N01717:28
Concio ad populum. A distressed people entertained with proposals for the relief of their…
Concio ad populum. A distressed people entertained with proposals for the relief of their distresses. In a sermon at Boston; made in the audience of His Excellency the governor, and the General Assembly of the Massachusetts-Bay, New-England. 12 d. Im. 1719. / By Cotton Mather, D.D. and F.R.S. ; [Two lines from Isaiah]Concio ad populum. A distressed people entertained with proposals for the relief of their distresses. In a sermon at Boston; made in the audience of His Excellency the governour, and the General Assembly of the Massachusetts-Bay, New-England. 12 d. Im. 1719. / By Cotton Mather, D.D. and F.R.S. ; [Two lines from Isaiah]
printed by B. Green for Benj. Eliot, 1719
Title page typeset from the transcription.
The Valley of Vision IN The Valley of Achor. BOSTON 12 d. Im. 1719.
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.
BUT then, the Second Thing to be seen & said, and the Vision whereof does with some Haste crowd in upon us, is This; There are ASSOCIATIONS necessary. It is an Old saying, Plus vident oculi quam oculus. The more Eyes there are to be employed in it, the better and clearer will be the Vision. The Sentence is of a great Antiquity, Two are better than One. And for this ⟨p. 8⟩cause, what I would propose, is; That considerate Men would ASSOCIATE for the Discovery and the Prosecution of what may be for Public Advantage. We must not Prophesy Good but Evil concerning our People, if we have no Vision but M•ca•ah's for them, I saw all Israel Scattered upon the Hills. If Attempts for the Succour of our Distresses, proceed no further than this; For Sensible Persons in a Scattered way to discern and bewail our Distresses, and not Unite in Endeavours that we may all get out of them; This will be but a poor Procedure. For a Sensible Man, to Sit alone and keep Silence, or only complain unto a Neighbour as Unactive as himself, This may do for Lamentations. But if there be no more, the Case must be very Lamentable. Sirs, You must Get up and be doing; But know, that without United Endeavours, there will be nothing done to any purpose for our Deliverance. Associations of well-disposed Men, have had Mighty Successes, and have done wondrously. SOCIETIES for the Reformation of Manners, did Good and Great Things in our Nation, while they continued in their Vigour. Would a Few Men of any Capacity now Associate upon that Intention, What may be done to Serve the Kingdom of GOD, and bring the Maxims of the Everlasting Gospel, to be Published and Received in th• World? — there would soon be a wondrous Effect of it; And, behold, How Great a Matter a little Fire would soon Enkindle! But what is now proposed, ⟨p. 9⟩is, That some Numbers of Capable Men, would form themselves into Societies, to pursue together this Enquiry, What may be done, to rescue our Land out of the Distresses coming upon it, and render us an Happy People? It were well, if this were made more a point of Daily Conversation, in our Occasional Interviews with one another. Certainly it were a more Noble Theme than those Insipid Impertinences, which our Daily Conversation is too commonly made Empty withal.