Anonymous

“ But thou hast not only placed the Catholicks as the immediate Objects of God’s avenging Judgments, but thou hast represented some of their Doctrines in a Light which they do not deserve. Thou wouldst insinuate, that the Cordial, as thou callest it, of Absolution, is believed by the Catholicks, to be of Effect, without a thorough and sincere Repentance. We ought, thou knowest, Friend, ever to speak Truth: which Truth never stands in need of the Aids of Falshood. ”

“ For in the List of the Crimes, with which thou hast charged the People, thou hast forgot the most atrocious, and taken notice of the most trivial of our Transgressions, and hast missed intirely of the true Source of our growing Impiety, and left us altogether in the dark as to the Practical Method of amending our ways, and turning again unto the God of our Fore fathers. ”

“ But thou knowest as well as I, that there are many in the World, who are Wolves in Sheeps Cloathing, who destroy the Flock they should feed, and poison by their Example the pure Streams of the Gospel, with which they ought to water the Vineyard of the Lord. Its not to be concealed, nor palliated, that there is no Vice, however odious, practised by the blind Laity, but what is likewise committed by some of their more enlightened Teachers: This, Friend, is the great Evil I hinted at above. This is the Source of all our Woes, and here, and no where else, the Reformation must begin. ”

“ Every Man’s Knowledge, yea, verily, every old Woman’s Knowledge, in this Kingdom, might have picked out a Multitude of Instances, and those much more flagrant than any thou hast mentioned, of the general Wickedness and Depravity of the Age we live in. ”

“ How is it possible for thee to think, that though the Clergy were to preach as with the Voice of Angels, that their Discourses should have any Effect upon the Minds or Morals of the People, as long as they see these very Clergy, or a great Number of them, acting diametrically opposite to the Doctrines they teach; and living in such a Manner, as if they themselves did not believe one Word of the sacred Truths they are inculcating.
An inordinate Love of Money is a reigning Sin of the Age. ”

“ And if, at any Time, they are tempted to take up the Pen in Defence of some favourite Doctrine, the Controversy is handled with so little Charity or Decency, that an honest, well-meaning, Christian, throws aside the Book, disgusted at a Spirit so unbecoming the Followers of Christ Jesus. ”

“ We are taught from Holy Writ, that Cities and whole Nations have been destroyed by the especial Vengeance of God for their heinous Transgressions. But except we had been so told by an infallible Spirit, and who could not deceive us by false Conjectures, we had no Right, nay, it would be impious in us so much as to suspect that such Cities suffered for their Sins by the Hands of a special Providence. ”

“ The Solemnity, Friend, of the Occasion, the Seriousness and Consequence of the Subject treated of, and the Relation thou pretendest to stand in to the Inhabitants of these Cities, made me believe, that Nothing would be omitted, that was Necessary to awaken the Conscience, and inform the Understandings of all Degrees of People, within thy Charge. But how vain is human Wisdom, and how infinitely short-sighted are its Researches, when it relies upon itself, and is unassisted by that Spirit, to whom all [Pg 6] Events are known, who searcheth the Hearts and tryeth the Reins of the Children of Men! ”

“ Judge not, lest ye be judged, is a Precept of universal Extent, and strongly inculcated by the Founder of our Holy Religion, who in a particular Manner checked the Jews, who of all Nations were the aptest to explain every Occurrence into a special and revengeful Providence. “There were present at that Season some, that told him of the Galileans, whose Blood Pilate had mingled with the Sacrifices; and Jesus answering said unto them, suppose ye, that these Galileans were Sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things? ”

“ I would willingly, if I durst, prevaricate, and conceal this fatal Evil; but as the Eyes of the People are upon us, as their Fears are awakened, and they seem in some Measure willing to find out a Way to rid them of this Load of Sin, that stands as a Wall of Brass between them and the Mercy of their God, it is necessary, since we have pointed out the Malady, that we should display the Source, in order to direct them to a Cure. ”

“ Now, Friend, without supposing the Shocks we felt any other than the Result of Natural Causes, thou mightst from thence have found sufficient Matter to have roused the most hardened Sinner from the Lethargy of Sin and Death, by observing, that, besides the many infinite Casualties to which Life is exposed, there are yet more terrible Accidents that may sweep them off without a moments Warning, and plunge them into Eternity, loaded with the Weight of their Iniquities. ”

“ Let the Priesthood that are proud become humble, meek, and lowly, even as was Jesus, whose Servants they are. Let them put away the false Gods from amongst them, and destroy the Idol they have set up in their Hearts ”

“ There is nothing so sacred, but what they willingly barter for filthy Lucre. Justice, Honesty, Right and Wrong, are no longer understood in this sinful Land; but every thing is weighed in the Scales of Gain. ”

“ Luxury, Drunkenness, and Gluttony, have overspread the Tables and Dwellings of all Degrees of People. We seek the Bowels of the Earth for Jewels to adorn us, and travel to the most distant Quarters of the World in Quest of whatever may gratify our vicious Appetites, and yet never think of the God, that furnishes our unnatural Wants. ”

“ Whereas, when we believe them the Result of a natural Cause, that may take Effect every moment of our Lives, of which we can have no Foreknowledge, nor the least possible Means of Prevention, a [Pg 9] rational Creature, whose Understanding is not intirely blinded, or whose Conscience is not judicially seared, must be awakened to Repentance, and prepare himself for the great Change, by his forsaking evil Ways, and turning to the Lord his God with all his Heart and Strength. ”

“ Our Nobles frequent anti-christian Diversions, and forget the Lord their God, and walk every Man according to the Devices of his own Heart: While a venal Contagion has seized the whole Body of the People, who worship Money as their God, and have said unto Silver and Gold, ye are our Deliverers, and our sure Help in Time of Need. ”

“ But, Friend, till either thy Brethren do this of themselves, or are compelled to it by their Superiours, nothing less than a divine Miracle can redeem this Land from the Slavery of Sin. May Somebody begin a thorough Reformation somewhere, that we may have Peace in our Days. ”

“ A Reformation is certainly necessary. For whether we are punished by an Earthquake or not, the natural Tendency of Vice is such, that a few Years longer Continuance of it must bring along with it Plagues enow to punish us grievously here, as we shall certainly meet a dreadful Reward hereafter. ”

“ Verily, Friend, on such an awful Occasion, I expected, that thou wouldest have enumerated, without any palliation or disguise, the many heinous Sins, that in this wicked Age are even a Disgrace to Human Nature, and, after such an Enumeration, thou wouldest candidly, and without Respect of Persons, have pointed out the real Source of all these Iniquities that [Pg 10] overwhelm the Land, and have directed thy Flock to the natural Means of freeing themselves from the Thraldom of Sin and Death. ”

“ For, bad and wicked as the Age is, I never heard of a good Book, either of Science, Religion, or Morality, but what met with proper Encouragement from the Publick: but a Spirit of Lukewarmness, in Matter of Religion and Devotion, in those, who are well paid for being its Guardians, prevails so much, that they cannot be induced to enter the Lists with Error and Infidelity ”

“ Before then the Body of the People can be reformed without a Miracle, it is necessary, that these Publick Vices should be plucked up by the Roots; and that the Reformation should begin amongst those of higher Rank, amongst our Rulers, and the Grandees of the Land: but more especially, amongst that Order of Men, the worldly and dissolute Example of some of whom have most contributed to taint the Morals, and pervert the Judgment of the Community. ”

“ Murder, Robberies, and the most barefaced Perjuries, are every Day to be met with in our Streets; even Crimes that would shock Modesty but to mention are as common as Petty Larceny. Yet we are spared, and the sinful Land stands a Monument of the long-suffering Patience of the Almighty.
[Pg 17] This, Friend, is a Supplement to the List of thy deadly Sins; and dost not thee think, that it makes a most dreadful Appearance, and that some of them merited to be mentioned in a more serious Manner than thou hast done? ”

“ If thou meanest in that Paragraph those, who continue obstinate in Error, in spite of Conviction, and the Dictates of their own Conscience, thou sayest right, and mightst have mentioned all such of every Persuasion in this Island. But, if thou meanest the gross Body of the Catholicks, whom we are bound in Charity to believe to act from Principle and Conviction, (and, indeed, [Pg 13] they must be strangely infatuated if they do not;) thou hast verily been exceedingly to blame, to mention them on this Occasion. ”

“ Whoredom, Adulteries, Fornications, and all manner of beastly Uncleanness, are openly avowed; and he who does not plunge himself into all the Debaucheries of the Stews, with a high and open Hand, is looked upon as a poor narrow-spirited Creature unworthy of the Company of Men of a noble and exalted Genius. ”

“ An universal Depravation of Manners reigns thro’ all Sorts of People in this sinful Land; and an utter Abhorrence and Detestation of every Thing, that bears but the [Pg 16] smallest Resemblance of Virtue and Piety, have possessed the Hearts and Minds of this profligate Generation. The Kingdom of God is not among the wicked Inhabitants of this Island. The Kingdom of Satan prevails and reigns triumphant in our debauched Streets. ”

“ At other Times Zeal for the Cause of Truth may, tho’ preposterously enough, prompt a Man to blacken his Adversary with imaginary Crimes, in order, by a kind of pious Fraud, to prepossess the People against the Errors in his Doctrine and Practice. ”

“ How amazing is it, that a Physician should pretend to cure a complicated Malady, without once touching at the Source of the Disorder, by slightly tickling the outwards Parts, and leaving the Vitals to perish under a mortal Gangrene. ”

“ But when thou wast speaking of bad Books, there is one thing thou mightest have mentioned with as much Propriety as Part of the Sins of the Times; that is, the Want of good Books, the [Pg 11] only proper Antidote against the Venom of those thou so bitterly complainest against: The Age has not only produced fewer bad Books, than some former; but it has been likewise remarkably deficient in producing any thing fit to improve the Morals or Understanding of the People. ”

“ The Crime, I mean, is the Mention thou makest of the Increase of Popery. Thou art to remember, Friend, that thou hast supposed the Almighty justy offended at the Number and Heinousness of our National Transgressions, and that thou art giving a List of the Transgressions, that thou thinkest capable of drawing down upon us the special Judgments of the Divine Being. Now, canst thou in Charity, as a Christian, think, that Popery could be numbered amongst these deadly Sins? The Errors of that superstitious Church are many ”

“ Thou wouldst have a Reformation begin in Private Families: but alas! thou art fatally mistaken. The Thing is impossible. It is building downwards. A great many People in this Island are so unhappily situated, that they must continue to be wicked, and to administer to Vice, or cease to eat. ”

“ For it is one of the Sins peculiar to this Age, that we have been industrious in finding out new Species of Wickedness, and that we never commit an old Fault, but for want of Invention to diversify the Crime, and heighten the Relish of Iniquity by the horrid Novelty of it ”

“ This is a dreadful Case, Friend, and hardly credible: yet a little Knowledge of the World, and Acquaintance with the present Times, will furnish innumerable Instances of Wretches in this unhappy Dilemma. What must such People do? Dost think a Sermon, or a Pastoral Letter, can persuade them to starve here for the sake or an happy Hereafter? No! Appetites are strong; and as this Class of Men have many great Examples to follow, they are no ways intimidated by what either Thou hast, or I could utter unto [Pg 18] them on this tremendous Occasion. ”

“ Let him, that has two Livings, give one to his poor Brother; let him, that performeth the Labour of the Vineyard, receive also the Wages; and let not the [Pg 21] Drone eat up the Meat of the Industrious Servant. Let them exert their Power without respect of Persons, yet with all Humility and Meekness, not out of Malice, or to gratify their Spleen, but for the Love of Truth and Purity. In a Word, Friend, when they believe what they have sworn at their Ordination to believe, and maintain ”

“ For if he exerted his Ecclesiastical Power, with as much Zeal against Vice and Prophaneness, as he does in the Recovery of his Tythes, the Great would be obliged to quit their open Sins, and the little ones would not be led astray by his scandalous Example. ”

“ Instead of healing the Divisions amongst Christians, bearing with the Weakness and Infirmities of their Brethren, and, like the Apostle, becoming all Things to all Men, that by all Means some may be saved ”