A SERMON PREACHED BEFORE THE HONORABLE COUNCIL, AND THE HONORABLE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE COLONY of the MASSACHUSETTS-BAY, IN NEW-ENGLAND. MAY 29th, 1776. BEING THE ANNIVERSARY FOR THE ELECTION OF THE HONORABLE COUNCIL FOR THE COLONY. BY SAMUEL WEST, A. M. PASTOR OF A CHURCH IN DARTMOUTH. And I will restore thy judges as at the firft, and thy counfellors as at the beginning afterward thou shalt be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city, Isa. 4. 26, Their children alfo fhall be as aforetime, and their congregations shall be established before me, and I will punish all that opprefs them: and their nobles fhall be of themselves, and their governor fhall proceed from the midst of them, JERE. 30. 20. 21. As free and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the fervants of GOD, 1 PETER 2 16. The beast that thou faweft, fhall afcend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition and they that dwell on the earth fhall wonder, whofe names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beaft, REV. 17. ver. 8. BOSTON: PRINTED BY JOHN GILL, in QUEEN-STREET. IN COUNCIL, May 30, 1776. On motion, Ordered, That Thomas Cushing, Benjamin Lincoln, and Moses Gill, Esquires, be a Committee to wait on Rev. Mr. West, and return him the thanks of the Board for his Sermon delivered yesterday before both Houses of Assembly; and to request a copy thereof for the press. PEREZ MORTON, D. Secretery. EDITOR'S PREFATORY NOTE. > THE "Provincial Congress," or provisional government, after General Gage was renounced, October 7, 1774, and before which President Langdon preached in 1775, was dissolved, by its own act, July 19, 1775, and on the same day was convened the new government, "The Honorable Council and the Honorable House of Representatives," before which the Rev. Mr. West now preached. This step in political progress was initiated in this way: In an address, May 16, 1775, to the American Congress at Philadelphia, — "the representative body of the continent,”— the Massachusetts "Congress" said: "We have made all the preparation for our necessary defence that our confused state would admit of; and, as the question equally affected our sister colonies and us, we have declined, though urged thereto by the most pressing necessity, to assume the reins of civil government without their advice and consent. . . . We are now compelled to raise an army, which, with the assistance of the other colonies, we hope, under the smiles of Heaven, will be able to defend us, and all America, from the further butcheries and devastations of our implacable enemies. . . . We hope you will favor us with your most explicit advice respecting the taking up and exercising the powers of civil government. As the sword should, in all free states, be subservient to the civil powers, we beg leave to suggest to your consideration the propriety of your taking the regulation and general direction of the army." .. Upon consideration of this application, the Continental Congress, June 9, 1775, recommended to Massachusetts "to conform as near as may be to the spirit and substance of the charter;" to choose an assembly who should elect councillors," which assembly and council should exercise the powers of government until a governor of his Majesty's appointment will consent to govern the colony according to its charter." This form was continued till the present constitution was adopted, in 1780, and John Hancock chosen governor. Their political ideas were happily expressed by the device on the bills of public credit, of August 18, 1775, which was the figure of an American, with a sword in his right hand, bearing Algernon Sydney's celebrated line, "Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem,” and in his left hand Magna Charta; around the figure, "Issued in Defence of American Liberty." This, modified, is emblazoned on the shield of the "Commonwealth;" the motto is still retained; and thus Massachusetts displays in her state arms a memento of the cost of her liberty, and in the legend a perpetual memorial of her historical and political fellowship with that eminent school of republican statesmen of which Sydney, with Russell, was the glory, and whose " Discourses on Government" was, next after the Bible, the political text-book of the fathers of the Republic. On the 2d of July, Washington entered Cambridge as commander-inchief. The speech from the throne, October 26, 1775, announced to Parliament actual "rebellion" in the colonies, and that the naval and land forces had been greatly augmented, and set forth the necessity of sufficient force to suppress it. A bill was introduced interdicting all trade with the thirteen united colonies, and authorizing the capture of their property on the ocean. The Continental Congress retaliated by issuing letters of marque to cruise against the subjects of Great Britain, and by permitting trade with all the world but Great Britain and Ireland. The New England "Thanksgiving"- the glad observance of which is now extended to nearly all the States in the Union, even to the Pacificwas not omitted even in the gloomiest days of the struggle. The proclamation for that anniversary in Massachusetts, intervening half way between the "election-days" of 1775 and 1776, is here given, as the object of this volume is to reproduce the facts, thoughts, and emotions of the days of the Revolution, as then expressed, for contemporary pictures are always the most faithful. A PROCLAMATION FOR A PUBLIC THANKSGIVING. Although, in consequence of the unnatural, cruel, and barbarous Measures adopted and pursued by the British Administration, great and distressing Calamities are brought upon our oppressed Country, and on this 1 See pp. 75, note 1, and 93-95. > > Colony in particular; we feel the dreadful Effects of Civil War, by which America is stained with the Blood of her valiant Sons, who have bravely fallen in the laudable Defence of our Rights and Privileges; - Our Capital, once the Seat of JUSTICE, Opulence, and Virtue, is unjustly wrested from its proper Owners, who are obliged to flee from the Iron Hand of Tyranny, or are held in the unrelenting Arms of Oppression; - Our Seaports greatly distressed, and Towns burnt by the Foes, who have acted the Part of barbarous Incendiaries. And although the wise and holy Governor of the World has in his righteous Providence sent Droughts into this Colony, and wasting Sickness into many of our Towns, yet we have the greatest Reason to adore and praise the Supreme Disposer of Events, who deals infinitely better with us than we deserve; and, amidst all his judgments, hath remembered Mercy, by causing the Voice of Health again to be heard amongst us: Instead of Famine, affording to an ungrateful People a Competency of the Necessaries and Comforts of Life; in remarkably preserving and protecting our Troops when in apparent Danger, while our Enemies, with all their boasted Skill and Strength, have met with Loss, Disappointment, and Defeat; and, in the Course of his good Providence, the Father of Mercies hath bestowed upon us many other Favors, which call for our grateful Acknowledgments. Therefore, We have thought fit, with the Advice of the Council and House of Representatives, to appoint THURSDAY, the Twenty-third Day of November Instant, to be observed as a Day of Public THANKSGIVING, throughout this Colony; hereby calling upon Ministers and People to meet for religious Worship on said Day, and devoutly to offer up their unfeigned Praises to Almighty GOD, the Source and benevolent Bestower of all Good, for his affording the necessary Means of Subsistence, though our Commerce has been prevented, and the Supplies from the Fishery been denied us; - That such a Measure of Health is enjoyed among us; That the Lives of our Officers and Soldiers have been so remarkably preserved, while our Enemies have fell before them; - That the vigorous Efforts which have been used to excite Savage Vengeance of the Wilderness, and rouse the Indians to Arms, that an unavoidable Destruction might come upon our Frontiers, have been almost miraculously defeated; - That our unnatural Enemies, instead of Ravaging the Country with uncontrolled Sway, are confined within such narrow Limits, to their own Mortification and Distress, environed by an American Army, brave and determined; That such a Band of Union, founded upon the best Principles, unites the American Colonies; - That our Rights and Privileges, |