A SERMON PREACHED BEFORE HIS EXCELLENCY JOHN HANCOCK, ESQ. GOVERNOUR; HIS HONOR BENJAMIN LINCOLN, ESQ. LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOUR;...OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS, MAY 27, 1789. BEING THE DAY OF GENERAL ELECTION.
Boston: Printed by Adams & Nourse, 1789. 54pp, with the half title but lacking the final blank. Disbound. Half title and title leaves moderately foxed. Else a clean text. Good plus.
Bridge speaks a few weeks after Washington's inauguration as President: "Man was originally formed for society, and furnished with faculties adapted thereto." But not just any society-- only one which, like the United States under its Constitution, "protects the subjects in the peaceable possession of their just rights, properties and priviledges."
Bridge rejects one-man rule because the temptations of power are corrupting. He notes that God helped us obtain independence "upon terms too, as honorable to America, as they were humiliating to Britain." The rulers' task is to encourage education and useful pursuits, and to distribute justice fairly and impartially.
Bridge pleads for the bond-holders of the new country. They should be paid in full. "They risqued their dear-earned interest, and their still dearer lives for the freedom of their country." America, he says, is "blest with the bright beams of gospel light and grace."
FIRST EDITION. Evans 21713. Sabin 7808. Item #42124
Price: $500.00