sublime pinnacle of Wisdom and Virtue on the terrestial Lodge, preparing you more and more for admission into that celestial Lodge, reared by the great Architect himself; where all the followers of Christ and holy St. John, and the blessed Evangelists and Apostles, enjoy Wisdom and Knowledge and Happiness, blessed forever more. My concluding Prayer is, that such may be your lot, and the lot of all who now honour us with their presence; "through the Might of the Father of Heaven; the Wisdom of his adorable son, and the grace and goodness of the Holy Ghost, thrice "blessed Three!" To whom be glory, &c. Amen-so let it be. P. S. Short address, at the conclusion of the Sermon"Brethren a collection is now to be made. After what has "been said of Love and Charity, more would be needless"Whoever gives let him give freely, and with a willing heart." IN GRAND LODGE OF PENNSYLVANIA; ST. JOHN'S DAY, "ON Motion and Seconded, Resolved, That the Committee * of Arrangements be requested to wait on our Rev. Brother, "Doctor Smith, with the Thanks of this LODGE, for the Dis"course by him delivered on this day, and request the favour of "a copy of the same for publication, and that one thousand "copies thereof be printed at the expense of the Grand Lodge." The above is a true extract from the Minutes of the Grand Lodge. GEORGE A. BAKER, Grand Secretary. June 9th, A. L. 5802. AFTER acquainting the reader that the following sermon was first delivered, when the province was groaning under all that load of misery, which was the consequence of Braddock's defeat, and the inroads of the French and savages on our distressed and helpless frontiers; any apology for the matter or manner of it would be needless. PREACHED ON THE PUBLIC FAST, APPOINTED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA, MAY 21, 1756. HARDNESS OF HEART AND NEGLECT OF GOD'S MERCIFUL VISITATIONS, THE CERTAIN FORERUNNERS OF MORE PUBLIC MISERIES; APPLIED TO THE COLONIES, IN A PARALLEL BETWEEN THEIR STATE AND THAT OF THE JEWS, IN MANY REMARKABLE INSTANCES. JEREMIAH viii. V. 7. Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times, and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming, but my people know not the judgment of the Lord. 8. How do you say, We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is vain. 9. The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken; lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord, and what wisdom is in them? 10. Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall inherit them. For every one, from the least even unto the greatest, is given to covetousness; from the prophet even unto the priest, every one dealeth falsely. 11. For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, Peace, when there is no Peace. BRETHREN, WE are this day called, by the authority of government, to prostrate ourselves before the almighty God, in humble confession of our manifold offences, both public and private; to implore forgive ness, and grace for amendment; to offer up our praises and thanksgivings for our deliverance from the fury of wide-spreading earthquakes; and to beseech him in mercy to avert those other awful judgments that now hang over us, threatening the subversion of all that is near and dear to us, as Britons and as Protestants. Rising up to address you, on such an important occasion, it will become me to speak with the utmost freedom; and I am sure you yourselves would disapprove a timid or faint execution of this day's duty. You know the condemnation of the false priests in the text, "who healed the hurt of the daughter of God's people slightly, and cried peace, peace, when there was no peace." You know also that the Lord hath pronounced-" If thou speak not to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thy hands."* You have moreover heard the fate of the prophet Jonah, who vainly imagined to flee from the face of the living God, and avoid the execution of perilous duty. The very elements fought against him; the whale of the ocean vomited him back on dry ground; and there his willing feet learned to pursue his Maker's will, and never again to wander from his way. The explanation of duty is a weighty charge, and it becomes those who are entrusted with it, to suit themselves to times and seasons, and to try every method of making impressions in favour of God and goodness. Sometimes the Lord condescends to ma * Ezek. chap. iii. 18. nifest himself in peculiar acts of mercy and loving kindness; and then the hearts of men are to be won to gratitude by rapturous views of his eternal goodness. Sometimes again, he thinks fit to visit in terror and judgment, earthquakes, pestilence, famine, sword and the like; and then his servants are to forego their usual methods of address, and assume a severe and bolder note. I would be far from multiplying judgments, or magnifying into that class what may possibly be but the common result of the natural order of things. But, on the other hand, to deny God's particular providence, and the occasional exertions of his power in an extraordinary manner, to answer extraordinary purposes in his moral dealings with free agents, would be to exclude him from the immediate government of that world which he has made. The history of all ages may convince us that he has often interposed to over-rule particular events, both in judgment and mercy; and to you who believe his sacred word, arguments on this head would be unnecessary. I, therefore, proceed to the main business of this discourse, and therein shall pursue the following method: First, I shall give some account of the state of the Jewish nation, with respect to those vices which drew down the judgments denounced in the text. Secondly, I shall give some account of our own state by way of parallel, and conclude with an application of the whole to the business of the present day. As to the vices of the Jewish nation, they are so fully and pathetically described, in the chapters, pre |