IT is not so much for a Close Discourse upon the TEXT, as for a Vindication of, and an In­troduction to, an UNCOMMON ACTION, Which I have thought I may have a Sufficient Commission this Day to Proceed upon; that I shall now be­gin my Discourse, with reading to you, what is Written, in

TIS not my Purpose to make any Re­marks on the Psalm, which affords this Text unto us, and which is as Jerous Long Since Observed, Refertus Mysterijs, Full of Mysteries; I may add, — and Full of Prophecies.

Every One that hears it Read, will Presently form this Doctrine upon it,

[Page 2] There is a Voice of GOD unto the Children of Men; Yea, a MIGHTY VOICE: And therefore a Voice Mightily to be hearken'd to.

THE Entertainment, I Suppose, would not have been Unprofitable, if I should have Enquired, What is the Voice of GOD, and what is it that the Mighty Voice of our GOD Speaks unto us? You are all aware, That in the Gospel which is the Word of GOD, we have the Mighty Voice of God, Speaking to us, in the Plainnest Manner that can be. Our JESUS who Spake as never Man Spake, did never Speak, in the Dayes of His Flesh among us, but, GOD Uttered His Voice, in the most familiar Way that can be imagined. But there is also the Voice of GOD in all the Oracles of the Gospel; GOD inspired the Writers of these Oracles, and there is a Mighty Voice of GOD in the Inspiration. Where the Gospel comes, The Great Trumpet is blown, and there is a Mighty Voice of GOD, in the Joyful Sound of that Jubilee. Sirs, It would be Well, if you would be Prevailed upon, When you Take up the Bible, and Open it, then to think, The Mighty Voice of GOD is now Speaking to me; And when Qualified Preachers Open the Bible unto you, then again to think, The Mighty Voice of GOD, is what I must now give ear­nest Heed unto. Methinks, You should be also aware, That in the Dictates of our Conscience we have the Mighty Voice of GOD unto us. The Principle in Man, which acts in a Way of Judging on him, as Under the Judgment of GOD; tho' the Dictates of that Prin­ciple, are a Sort of Whispers, yet there are also Thun­ders in them: It cryes with a Loud Voice, as when a Lion roars! Oh! that Men were more fearful of [Page 3] Rebelling against the Light, and against the Voice of a Principle, which, O rash Man, if thou put continual Sleights upon, will One Day Tear thee to Pieces, and there shall be none to deliver thee. Yea, I will say unto you, Sound Reason is always the Voice of GOD. When ever any Maxim, or Demand of Reason is Of­fered unto us, We have GOD Speaking unto us. My Brethren, If you will Shew your selves Men, and Hearken to Reason, You may fill your Lives with Acts of Obedience unto GOD. Whatever you see to be Reason, Conform to it, from this Consideration, Tis what GOD Calls me to!

BUT then, You must be as much aware of this; That there is a Mighty Voice of GOD, in all the Works of His Hands. All His Dispensations are Speaking Dispensations. The Works of Creation; There is no Speech nor Language, Where their Voice is not heard. All the Creatures of GOD are so many Teachers to us. Ask them now, and they shall teach thee; Yea, the Mutest of them shall declare unto thee. The Works of Providence too; Stand still, and Consider these Wondrous Works of God; That is, To Hear what they Speak un­to us. The General Providence of GOD, which Pre­serves and Governs the World, has a Voice to all the World; The Wheels of it make a Noise in their Mo­tions. But so too has the Special Providence. There is a Voice of GOD unto us, in what we see befalling of Others. The Rewarding of the Righteous, and the Punishing of the Wicked, has alwayes a Voice in it, unto all the Spectators of it. But — much more in what we feel befalling Our selves. Do we meet with Agreeable Things? I Speak unto thee in thy Prosperity, saith the Lord. — Oh! but what follows? — Do we meet with Deplorable Things? Now, Hear [Page 4]the Rod; the Voice of the Lord Cryes unto the Sufferer.

THE Sum of the Voice, even the Mighty Voice, You cannot but be aware, and apprised of it. It is that of the Angel with the Everlasting Gospel, Saying with a Loud Voice, Fear GOD, and give Glory to HIM. 'Tis, ‘O Acknowledge the Glorious GOD in all Your Wayes; Make it the Chief End of your Lives, to Render and Procure, continual Acknow­ledgments of His Glories. Place your Blessedness, in the Enjoyment of Him. Embrace the Lovely JE­SUS in all His Offices, as the Only Saviour, to bring you unto that Blessedness. Be afraid of all Sin against the Holy Lord. Be Weaned from a World, wherein Satisfaction is to be despaired of [...]e the Wiser and the Better for all that befalls you; and let GOD have Revenues to His Kingdom, out of all that He does for you, or on you. Walk with GOD, and be Holy in all manner of Conversation.’

THIS the Voice. No Doubt, I might have gone on Profitably, to have told you, How and Why the Mighty Voice of GOD is Mightily to be hearkened to? To have told you, That to Study the Mind of God in His Voice, and to be, and to do what is therein called for, is to Hearken to it. And then, to have told you, that since 'tis the Mighty Voice of GOD, there need no other Argument for its being Mightily Hearken'd to.

— BUT it is another Entertainment, That I have under the Impressions of GOD, and with His Assistences, Prepared for you.

[Page 5] ¶ THE Design which I Propose this Day to Prosecute, is, That the Voice of the Glorious GOD, even His Mighty Voice, in the Later Dispensations of His Providence towards this Land, may be Re­garded, be Understood, be Complied withal.

WHEN the former Long War, which our Treache­rous and Barbarous Enemies made upon us, was fi­nished, there was an Essay to make some Improve­ment of the Observable Things that had occurred in it: An Essay, which God and His People approved of.

ANOTHER Long War is now finished; A New Peace hath been struck up, in our Borders: And it is Time to Consider the Voice of our God unto us, in the Observable Things that have therein Passed over us. For, O my Dear People, While thy God has been Striking of thee, He has been also Speaking to thee; And it is of the Last Consequence, that His Voice be Wisely hearkened to; A Total Inadvertency to the Voice, will have a Consequence which we may justly tremble at; — If to be Punished yet Ten times for our Iniquities, or with more than Ten Years of Con­fusions repeared upon us, be a thing to be trembled at.

IT is an Holy Undertaking; may it be a very Useful One!

FROM such an Holy Undertaking, we must not be discouraged, by the Derision of a few Foolish, and Flashy, and Prophane Creatures, (no more to be valued than the Dirt of a Street) who Scoff at all Sermons of an Historical Importance; that is to say. At such Sermons as the Prophets of God have all over the Bible Exemplified unto us; Creatures below the [Page 6]Notice of One, who would Go Well, and in Holy and Comely Going would never turn away for any. No, Sirs; Were One of the bright Angels detach'd and dispatch'd from the Multitude of the Heavenly Host unto us, most certainly he would most cheerfully take up a Trumpet of God, and embrace the Office and the Honour of Sounding the Trumpet, that should render the Voice of the Glorious LORD very Plain unto His People, and awaken them to Entertain that Mighty Voice with a due Attention and Obedience.

WHEREFORE, Having this Opportunity, of Seeing the Elders and the Judges of our Israel, here assembled, I call upon you, Stand Still, that I may Reason with you before the Lord, Concerning the Righteous Acts which He hath done among you, and His Mighty Voice in those Acts, which He Expects you to take a Reasonable and a Religious Notice of.

GOD forbid, That a People of our Profession and Original, should be so abandoned by the Spirit of Piety, as to be Insensible, that there is a Voice of the Glorious GOD unto us, even a Mighty Voice, in the Things which He has dispensed unto us, during our Long War, with the Eastern Salvages, and the bloody Papists that have inspired them and abetted them. Verily, Such an Insensibility would but bring us within the reach of that flaming Thunderbolt; Psal. XXVIII. 5. Because they regard not the Works of the Lord, nor the Operation of His Hands, He shall destroy them, and not build them up. I again say, God forbid!

BUT then, the First Thing, Whereto your At­tention is demanded, is; That the Voice of the Glo­rious GOD, even His Mighty Voice, in the Long War [Page 7]that has been Wasting of us, is what All People, have been addressed with; what All Persons have been concerned in. The History of this Duodecennium Luctu­osum, would consist either of too Minute Actions, or be sometimes rather an History of Inaction, and some­times, especially where the chief Actors were Strangers to us, the Truth of the Matter cannot well be come at, if it were to be retail'd in all its Particularities. You shall have it all in a Summary Way, and in Ex­pressive Terms provided as long ago, as, 2 Chron. XV. 5, 6. In those times, there was no Peace, to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great Vexations were upon all the Inhabitants of the Countries; For God did Vex them with all Adversity. And certainly, the Voice of God has been Extended unto All the Inhabi­tants; who have All been Sharers in the Great Vexa­tions of this Long Adversity. Truely, We have All been Sufferers. How many have Suffered in their Persons? Not a few, have Endured Hardships as Good Souldiers in the Publick Service. How many have Suffered, in what has befallen the Relatives for which they have had a Tenderness? The frequent Pressea have often, often, filled our Houses with Anguish. The Heavy Taxes have been such, that every One has felt the Burden: Perhaps, those few that [...]a [...]d None, did feel as much as any, of the Burden. And then, Tis to be hoped, no Man could be so Labu­mane, but that he had a Sympathy with Other Sufferers; The Advice of all Evil Occurrents afflicted him. Surely, we have All been Sinners too! And this, no doubt, this is the Voice of our Glorious GOD unto us All. Hear this All ye People, Every One of you! Let every One of you All now [...]earch and Try his Wayes, and turn unto the Lord. Sirs, We have ALL of us by our Various Miscarriages Contributed unto [Page 8]the Controversy, which a Just GOD has been mana­ging with us, in this Long Day of our Calamity. It was Once the Complaint of Heaven; Jer. VIII. 6. I hearkened and heard, but they Spake not aright; No Men repented him of his Wickedness, Saying, What have I done? Oh! May it not be heard over us! The Mighty Voice of our God unto us, is; Let every Man Enquire, What Errors of his Own have thrown Oyl into the Flame of that Anger that has been such a Devouring Fire upon you. And, Let every Man Enquire, What he shall do, that tho' God has been Angry, His Anger may be turned away, and His People may be Comforted.

BESURE, We are deaf to Thunder, if we do not hear this Voice of our God unto us all, in what we have all met withal: Oh! Take off your Hearts from a World, which I have so many wayes Embittered unto you all. Prefer, Pursue, Expect a Portion in a better World.

BUT if the Mighty Voice of God may be appre­hended as most Cogently, and most Pungently di­rected unto them that have been the Greatest Sufferers, 'tis to be hoped our dear Brethren in the Frontiers, will be most Suitably Affected with it. O our Brethren, Who are Posted in the Valley of Achor; who have Gotten and Eaten every Grain of your Bread, with the Peril of your Lives from the Sword of the Wilderness; who have had your Lives alwayes as it were in your Hands, ready to be offered up, and been Shut up in very Uneasy Circumstances: To you there is this Mighty Voice of God your Sa­viour; Heaven requires it of you, to be the best Peo­ple upon Earth! O Examine whether you are so; and Examine how you shall Order your Behaviours, and your Families, that you may be so.

[Page 9] OUR Mariners and our Fishermen, distinguished with so many Destructions upon them, ought certain­ly to consider their Peculiar Obligations to have their Ears Listening to the Voice of GOD. He that hath Ears to hear, Let him hear, What GOD now Speaks unto him.

I will go on, and invite you to Consider, in the Second Place, Whether you cannot hear a Voice of the Glorious GOD, even a Mighty Voice, in the Per­fidy of the Enemy; Yea, and in the Remarkable Revenges, the Astonishing Revenges, of the HOLY ONE upon that Perfidy. It is well known, that on the Twentieth of June, Twelve Years ago, the Sa­gamores of the East, with their Dependents, made their Submissions to the Crown of England, and Re­new'd their Promises of Living in all Good Peace with the English Subjects thereof, and there were Two Pillars of Stone Erected, with the Hierogly­phick Name of, The Two Brothers, for the Perpetual Memory of the Thing. And yet, it is now known, That at that very Time, the Perfidious Intentions of those Monsters were such, that it was a most Won­derful Appearance of the Divine Providence, which Preserved His Excellency our Governour, and the Principal Gentlemen of his Two Provinces, then attending upon him, from an Hellish Contrivance of theirs to have Siezed on their Persons: We are this Day blessing our GOD, with them, as well as for them, in a Doxology of Antiquity; Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us as a Prey to their Teeth! But, alas, We can tell who did quickly become the Prey to these Dragons in the Wilderness Prepare to hear a Tragedy, which our Poor Neigh­bours did not prepare to feel. On the Tenth of [Page 10]the following August, these Wretches under the Gal­lick and Satanick Instigation, Put forth their Hands against such as were at Peace with them, and broke their Covenant. While our People were in the Pro­found Sleep, of a Peace just now established, with all the Solemnity imaginable, never Dreaming that it could be Possible for any thing in the Shape of Men, — to do what was going to be done;— So much was France forgotten! — Behold, Now these Treacherous Infidels, [Their being French Christians, will not hinder me from calling them so!] I say, these Infidels went up against the Land of Un­walled Villages. In Scattered Parcels, they fell, at Once on Seven Villages; They Murdered and Cap­tived, More than One Hundred and Seventy of our People. And on some of them, especially some Wo­men with Child, they Perpetrated Barbarities, which humane Ears can do no other than tingle at. God Miraculously Saved many Exposed Places, from these first Efforts of Indian Fury!

BUT, O NEW-ENGLAND, Wilt thou hear the Voice of thy Glorious GOD unto thee, in this dis­mal Tragedy? His Voice, even His Mighty Voice unto thee, is; Thou hast Sinned against my Covenant. A Sword is thus brought upon thee to avenge the Quar­rel of my Covenant. The Violations of my Covenant in the Midst of thee must be Repented of!

I will take this Occasion to bear yet a more Par­ticular Testimony. New-England hears ill among Strangers, for the Crime of, Promise-breaking. The Promises of many Men, they say, are Little to be relied upon. It is reported, that many Pretenders to Religion, are not, Men of their Word. I know not [Page 11]what their Pretences are; Be they what they will, the Men must not be own'd for the True Citizens of Zion. But, Lo, in the Punishment the Country undergoes, from the most Infamous Promise-breakers, there is this Mighty Voice of God unto us, O my People, Promise-breakers must not be found among you: Be Children that will not Ly; So I will be your Sa­viour.

WELL, but what Effect have the Salvages found of their Persidy? A Vengeance of God has follow'd them; A Vengeance, that must be a Stay, and a Warning to all the World.

HOW Many of them, have been Sacrificed by O [...] Sword, it is not Easy for us to say. They never Assault, but when they can Surprize. They have Quick Retreats to Thickets and Mountains that are to us inaccessible; The Europeans, who Wonder that all these Colonies don't Presently Swallow them up, have no Idea of them. When also any of them fall in Battel, the Survivers use more than ordinary Care to Cover them. However, I have been able to reckon many more than an Hundred of these Cursed Salvages, which have been known to be Kill'd by Our Hands. But, Thy Hand. O Lord, has found [...] thine Enemies; Thy Right Hand has found out those that hate thee! God has Plagued them with Famin [...], and Sioknest, and many Wasting Miseries 'Tis affirm'd. They are so reduced, that they cannot make Half the Number, which they could when the W [...] began. God has distress'd them Wonderfully! And so He will Some who are greater than they, and who have infused their Maxims into them. There is that Mighty Voice from the GOD of TRUTH to Those, in what has befallen These.

[Page 12] AND yet, I Wish, the Wounded Chaldeans, may not rise up Once more to inflict Grievous Wounds upon Us. To Prevent more Desolations, I would with all Humility, but with all Importunity, most Vehement­ly, and with most Pressing Instances, beseech the Government, That all due Methods may be taken, for the Upholding of Religion in the Plantations of the East, as they shall be going on. Sirs, What has been done more than twice to break up our Eastern Plantations, has in it this Voice of the Glo­rious GOD; Yea, 'tis His Mighty Voice. Oh! Let not People be any more so Foolish, as to think of taking Root, in Ungospellized Settlements; Lest I Once more do Suddenly Curse their Habitations.

BUT then, Thirdly; We must be aware of this; That none of the Particular Depredations, which the Enemy has in this Long War made upon us, have been without a Voice from the Glorious GOD unto us in them: Yea, a Mighty Voice, which ought to be heard attentively, as the Sound going out from His Mouth.

HE that would Write the History of this War, must put upon it the Title that Orosius put upon his History, De Miseria homin [...]m.

AN Exact and Punctual Account of the several Depredations, with which the Wild-beasts of the Desert have broke in upon us, is not necessary to be Ex­hibited. Nor would it often afford more Material Passages, than those Insipid Ones, which the Funeral Orations on the Professors in the Universities are commonly Stuffed withal. But allow me to throw the Murdered and the Captived into the same List, [Page 13]as there is too much cause to do, and I find my self able to bring in a List of near Seven Hundred Persons, whom our Offended GOD has delivered up into the dreadful Hands of the Salvages. No doubt there have been more! The Boast made by One bloody Son of Cain among them has been generally heard of! — Animus meminisse ho [...]et!

OFTENTIMES what the Salvages have done, has been upon one, or two, or theirs, at a time; done by a Skulking and Woiviso Adversary.

BUT Sometimes a Town has undergone a greater Effusion of Blood. Haverhil at once Loses above Thirty of it's Inhabitants; And, Poor Deerfield!— Never to be forgotten Deerfield! — An Hundred, and Perhaps twice Thirty more.

HOW many Deaths have been Contracted and Hastened, by the Fatigues of Attempts against the Enemy, — there can be no Account.

ADD unto these, the Numberless Deaths, accelera­ted upon ours in their Engagements with the French at Sea, or by their Confinements among them: — Here our Bleeding Land would Cry out, Oh! That my Grief were thoroughly Weigh'd! Now it would be heavy like the Sand o [...] the Sea.

BUT, What I am now to note, is, There has been a Voice of the Glorious GOD, in every One of these Disasters.

I have reckoned up, in this War, near an Hundred Times, that Evil Tidings have been brought in unto [Page 14]us, of Mischiefs done to our Brethren and our Chil­dren, on the Land. Mischief upon Mischief! — Be­sides those which have come to us, on the Other Element. Among which, that on Fishery at one time amounting to Ten Thousand Pounds Damage, will not be forgotten! Sirs, There has been a Voice from the Glorious GOD Renew'd unto us, in every Stroke of such Evil Tidings. A Voice from the East, a Voice from the West, a Voice from the North, and a Mighty Voice coming over the Mighty Waters too; A Voice from the Lord, rendring His Righteous Recompences to us, by our Enemies. His terrible Voice in all these things has been, I am displeased with you; Oh! Take up due Sentiments of my awful Displeasure at you!

IN the midst of these Calamitous Things, could we see BOSTON in Flames; the very Place where I am now Standing, Perish in the Flames; the Glare whereof reached more than hundred Miles off; and not hear the Voice of a Provoked GOD, in these Fiery Rebukes? Yea, our GOD Spoke to us with His Mighty Voice from the Midst of the Fire, as from a­nother Mount Sinai; His Voice unto us was, O Fear Me, and Receive Instruction, that so no more of your Dwel­lings may be cut off!

IN a Long Drought also this Year, the Lord God has been calling to comend by Fire with us. And from the Heavens become like Brass over us, there has been a Voice of GOD reaching to the Earth become like Iron under us; O Land not Rain'd upon, Humble thy self in this Day of Indignation!

BUT, as All Sorts have come under the Deadly Strokes of this Time, so the Voice of GOD unto Each [Page 15]of them should be more Particularly considered by all the Survivors. The Deadly Strokes have been Decimations used by a Sovereign GOD, upon Rebel­lious Legious; and all we that are Spared, should hear what His Blowes upon Some, do Speak unto us All. By Aged Ones, that have had their Gray Hairs dy'd in their Blood, GOD Speaks to Old Men, Oh! See that your Hoary Heads be found in the Way of Righteousness! By such as have been cut down in the Flower of their Youth, GOD Speaks to Youth Men, Oh! Make Haste, and no Longer Delay to ke [...] the Commandments of your God! By the Little One whose Brains have been dash'd out, by the cruel Proselytes of Babylon, GOD Speaks to Children; Oh! Do you betimes fly to Me, and get under the Shadow of My Wings! Nor have the Handmaids of the Lord been unspoken to, in the horrid Things which their Sex has met withal. GOD Speaks to them; Oh! [...] your Main concern, to be Espoused unto your only Saviour!

I am Sure, There has been One Article of the Deadly Strokes, which it will be very Proper for Me to be deeply affected withal. And I make no doubt, that my Brethren will be so!

THERE have been Two MINISTERS, who have Owed their Deaths, unto the Sword by which we have been so harassed.

THE Hopeful Minister of Lancaster, was Kill'd in­deed by a most Unhappy Mistake of a Souldier in his own Garrison. And might there not in such a thing be this Voice of our GOD, unto all our People, [...]e­ware lost you Kill your faithful M [...]isiors before you [...]e [Page 16]aware: Heart-breaking Temptations multiplyed upon them will do so.

THE Worthy Minister of Haverhil, was Kill'd, in a Descent of the hideous Canibals upon his Neigh­bourhood. In this Death, as well as in the Other, Methinks, I hear the Mighty Voice of our Glorious Lord, unto the Pastors of His Churches; Oh! Look into your Hearts and Lives, to see what Share you also have in the Sins of the Times! Oh! Do with your Might what your Hand finds to do; as not knowing When or How you may be taken off! Oh! Do all you can to make my People Mind what I Speak unto them, in the Things which I do among them!

AND, O BOSTON, The Wormwood and the Gall of thy Last Winter must be remembred with thee. I am Sure, with He it must be so. A Winter wherein One Dark Month carried off more than One Hundred and Ten of our Inhabitants. The Voice of it! — Behold, I have made thee Sick in Smi­ting thee! Oh! Sin no more, Lest! —

SURELY then, it the Fourth Place; The Disap­pointments of Important Expeditions, which in this Long War have humbled us, cannot but have in them a Voice of the Glorious GOD; A Voice that should Strike us into the Dust before Him.

I will make all the Haste I can, to See whether no Comfortable Things have occurr'd for our Obser­vation. But I would ask, that you would not be out of Patience, till I have gone thro' my Enu­meration, of Afflictive Things, yet such as have been, and should be, very Instructive Ones.

[Page 17] I must remind you; That we have made many Salleyes into the Wilderness after the Enemy, with Numerous and Courageous Forces, and well-Equipped Ones. And we have sometimes made our Visits to the Head-Quarters of the Enemy, big with Hopes to do something upon them there. More than Ten Times, have our Forces returned from their Weary Marches, without Obtaining the Ends that were aimed at. A [...] not for the Full Relation of such Expeditions. To wh [...] Purpose, the Full Relation?— I have told yo [...] We went out, and we came home. — That's [...] Full Relation! — Indeed Much Good was done, wh [...] there was Nothing done. We found the Advant [...] of having a Terr [...]ed Enemy. But still we were D [...] appointed of our Expectations.

IF Mortified by what thus befel us by Land, what shall we say of what befel us by Sea? Our Mari­ti [...] Expeditions, What an amazing, What an abasing, Blast from GOD upon them! — All the Event of them, to bring Immense Debts upon us; to make us the Soorn of them that hate us; to Tire, and Cor­rupt, and Confound, the Poor People Embarked in them! The Voice of GOD, still that; Hab. II. 13. Behold, Is it not of the Lord of Hosts, that the People should Labour in the very Fire, and that the People should Weary themselves for very Vanity!

ONE considerable Armament, Ending with that Epitaph upon it; Lord, Thou hast cast us est, and put [...] to Shame, and Goest not forth with our Armies.

ANON, We do with a most Profound Obedience to the Commands of our Sovereign, and with a Wondrous Trouble and Expence, Propare for an [Page 18] Expedition against the Canadien Source of our Cala­mities. But, All for Nothing: — All under the Pain of; Staying for them who did not Come. Canada was, as (in Spanish) the Name Signifies, A Cape of Nothing!

SOME Years after, they did Come. The, Carthago [...]elenda is again declared for. We again express our [...]yalty, and make a Preparation, which no other [...] of America would have Parallel'd. We did every [...]. The Government exerted and acquitted it self, [...] a Discretion, a Fidelity, an Assiduity most Ir­ [...]oacheable. All Ranks of Men, did all that could [...] done by Mortal Men. Would you now have [...] rest of the Story? Or be content that such Vile Historians, as a Jovius, a Remond, or a V [...]illas, have the telling of it? — No, — Enquire into it, O Britons at home: And let Justice take Place. Tis too great a Matter for Us. You are all deeply concerned in it.—

BUT, this we may do. We may Enquire into the Voice of our Glorious GOD unto us, in such Disastrous Disappointments?

AND, O thou afflicted Country, so tossed with Tempests, and I had almost said Not Comforted; canst thou not hear this Mighty Voice of thy GOD unto thee? O my People, Thou dost nor answer my Just Expectations; T [...]efore dost thou miss of thy Expectations. Their canst not Prosper, because there are in thee some Accursed Things; Oh! Find out, Oh! Abbor, Oh! Reform those A [...]ed Th [...]es!

THAT I may use all Good Fidelity, and that my Country may find a Faithful Man, I will take this Place to [...] One thing more.

[Page 19] IT would be a Sad Thing, if any Persons in Sta­tions, have taken Advantages from the Distresses of the Country by the Long War, in Unrighteous, Un­generous, Indirect Wayes to Propose the Enriching of themselves on the Miseries of their Country. I wish that Persons in Stations would Examine themselves, what Base Things may have been done this Way [...] that are to be Repented of. I wish, they wo [...] now hear the Mighty Voice of GOD unto them, [...] pe [...]t, Ye Sordid and Cruel Men, Repent of your Vil [...] [...] humanity; Lest you and yours find Sad Reserves [...] row for you!

BUT, Fifthly. The Case of our Captives, [...] be Passed over; There is a Voice in their Case; [...] Mighty Voice of our GOD; and a very Speaking [...]

THE Incredible Miseries undergone by our Captives; What Labour, and What Hunger, and What Gold, they have endured! How Cruelly they have been used! How Cruelly they have been Scourged! With what Cruelties, the joynts of their Fingers have been bitten off! In what insupportable Terrors of Death, sometimes their fierce Masters, of the true Tygre­ [...]eea have held them! The Hideous Executions, with which the Incarnate Devils have gratified their Diabolical Rage, upon some of the Miserable Cap­tives: Roasting them alive at Lingring Fires; Cut­ting and Slashing their Flesh, and Pouring hot Embers there-upon: With Slow Tortures, Putting an End unto their Lives, and with intolerable, and inconceivable Torments! There has been that Voice of the Glorious GOD in these things unto us all; Oh! Be Thankful for the Comforts which you Enjoy in your Houses full of Good Things, with all your Friends [Page 20]about you! But at the same Time, there has been this Mighty Voice of GOD unto them, who continue Captives to their Lusts, and will Go on still in their Trespasses: — What must you Look for, O Impenitent Sinners, what must you Look for, if you Dy in your Sins, and he delivered over into the Hands of those Tormentors, which are in the tremendous Place of Torments waiting [...] you!

[...]O think of it; That some English Children, Yea, [...] of the Covenant, and Children of Excellent [...]stors; are now Indianizing in the remote and [...] Wigwams of the Wilderness! To think of [...] That we should have still some Scores of our [...], Enchanted and Enslaved, in the Idolatries of [...], and so held in Chains of Darkness by the [...]uds, and Cheats, and Chicaneries of the French Priests, and such innumerable Circumventions, that an Hopeless Grave-Stone seems to be laid upon them! —Tis Lamentable. I am Sure, There is this Voice of our GOD unto us, in their Condition; Oh! Be thankful for the Protestant Religion; the Precious Liberties and Instructions of your Holy Religion: Should you become a French Province, how forlorn, how rueful would be your Condition! But is there not herein also a Mighty Voice of our GOD, calling upon us, to take more Pains, that we may every where be well Englightened in the Religion of our Saviour; More Pains, that our Children, and all our People may be Supplyed from the Tower of David, with the Armour of Christia­nity, to defend them from the Popish Abominations? This Voice of our GOD, I am certain is very Plain unto us; Oh! Live up to the Rules of My Holy Religion, and hold not the Truths of it in Unrighteous­ness, Less I Leave you to be Entangled in strong Delusions.

[Page 21] HOWEVER, At several times we have seen some Scores of our Captives delivered. I hope, the Ran­somed Captives, hear the Voice of the Glorious GOD unto Themselves; That Voice; O Give Thanks unto the Lord, for He is Good; for His Mercy Endureth for ever, Let the Redeemed of the Lord say so, Whom He hath Redeemed from the Hand of the Enemy! That Voice, O Don't remain in the Bondage to the Powers of Darkness, now thou art Redeemed from the Hand of the Enemy; Become the Servants of the Redeemer, who has Loosed thy Bonds! That Voice; Oh! Sin no more, Lest a worse thing do come unto thee!

BUT if these Redeemed Ones, would make true and fair Collections, of their Experiences, t'would be a Good Work. How Strangely they have been Pre­served, how Strangely they have been Supported, how Strangely they have Out-lived many Deaths; The Narratives of these Things, would have in them a Voice of GOD unto the World: The Power and Goodness of our GOD would be Proclaimed therein most Gloriously.

BUT, Sixthly, and Lastly; I remember my Pro­mise of, Comfortable Things. I remember, I did but Almost Say, N. Com [...]. No, Our Merciful GOD, has in Wrath remembered [...]y to us, and Checkered our State, with many Bright Circumstances, which have Abated the Sorrows of the Long War, which He has distributed unto us in His Anger. In the Favours of our Good GOD, we have had Him Speaking to us; His Voice, yea. His Mighty Voice, has therein called us, To Glorify H [...]n, and Praise H [...]n for His Goodness, and for His Wonderful Works to the Children of Men.

[Page 22] SHALL I make a brief Recapitulation?

HOW Favoured have we been of our GOD, in So Vigilant a Care, and Guard, which has kept our Frontiers, for Two Hundred Miles together, So Forti­fied, and in such a Way of Communication, that the Salvages have been afraid of attempting Frequent Surprisals upon them? Our GOD Speaks this unto us; Behold, An Hedge of My making about you!

HOW Favoured? — When formidable Armies of the French, in Conjunction with the Salvages from Canada, several times, have gone forth with great fury to Destroy, and Utterly to make away many: and espe­cially to Cut off the Praying People of God in the Towns of the Northern County on Connecticut-River: Either they have Mutiny'd among themselves; Or, some Deserter from themselves has come in unto us: — there has happened Something, that has caused them to do Nothing. When they have Come upon us, to Eat up our Flesh, they have Stumbled, and Fallen, and tho' after Long Marches, just arrived in our Borders, they have gone back without Striking a Stroke. Or, if not so, a Kind Friend of Ours, has Obliged us with a Timely Intelligence, of what Mis­chief has been hatching against us; A Friendship for ever to be gratefully acknowledged!

UPON the Saying of which, I ought to Mention it, That there was in the Former War, a Gentleman, who hazarded his very Life, and Procured no little Uneasiness unto himself, by transmitting to us, an Advice of Mischiefs impending over us: The Me­rits of which Action should not be soon forgotten with us.

[Page 23] BUT by such means as these, the Enemy, have hardly above Once, been able to do any thing to Purpose, in all their Enterprizes. They have gone round about the City, and made a Noise like a Dog: By'nd by they have Returned, and Wandred up and down for Meat, and grudged because they were not Satisfyed.

GOD Speaks to us in this; Oh! Trust Me: Oh! Love Me; Oh! See what it is to be under My Pro­tection!

HOW Favoured? — When the rich Store-Ships bound for Canada, and fill'd with Instruments of Death, have been taken by our Fleets; and the most Capable and Resolved Persecutors of these Colonies, have been Killed aboard them.

HOW Favoured? — When Privateers infesting our Coasts, have by Storms, [Fulfilling thy Word, O our God!] been Shipwreck'd on them. Or some of our Neighbours, Especially from One Helpful Island of our Neighbourhood, have with Sudden and Valiant Exploits, made them repent of their appreaching us.

HOW Favour'd? — When we not only laid Waste many French Settlements, where the Indians had been Harboured and Supplyed; but anon their Citadel, with their whole Country, fell into our hands; and that Jericho, having been Comtessed Seven Dayes, fell before us. I Speak Literally [...]nough in that Circumstance!

HOW Favoured? — In the Many and Ready Assistences, which our Brethren of the Neighbour [Page 24]Colonies, have Lent unto us. Our GOD Speaks this unto us in it, Be Tender of One another! My Colonies, Love and Live as Brethren. I will have no unbrotherly Emulations among you.

AND certainly the Assistences that we have given to our Neighbours, — Our Brethren in Hampshire, will certainly in all Things do the part of Our Brethren.

HOW Favoured? — In that altho' the Prodigi­ous Debts we have Contracted, One would have thought, must have broke us, yet we find our selves able to discharge these Ponderous Debts; Yea, our Debts have rather Enriched us, by affording a Fund for the Circulation of Credit, among us.

HOW Favoured? — When in the midst of Our Charges, and Losses, and Various Troubles, we have been mov'd and help'd from Above, to Express our Charity for our Friends in the Caribbee-Islands, and send some Taste of our Bounty to them in theirs. Let not Ignorant Strangers abuse New-England, un­til they Out-do that Poor Country in the Things, that every One must Confess to be Laudable.

IN the mean time, Some Servants of God have had the Unspeakable Satisfaction of Expressing and Ob­taining Bounties, for Odd People, among whom it has been a General Practice and Pleasure, to be Ig­norantly and Venemously Railing at them. — For­give them; They know not what they do!

AND how Favoured? — When under all the Creepling Disadvantages of the Country, We see the [Page 25] Metropolis of it, and of the whole English America, increase and flourish at such a rate? Yea, we see the ancient Fable of the Phaenix rising out of its Ashes, Moralized and Verified, O BOSTON, in thy rising out of thine: Things done for thee, the Re­port whereof will be thought a Fable, by them that have not seen them.

SIRS, There is a Voice, yea, a Mighty Voice of our Glorious GOD unto us in all these things. He bespeaks our Thankful Praises, to Him, in all these things: This I am certain of!

IT must not be Left unconsidered among the Fa­vours of our GOD, that we have all this while, Enjoy'd His GOSPEL, in the Privileges whereof we have been Lifted up to Heaven. Our GOD has fulfill'd that Word unto us; Isai. XXX. 20. Tho' they Lord give You the Bread of Adversity, and the Water of Affliction, yet thine Eyes shall see thy Teachers.

ONE of the Least among them, is now doing his Part, that our Adversity and our Affliction may be rendred Profitable to us.

BUT, that our Matchless, and our Envy'd GOSPEL shall be continued unto us, do we see nothing like a Rainbow in the British-Heaven, to give us a Token, upon which they who dwell in the Wilderness may be less Afraid than a Cloudy Day may have sometimes rendered them?

YES, Unto our Inexpressible Satisfaction, we now see ascending to the British Throne, A KING, for whom his NEW-ENGLISH People have continually [Page 26]Offered up their most Earnest Vows to the GOD by whom Kings Reign, that they may see Him, and His Illustrious Family, in the Succession runing [...]er them.

A KING, Who cannot in any of His Dominions, have more Loyal, Faithful, and Hearty Subjects, than His NEW-ENGLISH People; who are by Principle as well as Interest rendred so.

A KING, from whom we have all the Reason imaginable to Expect it, that He will not only Con­tinue the Civil and Religious Liberties of a People who so many wayes recommend themselves unto. His Royal Chemency, but also that He will Multiply unto them the Tokens of His Paternal Benignity.

MY Brethren, You hear the Voice of your Glorious GOD, even His Mighty Voice, in the Changes of His Providence that have Passed over you. A Voice that speaks this; Ah! My Poor People; How shall I give thee up: As yet, I cannot do it; I will not do it! Tho' I chasten thee sore, thou shalt not yet be given over to Death!

I have discharged my Duty, and my Sermon shall be finished, when I have brought you the Voice of your GOD, in that One most Intelligible and Un­questionable Articulation of it more; Psal. LXXXI. 13, 14, 15. Oh! that my People had hearkened unto me, and walked in my Wayes? I should soon have Subdued their Enemies, and have turned my Hand against their Ad­versaries; The Haters of the Lord should have Submitted themselves unto Him; but their own Time should Endure for ever.