A Practical Difcourse upon this Thanksgiving. S.III. God, our Heavenly Father, who by thy gracious Providence doft cause the former, and the latter Rain to descend upon the Earth, that it may bring forth Fruit for the ale of man.] (w) Pluvia tempe Stiva in facra Scrip. tura pro omni bened&ionum fpiritualium & temporalium largitione fumitur.Kivet.in loc.Hof. The giving of Rain in due Season is so great a bles fing, that the holy Scripture compares the most defirable things unto it, the favour of a King, Prov.xvi. 15.yea the Grace of God is expreffed by this Metaphor, Hof. vi. 13. (w), And yet when we have it year af ter year in due time, we are scarce ever mindful of it, or thankful for it; wherefore now that we have felt the want of this excellent mercy, the Church takes occafion to admonish us to fupply our former defects by a particular Thanksgiving for thofe feasonable Rains, which we have formerly had in the ordinary courfe of divine Providence: And here we bless our God by the fame Title of Dur heavenly Father, by which we called upon him in the foregoing Prayer, and we acknowledg, that the Rain is ordered by a moft wife and gracious Providence and therefore when our Sins do not withhold it, it ufually falls efpecially at two Seafons of the year, which Scripture calls the former and the latter Rain, Deut.xi. 14. The former Rain among the Jews (whofe year as well as their Seed-time began in September) was that which fell upon the new fown ground, and made the Seed at firft to fpring and grow, for which cause it is called the rain of their Seed, Ifai.xxx.23.The latter latterRain with them was that which came about March, when their Corn was shooting and earing, that it might fill and ripen kindly, and yield a plentiful encrease. And among us the fame words muft fignifie in the fame proportion the Rain foon after our Seed-time,and that a little before our Harvest, for both which we are plainly commanded to give thanks, Joel ii.23. And if we do neglect it,the very Heathens would shame us; the Athenians having a double Sacrifice, The first of an Hegoat folemnly offered to Minerva by all the Magiftrates for the firft Springing of all fruits, which they called Hexapisngia: The second an Oblation at the time, when the fruits were ripe, called 'Axe, as Suidas teftifies.Saubert.de facrif. cap.2. pag.29, 30. And shall we be lefs grateful to the true and living God, whom we know to be the Cause of Fruits and Grafs?for he created them before ever there had been any Rain in the World, Gen. Xi. 12. with chap.ii. 5. for this very Caufe, (as S. Auguftine notes) that the fruitfulness of the Earth might not be attributed to the power of Rain, but the bleffing of God (x): for he gives Rain, and he gives it vertue to nourish the Earth, that it may bring forth fruit for the use of man, for our fakes he chiefly fends it,and therefore we are bound to praise him for it. The beafts devour the productions of the field, and cannot look up to the Author of them and those men are few degrees above the brute Creatures, who enjoy all the bleffings of the Earth, and look pot up to God who gives them; unlefs we shall account thefe the more brutish, who may know the first Cause of all,but never do regard him. (x) Si enim poft pluviam fænum feciffet Deus, pluvia magis exortum, quam factum ab eo vid retur. Aug. Genef. ad Lit.lib.5. S.IV. give thee humble thanks, that it hath pleafed thee in our great neceflity to lend us at the last a joyful Rain upon thine Inheritance,to refreth it when it was dry.] (y) Cum aliquando tard.us dat, commen dat dona non negat, diu defiderata dulcius obtinentur.Aug.verb. Dom.Serm.5. 4 Having bleffed God for his giving Rain in ordinary we come now to give him extraordinary thanks for the late refreshing Showrs, which our great neceffity hath made to be a greater Mercy; we wanted them long, and fuffered much while we were without them, we prayed much and earnestly for them, but our Iniquities did withold them for a great while, Jer. v.25. And our God feemed to deny our Requests, it may be, that we might know the worth of it by our want thereof, and that we might pray for it more heartily till it came, and be the more thankful for it when it did come (y). S that now (I hope) we know the fweetness of this bleffing, and fo we fhall give most humble thanks for it, remembring our late great neceflity. And if our hearts be fo difpofed, here is a Form out of Holy Scripture,where the Church faith, Thou O God fenteft a gracious Rain upon thine In beritance, and refreshedst it when it was weary,Pfal.lxvi 9. Our Land is God's Inheritance, as well as the Land of Canaan, and we are his People as well as they, our ground was dry and even weary as well as theirs,and we have had a joyful Rain now, as well as they had then our Cafe and Cause is the fame, and I with our grati tude may be the fame alfo. Let us confider how the parched ground with gafping clefts did lately declare its intolerable Thirft, and remember how it grew weary of of bringing forth: The Earth is the common Mother of us all,and for want of Rain from Heaven her breafts, at which both man and beast are brought up, began to be dry and withered,Bebold (fays the Greek Office) the Earth lyer defolate before thee, like a Mother with dry Breasts; and as the empty Breafts do threaten the Infant with prefent death,fo doth the Earth for want of its streams and hours threaten the grafs, and plants, beasts and men, with one common deftruction. Euchol,678. This was our Cafe of late, but now God hath refreshed our univerfal Nurfe, and given her a new vigour to bring forth fruit for us; bleffed be the name of the Lord. S.V. the great comfort of us thine unworthy men.] I hope we have not forgot,that when we prayed for Rain, we then defired it as a means that we might receive the fruits of the Earth to our comfort and to his honour;and now that we have our defire,we do acknowledg,that it is to our comfozt, and we promise it shall be to his glozy. It is a great refreshment to us to fee the fcorched Earth refreshed,and beginning to look green and brisk again, to behold our own and our Neighbours goods and fruits to thrive and profper,to perceive a new fpring, and a return of Plenty to our Land, and we know full well that we are unworthy and unprofitable Servants to Almighty God,who never did nor could deferve this favour; but the freeness of his love in it makes it to be a greater comfost to us, wherefore we must give moft hearty Thanks for it,and then it will advance the glory of his Holy Name; we muft obferve his goodness in it, till our hearts be enflamed with love and gratitude, and then we must publish his praise, and engage others to joyn with us in admiring his power, who can water a whole Nation at once,in celebrating his wisdom, who chofe fo feasonable a time, and in magnifying his mercy, who gave it in fo abundant measures: Let us endeavour that all who prayed for it, and all who have the benefit of it, may joyn in this Thanksgiving, that his glory may extend as far as his Mercy hath done; and if we make his favours return with fo much glory to his name, we shall be more rea dily heard the next time we ftand in need, and we shall have all bleffings, which we want or defire,through Jefus Christ our Lord. The Paraphrafe of this Thanksgiving. [ God,] thou art [our heavenly Father, who,] though thou dwelleft fo high, yet [by the gracious P20bidence] thou takeft care of all Creatures, in order to whofe fupply ordinarily thou [oot cause the format] Rain after Seed-time, [and the latter Kain,] when Harveft draweth near, [to defcend] from Heaven, and diftill [apon the Earth,] to the end [that it may being forth fruit, and all kind of provifion [for the ule of man] and Beafts: We acknowledg the great Mercynt thefe ufual bleflings at all other times; and especially at this time we give thee] moft hearty and [bumble thanks,] as thou deferveft,because [that it hath pleased thee] to take pity on us [in our great necefity,] when Men and Beafts fuffered fo extremely by the late excef five drought, and that thou haft vouchfafed [to fend us at the lat] what we fo earnestly prayed for,and long expected, even la foyful] and plentiful [Rain uper] our Land, which is [thine Jaberitance] to water [and to |