Excerpt from Sermons Preached Upon Several Occasions, Vol. 1 of 7 But still it is strange to see any ecclesiastical pile, not by ecclesiastical cost and influence r1s1ng above ground, especially in an age in which men's mouths are open against the church, but their hands are shut towards it; an age in which, respecting the generality of men, we might as soon expect stones to be made bread, as to be made churches. But the more epidemical and prevailing this evil is, the more honourable are those who stand and shine as exceptions from the common practice: and may such places, built for the divine worship, derive an honour and a blessing upon the head of the builders, as great and lasting as the curse and infamy that never fails to rest upon the sacrilegious violators of them; and a greater, I am sure, I need not, I cannot wish. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.