NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE
          Washington 
 
 

jafit:
 ptjilatielplna

REFORMED;
      OR ELSE

DESTROYED.
it,.* 
 
                  AN

  ADDRESS

     IN  CHRISTIAN LOVE,

                TO THE

gnfiabitMts of $$(UtoelpJife;.      ^

                ON THE          V        ^^X>

        AWFUL DISPENSATION  /y         ^Y

                 OF THE                -i.-JL.iy."-^

     YELLOW  FEVER,

               In 1798.
                          /
      *ss   ■ -■-------— ■ ■■■   -'■-■  ... p». ^=^^
        £r THADDEUS BROWN.
Before him went the Peftilence.
                     Habak. 111. 5.
Knowing therefore, the terror of the Lord, we perfuade men.
                     II. Cor. V. n.
That the generation to come, might know.
                     Pfalms. LXXVIII. 6.
PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR, BY P. AITKEN,
        N°. aa, MARKET-STREET.
I798. 
Y XV, •
_.---—***•* 
PREFACE.
  READER,

    MANKIND, when addreffed upon
interesting fubjedts, ufually wiih to know
fomething of the perfon, and his motives,
by whom they are addreffed.
  This  neceffary  information, when
fufficiently obtained, generally removes
all grounds of deception and confequent
diffatisfa&ion.
  In  conformity  to  thefe fentiments,
the Author of the following Addrefs,
informs the  Reader,  that, he has  con-
stantly refided in  the City, during the
calamity of 1793, I797>  and the  pre-
fent year: and, has feen,  felt, and fuf-
fered  much, therein ; which, from time
to time,  has given rife to  various obfer-
vations and refLctions,  that are  here
prefented to public view.
  The principal  objects,  of  this publi-
cation, are neither fame,  nor pecuniary
emoluments : fubjects of far greater mag-
nitirde and confequence j  the glory  of
                 A3             God
flOll 
[  vi   ]
God—the reformation and  falvation of
the inhabitants of this City—the good of
mankind—and, his own peace of mind
—have,  as far as  he knows  his  own
heart,  been his leading motives..
   In attempting a work of this kind, ma-
ny difcouragements have arilen ;  parti-
cularly a  fenfe of unfitnefs and inabilitv ;
but knowing  the  terrors of the  Lord,
#nd feeling a  woe from God denounced
againft him, if he  did not, in this" way,
endeavour  to  perfuade men to repent-
ance ;  he has endeavoured  to comply,
under  a  conftraining fenfe  of religious
duty ;  deliring to commit its effects to
.God, who is able to carrv on his deficrns
in whatever, way he pleafes ; and, does
frequently make ufe of weak, and  ap-
parently very unlikely means; to anfwer
important and beneficial purpofes.

  Philadelphia, Wth mo.* (Nov.) 1, 1798.
'■*.?•»           >
*  The author profess, uniry, in religious feotiments, wieli
friends; though he is not, an acknowledged member of their
fociecy.
.    ,    .  .    .  •■.;.;-.t^. . •            ■}
      ..,j  '.4.  ; . .'>.fipJiiU      ,.  ■  ■*
                 f A 
AN  ADDRESS,   &c.
     X. F.ELINC, as I apprehend,  an ardent de-
 fire for the promotion  of the caufe of truth ami
 righteoufnefs in the earth; and viewing the prefent
 uifpenfinon—as,
    Firft,  A Judgment  from  Gcd,   Secondly', A
 Judgment mi::ed with mercy.  Thirdly,  A Judg-
 ment defigned for the punifhment of fin ;  and the
 reformation and benefit of mankind.—And Fourth-.
 ly, As a Judgment, that,  unlefs fuitably attended
 to, will probably .be followed by more vindidtive
 tokens of divine difpleafure.
    T shall, in attending to this Judgment, under
 this fourfold view,  intreat you in the firft place,
 to view it as coming  from God.   Oh, the duty,
 the indifpenfible duty  of profefled  chriftians to
 acknowledge God, not  only in all their own,  but
 in all his ways.
   In times of  calamity,  efpecially  fuch as  the
 prefent, as well as in profperity;  the enemy  of
 all  righteoufnefs, is  bufy,  very bufy,  not  only
 with the openly'wicked and profane; but,  alfo,
 not unfreqiiently, with  the  more thoughtfuUand
confeien'tioas; <if potiible,  to bewilder and divert
their minds from the truth; thereby to deprive
                                         God 
8
God of the glory, and mankind of the benefit,  that
would other wife enfue.   And no marvel the ene-
my is thus bufy !  for of all the difpenfations of
divine providence,  perhaps, none has a more di-
rect tendency to bring  the  mind  home to God.
than  the prelent if rightly  underftood :  but  this
will be  more  fully  confidered   in  its  proper
place.
   Not  only  the grand  adverfary immediately,
but likewiie worldly wifdom inltrumentally, ferves
t<> perplex  and  obfeure divine truths, agreeably to
that fciipture declaration " The world by wifdom
knew  not  God."*   Neither  does it by its own
wifdom clearly under Hand his operations,  either
in away of Judgment or mercy.
   The holy fcriptures,  in  relating God's  Judg-
ments upon Pharaoh, and the  Egyptians, mention
the inftrumentaJity of Mofes and Aaron, and the
Rod of God, &c  in bringing and oftentimes in
removing molt  of the difpenfations, excepting the
peftilence.   In that, nothing of the inftrumenta-
Jity of Mufes or Aaron  appear to  have been em-
ployed ; but the immediate Hand of God, or his
deftroying angel,  dealt the avenging, the  irrefifti-
ble blow. Some of the difpenfations were attempt-
ed to  be imitated  and  accounted for,  by  the
magicians,  and  other wife men of Egypt, by na-
tural caufes.  But the peftilence,  or plague,  was
a  difpenfation.   The Egyptians,  and even  the
                                         hard
• I Cor. i. 31. 
9
hard hearted Pharaoh viewed  as coming imme-
diately from God, and bowed before it as fuch,
and obeyed  the Lord by letting his people depart,
according to his commands.*
   The fcriptures alfo in relating the plague that
was fent  upon the Philiftines  for detaining the
ark of God, mention it,  not only as fent by the
immediate Hand of God; but, as fo viewed by
the Philiftines themfelves, at leaft by their priefts
and diviners, when they advifed them to give glory
to the God of  Ifrael; and  not to harden their
hearts, 'as the Egyptians and Pharoah had done.
And  though it feems thefe priefts and diviners,
afterwards,  got into  a doubting ftate,  (like fome
at the prefent day) concerning the great evil, that
happened unto them ; whether it was the Hand
of the Lord ? or fomething,  that came  upon them
by chance ?  Yet  God, in the courfe of his provi-
dence, caufed their own predictions to be verified
in fuch a manner, as to prove beyond a doubt,
that  his  hand and not a blind chance  directed
the  plague that was upon the  Philiftines  and
their  lorde ; for  removing  and  obitru&ing the
inftitutions of his worfhip.f
   David in fcriptures  ftiled a man after God's
own heart viewed the peftilence as coming imme-
diate'y from the  hand of God;  for when  famine,
war, and  peftilence, were propofed unto him, for
                                           his
 * Exod. vii xii.
f i Samuel, v. vi: 
                       IO

his fele&ion or choice, he chofe the peftilence in
preference to either of the other calamities, as he
viewed  it under the more immediate agency and
direction of the moft high.
   And when the peftilence came, and David was
permitted to fee the caufe of the people's deftructi-
on;  nothing  either from the air, or from any o-
ther of the  long train of  fecond caufes feemed to
claim any fhare therein, but the angel of the Lord
appeared to be the immediate  difpenfer of death*.
   So in the cafe  of Sennacherib,  King  of Affy-
ria,  who by his mefTenger, reproached the living
God; and  by himfelf and his army threatened to
bring destruction  upon Jerufalem:  blafphemoufly
entertaining and exptefling unbelief of God's pow-
er and fufficiency to deliver the people that trufted
in him:—The peftilence deftroyed the army of this
blafphemous and unbelieving King.—By  means of
fecond caufes ? No; they fell by the immediate hand
of the angel of God:—Who in one night, a fatal
night! fmote with death, One Hundred and Eighty
Five Thoufand !f
   Other  inftances,  might be  mentioned  from
fcripture to prove the immediate and direct agen-
cy of the Almighty in the peftilence, without the
intervention of that train of fecond caufes, fo com-
monly instrumental in the generating and promo-
ting of  moft other  difeafes: But,  the foregoing,
                                         being
  * 2 Samuel, xxxiv.
  f Itiiah. x>ivi. xxviii. 
II
feeing (I think) fo much in  point;  and as, Iwim
to ftudy brevity  as far as confiftent with perfpi-
cuity, 1  (hall not enlarge  from fcripture under,
this head.
   Common hiftory, if confulted, would no doubt
in many  inftances, confirm the belief of God's im-
mediate agency, in all difpenfations like the pre-
fent; but I (hall now confine my observations prin-
cipally to what relates immediately to this city.
   Something like a fpecimen of  the prefent  ca-
lamity, was forefeen*, foretold and realized; more
than half a century  paft: but a  kind providential
language feemed to be; how Hull  I give thee  up,
O Philadelphia!
   But in  1793, an alarm was founded!  A trum-
pet  of divine  difpleafure blown!  A difpenfation
fent!  Before which,  the  leftinefs of man,  was
bowed down, the haughtinefs of men laid low  and
the Lord alone was exalted, with many in that day.
The  men of knowledge, the men  of fcience,,  the
 men of the wifdom of this world, attempted to fathom
 the caufe,  but moft ofthem failed;  their afierti-
 ons in fome inftances were not ftrictly true, con-
 vincing to others,  or fatisfactory to their own
 minds.  The firft r:port of common fame, (which
 fometimes  fpeaks  true) was, " The plague  has
 broke cut  in Water-ftreet."
    On fome of thofe fata! days, about the 1 rth of
 the  10 Month (October) 1793 : vhen all faces ga-
                                         thered
   • Sec Thomas Cbalklcy'» Journal, page aoj, 
                       12

 thered blacknefs, the bands of fociety feemed diflbl-
 ving, and human nature  fhuddcred and almoft
 funk under feeling apprehenfions  of God's with-
 drawing his fupport, his prefence, and his protection
 from this  city :  Who, then doubted of his imme-
 diatel) directing the dreadful fcourge ?
    Most,  if not all. were convinced it was a judg-
 ment fent by the immediate hand of God :—^And
 that nothing but the fame  hand or  power  could
 iemove it.
    Many were  brought very low, the  prevailing
 language then was, Lord, fave me ! Only carry me
 through  this difpenfation alive,  and I will  ferve
 thee forever !
    The  Lord heard—In the  midft  of  wrath, he
 remembered mercy—The diforder ftopt—By wh;<t
 means ?  By  the Lord's faying to the deftroying
 Angel which fmote  the people;  It  is  enough ;
 ftay now thine hand.
   My foul  is  often humbly affected   both for
 myfelf and others  on account  of broken cove-
 nants : did profFefiors of religion ; or others keep   ■
 their covenants made, in thofe hours of fore diftrefs
 and bitternefs of foul,  from the loweft  depths of*
 woe  with  Almighty God ?
   The fucceeding more  than ufual pomp  and
 parade of  .fafhion—The  unabated, increafed and
 the infatiable  third after  riches,  vanities, finful
 pleafures  and vain amufements : fhewed but too
plainly, great forgetfulnefs—great neglect—great  j
                                unmindfulnefsij
ULl
J 
*3
unmtndfulnefs, of what was paft, and great danger
of what was to come.
   The  widow's gloom was  fcarcely removed—
parents tears had not ceafed to  flow—nor the re-
latives figh, forgot to heave ;  in remembrance of
•laft  year's* calamity; when the  dread alarm again
avTailed  our  tingling  ears---approached our  af-
frighted  habitations—and  fiezed  our   troubled
minds.   Plainly  fhewing, that  God has neither
loft  his power;  nor fin, its orTenfive and deftroy-
 ing  nature.
   Here,, let us  make a folemn paufe ! ftand full!
 and, view the wonderful works of God!  and
behold what defolations fin hath made in the City:
 fwept as it were with the befom of deftrudtion!
   Are  not the fcriptures of truth, the revelations
 of God  to his  fervant  John,f  in part  fulfilling
 and  verified in  this difpenfation.   Where  now
 are  the  rulers of  the  earth, the great  men—the
 rich men—the chief of captains—the mighty men—
 the  tyond man—the free man? may not many of
 them be faid, as  it were, to have hid themfelves,
 in the  dens, and in the rocks of  the mountains?
 faying  by their conduct, to the mountains and
 rocks,  fall on us,  and hide  us, from the face of
 him, that fitteth on the throne, and from the wrath
 of  the  lamb:  for the  great  day of his wrath is
 come:  and, who fliall  be able to ftand ?
                        B                  Are

   *  I797' .
   f  Rev. yi. 15, 16, Itf. 
M
   Are not fome of the prophecies of If.ii.ih,* r£-
 fpectinc; the jewsj  verified as concerning this ci-
 ty?  Hath nor. the Lorcl, the Lord  of hofts/taken
 away from Philadelphia; the mighty man, and the
 man of war,  the judge and the prophet, and the
 prudent and the  ancient, the captain of fifty, 'and
 the  honourable man, and the counfcllor, and the
 cunning artificer, and the  eloquent orator ?  Hath
 not the Lord made  the city empty andJwafte, and
 turned it upfide  down, and fcattered abroad the
 inhabitantsthereof ?  And is it not, as with the peo-
 ple, fo with the prieft: as with thcfervant, fo with
 his mafter; as with the maid, fo with her miftrefs,
 as with the buyer, fo with the feller;  as with the
 lender, fo with the borrower; as with  the taker of
 ufury, fo with the giver of ufury to him?
   Is  not this city  defiled under  the  inhabitants
 thereof;  becaufe  they have tranfgrefied  the laws,
 changed die ordinah.ee, broken the everlafting co-
 venant? And therefore, hath not thecurfe devour-
 ed the city, and  they that dwell therein are dc-
 folate; and few men left?  Hath not the mirth of
 tabrets ceafed, the noife of them that rejoice ended,
 the joy of the harp ceafed? Is not th'e city of con-
iufion broltcn  down?  Is not  ahnoft every houfe
(hut  up,  that  no man may  corns'in? Is not the
city left defblate, and the borders thereof fmitten
 with deftruction?
                                          Has
* Ifaiah. iii. jrxrv. 
  .Has -not .-the ftate of the city, infome meafurc,.
been fimilar to the -lamentable fituation of Jerufa-
lem, as defcriped by the prophet Jeremiah-*  Does
not the city, fit iplitary, that was full of people?
Is ftie not become as a widow ? She that was great
among theftates! and Princefs among -the provin-
ce^! Have not the ways of Philadelphia mourned^
becaufe fo.  few came to .her folejmi feafts? Are
not her  gates defolate ? Have, not r her priefts figh-
ed? 'Her virgins been afflicted? And did not the^
adyerfaries fee her,  and -mock at her fabbaths?
   Is it nothing to you, all ye that pafs by ? Behold
and fee if there be any forrow like unto our for-
row,  which is done unto.us, wherewith the Lord
hath afflicted us in  the day of his fierce anger.
    Again, how  folemn,  how earned,  was  the
prophet Ifaiah,  in  his denunciation  upon,r and
cxpoitulation with the Jews formei ly? (In orders*
effectually,  to bring them off from all vain hopes,
and improper expectations,  of efcaping the right-
eous judgments of  QocL)    "When,- (in language*
n^doubt,  applicable  to the  prefent lime and  dif-
penfation) he'thus  addreHbd" them, "Becaufe ye
have fa-id, we h;;re  made- a covenant with death*,
and with  hell aie we at agreemem.ent: when the
overflowing fcourge  ih.ill  pafs through, it fiiall
not come unto us : -for v/e have'made lies our re-
ftfge, and u,i-.dei: faliehood have we hid ourfelves.
Therefore thus lbith the Lord God, Your covenant
                      B 2                 with,-
  *  Lament, i. J, &c.                      _ •'   * 
x-6
with death fhall be difannullect, and your agree-
ment with hell fhall not  ftand;  when the  oVerJ
flowing fcourge fhall pafs  through, then fhall ye
be trodden down by it.   From the time  that it
goeth  forth fhall  it take you: for morning by
morning fhall it pafs over, by day and by night;
and  it  fhall be a vexation  only to underftand the
report.   For the  Lord .fhall rife up as in Mount
Perazim,  he  fhall  be wroth as in  the Valley of
Gibeon, that he  may  do his  work, his ftrange-
work;  and bring to pafs his act, his ftrange act.
   " Now therefore, be ye not mockers,  left your
bands be made ftrong: for I have heard from the
Lord of hofts  a confumption, even determined,
upon the whole earth."*
   And may we not fay of this difpenfation,  as the
prophet faid in another cafe,  "This alfo cometK
forth from the Lord of hofts ;  which is wonderful
in counfel, and excellent in working."!
   A particular attention to the laft mentioned
words, in their diftinct order,  may ferve to con-
vince  us, more fully, of the propriety of their
quotation.
*  "This" This difpenfation,  that  hath humbled
the pride of man—this calamity—this fever—this
peftilence—this  plague—or,   whatever  name  it
may be called by :—that hath done, and is doing ;
that, which nothing but  the  immediate hand  of
                                           God
• Tfai;.h. xxviii.
•}• Ifaiah. xxviii. %<). 
                      l7
God cqu1(4 do:  in that,  it li^ath  fhaken the king-
dom.'of!Satan,  to'it§ foundation, in the hearts of
many of.' the. inhabitants'  of this  City—that,  in a""'
few days,' as it we're, at one ftroke,  hath brought
home to  the miikls of all  (not incurably hardened]
the belief of a.GoJ—his fuperintending providence
—and,  immediate agency in this  difpenfatipn-—
That hath  done  at.'once-—what   days,  weeks',
months,  years,' yea many years, of inftrumental
labours,  and  lighter  calamities, did  not effect;
evidently " alio  cometh  forth from the Lord, of*
hofts,"   is an  infeription,  in fuch legible  charac-
ters,  as, that he who.runs, may read it upon this
judgment,' fo fecret in approach—fo fud'den in at-
tack—and,' f6 fata), fo u'liiverfal in operation: And,
 as proceeding .from him, "which is wonderful
 in counfel," is' one  Ihik, in the great chain',, of
 the woiidei-ful' c'eunfels of God :JAnd,, although,
 at fome dan; times  *.nd fcafons, tlie rnyftery of
 iniquity may feem very  deep ; and the kingdom
 and caufe of Sat.n redely ro prevail, and triumph
 in.the world.  "Yet all,'  I believe,  is Ordered and
 directed in uiiefring wifdom ;  and however  low
bind difcouragTng\ to" the rightly cxercifed'chris-
 tian, tlie  caufe of God  and truth may aprieaf to
 be in the,earth:  Yet, it never was, nor ever will
 be, totally  extinct.  But iometim'es" it  appears,
"that the  ioweft dep:h^.,  ferve ;:S'foundations  for
 the' greateft"heights of. the te'fthn'onies.'of truth.;
 ind, for' the promotion thereof in the earth.  And
                         B 3             kovevec 
                      let

however various and many are the  devices  of
men's  hearts, yet the counfel of the Lord !  that
fhall ftand.    " And excellent in working." Indeed
will God appear to be  in this difpenfation ; if
fome of the excellent productions thereof-be duly
confidered, in refpect of many of thofe individuals,
who have improved it aright.   Has it not, in ma-
ny inftances,  opened a way for the difplay of the
moft excellent qualities of the man, and the chrif-
Uan ? Such as,  faith, hope, charity—a weaned-
nefs from the'world—dependance on God alone—
repentance—reformation—clear  profpects'  and
foretaftesof heaven—triumph over death: and, to
fum up all in a  word, love to  God, and love to
men.
u  These  are the Lord's doings !  marvellous to
us!  And will be fo in the eyes of fuccecding  ge-
nerations !   Amen.
   Secondly, this Judgment may,  in  the fecond
place, be viewed as mixed with mercy.
   Well may the furviving inhabitants of Phila-
delphia, in adoring language,  of the deepeft hu-
mility, and heartfelt  gratitude, acknowledge it
is of the Lord's mercies that we are not  confumed:
And could we be permitted to lift the veil,  that
feparates time from eternity ; we fhould no doubt
behold,  that  the boundlefs mercy of Chrift,  the
Mediator, who,  when on earth, was called  the
friend of publicans ;»nd finners; who came not to
                                           call 
                      *9
cnll the righteous, but finnersto repentance ; who
received the penitent thief from the crofs into Pa-
radife:  has interceded with his father, in the midft
of wrath, to remember mercy to many poor fouls;
hid, in the vale of poverty and  obfcurity; (per-
haps great wickednefs) from  much of the notice
and attention of the world—feized, as it were in
a moment, in the twinkling  of  an eye,  with all
the terrors—all  the horrors of death !   Intimate
friends, none; or far away—the black fick carriage
at the  door—the dreary  Hofpital  in  view—and
Potter's Field in expectation.   On high, God an-
gry for fin.—Below, Hell yawning to receive.  In
this fituation, all that  many a poor (though pre-
cious)  foul could do, was the utterance  of a groan
or figh:—Lord help me! Orcaftinga defponding
look toward Heaven, for mercy.   In this mifery
extreme, I beKeve the Lord,  whofe tender mer-
cies are over all  the works of his hand, has fre-
quently looked down from  the height of his farie-
tuary,  and out of Heaven has beheld the earth ;
not to  fee the pomp and parade of princes ;  nor
the vanities and glories of this world; but to hear
the groanings of the (afflicted fpiritual) prifdnerj
and to  liofe fuch as  feemed appointed both to
temporal and eternal death: and in their laft mo-
ments, has reached forth falvation :—-and has raifed
them from  the  depths of woe  on earth, to the
heights of joy in Heaven.
                                     Neither 
                     i.0

 . Neither  was the diftrefs,- nor mercy  of tfa^
difpenfation confined to  the abject  poor alone :—
but the horror and diftrefs feemed  as■ unive.rial as
fin—and  the  mercy  of  God as boundlefs as the
objects that claimed his  attention.         ;     •
  Some,  of all claiTes of citizens,  have remained;
in the city : Numbers from, motives of eonleience,
(may it not almoft beTfaid) pure as truth,and difin-
terefted as the means of falvation.  Some.iemaiued
under a  conftraining neceffity;  fome  to receive
benefit themfelves;  fome to impart it  to others,
generally, all from'good motives ;  or, at leaft bat
very few (I believe) frqra thofe that were repre-
henfible.                ,   /
   Nor were thofe who  fied, wortrhy of blame :—
many fled as influenced by  a  warning voice,  to
efcape impending deftrudtion; fome chofe  to, and
did continue, ahnoft within fight, ami certainly
within reach of feeling the diftrcfles and afflictions
of thofe who remained behind.  Ahnoft unbounded
was the   charity of many : and great the anxiety
and concern of moft, if not all,  who were ab-
fent.
   Indeed the mercy of God was evident jn  in-
 fluencing fome to go, others to flay :  had all fled,
 who  would have fuffered ?  Had all tarried,  who
 would have efcaped ? Therefore if any glory, for
 tarrying  and being ufeful,  let them glory in  the
 Lord; if any rejoice  for  fleeing and being h>fje,
 let t,hem  rejoice  with fear and  trembling  :' and
                                          thofe 
21
thofe" who  fled, and  thofe who tarried, unite' in
charitable  difpofitions—brotherly  love—thankful
hearts—and reformed lives.
 '  But to  return more particularly  to  the mix-
ture of mercy and judgment in this difpenfation;
Solomon faid "money anfwereth all things."  *And
although a fcripture phrafe ; may perhaps be taken
in a more general fenfe, than the author defigned:
if this has  ever been  the cafe, many are  now
undeceived.  This  calamity was  no refpecter of
perfons: money had no charms for the peftilence
Riches could offer no availing bribe  to death; as
faid a celebrated poet:

       " Their golden cordials could not eafe
       Their pained heart*, and aching iuads,
       Nor  fright, n«>r bribe  approaching death,
       From glittering roofs and downy heds.*'f

    And as on the one hand, riches did not raife the
minds of men above finning ; fo on the other, it
did not excufe them from the bitter cup of fuffer-
ings. However  captivating  riches may appear in;
the view of moil men, in times of worldly profpe-
rity ; yet it may be viewed as one of the mercies of
this difp'enfation, that  riches thereby, were fet in
a true and fubordinate light: A drop of water to
eool the parched tongue, and a fanning breeze of
refrefhing  air, to allay the fcorching heat of pefti-
                                          lential
* JEccles. at. 19,
f Dr. W"atts. 
1%
lential flam.es »  were in  many cafes,  all the Iu?u-
rioi  the moft unbounded wealth could givo: or
the moft voluptuous receive.!        c :       ;
 -, An initantaneous.vie.w of approaching eternity;
exlipfed in a  moment, all the glory of this world,
in the eyes  of  many, and  cut afunder the con-
nections  of time andtfenfe: and the foul by an
acct of faith,  caft upon .the  unmerited j mercy of
God  alone:  immediately received a peace and a
fatisfactory affurance, .arid, a ftayednefs of mind' as
far above what  this world, in its. moft prosperous
ftate can beftow: as the heavens are above the earth.
And were enabled, by the boundleft mercy of God,
to leave a fcene, which  at beft, as  it related to
temporal prosperity, was replete with difappoint-
ments to efiter upon a ftate ; glorious in profpedt,
perfect in enjoyment, and endlefs in duration!
 .  Great numbers, (charity, .hopes the graateft
number) of thofe, who have been removed by this
difpenfation,  have given thofe furvivors, who, at-
tended them, in their laft  moments, fytlsfactory
hopes of their future  well being.
'   For the juftntfs of this ob.fervat.ion; j appeal
to furviving relatives—religious vifitants— feeling
phyficians, and others:—who attended the cham-
bers of the fick, and dying In  1723*  x 79 7>  ^r'fl the
prefent_yoar,pwhether they.have  no:.been f.-;quent-
iy witneir^o  for  God;  that  his  judgments  have
htfcn mixed with unbounded mercy ?
                                  Fr K'M'KNTLYj 
                      *5
   Frequently, very frequently !  After all that
 imagination can  conceive and 'of-en  more than
 any language can exprefs, of horror and defpaiv,
■has been feen  and heard, in the unutterable dif-
'trefs and anguifh ufually attending  this, diforder ;
 after the moft heart piercing fhrieks ! terrifying
 convulfions!  and,  diftorting agonies! have ex-
 haufted  all their terrors,  all their woes !   Then,
 a gleam of extended  mercy--a  beam of divine
 light—a ray of immortal glory-—has, with incIV.-
 ble fplendour,  darted through all the horrors  of
 the gloom—the  diftrefied foul, enlivened by the
 joys  of God's falvation ; breathed high afpirations
 for its native land—afluming heavenly  tranquility,
 before  unknown—triumphing over death and the
 grave—has' quit the  abode of  clay—and, amid
 exulting angelic hofts of guardian  fpirits—wing-
 ed its way towards theParadife of God.
    Thus the rich and the poor do meet together:
 and the Lord  is not only the Maker of  them all,
 but likewife the  Redeemer and Saviour of many ;
 it is  to be hoped moft of them.
    Those who furvive have occafion to fpeak  of
 mercy as well  as of Judgment: " "Wherefore doth
 a living  man complain, a man for the  punifhment
 of his fins" !*                     < ;
    Is it not a mercy from God, who influences the
 hearts  of all  men in virtuous actions, that  fuch
                                       numbers
* Lament iii.' 39- 
                      24

numbers of diftinguifhed characters remained at
their  pofts ? That fo nany  illuftrious  citizens
were  found, endued  with wifdom; armed  widi
fortitude ;  and blelt with perfeverance,  to under-
take,  and carry on, and  finally complete, the moft
hazardous  and beneficial fervices, in the caufe of
fuffering humanity f*  The long lift of Philadel-
phian worthies, will  not only exift  in the  moft
lively feelings,  and the warmeft and moft public
and lafling expreffions of the gratitude and refpedt-
ful efteem  of  the  prefent generation :  but  long,
very long !  after thefe public  benefactors are laid
low,  will their  grateful  remembrance defcend to
fucceeding generations;  furrounded with illumi-
nating  tracts  of  refplendent  glory,  emanating
from  their deeds ; even till time fhall be no more.
   In enumerating the  mercies of God,  may we
not mention—fires feldom happened ; few angry
difputations took  place; markets were well  fup-
plied  ;  refignation and ftayednefs upon God were
experienced:  and his divine  prefence,  at times,
very fenfibly felt,  both in public and private devo-
tions.
   Volumes would  be  necefiary to  difptay that
charity; bright refemblance of the Deity ! which
has been fo abundantly beftowed ; in alleviating
                                            the

  * 1 lament not being aVle to do that particular juflice to me-
rit, fo uncommon, which my feelings fuggeft ; but (Providence
permitting, and no abler  pen preventing) I fliall endeavour t»
remedy this defeft in fome future publication., 
25
  the  diftrefics of  this calamity.   Thefc offerings
  of divine  preparing will no  doubt,  afcend  as an
  acceptable facrifice before the father of all mer-
  cies: and  procure for the generous  donors, the
  anfwer of" well done" and finally that glorious in-
  vitation"  come ye bleffed" in addition to the re-
  wards of  lafling thanks and gratitude; they will
  receive from  their fellow men.
   / The winds and the weather, (fubordinate mi-
  nifters of providence) have alfo been  directed in
  much mercy.—But in  attemptiug to fpeak of the
  mercies of God,- I am launching into a boundlefs
  ■©cean! they are  innumerably made  known to  us
  every morning, yea every moment  of-our-lives!
  ,and more efpecially confpicuous at this time, when
/ contrafted with the afflictive  judgments  of the
   prefent difpenfation.
   .  Thirdly.' You  are  now,  as  in  the fear
  and dread of Almighty God, requefted  to view
  .this  awful  difpenfation;  as a judgment  defigned
   for the punifliment of fin: and the reformation ar.d
   benefit of mankind.       *■'
     Our benign creator, who delighteth in  mercy
   doth  not  afflict''wiilinglv, nor grieve the children
   of men.  It  is fin, and  fin alone,  that maketh a
  •feparataon between any people; or any individual
  . and  God.
     Adam, by difobedience>  loft Paradifc.—The
   old world became depraved, and were  drowned—-
  Phar'aah, and. his people for opposition to God,
                        C                   and 
26
and cruelty to  the children  of Ifrael : were  pu.
nifhed many ways, and finally drowned in the Red
fea—Previous to  the Egyptian's deftruction, So-
dom and  Gomorrha, for pride, idlenefs, and  ful-
nefs of  bread : were overthrown by flaming ful-
phureous torrents  from Heaven.—Mofes for one
rafh expreffion was denied the happinefs and glo*
ry of entering the  promifed land.—Sampfon by
not  obeying God, loft his ftrength ;  and fell a
prey to his enemies.—Eli  for not reftraining his
children from wicked practices, loft the priefthood,
and met with a tragical death.— Saul by prefer-
ing  facrifice to obedience,  loft  the kingdom.—*
David,  (though in many things a man after God's
heart) for his heinous fins of adultery and murder,
( committed very fecretly)  was punifhed before
the fun, in the fight of all  Ifrael.—The jews by
means   of  various  kinds  of fin, (the relation of
which  compofes no  inconfiderable part  of fcrip-
turej  were finally brought  from  that height of
power,  which they enjoyed in the time  of Solo.
mon, to that degraded ftate, they at this day  ex.
hibit in the world.
  It  would far exceed my abilities, and the  de-
figned  brevity  of  this publication,  to difpjay fin
and all its confequences, from that of our firft pa-
rents in paradife, down to the prefent difpenfation.
The-forrowful  experience of all men, in all ages
unite in this, that fin is the caufe that renders the
judgments of God neceffary,  abfolutely neceffary!
                                            t« 
s7
to prevent the total depravity and  deftruction of
mankind.
 ,  Feeling  at times  an almoft  infupportablc
weight of my own fins and infirmities; I have al-
moft funk  under  the burden of delineating thofe
of others. But a fenfe of duty renders objections
and  fcruples (otherwife infurmountable) of no a-
 vail.
   Sins of nations and communities, likewife thofe
 of individuals are various; fo alfo are the confe-
 quent judgments or difpenfations.
   Among  the long and black catalogue of fins
 and  tranfgrefuons of mankind : The  following, if
 eonfciencc and felf examination are duly attended
 to, will, I believej  appear to every confederate per-
 fon, to have  had  no fmall influence  in bringing
 the prefent calamitous difpenfation, upon the city :
 and  which the inhabitants are providentially , feri-
 ously and moft earneitly, and affectionately, warn-
 ed,  and  entreated,  before it be too late!  to re-
 pent of, reform, and entirely forfake,  all
   PRIDE,
   IDLENESS,
   INTEMPERANCE,
   PROFANENESS,
   COVETOUSNESS,
   INJUSTICE,
   SABBATH-BREAKING,
   NEGLECT of EDUCATION,
   BAD-BOOKS,
                      C 2        MOCKERY 
28
   MOCKERY  of RELIGION,
   UNTHANKFULNESS to GOD, and
   DISREGARD  of his  JUDGMENTS, and
   EVERY OTHER SIN;
   As  the  only means of appeafing his anger and
probably averting more fignal tokens of his divine
difpleafure.

                  P RIDE.

   Solomon obferves, " only by pride cometh con-
tention"* and in another  place, " pride goeth be-
fore destruction,  and an  haughty fpirit before  a
fall."t   Oh,' the fad the fatal effeds of  pride !
How exceedingly apt it is to creep into, and en-
twine itfelf with,  almoft every circumftance and
fituation in life?  Youth practifes it; middc age
delights in it;  old age feels it;  and external ob-
fervations of religious duties,   are not always ex-
empt from it.
   Pride and poverty are often connected ; pride
and  mediocrity  frequently affociate; and pride
and riches  but too generally go hand in hand'to-
gether.  The profane are proud ;  and the profeff-
ed followers of the meek and lowly Jefus, are very
feldom fufricientiy humble.   Our relatives deco-
rate  us with pride  at our birth :  it follows us
clofe, ah, very ciofe, through life ; forfakes us
                                           not
* Prov. xjii. to.
f Prov. xvi. I J. 
29
not always at death : but like an infeparable; Com-
panion, approaches the grave—defcends with, the
mortal part and moulders into duft.----Elfe, why
the decorated coffins, and  coftly habiliments  of
the dead ? Why, the immoderately long and pom-
pous parades at funerals ? Why, the lifping and
tottering airs of the infant ? Whence,  the hypo-
critical fanctity in the countenance of the cold for-
mal profeffor?  Why, the unblufhing front of the
notorioufly profane ? Why,  among  thofe  who
would be thought rich, fuch an eager, fuch a pre-
mature introduction of eaftern pomp and  magni-
ficence,  in  apartments and  furniture, apparel,
entertainments, and equipage ?  Why are conve-
niences facrificed for elegancies ? And  elfe,  why
are neceffaries parted with for fhow ?
   Oh  pride! thou enemy of all good!  thou dif-
turber of the harmony of heaven! that laid fome
of the higheft angels low! that turned our firft
parents out  of Paradife ! that,  in all ages of the
world,  has humbled and deftroyed  poor man!—
How haft thou made thy way into this city;  not
only among the more unguarded and inexperienc-
ed, but into the very  houfes,  hearts,  and prac-
tices, of  thofe  focieties; whofe principles and
profeffions,  when  fincere,  would feem to place
them at the greateft diftance from  thy  infidious
approaches! How  inconfiftent,  how  dangerous,
is pride in any man; particularly fo  in a profeffed
chrifti?.n.
                     C 3                Much 
JO
   Much,  that the controverfy  of God has  been
againft,  much, that has tended to the deftructioh
of this city,  has proceeded from  pride: therefore
let all, whowifh for and value the real profperityand
welfare of this City in general, and  their own in
particular, be  warned,  exhorted and entreated to
avoid pride, as they would  one of the greateft
evils.

               IDLENESS.

   Idleness  was one of the  fins that caufed  the
deftrudtion of Sodom, and  has no  doubt been  very
inftrumentai  in procuring the prefent calamity.
   Idleness is  a wafting of time, doing nothing,
er doing that which anfwers no good purpofe.
   It is faid in fcripture, " All the Athenians and
ftrangers which were  there,  fpent their time  in
nothing elfe but either to tell or to hear fome  new
thing."*   Oh  this idle curiofity ! how it throngs
all places of public refort,  with thofe whofe prin-
cipal  employment is  to wafte or  kill time:  thefe
are active, idlers—others,  more  paflive,  live like
birds  fhut up in cages:  to them  unfeen, the eye-
lids of the morning open in the  Eaft; to them arc
unknown and unenjoyed the delightful and healthy
exercife of early morning  walks3f when pure re-
                                        frefhing
  * Adb, xvii. 21.
  f I have frequently feen, with inftru&ioii and fatisfa&ion, the
Roman Catholics, Methodifts, &c. in  their early morning walks,
to and  from their publk devotiens, with countenances at onec
i-xyreffive of health and fincerity. 
3*
fr^ihing balfiimic air may be inhaled; uncontamr-
nated by filth, duft, or fmoke; when the ear may
be foothed and charmed, and the mind very fenfibly
rmprefled and' inftructed, with the  harmony  and
the joys of innocence, by the feathered fongfters
of  the  grove, who raife  their artlefs and  hal-
lowed lays, to the great Parent of the univerfe,
at the rffing dawn of  returning day ;  when the
eye may be regaled with the extenfive  ufefulnefs,
beauty and glory of the riffng fun;  a fight almpft
worthy of adoration, from a heathen!  and at leaft
a tribute of gratitude and praife to God from a<
chriftian f
   To fome,  whofe bodies are enervated by flbthj
and their mind's debafed by idlentfs, the fea and
fand pours in abundance  on  every  fide.    The
whole creation as it  were traveleth  in pain, to
minifter unto  their luxury andeafe: every virtue
every duty, every obligation,  devolving on them.
to perform, appear in their view to be comprized
and fully fummed up in one fingle  point: poffef-
fibn of wealth!
   Idleness  frequently  renders the foul dead to
every virtue,  but  alive  and fully active in every
vice.  Pefts of fociety  indeed!  ftagnating waters
are  not more pernicious in the natural world;  than
idle perfons in the moral.
   The play-houfe, that fynagogue  of fatan;* thai
Pandorian box; that public  monument of difgrace
                                           and
  • Perhaps this expreffion may fhock. fome  perfons, but the «> 
32
and  infamy,  (lb  viewed and exprefTed by  many
religious and well difpofed  people  of various de-
nominations)  ferves as a place,  a flaughter-houfe,
for the idle and  diffipated,  of  both fexes,  of all
focieties to kill time.   The play-houfe, that nur-
fery of  fin! that hot bed  of vice! where thofe
exotic phrafes,   cuftoms,  principles, habits  and
irregularities,  are  fheltered,  fown, take  root,
flourifh, are diffeminated, tranfplanted, and fpread
through fociety, and receive a public countenance
and protection;  which  otherwife  could  not in
America,  at prefent be  obtained :—to  the great
promotion of difhonefty, neglect of bufinefs,  ex-
travagance, idlenefs, hypocrify,  and almoft every
impropriety and corruption of good principles in
youth; proves at beft,   to  thofe  who are   ad-
vanced in life, a corrupt  fource  of bad  exam-
ples, occafioning frequent breaches of good hours,.
and a neglect of neceffary concerns and important
duties, both of a public and private nature;  and'.
therefore  may be juftly  confidered, withoat  any.
undue prejudice,  as an effect of idlenefs and luxu-
ry;  incompatible with  chriftianity,  and  highly.
pernicious in any well ordered fociety.
                                            The

•rident cosfequence* of play-houfes ought to (hock them more :—
Would any perfon  of common fenfe, wifhing to have well  regu-
lated children and domeftics, choofe, or even fubmit to live
iitar a pUy-houfe  if poffible to avoid it? Would the pride or
morality of m;my citizens,who countenance the theatres,be flatter-
ed by their fons or daughters appearing on the ftage ? Or would
they eftcem themfelves or families honored or benefited by »n in-
timate acquaintance witft the actors ? 
3o
   The prefer.t difpenfation ferves to fltew in the
eleareft point of view, the baleful effects of idle-
nefs in many of its confequences ;  and that it has
been a mean of drawing down the divine difplea-
fure upon this  City.
   Mat all be perfuaded to a fenfe and practice of
duty!  life is fhort—its concerns weighty—its du-
ties many and various. The idle perfon is a blank
or fomcthing worfe in creation.   May the fire of
this difpenfation purify us from idlenefs,  that ruft
ami canker of foul and body.

             INTEMPERANCE.

   Intemperance, comprehending  (to  fpeak i«
plain terms)  gluttony and drunkennefs and excefs
of all kinds in general, does at all times, and in all
places tend  very evidently to  the  deftruction of
man, foul and  body  !
   The fcripture faith,  "Woe to the drunkards
of Ephraim!"*  and may it not be added? " Woe
to the drunkards of Philadelphia."  Solomon faith,
" The drunkard and  the glutton fhall come Lo po-
verty."f   And in another place,   "Who  hah
woe ? Who  hath  forrow ? Who hath contentions ?
Who hath babbling ? Who hath wounds without
caufe? Who hath rednefs of eyes?  They  that
tarry  long at  the wine,  they  that go to  feek
mixed wine.'*^:  The effects  or    confequences
                n                            of
  * Ifaiah. xxviii.  t.     f P^v. xaiii. 21.
  f Fruv. xxiii.  tj, jo. 
34
of  many  fins"   are  aimed   at  others   in  the
firft inftance,  and only ultimately or collaterally
fall upon the perpetrators: but  the intemperate
perfon, turns a whole train of evils directly upon
himfelf,  that only affect others in an indirect or
accidental way and  manner.   Therefore the in-
temperate perfon may be truly faid to be his owa
worft enemy;  deftroying with his own hands the
greateft  bleffing he can poflibly enjoy, of a tem-
poral nature, health;  and  expofes the foul, that
immortal part, in the moft direct manner to ever-
lafting deftruction.   Are  not the gales of life
fufficiently  brific ?  Are the., gentle  breezes  of
health too long  uninterrupted by the ftorms and
hurricanes of ficknefs and trouble? Is the paffage
to eternity  likely to  prove too fhort? that fuch
multitudes eagerly plunge  into that all deftructivf
and overwhelming vortex,  intemperance.
   This difpenfation, the  Yellow Fever, has cal-
led the drunkard and the glutton to  a very fevere
account;  many,,  of this defcription, may be truly
compared to veffels of wrath fitted for deftruction.
And what renders it the more to be lamented, is,
that it  is  done by themfelves not  ignorantly (if
that  were the cafe, they would  be more pitiable
objects) but  knowingly, willingly, and witting-
ly.
   Let  the drunkard and  the glutton, who have
furvived: and the intemperate of every defcripti-
on ;  be  warned, folemnly warned,!  fpecdily, ere
                                              it 
                       35
it  be too  late !  to  view this difpenfation of Al-
mighty God, in a true and clear light; and  them-
felves,  as abufers  of the bounties of God—their
own  deftroyers — difturbers of fociety-~fetters of
evil  examples  :—and  involved, deeply involved,
in drawing down  the vengeance of heaven.
   Hear  me, I befeech you, Oh ye fons of  In-
temperance!  In future  let your  moderation, in
eating  and drinking, be known to all men*  and
be. perfuaded to reform,  and entirely  renounce
nil intemperance.
   When  you  take the  pernicious intoxicating
draught   in  your  hands,  highly  charged with
diftilled fpirits; thofe " liquid fires"—Think, Oh
think!  before you fwallow the flow but fatal  poi-
 fon! That you are about to drink the "  life blood"
 of the  wretched African. Hark! what mingled
 founds  affail the  ear !  Are they not the refound-
 ing echoes of the lafh ? And the  fighs and groans
 of defpair?  Behold the  agonizing  tear!   View
 well the  drops of blood!  Count the long train of
                                             Weft

   *  Draymen,  carters, &c. refpe<5table as many .of them .in-, for
 attention to their bufinefs, at once ufeful and abfolutely ntcaTcry
 yet when any of them give way to immoderate drinking ; their
 Horfesbut too often fuffer the moft cruel and inhuman abufes ;—
 Being frequently overloaded and  beaten in a manner Clocking t«
 humanity, and difgraceful to any civilized people.
   An animal, fo noble in figure and courage, fo ufeful and fervice-
 able to man; cannot be wantonly abufed. without greatguilt being in-
 curred in the fight of that God, who is the maker of the Horfe,
 as well as of his rider, leader, and driver. Does net the Horfe in
 many ways affift government; and therefore claim a prote&ioa
 J.-om abufe by iu laws ? 
 Weft Inc'tim Slavery's woe!  Mixed up  in'the in-
 ebriating  bov 1  for  your  deftruction :  Paufe!
 receive advice !—and wifely fhun the glafs !
    In quitting all Intemperance of  every kind we
 fliall very effectually attend to one  of the firft and
 greateft of all moral  obligations, felf prefervation;
 and effentially promote domeftic happinefs, which
 once deftrOyed, or impaired, fcldom admits a fub-
 •ftitute.
    I Shall conclude this part of  my addrefs,
 with  that very  important recommendation  and
 advice of the apbltle, Paul,"  Whether,  therefore
 ye eat, or drink, or  whatfoever*ye do, do all c'o
 the glory of God.*

               PROPANENESS.

    pRorANT.:,'Jiss, another  fin, in the catalogue
 of crimes, urider confideratioft, is in many inftan-
 ces connected  with  Intemp^.-mce.  The tongue,
 that  Itftrnr • nt of Profanenefs, according to the
 fcripture  account,  and daily  obforv^t:on : " Is a
• little member and  boafteth great  things, i'ehold
 how  great'a'matter a little  lire  kind'eth!  And
 the tongue  is a fire,  a world of iniquity: fo  is the
 tongue among  our members, that  it defileth the
 whole  body, and fetteth on fire the courfe  ofna-
 'tiire;  and it is fet on fire  of Hell."f
                                              On
          U.J ■ ■                 .. i .:-■.■••-1 .
           -:               . . ...rT:rv.-T"  '■■'■ ' -
   *" i Cor. x.  3T.                ^ ,v
   ■J- James, iii. 5, 6. 
37
   Oh ! how many of fuch wicked engines of de-
ftruction  hath  been in this city;  fet  on fire, at
leaft  by fpiritous liquors.   How affecting to any
religious, or  well difpofed perfon?  Is  the lan-
guage,  fhall I fay the language of Hell:  That,
but  too frequently,  too generally prevails ; not
only in the ftreets,  but likewife in many  of the
houfes in Philadelphia.   Profanenefs,' at which,
foreigners * ftand aftonifhed,  and the fons of the
boifterous ocean,  confefs themfelves outdone !
   Where now (in  this  calamitous feafon) is the
profane fwearer?  ftruck dumb!  or if an oath or
imprecation efcape from his unruly tongue ;  he is
ftared at,  even by his affociates;  as a monfter  of
profane lefs!
   May  the  dread of this fin  of profanenefs for-
ever  laft;  and  the  command  of our  Saviour,
"  Swear not at all ;"f be in future ftrictly obey-
ed.
             COVETOUSNESS.

    Coyetousness termed by. the Apoftle  Paul
"  Idolatry":}: and the inordinate love of money,
                       D                 which

  • An intelligent fea Captain; a native of Scotland, and head
of a family in this city informed me, that for variety of (Singular
profanenefs of expreffion ;  the youth, as well as thpfe of riper
years in this place, exceed all  he ever faw  or heard of in any
part of the world.
 . f Matth. v, 28.
 i Colof.  iii. 5. 
3^
which he alfo ftiles  " the .root of all evil ;"* has
had.no inconfiderable fliare in contributing to our
very diftreffed fituation.
   Covetousness has intruded upon, and marred,
and much injured the original plan  of  the  firft
founder  of this City, the truly honourable Wil-
liam Penn.            .    .  .
   According to his defign, (if  I am rightly in-
formed) no buildings were to be erected  between
Front ftreet and the River Delaware.  But  covet-
oufnefs,  regardlefs  of the  beauty—the  conveni-
ence—the natural order—and health of the city  ;
has crowded buildings in a manner,, that is incon-
venient for bufinefs, and deftructive to the inha-
bitants.—And viewing this matter  in a natural
light  only, and  extending  our views  no farther
than  the! furface of things.—It would, I believe
be a great benefit to thia city, if every building of
the above defcription were entirely removed :  and
the vacancy fupplied by one or  two ranges of low
and wide ftores interfected with rows of trees.—
And  paved  or graveled walks.   By fuch or fimi-
lar arrangements; The intenfe heat of a Summer's
Meridian fun: its reflected fultry rays at particu-
lar hours from the furface of the river:  and cor-
rupted and ftagnated air from confined  and crowd-
ed  houfes, generally deftitute  of yards; toge-
ther  with  other inconveniences  and  difadvanta-
ges  too  many and too obvious to be particularly
                                   enumerated;
* I Tim. vi. 10. 
39
enmernted': would  generally  be  removed,  or
greatly alleviated and avoided.
   Govetousness, thus confidered, has moft effen-
tially combined, with other caufes, to mar the
beauty—injure the profperity—and  endanger the
exiftence of the city.
   And here it may be obferved, that the peftilence
whether originating in natural, or  moral caufes,
or both  combined;~  has  in  its three fatal vifitati-
ons:  firft made its appearance eaftward of Front-
ftreet.
   These  effects  of coretoufnefs are  difficult to
obviate, perhaps impoffible entirely to  remove :  I
fhall therefore  endeavour to turn your attention
to the effects of covetoufnefs in points, if not lefs
fatal, yet more remediable.
   Covetousness, when it once"  gaihs an afcen-
dency in the mind, is one of the moft dangerous
vices  : in proof of this, much might be produced
from  fcripture and hiftory, b«t I fhall principally
confine my obferv^tions to  America in general,
and Philadelphia in particular.
  What but covetoufnefs caufed fuch  unheard of
cruelties  to be committed upon the  ancient inha-
bitants of South America ?  and let  me afk  what
but covetoufnefs caufed fo  many of the original
inhabitants of North  America,  at  once, to lofe
their  lands without  receiving* compenfation, and
their  lives without giving provocation ?  is it not
an indifputable fact,  that fome of  the  ftates  ob-
                      D 2                tained 
4°
tained their lands  by robbery  and murder ?  and
to the difgrace of a free and enlightened nation ;
do not fome of them continue to have  their plan-
tations* cultivated by flavery and oppreffion ?
   But amidft all the forrows of my heart, it af-
fords me real fatisfaction to obferve that this ftate
was free from this odious  trait  of covetoufnefs,
in its firft fettlement ;  and the numerous and be-
neficial   charitable  inftitutions, which in  this ci-
ty, far exceed thofe of any  other on the continent,
ftamp the liberality of the  citizens, in the  moft
confpicuous and durable characters.   Under this
view, may we not, in the  language of fcripture,
fay :  if  " the time is come thr.t judgment muft
begin at the houfe of God;  and if it firft begin at
us, what fhall the end be of them  that obey not the
the gofpel of God ?*
   But if the monfter covetoufnefs ftalks not in
public,  it lurks unfeen  in  private :  of too many
individuals it may  be»faid ;

      " Of all their views, the firft and chief requcft,
    » Of each, is to Le richer than the reft."

   Which extreme  ardour,  in the acquifition of
riches,  feems at variance  with  the ceconomy of
providence.   I appeal  to  every ferious and atten-
tive obferver  of providential difpenfations, in the
natural and moral world;—if covetoufnefs in a fa-
ther, does not frequently occafion prodigality in
the fon ?                         Covetousness
* 1 Peter, iv. 17. 
4*
   CovetoTjsness often defeats its own purpofes—
gralping  at all—it, eventually holds none.  Has
not covetoufnefs  in  this city of late, too much
taken the place of Induftry in bufinefs?—Has not
the ufe of banks  been  abufed—artificial capitals
(of fhort duration) created, imprudent  in  com-
mencement—-perplexing in advancement—and ru-
inous in  the end?
   Covetousness, by this difpenfatiqn* is punifli-
ed in all its branches.   The apprentice lad, too
clofely  confined,  now enjoys a long vacation.—
•The  avaricious  landlord, perceives  his rents de-
clining in  magnitude and number.—With  moft,
the means of acquifnion are few ; Thofe of dif-
buriement many.
      Happy are thofe, who duly confider,

    •« Man wants bu: little here below,
    " Nor wants that little long.'*

 And the laft, though not the leaft command faith,
" Thou  (halt not covet."

                INJUSTICE.

   Injustice  fo connected and  clofely allied with
covetoufnefs, as, in  many inftances fcarcely to be
 diftinguifhed from it;  Is not entirely 11; known
not unpracticed here. Viewing things upon a large
fcale ; War, that fource of many evils, lays an ample
foundation for Ii.jufticc :  The laft war did not pafs
                     D 3                wholly 
                     42

wholly  unimproved—-embezzlement—peculation
and  fpeculation—as intimately  connected with a
ftate  of war;  as  the  touch of a match,  is with
the explofion of a cannon; in fome degree prevail-
ed: The hardy foldier, who expofed his brealt, as
his country's barrier;  earned, for  greedy fpecu-
lators to receive.
   Is this  city free from  injuftice  of this fort?
overgrown   nominal  eftates—foundations   for
princely palaces—and  a variety of vaft fpeculative
fchemes and arrangements,  fay no!  And fufFer
me to afk, whether fome are not more fcrupulous
againft  personally  bearing arms, in war ;  than a-
gainft fpeculation  in, and profit  thereby ?
   Injustice, and fpeculation,  in large and nati-
©nal  concerns ; has a direct tendency, by example
and  otherwife to infect  a whole  community.—
 Punctuality the life of bufinefs and bafis of confi-
dence,  falls a   facrifice.   Iniquitous adulterati-
 ons—falfe  balances—and  diverfe  weights,  are
branches of injuftice too  often practifed : But a
 deftructive principle is connected  with all unjuft
 practices, containing a fire, that will fooner or la-
 ter certainly devour.

            SABBATH-BREAKING.

   The apoftle Paul fpeaking of the Sabbath, faith
 " he that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the
                                          Lord; 
43
Lord ;'"'* palling-over without notice, the pride of
falhion, and parade  of drefs, particularly discerni-
ble on the Sabbath : I fhall endeavour to explain
its nature and ufe :  and  the pernicious effects re-
fulting from an abufe thereof.
   The Sabbath  is an ancient inftitution prime-
val with  creation—appointed  to man, for reft
from labour, in obedience to the ordinance and ex-
ample of God.
   If one day in  feven, was neceffary, was ufeful,
for man to obferve, as a day ef reft, while innocent
and uncorrupted: How  much more  fo  now, in
his prefent ftate and fituation ?  Surrounded  on e-
very  fide  with  perplexing  cares ; and befet with
bodily and mental imperfections.
    There are but few, if any, of  the different
religious  focieties in this City, whofe forefathers
or themfelves have  not fuffered  in fome age  or
nation of the  world, in  a greater or leffer degree;
difadvantages,  fines, punifhments of fome  kind,
perfecutions,  imprifonments, or death, from the
iron hand of arbitrary power; for  the confcien-
tious performance  of religious  worfhip, on this
bleffed day.   But praifed be God !  a nation is
born! a  Government arifen!  a  Conftitution  ef-
 tablifhed! of which  we  are  a  part,  and  under
 which we live; that gives to,  and protects  all, in
 a full and free liberty of  confcience, in matters
of religion  and worfhip !  How is this important,
                                           this
•  * Rom. xiv, 6. 
44
this precious, this ineftimable privilege improvedr
Is it improved in a manner that tends to promote
God's glory and our benefit?
   The affairs of this world, neceffarily,  unavoid-
ably, engage much of men's attention, particularly
in commercial cities;  and without fuch an iftfti-
tution as the fabbath,  the mind would be in dan-
ger of being entirely engrofled and overwhelmed
in temporal purfuits;  and fome of the moft im-
portant duties of chriftianity and morality negleci-
ed and entirely forgotten: Death unregarded, and
a future ftate unthought of, and unprepared for.
   It will  no doubt be readily affented to,  by all
confiderate  perfons, that the fabbath has in this
place heretofore been fhamefully  neglected  and
difregarded.   The  apoftle  Paul,  exhorted  the
people in his  day,  to be careful in  not forfaking
the affembling together, as the manner of  fome
was.
   Mere permit me to afk, are there not many
heads of  families,  and  others, whofe  condud
fhould be exemplary, that feidom, if ever, attend
any place of public  worlhip?  Surely  in this city,
where twelve Or  more of dliferent religious deno-
minations meet  Separately, no perfon can plead
excufe,  when in health,  for a  general courfe of
non-attendance,  at fome  one of thefe places.
   Can  thofe be faid to fpend the fabbath with
propriety or real ufe, who keep  it as a day or
feaiiing,  diverfion,  or amufement, either in town
or country ?                           C c m m : * 
45
   Commok obfervation will juftify me in faying,
.that the fabbath,  nominally a holy, is  with many
by far the moft unholy and ill fpent day  in  the
week.   Oh,  what mockery!  what perverfion of
order!  what  monftrous ingratitude and impropri-
ety is exhibited on this day, (particularly fct apart
for divine worfhip.)   The day is profaned by ma-
ny,  of whom better things might reafonably  be
expected; things that  tend to edification, not de-
ftruction.
   On this day, inftead of humility, behold pride!
 inftead  of temperance, excefs!  inftead  of  felf
examination,  and deep fearchings of heart, behold
vain and unprofitable converfation,  and light airy
behaviour!*  inftead of a ftillnefs and quietnefs
through  the  city:  behold the parade, and hear
the  rattling  of  the carriages, the found of  the
whip, and the  prancing  of the horfes!  to  the
great  grief and  difquiet of  thofe, who  wifh to
fanctify the  fabbath themfelves,  and  to  fee  and
hear the like  of others. My brethren, thefe things
ought not to  be.
   May that fupreme being,  who firft inftituted
the  fabbath, and fince has commanded us exprefsly
                                               to

   *  i think it an incumbent duty, here to mention the fatisfac-
tion  I have received in being an eye and ear y.'knrf; at different
times, and in various parts of this city, of the exemplary condudt
 of numbers of the Africans, on the fabbath.  As I have [v.ffed
 many of their houfes, I have obferved them teaching ihcir children
 —reading the fcriptt;rer-—and t'ifcourfiug upon religious fubje<5tp;
to the great repror.ch of the conduct of muny who claim a fujxrior
rank;;; the fi ale of being. 
                                              1

                      46

to keep it holy,  have his anger) which  has been
kindled  againft  the  fabbath-breakers, appeafed,
by a feafortable and lading reformation.
   My heart within me,  is, in rheafure warmed ''
with  the  love of God, which I feel at this" time,
flowing through my foul,  towards all the inhabi-
tants  of this city, of whatever denomination; and
the travail and exercife of my fpirit for them;  is,
that they  may all be brought Out of darkhefs into
light; and from the Service of fin and fatan unto the
true worfhip of the living God: and that  we may
keep our Sabbaths here below,  in fuch a  manner,
that We may he permitted to fee good days, accord-
ing to the  days wherein we  have Seen evil; and,
that finally, we may be admitted to keep that Sab-
bath of reft with the Almighty^  which the fpirits
of the juft enjoy  with him, in his kingdom  for
even
   I wish to enforce this fubject upon your minds
with every degree of weight, that its nature  and
importance requires: Being convinced in  my own
mind, that if, in future, Sabbaths are remembered*
and fanctified,  throughout the city, it will have
a powerful tendency to correct  vice—eftablifh
virtue—and thereby procure the divine  favour Pi
that fo,  an all powerful  and  kind  provhh:nrial
care,  may watch  over this city,  and all its widely
extended concerns— for prefervation, not deftruc-
tion !          *
                                          Bot 
47
  But on the other hand, if no reformation take9
place, my foreboding apprehenfions fuggeft, that
what we  have Seen, felt and fuifered, are only the
beginning of Sorrows.

       NEGLECT  OF EDUCATION.

   A deep concern for the  temporal and fpiritual
welfare,  of the young  and rifing generation, has
long dwelt with great weight upon my mind; and
I have anxioufly defired that they might be a gene-
ration to Serve the Lord.   A generation worthy to
come forward in  a country poffeffed of fo many
natural and acquired advantages !
   But alas I until they fee lefs of bad examples—
are more reftrictedfrom reading pernicious books
—kept at a greater diftance from improper affoci-
ates—and are brought to fubmit to a Stricter dis-
cipline.   What well grounded hopes can  reafon-
ably be entertained for their welfare ?
   The  neglect of parents and  others, in thefe
important refpects, have, I believe, effentially con-
tributed  to the prefent calamity;  and a  fenfe of
 thefe fatal neglects,  has by this difpenfation, been
 brought  home to  tlie feelings and confeience of
 many an unhappy parent,  when  on a  dying bed,
taking a long,  an heart rending farewell of their
 weeping offspring;  or viewing a  much  beloved
 child,  under  all  the inexpreffible horrors,   of
 this moft dreadful  of all difordersl  encircled in
                                            the 
r-
  ■
t
                      48

the icy  arms, and cold embraces of approaching
death !
   On the  reverfe, where education  has been
ftrictly  attended to, and  the  parent's duty faith-  ■
fully difcharged, there has been  an anfwer  of
peace in thefe trying moments,  which not all the
wealth of the Indies could give,  nor • all the hor
rors of death take away.
   Wherefore,  let all fuch parents as are fpare
to  their children : and have  children continued
unto them ; be tenderly entreated to be more-at-
tentive to this important point, education.   Our
Saviour  when perfonally  on earth ;  did not think
children unworthy of his attention, but took them
in his arms  and bleifed them,  faying," of fuch  is
the kingdom of  God."* And Solomon, a  Jewifh
King; noted for wifdom, faid, " train up a  child■]
in the way he fhould go ; and when he is old he
will not depart from it."f

              BAD  BOOKS.

   It is  much tp be lamented,  that fo noble, i<M
ingenious, and fo univerfally ufeful an art as print-
ing, fhould ever be So debaSed, as, in any inftance,:
to become an engine destructive  of mankind, and
a powerful auxiliary to the caufe of vice.   But the
experience of paft and prefent times,  in  too ma-
                                            ny

  * Mark, x. 14.
  Y Pro v. xxii. 6. 
49
ny inftances, prove the prefs may be proftituted ta
very unworthy purpofes, particularly printing bad
books.
   The avenues of education and instruction, are
often obftructed and  corrupted by  reafon of bad
books, by  their means the attention  of youth is
forcibly attracted,  and intenfely fixed upon frivo-
lous, and often upon very  improper and pernici-
ous objects and narrations.   Whereby the worft
of impreffions and principles are frequently rivet-
ted  in their young and tender minds : And their
lively  imaginations,  fired  with premature ideas,
and falfe notions of  men and things: Therefore
may it be truly faid.—" Bad Books arc a public
fountain of vice."
   Scripture informs  us,  the   Apoftle  Paul
wrought fo great a conviction, at  a certain time,
on tlie minds of  the Ephefians;   That many of
them, " which ufed  curious arts  brought  their
books together, and burned them before all men:
'and they counted the price of them and found it
fifty thoufand pieces oS filver."*
   If all the vain, wicked and unprofitable books
in tins city, were  collected  into one  place, the
bulk would doubtleSs be aftonifhingly great, could
all  their pernicious  contents be feen at once, no
mind not  callous to  the feelings  of virtue; but
would be  filled with  horror  :—But  ah!  could
all their fatal effects ;  as difobedience to parents__
                      E           debaucheries
  • Acts, six. 19. 
                       5°
 debaucheries— -prostitutions—broken promifes—.
 perjuries—adulteries—fuicides  and other  crimes
 too horrid to name,  and all the fouls eventually
 loft, caufed  by learning in,  and  inculcated from
■this abominable library of hell, be fully known :—
 not an arm, in the city,  would remain a moment
 v.nftretched  to  light the  funeral pile of departing^
 vice: And  the  curling clouds  of the rifing co-  '
 lurnns of Smoke would afcend towards heaven, as
 an acceptable fin offering  from the inhabitants of
Philadelphia.
   I? prudent parents  are  cautious (as they cer-
tainly ought to be) in  refpect of  what, companjflB
they admit in their families, as intimate acquain-jj
tances:—how much more caution is  neceffary
with regard to books ?
   In converfation  many  circumftances Serve to;
reprefs and abafh vicious difpofitions and inclinati-
ons.  In  reading  none.  The  moft  pernicious,/:
books are generally  read with the greateft Secrecy:
not a blufh raiSed-at any impropriety of expreffion:
nor perhaps  a  thought  excited,  or alarmed with
a SenSe  of danger; while the moft intimate and
deftructive connections are forming  by means of
books:  between  wicked and  defigning authors;
and innocent and unfufpecting youth.
   Is it  not an  incumbent duty upon every per-
fon; capable of  Serious reflection, to infpect their,;
own books; and  thofe of their  dependants :  and to
burn and entirely deftroy all Such as tend to cor- *
                                          rupt 
                    5*
rupt good  morals:  and to  lead the mind aftray
from the paths of innocence, rectitude, and virtue:
and to fufFer,  upon no pretence whatever, any
book to remain, or,  ever  after to be introduced,
that may be found  inconfiftent with the pureft
morals, and  the  ftricteft  reformation;  that now
feems fo evidently neceffary  to take place ?
   Remember  I  befeech  you,  how,  that in Jo-
fhua's time, the fecreting  a  wedge of gold, fome
Silver,  and a Babylonifh garment;  brought trou-
ble upon the children of Ifrael; and proved the
 entire deftruction of one of its families.
   Oh ! that one  and all of us,  may  be induced
 from the beft of motives,  to unite in fo laudable
 an undertaking, as that of effectually clearing this
 city of  bad books;  if rightly  undertaken,  God
 will na doubt,  in mercy to the rifmg generation,
 crown every honeft effort with defired fuccefs.

         IvIOCKERT  OF RELIGION.

    On open  declaration of war  with heaven, has
 been attempted, and in fome meafure carried on,
 in every age of the world : but, it never finally
 profpered, nor ever will eventually prevail.
    Pivrhaps, at no tim?, were the effential princi-
 ples of natural and revealed religion, more gene-
 rally attacked throughout  the world ; than at the
 prefent  day.   Some,  by  attempting  to do away
 real  or fuppofed  errors,  confound,  right and
                      E  2                wrong 
52
wron»—truth and  falfehood in  one blended and
nndiftinguifhed overthrow:  inftead of  mending,
deftroy--inftead  of correcting, obliterate:   And
with the tares pluck up the wheat.  Others with-
out ceremony, openly and directly attack and de-
ny all  revealed  religion.—The  fcriptures,  they  J
pretend, are a mere farce,  a human  invention,  I
much of them political  fables, calculated to  keep
the ignorant and vulgar in awe; affirming to them-
felves the privilege of being numbered with the   '
enlightened few,  who have difcovered  the cheat.
With fome, (as they pretend) God is nothing buc
a  name; Chrift a mere  man;  Heaven, only an
imaginary good; and Hell, a fictitious evil.
   These opinions, whatever plaufible pretexts
fome of them may  affume,  are,  as they relate to
man  in this  world,  directly  pointed  againft all
government, all Social compact, all that tends to
render life defirable, or even Supportable.  As to
a future ftate, thefe all deftructive principles ren-
der it a chaos, o'er which broods more than Egypt-
ian darknefs: Annihilation!  mental deftruaion! A
to ceafe to be!  are proSpefts more terrific, to the %
immortal mind forever aaive, and the rolling eye
enjoying the golden day, than all the moft gloomy
imagination can  paint, or the warmcft enthufiafm
believe of Shades below.
    Against fuch principles, hoftile to human hap-
pineSs in every view, every wiSe, every good man,
feels at once oppofed.  The politician views them
                                             as 
                      S3
as a  devouring hydra,  before which, no govern-
ment can Stand; and the moralift and the chris-
tian view them as productive of every prefent and
future woe.
  Principles like thefe, wicked fools alone a6-
vance, advocate, or pretend to believe!
  But  however great my  partiality and charity
for this city  may be, I am perfaaded they would
be extended too Sar, if I fliould fuppofe it entirely
free  from fuch principles,  however inconfiftent
with wifdom, goodnefs, or common honefty.
  To fuch perfons, few, I  hope, in number, as
dangerous i-n fentiment,  what can  be addreffed
with any profpect oS SucceSs ? God's own power,
immediately, or man's good examples, inftrument-
ally,  feem the only remedies,  in cafes, fo defpe-
ratc
   God's power fo  Signally difplayed, at this time",.
both in  mercy and judgment, in prefevving and
deftroying—in obfeuring the world  in all its glo-
ry—in withdrawing its pleaSures and advantages,
in So great a degree, from  its principal votaries
and  dependants, has  occafioned  the atheift,  the
deift, and the unbelievers of all defcriptions, to
experience fad times I gloomy days! and  great
remorfe!  Confcience  in many has been aroufed!
The wrath of Almighty God, and  the terrors of
his judgments,  have brought conviction home to
the minds of many; under  which they have been
                     E 3                 made 
54
  made to cry out, Lord, fave me,  or I die! A re-
  deemer, or I perifh!
     The mind of man, ever active in the- purfuit
  of happinefs, when  difappointed  in  one object,
  naturally turns to  another; as faith an eminent
  poet:
             " Man has a foul of vaft defircs;
             He burns within with reftlefs fire?,
             Tofs'd to and fro, hispaffions fly,
             From vanity to vanity."
   And after a  long  and unfuccefsful purfuit, not
  Satisfied with all this world  can beftow, in this
  dark and bewildered Situation, the bright rays of
  good examples, at times  Strike  through the fur-
%  rounding gloom, the mind is attracted to the glory
  of the  light,  and  the brightnefs of its rifing:  On
  nearer  furvey, he is aftonifhed to find, that while
  ■he has  been unhappy in profperity and adverfity,
  the chriftian enjoys happinefs in both:  that what
  he has  been Seeking from  without, the  chriftian  ;
  finds within;  that,  while from the moft unbound-  |
  ed fuccefs in  war, (which engrofles fo much of
  our  attention) lafting, individual, or national hap-
  pinefs can never arife: that, while  wealth, how-
  ever immenfe, cannot give peace; nor univerfal
  fame and applaufe, beftow  real  content.   The
  good man has a world  within, where God rules
   (the devil Seldom  enters); where politics, wealth
  and  Same,  are  merely accidental matters,  not
                                           having
J 
55
lining the hr heft pre-eminence; happinefs or mi-
fery,  depend on them  in  a Subordinate mariner
only.
   From a feeling of the judgments of God—from
an experience of the vanity of  the world,  its in-
fufficiency to beftow Lifting happinefs—from be-
holding the dignity  of virtue, and Seeing the good
man happy in every Situation—many are at times
brought into a ftate of inward attention and con-
sideration,  which,  if abode in,  with patience and
perfeverance, would be the means, by the blefiing
of God, of bringing thofe, who  are thus exercifed,
out of darknefs into light;  out of anxiety and dif-
content, into peace,  and a well grounded hope of
future happinefs.
   If unbelievers can receive instruction from the
examples of good men,  in  their lives, they may
not be altogether unbenefited by attending to their
deaths.
   It is the end  that crowns all; and where a man
is feen cafinly quiting every earthly connection—
paffing the verge of time—entering on the borders
of eternity—fatisfied with life—unmoved at death!
it appears to all a confummation devoutly to be
wifhed; and many  are ready to adopt the langu-
age of  Balaam, " Let  me  die the death of the
righteous,  and  let my laft end  be like his!"*
   Some infidels, who do not openly deny all re-
vealed  religion, yet by their  conduct,  feem  to
                                      entertain
   * Numb xxiii. 10. 
                       5«

 entertain a thorough contempt and difrcgard of
 its profeffors.   This,  no  doubt,  is  highly  dif-
 pleafing in the Sight  oS God.
    We  Srequently See and  hear that the rulers of
x the earth,  uhen  their ambafTadors, their envoys
 extraordinary, their  Subjects or citizens, are treat-
 ed with abuSe,  contempt, or neglect, in a Soreign
 land,  denounce the vengeance  oS the ftate,  unlefs
 reparation for the offence is made.   An infult to
 an individual is often  viewed as offered Immediate-
 ly to the majefty  cf  the nation : War  Sometimes
 enfue.-?,  and thouSands, comprehending the inno-
 cent and guilty,  ar§  often involved in one undiS-
 tinguifhed ruin.
   If earthly potentates are  So  jealous oS matters
 concerning honour, and refpect, whether relating
 immediately to themSelves, or  thoSe under their
 direction and government,  can We SuppoSe  the
 Supreme ruler oS the univerSe, poffeffing all know-
 ledge  and  power, to  be an idle Spectator,  and '
 wholly indifferent about the manner in which his
 meffengers  are  received—his  Servants treated—
 and his  communications attended to and obeyedL|
   Most individuals and moft  communities have!
 a  day;  wherein happineSs, in its moft extenSive
 fenfe,  may be obtained.  Adam had a  day—but
 not  being  Sufficiently attentive he Suffered loSs.—
 The old world,  had their day, but they neglected
 it:—Among them, was Noah, a preacher of righte-
 oufnefs, but he was difregarded ;  they were too
                                          much 
                     51
much immerfed in temporal concerns;  the earth
was filled  with violence : all fiefh had corrupted
his  way—and deftruction enfued. And although
the Almighty covenanted with Noah and his poste-
rity, that  So univerSal  a deftruction among man-
kind, by reaSon oS a flood  fhould not again take
place : yet we have  Seen, and this day Seel, that
the Lord s arm is  not Shortened, either to Save or
deftroy.
  Sodom   and Gomorrha  had  a day, but alas !
it was  neglected ;  till deftruction came :  though
they had a Lot in the  city  to warn and reprove ;
and an Abraham in the country  to intercede with
Heaven.  Oh how many reproving Lots,  and in-
terceding Abrahams, have,  day  and night, in fea-
fon and out of Seafon, been employed for the fal-
vation  of  this city.  Some of  whom have been
mocked and   defpifed—pointed and  jeered  at,
when  walking the  ftreets —and, all  in  effect
have been  but too much difregarded until calamity
'approached.
   Ahab had a day,  and although a very wicked
King,  furrounded by  an idelatrous people—and
his public and private  concerns troubled with a
cruel,  meddlefome, unprincipalled woman : which
Stirred  him  up to do, what perhaps  otherwiSe
would not have been done; Yet when the Leid
reproved him by the mouth of his prephet,  he
did not mock at religion, nor defpife his  neffen-
ger ;  (though he counted him for an enemy) but
                                           he 
                      58

he humbled himfelf before God, and his  deom
was fufpended.
   The inhabitants of Ninevah had a day of grace
afiigned unto them : and by  attending thereto in
earneft—by  an   univerfal humiliation—fervent
prayer to  Almighty God—and a  thorough repen-
tance  and reformation—the  anger  of the moft
high was appeafcd—and his righteous judgments A
not inflicted.                                  ^
    The Jews had a day, a long day of grace, but  |
they never fully improved it.   They were divided   I
into different  Sects; fome  Pharifees; fome Sad-  j
ducees;  others perhaps, of no particular  denomi-
nation, but mockers at any appearanc of religion.
 Moft  were too much outward in their  perfor-
 mances,  and  few fmcere at heart in the Sight of
 God:  They, as a city, as a nation, with flood the
law and the prophets: the Son and fent of God,
 came perfonally unto them; but they received him
 not: they mocked and perfecuted both him and  *■
 the religion he came to eftablifh;  which brought  j
 upon  them and their city,  a deftruction  attended-
 with circumftances  unparalleled in hiftory, anci-1
 ent or modern, Sacred or profane.
    A prospect of which, brought from the com-  I
 pafionate and ever bleffed  Son oSGod and Saviour  |
 oS the world, that nathetic exclamation and dread-
 ful denunciation,.'"Oh,  Jcrufalem, Jerufalem,  j
 thou  th-it killed  the  prophets,  and  ftoneft them
 which are Sent unto  thee,  how often would I
                                           h?vs 
59
have gathered thy children together, as a hen ga-
thereth her -Thickens  under her  wings, and ye
would not!  Behold,  your houfe is left unto you
defolate.   Fori Say unto you, ye fhall not fee me
henceforth,  till ye fliall  fay, Bleffed  is he  that
cometh in the name of the Lord."*
   Theste things,  my aflicted brethren of  Phila-
delphia, were written for warnings and example*
to us, and now,  in my meafure of that love,  that
wifheth well to all men,  ate endeavoured to he
revived in your remembrance.
   May God of his infinite mercy, through Jefus
Chrift our Lord  and  Saviour, grant  that thefe
things may be received in the love of the truth:
That all, who  have  heretofore been mockers of
 religion, may be convinced of their folly and dan-
ger,  and turn from  their  evil ways; left  they
fhould experience from God,  what is fpoken of
by the wife man Solomon,  " BecauSe I have call-
ed and ye have refufed; I have ftretched out my
hand, and  no man regardeth;  but ye have  fet  at
 nought  all  my counfel,  and would none of my
 reproof; I  alfo will laugh at your calamity ;  I will
 mock when your fear cometh.   When your fear
 cometh  as defolation, and your  deftruction com-
 eth as a whirlwind;  when diftrefs  and  anguifh
 cometh  upon you; then fhall they call upon me, but
 I will not anfwer;  they fhall  feek me  early, but
 they fhall not find me: For that they hated know-
                                          ledge
   • Matth. xxiii. 37, 58, 39. 
6o
ledge,  and did not choofe the fear  of the Lord:
They would none of my counfel;  they  deSpifed
all my reproof:  Therefore fhall  they eat of the
fruit of their  own way,  and be filled with their
own devices,   For the  turning away of  the Sim-
ple Shall flay  them,  and the proSperity  of fools
fhall deitroy them."*

       UNTHANKFULNESS TO  GOD,
                     AND
    DISREGARD OF HIS  JUDGMENTS!

   The whole world  exhibits one general and uni-
verfal  proof of  mankind  being in  too many  in-
stances, deficient in gratitude for  mercies;  and
but too frequently inoteentive  to  corrections in-
flicted by divine providence for fin.
   The action^ and fate of men and nations, faith-
fully recorded and handed down to  thofe of the
prefent day, afford a melancholy proof of this.
 ;  The greater  the  favours, and the  later the
age in which  beftowed, if unthankful!y  received
and not fuitably  improved, pioportionably increafe
 guilt, and  consequently  the weight of the judg-
 ments that may be juitly expected.     s
    All the labours, all the improvements in the
 ufeful arts and fciences, by former generation:,,
 are enjoyed by us of the prefent day.  Not  two
 centuries have pafled away finre the firft  '  ;;:■>
                                        incuts
   * Pro v. i. 34——3*-
_ 
6i
ments were made in this country, by people called
civilized.   Its  advances (through  dangers  great
and prefling) to  Empire  and Independence were
attended with  a rapidity and  SucceSs,  far exceed-
ing the moft fanguine expectations and hopes of
its principal founders.
   THIS  city, which  has  Shared So largely in na-
tional advancement and proSperity—this city, So e-
minently Savoured with liberty, health, peace and
plenty__this city  where toleration  ever prevailed
and  extenfive  liberty is now  enjoyed—this  city
whoSe burial grounds  were oSten So ftrictlyguarded
by the angel of health, that fcarcely a Solitary corpSe
for months could gain admittance,  and then, un-
der fuch circumftances of  pomp and  parade ;  as
Seemed rather calculated Sor an oftentatious dif-
play  of wealth and  family  diftinction;  than,  a
defcent to the Silent  manfions of the  dead—this
city,  whofe police  feemed  to contain the very
effence of peace ; whofe gaol,  inftead of exhibi-
ting a fcene of human mifery, idlenefs, corrupti-.
on, and depravity in  almoft every fhape,  feemed
better calculated for,  and more exprefhve of, an
univerfity, where legiflators from different States*
and foreigners of eminence and diftinction might
a'Temble,  to learn the benefits of order—The ad-
vantages of ©economy, induftry, and good regu-
lations : and the practicalnefs and utility of com-
bining  the principles of  the chriftian religion,
with the formation and execution of  human laws.—
                       F  ...              this 
62
this city whofe part was crowded with veflels from
every clime.—this city whofe  markets equalled or
exceeded all  in America,  perhaps in the world*
for  goodnefs,  variety, and  plenty : uniting the
luxuries of  the  eaft, with the. conveniences and
neceffaries of the weft.-~/,^> city,  under all thefe
circumftances  ; (and  many others that might be
enumerated) that individually enjoyed, would call
forth  the  thanks of  any  grateful people : and,
when  all united,  claim, one general and  lafting
tribute of thankfulnefs and  praife;  has been un-
thankful and ungrateful to God; calamities of former
times have not been fuit ably noticed,  nor judgments of
later date duly regarded.
   Thus, it  appears,  that  in this city,  pride has
abounded numbers have lived in  idlenefs,  many
have been intemperate—others profane—fome are
covetous—fome  unjuft—the fabbath  is broken-
education  neglected—bad  books read—religion
mocked at—God's mercies have not excited Suffi-
cient  thankfulnefs—nor his judgments been duly
regarded !
   Under an  awful impreffion  from  this view!
 the prophet's language to the revolting Jews, may
 be applied to Philadelphia, " Ah,  finful nation,
 (city,) a people laden with iniquity, a feed of evil-
 doers, children  that  are  corrupters! they  have
 forfaken the Lord,  they have provoked the Holy
 One of Ifrael unto  anger; they are gone away
backward."*                          Impressed
* Ifaiah, i. 4. 
63
   Impressed,  with thefe Solemn and melancho-
 ly  truths, may a  Serious and careSul examination
 take place in every mind :  and let all, who wifh
 well  to themSelves,  and to the  future welfare
 and profperity of this city, endeavour to amend
 whatever may have been amifs.—The Almighty
 doth not  afflict willingly nor  grieve the  children
 of men.   Punifhments are preceded by warnings
"■and exhortations.  Sin, when unreftrained by pu-
 nifhment, is  of fuch a nature ;  as, of itfelf to de-
 ftroy   mankind.   Puniftiment   therefore,  when
 mixed with mercy; may be  viewed as tending to
 man's  benefit,  v/hen fuitably   improved: other-
 wife no flefh  could ftand in judgment.
   A  great work of reformation, I hope,  and
 believe is, bringing about by the various permiffi-
 ons and difpenfations of  divine providence at the
 prefent day.
   Judgments are fometimes  varied  according
 to the  Sins and circumftances of thofe upon whom
 they are inflicted.   People delighting in war  and
 bloodfhed, fpreading ruin and devaftation among
 their neighbours, fometimes experience thofe ca-
 lamities, defigned  Sor others, turned upon them-
 Selves ; or Something  of the fame convulfive,  and
 Sudden destructive nature.:  as  Fire, Hurricanes,
 Deluges,  Earthquakes and the like.
   But the inhabitants of this  city, are many of
 them peaceable men ; profeffing  to ftand  aloof
 from war, and being concerned in the deftruction
                     F 2                   of 
64
 of their fellow men :—pacific principles, by rea-
 fon of their advocates intermixing with their fel-
 low citizens, upon many local interefting occafi-
 ons ;  and thereby  in conjunction with the great
 diffufion of  knowledge,  and the  improved civili-
 zation of the prefent day have infenfibly  infufed
 general principles of peace, with fome exceptions,
 into the maSs oS Society.   The citizens, therefore,
 fpeakirtg in general terms; may be  called pacific
 in many of  their principles, and  moft of  their
 practices; their fins  may be confidered,  as com-
 mitted more directly againft God,  and their own
 fouls and bodies;  than  againft the  lives and pro-
 perties of their neighbours.
   The punifhment therefore of thefe tranfgreffi-
 ons feem to proceed directly from God,  and to
 be confined in a  manner to the city:  with a hap-
 py tendency when improved aright,  to enforce the
 obfervance of thofe duties, which have been neg-
 lected, and  the  practice  of  thofe  virtues, that
 ftand oppofed to  the  fins and vices, which have
 been moft prevalent.
  - Thus humility, as oppofed to pride :  induftry,
 inftead of idlenefs, the illuftrious train attendant
 on temperance,  inftead of the frightful group fur-
 rounding excefs—inftead of profanenefs, Sobriety-
 liberality inftead  of covetoufnefs—inftead of in-
 juftice,  honefty—Sabbaths Sanctified, inftead .of
 broken ?  Children taught by virtuous examples,
and proper discipline, inftead of a  vitiated and
                                      neglected 
                      «5
neglected education—inftead of reading bad bookg,
a more frequent ufe of the feriptures, and a peru-
fal of edifying Subjects—inftead  of mocking and
ridiculing  religion and its author, a devotion to
them above all things—and inftead of unthankful-
nefs to God,  and difregard of his judgments, lives
entirely devoted to  his fervice and praife :  and a
religious dread  oS again  incurring his righteous
indignation are  virtues, reformations,  and bene-
fits, preffed enjoined,  and conferred, by this dif-
pcnfation,  upon  us, and  by us, as examples, to
and upon mankind ; in a language, though dumb,
eloquent—mute yet expreffive—Silent but pofitive--
far beyond all powers  of-the elocution of angels
or men ; being the immediate voice of God him-
felf !
   Which voice  that  we may  all hear, and fo
obey ; as to live  in truth and peace before him* —
may God  of his infinite  mercy grant,  through
Jefus Chrift our Lord !  Amen.
    Fourthly.  It may be obferved in the fourth
and laft place, that this difpenfation is a judgment,
that unlefs fuitably attended  to probably will be
followed by  more vindictive  tokens of divine
difpleafure.
   The end, or  defign of punifhment, is ufually,
of a two-fold nature—to deftroy  vice, and intro-
duce virtue.
   The vifitation of divine judgment upon this
city, which  is  Scarcely removed, whether we
                     F 3                  view 
66
view it in its nature or effect;  in itp caufe or im-
mediate  confequencc,  our enquiries  will refult in
this:—That God has been angry with  the inhabit-
ants of Philadelphia, for their Jins; and by this third
vifitaticn of the plague, has, as it were by his imme-
diate voice from Heaven, warned thofe who furvivc,
to repentance,  in  a  more direcl and folemn  manner,
than any other  city on this continent has ever experi-
enced, ftnee its fettlement by  Europeans.*
   If repentance does not fucceed this judgment,
can we fuppofe it will not be renewed ? perhaps
with tenfold vengeance!  REFORMATION or
DESTRUCTION!  TURN  or DIE! is,  I be-
lieve, the emphatical  language of heaven, to us,
at this time!
    God has clearly pointed out to the inhabitants
of this  city,  their  duty:  Neither  the means of
knowledge, nor  knowledge itfelS is wanting.  He
has favoured  us  with his  wri:ten word and  holy
Spirit;  all that is wanting is  a heart to fear  and
obey the Lord.
   Our heavenly Father has not been inattentive
 to our falvation—to allure us into the  pleafing
 paths of virtue—to deter us  from the dangerous
 avenues of  vice—he has,  in  the one hand, held
 qpt  every bleffing;  in  the other, every woe—in
                                              the

   •  According to official returns, on 9th mo. (September) «8th,
 X06 perfons died— which, confidering the Terr few inhabitants
remaining in th^ city, perhaps  not one tenth part of what re-
named in I7f3, may be accounted the greatcft mortality ever
known, by Americans, in this canntry. 
67
the one,  all profperity;  in the  other, every ad-
verfity—in the one,  blooming joy ; in the other,
wan defpair !
   Akound him, in  thronged fucceffion wait,  im-
ppticnt to know  and obey his will, dread minis-
ters of heaven, armed with every element,  every
power!  to reward or punilh—fave ordeftroy.
   If the peftilence  is not heard!  if the language
of the  plague is not understood! will it not be
repeated ? or Something more aroufing to reSor-
mation!  Something  more Sudden in attack!  more
alarming and univerSal in execution !
                FIRE!

   Perhaps an angel may deScend,  involved in
cloudy columns of dufky Smoke; and by Spreading
combuftiblcs Unquenchable,  light the " funeraj
pile" of Philadelphia's glory and existence!  Or

            A  DELUGE!

   Bv Some commiffioned  Spirit,  deScending o'er
the deep,  with a wand, more potent than that
waved by MoSes, overwhelm this city, and  all
its  guilty  inhabitants, in one common watery
grave! Or
A 
                     68

          A  HURRICANE,

  Swiftly defcending, urged  on,  and fiercely
driven by fome Serenely indignant ferap"h, borne in
awful fublimity of ftate, on whirling wings, of
Northern airy forces—fweeping  with impetuous
deluging tempefts—charged with inceffant peals|of
thedeepeft toned thunder—preceded by widely ex-
panded  flieets and ftreams of heaven's avenging
flafhes of vivid lightning—befor« which  the lofty
Spires bend—airy turrets bow—human grandeur
lays low—and the effects of fin and Sinners, com-
poSe one general ruin !  Or

         AN  EARTH QJJ  A K E !

   When earth, groaning from its  inmoft  cav-
erns, quaking with horror,  of its impious load,
is permitted,  by an  angry God, to execute his
vengeance,  expanding  wide  its voracious jaws,
draws in, in  one dire  fated  moment, Phihdcl-
phians and Philadelphia, to its centre.  Or

                  WAR!

   When men, naturally feeble and wicked as
ourfelves, may be permitted by the Almighty, for
our  fins, and our deftruction, to be  difarmed of
humanity,   in all but  vice and lhape, to  unite the
Subtility oS  the Fox, with  the  fierceneSs of the
Tiger,  and  the  ftrength and courage of the Lion
                                        armed 
69
— r.rmed in dTead vengeance with infatiable thirft
for defpotic  power, and human blood ! Led by
unbounded ambition to gain univerfal empire and
dominion, fhould affail  our  borders by land and
water, in one  day, and with  every  cruelty and
every horror;  planned in hell, or done on earth
—deftroy men, women  and  children, and razing
the buildings  to  their  foundations, not leaving
one Stone upon another; and in  the centre oS its
defolation erect a monument  with this inscription,
as a warning to mankind, in all Succeeding ages,
againft fin:

      HERE PHILADELPHIA STOOD.

   Under the  affault  of one of thefe judgments,
or fome, or all of them united,  the  once famed
city Philadelphia, being
       " Like an ciile, from a father's care,
       Dclivcr'd o'er to darhnei's and defpair."

Perhaps may  be viewed  by fome fympathizing
friend, ftanding at a diftance, in  an agony of def*
pair,  uttering  a language,  Somewhat after  this
manner :
   " Oh  Philadelphia!  thou  that haft  paffed
through  fo many diSpenfations  of mercy and judg-
ment,  would  to  God  thou hadft known,  even
thou in thy day the things  that  belonged to thy
peace; but now they  are forever hid  from thine
eyes,"
                                          But 
  But, if no general,  no  lafting reformation
fliould prevail, and none of the judgments men-
tioned Should Sollow, much as  peftilence,  fire,
deluges,  hurricanes, earthquakes, war, and other
calamities Similar unto them,  are to be dreaded:
Yet there remains one  judgment  unmentioned,
more to be feared than all the others,  feparately
or jointly confjdered:  I mean a being leStof God
to ourfelves.                                     l
   Wretched indeed ! is that individual, or that
community, whoSe Sins are Suffered to paSs long   1
unpunifhed,  without repentance!  Though  the   I
world and all around may  Seem to Smiie,  and
every thing for the prefent appear agreeable,  yet   '
Sooner or later, it will be found an important and
interesting truth, that while fin remains uniform-
ed,  and unrepented  of,  and the heart undcvoted
to, and eftranged from God, we are in that broad
way which leads to deftruction;  the breadth and
fmoothnefs whereof, and the numbers and gaiety
of thofe who are pafling therein, will  make  but
poor amends for the final deftrudtive confequences
that will inevitably enfue.
   Oh ! faith  my foul, and all that is living within
 me,  let none put off the neceffary, the All  im-
 portant  work of repentance and reformation, to
 what they may vainly fuppofe a convenient feafon!
The call for inftant and elfeftual attention to thefe
 duties, is preffing beyond expreflion. 
7'
     As being in the  immediate  prefence  of my
   Maker, and,  I truft,  under the influence and di-
   rection of his Holy Spirit, I feel it my indifpen-
   fible duty, at this time,  and in this way,  moft
   folemnly  to declare it to be my clear and full be-
   lief,  that  this city,  if not reformed,  will in all
   probability,  eventually be deftroyed.
     Embracing,  in the arms oS Saith  and  love,
   every  individual inhabitant of this  extenfive city,
   and humbly proftrating before the throne of divine
1.. grace, with the deepeft awe, and moft proSound
-  veneration, my Soul breathes forth fervent  fuppii-
   cations to the moft high!   that he would graciouf-
   ly be  pleafed, to  enable   us  all  to examine our
   ways and doings,  and in the goodnefs and abund-
   ance  of his infinite mercy,  for the fake of his dear
   Son our bleffed Saviour and redeemer, affift us in
   every needful time, to repent and reform of what-
   ever   we  iiave  done amifs; that So, we may be
   received into his Savour, and all tokens oS his diS-
   pleaSure,  in Suture,  be averted;  and the prospe-
   rity and  happinefs of this our beloved city, be
   placed and Secured upon that only fure foundation,
   acceptance with God, through Jefus Chrift.
AMEN. 
 
M«X. Hut.
   WZ-


 179?

 ^1