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Lost Episode for May 9

Pilgrim Governor William Bradford died on May 9, 1657. He was orphaned at a young age and was taken in by William Brewster, Elder of the Scrooby Church that fled to Holland and then to America. Bradford was chosen as governor of the colony in 1621, and was reelected numerous times. Bradford’s journal was published as Of Plymouth Plantation, which chronicled the Pilgrim’s reasons for leaving England, time in Holland, journey to America, and their tragedies and triumphs of surviving and building a settlement in the New World. Bradford wrote: “Last and not least, they cherished a great hope and inward zeal of laying good foundations, or at least making some ways toward it, for the propagation and advance of the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in the remote parts of the world, even though they should be but stepping stones to others in the performance of so great a work. Thus out of small beginnings greater things have been produced by His hand that made all things of nothing, and gives being to all things that are; and, as one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath shone unto many, yea in some sort to our whole nation; let the glorious name of Jehovah have all the praise….” At Burial Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts, Governor William Bradford’s obelisk marker is inscribed as follows: “Under this stone rests the ashes of William Bradford, a zealous Puritan & sincere Christian. Governor of Plymouth Colony from April [...]

Lost Episode for May 8

On May 8, 1783, Rev. Dr. Ezra Stiles, President of Yale College, preached an Election Sermon entitled “The United States Elevated to Glory and Honor,” before the Governor and the General Assembly of Connecticut, comparing modern America with ancient Israel: “I have assumed the text only as introductory to a discourse upon the political welfare of God’s American Israel, and as allusively prophetic of the future prosperity and splendor of the United States. We may, then, consider— I. What reason we have to expect that, by the blessing of God, these States may prosper and flourish into a great American Republic, and ascend into high and distinguished honor among the nations of the earth. “To make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honor.” II. That our system of dominion and civil polity would be imperfect without the true religion; or that from the diffusion of virtue among the people of any community would arise their greatest secular happiness: which will terminate in this conclusion, that holiness ought to be the end of all civil government. ‘That thou mayest be a holy people unto the Lord thy God’… All forms of civil polity have been tried by mankind, except one, and that seems to have been reserved in Providence to be realized in America… Who but a Washington, inspired by Heaven, could have conceived the surprise move upon the enemy at Princeton? Who but the Ruler of the winds could have [...]

Lost Episode for May 7

In a radio address to the nation on May 7, 1983, President Ronald Reagan declared: “We also first learn at home, and, again, often from our mothers, about the God who will guide us through life…. Now and then I find guidance and direction in the worn brown Bible I used to take the oath of office. It’s been the Reagan family Bible, and, like many of yours, has its flyleaf filled with important events; its margins are scrawled with insights and passages underlined for emphasis. My mother, Nelle, made all those marks in that book. She used it to instruct her two young sons, and I look to it still. A passage in Proverbs describes the ideal woman, saying: ‘Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she smiles at the future. She opens her mouth in wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. Give her the product of her hands, and let her work praise her in the gates.’”* President Reagan’s tribute to his mother’s influence on his spiritual formation is a lost episode in American history. *Source Citation: Fred L. Israel, ed., Ronald Reagan’s Weekly Radio Addresses: The First Term (Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, Inc., 1987), 99, 101.

Lost Episode for May 6

Justice William Strong was born on May 6, 1808 in Connecticut, was graduated from Yale in 1836 and practiced law in Reading, Pennsylvania. Strong served as a U.S. Representative (1846-50) as an abolitionist Democrat, and later as a justice on the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, (1857-68), switching to the Republican party because of its anti-slavery platform. He was appointed to serve as an Associate Justice of U.S. Supreme Court (1870-80) by President U.S. Grant. Additionally, he was president of the American Sunday School Union (1883-95), and president of the American Tract Society (1873-95). Justice William Strong stated: “You ask me what I think of Christ? He is the Chiefest among ten thousand, and altogether lovely – my Lord, my Saviour, and my God. What do I think of the Bible? It is the infallible Word of God, a light erected all along the shores of time to warn against the rocks and breakers, and to show the only way to the harbor of eternal rest.”* Justice Strong’s affirmation of Biblical faith is a lost episode in American history. *Source Citation: Stephen A. Northrop, A Cloud of Witnesses: The Greatest Men in the World for Christ and the Book (Indianapolis: Mason Long Publishing, 1894), 433.

Lost Episode for May 5

Upon receiving news that France had joined the War for Independence on the side of the Colonies, General George Washington issued these After Orders from his headquarters at Valley Forge on May 5, 1778: “It having pleased the Almighty Ruler of the Universe propitiously to defend the cause of the United American States, and finally by raising us up a powerful friend among the Princes of the earth, to establish our Liberty and Independence upon a lasting foundation; it becomes us to set apart a day for gratefully acknowledging the Divine Goodness, and celebrating the event, which we owe to His benign interposition. The several brigades are to be assembled at nine o’clock tomorrow morning, when their Chaplains will communicate the intelligence contained in the Postscript of the Gazette of 22nd inst., and offer up a thanksgiving, and deliver a discourse suitable to the occasion.”* General Washington’s response to France providentially joining with the Patriot’s cause by encouraging his troops to acknowledge God in praise and thanksgiving, which is a lost episode in American history. *Source Citation: Henry Whiting, ed., Revolutionary Orders of General Washington Issued During the Years 1778, 80, 81, & 82, Selected From the MSS of John Whiting (New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1844), 77.