Reformed Covenanter
Cancelled Commissioner
Preaching at the time of the French and Indian War (1754-63), Samuel Davies exhorted the men of Virginia not to tamely submit to the destruction of their liberty: ...
Can human Nature bear the Horror of the Sight! See yonder! the hairy Scalps, clotted with Gore! the mangled Limbs! the ript-up Women! the Heart and Bowels, still palpitating with Life, smoking on the Ground! See the Savages swilling their Blood, and imbibing a more outrageous Fury with the inhuman Draught! Sure these are not Men; they are not Beasts of Prey; they are something worse; they must be infernal Furies in human Shape. And have we tamely looked on, and suffered them to exercise these hellish Barbarities upon our Fellow-Men, our Fellow-Subjects, our Brethren? Alas! with what Horror must we look upon ourselves, as being little better than Accessories to their Blood?
And shall these Ravages go on unchecked? Shall Virginia incur the Guilt and the everlasting Shame, of tamely exchanging her Liberty, her Religion, and her All, for arbitrary Gallic Power, and for Popish Slavery, Tyranny and Massacre? Alas! are there none of her Children, that enjoyed all the Blessings of her Peace, that will espouse her Cause, and befriend her now in the Time of her Danger? Are Britons utterly degenerated by so short a Remove from their Mother-Country?
Is the Spirit of Patriotism entirely extinguished among us? And must I give thee up for lost, O my Country, and all that is included in that important Word? Must I look upon thee as a conquered, enslaved Province of France, and the Range of Indian Savages? My Heart breaks at the Thought. And must ye, our unhappy Brethren in our Frontiers, must ye stand the single Barriers of a ravaged Country, unassisted, unbefriended, unpitied? Alas! must I draw these shocking Conclusions? ...
For more, see Samuel Davies on the duty of Virginians to fight for their British liberties.
Can human Nature bear the Horror of the Sight! See yonder! the hairy Scalps, clotted with Gore! the mangled Limbs! the ript-up Women! the Heart and Bowels, still palpitating with Life, smoking on the Ground! See the Savages swilling their Blood, and imbibing a more outrageous Fury with the inhuman Draught! Sure these are not Men; they are not Beasts of Prey; they are something worse; they must be infernal Furies in human Shape. And have we tamely looked on, and suffered them to exercise these hellish Barbarities upon our Fellow-Men, our Fellow-Subjects, our Brethren? Alas! with what Horror must we look upon ourselves, as being little better than Accessories to their Blood?
And shall these Ravages go on unchecked? Shall Virginia incur the Guilt and the everlasting Shame, of tamely exchanging her Liberty, her Religion, and her All, for arbitrary Gallic Power, and for Popish Slavery, Tyranny and Massacre? Alas! are there none of her Children, that enjoyed all the Blessings of her Peace, that will espouse her Cause, and befriend her now in the Time of her Danger? Are Britons utterly degenerated by so short a Remove from their Mother-Country?
Is the Spirit of Patriotism entirely extinguished among us? And must I give thee up for lost, O my Country, and all that is included in that important Word? Must I look upon thee as a conquered, enslaved Province of France, and the Range of Indian Savages? My Heart breaks at the Thought. And must ye, our unhappy Brethren in our Frontiers, must ye stand the single Barriers of a ravaged Country, unassisted, unbefriended, unpitied? Alas! must I draw these shocking Conclusions? ...
For more, see Samuel Davies on the duty of Virginians to fight for their British liberties.
And he would be pleading guilty as charged!