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Things for a distressed people to think upon. Offered in the sermon to the…Things for a distress'd people to think upon. Offered in the sermon to the…Cotton Mather, 1696

Sermon

pp. 2–6863 passagespart 1 of 2

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.

:6p. 2

1 Samuel VII.6, 10. And they gathered together to Mizpeh, and they drew water and poured it out before the Lord; and they Fasted on that Day; and they said there, We have Sinned against the Lord. [Unto which, if we duly Attend, we shall be ready for the following passages;] And Samuel Judged the Children of Israel; But the Lord Thundered with a great Thunder upon the Philistines, and discomfited them.

1 Samuel VII.6, 10. And they gathered together to Mizpeh, and they drew water and poured it out before the Lord; and they Fasted on that Day; and they said there, We have Sinned against the Lord. [Unto which, if we duely Attend, we shall be ready for the following passages;] And Samuel Judged the Children of Israel; But the Lord Thundered with a great Thunder upon the Philistines, and discomfited them.

:7p. 2

I Confess, that I now Entertain you with a Text very proper, for a Day of Humiliation: but it is for this very cause that I pitch upon this Text, as a very Agreeable Entertainment for us: inasmuch as we are generally agreed, That we are in most Humbling Circumstances.

:8p. 2–3

'Tis possible, that it was an Anniversary Solemnity of a Sacred Importance with the People of Israel, when the memorable Actions here mentioned were performed. Jewish and Ancient Records have told us, that at the Feast of Tabernacles, they did every Day fetch a silver Flagon of Water, and pour it out at the Altar, with the Wine, for the Drink Offering; to signify ⟨p. 3⟩the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, after the Coming of the Messiah, who indeed, was afterwards Born at the very Time of that September Festival For this Custom, we find no Institution; but the countenance which our Lord Jesus Christ gave unto it, when He thence formed a Reflection upon the Living Waters of the Holy Spirit which He has to give, would make one think, whether it were not first Instituted by the Inspired Samuel, in that History which is now before us. But we have a further Assurance, that five days before the Feast of Tabernacles, namely, on the Tenth Day of the Seventh Month, a Fast was kept for a Day of Expiation: Even on the same Day that Moses having Thrice Fasted forty days together, came down to his people, with the News of the Lords being Reconciled unto them. I know not whether the Prophet Samuel, might not, a little divert some Actions of that Great Solemnity, unto the Designs of Repentance, which the extraordinary Calamities upon his people did now require. But still, our Anniversary Solemnity of a Civil Importance, this Day recurring, will be the better accommodated by our proposing those Actions to ou present Imitation.

Things for a distressed people to think upon. Offered in the sermon to the…Things for a distress'd people to think upon. Offered in the sermon to the…Cotton Mather, 1696

Sermon

pp. 2–6863 passagespart 1 of 2

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.

:6p. 2

1 Samuel VII.6, 10. And they gathered together to Mizpeh, and they drew water and poured it out before the Lord; and they Fasted on that Day; and they said there, We have Sinned against the Lord. [Unto which, if we duely Attend, we shall be ready for the following passages;] And Samuel Judged the Children of Israel; But the Lord Thundered with a great Thunder upon the Philistines, and discomfited them.

:7p. 2

:8p. 2–3

:9p. 3–5

The People of Israel, were, by their Sins, like us, the poor People of New England, brought into very dismal circumstances. Those Ta• ny ⟨p. 4⟩Pagans the Philistines, had made cruel and bloody Depredations, upon several of their Villages: and besides their Loss of men, by the Hand of the Philistines, they lost a great number of their Principal men, by the more Immediate Hand of Heaven upon them. The least computation of that mischief, is that of them, who thus read the Story: When they were together met from all Quarters at Bethshemesh, about Fifty Thousand People, the Lord smote Threescore and ten men: and it may be those Threescore & ten men were equivalent unto Fifty Thousand People, of the more common sort. Under these awful Judgments of God, they continued Impenitent, for as many years, as have ran out, since the Children of those Philistines were first let Loose upon our selves; even for Twenty years together. But it was well for them, that they had a Samuel among them; a faithful Minister of God, who had no little part of their Civil, as well as of their Sacred Affairs, falling under his Direction. Upon the Exhortations of that Blessed Samuel, they began to Lament after the Lord, that is, to cry unto the Lord for […] grievous Lamentation; and they […] private Reformations of their Families, all the Land over, to their Lamentations. But […] must have something more publicly done in this matter: the whole Body of that People must ⟨p. 5⟩Assemble at Mizpeh, a Town of some Note in the Confines of Judah and Benjamin, near the centre of the Country, where we suppose there might be an Altar Erected for the Worship of God; and at Mizpeh they do Three Things, whereto, may the Body of this People, to Day, endeavour some Conformity.

The People of Israel, were, by their Sins, like us, the poor People of New England, brought into very dismal circumstances. Those Ta• ny ⟨p. 4⟩Pagans the Philistines, had made cruel and bloody Depredations, upon several of their Villages: and besides their Loss of men, by the Hand of the Philistines, they lost a great number of their Principal men, by the more Immediate Hand of Heaven upon them. The least comp•tation of that mischief, is that of them, who thus read the Story: When they were together met from all Quarters at Bethshemesh, about Fifty Thousand People, the Lord smote Threescore and ten men: and it may be those Threescore & ten men were equivalent unto Fifty Thousand People, of the more common sort. Under these awful Judgments of God, they continued Impenitent, for as many years, as have ran out, since the Children of those Philistines were first let Loose upon our selves; even for Twenty years together. But it was well for them, that they had a Samuel among them; a faithful Minister of God, who had no little part of their Civil, as well as of their Sacred Affairs, falling under his Direction. Upon the Exhortations of that Blessed Samuel, they began to Lament after the Lord, that is, to cry unto the Lord for 〈…〉 g•ievous Lamen•ation; and they 〈…〉 private Reformations of their Families, all the Land over, to their Lamentations. But 〈…〉 must have something more publickly done in this matter: the whole Body of that People must ⟨p. 5⟩Assemble at Mizpeh, a Town of some Note in the Confines of Judah and Benjamin, near the center of the Countrey, where we suppose there might be an Altar Erected for the Worship of God; and at Mizpeh they do Three Things, whereto, may the Body of this People, to Day, endeavour some Conformity.

:11p. 5–6

First, The Drew Water, and poured it out […] the Lord. This passage puts Interpreters, as •he Dead Body of Asahel did the Travellers, and Spectators, unto a Stand; they almost content themselves with saying, Mirabilis hic locus, ac Difficilis; 'Tis too hard for us to Interpret it. But, if the Exposition, which we have already guessed, will not hit, there are several other Conjectures to be made upon the Literal Sense of this passage, which we will at present wave; that we may in the room thereof substitute that Figurative Sense, which has no less Authority, than that of the Chaldee Paraphrase to support it; Hauserunt Aquas e puteo cordis sui, et abunde Lacrymati sunt coram Domino. And indeed, Expositors do mostly go this way; Expounding it of the plentiful Years which they shed in such abundance, as if, to use the the words of the Weeping Prophet elsewhere, Their Heads had been Waters, and their Eyes a Fountain of Tears. However, Let us take what ⟨p. 6⟩Sense we will, of all that the Commentators have ordinarily offered us, the words will still have some Sense of Humiliation in them. The other two passages, are more Intelligible.

First, The Drew Water, and poured it out 〈…〉 the Lord. This passage puts Interpreters, as •he Dead Body of Asahel did the Travellers, and Spectators, unto a Stand; they almost content themselves with saying, Mirabilis hic locus, ac Difficilis; 'Tis too hard for us to Interpret it. But, if the Exposition, which we have already guess'd, will not hitt, there are several other Conjectures to be made upon the Literal Sense of this passage, which we will at present wave; that we may in the room thereof substitute that Figurative Sense, which has no less Authority, than that of the Chaldee Paraphrase to support it; Hauserunt Aquas e puteo cordis sui, et abunde Lacrymati sunt coram Domino. And indeed, Expositors do mostly go this way; Expounding it of the plentiful Years which they shed in such abundance, as if, to use the the words of the Weeping Prophet elsewhere, Their Heads had been Waters, and their Eyes a Fountain of Tears. However, Let us take what ⟨p. 6⟩Sense we will, of all that the Commentators have ordinarily offered us, the words will still have some Sense of Humiliation in them. The other two passages, are more Intelligible.

:17p. 7–8

When the General Assembly of Israel, poured out Water before the Lord, it is the Opinion of some, that they designed with an Hieroglyphic of much Humiliation, to express their own Calamitous Condition. A State Irretrievably calamitous, is thus described, in 2 Sam. 14.14. We are as water spilt upon the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. Thus the Intention of the General Assembly here, might be, most significantly to say, Lord, see whether we are not a People so utterly Lost▪ and Spoilt, and Gone, that it is as impossible to Retrieve our doleful Circumstances, as to gather up the Water which is poured out upon the Ground. Now, thy Condition, O poor New England, is indeed so very like that of Water poured out, that it pathetically obligeth us all, to pour out the Water of our Tears before the Lord. Weeping, is one of those Exercises, whereto the God of Heaven calls His people, to Humble themselves before Him. And in the Bible we have many Instances of a Practice, according to that Precept, in Joel 2.12. Turn ye to God, with all your Heart, with weeping, and with mourning. Indeed the Tears of the Eye, are to be expected of men, more or less, according to their Natural Constitutions. ⟨p. 8⟩It is desirable, that the Eye, which has been the Grand Broker for Sin, should by its Tears bear its part in discovering the passions of our minds thereupon. But where the Eye, does not Naturally afford so free a Channel to that Brine, which the compression and constriction of the Brain upon Grief produceth, we have still our Sighs, which Austin, well calls, our Interior Tears. And now, O our Tears, where are you!

When the General Assembly of Israel, poured out Water before the Lord, it is the Opinion of some, that they designed with an Hieroglyphick of much Humiliation, to express their own Calamitous Condition. A State Irretrievably calamitous, is thus described, in 2 Sam. 14.14. We are as water spilt upon the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. Thus the Intention of the General Assembly here, might be, most significantly to say, Lord, see whether we are not a People so utterly Lost▪ and Spoilt, and Gone, that it is as impossible to Retrieve our doleful Circumstances, as to gather up the Water which is poured out upon the Ground. Now, thy Condition, O poor New England, is indeed so very like that of Water poured out, that it pathetically obligeth us all, to pour out the Water of our Tears before the Lord. Weeping, is one of those Exercises, whereto the God of Heaven calls His people, to Humble themselves before Him. And in the Bible we have many Instances of a Practice, according to that Precept, in Joel 2.12. Turn ye to God, with all your Heart, with weeping, and with mourning. Indeed the Tears of the Eye, are to be expected of men, more or less, according to their Natural Constitutions. ⟨p. 8⟩It is desirable, that the Eye, which has been the Grand Broker for Sin, should by its Tears bear its part in discovering the passions of our minds thereupon. But where the Eye, does not Naturally afford so free a Channel to that Brine, which the compression and constriction of the Brain upon Grief produceth, we have still our Sighs, which Austin, well calls, our Interiour Tears. And now, O our Tears, where are you!

:18p. 8–9

We read concerning a General Assembly, in Judg. 2.1. An Angel of the Lord came unto them, and said, I brought you unto the Land, which I sware unto your Fathers; but ye have not obeyed my voice; wherefore there shall yet be Thorns in your sides: And it came to pass, when the Angel of the Lord spake these words, the people lift up their voice and wept; And they called the Name of the place Bochim; i. e. Weepers. Oh! why should not Boston this Day, be thus called Bochim. So Autocratorically spoke that Angel, that it seems to have been the Messiah himself, appearing in an Humane Shape; even, the same Angel of the Covenant, that had formerly appeared unto Joshua at Gilgal; and therefore 'tis here said, He came up from Gilgal. Permit a poor Servant of that Blessed Messiah, thus to Expostulate with you; The Lord of Heaven from whom I come unto you, brought our Fathers into this Good Land, which He provided for us; But we have ⟨p. 9⟩not obeyed His voice; and this our Disobedience He has chastised with continual Thorns in our sides. Why should we not Lift up our voice & weep, at such doleful Tidings!

We read concerning a General Assembly, in Judg. 2.1. An Angel of the Lord came unto them, and said, I brought you unto the Land, which I sware unto your Fathers; but ye have not obeyed my voice; wherefore there shall yet be Thorns in your sides: And it came to pass, when the Angel of the Lord spake these words, the people lift up their voice and wept; And they called the Name of the place Bochim; i. e. Weepers. Oh! why should not Boston this Day, be thus called Bochim. So Autocratorically spoke that Angel, that it seems to have been the Messiah himself, appearing in an Humane Shape; even, the same Angel of the Covenant, that had formerly appeared unto Joshua at Gilgal; and therefore 'tis here said, He came up from Gilgal. Permit a poor Servant of that Blessed Messiah, thus to Expostulate with you; The Lord of Heaven from whom I come unto you, brought our Fathers into this Good Land, which He provided for us; But we have ⟨p. 9⟩not obey'd His voice; and this our Disobedience He has chastised with continual Thorns in our sides. Why should we not Lift up our voice & weep, at such doleful Tidings!

:20p. 9–10

First, The Horrid Sins committed in the Land, yea, commonly committed, loudly call for our Tears. Alas, it may be said of us, That we have been Drinking in Iniquity like water. How much ought we then to, Drop it away in Tears, as I may say, when we p•ur out Water before the Lord! Bloody Crimes, like those, the Imputation whereof, made our Lord Jesus Christ, Sweat out His very Blood, have abounded among us; and will they not cause us to weep? Truly, Tears of Blood, were little enough to bewail our Bloody, Scarlet, Crimson Abominations. There is not one of all the Ten Commandments, in the Law, which our God has given us, but people are notoriously violating of it, from one end of the Land unto the other. While our Land is full of Unconverted, Unrenewed, Unsanctified Sinners, how should it be any other than full of all Ungodliness! And yet such is the vast multitude of Dead Souls among us, or of Souls which do not Live unto God, by virtue of Union with the Lord Jesus Christ, that we may with Horror say, There is hardly an House, in which there is not one ⟨p. 10⟩Dead: Nor may we wonder at it, if the Holy God in His Dispensations, treat our Land, as Unclean, when the Dead in all Societies are so very many. Truly, If we had a real kindness for the Holy and Just and Good Law of our God, or for our Neighbours, that Ruin themselves by sinning against that Law, we shall in some sort say with him, in Psal. 119.136. Rivers of waters […] down my Eyes, because they keep not thy Law. Oh! shall we not mourn, when we see, That the World is become the Idol, of almost all our little World, but the Lord Jesus Christ, and His Great Salvation very little considered? That the Institutions of the Lord Jesus Christ are shamefully neglected, and the Superstitions of a vain Conversation practised? That the Names, Words, Works and Ordinances, and Providences, of the Lord Jesus Christ, are most Irreverently & Unprofitably looked upon? And, That we have a Profane Indisposition to the Sabbaths of the Lord? Shall we not Mourn when we see the Disorder which confounds all Societies, and the Selfishness which depraves the most in all Societies? Our Hating & Vexing of one another? Our Unchastity in all sorts of Pollution? Our Injustice in our Dealings? Our manifold Falsehood in our Affairs? Our Discontent in every Station?

First, The Horrid Sins committed in the Land, yea, commonly committed, loudly call for our Tears. Alas, it may be said of us, That we have been Drinking in Iniquity like water. How much ought we then to, Drop it away in Tears, as I may say, when we p•ur out Water before the Lord! Bloody Crimes, like those, the Imputation whereof, made our Lord Jesus Christ, Sweat out His very Blood, have abounded among us; and will they not cause us to weep? Truly, Tears of Blood, were little enough to bewayl our Bloody, Scarlet, Crimson Abominations. There is not one of all the Ten Commandments, in the Law, which our God has given us, but people are notoriously violating of it, from one end of the Land unto the other. While our Land is full of Unconverted, Unrenewed, Unsanctifyed Sinners, how should it be any other than full of all Ungodliness! And yet such is the vast multitude of Dead Souls among us, or of Souls which do not Live unto God, by vertue of Union with the Lord Jesus Christ, that we may with Horror say, There is hardly an House, in which there is not one ⟨p. 10⟩Dead: Nor may we wonder at it, if the Holy God in His Dispensations, treat our Land, as Unclean, when the Dead in all Societies are so very many. Truly, If we had a real kindness for the Holy and Just and Good Law of our God, or for our N•ighbours, that Ruine themselves by sinning against that Law, we shall in some sort say with him, in Psal. 119.136. Rivers of waters 〈…〉 down my Eyes, because they keep not thy Law. Oh! shall we not mourn, when we see, That the VVorld is become the Idol, of almost all our little World, but the Lord Jesus Christ, and His Great Salvation very little considered? That the Institutions of the Lord Jesus Christ are shamefully neglected, and the Superstitions of a vain Conversation practised? That the Names, Words, Works and Ordinances, and Providences, of the Lord Jesus Christ, are most Irreverently & Unprofitably look'd upon? And, That we have a Profane Indisposition to the Sabbaths of the Lord? Shall we not Mourn when we see the Disorder which confounds all Societies, and the Selfishness which depraves the most in all Societies? Our Hating & Vexing of one another? Our Unchastity in all sorts of Pollution? Our Injustice in our Dealings? Our manifold Falshood in our Affayrs? Our Discontent in every Station?

:21p. 10–12

We could, in a Synod of our Churches, near Seventeen years ago, charge our selves with Epidemical Breaches of all the Rules ⟨p. 11⟩of Love, to God, and man. And verily, t'would be a brave Sponge to Dry up our Tears, if we could say, that we are mended since the Admonitions of that faithful Synod, But besides the more common Violations of the Divine Law among us, there are more Special out-breakings of Sin, in the midst of us, for which, no Tears are enough. We may say, but Oh! not without our Tears, as in Jer. 5.30. A wonderful & Horrible Thing is committed in the Land. The Land was fearfully Defiled, by the Impieties of the Indians, which were the first Inhabitants. Now, is it not A Wonderful & an Horrible Thing, for so many English that have Succeeded them, to Indianize, and by the Indian Vices of Lying, and Idleness, and Sorcery, and a notorious want of all Family-Discipline, to become obnoxious unto the old Score, and Store of wrath due unto the Land? Is it not a Wonderful & an Horrible thing, that the Sins of Sodom, should so much prevail in a Land, which was once a Land of Uprightness? For, this was the Iniquity of our Sister Sodom, Pride, Fullness of Bread, and Abundance of Idleness; neither did she strengthen the Hand of the Poor & Needy: The whole Spirit of all their Dealings, was, it seems, a General contrivance to Oppress, one another. Is it not a Wonderful & an Horrible Thing, that in such a Land as this, there should be the Sins that made the Old Land of Canaan, Vomit out ⟨p. 12⟩her Inhabitants? For so did those Infandous, & Confounded, Mixtures, that have openly shown their Heads among our selves. There was a Time, when one Returning from hence to England, could in a Sermon to a very Honourable Auditory, give this Report concerning us, I have been Seven years in a Country, where I never beheld one common Beggar, I never saw one man Drunk; I never heard one Profane Oath, for all the Time of my being there. But is it not a Wonderful & an Horrible Thing, that the Vices of Drinking & Swearing, are now every Day, the objects of our Observation; I pray, let it be a Sorrowful Observation? And is it not a Wonderful & an Horrible Thing ▪ that it should be a Complaint made about New England, Righteousness once Lodged in it, but now Murderers? I do speak it, with a Great concern of Soul;

We could, in a Synod of our Churches, near Seventeen years ago, charge our selves with Epidemical Breaches of all the Rules ⟨p. 11⟩of Love, to God, and man. And verily, t'would be a brave Sponge to Dry up our Tears, if we could say, that we are mended since the Admonitions of that faithful Synod, But besides the more common Violations of the Divine Law among us, there are more Special out-breakings of Sin, in the midst of us, for which, no Tears are enough. We may say, but Oh! not without our Tears, as in Jer. 5.30. A wonderful & Horrible Thing is committed in the Land. The Land was fearfully Defiled, by the Impieties of the Indians, which were the first Inhabitants. Now, is it not A Wonderful & an Horrible Thing, for so many English that have Succeeded them, to Indianize, and by the Indian Vices of Lying, and Idleness, and Sorcery, and a notorious want of all Family-Discipline, to become obnoxious unto the old Score, and Store of wrath due unto the Land? Is it not a Wonderful & an Horrible thing, that the Sins of Sodom, should so much prevail in a Land, which was once a Land of Uprightness? For, this was the Iniquity of our Sister Sodom, Pride, Fulness of Bread, and Abundance of Idleness; neither did she strengthen the Hand of the Poor & Needy: The whole Spirit of all their Dealings, was, it seems, a General contrivance to Oppress, one another. Is it not a Wonderful & an Horrible Thing, that in such a Land as this, there should be the Sins that made the Old Land of Canaan, Vomit out ⟨p. 12⟩her Inhabitants? For so did those Infandous, & Confounded, Mixtures, that have openly shown their Heads among our selves. There was a Time, when one Returning from hence to England, could in a Sermon to a very Honourable Auditory, give this Report concerning us, I have been Seven years in a Country, where I never beheld one common Beggar, I never saw one man Drunk; I never heard one Profane Oath, for all the Time of my being there. But is it not a Wonderful & an Horrible Thing, that the Vices of Drinking & Swearing, are now every Day, the objects of our Observation; I pray, let it be a Sorrowful Observation? And is it not a Wonderful & an Horrible Thing ▪ that it should be a Complaint made about New England, Righteousness once Lodged in it, but now Murderers? I do speak it, with a Great concern of Soul;

:22p. 12–13

The Tears of a bitter Detestation, are necessary to cleanse this Land, from the Guilt & Shame, of the Murderous Things, that have been with too much credibility Reported, as done by some New-Englanders! God forbid, That I should Reproach my Country. As the Apostle could say, I do not make my Appeal, as having any thing to Accuse my Nation of: So I would say, I do not Accuse my County, of any Thing, but what any other Nation may as much be charged withal. But, when Caesar saw one that was nearly Related unto himself, among the Wretches that were ⟨p. 13⟩Stabbing of him, he cried out, with a Singular Agony, What? You my Son! Have I a Son among you! Thus, there is this Aggravation upon all of our Miscarriages: Our Lord Jesus Christ from Heaven may thus Argue with us; If other People do Wound me by their Sins, 'tis not such a Wonderful and horrible Thing: But for you, O my People, of New England, a People that for the Liberties of my Gospel, I have known above the other Families of the Earth; a People that are obliged unto me, above the rest of mankind: For these Vile Things to be done among you, my Children! Oh! This is a Lamentation, & it should be for a Lamentation?

The Tears of a bitter Detestation, are necessary to cleanse this Land, from the Guilt & Shame, of the Murderous Things, that have been with too much credibility Reported, as done by some New-Englanders! God forbid, That I should Reproach my Country. As the Apostle could say, I do not make my Appeal, as having any thing to Accuse my Nation of: So I would say, I do not Accuse my County, of any Thing, but what any other Nation may as much be charged withal. But, when Caesar saw one that was nearly Related unto himsel•, among the Wretches that were ⟨p. 13⟩Stabbing of him, he cryed out, with a Singular Agony, What? You my Son! Have I a Son among you! Thus, there is this Aggravation upon all of our Miscarriages: Our Lord Jesus Christ from Heaven may thus Argue with us; If other People do Wound me by their Sins, 'tis not such a Wonderful and horrible Thing: But for you, O my People, of New England, a People that for the Liberties of my Gospel, I have known above the other Families of the Earth; a People that are obliged unto me, above the rest of mankind: For these Vile Things to be done among you, my Children! Oh! This is a Lamentation, & it should be for a Lamentation?

:23p. 13–15

Secondly, No Tears are enough to Bewail the visible Degeneracy, which is to be Instanced, let me plainly, and humbly say so! in all Orders of men throughout the Land. When there was a Second Edition of the Temple, among the People of God, it is noted, in Neh. 3.12. The Ancient men, who had seen the first House, when the Foundation of this House was laid before their Eyes, they wept with a loud voice. Truly, the few Ancient men that are left among us, do weep with a loud voice, when they see how miserably Temple-work is now circumstanced, in the Second and Third Generation of the Country. Tho' we may Shout aloud for joy, when we see so much of Christ, and of Truth, and of Grace, among us; for indeed, so much there is, that if they who talk of […] this Country, ⟨p. 14⟩would please to stay, as methinks they should, until they hear of a Country that has proportionably more of CHRIST in it, there would for the present, be little said of a Removal! Yet let not this Hinder our joining with such as weep with a loud voice for our Degeneracy. It is affirmed, That many sorts of Inferior Creatures, when Transplanted from Europe into America, do Degenerate by the Transplantation; But if this Remark must be made upon the People too, what can we do, but spend our Tears upon such a sad Remark? Our Lord Jesus Christ from Heaven seems to bestow that Rebuke upon us, in Jer. 2.21. I planted thee a Noble Vine▪ How then art thou Turned into the Degenerate Plant of a strange vine unto me! New England once had a famous Governor, namely, Hopkins of Connecticut, whose words were, I fear, I fear, the Sins of New-England will ere long be read in its punishments. Blessed hast thou been, O Land, in thy Rulers; but alas, for the generality, they have not considered, how they were to Honour the Rules of God, in Honouring of those whom God made Rulers over them; and I fear they will come to smart by having them set over them, that it will be an hard work to Honour, and that will hardly be capable to manage their Affairs. Now can we without many Tears, look upon the Tendencies, with the words of that Excellent man have towards an Accomplishment! ⟨p. 15⟩It must be acknowledged unto the praise of God, that New-England is yet Blessed with very Worthy men in all Orders; but alas, we have not such a Choice of them, as once we had.

Secondly, No Tears are enough to Bewayl the visible Degeneracy, which is to be Instanced, let me plainly, and humbly say so! in all Orders of men throughout the Land. When there was a Second Edition of the Temple, among the People of God, it is noted, in Neh. 3.12. The Ancient men, who had seen the first House, when the Foundation of this House was laid before their Eyes, they wept with a loud voice. Truly, the few Ancient men that are left among us, do weep with a loud voice, when they see how miserably Temple-work is now circumstanced, in the Second and Third Generation of the Countrey. Tho' we may Shout aloud for joy, when we see so much of Christ, and of Truth, and of Grace, among us; for indeed, so much there is, that if they who talk of 〈…〉 this Country, ⟨p. 14⟩would please to stay, as methinks they should, until they hear of a Country that has proportionably more of CHRIST in it, there would for the present, be little said of a Removal! Yet let not this Hinder our joyning with such as weep with a loud voice for our Degeneracy. It is affirmed, That many sorts of Inferiour Creatures, when Transplanted from Europe into America, do Degenerate by the Transplantation; But if this Remark must be made upon the People too, what can we do, but spend our Tears upon such a sad Remark? Our Lord Jesus Christ from Heaven seems to bestow that Rebuke upon us, in Jer. 2.21. I planted thee a Noble Vine▪ How then art thou Turned into the Degenerate Plant of a strange vine unto me! New England once had a famous Governour, namely, Hopkins of Connecticut, whose words were, I fear, I fear, the Sins of New-England will e're long be read in its punishments. Blessed hast thou been, O Land, in thy Rulers; but alas, for the generality, they have not c•nsidered, how they were to Honour the Rules of God, in Honouring of those whom God made Rulers over them; and I fear they will come to smart by having them set over them, that it will be an hard work to Honour, and that will hardly be capable to manage their Affairs. Now can we without many Tears, look upon the Tendencies, with the words of that Excellent man have towards an Accomplishment! ⟨p. 15⟩It must be acknowledged unto the praise of God, that New-England is yet Blessed with very Worthy men in all Orders; but alas, we have not such a Choice of them, as once we had.

:24p. 15–16

I suppose, 'twere easy to single out, it may be, less than Twenty men, upon whose Removal from us, all our Affairs would be Palsy-struck, with an Irrecoverable Feebleness, and the Country would almost fall, for want of Pillars to support it. Indeed, the best symptom that New-England has to boast of, is an Hopeful Issue, of Learned and Pious Young men, from a well-governed College; a College, which the Sons of Barbarity among us, perhaps care not, if it might be Razed unto the ground. But those thy Sons, O New-England, will be no sooner Hatched and Fledged, but it may be, they will fly away from thee, as fast as they can. Among the First Planters of New England, there was a vast variety of Generous▪ Notable, Brave Spirited men; yea, some of those very men, that were afterwards found able to conquer and manage mighty Kingdoms, would have been but New England Farmers, if their silly Persecutors had not hindered them: Choice Grain from three sifted Nations filled this Wilderness. But, the Posterity do for the most part strangely Loose that Brave Spirit, which Inspired their Ancestors. I Remember, That the Writer of the Israelitish Chronicles, ⟨p. 16⟩in 1 Chron. 4.22. reports, That among the Children of Judah, there were Degenerate Creatures, who were Potters, and Wretche• Dwelling among Plants, and Hedges; there they dwelt with the King, for his work; a slavish Generation they were: But what were their Ancestors? Why, they were Brave Hero's, who had the Dominion in Moab: and it is added, These are Ancient Things▪ New England once abounded with Hero's worthy to have their Lives written, as Copies for future Ages to write after; But, These are Ancient Things! A Public Spirit in all that sustained any Public Office, and a fervent Inclination to Do Good, joined with an Incomparable Ability to do it, once ran through New England; But, These are Ancient Things! A new-England•man, once was as much as to say, A man that scorns to do an •ll Thing, and One whose word is as good as his Bond; But, These are Ancient Things! There seems to be a shameful Shrink, in all sorts of men among us, from that Greatness, and Goodness, which adorned our Ancestors: We grow Little every way; Little in our Civil Matters, Little in our Military Matters, Little […] our Ecclesiastical Matters; we dwindle away, to Nothing: I do not mean, for our Numbers, but for our Actions.

I suppose, 'twere easy to single out, it may be, less than Twenty men, upon whose Removal from us, all our Affairs would be Palsey-struck, with an Irrecoverable Feebleness, and the Countrey would almost fall, for want of Pillars to support it. Indeed, the best symptom that New-England has to boast of, is an Hopeful Issue, of Learned and Pious Young men, from a well-governed Colledge; a Colledge, which the Sons of Barbarity among us, perhaps care not, if it might be Rased unto the ground. But those thy Sons, O New-England, will be no sooner Hatch'd and Fledg'd, but it may be, they will fly away from thee, as fast as they can. Among the First Planters of New England, there was a vast variety of Generous▪ Notable, Brave Spirited men; yea, some of those very men, that were afterwards found able to conquer and manage mighty Kingdoms, would have been but New England Farmers, if their silly Persecutors had not hindred them: Choice Grain from three sifted Nations filled this Wilderness. But, the Posterity do for the most part strangely Loose that Brave Spirit, •hich Inspired their Ancestors. I Remember, That the Writer of the Israelitish Chronicles, ⟨p. 16⟩in 1 Chron. 4.22. reports, That among the Children of Judah, there were Degenerate Creatures, who were Potters, and Wretche• Dwelling among Plants, and Hedges; there they dwelt with the King, for his work; a slavish Generation they were: But what were their Ancestors? Why, they were Brave Hero's, who had the Dominion in Moab: and it is added, These are Ancient Things▪ New England once abounded with Hero's worthy to have their Lives written, as Copies for future Ages to write after; But, These are Ancient Things! A Publick Spirit in all that sustained any Publick Office, and a fervent Inclination to Do Good, joyn'd with an Incomparable Ability to do it, once ran through New England; But, These are Ancient Things! A new-England•man, once was as much as to say, A man that scorns to do an •ll Thing, and One whose word is as good as his Bond; But, These are Ancient Things! There seems to be a shameful Shrink, in all sorts of men among us, from that Greatness, and Goodness, which adorned our Ancestors: We grow Little every way; Little in our Civil Matters, Little in our Military Matters, Little 〈…〉 our Ecclesiastical Matters; we dwindle away, to Nothing: I do not mean, for our Numbers, but for our Actions.

:25p. 16–18

Those things, which have been our Glory, they are gradually Removing from us. Oh! with Tears, do our Ancient ⟨p. 17⟩men cry out, Where is the Glory of the Ancient Things! And shall I say it? As the Grand-child of Moses, 'tis judged, became an Idolater: So, There are very many Families, of Everlasting Renown throughout New-England, wherein some or other of the Grand-children, are become either foolish, or wicked, and it may be notorious Children of the Devil: the first and great Apostate. Those Things, which their Grand fathers would sooner have died, than have Done, these Degenerous Creatures, do them every Day.—At non ille Satum, quo te menti•is. Wretch, If thy Grandfather had imagined, that ever thou wouldest have become, such a pitiful Thing, he would have swum in his own Tears, unto his Grave upon it. Yea, our people, have for many years been going on in a course of long Apostasy. I will not Enquire, Whether the Principles of Church-Reformation, upon which we were at first Established, begin to be Deserted among us? I won't so much as Enquire, Whether we are Loosing that Principle, That no party of men whatsoever, have any just Authority to appoint any parts or means of Divine Worship, which the Lord Jesus Christ has not in the Scriptures Instituted? I won't so much as Enquire, Whether we are Loosing that Principle, That a probable, and a credible, and a tried Profession of a Saving Faith is to be expected from all that we Admit unto the ⟨p. 18⟩Table of the Lord? For us to Loose those Principles, already, would be too quick a Degeneracy, to be imagined. I know very well, that Apostasy has been sometimes unreasonably charged among us: Those things that were Incontestably, The First Principles of New-England, when asserted and practised, have been called, an Apostasy. The Principles of Morellianism, and Separation, were none of our First Principles: Nevertheless, the Principles of a Scriptural Purity in our Whole Worship, were so much our First Principles, that the Lord Jesus Christ, I am verily persuaded, will abhor us, and forsake us, upon our Abandoning thereof. But, I will Enquire, Whether our First Love to the Lord Jesus Christ, and his Evangelical Appointments be not almost I oft? And, whether we have not almost Lost the old Power of Godliness, in our Conversations?

Those things, which have been our Glory, they are gradually Removing from us. Oh! with Tears, do our Ancient ⟨p. 17⟩men cry out, Where is the Glory of the Ancient Things! And shall I say it? As the Grand-child of Moses, 'tis judged, became an Idolater: So, There are very many Families, of Everlasting Renown throughout New-England, wherein some or other of the Grand-children, are become either foolish, or wicked, and it may be notorious Children of the Devil: the first and great Apostate. Those Things, which their Grand fathers would sooner have dy'd, than have Done, these Degenerous Creatures, do them every Day.—At non ille Satum, quo te menti•is. Wretch, If thy Grandfather had imagined, that ever thou wouldest have become, such a pittiful Thing, he would have swum in his own Tears, unto his Grave upon it. Yea, our people, have for many years been going on in a course of long Apostasy. I will not Enquire, Whether the Principles of Church-Reformation, upon which we were at first Established, begin to be Deserted among us? I won't so much as Enquire, Whether we are Loosing that Principle, That no party of men whatsoever, have any just Authority to appoint any parts or means of Divine Worship, which the Lord Jesus Christ has not in the Scriptures Instituted? I won't so much as Enquire, Whether we are Loosing that Principle, That a probable, and a credible, and a try'd Profession of a Saving Faith is to be expected from all that we Admit unto the ⟨p. 18⟩Table of the Lord? For us to Loose those Principles, already, would be too quick a Degeneracy, to be imagined. I know very well, that Apostasy has been sometimes unreasonably charged among us: Those things that were Incontestably, The First Principles of New-England, when asserted and practised, have been called, an Apostasy. The Principles of Morellianism, and Separation, were none of our First Principles: Nevertheless, the Principles of a Scriptural Purity in our Whole Worship, were so much our First Principles, that the Lord Jesus Christ, I am verily perswaded, will abhor us, and forsake us, upon our Abandoning thereof. But, I will Enquire, Whether our First Love to the Lord Jesus Christ, and his Evangelical Appointments be not almost I oft? And, whether we have not almost Lost the old Power of Godliness, in our Conversations?

:27p. 18–20

Thirdly; The prodigious and astonishing Scandals, given by the extraordinary Miscarriages of some that have made a more than ordinary Profession of Religion; These call for our Tears, and our Bleeding Lamentations. ⟨p. 19⟩When some Church-members, yea, some Teachers and Rulers in Israel, were fallen into Scandal, says that good man, in Ezra 9.3. When I heard this Thing, then I rent my Garment, and my Mantle, and I sat down Astonied; and I said, O my God, I am Ashamed. Alas, It would Astonish any good man, into Tears, to be informed of the Detestable Things done by some that have highly Professed Better Things. Indeed, Let a man do never so well, yet a great many Ill Things may be spoken of him; yea, a man shall Hear Ill, for Doing Well. One of the most faithful men among the whole People of God, could say, I heard the Defaming of many. But if those Defamed Servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, will be a little patient, He will at last give an Honourable Resurrection unto the Names, that had so much Dirt cast upon them, when the Names of their Envious Accusers, will either lie Buried in Oblivion, or be mentioned no otherwise, than as Judas in the Gospel, and Pilate in the Creed. It is another matter, and oh! a very Tearful, and Fearful matter it is! When such as have made an high profession of Godliness, are left of God, unto the Doing of those Ungodly Things, upon which it may be said unto them, The Name of God is through your means Blasphemed. Sirs, It were infinitely better, for one to Dye immediately! There are some, who do with ⟨p. 20⟩pleasure, Entertain the Stories of Base Things done by the strict Professors of Religion; and with Triumph exclaim thereupon, Ay, These are the Members of such an one! who would be a Professor? They are all so! Unto every such person I must without hesitation say, Man, Thou hast an infallible mark of an Unregenerate Soul upon thee. If thou hadst the Heart of a Christian in thee, thou wouldst never speak at such a rate: such Language would rather proceed from the Heart of a Devil! But the Lord Jesus Christ has an Holy People, who do themselves Hate every false way, and are in exquisite Agonies of Soul, when they see any others to step aside into such a Way. The Wise man says, in Prov. 25.26. A Righteous man falling before the Wicked, is as a Troubled Fountain, and a corrupt Spring.

Thirdly; The prodigious and astonishing Scandals, given by the extraordinary Miscarriages of some that have made a more than ordinary Profession of Religion; These call for our Tears, and our Bleeding Lamentations. ⟨p. 19⟩When some Church-members, yea, some Teachers and Rulers in Israel, were fallen into Scandal, says that good man, in Ezra 9.3. When I heard this Thing, then I rent my Garment, and my Mantle, and I sat down Astonied; and I said, O my God, I am Asha•ed. Alas, It would Astonish any good man, into Tears, to be informed of the Detestable Things done by some that have highly Profess'd Better Things. Indeed, Let a man do never so well, yet a great many Ill Things may be spoken of him; yea, a man shall Hear Ill, for Doing Well. One of the most faithful men among the whole People of God, could say, I heard the Defaming of many. But if those Defamed Servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, will be a little patient, He will at last give an Honourable Resurrection unto the Names, that had so much Dirt cast upon them, when the Names of their Envious Accusers, will either lie Buried in Oblivion, or be mentioned no otherwise, than as Judas in the Gospel, and Pilate in the Creed. It is another matter, and oh! a very Tearful, and Fearful matter it is! When such as have made an high profession of Godliness, are left of God, unto the Doing of those Ungodly Things, upon which it may be said unto them, The Name of God is through your means Blasphemed. Syrs, It were infinitely better, for one to Dye immediately! There are some, who do with ⟨p. 20⟩pleasure, Entertain the Stories of Base Things done by the strict Professors of Religion; and with Triumph exclame thereupon, Ay, These are the Members of such an one! who would be a Professor? They are all so! Unto every such person I must without haesitation say, Man, Thou hast an infallible mark of an Unregenerate Soul upon thee. If thou hadst the Heart of a Christian in thee, thou wouldst never speak at such a rate: such Language would rather proceed from the Heart of a Devil! But the Lord Jesus Christ has an Holy People, who do themselves Hate every false way, and are in exquisite Agonies of Soul, when they see any others to step aside into such a Way. The Wise man says, in Prov. 25.26. A Righteous man falling before the Wicked, is as a Troubled Fountain, and a corrupt Spring.

:28p. 20–22

Some have made such a profession of Righteousness, that much Notice has been taken of them; others have been ready to think, Well, Christianity, is just such a Thing, as the Lives of these men do Represent it. Now the Falls of these men, before the Wicked, are just as if one should throw p•ison into the Well that all the Town is to fetch Wa•er at. So were the Heathen of old Poisoned, when they said, Christiani sancte vixissent, si Christus sancta docuisset! Oh! Lamentable Thing! Satan, who is often the Executioner of the Wrath of God upon a sinful World, ⟨p. 21⟩hath Desired, leave to single out some high Professors of Religion, & push them on to some scandalous Iniquities: he would fain do the part of a Devil, it may be, on some one man, that he might poison all the Town, by the Falls of that man. The Dreadful Justice of God, who gives none account of His matters, hath said, Go, Satan, go make an Experiment upon them? And lo, upon the Experiment, some strict, and it may be, some old Professor, that had been formerly Troublesome to all the Sinners that were about him, He not only proves a Covetous Worldling, but he acts as driven by an Unclean Devil, or by a Cheating Devil, or by a Lying Devil: and he plays the Devil horribly. Such Doleful Instances there have been among us, as would poison a whole Neighbourhood, yea, a whole Colony, with Atheism, […] the Lord Jesus Christ, had not an Almighty Arm, to secure His own Religion. Woe, way woe, to Hundreds of Souls, in the midst of thee, O New England, for the Offences that are given by some of thy Church-members; Lo Them think of the rest. But, Oh! how should we all come to such Lamentations, My Eyes do fail with Tears, my Bowels are Troubled. The scandalous Fall of David, is by as transcendent a Mystery of Divine Sovereignty Recorded, as i• was Ordered. Some of the Pagans in the Primitive Times, would not be Christians, because ⟨p. 22⟩•avid, forsooth, was one of our greatest Saints tho' he did such Damnable Things; and, many of the Christians would then Sin Damnably, pleading, Si David, cur non et ego? Why, mayn't I, as well as David? I believe, There are a million of men in Hell, whose Damnation was occasioned by the Fall of David, tho' David himself be gone to Heaven after all. Ay, but this David therefore comes to cry out, I water my couch with my Tears, mine Eye is consumed!

Some have made such a profession of Righteousness, that much Notice has been taken of them; others have been ready to think, Well, Christianity, is just such a Thing, as the Lives of these men do Represent it. Now the Falls of these men, before the Wicked, are just as if one should throw p•ison into the Well that all the Town is to fetch Wa•er at. So were the Heathen of old Poisoned, when they said, Christiani sancte vixissent, si Christus sancta docuisset! Oh! Lamentable Thing! Satan, who is often the Executioner of the Wrath of God upon a sinful World, ⟨p. 21⟩hath Desired, leave to single out some hig• Professors of Religion, & push them on to some scandalous Iniquities: he would fain do the part of a Devil, it may be, on some one man, that he might poison all the Town, by the Falls of that man. The Dreadful Justice of God, who gives none account of His matters, hath said, Go, Satan, go make an Experiment upon them? And lo, upon the Experiment, some strict, and it may be, some old Professor, that had been formerly Troublesome to all the Sinners that were about him, He not only proves a Coveteous Worldling, but he acts as driven by an Unclean Devil, or by a Cheating Devil, or by a Lying Devil: and he plays the Devil horribly. Such Doleful Instances there have been among us, as would poison a whole Neighbourhood, yea, a whole Colony, with Atheism, 〈…〉 the Lord Jesus Christ, had not an Almighty Arm, to secure His own Religion. Wo, way wo, to Hundreds of Souls, in the midst of thee, O New England, for the Offences that are given by some of thy Church-members; Loe Them think of the rest. But, Oh! how should we all come to such Lamentations, My Eyes do fail with Tears, my Bowels are Troubled. The scandalous Fall of David, is by as transcendent a Mystery of Divine Soveraignty Recorded, as i• was Ordered. Some of the Pagans in the Primitive Times, would not be Christians, because ⟨p. 22⟩•avid, forsooth, was one of our greatest Saints tho' he did such Damnable Things; and, many of the Christians would then Sin Damnably, pleading, Si David, cur non et ego? Why, mayn't I, as well as David? I believe, There are a million of men in Hell, whose Damnation was occasioned by the Fall of David, tho' David himself be gone to Heaven after all. Ay, but this David therefore comes to cry out, I water my couch with my Tears, mine Eye is consumed!

:30p. 23–24

Fourthly; The Evident Blows from […] Hand of an Angry God, in a long Train of Disasters upon all our Affairs, How much do they Solicit our Tears before the Lord? A Recapitulation of the sad things, which have befallen us, while our Days have passed away under the wrath of God, in this Wilderness, and we have seen one Destruction after another, almost without any Intermission, might justly bring us to that Lamentation, in Lam. 3.48, 49. Mine eye runneth down with Rivers of Water, for the Destruction of the Daughter of my People; Mine eye trickleth down, & ceaseth not, without any Intermission. The Vials of the wrath of God, have been long Pouring out upon us, in Continued, & Horrendous Desolations; it becomes us therefore to Draw Water, and pour our Tears into the Vials of the Lord. God began to smite us, with an Annual Blast upon several sorts of our Grain, just Forty years ago: and although, if our Husbandman were taught Discretion by his God, no doubt, many Natural Remedies for much of that Blast, might be lit upon, a kind of Dead sleep upon men still detains them under Blasting Disadvantages: & behold, by an Alteration come upon the very Course of Nature among us, our Indian Grain it self, the very Native Grain in the Country, is the last year so Blasted, that we hear such an hideous Cry, for, Bread! Bread! this year, as was never heard in this Land before. And how ⟨p. 24⟩very much have our Estates been Diminished, by Losses that have been Multiplied, upon us? On Shore, once and again such Fires have laid wast the Treasures of our Metropolis, that we have had cause to Cry, Oh! What means the heat of this Anger! And at Sea, besides our Frequent Ship-wracks, I suppose, no part of the English Dominions, have proportionably had near so many Ships, taken by the common Adversary, as New-England; poor Boston & Salem, I am sure, has Felt what I Speak: Yea, it is the Discourse among the Virtuous Merchants upon the Exchange at London, That surely, Almighty God is much offended at New-England, for they miscarry from no Quarter so much as they do from thence: But what Havoc, ha's been all this while, ever now and then making upon the Lives of our People, by the Angels of Death, in Epidemical Sicknesses? We have ever now and then, been visited with Mortal Contagions; the Arrows of Death have been flying thick among us;

Fourthly; The Evident Blowes from 〈…〉 Hand of an Angry God, in a long Train of Disasters upon all our Affayres, How much do they Sollicit our Tears before the Lord? A Recapitulation of the sad things, which have befallen us, while our Dayes have passed away under the wrath of God, in this Wilderness, and we have seen one Destruction after another, almost without any Intermission, might justly bring us to that Lamentation, in Lam. 3.48, 49. Mine eye runneth down with Rivers of Water, for the Destruction of the Daughter of my People; Mine eye trickleth down, & ceaseth not, without any Intermission. The Vials of the wrath of God, have been long Pouring out upon us, in Continued, & Horrendous Desolations; it becomes us therefore to Draw Water, and pour our Tears into the Vials of the Lord. God began to smite us, with an Annual Blast upon several sorts of our Grain, just Forty years ago: and although, if our Husbandman were taught Discretion by his God, no doubt, many Natural Remedies for much of that Blast, might be lit upon, a kind of Dead sleep upon men still detains them under Blasting Disadvantages: & behold, by an Alteration come upon the very Course of Nature among us, our Indian Grain it self, the very Native Grain in the Country, is the last year so Blasted, that we hear such an hideous Cry, for, Bread! Bread! this year, as was never heard in this Land before. And how ⟨p. 24⟩very much have our Estates been Diminished, by Losses that have been Multiplied, upon us? On Shore, once and again such Fires have laid wast the Treasures of our Metropolis, that we have had cause to Cry, Oh! What means the heat of this Anger! And at Sea, besides our Frequent Ship-wracks, I suppose, no part of the English Dominions, have proportionably had near so many Ships, taken by the common Adversary, as New-England; poor Boston & Salem, I am sure, has Felt what I Speak: Yea, it is the Discourse among the Vertuous Merchants upon the Exchange at London, That surely, Almighty God is much offended at New-England, for they miscarry from no Quarter so much as they do from thence: But what Havock, ha's been all this while, ever now and then making upon the Lives of our People, by the Angels of Death, in Epidemical Sicknesses? We have ever now and then, been visited with Mortal Contagions; the Arrowes of Death have been flying thick among us;

:32p. 24–25

Shall I proceed? We have seen our selves Deprived, not only of Charter •Liberties, but also of English-Liberties, with such Things done to us, as the High Court of Parliament, by their Vote numbered among the Grievances of the Nation. ⟨p. 25⟩Any considerate man, that compares the Prodigious Invasions then made upon all our Interests, with Two Things that have since come to light; the Irish proposals, For the Irish to be settled near New England, to check the growing Independents of that Country; and the Letter to the Pope, engaging to set up the Roman-Catholic Religion in the Plantations of America: cannot but say, That all Things were then under a Dreadful Prospect with us. An Happy REVOLUTION hath Saved us, out of those Distresses; But we have immediately been Distressed with New Disasters, wherein a Righteous God, ha's been Punishing us yet Seven Times more for our Iniquities. The Salvages filled this Land from one end unto the other, with direful outrages, with which they cut off many Hundreds of our Inhabitants, in a Former War; […] now a Later War, wherein the Revolution foun• us Entangled, ha's been consuming us for mor• than Seven years together. Herein, God ha'• been Pouring out the Blood of our Friends; Yea Horrid Stories might be told, of the Barbarous Cruelties, wherewith some of them have bee• butchered, by the Hands of the Barbarians And shall not we, Pour out our Tears upon their Graves?

Shall I proceed? We have seen our selves Deprived, not only of Charter •Liberties, but also of English-Liberties, with such Things done to us, as the High Court of Parliament, by their Vote numbred among the Grievances of the Nation. ⟨p. 25⟩Any considerate man, that compares the Prodigious Invasions then made upon all our Interests, with Two Things that have since come to light; the Irish proposals, For the Irish to be settled near New England, to check the growing Independants of that Country; and the Letter to the Pope, engaging to set up the Roman-Catholick Religion in the Plantations of America: cannot but say, That all Things were then under a Dreadful Prospect with us. An Happy REVOLUTION hath Saved us, out of those Distresses; But we have immediately been Distressed with New Disasters, wherein a Righteous God, ha's been Punishing us yet Seven Times more for our Iniquities. The Salvages fill'd this Land from one end unto the other, with direfu• outrages, with which they cut off many Hundreds of our Inhabitants, in a Former War; 〈…〉 now a Later War, wherein the Revolution foun• us Entangled, ha's been consuming us for mor• than Seven years together. Herein, God ha'• been Pouring out the Blood of our Friends; Yea Horrid Stories might be told, of the Barbarou• Cruelties, wherewith some of them have bee• butchered, by the Hands of the Barbarians And shall not we, Pour out our Tears upon their Graves?

:35p. 25–27

The most Compendious & Effectual way to ⟨p. 26⟩come at a lasting Peace, was well contrived, in an Expedition formed, for the cutting down of a Tree, that was the Roost of the Rooks, which Troubled us; but a marvellous Frown from Heaven, so defeated this contrivance, that although it was at first next unto a Miracle that so Important a Thing, as the Conquest of Canada, was not accomplished, yet Now our Armies not being All cut off, by the whole Force of Canada now arrived into Quebec, was a Deliverance next unto a Miracle. Our compassionate Lord, Marvellously answered the Faith, which we then Expressed in our Prayer before Him, That the English Army should not fall by the Hands of the French Enemy: And therefore, about fourteen Hundred Raw men, tired with a long Voyage, were not made a Prey to more than twice as many Expert Soldiers, then Crowing in their own Dunghill. Nevertheless, the heavy Debts, and the many Deaths, which ensued upon the failure of that Great Action, the Greatest that ever we attempted, have so confounded us, that it becomes us to Lie-Low, before that Just God, who Showed us Great and Sore Troubles, & brought us down to the Depths of the Earth. And, as if all this had not been enough to lay us Low, the Spirit of God against whom we had Rebelled, permitted the Devils, from the Depths of Hell, to assault us, with as Prodigious Vexations, as ever befell any People under the whole Cope of Heaven. ⟨p. 27⟩The Devils, those Powers of Darkness, had been horribly plaid withal, by Magical Tricks, used among many People in this Land of Light, and these Devils now broke in upon the Country, with such Preternatural Possessions as may be […] perpetual Astonishment of the World. In the Storm now Raised, upon a Land, which by the Wrath of the Lord of Hosts was Darkened: a Storm Raised by Wicked Spirits in High Places, that had the Upper-hand of us: a Storm that would have made the best of Pilots, to want the best Advice that could be given: It was, and it will be, past all Humane Skill, Exactly to Understand what Inextricable Things we have met withal. But yet it may need some Disquisition with us, What matter of Humiliation in them? O New•England such as these, have been thy Disasters:

The most Compendious & Effectual way to ⟨p. 26⟩come at a lasting Peace, was well contrived, in an Expedition formed, for the cutting down of a Tree, that was the Roost of the Rooks, which Troubled us; but a marvellous Frown from Heaven, so defeated this contrivance, that although it was at first next unto a Miracle that so Important a Thing, as the Conquest of Canada, was not accomplished, yet Now our Armies not being All cut off, by the whole Force of Canada now arriv'd into Quebeck, was a Deliverance next unto a Miracle. Our compassionate Lord, Marvellously answered the Faith, which we then Expressed in our Prayer before Him, That the English Army should not fall by the Hands of the French Enemy: And therefore, about fourteen Hundred Raw men, tired with a long Voyage, were not made a Prey to more than twice as many Expert Souldiers, then Crowing in their own Dunghil. Nevertheless, the heavy Debts, and the many Deaths, which ensued upon the failure of that Great Action, the Greatest that ever we attempted, have so confounded us, that it becomes us to Ly-Low, before that Just God, who Show'd us Great and Sore Troubles, & brought us down to the Depths of the Earth. And, as if all this had not been enough to lay us Low, the Spirit of God against whom we had Rebelled, permitted the Devils, from the Depths of Hell, to assault us, with as Prodigious Vexations, as ever befel any People under the whole Cope of Heaven. ⟨p. 27⟩The Devils, those Powers of Darkness, had been horribly plaid withal, by Magical Tricks, used among many People in this Land of Light, and these Devils now broke in upon the Country, with such Praeternatural Possessions as may be 〈…〉 perpetual Astonishment of the World. In the Storm now Raised, upon a Land, which by the Wrath of the Lord of Hosts was Darkned: a Storm Raised by Wicked Spirits in High Places, that had the Upper-hand of us: a Storm that would have made the best of Pilots, to want the best Advice that could be given: It was, and it will be, past all Humane Skill, Exactly to Understand what Inextricable Things we have met withal. But yet it may need some Disquisition with us, What matter of Humiliation in them? O New•England such as these, have been thy Disasters:

:37p. 28–29¶2

II. May the Prayers of a fervent SUPPLICATION, be from this Day, raised among us, upon the manifold Occasions for such Prayers. I do not ask you to Fast on this Day, as the General Assembly of Israel did, on the day, when they were all together. But those things may be Uttered on this Day, and Resolved on this Day, that many a Day of Prayer, with Fasting, may be the effect of this Day: And it may be, a General Assembly, will before they break up, some time or other set apart a Day, for Prayer with Fasting, together, before the Lord; that so a whole Province together at once, may Hear what God the Lord will speak unto them, Some think, that when the General Assembly of Israel, did pour out water before the Lord, they did it, as a symbol, expressive of the Devotion with which they made their Prayers before Him; as the devout person could say, in 1 Sam 1.15. I have poured out my Soul before the Lord. And indeed, they seem to me so intent on pouring out their Prayers, that they would pour nothing, not so much as a little water, in. For such Prayers unto the God and Father of our ⟨p. 29⟩Lord Jesus Christ, I do this Day make my most zealous Addresses unto you, O Inhabitants of New England: I Address you, That you would Pray always with all Prayer and Supplication; and that with a public Recommendation of public Supplication, to be maintained by our Churches, in a successive and a repeated practice thereof, Household Prayer, and Secret Prayer, may be conscientiously practised by all sorts of men.

II. May the Prayers of a fervent SUPPLICATION, be from this Day, raised among us, upon the manifold Occa•ions for such Prayers. I do not ask you to Fast on this Day, as the General Assembly of Israel did, on the day, when they were all together. But those things may be Uttered on this Day, and Resolved on this Day, that many a Day of Prayer, with Fasting, may be the effect of this Day: And it may be, a General Assembly, will before they break up, some time or other set apart a Day, for Prayer with Fasting, together, before the Lord; that so a whole Province together at once, may Hear what God the Lord will speak unto them, Some think, that when the General Assembly of Israel, did pour out water before the Lord, they did it, as a symbol, expressive of the Devotion with which they made their Prayers before Him; as the devout person could say, in 1 Sam 1.15. I have poured out my Soul before the Lord. And indeed, they seem to me so intent on pouring out their Prayers, that they would pour nothing, not so much as a little water, in. For such Prayers unto the God and Father of our ⟨p. 29⟩Lord Jesus Christ, I do this Day make my most zealous Addresses unto you, O Inhabitants of New England: I Address you, That you would Pray always with all Prayer and Supplication; and that with a publick Recommendation of publick Supplication, to be maintained by our Churches, in a successive and a repeated practice thereof, Houshold Prayer, and Secret Prayer, may be conscientiously practised by all sorts of men.

:39p. 29–30

First; All the Blessings, that we can want, or wish; yea, the very Best of Blessings, are to be obtained by Supplication to the Blessed God for them. Why should I launch forth into the vast Ocean of Assurances and Experiences, which our God has given unto His People, That they shall not seek his Face in vain? All New•England, has been filled with Demonstrations from its first Settlement unto this Day, That Prayer is as it has been sometimes called, A Golden Key to Unlock all the Treasures of Heaven. Many, and many, and many a time, it might be said, This poor Land cried unto the Lord, and the Lord has heard and saved. And what is the use that we should make of all the Salvations, wherein we have so wonderfully seen, The prevalency of Prayer demonstrated? What but this, That we will with our Prayer, again & always come unto ⟨p. 30⟩Thee, O Thou Hearer of Prayer! We would have a Supply of Provision from the Bounties of Heaven sent unto us in our Scarcity. Why, Supplications, like those of Elijah, will manage the very Corks on the Bottles of Heaven We would have the Lions that are threatening to Devour us, Restrained from doing so. Why, Supplications, like those of Daniel, will muzzle the most Ravenous Lions. All our Undertakings, would they not prosper the more, if by more Prayer over them, like the Servant of Abraham, we acknowledged the Lord in all our ways? Would any of our Churches, have Pastors after the Lords own Heart bestowed upon them? I pray, mark what I say; I wonder exceedingly, How any Church dare proceed so far as to vote, and call a Minister, for their fixed Service, until they have by a Day of Prayer, first made their Supplications unto the Lord Jesus Christ, for His Direction: The jealous Lord Jesus Christ, may justly show them, that they make more Haste than good speed, when the chief Shepherd, is thus forgotten with them. Whereas, if you will go to the Lord Jesus Christ, O ye Flocks of the Lord; He will give you those Pastors, that shall be Good men, and Full of the Holy Ghost, & men, by whom there shall be much people added unto the Lord: Men, in whom you shall be, on a thousand accounts unspeakably Happy, as long as they live among you.

First; All the Blessings, that we can want, or wish; yea, the very Best of Blessings, are to be obtained by Supplication to the Blessed God for them. Why should I lanch forth into the vast Ocean of Assurances and Experiences, which our God has given unto His People, That they shall not seek his Face in vain? All New•England, has been filled with Demonstrations from its first Settlement unto this Day, That Prayer is as it has been sometimes called, A Golden Key to Unlock all the Treasures of Heaven. Many, and many, and many a time, it might be said, This poor Land cried unto the Lord, and the Lord has heard and saved. And what is the use that we should make of all the Salvations, wherein we have so wonderfully seen, The prevalency of Prayer demonstrated? What but this, That we will with our Prayer, again & always come unto ⟨p. 30⟩Thee, O Thou Hearer of Prayer! We would have a Supply of Provision from the Bounties of Heaven sent unto us in our Scarcity. Why, Supplications, like those of Elijah, will manage the very Corks on the Bottles of Heaven We would have the Lions that are threatning to Devour us, Restrain'd from doing so. Why, Supplications, like those of Daniel, will muzzle the most Ravenous Lions. All our Undertakings, would they not prosper the more, if by more Prayer over them, like the Servant of Abraham, we acknowledged the Lord in all our ways? Would any of our Churches, have Pastors after the Lords own Heart bestowed upon them? I pray, mark what I say; I wonder exceedingly, How any Church dare proceed so far as to vote, and call a Minister, for their fixed Service, until they have by a Day of Prayer, first made their Supplications unto the Lord Jesus Christ, for His Direction: The jealous Lord Jesus Christ, may justly show them, that they make more Haste than good speed, when the chief Shepherd, is thus forgotten with them. Whereas, if you will go to the Lord Jesus Christ, O ye Flocks of the Lord; He will give you those Pastors, that shall be Good men, and Full of the Holy Ghost, & men, by whom there shall be much people added unto the Lord: Men, in whom you shall be, on a thousand accounts unspeakably Happy, as long as they live among you.

:40p. 31–32

Briefly, The Best Thing that New-England can possibly be Blessed withal, would be, the Regeneration of the Rising Generation; the general Conversion of our Young People, to know▪ and prize, and serve our Lord Jesus Christ. We are Trembling, at the Controversy, which we see the Great God managing against you, O our Young Folks, in Fiery, Deadly Rebukes. You do not Keep the Covenant of God; and now, the Almighty God seems to say over New-England, I will take no pleasure in your young men. Some of our Young men are given up to the furthest sallies of Extravagant and Exorbitant Impiety: And others of our Young men perish either by the Wars at Home, or by the Seas abroad, until we almost become, as Bede reports once England was, Omni milite, et floridae Juventutis Alacritate Spoliata. Miserable Young men; your Conversion to the Lord Jesus Christ, would certainly prevent all of this misery. Now, to procure such a Conversion, it would be a course of admirable Efficacy, for our Churches to keep now and then, whole Days of Prayer unto the Lord, on the behalf of their poor Posterity. Awake then, what mean you, O ye sleeping Churches? Arise, and call upon your Lord! The Holy Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, Oh! could we Pray that Holy Spirit into the Hearts of our Children, they would fall to Glorifying of the Lord Jesus Christ immediately! ⟨p. 32⟩How much might our Counsels work upon them, if they saw our most ardent Prayers accompany those Counsels? If Grace were more owned, and sought, who can say, What the Spirit of Grace, would then do for our Offspring?

Briefly, The Best Thing that New-England can possibly be Blessed withal, would be, the Regeneration of the Rising Generation; the general Conversion of our Young People, to know▪ and prize, and serve our Lord Jesus Christ. We are Trembling, at the Controversy, which we see the Great God managing against you, O our Young Folks, in Fiery, Deadly Rebukes. You do not Keep the Covenant of God; and now, the Almighty God seems to say over New-England, I will take no pleasure in your young men. Some of our Young men are given up to the furthest sallies of Extravagant and Exorbitant Impiety: And others of our Young men perish either by the Wars at Home, or by the Seas abroad, until we almost become, as Bede reports once England was, Omni milite, et floridae Juventutis Alacritate Spoliata. Miserable Young men; your Conversion to the Lord Jesus Christ, would certainly prevent all of this misery. Now, to procure such a Conversion, it would be a course of admirable Efficacy, for our Churches to keep now and then, whole Dayes of Prayer unto the Lord, on the behalf of their poor Posterity. Awake then, what mean you, O ye sleeping Churches? Arise, and call upon your Lord! The Holy Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, Oh! could we Pray that Holy Spirit into the Hearts of our Children, they would fall to Glorifying of the Lord Jesus Christ immediately! ⟨p. 32⟩How much might our Counsils work upon them, if they saw our most ardent Prayers accompany those Counsils? If Grace were more own'd, and sought, who can say, What the Spirit of Grace, would then do for our Offspring?

:41p. 32–33

Secondly, The Times which we are fallen into, do Loudly call for our Supplication to that God, in whose Hand are all our Times. All the whole Tribe of Thinking men, that have any Understanding in the Times, do know this, that of all the Things, which we ought now to do, there is nothing more Seasonable, than Unfeigned Prayer unto the Lord. There are those Things now come unto the Birth, which require us to Lift up our Lively Prayer, unto the Living God; There are those Calamities impending, that strongly require us to Cry unto the God that performeth all things for us. When Daniel, did understand by Books, that the Number of the years, for the Captivity of the Church of God, was very near accomplished, Then, says he, in Dan. 9.3. I set my Face unto the Lord God, to seek by Prayer and Supplications, with Fasting & Sackcloth and Ashes. Truly, We may Understand by Books, That the Number of years, for the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ to Lie under its Desolations, is very near to its Accomplishment: and therefore, Haec sunt Orandi Tempora: I may say, Pray, Pray, Pray, never mor• Need than Now. When the Seventy years, so ⟨p. 33⟩the Churches confinement in Babylon, were almost out, Good men might have Known that they were so: Holy Daniel did Know it. When the Four Hundred & Thirty years for the Churches Expecting the Promised Rescue from Egypt, were almost out, Good men might have Known that they were so: The Lord made the Doubting Moses to Know it. When the Four Hundred & Ninety years for the coming of the Messiah, after the Rebuilding of Jerusalem, were almost Expired, Good men might have Known it; & many Good men did then Know it, Waiting for the Consolation of Israel: Yea, the Pharisees themselves, the High Church-men of those Days, They also did Know it; and our Lord called them Hypocrites, for their not conforming themselves accordingly. Well, When the Twelve Hundred & Sixty years assigned unto the Reign of the Antichristian Apostasy, draw towards their Period, this Period also may be Known, as well as any of the former. The Mistakes that have been in the Guesses of some Learned men, about this Happy Period, are far from Inferring a Necessity of Wrong Reckonings to the Worlds end; No, they rather make it more easy now to Reckon Right. Now I do this Day appear among you, O People of God, with such a Message from Heaven unto you, as This;

Secondly, The Times which we are fallen into, do Loudly call for our Supplication to that God, in whose Hand are all our Times. All the whole Tribe of Thinking men, that have any Understanding in the Times, do know this, that of all the Things, which we ought now to do, there is nothing more Seasonable, than Unfained Prayer unto the Lord. There are those Things now come unto the Birth, which require us to Lift up our Lively Prayer, unto the Living God; There are those Calamities impending, that strongly require us to Cry unto the God that performeth all things for us. When Daniel, did understand by Books, that the Number of the years, for the Captivitie of the Church of God, was very near accomplished, Then, sayes he, in Dan. 9.3. I set my Face unto the Lord God, to seek by Prayer and Supplications, with Fasting & Sackclothe and Ashes. Truly, We may Understand by Books, That the Number of years, for the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ to Ly under its Desolations, is very near to its Accomplishment: and therefore, Haec sunt Orandi Tempora: I may say, Pray, Pray, Pray, never mor• Need than Now. When the Seventy years, so ⟨p. 33⟩the Churches confinement in Babylon, were almost out, Good men might have Known that they were so: Holy Daniel did Know it. When the Four Hundred & Thirty years for the Churches Expecting the Promised Rescue from Egypt, were almost out, Good men might have Known that they were so: The Lord made the Doubting Moses to Know it. When the Four Hundred & Ninety years for the coming of the Messiah, after the Rebuilding of Jerusalem, were almost Expired, Good men might have Known it; & many Good men did then Know it, Waiting for the Consolation of Israel: Yea, the Pharisees themselves, the High Church-men of those Dayes, They also did Know it; and our Lord call'd them Hypocrites, for their not conforming themselves accordingly. Well, When the Twelve Hundred & Sixty years assigned unto the Reign of the Antichristian Apostasy, draw towards their Period, this Period also may be Known, as well as any of the former. The Mistakes that have been in the Guesses of some Learned men, about this Happy Period, are far from Inferring a Necessity of Wrong Reckonings to the Worlds end; No, they rather make it more easy now to Reckon Right. Now I do this Day appear among you, O People of God, with such a Message from Heaven unto you, as This;

:42p. 33–35

Behold, I bring unto you Good •idings of Great Joy, that shall be to all the faithful People of God: The Tidings which I bring ⟨p. 34⟩unto you, are, That there is a REVOLUTION and a REFORMATION at the very Door, which will be vastly more Wonderful, than any of the Deliverances, yet seen by the Church of God, from the Beginning of the World. I do not say, That the Next year will bring on this Happy Period; bu• this I do say, That the bigger part of this Assembly, may in the course of Nature, Live to see it: There stand those within these Walls this Day, That shall see, Glorious Things done for Thee, O thou city of God! The Day is at Hand, when Thunder & Lightning and Earth quake, shall Prodigiously Swallow up that Abominable City, which now indeed her self begins with Processions, to deprecate such an Extirpation. The Day is at Hand, when the Turkish Empire, instead of being any longer a Woe to Christendom, shall it self become a Part of Christendom. The Day is at Hand, when the Veil that ha's been upon the Hearts of the Jewish Nation, shall be taken on, and that Nation shall Fear the Lord, and His Good Thing, the Messiah. Concerning the Day of the Lord, wherein these Things will be done, I do with all Freedom say unto you, That Great Day of the Lord, it is Near, it is Near, and it hasteth greatly! Yea, If I could speak with a Voice as loud, as that of the Seventh Trumpet, which we are certain will Sound Quickly, I would Sound this Alarm to all mankind, The Kingdom of God is at Hand! The Kingdom of ⟨p. 35⟩God is at Hand! This is not mere Conjecture, or Opinion; but there is Demonstration, I assert nothing short of Demonstration for it. For, I pray, when the Kingdom of Satan, managed by his Vicar at Rome, is Expired, whose Kingdom shall next Succeed upon it? Now, Tis very certain, That there will be no more than Twelve Hundred & Sixty years allowed unto that Papal Kingdom: Tis very certain, That when Ten Sovereign Kings arise, in the broken Roman Empire, the Twelve Hundred & Sixty years of the Papal Kingdom, are Commenced: And It is very certain, That by the middle of the Fifth century, Ten several Distinct Kingdoms, took advantage from the Distractions then upon the Roman Empire, to set up for themselves. By this Calculation, we have nothing less than a Demonstration, that the Papal Kingdom, ha's the last Sands, of its last Hour-glass, now running for it.

Behold, I bring unto you Good •idings of Great Joy, that shall be to all the faith••l People of God: The Tidings which I bring ⟨p. 34⟩unto you, are, That there is a REVOLUTION and a REFORMATION at the very Door, which will be vastly more Wonderful, than any of the Deliverances, yet seen by the Church of God, from the Beginning of the World. I do not say, That the Next year will bring on this Happy Period; bu• this I do say, That the bigger part of this Assembly, may in the course of Nature, Live to see it: There stand those within these Walls this Day, That shall see, Glorious Things done for Thee, O thou city of God! The Day is at Hand, when Thunder & Lightning and Earth quake, shall Prodigiously Swallow up that Abominable City, which now indeed her self begins with Processions, to deprecate such an Exterpation. The Day is at Hand, when the Tu•kish Empire, instead of being any longer a Wo to Christendome, shall it self become a Part of Christendome. The Day is at Hand, when the Vail that ha's been upon the Hearts of the Jewish Nation, shall be taken on, and that Nation shall Fear the Lord, and His Good Thing, the Messiah. Concerning the Day of the Lord, wherein these Things will be done, I do with all Freedome say unto you, That Great Day of the Lord, it is Near, it is Near, and it hasteth greatly! Yea, If I could speak with a Voice as loud, as that of the Seventh Trumpet, which we are certain will Sound Quickly, I would Sound this Alarm to all mankind, The Kingdom of God is at Hand! The Kingdom of ⟨p. 35⟩God is at Hand! This is not meer Conjecture, or Opinion; but there is Demonstration, I assert nothing short of Demonstration for it. For, I pray, when the Kingdom of Satan, managed by his Vicar at Rome, is Expired, whose Kingdom shall next Succeed upon it? Now, Tis very certain, That there will be no more than Twelve Hundred & Sixty years allow'd unto that Papal Kingdom: Tis very certain, That when Ten Soveraign Kings arise, in the broken Roman Empire, the Twelve Hundred & Sixty years of the Papal Kingdom, are Commenced: And It is very certain, That by the middle of the Fifth century, Ten several Distinct Kingdomes, took advantage from the Distractions then upon the Roman Empire, to set up for themselves. By this Calculation, we have nothing less than a Demonstration, that the Papal Kingdom, ha's the last Sands, of its last Hour-glass, now running for it.

:43p. 35–37

Nor is it Unlikely, no, but all Things conspire, even to Demonstration it self, That the last Half Time, or, Hundred and Fourscore years, of the Papal Kingdom, Entered at the Reformation in the Former Century. All the Schemes, that put off this most Happy Period, unto further and future Ages, are easily convicted of manifest Inconsistencies: And therefore, I question, whether there be so much as one Judicious and Considerate Student, in those Prophecies, which, Blessed are they that Study, but ⟨p. 36⟩what concurs to this Expectation, That the Kingdom of God is at Hand. Lift up your Heads then, O you that Love the Appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ: For there seems as if there were an Age of Miracles now Dawning upon us. Proper Miracles were continued in the Church of God, for Two or Three Hundred years together, even until the Antichristian Apostasy was come on to some Extremity. And when that Apostasy is over, tis possible, there may be a Return of proper Miracles; those, Powers of the World to come. Such Miracles have been lately Wrought, more than two or three of them, in the City of London, that, what if they should be a Few Drops of the Spirit of the Messiah, falling before a Mighty Shower of that Spirit? Persons who have had their Limbs miserably disjointed, Persons that have had Inveterate Palsies, Incurable Fistula's, Desperate Leprosies; These Persons, as they have been Reading the Ancient Miracles of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Spirit of Christ hath wonderfully given them, the Faith of His doing the like for them; and Behold, they have, to the Astonishment of mankind, been by the like Miracles, perfectly and presently recovered out of all their Maladies. What shall we make of these things? Do not Sinfully Expect Miracles; and yet say I, That the Lords Name is Near, His Wondrous Works declare! However, They may be Symbolical Representations, and Exhibitions, ⟨p. 37⟩of the Miraculous Things, which the Lord is going to Do for His People: For, I do again assure you, The Trumpet is going to Sound, that shall make the Kingdoms of this World, become the Kingdoms of the Lord, and of His Christ.

Nor is it Unlikely, no, but all Things conspire, even to Demonstration it self, That the last Half Time, or, Hundred and Fourscore years, of the Papal Kingdom, Entred at the Reformation in the Former Century. All the Schaemes, that put off this most Happy Period, unto further and future Ages, are easily convicted of manifest Inconsistences: And therefore, I question, whether there be so much as one Judicious and Considerate Student, in those Prophecies, which, Blessed are they that Study, but ⟨p. 36⟩what concurs to this Expectation, That the Kingdom of God is at Hand. Lift up your Heads then, O you that Love the Appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ: For there seems as if there were an Age of Miracles now Dawning upon us. Proper Miracles were continued in the Church of God, for Two or Three Hundred years together, even until the Antichristian Apostasy was come on to some Extremity. And when that Apostasy is over, tis possible, there may be a Return of proper Miracles; those, Powers of the World to come. Such Miracles have been lately Wrought, more than two or three of them, in the City of London, that, what if they should be a Few Drops of the Spirit of the Messiah, falling before a Mighty Shower of that Spirit? Persons who have had their Limbs miserably disjointed, Persons that have had Inveterate Palseyes, Incurable Fistula's, Desperate Leprosies; These Persons, as they have been Reading the Ancient Miracles of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Spirit of Christ hath wonderfully given them, the Faith of His doing the like for them; and Behold, they have, to the Astonishment of mankind, been by the like Miracles, perfectly and presently recovered out of all their Maladies. What shall we make of these things? Do not Sinfully Expect Miracles; and yet say I, That the Lords Name is Near, His Wondrous Works declare! However, They may be Symbolical Representations, and Exhibitions, ⟨p. 37⟩of the Miraculous Things, which the Lord is going to Do for His People: For, I do again assure you, The Trumpet is going to Sound, that shall make the Kingdomes of this World, become the Kingdoms of the Lord, and of His Christ.

:44p. 37

But I am sure, we had need be much upon our knees, in Supplications before the Lord, if it be a Day of such Expectations. For you must expect, That these Things will come on with such Horrible Commotions, and Concussions, and Confusions, that Mens Hearts every where shall fail them for Fear, and for looking after those Things which are coming on the Earth. The mighty Angels of the Lord Jesus Christ, will make their Descent, and set the World a Trembling at the Approaches of their Almighty Lord: They will Shake Nations, and Sha•• Churches, and Shake mighty Kingdoms, and Shake once more, not Earth only, but Heaven also ▪ The very next Thing, I freely tell you, tha• I look for, is, That there will those Horribl• Shakes be given unto certain Kingdoms in E• rope, that shall bring the pure Worshippers o• the Lord Jesus Christ into such Employments […] Advancements, as they never had before. Bu• such Things will be done, that it may be questioned, Who shall Live, when God doth thes• things? and it must be Answered, Your Hearts shall Live, that seek the Lord?

But I am sure, we had need be much upon our knees, in Supplications before the Lord, if it be a Day of such Expectations. For you must expect, That these Things will come on with such Horrible Commotions, and Concussions, and Confusions, that Mens Hearts every where shall fail them for Fear, and for looking after those Things which are coming on the Earth. The mighty Angels of the Lord Jesus Christ, will make their Descent, and set the World a Trembling at the Approaches of their Almighty Lord: They will Shake Nations, and Sha•• Churches, and Shake mighty Kingdoms, and Shake once more, not Earth only, but Heaven also ▪ The very next Thing, I freely tell you, tha• I look for, is, That there will those Horribl• Shakes be given unto certain Kingdoms in E• rope, that shall bring the pure Worshippers o• the Lord Jesus Christ into such Employments 〈…〉 Advancements, as they never had before. Bu• such Things will be done, that it may be que•stioned, Who shall Live, when God doth thes• things? and it must be Answered, Your Hearts shall Live, that seek the Lord?

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Westminster Assembly24

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