Sermon on the Present Situation of American Affairs.
Item #76794
SMITH, William. A Sermon on the Present Situation of American Affairs. Preached in Christ-Church, June 23, 1775. At the Request of the Officers of the Third Battalion of the City of Philadelphia, and District of Southwark. Philadelphia Printed: London Re-Printed, a Third Time, for Edward and Charles Dilly, 1775. 12mo. vi,24pp. Bound by Riviere in 3/4 gilt-ruled red crushed morocco, raised spine bands, gilt-ruled compartments, marbled endpapers, A.e.g. Very good or better. HOWES S-697. Sabin 85657. American Independence 196g. DAB XVII, pp.353-57. An important sermon, delivered shortly after the Battle of Bunker Hill. Its author, William Smith (1727-1803), was an Anglican clergyman, teacher, and first provost of the College, Academy, and Charitable School of Philadelphia. Although Smith opposed the Stamp Act and argued strongly for full rights and representation of the American colonies, he did not favor independence - a position that placed him, at the outset of the Revolution, in "an embarrassing predicament" (DAB). This sermon, preached before Congress at Christ Church, Philadelphia, 28 June 1775, "...created a great sensation. It went through many editions and was translated into several foreign languages. It opposed British measures and awakened patriotism, but in its preface Smith professed himself as 'ardently panting for a return of those Halcyon-days of harmony' and as 'animated with purest zeal for the mutual interests of Great-Britain and the Colonies'" (DAB).
Price: $750.00