A SERMON Preached before the GENERAL AND OFFICERS In the KING's Chappel at Portsmouth On SUNDAY July 24. 1692. Being the Day before they Embarqu'd for the Descent upon FRANCE By WILLIAM GALLAWAY A. M. Chaplain to Their Majesties Sea-Train of Artillery Printed at the Request of the OFFICERS LONDON Printed for Rich. Baldwin near the Oxford-Arms in Warwick-Lane MDCXCII Mr. GALLAWAY's SERMON Before the GENERAL AND OFFICERS At Portsmouth July 24. 1692. DEUT. XX. 3 4. Let not your hearts faint fear not and do not tremble neither be ye terrified because of them For the Lord your God is he that goeth with you to fight for you against your enemies to save you WHEN I considered the Circumstances of the approaching time in which some Grand Enterprize was to be put in execution and the Persons to whom this Discourse was to be more particularly Address'd who are to share no inconsiderable part in it I could not think of any more proper or seasonable than that which I have chosen as the subject of my present Discourse A Subject of that Importance that it requires both your devout Attention and serious Consideration especially of those who are more immediately concerned in it and a Subject too which from Moses's Precept to the Priests appears in some measure a Duty incumbent on me to treat on Thus the Exhortation begins verse 1. When thou goest out to battel against thine enemies and seest horses and charets and a people more than thou be not afraid of them For the Lord thy God is with thee which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt And then 't is added in the next verse And it shall be when ye are come nigh unto the battel that the Priest shall approach and speak unto the people and shall say unto them Hear O Israel you approach this day unto battel against your enemies Let not your hearts faint fear not and do not tremble neither be ye terrified because of them For the Lord your God is he that goeth with you to fight for you against your enemies to save you The Prophet Moses foreseeing the great Consternation the Israelites would be subject to by reason of the dreadful apprehensions that should possess them occasioned by the mighty Power and boasting Insults of their Enemies directs the Priests to animate and encourage them against these terrors in the day of battel and for this end and purpose prescribes such a method in the words of my Text as in all probability might raise their spirits above those threatning dangers which Words are a Dehortation from Fear or Pusilanimity described in all its kinds and degrees Let not your hearts faint fear not and do not tremble neither be ye terrified because of them Which Dehortation is founded on this infallible Antidote against Fear or the most convincing Reason to expel it in the Words immediately following For the Lord your God is he that goeth with you to fight for you against your enemies to save you Tho the Enemies of Israel appeared in all respects terrible and in a manner invincible by reason of their Strength and Numbers yet allowing there was one mightier than they so long as the Lord of Hosts was their God since they might assure themselves that he would not only accompany and assist them against their Enemies but protect and shelter them under the shield of his Power they were to behave themselves like men and in the most extreme dangers banish all Fear in a full assurance of Victory and Success The Promises made by God to Abraham and his Seed That they should be a Numerous People that they should be rescued and delivered from their Egyptian Bondage that they should discomfit and destroy the mighty Hosts of their Enemies and enjoy a Land flowing with Milk and Honey that is full of all manner of Plenty was in every Circumstance fulfilled and compleated The Miracles that were wrought for the people of Israel at sundry times and divers places sufficiently testifie that they were under the peculiar Care and Protection of the Almighty as the Judgments that fell on their Adversaries declared them to be under his Displeasure Whilst they were journeying in the Wilderness towards the Land of Promise they had a Cloud that led them by day and a Pillar of Fire to direct them in their way by night They had Manna the Food of Angels showered on them for Bread and Quails for Flesh to satisfie their Hunger and the Rocks gushed forth Water to quench their Thirsts As to the Success that always attended their Arms Joshua declares when he cautions them neither to serve nor bow down to the false Gods of their Enemies this as a reason Joshua 23. 9 10. For the Lord hath driven out from before you great nations and strong but as for you no man hath been able to stand before you unto this day One man of you shall chase a thousand for the Lord your God he it is that fighteth for you as he hath promised you But on the other side as for their Enemies when they had imagined craftily taken secret counsel and said Come and let us root them out that they be no more a people and that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance when they were grown so insolent as to boast their own strength and despise their Adversaries as weak when they spoke disdainfully and blasphemed the Name of the Holy One of Israel then it was that the mightiest of them were slain then it was that the destroying Plagues were inflicted on them Thus Moses represents Pharaoh proudly boasting in the 15th Chapter of Exodus and the 9th Verse I will pursue I will overtake I will divide the spoil my lust shall be satisfied upon them I will draw my sword my hand shall destroy them The Children of Israel at the sight of Pharaoh and his Host marching after them were sore afraid and began to expostulate with Moses saying Because there were no graves in Egypt hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us to carry us forth out of Egypt And Moses said unto the People Fear ye not stand still and see the salvation of the Lord which he will shew to you to day For the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day ye shall see them again no more for ever All which was soon verified in the event For the children of Israel went into the midst of the Sea upon the dry ground and the waters were a wall unto them on the right hand and on the left But when their Enemies pursued them the waters returned and covered the charets and the horsemen and all the hosts of Pharaoh that came into the Sea after them there remained not so much as one of them Having thus far briefly shewed how the words of my Text have been fulfilled in relation to the Israelites in those visible Assistances and signal Deliverances wrought for them by
the Arm of the Almighty and reflecting of what force the successful Consequences were to embolden and inspirit them against their Enemies upon the undoubted Consideration that God was on their side I shall now proceed to apply this Dehortation to you all Vigour and Cheerfulness being as necessary in the Promoters of any Design as well as in those who are to put it in execution Every man who loves his Country his Religion his Liberty and who doth not espouse a French Interest that is every honest Englishman and those engaged in our Interests being like to share either in the Miscarriages or Success And now would to God I could address my self to you with the same assurance of prevailing as the Priests of Levi did to the Israelites and tho it would look like too much presumption in me to declare any thing absolutely and positively yet I will endeavour and I am sure I may adventure to offer such Reasons to your Consideration as may raise your Hopes expel all Fears and strengthen your Faith that ye may stedfastly believe that the Almighty goeth with you to fight for you and to save you Therefore Let not your hearts faint fear not and do not tremble neitheir be ye terrified because of them Fear is properly distinguished into two sorts or kinds Fear and fearfulness the former The Affection or Passion of Fear as it is opposed to Hope 'T is a Diffidence or Despondency tamely yielding to or timorously flying from an approaching evil it hath its different symptoms and degrees according to the Object or Subject-matter it is concerned in The latter which I call fearfulness is a Vice as it is a defect or want of Fortitude It renders men either unwilling to undergo any hardships or to expose themselves to Hazards and Danger and causes them to shrink from and avoid what is the duty of a valiant man to perform this as well as the other hath its effects and degrees both kinds being comprehended in the sense of my Text exprest by Faintheartedness visible by its external or outward Symptoms such as a palpitation or beating of Heart trembling of the Joints paleness of the Face and hesitation of the Tongue arising by degrees to a Pannick or Punick Fear when men are over and above terrified by some approaching Danger For as the Israelites were to contend with the mighty Hosts of the dreadful Enemies the Race of Anak Gigantick men arm'd with the most formidable Weapons so Moses directed the Priests to encourage and animate them against those frightful Apprehensions they had entertain'd of them And though they were unequal both in respect of their numbers stature and strength yet this one convincing Motive or Reason that the Lord would be on their side was sufficient to support their fainting Hearts and raise them to such a degree of assurance as was of force to inspirit their benum'd Bodies and expel all the damping Fears and Terrors they might be possess'd with But to return As there is a Vicious so there is a Virtuous and Religious Fear too mention'd by Solomon in these words The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom that is an awful dread of God when we have a reverence for his Name and Word And here I cannot but reflect on those who are guilty of blaspheming the Holy and tremendous Name of God in their common Discourse if any such there should be here to them I am sure I might have spared this Dehortation from fear for certainly those who do not fear who dare provoke the Anger and Detestation of the Almighty by their Imprecations and foolish Oaths cannot fear the weak weak Efforts of mortal men can any man be more daring than he who calls upon God for Damnation Certainly Death in all its frightful Shapes cannot be terrible to him who slights and despises the imminent Danger of Eternal Flames and Everlasting Torments And as the fear to offend God by disobeying his Commands is the beginning of Wisdom that Wisdom which as the Apostle saith will make us wise unto salvation so also the fear of God is the beginning of Fortitude 't is that which lays the sure foundation of Courage For 't is almost impossible that he that doth not fear God should be fearless of Man There may be other Motives indeed which may oblige a man not to misbehave himself or play the Coward such as Honour Duty and Interest but these are accidental and from without But on the other side if he fears God his Courage is rais'd from a nobler Principle Dangers become insignificant Death hath lost its Terrors because his passage out of this Life is but to a better and he hath a hopeful prospect of future Rewards So that if we take care to secure an Interest in the next World I presume the way thither will prove far easier by a Sword or Bullet than by the lingring Deaths of the Gout or Stone or by the acute Disease of a burning and raging Fever And now give me leave to enquire into the nature and causes of Fearfulness and shew how little reason any man hath to fear who is engaged in this Honourable undertaking 'T is an infirmity incident to the nature of Man to fear so long as we are clothed with corruptible flesh we are and shall be subject to passions the Stoicks indeed with insensibility enough maintained the contrary but their Opinions have been sufficiently derided and exploded yet the strength of natural courage in some men hath made the same difficulties easily superable by them which others have trembled at Use and Custom which is a second and more powerful nature makes men gain so full a mastery over fear that they willingly undertake and easily perform the most dangerous enterprizes So that when I reflect that many of you here have been well acquainted and long accustom'd to hazards and have conquer'd them with bravery and resolution I may easily affirm that no danger can shake that rooted habit of courage you are masters of And I dare also be confident that those who have had little or no experience animated by your examples will attempt to equal if not out do the pattern you shall set them It may not perhaps be an unjust or improbable conjecture to think that there are some degenerated false-hearted as well as faint-hearted men among us who call themselves English-men and Protestants as there were Israelites of old who frighted their Companions with the stature and strength of the Anakims there are I fear too many bribed and unthinking men who industriously make it their business to discourage us by lessening our actions magnifying and aggrandizing the conduct and courage of our enemies It must be confest that we have to do with powerful and subtle Enemies and 't would be imprudent as well as unsafe to undervalue and despise them yet at the same time 't is true that we are upon equal terms with them in every respect and 't will be no
great concession to allow them preference in unworthy corruptions and ignoble treacheries Besides we will grant them to be men of Courage because mean Adversaries give no Honour to the success of their Competitors and those Atcheivments are most glorious when the enterprizes meet with opposition and difficulties But we are not altogether strangers to their methods when they would pass treachery upon us for bravery and it is not long since they have undeceiv'd us as to their bribed Character and have visibly verified what Historians have always recorded of them That at their first onset they were more than Men at the second less then Women We have less reason I hope to fear them and they more to fear us and I question not but they will find that we are not wholly degenerated and tho' all methods have been formerly used to make us dissolute and so consequently effeminate yet still the same Seeds of Virtue and Courage remain in us undestroyed and the present example of an Heroick and Gallant King will make them shoot up and flourish and excite us to imitate what even our Forefathers acted in the Reigns of Edward the 3d. and Henry the 5th that the French may experimentally find that we have neither forgot to attempt and perhaps succeed too Besides 't is Liberry and Freedom that for the most part makes men valiant and couragious when on the contrary cowardice is the natural Product and Off-spring of Slavery Those who are kept under and trampled on can hardly aspire to noble and brave attempts For which reason in an Air and Government so well temper'd as ours where neither extream heat or cold is predominant where neither arbitrary Power nor an ungovernable Liberty prevails we may reasonably suppose the Hearts and Spirits of those Subjects will be sprightly and bold agreeable to their Constitution and Climate Nor is this consideration improper to encourage you since your enemies are absolute Slaves Nor is it probable they will fight heartily who have nothing to defend they can properly call their own and I presume 't will appear evident upon Trial that when men are Slaves to a barbarous Tyrant they will be so too to fear and baseness of Spirit Again The design it self barely considered is enough to raise the most dejected spirit into courage but when reflected on in all its glorious Circumstances and advantageous Consequences then it hath force enough to transport us beyond the bounds even of prudential Fortitude to attack an insulting enemy at his own door to endeavour something extraordinary to resettle our Friends and Allies into their own possessions unjustly seiz'd and detain'd from them to be the generous instruments of so great and so much good to all Mankind at least all Europe in attempting to lower the grandeur of that Pharaoh-like and swelling Tyrant to redeem and retreive the Interest and Honour of our own Nation which is in a manner lost to be the Arbitrators of the Peace of Europe and to have it in our power to hold the Ballance so equal that none shall over-run or oppress his Neighbour which is in effect to give Laws to all other Princes certainly this must give such an edge to the attempt as must make those who are actors in it even out do themselves It was bravely said of Caesar to the affrighted Marriners who almost despair'd of safety in a violent Storm Be of good cheer ye carry Caesar with his Fortune thus ye go with Caesars Fortune too ye fight under his Banner who was always a stranger to fear yet well acquainted with never avoided dangers His commands are weighed with Judgment and his Counsels with caution and circumspection his designs because laid with wisdom and prosecuted with resolution have seldom prov'd abortive or fail'd of success If he hath been disappointed at one time he hath succeeded at another with interest and made amends for the loss with a double advantage He never imprudently trusted in the uncertain arm of flesh or vainly and proudly boasted his Victories as owing to his own strength or conduct but always with a religious deference gave the whole Honour and Glory to the Lord of Hosts strong and mighty in Battle therefore I cannot for my own part but believe that God will in his own due time Crown his Endeavours and Designs with Glory and Success and cloth his enemies whether Foreign or Domestick with shame and confusion of face I could not but offer this weighty Consideration as a forcible Motive amongst many others to perswade you to Embarque in this Expedition whatsoever it is or wheresoever intended with vigour and courage since 't is in his service and in obedience to his commands who hitherto hath been and I trust in God will still continue a Favourite of Heaven 'T is hardly possible to enumerate or foresee the invaluable advantages we may reap by an undaunted prosecution of the Expedition how far 't will tend to procure an uninterrupted tranquility at home under the happy Government we now enjoy how much 't will secure and enlarge our Trade and Commerce abroad and make us both a terror to our enemies and the admiration and envy even of our Confederates and Allies Reflect but on these Considerations for they speak an Exhortation For my part I must declare I am so fully perswaded of your forwardness that could I be guilty of a thought that look'd like a mistrust of any mans zeal amongst you to promote and pursue this noble enterprize the next words should be an Apology for it Having thus far observ'd and laid before you these obvious reasons to expel all the least degrees of fear I proceed now to offer some few Considerations to perswade you that in all probability God will go with you to fight for you and to save you The works of Providence are framed in the depth of God's Wisdom His Counsells are steady and immutable He who shall look slightly on the different position of the Wheels of a Clock at the first sight perhaps they will appear confusedly mixt among each other yet by the skill and judgment of the Artificer every the least part is so order'd that the motion is both just and regular and answers the end for which it was at first design'd So let a man cast his eyes round view and reflect on the affairs of this World what a confusion of interests there seems to be amongst men what alterations in Kingdoms what Revolutions of things one Country destroyed and lost another regain'd one interest prevailing another sinking to our shallow apprehensions the whole Scene of Affairs appears full of giddy and unsteady Chance yet notwithstanding in this seeming discord of jarring of things the All-wise God makes them all Harmonious and composed and serve the purposes and designs he intended to bring to pass He beholds at once things past present and to come they must obey his unbounded Will because his Power is Almighty Through the past favours and