John Howard Smith, “’Sober Dissent’ and ‘Spirited Conduct’: The Sandemanians and the American Revolution, 1765-1781” Historical Journal of Massachusetts Volume 28, No. 2 (Summer 2000). Published by: Institute for Massachusetts Studies and Westfield State University You may use content in this archive for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the Historical Journal of Massachusetts regarding any further use of this work:
[email protected] Funding for digitization of issues was provided through a generous grant from MassHumanities. Some digitized versions of the articles have been reformatted from their original, published appearance. When citing, please give the original print source (volume/ number/ date) but add "retrieved from HJM's online archive at http://www.westfield.ma.edu/mhj/.” Editor, Historical Journal of Massachusetts c/o Westfield State University 577 Western Ave. Westfield MA 01086 “SOBER DISSENT” AND “SPIRITED CONDUCT”: THE SANDEMANIANS AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1765-1781 By John Howard Smith We think every Christian must be a loyal Subject, submitting himself in civil Concerns to every Ordinance of Man for the Lord’s sake, punctually regarding the Rules laid down [in] Rom. xiii. 1-7, 1 Peter ii. 13-17. This was required of the Disciples and Churches, when they were under a tyrannical and persecuting Government; and it cannot be less a Duty, under the present mild and peaceable one. Samuel Pike, A plain and full account of the Christian practices of the Church in St. Martin’s-le-Grand (Boston, 1766) Hopestill Capen spent the night of 6 August 1776 in a Boston jail cell pondering his predicament as a prisoner of conscience.