A SERMON PREACHED IN BOSTON, NEW-ENGLAND, BEFORE THE SOCIETY FOR ENCOURAGING INDUSTRY, AND EMPLOYING THE POOR; AUGUST 8. 1753. BY...PASTOR OF A CHURCH IN BOSTON by Cooper, Samuel - 1753

Boston: Printed by J. Draper, 1753. [2], 38, [2 blanks] pp. Lacking the half title, disbound. Else Very Good.

"For many years pastor of the Brattle Street Church, and later ardent defender of the rights of the colonists" [Streeter Sale 684], Cooper was an intimate friend of John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. This is one of only "a small number of sermons and miscellaneous pamphlets" that he wrote [DAB].
Cooper's sermon opens a window on mid-18th century American views of charity and self-help. Relying on biblical sources, he argues that charitable enterprises are public ones. A charitable person is a "Patriot- his Bosom glows with Love to his Country...He forms Designs for enlarging the Wealth and Power of his Country, by enlarging it's [sic] commerce...and by introducing and encouraging the most useful Arts and Manufactures." Avoiding pursuits that will encourage the "Wages of Idleness," he knows "that nothing but Industry, and a full Employment of such as have Ability to Work, can make Plenty and Happiness circulate thro' a whole Community." The Society has provided an excellent example of charity, by "setting up the Linnen Manufacture."
Evans 6984. Rink 3268.