NATIONAL CALAMITIES THE EFFECT OF DIVINE DIS

PLEASURE.

AMOS III. 6.

-Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?

Ir must strike every man, upon a moment's reflection, that the solemnities of this day can neither be pleasing to God, nor profitable to ourselves, if they are not accompanied with such repentance as shall have an influence on our future tempers and conduct. It is the duty, therefore, of those who take the lead in these services, to do their utmost, with the blessing of God, to persuade men to repent in earnest of their sins, and heartily set about a reformation of their lives. But these objects are not to be attained, unless we really feel the miseries which have befallen us, clearly perceive the hand of God in them, and are deeply sensible that our sins are the cause of them. There is evil, great evil, in the British empire-God hath done it—and our sins have provoked him to do it. To prove these truths beyond a doubt, and thereby to awaken you and myself to our duty, ere it be too late, is what I have now in view. And may God of his mercy crown the attempt with success!

These were the points, which in regard of Judah and Israel, the prophet Amos meant to establish in the text and context. Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?

They now suffered great miseries, and they had still greater in prospect. The God of heaven had given them cleanness of teeth in all their cities, and want of bread in all their places. He had withholden rain from them, when there were yet three months to the harvest. He had smitten them with blasting and mildew: when their gardens, and their vineyards, and their fig-trees, and their olive-trees increased, the palmer worm had devoured them. He had sent among them the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: their young men he had slain with the sword, and had taken their horses, and had made the stink of

their camps to come up into their nostrils a.-These calamities were quickly to be followed with a tremendous earthquake, and with the invasion of an enraged adversary, who was to compass their land round about, bring down their strength from them, and spoil their palaces b. So the ten tribes were to be carried into captivity by the Assyrians, and totally dispersed. And in a course of time the Jews were to be led away captive to Babylon, and remain there seventy years.

Now all this evil the Lord did. A solemn truth this, and a truth which, circumstanced as these people were, nothing but the most extravagant infidelity could dispute. It is, however, affirmed over and over again, and in a great variety of ways. Thus will I Do unto thee, O Israel: and because I WILL DO this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel c. And the more deeply to impress their minds with the idea of the inAluence of divine Providence in these calamities, the prophet particularly recalls their attention to one remarkable fact, that God had caused it to rain upon one city, and not upon another d.

But what was the moral cause of these evils? It was their guilt. This, if not directly expressed in the text, is yet particularly affirmed, and largely commented upon in the context. You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities e.-Avarice and oppression, intemperance and luxury, irreligion and profaneness, accompanied with the most shameful dissipation and insensibility, were the reigning vices of the times. They turned judg ment to wormwood, and left off righteousness in the earth, They afflicted the just, took a bribe, and turned aside the poor in the gate f. They stored up violence and robbery in their palaces g.' By fornication, incest, and adultery they profaned the holy name of their God h. They were guilty of the gross est idolatry, and yet dared to sacrifice to the Lord i. despised his law, and kept not his commandments k.' hated him that rebuked them, and abhorred him that spake up

They

• They

c Chap, iv. 12.

f Chap. v. 7, 12. i Chap. v. 22, 26.

6

rightly a.' And, all the while, they were at ease in Zion, and trusted in the mountain of Samaria b.' They lay upon beds of ivory, and stretched themselves upon their couches, and ate the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall. They chanted to the sound of the viol, and invented to themselves instruments of music like David. They drank wine in bowls, and anointed themselves with the chief ointments: but they were not grieved for the affliction of Joseph c.' In a word, they put far away the evil day; yea, they boldly said, the evil shall not overtake nor prevent us d.'

Such was the dissipated, immoral, and profane character of this wretched people. And such were the calamities which their accumulated and unrepented guilt drew down upon them. Would to God there were no resemblance between their character and ours! Would to God we had no reason to apprehend the like miseries they suffered! If there be, however, any ground for the comparison, it is unquestionably our duty, interest, and wisdom, seriously to consider these three most important and awakening truths-There is evil in the British empire-God hath done it--Our sins have provoked him to do it.

us.

FIRST, Great and many are the evils which have befallen

The truth of this proposition all will acknowledge, though few, it is to be feared, are duly affected with it. Alas! Whilst many among us take the utmost pains, some to exaggerate and others to lessen our calamities, purely with a view to support the political opinions they have adopted, there is but one here and there who so considers, so feels them, as clearly to perceive that they originate from the just displeasure of almighty God, But, Sirs, the feelings we wish this day to excite are such, and such only, as are influenced by considerations of humanity and religion. Standing as we now do in the presence of the great Governor of the world, at whose hands we have been imploring mercy, we must dismiss a vain, frivolous, contentious spirit, for get the more immediate instruments or causes of our miseries, and be content, by realizing the resentments of Heaven against our sins, to chasten ourselves before God.

a Chap. v. 10.

c Chap. vi. 4-6,

b Chap. vi. 1.

d Chap. vi. 3. ix. 10,

War, especially when kindled within a nation and among the subjects of the same empire, is usually followed with the most ruinous consequences. It affects all sorts of persons, from the prince on the throne to the meanest peasant, extends its influence to the remotest parts of the community, and insinuates its corrosive and poisonous effects into all the concerns and enjoyments of life. It is to the body politic what diseases are to the natural body; defaces its beauty, wastes its strength, subdues its vigour, and, if it proceed to the utmost lengths, dissolves the very constitution itself. Under the frowns of war the arts and sciences languish, trade and manufactures decline, the wealth and opulence of a people are consumed, and their weight and influence among neighbouring powers are lost. It obstructs the regular course of justice, throws down the laws, those sacred fences of society, opens the avenues to fraud, oppression, and rapine, and destroys that subordination among mankind, which is of the last consequence to their honour, happiness, and safety.

Government is an ordinance of God for the good of men: but war, the kind of war of which we are here speaking, weakens the springs of government, and tends to the total subversion of it. It confounds those distinctions among men which God and nature have established, wrests the power from the hands to which reason, justice, and the consent of the community have entrusted it, interdicts the mutual offices of protection and obedience between the magistrate and the subject, and, if it proceed to the extremities to which the lawless passions of men would precipitate it, buries in one common grave both the honour and authority of the state, and the rights and liberties of the people.

But the miseries it brings upon individuals deserve our more particular attention, in order to excite those feelings which are necessary to beget national repentance and humiliation; the only object I have in view in painting these sad scenes before your eyes, Intestine broils and animosities interrupt the friendly intercourse of society. They embitter men's spirits towards each other, and induce an eager wild fierceness of manners, which can scarce consist with the common principles of good nature and benevolence. They create the most sullen jea

ces.

lousies, inveterate prejudices, and rancorous resentments. They spoil the peace of families, neighbourhoods, and whole provinNay, what is far worse, they make horrid inroads on the sacred rights of religion and conscience. The din of war disturbs the silent pleasures of devotion; and good men tremble while they see religious prejudices mingling themselves with political disputes, and, which is still more shocking, behold men on all sides becoming advocates with God against each other, and daring to profane his holy altar with their cruel anathemas.

How great a matter does a little fire kindle! And how deplorable the sight, to see the infatuated multitude throwing oil upon the spreading flames, amidst all the attempts of wisdom and humanity to extinguish them! When civil discord arises to this height, the scene is almost too horrible to be described. The powers of invention are now racked to procure the instru‐ ments of death and destruction. The standard is erected on each side, and thousands crowd to it, impelled with all the desperate fury of revenge, and all the stubborn confidence of victory. They prepare for battle, and, amidst the loud peals of thundering artillery, the dismal clangour of arms, and the shouts of opposing squadrons, rush on to the attack. Death now rides on his pale horse, hell following with him. The relentless sword is bathed in vengeance. Multitudes are hurried instantly into eternity, whilst others with unavailing. shrieks and groans languish and expire. The ground is stained with the blood of thousands, the plain covered over with mangled corpses, and the grave itself, well nigh satiated, begins to cry, It is enough.

Who? O who can forbear to weep amidst these scenes? Or if our hearts still remain callous, let us retire from this aceldema, this field of blood, to the gloomy habitations of the widow and fatherless, if indeed their habitations escape, and refuse to feel with them if we can. See the silent tear trickling down the eyes of helpless widows and orphans, or else the anguish of the throbbing heart forcing the bitterest exclamations from their lips. See whole families exterminated, the tenderest ties of nature dissolved, the fair hopes of succeeding generations extinguished, the fruits of honest labour blasted,