The works of the Rev. William Thom, late minister ... - waughfamily.ca

SERMONS. 7£for, when a mob Is once a-foot, what or who is it thatcan put a ftop to its fury ? Even majefty itfelf, if inMullthe way, may fall a vi6lim to its fenfelefs rage.not the king himfelf have been fomewhat forry thathe forfook the prudent counfel of the old men, whenhe fees himfelf forced to flee in terror from thofe,who, if he had fpoken and a6ted with propriety,would have trembled before him, and yielded a readyobedience to his juft commands ? He made fpeed toget him up to his chariot, and drove as quickly as hecould to Jerufalem.When Rehoboam had, by flight, efcaped to thecapital ; after his authority had been controuled, hiswill refifted, and the collector of his taxes maflacredby a mob ; he, without repealing the obnoxious edi6t,or taking time to think of fome lenient fteps, beingyet diredled by his young counfellors, had immediaterecourfe to coercive meafures. He immediately levieda powerful army to force the revolted provinces tofubmit again to his grievous yoke, and to pay theheavy tax^s impofed upon them. " And v/hen Rehoboamwas come to Jerufalem, he aflembled all thehoufe of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, an hundredand fourfcore thoufand chofen men, which werewarriors, to fight againlt the houfe of Ifrael, to bringthe kingdom again to Rehoboam, the fon of Solomon."Had he firft made their burden lighter, and repealedthe edi£t for an unlimited tribute, which he had forecently enafted, I do not know but the rage of thepeople would have foon fubfided, and, from their likingto David's family, they might have returned a-gain, and fubmitted to Rehoboam : but there was nofuch repeal, no relaxation •, he aflembled a hundredand fourfcore thoufand. I fufpe^t that the men ofJudah and Benjamin had no great mind to this waragainft their brethren *, for, a few years after this period,Abijam levied and led on to battle no fewerthan four hundred thoufand. Be this as it may, Re-