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 S E R M O 
 
 DELIVERED FEBRUARY 5, 1799 ; 
 
 RECOMMENDED BY THE CLERGY OF THE CITY OF 
 NEW-YORK, 
 
 TO BE OBSERVED AS A DAY OF 
 
 THANKSGIVING, HUMILIATION, AND PRAYER, 
 
 ON ACCOUNT OF THE REMOVAL OF A 
 
 MALIGNANT AND MORTAL DISEASE, 
 
 WHICH HAD PREVAILED IN THE CITY 
 SOME TIME BEFORE. 
 
 1/ 
 
 BY SAMUEL MILLER, A. M. 
 
 ONI OF THE MINISTERS OF THE UNITED PRESEYTERIAW 
 CHURCHES IN THE CITY OF NEW-YORK. 
 
 FUBLISKED BY REQUEST, 
 
 NEP-YQRKt 
 
 PRINTED BY OIOROE FORMAT*. 
 
 1799. 
 
. 
 
 
A SERMON, efc, 
 
 Psalm ii. 11. 
 
 Rejoice with trembling. 
 
 X O seek refuge in the power of 
 God, and cry to him for mercy in an hour of dis- 
 tress, is the language of nature as well as of grace. 
 When the pressure of calamity is severely felt, we 
 see the profane as well as the pious repairing to 
 the throne of the Eternal, and looking up for that 
 aid, which in ordinary times they neglect and des- 
 pise. But, though the unbelieving and impious 
 are ready enough to cry for deliverance from suf- 
 fering, they are apt to think little of the gratitude 
 and duty which they owe after the mercy is re- 
 ceived. The character of mankind in general, too 
 much accords with that of the children of Israel, 
 which is delivered by the Psalmist— When he slew 
 them, then they sought him ; and they returned and 
 enquired early after God : then they remembered 
 that God was their Rock, ana \ the Most High their 
 Redeemer. Nevertheless thej/ did flatter him with 
 
'4 
 
 . . 
 their mouth, and (hey lied unto him xviih their tongue. 
 
 They remembered not his hand, nor the day xc-hen 
 
 he delivered them. 
 
 ■ 
 
 It is my earnest prayer, my brethren, that we 
 may not ourselves be examples of this ungrateful 
 and odious temper. But a. few weeks have elaps- 
 ed since we saw the most thoughtless irresistibly 
 constrained to pause and consider -, and the most 
 daring scoffer impelled to put up a petition for 
 mercy to the Almighty Sovereign of the universe. 
 The aspect of divine Providence is now changed. 
 The voice of mirth and gladness is again heard in 
 our social circles j and the activity of prosperous 
 business is again seen y where the silence and 
 gloom of death lately prevailed. But do we come 
 before the Most High this day, with those prompt 
 and fervent emotions which we felt under the pres- 
 sure of his afflicting hand ? Have we entered this 
 house as solicitously concerned about improving his 
 mercy as we lately were to obtain it ? Is our joy 
 that of the humble and affectionate heart, which 
 returns to Him who hath dealt bountifully with it ; 
 or is it the inconsiderate confidence of those who 
 having once escaped, think no more of the power 
 and justice which corrected, or of the mercy which 
 spared them ? 
 
 With a view, if possible, to stir up in your minds 
 and my own, a temper corresponding to the so- 
 
• lemn occasion on which we are convened, I have 
 chosen the concise but comprehensive words which 
 were just read. They are taken from a Psalm, in 
 which the inspired writer predicts desolating judg- 
 ments and awful dispensations as about to take 
 place in the course of God's dealings with the 
 world. As an inference from these predictions, 
 or as an incitement to. improve them, he delivers 
 the words of our text — Be wise no:u, therefore, O 
 ye kings, be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve 
 
 the Lord icith fear, and rejoice with trembling. 
 
 ■ 
 
 rft 
 
 The sentiment contained in these words is 
 
 obvious and important. It is this — That we are 
 bound, at all times, even the most distressing, to 
 rejoice in the government of God, as holy, wise, 
 and good ; — but, at the same time, in every sea- 
 son, however prosperous and flattering, to mingle 
 fear and trembling with our joy, as dependent anci 
 sinful beings, who are continually exposed to the 
 wrath of heaven, and who have no reason to be 
 confident in ourselves, or to presume on present 
 enjoyment. 
 
 In applying this passage of scripture to the so- 
 lemnity in which we are engaged, it shall be my 
 endeavor, 
 
 I. To shew the obligation which we. are under 
 to come before God, .this, day, with joy and praise. 
 
II. To explain the manner in which our joy 
 should be exercised and qualified, and the grounds 
 of this qualification. 
 
 I. I begin with shelving the obligation which 
 we are under to come before God, this day, with 
 joy and praise. 
 
 That gratitude to God is a duty, no rational 
 being, who believes that there is a God, has ever 
 denied. If there be a sentiment in which men of 
 all characters, and of all modes of thinking are 
 unanimous, it is this— that we ought to cherish 
 emotions of thankfulness towards our Almighty 
 Benefactor, and rejoice in his existence, his per- 
 fections, and his will. Some vain theory-builders 
 have, indeed, contended that gratitude between 
 man and man was not a duty • supposing it to be 
 inconsistent with their refined and extravagant no- 
 tions of justice. But I know not that even these, 
 at least such of them as believe in the existence of 
 a Deity, have ever called in question the duty of 
 gratitude to Him. They have acknowledged that 
 here thankfulness sincere and ardent is incumbent 
 upon us, and that to withhold it is robbing God of 
 hisjust due. 
 
 T 
 
 The grounds of joy and praise are unnumbered 
 and ceaseless. Every object we behold, and ev^ry 
 moment we liy €y afford abundant matter for this 
 
exercise. There is.no situation in which we can 
 be placed, there is no occurrence which we can 
 be called to contemplate, but what suggests am- 
 ple reason for thankfulness and rejoicing. Hence 
 one inspired writer declares—/ will bless the Lord 
 at all times , his praise shall continually be in my 
 mouth* And another exhorts, Rejoice in the 
 Lord ; rejoice always ,• and again, I say, rejoice.^ 
 
 You might, with propriety, be called upon this 
 day, to rejoice and praise God for his beneficence 
 in creation ; for the noble facultiesand powers 
 with which we are endowed ; and for the various 
 beauties and comforts of the world in which our 
 lot is cast. You might be called upon to rejoice 
 and praise him for the common bounties of his Pro- 
 vidence ; for food and raiment ; for numerous en- 
 joyments of body and mind ; for fruitful seasons ; 
 for the regular return of summer and winter, seed- 
 time and harvest ; and for our preservation through 
 another year. It might be shewn that our fervent 
 gratitude is due and demanded for social, family, 
 and national blessings ; for civil and religious li- 
 berty ; for governments of our own choice, and 
 laws of our own formation ; for the peaceful en- 
 joyment of the fruits of our labours ; and for the 
 measure of tranquility and plenty which smile 
 around us. It might be demonstrated that we are 
 under obligations to express our joy and praise to 
 
 • Psalras xxxiv, l. \ Philip, iv. 4-. 
 
s 
 
 God even for his judgments ; for be assured, bre- 
 thren, we shall never exercise a proper temper 
 toward him, unless, with the Apostle, we rejoice 
 in tribulation, and give thanks for the chastenings 
 of his rod, as designed to work together for the 
 good of all who love him — as real blessings in 
 disguise. You might, with propriety, be exhort- 
 ed, above all, to offer the sacrifices of thanksgiv- 
 ing for the Gospel Redemption ; for the gift of an 
 almighty and all-sufficient Saviour ; for enlarging 
 our views beyond these regions of disorder and 
 darkness ; for the new Covenant, established upon 
 glorious promises, and containing all our salvation 
 and all our desire. Especially are the gospel of 
 Christ, and the continuance of our spiritual privile- 
 ges proper subjects of social thanksgiving at the pre- 
 sent day, when their opposers are more than com- 
 monly numerous and bold ; when they display a 
 zeal unwearied and malignant to bring the doc- 
 trines, the duties, and the teachers of this holy re- 
 ligion into contempt ; and when they publicly 
 glory in the expectation of its speedy downfal. 
 How much reason have we, christians ! for un- 
 feigned gratitude, that, amidst so much secret 
 and open opposition, the cause of our divine Mas- 
 ter lives and triumphs ; that his sabbaths continue 
 to be, by a goodly portion of our citizens, observ- 
 ed and honored ; that his ordinances are respect- 
 fully attended ; that his messengers arc still sent 
 forth to proclaim the good news of salvation to 
 
9 
 
 guilty men ; and that every day furnishes encreas- 
 ing ground of confidence that the gates of hell 
 shall never prevail against his church, but that He 
 will reign until He put all enemies under his feet I 
 
 " 
 But passing over these various topics of grateful 
 
 acknowledgment, not because they are unworthy 
 of more particular notice, but because they-equal- 
 ly demand at all times the most affectionate ascrip- 
 tions of praise — I would direct your attention to 
 that special ground of joy and humble gratitude,- 
 which led to the appointment on which we are 
 now convened — The divine goodness in de- 
 livering US FROM THE RAVAGES OF PESTI- 
 LENCE, which lately cloathed our city with the 
 mantle of mourning. 
 
 There are, probably, few cases in which we feel 
 ourselves more completely helpless, and more en- 
 tirely in the hands of God, than when He sends 
 forth pestilence, as a messenger of his wrath to 
 chastise a guilty society ; w r hen the atmosphere 
 which we breathe bears in its component materi- 
 als the seeds of dissolution and death j when the 
 weapons of destruction float around us unseen, and 
 the fell destroyer presents no tangible front, to 
 which we can oppose our strength and our feeble 
 devices. Then it is, if ever, that human pride 
 bows its head : — then, if ever, that the incorrigible 
 
 B 
 
10 
 
 infidel thinks, for a moment, of a God, of Provi- 
 dence, and of prayer. 
 
 Have you forgotten, my brethren, that such 
 was lately our situation ? Have you forgotten the 
 calamity, which, a few weeks ago, ravaged our 
 city, which filled your hearts, with consternation, 
 and covered your faces with paleness ? Have you 
 forgotten the memorable period, when the king of 
 terrors raised his bloody standard in the midst of 
 us, and waved it triumphant through all our 
 streets ; when with his destroying sword he hewed 
 down our neighbours and friends, sparing neither 
 sex, condition, nor age •> when with merciless 
 looks and contagious breathy he walked, amidst 
 the gloom of midnight and the light of noon-day, 
 laying victim after victim at his feet ? Have you 
 forgotten the period when this grim tyrant defied 
 all the forces which the wisdom and power of mart 
 could bring against him j when he knocked at al- 
 most every door, demanding, with imperious- 
 voice, sometimes one, and sometimes two victims 
 in a house, pnd sometimes with undistinguishing 
 fury, bearing away every member of the fond do- 
 mestic circle, leaving no survivor to deplore his 
 melancholy ravages, or to tell the tale of woe ? 
 Have you forgotten those gloomy days, when 
 scarcely any sound, was heard, but the voice of 
 mourning and death ; when few passengers were 
 seen, save the bearers of putrefying mortality to> 
 
11 
 
 the tomb ; when the labours of the artizan and the 
 speculations of the merchant were suspended ; and 
 when the means of splendid adorning were ex- 
 changed for the coffin, the shroud, and the grave ? 
 Have you forgotten the anguish which you felt, 
 through sympathy for the afflictions of others, and 
 through apprehension for your own safety ? Have 
 you forgotten the vows which you made, and the 
 resolutions which vou formed in those serious and 
 solemn hours ? No, you cannot have forgotten 
 scenes and feelings such as these. Had your own 
 memories been unable to retain them, the num- 
 berless monuments and memorials which surround 
 you, would recal diem continually to your minds. 
 The badges of mourning which I see before me, 
 bring to my remembrance, a husband or a wife, a 
 parent or a child, a brother or a sister recently 
 torn from your embraces, and consigned to the in- 
 satiable tomb. O Death ! how large the catalogue 
 of thy trophies ! what inroads hast thou made on 
 the arrangements and peace of families, and on 
 the endearments of social life ! 
 
 Brethren, I have not drawn this picture with as 
 view to harrow up your feelings, or to Wound 
 those tender sensibilities which I perceive to be 
 excited in your bosoms : — but from a wish to im- 
 press you with a deep sense of your obligation to 
 God for the happy change, which his mercy has 
 produced in the state of our city. Bereaved and 
 
12 
 
 afflicted hearers ! weep not as those who have no 
 hope ! Believe in Him who is the Resurrection and 
 the Life, and who has promised, when He comes 
 again, to bring with him in glory, all Who have 
 fallen asleep in the faith bf his gospel. 
 
 But to whom are we indebted for the removal 
 of that calamity, which has been so inadequately 
 described ? Surely not to human ingenuity or hu- 
 man strength. How often did we see the prudent 
 precaution useless, and the studied care of the 
 wise put to shame ! How often did we see the 
 most plausible plans of prevention fail, and the 
 most promising theories of medical wisdom demo- 
 lished, or set at nought by the subtle destroyer ! 
 Yes, brethren, in the preservation of each of us, 
 there is the finger of God. Some he saved by 
 providing a place of refuge, where the salubrious 
 breeze, and the hospitable board sustained them 
 till the, evil was past - y while others were preserved 
 though walking in the midst of the devouring poi- 
 son, to discharge the duties of benevolence and 
 humanity. Nor was the hand of God less visible 
 in arresting the progress of the destructive mala- 
 dy, than in guarding our lives amidst its raging 
 power. AVhen the survivors were helpless, and 
 apprehended a devastation still more awful, He 
 appeared to stay the plague. When there was 
 no earthly power to whom we could look for 
 safety, and when the experience of every day 
 
13 
 
 proved that human aid was vain, then did the 
 great Physician interpose with his healing powtr. 
 He dispelled the malignant vapours which enve- 
 loped our habitations. He ordered the season in 
 mercy ; and in due time restored the voice of joy, 
 and the activity of business, to our lately deserted 
 dwellings. 
 
 I shall not stay here, to combat the objections 
 of those who may contend — " That this deliver- 
 ance has been brought about by mere natural cau- 
 ses, without God ; and that to ascribe it to divine 
 agency, or a particular Providence is weak and 
 superstitious." With respect to those who adopt 
 this language, I would only ask them — What is 
 nature without God ? What do you call by this 
 name, but the ordinary method in which Jehovah 
 actuates and guides the material world ? Is it not 
 by the breath of his mouth that frost is given ? Is it 
 not by his command that cold cometh out of the 
 north f Doth he not say to the rain — Be thou on 
 the earth ? Doth he not regulate all these, that 
 they may do ivhatsoever he commandeth them on the 
 face of the earth, either for correction, or for mer- 
 cy ?* And is it not acknowledged to be by the 
 secondary influence of these causes, that the pro- 
 gress of pestilence is arrested, and its virulence 
 destroyed ? Philosophy ! 7 venerate thv name 3 In 
 
 # 
 
 * Job xxxvii. G-U, 
 
the simple .garb of truth, and as $ie humble inter- 
 preter of Jehovah's works, thou art the handmaid 
 of religion, and the friend of virtue. But when 
 corrupted and deformed with the gaudy trappings 
 of human folly ; when, with presumptuous hands, 
 thou wouidst invade the throne of God; when thou 
 wouldst hide from man the wisdom and power by 
 which he exists, thou becomest the enemy of 
 sound reason, and the foe of human happiness ! 
 
 Give unto the Lord, therefore, O ye people, give 
 irnto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the 
 Lord the glory that is due unto his name.* lie 
 hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded 
 us according to our iniquities.-\ He hath torn, and 
 he hath healed ; he hath smitten, and he hath bound 
 us up.\ Like as a father pilieth his children, so 
 hath he pitied and spared us. lie remembered our 
 frame, he remembered that we were but dust. Bless 
 the Lord, O cur Souls ; and all that is zcithin us, 
 bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O our souls, 
 and forget not all his benefits ; who healeth our dis- 
 eases ; zvho redeemeth our lives from destruction ; 
 who crowneth us with loving-kindness and tender 
 mercies.^ 
 
 Having made these remarks on the grounds of 
 that joy and praise which we are called this day to 
 render, I shall attempt, 
 
 * Psa. xxxix. 1,2. t Fsa - c ' l ' i ' 1 - **• ? Hos 6 - ] ■ 
 
 § Psa. ciii. 1— 1*. 
 
15 
 
 II. To explain the manner in which our joy 
 should" be exercised and qualified, and the reasons 
 of this qualification. Rejoice with trembling. 
 
 There are few things to which human nature is 
 more prone than presumptuous confidence : — And 
 there are, perhaps, few occasions on which it is 
 more apt to appear, than in the first transports of 
 joy, on being delivered from the pressure of cala- 
 mity, or from the dread of impending danger. Of 
 the truth of this remark the sacred history, abounds 
 with examples. In almost every instance in which, 
 the children of Israel emerged from the overwhelm- 
 ing judgments, which their sins brought upon 
 them, they are represented immediately after, as 
 becoming more proud and self-confident than ever 5 
 more forgetful of the hand of their Deliverer ; and 
 more bold transgressors of his righteous law. And 
 in like manner, has it been found, from that peri- 
 od to the present day, that the prosperity of fools de- 
 stroys them. Hence the propriety and importance 
 of the exhortation in our text — Serve the Lord, with 
 fear, and rejoice with trembling. 
 
 By the trembling inculcated in this place, we 
 are not to understand that servile fear and pusilla- 
 nimous dread, which rather become those who 
 have no hope, and are zvifhoul God in the zvvrld. 
 Neither are we to consider it as diminishing our 
 sense of favors received, or as at all inconsistent 
 
16 
 
 with the utmost fervor of gratitude. But the" ex-, 
 pression implies, that our joy should be mingled 
 with such an humble sense of dependance j with 
 such an awful conviction of our demerit in the 
 sight of an holy God ; and with such a solemn im- 
 pression that we are still in his hands, as will re- 
 press arrogance and pride, and teach us to main- 
 tain the spirit of filial fear. The language of the 
 exhortation, in short, is this — " Children of the 
 dust y let not your joy be the exulting levity, or 
 the inconsiderate confidence of those who, in pros- 
 perity, imagine their mountain will forever stand 
 strong. But let all your thanksgiving be mingled 
 with humility, and all your joy tempered with the 
 recollection, that sinful beings are continually ex- 
 posed to wrath and chastisement, and have no 
 ground of security in themselves." 
 
 ■ Among many considerations which might be 
 urged to qualify our joy this day, and mingle with 
 it an holy trembling, permit me to select and lay 
 before you the following. 
 
 1. We have reason to tremble, lest the judicial dis- 
 pensation of Providence, for the removal of which 
 .we this day rejoice, should not be sanctified. 
 The judgments of God are frequently represented 
 in scripture, under the strong and striking figure 
 of a furnace, designed to try and purify that which 
 \< subjected to its power. They are intended, 
 
17 
 
 like the refiner's process, to separate from us our 
 moral corruption ; to purge from our hearts and 
 our manners whatever is base and pernicious. 
 Now we are uniformly assured, by the same Di- 
 vine Authority which gives us this view of the sub- 
 ject, that if they fail of producing this spiritual pu- 
 rification in our tempers and lives, we shall come 
 out of them more obdurate, and at a greater dis« 
 tance from the hope of reformation than before. — 
 When a remedy is applied to the natural constitu- 
 tion of man, if a frequent repetition of it be de- 
 manded by the obstinacy of the disease, the physi- 
 cian finds its efficacy to become daily less and less ; 
 he observes the system to become more insensible 
 of its influence, in proportion to the frequency and 
 length of the application ; until at length the larg- 
 est portion he can exhibit will produce but little 
 effect. Thus it is with the human heart, with 
 respect to the judicial dispensations of Providence. 
 They are moral remedies, for moral diseases. 
 They arc intended to operate a deep and effectual 
 conviction of the holiness of God, and of his dis- 
 pleasure against sin ; to cloathe us with humility, 
 and lead us to repentance — This is the sanctified 
 use of them which it is our duty to make. But 
 where they fail of producing these effects, they 
 leave the heart more insensible, the conscience 
 more seared, the ears more deaf to the voice of 
 heaven, the eyes more blind to truth and duty, 
 
 Q 
 
' ,8 
 
 and the whole man lying under an additional, load 
 of guilt, and at a farther remove from the kingdom 
 of God. 
 
 To all those who enter into these views of the 
 subject, it will appear neither a novel nor an un- 
 justifiable assertion to pronounce — That, if the 
 affliction from which we have been recently deli- 
 vered, be not sanctified, the very deliverance in 
 which we now rejoice, will but increase our guilt 
 and our danger. If the dispensation do not pro- 
 duce the peaceable fruits of righteousness, it will 
 leave us a more hardened and stiff-necked people 
 — at a greater remove from penitence — and ripe 
 for higher tokens of the divine displeasure. My 
 spirit, says God, shall not alzcays strive zcith man. 
 He that being often reproved, hardeneth his neck,, 
 shall suddenly be cut off) and that without remedy . 
 Because I have called, and ye refused ; I have 
 stretched out my hand, and no man regarded j but 
 ye have set at nought all my counsel, andzvould 
 none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your ca- 
 lamity j I wi\l mock when your fear cometh ; when 
 y our fear cometh as desolation, and your destruc- 
 tion cometh as a ivhirlwind ; zohen distress and an- 
 guish cometh upon you. — Then shall they call upon 
 vie, but I zvill not answer ; they shall seek me early, 
 but they shall not find me : For that they haled 
 knowledge and did not chuse the fear of the Lord : 
 They zvoidd none of my counsel j they despised all 
 
19 
 
 r>:y reproof Therefore shall they eat the fruit of 
 their ozvn ivays, and be filed with their own de- 
 vices* 
 
 From these passages of the sacred volume, you 
 will observe, that the evils to be apprehended 
 from unsanctified afflictions, are of two kinds ; 
 cither being visited with more overwhelming judg- 
 ments j or, being given up to judicial hardness. 
 Of the first of these I shall afterwards speak. 
 With respect to the second, however little it may 
 be dreaded by the infidel and the formalist, it will 
 appear no inconsiderable thing to the serious be- 
 liever in God's word. Or rather, to speak more 
 properly, it will appear to such an one, the great- 
 est and most dreadful of all judicial dispensations. 
 Spiritual judgments, though less observed, and 
 usually less alarming in their aspect, than those 
 which strike at our mortal existence, and our tem- 
 poral interests, ought undoubtedly to be viewed 
 by reasonable beings as a thousand fold more just 
 objects of terror than they. Deplorable^ indeed, 
 is the condition of that people to whom God says 
 — JVhy should ye be stricken any more f Ye xcill re- 
 volt more and more. They are joined to idols ; let 
 them alone I Such a people may exult, and bless 
 themselves in their abundant wealth. They may 
 be the envy of their neighbours, and may con- 
 strue the forbearance of God into smiles of love. 
 
 * Prov. i. 21— 52. 
 
20 
 
 _ 
 They may be safe from foreign invasion and from 
 
 predatory violence. Their cities may not be burnt 
 with fire, nor wasted with disease. Their fields 
 may not be blasted with mildew, nor their preci- 
 ous fruits destroyed by the locust or the caterpillar. 
 Their commerce, agriculture, and manufactures 
 may flourish •> and many a short-sighted beholder 
 may pronounce them blessed. But their prospe- 
 rity rests upon a deceitful basis. Above, the tem- 
 pest is gathering unseen. Beneath, the volcano 
 is accumulating its dreadful materials, and hasten- 
 ing to the exploding hour. And in an unexpect- 
 ed moment, when they are saying peace and safety 
 to themselves, sudden desolation shall overtake 
 them — a desolation the more aggravated in propor- 
 tion to its delay. Do you ask for an example ? 
 Look at the history of the Jews-. Being found, 
 after many chastisements, altogether incorrigible, 
 God gave them up to their own hearts' lusts, and left 
 them to walk in their own counsels, until they had 
 filled up the measure of their iniquities, and wrath 
 came upon them to the uttermost. Then their nati- 
 onal sovereignty was taken away ; their capital was 
 destroyed •> and they were scattered abroad, bear- 
 ing in every place, the stamp of divine displeasure, 
 being made an hissing, and a byc-wo?'d among all 
 nations. 
 
 How much reason have we to tremble, then, 
 lest our deliverance should be sent in wrath 5 lest 
 
iLl 
 
 -what we celebrate as a blessing, may- be convert- 
 ed by human folly into a curse ; lest, with respect 
 to many, their songs of joy, should prove the 
 chauntings of devoted victims, on the altar of 
 their own destruction ! 
 
 o. While we come before God with joy and 
 praise, for the merciful deliverance, which we 
 this day commemorate, it becomes us to tremble 
 lest we should be again visited by a similar, or a 
 more dreadful calamity. You have heard, that 
 when the judgments which God executeth are not 
 sanctified, it he do not immediately cast oft the 
 subjects of his chastisement, they may expect far- 
 ther and heavier strokes of his rod. They may 
 expect one visitation after another, each in suc- 
 cession more dreadful, until the great end of humb- 
 ling and reforming them be obtained. 
 
 Brethren, let not self-flattery hide from your eyes 
 the danger which lies before you. Indulge not 
 the sanguine hope, that, because the tremendous 
 scourge has again passed over, you will be secure 
 from its ravages in future. It is my fervent wish 
 and prayer that this may prove to be the case ; "but 
 this enlightened audience will excuse me tor ex- 
 pressing doubts and fears, that such complete ex- 
 emption can hardly be expected. Wheresoever the 
 carcass is, there zeill the eagles be gatheredtogcther* 
 
 * Matt, xx iv. 2S. 
 
0<-7 
 
 Where, so many natural and moral causes of pub- 
 lic calamity exist, it would be almost a miracle 
 were we to escape the judgments of God. While 
 our city and land groan under so much depravity 
 and corruption, we have too much reason to fear, 
 that they will also be made to groan under encreas- 
 ing, and more destructive testimonies of the divine 
 displeasure. 
 
 I say not this, my beloved hearers, to discou- 
 rage, or unduly to alarm you j but to encrease 
 your solicitude, and to animate your diligence in 
 using the means of prevention, which Providence 
 "has put into your hands. With respect to one class 
 of these preventives, I mean those of a natural or 
 physicalk'md, it would be foreign from my duty, 
 at present, to enter into details, or to offer opi- 
 nions, farther than to express a firm belief, that 
 such may be found ; that there is much in this re- 
 spect, humanly speaking, in our power j and that it 
 would be criminal negligence to pass them by. 
 But with regard to another class of preventives, I 
 mean those of a moral or spiritual kind, it would 
 be injustice both to you, and to my subject, to 
 pass them over in silence. Bear with me, then, 
 my brethren, while I express a persuasion, pain- 
 ful indeed, to utter, but which a regard to truth 
 extorts from me — '1 *tat God has a controversy 
 with us, and that reformation is the only mean of 
 escaping - his consuming wrath. While so much 
 
23 
 
 corruption, blasphemy, and wickedness triumph 
 in the midst of us, and insult his holiness, to hope 
 for his smiles, is to contradict every declaration of 
 his word. While this continues to be our charac- 
 ter, we may expect scourges and judgments, as 
 certainly as we expect the return of summer and 
 winter, seed-time and harvest. Infinite wisdom on- 
 ly can tell whether pestilence, or famine, or war will 
 be the instrument of his wrath ; or at how long or 
 short intervals, these judicial dispensations may oc- 
 cur ; but of this, every page of scripture warrants 
 us in being confident, that, on the one hand, were 
 we an holy people, we should seldom or never 
 hear of such destroying calamities ; but that, on 
 the other hand, if our guilt and corruption, as a 
 people go on and accumulate, we may anticipate 
 the time when these will be more frequent, exten- 
 sive, and dreadful than they have ever yet been. 
 In support of what is here advanced, the sacred 
 volume furnishes abundant proof and example. 
 Overwhelming judgments were denounced by Je- 
 hovah against Nineveh, for its great and crying- 
 wickedness. And the people of Nineveh believed 
 God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, 
 from the greatest even to the least ; and they crkd 
 mightily unto him, and turned every one from the- 
 evil of his zcay, and from the violence that tm 
 their hands — saying — Who can tell if God will turn 
 and repent, and turn azvayfrom his fierce anger that 
 xve perish not ? And God saw their xcorhs y i'iiai they 
 
2£ 
 
 firmed from, their evil zcay ; and God repented of 
 the evil that he had said he would do unto them, arid 
 he did it ?wl* So much for a favorable issue, in the 
 case of a penitent people. But turn for a moment 
 to a signal and melancholy instance of an oppo- 
 site kind. Jerusalem was highly favored of God. f 
 His smiles upon her were peculiar and long. His 
 warnings, when she went astray, were nume- 
 rous. His paternal chastisements and affectionate 
 calls, to bring her to a sense of duty, were conti- 
 nued from year to year, and from age to age. 
 When lighter judgments were found ineffectual, 
 greater and heavier were laid upon her, in awful 
 succession ; until, at length, proving incorrigibly 
 obstinate, she was rejected ; her glory finally de- 
 parted ; and she was delivered up to a ruin, which 
 tor accumulated horrors, has scarcely a parallel iri 
 the history of man. 
 
 Let none say, that placing moral reformation 
 among the principal preventives of future calami- 
 ties similar to that which we have lately sustained, 
 is discarding .the agency of second causes. I 
 would by no means be understood to do this. 
 
 * Jonah iii. 5. ad fin. 
 
 f It will readily occur to the reader, that although this 
 people were adduced to illustrate a former branch of the 
 subject, their case may, with equal propriety, be again men- 
 tioned here, in a somewhat different light. 
 
<2S 
 
 God, no doubt, in general, acts, both in the na- 
 tural and moral world, through the instrumenta- 
 lity of means. But is it inconsistent with this ac- 
 knowledgment to believe, that lie disposes natural 
 means in such a manner as to accomplish moral 
 purposes ? Is it unreasonable to suppose that He 
 who created the universe ; who continually pre- 
 serves it; and who guides all its complicated 
 movements, foresaw every occurrence, adjusted 
 every instrument, and interwove with his plan, 
 from the beginning, every event in the natural 
 work;, which He designed to use, either to re- 
 ward the righteous, or to punish the wieked ? 
 Cor-.lt the scriptures. When war, pestilence, 
 arul famine visited the guilty nations of old, were 
 the\ not brought about by natural means, as well 
 as-at the present day ? Are we not, at the same 
 time, assured, that they were instruments of 
 God's wrath, which He used or withheld accord- ( 
 ing to the character of those with whom He was 
 dealing ? And is He not the same yesterday, to- 
 day, and forever ? If, then, my brethren, you 
 would altogether escape, or would be visited with 
 lighter strokes of the rod' of affliction, let peni- 
 tence and reformation go hand in hand with all 
 our exertions to apply natural preventives, and na- 
 tural remedies. Without the one, the other can 
 be of little avail. Nay, I will go farther, without 
 the one, we have no right to ask for the success 
 
 O 
 
26 
 
 of the other. For it is the solemn declaration of 
 heaven — The Lord will be ivil/i you, ivhi/e ye be 
 with him ; but if ye forsake him, He will forsake 
 you. Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise 
 perish ! 
 
 3. Again, we are called upon this day to min- 
 gle trembling with our joy, from a view of the 
 general situation and prospects of the world. It 
 seems to have been with particular reference to 
 this point that the words of our text were originally 
 delivered. It is at the period when God will dash 
 the nations in pieces, like a potter's vessel, that we 
 are especially exhorted to rejoice xcith trembling. 
 
 If I am not deceived, the Spirit of prophecy in- 
 forms us, that the days in which we live are the 
 last days ; the days in which perilous times are to 
 come, the days in which convulsions, disorders, and 
 wickedness are to prevail and triumph more than 
 ever ; the days in which infidelity, moral corrup- 
 tion, national troubles, and various temporal judg- 
 ments, are to waste the inhabitants of the world, 
 and prepare the way for another generation better 
 fitted to answer the divine purposes. If, with 
 these intimations of prophecy in our hands, we 
 look on the present aspect of human affairs, I ap- 
 prehend we shall need little argumentation to con- 
 vince us, that the scriptures are at this moment, 
 most awfully fulfilling. Such a general derange- 
 
27 
 
 ment in the political and moral world, has not, pro- 
 bably, existed since the antediluvian scenes of de- 
 pravity. And, if we believe the predictions 
 throughout, the corruption and the calamities 
 which we now deplore are but the beginning of sor- 
 rows. Wars, it is probable, before the Millenni- 
 um commence, will be more general and sangui- 
 nary ; atheism and irreligion more bold in their 
 professions, and more unhinging in their influence j 
 the whole aspect of human society more deranged 
 and turbid ; and earthquakes, famine, and pesti- 
 lence more frequent and destructive, than the 
 world has hitherto scon,- 
 
 I am well aware, that the friends of a certain 
 vain philosophy, falsely so called, will tell me, 
 that these gloomy forebodings are superstitious and 
 visionary. They will tell me that an age of great 
 moral improvement is commenced, and rapidly 
 progressing toward a glorious consummation ; an 
 age in which reason without God, and philosophy 
 without the Gospel, shall purify, tranquilize, and 
 perfect human society. But alas ! where is the 
 proof of this boasted theory ? I ask them whence 
 these happy effects are to originate, and what 
 powerful agency is to produce them ? but I listen 
 in vain for a satisfactory answer. I look abroad, 
 to find the precious fruits of which they speak ; 
 but I see only an ocean every where perturbed, 
 and covered with mist and gloom. I enquire toil 
 
28 
 
 the harmonizing influence, and the transforming 
 benevolence which they promise to exhibit \ but 
 the passing gale wafts to my ear little else than the 
 noise of war, the collision of vindictive passions, 
 and the groans of misery and death. I listen 
 again, with redoubled attention, for the voice of 
 blessedness, and the sounds of paradise, which 
 they assure me are approaching ; but I hear only 
 the wind and the storm fulfilling the pleasure of 
 the Almighty. 
 
 In contemplating this portentous state of things, 
 there would be ground for terror and despair only, 
 were we not assured that Jehovah tides, in the 
 tchirlwhid, and directs the storm — that He will 
 bring good out of evil, order out of confusion, light 
 out of darkness, and a kingdom of the greatest 
 glory and blessedness out of materials which are 
 totally depraved. It is only a confidence in the 
 divine government which will warrant us to re- 
 joice in the anticipation of such scenes. But, 
 even with this confidence, who can realize the ap- 
 proach of such terrible things in righteousness, 
 without trembling before the God of all the earth ? 
 In this mighty conflict, who that loves his fellow- 
 men, and is concerned for human happiness, can 
 avoid mingling with his ascriptions of praise, the 
 tears of compassion for infatuated mortals, and the 
 humble awe with which these dispensations of 
 heaven are calculated to fill the mind ? Who shall 
 
29 
 
 vol fear thee, O Lord, and g lor if 1/ thy name, xoheii 
 th\j judgments are made manifest? 
 
 Having introduced so many practical remarks, 
 in stating and illustrating what appeared to be the 
 doctrine deducible from the text, on the present 
 occasion, I shall add but little by way of improve- 
 ment. 
 
 I cannot, however, dismiss the subject, without 
 seriously asking, each individual in this audience, 
 how they have profited by the solemn dispensa- 
 tion of Providence which they have lately passed 
 through ? Brethren, have you been led by this af- 
 fliction to consider your ways \ or has it lett you 
 more hardened ? Have you been brought by it to 
 repentance, love, and new obedience 5 or has it 
 made you more secure, careless, and deaf to the 
 voice of heaven ? Have you come out of the fur- 
 nace purified and refined j or more full of dross 
 and corruption than before ? Did none of you 
 make vows and resolutions in the day of adversity? 
 And are these vows remembered and fulfilled, or 
 disregarded and forgotten ? Have you turned from 
 your evil way, and put away the accursed thing 
 from the midst of you j or is all that guilt which 
 drew down the judgments of God, still resting in 
 its dreadful weight upon you ? My hearers, these 
 are not vain questions, they are even your hie. 
 Let me entreat you to answer them without par- 
 
30 
 
 tlality and without evasion ; for they will be spee- 
 dily asked before a tribunal where all things will 
 be naked and open before the eyes of Him with 
 whom zee have to do. 
 
 When I look round this populous city, which 
 was, a few weeks since, clothed in mourning, and 
 contemplate the criminal dissipation, and the va- 
 rious forms of wickedness, which have so soon 
 taken the place of those gloomy scenes, I am con- 
 strained, with anxious dread, to ask — Shall not 
 God be avenged on such a people as this ? Shall he 
 not send greater judgments, and yet greater, in an 
 awful succession, until we either be made to hear 
 his voice, or be utterly consumed before him ? Do 
 not hastily imagine, from this strain of address, 
 that because we have been lately afflicted, it 
 would be my wish to see every innocent amuse- 
 ment discarded, and the gloom and sadness of the 
 pestilential season, still remaining upon every 
 face. By no means. To lighten the cares, and 
 to dispel the sorrows of life, indulging in occasional 
 and innocent amusements is at once our privilege 
 and our duty. But do we see no other than inno- 
 cent amusements prevailing around us ? Are the 
 lewdness, the blasphemy, the gaming, the unprin- 
 cipled speculation, the contempt of christian duties, 
 and the violation of the christian sabbath, so mourn- 
 fully prevalent in our city and land — are these in- 
 nocent ? Then wero the cities of Sodom and Go- 
 
31 
 
 morrah innocent. Then are the impious orgies of 
 infernal spirits harmless in the sight of God. 
 
 Upon each of us, then, as individuals, there Is 
 a task incumbent — the task of personal reforma- 
 tion and personal holiness. If it be true that one 
 sinner destroy eth much good ; it is equally true, 
 that the fervent prayer, and the exemplary virtue 
 of a righteous man avail much. Remember that 
 if there had been ten righteous persons in Sodom, 
 God would have spared the city for their sake. 
 On the same principle, be assured, that every 
 righteous person in a community adds to its secu- 
 rity, and renders it less probable that Jehovah 
 will visit it with consuming judgments. Let 
 those who are strangers to religion, therefore, be 
 entreated, if they regard their own welfare or that 
 of their countiy, to return to God with penitence 
 and love through Jesus Christ, and to zvalk before 
 him in neivness of life. Sinners ! every hour that 
 you continue impenitent, you not only endanger 
 your own souls, but you add to the guilt of the 
 community of which you are members. Awake 
 from your fatal dream ! Behold, now is the accept- 
 ed time i behold nozv is the day of salvation ! To- 
 day, if ye zcill hear his voice, harden not your 
 hearts. And let the people of God be persuaded, 
 in these solemn times, to grow more watchful, 
 diligent and holy. Christians ! You are the salt of 
 the earth. The importance of your example, and 
 
32 
 
 of your prayers is beyond calculation. If there be 
 any who have an interest at the throne of grace, 
 and who are encouraged to repair to it with an 
 humble boldness, it is you. If there be any who 
 are under special obligations to rouse from their 
 lethargy, and to profit by the late awful dispensa- 
 tion, it is you. Let the present season, then, 
 form a new acra in your spiritual life. Be sober 
 and watch unto prayer. Sigh and mourn for all 
 the abominations that are done in /he land. For 
 Zio??'s sake do not hold your peace, and for Jerusa- 
 lem s sahe do not be quiet, until the righteousness 
 thereof go forth, as brightness, and the. salvation 
 thereof as a lamp that burnetii. 
 
 Finally, my brethren, we are exhorted by all 
 that we hear and see — by the word, and by the 
 providence of God, to raise cur views above the 
 grovelling pursuits of time and sense ; to live as 
 candidates for immortality ; and to seek an inter- 
 est in Him who is the Way, and the Truth, and the 
 Life. What is human life but a vapour, which con- 
 tinuethfor a little Ji me, and then vanisheth away ? 
 Its labours are unsatisfying toils ; its contentions 
 are the jarrings of children ; its hopes are the vi- 
 sions of delirium ; its enjoyments are vanity and 
 vexation of spirit. We are sojourners in a strange 
 land, who tarry but for a night. We wander up 
 and down in a place of graves ; we read the epi- 
 taphs on the tombs of the deceased ; we drop 
 
33 
 
 a few tears over their precious remains ; and in a 
 little while our friends will be invited to perform 
 the same kind office to us, and to deposit us in 
 the house appointed for all living. — Lord ! teach 
 us so to number our days, as to apply our hearts 
 unto zuisdom. Help us to grow wiser and better 
 by all thy dealings. And prepare us for that hap- 
 py world, where there shall be no more sickness, 
 neither sorrozv, nor crying ,• where we shall love 
 and serve thee without the imperfections which 
 cleave to our depraved natures here j and where 
 we shall rejoice zvith joy unspeakable and full of 
 glory ! through riches of free grace in Christ Jesus, 
 to whom with the Father, and the Holy Spirit be 
 glory forever. 
 
 A M E N ! 
 
 E 
 
NOTES 
 
 -I. AGE 12. — Some He saved 'by providing a place of refuge, &c. 
 It is supposed that, at least half the inhabitants of the City 
 left it. The generous hospitality of our country neighbours, 
 in receiving many of the fugitives ; and their signal libera- 
 lity, in contributing to the support of the poor who remain- 
 ed, have already met with many acknowledgments. Too 
 many they can hardly receive. 
 
 It is pleasing to find, that the scruples which were former- 
 ly prevalent and strong, against flying from pestilence, are 
 now entertained by few. There seems to be no good rea- 
 son why tho^e who consider it sinful to retire from a place 
 under this calamity, should not have the same objection to 
 flying from famine, from the ravages of fire, or from war, 
 which are equally judgments of God. And yet those who 
 reprobate the former, never think of condemning the latter. 
 In fact, if it be criminal to retire from a city in which the 
 plague rages, it must be equally criminal to send for a Phy- 
 sician, or to take medicines in any sickness ; for they are 
 both using means to avert danger to which the Providence 
 of God has exposed us.* It is hoped, therefore, if Pro- 
 vidence should call us to sustain a similar stroke of affliction 
 in future, there will be a more general agreement than 
 .ever, in the propriety of immediate removal ; and that all 
 will escape without delay, who are not bound to the scene 
 of danger, by special and indispensible ties. Had all the 
 inhabitants of New-York remained in the city, during the 
 late epidemic, probably four or five times the present num- 
 
 ■ 
 * Se- Jeremiah 21.6—9. 
 
I) J 
 
 her, on the lowest computation, would have been added 
 to the list of its victims. As every diseased individual or 
 family adds force to the malignity of the atmosphere, it ap- 
 pears that the most benevolent principles conspire with the 
 selfish, in prescribing immediate and general flight. 
 
 PAGE 12. — While others ivere preserved, though waliytg. in 
 the midst of the. devouring poisa, to discharge the duties of benevolence 
 and humanity, &c. In mentioning this description of our citi- 
 zens, it would be an act of injustice to omit the tribute of 
 grateful acknowledgment to the gentlemen composing tin? 
 Corporation of the City ; to the Committee of 
 Health ; to the Commissioners of the Health •• 
 Office; and to a large number of the Physicians. 
 Their firmness in remaining at their posts, after the most 
 alarming testimony had been received of the danger to 
 which they were exposed ; their disinterested zeal, in dis- 
 charging the arduous duties committed to them ; and their 
 distinguished humanity and benevolence in seeking object* 
 of distress, in entering the cells of poverty, and relieving 
 the wants of the most obscure — it is presumed will be long 
 and gratefully remembered by their fellow-citizen*. -While 
 the christian blesses God that He moved them to this noble 
 display of virtue, and supported them in it ; he will also 
 highly honor them as the instruments of saving .many lives 
 and of extensive public utility. To such of the Physicians 
 as remained in the city, until compelled to leave it, by a 
 debility and indisposition, incapacitating them for farther 
 exertions, it is scarcely necessary to say, that the whole 
 of the above acknowledgment is also due. To such of 
 
 them as fell sacrifices to their benevolence but alas ! the 
 
 praise of man avails them not. May their memories be 
 
 long embalmed In the hearts of a grateful people ! 
 
 • 
 PAGE II. — JJ7/en few passengers were .s* en > saw tut leant; 
 of, &c. To those who, with the author, witnessed through 
 out the melancholy scenes which are here described, this 
 part of the description, at least as it respects a large pur- 
 
30 
 
 tion of the city, will appear the unexaggerated, literal 
 truth. The more shocking scenes, which the apartment* 
 of the sick presented, he cannot attempt to paint. Even to 
 the present hour, he recollects much of what past before 
 his eves v\ ith shuddering horror. 
 
 PAGE 1 1 . — O Death ! hezv large the catalogue of thy trophies ! 
 &V. The deaths from August 1st. to November 10th. 
 1798, amounted to more than two thousand. Among 
 these were some of the most distinguished ornaments of re- 
 ligion, humanity, and science, which our city afforded. 
 The following list of interments, in each of the burying 
 grounds in the city, within tiic abovementioned period, 
 may, perhaps, not improperly, be here recorded. 
 
 Trinity Church 
 
 St. Paul's do. 
 
 St. Peter's do. 
 
 Christ's do. 
 
 United Presbyterian Churches 
 
 Dutch Reformed do. 
 
 German Lutheran do. 
 
 Friend's do. 
 
 Moravian do. 
 
 Methodist do. 
 
 Eaptist do. 
 
 Scotch Presbyterian do. 
 
 Associate Presbyterian do. 
 
 German Calvinists do. 
 
 French Protestants do. 
 
 Jews 
 
 Negroes 
 
 Potter's Field 
 
 L'ellevue 
 
 214 
 
 211 
 86 
 23 
 186 
 129 
 76 
 42 
 
 Total 
 
 2082 
 
 FINIS.