This is a really interesting one, and historically significant too, written by a Samuel Steere (1774-1865) of Glocester, Rhode Island to his nephew in New York in 1823. The first thing I noticed was the phrase "that sodom of New England," which of course, together with the date, piqued my interest, and I've since done a thorough read and some research, which has affirmed and furthered it!
Rolled up in this letter is a first hand account of the religious revival and ruptures that characterized the Second Great Awakening, with Steere here railing against immoral and profane followers of Universalism, and describing the discouragement of preachers in that "Sodom of New England," indeed. But yet he is heartened by signs of religious revival in Pawtucket and Bristol (RI), where he's heard report of prayer meetings "9 times a day and often 12 or 15." With a little research I've learned that Steere himself, from a prominent Rhode Island family, was a founder of the Chepachet Free Will Baptist Church, the second Free Will Baptist congregation in the state, opened in 1822. The battle of beliefs between the Free Will Baptists and the Universalists was intense, centered on the mechanics of God's grace and whether salvation was conditional, with the Free Will Baptists championing Arminian theology, which stated that God offers free salvation to everyone, but it is strictly conditional upon personal faith. Lots more to be said about all of this, with the spread of Free Will Baptist movement quite interesting, including for its advocacy of abolitionism and women's rights.
7 3/4" x 6 3/8". Very good condition, writing clear and strong and fairly easy to decipher all the way through.
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