December 30, 1750

1750 December 30 (Sunday).  Very Cold.  Read a few verses in the Beginning of Lev. 13, and a few Remarks thereon: preach’d on Prov. 29.15, repeating Sermon on Eph. 6.4 from page 21 to page 27.  My wife and I din’d at Esq. Bakers.  P.M. Read Acts 3.  Preach’d on Gen. 17.18 and repeated Sermon on Eph. 6.4, from page 27 to the End.  N.B. I had formerly repeated the other parts of these Discourses on the Dutys of Children and of Parents, but had not these Sermons but now Mention’d, and therefore I chose to finish the Repitition of these rather than omit them although I had prepar’d on the Duty of Magistrates for one part of the Day, and in other parts of my Time I gave myself as much as I could to Reading, viz. Mr. Reyners Rules of the New Creature,[1] Travels of Cyrus by Ramsay,[2] Popes Essay on Man[3] etc.

[1]Edward Reyner (1600-1668), an English minister, published Precepts for Christian Practice (London, 1645).  This was designated as the second edition, but is the earliest edition this editor has found.  The eighth edition bore the title Precepts for Christian Practice; or the Rule of the New Creature new Model’d (London, 1655).  There were at least eleven English editions of this work.

[2]Andrew Ramsay (1686-1743), a French author, wrote Les Voyages de Cyrus, avec un Discours sur la Mythologie des Payens (Paris, 1727).  English translations were published in London in 1730 and 1733.

[3]Alexander Pope’s famous work appeared first in London in 1734 and several other English editions were soon printed.  By 1751 there had also been published Philadelphia editions in 1747 and 1748.