The Righteous Acts of the Lord to New England

Mr. Prince's ELECTION SERMON

THAT Thomas Fitch and Daniel Oliver, Esqrs give the Thanks of this Board to the Reverend Mr. Thomas Prince, for his SERMON Preached to the General Assembly, on the Day of Election of Councellors, and desire a Copy thereof in order to its being Printed.

J. Willard, Secr.

A SERMON AT THE General Election.

And SAMUEL said unto the PEOPLE; It is the LORD that advanced MOSES and AARON, and that brought up your FATHERS out of the Land of AEgypt; Now therefore, stand still, that I may Reason with you before the LORD, of all the Righteous Acts of the LORD, which He did to YOU and to your FATHERS.

THAT we may form a clear Prospect of the Occasion and Propriety of this Address of SAMUEL; we must imagine we see the Tribes of ISRAEL assembled now before Him at Gilgal, to behold this illustrious Person laying down the chief Part of his Civil Power and resigning it to another, whom the GOD of Heaven had so highly honoured as to raise Him up from among his Brethren and set Him over that distinguished People.

p. 2And it is indeed astonishing to see with what a noble, unaffected and inimitable Majesty, this most extraordinary Judge and Prophet makes the publick Resignation: With what a just Concern for the Security of his own unblemish'd Character, and with what a flaming Zeal for the continued Honour of GOD, the Maintenance of his pure Religion, the Welfare of his People, and the Prosperity of the succeeding Governour.

Read this admirable Chapter, and keep in view the great Occasion, the superiour Person speaking, the vast and attentive Audience, the chief Ruler now before Him, the Things deliver'd, and the Air and Manner of the whole Transaction—and you will see in all, such a plain, venerable and sublime Grandeur, as I know of nothing among the meer Sons of Men has been ever like it, unless it were in MOSES, and none but one apparently inspir'd & filled with the DIVINE SPIRIT can pretend to imitate.

Having first receiv'd their universal Approbation of his intire Conduct; He cannot leave his beloved People without the most publick, plain and solemn Admonitions and Advices; that they may prove a wise and happy People under the Influence of their new Governour.

Resigning therefore now the chief Seat of Civil Power, but retaining the superiour Office and Authority of a Public Prophet; He becomes a Divine Preacher to the listening Congregation, and begins his Sermon with the awakening Introduction in the Words before us. Of which I now propose by the Divine Help to treat, under these three general Heads, p. 21. To consider the Words as applicable to that special People, to whom they were at first directed.

2. Raise some general Observations from them. And then,

3. & lastly, Apply the Words and those Observations to this particular People in our own Land.

p. 3I. To consider the Text as applicable to that special People to whom it was at first directed.

And SAMUEL said unto the PEOPLE—

i. e. To the whole Assembly then and there convened, not only comprehensive of the common People, but also, in a special manner, the Heads and Representatives of the several Tribes and Towns of ISRAEL.

In the first Verse of the Chapter, they are said to be all ISRAEL; in the last of the foregoing, to be all the Men of ISRAEL; and by the 8th Verse, it seems they were at least Three hundred Thousand.

But we may by no means imagine, that this was a meer confused Multitude without any comely Order or Distinction. For they had an excellent Frame of Government established over their several Tribes and Families; whereby their Tribes and Families were both kept in order and preserv'd intire from their original.

It wou'd be a very instructive Entertainment, to trace it out in all its Branches and Alterations, as they are successively represented in the sacred Records. But the time wou'd fail me: And I may only observe, that before ever they came out of AEGYPT, they had their ELDERS in their several Tribes, who were Men of chief Renown and Esteem among them for their singular Abilities and publick Virtues; who by reason of these had a publick Influence over them, and to whose especial Conduct they resign'd their publick Affairs & Interests.

For thus says GOD to MOSES, at his first Appearance, in the burning Bush, Exod. iii. 16, 18, Go and gather the ELDERS [The SEPTUAGINT here calls them the SENATE of ISRAEL: And the learned AINSWORTH observes, they were not only Men of AGE, but also TEACHERS and RULERS among the People, as there were among other Nations, Gen. L. 7. Numb. xxii 4, 7. Josh. ix. 11.] of ISRAEL together, &c. In the following p. 4Chapter, vers. 29, we read that MOSES and AARON went and gathered together all the ELDERS of the Children of ISRAEL: And these very Elders are called the People, in the following Verses: which seems to intimate, that either there were a considerable Number of them, and 'tis likely all their Rulers both of the higher and lower Orders; or they represented the Community, or that a great Company of others out of every Tribe attended and assembled with them; on which account the whole Convention is styl'd the People.

p. 4Of these Elders we also read upon their coming into the Wilderness in the xii, xvii, and xviii Chapters. And then under their sovereign Ruler MOSES, there were chosen out of every Tribe, the most known among them for Ability, Wisdom, Understanding, Religion, Truth, and the Hatred of Covetousness; to preside over them, and the several Thousands, Hundreds, Fifties and Tens, i. e. not of Persons but of Households in them. Exod. xviii. 13,—e. [Compared with Deut. I. 9,—18.] And in Chap. xix. 7. we read again of MOSES calling for the Elders of the People: And these are also stil'd the People, in the two following Verses [Of these see likewise, in Lev. iv. & ix. Numb. xvi. Daut. v. xxvii, xxix, xxxi Josh, vii, viii, xxiii, xxiv. Judg. ii, xxi, and 1 Sam. iv. And by the general Tenour of their History, they seem to be not meerly RULERS over the People, but their REPRESENTATIVES also; or rather Representatives in a double quality; i. e; They both represented the Privileges and Mind of the PEOPLE, who chose them, to their sovereign Ruler, and the Mind and Power of the SOVEREIGN RULER, who approv'd them, to the People: They seem to be wise and grave MEDIATORS between the Will and Power of the one, and the Privileges and Inclinations of the other, and their Business was to observe, advise and temper both, and ballance them together.] .