The wonders of the invisible world. Observations as well historical as theological, upon the…
The wonders of the invisible world. Observations as well historical as theological, upon the nature, the number, and the operations of the devils. : Accompanied with, I. Some accounts of the grievous molestations, by daemons and witchcrafts, which have lately annoyed the country; and the trials of some eminent malefactors executed upon occasion thereof: with several remarkable curiosities therein occurring. II. Some councils, directing a due improvement of the terrible things, lately done, by the unusual & amazing range of evil spirits, in our neighbourhood: & the methods to prevent the wrongs which those evil angels may intend against all sorts of people among us; especially in accusations of the innocent. III. Some conjectures upon the great events, likely to befall, the world in general, and New-England in particular; as also upon the advances of the time, when we shall see better days. IV. A short narrative of a late outrage committed by a knot of witches in Swedeland, very much resembling, and so far explaining, that under which our parts of America have laboured! V. The Devil discovered: in a brief discourse upon those temptations, which are the more ordinary devices of the Wicked One. / By Cotton Mather.
The wonders of the invisible world. Observations as well historical as theological, upon the nature, the number, and the operations of the devils. : Accompany'd with, I. Some accounts of the grievous molestations, by daemons and witchcrafts, which have lately annoy'd the countrey; and the trials of some eminent malefactors executed upon occasion thereof: with several remarkable curiosities therein occurring. II. Some councils, directing a due improvement of the terrible things, lately done, by the unusual & amazing range of evil spirits, in our neighbourhood: & the methods to prevent the wrongs which those evil angels may intend against all sorts of people among us; especially in accusations of the innocent. III. Some conjectures upon the great events, likely to befall, the world in general, and New-England in particular; as also upon the advances of the time, when we shall see better dayes. IV. A short narrative of a late outrage committed by a knot of witches in Swedeland, very much resembling, and so far explaining, that under which our parts of America have laboured! V. The Devil discovered: in a brief discourse upon those temptations, which are the more ordinary devices of the Wicked One. / By Cotton Mather.
Cotton Mather 1663–1728Boston : printed, and sold by Benjamin Harris, 1693 i.e., 1692
[32], 151, [1], 32 [i.e., 24] p. ; 16 cm. (8vo) · 56k words · Evans 657 · Wing M1173
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.
I. Let the Devils coming down in great wrath upon us, cause us to come down in great grief before the Lord. We may truly and sadly say, We are brought very low! Low, indeed when the Serpents of the dust, are crawling and coiling about us, and Insulting over us. May we not say, We are in the very belly of Hell. when Hell it self is feeding upon us? But how Low is that! O let us then most Penitently lay ourselves very Low, before the God of Heaven, who has thus Abased us. When a Truculent Nero, a Devil of a man, was turned in upon the World, it was said in, 1. P•t. 5.6, Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God. How much more now ought we to Humble ourselves, under that Mighty Hand of that God who indeed has the Devil in a Chain, but has horribly lengthened out the Chain! ⟨p. 56⟩When the Old People of God, heard any Blasphemies tearing of his Ever-Blessed Name to pieces, they were to Rend their Clothes at what they heard. I am sure, that we have cause to Rend our Hearts this Day, when we see what an High Treason has been committed against the most High God, by the Witchcrafts in our Neighbourhood. We may say; and shall we not be Humbled when we say it? We have seen an horrible thing done in our Land! O 'tis a most humbling thing, to think, that ever there should be such an abomination among us, as for a Crew of Humane Race, to renounce their Maker, and to unite with the Devil, for the Troubling of Mankind, and for people to be, (as is by some confessed) Baptized by a Fiend using this form upon them, Thou art mine, and I have a full power over thee! afterwards communicating in an Hellish Bread and Wine, by that Fiend Administered unto them. It was said in Deut. 18.10, 11, 12. There shall not be found among you an Enchanter, or a Witch, or a Charmer, or a Consulter with Familiar Spirits, or a Wizard or a Necromancer; For all that do these things are an Abomination to the Lord, and because of these Abominations, the Lord thy God doth drive them out before thee. That New-England now should have these Abominations in it, yea, that some of no m•n Profession, should be found guilty of them: Alas▪ what Humiliations are we all ••reby obliged unto? O 'Tis a Defiled Land, wherein we Live;
I. Let the Devils coming down in great wrath upon us, cause us to come down in great grief before the Lord. We may truly and sadly say, We are brought very low! Low, indeed when the Serpents of the dust, are crawling and coyling about us, and Insulting over us. May we not say, We are in the very belly of Hell. when Hell it self is feeding upon us? But how Low is that! O let us then most Penitently lay ourselves very Low, before the God of Heaven, who has thus Abased us. When a Truculent Nero, a Devil of a man, was turned in upon the World, it was said in, 1. P•t. 5.6, Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God. How much more now ought we to Humble ourselves, under that Mighty Hand of that God who indeed has the Devil in a Chain, but has horribly lengthened out the Chain! ⟨p. 56⟩When the Old People of God, heard any Blasphemie• tearing of his Ever-Blessed Name to pieces, they were to Rend their Cloaths at what they heard. I am sure, that we have cause to Rend our Hearts this Day, when we see what an High Treason has been committed against the most High God, by the Witchcrafts in our Neighbourhood. We may say; and shall we not be Humbled when we say it? We have seen an horrible thing done in our Land! O 'tis a most humbling thing, to think, that ever there should be such an abomination among us, as for a Crue of Humane Race, to renounce their Maker, and to unite with the Devil, for the Troubling of Mankind, and for people to be, (as is by some confess'd) Baptized by a Fiend using this form upon them, Thou art mine, and I have a full power over thee! afterwards communicating in an Hellish Bread and Wine, by that Fiend Admnistred unto them. It was said in Deut. 18.10, 11, 12. There shall not be found among you an Inchanter, or a Witch, or a Charmer, or a Consulter with Familiar Spirits, or a Wizzard or a Necromancer; For all that do these things are an Abomination to the Lord, and because of these Abominations, the Lord thy God doth drive them out before thee. That New-England now should have these Abominations in it, yea, that some of no m•n Profession, should be found guilty of them: Alas▪ what Humiliations are we all ••reby oblig'd unto? O 'Tis a Defiled Land, wherein we Live;
Let us be Humbled for these Defiling Abominations, Lest we be driven out of our Land▪ It's a very Humbling Thing to ⟨p. 57⟩think, what Reproaches will be cast upon us, for this Matter, among, The Daughters of the Philistines. Indeed, enough might easily be said for the Vindication of this Country from the Singularity of this Matter, by Ripping up, what has been discovered in others. Great Britain alone, and this also in our Days of Greatest Light, has had that in it, which may divert the Calumnies of an Ill-natured World, from Centring here. They are the words of the Devout Bishop Hall, Satan's Prevalency in this Age, is most clear in the marvellous Number of Witches abounding in all places. Now Hundreds are discovered in one Shire; and, if Fame Deceive us not, in a Village of Fourteen Houses in the North, are found so many of this Damned Brood. Yea, and those of both Sexes, who have Professed much Knowledge, Holiness, and Devotion, are drawn into this Damnable Practice. I suppose the Doctor in the first of those Passages, may refer to what happened in the Year 1645. When so many Vassals of the Devil were Detected, that there were Thirty Tried at one time, whereas about Fourteen were Hanged, and an Hundred more Detained in the Prisons of Suffolk and Essex. Among other things which many of these Acknowledged, one was, That they were to undergo certain Punishments, if they did not such and such Hurts, as were appointed them. And, among the Rest that were then Executed, there was an Old Parson, called, Lowis, who Confessed, that he had a Couple of Imps, whereof One was always putting him upon the doing of Mischief; Once particularly, ⟨p. 58⟩that Imp calling for his Consent so […] do, went immediately and Sunk a Ship, the• under Sail. I pray, Let not New-England become of an Unsavoury and a Sulphurous Resentment in the Opinion of the World Abroad for the Doleful Things which are now falle• out among us, while there are such Histories o• other places abroad in the World. Nevertheless I am sure that we, the People of New-England have cause enough to Humble our selves under our most Humbling Circumstances. We must […] more, be, Haughty, because of the Lords Ho•• Mountain among us; No, it becomes us rather […] be, Humble, because we have been such an Habittion of Unholy Devils!
II. Since the Devil is come down in great wrat• upon us, let not us in our great wrath against one another provide a Lodging for him. It was a mo•• wholesome caution, in Eph. 4.26.27. Let not th• Sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place t• the Devil. The Devil is come down to see wha• Quarter he shall find among us: and, if his comin• down, do now fill us with wrath against one a• other▪ and if between the cause of the Sufferers o• one hand, and the cause of the Suspected on t'other▪ we carry things to such extremes of Passion as a• now gaining upon us, the Devil will Bless himself to find such a convenient Lodging as we shall ther• in afford unto him. And it may be that the wra•• which we have had against one another has ha•⟨p. 59⟩more then a little Influence upon the coming down of the Devil in that wrath which now amazes us. Have not many of us been Devils one unto another for Slanderings, for Backbitings, for Animosities? For this, among other causes, perhaps, God ha•s permitted the Devils to be Worrying, as they now are, among us. But it is high time to leave off all Devilism, when the Devil himself is falling upon us: and it is no time for us to be Censuing and Reviling one another, with a Devilish Wrath, when the Wrath of the Devil is annoying of us. The way for us to out-wit the Devil, in the Wiles with which he now Vexes us, would be for us, to join as one man in our cries to God, for the Directing, and Issuing of this Thorny Business; but if we do not Lift up our Hands to Heaven, Without Wrath, we cannot then do it without Doubt, of speeding in it. I am ashamed when I read French Authors giving this Character of Englishmen [Ils see haissent Les uns les autres, et sont en Division Continuelle.] They hate one one another, and are always Quarrelling one with another. And I shall be much more ashamed, if it become the Character of New-Englanders; which is indeed, what the Devil would have. Satan would ake us Bruise one another, by breaking of the Peace among us; but O let us disappoint him. We read of a thing that sometimes happens to the Devil, when he is foaming with his Wrath, in
and if we would use to one another none but the, Soft Answers, which Turn away Wrat• I should hope that we might light upon such Counsels, as would quickly Extricate us out of our Labyrinths. But the Old Incendiary of the world, is come from Hell, with Sparks of Hell-Fire Flashing on every side of him; and we make ourselves Tinder to th• Sparks. When the Emperor Henry III. kept th• Feast of Pentecost, at the City Mentz, there arose a Dissension among some of the People there, which came from words to Blows, and at last it passed o• to the Shedding of Blood. After the Tumult was over▪ when they came to that clause in their Devotions▪ Thou hast made this day Glorious; the Devil to the unexpressible Terror of that vast Assembly▪ made the Temple Ring with that Outcry But […] have made this Day Quarrelsome▪ We are truly come into a day, which by being well managed might be very Glorious, for the exterminating o• those, Accursed Things, which have hitherto bee• the Clogs of our Prosperity; but if we make this day Quarrelsome, thro' any Raging Confidences, Alas, O Lord, my Flesh Trembles for fear of thee, and I am afraid of thy Judgments. Erasmus, among other Historians, tells us, that at a Town in Germany, a Witch or Devil, appeared on the Top of a Chimney, Threatening to set the Town on Fire ▪ and at length, Scattering a Pot of Ashes abroad, the Town was presently and Horribly Burned unto the Ground. Methinks, I see the Spectres, from the ⟨p. 61⟩Tops of the Chimneys to the North, ward, threatening to Scatter Fire, about the Country; but let us Quench that Fire by the most amicable Correspondencies: Lest, as the Spectres, have, they say, already most Literally Burned some of our Dwellings, there do come forth a further Fire from the Brambles of Hell, which may more terribly Devour us. Let us not be like a Troubled House, although we are so much haunted by the Devils. Let our Long Suffering be a Well-placed piece of Armour, about us, against the Fiery Darts of the wicked ones. History informs us, That so long ago, as the year, 858. a certain Pestilent and Ma: lignant sort of a Daemon, molested Caumont in Germany with all sorts of methods to stir up Strife among the Citizens. He uttered Prophecies, he detected Villainies, he branded people with all kind of Infamies.
He incensed the Neighbourhood against one Man particularly, as the cause of all the mischiefs▪ who yet proved himself innocent. He threw stones at the Inhabitants, and at length burned their Habitations, till the Commission of the Daemon could go no further. I say, Let us be well aware lest such Daemons do, Come hither also!
He incensed the Neighbourhood against one Man particularly, as the cause of all the mischiefs▪ who yet proved himself innocent. He threw stones at the Inhabitants, and at length burn't their Habitations, till the Commissiion of the Daemon could go no further. I say, Let us be well aware lest such Daemons do, Come hither also!
III. Inasmuch as the Devil is come down in Great Wrath, we had need Labour, with all the Care and Speed we can to Divert the Great Wrath of Heaven from coming at the same Time upon us. The God of Heaven has with •ong and loud Admonitions, been calling us to, ⟨p. 62⟩A Reformation of our Provoking Evils, as the only way to avoid that Wrath of His, which does not only Threaten, but Consume us. 'Tis because we have been Deaf to those Calls, that we are now by a provoked God, laid open to the Wrath of the Devil himself. It is said in Prov. 16.7. When a mans ways please the Lord, He maketh even his Enemies to be at peace with him. The Devil is our Grand Enemy: and tho' we would not be at peace with him, yet we would be at peace from him; that is, we would have him unable to Disquiet our Peace. But inasmuch as the Wrath which we Endure from this Enemy, will allow us no Peace, we may be sure, Our Ways have not pleased the Lord. It is because we have Broken the Hedge of Gods Precepts, that the Hedge of Gods Providence is not so Entire as it uses to be about us; but Serpents are Biting of us. O let us then set our selves to make our Peace with our God, whom we have Displeased by our Iniquities: and let us not imagine that we can Encounter the Wrath of the Devil, while there is the Wrath of God Almighty to set that Mastiff upon us. REFORMATION! REFORMATION! has been the Repeated Cry, of all the Judgments, that have hitherto been upon us: because we have been as Deaf Adders thereunto, the Adders of the Infernal Pit are now hissing about us▪ At length, as it was of old said in Luc 16.30. If on• went unto them, from the Dead, they will Repent; Eve• so, There are some come unto us from the Damned ▪⟨p. 63⟩The Great God has Loosed the Bars of the Pit, so that many Damned Spirits are come in among us, to make us Repent of our Misdemeanours. The means which the Lord had formerly Employed for our Awakening, were such, that he might well have said, What could I have done more? and yet after all, He has done more, in some regards, than was ever done for the Awakening of any People in the World. The Things now done to Awaken our Enquiries after our Provoking Evils, and our Endeavours to Reform those Evils; are most EXTRAORDINARY Things;
For which cause I would freely speak it, If we now do not some EXTRAORDINARY Things in Returning to God, we are the most Incurable, and I wish it be not quickly said, the most Miserable, People under the Sun. Believe me, 'tis a Time for all people to do something EXTRAORDINARY In Searching and in Trying •f their Ways, and in Turning to the Lord. It is at an EXTRAORDINARY Rate of Circumspection and Spiritual Mindedness, that we should all now maintain a Walk with God. At such a Time as This, ought Magistrates to Do something EXTRAORDINARY in promoting of what is Laudable, and in Restraining and Chastising of Evil Doers. At ••ch a Time as This, ought Ministers to Do something EXTRAORDINARY in pulling the Souls of men out of the Snares of the Devil, not only […] public Preaching, but by personal Visits and Counsels, from House to House. At such a Time as this, ought Churches to Do something EXTRAORDINARY, ⟨p. 64⟩in Renewing of their Covenants, and in Remembering, and Reviving the Obligations of what they have Renewed. Some Admirable Designs about the Reformation of Manners, have lately been on foot in the English Nation, in pursuance of the most Excellent Admonitions, which have been given for it, by the Letters of Their Majesties. Besides the vigorous Agreements of the Justices here and there in the Kingdom; assisted by Godly Gentlemen and Informers, to Execute the Laws upon Profane Offenders: there has been started, A PROPOSAL, for the well-affected people in every Parish, to enter into orderly Societies, whereof every Member shall bind himself, not only to Avoid Profaneness in himself, but also according unto their Place, to do their utmost in first Reproving, and, if it must be so▪ then Exposing, and so Punishing, as the Law directs, for, others that shall be guilty. It has been observed, That the English Nation has had some of its greatest Successes, upon some special, and signal Actions this way; and a Discouragement given unto Legal Proceedings of this Kind, must needs be very exercising to the, Wise that observe these Things. But, O why should not New-England be the most forward part of the English Nation in such Reformations? Methinks, I hear the Lord from Heaven saying over us, O that my People had hearkened unto me; Then I should soon have subdued the Devils, as well as their other Enemies!
There have been some some feeble Essays towards Reformation, of late in ⟨p. 65⟩our Churches; but, I pray, what comes of them? Do we stay till the Storm of his Wrath be over? Nay, let us be Doing what we can as fast as we can, to divert the Storm. The Devil•, having broke in upon our World, there is great Asking, Who is it that have brought them in? and many do by Spectral Exhibitions come to be cried out upon. I hope in Gods Time, it will be found, that among those that are thus Cried out upon, •here are persons yet Clear from the Great Transgression; but indeed, all the Unreformed among us, nay justly be Cried out upon, as having too much of an Hand in letting of the Devils in to our Borders; 'tis our Worldliness, our Formality, our Sensuality, and our Iniquity, that has helped this Letting of the Devils in. O Let us then at last, Consider our Ways. 'Tis a strange passage recorded by Mr. Clark, in the Life of his Father, That the People of his Parish refusing to be Reclaimed from their Sabbath Breaking, by all the zealous Testimonies which that Good man bore against it; at last, on a Night after the people had Retired Home from a Revelling Profanation of the L••ds Day, there was heard a Great Noise, with […] of Chains, up and down the Town, and […] horrid Scent of Brimstone filled the Neighbourhood. Upon which the Guilty Consciences of the Wretches, told them, the Devil was come to fetch them away: and it so terrified them, that an Eminent Reformation followed the Sermons which that man of God Preached thereupon. Behold, ⟨p. 66⟩Sinners, Behold, and Wonder, lest you Perish; the very Devils are Walking about our Streets, with Lengthened Chains, making a dreadful Noise in our Ears, and Brimstone, even without a Metaphor, is making an Hellish and Horrid Stench in our Nostrils. I Pray, Leave off all those things, whereof your Guilty Consciences may now accuse you, le•• these Devils do yet more direfully fall upon […] Reformation is at this Time, our only Preservation ▪
There have been some some feeble Essays towards Reformation, of late in ⟨p. 65⟩
IV. When the Devil is come down in Great Wrath, Let every Great Vice which may have a more Particular Tendency to make us a Prey unto that Wrath, come into a due Discredit with us. It is the General Concession of all men, who are not become too Unreasonable for Common Conversation, That the Invitation of Witchcraft• is the Thing that ha's now Introduced the Devil into the midst of us. I say then, Let not only all Witchcrafts be duly abominated with us, but also Let us be duly Watchful against all the Steps Leading thereunto. There are Lesser Sorceries which, they say, are too frequent in our Land. […] it was said in 2 King. 17.9. The Children of […] did Secretly▪ those things that were not Right against the Lord their God. So tis to be feared, The Children of New-England have Secretly done many things that have been pleasing to the Devil▪ They say, That in some Towns, it ha's been an usual Thing for People to Cure Hurts with Spells, or to use Detestable Conjurations, with Sieves, & Keys, and Pease, and Nails, and Horse-Shoes, an• I know not what other Implements, to Lear•⟨p. 67⟩the Things, for which they have a Forbidden, and an Impious Curiosity. 'Tis in the Devils Name, that such Things are done; and in Gods Name I do this Day Charge them, as vile Impieties. By these Courses '[…], that people play upon The Hole of the Asp; till that cruelly venomous Asp has pulled many of them, into the Deep Hole, of Witchcraft it self. It has been acknowledged by some who have sunk the deepest into this Horrible Pit, that they began, at these Little Witchcrafts; on which 'tis pity but the Laws of the English Nation, whereby the Incorrigible Repetition of those Tricks, is made Felony, were severally Executed. From the like Sinful Curiosity it is, that the Prognostications of Judicial Astrology, are so Injudiciously Regarded by multitudes among us; and although the Juggling Astrologers do scarce ever hit Right, except it be in such Weighty Judgments, forsooth, as that many Old Men will Die such a year, and that there will be many Losses felt by some that Venture to Sea, and that there will be much Lying and Cheating in the World; yet their Foolish Admirers, will not be persuaded, but […] the Innocent Stars have been concerned in […] Events. It is a Disgrace to the English Nation that the Pamphlets of such Idle, Futile, Trifli Star-gazers are so much Considered;
and the Countenance hereby given to a Study, wherein at Last, all is done by Impulse, if any thing be done to any purpose at all, is not a little perilous ⟨p. 68⟩to the Souls of men. It is, (a Science, I dare not call it, but) a Juggle, whereof the Learned Hall, well says, It is presumptuous and unwarrantable, & cried ever down by Councils and Fathers, as unlawful, as that which Lies in the mid-way between Magic, and Imposture, and partakes not a little of both. Men Consult the Aspects of Planets, whose Northern or Southern Motions receive Denominations from a Celestial Dragon, till the Infernal Dragon at length insinuate into them, with a Poison of Witchcraft that can't be cured▪ Has there not also been a world of Discontent in our Borders? 'Tis no wonder, that the Fiery Serpents are so Stinging of us; We have been a most Murmuring Generation. It is not Irrational, to ascribe the late Stupendous Growth of Witches among us, partly to the Bitter Discontents, which Affliction and Poverty has filled us with: it is inconceivable, what Advantage the Devil gains over men, by Discontent. Moreover, The Sin of Unbelief may be reckoned as perhaps the chief Crime of our Land. We are told, God Swears in Wrath, against them that believe not; and ••at follows then but this, That the Devil comes […] them in wrath? Never were the Offers of the Gospel, more freely Tendered, or more basely Despised, among any people under the whole Cope of Heaven, then in This New-England. Seems it at all marvellous unto us, that the Devil should get such Footing in our Country? Why, 'tis because the Saviour has been slighted here, perhaps more than any where. The Blessed Lord Jesus Christ ⟨p. 69⟩has been proffering to us, Grace, and Glory, and every good thing, and been alluring of us to Accept of Him, with such Terms as these; Undone Sinner, I […] All; Art thou willing that I should be thy All? •ut, as a proof of that Contempt which this Unbelief has cast upon these proffers, I would seriously ask of the so many Hundreds above a Thousand People within these Walls; Which of you all, O how few of you, can indeed say, Christ is mine, and I am his, and He is the Beloved of my Soul? I would only say thus much: When the precious and glorious Jesus, is Entreating of us to Receive Him ▪ in all His Offices, with all His Benefits; the Devil minds what Respect we pay unto that Heavenly Lord;
if we Refuse Him that speaks from Heaven, then he that, Comes from Hell, does with a sort of claim set in, and cry out, Lord, since this Wretch is not willing that thou shouldst have him, I pray, let me have him. And thus, by the just vengeance of Heaven, the Devil becomes a Master, a Prince, a God, unto the miserable Unbelievers: but O what are many of them then hurried unto! All of these Evil Things, do I now set before you, as Branded with the Mark of the Devil upon them.
V. With Great Regard, with Great Pity, should we Lay to Heart the Condition of those, who are cast into Affliction, by the Great Wrath of the Devil. There is a Number of our Good Neighbours, and some of them very particularly noted •o Goodness and Virtue, of whom we may say, Lord, ⟨p. 70⟩They are vexed with Devils. Their Tortures being primarily Inflicted on their Spirits, may indeed cause the Impressions thereof upon their Bodies to be the less Durable, tho' rather the more Sensible: but they Endure Horrible Things, and many have been actually Murdered. Hard Censures now bestowed upon these poor Sufferers, cannot but be very Displeasing unto our Lord, who, as He said, about some that had been Butchered by a Pilate, in Luc. 13.2, 3. Think ye that these were Sinners above others, because they suffered such Things? I tell you No, But except ye Repent, ye shall all likewise Perish: Even so, he now says, Think ye that they who now suffer by the Devil, have been greater Sinners than their Neighbours. No, Do you Repent of your own Sins, Lest the Devil come […] fall foul of you, as he has done to them. And if this be so, How Rash a thing would it be, if such of the poor Sufferers, as carry it with a Becoming Piety, Seriousness, and Humiliation under their present Suffering, should be unjustly Censured; or have their very Calamity imputed unto them as a Crime? It is an easy thing▪ for us to fall into, the Fault of, Adding Affliction to the Afflicted, and of, Talking to the Grief of those that are already Wounded: Nor can it be Wisdom to slight the Dangers of such a Fault. In the mean time, We have no Bowels in us, if we do not Compassionate the Distressed County of Essex, now crying to all these Colonies, Have pity on me, O ye my ⟨p. 71⟩Friend•, Have pity on me, for the Hand of the Lord has Touched me, and the Wrath of the Devil has been therewithal turned upon me. But indeed, if an hearty pity be due to any, I am sure, the Difficulties which attend our Honourable Judges, do demand no Inconsiderable share in that Pity. What a Difficult, what an Arduous Task, have those Worthy Personages now upon their Hands?
To carry the Knife so exactly, that on the one side, there may be no Innocent Blood Shed, by too unseeing a Zeal for the Children of Israel ▪ and that on the other side, there may be no Shelter given to those Diabolical Works of Darkness, without the Removal whereof we never shall have Peace; or to those Furies whereof several have killed more people perhaps than would serve to make a Village: Hic Labor, Hoc Opus est! O what need have we, to be concerned, that the Sins of our Israel, may not provoke the God of Heaven to leave his Davids, unto a wrong Step, in a matter of such Consequence, as is now before them! Our Disingenuous, Uncharitable, Unchristian Reproaching of such Faithful Men, after all, The Prayers and Supplications, with strong Crying and Tears, with which we are daily plying the Throne of Grace, that they may be kept, from what They Fear, is none of the way for our preventing of what We Fear. Nor all this while, ought our Pity to forget such Accused ones, as call for indeed our most Compassionate Pity, till there be fuller Evidences that they are less worthy of it. If Satan have any where maliciously ⟨p. 72⟩brought upon the Stage, those that have hitherto had a just and good stock of Reputation▪ for their just and good Living, among […]; If the Evil One have obtained a permission to Appear, in the Figure of such as we have cause to think, have hitherto Abstained, even from the Appearance of Evil: It is in Truth, such an Invasion upon Mankind, as may well Raise an Horror in us all: But, O what Compassions are due to such as may come under such Misrepresentations, of the Great Accuser! Who of us can say, what may be shown in the Glasses of the Great Lying Spirit? Altho' the Usual Providence of God [we praise Him!] keeps us from such a Mishap; yet where have we an Absolute Promise, that we shall every one always be kept from it? As long as Charity is bound, to Think no Evil, it will not Hurt us that are Private Persons, to forbear the Judgment which belongs not unto us. Let it rather be our Wish: May the Lord help them to Learn the Lessons, for which they are now put unto so hard a School.
To carry the Knife so exactly, that on the one side, there may be no Innocent Blood Shed, by too unseeing a Zeal for the Children of Israel ▪ and that on the other side, there may be no Shelter given to those Diabolical Works of Darkness, without the Removal whereof we never shall have Peace; or to those Furies whereof several have kill'd more people perhaps than would serve to make a Village: Hic Labor, Hoc Opus est! O what need have we, to be concerned, that the Sins of our Israel, may not provoke the God of Heaven to leave his Davids, unto a wrong Step, in a matter of such Consequence, as is now before them! Our Disingenuous, Uncharitable, Unchristian Reproching of such Faithful Men, after all, The Prayers and Supplications, with strong Crying and Tears, with which we are daily plying the Throne of Grace, that they may be kept, from what They Fear, is none of the way for our preventing of what We Fear. Nor all this while, ought our Pitty to forget such Accused ones, as call for indeed our most Compassionate Pitty, till there be fuller Evidences that they are less worthy of it. If Satan have any where maliciously
VI. With a Great Zeal, we should lay hold on the Covenant of God, that we may Secure Us and Ours, from the Great Wrath, with which the Devil Rages. Let us come into the Covenant of Grace, and then we shall not be hooked into a Covenant with the Devil, nor be altogether unfurnished with armour, against the Wretches that are in that Covenant. The way to come under the Saving Influences of the New Covenant, is, to close with the Lord Jesus Christ, who is ⟨p. 73⟩the All sufficient Mediator of it: Let us therefore do that, by Resigning up ourselves unto the Saving, Teaching, and Ruling, Hands of this Blessed Mediator. Then we shall be, what we read in Jude, 1. Preserved in Christ Jesus: That is, as the Destroying Angel, could not meddle with such as had been distinguished, by the Blood of the Passover on their Houses, Thus the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, Sprinkled on our Souls, will Preserve us from the Devil. The Birds of prey (and indeed the Devils most literally in the shape of great Birds!) are flying about: Would we find a Covert from these Vultures: Let us then Hear Our Lord Jesus from Heaven Clucking unto us, O that you would be gathered under my Wings. Well; When this is done, Then let us own the Covenant, which we are now come into, by joining ourselves to a Particular Church, walking in the Order of the Gospel; at the doing whereof, according to that Covenant of God, We give up Ourselves unto the Lord, and in Him unto One Another. While others have had their Names Entered in the Devils Book; let our Names be found in the Church Book, and let us be, Written among the Living in Jerusalem. By no means let, Church-Work sink and fail in the midst of us; but let the Tragical Accidents which now happen, exceedingly Quicken that Work. So many of the Rising Generation, utterly forgetting the Errand of our Fathers to build Churches in this Wilderness, and so many of Our Cottages being allowed to Live, where they do no•, and perhaps cannot, wait upon God with the Churches of His People! tis as likely as any one thing to ⟨p. 74⟩procure the swarmings of Witch-crafts among […] But it becomes us, with a like Ardour, to bring […] poor Children with us, as we shall do, when we come ourselves, into the Covenant of God. It would break an heart of Stone, to have seen, what I have lately seen;
Even poor Children of several Ages, even from seven to twenty more or less, Confess••• their Familiarity with Devils; but at the same time▪ in Doleful bitter Lamentations, that made a Little Pour traiture of Hell it self, Expostulating with […] execrable Parents, for Devoting them to the Devil in their Infancy, and so Entailing of Devillism upon them! Now, as the Psalmist could say, My […] hath Consumed me, because my Enemies have forgott•• thy Words: Even so, let the nefarious wickedness of those that have Explicitly dedicated their Children to the Devil, even with Devilish Symbols, of such a Dedication, Provoke our Zeal to have our Children, Sincerely, Signally, and openly Consecrated unto God; with an Education afterwards assuring and confirming that Consecration.
Even poor Children of several Ages, even from seven to twenty more or less, Confess••• their Familiarity with Devils; but at the same time▪ in Doleful bitter Lamentations, that made a Little Pour traiture of Hell it self, Expostulating with 〈…〉 execrable Parents, for Devoting them to the Devil in their Infancy, and so Entailing of Devillism upon them! Now, as the Psalmist could say, My 〈…〉 hath Consumed me, because my Enemies have forgott•• thy Words: Even so, let the nefarious wickedness of those that have Explicitly dedicated their Children to the Devil, even with Devillish Symbols, of such a Dedication, Provoke our Zeal to have our Children, Sincerely, Signally, and openly Consecrated unto God; with an Education afterwards assuring and confirming that Consecration.
Let us be Humbled for these Defiling Abominations, Lest we be driven out of our Land▪ It's a very Humbling Thing to ⟨p. 57⟩think, what Reproaches will be cast upon us, for this Matter, among, The Daughters of the Philistines. Indeed, enough might easily be said for the Vindication of this Country from the Singularity of this Matter, by Ripping up, what has been discovered in others. Great Britain alone, and this also in our Dayes of Greatest Light, has had that in it, which may divert the Calumnies of an Ill-natured World, from Centring here. They are the words of the Devout Bishop Hall, Satans Prevalency in this Age, is most clear in the marvell•us Number of Witches abounding in all places. Now Hundreds are discovered in one Shire; and, if Fame Deceive us not, in a Village of Fourteen Houses in the North, are found so many of this Damned Brood. Yea, and those of both Sexes, who have Professed much Knowledge, Holiness, and Devotion, are drawn into this Damnable Practice. I suppose the Doctor in the first of those Passages, may refer to what happened in the Year 1645. When so many Vassals of the Devil were Detected, that there were Thirty Try'd at one time, whereas about Fourteen were Hang'd, and an Hundred more Detained in the Prisons of Suffolk and Essex. Among other things which many of these Acknowledged, one was, That they were to undergo certain Punishments, if they did not such and such Hurts, as were appointed them. And, among the Rest that were then Executed, there was an Old Parson, called, Lowis, who Confessed, that he had a Couple of Imps, whereof One was alwayes putting him upon the doing of Mischief; Once particularly, ⟨p. 58⟩that Imp calling for his Consent so 〈…〉 do, went immediately and Sunk a Ship, the• under Sail. I pray, Let not New-England be•come of an Unsavoury and a Sulphurous Re•sentment in the Opinion of the World Abroad for the Doleful Things which are now falle• out among us, while there are such Histories o• other places abroad in the World. Nevertheless I am sure that we, the People of New-England have cause enough to Humble our selves unde• our most Humbling Circumstances. We must 〈…〉 more, be, Haughty, because of the Lords Ho•• Mountain among us; No, it becomes us rather 〈…〉 be, Humble, because we have been such an Habit••tion of Unholy Devils!
•. The unclean Spirit seeks rest, and finds none. But we give Rest unto the Devil, by Wrath one against another. If we would lay aside all fierceness, and
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keenness, in the disputes which the Devil has raise• among us;
II. Since the Divel is come down in great wrat• upon us, let not us in our great wrath against one another provide a Lodging for him. It was a mo•• wholesome caution, in Eph. 4.26.27. Let not th• Sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place t• the Divel. The Divel is come down to see wha• Quarter he shall find among us: and, if his comin• down, do now fill us with wrath against one a• other▪ and if between the cause of the Sufferers o• one hand, and the cause of the Suspected on t'other▪ we carry things to such extreames of Passion as a• now gaining upon us, the Devil will Bless himsel• to find such a convenient Lodging as we shall ther• in afford unto him. And it may be that the wra•• which we have had against one another has ha•⟨p. 59⟩more then a little Influence upon the coming down of the Divel in that wrath which now amazes us. Have not many of us been Devils one unto another for Slanderings, for Backbitings, for Animosities? For this, among other causes, perhaps, God ha•s permitted the Devils to be Worrying, as they now are, among us. But it is high time to leave off all Devilism, when the Devil himself is falling upon us: and it is no time for us to be Censu•ing and Reviling one another, with a Devilish Wrath, when the Wrath of the Devil is annoying of us. The way for us to out-wit the Devil, in the Wiles with which he now Vexes us, would be for us, to join as one man in our cries to God, for the Directing, and Issuing of this Thorny Business; but if we do not Lift up our Hands to Heaven, Without Wrath, we cannot then do it without Doubt, of speeding in it. I am ashamed when I read French Authors giving this Character of Englishmen [Ils se haissent Les uns les autres, et sont en Division Continuelle.] They hate one one another, and are always Quarrelling one with another. And I shall be much more ashamed, if it become the Character of New-Englanders; which is indeed, what the Devil would have. Satan would •ake us Bruise one another, by breaking of the Peace among us; but O let us disappoint him. We read of a thing that sometimes happens to the Devil, when he is foaming with his Wrath, in Mat. 12.4•. The unclean Spirit seeks rest, and finds none. But we give Rest unto the Devil, by Wrath one against another. If we would lay aside all fierceness, and ⟨p. 60⟩keeness, in the disputes which the Devil has raise• among us;
and if we would use to one anothe• none but the, Soft Answers, which Turn away Wrat• I should hope that we might light upon such Coun•sels, as would quickly Extricate us out of our Laby•rinths. But the Old Incendiary of the world, is come from Hell, with Sparks of Hell-Fire Flashing on every side of him; and we make ourselves Tynder to th• Sparks. When the Emperour Henry III. kept th• Feast of Pentecost, at the City Mentz, there arose a Dissension among some of the People there, which came from words to Blows, and at last it passed o• to the Shedding of Blood. After the Tumult was over▪ when they came to that clause in their Devotions▪ Thou hast made this day Glorious; the Devil to the unexpressible Terrour of that vast Assembly▪ made the Temple Ring with that Outcry But 〈…〉 have made this Day Quarrelsome▪ We are truly come into a day, which by being well managed might be very Glorious, for the exterminating o• those, Accursed Things, which have hitherto bee• the Clogs of our Prosperity; but if we make this day Quarrelsome, thro' any Raging Confidences, Alas, O Lord, my Flesh Trembles for fear of thee, and I am afraid of thy Judgments. Erasmus, among other Historians, tells us, that at a Town in Germany, a Witch or Devil, appear'd on the Top of a Chimney, Threatning to set the Town on Fire ▪ and at length, Scattering a Pot of Ashes abroad, the Town was presently and Horribly Burn't unto the Ground. Methinks, I see the Spectres, from the ⟨p. 61⟩Tops of the Chimneys to the North, ward, threatning to Scatter Fire, about the Countrey; but let us Quench that Fire by the most amicable Correspondencies: Lest, as the Spectres, have, they say, already most Literally Burn't some of our Dwellings, there do come forth a further Fire from the Brambles of Hell, which may more terribly Devour us. Let us not be like a Troubled House, altho we are so much haunted by the Devils. Let our Long Suffering be a Well-placed piece of Armour, about us, against the Fiery Darts of the wicked ones. History informs us, That so long ago, as the year, 858. a certain Pestilent and Ma: lignant sort of a Daemon, molested Caumont in Germany with all sorts of methods to stir up Strife among the Citizens. He uttered Prophecies, he detected Villanies, he branded people with all kind of Infamies.
III. Inasmuch as the Devil is come down in Great Wrath, we had need Labour, with all the Care and Speed we can to Divert the Great Wrath of Heaven from coming at the same Time upon us. The God of Heaven has with •ong and loud Admonitio•s, been calling us to, ⟨p. 62⟩A Reformation of our Provoking Evils, as the only way to avoid that Wrath of His, which does not only Threaten, but Consume us. 'Tis because we have been Deaf to those Calls, that we are now by a provoked God, laid open to the Wrath of the Devil himself. It is said in Prov. 16.7. When a mans ways please the Lord, He maketh even his Enemies to be at peace with him. The Devil is our Grand Enemy: and tho' we would not be at peace with him, yet we would be at peace from him; that is, we would have him unable to Disquiet our Peace. But inasmuch as the Wrath which we Endure from this Enemy, will allow us no Peace, we may be sure, Our Ways have not pleased the Lord. It is because we have Broken the Hedge of Gods Precepts, that the Hedge of Gods Provodence is not so Entire as it uses to be about us; but Serpents are Biting of us. O let us then set our selves to make our Peace with our God, whom we have Displeased by our Iniquities: and let us not imagine that we can Encounter the Wrath of the Devil, while there is the Wrath of God Almighty to set that Mastiff upon us. REFORMATION! REFORMATION! has been the Repeated Cry, of all the Judgments, that have hitherto been upon us: because we have been as Deaf Adders thereunto, the Adders of the Infernal Pit are now hissing about us▪ At length, as it was of old said in Luc 16.30. If on• went unto them, from the Dead, they will Repent; Eve• so, There are some come unto us from the Damned ▪⟨p. 63⟩The Great God has Loosed the Bars of the Pit, so that many Damned Spirits are come in among us, to make us Repent of our Misdemeanours. The means which the Lord had formerly Employ'd for our Awakening, were such, that he might well have said, What could I have done more? and yet after all, He has done more, in some regards, than was ever done for the Awakening of any People in the World. The Things now done to Awaken our Enquiries after our Provoking Evils, and our Endeavours to Reform those Evils; are most EXTRAORDINARY Things;
For which cause I would freely speak it, If we now do not some EXTRAORDINARY Things in Returning to God, we are the most Incurable, and I wish it be not quickly said, the most Miserable, People under the Sun. Believe me, 'tis a Time for all people to do something EXTRAORDINARY In Searching and in Trying •f their Ways, and in Turning to the Lord. It is at an EXTRAORDINARY Rate of Circumspection and Spiritual Mindedness, that we should all now maintain a Walk with God. At such a Time as This, ought Magistrates to Do something EXTRAORDINARY in promoting of what is Laudable, and in Restraining and Chastising of Evil Doers. At ••ch a Time as This, ought Ministers to Do something EXTRAORDINARY in pulling the Souls of men out of the Snares of the Devil, not only 〈…〉 publick Preaching, but by personal Visits and Counsels, from House to House. At such a Time as this, ought Churches to Do something EXTRAORDINARY,
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in Renewing of their Covenants, and in Remembring, and Reviving the Obligations of what they have Renewed. Some Admirable Designs about the Reformation of Manners, have lately been on foot in the English Nation, in pursuance of the most Excellent Admonitions, which have been given for it, by the Letters of Their Majesties. Besides the vigorous Agreements of the Justices here and there in the Kingdom; assisted by Godly Gentlemen and Informers, to Execute the Laws upon Profane Offenders: there has been started, A PROPOSAL, for the well-affected people in every Parish, to enter into orderly Societies, whereof every Member shall bind himself, not only to Avoid Profaneness in himself, but also according unto their Place, to do their utmost in first Reproving, and, if it must be so▪ then Exposing, and so Punishing, as the Law directs, for, others that shall be guilty. It has been observed, That the English Nation has had some of its greatest Successes, upon some special, and signal Actions this way; and a Discouragement given unto Legal Proceedings of this Kind, must needs be very exercising to the, Wise that observe these Things. But, O why should not New-England be the most forward part of the English Nation in such Reformations? Methinks, I hear the Lord from Heaven saying over us, O that my People had hearkened unto me; Then I should soon have subdued the Devils, as well as their other Enemies!
our Churches; but, I pray, what comes of them? Do we stay till the Storm of his Wrath be over? Nay, let us be Doing what we can as fast as we can, to divert the Storm. The Devil•, having broke in upon our World, there is great Asking, Who is it that have brought them in? and many do by Spectral Exhibitions come to be cry'd out upon. I hope in Gods Time, it will be found, that among those that are thus Cry'd out upon, •here are persons yet Clear from the Great Transgression; but indeed, all the Unreformed among us, nay justly be Cry'd out upon, as having too much of an Hand in letting of the Devils in to our Borders; 'tis our Worldliness, our Formality, our Sensuality, and our Iniquity, that has help'd this Letting of the Devils in. O Let us then at last, Consider our Wayes. 'Tis a strange passage recorded by Mr. Clark, in the Life of his Father, That the People of his Parish refusing to be Reclaimed from their Sabbath Breaking, by all the zealous Testimonies which that Good man bore against it; at last, on a Night after the people had Retired Home from a Revelling Profanation of the L••ds Day, there was heard a Great Noise, with 〈…〉 of Chains, up and down the Town, and 〈…〉 horrid Scent of Brimstone fill'd the Neighbourhood. Upon which the Guilty Consciences of the Wretches, told them, the Devil was come to fetch them away: and it so terrify'd them, that an Eminent Reformation follow'd the Sermons which that man of God Preached thereupon. Behold,
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Sinners, Behold, and Wonder, lest you Perish; the very Devils are Walking about our Streets, with Lengthened Chains, making a dreadful Noise in our Ears, and Brimstone, even without a Metaphor, is making an Hellish and Horrid Stench in our Nostrils. I Pray, Leave off all those things, where•of your Guilty Consciences may now accuse you, le•• these Devils do yet more direfully fall upon 〈…〉 Reformation is at this Time, our only Preservatio•▪
••
IV. When the Devil is come down in Grea• Wrath, Let every Great Vice which may have a more Particular Tendency to make us a Prey unto that Wrath, come into a due Discredit with us. It is the General Concession of all men, who are not become too Unreasonable for Common Conversation, That the Invitation of VVitchcraft• is the Thing that ha's now Introduced the Devil into the midst of us. I say then, Let not only all VVitchcrafts be duely abominated with us, but also Let us be duely Watchful against all the Steps Leading thereunto. There are Lesser Sorceries which, they say, are too frequent in our Land. 〈…〉 it was said in 2 King. 17.9. The Children of 〈…〉 did Secr••ly▪ those things that were not Right a••inst the Lord their God. So tis to be feared, The Children of New-England have Secretly done many things that have been pleasing to the Devil▪ They say, That in some Towns, it ha's been an usual Thing for People to Cure Hurts with Spells, or to use Detestable Conjurations, with Sieves, & Keyes, and Pease, and Nails, and Horse-Shooes, an• I know not what other Implements, to Lear•⟨p. 67⟩the Things, for which they have a Forbidden, and an Impious Curiositie. 'Tis in the Devils Name, that such Things are done; and in Gods Name I do this Day Charge them, as vile Impieties. By these Courses '〈…〉, that people play upon The Hole of the Asp; till that cruelly venemous Asp has pull'd many of them, into the Deep Hole, of Witchcraft it self. It has been •cknowledged by some who have sunk the deepest into this Horrible Pit, that they began, at these Little Witchcrafts; on which 'tis pitty but the Laws of the English Nation, whereby the Incorrigible Repetition of those Tricks, is made Felony, were severally Executed. From the like Sinful Curiosity it is, that the Prognostications of Judicial Astrology, are so Injudiciously Regarded by multitudes among us; and although the Jugling Astrologers do scarce ever hit Right, except it be in such Weighty Judgments, forsooth, as that many Old Men will Dy such a year, and that there will be many Losses felt by some that Venture to Sea, and that there will be much Lying and Cheating in the World; yet their Foolish Admirers, will not be perswaded, but 〈…〉 the Innocent Stars have been concern'd in 〈…〉 Events. It is a Disgrace to the English Natio• that the Phamphlets of such Idle, Futil, Trifli•• Star-gazers are so much Considered;
and the Countenance hereby given to a Study, wherein at Last, all is done by Impulse, if any thing be done to any purpose at all, is not a little perillous ⟨p. 68⟩to the Souls of men. It is, (a Science, I dare not call it, but) a Juggle, whereof the Learned Hall, well says, It is presumptuous and unwarrantable, & cry'd ever down by Councils and Fathers, as un•awful, as that which Lies in the mid-way between Magick, and Imposture, and partakes not a little of both. Men Consult the Aspects of Planets, whose Northern or Southern Motions receive Denominations from a Caelestial Dragon, till the Infernal Dragon at length insinuate into them, with a Poyson of Witchcraft that can't be cured▪ Has there not also been a world of Discontent in our Borders? 'Tis no wonder, that the Fiery Serpents are so Stinging of us; We have been a most Murmuring Generation. It is not Irrational, to ascribe the late Stupendous Growth of Witches among us, partly to the Bitter Discontents, which Affliction and Poverty has fill'd us with: it is inconceivable, what Advantage the Devil gains over men, by Discontent. Moreover, The Sin of Unbelief may be reckoned as perhaps the chief Crime of our Land. We are told, God Swears in Wrath, against them that believe not; and ••at follows then but this, That the Devil comes 〈…〉 them in wrath? Never were the Offers of the Gospel, more freely Tendered, or more basely Despised, among any people under the whole Cope of Heaven, then in This New-England. Seems it at all marvellous unto us, that the Devil should get such Footing in our Country? Why, 'tis because the Saviour has been slighted here, perhaps more than any where. The Blessed Lord Jesus Christ ⟨p. 69⟩has been profering to us, Grace, and Glory, and every good thing, and been alluring of us to Accept of Him, with such Terms as these; Undone Sinner, I 〈…〉 All; Art thou willing that I should be thy All? •ut, as a proof of that Contempt which this Unbelief has cast upon these proffers, I would seriously ask of the so many Hundreds above a Thousand People within these Walls; Which of you all, O how few of you, can indeed say, Christ is mine, and I am his, and He is the Beloved of my Soul? I would only say thus much: When the precious and glorious Jesus, is Entreating of us to Receive Him ▪ in all His Offices, with all His Benefits; the Devil minds what Respect we pay unto that Heavenly Lord;
V. With Great Regard, with Great Pitty, should we Lay to Heart the Condition of those, who are cast into Affliction, by the Great Wrath of the Devil. There is a Number of our Good Neighbours, and some of them very particularly noted •o Goodness and Vertue, of whom we may say, Lord, ⟨p. 70⟩They are vexed with Devils. Their Tortures being primarily Inflicted on their Spirits, may indeed cause the Impressions thereof upon their Bodies to be the less Durable, tho' rather the more Sensible: but they Endure Horrible Things, and many have been actually Murdered. Hard Censures now bestow'd upon these poor Sufferers, cannot but be very Displeasing unto our Lord, who, as He said, about some that had been Butchered by a Pilate, in Luc. 13.2, 3. Think ye that these were Sinners above others, because they suffered such Things? I tell you No, But except ye Repent, ye shall all likewise Perish: Even so, he now says, Think ye that they who now suffer by the Devil, have been greater Sinners than their Neighbours. No, Do you Repent of your own Sins, Lest the Devil come 〈…〉 fall foul of you, as he has done to them. And if this be so, How Rash a thing would it be, if such of the poor Sufferers, as carry it with a Becoming Piety, Seriousness, and Humiliation under their present Suffering, should be unjustly Censured; or have their very Calamity imputed unto them as a Crime? It is an easy thing▪ for us to fall into, the Fault of, Adding Affliction to the Afflicted, and of, Talking to the Grief of those that are already VVounded: Nor can it be Wisdom to slight the Dangers of such a Fault. In the mean time, We have no Bowels in us, if we do not Compassionate the Distressed County of Essex, now crying to all these Colonies, Have pitty on me, O ye my ⟨p. 71⟩Friend•, Have pitty on me, for the Hand of the Lord has Touched me, and the Wrath of the Devil has been therewithal turned upon me. But indeed, if an hearty pitty be due to any, I am sure, the Difficulties which attend our Honourable Judges, doe demand no Inconsiderable share in that Pitty. What a Difficult, what an Arduous Task, have those Worthy Personages now upon their Hands?
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brought upon the Stage, those that have hitherto had a just and good stock of Reputation▪ for their just and good Living, among 〈…〉; If the Evil One have obtained a permission to Appear, in the Figure of such as we have cause to think, have hitherto Abstained, even from the Appearance of Evil: It is in Truth, such an Invasion upon Mankind, as may well Raise an Horror in us all: But, O what Compassions are due to such as may come under such Misrepresentations, of the Great Accuser! Who of us can say, what may be shown in the Glasses of the Great Lying Spirit? Altho' the Usual Providence of God [we praise Him!] keeps us from such a Mishap; yet where have we an Absolute Promise, that we shall every one alwayes be kept from it? As long as Charity is bound, to Think no Evil, it will not Hurt us that are Private Persons, to forbear the Judgment which belongs not unto us. Let it rather be our Wish: May the Lord help them to Learn the Lessons, for which they are now put unto so hard a School.
VI. With a Great Zeal, we should lay hold on the Covenant of God, that we may Secure Us and Ours, from the Great Wrath, with which the Devil Rages. Let us come into the Covenant of Grace, and then we shall not be hook'd into a Covenant with the Devil, nor be altogether unfurnished with armour, against the Wretches that are in that Covenant. The way to come under the Saving Influences of the New Covenant, is, to close with the Lord Jesus Christ, who is ⟨p. 73⟩the All sufficient Mediator of it: Let us therefore do that, by Resigning up ourselves unto the Saving, Teaching, and Ruling, Hands of this Blessed Mediator. Then we shall be, what we read in Jude, 1. Preserved in Christ Jesus: That is, as the Destroying Angel, could not meddle with such as had been distinguished, by the Blood of the Passeover on their Houses, Thus the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, Sprinkled on our Souls, will Preserve us from the Devil. The Birds of prey (and indeed the Devils most literally in the shape of great Birds!) are flying about: Would we find a Covert from these Vultures: Let us then Hear Our Lord Jesus from Heaven Clocqing unto us, O that you would be gathered under my Wings. Well; When this is done, Then let us own the Covenant, which we are now come into, by joining ourselves to a Particular Church, walking in the Order of the Gospel; at the doing whereof, according to that Covenant of God, We give up Ourselves unto the Lord, and in Him unto One Another. While others have had their Names Entred in the Devils Book; let our Names be found in the Church Book, and let us be, Written among the Living in Jerusalem. By no means let, Church-Work sink and fail in the midst of us; but let the Tragical Accidents which now happen, exceedingly Quicken that Work. So many of the Rising Generation, utterly forgetting the Errand of our Fathers to build Churches in this Wilderness, and so many of Our Cottages being allow'd to Live, where they do no•, and perhaps cannot, wait upon God with the Churches of His People! tis as likely as any one thing to ⟨p. 74⟩procure the swarmings of Witch-crafts among 〈…〉 But it becomes us, with a like Ardour, to bring 〈…〉 poor Children with us, as we shall do, when we come ourselves, into the Covenant of God. It would break an heart of Stone, to have seen, what I have lately seen;
