N00569:61
Early religion. Urged in a sermon. the duties, wherein, and the reasons wherefore, young…
Early religion. Urged in a sermon. the duties, wherein, and the reasons wherefore, young people should become religious. Whereto are added, the extracts of several papers, written by several persons, who are dying in their youth, left behind them those admonitions for the young survivors; with brief memoirs relating to the exemplary lives of some such, that have gone from hence to their everlasting rest. / By Cotton Mather. ; [Two lines of Scripture text]Early religion. Urged in a sermon. the duties, wherein, and the reasons wherefore, young people should become religious. Whereto are added, the extracts of several papers, written by several persons, who are dying in their youth, left behind them those admonitions for the young survivers; with brief memoirs relating to the exemplary lives of some such, that have gone from hence to their everlasting rest. / By Cotton Mather. ; [Two lines of Scripture text]
Boston: printed by B.H. i.e for Michael Perry, 1694
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.
First, Young People, TAKE HEED, Lest by Forgetting of your SOULS you Starve them, you Slay them, you Ruin them. The Youngest of you all, have a Precious, and an Immortal Soul within you; a Soul, by its Fall from God, plunged into such an Universal Wretchedness, as would amaze you, ⟨p. 27⟩if one part of it, were not your being Star's Dead in it; a Soul, that cannot be Saved from that Wretchedness, by a Less Ransom than the Blood and Life of God Himself; a Soul, which is to Stand like a Rock in the Sea of an Eternity, either Comfortable, or Miserable, according to your Youthful Preparations for that Eternity. But, oh! what have you hitherto done, for the Welfare of this Never-Dying Soul? I say, Take Heed, Lest you fall into that most woeful Disaster, in Math. 16.26. What is a man profited, if he Gain the whole World, and L••se• his own Soul? I hope, You Study to get into some honest Way of Living; You Labour to get Afore-hand in the World; You Desire to be Settled in a Family, with all the Conveniences of a Credible Family about you; and you, Do well. But, O Take Heed, that all this while, you don't Neglect your Invaluable SOULS, and that Great Salvation, which is altogether necessary for your Souls. 'Tis reported, That when Herod Butchered a Son of his own, among the Children which he Murdered at Bethlehem, the Roman Emperor said upon it, It were better to be Herod's Swine, than Herod's Son. Truly so, It may be said of many a Young Man, That Young man will do more for his Carcass, yea, he will do more for his Horse, or for his Dog, than he will do for his own Soul. But, ⟨p. 28⟩in the Name of God; Is this to Act Reasonably? Take Heed, I say, Take Heed, Lest that SOUL of yours, have cause to complain, A Goodly Price am I Valued at of them! You set such a Price upon a Body, which the Worms are a few Days hence to Feed upon, that you have spent many a weary Year, for the Feeding, the Clothing, the Pleasing of it. But in the mean time, will you Begrudge a Serious Hour, to be now and then Laid out in Working out the Salvation of a SOUL, that shall Endure, till the very Heavens be no more? A Goodly Price, Young People, A Goodly Price, for such a Soul! Oh! Methinks I over-hear that poor SOUL, making this Loud Cry, in its Owners Ears; Have Pity on me, Wretch, Have pity on me! Art thou careful of every thing else, but of ME?