Dana, Joseph. A Sermon, delivered at Ipswich, before the Essex Auxiliary Society for Educating Pious Youth for the Gospel Ministry, Oct. 30, 1816. Andover: Printed by Flagg and Gould, 1816. First Edition. [12132]
Removed, no wrapper, 8 x 5 inches, 23 pp., foxed; chipped at the bottom corner of the last two leaves, not affecting any words. Good. Pamphlet.
The text is Matthew 10:8, "Freely ye have received, freely give."
Three points: 1. Refresh in our minds the great blessing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; 2. Consider how freely we have received this blessing; and 3. See how the text applies with reference to the Society and to the youth preparing for the ministry.
Dana recounts some history of revivals in New England. He notes the decline of family religion, the observation of the Lord's Day, the decline of constant attendance on public worship, and temperate habits.
The last several pages contain an account of the Society with the Constitution and the list of Officers.
Joseph Dana, D.D. (1742-1827), born at Pomfret, Connecticut. His father was a “respectable innkeeper” who prepared his son for Yale College, where Joseph graduated in 1760, afterwards studying theology under the tutorship of Dr. Hart of Preston, Connecticut. Dana was licensed to preach in 1763 at the age of twenty and preached in the Old South Church in Boston for six months before accepting a call to Ipswitch.
“The early part of his ministry fell into the tempestuous period of the Revolution. Though he kept within the appropriate sphere of a Christian minister, he showed himself the decided advocate of liberty, and laboured in every suitable way for the promotion of his country’s interests. In 1801, he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Harvard College.” – Sprague, Annals of the American Pulpit.
