A

DISCOURSE

To the Government Officers of

The
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS

BY JOHN THORNTON KIRKLAND, D.D.

PRESIDENT OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY

1816

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by Russell Creech
2007

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1
A Discourse by John Thornton Kirkland,
President, Harvard University, 1816. Reprint. 2007

Digitally transcribed from the original printing. Text reformatted for easier
reading, with a Transcriber's Preface, Author’s Biographic information, and
Quote Pages.

Copyright © 2007 Russell Creech

All rights reserved to this modernized reprint, including the digital PDF
Book version. Reproductions of the complete book intended for free
distribution are permitted, must be accompanied with original and reprint
credits. The original text is in the public domain.

2
About the Author:
John Thornton Kirkland, D.D. (b. 1770- d. 1840).
President, Harvard, Nov. 14, 1810 to April 2, 1828. B.A, Harvard, 1789, M.A.,
Harvard, 1792, also Dartmouth, 1792, Brown, 1794, S.T.D. Princeton, 1802, L.L.D.,
Brown, 1810. He also served as Tutor at Harvard, 1794-1794.
During his tenure as President, Kirkland brought Harvard College to University
status.
Kirkland also was a Vice President, American Academy, and a Member,
Massachusetts Historical Society.
Source: Harvard University Quinquennial Catalog of the Officers and Graduates
1636-1920.

Transcriber’s Note:
For quite a while, I have heard the call by leading academic figures for new
scholarship efforts in the area of "original intent," or "original documents"
concerning the founding principles of the Constitution of the United States. More to
the point, in these sources will we find, so to speak, an owner's manual, or did they
leave things open to dangerous innovations, as the present "Living Document"
constitutional theory seems to demonstrate? This work of Dr. Kirkland’s is an
original source filled with a great wealth of worthwhile instruction.
This Discourse, is one of a series of Massachusetts orations given upon the
elections of State officials, first begun in 1631, and continued well past the Civil
War era. This, in effect serves as a “chain of evidence”for State sanction of the
content and validity of the doctrines proclaimed by the speakers, since the
subsequent publications were Massachusetts Government products.
I created this reprint from a rare original copy which was water stained, spotted,
and discolored. In order to make a readable transcription, the text was PDF scanned,
and re-keyed into a document file, which was edited and corrected best as possible.
There may be some minor key errors, please accept this publication on such
conditions.
Wording that is now out of style, or variant spellings typical of the 1700-1900 era
do occur, and I have kept them as found in the original.
Page numbers are also reproduced as found. Original page numbers are shown in
brackets such as: [ 10 ]. Therefore, there are now two sets of page numbers, the
original, and the reprint copy. Please use the bracketed numbers to reference the
pages of the 1816 printing, not the reprint numbers found at the bottom of the page.
This method of reproduction was done to enable the reader to correlate references as
found in the original, and to keep the footnotes tied to the page on which it was first
published.
An appendix, featuring a catalog of other reprint offerings is found at the back of
the book.
Russell Creech, Transcriber. May 5, 2007
3
 Selected Quotes:
Provided below, are pertinent quotes from Dr. Kirkland's discourse, in order to
emphasize for the modern reader crucial themes he addressed in establishing Biblical
Spirituality as the only complete foundation for a successful experiment in self
government. All highlighted italics are added for emphasis.

Divine Favor:
“Religious sentiments and emotions hallow the feeling that unites us to our own
land, and to one another. Here is the church of the Most High, and here the houses of
our solemnities in which we are accustomed to seek the favour, and celebrate the
praises of the God of our fathers, the God of our salvation.
The marks of divine favour shown to our nation, the striking interpositions of
Divine Providence, in our behalf, cannot fail to enliven the patriotic sentiments of
a pious mind.” Pg.[ 5 ]

Government a Blessing or Scourge:

“The thoughts, wishes and prayers of a good man are directed to the CIVIL
GOVERNMENT of his country. —Without government there can be no society.
The government of every collective body of men is its blessing or its scourge,
sometimes both by turns, or both with deductions and mitigations. Who shall
discharge their trust, are questions which may involve every social benefit and
external religious privilege.” Pp.[ 7-8 ]

A Capacity for Self Government:

“The fortunes of OUR country are, under Heaven, staked on the issue of popular
constitutions. The Supreme Disposer has assigned to these American States the
solemn, the interesting destination of being the subjects of an experiment, on an
extensive scale, on the capacity of men in society for self government.” Pg. [ 8 ]

Government Protection:
“He prays that it may be esteemed the fruit of civil establishments and laws, and
the cause, not of the poor against the rich, and of the humble against the eminent, but
the protection of the weak against the strong, of the simple against the cunning,
and the innocent against the guilty. —It is “equal rights, but not to equal things.” It
secures to every one his honestly acquired condition, however peculiar and
distinguished, and is the guardian alike of the riches of the opulent, and the pittance
of the necessitous. Pg. [ 10 ]

4
Societal Qualities:
“The happiness of a people is connected with their character, intellectual and
social, their manners, improvements, and accommodations, the quality and
direction of their tastes and desires. Here is a wide field for the enquiry, the
observation and influence of a person interested in the public welfare—in whatever
tends to make power safe and salutary, and obedience liberal and cheerful—in
whatever contributes to multiply the sources of innocent enjoyment, and to
strengthen the foundations of order and virtue. Pp. [ 15-16 ]

The MORALS and RELIGION of a people are primary objects of

solicitude to a lover of his country, and of mankind:
“The other interests of individuals, or of the public, which I have considered, are
subservient to these; and of little or no value without them. Every plan of escaping
evil, or obtaining good, that depends on external things, is either impractical in its
nature, or of temporary duration. We rely in vain on peace and freedom, riches and
territory, letters and arts, without virtuous principles and habits to direct their use and
secure their continuance. Could a corrupt nation be prosperous they would not be
happy. Happiness is suspended on disposition and character; and refuses to dwell in
disordered hearts, or to be the portion of those who are slaves to their evil passions.
Virtue is more than well conducted selfishness, more than prudence; it is a
principle, sentiment,” Pp.[ 18-19 ]

Virtue:
“Virtue is God’s Law. It is under the patronage and protection of a rewarding
and avenging Deity.—By his unalterable will, virtue and happiness are, in the
ultimate result, bound together in an indissoluable chain. Think not, short-sighted
presumptuous mortal, to make a computation about the possible advantage of
doing wrong in a single instance. Never imagine that you have an inducement to
attempt to serve or deliver yourself by a departure from right—or any reason to be
discouraged from duty by a doubt of final support and reward. Say you that natural
religion leaves these truths open to question? we have the articulate voice of God,
an extraordinary light from heaven to dispel every doubt, to make them clear and
certain.” Pg. [ 20 ]

Peaceful Communites:
“Do we desire the good of our native country, the order and peace of the whole
community, we shall concern ourselves in every proper way about the means and
safeguards of morals and religion.” Pg. [ 21 ]

The Greatest Good:

“The study of the public happiness is your peculiar care— “THE GREATEST
GOOD OF THE GREATEST NUMBER” Pg. [ 25 ]

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The following page begins the original text:

6
 A

DISCOURSE

PRONOUNCED BEFORE

HIS EXCELLENCY CALEB STRONG, ESQ.

GOVERNOR,

HIS HONOR WILLIAM PHILLIPS, ESQ.

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR,

THE HONORABLE COUNCIL,

AND THE
TWO HOUSES COMPOSING THE LEGISLATURE
OF THE
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
MAY 29, 1816,
BEING THE ANNIVERSARY ELECTION

************
BY JOHN THORNTON KIRKLAND, D.D.

PRESIDENT OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY

************
BOSTON:
PRINTED BY RUSSELL, CUTLER AND CO.
FOR
BENJAMIN RUSSELL, PRINTERS TO THE STATE.
1816.
7
[2]
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
MAY 29, 1816.
ORDERED, that Messrs. Thatcher, Hilliard, Green, Parker and
Lawrence, be a Committee to wait on the Rev. Dr. Kirkland, and return him
the thanks of the Legislature, for his able, learned, and appropriate Address,
pronounced this day, before the several branches of the same, and request a
copy for the press.
BENJAMIN POLLARD, Clerk.
[3]
A DISCOURSE,

PSALM CVI. 4,5

O visit me with thy salvation, that I may see the good of thy chosen, that I
may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance.

YOU enter this temple, civil Fathers, to offer prayers to the Supreme
Governor of Nations for your country, as the object of your cares and labors;
and for yourselves, as the appointed guardians of that country's welfare.
You engage in this solemnity as an act, expressing the obligations
and sentiments, at once of patriotism and piety. Impressed with the belief of
the presence and agency of the Most High, the source of all life and
happiness, the witness and judge of character and conduct, you are led by
duty and feeling to his throne. Affected with solicitude for the course of
public affairs, and the direction they may receive from your deliberations and
measures, you commit to God the commonwealth, and the country, for your
blessing, and yourselves for his guidance and aid. It pertains to each of you
to adopt the prayer of the psalmist, —O visit me with thy salvation, that I
may see the good of thy chosen, that I may glory with thine inheritance. The
nation, with all the separate portions of it is thine, O God, thy chosen, thy
inheritance. It has been enriched by thy bounty, guarded by thy providence,
instructed by thy word, corrected by thy visitations of mercy and judgment.
Accept the expression of my concern, for what thou hast shewn to be dear to
thee. Give me the joy of seeing its prosperity—

8
[4]
grant me the privilege of being permitted to co-operate with thee in
advancing its felicity and glory.”
It belongs to the man, the citizen, and the christian, in whatever
station, and especially in public office, to have a heart to offer such a prayer
as this—to cherish and maintain that affection for the public good, which is
implied in his prayer, and carefully and habitually to consider in what that
good consists.
I. Let me then speak of the obligation and value of a public spirit—and
II. Offer some remarks on a few of the most important objects of our
patriotic solicitude.
We estimate the duty and worth of a public spirit. —The love of our
country, rightly interpreted, is a disposition approved by reason and religion,
as well as dictated by nature. The feeling of citizenship, and of public duty, is
an essential expression of that charity, which the gospel enjoins. It is a
branch of the love of our neighbor, operating according to occasions, and
extending from the parts to the whole. It is the affection, which is due to
human nature, to man as man, directed to those members of the great family,
who are near us, and to whom we have most opportunity to be useful. If we
are to love all that is good and excellence which we can produce or affect, or
only imagine, we are undoubtedly to express our benevolent regards towards
the country or district which is the seat of our personal enjoyments, the
proper sphere of our activity, and the station assigned to us by Providence for
the exercise of every social duty. Self love is in alliance with principle to
endear a home, a native land to every human heart; to give us an interest in a
society with which we must rise or fall; to engage our attachment to the spot
where we first drew our breath, and where our tender infancy was reared;
with which we are associated all the soothing

[5]
remembrances of early years, and all our hopes of quiet serenity in the
evenings of our days.
The sympathies and affections that grow out of the near relations of
private life, constitute elements of the love of country. It presents itself to our
thoughts with the recollection of a mother's smile, a father's revered image,
with the loved idea of a spouse and child, a brother and sister, a benefactor
and friend, and from this connexion has a power over our feelings that makes
patriotism an instinct. A common interest in ancestral worth promotes this
affection. We love our country for the sake of those who have loved and
served it in former and later periods; honored worthies, whose labours have
9
subdued her fields and wisdom guided her councils, and eloquence swayed
her assemblies—whose learning and talents have exalted her name—whose
piety has sustained her churches, and valour defended her borders.
Religious sentiments and emotions hallow the feeling that unites us to our
own land, and to one another. Here is the church of the Most High, and here
the houses of our solemnities in which we are accustomed to seek the favour,
and celebrate the praises of the God of our fathers, the God of our salvation.
The marks of divine favour shown to our nation, the striking interpositions
of Divine Providence, in our behalf, cannot fail to enliven the patriotic
sentiments of a pious mind.
There is no want of arguments and motives to cultivate in ourselves and
others a public spirit. Truly the maker of our frame and the disposer of our
lot, requires us to regard the advantages and honor, to feel for the dangers
and sufferings—to with well to the inhabitants of the country, which we call
our own. All should care for all, bound together as they are by strong and
tender ties, with interests blended, and though various, not opposite.
Geographical divisions

[6]
must not be suffered to limit the walk of our benevolence; nor shades of
difference in religion, manners, state of society, to make us aliens; nor should
the passions produced by competition for influence, nor even the sense of
unfriendly conduct in one section towards another countervail, though they
cannot but impair the force of the incentives to sympathy and expanded
patriotism. It is right to feel a peculiar and intimate concern for the smaller
divisions and communities to which we immediately belong. For members of
a great confederacy to have no country but their State, of a State to be
indifferent to all but their town or district, is miserable narrowness or
overweening self love. To be destitute of local attachment, on the other hand,
and to have proximity and distance, alike to our feelings, is against nature,
and truth and reason.
I have hinted at a few of the ties which bind us to the place of our
nativity, or to the collective body of which we are members.
II. I proceed to point out objects of patriotic affection. What is the
operation of a real public spirit—and what are a few of the most important
interests included in an enlightened and regulated attachment to out country?
I select a few topics for general remarks; I do not think to speak of all the
effects and appearances of this principle, or represent all the great things,
good and bad, which it has proved itself able to achieve; still less to describe
the consequences of its irregular, eccentric and criminal action. When the

10
love of our State, association, country is not merely principle, but exclusive,
or when it is uninformed, or misguided, when it is only another name for
selfishness, cupidity, resentment, or party feeling, it must generate sin and
follies. It may prompt us to justify and encourage the community, or those
who direct its affairs, in wrong; to serve the views of our country at the
expense of justice or humanity, to flatter her passions at the sacrifice of her
interest, or help her to

[7]
accomplish a present purpose at the price of her permanent good, to be not
only tender, but blind to her faults. It may require us to partake her guilt, or
meet her frown—to lend countenance to the excesses of her pride, and the
pretentions of her vanity, or be considered doubtful friends, or perhaps real
enemies.
Whilst I turn from this dark side of the subject, and abstain from dilating
on the sinister effects of mistaken, or spurious patriotism, I shall also decline
topics relating to the intricacies of government, that most complicate of
sciences, and difficult of arts. I shall not attempt to find out new doctrines, or
to throw new light upon those, which are old; but invite you, honored
auditors, to contemplate received but important truths respecting the duty and
welfare of rulers and people.
I shall make observations on several of those general interests of a
community which claim and occupy the solicitude of the enlightened patriot,
which all persons, according to their abilities and means are bound to regard,
and particularly those who are charged with public functions, and which a
good citizen and a serious christian can ask a righteous God to favor.
1. The thoughts, wishes and prayers of a good man are directed to the
CIVIL GOVERNMENT of his country. —Without government there can be
no society.
The government of every collective body of men is its blessing or its
scourge, sometimes both by turns, or both with deductions and mitigations.
Who shall discharge their trust, are questions which may involve every social
benefit and external religious privilege. Whether the possessor of authority,
the monarch, elective chief magistrate, or popular leader, be wise or weak,
devoted to a part or considerate of the whole, guided by principle or swayed
by passion, decides

[8]
much of the good or evil of a state or nation. Thanks be to God, who though
he tries and visits, does not any where wholly forsake the children of men,
11
nor leave them without check or remedy, entirely to the passions of one
another, that the worst government is better than anarchy; that amidst all the
flagrant defects and abuses of civil institutions, arising from the excess of
resistance or restraint, from faction or despotism, so many of the sources of
human subsistance and enjoyment remain unaffected; that men are able to
accommodate themselves with greater or less contentment to evils resulting
from established modes, and that so much of the happiness of every
individual is derived rather from his feelings and character than the precise
circumstances in which he is placed.
The specific form of the government is commonly determined for us by
the order of Providence; authority being variously distributed, in hereditary
or elective rulers, in a few or in many, by the operation of permanent and
uncontrollable causes. Our business in this respect is seldom to change or
abolish, but only to preserve, amend or improve the exiting arrangement. The
fortunes of OUR country are, under Heaven, staked on the issue of popular
constitutions. The Supreme Disposer has assigned to these American States
the solemn, the interesting destination of being the subjects of an experiment,
on an extensive scale, on the capacity of men in society for self government.
Happy for the result, if those who are to feel the restraint of laws have
integrity and wisdom for their enaction and administration;—happy if the
sovereign, the popular majority, have the magnanimity and uprightness to
bind himself to his duty, and refrain from all oppression of the minor part,
overcoming the temptation to “feel power and forget right.” It is included in
our love of country to be attached to this republican form of civil polity, for
its intrinsic advantages, and its adaptation to our character and

[9]
habits and state of society, not because we think it absolutely best for every
people under all circumstances; and that those who are not governed upon
our model, are, of course, objects of our pity. Events of late years have
brought just discredit upon political doctrines derived from metaphysical
abstractions, in contempt of simple matters of fact. The project of applying a
form of polity to a nation, without regard to circumstances, has been tried;
and for a series of years, it produced scenes which surpassed description, at
which humanity recoiled; till at length, after dreadful agitations, it subsided
in a government so essentially military and despotic, that neither the actors in
it nor the world could bear it.* We are attached to our republican
constitutions, because they are best for us; because, after all deductions, they
have accomplished much good, and proved better than the fears of some of
their truest friends; because they have cost the painful consultations of our
wisest and best men to frame, and their strenuous exertions in successive
periods to maintain.—We prize them for the dangers they have passed, and
12
the storms they have had the strength to outride.—Who will not wish and
labor to preserve us a republic as long as possible, knowing that we cannot
cease to be so without fearful convulsions, and the hazard of evils of
immeasurable extent and indefinite duration?—Shall we not pray to the God
of our fathers to secure to us the benefit of their councils and toils, and for
this end to direct us in the proper methods of making our forms of
government adequate to their purposes; to establish in the hearts of all a
sacred respect for those fundamental laws and compacts, the constitutions,
designed to restrain the majority in the exercise of their power; and a
disposition to amend and improve them in the spirit, which presided in their
formation? May he vouchsafe to incline us always to “seek of Him a right
way for us, for our little ones, and for all our substance.”
2. Not only GOVERNMENT, but LIBERTY is comprised in the wishes
and prayers of a good man for his country.
*Transcriber’s comment: Please note that Dr. Kirkland, along with his colleagues
during this time period are referring to the French Revolution, its vicious Reign of
Terror which cost an estimated 3 million French lives, and the consequential rise of
Napoleon, who intended to in their words “enslave all of mankind.”

[ 10 ]
National independence, civil and religious freedom, are precious gifts of
the Author of good. The love of liberty is the impulse of nature; and the love
of regulated liberty, the effect of love to mankind. We of this country may
surely hold independence dear, whose fathers preferred a wilderness to
bondage, and afterwards breasted the hazards of revolution, and met the
perils and toils of a long and doubtful war, to bequeath the blessing to their
children. We of this age may well prize the possession, who have seen the
fate of nations, bowing to a haughty and inexorable master, bound to a
foreign will, their spirit crushed under the yoke of a relentless conqueror,
their treasures exhausted to satiate the rapacity of invading armies, and their
sons compelled to fight the battles of a stranger.—Patriotism exalts the
blessing of freedom as friendly to the exercise and improvement of all the
respectable faculties of man, and auspicious to the discovery and
communication of truth. It gives dignity to character, and interest to
existence.

Whilst the lover of his country and his race covets their rights for his
fellow men and fellow countrymen, he intends real not spurious freedom, the
substance, and not merely the form. He wishes that civil liberty may be
understood; that it may be known to consist not so much in the power as in
the security of every citizen; and in his power so far only as requisite or
13
useful for his security. He prays that it may be esteemed the fruit of civil
establishments and laws, and the cause, not of the poor against the rich, and
of the humble against the eminent, but the protection of the weak against the
strong, of the simple against the cunning, and the innocent against the guilty.
—It is “equal rights, but not to equal things.” It secures to every one his
honestly acquired condition, however peculiar and distinguished, and is the
guardian alike of the riches of the opulent, and the pittance of the
necessitous.

[ 11 ]
The desire of the end implies regard to the means. The friend of his
country wishes and prays that the virtues on which liberty depends may mark
the character of the people; that the constitutional barriers, designed for its
safeguard, may remain inviolate; that in the State and the Nation it may be
always under the patronage of a LEGISLATURE, actuated by a regard to the
public welfare, and if not exempt from attachment to party, not blinded nor
corrupted by it—-sacrificing private views and passions to justice, and
integrity; of a JUDICIARY, skilled in jurisprudence, with an equal concern
for the rights of all parties, unawed by the fear of encroachment from the
other departments of government; of an EXECUTIVE, employing its
authority and influence, not with an anxious view to the prolongation of its
power, or for the indulgence of its sentiments, but to promote justice and
union at home—safety and respectability abroad.
He must desire that the benefit of the religious liberty, provided by the
constitution and laws, may not be defeated by the prevalence of a spirit of
exclusion and monopoly among the members of the same body of Christ.—
He prays that the God of truth and love will direct each one to such views of
his duty, as will reconcile his adherence to the dictates of his own
conscience, with a reasonable respect for the conscience of his neighbour.
Finally, it is worthy of a wise and good man to avoid being too much
disturbed by the collisions and contests that are incident to liberty, and are
the price of it; convinced that “liberty with all its parties and agitations is
more desirable than slavery”—that we are placed in this world for exercise
and discipline, to find our chief good in disposition and character; that the
relation of living active natures to each other is not merely that of
juxtaposition and place, “like that of stones in a wall or an arch, but of
activity and co-operation in different functions, of balance, counterpoise, and
mutual correction, where the operation of

14
[ 12 ]
any single power may be partial and wrong, and yet the general result,
salutary and just.”
The single means of subsistence and the degree of PLENTY and
WEALTH in a country, enter into an estimate of the general good. While the
protection and encouragement of the diversified industry of a people
constitute one of the stated cares of the public functionaries, they have a
peculiar and often arduous charge in the duty of providing and managing the
revenues of the state.
There are many important truths and maxims, relating to the value and use
of wealth, not always sufficiently regarded and felt, which the limits of the
occasion do not allow me to offer to you your attention.
The common good requires that men in the advancement of society should
be influenced by the desire of gain, beyond the supply of the mere
necessaries of life. It has its appointed place among the inferior aims and
immediate motives designed to act upon human nature, in subordination to
higher principles; and to be regulated, not suppressed. “It is the office of
reason and religion to give the appetites and passions their task—not to do it
for them.” This desire has a claim to be encouraged within proper limits, as a
stimulant to enterprize, and to the prosecution of beneficial arts and
employments; as a motive to attach men to their private concerns, and to
annex pleasure to success in their pursuits. A busy life is a school to call
forth the faculties, and form the virtues. Whilst we acknowledge the uses of a
measured love of gain, we have reason to depreciate the evils of its excessive
and irregular operation. It is liable to become a restless passion, a diseased
not healthy action—the source of inquietude, injustice and envy. The
philanthropist and the patriot does not desire nor expect to have wealth
divested of attraction; but he wishes and prays that men may feel enough of
its excitement to be worthily and diligently occupied, without that greedy

[ 13 ]
appetite for accumulation, which corrupts and debases the character, and
opposes the nature of things and the institutions of society. For after all that
the most paternal and most prosperous government can do, to place riches
within reach of all, it is only a small number in any community who can
possibly be opulent, whilst the great body of persons can go no further than
obtain a healthy subsistence by the constant application of their skill and
labor to some vocation.—Shall we all be unhappy at wanting the superfluity
which the order of things makes attainable only by a few? It is peculiar to our

15
country to have resources to feed the “mouth of labor,” however multiplied
its wants. We have cause to acknowledge our distinction in the circumstances
that enable the least favoured part of society to subsist by moderate exertions,
exempt from the necessity of that excessive toil, which wastes the health,
exhausts the spirits, discourages virtue, and surrounds life with cheerlessness
and discomfort. Where the wealth that is diffused in a nation is the
consequence of good habits, of diligence, sill in arts and frugality, where it
indicates the security of property and a good administration of the laws, it is
a subject of felicitation. If it be the fruit of injustice or rapine, and the source
of licentiousness and prodigality, it cannot be regarded as a public blessing.
4. The social felicity of a country is involved in its condition of PEACE
or WAR. Shall not a good man pray and strive that his country may never
incur the guilt of unjust and unnecessary war; that she may not bring on
herself and others, the moral and physical calamities attending a conflict of
arms, by insisting on doubtful rights and minor interests; that she may have
the virtue and wisdom to grapple with the prejudices and aversions, that tend
to pervert the judgment on difficult questions, and to wider breaches, that a
disposition to amicable compromise might find a way to heal? While the man
with public affections, covets peace and depreciates war, and most of all, war
which good and

[ 14 ]
honest councels in the rulers and a reasonable temper among the people
might prevent; he knows that he is not allowed to think his country exempt
from the danger of this calamity—War may be required to be chosen, as the
LEAST EVIL. It may be necessary to decide the question of existence, or of
security—War or subjugation may be the only alternatives. It will be no
strange thing, it those, who have the power of peace and war in a country,
though with no more of moral infirmity than may belong to minds generally
upright, shall fail to escape the hazard of a deceived conscience; and in cases
which make a strong appeal to the feelings, shall have their judgment of right
and wrong disturbed, and mistake the illusions of prejudice and passion for
the indications of duty and honor; brandishing a sword, which should never
been drawn from its scabbard. Not to supply a forethought excuse for taking
arms without necessity, but to show our nature and circumstances, it is
proper to observe, that the lover of peace is compelled to admit, that there is
sometimes an inveteracy in the disease of the collective body, that will yield
to none but an extreme remedy; a misapprehension and intractableness upon
certain subjects and relations, the long continued effects of which may be
worse than the consequences of open rupture. The event may prove, that war
is in some cases a method of teaching lessons, which will not be learned in
any other school; and serves to dispel mists and calm agitations, which have
16
never ceased to endanger and harass the vessel of state. Whether a patriot
shall have reason to pity or congratulate his country in such a season depends
on her cause and her conduct.
Does she contend for safety and true honor, and manifest the virtues that
answer to her condition, he does not consider her state as necessarily a state
of misery. In a pacific and in a hostile position, the happiness of a people is
to be measured by their observance or disregard of the maxims comporting
with their advantages and their trials.

[ 15 ]
Whoever values peace, will be obliged to desire for his country the
military and naval preparation necessary to maintain it;—believing that till
the world shall greatly mend, the ability and disposition to repel aggression,
will afford one important security against encroachment, and hoping, at the
same time, that the union of moderation and energy in the public councils
will save the occasion of applying the public force.
INTERNAL peace is a vital blessing and a religious as well as social duty.
“If it be possible, as much as lieth in you live peaceably with all men.”—It
may indeed be difficult or impossible. Where the tranquility of a country
proceeds from the impotence or forbearance of those who suffer wrongs
which they seek in vain to have redressed, wrongs inflicted by the many on
the few, or the few on the many, it is real war, though all on one side; and is
a condition of the citizens aggrieved, which breeds in the mind animosities of
the most rancorous kind.
It pertains to the character of a good citizen to prevent the causes not less
than to control the effects of contention; to endeavor to correct the false
views, to rebuke the eager desires, the fierce jealousies, the keen resentments
that are incident to a popular government; to check the fermentation of
discordant elements; and obviate the consequences of rival pursuits, and the
contests of proud and ardent minds for the distinctions of life and places of
authority and renown.
5. The happiness of a people is connected with their character, intellectual
and social, their manners, improvements, and accommodations, the quality
and direction of their tastes and desires. Here is a wide field for the enquiry,
the observation and influence of a person interested in the public welfare—in
whatever tends to make power safe and salutary, and obedience liberal and
cheerful—in whatever contributes to

17
[ 16 ]
multiply the sources of innocent enjoyment, and to strengthen the
foundations of order and virtue.
I confine my remarks under this head to the importance of the diffusion of
KNOWLEDGE, and the cause of EDUCATION.
Sciences and arts belong to the unrestrained progress of society.
Knowledge may be abused. Yet light should be better than darkness. In an
enlightened and inquisitive period, undoubtedly some will be found, with
half learned twilight views, that serve rather to minister to presumption than
to render the possessors of them more useful; and seem to justify a wish that
they knew less or more. They may be prone to misapply their smatterings of
science and shreds of learning, and set up for teachers and reformers of the
world without qualifications. Yet the diffused cultivation of the mind and the
taste should seem to be attended with a great over balance of good. It exalts
the character of the individual; it strengthens and multiplies the social ties,
and adds value to intercourse; it gives a higher enjoyment of the gifts of
nature, and what is beautiful and orderly in the frame and course of the
world. Inquiry should be friendly to true religion; morals should be promoted
by the study of the nature and the relations of man. Public opinion has a
subtle and mighty influence. Must we not desire and endeavor to have it
intelligent—What will be the consequence in the political body, of the wide
diffusion of the right of political deliberation and function among a people
very imperfectly instructed, or extremely ignorant. It is true that private
persons are not called on to prescribe remedies for the public disorders; —
but they are obliged to exercise a choice about the physician; and in judging
of men, have occasion for a degree of light on the utility of measures. Will
not a knowledge of the mechanism of social order, fit and dispose men for
their civil duties? In a country and form of society in which,

[ 17 ]
by the exertion of talents and industry, any individual, born in the obscure
walks of life, may raise himself above his present condition, it is a duty of
patriotism and benevolence to provide for every one so much education, as,
in the event of an advantageous change in his circumstances, may enable him
to make his advancement a good, and avoid the inconvenience and
mortification of gross illiterateness.
The interests of EDUCATION awaken the solicitude of every considerate
and benevolent man. Education was a chosen care of our fathers. It has
engaged the frequent and earnest attention of their descendents, both in a
private and public capacity. It lies with you, guardians of the State, charged
with the patronage of good institutions, it lies with all the teachers and guides
18
of the young, and with us, especially, who are intrusted with public
seminaries, to feel the greatness of this concern. It is indeed a solemn and
affecting inquiry, what man can do, by early culture, to assist the powers, to
model, to control the thoughts, principles, affections, actions, habits,
character of man. By what methods shall we seek to preserve the succession
of young and helpless generations from the waste of talents, the perversion of
feelings and the ruin of hopes, to which they are exposed; how insure the
progress of their minds and the development of their virtues; how make their
existence a blessing to society, to themselves and to those from whom they
sprung; in what manner shall we best do, what can be done but once; and
seize the fugitive moments of uncertainty and contest, on which their
character and destinies are suspended?
The solution of these interesting problems is under God's blessing, to be
sought in the influences of the family society and of religious institutions, of
the school and academy; and of the seminaries for enlarged education.
These seminaries have ever been considered with us a public not less than
individual interest. They

[ 18 ]
are approved methods of preserving and extending the knowledge of the
various departments of literature and science.
They are designed to train a portion of each succeeding race who may be
qualified for responsible situations in the community, for the learned
professions and for public stations. A limited number of persons, formed in a
course of rigorous mental discipline, answer to the exigencies of the social
body, and fill a place, which cannot well be left vacant.
While the University and Colleges in this Commonwealth have found their
objects espoused by generous individuals, and have received from private
munificence large endowments for various ranches of instruction; and means
for enabling them to give the public the benefit of distinguished powers
drawn from every class of the citizens—the Government of the State have
thought it their duty to encourage and partake of these good services
rendered to the cause of knowledge and education, by stated and occasional
aids for these purposes, in former times, and recently, by a liberal
benefaction. Thus have they evinced their participation in the spirit and
principles of our ancestors in relation to the concern of the republic in our
seats of learning. We trust the fruits will appear; that our University and
Colleges will be enabled and excited more and more to promote the diffusion
and to extend the boundaries of knowledge, and to send forth continually,
learned, pious and virtuous youth to support and adorn the church and state.

19
 6. The MORALS and RELIGION of a people are primary objects of
solicitude to a lover of his country, and of mankind.
The other interests of individuals, or of the public, which I have
considered, are subservient to these; and of little or no value without them.
Every plan of escaping evil, or obtaining good, that depends on external
things, is either impractical in its nature, or of temporary duration. We rely in
vain on peace and freedom,

[ 19 ]
riches and territory, letters and arts, without virtuous principles and habits to
direct their use and secure their continuance. Could a corrupt nation be
prosperous they would not be happy. Happiness is suspended on disposition
and character; and refuses to dwell in disordered hearts, or to be the portion
of those who are slaves to their evil passions. Virtue is more than well
conducted selfishness, more than prudence; it is a principle, sentiment,
affection, operating in actions; it is the love and practice of what is right. Yet
individuals and a people have abundant reason to look for the greatest
aggregate of good in adherence to rectitude. Virtue is wisdom, and includes
prudence and discretion. Vice is a canker, a poison, tainting the sources of
enjoyment. A curse hangs upon the steps of wickedness; and criminal
passions, in one form or another, react, in bitter consequences, upon those
who indulge them, while good intentions, integrity, and beneficent conduct,
have a sure reward. Instructers and monitors, with more or less light and
power to engage us to the practice of virtue, present themselves in our frame
and situation, in reason, and the sentiment of order and fitness, in natural
conscience, in the desire of personal well being, in the social affections, and
the sense of reputation, in positive laws, in the lessons derived from the
experience of life, and from the observation of a moral Providence. Here are
valuable sources of morals. So many inducements and restraints must have
some effect. But after all that they can do, more is wanting to withstand the
powerful tendencies to evil. Dwarfish virtues, gigantic vices, dissatisfied
hearts, furnish melancholy proof that more is necessary to resist the tyranny
of appetites and passions—to overcome the moral lethargy to which we are
liable—and produce a genuine rectitude of temper and conduct. Human
tribunals have but a limited jurisdiction. The law of honor fails to include
some of the most essential virtues, is capricious, and in some things hostile to
reason and humanity. How often is natural conscience overborne or mis-
guided—Natural

20
[ 20 ]
affections are vague and uncertain guides. Motives drawn from enlarged self
interest are subject to many defects. The profitable and the right appear here
and there disjoined, and we are compelled to witness prosperous crimes and
defeated virtues—the discomfiture of a good cause, and sufferings and losses
incurred by integrity. We are tempted to sacrifice a principle to an end, and
pursue the expedient in violation of the right.
In these exigencies of our moral relations, our way obscured, our strength
insufficient, shall we not look beyond this narrow world, this limited sphere;
—and hear the call, invoke the aid of heaven-born religion? Let us ally
ourselves to the power that made us. Virtue is God’s Law. It is under the
patronage and protection of a rewarding and avenging Deity.—By his
unalterable will, virtue and happiness are, in the ultimate result, bound
together in an indissoluable chain. Think not, short-sighted presumptuous
mortal, to make a computation about the possible advantage of doing wrong
in a single instance. Never imagine that you have an inducement to attempt
to serve or deliver yourself by a departure from right—or any reason to be
discouraged from duty by a doubt of final support and reward. Say you that
natural religion leaves these truths open to question? we have the articulate
voice of God, an extraordinary light from heaven to dispel every doubt, to
make them clear and certain.
The christian revelation establishes the doctrine of the universal and
absolute safety and final benefit of virtue—of the inevitable ruin of vice. It
also corrects our misapprehensions of the nature of goodness. It contains
discoveries, facts and influences, to make virtue not only a principle, but an
affection. It is designed indeed to qualify us for a higher happiness than the
world can give. We are acting and suffering for eternity. But it forms a
character adapted to the best use of present life. The christian is to live
soberly, righteously and godly in the present world.—The principles and
motives of his conduct are chiefly drawn from distant objects; but he is
taught that his

[ 21 ]
business lies near at hand. His religion blends itself in one system with the
common rules of behavior, and makes his duties to men duties to God. He is
not taken out of society to live in inactive seclusion, but enjoined to be
diligent in business, as well as fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. No useful
principle or propensity of his nature is eradicated or suspended by religion—
but all are controlled and chastised. In whatsoever state he is, he is instructed
to be content, whilst he uses opportunities to improve his condition. The
gospel is a well-spring of charity. Kind affections, disinterestedness, mutual

21
deference, respect to the rights and feelings of our fellow men in great and in
small concerns, mark the temper and demeanor of every disciple of Christ.
Do we desire the good of our native country, the order and peace of the
whole community, we shall concern ourselves in every proper way about the
means and safeguards of morals and religion. Have we abilities, station,
authority, fortune? We can be eminent instruments for advancing the
interests of truth, piety and virtue. Are we destined to a smaller compass of
action? We may do the little in our power with fidelity. Christians are
exhorted to remember, that there is one way which is likely to be the most
effectual of any, and is liable to none of the objections, which are, with much
reason, alleged against many other methods of making proselytes. It is such a
method of converting and reforming others as will at least have a good effect
on ourselves—it is the practice of virtue, the conscientious discharge of those
duties, and the cultivation of those graces which are enjoined by the
acknowledged principles of morality, and which, by the confession of all,
pertain to the essence of our holy religion.
When we speak of the value of religion to society, we mean the spirit and
substance, not merely the form. If it come to be generally viewed as only an

[ 22 ]
engine of state, it must soon cease to be even so much as that. Whilst we
must approve decency in all, and wish sacred seasons and rites to be
observed, we pray that religion may appear to be the sincere conviction and
governing principle of those, who pay it the homage of exterior respect. Do
any recommend that as necessary to others, which their conduct shows they
do not think necessary to themselves, they are liable to be thought to overrate
the importance of their principles, or not to be in earnest in recommending
them.
I have represented some of the objects, which the friend of the community
and the man of generous spirit, in his private character, and in a public
station, considers with affection, which he remembers in his prayers and
promotes by his talents and influence: The order, freedom, plenty, tranquility
and improvement, the manners, the morals, the religion of his country.
Let us give thanks to the Author of good councels and just desires, for all
the spirit of patriotism which, amidst the influence of selfishness and party, is
alive in our state and nation. Let us hold in honor all those in former and later
periods, who have maintained the conflicts, incident to the conduct of hr
political affairs, with unshaken resolution and unwearied patience.
We are this day to take leave of one of this number, for many years at the
head of this Commonwealth—who, having declined our suffrages, claims the

22
privilege of a long course of services to authorise his retirement from public
cares. Permit me, I ask your Excellency, in the name of those to whom you
have devoted your talents and influence, to express our sense of the value
and the importance of your agency in the high and responsible stations,
which your respect to the wishes of your fellow citizens and your
interpretation of your duty in the aspects of Providence have led you to
accept. Permit me to acknowledge

[ 23 ]
in their behalf the benefits of your wisdom, moderation, activity and
firmness, displayed in framing the constitutions of the Commonwealth and of
the Union, in taking a conspicuous part in administering the government
under them, and in maintaining the interests of republican liberty;—your
countenance of the cause of learning and education, and your exemplary
respect to the religion we profess.
However reluctant to resume the load of public duties, when last called
from your retirement, you cannot fail to account it a privilege, to have been
the character desired in a period of difficulty and agitation; and to have been
resorted to as a shield from the dangers, that seemed to be gathering round
us—to have been able, under the favor of Heaven, to guide us safely in a
dark and troubled season, and now to resign the chair of the Commonwealth
to an honorable man, high in your esteem, with auspices so benign, and
prospects so cheering;—the world at peace, and a career of public
improvement and happiness opening before us. Your principles and example
will continue our valued possession, though your immediate services be
withdrawn. The recollection of your public course will enliven our feelings
of complacency and confidence towards our republican institutions, which
placed authority in your hands, and made it so effectual for the conservation
of the public interests.
The affectionate wishes and prayers of your fellow citizens attend your
Excellency to the shade of honorable privacy. May the best comforts and
hopes gild the evening of your life; and after prolonged years of tranquil
enjoyment, in the scenes of affection and peace to which you repair, may the
God you have served receive you from earthly distinctions, duties and trials,
to the rest and reward of eternity.
We congratulate our Commonwealth on the election of a Chief
Magistrate, acknowledged and honored as a “patriot from his youth,” a
laurelled hero

23
[ 24 ]
of the revolution which made us a nation, a son of liberty, who shared the
dangers and councils which were the purchase of our independence;—an
able and faithful guardian of our rights and interests in the important offices
which he has since sustained, and the object of heartfelt respect and
attachment in private life for the virtues of the man and the Christian.—May
we be worthy of that patriotic solicitude with which he will watch over us,
and appreciate the discernment and disinterestedness, which we have the
fullest reason to believe will mark his administration. May his feelings be
gratified by finding in all who share authority with him, a conciliatory
disposition, which he will not be the last to exemplify, and which the
circumstances of the times encourage; a disposition to unite moderation with
consistency; to embrace openings for concert and co-operation; to remove
dissensions, and allay animosities, and soften the acrimony of party.
We bid his Honor, the second Magistrate, a respectful and cordial
welcome to a renewed participation in the councils of the State. May he have
the joy of seeing the objects of his affection secured;—the interests of order,
of freedom, of learning and religion, which have ever derived support from
his influence, countenance from his example, and encouragement from his
liberality.
We tender respects and felicitations to the Honorable Council, to whom,
entrusted with delicate and important functions, we have been accustomed to
look for enlightened views of the public welfare; for equity and candor
joined to a steady adherence to their sentiments of duty—may they have the
gratification of “Seeing things go well in our American Israel.”
I respectfully salute the Honorable members of each branch of the
Legislature. We rejoice in the pledges of the love of the public, and the
eminent ability to serve it, in your respective bodies.

[ 25 ]
The study of the public happiness is your peculiar care—”THE
GREATEST GOOD OF THE GREATEST NUMBER,” pursued by means
adapted to our forms of political association, and consistent with the eternal
laws of righteousness. In regard to a great part of our moral conduct, and
especially to those cases which arise in legislating for a community, there is
scope for deliberation and choice. The general rules are supplied, and ends
proposed; but we are left to discover the windings and turnings of the way by
the exercise of our judgment and skill. In performing the work of patriotism,
our duties are not meted out in weight and measure, but we are subjected to
the necessity of the continual interpretation of conscience. To guard against
the opposite attractions of private and public interest, and to detect the
24
illusions of prejudice and self love, is the point of solicitude which is
surrounded with danger. But upright minds are not left, without remedy, to
be perplexed with interminable scruples. They are assured that a good
conscience is a safe and sufficient guide; and that an honest intention—with
care to enlighten the judgment, constitutes all their concern. For the
obligation of moral precepts lies only upon our purposes and endeavors, and
not upon the events and issues of conduct. Only let us see to it, that because
the line between right and wrong is not exactly defined, we do not proceed
under the cover of doubts, perhaps even under the pretext of duty, to the
gratification of unlawful desires;—nor forget how much it belongs to the
human passions to justify themselves, and be blind to all objects but their
own. May the “FATHER AND GOD OF MERCY SEND WISDOM FROM
HIS HOLY HEAVENS, THAT SHE MAY BE PRESENT WITH YOU
AND LABOR WITH YOU,” and make you the honored instruments of
advancing the purposes of divine goodness in favor of our beloved country.

[ 26 ]
Whilst we rejoice in the pleasing circumstances and recollections of this
day, we would take a serious and becoming notice of solemn events, which
this occasion brings to our thoughts. Affecting instances of mortality have
occurred, fitted to show us the precarious tenure of our lives, to renew our
convictions of truth and duty, and to lead our meditations to that invisible
state, where the secrets of all hearts shall be revealed, and the spirits and
actions of men be weighed in an unerring balance. The distinguished
citizen,*(The Hon. Samuel Dexter, after a short illness, died at Athens, in the
state of New York, on the 4th of the present month, in the 54th year of his
age.) to whom the wishes of many would have appropriated the first honors
of the commonwealth, has suddenly fallen beneath the stroke of death,
teaching us, in an impressive manner, “what shadows we are, and what
shadows we pursue.” Instruct us, O God, Sovereign Arbiter of life and death,
so to number our days, as to apply our hearts unto wisdom.
When we think of the condition and prospects of our country, and present
our desires in its behalf to the Supreme Ruler if nations, we would not be
unmindful of our fellow men in other regions. As men, and as Americans, we
contemplate with great sensibility the interesting circumstances of the
European World —What extraordinary scenes have passed on that theatre in
our days. The spirit of improvement, of reform, and change, became a spirit
of innovation and turbulence, till in one country it exploded in a revolution,
which tore the fabric of society in pieces. From the ruins, a military power
sprung up whose portentous bulk and formidable strength seemed for a long
time to be increased by the efforts made against it. But the day of
recompense came: the great disturber of the world was compelled to descend
25
from his elevation. Again, however, he seemed to be resuming his sceptre; —
he arose and stood upon his feet, as if his deadly wound was healed, and the
spirit of conquest and desolation was again to extend itself over prostrate
nations.

[ 27 ]
—But he had gone beyond the permitted line, and was baffled in his purpose.
By united councils and efforts, by an emulation in generous sentiments, in
willing self devotion, and determined valor, the new danger which threatened
the world, was turned away.
Let us pray and hope that the inhabitants of the earth may learn
righteousness from the experience of adversity; that the root of the evils,
which have afflicted the nations may be cut up; that liberty with order may
be established; that the restored sovereigns, and governments of Europe may
be preserved from hurtful extremes, not reviving obnoxious institutions
which should be suffered to perish; and that a long period of quiet and
improvement may be allotted to that fair portion of the earth.
In a view of the events of the Providence, so instructive and monitory, are
we not prepared to join in the ascription, “Great and marvelous are thy
works, Lord God, Almighty, just and true are thy ways, thou King of Saints.
Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? For thou only art
holy, for thy judgments are made manifest, Amen.” [Rev.15:3]

26
 Appendix.
Catalog 1, For Reprint Publications.

Available at: www.lulu.com./recreech

Or enter the word nassau-hall in the lulu.com “search” box.
New Titles periodically added.
Please note: Prices and availability shown are subject to change without
notice.

Offerings as of May, 2007:

History of the College of New Jersey, at Princeton. Vol. 1.

By John Maclean, D.D. ( 1877 )
Reprint of John Maclean's 1877 History of the College of New Jersey ( Princeton
University) Volume 1 of 2.
Maclean was Tenth President. This highly recommended history of the founding,
purpose, and corporate life of what is now Princeton University. Originally chartered
as the "College of New Jersey".
Drawing on ancient spiritual traditions, Princeton was much more than a school, it
was a substantial "nursery" for the expansion of education into Theology combined
with Science, and for the high drama of the Experiment in Self-Rule" known as the
American Revolution, the blessings of which we still enjoy today.
The lists of all the graduates and the multitude of high government offices they
held makes this a "must read" for anyone studying American government. After all,
the original purpose was, according to Richard Stockton, to "Prepare youth for public
service to Church and State"[ pg 253 ]. Hebrew, Greek, and Latin all taught to this
end
459 pgs. Print: $ 28.98 Download: $15.19

History of the College of New Jersey, at Princeton, Vol. 2.

By John Maclean, D.D. ( 1877 )
John Maclean's 1877 History of the College of New Jersey, Volume 2. This has the
original Index for both volumes 1 and 2, quite helpful to do word searches. Both
Volumes are an excellent resource for researching the crucial role the Presbyterian
Church played in the creation of the American Revolution and the early
Constitutional era! See the description of Volume 1 for more information.
491 pgs. Print: $19.18 Download: $4.75
27
Smith’s Princeton Lectures on Moral and Political
Philosophy, Vol. 1.
Samuel Stanhope Smith's Lectures on Moral and Political Philosophy, in two
Volumes, ca. 1793-94, originally published in 1812. Vol. 1 of 2.
Smith served as President of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University)
1795-1812. Previously, he was a Tutor, then Professor, Moral Philosophy (1779-83),
and Professor, Moral Philosophy and Theology, ( 1783-1812).
His 33 years as Professor and President covered both the American Revolution
period, and early Constitutional eras, therefore giving direction to students who
would the "serve both Church and State" as significant architects of American style
government and society.
Volume 1 sets forth basic first principles of the nature, purpose, and being of
mankind, various physiological studies, and later examines the dominant schools of
Philosophical thought by Locke, Hume, Paley, Reid, Stewart and Edwards &c.
196 pgs. Print: $12.24 Download: $3.75

Smith’s Princeton Lectures on Moral and Political

Philosophy, Vol. 2.
Volume 2, of Samuel Stanhope Smith's "Lectures on Moral and Political
Philosophy". Smith served as President of the College of New Jersey (Princeton),
from 1795 until 1812 and as Vice President (1789-95). Before that, he held several
successive professorial posts there, as Professor, Moral Philosophy and Theology
(1783-1812)and Professor, Moral Philosophy ( 1779-83) which extended his
influence over the late Colonial period, and well into the early Constitutional era. If
you want to know what was taught to those who lead this country to Independence,
in effect to read one of the "Owners Manual" for the Unites States of America, this
book is the place to start.
This Reprint features an appendix containing a Biography entitled: “A Sketch of
Smith's Life” by John Maclean, tenth President of Princeton. The extensive list of
government officers who trained under Smith is astounding.
322 pgs. Print: $25.96 Download: $14.94

28
Sermons, Doctrinal, Experimental, and Practical, Vol.1.
By Nathan Strong, D.D. (1798)
Strong was educated at Yale, A.B. 1769, A.M. 1772, was a Tutor there 1772-3, and
was ordained to the Presbyterian pastorate in 1774. An ardent supporter of the
American Revolution, he served as a chaplain to the 22d Continental Infantry, in
1776. Princeton granted him an honorary Doctorate of Divinity in 1801.
His sermons reproduced here, are a rare and remarkable "window" into the minds
and motivations of the typical citizen, no less the politicians, of the Revolutionary
period. As one reads them, Strong's acute insight into human nature, metaphysics,
and eternity not only bring to light the often ignored spirituality of the era, they seem
to find a significant and transforming relevance to our lives today.
261 pgs. Print: $13.53 Download: $3.75

Sermons, Doctrinal, Experimental, and Practical, Vol. 2.

By Nathan Strong, D.D. (1800)
Sermons, Doctrinal, Experimental, and Practical. Volume 2, 1800. By Nathan
Strong, D.D. This is the continuation of the series, with Volume 1 dated 1798.
258 pgs. Print: $13.49 Download: $3.75

The Genuineness and Authenticity of theNew Testament.

By Timothy Dwight, D.D.
Timothy Dwight, Yale President from 1795 to 1817, took on the challenge by
students holding to Enlightenment ( then known as Infidel) philosophy to give proof
that the Bible was indeed what it claims to be, the actual inspired Word of God. This
book features a concise version of his forceful polemic, and is still an excellent faith
building source for high school and college students who feel the modern pressure to
think otherwise. The arguments have yet to be refuted !
Also featured in the 1838 version are two additional works: "Why are you a
Christian?" by John Clarke, graduate, Harvard, and D.D., Edinburgh. and "A Short
and Easy Method with Deists," by Anglican Rev. Charles Leslie, M.A. Dublin.
101 pgs. Print: $9.11 Download: $2.50

29
Atheism, Infidelity, and the Ivy League. An Anthology of
Thought From the Early 19th Century.
Selected Discourses, Sermons, and Biographies by or about the intellectual elite
who confronted the errors of the so-called "Enlightenment," and the resultant French
and later European revolutions. Yale President Timothy Dwight is a featured author,
(including his biography), along with leading Harvard, Princeton and Dartmouth
colleagues.
288 pgs. Print: $12.99 Download: $2.50

Memoir of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, Patriarch of the

Lutheran Church in America.
This is a delightful Memoir of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, (b.1711, d. 1787).
Patriarch of the American Lutheran Church, and the namesake of Muhlenberg
College. Originally written by M.L. Stoever in 1856, the author covers the American
Revolution period, and brings to light the key parts that the Muhlenbergs, father and
sons played in the name of liberty.
Here we find that people from varied ecclesiastical organizations had a common
and potent spiritual source. They were, for the most part, fellow intimates with
ancient mysteries hidden from the ages and generations as the Apostle Paul alludes
to in Colossians 1:26.
His compatriots include Princeton's luminaries of the period, General Washington
and others.
102 pgs. Print: $10.36 Download: $3.75

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