N01484:31
A sorrowful spectacle. In two sermons, occasioned by a just sentence of death, on…
A sorrowful spectacle. In two sermons, occasioned by a just sentence of death, on a miserable woman, for the murder of a spurious offspring. : The one declaring, the evil of an heart hardened, under and against all means of good. : The other describing, the fearful case of such as in a suffering time, and much more such as in a dying hour, are found without the fear of God. : With some remarkable things, relating to the criminal; proper for all to be informed of. / By Cotton Mather, D.D. and F.R.S. ; [One line from Acts]
Boston: printed by T. Fleet & T. Crump for Samuel Gerrish, 1715
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.
There is indeed a Fear that is far from any Happiness. Not Happy, but Wretched, the Man who feareth w•• there the Mercy of God in Christ ⟨p. 5⟩can be extended unto so great a Sinner as he knows himself to be. Not Happy, but Foolish, the Man, who torments himself with Fears of those Evils, whereto we are Obnoxious in this present Evil World. Not Happy, but Faulty is the Ma•; who by the Fears of Death spoils […] Joys of Life. Not Happy, but Reprehensible is the Man, who lets his Heart sin• with Fears that the Church of God shall utterly Sink. When we are in the Covenant of Grace, it will be an unhappy Thing for us to Fear that, […] one Article of it shall not be […] unto us. There is also a […] Fearfulness, which is an Unhappiness to them that Labour under […]. But then, Oh! Happy the Man, who has the Fear of God always Govern••• his Heart and Life. Happy […] who never lays aside a […], and of the Evils […] he exposed by […], who feareth always, […] •• ceived by his own Heart, […] Deceitful above all Things, Happy […] ⟨p. 6⟩Man, who feareth always, lest this World so Entangle him, as to make him neglect the Affairs of another and a better World. Happy the Man, who feareth always, lest when he has Lovely Things about him, he set his Love too much upon them. Happy the Man, who feareth always, lest he shall give at last, but a poor Account of the Talents whereof he is Accountable.
There is indeed a Fear that is far from any Happiness. Not Happy, but Wretched, the Man who feareth w•• ther the Mercy of God in Christ ⟨p. 5⟩can be extended unto so great a Sinner as he knows himself to be. Not Happy, but Foolish, the Man, who torments himself with Fears of those Evils, whereto we are Obnoxious in this present Evil World. Not Happy, but Faulty is the Ma•; who by the Fears of Death spoils 〈…〉 Joys of Life. Not Happy, but Reprehensible is the Man, who lets his Heart sin with Fears that the Church of God shall utterly Sink. When we are in the Covenant of Grace, it will be an unhappy Thing for us to Fear that, one Article of it shall not be unto us. There is also a Fearfulness, which is an Unhappiness to them that Labour under . But then, Oh! Happy the Man, who has the Fear of God always Govern his Heart and Life. Happy who never lays aside a , and of the Evils he exposed by , who feareth always, ceived by his own Heart, Deceitful above all Things, Happy