A50142:44
Military duties recommended to an artillery company
Military duties recommended to an artillery company; at their election of officers, in Charles-town, 13. d. 7. m. 1686. By Cotton Mather, pastor of a church in Boston.Military duties recommended to an artillery company; at their election of officers, in Charls-town, 13. d. 7. m. 1686. By Cotton Mather, pastor of a church in Boston.
printed by Richard Pierce, 1687
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
That Military Discipline is also a Needful thing.
It was a true Remark of the ancient Grecian, That, A Common-Wealth wherein there is not a plenty of Military men, is as a Body without Sinews. A Wall of Stones about a City or a Country is good for little without a Wall of Bones defending of it.—Hi sunt Spartae m• nia. It is threatened as a very direful Plague unto a Land in Isa. 3. 2. The Lord of Host• doth take away the men of War therefrom. Why should any of us have an hand in bringing such a plague on the Land wherein we live.
It was a true Remark of the ancient Gre•ian, That, A Common-Wealth wherein there is not a plenty of Military men, is as a Body without Sinews. A Wall of Stones about a City or a Countrey is good for little without a Wall of Bones defending of it.—Hi sunt Spartae m• nia. It is threatned as a very direful Plague unto a Land in Isa. 3. 2. The Lord of Host• doth take away the men of War therefrom. Why should any of us have an hand in bringing such a plague on the Land wherein we live.
¶ Don't plead, Its being a Time of peace may Excuse us from being in Arms while thes• ⟨p. 20⟩Halcyon days continue. For a Time of Peac• is the time to prepare for a time of War. The prudent King Asa thought so of old. And the want of Preparation in us, may sharpen the Edge of an Enemies Desire to our Land; Some West-Indian might have been upon our skirts before now, if the Military Appearances among us had not damped them. You are not ignorant of what befell the Inhabitants of quiet and secure Laish long ago.