A ftranger, when he heard that this island had been fo favoured by heaven,—so happy in our laws and religion,--fo flourishing in our trade, and fo bleffed in our fituation,—and fo vifibly protected in all of them by providence,—would conclude, that our morals had kept pace with these bleflings, and would expect that, as we were the most favoured by God Almighty, we must be the most virtuous and religious people upon earth.

Would to God, there was any other reason to incline one to fuch a belief!—would to God, that the appearance of religion was more frequent for that would neceffarily imply the reality of it fomewhere, and most probably in the greatest and most refpectable characters of the nation.-Such was the fituation of this country, till a licentious king introduced a licentious age. The court of Charles the II. firft brake in upon, and, I fear, has almost demolished the out-works of religion, of modeity, and of fober manners;-so that, instead of any real marks of religion amongst us, you fee thoufands who are tired with carrying the

mask of it,—and have thrown it afïde as a ufelefs incumbrance.

But this licentioufnefs, he will fay, may be chiefly owing to a long courfe of profperity, which is apt to corrupt mens minds.—God has fince tried you with afflictions ;-you have had lately a bloody and expensive war;—God has fent, moreover, a peftilence amongst your cattle, which has cut off the stock from the fold, and left no herd in the ftalls;--befides,-you have juft felt two dreadful fhocks in your metropolis of a most terrifying nature;—which, if God's providence had not checked and reftrained within fome bounds, might have overthrown your capital, and your kingdom with it.

Surely, he will fay,-all these warnings must have awakened the confciences of the moft unthinking part of you, and forced the inhabitants of your land, from fuch admonitions, to have learned righteoufnefs.-I own, this is the natural effect,-and, one fhould hope, fhould always be the improvement from fuch calamities; for we often find, that numbers of people, who, in their profperity

feemed to forget God,-do yet remember him in the days of trouble and distress;—yet, confider this nationally, we fee no fuch effect from it, as, in fact, one would expect from fpeculation.

For inftance, with all the devaftation and bloodshed which the war has occafioned,how many converts has it made either to virtue or frugality?-The peftilence amongst our cattle, though it has diftreffed, and utterly undone, fo many thoufands;-yet what one vifible alteration has it made in the courfe of our lives?

And though, one would imagine, that the neceflary drains of taxes for the one, and the lofs of rent and property from the other,

hould, in fome meafure, have withdrawn the means of gratifying our paffions as we have done; yet what appearance is there amongst done;-yet us that it is fo?-what one fashionable folly or extravagance has been checked?—Are not the fame expences of equipage, and furniture, and drefs, the fame order of diversions, perpetually returning, and as great luxury and epicurifm of entertainments, as in the most

profperous condition?-So that, though the head is fick, and the whole heart is faint, we all affect to look well in the face, either as if nothing had happened, or we were ashamed to acknowlege the force and natural effects of the chastisements of God.-And if, from the effects which war and peftilence have had,we may form a judgment of the moral effects which this laft terror is likely to produce,it is to be feared, however we might be startled at firft, that the impreffions will scarce last longer than the inftantaneous fhock which occafioned them:And I make no doubt,-fhould a man have courage to declare his opinion,"That he believed it was an indication of God's anger upon a corrupt generation," that it would be great odds but he would be pitied for his weakness, or openly laughed at for his fuperftition.-Or if, after fuch a declaration,he was thought worth fetting right in his miftakes, he would be informed, that religion had nothing to do in explications of this kind; -that all fuch violent vibrations of the earth were owing to fubterraneous caverns falling down of themselves, or being blown up by ni

trous and fulphureous vapours rarified by heat;—and that it was idle to bring in the Deity to untie the knot, when it can be refolved easily into natural causes.-Vain unthinking mortals !-As if natural causes were any thing else in the hands of God, but inftruments which he can turn to work the purposes of his will, either to reward or punish, as feems fitting to his infinite wisdom.

Thus no man repenteth him of his wickednefs, faying,-What have I done?—but every one turneth to his courfe, as a horfe rufheth into the battle.-To conclude, however we may under-rate it now,-it is a maxim of eternal truth, which both reafonings and all accounts from hiftory confirm,-that the wickedness and corruption of a people will fooner or later always bring on temporal mischiefs and calamities.—And can it be otherwise?— for a vicious nation not only carries the feeds of destruction within, from the natural workings and course of things,-but it lays itself open to the whole force and injury of accidents from without ;-and I do venture to say, -there never was a nation or people fallen in