MY Text, and a very Awful Text, this Day, is to be, the State of a Languish­ing, if not a Perishing People; A People, which I would, and every Man here should, Study to Serve with all possible Fidelity. To introduce and enliven my Discourse, I must first Read un­to you a Text found among the Proverbs of Israel.

THERE was a famous Land, and One which was once the Glory of all Lands, the Name whereof was, The Valley of Vision. But of this Land, we Read a very sad [Page 2] Story; Isai. XXII. 5. It is a Day of Trouble, and of Treading down, and of Perplexity by the Lord of H [...]sts, in the Valley of Vision.

IT has been the Felicity, wherewith Our Land has been sometimes highly favoured, That tho' it has been a Valley for the Low Circumstan­ces of it, Yet it has been a Valley of Vision, for the Discoveries of the Best Things with which it has been Illuminated. Thy Land, O Immanuel!

I will not say, That it is come to be with Ours, as it was in that Land, when it was La­mented, There was no open Vision. There is at least One Vision that is Open to a General View, and is generally seen by all that have the sight of any thing at all: A Vision so plain, that he may Run who Readeth it. The Vision which eve­ry One sees is this; A Day of Trouble, and of Trea­ding down, and of Perplexity by the Lord of Hosts, upon this Valley of Vision, and of Crying to the Mountains. Every body sees and says, We are a Miserable People, if there be not something done to help us.

BUT what will this Vision of our Misery sig­nify, unless to Aggravate it, if it be not accom­panied with a Vision of the Remedy? And if there be no Seers to propose the Ways & Means of our Deliverance out of our Perplexity?

A Wise Man under the Inspiration of GOD, has told us, what is like to become of a People, that have no Vision among them; None to see what their Dangers are, and see what Methods are to be taken for a Rescue from them.

[Page 3]THE Divine Sentence which we now find in the Lips of the King, may be in a Singular and a Transcendent Manner applied unto an Evange­lical Intention; And therefore, Pious Cares, that our Ungospellized Places, may have the Vision of a Glorious CHRIST and His Gospel, not witheld from them, are herein very powerfully Recom­mended, very powerfully Animated. But there is no need of laying such a Restraint upon our Understanding of the Proverb, and the Interpreta­tion, and this Word of the Wise. A Doctor who has written a Commentary on the Proverbs, has thus glossed very well upon it. ‘If there be no One, that Studies to see the Will of GOD, and Labours by Teaching to make the People see it; If there be no One that is Watchful to see the Faults of the People, and is Careful by Repro­ving to make the People see them; how can it be otherwise, but that they should Perish, or be drawn away, as the Original Word is, from the Law of the Lord?’

THE Text with such a Gloss upon it, furnishes me with a Commission for a Work, which I had never been Overcome to Undertake, if the Love of my Country, with a View of the Distress and great Perplexity which every One sees hastening upon it, had not been as a Burning Fire shut up in my Bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could stay no longer.

IN Pursuance of this Commission, I shall take this Opportunity, when the Auditory has in it, [Page 4] the GENERAL ASSEMBLY of the Province, and a Convention of those who are to be the Eyes of the People in the Wilderness: I shall take this Opportunity, Humbly but Freely, to set before you, Some IMPORTANT THINGS, which must be seen, and the sight whereof must be faithfully declared, if we would not have our People for the Lack of a Necessary Vision, to Perish Wonderfully.

THO' of the Fifty Six Years which I have seen in a Weary Pilgrimage, I have now been Thirty Nine in the Publick Service of the Churches, and found more than Five Times Seven Years ago, such a Favourable Reception with the Heads of our Tribes, that I might bespeak Some Regard from the most of you, in those Terms, Audit [...] Se­nem Juvenes, quem Juvenem Senes audierunt; Let the Younger now hearken to One in the Confines of Old Age, whom the Elder did in his Youth sometimes hearken to: Yet I wave all such Consideration in asking for a due Attention from you, and put all the Regard that I Expect unto my Message, upon the Merit of the Cause, the Truth, and the Weight, and the Importance of the Visions; and the Vast concern of the Mat­ter to be now set before you.

NO Time shall be Lost: But the Demand Once and again made unto a Weeping Prophet, What seest Thou? This Demand, is what I must now Express my Zeal for the Service of my Country, in giving a faithful Answer to.

[Page 5] WHAT seest Thou? The First Thing that I see, is what every Man does also see. But, Oh! Why does our Eye no more Effect our Heart, upon a Sight so very much to be trembled at? There is no Vision more plain than this; That we are a People falling into very Grievous Distresses, yea, Growing Distresses; And Except Heaven do Speedily interpose to rescue us out of our Dis­tresses, if we do not Perish, yet we shall have a dreadful Convulsion come upon us; From the Terrors whereof many will Meditate a Removal, and there will be a Great Forsaking in the midst of the Land.

THIS is the General State of our Case. One of the more Immediate and Comprehensive Causes for these our Distresses, is, In that, What might invigorate our Trade, runs not among us, either in that Credit, or in that Plenty, that our Occa­sions call for. The Blood in the Body Politick is depauperated, and has too Hectick a Circulation.

BUT there are other Follies and Errors, which Operate in Conjunction with this Infelicity, to bring us into very Uneasy Circumstances.

THESE are the Visions, of which I may say un­to you, I am grieved in my Spirit, in the midst of my Body, and the Visions of my Head have troubled me.

THERE is— Who sees it not? — the Wrath of the Lord of Hosts darkening our Poor Land, in these our Unhappy Circumstances. But then, if we would not be guilty of that Fault; Isai. [Page 6] XXVIII. 7. They err in Vision, they stumble in Judg­ment: The very First Thing to be Seen & Spoke, must be this. There is nothing so Requisite, as that Repentance, which will avert from us the Wrath of an Incensed GOD, and that PIETY which will produce Good Terms with Heaven for us: Nothing so Requisite, as what is prescri­bed, Lam. III. 40, 41. Let us search and try our ways, and return unto the Lord; Let us lift up our Heart with our Hands unto GOD in the Hea­vens. People under our Distresses are usually liable to Impressions; Any Plausible Pretenders to help them in their Distresses, will make Vio­lent Impressions upon [...]hem. And People had need beware of being this way imposed on. But, Oh! That our Distresses might more dispose us, to receive Impressions from those Counsellors of Peace, who from hence urge us to Return unto GOD. In this Return to GOD, People must more Generally Examine what is Amiss in Them­selves and in theirs, and Resolve, As for me and my House, we will Serve the Lord! Men in Sta­tions must bear Testimonies for the Things that are Holy, and Just and Good, and say to the wick­ed, Lift you not up the Horn. Incessant Prayers must be made unto the GOD of all Grace, that He would Appear for us in His Gracious Provi­dence, Reform our Disorders, and send in Reliefs unto us: Those Cryes, Lord, we know not what to do, but our Eyes are unto thee! And all that know how to do it, must plead the Great Sacrifice [Page 7] for the Congregation, that a Reconciled GOD may in His CHRIST cause His Face to Shine upon us, and Give Peace unto us.

VERILY, If this Course were followed, here would be a Ierusalem; There would be a Vision of Peace among us. Yea, How much of the Holy City, would Come down from GOD out of Heaven unto us! The Ministers of the Gospel, are by their Office, the Watchmen of the People. These Watchers, if they are, and, Lord, wilt thou not make them such! — Holy Ones, they will be always on the Look-out, that they may see what occurs to Expose our People unto the Anger of GOD, by which we are Troubled; and that they may see what is to be done that the People may be brought back into the Favour of GOD, which our very Life does turn upon. Go on, and Pros­per, O Men of GOD; and Men that have Under­standing in the Visions of GOD. And, O ye Stars, Do you Fight in your Courses, against every Thing that brings Confusion upon us. Never, Never, Let it be said, as in Lam. II. 9. Her Prophets find no Vision from the Lord.

BUT then, the Second Thing to be seen & said, and the Vision whereof does with some Haste croud in upon us, is This; There are ASSOCI­ATIONS necessary. It is an Old saying, Plus vident oculi quam oculus. The more Eyes there are to be employed in it, the better and clearer will be the Vision. The Sentence is of a great Antiquity, Two are better than One. And for this [Page 8] cause, what I would propose, is; That conside­rate Men would ASSOCIATE for the Discove­ry and the Prosecution of what may be for Pub­lick Advantage. We must not Prophesy Good but Evil concerning our People, if we have no Vision but M [...]ca [...]ah's for them, I saw all Israel Scattered upon the Hi [...]ls. If Attempts for the Succour of our Distresses, proceed no further than this; For Sensible Persons in a Scattered way to discern and bewayl our Distresses, and not Unite in En­deavours that we may all get out of them; This will be but a poor Proceedure. For a Sensible Man, to Sit alone and keep Silence, or only com­plain unto a Neighbour as Unactive as himself, This may do for Lamentations. But if there be no more, the Case must be very Lamentable. Sirs, You must Get up and be doing; But know, that without United Endeavours, there will be no­thing done to any purpose for our Deliverance. Associations of well-disposed Men, have had Mighty Successes, and have done wondrously. SOCIETIES for the Reformation of Manners, did Good and Great Things in our Nation, while they continued in their Vigour. Would a Few Men of any Capacity now Associate upon that Intention, What may be done to Serve the Kingdom of GOD, and bring the Maxims of the Everlasting Gospel, to be Published and Received in th [...] World? — there would soon be a wondrous Effect of it; And, behold, How Great a Matter a little Fire would soon Enkindle! But what is now proposed, [Page 9] is, That some Numbers of Capable Men, would form themselves into Societies, to pursue toge­ther this Enquiry, What may be done, to rescue our Land out of the Distresses coming upon it, and render us an Happy People? It were well, if this were made more a point of Daily Conversation, in our Occasional Interviews with one another. Certainly it were a more Noble Theam than those Insipid Impertinencies, which our Daily Conver­sation is too commonly made Empty withal. But I press for a more Stated Conversation upon it, in Societies, which if they cannot themselves put their own Projections in Execution, may yet make their Offers of Excellent Things, to those by whom they can be Executed; and be Indefati­gable! My Friends, Allow me to address you after this Manner. Associate your selves, O ye People, that ye may not be broken in pieces; Take counsel together, that it may not come to nought. If GOD be with us, you will do so!

WERE this Point once gained, Methinks, it might Supersede the rest that I may have to in­sist upon. And indeed all the rest, I would have to be Look'd upon, as Things chiefly tendered unto the Enquiry of such Societies for the Belief of the Publick Distresses, when they shall be Associated.

I will, in the next Place pass to the Vision, and mention of a Third Thing, which I must call, The Grand Expedient, for the preventing of the dreadful Perplexities, which this poor [Page 10] Country finds growing upon it. That which I will again and again call, The GRAND EXPE­DIENT, is, Frugality, I say, Frugality; A Discrete, a Righteous, a Needful FRUGALI­TY, in our Domestick Expences: More particu­larly, A Frugality in our TABLES, and a Fruga­lity in our HABITS. That Man has no Vision of the Country, or of its Interest, who does not see that our People must Perish, if a wise Frugality be not more commonly practised. We are per­plexed with anxious Thoughts, How we shall anon get our Bread, and maintain our selves and our Families. But I may now say unto you, as in Prov. XX. 13. Open thine Eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with Bread. If you will but so far Open your Eyes, as to see, what Retrenchments of Expences are absolutely Necessary; so Ne­cessary, that we shall now Sin grievously, if they be not complied withal; you will soon be in a way to Satisfaction.

YOU may not Challenge me for trespassing on the Province of a Divine, or on the Business of the Pulpit, if I insist upon a Prudent and proper Frugality, as a Thing of the last Consequence for the welfare of our People. Our Great SA­VIOUR, who is the very Wisdom of GOD, com­mended Frugality to His Disciples, Even when He Miraculously Multiplied their Bread & their Fish unto them. And without Frugality, WE cannot avoid that Iniquity, which will carry us into the Pathes of the Destroyer, and bring a Swift [Page 11] Destruction upon us. It has been one of the Un­just Invectives used by some Frowards against your Ministers, That while we Preach Faith and Repentance unto our People, Moral Honesty is forgotten among them. Heaven and Earth will afford a Cloud of Witnesses, That Moral Honesty, is with the greatest Fervency imaginable Preach­ed unto you. But a Frugality, is now to be particularly Preached, as that without which all Moral Honesty must quickly fail among you. You will Mark what I say unto you! Ingenious Men may and will project many Ways and Means, to retrieve the Difficulties that are growing upon us. But all their Projections will Signify nothing, and we can see none but a Pal­liative Cure, until we so Regulate our Expences, that we don't every Year continually run into Debt unto Other Countrys. How shall we avoid running into Debt unto Other Countrys, if we don't Moderate our Expences of such Things as we fetch from thence, and are not able to Pay for? Nothing but a Frugality can help us; We Bleed unto Death, until that Sovereign Stiptick be applied unto us. Unless this One Thing be brought in­to Practice, all our Projectors will be Physicians of no value, and our Fate will be that; Jer. XLVI. 11. In vain shalt thou use many Medicines, for thou shalt not be cured.

AS to our Tables, it is noted, that a great part of Mankind, are got into a more Plentiful way of Living than was used in the form [...]r Ages; when [Page 12] a little Cake of Floure mingled with Oyl and baked in the Embers, was a Meal for a Gentle­man; and Five such Countrys as the Land of Canaan, 'tis thought would scarce yield the Flesh that is now devoured in One City of Europe. Doubtless, we may have our share in that Over­doing, which this Plentiful way of Living has got into. Be sure, if there were some Abatement of this, the Health of many, as well as their Purse, would feel the advantage of it. As to our Ha­bits, it must be confessed, that there are several Places in the World, besides Geneva, which set most imitable Patterns unto us, and it were to be wished, that we were more Acquainted with them, and more conformed unto them. This you may be sure of; If they that are worth lit­tle or nothing, will Cloathe themselves at the rate of Five Hundred a Year: and if every One will count it an Intollerable Disgrace unto them, that they should let any One appear more Splen­did in their Cloathing than Themselves; This Pride, cannot but bring us low. A Sin of Sodom, that will soon bring down upon us, the Venge­ance of GOD!

MY Friends, I am an importunate Suitor un­to you, That you will allow this MAXIM to obtain among you. 'Tis ordinarily so, that Peo­ple cannot lawfully Grasp at what they cannot Ho­nestly Pay for. Yea, It were well, That People in their Expences to Subsist themselves, would use to Pay as they Fetch, and not run into Long [Page 13] Scores, that anon won't be easy to be answered. By this Caution, they will be the better Able to know what they are Able to do, and seasonably keep their Stops, and not indiscreetly go beyond themselves. 'Tis most certain, If People will not be satisfied except they Eat, or Drink, or Dress, beyond their Abilities, they do but serve diverse Lusts in doing so; GOD will not Accept their works; A Righteous GOD will be offended at what they do. For People to Run into Debt, without a Prospect of certainly & speedily get­ting out of it, is no small Iniquity. But when People shall do so, to gratify their Luxury or their Ambition, 'tis an Aggravation of the Ini­quity. Those Vertues of Sobriety and Humility, Oh! could I see them, I would Speak unto them; and I would say, By you, O Noble Vertues, we should Enjoy great Quietness, and very worthy Deeds would be done unto this Nation, by your Providence. But I turn to my Hearers; And let me not complain with the Prophet, I said, I will get me unto the Great Men, and will speak un­to them; But they have altogether broken the Yoke, and burst the Bonds. No, I will hopefully press for this; The Richer Sort of People, will do well to set a Convenient Example unto the Poorer Sort. We must contrive to make all Goodness a Fashio­nable Thing. Example, I say, Example, will go a great way to bring a Laudable Frugality, as well as all other Good Things into Fashion. But then, that the Rich in this World, may not [Page 14] be taxed for a Sordid Avarice, the Charge of GOD is to be laid upon them, that they be Rich in Good works. If they Frugally Save any thing, let them Liberally Spend the more on Pious and Publick Uses: and this will bravely Vindicate them from dishonourable Imputations. At the same time, It is to be demanded of the Poor, That they do not indulge an Affectation of making themselves in all things appear equal with the Rich: But Patiently Submit unto the Difference, which GOD the Maker of you Both, has put between you. My Brethren, Be content with such Things as you have: And be convinced of This, That you may not have, what you cannot have. If you will not Hearken to this Advice, I must say, The Poor, They are foolish; they know not the way of the Lord, nor the Judgment of their GOD.

WHAT I shall next proceed unto, may be an agreeable Appendix, unto what has been thus urged for. But I will make a Distinct Article of it; It shall be the Fourth Thing, which every one that has the least Vision of any thing at all, must needs be Apprehensive of.

INDUSTRY, I say, INDUSTRY, which is indeed but a piece of Honesty, is what a People that would not Perish, must keep alive among them. It is the Sluggard unto whom it is foretold, Prov. VI. 11. Thy Poverty shall come in as a Traveller; that is to say, Suddenly, and Unlook'd for, Un­thought of; And thy want as an Armed Man; that is to say, Irresistibly, and so as to make thee [Page 15] fall before it. Let our People be an Industrious People, and we shall be in a fair way to be a Flourishing People. The Diligent Hand, I can tell you, it will do Marvellous Things; Things, which will appear little short of Magical: [You know the Story of it!]— And the Blessing of GOD will attend it, with an Enriching Efficacy. Truely, None that are Able to Work, should have the Bread of Idleness allow'd unto them. Our Long Winters afford more of Liesure to the La­borious Husbandman, than he wisheth for. But were not a greater Variety of well contrived Winter-Employments for him, then to be wished for? If the Poor will but Work, they would make a better hand of it in this Country, than in almost any under the Cope of Heaven. What Pity 'tis, that such an Hive should have any Drones in it! The Notable Behaviour of some Industrious Women in this Town, Industrious Wo­men, perhaps Desolate and Forsaken Widows, who so credibly Support themselves that they also Do Good unto those about them; Certain­ly, it speaks unto all our People, who are not so absurd and silly, as to think, That Business is more of a shame than Idleness. There are Thou­sands of Hands in this Country, who are capable of being set about many Profitable works; of all their Labour there would be a Pr [...]fit: And if they were in some other Parts of the World, the Hands might not refuse to Labour; But here the Mean Thessalonian Account must be given of them, They Work not at all.

[Page 16]THE Wisdom that would find out witty Inven­tions, to Employ these Hands, would be justly Esteemed, The Wisdom that is from Above: The Good Fruits of it would be wonderful! Industry in a fit Business, verily, T'would not only keep off Poverty, but also contribute, unto all Good Manners, and preserve the Morals, and preserve the Comforts, of People to admiration. If Men of [...]ngenuity, would bring it about, That People may more generally have Something to Do, and be more Effectually Put upon the doing of it; They would certainly do a Better Thing, than if they should bestow all their Goods to feed the Poor; T'would be the Charity of more obliging Benefactors.

BUT, Oh! Suffer me a little, that I may shew you what I yet have, to speak, on the behalf of GOD, and of a People, who have as yet many of His Children among them.

I beseech you, Do not say, I am a vain Visionary, if I tell you now, in the Fifth Place, That there is to be seen some Hazard, of such Characters growing upon us, as will be very Disagreeable, very Disreputable, to a People of our High Pro­fession. Sirs, Who sees it not? We are taught; Prov. XIV. 34. Sin is a Reproach to any People. It is very sure. We are a People so Circumstan­ced in our Profession of Religion, and so Lifted up to Heaven in the Glorious Gospel, and the Means of Instruction and Salvation dispens'd unto us, that if we be not the Best People under Heaven, [Page 17] we are of all People the most inexcusable. I pray, Let us Beware of those things which will be a Reproach to any People; but more Indelibly and infinitely so to Us, than to any People; and which being found among us, will render us a People more likely and more worthy to Perish, than those Families of the Earth, which have not been so known as we have been.

AND now, in the Visions of GOD, I Lift up my Eyes, and Look, and behold, A Flying Roll! 'Tis, A Catalogue of Things Greatly to be Appre­hended among the People of New-England; Things greatly to be Deprecated. I will tell you what I Read in the Catalogue.

ONE Thing to be Read, is this; It will have no good Aspect upon our People, if it should be so, that a Publick Spirit, should be a Lost, and a Rare Thing among us; — that he who would make a Speech to the Men of a Publick Spirit, must go into the Burying Places, and Speak a­mong the Sepulchres. A sad Thing, if in all Consultations for the Publick, every Man take all his Measures from his own Self, and nothing must be done Except this dear Self may be Ser­ved in it! A sad Thing, if when Things are Calculated for the Good of the whole, every Man will obstruct them, if he don't perceive his Per­sonal Interest served in them! And much more A sad Thing, if Men to serve a Personal Interest will Do Things that shall be plainly for the Hurt of the whole! GOD Avert the Omens! — [Page 18] I must confess, I have often heard Strangers, with abundance of Ill Nature, and Ill Breeding to make Reflections on the Country, in which they have been Hospitably treated. But, it would be a sad Thing, if it should be True, what I have heard spoken by some Eminent and more Impartial Strangers; That the Old and Vile Pro­verb, Every Man for himself, and GOD for us all, Seems to have been made for this Poor Country, as much as for most in the World! Indeed Men of a truly Publick Spirit, usually meet with such U­sages, as were enough to discourage any thing that shall not be very Gracious, very Generous. But still, Revive, O Publick Spirit; Hold on, Hold out; Thy Reward is with thy GOD: If Thou fail, we Perish unavoidably.

ANOTHER Thing to be Read, is this. It will have no good Aspect upon us, if it should be so, that a Levelling Spirit get so much Head among us, that no Man shall be in any thing Superiour to his Neighbours, but his very Superiority shall make him Obnoxious to Envious Indignities, Obnoxious to all possible Deplumations and De­famations. How contrary this, to the Spirit of Christianity, that says, In Honour prefer one another!

A Third Thing to be Read, is this. It will have no good Aspect upon us, if an Unloving Spi­rit be so prevailing, th [...] Piques, and Prejudices, and Emulations and Animosities, are kept in a continual Operation; and it shall be noted, That [Page 19] even where they have so much Wit as to make little Noise of their Feuds, yet you shall often find the Families not so well-disposed unto one another, as were to be desired? How contrary this, to the Spirit of Christianity, that says, Be kindly affection'd one to another with Brotherly Love!

A Fourth Thing to be Read, is This. It will have a very bad Aspect upon us, if it should be so, that a Neglect and a Contempt of Education, should bring out Schools into Darkness, and the Laws about Schools be Evaded, Eluded, Scanda­lously plaid withal. What a woful Degeneracy, what an horred Barbarity, shall we soon fall into! I have read a sad Story; 1 Chron. IV. 22, 23. There was a set of Brave Men, who had the Do­minion in Moab: These were Ancient Things. But then their Posterity; These were Pott [...]rs, and those who dwelt amongst Plants and Hedges. Tru­ly, We have had Brave Men in our Ancient Times. But shall we bring this upon our Posterity, that there shall not be One Thorough-pac'd and Uni­versal Scholar in the Country? That there shall not be in a whole Town, a Man who shall be Clerk enough to Write common Sense in a short Certificate! That there shall scarce be found a Man fit for to appear any where but among the Hedges? I must say, with the Prophet, I am aston [...]shed at the Vision; But I suppose, every one Understands it.

I was going in the Fifth Place, to Read this; [Page 20] What Aspect will it have, if they that most Me­ritoriously Serve the Publick, must be Perpetu­ally Persecuted with a Monstrous Ingratitude? If Ill Treats, Base Constructions, Vile Calum­nies, must always be the Country-Bay, of them who rather deserve Statues, and would have had them among the more grateful Pagans! My Friends, What will it come to?

I was going in the Sixth Place, to Read this; What Aspect will it have, if a Scurvy, and a Nasty Liquor, as a flood sent out from the Mouth of the Dragon to swallow up the Church in the Wilderness, threaten to drown all that is Good in the Land; and there be much more that is needlessly thrown away in this Lothsome Li­quor, than what being well applied, would make us the Happiest People in the World! Men of Israel, Help! Was there ever a more Ignomini­ous Ichabod? A Bewitching Bottel, is like to be the Urn, the Grave, of all our Glory. It is in­credible, it is astonishing! How much Mischief is threatned unto this poor Country, by the Ex­cess and Abuse of this besotting Liquor. Except you can Substitute Something that shall be more Wholesome and Heartning, for Labouring Men in the room of it, and make it a Dishonourable Thing, for this Liquor to be the constant Resort on all Occasions, we Perish as contemptibly as those Countrys, which Histories tell us, the Vilest Creatures have given a Subversion to.

[Page 21]BUT while in our Visions, we see so many. E­vil Spirits walking to and fro in the Earth a­mong us, I may say unto you, in the Seventh Place, That of all the Evil Spirits, that call for Powerful Charms to be laid upon them, there is One that has more lately begun to do Strange Things among us. A Multitude of People are Siezed with this Evil Spirit: the Possession, it spreads, it gains, it carries all before it. The Evil Spirit throws the People, now into the Fire, now into the Water, into very strange Extremes. And the People will Perish, if no stop can be put unto it. The Devil, that is Come down in great Wrath upon us; — Oh! that the Time were but Short! — is, The Spirit of Extortion, that seems to have broken all the Chains of GOD up­on it. We Extort upon One another, every Month more and more, and it is come to that pass, Thro' the wrath of the Lord of Hosts, the Land is darkened; no man spares his Brother; he shall snatch and be hungry. There seems an Epidemi­cal Resolution in almost all People, who can do so, to cast off all Rules in Buying and Selling, Even the Necessaries of Life, but that Rapaci­ous One, To Extort upon one another as much as ever they can. In the mean time, the Poor must be cruelly Pinched; This Capital CITY of the Province must lose very many of its Inhabitants; Those who are not capable of Raising the Price of what they have, or of what they do, as their Neighbours can, are ground between the Mil­stones. [Page 22] A Loud Cry of Oppression, is going up in the Ears of the Lord of Hosts; a Cry that reaches and pierces the very Heavens. If the Cry be not stop'd, it will fetch down an Horrible Tempest!

I have passed thro' Five Articles of the Things that must be seen for and by our People, that they may not Perish; And now for a Sixth, Al­tho' our Lawful and Rightful King GEORGE has not a more Loyal People in all His Domini­ons, than His New-English Colonies, Yet I see cause, and therefore I take leave, to make it an Article among the Admonitions of GOD; We have no Vision of our True Interest, nor indeed can we do any other than Perish, if the Depen­dence of this Province on the British Crown, be not wisely Considered and Acknowledged on all Occasions. As it was with a Permission, yea, with a great Encouragement from the Crown of Eng­land, that this Colony first issued forth from the Engl [...]sh Nation, so the Protection which we find from the British Crown, and the Relation which we bear to the English Nation, is that wherein we have Advantages that we should be wisely Thank­ful for. And tho' we have not now all the Pri­vileges, which we had, when the Colony was by the Royal Charter made a Corporation, Yet now we are made a Province, we have those Liberties, for which, I may use the Terms of the Jewish Rabbi; If the Heavens were Parchment, and the Seas were Ink, they would not suffice to Write the [Page 23] Praises due to our GOD. 'Tis not from the least Apprehension of the least Inclination in our Peo­ple, to shake off their Dependence, that I menti­on such a Matter, for I believe there is not a Man of our People so Madly & Vilely disposed. But what I mean, is, To have the sense of our Dependence Operate, in our obliging Behaviour towards those, thro' whom the Rays of the Royal Favour are transmitted unto us. A due sense of our Dependence on the British Crown under our inestimable Enjoyments, will certainly prevent those Weak and Rash Things, which might provoke our King, and those under Him who have Power over us, to deal with us, as a People unworthy of our Distinguishing Liberties. It has been hitherto the singular Honour and Happiness of this Country that there have not gone home from hence, near so many Remonstran­ces of a Disturbed Government, as there have been made from the other Plantations. But now, for the Continuance of this Felicity! —

SO long as they that are sent by the King, ap­prove themselves Worthy of the Royal Commis­sion, and in the Faithful Discharge of it, both Obey their Great Master, a [...]d Express His Royal Equity and Clemency, in th [...]r Ca [...]e for the Wel­fare of His People, certainly our good Carriage towards them, will be requisite, that we may Adorn the Doctrine of GOD our SAVIOUR, and avoid a thousand unmentionable Miseries. Men may propose to make themselves Popular, [Page 24] by a Spirit of Parsimony, or by a Spirit of Contra­diction; But if such Men do not keep their stops, they may unawares prove the Betrayers, and the Destroyers of what they have most pretended for. Truly, Sirs, We are not over-stock'd with Friends on the other side of the Atlantick; Enow and Enow there are, disaffected unto all of our Enjoyments: Let us not frowardly throw away the Few Friends we have: And above all beware of every Thing, that may represent us as an Untractable People, fit for none but a Parlai­mentary Cognisance. I say unto you, A Parlai­mentary Displeasure provoked against us, — I hope, we shall never do any thing of such a Ten­dency. 'Tis greatly to be trembled at! —

ALL possible good Husbandry, and even a Dutch Frugality, in our Publick Expences, may go among the Things that cannot be spoken against. But yet, Wise Men will have their Eyes in their Heads, and Enquire, Whether by Unseasonable Sa­ving in One Point, we may not foolishly throw away more than Ten Times as much in another? Be sure, To be Peny-wise and Pound-foolish, will not be, To guide our Affairs with Discretion. 'Tis well-known, That our Country hath too often brought Prodigious Expences on themselves, by not being willing to disburse very Little Sums in the True Season of them. Our poor People have cause to Save what they can; But at the same time, they should beware, lest any Pretending Money Savers, do in effect prove their most Ex­pensive Adversaries.

[Page 25]BUT there is a Greater Abomination, which I turn yet again to take some notice of.

THIS Passage, Where there is no Vision, the Peo­ple Perish, is by Luther so interpreted, The People run fierce, and mad, and mutinous. 'Tis what I am going to speak of. A Grievous Vision is de­clared unto me!

IT is not unlikely, that grievous Distresses may grow upon us. We are already got pretty far into them; A Distressed People! Now, 'tis Possible, (and its being barely Possible, is enough to bespeak a seasonable Admonition!) that the Distresses growing into an Extremity, there may be found some Raging Waves of the Sea, which may be for the Raising of Mutin [...]s; Mu­tinous, and Seditious, and Rebellious Actions may be madly rush'd upon. What cannot be without Horror thought upon! Every Man that Fears GOD, and Honours the King, and Loves his Brethren, will approve of what I am now going to say unto you. I do now faithfully and so­lemnly say unto you; That if any Men shall be so wretched, as to make such Criminal Muti­nies, it had been good for the Country, yea, and for themselves too, that these Wretches had never been born. They themselves must Perish, as their Fathers Theudas and Judas did, in the Days of the Taxing, and the People that are drawn away with them, will come to nought, and be dispersed. The strokes which the Sword of Justice, must of ne­cessity give them, will produce a Pity in the Body [Page 26] of the People, for these unhappy Creatures. But, if the Pity should, which you may be sure, It won't! — proceed so far as to Abet and Shelter them, the whole Country becomes Obnoxious to the dreadful Resentments of the Crown, and of the Nation which we depend upon. And if, as the Antiochians, after a mad Crue among them, had committed a cursed Outrage, sent the most eminent Minister they had among them, to in­tercede at the Court of the Emperor Theodosius for them, we should send never so Many and Mournful Intercessors, t'will be well if we come off so well as the poor People of Antioch. O our dear People, Hearken, Hearken, to the War­nings of GOD. And let none of you dare to do any Thing but what becomes the Peaceable in Israel; Be careful to lead Peaceable Lives in all Godliness and Honesty; and let Kings and all that are in Authority, have all the Obedience that the Law prescribes, paid unto them.

I am now arrived unto a Seventh Article, of those Things in which it cannot be said, Ye have seen a Vain Vision: And it shall Conclude the Entertainment I intended for you.

ANY Man may, without much of a Second Sight, easily Foresee such a Thing as this; That This is not a Country where Great Estates are in our Days are to be Looked for. 'Tis indeed a Geographical Observation, and the Divine Pro­vidence is much to be Observed and Admired [Page 27] and Adored in it, That Countrys which are much accommodated with Good Harbours, are such as GOD has most furnished with the Mate­rials of Trade, and Wealth must by consequence flow in upon them. And therefore I know not what this Well-harboured Country may see in fu­ture Generations, after the People shall be great­ly Multiplied! But in Our Time, such is the Constitution of the Country, that many Great Estates must not be soon raised in it. And if here and there One should rise to any thing, like what is more frequent in some Other Pla­ces, GOD will Write a, Vanity, upon it in such Legible Dispensations, as will proclame un­to His Children, Depart, For this is not your Rest; It is Polluted! Most certainly, The Voice of our GOD unto the People of New-England, is that; Jer. XLV. 5. Seekest thou Great Things for thy self? Seek them not. Sirs, If you can Live Decently, without any creepling Circumstances upon you, and can bring up your Children so as to make a Present of a Well-cultivated Offspring unto the Succeeding Generation, and can Do Good unto those about you; Be contented; Be satisfied; Be glad, you can come off so; Be not Eager for any more. If you Make haste to be Rich, and Resolve that you will be Rich, you may much sooner fall into many foolish and hurtful things, than come at, what you are so set upon. Religion was the First and Main Design of this Plantation; and Brown Bread and the Gospel [Page 28] good sort, was the Word among the Planters. Let us be a Religious People, and we are sure of being Fed with a Food Convenient for us. If we Seek First the Kingdom of GOD, Our dear SA­VIOUR has assured us, of so much to be added unto us. Let that Competency be enough! An Insatiable Appetite after more, will Plunge Men into Inconveniencies beyond all Ennumeration.

THUS have I in the Fear of GOD, and the Love of a People that must not Perish, declared unto my Country-men, What I have Seen; yea, and I declare unto you, The Effect of every Vi­sion is at hand. What I have done, I have done under the Awe of that word; Son of Man, I have made thee a Watchman; Hear the word at my Mouth, and give them warning from me.

AND now, Sirs; As Jacob said unto his Sons; Why do ye look One upon another? I will say, Why do ye continue like People in a Maze, or Cattel that are Stung with an Hornet? GOD forbid, That our People should now only Chafe, and Vex, and Annoy One another: Or be so Humour­some that no Good Proposal shall be accepted, unless the Proposer be of such or such a Party. What? Shall we remain Hungry and hardly be­stead, and fret our selves, and curse, and look up­ward; and there be nothing but only Trouble and Darkness, and D [...]mness of Angash among us! Away with all such Things! Oh! Deadly [Page 29] Symptoms! A less Inundation than what we are threatened withal, caused the Creatures that most worry One another to sit all down quietly together, upon an Hill in Somerset-shire, and lay aside their Antipathies. I beg it of you, I beg it of you; Oh! For the Love of GOD, Let us treat One another Lovingly, Patiently, Handsomely; And Unite, Oh! Unite, in Com­binations, to set forward what may yet make us an Holy and an Happy People.

WHAT I have now offered, I know not how it will be Received; Be it, as GOD shall please, I shall have the Comfort of a, Liberavi Animam, abiding with me. I say again, I have delivered my Soul!