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36. A Sermon Delivered at the Annual Election [1791]
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A SERMON DELIVERED AT THE ANNUAL ELECTION Israel Evans CONCORD I 7 9 I ISRAEL EVANS (I747-18o7). A contemporary of James Madison at the College of New Jersey, Evans was graduated in I772 and was ordained a Presbyterian minister in I776. As a chaplain throughout the Revolutionary War with the New Hampshire brigade commanded by General Enoch Poor, he was involved in the Battle of Saratoga in I777, in the campaign of I779 against Joseph Brant's Iroquois Indians , and in the victory at Yorktown in I78r, where he preached to the combined American and French forces under Lafavette. He became the second settled minister of Concord, New Hampshire, serving from 1789 until I797, when he resigned. He remained in the town until his death. Dartmouth College awarded Evans an A.M. degree in I792. An animated and patriotic preacher, Evans saw the wonder-working hand of Providence in every event of the Revolutionary War and in the national glory looming beyond the triumph over British tyranny , a glory that would blend with the fulfillment of God's plan for the world. The election sermon reprinted here was preached in Concord in 179I before the General Court of the state of New Hampshire. [54.198.45.0] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 22:33 GMT) A s E R M 0 N, D E L IV E R E D A -r C 0 N C 0 R D, B E F 0 R E The Hon. General Court OF THE STATE OF NEWHAMPSHIRE, AT THE A N N U A L E L E C T I 0 N, HOLDEN ON THE FIRST WEDNESDAY IN JUNE, M.DCC.XCI. BY THE REv. ISRAEL EVANS, A.M. PASTOR OF THE CHURCH IN CONCORD. CONCORD: PRINTED BY Gl'..::>RGE HOUGH, FOR THE HONOURABLE GBNBRAL COURT. M. DCC, XCl'\ ~ Standfast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith CHRIST hath made usfree, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.&-> Galatians V. I. riends and Fellow-Citizens, We have numbered more than twenty-seven years since your opposition to a foreign system of heavy op- ~itl~C~ pression began. The year I 764 has been rendered ~~~~~ memorable, on the one side by the folly and injustice of a hated stamp-act, and, on the other, by the resisting energy of the patriot sons of freedom. From that period, the genius of American liberty, by combating distress, misery, and hosts of enemies, waxed strong in her own defence, and hath crowned more than three millions of mankind with national independence. Instructed in the school of freedom, the inhabitants of these confederate states combined their strength in the protection of the rights of men. They knew and they felt that freemen will be free. By their exertions, under the favour of a righteous providence, they have established a wise constitution of federal government: they have reached the consummation of every patriot's wish, the glory and felicity of their country; and now enjoy a free system of political happiness, such as gives pleasure, and even transport , to the enlightened patriots of many nations; and has made, perhaps , no small advancement of joy among the benevolent hosts of heaven: for, to every benevolent and virtuous being, the freedom and happiness of the human race is a most pleasing consideration. But there are some men, with the means of public prosperity in their possession , who do not realize the value of freedom; they partake of the common blessings of a free people, and yet are not conscious of national felicity. This, however, does_ not lessen the real worth of liberty ; for in every situation of life, it is the richest inheritance. In true liberty is included, freedom, both moral and civil; it has nothing in contemplation but the happiness of mankind, and therefore it is the principal glory of man; and, in this world, there can be nothing more dignified, or more exalted. Without civil and religious liberty, man is indeed a poor, enslaved, wretched, miserable creature; neither his life, nor his property, nor the use of his conscience, is secured to him; but he is subjected to some inhuman tyrant, whose will is his 1061 [54.198.45.0] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 22:33 GMT) ISRAEL EVANS law, and who presumes to govern men without their consent. But let not this gale of honest zeal carry us beyond the recollection of our text. In the discussion of the text, it may be observed...