A sermon, occasioned

O Lord, how many are there in this great Assembly, who have lived, and do live in those very sins, for which this Man confesseth that God has been provoked to destroy him! Let sinners hear & take warning this day: This man now ⟨p. 24⟩that the Terrors of God have awakened his soul, bitterly complains of two Sins especially; one is that of Drunkenness. And indeed, Drunkenness has bin a bloody sin; it has bin the cause of many a Murder. The man here, who is now flying to the Pit, confesseth that in his Drink, he was wont to Curse & Swear, and to quarrel, and strike those near him; and he acknowledged to me, that he had made himself grievously drunk the day before he was left of God to commit the Murder which he now must dye for; yea, and that he had that very night bin drinking to excess, and that he was not clear of drink at the time when he did the bloody Fact. And does not the Scripture say, Who has woe, who has sorrow, who has contentions, who has babbling, who has wounds without cause? They that tarry long at the Wine—&c. Prov. 23. 29, 30. Wicked men when they are in drink, will fall to Quarrelling; words will bring on blows, and those blows will cause wounds, and those wounds may perhaps prove mortal: and then, what Woe & Sorrow follows! O how many have by means of this sin, been guilty of Interpretative Murder • They have caused others to dye by making them drunk. There has been an horrible thing done in this place; some wicked persons (who they are God knows) have given or sold strong Liquors to the Indians, and made them drunk also, and several of them have dyed in that condition: ⟨p. 25⟩Let such know, that the Lord will judg them; yea, He will judg 'em as Men that have shed blood shall be judged; they must answer for the blood of Souls and Bodies too, Most wicked and miserable Creatures they are, that to gain a few pence, will bring upon themselves the guilt of the blood of Souls & of Bodies too! And this bloody sin of Drunkenness has bin the cause of many a Self-Murder: how many have made themselves the woeful Martyrs of Bacchus thereby. By Drunkenness & Intemperance▪ they have brought their Bodies to the Grave, and their Souls to Hell before their time. It is an unhappy thing that of later years, a kind of Strong