Mr. Mayhew's "desire to contribute a mite towards carrying on a war against this common enemy" that produced the following discourse. By its bold inquisition into the slavish teachings veiled in "the mys terious doctrine of the saintship and martyrdom" of Charles I., and its eloquent exposition of the principles of good government and of Christian manhood in the state, maddening the corrupt, frightening the timid, rousing the apathetic, and bracing the patriot heart, this celebrated sermon may be considered as the MORNING GUN OF THE REVOLUTION, the punctum temporis when that period of history began.1 Of the several English editions, one was published in Barrow's "Pillars of Priestcraft Shaken," 1752, in a copy of which Thomas Hollis, of London, wrote: "This very curious dissertation on government

is the first on that subject that has been produced”. in later times -"from the American world." It was the medium of Mr. Hollis's friendship to Mayhew and Harvard College; and so, incidentally, operated wonderfully in favor of the cause of liberty, civil and religious, in America. Its effect on the public mind was decided and permanent. From this moment - the dawn of independence - the spirit of the people was aroused, ever gathering force and intensity, ever narrowing and concentrating in the idea of resistance, more and more distinctly as the spirit of arbitrary power expressed itself in acts more and more offensive, until RESISTANCE culminated in bloodshed in 1775, and triumphed in peace in 1783. Robert Treat Paine called Dr. Mayhew "The Father of Civil and Religious Liberty in Massachusetts and America."

The preacher was then in the thirtieth year of his age. The manner

observances, taught and practised by the proper masters of ceremonies, avail everything. The essential spirit of Popery pervades the society, and its secretary, the Rev. Ernest Hawkins, was one of the earliest adherents to the new". revived -"Oxford apostasy."

1 The total change of political relation and ideas, of manners and prejudices, -the fading of the old feeling of deference for rank, the last tinge of feudality, -effected in the changes and passages of a century, renders it difficult now to realize the severity of the tests of temper, of courage, manliness, faithfulness, amid which these words were spoken from Dr. Mayhew's pulpit; -words so bold, so decided; allusions so direct and pointed that none could mistake, none could evade; principles so fatal to despotic polity in church or state as to wear the very garb of rebellion. Though now familiar to the public mind, and of the essence of our institutions, they then required a courage of the highest quality, the truest temper.

in which the discourse was received by the Tories and Churchmen may be inferred from the manly and characteristic "advertisement" prefixed to the first edition. It was as follows: "The author of this discourse has been credibly informed, that some persons, both formerly and lately, have wrote either at or about him—or something (he cannot well tell what) in the common newspapers, which he does not often read. He, therefore, takes this opportunity to assure the writers of that rank, and in that form, once for all, that they may slander him as much as they please, without his notice, and, very probably, without his knowledge. But if any person of common sense and common honesty shall condescend to animadvert, in a different way, upon anything which he has published, he may depend upon having all proper regard shown to him. J. M."

The authorship, and of course the nature, of this "slander," is more than hinted at by the elder President Adams, who exclaims, after speaking of Dr. Mayhew as “a whig of the first magnitude, - a clergyman equalled by very few of any denomination in piety, virtue, genius, or learning; whose works will maintain his character as long as New England shall be free, integrity esteemed, or wit, spirit, humor, reason, and knowledge admired;" yet "how was he treated from the press? Did not the reverend tories who were pleased to write against him, the missionaries of defamation as well as bigotry and passive obedience, in their pamphlets and newspapers, bespatter him all over with their filth? Did they not, with equal falsehood and malice, charge him with every evil thing?"

It was Dr. Mayhew who suggested to James Otis the idea of committees of correspondence, a measure of the greatest efficiency in producing concert of action between the colonies a thing of vital importance. Dr. Mayhew died soon after this, and the letter to Otis is interesting as his last word for the liberty of his country:

"LORD'S-DAY MORNING, June 8th, 1766.

"SIR: To a good man all time is holy enough; and none is too holy to do good, or to think upon it. Cultivating a good understanding and hearty friendship between these colonies appears to me so necessary a part of prudence and good policy, that no favorable opportunity for that purpose should be omitted. I think such an one now presents.

"Would it not be proper and decorous for our assembly to send circulars to all the rest, on the late repeal of the Stamp Act and the

present favorable aspect of affairs? - letters conceived at once in terms of friendship and regard, of loyalty to the king, filial affection towards the parent country, and expressing a desire to cement and perpetuate union among ourselves, by all laudable methods. .. Pursuing this course, or never losing sight of it, may be of the greatest importance to the colonies, perhaps the only means of perpetuating their liberties. You have heard of the communion of churches; and I am to set out to-morrow morning for Rutland, to assist at an ecclesiastical council. Not expecting to return this week, while I was thinking of this in my bed, the great use and importance of a communion of colonies appeared to me in a strong light; which led me immediately to set down these hints to transmit to you. Not knowing but the General Court may be prorogued or dissolved before my return, or my having an opportunity to speak with you, I now give them, that you may make such use of them as you think proper, or none at all."

A very comprehensive notice of Dr. Mayhew's character and writings is among the elder Adams's papers. He says: "This divine had reputation both in Europe and America, by the publication of a volume of seven sermons, in the reign of King George the Second, 1749, and by many other writings, particularly a sermon, in 1750, on the 30th of January, on the subject of passive obedience and non-resistance, in which the saintship and martyrdom of King Charles the First are considered, seasoned with wit and satire superior to any in Swift or Franklin. It was read by everybody; - celebrated by friends, and abused by enemies. During the reigns of King George the First and King George the Second, the reigns of the Stuarts, the two Jameses and the two Charleses, were in general disgrace in England. In America they had always been held in abhorrence. The persecutions and cruelties suffered by their ancestors under those reigns had been transmitted by history and tradition, and Mayhew seemed to be raised up to revive all the animosities against tyranny, in church and state, and at the same time to destroy their bigotry, fanaticism, and inconsistency. David Hume's plausible, elegant, fascinating, and fallacious apology, in which he varnished over the crimes of the Stuarts, had not then appeared. To draw the character of Mayhew would be to transcribe a dozen volumes. This transcendent genius threw all the weight of his great fame into the scale of his country in 1761, and maintained it there with zeal and ardor till his death, in 1766."

Dr. Mayhew was born, of an honorable family, at Martha's Vineyard, on the 8th of October, 1720. On the 17th of June, 1747, three years after his graduation at Harvard College with great reputation, he was ordained pastor of the West Church in Boston, of which the venerable Dr. Lowell is now pastor. The charge on the occasion came from the lips of his father, the Rev. Experience Mayhew, the distinguished missionary to the Indians. In his sermon on the repeal of the Stamp Act, 1766, there is this passage of autobiography: "Having been initiated in youth in the doctrines of civil liberty, as they were taught by such men as Plato, Demosthenes, Cicero, and other renowned persons, among the ancients; and such as Sydney and Milton, Locke and Hoadley, among the moderns, I liked them; they seemed rational. And having learnt from the holy Scriptures that wise, brave, and virtuous men were always friends to liberty, that God gave the Israelites a king in his anger, because they had not sense and virtue enough to like a free commonwealth, and that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty, this made me conclude that freedom was a great blessing."

His degree of Doctor of Divinity was presented to him, by the University of Aberdeen, in 1751, the year after his sermon of January 30th.

Critical notices of his numerous publications may be found in Dr. Eliot's admirable sketch of his life and character, one of the best of Dr. Eliot's biographical delineations.

Beloved for his pastoral fidelity and generous deeds, distinguished for his genius and intellectual strength, eminent in both Englands as a scholar and divine, revered as a true lover of liberty and ardent Christian patriot, this noble man died, at Boston, July 19th, 1766, aged forty-five years, mourned by the great and the good.

The likeness of Dr. Mayhew in this volume is copied from a print in the Memoirs of Thomas Hollis, Esq., 1780. The original was a crayon, taken in Boston, probably by Smibert. Mr. Hollis paid Cypriani thirty guineas for the allegorical designs and engraving, which, being in quarto, could not be all reproduced in this smaller picture.

PREFACE.

THE ensuing Discourse is the last of three upon the same subject, with some little alterations and additions. It is hoped that but few will think the subject of it an improper one to be discoursed on in the pulpit, under a notion that this is preaching politics, instead of Christ. However, to remove all prejudices of this sort, I beg it may be remembered that "all Scripture is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." a1 Why, then, should not those parts of Scripture which relate to civil government be examined and explained from the desk, as well as others? Obedience to the civil magistrate is a Christian duty; and if so, why should not the nature, grounds, and extent of it be considered in a Christian assembly? Besides, if it be said that it is out of character for a Christian minister to meddle with such a subject, this censure will at last fall upon the holy apostles. They write upon it in their epistles to Chris

a 2 Peter iii. 16.

1 The author's notes are designated by letters; the editor's by figures, and signed - ED.