that said Day be observed as a Day set apart for Religious Worship, and that no servile Labor be permitted therein.

GIVEN at the Council Chamber in BOSTON, the fourth day of July, 1766, in the Sixth year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord GEORGE the Third, by the Grace of GOD, of GREAT BRITAIN, FRANCE, and IRELAND, KING, Defender of the Faith, etc.

By His Excellency's Command.

JOHN COTTON, Dept. Sec'y.

God save the King.

FRA. BERNARD.

DISCOURSE II.

A THANKSGIVING SERMON.

AS COLD WATERS TO A THIRSTY SOUL, SO IS GOOD NEWS FROM A FAR COUNTRY.- Proverbs xxv. 25.

WE are so formed by the God of nature, doubtless for wise and good ends, that the uneasy sensation to which we give the name of thirst is an inseparable attendant on the want of some proper liquid; and as this want is increased, such proportionably will be the increase of uneasiness; and the uneasiness may gradually heighten, till it throws one into a state that is truly tormenting. The application of cooling drink is fitted, by an established law of heaven, not only to remove away this uneasiness, but to give pleasure in the doing of it, by its manner of acting upon the organs of taste. There is scarce a keener perception of pleasure than that which is felt by one that is athirst upon being satisfied with agreeable drink. Hence the desire of spiritual good things, in those who have had excited in them a serious sense of God and religion, is represented, in the sacred books, by the "cravings of a thirsty man after drink." Hence the devout David, when he would express the longing of his soul to "appear before God in his sanctuary," resembles it to the "panting of a hart after the water-brooks." In like manner, "cold water to a thirsty soul" is the image under which the wise man would signify, in my text, the gratefulness of "good

news." 'Tis refreshing to the soul, as cold waters to the tongue when parched with thirst. Especially is good news adapted to affect the heart with pleasure when it comes "from a far country," and is big with important blessings, not to a few individuals only, but to communities, and numbers of them scattered over a largely extended continent.

Such is the "good news" lately brought us1 from the other side the great waters. No news handed to us from Great Britain ever gave us a quicker sense, or higher degree, of pleasure. It rapidly spread through the colonies, and, as it passed along, opened in all hearts the springs of

1 The Massachusetts Gazette Extraordinary, Thursday, April 3, 1766, contains an account of the earliest rumor in Boston of the repeal, and of the public enthusiasm: -" Upon a Report from Philadelphia of the Repeal of the Stamp Act, on Tuesday last, a great Number of Persons assembled under Liberty Tree," near the corner of Essex and Washington streets," where two Field Pieces were carried, a Royal Salute fired, and three Huzzas given on such a joyful Piece of Intelligence. A considerable Number of the Inhabitants of this Town assembled at FaneuilHall on Tuesday last, when they made choice of the Hon. James Otis, Esq., as Moderator of the Meeting. The Moderator then acquainted the Assembly that the Probability of very soon receiving authentic Accounts of the absolute Repeal of the Stamp Act had occasioned the present Meeting; and as this would be an Event in which the Inhabitants of this Metropolis, as well as North America, would have the greatest Occasion of Joy, it was thought expedient by many that this Meeting should come into Measures for fixing the Time when those Rejoicings should be made, and the Manner in which they should be conducted; - whereupon it was "Voted, That the Selectmen be desired, when they shall hear the certain News of the Repeal of the STAMP ACT, to fix upon a Time for general Rejoicings; and that they give the Inhabitants seasonable Notice in such Manner as they shall think best." The expressions of joy were as extravagant throughout England as they were in the colonies. "There were upwards of twenty men, booted and spurred, in the lobby of the Hon. House of Commons, ready to be dispatched express, by the merchants, to the different parts of Great Britain and Ireland, upon this important affair."- ED.

joy. The emotion of a soul just famished with thirst upon taking down a full draught of cold water is but a faint emblem of the superior gladness with which we were universally filled upon this great occasion. That was the language of our mouths, signifying the pleasurable state of our minds, “As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is this good news from a far country."

What I have in view is, to take occasion, from these words, to call your attention to some of the important articles contained in the good news we have heard, which so powerfully fit it to excite a pungent sense of pleasure in the breasts of all that inhabit these American lands. The way will then be prepared to point out to you the wisest and best use we can make of these glad tidings "from a far country."

The first article in this "good news," obviously presenting itself to consideration, is the kind and righteous regard the supreme authority1 in England, to which we inviolably owe submission, has paid to the "commercial good" of the nation at home, and its dependent provinces and islands. One of the expressly assigned reasons for the repeal of the Stamp Act is declared in these words: "Whereas the continuance of said act may be productive of consequences greatly detrimental to the commercial interests of these kingdoms, may it therefore please" The English colonies and islands are certainly included in

1 This doctrine was expressed by Mr. James Otis, early in 1764, that we 'ought to yield obedience to an Act of Parliament, though erroneous, till repealed." And by the Council and House of Representatives, Nov. 3d, 1764: "We acknowledge it to be our duty to yield obedience to it while it continues unrepealed." But want of representation, and, next, that the colonies were not within the realm, soon led to a denial of the authority of Parliament, for a submission to a tax of a farthing would have abandoned the great principle. It was not the amount of the tax, but the right to tax, that was in issue. "In for a penny, in for a pound." - ED.

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the words "these kingdoms," for they are as truly parts of them as either Scotland, Ireland, or even England itself. It was therefore with a professed view to the commercial good, not only of the nation at home, but of the plantations also abroad, that the authority of the British King and Parliament interposed to render null and void that act, which, had it been continued in force, might in its consequences have tended to the hurt of this grand interest, inseparably connected with the welfare of both. From what more noble source could a repeal of this act have proceeded? Not merely the repeal, but that benevolent, righteous regard to the public good which gave it birth, is an important ingredient in the news that has made us glad. And wherein could this "good news" have been better adapted to soften our hearts, soothe our passions, and excite in us the sensations of unmingled joy? What that is conducive to our real happiness may we not expect from a King and Parliament whose regard to "the commercial interest "2 of the British kingdoms has over

1 That "the colonies were without the realm and jurisdiction of Parliament," was demonstrated in the learned and able answers of the Council and House of Representatives to Governor Hutchinson's speech of January 6, 1773: "Your Excellency tells us, 'you know of no line that can be drawn between the supreme authority of Parliament and the total independence of the colonies.' If there be no such line, the consequence is, either that the colonies are the vassals of the Parliament, or that they are totally independent." In his gratitude, Dr. Chauncy took quite too generous a view of the "repeal." The interests of the colonies were always subordinate. The Navigation Act, 12th Chas. II. ch. 19, and the colonial policy of England, as of all nations, considered only the interests of the realm. ED.

2 Mr. Burke, in his speech on American taxation," years afterward, 1774, said the laws were repealed "because they raised a flame in America, for reasons political, not commercial: as Lord Hillsborough's letter well expresses it, to regain the confidence and affection of the colonies, on which the glory and safety of the British empire depend.'"— Ed.