Chapter I: The Undermining of Puritan Standards and Institutions (4)

An amusing albeit suggestive episode is recorded by William Bentley in his _Diary_, in connection with certain reflections on the dangers involved in the loaning of books: “Allen’s _oracles of reason_ ... was lent to Col. C. under solemn promise of secrecy, but by him sent to a Mr. Grafton, who was reported to have died a Confirmed Infidel.... The book was found at his death in his chamber, examined with horror by his female relations. By them conveyed to a Mr. Williams ... & there examined—reported to be mine from the initials W. B., viewed as an awful curiosity by hundreds, connected with a report that I encouraged infidelity in Grafton by my prayers with him in his dying hour, & upon the whole a terrible opposition to me fixed in the minds of the devout & ignorant multitude.” (_Ibid._, vol. i, p. 82.)

The following extract from Timothy Dwight’s poem on _The Triumph of Infidelity_ supplies another interesting contemporaneous estimate of Allen’s assault upon revelation:

“In vain thro realms of nonsense ran
The great Clodhopping oracle of man.
Yet faithful were his toils: What could he more?
In Satan’s cause he bustled, bruised and swore;
And what the due reward, from me shall know,
For gentlemen of equal worth below.”

A foot-note explains the point in the last two lines: “In A——n’s Journal, the writer observes, he presumes he shall be treated in the future world as well as other gentlemen of equal merit are treated: A sentiment in which all his countrymen will join.” (_The Triumph of Infidelity: A Poem._ [Anonymous], 1788, pp. 23 _et seq._ The copy referred to is dedicated by the author “To Mons. de Voltaire.”)

[163] _The Age of Reason: Part I_, appeared in America in 1794. _Cf._ _The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine_, edited by Moncure Daniel Conway, New York, 1901, p. vii; also advertisements of its offer for sale, _Massachusetts Spy_ (Worcester), Nov. 19, 1794. The _Connecticut Courant_ (Hartford), Jan. 19, and Feb. 9, 1795, contains examples of pained newspaper comment. _Walcott Papers_, vol. viii, 7.

[164] At least fifteen thousand copies of the second part of the book arrived in America in the spring of 1796, despatched from Paris by Paine, consigned to his Philadelphia friend, Mr. Franklin Bache, Republican printer, editor, and ardent servant of radicalism generally. It was clearly Paine’s purpose to influence as many minds in America as possible. _Cf._ Conway, _The Writings of Thomas Paine_, vol. iv, p. 15; Paine’s letter to Col. Fellows, in New York, explaining the forwarding of the books. This effort to obtain a general circulation of the _Age of Reason_ did not escape the attention of men who were disturbed over the prevailing evidences of irreligion. In a fast day sermon, delivered in April, 1799, the Reverend Daniel Dana, of Newburyport, Massachusetts, called attention to the matter in the following fashion: “ ... let me mention a fact which ought to excite universal alarm and horror. The well-known and detestable pamphlet of Thomas Paine, written with a professed design to revile the Christian religion, and to diffuse the poison of infidelity, was composed in France, was there printed in English, and an edition containing many thousand of copies, conveyed at a single time into our country, in order to be sold at a cheap rate, or given away, as might best ensure its circulation. What baneful success has attended this vile and insidious effort, you need not be told. That infidelity has had, for several years past, a rapid increase among us, seems a truth generally acknowledged.” (_Two Sermons, delivered April 25, 1799: the day recommended by the President of the United States for National Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer._ By Daniel Dana, A. M., pastor of a church in Newburyport, 1799, p. 45). _Cf._ also _ibid._, p. 20.

[165] _The Age of Reason_ was written from the standpoint of a man who believed that the disassociation of religion from political institutions, and the elimination from it of fiction and fable, would bring in the true religion of humanity. The following excerpt sets out the author’s approach and aim: “Soon after I had published the pamphlet, ‘Common Sense’, in America I saw the exceeding probability that a revolution in the system of government would be followed by a revolution in the system of religion. The adulterous connection of church and state, wherever it had taken place, whether Jewish, Christian, or Turkish, had so effectually prohibited by pains and penalties every discussion upon established creeds, and upon first principles of religion, that until the system of government should be changed those subjects could not be brought fairly and openly before the world; but that whenever this should be done a revolution in the system of religion would follow. Human inventions and priestcraft would be detected; and man would return to the pure, unmixed, and unadulterated belief of one God and no more.” (_The Writings of Thomas Paine_, vol. ii, pp. 22 _et seq._) Paine’s exposition of the tenets of natural religion was far from scholarly, and as soon as the public became aware of the eccentric and uneven character of the book, the storm of criticism speedily blew itself out. The recoil of Paine’s ugly attack upon Washington, in the same year in which the _Age of Reason_ was extensively circulated in this country, materially helped to discredit the book.

[166] A partial list of the books and pamphlets, separate discourses not included, which were published in this country immediately following the appearance of the _Age of Reason_ will serve to emphasize the depth of the impression which Paine’s book made: (1) Priestley, Joseph, _An Answer to Mr. Paine’s Age of Reason; being a Continuation of Letters to the Philosophers and Politicians of France, on the Subject of Religion; and of the Letters of a Philosophical Unbeliever_. Second Edition. Northumberlandtown, America, 1794; (2) Williams, Thomas, _The Age of Infidelity: an Answer to Thomas Paine’s Age of Reason_. By a Layman (pseud.). Third Edition, Worcester, Mass., 1794; (3) Stilwell, Samuel, _A Guide to Reason, or an Examination of Thomas Paine’s Age of Reason, and Investigation of the True and Fabulous Theology_, New York, 1794; (4) Winchester, Elhanan, _Ten Letters Addressed to Mr. Paine, in Answer to His Pamphlet, entitled The Age of Reason_, Second Edition, New York, 1795; (5) Ogden, Uzal, _Antidote to Deism. The Deist Unmasked; or an Ample Refutation of all the Objections of Thomas Paine, Against the Christian Religion; as Contained in a Pamphlet, intitled (sic), The Age of Reason, etc._, Two volumes, Newark, 1795; (6) Broaddus, Andrew, _The Age of Reason and Revelation; or Animadversions on Mr. Thomas Paine’s late piece, intitled “The Age of Reason”, etc._ ... Richmond, 1795; (7) Muir, James, _An Examination of the Principles Contained in the Age of Reason. In Ten Discourses_, Baltimore, 1795; (8) Belknap, Jeremy, _Dissertations on the Character, Death & Resurrection of Jesus Christ ... with remarks on some sentiments advanced in a book intitled “The Age of Reason,”_ Boston, 1795; (9) Humphreys, Daniel, _The Bible Needs no Apology; or Watson’s System of Religion Refuted; and the Advocate Proved an Unreliable One, by the Bible Itself: of which a short view is given, and which itself gives a short answer to Paine: in Four Letters, on Watson’s Apology for the Bible, and Paine’s Age of Reason_, Part the Second, Portsmouth, 1796; (10) Tytler, James, _Paine’s Second Part of the Age of Reason Answered_, Salem, 1796; (11) Fowler, James, _The Truth of the Bible Fairly Put to the Test, by Confronting the Evidences of Its Own Facts_, Alexandria, 1797; (12) Levy, David, _A Defence of the Old Testament, in a Series of Letters, addressed to Thomas Paine, Author of a Book entitled, The Age of Reason, Part Second, etc._ ... New York, 1797; (13) Williams, Thomas, _Christianity Vindicated in the admirable speech of the Hon. Theo. Erskine, in the Trial of J. Williams, for Publishing Paine’s Age of Reason_, Philadelphia, 1797; (14) Snyder, G., _The Age of Reason Unreasonable; or the Folly of Rejecting Revealed Religion_, Philadelphia, 1798; (15) Nelson, D., _An Investigation of that False, Fabulous and Blasphemous Misrepresentation of Truth, set forth by Thomas Paine, in his two volumes, entitled The Age of Reason, etc._ (This volume appears to have been published pseudonymously. Advertised in Lancaster, Pa., Intelligencer and Advertiser, October, 1800); (16) Boudinot, Elias, _The Age of Revelation, Or, The Age of Reason shewn to be an Age of Infidelity_, Philadelphia, 1801.

[167] _Cf._ Morse, _The Federalist Party in Massachusetts_, Appendix I, pp. 217 _et seq._, for a detailed and fairly satisfactory statement of the character and extent of the discussion which Paine’s book precipitated in New England.

[168] Channing, _Memoirs_, vol. i, pp. 60, 61. On the latter page it is asserted that in order to counteract such fatal principles as those expressed in the _Age of Reason_, the patrons and governors of Harvard College had Watson’s _Apology for the Bible_ published and furnished to the students at the expense of the corporation. This was in 1796. Beecher’s _Autobiography, Correspondence, etc._, vol. i, pp. 30, 35, 52, touches upon the situation at Yale. _Cf._ Dwight, _Theology: Explained and Defended_, vol. i, pp. xxv, xxvi. The extensive prevalence of infidelity among Yale students is commented upon and the statement made that a considerable proportion of the class which President Dwight first taught (1795–96) “had assumed the names of principal English and French Infidels; and were more familiarly known by them than by their own.” (_Ibid._) _Cf._ Dorchester, _Christianity in the United States_, p. 319.

[169] The impression lingered on after the stir caused by the appearance of the _Age of Reason_. In 1803 Paine was in southern New England. His presence was disturbing, as the following comment of William Bentley will show: “Reports are circulated that Thomas Paine intends to visit New England. The name is enough. Every person has ideas of him. Some respect his genius and dread the man. Some reverence his political, while they hate his religious, opinions. Some love the man, but not his private manners. Indeed he has done nothing which has not extremes in it. He never appears but we love and hate him. He is as great a paradox as ever appeared in human nature.” (_Diary_, vol. iii. p. 37. _Cf. ibid._, vol. ii. pp. 102, 107, 145.)

[170] Hazen, _Contemporary American Opinion of the French Revolution_, pp. 141 _et seq._

[171] _Ibid._, p. 143.

[172] Dwight, _Travels_, vol. iv, p. 361.

[173] _Writings of Thomas Jefferson_, vol. v, pp. 154, 274; _Massachusetts Historical Collections, Sixth Series_, vol. iv, _Belknap Papers_, p. 503.

[174] The entire episode is treated with great fullness and equal vividness by Hazen, _Contemporary American Opinion of the French Revolution_, pp. 164–188.

[175] _Writings of Thomas Jefferson_, vol. vi, pp. 153 _et seq._

[176] From the first, devotion to the French cause had not been quite unanimous. Here and there, scattered through the country, a man might be found who from the beginning of the Revolution had cherished misgivings as to the essential soundness of the principles of the French in the conflict they were waging with despotism. Occasionally a man had ventured to speak out, voicing apprehension and doubt, although usually preferring to adopt the device of pseudonymity. Conspicuous in this by no means large group were the elder and the younger Adams, the former declaring himself in his “Discourses on Davila” (_Cf._ _The Life and Works of John Adams_, vol. vi, pp. 223–403), and the latter in the “Publicola” letters, written in 1791, in response to Paine’s treatise on “The Rights of Man”. Morse, _John Quincy Adams_, p. 18. But _events_, much more than political treatises, were to break the spell which the Revolution in its earlier stages cast over the people of America.

[177] No better testimony concerning the unfavorable impression created by the execution of the French king could be had than that supplied by the comment of Salem’s republican minister, the Reverend William Bentley. Under date of March 25, 1793, he wrote: “The melancholy news of the beheading of the Roi de France is confirmed in the public opinion, & the event is regretted most sincerely by all thinking people. The french lose much of their influence upon the hearts of the Americans by this event.” (_Diary_, vol. ii, p. 13. _Cf._ Hazen, _Contemporary American Opinion of the French Revolution_, pp. 254 _et seq._) This thrill of public horror also found expression in the following lines taken from a broadside of the day:

“When _Mobs_ triumphant seize the rheins,
And guide the _Car_ of _State_,
Monarchs will feel the galling chains,
And meet the worst of fate:
For instance, view the _Gallic_ shore,
A nation, _once_ polite
See what confusion hovers o’er,
A _Star_, that shone so bright.
Then from the scene recoil with dread,
For LOUIS is no more,
The barb’rous _Mob_ cut off his head,
And drank the spouting gore.
Shall we, the _Sons_ of FREEDOM dare
Against so _vile_ a _Race_?
Unless we mean ourselves to _bare_ (_sic_)
The _palm_ of their disgrace.
No! God forbid, the man who feels
The force of _pity’s_ call,
To join those _Brutes_, whose _sentence_ seals,
Whose hearts are made of gall.”

(_The Tragedy of Louis Capet, and Printed next the venerable Stump of Liberty Tree, for J. Plumer, Jun., Trader, of Newbury-port._) (In Vol. 21 of Broadsides, Library of Congress.)

[178] Webster, _The Revolution in France considered in Respect to its Progress and Effects_, New York, 1794. Webster’s discriminating pamphlet is one of the most suggestive of all American contemporaneous documents. _Cf._ Hazen, _Contemporary American Opinion of the French Revolution_, p. 259.

[179] For characteristic outbursts of this nature, _cf._ Adams, _Life and Works_, vol. ii, p. 160; Gibbs, _Memoirs of the Administrations of Washington and John Adams_, vol. i, p. 90. Typical newspaper comment similar in vein may be found in the _Western Star_ (Stockbridge, Mass.), March 11, 1794, and the _Gazette of the United States_ (Philadelphia), April 13, 1793.

[180] As early as 1790 John Adams had spoken of the French nation as a “republic of atheists.” (_Works_, vol. ix, p. 563.) Other leaders responded to similar sentiments. (Hazen, _Contemporary American Opinion of the French Revolution_, p. 266.) Familiarity with French philosophical and religious opinions before the French Revolution had supplied a basis for this concern.

[181] Aulard, _Le culte de la Raison et de l’Être suprême_, pp. 17 _et seq._ _Cf._ Sloane, _The French Revolution and Religious Reform_, pp. 53, 79, 97. The effort to dechristianize the institutions of religion in France is admitted by both writers, but the superficial occasion of this hostile effort is made clear.

[182] _Cf. infra_, pp. 103 _et seq._

[183] The practice of looking to the religious situation in France for ammunition to serve the artillery of political parties in America, is well illustrated in the following instances: _The Western Star_ of March 25, 1794, dwelt at length upon the depravity of French irreligion, and asserted that the lack of public alarm in this country must be accepted as convincing evidence that the American public has already yielded itself to the seductive influence and power of atheistical opinions. On the other hand, the _Independent Chronicle_, issues of March 6 and July 24, 1794, pounces upon Robespierre’s scheme for the rehabilitation of religion under the guise of the cult of the Supreme Being, and with great gusto asserts that here is the positive and sufficient proof that the charge of atheism which has been lodged against the Revolutionists is as baseless as it is wicked. An examination of the newspaper comment of the day supplies abundant warrant that this crying up and crying down of the charge of French infidelity went far in the direction of investing the political situation in New England with those characteristics of bitter and extravagant crimination and recrimination with which all political discussion in that section, as in fact throughout the entire country, near the close of the eighteenth century, was so deeply marked.

[184] By the adoption of this measure the Catholic clergy in France were turned into state officials. The relation of the Pope to the French clergy became that of a spiritual guide and counsellor only. The principle of territorial limitation on the part of ecclesiastics was also abolished. _Cf._ Sloane, _The French Revolution and Religious Reform_, pp. 121 _et seq._

[185] Aulard, _The French Revolution_, vol. iii, pp. 152–191, gives an excellent résumé of the dechristianizing movement.

[186] The conservative press of America saw to it that this information did not escape the attention of its readers. _Cf._ Hazen, _Contemporary American Opinion of the French Revolution_, pp. 267 _et seq._ _Cf._ Morse, _The Federalist Party in Massachusetts_, pp. 80–87, 98 _et seq._

[187] Hazen, _Contemporary American Opinion of the French Revolution_, pp. 269 _et seq._

[188] Dwight, _Travels_, vol. iv, p. 362.

[189] Beecher, _Autobiography, Correspondence, etc._, vol. i, p. 30.

[190] Baldwin, _Annals of Yale College ... From its Foundation to the Year 1831_, New Haven, 1831, p. 146.

[191] Field, _Brief Memoirs of the Members of the Class Graduated at Yale College in September, 1802_. (_Printed for private distribution_), p. 9.

[192] Beecher, _Autobiography, Correspondence, etc._, vol. i, p. 30.

[193] Sprague, _Annals of the American Pulpit_, vol. ii, pp. 164, 165. _Cf._ _Sketches of Yale College, with Numerous Anecdotes_ ... New York, 1843, p. 136.

[194] _Memoir of William Ellery Channing_, vol. i, p. 60.

[195] _Ibid._ Sidney Willard, in his _Memories of Youth and Manhood_, vol. ii, p. 101, tones down the picture appreciably.

[196] Morse, _The Federalist Party in Massachusetts_, pp. 88 _et seq._

[197] _A Sermon Delivered to the First Congregation in Cambridge, and the Religious Society in Charlestown, April 11, 1793._ By David Tappan, A. M., Professor of Divinity in Harvard College, Boston, 1793.

[198] _Ibid._, p. 16.

[199] David Osgood (1747–1822) was one of the best known New England clergymen of his day. Possessing a fondness for unusual public occasions, such as state and church festivals, he acquired the habit of turning them to account by way of airing his political and religious ideas, a custom which drew to him the cordial support of the Federal school to which he belonged, and the no less cordial contempt of the Republicans. _Cf._ Sprague, _Annals of the American Pulpit_, vol. ii, pp. 75, 76.

[200] The predilection of the New England clergy for political preaching requires a word. The clergy emerged from the period of the American Revolution with their reputation considerably enhanced. The cause of the struggling colonists they had supported with resolution and ability and their moral force had shown itself remarkably effective. It is also to be noted that from the settlement of the country, the clergy had been extraordinarily influential in the direction of public affairs. They were the intimates and advisers of public officials as well as the trusted counsellors of the people. After the setting up of the government most of the questions which agitated the public mind had definite moral and religious aspects. The New England clergy would have regarded themselves as seriously remiss and therefore culpable had they not spoken out upon the burning questions of the day. With the intrusion of foreign affairs into the sphere of American politics the impulse in the direction of political preaching was decidedly strengthened. Definite issues regarding morality and religion were thus raised, and the passions of patriotism and religious devotion became inextricably woven together. Love, _The Fast and Thanksgiving Days of New England_, p. 363; Swift, _The Massachusetts Election Sermons: Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts_, vol. i: _Transactions_, 1892–1894, pp. 422 _et seq._

[201] The Democratic Societies (or Clubs), to which fuller attention is given on pp. 104 _et seq._, instantly assumed a position of first importance in the minds of many clergyman of New England. Coupled as their emergence was with the amazing performances of Genet, they had the effect of suggesting to the clerical mind the fatal thrust at religion which might, and probably would result, on account of their subterranean operations. This idea of a secret combination against the institutions of religion in America, which proved to have a powerful attraction for many clerical minds, was definitely related to the spasm of anxiety and fear which swept the country when the presence of these secret clubs became generally known.

[202] _Cf._ [Osgood, David], _The Wonderful Works of God are to be Remembered. A Sermon delivered on the day of the Annual Thanksgiving, November 20, 1794_, Boston, 1794. pp. 21 _et seq._

[203] On account of the virulence of party feeling, it was not to be expected that Osgood would succeed in stating the case in a manner acceptable to all. Popular opinion respecting the wisdom and fairness of Osgood’s performance was far from unanimous. An opposition, inspired by political interests, quickly developed, to which Republican newspapers willingly enough gave voice. _The Independent Chronicle_ of Dec. 11, 1794, contains typical expressions of adverse comment. An exceptionally forceful counter-attack was made in the guise of an anonymous “sermon”, entitled: “_The Altar of Baal Thrown Down: or, The French Nation Defended, Against the Pulpit Slander of David Osgood, A. M., Pastor of the Church in Medford. Par Citoyen de Novion._” The author of this pamphlet, who, as time demonstrated, was none other than James Sullivan, later governor of Massachusetts, right valiantly took up the cudgel in defence of the French. The French, he argues, are to be regarded as a mighty nation by whom our own nation has been preserved from destruction. Their excesses are most charitably and fairly explained in the light of the frightful oppressions which they had long suffered. Their attitude toward religion should not be regarded as hostile. The French strike only at a clergy who have linked their power with that of the nobility, and who together have made the people’s lot intolerable. _Cf. ibid._, pp. 12 _et seq._ The entire sermon abounds in caustic criticism of Osgood for having stepped “out of ... line to gratify a party.”

[204] _Christian Thankfulness Explained and Enforced. A Sermon, delivered at Charlestown, in the afternoon of February 19, 1795. The day of general thanksgiving through the United States._ By David Tappan, D. D., Hollisian Professor of Divinity in Harvard College, Boston, 1795.

[205] _The Nature and Manner of Giving Thanks to God, Illustrated. A sermon, delivered on the day of the national thanksgiving, February 19, 1795._ By Ebenezer Bradford, A. M., pastor of the First Church in Rowley, Boston, 1795.

[206] The so-called “Whiskey Rebellion” came in for a considerable amount of hostile comment on the part of the Federalist clergy at this time. Generally speaking, the New England clergy felt sure of their ground respecting the alleged causal relation between the Democratic Clubs and the Pennsylvania uprising. Hence it happened that the tone of clerical condemnation with respect to everything which had the semblance of a secret propaganda was appreciably heightened. The moralizing tendencies of the clergy with respect to the secret combinations which were believed to be back of the “Whiskey Rebellion” is well illustrated in the following: _A Sermon, delivered February 19, 1795, being a day of general thanksgiving throughout the United States of America_. By Joseph Dana, A. M., pastor of the South Church in Ipswich. Newburyport, 1795. _Cf._ also, _Wolcott Papers_, vol. viii, 7.

[207] Tappan’s _Sermon_, p. 36.

[208] _A Discourse, delivered February 19, 1795. The day set apart by the President for a general thanksgiving throughout the United States._ By David Osgood, A. M., pastor of the church in Medford, Boston, 1795, p. 18.

[209] _Ibid._, pp. 18, 19.

[210] _A Sermon, delivered before the Convention of the Clergy of Massachusetts, in Boston, May 26, 1796._ By Jeremy Belknap, minister of the church in Federal-Street, Boston. Boston, 1796, pp. 15 _et seq._ A similar note was struck by Tappan in the convention of the following year. _Cf._ _Sermon, delivered before the Annual Convention of the Congregational Ministers of Massachusetts, in Boston, June 1, 1797_, Boston, 1797, p. 26.

[211] _A Sermon, delivered on the 9th of May, 1798. Being the day of a National Fast, Recommended by the President of the United States._ By John Thornton Kirkland, minister of the New South Church, Boston. Boston, 1798, pp. 18 _et seq._

[212] Complaints of the nature indicated, and justifications of ministerial conduct in continuing the practice of “political preaching” increase in number from about 1796 on. The following examples are picked almost at random: _The sermon preached by John Eliot at the ordination of Joseph M’Kean, Milton, Mass., November 1, 1797_, Boston, 1797, p. 33; James Abercrombie’s _Fast Day Sermon, May 9, 1798, Philadelphia_, Philadelphia, (n. d.); Eliphalet Porter’s _Fast Day Sermon_ of the same date, at Roxbury, Boston, 1798, p. 22; Samuel Miller’s _Fast Day Sermon_, also of the same date, at New York, New York, 1798.

[213] _God’s Challenge to Infidels to Defend Their Cause, Illustrated and Applied in a Sermon, delivered in West Springfield, May 4, 1797, being the day of the General Fast._ By Joseph Lathrop, minister ... Second Ed., Cambridge, 1803.

[214] _Ibid._, p. 4.

[215] _A Sermon, preached on the State Fast, April 6th, 1798._ ... By Nathan Strong, pastor of the North Presbyterian Church in Hartford. Hartford, 1798, pp. 14 _et seq._

[216] _Some Facts evincive of the Atheistical, Anarchical, and in other respects, Immoral Principles of the French Republicans, Stated in a sermon delivered on the 9th of May, 1798._ ... By David Osgood ... Boston, 1798.

[217] One of the curious results of the reflection of the American clergy on the significance of the French Revolution was a marked disposition to treat the Roman Catholic Church with unwonted sympathy and respect. Osgood’s implied apology not infrequently received an unblushingly frank statement. _Cf._ for example, Nathan Strong’s _Connecticut Fast Day Sermon_, cited above.

[218] This estimate of the case appealed to Osgood’s mind and satisfied his fancy. A year later he was heard on the following subject: _The Devil Let Loose; or The Wo occasioned to the Inhabitants of the Earth by His Wrathful Appearance among Them_. For lurid rhetoric Osgood outdid himself on this occasion. “Not in France only, but in various other countries, is the devil let loose; iniquity abounds; unclean spirits, like frogs in the houses and kneading-troughs of the Egyptians, have gone forth to the kings and rulers of the earth, ... the armies of Gog and Magog are gathered together in open hostility against all unrighteousness, truth and goodness.” (_The Devil Let Loose, etc. Illustrated in a Discourse, delivered on the Day of the National Fast, April 25, 1799_, Boston, 1799, pp. 13 _et seq._)

[219] _Some Facts Evincive, etc._, pp. 13, 16 _et seq._

[220] _Acts and Proceedings of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, May 17, 1798_, pp. 11 _et seq._

[221] _Ibid._

[222] The _Massachusetts Mercury_ (Boston), June 19, 1798, contains the address in full.

[223] This address may be found in the _Independent Chronicle_ of July 4, 1799, and the _Newburyport Herald_ of June 28, 1799. A further comment, of more than average significance, on the unparalleled degeneracy of the times may be found in the sermon preached by the Reverend William Harris, of Marblehead, Massachusetts, before the annual convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, held in Boston, May 28, 1799. _Cf._ _A Sermon delivered at Trinity Church, in Boston._ ... By William Harris, rector of St. Michael’s Church, Marblehead, Boston, 1799. A decade and a half later Lyman Beecher preached his famous sermon on “Building Waste Places.” The impression which lingered in his mind concerning the period under survey is worthy of consideration. After having discussed the unhappy condition of religious life in the churches of New England during the first half of the eighteenth century, he said: “A later cause of decline and desolation has been the insidious influence of infidel philosophy. The mystery of iniquity had in Europe been operating for a long time. The unclean spirits had commenced their mission to the kings of the earth to gather them together to the battle of the great day of God Almighty. But when that mighty convulsion [Foot-note: The French Revolution] took place, that a second-time burst open the bottomless pit, and spread darkness and dismay over Europe, every gale brought to our shores contagion and death. Thousands at once breathed the tainted air and felt the fever kindle in the brain. A paroxysm of moral madness and terrific innovation ensued. In the frenzy of perverted vision every foe appeared a friend, and every friend a foe. No maxims were deemed too wise to be abandoned, none too horrid to be adopted; no foundations too deep laid to be torn up, and no superstructure too venerable to be torn down, that another, such as in Europe they were building with bones and blood, might be built.... The polluted page of infidelity everywhere met the eye while its sneers and blasphemies assailed the ear.... The result was a brood of infidels, heretics, and profligates—a generation prepared to be carried about, as they have been, by every wind of doctrine, and to assail, as they have done, our most sacred institutions.” _Cf._ Beecher, _Autobiography, Correspondence, etc._, vol. i, pp. 239, 240.