A SERMON PREACHED BEFORE HIS EXCELLENCY SIR FRANCIS BERNARD, BARONET, GOVERNOR: HIS HONOR THOMAS HUTCHINSON, ESQ; LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR, THE HONORABLE HIS MAJESTY'S COUNCIL, AND THE HONORABLE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, OF THE PROVINCE OF THE MASSACHUSETTS-BAY, IN NEW-ENGLAND, MAY 31ST. 1769. BEING THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE ELECTION OF HIS MAJESTY'S COUNCIL FOR SAID PROVINCE.
Boston: New-England: Richard Draper, 1769. 55, [1 blank] pp, with the half title [which is torn, without affecting text]. Stitched and untrimmed. First sixteen pages with a heavy blotch, which intrudes into the text but does not obscure it. Else Good+.
This election sermon is an important illustration of the growing colonial resentment of Parliamentary abuses of power. Haven, pastor of the First Church in Dedham, subscribes to the 'natural rights' and 'social compact' theory of government. "By forming into civil society, men do indeed give up some of their natural rights; but it is in prospect of a rich compensation, in the better security of the rest, and in the enjoyment of several additional ones, that flow from the constitution of government."
Despite the different types of government, "the natural rights of the people...are the same under every form of government." He quotes "the great Mr. Locke" on the duty of the people to oppose tyranny, and asserts that the colonists are justifiably apprehensive about Parliament's excessive assertions of authority, most recently expressed in the Townshend Acts.
FIRST EDITION. Evans 11289. Item #30434
Price: $250.00