Stillman, Samuel:

AN ORATION, DELIVERED JULY 4TH, 1789, AT THE REQUEST OF THE INHABITANTS OF THE TOWN OF BOSTON, IN CELEBRATION OF THE ANNIVERSARY OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE. BY SAMUEL STILLMAN, D.D.

Boston: Printed by B. Edes & Son, 1789. 30, [2 blanks] pp, with the half title [moderately foxed] as issued. Stitched, scattered light foxing, Very Good.

This is a great July 4 Oration. Stillman, an original trustee of Rhode Island College [later Brown University], would serve as one of Boston's twelve delegates to the Convention to ratify the U.S. Constitution. At the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention in 1779 he "argued the necessity of inserting in the constitution of the state a Bill of Rights and provision for the separation of church and state" [DAB].
Here he explains that the Revolution, and the new government under the Constitution, signal that "the principles of religion and of civil government" which brought our persecuted ancestors to America have now been fulfilled. It is now guaranteed that "all men are and ought to be at liberty to think and act for themselves in matters of religion," and that no laws can be enacted without the consent of the governed, "in person, or by their representatives." He recounts the "horror", "bloodshed" and "unjust treatment" caused by the British during the Revolution; and rejoices in the "new, extensive and animating scene"-- virtually "boundless"-- that opens before the new Nation.
Evans 22165. ESTC W28764. Sabin 91797. Item #39566

Price: $1,500.00