What was advertised in a revolutionary American newspaper 250 years ago today?

“A SELF DEFENSIVE WAR lawful, Proved in a SERMON … before Captain Ross’s company of militia.”

An advertisement in the July 8, 1775, edition of the Pennsylvania Evening Post promoted a forthcoming pamphlet that would certainly be of interest to readers in Philadelphia and beyond.  John Dean, a bookbinder who ran a shop in Laetitia Court, aimed to encourage anticipation for “A SELF DEFENSIVE WAR lawful, Proved in a SERMON … By the Rev. JOHN CARMICHAEL.”  The pamphlet would soon be available for purchase since it was “in the press, and will be published in a few days.”  The advertisement suggested that Dean collaborated with Carmichael on the project.

Dean gave more details about both the origins and the physical attributes of the pamphlet.  Carmichael gave the sermon “at Lancaster, before Captain Ross’s company of militia, in the Presbyterian church on Sabbath morning, June 4th, 1775.”  By then, word of the battles at Lexington and Concord and the siege of Boston had reached the town of Lancaster.  One local militia company apparently appreciated the sermon so much that they wanted copies distributed more widely.  Perhaps some thought that they would purchase their own copies to review at their leisure or even consult it as a means of better rehearsing Carmichael’s arguments and evidence when they needed to explain why they believed a “self defensive war” was indeed lawful.  Francis Bailey, a printer in Lancaster, printed Carmichael’s sermon “for Captain Ross’s Company of Militia,” according to the imprint, and “at the request of said Company,” according to the subtitle.  The new edition, printed in Philadelphia, was “published at the request of the Author, and corrected by himself from the copy printed at Lancaster.”  In addition to being a more accurate rendering of the sermon, the Philadelphia edition would be “Printed on a good paper and type, octavo size.”

Dean and Carmichael envisioned a more extensive audience for the sermon than the Lancaster edition reached.  The advertisement stated that it was “Humbly offered to the perusal of the MILITARY ASSOCIATORS of the city, liberties and county of Philadelphia.”  The bookbinder-publisher and the author hoped to leverage patriotism and current events to sell more copies of the sermon, though they likely also wished to contribute to public discourse about whether military action was justified as the imperial crisis escalated and became a war.  Carmichael’s dedication in the Lancaster edition highlighted another purpose: “TO all the brave SONS of LIBERTY in North-America, but in particular, to the Company of MILITIA in the Borough of Lancaster, known by the name of ROSS’S COMPANY.”  The same dedication appeared in the Philadelphia edition, honoring all the “Officer and Soldiers” who defended American liberties throughout the colonies, especially the local men who did so.