Religion and Patriotism the Constituents of a Good Soldier

p. 3RELIGION and PATRIOTISM the CONSTITUENTS of a good SOLDIER. A SERMON, &c.

Be of good Courage, and let us play the Men, for our People, and for the Cities of our God: And the Lord do that which seemeth him good.

AN Hundred Years of Peace and Liberty in such a World as this, is a very unusual Thing; and yet our Country has been the happy Spot that has been distinguished with such a long Series of Blessings, with little or no Interruption. Our Situation in the Middle of the British Colonies, and our Separation from the French, those eternal Enemies of Liberty and Britons, on the one Side by the vast Atlantic, and on the other by a long Ridge of Mountains, and a wide, extended Wilderness, have for many Years been a Barrier to us; and while other Nations have been involved in War, we have not been alarmed with the Sound of the Trumpet, nor seen Garments rolled in Blood.

But now the Scene is changed: Now we begin to experience in our Turn the Fate of the Nations of the Earth. Our Territories are invaded by the Power and Perfidy of France; our Frontiers ravaged by merciless Savages, and our Fellow-Subjects there murdered with all the horrid Arts of Indian and Popish Torture. p. 4Our General unfortunately brave, is fallen, an Army of 1300 choice Men routed, our fine Train of Artillery taken, and all this (Oh mortifying Thought!) all this by 4 or 500 dastardly, insidious, Barbarians.

These Calamities have not come upon us without Warnings. We were long ago apprized of the ambitious Schemes of our Enemies, and their Motions to carry them into Execution: And had we taken timely Measures, they might have been crushed, before they could arrive at such a formidable Height. But how have we generally behaved in such a critical Time; Alas! our Country has been sunk in a deep Sleep: A stupid Security has unmanned the Inhabitants: They could not realize a Danger at the Distance of 2 or 300 Miles: They would not be persuaded, that even French Papists could seriously design us an Injury: And hence little or nothing has been done for the Defence of our Country in Time, except by the Compulsion of Authority. And now, when the Cloud thickens over our Heads, and alarms every thoughtful Mind with its near Approach, Multitudes, I am afraid, are still dissolved in careless Security, or enervated with an effeminate, cowardly Spirit. When the melancholy News first reached us concerning the Fate of our Army, then we saw how natural it is for the Presumptuous to fall into the opposite Extreme of unmanly Despondence and Consternation; and how little Men could do in such a Pannic for their own Defence. We have also suffered our poor Fellow-Subjects in the Frontier Counties to fall a helpless Prey to Blood-thirsty Savages, without affording them proper Assistance, which as Members of the same Body Politic, they had a Right to expect. They might as well have continued in a State of Nature, as be united in Society, if in such an Article of extreme Danger, they are left to shift for themselves. The bloody Barbarians have exercised on some of them the most unnatural and leisurely Tortures; and others they have butchered in their Beds, or in some unguarded Hour. Can human Nature bear the Horror of the Sight! See yonder! the hairy Scalps, clotted with Gore! the mangled Limbs! the ript-up Women! the Heart and Bowels, still palpitating with Life, smoking on the Ground! See the Savages p. 5swilling their Blood, and imbibing a more outragious Fury with the inhuman Draught! Sure these are not Men; they are not Beasts of Prey; they are something worse; they must be infernal Furies in human Shape. And have we tamely looked on, and suffered them to exercise these hellish Barbarities upon our Fellow-Men, our Fellow-Subjects, our Brethren? Alas! with what Horror must we look upon ourselves, as being little better than Accessaries to their Blood?

p. 5And shall these Ravages go on unchecked? Shall Virginia incur the Guilt and the everlasting Shame, of tamely exchanging her Liberty, her Religion, and her All, for arbitrary Gallic Power, and for Popish Slavery, Tyranny and Massacre? Alas! are there none of her Children, that enjoyed all the Blessings of her Peace, that will espouse her Cause, and befriend her now in the Time of her Danger? Are Britons utterly degenerated by so short a Remove from their Mother-Country? Is the Spirit of Patriotism entirely extinguished among us? And must I give thee up for lost, O my Country, and all that is included in that important Word? Must I look upon thee as a conquered, enslaved Province of France, and the Range of Indian Savages? My Heart breaks at the Thought. And must ye, our unhappy Brethren in our Frontiers, must ye stand the single Barriers of a ravaged Country, unassisted, unbefriended, unpitied? Alas! must I draw these shocking Conclusions?

No; I am agreeably checked by the happy, encouraging Prospect now before me. Is it a pleasing Dream? Or do I really see a Number of brave Men, without the Compulsion of Authority, without the Prospect of Gain, voluntarily associated in a Company, to march over horrendous Rocks and Mountains, into an hideous Wilderness, to succour their helpless Fellow-Subjects, and guard their Country? Yes, Gentlemen, I see you here upon this Design; and were you all united to my Heart by the most endearing Ties of Nature, or Friendship, I could not wish to see you engaged in a nobler Cause; and whatever the Fondness of Passion might carry me to, I am sure my Judgment would never suffer me to persuade you to desert it. You all generously put your Lives in p. 6your Hands; and sundry of you have nobly disengaged yourselves from the strong and tender Ties that twine about the Heart of a Father, or a Husband, to confine you at home in inglorious Ease, and sneaking Retirement from Danger, when your Country calls for your Assistance. While I have you before me, I have high Thoughts of a Virginian; and I entertain the pleasing Hope that my Country will yet emerge out of her Distress, and flourish with her usual Blessings. I am gratefully sensible of the unmerited Honour you have done me, in making Choice of me to address you upon so singular and important an Occasion: And I am sure I bring with me a Heart ardent to serve you and my Country, though I am affraid my Inability, and the Hurry of my Preparations, may give you Reason to repent your Choice. I cannot begin my Address to you with more proper Words than those of a great General, which I have read to you: Be of good Courage, and play the Men, for your People, and for the Cities of your God; and the Lord do what seemeth him good.