'•viAa^uv^v^-H' ^^ •.ii:>:i!svi. 
 
BRINLEY. /f / f 
 
 LL_li . ^^y^.UA 
 
 
 r 
 
 
 

f 
 
 Dr. Mayhew^s 
 
 DISCOURSE 
 
 On Xev. XV. t 4* 
 
 Occafioned by the 
 
 E^R TH^AKES 
 
 In November 1755. 
 
•i 
 
A S 
 
 ISCOURSE 
 
 Oil Rev, XV. 3^' V^. 
 Occadoncd by the EARTHQUAKES 
 
 In November 1755. 
 
 Delivered in the Weft-Meeting-Houfe, 
 
 Bofion^ ThiiiTday 'December 18, following. 
 In iive Parts, with an Introduction. 
 
 Parti, of tl)e Grcatncfs of"^ T Part IV. Of our Obligation to 
 
 God's \\^orks. C 3 fear, glorify and worihip 
 
 Part II. Of their man-cllous \ / Him. 
 
 and unfcarchablc Nature. -->. ^ 
 
 Part III. Of the moral Per- / ^ Part V. Praaical Refleaion* 
 
 fcdions and Government of r ) upon the Subje<5t, relative 
 
 God. J I to the Occafion. 
 
 By yonathan Mayhew^ D. D. 
 
 Pallor of the AVeft Church in Bojlotu 
 
 They Jliall fpeak of the Glory of thy Kingdom, and talk of 
 thy Po^ver : To make knavon to the Sons of Men His 
 mighty Afb, and the glorious Majejiy of His Kingdom. 
 
 Psalm CXLV. 
 
 B S T N: N. E. 
 
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 - Advertifement- 
 
 ON'E or two whole Para-^ 
 graphs^ and the Parts of 
 fever al others^ omitted in 
 delivering the enfuing Difcourfe^ 
 for want of T'ime^ are inferted 
 in this Publication in their pro-^ 
 per Places^ without any Mark 
 of DiJiinBion. 
 
The Introduction- 
 
 My Brethren, 
 
 TH \T part of God*s holy word, upon which 
 my Dilcourfe at this time will be grounded, 
 is in the X Vth Chapter of the Revelation of St. John, 
 the 3d and ^th Verfes. 
 
 — G R E AT and marvellous are thy 
 works^ Lord God Ahnighty \ juft 
 arxi true are thy ways^ thou King 
 of Saints ! WHO pall not fear 
 theey OLord^ and glorify thy 
 name I for thou only art holy : For 
 all nations pall come and ivorpip 
 bejore thee ; for thy judgments 
 are made manife/i, 
 
 THE uncommon and alarming occurrences of 
 divine providence, which wc have experi- 
 enced in the late Earthquakes, feem to 
 demand a very particular and uncommon 
 Jioticc. And altho* I have not, till now, invited you 
 into the houfc of God, for that purpofc ; yet you» 
 My Brethren of this focioty, are my witnefles, that I 
 have not let thefe providential vifiutions pafs wholly 
 
 unregarded 
 
6 The INTRODUCTION. 
 
 unregarded hitherto ; but^ more than once, taken cc- 
 cafion to fpeak of them ; and improved them as an 
 argument to inforce that praftical rehgionand holincfj 
 of hfe, which is doubtlefs the moral end and defigii 
 of them. So that many things which might have 
 properly been faid upon the occafion, have already 
 been faid in this place : Which raufl: be my apology 
 with thofe who may not hear, in this difcourfc, fomc 
 things which they might, perhaps, expeft in it. For 
 I am not fond of repetitions, efpecially upon a rubje(n: 
 which fuggefts fuch a great variety of reficclicns, as 
 renders it quite needlefs to ufe any ; and in difcour- 
 fing upon which, it is, indeed, much more difficult to 
 contra£l and ftipprefs, than it is to enlarge. 
 
 A.KD now we are aflcmbled together, out of the 
 common, flated courfe, to contemplate, and religi- 
 oufly to improve, thefe mighty and wonderful works 
 of God, I know of no pafiage of fcripture, fitter for 
 the bafis of a difcourfc upon fuch an occafion, than 
 that which was juft now read to you. This will na- 
 turally lead us from particular inftanccs and manifef- 
 tations of God's power, to a more enlarged contem- 
 plarion of his mighty deeds ; and the glory and ma- 
 jefiy of that kingdom, which " ruleth over all." 
 
 There is fuch an elevation and dignity, fuch a di- 
 vine energy and pathos, in this pafiage of fcripture, as 
 can hardly fail to raife and fix the attention of every 
 one. However, if any thing farther fliould be necef- 
 fary to this end, it Vv'ill be found in the great occafion 
 upon which, the glorious place where, and the 
 
 blclTcd 
 
The INTRODUCTION. 7 
 
 bleflcJ Ones by whom,thc words arc fappofcd to liavr 
 been originally uttered. I fiiall, therefore, juft re- 
 mind you of thcfe things, before I proceed to a parti- 
 cular confideration of the paflage itfclf. 
 
 St. yohn the Divine, being in the Spirit, and rapt. 
 m the vifions of God into future times, had a reprc- 
 fentation made to him of the woes and plagues, and 
 the final deflru^lion, which were to come upon thofc 
 of the grand apoftacy from the pure faith and woriliip 
 of the Gofpcl ; upon that antichriftian power which is 
 emblematically dcfcribcd by " a woman araycd in 
 "purple, and fcarlet colour, and decked with gold, 
 " and precious flones and pearls ; " — and having 
 t' upon her forehead a name written, Mystery 
 " Babylon the great, the mother of harlots, 
 
 " AND abominations OF THE EARTH." * Thc pla^UCS 
 
 which St. John in his vifion, or rather vifions, favt 
 coming upon great Babylon, (whatever is intended 
 hereby) were fucceffive ; and arifing one above ano- 
 ther in greatncfs and terror, till at length " there 
 " were voices, and thunders and lightnings,'* as he 
 exprcfTes it ; and "a great Earthquake, fuch 
 " a one as was not fince men were n|X)n the earth, fb 
 '' mighty an Earthquake and fo great. And thc great 
 " city was divided into three parts ; and the cities of 
 " the nations fell ; " [i. e. of the nations which had 
 " drank of the wine of the wrath of her fornication," 
 chap. XIV. ver. 8.] " and great Babylon came in 
 *' remembrance before God, to give unto her the 
 " cup of the wine of the ficrccncfs of his wrath." •* 
 
 It 
 * Rev. 17. 4, 5. ^ Chap. XVI. vcr. x8, 19. 
 
8 The INTRODUCTION. 
 
 It feems to have been at this dividing of the great 
 city into three parts by an Earthquake , attended, <x 
 immediately followed by a mighty fire ; and not at 
 her final overthrow, that St. yohn faw the " kings of 
 " the earth who had committed fornication with her ;" 
 the *' n>ei;chants who were made rich by her ;'' and 
 *' every fhip-maHer, and all the company in ihips," — - 
 *' {landing afar off, for fear of her torment, weeping 
 " and wailing, and faying, Alas 1 alas ! that great 
 ** city**— for in one hour fo great riches is come to 
 *' nought**! — and "crying when they faw the fmoke 
 ** of her burning, faying, What city is like unto this 
 " great city ! And they cafl duft upon their heads, 
 " weeping and wailing, and faying, Alas! alas ! that 
 '* great city, wherein were made lich all that had 
 ** fhips in the fea — Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and 
 " ye holy apoftles and prophets ; for God hath aven- 
 *' ged you on ber !'* ^ I fay,it feems not to be her final 
 deflrutStion, at which thefe lamentations of fome, and 
 exultations of others, are made ; that being tobe effeftcd 
 by another,and (lill greater earthquake. And this her 
 utter ruin was accordingly reprefented to St. John 
 immediately after, by the following exprefllve emblem- 
 " And a mighty angel," fa\s he, " took a flone like 
 *' a great mill-flone, and cafl it into the fea, faying^ 
 " THUS, with violence, fhall that great city Ba- 
 " by Ion be thrown down, and fhall be found no 
 " MORE AT ALL. And the voice of harpers and 
 ** muficians, and of pipers, and of trumpeters, fhall 
 
 "be 
 ' Chap. XVIII. ver 3, 1 5—20. 
 
The INTRODUCIION. 9 
 
 " be heard no more at all in thee — and the light of 
 " a candle fiiall fliine no more at all in thee ; and 
 " the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride Iliall 
 " be heard no more at all in thee : for thy mer- 
 *' chants were the great men of the earth ; for by 
 " thy forcerics were all nations deceived." * This 
 is plainly her final overthrow and deftruftion. But 
 who, or what is meant by Babylon ^he great, the wo- 
 man arayed in purple and fcarlet, and ftyled the mo- 
 ther of harlots and abominations of the earth ; who 
 or what, I fay, is intended hereby, I lliall leave every 
 one to conjeflurc ; only juft obfcrving, that St. jfohn 
 tells us, ilie fitteth on " feven hills ;" that fhe " reign- 
 " eth over the kings of the earth ;*' and that " in 
 *' her was found the blood of prophets, and of faints, 
 ''- and of all that were llain upon the earth." 
 
 Now it is to be obferved, that when St. yohn faw 
 the " feven angels having the feven lad plagues ''" 
 to pour out upon the earth, and particularly upon Ba- 
 bylon, he had alfo a vifion of that glorious region 
 where thofe wei'e, " that had gotten the vi61:ory over 
 " the beaft, and over his image, and over his mark, 
 " and over the number of his name — having the harps 
 " of GOD." " And diofe bleded and happy pcrfons 
 it was, diat he heard " figging this fong of Moses 
 " the fervant of GOD, and the fong of the Lamb, 
 '' faying, Great and marvellous arc thy works, Lord 
 " GOD Almighty !" &c. 
 
 B This 
 
 • Ver. 21, 22, 23. •• Chap. XV. vcr. t. ^ Vcr. 3. 
 
lo The INTRODUCTION. 
 
 This is the anthem of the blcfTcd, in thofe glori- 
 ous manfions, with reference to the great events of 
 which St. yohn (peaks ; while they anticipate the 
 final overthrow of that power which " exalts itfelf 
 " above all that is called God, anel that is woriliipped." 
 And thefe circumflances being taken into confidcra- 
 tion, they cannot but give an additional folemnity and 
 dignity to this paflage of fcripture, in which there is 
 fuch a native fabiimity and grandeur, as cannot bnt 
 ftrike, warm, and elevate the minds of all, except the 
 groily abandoned, or naturally-flupid. 
 
 To imagine that we, poor fbjourners on earth, and 
 inhabitants of clay, can, with a proper ardor, and an 
 equally elevated devotion, bear a part in this fong of 
 praifc and triumph, were, indeed, great vanity andpre- 
 fiimption : But yet, not fo much as to liften to It, and 
 try to join the chorus, were certainly unbecoming our 
 profeffion and charadler as chriflians : For by becom. 
 ing truly fuch, "we claim a kindred with the bleflcd 
 above ; and are, in a fort, of one fbciety with them ; 
 being the adopted children of Him,of whom the " whole 
 '' family in heaven and earth is named." In the flrong 
 and cmphatical language of fcripture, we are not 
 only " fellow-citizens with the faints, and of the 
 ^' houiliold of God", here on earth ; but we are 
 ^' come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the 
 
 " living God, the heavenly Jerufalem" : 
 
 " and to the general affembly and church of the 
 " firft-born which are written in heaven" ; and 
 not only ' ' to the fpirits of juft men made per- 
 
 " made 
 
The INTRODUCriON. ii 
 
 '* fefTt", but '' to an innumerable compivny of 
 '' angels" ; and not only to an innumerable com- 
 pany of angels, but " to Jcfus the Mediater of the 
 '•' new covenant"; and not only to Jefiis the Media- 
 tor of the new covenant, but " to God the Judge of 
 " all". '' If we are truly the difciplcs of Chrift, we 
 are now united by faith, by love, temper and affec- 
 tion,notonly with faints, angels,and arch-angels above, 
 but with our glorified Redeemer ; and God himfelf 
 dwellcth in us, and wc in God *>. 
 
 Let us, therefore, bearing in mind the honourable 
 kindred, and glorious relation, which we boafl to the 
 inhabitants of Slon that is above, *' draw near with a true 
 " heart, in full alTurance of faith"; even as *' feeing 
 " him who is invifible'*; and in his immutable vera- 
 city beholding and anticipating the great events rc- 
 prefented in thefe vifions of St. yohn ; Let us, I fay, 
 now draw nx:ar in full alTurance of faith, faying, 
 *' Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God 
 " almighty ! juft and true are thy ways, thou King 
 "-' of faints ! Who Ihall not fear thee, and glorify thy 
 *' name 1 for thou only art holy : For all nations 
 " fliall come and worfhip before thee ; for thy judg- 
 ■' ments arc made manifeft!" 
 
 However, it is not my defign at prefent, to con- 
 fider thefe words with a particular view to the origi- 
 nal defign of them, as they arc found in the vifions 
 of St. yohn : Had this been my intention, I fhould 
 have been more cxaft and critical in pointing out to 
 B 2 you 
 
 ' Hcb. xii. 22, 23, 24. '^ 1 Joh. 15. 
 
12 The INTRODUCTION. 
 
 you the order and feries, and the diflin£l parts of 
 thefc vifions ; which is now ncedlefs : Becaufe I in- 
 tend to confider the padage as if it were independent, 
 liaving no connection with any thing preceeding or 
 following. And being taken in this light, it will, I 
 fuppofe, naturally enough lead us to fuch contem- 
 plations upon God, his works and attributes ; and to 
 fiich praftical refle£lions as will perfe£Hy coincide 
 with the prcfent occafion, and our defign in coniing 
 to woriliip and bow down before the Lord our Maker 
 at this time. For it naturally leads us, in the 
 
 FIRST place, to confider the greatnefs of God's 
 works ; which proclaim liis omnipotence. And 
 
 SECONDLY, their wonderfulnefs, and infcruta- 
 
 biiity. Which two particulars are obvioufly fug- 
 
 gefled by the former part of the paflage : " Great 
 '' and marvellous are thy works, LordGodv/^/w/^/'/)' P^ 
 
 THIRDLY, the moral perfections of God, in 
 the exercife of which he governs the univerfe — 
 ** yuji and true are thy ways, thou King of Saints — 
 '' thou only art holy — thy judgments are made ma- 
 '^ nifeft". 
 
 FOURTHLY, The obligations lying upon all 
 
 men to fear, glorify, and woriliip him — " Who Ihall 
 
 *' not y^^r thee, O Lord, ^md. glorify thy name — 
 
 " all nations ihall come and zvorflnp before thee." 
 
 And, 
 
 LASTLY, It will lead us to fome practical re- 
 HcClions upon thofc great and marvellous works of 
 
 God, 
 
Of the Great?iefs^ 8cc. 13 
 
 God, to make a religious improvement ofwliich, wc 
 are now aflemblcd together. 
 
 I SHALL be the fhorter in the fpcculative, do^ri- 
 nal part of my difcourfe, that I may have the more 
 time for what I imagine will be more ufefui ; I 
 mean, the practical. And as I would hope there are 
 none prefent, but what are prefent with a good in- 
 tention, I iliould be forry if any of my hearers 
 Ihould go away without being the better for what 
 they hear. Accordingly, tho' I will endeavour to 
 remember that men have heads, as well as hearts and 
 confciences ; yet I iliall aim rather at fpeakingto the 
 Litter, than to the former. 
 
 PAR T I. 
 
 Of the Greatnefs of God's Works. 
 
 LET us then, in die firfl place, confidcr the great- 
 nefs of God's works ; which proclaim his om- 
 nipotence. *■' Great-— arc thy works, Lord God ^^i- 
 '* m'^jhiy P'' — It is to beobfervcd, that there are no 
 powers in what wc comnionly call natural, fecondary 
 caufes, but what are, to fay the lealt, originally de- 
 rived from the firft ; and no real agency in any that 
 are wholly material. A^fivity or agency, properly 
 fjpeaking, belongs only to mind or fpirit ; and all 
 thofe powers ami operations which in common lan- 
 guage arc afcribed to natural bodies, arc really ef- 
 fects and operations of the fupremc, original caufc. 
 
 So 
 
14 ^f t^^ Greatvefs 
 
 So that all the works which we behold, arc, flriftlv 
 ipcaking, God's works ; excepting thofe which are 
 wrought by mcH, and other finite, intelligent beings. 
 And even thefc latter arc, in one (enfe, God's works; 
 becaufe, though human agency, and the agency of 
 other fabordinate intelligences, is not to be wholly 
 excluded and fet afide ; yet the aftive powers of thefc 
 beings are both derived from, and upheld by Hira, 
 to whom " power" emphatically " belongeth" "" : 
 And alfo becaufe all thefe fubordinate agents, in all 
 their operations, are under the controul and dominion 
 of the Almighty ; and employed by Him to fulfil 
 his purpofes and plcafure. So that all the works 
 which we behold are, in a large fenfe, and in the lan- 
 guage of fcripture, the doings and works of God. 
 And accordingly the works of God, in the fcripture 
 phrafeology, comprehend thofe of creation, of nature 
 and providence ; and whatever God does as the Lord 
 and Governoi of the world, v.hofe kingdom ruleth 
 over all. 
 
 And now, how manifold, and how great are theie 
 works 1 Whether we turn our eyes to the great and 
 wide fea, or to the dry land ; to the earth beneath us, 
 or to the heavens above us, ilill we behold the mighty 
 works of God. The ocean, which is fhut up within 
 limits which it cannot tranfgrefs, but when God gives 
 it a difpenfation for fo doing ; and wherein are thing§ 
 *' innumerable both fmall and great beads ;" this is, 
 furely, a great and afloniiliing work. And how mighty 
 
 and 
 
 • Pfalm kii. ii. 
 
of God's Works » i ^ 
 
 and powerful is that Being who made, and wlio lias 
 fixed bounds to it,fliy!ng, "Hitherto flialt thon come, 
 " and no farther ; and here fliall thy proud waves be 
 '*^ ftaycd :" that Being, who holds the waters of it 
 in the " hollow of his hand ;" and whom its winds 
 and furges obey ? that Being, upon whom all its nu- 
 merous inhabitants wait, that he may " give them 
 " their meat in due feafon ;" which are troubled 
 when he only " hidcth his face/* and die when he 
 ^' takcth their breath r" 
 
 The dryland is not Icfs full of his great works and 
 wonders. Confidcr the beads of the forefts, and the 
 cattle upon a thoufand hills : Confider the huge, 
 bulky animals, and the places where they range - 
 the wide extended plains, and the '^ evcrlafting moun- 
 " tains'* Vv'ith their fummits above the clouds ; the 
 mighty volcanos in different parts of the world, whence 
 rivers of liquid fire flow for miles into the ocean,like 
 thofe of water from other mountains, as though they 
 were going to contend for that place which God 
 *" founded" for the other clement : Confider the 
 concufTion of an Earthquake, when half a continent 
 with its neighbouring iflands, and their jflirrounding 
 fca?, are at once fhaken ; as though the land and wa- 
 ter v/bich God once feparated, were again to be 
 mixed and confounded together : Confider thefe 
 works of God, 1 fay, and tell mc if they arc not 
 great ! 
 
 Consider nc>(; the air and atmofphcre with which 
 the whole earih is furrounded, and in which it is in- 
 folded 
 
1 6 Of the Great mfs 
 
 folded a5 in a garment : Confldcr the numerous peo- 
 ple, the winged inhabitants thereof, the fowls of lica_ 
 ven, which God daily feeds ; and licnrcth wlien 
 they cry "" unto him, though we undcrriand not their 
 language: Confider the whirlwind snd tlie tcmpcfl, 
 when God '■' bows the lieavens, and comes down, 
 *' and darknefs is under his feet ;" when he " rides 
 ** upon a cherub and does fly/' yea when he " flies 
 " upon the wings of the wind ;'* wlien he " makes 
 *' darknefs his fecrct place, his pavilion round about 
 " him, where dark waters are, and thick clouds of 
 " the Ikies" ; when again, " at the briglitnefs that is 
 *' before him, his thick clouds pafs, hail-flones and 
 ■*' coals of fire ;" when the Lord alfo '' thunders, 
 " and the Highefl: gives his voice :" — yea, when he 
 *' fends out his arrows, and fcatters the [guilty, af- 
 *■' frighted] nations ; andflioots out his lightnings and 
 " difcomfits them :" '' Confider the returns of day 
 and night, when we are alternately enlivened and 
 cheered by the light, and covered with gloom and 
 and darknefs : Confider the annually-returning fea- 
 fbns, when God alternately reneweth the face of 
 the earth, and binds the fields and rivers in icy 
 bands : Confider thefe works of God, I fay, andtlien 
 pronounce, whether they are great or not ! " But lo, 
 *' thefe are [but] parts of his ways ; and how little a 
 
 ** portion is heard of him !*' *" 
 
 And 
 
 a Job xxxviii. 41 . and Pfalm cxlviii. 9. "^ Pfalm xvlii. 9 — i^. 
 This paflage of fcripture feems plainly to refer to the plagues of 
 Egypt, and to what happened at the Red Sea. 
 
 •^ Job xxvi. 14. 
 
Of God's Wor%s. 17 
 
 And if thefe works of God, which have now been 
 hinted at, arc great, and proclaim an all-powerful 
 Being ; what do thofc innumerable worlds do, which 
 we behold revolving about us in fuch an admirable 
 prdc- ! Who made thofe two great lights, the one 
 of which rules by day, and the other by night ? Who 
 made theflars alfo ? Who, thofe numerous, immenfe 
 glpbcs, compared to fome of which, our earth is but 
 as an atom, and our ocean as a drop of the bucket ? 
 Whofe breath gave them all being ? Whofe hand 
 gives them their motions ? Who direfts their courfcs ? 
 Who makes them know their proper places and dif- 
 tances, ^ as not to joftle, and wrack world on world ? 
 Whofe hand conflantly maintains their order, and fuf- 
 tains them in being ? When you confidcr thefe things, 
 
 furely you cannot avoid exclaiming, — " Great ■ 
 
 are thy works, Lord God Almighty 1'* '' For [| ve- 
 rily] the invilible things of him from the creation 
 of the world are clearly fecn, being underdood by 
 the things that are made, even his eternal power 
 and Godhead." » 
 But die works of God may come under another* 
 and a mixed confideration, if I may (b exprefs it ; I 
 mean, as they are the doings of Him who is the righ- 
 teous fc Sovereign of the world, as well as the Crea- 
 C tor 
 
 ' Rom. i. 20. 
 
 ^ The reader is defined to obferve, th.it though God's moral pcr- 
 fciflions and government, properly come under the THIRD 
 head of difcourfc propofed ; yet it is in this mixed, complex 
 fenfe, that liis works are fpoken of as " great and marvellous," 
 
1 8 Of the Greatnefs 
 
 tor of It, and the Lord of nature. In which refpe^l 
 they are alfo greit and illuflrious ; and equally fo, 
 perhaps,whether wc confider the works ofGod's righ, 
 teous leverity, or his works of mercy and goodnefs. 
 
 God's works of judgment, which have been abroad, 
 aj^d made mainfeft in the earth, from one generati- 
 on to another, may judly be termed great. Was not 
 that, one fuch work, for example, when God ruined 
 fire and brimdonc out of heaven, and confumed thofe 
 wicked cities, Sodom and Gomorrha ; aiid when the 
 ground on which they flood, was funk, doubtlcfs by 
 art earthquake, to a ftanding naufeous pool, as at this 
 day ? Was not that another fuch work, when ne fent 
 his Angel, and by him, dcflroyed in one night, fuch 
 a vaft i.Tultitude in the Adyrian camp ? Was not that 
 another, when he deflroyed Pharaoh and his mighty 
 holt in tlie rci^ fea ? — tliat fame Pharaoh, whom he 
 *' raifed up, for to ihew in him his power, and that 
 '' his name might be declared throughout all the 
 " eardi ? " * How many miglity works, of a fimilar 
 nature to thefe, has God wrought ? and what defola- 
 tion has he made in the earth, in a way of judgment, 
 fiiice the foundations thereof were laid by him ! 
 
 But- 
 
 in ths tcxi. Tlie words have plainly refpeft to the afts and 
 doings of Cod, confidered in a twofold light ; as he is the 
 Lord of uaiverfa] nature, and the jufl Ruler aud Jcidge of Men. 
 Upon which account it was thought proper to confider their 
 greatnefs in this light, by way of anticipation, before the mo- 
 rality of the divine government comes, incouife, to be di/tindlly 
 fpoken of. 
 ' Exod \t., i6. 
 
Of God's TVoi'k. 19 
 
 But how great, more efpccially, was that work of 
 God, when the ftoiintaiiis of the great deep were 
 broken up P when the waters arofc above the tops 
 of the tailed mountains ^ and the flood of his anger 
 came '' upon the world of the ungodly, an^ fwept 
 ** them all away 1'* 
 
 But God's works of goodnefs and kindnefs are no^ 
 Icis great and illuftrions, from age to age, than thofe 
 of his jaft fc verity. The prefervation of Lot, whofe 
 righteous foul was grieved with tlie filthy convcrfati- 
 on of the wicked ; and the prefervation of Noah, a 
 preacher of righteoufnefs, with his family, in the ark, 
 from whom the depopulated world was re-pcopled 
 after the deluge ; thefc, I fay, were great works of 
 kindnefs and mercy. And was not that another fuch, 
 when he led hischofen people like a flock out of E- 
 gypt, dire*fi:ing tlieir march by a cloud by day, and a 
 pillar of fire by night ; till, at his command, the fea 
 retired, and rofe as a wall on cither fide of them, to 
 let them pafs ? Was not that another work of great 
 kindnefs to his chofen people, though attended with 
 terror to them, when he gave them his laws and fla- 
 tutcs at Sinai ? when the mountain trembled and qua- 
 ked ; *^ and all the people faw the thundcriiags, and 
 " the lightnings, and the noife of the trumpet, and 
 " the mountain fmoaking ; and — removed, and flood 
 " afar off?" * But to arife flill higher ; if the giving 
 of the law by Mofes his fcrvant, and by the mini- 
 C 2 (Iration 
 
 • Exod. XX, 18. 
 
20 Of the Greatnefs 
 
 ftratlonof angels, was u great work of God's kind- 
 ncfs ; how much greater is that of his giving the gof- 
 pel of peace to the world, by his Son Jesus Christ, 
 who is '' made fo much better than the angels, as he 
 
 hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent 
 '' name than they"? Is not the redemption of this 
 fiiiful, apoflate world, the work of God ? or is it 
 not emphatically a great one ? Without controverfy, 
 great is this work of God, this myftery of godlinefs, 
 which angels defirc to look into ! and at which not 
 only hell, but heaven itfelf, and all that is therein, 
 ftands aftonifhed, excepting Him whofe work it is ; 
 and whom *' the heaven, and the heavens of heavens 
 cannot contain"! 
 
 There are other great things, both in die way of 
 judgment and of mercy to be accompliflied upon this 
 flage, before the fcene is clofed. We have, perhaps, 
 not feen as yet half the afts of this mighty drama. 
 But we know the principal contents, and chief heads 
 of the whole, by refleding upon what is aftually pafl, 
 and looking into that '' fure word of prophecy*' 
 which iliincs as a light in a dark place, until the 
 feveral great days and periods dawn in fuccefTion, and 
 the '' day-ftar [at length] arifes in our hearts". The 
 chief articles and circumftances of the plot, if I may 
 fo exprefs it, and the winding up of the whole, are in 
 general made known to us by revelation. Babylon 
 Tlie great fhall be utterly deftroycd ; which, furely, 
 will appear to be a great work, whenever it is accom- 
 pliflied. God hath not utterly and finally caft away 
 
 his 
 
Of God's IVorks. 2 1 
 
 his ancient people Ifracl ; they fliall be recalled from 
 their fevcral and wide difperfions : And this work, 
 which God will furely effeft by his power and provi- 
 dence, will be equally great. It was not faid in vain, 
 " I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance ; 
 " and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy 
 *' poiTcfnon"; but when all Ifi-ael fliall be faved, the 
 FULNESS of the gentiles fliall alfo come in ; and there 
 fliall be *•' one fold and one fliepherd"; and ^' every 
 '' tongue fliall confcfs that Jeflis Chrifl is Lord, to 
 '* the glory of God, the Father. 
 
 Bur how great, beyond cxpreflion, beyond con- 
 ception, will the concIu(jon of this drama of ages be! 
 When all the numerous actors fliall appear before the 
 viable Reprefentative and " Image of the invifible 
 " God "", to receive his life-giving plaudit, or to be 
 hifs'd and frown'd into perdition ! When thofe who 
 have a<^ed their part ill, fliall mix their cries and wail- 
 ings in horrid difcord, with the triumphant fongs ** 
 and hofanna's of the redeemed, who have a6led well ; 
 with the voice of the arch-angel and with the trump 
 of God ! When the fcenes, the fiage, and the migh- 
 ty theatre itfelf, fliall all drop and fall together ! — 
 I leave it to you to judge,whether thefe wcfks of God 
 will be great, or little ! 
 
 To me it appears, that whether we contemplate 
 the works of God in the natural, or in the moral 
 
 world ; 
 • Col. i. 15. 
 *• The Author thinks, but Is not certain, that there is fomc-whcre 
 
 in Dr. Scoft\ works a paflagc, to which tliis part of the fcB- 
 
 tcncc may fcem to be at Icill an -.Ululion. 
 
2 2 God's TVorh^ 
 
 world ; or at once view them in that twofold light, 
 in which I have now been confidering them ; whe- 
 ther we refleft upon tliofe of them which are already 
 accomplillied, or look forward to thole which iliall 
 infallibly be accomplilhed hereafter ; (till we cannot 
 but exclaim — " Great — are thy works Lord God 
 *' Almighty !" Nor will I lefTcn and dcbafe thefe 
 works of God, even fo mucli as to alk, ^¥hat com- 
 parifoii ther*? is betwixt them, and the mod auguft of 
 thofe which are done by men, by the kings and po- 
 tentates of the earth ; to which trifles we fometimes 
 afcribe grandeur and dignity I 
 
 P A R T II. , 
 
 Of the marvellous, unfearchable nature 
 of God's Works. 
 
 IT is now time for us to confider the wonderful 
 nature of God's works : For they are not only 
 great,but marvellous ! — '^Marvellous are thy works, 
 *' Lord God almighty!" — They may, indeed, be faid 
 to be marvellous, only in refpeft of their greatnefs ; 
 fince'no contemplative man*can avoid being aftoniflied 
 at them, confidered merely in this view. But they 
 are alfo marvellous in another refpe£i: ; viz. as we 
 cannot penetrate into, or fully comprehend them, by 
 reafon of the narrownefs of our capacities ". We 
 
 can 
 
 * A little refle<5tion upon the operations of our own minds, v/ill 
 indeed make it evident, that all wonder, furprife, aftonilhmcnt, 
 
 at 
 
Incmiprehenfihh. 2 3 
 
 can form no adequate, I had almofl: /aid abfolatcly, no 
 conception at all, of creation, the firft and original 
 work of God. And it is but a littJc way that we 
 can fee into the nature and caufes and reafons of 
 thincTs ; the means and methods and ends, by and for 
 which, many events are bro't about both in the natu- 
 ral and moral world. As none can by fcarching *' find 
 " out the Almighty unto pcrfe£lion"; fo neither can 
 any perfectly underftand and compreheml his works, 
 even the Icafl: of them ; and much lefs the greateft, 
 '' My thoughts arc not your thoughts, neither are 
 " your ways, my ways, faith the Lord. For as the 
 *' heavens are higher than the earth, fo are my ways 
 " higher than your ways, and my tho'ts than your 
 " thoughts" ^. I know there are not wanting men, 
 who pretend to have a tliorough underftanding of thefe 
 matters ; of almoft all the works of nature and provi- 
 dence. But wliethcr they are to be accounted wife 
 men, or fools who know nothing as they ought to 
 know it, v/e may learn in part from Sohmonh re- 
 flections upon this head : " I (aid I will be wife, but 
 " it was far from me/' fiys he. *' That which is far 
 
 off," 
 
 at bottom proceed from, and connote ignorance ; for nothing, 
 whicli \vc fully unci rfland, ever excites our wonder or admira- 
 tion. And it is ccitain that no fuch pafTion can have any place 
 in a perfect, all comprehending mind. So that God's works 
 are marvellous, only wicli relation to his imperteft creatures : 
 And liie more imperfect and fhort-fighted creatures are, the 
 more marvellous mult dielc works appeur to thcra j I meao, if 
 they at all think of them. 
 fc Ifai. Iv. 8, 9. 
 
24 God's Works ^ 
 
 '' off, and exceeding deep, who can find it out r 
 *' I applied mine heart to know and to fcarch, and 
 *' to feek out wifdom, and the rcafon of things ' * — 
 " When I applied mine heart to know wiidom, and 
 ** to fee the bufinefs that is done upon the earth — 
 " then I beheld all the work of God, that a man 
 " cannot find out the work that is done under the 
 " fun : becaufc though a man labour to feek it out, 
 " yet he lliall not find it ; yea farther, though a wife 
 *' man think to know it, yet fliall he not be able to 
 *' find it. '"" If a wife man cannot find out the work 
 of God, it would be ftrange if fools could ; nor, in- 
 deed, is there any greater evidence of folly, than the 
 t)retence of having done it. There is a reflection of 
 much the fame nature with this of Solomon, in the 
 book of Job : '* AVhich doeth great things, part find- 
 '^ ing out, yea, and wonders without number." "^ — 
 '' He is wife in heart, and mighty in ftrength — which 
 *' removeth the mountains, and they know hot . 
 " which overturneth them in his anger : which fha- 
 *' keth the earth out of her place, and the pillars of 
 *' heaven tremble : which commandeth the fun, and 
 ** it rifeth not ; and fcaleth up the ftars : which alone 
 ** fpreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the 
 " waves of the fea ; which maketh Arfturus, Orion* 
 " and the Pleiades, and the chambers of the fouth." ** 
 There is, indeed, fuch a thing as natural philofb- 
 phy, which is of great ufe both to the purpofes of life 
 
 and 
 
 * Ecclef. vil. 23, 24, 2^ ^ Chap. vlli. ver. 16, 17. «^ Job 
 " ix. 10. ^ Ver. 4,-9. 
 
Incomprehenjibh, 2 5 
 
 and godlincfs ; and which, therefore, well defcrves 
 10 be cultivated. However, the whole of what goes 
 by that name, feems to be no more than the obferv- 
 ing of facfts, their fucccfTion and order ; and reducing 
 them to a general analogy ; to certain eflabliihcd 
 rules, and a fettled courfe and feries of 'events ; cal- 
 led the laws of nature, from their fteadinefs and con- 
 ftancy. This, I fay, feems to comprehend the whole 
 of what we ufualiy call natural philofophy. But af- 
 ter all the improvements that have been made here- 
 in, how many things arc there in the natural world, 
 which never have been, and perhaps never will be, 
 reduced to any fuch general analogy, or to the com- 
 mon known laws of nature ? How many phccnomi- 
 na are there, Vv'hich we may call the irregulars ^ 
 ih^ anomalies, and heterocUtes in the grammar, in the 
 great book and language of nature, by which God 
 Ipcaks to us as really, as by his written oracles ? Were 
 the laws of comets, of inundations, of earthquakes, of 
 meteors, of tempefts, of the aurora borealies, of mon- 
 ftrous births ? were the particular laws and caufes of 
 thefe, and of a thoufand other phxnomcna, 1 f.iy, 
 ever plainly dilcovercd ? I mean, ^o that they cotild 
 be methodically calculated, foretold, and account- 
 ed for, as we calculate, foretel and account for com- 
 mon tides, eclipfes.&c ? No, furely ; this has never 
 been done by the grcated philofophers,wiih any toler- 
 able degree of certainty and precifion ; tho'the::^ have 
 been very ingenious,and even probable hypothcfis con- 
 cerning forae of Uiefe pha-niomcna. However, their 
 D caufes 
 
2 6 God's Works ^ 
 
 caufes and laws ftill remain very much in the dark : 
 which may be owing, in part, to our not having cri- 
 tically obferved a fufficient number of fiifts in each 
 kind, from whence to draw general conclufions, and 
 on which to form theories. For there is doubtlefs as 
 regular an order and connexion of thcfe faifts and 
 efFe(5ls, in nature, whether aflually feen and known by 
 U3 or not ; and therefore as truly a courfe of nature 
 with refj^eci: to them, as there is of, and uirh rcfj.e<5t 
 to, the moft common and familiar. But this connex- 
 ion and order is, as yet, too recondite and hidden for 
 human penetration ; fo that we can do but little more 
 than form conjeclures about thefe things. Thefe 
 v.'orksof God may, therefore, juAly be called mar- 
 vellous, pall finding out ; and thcfe wonders of nature 
 are al/b without number. 
 
 But upon fuppofition that all tliofe works of God^ 
 which we call the works of nature, cOuld be brought 
 to a common analogy, and methodlcaly arranged un- 
 der certain known laws, as fbme of them are, fb as 
 t© admit of a folution as plainly, and in the fame fenfe, 
 that eclipfes, common tides, or any other natural 
 phcenomena do ; even upon this fuppofition, I fay, 
 our knowledge would fiill be very imperfeft ; and 
 the works of God, flili marvellous to us. For it 
 is to be remembered,that thefe general laws, by which 
 we think to account for all other things, are them- 
 fclves myltej-ious and inexplicable. Who, for exam- 
 ple, can, without vanity and prefumption, pretend to 
 iinderftand the great law of gravitation j tlie moft 
 
 general 
 
Incojnprehenjible* 2 7 
 
 general and exteiifivc one, which we know of in na- 
 ture ? Wlio, I fay, can, without the utmoft vanity and 
 prcrumption pretend to a thorough undcrftanding of 
 this law ? efpccially after a Newton has confefled 
 his ignorance of it ; and expredcd his doubts, whe- 
 ther it were the cffcft of God's immediate power, 
 operating regularly upon every particle of matter 
 throughout the univcrfe j or whether it were the ef- 
 fect of fome intermediate, natural caufe, unknown to 
 us ? fome fubtle medium pervading all natural bo- 
 dies and fubflances ? And though the latter were 
 known to be the cafe, flill the fame, or rather a 
 greater difficulty would recur, ref]">e£l:ing that prior, 
 and higher natural caufc ; and fo on in hifinitiim ; or, 
 at leall, *till we con.ic to that great Firft Caufe and 
 Agent, who is the " leafl underftood" of all things* 
 For He muft needs be more incomprehenfible even 
 than any of his marvellous works, fince our firfl 
 knowledge of Him, is learnt from them. 
 
 What is faid above concerning the law of gravi- 
 tation, is equally applicable to all others, which we 
 call natural caufcs, or laws of nature : They are all 
 really incomprehenfible. We can no more penetrate 
 into the true reafon why a fpark of fire, rather than 
 a drop of water, fhould caufe an explofion v/hen 
 dropped on powder ; than we can tell why a ftone, 
 left to itfelf in the air, fhould fall, rather than 
 afcend : i. e. we cannot do it at all. Thus it is as 
 to all natural caufcs in general. So that, as was inti- 
 D 2 mated 
 
2 8 God's Works ^ 
 
 mated above,our knowledge would be very Imperfefl,' 
 even though we could cafily reduce all the phseno- 
 mena in the natural world, to known, general laws ; 
 as it is certain we cannot. We ihould then know 
 nothing but fa£ls and effects, their regular fucceflion 
 and order. For though we fpcak of the natural, vi- 
 able caufes of many things ; yet ihcfe caufcs fcem 
 to be plainly effects themfelves ; and the real caufe 
 of them, and of all things, is hidden, quite veiled 
 from mortal fight ; " though He be not far from 
 *' every one of us.'* * " Behold, we go forward, bu^ 
 '^ He is not [vifibly] there ; and backward, but we 
 '^ cannot perceive Him : On the left hand, wliere 
 "^ He doth work, but we cannot behold Him : He 
 " hideth Himfelf on tlie right hand, that we cannot 
 *' fee Him. But He knovveth the v/ay that we 
 " take!" ^ 
 
 Ti-iAT caufe which a^s thus regularly, mightily^ 
 and marvelloufly, every-where ; muft: needs be all- 
 wife, all-powerful, and omniprefent : And into His 
 incomprehcnfible agency, non-plufs'd philofi>phy it- 
 felf muft ultimately relolve all natural effe^ls, toge- 
 ther with their apparent, vifible caufes. 
 
 So that the whole natural world, is really nothing 
 but one great wonder and myftery. It is not only 
 thofe which we, in common language, call the great 
 works of God, that are marvellous and infcRitabic ; 
 but the leaft of them alfo. A¥e are even an aftonifh- 
 ment to ourfelves. For we are '' , fearfully 
 
 <' and 
 
 J' Acls xvli. 27. *» Job xxiii. 8, 9, 10. 
 
Incomprehe?tJibh. 2 9 
 
 '* and wonderfully made : Marvellous are thy works, 
 *' and that my fou! knowcth nght well ! My fub- 
 " fiance was not hid from tlicc, when I was made in 
 " fecret, and cnrioufly wrought — Thine eye did fee 
 " my fubllahce yet being unperfe^l, and in thy book 
 " all my members were Written, which in continu- 
 " ance were fafliioned ! — •'"' The moft common, the 
 leafl, and the mod inconfidcrable cfTeciS of God's 
 power, which we beho'd, baffle human wifdom and 
 penetration. A flower of the field, which fprings up 
 in the morning, and at night is withered ; the mite 
 that is undifcernabic to the naked eye ; every atom 
 or mote that fiies in the fun-beans, or is wafted by the 
 breeze, contains marvells and wonders enough to 
 non-plufs the c,reatef|: fage. Thefe are all the works 
 of God; and all marvellous: And tho' we do not 
 call tiiem great ; yet tlie Icafl of them proclaims the 
 wifdom, the eternal power and god-head, of the 
 Creator. 
 
 • The works of God ,35 he is the moral b Governor 
 'of the world, are alfo marvellous and unfcarchable ; 
 at leafl many of them are fb. The Jecond^ or the 
 new birth, which is of the Spirit, and which we are all 
 fo mucli concerned to experience, is not lefs myfieri- 
 ous than \\\q frji. For " as thou knowefl: not what 
 '* is the way of the Spirit, nor how tlie bones do 
 " grpw in the womb of her that is with diild ; even 
 " fo thou knoweft not the works of God who maketh 
 
 all ;" 
 
 ' Pfalra cxxxLx. 14, 15, 16. 'J Sec tlic marginal note, P. 17. 
 
3;0 God's Works y 
 
 " all" '; and by whom we are " created a-new in 
 " Chrift: Jefus". And altho' our Saviour cautionecf 
 ISfichodemus not to " marvell" at his faying, " Yc 
 " mufl be born again"; yet he immediately compares 
 this myftcrious work of the Spirit, to one of the vi- 
 (ible eiie^ls of God's invifible power in the natural 
 world ; which tho* one of the moft common, is yet 
 XxvXy wonderful — " The wind bloweth where it 
 '* lifteth,fays he, and thou hearefl the found thereof, 
 " but canft not tell whence it comelh, and whither 
 " it goeth : fo is every one that is born of theSpirit";"* 
 of that Spirit, which is ever operating both in the 
 kingdom of nature, and of grace. For we may apply 
 to all thefe operations and effe^ls, however different 
 they may feem, what the apoftle fays of the different 
 kinds of miraculous gifts in that age of the church — 
 " All thefe worketh that one and the felf-fame 
 " fpirit".*= 
 
 The difpenfations of God*s providence towards 
 mankind, have all fome-what that is myfterious and 
 incomprehenfible in them. We cannot fee into all 
 the connexions and dependences of things and events 
 jo the moral world ; fo as to give a clear account and 
 fblution of them. Difficulties and objefHons will re- 
 main, thro* our ignorance and fhort-fightednefs, againft 
 the fcheme and methods of God's dealing with the 
 children of men, after puzzled theology has done its 
 bell. In which rcfpeft it is faid, that *' clouds and 
 
 " darknefs 
 
 * Ecclef. 3U. J. »» JohouL 7,8. * xCor. xii. Ii. 
 
Incomprehenfible^ 3 1 
 
 •' darknefs are round aboutHim", altho' '* righteouf- 
 ' ' nefs and judgment arc the habitation of his throne"' 
 Amongft the marvellous, unfcarchable difpenfations 
 of God to the world, confidered as the moral Gover- 
 nor of it ; we may particularly reckon our being fub- 
 je£led to forrow, pahi and death, " through the of- 
 " fence of one ;" and our refloration to happinefs 
 and life eternal, by the obedience unto death of a far 
 Greater, " the Lord from heaven :'* God's calling 
 the Jews of old to be his peculiar people ; their re- 
 jection, with the circumftanccs attending it j and their 
 prefcrration in their prejfent difjierfcd flate : The 
 fuflcrings to which good men are fbmetimes fubjefted, 
 while the wicked are profpered, and *' flouriih like a 
 " green bay-tree :" The utter overthrow and ruin 
 of fome wicked nations, while fbmc others, to 
 appearance as wicked, if not more fo, are preferved, 
 and favoured with the flniles of providence. Thefe 
 and many other difpenfations of providence, both 
 part and future, we cannot penetrate to the bottom 
 of, or clearly fee into. So that whether we confider 
 God's natural works, or his moral ; or confider his 
 works at once in both thefe lights, they are not 
 only great, but marvellous. *' No heart can think of 
 «* thefe things worthily : and who is able to conceive 
 ** his ways ? It is a tcmpeft which no man can fee ; 
 " for the mofl part of his works arc hid. Who can 
 " declare the works of his juftice ? or who can en- 
 *' dure them ? for liia covenant is afar off, and the 
 
 ^< trial 
 * Pfalm xcvii. 2. 
 
32 Of the Mcraiuy 
 
 '' trialof all things is in the end." =" AVhcrher, there- 
 fore, you are a true philofophcr, a true chrillian, or 
 both, as St. 7^t7/// was, (liJi you mull adopt his lan- 
 guage ? — " O the depth of the riches, both of the 
 *' wifdom and knowledge of God ! how unfearcha- 
 " ble are his judgments, and his ways pafl finding out! 
 " For who hath known thd mind of the Lord? or 
 " who hath been his counfellor ? Or who hath firft 
 " given unto him, and it ilia 11 be rccompenced to 
 -" him again ? For of him, and through him, and to 
 " him are all things : To whom be glory for ever 
 •'' Amen !" ^^ 
 
 PART III. 
 
 Of the moral Perfedions and Govern- 
 ment of God. 
 
 UT though human wifdom cannot fcan or 
 comprehend the great and marvellous works 
 of God ; yet we do, or may know fb much, both of 
 Him and them, as may ferve the ends of praftical re- 
 ligion ; which is the end of man. — So that though 
 we Ihould guard againft vanity on one hand, yet we 
 ihould equally guard againft falfe modefty, or fcep- 
 ticifm on the other. We are not iliut up in a vaft, 
 dark labyrinth, without any crevice or clue at all. 
 We fee at leaft fome glimmerings of light ; and if 
 T7;^'//j-like, we follow the clue which is actually 
 
 given 
 ■ Ecclcf. xvi. 20, 21, 22. '' Rom. J^i. 33—36. 
 
of Gods Government, 33 
 
 given us, it will lead us out of this darknefs into o- 
 ])Cn and endlefs day. But not to dwell upon meta** 
 phor and allufion : God gives us fuch notices of him- 
 felf by his works, by the courfc of his providence, 
 by our rcafon, and by his word, that though we muft 
 confefs our ignorance of innumerable things, (till vvc 
 may fay with confidence — *' JuR and true are thy 
 " ways, thou King of faints !" — " Thou only art 
 " holy !" — " Thy judgments arc made manifefl 1" 
 
 Amidst all our darknefs and ignorance, we fee 
 enough, unlefs we are wilfully blind, to convince us> 
 That God is a moral Governor ; or that a moral go- 
 vernment is a^ually eftablirticd, and gradually car- 
 rying on in the world ; and that we ourfelves are the 
 fubje£h of it. Had we only the light of nature to 
 direcl us, we might by properly following it, conclude 
 with a good degree of certainty, That God is a be- 
 neficent, true, and righteous being ; the patron of 
 good men, and the enemy of the wicked ; and one 
 who will, fooncr or later, give to every man accord- 
 ing to his deeds. For is not the Creator, and Uphol- 
 der, alfo the Lord and Judge, of all I Or " fhall not 
 *' the Judge of alfihe earth do right 1" — " The 
 •* work of a man fhall he render unto him, and caufc 
 '' every man to find according to his ways. Yea, 
 '* furcly, God will not do wickedly, neither will 
 *' the Almighty per\'ert judgment ! Who hath given 
 " him a charge over the earth .'' or who hath difpo- 
 *l fed the wliot'e ^'orld 1" Though thcfc words are 
 •^ ' • ^ found 
 
34 Of the Morality 
 
 ibund in one of the books of revelation, yet (lie paf- 
 {age is really the language of nature : Nor> indeed, 
 do I remcmbe-r that any have fuppofed that E^lihu 
 who utters them, was inl]-)ired. Tlicfe are the fenti- 
 ments which naturally arife in an improved, \lrtuous 
 mind, upon contemplating the works of God ; rhe 
 great/ independent Being, and fource of all thing*. 
 
 ■ The moral perfcftions whrch wc ttfually a-fcribe to 
 God, fecra to have a connexion with thofc natural 
 ones, which muft neceflarjly belong to the oiiginal 
 caufe of all thir^ ; .particularly with indcrpendency^ 
 or felf-fufficiency, infinite wifdom, and unbounded 
 power. It is fcarce, if at all pcfTible, to conceive 
 of that Being who has tl^efe natural |^crfe6tion8, to be 
 .falfe, cruel, or unjuft ; or to be otherwife than faitli- 
 flil and true, holy Tind righteous. So that thefe latter 
 ■attributes .are, .in fome fenfe, dcduaible from the fo'"-' 
 ,nier. But this argument, ufually called by metaphy- 
 sicians, the argument a priori ::, thjs argument,! fay, 
 in conjunfflien with fome. otbers.,'-Vi'ill appear .copclii- 
 /ive to every thoughtful and honeft man; I mean, 
 particularly, thofe arguments which may be drawn 
 .from the moral nature whjchGod has given us .; from 
 the-confcioufneft we htive of right and \yrong,; from 
 the law written in our hearts ; from our immediate 
 fenfe of good and of ill defert ; and fjrpm the vefti- 
 ^ges and traces of goodnefs and ri^hfeoufnefs, which 
 we plainly fee-in the conftitution^ riad,in the-courfe 
 «f nature j and the diipenfations of God's provi- 
 dence 
 
of God's Gaverwncnt, 35 
 
 (^iKe towards men. For although the judgments » o/" 
 God are nor now made inanifeft m fo nreat a deciircc 
 as they wiflbe at that period, to which the paflagc 
 my difcoLirf^ is grounded upon, relates ; yet they arc 
 difcoverablc in feme degree at prefent, by what v^^c 
 daily {^t and experience. Ahhoiigh there may be 
 rpom left for men of pervcrfc aiid corrupt minds to 
 cavil ngainft, there is really none for men of fair, in- 
 genuous minds to doubt of, much lefs to deny, the 
 morality of the government we arc now under ; the 
 things which have been juft hinted at above, and for 
 a particular diftuffion pf which, there is not time, bc' 
 ii^g duly confidercd. 
 
 E 2 HOWIVER, 
 
 » By the juJgmnts of God, it" I miftake not, people generally, 
 indeed almoin always, intend the manifeOations of God's dif- 
 pkrafure, in die iifflictive difpcnr'tioris of liis providence. Bat 
 iu die Linjjuagc of fcripturc, by ilut phrafc is often ineant the 
 ftatutcs, ordiniinccs and commandments of God ; but more ge- 
 nerally, I think, the judicial ads of God, in the courfe of his 
 providence, as he is the mt>ral Governor of the world, in 
 fuch a large fenfe as equally to comprehend the kind ^nd fa- 
 vourable difpenfations of providence, with diofe of his righ- 
 ;j;ous fevcrity ; though fonKtimes witlj a more particular 
 reference to one of theru, than to the other. In the paflagc 
 now under confideratron, it feetns to be ufed in this large, com- 
 prchcnfivc fcnfe ; thofe judgments pf God which arc fuppofcd 
 tq \i^ " ma Ic manifcft", being not only afts and inftanccs of 
 his vindidtvc jufticc againft Babylon; but alfo manifeftations 
 of his truth, g^iHlncfs and faithfulncfs to the upright, as he is 
 the" K'lg of faints,^' Sometimes the phrafe ought to be 
 underflood in a dill more cxtcniive fcnfc ; fo as to include 
 the laws of God, and the execution of them, both in rcward- 
 rog the good, and in puniAiing the wicked : i. c. it compie- 
 hcnds whatever God does, confidered in the charafler of tlie 
 mioral governor, the lawgiver, and the judge of the workl. In 
 this moft comprchenfive fenfe. Cod's judgments are often faid 
 to be " right," to he " righteous," &:c. &C. fcc. 
 
36 Of the Morality 
 
 However, I mufl: juft obfervc, That as the light 
 of nature fhows the world to be under a moral go- 
 vernment and Governor, faithful, good, and righte- 
 ous J fb revelation, not only fbmetimes aflerts this, 
 but always fuppofes, and takes it for granted, as 
 the foundation and groundrwork of all ; as the bafis 
 on which the whole fabrick ftands. The whole 
 fcheme of our redemption by Chrifl, from firft to 
 laft, in all its parts, is grounded upon this fuppofition* 
 For certainly the chriftian revelation prefuppofes man- 
 kind to be antecedently under the righteous govern- 
 ment of God, and accountable to l"um for their acti- 
 ons ; finc0 it propofes a method for our efcaping the 
 punifiiment due to th? tranfgreflbrs pf His laws. It 
 iiippofe^ God to be gpod and merciful ; fince this 
 very method of falvation for finners, could originate 
 3n nothing but goodnefsand mercy — ['' God fo lov- 
 '' ed the world, that he gave his only begotton Son," 
 &c. — ~\ It either aflerts, or takes it for granted, that 
 God does, in the c©urfe of his providence, even in all 
 ages,reward and punifli here,in fome degree, the good 
 and the wicked rcfpe£tivcly,both individuals and whole 
 communities. But the chriftian revelation is more 
 efpecially a confirmation of the morality of God^s 
 government, as it (b exprefly teaches us. That tliere 
 js a time of retribution approaching^ wherein the righ- 
 .jeoHs Hiall receive a glorious recpmpence of reward ; 
 s<hd the wicked, the punifhment which their fins de- 
 ■ ferye, chau.h Relayed for a feafon j and all men in 
 -ji i '-r general, 
 
of God's Goventme?tf* . 3 7 
 
 general, receive the things done in the body, whether 
 good or bad. This will be the completion and per- 
 fection of that moral fcheme and plan, which is al- 
 ready eHublifhed ; v/hich is carrying into execution 
 from age to age ; and wl'vich is plainly difcemable to 
 thofe who are not loth to fee and acknowledge it ; 
 difcernablc, even from our own frame and conflituti- 
 on, and from every day's experience. For we find a 
 law of rightcoufi^cfs written on our hearts, though we 
 may try to expunge and difannul it, by reafon of the 
 law of fin that is in our members, and which wars 
 againfl: it. We find ourfelvcs intruded in fome fenfe'> 
 by the Author of our being, with our own happinefs > 
 we find that virtue is the road (o felicity ; and vice, 
 to miftry here. Nor is there the leaft prefumption 
 in reafon, again (l the general do£lrine of revelation, 
 That our good and bad deeds, or at leaft the effefts 
 of them, jQ:all follow u« into another (late, vvhere this 
 moral fcheme /hall aj^pear in its perfeftion, both in 
 the goodnefs, and in the righteous fcvcrity of God. 
 For there may be certain grand periods in the mo- 
 i-ral, as well as in the natural world ; both a feed-time^ 
 and a time of harveft ; in the Ijitter of which, he 
 that has before " fowed to the flcfh, fhall of the flefh 
 " reap corruption ;" and he that hath '* fowed to the 
 " fpirit, ihall of the fpirit reap everlafting life." And 
 you know who has faid in this allegorical way, — 
 *' The harveft is the end of the v/orld," &c. 
 
 PART 
 
i8 Of our Ohligatwi 
 
 -'::,'■:■ PART IV. 
 
 . , r 
 
 Of our Obligation to fear, glorify and 
 worfibip God. 
 
 THIS pallagc of fcnpture leads us, In the next 
 place, to confider the obligation which we are 
 ^ittdcr to feaf; glorify and worfliip God ; which ob- 
 ligation redilt? from his perfeftions, and the relation 
 in which he ftands towards us — " Who iliall not fear 
 ■■^■*- ^hee, O Lord, md glorify thy name ? — All nations 
 ,*<fir|hall Qom.^ and <ivorfhip before thee'*. And who 
 can doubt Hi? obligatign to do thus, if Qod is fuch a 
 Being as he has been imperfe«^Iy reprefented to be, 
 in the foregoing parts of this difcourfe ? if he is in- 
 deed the " Lord God almighty"? if his works are 
 fhus " great and marvellous"? if he is the *< King of 
 ** Saipti"? if his ways are all **jurt: and true'* if 
 be " only is holy"? if his " judgments" are, and 
 \vill be, thus " made manifeft'*? What man ? what 
 nation^ ilaall not fear, adore and worfhip a Being, To 
 glpi:ioully great, powerful, juft and good \ "'"' 
 
 There is One, and but One, to be fes'red / Arid 
 certainly you can be in no doubt. Who that One is. 
 There is a harmony and uniformity q£ defign vifible 
 in, th^ works pf nature and providence, which fhows 
 that all originally proceeds from, and is governed by 
 ONE : Which di<Jtate pf nature, or reafon, is abun- 
 dantly ratified and confirmed by revelation. For it 
 is as clearly and exprefly declared. That there is but 
 
 "One 
 
to fear and iz'o?'Jljip God. 39 
 
 " One God", as it is, that there Is but " one MedJI- 
 *' tor between God and men'": as plainly, That 
 '* there is but One God, the Father, of whom are 
 «' all things", as that there is but " One Lord, 
 " Jefus Chrifl".'' And the moft diftinguilliing title 61* 
 charafterilVic of this One God, in the new tcflament, 
 is, " The God and Father of our Lord Jefus Chrift"'". 
 He, undoubtedly it is, that exclufivcly of all other 
 beings, is here ftilcd the " Lord God Almighty'*; 
 the " King of Saints"; and of whom it is fai4 tllat 
 He '' only is holy",&c. And certainly it is equally 
 our duty and our intercfl: to fear, glorify and obey, 
 this " One Lawgiver, who is able to fave and to de- 
 " flroy'**^ ; the " Father of all, who is above all 
 " and thro' all, and in you all" ' ; who is God omni- 
 '' prefent, even " from everlafting to everlafHng**. 
 Is it not altogether reafonable for us, weak, depen- 
 dent, impcrfcft creatures, to reverence, worlhip, and 
 obey Him tliat made us, and all things ? Him, in 
 whom *' we live, and rmove> and have our being ? 
 Him, in whom all conceivable perfeftions, whether 
 natural or moral^ arc united, even in an infinite de- 
 cree ; (if it be not a folecifm to ^cak of degrees in 
 . infiiMty, and perfedion) and wl>o governs the univerfe 
 in thecscrcife of ihefe pcrfe£lions I Men who ao not 
 thus fear and fervc God, mufl: countemft tlieir own 
 nature 5 I mean^heir rational, JnteUcftual and moral 
 
 nature ; 
 
 ^ iTim. ii. 5. b , cor. Tiii. 6. *= x Pct.i. 3. ^ Jam. 
 -It. 12. « Eph. if. 6, 
 
40 Of GUT' Obligation 
 
 nature, the light ami dl(flatcs of their own confciences. 
 For they cannot but iee and feel, in foine degree at 
 leaft, that they ought to do thus ; that they are under 
 an indifpenfable obligation, in point of rcafbn and fit- 
 nefs, as well as intercft, to do it • fo that, if they do 
 it not, but the contrary, they mufl needs be " wrth- 
 *' out excufe*', and " condemned of themfclvcs". 
 
 It is no fooner known that there is really fuch a 
 glorious Being exifling, than every man*s own heart, 
 even antecedently to any formal, rational procefs, 
 tells him in general what his duty is ; what is the 
 proper, praftical inference ; how he ought to (land 
 affefted towards God ; and what part he has to aft. 
 And if men will but duly confider their own frame 
 and make, their reafoh will, upon a little reflexion, 
 ratify thefe firfl diftates of their hearts and confciences. 
 Are we not fo conflituted by the Author of our being, 
 that great power excites a certain awe in us, uJiIefs we 
 are, or at leaft imagine ourfelves to be, more power- 
 ful than He, in whom we obferve it ? Does not a 
 commori man almoft fhudder at the thoughts of a 
 giant ; one of the fons o^^nak,tven tho' he knows he 
 is long fince dead,and can do him no harm ? Does not 
 fuperior wifdom amongft men, naturally attraft refpeft 
 arid rever^tice .'* I mean, ftom all who have them- 
 felves wifdom enough to difcern it .^ Is not this our 
 reverence of fuperior wifdom heightened, when that 
 ■wifdom is in conjunction with veracity, and juftice 
 duly tempered with goodnefs and mercy ? I mean, fb 
 as DQt to deganerate into cruelty on one hand, nor 
 
 . into 
 
to Jear a?jd worJJjip God. 41 
 
 rnto any childilli vveaknefles on the ether ? Is not ouc 
 reverence flill heightened, when thefe qualities are 
 found in age ? in one, whofe head was lioary, even 
 hcforc we faw the light ? Is it not ftill increafed, if 
 this fame perfbn is our prince and lawgiver, and. one 
 on whofe protc^ion we depend ? (a fuppofirion which, 
 God be praifed ! wc may now make with fbnie 
 propriety — ) Yea, would not our reverence of him 
 he ftill gr]patcr, if wc were in his prefence, and under 
 his eye, than while he is abfent from us, or we from 
 him" ? Yea, I will afk once more, whether our refpeft 
 and reverence to fuch an earthly fon^eign, would not 
 be greater, if we aiftually faw him exerting his great 
 and good qualities, in redrelfing the wrongs of his 
 fubjcfts ; in puniHiing the evil and rebellious, and pro- 
 tecting and patronizing the good ; than v/hile we only 
 believe or hear tliat he does thus, as occafion and op- 
 portunity are offered ? If I were not almoll tired 
 with afking, and you, perhaps, with hearing quefli^ 
 ons, I would ftill afk, whether, all thefe qualities, 
 being united in the fame pcrfon, and all thefe circum- 
 ftances concurring to heighten our eltcem and rever- 
 ence, we fhould not, of courfe, refign ourfelves up 
 to the will of their object, and chearfully obey him . 
 thinking ourfelves happy in his favour, « and dread- 
 ing the thoughts of his juft difpleafure as one of the 
 greateft of evils P I prefume there is no man, who 
 underftands thefe qucflions, which arc not indeed 
 F difficult 
 
 * Vid. Bp. Butler's Scrm. 4tb Edit. P. 269—272. 
 
42 Of our Obligation 
 
 difficult to be comprehended, but what would anfwer 
 ihem all in the affirmative, if he fincerely fpoke the 
 dictates of his heart, without indulging to chicanery, 
 and to the making of fubtile evafions. It would evi- 
 dently be fit and rcafonablc for us to be affciried to- 
 wards fuch a perfbn as has been defcribed, in the 
 manner above exprefTed ; and you would think that 
 man very unreafonable, a kind of monfter notwith- 
 flanding' his human fhapc, who did not thus rever- 
 ence, and thus' demean him felf towards, fo great and 
 good a perfonage, (landing in fuch a relation towards 
 him. 
 
 HePvE, then, you have the ground-work, and prin- 
 ciples of religion in your ov/n frame and conftitution ; 
 fb that the longer you reflect, the more reafbn you 
 will fee to fear, and adore God, and to keep his com- 
 mandments. For is there any being fb powerful as 
 the '^ Lord God Almighty r" Is there any one fb 
 wile as the '' only v.ifc God ?" any one fo righteous 
 and faithful asHe,ali whofe ways are ''juft and true ?" 
 any other {o pilre and fpotlefs as He, who *' only is 
 " holy ?*' Any one fo venerable in refpe^ of his 
 years and age, as the " Ancient of days," who " was, 
 " and is, and is to come ?" Is there any one fo pro- 
 perly our fbvereign, and lawgiver, as the *' King of 
 ** faints," whofc ^'kingdom ruleth over all ?" any one 
 v/ho is fo near to, and conflantly prefent with us, as 
 He who is omniprefent, ^' in whom we live," and 
 who is '^ through all, and in us all :" In fine, is 
 there anyone, whofe judgments, and the efTefts of 
 
 them, 
 
io fear and worjloip God. 43 
 
 ihem, nre aiul will be made io manifcfl before our 
 eyes, as His, who is "-i.he Judge of all the earth ?'* 
 His, whofc providence now governs the world, and 
 v\'ho will hereafter j udge it " in righteoufnefs, by that 
 " man whom Ke hath ordained "?— Who then fliall 
 not fear and reverence ? who, not glorify and pralfe ? 
 who, not obey. Him ? Shall not all nations come and 
 worlhip before him, before vvhoni '' all nations are, 
 " as nothing ;'* and " Lebanon is «ot fiifficient to 
 " burn, nor the hearts thereof fufficient for a biirnt:- 
 " offering !" ^ Your obligation thus to fear, glorify 
 and worfl]ip the great God, refults fb immediately 
 and plainly from his nature, and your own, and the 
 relation in which he (lands towards you, that you 
 muft, I had almoO: faid, uncreatc yonr Creator or 
 yourfelves, and thereby dertroy this relation, before 
 your rca{<)n will abfolve you from fuch obligation. 
 But what I intend is, that vvh-lc God is God, and 
 men are men, they are bound by all the ties of rea- 
 fon religioufly to fear, and worPaip, and obey Him. 
 
 There arc fome things, even at firft view (b plain 
 and obvious to fair and honeft minds, as almoft to pre- 
 clude any reafoningoraglimcntarion concerning them. 
 The obligations to pra(5t-!cal religion in general, fup- 
 pofing there is really a God, fecm to be of this kind. 
 They can Icarce be made plainer by reafoning, than 
 they are without it ; as the fun will not become the 
 more vifible to a man who opens his eyes, by all the 
 F 2 rcafonings 
 
 " Ifa. xl. 16, i-j. 
 
44 Of our Obligation 
 
 reafbnlngs of pliilofophcrs about it. Accordingly, in 
 the paflagc of fcripture now under confidcration, there 
 is no formal ratiocination ; but only a warm, devout 
 and rapturous exclamation, the natural diftate of 
 a good heart, and which will immediately find its 
 way to the hearts and confciences of all men, who 
 have not very grofly corrupted and debauched their 
 own nature — *' Who fhall not fear thee, O Lord, and 
 '' glorify thy name.'* — " All nations Iliall come and . 
 " worfhip before thee !** — However, there is, I 
 fuppofe, fomewhat of the prophetic kind in ^hefe laft ' 
 words : They do not only exprefs what is right and 
 fitting ; but alfo fuggejfl: what fhall eventually come 
 to pafs, after God's judgments are made manifcft in 
 the original fenfe of the padage ; that fenfe which 
 was mentioned in the introduftory part of this dif- 
 courfe. For all nations fhall aftually come and 
 worlliip before God, when Babylon the great is 
 deflroyed. 
 
 The obligations we are under in general religi. 
 oufly to reverence, worlhip and obey God, being, rs 
 I fuppofe, fufficiently evident : it may be proper to 
 fubjoin here, that God's holy word ought to be the 
 rulcof the worfliip, fervice and obedience which we 
 pay to him. How greatly the chriftian religion has 
 been, and ftill is corrupted, in moft countries where 
 it is profeHed, even to the introduclion of the groflefl 
 Tuperftitions and idolatries, there is neither time nor 
 occalion now particularly to mention. It becomes us 
 
 to 
 
to fear and 'morjljip God. 45 
 
 to take hccJ that we do not ourfelves add to, or even 
 countcnaiiGe, in any degree, thefc corruptions. Efpe- 
 ciallyif wc have any well-grounded perfwafion upon 
 our minds, what is intended in the new teftamcnt by 
 Babylon, that ''• mother of harlots and abominations/* 
 we ihould keep at a dillance from her; for God 
 will, fooncr or later, make her plagues wonderful, as 
 well as manifcfl. " What concord hath Chrift with 
 " Belial, lays St.P«7/// * ; — And what agreement hath 
 ■" the temple of God with idols?'* — '* Wherefore 
 *' come out from among them, and be ye feparate, 
 "' faith the Lord ; and touch not the unclean thing, 
 " and I will receive you ; and will be a Father un- 
 " to you, and yc fhall be my fens and danghters 
 " faith the Lord Al'iiighty.'* A corrupt and idola- 
 trous church is not the Lis to be feparated from, be- 
 caufe Hie difhonours Chiifl: and his religion by calling 
 hcrfelf after his worthy name : And it well defcrves to 
 be remarked, That St John ^m the midil of the vifions 
 which he liad of the woes coming in fucceiHon upon 
 Babylon, now " become the habitation of devils, 
 " and the hold of every foul fpirit, and a cage of e- 
 " very unclean and hateful bird,'* ^ tells us that he 
 heard a " voice from heaven, faying, Come out of 
 "■ her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her 
 " fins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." " 
 
 I HOPE I Ihall give nojufl ground of offence to any, 
 (which I ihould be very loth to do) by adding here, 
 
 That 
 
 • 2 Cor. y\. ic, 18. •» Rcr. xviil. 2. * Ver. a. 
 
46 Of our Obligation 
 
 That for the fame general reafon that we ought not 
 to go wholly over to that apoftate church which the 
 fcriptures fometimes intend b^^ the name Babylon, 
 we ought net to conform to, or fymbolize with her, 
 in any of her corruptions, and idolatrous ufagcs : but 
 to keep at as great a diftance from rhcm as pofTible, 
 by jftriftly adhering to the holy fcriptures in doflrine, 
 difcipline, worfliip and praftice. Nor does this feem 
 to me to be a needlefs caveat, even in any proteftant 
 country whatever : For I am verily perfuaded that 
 there is not now, nor has been for many generations 
 paft, any national church, wholly and abfolutely free 
 from thefe corruptions. Notwithflanding our boaOed 
 reformation, it is, alas ! but too evident that we are 
 not yet paft that long, dark and corrupt period of the 
 chriftian world, to which St. yohfi refers, when fpeak- 
 ing of myftical Babylon he fays. That " All Na- 
 " TiONs had drunk of the v.ine of the wrath of her 
 " fornication ; and that the Kings of the earth had 
 <' committed fornication^ with her'*.'' We lliould 
 therefore conforin to our Bibles, whatever becomes 
 
 of 
 
 * All know that under the Mofalc difpenfation, departing from 
 theworfhip of the only true God, and the worHiipping of idols 
 and falfe ones, was often exprefled by " going a whoring after 
 " other gods," by " committing fornication" and " adultery", 
 &c. It is not therefore ftrange that the like abominations un- 
 der the gofpel difpenfation, Ihould be exprcffed by the like 
 terms ; that the head, or mother-church, during that grand 
 and amazing apoitacy which is plainly foretold, fliould be cha- 
 rafterifcd as " the mother of harlots ; " that all thofe kings 
 and nations which follow her example,fliould be faid to commit 
 " fornication" with her, and to drink of the " wine of the 
 " wrathof her fornication." ■» Rev. xviii. 3. 
 
to fear and worjjjip God. 47 
 
 of the decrees of councils, popes or kings ; tho' they 
 ilioLild, like one of tke ancient kings of literal Baby- 
 lon, fet up their golden images and idols, and com- 
 mand us to " fall down and worlliip, at what time we 
 " hear the found of the cornet, flute, harp, fackbut 
 " pfkltcry, dulcimer, and all kinds of mufic"«; yea, 
 tho' they fliould point us to their ** furnaces, lieatcd 
 ** one feven times hotter than they were wont to be 
 " heat'* I'. We read of a ftill more terrible fire, into 
 which the " bead" iliall be cafl:, «' and with him 
 " the falfe prophet that worketh miracles before him, 
 " with which he deceiveth them that receive the 
 •' mark of the beaft, and them that worfhip his 
 " image"". But blefTed is he that feareth, and glo- 
 rifieth, and patiently woriliipcth the ^' Lord God 
 *' almighty", the " King of Saints", according to 
 his word and inflitutions ; even he that docth His 
 comniandments, *' that he may have right to the tree 
 '* of life, and may enter in thro' the gates into the 
 " city. For without arc dogs, and forcercrs, and 
 '' whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, 
 " and whofoever loveth and maketh a lie ''. 
 
 » Dan. Hi. 5. b Ver. 19. <= Rev. xix. 20. 
 
 ^ Chap. xxii. ver. 14, 15. 
 
 PART 
 
48 PraSikal ReJleBions^ 
 
 PART V. 
 
 Pra<^ical Refledions upon the Subject, 
 relative to the Occalion. 
 
 BUT it is perhaps more than time for aie to 
 proceed, to the praftical part of iny clifi:onr(e ; 
 and to apply the fubjeft to ourfclves and the j)refciit 
 occafion. We have lately had a very ftriking and 
 awakening niemento, or ratlier example, of the great- 
 wcfs, and the marvelioHS nature of God's works ; 
 when this continent, for eight oc nine hundred miles 
 together, with the neighbouring iflands, and the At- 
 lantic ocean, were at once fliaken, aud thrown into 
 convulfions. That this is truly the work of God, 
 »rad chat it is both a great and marvellous one, I fup- 
 pofe I need not go about to prove to you, after what 
 has been faid above. Indeed, if I miftake not, you 
 all difcover'd plainly enongh,that this was your fenfc 
 ef it, at the time of this event, to fay nothing of 
 what you have done fince, or do at prefent. 
 
 You think tlien, that an Earthquake is one of the 
 mighty works of God j You think jullly. And when- 
 ever you behold, or experience thefe his great and 
 marvellous works, it may well excite your fear of 
 him : for how glorioufly terrible in majefty is that 
 ]&eing,who is able to produce fuch aftonilhiug efTetSls ! 
 But fliall I tell you,that you every day behold greater 
 works than thefe ? far more illuftrious difplays and 
 manifeftations of the power of God ? This is really 
 
 the 
 
relative to the Occafion, 49 
 
 the truth. Did not God create the whole earth ? 
 Does he not daily uphold it in being, with all that it 
 contains P And is not the creating and upholding the 
 whole, a far greater work than ihaking and removing 
 a fmali part of it ? Certainly it is. You can, there- 
 fore, never look upon the earth even when it does 
 not quake, without being filently admoniihed to fear 
 and obey him that made it ; as truly admoniflied to 
 do fo, as when the *' pillars of heaven tremble", and 
 the " Higheft gives his voice"; tho' fome may, per- 
 haps, have never attended to this filent and conftant 
 admonition. But when you extend your views be- 
 yond diis earth, to the numerous worlds around J 
 when you look up in a ferene night, and attentively 
 behold this glorioufly <« dreadful All"; when you 
 fee '' worlds on worlds," and fyftems on fyftcm* 
 *( compofing one univerfe ;" when you ferioufly con- 
 template Him, whofe hand once formV, and ftill 
 grafps, and moves, and direfts this flupendous and 
 amazing Whole ; whenever you do thus, I fay, you 
 cannot but think even an earthquake, or the earth 
 itfelf, comparatively fpeaking, a little work ; a far 
 lefs, than innumerable others. One principal reafori 
 W'hy an earthquake appears to be fuch a great and 
 ftupendous work as it does to mofl: people, is becaufe» 
 iflftead of enlarging their minds by contemplating 
 ob]e£^i that arc truly great, they narrow them by at- 
 tending only to little things ; Inch toys and trifles, I 
 iiician, is are foilttd in this world, the riches and Vini* 
 
 G tici 
 
^a Pra&kal RefieSiionsy 
 
 tics of it; the pomps, the thrones, the fccpteis and* 
 diamems of kings. It is not fbange that they who 
 can think fuch little things great, and admire them as- 
 being (b-; they whofe thoughts are' ever grovelling- 
 on the ground on which they tread, and- never afcend 
 above it ; it is not ftrangc, I fay, that fuch perfons 
 fliouldbeaftoniflied at the grandeur of an earthqaakcy 
 even though they had nothing to fear from Hich' an- 
 event. For it mufl be confefied that ther-e is nothing,^ 
 I mean no merely natural occurrence' or etent in this-* 
 world; which can more properly be called great, than 
 fucli an one. But to a contemplative man, as was- 
 intimated before, there a-re many other works of God/ 
 which flill more fully declare his power and glory y 
 and which ate therefore to fuch men, louder calls to- 
 rcvereriCG rvnd obey' him ; tho' Icfs calculated to mini* 
 fter terror and amazement. 
 
 When we behold, or reflcci: upon, the great and 
 marvellous works of God, all-powerful, wife, holy, 
 >uft;arKl good the effe£i: hereof fhould not be the 
 exciting in us a fruitlefs admiration of, and aftoniih- 
 ment at rhcra ; but the exciting in us a due revGfcnc6 
 and cfteem of of Him, whofe works they are- ; till 
 from admiring them, we comQ to admire, to fear, to 
 love nothing befides Him, the Lord God almighty, 
 the King of faints, who only is holy. For all his 
 works are little, in comparifon of Him ; and can claim 
 no regard or notice, any farther than they may help 
 to lead us to the knowledge, and to worthy concep- 
 tions of Him, And unlets our thoughts are thus led 
 
 to- 
 / 
 
relative to the Occafon. 5 i 
 
 toGod from his works, fo as to inrpireus with the re- 
 verence, love and udmiraiion of him, w.c had ahiioit 
 as good ftarc at puppst-'iKows, as contemplate the 
 heavens. 
 
 An earthquake is indeed very pecuharly adapted 
 Co roiife and awaken the minds of the inconlidc- 
 ^ate, and of thofe who forget God ; and to 
 beget in them that fear of him, which is " the 
 ^' the begiuning of wifdom"; ma^c adapted Jo this 
 ^nd, even than the greater and more conftant mani- 
 feflations of liis eternal power and godhead. This 
 is evident from the efTeft : for many who difregard 
 thefe conftant difplays of God's power^and other per- 
 fections, from year to year, are yet alarmed by an 
 «arthqiiak:e, and imprefled wi:h a ferious fenfe of re- 
 ligion. How many, who were perhaps never excited 
 to fear God, by beholding the heavens, which declare 
 his glory, " the moon and the ftars which he has or- 
 " daincd," have been excited hereto, by ihcfe late 
 occurrences of his providence ? V/hcrc is that iin'i:r, 
 fo tho'tlefs, fo flupid and abandoned, whofe "" lle/h 
 " did not tremble for fear of God, and who was not 
 " afraid of his judgments," when the earth fo lately 
 iliook and trembled ? Nor were thefe fears excited in 
 ihem without the highefl: reafbn, when we refietH: 
 that God has often declared in his holy word, that 
 earthquakes arc,fometimes at leaft, fent in his righte- 
 ous difpleafurc ; not meerly for the warning and ad- 
 monition of fome Cnners, but for the dcftru£tion of 
 others : And when we refleft what amazing defola- 
 G 2 rion 
 
^ 2 PraSiical ReJieBienSy 
 
 tion he has often actually wrought by them in the earth! 
 Some recent examples and inflances whereof, we have 
 indeed, now within a day or two, heard of in Europe , 
 The particulars of which are fo awful and terrible^ 
 that I Ihall not now enumerate them ; for I have no 
 inclination, were it in my power, to throw you in a 
 |>anic ; but only to rcaf«n calmly with you " of 
 " righteoufnels, temperance and judgment to come"; 
 of your obligation to fear and obey Him, whole 
 vyorks are thus great and marvellous, and his judg- 
 ments thus made manifeft in the earth*. It is not 
 
 only 
 
 ■ since the delivering of this difcourfe, \vc have had an account 
 of the more awful and amazing diftruftion of the city of 
 Lisbon, St. Eubes, &c. the events alluded to above, being rhc 
 icffeds of the earthquake at Cadiz and Seville, of which wc 
 had heard at that time. And thefe events may not only very 
 naturally bring to our minds what St, John fays concerning 
 the effefft of that " great earthquake ' of which he fpeaks, 
 when ** the cities of the nations fell, and great Babylon came 
 ** in remembrance before God"; when he faw <* the kings 
 f'fiof the earth", the " merchants which were made rich by 
 
 rt^^ lier", " every fliip-mafter, and all the company in fhips", 
 ** and failors, and as many as trade by fea, ftanding afar off, 
 " and crying when they faw the fmoke of her burning"; I 
 fay thefe events may not only very naturally bring to our 
 jninds what St. Jo/>n fays concerning that *' great earthquake"; 
 but may alfo very juftly, all circumftances being duly confidcr- 
 td, confirm our belief,that thefe were really the vifions o( God, 
 liDt the reveries of man ; and confequently, that all thofe woes 
 and plagues which he faw coming upon Babylon, (I mean thofe 
 ■which are not already fulfilled) (hall in due time be mofl 
 pundually accomplifhed upon her — However, ive fliould upon 
 thi3,and all fimilar occafions, remember the wtjrds of oijrSaviour 
 when he 'peaks of thofe on whom*' the tower of StJoam fell", 
 and thofe whofe *• Wood Pi/a/e mingled with their faaifiqes": 
 — " Except ye repent, yc (hall all likev/jfe perifh". Luk. xiii. 
 I s. 
 
relative to the Ocvafio7u 53 
 
 only natural, but juft and proper for wicked men 
 to tremble and to be afraid, when God thus arifeth to 
 ihake terribly the earth, and his judgments are 
 abroad in it. Ani if their own lives are fpared, 
 they ought not only to tremble at, but to learn righ- 
 teoufnefs from, thefe alarming events. This, tliro* 
 the tender mercies of our God, is the cafe ofthofc 
 wicked men who are hereprefentbeforcHim,if tljer^ 
 are any perfbns prefent, to whom that character be- 
 longs. Would to God, there were not ! ' 
 
 But upon the prefumption that there arc at leaft 
 fbme fuch ; (not an imnatural or uncharitable pre- 
 (um|5i:ion> I conceive, confidering the largenefs of the 
 aflembly, and the prefent flate of religion in tlie world) 
 Upon this prefumption, I fay,let me be allowed to ad- 
 dre(s myfelf briefly and ferioufly to fuch unhappy 
 men ; not as their enemy, God forbid ! but as their 
 friendly monitor — Let your hearts and tongues be 
 filled with the high praifes of God, that your lives 
 have been thus gracioufly preferved ; and that the 
 thing which you fo greatly andjuftly feared, not to 
 fay deferved, is not come upon you. What diftrefs 
 and anxiety were you lately in ! WTiere, alas ! and 
 what would you now have been, had the earth opened 
 her mouth and fwal lowed you up ? or had your fal- 
 ling houfes cruflied you to death ? examples of both 
 of which, there have been many in former times, 
 and (bme very lately. Had either of ihefe been 
 yo ir own ca{e,I fay, where, and what would you now 
 have been ! — Wretched, and accurfed of God, in that 
 
 region 
 
54 PraSikal Reflections^ 
 
 region ©f darknefs and defpair, where the rich man 
 lift up his eyes being in torment ! But in the 
 time of your apparent danger, when "the forrows 
 *^ of death compaded you, and the pains of helJ gat 
 ** hold upon you," ' God who is long-fuffering and 
 rich in mercy, as well as holy and all-powerfuI, '^ in- 
 " clincd his ear ; " ^ and you are flill among the livv 
 •ing. What then will you ''render unto the Lord 
 " for a-U his benefits towards you'\'* '^ anJ particularly 
 for this ? Will you not now praife and glorify his 
 laame ? The marriner (at his *' wits end" while the 
 ftorm beats upon him, and when every fleeper 
 '' awakes and calls upon hisGod:" the mariner, I fay,) 
 when the ftorm is over, bledes Him whom winds and 
 feas obey, that he has efeaped foundering and ihip- 
 wrack. Thus it becomes you to do, whom God 
 has mercifully prefervcd when in at leaft equal 
 perils by land. Did you not make your vows to him 
 in the time of your diftrefs ? And will you now pay 
 them 'i ? Will 3'ou not forever hereafter praife aiid 
 reverenjce, worihipand ferve the Lord God Almighty, 
 theKing of faints, and thePrefcrver even of finners,tho' 
 He who only is holy ? Will you not now, at length, 
 break off your fins by rightcoufnefs ; and implore the 
 forgivenefs of them through him, in whom God is 
 reconciling the world unto himfelf ? Did you not re- 
 folve to do thus, in the late time of your terror and 
 amazement ? And will you not now perform thefe 
 vows and engagcrnents T Were there not fome parti- 
 cular 
 ' Pfalm Gxyl. 3. •» Vcr, 2. ''■ Vcr. 12. ^ Vcr. 14. 
 
 V 
 
relative to the Occajion. 5 5 
 
 cular fins, that m6rc cfpecially then flew in your faces ; 
 & which you then more particularly rcfolved toforfake> 
 if God fhould fpare your lives ? Were therd not fome 
 pariicuUr duties,with the omifllon of which your con- 
 fciences then cfpecially accufed you ; and which you 
 particularly refolved to pra^ife for the future, if yoU' 
 iliould have an opportunity for it ? Your confciences,. 
 which are always the voice of God within you, were,; 
 I doubt not, then awake, and plainly told you the 
 truth. It was no delpbic, ambiguous refponfe, which 
 they then gave ; but one clear and diftinft, convin-" 
 cing and infallible as tlie oracle of God. Remem-* 
 bcr, O man ! what that great oracle, confcience, 
 within thee, pronounced at that time ; take the warn- 
 ing, and obey the heavenly voice ! Prefume not to 
 repeat thofe fins, with which it then charged you ; 
 nor to omit thoic duties, your former negle6i: of which 
 then gave you difquietudc. 
 
 It is not only melancholly, but aftonifhing,ro obi 
 ferve how foen wicked men often get rid of their 
 juft fears and apprehenfions of the divine difpleafure, 
 and break through their better refolutions, when they 
 no longer fee the rod of God held out, and fhaken 
 at them. They aft as if they thought he then ceafed 
 to be that juft, and holy, and almighty Being which 
 they apprehended him to be, while they thought 
 thcmfelves in immediate danger of his judgments; as 
 if they thought he was not" «ngry with the wicked 
 *' every day," but only when there arc fome alarm- 
 ing occurrences in the courfe of his providence ; and 
 
 of 
 
56 Practical Rejlectiom^ 
 
 io reWrn to their fofmtt- vieds and Impieties, almoft 
 as foon as the particular evils and dangers they ap- 
 prehended, are removed. Suffer me therefore to 
 warn yoii againft this folly ; and to befeech you, as 
 you value the falvation of your fouls, not to fuffcp 
 that religious fenfe of things, which ^as lately awak-* 
 ^oed in you by thefc awful occurrences, to wcarofff 
 and fo return to your old crimes. At die time of, 
 or immediately after, the late earthquakes, did vici-' 
 ous men find in themfelves any inclination to repeat 
 their old fins ; and to break the commandments of 
 Grod ? Did the drunkard then think of his bowl or 
 bottle ^ Did the whoremonger and adulterer then find 
 any difpofirion to perpetrate their horrid crimes ? Did 
 the thief at that time meditate future thefts and vil- 
 Janies ? Did the man who was unjuft in his com- 
 merce and dealings, then fcheme and plan future 
 fraud and injuftice againft his neighbour ? Did the 
 iriifers heart then repofe itfelf on his god ? — I mean, 
 his gold ? Did he then " make gold his hope ; and 
 " fay unto the fine gold. Thou art my confidence !' 
 Did the profane fwearer and blafphcmcr then afk 
 God to damn either himfelf or his neighbour ? I caa 
 hardly believe there was a man amongft us fo intempe- 
 rate, fo lewd, fo addicted to the hidden tlungs of darkftefs 
 totid diihonefty, fo devoted to his mammohv or fo prd" 
 fane and implouSjas to doth as at the menoonfed time. 
 No 1 how wicked foevef fome of you might pofllbhy 
 be ; yet you all theft feat^ed Goi ; or at leSfft vreffc 
 afraid of him, »fid ft^fraid to fiti agaihft him } beeasrfi 
 
 you 
 
relative to the Occafion, 57 
 
 you then really believed him to be holy, juft and al- 
 mighty. The drunkard was then far from defiring 
 to indulge to intemperance : The burning adulterer's 
 blood then ran cold in his veins : The thief would 
 then have dropped the fpoii from his hand ; and he 
 that Hole, refolved to ftcal no more : The mofl zea- 
 lous worfhipper of mammon, then wifhed for a trea- 
 fure in heaven : And the blafphemer's oaths and 
 curfes, were turned into prayers and fupplications. 
 All, all then thought, that God was worthy to be 
 feared, and glorified, to be worlliipped and obeyed. 
 
 Well : Do you fuppofe that God is changed ; and 
 now become a different Being from what he fo lately 
 was, when he fhook the earth, and caufed the pillars 
 of heaven to tremble ? Do you imagine, becaufe 
 you do not now fee thcfe fame manifeftations of his 
 power, juftice and holincfs, that of almighty he is now 
 come weak ! of juft, regardlefs of juflice ! of holy^ 
 unholy ! And confc<^uently,that though he was lately 
 fo proper an objeft of your fear, yet he is no longer-* 
 fo ; but that you may now fafely contemn him ? 
 that you may trample upon his laws ? that you may 
 tread under foot his Son ? that you may difregard his 
 word, and profane his day ? that you may neglcft his 
 worfhip, his inftitutions and ordinances, and defpife 
 his threatnings ? Can any man be (b extravagantly 
 foolifh as to think thus ! Verily, he is the Lord, and 
 he " changeth not ;'* the " Father of lights, with 
 '^ whom there is no variablenefs, neither ftiadow of 
 *' turning." Tho' the earth fliould never " tremble** 
 H again, 
 
58 Practical Reflect ioniy 
 
 again, he is always the fame holy, righteous, pov^cr- 
 ful and' jealous God, which you lately coftceived him 
 to be, when he " looked upon it": He is the fame whert 
 he dwells in the calm, and all' nature fmiles around; 
 as Vy-hen he " makes darknefs his fecret place,*' and 
 " flics upon the wings of the wind ;" whfen he gives 
 his Voice in thunder, " a fmoke going out of his 
 " noftrils, and fire our of his mouth, devourirtg !" 
 
 Take heed, therefore, that you do not fuffer thoft 
 jiift fentiments concerning the power and holinefs of 
 God, and your duty 10 him, which were lately awak- 
 ened in you,t'o be effaced ; cherifli and imprbve them ; 
 and let' them be written on your h&a'rts as with a peil 
 of iron, and thepoint of a diamond" ; or as graven on 
 the rock for ever. You ought certainly always to 
 Fear," always to glorify, always to worfhip and obey 
 nim, who is alv/ays almighty, atways holy, always jufty 
 always prefent with you ; even tho' he iliould never 
 manifelV himfelf and his powder to you fn the fame 
 terrible manner. But you are to remcttiber, thatGod 
 may perhaps vifit us with other, and far greater earth- 
 c^uakes, or with terrible and deftruclive inuhdationi 
 of the fea, as he has lately vifited others, in divers 
 places ; or with other defolating judgments : For he 
 never wants means and ways by which to punifh the 
 difobedienr, even in this world. Hut, as was faid be- 
 fore, tho' his judgments fhould not now be made 
 manifcft in any of thefe ways ; yet he is always the 
 fame glorious, righteous, almighty and terrible God ; 
 even " yefterday, to day and forever". And he will 
 
 moft 
 
relative to the Occafion, ^g 
 
 mofl furely render to every man accorcljngas his work 
 fljall be, In the day that he has appointed for that end, 
 whether it be near or remote. You /hould therefore 
 have an habitual reverence of him upon your minds ; 
 Cich a one, as thro* his grace and afTillance, will always 
 be produffive of obedience and halinefs in your lives.; 
 *' As he which has called you is holy, (^q ho, ye holy 
 " in all manner of convcrfation ; becaufe it is writ-, 
 y^ ten. Be ye holy, for I am holy. And if ye call 
 *-' on the Father, who without refpecl of perfbn?, 
 '^ judgeth according to every mans work, pafs the 
 '* time of your (bjourning here in fear. * 
 
 " Happy is the man that feareth alway ; but he 
 *' that hardeneth bis heart Hiall fall into milchief"'' i 
 Happy, thrice happy are they, who ever religoufly 
 reverence, and fincerely obey almighty God ; and 
 who are the objects of his peculiar love and favour, 
 thro' the glorious Mediator of the new covenant. 
 Miferable, beyond expreffion mifcrable are they, who 
 sre the objcfts of his righteous dilplcafure, thro' fin ; 
 thro' obftinate impenitence and unbelief. What real 
 harm or evil can come nigh the former, /liiclded by 
 that hand that " garniflied the heavens", and formed 
 " the crooked fcrpcnt M ' ^yhat good can the latter 
 expc£l,under his frown,whofe " right hand fha 11 teach 
 " him terrible things'^!" What worm can refifl; om- 
 nipotence ! What craft can evade the juflice of the 
 all-wife and holy One ! Or who fly from him who is 
 H 2 omniprefent 1 
 
 • I Pet. i. 15, 16, 17. •» Prov. xxvili. 14. ^ Jf>b. xxvi. 13. 
 •* Pfalm xlv. 4. 
 
6o PraSlical Rejlections^ 
 
 omniprefent ! If you fly to the mod diftant parts of 
 
 the earth or fea, he is ^there : if you afcend to the 
 
 higheft heaven, behold he is there, if you defcend to 
 
 the lowed hell, he is equally there ! And whereever 
 
 he is, he is always the fanae glorious almighty, wife 
 
 and holy Being ; the friend, the hope, the falvation 
 
 of the good ; the enemy, the terror, the dedru6lion 
 
 of the wicked 1 " When he giveth quietncfs, who 
 
 *' then can make trouble ? and when he hideth his 
 
 *' face, who then can behold him ? whether it be 
 
 " done againft a nation, or againft a man only ?*' * 
 
 "Who then ? what man ? what nation Ihall not fear 
 
 thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name ! Shall not all 
 
 nations come and worlhip before thee ! 
 
 I WOULD willingly hope there may be fome good 
 cfie£ls of the late terrible earthquake, not only in 
 this capital, where people have appeared to be fo ge- 
 nerally affeftcd by it ; but throughout the province ; 
 and indeed throughout thefe American plantations and 
 colonies, as far at leaft as it extended. Without run- 
 ning into a common-place inveftive againft the times, 
 or pretending to give a detail of the fins and vices 
 which are prevalent thro' out thefe Britilh colonies, 
 one may, I think, fay with modefty, that there is am- 
 ple room for, and therefore great need of, a general 
 reformation of manners ; even amongft: perfbns of 
 all orders and degrees, without any exception. This 
 ■alarming occurrence of providence, is, in the nature 
 of it, as a moral means, calculated to produce fuchan 
 
 effeft, 
 
 ' Job. xxslv. 29. 
 
relative to the Occajion, 6 1 
 
 effeft, fucli a reformation. And confidcrbg our lives 
 arc all thus mercifully prefervcd, one would willing- 
 ly believe that God really riicant it to us for good, 
 that wc might awake ro rirrhteoufnefs and not fin j 
 that \VG mii^ht be made partakers of hi^ holinef^ here- 
 by ; and fo become the futable objccis of,and in due 
 time enjoy, his favoiu- ; that kind proteelion, and thofe 
 fmilcs of his providence, which we at all times ne^d, 
 and, in feme refpcifts, more particularly at this. 
 
 To mention only one of thefe reCpe^s : Wc are, 
 and have been for fome time engaged in an unhap- 
 py, and, hitherto, an unprofperous war with our 
 French neighbours on the continent, and their Indian 
 allies, fupportcd and encouraged in their encroach- 
 ments and depredations by the power of France : 
 With which martial, though perfidwus nation, a more 
 general war (eems to be now on the point of breaking 
 out. Four ' (that is, in fliort, all the late) expediti- 
 ons made againft them, for the fecuring of our terri- 
 tories, have proved un('ucccf:.ful ; and not only un- 
 fucccfsful, but fome of them fatal ro a confiderable 
 number of Eritifh fubjc^ts ; and not only fb, but 
 fome of thtm at Icafl, very difhonourablc to the Bri- 
 tifli name and arms : Not to fay any thing of the 
 
 great 
 
 ^ The expeditions hore referred to, are two againft Fort Du 
 Qucfne, that againft NiagRra, and that aqainft Crown-Point : 
 What has been attempted, and fuccefsfuljy executed, at Nova- 
 Scotia, chiefly by Ncu'-England-nicn, enJifted by Lieut. Col. 
 /'Tmy^jnuof rhe Mafladiufetts-Bay, (not being fo properly an 
 expedition againft our open enemies, as a neceffery precau- 
 tion againft treacherous, or at leaft juftly fufpetflcd people, living 
 in the Biitifti dominions) not being included here. 
 
6 2 PraSiical RefieSimis^ 
 
 great expence of thefe expeditions to the crown, and 
 to thefe colonies. — How have thefe colonies lately 
 bled ! How are fome of them ftili bleeding, by trea- 
 cherous and favage hands ! What fcenes of violence ! 
 of rapine I of fire ! of murder ! efpecially on the 
 frontiers of the fouthern colonics ! 
 
 Now though we have not, that I know of, any 
 rea/bn to doubt of the jultnefs of our caufe, with 
 reference to our enemies on the continent ; yet from 
 God's fighting againfl: us in his holy providence ; 
 from his thus defeating our attempts ; from his thus 
 giving our barbarian, and even worfe than barbarian 
 enemies, our blood to drink ; from his making us ap- 
 pear, not only not formidable, but even contemptible 
 and ridiculous in their eyes ; fb that they laugh, and 
 " eat us up as they e^t bread 1" — From God*s thus 
 fighting againfl: us in his holy providence, I fay, we 
 have great reafbn to lufped that we do not ftand right 
 with him as a people that is called by his name ; bup 
 that we have before made him our enemy, by fights 
 ing and rebelling againfl him. Who, indeed, can 
 doubt but that this is the cafe, if he ferioufly re- 
 fleftsjhow little there is of pure and undefiled religion 
 amongft us ? or rather, how much there is of flagrant 
 immorality, profanenefs and irreligion, throughout 
 thefe colonies ? I fay thefe things from my heart ; 
 and hope they will not be looked upon only as words 
 of courfe : For I do not allow myfelf to trifle with 
 my Maker, or to take his holy and venerable name 
 iin vain, even in a Sermon,which would not fanftify 
 
 the 
 
relative io the Occajton, 63 
 
 the deed. And there have been many other things 
 of late years, in the covirfe of divine providence to- 
 wards us, befides thofe mentioned, which might juftly 
 make us fear, that God is greatly provoked at our 
 fins. 
 
 Tpie late vifitation of his providence in the formi- 
 dable earthquake, which extended ahnofl: throughout 
 thefe Britifli colonies, fecms to me, if I can under- 
 fland the language in which it fpeaks, to be a loud 
 call to them all to confider of their ways ; and to re- 
 rurn to God by unfeigned repentance, and a general 
 reformation. It is to be hoped, that none of them 
 which have heard, will difrcgard the admonition ; or 
 fo foon forget it as the fame Ibrt of warnings are 
 forgotten in fame of our Weft-India Iflands, where 
 they arc more frequent ; where there has been at 
 leaft ONE, which fhould never be forgotten ; and 
 where, neverthelefs, by what we hear, the wickednefs 
 of the people is increafcd to the very heavens, {o 
 that were not God's mercies far above them, 
 we might conclude that their utter ruin and deftruc- 
 tion could not be long deferred ! God forbid, that 
 we on the continent /hould thus rcfufe to " hear the 
 '' rod, and him that appointed it," though we have 
 been fo gently chaftized by it. It is to be hoped, 
 that we iliall be effeftually taught by it, in conjunftioa 
 with the other late correftive difpenfations of divine 
 providence, to fear the Lord God almighty, the King 
 of Saints, who only is holy, whofe works are great 
 and marvellous, all whofe ways are juft and true, and 
 
 whoie 
 
64 PraSiical ReJieEtions^ 
 
 whole jiu^gmcnts are at this time made £0 manifcft in 
 the earth ; that {o iniquity may not be our ruin, but 
 that God jCveh oifr own God,may dehght to bleft and 
 build us up ; to profper us againft our enemies, in- 
 flead of pulling us down, and deflroying us by them. 
 Who knows, but this may be one d efign of our good 
 and gracrous God, who is the goverhor among the 
 nations, in vifiting and admonilhing us in this manner ? 
 If it is, we ftiould furely concur and fall in with it, 
 by turning every one of us from our tranfgreffi- 
 ons ; and this, even though our future and eternal 
 intereft were <jut of the queflion. For whatfoever 
 is dear and valuable to as in this world, feems to be 
 how at flake ; and our ultimate dependence, you 
 know, is upon God. 
 
 Should France throw over a confiderable body 
 of well difciplined and appointed troops into Ameri- 
 ca, early in the fpring, which feems ndt an improba- 
 ble fuppofition, I almofl tremble for the confequence, 
 notwithftanding our numbers of raw men, however 
 naturally-brave— Efpecially if our military operations 
 on the continent, which God forbid ! inflead of being 
 conduced by wifdom and due cautien, by zeal and 
 patriotifin, by integrity and a determined fortitude, 
 Ihould happfen to be conduced by folly or rafhnefs, by 
 ifrefolution or party-fpirif, by treachery or cowar- 
 dice ! — ^ But perhaps any fears or fufpicions of thi« 
 loft, are perfectly chimerical and grouhdiefs ; fo that 
 I jihall fay no more upon the J)oint*-^ 
 
 HoWEVElt> 
 
relative io the Occajion. 65 
 
 tlowEVER, fuch is the prefent critical fitiiation of 
 tour aflairs, filch the afpe^ts of providence towards 
 lis, and fo numerous our fins againfl heaven, that all 
 who value their lives, liberties or cflatcs, not to fay 
 their fouls, had need td fear God> and thereby endea- 
 vour to fecure his favour arid prote<5tion. And had 
 I a voice that could be heard throughout thefe Britifh 
 governments, I would now lift it up like a trum- 
 pet ; I would cry aloud ahd not fpare " Re- 
 
 "■ pent, repent ;" fear God, and bring forth fruits 
 meet for repentance ! — " Then fhall thy light break 
 *' forth as the morning, and thine health fliall fpring 
 '* forth fpccdily ; and thy righteoufnefs fliall go be- 
 *' fore thee, and the glory of the Lord fliall be thy 
 '* rcreward. Then fhalt thou call, ahd thcLord fliall 
 *' anfwcr — Then fliall thy light rife in obfcurity* 
 "^ and thy darkne-fs be as the noon-day : And the 
 ^' Lord fliall guide thee continually" — ' But if we 
 do not grieve, whenGod fiiitcth and chafleneth us ; if 
 we rcfufe to receive corre£lion, and will not return 
 to him ; but " make our faces harder than a rock ;" 
 vvc may then Juftly fear that he will finite flill har- 
 der ; and chafhze us, not with whips, but with fcor- 
 pions. If we perfevere in our difobcdience, we may 
 reafonably fuppofe, that he will repeat his flripes j 
 and not only break the fkin, and make us bleed a 
 little ; but that he will make us bleed in earneft ; yea, 
 that h^ will " tread ns in his anger, and trample us 
 in his fury j" and (if I may go on with the fcripture 
 I phrafcology) 
 
 • Ifa. Iviii. 8, II. 
 
66 Pi^aEiical Reflections^ 
 
 phrafeology) that " our blood will be upon his gar- 
 *' ments," till he has " ftained all his raiment !*' * 
 When we confidcr our demerits, we mufl acknow- 
 ledge that God has hitherto corre£ted us with a Fa- 
 ther's hand ; and, if 1 may To exprcfs it, has firil: mo- 
 lified and bathed the rod with a falutary balfam, to 
 heal the ftripes which itfelf gave. Let us not, by 
 our repeated tranfgrcfrions, provoke him to dip it 
 n2xt in poifon, that it may caufe our wounds to feftcr 
 to our very heart and vitals j and in the end prove 
 mortal ! 
 
 I TREMBLE not only for my dear native country, 
 when I confider the (ins of it ; but alfo for a certain 
 European nation, v/hich 1 will not mention by name : 
 Al nation blcft with fome peculiar advantages, civil 
 and religious : A nation not much *' exalted by righ- 
 ^' teoufnefs,'* for a long time pafl: : A nation often 
 admoniflied by providence, and forely fcourged : A 
 nation often threatened even with utter ruin and de- 
 ftriiftion : A nation often almoft miraculoufly prefer- 
 vcd from ruin and deftruftion by her enemies, both 
 foreign and domeftic : And yet a nation where infi- 
 delity, irreligion, corruption and venality, and almoH; 
 every kind of vice, feems to have been increafing all 
 the time ! — Will not almightyGod,who " only is holy," 
 fconer or later " \ifit for thefe things ? and will not 
 ** his foul be avenged on such a nation as this 1 " ^ 
 But to return to ourfelvcs. 
 
 Let 
 
 ^ Ifi. Ixiii. 3. ^ Jer, ?. 9. 
 
relative to tt:e utcujlv/i. 07 
 
 Let us, my Brethren, hearken to tb.e word qf 
 admonition ; I do not mean my own, but God's. For 
 his voiec is loud and vocal, even in thofc difpenfati- 
 ons of his providence, which are the occafion of our 
 being alTcMiibled together in his houfe at this time : 
 It is ftill founding in our ears, unlefs we are hkc the 
 deaf adder that ftoppeth her ear, and will not hear. 
 The language of it is the fame in general with that 
 "of God's written word, — " Let the wicked forfakc 
 " his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and 
 " let him return unto ihe Lord !" And if we duly 
 attend to, and obey this voice of God, both m his 
 word and in thefe vifitations of his providence, he 
 will furely " have mercy on us, and abundantly par- 
 " don ;'* for he is as good as great ; and delighteth 
 not in the death of finncrs / Nor are the works of 
 his mercy and loving-kindnefs, cither lefs, or lefs nu- 
 merous, than thofe of his righteous fevcrity, when 
 his judgments are made manifeft. Incline your ear 
 therefore, and hear, and your foul Ihall live ; ye 
 fhall eat that which is good, and your foul fliall de- 
 light itfelf in fatnefs. We may juftly hope for the 
 fmilcs of divine providence, in giving us temporal 
 profperity, if we turn at God*s reproof, and fear, 
 and worfliip, and ferve him, according to the gofpel 
 of his Son, " in fpirit and in truth." Let us not 
 miftake the nature of chriftianity fo widely, as to ima- 
 gine that an idle, inoperative faith, or obfcrving the 
 external forms of religion, and crying, *' The 
 " temple of the Lord," will avail us without repen- 
 I 2 tance 
 
68 Practical Refect ions ^ 
 
 tance tovvaids God, and " faith that worketh by 
 *' love" to Him, to our Redeemer, and fellow- 
 men, and an univerfal obedience to his commandments. 
 Much lefs fhould we iniaglnc, that we can recom= 
 mend ourfelves to the divine favour,by furious party- 
 zeal in religious matters ; by indulging to a cenforious 
 i[:)irit, and fctting at nought our chriftisn protcftant 
 brethren, whofe hves are blamelefs, on account of 
 differences in opinion. The day which is coming, 
 and which will reveal the fccrets of all hearts, will 
 ihow that this is not the religion of Chrifl:, but a con, 
 tradition to it ; and that men who do thus, 
 " know not what fpirit they arc of." But not to 
 
 Whether we fiiall be generally amended and rc„ 
 formed, and, in confequcncc hereof, enjoy the pro- 
 tecflion aad fmiles of divine providence, and outward 
 profperlty, God only knows ; tho' this is what all 
 good men defire and pray for : And whether their 
 dcfires and prayers arc anfwered or not ; yet they 
 themfelves are fecure and happy, even In the worll 
 and mofl '' pcrlllous times'*. Being fuch, we fhall 
 enjoy what is infinitely more to be defired than all 
 temporal and worldly bleiTings together, the 
 favour of almighty God, the King of ialiits, and a 
 peaceful confcience ; an happinefs which the world 
 can neither give nor take away. That fenfe of fecii- 
 rlty which good men comnionly enjoy, is of more 
 value, efpcclally in times of terror and dlilrcfs to the 
 .wicked, than this and tai thpufind other worlds toge- 
 ther : 
 
relative io the Occajion, 69 
 
 ther : And no man, furcly, who knows what this 
 nicans, would make the e.'^change ! Need I then cau- 
 tion good men againll:anxict}%cvenintherc eviyays? 
 What tho* yoii fee that iniquity abound, which may 
 perhaps bring fore cabmities upon us / Your treafure 
 and hope arc not in this world. What tho' treache- 
 rous and barbarous nations arc now ravaging our bor- 
 ders, and haying wafte pur country ? What tho' you hear 
 of wars and rumours of wars,of earthquakes and inun- 
 dations in divers places, the fca and the waves roaring? 
 What tho' religion is generally at fo low an ebb in 
 the world, even i{i protcflant countries ? Whjit tho' 
 the idolatrous cprrupters of chriftianity, or myflicai 
 Babylon, flioukl long triumph ? What tho' the fouls 
 of them which have been *' flain for the v/ord of 
 *' God, and for the tcflimony wliich they held", 
 (fccn by St. John *' under the altar") fiiould flill for 
 Ibme agrs cry, '' Hovv lo.ng, O Lord, holy.and true, 
 ".doft thou not judge and avenge our blood on them 
 " that dwell on the cartli" ! What tho' all things, 
 riiould wear even a nnich more gloomy afpeft than 
 dicy do at prefcnt •'' — Still you know, that the Lord 
 God almighty, the King of faints reigneth ; that he 
 only is holy, that all his ways arc juft and true ; that 
 his judgments will fboner or later be made manifefl: ; 
 and that in his loving-kindncfs you are fecure againfl: a] 1 
 rcalharm,tho' the earth and hcaveiss were mixed in one 
 common chaos .'* The King of faints will never leave 
 nor forfake thofe, who arc truly fuch. Why then, 
 O fon of Sion, fliould thy foul be caft down, or dif- 
 
 quietcd 
 
yo Pra&ical RefleSiions^ 
 
 quieted within thcc, if thy God reigneth ! Hope thou 
 in him ; for thou fhah yet, and forever praife him : 
 *' Lift up the hands that hang down, and the feeble 
 *' knees'*: And glory in this, that thouunderflandeft 
 and knowefl: Him, " who exercifeth loving-kindnefs, 
 " judgment and righteoufncfs in the earth."' And 
 
 Let wicked men, if they regard their own happi- 
 nefs either in this world or another, turn their feet 
 unto God's tefhmonies, and be reconciled to Him 
 thro' him that died for us, the juft for the unjuft, 
 that he might bring us unto God. Then fliall you 
 alfo tafte and fee that the Lord is indeed gracious ; 
 a very prefent help in trouble. For even when your 
 flefh and heart fliall fail you, he will be " the ftrength 
 <^ of your heart, and your portion forever !" 
 
 To conclude : Let thofe who truly fear God al- 
 ready, that King of faints who only is holy, daily en- 
 deavour, by his grace and aifillance, to become more 
 like him. Let the late vifirations of his pro\'idence, 
 awaken you to greater zeal and diligence in his fer- 
 vice ; that you may go on unto perfection. To which 
 end, ever fet before you, and afpire at a conformity 
 to, the glorious example of your Redeemer ; of him, 
 ** whom not having feen you love ; and in whom ye 
 " greatly rejoice." There are fome virtues and graces, 
 in which even many good men are very defective ^ 
 Particularly thofe of meeknefs and patience under 
 abufes and infults ; charity and forbearance towards 
 perfbns of a different perfwafvon in religious matters ; 
 
 and 
 • Jer. ix. 24. 
 
relative to the Occafion» 7 1 
 
 and l«vc to their pcrfonal enemies. Even even of 
 thofc who ought furely to be '' enfamples to the flock,'* 
 of thefe fublime and excellent virtues, fometimes 
 fcem to exhibit a very different example to it — How- 
 ever thefc are certainly chriftian virtues, by whomfb- 
 cvcr difrcgarded, or cultivated. And whatever diffi- 
 culty may attend the exercife of them, we ought to 
 learn them, and to improve in them, by contemplating 
 the do6lrinc and example of the great " apoftle and 
 *' high prieft of our profeffion'*. Thefe are fome 
 of liis fublimeft lefTons of virtue and chriflian per- 
 fcffion. Remember always, who and what you are ; 
 whofe fons ; whofe difciples ; to what world you ftand 
 related, with whom you are " joint heirs'*, and what 
 is the hope of your calling. A£l with a greatnefs 
 and dignity becoming your character, and glorious 
 expectations. Be above little rcfentments, and even 
 the provocations to great ones : Learn, fometimes at 
 lead, to filencc calumny by fdcnce : Return bleffirig 
 for curfing, and good for evil, overcoming the latter 
 by the former. If you arc, or imagine your felves to 
 be, wifcr and flronger than the others, learn to " bear 
 " the infirmities of the weak"; to have " compaffion 
 *' upon the ignorant, and them that are out of t\k- 
 " way". Let your candor and good-will be extenfiv^- 
 and confpicuous : Scorn all bigottry, party-fpirit^ 
 and narrownefs of mind in religious matters ; and' 
 allow to all men that liberty herein, which you take 
 yourfelvcs, without hating or reviling them, merely 
 becaufe they differ from you in opinion. Yea, learn 
 
 to 
 
^ 2 FraBkal ReficEimis^ &c. 
 
 to love tv'ith a tender and unfeigned chsiity.^ your 
 mod malicious and ahufivc enemies — 'So iliall you aft 
 up to your holy profeflion ; fo fliail you be follow- 
 ers of them who thro' faith and patience inherit the 
 promifes ; fo fhall you aft futably to the relation in which 
 you jfland to Jefus Chrifl: " the Son q^l the living 
 ** God", who *' is not afhamed to call you brethren :" 
 And fo fhall you be emphatically the children of your 
 Father v/hich is in heaven ; ** for he maketh his fun 
 " to rife on the evil and on the good ; and fendetli 
 " rain on the juft and on the unjuit — Be ye there- 
 ** fore perfeft, even as your Father v/hich is in hea- 
 '' ven is perfeft." ^ 
 
 And thusj being not only by profcfFion, but by 
 praftice, the children of light and of the day, you 
 Ihall at length " fiiine forth as the fun in the king- 
 ** dom of your Father :" — ^Not, indeed, in all re- 
 ipefts like that natural fun, which is juft now with- 
 drawing his friendly, benign beams, from 0T.ir hcmif- 
 phere : For in the ages to come, or rather when thcfe 
 momentary ages are no more ; even long after that 
 glorious luminary, that great and marvellous work of 
 God, is become *' black as fackcloth of hair", and 
 all his fires are extinft, your's lliall ftill burn and 
 fhine, not only with an undecaying, but an ever- 
 increafmg luftre, united with that God who is both 
 LIGHT and LOVE, and in whom *' there is kg dark« 
 
 ** NESS AT ALL 1 
 
 ' Mat. V. 45 48. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
Advcrtifement. 
 
 HE Author of the foregoing Difcourfe takes this oppor- 
 tunity to corrcdt fome miftakes in the Appendix to the 
 two Difcouifes, whidi he lately publiilied upon the 
 fame occanon. 
 The moft confiderable apertures and chafms made in 
 the ground by the late earthquake, were not, as he then fuppofed, 
 in the town of Panbrcke, but in Scitnate^ near if not adjoining 
 to it. 
 
 The accounts which he mentioned concerning the dividing of 
 a great hill upon Cape-Cod, in halves, and of a prodigious chafm 
 ;.t Ni<-Mi7:gto)i, (of which accounts he then fpokc doubtfully) 
 now appear to liave been widiout foundation. 
 
 The fcntcncc which ftands thus, p'. 3. oi xhz Jppendix , " This 
 " was as much more confiderable th;ui the laft on tuefday morn- 
 " ing, as that was Icfs confiderable than the firfl", ought to have 
 run thus — This was ah/Jo/I as much more confiderable than the 
 l.di on tuefday morning, as // was lefs, &c. 
 
 From what we h.a\''e heard from Halifax fince die publifhing 
 iiis Appendix, and frotn St. Martini, refpcfling the inundation 
 ihcS'e,- on the fame day the earthquake happened here, it is at 
 !c;ifl probable tKAt the extent of the earthquake was twice as 
 ^reat as he then conjccfturcd. 
 
 And lafUy : ^Vhe^cas he incidentally gave it as his opinion, 
 that the coarfe of the earthquake was from S. W. to the N. E. 
 lie now thinks it much more probable, that it was nearly from 
 K, W. to S. E. agreeable to what the very learned and vv'orthy 
 Pro FES s OR of the Math. & Phil, at our College, has faid in the 
 notes to his Difcourfe on earthquakes, fince pubhlhcd — A Dif- 
 courfe which (if one who was fo lately his pupil, might prefumc 
 to give his opinion) cannot fiil to do great honor to its Author, 
 to the learned fociety of which he is a member, and to his coun- 
 try : Even notwithftanding what Mr. L. Evans has, with fuffici- 
 CQt a/Turancc, afligned as " a fuilicient rcafon for paying Phila- 
 " delphia the particular diftincftion of making it the firil Meridian 
 *' of- America'; t'~. Thiit it "far excels in the progvcfs of 
 " letters, meclianic arts, and the pubhc fpirit of us inhabitants", 
 •Jl other parts of the " Britiih dominions on this continent !" ' 
 — But I am n(>t {yi rude as to make invidious comparifons betwixt 
 • hefc govcrnniwHis ii; point of literature ; or to f ly, \Vho is, or 
 . not, THE BEST JUDGE IN Amep.ica", ^ of this gcntlcmau's 
 tc Map 
 
 ' Mr. Evam\ Analyfis to a general Map, ^c, p. i. 
 * PedicHtipn of Mr. Evani% Map. 
 
 7- M. 
 
i 
 
^Tl^'^.±