THE Prophet Jeremiah, from whose Lamentations our Text is taken, lived to see the Ruin of his Nation. His patriotic Soul glowed with an enthusiastic Love for his Country, and he felt all her Miseries by Anticipation. The Man suffers doubly whose Eyes are open to foresee future Calamities. This holy Patriot's Heart was broken long before the Miseries, which he bewails, came upon his Countrymen; inso­much that it is difficult to tell which is the most melancholy, his Prophecy or his History of the Destruction of Jerusalem. His La­mentations were evidently written with a Pen dipped in Tears. Every Line is full of Sor­row, and every Word seems big with Distress. But in the Midst of his Complaints we find that [Page 6]he justifies GOD, and confesses that it is because his Compassions fail not, that they are not entirely consumed. Afflictions, whether public or private, always bring good Men to a Sense of their Sins, and the first Efforts of their Resentments are against themselves.

POLITICAL Subjects do not belong to the Pulpit, but to direct to a right Improvement of the Times is the Duty of every Minister of the Gospel. An unnatural Dispute hath arisen between Britain and the American Co­lonies, and the Question is of no less Mag­nitude than whether we shall continue to en­joy the Privileges of Men and Britons, or whether we shall be reduced to a State of the most abject Slavery. It is equally beyond my Province and Inclination to enter into the Merits of this Controversy. It will be suffi­cient for my Purpose to remark, that we have lived to see our Country involved in a common Calamity. The Cry of Oppression is already heard in one Corner of our Land. The Groans of many Thousands of our Brethren have reached our Ears, and GOD only knows how soon they will be echoed back from every Part of the Continent. A dark Cloud hovers over us. We are threatened with Slavery. War, Pestilence and Earth­quakes, those ordinary Ministers of GOD's Vengeance, are transient, partial or local Evils. Slavery is a general and perpetual Evil. It includes all Ages, Classes and Sexes. [Page 7]It reaches to every Corner of a Land. It in­cludes the present and all future Generations. It precludes all Hopes of Redress, for it en­tails those Crimes and that Depravity of Soul which at first procured it. In a Word, it is the prime Minister of GOD's Vengeance, and it has been called upon only in those Cases where less Scourges were unequal to the Demerit of Crimes, or when they had been used to no purpose.

THE first Dictates of blind Passion are to imprecate Vengeance upon the guilty Instru­ments of our Calamities, and to resolve to endure the greatest Hardships rather than sur­render the Privileges we have derived from Nature and our Ancestors.

IT is true, the impartial Judge of the World will vindicate the Cause of the op­pressed, and although in righteous Judgment he may leave them to sink under the Load of their Oppressions, yet will he not forget the Oppressor. He hath assured us in his Word, that he will "vindicate the Poor, and break in Pieces the Oppressor. This is the Portion of the wicked Man with God, and the He­ritage of the Oppressors, which they shall re­ceive of the Almighty. If his Children be multiplied, it is for the Sword, and his Off­spring shall not be satisfied with Bread. Those that remain of him shall be buried in Death, and his Widow shall not weep. Tho' he heap up Silver as Dust, and prepare Raiment [Page 8]as Clay, yet shall the just put it on, and the innocent shall divide the Silver. He buildeth his House as a Moth, and as a Booth that the Keeper maketh. The rich Man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered. He openeth his Eyes, and he is not. Terrors take hold of him as Waters. A Tempest stealeth him away in the Night; for GOD shall cast upon him, and shall not spare. He would fain flee out of his Hand. Men shall clap their Hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his Place."

NOR is the Use of Means to obtain Relief from our Oppressions inconsistent with the necessary Principles of human Nature, or con­trary to the Word of GOD. But there is too much Reason to fear, that while we exclaim against the Instruments of our Calamities, and deliberate about the best Measures to ex­tricate ourselves from them, we forget to ex­claim against the prevailing Iniquities of our Country, and to consider them as the only Causes which have drawn down the Frowns of Omnipotence upon us. The Experience of all Ages shews that the surest Way for any Nation to obtain or perpetuate public Blessings, is to acknowledge that GOD who alone can bestow them. It was never known, that a People became unhappy until their Iniquities ripened them for the divine Vengeance. The History of the Jewish Nation is, in this Re­spect, a striking Lesson to all Mankind. Their [Page 9]Piety and Prosperity always kept Pace with each other, and their Defection from GOD was always a Prelude to their Desolation.

IT should be an invariable Rule with Christians to regard the Hand of GOD in every Thing which happens, but especially in public Calamities. Not a Blade of Grass is trodden down, nor does a Hair fall from your Heads without his Notice. He over­rules likewise the grand Machine of the Uni­verse, and however confused it may appear, yet let Christians remember that there is Order in this Confusion. Not one Event is vain, and God's Glory will be the Result of the vast Combination.

THE corrupt Passions of Men, while they aim only at their own Gratification, are the Means whereby God accomplishes his Pur­poses in the Government of the World. Even the Wrath of Man, the most malevolent of all Passions, "worketh his Will." Devils follow the Malignity of their Natures in all their Actions, but the Almighty carries on, through their Instrumentality, the most va­luable Purposes of his Wisdom and Goodness.

NATIONS, like Individuals, have their Vices, which call for Punishment. The Vices of Individuals are seldom fully punished in this World, but it is in this World only that GOD has erected a Tribunal for the Trial and Punishment of national Vices. As Individuals have their Day beyond which [Page 10]GOD's Patience will not wait, so likewise have Nations. Though he may forbear long, yet the Time will come when he will either reduce them to Obedience, or utterly de­stroy them. The Measure of the Iniquity of the Amorites was more than four hundred Years in filling up, but at length it was full, and they were destroyed.

THERE can be no Sign of a Nation's ap­proaching Destruction more certain than its universal Corruption. Ten pious Souls might have saved Sodom, and the other Cities of the Plain, from Fire and Sulphur, but many more might not have saved them from some heavy Judgments. We cannot certainly tell when the Day of Vengeance will come, yet we have always Reason to fear it; and it becomes us in a particular Manner, when we behold the Hand of GOD lifted up, to tremble and bow down before him.

IF we examine the religious and moral Character of the Inhabitants of the British Empire, we have the utmost Reason to con­clude that a Time of general Correction is not far from us. Our Lord found Fault with the Pharisees of his Day for being blind to the Signs of the Times. When we behold the western Sky red in the Evening, we ex­pect a fair Day. When we behold the Fields yellow, we know that Harvest is at Hand. These Signs, in the natural World, are not less certain and invariable than the Sign of uni­versal [Page 11]moral Depravity in a People being a Prelude to their Destruction. GOD has not thrown the Reins of the Universe out of his Hands, nor will he leave the World to go on at Random. Good Men, who have made it their Business to find out and bewail the Ini­quities of our Nation and Country, have been, for Years past, looking for some great and dis­mal Catastrophe to befal them. The Words of our Text form a Part of their daily Confes­sions: "It is of the Lord's Mercy that we are not consumed, because his Compassions fail not."

IN order to illustrate the Truth of the Pro­position contained in our Text, I shall point out in a few Words the religious and moral Character of our Nation and Country. It will be necessary to include the British Nation in this Picture, as their Liberty and Happiness are as much at Stake as the Liberty and Happiness of the Colonies in the present Controversy.

WE cannot survey the religious Character of our Nation and Country without complaining, in the first Place, of the universal Prevalence of Infidelity. It has infected not only our re­cluse Philosophers, but every Rank and Pro­fession. Even the Coxcomb and Petit Maitre affect to treat the Christian Revelation with Ridicule. It is some Consolation to reflect that this Evil will in Time cure itself, for the principled Infidel will soon be ashamed of Opinions which are now no longer singular, [Page 12]and which cease to raise him above the most vulgar and contemptible Part of Mankind.

WHAT strange Heresies prevail in our Na­tional Churches! What a general Defection from Articles and Confessions of Faith! What insidious Interpretations of the Word of God! There cannot be a more awful Sign of our general Corruption than this Treachery in the Ministers of the Gospel! How little do we find even of the Form of Religion among us! I do not mean here that there are few who go to Church, or have their Children baptised, or call themselves Christians. There was a Time indeed when these Things were consi­dered as true Badges of the Christian Profes­sion, but in our wiser Age the very Ideas of these things are changed. They are now con­sidered only as Matters of Custom, and in some Cases are complied with only to secure a Title to an Estate, or as legal Qualifications for holding civil Offices.

How few are there that keep the Incense of Prayer daily smoking in their Families! The Heathens had their Lares and Penates. The Want of Family Worship would have been esteemed a Mark of the Want of Religion in ancient Rome and Athens.

How shamefully is the religious Instruction of our Children neglected in this Country. It is one of those new Paradoxes in which the present Age is fruitful, that the Mind should be left unprincipled in Religion, until it is [Page 13]able to choose a System for itself. It would be an Affront to your Understandings to show the Absurdity of this Conduct. Would to God there was the same Zeal among us to transmit to our Children the Religion, as there is to transmit the Liberty we derived from our pi­ous Ancestors!

How little do we find of the Influence of the Gospel among those whom Charity obliges us to hope are real Christians! Lukewarmness has taken the Place of Zeal, and there is little to distinguish the Disciples of Jesus Christ from the rest of the World. The Love of GOD has waxed cold in many, and if our Nation and Country were to be judged by the Con­duct of GOD's People alone, we should have Reason to forebode the most dreadful Cala­mities. Yes, my Christian Friends, I am sure you subscribe to our Text with Respect to your­selves, "that it is of the Lord's Mercies that you are not consumed."

LET us now examine the moral Character of our Nation and Country.

FORMERLY Vices were described by the Classes of Mankind to which they belonged, but we find they have spread themselves so universally among all Ranks in the British Empire, that we can no longer describe them in that Manner.

WE shall begin by mentioning the universal Profanation of the Sabbath Day. This is a true Mark of national Impiety, and hence we [Page 14]find that it never was forgotten when the Jews were reproached, or punished for their national Sins. The Sabbath is now the fixed Day with some for Entertainments and Jaunts of Pleasure, as being most free from the Inter­ruptions of Company, and the Inconveni­ence of meeting the ordinary Vehicles of Business. The Merchant is now no longer ashamed to own in Company, that he spends his Sabbath in posting his Books, or writing his Letters. I must not except here the Manner in which public Worship is performed among us from being a Profanation of the Lord's Day. A Gentleman would think you injured him greatly if you took his going to Church as a Profession of Religion, or his saying AMEN as an Evidence of his Belief in the Prayers of the Church. Surely it is of the Lord's Mer­cies that we are not consumed for this Crime!

HOW much does swearing and cursing abound, and how often is the sacred and eter­nal NAME profaned among us. Formerly this was the Vice of low Life only, but it has now infected the Army, the Navy, the Bar, the Court, and every Order of Men in the higher Ranks of Society. Formerly it was a Vice of the Men only, but it is now common to both Sexes. An affecting Story, a Fly, or any other Insect, will sometimes produce Ex­clamations from our Ladies, which are equally shocking to Religion and Delicacy. I might here enter into a Detail of the Abuse of Oaths [Page 15]in those Cases where Government has made them lawful and necessary. It will only be sufficient to name the Custom-House, our Courts of Justice, and our popular Elections, to remind us that general Perjury belongs to the Catalogue of our national Crimes. It is indeed of the Lord's Mercy that we are not consumed!

DRUNKENNESS, and Intemperance in eat­ing and drinking, form another Class of our Vices. It would take up too much Time to show the mischievous Effects of these Sins upon our Souls, Bodies, Families, and upon Society in general. When we reflect upon the universal Prevalence of this Vice in this Country in particular, we have Reason to say, that it is because the Compassions of the Lord fail not, that we are not consumed!

LET me here draw a Veil over the secret Vices of our Nation and Country. I shall not poison your Imaginations by going into a Detail of what the Eye of GOD beholds covered only by the Curtain of Night. It would profane the Pulpit to mention some of these Crimes. If Sodom and Gomorrah, if Ze­boim and Admah in the untaught Ages of the World had Showers of burning Sulphur rain­ed down upon them, it is surely of the Lord's Mercy that our Cities, our Nests of Iniquity, are not consumed!

TALK not of the public Charities of our Nation and Country. The highest Monu­ments, [Page 16]we can erect to the Honour of Charity, can never atone for that general Want of Piety, Sobriety, Justice, and Chastity which characte­rize us.

I conclude our religious and moral Charac­ter, therefore, by agreeing with those who de­clare that Infidelity, Irreligion, Venality, and Vices of every Kind, have never prevailed in a greater Degree, and cannot well rise to a higher Pitch than they have lately gained in our Na­tion and Country. They prevailed, it is true, in a great Degree, in the dissolute Reign of Charles the Second, but they were confined chiefly to the Channel of the Court. The middle and lower Classes of People, and the Inhabitants of Villages and Country Places continued Strangers to them. But this cannot be said of the present Generation. Our com­mon and Country People seem to vie with the first Classes of Mankind in Vices, which were formerly peculiar to them alone.

IF there is any Virtue in the American Co­lonies, or laudable Attention to divine Things among every Class of People, it must be con­fessed that they are to be found chiefly in that Colony where GOD has begun to lay his Hand upon us. It is true they have degene­rated greatly from the Piety, and pure Man­ners of their Ancestors, but still I am bold to say, from my own Knowledge, that there is more Appearance of the Gospel in New-Eng­land than in any other of the Colonies. And if [Page 17]"Judgment has begun at the House of GOD," what more dreadful Calamities await those who have no Pretence to the Character of his Peo­ple! Lord enter not into Judgment with us!

WHEN we take a Survey of all the Circum­stances which aggravate our Guilt, we have Reason to be confounded. Our Light, Mercies and Privileges have been superior to those of almost any People on the Face of the Earth. The Sun of Prosperity has shone without a Cloud on our American Hemisphere. GOD has given us a fruitful Soil, plentiful Harvests, profitable Commerce, free Governments, and repeated Victories over the native Enemies of our Country; and to all these Blessings of Nature and Society he has added the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Treasures of Heaven have been exhausted for us. Our Crimes, there­fore, have been committed against the greatst Profusions of Love and Grace. Surely it is because "GOD's Compassions fail not," or we should long ago have been consumed for such unparalleled Ingratitude!

BUT further, should you ask, why is the Blow which is aimed at our Liberties so long delayed? Why is the Sword of civil War still at rest in its Scabbard? Why are not our Cities in Flames, and our Streets streaming with Blood, and why is not the Yoke of Bon­dage riverted on our Necks? I answer once more, it is because the Compassions of the Lord have not failed towards us!

WHEN the mere Politician weighs the Dan­ger or the Safety of his Country, he com­putes them in Proportion to its Fortresses, Arms, Money, Provisions, Numbers of fight­ing Men, and its Enemies; but when the Christian Patriot weighs the Danger and Safe­ty of his Country, he computes them by its Numbers of sinful or praying People, and its Degrees of Holiness and Vice. It is not the Threats or Boastings of our Adversaries, that should make Melancholy sit upon our Coun­tenances. We have more to dread from our Iniquities than our Enemies.

I Do not mean to propose in a little Christian Assembly, Measures of Reformation to be a­dopted by a whole Nation and Country. It will be more to our Purpose to mention the Duty of Individuals upon this alarming Occasion.

CONFESSION, PRAYER, and REFORMA­TION, are Duties to which every Individual is called, as well for the Welfare of his Country, as for the Sake of his own Salvation. Say not that you are but one, and can do Nothing.—It is of single Persons that Kingdoms are com­posed, and that Argument pleads equally against all Reformations. If you cannot save your Country, is it not worth while to save your Souls?

GOD will ever be a Shield to the Righte­ous, to cover them in the Day of Trouble. It is said that few or no Christians perished in the Destruction of Jerusalem. Personal Re­formation [Page 19]gives personal Safety; and if GOD does not find a Way for the Christian's entire Escape in a Time of Calamity, yet he will make that very Calamity the Means of en­larging his Happiness; and Death itself the immediate Door to Glory.

CONFESSION is the first Step to Safety. A Sense of our Crimes is a hopeful Dawn of Deliverance. And here I cannot help repeat­ing a Passage of a Letter which I lately re­ceived from an aged Servant of Jesus Christ, whom it becomes me to revere; "If (says my honoured Correspondent) I could hear our People exclaim against their Sins as warm­ly as against Lord North, I should have Hopes of Deliverance. Alas, they hug their Crimes while they decry the Executioner! Were we as harmonious in our Remonstrances against ourselves, as we are against the late oppressive Acts, our Case would not be so doubtful!"

LET us then bow down before the Hand of GOD, and confess our Iniquities with the deepest Prostration of Heart. In three Days (without Repentance) Nineveh would have been destroyed. It will be impossible to bring us to the Feet of a boasting Minister of State, if we first humble ourselves properly at the Feet of the Lord.

PRAYER to ALMIGHTY GOD is a powerful Defence against public Calamities. This is a Duty not of more private than pub­lic Benefit. To whom does Nature or Re­velation [Page 20]encourage us to go in all Times of Distress but to him who holds the Hearts of Kings in his Hands, and wields the Sceptre of the Universe. It can be the Business of but a small Part of our Community to plan Schemes for our Deliverance, but we may all co-operate in the Duty of Prayer; and let the Christian Patriot remember, that in an Age and Country when Petitions and Remon­strances to earthly Rulers have lost their Effi­cacy, Prayer to GOD still possesses, I had almost said, an Almighty Efficacy. The Pray­er of one Man once saved a City devoted to Destruction; and it is not attributing too much to it to add, that the Prayers of one Christian Society may yet save our sinking Country.

BUT in vain are Confessions and Prayers, unless we turn from our evil Ways by a thorough Reformation. To this the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ calls you at the Peril of your Souls, as well as of your Country. To this every Motive from Heaven, Earth, and Hell invites you. A general Reforma­tion, my Brethren, would be a greater Act of Benevolence to our suffering Brethren in the North than all your generous and spirit­ed Contributions. Take GOD, therefore, for your GOD, and become the Disciples of Jesus Christ, and be assured of Safety here, and of Crowns of immortal Glory hereafter.