A Sermon, preached before His Excellency Samuel Adams, Esq.: Governour, His Honour Moses Gill, Esq. Lt. Governour, the Honourable the Council, Senate, and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, May 27th, 1795: being the Day of General Election.

SERMON CLAIMING REPUBLICANISM DIVINELY INSTITUTED

first edition 8vo. (in fours) [4], (5)-42, [2 (blank)]pp., large ornamental headpiece on p.5, later half dark tanned roan, marbled sides, smooth spine direct lettered in gilt, small closed tears or cuts (no loss) at upper margin of the first two leaves repaired on versos, joints little rubbed, very good fresh copy.

ESTC w29303 locating copies only in BL and O outside of the U.S.A.
Forbes (1742-1812), was the Pastor of the church in Raynham, President pro-tem of Brown University and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He seems to have specialised in sermons on public occasions; in 1784 he preached at the execution for burglary of one John Dixon.
This sermon reflects a key moment in the politics of the young Republic and the special political character of Massachusetts. George Washington, who was in the middle of his final term as President, was attempting to hold the balance between two political forces, the Federalists, who had created the Union, and the Democratic- Republicans, led by Thomas Jefferson, who stressed states' rights and libertarian principles. Behind the disputes about domestic issues lay important philosophical disagreements. The Federalists were distinctly lukewarm about the French Revolution and the whole idea of democracy; their opponents accused them of being aristocratic and royalist in their aspirations. In foreign policy this led the Federalists to sympathise with England against France while the Democratic- Republicans held the reverse view. Washington, while officially non-partisan, was psychologically drawn to the Federalist position, (and went over openly to them after his Presidency ended). This led to bitter criticism of him by Jefferson and his party.
Massachusetts was the strongest centre of Federalism, indeed the Party survived there long after it had collapsed in the rest of the country. The Governor Samuel Adams, a cousin of the 2nd President John Adams, was a Federalist. His career illustrates that revolutionary fervour against English rule was not necessarily associated with social radicalism. He was one of the earliest separatists and drafted the Massachusetts constitution and the Bill of Rights. He was an organiser of the Boston Tea Party.
Fobes' sermon takes as its text 2nd. Peter, 11, 10 & 12, 'They despise government - are not afraid to speak evil of dignataries - and things they understand not'. He strongly criticises those who 'speak evil' of governors, (an obvious reference to the Democratic- Republicans), and the idea that government can be carried on if not based on the Christian religion - a specific attack on French influences, Deism and Tom Paine. However he qualifies this by referring to the light of liberty, kindled in America, now shining in France and by claiming that Republicanism is the form of government enjoined by the Bible.
This is an interesting aspect of the Sermon. There are any number of sermons which proclaim that Monarchy is the Divinely instituted form of government, but few which claim this for Republicanism. In France the Republican ideal was associated with the rejection of Christian doctrines and in Ireland the division within the camp of democracy was between those inspired by French ideas and the upholders of legislative independence under the English crown.
In Ireland the American and French Revolutions had very different effects - the triumph of the Volunteers in 1782 and the defeat of the United Irishmen in 1798. This sermon with its innate conservatism, helps to cast useful light on the ideological gulf which separated these revolutions which in historical writing, have been closely associated.