N00524:76
The day, & the work of the day. A brief discourse, on what fears…
The day, & the work of the day. A brief discourse, on what fears we may have at this time to quicken us; what hopes there are at this time to comfort us: and what prayers would be likely to turn our prayers into hopes. With reflections upon time and state, now come upon the Church of God, and collections of certain prophecies relating to the present circumstances of New-England. Uttered on a fast, kept in Boston, July 6th. 1693. / By Cotton Mather.
Boston: printed by B. Harris, 1693
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.
This Fearless and Prayerless Temper, (Distemper, I should rather say,) is that SECURITY, which is the usual Fore-runner of the most Horrible Desolations. Tho' Job could say, The Thing which I greatly Feared is come upon me, yet with us it is mostly otherwise; The Thing which we Least Fear is most Likely to come upon us; and the Thing is then most Ready to come, when we do Least Fear it. Mark what I say, You cannot in all the Book of God, pitch upon any People Remarkably secure, but presently you'll and a Remarkable Stroke of Heaven, in Judgment upon those unhappy Sleepers When the Old World was Drowned in Security, then 'twas that their Foundation was Overflown with a Flood. And so still 'tis, in Our World; That men are never so near cutting […] pieces, as when they sing, The Bitterness of Death […] See […] Thes. •. 3. Indeed I cannot easily, forbear •he Outcry, which Honest G. Parisiensis made Long ago […] Security. Thou ⟨p. 53⟩art my first Enemy, and my worst Enemy; for thou killest way Fear, which is my best Guardian. But let me then with a just Revenge, assay the Killing of that Enemy! For the Cure of this fatal Security, and as well, for the Directing, as for the Reviving, both of our Fears, and of our Prayers, I have two things to Lay before you. I say first,
This Fearless and Prayerless Temper, (Distemper, I should rather say,) is that SECURITY, which is the usual Fore-runner of the most Horrible Desolations. Tho' Job could say, The Thing which I greatly Feared is come upon me, yet with us it is mostly otherwise; The Thing which we Least Fear is most Likely to come upon us; and the Thing is then most Ready to come, when we do Least Fear it. Mark what I say, You cannot in all the Book of God, pitch upon any People Remarkably secure, but presently you'l and a Remakable Stroke of Heaven, in Judgment upon those unhappy Sleepers When the Old World was Drowned in Security, then 'twas that their Foundation was Overflown with a Flood. And so still 'tis, in Our World; That men are never so near cutting 〈…〉 pieces, as when they sing, The Bitterness of Death 〈…〉 See 〈…〉 Thes. •. 3. Indeed I cannot easily, forbear •he Outcry, which Honest G. Parisiensis made Long ago Security. Thou