Souldiers Counselled and Comforted A DISCOURSE Delivered unto some part of the FORCES Engaged in the Iust War of NEW-ENGLAND Against the Northern Eastern INDIANS Sept. 1. 1689. By Cotton Mather Minister of the Gospel in Boston In publico discrimine omnis Homo Miles est BOSTON Printed by Samuel Green. 1689. To my Much Honoured FRIENDS The Pious and Valiant COMMANDERS Of the FORCES now engaged against our Indian Enemies Gentlemen A Request from One of you was that which I esteemed a Command for my Preaching of a Sermon fill'd with Counsils and Comforts to part of the Forces now under your auspicious Conduct I was too dull to apprehend it either an Impudent or an Improper thing for me to do That While I found a Minister and Him none of the oldest neither charged with a very great Solemnity Preach the Word Be instant in season out of season WATCH thou in all things fulfil the Ministry That which most wants an excuse is the Printing of it which is a Service that I have not been so much a Voluntier unto But the Reasons that produc'd my Labour in Preaching which were my Desire to save the Souls and mend the Lives and promote the Edification of those for whom my Hearts Desire and Prayer to God is That they may be Happy and my Ambition to Encounter and Abolish what I can the Unchristian Temper of those who take advantage from the other Difficulties and Entanglements of the Country to refuse doing their part in carrying on the Indian War the same Reasons have procur'd my Consent to Printing of this Little Sermon As I never can endure that mischievous Impertinency of making the first or chief Exercise after our Hearing to be upon that Question How did you like the Sermon to day So I am not much concerned about the Reception and Entertainment which may be given to this poor Sermon by the Readers of it My not having more than half a day to prepare it in made it incapable of being thus written till since the Delivery of it and it is now written as near as well could be to what it was when Spoken without many more Additions I suppose than may somewhat Ballance the Omissions made in the Transcription The Substaneous and so much Extemporaneous uttering of a Sermon indeed I am so far from accounting a matter of Applause that I do esteem it Evil and Sinful and never free from Blame unless Gods Providence and not our Election have made it Unavoidable nor is any thing in the world more fulsome and nauseous than for a Preacher to value himself upon such a Crime as his not spending much time in Study I do therefore beg pardon that I offer you what is no better Studied not without expectations that whether you pardon me or no there are those that will make me run the Gantlets of their Censures for it and yet had I never so much leisure for study I would not I could not offer you a more Needful Thing than the Matter however I might offer you a more Curious thing than the Method of this Discourse Accept the Sermon as a Little Messenger now sent into the Camp after my Brethren with a little parched Corn to refresh them against their Facing of the Philistines and I beseech you let none of them have their Anger so kindled as to tell me Why camest thou down hither I know thy Pride for give me leave to say it What have I now done is there not a Cause Gentlemen It is the War of the Lord which you are now Engaged in and it is the Help of the Lord that we are at Home affectionately imploring for you We have made a fair and just purchase of our Country from the Natives here not encroaching on them after the Spanish Fashion in any of their Properties and Possessions Yet they are now molesting of us in the Enjoyment of what our God because our Right hath made our own which my Pen cannot mention without Jehoshaphats Ejaculation We destroy'd them not but behold how they Reward us to come to cast us out of thy Possession which thou hast given us to inherit O our God Wilt thou not Judge them I believe I am perswaded and Confident He will. But your Wisdom and Courage is now to be Employ'd in order thereunto and we all wish you such large measures of Both as the matter does require Yow are some of you such as in the former War ventured as far as any men Alive and the God of Armies then blessed you not only with safety but with a success also which we should be very unworthy if we should be unthankful for As you have thereby learn'd what a Treacherous Barbarous Dangerous Enemy you have to deal withal so you are not without a gracious Invitation to Trust in God for your future preservation You may animate your selves with such an Hope as that The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the Lion and out of the paw of the Bear He will also deliver me out of the Hands of the Philistine Your former Deliverances whereof the Honourable Wounds upon some of you are perpetual Monitors and Memorials are a Dish of Leviathans Heads well drest for your Faith to feed upon Feed and Fight now with a strong Faith By That you may wax Valiant in fight and turn to flight the Armies of the Aliens Gentlemen Your Forces are Happy in you none of you being that Debauched sort of Captains which will Drink and Swear and Curse and profane the Sabbath and at the same time give out that Perilous Word of Command Follow your Leader alas whither do they Lead them But I assure my self that you are such as have long since Listed your selves under the Banner of the Lord Iesus Christ Let His Banner over you be Love and are concerned that all your men may under that Banner oppose the Lusts which war against their Souls 'T is the design of this Publication that you may be as Happy in your Forces and that those For whom and With whom you are every day pouring out your Prayers to the Lord of Hosts may not want Encouragements to any of those Combates in which you would see them all Victorious You are in the Head of Companies whom you are generously willing not only to Live but also to Dy withal and the chief thing that I am pursuing is That whether Death join you to them or part you from them You may meet them all e're long at the Right-hand of the Lord Jesus Christ. I have had many Fears upon my Spirit lest the wonderful Deafness to and Contempt of the Everlasting Gospel found in the Rising Generation here may not cause the Lord Iesus to say That He will not have pleasure in our young men but that he will take them off and lay them waste by the plagues of a destructive War. To prevent such Omens may be motive enough unto many such endeavours as you are
usage that they meet withal They have so many Hands against them that their Lives are in their Hands and from that Flock of Slaughter now one and then another is made a prey to Wolvish Persecutors before whole Rabid Violence they say Lord For thy sake We are killed all the Day Long. And this is the case of Souldiers too It was remarked by a notable man of that Character 〈◊〉 2 Sam. 11.25 The Sword Devoureth One as Well as another The Hebrews call War by a Name that signifies A Devourer And Souldiers carry in their Hands what the Monster feeds upon the Leviathan devours the Lives of them who do Encounter him The Lives of Souldiers are where their Arms are even in their Hands for they know not whether they shall return Alive out of the Battels which they are push'd upon And it is for a double Reason that our God carves out such a condition for us First It is to check our Worldly-mindedness It was said unto that good man in Jer. 45.5 Seekest thou great things for thy self seek them not for thy Life will I give unto thee for a prey When our Life is for a prey our Life is then in our Hand we have it by a meer snatch as it were This now prohibits our seeking of great things for our selves in as much as we cannot secure to our selves the Enjoyment of That which alone makes us capable of Enjoying all other Sublunary Things By bringing our Lives into our Hands our Hands are knock'd away from too fast a gripe or grasp after Secular Objects When our Life is in our Hand God has a voice in His Mouth to this purpose Dream not of mighty Things no nor of any Things in this Transitory World until thou hast better Assurance of thy continuance here The blessed God thus inviteth us and obligeth us to look after the glorious Crowns and Ioyes in another VVorld He Inviteth us and obligeth us To set our Affections upon the Things which are above and To Look at the Things which are not seen and are Eternal and to make sure of an Hope in Christ without which we see when we have Life in Hand our selves to be of all men most miserable Secondly It is to cure our Creature-Confidence It was said by the Apostle in 2 Cor. 1.9 We had a Sentence of Death in our selves that we should not trust in our selves but in God which raises the Dead A Condemned Malefactor carries his Life in his Hand from the Bar. VVe are sometimes in as perilous a Likelihood of Dying as a condemned Malefactor and we are hereby called upon to Trust in God alone for the Reversing and Repealing of the Sentence By having our Lives in our Hands we are under a Necessity of Reliance upon God alone to keep them there VVhen we have our Life in our Hand we have also that call in our Ear Do not Lean upon any Temporal Visible Interest for the preservation of thy Life let all thy Expectations be as all thy Salvations are from God alone The Lord breaks down the Hedge on every side of us and we Ly open to Death every way 't is that we may reserve our Dependance for all support and all succour to be placed upon God alone 't is that we may learn the Song of him that returned with his Life in his Hand from the maw of the great Shark Salvation is of the Lord. Proposition II. The Direction proper for them that have their Lives in their Hands is to Remember the Law of God. VVhen you have considered a few Conclusions your thoughts will rightly apprehend the Intent and Extent of this Assertion Conclusion I. Their Memories being Fraighted and Stored with Divine Truths do marvellously assist those that have their Lives in their Hands Our Souls have an admirable Faculty of laying up in themselves the Images of Things which have made their Impressions on us This is our Memory VVe have both a Retaining Memory which is more Sensitive and a Regaining Memory which is more Rational a Memory that can both keep Safe and fetch Back what Idaeas we have been Entertained with This Memory is a Treasury to be replenished with such Things as the Law of God affords unto us 'T is Required in Prov. 3.1 My Son forget not my Law. 'T is Resolved in Psal. 119.16 I will not Forget thy Word The Law of God contains Commandments every one of which are Holy and Iust and Good it contains Promises every one of which are Great and Precious it contains Threatnings every one of which are Quick and Powerful and these are all to be Treasured up in our Memories VVhen they have been communicated unto us we are to take heed that Menasseh or Forgetfulness be not the Name of our Souls The Distillations of Gods Law like Manna fall about our Tents from Day to Day our Duty now is that in 2 Pet. 1.15 To have these Things always in Remembrance and Gods Law will not like Manna corrupt but rather sweeten by being Reposited until To morrow The Law of our God is both Written and Preached among us now 't is declared in Heb. 2.1 We ought to give earnest heed unto the Things lest at any time we let them slip or Lest we be like Leaky Vessels thereunto The Truths couched in the Law of God are to be like Nails fastned in our Souls never to be removâ—d never to be displaced After we have been sitting under the Dispensations of Gods Law He will ask of uâ— as in Heb. 12.5 Have you forgotten the Exhortation To which we should be able to Reply as the Psalmist of old Lord I have not forgotten thy Law. And hence we should Receive the Truths therein offered unto us with that Affectionate and Agreeable Ejaculation Lord keep it for ever in the Imagination of the Thought of my Heart Now those of you that carry your Lives in your Hands will have this peculiar Benefit by having of Gods Laws thus in your Minds First your Memory will suggest Necessary Truths unto you You cannot always come at those Ordinances which are the Wells of Salvation being driven to wander in the Dry paths of a Solitary Wilderness But your well-furnished Memories will supply you with the words whereby you may be saved bring a Little Sanctuary to you when you are Banished from the Great Ones They will render you the Instructed Scribes which will not want Things New and Old for the Repast of your Souls in the Desert which you range forth into Salvation was to come unto you by your Hearing while you were here it may now come unto you by your Remembring for the Apostle said in 1 Cor. 15.2 Ye are savÌ„ed if you keep in Memory What I Preached unto you And Secondly Your Memories will suggest Seasonable Truths unto you You are going into a Warfare wherein you will often have occasion for some Advice from God. While you were among us you could seldom labour under any
General happening to over hear them surprised them with that Expression And I pray how many do you count ME for In like manner when you are anxious about the proportion of your Numbers to those that may oppose you the Blessed God interposes And I pray how many do you count me for The Confession that New-England makes to the God of Heaven is The Lord is my King my Lord my Law-giver We may add He will save us And you may sing with him Psal. 18.6 12. The Lord is on my side I will not fear The Nations compassed me about like Bees but in the Name of the Lord I will destroy them all Tho' you carry your Lives in your Hands yet they are not in your own Hands no they are in the Hands of that God without whom not a Sparrow falls and by whom every Bullet is directed You may say as the Syriac version of my Text expresses it My Life is continually in thy Hands O God. The Good God will be careful of your Lives and your Deaths will be precious to the Lord. Know Lastly That your Success is very probable Indeed God may Humble us and Abase us and vex us yet by that Foolish Nation which he has let Loose upon us but we may believe that They shall all shortly perish by the Arms of His New English Israel They What are they but Bloody and Deceitful men And you may look to be Instruments of Executing what God has denounced on them That they shall not Live out half their days Even They themselves not only may but perhaps Do expect utter Desolation and Extirpation and they would soon lay down their Arms if he that hurried the Swine of old had not a wonderful possession of them That old Sagamore and Conjurer Passaconnoway whose Posterity 't is among the rest that we are now galled by When he lay Dying about Thirty Years ago did in a great Assembly of Indians thus take his Farewel of his Children I am ready to Dy said he and I now Leave this Counsil with you Take heed how you Quarrel with the English for tho' you may do them some Hurt you will yourselves be all rooted out of the Earth if you do I was as great an Enemy to the English at their first coming here as any one I try'd all ways to prevent their Settlement but I am convinced there can be no effecting of it These Counsils and Commands are Disobeyed by some of his wicked Children whose Dayes we may therefore think shall not be Long in the Land. Indeed They have none to Assist them but the worst Auxiliaries in the World the Divels and the Papists The Divels have a great Hand in Exciting and Supporting of them and hence the last Winter from the mouth of a possessed Child among us They gave I think a very broad Notice of the Slaughters which the Summer would produce That These have had a Long and an Old Interest in America cannot be reasonably questioned by them that shall read what was written even before the Birth of our Saviour by Diodoras Siculus In very Ancient Times says he the Phenicians tossed with Storms after many days arrived unto this Vast Island as he calls it which then had stately Buildings in it Hither the Divels did seduce a wretched party oâ— Mankind that they might have them out of the Gospels Way when it spred thro' the Old World by the Ministry of the Apostles and here they have Reigned as Kings as Gods without control over millions of people for Ages not a few It has given a terrible Alarum to them that the Silver Trumpets of the Gospel are now at length sounding in their Territories and it puts them into a Flaming Rage that the Way to Salvation by Iesus Christ is proclaimed here Many are the Wiles which they have used for the Discouragement of these Notable Beginnings in which our Lord Jesus is taking the utmost parts of the Earth for his Possession Hence 't is that their Vassals who have more than once been disquieting of us in our Properties and Possessions now have also taken Arms again to make us miserable But as these Attempts and Attacques of Hell upon us have been all Abortive heretofore so we may Apprehend that they will still miscarry The Barbarians may as 't is by Escaped Captives reported that they have by their Diabolical Charms keep our Dogs from Hurting of them but they shall not so keep our Swords from coming at them Faith and Prayer among us hath wonderfully made the Divels themselves to fly before it so shall These too find unto their Cost Tho' the Papists may likewise contribute what Help they can unto these Miscreants and say Mass with them as of Late after their Little Victories yet we need not be disanimated but the rather from thence prognosticate their Approaching Ruine For we too much Distrust our own Observation if we do not now think that the whole Papal Empire which was of late replanting a Tabernacle in the Glorious Holy Mountain between the Seas is very near its End when none shall help it and that the twelve Hundred and sixty Years during which the people of God were to be harrassed by it are not far from their Expiration In a word you may go forth with such a Triumph as that in Psal. 20.7 8 Some Trust in Chariots and some in Horses some in Satan and some in Antichrist But wee will Remember the Name of the Lord our God. They are brought down and fallen but wee are Risen and stand Vpright And for a close Let me mind you that while you Fight Wee 'l pray Every good man will do it in secret and in private every day and publick Supplications also will be always going for you We will keep in the Mount with our Hands lifted up while you are in the Field with your Lives in your Hands against the Amalek that is now annoying this Israel in the Wilderness It was the Watch Word which a Battel once Commenc'd withal Now for the Fruit of Prayer Now for the Fruit of Prayer To gather that Fruit will be your Errand into the Thickets of our Scythian Desart I therefore conclude with a few BLESSINGS On you which the whole people of God in this Land will say Amen unto We wish That you may be all good Souldiers of Iesus Christ and not want the Spiritual Armour which may enable you to withstand Devils as well as Indians We wish That since our Lord says unto you as he said unto them I send you forth as Sheep in the midst of Wolves this Great Shepherd may preserve you from them and with his mighty Crook defend you when you come into the Valley of the shadow of Death We wish That your Enemies may not have their Lives in their Hands but in Gods slings and that God would Sling them out as out of the middle of a Sling While you that have your Lives in your Hands may have your Souls bound up in the Bundle of Life Finally we wish That your Heads may bee Covered in the Day of Battle that you may by the Almighty God bee made the Liberatores Partie the Saviours of your Countrey and that if any of you must Breath your last in the High places of the Field your Souls may bee Received by Him that has Armies in Heaven Clothed in fine Linen White and Clean. 'T is with these Wishes that wee Bless you in the Name of the Eternal God and the Whole Congregation will say AMEN AMEN Benedictus que dat Fatigato Robur At the North Meeting House in Boston 1 d. 7 m. Afternoon 1689. FINIS