Lehigh Valley Conservative

Pastor Simeon Howard (1733-1804) Educated at Harvard and considered to be one of the ablest by his peers in the ministry, preached a sermon in Boston, 1773, from;
Galatians 5:1
 “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”

It was a Sermon Preached to the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company in Boston and can be found in the book “American Political Writing during the Founding Era” 1760-1805 Volume 1 (page 185)—–Charles S. Hyneman & Donald S. Lutz

Pastor Howard was considered to be one of the pastors they called “black regiment”.  He was forced out of Boston and fled to Nova Scotia, coming back after the British were pushed out of Boston.

Edmund Burke in 1775 tried to warn the British Parliament that the Americans could not be subjugated, he said, and I quote;

 “The people are protestants , and of the kind which is the most adverse to all implicit submission of mind and opinion.”

They needed no “Lesser Magistrate” back in 1776 for two reasons:
 
1. They had the “black regiment” (Pastors who knew what rights God had given the people)
2. The people knew their Bibles and were not going to be bully, not even by a king.

We have neither the black regiment nor do we know the Bible today and therefore allow President Obama to run all over us without so much as a rally big enough to have any effect on him or the politicians.  Our founding father had more character, wisdom, and faith in their little finger then we have in our “Politically Correct” bodies, God help us.  

Now to Pastor Howard’s sermon and I quote;

“So that though a people should, through inadvertency, neglect to prescribe any bounds to the power of their rulers, this power would nevertheless be limited, and they would be at liberty to refuse submission to such restraints or laws, as were plainly inconsistent with the public good.”

“It is to be further observed here, that states or communities, as such, have naturally the same liberty, which individuals have in the state of nature.”

“The first unjust demands of an encroaching power should be firmly withstood, when there appears a disposition to repeat and increase such demands.”

“The laying unreasonable burdens and restraints upon a people, will if they are submitted to, debase their minds, break their spirits, enervate their courage, and sink them into cowards: if they are not submitted to, the consequence will be internal tumult, disorder, strife, and contempt of government; and in either case, the defensive power of the state is greatly diminished.  Behold, then the policy, or rather the madness and folly of oppressive rules: if they are successful in their injurious measures, they are exposing themselves and their subjects an helpless prey to the ravages of some ambitious neighbor; if they are not, they are raising up enemies against themselves at home, an, as it were setting fire to their own habitations.”

Need I say any more?  It was seen back in 1773 by Pastor Howard and it is surely seen today, the difference is in the wisdom and action of the people.  We may not have the “black regiment”, nor do we have the “lesser Magistrates” today who are willing to lead but God help us to find Jesus Christ who shall.

I close with this link
 http://www.davekopel.com/Religion/Religious-Roots-of-the-American-Revolution.pdf

Excellent foot notes and I recommend reading Douglas F. Kelly book “The Emergence of Liberty in the Modern World: The Influence of Calvin on Five Governments from 16th Through 18th Centuries” 1992  Foot note #1 in the article.