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God’s Awful Judgment In The Breaking And Withering Of The Strong
Rods Of A Community
by Jonathan Edwards
June 26, 1748 upon the death of Col. John Stoddard.
Ezekiel 19:12, "Her strong
rods were broken and withered."
IN order to a right understanding and improvement of these words, these
four things must be observed concerning them.
1. Who she is that is here represented as having had strong rods, viz.
the Jewish community, who here, as often elsewhere, is called the
people’s mother. She is here compared to a vine planted in a very
fruitful soil, verse 10. The Jewish church and state is often elsewhere
compared to a vine; as in Psa. 80:8, etc.; Isa. 5:2; Jer. 2:21; Eze. 15,
17:6.
2. What is meant by her strong rods, viz. her wise, able, and well
qualified magistrates or rulers. That the rulers or magistrates are
intended is manifest by verse 11, “And she had strong rods for the
scepters of them that bear rule.” And by rods that were strong, must be
meant such rulers as were well qualified for magistracy, such as had
great abilities and other qualifications fitting them for the business
of rule. They were wont to choose a rod or staff of the strongest and
hardest sort of wood that could be found, for the mace or scepter of a
prince; such a one only being counted fit for that use; and this
generally was overlaid with gold.
It is very remarkable that such a strong rod should grow out of a weak
vine. But so it had been in Israel, through God’s extraordinary
blessing, in times past. Though the nation is spoken of here, and
frequently elsewhere, as weak and helpless in itself, and entirely
dependent as a vine, the weakest of all trees, that cannot support
itself by its own strength, and never stands but as it leans on or hangs
by something else that is stronger than itself; yet God has caused many
of her sons to be strong rods fit for scepters; he has raised up in
Israel many able and excellent princes and magistrates, who had done
worthily in their day.
3. It should be understood and observed what is meant by these strong
rods being broken and withered, viz. these able and excellent rulers
being removed by death. Men’s dying is often compared in Scripture to
the withering of the growth of the earth.
4. It should be observed after what manner the breaking and withering of
these strong rods is here spoken of, viz. as a great and awful calamity,
that God had brought upon that people. It is spoken of as one of the
chief effects of God’s dreadful displeasure against them; “But she was
plucked up in fury, she was cast down to the ground, and the east wind
dried up her fruit: her strong rods were broken and withered, the fire
hath consumed them.” The great benefits she enjoyed while her strong
rods remained, are represented in the preceding verse; “And she had
strong rods for the scepters of them that bear rule, and her stature was
exalted among the thick branches; and she appeared in her height with
the multitude of her branches.” And the terrible calamities that
attended the breaking and withering of her strong rods, are represented
in the two verses next following the text; “And now she is planted in
the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground. And fire is gone out of a
rod of her branches, which hath devoured her fruit.” And in the
conclusion in the next words, is very emphatically declared the
worthiness of such a dispensation to be greatly lamented; “So that she
hath no strong rod to be a scepter to rule. This is a lamentation, and
shall be for a lamentation.”
That which I therefore observe from the words of the text, to be the
subject of discourse at this time, is this, viz. When God by death
removes from a people those in place of public authority and rule that
have been as strong rods, it is an awful judgment of God on that people,
and worthy of great lamentation.
In discoursing on this proposition, I would:
I. Show what kind of rulers may fitly be called strong rods.
II. Show why the removal of such rulers from a people by death is to be
looked upon as an awful judgment of God on that people, and is greatly
to be lamented.
I. I would observe what qualifications of those who are in public
authority and rule may properly give them the denomination of strong
rods.
First, one qualification of rulers whence they may properly be
denominated strong rods, is a great ability for the management of public
affairs. This is the case, when they who stand in a place of public
authority are men of great natural abilities, men of uncommon strength
of reason and largeness of understanding; especially when they have a
remarkable genius for government, a peculiar turn of mind fitting them
to gain an extraordinary understanding in things of that nature. They
have ability, in an especial manner, for insight into the mysteries of
government, and for discerning those things wherein the public welfare
or calamity consists, and the proper means to avoid the one and promote
the other. [It is] an extraordinary talent at distinguishing what is
right and just, from that which is wrong and unequal, and to see through
the false colors with which injustice is often disguised, and unravel
the false and subtle arguments and cunning sophistry that is often made
use of to defend iniquity. They have not only great natural abilities in
these respects, but their abilities and talents have been improved by
study, learning, observation, and experience. By these means, they have
obtained great actual knowledge. They have acquired great skill in
public affairs, and things requisite to be known in order to their wise,
prudent, and effectual management. They have obtained a great
understanding of men and things, a great knowledge of human nature, and
of the way of accommodating themselves to it, so as most effectually to
influence it to wise purposes. They have obtained a very extensive
knowledge of men with whom they are concerned in the management of
public affairs, either those who have a joint concern in government, or
those who are to be governed; and they have also obtained a very full
and particular understanding of the state and circumstances of the
country or people of whom they have the care, and know well their laws
and constitution, and what their circumstances require. Likewise, they
have a great knowledge of the people of neighboring nations, states, or
provinces, with whom they have occasion to be concerned in the
management of public affairs committed to them. These things all
contribute to render those who are in authority fit to be denominated
“strong rods.”
Second, when they have not only great understanding, but largeness of
heart, and a greatness and nobleness of disposition, this is another
qualification that belongs to the character of a “strong rod.”
Those that are by Divine Providence set in a place of public authority
and rule, are called “gods, and sons of the Most High,” Psa. 82:6. And
therefore it is peculiarly unbecoming them to be of a mean spirit, a
disposition that will admit of their doing those things that are sordid
and vile; as when they are persons of a narrow, private spirit, that may
be found in little tricks and intrigues to promote their private
interest. Such will shamefully defile their hands to gain a few pounds,
are not ashamed to grind the faces of the poor, and screw their
neighbors; and will take advantage of their authority or commission to
line their pockets with what is fraudulently taken or withheld from
others. When a man in authority is of such a mean spirit, it weakens his
authority, and makes him justly contemptible in the eyes of men, and is
utterly inconsistent with his being a strong rod.
But on the contrary, it greatly establishes his authority, and causes
others to stand in awe of him, when they see him to be a man of
greatness of mind, one that abhors those things that are mean and
sordid, and not capable of a compliance with them: one that is of a
public spirit, and not of a private narrow disposition; a man of honor,
and not of mean artifice and clandestine management, for filthy lucre;
one that abhors trifling and impertinence, or to waste away his time,
that should be spent in the service of God, his king, and his country,
in vain amusements and diversions, and in the pursuit of the
gratifications of sensual appetites. God charges the rulers in Israel,
that pretended to be their great and mighty men, with being mighty to
drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink. There does not
seem to be any reference to their being men of strong heads, and able to
bear a great deal of strong drink, as some have supposed. There is a
severe sarcasm in the words; for the prophet is speaking of the great
men, princes, and judges in Israel (as appears by the verse next
following), which should be mighty men, strong rods, men of eminent
qualifications, excelling in nobleness of spirit, of glorious strength
and fortitude of mind. But instead of that, they were mighty or eminent
for nothing but gluttony and drunkenness.
Third, when those that are in authority are endowed with much of a
spirit of government, this is another thing that entitles them to the
denomination of “strong rods.” They not only are men of great
understanding and wisdom in affairs that appertain to government, but
have also a peculiar talent at using their knowledge, and exerting
themselves in this great and important business, according to their
great understanding in it. They are men of eminent fortitude, are not
afraid of the faces of men, and are not afraid to do the part that
properly belongs to them as rulers, though they meet with great
opposition, and the spirits of men are greatly irritated by it. They
have a spirit of resolution and activity, so as to keep the wheels of
government in proper motion, and to cause judgment and justice to run
down as a mighty stream. They have not only a great knowledge of
government, and the things that belong to it in theory, but it is, as it
were, natural to them to apply the various powers and faculties with
which God has endowed them, and the knowledge they have obtained by
study and observation, to that business, so as to perform it most
advantageously and effectually.
Fourth, stability and firmness of integrity, fidelity, and piety, in the
exercise of authority, is another thing that greatly contributes to, and
is very essential in, the character of a “strong rod.”
He is not only a man of strong reason and great discerning to know what
is just, but is a man of strict integrity and righteousness, firm and
immovable in the execution of justice and judgment. He is not only a man
of great ability to bear down vice and immorality, but has a disposition
agreeable to such ability. He is one that has a strong aversion to
wickedness, and is disposed to use the power God has put into his hands
to suppress it. He is one that not only opposes vice by his authority,
but by his example. He is one of inflexible fidelity, who will be
faithful to God whose minister he is, to his people for good, and who is
immovable in his regard to his supreme authority, his commands and his
glory; and will be faithful to his king and country. He will not be
induced by the many temptations that attend the business of men in
public authority, basely to betray his trust; will not consent to do
what he thinks not to be for the public good, for his own gain or
advancement, or any private interest. He is well principled, and firm in
acting agreeably to his principles, and will not be prevailed with to do
otherwise through fear of favor, to follow a multitude, or to maintain
his interest in any on whom he depends for the honor or profit of his
place, whether it be prince or people; and is also one of that strength
of mind, whereby he rules his own spirit. These things very eminently
contribute to a ruler’s title to the denomination of a “strong rod.”
Fifth, and lastly, it also contributes to that strength of a man in
authority by which he may be denominated a “strong rod,” when he is in
such circumstances as give him advantage for the exercise of his
strength for the public good; as his being a person of honorable
descent, of a distinguished education, a man of estate, one advanced in
years, one that has long been in authority, so that it is become as it
were natural for the people to pay him deference, to reverence him, to
be influenced and governed by him, and to submit to his authority. And
add to this, his being extensively known, and much honored and regarded
abroad; his being one of a good presence, majesty of countenance,
decency of behavior, becoming one of authority; of forcible speech, etc.
These things add to his strength, and increase his ability and advantage
to serve his generation in the place of a ruler, and therefore serve to
render him one that is the more fitly and eminently called a “strong
rod.” — I now proceed,
II. To show that when such strong rods are broken and withered by death,
it is an awful judgment of God on the people who are deprived of them,
and worthy of great lamentation. — And that on two accounts.
First, by reason of the many positive benefits and blessings to a people
that such rulers are the instrument of.
Almost all the prosperity of a public society and civil community does,
under God, depend on their rulers. They are like the main springs or
wheels in a machine, that keep every part in its due motion, and are in
the body politic, as the vitals in the body natural, and as the pillars
and foundation in a building. Civil rules are called “the foundations of
the earth.” Psa. 82, and 11:3.
The prosperity of a people depends more on their rulers than is commonly
imagined. As they have the public society under the care and power, so
they have advantage to promote the public interest every way. And if
they are such rulers as have been described, they are some of the
greatest blessings to the public. Their influence has a tendency to
promote wealth, and cause temporal possessions and blessings to abound;
and to promote virtue amongst them, and so to unite them one to another
in peace and mutual benevolence, and make them happy in society, each
one the instrument of his neighbors’ quietness, comfort, and prosperity;
and by these means to advance their reputation and honor in the world;
and which is much more, to promote their spiritual and eternal
happiness. Therefore, the wise man says, Ecc. 10:17, “Blessed art thou,
O land, when they king is the son of nobles.”
We have a remarkable instance and evidence of the happy and great
influence of such a strong rod as had been described, to promote the
universal prosperity of a people, in the history of the reign of
Solomon, though many of the people were uneasy under his government, and
thought him too rigorous in his administrations, see 1 Kin. 12:4. “Judah
and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig
tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.” 1 Kin. 4:25.
“And he made silver to be among them as stones for abundance.” Chap.
10:27. “And Judah and Israel were many, eating and drinking and making
merry.” 1 Kin. 4:20. The queen of Sheba admired, and was greatly
affected with, the happiness of the people, under the government of such
a strong rod. 1 Kin. 10:8, 9, “Happy are the men (says she), happy are
these thy servants which stand continually before thee, and that hear
thy wisdom. Blessed be the Lord thy God which delighted in thee, to set
thee on the throne of Israel; because the Lord loved Israel forever,
therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice.”
The flourishing state of the kingdom of Judah, while they had strong
rods for the scepters of them that bare rule, is taken notice of in our
context; “her stature was exalted among the thick branches, and she
appeared in her height with the multitude of her branches.”
Such rulers are eminently the ministers of God to his people for good.
They are great gifts of the Most High to a people, blessed tokens of his
favor, and vehicles of his goodness to them; and therein are images of
his own Son, the grand medium of all God’s goodness to fallen mankind.
Therefore, all of them are called, sons of the Most High. All civil
rulers, if they are as they ought to be, such strong rods as have been
described, will be like the Son of the Most High, vehicles of good to
mankind, and like him, will be as the light of the morning when the sun
riseth, even a morning without clouds, as the tender grass springing out
of the earth, by clear shining after rain. And therefore, when a people
are bereaved of them, they sustain an unspeakable loss, and are the
subjects of a judgment of God that is greatly to be lamented.
Second, on account of the great calamities such rulers are a defense
from. Innumerable are the grievous and fatal calamities which public
societies are exposed to in this evil world, from which they can have no
defense without order and authority. If a people are without government,
they are like a city broken down and without walls, encompassed on every
side by enemies, and become unavoidably subject to all manner of
confusion and misery.
Government is necessary to defend communities from miseries from within
themselves; from the prevalence of intestine discord, mutual injustice,
and violence. The members of the society continually making a prey one
of another, without any defense from each other. Rulers are the heads of
union in public societies, that hold the parts together; without which
nothing else is to be expected than that the members of the society will
be continually divided against themselves, everyone acting the part of
an enemy to his neighbor, everyone’s hand against every man, and every
man’s hand against him; going on in remediless and endless broils and
jarring, until the society be utterly dissolved and broken in pieces,
and life itself, in the neighborhood of our fellow-creatures, becomes
miserable and intolerable.
We may see the need of government in societies by what is visible in
families, those lesser societies, of which all public societies are
constituted. How miserable would these little societies be, if all were
left to themselves, without any authority or superiority in one above
another, or any head of union and influence among them? We may be
convinced by what we see of the lamentable consequences of the want of a
proper exercise of authority and maintenance of government in families,
which yet are not absolutely without all authority. No less need is
there of government in public societies, but much more, as they are
larger. A very few may possibly, without any government, act by concert,
so as to concur in what shall be for the welfare of the whole; but this
is not to be expected among a multitude, constituted of many thousands,
of a great variety of tempers and different interests.
As government is absolutely necessary, so there is a necessity of strong
rods in order to it: the business being such as requires persons so
qualified; no other being sufficient for, or well capable of, the
government of public societies: and therefore, those public societies
are miserable that have not such strong rods for scepters to rule, Ecc.
10:16, “Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child.”
As government, and strong rods for the exercise of it, are necessary to
preserve public societies from dreadful and fatal calamities arising
from among themselves; so no less requisite are they to defend the
community from foreign enemies. As they are like the pillars of a
building, so they are also like the walls and bulwarks of a city. They
are, under God, the main strength of a people in the time of war, and
the chief instruments of their preservation, safety, and rest. This is
signified in a very lively manner in the words that are used by the
Jewish community in her lamentations, to express the expectations she
had from her princes, Lam. 4:20, “The breath of our nostrils, the
anointed of the Lord, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under
his shadow we shall live among the heathen.” In this respect also such
strong rods are sons of the Most High, and images or resemblances of the
Son of God, viz. as they are their saviors from their enemies; as the
judges that God raised up of old in Israel are called, Neh. 9:27,
“Therefore thou deliverest them into the hand of their enemies, who
vexed them: and in the time of their trouble when they cried unto thee,
thou heardest them from heaven; and according to they manifold mercies,
thou gavest them saviors, who saved them out of the hand of their
enemies.”
Thus both the prosperity and safety of a people under God, depends on
such rulers as are strong rods. While they enjoy such blessings, they
are wont to be like a vine planted in a fruitful soil, with her stature
exalted among the thick branches, appearing in her height with the
multitude of her branches; but when they have no strong rod to be a
scepter to rule, they are like a vine planted in a wilderness that is
exposed to be plucked up, and cast down to the ground, to have her fruit
dried up with the east wind, and to have fire coming out of her own
branches to devour her fruit.
On these accounts, when a people’s strong rods are broken and withered,
it is an awful judgment of God on that people, and worthy of great
lamentation: as when king Josiah (who was doubtless one of the strong
rods referred to in the text) was dead, the people made great
lamentation for him. 2 Chr. 35:24, 25, “And they brought him to
Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in one of the sepulchers of his
fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. And Jeremiah
lamented for Josiah: and all the singing-men and the singing-women spake
of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance
in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations.”
APPLICATION
I come now to apply these things to our own case, under the late awful
frown of Divine Providence upon us, in removing by death that honorable
person in public rule and authority, an inhabitant of his town, and
belonging to this congregation and church, who died at Boston the last
Lord’s day.
He was eminently a strong rod in the forementioned respects. As to his
natural abilities, strength of reason, greatness and clearness of
discerning, and depth of penetration, he was one of the first rank. It
may be doubted whether he has left his superior in these respects in
these parts of the world. He was a man of a truly great genius, and his
genius was peculiarly fitted for the understanding and managing of
public affairs.
And as his natural capacity was great, so was the knowledge that he had
acquired, his understanding being greatly improved by close application
of mind to those things he was called to be concerned in, and by a very
exact observation of them, and long experience in them. He had indeed a
great insight into the nature of public societies, the mysteries of
government, and the affairs of peace and war. He had a discernment that
very few have of those things wherein the public weal consists, and what
those things are that expose public societies; and of the proper means
to avoid the latter, and promote the former. He was quick in his
discerning, in that in most cases, especially such as belonged to his
proper business, he at first sight would see further than most men when
they had done their best. But yet he had a wonderful faculty of
improving his own thoughts by meditation, and carrying his views a
greater and greater length by long and close application of mind. He had
an extraordinary ability to distinguish right and wrong, in the midst of
intricacies, and circumstances that tended to perplex and darken the
case. He was able to weigh things as it were in a balance, and to
distinguish those things that were solid and weighty from those that had
only a fair show without substance; which he evidently discovered in his
accurate, clear, and plain way of stating and committing causes to a
jury, from the bench, as by others hath been observed. He wonderfully
distinguished truth from falsehood, and the most labored cases seemed
always to lie clear in his mind, his ideas being properly ranged. And he
had a talent of communicating them to everyone’s understanding, beyond
almost anyone. If any were misguided, it was not because truth and
falsehood, right and wrong, were not well distinguished.
He was probably one of the ablest politicians that ever New England
bred. He had a very uncommon insight into human nature, and a marvelous
ability to penetrate into the particular tempers and dispositions of
such as he had to deal with, and to discern the fittest way of treating
them, so as most effectually to influence them to any good and wise
purpose.
And never perhaps was there a person that had a more extensive and
thorough knowledge of the state of his land, and its public affairs, and
of persons that were jointly concerned with him in them. He knew this
people, and their circumstances, and what their circumstances required.
He discerned the diseases of this body, and what were the proper
remedies, as an able and masterly physician. He had a great acquaintance
with the neighboring colonies, and also the nations on this continent,
with whom we are concerned in our public affairs. He had a far greater
knowledge than any other person in the land, of the several nations of
Indians in these northern parts of America, their tempers, manners, and
the proper way of treating them. [He] was more extensively known by them
than any other person in the country. And no other person in authority
in this province had such an acquaintance with the people and country of
Canada, the land of our enemies, as he had.
He was exceeding far from a disposition and forwardness to intermeddle
with other people’s business. But as to what belonged to his proper
business, in the office he sustained, and the important affairs of which
he had the care, he had a great understanding of what belonged to them.
I have often been surprised at the length of his reach, and what I have
seen of his ability to foresee and determine the consequences of things,
even at a great distance, and quite beyond the sight of other men. He
was not wavering and unsteady in his opinion. His manner was never to
pass a judgment rashly, but was wont first thoroughly to deliberate and
weigh an affair; and in this, notwithstanding his great abilities, he
was glad to improve by the help of conversation and discourse with
others (and often spake of the great advantage he found by it), but
when, on mature consideration, he had settled his judgment, he was not
easily turned from it by false colors, and plausible pretenses and
appearances.
And besides his knowledge of things belonging to his particular calling
as a ruler, he had also a great degree of understanding in things
belonging to his general calling as a Christian. He was no
inconsiderable divine. He was a wise casuist, as I know by the great
help I have found from time to time by his judgment and advice in cases
of conscience, wherein I have consulted him. And indeed I scarce knew
the divine that I ever found more able to help and enlighten the mind in
such cases than he. And he had no small degree of knowledge in things
pertaining to experimental religion. But was wont to discourse on such
subjects, not only with accurate doctrinal distinctions, but as one
intimately and feelingly acquainted with these things.
He was not only great in speculative knowledge, but his knowledge was
practical; such as tended to a wise conduct in the affairs, business,
and duties of life; so as properly to have the denomination of wisdom,
and so as properly and eminently to invest him with the character of a
wise man. And he was not only eminently wise and prudent in his own
conduct, but was one of the ablest and wisest counselors of others in
any difficult affair.
The greatness and honorableness of his disposition was answerable to the
largeness of his understanding. He was naturally of a great mind; in
this respect he was truly the son of nobles. He greatly abhorred things
which were mean and sordid, and seemed to be incapable of a compliance
with them. How far was he from trifling and impertinence in his
conversation! How far from a busy, meddling disposition! How far from
any sly and clandestine management to fill his pockets with what was
fraudulently withheld, or violently squeezed, from the laborer, soldier,
or inferior officer! How far from taking advantage from his commission
or authority, or any superior power he had in his hands; or the
ignorance, dependence, or necessities of others; to add to his own gains
with what properly belonged to them, and with what they might justly
expect as a proper reward for any of their services! How far was he from
secretly taking bribes offered to induce him to favor any man in his
cause, or by his power or interest to promote his being advanced to any
place of public trust, honor, or profit! How greatly did he abhor lying
and prevarication! And how immovably steadfast was he to exact truth!
His hatred of those things that were mean and sordid was so apparent and
well known, that it was evident that men dreaded to appear in anything
of that nature in his presence.
He was a man of a remarkably public spirit, a true lover of his country,
and who greatly abhorred sacrificing the public welfare to private
interest. — He was very eminently endowed with a spirit of government.
The God of nature seemed to have formed him for government, as though he
had been made on purpose, and cast into a mold, by which he should be
every way fitted for the business of a man in public authority. Such a
behavior and conduct was natural to him, as tended to maintain his
authority, and possess others with awe and reverence, and to enforce and
render effectual what he said and did in the exercise of his authority.
He did not bear the sword in vain. He was truly a terror to evildoers.
What I saw in him often put me in mind of that saying of the wise man.
Pro. 20:8, “The king that sitteth in the throne of judgment scattereth
away all evil with his eyes.” He was one that was not afraid of the
faces of men; and everyone knew that it was in vain to attempt to deter
him from doing what, on mature consideration, he had determined he ought
to do. — Everything in him was great, and becoming a man in his public
station. Perhaps never was there a man that appeared in New England to
whom the denomination of a great man did more properly belong.
But though he was one that was great among men, exalted above others in
abilities and greatness of mind, and in the place of rule, and feared
not the faces of men, yet he feared God. He was strictly conscientious
in his conduct, both in public and private. I never knew the man that
seemed more steadfastly and immovably to act by principle, and according
to rules and maxims, established and settled in his mind by the dictates
of his judgment and conscience. He was a man of strict justice and
fidelity. Faithfulness was eminently his character. Some of his greatest
opponents that have been of the contrary party to him in public affairs,
yet have openly acknowledged this of him, that he was a faithful man. He
was remarkably faithful in his public trusts. He would not basely betray
his trust, from fear or favor. It was in vain to expect it. However men
might oppose him or neglect him, and how great soever they were: nor
would he neglect the public interest committed to him, for the sake of
his own ease, but diligently and laboriously watched and labored for it
night and day. And he was faithful in private affairs as well as public.
He was a most faithful friend; faithful to anyone that in any case asked
his counsel. His fidelity might be depended upon in whatever affair he
undertook for any of his neighbors.
He was a noted instance of the virtue of temperance, unalterable in it,
in all places, in all companies, and in the midst of all temptations.
Though he was a man of great spirit, yet he had a remarkable government
of his spirit; and excelled in the government of his tongue. In the
midst of all provocations from multitudes he had to deal with, and the
great multiplicity of perplexing affairs in which he was concerned, and
all the opposition and reproaches of which he was at any time the
subject; yet what was there that ever proceeded out of his mouth that
his enemies could lay hold of? [He had] no profane language, no vain,
rash, unseemly, and unchristian speeches. If at any time he expressed
himself with great warmth and vigor, it seemed to be from principle and
determination of judgment, rather than from passion. When he expressed
himself strongly, and with vehemence, those that were acquainted with
him, and well observed him from time to time, might evidently see it was
done in consequence of thought and judgment, weighing the circumstances
and consequences of things.
The calmness and steadiness of his behavior in private, particularly in
his family, appeared remarkable and exemplary to those who had most
opportunity to observe. He was thoroughly established in those religious
principles and doctrines of the first fathers of New England, usually
called the doctrines of grace, and had a great detestation of the
opposite errors of the present fashionable divinity, as very contrary to
the Word of God, and the experience of every true Christian. And as he
was a friend to truth, so he was a friend to vital piety and the power
of godliness, and ever countenanced and favored it on all occasions.
He abhorred profaneness, and was a person of a serious and decent
spirit, and ever treated sacred things with reverence. He was exemplary
for his decent attendance on the public worship of God. Who ever saw him
irreverently and indecently lolling, and laying down his head to sleep,
or gazing about the meetinghouse in time of divine service? And as he
was able (as was before observed) to discourse very understandingly of
experimental religion, so to some persons with whom he was very
intimate, he gave intimations sufficiently plain, while conversing of
these things, that they were matters of his own experience. And some
serious persons in civil authority, who have ordinarily differed from
him in matters of government, yet on some occasional close conversation
with him on things of religion, have manifested a high opinion of him as
to real experimental piety.
As he was known to be a serious person, and an enemy to a profane or
vain conversation, so he was feared on that account by great and small.
When he was in the room, only his presence was sufficient to maintain
decency; though many were there accounted great men, who otherwise were
disposed to take a much greater freedom in their talk and behavior, than
they dared to do in his presence. He was not unmindful of death, nor
insensible of his own frailty, nor did death come unexpected to him. For
some years past, he has spoken much to some persons of dying, and going
into the eternal world, signifying that he did not expect to continue
long here.
Added to all these things, to render him eminently a strong rod, he was
attended with many circumstances which tended to give him advantage for
the exerting of his strength for the public good. He was honorably
descended, was a man of considerable substance, had been long in
authority, was extensively known and honored abroad, was high in the
esteem of the many tribes of Indians in the neighborhood of the British
colonies, and so had great influence upon them above any other man in
New England. God had endowed him with a comely presence, and majesty of
countenance, becoming the great qualities of his mind, and the place in
which God had set him.
In the exercise of these qualities and endowments, under these
advantages, he has been as it were a father to this part of the land, on
whom the whole country had, under God, its dependence in all its public
affairs, and especially since the beginning of the present war. How much
the weight of all the warlike concerns of the country (which above any
part of the land lies exposed to the enemy) has lain on his shoulders,
and how he has been the spring of all motion, and the doer of everything
that has been done, and how wisely and faithfully he has conducted these
affairs, I need not inform this congregation. You well know that he took
care of the country as a father of a family of children, not neglecting
men’s lives, and making light of their blood; but with great diligence,
vigilance, and prudence, applying himself continually to the proper
means of our safety and welfare. And especially has this, his native
town, where he has dwelt from his infancy, reaped the benefit of his
happy influence. His wisdom has been, under God, very much our guide,
and his authority our support and strength, and he has been a great
honor to Northampton, and ornament to our church. He continued in full
capacity of usefulness while he lived. He was indeed considerably
advanced in years, but his powers of mind were not sensibly abated, and
his strength of body was not so impaired, but that he was able to go
long journeys, in extreme heat and cold, and in a short time.
But now this “strong rod is broken and withered,” and surely the
judgment of God therein is very awful, and the dispensation that which
may well be for a lamentation. Probably we shall be more sensible of the
worth and importance of such a strong rod by the want of it. The awful
voice of God in this providence is worthy to be attended to by this
whole province, and especially by the people of this county, but in a
more peculiar manner by us of this town. We have now this testimony of
the divine displeasure, added to all the other dark clouds God has
lately brought over us, and his awful frowns upon us. It is a
dispensation, on many accounts, greatly calling for our humiliation and
fear before God; an awful manifestation of his supreme, universal, and
absolute dominion, calling us to adore the divine sovereignty, and
tremble at the presence of this great God. And it is a lively instance
of human frailty and mortality. We see how that none are out of the
reach of death, that no greatness, no authority, no wisdom and sagacity,
no honorableness of person or station, no degree of valuableness and
importance, exempts from the stroke of death. This is therefore a loud
and solemn warning to all sorts to prepare for their departure hence.
And the memory of this person who is now gone, who was made so great a
blessing while he lived, should engage us to show respect and kindness
to his family. This we should do both out of respect to him and to his
father, your former eminent pastor, who in his day was in a remarkable
manner a father to this part of the land in spirituals, and especially
to this town, as this his son has been in temporals. God greatly
resented it, when the children of Israel did not show kindness to the
house of Jerubbaal that had been made an instrument of so much good to
them. Jdg. 8:35, “Neither showed they kindness to the house of Jerubbaal,
according to all the good which he had showed unto Israel.”
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