A50142:78
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
MILITARY DUTIES Laid before A TRAINED BAND 13. d. 7. m. 1686. › Application 4: USE. IV.
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.
USE. IV.
It is hence the Duty of all men to Acknowledge GOD as the Author of All their Mercies.
If it becomes the Soldier to say, Blessed be God for my military Skill or Strength; Surely it is fitting that every man should say, Blessed be God for every Mercy. It is a Jewish Custom to season all their Solemnities, with a ⟨p. 38⟩Baruch Adonai, a Blessed be the Lord. An• it sufficiently unchristian also to be seldom, or scanty in Blessing of a good GOD. The MERCIES of God are on every side, surrounding every one of us: O where are our HALLELUJAHs? Our Antedatings of Heaven's Work? Why do not we call upon our own dull Souls, as He in Psal. 103. 2. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His Benefits. When Tamerlane the Tartar overcame Bajazet the Turk, He asked his Prisoner, 'Sir, Did you ever give Thanks to God, for making you such a potent Emperor? The Turk answered, No, in Truth, I never thought of That! Whereupon replied the Tartar, 'Ah, woeful wretch, don't wonder then 'that God has made thee a Spectacle of the 'most rueful miseries in the world. Should a like Enquiry be made of us; Man, hast thou ever from thy Heart, said Blessed be the Lord, who hath given me a Life full of provisions & preservations? Or, Blessed be the Lord, who hath granted me a large Estate? Or Blessed be the Lord, for the Friends that love me? It is to be doubted, many of us must own, No, This hath been quite out of our minds. O shameful Ingratitude! And Ingratitude, That—Ingratum dixeris, et omnia dixeris: That is too