NATIONAL SINS: A CALL TO REPENTANCE. A SERMON: PREACHED ON THE NATIONAL FAST, AUGUST 3, 1849, IN CUMBERLAND CHURCH, CHARLESTON, S.C.

Charleston: Office of the Southern Christian Advocate, C. Canning, Printer, 1849. 31 pages. Original printed wraps. [22.6 cm.] Embossed library stamp on title and one other leaf, number stamp on verso of title and in margin of one other page, but no other signs of institutional use. Else a good copy. Chip to head of front wrap, not affecting text; rear wrap detached and with old tape remnant along spine; moderate foxing to front wrap and title; some light foxing and marginal damping internally. FIRST AND ONLY EDITION. Rev. Whitefoord Smith (1812-1893) was a Methodist minister from Charleston, and a professor of English a Wofford College. The occasion of his sermon was the national day of fasting and prayer declared by President Taylor in response to the cholera epidemic. Smith declares that the scourge was the result of God's punishment for various sins, including greed (for territorial and monetary gain), the "licentiousness of the press," and sabbath breaking. In 1849, the second great cholera pandemic reached American and killed thousands, including former President Polk. President Taylor would himself succumb to the disease the following summer. Sabin 84544. Turnbull III, p. 81. Scarce.