Philadelphia, 11 June, 1775.
I have been this morning to hear Mr. Duffield, a preacher in this city,
whose principles, prayers, and sermons more nearly resemble those of our
New England clergy than any that I have heard. His discourse was a kind
of exposition on the thirty-fifth chapter of Isaiah. America was the
wilderness, and the solitary place, and he said it would be glad,
"rejoice and blossom as the rose." He labored "to strengthen the weak
hands and confirm the feeble knees." He "said to them that were of a
fearful heart, Be strong, fear not. Behold, your God will come with
vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and save you," "No
lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, but the
redeemed shall walk there," etc. He applied the whole prophecy to this
country, and gave us as animating an entertainment as I ever heard. He
filled and swelled the bosom of every hearer. I hope you have received a
letter, in which I inclosed you a pastoral letter from the synod of New
York and Philadelphia; by this you will see, that the clergy this way
are but now beginning to engage in politics, and they engage with a
fervor that will produce wonderful effects.