Political Sermons of the American Founding Era: 1730–1805: In Two Volumes

29. A Sermon on a Day Appointed for Publick Thanksgiving [1787]

- 2 9 A SERMON ON A DAY APPOINTED FOR PUBLICK THANKSGIVING Joseph Lathrop SPRINGFIELD I 7 H7 JOSEPH LATHROP (I73 r-I820). Born in Norwich, Connecticut, and a graduate of Yale College (I 754), Lathrop spent his life as pastor of the Congregational Church in West Springfield, Massachusetts, where he died at the age of eighty-nine. A liberal Calvinist and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Lathrop was honored with S.T.D. degrees from Yale in I 79 I and Harvard in I8I r. He published more sermons than any Yale graduate before him (F.B. Dexter lists forty-nine published items in Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College, 2:335-43). Lathrop was one of the eminent preachers of his day. His secret, a contemporary said, lay in his "ability, beyond almost any man, of saying the best things, at the most fitting time, in the most graceful and effective manner. ... His strength lay not in any one predominant quality, but in the harmonious blending of all" (Ibid., 335). 866 A S E R M 0 N, REACHED IN THE "fiRSTPARlSHinWEST-SPRINGFIELD9 DECEMBER 14, MDCCLXXXVI, Being the DAY appointed by AuTHORITY 10. _ PUBLICK THANKSGIVING. Bv J 0 S E PH LATHR 0 P, A. M. Pub!ij7Jed at the general difzre qf tbe hearers. f'RINTED .by JOHN RUSSELL, AT HIS OFFICE, I N S P R I N G F I 'E L D. MDCCLXXXVII., ~.Ifye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But ifye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.~ Isaiah I. r9,20. hat was spoken by the prophets to the ancient people of God, is written for our use, that we, through the warnings of scripture, might be moved with fear; and, •I through the comforts of scripture, might have hope. Our relation to God, as a people redeemed by his hand and preserved by his care, as a people enjoying his oracles and professing obedience to his laws, is so similar to theirs, that we may justly apply to ourselves what was here spoken to them. I shall therefore consider my text in accommodation to our own case: and shall observe, I. That the land, in which we are placed, is a good land: and, II. That our enjoyment of the good of the land depends on om obedience to God. I. It may as truly be said of us, as of ancient Israel, that God has given us a good land. We lately thought it worth defending by our arms: it is still worth securing by our virtue. It is an extensive land. Few empires on the globe are so large, as the territory claimed by these states. It will admit a vast increase of numbers; and probably distant generations will not find themselves straitened for room. It is a pleasant and fruitful land. As it lies in the midst of the temperate regions, no part of it is afflicted with intolerable heat, or rendered uninhabitable by eternal frosts and snows. With proper culture it yields us, not only the necessaries, but the delicacies of life, in such plenty and variety, that we need to be but little indebted to foreign trade. Greater industry may be necessary here, than in some other climes: but this is no unfavourable circumstance; for industry contributes to health, virtue, freedom and security. With regard to commerce, nature has given us every advantage that can be wished. We have an extensive coast, convenient harbours, JOSEPH LATHROP navigable bays and rivers, materials of all kinds for shipping, a rich and inexhaustible fishery, and a variety of exportable produce, which may be exchanged for the riches of other climes. L:!te experience shews, that we are in greater danger from the excess, than from the want of commerce. Moderate trade contributes to polish and enrich a people; but when it is carried beyond its proper limits, it produces contrary effects, dissipation, poverty and vice. This is a healthful land. Those direful pestilences, which have ravaged other countries, are unknown here. A considerable proportion of the people live to old age; fewer die in infancy than in most European nations: Our natural increase is supposed to double our numbers as...