N00770:16
A monitory, and hortatory letter, to those English, who debauch the Indians, by selling…
A monitory, and hortatory letter, to those English, who debauch the Indians, by selling strong drink unto them. Written at the desire of some Christians, to whom the mischiefs arising from that vile trade, are matters of much apprehension and lamentation. : [Eleven lines of quotations in Latin]
Boston, N.E. : s.n., Printed in the year 1700
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.
Drunkenness is indeed a Complicated Sin. If on• should Enquire, which of the Ten Precepts in th• Law of God, are violated by Drunkenness, we ma• say, All the Ten, as well as the Third. And indeed, it not only unfits men to keep all the Law of God, but also Inclines men to Break them all. If the Indians Transgress all the Laws of God by being Drunk, Then You, O unhappy Drink sellers, are also Transgressors of all those Laws, in the Drunkenness of the Indians, whereto you have so directly contributed. And, for the English to do thus unto the Indians, is a Fault that has its peculiar Aggravations.
Drunkenness is indeed a Complicated Sin. If on• should Enquire, which of the Ten Precepts in th• Law of God, are violated by Drunkenness, we ma• say, All the Ten, as well as the Third. And in•deed, it not only unfits men to keep all the Law of God, but also Inclines men to Break them all. If the Indians Transgress all the Laws of God by being Drunk, Then You, O unhappy Drink sellers, are also Transgressors of all those Laws, in the Drunkenness of the Indians, whereto you have so directly contributed. And, for the English to do thus unto the Indians, is a Fault that has its peculiar Aggravations.
Our Christian Profession obliges us, yea, and it has been our m•st Explicit Profession in these our American Settlements, To Civilize and Christianize the Salvages. And is this the Christianity that you Teach them, Sirs? Even the Drunkenness. ⟨p. 8⟩which they never Learnt or Saw, till you, pre•entled Christians, Taught it unto them? They were Salvages before; some few Rational men •mong them, do bitterly complain of it, that by the Drunkenness got in among them, they are made yet more Salvages: A Drunken Indian, what is he but a very Centaur? I pray, What are you then that make them so? If our Lord Jesus Christ could say, Woe to you, that make a man twofold more the Child of Hell, Think of it, Sirs; The Indians were the Children of Hell before; but by their Drunkenness, they are twofold more so; for we are expressly told, Drunkards shall not inherit the Kingdom of God. Now, what a dreadful symptom of your own Exclusion from that Kingdom do you procure unto your selves, and whose Children will you declare your selves at ast, by the Assistance that you give unto the Drunkenness of those that are thereby confirmed in their having the Devil for their Father? Woe o you, that make Indians twofold more the Children of Hell! Satan had a Strong Hold of these doleful Tawnies before; but by the Drunkenness, wherein you by your Strong Drink support them, there is no small Strength added thereunto, he holds them in the faster Chains of Darkness. Truly, Sirs, I will deal Freely with you, and you are a sort of Offenders, with whom the Sharpest Rebukes, can't be said to deal Harshly: no Freedom is to be counted Harshness. One well says, To Complement Vice is next to Worshipping of the Devil!