But thou hast not only, Friend, mistaken the proper Use of thy Text, but in the Improvement of it thou hast left unsaid many things that ought naturally to have occurred to thee, whether thou supposedst the Shocks to be the Effect of a special or a general Providence. Verily, Friend, on such an awful Occasion, I expected, that thou wouldest have enumerated, without any palliation or disguise, the many heinous Sins, that in this wicked Age are even a Disgrace to Human Nature, and, after such an Enumeration, thou wouldest candidly, and without Respect of Persons, have pointed out the real Source of all these Iniquities that overwhelm the Land, and have directed thy Flock to the natural Means of freeing themselves from the Thraldom of Sin and Death. But in all this verily thou hast fallen short: For in the List of the Crimes, with which thou hast charged the People, thou hast forgot the most atrocious, and taken notice of the most trivial of our Transgressions, and hast missed intirely of the true Source of our growing Impiety, and left us altogether in the dark as to the Practical Method of _amending our ways, and turning again unto the God of our Fore fathers_. The First Sin thou takest Notice of, and what, by the Order in which thou hast placed it, and the Conclusion thou hast drawn from it, would appear in thy Sense the Source of all our publick and private Transgressions, is the Number of bad Books with which the Town swarms. This indeed is a crying Sin, and much to be lamented: but, great as it is, it does not deserve to lead the Van in a List of National Sins, capable of drawing down the special Vengeance of the Almighty upon a whole People. Nor is its Influence so great, as to corrupt the Morals of the Generality of the Nation. Nine Parts in Ten never read Books of any Sort; and those, that do, would make but a small Proficiency in Vice, if they had no other School to learn it in, but Books and unclean Pictures. It is true, Friend, there are a great many impious Books, and indecent Prints, publickly sold in our Streets; and they may have their Share in debauching the Morals of the People: but I would have thee to reflect, that there have been Periods of Time, when that Evil was more to be complained of than at present. I verily believe, that there are not the Hundredth Part of irreligious Books now printed, as were in the Reign of _Charles_ II. There is so little of the Spirit of Religion now prevailing, that the Subject, even when spoken of in ridicule, is disagreeable to the Polite of the present Age. But when thou wast speaking of bad Books, there is one thing thou mightest have mentioned with as much Propriety as Part of the Sins of the Times; that is, the Want of good Books, the only proper Antidote against the Venom of those thou so bitterly complainest against: The Age has not only produced fewer bad Books, than some former; but it has been likewise remarkably deficient in producing any thing fit to improve the Morals or