N01717:55
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.
I am now arrived unto a Seventh Article, of those Things in which it cannot be said, Ye have seen a Vain Vision: And it shall Conclude the Entertainment I intended for you.
ANY Man may, without much of a Second Sight, easily Foresee such a Thing as this; That This is not a Country where Great Estates are in our Days are to be Looked for. 'Tis indeed a Geographical Observation, and the Divine Providence is much to be Observed and Admired ⟨p. 27⟩and Adored in it, That Countries which are much accommodated with Good Harbours, are such as GOD has most furnished with the Materials of Trade, and Wealth must by consequence flow in upon them. And therefore I know not what this Well-harboured Country may see in future Generations, after the People shall be greatly Multiplied! But in Our Time, such is the Constitution of the Country, that many Great Estates must not be soon raised in it. And if here and there One should rise to any thing, like what is more frequent in some Other Places, GOD will Write a, Vanity, upon it in such Legible Dispensations, as will proclaim unto His Children, Depart, For this is not your Rest; It is Polluted! Most certainly, The Voice of our GOD unto the People of New-England, is that; Jer. XLV. 5. Seekest thou Great Things for thy self? Seek them not. Sirs, If you can Live Decently, without any crippling Circumstances upon you, and can bring up your Children so as to make a Present of a Well-cultivated Offspring unto the Succeeding Generation, and can Do Good unto those about you; Be contented; Be satisfied; Be glad, you can come off so; Be not Eager for any more. If you Make haste to be Rich, and Resolve that you will be Rich, you may much sooner fall into many foolish and hurtful things, than come at, what you are so set upon. Religion was the First and Main Design of this Plantation; and Brown Bread and the Gospel ⟨p. 28⟩good sort, was the Word among the Planters. Let us be a Religious People, and we are sure of being Fed with a Food Convenient for us. If we Seek First the Kingdom of GOD, Our dear SAVIOUR has assured us, of so much to be added unto us. Let that Competency be enough! An Insatiable Appetite after more, will Plunge Men into Inconveniences beyond all Enumeration.