t Jesus,
warning you to flee from the Wrath that is to come.

Had this Part of the World had less Knowledge and less Light, they
might have some Excuse, and some Hope that GOD would wink at the Times
of their Ignorance: But they have had the Light, and have loved
Darkness: The Gospel of Christ in which all the Goodness and Mercy of
GOD are display'd through the Redemption purchased by the Blood of
Christ; in which the Aid and Comfort of the Holy Spirit of GOD is
offered to all who diligently seek it; in which the Hopes and Fears of
Eternity are display'd to guard us against the Temptations of Sin; has
been not only rejected, but treated with a malicious Scorn; and all our
Hopes in Christ represented as Delusions and Impositions upon the
Weakness of Men. How has the Press for many Years past swarm'd with
Books, some to dispute, some to ridicule the great Truths of Religion,
both natural and revealed. I shall mention no particular Cases, there
is no need for it; the Thing is notorious. I wish the Guilt in this
Instance was confined to the Authors only, and that no body else was
answerable for it: But the Earnestness with which these Books were
sought after, the Pleasure and Approbation with which they were
received, are too strong Indications of the general Taste to be
dissembled; and the Industry used to disperse these Books at home and
abroad, and especially to our Plantations in _America_; to which great
Numbers, and at a great Expence have been conveyed; are Proofs of such
Malice against the Gospel and the Holy Author of it, as would not be
born even in a _Mahometan_ Country. In this Branch of Trade, this great
City beats all the World; it is become even the Mart for Infidelity.

It required no great Sagacity to foresee what the Consequence would be
of the Pains taken to unsettle all Principles of Religion. Infidelity
and Immorality are too nearly allied, to be long separated; and though
some have pretended to preserve a Sense of Virtue without the Aid of
Religion, yet Experience has shewed that People who have neither Hopes
nor Fears with Respect to _another_ World, will soon abuse _this_ by
indulging the worst of their Passions, and will not regard Man, when
once they have learn'd to disregard GOD.

Whether this be our Case, let every Man judge by what he hears and
sees; by what, indeed, he _must_ hear and see, if he lives amongst us.
Blasphemy and horrid Imprecations domineer in our Streets, and poor
Wretches ar