Abdicate: to renounce, or give up, one’s throne or title to something
Abridged: deprived
Afflictions: distress, pain and suffering
American Theatre: America
Animosity: hostility
Appease: to pacify someone by agreeing to their demands
Ardent: intensely devoted, eager, or enthusiastic
Ardently: ardent; having or showing very strong feelings
Assuage: to make an unpleasant feeling less intense
Assault: a sudden, violent attack
Author: another term for God
Baptist: A Protestant Christian denomination that has grown to become the largest Protestant denomination in America today. Roger Williams is credited with starting the Baptists in America; after he was persecuted, he fled to Rhode Island and found the first Baptist Church in America in Providence, RI. The Baptists were known for fighting for religious liberty and separation of church and state.
Beneficence: the quality or state of being beneficent; doing or producing good; performing acts of kindness and charity
Beseech: to beg for something, ask in a serious and emotional way
Bigotry – intolerance towards others who hold different opinions from oneself
Boughs: branches of a tree
Brethren: fellow members
Calamities: a great misfortune or disaster
Chastising: to inflict punishment on (as by whipping)
Cognizance- knowledge, awareness, or notice
Commence: to begin, start
Constitution: a body of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which state or other organization is acknowledged to be governed
Contrite: feeling or showing sorrow and remorse for a sin or shortcoming
Convivial: of or relating to social events where people can eat, drink and talk in a friendly way with others
Cumbereth: create a burden with something useless, reference to Luke 13:7 – cut down the fig tree that isn’t producing any fruit rather than attempting to re-cultivate it.
Danbury Baptists: A Baptist Association formed in 1790 and located in Connecticut. They wrote a letter to Thomas Jefferson in 1801 to ask him for support in establishing religious liberty across the United States.
Darling attribute: favorite; an inherent characteristic
Deism: A religion which believes in the moral practices of Christianity without the supernatural elements. Deists believe that Jesus Christ was a good role model but do not believe that Jesus Christ was the son of God.
Deluged: anything that overwhelms like a flood
Depository: a place where things are stored
Deprecating: to pray against; to seek to avert
Desolation: devastation, ruin
Discerned: distinguished mentally
Dispensations: permission to break a law or an official promise you have made
Dispositions: the usual attitude or mood of a person or animal; characteristic attitudes
Dissipation: the act of using all or a lot of money, time, etc., in a foolish way
Dissolve: to close down or dismiss an assembly or official body
Dreary: causing sadness or gloom
Ecclesiastical: relating to the Church
Effusion: an unrestrained expression, as of feelings
Endeavour: to seriously or continually try to do (something); to strive to achieve or reach
Endow: to provide with a quality, ability, or asset
Fallacies – mistaken beliefs
Filial: pertaining to a son or daughter
First Amendment: One of the ten amendments in the Bill of Rights for the US Constitution. It prohibits any laws from being created that would establish a religion or infringe on freedoms of religion, speech, or press. It also allows for peaceful assembly and petitions to redress grievances.
Fleet: unit of naval ships
Forbearance: restraint, self-control
Gaiety: state of being cheerful
Great Awakening: A religious revival that occurred in Great Britain and America in the 1730s and 1740s. It was led by evangelicals such as Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield. The Great Awakening promoted individual spiritual experiences and deemphasized church doctrines, which allowed for smaller or new denominations, such as the Baptists, to grow.
Gross: flagrant and extreme
Heavenly Tempers: to cause God to be well disposed
Helm: a wheel that steers a ship
Hitherto: until now
Homage: respect of reverence paid or rendered
Idle: lacking worth or basis; not having any real purpose or value
Idolatry: worship of idols
Impartially: not biased; fair, just
Inculcate: to teach and impress by frequent repetitions or admonitions
Incurring: experiencing something unpleasant; acquiring burden
Indolence: laziness
Infliction: imposition
Innate: natural
Insurrection: a violent uprising against an authority or government
Interpose: to place between two or more things
Interposition: intervention, to insert between
Irradiate: to illuminate, brighten
Jeffersonian Democracy: A sect of the Republican-Democratic political party in the 18th century. Used to describe Jefferson’s own political beliefs, consisting of a small central government and emphasis on the will of the majority.
Lament: to feel or express sorrow or regret for
Languors: languor; weakness or weariness of body or mind
Levy: to impose war, or a tax, fee or fine; to enlist someone for military service
Lustre: glory or distinction, soft glow
Magistrates: an official entrusted with administration of the laws
Memorial- a written statement of facts presented to a sovereign, a legislative body, etc. as the ground of, or expressed in the form of, a petition or remonstrance; declaration of reasons
Mercenary: a person primarily concerned with making money at the expense of ethics; a professional soldier hired to serve in a foreign army
Merciless: pitiless, cruel
Mirth: happiness and laughter
Old World: countries known to the Europeans before the discovery of the Americas
Omnipotent: almighty or infinite in power, as God
Opulence: wealth, riches, affluence
Overweening: overly conceited, overconfident, or proud
Passions: object of enthusiasm, object of desire or deep interest (in this case, wealth and prosperity)
Penitence: regret for one’s wrongdoing or sinning
Perfidy: deceitfulness; untrustworthiness
Piety: reverence for God or devout fulfillment of religious obligations
Pious: deeply religious: devoted to a particular religion
Preeminence: high status importance owing to a marked superiority
Pretension- claim
Propagating: spreading
Proscribe- to forbid
Prospect: the outlook for the future
Proselyte: a person who has changed from one opinion, religious belief, sect, or the like, to another; convert
Prostrate: lying on the ground
Prudence: care and thought for the future
Quartering: the provision of accommodations or lodgings, especially for troops
Rear-ward: chronological reference; the righteousness of the people will lead and God’s grace and providence will take up the rear and follow in behind them; Duché is paraphrasing Isaiah 58:8 which uses “reward”.
Remonstrance: a protest, objection, or disapproval
Remote: distant, far away
Repose: peace, tranquility, calm
Requisite: something that is necessary
Salutary: producing good effects; beneficial
Secular Arm: the government
Separation of church and state: The political ideal that government should not pass legislation on religion. This ideal is highly debated, especially when concerning the extent to which religion should be separated from government.
Servility: excessive willingness to serve or please
Social Contract: a theory developed during the Enlightenment that the government should be a contract between the people and the governing body
Sober: quiet or reserved in demeanor
Solemnity: a ceremonial proceeding
Sovereign Wisdom: God controlling wisdom
Subservient: serving or acting in a subordinate capacity; subordinate
Suffice: to meet or satisfy a need
Superstructure: an entity, concept, or complex based on a more fundamental one; social institutions that are in Marxist theory erected upon the economic base.
Supplication: to ask humbly and earnestly of; to pray to God
Supplicatory: in a humble, prayerful way
Syren/Siren: any of a group of female and partly human creatures in Greek mythology that lured mariners to destruction by their singing
Temporal: of or relating to earthly life; enduring for a time
Tenure: the conditions under which an office is held or occupied; the holding of an office
Thomas Jefferson: Author of the Declaration of Independence and the Danbury letter. Originator of the term “Wall of Separation” between church and state.
Thrice: three times
Torrent: a fast moving stream of water or another liquid
Transgression: infringement or violation of a law, command or duty
Transient: lasting only for a short time; impermanent
Tumult: violent and noisy commotion or disturbance of a crowd or mob
Unalienable: unable to be taken away from or given away by the possessor
Unhallowed: wicked or sinful
Unmerited: undeserved
Usurpers: those who seize and hold (as office, place, or powers) in possession by force or without right
Valour: boldness or determination in facing great danger
Vice: moral depravity or corruption
Vicegerents: people exercising delegated power on behalf of a sovereign or ruler
“Wall of Separation”: A phrase used in Thomas Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptists. A controversial phrase believed by many to mean that religion and government should be completely separate, as if they had a wall between them, but whose meaning is still debated today.
Wherewithal: wherewith; with what
Zealous: extremely active, devoted, or diligent