Deus nobiscum a sermon preached upon a great deliverance at sea : with the narrative of the dangers and deliverances : with the name of the master and those that suffered : together with the name of the ship and owners / by William Johnson, Dr. of Divinity.

TO THE Honourable Society of the East-Country Mer∣chants resident in Eng∣land, Dantzick, Konings∣berg, and elsewhere.

Worthy Friends,

I Am led to honour your Society, not by the hasty choice and election of the Will, which often∣times is transported with pas∣sion,

and loves without any merit; but by the rational and understanding part, which hath a long time per∣fectly known and understood your many excellencies, that I cannot chuse but love and honour your Society. Nei∣ther are you beholding to any for the respect they give, or rather pay you, but to your own merit, to which it is due. You are not like Solomon's Merchants, those I mean that brought over Apes and Pea∣cocks; but you furnish this Island with such staple Com∣modities, that ye have made London as famous as that City of Tyre, that crowning

City, whose Merchants are Princes, and whose Trafick∣ers are the honourable of the Earth. There is as much difference between the trade of those worthy Merchants that furnish us with Spices, Plums and Taffaties, and our East-country trade that brings us in Masts, materials for Cor∣dage, and necessaries for Ship∣ping, as there is in Religion between Ceremonies and Fun∣damentals. Spices and such things are pretty Ornaments and Ceremonial supplements to our well-being: But our East-Country Commodities are those which do constitute the Being, and lay the foundati∣on

of a rich and flourishing Commonwealth. And with∣out them, if not the Art, yet the practice of Navigation would be lost among us. For we cannot sail to the Indies in a Nutmeg, embarque our selves in Cinnamon, make a Mast of a Race of Ginger, and wing our Ships with Taffaty. No, it is our East-Country Trade that doth fur∣nish us with these absolute necessaries for Navigation, and is indeed the very princi∣ple and foundation of all Merchandize, and like a ma∣ster-wheel in a Watch, sets all other on work. So that what goods are brought into this

Nation, may be said principal∣ly and primarily to be import∣ed by your aid and assistance, though fetch'd hither by the hands of others.

This is a general good, and obligeth every one to honour you: But I have an Argu∣ment of an higher nature, which doth dispute and con∣vince my affections into an high esteem and reputation of your Society.

Your Company in Prussia were the first that call'd me to the exercise of my Ministe∣rial function, being the first charge that ever I undertook to preach to: And had I not been forc'd to come into Eng∣land

by an Obligation which I could not in conscience break, I had rather have parted with my Life then them: for they were, as the Apostle writes to the Philippians, my hope, my joy, and crown of rejoy∣cing in the Lord Jesus.

That I had a desire again to come unto them, witness those many sufferings, losses, ship∣wracks, fears, streights, dan∣gers, deaths that I did under∣go in that second adventure; and for the Love I bear them, am willing to repeat them over again, not in words only, but in real sufferings, so I might be any way serviceable for the good and salvation of their Souls.

But some will say to me, Why would you venture to Sea again, seeing you have so often found the Ship unsafe, the Mariners fearful, the Winds treacherous, and the waves rebellious?

I answer, If God call me to it, I shall not fear the frowns of Neptune, nor the crooked face of an angry tem∣pest. It was a brave Spirit of that Roman, who being to undergo a dangerous Voyage at Sea for the Service of his Country, being disswaded from it, made this answer, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, It is ne∣cessary for me to sail, but it is not necessary for me to

live. And it was a noble and vertuous resolution in another, who said, if he were commanded to put forth to Sea in a Ship that neither had Masts nor Tackling, he would do it; and being ask'd what wisdom that was, replied—The wisdom must be in him that hath power to com∣mand, not in him whose conscience binds to obey. When the service of God calls us to hazard our lives, why should we not be willing to sacrifice them? Quid re∣volvis? Deus praecipit, saith Tertullian. If Christ should call me to Sea again, why should I be more afraid to go

aboard a stately ship, then S. Peter was to walk upon the very waves, when Christ call'd him to come to him?

But seeing God would not let me go to Tarsus, but sent me back in an angry and furi∣ous tempest, and made me a Preacher of repentance in this place, I shall serve you in my devotions, and, as the Apo∣stle saies, make mention al∣ways of you in my prayers, that ye may be like that wise Merchant in the Gospel, who when he had found one Pearl of great Value, sold all and bought that Pearl, which was the Kingdom of Heaven.

The first that sought after Christ, and (when they had found him) presented him with gifts, were the Wise men that came from the East. They presented to him Gold, Frank∣incense, and Myrrhe: I should be glad it might be said so of you, that go to and from the East. I wish with all my heart, that ye would first seek after Christ Jesus, and when ye have found him out, being guided to him by the star of your Faith, that then ye offer up to him the sacrifice of a cheerful obedience, in a true and faithful Service of him; and that will be as sweet and as acceptable to our Saviour,

as the gifts of those Chaldean or Arabian Astronomers, their Gold, Frankincense and Myrrhe, or all the riches of the East.

So prayeth, Sirs, Your poor Oratour, and humble Servant, Will. Johnson.

From my study in Warbois April 6. 1659.