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Show ( 196 ) b f few Years have paJTed, wherein ~ither ~orm!; an ' or Droughts or fome Confurnmg Dtfafters, <i:Otl- ' have not bef;llen the Labour of the Hus~a~d- {Uillt~. ' men: By Sea, we were vifited with multip!ted ~~ fp· 'Shipw.racks; Enemies prey'd u.Pon our Veflels, D k ' and our Sailors, and the Affairs of the Mer .. 1\ltac S$. ' chant were clogged with Loffes abroad, or .«f. SJ , Fires breaking forth in the chief Se.ats of Trade .JI tt • , at home, w~fted their Sub~ance with yet more ~tfola- 'coftly Defolations: Nor dtd the Land and the tions:s ' Sea more proclaim the Controverfie of our • ' God againfl: us, than tl~at oth€r Element of Con~ro- ' the Air, by the ContagiOus Vap?urs whe1:eof, verite of ' feveral Peftilential Sickne.ffes did fometlmes G~d ft~~m ' become Epidemical among us; yea, the Judg-g: un_ . ' ments of God having done fi.rfl: the part of . !f~~~;ffi~ ' the Moth upo~ ~s, proceeded then to do t~e Ji 'part of a Lyon, In lamentable Wars, wherem ®tatSS. ' the Barbarous Indians Cruelly Butchered many ' Hundreds of our lnhabitants, .and• fcattered ' whole Towns with miferable Rums, (and reckft ning up the 'sins that Cyprian counted the Caufes of the Calamities that came on the Primitive ChriO:ians, he fays) P. 68. c. t •. ' Tru• ly if New-England had not abounded With. t_he ' like Offences ic may be fuppofed, fi1cb Calamities ' had not befa'llen it: It intimated a mor~ than . . ' ordinary Difplcafure of God for (orne Offence~, l'iit u1to ' when he proceeded fo far, as to put over Ius _ ~~~nh~~~~' 'poor People into the Hands of Tawny and as Bloody ' Bloody Salvages; and the whole Army . had and Sal- ' caufe to enquire into their own _Rebeihons, vage as , when they faw the Lord of Hofts, with a dread-them- ' ful Decimation, taking off fo n.lany of our Brc- felves: f Th Does not ' thren, by the worft o ExecutiOners.-.- _e thi~ re- ' ferious People, throughout the Coun~t y, we: e femble 'awakened, by thefe !ntimations of DIVIne Dt~- Judg- ' pleafitre t~ enquire Into the Caufes and Mattet s ment ~ ' of the Controverfie. · ~ P. 87· ( 197 ) P. 87. c. 2. 'The Scourges of Heaven were im· So they' ploy'd \lpon t he Churches of New-Enuland, for forfhely ,' t Il ~l·r n1\.Jt •i rt.c arriages, and they were for6e ly laihed hF rieendd oyu,r: WJch one Blow after another. 9. f5c. I , .• P· 88. c: I. ' That God haLh a Controverfie not this a ' with his New-Enuland People is undeniable · Refem- ; t~e Lord having o Written hi; Difpleafitre i~ blance • 1 drf~ttl_ CharaCters againft us, though Perfonal God's Affitchons. do often times come only or chiefly .Contr o.' for probatton, yet as to publick Judgments it is v~rfie 'not wont to he fo, Efipecially when by a Con- whtth ,' tt·n ue d fie n·e s o f P~ovt·d e.nce the Lord doth ap- t em. pear ~nd ple~d agamft his people, 2 Sam. 2 1. l . There is ' as With us J.t hath been from y car to Year . Caufe, if ' would the Lord have whetted his Glitterin; you :vou1d ' Sword, and his Hand have taken hold on jndg~ fee tt. 'me:1t? Would he havefcnt fuch a mortal Cunta- ' gion, like a Befom ofOeftruCl:ion, in the n.1idft of. · . ' us? Would he have faid, Sword go through the ~WO!b •. 'Land, and Cut off Man and Beall:? Or would he · ' l1ave kindled fuch Devouring Fires,. and made ~ello' fuch Fearful Defolations in the Earth, if he had ting ' 'not been Angry? It is not for nothing that the Jfftt!J, _ ' Merciful God, who doth not willingly affiiet ~efofo .. - ' nor grieve the Children of Men, hath done all Uonl$. 'thefe things unto us; yea, and fometimes with {@~ap 'a Cloud, f1ath Covered himfelf, that our Prayer tt~ n~t ' could noc pafs -thorough. P. 90. c. r. Inordinate Paillons, finful Hearts and Jjeatb. 'Hatreds, and that among Church-Members them- StiUlt ' felves, who abound with evil Surmifings, unchari- of tbett' ' table and unrighteous Cenfures,Backbitings,hear- §:))fnD 'ring and telling Tales.-Moreover, the Sword, • 'Sicknefs, Poverty, and almoft all the Judgments, 'which have been upon.N. Engl. are mentioned in *d . k. 'the Scripture as the woful fr nit of that Sin* c. 2. H:~frh1s~g 'and the Lord hatll threatned for that Tranfgref- P ·rc ~ lion, ·f·to give his People into the hands of their t.e~~~~~- . ~Enemies, |