upon them, who slew their young men with the sword, in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man, or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age *: And we cannot expect, that the effects of his displeasure will be less terrible, if we will not reverence his Son. It is owing to his wonderful patience, that we have not long ago been made a monument of his wrath, and Punished for these iniquities, as remarkably as we have been known by him beyond most of the other nations of the earth +. Our guilt on this head makes it more necessary to add, 2. "The luxurious abuse of the favours of divine providence, which have in so long a peace been flowing in upon us," is another evil to be guarded against, if we would reasonably expect success in war. I am now speaking to many, who know, more particularly than I myself do, how plentifully our land has yielded her increase for many succeeding years; insomuch that we have been able to relieve the necessities of neighbour nations, out of our own redundant stores: a providence which has not only prevented corn from growing a drug at home, but has been an occasion of bringing into the nation no contemptible return of riches for a considerable time. Besides this, whatever particular difficulties may have attended some traders, our commerce in general has long been in a flourishing condition. Very considerable estates have been raised; and it is neither to be wondered at, nor blamed, that those who have found their wealth increasing, have thought proper to live in a more liberal, and elegant, and some of them in a more magnificent manner, than before. But I fear, that, in many of those who have thus been distinguished by the blessings of divine providence, this indulgence has grown up into luxury and extravagance, and to a neglect of every honest and industrious employment, whereby God might have been honoured, and the public interest promoted; cares and labours, from which the wealthiest and the noblest of mankind are by no means to think themselves excused; nay, by which they are rather to be proportionably distinguished. I fear also, that the taste for pleasure and grandeur, which has prevailed so much in persons of plentiful circumstances, has been too eagerly and vainly imitated, by those whose estates and families would have required another kind of conduct, This, in great measure, may have been the cause of the many bankruptcies, whereby such who have dealt largely, and have affected to deal much more largely than they ought, have frequently drawn down many others, and those, perhaps, more industrious and deserving families into ruin with themselves. While others, in various employments, have been obliged to have recourse to mean artifices, to shore up a sinking credit for a while, till all those props have at last only made the ruin the greater, and the more unpitied; and all this to the unspeakable reproach of religion, which has sometimes been vainly pretended to by those, whose conduct has been most contrary to its essential precepts. Indeed, to speak freely, I can by no means think, the great affectation of ornament in dress, and magnificence in living, which is the expensive taste of the present age, can bode well to the public. The sins of Sodom, pride, and idleness, with fulness of bread *, have long been in the midst of us; and if they are not reformed, they must, both by their natural consequence, and by the righteous judgment of God, involve our nation in destruction. We have long been Made to eat the increase of the field, to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock: we have been fed with the fat of kidneys of wheat, and drank the pure blood of the grape; till like Jeshurun, we have waxed fat and kicked +: and, therefore, as the guilt has been ours, it will be but righteous, if the condemnation should be ours too; and A fire should be kindled against us in God's anger, that should burn even to the lowest hell, that should consume the land with its increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains 1. It becomes us therefore, if we would avert the deserved judgments of God, to set ourselves, as in his presence, to examine seriously how we are using the talents he has graciously lent us; and instead of profusely wasting both our time and our stock in vain indulgences, to apply ourselves with honest industry to the proper business of our calling; and by a prudent frugality at home, to lay a foundation for a liberal contribution to the poor. So are we most likely to regain the strength and honour of our nation, which luxury must infallibly enervate and disgrace; and to draw down the blessing of God upon our affairs; as well as to provide some resource for future supplies, if our present preparation should be, which God forbid, unsuccessful, or the war should be prolonged till the burden grow much more sensible, than it can at present be. Again, * Ezek. xvi. 49. Deut. xxxii. 13-15. Ver. 22. 3. "Too great a confidence in our own military strength and preparations," is another evil from which we should be especially solicitous to keep ourselves, in such a conjecture of affairs as this. Through the abundant goodness of God, the armaments of Great-Britain, both by sea and land, have, so far as I can recollect, in most instances, since the beginning of the present century, been attended with success; and in some circumstances that success has been glorious and remarkable. These being then the latest facts, and facts of so pleasant a nature, are apt to strike our remembrance very strongly ; and are now recollected with so much the more pleasure, as the last of them was attended with equal honour to Great-Britain, and shame and disappointment to Spain*. But I fear, that to allude to the expressive language of the prophet, because We have often caught our enemies in our net, and gathered them in our drag, we are fallen into the absurd impiety of sacrificing to our net, and burning incense to our dragt. And though it is to be sure a pleasant thing, to see our nation engaging in this necessary war with ardour and cheerfulness; and the apparent righteousness of our cause may indeed encourage our humble hopes; yet I cannot forbear saying, that I fear that great eagerness which in many instances has been shewn on this occasion, has proceeded from a forgetfulness of God, and a proud confidence in ourselves; as if victory were chained to our chariot-wheels, and the winds, so often indeed listed our banners, were always to blow according to our directions; as if the artillery of our ships were as unconquerable, as that of heaven itself, and we could at pleasure send forth our thunder, and scatter our enemies, and shoot out, lightnings, and discomfit them. But let it be remembered, that Pharaoh stood on the very verge of disgrace and destruction, when he said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them, I will draw my sword, and my hand shall destroy them. Yea, let us remember in general, that Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall §. I can wish, no happier omen, than that we should learn the language and sentiments, which that martial hero, whom we men. tioned before on a like occasion, so often inculcates upon his * I suppose few need to be told, that I refer to that glorious expedition to Sicily, in the year 1718, which was conducted with so much spirit, prudence, and bravery, by Admiral Byng, afterwards Viscount Torrington. † Hab. i. 15, 16. + Exod. xv. 9. § Prov. xvi. 18. people; that we may say with him, In the name of our God will we set up our banners *; Through thee will we push down our enemies; through thy name will we tread them under, that rise up against us; for I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me +. Though Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, we will remember the name of the Lord our God; for God Delights not in the strength of the horse, neither takes he pleasure in the legs of a man §, so that his victory should be proportionable to their strength, and their agility: and therefore, though in some cases The horse may prudently be prepared against the day of battle: yet still it must be acknowledged, that Safety is of the Lord. He breaks the bow, and cuts the spear in sunder, he burns the chariot in the fire T; Salvation belongs to the Lord; his blessing is upon his people **. We have indeed no warrant to expect a miraculous interposition of God in our favour; and it would be folly and wickedness, in a dependance upon that, to neglect any necessary methods of defence: but still it is to be remembered, that, as we proved under the former head, the success of all is from above; and that it is, on the whole, Through God alone we can do valiantly, and he it is that must tread down our enemies ++. This we are solemnly acknowledging in the devotions of this day; and God grant, that it may fix on our minds that pious humility, which, as it is perfectly consistent with the firmest valour, has in some very remarkable instances been a prelude to the most glorious success. Let me add, but this once more, 4. "Too keen a resentment for injuries received from our enemies, growing into a malignant hatred against them," is another evil, which we should be peculiarly solicitous in our present circumstances to avoid. It is certain indeed, that some of those violences, which have been offered us, have been attended with circumstances of such barbarity and contempt, as cannot but awaken a strong indignation; and the genius of Britons can very ill brook such kind of treatment. Yet permit me to say, that it would be unjust to charge the whole Spanish nation with such enormities, as have been committed by some, probably in the number of the most abandoned among them. Humanity is not the growth of one particular climate, but a happy inheritance divided among the various inhabitants of the earth; and I doubt not, * Psal. xx. 5, Prov. xx. 31. Psal. xliv. 5, 6. ‡ Psal. xx. "7. § Psal. cxlvii. 10. tt Psal. cviii. 13, but it teaches many among them to abhor the villanies of their countrymen. But if not, be that reproach to our enemies; and may it never fall upon us, that we have delighted in the unnecessary misery of our fellow-creatures, and have retorted cruelty for cruelty. We are indeed to wish, that injustice may be so chastised, as that for the future it may be suppressed; but God forbid, that we should thirst for blood and ruin, or take delight to think of the sufferings of any, how ill soever they may have deserved of us! War, in such circumstances as ours, is the rigorous and severe work of justice, and must be done : but methinks a humane heart consents to it with some sensible regret, and will sometimes bleed to think, that those benevolent and brotherly cares, that ought to fill the heart of one man for another, and of one nation for another, should be turned into thoughts and schemes of destruction; and give place to contrivances, how men may be slaughtered, and cities laid waste, and the beauties of nature and art ravaged and defaced. It would indeed be a partial and short-sighted tenderness, if potent nations should on these principles suffer themselves to be injured and insulted by every foreign bravo; till at length they sink into contempt, and yield up themselves, or their dependants, a tame and helpless prey to injustice and cruelty. A neglect of the proper methods of self-defence would leave them chargeable before God and man with the calamities resulting from it yet still it becomes them, in the vindication of their just rights, to guard against that savage fierceness, which forgets that enemies are men *. It becomes us rather to wish, they may be brought to reason by the least destructive methods; and that what they in the mean time suffer, may be a profitable lesson to others, and on the whole to themselves. I apprehend these admonitions not unseasonable, and having enlarged so far upon them, shall omit some other heads, which might easily be connected with them; and shall, III. Conclude this discourse with some general reflections. Now such as these will probably present themselves to most of your thoughts; and no doubt you have anticipated me in some of them. 1. Let us be deeply humbled before God for the evils that are to be found among us. Let us lie down as it were in the dust, in his sacred presence, when we consider that with us, even with us, there are * Viri boni est, initia Belli invitum suscipere, extrema non libenter persequi. Sallust. |