A50164:4
Speedy repentance urged a sermon preached at Boston, December 29, 1689
Speedy repentance urged a sermon preached at Boston, December 29, 1689 : in the hearing and at the request of one Hugh Stone, [a mis]erable man [under a just sen]tense of [death] for a [tragical and] hor[rible murder : together with some account concerning the character, carriage, and execution of that unhappy malefactor : to which are added certain memorable providences relating to some other murders, & some great instances of repentance which have been seen amongst us / by Cotton Mather.]Speedy repentance urged a sermon preached at Boston, December 29, 1689 : in the hearing and at the request of one Hugh Stone, [a mis]erable man [under a just sen]tence of [death] for a [tragical and] hor[rible murder : together with some account concerning the character, carriage, and execution of that unhappy malefactor : to which are added certain memorable providences relating to some other murders, & some great instances of repentance which have been seen amonst us / by Cotton Mather.]
Boston: printed by Samuel Green, 1690
Title page typeset from the transcription.
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.
THE Introduction.
Our Blessed Saviour, hath given that Character of his Ministers, That they be Rulers over His Household, and that Commandment to them, That they should give every one their meat […] du• Season. Whether or no our Good Neighbours will acknowledge our Government, which we Esteem to be not at all De•potio• but wholly Ministerial, and would rejoice […] we could therein, with more universal Edi•••cation enjoy the Assistance of those that mig•• Rule well, though they Labour […] Word and Doctrine; yet I am sure […] ought with a very solicitous Fidelity to […] our Stewardship, in that […] ⟨image 3⟩which concerns the Feeding of the Household. It is Food and not […] which we are to Entertain the Soul• […] people with; […] Windy and Empty […], and Notions which […] dant quia non habent, are […] from us; but solemn and useful […], about Faith and Repentance and Holiness, which make up, The One Thing Needful, and about those things without •word4 no man shall see the Lord. And if not Froth, much less is Poison, to be found in our Discourses: not a Snake instead of a Fish; which alas, is now adays no less frequently, than fatally met withal in Sermons about Justification, more than about any one Article of Religion But in all this there is to be had a special Regard unto the Due Season too; in which Every Thing […] Beautiful. For, tho' the Efficacy of Grace consist not in Moral Persuasions applied (as the Arminians Dogmatize) Tempore & Modo Congruis, in a suitable and seasonable manner; yet a Spiritual Physician ought t watch his Time, as well as weigh his Dose; and we should prudently take what Advantage may be given by Providence to make this […] that particular Truth awakening to the mind of them with whom we have to do.