H 
 
 JO 
 
 3 
 
 IC-NRLF 
 
 SB 55 73D 
 
TWO 
 
 DISCOURSES 
 
 TO 
 
 BY H.\HILDRETH 
 
 OF EXETER. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 EXETER : 
 
 J. & B. WILLIAMS, PRINTERS. 
 
 1824. 
 
THESE DISCOURSES were* written during an engagement 
 to supply the pulpit at BARRINGTON. With some abridge- 
 ment and corrections, they are now published, in the hope 
 of contributing something towards strengthening what re- 
 mains of religious institutions in the State. 
 
 To the SOCIETY AND PEOPLE for whom these Discourses 
 were prepared, and to the CITIZENS OF OTHER TOWNS, 
 destitute of a regular and educated ministry, they are 
 very respectfully inscribed by the 
 
 AUTHOR. 
 April 9, 1824. 
 
DISCOURSE I. 
 
 LUKE, XII, 48. 
 
 For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much re- 
 quired. 
 
 OUR best security for the performance of duty, consists in 
 a deep sense of our being accountable to God. A variety 
 of considerations may have great influence in restraining 
 us from conduct, which would impair the confidence, or 
 incur the displeasure of our fellow men ; but no person 
 will go boldly and sincerely to his whole duty, without a 
 settled conviction, that his conduct is matter of record, and 
 that he must one day give an account of the deeds done 
 in his body. Under the influence of such a conviction, 
 the conscience becomes a constant and lasting principle, 
 " and will hold a man fast, when all other obligations will 
 break." 
 
 Our duties result from the relations we sustain to our 
 Common Parent, to one another, to the present and the 
 future world. Among the important relations we sustain 
 to one another, is that of fellow citizens of the same town ; 
 and among our important duties, are those, which grow 
 out of this relation, 
 
 In this Discourse, I shall lead you to consider the nature 
 of the trust, reposed in you as citizens of the same town, 
 and the duties, which this trust enjoins. 
 
 I. As townsmen, my friends, much is given to you. You 
 are intrusted with privileges, which were procured at the 
 expense of much toil and suffering ; privileges, that have 
 been sealed to you with the blood of many, who were 
 worthy. 
 
 Town governments, as we enjoy them in New-England, 
 are of New-England origin. No such governments ever 
 existed on the other side of the Atlantick. The very 
 title of Selectmen, as a title of office, was first used in this 
 country. Your privileges have descended to you, as an 
 inheritance ; and, in order to estimate rightly their value 
 
 M374O44 
 
and design, you ought frequently to trace back your his- 
 tory, and the history of your fathers. You ought seriously 
 to weigh the grand motives and views, which produced 
 the settlement of New-England. 
 
 At^the end of twenty years from the landing of the Pil- 
 grims on the Rock of Plymouth, there had arrived in New- 
 England about twenty one thousand souls. After this pe- 
 riod, more people left the country, than came into it.* 
 These twenty-one thousand, therefore, are properly con- 
 sidered as our ancestors, as the Fathers of New-England. 
 Now it is a fact, as notorious as it is important, that they 
 came to this country, with the express design of procuring 
 for themselves the enjoyment of civil and religious liber- 
 ty, and of transmitting the same to posterity. The emi- 
 gration of the Fathers was produced by the civil and ec- 
 clesiastical oppressions of the mother country ; and they 
 looked upon New-England, as an asylum prepared by Pro- 
 vidence, where they might maintain the worship of God, 
 and enjoy the blessings of equal laws. Spiritual privileg- 
 es, however, in their estimation, far exceeded all others ; 
 and were placed by them as much above temporal privi- 
 leges, as by us they are placed below them. The leading 
 motives and views of the New-England Fathers, are well 
 and truly stated by Mr. John Higginson, in a sermon, deliv- 
 ered before the General Court of Massachusetts in 1683. 
 
 " When the Lord stirred up the spirits of so many of his 
 people," said Mr. Higginson, " to come over to this wilder- 
 ness, it was not for worldly wealth, or a better livelihood 
 for the outward man. The generality of the people that 
 came over, professed the contrary ; nor had we any ra- 
 tional grounds to expect such a thing in such a wilderness. 
 Though God hath blessed his poor people here, and there 
 are, that have increased here from small beginnings to 
 great estates ; yet these are but additions ; they are but 
 additional mercies. It was another and a better thing, 
 that we followed the Lord into the wilderness for. This 
 is never to be forgotten, that New-England is a planta- 
 tion of religion. And if any man amongst us make religion 
 as twelve, and the world as thirteen, let such an one know, 
 he hath neither the spirit of a true New-England man ; nor 
 yet of a sincere Christian." 
 
 " This was and is our cause that Christ alone might 
 be acknowledged by us as the only head, Lord and law- 
 
 Trumbull. 
 
fiver in his Church ; that his written word might be ac- 
 nowledged as the only rule That only and all his insti- 
 tutions might be observed and enjoyed by us, and that 
 with purity and liberty, peace and power." Mr. Higginson 
 urged the duty and necessity of union and charity. "For 
 there is not," said he, " any one duty more pressed by our 
 Saviour and his Apostles, than this of a holy and close un- 
 ion among those, who profess his name. The best of men 
 may err ; and there being divers measures of light and 
 grace, there cannot but be different apprehensions in some 
 things. And therefore, where there is not so full an a- 
 greement as is to be desired, it is our duty to forbear one 
 another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the 
 spirit in the bond of peace." " This," he added, is the 
 chief interest of New-England, the matter of the greatest 
 importance in itself, and of greatest concernment unto us. 
 Whatever may be said of our interest in other respects, 
 yet we may be sure, that here lies our predominant inter- 
 est and cause ; and the great end for which we came into 
 this wilderness, and continue in it."* 
 
 The extracts, which I have now given, while they state 
 the leading objects and views of the New-England Fathers, 
 speak also the language and sentiments of the worthiest 
 portion of the New-England people in 1683. They speak 
 the language and sentiments of the worthiest portion of 
 the people of New-Hampshire at that time. It is true, the 
 people here laboured under great disadvantages ; they 
 were of a mixed character ; and religious privileges were 
 not so highly and generally prized, as in other parts of 
 New-England. Still your Fathers did by no means neglect 
 them. They expressly acknowledged the duty of main- 
 taining the publick worship of God and publick instruction 
 in religion and morality. They reserved lands for the 
 support and encouragement of the gospel ministry. If 
 you examine the charter of your own town, you will find, 
 that lands were reserved by it for these purposes ; and 
 the duties enjoined of erecting a House of worship, and 
 supporting a minister. The same duties are strongly in- 
 culcated by the present Constitution of this state. Its> lan- 
 guage is to this effect that morality rightly grounded on 
 evangelical principles, is the only proper foundation of 
 obedience to the laws that religion is absolutely essential 
 to the support of good government. 
 
 * Mather's Apology. 
 
Such, my friends, were the language and sentiments of 
 those, who have gone before you, and who have transmit- 
 ted to you, in common with other towns, all the privileges, 
 which the friends of religion and liberty, could ask or de- 
 sire. They believed, that " godliness is profitable unto 
 all things, having promise of the life, that now is, and of 
 that which is to come." They believed that the temporal 
 prosperity of towns, is intimately connected with their 
 moral and religious welfare ; that the most effectual means 
 of preserving habits of industry and sobriety among a 
 people, are the regular observation of the Sabbath, and a 
 regular attendance on the institutions and ordinances of the 
 gospel. So far were they from considering the support 
 of ministers as tending to poverty, that they regarded it 
 as one of the best means of promoting their interest even 
 in this world. A ministerial tax in their days was no such 
 frightful, or burdensome thing, as in our day it has come 
 to be. They looked upon well principled and well edu- 
 cated ministers, as worthy of support. They considered, 
 that the " Lord himself had ordained, that they who preach 
 the gospel, should live of the gospel ; and that a fixed and 
 permanent support by taxation according to property, was 
 not only the easiest, but the most likely to secure the ser- 
 vices of men of education and character. They believed, 
 (and their principles have since been verified) that publick 
 instruction committed to illiterate men, tended not only to 
 degrade the ministerial character, but to vitiate the pub- 
 lick taste. They did not esteem a preacher the less, for 
 having had a regular and liberal education ; nor were 
 their ears offended at the sound of a written discourse. 
 The doctrine, " that ignorance is the mother of devo- 
 tion," they well knew, was no doctrine of Protestants. 
 They honoured knowledge. They honoured an enlight- 
 ejied, as well as pious ministry. 
 
 Of late years, indeed, it has been the habit of many, to 
 ridicule our Fathers, or to hold them up to scorn ; to 
 bring forward their failings, and to keep their virtues out 
 of sight. Of late years, attempts have been made to render 
 their institutions odious to the rising generation. Much 
 has been said and written about " law religion" and the 
 " standing order ;" as though no order ought to stand ; or 
 as though our towns could not prosper, while the law gave 
 them the power of maintaining the institutions of the 
 Fathers, even if they were united in the measure. 
 
But I have looked upon these things, not as symptoms 
 of growing knowledge and virtue amongst us ; not as evi- 
 dences of progress in true liberty ; but rather as symptoms 
 and evidences of the downward course of society ; and as 
 foreboding little for the benefit of those, who are to come 
 after us. I have looked upon these things as just causes 
 of sorrow to all who " possess the spirit of true New-Eng- 
 land men." I have no doubt, my friends, that many of 
 you have viewed these things in a light very similar ; that 
 you have regarded them as attempts, rather to pull down 
 and destroy, than to " strengthen the things that remain." 
 
 But notwithstanding all that has been said and done per- 
 taining to the institutions of religion, it still remains true, 
 that you are intrusted with most important privileges. It 
 lies with you to say, whether or not, your town affairs shall 
 be conducted with order, fairness and economy ; whether 
 your schools shall be nurseries of virtue, as well as of 
 useful knowledge ; whether the Sabbath shall be reli- 
 giously observed, and the publick worship of God, respec- 
 tably maintained among you ; whether your town shall 
 present the pleasing aspect of a people, advancing in all 
 those attainments, which render a people respectable and 
 happy. It very much lies with you to say, what shall be 
 the character of your posterity ; what rank and standing 
 your town shall have among her sister towns, when your 
 heads shall be laid low in the dust. Under God, my 
 friends, these things still lie with you. They constitute a 
 most important. trust ; and they justify me in saying, that 
 much is given to you. Your conduct as a body politick, 
 or as members of religious society, involves consequences, 
 unspeakably important to you and your children, and to 
 the cause of good morals in this section of the State. 
 
 II. Let me now request your attention to the duties, 
 which the trust reposed in you enjoins. Unto whomso- 
 ever much is given, of him will be much required." 
 
 You, my friends, are intrusted with the welfare of this 
 town. You are bound then to consult its welfare. In 
 your civil concerns, all private and party feelings should 
 be suppressed. Every voter should come to the town- 
 meeting with the purpose of acting with the same regard 
 to integrity, and to the welfare of the town, as though he 
 were about to perform the last act of his life. Every 
 voter should act under the conviction, that he is account- 
 able to a higher power, than that of man, for the vote he 
 
8 
 
 gives, for the measures he supports. If this consideration 
 had its due weight with a majority of voters, I am per^ 
 auaded, the business of our towns generally, would be 
 conducted with much greater unanimity, and much greater 
 advantage to the publick interest. It is a melancholy 
 spectacle to see a town divided against itself. In such a 
 situation, no town ever did, nor ever can prosper. In 
 your civil affairs, therefore, you will study the things that 
 make for peace ; the things that make for good order ; 
 the things that may make a favourable impression on the 
 young men, who from year to year are coming forward to 
 act as voters. You will consider your example as impor- 
 tant to the rising generation ; and adopt no means to carry 
 favourite measures, which as good fathers and good men, 
 you cannot conscientiously recommend to your own sons. 
 You will set an example of moderation and candour ; an 
 example of true love for the honour of your town. 
 
 It belongs to you as legal voters, to raise money for the 
 support of schools. Generous provision by law is made 
 for this purpose. You are under legal obligation to raise 
 a considerable sum ; but if this sum prove inadequate to 
 the just claims of your youth, you are under moral obliga- 
 tion to enlarge it. In providing schools for your children, 
 you not only afford them the means of becoming respecta- 
 ble and useful in life ; but you provide for supporting 
 the government of your choice ; for the security of your 
 property, and of your neighbour's property ; for the 
 tranquillity and happiness of mankind. It is a maxim of 
 our government, that one of its essential pillars is know- 
 ledge ; that without the diffusion of a good portion of in- 
 telligence among the people, this government cannot be 
 maintained. Popular ignorance may do for other govern- 
 ments, but it cannot do for ours. To speak of ignorant 
 republicans, would be just as absurd, as to speak of enlight- 
 ened slaves. But my friends, your concern with schools 
 does not end with raising money for their support. The 
 manner in which the money is expended, is of still greater 
 importance, than the sum which is raised. You should 
 pay particular attention to the qualifications of those, whom 
 you employ to form the minds of your children. An igno- 
 rant teacher is little better than none : an immoral teacher 
 is much worse than none. The teacher even of a com- 
 mon school, ought to be a person of respectable informa- 
 tion. He ought to be one^ who is given to reading and 
 
fond of knowledge. He ought in fact, to know a great 
 deal more, than he expects to impart to his pupils ; other- 
 wise, he cannot be apt in teaching even those things, which 
 his pupils may wish to learn. Especially, should every 
 teacher of youth be a person of sound morals. He should 
 be one, whose general deportment and conversation will 
 have a tendency to raise and improve the character of his 
 pupils. Consider, my friends, what treasures you commit 
 to the care of your schoolmasters. You commit to them 
 the instruction of those, who are to bear up your names, 
 when you shall be sleeping in the dust. You assign to 
 them the high duty of forming the moral and intellectual 
 character of those, who, in a few years more, will consti- 
 tute the heads of families and the pillars of society in this 
 place. Will you not then be attentive to the qualifications 
 of the teachers you provide for them ? Will you not seek 
 for them such teachers as are worthy to bear a part in 
 training up those, to whom the dearest interests of society 
 will so soon be committed ? Will you not take great pains 
 to bring forward a well informed and virtuous race, to fill 
 the places of their fathers, and to be ornaments to their 
 families and town ? If any anxieties, pertaining to this world, 
 are virtuous, they are the anxieties we feel for our chil- 
 dren ; for their education, connexions, and standing in so- 
 ciety. If we have no anxieties like these, we must be 
 unnatural indeed ; we must be destitute of the feelings of 
 parents. These anxieties, however, are common to us 
 all ; but it is only through a careful provision for the in- 
 tellectual, moral and religious education of our offspring, 
 that we can hope to verify the proverb, " children's chil- 
 dren are the crown of old men, and the glory of children 
 are their fathers." 
 
 It belongs to the legal voters of this town, to determine 
 the great question of supporting among them the regular 
 ministrations of the gospel. It belongs to you, my friends, 
 to determine, whether the God of your fathers shall here 
 be statedly and unitedly worshipped ; whether you will 
 statedly and unitedly come together to inquire for a right 
 way for yourselves and your little ones ; that is, whether 
 you will avail yourselves of the benefits, which a regular 
 ministry would bring to you ; or whether you will forsake 
 the assembling of yourselves together, (as the manner of 
 too many already is,) or go on with your present very 
 scanty means of moral and religious instruction. The 
 
10 
 
 question of a regular support of the gospel, is a question 
 essentially connected with your character and prospects 
 as a people ; a question, which you are bound to decide 
 with reference to another day, when all your conduct will 
 be judged by him, who has already said, " unto whomso- 
 ever much is given, of him will be much required." 
 
 I am aware that a recent law of the State has taken 
 from you what townsmen anciently considered one of their 
 dearest rights, the right of providing as a town, for sup- 
 porting the institutions of religion. Were every voter in 
 town heartily attached to the same order of Christians, 
 you could not call a town-meeting, and legally vote one 
 dollar toward building a house of worship, or supporting 
 a minister. But still there is a way in which you may 
 enjoy, and legally enjoy, religious worship and instruction. 
 You may associate as members of religious society, and 
 support just such order as you agree to support. And if 
 this institution of your fathers, or any other religious in- 
 stitution, is to be supported here, it is natural to expect, 
 that it will chiefly be done by those who are voters in 
 town affairs. And I beg you to be assured, that I consider 
 myself as addressing those, who have a duty to perform 
 in relation to this subject ; that I consider myself as ad- 
 dressing reasonable men and conscientious men, who will 
 not shut their eyes against the truth, and absurdly imag- 
 ine, that because they have, for many years, neglected 
 their duty, they may therefore continue to neglect it. 
 
 The language of the existing law concerning religion is 
 this : You may support any religious institutions, or none 
 at all, just as you please. But the Constitution of the 
 State and the law of God speak a very different language. 
 If you will take the trouble of reading the sixth article of 
 the Bill of Rights, you will find, that, while it very pro- 
 perly guards the rights of conscience, it solemnly asserts 
 the duty of supporting religious institutions. I trust I need 
 not take up your time in shewing, that the Bible incul- 
 cates the same duty. I trust you will all admit the truth 
 of these two propositions. First, that no government, de- 
 pending on publick opinion, that is, no free government, 
 can be supported without piety and good morals. And 
 secondly, that piety and good morals cannot be cherished 
 and maintained in the community, without publick instruc- 
 tion. For my part, I should expect, that mankind at large, 
 would just as soon understand reading, writing and arith- 
 
11 
 
 metick, without schools or teachers ; as become religious 
 or moral, without publick instruction. I never heard of a 
 virtuous people, who had not such instruction. Now, 
 if you admit the truth of my two propositions, how can 
 you possibly avoid the inference, that it is your duty to 
 support the institutions of religion in this place ? You are 
 indeed bound to support them, by your regard for the 
 government under which you live. You are bound as 
 good citizens, to adopt the best and most obvious means of 
 preserving in your town an orderly, sober, industrious race 
 of men ; a race of men, worthy to enjoy, and capable of 
 maintaining a republican form of government. If you can 
 do this without regularly supporting the " publick worship 
 of the Deity, and publick instruction in religion, piety and 
 moraliy," you possess a secret, which your fathers never 
 dreamt of; and you will authorize the conclusion, that hu- 
 man nature is different here from what it is in all other 
 parts of the world. But the truth is, my friends, if you 
 would be an enlightened and moral people, you must take 
 the same steps to this end, which the wise and good part 
 of mankind have ever found to be necessary. This end 
 can be attained by no other steps. 
 
 The influence of stated religious worship and instruc- 
 tion is visible, not only in the good order of towns, but in 
 the relative value of real estate. Look through Christen- 
 dom, and you will find, that towns, where the institutions 
 of religion are well supported, compared with towns in 
 which they are in a great measure neglected, have a de- 
 cided advantage in the value of their farms ; and this ad- 
 vantage constitutes a fund, much larger than is requisite 
 for the support of the gospel. The quality of the soil 
 and local advantages do not determine the entire value of 
 farms. It is a serious truth, that the character of the in- 
 habitants, their disposition and habits in relation to schools, 
 to the Sabbath, and to the institutions of religion, are tak- 
 en into the account. This is true of every farming town 
 in New-England ; and it always will be true, while there 
 remains among us a vestige of good principle. So that 
 you are furnished even with pecuniary motives in favour 
 of supporting the gospel ; and so true is it, that godliness 
 has promise of the life that now is. I would not recom- 
 mend a shew of religion for the sake of worldly advan- 
 tage. This certainly would be very wrong. But I 
 would recommend, that you seriously consider the iati- 
 
12 
 
 mate connexion that subsists between the spiritual and 
 temporal welfare of mankind. You cannot direct me to 
 any numerous community on the face of the whole earth, 
 comparatively distinguished for piety and good morals, and 
 not, at the same time, comparatively distinguished for tem- 
 poral prosperity. 
 
 I might now offer to your consideration the purely re- 
 ligious motives which should induce you to support the 
 preaching of the gospel. I might speak of the impor- 
 tance of the means of grace, as connected with salvation. 
 But I have time only to observe on this topick, that the 
 preaching of the gospel is the great instrument, which 
 God, in every age of the church, has made use of to con- 
 vert and save the souls of men. 
 
 There are several apologies for neglecting, or refusing 
 to support the institutions of religion, which in our desti- 
 tute towns are more or less urged, and which deserve to 
 be considered. One of these apologies is this : The peo- 
 ple are so divided, that the support of a minister is imprac- 
 ticable. Now, my friends, wherever division consists in 
 want of kind and good feelings, it is manifestly criminal in 
 itself, and cannot justify the neglect in question. It shews 
 that religion and morality are low, and that publick wor- 
 ship and instruction are very much needed to bring about 
 a better state of things. And I know of nothing so well 
 calculated to create, and cherish, and keep alive the 
 friendly affections among a people, as the habit of meet- 
 ing one another in the solemn assembly, where all are re- 
 minded of their personal frailties and sins, and taught to 
 exercise a spirit of forgiveness one toward another. What 
 can you imagine more likely to counteract the spirit of 
 wrath, and clamour, and evil speaking, than frequently as- 
 sembling yourselves together, in the more especial pres- 
 ence of Him, whose offspring you are, and whom you are 
 to remember as your common parent ? The mere coming 
 together, in an orderly and decent manner, and seeing one 
 another, has a happy influence in cultivating friendly dis- 
 positions. By frequently meeting in this way, you acquire 
 an interest in one another's welfare ; you feel like breth- 
 ren, having a common interest to promote. And if you 
 come together with the prayer in your hearts, as well as 
 on your lips, that your debts may be forgiven as you for- 
 give your debtors, you cannot avoid becoming an affec- 
 tionate and united people. 
 
13 
 
 Some excuse themselves from giving their support te 
 religious institutions, because they have an ill opinion of 
 individuals, already supporting them; or because they 
 disapprove some parish proceedings. Both of these rea- 
 sons, my friends, are very deficient, as justifying reasons. 
 You are bound, at all events, to do your duty, and to 
 make the best of every thing. Dislike to other persons 
 will certainly be a poor excuse to offer to your Judge, 
 for neglecting an institution, expressly designed as a 
 means of preparation for another and a better world. 
 And what an ill symptom is it, that pilgrims on the same 
 journey, and bound, as they imagine, to the same city of 
 rest and glory, should fall out by the way, and refuse to 
 walk together for mutual comfort and encouragement ! 
 What an evidence is it of want of proper views and feel- 
 ings ! of want of that meekness and comprehensive benev- 
 olence, which distinguished the character of Him who 
 died, that we might live ! 
 
 As to parish proceedings, no person should expect, that 
 they will always be conducted in the best possible man- 
 ner, nor in the manner he thinks best. Imperfection is 
 ' the lot of all human institutions ; it is especially the lot of 
 towns and parishes. Of this you should always be sensi- 
 ble ; and, instead of refusing your aid to the support of 
 gospel order, stand forward in the good cause, and re- 
 main firm at your post. If measures at any time are 
 adopted, which are wrong in themselves, or which you dis- 
 approve, do all you can by fair, and gentle, and Christian 
 methods, to obviate their injurious effects. Religious so- 
 ciety, and all other society, in this imperfect world, must 
 be supported on principles of mutual concession. 
 
 But the great apology, which we most frequently hear 
 offered, for neglecting to support religious order in our 
 towns, are divisions in religious sentiments. Some are 
 Congregationalists, some are Baptists, some are Methodists, 
 some are Calvinists, some are Arminians, some are Trini- 
 tarians, and some are Unitarians ; and there is such a diver- 
 sity of opinions, that no general measures for the support 
 of any one denomination, can be adopted. Has it then 
 come to this ? And is it true, that God has revealed a re- 
 ligion, that you might know how to honour him, and how 
 to work out your own salvation ? has he revealed a reli- 
 gion, speaking peace on earth and good will to men ? and 
 now is it such a matter of uncertainty what the essential 
 2 
 
14 
 
 principles of this religion are, that you cannot be so far 
 united, as to worship your Creator under the same roof, 
 and sit under the preaching of the same minister ? that 
 you cannot, in fact, agree to support regularly any worship 
 and instruction at all ? Is Christ divided ? Is he not forever 
 one and the same ? And must not all who receive the ben- 
 efits of his mediation, possess one and the same spirit ? Is 
 not his religion most eminently a religion of love ? Did he 
 not, in the most solemn and affecting language, exhort his 
 followers to be united ; declaring, that the very badge by 
 which they were to be known, was mutual love ? Now, 
 how does this comport with the divisions among us ; and 
 with the party names, that are got up, to prevent these 
 divisions, if possible, from ever being healed ? For my part, 
 I consider most of our divisions as arising more from will 
 and feeling, than from conviction and principle, and the 
 names by which they are distinguished, as answering the 
 views of the great enemy, rather than of the great Head 
 of the church. 
 
 I believe, my friends, there are such things as conscien- 
 tious differences in religious opinion. But these seldom 
 form a proper ground of separation. Those who possess 
 the spirit of Christ's religion, can forbear one another in 
 love. They can agree to differ; and can walk together, 
 although they cannot think alike on all subjects of Divin- 
 ity. We have no reason to expect, that men will all 
 think alike ; but we have a right to ask, that they would 
 not make their differences in opinion such a ground of sep- 
 aration, as to abolish the very institutions of religion. 
 And we have a right to say, that this argument for neglect- 
 ing these institutions, on account of differences in opinion, 
 is a false argument, because it proves too much ; it goes 
 to the destruction of gospel order. It is my belief, that 
 it cannot be taken as an excuse at the hands of any people 
 of competent numbers and property, that they cannot 
 maintain gospel order, because they cannot agree to do 
 it; any more, than it could be taken as an excuse for 
 their general want of uprightness, that they could not 
 agree to be upright. The matter of agreement is a mat- 
 ter of duty ; of duty, which no people can perseveringly 
 neglect, without bringing down upon themselves, in one 
 form or another, the judgments of Heaven ; without per- 
 petuating a moral desolation. 
 
DISCOURSE II. 
 
 REV. Ill, 2. 
 
 Strengthen the things that remain, that are ready to die. 
 
 THESE words contain a serious admonition to all churches 
 and religious societies, in which religion itself is in a languid 
 and decaying state ; and, I trust, they will not be considered 
 as ill adapted to the present circumstances of this church 
 and people. They were originally addressed to a church 
 of which it was said, that it had a name, that it lived, and 
 was dead. That is, the church was still in an organized 
 state ; the institution remained ; but the ends of the insti- 
 tution were very scantily answered. The institution itself 
 was much less cherished, than it had formerly been ; its 
 friends were remiss, or discouraged ; and its enemies, un- 
 ceasingly vigilant in contriving its ruin. The situation of 
 the church at Sardis, seems to have been remarkably sim- 
 ilar to that of many churches at the present day ; and, I 
 am persuaded, bore no distant resemblance to the situation 
 of the church in this place. The same general considera- 
 tions, therefore, which made it desirable that the .things 
 which remained in that church, should be strengthened, 
 make it likewise desirable, that the things which here re- 
 main, should be strengthened. And the same general duties, 
 which devolved upon the few disciples of Christ at Sardis, 
 devolve also upon his few professing followers here ; and, 
 indeed, upon all, who have any serious desire to see the 
 regular ministrations of the gospel reestablished in this 
 place. u Strengthen the things that remain, that are ready 
 to die." 
 
 In this discourse, I shall endeavour to shew, that the 
 things, which here remain are worthy of being strength- 
 ened ; and to suggest the means of doing it. 
 
 The church and society here remaining, are of the an- 
 cient order, introduced and established by the first fathers 
 of New-England. For almost a century from the landing of 
 the Pilgrims, the people of New-England were nearly all of 
 
this order. Ample time had been given to test the worth 
 of their religious institutions, long before some denomina- 
 tions, now growing numerous, were ever heard of in this 
 country, or even in the world. Now, my friends, all who 
 have paid any attention to the history of New-England, 
 know very well, that our Fathers were wonderfully pros- 
 pered and blest. Their religious institutions had a happy 
 influence upon their general character. They were emi- 
 nently a moral and religious people. Indeed, no person 
 can fairly examine their history without perceiving, that 
 God, in a remarkable manner, owned and blessed their re- 
 ligious institutions. Shall we, then, lightly esteem, nay, 
 shall we count as vile, what God himself has owned and 
 blest ? Shall we turn our backs upon institutions, which 
 the great Head of the Church has honoured with his own 
 presence, and rendered subservient to the conversion and 
 sanctification of multitudes, who have gone before us? 
 Shall we not rather strengthen what yet remains of these 
 ancient, venerable, and precious institutions ; and do all in 
 our power, to repair the breaches they have sustained ? 
 
 You will not understand me as recommending an institu- 
 tion, merely because it is ancient. I know very well, that 
 the antiquity of an institution, is no certain evidence of its 
 real value and utility. But when an institution has been 
 found by the experience of successive generations, to be 
 highly capable of answering all the important purposes, 
 for which it was established, it certainly is a good reason 
 for continuing to support it. We ought not to exchange 
 such an institution for any other of recent origin, and, at 
 the same time, of very doubtful tendency. 
 
 The Congregational churches of New-England have 
 been instrumental in bringing down the richest blessings 
 upon the land. In the bosom of these churches were nur- 
 tured that fervent piety, that Christian fortitude, that un- 
 wavering trust in a superintending Providence, which pre- 
 pared our fathers for the grand enterprise of converting a 
 savage wilderness into a dwelling-place for enlightened 
 and civilized man. In the bosom of these churches were 
 nurtured that spirit of liberty, and that boldness of charac- 
 ter, which fitted them for resisting, at every step, the 
 encroachments of arbitrary power. The Congregational 
 Fathers of New-England laid the foundation of all, that is 
 most valuable in our civil institutions.* To those fathers, 
 
 * I tillude to the civil institutions of the New-England States. 
 
17 
 
 under God, we owe it, that we are now a free people ; 
 and so richly provided with the means of becoming wise, 
 and virtuous, and happy. It was their earliest concern, to 
 establish schools, to organize parishes and churches, to 
 build houses of worship, to settle and maintain pastors and 
 teachers, and to do all in their power for the improvement 
 of succeeding generations. 
 
 I would not be understood to say, or to believe, that our 
 Fathers were perfect. I know they were tinctured with 
 a portion of the intolerance of their age. But I believe 
 myself entirely justified in saying, they were as worthy a 
 race of men, as existed in their day. Their memories are 
 worthy of being honoured by us ; and their institutions, 
 worthy of being maintained. And, I will add, unless they 
 are maintained ; unless they are cherished and supported 
 with greater zeal and interest, than seem to be customary 
 at present, especially in this quarter, there is much reason 
 to fear, that the state of society will grow worse and worse ; 
 and, at no very distant day, that we shall become a gross- 
 ly wicked and profligate people. Every father, every 
 mother, every friend to his country, has reason to be anx- 
 ious for the rising generation. 
 
 What, my friends, would have been the feelings of our 
 Fathers, had they supposed, that their children would treat 
 their most valuable institutions with cold indifference ? 
 Would they have encountered so many hardships for the 
 sake of transmitting such privileges to a thankless posteri- 
 ty ? Would they have offered so many fervent prayers to 
 God for his guidance and blessing, had they imagined, that 
 the more they themselves were prospered, the more guilty 
 would be their children ? And what a sad compliment to 
 the memory of those worthy and pious Fathers, is the sit- 
 uation of many a Congregational church and society in 
 New-Hampshire ! Say not that I am unreasonably attached 
 to a particular order of Christians. I can heartily say, 
 i; peace be with all those, that love our Lord Jesus Christ 
 in sincerity ;" and I can heartily rejoice in the success of 
 true religion, in whatever sect or denomination it may be 
 found. Still I feel authorised to plead for the Congrega- 
 tional churches^ because I believe them well calculated 
 in themselves, to promote piety and good morals ; entirely 
 consonant to the principles of republican government ; 
 and, to say the least, as much as any other existing 
 order, agreeable to scripture. I believe these church,- 
 2* 
 
18 
 
 es have been the means of preserving among us, more 
 than all other means, a sense of God's providence and 
 of a world to come ; of holding up, in a multitude of 
 honourable examples, a standard of Christian character, 
 which has been, and still is, of invaluable benefit to the 
 community. I believe, if these churches are forsaken, and 
 . finally become extinct, that no regular institutions of reli- 
 gion will soon be established in their place ; and that the 
 name, as well as influence of Christianity, will be in danger 
 of disappearing from the land. Believing these things, I 
 cannot hesitate to exhort you to strengthen the things that 
 remain ; nor can I hesitate to say, that the things which 
 remain, are worthy of being strengthened. 
 
 II. I will now suggest some of the means, by which the 
 end proposed in the text, may be attained ; some of the 
 means, by which you may hope to strengthen the things, 
 that remain in this place. 
 
 First, I would recommend to the few professors, who 
 remain connected with this church and society, a greater 
 earnestness and zeal in the cause of their Master. You, 
 my friends, must be especially solicitous to honour the re- 
 ligion you profess. You have assumed a situation highly 
 responsible. You have taken upon yourselves the vows 
 of God. You have declared your allegiance to Him, and 
 professed to experience the power of his grace. You pro- 
 fess to have taken up your cross, and to have become the 
 disciples of Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he 
 might redeem us from iniquity, and purify unto himself a 
 peculiar people. You call upon the world to take know- 
 ledge of you, that you have been with him. You have 
 charged yourselves with the high office of maintaining the 
 honour of his kingdom in the world ; of exhibiting the 
 power of his religion to rectify the human character. You, 
 in effect, say to others, be ye followers of us, even as we 
 are of Christ. The glory of God, the prosperity of the 
 church, the cause of religious order and religious instruction 
 in this place, the health of your own souls ; every consid- 
 eration of duty and interest, urge you to exhibit the pecu- 
 liarities of the Christian character. You must be persons 
 of sound morals, of daily prayer, of visible and fervent 
 piety. You must be frequent in your supplications at the 
 throne of grace, that pure religion, the religion of the 
 heart, the religion which renews and sanctifies the life, 
 may revive amongst this people. You must imitate the 
 
19 
 
 examples of Nehemiah, Ezra, and other eminently pious 
 persons of every age. They humbled themselves before 
 God, on account of their own coldness and indifference, as 
 well as on account of the general disregard to religion. 
 And while they were earnest in prayer, they were earnest 
 also in action. So you, my friends, must evince, by your 
 personal exertions, as well as by your devotional habits, your 
 zeal to promote the cause of truth and righteousness. You 
 must let it appear, that you are not ashamed of the gospel. 
 As a church, you should occasionally meet for prayer and 
 mutual encouragement. You should endeavour to make 
 it manifest, that, although your number is greatly dimin- 
 ished, the spirit of prayer still remains among you ; and 
 that you are ready to do whatever is incumbent on you, as 
 professors of Christ's religion, to repair the breaches that 
 have been made here, and to strengthen the things that 
 remain. 
 
 In the second place, I would recommend to those, who 
 are decidedly favourable to the order and mode of wor- 
 ship, introduced and maintained by their fathers, to be 
 more active and engaged in the good work of reestablish- 
 ing the regular ministrations of the gospel. I trust, here 
 are still remaining a goodly number, who would rejoice to 
 see this church and society in a flourishing state. I trust 
 here are a goodly number, who are convinced and satisfied, 
 that the religious observation of the Sabbath, the regular 
 support of publick worship in a house set apart for that 
 purpose, and the weekly publick instructions, as well as 
 friendly private admonitions of a Christian minister, are 
 absolutely essential to a well regulated and moral people. 
 To this goodly number let me say then, you must take a 
 still deeper interest in this great concern ; this concern, 
 connected not only with your own personal welfare, but 
 with the welfare of the children, whom you love, and of 
 the town at large, whose prosperity you would gladly 
 promote. Here in this town, my friends, lie your most 
 important temporal interests. Here are your estates ; and 
 here are the children whom you expect to inherit them ; 
 and whom you wish to come forward in life, well inform- 
 ed, well behaved and respectable. You would gladly do 
 much to promote their advancement. Now what measure 
 can you adopt, better calculated for the instruction of your 
 own children, and of the children generally in the town ; 
 better calculated to secure an orderly, industrious, intel- 
 
20 
 
 ligent and worthy posterity, than to provide yourselves 
 with a pious, discreet, and well educated minister ? I say 
 it seriously, I say it boldly, that your children and posterity 
 would be better situated with half the property they might 
 inherit, provided they could inherit likewise the blessings 
 of gospel order and gospel instruction, than with all your 
 property, along with a broken state of society and a gene- 
 ral indifference to the institutions of religion. The inhe- 
 ritance you might leave them in a convenient and respec- 
 table house of worship, and in the virtues and labours of a 
 worthy Christian minister, would be the most valuable in- 
 heritance in your power to leave ; even if you consulted 
 merely their welfare in the present life. For, after all, 
 it is moral worth, and not riches, which constitutes the 
 true dignity, and true happiness of a people. 
 
 But, my friends, you have immortal souls, and your chil- 
 dren have immortal souls, whose welfare in a future state, 
 should be your highest concern. This world is not your 
 home. It is a state of probation. It is a transitory state. 
 It will soon come to an end. But its consequences wilj 
 remain forever ! Will you not, then, take an important 
 step, on your part, towards rendering your being a bless- 
 ing to you, and your children's being a blessing to them ? 
 Will you not make great exertions, great sacrifices, if need 
 be* to provide yourselves and your children with the cus- 
 tomary privileges of a Christian people ? 
 
 In the last place, I may be permitted to say a few words 
 to those, who are in the habit of doing nothing for the sup- 
 port of any order of worship in any place. 
 
 You, my friends, stand aloof, and, like the nobles of the 
 Tekoites, put not your hands to the work of the Lord. 
 Can you now before God, and, at the bar of your own 
 consciences, justifv yourselves in the course you are tak- 
 ing ? And will you, on a more solemn day, be able to jus- 
 tify yourselves ? I take upon me to say, that you are 
 under obligations, which no law of man, nor "will of man 
 can dissolve, to assist according to your ability, in provid- 
 ing and maintaining the regular ministrations of the gospel. 
 You are as much bound by the law of God, to provide for 
 the instruction of yourselves and your children in religion 
 and morality, as you are, to provide food, and raiment, 
 and shelter. 
 
 But perhaps you are in doubt, what order of Christianity 
 to support. I reply, any order is better than none. But 
 
21 
 
 if all were to follow your example, no order whatever 
 would be supported. No Christian institutions would be 
 found in the country. You would not see houses of wor- 
 ship erected or repaired ; but all would go to decay, and 
 disappear from the face of the earth. This state of things, 
 I am confident, would give you great pain. You could not 
 witness, without deep regret, such a sad departure from 
 the practice of your fathers. You cannot readily give up 
 all thoughts of attending publick worship ; of assembling, 
 at least occasionally, with your families and neighbours, in 
 the House, where God has graciously promised to hear 
 and to answer. Why, then, do you hesitate to contribute 
 according to your ability, towards the support of an insti- 
 tution, which you acknowledge and believe to be useful 
 and necessary ? 
 
 Perhaps some of you may plead, that your property is 
 small, and that you are unable to do much for the support 
 of the gospel. I do not ask you to do much ; I ask you to 
 do something, I ask you to do what you are able to do, 
 a/id no more. How little soever you may do, if it be 
 according to your ability, it will not only show, that you 
 are friendly to gospel order, but will help to strengthen 
 the hands of this society. You can all cast in, at least, 
 two mites; and you know, that two mites were neither 
 rejected, nor ill spoken of. ^Be entreated, then, to con- 
 sider this subject in a more serious light, than you have 
 hitherto done. Consider What bearing it may have on 
 your own welfare and that of your families in the present 
 world ; but above all, what bearing it may possibly have 
 on your welfare in the world to come. You cannot feel 
 certain, you are right in withholding your aid from this in- 
 stitution of religion. I think, you may be very sure, it 
 will be safe to give your aid. Now, my friends, it is a 
 good rule, where one side is doubtful and the other side 
 safe, always to take the safe side. 
 
 I trust you will all do me the justice to believe, that, in 
 the plain discourse I have now given, I have sought not 
 yours, but you. Though I have spoken plainly, I have 
 endeavoured to speak kindly ; and to offer such consider- 
 ations, and such only, as are worthy to influence the candid 
 hearer. " And now, brethren, I commend you to God, 
 and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you 
 up, and to give you an inheritance among all them, which 
 are sanctified," 
 
EXTRACTS 
 From DR. DAWS Election Sermon, 1823. 
 
 " Those laws which are founded in righteousness will 
 give an efficient protection to the Sabbath. Of all the insti- 
 tutions which our world has witnessed, this is the most 
 purely benign. Had it been a mere human invention, it 
 would have justly ranked its author among the greatest 
 of philosophers, and the most illustrious benefactors of his 
 species. Stamped, as it unquestionably is, with a divine 
 authority, it is most precious to the patriot and philanthro- 
 pist, as well as the Christian. The devotions of the 
 
 Sabbath are the grand cement of human society. They 
 put to flight those baleful passions which invade its order 
 and prey upon its peace ; while they powerfully cherish 
 all those dispositions which constitute its beauty, its har- 
 mony, and its happiness. The instructions appropriate to 
 this sacred season, are calculated to produce a similar 
 general effect. All which the Scriptures reveal respec- 
 ting God, his law, the wonders of redemption, the distin- 
 guishing excellencies of the Saviour, the genius and spirit 
 of his religion, powerfully tends to humble the pride, and 
 soften the asperities of the human breast; and at the 
 same time, to inspire those virtues which are the orna- 
 ments and safe-guards of human society, and the sweet- 
 eners of human life. The result is, that the Sabbath is the 
 best friend of social, as well as of individual man ; the 
 most efficient patron of publick peace, order, virtue and 
 happiness." 
 
 " It has, 1 am not insensible, been maintained that Reli- 
 gion, being a concern between man and his Maker, and 
 having its principal reference to our spiritual interests, 
 and our immortal destiny, needs not the support of civil 
 government. This position, with certain obvious limita- 
 tions, may be true. Still there remains a most important 
 question. Does not civil government; do not all the 
 great and momentous interests of society, need the sup- 
 port of religion ? Have not the wisest legislators, ancient 
 and modern, heathen and Christian, felt and acknowledged 
 the inefficiency of all institutions and laws merely human ; 
 and to supply the defect, resorted to the high and ever- 
 
23 
 
 lasting- sanctions of religion? Such were obviously the 
 views of the Framers of the Constitution of this State. 
 All restraints on religious liberty; all invasions of the 
 rights of conscience ; all preferences of one sect or de- 
 nomination to another; all impositions, by the civil power, 
 of creeds and liturgies, we sincerely deprecate. No en- 
 lightened Christian, nor enlightened patriot, would wish to 
 see, in our favored country, a religious establishment. It 
 would corrupt religion, without affording substantial aid to 
 the state. Nor is it to be desired that such provision 
 should be made by Christian societies, for the clergy, as 
 should render the sacred office a lure to ambition, or to 
 avarice. The system, so opposite to this, which has long 
 prevailed in this state, has had its influence, it may be be- 
 lieved, to preserve the purity of the clerical profession. 
 Still, that a minister of the gospel, instead of relying on 
 the justice of a society which has pledged him a support, 
 should be liable to be cast on the world ; should even find 
 himself a mere pensioner on private bounty ; cannot be 
 favorable, either to his dignity, or his usefulness. By the 
 nature of his office, he is required to declare unwelcome 
 truths, and to press unwelcome duties; to dispense warn- 
 ings, admonitions and rebukes, 'without partiality, and 
 without fear, to all classes of mankind. The best interests 
 of his hearers therefore, and of society at large, forbid 
 that he should be subjected to such temptations to unfaith- 
 fulness, as no ordinary degree of virtue can withstand. 
 Should he even, by a rare moral heroism, combine an en- 
 tire independence of mind with an extreme dependence of 
 circumstances ; still his influence in guiding the judgment 
 of the community, in forming its taste, and regulating its 
 manners, would be comparatively small." 
 
 I will merely subjoin to these excellent sentiments, 
 that not only is extreme dependence of circumstances unfa- 
 vourable to the character and influence of Christian min- 
 isters; but extreme ignorance also. An enlightened and 
 religious people will not fail to require knowledge and 
 sound learning, as well as fervent piety, in those who 
 sustain the clerical profession. 
 
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