THESE words are part of the song of Zacharias, at the birth of John. The good man expresses his faith in Christ, who was quickly to ap­pear, as ‘the mercy promised to our fathers,’ in sending whom God did ‘remember his holy covenant, the oath which he sware to our father Abraham.’ The character, in which he views the Messias, is that of a glorious deliverer coming, in the fullness of ages, to rescue his people out of the hand of all their enemies. Whatever views Zacharias might have of Christ, as a spiritual saviour, coming to deliver mankind from the tyranny of sin and satan: As also from the empire of death and the grave, which have [Page 6] reigned from the fall; yet, it is not, that I know of, at all absurd to suppose that he expected, when the Messias should appear, that he would also de­liver Israel from their temporal enemies, from the Roman yoke, under which they were groan­ing. This was the general expectation of the Jews, and even the disciples of Christ, on every occasion, betrayed their raised expectations of such a glorious deliverance.

The text naturally leads me to discourse on the enemies of God's people, and the ways and means, the times and occasions, when and by which, Christ accomplishes the deliverance of his people from their enemies. But my views, at this time, are not so extensive; what I propose, as not unsuita­ble for our meditation this day, is to take a con­cise view of the dealings of God with his people in this land; and to shew by what means he hath delivered us out of the hands of our enemies.— Having done which, I shall point out our great obligations, being thus delivered out of the hands of our enemies, to ‘serve him in holiness and righteousness all the days of our lives.’

I. I shall briefly consider the enemies that God's people in this land have been called to engage, the tryals and difficulties they have met with, the dangers they have escaped, and how God, at one time and another, hath graciously appeared for them, and delivered us out of the hand of our ene­mies. In prosecution of this design I shall study all possible brevity, begging your candour and pa­tience, hoping what I shall say will not be unpro­fitable, especially to our young people, who have [Page 7] not had considerable advantages to know the won­derful acts of the Lord. And, from the whole, may we so feel our hearts affected with the great things God hath done for us, as to lead us to re­pentance, and engage us to ‘make them known to our children, that the generations to come may know them—that they may set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments.’ ^(a)

The whole continent of America was, to the antients, an unknown land. It is not quite 300 years since the first discovery was made of this part of the world, ^(b) the Spaniards began their settlements and the conquest of the vast kingdoms of Mexico and Peru, about an hundred years be­fore our fathers came into this country. ^(c) It is not certain that ever any European was at New-England before the year 1602. Some feeble at­tempts were made to effect a settlement, in several parts of this country, but none succeeded until the year 1620; when the adventurers landed at Ply­mouth and began a settlement there, which may fitly be called the beginning of New-England. No considerable additions were made to the plan­ters, until the distressing times in England lead many worthy and serious persons to seek a quiet habitation, in these desolate parts of the earth.

It is a truth, impossible to be denied, that the spiritual tyranny, under which our fathers groaned, and their being inhibited the worship of God, ac­cording [Page 8] to the light of their own consciences, was the cause of their leaving their native country, to plant themselves in this howling wilderness. It was this abridgment of the rights of conscience that began and mightily assisted in the settlement of this country. The oppression under which a valuable part of the nation groaned, has, in the hand of consummate wisdom, proved, in its con­sequences, a great blessing to the world, and the occasion of a vast addition to the British empire, and glory, as well, as of a glorious enlargement of the kingdom of the redeemer. The Lord our God hath turned the curse into a blessing.—He meant it for good to save much people alive, and to raise up a new people, as the stars of heaven for multitude.

A few years after the settlement of New-England began, the troubles in England were greatly in­creased, and arbitrary measures were driven on, both in church and state. Arch-bishop Laud, and the ruling ecclesiastics of that day, then drove a multitude of conscientious puritans from their country. After some fruitless attempts had been made to form settlements in other places, in the year 1629 a considerable number of persons (350) seated themselves at Salem, and established a church there. And the next year John Winthrop, and Thomas Dudley, Esqrs; afterward governours of the colony, and several gentlemen of distinction, with divers worthy Ministers, and above 200 passengers arrived in this Bay, began their settle­ments and founded churches: And by the conti­nual accession to their numbers, and the arrival of parties from divers places in England, in the space [Page 9] of seven years, there were, not only settlements be­gan and churches erected, in Charlestown, Boston, Dorchester, Roxbury, Cambridge and Watertown, but, in that time, great numbers had emigrated as far as the fertile banks of Connecticut river, and planted the now populous and flourishing towns of Sprinfield, Hartford, Windsor and Weathers­field: And, by the coming over of new inhabitants, the foundations were laid of the antient colonies of New-Haven & Connecticut, since formed into one.

But what I design is not to give you an history of the progressive improvements of the country, so much as to point out the hardships they con­quered, and the enemies out of whose hand God did deliver them.

It is impossible to describe the difficulties, straits, hardships and perils which attend the settlement of a new country; especially, at the distance of a thousand leagues from a civilized people. It must, in the first place, have been a most affectionate parting, that they had with their native country, their houses and lands; their friends and relatives, whom they were forsaking without any prospect of ever meeting again in this world. The thought of venturing over an extended ocean, then very much unknown, must have been terrible to persons that never went to sea, and, especially, to women of tender minds. The prospect of venturing on an unknown and barbarous shore, to the first ad­venturers, must have been quite perplexing. But when all the tryals and difficulties were passed through, it was in hunger and cold, in peril and fear, that they began and prosecuted their settle­ments. [Page 10] It is impossible for us to conceive what many suffered by the fatigues of a long voyage, by cold and famine, in a desolate country, where they were immediately exposed to the severities of a rigid climate, without any convenient habitations to cover them. The hardships they underwent brought many to their graves within a few months after their arrival. Of the first 350 who arrived at Salem, not less than 100 died the following win­ter, of diseases, principally, brought upon them by the hardships they endured. Of the people, who first arrived at Plymouth, two or three months swept half of them into the grave. Truly, we cannot but admire the hand of God that supported and animated them under these tryals. Their principal comfort was, that, with all the distresses of a new country, they found themselves out of the reach of prelatical tyranny; they could enjoy God in his ordinances.

America, when first discovered, was found, in every part of it, inhabited by a savage swarthy peo­ple. The learned have been much puzzled to determine the original of the natives of this vast continent. Some have conjectured they were ori­ginally Tartars who found a northern path into America; and some that they are the descendents of the ten tribes, carried into captivity by Salmaneser, and planted in the northern kingdoms of Asia. ^(d) Others derive their origin from the antient Pheni­cians who are famed for their early skill in navi­gation, who certainly sent forth colonies in very early ages. Others, and perhaps with greater pro­bability, suppose that they were at different times [Page 11] and on various occasions, either accidentally, or by design, transplanted from various parts of the other continent; but when and how no man can tell. After all our enquiries their origin is quite problematical. However, this is certain, they must have been here many ages; for we find them scattered throughout every part of North and South America: They inhabited, not only the sea-coasts, but the vast inland country also. The Spaniards found millions of Indians in the countries they conquered, and the vast kingdoms of Peru, and Mexico seem to have had the marks of con­siderable antiquity. Our fathers, upon their arrival in this country, found every part of it was, or had been, peopled with tribes or Indians, who could give no account of their original. One thing is very remarkable in the dispensation of providence; a few years before the arrival of the people at Ply­mouth, there is no doubt but God was pleased to send a dreadful sickness among the natives, who were before very numerous, and probably would have bestired themselves to hinder strangers from making settlements in their country. By this vi­sitation, it is said, great numbers were swept off, and some whole tribes became, in a manner, ex­tinct. The Massachusetts tribe, particularly, are said to have been reduced from thirty thousand, to three hundred fighting men. Some say nine tenths of the barbarians, through the country, were swept off, and the land was, in a manner, depopulated. Some have conjectured, because the small pox has proved so mortal to Indians, that this was the distemper which depopulated the country, but the Indians give an account of the disease that does not so well agree to the small pox. According to [Page 12] them it was a pestilential putred fever. Some however, think it was the plague, and tell us the savages shewed those scars which proved it to be the plague. But whatever the destemper was, it was a wonderful providence thus to prepare the way for our fathers. When the most high would bring over a vine and plant it, he prepared room before it, and by his own hand cut off the heathen, who might otherwise have disappointed the designs of our fathers. ‘Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lov­ing kindness of the Lord.’ ^(e)

At the beginning of these settlements Heaven was pleased wonderfully to lay restraints upon the remaining savages, so that the Europeans gained a peaceable settlement among them. ‘When they were but a few men in number, yea very few and strangers—he suffered no man to do them wrong, yea he reproved kings for their sakes, saying, touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.’ ^(f) And lest, after all, the savages should prove too hard for them, in 1633, the small pox made dreadful havock among them, and swept away almost whole plantations of Indians. This further conduced to the safety of the people, and, probably, hindred the plotting of the natives to destroy their new neighbours.

It was not long, however, after their arrival, that our fathers found the savages, with strong pro­fessions of friendship, conspiring, in one place and another, to cut them off. In the first year after their arrival in this colony, when a mortal sickness [Page 13] was daily lessening their numbers, when there was not corn enough to feed them a fortnight, they were alarmed with the news of a general conspiracy of the Indians to extirpate the English. Only two years after (viz. in 1632) a conspiracy of the eastern Indians to cut off our settlements was discovered, and by a stratagem prevented. The same year the whole plantation was under fearful apprehensions of being driven off by the French, by order of Cardinal Richlieu, which put them on providing for their own defence. And it was nothing but the want of union among themselves that restrained the savages from breaking up all our settlements, which were generally utterly defenceless.

The first open war with the savages was what is called the Pequod war in 1637. The tribe of that name was settled in Connecticut colony, and were very mischevious to the English, falling upon them in their fields and in their journeys, commit­ting several murders among them. The several English plantations found it necessary, for their own defence, to carry on a war with this tribe, with their united force. This war was carried into the Pequod country, where their garrisons were destroyed and their houses burnt; 700 of that tribe were killed or taken prisoners, with very little loss on the side of the English: In short, the whole nation was in a few months totally extirpated, and this destruction struck such a terror into the other tribes, that they came and begged for peace, and the land had rest for near forty years.

During the seven first years from the settlement of the Massachusetts-Bay, there was a great flock­ing [Page 14] into the country, so that in a few years not less than 4000 planters had fixed themselves up and down in the country, and laid the foundation of many flourishing towns and villages in New-Eng­land. Above seventy ministers accompanied them, generally, learned and pious divines: About forty churches were gathered, and the foundation of that school of the prophets was laid, which by its annual streams, hath made glad the city of our God— the wilderness began to be subdued, orchards were planted, and laws were enacted for the government of the infant state.

But even in its infant state, New-England was not without its enemies at home, as well as in its own bosom. A.B. Laud, the grand enemy of civil and religious liberty, while he was persecu­ting good men at home, kept a jealous eye upon New-England—and employed enemies, false bre­thren secreted among themselves, to give notice of every thing that passed; especially of what might be improved to the disadvantage of the colony. He envyed the puritans an asylum in these parts of the earth, and was plotting their ruin.

As early as 1637, he procured an order of court to prohibit the exportation of inhabitants to New-England, at which time such great men as Pym, Hampden, Sir Arthur Haselreig, and Oliver Crom­wel, afterward lord protector of England, were prevented from settling themselves in this land. God in his providence reserved them for more im­portant services in their own country. And after all the calumny and reproach, which have been cast on their memories for more than a century of [Page 15] years, the world is obliged to acknowledge their greatness, and that to them the nation is greatly obliged for the important liberties it hath since en­joyed. —After the breaking out of the civil war, the cause of exile was, in a manner, taken away; the accession of inhabitants greatly ceased, and some returned from this, to their native country: Un­til the restoration of Charles II. when the persecu­tion against protestant dissenters was renewed with greater vigour than ever.

In 1642, there was a general design among the Indians to cut off the English inhabitants. They were to go, under pretence of trade, in small parties to the English houses, and, while some secured the arms, others were to perpetrate the dreadful mas­sacre. This horrid conspiracy was discovered by some of the Indians themselves. The discovery caused a dreadful consternation: But, by the ex­traordinary pains taken by the inhabitants to pre­vent any surprize, the savages were discouraged from their bloody attempt.

In 1653, a general alarm was spread through the colonies, by the information given by the In­dians, from several quarters, that the Dutch were privately solliciting the Indians to a general con­federacy, in order totally to extirpate the English. But the discovery of the plot was, probably, the means of preventing its execution.

For the space of near 40 years, from the Pequod war, though New-England was sometimes alarmed and put into great consternation, yet, in general, the country had rest, and there was, during this time, a surprizing increase of inhabitants; until [Page 16] the breaking out of that, which is commonly called Phillip's war, because it was begun and carried on by an Indian prince of that name, a mortal enemy to the English. He resolved on nothing less than the total destruction of the English. For this pur­pose he invited all the barbarous tribes to join him, furnished them with arms, and suddenly began the most distressing war that ever New-England felt. This war ‘endangered the very being of the co­lony, and it was a question with some, whether the Indians would not prevail to a total exterpa­tion of the English inhabitants.’ ^(g) Several years were spent by the natives in preparations for a vigorous war, and it was, probably, owing to its being accidentally begun, before they were, in ge­neral, prepared, that they did not accomplish the great undertaking.

It was in 1675, June 24. the war was actually begun, by an attack on the town of Swanzey, and the murder of several of the inhabitants. The troops of the colony engaged and were overpow­ered by numbers. Soon after which Mendon and Brookfield were attacked, and divers places on Connecticut river.^(h) The whole Massachusetts colony was in the utmost consternation, many places, in different parts of the colony, being at­tacked, almost at the same time; houses burnt, and the people slain. The brave distressed inhabitants frequently engaged the enemy, but were generally overpowered by numbers, and obliged to retreat with loss. It was at this time Capt. Lothrop, with his whole company, save seven or eight, consisting [Page 17] of eighty young men, belonging to the county of Essex, were cut off, in an engagement with seven or eight hundred Indians, between Deerfield and Hatfield. This was a heavy stroke on the coun­ty to which they belonged.

These depredations of the enemy united the Colonies in an expedition against a strong fortress of the savages, in the Narragansett-country. It was attacked by a thousand men, taken and de­stroyed after an obstinate resistance, in which five or six hundred Indian houses were burnt, and, in many of them, the women and children perished. Some of the enemy confessed they lost 700 fight­ing men that day, besides 300 more, who died of the wounds they received, or the hardships they underwent. This battle proved bloody, and cost the Colonies the lives of six brave captains, ⁽ⁱ⁾ and eighty-five private men. The whole number of killed and wounded was about 170; and the whole army was in the utmost danger of perishing, in their retreat, through hunger and cold. This action was on December 16th.

It was hoped, that such a signal defeat would have cooled the courage of the remaining savages, and disposed them to peace. But the event was quite otherwise. The barbarians, reduced to an al­most desperate condition by cold and famine, and instigated by Phillip, took the first opportunity of joining their forces, and, being encouraged by the governour of Canada, early on the following spring [Page 18] (1676) made a furious onset upon divers towns, ^(k) burning some towns wholly to the ground; others in part, killing multitudes of the distressed inhabi­tants, and spreading universal consternation. It was about this time Capt. Pierce was drawn into ambushment and slain, with his whole company of fifty English and several Indians; and Capt. Wads­worth, marching to relieve Sudbury, was cut off with his whole company of fifty men: The place is shewn, to this day, where they lie buried in one grave. Many persons were taken by the savages, and some put to death with torments too dreadful to be named.

At the same time that these western parts of the Colony endured the miseries of a bloody war, the eastern country, which before this time had consi­derable settlements, was groaning under the same calamity. All the country, eastward of Wells, was destroyed by fire and sword. Such was the de­plorable situation of our country at that day, that that of the Prophet was peculiarly applicable to our land, ‘the Syrians before, and the Philistines behind, and they shall devour Israel with open mouth.’ ^(l)

This was an awful season indeed—our fathers saw their country at once invaded on every side: Scarce any plantation was out of danger. Look [Page 19] which way they would, the smoke of their country ascended up, as the smoke of a great furnace. Men, women and helpless babes, fell a sacrifice to barbarian cruelty. Great numbers of the bravest men in these infant plantations fell in battle. The enemy had signal advantages against them. No sooner had they made their unexpected onsets, but they were retired into woods and mountains, where it was impossible to follow, or overtake them. Hitherto the enemy had been generally victori­ous —A darker and more dreadful cloud never overspread New-England. No man thought his life secure: Nothing was talked of but fire and sword. All forts of men put on sackcloth, and lay in ashes. Day after day was spent in fasting and prayer. ‘The priests, the ministers of the Lord, wept between the porch and the altar, saying, spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine he­ritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: Wherefore should they say among the people, where is their God?’ ^(m)

God was jealous for his land, and pitied his peo­ple; in the midst of judgment did he remember mercy—The triumphing of the heathen was but short. Our troops, in several bloody encounters, were victorious. The enemy were pursued to their lurking places, multitudes of them were put to the sword, great numbers were taken prisoners.—The death of Phillip, who was slain by an Indian that had deserted from him, together with the losses they had sustained, and their distress for want of provi­sions and amunition, quite disheartened the savages, and several tribes begged for peace: So that, in two years, this bloody war was brought to a period; [Page 20] which, tho' for a time so formidable to our fathers, yet, through the good providence of God, broke the power of the savage tribes—multitudes were slain, many were executed as rebels, great numbers were made slaves, and some were sent into slavery to other countries: The natives were never able to recover themselves.

Thus ended this distressing war, which once threatned the total destruction of the Colony. These were not indeed such mighty battles as we read of in history, nor such as have since deter­mined the fate of America, but they were the struggles of an infant colony.—Many brave men— many brave young men, expired in this distressing war; their names deserve to be had in perpetual remembrance.

But what pity! what relief had our fathers from the mother country, under all these distressing ca­lamities! Was the royal ear open to their com­plaints? Was any kind of relief afforded, at a time when the savages awfully threatned their total de­struction? Were troops or ships or money sent to their relief? —No —If they cried there was none to hear. The heart of a licentious prince was hardned to all their distresses; his ears were shut to their cries, but open enough to the vile and malevolent misrepresentations of their worst enemies. On the very year when the colonists were contesting with the natives the possession of the country, at the time when they struggled hard to preserve their footing in New-England, complaints were sustain­ed, and a prosecution set on foot against them, which at length issued in the loss of all the privi­ledges of the royal charter.

[Page 21]The royal charter which encouraged our fathers to settle themselves in this country, gave them to expect civil & religious liberty in a greater degree, than their fellow subjects then enjoyed it in Eng­land. The country was claimed by the crown of England only by right of discovery. To encourage the settlement, an incorporation was thought ne­cessary, but was purchased of the crown at the ex­pence of two thousand pounds sterling. Notwith­standing, it was no longer than the next year after the arrival of the people in this Bay, in 1631, that there was an attempt to vacate it; but it happily proved unsuccessful. And again, four years after­ward, 1635, the charter was attempted, but still the attempt proved unsuccessful. In 1638, there was a formal demand of the charter to be given up, and a judgment was obtained, that the liberties of the corporation should be seized into the king's hands. But, through the goodness of God, the execution was never compleated: The change of times in Old England saved the priviledges of New. At the restoration of king Charles, 1660, the ene­mies of their liberties aroused themselves, and laid heavy and grievous complaints against the Colony, in order to have their priviledges taken away. Baptists, Quakers, Episcopalians, united in pre­ferring their complaints: But God stirred up the hearts of several of the nobles, ⁽ⁿ⁾ friends to the Colony, and puritans in principle, to interest them­selves in the cause, and so the attempt proved suc­cessless. From the restoration the colony never stood well with the court. The principal persons here, in church and state, were never without fear­ful [Page 22] apprehensions of having their invaluable privi­ledges taken from them. In 1665, commission­ers were sent over with very large and unconsti­tutional powers, an infraction thereby made upon the charter-rights of the colony. Four gentle­men ^(o) were named in the royal commission, some of them the professed enemies of New-England, vested with such extraordinary powers, as were like to subvert all law and justice, and such as sub­jected the people to their arbitrary will and pleasure. A day of solemn fasting and prayer was observed throughout the jurisdiction, to implore the mercy of God in the dark state of their public affairs, ^(p) A loyal petition, containing a decent and manly assertion of their right to the priviledges confirmed to the colony by royal charter, and setting forth the great distress they were in, by being subjected to the arbitrary pleasure of strangers, proceeding, not by any established laws, but their own arbitrary will; also declaring, that, if things went on ac­cording [Page 23] to their present appearance, they must ei­ther seek new dwellings, or sink under intolerable burdens, was prepared & sent to the king. Every prudent measure was taken to prevent the loss of the charter. At the same time the magistrates, with a decent, and considering the infant state of the Colony, an admirable firmness, withstood the commissioners in the exercise of their unconstitu­tional powers. The consequence was, after a few years, this arbitrary commission was discontinued. But at length, in 1676, ‘in the height of the di­stress of the war, and whilst the authority of the Colony was contending with the natives for the possession of the soil, complaints were making in England, which struck at the powers of go­vernment; and an enquiry was set on foot, which was continued from time to time, until it finally issued in a quo war ranto, and judg­ment thereupon against the charter.’ ^(q) Di­stressing was the condition of this poor country: While engaged in a bloody and extensive war, in­stead of the pity and regards of their prince, from whom they justly expected protection and encou­ragement, they were threatned with the loss of those privileges, which were dear to them as life, and on the hope of which they left their country, and were bravely defending themselves in a dismal wilderness. ‘The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.’ ^(r)

[Page 24]The adversary and enemy; the grand accuser of the Colony, was Edward Randolph, ^(s) a man of most arbitrary principles, and indefatigable in his endeavours to distress the Colony, and set up arbitrary government. He was at last the "mes­senger of death," and arrived in 1673, with powers to demand an absolute resignation of all the liber­ties of the Colony into the royal hands. But be­fore any new form of government could take place, king Charles II. died, and it was not till 1686, that a commission arrived for setting up a new and arbitrary government, under which the house of Deputies was laid aside, and consequently the peo­ple were totally deprived of all power in the ad­ministration. The powers of government were committed to a chosen council, of which a gentle­man of this place was appointed president.^(t) Soon after arrived Sir Edmund Andross, with a com­mission from king James, with a number of as­sistants, to take upon him the absolute government of all the New-England Colonies with New-York. Thus the people found themselves compleatly stripped of all their privileges, civil and sacred, and subjected to a governour and council, as to the ruling part of them, entirely devoted to the will and pleasure of a popish prince, whole arbitrary measures will be detested, while there are friends to the protestant religion, and the liberties of the nation.

[Page 25]Sir Edmund Andross was supposed to be a big­goted papist. On his arrival, he made high pro­fessions of regard to the public good and welfare of the people. But, as one observes, ^(u) ‘Nero concealed his tyrannical disposition more years, than he did months.’ All the affairs of govern­ment were managed by himself, with four or five of his creatures. The distressed people were soon given to understand, they were not to expect to enjoy the priviledges of Englishmen. One of the first acts of their tyranny, was the restraint of the press. Marriage was forbidden, but on certain con­ditions of their own prescribing. The congregati­onal ministers were considered as meer laymen. ‘The people were menaced, that the meeting-houses should be taken from them, and, that public worship, in the congregational way, should not be tolerated.’ But while affairs were thus going on, and the religious liberties of the country were just on the point of being lost, the king's pro­clamation for universal toleration, put a stop to any further proceedings.

But still the people saw their civil rights and per­sonal property in the hands of a tyrant.—Swearing by the book was introduced, and such as scrupled it were fined and imprisoned.—Exorbitant and in­tollerable fees were exacted.—The titles to lands were questioned, in order to oblige men to take out new patents, at unreasonable prices.—Estates, in some instances, were unjustly alienated, and made over to those, that had no right to them in law or justice.—Property became every day more and more precarious: Under such a government, [Page 26] no man could call any thing his own. Towns were forbidden, at their peril, to assemble, except once or twice a year. The governour, with four or five, laid taxes on the people, according to his sovereign will, and the officers who refused to assess them, were imprisoned and fined — The inhabitants were cruelly forbid to garrison their own houses, in a time of war.—A multitude of lives were lost, in a foolish and fruitless expedition to the eastern frontiers.—Such were the arbitrary measures pur­suing by a set of wretches, who were making their fortunes out of the country's ruin. The people had no where to cry but to him who rules in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth. He was graciously pleased to appear. The glorious revolution, which dethroned James, and placed a protestant king and queen on the throne, sat New-England at liberty from the cruel op­pressions of arbitrary government.

It must be remembered, that while the country was stripped of its invaluable priviledges, and groan­ing under arbitrary government, they were likewise carrying on a war with the savages, which seems to have fallen chiefly on the eastern frontiers. This war began in 1687, and lasted ten years; in all which time, our frontiers were harrased, and, every year, more or less destruction was made on our borders. It was during this war, viz. in 1690, that this brave people, who, one would have thought quite disheartned, raised and sent 700 men, who accomplished the reduction of Port-Royal, which was given up seven years after, at the treaty of Ryswick. In the same year an expedition was formed, and carried on, under the command of Sir [Page 27] William Phips, for the reduction of Canada. The expedition proved unsuccessful, & the consequences of it distressing to the people. A thousand brave young men lost their lives, by a train of disasters in that unfortunate undertaking. Mourning and woe were brought on the country, and a load of debt which proved pernicious to them and their posterity.^(w)

Liberty is the most ardent wish of a brave and noble people. They bear the yoke with reluct­ance, and never fail to improve the first opportu­nity to cast it off. The sacred thirst for liberty brought our fathers hither. They endured the yoke of slavery with great uneasiness. The first hints that William and Mary had ascended the throne, aroused them to spirited measures; they seized and imprisoned the instruments of their op­pression, and preferred their humble and earnest sollicitations for the restoration of their charter-priviledges. After three or four years the present charter was obtained, which, though it enlarges the king's prerogative, and brings us to a nearer dependence on the crown, we nevertheless consider as of inestimable worth. It's priviledges we wish, and pray may be transmitted a fair inheritance to our children after us.—Only I would observe, that one of our ministers, the Rev. Dr. Increase Mather, was a principal agent in obtaining the present charter. His praise is in all the churches: His name will be remembered thro' many generations.

The arrival of the new charter, in 1692, did not put an end to the distresses of this unhappy people. [Page 28] It is said of the Israelites, that, when the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid, after the capti­vity, ‘many of the priests and levites, and chief of the fathers, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice, and many shouted for joy.’ ^(x) In like manner, on the arrival of the new charter, while some rejoiced at the resto­ration of many of their former priviledges, others mourned bitterly the abridgment of the important liberties they had enjoyed under the former char­ter, and forms of government. The state of the country was on other accounts greatly distressed.— The sea-coasts were infested with the enemies pri­vateers, so that few of our vessels could escape. The inland frontiers, from east to west, were har­rassed with enemies, French and Indians.—The late unsuccessful expedition against Canada, had exposed the country to the resentment of France, and bro't a distressing load of debt upon the people, and the government were in the utmost perplexity to pro­vide for carrying on the war. Lastly, amidst all, the minds of the people were filled with horror at the breaking out of what is called the witchcraft; a scene dreadful to be thought on! Many of the people were credulous, and believed all they heard, and the few that believed all was imposture, and design, were afraid to reveal their sentiments, lest they should be accused themselves, for in that case they saw little probability of escape.

However silly and romantic the stories of witch­craft may appear to us, in this more enlightned age, it is but a few years since they were believed [Page 29] in all the civilized nations of Europe; many, even in the last century, in the most enlightned parts of Europe, were put to death for supposed witchcraft. The unhappy tragedy, acted by our mistaken fa­thers, was principally confined to the county of Essex; where the prosecution was carried on, for several months, with mistaken zeal and unremitting vigour. The anguish, the horror and consternation of the people were beyond imagination, when their relatives, their friends and neighbours were accused, imprisoned: Many of them put on solemn tryal for life, and divers condemned and executed. No one could look upon himself as safe: Many fled their country for fear, and, before the imposture was discovered, such a shocking tragedy was acted, as is enough to make the ears of every one that heareth to tingle. Nineteen persons were condemn­ed and executed for witchcraft. One was pressed to death for refusing to plead. Eight more lay under the sentence of death. Fifty confessed and were pardoned. One hundred and fifty were im­prisoned, and two hundred, being accused, fled for their lives, ^(y) May heaven forgive the innocent blood, that was shed; may future ages learn wis­dom from the mistakes of former times: Rather, much rather, may time draw a dark vail over this scene of delusion.

At this time, and for several successive years, the natives carried on the war upon our eastern and western frontiers; making sudden and unexpected [Page 30] onsets, burning houses, killing and captivating the distressed inhabitants. This year (1693) an army of French and Indians attacked Wells, but could not destroy the garrison; and tortured a poor man to death. ^(z)

In 1694, the enemy attacked a village in New-Hampshire, ^(a) and killed and captivated 100 per­sons. The same year they fell on divers places in the eastern parts, ^(b) and several persons fell victims to their rage.

In 1695, the savages continued their depredati­ons, and committed several murders on the fron­tiers, and, no farther from home than Billerica, they killed and captivated fifteen persons.

On the next year, 1696, the English-fort at Pemaquid, the strongest garrison in the eastern country, was taken and demolished. The news created great terror through the country; and it was then expected the enemy would have marched westward and brought fire and sword into the bowels of our country. A considerable army ^(c) was raised and sent to oppose them; but God was pleased to deliver the country from their fears, and nothing extraordinary was attempted by the enemy. The inhabitants, all along the frontiers, were obliged to shut themselves up in garrisons, and were greatly hindred from their labours. The Indians were e­very where upon the watch, and when an oppor­tunity presented, seized or killed those that ventur­ed abroad.—We, who sit every one under his own [Page 31] vine and figtree, and have none to make us afraid, can hardly imagine the distressed situation of fa­milies, every hour in peril of their lives; ever and anon alarmed with the outrages of savages, and the relations of murders committed in one place and another.

In 1697, we were threatned with a powerful in­vasion from France.—The king of France had his heart much set on this expedition. A large fleet was ordered to sail from the ports of France, as early in the year as possible, to attack Boston. A numerous army from Canada was destined to join the fleet, on the eastern frontiers: The army was ready to march at a few days warning. The fleet actually sailed from France, and arrived in America. The designed invasion was known in the country, and every day expected, for several weeks toge­ther. A report was spread in Boston, that a for­midable fleet had been seen on the coast. The in­habitants, as well they might be, were put into consternation and amazement. They expected every day to be attacked; there were no hopes of a British fleet to assist them. The best preparati­ons were however made, by a brave and distressed people, to receive their enemies—The militia was held in readiness to march to the sea-coasts, and their principal fortresses were put into the best posture of defence. The alarm continued for se­veral weeks, all which time, they daily expected to be attacked. But Heaven was pleased graciously to appear for their help, and, by a train of disap­pointments, frustrated the designs the enemy had formed against us. Besides, by reason of the pre­parations making in Canada, to strike this impor­tant [Page 32] blow, our frontiers had quiet until the latter part of the year, when a party of the enemy fell upon Lancaster, and killed the minister, ^(d) and twenty or thirty of the inhabitants.

On the beginning of the next year, 1698, the Indians surprized Andover and Haverhill, burned several houses, and killed many of the inhabitants, leading some into dreadful captivity: And the treaty of Ryswick, which restored peace to Eng­land and France, did not quickly deliver our fron­tiers from the Indian enemy. Several attacks after, this were made on our eastern & western borders.^(e)

In the year 1698, after many years incessant war with the French and Savages, peace was restored to our frontiers. But it's duration was short. For on the breaking out of Q. Anne's war with France, 1703, New-England was again involved in an ex­pensive and distressing war, which, during the course of ten years, required the utmost exertion of this people: It's weight fell principally on this unfortunate Colony. It grieves me to represent to you the sufferings, distresses and disappointments of this unhappy people. But, as it may remind us of our obligations to God, who has often appeared for us in seasons of peculiar distress, I shall give you a summary view of the series of calamities, which be­fel us, during that long war.

The first considerable onset of the Indians was on the town of Deerfield, on the night following the 28th of February.—In the dead of night the whole town was attacked, by 300 French and [Page 33] Indians. They slew about forty persons, and, the next morning, leaving the houses and barns in flames, they took their departure, carrying away about 100 captives, among whom was the minister of the town, ^(f) a native of this place, with his wife and five children, leaving two of his children dead, and his house in flames.—The tender husband was quickly seperated from his feeble spouse, and, not long after, had the affecting tidings that she, fatigued with travel, had the hatchet of her cruel master struck in her brains.—Oh! the distress that an affectionate husband must have felt at such a relation as this!—Several expensive expeditions were undertaken, which had no great effect, unless that they might strike terror into the savages, and prevent their so frequent onsets on our settlements.

In 1704, the enemy were very active, and made several attacks upon our unwalled villages. Three or four hundred French and Indians came down to Lancaster, and burnt the meeting house, and many dwelling houses, and assaulted the garrisons, but were not able to take them. Many other towns in this, and a neighbouring government, ^(g) suffered by the incursions of the savages; and the country was in a perpetual alarm.

In 1705, I meet with no considerable devasta­tions of the enemy. As it was a time of war, the people on the frontiers must have lived in con­tinual fear; and, if they ventured into their fields, it must have been in great fear and jeapordy of their lives. But,

[Page 34]In the beginning of the next year, 1706, several hundreds marched from Canada, to fall upon the frontiers of New-England. The intelligence of this design gave a dreadful alarm, through all the fron­tiers the people not knowing where they would fall on. Probably the enemy divided their forces; for they fell on several places nearly at the same time. During the course of this year, Dunstable, Sudbury, Chelmsford, Exeter, and divers other pla­ces, had some of their inhabitants killed, or taken; and a party ventured down to Reading, within a few miles of our metropolis. Who can conceive the distress and anguish of a whole country, every where lying open to the cruelties of barbarous sa­vages, aided and pushed on by our merciless neigh­bours the French!

In 1707, an unsuccessful expedition was formed against Port-Royal. This Colony sent a thousand men, which greatly increased the burden of a dis­tressed people. Nor did this expedition at all secure our frontiers. The savages still continued their ravages, and committed many barbarous murders on the defenceless inhabitants, ^(h) and had confi­dence enough to venture down to Marlborough, an inland, town where they did some damage.

In 1708, the country was alarmed with advices, that the governor of Canada was collecting all the tribes of savages he could, for a powerful invasion of some part of New-England, to be commanded by French officers. Providence strangely discon­certed their plan, and great numbers of Indians gave over the enterprize. However, on the 29th [Page 35] of August, about 200 of the enemy fell upon Ha­verhill, killed the minister, ⁽ⁱ⁾ and thirty or forty persons; burnt great part of the buildings, and re­turned, carrying several into captivity.

Nothwithstanding this Colony had been harrassed with long and perplexing wars, yet, upon an inti­mation from the Crown, that an expedition was designed against Canada, they chearfully raised and kept in pay, for several months, their quota of troops ^(k) and transports, until advices were re­ceived, that the intended expedition was laid aside. This was an additional disappointment and misfor­tune to a people, already sinking under a load of debt. And, through the course of this year, the ravages on the frontiers were continued; many places were attacked, on the eastern and western frontiers. A large party of the enemy attacked Deerfield, when the inhabitants were just returned from captivity—several other places had their in­habitants picked off, by parties of Indians, dispersed all over the frontiers.

In 1710, the New-England Colonies sent four regiments to reduce Port-Royal; in which they were assisted by several of the king's ships. The design was accomplished—During the whole sum­mer, notwithstanding the expence of the expedition to Port-Royal, the Colony were obliged to keep large parties in pay, to scour the woods and protect the outer settlements. But, notwithstanding all their diligence, the frontiers were frequently alarm­ed, and mischief was done in several places. Marl­borough [Page 36] and Chelmsford were infested with sava­ges, and, at the latter, a brave officer was slain. ^(l)

Nothing further could be expected from an ex­hausted people, yet, perhaps encouraged by the success of the preceeding year, and well knowing that they were never to expect any lasting peace and safety, so long as Canada was in the hands of the French, upon advice of an expedition form­ing against Quebec, this Colony, with almost un­paraled readiness and dispatch, furnished two regi­ments, their quota of troops, with provisions, and joined the king's troops arrived at Boston, on the projected expedition. The whole armament, con­sisting of fifteen sail of men of war, forty transports and 7000 troops sailed from Boston, July 30, 1711. They arrived in the river St. Lawrence, where, in the night, eight or nine ships were wrecked upon the rocks, and a thousand of the king's troops perished in the waves. This dreadful blow, at once, put an end to the expedition. The navy and regular troops returned to England, and the New-England forces returned ashamed and confounded. The disappointment and vexation was very great. The public debt was increased, and become now al­most insupportable. The country was still left to the merciless ravages of French & Indians. Some pious minds give over all hopes of ever reducing Canada. ‘So many attempts blasted plainly in­dicated, as they conceived, that providence never designed the whole northern continent of Ameri­ca for one European power.’ And, to add still to the misfortune, it soon appeared, that every me­thod was taken to misrepresent and abuse this loyal [Page 37] Colony, and cast all the blame of the failing of the expedition on us. Proper measures were taken to clear this Colony from this undeserved abuse. A journal of all the proceedings was sent home, in which, it was truly asserted, that one fifth part of the inhabitants of the province, fit to bear arms, were in pay this summer. And further, to com­pleat their misfortunes, this year, a considerable part, the middle and best inhabited part, of the town of Boston, was lain in ashes.

Early on the spring of the next year, 1712, the savages renewed their assaults on the frontiers, kil­ling and captivating in one place and another. Their incursions were continued until 1713, when peace took place between the contending powers of Europe: Soon after which the Indian tribes entred into a treaty of peace, and professed themselves the very obedient faithful subjects of the Crown of Great-Britain.

We are come to a period memorable in the an­nals of Europe, for the peace of Utrecht. This country had now, with very small intermissions, been in a state of war for near forty years. In those long wars the country lost five or six thousand of their bravest youth; and it was found, that in the space of fifty years, the number of inhabitants in the province had not doubled. The defence of the frontiers, and the numerous garrisons and fortifica­tions they were obliged to maintain, together with the various expensive expeditions in which they were engaged, without any relief or compensation from the crown, ‘must have occasioned such an annual burden, as was not felt by any other sub­jects [Page 38] of Great-Britain; and the merit of the peo­ple of that day ought never to be forgot.’ ^(m)

From the year 1713, the land had rest and peace for about ten years. But, in 1723, the Indians broke out into a war (to which they were urged by the French) that lasted about two years. During this war, the savages harrassed the frontiers from east to west; falling upon divers towns at the east­ward, killing & captivating many of the people.⁽ⁿ⁾ They also fell on the western towns, particularly Rutland, where the minister of the town ^(o) fell a sacrifice to their rage. The English engaged the Indians in the East, with various success, for some time, until their success in destroying the Indian settlements at Norridgewalk, with a great part of the tribe of that name, induced the savages in ge­neral, to treat of peace, which was established by a solemn treaty in 1725. ^(p) I would only add, it was during this war that Capt. Lovel, (with a company of brave men) scouring the wilderness in quest of the enemy, was drawn into an ambush­ment, and slain with several of his men.

From the peace in 1725, the country enjoyed peace for nineteen years; viz. until the declaration of war between England and France, in 1744; when all our frontiers were involved in the dangers and perplexities of an Indian war. Five hundred men were immediately impressed and sent to guard the exposed plantations.—I am not able to give a minute account of the onsets and murders com­mitted [Page 39] by the savages in this war, and I am ready to think proper care was not taken to preserve the memory of those events.—But this many of us well remember, many valuable settlements were de­serted, and burnt up, by the enemy; and many of our people were slain or carried into captivity.— During this war, viz. in 1745, the repeated at­tempts of the enemy upon Annapolis-Royal, (which was preserved from falling into their hands, by a seasonable reinforcement of the garrison with 200 men from this province) and the imminent danger our trade and fishery were exposed to, aroused the martial spirit of the New-England Colonies to en­gage in an expedition against Louisburg, a strong fortress on the Island of Cape-Breton. The expe­dition was planned by the Governor of this pro­vince, ^(q) and prosecuted with the greatest ardor and bravery. Many of us remember the readiness with which thousands of our worthy inhabitants engaged themselves in that hazardous enterprize.—God was pleased to hear our fervent prayers, and succeed our endeavours. A train of favourable, unforeseen and even astonishing events facilitated the conquest of that important fortress. This success of New-England arms was very important, in it's conse­quences: It was the price that purchased the peace of Europe. Cape-Breton was the single equivalent for all the conquests of France in the Netherlands. This conquest cost the Colonies dear. For though but a few were killed in the seige, yet the sickness, that raged among the troops in garrison after the conquest, swept off many hundreds of our worthy inhabitants.

[Page 40]The success of the expedition against Louisburg put the ministry upon forming a plan for the total reduction of Canada. These Colonies had lost great numbers of their best men, in the conquest and gar­risoning of Louisburg; and that expedition, toge­ther with the war on the frontiers, had sunk them, especially this province, deep in debt. To which I may add, as a discouraging consideration; all former attempts on Canada had proved unfortu­nate. Nevertheless, upon an intimation of the roy­al pleasure, the Colonies readily engaged in the great undertaking, and even exceeded the roval requisi­tion, in the number of troops they engaged to em­ploy, ^(r) The troops of this province were sea­sonably prepared, and waited, with impatience, the arrival of the forces from Europe. But, unhappi­ly for the Colonies, the design was laid aside at home, and all our expences and preparations prov­ed, in a manner, fruitless; at least they only served to defend our own frontiers, and to protect Nova-Scotia, where our people were insidiously attacked by the French and Indians at Minas, and 160 were killed and wounded in one night. In a word, in stead of a fleet and army from home to undertake the conquest of Canada, we were left to the fear­ful apprehensions of a powerful fleet and army, sent out from France, with orders to bombard and lay waste all our maritine towns; without any considerable force to resist them.

England was not more alarmed with the Spanish Armada, in 1588, than Boston, and the other North-American seaports were, with the arrival of this powerful armament in their neighbourhood. [Page 41] The fleet consisted of seventy sail, whereof fourteen were capital ships, and twenty were smaller men of war; enough, indeed, to strike terror into the bravest minds.—Every measure for defence, that was in our power, was immediately pursued—our principal dependance from abroad, was the season­able arrival of a British fleet; but herein our ex­pectations were disappointed. But when our de­pendance failed, Heaven was pleased to hear the prayers of a distressed people, and kindly under­took our deliverance. He, that hath all nature in his power, sent mortal sickness into the enemy's fleet and army, and so diminished their numbers, that they were obliged to burn several of their ships, for want of men to navigate and defend them. Their general, a Duke of France, ^(s) died on a sudden, or rather laid violent hands on himself. Some of the ships we lost in a violent storm, and others taken in their return to France. So that this great Armada, which employed near half the navy of France, was in a great measure destroyed.—Pious men could not but see and admire the hand of God, interposing for our deliverance: We, literally, stood still and saw the salvation of God.— ‘He saw that there was no man,—therefore his own arm brought salvation.’

During the short peace between the two last wars, our plantations flourished, and our settlements extended themselves further into the wilderness. But our rest was short: We were soon called to arms. The necessity of the times required us to furnish much greater armies than ever we had done before. France, instead of conforming to articles [Page 42] of agreement for terminating all disputes in Ame­rica, was forming the vast plan (or rather prosecu­ting a plan long since laid) of driving the English out of all North-America; at least of subjecting this vast extent of dominion to the crown of France. For this purpose, they were building fortresses on our frontiers, imprisoning British subjects; they attacked our garrisons, and were daily filling their Colonies with regular troops, in order to execute the project formed as Versailes. These perfideous transactions occasioned the last war, which was in­deed begun, in 1755, though not formally declar­ed until the next year. The events of that war are yet recent in your memories—greater armies were led into the field; more important battles were fought; more difficult sieges were underta­ken; more dreadful defeats were experienced, and, in short, more glorious victories & conquests were obtained, than ever were known in this part of the world; America was more eminently the seat of war; our public affairs received an importance they never had before; not only England and France, but all Europe listened to our fate.

Two things are observable, in which the last war differed from all that New-England had been en­gaged in before.

The first is, that whereas the former Indian wars were principally confined to New-England, our frontiers were the only field of battle, and the other provinces, in a manner, sat still, in profound tran­quility, while we were struggling hard to defend and keep possession of our country; they put not their hand to the war; in the last war, the interests [Page 43] of the several governments became blended or con­nected together; they were obliged to join their forces, and the cause became a common one, al­though it must be acknowledged that New-England, even then, bore the burden and heat of the day.

2dly. Whereas, in all preceeding wars, our east­ern and western frontiers were open to the ravages of the savages, during the last war, as we acted on the offensive, and carried the war into the enemy's country, they were obliged to collect all their forces for their own defence, by which means our frontier settlements were unmolested: And, through the whole war, were, in a manner, safe from fear; a quiet habitation—a happiness they never enjoyed in any preceeding war with France.

The beginning of the last war was unsuccessful in America. General Braddock, at the head of two regiments, marching to remove the enemy's en­croachments on the Ohio, was attacked and slain, and a dreadful slaughter was made of the troops under his command. In the latter end of the year, an army of French and Indians under General Dieskau, was defeated by the provincial troops, and the French inhabitants were, the same year, remov­ed from Nova-Scotia.

The next year (1756) our troops made an in­active campaign. Nothing of any great moment happened, only the loss of the English garrison at Oswego, and with it all our communication with the great lakes, or inland seas; which laid all the frontiers of America open to the incursions of the enemy.

[Page 44]Seventeen hundred fifty seven, was a year of fear and of doubtful expectation—God was pleased to humble us before our enemies; we saw every thing run counter to our wishes & expectations—a large fleet and army designed for the siege of Louisburg effected nothing. General Montcalm, at the head of an army, crossed the lakes and demolished fort William-Henry, with many circumstances of hor­ror. The whole continent was alarmed at this suc­cess of our enemies. We were ready to fear the worst, that the enemy would improve their victory and brirg fire and sword into the interior parts of the country. The ablest men amongst us thought it a dismal day; the hearts of many melted for fear: People of the best discernment looked on our condition as very distressed—to say the least of it, it was "a day of darkness." We remember the wormwood and the gall, our soul ‘hath them still in remembrance.’

The critical state of the American war, and the hazzard the Colonies were in of being lost, aroused the fear of the nation, and obliged Great-Britain to send over a greater number of troops, with a powerful naval armament, to carry on the war in America.

The events of the year 1758, were, in general, prosperous, though in some instances our enemies had the advantage. Louisburg was invested and taken, and the naval power of France was thereby greatly reduced. But the repulse of our army be­fore Ticonderoga, with the loss of not less than 2000 men, the flower of the British troops, killed, wounded and missing, was a humbling stroke.— This defeat was in some measure repaired, by the [Page 45] successful expedition against Frontenac, the grand French magazine for supplying the enemy's garri­sons to the westward, and the herds of savages, who, until then, were butchering the defenceless inhabi­tants, on the frontiers of the western and southern Colonies. Soon after the enemy deserted their gar­rison on the Ohio, and the depredations of the In­dians in a great measure ceased.

In 1759, our affairs began with the greatest probability of success. The British and Provincial troops were commanded by able Generals, and the success was equal to reasonable expectation. Many of you remember how our hearts leaped for joy, on the arrival of the frequent messengers of our successes. This year Niagara was besieged and taken—Oswego preserved from a powerful attack of the enemy—a compleat victory was obtained over a large body of French and Indians, bending their way to raise the siege of Niagara—the lines and strong fortress of Ticonderoga, were entered with little resistance, and Crown-Point, the very key of the enemy's country, was abandoned. To­wards the close of the campaign, a decisive and bloody battle was fought on the plains of Abraham, in which, the Generals of both armies were slain.^(t) To this succeeded the surrender of the city of Que­bec, after a long siege. These successes of the British troops broke the heart and power of the French, and determined the fate of Canada.

The next year, 1760, is a glorious Aera for New-England, and all the American Colonies—an Aera our fathers longed to see. The enemy early made some feeble attempts to rescue and save their coun­try, [Page 46] but all in vain.—God, who of old led his people through the Red-sea, on dry ground, and dryed up the waters of Jordan, conducted our ar­mies through the watry avenues of their country. He caused the fear and dread of them to fall upon our enemies; all hearts were faint, and all hands were feeble. Upon the approach of the British troops, the whole country of Canada was surren­dered to the Crown of Great-Britain, and the entire conquest of the French in North-America was com­pleated.—The extensive countries, which the crown of France possessed, or claimed in North-America, which, in future ages, may contain many flourish­ing kingdoms, were, by the following treaty of peace, forever annexed to the British empire. Then the Lord delivered us from all our enemies—then "the Lord turned the captivity of Zion"—then ‘was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing—then said they among the heathen, the Lord hath done great things for them—the Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad.’ ^(u)

The last war was more interesting and impor­tant than any, that had taken place in America: It was a contending for the empire, not of New-England only, but of all North-America. Our Fathers, long since, predicted such an important struggle. The crown of France hurried it on, by a vigorous pursuit of the plan laid near an hundred years ago, to sorround and subject to itself the Co­lonies of Great-Britain. Had the British & French Colonies been left to contend with one another, it is highly probable the English, by reason of their [Page 47] superior numbers, had carried the day. But, as France was continually pouring troops into her Colonies, and erecting impregnable fortresses in the most advantageous places, we stood in absolute need of powerful aids from the mother country. The loss of her Colonies must have been of the most dreadful consequence to Great-Britain, powerful succours were therefore readily sent over, not to supersede, but to aid the utmost exertions of the Colonies. They did not take this occasion to with­draw themselves from the burden of war, but, to their utmost, yea, some of them, "beyond their ability," exerted themselves, from the beginning to the end of the war. For several years, it is said, a fifth part of the inhabitants of this province, fit to bear arms, were employed in the King's service: And, if I mistake not, this single province had, one year, ten thousand men employed in the ser­vice by sea and land. Though I never could find that the number of the Colonists that perished in the last wars, was exactly ascertained, yet several thousands, from this country, must have perished, in so many years service; in so many long marches, laborious and difficult sieges, and sharp encounters; and the debt contracted in the course of the war, notwithstanding parliamentary grants, is still a heavy burden upon the people of this province.

Since the British empire became unrivaled, in North-America, New-England hath been a quiet habitation. Our most exposed villages, that have been for ages exposed to the barbarities of merci­less savages, are now rejoycing in peace & safety— every one sits under his own vine and his own fig­tree, and there are none to make us afraid. Our [Page 48] settlements are annually extending themselves into the wilderness. Our numbers by the natural in­crease of the inhabitants, and by accessions from foreign countries, are multiplying with great rapi­dity. New towns are filling up and churches erecting: ‘The wilderness doth blossom as the rose—the solitary place doth sing for joy.’

We are not to expect perfect felicity in the most prosperous times.—Government, in its most per­fect form, is liable to mistakes; corruption creeps into the best systems. The repose of these Colonies, a few years since, was disturbed by an attempt of the mother country to lay upon them unconstitu­tional taxes and burdens. The Stamp-Act, which, had it operated in America, would have greatly ef­fected our liberty and property, was soon declared to be quite unconstitutional, in the face of that Par­liament, who, but one year before, had passed the act, ^(w) and was presently repealed. This was a strange turn in favour of American liberty, and shows us how easy it is with the most high to turn the hearts of the children of men.—

Unhappily, I may say, unhappily for Great-Bri­tain and the Colonies too, we see another parliamen­tary act put in execution, for the design of raising a revenue, and of fixing the jurisdiction of Parliament, in such a manner as to leave the Colonies without the power of disposing of their own property. This act is generally reckoned quite unconstituti­onal, and, in many respects very unfriendly to our liberties.—It cannot be concealed, that great unea­siness generally, almost universally, subsists in the [Page 49] Colonies, and there needs no great penetration to foresee, that the continued enforement of this act will have very disagreeable consequences; not only with regard to our liberty and property, but as it tends to beget jealousies, suspicions, distrust and alienation of affection, between the mother state and her children.—We bear true and faithful alle­giance to our sovereign lord the King; we honor the dignity of Parliament; we wish for nothing more than a perpetual union with, and constitutional de­pendence on the mother country. We wish for no enlargement of our constitutional priviledges, only, that we may quietly enjoy those, which have always been recognized by the high court of Parlia­ment itself. We are grieved to feel so severe marks of the royal displeasure, and, on the slightiest and most trifling pretences, to be represented and actu­ally treated as subjects meditating sedition and re­bellion. But the most high ruleth in the king­doms of men. He that hath delivered can deliver yet again.—God has, at sundry times, and in di­vers manners, appeared for this people, in seasons of the greatest public calamity. Liberty was the noble errand of our fathers over the Atlantic; the most high has hitherto gloriously owned the cause, and, I doubt not, he will still continue to support and preserve it. We trust in the righteousness of our cause, and the uprightness of our intentions, that time will rectifie all mistakes; the extent of our liberties, and the perfection of our obedience, will be better understood, and the grounds of dis­quietude be removed.—In the mean time, let us, while we are seeking redress in every loyal and con­stitutional way, continue our fervent prayers, that the Throne may be established in righteousness; [Page 50] that we may see the "good of his chosen," that we ‘may rejoyce in the gladness of his nation, and glory with his inheritance;’ leading ‘quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty.’ Perhaps, by the suppression of extravagance, and the improvement of trades and manufactures; by the practice of frugality and industry, what was de­signed to bring us to a more absolute dependence, may turn out, in its consequences, to be a blessing.

I have now led you through the most material and interesting changes and events, from the be­ginning of our country, to this day. It is but a very general and concise view I could give you, in these limited discourses; but enough has been said to show you, that we have had many enemies to encounter, and it is through many difficulties, hardships, and discouragements, we are increased, from very small and feeble beginnings, until we are become a very considerable people. You may now see the good hand of our God that has been upon us: We must feel the obligations we are under to love and serve him — ‘only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth, with all your heart, for consider what great things he hath done for you.’ ^(x)

I might now make a stand, and call you to look back on the series of divine providence, and admire the power and goodness of God, in appearing so often, and in such unexpected ways, for the salva­tion of his people, in this wilderness.

For scores of years, with very little inter­mission, we have been engaged in distressing wars with the savages, and those who stimulated them up [Page 51] against us. The expence has been distressing, and kept us poor. The growth of our settlements has been dreadfully impeded —probably there would have been hundreds of thousands of inhabitants, in the New-England Colonies, more than there are at this day, could the country have been settled in peace. And it is impossible not to observe, that we have been commonly left alone to contend with our enemies. We have not, in our most distressed circumstances, received protection or relief from Great-Britain, except, indeed, now and then some ships of war to guard the sea-coasts. ^(y) And al­though we have, from the beginning, guarded our frontiers, and often engaged in heavy and expen­sive expeditions, to enlarge the kingdom, yet we were always left to support the burden of debt thereby laid upon us. I am not able to learn that this province have ever received any aid, in money, from the mother country, before the reimbursement of the charges of taking Cape-Breton, in 1745. Since that time we have, I confess, received par­liamentary aids, yet they have been in consideration of a debt incurred beyond our proportion in the nation. Instead of royal donations, and parliamen­tary assistances, the truth of the matter is, that, for 120 years, we were not only destitute of them, but in that time have met with many discouragements from home to break the spirit of a distressed infant Colony. Our fathers had often hard measure.

This country was at first sought and settled as an Assylum for liberty, civil and religious: And [Page 52] it is worthy of observation, that the abettors of arbitrary power, and ecclesiastical tyranny, have, all along, been the enemies of New-England.— Charles I. under the influence of Arch-bishop Laud, (who always kept a jealous eye over New-England, and had his emisaries here, to make representations of every thing that might set the Colonies in a bad light) endeavoured to cramp their growth, and threatned the assumption of their priviledges. His son, Charles II. listened to every one disaffected to our prosperity, and begun the prosecution against the Charter. James II. unjustly assumed our rights and erected an arbitrary unconstitutional govern­ment. On the other side, if New-England has had the good will of the Court, it has been in the reigns of the Princes, whose names will be handed down to posterity, as the protectors and restorers of the English liberties, as William III. and the Sovereigns of the reigning house of Hanover; which house we sincerely pray God to continue on the throne for ever. —And this is what we may always expect, that a government so popular and friendly to liber­ty, as this will always be the envy and hatred of the abettors of tyranny, in Great-Britain, as well as among ourselves. Again,

I cannot but look back and adore the dealings of Heaven, all whose ways are judgment, and his paths past finding our, in gradually cutting off the babarous nations, to make room for us. The ini­quity of the Canaanites was full, and for their ido­latry and wickedness, God caused the land to spue out its inhabitants; but what these barbarians had done, to provoke the divine displeasure, we cannot tell. God's ways are unsearchable. But this we [Page 53] have seen, though the natives were very numerous before, and at the coming of our ancestors, yet they have been ever since, to this day, diminishing until the whole race is in a manner extinct.—God did not cut them off at once; he left them, as he did the Canaanites of old, to try his people, to be thorns in their sides, and pricks in their eyes; but yet their destruction has proceeded with gradual, sure and uninterrupted steps. Every war they waged bro't ruin, in the end, upon themselves. Every year lessened their numbers; and even peace with us, and free intercourse with our settlements: Yea, all our attempts to civilize and bring them to a regular life, have proved pernicious to them, in the end, and accelerated their destruction. And it is said that all the numerous nations of Indians on the conti­nent, at least all that have any intercourse with us, are actually on the decrease. I am ready to think that, not only the extension of our settlements, but all our attempts to civilize these barbarians, will be found hereafter, as they always have been, to hasten their utter destruction.— ‘This is the Lord's doings, and it is marvellous in our eyes.’ We can scarce refrain a compassionate tear over an unhappy people, meeted out to be trodden down and brought to utter destruction. But it is time to proceed to our second general head of Discourse, which was to consider,

II. The obligations we are under, being ‘de­livered out of the hands of our enemies, to serve God, in holiness and righteousness all the days of our lives.’ This I design as the moral, or reli­gious improvement of all that has been said. For my design in giving you the foregoing summary, [Page 54] was not so much to teach you the history of your country, as to impress upon your hearts your ob­ligations to fear God, and serve him, "that it may go well with you and your children after you." ^(z)

Walking before God "in holiness and righte­ousness," is descriptive of the whole life of a good man. It is needless to point the several branches of that holiness and righteousness, in which we are to walk before God. I shall only point out some things essential to the holiness of a people, peculi­arly worthy of general attention.

The serious and conscientious observation of the Lord's-day, is a duty of the highest importance to the life and power of religion among a people. Where do we find the evidences of genuine seri­ousness and piety, in those that pay no serious con­scientious regard to the Lord's-day! It is a saying, founded on observation, that religion prospers or declines among a people, according to the respect that is shown to the Lord's-day; and even our reason shows us what a mighty influence the serious observation of the Lord's day, with a careful, dili­gent attendance on the word, sacraments and pray­ers, must have on the whole tempers and lives of christians. So far as the Lord's-day becomes a season for visiting, feasting, gaming and diversions, the life of christianity will expire, and all manner of vices grow among a people. Only cast your eyes on those places, where little regard is paid to the Lord's-day, and you will find them, in a state of ignorance, and immorality, little or nothing bet­ter than absolute heathenism. The puritans in [Page 55] England, so long ago as the reigns of James I. and Charles I. distinguished themselves, by their serious observation of holy time, and their opposition to sports and games on the Lord's-day. Several e­minent ministers were, if I mistake not, turned out of their livings for refusing to read, in the churches, a proclamation for sports on the Lord's-day. Our fathers were in general very strict and precise ob­servers of the Lord's-day They permitted no sports or diversions, and, when they were not em­ployed in public worship, they applied themselves to offices of piety, such as reading, praying, cate­chising, and singing in their own houses. Some­thing, I hope, of this excellent spirit still remains, in this land. We have yet good laws enacted to prevent the prophanation of holy time: And, I hope, there are not wanting some, who have zeal and courage enough to put them into execution. But it is not to be doubted that, through the coun­try, in general, a serious regard to the Lord's-day is on the decline. Under a notion of laying aside the preciseness, or, as some call it, the scupo­losity of our ancestors, I fear, we are falling into the quite contrary extream. Not only worldly discourses, but even visiting, and riding from town to town, and walking for diversion, are becoming common among us. But let me call upon you, my dear friends and neighbours, to awaken your zeal for the precise observation of the Lord's-day. Not only let us statedly frequent the public wor­ship of Christ, but let us carry our regards for holy time into private. Instead of worldly discourses, needless visiting, or diversions of any kind, let us improve this day at home, in prayers and devoti­ons. Let us keep our families in due subjection, [Page 56] restrain them from all levity and diversion, and bring them up in a serious and reverend regard for holy time. Let us permit no idle company in our houses, and steadily discourage and frown on every thing that tends to abate the reverence and respect people ought to have for the sabbath. We cannot but be grieved for that prophanation of holy time, which comes under our observation: If we have increasing examples of this, let them not abate our serious regard to our duty. Otherwise we shall offend God, bring on a sad decay of real religion, and ruin our posterity.—While I recommend the observation of the Lord's-day, I plead for that reli­gion, which is our life, and by which we shall pro­long our days in the land which the Lord our God has given us.

Another thing, which the present moral state of the country leads me to recommend to serious con­sideration, is an attendance on the Lord's supper. The Lord's supper, as it is an express and plain, so it is an important and useful institution of the redeemer. I am grieved to find there is such a general neglect of it in this land. Many churches are awfully reduced in their numbers, and, in some places, the neglect is become fashionable and almost universal. Such great numbers absent themselves from the Communion that it is become in a manner reputable to live and die in this sad and dangerous neglect. The common disregard to this institution of Christ is, I am verily persuaded, one of the cry­ing sins of this people, and an astonishing instance of the want of love to Christ, the life and pow­er of christianity.—It is an evidence how little persons are concerned to be saved. It is probable [Page 57] some real christians may absent themselves from the communion, through real fears & scruples. Many things have been injudiciously said in past ages, which may cause an unreasonable dread and fear of coming to the Lord's table. Prejudices are not easily eradiated from mens minds. But, I confess, I have not that extensive charity as to suppose but that, by far, the greater part of those, that live in the neglect of the Lord's supper, do so from a low esteem for this ordinance of Christ, or because they are afraid, that by so solemn a pro­fession of christianity, they shall bring themselves under the necessity of a more circumspect life, or dishonour themselves by contradicting, in practice, their own profession. After all that can justly be said in excuse for this general omission, it argues at least, a prevailing infidelity of heart, a coldness in religion, an awful want of regard to Christ, and a dreadful unconcernedness as to the mercy of God in another world. Our fathers, perhaps to avoid the other extream, made the terms of christian communion too strait and narrow, which might be offensive and discouraging to some; but, in most of our churches, there is a more liberal spirit, and nothing is required, as a term of communion, that any serious well-disposed person should scruple to comply with. Oh that baptized persons; that professed christians would think of this great duty! Oh! that all, who love the Lord Jesus, would, in their several places, do all they can to wipe away the reproach that is cast on the precious redeemer of souls, and the institution, by which his disciples are to be peculiarly distinguished from all mankind. Let those who love Christ be earnest in prayer, that God would pour out his Spirit; then shall we see [Page 58] men and women flying, as the clouds, and as the doves to their windows, to this precious ordinance of the redeemer.

Suffer me also to tell you, that the great increase of profane cursing and swearing in the land does greatly provoke God, and cause the hearts of good men to mourn. This country was once remark­able for its regard to the name of God. Cursing and swearing were once rare, and accounted very dishonourable; and, when known, severely pun­ished by civil authority. I have heard of a man that lived some time in New-England, who upon his return to Old-England, declared, he had lived seven years in a country, and all that time had never seen any one drunk, nor heard a profane oath. But, alas! the times are sadly changed, and that, as far as I can observe, not only in populous places, but in country villages, and through the country in general. This has been a growing vice for many years: But the late wars, wherein such great num­bers of our young men were employed in the army, have dreadfully corrupted our morals, and spread such profaness as was never known in the country before. And our present disagreable circumstances are, I fear, every day increasing profaness in the midst of us. What multitudes are found who fear not to curse and swear, and take the awful name of God into their mouths, on every occasion, in their common conversation? It is impossible to walk the streets, in populous places, and not be o­bliged to hear horrid oaths & imprecations. How many children, almost as soon as they can speak, learn to swear? Good men, I fear, look with too little displeasure on this sin. Children are not [Page 59] watched and warned against and punished for this sin, as they ought to be. How seldom are the good laws against cursing & swearing, put in execution? In short, it is, with many, no blot in a man's cha­racter, to curse and swear: Men that are profane, (I might say obscene too) notwithstanding pass, with many, for very good kind of men. This in­crease of profaness, calls for humiliation: It calls for the united endeavours of ministers and magi­strates, and all who regard the interest of that re­ligion which is the life of any people. This matter particularly calls for your serious attention, who live in a place of so much concourse and business. You cannot be too watchful over your children, nor too careful to keep them out of the way of temptation.

The spread of intemperance, and the excessive use of spirituous liquors, these late years, calls for the serious consideration of all that regard the vir­tue and welfare of their country. The first inha­bitants of this country, were remarkable for their temperance; but alas, how is the gold become dim, and the most fine gold changed? Little use was, for a long time, made of spirituous liquors, unless for a medicine—for common refreshment they were seldom or never taken. But our trade with the West-india Islands, has abundantly fur­nished us with the means of intemperance. The great plenty of spirituous liquors hath proved a temptation too hard for many to withstand, and truly threatens the destruction of thousands of our inhabitants. That which once only served for pe­culiar occasions, is now become the common drink of a great part of our labouring people. Many [Page 60] have so habituated themselves to strong drink, that they will perform no service without the liberal use of it. Only consider, my Brethren, how many, by the excessive use of strong drink, become stupid, idle, poor husbands; squander away their sub­stance; wasting what they earn, or laying out so great a part that they are poor and miserable. How many poor people lay out almost all they earn for Rum, and therefore when any disaster befals them, they become a charge and burden to their neigh­bours, and the community. Many spend their estates, and bring their families to poverty. How many young men, who, in early life, bid fair to be useful members of society, are debauched and spoil­ed by excessive drinking! How many break and enfeeble their constitutions, and die before their time, by this accursed vice! Truly, my hearers, I am warm when I speak of these things, and I can­not be otherwise. I tremble to think what mischiefs this single vice is bringing on this, that otherwise might be, the happiest people in the world. There is scarce any thing I can hear of a friend, neigh­bour, or acquaintance, so shocking to me, as that he indulges the common and liberal use of strong drink. When once the appetite gets the rule; when once spirituous liquors become necessary, espe­cially to the carrying on business, I almost set that down as a gone, a ruined man: It defeats every com­fortable hope. Oh my friends, my dear country­men, this growing, this pestilential evil, calls for some speedy and effectual remedy. It calls for the united opposition of magistrates, ministers, sober housholders; and of all that wish well to the prosperi­ty of their country. Let us arise, and, in our several places, make an effectual stand, or we are a poor [Page 61] miserable enslaved people. Don't you see the de­structive effects of this excess? Oh banish it from your families.—Let me earnestly enjoyn it on the rising generation, who have kept themselves free from the power of vicious appetites, never to be brought into bondage. As for such as have used themselves to strong drink, at their labour especially, and plead up for it, one had near as good reason with the wind, or bid the sun not shine, as pretend to turn them from what they dearly love. But as for you that are yet free from this folly, there is hope you will take warning. Don't you see the pernicious consequences of this vice; it is at your peril; your amazing peril, at the peril of your health, character, prosperity; yea at the peril of your everlasting salvation, that you make the common and daily use of strong li­quors, in any way, necessary unto you.

I have often and earnestly recommended industry and frugality, as virtues absolutely necessary to pub­lic happiness: And I would again recommend to your serious consideration, what I have said upon that interesting subject. It is the happiness of New-England that property is more equally divided than in any other part of the world; and, I believe, the poor have advantages for acquiring a comfor­table subsistence, and, even, for laying up estates, beyond almost any country whatsoever. But with­out industry and frugality, no people in the world can flourish. If families live in idleness, if people go beyond their abilities in living, building, dress, equipage, and the like; if children are not care­fully brought up to industry, there is no doubt they will be miserable, with the greatest and best ad­vantages. [Page 62] It is therefore highly necessary, if con­sidered only as the means of present public hap­piness, that children be trained up to useful busi­ness that we retrench superfluities, that we content our selves with the effects of our own industry.— These things I urge, not merely or chiefly as being at this time peculiarly necessary for answering po­litical purposes in Great-Britain, but as now and always necessary to the life and prosperity of a people. Once more,

Family government was very strict, in the first ages of the country. But, if our fathers, in any instances, carried the matter too far then, we are certainly gone very far into the other extream now. Family government, through the country, is gene­rally too much relaxed. The reverence and obe­dience of children to their parents, is too much lessened. Too little restraint is laid on youth, which, left to it self, is vanity. Family prayer is in many places most awfully neglected: The con­sequence is, as might be expected, youth are loose, profane, untractable and unadvised. This want of family government is seen in schools and colleges, and is justly lamented by persons of the best judg­ment and observation. Families are the nurseries of virtue and happiness, and the laying aside family religion, is striking a blow at the root. It is high time for us to think of this matter. Let us all, this day, take up Joshua's excellent resolution;— "but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord." ^(a) Let us make our houses Bethels for prayer—let us keep up the authority of parents and masters—let us lay our restraints on youth, when [Page 63] they would make themselves vile, for a child, left to himself, bringeth his father to shame. Oh! if we love our families, if we tender their present happiness or eternal life: If we regard posterity, let us attend to the important work of family re­ligion and government. This is a matter that re­quires wisdom and prudence; by too much seve­rity and strictness, I know, it is possible children may be discouraged, but, generally speaking, there is greater, far greater danger, that they will be in­jured and ruined by too much indulgance.

I might go on to mention other things implied in walking before God, and closely connected with the public weal. It is a maxim founded on the experience of all ages, ‘righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.’ ^(b) But the time calls upon me to finish my dis­course.—

Innumerable motives and arguments I could al­so set before you, to perswade you to walk before the God of your fathers, taken from the conside­ration of domestic and public happiness; from this world, and the world to come.—This is our life— but here I am straitned by the want of time—only let me suggest a few thoughts.

The consideration of the noble design of plant­ing this country, and of the excellent characters of its first inhabitants should animate us to walk be­fore God, and maintain a religious character. The views on which this land was settled were singular and noble: It was not trade and commerce, nor [Page 64] any worldly views, but religion was the noble motive that brought our fathers hither, and recon­ciled them to the perils of their wilderness state. They planted themselves here with the real ex­press views of serving God, and of training up their posterity in the good ways of the Lord. They were indeed, in general a very serious oonsciencious set of people. In some things they appear to us, at this day, to have been narrow in their principles, but, if we reflect, we shall find nothing singular in them on that account. The age they lived in was dark, compared with ours. The church had but lately emerged from popish darkness, and all sects of christians retained something of the old leaven, the persecuting spirit of popery; and it is no wonder our fathers had a tincture of it. Time and enquiry, experience and observation for more than an hundred years have increased the light, and taught the more sensible part of christians moderation, candor and forbear­ance. With all their mistakes, our ancestors retain the character of singular exemplary christians; and, would to God, we had more of their excellent spi­rit. Let us consider from whence we are fallen and repent, that though we have superior light we have lost much of that serious devout heavenly spi­rit, which so happily distinguished them. Let us strive to recover and retain primitive piety. Let us keep in view the gracious end which they pur­sued. May we never wholly lose that religious character for which this land has so long been re­markable. May we guard against every tempta­tion to depart from the good way, our fathers walked in. Let us cleave to God and one ano­ther in love, that we may be unto him for a name [Page 65] and for a praise and for a glory, above any other people on the earth.

Should not love to God and gratitude to him, that has done such marvellous things for us, engage us to serve him in holiness and righteousness? How can we trace the paths of providence, from age to age working for us, and not feel the goodness of God leading us to repentance! Can we ill requite the Lord—can we be evil and unthankful?

Let us consider our dependance on God for future prosperity. We have had an awful example of God's severity in rooting out whole nations to make room for us. He caused them to melt away as the dew before the rising sun: Their name and memo­rial is, in a manner, perished out of the earth. Hath not God the same power over us? If we forsake him and serve other gods, or serve divers lusts and pleasures, divine providence will cast us out of its protection, we shall sink under the weight of our own sins, as multitudes of antient kingdoms and nations have done; we shall perish from off the earth, and from under these heavens. God has judgments enough in store—Fear as-well as love ought to engage us to serve God. Corruption and immorality are the natural, necessary ruin of a peo­ple, and history presents us with striking examples of nations that have sunk under the weight of their own vices.—A people can never be free and happy but in proportion as they are virtuous—vice is slavery, misery and certain ruin.

Finally: Let us all seriously lay to heart our probationary state, and the amazing eternity into which we are going. The retrospect upon former [Page 66] ages, gives us a striking, an affecting idea of the changing state of man. "One generation passeth away, and another cometh." "Our fathers" that laid the foundation of our present happiness, whose names are had in respected remembrance, "where are they"? They have finished their wearisome pilgrimage, made their bed in the dust, and their sepulchres are with us to this day. As all our fathers, we are but strangers and sojourners in this land. This century will house, by far, the greatest part of this assembly in the dust.—May divine grace enable us to act our part well on the stage of life, and, when we are taken out of this wilderness to Canaan above, may we leave this fair inheritance to our children, and they to theirs. ‘As for man, his days are as grass, as a flower of the field, so it flourisheth, for the wind passeth over it and it is gone, and the place thereof shall know it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness to childrens children; to such as keep his covenant, and that remember his commandments to do them.’ ^(c)