A sermon, preached at York-Town, before Captain Morgan's and Captain Price's companies of rifle-men, on Thursday, July 20, 1775. Being the day recommended by the Honorable Continental Congress for a general fast throughout the twelve united colonies of North-America. / By Daniel Batwell, M.A. ; Published by request.

A SERMON, &c.

1 KINGS, viii.40.

That they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest to our fa|thers.

BY the covenant which Almighty God was pleased to enter into with his peo|ple the Jews, an immediate intercourse was established between heaven and earth. Each deviation from the divine law was followed by sure pains and penalties; each return to holiness was a certain return to peace and prosperity. The sin of individuals never failed to bring upon them the curse, their repentance always restored them to the bles|sing. Whensoever the state fell from its al|legiance to Jehovah, then straightway came the great, the terrible day of vengeance: No

sooner was the trumpet blown in Zion, the fast sanctified, and the solemn assembly cal|led, no sooner did the Priests and Ministers weep between the porch and the alter, and say spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach; no sooner was the act of public humiliation performed, than pub|lic redress ensued—the Lord was jealous for his land, and pitied his people, and removed far off them the northern army.

ON this foundation of God's unchangea|ble promise it is, that King Solomon at the dedication of the temple frames his petition in the verses preceding the text. His claim▪ the sacred historian goes on to inform us, was allowed; and the most high by fire from Heaven ratified afresh the covenant.

THE process is most plain and most awful. Israel offended, the God of Israel punished with the famine, the pestilence, or the sword: The people conscious of their sins, made solemn prayer and supplication; the Lord saw the sincerity of their repentance, and heard from heaven his dwelling place and forgave them.—What was the conse|quence?

—Man by correction learned to fear his God, and that holy fear insuring the di|vine protection, he continued to dwell in safety in the land of his fathers.

HAPPY will it be for us, happy will it be for every nation under the sun, if due atten|tion is given to this important lesson. Were we but all convinced that righteousness ex|alteth a kingdom, whilst sin is a reproach to any people, and did we sanctify this convicti|on by practice, what a glorious, what a de|lightful scene of things would immediately present itself to our view! The nations would be bound in a golden chain of amity: None would groan under oppression, for no one would dare to oppress: The haughty inva|der, the cruel spoiler, the relentless destroy|er, would be terms no more made use of: And each man sitting in safety under his own vine, and under his own fig tree would rapturously exclaim,—Lo this is the true, the genuine reign of Christ upon earth! Be|hold, the kingdoms of this world are be|come, not in name, but in deed, not in ap|pearance, but in reality, the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ.

BUT the multiplied provocations of the sons of men forbid us to indulge the least ex|pectation of so pleasing a prospect. The beautious vision shifts away from before our eyes, and in a moment we return to the real unhappy state of things, a world of discord and lamentation, of violence and woe, where the long forbearance of the Almighty is much more conspicuous than his judgments —Where it is more reasonable to ask, why cities and states are permited to stand, than why they are destroyed—where the abomi|nations of Canaan, and even of Sodom and Gomorrah, are frequent in some communi|ties—and where in the best and most virtu|ous congregations, the preacher has still to cry aloud with solemn and unceasing voice, —except ye repent ye must inevitably perish.

BLESSED forever be the hallowed lips of our most gracious redeemer, who foreseeing that faith would decay, and love wax cold among his disciples, has so affectionately called us to repentance, who delivering us from sin, and well knowing that we should lead ourselves therewith a fresh, has soften|ed

all the difficulties of this essential duty, and rendered it easy for us to perform; who kindly himself receives our intercessions, pre|sents them to the throne of grace, and from thence procures us indubitable and authen|tic pardon! and blessed be the influence of that divine comforter, who has this day re|moved the stony from our hearts, and melt|ed them into the sincerest contrition, all humbly to bewail our man fold transgressi|ons, all devoutly to acknowledge the divine dispensations, all piously to pray for the remo|val of them from ourselves and our brethren, and all, I trust to depart in peace and com|fort, full of good hopes and good resoluti|ons, unburthened of our sins, our conscien|ces appeased, and the love of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, beaming upon our souls with unclouded splendor.

RELIGIOUS discomposure tends ultimate|ly to our composure and tranquility, When the judgments of God are abroad, the inhabi|tants of the earth learn righteousness. Did we ever expect to see the day, when all the various communions of this wide-extended

continent should be bowed as the heart of one man to deprecate the wrath, and to entreat the protection of heaven, in one and the same hour, in one and the same cause? O it is a goodly sight, and all the angelick host will applaud our humiliation! it is to begin at the right end; for being once secure of defence from above, what is it that can pos|sibly confound us. Lovest thou, and art thou beloved of thy maker? His friendship shall deliver thee in six troubles, yea, in seven shall no evil touch thee; in famine he shall re|deem thee from death, and in war from the power of the sword, thou shalt not be afraid of the scourge of the tongue, nor of destruction when it cometh, yea though thou walkest through the valley of the shadow of death thou shalt fear no evil, for he is with thee his rod and his staff shall comfort thee.

THE present situation is the most distress|ful that could have happened to beings en|dued with humanity. It is more replete with anguish, than even with danger. I have heard, and can well believe, that the oppo|sing armies respect and pity each other in the

very instant that their weapons are uplifted to destroy. Can we avoid praying that hearts so framed might be permitted to meet in equal and honourable union; neither con|quering nor conquered, but as free citizens of the same realm, intitled to the same rights and privileges. Much, too much, does our case resemble that recorded in scripture where King Rehoboam assembled the house of Ju|dah, with the tribe of Benjamin to fight against the house of Israel: But alas! alas! there is no Prophet, no Shemiah the man of God, to speak unto Rehoboam and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, saying, ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the house of Israel; return ye every man to his house.

BUT my duty in this sacred place leads me no farther than to bewail the miseries brought upon this country by those fatal misconceptions that have gone forth on the other side of the atlantick, and to exhort my little flock, so to prepare themselves by un|feigned faith, by holy prayer, and by genu|ine repentance to deserve (if man can be said to deserve) the temporal blessings of the Al|mighty,

which I trust, nor trust in vain, will be poured out upon us, if we patiently and manfully abide the appointed trial. There is who reigns on high, and at his pleasure breaketh the bow and knappeth the spear in sunder, and burneth the chariots in the fire; for his good time let us wait with calmness and submission, and let us endea|vour to shorten the period by the integrity of our behaviour, and by the fervour of our devotions. That good time will come; let us not doubt it for we have a gracious mas|ter in heaven; when the labour of some of our fellow citizens, and the sorrows of others shall cease—when our darkness shall be turned into light, and our mourning into joy—when our loyalty shall stand confirmed, and our liberty established by sufferings— and when we shall meet again in the Lord's house, to celebrate his returning mercies, whose wrath we now deprecate, and to whose judgments we now bend with submis|sive addoration.

FOR in revolving the days of old, and con|sidering the manner in which it has pleased

the almighty ruler to exercise his moral go|vernment, there is no reason to think, that any state legitimately constituted, will be de|stroyed by his supreme fiat, till that state has rendered itself unworthy of continuance, by acts that defile its purity, and corrupt its ve|ry essence. I say legitimately constituted, meaning where the natural rights of man|kind have been respected in its constitution, because with domination founded in tyranny the allwise, and alljust ruler has no connecti|on: That is not his work, but rather the work of that malignant being, who delights in human wretchedness. Now the means by which the rulers of a state may shame|fully deviate, and thereby provoke the ful|ness of divine anger, are chiefly idolatry, persecution for religious opinions, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 invasion of their neighbours, mean pilfering and stealing of adjacent lands, and laws made on purpose to oppress, or corrupt the people. When enormities such as these pre|vail, it is neither to be wondered or mur|mured at, if the storm descends from above, and sweeps away such a perverted govern|ment

from the face of the earth. But from enormities such as these, blacker than the blackest night, more savage than the howl|ings of the wild beasts of the forest, dis|graceful to reason, to truth, to justice, and to human nature, this land of our hopes, and desires is most notoriously, and remark|ably free. No man can dwell therein who believes in more than one God, the Creator of the universe, and none who profess themselves the servants of that all|glorious being, can be molested for their re|ligious principles. It is not upon the re|cords of history, nor in the memory of man, that this government has ever in any shape, much less in wantonness, invaded the pro|perty of others: From the poor untutored Indian it has uniformly disdained to borrow, and abhorred to steal: Fair and open pur|chases have preceded every settlement: Its laws—but why should I praise its laws to those who live under them, when their good report is spread far and near, when I have heard it a thousand times acknowledged in Europe, that they are the mildest, and most

equitable now in force on the terrestrial globe? Can we entertain a suspicion that such a state is obnoxious to the supreme le|gislator? No, we may rather comfort our|selves with the assurance, that however great|ly we have sinned as individuals, yet that the judge of all the earth will not suffer the be|nevolent work of one immortal man to be defaced or demolished.

WITH respect to the present unnatural disputes, it would ill become my place and station to say any thing with the tone of de|cisive authority: My master's kingdom is not of this world, nor am I appointed a Ruler, a Judge, or a Divider: But if nothing more is designed, than what is professed; if to preserve our rights and privileges be the sole aim of the Continental Congress, and of those who assemble at their biddings; if no sparks of disloyalty, no desire of change, no intentions of removing the ancient land marks, lie concealed beneath the fair out|side of public good; I say, if this be the case, and according to the best of my obser|vation it really is so, then we have a good

cause, and may expect the blessing of Heaven upon our endeavours. For the blessing of legal, and equal Liberty we pray; and tho' our prayers are sincere, yet because of our tender attachment to our parent state, grief mixes with our devotions: For the same li|berty our fellow citizens are to fight; and they will surely do it, with steady tho' reluc|tant courage—with hearts that wish to save, in the same moment that they are obliged to destroy.

IT happens, that many defenders of this land are now before me. Summoned to im|mediate service, they have arrived here at this solemn season, and have joined in our act of humiliation. These I will exhort to go on to their appointed destination, in the fear of God, in the sentiments of true honor, in the love of Liberty and of their Country —Descended from ancestors who in the old world often proved, they preferred freedom to life, I trust you have not degenerated from their nobleness of soul, but will even strive to exceed your forefathers in deeds of valour, generosity and humanity. Remem|ber

that a glorious cause is put into your hands; beware of disgracing it by any un|worthy proceeding: Remember, that the Congress, where resides the collected wisdom and the general voice of the people, breathes a firm and manly, but yet a moderate and reconciling spirit: Remember that they mean to hazard every thing dear for the re|covery of our rights, and the moment those are recovered to sheathe the sword. I have a commission, and it is written in the most luminous characters of truth; to bid you honour the King—yet I trust you want not the admonition: But I have no commission to bid you honour those, who wickedly stand between the throne and the subject; and yet I believe, you will begin to respect them, when they learn to respect themselves, and the common rights of humanity. Go, Bre|thren, and may the Lord of Hosts be with you: Go, and fill up the measure of your fame, more by generous behaviour, than even by feats of arms: Go, and defend our franchises, our wives, our children, and possessions: Go, and bring us back a speedy

and honourable peace: And having done so, may you long enjoy in the bosom of that peace, the illustrious title you will have ac|quired of Protectors and Preservers of your Country.

FOR us, Brethren, beloved in the Lord, let us, as I have already admonished you, proceed as we have this day begun, and strive to deserve in some sort, the Benediction of the Almighty. Nor only now with uni|ted hearts and voices, but also singly and se|parately in the closet, unfeignedly confess and deplore our many sins, and offer up our supplications to the allwise, omnipotent, and merciful Disposer of all events, to for|give our iniquities, remove our calamities, and avert those dessolating judgments with which we are threatened: That he will bless our rightful Sovereign King George the Third, and inspire him with wisdom to dis|cern and pursue the true interest of all his subjects: That a speedy end may be put to the discord between Great-Britain and the American Colonies without further effusion of blood; and that the British nation may be

influenced to regard the things that belong to her peace before they are hid from her eyes: That these Colonies may be ever un|der the care and protection of a kind Porvi|dence; and be prospered in all their interests: That the divine blessing may descend upon all our civil rulers, and upon the Represent|atives of the People in their several Assem|blies and Conventions; that they may be di|rected to wise and effectual measures for pre|serving the Union, and securing the just Rights and Privileges of the Colonies: That virtue and true religion may revive and flou|rish throughout our land: That America may soon behold a gracious interposition of Hea|ven, for the redress of her many grievances, the restoration of her invaded rights, a recon|ciliation with the parent state on terms con|stitutional and honourable to both: And that her civil and religious Liberties may be secured to the latest posterity.

THE END.