The History of a LONG WAR, Briefly Recited & Improved., Duodecennium luctuosum. The history of a long war with Indian salvages, and their directors… (Cotton Mather, 1714) | AskReformation
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Duodecennium luctuosum. The history of a long war with Indian salvages, and their directors…
Duodecennium luctuosum. The history of a long war with Indian salvages, and their directors and abettors; from the year, 1702. To the year, 1714. Comprised in a short essay, to declare the voice of the glorious God, in the various occurrences of that war, which have been thought matters of more special observation. : A recapitulation made in the audience, of his Excellency the governor, and the General Assembly of the Massachusett province; at Boston, 30. d. VII. m. 1714. : [Two lines from Livy]Duodecennium luctuosum. The history of a long war with Indian salvages, and their directors and abettors; from the year, 1702. To the year, 1714. Comprised in a short essay, to declare the voice of the glorious God, in the various occurrences of that war, which have been thought matters of more special observation. : A recapitulation made in the audience, of his Excellency the governour, and the General Assembly of the Massachusett province; at Boston, 30. d. VII. m. 1714. : [Two lines from Livy]
Cotton Mather 1663–1728Boston: printed by B. Green. Sold by Samuel Gerrish, 1714
[2], 30 p. ; 15 cm. (8vo) · 8.4k words · Evans 1688
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.
TIS not my Purpose to make any Remarks on the Psalm, which affords this Text unto us, and which is as Jerous Long Since Observed, Refertus Mysterijs, Full of Mysteries; I may add, — and Full of Prophecies.
THE Entertainment, I Suppose, would not have been Unprofitable, if I should have Enquired, What is the Voice of GOD, and what is it that the Mighty Voice of our GOD Speaks unto us? You are all aware, That in the Gospel which is the Word of GOD, we have the Mighty Voice of God, Speaking to us, in the Plainnest Manner that can be. Our JESUS who Spake as never Man Spake, did never Speak, in the Days of His Flesh among us, but, GOD Uttered His Voice, in the most familiar Way that can be imagined. But there is also the Voice of GOD in all the Oracles of the Gospel; GOD inspired the Writers of these Oracles, and there is a Mighty Voice of GOD in the Inspiration. Where the Gospel comes, The Great Trumpet is blown, and there is a Mighty Voice of GOD, in the Joyful Sound of that Jubilee. Sirs, It would be Well, if you would be Prevailed upon, When you Take up the Bible, and Open it, then to think, The Mighty Voice of GOD is now Speaking to me; And when Qualified Preachers Open the Bible unto you, then again to think, The Mighty Voice of GOD, is what I must now give earnest Heed unto. Methinks, You should be also aware, That in the Dictates of our Conscience we have the Mighty Voice of GOD unto us. The Principle in Man, which acts in a Way of Judging on him, as Under the Judgment of GOD; tho' the Dictates of that Principle, are a Sort of Whispers, yet there are also Thunders in them: It cries with a Loud Voice, as when a Lion roars! Oh! that Men were more fearful of ⟨p. 3⟩Rebelling against the Light, and against the Voice of a Principle, which, O rash Man, if thou put continual Sleights upon, will One Day Tear thee to Pieces, and there shall be none to deliver thee. Yea, I will say unto you, Sound Reason is always the Voice of GOD. When ever any Maxim, or Demand of Reason is Offered unto us, We have GOD Speaking unto us. My Brethren, If you will Show your selves Men, and Hearken to Reason, You may fill your Lives with Acts of Obedience unto GOD. Whatever you see to be Reason, Conform to it, from this Consideration, Tis what GOD Calls me to!
THE Entertainment, I Suppose, would not have been Unprofitable, if I should have Enquired, What is the Voice of GOD, and what is it that the Mighty Voice of our GOD Speaks unto us? You are all aware, That in the Gospel which is the Word of GOD, we have the Mighty Voice of God, Speaking to us, in the Plainnest Manner that can be. Our JESUS who Spake as never Man Spake, did never Speak, in the Dayes of His Flesh among us, but, GOD Uttered His Voice, in the most familiar Way that can be imagined. But there is also the Voice of GOD in all the Oracles of the Gospel; GOD inspired the Writers of these Oracles, and there is a Mighty Voice of GOD in the Inspiration. Where the Gospel comes, The Great Trumpet is blown, and there is a Mighty Voice of GOD, in the Joyful Sound of that Jubilee. Sirs, It would be Well, if you would be Prevailed upon, When you Take up the Bible, and Open it, then to think, The Mighty Voice of GOD is now Speaking to me; And when Qualified Preachers Open the Bible unto you, then again to think, The Mighty Voice of GOD, is what I must now give earnest Heed unto. Methinks, You should be also aware, That in the Dictates of our Conscience we have the Mighty Voice of GOD unto us. The Principle in Man, which acts in a Way of Judging on him, as Under the Judgment of GOD; tho' the Dictates of that Principle, are a Sort of Whispers, yet there are also Thunders in them: It cryes with a Loud Voice, as when a Lion roars! Oh! that Men were more fearful of ⟨p. 3⟩Rebelling against the Light, and against the Voice of a Principle, which, O rash Man, if thou put continual Sleights upon, will One Day Tear thee to Pieces, and there shall be none to deliver thee. Yea, I will say unto you, Sound Reason is always the Voice of GOD. When ever any Maxim, or Demand of Reason is Offered unto us, We have GOD Speaking unto us. My Brethren, If you will Shew your selves Men, and Hearken to Reason, You may fill your Lives with Acts of Obedience unto GOD. Whatever you see to be Reason, Conform to it, from this Consideration, Tis what GOD Calls me to!
BUT then, You must be as much aware of this; That there is a Mighty Voice of GOD, in all the Works of His Hands. All His Dispensations are Speaking Dispensations. The Works of Creation; There is no Speech nor Language, Where their Voice is not heard. All the Creatures of GOD are so many Teachers to us. Ask them now, and they shall teach thee; Yea, the Mutest of them shall declare unto thee. The Works of Providence too; Stand still, and Consider these Wondrous Works of God; That is, To Hear what they Speak unto us. The General Providence of GOD, which Preserves and Governs the World, has a Voice to all the World; The Wheels of it make a Noise in their Motions. But so too has the Special Providence. There is a Voice of GOD unto us, in what we see befalling of Others. The Rewarding of the Righteous, and the Punishing of the Wicked, has always a Voice in it, unto all the Spectators of it. But — much more in what we feel befalling Our selves. Do we meet with Agreeable Things? I Speak unto thee in thy Prosperity, saith the Lord. — Oh! but what follows? — Do we meet with Deplorable Things? Now, Hear ⟨p. 4⟩the Rod; the Voice of the Lord Cries unto the Sufferer.
BUT then, You must be as much aware of this; That there is a Mighty Voice of GOD, in all the Works of His Hands. All His Dispensations are Speaking Dispensations. The Works of Creation; There is no Speech nor Language, Where their Voice is not heard. All the Creatures of GOD are so many Teachers to us. Ask them now, and they shall teach thee; Yea, the Mutest of them shall declare unto thee. The Works of Providence too; Stand still, and Consider these Wondrous Works of God; That is, To Hear what they Speak unto us. The General Providence of GOD, which Preserves and Governs the World, has a Voice to all the World; The Wheels of it make a Noise in their Motions. But so too has the Special Providence. There is a Voice of GOD unto us, in what we see befalling of Others. The Rewarding of the Righteous, and the Punishing of the Wicked, has alwayes a Voice in it, unto all the Spectators of it. But — much more in what we feel befalling Our selves. Do we meet with Agreeable Things? I Speak unto thee in thy Prosperity, saith the Lord. — Oh! but what follows? — Do we meet with Deplorable Things? Now, Hear ⟨p. 4⟩the Rod; the Voice of the Lord Cryes unto the Sufferer.
THE Sum of the Voice, even the Mighty Voice, You cannot but be aware, and apprised of it. It is that of the Angel with the Everlasting Gospel, Saying with a Loud Voice, Fear GOD, and give Glory to HIM. 'Tis, O Acknowledge the Glorious GOD in all Your Ways; Make it the Chief End of your Lives, to Render and Procure, continual Acknowledgements of His Glories. Place your Blessedness, in the Enjoyment of Him. Embrace the Lovely JESUS in all His Offices, as the Only Saviour, to bring you unto that Blessedness. Be afraid of all Sin against the Holy Lord. Be Weaned from a World, wherein Satisfaction is to be despaired of •e the Wiser and the Better for all that befalls you; and let GOD have Revenues to His Kingdom, out of all that He does for you, or on you. Walk with GOD, and be Holy in all manner of Conversation.
THE Sum of the Voice, even the Mighty Voice, You cannot but be aware, and apprised of it. It is that of the Angel with the Everlasting Gospel, Saying with a Loud Voice, Fear GOD, and give Glory to HIM. 'Tis, O Acknowledge the Glorious GOD in all Your Wayes; Make it the Chief End of your Lives, to Render and Procure, continual Acknowledgments of His Glories. Place your Blessedness, in the Enjoyment of Him. Embrace the Lovely JESUS in all His Offices, as the Only Saviour, to bring you unto that Blessedness. Be afraid of all Sin against the Holy Lord. Be Weaned from a World, wherein Satisfaction is to be despaired of •e the Wiser and the Better for all that befalls you; and let GOD have Revenues to His Kingdom, out of all that He does for you, or on you. Walk with GOD, and be Holy in all manner of Conversation.
THIS the Voice. No Doubt, I might have gone on Profitably, to have told you, How and Why the Mighty Voice of GOD is Mightily to be hearkened to? To have told you, That to Study the Mind of God in His Voice, and to be, and to do what is therein called for, is to Hearken to it. And then, to have told you, that since 'tis the Mighty Voice of GOD, there need no other Argument for its being Mightily Hearkened to.
THIS the Voice. No Doubt, I might have gone on Profitably, to have told you, How and Why the Mighty Voice of GOD is Mightily to be hearkened to? To have told you, That to Study the Mind of God in His Voice, and to be, and to do what is therein called for, is to Hearken to it. And then, to have told you, that since 'tis the Mighty Voice of GOD, there need no other Argument for its being Mightily Hearken'd to.
¶ THE Design which I Propose this Day to Prosecute, is, That the Voice of the Glorious GOD, even His Mighty Voice, in the Later Dispensations of His Providence towards this Land, may be Regarded, be Understood, be Complied withal.
WHEN the former Long War, which our Treacherous and Barbarous Enemies made upon us, was finished, there was an Essay to make some Improvement of the Observable Things that had occurred in it: An Essay, which God and His People approved of.
ANOTHER Long War is now finished; A New Peace hath been struck up, in our Borders: And it is Time to Consider the Voice of our God unto us, in the Observable Things that have therein Passed over us. For, O my Dear People, While thy God has been Striking of thee, He has been also Speaking to thee; And it is of the Last Consequence, that His Voice be Wisely hearkened to; A Total Inadvertency to the Voice, will have a Consequence which we may justly tremble at; — If to be Punished yet Ten times for our Iniquities, or with more than Ten Years of Confusions repeared upon us, be a thing to be trembled at.
FROM such an Holy Undertaking, we must not be discouraged, by the Derision of a few Foolish, and Flashy, and Profane Creatures, (no more to be valued than the Dirt of a Street) who Scoff at all Sermons of an Historical Importance; that is to say. At such Sermons as the Prophets of God have all over the Bible Exemplified unto us; Creatures below the ⟨p. 6⟩Notice of One, who would Go Well, and in Holy and Comely Going would never turn away for any. No, Sirs; Were One of the bright Angels detached and dispatched from the Multitude of the Heavenly Host unto us, most certainly he would most cheerfully take up a Trumpet of God, and embrace the Office and the Honour of Sounding the Trumpet, that should render the Voice of the Glorious LORD very Plain unto His People, and awaken them to Entertain that Mighty Voice with a due Attention and Obedience.
FROM such an Holy Undertaking, we must not be discouraged, by the Derision of a few Foolish, and Flashy, and Prophane Creatures, (no more to be valued than the Dirt of a Street) who Scoff at all Sermons of an Historical Importance; that is to say. At such Sermons as the Prophets of God have all over the Bible Exemplified unto us; Creatures below the ⟨p. 6⟩Notice of One, who would Go Well, and in Holy and Comely Going would never turn away for any. No, Sirs; Were One of the bright Angels detach'd and dispatch'd from the Multitude of the Heavenly Host unto us, most certainly he would most cheerfully take up a Trumpet of God, and embrace the Office and the Honour of Sounding the Trumpet, that should render the Voice of the Glorious LORD very Plain unto His People, and awaken them to Entertain that Mighty Voice with a due Attention and Obedience.
WHEREFORE, Having this Opportunity, of Seeing the Elders and the Judges of our Israel, here assembled, I call upon you, Stand Still, that I may Reason with you before the Lord, Concerning the Righteous Acts which He hath done among you, and His Mighty Voice in those Acts, which He Expects you to take a Reasonable and a Religious Notice of.
GOD forbid, That a People of our Profession and Original, should be so abandoned by the Spirit of Piety, as to be Insensible, that there is a Voice of the Glorious GOD unto us, even a Mighty Voice, in the Things which He has dispensed unto us, during our Long War, with the Eastern Salvages, and the bloody Papists that have inspired them and abetted them. Verily, Such an Insensibility would but bring us within the reach of that flaming Thunderbolt; Psal. XXVIII. 5. Because they regard not the Works of the Lord, nor the Operation of His Hands, He shall destroy them, and not build them up. I again say, God forbid!
