Thus much, then, in reproof of so wild and destructive a principle, I could not help saying in the entrance of a discourse, which, to suit the occasion, should have little of altercation and dispute; and which, agreeably to the text, must turn chiefly on the great duties of Recollection and Repentance.
But what, you will say, “Is a criminal enterprize, like this, which occasions our present meeting, to be charged on those only, against whom it is directed? And must we be the worst of sinners, because there are those of our fellow-subjects, who have taken up arms against their Sovereign?”
Far be it from me to affirm either of these things! Yet he was a wise man, who said, that, when a man’s ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him[1]: And I think it clear from the tenour of scripture, and even from our own experience, that no national distress is ever inflicted, before it is deserved.
And the conviction of this sad truth is ground enough for us to turn ourselves to the great work of Repentance; which does not require us to form discouraging, or indeed any, comparisons between ourselves and the enemies we contend with, but to call to mind that we have, indeed, merited the evil, we suffer, whether brought upon us immediately by our own sins, or those of other men. A civil war is the most dreadful of those instruments, by which the moral government of God is administered in this world. And, when such a judgement is in the earth, be our comparative merits what they may, we shall do well to learn righteousness[2].
But, after all, who, or what are we, that we should talk of merits, or scruple to place this alarming visitation of Heaven to the account of our sins?—Merciful God! Do thou incline our hearts to follow the example of thy servant, David, this day, in calling our own ways to remembrance, and we shall presently see what need there is for us to turn our feet unto thy testimonies!
1. To begin from that point, whence all true worth and goodness, proceeds, I mean, from Religion.
There is no people on the face of the earth, more deeply indebted to Providence for blessings of all sorts, spiritual as well as temporal, than we of this Christian and Protestant nation. But has our pious gratitude kept pace with these obligations?
Infinite are the benefits, that descend upon us from our WELL-REFORMED Religion, and from the watchful care of Heaven in the support and protection of it. Yet who reflects on these things? Should we so much as hear a word on the subject, if it did not suit the purpose, sometimes, of peevish men and parties among us, to revive the memory of it? Have we even a decent regard for the honour of our great Reformers? And is not the little zeal, we have left for Protestantism itself, spent in idle cavils at the stupendous work, atchieved by their hands?
But why speak I of reformed religion? Is there any of us, almost, who is animated with that zeal for Christianity itself, which glowed in the breasts of our fathers?
Too many proclaim their disbelief of it, nay, their utter contempt of all that is called Religion; and yet appear to give no offence (where, methinks, it should be taken) by their manifest, their avowed, their ostentatious impieties. Is it not even growing into a maxim, in certain quarters, that Religion, or Irreligion, is a matter of no moment in the characters of men, and that none, but a bigot, is affected by that distinction?