Virginia's Danger and Remedy

p. 5The MORNING SERMON.

Hear this Word that the Lord hath spoken against you, O Children of Israel, against the whole Family which I brought up from the Land of Egypt, saying, You only have I known of all the Families of the Earth; therefore I will punish you for all your Iniquities. Can two walk together, except they be agreed? Will a Lion roar in the Forest, when he hath no Prey? Will a young Lion cry out of his Den, if he have taken nothing? Can a Bird fall in a Snare upon the Earth, where no Gin is for him? Shall one take up a Snare from the Earth, and have taken nothing at all? Shall a Trumpet be blown in the City, and the People not be afraid? Shall there be Evil in a City, and the Lord hath not done it?

IF my late Journey deprived me of Leisure to make proper Preparations for your Entertainment To-day; I must own, it has helped me not a little, in furnishing me with Materials adapted to this melancholy Season. I have seen the Staff of p. 6Life just broken in most Places; in a Tour of about an hundred Miles [Thro' the Counties of Hanover, Goochland, Albemarle, &c.] The Fields which were wont to look green and flourishing with our Staple Commodity [Tobacco.] , on which our Trade so entirely depends, I have seen prepared with Labour and Pain, but unplanted, or the Plants parched and fading, I have seen the Fields, that in former Seasons promised abundant Support for Man and Beast, and were rich in stately, blooming Corn, now withering, and hardly promising a few sapless Leaves for our Cattle, and a few husky Ears for ourselves. I have seen the Planter, that was once surrounded with Affluence, pointing to his empty withering Fields, and ready to smite upon his Breast, and say, "Alass! what shall I do for Corn to support my Family next Year? I would just now sell some of my Slaves, or any Thing in my Possession, and that at an Under-Rate, to purchase a sure Supply, if I knew where to get it." This Scarcity is the more threatning, as Pennsylvania, the Granary of America, has also suffered severely by the Drought. And as the numerous British Islands in the West-Indies depend upon that Province for a Supply of Wheat, and upon us for Corn; they will also have a deep Share with the Colonies on the Continent in the Effects of this unfruitful Season. Indeed there are but few Parts of his Majesty's Dominions, but will be sensibly affected by it, more or less. It seems to be a wide-extended circulating Distress; and we should feel it as such.

p. 6There is also a general Complaint of the Stagnation of Trade, the Scarcity of Money, the Weight p. 7of the various Taxes, the high Price of Goods, and the low Price of your Staple Commodities: And some poor Families are already in the very Jaws of Famine, and the Children crying for Bread, and there is just none for them. What oppressive, complicated Calamities are these? Your own Circumstances will teach you Sympathy in this Case; or if any of you are so happy as to be free from some of them, you have your Share in others of them; and this must affect you with Concern for yourselves, and Compassion for others, on whom the whole Burden may fall with greater Oppression.

Were these Calamities single and alone, we could not but feel and lament each of them. But when they are complicated and united, they are heavy indeed; and this is the melancholy Case of most Parts of this Colony.—But Oh VIRGINIA! Oh my Country! even this Complication of Afflictions is not all thy Burden. Besides all this, we

hear the Sound of the Trumpet, and see Garments rolled in Blood.

We have received the melancholy Confirmation of the News we were so unwilling to believe, concerning the Fate of a great Part of our Army. Our brave General is no more; near fifty of our best Officers, and near six hundred of our Men, are killed or wounded; an Army of one thousand three hundred Men routed; and all this, (Oh indignant Mortification!) all this by four or five hundred undisciplined, cowardly, insidious Savages. Who can so much as in Thought, take a Survey of the bloody Field, without all the tender and mournful Passions working within him?

How p. 8are the mighty fallen, and the Weapons of War perished! Ye Banks of Monongahala, upon you let there be no Dew, neither let there be Rain upon you, nor Fields of Offerings: For there the the Shield of the Mighty is vilely cast away [2 Sam. i. 21, 27.] .

See there the mighty Dead rolling in their own Blood! some of them scalped by merciless Indians, left without the Honors of Burial in a howling Wilderness, to be devoured by the Fowls of Heaven, and Beasts of Prey! See the wounded writhing with Pain, surrounded with all the Terrors of Death, and groaning out their Life, in Amazement and Consternation; many dying of Wounds not mortal, if proper Care could have been taken of them! while the Remnant that escape, shift for themselves, and fly in the wildest Horror, thro' a barren Wilderness, without the Supports of Life! Who can realize such a Scene, without sharing in the Sufferings of these unhappy Men; especially if we consider, they suffer for our Sake, i. e. for our own Defence; and whether we may not also add, they suffer for our Sins, we shall enquire presently. To complete our Loss, our fine Artillery, Baggage, Horses, Wheel-Carriages, are destroyed, or fallen into the Hands of our Enemies, to strengthen and enrich them, and to weaken and impoverish us, The New-England Men indeed are pushing their Conquests wherever they turn, under the Smiles of Heaven, to which they look, and in which they trust; and this we should acknowledge with Gratitude, as a singular Bluffing, and greatly tending to the Advantage of the British Colonies in general; p. 9but in another View, methinks it makes us more sensible of our peculiar Misfortunes and Mortification in this Colony; as tho' we were singled out to Destruction, and nothing could prosper in which we are concerned And perhaps the Routing of the French in their Northern Settlements may cause them to over-run this Colony, in Order to make Reprisals, and set them on fighting from a stronger Principle than Ambition, viz. a Care to provide a Place for themselves to go to.