Alarming consequences were dreaded from the multitudes of dead bodies which lay uninterred: while, to complete the dismal scene, inevitable famine seemed to stare the miserable survivors in the face. This description includes the calamities of a single island; and, when to these we add, what other islands belonging to us and our enemies suffered by a similar visitation, how accumulated must the loss be of property and of lives! And who can help, in a reflection upon such events, crying out, “Who in the heaven can be compared unto the Lord! who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto Jehovah! Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand; justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne.” Psal. lxxxix. 6, 13, 14. I presume not to decide on the particular designs or intentions of Providence, in selecting some parts of the earth for a manifestation of his power, while others remain untouched; much less do the scriptures warrant us to conclude, that exemplary sufferers are necessarily “sinners _above_” the rest of the world. A hasty conclusion of this nature would reflect highly on our candor and humility, and involve in it too, a bold usurpation of the prerogative of God, to explore and distinguish the grounds of his own dispensations. And, indeed, the late visitation was so indiscriminate, as to leave us no room to draw inferences, either flattering to ourselves, or insulting to our enemies. And, perhaps, the impartiality and severity, which have marked these recent calamities, in their application, might serve to prove, that powers exhausting blood and treasure in a contest for the empty names of power and sway, are both wrong; when JEHOVAH seems to take up the controversy, and to punish both. One thing we cannot help seeing; which is, that if the Most High God were to exercise his power, as he is able, or, as we deserve, the necessity of waging or carrying on war would be very soon superseded; for there would exist no belligerent powers to do either the one or the other. We talk of our fleets and armies, and record with triumph the mighty achievements of our heroes; but, behold! the Almighty accomplishes in a few hours, what the armies of the earth are not able to effect in numerous campaigns! We may, however, safely conclude in general, that if “there be evil in a city, the Lord hath done it,” as the scriptures peremptorily affirm. That is, if any part of the earth is visited with evils or calamities, the agency of God, either permissive or decretive, is to be acknowledged in them. We may with equal safety infer, too, that all the judgments originate from, and imply the existence of, _sin_; since it would be an impeachment of his justice, to suppose, that he would suffer the elements to conspire to man’s ruin, if there were nothing in human nature to provoke his wrath. But this leads me to consider II. In what light, and with what temper, we ought to contemplate such portentous dealings.