IN speaking unto which words, I shall enquire into and explain the words of the text in regard to primitive times, and compare the time [Page] present with them, to see how nearly they agree in regard to moral con­duct, and draw a few inferences from both, and apply them to your serious consideration; and conclude with a word or two of advice to all concerned in affairs of immense importance. And,

1st. My brethren it would be tautology in me to rehearse the history of the patriarch Moses to you, knowing you, or most of you to be the children of pious parents, well educated, and bro't up in the fear of the Lord, as I look upon none of you to be ignorant of the birth, child­hood and education of him; you have read, and your parents have told you the many wonders wrought by Moses, in bringing his brethren out of the land of Egypt, and out of the house of bondage, (he being en­dowed with a strong and sincere regard for the Israelites, and pity for all under that heavy yoke) how that in honour, truth and fidelity, he led his countrymen until he came to Mount Sinai, where he was called of God up into the Mount, and commenced lawgiver from the King of kings; and as this is the highest pitch of honor that can be conferred upon man, I shall omit saying any more of the patriarch Moses, but enquire into what happened in his absence from the people.

Moses, in his absence, left the care of the people to Aaron, for their guide: The poor people missing their first leader, little tho't he was gone their prime minister to the King of kings, and was consulting for their everlasting welfare: Being ignorant of this, they asked Aaron to make them gods to go before them, for they didn't know what became of the man that bro't them out of the land of Egypt.

Aaron being fond of government, and not having the fear of God before his eyes, he yielded to the people's request, made a calf, wor­shipped and sacrificed thereunto; which is the corruption spoken of in my text, which kindled the anger of the Lord to speak unto Moses in the manner he did, when in the mount, saying, Get thee down, &c. as in the text.

My brethren, having found the author and finisher of the calf, let us enquire into the manner of their worshipping and sacrificing thereunto, in regard to which, I don't conceive that they had any set modes of worship, as at this day, for being left of God's teacher, they fell into all manner of error and confusion, singing and dancing round their molten clalf, or calves (Indian like) proclaiming, These be thy Gods, O Israel. This was the noise which Joshua heard, coming with Moses out of the mount, he said, It is not the voice of them which shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being over-come, but the noise of them that sing, do I hear. This was their way of worship, and their sa­crifice was much worse.

[Page 5] Every man brake off the golden ear-rings, which were in their own or their wives and childrens ears, and bro't them unto Aaron, and Aaron received them at their hands, and fashioned it with a graving tool; and after he had finished the calf, he built an alter, and proclaimed a feast to the Lord, and the people brought burnt offerings and peace offerings, sat down to eat and drink, and arose up to play. Thus they went on until Aaron had stripped them of every thing valuable, and made them naked to their shame among their enemies.—But Moses drew near unto the camp, saw their unwarrantable proceeding; he saw the calf and the dance­ing, and his anger waxed hot; and he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire (perhaps a sacred bon-fire which they were danceing round) ready made, as I don't read that Moses kindled a fire for the purpose; and when he had burnt the calf, he ground it to powder, and strowed it upon the water. Our text informs us that this corruption happen'd suddenly, and contrary to God's command, which caused many plagues to fall upon the people, (which I shall not take notice of at present, as time would fail me): Therefore I must hasten to compare the times present with the former. And

1st. Can we find a Moses in this evil day which we live in? I answer, an equal to Moses upon, all accounts, is not to be found on earth, but yet we may find a man of a true patriarch spirit, who may resemble him in many things. And I think we may dare to nomi­nate secretary PITT to be our Moses, every way qualified, morally, as Moses was, to lead a people; being endow'd with honor, love, truth and fidelity; and in knowledge of things appertaining to this day, Pitt must exceed Moses, (as Moses is not, neither doth any man know of his sepulchre to this day.)

However, Pitt was our prime minister, under whose ministry we flourished; he was the planner of every operation in time of war, which proved successful to us in these American wilds: When he was at the helm our country-ship was well steared; the hearts of the people were made glad, and rejoiced in songs of victory and tri­umph over their barbarous and savage enemies, the Indians, and their associates, the French natives of Canada, and the borders adjacent: By the blessing of God, and Pitt's superior knowledge and prudent management of affairs in America, the howling wilderness was stopped in immense silence; and a period was put to the most in­humane massacres, which was so frequently heard of amongst us.

[Page]Thus the dark, gloomy, melancholly scenes were over, and every thing seemed to appear with a smiling aspect in all quarters of the world, as well as in North-America. Thus secretary PITT, taking Moses of old for his example, conducted gloriously, which will re­down to his honour in ages to come.—But O poor Americans, thy friend being fatigued with the noise of a corrupt set of people, left the helm to the steerage of E—l B—e, who is an emblem of the primitive Aaron, leading the people into all manner of cor­ruption; as I shall indeavour to demonstrate by what happened soon afterwards: For as Aaron led the people into corruption soon after Moses went into the Mount, so B—e is said to lead the people into mischief, (soon after Pitt leaves the helm) by his bad steer­age, &c.

No sooner B—e takes hold of the helm but there is a wide dif­ference in government, every action which should tend to promote the freedom of Britons, is most notoriously made use of to enslave and plague them.

What happens to us in this day, may be said to be worse than Egyptian bondage, for the Hebrews had nothing to subsist upon, of their own, while in bondage, and therefore could expect nothing but to labour hard for a livelihood: But with us my brethren, it is not so; for we had won by conquest, and had great things in possession. But alas! what we seemed to have is taken away from us, and gave to the enemies of Britain—all the conquest and victories gained in the West-Indies, which were of an immense value, to­gether with the free cod fishery; (which was of as much or more consequence to them than their Romish creed; for without fish they could not perform the articles of their belief); all this and more, given up to the nations which waged war against us, in a time when we were under no obligations to make peace with, (on any terms) much less insignificant ones.

I say given up without any valuable consideration, for mere no­thing that I can suggest, but only to have it said by our enemies that slavery becomes Britons more than the enemies to Britain: (who it was that so craftily befriended the Romish establishment it's hard for any one to say; but I am well assured that secretary Pitt had but little or no hand in it; suffer me to tell you, that the whole [Page 7] western world feels the effects of the maugre terms of peace); I call them maugre, because we are like to be starved and cut short of allowance by the means—See imposition upon imposition is crowded upon us; and to crown all corruption, the ST—PM—N is coming among us, who is an emblem of the molten calf, made by Aaron of old in the wilderness; see the manner of his coming, and the errand come upon, and you will join with me in senti­ments that he is the beast spoken of in my text, and whosoever worships or sacrifices unto him will be brought to nakedness and shame, as the Hebrews was of old.

The criticks will perhaps quere, How a man can be an emblem of a beast? To such I answer, That I don't mean in bodily shape, but he may be said to be like unto a beast by having a beastly disposition; as indecency, ingratitude, &c. is said to be brutish (in man): and we read ‘That man in honour abiding not, is like the beast that perish.’ If this be true, this very identical St—pm-n was chosen repr—ive to this colony, he was honour'd and prefer'd before any of his function, he was sent on an important errand to England; his grand design and business was to present the colony's humble thanks to the king and parliament, &c. of Great-Britain, for their paternal care over us in the late war, and thankfully to ac­knowledge every instance of favour received from them by the co­lony; also to represent the true state of the constitution of the government; and to make known the extreme poverty which we were reduced to by the calamities of a long war, and our inability of making a meet restitution for their goodness at present (any more than as dutiful subjects ought, so do we, possess hearts full of gra­titude.)

He also was to pray for the continuation of our rights and liberties, as at the first, and for the security of our properties as at the begin­ing, without the least encroachment on our charter: But my bre­thren, upon his arrival in Europe, he inhumanly forgot the place of his nativity, and (as it is laid) most ungratefully betrayed the liberty of his country; and for the sake of a post in the govern­ment, of no great value, he commenced executioner to the death warrant of it. As Eliphaz said to Job, ‘Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind.’

[Page]Surely my brethren, the ear of that eastern world had a great effect upon him, his belly being filled with the east wind, puffed him up with pride and arrogancy, that he thought himself and coun­trymen rich as Caesar, forgetting the important errand of the go­vernment's humble address; uttering swelling words of vain know­ledge, when in company with the B—efy'd gentry, saying, that the colony was able to bare taxation, &c. joined with them in kil­ling his country, and commenced executioner himself, to serve his countrymen, as he says. (But as executioner you must mind) O coun­try kill country, O calf, beast, and antidote against liberty. For it is not possible that he can be the man which was chosen to repre­sent our cause, and plead for our freedom; but thou art the beast that is returned with a yoke of bondage to put upon our necks, saying we are able to bear all this and more, uttering swelling words of vain knowledge, by misrepresentations and wrong calcu­lations, filling our papers full of the confusion and noise of the brute.

Instead of coming home with answers of peace, lenity and good will towards us, he comes inhumanly with a variety of st—p duties, and very deeply laden'd with impositions upon us, proclaiming sa­crifice, sacrifice unto me, according to the decree past, bring your silver and your gold, (for I know not the paper money of your co­lony); if you are destitute of hard money, you must bring the extra­vagancy of your colony. O daughters of Connecticut, you must sacrifice your gold beads, jewels, ear-rings, &c. until you are made bare and naked to your shame (for the beast's sake) for the calf or st—pm-n will make sterling of all.

O Connecticut, Connecticut, where is your charter boasted of for ages past (if the beast is worshipped your charter is void) and the government put upon the beast's shoulder (who is an ill bred beast nursed and brought up to devour you) which must be acknowled­ged by every friend to liberty and property.

By comparing, I find the times present to be in some measure parallel with the former, if there is any difference it is against us, we being more imposed upon than our fathers.

I must proceed to draw a few inferences from what has been said.

[Page]Ist. From what we have heard we may learn the humane frailty of man, and when I am exclaiming against others, I do not excuse my self, for I am subject to many; we not only learn the humane frailty of man, but also the folly of laying too much stress or dependance on his conduct: Applied to this colony, hath it not been the case in regard to the St—pm-n? I hope not entirely so: if it hath been the case, I don't wonder that he proves a curse to us rather than a blessing; ‘For it is written, cursed is man that trusteth in man, and that maketh flesh his arm.’ But least I should go beyond my sphere I must stick to morality.

And,

IIdly, We may learn from the train of impositions received from the mother country, the folly in glorying in the roast beef of Old England, since we are so notoriously flog'd with the spit: A little supe-maugre with contentment, is preferable to roast beef and plumb pudding, since we are like to pay so dear for the roast.

For being called Englishmen without having the privileges of Englishmen, is like unto a man in a gibbet, with dainties set before him, which would refresh him and satisfy his craving appetite▪ if he could come at them, but being debarr'd of that privilege, they only serve for an aggravation to his hunger.

O my poor brethren in the gibbet of America, that cannot come at the dainties of Europe, I pity you with all my heart and soul.

IIIdly, Have we learn'd that corruption is at the helm, and that our country ship is badly steered? This also teaches us that the watch must be called and the helm relieved by a better man.

O PITT, is it your watch upon deck? (turn out) take the helm from B—e, for he hath nigh over set us at times: he hath carried such taught sail in the squals of impositions that our sails are wore thread-bare: See the hurricane of stamp duties coming on, shor­ten sail timely, down with top-gallant-mast, yards and sails of pride and vain glory, in with all small kites, and see every thing snug to stand the storm, like a bold seaman, (bend new courses to the yards) and for God's sake don't lay us a-troy, for we have been tried sufficiently. If the gale comes on very hard put before the wind, for the safety of the ship and our lives. Scud her manfully [Page 10] until the pernicious gale is over and the mountainous sea of cor­ruption is ran down, or is broken to pieces by a gentle breeze of liberty, arising to refresh our wearied souls, which have been so long fatigued with the thoughts of approaching slavery.

IVthly, Have we found a calf to be sacrificed to, in this our day? Let us all, every living soul here present, or that lives with­in the precinct, or of hearing the noise of the beast, take example by that worthy patriarch Moses of old, and make a sacrifice of the calf, rather than to sacrifice thereunto—Burn it in the fire, grind it to powder, and strow it upon the ocean, that the fi [...]y nautiousness of the beast may be cleansed from the earth, and that our plagues and impositions may not be made wonderful.

Time would fail to tell you of Shadrech, Meshach and Abed­nego in the fiery furnace, Daniel in the lion's den, and many other worthies, who have been faithful in bearing testimony against unjust decrees, &c. and have been protected by heaven in it their cause being just in the sight of God. For wo unto them that de­cree unrighteous decrees. My brethren, fear not the face of man, in regard to justice and equity: Keep truth of your side, let the world do what they will: I speak freely unto you all, for I am not afraid, if I loose my head, I cannot loose my gown or cas­sock.

A word or two of advice to all concerned in this affair of grand importance, and I have done.

First of all, my brethren, my advice to you is, to fear God above all things, honour and love the King and his friends, detest and loath his enemies, especially his private ones: If you see or hear of any corruption in his ministry, bear testimony against it; for it is treason in subjects for to keep silent when they see their prince dishonour'd; and if by wrong representations of any corrupt person or persons his subjects become grieved, impoverished or cut short of their li­berty or privileges, let such subjects make known their grievance that they may be relieved, for whatsoever tends to the poverty of subjects, by means of the enemies to freedom, is a disgrace to a monarch▪ For poor subjects cannot make a rich king.

[Page 11]O freemen of the colony of Connecticut! stand fast in the liber­ties granted you by your royal charter.

Plead the injustice of any that means to infringe upon you, by curtailing the rights and privileges once given you freely, without any design to take them from you again (without your conduct could be deem'd rebellious): and my opinion is, that it cannot be counted rebelling, for the freemen of this colony to stand for their absolute rights▪ and defend them (as a man would his own house when insulted): For I see no difference in regard to the posses­sion of either, whether it be by deed of gift or deed of sale.— Therefore, if any man in this colony, hath, for the sake of filthy lucre, misrepresented matters, so that ye are grieved, or are like to be cut short of the privileges enjoyed for many years past.

Go, one and all, go to such a man, and make him sensible of his error, if he will be convinced of his folly (forgive him) but if he wilfully persists in his wickedness, use him in such a manner that he will be glad to conform to the truth; and if he is in any post that unjustly grinds the face of the poor, or that contributes to your slavery, ask him peaceably to resign it, and if he refuses to, use him in such a manner that he will be glad to do any thing for a quiet life, For Britons never must be slaves. And as we read, that ‘he which being often reproved, hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy,’ Therefore take care of Mr. St—pm-n, alias the molten calf. AMEN.