Wednesday, September 7, 1774. The first prayer of the Continental Congress.

The First Prayer of the Continental Congress was delivered.

O Lord our Heavenly Father, high and mighty King of kings, and Lord of lords, who dost from thy throne behold all the dwellers on earth and reignest with power supreme and uncontrolled over all the Kingdoms, Empires and Governments; look down in mercy, we beseech Thee, on these our American States, who have fled to Thee from the rod of the oppressor and thrown themselves on Thy gracious protection, desiring to be henceforth dependent only on Thee. To Thee have they appealed for the righteousness of their cause; to Thee do they now look up for that countenance and support, which Thou alone canst give. Take them, therefore, Heavenly Father, under Thy nurturing care; give them wisdom in Council and valor in the field; defeat the malicious designs of our cruel adversaries; convince them of the unrighteousness of their Cause and if they persist in their sanguinary purposes, of own unerring justice, sounding in their hearts, constrain them to drop the weapons of war from their unnerved hands in the day of battle!

Be Thou present, O God of wisdom, and direct the councils of this honorable assembly; enable them to settle things on the best and surest foundation. That the scene of blood may be speedily closed; that order, harmony and peace may be effectually restored, and truth and justice, religion and piety, prevail and flourish amongst the people. Preserve the health of their bodies and vigor of their minds; shower down on them and the millions they here represent, such temporal blessings as Thou seest expedient for them in this world and crown them with everlasting glory in the world to come. All this we ask in the name and through the merits of Jesus Christ, Thy Son and our Savior.

Amen.

Reverend Jacob Duché

Rector of Christ Church of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

September 7, 1774, 9 o’clock a.m.

The effect of this opening prayer was profound. 

The Reverend Jacob Duché was an Anglican Rector of Christ Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  He was the chaplain to the First Continental Congress.

Ordained in London, he'd go on to support the Revolution by agreeing to support a resolution to cross the name King George III, the head of the Church of England, from the prayers to be read in the prayers of the church, something while bold, also demonstrated the hypocrisy of the Anglican religious position.  He was arrested by British General William Howe in 1777, but recanted and became a Loyalist, writing Washington at one point urging him to lay down arms.  Pennsylvanian hypocritically convicted him of high treason whereupon he feld to England.  He returned to North America, following a stroke, in 1792.  He passed away, a muddled record behind him, in 1798.

Last edition:

Tuesday, September 6, 1774. The Worcester Revolt.

Labels: 1770s, 1774, American Revolution, Blog Mirror, Colonial North America, Massachusetts

Today is Flag Day

June 14 is Flag Day, that date which honors the flag of the pattern we use, with the addition of course of stars, following its adoption by Congress in 1777.

With the country ripping itself apart, various groups using our differences against each other for their own purpose, and a society that's generally come about as close as it can to completely losing its moorings, before it loses its moorings, I bet little note will be taken of it.  It'd be easier today to have somebody burn that flag in protest or to wrap themselves in it in protest, than to find somebody to actually ponder and honor it.

The United States is a remarkable nation.  Not everything in its history is something we should be proud of, but much of it is, with its ideals as a republic, no matter how poorly realized from time to time, or ever, first among them.  We seem to live in a time in which only portions of those ideals, if any portion at all, is recognized by large sections of the nation.

Founded at a time when news traveled no faster than a horse, it's become a real question on whether a republic as large and diverse as ours can survive the age of idiotic Twitter, Facebook, and Electronic news.  The nation hardly even seems to have the energy to recognize itself as one to a large extent.  If a person's view was limited to what we're seeing currently today, a betting man wouldn't give it good odds for survival. For that matter, a betting man wouldn't give Western society very good odds either.  A person with a longer historical view would give both better odds, and be comforted by the lessons of history on discord, discontent, decay and decline, but only cautiously.

2020 is proving to be the Summer of Our Discontent, but we've been on this path for awhile.  It might be time to reflect getting off of it and looking for solid ground, but then that would mean not putting our own self interest constantly first.