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<DATE>2013-07-11</DATE>
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<NAME>Simon Charles</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
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<P>A Di&s;&s;ua&s;ive from Murmuring. BEING A SERMON ON 1 COR. X. 10. Preached by SAM. CARTE, M. A.</P>
<LICENSE LANG="eng" SUBTYPE="imprimatur">
<P>IMPRIMATUR,</P>
<CLOSER><DATELINE><DATE>May 14. 1694.</DATE></DATELINE>
<SIGNED>GEO. ROYSE.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</LICENSE>
<P><HI>LONDON;</HI> Printed for <HI>Richard Baldwin,</HI> near the <HI>Oxford-Arms</HI> in <HI>Warwick-Lane.</HI> MDCXCIV.</P>
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<DIV1 TYPE="to the reader">
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<HEAD>TO THE READER.</HEAD>
<P>IT is generally expected, that who&s;oever appears in Print, &s;hould give &s;ome ac|count of his Rea&s;ons for &s;o doing. And therefore, though I have not pre&s;umed to intere&s;t any great Per&s;on in this Di&s;cour&s;e by a &s;olemn Dedication; yet I have thought good to acquaint thee, that the Publication of it was occa&s;ioned by the fal&s;e Repre&s;en|tations which have been made of it by &s;ome, and the Apprehen&s;ion which others have, that it may be of u&s;e to the Publick. The mention of the&s;e may &s;eem nau&s;eous, as be|ing the common pretences of mo&s;t, who, with|out any expre&s;s Injunction of tho&s;e in Autho|rity,
<PB REF="4"> commit a Sermon to the Pre&s;s. But their being pleaded &s;o generally, is an indi|cation that they are as generally thought to be &s;ufficient. And a little Reflection on the Subject of this Di&s;cour&s;e, and the various Tempers of the People in this Nation, may &s;atisfythee, that they are truly alledged by me.</P>
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<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
<PB N="1" REF="4">
<HEAD>A Di&s;&s;ua&s;ive from Murmuring.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>1 COR. X. 10.</BIBL>
<Q><P>Neither murmur ye, as &s;ome of them al&s;o murmured, and were de&s;troyed of the de&s;troyer.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_IT is a Character that has long &s;ince been given of Mankind, That he is <HI>Animal querulum,</HI> a Creature much given to com|plaining.</P>
<P>There is rarely &s;uch a Concurrence of Cir|cum&s;tances as that all of them plea&s;e us; and if any thing di&s;plea&s;e or be offen&s;ive to us, it u&s;ually &s;o engages our thoughts, that we &s;carce make any fitting reflection on the more favoura|ble Circum&s;tances, how great and numerous
<PB N="2" REF="5"> &s;oever. And whil&s;t by this means one Evil, In|convenience, or Misfortune makes a greater im|pre&s;&s;ion on us than hundreds of Mercies and Advantages which we enjoy, we are generally di&s;po&s;ed to be di&s;&s;atisfied with our Condition, to Complain and Murmur when indeed we have no ju&s;t rea&s;on &s;o to do.</P>
<P>This being a Malady &s;o incident to mankind, the Apo&s;tle, one of the mo&s;t Able Phy&s;icians of Souls, has given us a Pre&s;cription again&s;t it in the words of my Text; <HI>Neither murmur ye as &s;ome of them al&s;o murmured, and were de&s;troyed of the de|&s;troyer.</HI></P>
<P>In which Words we may ob&s;erve, 1. A Re|lation of Matter of Fact, <HI>Some of them al&s;o mur|mured.</HI> 2<HI>dly.</HI> A Prohibition of the like Practice, <HI>Neither murmur ye, as &s;ome of them,</HI> &amp;c. 3<HI>dly.</HI> An Argument to di&s;&s;uade us from the Imitation of them, drawn from the de&s;tructivene&s;s of the Practice, evidenced by the Event it had on them, <HI>They were de&s;troyed of the de&s;troyer.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> Here is a Relation of Matter of Fact, <HI>Some of them al&s;o murmured.</HI> Some of them. Of whom? Even of the Children of <HI>I&s;rael.</HI> It would be no &s;trange matter to hear, that Hea|thens, that men governed by the mere Conduct
<PB N="3" REF="5"> of Corrupt Nature, &s;hould repine and murmur upon &s;light occa&s;ions: But the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> had been in&s;tructed in better Principles, which one might expect &s;hould have re&s;trained them from &s;uch di&s;tempers. Nay, the &s;tate which they were in before was &s;o very mi&s;erable, and it was by &s;uch a continued Succe&s;&s;ion of Miracles, of De|liverances and Mercies, that they were arrived at that Condition at which they murmured, that one might in all rea&s;on expect to hear of their Tran&s;ports of Joy, and Prai&s;e, and Thank&s;|giving, when on the contrary we find an Epide|mical Di&s;content and Murmuring among them.</P>
<P>For if you reflect on their Condition in <HI>Egypt,</HI> you may ob&s;erve them labouring under as great Oppre&s;&s;ion and Tyranny, as ever an ingenuous People underwent; &s;o that <HI>their lives</HI> were <HI>bitter</HI> unto them; and the &s;en&s;e of their Mi&s;eries made them vent their Griefs in Sighs and Groans, which mounted up to Heaven, and moved God in Compa&s;&s;ion to reach forth his mighty Hand and out&s;tretched Arm to deliver them. As the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t</HI> &s;ays, P&s;al. 105. 26. &amp;c. <HI>He &s;ent to them Mo&s;es his &s;ervant, and Aaron whom he had cho&s;en, and they &s;hewed his &s;igns among them, and wonders in the land of Ham. He &s;ent darkne&s;s upon their enemies,
<PB N="4" REF="6"> and it was dark, and turned their waters into blood, and &s;lew their fi&s;h. The land al&s;o brought forth frogs in abundance, yea, even in their kings chambers. He &s;pake, and there came divers &s;orts of flies and lice in all their coa&s;ts. He gave them hail&s;tones for rain, and flames of fire in their land. He &s;mote their vines al&s;o and fig|trees, and de&s;troyed the trees that were in their coa&s;ts. He &s;pake the word and the gra&s;hoppers came, and ca|terpillars innumerable, and did eat up all the gra&s;s in the land, and devoured the fruit of their ground. He &s;mote all the fir&s;t born al&s;o in their land, the chief of all their &s;terngth. He brought them forth with &s;ilver and gold, and</HI> (tho they were many hundred thou&s;ands) <HI>there was not one feeble per&s;on among their tribes.</HI> And all along as we go on in their Hi&s;tory, we may ob&s;erve &s;uch evident, &s;uch wonderful, &s;uch &s;ea|&s;onable Interpo&s;itions of the Divine Power and Goodne&s;s for their Defence and Relief, that one would think there could not po&s;&s;ibly be any room left for di&s;content or repining among them. For, Were they per&s;ecuted? God &s;et him&s;elf for a Wall of Defence between them and their Enemies. Were they in di&s;tre&s;s for a Pa&s;|&s;age? The Sea divided it &s;elf, and its Waters ro&s;e up on an heap, to afford them a Path <HI>through the deep, as through a wilderne&s;s.</HI> Did they want a
<PB N="5" REF="6"> &s;helter by day? <HI>He &s;pread his cloud over</HI> them <HI>for a covering.</HI> Did they want a Guide by night? He him&s;elf went before them <HI>in a pillar of fire.</HI> Did they want Bread? <HI>He rained down Manna upon them, and filled them with the bread of heaven.</HI> Did they want Meat to their Bread? He made <HI>the wind</HI> to bring them <HI>fle&s;h like du&s;t, and feathered fowl like as the &s;and of the &s;ea.</HI> Did they want Drink to both? <HI>He opened the rock of &s;tone, and the waters flowed out, &s;o that the rivers ran in dry places.</HI> Did they &s;tand in need of Apparel? Their <HI>cloaths did not wax old upon their backs,</HI> nor <HI>their &s;hooes upon their feet.</HI> Did they want Advice? God him&s;elf gave them his Vocal Oracle from between the Che|rubims. And be&s;ides all the&s;e, there were ma|ny other occa&s;ions wherein God exerted a Mira|culous Power to &s;upply their Nece&s;&s;ities, or gra|tify their De&s;ires. And yet, as the Apo&s;tle here &s;ays, <HI>Some of them al&s;o murmured.</HI></P>
<P>Hence then (my Brethren) we may ob&s;erve, That People's murmuring is no evidence that there is any good ground to do &s;o. I take no|tice of this the rather, becau&s;e I have often ob|&s;erved, that many men, who&s;e Temper and Principles (as I have apprehended) did not at all di&s;po&s;e them to Murmuring and Di&s;content,
<PB N="6" REF="7"> have yet been guilty of it, merely in compli|ance with others. They ob&s;erve many whom they conver&s;e with, and it may be, Per&s;ons of great Reputation, that they make it a great Subject of their Di&s;cour&s;e to cen&s;ure, find fault with, and complain of the &s;tate of Affairs; and therefore conclude that they mu&s;t certainly be grievou&s;ly ami&s;s, and that they them&s;elves &s;hould pa&s;s for per&s;ons of dull apprehen&s;ions, and very &s;hallow capacities, if they do not &s;ee rea&s;on to murmur as well as others.</P>
<P>Now if &s;uch per&s;ons would but ob&s;erve in this Hi&s;tory of the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> what little rea&s;on there was for murmuring, and yet how much they were guilty of it, it would certainly be a Caution to them to take heed how they are &s;o ea&s;ily mi&s;led by following others Examples. For whether they are led away by the Con&s;ide|rablene&s;s of the Per&s;ons, or the Greatne&s;s of their Numbers, you will find them parallel'd in the&s;e unju&s;t Murmurings of the <HI>I&s;raelites;</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Numb. 16. 2.</NOTE> <HI>ma|ny princes of the a&s;&s;embly, famous in the congregation, men of renown;</HI> nay, &s;ometimes the whole Con|gregation being engaged in them. Or if any pretend that they are not prevailed on by con&s;i|deration of the Per&s;ons, but by the Rea&s;ons
<PB N="7" REF="7"> which they give for their Di&s;contents; as no doubt they will: For when Per&s;ons are di&s;po&s;ed to find fault and murmur, they can never long want a Pretence; it being impo&s;&s;ible that in &s;uch a Multiplicity of Affairs as concern a Na|tion, and depend on &s;o many Per&s;ons, all of them &s;hould be &s;o managed, as not to be liable to the mi&s;interpretation of malevolent tongues. But if you plea&s;e to reflect on their Hi&s;tory, you will find that the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> them&s;elves were not without &s;ome apparent Rea&s;ons for their Di&s;contents. For to pa&s;s by the other occa&s;i|ons, to avoid Prolixity, there were two which Commentators &s;uppo&s;e the Apo&s;tle more e&s;pe|cially reflected on; the fir&s;t, <HI>Numb.</HI> 14. and the other, <HI>Numb.</HI> 16. At the one the great Grie|vance was, That they were engaged in a War with &s;uch Powerful Adver&s;aries, as they could never hope for a good i&s;&s;ue of it; and therefore thought it more advi&s;able to return to <HI>Egypt,</HI> to their Bondage again, than to proceed in it. In the other the Pretence was, That their Gover|nors both in Church and State were Intruders and U&s;urpers, and that Preferments run in a dif|ferent Channel from what they had u&s;ed to do.</P>
<PB N="8" REF="8">
<P>The fir&s;t Pretence (I &s;ay) was, That they were engaged in a War with &s;uch Potent Ad|ver&s;aries, that they could never hope for a good I&s;&s;ue of it: For if you look into <HI>Numb.</HI> 13. you will find the occa&s;ion of their murmuring to be, That the Spies who were &s;ent to &s;earch the Land, <NOTE PLACE="marg">V. 32. 33.</NOTE> upon their return repre&s;ented the <HI>people</HI> whom they were to encounter with, <HI>to be &s;trong,</HI> and <HI>the cities to be walled and very great;</HI> that the <HI>men</HI> were <HI>of great &s;tature,</HI> nay, that there were mighty <HI>gi|ants</HI> there, <HI>&s;ons of Anak,</HI> in compari&s;on of whom they <HI>were</HI> but as <HI>gra&s;hoppers.</HI> And it was the concurrent opinion of them all, excepting two, that they &s;hould never be able to with&s;tand them. This made the people de&s;pair and lament their Condition, and wi&s;h that they had <NOTE PLACE="marg">Numb. 14. V. 1, 2.</NOTE> <HI>died in the land of Egypt,</HI> or in the <HI>wilderne&s;s.</HI> For &s;hould they &s;till per&s;i&s;t in their Enterprize, they could expect nothing el&s;e, but that they &s;hould <HI>fall by the &s;word,</HI> and that their <HI>wives</HI> and their <NOTE PLACE="marg">V. 3.</NOTE> <HI>children &s;hould become a prey;</HI> and therefore concluded, that the be&s;t cour&s;e they could take, would be to return again to the Bondage and Slavery from which they had been &s;o wonderfully delivered. And hereupon they began to con&s;pire together for carrying on the de&s;ign, <HI>&s;aying one to another,
<PB N="9" REF="8"> Let us make us a captain, and let us return into Egypt, Numb.</HI> 14. 4. So &s;trangely does a di&s;contented, murmuring Humour, deprive men of the u&s;e of their Rational Faculties; blotting out the re|membrance of all former Evils, either &s;uffered or feared; making them &s;en&s;ele&s;s of pre&s;ent Mercies, though never &s;o pregnant with fu|ture hopes and expectations; abu&s;ing them with imaginations of groundle&s;s Terrors, and inci|ting them to run to a certain ruin, for a refuge from an imaginary one.</P>
<P>The <HI>&s;econd</HI> pretence was, That their Chief Governors both in Church and State, were no better than Intruders and U&s;urpers; and that &s;ubordinate Preferments were diverted to ano|ther channel from what they had us'd to run in. For the ca&s;e was this; From the beginning of the World till <HI>Mo&s;es's</HI> time, the Royal Power, or Kingdom, and the Prie&s;thood, were ve&s;ted in the Patriarch, or Head of every Tribe; and from him de&s;cended Hereditarily on the Fir&s;t|born of the Family: And this Succe&s;&s;ion was rarely interrupted that we know of, unle&s;s it were in the ca&s;e of <HI>Sem,</HI> whom &s;ome think not to have been <HI>Noah's</HI> Elde&s;t Son; and in the ca&s;e of <HI>Abraham</HI> the Younge&s;t Son of <HI>Terah;</HI> and
<PB N="10" REF="9"> of <HI>Jacob</HI> the Younger Brother of <HI>E&s;au.</HI> But now at the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> coming out of <HI>Egypt, Mo&s;es,</HI> whom God had made the great In&s;trument of their Deliverance, was advanced to the Supream Power, and made King in <HI>Je&s;hurun, Deut.</HI> 33. 5. <HI>Aaron</HI> was Inve&s;ted with the High-Prie&s;thood, and the Tribe of <HI>Levi</HI> promoted to the Service of the Tabernacle, in lieu of the Fir&s;t-born of their &s;everal Families, who thereby were exclu|ded from all hope of attaining to that Dignity. The&s;e things were grievou&s;ly re&s;ented by tho&s;e who&s;e Intere&s;t was concerned, and prejudiced by this new E&s;tabli&s;hment: and they &s;trength|ned their Faction, and fomented their Di&s;con|tents, till at length they broke forth into open Sedition: <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Numb.</HI> 16. 1. <HI>Da|than, Abiram,</HI> and <HI>On,</HI> were all Sons, that is, of the Po&s;terity of <HI>Reuben,</HI> who was the Fir&s;t-born of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> but lo&s;t his Honour by his Sin, 1 <HI>Chron.</HI> 5. 1. which his Sons by un|lawful means &s;eek to regain. <HI>Ain&s;worth</HI> on the place.</NOTE> Particularly <HI>Dathan</HI> and <HI>Abi|ram,</HI> the Sons of <HI>Eliab,</HI> and <HI>On,</HI> the Son of <HI>Peleth,</HI> being the Principal Per&s;ons of the Children of <HI>Reuben,</HI> the Elde&s;t Son of <HI>Jacob,</HI> thought them&s;elves ex|treamly injured. For tho <HI>Reuben</HI> for his unnatural Sin was indeed Depo&s;ed, and ju&s;tly Deprived of his Right to the Primogeniture, <HI>Gene&s;.</HI> 49. 4. and 1 <HI>Chron.</HI> 5. 1. Yet they would not allow of any Variation upon any account what|&s;oever,
<PB N="11" REF="9"> from the u&s;ual way of Succe&s;&s;ion; a Succe&s;&s;ion which (as they might plead) had been E&s;tabli&s;hed from the Creation of the World, founded on the Principles and Laws of Nature, receiv'd and practis'd by all Nati|ons then in the World. And by this &s;o &s;acred a Right, the Royal and Sacerdotal Power be|longed to them as de&s;cendants of the Elde&s;t Son of <HI>I&s;rael.</HI> And be&s;ides the&s;e, there were ma|ny other di&s;contented Per&s;ons, e&s;pecially <HI>Korah,</HI> who (as <HI>Solomon Jarchi</HI> &s;ays) was offended that <HI>Elizaphan,</HI> the Son of <HI>Uzziel,</HI> the Younge&s;t of all the Brothers, was advanced to be the Chief of the Family of the <HI>Kohathites, Numb.</HI> 3. 30. in prejudice of him&s;elf, who was of an Elder Branch; and his Re&s;entment fermenting his Pride, made him think him&s;elf as fit for the Prie&s;thood, as the be&s;t of them. The&s;e and many others, to who&s;e Intere&s;t or Ambition this change of Affairs &s;eemed not favourable, being Male-content, joyned together in tradu|cing the Government; Charge <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and <HI>Aaron</HI> as U&s;urpers, <HI>Numb.</HI> 10. 3. and accu&s;e them, that, in&s;tead of delivering them from their for|mer Oppre&s;&s;ions and Mi&s;eries, they had brought them into a much wor&s;e Condition; that there
<PB N="12" REF="10"> was nothing to be expected but Ruine under their Conduct, and that they &s;hould be killed in the Wilderne&s;s; and that the&s;e things were &s;o undeniably evident, that they mu&s;t <HI>put out the eyes of men</HI> before they could expect to per&s;uade them the contrary, <HI>Numb.</HI> 16. 13, 14. And we find that their pretences were &s;o very plau&s;ible, and had &s;uch a mighty and general influence on the People, that though Almighty God in a ve|ry Signal and Miraculous manner, declared his implacable Anger again&s;t the Principal Male|contents, and their Abettors, by a &s;upernatural and prodigious De&s;truction; yet the very next Morning we find the People crying them up as Martyrs dying in a good Cau&s;e, and Murmu|ring again&s;t <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and <HI>Aaron,</HI> as Authors of their Murther, <HI>v.</HI> 41. So difficult is it for People to be convinced when their Errors are fortified by Prepo&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion and Prejudice!</P>
<P>Thus (my Brethren) you have an account of the matter of Fact among the <HI>I&s;raelites;</HI> the unrea&s;onablene&s;s of their Murmurings, with the occa&s;ions and pretences of them. It is time now that we apply our &s;elves to the con&s;idera|tion of the <HI>&s;econd</HI> thing ob&s;erved in the words, <HI>viz.</HI> the Prohibition directed to us by St. <HI>Paul</HI>
<PB N="13" REF="10"> again&s;t the like Practice; <HI>Neither murmur ye as &s;ome of them murmured.</HI></P>
<P>The words are &s;ufficiently plain, and need little explication; for every one, I &s;uppo&s;e, mu&s;t needs under&s;tand, that when men are ready upon every occa&s;ion to &s;ignify their di&s;&s;atisfaction with the &s;tate of Affairs; when they detract from, and &s;peak again&s;t their Go|vernors; when they mi&s;interpret their Acti|ons; when they aggravate &s;uch misfortunes as happen; when they are generally com|plaining of Mi&s;managements, and &s;ugge&s;t Evil things concerning them: In a word, when they &s;hew them&s;elves Di&s;contented and De&s;i|rous of Changes, and endeavour to make others &s;o: The&s;e things (I &s;ay) and &s;uch like, tending to Sedition, every one mu&s;t needs under&s;tand to be acts of Murmuring and Re|pining; And the&s;e things therefore does the Apo&s;tle here prohibit; and it were ea&s;y to produce out of Holy Writ multitudes of other places tending to the &s;ame purpo&s;e. But to avoid tediou&s;ne&s;s, I forbear them, as knowing that St. <HI>Paul's</HI> Authority alone mu&s;t be own|ed
<PB N="14" REF="11"> &s;ufficient by all Chri&s;tians, &s;uch as we all profe&s;s our &s;elves to be.</P>
<P>Therefore I &s;hall rather addre&s;s my &s;elf to you in way of Exhortation; That you would take care to demean your &s;elves conformably to this Precept, which is of &s;uch undoubted Authority. And if one does but &s;eriou&s;ly re|flect on our Condition before the late Revo|lution, and repre&s;ent to our minds the into|lerable Grievances and formidable Circum|&s;tances which we then laboured under, one would think there could be no doubt of Succe&s;s. For alas! How di&s;mal did things then appear! How did mens hearts (as our Saviour &s;peaks, <HI>Luke</HI> 21. 26.) fail them for fear, and for looking after tho&s;e things which were coming upon us! When we &s;aw the Laws, the &s;ecurity of all that can be valua|ble in this world, profe&s;&s;edly run down and violated; Men, by Law unqualified for any Tru&s;t, thru&s;t into all Offices of Tru&s;t; and tho&s;e, who in account of the Law were Tray|tors, to have the chief management of the Government; when the Nur&s;eries of the Cler|gy
<PB N="15" REF="11"> were a&s;&s;igned over to Papi&s;ts; and the Mini&s;ters of Religion were enjoined, con|trary to the Laws in force, to proclaim Li|berty to their Pari&s;hioners to go to Ma&s;s, or what they plea&s;ed, and threatned with a &s;evere Pro&s;ecution for their non-compliance; and God knows what they might have &s;uf|fered if Deliverance had not come to prevent it: When a Petition drawn up with all the Care and Caution po&s;&s;ible, and pre&s;ented in the Humble&s;t and Private&s;t manner, was Cen|&s;ured for a Libel, and the Fathers of our Church &s;ent to the Tower for it; when an Army was kept up in time of Peace, merely to over-awe the People, and deter them from a&s;&s;erting their Rights; and the Soldiers were ordinarily per|mitted to act Arbitrarily, that they might be the willinger to &s;upport an Arbitrary Go|vernment; when the Wolves, the profe&s;&s;ed Adver&s;aries of the Church, were intru&s;ted with providing Pa&s;tors for it; the Je&s;uits and other Popi&s;h Prie&s;ts having the choice of our Bi&s;hops, and the di&s;po&s;al of all &s;uch Ec|cle&s;ia&s;tical Preferments as belonged to the Crown; when all &s;uch were turned out of
<PB N="16" REF="12"> the Court, Corporations, and mo&s;t Com|mi&s;&s;ions of the Peace, and Lieutenancy, as would not engage to concur with the Popi&s;h De&s;igns; when many hone&s;t men were de|barred of their way of livelyhood, and a re|&s;olution was about being taken to &s;uffer none to exerci&s;e &s;uch an Employment as required a Licen&s;e, unle&s;s they would make the like Engagement; when the Parliament, which &s;hould redre&s;s our Grievances, were no long|er allowed the Liberty of Voting; but the Lords and all others that were likely to be Members of Parliament, were Clo&s;etted, and all Arts u&s;ed to induce them to betray our Liberties; when the Nation was no longer permitted the free Choice of their Repre&s;en|tatives, but Threats and Menaces, and all &s;orts of Engines were u&s;ed to determine them to &s;uch Tools as the Papi&s;ts &s;hould think fit to nominate to them: When the&s;e (I &s;ay) and many other Grievances, too long to enume|rate, pre&s;&s;ed us, Oh! what Trouble! what Anxiety of thought did they cau&s;e in us! What great portions of our E&s;tates would we then have given for the &s;ecurity of our
<PB N="17" REF="12"> Religion, our Liberties and Properties! How zealous were our Prayers, how vehement our de&s;ires of Deliverance! and with what tran&s;ports of Joy and Thankfulne&s;s did we reckon that we &s;hould embrace it when it &s;hould come!</P>
<P>But this is not all; for it is not only &s;o great a Deliverance that we have occa&s;ion to be thank|ful for, but the wonderful Manner of it like|wi&s;e; That it &s;hould be wrought to our hands, without any con&s;iderable Interpo&s;ition of our own; that it &s;hould be effected without un|dergoing the mi&s;chiefs of having our Coun|trey made the Seat of War; nay, almo&s;t with|out any blood&s;hed: This was &s;uch a Wonder as &s;urpriz'd the world with amazement. And every body owns, That the Reduction of <HI>Ire|land</HI> was accompli&s;h'd by a continued &s;ucce&s;&s;i|on of Strange, and I may &s;ay, Miraculous Pro|vidences. And what can be expected from a People to whom God has been &s;o exceeding Gracious, but all the Content and Satisfaction, nay, all the Joy and Thank&s;giving which it is po&s;&s;ible to expre&s;s?</P>
<PB N="18" REF="13">
<P>And yet alas! how different is it with us! What a &s;trange Forgetfulne&s;s of God's &s;tu|pendious Mercies towards us! What a &s;tudi|ous depreciating and extenuating of them! And what a world of Di&s;content reigns a|mong us! As if we re&s;olved to emulate and outdo in their Crimes that perver&s;e and &s;tubborn generation of the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> who pe|ri&s;hed in the Wilderne&s;s. And if you plea&s;e to reflect on the Pretences of our Modern Malecontents for their Murmuring, though I have not time to examine them particular|ly, yet methinks it is enough to bring them out of credit with any con&s;idering per&s;on, that they are &s;o very like to tho&s;e which the Seditious <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> made u&s;e of, as I have al|ready &s;hewed you.</P>
<P>Ay! but may &s;ome &s;ay, Did God him&s;elf interpo&s;e among us, as he did among the <HI>I&s;raelites;</HI> had we &s;uch Governors as <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and <HI>Aaron,</HI> cho&s;en by God him&s;elf, and di|rected by his Oracle in the Conduct of them; then we would be far from murmuring; then we would be the mo&s;t &s;atisfied and obedient People in the world.</P>
<PB N="19" REF="13">
<P>Now to pa&s;s by other things that may be replied to &s;hew the Weakne&s;s of this Ob|jection, I &s;hall ob&s;erve at pre&s;ent only this, <HI>viz.</HI> That this Objection would fru&s;trate the Apo&s;tle's Precept; for it affixes the Criminal|ne&s;s of the Murmuring of the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> upon &s;uch Circum&s;tances as are never to be ex|pected to happen again; whereas it's unde|niably evident, that the Apo&s;tle mu&s;t &s;peak of Murmuring in &s;uch a &s;en&s;e, and in &s;uch ca|&s;es, as may and often do happen in the&s;e Ages of the world, when Revelation is cea&s;ed.</P>
<P>And this, I &s;uppo&s;e, may &s;erve in &s;ome com|petent mea&s;ure to &s;hew, That we, as well as the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> have no ju&s;t rea&s;on to murmur, but rather to be thankful for that great De|liverance which God has vouch&s;afed to us: But if this will not per&s;uade us, let the Apo|&s;tle's Argument at lea&s;t prevail with us to forbear murmuring for the future, con&s;ider|ing the De&s;tructivene&s;s of it, evidenc'd by the Event it had on the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Sam. 24. 16.</NOTE> &s;eeing <HI>they were de&s;troyed of the de&s;troyer;</HI> that is, by an Angel to whom God gave it in commi&s;&s;ion,
<PB N="20" REF="14"> That he &s;hould de&s;troy them. For as he is the God of Order and of Peace, &s;o nothing can be more repugnant and offen&s;ive to him, than &s;uch Seditious and Rebellious Murmur|ings; in&s;omuch that it is ob&s;erved, <NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP LANG="grc" DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span"> Chry&s;o&s;t. l. 5. p. 205. Ed. Savil.</NOTE> That he has in his Laws a&s;&s;igned &s;everer Puni&s;hments to &s;uch &s;ins as tend to the Di&s;turbance of the Peace and Welfare of Human Society, than &s;uch as have a more direct reference to him&s;elf. And as he ju&s;tly expects our Prai&s;es and Thank&s;|giving in return of the Mercies which he confers on us; &s;o nothing could be more provoking in his people than their ungrateful Murmuring and Repining after &s;uch a Miraculous Deli|verance as he had wrought for them. And therefore his Wrath was &s;o incen&s;ed again&s;t them, that he offered to have <HI>con&s;umed them all in a moment.</HI> And tho <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> by his Interce&s;|&s;ion prevailed &s;o far as to prevent the Total De&s;truction of them at once; yet he &s;lew many Thou&s;ands of the Principal Murmurers, their Abettors, immediately; and for the re&s;t, he <HI>&s;wore they &s;hould none</HI> of them <HI>enter into his re&s;t,</HI> but <HI>their carka&s;&s;es &s;hould fall in the wilder|ne&s;s;</HI>
<PB N="21" REF="14"> which accordingly came to pa&s;s. Now this is not to be looked upon as a mere Hi&s;torical Relation of what befel them; for the Apo&s;tle urges it here as a Rea&s;on to enforce his Prohibition of our imitating their Example: And therefore hereby in&s;inuates a Menace of &s;ome Dreadful Judgment and De|&s;truction that will befal us, if we murmur and per&s;i&s;t in it as they did. And in the following Ver&s;e he tells us plainly, That the&s;e things hapned unto them <HI>for our En&s;am|ple, and are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.</HI> Hapned to them for En&s;amples; the Word is <GAP LANG="grc" DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word">, <HI>Typically;</HI> whence St. <HI>Chry|&s;o&s;tom</HI> infers, <NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP LANG="grc" DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span"></NOTE> That we are threatned with &s;till more direful Puni&s;hments than they underwent.</P>
<P>And be&s;ides the&s;e and other &s;uch like Threats which God has revealed and publi&s;h|ed in Holy Scripture, there is another &s;ort of Puni&s;hments that are plainly legible in the nature of things. For the Divine Wi&s;dom &s;o contrived and framed his Works, that there is a certain <HI>Neme&s;is</HI> interwoven in the Con|texture
<PB N="22" REF="15"> of them. So that by con&s;idering the natural tendency of many &s;ins, we may evidently di&s;cover the temporal penalty which by the Divine di&s;po&s;ition is annexed to them. And the&s;e are generally owned to be &s;ins again&s;t the Law of Nature. And &s;uch is this &s;in of Murmuring; there being nothing which has a more vi&s;ible and direct Tenden|cy to the Mi&s;ery and Ruin of a People, than it. For it is its &s;elf a Plague to tho&s;e who are guilty of it; its immediate effect on them being, that it deprives them of the enjoy|ment of, or &s;atisfaction in the Ble&s;&s;ings which the Goodne&s;s of God vouch&s;afes to them. It &s;o &s;owres their Humour, that it perverts and renders every thing offen&s;ive and irk&s;ome to them, or at lea&s;t diverts them from taking notice of any thing but what is &s;o. And if we con&s;ider it in reference to the Publick Weal, its effects are &s;till wor&s;e: For it is di|rectly contrary to that Obedience and Con|cord which are the Nerves and Ligaments of all Bodies Politick, and whereon their Strength and Welfare, and their very Being e&s;&s;entially depends. It creates mutual Jealou&s;ies, Heart|burnings,
<PB N="23" REF="15"> Strifes, and Contentions. It ob|&s;tructs the &s;ucce&s;sful Management of the Pub|lick Affairs, di&s;courages many able men from being concerned in them; creates a world of Difficulties to tho&s;e that are, hindring them from that Vigor and Re&s;olution which would conduce much to their Succe&s;s. On the o|ther hand, it is a mighty Encouragement to our Enemies; they reckoning, that &s;o many Murmurers as we have among us, &s;o many Favourers and Promoters of their Enterpri&s;es have they. So that however our Murmurers are ready to urge the ill Succe&s;&s;es and Bur|dens of the War as a ground of their Di&s;con|tent; yet in reality there are none to whom they are more ju&s;tly imputable than them|&s;elves. And yet I have that good Opinion of the greate&s;t part of them, that I am per|&s;uaded, that if they did but once con&s;ider the mi&s;chievous Con&s;equences of their acti|ons, they would no longer be guilty of them.</P>
<P>And if there be any &s;uch here, I crave leave to &s;peak to them more particularly:
<PB N="24" REF="16"> Brethren, I be&s;eech you let me be &s;o happy as to prevail with you for once to lay a|&s;ide your Pa&s;&s;ions and Prejudices, and to con&s;ider &s;eriou&s;ly what you would have, and what you De&s;ign.</P>
<P>Here is cetainly the Welfare of a Church and Nation lies at &s;take: And can any man here be &s;o Unchri&s;tian, &s;o Inhumane, as to trifle in matters of &s;uch moment, and act incon&s;iderately, without any known end or de&s;ign? Con&s;ider therefore what it is you aim at: Is it to promote Di&s;cord and Sedi|tion? To &s;et the Nation on a Flame? To &s;tir up an inte&s;tine War and Rebellion among us? Is it to weaken the Government that &s;hould protect us? To give our Enemies an advantage to Vanqui&s;h us, to Invade us, and to Reduce us into the &s;ame fearful condition which God has &s;o graciou&s;ly re&s;cued us from? (though indeed it cannot be the &s;ame, but it mu&s;t al&s;o be much wor&s;e). Is there any one that can think of the&s;e things, and the many intolerable Mi&s;eries nece&s;&s;arily attend|ing them, and is not ready to cry out with
<PB N="25" REF="16"> <HI>Hazael, Am I a Dog, that I &s;hould do this thing?</HI> 2 Kings 8. 13. And yet if the&s;e be not your de&s;igns, What means your di&s;conten|ted Murmurings and Repinings, which all wi&s;e men teach, and which your &s;elves mu&s;t own, have a natural tendency to them? and which, if not timely &s;uppre&s;&s;ed, will lead you from one Sin to another, till &s;uch Calamities overtake you, as you never de&s;igned or dreamed of being the procurers of?</P>
<P>Wherefore let us all in this our day, mind <HI>the things that belong to our peace;</HI> and reflect|ing on that di&s;mal Condition which we were lately in, and the wonderfulne&s;s of our Deliverance, and the mi&s;chiefs en&s;uing from Di&s;content: Let us with all Thank|fulne&s;s recognize the Divine Goodne&s;s to us, and di&s;carding our Murmuring Ungrateful Humour, let us &s;tudy to lead quiet and peaceable Lives in all Godline&s;s and Ho|ne&s;ty.</P>
<P>So &s;hall we &s;ecure to our &s;elves the con|tinuance of the Divine Favour, and then
<PB N="26" REF="17"> through him <HI>we &s;hall overthrow our enemies, and in his name &s;hall we tread them under, that ri&s;e up again&s;t us.</HI> Which God of his Mercy grant for Je&s;us Chri&s;t his &s;ake, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
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<DIV1 TYPE="publisher's advertisement">
<PB REF="17">
<HEAD>Books Sold by <HI>Richard Baldwin.</HI></HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>PLea&s;ure with Profit: con&s;i&s;ting of Recreations of divers kinds, <HI>viz. Nu|merical, Geometrical, Mechanical, Statical, A&s;tronomical, Horometrical, Cryptographical, Magnetical Automatical, Chymical</HI> and <HI>Hi&s;torical.</HI> Publi&s;hed to Recreate Ingenious Spirits, and to induce them to make farther &s;crutiny into the&s;e (and the like) Sublime Sciences. And to divert them from fol|lowing &s;uch Vices, to which Youth (in this Age) are &s;o much inclin'd. By <HI>William Leybourn,</HI> Philomathes. To this Work is al&s;o Annext, a Treati&s;e of <HI>Algebra,</HI> according to the late Improvements, applied to <HI>Numerical Que&s;tions,</HI> and <HI>Geometry;</HI> with a New Series for the &s;peedy <HI>Extraction of Roots;</HI> as al&s;o a Converging Series for all manner of <HI>ad&s;ected Equations.</HI> By <HI>R. Sault,</HI> Ma&s;ter of the <HI>Mathematical School</HI> in <HI>Adam's</HI> Court, in <HI>Broad&s;treet,</HI> near the <HI>Royal Exchange.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Bibliotheca Politica:</HI> Or, An Enquiry into the Ancient Con&s;titution of the <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Government; with re&s;pect both to the ju&s;t Extent of Regal Power, and to the Rights and Liberties of the Subject. Wherein all the chief Arghments as well again&s;t as for the Late Revolution, are Impartially repre&s;ented and con&s;idered. In XIII. Dialogues. Collected out of the be&s;t Authors both Ancient and Modern. To which is added, An Alphabetical Index to the whole Work.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Compleat &s;ets of the Gentleman's Jourual; or, the Montly Mi&s;cellany: Con&s;i&s;ting of News, Hi&s;tory, Philo&s;ophy, Poetry, Mu&s;ick, and Tran&s;la|tions: And &s;ingle ones for any Month.</ITEM>
<ITEM>The Works of <HI>Francis Rabelais,</HI> M. D. Or the Lives, Heroick Deeds and Sayings of <HI>Gargantua</HI> and <HI>Pantagruel.</HI> Done out of <HI>French</HI> by Sir <HI>Tho. Ur|chard,</HI> Kt. and others. With a large account of the Life and Works of the Author; particularly an Explanation of the mo&s;t difficult Pa&s;&s;ages in them. Never before Publi&s;hed in any Language.</ITEM>
<ITEM>The Tragedies of the La&s;t Age, con&s;idered and examined by the Practice of the Ancients, and by the Common Sen&s;e of all Ages; in a Letter to <HI>Fleetwood Shepherd</HI> E&s;q; Part I. The Second Edition.</ITEM>
<ITEM>A &s;hort View of Tragedy; its Original, Excellency, and Corruption; with &s;ome Reflections on <HI>Shake&s;pear</HI> and other Practitioners for the Stage. Both by Mr. <HI>Rimer,</HI> Servant to Their Maje&s;ties.</ITEM>
<PB REF="18" MS="y">
<ITEM>A New, Plain, Short, and Compleat <HI>French</HI> and <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Grammar; where|by the Learner may attain in few Months to &s;peak and write <HI>French</HI> Correctly, as they do now in the Court of <HI>France.</HI> And wherein all that is dark, &s;u|perfluous and deficient in other <HI>Grammart,</HI> is plain; &s;hort, and methodically &s;upplied. Al&s;o very u&s;eful to Strangers, that are de&s;irous to learn the <HI>Eng|li&s;h</HI> Tongue: for who&s;e &s;ake is added a &s;hort, but very Exact <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Gram|mar. The Third Edition, with Additions, By <HI>Peter Berault.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Travels into divers Parts of <HI>Europe</HI> and <HI>A&s;ia,</HI> undertaken by the <HI>French</HI> King's Order to di&s;cover a new Way by Land into <HI>China.</HI> Containing ma|ny curious Remarks in Natural Philo&s;ophy, Geography, Hydrography, and Hi&s;tory. Together with a De&s;cription of <HI>Great Tartary,</HI> and of the diffe|rent People who inhabit there. By Father <HI>Avril,</HI> of the Order of the Je&s;uits. Done out of <HI>French.</HI> To which is added, A Supplement extracted from <HI>Hakluyt</HI> and <HI>Purchas;</HI> giving an account of &s;everal Journeys over Land from <HI>Ru&s;&s;ia, Per&s;ia,</HI> and the <HI>Moguls</HI> Country, to <HI>China.</HI> Together with the Roads and di&s;tances of the places.</ITEM>
<ITEM>An E&s;&s;ay concerning Obedience to the Supream Powers, and the Duty of Subjects in all Revolutions. With &s;ome Con&s;iderations touching the pre&s;ent Juncture of Affairs.</ITEM>
<ITEM>An E&s;&s;ay concerning the Laws of Nations, and the Rights of Sovereigns. With an Account of what was &s;aid at the Council-Board by the Civilians up|on the Que&s;tion; Whether their Maje&s;ties Subjects taken at Sea acting by the late King's Commi&s;&s;ion, might not be looked on as Pyrates? With Refle|ctions upon the Arguments of Sir <HI>T. P.</HI> and Dr. <HI>Ol.</HI> By <HI>Mat. Tindal,</HI> Doctor of Laws. The Second Edition.</ITEM>
<ITEM>An An&s;wer to the Late King <HI>James</HI>'s la&s;t Declaration, Dated at St. <HI>Ger|mains,</HI> April 17. <HI>S. N.</HI> 1693.</ITEM>
<ITEM>A compendious Hi&s;tory of the Taxes of <HI>France,</HI> and of the Oppre&s;&s;ive Methods of Rai&s;ing of them.</ITEM>
<ITEM>An Impartial Enquiry into the Advantages and Lo&s;&s;es that <HI>England</HI> hath re|ceived &s;ince the Beginning of this Pre&s;ent War with <HI>France.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A Collection of Speeches of the Right Honourable <HI>Henry</HI> late Earl of <HI>Warrington,</HI> viz. I. His Speech upon his being Sworn Mayor of <HI>Che&s;ter,</HI> in <HI>No|vember,</HI> 1691. II. His Speech to the Grand-Jury at <HI>Che&s;ter, April</HI> 13. 1692. III. His Charge to the Grand-Jury at the Quarter-Se&s;&s;ions held for the Coun|ty of <HI>Che&s;ter,</HI> on the 11th. of <HI>October,</HI> 1692. IV. His Charge to the Grand-Jury at the Quarter-Se&s;&s;ions, held for the County of <HI>Che&s;ter,</HI> on the 25th. day of <HI>April,</HI> 1693.</ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV1>
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