lightly fome perfons may affecl to regard the bleffing, which is to be pronounced by the * Chap. yiii. 17. f As xi*. 6. JVer. 17. ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. 107 fa/fop, if he be prefent, we, who deduce it from apof- tolical authority, may at leaft be forgiven for wifhing it could be obtained ; and for hoping alfo, (as one of the popes is reported to have exprefTed himfelQ that it may do good, and can do no harm. It is no part of my principles or purpofe to be the apologift of any thing that is really fuperftitious. But there is reafon to fear that many things eflential to true religion are now fometimes depreciated, merely under the notion of their being fuperftitious. It is to be hoped, however, that there is no fuperftition in believing that what God has promifed he will per- form ; or in believing that he accompanies with his bleffing means which are of his own appointing. Let it, under this head, be yet farther added, that our Church lays fuch a ftrefs on confirmation that, where it, can be had, none are to be admitted to the holy communion until they are confirmed,, or are defirous and ready to be confirmed. The fate of the applications for an American epif- copate has been fingular and unprecedented. That an eftablifhed Church, which gives fuch ample and liberal toleration to feclaries of every name, fhould herfelf not be tolerated, is a phenomenon in political hiftory peculiar, to the American world *. Whilfr, without * " The want of bifhops in America hath been all along the more ' heavily lamented, becaufe it is a cafe fo fingular, that it cannot be " paralleled in the Chriftian world. For, what fed was ever any f where at all allowed the worftiip of God according to their own "conscience, IO8 ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE, without a murmur, vye fee diflenters of every deno- mination enjoying their full rights under their feveral forms of religious difcipline, why fhould it have given offence that Churchmen have requeiled to have at lead as full an enjoyment of her rights granted to the " conference, without being alfo allowed the means within them- " felves of providing for the continual exercife of their worfhip ? The " granting one without the other would be but a mockery. Yet, " fuch is the ftate of our Church in the colonies, and at a time and *' in a realm where the rights of confcience are beft underftood, and " moft fully allowed and protected. All feds of Proteftant Chrif- ' tians at home, and all, fave one, throughout our colonies, have the " full enjoyment of their religion. Even the Romi/h fuperftition, " within a province lately added to the BritiJh dominions, is com* ' pletely allowed in all it's parts ; it hath bifhops. Thus Hands the *' cafe of all Churches in our colonies, except only the Church here ' by law eftablifhed ; that alone is not tolerated in the whole ; it ex- " ills only in a part, in a maimed ftate, lopt of epifcopacy, an eflen* ' tial part of its conftitution. And whence this difgraceful diftinc- tion ? Whence this mark of diftruft ? What is the fear ? What ** the danger ? A few perfons vefted with authority, to ordain mi- " nifters, to confirm youth, and to vifit their own clergy. Can two " or three perfons, reftrained to thefe fpiritual functions, be dan- *' gerous to any in any matter ? in what ? or to whom ? Can they " poffibly, fo limited, on any pretence whatever, attempt to moleft ** any in their religious concerns ? Can they invade the right or ju- " rifdi&ion of magillrates ? Can they infringe the liberties of the ** people ? Can they weaken, or be thought to weaken, the fidelity " of the colonies to his Majefty, or their dependence on this coun- " try ? To thefe duties, if there be any difference, the members of <* this Church, as fuch, are bound by one fpecial motive, befides the ** motive common to them with all other fubje&s." Bp. Ewer's Sermon before the Society for propagating the Gofpel in Foreign Parts, in 1767, p. 32. National ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. 109 National Church ? Of the minifters alone of the Church of England it may be faid, that, as rninifters, we have no law, and are under no controul. And when this is urged as an argument to make us amen- able to thejurifdi&ion of lay-courts in matters purely fpiritual, is it not time to obviate the objection ; and time to fhew, by petitioning for an epifcopate, that we are far from defiring to continue exempt from all jurifdiction ? our only aim being, if poflible, to obtain a constitutional jurifdiclion. It is poilible that, in fome future period, the lay perfons, whom we hear it is propofcd now to inveft with fuch ecclefiaftical powers, may not be of the communion of the Church of England ; or they may be Low -churchmen. Now, as it is to be hoped that there are in our Order many who do not belong to that denomination, it furely would be hard on High- church delinquents (who, however profcribed by mo- dern patriots, are, happily, not yet profcribed by our laws) have both their judge and jury compofed of men decidedly adverfe to them. Though fuch a circumftance fhould never occur, yet, whenever fpi- ritual perfons are liable to be called upon by laymen to anfvver for fpiritual offences, our Church would then no longer be epifcopal ; but, if any thing, pref- byterian. It will be prepofterous for us then to fay, that the Church of England is the eftablifhed religion of Virginia. We are not feldom tauntingly told that the dif- fenters are daily increafing ; and their increafe is confidently JtO Ott THE AMERICAN" EPISCOPATE. confidently imputed to our rernirThefs. That difleri- ters do increafe, and that true religion is forely wounded and hurt by the wild ravings of numerous enthufiaftic preachers, the eftabliftied Clergy are not fb happy as to be ignorant. Mueh wrong, we ac- knowledge, is inflicted on our diftracled country ; and what is worfe, it is inflicted without experiencing the animadverfions of thofe who are bound to prevent it. The blame, however, we humbly truft, cannot, without injuflice, be all laid at our door. We are not fo felf-fufficient as to pretend that we do all that is in our power to flop the progrefs of this increafing evil : and for this, many of us, I know, are (as we all ought to be) exceedingly humbled and forry. God enable us to do our duty better for the time to come ! But whilft we confefs and lament our own unwor- thinefs, it is not neceflary, nor wife, nor virtuous, to charge ourfelves with more un worth inefs than really belongs to us. For many reafons it is not in our power to do more than is already done. Our hands are tied up; and we fay (and think we could prove *) that * " The proper and only remedy hath long fince been pointed " out, the appointment of one or more refident bifhops for the " exercife of offices purely epifcopal, in the American Church of fe England ; for admiriiitering the folemn and edifying rite of con- (< firmation ; for ordaining minifters, and fupei intending their con- " duft : offices, to which the members of the Church of England " have ?n undoubted claim, and from which they cannot be pre- " eluded without manifeft injuflice and opprefiion. The defign " hath been laid before the public in the moft unexceptionable form; ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. Ill that they can be untied only by granting us an epif- copate. It is a facl well deferving our attention, that both diffenters, and the itinerant preachers, with whom the colony is now over-run, make profelytes chiefly, if not wholly, in parifhes that He long vacant, without any incumbent in them ; or where the incumbent is old and infirm, and unequal to the duties of his pa- rim ; or, in any other relpec"l, is incompetent to the difcharge of his function. If we had a bimop, he would be of great fervice to the Church in redrefling this inconvenience ; and he would redrefs it by means as natural and eafy as they would be effectual. More ." form (a]; it hath been fupported againtl every objection, which un- *' reafonablc and indecent oppofition hath raffed, by arguments unan- " f\vered and unanhverable; unlefs groundless fears, invidious furmifes, " injurious fufpicions ; unlefs abfurd demands of needlefs and imprac- *' ticable fecurities againil dangers altogether imaginary and impro- " bable, are to fet afide undoubted rights, founded upon the plaineft *' maxims of religious liberty ; upon the common claim of mutual " toleration, that favourite but abufed principle, the glory and " the difgrace of Proteftantifm, which all are forward enough to " profefs, but few ileadily praSife ; and which thofe who claim it *' in the fulled extent for themfelves, are fometimes lead of all " inclined to indulge in any degree to others." Bp. Lowth's Sermon before the Society for propagating the Gofpel in Foreign Parts, in 1771. (a) The biiliop here alludes to the fundry treatifes in behalf of an American episcopate, and, in particular, to " An appeal to the Public," and " The Appeal defended," written by my late excellent friend, Dr. Chandler of Elizabeth Town ki New Jerfey, than which a more temperate, more able, or more Chriftian appeal has not been mads lo the world fincc the times of the firft apologifts of ChriAi- anity." of 112 OX THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE* of our young men would probably be brought up to the Church than is now the cafe if they could be ordained without the expence and the hazard of a long voyage. They then, after being ordained dea- cons,, might, and no doubt would, (as in point of re- gularity they always ought,) officiate as deacons for the ufual term of three years. During this period, as they could riot be indudled into parifhes, they might ufefully and commendably be employed in af- fifling lame, fick, or fuperannuated minifters ; or in doing the duty in vacant parifhes. For, confidering that there are no pluralifts among us, and that our incomes are extremely limited, it is not likely that we fhould ever have curates among us in the fame way as they are employed in the Parent State. But were there among us a competent number of young un- employed divines, the people would then no longer have the plea of neceffity for reforting to conven- ticlespr field -preachers *, from the want of regular teachers in their own parifh-churches. Our veftries too, when called on to elecl; a minifter into a vacant parifh, would have applications from more candidates, and fo have a better chance and opportunity of pro- viding a proper minifter. It feems but too certain, that from the difcountenancc lately fhevvn to the Church, there are not at prefent in the colony, Cler- * " Inde fchifmata & hserefes oborta funt oriuntur, dum ** epifcopus, qui unus eft, & ecclefias prae-eft, fuperba quorumnam ** prsefumptione, contemnitur : & homo dignatione Dei honoratus, " indignus hominibus judicature" -Cyprian. Epift. 69. gymen OX THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. gymen in point of number nearly equal to the exi- gencies of the colony. If the Clergy of this dominion be perfuaded (as I affirm with confidence we in general are) that the Church of England cannot have the full enjoyment and benefit of her offices, until a bifhop be fettled among us ; if we can make it appear that fuch an ap- pointment will increafe the number of candidates, and thus furnifh the country with better means of choofing new minifters; if, relying on the teftimony of hiftory, we believe that a bifhop will be a great help and encouragement to fuch Clergymen as are folicit- ous to difcharge the duties of their profeflion well, and alfo be a terror to the evil-minded; and if, finally, no inference that can be drawn from any premifes be more logical and more fair than it is, that the interefts of morality and found religion will thus be very ef- fentially promoted ; we cannot but hope, that no true and intelligent friend to civil and religious liberty will any longer blame us for uflng all the legal and honourable means in our power to obtain at leaft a toleration for ourfelves and our Church. If we be alked (as we have been alked) why, if we want reformation, we cannot reform ourfelves ? To this flippant queftion I hope it will be a fufficient anlvver, if, in my turn, I alk another: Why may not, and why do not, mankind in general live honeftly^fo- lerly and godly in the prefent ivorld^ without laws, and without the aid of civil rulers ? If men were as good as they know it is their interpft to be, laws and go- I vernors 114 ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. vernors would be unnecefiary. But the world is peopled, not with angels, but with men, whofe moral conduct has hitherto been found to be mod generally influenced by the fanclion of rewards and punifh- ments. And in the prefent (late of our nature, it is as neceflary that fome men fhould be flimulated to be virtuous as it is that others fhould be deterred from being vicious. Suppofing the feeds of virtue to be fown in the human breaft, yet for want of culture they never may fprout forth. Good laws and wife rulers are the only means yet known for cherifhing good principles : and therefore to deprive any fet of men of either, and much more of both, is (at lead as far as thofe men are concerned) to chill and flarve all virtuous principles, as well as to nip in the bud every generous and public-fpirited action. The Church of Chrift has been governed by bifhops ever fince it was a church. And epifcopacy has been proved to be the bed form of church govern- ment, by the experience, not of one or two ages, and one or two countries only, but by the experience of every age, and of all Chridendom. To withhold from that found part of it, the American Church of Eng- land, fuch teachers and fuch rulers as her very being depends upon, is to withhold from her fuch undoubted rights as have hitherto been deemed facred ; and is alfo offering a mod violent outrage to civil liberty. It is, indeed, to un-church the Eftablifhed Church. Who that is at all acquainted with human nature, would wonder if fuch treatment fhould four the minds of ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. of even the mildeft and beft of her Clergy, and cool their zeal to do good ? And, as if all this was not fufficiently humiliating, they have the additional mor- tification to fee the authors of their wrongs rifing on their ruins. The members of every other fyftem of religion enjoy all their rights and privileges to the utmoft extent of their wifhes : and as fome wavering members of the Church of England, through the depreffion of the Church, forfake her, they alfo go over to thofe who have firft made our Church low and mean, and then take this advantage of her being fa. Hence, the injuftice of which we have to com- plain is both negative and pofitive. Are we then either unreafonable, afTuming, or intolerant, when we fpeak of fuch conduct as partial in the extreme ; as unwife and unjufl; as a perveriion of law; an infringement of the Toleration Acl ; and as an ob- vious encouragement to diflenters ? And what is the policy that dictates fuch an extraordinary proceeding as the refufing to this whole continent (a large portion of the globe) a regular Church ? For what, and for whom, fhall the Britifh empire fufFer the truly Apofto- lic Church of England, the great guardian of the Chriftian Religion, and the bulwark of the Reforma- tion, to be thus perfecuted, and trampled on ? That our Legiflature fhould endure calmly to look on, whilil fo much mifchicf is doing, without making an effort to prevent it, is a circumftance fufficient to aroufe the mod torpid : but that they fhould likewife join in the cry, and lend an helping hand to pull I ^ do\vn Il6 ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. down the Church, is fo portentous a phenomenon in the political world, as to alarm the moft carelefs and fecure. This propofed American epifcopate labours under this great difadvantage, that the minds of men are prepoflefled and prejudiced againft it ; and that they view it through a falfe medium. Defigns are imputed to its advocates, which they utterly difavow : and any general oppofition, however diilngenuous and illiberal, is rarely without effect. We are called upon to defend what we propofe, by anfwering ob- jections which lie again!! what we do not propofe. Thole who have brought us into this dilemma, have not done fo without defign. They know how much eaiier it is fairly to meet and reply to a matter of fact, than it is to argue, in an endlefs round, againft fuf- picions and furmifes. Every objection, however un- founded, that bore but the appearance of reafon, has been replied to, and obviated, again and again : thofe of paffion and prejudice, ground! efs conjectures and illiberal fuggcftions, can be obviated by Him alone who has the hearts of all men in his hands, and can turn anddifpofe them as itfeemeth left to bis godly wifdom. It is probable that at lead fome of the oppofers of epifcopacy oppofe it only becaufe, like Diotrephes, they themfelves love to have the f re-eminence *. And it may not perhaps be thought out of character, for thofe who think it right to oppofe the fucceflbrs of the Apoflles to follow the example of him who prated malicious words f againft the laft furvivor of the * 3 Gen. Epift. St, John, ver. 9. f Ibid. ver. 10. Apoftles. ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. II? Apoftles. Be this as it may, as long as fuch unquiet and refllefs men continue to oppofe and exalt tlemfelves above all that is called of God, fo long it is the duty of the friends of truth to endeavour to fatisfy even thofe who feem refolved to be fatisfied with nothing. This talk and this labour we might well have been fpared, if thofe who bring no new arguments would only be fo realbnable as to be contented with the old anfwers given to their predeceflbrs. To the mere declamatory retailers of obfolete and exploded cavils, filence and contempt might perhaps be thought the mod fuitable reply : but, when men in high ftations think it not beneath them to pick up and circulate, under their own authority, not merely weak argu- ments, but oft-refuted flanders, refpecl to thofe who have raifed them to thefe high ftations entitles them to a more particular attention. Still, however, let it be recollected, that the fanclion and fupport which great names give to weak arguments, are but temporary, feeble, and delufive. Exalted characters do irrepara- ble injury to their fellow-creatures, when they fuffer themfelves to be made the vehicles of the mifcon- ceptions of the ignorant, or the mifreprefentations of the evil-minded. But, whatever may be the weight of error and of vice, when proceeding from the mouth of truth and virtue, ftill it is the duty of every good Chriftian, and more efpecially the duty of us, who are the miniftersof thegofpel, to refift both the open at- tacks and the fecret machinations of our adverfaries* dmirable is the advice of the Son of Sirach on fuch I occafions : Il8 ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE* occafions : Olferve tie opportunity, and beware of evil; and be not afhamed when it concerneth thy foul. For, there is afoamewhich hringethfm, and there is ajhame winch is glory and grace. And refrain not to fpeak when there is occafion to do good, and hide not thy wif- dom. Make not thy f elf an underling to a fooli/b man, neither accept the per f on of the mighty. Strive for the truth unto death, and the Lord Jhall fght for thee*. No man can ever addrefs an audience with greater confidence of being liftened to with candour, than I now do. I have lived among you now more than feven years, as your minifter, in fuch harmony as to have had no difagreement with any man even for a day. This has made fuch an impreflion of efteem and affection on my mind, as no time can efface. Confcious that I have never taught you any doctrine of the truth of which I was not myfelf well convinced, 1 am fure you will give me all the attention I can deferve. But, we now have among us perfons with whom I have not the happinefs to be fo intimately connected ; perfons brought hither by your flattering partiality to me, to hear this particular fubject fully argued and difcufled ; perfons who, it is probable, know me only as a reputed high-churchman, and the enemy of feels and feclaries. From fuch perfons, however refpeclable they may be in other points of * Ecclus. ch. iv. ver. 20. view. Ott THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. view, it would be romantic in me to look for any fuch indulgence as I am in the habit of receiving from you. I feel myfelf much obliged to them for the pa- tience and decency with which they liflened to me lad Sunday. But, though it be no more than I might have expected, I muft confefs, I am hurt and mortified by hearing, that they have been difappointed in my doctrine. They complain (and with fome fhew of reafon) that I did not, as they expected I would have done, fet out with firft proving the divine authority of epifcopacy : nor are there wanting fome who infinuate, that it's having any fuch authority is a doctrine incapable of proof. I am happy, therefore, in thus having an opportunity of giving a fuller, and, if I can, a more fatisfactory anfvver to thefe other doubts, of which I have now been firfl informed. To many of you, it is to be feared, the argument may appear uninterefting and tedious : but, a general topic of converfation as the fubjedl is now become, among people of all ranks and characters, it would be with fome reafon I fhould be fufpefted of confult- ing my own feelings only, were I now to fhrink from it. Bear with me, then, whilft, as concifely as I can, I firft give you the outlines (the time will not admit of more) of the proofs moft ufually adduced in favour of the divine authority of epifcopacy : after which I will clofe the fubject with a reply to each of the moft material objections which have been urged by the protefters. The firft inftitution of government in the Church I 4 was 120 UN THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. was when the Founder of the Church chofe and ap- pointed twelve Apoftles. He ordained them (faith St. Mark) that they fhould be with him, and that 'be might fend them forth to f reach. As it was the practice of our Saviour to adopt, and (in every in- flance where he could with propriety) give his fanction to, Jewifh ideas and cuftoms, it is more than probable, that in this formation of a fyftem of Church Eftablifti- ment he adopted the polity of the Jewifh Church. Thus, correfponding with the high-prieft, priefts, and Levites, were, at firft, Chrift, apoftles, and difciples ; and afterwards, apoftles, (or bifhops,) priefts, and deacons. Whilft Chrift was on earth, he alone or- dained or made apoftles and difciples ; but, before his afcenfion, he gave to the Apoftles, then with him, the power to ordain or make other apoftles and difciples. They planted churches, and ordained bifhops to prefide over them : fuch bifhops were ftationary ; and had power alfo given them to appoint inferior officers, as priefts and deacons. The name of apoftle died with the Apoftles, but not the office. That remained with the bifhop, who was the chief ruler or overfeer. To him alfo was referved the power of ordination and confirmation ; priefts and deacons having authority only to preach and to bap- tife : to the priefts alfo, but not to deacons, was al- lotted the power of abfolution. But the three regular flated orders in the Church, from the beginning, were bifhops, priefts, and deacons. It is probable, moreover, that Chrift gave to the perfons ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. 121 perfdns of his firfi: and highcft choice the name of apqpbs, not for any reafons of his own devifing, but in allulion, or reference, to a fimilar inftitution among the Jewim high-pricfts ; who alfo had a peculiar kind of minifters, whom they called apoftles. Thefe they employed in inftrucling the priefts ; in vifiting the feveral fynagogues ; and in reproving a degeneracy of manners, and in reforming, from time to time, fuch minifters as might be found deviating from the ex- prefs injunctions of the law *. This iyftem bears fo near a refemblance to the office of an apqftle, as con- ftituted by our Saviour, that it is natural to think, the one might be copied from the other. I am perfuaded, it's refemblance to the office of a primitive bifhop will be no lefs obvious to you. To others (as for inftance to the feventy Difciples) Chrift, at their firft institution, affigned particular precincls and limits : but, his commiflion to the Apoftles was bounded only by the boundaries of the world. Go ye, (faid he to them, juft before his afcen- fion,) go ye into ALL THE WORLD; ami preach tie gofpel to every creature : as the Father lath fent me, evenfo fend I you. When a certain end is enjoined, it is always to be underftood, that the means neceflary for the attainment of that end are alfo enjoined. This text, therefore, warranted the Apoftles to con- ceive, that they were authorifed and empowered not * " Quos etiam ipfe legare confucverat ad componendos optimos " facerdotum mores, ipfas fynagogas infpiciendas, pravos rrores cor- " rigendos, &c." Baronii Annales, A. 32. 5. only, ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. only, themfelves, to order and rule the flock of Chrift ; but alfo to ordain and conftitute fitch co- adjutors and fucceflbrs, as they fhould find neceffary to perform the feveral offices in his Church, until his fecond coming. They conceived themfelves, in par- ticular, authorifed to inftitute and ordain two diftinct orders of minifters ; the one fubordinate to the other, juft as the Difciples were fubordinate to them. They underftood that the import of their commiffion was as if Chrift had faid : As I received power from my Father to inftitute minifters of divers orders for the government of my Church, fo do I give it you. Whatever, therefore, the Apoftles did in the appoint- ment of minifters, they did after the example, and by the authority, of Chrift. Confequently, the im- parity of minifters by them ordained was founded on the law of God, and the original inftitution of our Saviour ; who gave them the power of ordination as they have given it to their fucceflbrs for ever. When Chrift firft inftituted apoftles, tfie condition was, that the perfon fo to be conftituted fhould be immediately called by Chrifl himfelf ; and have Seen an eye-witnefs of the things which it became his duty afterwards to preach and publifh concerning Chrift. Thefe requiiites an apoftle had, in common with a difciple : but, in the extent of his commiffion, and the eminence of his authority, he was fuperior to a difciple. In the circumftance 'of being entrufted with a part of the facred miniftry, difciples were equal to bifhops ; yet certainly not equal in authority and OX THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. 123 and fupremacy *. And as, in naming and fixing the number of apoftles, our Saviour law fit to conform to a fimilar fyftem eftablifhed among the Jews, he appears to have done the fame in the number of his chofen and ordained difciples. He appointed foventy, becaufe juft that number (as appears from Num- bers f ,) were appointed to govern the tribes of Ifrael;}:. And now the Apoftles having thus been em- powered by Chrift to preach his gofpel over all the world to every creature) tie was parted from them, and carried up to heaven : firft commanding them to tarry in the city of Jerusalem, until they were endued with power from onhigh. When he had fpoken thefe things, while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their fight. On this the Apoftles, obedient to his mandate, went to Jerufalem : and there the firft public ac~l they performed was to fill up their own number, by furrogating one of the Difciples into the place of Judas ; whofe office or bi/Jjopric, it had long ago been foretold, another was to take ^. Mat- * " Luca teftante duodecim fuifle Apoftolos, & feptuagintaDif- cipulos mmoris gradus." Sand. Jerom. Trad*, ad Fabfolam. . qui_/mWoab Apoftolis^/Ww." Sana. Ambrof. .... " vTTo&rfpoi wav TUV SuStxa,"' Theophylad. in Luc. 10. " Etiam feptuaginta Difcipuli, quosfecundo ab Apoftohs loco Dominus dcfignavit." Calvin, in Inftitut. 1. 4. c. 3. 4. f Ch. xi. ver. 16. J " In numero feptuaginta videtur euna ordinem fecutum cfle, cui < jam olim afluevcrat populus." Calvin, in Harmon. Evangel. See Pfalm cix. ver. 8. and A<5ts ch. i, ver. 20. thias, 124 OI * THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE* iaSj heretofore one of the feventy, was now nwn+ bered ivilh the eleven Afoftles* And now it farther plcafed God to make good his promife, and they were all miraculouflyjftfe/ with the Holy Ghoft. Every one, whether appftle or difciple, no doubt, had fuch a gift, and fuch a portion, as his particular office and deftination required. Unto one was given by the Spirit the word of wifdom ; to another, the word of knowledge ; and to another > the gift of healing, ly the fame Spirit ; to another, the working of miracles ; to another, prophecy ; to another, difcerning of f fir its ; to another , divers tongues ; to another, the interpretation of tongues. They all had their feveral gifts ; but the Apoftles had them all. Whatever, for the advance- ment of God's glory, was divided among all the red, was all concentred in the perfon of each apoftle ; all of them thus becoming as fuperior in gifts and graces as they had before been in rank and ftation. Out of the hundred and twenty then ailembled to- gether, fome were made evangelifts, fome prophets, and feme paftors, prelbyters, and teachers : but the Apoftles flili retained their fuperiority ; and ordered and directed them all in their refpeclive miffions and duties. Timothy and Titus, who were evangelifts, were deputed by Paul, as the exigencies of the Church required, fir ft from Afia to Greece, then back to Afia, and thence to Italy. Crefcens was fent to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia, and Tychicus to Ephefus : Eraftus was ordered to abide at Corinth ; and Luke miniftered with the apoftle Paul at Rome. There are fo many particular ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. 125 particular directions refpecling the various ufe of the various talents of the teachers of the gofpel in the xivth chapter of the ift epiftle to the Corinthians, that we might almoft call it the firft (as it certainly is the bcft) epifcopal charge that ever was delivered. St. Paul did what (no doubt) all his fucceftbrs aim to do in fuch charges. He pointed out the errors, and cor- reeled the abufes, which had crept into the eftablidi- ment. Thofe who had \hzgiffofprophecy, and thofe who had the gift of tongues, were exhorted no longer to interfere with, and confufe, one another, without at all profiting their hearers ; but fo to ufe their various talents, that by each the Church might be edified. There is no little difficulty and obfcurity in tracing the hiftory of St. John, the laft furvivor of tleghrtous company of the A^ojiles. Eufebius, from Orlgen, doubtful of other allegations, concludes this only to be certain, that at laft he went down into Alia, and there preached the gofpel ; planting many churches, and alfo founding fundry bifhoprics, He founded, partly, if not entirely, all the feven churches, to which he wrote his Revelations, excepting that of Ephefus. And as to Ephefus, though he came too late to plant he was not too late to water it. This church, being much weakened by the forceries of Apollonius Tyanaeus, and alfo by the herefics of Ebion and Cerin- thus, was in great want of an authoritative inter- ference. And St. John interfered fo effectually, that Ignatius, his co-temporary, joins him with Paul and Timothy as the co-founder of that church. Whilft 126 ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. Whilft he was in the midft of his courfe, he was, in the year 92, fent prifbner to Rome, and from thence to Patmos ; and there confined till the death of Do- mitian in the year 99 : during which time he wrote The Revelations. At the requefl of thefe feven churches alfo it is moft probable he wrote the Gofpel which bears his name. To counteract the poifonous doclrines of thofejfc^ teachers, who had crept in among thefe churches ; and whofe influence was fo great, that many had be- gun to ftagger in their faith, he addrefTes his Apoca- lypfe to tie feven churches which are in Afia. The errors and defections were general : it was proper, therefore, that the correction of them fhould be ge- neral. But, when he comes to particulars, to give every one of them it's own fpecific charge, on the authority of him tie great Shepherd and Bi/Jj op of our Jouhy who walketi* in the midft of tie golden candle- Jticks, he addrefies himfelf only to the angels. Now thefe angels (a term which, in its primary import, correfponds with apoftles) according to the concur- * " This is an expreffion taken from the office of the priefts in ct drefling the lamps, which were to be kept always burning before ** the Lord. I conceive, therefore, walling here may be defigned *' to fignify not only a care to obferve and know the true flate of * ( the churches ; but moreover to affift and promote their improve- *' ment in religion ; or to afiift the churches in their proper cha- " i after as confecrated to the fervice of God, that they may mine '* as lights in the world, in the midft of a crooked and perverfc ' generation." Lowman on the Revelations of St, John. ring ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. 127 ring teftimony of many efteemed authors, both ancient and modern, were the bifhops of thofe feveral churches. And this is fo clear and certain, that the names of thefe refpeclive bifhops have been afcertained. To thefe angels, or bifhops, perfons regularly in- vefted with fimilar power and authority regularly fucceeded. And it is not impoffible but that, by a tliligent fearch, their fucceflbrs might all be traced : fincc the church of Laodicea, which was in mofi danger of lofing it's candleftick, had a conflant and continual fucceffion of bifhops, to the Council of Nice, and a long time after. In the Nicene Council we find the feveral angels, or bifhops of thefe feven churches, among other bifhops of the times, fubfcribing their names to the acts of the council. That fuch was the original inftitution of epifcopacy is unqueftionable : and it is no lefs certain, that the power then given to the perfons firfl inverted with the epifcopal character, was intended to be, and was made, perpetual. This is implied in St. Paul's folemn charge to Timothy, the bifhop of Ephefus ; made bifhop, according to the early fathers, by Paul him- felf. / charge thee, in the fight of God, and before Jefus Chrlft, that thou keep this commandment without fpot y unrebulable, until tie appearing of our Lord Jefus Chr'ift. Now, it was impoffible that Timothy fhould live till Chrift's fecond coming. This the Apoflleknew; and therefore the charge and power here given to Timothy, and which were perfectly epifcopal, could not be perfonal only ; but fuch as he and his fuc- ceflbrs 128 ON THE AMERICAN" EPISCOPATE. ceiTors might enjoy until the coming of our Lord Jefus Cbrift ; that is, in other words, as long as the world endured. Even the name of bifhops is primitive and apofto- lical ; being given to the perfons inveiled with the office, by an Apoftle. In a paflage, which particu- larly mentions them**, our tranflators have rendered the word overfeers-\ agreeably to it's literal import. If, fometirnes, in the Scriptures, we find the word applied to an ordinary prejbyter, it is at fuch times and in fuch places only when, there being no bifhops properly fo called eflablifhed over them, fuch prefby- ters had the chief governance of fome flock, or body of Chriftians, under the Apoftles. The figriiiication * A&s xx. 28. f It may not, perhaps, be thought incurious to obfervc on this term 'Eflrw-jwiro?, in this paflage, that, in the German, Danifh, and Swedifh verfions, it is rendered by a word which in their refpective languages correfponds exactly with our word lifhop : in the Dutch only it is opfienJers, a term that is, no lefs exaftly, the overfeers of owr tranflation. The officers of the Athenians fent to look into the government of their cities, were alfo called bifljops : en ^Wler/totfo* >c; (pt,'\tjes A5vIo. Suidas, fub voce. Plutarch calls Numa, 'ETT'UTKOVOV, the ^ or guardian, of the Veftal virgins ; and their god Terminus, xat $v\y.-A.i ligion. A third obje&ion is, that it is an attempt to with- draw ourfelves from our ancient jurifdidtton in eccle- iiaftical matters. If it be, it is only to place ourfelves under one that is more ancient, more conilitutional, and better adapted to our fituation : which yet we fhall not do without the confent and entire appro- bation of that jurifdiclion which the objectors are pleafed to call ancient^ Thia ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. 135 This anfwer, as it is direel, we cnnnot but think a fufficicnt one. But, that we may not pafs unnoticed even the fhadow of an argument, let us for a moment enquire what this aneient jurifdiclion has been. George the Firft granted a commiffion, which was renewed by George the Second, to the bifhop of London, to put the Clergy of the Church of England in America under the jurifdiclion of the faid bifhop. Till then they had been annexed to no particular diocefe. This commiffion empowered the bifhop, either in his own perfon, or by his commiflaries, to vifit the Clergy, to call them before him, to hear wit- nefies againft them, and to inflict various degrees of ecclcfiaftical cenfures upon them, fuch as fufpenfion, removal, and excommunication. It not only confers thofe powers for governing the Clergy, but reftrains the bifhop from concerning himfelf with any other perfons whatever: and it claims to the king the power of doing all this, by virtue of his being head of the church in America. In confequence of this, the bifhop's commifiary here has held courts in this do*- minion, which coniiited of himfelf and four clergy- men, agreeably to the conftitutions of the Church of England. From this court there was an appeal to his rnajefty's privy-council in England ; and that alfb accorded with the eftablifhed modes of proceeding in our civil courts. Now, this being the flate of our ancient jurifdiflion, it is evident, on a comparifon of it with the propofed epifcopatc, that the king is not now defired to grant more than in fact his royal K 4 grandfather 136 ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. grandfather and great-grandfather have heretofore granted. For, where is the difference between grant- ing certain powers to the bifhop of London, and granting the fame powers to an American bifhop ; excepting that, in granting them to the latter, they will be granted to the perfon beft able to cany them into execution, as acting in his own perfon, and not through the mediation of commiftaries, who will then become unneceflary ? As far as I know, it has never been faid, or even fufpe61ed, that the bifhop of Lon- don, or any of his commiflaries, have exceeded their commiffion : and yet (I mention it with fhame and concern) there have been governors fo little acquaint- ed either with their intereft or their duty, as to en- courage the people to difcountenance and difcredit commiflaries. The lay part of the community can have no good motives for wifhing the government of the Clergy, in fpiritual and ecclefiaftical matters, in lay hands. And it is unnatural to fuppofe, that Clergymen in general fhould differ fo totally from their fellow-citizens as not to be anxious, in cafe of fpiritual offences, to be tried by fpiritual men : becaufe none but fpiritual perfons are their peers. Such a government alone is uniform and confiftent with the mod ancient and the only ecclefiaftical cftablifhinent for governing the Clergy, as Clergymen, that ever yet took place in Virginia. The bifhop of London had no jurifdiclion here till it was given him by the commiffion above- inentioned : and as it has not been renewed fmce the death O* THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE, 137 death of bifhop Gibfon, the bifhop of London no lon- ger has any jarifdiclion in America ; and if he has not, it will hardly be thought that any other bifhop has. There is, then, at prefent, no jurifdiclian over the Clergy of Virginia, as Clergymen. The queftion in debate, therefore, comes to this : Is it decent, is it fit, that Clergymen alone fhould be without a head, and under no constitutional controul ? I might al- moft venture to leave it to our opponents themfelves to anfwcr this queftion. Even anti-epifcopalians can neither be fo ignorant, nor fo unreafonable, as to fay it is either decent or proper that fo confiderable a body of men, of fome weight in the community, fhould remain without guide, overfeer, or ruler. We entreat, then, to be permitted, uncenfured and un- oppofed, to prefer a government inftituted in quiet times under fuch kings as the two fir ft Georges, and to think it a better pattern and precedent in this junc- ture than comrniflions granted in unfettled times and on extraordinary occafions ; or than a novel fcheme, which is to be introduced now, in times pe- culiarly loofe and diforderly. Another objection is, that the propofed epiicopate is an attack upon religious liberty. Of all the ground- lets fufpicions which have been fo intemperately in- dulged againft this meafure, this is the laft of which it's friends could ever have thought. The oppofition to it is, in their eflimation, the only real attack upon religious liberty now exifting in the Britim dominions. The advocates for it are fully perfuaded, that epif- copacy 138 OX THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. copacy is an apoftolical inflitution : and I would fain flatter myfelf, that even the unmethodical arguments ftiggefted to you in it's behalf in thefe two difcourfes may induce you to think the caufe is fuch an one as called for our zeal, and that therefore the Clergy did not engage in it without reafon. We are not to learn that the defenders of Calvin iflical eftablifhments main- tain the other fide of the quefiion. Now, as neither they, nor we, acknowledge any infallible judge of con- troverfy, we neither of us have any right to determine the point for the other. Religious liberty does not con- iift in fettling nice and difficult points ; fuch as, too probably, in the prefent imperfect ftatc of religious knowledge, never will be fettled to the entire fatisfac- tion of all parties. Religious liberty, as far as it con- cerns the prefent queflion, confifts in this, that they who maintain bifhops to be of apoflolical inftitution fhould have their bifhops, and that they who maintain the fame of prefbyters fhould have their prefbyteries. But if any diflenters will be fo unrcafonable (I add,, fo intolerant) as to call the excrcife of our right an infringement on theirs ; if they will maintain that we cannot be allowed the reafonable enjoyments of liberty, without fubje6ling others to unreafonable reftraints, we may (and fhall) indeed lament their want of wifdom, of candour, and of charity ; but we fhall at the fame time feel this plealing conviclion, that we never have nor ever fhall dcnv that Chriflian freedom to others which we now claim for ourfelves. Having done all we can to convince them, that though ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. 139 iiough we arc benefited, they cannot be injured unlefs our good be their evil * ; all that remains for us now is fteadily and quietly to go on, and do our own duty, without heeding their interruption any otherwife than by endeavouring to remove their >rcjudices, and praying to God to give them a better mind. All that has been, or will be, folicited by us, is a primitive bifhop; a bifhop without power of any kind, excepting in what relates to the Clergy. Shew us any fcheme of church government in the world fo moderate. There is no more connexion between cpifcopacy and tyranny, than there is between inde- pendency or any other popular fcheme of religion and liberty. Tyranny of all kinds, whether civil or religious, fprings not fo much from the office, as it does from the man in office : and for that reafbn, the favourers of epifcopacy, confidering that their bifhops muft be men, have been at no common pains to have them guarded as much as poffible againft even poffible abufes; and againfl being fufpedlcd only of tyranny in the exercife of their office. The remaining objections are fo mifcellaneous and vague, have fo little folidity and fo much declamation, are fo well calculated to inflame, and fo ill calculated to inform and convince, and (to fay all in few words) # " Mali, cum injuriam facere non finuntur, injuriam fe acciperc exiilimant." Grotius in Matt. viii. 29. are I4O ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. are fo entirely framed in the fpirit and ftyle of modern popular oratory, that I feel myfelf at a lofs how, in a ferious difcourfe, to notice them with propriety. Among many other equally random furmifes, one is, that the Clergy aim, by an epifcopate, to detach themfelves from the reft of the community. Never was a conjecture hazarded with lefs femblance of proba- bility. Who knows fo little as not to know that, if the fuperintending government, for which we now petition, fhould be granted, we fhould, in civil mat- ters, be ftill as amenable ns we now are to civil jii- rifdiction ? We defire a regular, a conftitutional, an ecclefiaftical eitablifhment over us, not becaufe we think ourfelves lefs punifhable, but because we know we ought to be more within the reach of the Jaw than the reft of the community. And, if miftake not, this is conformable to the principle of the penal ftatute againft vice and blafphemy, paffecl in the 4th year of queen Anne ; and in which is this claufe : " Provided always, that nothing herein con- ;t tained fhall be conftrued to exempt 'any Clergyman ^ within this colony, who fhall be guilty of any of the " crimes herein before mentioned, from fuch further < f punifhment as might have been inflicled on him ( - for the fame before the making of this a6t, any thing " herein contained to the contrary notwithftand- " ing." In fhort, fo far from aiming to detach ourfelves from the reft of the community, in thefenfe intended by the objectors, we delire not only to. remain under the ON* THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. tbe jurifdiction of the laws of the land in our civil capacity ; but, befides this, to be under the jurifdic- tion of an ecclefiaflical court as clergymen. As though the objections hitherto mentioned were not fufficiently futile, we have yet to add, that it has alfo been fometimes alledged that fufficient fecurity is not offered for the continuance of the rights of the people, civil and -religious, if the cpifcopate takes place. In no other inltance, I believe, was fuch a fecurity againft contingencies, which are improbable, if not impoffible, ever provided. More than we have already done, and ftill propofe to do, to quiet even thefe unreafonable fears, feems hardly poffible. I can hardly expecl you to believe that I am in earned, when I recite to you, in the very words of the pe- tition of the Clergy, the only kind of bifhop that has ever been defired, which, however, is the only ground we have given for all thefe alarming apprehenfions : *' Bifhops in America are to have no other authority, " but fuch as is of a purely fpiritual and ecclefiaftical " nature ; fuch as is derived from the Church, and " not from the State ; which is to operate only upon " the Clergy of the Church, and not on the " Laity. They are not to interfere with the pro- " perty or privilege, whether civil or religious, of " Churchmen and DifTenters ; are only to exercife " the original duties of their office, i. e. to ordain, " to govern the clergy, and to adminifter confir- " mation." American bifhops then, you fee, are to be of the fuffragan tf TIr E AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. fuffragan kind ; without peerages, without power, without preferment. All fuch appendages to the epifcopal character are out of the queilion : neither the conftitution nor the circumftances of the Church in America will admit of them. But even were it othcrwife, why all this alarm and outcry ? In England, prelatical power has never been objected to, except by thofe who meant to deitroy it ; and even fuch perfons wifhed it deitroy ed, only becaufe it was thought to fland in the way of their ultimate purpofe to deftroy the State. On the Reftoration, the prudent flatefmen of that day, (who, in addition to all the information that may be derived from theory, which we poflefs, had the farther advantage of a recent pcrfonal experience,) judged it to be their \vifdom and their duty, along with monarchy, to re- flore epifcopacy. And they flill think of it fo differ- ently from the prefent leading people of the colonies, that many of the moft judicious friends of the Confti- tution have thought, and continue to think, fo modeft an hierarchy is a great ornament and advantage to England. One of the moft learned men that either England or any other country ever produced, afcribed the fuperiority of the Divines of the Church of England over all others in point of learning (a fuperiority that has been very generally acknowledged) entirely to this circumftance : " It is this part of our eftablifh- " m'ent (he fays) which makes our Clergy excel thofe " of other parts of the world. Do but once level our " preferments, and we fhall foon be as level in our 4 " learn- ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE* 143 c * learning *." Inftcad, then, of confidcring great church preferments as fcare-crows and bugbears, (as we are here taught to do by our too officious brethren who are not within the pale of our Church,) we fhould ac~b wifely in founding and endowing them merely as an encouragement to learning. In this country they could not but have the happieft effecls: and if they were to operate as an inducement to perfons of fome condition to breed their younger fons occa- fionally to the Church, I am fure they would no le(s benefit the Community at large than the Church itfelf. And here let me not be thought either felfim or vain if (as the opportunity has offered) I take the liberty to fuggelt that the efforts of the prefent American Clergy (who are not, in general, natives of America) to promote a meafure which is likely to bring more natives into the Church, muft be allowed to be cre- ditable to their difintereftcdnefs and their candour. I wifh that the proteflers, and their friends, for their own fakes, as well as for the fake of the country, had fuffered their fecond thoughts to have reftrained them from giving way to that idlefl of all idle fears, that the arrival of a bifhop may kindle fuch a flame as may poflibly put a period to the Britifh empire in America f . The bare poffibility of fuch an event is an * Dr. Bentley in his Phileleutherus Lipfienfis. j- Exprefilons of this kind, though ufed only, as it feemed at the t:me, merely as rhetorical flourifhes, were far too common among- public 144 ON THE AMERICAN 1 an aweful consideration. But, in the name of com- mon fenfe, how or why fhould this be the cafe? Why fhould all America be thrown into fuch a it ate of alarm, merely to oppofe a man, who is neither defired nor expected to come with any other powers than fuch as have long been exercifed by commhTa- ries, and have been experienced to be perfectly harmlefs : who comes with authority to punifh none but Clergymen, at whofe deiire he comes ; nor any Clergymen but fuch as a competent number of their own brethren fhall have adjudged to deferve punifh- ment ? How much more is meant, or may be af- fcicled, by this infinuation, than is obvious on the face of it, is bell known to thofe who firft threw it out. But, I hope, for the honour of America, it will require more firebrands to kindle fuch a flame, than even the adverfaries of epifcopacy (numerous and inveterate as they are, and few and languid as are it's friends *) can furnifh. And public men in America. Every law which they did not like, was called iinconjlltiitlonal, opprefflve, tyrannical; the people (it was faid) were treated as jlawes ; liberty was defrayed, and the government at an end. It was thus that the people were gradually trained to re- gard their governors as defpots, and even laws as mere arbitrary decrees. And now that the effe& of fuch licentious ufe of lan- guage is fo clearly feen, it is fair to infer, that thefe were deliberate madmen^ who thus, with malice aforethought, caft around them Jire-lrandsj arrows , and death. * Lord Clarendon mentions it as an obfervation (I think) of Lord ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. 145 And now, after all this long and wearifome oppo- fition, begun without reafon, and carried on without charity ; after fo many fair and full anfwers to every objection which feemed to have any weight in it ; may we not (at length) have leave to hope, that the controverfy will be clofed forever ? May we not flatter ourfelves that we (hall be permitted to pur- fue our own concerns at leaft without moleftation, if it be too much to promife ourfelves that they who pafs by will bid us Godfpeed. We are not afhamed to confefs that we are fick of the controverfy, (not, as we are bold to avow, from it's having been in any reipecl difreputable to us, but) becaufe we fee with forrow that it is to be determined, not by it's own merits, but by the fuppofed merits or demerits of thofe who oppofe or patronize it. If the requeft were not hopelefs, from it's being of the nature of party to be deaf and blind to every purpofe which does not coincide with it's own views, we would yet entreat that this queftion at leaft might no longer be made a party queftion ; becaufe, in it- felf, it certainly has no concern with party; or, if it had, the perfons by whom alone it is fupported are the leaft of all others party- men. Trufting entirely to the merits of our caufe, we have hitherto neither fought nor found any party fupport ; of which con- Lord Falkland's, that, in his time, "thofe who hated bifhops, " hated them worfe than the devil ; whilft thofe who loved them, t( did not love them fo well as their dinners.*' L duel 146 ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. duel the worft that can be laid is that it is a want or policy. It is far from being a folitary inftance, in which a good meafure, fupportcd by good men, has been loft, merely becaufe the policy of fupporting it by party- means was either difapproved of or ne- glected. But what a reflection is this on the juftice and the candour of thofe by whom the world is con- tented to be led ! If, however, thefe men of warm fpirits, of whom chiefly our parties are compofed., mortified or offended by our neither foliciting their patronage nor promoting their views, refufe to liften to our requeft, which, in our eftimation, is as rea- fonable as it is earneft, our fate is determined : the leading parties in America will continue to mifun- derftand, mifreprefent, vilify and thwart both the meafure and it's advocates; and Government at home, by a moft impolitic and dangerous timidity, will con- tinue to yield to their feditious clamour what they refufe to our loyal reafon. Difcouraging, however, as appearances are, it may yet pleafe God, by ways and means qf his own, to brighten our profpects, and to bring a meafure in- tended to promote his glory and the good of his creatures to an happy ifTue. Let us hope, then, that * " by the mercy of God, and the continuance of our " labours, our efforts may be brought unto fuch a " conclufion, as that we may have great hope the , tf Church of England fhall reap great fruit thereby. * See the excellent Epiftle Dedicatory by the Tranflators of the Bible to Janres the Firft. And ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. 147 * f And let us alfo hope, that though things of this " quality have ever been fiibje6l to the cenfures of " ill-meaning and difcontented perfons, they may fc receive approbation and patronage from the learn- " ed and judicious. And the allowance and accept- " ance of our labours by fuch perfons (hould more " honour and encourage us, than all the calumni- " ations and hard interpretations of other men fhould " difmay us. So that if we ihall be traduced, be- " caufe we are poor inftruments to make God's holy " truth to be yet more and more known unto the " people ; or fliall be maligned by felf-conceited " brethren, who run their own ways, and give liking " unto nothing but what is framed by themfelves, " and hammered on their anvil ; we may reft fecure, " fupported within by the truth and innocency of a " good confcience, having walked the ways of fim- " plicity and integrity before the Lord ; and fuftained \ without by the powerful protection of all unbiafled and unprejudiced men, who will ever give coun- tenance to honeft and Chriftian endeavours againft bitter cenfures and uncharitable imputations.'' APPENDIX. IT is very probable that this ample difcuffion of the arguments for and againft a queftion now become .obfolete and nearly forgotten, may, to many readers, L 2 appear 148 Ott THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE* appear dry and tedious. As, however, the fubjed: was certainly connected with and had an influence on the great events which foon after took place in the country where it was moil agitated, it could not well be omitted in a feries of fermons (or, as perhaps I might now with more propriety call them, a collec- tion of tracts) intended to illuftrate the principles and the hiflory of the American revolution. When it is confidered who and what the writers have been who have yet attempted the hiftory of that extraordinary event, it will no longer appear furpri2- ing that no notice has been taken of this controversy. It exhibits the temper, the principles, and the fpirit of the prevailing party, in fuch a point of view, as (however their advocates may ftill fecretly approve of) it is no part of their policy now to bring forward. Perlbns who were refident in America, and careful obfervers of what was paffing, may recollect, that jufl before the late rupture this difpute made no incon- fiderable part of the hiftory of the times. It was not thought beneath the notice of the author of theCon- feffional, archbifhop Seeker, and other eminent writers in England : in the northern provinces of America, it had long been keenly controverted : and about, the time that this fermon was delivered, it was agitated in the news-papers of Virginia and Maryland, with hardly lefs exertion of talents than had juft before been called forth by the Stamp-act. Of this contro- verfy this fermon may be confidered as a kind of epi- tome : and though written by an epifcopalian, I am not ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. 149 not confcious that any injuftice is done either to the anti-epifcopalians, or to their arguments. It is fair to mention, that many wife and good men, friends both to Church and State, thought at the time that the opponents of epifcopacy became of confe- quence, chiefly through the attention paid to them by it's friends. But the event has fhewn that the oppofitions of men of fuch principles (whatever be their nature or profefled object) are never unmeaning nor infignificant. For we (hall form a very inadequate and imperfect idea of that fyftem of oppoiition, which has been im- perceptibly fuffered fo to attach and fatten itfelf to our Conflitution as almoft to have become a part of it, ( yet furely no otherwife a part of it than as that congeries of fhell-fifh called barnacles, which, adhering to the bottom of a fhip, always impede and retard her courfe, and at length deftroy her, can be called a part of the (hip,) if we judge of it from any or from all the particular points againft which their oppofition is directed. It by no means follows that epifcopacy was thus oppofed from it's having been thought by thefe trans-Atlantic oppofitioniils as in any refpect in itfelf proper to be oppofed : but it ferved to keep the public mind in a (late of ferment and effervefcence ; to make them jealous and fufpi- cious of all meafures not brought forward by dema- gogues ; and, above all, to train and habituate the people to oppofition. And thus, in all oppofitions, it is, comparatively fpeaking, of but little moment L 3 whether 150 ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. whether thofe who conduct them fail or fucceed in the particular points, for which, one after another, they fo earneftly contend ; their end is anfwered, and their point gained, by the embarraflrnents thus occa- lioned to the executive power, and by the agitation excited in the public mind. This is one among many unanfvverable objections to a fyftematic oppoiltion ; fince, as long as this fyftem continues, it is impoffible the nation fhould ever long enjoy any fettled repofe or tranquillity. .-. That the American oppofition to epifcopacy was at all connected with that ftill more ferious one fo foon afterwards fet up againft civil government, was not indeed generally apparent at the time : but it is now indifputable, as it alfo is that the former con* tributed not a little to render the latter fuccefsful. As therefore this controverfy was clearly one great caufe that led to the revolution, the view of it here given, it is hoped, will not be deemed wholly unin- terefting. Even this account, however, will be in- complete till the reader is alfo informed how it ter- minated. The anti-epifcopalians carried their point with an high hand, which is no otherwife to be accounted for than that the party, in perfect union with their fellow-labourers in the Britifh parliament, were in the habit of oppofing every meafure that feemed likely to ftrengthen the hands of government ; and that then, and ever after, whatever was oppofed be- came popular. That ON THE AMERICAN EPISCOPATE. That the object which in this inftance was oppofed, was either in itfelf really dangerous, or intended to be fo, to the colonies in general, or to Virginia and Maryland in particular, will not now be pretended by any one. Hardly was their independence gained before an epifcopate was applied for and obtained ; an epifcopate in every point of view as obnoxious as that which the fame men, who were now it's chief promoters, and who were alfo the mod forward injhe revolution, had juft before fo violently refifted.l The fact is curious ; for it Ihews that, in oppofing epif- copacy, the leading men of thofe times oppofed what they have fince feen and acknowledged was for the intercfl of their country. And it fhould have fome weight with the prefent inhabitants of America, when they reflect that the fame men, who then, like good fubjects, were honeft and bold enough to warn their fellow-fubjects of their error and their danger refpecting the Church, obferved the fame line of conduct afterwards refpecting the State. It is fair to infer from their fubfequent conduct, that both they, and the great body of the people of America, are now convinced, that the perfons who in 1771 were vili- fied and perfecuted for wifhing to introduce an epif- copate, were not the enemies of America. May we not then be permitted to hope, that the time is not diftant when the fame judgment (hall be entertained of the fame men and their conduct rcfpecting the revolution ? L 4 DIS- ON AMERICAN EDUCATION. DISCOURSE IV. ON AMERICAN EDUCATION*, DEUTERONOMY, ch. vi. ver. 6, 7. And the words which I command thee this dayjhall le in time heart. And thou Jh alt teach them diligently unto thy children, and Jb alt talk of them when thou Jitt eft in thine houfe, and when thou walkeft by the way, and when thou Heft down, and when thou rifejl up. -/"XT one of the late meetings held for the purpofe of confolidating the three free-fchools of the three contiguous counties, (of which this is the central one,) * This fermon (as South fays of one of his) was " penned and prepared " to have been preached in the Church of Portobacco in Charles County, Maryland, in 1773, on th 6 occafion ftated in the introdu&ory paragraph. But, owing to fome embarraffments in Government, (which even then were fuch as to excite very ferious apprehenfions,) the Governor, and thofe Members of the Council and Lower Houfe of Afiembly, by whofe defire it was prepared, could not attend. Of courfe the meeting was put off, and the fcheme came to nothing. many ON AMERICAN EDUCATION. 153 many ideas were fuggefted, and fome proportions brought forward, on the fubject of education. Tempt- ed by the opportunity, I could not forbear mention- ing fevgraj defects in modern education, for which the whole Chriftian world are in fome degree cenfur- able, but which feem to prevail moil in thefe mid- dle colonies of this great continent. Anxious that the fchool now to be enlarged and new- model led fhould be formed on as good a plan as our circum- ftances will admit of, I was defired to digeft and ftate in this public manner the obfervations which were then haftily made. The fincere refpect which I bear for the perfons who made this requeft, left me no alternative ; and therefore I am now about to comply with it, with alacrity at leaft, if not with ability, I am aware that there are among my hearers many in- telligent perfons, who are practical examples that even modern education is ibmetimes eminently fuc- cefsful. This is a circumftance which cannot but infpirc me with diffidence : at the fame time, how- ever, it gives me this encouragement, the confolation I mean, of knowing that if any principles which I may now recommend be (which God forbid they fhould be !) un found, or any conclufions I may draw either weak, falfe, or impracticable, the public (if they receive no benefit from my inveftigations) can neither be corrupted nor mifled by them. Any errors into which I may fall, will be eafily detected by many of the able and candid judges before whom I now have the honour to fpeak. By comparing their own reflections 154 ON AMERICAN EDUCATION"* reflections on the fubjecl: with mine, I hope even they may be enabled to form a fomewhat more cor- rect judgment of it ; and as many of them are allb members of different branches of our Legiflature, they will have an opportunity of carrying their ma- tured opinions into practice, not only in the fchool now to be inflituted in this neighbourhood, but per- haps on a much more extenfive fcale in the province at large. In the whole compafs of human enquiries, I hardly know a more beaten track than this of education. In all civilized countries, and in all ages, it has engaged the attention and employed the pens of perfons the mod diftinguifhed for wifdom and goodnefs. Yet (notwithflanding all this attention and all this in- ftruclion) it is by no means certain that mankind are greatly improved in this important particular ; even, now, when we boaft that we live in an enlightened age, education engages our attention chiefly in our books. I The ancients, if their experience of human nature was more limited, and confequently their flock of knowledge more confined, were very fupe- rior to the moderns, in this, that they certainly made a better ufe of what they did know^jl Treatifes on education do not appear to have been then writ- ten, as it really would feem they now are, merely to amufe, or to be admired for their ingenuity. The philofopher ftuclied and wrote profefTedly for the State : and, in this point of view, Xenophon was as much a legiflator as Lycurgus : for, the prevailing idea ON AMERICAN EDUCATION. 'SS idea of thofe times was, that education was rather a practical than a fpeculative fubject ; that it confided more of duties than of doctrines; and, in fhort, that it was an apprenticefhip to the bufinefs of life. Among the moderns, the archbifhop of Cambray, propofing to himfelf Xenophon as his model, feems to have written his book with fimilar views. But it is melancholy to reflect, how very little this pleaf- ing and mod interelling book has contributed to the inftruclion of mankind in general; for even the enthufiaftic admirers of Fenelon think it fufficient praife of Telemachus to regard it as an ingenious and claffical romance. Not much more fortunate have been an eminent poet, and a no lefs eminent philofopher, of our mother country. Who that reads at all has not read Milton's " Tractate on Edu- cation ;" and alfo Locke's : and who having read them, does not fpeak of them in terms of the higheft commendation ? Yet, how little has either the one or the other contributed to improve the national iyftem of education * ! Education, * It is by no means intended here to reprobate all fpeculative writings even on the fubjeft of Education. All that the writer laments or blames, is, that fpeculative writings on thefe fubje&s, which are fo rarely of a kind capable of being carried into practice, are fo much attended to as to difcourage any attempts to write really practical treatifes. That even fucli writers, however, with much that is exceptionable, fometimes furnifh matter even for prac- tical ufes, might be proved from RoufTeau, the moft fpeculative and fanciful of all writers. \Vith aUhis faults, as a moralift and a politician, he rendered very confiderable fervice to France and the neighbouring 156 ON AMERICAN EDUCATION. Education, like every other art, is but a certain means to attain a certain end : this end is, that mankind may be good and happy ; and whatever contributes to render them fo, might, with great pro- priety, be regarded as education. School -learning, which we are too apt to confider as the fole purpofe of education, is but one of the means; and of great moment only as it contributes to the main end. Whatever qualifies any perfon to fill with propriety the rank and flation in life that may fall to his lot, is education^ Thus confidered, I fee no impropriety in our faying of an artifan, or a planter, who perfectly underftands the art he profeffes, that he has been well educated *. It is in this more general and enlarged fenfe neighbouring kingdoms, by expofing, in his Emile, the many ill effe&s of confining the limbs and bodies of infants in fwaddling cloaths. It has, ever fmce the publication of that book, been very generally laid afide ; and the good effects of it's discontinuance are vifible, in the much fmaller number of children who are rickety and deformed, than was the cafe forty or fifty years ago. * " Learning is a thing that hath been much cried up and coveted " in all ages, efpecially in this lad century of years, by people of " all forts, though never fo mean and mechanical. Every man " ftrains his fortunes to keep his children at fchool : the cobler will " clout it till midnight, the porter will carry burdens till his back " crack again, the plowman will pinch both back and belly, to give " his fon learning ; and I find that this ambition reigns no where fo " much as in this ifland. But, under favour, this word Learning is ** taken in a narrower fenfe among us than among other nations : " we feem to reflrain it only to the book, whereas indeed any arti- " fans whatever (if they know the fecrct and myftery of their trade) ' may ON AMERICAN EDUCATION. ienfe that I now propofe to confider the fubjecl : and Ib, inftead of confining myfelf to the ways and means of railing good fcholars, I fhall endeavour to point out to you the more important duty of raifing good citizens and fubjects*. Exertion, application, and induftry, are primary duties, which God requires of his creature, man. It is, therefore, one of the Unking difpenfations of his providence, that, though every thing, as it came out of his hands at the creation, is (as he hirnfelf declared it was) good, yet is it left to be made (if I may fo fpeak) more good, by human means ; that is to fay, it is left capable of being brought to ftill greater perfection, by the fkill, the diligence, and the exertions of men. A diamond in the mine, it is true, is indeed a dia- mond, even before it ispolifhed ; but it acquires luftre " may be called learned men. A good mafon, a good flioemaker " that can manage St. Crifpin's lance handfomely, a fkilful yeoman, " a good fhipwright, &c. may be all called learned men ; and in- " deed the ufcfulleft fort of learned men. For, without the two " firft, we might go barefoot, and lie abroad as beails, having no " other canopy than the wild air : and without the two laft, we " might flarve for bread, have no commerce with other nations, or " ever be able to tread upon a Continent. Thefe, with fuch other "like dexterous artifans, may be 'termed learned men, and more " behooveful for the fubfiitence of a country, than thofe polymathifts " that ftand poring all day in a corner upon a moth-eaten author, " and converfe only with dead men." Howel's Familiar Letters, Book the 3d, Letter the 8th. * . . t " TTS 97FV$ ws /SsAriro* ta-owro Xenophon. Cyropaed. lib. 8. y and ON AMERICAN EDUCATION. and value only by being removed from (what may be called) it's ftate of nature : nor, in it's native ore, is gold of more value than iron. In the vegetable world, and in animals of every kind, the cafe is the fame. Without culture, even the grain of which bread is compofed, and the moft delicious fruits, would be hardly eatable : animals alfo, in a ftate of nature, are uniformly wild ; and, whilft wild, ufelefs. Man too is horn like a wild afss colt ; and brings with him into the world little more than a capacity for inftruclion. Uneducated, he is a Caffre, a Peter the wild boy, a New Zealander : a little (and perhaps but a little) fuperior to an Ouran-Outang. But, of all the productions of nature, or of art, there is nothing of Jo much worth as a mind well inftrufted. Man is juft what education makes him. Were there no educa- tion, there would be no knowledge ; and if no know- ledge, no virtue : darknefs would cover the earth, and grofs darknefs the people. " The boys among the Perfians," fays the Grecian philofophcr above quoted, in his Cyropaedia, " go to " fchools, and continue there, learning juftice : and " they fay, that they go as much far the purpofe of u learning this, as boys with us go to learn literature." This Perfian pra&ice comes up very nearly to the idea, which I have formed in my own mind, of a pro- per and perfect fyflem of national education. For, what is here called juftice, is not to be underilood in the narrow and confined fenfe in which we ufe the 3 word : Ofc AMERICAN EDUCATION. word :{Tt comprehends every thing that is necefTary to the forming a good man, and a good citizen, j There is a paflage in Eccleliafticus *, where the argument turns very much on the fubject now under confideration, which feems to have in view the kind of education I now wifh to recommend to you. He that teacheth hisfon, grieved the enemy. It is not poffible to exprefs, in Wronger language, of what im- portance it is to a State that good principles (hould be inftilled into it's youthf . The writer adds: and though Ms father die, yet he is as though he were not dead. To the State, it means, a father of a well- inftrucled fon, even when he is dead, does not die: for, his good principles defcending to his fon, the State ftill pofTeffes a good fubjecl ; and thus, even in an apparent lofs of the State, the enemies of that State find no caufe of triumph \. In no civilized country has education ever been wholly neglected ; nor in any (I fear it may too truly be added) advanced to any fuch a pitch of complete- * Chap. xxx. ver. 3, 4, 5. t " QH^ en i m numus reipublicae afferre majus meliufve pofiumus, ' quam fi docemus atque erudimus juventutem? His praefertim " temporibus atque moribus, quibus ita prolapfa eft." Cicero de Ditin. lib. 2. J " Gratum eft, quod patriae civem populoque dedifti, " Si facis, ut patriae fit idoneus, utilis agris, Utilis & bellorum & pacis rebus agendis. " Plurimum enim intererit quibus artibus & quibus hunc tu ' Moribus inftituas." ' Juv. Sat. xiv. L 70. nefs l6o Ott AMERICA^ EDUCATION* nefs and perfection, as that it may fafely be felected and recommended as a model. Juft fo, in every treatife or lyftem of education, there probably may be found fomething ufeful and valuable : yet, where is there one that is, in all refpects, what a confiderate man would wim it to be ? The beft of any with which I am acquainted is to be met with in the Bible. In propofing to you, on the fubject of education, the Jewifh polity, as the beft model for your imitation, I am but little difcouraged by the reflection, that a writer * of no common note has, in various places of his various writings, fpoken of it as " eminently bar- barous and abfurd." The hiftorical talents of this popular author, fo much better calculated to pleafe than to profit, are well appreciated by the hiftorian f of the Jews in the character he gives of the Greeks 5 who alfo were celebrated for fiction %. If this were a place to go into a full comparifon, and to draw a parallel between the legiflator of the Jews and any other legiflator, there could be no difficulty in prov- ing how manifeftly the advantage is on the fide of Mofes. It is not pretended, that there is any where in the Scriptures any fet or formal treatife on the fubject of education : that is not the way in which doctrines are * Voltaire. Jofeph. contra Apion, lib, i. 12. Grascia mendax." Juv. there ON AMERICAN EDUCATION. l6l there ufually taught. Information and inftru6Uon on the fubject are to be collected from various paf- fages, and chiefly from the laws and the hiitory of God's chofen people : and I confider the fuperiority of this Scripture fyftern, over all others, as arifing, in no ordinary degree, from it's unequalled fimplicity. Inftead of various purpofes purfued, as among us, by various plans ; and, not feldom, a variety of things that are fiudied and learned with no purpofe or plan at all, the Jews had but one end in view ; for the at- tainment of which, the means were equally fimple and uniform. Permanent fecurity in the land of Ca- naan was the end ; and the means, obedience to God* In one particular only, a Jewifli education feems to have borne fome refemblance to that of the Egyptians, the ancient Greeks, and the Perfians : gymnaftic exercifes were a part of it. Yet there is no evidence, at leaft in the earlier periods of their hiftory, that they had any fchools or colleges. The fchools of the pro- phets are fuppofed to have begun about the time of Samuel ; and were appropriated to the tuition (if not wholly, yet in a great meafure) of prophets only. One reafon for their having no fchools might be the conftant employment in which the cultivation of their lands engaged them, and in which their children were required to affift. This left them no fuch lei- fure as young people in other countries now find for a regular attendance on ftudy, in places fet apart for the purpofe. It is obfcrvablc, that the word, in the Greek language, from which our wordfchoot is derived, M literally l6'2 ON AMERICAN EDUCATION. literally fignifies letfure: and in Latin, a fchoolmaftet is one who regulates play. What I would infer from this is, that pupils in Greece and in Rome reforted to (chobls only by way of amufement and relaxation : and as Suidas gives the former of thefe terms as bar- barous, the Greeks might have adopted it from the Jews, as well as from any other people*. With refpecl to the Jews, this apparent defect (the want of fchools) does not appear to have been attended with any very material difatlvantages. Admitting that they had neither fchoolm afters nor profeflbrs, ft ill it muft not be inferred that they were without public teachers. Thefe, in general, were the priefts and prophets of the Lord ; and their rulers. It was the ufual phrafe among the Jews to call their rulers * " Sunt etiam mtifis fua ludiera : miila camaenis " Oc'tA funt, mellite ncpos ! nee femper accrbi ' Exercet pueros vox imperiofa magiftri. ** Sed requie (a) ftudiique vices rata tempora fervant- *' Et fatis eft puero memori legiffe libenter : " Et ceflare licet. Graio fchola nomine dila eft ** Jufta laboriferis tribuantur ut ocia mufis. c< Quo magis alternum certus fuecedere ludum, w Difce libens, longum delenitura laborem ** Ihtervalla damns." Aufon. ad Nepotem Aufomum Pretrepticon de Studio Puerili, Eidyll. iv. Vide Aufen. ed. variorum, p. 309. I conceive it to be extremely probable, that fckool may have ori- ginally been from the Hebrew term fhw, fignifying to be quiet > eafy, fecure : though I readily confefs, there is no evidenee that the term was ever ufed by the Jews in any fenfe exactly analogous to a fchooL () Pro reqjaiei. tedders ;, ON AMERICAN EDUCATION. 163 teachers : thus Nicodemus is called both an A^wy and a A/SacntaA0-. The alliance indeed between a legiflator or governor, and an inftructor, is natural and proper : and with the moft perfect propriety it might be faid, that every ruler is, from the nature of his office, an inftructor. The law itfelf is, as an apoftle called it, our fchoolmafter * . The law of God was the great object of ftudy among the Jews ; and, with them, the law of God comprehended the law of the land. For this pur- pofe it was neceffary that they fliould be taught to read : and this, it is probable, they could all do ; be- caufe they were all commanded to read the law, and to meditate thereon night and day. But I do not recollect any pafiage which proves that (excepting thofe who at firft were called fcriles,) many of them were able to write. The Bible was the only book they read. And from this copious ilore-houfe they learned more than any other people could poflibly know of the hiftory of creation. They learned as much as they were materially concerned to know of their own origin and future deftination ; as they alfo did of the hiftories of the people with whom alone they had any intercourfe. This iingle book fur- nifhed them with a fyftem of civil law admirably adapted to their local circumftances and fituation ; a code of ethics at once practical and humane; and a form of worfhip, of which it is fufficient praife to % that it formed the portal of Chriftianity. It does * Gal. iii. 24. M 2 not 164 ON AMERICAN EDUCATION, not appear that they fludied any language but their own ; which, as a language, deferves the character that has been given to their government: it is equally diftinguifhed for it's dignity and it's limplicity ; and, if they did not read other languages, (tranilations being then hardly known,) it proves that they read none of the writings of any of the Gentile nations around them. From fnch writings they could have learned only the extravagant and abfurd fables of idolatry : and from thofe it was one leading defign of all their inftitutions to preferve them. Among the Jews alone, children were fuffered to hear and learn thofe documents only which tended to infpire them with the love and fear of the true God. Belides their hiftories, (of which alfo that was the ruling principle,) parables and allegories, and, above all, proverbs, or fhort aphorifms of wifdom, were invented. Such are the parables of Jotham and Nathan ; and the excellent book of Proverbs by king Solomon. Thefe compofitions, as well as their pfalms and hymns, were in mea fared numbers. And if it be true that that poetry is the moft excellent which conveys the fublimeft fentiments in the fublimeft language, the poetry of the Hebrews fcems to have an inconteitible claim to an unrivalled pre-eminence. With poetry mufic is naturally connecled : and if we may judge of the proficiency of the Jews in this pi earing art, from the effects produced by their per- formances in it, we cannot qucftion their title to be called tlefweet fivgers ofJfrael. Some one fays of ON AMERICAN EDUCATION. l6< them, that they were a nation of muficians : an afTer- tion for which there is a fufficient foundation in their hiftory, as contained in the Scriptures ; and of which the 1 3 7th Pfalm alone is almoft a direct proof. It has already been intimated, that though they had no public feminaries of learning for the in- ftruclion of the riling generation, yet were they by no means without public inftructors. Thefe, at firft, were patriarchs, then prophets ; then able men, beads over tie people, elders, and judges ; whofe office it was to turn the children into the ways of their fathers, and the difobedieht to the wifdom of thejuft *. To thefe fucceeded the fcribes, whofe profeflion it was to teach the law, which (as has before been obferved) was the only knowledge which even men of learning then cultivated. The higheft commendation that could be beftowed on Efdras was, that he was a pricft, a reader, and 'very ready in the law of Mofes. Ezra alfo is faid to have been a ready fcr'ibe in the law of Mofes j-. Nehemiah too brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could HEAR WITH UNDERSTANDING; and he READ therein from the morning until mid-day : and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law J. Kfcribe, then, appears to have been profeffionally a reader of the law, and an inftruclor of the people: a circum- ftance which 'Lews the extreme pertinency of that paflage in St. Luke, where our Saviour alked a lawyer, * Exod. xviii. 25. f Ezra viJ. 6. J Neh. vni. 2. M3 or l66 ON AMERICAN EDUCATION. Grfcribe What is written in THE LAW bow READ- EST thou ? Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob were all careful to train up their children in the fear of God, and a reli- gious obfervance of his laws : and Moles devoted the greateft part of his life to the fole purpofe of teaching, reproving, correcting, and exhorting the people com- mitted to his charge, to receive the inftruclions of \vifdom, andjuftice, and judgment ; in which Aaron end Jofhua were his willing fellow-labourers. At length, when, from an increafed population, and thofe changes which are naturally brought on in all countries by the change of times, fome new regula- tions were thought expedient, Samuel founded the fchools of the prophets. And in thefe a fucceffion of holy men was raifed, which did more than any fimi- lar inftitution in any other nation ever did, or could do, effectually to check ignorance, licentioufnefs, immorality, and idolatry. Secured by their whol- fome irjftrucHons, it was long before Judea became diftradted by a diverfity of opinion on civil topics ; or by thofe difputes and eontroverfles concerning religion, which have fo often been the fore-runners of the definition of other empires, They all fpake one language ; they all had one creed ; and were all unanimous in one common caufe, the preservation of their laws : nor were they divided into fects and parties, till long after the captivity. It was not left entirely to the difcretion of the peo- ple to attend, or not attend, to this inftru$ion. By law, ON AMERICAN EDUCATION. law, every man was obliged to repair to the temple three times in the year, and a Jewifh fabbath ad- mitted of no abfentees. Their public inftruclions, it would feem, were given in general in the form of expofltions on the law. What the law required of them was firft taught : and after being thus (hewn from the law what it was that they ought to be, they were freely told what they actually were ; for, thole were not the times when priefts or prophets degraded themfelves, or their office, by flattering the people in their follies or their crimes. The earneftnefs of their inftrudtions was proportioned to their importance. Nothing was enjoined without this condition being annexed to the injunction, that if they obeyed it they fhould be fuccefsful : whilft the heavieft cala- mities were denounced againft difobedience. And more was neither prpmifed nor threatened than (as appears from their hiftory.) was actually perfprmed. What Azariab, the fon of Oded, faid to Jifa, and all Jiulah* and Benjamin, entered into the fpirit, if not into the letter, of every Jewifli ordinance and in- junction : The Lord is with you, while you be with him: and if ye feek him, he will he found of 'you ; but if ye forfake him, he will forfake you*. And hence that beautiful exhortation of Solomon's : My Jon, keep thy father s commandment, and forfake not the law of thy mother ; Vmd them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck. When thou goeft, itjhatt lead * 2 Chron. xv. 2. M4 thce; 168 ON AMERICAN EDUCATION*. thee\ when thoujleepeft, itjhallkeep>thee\ and when thou awakeft, it Jhall talk with thee. For the com- mandment is a lamp, and the law is light: and reproof and mftruflwn are tie way of life *. The communicating of ihftruclion to the Jews was not attended with many of the difficulties which now impede it's progrefs : for, Jewifh Icflbns were feldom on abftrufe and abftracled fubjecls ; nor were the people, who were to be inftrticted, then bewildered and puzzled with a diffracting variety of topics. Nothing was inculcated that was not firft commanded by the law; fo that there was then but little danger of their youth being initiated in in- flniflion which caujeth to err. Their teachers fpake not in the words which mans wifdom taught, but what the Holy Ghqft taught : and the fum of their inilruclions was, to prepare the hearts of the people to feek the Jaw of the Lord, and to do it. The laws were not merely obligatory rules of action : they were proper and agreeable objedts of fludy and philofophic in- veliigation ; for they all of them furnifhed leflbns either of moral, political, or religious wifdom. So far are they from being founded in caprice, that even thofe * Prov. vi. 20, ZT, 22, 23.-r-rr-Sentiments exceedingly like thefe have often been admired and extolled in that line paflage fo often quoted from Cicero : " HaecJiudia adolefcentiam alunt, feneclutem obleftant, fecun- te das res ornant, -adverfis perfugitim ac folatium praebent, deleftant *' domi, non impediunt foris, pernoftant nobifcum, peregrinantur, * ruilicantur. >; Cic. Orat, pro Archia, 7, 3 of ON AMERICAN EDUCATION. 169 of them which are merely ritual, are highly fignifi- cant ; and either convey fome moral leflbn, or are a commentary on fome of the articles of their religion. Thofe too which are typical deferve to be iludied, not only for their fecondary, remote, and concealed fenfe, but for that which is primary, immediate, and obvious. And the end and aim of the Jewifh code (whether we coniider it's general regulations, or it's minuter and more particular provifions) feems inva- riably to have been to fix lafting impreffions, on the minds of the people and their children, of the great importance of their keeping the way of tie Lord, and doing jujlice and judgment. To fhew that many of their laws, which to fuper- ficial readers may perhaps now feem minute and mean, if not alfo fometimes arbitrary or barbarous, had fome great political object in view, it may fuffice to men^ tion one inftance. More conftitutions have been overturned by inteftine divifions than by foreign wars. Againft thefe, therefore, the laws of the Jews provided with a degree of prudence and policy, which, if we may judge from it's effects, has rarely been equalled. The whole community was, by blood, one people. This ftrong tie of union was bound {till fafter by the tie of religion. Their faith and religious profelfion were uniform : they all had the fame minifters of re- ligion, and the fame temple ; and to this temple they were all obliged to come from every part of the coun- try. And innovations in religion were prevented by an abfolute prohibition of every thing belonging to tie I/O ON AMERICAN EDUCATION. ibe gods of 'the nations ; as innovations in manners al to were, by a fiinilar interdiction of all intercourfe with foreigners *. For this Mofes has been taxed with intolerance and barbarifm: an imputation which might with equal juftice have been objected to the law-giver of Sparta,, as well as to the great kingdom of China. now perhaps the older! in the world. Almoft every other legiilator has encouraged com- merce : but Mofes wifely faw, that however advan- tageous to ftates adapted to it, it was as unfuitable to Paleftine as it was to thofe divine ordinances which were intended to keep the people diftincl and feparate from other nations. Judea was not a maritime coun- try ; tut it was peculiarly favourable to agriculture, #nd it's inhabitants were remarkably intelligent huf- bandmen. And it is worthy of notice, that the great mafter of political wifdom among the ancients has declared, that thofe in general are the beft go- vernments, where the bulk of the people are employed in huibandry .and pafturage f . Among the Jews, an attachment to the land which fiod had given them, and an high reverence for their Jaws, were the ftrongeft features of national charac- ter. All their laws and inftitutions had a tendency to peace, and led them to expect happinefs chiefly * M . PI . " pQ-n culm mariatranfibant, neque exteros vifebant, &. ahj ' his.nop vifebantur." - Cunxus de Repub. Hebr. lib. i. cap. 4. Ariftot. in I^ib. Polito from ON AMERICAN EDUCATION. from the arts of peace. This purpufe was fo much favoured by the nature of their country, that fome of their hiftorians have been of opinion that fuch a go- vernment could have exifted in no other *. Shut up between Libanus, the Euphrates, and Egypt, they were in a manner out of the reach of any ambitious neighbours ; and meditating no con quells, they ex- cited no jealoufies : neither had they dominions, or the reputation of riches of any fuch extent as that they could be a temptation to invaders. It was, however, by no means the leading object of their founder to attach men merely to the foil of Palef- tine : the true aim of every law that was enacted, and the prevailing purpofe of all the inflruclions that were given to them was, that they might not do after all the abominations which the neighbouring nations had done unto their gods. And no doubt the perfeverance of this people in the fame fyftem of religion and religious worfhip, (an event without a parallel in the hiftory of the world,) is to be accounted for only from their equally extra- ordinary obfervance of their religious rites and civil infHtutions. They have been in captivity ; they are difperfed all over the world, without one fpot in it * " Enimvero habuit Palaeftinum prae aliis regionibus eximium " quiddam, quod gentcm fandam atque rempublicam uni ifti Colo " affixit. Extra eas fedes fi quis populum ilium abduxiflet, & ** iifdem legibus inftituiffet rempublicam eandem, non jam reipublicx ** fua fan&imonia, non populo fua majeftaa iletifTet.*' Cunaeus de Repub. Hebr. lib. i. cap. 8. that ON AMERICAN EDUCATION", that they can call their own ; they are every where defpifed, every where opprefled ; and yet Itill they preferve their religion and their laws, and ftill are a people; and they fhall continue to be a people till all the prophecies concerning them be fulfilled : whilft other nations (even thofe reputed the wife ft and moft powerful) fhall continue to enrich them- felves by commerce, extend their dominions by con- queft, change, innovate reform, and (if I may ule the term) re- reform, and yet wax old as doth a vefture 9 and, " like the bafelefs fabric of a vifion, diflblve, and " not leave a wreck behind." It is not to be concealed, however, that the Jews, even in the beft periods of their hiftory, were hardly more diftinguifhed for the excellence of their conftt- tution and their general attachment to it, than they alfb were for being often refractory and difobedient. This fpirit at laft grew to fuch a fettled and fyfte- matic fcheme of oppofition to their rulers, that at length it brought on the deftruclion of government, and their own expuliion from their country. This inconfiftency is to be accounted for only (as all wick- ednefs is accounted for) from the general depravity of human nature. For, though God certainly never dealt fo with any other nation as he dealt with them, ilill, with all their advantages, they were but men ; and all men are naturally wilful, Hubborn, and re- bellious. It fhould be remembered too, that, with many peculiar advantages, they laboured under fome di fad vantages. It always has been, and ftill is, the reproach OST AMERICAN EDUCATION. 173 reproach of mankind perverfely to turn bleflings into eurfes. Hence, even the extraordinary favour fhewn to the Jews might, and no doubt did, lead them to think too highly of themfelves ; and fo they became felf-willed and impatient of controul. And owing to this degeneracy, they became an ealy prey, firft to their own ill-governed paffions, and then to their enemies, who had long lain in wait to take advantage of their errors. For he who hath no rule over his own J-pirit, is like a city broken down and without walls. But what people or what nation is there among us Ib without fin, as that we may judge the Jews cither for their guilt or their punifhment ? Have we fo little experienced in ourfelves the almoft irreiiftible power of ilrong paffions, and the blindnefs of inveterate prejudices, as that we fhall prefume to fay, we fhould have done better had we been in their circum fiances? I hope we fhould : mere moclefty however may re- ftrain us from the Pharifaical boaftfulnefs of thanking God that we are better, or our nation better, than thofe Hebrews were on whom the vengeance of the Romans fell. But it was perhaps as much the misfortune as the fault of the Jews, that at lad their country and their government yielded to powerful invaders. A flock of lambs might almoft as well be upbraided for not defending themfelves againft a troop of wolves, as the Jews be blamed for being conquered by the Romans. I am far from infmuating by this, that the Jews were deficient either in courage or Ikill, or even that they were 174 ON AMERICAN EDUCATION. were without the ufual refources of war. But their military talents, as well as the principles of their reli- gion, and their laws, totally different from thofe of the Romans, were all fuch as qualified them to act rather on the defenfive than offenfive ; and in war, I believe, the advantage is always fuppofed to lie on the fide of the aggreffbr. On fome fuch important topics as have here been fuggefted, we may fuppofe the Jevvifh infh*u6lors to have frequently infifted. And however meanly we may now think of Jews when compared with either Greeks or Romans, it muft be allowed that if they were not fo diftinguifhed by their prowefs in war, they were, in the beft fenfe of the term, a more en- lightened, and of courfe a more happy, people. This enviable fuperiority they feem to me to have owed in no fmall degree to the fuperiority of their education, which was not, as in other nations, reftricted only to their earlier years. All that has juft been defcribed to yon, was the education of adults ; and perhaps it is not a little owing to our leaving off our attention to it fo entirely, juft at the period of life when it cer- tainly is mott wanted, and when alfo it would pro- bably have the beft effeft, that our education does not produce all the advantages, which, defective as it is, we might naturally expect from it. The fundamen- tal laws of our country, and the principles and duties of Chriftianity, are indeed occafionally explained, taught, and inculcated : but whilfl it is in the power of any one who pleafes to counteract and contradict thefe ON AMERICAN EDUCATION. thefe intimations, and io pervert and corrupt our catechumens, are we to be furprifed that even the moft eflential duties are not taught to better purpofe ? Let it however be well attended to, that, even in this admirable fyftem of the Jews, the public teachers only finifhed what the parents had happily begun. When parents had trained up their children in the -.vays they were to go, the charge devolved on the fa- thers of the whole family, whofe office it then became iofeed thofe their flocks ', likejbepberds\ taking the Jambs In their amis, and gathering them in their bofoms. No fooner were the children (to borrow the lan- guage of a prophet) weaned from the milk, and drawn from the Ireajl, than their parents began to teach them knowledge, and to enable them to underftand doffrint. Experience confirmed the utility of what the law had previoufly directed. And on this point the law was not " vague and uncertain :" the text is clear and ftrong, and particular even to minutenefs : parents were to teach their children, whilft they fate in the houfe, or walked by the way ; when they lay down, and when they fate up *. The fame circumftantial direction is repeated too again and again ; and the Pfalmift alludes to it in a beautiful paraphrafe f : The Lo'rd hdih eftablijhed a tefiimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Ifracl, which he commanded our forefathers to nuke known unto their children \ that the generation to * Deut. ch. iv. ver. io. and Deut. chap xi. ver. 19, } Pf. Ixxviiu ver, 4, 5, 6. come 176 ON AMERICAN EDUCATION. come might know them, even the children thatjhould be born, who Jhould arife and declare to their children the fraifes of the Lord, and his Jlrength, and his wonder* ful works that he hath done. The word in the text, which our tranflators have very properly rendered teach, literally fignifies in the original, to whet ; a metaphorical term, which, as applied to teaching, is ftrictly and eminently proper. The text thus be- comes, both in phrafeology and fentiment, not unlike to one in St. Peter *, where the Apoftle fays, he thinks it meet \Qflir up his converts, by putting them in re- membrance. On the authority of the text, and fbme other fimi- lar paflages, we are led to infer, that parental inftruc- tion was not in general communicated fo much by leclures or leflbns, as by occafional converfation, \vhilft the parents and children were at work together in the field, or on a journey, or in the focial mo- ments of domeftic converfe ; at the ri/ing of the fun, and going down thereof -f*. But, fince the digrefllon (if it be one) naturally arifes from the fubjecl, and indeed belongs to it, let us * 2 Pet. ch. i. ver. 13. f " In Hindoftan, the youth are taught, not within doors, but in < f the open air; and it is a very fingular, but not unpleafing, fpe&acle, *' to behold in every village a venerable old man, reclined on a ter- " raced plain, teaching a number of furrounding boys, who regard *' him with the utmoft reverence and attention, like a fhepherd feed- " ing his flock. In thofe fimple feminaries, where the want of mag- " nificent halls and theatres is divinely compenfated by the fpacious " canopy ON AMERICAN EDUCATION. 177 us for a moment try to fancy and to defcribe in what manner a Jewifh fire probably communicated his in- tfruclions. Imagine then to yourfelves fo venerable a JhltoJUtotg in Us boufe, with his infant charge around him. Taught by the law, induced by the cuftoms of his country, and prompted by natural affection, in- ftead of the uninterefling (and fometimes perhaps improper) converfations which elfewhere engrofs thofe moments which to a good man are the happieft of any he paffes, a Jewifh father would be led to gra- tify the natural inquifitivenefs of his rifing family, by explaining to them the origin, the defign, and the authority of all their feafls, rites, and inftitutions. Every public feftival (like a parable or an allegory) carried with it it's own peculiar moral or inftrudlion ; and was celebrated for the exprefs purpofe that it might be not only a memorial to the prefent gene- Fation, but as it were a living monument to all po terity, of the mercies which it was inflituted to com- memorate. And it was exprefsly enjoined, that the celebration of every feaft, as well as of the paflbver, fhould be introduced with this preface : c< Thou /halt Jbew thy fon in that day, faying, This is done lecaufe of " canopy of heaven, the gentle and traftable fons of the Hindoos " are not only prepared for the bufmefs, but inftrufted in the du- " ties of life, a profound veneration for the obje& of religious wor- " (hip, reverence of their parents, refpeft for their feniors, juftice " and humanity towards all men ; but a particular affedh'on for " thofc of their own caft." Memoirs of the War in Afia,Vol. ii. Appendix, p. 228. N tfa* 1^8 ON AMERICAN EDUCATION". that which tie Lord did unto its. Aware bow mucli more eaiily as well as effectually that kind of inftruc- tion, which it was his object to impart, is communi- cated through the medium and with the aid of fen- fible and even vifible imagery, imagine you fee him binding round their arms or their foreheads phylac- teries or frontlets, on which were written * four paf- fagcs of the Law, commemorative of fuch interefiing :parts of their hiftory as were bed calculated to imprefs them with ideas of the goodnefs of God ; that, look- ing on thefe, they might remember tie commandments of God, and do them. Imagine him dwelling on this en- dearing topic, the infinite mercies of God, and re- counting them in the enraptured {trains of the 136111 pfalm ; which pfalm, if it was not originally compofed for one of thefe paternal leclures, is undoubtedly well adapted to fuch an occafion. Imagine farther, that you hear fuch a father, with all the dignity of autho- rity, and the earneftnefs of conviction, firfl finging (as was then the general mode of worfhip) the firll llanza or portion of each verfe or verficle alone, in the manner of recitative ; and his little congregation, trained by example as well as by precept to catch fome portion of his piety and his ardour, joining in refponfive chorus, for Us mercy endureth for ever ! We know that fome of the pfalms were actually fung in fome fuch manner : and I own I cannot figure * See Exod.xiii. from ver. a to 10. Deut. vi. from ver. 4 to 9. Deut. xi. from ver. 13 to 21. And Deut. xiii. from ver. u to 16. 5 t0 ON AMERICAN EDUCATION, 179 te myfelf a way by which the two great purpofes of hiftorical inllruclion and national devotion could be more happily promoted, than by fucb a fcheme of family worfhip. Next, fuppofe him in the fame little happy circle, walking ly the way. Catching his ideas from the ob~ jecls and the imagery around him, (which moil pro>< bably were in general rural,) he would naturally di- reel his difcourfe to thofe topics. If he faw valU*? (as in that country he often \NQ\\\&)Jlanduigfo thick with corn that they laughed and fang for joy, him* felf and his children might raife a choral fong of praife to God, who crowned the year with his goodnefe, Struck with the aftonifhing fertility of the foil of Pa : Icrline, and reminded by their phylac~lerie$ of the paf-* fagcs of Scripture in which that happy circumftance was celebrated, their hearts would be taught to glojv with gratitude, that the lines bad fallen unto them in pleafunt places, even "in a land flowing with milk an& honey, a land of hills and val/ies, that dr4nk(vcry dif- ferent from Egypt !) water of the rain of heaven ; ^ land which the Lord their God cared fotj and upon which the eyes of the Lord were jhcd from ifa beginning of the year even unto the end of the year. Nor could he well help pointing out to them it's fuperiority over that land of Egypt whence they came out ; whqre (by a difficult and troublefome husbandry) jheyfowed their land, and watered it with their feet vs a garden of herbs. At the lying down, or rifing up of this our fuppofed N 2 Jewifh l8o ON AMERICAN EDUCATION. Jevvidi fire, the inexhauftible goodnefs of God, wbf> gave tie fun to ride by day, and the moon and ftars to rule by night, would flill be the unvarying theme of every morning and evening hymn. Beginning at the creation, when the light was called day, and the dark- nejs nighty we may imagine him to have traced their own hiflory in regular fucceflion down to that night when the Lord pafled through Egypt, that night of the Lord, which, for that reafon, was for ever to be much obferved of Ifrael ; and dovyn to that day when he fmote the firft-born of Egypt, unto the day when they departed out of Egypt, while God \i\mfe\fiuent before them to lead them the w&y, by day in a pillar of cloud, and by night in a pillar of fire. It is hardly poffible to imagine an evening fbng more appofite to their circumftances, more inftruclive, or more pleating. And after fuch an evening facrifice, they could not but lie down, and rife up, gratefully acknowledging how true it was (at lead in their own cafe) that day unto day uttereth fpeech 3 and night unto night Jbewetb knowledge. From this imperfect fketch or outline (which, though confefledly imaginary, is not unfupported by authority) of the fyftem of the Jews, I cannot but think myfelf juftified in inferring from it, that there is not in all the hiftory of the world another inflance of another nation fo truly great, and that hadjtatutes and judgments fo righteous : and I farther infer, that this their greatnefs was owing, under God, in a great meafure to this circumflance, that their education was ON AMERICAN EDUCATION. l8l was fo perfectly well adapted to their government. By calling the Jevvifh nation & great nation, I by no means intend to fpeak of them as of a nation diftin- guifhed only by it's eminence in arts and Iciences ; by an extended and lucrative commerce ; and Hill lefs, a nation famed only for military glory and bound- kfs empire. The only criterion of a good govern- ment, in my eftimation, is, that the people living un- der it enjoy peace and quietnefs ; and a well-govern- ed and virtuous nation is the only truly great nation. Let the chara^er of the Jews be eftimated by this de- fiqition, and it muft be owned, that, (as was long ago faid of them,) the ancient inhabitants of Paleftinc were indeed a wife and undemanding people. Permit me now, by way of application, a little to confider the ftate of education among ourfelves : that, by comparing ours with that of the Jews and other nations, we may better fee in what points our praclice is right, and in what wrong ; and fo, either perfift in, or alter it, as the cafe may be found to require. In many refpe<5h thefe countries and their inha- bitants bear a very near refemblance to Judea and the Jews, We dwell in a good land, a land of brooks ff 'water, of fountaim and depths that fpring out of rallies and hills : a land of wheat and barley, and vines, and Jig-trees, and pomegranates ; a land of oil, olive, and froney : a land, wherein we eat bread without fear cenefs^ and lack not any thing in it ; a land, whofe fanes are iron., and oitt of whofe hills we may dig brafs. In our N 3 manners, (NT AFRICAN- manners, rhoreover, and habits of life, we are not un- like to Jewifh houjhbldcrs ; for they (like thofe of our inhabitants who are planters) were ufed to lay up in th'eir ftores^ once or twice in a year, things new' and old, fuch as might atifwer the exigencies of the whole year. They lived alfo much, as our phrafe is> within themfelves : "tMt is to fay, they depended lefs on markets, and exchanging, bartering, or buy- ing and felling, with one another, than they did on their own refources,: for the fuppJy of their domeifc wants. Their religion was the bafis of ours: and We are ftilt under the dominion of the law ; -refined indeed, and fpiritualized, and completed by the grace and truth -of Him who cavie 'not to deftroy the law. Neither is the conftitution of our government, nor the adminiftration of it, (at leaft in this province; for the abfurdky of the New-Englanders, who in- corporated into their body of laws fome of the rituals of the Levitical law, is beneath our notice,) materially different from that of the JeWS. Theirs indeed was a theocracy, which ours is not, in any other fenfc than as all government is the ordinance of God. Like us, the Jews alfo had a governor, 'who, as the vicegerent of God, ruled by the law of the land; and, if he was a good governor, ruled them prudently with all his might. And that he might not, in the words- of their hiftorian, bear the burden of the people alone, the moft eminent perfons of each tribe, who are fome- times called princes of the congregation, and fometirnes tk AMERICAN EDUCATION-. 183 elders of tie people^ were appointed to (hare with him in the arduous office of legiflation and govern- rnent. But, on the fubjedt of education, the refemblance fails. Theirs (as being uncommonly fuitable to their circumftances) is entitled to the high praife of being a good education : whereas I muft bafely flatter you if I were not to declare, that, for the very fame rea- fbn, yours afluredly is not a good one. It is not per- haps your reproach only, that [you pay far too little regard" to parental education":) but it is- highly difre- putable to you, to have it laid, that, with abilities abundantly adequate to a very ample provision, you have not provided the ufual fubftitutes of parental education. I could hardly expect to gain credit, were I to inform a foreigner (what you know is thd fact) that in a country containing not lefs than half a million of fouls (all of them profefling the Chriftian religion, and a majority of them members of the Church of England ; living, moreover, under the Britilh government, and under Britifh laws ; a peo-< pie farther advanced in many of the refinements of polifhed life, than many large diftricts even of the Parent State; and in general thriving, if not opulent,) there yet is not a fingle college, and only one fchool with an endowment adequate to the maintenance of even a common mechanic. What is ftill lefs credi- ble is, that at leaf! two thirds of the little education fcve receive are derived from inftrudtors, who are either N 4 INDENTED 184 ON AMERICAN EDUCATION, INDENTED SERVANTS, Of TRANSPORTED FELONS. Not a fhip arrives either with redemptioners * or con- victs, in which fchoolmafters are not as regularly ad- vertifed for fale, as weavers, tailors, or any other trade ; with little other difference, that I can hear of, excepting perhaps that the former do not ufually fetch fo good a price as the latter. I blufhed, even for an Heathen State, when, long ago, I read, in one of the mod intelligent moral writers of Greece, that they alfo were chargeable with an equally ftiameful and cruel inflance of negligence f . Any fuch inat- tention you are far enough from pracYifing in the other concerns of life ; in which no people are more * Redemptioners were fuch Europeans as, revolving to emigrate to America, and not being able to pay for their paffage, contracted with captains of mips to be permitted, on their arrival in America^ to find a matter for themfelves, who, on their agreeing to ferve him three, four, or five years, would redeem them by paying their ran, fom, or the money for their paflage, j- liiti vvv y TO 7vo/nioy 7roAXo< y9Te xaraysXaron ?r* lav -yap SovXuv rut ffKovScriuv Toy? p.tv ytvgyoi/s a7roSxwoucn, Toy? SI TOW? $t E/KTrogoy?, Toy? $i oix.ovofA.ovgf TOW? ^ ^aysf-a$* o Ti $ avJpaTro^ov ovoXn7TTOt xa* Atp^voy, TTO; wacrav ^rfay^taTiiav OLfflyrovj TOVTU ^om? t/Tro^a'xXoycri Toy? ytoy?. The practice of many perfons at prefent is very ridiculous : of the moft capable of their fervants they appoint fome to be hufbandmen, fome to be commanders of veflels, fome to be merchants, fome to be flewards, and fome to be money-fcriveners ; whereas, if they happen to meet with one who is either a drunkard or a glutton, and utterly incapable of bufmefs, to Kim they allot the management of their children. Plutarch, de Liberia Educandis, edit. Reifke, torn. vi. p. u. ex per t^ ON AMERICAN EDUCATION, 185 expert, or more attentive to their intereft. I do not mean to offend you, when I mention the farcaftic remark of Diogenes to the people of Megara ; of which many particulars that I have obferved among you have often reminded me. Seeing they took great care of their property, and paid little attention to the riling generation, he faid, it was better to be one of their fwine than one of their children. This very reproachful neglecl of education in the middle colonies it is in your power to remove ; and you are without excufe for not having removed it long ago. But, befides this, public education labours under another great difadvantage among you, which I am afraid it is not in your power to remove : I mean the neceffity you are under of bringing up your chil- dren among flaves. Whilft I knewflaves and flaveiy at a diftance and in theory only, I both thought and faid, that, were it poflible, from motives of curiofity, I could have a defire to bring up a child with the temper of a bafhaw, at once cowardly and cruel, I would give him, in his early years, an unlimited con- troul over flaves. I thank God our children no wherp have fuch abfolute authority over their attendants, who are always flaves, as is here ftated ; but they have every where too much : yet is it very far from pro- ducing, in fact, any fuch effect as, when I judged of it only from theory, I have owned I expected it would ; for, I willingly bear you teftimony, that, as far as my obfervations for more than ten years in the midft l86 ON AMERICAN EDUCATION. midft of flaves are to be depended on, you are in the treatment of flaves mild and humane *. Much of this (I can fuppofe) may be owing to your natural good temper and good fenfe : but more (1 truft) is owing to the form of your govern men t, and to your religion ; becaufe it is a texture of national character in which we again have the honour to refemble the Jews, who like us had flaves, and like us treated them with kindnefs. And when it is confidered that, according to the fubordi nation of conditions (which, for the good of all, our Maker has eftablifhed among mankind,,) fome muft toil and drudge for others ; whilft flaves are well treated, and matters well ferved, the argument is not perhaps fo decifive (as it is often affumed to be) that this kind of con- * I have heard a remark on the treatment of (laves by the different nations who poffefs them in America ; which, if founded in facl, (as 1 believe it is,) may perhaps fugged fome not incurious infer- ences. The Spaniards, whofe national character is not generally fuppofed to be diftinguifhed for gentlenefs, are faid to be the moft indulgent mailers to flaves : next to them the French ; then the Englifh ; and laft of all, the Dutch. I once heard an Indian make the fame obfervation refpecling the French and Englifh, in their treatment of Indians. The remark is not an uncommon one, that perfons moft clamorous about liberty are in general (on a compa- rifon with others J moft apt to be domineering and tyrannical in their private characters j for the fame reafon, I prefume, that even ty- rants, who have always been defpots, are fometimes found to be indulgent and generous, whilft none are more apt to be infolent and tyrannical than thofe who, having been flaves, fuddenly be come poffefled of freedom and authority over flaves. nedlion ON AMERICAN EDUCATION". 187 ne&ion between a matter and a fe'rvant is lefs liberal, and lefs advantageous, than the venal and mercenary one of compact and hire ; which is not without it's difadvantages, any more than flavery. I own, however, that I diflike flavery ; and, among other reafons, becaufe, as it is here conducted, it has pernicious effects on the focial ftate, by being unfa- vourable to education. It certainly is no neceflary circum (lance, efTential to the condition of a flave, that he fhould be uneducated : yet this is the gene- ral, and almoft univerfal, lot of flaves. Such extreme, deliberate, and fyftematic inattention to all mental improvement, in fo large a portion of our fpecies, gives far too much countenance and encouragement to thofe abject perfons who are contented to be rude and ignorant. By feeing human beings, who, though uninformed, are yet fatisfied with their lot, and never think of afpiring after knowledge, an acquiefcence under a want of knowledge is produced ; which is more general among you, and of far more pernicious confcquencc than you fcem to be aware of. A white man can hardly be fo totally illiterate and without inftmction as not to be in many refpects better informed, and a wifer man, than flaves in general are. With flaves, however, he mud often aflbciate ; and with them he felclom finds reafon to draw compari- fbns in disfavour of his own attainments: however low then he may be in the fcale of intellectual im- provement, whilfl he fees others who are ftill lower, he ceafes to be afhamed of his deficiencies. It has appeared 1 88 ON AMERICAN EDUCATION. appeared to me, (and I fear I am not miftaken,) that the labouring clafles of people here differ from thofe in the fame Iphere of life in the Parent State, in two particulars : they are more ignorant, and they are lefs religious. I am far from meaning to fay either that they have not as good natural parts, or that they are more depraved : what I mean is, that they have little or no acquired information ; and though they are not perhaps particularly immoral, they are not moral on a proper principle ; they are not religious ; they nei- ther know, nor wifh to know, much of religion. Their want of general information may be accounted for m fome meafure, perhaps, from the great heats of our fummers, which, ! am very fenfible, indifpofe all of us to exertion and habits of ftudy : but, it can hardly admit of a doubt, that it is owing far more to their being fo much with people liill lefs informed than them lei ves. For their unconcern about reli^ gion (a circumftance of particular unhappinefs to themfelves, and hardly lefs to be regretted by the community) it probably is to be afcribed to the fame caufes ; that is to lay, the fame want of education, by which they might be informed of the value of re- ligion : and, perhaps, in no final 1 degree, to the par- ticularly unafTuming, unauthoritative, and unalluring way in which religious knowledge is here communi- cated ; as well as to the very few opportunities they have, or can have, of receiving religious inftruclion. Under the moft favourable circumfhmces, a majority of the people of this province cannot hope to attend public ON AMERICAN EDUCATION. 189 public worfliip and hear a fermon more than once in a fortnight or three weeks : and what minifler can pretend privately to vifit his parifhioners (the mod important part, perhaps, of the paftoral charge) in a, parifh of fifty or fixty miles extent ? When I faid that two thirds of the perfons now employed in Maryland in the inftruction of youth were either indented fervants or convicts, the afler- tion was not made quite at random, nor without as much previous authentic information as the nature of the cafe would admit of. If you enquire who and what the other third are, the anfwer muft be, that, in general, they are aliens, and in very few in- ftances members of the Eftablifhed Church. Were it not the hard fate of religion to be regarded as an inferior and infignificant part of education,^! muft be deemed incongruous, that thofe natives who are born in the communion of the Church of England, and are intended and expected to continue in her communion, fhould be taught their religion by dif- fenters *.j One of the firit and moft obvious cffefls of * Dr. South, in the clofe of his Sermon on Education, fpeaking of fchools and academies kept by difTenters, declares, in his warm and ftrong manner, that " it is a practice that looks with a more " threatening afpect upon religion than any one fanatical or repub- " lican encroachment made upon it befides : for, this is the direct " and certain way to bring up a race of mortal enemies both to " Church and State. To derive, propagate, and immortalize the " principles and practices of forty-one to pofterity, is fchifm and " fedition for ever ; faction and rebellion in fecula fseculorum ; <* which, ttjO ON AMERICAN EDUCATION. of this loofe manner of enforcing religious impreffioriS is a fort of general latitudinarianifm ; and when mankind have once been brought to think that one religion is as good as another, the next ftep is to conclude that the thing itfelf is not of much mo- ment : and when religion in general is thus fet at naught, neither good morals, npr good conduct, will be much regarded. I fhould imagine there are fevy perforis fo carelefs (not to fay profligate" as not to be fhocked at the idea of leaving; behind them a de- to nliiT:- generate and worthlefs pofterity. |Jft were better < as the famous William Penn long ago obferved) that the world fhould now end with us, than that we fhould be the means of continuing it only that it may be wicked and miferabfc.j The truth is, we are fo much out of order in this great bufmcfs, that it would be to compliment us to fay we have only the fin of neglect to anfwer for. We have not only left undone that which we ought to have done ; but have alfo done that which we " which, I am fure, no honeft Englifh heart will ever fay Amen to. " We have, I own, laws againft conventicles: but believe it* it would " be but labour in vain to go about to fupprefs them, whilft thefc ** nurferiea of difobedience are fufFered to continue. For> thofe firft " and early averfions to the government, which thefe mail infufe " into the minds of children, will be too flrong for the cleareft " after-convictions which can pafs upon them when they are men* ' So that when thefe under- ground workers have once planted a ** brier, let no governor think, that, by all the arts of clemency and '* condefcenfion, or any other cultivation whatfoever, he mail change " it into a rofej c." South's Sermons, vol. 5. Serm. i, p. 44. ought 0$ AMWCAN EDUCATION, IQI ought not to have done. And that we are not already reprobate to every good work, is more owing to the goodnefs of God, who had ftngularly blefled the people of thefe countries with a natural abhorrence of every thing that is monnrous either in vice or ir* folly, than to our care and prudence in inftrucling the rifing generation. We have among us proofs in abundance of the influence of education ; but unfor- tunately they are the proofs oniy of the bad, the wrong effects of a bacl education. They too plainly ihew what men may become by being trained up in idlenefs, ignorance, and impurity of manners. In either moral or political conduct it is reckoned no ordinary proof of wifdorn to fubmit fometimes to be taught even by an enemy *. Mark then the con- duct of the various fectaries now every where fpring- ing up among us, like w r eeds in a neglecled foil. They not only plant their fchools in every place where they can have the moil diftant profpect of fuccefs ; but they have conducted their interefts with fuch deep policy, that (as was obferved of the Jefuits in Europe) they have almoft monopolized the inftruction of our youth. Of our American colleges only two (I think) are profeiTedly formed on the principles of the efta- blifhed religion. We are -not, however, (I blefs God !) wholly with- out tutors of meritorious characters, nor without fome places of education whicii are not liable to thefe - fas eft et a|> hofte doceri." exceptions. ON AMERICAN EDUCATION. exceptions. Yet, even with thofe men, and in thofe places, the education is not of the right fort. Proud, as perhaps it is no reproach to us to own that we are, to form our manners and our fentiments on the model of the Parent State, yet much more difpofed to copy her follies and her vices than her merits and her virtues, we fervilely follow the track (he chalks out for us, in inftances where we might commendably depart from it : and hence even our beft education, like her's, is incongruous with our religion and our laws. As Chriftians, there furely is a propriety in our being taught the doclrines of Chriftianity; and as fubjects, intended to live under a monarchy, we are at leaft prepofteroufly, if not dangeroufly> educated, when we are taught to prefer republicanifm. Yet what are all the admired authors ufually found in fchools, to the ftudy of whom alone we devote our firft and beft years, but the feducing panegyrifts of a very lax morality, and of ftill more diflblute principles of policy ? They may perhaps furnifh us with the beft models of competition, and enable us to fhine as orators and rhetoricians : but, what are thefe in comparifon with the importance of forming good men and good citizens ? You will believe me, it is not without fome compunction of heart that I can bring myfelf thus to tear the well- earned bays from the brows of thefe admired writers, to whom fo large a portion of my life has been de- voted, and in whofe bewitching fociety I ftill fpend (and hope long to Ipend) many of my pleafanteft moments* ON AMERICAN EDUCATION** moments. Let them flill be read, ftill ftudied, and Hill admired ; as no doubt they always will be by all men of true tafte : but let not our youth be fent to them only, to learn their duty to God, their neigh- bour, and themfelves. It is high time that the chil- dren of Chrhlian parents fhould have a Chriftian education : it is high time that we fhould, in earneft, and totally, renounce Heathenifm ; the doing of which, a learned Divine * fays, is the true meaning of the promife, to renounce the devil and all his works, made for us at our baptifm. When, towards the beginning of this difcourfe, I took the liberty to cenfure writers on education for having confined their obfervations too much to fchools and fchoolmaflers, I hope I could not be underftood as meaning to infinuate that I thought either fchools or fchoolmafters to be improper or unnecefTary. Pa- rents, no doubt, are the natural tutors of their own. children : and though, under the ftri6l government of Sparta, this was found to be too great a power to be fafely trufted in their hands, he muft be a bold man who fhould venture to recommend to the State to exercife the fame power in the fame way now, in the eighteenth century, and in the province of Maryland. Not that it is a privilege, on which parents feem now to fet any high value ; whatever might be the cafe, if it were invaded : their great fault and greater re- proach is, that they take little or no concern about it. * Dr. Hammond. O Perfectly $94 ON AMERICAN EDUCATION Perfe$:Iy indifferent who educates their children, fo that they thernfelves have not the trouble of attending to it, they perfuade themfelves their duty is done, and done well, whilft they pay for having it done ; no matter how, or by whom. So far, however, am I from undervaluing either fchools or fcboolmafters, that I think it one of the moil objectionable circum- ftances belonging to your province thank has in it fo few of either) and that even thofe few are fo poorly encouraged. No public meafure, therefore, has lately been brought forward which I think more proper or more commendable than the propofed incorporation of thefe fchools. That it would have been better to have made each of the feparate fchools a good fchool, will hardly be difputed : I am thankful, however, that at laft we have the profpedl of at leaft one re- putable fchool on the Weflern fhore. In what has hitherto been done in the matter, you feem to me to have done well : and I feel it to be my duty, as it certainly is my pleafure, to bid you go on, and fr -offer. You muft indeed, literally, go on ; or all that has yet been don-e has been done in vain. Having now given being to an infant fcminary, you muft not, like the oftrich, defert your own offspring. If it be not, in ftri&nefs of fpeech, a child of your own, it is at leaft an orphan and a minor, and you are it's truftees and guardians. This truft, I can well rely, you will faithfully perform : and as the time is now come for jour making rules and ftatutes for it's future govern. ment, ON AMERICAN EDUCATION. ment, let me yet have leave to fuggeft an obfervation or two refpecling both the difcipline and the inftruo tion which it may be expedient to promote in it. As to difcipline, the firft and moft eilential point is, the chcofing a proper perfon to prefide over your fchool : and, in determining who is proper, it will behoove you to be efpecially careful to " choofe no " man out of favour or affection, or any other worldly " confideration, but with a fincere regard to the ho- cc nour of Almighty God and our bleiTed Saviour, as " you tender the interefts of the Chriilian religion " and the good of men's fouls *." Condefcend to copy the precaution of a venerable Society, to which America has long owed the greateft obligations : and have good afTurances of your fchoolmafter's * c zeal for the Chriftian religion - f diligence in his calling ; affeclion to the prefent .Government; and conformity to the doctrine and difcipline of the Church of Eng- land f ." Let him be required alfo, after the example of another no lefs venerable Society ^, on his ad- miflion into your fchool, to, declaration or promife, as follows: that " he does " heartily acknowledge his majefty King George to " be the only rightful and lawful king of thefe realms; " and will, to the utmoft of his power, educate the " children committed to his charge in a true fenfe of * Inftr unions given by the Society for promoting Chriftian Knowledge'. t Do. by the Society for propagating the Gofpel in Foreign Parts. f That for promoting Charity-fchoola in Ireland. O2 " their 196 ON AMERICAN EDUCATION. " their duty to him as fuch : that he will not, by any " words or actions, do any thing whereby to leifen " their eSteem of, or their obedience to, the prefent " Government : that, upon all public days, when the " children of this fchool may be likely to bear a part f( in any tumults and riots, (which are an affront to " Government, and fo great a fcandal, as well as pre- judice, to thefe realms,) he will do hisbeSt to keep " them in, and reftrain fuch licentioufnefs. And " likevvife, if there be any catechifms or institutions " which teach or encourage any exceptionable politi- * c cal or party principles, fuch as are incompatible with *' the Law and the Constitution of this country, he " will immediately throw them aSide, as pernicious " to the original dcfign of this pious nurfery." You will alfo, I imagine, think it incumbent on you to do at leaSl fomething towards directing and fettling fome prefcribed plan, manner, or SySlem, by which you judge it proper that public instruction fhould be communicated* It is true, indeed, that, in my own country, I have feen and experienced the fhort-Sightednefs of that wifdorn which, in the found- ing of fchools and other feminaries of learning, hoped to perpetuate good principles, by ordering and en- joining a particular fet of books to be read ; books which have now long been obfolete. But, to avoid this rock, it is not neceflary to run upon another, and to leave the courfe of reading or Study open to :the caprice of every new governor of a national inSti- tute. {^1 conceive you may, with perfect propriety, ON AMERICAN EDUCATION. direft. not only what fhall not be ftudicd, but what {hall. I Inftead of indifcriminately compelling all our youth, with or without a genius adapted to fuch ftudies, to fpend the whole period of education in fruitlefs attempts, " merely (as Milton fays) to fcrape " together a little miferable Greek and Latin," it is much to be wifhed fome difcrimination could be made ; and that boys hereafter might be taught, not words only, but fuch things as they are beft qualified to learn, and fuch as are likely to be of mod ufe to them in the part they are hereafter to act in the great drama of life. What is practicable and ufeful in one country, might be made fo in another. In Ruffia, a grand fcheme was formed for inftituting one great uniform plan of a national education ; which was to have comprehended (beiides all the ufual articles taught in fchools) various branches of natural philo- fophy, as applied to the practical bufinefles of life ; together with lectures on naval, military, civil, and commercial fubjecls ; and more particularly, inftruc- tion in agriculture. That it has not been carried into effect, I have not been informed : if it has, it is hardly poffible it fhould not have fucceeded *. How far fuch a project could be brought to bear in thefe times, and in this country, I do not take upon me to fay : but to make it a part of our prclent plans, (I own,) I think is impracticable. If, however, we can~ , * Such readers as may wifti for fuller information as to the fcheme here mentioned, are referred to the Biographia Britannica, new edition, under the article DR. JOHN BROWN, vol. ii. p. 663. O i not IC)8 ON AMERICAN EDUCATION. not be taught all that is proper, we may at leaft avoid being taught what is improper. And, with all due deference to fome great authorities, let me, without offence, be here permitted to mention, that our ex- treme partiality for oratory, and fpeech-making, may with great propriety be difcontinued. I am neither prepared nor difpofed to enter into a full comparifon of the advantages and difadvantages of oratory : my opinion is, that, whatever may formerly have been the cafe, it now every where does much more harm than it does good anywhere. It is, I fuppofe, becaufe, along with their rules and modes of fpeaking, we fometimes adopt the fentiments and principles of our great maf- ters in the art, who were republicans, that orators are in general adverfe to government. If I am not much miftaken, I have not unfrequently heard fpeeches re- plete with fedition, whilft yet the fpeaker had no ferious ill-will nor milchievous intention againft go- vernment, nor any other aim than the credit of making a popular harangue. No injury, therefore, I apprehend, will be done to your infHtution, though declamations and fpeech-days fhould be no part of it's fyftem. Particular grammars, or particular catechifms, can- not well be fpecified and enjoined by ftatute : but there is one book of inftruclion, which (by the bleff- ing of God, I truft) will never come into difufe ; I mean, THE BIBLE, Let claffical learning ftill be at- tended to as it deferves; and no man is more ready than I am to acknowledge that it deferves to be very much ON AMERICAN EDUCATION. 199 inuch attended to : but, let it no longer monopolize all our attention. Let fchools, at length, come to be regarded as nurferies of religion and good morals, as well as feminaries of learning ; and, whilft we read and ftudy the daffies, (as excellent models of all that is elegant or perfect in compofition,) let us take due care not to be milled either by their loofe morals, or any of their falfe notions of government. Thus read, and thus fludied, fo far from doing harm, they may do good. I fee nothing incompatible between a fine tafte and a pure morality, between being a good Scholar and a good Chriftian. Thus guarded, we may read tribunitial harangues againft legal reftraints, without even weakening that neceilary and juft fub~ jeftion to thofe higher powers, who were ordained by God for the benefit of man : we may admire the language and elegance of the compofition, whilft we defpife and deteft it's principles. But I have not been fo heedlefs an obferver of men and things, as not to have feen inftances, in abundance of men, of liberal, generous, and cultivated minds, loft and undone by the habit, firfl acquired at fchool, of reading only claffics : inftead of loving Chriftian verity and purity, they have thus become contented to grope and grovel in the darknefs and filth of Heathenifm. If the picture, prefented to you in this difcourfe, of the Jewifh fyflem of education, (a picture which I be- lieve to be drawn from the life,) has appeared to you, as I own it has to me, better calculated than that of any other people to infpire the rifing generation with O 4 that ON AMERICAN EDUCATION. that warm attachment and love for their country which alone deferves to be called rational, virtuous, or Chriftian, you will not perhaps think it beneath you to imitate at leaft thofe parts of it which are fuitable to your circumftances. Something like a compromife, it would feem, might eafily and ad van - tageoufly be made between the exceffive dread and Abhorrence which Jews were taught to entertain of Gentile principles and manners, and the no lefs ex- ceffive predileclion of Chriftians for them. And fhould the idea of fuch an accommodation be favour- ably received,, I take the liberty to fuggeft to you two points in the Jewifti code, which, I perfuade myfelf, will be found as practicable as they certainly are reafonable. Whilfl it fhall continue to be thought proper that, as an efTential part of a liberal education, our youth fhould be enabled to read the immortal compofitions of Heathen orators and poets in their original languages, I hope it will not be thought lefs proper that they fhould be enabled to read the Scrip- tures alfo in their refpective original languages. I likewife hope it will not be thought lefs neceffary, rior (permit me to add) lefs agreeable, thatthe Hiflory, the Laws, and the Conftitution of our own country fhould be diligently read and (ludied by our young men,,jfwhether in a fchool or a college, than thofe of the Heathen ftates of antiquity. To conclude May you fo found and regulate the inftitution now to be put under your guardianfhip, and may you fo faithfully and carefully watch over it when, ON AMERICAN EDUCATION. 2OI when founded, as that it may be an honour and 3 blefling to your country ! And, may that God, who hath fed us all our lives long, and hath redeemed us from all evil, blefs our children, and teach them the good wherein they Jhould walk * ! * Gen. ch. xlviii, ver. 15. and Exod. ch. xviii. rcr. 20* DISCOURSE ON REDUCING THE DISCOURSE V. ON REDUCING THE REVENUE OF THE CLERGY*. PROVERBS, ch. xxiv. ver. 2,1. My Son, fear tlou tie Lord, and tie King ; and meddle not with tlem tlat are given to change. IT was far from Solomon's intention, in this earneft dehortation to his fon, to difcountenance all change ; as that would differ but little from difcountenancing all improvements. In arts and fciences, it is com- mendable in men to be always aiming at fometl'mg new, and even to be given to change ; as far at leaf! as real improvements imply change -f<. It is in matters * Preached at Annapolis, in Maryland, in the year 1771. f " Magnum certe difcrimen inter res civiles & artes : non cnim idem periculum a novo motu, a nova luce. Verum, in rebus " civilibus, mutatlo etlam in meltus fufpe6ta eft ob perturbationem : " cum civilia audoritate, confenfu, fama & opinione, non demon- " ftratione, nitantur. In artibus autem & fcientiis, tanquam i " metalli fodinis, omnia novis operibus & ulterioribus progreflibu* " circumilreperc debent. Jt Lord Bacon. only REVENUE OP THE CLERGY* only which concern government, morality and reli- gion, that this propeniity to change becomes danger- ous ; becaufe, in thofe points more efpecially, man- kind are mofl apt to miftake innovation for improve- ment. On other fubjects men may fpeculatc, try experi- ments, and attempt improvements, if not always with advantage, yet perhaps without danger. But there is danger, even in the notion, that religion and government admit of improvement ; much of their influence and efficacy depending on the perfuafion that they are already perfect. This is the argument of the text, in which the wifefl of men refts a refpect and reverence for laws, either human or divine, en- tirely on the perfuafion that they have the authority of God. It is by no means aflerted or infinuated, that any religious eftablifhment, or any form of government, either is, or ever was, fo faultlefs as to be abfolureljr incapable of amendment ; nor that it is not wife and proper for mankind to endeavour to render both flill more and more perfect. All that can be inferred from the text is, that every man who has a due regard for God, whofe will it is that mankind fhould be re- ligious, and live under government, (without both of which it is impoffible they ever fhould live happily,) will be cautious how he liftens to any new projects which it is poffible may weaken the foundations of either the one or the other. With no defire wholly to controul this innate bias of the human mind, Solomon is 204 ON REDUCING THE is contented to regulate it ; and, therefore, equally careful not to encourage his fon in the vitionary and romantic idea, (not unnatural to a youthful mind,) that in government and religion it was expedient to plan frefh alterations and to aim at farther improvements, he warns him againfl thofe bold reformers who are ufually eager to change old things for no better reafon than that they are old, and to adopt new only becaufc they are new. Unfteadinefs, and a propenfity to change, are as ha- zardous to communities as a levity in fhifting from opinion to opinion is difreputable to individuals. Ficklenefs is a prevailing feature in the character of children : and if there be any foundation for the fuppofition of etymologifts, that the word changeling, as denoting an idiot, is derived from this childifh paffion for change, it proves that the being given to change has long and generally been conlidered as eminently unwife. It is remarkable that this flrong predilection for change, with all it's good and all it's bad confe- quences, prevails chiefly among Europeans. Whe- ther we, who inhabit Europe, (for I coniider the Britifh colonies in North America ftill as Europeans in this refpect,) were originally formed with more ac- tive minds, or whether there be fomething in our climates that is peculiarly adapted to fet our faculties in motion, we want data to enable us to determine : |>ut the fact is not more extraordinary than it is cer~ tain p that moft of the great revolutions of the world 3 have REVENUE OF THE CLERGY. 205 have taken place, not in Africa, nor till very lately in America, but in Afia, and in Europe. It is hardly more characteriilical of the governments of Europe to be liable to change, than it is of thofe of the Eaft, that, like the laws of the Medes and Perfians, they niter not ; or, if in fome of them great revolutions have fometimes occurred, they have been effected, not as in European ftates, by any fluctuations in the popular opinion, but by the overbearing ambition of fome towering and fuccefsful individual. Of the truth of this remark the great kingdom of China is a ftriking inftance ; in which, with the exception of that fingle revolution which fet the prefent Tartar family on the throne, (but which produced no alte- ration in the internal (late of the country,) no change of any moment affecting their government is record- ed in their hiflory. Their other inflitutions, and even their manners, are equally unvarying and per- manent. Jufl the contrary is the character of the nations of Europe, and their dependencies. Here every thing is in a ftate of perpetual mutability. To what extent that motley principle called Fafhion, which exifls and flourifhcs only by change, prevailed in the ancient ftates of Greece and Rome, it might not perhaps lx; eafy to afcertain : but I believe it is now peculiar to us, on this fide the Line, to yield to the dictates of fafhion, not only in the lefs fignificant circumftances of life, fuch as drefs, food, amufement, and modes of living, but alfo in manners, opinions, principles, and doctrines. fctf REDUCING THE do&rines. Men of reading and obfervation eafily name the times and the countries, when par- ticular fyftems of philofophy, particular tenets of re- ligion, one after another, have been adopted merely through the caprices of fafhion. Of thefe fyftems many, after enjoying a (hort- lived glory, are now fallen into total difefteem, in fome inftances perhaps with as little reafon as they were before embraced* Nothing of this fort enters into the character of the people of the Eaft, who are as tenacious of old opi- nions and old cuftoms as we are fickle and change^ able. A modern Bramin differs but little either in principle or practice from Zoroafter, the founder of his feel ; whilft neither a Church, nor a Seel, nor a Syftem of Philolbphy, nor a Form of Government, ean be named in Europe, which has not undergone many and great alterations* Confidered in this point of view, the hiftory of Europe is but the hiftory of the changes and chances which have reful ted from the fluctuation of opinions^ Every age has had, and iiill has, it's appropriate fea- ture: and every country has been^ and is, diftinguifh- ed by fome certain caft of fentiment, fome ruling propenflty, or the prevalence of fome favourite and fafhionable mode of thinking. It would be more than curious (if it were poffible) to afcertain, and collecl into one point of view, all the effecls that have flow- ed from this unchangeablenefs in the Southern world, for the purpofe of comparing them with the effecls to which our propenfity to change has given birth. In REVENUE OF THE CLERGY. 20T Iti fome refpects, each peculiarity has, no doubt, been both advantageous and difadvantageous to the inha- bitants of either hemifphere. We owe it to this our variablenefs of temper, that our characters are more diverfified, and of courfe more interefting ; and to this unceafing fearch after improvement we alfo probably owe our acknowledged fuperiority in arts and fci- ences. But it is much to be queflioned, whether our advancement in goodnefs and happinefs has kept pace with all thefe other boafted improvements. As individuals, we are litigious, diflatisfied, and reftlefs ; and, in our public capacities, factious, turbulent, and rebellious : whilft the poor Gentoo, even under the delufions of a falfe religion, is in practice humble, unoffending, quiet, and peaceable, to a degree that ought to fhame difcontented and refractory Chri- tians. Such is the imperfection of man, and fuch the per- fection of art, that, to effect any great improvements, no ordinary portion of time is neceffary ; fo that, con- lidering how Ihort life is, and how limited our capa- cities, even in their bed eftate, confelfcdly are, it might be well, if, going on in a progreffive flate of melioration, one age could finifh what another be- gan. This, however, is not now the ufual courfe of human conduct : inftead of availing ourfelves of the wifdom ofthofe who have gone before us, the em* ployment of one age is to pull down what the pre- ceding age had eftablifhed, and one reigning error is deftroyed only to make room for another. . Falfe fyftems 08 ON REDUCING THE fyftems are thus not unfrequently raifed on the riling of falfe fyftems, whilft we thus run from extreme td extreme ; truth is miffed ; and mankind, though always in fearch of happinefs, yet pafs through life without finding it. Still given to change, and fHIl prone to meddle with things which it would be our wifdom and felicity not to meddle with, the fafhion of this our day is, (to the reproach perhaps of our inventive faculties,) not to adventure on new, hazardous, and untried experi- ments of our own, but fervilely to copy the faults and the follies of thofe whole defperate projects of innovation brought fo dark a cloud over the brighteft period of our hiftory in the laft century. Like the bufy meddlers in the grand rebellion, our ruling pa- lion is to diflike and quarrel with every thing that is fettled ; and it feems to be our higheft gratification to be permitted to pull to pieces and deftroy fyftems and eftablifhments which it would probably have ex- ceeded our abilities to have formed. Inftead of a careful and difpaffionate ftudy of our prefent Conftitution, (which wants but to be ftudied and underftood to be admired and reverenced be- yond any form of government merely human that ever was eftablifhed upon earth,) we examine it only to find out it's flaws : as fome philofophers, more cu- rious than wife, furnifh themfelves with glafles of ex- traordinary powers, to enable them to difcover the fpots of the fun. There have, no doubt, been pe- riods in our hiftory, when our anceftors, under a dif- fidence REVENUE OP THE CLERGY. 209 fidence of their private judgment, were perhaps too ready and tame in giving up their own opinions as individuals, through a blind deference to the judg- ments of others. It was then the faftrion to acquiefce in whatever had been long eftablifhed. And it is neither fuperftition nor folly thus to be contented with inftitutions of long continuance, though palpa- bly imperfect ; even in preference to fuch as in the- ory might feem lefs exceptionable, but which have never been tried by the touchftone of practice. There are cafes, however, and thofe not a few, in which it may be both creditable and beneficial to us to depart from long received and eftablifhcd maxims : but, whenever we do fo, the neceffity muft be manifeft, and the change conducted with all poffible temper and judgment. " Reformation of grievances," fays an excellent Divine *, " is confefTedly a good work, when it is in- " deed wanted ; that is, where the corruptions com- " plained of are real ones ; where the advantages rea* " fonably expected will counterbalance the hazards " attending all merely human attempts in this way ; u where it is conducted not only by warm hearts, " but by cool heads ; and concluded by fuch as know " how to build, as well as how to pull down.'* No change, in a fettled flate of things, can be a matter of indifference ; for, the mere act of chan- ging, even when it is allowedly for the better, is ha- * Dr, Gco. Fothergill. Sec his Sermons, vol. i. p. 88. p zardous, OX REDUCING THE zardotis, by the countenance and encouragement ft affords to thofe who are given to change *. . In thefe bufy and eventful times, diftinguifhed chiefly for a reftlefs fpirit of innovation, the wifefl and beft men, eager to introduce reforms which they deem abfo- lutely neceiTary, will do well to confider, whether the good arifing from their projects may not ultimately be more than counterbalanced by the evil. The good expected is uncertain, but not fo the harm to be apprehended, if one certain confequence of all changes be the fhaking, in fome degree, the ella- bliflied fyftem, under which the community upon the whole live quiet and contented ^. For, as it is well obferved in the preface to our Liturgy, " com* t( mon experience fheweth, that where a change " hath been made of things advifedly eftabliflied, " (no evident neceffity fo requiring,) fundry incon- f * veniencies have thereupon enfued, and thofe many * " Ipfa mutatio confuetudinis, etlam quae adjuvat utilitate, per* " turbat novitate." St. Auguilin. f " The mifchiefs that have arifen to the public from inconfide- " rate alterations in our laws, are too obvious to be called in quef- * ( tion. The Common Law of England has fared, like other vene- *' rable edifices of antiquity, which rafli and unexperienced workmen ** have ventured to new drefs and refine, with all the rage of mo* 4t dern improvement. Hence frequently it's fymmetry has been de- " ftroyed, it's proportions diilorted, and it's mujeftic fimplicity ex- changed for fpeeious embellifhments and fantaftic novelties." Blackftone. See his Introd. on the Study of the Law. Commen- taries, vol. i. p. 10. Svo ed. 3 " times REVENUE OP THE CLERGY. 211 " times more and greater than the evils that were " intended to be remedied by fuch change." St. Paul, in his lecond Epiftle to Timothy *, ac- cording to our tranflation, exhorts him to flee youth- ful lufts. Now, it is remarkable, that the word here tranflated youthful j- occurs only in this place, where another fenfe would better fuit the context. It's theme, wo?, in it's primary fenfe, is new : but it is alfo with great propriety, though in a fecondary fenfe, often uled for young, and fometimes for young perfons. The verb wAtpfjn, from which this term wwfyixoc (the word now under confideration) is derived, oc- curs frequently ; and the fenfe of it, according to Hederic and all lexicographers, is res novas molm, to innovate, to be given to change. Hence, inflead of flee youthful lufts, our tranflators might (almoft as li- terally "as, and certainly not with lefs exactnefs than, the prefent verfion) have rendered the paflage, in conformity with Solomon's charge in my text, avoid * Chap. if. ver. 22. f * f Per novitias cupiditates, recentiores quidam interpretes intel- *' ligunt vana innovandi dcfideria, & nova dogmata, & opiniones, " quo casteris videantur efle fapientiores, faftidientes antiqua : unde 4t fcrif tores neoterid. Et non turpes lafeivias, quae juvenili xtati in- '* cidere folent ; quod colligitur ex perfona Timothei, qui abftinen- *' tiffimus erat, & ex prasfentis loci circumitantiis : has cupiditates '* igitur vitia funt quaedam animi, quibus laborare folent juvenes, " ut liquet ex fubjunftis virtutibus, quas his defideriis opponit, viz. cannot but re- ceive fome tincture from the prevailing manners of the age in which they live. It is no wonder, then, that, in dark and ignorant ages, forne of their writings were ignorant and abfurd. But, every well-informed and liberal-minded man, inftead of for ever dinning proves, or fails to prove, it will at leaft produce this convi&ion in men of candid minds, that all Papiils have not always been bigots, or intolerant. Since this Sermon and the above Note were written, two other Vindications of Catholics, by Catholics, have been published ; writ- ten, both of them, I had aimed faid, with the abilities, but certainly with the fpirit and with the candour of WALSH, who lived in the left century, Thefe are : Berrington's State and Behaviour of Englifh Catholics, &c. 1780. Butler's Juftification of the Tenets of the Roman Catholic Re- ligion, &c. 1787. To thefe I rejoice that I can add Father O'Leary's truly Catho-' lie Tracts. But, to the Catholic Proteflant who may yet wifli for farther fatisfa&ion refpecling the toleration of Papifts, I beg leave to re- commend a Proteftant writer, who, on this fubjecl, as well as on almoft every other on which he has written, has left little to be added by any that come after him. This is the celebrated Bp. Jeremy Taylor's noted Treatifeon " The Liberty of Prophefying ;" and particularly the zoth fe&ion of it, in which it is inquired, " how far the Religion of the Church of Rome is tolerable." the ON THE TOLERATION OP PAPISTS. l3l the ears of Pa pids wilh vague imputations of monkifli ignorance ; in (lead of vifiling the fins of the f alias upon tie children unto tie third and fourth generation, as if they had been laid under fome irrevocable inter- diction, and that we were never to have any connec- tion or friendship with them * ; inflead of all fuch low and unworthy prejudices, men really enlightened and really liberal will remember, and acknowledge with gratitude, that, chiefly to Papifts do we owe the prefervation of ancient literature; that, in times of general anarchy and violence, the Romifh Clergy alone gave fuch cultivation to letters as the unim- proved Itate of fociety then admitted of; and that, in the cloiiters of cathedrals, and in the folitude of rnonaftcries, they opened fchools of public inilruclion, and,, to men of retired and ftudious minds, afylums from the turbulence of war. It was thus that Papifts, and even Popifli priefts, by gradually opening and enlarging the human mind, prepared the way for the Reformation ; which has been a blefling, not to Pro- teftants only, but to the whole Chriftian world. The Church of Rome, as well as every other Church and Society, partakes of that general increafe of light and liberality, to the credit of which, with all it's levity, and all it's falfe fcience, the prefent age is undoubt- edly in many refpefts^ entitled : and fhe too, along * ' Genus omne futurum " Exercete odiis ** . . . .... nullus amor populis, nee foedera funto." Virg. ^En. lib. iv. 1. 622. with iz ON THE TOLERATION OF PAPISTS. with others, has in thefe latter times in many par* ticulars greatly reformed herfelf, and is daily re- forming, If any man of an unprejudiced and ingenuous mind, forgetting for a moment that he is either a Pro- feftant or a Papifi, will fit down, and read the Popifh controvcrfy, I can almofl anfwer for his rifing up with this conviclion flrongly imprefied on his mind, that Proteitants have hardly fhevvn themfelves more fuperior to their adverfaries in point of argument, than Papifts have in good temper and good manners. When Catholics write or fpeak of Proteftants, we are always mentioned with decency, if not with refpecl: : whereas we very rarely notice them, without beftow- ing on them fome harfh and offenfive epithet. For the advantage which, in our controverfy with them, we certainly have over them, we are indebted almoft entirely to the goodnefs of our caufe, and the learn-* ing of our writers : but there is reafon to fear, that what Papifts thus lofe they recover by their greater moderation in controverfy. Let a reverend ." Confiderer * of the prefent State ce of Popery" fet me down, if fo he pleafes, among the " feemingly cool and candid, but certainly injudicious " and perhaps deligning lookers on," who think " the alarms concerning the progrefs and increafe of " this dangerous fuperftition have been chimerical ;" I rnuft be contented to bear his fneers and his Mr. Archdeacon Blackburn. fures ; ON THE TOLERATION OP PAPISTS. 283 fores; for I cannot bring myfelf to furrenrler to him, or to any man, either my common fenfe, or my Chridian charity. I claim to be as anxious for the fuppreflion of error, and the propagation of truth, as he or any man can be : and though I hope never to be fo clamorous, I refolve to be as earned, a (tickler for the right of private judgment, as any of the nume- rous and noify tribe who fo perpetually Hun the world with their declamations againft teds and fub.,- fcriptions. Actuated by thefe fentiments, I alfo, in my turn, beg leave to fay, what I fincerely think, that the progrefs of truth has been much impeded by the injudicloufnefs, and perhaps by the defigns, of fuck narrow-minded bigots as the Confeflionalid, who, with the cant of candour for ever in their mouths, are eminent chiefly for their rancour and malignity againft all thofe who dare prefume to think otherwife than they think. It is particularly remarkable in writers of this {lamp, that, when engaged in controvedy, not contented with exaggerating, they feldom fail to dif- tort and mifreprefent the tenets and the arguments of their opponents. This is the more provoking, as it is fure to be accompanied with the mod elaborate en- comiums on their own unequalled liberality. That Papifts, as counted by the poll, have increafed in the Britifh dominions, this author very confidently aflerts. It may be true, though I own that it is con~ trary to what I conceive to be the fact. But I aver^ in my turn, that thofe tenets in Popery which are judly deemed mod fuperditious and mod dangerous, are 2.84 ON THE TOLERATION OF PAPISTS, are every where lofing ground : and this being the cafe, it is fair to afTert, that Popery, as we underitand the term, is on the decline. In this province (which, with refpecl; to America in general, is certainly the ftrong hold of Popery) the general opinion is that Papitls have decreafed and are decreafing. Of the truth or falfehood of this matter, Papifts themfelves are moft likely to be the beft judges ; and they ac- knowledge that their numbers are on the decline. This they very rationally afcribe to that better treat- ment which they have of late years experienced from Proteftants. Who, then, can help regretting, that any thing fhould have occurred, juft at this particular criiis, to tempt fomc injudicious and perhaps defgnmg men among us to recommend it to us again to treat them with fufpicion and di fir nil ; and this too in the very moment when we were reaping, or were about to reap, the beft fruits from a contrary conduct * ? We * In September 1 660, the Lord Chancellor (the celebrated Earl of Clarendon) made a fpeech to the two Koufes of Parliament on their adjournment ; which, like all his productions, is not only in itfelf excellent, but particularly applicable to the fubje& of this fermon. " Gentlemen, the diftempers of religion, which have fo much dif- " turbed the peace of this kingdom, is a bad argument indeed : it is " a confideration that muft make every religious heart to bleed, to " fee religion, which mould be the ftrongeft cement and obligation " of affeftion, and brotherly kindnefs, and compaffion, made now, " by the perverfe wranglings of pafiionate and fro ward men, " the ground of all animoiity, malice, hatred, and revenge. And *' this Unruly and unmanly pafiion (which no doubt the Divine f nature ON THE TOLERATION OF PAPISTS. igj We all know (and though we forgive, we hope never to forget) what Proteftants have from time to time fuflered from Papifts. But what Protcftaut dares to allure himfelf that, were Papifts dlfpofed to retaliate, they could not (hew us as long and as bloody a eatalogue of Papifts who have bled under Protcftant hands ? Of whatever religion a man may be, he muft read fuch hiftories with forrovv and (hame. They are the juft reproach of both parties: and much arc uid nunc dicerent illi Cbr'ijt\ani,finojlra viderent tempera? fays the ** incomparable Grotius. Ho\w would they look upon our flinrp " and violent contentions in the debates of Chrittinn religion, and * the bloody wars that have proceeded from thofe contentions, " whilit every one preLendca to all the marks which attend upon " the true Church, except only that which h infcparalik from it, * f charity to one another r" tnrjr 2,86 ON THE TOLERATION OP PAPISTS* they both concerned to make all the amends in their power for the injury thus done to our common Cbrif- tianity. If, in our Englifh hiftory, there be one epoch which we emphatically execrate, it is the bloody reign of bloody Mary. But is there not another Mary, \vhofe tragical hiftory muft even be interefting to every heart capable cither of fympathy or fentiment ? Mary, Queen of Scotland, one of the moft amiable monarchs that ever wielded a fceptre, was perfecuted with a moft unrelenting rancour by her Proteftant fubjecls : and the beil informed and moft faithful of her hiftorians, though Proteftants, have owned that fhe owed her fufferings in no fmall degree to her being a Papift. I do not know that it is now poffible to afcertain how many Papifts loft both their eflates and their lives becaufe they adhered to the lad James, who owed the lofs of his crown to no one caufe fo much as he did to his religion : but I would not, even if I could, now recount all the plots and crimes with which Protcftants, in certain periods of our hiftory, on very infufficient grounds, have charged Papifts, Surely the world has now feen too much of the mif- chievoufnefs of fuch practices ever to countenance them again. Proteftants of the Church of England are particu- larly unwife in keeping up this groundlefs grudge again ft thofe from whom it is our boaft that we our- felves have fprung. Already is our Church rent and torn, in the moft unfeemly and piteous manner, by fefts and fe who, unmindful of the duties refulting from their religion, and unmoved by fo en- dearing an example, foolifhly and wickedly continue to regard Papifls as Samaritans, with whom they re- folve to have no dealings. Yet, if the good fenfe and the piety of Papiits would permit them to avail themfelves of the means that are in their power, they are not altogether de- ftitute of all means of redrefs. In few parts of the empire are they, in point of number, inconfiderable : in fome they are the majority : and in Maryland they have all the refpeclability which good birth, reputable connexions, and good eftates, can confer. They are not, moreover, (as we are,) diftrac~led and enfeebled by feels and parties. All found policy muft proteft againft our provoking fuch a people to become our enemies ; and Chriftianity is fhocked by our driving them, ^ by repeated wrongs, ftill farther from our com mu n ion . The ill treatment which they every where receive from us, is every where difgraceful ; but it more par- ticularly ill becomes the people of this province, which was fettled by Catholics, It was granted ta a Papiil avowedly, that Papifls might here enjoy their religion unmolefted. Differing from colonHls in general, the firft fettlers in Maryland were, with very few exceptions, pcribns of family and fortune : and this oft THE TOLERATION OP PAPISTS. 291 (his too is the character of their descendants, who ftill poflefs fome of the be ft lands and beft fortunes in the province. Retrained from many of the means of fhewing their regard for their country, they yet are, as far as it is in their power, as defirous arid as ready to promote it's welfare as any other of it's inhabi- tants. I am fure they have reafon to be fo ; for their all is at Hake in it : and I know of nothing in their religion, that neceflarily makes them hoftile either to their own interefts, or to thofe of the public. If they have not hitherto been, or are not now, fo active as fbme other defcriptions of men are in what are Called patriotic exertions^ they have not only the common apology of other quiet and orderly perfons^ that they conceive themlelves in this cafe to be at liberty to follow their own private judgments ; and that they do not think fuch felf-commiffioned exer* tions either neceflary> wife> orjuft; but they may alfo alledge, that they are reftrained by laws to which they fubmit from a fenfe of duty : that feeing the fair edifice of our glorious Conftitution already in flames, they think that their intermeddling in the matter might be deemed to be the throwing another unneceflary faggot ; and that they are pioufly unwill- ing to add to our prefent embarrafTments and con- fufions. Not to admit of fuch apologies is to imi- tate the tyranny of the Egyptians in demanding bricks where no draw had been given, and to refufe to others the exerciie of that liberty which we fo cla* loroufly demand for ourfelveS* U * la Zgi ON THE TOLERATION OF PAPISTS. In the hard meafure thus dealt out to this people, we firft make the offence, and then punifh it. To juftify our rigour towards them, we pretend that, by their education, modes, and habits of thinking, they are difqualified from exerciiing certain offices of citizen- Iliip ; from which, therefore, we exclude them. Now if they really be unfit, is it not to be afcribed to our ill policy and injuftice, in driving them to foreign countries for education ; from which it is natural they fhould return, if not with prejudices againft their own country, yet with no predilection nor habits in it's favour ? Jf they come back to us without any fuch prejudices ; or if, when returned, they diveil themfelves of them, it is an in fiance of very extra- ordinary merit : flill we are without excufe for un- necefTanly expofing them to fo imminent an hazard *. By this inftance of ill-timed jealoufy we k)fe the beft chance we can ever have of bringing them within our pale ; becaufe uniformity of opinion is generally beil promoted by an intercommunity with perfons of other, communions. And who knows not that im- preffionsof any kind are notonly moft cafily made, but fink the deepeit when made, in our early years ? I take not into account the fums of money of which our country is thus annually drained, though they are eon- fiderable : but 1 do regret, and cannot but regret, the mifdi reckon aftd mifapplkafion of many fine talents ; * " Edqccantur hie, qui hie nafcuntur; ftatimque aB infantiai" natale folum amare et frequentare confuefcant." Plinii Epift.- lib. jv. ep. 13. the ON THE TOLERATION OP PAPISTS. the alienation of affeclions ; the interruption of the kind offices of good neighbourhood ; and, above all, the perpetuating of religious differences which arc begun in the education of Catholics. And now let me conclude in the appofite words of the apocryphal author of Ecclefiafticus : Remembering our end, let enmity ceafc ; remembering corruption and death, I. i us abide in the commandment s \ and remem- bering tie commandment f, let us hear no malice to our neighbour. Let both Proteftants and Papifts at lea ft unite and join in this ; in praying to God our com- mon Father, that, by pitting aw& y alllntternefs, wrath, anger, clamour, and evil-fpeaking, with all malice ; and by being kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another y even as God for Chrifis fake hath for- given us all ; thofe who fuffer wrong may at length be helped to right, and be rewarded for their patient fuf- fering! And let all Ch rift ians, of all communions, mere ef-pccially fray for the good eflate of the Catholic Church, thai it may be fo guided and governed by God's good f pint, that all who profefs and call themf elves Chriftians may he led into, the way of truth, and hold the faith in unity of f pint, in the hond of peace, and in s of life. DIS- 294 ON FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. DISCOURSE VII, ON FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES*. PSALM xi. ver. 3. If the foundations he deftroyed, what can the righteous do & V_/N what particular occafion, or at what precife period of time, thisPfalm was written, commentators are not perfectly agreed. It cannot, like many other writings, be illuilrated by a reference to contemporary authors : the chief information, therefore, that is now to be obtained refpecling it, rnuft be collected from it's own internal evidence. On all hands it is agreed, that it is, as it's title aflerts, a PJalm of David's, written in the midft of fome of thole many difficul- ties in which it was his lot to be involved during a large portion of his life. Mft probably it was com- pofcd during the rebellion of his fon Abfalom ; when, * Preached at Queen Anne's Parifh, in Prince George's County, Maryland, iu the year 1775. to ON FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. "295 to prcferve his crown, he was forced to abandon his palace. To reclaim this refractory fon, he had long tried perfuafion to little purpofe; nor were the harfher meafures to which he now had reeourfe more effeclual. He was as unfuccefsful in war, as he had heretofore been in the gentler arts of conciliation. To pcrfe- vere in fo unnatural and hopelefs a war, muft have been dreadful $ it could be exceeded in dreadfulnefs only by the ftill greater horror of abandoning his faithful adherents, and all good men, to the cruelty of rebels. It may, I think, very fairly be inferred, from feveral exprcflions in the Pfalm now under confider- ation, that, in fome fuch extremity, (when to proceed and to defift appeared to be equally hazardous,) there were among his counfellors fome who were either weak or wicked, or both ; and who, watching his (not unnatural) moments of irresolution and defpon- dency, advifed and< preifecl him at once to give up the contefl. Once before, if not oftencr, it had been the fate of David to have rcafon to lament his having through an amiable diffidence given up his own judgment in deference to others. When he was at Mizpch in Moab, in the Cave of Adullam, and he and his adherents appeared to be in fafcty, the pro- phet Gad (from motives, it is probable, fimilar to thole of the counfellors j uft alluded to in this Pfalm) gave him the fame advice : this advice he was then fo unwary or fo unfortunate as to follow, and fatally departed from Fis lolL Recollecting what he had before flittered by litlcning to infidious advifcrs, he U 4 now ON FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. now more carefully confiders and weighs the advice given him on this occafion. To defift from war is an advice to which every good man and good king will readily liflen : yet,, coniidering the characters of the the advifers, it's being tendered now was certainly fufpicious, and might be deceitful ; it was clearly dangerous, and might be ruinous. This eleventh Pfalm feems to be a fummary of his reflections when this advice was tendered ; and a declaration of his re- folution to reject it, together with fome of hisreafons for rejecting it. It opens in that apparently abrupt manner fo com- mon in Oriental writers, in an addrefs which, to- gether with a pointed infimiation that they did not trujl in the Lord, conveys a feyere reprimand to his advifers for their applying to him who did trujl in tie Lord; advice better adapted to themfelves, who probably did not. In the Lord put liny trujl ; low fay ye then to my foul , fiee as a bird to your mountain ? The words evidently imply a flrong difapprobation of the advice he had received. And if the conjectures here fuggefted refpecting the occafion on which fuch advice is fuppofed to have been given be well founded, it certainly was not without reafon that he difapproved of it. Yet the advice (to fay the lead of it) was ipecious ; and the advifers, from their being at court and about the king's perfon, moft probably refpect- able. It is not difficult to imagine how many plaufi- ble arguments fuch couqfellors might find to urge againil the Ring's engaging in fo unpromifing a con- teft. ON FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. teft. With far too much rcafon they might alledge, that it was a war which held out neither to himfdf nor his people any of the fafcinating allurements either of glory or of gain. If at lad he fucceeded, the belt he had to hope for was only that he might be reftored to his former lituation : and all he could gain was merely that he might preferve that which without a war he mud have loft. It might have been demonitratcd alfo, that, confidcring the contro- verfy merely as it regarded a matter of property, that which even he muft have contended for, was of fuch a nature, and fo circumstanced, that even fuccefs was fure to coft more than it could be worth. It is not recorded that the fhrewd, the fubtle, and time-fcrving Shimci was not in the number of thefc counfellors : but, whether he was or no, it is evident that they were influenced by his fclfifh fpirit. Like modern oppoiitionifts in the beft feature of their character, they feem to have thwarted David, not fo much out of enmity to him, as becaufe the doing fo was thought the bell way to promote fomc indirect purpofe of their own. They wifhed to fee him fall, not that his avowed enemies might triumph, but that thcmfelves might rife. In every point of view his profpecl was dark and difcouraging ; and therefore, as their chief aim in the advice now fug- gelled was to add to his difcouragement, few things could have been thought of more likely to difpirit him than their throwing all the blame, of all that had happened, on himfelf. They hefiteted not to tell him, 2, BeboU 398 OX FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES, Behold thou art taken in thy mifchief ! Becaufe thu art a bloody man, the Lord las delivered thy kingdom into the hands of Abfalom thy fan. As though it were not enough to be unfortunate, thefe men in- terpreted misfortunes into judgments ; thus render- ing an event, which in any cafe would have been calamitous, almofl defperate and paft remedy : but, with all their perverfenefs in thus perfitiing, with or without reafon, to blame the afflicted monarch, it cannot be alledged againft them that they ever thought of taking part with his undutiful fon, and ftill lefs of vindicating the unnatural rebellion of that fon. Whatever their fuggeftions were, the reply of David was unanfwerable : In tie Lord put I my trufl. The fentence, however brief, is pregnant with a ilrong meaning connected with his fubfequent ex- preflions : it is as if he had faid, to my enemies I leave it to truft in their chariots and iheir horfes : I will not trufl in my bow ; neither fhall my fvvord favc me : in the Lord put 1 my izuft-, and non'e tfaa-t tritftetb in Inmjball be defolate. Unmoved by an anfvvcr as judicious as it was pious, thefe oppoiing counfellors perfiftcd in their purpofe of intimidating the diftrcfled king, by exaggerated accounts of the prowefs and adroitnefs in war of his adverfaries. See them, fay they, bending their low<, and making ready thetr arrows in the firing. Thefe topics of alarm, fo affiduoufly enforced, could not but afFcci and embarrass the king ; but they fucceeded ia OX FUNDAMENTAL PRINCJPLF3. in completely daggering his firmuefs only by the m- finuation of the text, which might be the fuggcftion not of ill-difpofed hut of weak counfellors, whom yet he regarded as fincerely attached to him. If the foundations, fa id they, be dejlroyed, ivhit can tbt righteous do ? Different interpreters have entertained different opinions rcfpecling the precife import of the word here rendered foundations. Some have fuppofed it to mean a place of refuge, or place of flrength $ fuch as w r ere ordinarily fituated or founded on hills : and it is imagined, that, in a competition which relates chiefly to enemies and war, and in which the fccne is laid in an hilly country, this is a very uppofite fenfe. Others, by foundations, conceive that the laws of the land are meant, and the fundamental pi In- clples of government * ; becaufe, as foundations (pro- perly fo called,) uphold and fupport a building, fo do jurt principles and righteous laws maintain and keep human fociety in a fettled and cftablimed depen- dence, one part upon another. On this idea the fame royal Pfajrnift, complaining in another place of (he diflblutcnefs of fome popular principles which were prevalent in his time, emphatically adds, that thereby the eaflh, and all the inhabitants thereof, * Agreeably to this idea a Ute tranflator has thus rendered the paflage : " When fundamental laws are fubverted, What fliould the righteous do ?" Street's New and Literal Verfion of the Pfalmi, diffbhed* ON FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. diffolved, i. e. overturned *. In the Ixxxixth Pfalm, ver. 14, he fays, Juftice and judgment are the habitation of the throne of God. The word here rendered habl** tatim might perhaps more naturally have been tranf- latecj, the bafis, the foundation, or the eflablifhment, as it is in Pfalm Ixxxii. ver. 5 ; where it is faid, All the foundations of the earth are out of courfe. If, therefore, juftice and judgment be the foundation or fupporting principle even of the throne of God, it may fnrely be admitted that they are the only folid grounds on which all human authority muft reft ; and of courfe the deftru&ion of fuch foundations muft mean and be the deft roy ing of all order and fe- -curity. I am perfuaded this is the true fenfe and weaning of the text. It is natural to fuppofe that infincere, faithlcfs, and wicked counfellors will always wifh to deftroy fuch foundations ; becaufe Ihofe foundations, if fuffered to remain, and (till to poilefs all the ftrength which na- turally belongs to them, would elfe deftroy them. Bad men, unwilling to regulate their mifdirecled pafiions by the reftraints of reafon, are equally un- willing to let the laws regulate them ; yet laws arc the only means which human wifilom can dcvife to leflrain diforderly men. It is not to be wondered at, * Pfalm hcxv. ver. * Ubi hoc fecero fentiet terra iram ** et prse metu examinabuntur cjuotquot inhabitant in es, cujus ego * l fundamenta jeci, et cclir,nn:s fiab'iliv]* quare et concutere earn non ' difficile mihi erit. J ' Claxius. Qritici S.acri an loco, vol iv, P-435- therefore^ OX FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. 01 therefore, if fuch men, confidering laws as intended to be not only fetters to tie their hands, but as prin- ciples alfo to fubjugate and confine their minds, are always eager to cqft their cords from them, and to tear their bonds afunder* In allufion to this juft idea of the true purpofe of all laws, the magiftrate, iii Judges xviii. ver. 7, is in the original with great pro- priety ityled the heir of reftraint : but as laws can pro- tect no people but thofe who have the wifdom and the virtue to protect the laws, it follows that thecaufe of the lawlefs can profper only by overturning or de- firoymg laws, which are the foundations of all go- vernment, if indeed they be not, properly fpeaking, government itfelf. Without, however, profecuting this enquiry any farther as it refpects the hiitoiy of David, permit me, from what has already been obferved on it, to draw a general corollary, or conclufion, which may ferve as a bafis to this difcourfe. This conclulion is, that^all governments, or all conftitutions, have their peculiar foundations, or fundamental principles, which thofe who live under them are bound both by duty and in- tereft to defend.^ The argument thus pointed will naturally lead me to make fuch obfervations and re- flections on the prefent ftate of things among our- felves, as may not I truft be thought unfuitable to this folemnity. That practice is the refult of principle, will, I fup- pofe, be readily admitted as a proportion \vhich in general is juft and well-founded, How much foever at ON FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. at random we may fometimes feem to act, there ar& few, even of our moil extravagant aclions, which, if they could be fairly analyzed, would not be found to be the effect of fome certain train of thinking ; or, in other words, of fome preconcerted fyftem or plan. Thus a perfon, who> by mimicking a natural infirmity in another, at length contracts the fame habit, though without either intending or defigning to do fo, or without even being cortfcious of it, mud not charge his infirmity to nature, but to dcfign, ftudy, and plan. Unconnected^ unfounded, and i n con clu five reafon- ing, does not prove that we reafon without any plan 5 it proves only that our plan is a bad one, or elfe that we want fkill to follow it. No doubt we arc often bad rcalbners, as we certainly are when we are bad men : but even when our conduct is moft uri- rcafbnablc, ftill it is formed on fome plan * there is ft ill fome latent principle., or foundation , to which our moft eccentric actions might be traced. And when we fay of an abandoned man that he is unprincipled, \VQ do not, I apprehend, mean all that the epithet may feem literally to import; but only that fuch a man is without good principles. We confider prac- tice merely as the evidence of principle ; and ac- cordingly it is chiefly from men's principles that we form an eftimate of their characters, for we naturally as well asjuilly conclude that where the principles are right the practice can never be very materially wrong. It is true that a man of good principles may perhaps always act as he ought j but we are fure that ON FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES, 303 that he will neither deliberately do nor pcrfcvcre in what is wrong : whereas practice not dictated by principle (if there be fuch a thing) muft be merely a matter of chance ; highly criminal when it pro- duces evil, and without merit even when it does good : for a right behaviour, confidered as an effect, and merely as it appears in the outward act, is an uncertain and fluctuating thing : if it be not founded on principle, evil may become good ; and the aflaflin, who, intending to ftab a man whom he hated, miffc ing his aim, opened an impofthume in the fide of his enemy, and thereby faved his life, muft be allowed to have performed a virtuous action. If fuch be the importance of right principles, the degeneracy of^mjxlern^lirnej is manifeft ; for, .with a total unconcern about principles, we rely folely on men's fuppofed interests and inclination, and conceive that they alone will lead to a right conduct. I But what confidence is this wherein fuch men truft? Thejp fay, (but furely they are but vain words,) that herein is counfel andftrength. Now, behold, injlead of beams of cedar, and rafters of Jir, they lean on a broken reed : on which if, in cafes of extremity, we lean, it will go into our hands and pierce them. It was not fo in the. beginning. To fecure our orthodoxy, creeds and confeflions of faith were compiled; and to inftil into us right principles of moral conduct, fchools and fcminarics of learning were founded. The founders of our happy Conftitution laid it's foundations in fuit- able prbvifions for men's being trained to think, ai well 304 OH FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES* \vell as to act, aright. To have expected the fruits of obedience from thofe whofe infant minds they had fufFered to be imbued with the principles of difobedi- ence, would (as no doubt they argued) have literally been to have expected to gather ivbere they had not Jlrewed. In the unbounded freedom of modern times we defpife fdch precaution ; and, (as it is the misfortune of the beti things to be moft liable to abufe,) in our exceeding anxiety not to inftil prejudices, nor to in- fringe the rights of private judgment, our legiflators feem at length to have learned to be quite at eafe refpecting principles of conduct. Jnftead of being at any pains (as out anceftors were) to prevent guilt and inifery in the people, we wait till crimes are com- mitted, and then punifh them : and fo, inftead of people's being led to a right conduct by the gentle, natural, and effectual means of a prcfcribed courfe of education, they are purfued with penalties for having 1 been, through the neglect of their governors, driven into mifconduct. This does not differ much from the policy of a man who fhould try, by means of mounds and dams, to force a nream into fome par- ticular direction, without firft opening a channel into which it would naturally and eafily run. The reproach of our age is not fo much a corrup- tion of manners, as a corruption of principles^ Owing to various caufes, which it is foreign to the fubject in hand now to invefligate, we are not yet fo profligate si people as (if the expreffion may be pardoned) con- liftencv Ott FUNDAMENTAL *RUTCI*L$$, fiftency requires that we (hould be. By a fortunate, perverfenefs, we are at variance with ourfelves : ade* quate caufes have not yet produced all their effects; polluted fountains do not fend out ftreams as turbid as thcinfelves. But the order of Nature is not changed : as men fow, in due time they (hall cer- tainly reap. There is a ftrong and unalterable con- nexion between men's principles and their adlions 5 and in fpite of accident, or any extrinfic caufes, the characters of mankind will ultimately be what educa* tiori or principles early inflillcd (hail make them. This extreme relaxation of principle, which, though but little thought of, is perhaps hardly lefs dangerous than even a greater profligacy in fome former periods of our hillory ; becaufe thr.t, from the notoriety of it'? danger, was marked, and fometirnes fhur.ned; whilft this, by being careffed and taken into pur boforn^ was riot found out to be our foe, till, like the ferpcnt inihe fable, it had ilung us to d^lh.; can grown up to this height by accident. If a judgment may be formed from it's flourifhing ftatc, it mud have been oultivated with no common care : and though to undo and to urtt fettle, to fet men loole from reftraints, and to teabb tham' to acquiefca and fubmit only when oppofitioo and refiftance are iiBpi-ac^icable^ rhay be *hougfrt r^ ticlcs of inftrudHon which it muft be difficult to incul- cate, we find, by their eifiads, that they certainly have been inculcated with, great fuccefs. So- fap>baefc^ the reign of the firft Charles, diiTatisfa^ons with *b$ X eftabliflied 306 ON FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. eftablifhed government,, and a paffion for revolutions and reforms, were purfued as a fytlem ; and at the Revolution they were fo confirmed as to have been almoft eftablifhed into the national faith and practice. Ever lince, they have been diiieminated throughout the empire .with a degree of fuccefs proportioned to the increafed facility of the : means": no popular .ora- tor, nor -popular writer, has of late years ever omitted an opportunity of pointing- out the flaws and de- fects of the eflablifhed fyfiem ; and, in confequeft'Otfy recommending fome reformation; That the firm bafis or comer-done of all good government is that principle Which (inftrucled b^ our^older writers) I call a principle of obedience for conscience fake cannot well be denied: even modern theoretical -writers acknowledge it in owning that no government does or cairpoflcfs force or power fufficient-for it's owirt ilipport, were- it not for the general opinion and per^ fnafion, if not of it's facrednefs, yet of it's inviolability. But the moft obvious and direct tendency of the pre- vailingfyftem of public men, in thus finding fault with almoft eVery thing that is'eftabliflied, and involving the executive power in difficulties, in order to take Advantage of them, to oppofe and reiift it, is the incul- cating a general perfuafion thdt government is neither facred nor inviolable. It is this iiate of the public nfed wh ich , in this difcourfej I deiignate (and I hope not improperly) by the terms of a relaxation of prin- ciple ; Or, in the language of my text, a deftruclion ^foundations. Happy ON FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. 307 Happy in the eafier talk of having left to our care the maintenance only of thofe excellent foundations which were laid for us by our progenitors, we are without excufe, if, either through heedleflhefs or through defign, we fuffer them to be deftroyed. Thofe great and good men, who, like wife mafter-builders, have from time to time fo fitly framed together our glorious Conftitution, well knew that other fure found- ation no man could lay than that already laid by pro- phets and apoftles, namely obedience, not only for wrath, but for cvnf dene e fake. Founded on this rock a fu peril rucl ure of greatnefs and happinefs has been railed, to which even fufpicion could apprehend no danger, were it not of the nature of human grandeur to totter and fink under it's own weight. Free go- vernments are mod endangered by fjlfe principles; juft as perfons brought up in healthy climates are moft apt to contract difeafcs in unwholfbme ones. Except, therefore, the Lord. keep, as well as buildy the houfe, it is but loft labour for us to think of having it propped up, not (in the language of the Apoftle) with gold, fiver, and precious Jl ones, but with the feeble buttrcfles of wooJ 9 and hay, and Jtubble.*. It was founded in vvifdom and in virtue ; and on that foundation, if at all, it mull be maintained and preferved. Rigbteouf- nefs alone (which is the foundation or fundamental principle which it is the aim of this difcourfe to re- commend) exaltetb a nation ; whereas fin, or falfe * I Cor. iii. vcr. 12. X a principles^ 308 ON FUNDAMENTAL principles, are not only the reproach, but the deftru&ion of 'any people. It is acknowledged, indeed, that, as in private life, the way of the wicked fometimes profper eth, and thofe are permitted to be "happy who deal very treacheroiifly ; fo virtuous States are fometimes, for U while, opprejfed and brought 'low , whilfl corrupt ones are advanced to great power. But, in general, the hand of God feldom continues to be long againft a righteous people ; nor does vengeance, though flow, ever fail, at lad, to overtake either guilty individuals or guilty communities. States, as States, have no prefcribed period of exiftence ; yet they alfo may have a time to die : and to ex peel them to arrive at perpe- tuity without virtuous principles and manners in the people of whom they are compofed, feems to be as vain as in the life of man it would be to hope for longevity without anjr regimen or without tem- perance. I am not confcious that I am of a temper to rail indifcriminately againft my own times. In many re- fpedls they merit much commendation ; perhaps be- yond all that have preceded them. Through a de- ference to public opinion, which abhors every thing that is monftrous in manners ; through the influence of fafhion and habit, our character as a people is not marked by any prevailing propenfity to commit grea and flagrant crimes : but, I own, I hardly know how far fuch negative kind of merit is entitled to praife; at moft, it feems to be but the virtues of that particu- lar clafs of bees which in autumn are called drones, and ON FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. 309 and which are innoxious only becaufe they are impo- tent. However commendable it is in the character of a peoplq that they are not marked by any great and flagrant vices, we are entitled to this commenda- tion, if at^all, by accident rather than by defign, that is to fay, becaufe, fortunately for us, it is not fafhion- able to be eminently vicious ; whilft our equal de- ficiency in any great virtues is in no flight degree ftudied and deliberate. (There never was a time when a whole people were fo little governed by fettled good principles^ Nor is this unconcern about good prin- ciples confined to matters which relate to government. By a natural gradation in error, it pervades the whole compafs of our conduct. Wife and obferving perfons fee with forrow that it has gained a footing in, and materially injured, every department of fociety. Pa- rents complain, and not without reafon, that children are no longer fo refpeclful and dutiful as they ought to be, and as they ufed to be ; whilfl children might, with not lefs reafon, object to their parents llill more culpable inftances of a failure of duty. Both employ- ers and the employed, much to their mutual fhamc and inconvenience, no longer live together with any thing like attachment and cordiality on either fide : and the labouring clafTes, inftead of regarding the rich as their guardians, patrons, and benefa&ors, now look on them as fo many over-grown colofTufes whom it is no demerit in them to wrong. A ftill more general (and it is to be feared not lefs juft) topic of complaint is, that the lower clafTes, inftead of X 3 being ON FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES, being induflrious, frugal, and orderly, (virtues fo pe- culiarly becoming their ftation in life,) are become idle, improvident, and diflblute. And, however much it is to be regretted by all ranks, it does not admit of a doubt that this diflblutencfs in the inferior members of the community may be traced to fome correfponding profligacy in the higher orders. The manners of a community may be regarded as one great chain, of which perfons in fuperior fpheres are but the upper links. The fame caufes which, in the upper walks of life, lead men of active minds to en- gage in feditious and factious confpiracies and rebel- lions, lead thofe in lower fpheres (when not attached as fatellites to powerful revolt ers) to become either drunkards, and unmannerly, and abufive ; or elfe, fmugglers, gamblers, and cheats. But thefe deviations from rectitude, though by no means inconflderable in themfelves, yet, when com- prehenfibly confidered, are but fmall parts of a great whole, "t is in our character, as fubjects, that our lofs of good principles, and confequent errors in practice, are mofl manifeft and moil mifchievous. The doc- trine of obedience for conference fake * is (as has juft been * As the only remedy againft ruinous confufions in a State, Ariftotle, the great teacher of political wifdom to the Heathen \vorld, recommends the laying the foundation of civil government in religion: W^WTOV y ro^i * s<7rftfAea. Ariftot. Polit. lib. i. The recommendatiojj very clearly (hews fiorn what fource he derived all that he knew on thefe fubje&s. Flutarch, ON FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. 311. been obferved) tbe great corner-fane of all good go- vernment ; which, whenever any builder of conftitu- tions (hall be fo nnwife as to refufe, or, not refuting, fhall afterwards furler to be deftroyed, what can he expedl but that the whole fabric fliould be overturned ; and that onwhomfoever it may fall it iv ill grind them to powder?.. The importance of this principle of obedi- ence cannot well be ftated in ftrougcr terms than it i.s in an anfwer of a great man recorded by Plutarch, When the Thebans praifed the government of Epa- minondas, and gratefully acknowledged that they were happy becaufe he governed fo well, that truly great man replied : " Not fo ; you, our country, and Plutarch, alfo, compares a government without religion to caftleg built in the air : AMa -aroXis ay oi 5bxe< *a\Xoy i)af This is not all : as though there were ibme irrefift- ible charm in all extemporaneous fpeaking, however rude, the orators of our committees and fub-commit- tees, like thofe in higher fpheres, prevail with their * " Ventofa ifthaec et cnormis loquacitas.' 1 Petronius Arbiter. ^ u Eft magna et notabilis eloquentia alumna licentiae, quam " ilulti libertatem vocabant ; comes feditionum ; efFrasnati populi *' incltamentum ; contumax ; temeraria ; arrogans ; quae in benc " conftitutis civitatibus non oritur." Tacit. Dialog, de Orator. " The meek fpirit of obedience had given way to a turbulent ' impatience of legal reftraint, and to an overweening conceit .of " felf-eoufequence. Every pert demagogue thought himfelf at li- *' berty to difturb the decorum of popular afiemblies by his feditious " declamations : as if effrontery of face and volubility of tongue 5 rut vopvv, ET^aV o s& b -, i^jjcri'Tt j yivt&u tyuc,, KXI lywru' ywi&u yr ly Ky.i tymra. Longinus. Toupii Editio. p. 34. " So likewife the Jewifh legiflator, no ordinary perfon, having < 4 conceived a juft idea of the power of God, has nobly exprefTed it ABRAM AND LOT. 327 in the beginning of the book : and had he gone ou to the hiftory of Jofeph, or to the flory of the text, there can be no doubt but that he would have ac- knowledged that they poflefs the two charadleriflics of competition which are fuppofed of all others to be the mod difficult to attain and unite ; I mean dig- nity and limplicity. The Scriptures indeed are re- plete with inilances of that fententious and pregnant brevity which critics have extolled in profane writers. Of this kind are the following pafTages : And be arofe and rebuked tie wind, and faid unto the fea, Peace ! lejlill! and tie wind ceafed, and there was a great calm. Tien crkd they all again, faying. Not this man, hit Barabbas ! now Barabbas was a robber. Many other fimilar paffages might be recoil eel ed *: but, for the prefent, it will be fufficient to inftance that of the text : Let there, I fray thee, be no ftrife between flee and me, and between thy herdfmen and my lerdfmen ! for we be brethren. The account given in this book of the patriarchal times is uncommonly interefting ; both as it is the only authentic one of the firft ages of the world ; and as it exhibits a faithful view, not only of events of great moment in the hiftory of mankind, but of aboriginal it in the beginning of his law. And God faid-What ? Let there be light, and there was light ; let the earth be, and the earth was." Smith's Tranflation, fed. ix. p. 41. * For, hefpake, and It was done; be commanded, and'itjtoodfajl. Lord, ifthou wilt, tbou canfl make me clean ! I will, be tbou ckan. Y 4 Jlien 32$ ON THE STRIPE BETWEEN men and primeval manners, undebafed by fable. It contains the hiftory of a people, who, in fome intereft- ing particulars, are without a parallel in the world. 'This Angularity confuted not merely in their origin, of which we have fuller and more faithful accounts than we have of any other people ; but in this, that whilft moft of the other nations of the earth have, in fome period of their hiftory, degenerated into the favage ftate, this never has been the cafe with the Jews. Of no other people can it be faid that they have always been a diftinc~t people, and always civi- lized. The general hiftory of the human race is, that at the creation and originally they were civilized, and have become favage only through corruption. Now, to have refifted or efcaped fuch corruption from a period more remote than any other people can carry back their hiftory, exhibits, if not human nature, at leaft the focial ftate of man, in a new point of view*. In fome refpedls, no doubt, like the reft of the human race, this wonderful people have con- formed to, and been influenced by, time, place, and climate : but it has alfo been peculiar to them never to have been left wholly to their own guidance and direction. They were fubjedled to a fuperior con- troul, and at the fame time enjoyed a perfect free- agency ; two points of deep moment, the truth of * See this important point in the hiftory of man very ingeniously and clearly made out in " Two Letters on the Savage State, ad- " drefled to Lord Kaimes," by Dr. Doig of Stirling. Printed for Robinfons in Paternofter-row, 1/92. which AfeRAM AND LOT. which it is much eafier to prove than it is to define and comprehend. In all the ordinary affairs of life they appear to have been governed by thofe maxims by which mankind in general are governed ; but in whatever related to government and religion they were under the particular directions of the Almighty. In what manner, however, or to what extent this di- vine influence was exerted, no human powers can pretend to afcertain. All thefe circumftances render the brief accounts left us of them highly dcferving of attention. Accounts of a people in the infancy of ibciety are always interefting : but, in addition to the common incidents occurring in the hiflory of a com- mon people, that of the Patriarchs has in it thofe ex- traordinary circumftances juft mentioned ; and there- fore differs materially even from that of their own pofterity, when their civil government, though flill a theocracy, came to bear a nearer refemblance to the inftitntions of other countries. Indeed, their govern- ment never ceafed to differ from all other governments till it ceafed to exiil : it was always eminently patri- archal. The head or fupreme of the ftate was, em- phatically, God ; and to that circumftance it owes it's title : but, under him, at leaft in their earlier periods, each family and each individual were trained, in what- ever related to the general weal, to look for no other law than the will of the father of the family ; and his will was regarded as the will of God. Their man- ners were frmple : in general they were fhepherds , the cultivation of the foil becoming a more general employment ON THE STRIFE BETWEEN employment among them only in a more improved flate of fociety. For a long time there appears to have been no divifion of landed property : the whole world was one general common : and the owners of flocks and herds being at liberty to chooie the bed paftures wherever they could find them, ftaid no longer in a place than that place could maintain them. Permanency of landed property took place only when paflures for cattle were changed for vallies ftanding thick with corn : and when a part became in veiled in any individual, or numbers of individuals, it became fo only on the principle of prior occft- pancy, It was in this Hate of fociety, that is to fay during their paftoral life, that the incident mentioned in the text took place. It may perhaps feem extraordinary that, amidft many occurrences poffibly not lefs im- portant to Abraham, and more interefting to pofteriry, which muft have happened, but which the facred hiftorian has omitted to record, he fhould have been fo careful to preferve this little family quarrel. But, if it be little or infignificant in itfelf, it was not fo in it's confequences : the mentioning it, therefore, is a proof not only of theexaclnefs and fidelity of Mofes, but of his Ikill and judgment as an hiftorian. His fubjecl was the hiftory of God's chofen people : and if in the profecution of his work it was neceflary (as no doubt it was) to fpeak of the feparation which took place between the families of Abrarn and Lot, it was alfo necefTary to affign the reafon of it : that reafon. was AfcRAM AND LOT. 33 1 was this Jlnfe or quarrel between their refpc&ive herdfmen. There is another point of view in which the infrr- tion of this ftory appears to be of moment. The leading object and aim of the Scriptures of the Old Teitament was to keep alive the expectation of the rcftoration of mankind by the Mefliah. Now, this Jlnfe led to a reparation of the two kinfmen ; and that reparation led Lot into a quarrel and a war with the petty kings on the plains of Sodom. In this war, notwithstanding their feparation, Abram, entirely for the fake of Lot, took a part. Had he not done this, or had not the hiftorian recorded it, we fhould have known nothing of Melchifedech, whom the Apoftle fo remarkably holds out to us as a type, if not an ex- hibition or real perfonification, of the Mefliah. Of little moment, moreover, as we may now think the fubjecl of Jl rife, it was not fo in the eftimation of thofe between whom it happened. The contentions of thefe patriarchal chiefs may be fuppofcd to Live been, who fhould firft choofe and enjoy the mod fliady tree, under which they might retreat to (him the rays of a meridian fun ; or at what well each fliould water their refpe&ive herds. Compared with the more extenfive and more complex intercfts ufually involved in the quarrels of modern rulers, I grant they appear to be petty and infignificant. But the principle which fet them at variance was probably the fame with that which is ftill at the bottom ofmoft quarrels; I mean pride: for, ty pride 'only cwieth contention. ON TriE STRIFE BETWEEN contention. Pride and ambition are plants which wiff grow in any foil and in any fituation : they thrive in iimfhine, and do not die in the fhade; The hiftory of mankind confifts, alas ! 6f little elle than a recital of quarrels. All thofe great events which fo adorn the hiftoric page are compofed of fuch 'Violence and frrife, and wars and fightings, as might better comport with the characters of wild beads, than of rational creatures *. Some have gone farther, and alledged that a ft ate of nature is & ftate of war; that manf is naturally hoflile to man ; and that, though naturally focial and gregarious, yet (as if fiercer than either wolves or bears, which rarely attack each other) mankind felclom meet in large bodies but for the purpoie of deftroying one another. If this- be a fair, it certainly is not a flattering, picture of human nature : and every man in this cafe may with too much propriety exclaim, in the words of the Prophet, Woe is me, my mother, that thou haft lorn me a man of ft rife, and a man of contention to the whole earth ! Abram loved and practifed peace ; yet even Abram could not always avoid contention. Theftrife fpoken of in the text was foon fucceeded by another do- * " To fpeak impartially, both fayings are very true, that man to " man is a kind of god, and that man to man is an arrant wolf." -Hobbes's Dedication to the Earl of Devonfhire. f *' Voluntas Isedendi omnibus quidem ineft in ilatu naturae.'* ~ -Hobbes de Cire. meftic ABRAM AND LOT. 333 meftic difpute ; when the unfeafonable joy of Sarah urged him to cad out the bond-woman Hagar and her fon Ifhmael. A fnnilar fate feems to have pur- fued his fon Ifaac. When, through the unrcafonable jealoufy of Abimelech and the Philiftines, he was driven from Gerar, and had pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, even there the herdfmen drove with his herdfmen for fome wells of water which his own fervants had digged*. Efau and Jacob (as ominous of their future fortunes) ftrugglcd, we arc told, in the womb of their mother. And how truly Efau was bom a man of ft rife ^ appears from the prophecy of his father that \itjhould live by the fword. This prophecy was abundantly fulfilled in the hiftory of his pofterity. * It is not at all extraordinary that we find fo many inftances ia facred hiftory of difputes concerning water. In tracing the infti- tutions of fociety refpe&ing the right of property, Blackftone juflly remarks, that when a people quitted hunting, from the uncertainty of that method of provifion, and gathered together flocks and herds of a tame and fequacious nature, " the fupport of thefe their cattle " made the article of water a very important point. And therefore " the book of Genefis (the moft renerable monument of antiquity, ' confidered merely with a view to hillory) will furnifli us with "frequent inftances of violent contentions concerning wells ; the fs exclufive property of which appears to have been eftablifhcd in '* the firfl digger, or occupant, even in places where the ground and " herbage remained yet in common. Thus we find Abraham, who " was but a fojourner, afferting his right to a well in the country " of Abimelech, and exading an oath for his fecurity, becaufe he " had digged that well.' And Ifaac, about ninety years after- " wards, reclaimed this his father's property ; and after much con- " tention with the Philiftines, was fuffered to enjoy it in peace." Blackft. Comm. vol. ii. p. 5. Jofephus 334 ON THE STRIFE BETWEEN Jofephus thus defcribcs them : " They were a very " turbulent and diforderly people ; always addicled to that the only means of fafety, even to fuch men, is to leave off contention before it be meddled wi/b. Let no man flatter himfelf that quar- rels are inlignificant, becaufe they are only between ordinary individuals, and for infignificant caufes. A little leaven leaveneth tie whole lump ; and a quarrel begun by a few hunters (as was the cafe in Canada in the laft war) may, in a fhort time, extend from one fide of the globe to the other. When the water's of ft rife are once ftirrcd, and thrown into an agitation, the circles, which at firft are final), foon widen and fpread, and reach the utmoft verge of the lake. Such being, in general, the beginning of quarrels, a,nd fuch too the way in which they terminate, no man can be too anxious or too careful to follow the Apofllc's ad- vice, to mark tbofe ivho caufe diinftons, and to avoid them. On Abram's departure out of Egypt, he was ac- companied by his faithful kinfman and fellow-pilgrim Lot. The place of their deftination was Beth- el, the place where his tent had been, at the beginning. Here, in due time, they both of them became ricb in flocks > and ABRAM AND LOT. 337 and herds, and tents, as well as injilver and gold. One confequence of this change of circumftances was, as might have been forefeen, that the land was not able to hear them that they might dwell together. Thus llraitened in their fettlement, fome little interferences in their refpeclive interefts were hardly to be avoided. Unfortunately they were not avoided : difputes began, which were foon ripened into enmities ; and at length there was a ftrife between their herdfmen. For aught that appears, both Abram and Lot were well difpofed to dwell together in unity. There is good reafon to believe, that, had they been guided only by their own judgments and their own inclinations, thefe flight occafions of controverfy would have pafled over without any unpleafing confequences. But it feems to have been the misfortune of thefe friendly kinfmen to have had unfriendly dependants. Thefe fubordi- nate perfons, being themfelves enemies to peace, foon contrived to involve their mafters in a Jlrife which themfelves had begun. Men of mild and yielding tempers, who, in cafes of competition, know the hap- py art gently to give way, (which may eafily be done without any relinquiftunent of their right,) can live any where, and with any people, unmolefting and unmolefted; whereas the captious and the frovvard will find occafions of quarrelling even in a wildernefs and with brethren. The whole world does not afford room enough for fuch irritable tempers to dwell in, without incommoding others, or being themfelves Z incommoded. 338 ON THE STRIFE BETWEEN" incommoded *. Kingdoms are fhaken and over- o turned, to gratify thefe perturbed fpirits, whofe na- tural-element is a florm. Had there been a better undemanding between thefe wrangling herclfmen, unable as the land is laid to have been to bear them both, they might longer have continued to dwelt together, not only with pleafure, but with mutual advantage. And had they regarded the true interefts of their matters, they certainly would not have fuffered any little rivalfhips to have feparated them : for, in addition to the affecl- ing confederation that they were brethren, it behoved them to ftrengthen themfelves by a clofe alliance, facaufe the Canaanite and the Perizzite then dwelled in the land^. Notwithftanding fuch ftrong motives both of duty and interefl urged them to a contrary conduct, they fuffered their judgments to be warped and blinded by their paflions, and there was a Jlrlfe. Provocations .were given, and offence was taken : on the one fide there were perhaps fome ill-judged haughty airs of fuperiority ; and on the other, a no lefs ill-judged petulant fpirit of contradiction. If, in a difcourfe of this nature, I might be per* * " Unus Pellaeojuveni non fufficit orbis; ' jEftuat infclix angufto limite mundi." Juven. Sat. x. 1. 168. f Thefe, it is probable, arc the words neither of Abram nor of- Lot, but of the hiftorian. mitted ABRAM AND LOT. mitted to defcribe the farther progrefs of this patri- archal ftrife, according to the ideas and the Ianguag6 of modern times, it is eafy to fuppofe that the herdf- men of Abram, in fuch a ftate of mind, might have faid, Your mafter is but a tenant at will to ours : he gat not tie land in fojjejjion by bis own fword ; nor, even now, when he is become richer, can bis own right arm fave him. You, therefore, are our tribu- taries ; and we have the right to exercife dominion over you. It is not for you to water your flocks at thefe fprings, or graze them in thefe paftures, without our leave. Thefe wells are not of your digging : you. were not the firft occupants of thefe fair demefnes : unfupported by us, you never could have overcome all the dangers you had to encounter on your firft fettling here ; nor, at this moment, is it at your cod that the Canaanite and the Perizzite are kept in awe. In confideration of your inability, we have hitherto forborne to levy any contributions on you : but you are now rich ; and though even yet you cannot wholly remunerate us, you may pay back fome por- tion of your debt. Aware, however, as we are, of the perverfenefs of your difpofitions, and judging of your future conduct from the paft, we will truft no- thing to your own fenfe of propriety, honour, and juftice. You (hall therefore now be taxed, and made to contribute to the common fupport, not at your own, but at our difcredon : and we therefore refolve to make regulations and laws which fhall Z 2 " bind" ON> THE STRIFE " bind" the whole community, and therefore you alfo, *' m all cafes wbatfoever" The ufual confequence of imperioufly demanding more than perhaps in wifdom we ought to have afked, is an infolent refufal of that which we had a fair title to have expefted. Lot's herdfmen, no doubt, had their anfvver ready ; and, judging from it's confe- quences, we may well fuppole that it was fufficiently fharp and exafperating. " We, as well as you/' they might reply, " are the " denizens of Nature. She, who produced us all s( equal, gave no man authority over another. At * e the expence of our own blood, at the hazard of " pur own fortunes, and without the leail charge to *' you, we effected this fettlement in thefe diflant (e and inhofpitable wilds, lled with numerous and " warlike nations of barbarians. No power on earth '^has a right to impofc taxes, or to take the fmalleil " proportion of our property, without our confent*." You have already grown rich out of our fubftance. Hitherto you have eaten our fruits and drank our milk ; and have been warmed with the wool which our flocks did yield. You are aujlere men> who take up what you laid not down, and reap what you have not fawn, Too long have you made us your hewers of wood, and drawers of 'water ; but we will now aflert our natural rights; we will now be our own mailers, and no e^ , Declarations. longer ABRAM AN T D LOT. longer fubmit to be diredlcd and controuled by you " in any cafe whatfoever." It may be remarked that, in thefe mutual charges and recriminations, the perfons urging them weni probably not without fome reafon on both fides. Had the allegations which each party produced again ft the other been wholly ungrounded, \htjtrtfe which they oceafioned would hardly have found fo many advocates and abettors. But, with this mutual difpofition in the herdfmen both of Abram and Lot to exaggerate and aggravate all the little circumftances on which it was pretended to be founded, an accom- modation was now almolt hopelefs. Happily, how- ever, their Jtr/fes were accommodated, and by means as natural and eafy as they were juft and generous. It became Lot, as the younger man, as the depend- ant of Abram, and more efpecially as being under infinite obligations to him, to have made the firft overtures towards a reconciliation. If he was the aggre/Ior, it was his duty ; if the injured party, it would have done him flill more honour. But, though Lot made no fuch facrifice to peace, Abram did *. " The elder, and wifer, and worthier ov rcAy, -CV ct'vtyMiThtf tv; > ^m>g t$i). M Tigos uv, < zr^oo-5xOo. JCa* Q editio Mciboiftii, vol. i. 410. p. 127. 7 3 f : perfon 34$ ON THE STRIFE BETWEEN " perfon relinquifheth his own right to his inferior, for " peace-fake ; leaving us a noble example for our " imitation*." He feems no fooner to have heard of the unhappy difturbances between their refpeclive herdfmen, than (not waiting till Lot himfelf fhould fee fit to take up the matter in a regular way, and flate all thofe real or imaginary grievances about which the ftrife had been raifed) with all the meek- nefs and magnanimity of a man who is truly great, he came forward to his nephew with a CONCILIATORY PROPOSITION. He did not, at all hazards, vindicate his own herdfmen : neither did he clamoroufly inveigh againft the fuppofed unreafonable jealoufies of the fervants of his kinfman. He was aware that fuch recriminations could anfwer no good end ; they could only lead to an endlefs labyrinth of ftrife and delate. With a degree of prudence, furpafled only by his benevolence, he took it for granted that his own fer- vants, as well as thofe of his kinfman, had been to blame : and therefore, to prevent, if ppffible, any fuch mifunderftandings in future, he propofed new terms, and a new plan of alliance. Till now, my nephew, he might fay, we have lived, if not wholly without difputes, yet without ftrife : we have experienced the ties of affection to be fufficientiy ilrong bonds of connexion. Thofe other fecurities, which the complex interefts of our growing profpe- riry have now rendered neceflary, were not wante4 * Poole's Annotations, during ABRAM AND LOT. 343 daring our infant ftate. It is to be lamented (not that thefe fecurities are become neceflary, for I might as well regret that we and our dependants are hu- man beings, or that we are wealthy and opulent, but) that they could not be had without this interruption of our former harmony. Yet, if managed with tem- per and prudence, even this conteft may be turned to a good account. It will oblige us to review the con- ditions of our union : and if, in any refpe&, they be found unfuitable to our prefent circumftances, they may, by a new modification, be rendered not lefs permanent than mutually advantageous. It can anfwer no good purpofe to enquire too curioufly, whether thy fervants or mine have been mod in fault. The probability is, both have been to blame : but we (hall be ftill more fo if we do not immediately put an end to thejtrife. How much foever thy deluded herdfmen may have fought to prejudice thee againfl me, I cannot believe that thou haft ever ferioufly wifhed to withhold that eafy tribute of afliftancc which, by our patriarchal conftitution, thou knowcft I have a right to expccT: ; which I want, and thou canfl give ; and which, as is well known to thee, is abfolutely neceflary for our common defence againft tbe Canaamte and tie Perizzite. Let no malicious meddler perfuade thee to imagine, that I either do, or ever will, afk more. Why fliould I ? Is not the land mine, by the efpecial promifc of God ? By the bleffing of his providence on my honeft induftry, tie cattle that thou fecft upon a tbonfond bills are mine. What 344 ON TH STRIFE BETWEEN What motives then can I have, were I fb difpofed, to covet any thing that is thine ; much lefs to take it ]?y violence f Take, then, that thine is y and go thy way : feparate thy f elf, I fray thee, from me ! in place, but not in affection. Every other claim that might be urged, of intereft, of power, or of duty, I wave : all the indignities and injuries which, during the do- minion of paffion, thy herdfmen have offered to mine, I overlook and forgive. I can even bear to be con- fidered as having provoked the Jlrlfe ; fo far at lead as a blameable inattention to both thy beft intereffs and my own, through an excefs of fecurity, may be deemed a provocation. Waving the right which I may be fuppofed to have to look for the firft overtures of reconciliation from thee, I am contented to become a petitioner for the renewal of our love. Let there, I pray thee, he noftrife between thee and me ! I un- happily, we do not retain fo much influence over our refpe6live herdfmen as to prevent their Driving, let us not fuffer them to involve us in their quarrel: Jet there he no Jf rife BETWEEN THEE AND ME. If neither a fenfe of duty, nor a fenfe of intereft, can prevent our taking fome part in their Jlrife, let us not think it much to facrifice our refentment to our affec- tions. If we cannot live together in peace, we can part in peace. To part is no wifhof mine; I recom- mend it only as the leaft of two evils : but it certainly is better to part than to quarrel ; better, chiefly, be- caufe we are brethren. However difpofed to accommodation and peace Abram ABRAM AND LOT. 345 Abram was. Lot appears to have littened with far too much complacency to the peevifh remonftrances of his herdfmen ; and, adopting their tenets, he could not long hefitate about conforming to their conduct. Though he certainly had no good reafons to give for refilling to clofc with Abram' s proportion for peace, he yet was refolute in determining to reject it : and fo, being unable to anfwer, there is nothing unfair in the fuppofition that he either mifunderftood or mif- reprefented it. I can even fuppofe that the overture made by Abram, towards a reconciliation, was inter- preted into a conceffion extorted from fear : and in that view it was eafy to improve it into an argu- ment with him and his herdfmen for keeping up the breach, and even becoming more violent. Poffibly thcfe factious herdfmen now likewife began to fill the head of their too pliant lord with projects of gran- deur. He had already beheld, with longing eyes, the rich plains of Jordan : and he fecms to have little re. gardcd what were the manners of the people, fo that he might but rule over them. Impatient of rettraint, and longing for independence, he yet was not fatif- fied to become his own matter unlefs he alfo gave law to others : though, in the eye of reafon, it certainly would have been rnore to his honour to have re- mained the ally and the friend of Abram at tie flace oftbe altar by Bethel, than it could be even to prcfidc over the men of Sodom, who were ivicked, andfinners Before God exceedingly. Thus tutored, and thus dif- pofed, we are not to wonder that, on Abram's %- getting ON THE STRIFE BETWEEN getting an idea of parting, Lot eagerly took him at his word, and journeyed ecift, and dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched Us tent towards Sodom. There is no one topic of inftruclion on which it is more needlefs to accumulate argument or evidence than on this, that mankind are often made miferable by the accomplifhment of their wifhes. It is a lefTon which every man's own experience can hardly fail to have taught him : and yet, as though we were de- termined not to be made wife by experience, convic- tion is imprefled upon conviction in vain ; mankind are flill tenacious of their fuppofed rights and privi- leges, and ftill contend for them with heat and anger ; and thus lofe their peace of mind and their happinefs, without gaining even the objects for which they ftrove. That, as individuals, we fhould miftake phantoms for realities, is not perhaps (confidering the weaknefs of our judgments, and the ftrcngth of our paflions,) more than might be expected ; but it might have been hoped that fuch volumes of inftruc- tion as the hi (lory of the world affords would have had more influence on the conduct of communities. There is not an hitlory of a nation, ancient or modern, which does not furnifh infiances in abundance of their having often egrcgioufly miftaken their own heft intereils. When all the men of Schechem^ as if farfeited with the felicity they enjoyed under Gideon, (calling thcmfclves the people of Ifrael) furnifhed Abimelech with threejcore and ten pieces of Jiher to lire light and vain p erf ons to follow him, they fucceed- ABRAM AND LOT. 347 ed in their project, and Abimelcch became their king : though the only reafon given for their engag- ing in fuch a revolution is, that their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech. The confequences to be ex- pected from fuch a proceeding were not more natural than they were j lift : all the evil of the men of Schechem did God render iipon their heads ; and upon them cams the curfe of Jotha m, the f on ofjerubbaal. It has been, and it is, the curfe of men every where, in their col- Ic6tive capacities, as well as individuals, to miftake change for reformation. Not contented with excel- lence, we foolifhly grafp at perfection ; and, in the purfuitof it, frequently plunge into the very mifchiefs from which we fancied we were efcaping. Lot was happy with Abram, and might long have remained fo, had he been fo fortunate as to avoid the fufpicions, the jealoufies, and the ftrifes inftilled into him, and fomented by the lufy-hodics around him. He parted from Abram on the pretence of finding peace and quietnefs elfcwhcre ; and was foon involved in a war, which ended in the utter deftruclion of his property, and in his own captivity : and had he not been refcued by that benevolent relation, whofe friendfhip and pro- tection, in a vain confidence of his own ftrength, he had juft before too wantonly flighted, he might long have mourned in bondage thole mifchiefs whiph he had drawn down on his own head. You have no doubt anticipated the application : which I propofe to make of this intercfting ftory : it has, indeed, fo near a rcfemblance to our prcfent a iituation, 34$ O^ THE STRIFE BETWEEN iituation, and the reflections with which I have ac- companied the narration of it are fo appofite to our circumftances, that I feem, in fome fort, to have pre- cluded the neceffity of bringing it more home to us. &ftrife, alas ! is begun between the herdfmen of our Parent State and our herdfmen ; which, unlefs it can be accommodated, will too probably be fatal at lead to one of the parties, if not to both. Happy would it be for us, as well as for our kinfmen, who we fay have faigbl this quarrel againfl us, if in this dreadful moment of fufpence, whilft on every fide thofe who imagine rnifchief in their hearts are continually gather- ing together for war, fome gentle fpirit would arife and perfuade us, as erft Mofes was perfuaded, to fend mejfengers out of this our wildernefs of Kedemoth, unto Sihon king of Hejbbon, with words of peace. It can, I think, admit of no difpute, that an accom- modation between the Colonies and the Mother Coun- try, on almoft any terms, is infinitely more to be de- fired by both countries than even the moft fignal fncceffcs in war. In the latter way, to fucceed is to become a feparate people : not as Abram and Lot became a feparate people, whilft yet they flill con- tinued to be friends ; but as having no longer any community either of intcreft or affedtion, as perfect aliens to each other, and, in fhort, as totally diftinct and different nations. There feems, no poffibility of any middle courfe. Confidering then this complete feparation as the molt probable confequence of fuccefs in war, it much imports us not only to count the coft, ABRAM AND LOT, 349 coft, but alfo the value of the acquifition, if baply \vc ihould obtain it. Independency is the forbidden fruit which our tempters hold out to us : and it is our duty, hardly in a lets degree than it was the duty of our firft parents, to calculate the probability there is, that their promifes fhall be made good to us, and we be as gods. Let us alfo calculate how much more probable it is that in tie clay we eat thereof ive jball furely die. I believe there are few inflances of a people who had once been united, who flill fpoke the fame language, and ftill profclled the fame religion, becoming dif- tin<$t nations. The only one among ancient ftates, that I can at prefent recollect, is the Jewifh nation ; whichj in the days of Jeroboam, was divided into the two kingdoms of Judah and Ifrael. This feparation is in every view a cafe fo much in point, that a few ftriclures on it cannot be deemed undefervingof your co.nfidcration. When the folly and the wicked irefs of Jeroboam had once made a divifion in the Jewifti kingdom, though it was lamented by all the wife and worthy men on both fides, it never was in the power of any of them again cordially to unite the two parties. They no fooner became a divided and diftincl: peo- ple, than the fy.fi ems of their politics alfo became di* vided and diftincl, and not feldom completely oppo- iite. The few common points, which it was their common intereft to promote, were foon ncglccled by both; ON THE STRIFE BETWEEN" both ; and, inflead of a common good, both at length naturally purfued ends of their own. They were, no doubt, both of them equally inte- refted in the protection of their common country from foreign invafions. But even this was rendered difficult, if not impracticable, by the circumilance of their having become feparate governments : it availed them little that, in the great points of country and religion, they might be faid to be Hill one and the lame people. Their conftant mutual fufpicions and jealouiies, and fometimes their difputes and their quarrels, proved a never-failing Ibnrce of detriment to themfelves, and advantage to their enemies. Reli- gion too felt her fhare of thefe evils ; it being hardly poffible for her to efcape unhurt amidfl fuch confu- lions of the State. Difputes and contentions, even on the mod reafonable grounds, generally terminate in uncharitablcnefs : and when charity faileth, piety, and even purity of faith, feldom furvive long. If it happened, as it fometimes did, that there was a good understanding between the two kingdoms, fo that they could fay to each other (in the language which appears to have been the eftablifhed phrafe to exprefs the clofeil alliance and amity between thefe two kingdoms) I am as tlou art, my people as thy people, and my horfes as thy lorfes ; the alliance was never iincere, the amity never cordial. In countries fo circumftanced it would have been alrnoft romantic to expect it ; for, however common and equally in- terefling ABRAM AND LOT. terefting the caufe might be in which they jointly engaged, it was fcarcely poffible for them to purfue it with the fame zeal and ardour as if they had ftill lived under the obligation and enjoyment of the fame common government and common religion. The final remit of their difunion was, that Reho- loam ajfembled all the houfe of Judah, with the tribe of Benja?nin,an hundred and fourf core thoufand men, whica were warriors, to fght againft Ifrael. Nay, fueh, as the prophet fpeaks, was tie envy that Ephraim lore to Judah, and fitch the vexation that Judah gave to Ephraim, that there does not appear ever to have been an hearty reconciliation between them. For, a brother offended is harder to be won than a Jlrong city ; and their contentions are like the bars of a caftle. Were it not fo common for thofe who have loved much, on the breaking out of a quarrel, thusfuddenly to change their good-will into hatred, the enmity of Rekah, thefon of Remaliah, the king of Ifrael, (who actually entered into an alliance with Rezin, king of Syria, in the hope that by their united ftrength they might completely fubjugate the kingdom of Judah,) would be utterly incredible. After various conflicts, by which, as had been foretold, they were rendered weak, as a reed that is JJjaken in the water ; both be- came an eafy prey to their common enemies, and were carried away captive, the one into Afiyria, and the other into Babylon. The fuccefsful afiertion of their liberties againft the unwieldy and oppreflive power of Spain by the people ON THE STRIFE people of Holland, now called the United States,, was rather throwing off a foreign yoke, to which they liad always fubmitted with reluctance, than revolting againft a power and a people of whom they them- felves were an eflential part : and therefore, however glorious to them or inftructive to the world it may be, it cannot with propriety be drawn into a parallel with the cafes now under con fi deration. The fepa- ration of Portugal from Spain, confidering the juxta- pofition of the two kingdoms, the famenefs of their language, religion and manners, might have been regarded as almoft a cafe in point, were it not that that revolution, like a iimilar one in China, affected chiefly the family on the throne. Portugal was a diftinct kingdom, and perfectly independent of Spain for many centuries before the crown was placed in 1640 on the head of the duke of Braganza : nor was any confiderable change made by it, in the form of government, the conftitution, or the laws of the country. Still, however pure the intentions, how- ever honourable the conduct of thofe, who effected the two great revolutions in queftion, it is by no means fo eaiy to prove, as it is to aflert, that in either cafe the people have been eventually great gainers by their detachment from Spain. Had not the go,- vernment of Spain become fo unaccountably but miferably degenerated as it now is, I think it is al- moft capable of demonftration, that not only Spain would have been a greater and happier country ; but Holland, and Portugal alfo, (which are and ever muft ABRAM AND LOT. muft be fo weak in themfelves, that, exiting as they do through the courtefy of the farroundiug king, dorns, they can hardly be called Independent States,) might have been more fecure, 'and of eourfe more happy, even as the fubjefts of Spain.* than they arc with the fhadow.only of independency. I would it were necefiary to go into the hiftory only of pad ages, or of foreign nations, to- (hew the fatal efFecls of thefe fallings out among brethren ! But, (alas ! the hiftory of the laft century, and what then paded among ourfelves, is a perpetual leflbn, at lead to Britifh fubjecls, to -leave off contention before it la meddled with. The unhappy difputes in the reign of the firft Charles began, as ours have now begun, about matters which, comparatively fpeaking, were but of little mo- ment ; and for which, every candid, man mud chari- tably believe, the leaders on both fides, had they fore- fecn what was to happen, never would have involved the nation in all the horrors of a civil war. The points in difpute were not at iirfi difHcult to fettle; and no doubt the well-meaning (for many fuch there were in both parties) would have determined them as eafily and as happily as Ab ram's difference with Lot, had they not, fatally for themfelves and their country, relied on the regular confutation at interference of Parliament. " They thought, as mod men did, the " government to be fo firmly fettled, that it could :f neither be fhaken from within nor from without ; *' and that nothing lefs could hurt them than a ge- A a " neral 354 ON THE STRIFE BETWEEN " neral confufion both of law and gofpel. But, they " did not forefee how eafily and how foon that con- " fufion might be brought about V They eafily might have forefeen, though they did not, what fatal confufions mud follow, on their firit error of fuffering themfelves to be authoritatively dictated to by perfons unknown to the laws, who began their reformation by overturning the Eftablifh- ed Church. They might eafily have forefeen what treatment the State would receive, from obferving that which the Church did receive. All that was found in doclrine, all that was decent in worfhip, de- generated into enthufiafm and confufion. For, how- ever the feveral feels confpired together at firfl, and united to deftroy the National Church, they united for nothing elfc. It was unnatural that they fhould unite in any meafure; and therefore, no fooner was the only purpofe attained which they propofed to themfelves by their union, than they returned as it were with frefh force to their innate habits of clif- puting and quarrelling. Every feel attempted to eftabliQi itfelf : and though they had all difclaimed impofition and coercion of every kind in matters of religion whilft themfelves were the minority, they no fooner got the power into their own hands than they themfelves praclifed them with great rigour. As if bent on realizing all that their own diflempered imaginations had pourtrayed, they perfecuted all who * Clarendon, vol. i. p. 102, Svo. differed ABRAM AND LOT. differed from them, with as much rancour as they had affected to apprehend was directed againft them- felves. Thefe things were written for our learning : and the hiftory of thofe dreadful times may teach us, in Ms our day, the things that belong to our peace, before they be hid from our eyes. Two things feem now to be placed before us, as the objecls of our prefent choice ; the gaining wifdom from the experience of others, and the obtaining it by coftly experiments of our own. To affirm that the former is as effec- tual as the latter, might feem prefumptuous ; but we are well warranted in affirming, that, if it be not our own faults, much wifdom may be obtained from the experience of others. Inftead therefore of rafhly committing yourfelvcs to an hazardous experiment of your own, permit me to recommend it to you to confult the inftruclive page of hiftory ; to read, as I myfelf have juft read, our Englifli Livy, Lord Cla- rendon. His Hiftory of the Grand Rebellion is not only the hiftory of fome bad men conducting with great ability, and ftill greater fuccefs, a bad caufe ; but, as a perpetual warning to all fucceeding gene- rations, it (hews how thonfands of good men were infenfibly abforbed in the vortex of party, in which both they and all that was good perifhed *. Inftead of * Judge Blackftone fpeaks of thcfe men and their proceeding* with great judgment and impartiality, when he fays : " that thofe " popular leaders (who in all ages have called.themfeives the people) Aa* 35^ ON THE STRIFE BETWEEN of Meningto the declamaticnsof thofe artful men, who gradually lead us to think lefs and lefsof the whole of our excellent Conftitution, by inceffantly inveighing againft fome of it's parts, it will teach us to admire, to reverence, and, if pofiible, to preferve for ever that admirable fyftem which was modelled by the wifdom, and has been fupported by the virtue, of our anccftors ; and can be deftroyed only by the folly and the vice of their pofterity. By the examples of thofe times, we fee how dangerous the heats even of honed men are to themfelves as well as to others, when they are not regulated by prudence: for fuch men are, by their warmth, more eafily led to adopt meafures planned for them by thofe who have fome defign in every thing that they do or fay ; than thafe cautious chH- dren of phlegm, who, if they feldom delight their friends by the performance of any truly great action, as feldom diftrefs them by being rafh and precipitate. And when once, either through the intemperate zeal or the improvidence of good men, ancient land-marks are fufFcred to be removed, it is rarely in the power even of the honeft part of the community to bring back government to it's former dignity, or religion to it's primitive purity. " began to grow infoleut and ungovernable : their infolence foon " rendered them defperate : and defpair at length forced them ** to join with a fet of military hypocrites and enthufiafts, who " overturned the Church and Monarchy, and proceeded with deli- " berate folemnity to the trial and murder of their Sovereign." Blackflone, Comment, vol. iv. p. 438. That ABRAM AND LOT. That many wrong things are thus done among us, we are all ready to acknowledge ; as alfo to acknow- ledge, and even to boaft of, the excellency of our Confutation. Yet, contrary to our duty^ contrary to our inter-efts, and contrary, it may be, to our real fcntiments, when we dare to avow them, and when our judgments are not inflamed by our paffions, we help, by our heedleffhefs or our levity, to under- mine, if not to fubvert, it's beft fupports, legal liberty and the eftablifhed religion. I am at a lofs to fay to what caufe we are to afcribe fuch inconliftency, if it be not to a want of penetration in us* to difcern the confequence of other men's principles, or elfe to a want of refolution to maintain our own. Whatever may be the wifhes or the aims^of our herdfmen, I am fur from thinking that a majority of our people, if left to themfelves, have any puipofe of driving the ftrifa already begun between us and our fellow herdfmen, bej^ond the Atlantic to extremities. Even thofe among us who look for the worft iflue of it that can happen, I mean a feparation effecled by war, muft be inconfiftent, and at variance with their own piofeflions, if they would not be better pleafed to obtain a feparation without a war. |Y e t 5 w ^ft every ftep which our herdfmen take unqueftionably j.ends to a feparation, is it pot extraordinary that, in all their declarations aud remonftrnnces, they perfift officioufly to di%vqvv their having any fuch inten- tionsTJWere their policy as direct as I fear it is de- termined, they certainly might without blame, and A a 3 I Should 358 ON THE STRIFE BETWEEN I fhould imagine with advantage, long ago have fpoken out, and avowed what fome of their fubordi- nate agents now begin to infinuate, by hinting, in allufion to my text, Let our progenitor and kinfman, with whom we are now at variance, in imitation of Abram, bid us feparate ourfelves from him quietly and peaceably as Lot did, and all may yet be well. It was not on this fide of the Atlantic, 1 believe, that this notion was firft broached : and, of all the pro- pofals which thofe who from any motive are adverfe to the continuance of the union have yet fuggefied, this, no doubt, is by far the mod plaufible. Yet this, as well as fome other projects, carries fnfpicion along with it, if it were only from it's having been produced in thefe unfettled times ; times diftinguifh^ ed chiefly by Utopian projects of government. It is, moreover, to be liflened to with caution and diflruft, from it's having been fo eagerly adopted and patro- nized by thofe of our herdfmen, who, it is to be feared, have at any rate determined on a feparation. Sundry circumilances have concurred to give this propofal fome celebrity. It has been brought forward by an author *, of whofe abilities and integrity the world with great reafon entertains a very high opi- nion. The difficulties in the way of an accommoda- tion are almoft infurmountable, A refolution on the part of the Parent State, and the adherents to the Parent State in this country, not to feparate, feems * Dr, Tucker, too vx* -T-C7 r ^ c ABRAM AND LOT. too certainly to threaten both countries with a civil war : and (hould thofe who are adverfe to a reparation be fo fortunate as to be able at laft to effed their purpofe of quelling the refractory and the rebellious, all the reward they can hope or wifh for is only to be juft as they have always been, and what, but for thefe difputes, they might and would be at this mo- ment. This, however defirable, it is argued, is not worth what it mud coft. To enforce the fubmiflion of America by arms, will probably coft more than the value of the fee-limple of the country. And no in- ftance can be given, it is faid, of a people having gone fo far in the way of refiftance as the party in this country has now gone, and afterwards retreating till they were forced to do fo. It will infinitely re- dound to the honour of thofe with whom the deter- mination of this momentous queftion muft finally reft, if, in the face of all thefe difcouragements, they can refolve ftill to purfue the plain though difficult path of duty, and, without either a voluntary fepara- tion, (which, as a remedy, is pregnant with confe- quences almofl: as dangerous as the difeafe,) or an enforced fubmiflion, at laft be able to heal ourjfrifes. Were the queftion to be determined by prefent expediency, it is poflible the arguments in favour of a feparation might be found to be the ftrongeft. But, as fuch a feparation would be a new thing in the world, (the inftance in my text, which alone can pretend to be a parallel to it, being certainly as to this particular point a feeble and imperfect parallel, in as much as A a 4 between 360 ON THE STRIFE BETWEEN between Abram and Lot there fubfifted no relation of fupremacy or fubjecliori,) and as alfo there are in this vaft continent many thoufands of refpectable men, who, -eonfidering allegiance as a duty, fed it impoffible to bring themfel-ves to retain- or relinquish it jutl as mere convenience may feem to fuggeft, we hope at lead to be permitted to paufe before we determine. There is an objeelion of no ordinary magnitude at the very threfhold of this novel propofal. It has never yet been proved, nor> in my humble opinion, can it ever be proved^ that the Parent State can do what is afked-; that is to fay, can, without a breach of the Cpnftitution, voluntarily withdraw or forbear it's go- vernment over America*. Allegiance and protection are not merely reciprocrol duties, entirely dependent the one on the other. j.Each duty continues to be equally obligatory, and in force, -whether the other be performed -or not. I Tlicre is no authority to prove, that a failure of duty on one fide will jtfftify a like failure on the other. The drfobedicnce of the child, fo far from furnifhrng the parent with a pretence for * Bp. Taylor, in his D.uc~r-or Dubitantium, Book ni. chap. 3. p. 137, in anfwer to a gueilion, " Whether it be lawful, and in thf *' power of the fupreme prince or magiftrate, to aliene, or lefTen,'hiS " princely rights, or to give away any parts of his kingdom ?'" fays, " This is certain, -that wtere the princes are triiftees of " the people, or where the right of fuccefiion is in a family by law, " or immemorial time, no prince can prejudice .his heir, or the people " that trufled him. Nothing is here to be done without confent." with- ABRAM AND LOT. o6l withdrawing bis authority, is the ftrongeft reafon for exerting it. Were it othcrwife, there could be no fuch crime as rebellion ; nor any right in the magi- ftrate to punifh it. Defertion, or abdication, in gover- nors, feerns to ftand on the fame footing of criminality as defeclion and rebellion in the governed. If Great Britain can, merely on her own plcafurr, caft off America, it feems to follow, on every principle of reafon and law, that America muft be equallv at liberty to call off Great Britain. On fuch principles all ideas of {lability or permanency in government are vifionary : a common partnerfhip in trade is not more eafily diflblved, than all the ilrong bonds of govern- ment may be fnapped afunder. But, it will be alledged, perhaps, that no injury can be done or fuftained, if, like Abram and Lot, both parties agree to fcparate*. This, no doubt, puts the queition on new and more tenable ground. It muft be remembered, however, that, even on this principle, every man can anfwer only for himfelf. But, to juftify a general fcparation, the laws of fociety fecin to require that every individual in the community fhould voluntarily fiep forward, and declare it to be his fettled and determined wifh to feparate : for, this is not a cafe in which a majority, even fuppofing &ch a majority to exift, can bind a minority f ; in- afmuch as majorities can rightfully determine for 'minorities, only when the perfons compofmg fuch * Volcnti non fit injuria. f See Hobbcs, cf Dominion, chap, vi, 20. majorities 362. ON THE STRIFE BETWEEN" majorities are known to and recognized by the laws., and act agreeably to the forms of the Conflitution. The con frit uted powers of any Nation may no doubt, if they fee fit, alter the whole code of it's laws : but as fuch powers were conftituted avowedly to conform and act agreeably to the Conftitution, the Coniiitu- tion itfelf it is not within their competency to alter. Like the laws of the Medes and Perfians, that is un- alterable ; it can only be diflblved by a diflblution of fociety. But, admitting that the unanimous vote of a Nation is competent to change it's Conflitution, the very ftatement of the fuppofition implies, that without fuch unanimity it cannot be changed. Abftra&edly confidered, or merely on the footing of natural rights, no good reafon can be given, why, in any cafe, a minority (liould be bound by a majority. The prin- ciple has been adopted into practice merely from confiderations of prudence and convenience ; and can take place only in regulated focieties, that is to fay, in communities governed by laws : and thofe laws have determined and fpecified the cafes, in which alone minorities (hall be bound by majorities. How- ever numerous, then, or however refpectable any ma- jorities may be, they have no power to determine for the moft insignificant minorities, if they are not re- cognized by the laws. Any attempt to enforce fub- miffion to their decifions is unlawful and oppreflive ; and if, on applying to the law of the land, redrefs can- not be obtained, the Conflitution is infringed, and Society diflblved. If, ABRAM AND LOT. If, in defiance of the laws, a mere, plurality of votes were fufficient to compel a compliance with the de- terminations of any bodies of men not conftitutionallj empowered to determine for others, endlefs confufions and inconveniencies would enfuc. Queftions of the utmoft moment might fometimes be determined by a fingle vote, more or lefs. A point which to-day was determined in the affirmative, might to-morrow be refcinded, either by the death of one of the parties voting on that fide of the queftion, or by the coming of age of one or more perfons who till then were not competent to vote. Thus (as has juft before been obferved) all ideas of durability or liability, which compofe the very eflence of a Conftitution, muft be given up. The only rational idea of civil liberty, or (which is the fame thing) of a legitimate and good government, as to this point, is, when the great body of the people are trained and led habitually to fubmit to and acqui- efce in fome fixed and fteady principles of conduct. It is eflential, moreover, to Liberty, that fuch principles {hall be of power fufficient to controul the arbitrary and capricious wills of mankind ; which, whenever they are not fo controuled, are found to be dangerous and deftructive to the beft interefts of fociety. The primary aim, therefore, of all well-framed Conftitutions is, to place man, as it were, out of the reach of his own power, and alfo out of the power of others as weak as himfelf, by placing him under the power of law. To counter- aft that aim (an and weft : and as le went, ilus le faid> my fon Abfalom, my fon , my fon Ab- falom ! would God 1 lad died for tlee> Abfalom^ my fon > my fon ! ever any man knew the art of happily furmount-r ing trouble ; or, when that was impracticable, of bearing it with becoming fortitude ; it was David. It rnay feem extraordinary, then, that he, who through the whole courfe of an eventful life had been excr- cifed in trials of this nature, (houlcl burft into fo paA iionate an exclamation of grief as he here does, on an pccafion which, though calamitous, was yet accom- panied with many alleviating circumilances. Abfa- * Preached in Queen Anne's, in 1774* lorn.; ON THE CHARACTER OF ABSALOM. 377 !0m, it is true, was his fon ; but he was not his only fon, and he was moreover fo fingularly ungracious and unclutiful that he might have weaned and alie- nated the fondeft affection : nor does David, though undoubtedly a kind and tender parent, in any other in (la nee appear to have been weakly or capricionfly indulgent. No man could poflibly make more juft and appofite reflections on the death of a beloved child than he had formerly done : and yet, in what- ever point of view the expreffions in the text are con- ftdered, his forrow feems to have been as unrcafon* able as it was immoderate. There muft have been fome adequate caufe for fo flriking an inconfiftency. To trace this caufe, and to illuftrate an interefting circumftance in facred hif- tory, are the objects of my prefent difcourfe. It is fuch a portion of hiftory as, if well attended to, may not only put parents and children, but governors and f ub j eels, on their guard in feveral eflential articles of duty ; in which, without great caution, both the one and the other are too apt frequently to fail, and, by failing, to be undone. The fecond commandment, not more rigoroufly than juftly, threatens to vifit tie fins of the fathers upon tie children. And an attentive obfcrver may fee a thoufand inftances in life, in which this threat is ac- tually inflicted on communities, as well as on indi- viduals ; and this not only morally and judicially, but jn the natural courfe of things. It happens alfo that the Denunciation is frequently reverfed, when the fins ON THE CHARACTER OF ABSALOM. fins of the children are vifited upon the fathers. And, in truth, when a parent fees his children making them- fehes vile, and yet will not red rain them, 1 know not on what grounds he can expecl that they fhould not hereafter conjwne his eyes and grieve fas heart. It would feem to have been in this way that David erred. Abfalom was born, emphatically, a child of wrath ; for his mother, Maachah, the daughter of Talcnai king of Gefhur, was a captive, whom David had taken in his expedition to Ziglag : (he was confe- queatly an alien. It may, however, be prefumcd, that fhe was naturalized according to the Jewifti ritual, by undergoing the ceremony of having her head JJoaven, ier nfiils pared^ the raiment of her captivity pit from off ber \ and by remaining in his houfe, and bewailing her father and mother a full month. But there is too much reafoB to believe, that, with regard to the Jewifh worfhip, fhe was only an " occalional con- formift." This,, I fay, is to be feared, beeaufe it is a natural and by no means an unufual cafe : and if her converfion was thus imperfect, her fon (if he had the good fortune to efcape being mifled by a falfe religion) can hardly be fuppofed to have been fufficiently intruded in the true one. For this, much of the blame is to be laid at the door of David : and doubtlefs he was inexcufable ; iince, by thus neglecting to lay a proper foundation, on which in after life he might have raifed a fuperftruclure of virtue and happinefs, he was the true caufe of all his fon's future mifconducl. The fore punifliment which this ON THE CHARACTER OP ABSALOM. 379 this afterwards drew down on his own head, (hould be a lading leflbn to parents, that whatfoever elfc they neglect, they do not neglect to bring up their children in /be nurture and admonition of the Lord. In point of natural advantages, Abfalom was with- out a rival ; for /;/ all If r a el there was none to be fo much praifed as Abfalom^ for his beauty : from the fole of his foot, even to the crown of his head, there was n* blemiflj in him. There is fome ground for fufpedting, that thefe external accomplishments made too great an impreffion upon the fond parent ; and that, fali?licl with them, he was at little pains to cultivate any other. The body, as well as the mind, is capable of improvement from culture ; and it is not the part of wiftlom wholly to neglect it : ftill, however, perfonal beauty is, and ought to be, of lefs moment than mental endowments. Happily both may be cul- tivated together ; and that they fhould be fo, is ad- vantageous, if not neceflary, to both. But it has too often been the reproach of mankind, that where Providence has done much for them, they are very apt to do little for themfclves. Thofe who are pof- fetfecl of many perfonal graces, are feldom fufficicntly folicitous about internal ornaments : great genius is rarely accompanied with intenfe application : fertile countries are ufually the lead cultivated; and the beft governments are frequently the word admi- niftcred. David does not appear to have been an exception to the truth of thefe pbfervations. He was blcfied with 3O ON THE CHARACTER OF ABSALOM. with a gift and heritage uncommonly fair and pro- railing. Gratitude to the gracious Giver fhould have rraade him more careful not to have fuffcred it, like the vineyard of the flothful man, to have been all grown over with thorns and nettles. Calamities which befal us in the daily courfe of Providence, and with- out any fault of our owft, are often, God knows,; fofficiently poignant: but when we fmart through our own mifconducl:, the anguifh of the blow is in- finitely moreexquifite. When David therefore found a fon, who, with proper care, might have been a corn- fort to him in thofe feafons of life when comfort is rnoft wanted, become pricks in bis eyes, and a thorn in &is fide ; and when he reflected on hirnfclf as the author of his own fufferings ; we are no longer fur- prifed to find his grief was immoderate in the ex* ii-eme *. If, in the prefent fallen and degenerate ftate of human nature, we can hardly, with all our ikill, rear * OTTOT'C Ti- ruy txrsoiQs-jruv si$ riTuiU^v ZKO^EVOJ, fw ytuoi %a^iv, p.'/,^* Tfw Tayma r.y,KUi; \iynv r, Si y, x.i.1 Kxy.oTfjiQiixv Tfs^i Polyb. lib. vu 4. p. 6^2, " When any of thefe, therefore, being arrived at perfedl age, *' injieail of yielding fuilalle returns of gratitude and ajfiftance to thofe ** by whom they have been bred, on the contrary attempt to injure " them by words or aftions ; it is manifeft, that thofe who behold <( the wrong, after having alfo feen the fufferings and the anxious " care that were fuftained by the parents in the nourifhment and " education of thefe children, mitft be greatly offended, and unhappy * at fuch proceeding."^ - Hampton's Translation, vol. iii. p. 10. the OS THE CHARACTER OP ABSALOM. 381 the fair plants of true religion and piety to any tole- rable perfection , what may we not cxpecl, if, inftcad of PauFs planting and A f olios' s watering thefe feeds of goodnefs, we fuffer tie boar out of the wood to root them out , and the wild beajh of the Jiekl to devour -them f Abfalom, as has already been hinted, was Jbapen in Jin, and in iniquity did bis mother conceive him* Inftead of correcting this original and native obliquity of mind and propeniity to evil, David fiifFered it to grow as he grew, until at length it became impo- iible to render that ftraight which had fo long been crooked. And if, from a youth thus trained up, he looked for any other returns than thole he met with-, he was wilfully blind and felf-deceived. And fo ~will every other parent be, who, in a like cafe, cx- pccls the fruits of obedience from the children of difobedience. Admirable are the words of the wife Son of Sirach : A horfe, not broken , becometh head- Jirong ; and a child, left to himfelf, will be wilful. Cocker thy child, and he Jball make thee afraid ; play with him, and he Jball bring thee to beavincfs. Give him no liberty in his youth ; and wink not at his follies. J3ow down his neck while he is young, and beat him on- the fides while he is a child, left he wax flubborn and dif obedient, and fo bring f arrow to thine heart. And now having (hewn why David's grief on occa- fion of the death of Abfalom was more violent than it had been when the child which he had by the wife of Uriah died, or even when Amnbn was murdered ; and that this excefs of grief arofe from a confeiouf- bcfi 382 ON THE CHARACTER OF ABSALOM. nefs that he himfelf was ultimately the caufe of it 3 we are naturally led to confider fome other circum- ftances in the hi (lory of Abialom ; and, in particular, the feveral fteps and flages of that moft unnatural defection, which, after deluging his country with blood, terminated in the untimely death of a rebel- lious fon. The firft very confpicuous aclion of his life, which vre read of, was the foul murder of his brother Amnon. He had indeed no flight provocation to plead in his excufe : but, uncommiilioned as he was to take the execution of juflice into his own hands, ib violent an invafion of the prerogative of his father fhews that he was not only of a vehement and impetuous fpirit, but ambitious and fond of power. I might perhaps be fufpecled of deducing an inference from this ftory which it's recital will hardly warrant, were I to flate, that even now he looked forward to the period in .which he hoped to be made judge in the land. But this much is certain, that Amnon alone then flood be- tween him and the kingdom : and that the people in general put this conftruclion upon it, may be in- iferred from the report which was immediately raifed, -that Abfalom bad Jlain all the kings Jons* and that there was not one of them left. If David's whole cha- racter was not compofed of inflances of great wicked- nefles, mixed with inflances of ftill greater virtues, we might be furprifed how fo wife a king could ppffibly overlook, as. he did, fo flagrant a violation of all order jand good government. We read only, that, - inftea4 THE CHARACTER &P ABSALOM. 383 mftead of refenting and punifhing it, (which heought to have done both as a good father and a good king.) te and all his fervants wept very fore. They might indeed well be moved at fo fad a fymptom of deter- mined and daring undutifulnefs ; fince, if he waa capable of fuch an outrage againft all decency in early life, what might not be expected when fuck propenfities came to be confirmed by habit ? A true regard for Abfalom hirnfclf, as well as for all the other children of the king, fhould have urged them tfx have nipped, if poilible, this firil fhoot of difobe- dience in the bud. To fpare the guilty, is to punifh the innocent. Refpect to the welfare of his many faft friends, who muft neccfTarily be involved in the calamities that were fure to follow fuch ill-timed and exceffive indulgence, fhould have taught the too ealy monarch more prudence and more firmncfs. But it has too often been the fatal policy of other men in authority as well as of David, to love their enemies y and hate their friends : of which error the fmalleft part of the punifhment is, that, as Joab told David, tleyjbanie the faces of all their fervants. After fo indifputable a proof that foolifinefs was bound In the heart of Abfalom, David fhould with his wifer fon have known, that the rod of correction, feafon- ably and judicioufly applied, would have driven it far from him. He did know what the law had decreed againft a ftubborn and rebellious fon : yet he appears to have been as indifpofed to have recourfe to the law, as he was heedlefs of the dictates of reafon. It ON" THE CHARACTER. OP ABSALOWf. It is faid, however, that, after this murder, AlfalorH fed: and .k may perhaps from hence be inferred, that David fo exceedingly refented his crime, that he patted feme very rigorous decrees againft him. But it is more probable that Abfalom only appre- hended fuch fleps would be taken, from a confciouf- nefs of the juft occasion which he had given for them. In the hiftory we find no account of any fuch proceedings : it mentions only Davifs mourn- ing for bis Jon every day ; adding, in a phrafe of much force, that bis foul longed fo go forth to Ahfalom. Thefe were cireumftances which as little {hewed a -vindiclivc fpirit in the king, as any juft grounds for the fears of Abfalom. If, as fs generally imagined-, the forty- fecond Pfalm was written on the occafion of this revolt, no farther proof can be wanting to fhew that David's grcatcft anxiety was for the pre- fervation of the national purity of worfhip at the temple in Jerufalem, from which (as appears from 2 Sam. ch. xv. ver. 14, as well as from the 42d Pfalm) he was now cut off; and to which he longed to be reftorcd, even as the hart fantcth for the water- Irooh. So far from meditating fchemes of rcvenge y his foul was cajl down with the waves and billows of adverfity which furroundcd him ; and he * went .mourning hecavfe of the offrejfion of the enemy. JfftihTalmai) thefonofAmmihud, king of Gejbur, dhfalom tarried three years. \ feem not to myfelf to deduce more from the hiftory than it will warrant, * Pfal. xliii. ver. 2. when ON THE CHARACTER OP ABSALOM. 385 ftippofe that under this Heathen prince, who was his grandfather, he learned (or, if he had already learned, that he was now confirmed in) fome Gentile notions and maxims ; which, however inconfiflent with the fyftem of his own country, were too fuitable to his future views for him not to cultivate : for, on his return to Jerufalem, (a meafure which was accom- plilhed not without fome difficulty,) the firft proof which he gave of his improvements was a fyftematic and well-concerted fcheme to overturn the eftablifhed government. This he hoped to effect' entirely by the means of an unhallowed principle, firft broached in the fchools of Gentilifm ; I mean that of a natural, inherent, and unalienable right in the people of any community to erect and to pull down a government v&Jballfeem right in their own eyes ; or, in their own phrafe, a right to make a king to judge them like tie nations. This, no doubt, was a doctrine very difli- milar to what he might and ought to have learned from that better code of laws received and reverenced at Jerufalem. But he faw that, owing to the weak- nefs and wickednefs of mankind, the flattering idea that all power flowed from the people would every- where find advocates, and everywhere be popular. Indeed, in his cafe, there feemed to be a neceflity that fuch opinions fliould prevail, before he could accom- plifh his views : what his fentiments on tbe fubject might have been, if he had fucceeded, is another en- quiry. It certainly is not likely, however, that, even if thefe levelling principles had raifed him to the C c throne, 386 ON THE CHARACTER OF ABSALOM. throne, he would afterwards have been fo zealous in defence of them : fuch doclrines appear to be as ill adapted to lupport a government, as they are well calculated to overturn one. To fo profligate a character forgivenefs for pad offences, and licence to difleminate his pernicious principles, were the beft earnefts of future fuccefs ; David not only pardoned him for his former crimes, but received him again into favour. Elated with his fuccefs in this his firft effay of difobedience, he now feriouily betook himfelf to profecute his long medi- tated revolt. His firil attempts, as it was natural, were covert and fecret, and accompanied with the moft unqualified and unbounded profeffions of an entire devotion to the king. Nay, when in the wild phrenfy of his ambition he even fet fire to a barley field belonging to Joab, he had the affurance and the art to alledge that it was from the regard he bore to the king, and from the ftrong defire he had to fee the king's face ; from a confidence, as he in- finuated, of his being able to prove, notwithstanding all that had pafled, that there was no iniquity in him. Ripening faft as the plot now was, it became time for David's hoary counfellor, Ahitophel, who no doubt had long fecretly fomented it, openly to avow himfelf. The character of this man is remarkable : the counfel of Ahitophel, which he counfelled in thofe days, was as if a man had inquired at the oracle of God ; fo was all the counfel of Ahitophel both with David and with Ab~ falom. Under his aulpices, thofe commotions which had ON THE CHARACTER OP ABSALOM. 38? had hitherto affumed the gentler femblance of re- form, now appeared in their genuine character of revolt and rebellion. And in truth it required a head like his to devife the fingular ftratagem offend- ing fpies throughout all the tribes of Ifrael, with in- flrucT.ions, that as foon as they fhould hear the found of the trumpet, they Ihould fay, Abfalom reigmth in Hebron ! The policy of this meafure is obvious : and this is neither the firft nor the lait time that mankind have been hurried on to join in defperate enterprifes, by being artfully beguiled into the belief that they were already accomplillied. Thus, in Monmouth's rebellion in the laft century, (an event which was almoft an exac~l counterpart * to this of Abfalom,) foon after his landing, it was judged neceflary that he fhould be proclaimed king. And Richard duke of York, who took up arms againft king Henry the Sixth, gave out to the world, that he and his adhe- rents " defigned all honour and obedience unto the " king, and meant only to remove certain ill men " from about his perfon, who opprcfTed the people * Though, on his landing at Lime in Dorfetfhire, he had fcarcely a hundred followers ; yet, " fo captivating was his perfon" (fays Ralph) " to the people, and fo fpecioushis pretenfionb, that, the next il and the following days, fuch numbers crowded in to him, that his " commiflaries had full employment in taking down their names this firm loyalift, with his cbofen band of faithful followers, alfo pafied over ; deter- mined to abide by the king, and Abiathar and Zadok, and the ark of the covenant of God. It appears from the eleventh Pfalm, that fome of the king's coun- fellors, either through fear or treachery, adyifed him to defert and leave to themfelves both Ittai and all his adherents, whofe ill-judged or interefted zeal, they faid, feemed likely to involve him in fiill greater difficulties. But was fuch a man to be given up, or doomed \ofee as a bird to the mountains? or (what was \vorfe) to be left in the power of thofe wicked men, whofe tender mercies are cruel f Let any, but fuch men ps are capable of giving fuch advice, anfwer the quef- tion. Matters were now fad approaching to a criiis. The rebellion was already at a very dangerous height ; and this, as far as we can judge, was owing not fo much to the good management of Abfalom and his party (whofe abilities, however, on fuch an occafion, we are far from questioning), as to the bad manage- ment of David. Thinking it impofiible, it would feem, that a fon could be a rebel, it was hard to pre- . vail on him to oppofe force to force. At length, however, he was perfuaded ; and the firft ftep he took ON THE CHARACTER OF ABSALOM. took was certainly proper and judicious ; I mean his having recourfe to fafting and prayer. This is al- ways right ; but it was particularly fo in the prefent juncture, as it might feem in fome fort to fandify the very prudent though fomewhat irregular expedi- ent he next fell upon, namely, the fending Hufhai the Archite, under falfe pretences, to infinuate him^ felf into Abfalom's confidence, that, thus being ad- mitted to his counfels, he might the more eafily defeat them *. The adclrefs of this t nifty fervant on this hazardous Adventure was admirable. On his firft approach IQ the ufurper, he hails him with the common falutation, God fave t~be king! Commentators have remarked that there is a very ingenious equivocation in this phrafe, as it is here ufcd. It certainly was intended to be undenlood as applied to the perfon to whom it was addrefTed : and yet, by a mental refervation, it might alfo be predicated of David, who alone, no * In Lord Bacon's Hiftory of Henry Tilth there is related an xpedient of accomplifhing a good end by bad means, not .unlike tliis mentioned in the text. When the Earl of Suffolk fled into Flanders to promote an infurreclion againft Henry the Seventh, he caufed Sir Robert Curfon, captain of the caftle at Hamme~, to fly from his charge, and to feign himfelf the Earl's fervant. Curfon did fo ; and having infinuated himfelf into the fccrets of the Earl, and become his confidant, communicated every tiling to Henry, Meanwhile Henry, to confirm the credit of Curfon, caufed to be publifhed at Paul's Crofs the Pope's bull of excommunication and curfe againft the Earl of Suffolk and Sir Robert Curfon : " where- " in, 1 * fays the noble relater, " it mull bd confefied that heaven was ' made too much to bow to eaitk. and. religion to policy," doubt, ON THE CHARACTER OF ABSALOM. doubt, was king. Be this as it may, it appears not at once effectually to have lulled afleep all the juft fuf- picions of Abfalom, whom we may fuppofe to have now become an adept in all the wiles of plots and confpiracies. Is this, fays he to the adroit courtier, is this thy kindnefs to thy friend? As though he had faid, if it be thus that thou ferveft my father, who has a better title to thy fervices than I can pretend to, what fecurity can I have that thou wilt be more faithful to me ? It was an home-queftion ^ but Ilujbai was prepared for it, and therefore readily anfwered, nay, but whom the Lord and this people Jhall choofe, bis 'will I be. If the fufpicion of a quibble was before fairly fattened on this dextrous manager of a pious fraud, he will not eaiily efcape it in the inttance now before us. The Lord and the people had chofen, and could choofe, David only. Neverthelefs, framed and applied as the anfwer was, it might and it did convey to Abfalom the idea that Hujbal had alfo adopted the new-fangled notions concerning the power of the people. That the anfwer was ingenious and plaufible is admitted : yet, had it been critically examined, it is believed Abfalom might have found as much caufc of diffatisfa&ion as fatisfaclion in it ; for he could not pretend to a better right to the throne than David had. Admitting, then, that the fenfe of this anfwer was that which he put upon it, and that the general fuffrages of the people could abfolve an indi- vidual confcientious fubjecl from his allegiance ; that Hufhai 398 ON THE CHARACTER OF ABSALOM. Hufhai was fo absolved, and all others who chofe it $ and that, in fhort, David was now depofed, and Abfa- lom made king in his (lead ; did it never occur to him to afk himfelf this plain queflion, what was to hinder a giddy populace, when the tide fliould turn, from again acling the fame part and clepofing him ? He appears not to have forcfcen, or at leaft not to have regarded, that, inftead of permanence and liabi- lity, the two main objects in all good governments, he was now laying a foundation, in the very principles on which his new empire was to be raifed, for per- petual convulfions and revolutions, than which his bitterer! enemies could not well have wifhed him a greater evil. God's 'ways are not as our ways. It is his peculiar privilege to bring good out of evil ; and, asfnow and vapour ^florin and wind, fulfil his word, fo doth he or- dain, that the moft untoward events in human life fhall, if he fee fit, work together for good. The rnid- vvives of Egypt, a harlot of Jericho, a lying pro- phet, a woman of Bahurim, or an artful courtier, were all but fo many inftruments in his hands to bring about good in the moral world ; jufl as thunder and lightning effect the fame falutary purpofcs in the natural. He wbo greet!} foliation unto kings, and foeweth mercy to bis anointed, loveth fome times, by means apparently the motf contemptible, to confound the wifdom of the wife, if Abfalom had not been in- fatuated, or (as I fhould rather have faid) if the Lord had not appointed to defeat the good counfel of Ahitophel^ to ON THE CHARACTER OF ABSALOM. 399 to the Intent that he might bring evil upon Abfahm, he could never have thought the counfel of Hnjhal to be letter than the counfel of Ahitophel. That there was much good fenfe and found judg- ment in Hujbais advice, as well as infinite addrefs and delicacy in his mode of delivering it, is allowed. Attend for a moment to both. He differs from Ahi- tophel with diffidence, whilft yet, with apparent hefi- tation, he fuggefts fome very natural grounds of fear, which he knew would not fail to make their due im- preffion on the mind of Abfalom, notwithstanding all Ahitophel's endeavours to encourage and animate him. He is reminded not only of David's own well- known prowefs and fkill in war, but alib of the innate and diftinguifhed valour of his mighty men. This is backed by a very fignificant infinuation of another kind ; which however, for obvious reafons, is but juft hinted at. Thy followers, fays he, though now valiant as a lion, (thus artfully by a well turned com- pliment paving the way for the dimeartening furmifes which follow,) yet on the firft rebuff their hearts flail utterly melt. No rebel, he would fay, however natur- ally brave, and when engaged in a good caufe, can be fo undaunted as thole who are enlifted in the honour- able fervice of their king and country *. And now nothing remains but the laft decifive / * " The king's name is a tower of ftrength, " Which they upon the adverfe fa&ion want." Shakefpeare, Rich. III. Aa v. Scene 3. blow, 400 CMST THE CHARACTER OF ABSALOM. blow, which is to determine the fate of the kingdom of Ifrael. The two armies meet ; and this battle of friends, countrymen, and brothers, was fought in tie ivood of Ephraim. Of Abfalom's party twenty thou- fand were flain, and their defeat \vas final. But, as it were to intimate that David's backwardnefs to chaftife this undutiful fon and his mifguided follow- ers continued to the Ia(l 5 it is added (and is certainly a fine ftroke of humanity) that the wood devoured more people that day than the fword devoured. The iifue of this defperate revolt^ with refpecl to Abfalom, was as extraordinary as all the reft of it had been. He rode upon a mule ; and the mule went under the thick loughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the hea- ven and the earth, and the mule that was under hint went away. Thus fufpended, Joab took three darts m his handy and thruft them through the heart of Abfalom^ while he was alive in the midft of the oak*. * It has been remarked, that Providence infli&ed a kind of death on this traiterous young man, not very difiimilar to that, to which the laws of England fentence fuch malefactors. " The traitor mall " be drawn to the place of execution, as not being worthy any " more to tread the face of the earth, whereof he was made ; and " with his head declining downwards, and as near the ground as " may be, being thought unfit to take the benefit of the common " air. He (hall next be banged up by the neck between heaven and " earth, as deemed unworthy of both or either ; as likewife that " the eyes of men may behold and their hearts contemn him." " And ON THE CHARACTER OF ABSALOM. 40! " And fo perifh " (as the excellent Bifhop Hall concludes his Contemplations on the Hiftory) " all fi they who dare to lift up their hands againft the c< LORD'S Anointed ! but on himfelf let his crowu flourilh !" Dd DIS. 402 Otf tttfc CHARACTER OF AHITOPHEt. DISCOURSE X. ON THE CHARACTER OF AH1TOPHEL*, 2 SAMUEL, cb. xvii. ver. 23. Ahitophelfaw that his counfel was not fol- lowed, he f addled his afs, and arofe, and gat him home to his houfe, and put his houjhold in order, and hanged hinfelf, and died, and was buried in the fepulchre of his father. JL AM not without apprehenfions that I have hardly read my text without giving offence. The times in which we live are in many refpecls greatly altered ; even the duties of the pulpit are no longer what they were but a very few years ago. As though we became preachers that we might be inftrucied, rather than inftruct ; there are few of our hearers who do not conceive themfelves authorifed to inform us, both what we ought to preach, and what we ought not. If thofe perfons in this congregation, who are thus fuddenly become acute critics, had been as careful to be exact hearers, it would not have been neceflary * Preached in Q^een Anne's, in 1774. . - for ON THE CHARACTER OF AHITOPHEL. 403 for me now again thus publicly to charge with mif- reprefentation foine reports which have been induf- trioufly circulated rcfpecting my lafl Sermon. I be- lieve it was owing to the frequent occurrence of cafes of this kind, foon after the Reformation, that the Clergy of thofe times thought it prudent to de- liver written Sermons : a cuftom which is almoft peculiar to the Church of England. Portions, opi- nions, and doctrines, were then, as now, imputed to them ; which they were confcious they had never advanced. On the clearnefs and certainty of a written teilimony, as far at lead as the facl: of what was or was not advanced, there could be no difpute. I have, on many accounts, reafon to be thankful that this cuftom has never been difcontinucd in our Church. Several of the remarks and fcntimcnts, which I lately delivered to you in a Difcourfe upon the fame fubjecl: as the one which I have now pre- pared, have been fo exceedingly diftorted and inif- reprefented, yet ftill with fuch an ingenious attention to what undoubtedly was faid, that, but for my notes, I fhould have been at a lofs how to difavow them : and yet not to have difavowed them, would have been to fubmit to imputations of fuch folly and dif- ingenuoufnefs as I would not impute even to my accufers. It is by no means a circumftance that gives me pleafure, to find myfelf obliged fo frequently to fpeak to you of myfelf. But whenever I have thus yielded to ncceffity, I flatter myfelf that the motive has ap- D d 2 peared 404 ON THE CHARACTER OF AHITOPHEL. peafed to you not lefs urgent than obvious. Egotifrri does not confift merely in the ufe of the monofyl- lable " I :" it may be difficult, but it is not impof- iible, for a man to fpeak of himfelf (as of any other perfbn or thing) without either vanity or odentation : we deierve ceniure only when we bring ourfelves for- ward unneceilarily, or improperly. The character of a miniderof the word of God is not a mere per- ibnal concern : he owes it to the flock over whom he is appointed, to preferve, not only himfelf, but his character alfb, unfpotted from the world: to repel a perfonal dander is in him more than a common duty ; becaufe the refutation is neceflary, not only to his own welfare, but to the fuccefs of his miniftry. Suffer me, then, after this fair appeal to yourfelves that I have been much wronged by fome very con- fident reports refpecling my -lad Difcourfe, (which alfo I can farther prove by a reference to the manu- fcript dill in my pofleffion) differ me, I fay, to go on, and both now and hereafter, undifmayed by cenfurers, (whofe threats are, I hope, as impotent as they them- felves are unjud,) to deliver to you fuch doclrines and exhortations as the exigencies of the times and your particular circumftances may feem to require. Ahitophel, the fubject of my text, acled a buiy and important part in Ab&lom's revolt : and if there was a propriety, as I muft dill be permitted to think there was, in holding up Abfalom as a mirror to thofe of us, who (like him) may be in danger of being led into rebellion, while we fuppofe we are engaged only in a vir- ON THE CHARACTER OF AHITOPHEL. 405 a virtuous oppoiition, it cannot be irpproper to inquire fomewhat more particularly who Ahitophel was, and what he did ; that our Leaders alfo may fee what they have to expect if they, like him, proceed to drive matters to extremities. Of Ahitophers parentage we have no account. It would feem, however, that he was not of the loiveft of the people ; becaufe the firft mention made of him is, that he was the king's counfdlor : and in the 55th Pfalm (which is generally fuppofed to have been written on occalion of the defection of Ahitophel) David calls him his companion, his guide, and his familiar friend. The king probably thought, that, by fuch endearing favours, he had laid him under par- ticular obligations to be loyal at lead, and faithful, even though he had failed in engaging his gratitude and affection : but, when he indulged fuch hopes, it feems not to have been attended to, as it ought, that Ahitophel was a confummate politician. As fuch it was natural, perhaps, that his attachment to his king fhould be founded only on his intereft ; and when occafions arofe to make it his intereft to form other attachments, there were no counter-motives to re- ftrain him. He was a true Gilonite : he had feen various revolutions in the State : he had feen the go- vernment defcend from Saul to IJhboJheth, and from IJhboJheth to David: and in every revolution no doubt fo politic a man would choofe his fide, not as duty but as intereft prompted him. His experience in State-craft was anfwerable to his native fubtlety : for, P d 3 perfectly 406 ON THE CHARACTER OF AHITOPHEL/ perfectly acquainted as he \vas with the intrigue?, the cabals, and the factions, not only of Ifrael, but of the neighbouring countries, he ibon engaged in his confederation Gebal, and Amman, and Amalek, the Pbfliftines, and them that dwell at Tyre ; attaching and uniting to him thofe who till then had never agreed with one another. What the motives were, which firft tempted Ahi- tophel to this foul defection, we are not directly told : but they may perhaps be collected from the hiftory. Bathfheba was his grand-daughter ; being the daugh- ter of his fon Elias. It is then by no means a far- Wretched conjecture, to fuppofe that he refented the great wrong done to fo near a relation by David, which he waited but for a convenient opportunity to revenge. Few paffions take a ftronger hold on the human mind than a concealed purpofe of revenge. This, like a fmothered fire, burfts out at length with a fiercer flame for having been awhile fuppreifed. Of this refentful and vindictive temper Ahitophel appears to have been ; and, unfortunately for his country, he had abilities to accomplifh any projects of mifchief, which the malice of his heart prompted him to meditate. In this inftance, however, the extreme intemperance of his paffions appears to have weakened his judgment : for, with all his abilities, he certainly was blind to his own intereft. Independent of the compunctions of confcience, it would have been prudent in him not to have fwerved from his allegiance. A revolt, which was to be conducted by a man Otf THE CHARACTER QF AHITQPHEJ,. 407 a man fo fickle and unfteady as Abfalom was, an againft fo wife and good a king as David, cpuld not but be extremely hazardous. It is true he knew thp young man to be brave and enterprising, and in- ' finitely beloved by the people ; who, no doubt, are always of the greateft weight in all violent revolu- tions. But then (which more than counterbalanced a few circumftances favourable to the revolt) there appeared to be every thing to fear from Abfalom's levity, infincerity, and extreme loofenefs of principle. Againft thefe difcouragements, however, it is not improbable, Ahitophel might fet the untoward cir- cumftances of the country, and the degenerate cha- racter of the people : for, from the eagernefs with which men flocked to the ftandard of rebellion, it is fair to infer, that the minds of the people were very generally unfettled and ill-difpofed towards the go- vernment. Ifrael might then be circumftanced as we now are, when an evil fpirit of difcontent, clamour, and refraclorinefs, feems to have gone forth among us ; difpofmg us to object to, and quarrel with, every thing that has been long eftablifhed. Nothing is more common than for a free people, in times of heat and violence, to gratify momentary paffions, by admitting into their theories of govern- ment fuch principles and precedents as may afterwards prove fatal to themfelves. Of this kind, in my efti- mation, are the prefent refohes of our committees, con- vention, and congreffes ; patted not only without the authority of any law, but in direft oppofition to the D d 4 known 408 ON THE CHARACTER OF AHlTOPHEt. known and eftablifhed laws of the land. The in- jultice of fuch conducl is not more manifeft than it's bad policy and danger *. For, it is giving np all the comfort and fecurity of fixed law to the caprice and humour of multitudes and mobs : and it fhould weigh little with us that fuch irregularities are faid to be exercifed only againft the enemies of our country. This argument, if admitted, and carried on to it's full extent, would be utterly fubverfive of all govern- ment, and make every man his own judge and law- giver. For, how is it to be afcertained who thefe enemies of our country are ? If we a/e to account thofe to be fuch who are declared to be of that de- fcription by a committee or convention of to-day, how do we know but that thofe very perfons now called enemies may to-morrow be voted, or vote themfelves, a committee or convention ; and, in their turn, denounce their enemies as the enemies of their country ? Thus are we (under the prevalence of fuch principles) to be ruled, not by equal and equi- table laws, but by the capricious refblvesj and paffion- ate opinions, of a felf-created junto. Let no one therefore now fet an example, which may hereafter * " The Legiflature is the fupreme power of the commonwealth; " and no edi& of any body elfe, in what form foever conceived, or " by what power foever backed, can have the force and obligation " of a law, which has not it's fan&ion from the Legiflature which ?' the Public has chofen and appointed ; and no obedience is due, but " ultimately to the fupreme authority, which is the Legiflature."- Locke. be Ott THE CHARACTER OF AHITOPHEL. 409 be cited and followed, to his own ruin ; when he himfelf may in vain invoke that juftice, /which at pre- fent he denies to others. The time may come, when thofe who now endeavour to check the progrefs of political opinion by pains and penalties, by fines and by imprifonment, may, if this ftate of anarchy (for I cannot call it eftablifhment) continues, thcmfelvcs be fined, profcribed, or even put to death. If, in (lead of fubmitting public queflions to the public decifions of a Constitutional Legiilaturc, we fuffer them to be determined by the private preju- dices of unauthorifed individuals combined in cabals, we mufl neceffarily unhinge the prefent regular ftate of things, and fubftitute a dominion of parties: and as long as particular refentmentg, and indi- vidual fchemes of revenge, or even the fuccefs of fome favourite individual project of reformation, (hall induce men to difregard the fettled Conflitution, fo longisjuft government fet at nought, and anarchy or tyranny introduced in if s ftead. The mofl facrcd rights, no longer fenced by the laws, become thefport of every viciffitudc or change in a party : there is no more any efiablifhed rule of conduct ; every thing is thrown into uncertainty, and fluctuates with the al- ternate prevalency of contending factions. As far as it is poffiblc to collect the real purpofe of thofe felf-dclegated perlbns, who have taken upon themfelves now to be our Leaders in politics, from their apparently difcordant practices, we are, for fear of furrendering our liberties to (what we call) the ar- bitrary 410 ON THE CHARACTER Of AHITOPHEL. bitrary pretenfions of a Britifli Parliament, now to entruft them to men, or bodies of men, invefted with no legal authority : men like ourfelves, who have no more right to make laws for us, than we have to make laws for them. It may, I believe, be laid down as a found maxim in politics, that it is better even to be oppreffed and injured by a lawful power, than to receive benefit and protection from ufurpers ; and he is no friend to the peace of mankind, who, to fuit a prefent purpofe, encourages a contrary opinion. I love not to fufpecl any men ; but I ilill lefs love to truft men, who have been firft known as public cha- racters and as patriots fince thefe commotions, with any fuch power as the Conftitution has not given them ; with any fuch power, I might have faid, as muft in the end do harm, though in our prefent emergency it is poflible that it may produce fome good*. To return from this cligreflion, which how- ever * I have fomewhere met with a fpeech, faid to have been fpoken in the lioufe of Commons concerning the other Houfe, March 1659, which has fome ludicrous but ftrong remarks, not inappofite to our prefeut fubject. " And now, Mr. Speaker, have we not glorioufly vindicated the " Nation's liberty ? Have we not worthily employed our blood and " treafure, to abolifh that power that was fet over us by the law, " to have the fame impofed upon us without a law ? And after all * ? that found and no'ife we have made in the world, of the people's " legiilative power, and of the fupremacy and omnipotency of their " reprefentatives, we now fee there is no more power left them t( but what is put in the balance, and equalled by the power of a " few retainers of tyranny, who are fo far from being the people's " choice, ON THE CHARACTER OF AHITOPHEL. 411 ever Teemed fo naturally to arife from the fubjea that I do not hcfitate to confefs it \vas for the lake of digreffions of this fort that the fubjecl: was chofcn ; indeed the having an opportunity to introduce fuch remarks, and to make fuch applications, is the chief recommendation to me of thefe Scripture parallels. A fitter fubjecft than Abfalom, for a deep dcfign- ing man to work upon, could not well have been found. He was aclive and enterprizing, and pof- Tefled of many plaufihlc and popular talents. Un- mindful of the infinite obligations he lay under to an indulgent parent; unmindful of the Hill ftrongcr ties of duty, by which he was bound both as a fon and fubject ; unmindful of his good father's maxim, that no man could Jlretcl forth bis land againft tie Lord's anointed, and le guiltkfs ; he too eafily liftem-d to the fuggeftions of thofe who pointed out to him the flippery paths of popularity. Thus befet with fallacies, and borne down by importunities, and per- haps alib abfurdly afhamed to make life of his undcr- ftanding .when he was called upon to exert his cou- rage, he differed himfelf to be dictated to by thofc whom he vainly hoped to govern. Accordingly he inftantly and earneftly fet himfelf to Jleal away tic learts of tie men of Jjrael. The means he made ufc " choice, that the molt part of them are only known to the nation " by the mifchiefs and villanies they have committed in it." Printed in An Account of the Sufferings of William Houlbrook, " blackfmith, of Marlborough, in the rei> of King Charles the " Firft." of 41 2- OX THE CHARACTER OP AHITOPHEL. of for this purpofe were no other than fuch as have ever lince been praclifed by every other man em- ployed in the fame fervice of laying crowns and fceptres in the duft. He inveighed bitterly againfl the eflablifhed Government ; and though he could not but know, as well as all Ifrael, that David executed judgment and jujliceto all his people, he yet infinuated, that judgment was turned into gall, and tie fruit of right eoufnefs into hemlock : and, as though it had not been enough to poifon the minds of the people with thefe general prejudices againfl his father's govern- ment, he afFecled to defcend to particulars *. Tak- ing advantage,, it may be, of fbme real or fuppofed grievances, with (as I can eafily fuppofe) the moft elaborate profeffions of his own difintereflednefs and entire devotion to the good of the people, he pre- tended that, when thofe grievances had been fairly itated, and repeatedly prefented, though ibelr mat- ters were right, yet no man was deputed of the king to hear them. That by fuch means he rendered (if indeed he did not find) the people very generally favourable to his purpofe of revolting, will be matter of furprife to no one who is well acquainted with human nature. Few things are eafier than to excite popular difcon- tents. " He that goeth about" (fays the judicious * " Some truth there was, but dafh'd and brew'd with lies " To pleafe the fools, and puzzle all the wife." DRYDEJI; Hooker) ON THE CHARACTER OF AHITOPHEL. 413 Hooker) a to perfuade a multitude that they are not " fb well governed as they ought to be, fhall never " want favourable and attentive hearers, becaufe they cc know the manifold defects whereunto every kind " of regiment is fubject ; but the fecret lets and " difficulties, which in public proceedings are in- fe numerable and inevitable, they have not ordinarily " the judgment to confider : and becaufe fuch as " openly reprove fuppofed diforders of State are taken " for principal friends to the common benefit of all, " and for men that carry fmgular freedom of mind. " Under this fair and plaufible colour, whatfoever they " utter pafleth for good and current : that which This parable, Dr. Franklin's editor informs us, the Doctor fre- quently Impofed on his friends and acquaintance, (much to their predit in Scripture knowledge,) as a part of a chapter of Genefis. The Doctor's talents for impafition have never been queftioned. The reader has now an opportunity of judging, how far he was, or was not, a plagiarift. From Bi/Jjop Jeremy Taylor. * I end with a ftory, which I find in the Jews' books : " When 1* Abraham fat at his tent door, according to his cuftom, waiting . 531.] THE BODY of BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Printer, (Like the cover of an old book, It's contents torn out, And ftript of it's lettering and gilding) Lies- here, food for worms. Yet the work itfelf fhall not be loft ; For it will (as he believ'd) appear once more In a new And more beautiful Edition, Corrected and Amende i By The Authour, Com? 444 APPENDIX TO THE TWO SERMOKTS It is remarkable, that the firft political exertions, (if we except his having written a political libel,) or, as he himfelf exprefles it, " Some pafquinades againft " the governorsf," in which he eminently diilinguifh- ed himfelf, were for the purpofe of converting a proprietary government into a royal one. That the people would have been benefited by adopting his plan may be granted : but it furely is extraordinary that he fhould afterwards preiide as a republican go- vernor, over that very province which he had proved, in the befl work he ever wrote j', could thrive and Compare this with the following Epitaph by a young Gentleman of Eton, and the Englifh tranflation annexed to it, in the Gentleman '.r Magazine for Feb. 1736: Vitae volumine pera&o, Hie finis JACOBI TONSON, Perpoliti Sofiorum* principis : Q.ui, velut obftetrix mufarum, In lucem edidit Felices ingenii partus. Lugete, fcriptorum chorus, Et frangite calamos ; Ille vefter, margine erafus, deJetur f Sed hasc poftrema infcriptio Huic prlmee mortis paging Imprlmatur t Ne prelo fepulchri commifTus, Ipfe editor careat titulo ; Hie jacet bibliopola, Folio vitae delapfo, Expeftans Novam Editionem. et Emendatiorem. * Two brothers, celebrated bookfellers in Rome. See Hor. "Epift. xx, lib. i. ) See his Life, vl. i. p. 49. Hiftorical Review of the Government, &c. of Pennfylvania." An anonymous work, generally attributed te Dr, Franklin. be ON ABSALOM AND AHITOPHEL. 445 be happy only under the immediate protedlion of the king. In the affair of the Stamp Act, the duplicity of his character became ftill more manifeft. There is as good evidence as fuch a cafe well admits of, that the idea of railing a revenue in America, by means of a flamp duty, originated with him. He certainly fpoke of fuch an Act, as likely to take place, long before it actually did take place. With the promoters of the Stamp Act he had intereft enough to procure the no- mination of two of the ft amp- matters; notwithstanding that in America he oppofed the Act with all his might. Of any fettled plan to overturn the ellablifhed go- vernment, at the beginning of the conteft, the Doctor fhould be acquitted. That had, for years, been formed by a junto in the Northern Colonies, who did not at firft think him quite a proper man to be in- trufled with fo important a fecret. It was the fevere language of a well-known popular Lawyer, now at the head of the learned profeflion, during his examination before the Privy Council, which is believed, by thofe who beft knew him, to have determined the Doctor. He never forgave the indignity. Lord Loughborough was out of his reach ; but unfortunately the nation was not and on her he wreaked his vengeance. It is faid there are letters yet in being, as well as other documents, which, it is fuppofed, muft convince the moil partial of his admirers, of the extreme felfifh- iiefs of his politics, and the unappcafable rancour of his 446 APPENDIX TO THE TWO his heart. But it is much to be regretted, for t fake of true hifiory, that thefe letters and documents, together with much other important and authentic information concerning him, are in fuch hands that there is little likelihood they ever can be made public* In this irritated and vindictive ftate of mind he left England, and returned to America. It was faid at the time, that the moment he fet his foot on fhore he drew his fword. This was done to fhew the peo- ple in what temper he returned to them. But, in their reception of him, there were no appearances of that ardour of affection which they afterwards fo officioufly difplayed. This coolnefs was attributed to their then fufpecling that he could be true to no caufe ; and that, therefore, if he then joined the ad- vocates for hoflilities, it would too probably be with a view of betraying them. He was much affected by thefe fufpicions ; and for fome time he hefitated to which party he (hould finally attach himfelf. For fun dry days this point was warmly debated between himfelf and two near and dear friends who are ilill Jiving, and who, it is hoped, will leave behind them, if it fhould Itill be thought right to forbear publifhing in their life-time, fome account of this and other in- terefting tran factions. Refentment prevailed : every other argument was parried ; but it was impoffible to eradicate from his mind his ftrong fenfe of the indignity done him in Mr. Wedderburne's pointed farcafms. It was fome time before he gained the entire confidence of his countrymen : ON ABSALOM AND AHITOPHEL. 447 countrymen : but at laft he became the chief fupport of their caufe. His partifans, who are not a few, will probably confider it as a compliment, that, to Dr. Franklin, more than to any other one man that can be named, do we owe the lofs of America. There was a littlenefs and a meannefs of mind in his paltry fneer, when, on the difmembennent of the empire, he obferved, that the world had now a prac- tical demonstration of the way by which a great empire might be reduced to a fmall one. He had formerly written a fmall treatife with that title. Of the fame caft was his making a point of figning the prelimi- naries of peace in the fame coat which he wore when he was affronted at the bar of the Privy Council. Dr. Smith, in his Eulogium, afferts, from his own knowledge, that Dr. Franklin believed in divine re- velation : but of the particulars of his faith he has not condefcended to give us any intimation. I no- where recollect any teftimonies in his own writings in favour of any particular religion ; and few, if any, much in favour of religion in general. All that Dr. Smith quotes, as to a belief of a future ftate, and of the illumination of his mind, might have been faid of Socrates : and at any rate, if, in what Dr. Franklin has written, nothing is faid againft Chriftianity, it fhould alfo be attended to, that nothing is advanced in it's behalf. I cannot find a fingle fentiment or ex- preffion in his works to contradict the opinion, very commonly entertained, of his having been a Deift. This the marquis de Chaftellux, or rather his tranf- lator, APPENDIX TO THE TWO SERMONS later, exultingly informs us is the prevalent religion of the principal inhabitants of the Southern parts of America. In Europe it is called Philofophy ; and it was this latitudinarianifm in religion which (this writer adds with far too much truth) contributed in no fmall degree to the American Revolution. The admirers of Dr. Franklin, who find it neceflary to defend his character, (as the murderers of CharlesL are defended,) not fo much for his fake, as for the fake of the caufe which he fo effectually promoted, unable to deny that thefe plagiarifms are palpable, content themfelves with infilling on their infignifi- cance. I am far from wifhing to make more of them than what they are. Be it praife or difpraife to tread in a path already chalked out for him, it would be ftill more eafy to fhevv that even in his political character Franklin was not an original. He was the humble and even fervile imitator, not only of <4bitopbcl % but of Catiline and his confpirators. In his fuccefs alone, in dying in peace, and in being ranked among the benefactors of mankind, he is without a parallel. The following ingenious verfes, written by the Rev. Mr. Odell of New Jerfey, then a miffionary and a loyalift, but now employed in a refpetftable civil ftation in New Brunfwick, feem happily to defcribe both the merits and dements of Dr. Franklin's cha- racter, and therefore do him more than poetical juftice. They were infcribed on a chamber-flove, which ON ABSALOM AND AHITOPHBL* 445 ivhich was made in the form of an urn, invented by the Doctor ; and fo contrived, that the flame, inftead tof afcending, defcended : I. LIKE a Newton, fublimely he foar'd To a fummit before unattain'd j New regions in fcience explor'dy And the palm of philofophy gain'd. II. WitK a fpark that he caught from the fkics, He difplay'd ar unparallel'd wonder ; And we faw with delight and furprife, That his tod could protect us from thunder* III. O had he been wife to purfue The track for his talents defign'd, What a tribute of praife had been due To the teacher and friend of mankind I IV. But to covet political fame Was in him a degrading ambition ; A fpark which from Lucifer camei And kindled the blaze of {edition. V. Let candour, then, write on his URN, " Here lies the renowned inventor ; * Whofe flame to the fides ought to burn, *' But, inverted, defcends to the centre." G g D I S- THE TWO TRIBES AND. AN HALF, &C* DISCOURSE XL THE' DISPUTE BETWEEN THE ISRAELITES AND THE TWO TRIBES AND AN HALF, RESPECTING THEIR SETTLEMENT BEYOND JORDAN*. JOSHUA, cri. xxik ver. 22. Lord God of gods irhe Lord God of gods Is knoweth, and Ifrael hejball know., if it ~be in rebellion, or if in tranfgrejjlcn- againft tha Lord (fave us nof Ms day.) UNSETTLEDNES& and unfteadine& of opinion- n points that are merely fpeculative, and fuch as, it is probable, may ever continue to admit of debate r ara not, perhaps, of much moment. But, in queitions which concern eflential intereiis, and in which, truth, if diligently and faithfully fought for, maybe found,, there even indeciiior: is dangerous, but error is guilt. On fuch topics it is, every man's duty carefully to * This DifcomTe is by way of Anfwcr to a Sermon, on the fame text and fubjed, by the Rev. Dr. Smith, preached and printed in Philadelphia, in 1775. fettle- THE TWO TRIBES AND Atf HALF, &C. 45't fettle his faith ; and when it is fo fettled, it is equally his duty to hold it faft without wavering. Mod of all does it concern thofe, whofe office it is to inftruct others, to take good care that themfelves be well inftrttcted. The minifiers of religion fhould remem- ber, that it is as much their duty to enlighten men's understandings, as it is to improve their morals. Ye are the fait of the earth, faid Chrift to his Apoftles, to preferve mankind from the corruptions of vice and immorality : and ye are alfo the Ifebt of the world, to inform and edify the world. Among the fervants of religion, it might be hoped, none could be found who would oppofe the interefts of religion > nor, among the Sons of the Church, any one adverfe to the doctrines of the Church. But they are not all If r a el, who are of If r a el ; neither, be-* caufe they are the feed of Abraham, are they all children. There is a generation that curfeth their father, and doth not blefs their mother. Ye are clean, but not a/I, faid our bleffed Lord even of the Apoftles ; for, he knew who Jboidd betray him. A worldly temporifing fpirit is too apt to mingle itfelf in things, and with men, of all defcriptions and characters. This fpirit, as heretofore has been the cafe, is now again unhappily gone forth in great force among the people of the Colonies ; not fparing even the Sanctuary. For, among thofe who ferve at the altar, we find many who, calling themfelves the children of light, refolve, in their generation, to be wifer than the children of light. There are many, whofe fole aim is to recon- G g ar T ** E TWO TRIBES AND AN HALF, cile their religion with their worldly intereft, and to make the fervice of God compatible with the fervicd of Mammon. In times of fo inaufpicious a character, it mud be confefted, that the part to be taken by a plain clergy- man (whom the laity have been taught to fufpecl, and his brethren are almolt afraid to own,) is not a point of eafy determination. Confcious (as I am) that, with fo many and great advantages in our hands, it would be hard to fay where there could be any real ftrength againft us, if we were not ourfelves one againft another, and rendered our adverfaries ilrong by our weaknefs confcious that when the fhepherds of Ifrael are divided, and at variance one with another, the fheepalfomuft needs err andjtray and confcious alfo, that, unlefs it (hall pleafe God in his mercy to do more for us than we feem to be dif- pofed to do for ourfelves, we fhall continue to bite and devour on-e another till we be confumed, all I can refolve on for myfelf is, not farther to endanger the peace of the Church by any vain and unprofitable queftionS) and contentions y and Jirroin^s. But when I fee, as I now do, that, by holding my peace, and for- bearing to withftand, to ~his face a brother in error, as St. Paul withftood St. Peter at Antioch, the peace of the Church^ if it is preferred at all, muft be preferved at the expence of it's purity, I next refolve, after tie example of Join Bapiift, conflantly to fpeak tie truth, loldly to rebuke vice, and 'patiently to fuffer for tie trull's fake. I hope I am not f elf -willed : I hope I feel THE TWO TRIBES AND AN HALF, &C. 453 feel a becoming refpecl and deference for the opi- nions of men diftinguifhed by their genius, their learning, or their ftation : yet I am not infenfible of the indignity offered to literature, and the differvice done to religion, when acknowledged fcholars and dignified clergymen fo far forget themfelves as to become fophiits, and to turn afuh unto vain jangling. As a man, and as a friend, I may feel and allow that though a brother has indeed flipped in bis J r peecl ', yet it may not have been/row Vis heart ; but, as a Divine, I cannot help recollecting what one of the moft emi* nent of our order long ago declared, that " he who " teaches others to fin, is worfe than he who commits " the crime. He that writes treafon in a book, or " preaches fedition in a pulpit, and perfuadcs it to " the people, is the greateft traitor and incendiary*.'^ When a man of letters, heediefs of the true dignity of his character when a man of genius, ungrateful to Heaven for that precious boon when an amtaffaJor r>f Clnft> unmindful of the facred duties of his high calling, bafely proftitutes all thefe diftinguifhed privi- leges, by walking craftily, and becoming a mean time-ferver when men arifmg from our ownfelves fpeak ferverfe things, to draw away difiiples after them, it would be to partake of their Jin, if even one of the lowefl of the fervants of God did not, on fuch an occaiion, know that there is a time to fpeak, as * Bp. Taylor's Liberty of Prophefying, fed. xiii. Sec his Polemical Trafts, folio, p. 1025. G g 3 454 THE TWO TRIBES AtfD AN HALF, &0, well as a time to keep filence. " For a fheep to ftray, " it is no wonder ; but for a fhephercl not to wander cc himfelf only, but to lead away his flock from the " green paftures and comfortable waters of divine " truth, to the dry and barren deferts of human in- " ventions, cannot but be as fliameful as it is dan- "gerous*." If there be any " pulpit cafuiftryf," or any other cafuiftry, which can vindicate fuch a conduct, I am contented to be unacquainted with it. It cannot be neceflary now to inform you of the occafion which has fuggefted thefe reflections. My text is familiar to you : not that I fufpecl you to have read a fermon on this text, preached at Chefter, about the beginning of this century, by the truly learned and pious Mr. Henry ; but becaufe you have lately feen it placed (not, perhaps, without fome " cafuiflry") at the head of a fermon lately printed in, Philadelphia, which has been difperfed ampng you with no common induftry. The object of Mr. Henry's fermon was to fhew, that the feparation of the Prefbyterians in England from the National Eftablifhment was not fchiimatical, nor rebellious ; that of Dr. Smith is to vindicate the congrefles, con- ventions, infurre&ions, and military enrolments, which are now become general in this country ; and which, if (in contradiction to his furmifes) they ter- minate in rebellion, as many befides myfelf now think * Bp. Hall. t Dr. Smith, in his Sermon on this text. they TWO TRIBES AND AN HALF, &CC. 455 fhey unavoidably muft, will bring indelible difgrace, as well as irretrievable ruin, oil your country. When you are informed, that the author of trite fermon (on which I now propofe to make fome re* flnarks) has been my particular friend ; that it is not long fince I converfed with him on thcfc very fub- jecls, refpc^ing which he then profeifed to think as I thought, and as every true fon of the Church of En-gland rnuft always think., " becaufeit is importable " any one of our communion fhould be difloyal, " without firft renouncing his religion* :" and when alfo you farther learn, that I am now firft informed by the fermon it-felf (which, in a fingular ftylc of friend (hip, he has been pleafed to fend me as " a prc- 66 fent from the author") of his having changed his 'Opinions, whatever your judgment of the fermon may be, you will at lead allow that I have reaibn to be furprifed. Were it only from our avowed enemies that we received fach difcourtelics, we might better bear them ; but when they come from a companion, $ guide, // familiar friend, it is impoffible not to feel fuch a breach of friendfhip with aggravated poignancy. With but common juftice this text may, inftead of an encouragement to revolt, be made fubforvient to the better interefis of religion and loyalty. I doubt not, you forefee that it is my intention to make this ufe of it. God forbid that I fhould not ! God for- bid that, either for fitly lucres fake, or merely with * Abp. King's Letter to p. Sheridan, prefixed to that Bifhop's Sermon, zzd March 1684. G g 4 the 456 THE TWO TRIBES AND AN HALF, &0, the view ofpteafing men, I fhould ever handle the word of God deceitfully, and teach things which I ought not ! In me fiich prevarication would be as unwife as in any man it is unworthy : for, unapt as my preaching is to lead you captive with the enticing words of mans wifdom, I can hope to merit your attention only by holding f aft the faithful word which 1 have been taught, that 1 may l?e able, by found doclrine, both to exhort and convince the galnfayers. 1 find my commiffion, in terms no lefs appofite than they are flrong, in the fecond chapter of the Prophecy of Ezekiel. The agents of faction cry aloud and fpare not. Are the friends of order and good government the only per- fons whom lilence becomes ? Why fhould I be dif- couraged by the confcioufnefs of my own inferiority ? The caufe which I defend is the caufe of God : and if God be for me, it is of but little moment who may be againfl me. The blaft of a rams horn from the mouth of a prieft afferting the faith, was fufficient to level the walls of Jericho. And faith, if J have it, will open my eyes, as it di4 thofe of the fervant of Elifha ; when, though I fee an hoft encompafling our city, I may alfo fee that they that be with us are more than thofe that are again/} us. By the bleiling of God, then, I refolve that I will not, like the courtly prophets of Judah, ffea'k fnwoth things, and prophejy deceit-, but, with \&\ah,Jbew the people their tranf-> grefficns, and the houfe of Jacob their fins. Your fufferm^ and (permit me to add) your not the word of exhortation, are now become^ both THE TWO TRIBES AND AN HALF, &C. 457 both of them, matters of peculiar obligation, and particular difficulty. When altar is creeled againft Altar, and one rniniftcr thinks it his duty vehemently to decry what another earneftly recommends, it can- not but be difficult for the people to judge and a& aright. But in all Inch cafes your line of duty is clear and certain : you ought confcientioufly to be guided by your own private judgments, and to be careful to follow no preacher farther than he himfelf follows the faith of his Church. It will indeed mortify and grieve me, more than I am willing to own, if, in thus choofing whom you will abandon and whom you will attend, you fhould determine to forfakeyour parifh priefl and parifh church. Every thing that I can do to prevent it, I am bound to do, and will do with pieafure ; but to fay that rebellion is not rebellion, is 710 more in my power than it is to call bitter frveet, and fweet bitter. I cannot, indeed, help lamenting, that it is my lot to preach to you neceflary, rather than agreeable, fermons : but I cpnfole myfelf with re- fleeting, that, in giving advice, (which is one great end of preaching,) it rarely happens that the fug- geftions which are moft falutary and ufeful, are alfo mod palatable and plpafant. Deceitful kiffes are given by an enemy, who means to betray; whilft tie pounds of a friend are faithful. Few men can write with more perfpicuity and prccifion than the writer of the fermon before me, When he writes on fubjecls congenial to his tafte. Jn this fermon, however, he is involved and obfcure : his THE TWO TRIBES AJTD AN HALF, &C. his arguments are forced and unfair : he infinuaffcs more than he choofes to aflert ; and., by availing him- felf of words incapable of any exacl definition,, he excites opinions which he may avow or difavow as he fhall hereafter think proper. His profefled aim is to fhew that the Colonifts have been unjufHy fuf- peeled of rebellion for aflert ing a jiiftifiablc refinance. This he thinks he proves by a parallel drawn between the Colonifts and the two tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half -tribe of Man-afleh ; whom forne " zea- *< lots" of their day, with fimilar injuftice, alfo fuf- peeled of rebellion. It was not left to me to choofe the ground on which I am to meet this refpeclable .opponent: I am well contented, however, that it fhould be that which he himfclf has chofen. From this fame text I now undertake to fhcw you, that thefe two tribes and an half were not fufpecled of a difpo* fition to rebellion altogether without reafon ; and. that the parallel between them and us is not, on this accoim f , lefs exacT. than Dr. Smith fuppofed it was in the way that he drew it. The various difcontents and murmurings of the children of Ifrael in general are well known. As a people, they were, proverbially, ftiff-mcked and re-> lellious. No doubt, however, like the reft of the world, ibme of them were more fo than others. Thero is reafon to believe that the tribe, of Reuben was eminently refractory. Korah, Dalian, and Alriram, men -of renown (as the Scriptures call them,) in their oppofition to Mofes and Aaron., (which in thofe days was TWO TRIBES AND AN HALF, &C, was an oppofition to Church and State,) were all of them the defendants of Reuben. Indeed commen- tators have remarked, that " nothing great is re- corded of this tribe in Scripture." Perhaps they laboured under fome original taint, as having fprung (not from the beautiful and well-favoured Rachel, but) from tbe tender-eyed Leah. And certainly their progenitor, Reuben, having exceedingly difgraced himfelf, by going in unto Bilhab, his father s concubine, could reflect no credit on his posterity. So that> notwithstanding his prerogative, as being the firft born, namely, the excellency of dignity and tbe excellency of power, (which means that, according to the Jewifh polity, he was entitled to a double portion of his fa- ther's eflate, the priefthopd and the kingdom,) he forfeited them all, and was reduced to a level with (he reft of his brethren. This might have been ex- pected from the prediction of Jacob : of Reuben he prophefied that he would be unftable as water : was it then to be wondered at that be did nut excel? The double portion to which, by his birth, he was entitled, was transferred by Jacob himfelf to Jofeph and his fons. Nor did his punifhment end with his life : it was vilited upon his pofterity ; for, the kingdom was eflablifhed., not in the tribe of Reuben, but in that of Judah ; and it is remarkable that the people pf this tribe of Reuben were the firft who were car- ried away into captivity by Tiglath-Pilefer. Nations and communities, as fuch, can experience only tem- poral rewards and punifhments. We may be fure, 7 therefore, THE TWO TRIBES AND AN HALF, &C. therefore, that thefe continual vifitations on this tribe were not fent without reafon. If we may prefume to conjecture what this reafon was, it muft have been, becaufe they continued to be, as their forefathers were, aftubborn and rebellious generation ; a generation that fet not their heart aright , and whofe fpmt was not fleadfaft with God. Whether it was that they fiill fmarted and were fore under thefe fignal marks of difpleafure inflided on them as a people, or that it was owing to their natural reftleflhefs of mind ; or whether indeed (as being a people no ways diftinguifhed for their zeal and fortitude in the regular path of duty) they were more than ufually difcouraged by the evil report which the fpies had juft brought of the land and the people which they had gone to fearch, the hiftory has not recorded. But no fooner did thefe children of Reuben, with the children of Gad, fee the land of Jazer, with the land of Gilead, fuitable to their pur* pofes as a fettlemeat, than they petitioned that it might be given to them as a pofleffion. The requeft would, perhaps, at any time have been unreafon- able; but, at the junclure in which it was made, it \vas particularly ill-judged. A fmall and inconfideiv able people as the whole congregation at that time was, at leaft in comparifon of the greater and mightier nations which lay around them, it certainly would have been impolitic in them to have weakened them- felves flill more by a divifion of their ftrength. The planting of almoft a fourth part of their whole body iu THE TWO TRIBES AN1> AN HALF, &G. 461 in a fituation in which, in the nature of things, they could not confiderably, if at all, have added to the aggregate power" of the nation, muft have been bad policy, even if they had not alfo charged themfelves with the maintenance of thefe their feparated bre- thren. But, whether they did well or ill in making the demand, I certainly fee no relinquifhment of any privileges propofed by the feceders, but fuch as would have been incompatible with their divided fituation, and perfectly ufelefs to them. If it had been other- wife, the deprivation was, on their part, voluntary ; and therefore it may be fuppo-fcd they thought and expected that ample amends would be made to them in fome other way. Mofes appears to have exceedingly refented this very felfifh application, made at fo unfuitable a time, by this mcreafe of fmful men. It could not but be dictated, as he intimates it was, by fome remains of that fame four leaven of difobedicnce which had ac- tuated their fathers ; when, in the cafe of the fpics, they too dlfc our aged the hearts of the children of Ifrael. This impatience to be put in poffcffion of their in- heritance favoured not a little of a diuruft in God, who had exprefsly enjoined that the land Jhould be divided ly lot. It was, moreover, unkindnefs in the extreme, and ingratitude to the other tribes, who had juft defeated Sihon king of the Amorites^ and Og the king of Eajhan ; formidable powers in the country in queftion, and whom thefe two tribes and an half could never fingly have reduced. In the confidence of 46^ THE TWO TRIBES AND A& HALS*, &CCU of being fecure in what they wifhed to confider as their own immediate and exclusive iritereft, they feerri not to have cared what might become of thofe by whom they had been marvelloujly helped. Much was yet to be done, and many fierce nations ftill to be fubdued, before the other tribes could come into the quiet poffelfion of the land beyond Jordan. Was this a time for any one part of the whole pfcople to* tfirink from the common caufe, and to think of fet- ting up for themfelves ? They could never have thought of it, had they not (to ufe the words of an eloquent and moft excellent writer*) been of fo " ignoble and difingenuous tempers as that^ forget- " ful of the Land of Promife, and intent only on the " commodity of their cattle, they could have con- " tented themfelves to have been part of the herd, " and have become like the beads that periuV* Well might their meek Leader be incenfed at their want of public foirit, and fharply aik them, Whatj J/jaU your brethren go to war, and ye fit here ? Neverthelefs, that he might^/7/ the people, as Caleb had juft before done, with a foft and a favourable anfiver, he prudently agreed to leave the matter on the footing on which they themfelves, on fecond and better thoughts, had juft put it ; namely, that they fhould firit go over Jordan, armed, with the reft of the children of ifrael, to fubdue the land there alfo ; and that then they ibould return to poflefs the land * The Author of the Whole Duty of Man. in THZ TWO TRIBES AND AN HALF, &C. 463 In queftion, and be guiltkfs. Nothing more reafon- able could have been propofed. Even the two tribes and an half muft have been glad of an opportunity of atoning for their lad inftance of difobeclience, by fome fignal acts of loyalty and zeal. That done, they might then, on good grounds, hope, that God would, as he had done in other inftances of exem- plary penitence, permit them to poffefs the land which they had folicited, though the manner of their felicitation had been fomevvhat irregular. But where, in all this tranfaction, are there any cir- cumdances justifying an inference that it was done ki the way of an " original contract * ?" The whole people of Ifrael alone had a title to the country in queftion, by virtue of a firft grant from their fove- reign ruler, and by virtue of conqucft alfo from the former occupants. Of courfe, Mofes had the fole and exclufive right to gfae and grant it in any manner which he thought proper, that was- not con- trary to the directions of God. That part of the people, to whom at length the grant was actually made, had no right to ftipulate for any conditions ^ for, they gat not tie land in poflejjion ly their own- ftvord, neither was it their own arm that helped them. Accordingly "the terms of fcttlcment" are de- livered,, not in the cautious ftyle of a contractor, but with all the authority of one who has a right to die- tale and to command. And it requires no common. * See Dr. Smith's Sermon. tHE TWO TRIBES AND AN HAtF, & {kill to find out how the free gift of Mofes to thefe two tribes and an half can come under the idea of & ftipulated reward for fervices ; fervices which he had a right to command, and which they could not have refufed without a flagrant breach of duty. A fenfe of common danger, and a fad fucceflion of common calamities, had now kept this extraordinary people, longer than ufual, mindful of the true prin- ciples of their government ; and obedient to God, and his fervant Mofes. Such conducl: could not fail to produce it*s proper effecls. In due time there flood not a man of all their enemies before them ; and th& Lord gave them reft round about , according to all that he /ware to their fathers. To find their labours at lad crowned with fo happy an iffue, was a blefFmg which might well excite their warmeft gratitude. Accordingly we find, with pleafure, that they did make this very proper ufe of their fuccefics : the whole congregation of the children of Ifrael ajfembled together at Shiloh, and fct up the tabernacle of the Congregation there. This done, it naturally and very properly followed, that they fhould attend to the fet- tlement of their temporal eft ate. And as there flill remained fever* tribes which had not received their inheritance, Jofluia (who had now fueceeded Moies in the command) gave orders for the choofing of three men out of each tribe, who were to go through the land, and to defer we it ; that lots might be caft for- their refpeclive parts. No difputes appear to have arifen in the adjuftmcnt of this difficult buiinefs. On the THE TWO TRIBES AND AN HALF, &C. 46$ the contrary, the people were fo well fatisfied with Jofliua's 'paternal care over them, that they after- wards allotted him an inheritance among them. With great prudence he laid out fix cities of refuge, and alfo made ample provifion for the Levites : hence, all that remained to be done was, that the Reubenites and the Gadites and tie 'half tribe of Ma- najfth, who had faithfully kept all that Mofes tbcfer~ vant %f the Lord had commanded them, fhould be lent back itnto tbe land of their pojfejfion, which Mofes had given them on the other lide Jordan. In not forbearing to rebuke thofe committed to his charge, when they deferved rebuke, Mofes had approved himfelf worthy of being beloved of God and men. Jofhua followed his good example, by being equally careful to beftow blame where blame was due, and praife where praife. He difmified thefe two tribes and an half with a very honourable teftimony of their good conduct ; together with a moft folemn, affec- tionate, and judicious charge rcfpecling their future behaviour; and no mean fhare of the profits of their mutual warfare, even much riches, with very much cattle, and finer, and gold, and brafs, and iron, with much raiment. And now we may fancy that we fee this 'little Colony juft on the point of fitting down, under the wing of a Parent State, in their new plantation ; with all their flocks and their herds around them, and cattle upon a thoufand bills. For, this diftricl was alfo literally a land of hills and vallies ; and it was alfo a place of cattle, as it comprehended Bajban % H h which 466 THE TWO TRIBES AND AN HALF, &C, which is fo often mentioned in the Scripture as having been celebrated for it's fat bulls, as well as for it's ftately oaks. No people could poffibly have a fairer profpect of happinefs : for, in addition to all the great natural advantages of a fertile diftricl:, they were ftill to remain under a theocratic form of go- vernment. It is true they were of neccility to be farther removed from the Ark ; but it muft have been their own fault, if, notwitbftanding that dif- advantage, they were farther from God. It would have been ft range, if, after fuch a proof of it, they had not been penetrated with a flrong fenfe of the Divine goodnefs ; and ftill more ftrange, if, feeling the full force of fuch impreilions, their gratitude had not prompted them to make their ac- knowledgment of it public. This appears to have been their own fentiment ; for, le&ft they came unto the borders f Jordan, that are in the land of Canaan^ they faiilt there an altar by Jordan, a great altar to fee tv. It was erected not only as a monument of their gratitude, but that it might be a memorial to all fuc- ceeding ages, that, although they were now about to be divided from the reft of the tribes, yet they were ftill true Ifraelites, and meant to remain fo ; and, of courfe, that (if 1 may be permitted to adopt a modern formulary of expreflion) they were entitled to all the liberties, franchife?, and immunities, "to all intents and purpofes, as if they had been born and abiding*" oa the other fide of the Jordan. * Firft Virginia Charter. The THE TWO TRIBES AND AN HALF, &C. 467 The ereclion of an altar, however, upon any oo cafion, was fo novel a procedure in Ifrael, that we are not to wonder, if, in thofe days, when motions of .the church were as regular and uniform as the orbits defcribed by the planets, it appeared to the tribe who remained behind as a phenomenon hardly lefs ex- traordinary than it would now be to fee a fecond fun in the firmament. This altar was indeed an altar of ivitnefs, and not an altar of f aerifies : but, till it was fo explained, it could not fail to excite fufpicions that thofe who railed it were about to abandon the true God. They had been exprefsly warned to take beed not to ojfcr their burnt-offerings in every place witch they faw, but in the place only which the Lord Jhould choofe, in one of the tribes. And, as though the violation of this ftrong prohibition had not been fuf- ficient, this new altar was (like thofe dedicated to Pagan deities) an high one to fee to ; whereas it was ordered that an altar erected to the fervice of God fhould not exceed three cubits in hdgbt, and to be without Jieps. It is not fufficient to render an action good, that our intentions are good : prudence, as well as piety, requires that we fhould alftain even from ap- fearances of evil. It would well have become, and. indeed it was the duty of, thefe forty thoufand fepa- rated Ifraelites to have apprized their brethren of Canaan of their motives and defigns in erecting this altar ; as it might have occurred to them, that their taking the fleps they did, without the privity of tlie other tribes, could hardly fail to excite unfavourable H h 2 appre- 468 THE TWO TRIBES AND AN HALF,, &C, apprehenfions. They ought to have reflected, that they were liable to fufpicions on the fcore of former delinquencies : for, to be fufpedled even when they are innocent, is a tax which tranfgreflbrs muft always ex peel to pay. They might alfo have reflected, that times of quietnefs and peace are too often the fore- runners of commotions and internal broils ; juft as earthquakes are faid to be ufually preceded by an un- ufual ferenity and ilillnefs in the air *. Mankind have everywhere and always been prone to be re- fractory, and to oppofe power : and all hiftory abounds with inftances to fhew, that, when communi- ties no longer have a common enemy from without, they are too apt to vent their ill humours one upon another, and fo to raife up enemies from among them- felves. Thofe who are governed are always ready to let themfclves again ft thofe who govern -f. This is more efpecially the cafe with thofe parts of the com- * The happy circumftances of the Colonies, before their laft fatal breach with this country, are admirably defcribed by Lord Cla- rendon, where he fpeaks of the fingular felicity of the times before the grand rebellion. They were " juftly looked upon as the gar- " den of the world: and they enjoyed the greateft calm, and the " fulleft meafure of felicity, that atay people in any age, for fo long '* a time together, have ever been bleffed With, to the wonder and " envy of all other parts of Chriftendom." -- Clarendon's Hift. of the Rebellion, vol. i. 8vo. p. 74, et feq. . " There is in every people, naturally, fomething of a malignant and peevifti temper againd thofe who govern them, &c." - Plutarchi Prsecepta gerendae Reipublicae. Edit. Reiflie, Svb.tom. ix. p. 239. m unity THE TWO TRIBES AND AN HALF, &C. 469 munity that are at a diftance from the feat of govern* ment, fuch as colonies ; in the very frame and con- ftitution of which a principle of revolt feems to be interwoven. All thefe confiderations made again ft the two tribes and an half. It does not, then, appear to have been either rafh or ungenerous in the remain- ing tribes, on fo fair a ground, to have fufpecled that fuch confequences might now overtake their brethren as did afterwards befall Uzziah ; whofe heart, when he was Jtrong, was lifted up to his own deftruftion. In fuch a conjuncture, it was not more lawful for them to obey the exprcfs command of God *, and to gather tbemf elves together at Shlloh, to go to war agalnft them, than it was prudent. For, " in " treafons and mutinies (fays a great writer) wife Statefmen find it fafeft to kill the fcrpent in the " egg ; as a fpoonful of water may quench that fire " at firft, which afterwards whole buckets cannot " abate f." For this conducl, however, the whole congrega- tion are now ftigmatifed with the appellation of " zealots." If by this term the author of the fermon means to charge them with being actuated either by an unnecefiary or an imjuftinable zeal, the propriety of it's application to them is denied. They thought (and certainly not without reafon) that their brethren were -either fetting up altar againft altar, to worfhip the Lord in another place and manner than he had appointed, or were falling into idolatry. In either * See Deut. xii. ver. 13. t B P* Hallt H h 3 cafe, 470 THE TWO TRIBES AND AN HALF; &C. cafe, it was their duty to vindicate the laws of God, left, by forbearing to punifh the difobedient few, they. fhould bring down his wrath upon tie whole congrega- tion. When, in a better flate of things, their bre- thren had deferved commendation and reward, they had not been backward to bellow them : it was, therefore, now ftill more incumbent on them to be impartially and ftrictly juft. That the people regularly aflemblcd at Shiloh were in earned, and even zealous in a canlc which they believed to be the caufe of God and their country, it would be doing them much wrong to deny : and that a writer, who has very different principles and pur- pofes to promote, fhould difapprove of fuch zeal'*\ is perhaps no more than might naturally be expected. But, had it been only for the fake of laving appear- ances, fome praife might have been beflowed ou them for that true fpirit of candour, moderation, and charity, by which their zeal was regulated. Firil appearances were certainly not in favour of their brethren: but recollecting, poffibly, (what is well exprefled by a writer of our own,) that " to be flow to " wrath is to make hafte to heaven ;" and alfo that a foft anfwer might not only break down an altar, but (according to Solomon) break tbe very boms, they would not proceed to extremities till they had firit fent a folemn embafly to the fufpected tribes. fa Is good to be zealoujly affefted always in a good thing ** Galat. iv. ver. i 8. eating THE TWO THIBES AND AN HALF, &C. 47! eating their conduct, if it admitted of vindication ; or, if not, of acknowledging their error, and promif- ing to atone for it by a more dutiful deportment in future. The temper of Phinehas, in the difchargeof his commiflion, was of a piece with that of the per- ions who lent him ; full of piety, difmtereftedneft, and benevolence. He could not defend, but he en* deavoured to palliate, the conducl againfl which he was commidioned to remonftrate. If the land of yonr poffcflioriy fays he to the two tribes and an half, be unclean, then pafs ye over unto fie hind of the of the Lord, wherein the Lord's tabernacle and take pojftjfion among us : but rebel not againft the Lord, nor rebel againft us, in biald'mg you an altar, be- fide the altar of the Lord our God. Happily this was an era in which virtue and good fenfe were not wholly fliflcd by the paflions and pre- judices of party. Inftead of any upbraidings for their having been unjuftly fufpccled; inftead of aft equivocal and evalive anfwer, fuch as a narrow po- licy might have fuggefted; inftead of replying by recri- minations, which (whether well or ill founded) would, in fuch a ftate of things, moft likely have made what was already bad much worfe, thefe two tribes and an half are careful only, with a moft exemplary ingcnu- oufnefs, and an honcft ardour, to aflcrt their innocence, as they do in the text : The I^rd God of gods, the Lord God of gods, he faowetb, and Jfrael bejball know, if it be in rebellion againft our Parent State, or in tranf- greffion againft the Lord, by a foul apoflacy from the re- H h 4 %ion 47^ THE TWO TRIBES AND Atf HALF, &C. ligion of our fathers, that we have fet up this altar, fave us not tlmday ! Confcious of the purity of their inten- tions, they appeal to God ; and call upon him to blefs them only as they are clear of any defigns of a revolt. Their apology was accepted, becauie it was true. And thus, by prudence, and a mutual good temper, the gathering cloud was difperfed ; and a calamity averted, which, elfe, might have involved them both in irretrievable ruin. And now, having (hewn, as I propofed, that if thefe two tribes and an half were fufpecled of meditating a rebellion, they were not fufpecled without rcafon I go on to (hew, in thefecond place, that we refemble them in both thefe refpecls ; that is to fay, in having been fufpecled of the fame crime, and in having given caufe for fufpicion. " In the farther parallel now to tf be drawn," I alfo think myfelf happy, that the cir- cumftances of refemblance to be adverted to are fuch as " require not the lead facrifice either of truth or virtue*." I fhould imagine it mufl have already occurred to you, that, like the tribe of Reuben, fome of the firft fettlers in America lay under a jult fufpicion of oherifh- ing hereditary wrong principles. The Northern Colonies in particular were, with very few exceptions, peopled by avowed Independents ; whofe principles, whether in themfelves well or ill-founded, even thole who maintain them will hardly pretend are propitious to thofe of the Britifh Conftitution. As for the * Dr. Smith's Sermon. other THE TWO TRIBES AND AN HALF, &C. 473 other Colonies, I perfuade myfelf I (hall hardly be thought to fpeak of them either harfhly or unjuftly when I compare them with the other tribe of Gad. The word Gad literally fignifies a troop ; and, it is probable, was given as a name to this tribe, from it's being expreffive of their character. In this refpect a majority of the American Colonies may very fairly be called Gadites : for, were not the original emi- grants who fettled thofe Colonies a multitude of people from various countries, of various habits and manners bound together by no other common prin- ciple but that of intereft or heceffity ? In the firft planting, then, of this our American Gilead, it would feeni that, like the Gilcadites beyond Jordan, we cannot fairly reckon on our having fet out with more than half a tribe of faithful Manaflites. By Manaflites, as applied to us, I mean thofe perfbns who, from edu- cation and principle, were fincerely and earneltly at- tached to our Conftitution both in Church and State, and who really emigrated on that truly Patriotic and Chriftian motive afligned in fome of our charters ; " the enlargement of the Empire, and the farther " propagation of Chriftianity." Manafleh fignifies the being forgotten : and it is remarkable that the prophecy of Jacob concerning the defcendants of Jofcph, and of courfe the defcendants of this tribe, was, that the archers Jbouldforely grieve them, and Jboot at them, and hate them. To fhe\v you " how far this " part of the parallel holds good *," permit me to * Dr. Smith's Sermon. refer 4/4 THE TWO TRIBES AND AN HALF,, &C, refer you to the fad hiftory of what has befallen our own Church. A tale might be unfolded, how ihe has been forgotten by her friends, andjjbof at by her enemies, which might well make the ears of every churchman that hears 'it to tingle : but, I forbear ; this being no time for churchmen to hope to obtain a patient and candid hearing. As for the other parts of the parallel, I appeal to the whole feries of our Ameri- can hi dory, in which there is hardly a page which is not flained with fome melancholy inftance of the great fearcMngs of heart which we have had becaufe of the droifions of Reuben. I believe the people of the four New England governments may challenge the whole world to produce another people who, without actually rebelling, have, throughout their whole hiftory, been ib difaffecled to government, fo uniformly intolerant towards all who differ from them, fo diflatisfied and disorderly, and, in fhort, fo impatient under every proper legal reftraint not impofed by thcmfelvcs. Pie would not run much hazard of averting more than might be proved, who fhould take upon him to affirm, that even thofe mifguided men who, about thirty years ago, in Scotland, fuffercd death for being rebels, were, in every proper fenfc of the word, ftill better fubjecls, and more to be depended on, even by the Family now on the throne, than their liege fubjecls of New England in the fecurefl periods of peace. It has been boaftcd, that the Colonifts chearfully fubmitted to fundry " local inconveniencics :" as though they had done fo entirely for the fake of the Parent THE TWO TRIBES AND AX HALP, &C. ,475 Parent State. Inlinuations in this way are more mif- chicvous than even direct aflcrtions ; becaufe thefe latter, when falfe, may be refuted : whereas an in- finuation, however groundlefc, can be done awaj only by another. Thefe " inconveniencics," it is ap- prehended, neither have been, nor are, greater than many to which all the other tribes or diftrids of the empire have in their turns been called on to fubmit. But, be they ever fo great, even beyond the ftandard at which we take fuch pains to have them eftimalcd, it fhould not be overlooked, in ftating them, that they have been of our own feeking. Like the two tribes and an half, we caine hither at our own dcfirc. We were not lopped off the parent trunk as ufelefs or noxious limbs, to be hewn down, or caft into t~he fire\ but carefully tranfplantcd here : and we have ever (ince been affiduoufly and tenderly cheriflied by that Parent State, who has emphatically been our nurjintr- father and our iiurjing-mother. No part of the empire has received fo much from Government, or contri- buted fo little, as the Britifh Colonies in North Ame- rica. How far they, in return, have been benefited by us; and what might now have been the condition of Great Britain, if fhe had never pofleiled thefe Colonies, or if fhe (hould now ceafe to poffefs them ; are complex and difficult problems in politics, which I pretend not to folve. But it is neither a complex nor a difficult point to prove, that, owing almoft folely to the protection and patronage of the Parent State, we have rapidly rifen to a degree of refpe<5la- bUity, THE TWO TRIBES AND AX HALF, &C. bility, and " an height of felicity, fcarce ever experi- " enced by any other people*." That we have " (hared their toil, and fought by their fide," they will not deny ; nor can we, without manifeft in- juftice and ingratitude, deny, that, whenever we have done fo, it was to drive away an enemy from our own quarters. They had but a remote intereft in fuch wars, being concerned in them chiefly as they con- cerned us : whilft we were immediately interefted, and muft either have fought, or have given up our inheritance. That, after this, they difmiffed us laden with Jilver and with gold^ , for having lent only a feeble and very unequal aid to the avenging of our own quarrel, was an inftance of zeal, for which, I confefs, either in the text or any where elfe, I in vain look fora parallel. Ourparent tribes are next vauntingly alked, "What "high altars we have raifed to alarm our Britifh " Ifrael ? and why the congregations of our brethren " have gathered themfelves together againft us* ?" To thefe home queftions, anfvvers equally home might eafily be given ; but, on fo delicate a point, it behoves me for obvious reafons to be cautious. A direct anfwer is not neceflary : confnlt your own confciences. I wrong you much if, amidft all this * Dr. Smith's Sermon. -j- This alludes to the parliamentary grants made to reimburfe the Colonies for the fums which they advanced during the war againft the French in North America, terminated in 1763. J Dr. Smith's Sermon. " pulpit THE TWO TRIBES AND AN HAtF, &C. 477 firicr, fevere, and even op- preffive : but, as long as they are enacled confiitu- tionally, and according to law, I fee not how they can with any propriety be called violences : and not \ofubmit to them, even when they are moft unwife, and, if you will, unjuft, is a crime againfl the law of the land, and a fin in the fight of God. Violences, in a political fenfe, are any exertions or exercifes of power by perlbns not legally invefied with power. Whatever fuch perfons take upon them to do in the way of authority, even though it be wife, neceflary, humane, and beneficent, is, literally, ufurpation and i * Dr. South. " Remember, patience is the Chriftian's courage. " Stoics have bled, and Demigods have died : " A Chriftian's taik is harder 'tis to fuffer." -Myilerious Mother, A. iv. Sc. 4. violence, * THE TWO TRIBES AND AN HALF, &C. 483 Violence. " The free-born foul revolts " at the idea offuhnitting to fuch un authoritative, lawlefs behefts; and muft have been " long debafcd, and have drank " in the laft dregs of corruption, before it can brook " the damnable dotlnne and pofition, that any govern- ment lawfully eftablifhed may be denounced, or rc- fifted, by any fe!f-commiflioned perfons inverted with no authority by law, on any pretence whatfoever. Never furely, on any other occafion, have fuch un- wearied pains been taken, as ever fince the Revolu- tion all popular writers have taken, to bring the doc- trine of " non -refiftance " into difrepute. It might be imagined, that all the bed interefts of mankind were concerned in it's being indeed " fully exploded " among every virtuous people." The facl, how- ever, is, that as the affertion of this doctrine's being fo exploded is indifputably falfe, fo mankind are much concerned in the pofition refpecling the law- fulnefs of refiftance not being generally believed to be true. Were it otherwife, along with the doclrine of " non-refiftance," government itfclf muft alfo be " exploded ;" becaufe it is eflential to all govern- ment to be irrefiftible *. Too * If it be allowed lawful for fubjeds, in any cafe, to take arms ' againft their Sovereign, this muft include in them a right of judg- " ing whether their prefent cafe be fuch in which they may law- " fully refift or no, otherwife they muft either have a general " power of refiilance, and taking arms without any diftinaion of " any cafes ; to aflert which would be all one as to declare them no "fab/efts, or under no government ; or clfe they muft rcOft in no cafe 1 i 2 "^ THI TWO TRIBES AND AN HALF, &C. Too many of the friends of King William, and his fucceflbrs the Family now on the throne, (very con- trary to the fenliments and intentions of thofe who were the chief inftruments in bringing about the Re- volution,) thought it for the intereii of their caufe to vindicate the Revolution on the principle of it's being effected by a juftifiable refinance; hoping thereby (in the words of Mr. Locke) " to make good their " title to the crown in the confent of the people/' It was one of thofe hazardous principles of policy, fuggefted by a temporary expediency, which (to the infinite detriment of our country) has more or lefs ever lince pervaded her Councils. To the fhort- fightednefs, the iniquity, and the danger of fuch policy, the perpetual unfettled flate of the kingdom, fhaken by two rebellions iince it has been fo gene- rally adopted, and our prcfent diftradtions, bear ample teftimony, .The inconfiftency did not efcape the penetration of an obferving and fenfible Foreigner at the time ; who remarked, that fuch principles were then patronized and encouraged as would render the reign of every future Britilh Monarch of the Ha- " i& **L a * all. But, to aflfert that the people, or inferiors, arc, of right, fudges of the eafes in which they may refift their fuperiors, is as ** much as to fay, they are bound to fubje&ion only as far as them- '*. felves fhall think fit ; and that they may claim an authority over " their governors, and pafs judgment upon them, and deprive them " of their dignity, authority, and life itfelf, vvhenfoever they mail <* think it requifite and needful. But this cannot be otherwife than\i general confufion in the world." Dr. Falkner r s Chrif- tian Loyalty, zdcditt 1684, p. 365. noverian THE TWO TRIBES AND AN HALF, &C. 485 noverian fucceflion, difturbed, unftable, and pre- carious *. But, whatever doclrines any particular adminiftra- tion, governed only by human policy, may fee fit to avow or difavow, the word of God, like mount Zion, abideth faft for ever; andthedodtrine of " non-refift- ance " is unquestionably " a tenet of our Church. 1 * It is the uniform doctrine of the Articles, the Liturgy, the Injunctions, and Canons, and Homilies ; in one of which I find the following ftrong words : " Lucifer " was the firft author and founder of rebellion ; which " is the firft, the greateft, and the root of all other " fins. Kings and princes, as well the evil as the " good, do reign by God's ordinance ; and fubjecls " are bound to obey them, and for no caufe to re- " fift, or withftand, or rebel, or make any fedition neither the Churches of God. To conclude With refpect to the end we have in view, namely, the prefervation of "a great empire, " and re-uniting all it's members in one facrcd bond " of harmony and public happinefs," I truft there is but one mind among us. But, as to the means bed adapted to the attainment of that end, your preacher, you find, differs in opinion exceedingly from him who preached " at the requeft of the officers of a battalion." Both our opinions, with the arguments by which we endeavour to fupport them, are now before you. Choofe 490 THE TWO TRIBES AND AN HALF, &C. Choofe ye Ms day, then, to which of them you will adhere. God grant that your determination may be fuch as becomes wife and good men ! Permit me yet farther to add, that, felecled as this portion of Scripture was, not for the inftruclion of the officers of one battalion only, but for the edification of the people of America in general, (as appears by the Difcourfe's having been publifhed,) it was natural to expect that that part of it, which in your prefent circumftances might with mofl advantage have been propofed to your imitation, ihould have been recom- mended to you. As, however, this has not been, done by the author, it is now the more incumbent on me to prefs it on your notice. Whatever may be the motives or intentions of thofe who have fet it up, the altar of Liberty is now, beyond all doubt, creeled among us , and, whether with or without reafon, it's erection has excited the jealoufy of the Parent State. The difpute, therefore, is begun : and all that is of great moment, now to be attended to, is, how it may be happily terminated. You are now in a fituation very like that of the Gileaditcs, when they returned the fenfible and very proper anfvver recorded in the text : Go ye, and do Mewife. If America can (and it is my firm perfuafion that the great body of the people of America very confcientioufly can) make the fame folemn appeal to Heaven that the Gileadites did, viz. that it is not in rebellion that our country is now fet forth in hoftile array, America is without excufe if it l>e not made. She will be dill more Jnexcufable i when THE TWO TRIBES AND AN HALF, Sec. 491 when fuch a proteftation is made, fhe does not prove by her conduct that it was made in (incerity. All the common principles of reafoning muft fail if fuch a conduct on the part of this country would not produce it's defired effect, and if, as Tertullus faid to Felix, you would not again enjoy great quietnefs by. your connexion with your fellow-fubjedts on the other fide of our Jordan. I add, with not lefs con- fidence, that, were the prefent breach healed, very worthy deeds would again be done, as we all know has heretofore been the cafe, by their providence. Blefled, for ever blefled, will thofe good men be, who, ivbilft the people Jland up, and the rulers fake counfel together, fhall, by the lenient arts of perfuafion, fo mitigate our heats, and fo appeafe our refentments, that, notwith- ftanding all that has pafled, we may again embrace as brethren, and both they and we hereafter lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godlinefs and honefty. , At this moment you Hand on an awful precipice ; on the very brink of rebellion. A few fleps farther, and you will plunge into a gulph which will fwallow up every hope of future peace. To-day, then, whilft it is called to-day, paufe and bethink yourfelves : if you have already gone too far, I befeech you fpcedily and carefully to meafure back your fteps, whilft haply it is in your power. The Parent Tribes of Ilrael re- ceived the once-fufpected Settlers of Gilead with open arms ; and doubt not but that your Parent State will imitate this conduct. If, as is pretended, you have already afked this boon, and have not received it, it has THE TWO TRIBES AND AN HALF, &C. has been owing folely to your having ajke d amifs. You alked with arms in your hands*. This was as im- politic, as it was undutiful. Taught by experience, Jearn ye now a wifer and a better policy : difclain not to take inftruction from the inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon, who, in the days of Herod, came with one ac- cord, and faming made BLtASTUS, the kings cham- 'kerlaln^ their friend, dejired peace, lecauje their country was nourijbed by the kings country. APPENDIX. THERE is, in the ninth book of Dionyilus of HalicarnafTus, a fpeech of one Spurius Servilius, a patrician, who was malicioufly perfecuted by the tri- bunes, fo very appofite to the fubject of this Sermon, that I cannot refifl the temptation of giving it to my Readers in the words of his able tranflator, Mr. Spelrnan. " Let me fpeak to you upon this fubjecl with free- " dom : for, it is contingent neither with my temper " to fpeak, nor with your advantage to hear me, in " any other manner. You a<5l ccfntrary both to " juftice and piety, plebeians, in not acknowledging * " Si quid ab fenatu petere vellent, ab armis difcedant^ *' Romam fupplices proficifcantur : ea mifericordia atque manfue- '* tudine fenatum populumque Romaniim femper fuilTe, ut nemo *' ucquam ab eo auxilium fruftra pctiverit." Sail. Bell. Catilm. " the THE TWO TRIBES AND AN HALF, Sec. 493 f the many great benefits you have received from the " Senate ; and in refenting their refufal to grant fome " of your defires, which, if granted, would bring " great prejudice to the publicwhen this refufal " does not proceed from their envy to you, but from " their regard to the advantage of the commonwealth. " Whereas the beft thing you could have done was " to have paid a deference to their refolutions, as " flowing from the beft of motives, and calculated for " the general good ; and to have defifted from your " earncftnefs. But if you were unable to conquer " your unprofitable defires by prudent confiderations, " you ought to have aimed at the obtaining the fame " thing by perfuafion, and not by violence. For, " voluntary prefents are not only more agreeable to ( thofe who grant them, than fuch as are extorted, " but alfo more lading to thofe who receive them : " which is a thing, I call the Gods to witnefs, you do " not confider ; but are agitated by your demagogues, u like the fea by various winds perpetually fucceeding " one another, and provoked to rage, and will not " fuffer the commonwealth to enjoy the lead quiet " and tranquillity. This has made us prefer war to "peace; fince, when we are in war, we hurt our " enemies when in peace, our friends. However, " plebeians, if you look upon all the refolutions of " the Senate to be advantageous to the common- " wealth, as they really are, why do you not look " upon this refolution alfo in the fame light ? But, if " you are of opinion that the Senate do. not take the 6 " Icaft 494 THE TWO TRIBES AND ANT HALF,, &C* " leaft confederation of any thing that is incumbent " on them, but govern the commonwealth unikilfully, " why do you not remove them all at once, take the " government upon yourfelves, and make war in " fupport of your own fovereignty, rather than pare " them, deftroy them by degrees^ and take off the " moft confiderable men by your fentences ? lince " it is better for all of us, in general, to be attacked f honouring and obeying the king, and all that are put in authority under him. Reverently to fubmit our- felves to all our governors, teachers, fpirifual paftors,- and mafters, is indeed a duty fo eflential to the peace and happinefs of the world,.- that St. Paul thinks no Chriftian could be ignorant of it : and therefore, when- he recommends it to Titus as a topic on which he fhould not fail frequently to infill, he fuppofes it would be fufficient if his converts were put in mine* to be fubjeffi to principalities, and powers, to obey magi- grates, and to be ready to every good work. This, however, is as direct and clear a commiffionr for a Chri&ian miti liter's- preaching' on politics, in the juft fenfe of the word, on all proper occasions, as can be produced for our preaching at all on any fubje6k Let me hope, then, that I now ftand fufMciently vin- dicated as a preacher of polities (if fuch an one I am to' be deemed) by having proved, that, in thus preaching, I do no more than St. Paul enjoined: all I pretend to, all I aim at, is to put- you in mind only of your duty to your neighbour*. It * A very vehement proteft againfl political fermons in general-" has lately been delivered by a perfon of great eminence in the po- litical world, which (though aimed perhaps only- at one individual- Divine, yet being general, and, as fuch, equally affe&ing the Ifcyal and the difloyal preacher) it would be unpardonable in the writer of a volume of political fermons to pafs over wholly without notice. ..... "-Politics and the pulpit are terms that have little agree- PASSIVE OBEDIENCE AND NCTN-RBS I STANCE. 499 It is, however, not a little mortifying to the few friends of the good old principles of the Church of England yet left among us to obferve (as it is impoffible they fhould fail to obferve) that offence is taken, not fo much becaufe fome of us preach on politics, as be- cauie we preach what are called unpopular politics. Preachers who are lefs anxious to fpeak right, than Jmootl things, are now hardly lefs numerous among us, in proportion to our population, than fuch men were u ment. No found ought to be heard in the church, but the heal " ing voice of Chriftian charity. The caufe of Civil Liberty and " Civil Government gains as little as that of Religion by this con- *' fufion of duties. Thofe who quit their proper chara&er, to. " affume what does not belong to them, are, for the greater part, *' ignorant both of the character they leave, and of the character " they affume. Wholly unacquainted with the world, in which they " are fo fond of meddling, and inexperienced in all it's affairs, on " which they pronounce with fo much confidence, they have " nothing of politics but the paflions they excite. Surely the " church is a place where one day's truce ought to be allowed to *' the difTenfions and animofities of mankind.*' Reflections on the Revolution in France, p> 14. The whole force of this linking paflage feem3 to reft on the term politics being underilood in it's vague and vulgar acceptation, and merely as referring to the wrangling debates of modern aflemblics ; debates which, far too often, torn entirely on the narrow, felfifti and fervile views of party. The term has been, and in fuch a difquifition Ought to have been, ufed in a much more extended and more digni- fied fenfe; comprehending all that long lift of duties which cveTy man owes to fociety in it's public capacity. Every man is at leaft as much concerned to be a good fubjed, as he is to be a good neighbour: and fo far is a preacher from being chargeable with being guilty of Kka "aeon- ON CIVIL LIBERTT, were among the puritans in the laft century : and their difcourfes are not only preached, but published*, " at the requeft of battalions, generals, and com- " manders in chief." But, wo onto that people who ftudioufly place temptations in the way of the minif- ters of God to handle t~he word of God deceitfully ! and wo unto thofe minifters who are thus tempted to caufe the people to err, by their Ties and their lightnefs I Let me humbly hope, then, that, whilft I thus continue " a confufion of duties," or of " afluming a chara&er which does " not belong to him," that he afts flri&ly within the line of his profeffion, when he explains, as well as he is able, and enforces on the people committed to his care, their public as well as their private duties. Such politics are, literally, the! " healing voice of " Chriftian charity.'' For weak and wicked politics, whether in or out of the pulpit, no plea is here offered : I would humbly fuggelt only, that, as the Clergy are far from claiming to be more enlightened than others on thefe topics, there feems to be no reafon for fuppofing that they are lefs fo. Their " unacquaintance with the world, and inexperience in all it's affairs," even admitting the fact, cannot fairly be efteemed a difadvantage to them : and their habits of lludy and reflection are certainly in their favour. So far have Englifh Divines in general been from giving any countenance to " the difTcnfions and ani- " mofities of mankind," that in their writings chiefly (which form a large portion of EngMi literature) are any effectual checks to thefe foul pafiions to be found: and fo little, in general, have they merited the character of being " ignorant," either as Divines or Politicians, that men of the firft-rate abilities might eafily be named, who have diftinguifhed themfelves in both capacities. Who is he that will take upon him to fay, that the late Dean of St. Patrick's, or the prefent Dean of Gloucefter, were either unlearned Divines, or jfhallow Politicians ? The PASSIVE OBEDIENCE AND NON-RESISTANCE. 50! continue to plead in behalf of Government, I may continue to experience the fame indulgence which thofe perfons do who fpeak againft it. The ground I have taken, I am aware, is deemed untenable ; but, having now juft gone over that ground with great care, I feel a becoming confidence that I fhall not eafrly be driven from it. The fame diligence, the fame plain honeft courfe of proceeding which I have taken, will, I truft, produce the fame effects with all of you, who, not being yet abforbed within the vortex of party, are ftill happy in the poffeflion of The peremptory tone with which we of the .Clergy are fo often interdi&ed from meddling with politics in our pulpits, has long ap- peared to me to be more di&atorial than, as the free fubjedls of a free government, it is incumbent on us to bear. We, furely, are not lefs at liberty than other men to ufe our own discretion: nor can it, I blefs God! with any fliew of juftice, be objeaed to the Clergy of the Church of England, that they have ever in general either preached or written any fuch politics as are hoflile to the interefts either of good government or good men. This is not the firil time that 6tatefm.cn have ihewn an unaccount- able jealoufy of the Clergy's interfering in political difquifitions. At the acceflion of the prefept Family, wifh.ing to difcounte nance all inveftigations of their title to the throne, and moft afraid of the Clergy, it is faid, fome eminent infidel writers were employed and paid by Government expreisly to write againft religion, not becaufe the King's miniilers either disbelieved or .difiiked religion, but be- caufe they thought it the moft likely means to draw the attention of the Clergy off from politics, and in confidence that their an- fwers would be a fufficient antidote to the poifon of the infidtls. It is believed that, in the public offices, proofs might be obtained of individuals receiving penfions for writing both againit and for re- ligion. K k 3 open ON CIVIL LIBERTY, open to convi6lion. With no others do I prefume to argue. That I am perfevering in the purfuit of this unpopular courfe, I readily own ; yet I feel I want fpirits to enter on any fuch difcuffions with thofe perfons among us, who, fettling controverted points with their hands rather than with their tongues, demonftrate with tar and feathers, fetch argu- ments from prifons, and confute by confifcation and exile. To find out the true and precife meaning of any paffage of Scripture, it is in general neceflary to know the circumftances of the writer, and his end and aim in writing. St. Paul, the author of my text, was deeply involved in that very natural but per-r plexing difpute which foon arofe among the firft converts, and even among the Difciples, concerning the obfervance of the ritual fervices ; and how far they were, or were not, obligatory on Chriliians. There are few of his writings, in fome part or other of which this great quedion does not come forward. It evidently runs through the whole of'this epiftle to the Galatians, as well as through this particular verfe. The Jewifh zealots (like their anceftors in the wildernefs, who ever and anon murmured for want of the flefh-pots in Egypt) were perpetually troubling the infant church on the fubjecl: of this queftion. It became our Apoftle, then, diligently to labour after the removal of this difficulty. This he undertakes to do ; and very fetisfadlorily obviates the difficulty by a com- PASSIVE OBEDIENGE>AND NON-RESISTANCE. 503 a companion of the two -difpcnfations, the former of which he proves to have .been ^ yoke of bondage when put in competition with that perfect law of liberty now promulged to the world. The law of Mofes was no doubt well contrived and adapted to the fingular circnmftances of the people to whom it was given ; yet, when a revelation ftill better adapted to the general circunrftances of mankind was made known, it was a moil unaccountable inftance of folly and perverfenefs in that people to wifh to be again entangled in a yoke which neither they nor their fore- fathers were well able to bear. Emancipated as they now were from ib burthenfbme a fervice, it was to a<9: the part of madmen ftill to hug their chains, Freely offered, however, as the Gofpel of uncir- cumcifion now was io the Jew firft and alfo to tbt Gentile, it behoved the -latter alfo (who, as well as their brethren of the law, \\wccalledwito liberty) to Jt,and faft. It is true they were not, as the Jews were, made free from the fervile obfervance of days^ mid months, and times , and years ; to which they had \ never been fubjecled. But there was another kind of fubjeclion or ilavery, not lefs oppreffive, from which they were now releaicd ; I mean the flavery of fin. Heretofore they were tie fervants vf fin ; but now, they were no morefervants, but fons\ and if Jons, tlmi beirs of God through Cbrift. Admitted to this blefled privilege, and n3 longer the children of Hagar and of Iflimael, but of Sarah and of Ifaac, the exhor- tation is with great propriety addreflcd to them allo : K t 4 Stand 504 ON CIVIL LIBERTY, Stand faft in tie liberty wherewith drift lath mad$ you free. As the liberty here fpoken of refpected the Jevvs^ it denoted an exemption from the burthenfome fer T vices of the ceremonial law : as it refpecled the Gentiles, it meant a manumiffion from bondage under the weak and beggarly elements of the world, and an admiffion into the covenant of grace : and as It refpecled both in common, it meant a freedom from the fervitude of fin. Every finner is, literally, a flave ; for, his few ants ye are, to whom ye obey : and the only true liberty is the liberty of being the fervants of God ; for, his fervice is perfect freedom. The paflage cannot, without infinite perverfion and torture, be made to refer to any other kind of liberty ; much lefs to that liberty of which every man now talks, though few underitand it. However common this term has been, or is, in the mouths chiefly of thofe perfons who are as little diftinguifhed for the accuracy as they are for the paucity of their words ; and whatever influence it has had on the affairs of the world, it is remarkable that it is never ufecl (at lead not in any fuch fenfe as it is elfowhere ufed) in any of the laws either of God or men. Let a minifter of God, then, ftand cxcufed if (taught by him who knoweth what is fit and good for us better than we ourfelves, and is want aJJb to give us more than either we defire or deferue) he feeks not to amufe you by any flowery panegyrics on liberty. Such panegyrics are the productions of ancient heathens and modern patriots : PASSIVE OBEDIENCE AND NON-RESISTANCE. 505 patriots : nothing of the kind is to be met with in the Bible, nor in the Statute Book. The word liberty, as meaning civil liberty, does not, I believe, occur in All the Scriptures. With the aid of a concordance I find only two or three paflages, in two apocryphal writers, that look at all like it. In the xivth chapter and 26th verfe of the ift of Maccabees, the people are faid to ow.e much gratitude to Simon, the high- prieft, for having renewed a friendfhip and league with the Lacedemonians, confirmed the league with the Romans, etfablifhed Ifrael, and confirmed their liberty. But it is evident that this expreffion means, not that the Jews were then tp be exempted from any injunctions, or any reftraints, impofed upon them by their own lawful goyermpent ; but only that they were delivered from a foreign jurifdidlion and from tributary payments, and left free to live under the law of Mofcs. The only circumftance relative to government, for which thp Scriptures feem to be particularly folicitous, is in inculcating obedience to lawful governors, as well knowing where the true danger lies. Neverthelefs, as oc- cafion has lately been taken from this text, on which I am now to difcourfe, to treat largely on civil liberty and government, (though for no other reafon that appears but that the word liberty happens to ftand in the text,) I entreat your indulgence, vvhilil, without too nicely fcrutinizing the propriety of deducing from a text a doclrine which it clearly flops not fugged, I once more adopt a plan already chalked 506 -ON CIVIL LIBERTY, chalked out for me, and deliver toyou what occurs to me as proper for a Chriftian audience to attend to on the fubjedt of Liberty, It has juft been obferved, that the liberty incul- cated in the Scriptures, (and which alone the Apoftle had in view in this text,) is wholly of the fpiritual or religious kind. This liberty was the natural refult of the new religion in which mankind were then in- ftrucled ; which certainly gave them no new civil privileges. They remained fubject to the govern- ments under which they lived, juft as they had been before they became Chriftians, and juft as others \vcrc who never became Chrillians ; with this diffe- rence only, that the duty of fubmiflion and obedience to Government was enjoined on the converts to Chriftianity with new and ftronger fanclions. The doelrines of the Gofpel make no manner of alteration in the. nature or form of Civil Government ; but enforce afrefh, upon all Chriftians, that obedience \vhich is due to the refpeclive Conftitutions of every nation in which they may happen to live. Be the fupreme power lodged in one or in many, be the kind of government eftablifhed in any country ab- fa] ute or limited, this is not the concern of the Go- fpel. It's iingle object, with refpecl to thefe public duties, is to enjoin obedience to the laws of every country, in every kind or form of government. The only liberty or freedom which converts to Chriftianity could hope to gain by becoming Chrif- tians, was the being exempted from fun dry burthen- fome PASSIVE OBEDIENCE AND NON-RESISTANCE. 507 fome and fervile Jewifti ordinances, on the one hand ; #nd, on the other, from Gentile blindncfs and fupcr- ftition. They were allb in fome meafure perhaps made more free in the inner man ; by being endowed with greater firmnefs of mind in the caufe of truth, againft the terrors and the allurements of the world ; and with fuch additional ftrength and vigour as enabled them more effectually to refill the natural violence of their lufts and paflions. On all thefe accounts it was that our Saviour fo emphatically told the Jews, that tie truth (of which himfelf was now the preacher) would make them free *. And on the fame principle St. James terms the Gofpel the perfeft law of liberty. In the infancy of Chriftianity, it would feem that fome rumour had been fpread (probably by Judas of Galilee, who is mentioned in the Aclsf) that the Go- fpel was defigned to undermine kingdoms and com- monwealths ; as if the intention of our Saviour's firft coming had Keen the fame with that which is referred for the fecond, viz. to put down all rule, and (ill authority, and all fo^ver. On this fuppofition the apparent folicitude of our Saviour and his Apoftles, in their frequent and earneft recommendation of fub- miffion to the higher powers, is eafily and naturally accounted for. Obedience to Government is every man's duty, becaufe it is every man's intereft : but jt is particularly incumbent on Chriftians, becaufe * John, ch. vin. ver. 32. f Ch. v. ver. 37. (in 508 ON CIVIL LIBERTY, {in addition to it's moral fitnefs) it is enjoined by the pofitive commands of God : and therefore, when Chrhlians are difobedient to human ordinances, they are alfo difobedient to God. If the form of govern- ment under which the good providence of God has been pleafed to place us be mild and free, it is our duty to enjoy it with gratitude and with thankfulnefs ; and, in particular, to be careful not to abufe it by licentioufnefs. If it be lefs indulgent and lefs liberal than in reafbn it ought to be, flill it is our duty not to difturb and deftroy the peace of the community, by becoming refraclory and rebellious fubjects, and refifting tie ordinances of God. However humiliating fuch acquiefcence may feem to men of warm and eager minds, the wifdom of God in having made it our duty is manifeft. For, as it is the natural temper and bias of the human mind to be impatient under reftraint, it was wife and merciful in the blefled Author of our religion not to add any new impulfe to the natural force of this prevailing propenfity, but, with the whole weight of his authority, altogether to difcountenance every tendency to difobedience. If it were neceffary to vindicate the Scriptures for this their total unconcern about a principle which fb many other writings feem to regard as the iirft of all human coniiderations, it might be obferved, that, avoiding the vague and declamatory manner of fuch writings, and avoiding alfo the ufelefs and imprac- ticable fubtleties of metaphyfical definitions, thefe Scriptures have better confulted the great general interefts PASSIVE OBEDIENCE AND NON-RESISTANCE. interefts of mankind, by fummarily recommending and enjoining a contentions reverence for law whether human or divine. To refpecl: the laws, is to refpecl liberty in the only rational fenfe in which the term can be ufed ; for liberty confifis in a fub- ferviency to law *. " Where there is no law," fays Mr. Locke, " there is no freedom." The mere man of nature (if fuch an one there ever was) has no free- dom : all bis lifetime he is fuljeft to bondage. It is by being included within the pale of civil polity and government that he takes his rank in focicty as a free man. Hence it follows, that we are free, or otherwife, as we are governed by law, or by the mere arbitrary- will, or wills, of any individual, or any number of individuals. And liberty is not the fetting at nought and defpifing eflablifhed laws much lefs the making our own wills the rule of our own adlians, or the actions of others and not bearing (whilft yet we dictate to others) the being dictated to, even by the laws of the land ; but it is the being governed by law, and by law only. The Greeks defcribed Eleutheria, *...." Multo efle indignius in ea civitate, quae legibus teneatur, " difcedi a legibus : hoc eni'm vinculum eft hujus dignitatis qua " fruimur in republica ; hoc fundament um libertatis ; hie fons aequi- " tatis. Mens et animus, et fcntentia civitatis pofita eft in legibus. " Ut corpora noftra fine mente, fie civitas fine lege, fuis partibus, ut 'nervis, ac fanguine et membris uti non poteft. Legum miniftn, w magiftratus ; legum interpretes, judiccs j legum denique idcirco " omnes fervi fumus, ut liberi efle poflimus," Cicero Oral, pro A.Cluentio. fed. 53. or $IO ON CIVIL LIBERTY, or Liberty, as the daughter of Jupiter, the fupremc* fountain of power and law. And the Romans, in like manner, always drew her with the pretor's wand, (the emblem of legal power and authority,) as well as with the cap. Their idea, no doubt, was, that liberty was the fair fruit of juft authority, and that it confided in men's being fubjecled to law; The more care- fully well-devifed reftraints of law are enacted, and the more rigoroufly they are executed in any country, the greater degree of civil liberty does that country enjoy. To' purfue liberty, then^ in a manner not \varranted by law, whatever the pretence may be, is clearly to be hoftile to liberty : and thofe perfons who thus fromife you liberty, are themfelves the fer- vants of corruption. " Civil liberty (fays an excellent writer*) is a " fevere and a retrained thing ; implies, in the " notion of it, authority ^ fettled fubordinations, fub- " jeclion, and obedience ; and is altogether as much " hurt by too little of this kind, as by too much of " it. And the love of liberty, when it is indeed " the love of liberty, which carries us to with ft and " tyranny, will as much carry us to reverence au- " thority, and to fupport it ; for this moft obvious ecord that any fuch government ever was fo formed. If there had, it muft have carried the feeds of it's decay in it's very conflitution. For, as thofe men who make a government (certain that they have the power) can have no heiitation to vote that they alfo have the right to unmake it ; and as the people, in all circum fiances, but more efpecially \vhen trained to make and unmake governments, are at leaft as well difpofed to do the latter as the former, it is morally impoflible that there fhould be any thing like permanency or liability in a government fo formed. Such a fyftem, therefore, can produce only perpetual diflenfions and contefts, and bring back mankind to a fuppofed ftate of nature ; arming every man's hand, like IfhmaeFs, againfl every man, and rendering the world an aceldama, or field of blood. Such theories of government feern to give fomething PASSIVE OBEDIENCE AND NON-RESISTANCE. 519 fbmething like plaufibility to the notions of thofe other modern theorifts, who regard all governments as invasions of the natural rights of men, usurpations, and tyranny. On this principle it would follow, and could not be denied, that government was indeed fundamentally, as our people are feduloufly taught it flill is, an evil. Yet it is to government that man- kind owe their having, after their fall and corruption, been again reclaimed, from a flate of barbarity and war, to the conveniency and the fafety of the focial- Hate : and it is by means of government that fociety is ftill preferved, the weak protected from the (Irong, and the artlefs and innocent from the wrongs of proud oppreflbrs. It was not without reafon, then, that Mr. Locke aflerted, that a greater wrong cannot be done to prince and people, than is done by " propagating wrong notions concerning (( government/' Afhamed of this {hallow device, that government originated in fuperior ftrength and violence, another party, hardly lefs numerous, and certainly not lefs confident than the former, fondly deduce it from fome imaginary compact. They fuppofe that, in the decline perhaps of fome fabulous age of gold, a mul- titude of human beings, who, like their brother beafts, had hitherto ranged the forefts, without guide, over- feer, or ruler & length convinced, by experience, of the impoffibility of living either alone with any de- gree of comfort or fecurity, or together in fociety, with peace, without government, had (in fome lucid in- L 1 4 terval ON CIVIL LIBERTY, terval of reafon and reflection) met together in a fpacious plain, for the exprefs purpofe of framing a government. Their ftrft ftep mud have been the transferring to fbme individual, or individuals, lome of thofe rights which are fuppofecl to have been in- herent in each of them : of thefe it is efTential to government that they ihould be divefted ; yet can they not, rightfully, be deprived of them, otherwife than by their own confent. Now, admitting this whole fuppofed affembly to be perfectly equal as to rights, yet all agreed as to the propriety of ceding fome of them, on what principles of equality is it poffible to determine, either who fliall relinquish fuch a portion of his rights, or who fhall be inverted with fuch new acceflbry rights ? By afking another to exercife jurifdiction over me, I clearly confefs that I do not think myfelf his equal ; and by his confent- ing to exercife fuch authority, he allb virtually de- clares that he thinks himfelf fuperior. And, to efta- blifh this hypothecs of a compact, it is farther ne- ceflary that the whole aflembly fhould 1 concur in this opinion a concurrence fo extremely improbable, that it feems to be barely poffible. The fuppofition that a large concourfe of people, in a rude and im- perfect ftate of fociety, or even a majority of them, fhould thus rationally and unanimoufly concur to fubject themfelves to various restrictions, many of them irkfome and unpleafant, and all of them con- trary to all their former habits, is to fuppofe them poflelled of more wifdom and virtue than multitudes in PASSIVE OBEDIENCE AND NON-RESISTANCE. in any inftance ii^rcal JH^/havc ever fhewn. Ano- ther difficulty refpecting this notion may yet be mentioned. Without a power of life and death, it will, I prefume, be readily admitted that there could be no government. Now, admitting it to be pofli- ble that men, from motives of public and private utility, may be induced to fubinit to many heavy penalties, and even to corporal punifhment, inflicted by the fentence of the law, there is an infuperable ob- jection to any man's giving to another a power over his life : this objection is, that no man has fuch a power over his own life ; and cannot therefore transfer to another, or to others, be they few or many, on any conditions, a right which he does not himfelf poffcfs. He only who gave life, can give the authority to take it away : and as fuch authority is cflential to govern- ment, this argument feems very decidedly to prove, not only that government did not originate in any compact, but alfo that it was originally from God *. * Grotius's definition of the fupreme magiflrate, or " fumma po- *' teftas," whether vefted in one or in many, is, that it is <( folius < Dei imperio fubditus." This agrees with that of our Church ; " which defcribes our fupreme magiftrate, or fovereign, to be " next "under God,fupreme> over all caufes, perfons, &c." Now, on the principle of thofe who, without rejecting Grotiiis's definition, found government on compaft, and derive power mediately from God, and immediately from the people, thefe ftrange confluences imift follow ; viz. that this fupremacy is, and is not, " next under God ;" that it is fuperior and inferior, above and below the people, fupreme and dependent. This ON CIVIL LIBERTY, This vifionary idea of a government by compact was, as Filmer fays, " firil hatched in the fchools ; " and hath, ever fince, been foftered by Papifts, for " good divinity." For fome time, the world feeined to regard it merely as another Utopian fiction ; and it was long confined to the difciples of Rome and Geneva, who, agreeing in nothing elfe, yet agreed In this. In an evil hour it gained admittance into the Church of England ; being firft patronized by her during the civil wars, by "a few mifcreants, *< who were as far from being true Proteftants, as true " Subjects." Mankind have Hftened, and continue to liften to it with a predilection and partiality, juft 3S they do to various other exceptionable notions, which are unfavourable to true religion and found morals ; merely from imagining, that if fuch doc- trines be true, they (hall no longer be fubjeclied to fundry reftraints, which, however wholfome and proper, are too often unpalatable to our corrupt na- tures. What we wifh to be true, we eafily perfuade ourfelves is true. On this principle it is not difficult to account for our thus eagerly following thefe ignes fatid of our own fancies or "feelings,*' rather than the fober fteady light of the word of God ; which (in this inftance as well as in others) lies under this fingle di fad vantage, that it propoies no doctrines which may conciliate our regards by flattering our pride. If, however, we can even refolve no longer to be bewildered by thefe vain imaginations, ftill the in- terefting queftion prefles on us, "Where," in the words PASSIVE OBEDIENCE AND NON-RESISTANCE. words of Plato *, " where (hall \velook for the origin " of government ?" Let Plato himfelf indraft us. Taught then by this oracle of Heathen wifclom, we r panied by no infuperable difficulties. It was not to be expecled from an all-wife and all- merciful Creator, that, having formed creatures capable of order and rule, he fhould turn them loofe into the world under the guidance only of their own unruly wills ; that, like fo many wild beafts, they might tqar and worry one another in their mad contefts for pre- eminence. His purpofe from the firft, no doubt, was, that men Hiould Jive godly andfoler lives. But, fuch is the fad eftate of our corrupted nature, that, ever fince the Fall, we have been averfe from good, and prone to evil. We are, indeed, fo diforderly and unmanageable, that, were it not for the reftraints and the terrors of human laws, it would not be poffible for us to dwell together. But as men were clearly formed for fociety, and to dwell together, which yet they cannot do without the reftraints of law, or, in other words, without government, it is fair to infer that government was alfo the original intention of * Plato, of Laws, book Hi. God, 524 OJST CIVIL LIBERTY, God #, who never decrees the end, without alfo de- creeing the means. Accordingly, when man was- made, his Maker did not turn him adrift into a fhore- lefs ocean, without ftar or compafs to fleer by. As foon as there were fome to be governed, there were alfo ibme to govern : and the firft man, by virtue of that paternal claim, on which all fubfequent governments have been founded, was firft invefted with the power of government. For, we are not to judge of the Scriptures * " To him that mall diligently read the Scriptures, it will be ** plain and evident, that the Son of God, having created our firft *' parents, and purpofmg to multiply their feed into many genera* ** tions, for the repJenifhing of the world with their pofteiity, did ** give to Adam for his time, and to the reft of the Patriarchs and * Chief Fathers fucceffively before the Flood, authority, power, and ** dominion over their children and offspring, to rule and govern ** them ; ordaining, by the very law of Nature, that their faid chil- * f dren and offspring (begotten and brought up by them) fhould ** fear, reverence, honour, and obey them. Which power and ** authority before the Flood refting in the Patriarchs and in the ** Chief Fathers, becaufe it had a very long extent, not only for the * e education of their faid children and offspring whilft they were ** young, but likewife for the ordering, governing, and ruling of ** them afterwards when they came to man's eftate ; and for that * alfo- it had no fuperior power or authority over or above it on " earth appearing in the Scriptures : although it be called either " patriarchal, regal r or imperial, and that we only term it "poteftas " regia ;'* yet, being well confidered how far it did reach, we may ** truly fay that it was in a fort " poteftas regia ;'* as now, in a " right and true conftru&ion, "poteftas regia" may juflly be called "poteftas patriav "If PASSIVE OBEDIENCE AND NOtf-RESISTAXCE. Scriptures of God, as we do of fome other writings ; and fo, where no exprefs precept appears, haftily to conclude that none was given. On the contrary, in commenting on the Scriptures, we are frequently called upon to find out the precept from the practice. Taking this rule, then, for our direction in the prefent inftance, we find, that, copying after the fair model of heaven itfelf, wherein there was government even among the angels, the families of the earth were fub- jected to rulers, at firft fet over them by God : for, there u no power, hit of God ; the powers that be are ordained of God. The firft father was the firft king : and if (according to the rule juft laid down) the law may be inferred from the practice, it was thus that all government originated ; and monarchy is it's mod ancient form. Little rifque is run in affirming, that this idea of the patriarchal origin of government has not only the " If any man fhall therefore affirm, that men at the firft, without " all good education or civility, ran up and down in woods and " fields as wild creatures, refting themfelves in caves and dens, and " acknowledging no fuperiority over one another, until they were c< taught by experience the neccffity of government ; and that " thereupon they chofe fome among themfelves to order and rule the reft, giving them power and authority fo to do ; and that, ' confequently, ail civil power, jurifdi&ion and authority was firft " derived from the people and difordered multitude ; or either is originally ftill in them, or elfe is deduced by their confents na- turally from them; and is not God's ordinance, originally de- " fcending from him, and depending upon him, He doth greatly " Placet eis." Bifhop Overall's Convocation Book, err. MDCVI, cap. 2. can. 2. moft >N CIVIL LIBERTY* moft and beft authority of hiftory, as far as hiftory goes, to fupport it ; but that it is alfo by far the moft natural, moil confident, and moft rational idea. Had It pleafed God not to have interfered at all in the cafe, neither direclly nor indirectly, and to have left man- kind to be guided only by their own uninfluenced judgments, they would naturally have been led to the government of a community, or a nation, from the natural and obvious precedent of the government of a family. In confirmation of this opinion, it may be obferved, that the patriarchal fcheme is that which always has prevailed, and ftill does prevail, among the moft enlightened people * : and (what is no flight atteftation * te To fathers within their private families Nature hath given a * fupreme power : for which caufe we fee, throughout the world, ** even from the firft foundation thereof, all men have ever been *' taken as lords and lawful kings in their own houfea." Hook- er's Ecclefiaftical Polity, book i. p. 20. " From earliefl times the people were accuftomed to look up to " one family, as prefiding over national concerns, religious equally " and political ; by an hereditary right partaking, in t public opinion, "of divine authority.'' Mitford's Hift. of Greece, vol. i. p. 64. It is the general fentiment of Homer, that Jupiter hath entrufted the fceptre and the laws to kings, that he may govern by them : Juft as it is the prevailing fentiment of the Scriptures, that, through God, kings reign , and princes dscrse jujl'ics. The paflages are innu- merable, in which Homer calls kings the JbepheTcls and fathers of their people. Referred merely to Homer, the opinion of thofe Ctymologifti who derive -oraT^ from TI ut de Deo fit, $ TO -nrax TW^WV ; de homine vero, us T#$ icrsuJc&s TIJ^WV, though unufual, is by no means to be fcorned. Homer's common phrafe for kings, as fathers, is, H;#T wg views w ; intimating, that the authority of kinga was PASSIVE OBEDIENCE AND NON-RESISTANCE. 527 fctteftation of it's truth) it has alfo prevailed, and dill does prevail, among the moil unenlightened f. Ac- cording to Vitruvius, the rudiments of architecture are was of the genuine and legitimate kind. i. e. paternal ; or ftria, yet tender, " Ariftotte's opinion on this point is, that the power of govern- ** ment did originally arife from the right of fatherhood ; which * cannot pofiibly conftft; with that natural equality which men " dream of: for, in the firil of his politics, he agrees exaclly with " the Scripture, and lays this foundation of government. The ** firft fociety, faith he, made of many houfes, is a village, which delivered in the body of the fermon : to which, as I am not now engaged to write either a direct anfwer to Mr. Locke, or & defence of Sir Robert Filmer, all that I am folicitous to add, is, that my opinion is the fame that it was, as to this point, two-and- twenty years ago. Mr. Locke, with a great mew of candour, treats Filmer pretty M m much 530* ON CIVIL LISERTY', mandment, from the obedience due to parents, wifely derives the congenial duty of 'honouring the king and alt that are put in authority under him. it much as con-troverfial wrkers in general treat their opponents* Even in his preface, and before it was pofllble he could have mewr? that his cenfures were well founded, unmindful of his own excellent rule, that " railing mould not be taken for arguments,'* he en- deavours to excite a prejudice againft the author, by rudely taxing him with w glib nonfenfe." There are, no doubt, in feveral of Sir Robert Filmer's Treatifes, many weak things ; for, he does not ap- pear to have been an author by profeflicm of courfe he was not fa careful in the fele&ion either of his arguments or his flyle, as more experienced writers ufually are, and as no dombt he ought to haver been. Many are the imperfections of this nature which his anfvverer . has detected, and expofed with very little remorfe : whilft he pafles over, without noticing, or at leaft with a very flight notice, thofe parts of the Treatife he anfwers, which alone are of great moment, and which (it is believed) are unanfwerable. The leading idea, or principle, of Sir Robert Filmer's Patriarcha is, that government is not of human, but divine origin ; and that the government of a family is the bafis, or pattern, of all other government. And this. principle, notwithstanding Mr. Locke's anfwer, is ftill (in the opi- nion of the author of thefe fermons) uarefuted, and ftill true. Some weak arguments, which were unwarily ufed to defend it, WCEC indeed very fatisfactorily refuted: this, however, proved no more than that the anfwerer was ftrong only where the firil writer was weak. It is allowed, that the author of the Patriarcha entertained fome Very extravagant notions on monarchy, and the facrednefs of kings : and (what is perhaps ftill lefs pardonable} feifte difparaging and un- juft opinions refpe&ing the fupremacy oflavv. On thefe points his cooler antagbnift, who was a bigot (if a bigot at all) to more popu- lar opinions, attacks, and even ridicules him with fuccefs. This- fuccefs would have been greater, had it not been tarnifhed by many ungentle- PASSIVE OfcEDlENCE AND NON-RESISTANCE. 53! It is from other pafiages of Scripture, from the nature of the thing, from the practice of Adam, and from the practice of all nations (derived from and ungentleman-like fneers, which were ever and anon thrown out, on the knight's having been a courtier, This was a low artifice, which Mr. Locke fhould have difdained ; and which, whether he dif- dained or no, he would probably have forborne, had he recollected that, in the age of Sir Robert Filmer, the being a courtier was a truly honourable diftinction. And all that he has written, as well as all that has been written concerning him, {hews, that Sir Robert Filmer, though certainlj- not fo careful and clofe a reafoner as Mr. Locke, was neither lefs learned, nor of a lefs elevated and liberal mind. He wa alfo, if not a profound, yet a fair, candid, and gentlemanly writer. Nor fhould it be omitted, bccaufe it is much to his credit, that he ap- pears to have been actuated by two as noble and as dignified fenti- ments as can warm the human bread ; I mean, loyalty and piety. Mr. Locke had the good fortune to enjoy a pre-eminent repu- tation for political wifdom longer than moil men who have degraded great abilities by employing them to promote the temporary pur- pofes of a party. Till the American war, he was looked up to as an oracle : and the whole nation implicitly pinned their faith, in politics, on his dogmas. But, when that great controverfy be- tween the Parent State and her Colonies came to be agitated, men were under a necefiity of examining, thinking, and judging for themfelves. One confequencc of their doing fo was, that the high degree of infallibility, which, till then, had been afcribed to the name and the works of Mr. Locke, was greatly kfTcned. At length, in 1781, Dr. Tucker, the celebrated Dean of Gloucefter, wrote a Treatife (and one of the beft he ever did write) on purpofd to " confider, examine, and confute the notions of Mr. Locke and his followers, concerning the origin, extent, and end of civil go- vernment." Since that time writers in general venture to read Mr. Locke, as they do other authors, without being overawed by the M m 2 unmerited ON CIVIL LIBERTY, and founded on this precedent) that we infer that Adam had and exercifed fovereign power over all his iffiie. But the firfl inilance of power exercifed by one human being over another is in the fubjeclion of Eve to her hulband. This circumftance fuggefts fun dry reflections, of fome moment in this argument, In the firfl place, it fhews that power is not a natural right. Adam could not have aflumed, nor could Eve have fubmitted to it, had it not been fo ordained of God. It is, therefore, equally an argument againit the domineering claims of defpotifm, and the fan- iaftic notion of a compact. It proves too, that there is a fenfe in which it may, with truth, be averted, that unmerited popularity attached to hi's name. One of the laft, and not leaft eminent of our political writers, boldly calls him (yet not with more freedom than juftice) " that arch propagator of wild " conceits, that wholefale fabricator of fantaftical fyftems of polity, 41 (accufe me not of political blafphemy !) John Locke, who had " fcarcely given birth to this fhapelefs abortion, when he crufhed it " at a ftroke, by proving the impoffibility of it's exiftence. He " was compelled to acknowledge, that the coming into fociety " upon fuch terms would be only to go out again." See a Letter to the Hon. Tho. Erfkine, by John Gifford, Efq. p. 56. Mr. Locke, however, and his followers, in prefenting thefe prin- ciples to the public in their moft popular form, have the demerit only of having new-drefied principles which are at leaft as old as the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. In the unhappy reign of the firft Charles, thofe principles were induftrioufly revived and brought forward with great zeal : and there is hardly a prin- ciple or project of any moment in Mr. Locke's Treatife, of which the rudiments may not be traced in fome of the many political pieces which were then produced. In a collection of " Original " Papers PASSIVE OBEDIENCE AND NON-RESISTANCE. 533 that government was originally founded in wcakncfs and in guilt.: that it may and muft be fubmitted to by a fallen creature, even when exercifed by a fallen creature, loft both to wifdom and goodnefs. The equality of nature (which, merely as it refpecls an ability to govern, may be admitted, only becaufe God, had he fo feen fit, might have ordained that the man fhould be fubjected to the woman) was fuperfeded by the actual interference of the Almighty, to whom alone original underived power can be faid to belong. Even where the Scriptures are filent, they inflruct : for, in general, whatever is not therein commanded is actually forbidden. Now, it is certain that man- kind are no where in the Scriptures commanded to . " Papers relative to the Hiftory of the Colony of MafTachufetts " Bay," which Governor Hutchinfon had printed, out which were never publifhed, I find the following paflages ; containing, if I miftake not, the very eflence of Mr. Locke's fyftem. The Paper, from which thefe pafTages are taken, is intitled " Libertye and the " Weale Publick reconciled, in a Declaration to the late Court of " Elections at Newtown, the xythof the 3d Month, 1637." In this declaration Liberty is thus defined : " That the people may " not be fubje&ed to any lawe, or power, amorigc themfelves, with* " out thcire confent : whatfoever is more than this, is neither lawful " nor durable, and infteade of libertye, may prove bondage, or li- " centioufnefle." This is farther defended from fome exceptions made by Mr. Vane, afterwards Sir Henry Vane> thus : " It is " clearly agreed by all, that the care of fafety and wellfare was the " original caufe or occafion of common weales, and of many fami- " lies fubjeding themfelves to rulers and lawes : for no man bath " lawfulle power over another but by confent ; fo likewife, by the " la we of proprietie, no man can have juji inter ejl in that which be- " longeth to another, without his confent." M m 3 refift 34 ON CIVIL LIBERTY, refi ft authority ; and no lefs certain that, either by direct injunction, or clear implication, they are com- manded to be fubjefl to tie higher powers : and this fubjection is faid to be enjoined, not for our fakes only, but alfo/or the Lord's fake. The glory of God is much concerned, that there mould be good govern- ment in the world : it is, therefore, the uniform doctrine of the Scriptures, that it is under the depu- tation and authority of God alone that kings reign and princes decree jiiftice. Kings and princes (which are only other words for fupreme magiftrates) were doubtlefs created and appointed, not fo much for their own fakes, as for the fake of. the people committed to their charge : yet are they not, therefore, the crea- tures of the people. So far from deriving their authority from any fuppo,fed confent or fuffrage of men, they receive. their commiilion from Heaven ; they receive it from God, the fource and original of all power. However obfolete, therefore, either the fen- timent or the language may now be deemed, it is with the moil perfect propriety that the. fupreme magiurate, whether confifting of one or of many, and whether denominated an emperor,, a king, an archon, a* dictator , a conful. or a fen ate, is to be regarded and venerated as the vicegerent 'of God. But were the texts ufually appealed to on this topic more dubious than (we blefs God !) they are,, the ex- ample of the .Chriilian legislator may, at leaft to Chriftians, well ftand in the place of all precepts. There are not many queftions, in which the interefts of PASSIVE OBEDIENCE AND NON-RESISTANCE. 535 of mankind are more nearly concerned than they are in afcertaining their duty as fubjecls. It is there- fore very improbable, that the Saviour of the world fhould have left the world in the dark, in an affair of fo much moment : but that he fliould have mifled his followers, and that Chriftians fhould have been expofed to the hazard of becoming bad fubjecls even through the inadvertence of their founder, it is little lefs than blafphemy to fuppofe. We are therefore deeply interested to find out, if we can, what it was that our Saviour really thought, faid, and did, in the cafe ; and for what purpofe. It is readily acknowledged, that his hiftory (in which alone his laws are contained) does not dwell copioufly on the duties of fovereigns and fubjecls. This appearance of inattention, we may be affured, was not permitted without defign : nor, in fact, is our duty on this point (any more than it is in others) the lefs forcibly inculcated by our having been left to find out the precept from his practice. On one point, however, of great moment in this dilcuflion, the gofpel hiftory, when properly underftood, is full and decided ; viz. that every thing our blciled Lord either faid or did, pointedly tended to difcouragc the flifturbing a fettled government. Hence it is fair to infer the judgment of Jefus Chrift to have been, that the molt client ial duty of fubjecls with refpecl to government was (in the phrafeology of a prophet) to be quiet, and to fit fall. Yet, had he judged of Queliions of this nature as we do, he certainly did not M m 4 want 536 ON CIVIL LIBERTY, want motives to induce him to excite commotions in the government of Judea ; and fuch motives too as (according to human reckoning) are highly meritori^ ous and honourable. At the time when he was upon earth, his country groaned under an unjuft and moft oppreffive bondage. It had juft been fubdued by a people, whofe chief motive for over-running the world with their conquefts was a lufl of dominion : and it was as arbitrarily governed, as it had been iniquitoufly acquired. The Jews, it is true, were not then emi- nent, at leait as a nation, for their virtues : but they were not chargeable with that cf un-Roman fpirit," as one of our orators expreffed himfelf, or (to borrow the congenial phrafeology of another) that " de- (( generacy of foul," which led them tamely to fub- mit to their oppreflbrs. A general opinion prevailed in the nation, that the expected Mefliah would deliver them from this galling vaflalage ; that he was to be, not a fpiritua!,, but a temporal, prince a prince who fhould reftore to Ifrael the fupremacy, of which the Romans had deprived it who fliould reign in all fecular pomp and power in the throne of David and, having fubdued the red of the world, make Jcrufalem the feat of an uriiverfal monarchy. The very name given to him imports royalty and fovereignty : and he really was the legal heir to the crown of Judea. In fupport of this aflertion, it is to be obferved, that the Jews had two ways of tracing their genealogies, by a kind, of double defcent; the one natural, the other legal. The natural defcent was when a perforj. PASSIVE OBEDIENCE AND NON-RESISTANCE. 537 by natural generation, defcends from another ; the legal, when one not naturally defcended from another, yet fucceeded, as neareft of kin, 'to the inheritance. St. Luke deduces the natural line of Chrift from David ; and {hews how Chrift, by Nathan, is the fon of David, according to the flefh, by natural de- fcent : whereas St. Matthew deduces the legal line of Chfitl allb from David, (hewing how Chrift, as Solomon's heir, and lawful king of the Jews, fuc- ceeded, as neareit of kin,, to fit upon the throne of David his father : and the Evangelift is fo fatisfied with the legality of this genealogy, that he calls Chrift "the " lorn king of the Jews," that is to fay, the perfon who was their king by birth *. The Jews themfelves could name none of their nation who was nearer than he was. None of them ever produced any legal excep- tion againft him ; and therefore, whilft a large party, convinced of the validity of his title to the throne by birth, wifhecl to confirm it by election, and to make him a king, all that the friends of the Power who was in pofleffion, or his enemies, could do to defeat his claim, was to get the Romans on their fide, by artfully infmuating that the beft of all titles was that which had been obtained by conqueft : hence, their cry was, We 'will have no king but Cafar ! Add to this It is well known that in no inftance whatever did our Saviour give greater offence to his countrymen than he did by not gratifying them in * See Matth, ch. ii. ver. 2. their 538 ON CIVIL LJBEKTY* their expectations of a temporal deliverance. For this opinion of his title to the throne was not taken up at random ; nor only by a few perfons, merely to ferve fome bye-ends of their own. The idea pervades bis whole hiftory. It was one of the chief grounds of the enmity of his countrymen towards him, and the only plaufible pretence on which he could be ar- raigned. And, notwithstanding his repeated declara- tions that his kingdom was not of this world, yet it was on this account that at laft he was brought, as a lamb to thejlaughler. When it is afTerted that Chriftianity made no alteration in the civil affairs of the world, the ailer- tion fhould neither be made, nor underflood, without fome qualification. The injunction to render unto Cafar the things that are Ctffars, is no doubt very comprehensive ; implying that unlefs we are good Subjects, we cannot be good Chriftians : but then we re to render wnfo Ctefar, or the fupreme magiftrate, that obedience OBly to which God has given him a juft 'claim : our paramount duty is to God, to whom we are to render the things that are God's. If, there- fore, in the courfe of human affairs, a cafe fhould occur (and no doubt fuch cafes do often occur) in which the performance of both thefe obligations be- comes incompatible, we cannot long be at a lofs in determining that it is our duty to obey God rather than men. The worfhip of idols, as well as facrificcs and auguries, certainly entered into, and made a part of, the civil policy of ancient Rome. Temples dedi- 6 catecl PASSIVE OBEDIENCE AND NON-RESISTANCE. cated to a variety of falfe deities were under the pe- culiar care of the Senate. The office of Pontifex Maximus, or High Prieft, was annexed to the title of Emperor. Now, furely, it was the intention of the Founder of Chriftianity, and it is the natural tendency of it's doctrines, to produce fome alteration in things of this fort. In Mahometan countries, a plurality of wives is allowed by law: in many countries (til! Pagan, the worfhip of images is enjoined by the State : in feveral parts of Africa, parents who are paft labour are, by the laws of the land, expofcdby their children to., be torn in pieces by wild beafts : and even in fo civilized a country as China, children are thus ex- pofed by their parents, with the fandion and authority of the laws. Would Chriflianity endure fuch (hock- ing outrages againil all that is humane, moral, or pious, though fupportedby Government ? Uncertainly would not : for the fpirit of St. Paul, when he faw the city of Athens wholly given to idolatry, was fb Jlirred in him, that, for difputing publicly with certain philofaphers of tie Epicureans and of tie Stoics, they carried him unto Areopagus ; where, far from {brink- ing from his duty, he .openly arraigned all the people of Athens, of being too fuferftit'mts. This charge he founded on his having feen an altar with this infcrip- tion, To the unknown God \ which yet was not fet up contrary to law. Sundry improprieties, fanclioned by legal authority, were cenllired by Chrift himfelf. Was it not by virtue of his regal power that, as one having authority, he caft the buyers and fellers out of the 540 ON CIVIL LIBERTY, the temple ; who yet were there, and pnrfuing their ufual callings, with the public permiffion ? Still, though they certainly were not reilrained by any idea that all interference with the civil affairs of the world was contrary to Chrifiianity, it no where ap- pears, that either our Saviour, or anv of his apofrles, ever did interfere with the affairs of any government, or the adminiftration of any government, otherwife than by fubmitting to them. Yet, let it not be faid, that he who could have commanded more than twelve legions of angels, wanted power or means to have rejiftedt and with effect, that pufillanimous Roman governor, who, from the bafeft of all motives, gave fentence, that a perfon in whom he declared \\tfound no fault) fhould be put to death, merely to gratify a ienfelefs, malicious, and clamorous multitude. Let it not be faid, that his pretenfions to fovereignty were cither romantic or dubious : a great multitude of his cotemporaries and countrymen, -being in number about jive tliQufand) thought fo favourably of them, that they would have fet him on their throne in that way by which alone we are now told authority over a free people can properly be obtained, viz. by the fuffrages of the people. To affert his claim de jure againft tbofe who held.it de fotfo, they would fain have taken lim by force (that is, no doubt, in oppofition to the Romans and their adherents) to make Mm a king. That he was not restrained from gratifying thefe na- tural wiilies of fo large a number of his impatient countrymen, by any apprehenfions of his being evil- fpoken PASSIVE OBEDIENCE AND NON-RESISTANCE. 541 fpoken of, as a peftilent fellviv, one who perverted the people, forbidding to give tribute to Cafar, and faying that he himfelf was king, may very rationally be inferred from his having fubmitted to no lefs un- merited afperfions with invincible fortitude : and his yielding at lad to the ignominy of the crofs, proves that he was not to be deterred from doing any thing which he knew would redound either to the glory of God, or the good of mankind, by the dread of any calumnies, or the terrors of any fufferings*. His * This extreme reluctance of the Jews to pay tribute to any Foreign Power was fan&ioned by their religion : for, in Deuteron. ch. xvii. ver. 15. they are exprefsly enjoined to choofe a king front Among tbdr brethren, and not a Jlranger. It was natural, therefore, that they mould regard the paying tribute to the Romans as a badge of flavery ; and natural alfo, that they fhould very generally xliflikc the publicans, who were the perfons appointed by the Romans to colled fuch tribute. Judas the Gaulonite, taking advantage of thi* national prepoircifion, with the avowed purpofe of (baking off this yoke, excited an infurre&ion : and fo numerous were his adherents, that even after they were crufhed as a civil party, they feem to have exifted as a religious fed, under the name of Zealots. Perfons of this order appear to have a&ed as public cenfors, or as focieties for the reformation of manners ; and, as fuch, were fometimes called The Juft. Of this order, it is probable, thofe perfons were, whom, the Chief Priefts and Scribes employed to 'watch and to take hold of the words of our Saviour : and therefore the expreffion in St. Luke, ch. xx. ver. 20. which JhoulJ- feign tbemfclves jitft men, would be more accurately tranflated, if rendered, who feigned themfelves, or pre- tended to be, the Jujl ; that is to fay, of the order of the Jujl. Jefus Chrifl himfelf was accufed of being of this order 1 ; becaufc, at it was alleged, \\eforbade the people to give trilute unto Cxfar. To thii ON CIVIL LIBERTY, His conffant difcouragement, therefore^ of a fcherna fo well calculated not only to promote his own ele- vation, bat to emancipate his country (had he efti- mated either worldly grandeur, 'or the condition of fubjecls under government, according to our ideas) would have been inconfiftent with that love to man- kind which he manifefled in every other aclion of his life. The only rational conclulion, therefore, that the cafe will admit of, is, that he thought it would be better, both for Judea in particular, and for the world in general, that in the former cafe the people fhould not be diftracted by a revolution, and in the latter that there fhould be no precedent to which revolu- tionifls might appeal : his words were not meant to bear merely a local and circumfcrihed, but a general and extended application, when he directed his fol- lowers to render unto Ctefar t~be things flat are C&fars: his practice was conformable to this precept ; and fo would ours be, were we but pradicaliy convinced that it is enough for the difciple to be as Iris mafle r y and the Jervant as Ms lord. As Chriftians, 'felicitous to tread in the ftcps in which our Saviour trod, the tri- bute of civil obedience is as much due to our civil rulers, even though they fhould happen to be in- vaders like the Romans, and though, like Herod, the minifters of government fhould chance to be this circumftance of his being of that fe&, which originated in his country of Galilee, the wife of Pilate may be fuppofed to have al- luded, when Ihe fent to her hufband, faying, Have thou nothing to do with that Jitft Man ! oppreflbrs, PASSIVE OBEDIEKCE AND NON-RESISTANCE. 543 oppreflbrs, as the duty of religious obedience is a debt which we owe to tie King of kings, and Lord of lords. Nor let this be deemed a degrading and fervile principle : it is the very revcrfe ; and it is this it's fuperior dignity which proves it's celeftial origin. For, whilft other doctrines and other fyftems diftract the world with difputcs and debates which admit of no decifion, and of wars and fightings which are al- moft as endlefs as they are ufelefs, it is the glory of Chriftianity to teach her votaries patiently to bear imperfections, inconveniences and evils in govern- ment, as in every thing elfc that is human. This patient acquiefcence under fome remedilefs evils is not more our duty than it is our intereft : for, the only very intolerable grievance in government is, when men allow themfelvcs to diiturb and deftroy the peace of the world, by vain attempts to render that perfect, which the laws of our nature have or- dained to be imperfect. And there is more mag- nanimity, as well as more wifdom, in enduring fome prefent and certain evils, than can be manifefted by any projects of redrefs that are uncertain ; but which, if they fail, may bring down irretrievable ruin on thoufands of others, as well as on ourfclves: finceto (lifter nobly indicates more grcatnefs of mind than can be fhewn even by acting valiantly. Wife men, therefore, in the words of a noted philofopher *, will " rather choofe to brook with patience fome incon- * Hobbes. veniences 544 0?r CIVIL LISEXTY, veniences under government (becaufe human affairs cannot poffibly be without forae) than felf-opinion<- atedly diilurb the quiet of the public. And, weigh^ ing the juftice of thofe things you are about, not by the perfiiafion and advice of private men, but by the laws of the realm, you will no longer fuffer ambitious men, through the flreams qf your blood, to wade to their own power ; but efteem it better to enjoy your-- felves in the prefent ftate, though perhaps not the beft, than, by waging war, endeavour to procure a reformation in another age, yourfelves " in the mean- " while either killed, or confumed with age.** This long enquiry concerning the divine origin and authority of government might perhaps have been deemed rather curious than ufeful, were it not of ac- knowledged moment, that fome dangerous inferences which are ufually drawn from the contrary opinion fhould be obviated. One of thefe dangerous in- ferences it feems to have been the aim of the fermon now before me to inculcate. Government being af- fumed to be a mere human ordinance,, it is thence inferred, that " rulers are the fervants of the public :" and, if they be, no doubt it neceflarily follows, that they may (in the coarfe phrafe of the times) be cajhiered or continued in pay, be -reverenced or re- fitted, according to the mere whim or caprice of thofe over whom they are appointed to rule. Hence the author of this fermon alfo takes occafion to enter his proteft againft "paffive obedience and non-refift- ance." It PASSIVE OBEDIENCE AND NON-RESISTANCE. 545 It really is a ftriking feature in our national hif- tory, that, everfmce the Revolution, hardly any per- fon of any note has preached or publifhed a fermon, into which it was poffible to drag this topic, without declaring againft this doclrine. It feeins to have been made a kind of criterion or teft of principle, and the watch-word of a party. For, it cannot well be faid, that the circumltances of the times, or the temper of men's minds, either lately have been, or now are, fuch as particularly to call for thefe fludied and repeated protections. What is not lefs remarkable is, that whilfl the right of refiftance has thus inceflantly been delivered from the pulpit, in- fifted on by orators, and inculcated by ftatefmcn, the contrary pofition is dill (I believe) the diclate of religion, and certainly the dodlrine of the eftablifhed Church, and ftill alfo the law of the land. You are not now to learn my mind on this point. As, however, the fubjecl has again been forced on me, let me be permitted again to obviate, if I can, forne frefh mifreprefentations, and again to correct fome new miftakes. All government, whether lodged in one or in many, is, in it's nature, abfolute and irrefiftible. It is not within the competency even of the fupreme power to limit itfelf; becaufe fuch limitation can emanate only from a fuperior. For any govern- ment to make itfelf irrefiftible, and to ceafe to be ab- folute, it muft ceafe to be fupreme ; which is but fay. ing, in other words, that it muft diflblve itfelf, or be N n deftroyed. 546 ON CIVIIi deftroyed. If, then, to refift government be to deftroy it, every man who is a fubjecl muft necef- farily owe to the government under which he lives an obedience either aclive or paffive : aclive, where the duty enjoined may be performed without offend- ing God ; and paffive, (that is to fay, patiently to fubmit to the penalties annexed to difobedicnce,) where that which is commanded by man is forbid- den by God. No government upon earth can right- fully compel any one of it's fubjecls to an aclive compliance with any thing that is^ or that appears to his confcience to be, inconfiftent with, or contra- dictory to, the known laws of God : becaufe every man is under a prior and fuperior obligation to obey God in all things. When fuch cafes of incompatible demands of duty occur, every well-informed perfon knows what he is to do ; and every well-principled perfon will do what he ought, viz. he will fubmit to the ordinances of God, rather than comply with the commandments of men. In thus acling he cannot err and this alone is " paffive obedi'encc ;" which I entreat you to obferve is fo far from being "un- " limited obedience," (as it's enemies wilfully perfiit to mifcall it,) that it is the direct contrary. Refolute not to difobey God, a man of good principles deter- mines, in cafe of competition, as the lefTer evil, to difobey man : but he knows that he (hould alfo difobey God, were he not, at the fame time, patiently io fubmit to any penalties incurred by his difobe- dience to man, With PASSIVE OBEDIENCE AND NON-RESISTANCE. 547 With the fancies or the follies of the injudicious defenders of this doctrine, who, in the heat of con- trovcrfy, have argued for the exclufive irrefiftibility of kings, merely in their perfonal capacity, I have no concern. Such arguments are now to be met with only in the anfvvers of thofe equally injudicious, but lefs candid, oppofers of the doclrine, who (as though there were any gallantry in taking a fortrefs that is no longer defended) pcrfift to combat a phantom which, now at leail, may be faid to be of their own creating. In the prefent flate of things, when a refiftance is recommended, it muft be, not againft the king alone, but againft the laws of the land. To encourage undiftinguiftiing multitudes, by the vague term of refiftance, to oppofe all fuch laws as happen not to be agreeable to certain indi- viduals, is neither more nor lefs than, by a regular plan, to attempt the fubverfion of the government : and I am not fure but that fuch attacks are more dangerous to free than to abfolute governments. Even the warmed advocates for refiftance acknow- ledge, that, like civil liberty, the term is incapable of any accurate definition*. Particular cafes of injury and opprefllon * The Marquis of Halifax confefles, that the right of refiftance, which yet he contends is the life and foul of our Conilitutioo, can- not be defined : . . " It is,'* he fays, " an hidden power in the Confti on, which would be loft if it were denned : a certain myfcry, by vif- tuc of which a nation may, at fome critical times, be f< Nnz " from 54-8 ON CIVIL LIBERTY, oppreffion are imagined : on which arguments are founded, to fhevv that mankind mufi be determined and governed, not by any known and fixed laws, but " by a law antecedent and paramount to all pofi- u tive laws of men ; " " by their natural fenfe and fe feelings." Thefe unwritten, invifible, and unde- finable " antecedent la\vs ;" this indefcribable " na- " tural fcnfe and feelings ;" thefe " hidden powers " and myfteries" in our Conftitution, are points too refined and too fubtle for argument. Indeed it can be to little purpofe to argue, either on refiftance or on any other fubjecl, with men who are fo weak as to declaim, when it is incumbent on them to reafon. Without any encouragement, mankind, alas ! are, of themfelvcs, far too prone to be prefumptuous and felf-willed ; always difpofed and ready to defplfe do- minion^ and to /peak evil of dignities. There is, fays a learned writer *, fuch a " witchcraft in rebellion, as to " tempt men to be rebels, even though they are fure ic to be damned for it." What dreadful confufions and calamities muft have been occafioned in the world, had fuch flrong and dangerous natural pro- penfities been directly encouraged by any pofitive law ! It was furely, then, merciful and wife in the Almighty Ruler of the world, to impofe on his crea- ." from ruin ; but then it muft be kept a myflcry. It is rendered " ufelefs when touched by unfkilful hands : and no people ever had At or deferved to have that power, which was fo unwary as to arr- ** ticipate their claim to it." * Dean Sherlock, in his Cafe of Refiftance. PASSIVE OBEDIENCE AND NON-RESISTANCE. 549 'tures the general law of obedience without any ex- ceptions. A non-refifting fpirit never yet made any man a bad fubjecl. And if men of fuch mild and yielding tempers have flicwn lefs ardour, than many others do, in the purfuit of that liberty which makes fa confpicuous a figure in the efFufions of orators and poets, it can be only for this reafon, that they think it is prccifely that kind of liberty which has fo often fet the world in an uproar, and that therefore it would be better for the world if it were never more heard of*. If they are miftaken, their mil- takes are at leaft harmlefa : and there is much juflicc, as * To men of plain fenfe, who (having no party purpofcs to fcrve) in any controverted queftion are anxious only to find the truth, it is wearifome to* have, inftead of a fair attempt to ffluitratc or clear up any of the great difficulties which embarrafs, and mud for ever embarrafs, the fubjed of government, in all political dif- cuflions, this one unvaried topic of declamation for ever dinrurd in their ears. But it is particularly irk feme to find fuch dale and thread-bare fophiftry adopted and brought forward by fo elegant and claflical a writer as Lord Lyttelton. In his fir ft Dialogue of the Dead, he makes Hampden fay, " It is a diigrace to our Church to have taken up fuch opinions ; and J will venture to prophefy, that our Clergy muft in future times renounce them, or they will be turned agaiuft them by thofe who " mean their deiti-u^ion. Suppofe a Popim king on the throne : " will the Clergy then adhere to paflive obedience and non-refift- ance ? If they do, they deliver up their religion to Rome ; if they " do not, their practice will confute their own doarines." By having taken no care to refute thefe fentiments ; and by the artful compliment thus paid, at the expence of their predeceflbrs, to the Clergy of his day, who, he was well aware, had pretty gene- rally renounced what he affecled to prophefy they would re- N n 3 nounce, 550 ON CIVIL LIBERTY., as well as great good fenfe, in Bifhop Hall's remark, that " fome quiet errors are better than fome unruly truths." When, nounce, it is too evident this noble author was not unwilling to have them regarded as his own. There mull be a total fjbverfion of every thing that relates to our prefent Conftitution, before we can again have a Popifh king on the throne. But, (hould the Almighty (as a punifhment for our great fin in not being fufficiently thankful for the bleffing of having long had our throne filled by a mild and patriotic race of Proteflant kings) fee fit once more to permit a Popifli monarch to fit on the throne, God forbid the Clergy mould not adhere ta doctrines enjoined by the law of the land* by the authority of their Church, and by the word of God ! Had the noble hiftorian for^ gotten, or did he only affe& to forget, what part the Clergy of the Church of England did in general take when (themfelves being Proteftants) there actually was a Popifh king upon the throne ? The feven bimops wham James the Second committed to the Tower, and whom King William deprived for not renouncing King James, did, in neither of their oppofite trials, " renounce *' the doctrines of paflive obedience and non-refiftance :" yet neither " did they deliver up their religion to Rome, nor confute their *' own doctrines by their own practice." So far from this, no one circiirnilance contributed fa much to defeat the mad pur- Jpofe of this bigoted monarch to introduce Popery into the king- dom, as the objections made to it by thefe perfecuted bimops : and unlefs the principle of refiftance may be promoted by an exemplary recommendation of non-refiftance, their doctrines were not confuted by their practice. The conduct of thefe memorable men,, on this, memorable occafion, is not only a very fatisfadtory illuftracion of the true principles of this much mifreprefented doctrine, but a complete vindication of it. Had he been fo difpofed, Lord Lyttelton might have feen a cloud of witneffes in favour of thefe exploded doctrines among our older divines* PASSIVE OBEDIENCE AND NON-RESISTANCE. 551 When, not long fmce, a noted patriot * declared, in his place in Parliament, that he knew no diffe- rence between a revolution and a rebellion, except- ing that in the former an attempt to alter the form of government fucceeded, and in the latter it did not, the fentiment was objected to as licentious and feditious. Yet, on the principles of the advocates of refinance, he faid no more than he might eafily have defended : nor am I fure but that (notwith- ftanding the pains which the public men of that period took to guard againft fuch an inference, in their debates on the word abdication) on thefe prin- ciples the promoters of the revolution itfelf, em- phatically fo called, mull fubmit to the imputation of having effected it by reliftance. It was clearly a fuccefsful revolution. If, then, this was the cafe as to the revolution, how, it may be alked, did it differ, in point of principle, either from the grand rebel- lion that preceded it, or either of the fubfequent re- bellions for the purpofe of reftoring the abdicated divines. There is a very interefting catalogue of them, together with extracts evincing what their fentiments on this point were, in the hiitory of Sacheverell's trial. He might alfo have feen, and he is inexcufable if he did not fee (and perhaps ftill more inexcufable if, having feen, he did not learn more from) a moft matterly Sermon on Paffive Obedience, by Bifhop Berkley, I hope I (hall neither be regarded as dictatorial, nor unreafonable, in exprefiing an carnal \vifh, that no one may hereafter prefume to fhoot thefe random arrows againft this venerable do&rine, till he has read and confider- $d, and is alfo able to anfwer, this Difcourfe by this eminent Prelate* # Mr.Wilkes. N n 4 family > ON CIVIL LIBERT^ family ? and how, on the fame principles, can we condemn the murder of the father, and vindicate the expulfion of the fon ? Mr. Locke, like many inferior writers, when defending refidar.ce, falls into incon- fiftencies, and is at variance with himfelf. " Rebellion " being," as he fays, " an opposition not to perfons, es but to authority, which is founded only in the fr conftitution and laws of the government, thofe, " whoever they be, who by force break through, and " by force juftify their violation of them, are truly " and properly rebels." To this argument no one can objecl : but it fhtfuld be attended to, that, in political confederation, it is hardly poflible to diflb- ciate the ideas of authority in the abftradl from per-, fons vefted with authority. To refift a perfon le- gally veiled with authority, is, I conceive, to all in- tents and purpofes, the fame thing as to refill autho- rity. Nothing, but it's fuccefs, could have refcued the revolution from this foul imputation, had it not been for the abdication. Accordingly this great event has always hung like a mill-ftone on the necks of thofe who muft protell againfl rebellions ; whilft yet their fyftem of politics requires that they (hould approve of refinance, and the revolution. The refinance which your political counfellors urge you to praclife, (and which no doubt was in- tended to be juftified by the fermon which I have now been compelled to notice,) is not a refinance exerted only againil the perfon s in vefted with the, jfupreme power either legiflative or executive,, but dearly PASSIVE OBEDIENCE AND NON-RESISTANCE. 55$ clearly and literally againft authority. Nay, if I at all unclerlland the following declaration made by thofe who profefs that they are, the difciples of Mr. Locke, you are encouraged to refift not only all authority over us as it now exifls, but any and all that it is poffible to conftitute. " Can men who ex- " ercife their reafon believe, that the Divine Author " of our exiftence intended a part of the human " race to hold an abfolute property in, and an un- " bounded power over, others marked out by his " infinite wifdom and goodnefs as the objects of a " legal domination never rightfully refiftible, how- Sf ever fevere and oppreffive ?" It might be hazard- ous, perhaps, for me, even under the /helter of a Scripture phrafe, to call thcfe words great fuelling words ; becaufe they are congreflional words. That they have excited a very general panic, and many apprehenfions of a real impending flavcry, is no more than might have been cxpecled in a country where there is literally " abfolute property in, and " unbounded power over, human beings." How far this was intended, I prefume not to judge. But, involved and obfcure as the language (in which thcfc extraordinary fentimcnts are couched) rnuft be con- feffed to be, the declaration certainly points at all government : and it's full meaning amounts to a denial of that juft fupremacy \vhich " the Divine f c Author of our cxiftcnce" has beyond all qucftion given to " one part of the human race" to hold over another. Without fomc paramount and irrcfift- po>vcr,, there can be nq government. In our ON CIVII* LIBERTY, Conftitution, this fupremacy is vefied in the King- and the Parliament , and, fubordinate to them, in our Provincial Leg i flat u res. If you were now rcleafed from this conilitutional power, you mufi differ from all others " of the human race,," if you did not fbon find yourfelves under a neceflity of fubinitting to a power no lefs abfolute, though veiled in other per- &ns, and a government differently confiituted. And much does it import you to confkler, whether thofe who are now fo ready to promife to make tfa grievous yoke of your fathers lighter, may not them- felves verify Rehoboam's aflertion, and make you feel that their little fingers are thicker than your father s loins. Be it (for the fake of argument) admitted, that the government under which till now you have lived happily, is, mofl unaccountably, all at once become efpreffrue and f&vere ; did you, of yourfelves, make the difcovcry ? No : I affirm, without any appro- henfion of being contradicted, that you are acquainted "with thefe oppreffions only from the report of others. For what, then, (admitting you have a right to refift in any cafe,) are you now urged to refift and rife againfl thofe whom you have hitherto always regarded (and certainly not without reafon) as your nuijing fathers and nurfing mothers? Often as you have al- ready heard it repeated without exprefling any dif- approbation, I allure myfelf it will afford you no pleafure to be reminded, that it is on account of an Infignificant duty on tea, impofed by the Britifh Par- iiament ; and which, for aught we know, may or may PASSIVE OBEDIENCE AND NON-RESISTANCE. 555 may not be conftitutionally impofed ; but which, we well know, two thirds of the people of America can never be called on to pay. Is it the part ofan fljfc&r- Jlandirr people, of loyal fubjedls, or of good Chriftians, inftanily to refill and rebel for a caufe fo trivial ? O my brethren, confult your own hearts, and follow your own judgments ! and learn not your " meafures " of obedience" from men who weakly or wickedly imagine there can be liberty unconnected with law and whofe aim it is to drive you on, ftcp by ftep, to a refinance which will terminate, if it does not begin, in rebellion ! On all fuch trying occa- fions, learn the line of conduct which it is your duty and intereft to obferve, from our Conftitution itfelf : which, in this particular, is a fair tranfcript or exem- plification of the ordinance of God. Both the one and the other warn you againft refinance : but you are not forbidden either to remonftrate or to petition. And can it be humiliating to any man, or any num- ber of men, to afk, when we have but to ajk and it Jball be given ? Is prayer an abject duty ; or do men ever appear either fo great, or fo amiable, as when they are modeft and humble ? However meanly this privilege of petitioning may be regarded by thofe who claim every thing as a right, they are challenged to {bewail inftance, in which it has failed, when it ought to have fucceedcd. If, however, our grievances, in any point of view, be of fuch moment as that other means of obtaining redrefs fhould be judged expe- dient, happily we enjoy thofe means. In a certain fcnfe, regard it, will neither be afked, nor accepted, by thofe who alone can give it great effect.' Yet, cir- cumfcribed as our fphere of influence is, we are not wholly without influence ; and therefore, even in our humble department, we have fome duties to perform. To your queftion, therefore, I hefitatenot to anfwer, that I wifh and advife you to acl the part of reafon- able men, and of Chriftians. You will be pleafed to obferve, however, that I am far from thinking that 4 your PASSIVE OBEDIENCE AND XON-RESISTAXCE. 559 your virtue will ever be brought to fo fcvere a tcft and trial. The queftion, I am aware, was an enfnaring one, fuggefted to you by thofe who are as little folici- tous about your peace, as they are for my fafety : the anfwer which, in condefcenfion to your wifhcs, I have given to it, is direct and plain ; and not more appli- cable to you, than it is to all the people of America. If you think the duty of threepence a pound upon tea, laid on by the Britifh Parliament, a grievance, it is your duty to inftrucl; your members to take all the conftitutional means in their power to obtain re- drefs : if thofe means fail of fuccefs, you cannot but be forry and grieved ; but yon will better bear your /difappointment, by being able to reflect that it was not owing to any mifconduct of your own. And, what is the whole hiftory of human life, public or private, but a fcries of difappointments ? It might be hoped that Chriftians would not think it grievous to be doomed to fubmit to difappointments and ca- lamities, as their Maftcr fubmittcd, even if they were as innocent. His difciples and firft followers fhrunk from no trials nor dangers *. Treading in the fteps of him who, when be was reviled, Ucjfcd, and when be was perfecutedjiijferedtt, \\\ey willingly laid down their lives, rather than rcfift fomeof the word tyrants that ever difgraced the annals of hiftory. Thofe perfons * ' Humanity cannot be degraded by humiliation. It is it's very charafter to fubmit to fuch things. There is a confanguinity be- tween benevolence and humility. They are virtues of the fame ftock." Burke's Two Letters, 1796, p. 27. are 5#ar osr civ it LIBERTY, &C., are as little acquainted with general hiflory, as they are with the particular doclrines of Chriflianity, who reprelent fuch fubmiffion as abject: and fervile. I affirm, with great authority, that " there can be no ** better way of aflerting the people's lawful rights > tf than the difowning unlawful commands, by thus * c patiently fufFering." When this dodtrine was more generally embraced, our holy religion gained as much by fubmiffion, as it is now in a fair way of lofing for want of it. Having, then, my brethren, thus long been toffed to and fro in a wcarifome circle of uncertain tradi- tions, or in fpeculations and projects dill more un- certain, concerning government, what better can you do than, following the Apoflle's advice, tofulmit your- f elves to every ordinance of man, for the Lord's fake ; whether it he to the King as fufreme, or unto GO- VERNORS, as unto them that are SENT by him for the punijbment of evil-doers, and for the praife of them that do well ? For, fo is the will of God, that with TV ell-doing ye may put to filence the ignorance of fooHJb men : as free> and not ufing your liberty for a cloke of malicioufnefs, hut as the fervants of God. Honour all men: love the brotherhood : fear God : honour the king* DIS- A FAREWELL SERMOtf* i DISCOURSE XIII. A FAREWELL SERMON*. NEHEMIAH, ch. vi. ver. ib, u. Afterward I came unto tie houfe of Shemaiah, tie J oh of Delaiah^ the f on of Mehetabeel, who wasjhut uj> : and he f aid, Let us meet together in the hoitfe of God, within the temple, and let us fiui the doors of the temple ; for they will come to Jlay thee, yea in the night will they come to Jlay thee. And If aid, Should fitch a man as I flee f and who is there that> being as I am y would go into the temple to fave his life ? 1 will not go in. JL HIS book might, with great propriety, be called the Patriot's Pattern. It contains the hiftory of a great and good man promoting, with inflexible con- flancy, the true interefts of his country, through good report, and through evil report. Never was there a fairer example of holy refolution ; nor was there ever * Preached at the Lower Church in the Parifh of Queen Annv in Maryland, in 1775. O o a time 563 A FAREWELL SERMON* a time when fuch an one could, with more advan- tages than at prefent, be propofed to your imitation. It's fuitablenefs to our circiimftances at this juncture recommended it to me as a fit fubjedl for a Bifcourfe on a day fet apart, as we were given to underftand, for falling and prayer. Accordingly, ftippofing it to be impoflible that any exception could be taken to a parallel fairly drawn from the Scriptures, I had pre- pared for that day moft of thofe obfervattons which I hope now to be permitted to deliver. Why, in my own pulpit^ I was prevented from preaching to you what, in this folemn place, I call God to witnefs I had, to the beft of my judgment, intended for your edifi- cation and your comfort or why I was fuffered to be treated with fuch unmerited infult and indignity as I believe has feldom been experienced by perfons of my calling in any civilized and Chriftian country are queftions highly worthy both of your and my moft ferious confideration ; but which, for the prefent, I wave. If I am fo happy as to be favoured with your indulgence, I may perhaps briefly touch on them at the clofe of my Difcourfe. You are now to judge (and I- pray you to do fb without favour or affeclion !) whether my Sermon does really contain any doctrines unworthy of a Chriilian minifler to teach, or of a Chriftian congregation to hear; as has been afierted by thofe rude men who, with as little refpecl to decorum and good manners, as to religion and piety, occafioned the uproar laft Thurfday. My def.re and prayer was, and is, to dif- fuade A FAREWELL SERMON. 563 fuade and deter, if haply I may, thofe of a more for- ward and leading fpirit among you, from worrying and perfecting fuch of their brethren as give offence, not again ft the laws either of God or man, but againft the decrees of pcrfons invefted with no conftitutional jurifdiction over any of us. It is not fo much the propriety of the thing enjoined to which we object, as the incompetency and want of authority of the pcrfons enjoining it. After this particular application to thofe by whom the wrong is done, my aim was to fuggeft to thofe of more quiet fpirits, who are the objects of thefe wrongs, fome fuitable words of comfort, fuch as may fupport them under their impending trial. Whilft therefore I endeavour to difcharge my duty towards you with fuch fidelity and zeal as, whatever the danger may be, you have a right to expect from your minifter, I entreat only to be heard with that patience which it is one of the chief objects of my Difcourfe to recommend. If to this another requeft might yet be added, it ihould be, that, in this and all other inftances of the kind, ye will be juft to your- felvcs, and affert your undoubted privilege of being directed only by your own judgments undictated to, and uncontrolled by, men who are your fuperiors only in confidence and felf-fufficicncy. Before I addrefs myfelf to the two very different dcfcriptions of perfons juft mentioned, it may be pro- per to take a more immediate view of the character O 2 Of 564 A FAREWELL SEKMO&. of Nehemiah, and the memorable circumftances re- corded of him in this book. This eminent perfonage was governor of Jerufa- lem, having received his appointment from Arta- xerxes that higher power by whom the people of God, for the correction of their fins, were at this period of their hiftory held in bondage. An exalted flation, and the fmiles of the great, have often proved fatal to that virtue which might have refilled all the temptations incident to an humbler fphere of life., But it is only to the ordinary attainments of virtue that elevated rank can be fatal : to real and great worth the funfhine of profperity, and the ftorms of adverfity, arc equally without danger. Before he was made a governor, Nehemiah had been cup-bearer, and a favourite, under the king of Perfia : yet ftill, even in that high ftation, he is: as a good man, and one that feared God. Hearing, in the palace of Sbufhan, how the remnant of the captivity that were left in the province were in great affliction and reproach, he fat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fajted and prayed before the God of heaven. Degcn crate and corrupted as the world is, piety towards God, and humanity and benevolence to our fellow- creatures., are graces which will every where command the re- fpect of mankind. With thefe recommendations, and after fo very proper a preparation, Nehemiah approached the king with a petition to be permitted to return to his native country ; to rebuild the tem- ple, A FAREWELL SERMON pfe, repair the walls of the city, reftore the religion of his fathers, and re-cftablifli the priefts, according to their feveral orders and Nations, in the fervice of God. An attention to religion fo fmcere and ardent, and undebafed with any alloy of fuperftition and a pa- triotifm fo earneft, and at the fame time not more generous than it was prudent could not fail to en- gage the notice and the regards even of his Gen- tile matter. // pleafed the king to grant him bis requeft, according to tie good band of bis God upon him. It does not feem ncceflary to detain you with a recital of the new governor's journey to Jerufalem, and the manner of his opening his commiflion. You will read the account with pleafure in your Bibles ; and I fhould be loth to disfigure it's exquifite fimpli- city and dignity, by putting it into modern language. A great majority of the pricfts, rulers, nobles, and Jews, readily and chcarfully concurred with him in promoting his patriotic purpofes ; whilft others, as if offended by that brightnefs which eclipfed their feebler luftrc, laughfd Km to f corn, and dcFplfed Inn. The chief of thefe were, Sanbaltat the Horonite, and Toliah (the fervant) the Ammonite, and Gefbem the Arabian ; petty princes, it is probable, in fome of the adjacent countries; one of whom alfo, it may be ob- fcrved, had been afcrvant. If (as it is not unnatural to fuppofe might be the cafe) they were like the people over whom they prefided, they muft have been, as commentators inform us, heathens ; " a fort 003 "of $66 A FAREWELL SERMON.' " of mixed breed, out of the fcum of many na*- tions*." This part of the hifrory feems to claim your efpecial notice, from it's conveying induction refpecling a point to which writers do not perhaps very commonly advert. From the very little that appears to be faid of the friends of the old conftitution, who were the adherents to Nehemiah, it might be imagined, that they were neither numerous, nor of much note. And yet, by the lift that is given of them in the ^d chapter, and the works which, by acting in con- cert, they performed, it is certain they neither were few, nor feeble. The incident affords this plcafing and ufeful inference to the friends of piety and their country, that if they will but firmly refift the artifices * Sanballat, as appears from Jofephus (lib. xi. cap. 8.) was at this time governor of Samaria. Manafles, the brother of Jaddus the high-prieft, and a colleague with him in the office, had married the daughter of Sanbailat ; who, actuated by his religious prejudices, as well as. ftimulated by other and lefs worthy motives, was the in- veterate enemy of Nehemiah and the true Jews. This Manafles^ refufing to put away his wife, and being on that account prohi- bited from exercifing the prieft's office at Jerufalem A retired to Sa- maria ; and there, with the encouragement and help of his father-in- law, built a temple on Mount Gerizim. (Df this temple he was made the high-prieft ; and was alfo fet up as totally independent of* and every way equal to, the high-prieft at Jerufalem. This frefh fchifm confirmed the enmity between the two nations, which was firft begun by the revolt of Jeroboam : an enmity that appears to. have continued with unabating rancour, at leaft to the times of our Saviour, when, we are exprefsly aiTured, that the Jevjs had no deal" ings with the Samaritans, and A FAREWELL SERMON 567 and violences of their opponents by united and com* pacled ftrength, they will in general find, that neither are their adverfaries fo formidable, nor themfelves fo defencelefs, as they are too often apprehended to be. The children of mifrule will too probably long con- tinue, like the aflailants of Nehemiah, to try the for- titude of the friends of order, fometimes by tauntingly deriding the hopelefTnefs of their refiftancc if a fox hit go up, he Jball break down your wall; and fome- times' by endeavouring to overawe them with pro- gnoftications of approaching danger and deftruclion from all places your enemies will be upon you : it is all in vain ; they mock at fear, and are not affrighted. Inftrucled by Nehemiah, they put their whole truft and confidence in the mercies of God ; an-d therefore fearlefsly, wifely, and pioufly anfvver, with him, Th* God of heaven, he will proffer us. The pcrfeverance of bad men, engaged in a bad caufe, is almoft proverbial. Contrary to all ihe com- mon rules of proceeding, a defeat (like the fabled giant of antiquity, who, on being thrown to the ground, was fuppofed to rife from it with recruited ftrength) with them feems to operate as an encouragement. Confcious of this, and juftly diftruftful of his own unaided powers, Nehemiah neglected not to pray unto God to Jtrengthcn his hands. Thofe only who, like him, are at once humble and firm, may prefume to approach the throne of grace with reverent boldnefs; for, the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open to their frayers. And furely never man 004 had 568 A FAREWELL SERMON, had more reafon, than Nebemiah had, to fay, If tie Lord bad not been on my fide when men rofe up againft me, they load fw allowed me up quick. Had it not been for the fupernatural aid which he received, he mud have fallen into fome of thole many deep-laid fnares which his enemies were perpetually plotting againfl him and his party : They JJjall not know, laid they, neither fee, till we come jn the m\djl of them and fiay them. This deep-laid plan of deftriiclion, which was to be accomplifhed only by treachery, fixes a ftamp of indelible infamy on the characters of thefe men. The conduct of Nehemiah, however blame-worthy in their eyes, was yet, by their own confcffion, open and manly. If, therefore, it exceedingly grieved them, as no doubt it did, to have a man come in among them, who really did what they only pretended to do, j. e. who truly fought the welfare of Jfrael, it would furely have become them to oppofe him like brave men, and not like dark afTaffins. But, they were cruel, becaufe they were cowards ; and they were cowards, becaufe they were wicked. It is the righ- teous only who are bold as a lion ; whilfl wickednefs^ condemned, is always very timorous. Strong in the ftrcngth of God, Nehemiah was Jiedfafl and unmoveable. Threatenings and flatteries were equally unavailing to induce him to remove his integrity from him. It is with equal forrow and fhamc J go on to relate, that, alas ! this was not the cafe With fome of his followers. Attending more to wh.pt feeme4 A FAREWELL SERMON. 569 fecmecl expedient, than to what they fliould l:r.v known was their duty, many fwallowed the bait that was fb artfully thrown out to lure them to their dc- fhriciion. They were difcouraged and overawed bv the imputation that, in lid ing with Nehemiah, they were inimical to their country, and in rebellion againjl their king. Knowing, as they did, how groundlels fuch imputations were, it is furprifing they fliould in any degree regard them- and more efpecially as they were call on them by men who, they allb knc'. , neither loved their country, nor honoured the king. The blame of fuch men was their praifc : they could have been hurt only by their panegyrics. But, their fears blinded their judgments : and this is the ufual courfe of fear ; which, as the elegant author of the Book of Wifdom finely cxprcflcs it, is nothing but a letraylng of fuccours. It makes the danger which it is fo anxious to fhun : it is a good watchman, but a bad defender : it fees danger before it exifts, and magnifies it when it docs cxift* ; thus defeating it's own purpofes, by giving occafion for more rcfolution in the very moment that it makes that rcfolution Ids. The thing which I greatly feared, fays Job, is come upon me ; and that which I was afraid of is come wifo vie. Man is enabled to encounter and vanquish danger only by fortitude : and that, with the fear of God, is effectual to cqft out all other fear. I to be to * . . . . " nee dcfuerunt qui fidis mcntitifque tcrroriLi;.: pcricula augerent." Win. Epiit. lib. vi. ep. 20. A FAREWELL SERMON; fearful hearts and faint lands ! It was the apprehenfioii of their not being able to extirpate the Canaanites, which made the hearts of the wary fpies of Ifrael to fail ; like Sampfon, their ftrength went from them. And as it is no indifferent matter to be difpiritecl in the caufe of God, it concerns every man to remember the declaration of the prophet, He that fleeth from tie fear, Jb all fall into the pit. A perfon tainted with an infectious difeafe, com- municates the contagion wherever he goes, whether he will or no. It is not at all neceflary to fuppofe, that all thefe Jews, who thus fell into the fnare laid for them by their enemies, were the willing inftru- ments of fedudiion. Difheartened themfelves, it was natural for them to fpread their fears. Aware of this, their new aflbciates feem to have employed them, as the Carthaginian General, Hannibal, is faid to have employed fome oxen : he fattened bundles of hay to their horns, and then fent them into the Roman camp, where, driven on by their fears, they fpread involuntary ruin. And, in fuch cafes, mere weaknefs is almoft as much to be dreaded as wicked- nefs. Had thefe apoitates really been determined to injure the man whom they wifhcd to ferve, they could not well have devifed an expedient more cer- tain to eftecl it than that which they took. Ten times did they come to him with an alarming tale, that affuredly he would be way-laid andjlam. Credulity, or that eafmefs of belief which affcnts to propofiticms on flight nncl infufficient evidence, 4 is A FAREWELL SERMON'. 57! is' the error of weak minds ; whereas infidelity, it is to be feared, originates in fuch as are both weak and wicked. The man, whofe uninformed mind has few or no ideas of it's own, is like a blank (heet of paper, which, though it may perhaps receive the fair cha- racters of wifdom and truth, is liable alfo to be fcrawled over by folly, or blotted by error. This, however, was not the character of the mind of Nehe- miah. All the impreffion which thofe rumours and lies, which are the general forerunners of revolutions, though addrcfled alternately to his hopes and fears, made on him, was fuch only as it might be fuppofed they could and would make on a man who fears God, and fears none but God. Undaunted himfclf, he redoubled his diligence to comfort and help tie weak- learted : animating them not to fa afraid, but to re~ member tie Lord, and to f git for tleir Iretlren, tleir fins, and tleir daughters, and tleir wives, and tlelr loufes. This proper conduct had it's proper effect : tie counfel of tleir enemies came to nouglt. Baffled in this, the next ftratagem of thefe dan- gerous men was fuch an one as it fecmed impoffible for any prudence, or any integrity, to cfcape. His bofom friend, who fhould have loved at all times, and whom the wife man calls a Irotler born for adverftt\' % inficad of Jbewing pity to him when he was afflicted, bafely dug a pit for him. This friend was a prophet : but it is too probable he put on the garb of fanctity end fricncUhip only to enable him the more cftcetu- tc,i\ feeble, even if they had been unanimous. In fueh circumftances he would pro- bably have been fet down as a rigid moral i ft, who fl.ould have blamed even Nchemiah, had he, to extricate himfclf, turned a fide for a moment from the Jlraight paths of wifdom to the crooked ways of artifice. The dilemma, however, does not appear to have embarrafled Nehemiah. He was persuaded that though prudence and integrity may fometimes feem to point different ways, they only feem to do fo *. When, therefore, he knew what as an honed man he ought to do, his determination was fixed. To a man who, trained up in the principles of true religion, is in the habit of thinking and acting only in fuch a manner as religion Will warrant, none but virtuous * " Expcdit vobis effe bonos." Ter. Heaut. Ad 2. Sc. 4. expedients A FAREWELL expedients ever occur. It weighs little \vith him that, in thus acting, he may be expofed to difficul- ties and dangers, and to bitter perfection. Great actions are rarely performed without difficulty : and virtue can hardly be called virtue, till it has beeri tried and proved by fome ordeals. And now, after this copious detail of fome of th6 moft memorable incidents in the life of Nehemiah, where it may fairly be alked where does therci appear any thing in it fo reprehenfible as (I do not fay to jutfify, but) to excufe the unceafing perfecu- tion which he met with ? The literal import of the word perfecution is the being made to fuffer uride- fervedly : and therefore, though coercion, rigour and feverity may fometimes perhaps be inflicted with- out blame, perfecution never can. Addrcfling mjr- felf, then, according to the propofed plan of my Dif* courfe, now more particularly to thofe perfons in thd community, who, either through paffiori arid prejudide^ or through miftaken principles of policy, purfue with fuch unrelenting rigour thofe of their brethren who cannot adopt or even approve of all their meafures^ I fet out with obferving, that for one party to perfe- Cute another, merely becaufe of a difference of opi- nion, is a crime that is much aggravated by the re- flection, that there is no temptation to the commit fion of it, but fuch as a generous mind muft abhor. A good caufe ihould difdain the aid of fo unworthy an ally as Perfecution : even a bad one is ultimately injured by her interference, fmce no man was ever , P p made A FAREWELL SERMON. rnade a convert to any opinion by compulfion. There? is a principle in our natures which revolts at the idea of being driven : and I believe it is no uncoin-* raon cafe to find men unconvinced even by good ar- guments, when they are dogmatically and arbitrarily urged. Conviction refults only from arguments that will bear to be reflected and deliberated on : whereas to be violent and overbearing-only makes men more tenacious of their preconceived opinions ; as trees are faid to fpread their roots, and take fafler hold of the ground, by being planted in fituations where they are much expofed to be fhaken by ftrong blafts of wind. Such is the frame of the human mind ; fuch what Lord Bacon calls ihe flies it takes from education and a thoufand other caufes, that even wife and good men rarely think exactly alike on any fpeculative fubject whatever. Large allowances fhould be made for the predilection we all naturally have for dogmas and doctrines with which our minds have been earlv imbued, and for the fcantinefs and uncertainty of all human knowledge, at which at laft we arrive Ilowly, and not without much pains ; fo that the inftances are not few, in which when we think our judgvnents firmly fettled and fixed, better information gives us reafon wholly to reverie them : and hence it not onfrequently happens, that no two perfons can differ more from each other, than a man at different periods of his life may differ from himfelf. In fome inflances men's opinions feem to be in- voluntary, and, in fome fenfe, independent even of them- A FAREWELL SERMOtt. % ttiemfelves. We can no more help viewing objeds, as they are reprefented to us through the various me- diums of our various tempers and capacities, than he Who is placed in a valley can help his not feeing as far as his neighbour who is ftationed on an hill. On all thefe accounts, it is as reafonable, as it is humane, to bear and forbear with one another. All that ill- judged rigour can do, is to make men feem to ac- quiefce, whether they really do or no, merely in the hope of being permitted to be fafe : fo that the caufe which can ftoop thus to gain profclytes, may, in a feeming friend, acquire a real foe. Admitting that the counfels and the opinions of thofe among us who are now fo officiouily profcribed, and held up to pub lie odium, are as falfe as they are faid to be, ftill they may fafcly be let alone ; becaufe, if the allegations of your Committees be well founded, they will afTnredly tome to nought. But if haply they (hould be found to be true, much does it concern thofc who direct thefe tribunals to remember, that though they may deftroy thofe perfons who maintain the truth, yet can they not finally deftroy truth itfclf: in attempt- ing it, they may find, to their coil, that they fight againft God. Much alfo does it concern them to at- tend to the ftrong language of the prophet : " Beheld, all ye that kindle a fire, that comfafs yourf elves about with f parks ! walk in the light of your fire, and in the /parks tlatye have kindled This (hall ye have of mine band, yefoall lie down in forrow *. It is as if he had # Ifaiah, ch. 1. ver, 1 1. P p a faid, j|8o A FAREWELL SERMON* faid, This, O ye wicked ! this is your day : you now fccm to fhine and to bafk in the fire which ye have kindled ; whilfl others, as innocent at lead, if not as meritorious as you, are fcorched by the fire that does but warm you. But, remember, that, for all this, God (hall call you to judgment ; and it may yet be your lots alfo to lie down in Jbrrow. How far the plea of ignorance, and a perfuafion that by perfe- cuting us they may do God fervice, may excufe them, it is fit I fhould leave to the great Searcher of hearts to determine. A blafphemer and a perfecutor of fome note did once, we know, verily think with him* felf, that he ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jefus of Nazareth, and to punifh the faints in every fynagogue. But, though he found mercy, and was miraculoufly converted to preach that faith which he once oppofecl, his erroneous conference was far from jufiifying him. May our perfecutors find equal rnercy ! A more painful tafk now demands my attention. The fccond object of my Difcourfe was, to recom- mend to thofe of you who, like myfelf, may be fo un- fortunate as to incur the difpleafure of the Commit- tees, fortitude, patience and perfeverance in times of trouble : and, if I am not overawed by the threaten- ing afpect of that dark cloud which is gathering fad over our heads, you will fbon have occafion for all the affiflance which reafon can fugged, and all the confolation which religion can admin iftcr. But, firft, let me warn you not to entertain either a wifh, A FAREWELL SERMON. 581 a \vifh, or an hope, that you may be permitted to remain in a ftate of neutrality. The character of Titus Pomponius Atticus, who, during the convul- fions occafioned by the contending parties of his age, had the addrefs to avoid taking a decided part with either of them, has been held up by fome writers as a model for imitation. But, I own, it has no charms for me. If he was fincere in his profeflions of neu- trality, he muft needs have been either a cold-hearted man, or of an infignificant characler. If he was not fincere, if he acled his part thus ambiguoufly only that he might be fafe which ever fide fhould prevail, his duplicity was deteftable. Nor, in that cafe, could he be (aid to be neutral. He took his part \ and probably with more efficacy than he could have done by the moft unequivocal avowal of his party. For, in fuch cafes, not to be for a caufc, is clearly to be againft it. To choofe, and, as far as we are able, to defend a caufe which in our confciences we be- lieve to be good, is not, properly fpeaking, a matter of choice, but of duty ; and either through fear to fhrink from our duty, or through any finifter views to per- form it feebly, is a fin which, however fmall, from the common ncfs of the cafe, we may deem it, is to be dreaded and fliunncd more than the greatefl danger. Judging of what we have to expect by what many of us have already been made to feel, I forefee, alas ! fuch days of evil awaiting us as may well make metis learis fail them for fear. For, whilft I think it right to put you on your guard againft exaggerating P p 3 danger, 2 A FAREWELL SERMON. clanger, it is no lefs my duty to warn you not to fall into the oppoilte extreme, and to under- rate it. Whilft, then, the great fury of the ftorm is haply full at fome diftance, it may be ufeful to you to look at and contemplate it in it's worft poffible form. Let no man be too confident of his firmnefs, whilft he is yet untried. It is no eafy trial for a man, who is at eafe in his pojfefflons , to be driven from them ; when, by fome little compliances with the humour of the times, by bowing himfeif down in the houfe of Rimrnon, he might poffibly fave both himfelf and his property from deftrudlion. Nor, when multitudes are every where, with fhouts of triumph, rufhing eagerly into the broad paths of popularity, is it an eafy tafk for folitary virtue to purfue the noifelefs tenour of her courfe in the narrow way of duty. My heart feems to fail me when I attempt to apprize you, how many comforts ye may be called on to part with ; what cruel mockings, fcourgings, bonds, and imprifonments may await you ; and how, like many of thofe of whom the world was, not worthy > it may be your hard lot to wander about in Jbeef-Jkins and goat-Jkins, in dejarts and in mountains, and in dens and caves oj 'the ear -ih, deftitute, ajfii&ed^ and tormented I' AH that will then be left you, and, happily for you, all that even then ye will much want, will be that laft refuge and privilege of the wretched over which tyrants have no power, tears and prayers : pray, therefore, continually, that your patience and faith may endure in all y our ferf editions and tribulations. Thus A FAREWELL SERMON. 583 Thus prepared, ye (hall fear no fufFerings, thofe ex- cepted which ye undergo for your fins. And fo far from falling into defpondency and defpair, even when danger, as the prophet fpeaks, (hall feem ready to come in at the ivindoiv, ye will be refblute to part with every thing, and to fuffer every thing, rather than not hold faft your integrity. Paffion and party may carry fome men, of warm minds, great lengths, and make them endure much : but fuch holding out, and fuch endurance, are very different things from that calm but fteady perfeve- rance which a good man manifetts in a good caufe. His fortitude is founded on the broad balls of true religion ; ai } therefore, be the warfare never fo ter- rible, he will fight a good fight, and, whatever the iflue may be, he will be more than conqueror. His is not a blind zeal : he knows for what he contends ; and the better he unclerftands it, the more determined he is to defend it ; becaufe he does not think him- ielf at liberty to relinquifh, or abide by it, merely as, in point of prudence or policy, it may feem expedient to him to be firm, or to be yielding to emulate the oak, or the willow. A noble inftance of that fleady and firm temper, which I am now endeavouring to recommend, oc- curs in the apocryphal hiflory of the father of the Maccabees. Antiochus, a fucceffor of Alexander, ferfnaded ly fome wicked men of the Jews, had conquered Judea, and fet up altars, and graves, and chapels of idols ; to the end that the inhabitants wight forget the law, and change all the ordinances. P p 4 Shocked 584 A FAREWELL SERMON*. Shocked at fuch blafphemies, Mattathias exclaimed, Wo is me ! wherefore was I lorn to fee tins mifery of my people? Uninfluenced by fo virtuous an example, or overawed by the threats of thofe who compelled the people to revolt, or feduced by the flattering pro- miles of many rewards^ many of Ifrael conformed, and were gathered unto them. But neither threats nor promifes could make any impreflion on Mattathias Though all the nations that are under the kings domi- nion^ faid he, fall away, every one, from the religion of their fathers ; yet will I, and my Jons, and my brethren, walk in the covenant of our fathers. God forbid that we fhould forjake the law and the ordinances ! To this refolution he became a martyr : to live honour- ably was no longer in his power ; all that he could do, he did do : that was to die glorioufly. Mark, I pray you, his dying fentiments, and laft admonitory words to his fons and his brethren : Let us all die m our innoccncy ; leaven and earth Jball tefiify for us, that we are put to death wrongfully *, It * Dionyilus of Halicarnaffus has recorded a fpeecli of Manius Valerius, who, whilft the State was diftracted with the violence of Appius Claudius on the one hand, and the feditious harangues of the tribunes and populace on the other, happily for both fides was chofen diftator^ and, by his temperate firmnefs, prevented a fataj Breach. Imagine not that I am capable of joining with them to deceive ?' ygu, or that I have concerted with them any criminal defign * ; agajnft you : for, if you entertain thefe thoughts of me, as if I ** was the moil deceitful of all men, treat me as you pleafe ; but f 5 believe what I fay, and banifh this fufpicion from your minds, A FAREWELL SERMON. 58* It has always been, it ftill is, and too probably will for ever be, the lot of the faithful difciples of ( to wear their matter's badge. " And there fhould as though Jomejlrange thing happened to ns. If any manfuffcr as a Chriftian, let him not be ajhamed : but and if he fuffcr fur right eoufnefs fake, happy is he. It is his peculiar felicity to know with certainty, that, how great foever his troubles may be, his reward will be greater. For, tie fufferings of the prejent time are not worthy to be compared with the glory thatjhall be revealed. Be of good courage, then, and play the men: and, relying on e< Turn your anger from your friends to your enemies, who art? " coming with a delign to take your city, to transform you from *< freemen to flaves ; haftening to inflict every other feverity OQ " you, which mankind ftands mod in fear of. Receive them with " alacrity, and flievv them that the power of the Romans, though << agitated with fcdition., is fuperior to any other, when unanimous. When you have taken revenge of your enemies, I myfelf up- <* dertake that the fenate will reward you, both by compofing thcfc <{ contefts, and by granting every thing elfe you can reafonably de- f c fire of them. I defire, alfo, that my alacrity in expofing myfelf ? to danger may be your example, &c." Spelman's Dionyfius, yol. iii.p. 6l t the 586 A FAREWELL the authority of an Apoftle, encourage oae another with the comfortable afFurance, that though you may Is troubled, yet flail you not le d'iftrejfed ; though per- flexed , yet not in deffair ; though ferfccutedy yet not forfaken ; though caji down, yet not dejlroyed. The part you have to act may be difficult, but it is not un- important : for, it is peculiar to the way of duty to be plain, eafy, and direct ; whilft deviations from recti- tude arc circuitous, intricate and difficult : and they are ibjbecaufe in morals, as in mathematics, the ftraighteft: line between two points is always the fhortefh Your jftations in life may be obfcnre ; but your pious firm- ncfs (hall now fried a luftre around them. The ways of the Almighty, in final! inilances as well as in great, arc often beyond men's comprebenfion : he conde- feends, and not unfrequently, to make ufe of the humbleft men as well as humbler! means to effect his purpofes. Who then (hall prefume to fay*} that., by letting your light r\owjb'we before men, you may not become a light to lighten the wavering, the unftable, and the revolting ? and fo, even in this dim and dark corner of the land, (to borrow the words of a martyr,) fuch a candle may be lighted up, as, by God's grace, {hall never be put out. After all, I am far from being fure that your greateit clanger is likely to arife from your being pcriecuted. Many a man has borne up manfully under troubles, who has afterwards given way to the feductions of artifice, the allurements of folicitation, the hopes of favour.) or the promifes of reward. In each of thefe ways, A FAREWELL SERMON. 587 \vays, and in every other way that art or malice can devifc, ye may count confidently on your being tried. For, our Committees, Conventions, and Congreflcs, backed as they are by regiments, battalions and armies, are not likely to flop fhort, till they have overturned government, and deftroyed or difgraced every man \vhofe principles lead him to wifh to preferve it. Such meafures as they cannot carry by force, they will feck to accomplifh by addrefs. When the Egyptians were bent on the deftruclion of the Ifraelites, they were too politic to attempt it direclly, and all at once. So flrong a meafure might have aroufed and united their captives, and determined them to make a common, caufe of their deliverance : and as they were nume- rous, and had a good caufe, by a6ting in concert, they might have proved too ftrong for their tyrant*. The deeper fcheme of their oppreflbrs was thus an- nounced : Come on ! let us deal 'wifely ivitb them. Hence it was refolved, not immediately to banifhor to imprifon them, but to lay on them heavy burdens and oppreilions ; that, by thus firft weakening them and breaking their fpirits, they might afterward* be more Cctfily crufhed and exterminated. Sincerely do I wifh it were not now nccefiaiy to crave your indulgence for a few minutes longc,r it {hall be but for a few to fpeak of myfclf. If I am to credit fome furmifes, which have been kindly \vhif- percd in my ear, (and I am proud thus publicly to acknowledge that it is to a man whofe political tenets $rc the oppofitc qf mine that I owe this inform ntion, comi nuni- 588 A FAREWELL SERMON, communicated no doubt from motives of good-will and humanity,) that, unlefs I will forbear to pray for the King, you are to hear me neither pray nor preach any longer. No intimation could poifibly have been lefs welcome to me. Diftreffing, however, as the dilemma confefledly is, it is not one that either re- quires or will admit of a moment's hefitation. En^ tertaining all due refpedt for my ordination vows, I am firm in my rcfolution, whilft I pray in public at all, to conform to the unmutilatcd Liturgy of my Church : and, reverencing the injunction of an Apoltle, I will continue to pray for the King and all that are in authority under Irim ; and I will do fo, not only becaufe I am fo commanded, but that, as the Apofile adds, we may continue to lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godlinefs and bcnefty. Inclination, as well as duty, confirms me in this purpofe. jis long as I Jive, therefore, yea, whilft / have my being, will I, with Zadok the prieft, and Nathan the prophet, proclaim, Godja-ve tie King / If, however, this is to be my valediclory fermon, let me at Icalt have the coniblation to reflect, that, as imy words will affuredly not come out of feigned lips, they may fink deep into your hearts, and in fome degree guide and comfort you when you can no longer liiien to any exhortations of mine. Laft words are generally regarded as words of importance : and there; is no man, how much foevcr he may heretofore have been neglected, who is not liftcned to with atten- tion, when it is known that he is to fpeak no more. It A FAREWELL SERMON", 59! It was my misfortune to be firft known to you in thefe unsettled times. Pains were taken to prejudice you againft me, even before you faw me. Many of you muft remember, as I for ever (hall, how, on my coming to take pofleffion of my living, the doors were jbut ; and I was, for fome time, forcibly kept out of the church, to which I had every equitable as well as every legal claim ; nor can you have forgotten how near I was, on that memorable day, experiencing the fate of St. Stephen. The end aimed at by fuch vio- lence, which then at lead could not have been merited, is now obvious. If you liftened to my doctrines, you could no longer be the difciplesof the Sanballats and Tobiahs, who have at length, ftep by flep, led you to the very brink of rebellion. Infignificant therefore as I am, and am contented to be deemed, at lead by fuch men, it became of fome moment to them to dif- credit me with you. That I wifhed to be acceptable to you, that I have by all fair and honourable means fludied to gain your good will, I appeal to the great Searcher of hearts, who knows that I He not. That I have miffed of my aim, none of you, alas ! is fo happy as not to know : and if it be through my own fault that my preferment among you, inflead of being pro- ductive of permanent happinefs, as I fondly hoped it would be, has become one of the heavieft calamities that ever befel me, even my enemies mud be forced to allow that my faults cannot well have been greater than my {offerings have alfo been. I have endeavoured to weigh the great and import- ant 59$ A FAREWELL SERMON. ant queftion now, alas ! put to the bloody arbitrament of the fword, with all the diligence, accuracy, and fincerit}^ of which I am capable, t undertook the enquiry with all the ufual prepofleffions in favour of the opinions which were popular. My interefl evi- dently lay in my continuing to think, as many others (as wife and good as I can pretend to be) with whom I am happy to live in habits of friendfhip are con-* tented to think. Ruin and mifery feemed to flare me in the face, if I took a contrary courfe. Hereto-* fore I had thought but little on fuch fubjecls. Con- tented to fvvim with the ftream, I haftily, and with but little reflection, embraced thofe doctrines which are mod flattering to human pride, and mofl natural to a youthful rnind. Like the Armenian mentioned by Xenophon*, ci I thought it a noble thing both to " be free myfelf, and to leave liberty to my children.'* And miftaking the impoftorLicentioufnefs,the enemy of law, for that Coniiitutional Liberty, the child of law and her fureft defence, I joined a giddy and nu* merous multitude,in declaiming as loud as theloudcft in behalf of liberty, and again (I tyranny. With them, though j like the confufed ajfemllies at Ephefus,^ more fart of us knew not wherefore we were come together > I too bowed at the altar of Liberty ; and facrificcd to this idol of our groves, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree j*. 'EXtt4^wt> Kxrotivfa,'* - Xenoph. Cyropaed. lib. iii. I here allude to the part I took in the time of the Stamp Aft. 4 With A FAREWELL SERMOtf. 59! With all thefe inducements to abide by the opinion^ mod in vogue, which alone were familiar to me, in favour of which alone I had till lately never read any thing in any fuch manner as dcferved the name of reading : with all thefe discouragements againft other doctrines, which I knew only by having always ieen and heard them fpokcn again ft and defpifed aa the obfolcte and exploded reveries of dark and gloomy ages, and fit only for tyrants and flaves : with fin- cerity in my heart, and my Bible in my hand, 1 fat down to explore the truth. With thefe guides, and none but thefe, the procefs is not difficult, it has been owing chiefly to the fophiftries of fubtlc con- troverfialifts, that the paths of politics have been en- tangled and rendered intricate. Aware that, in other departments of inveftigation not lefs import- ant than ihcfc of politics, it had been the fate of other doctrines of indifputable verity to be violently run down and rejected, on very infufficient grounds, I was naturally led to reflect, that the cafe might be the fame in thefe queftions. It was fair to fuppofe that, in other periods of our hiftory, men thought as clofely and as clearly as they now do : I therefore fat down to read and to ftudy what had been collected and laid down on the fubject of government by writers who may now be regarded as ancients ; and who got their materials (not as, it is to be feared, their fuc- ceflbrs, the modern writers on politics, do from one another, or from their own fancies, but) from the only pure fources of information, the law of God, and the law of the land. The refult of this courfe of read- ing A FAREWELL ing has been thofe Sermons, which, ilnce thefe ifbu* ties began, I have from time to time preached ifi this parifh, and for which it feems I am now, to be fentenced to preach no more. My fincerity in thus endeavouring to fettle my own faith is not to be queftioned. I entered on the ftudy for the exprefs purpofe of firfl inftrucling inyfelf, that I might with more propriety afterwards inflruct you. That all my conclufions are certainly true, it would be pre-*- fumption in me to aflert : but you fhould do me the juftice to believe that I think they are true. And I feem to myfelf to have a right to object to any man's charging me with being miftaken, who has not him- felf gone through the fame diligent, patient, and faith* ful procefs of enquiry that I have done. When any man of competent judgment, difinteredednefs, and candour^ fhall have done this, if he docs not fubfcribe to my doclrincs, I am not afraid to pledge myfelf to fubfcribe to his. I am afhamed to reply to many ftrange and random furmifes which have been bufily propagated as to my fuppofed inimicality to America, merely becaufe I am not a native of America. It is folly to imagine, that, as an Englifhman, interefted in the welfare of Eng- land, I am not equally interefted in the welfare of America. I cannot diffbciate the idea of a perfect famenefs of intereft between the two countries, as much as between a parent and a child. It is true, I had the honor to be born in England ; and, though there are few things on which a man capable of any reflection can value himfelf lefs than I do on a cir- cumdance A FAREWELL SERMON. cumftance which is altogether a matter of accident ; yet I may be permitted to obferve, and I hope without offence, that it is in this country, and in thefe times, that 1 have firft, or ever, heard it urged as a reproach to any man that he was an Englifhman. With re- fpecl: to America, it has been the country of my choice. I am married in America ; and am fettled in it, if 1 may have leave, moft probably for life. I have property here, in common with others, who are permitted to enjoy it unmolellcd, though fome of them are, and fome are not, Americans by birth : my connexions and friends, whom I love as I do my own foul, arc all of this country. Is there a pcrfon among you who can produce flronger ties of attach- ment to any country than thefe are ? From fcraps of converfation, ill underftood, and worfe related ; from mutilated paflages of fermons, iirft heard with prejudice, and then commented on by ignorance, poiitive proof is faid to have been ob- tained that I have preached up the doclrine of un- limited obedience. Could this charge really be proved, I fhould deferve to be profcribcd the pale of common fenfe. It is furprifing that men, who pretend to fome accuracy both in fpeaking and thinking, fhould thus confound things and words fo totally different as unlimited obedience and faffive obedience. There never was a government fo dcfpotic as to exact the one, nor fo unwife as not to enforce the other. Even here it is daily enforced : for, who knows not, that a breach of the law, which, in other words, is a refift- ance of the law, is, in many inftances, puniftied with Q q death ? 594 A FAREWELL SERMON; death ? In all inftances, the violater of the laws /z^m for fo doing ; excepting perhaps (as at prefent) la- the cafes of revolt and rebellion. How am I to defend myfelf againft accu fat ions Which are almofl as abfurd as they are malignant ? Confcious that I neither hold, nor have ever main- tained, any principles but fuch as are enjoined by the laws both of God and man, I wifh I might be per- mitted to lay thefe much abufed Sermons before the world, exactly as they have been delivered to you ! There is another motive for forming this wifh : having, fome time fmce, thought it my duty to cen- fure, with much freedom, two Difcourfcs- publifhed by two refpedlable Clergymen, which had been diftribu- ted among you with uncommon induftry, under the fanction of an authority now the higheft in the pro- vince, it feems to be fair that the perfons I then oppof- ed fhould have as good an opportunity of defending their doctrines, as they had given me of objecting to them. But there is no occafion for my informing you that the prefs has long been fhut again ft perfons of my defcription, and againft myfelf in particular. I confefs to you, there is fqmething particularly ungrateful to my feelings, in being thus outlawed, and driven away from a country where I have fo long lived with credit and comfort. When I but little deferved it, I experienced patronage and protection : it was only when I came to render the beft offices in my power to your country that I met with the worfl returns. For thefe efforts to do good, I have been attacked openly, and undermined fecretly ; ruined by the A FAREWELL SERMON. the enemies of government, without being cither pitied or praifed by it's friends. In fhort, to borrow the words of a great man*, " my life hath been threat- " ened, and my name libelled ; which I count aa " honour. But thefe are the practices of thofe " whofe defpairs are dangerous ; but yet not fo dan- " gerous as their hopesf ." I clofe all with the pathetic words of one who was as great even as Lord Verulam in his life, and greater in his fall with an extract from the Sermon which Abp. Laud delivered on the fcaffold before his mar- tyrdom. " I am not in love with this paffage through the "the red fea : for, 4 have the weakneffes arid infirmi- " ties of flefh and blood plentifully about me; and {tf I have prayed, with my Saviour, that this cup might " pafs from me ! but, if not, God's will, not mine, "be done! I (hall molt willingly drink of this cup (S as deep as he plcafes, and enter into this fea ; yea, " and pafs through it in the way that he (hall lead. * Lord Bacon, in his Letter to Queen Elizabeth. f Roger North, in his Life of Lord Keeper Guilford, thus vin- dicates the fubjcft of his Memoirs from fimilar calumnies : " His Lordfhip was perfectly at cafe in the confcience of his " behaviour ; and fcorned the vulgar and fanatic calumnies, that he " was a Prerogative man, and laboured to fet up arbitrary power. " But, notwithstanding all that, he laboured as much as he could " to fet up the juft prerogatives of the Crown, which were well " known in the Law, and to the Lawyers ; although it had been " much the fafhion, as well in Weftminfter-Hall as at St. Stephens, " to fet light by the prerogative. He has faid, that a man could * not be a good Lawyer and honeft, but he mufl be a Prerogative *' man : fo plain were the Law-books in thefe cafes." But A FAREWELL SERMON. " But I would hate it remembered, good people, " that when God's fervants were in this boiftcrous " fea, and Aaron amongfl them, the Egyptians, which* " perfecutcd them, and did in a manner drive them " into the fea, were drowned in the fame waters " while they were in purfuit of them. I know, " my God whom Iferve, is as able to deliver me from " the fca of blood, as he was to deliver the three chil- " dren from the furnace ; and, I humbly thank my " Saviour for it ! my refolution is now as theirs was " then. They would not worjhfy the image tie King " lad Jet up, nor will I the imaginations which the " People are fctting up ; nor will I forfake the tern- '