A Sermon, Delivered at York, October 10, 1798, at the Ordination of the Rev. Rosewell Messinger, to the Pastoral Charge of the First Church as Colleague Pastor with the Rev. Isaac Lyman by Ezra Ripley, A. M. Pastor of the First Church of Christ in Concord; A rare publication: OCLC shows no copies and only 11 publications by Charles Pierce of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. A Rare Publication. A Sermon, Delivered at York, October 10, 1798, at the Ordination of the Rev. Rosewell Messinger, to the Pastoral Charge of the First Church as Colleague Pastor with the Rev. Isaac Lyman by Ezra Ripley, A. M. Pastor of the First Church of Christ in Concord, (Massa.) "Be therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves." Portsmouth, New-Hampshire: Printed by Charles Peirce, at the Oracle-Press, No. 5. Daniel-Street. -1798. 8vo 24 pages.
Ezra Ripley was the minister of the First Parish in Concord, Massachusetts; chief citizen of the town; step-grandfather of Ralph Waldo Emerson; cofounder in Concord of America's first lyceum. Ordained a Trinitarian Calvinist, he became a Unitarian. He was also witness to the events of the day and wrote a recount of the 'shot heard round the world'. He ministered to his flock throughout the revolutionary war and could be said to be an active participant in the rebellion, although not carrying a rifle, the pulpit was a mighty tool used by the American revolutionaries to spread the word in New England and unify the public through their churches. The Brits didn't stand a chance...