Bleak Background for John Jay's New York Christmas Address 1776

Why John Jay Had to Stay: New York Christmas Address 1776 The year 1776 turned out to be more than a tough year for the state and City of New York, it was disastrous. If you did not realize it before you will see why John Jay had to stay in New York. As of June 1776 there were two British warships in New York harbor and New Yorkers were anticipating the arrival any day of the British Fleet. As advertised, the fleet came and showed off its power and intimidated the citizens. Let us look at the multiplied defeats in the New York Theater of operations.

The Battle of Brooklyn could have ended the American Revolution. Our army was almost totally destroyed; almost. The Americans were outnumbered (15,000 to 20,000 or 30,000), outclassed, outgunned and out strategized. We were no match for the British Fleet. General Howe outflanked us and had the Continental Army facing two fronts. The Maryland Line served with honor; 256 Marylanders gave up their lives so that the rest of the Continental Army could escape. A huge storm came up which delayed the British advance. In an amazing feat, Washington retreated across the East River. The dawn came accompanied with a fog that did not lift until Washington left on the last boat. I highly recommend David McCullough’s illustrated version of 1776 about the battle of Brooklyn.

After the Brooklyn defeat, another battle was fought at Kip’s Bay. We lost that battle also. The British rubbed it in by sounding fox hunt music. After Kip’s Bay, the British beat us again at Harlem but we put up a good fight. We lost Fort Lee and then Fort Washington. The loss of life and the number of prisoners lost to the British staggered the resolve of the Patriots. On top of all the losses, New York suffered with the great fire in September. Defeat after hard defeat gives us the context for the New York Convention asking John Jay to write something to enliven the spirits of New Yorkers. He wrote what I have entitled “The New York Christmas Address of 1776” or “John Jay’s 1776 Christmas Address.” What was John Jay doing all this time? Most of us do not think of John Jay on horseback. He travelled over 250 miles on horseback from Fort Montgomery (nine miles south of West Point) to Salisbury, Connecticut ( a trip of about 70 miles) trying to secure cannons. Being unsuccessful, he went another 75 miles to Lebanon, Connecticut where he got 10 twelve pound and 10 six pound cannons. He took them to Poughkeepsie and travelled to Livingston Manor. In the midst of all this, John Jay is a young guy that just got married to Sally Jay in 1775. His wife Sally gave birth to a son named Peter in January 1776. Sally became ill around this time and Jay had to pick her up at Elizabeth, New Jersey and took her to supposed safety in Fishkill, New York. Once he got her settled, Jay went to Rye, New York and brought his parents to Fishkill also. If you were a New Yorker during this time, things were lower than glum, they were desperate. Knowing his despondent audience, Jay wrote his address to give hope to suffering New Yorkers. To see a reading of the address go to https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4805975901944219056#editor/target=post;postID=4699102640012725064;onPublishedMenu=posts;onClosedMenu=posts;postNum=49;src=postname To read the actual address, go to http://1776faith.blogspot.com/2009/06/john-jays-christmas-address-1776.html

John Jay's Christmas Address 1776

Today marks the 238th anniversary of John Jay's Christmas 1776 Address. In desperate times for the people of New York, New Jersey and the whole effort of the War for Independence, Jay animated the people by this address. It was translated into German by the Continental Congress. Maryland Gazette published it in 1777 in two different editions. You can see the video I made by going to December 17, 2012 and you can see video of Washington's Crossing on the September 2014 entry. What impressed me this past summer when I visited the area was the march to Trenton in such cold weather. Colonel Haslet from Delaware fell in the icy waters, (Dec. 25, 2013 entry) fought at Trenton and Princeton and died in the battle at Princeton. It is my goal that by the time my life ends, this nation will regard John Jay's writings and work more than those of Thomas Paine. This address by Jay goes a long way to start the task.

The address can be found on June 27, 2009

Recommendations for "Can a Chief Justice Love God?: The Life of John Jay" by Phil Webster (2002 Author House)

In light of current debates on the issue of "separation of church and state," has anyone bothered to check where the first Supreme Court Chief Justice would have stood?...

Recommendations

"I must congratulate you on both the motivation which inspired you to undertake the writing of these two important works, and for the yeoman-like performance of research into the history of the life and times of John Jay. Your book is a most revealing and rewarding study of a career which, as you say, has been swept under the rug. "You make a significant contribution to a much-needed understanding on the part of the American public of the Christian worldview which was so characteristic of the signers of our Declaration. With all of the disgraceful attempts being made currently to 'revise' early American history, I find your work refreshing and an encouragement to know of such effort and scholarship as yours being applied to set the record straight. "Thank you for sharing these works with me. I would like to see the actual stage performance of 'Declaration of Reliance Upon God' at some future date. "Thank you again for your thoughtfulness in getting the book and the play to me, and best wishes for their presentation to the wide audiences they deserve."

Sincerely in Christ: Dr. D. James Kennedy March 5, 2003

"Phil Webster gives us a good look at John Jay, the man of God. The reader gains insight into the depth of John Jay's character, as shaped by his Christian faith. In this day where the character of our nation's leadership seems a matter of diminishing consequence, Mr. Webster reminds us how important Christian character was in the shaping of our nation. "It is refreshing to see through John Jay's life that men and women of strong Christian character can serve their country with honor and distinction. John Jay's life of service, as highlighted in Phil Webster's book, should challenge us all."

Frank Gomez, American Bible Society

"Phil Webster's book on the life of John Jay provides a significant and welcome contribution to the noble cause of re-claiming the true Christian legacy of yet another founding father. Readers will be challenged to discover the true greatness of the first Chief Justice of the United States and to understand why it is impossible to separate a person's religious/moral belief from his public life. It is my prayer that the message contained in this book will receive a wide and receptive audience."

Mike Mc Hugh, Christian Liberty Press

"Phil Webster does a wonderful job of highlighting the life of one of the great Founding Fathers. Chief Justice John Jay was a man of character, principle and religious conviction. With the trend in America to forget our history, this book is a refreshing reminder of our great heritage and Christian foundations."

Mat Staver, Liberty Counsel

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Peer Review and the Founding Fathers of the United States

     Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and the Founding Fathers

      What does Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn of Russia have to do with the Founding Fathers?  There are those in academia of the United States and Europe who will not look at the evidence of the Christian worldview of the Founding Fathers.  They will simply give the regurgitated phrases thinking that we are birds that like that kind of nourishment.  The mother bird brings back the food she has already eaten and gives it back to her young.  If you want to move on from  the rehashed food of the experts, read the Founding Fathers for yourself.  When someone tries to show the Christian worldview, the people with academic clout do not appreciate such "nonsense."

     In the current academic climate, there is no room for discussion of the Founding Fathers.  How many universities offer classes on the principles of the Founding Fathers?  Scarce few offer classes and when they do it usually comes with venom disparaging the Founders as white slave holders, bourgeois, women haters, etc.  When the term "peer review" comes out, that is supposed to keep the discussion controlled only by people who have earned degrees in institutions that are normally against the Christian worldview of the Founders.

     In the days of the Soviet Union, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote many books describing the history of gulag prison camps.  Did he receive any government grants to carry out his research?  Did the universities in the Soviet Union allow him to teach such classes?  What would peer review be like for Mr. Solzhenitsyn? Would he have been interviewed on the evening news and allowed to express his opinion? Imagine the press going after him and the authors of those hate filled letters attacking him would have been appreciated by the Communist party members.  They would get more party favors by attacking him.

     In a country that was powered by the Protestants/Whigs there are zero evangelical Protestants on the Supreme Court. I praise God for the conservative Catholics that are standing for truth in the Supreme Court but evangelical Protestants cannot even get one out of nine slots?  Of the first 150 universities in our nation, 149 were started by Christians.  What do we have now?  In a nation that had non-sectarian prayer and Bible reading to start the day, we have thrown God out of the public schools for over 50 years.  Do not pity God!  He is in control.  Pity us for what we are bringing on ourselves and our children.  We have not been perfect, neither were the people of the Bible. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).  We sinners in this country had the best of the imperfect governments but we have thrown aside our dependence on God.

Providential Weather at Battle of Brooklyn 1776

After the Declaration of Independence had been signed, the British sent their reply at the Battle of Brooklyn.  It could have been the end of the struggle for independence.  The battle held huge consequences.  The weather cooperated to make it huge theater (or theatre if you are British).  I highly recommend Chapter Five "Field of Battle" from David McCullough's 1776:The Illustrated Edition.  It really shows the intensity of the storms of the fortnight between August 21 and 30.

Wed. Aug. 21		Thunder was not in successive peals but in one continuous
		crash.  The crash was louder than 1,000 cannon.
		The cloud stayed still.  From 7 PM to 10 PM it
		was a terrifying thunderstorm/ storm like a hurricane
		A night so violent , it seemed filled with portent
Thurs.Aug. 22		Clear weather   5,000 landed (from HMS Phoenix and Rose)
		no opposition
		by noon 15,000 had landed
Fri.  Aug. 23
Sat.  Aug. 24		Putnam put iin place over Sullivan;
		5,000 Hessians crossed to Brooklyn
Sun.  Sug. 25		Putnam and 6 battalions crossed to Brooklyn
Mon. Aug. 26		Washington at Brooklyn; nighttime British movements
Tues.  Aug. 27		British attack
Wed. Aug. 28		Northeaster started
Thurs.Aug. 29		Storm continued; storm stopped around midnight
Fri. Aug. 30		Evacuation started after midnight, John Glover's Marbleheaders take at least
		20 trips from Brooklyn to Manhattan with silent and strong strokes.
		Fog comes up miraculously at dawn and protects the remaining third of the
		army.  Fog lifts when Washington leaves with last boat.

Washington Crossing

Washington Crossing

            If you are ever in the northern Philadelphia area please take the time to check out Washington Crossing.  General Washington took a heavy risk by marching in bad snow weather and attacking Hessian positions at Trenton, New Jersey.  After defeats in Brooklyn, Kip’s Bay, Harlem, Fort Lee and Fort Washington and then retreating to New Jersey, things looked desperate for the Continental Army.  Washington’s message to himself proclaimed: “Victory or death!” 

            Some writers have said that there were no deaths in the crossing but evidence seems to contradict those statements.  The fact that there is a cemetery with 23 Patriots buried (22 unidentified and one James Moore) speaks to the fact that people died at least in the encampment. 

           

 

Rev. John Rosburgh FIrst Chaplain Killed in the American Revolution

Rev. John Rosburgh

Trenton, New Jersey

First Chaplain Killed in American Revolution

            For several years a quotation from John Witherspoon has interested me.  On February 2, 1777, Witherspoon wrote to his son David about a Rev. Roxburgh.  My interest comes from a local Revolutionary War hero in the Salisbury, Maryland area named Alexander Roxburgh.  The Scottish pronunciation would be like Roxboro (like Edinburgh is pronounced Edinboro).  I finally came across an article on Rev. John Rosburgh.  Witherspoon spelled it Roxburgh and the current spelling is Rosburgh. 

 “I have been making inquiry into the conduct of the enemy, which has been dreadful.  At Trenton they killed Mr. Roxburgh, Presbyterian minister at the Forks of Delaware.  Though he fell down on his knees and begged his life, yet they pierced him in a shocking manner.  Some of the people at Princeton say thought they were killing me, and boasted that they had done it when they came back.  But this is certain- the fact of his death and the manner of it is beyond all doubt.” (Phil Webster, 1776 Faith, p. 79)

While minister of Allen Township, the congregation asked Rev. Roxburgh to be the leader of their militia unit.  It was later determined that Capt. John Hays be the military leader of the group and Roxburgh was to be the chaplain.  During Washington’s Crossing of the Delaware, the Third Northampton County, Pennsylvania militia was unable to make the crossing.  This unit was under the direction of General Israel Putnam.  At the second battle of Trenton (or Battle of the Assunpink Creek), Rev. Roxburgh was dining at a public house when a warning was fired as a warning of the coming of the Hessians.  When he went outside, he noticed that his horse was gone and that a group of Hessians were coming towards him. The Hessians recognized him as a Presbyterian minister.  As Witherspoon indicated, Rosburgh fell to his knees and pleaded for his life but the Hessians repeatedly thrust their bayonets into him.  The Hessians took his watch, his money and left his naked body in the snow.  Another Presbyterian minister in the area, Rev. George Duffield, came the next day and buried Rosburgh. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Rosbrugh

Rockawalkin Presbyterian Church on Nanticoke Road Salisbury Maryland

Rockawalkin Presbyterian Church on Nanticoke Road Salisbury, Maryland

This church no longer exists but a picture from a book entitled Maryland’s Colonial Eastern Shore: Historical Sketches of Counties and of Some Notable Structures by Swepson Earle and Percy G. Skirven shows what it once looked like.  Today there is a brick memorial to remember the church.  Major Alexander Roxburgh (Scottish background) was a member of this church.  He fought in the battle of Brooklyn in August 1776 and also served in the Southern Campaign.

Major Roxburgh eloped with the granddaughter of Levin Handy (Pemberton Hall). One could easily walk between the church (on the left hand side of Nanticoke Road going from Salisbury to Nanticoke, on the west side of Riawalkin Pond).  The next time you pass Riawalkin Creek give a thanks to God and to people like Major Roxburgh who stood for freedom at great cost.

Rockawalkin Presbyterian Church organized by Francis Mackemie in 1683 and a church built in 1767.

John Jay and Spying

John Jay and Spying in the American Revolution

     People are asking about the authenticity of the AMC program “Turn” on Sunday nights.  I have been watching with interest because John Jay was quite involved in the spy network in and around New York.  His work with Enoch Crosby served as the basis for a book entitled “The Spy” by James Fennimore Cooper (who was a friend of John Jay’s son).

     Jay served on the Secret Committee of the New York Convention (Vol. I, p.75).  On July 22, 1776, Jay purchased a cannon from Salisbury, Connecticut.  Robert Morris’ September 23^rd letter to Jay speaks of invisible ink used in letters (I, 84).  Jay served on the Secret Committee whose purpose was “for inquiring into, detecting, and defeating all conspiracies which may be formed in this State against the liberties of America.” (I, 90).  In Continental Congress, on November 29, 1775 a group was formed named the Secret Committee consisting of Benjamin Harrison, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Johnson [Maryland], John Dickinson and John Jay.

     During the first part of the war, Jay also served as Chief Justice of the State of New York.  “I am now engaged in the most disagreeable part of my duty, trying criminals.  Roberries become frequent: the woods afford them shelter, and the tories food.” (I, 179)   After serving as President of Continental Congress, Jay was commissioned as Minister Plenipotentiary to Spain to try to get them to join the United States against Great Britain.  Jay’s letters were continually checked by both the Spanish and French authorities.  He asked that Congress would send him six letters in hope that one would get through.  Following is a cipher code from Jay to Robert Morris on November 19, 1780 (I, 446): 

   

      “Should the following cipher reach you safe, we may afterward write with less reserve.  Entick’s Spelling Dictionary, printed in 1777 [it pains a Webster to mention any other dictionary], paged backwards.  The last page in the book is numbered 468.  Let this be page the first, and mark the page (which is the title page) 468.  Count the words from the top, distinguishing the columns by a [.] over the first figure for the first column, and a [.] over the second figure for the second column.  For instance, the word absent is the fifth word in the first column of the 434^th page, and is to be written: 5,434.”

Hurricane Witherspoon

Hurricane Witherspoon

            If you labor with the notion that all the Founders were deists and atheists, be prepared with a hurricane warning coming your way.  This is not a watch, this is a warning and it is named Hurricane Witherspoon.  The more you read of Witherspoon, especially his sermons, you cannot avoid being confronted with the claims of Jesus Christ.  By using the hurricane analogy, please do not think that Witherspoon is a ranter; on the contrary he was a very rational man- he was a Princeton man.

            This comes from a writer that has read 25 volumes of Letters of the Delegates [of Continental Congress] 1774-1789 and 34 volumes of Journals of Continental Congress.  I have written three books on the Christian worldview of the Founding Fathers, one secular history of the American Revolution pertaining to the Delmarva Peninsula, about 90 articles on www.1776faith.blogspot.com   and www.constitutionfaith.blogspot.com ; but I can sense a storm coming in my research.

            The storm is a combination of Scotland and John Witherspoon and it hit America.  This research has led me to see my own family history as coming from Scotland.  I always assumed that I was English.  William Webster of the Maryland militia, Somerset battalion, Monie Division was as far as I had been able to go back for 20 years.  Recently I was able to find out that Richard Webster (born in Glamis, Angus, Scotland around 1680) came to Cambridge, Maryland between 1699 to1704 and became a schoolmaster there.  This has driven me to find out more about Scottish history.

            Magnus Magnusson’s book entitled Scotland: The Story of a Nation is a great start in learning the overall picture of the history of Scotland through the centuries.  Condensing the history, let us start with the time period around 1600.  There were battles at places like Preston (1684) where 2,000 Scots died on the battlefield and 8,000 were taken as prisoners (many ended up on ships as slaves)..  Scots won quite a few battles but overall were on the losing side.  Many Scots came to America as indentured servants.

            The Jacobite rebellion ended in a huge defeat for the Scots.  Most Americans (like myself) know very little about Scottish history.  I never knew that Scotland had a National Covenant in 1628.  They did not like the English imposing the episcopal form of church government on them (they were largely Presbyterians).  They did not appreciate an English or Scottish Lord or King putting a lot of their illegitimate children into jobs as ministers of churches.

            Many ships came to America carrying indentured Scots after the National Covenant, after the Jacobite rebellion and the defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie.

            As it became illegal to meet in the churches, many Covenanters worshipped in homes, barns and in the fields.  Magnusson estimated that 30,000 Scots died in a 15 year period for worshipping according to their conscience.  Many that did not die were carted up and sent off to America.

            We are still talking about the Scots and John Witherspoon.  As James Bond went back to his roots in Scotland, he told “M” on the movie Skyfall: “Storm’s coming!”  Two signers of the Declaration of Independence came to Scotland to persuade Witherspoon to become the president of Princeton (at that time the College of New Jersey).  Richard Stockton was the initial contact that asked Dr. Witherspoon to come to Princeton.  Witherspoon's wife proved hard to convince to come to America and several attempts were made by a medical student named Benjamin Rush (who was studying at the University of Edinburgh at the time) to try and persuade her to come.  The decision to cross the Atlantic and live in frontier situations became easier when she discovered that a house was provided and a good salary.  As she put her life in God's hands, she gave permission to go to the New World.

            If you visit Mount Vernon, you may or may not learn that a William Webster served as an indentured servant to a guy named George Washington.  You can see it in the Maryland Gazette in April 1775.  My guess is that this servant was Scottish- William (chosen as a popular name for Scots because of William Wallace- Braveheart) and Webster because of many Websters that came from Scotland).

            People from Anglican and Methodist (which was at that time a part of the Anglican/Episcopal church) tended to be Tories.  In my research, I have seen a strong link with Presbyterians and the American Revolution.  This is backed by books

And by many who called Presbyterian ministers the Black Regiment (because of their black robes).  Famous Patriots/Whigs who were Presbyterian ministers include the Rev. James Caldwell of New Jersey. 

            Two of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were instrumental in bringing John Witherspoon to America to be the new President of Princeton (College of New Jersey). Benjamin Rush and Richard Stockton both had travelled to Scotland and tried to persuade Rev. Witherspoon and his wife to come to Princeton.  Former presidents had been Jonathan Edwards and Samuel Davies, both of whom were greatly used of God in the Great Awakening. 

            In “The Dominion of Providence over the Passions of Men,” Witherspoon preaches unmistakably about the necessity of committing one’s life to Christ.  In the coming storm of what would be the War for Independence, he preached this sermon on May 17, 1776.  To his hearers, he said that this was the first sermon where he spoke of politics.  “You are all my witnesses, that this is the first time of my introducing any political subject into the pulpit.  At this season however, it is not only lawful but necessary.”  The sermon is 25 pages but will be condensed and those that desire to see its entirety are encouraged to do so. 

In the first place, I would take the opportunity on this occasion, and from this subject, to press every hearer to a sincere concern for his own soul's salvation. There are times when the mind may be expected to be more awake to divine truth, and the conscience more open to the arrows of conviction than at others. A season of public judgment is of this kind. Can you have a clearer view of the sinfulness of your nature, than when the rod of the oppressor is lifted up, and when you see men putting on the habit of the warrior, and collecting on every hand the weapons of hostility and instruments of death? I do not blame your ardour in preparing for the resolute defense of your temporal rights; but consider, I beseech you, the truly infinite importance of the salvation of your souls. Is it of much moment whether you and your children shall be rich or poor, at liberty or in bonds? Is it of much moment whether this beautiful country shall increase in fruitfulness from year to year, being cultivated by active industry, and possessed by independent freemen, or the scanty produce of the neglected fields shall be eaten up by hungry publicans, while the timid owner trembles at the tax-gatherer's approach? And is it of less moment, my brethren, whether you shall be the heirs of glory of the heirs of hell? Is your state on earth for a few fleeting years of so much moment? And is it of less moment what shall be your state through endless ages! Have you assembled together willingly to hear what shall be said on public affairs, and to join in imploring the blessing of God on the counsels and arms of the United Colonies, and can you be unconcerned what shall become of you for ever, when all the monuments of human greatness shall be laid in ashes, for "the earth itself, and all the works that are therein shall be burnt up."

Wherefore, my beloved hearers, as the ministry of reconciliation is committed to me, I beseech you in the most earnest manner, to attend to "the things that belong to your peace, before they are hid from your eyes". How soon, and in what manner a seal shall be set upon the character and state of every person here present, it is impossible to know. But you may rest assured, that there is no time more suitable, and there is none so safe as that which is present, since it is wholy uncertain whether any other shall be yours. Those who shall first fall in battle, have not many more warnings to receive. There are some few daring and hardened sinners, who despise eternity itself, and set their Maker at defiance; but the far greater number, by staving off their convictions to a more convenient season, have been taken unprepared, and thus eternally lost. I would therefore earnestly press the apostle's exhortation, 2 Cor 6: 1-2... "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."

             Suffer me to beseech you, or rather to give you warning, not to rest satisfied with a form of godliness, denying the power thereof. There can be no true religion, till there be a discovery of your lost state by nature and practice, and an unfeigned acceptance of Christ Jesus, as he is offered in the gospel. Unhappy are they who either despise his mercy, or are ashamed of his cross. Believe it, "There is no salvation in any other." "There is no other name under heaven given amongst men by which we must be saved." Unless you are united to him by a lively faith, not the resentment of a haughty monarch, the sword of divine justice hangs over you, and the fulness of divine vengeance shall speedily overtake you. I do not speak this only to the heaven-daring profligate or grovelling sensualist, but to every insensible, secure sinner; to all those, however decent and orderly in their civil deportment, who live to themselves, and have their part and portion in this life; in fine, to all who are yet in a state of nature, for "except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God". The fear of man may make you hide your profanity; prudence and experience may make you abhor intemperance and riot; as you advance in life one vice may supplant another and hold its place; but nothing less than the sovereign grace of God can produce a saving change of heart and temper, or fit you for his immediate presence."

The biggest quote for me in this is from the man that taught the principles of the American Republic to one President [James Madison], one Vice President [Aaron Burr], three Supreme Court Justices, ten Cabinet members, twelve Governors, 21 Senators, 39 Representatives, delegates to the Constitutional Convention and state leaders (from Bill Federer’s American’s God and Country, p. 703).  This man understood the principles of the American republic and played a huge part in the founding of our nation.  He even lost a son in the fighting for independence.  The hatred of the British for this minister is shown in a letter from John to his son David on February 2, 1777:

“I have been making inquiry into the conduct of the enemy, which has been dreadful.  At Trenton they killed Mr. Roxburgh, Presbyterian minister at the Forks of Delaware.  Though he fell down on his knees and begged his life, yet they pierced him in a shocking manner.  Some of the people at Princeton say thought they were killing me, and boasted that they had done it when they came back.  But this is certain- the fact of his death and the manner of it is beyond all doubt.” (Phil Webster, 1776 Faith, p. 79)

John Witherspoon was serious about independence; but to him, eternal life with Jesus Christ was even more important.

 I do not blame your ardour in preparing for the resolute defense of your temporal rights; but consider, I beseech you, the truly infinite importance of the salvation of your souls.

Maryland Not Known For Its Signers but For Its Soldiers Who Fought in Continental Army

Maryland Not Known For Its Signers but Its Soldiers

Who Fought in the Continental Army

The signers of the Declaration of Independence from Maryland are not known for stirring much enthusiasm.  Out of the 56 signers, the Maryland ones are generally in the bottom half for consideration.  What does excite audiences is the contribution of the soldiers from Maryland.  The Continental Army battalions from Maryland, starting at the battle of Brooklyn, received General Washington’s respect as the “go-to guys.”  Many times when Washington was in a pinch, he would look for Maryland troops.

Brooklyn is not usually thought of as a battlefield.  How many people have visited Gettysburg in contrast to those who have visited Brooklyn as a battlefield?  The Declaration of Independence was signed on July2/4, 1776 but the price tag paid by Maryland soldiers on August 27 was huge.  At Brooklyn, Marylanders charged ten times against larger forces and gave the rest of the Continental Army time to get away.  From a distance, Washington saw their sacrifice and cried out these words: “Good God, what brave men this day I have lost!”  That made a deep impression on Washington.  When we fought  at Kip’s Bay and Harlem Heights,  Washington would call on Maryland. 

When the battle theater shifted from the Northern colonies to the South, Maryland played a huge role.  Imagine marching down to South Carolina from Maryland.  Our generation is weary from riding that distance in a car; think about the march for them.  They had to hunt and forage on the way down there.  On the trip down, they received news that Charleston South Carolina had fallen. The consequences of that were that all the Virginia battalions were captured.  Leadership fell on the Marylanders. 

Continental Congress had appointed General Gates to be the Southern commander.  General Dekalb had led the Maryland and Delaware forces down south but Gates took control just before the battle of Camden.  DeKalb’s advice to follow the route where supplies and new militia could be obtained was overridden by the “Johnny come lately.”  Not only did Gates’s strategy fail, he fled his post.  He travelled ninety miles in five days.  DeKalb and his Maryland troops stayed and fought because they were given no orders to surrender or retreat.  About 800 Marylanders died with DeKalb and you can see a statue dedicated to his bravery and sacrifice outside the Annapolis Maryland State Capitol.

It did not end there for the Marylanders.  They regrouped at Hillsboro, North Carolina and fought well at Guilford Courthouse (near Greensboro).  There is a monument there for the Marylanders and Delawareans that fought there. As a Marylander that lives near the Delaware border, it gave me an awesome awareness of the immense sacrifice that these men gave in the service to the new nation.

Moses Mather's Reply to Blind Submission to The King: 

America's Appeal to the Impartial World

[This is a 50 page sermon from 1775 which I will try to condense.  Moses Mather served as Minister in Darien, Connecticut.  The British put him in jail twice for his views.]

The king must have the consent of the governed.  Biblically, authority comes from God through the voice and consent of the people.  Magna Carta is unique in human history by controlling the power of the king. The House of Commons had as an unalienable right to originate all money bills.  This has been the history of Britain and its American children for over 800 years.

"The king's power does not come from the crown, it comes from the constitution of the colonies (their consent).  Power is derived from the Almighty and our consent.

"Government originates (under God) from the people.  Monarchy, aristocracy and democracy have failed in their turn.  Civil government is a temporary remedy against the ill effects of general depravity.

"The king by removing his protection and levying war against us has discharged us of our allegiance and of all obligations to obedience.. He having violated the compact on his part, we of course are released from ours...The king has discharged us of our allegiance and forced us from our dependence, and we are become necessarily independant. [sp]"

"The king broke off the agreement and we are not bound by it, especially when he has withdrawn his protection and declared war on us."

Submission: Did Our Founding Fathers Sin by Rebelling Against Our Sovereign King George III?

Submission: Did Our Founding Fathers Sin by Rebelling Against Our Sovereign King George III?

There were many voices in the time of the American War for Independence which stated that the Thirteen Colonies should obey their rulers and that rebellion was as the sin of witchcraft.  This article is an attempt to defend the Founding Fathers from a scriptural viewpoint.  One would be the whole of
Scripture and second would be the case of hundreds of years of Church History.

An excellent resource is the collection of sermons edited by Ellis Sandoz entitled Political Sermons of the American Founding Era 1730-1805. With 1596 pages, it is no light assignment but one that contains treasure.  Among the authors are George Whitefield, Charles Chauncy, Samuel Davies, John Joachim Zubly, John Witherspoon, Samuel Cooper,Samuel Miller, Noah Webster and Timothy Dwight.  There are many others but what a cast!

There is also a sermon by John Wesley entitled "A Calm Address to Our American Colonies" written in 1775.  It is hardly a sermon.  I was surprised to not see one verse of the Bible quoted.  There was a passing reference to Ahithophel (a counselor to King David who later sided with the rebel Absalom and later committed suicide) but no explanation to the readers.  It was assumed that the readers would be familiar with his siding with Absalom.  Wesley's "Calm Address" elicited an anonymous response entitled: "A Constitutional Answer to Wesley's Calm Address" also in 1775.

An anonymous pastor wrote a reply in "A Constitutional Answer to the Rev. Mr. John Wesley's Calm Address to the American Colonies."  In the second paragraph, this pastor says the following:
   
     "You present your book to the world, as your own; but the greatest part of it is taken, verbatim, from Taxation No Tyranny, written by the pensioned Dr. Johnson, a declared enemy of civil and religious liberty! This is another deception, equally mean and obvious."

This anonymous pastor does not deal with scriptural texts either but appeals to Magna Carta and Pennsylvania laws.

Many well meaning people will blindly rattle off Romans 13: 1a  "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities."  They leave it at that.  Just blindly submit, do not ask questions!  Get in line for the Jim Jones koolaid.  Churches like the example given of Jim Jones have used that line of thinking.  If these same people had lived in the time of Moses would have gone alone with the government edict of killing all the Hebrew babies.  They might have had to tow the government line when King Herod gave the rule that all babies in Bethlehem must be killed.  Would these blind goverment-followers have taken part in the killing of their own founder [Jesus]?

Let us read what the whole text of Romans 13:1 states.  "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities for there is no authority except that which God has established.  The Founders of the United States followed the example of the British rulers in Magna Carta.  The king of England was held to limitations on his power.  Our Founders did not believe in the Divine Right of Kings.  King Charles I wrote a book entitled the Divine Right of Kings.  That same king was beheaded by Parliament under Oliver Cromwell.  The king is also held responsible to God's law.  If the king goes against God's law, the people have to hold the king responsible.

What should Christians have done in Nazi Germany during the 1930s and 1940s?  Should they have just been docile submissive creatures for everything Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist Party demanded? Christians like Deitrich Bonhoeffer saw that they had to make a stand in their culture.

Our Founders took the second part of Romans 13:1 and followed the whole verse.  There is no authority except that which God has established.  They saw that the established Church of England in many cases was a political appointment.  There were sincere believers in the Church of England but there were also many wolves in sheep's clothing.  There were many in the ministry that had not been born again.  Especially from New England there was a cry to make sure that there was freedom of religion.  Take note of the tie of the established Church of England in the states of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and New York with the slave trade.

The American Revolution From Scotland

The American Revolution From Scotland

          The research that I have done on the Founding Fathers has taken me to check out my own family history.  I have assumed for most of my life that I was from English background.  If my studies are correct, my ancestor Richard Webster came from Glamis, Angus in Scotland.  He supposedly was a schoolmaster and lived in Cambridge, Maryland from about 1704 to 1744.  This knowledge has spurred me on to study the history of Scotland, especially in terms of its impact on the Founding Fathers.  An excellent book to give me that overview of the country has been Scotland: The Story of a Nation by Magnus Magnusson.  With some seven hundred pages, it has been a long read but also an enlightening one. 

          There are nine Scottish signers of the Declaration of Independence: Thomas McKean, James Wilson, George Ross, Matthew Thornton, Edward Rutledge, William Hooper, Philip Livingston, George Taylor and Rev. John Witherspoon.  As I study more about Scottish history especially from about A.D. 1600 onward,  I am seeing many links between the Scots and the desire for independence in America in what became the United States.  Especially when one finds out that Rev. John Witherspoon was a direct descendant  of John Knox of the Reformation, this is really worthwhile to dig into. When one finds out that the American Revolution has been called a Presbyterian revolution and that Scotland had a National Covenant, I had better check this out.

          Being from Maryland’s Eastern Shore, there are many place names that have huge Scottish significance.  Queen Anne’s is the name of a county (where Charles Willson Peale the painter came from).  Little did I know that Queen Anne had 18 children (only one of which survived infancy).   A major battle was fought at Preston in northern England where 2,000 Scots died in battle.  There was also a battle in Worcester and Dunbar.  A lot of these names sound so familiar.

The Whigs got their start in Scotland as a part of the Covenanters.  The Declaration of Arbroath, signed in April 6, 1320 might have had something to do with another Declaration signed 456 years later.

This is just the beginning of hopefully more articles on Scotland and her neglected history.  

HMS Roebuck Visit to Parker Mill Pond (Today Called Leonard's Mill Pond) in February 1777

HMS Roebuck Visit to Parker Mill Pond

(today called Leonard's Mill Pond)

February 1777
Eastern Shore of Virginia (Ninth Regiment) to the Rescue

     Next time you visit the Salisbury Visitor Center on Route 13 between Salisbury and Delmar, Maryland try to envision a 44 gun ship British ship in Leonard's Mill Pond.  Imagine 250 Tories assembled in the area as a staging area for the British to mount an invasion of the Eastern Shore of Maryland.


     Continental Congress moved from Philadelphia on December 12, 1776. After defeats at Brooklyn, White Plains and Harlem in New York, we lost Fort Washington and Fort Lee. British troops kept pursuing the Continental Army in New Jersey and General Washington won a stunning victory by crossing the Delaware River and capturing the Hessian garrison at Trenton December 26, 1776. Colonel William Richardson (from the Eastern Shore of Maryland near Preston) was entrusted with moving the Treasury from Philadelphia to Baltimore. Baltimore served as the capital of nation from December 20, 1776 until February, 27, 1777. The location of Congress in Baltimore was at Liberty Street and Baltimore Street (near the First Mariner Arena where the Baltimore Blast soccer team plays).

     The capital returned to Philadelphia on March 4, 1777. [ It remained there until September 15, 1777. After the defeat at Brandywine, Continental Congress had to move again. They stayed in Lancaster, Pennsylvania for one day- September 27, 1777 and then moved to York , Pennsylvania from September 30, 1777 until June 27, 1778. At York, they met at the Court House.]

     During the time frame of the upheaval from Continental Congress having to move from Philadelphia to Baltimore is the time period in which the Tories attempted to take control of Delmarva. Their plan started with the staging area of Parker Mill Pond. All during the time that the capital was located in Baltimore, one of the main focuses was the threat to the Eastern Shore of Maryland. It is hard for current readers to visualize John Hancock in Baltimore but here is a resolve of Congress on February 17, 1777:


[Hancock to Council]
Baltimore, Feb. 17, 1777
Gentlemen:
As Congress have received Information that the Enemy are meditating a Descent upon the Coast of Chesapeake Bay the ensuing Campaign, I have it in Charge to request you will cause all the Stock of every Kind (agreeably to the enclosed Resolve) to be immediately removed from the shore and the adjacent Islands, or otherwise so secured that there may be no Danger of its falling into the Hands of our Enemies, and that you will take the most Effectual Measures to protect those who are well affected to the Cause of America from being plundered and insulted by the Enemy.
I have the Honour to be, Gentlemen,
Your most obed. Serv.
Honble Council of Safety. John Hancock Presid.

[Resolve of Congress.]
In Congress, Feby. 17, 1777
Congress having this day received Information that the Enemy mediates an Expedition to the Bay of Chesapeak in the ensuing Campaign, and that the Eastern Shore of Maryland is the first object or Place of Landing [italics added]
RESOLVED, That the States of Virginia and Maryland be requested to take immediate and the most effectual Measures that the Stocks may be removed from their respective Eastern Shore Counties, and their adjacent Islands, or so secured that they may not fall into the Enemies Hands, and that Means the most effectual be taken to protect & secure the well affected Inhabitants from the Insults and Plunder of the Enemy.
By order of Congress John Hancock, Presid.

     Tangier Sound had three British warships in their area accompanied by tenders and other armed vessels, known to be piloted by Tories. For several months the Tories were on the verge of gaining control of Somerset (Maryland) and Sussex (Delaware) counties. A 44 gun British ship, Roebuck, had landed field artillery pieces (probably from the Wicomico River). In February, 1777 about 250 Tories gathered at the site of the battle of Parker Mill Pond near Salisbury.

     For quite a few years it has been puzzling as to how the HMS Roebuck made its way up the Wicomico River to the Parker Mill Pond location (which is now called Leonard Mill Pond).  Look up Salisbury Maryland on Google using the satellite function.  One can see the river bed of the Wicomico River from the bypass up to Leonard Mill Pond.  There are two dams (one near Isabella and Lake Street and the other at Leonard Mill Pond itself) which have been added since 1777.  Without the dams, a ship could come up to Parker Mill Pond.

     The battle never happened in actuality. Colonel George Dashiell’s militia of 150 was outnumbered and outgunned. Dashiell sent letters for help and help came in strength. Almost 1,000 (980) came from the Upper Shore and Western Shore under Gen. Smallwood. Another 2,000 under Colonel Southey Simpson (of the Ninth Regiment of Virginia) came from the Eastern Shore of Virginia. When the Tories saw the strength against them, they scattered. Fourteen ringleaders were caught but the two leaders, Callallo and Moore were believed to be headed for refuge on Smith or Tangier Island. And boarded the British ship Phoenix

     The Maryland Council sent vessels to transport troops to Eastern Shore: the Enterprise with Captain James Campbell, the Defence with Captain George Cook, the Dolphin with Captain William Patterson and four other vessels. They assembled 980 men to help the Somerset Militia at Salisbury.

Col. William Buchanan’s Regulars- 350 men
Gen. Smallwood’s Battalion- 300 men
2nd Virginia Battalion 300 men
Mattrosses from Annapolis 30 men

“The militia was first on the scene. Their congregation in such numbers and the knowledge that regular army troops and state naval vessels were enroute forestalled junction of tory bands with forces from off-shore enemy warships. Tories quickly evaporated, scattering to Delaware and to the enemy ships, while most simply went ‘underground’ to escape apprehension.”


     Three men attempted to go to the Ohio Valley, find Tories and Indians willing to fight and enlist them against the Patriots. The plan was (1)to seize Pittsburgh with this force (2) invade Maryland and Virginia and (3) join forces with Lord Dunmore at Alexandria, Virginia.

     John Dalzial Smyth was a storekeeper and physician who owned property in North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland. Smyth joined with Lieutenant Colonel John Connelly (Tory physician fleeing from Pennsylvania) and an alleged Indian agent Allen Cameron. These three men were captured at Hagerstown and were carrying papers with the plans for this Ohio Valley takeover.

     Smyth escaped the log jail for traitors at Frederick but was caught again and imprisoned in Philadelphia. He stayed there for six months and then was transferred to the jail in Baltimore in December 1776. He escaped from the Baltimore jail and crossed the Chesapeake Bay and came up the Nanticoke River into Somerset County. Smyth came into the region and helped with the planning of a Tory uprising.
When the Tory uprising took place in Salisbury, he advised waiting for British warships to strengthen their position in the Chesapeake and Delaware Bay regions. When Smallwood’s forces took control of the area, Smyth and other Tories went north to Sussex County in Delaware. On March 12, he and eleven other Tories rowed out to a British man-o-war named Preston in the Delaware Bay.

     Other Tories had planned on joining the force but when they saw the numbers against them, they decided not to show up at Parker's Mill Pond. If the Upper and Western Shore of Maryland and the Eastern Shore of Virginia had not responded so quickly and strongly, Tories would have had a stronghold in the Salisbury area. Think of all the possibilities that the British and Tories could have used with such a strategic location at the center of the peninsula. Washington sent a report that 3,000 British and Hessian troops left New York reportedly to effect a landing on the Eastern Shore. About 70 flat-bottom boats built by British in New York were supposedly intended for the Chesapeake Bay. The British and the Tories were denied this piece of the puzzle.

     Gen. Smallwood arrived in Salisbury on Feb. 19, 1777. While in charge of the militia in the area, he divided his time between Princess Anne, Salisbury and Snow Hill. Do you think he ever stayed in the Washington Hotel? Since the show of force had dissipated the Tory threat in the area, Smallwood released his forces on March 3 so they could go to other needed areas.

     One of the regiments recently recruited in Maryland for Continental Army service (but had not yet left the state) was assigned to the camps to be set up in the neighborhood of Salisbury. It was to be augmented by 500 militiamen from the upper Maryland counties and 100 from Delaware if additional force was found to be needed. Enlistment terms were due to expire December 10, 1777. Col. William Richardson who was named regiment’s commander, went on an expedition to Lewes.

     In summation, Baltimore was the nation’s capital at the time of the Battle of Parker Mill Pond. John Hancock sent a Resolve of Continental Congress stating that Congress had received intelligence that the enemy had plans to have a landing there (they did in August of that same year with 265 ships up the Chesapeake Bay to Elk Landing-Elkton). The local militia saw they were outmanned and out-gunned (Tories had at least two field pieces). Almost 1,000 men from the Western Shore and the Upper Shore came to Salisbury’s defense. The Eastern Shore of Virginia brought up 2,000 men to help out. When the Tories saw all these soldiers and militia against them, most of them disappeared into their home areas. A Tory leader from North Carolina named John Daziel Smyth attempted to raise up an army of Tories and Indians from the Ohio Valley and came through Hagerstown and Frederick. He arrived in Somerset county (which part is in Wicomico County now) by means of the Nanticoke River and tried to stir up the Tories. The arrival of such large numbers of Patriots from the Eastern Shore of Virginia and the Upper and Western Shores thwarted his plans and he left the area by taking a ship called the Preston from Lewes and skedaddled. General Smallwood commanded the forces in the Salisbury and Princess Anne area. When the Tories left the area, Colonel Richardson took command of the 500 men left in the Salisbury area.

Update March 24, 2013

Day of Prayer February 3, 1777

Baltimore, Maryland

(Nation's Capital at that time)

 

     While doing research on John Adams, I came across a letter that he sent to Abigail on February 3, 1777. This is the time period when Continental Congress met in Baltimore.  Adams said that February 3, 1777 had been observed by members of Continental Congress as a day of fasting and prayer.  For those who believe in prayer, it may be that events did not transpire as the Tories and British planned because of those prayers.

Christian New England

Christian New England

     While researching the Christian worldview of the Founding Fathers, one must not throw back on to people in the past things and thoughts from the present. When one thinks of New England in today's time, one does not associate a strong Christian worldview, normally New England today is thought of as a secular area. Going through the 25 volumes of Letters of the Delegates 1774-1789 and 34 volumes of Journals of Continental Congress, the evidence from the primary sources showed me that the nation's strong Christian worldview came from New England. My preconceived idea was that the South would have the stronger Christian worldview. As you read the body of my quotes of Christian worldview from each state, I believe you will see that the Southern signers of the Declaration had a weaker view of Christianity. For many of the signers from the South, it took quite a bit of searching to find one general quotation about a Christian worldview. However, for New England, one does not have to dig hard; the evidence is strongly there. Again, please look at the signers from each state of New England; their Christian worldview glows (New Jersey glows as well with Rev. John Witherspoon and company).

      With many of the New England states, it is a strong unanimous vote for the Christian worldview. In Massachusetts, there are John and Samuel Adams. Look at their Christian worldview quotes on my site as well as their anti-slavery stances. John Hancock, son and grandson of a minister strongly proclaimed days of prayer asking for God's direction. Robert Treat Paine served as a chaplain in the French and Indian War. Elbridge Gerry also had a strong Christian worldview To get insights from the New England mindset of that time, look at the words of the song, "Let Tyrants Break Their Iron Rods." Let tyrants shake their iron rod, And Slav'ry clank her galling chains, We fear them not, we trust in God, New England's God forever reigns. Please take note of the last line of the first verse: "New England's God forever reigns." It was New England and not the South that served as the starting engine for the American Revolution.

     Let us also look to the views of the mother country, England. General James Grant led British troops against American soldiers at Brooklyn, New York. In his September 2, 1776 letter to Harvey said the following: " You will be glad, & gentlemen in Office will not be displeased that we have had the Field Day I talked of in my last Letter- if a good Bleeding can bring those Bible faced Yankees to their senses. The Fever of Independency should soon abate." New England's God, Bible faced Yankees, and the body of Christian worldview quotes from the signers of the Declaration of Independence from New England establish the fact that New England had the strong Christian worldview.

     Conversely, the South at that time had a weak Christian worldview. They followed the established Anglican religion. The reader will note that Thomas Jefferson is not noted for having a strong Christian worldview. This author would class him as having the weakest Christian worldview (if that) of the whole bunch. When many argue that the Christian worldview should not be allowed to have a voice in discussions about government because the Christian worldview allowed slavery back at the Founding, they lay the fault at the wrong party. It was the weak established Anglican Christian worldview of the Southern States (like Jefferson, Rutledge and Middleton and others)at that time that supported slavery. New England with its Christian worldview opposed slavery. Jefferson's Bible that took miracles out of the Bible left readers with a Jefferson Jesus. Jesus to Jefferson was a great moral teacher. Jefferson rejected the miraculous virgin birth of Jesus. Jefferson rejected the miracles of Jesus, all his healings, the raising of the dead, the feeding of the multitudes. Who was the leader for the Democrat party? Is it not called the party of Jefferson and Jackson?Which party supported slavery from the beginning? Was it the Democrat-Republican party/Democrat party? What party made it difficult at every turn to stop slavery? Even though the Founders outlawed slavery from the Constitution in 1787 (by saying that 18 years will allow slave owners to have time to get out of slavery), what party kept pushing at every turn to keep slavery going? It was the party of Jefferson. If one looks at the party of Jefferson from 1820 to 1860, one can see the party platforms saying slavery was fine.

     It was the party of Lincoln who championed the idea of the Founders that all men are created equal. Please do not muddy the waters and say that Jefferson's diluted form of religion that he used when needed was kosher with the Old and New Testaments. His watered down approach to the Bible and God allowed him and his followers to view African Americans as less than people. All citizens of the United States regardless of skin color need to return to what God has revealed in the Old and New Testaments.

     Concerning the three fifths vote, the New England delegation did not want to give the South the full vote because after all the votes were tabulated, the South would have overall more votes that they could use to keep slavery lawful.  New England wanted to eliminate slavery by 1805.  In order to stay alive as a nation (with other nations attempting to conquer us), the compromise was done to keep the nation afloat.

Have We Sold Our Birthright as Americans? Lessons From Esau

Reading the story of Esau and the birthright of Americans is a theme found among the writings of the Founding Fathers

Declaration of Independence
We hold these things to be self-evident that all men are created equal and they are endowed with certain inalienable rights among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness

John Jay 

If then, God hath given us freedom, are we responsible to him for that, as well as other talents?  If it be our birthright, let us not sell it for a mess of pottage [referring to Esau selling his birthright], nor suffer it to be torn from us by the hand of violence!  If the means of defence are in our power and we do not make use of them, what excuse shall we make to our children and our Creator?  These are questions of the deepest concern to us all.  These are questions which materially affect our happiness, not only in this world, but in the world to come.

John Jay's "Christmas Address," Dec. 23, 1776

John Dickinson
“Had Almighty God been pleased to give Us our Existence in a Land of Slavery , the Sense of our Condition might have been mitigated by the Force of Education & habit.  But Thanks be to his adorable Goodness, We were born the Heirs of Freedom, and ever enjoyed our Right under the Auspices of your Royal Ancestors, whose Family  was seated on the British Throne, to secure a pious & gallant Nation from the Popery and Despotism, mediated by a superstitious, and inexorible Tyrant...We doubt not, but your royal Wisdom must approve the Sensibility, that teaches your subjects anxiously to guard the Blessing they received from Divine Providence and thereby to prove the performance of that compact, that elevated the illustrious House of Brunswick to the Dignity it now possesses...

What is more important to Americans today?  Do they value their birthright with freedom as their most important denominator or have they sold it for some government benefit?

Benjamin's Franklin- Almost a Christian Worldview

Ben Franklin- Almost a Christian Worldview

      Coming up on Ben Franklin’s birthday (January 17, 1706), it seems appropriate to write about the difficulty of determining whether or not he had a Christian worldview. Those who read this blog as well as my book 1776 Faith will note that I have stated that 54 of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence had a Christian worldview. The two exceptions were Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. Both have stated in their writings that they doubted or denied the deity of Jesus Christ.

     There is a lot that could go on the side of showing a Christian worldview for both of these gentlemen but their comments about the deity of Christ is the determining factor in not including them in the Christian worldview. Franklin to Ezra Stiles, Philadelphia, March 9, 1790 [Franklin died April 17, 1790] “As to Jesus of Nazareth, my Opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think they System of Morals and his Religion, as he left them to us, the best the World ever saw or is likely to see; but I apprehend it has received various corrupting Changes, and I have, with most of the present Dissenters in England, some Doubts as to his Divinity.” Franklin goes on to say:”I shall only add, respecting myself, that having experienced the Goodness of that Being in conducting me prosperously thro’ a long life, I have no doubt of its Continuance in the next.” Franklin doubts or denies the deity of Jesus Christ yet believed he was going to heaven. One that truly calls himself or herself a Christian is a follower of Jesus Christ. Jesus claimed to be God as seen in John 8:58 “Before Abraham was I AM.” In Hebrew, the word YHWH was translated as “I AM.” John 14:6 states, Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” In Acts 4:10b-12 Peter spoke the following before the Sanhedrin: “.It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. He is the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone. Salvation is found in no one else for there is no other name given under heaven to men by which we must be saved.”

     Franklin could honestly say that he followed God according to his fashion but did not specifically follow Jesus Christ. In another entry, Franklin’s strong attestations to God in human events will be presented For someone to call themselves a Christian and deny the deity of Jesus Christ is like: A hunter that does not believe in killing animals A Muslim that does not believe that the Qu’ran is the Word of God A fish that does not believe in water A Catholic that does not believe what the Pope says A vegan that does not believe in eating vegetables Franklin did a load of good things in his life. His scientific inventions include electrical discoveries with lightning, the lightning rod, the Franklin stove, bifocals, etc.

     In the political field he also had many special accomplishments. He helped start the first library in Philadelphia, the first fire company, became president of the Abolition Society in Pennsylvania. He stood for American independence and took a public debunking for it at the Privy Council in London and he never forgot it. He helped win the support of France during our struggle for independence and crossed the Atlantic at great peril. London probably would have a fine gallows prepared for him, or Tower of London special treatment, if he had been caught.

      Personally I wish it were different. I wish Franklin had said that he trusted Christ for the forgiveness of his sins. I do not know if Mr. Franklin had a change of heart and mind after making his statement to Rev. Ezra Stiles. However, if it stands the way Franklin said it then, He died without the Saviour. It would be such a tragedy for someone to be so intelligent but so unwise. Franklin said here that he had really never studied it. He thought it needless to study it now. If one’s eternal destiny is at stake, he needed to study it. The world’s most intelligent man became unwise in the most important question of his existence. This reminds me of a sermon from Billy Graham entitled “Almost Persuaded.” Paul appeared before King Agrippa in the book of Acts26:28 and after giving him a presentation of the good news of Jesus Christ, Agrippa said the following to Paul: “Almost thou persuadeth me to become a Christian.” Almost did not cut it for Agrippa, nor will it help Franklin when he stands before Christ. Dear friend, choose Christ. Take the time to study about the sinless life, the sacrifice and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. You may be very intelligent but also be wise.