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Great national revolutions are special trials of the faith and patience
of the saints. No firmness of character will be proof against popular
opinion and example at such a time, without special aid from on high.
Reformed Presbyterians in the colonies rejoiced in the success of the
revolution, issuing in the independence of the United States. Their
expectation of immediate advantage to the reformation cause was too
sanguine. A new frame of civil polity was to be devised by the colonies,
now that they were independent of the British crown. This state of
things called forth the exercise of human intellect, in more than
ordinary measure, to meet the emergency. Frames of national policy are
apt to warp the judgment of good men. Even Christian ministers are prone
to substitute the maxims of human prudence for the precepts of
inspiration. Many divines conceived the idea of conforming the visible
church to the model of the American republic. The plan was projected and
advocated, of bringing all evangelical denominations into one
confederated unity, while the integral parts should continue independent
of each other.
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