all Adversities in which is was thought that the divine Anger was
visible, all Believers in _Christ_ have, ever since the Promulgation of
the Gospel, made use of the aforesaid Remedies, as the most proper
Means to obtain Pardon for their Offences, and render heaven
propitious to them. All Magistrates likewise, where the Christian
Religion has been national, have in general Misfortunes and all great
Calamities (whenever they happen'd) appointed Days to be solemnly
kept, and set aside for Prayer, for Fasting and Humiliation. If on
these Days Men should be sincere in their Devotion; if a pains-taking
Clergy, of Apostolic Lives, on the one Hand, should preach Repentance
to their Hearers, and shew them the Difference between the temporal
Evils, which they complain'd of, tho' they were less afflicting than
they had deserv'd, and the eternal Miseries, which impenitent Sinners
would unavoidably meet with, tho' now they thought little of them; if
the Hearers, on the other, searching their Consciences without
Reserve, should reflect upon their past Conduct; if both the Clergy
and the Laity should thus join in religious Exercises, and, adding
real Fasting to ardent Prayer, humble themselves before the Throne of
Mercy, with Sorrow and Contrition; if, I say, the Days you speak of
were to be spent in this Manner, they would be of use in no War, but
against the World, the Flesh, or the Devil, the only Enemies a
Christian Hero is not oblig'd to love, and over which the Triumph is
the darling Object of his Ambition, and the glorious End of his
Warfare. On the Contrary, such Fast-days would be hurtful to a
Soldier, in the literal Sense of the Word, and destructive to the
Intentions of all Armies; and I would as soon expect from them, that
they should turn Men into Trees or Stones, as that they should inspire
them with martial Courage, or make them eager to fight. But skilful
Politicians make an Advantage of every Thing, and often turn into
useful Tools the seeming Obstacles to their Ambition. The most