there may be some little struglings of good nature and interest in opposition to your Duty in this point the first thing then you are to do is to reprove your guilty fellow-Fellow-Servant to lay before him as well as you can the hainousness of his sin together with the danger of it both with respect to his Temporal and Eternal Interest acquaint him with the Beauty and Pleasure the security and advantage of Vertue and the Fear of God advise and exhort him earnestly to expiate his sin by Repentance towards God and restitution towards man mix this Reproof ever and anon with Professions of tenderness and affections for him with expressions of your good meaning and sincere intention which he may discern by your accusing him only to himself and lastly with assurances that if he follow your advice he shall not suffer the least prejudice either in his credit or interest by your knowledge of his fault nay that it shall not diminish in the least your respect or Affection towards him For you are not insensible of the wiles of the Devil and the infirmity of man it being commonly incident to humane frailty to fall into sin and 't is the work of a true Faith to repent of it and therefore as your compassion is kindled in you upon the former account so should you necessarily be ingaged to honour and love him upon the latter now if you prove successful in this you gain a Soul to God a good Servant to your Master and an inseparable Friend to your self and what is more than all you gain peace and satisfaction to your Conscience together with the blessing of God the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the increase of his Holy Spirit Whereas suppose you connive at and he proceed in his sin Ah! How fatal an obligation do you lay upon him You incourage him in his sin and if he never repent you damn his Soul Eternally if he do repent how must he needs condemn you in the bitterness and grief of his Reflections as one false to God and him and no less unfaithful to his Eternal than your Master 's Temporal Interest And what the guilt is that you load your own Conscience with I have shewed you before But if you would do any good this way you must take care that you do it betimes and that you do not let his fault take air before you have thus represented it to him for if you first publish and then reprove his guilt I cannot wonder if he do question either your sincerity or discretion and his doubting of either must needs forfeit in him all respect for your advice or reproof and tempt him rather to stand upon his defence than trust you with his Confession or Repentance If you can effect nothing this way towards the reclaiming your Fellow-Servant you must communicate his offence with some body else as well that you may your self avoid the Imputation of Connivance and Consent as also that you may deliver if possible his Soul from guilt without the ruin of his Credit and Fortune And in the choice of such a Person you are if it may be to find out some one that is considerable with him one whose Vertue and Authority he Reverences and whose Affection and Discretion he can confide in this will make him more apt to be free in his Confession and if he has any modesty any ingenuity left in him he cannot but be wrought by this method into Repentance This very method may be made use of in other cases as well as this as in those injuries you see your Master suffer either by the negligence or wast of your Fellow-Servants only where the matter is little and trifling you are not to communicate it with others for this will look like a formal and solemn impertinence but if he refuse to reform upon your single reproof you are to go directly to your Master or Mistress for a slight wrong repeated daily may grow a very outragious one in time However they are the most proper Judges of what is slight and trifling or otherwise for what may seem to you very inconsiderable may seem otherwise to them who best know their own minds and their own Fortunes The same thing lastly you must do in matters of greater moment when those ways I have prescrib'd you fail you must not provoke God wrong your Master and wound your own Conscience for fear of displeasing nay of ruining your unjust slothful or wastful Fellow-Servant but you must honestly and couragiously do your Duty leaving the issue to God and to the prudencâ— and goodness of your Master and thoâ—… it should end in his ruin or in thâ— forfeiture of your own place or the disturbance of your quiet and peacâ— in it which I can hardly believe if you will pursue this method yeâ— you shall have delivered your own Soul God shall bring forth your Righteousness as the Noon-day whatever calumnies the wit or the malice of your Fellow-Servants raise to obscure it and you shall thrive and prevail in despight of all confederacies against you A second Vice of Servants Of Negligence by which a Master suffers is negligence by which I mean either a total Omission or neglect of Duty or such a careless and lazy performance of it that it were as good left undone as be thus done Or else Lastly heedlesness or want of care Now tho' this be very common you cannot upon due examination of the nature of this fault but confess it a very great one for as to the Master if he be hereby endamag'd is it not the same thing for him to suffer by your negligence as fraud And I need not tell you where there is much trust or confidence on the Master's side and no Industry or Care on the Servant's that all must necessarily go to wrack and ruin Or if he suffer not in his interest he must suffer in the peace and contentment of his mind for there cannot be a greater plague and vexation to any man than a confident and careless Servant Nor is it a small matter that the Master is forced to bear the rudeness and contempt which a Servant's heedlesness and idleness is too plain an expression of 't is a troublesom thing to a man to be levelled with his own Servant yet so he is in this case for if there be no authority in the Master nor fear or care in the Servant if tho' the Master may command the slothful Servant will perform only what he pleases 't is hard to say wherein is the difference and distinction between ' em Is it possible for any Servant to think that this is to do his Duty Can any one think that this is to obey with fear and trembling Can any one think that this sluggishness is any thing better than Eye-Service so much condemned by God Can any one who carries himself thus heedlesly ever persuade himself that he doth service as if he made it to
Master the Peace and Virtue of the Family and my own both Temporal and Eternal Happiness I know O Lord that no acts of injustice or unfaithfulness between Man and Man shall go unpunish'd I know that for these things sake the wrath of God is reveal'd from Heaven O what then must be my punishment if I heap upon the guilt of injustice and uncharitableness many others namely of Ingratitude Unfaithfulness Lying Perjury O preserve me therefore O my God from all falshood and wrong and suffer me not to forfeit thy favour and destroy my Soul for the sake of those things that perish O let me be fully convinced that the ways of Righteousness are ways of Pleasantness and that all her paths are Prosperity and Peace that so I may delight my self in the Law of my God and may find comfort and a blessing in the discharge of my Duty Teach me O Lord Humility and Obedience Faith and Truth Care and Industry Charity and Meekness that I may adorn the Doctrine of God my Saviour win others over to a love of Virtue and after an humble and contented tho' laborious life here may enter into Rest and Glory hereafter through Jesus Christ our Lord. A Prayer for Obedience O Glorious and Eternal Lord God who dwellest with those who are of a meek and lowly Spirit behold me I beseech thee and pour into my Heart that Virtue of Humility which is so highly esteemed by thee O Lord my Heart is too too apt to be filled with Pride and Vanity O do thou convince me every day more and more of my own vileness and worthlesness that I may be preserved from self-conceit and wilfulness O give me Grace often to consider the Humility of my Lord and Saviour that I may learn of him and obtain the peace which flows from a meek Spirit and Humble Obedience And O my God because I am to give an account to thee who art the searcher of the Heart and the tryer of the Reins the Judge of my most secret Thoughts as well as my most secret Actions teach me therefore to do my Duty chearfully and in singleness of Heart make me to abominate all Lying shifts and pretences as well as all proud wilfulness and sluggishness Make me careful to learn my Duty sincere in the performance of it patient under reproof and diligent in reforming whatever is amiss thus O my God whilst every part of my Duty towards Man shall prove an instance of my Obedience towards thee I shall enjoy the peace of a good Conscience and the hopes of an Eternal Reward Hear me and answer me O Lord for thy Mercies sake and thy Son Jesus Christs Sake A Prayer for Faithfulness O God thou God of Truth Right and Just art thou and there is no iniquity with thee fill my Heart I beseech thee with the love of Truth and Faithfulness make me true in all my words and upright in all my deeds O teach me to take heed to my ways that I offend not with my Tongue teach me to keep my Mouth as it were with a Bridle while the ungodly are in my sight O make me to abhor the sin of Unfaithfulness and let no such cleave unto me Let no slander or detraction no mischievous accusations proceed out of my Mouth nor suffer me ever to stretch forth my hand to iniquity O let me not fall through Covetousness or Distrust in God and let me never commit injustice to maintain my Pride or Riot or Idleness adding sin to sin If sinners entice me suffer me not to consent to 'em permit me not to have any Fellowship with the Unfruitful Works of Darkness but give me courage and discretion to reprove 'em that so my Righteousness may be as the Noon-day and thou mayest make me to prosper in the Land and I may at last obtain the Blessing Well done good and faithful Servant enter thou into thy Masters Joy Amen Amen Blessed Jesus A Prayer for Love O Thou God who art Love give me thy Grace that I may practise more abundantly that Charity which I owe all Mankind towards those of the same Family give me a grateful sense of the benefits which I enjoy under this Roof of the care and kindness of my Master towards me in providing for me both spiritual and bodily Food that so I may make returns to him in the Fruit of Love Obedience and Faithfulness Lord let his interest and his honour let his quiet and content be dear to me as my own that I may not only serve him with Justice but Zeal too And O my God diffuse the gift of Charity through the Hearts of this whole Family that we may all live in Godly love and peace together that our Prayers be not hindred nor we kept back from thy Holy Table or approach it unworthily But that we all enjoy thee our God in the beauty of Holiness enjoy one another in the beauty of Charity and enjoy those Temporal Blessings which thou hast richly bestow'd upon us in the beauty of order and virtue and and all things may finally and uniformly tend to thy Glory and our Comfort through Jesus Christ our Lord. CHAP. III. Of the Duty of Servants § 1st Towards their Masters Children consisting of Affection due Respect Care of their Morals Care of their Honour and Care of their Interest § 2dly Towards Sojourners § 3dly Towards Strangers What the Servant owes his Masters Children WHatever it be that Servants owe the Children of the Family 't is only the result of that Duty which they owe their Master Children are as it were parts of their Parents their Blood and Birth gives 'em a just claim as to the care and love of their Parents so to a proper share of th' Affection and Service and all other advantages of the Family First Therefore a Servant owes the Children of his Master a sincere Affection Affection which will easily be granted if it be but consider'd that 't is impossible for a Servant to bear Faith and Love to his Master and have neither for his Children for Children are the dearest interest and most valuable Treasure of their Parents Children are the joys and hopes of their Fathers they double the pleasure of his prosperity by being sharers in it and ease the toil of his labours by being the Heirs of ' em How therefore can any one pretend to love his Master who hates or despises what is dearest to him Now this affection of the Servant must express it self towards his Masters Children 1st In a due Respect 2dly In his care for their Morals 3dly In a sincere Zeal for their Honour and 4dly For their Interest 1st In Respect Due Respect This their birth Challenges every slight or neglect offer'd the Children by a Servant is some diminution of the Reverence which he owes his Master for the Father must needs suffer in the contempt of the Son and yet this Respect ought to be wisely regulated for
what is worse contrary to the will of his Father all the rest seem to be but single sins but this is a complication of all mischiefs together the Child's Virtue Honour and Interest are all betrayed at once whereas other instances of negligence or unfaithfulness did hazard 'em but single and alone otheâ— mischiefs are capable of a Reparatioâ— but this very seldom if ever A Chiâ—â— may be recover'd to the Duty aâ—d Virtue which he had forsaken â—â—…e may be restor'd to the favour 〈◊〉 his Father and the interest he haâ— forfeited the Honour which he â—ost by any single fault may be repaired by the Merit and service of his following actions but this an unhappy Marriage sticks fast like Hercules his poison'd shirt he may tear away his flesh but not the evil Not to aggravate the matter 't is a mischief very seldom retriev'd and no wonder for down what a precipice must a raw Youth tumble that renounces First his reason then his Duty that quits the Government of his Father and the conduct of God that sells his Inheritance his Father's and God's blessing to gratifie a dishonourable affection or it may be a Phantastick Passion or it may be something worse than both a dishonourable Lust What Bridewell nay what Gibbet doth not that Servant deserve â—â—t aids the poor Creature thus to â—â—â—o himself nay it may be not himseâ—â— only but his Father and his whole Faâ—â—ly too § I pass on now to the Duty of Servâ—nts towards Sojourners Sojourners Servants Duty towards Sojourners â—ho ' they are not natural branches as the Children yet seem they to be grafted into the same stock and to constitute one Family with them and therefore they have in their Place a Right to their proportion of all the advantages of the Family they have in their degree a claim to the love and care of the Master to the Brotherly Affection of the Children and to the Respect and Duty of the Servants I need not therefore repeat here all the Duties of the Servant which are all of 'em in their time place and degree due to these whom the Master hath Adopted into his Family and made members of that body whereof he is the Head so that 't is impossible that the Servant can wrong them but that the injury must reflect and rebound on the Master 'T is true there is great variety in the case and circumstance of Sojourners and by consequence in the Duty of Servants towards them so that 't is hard to fix a constant and general Rule by which it may be measur'd and regulated unless I should say that since whatever degree of Duty is owing 'em springs from their Union to the Family and Relation to the Master of it therefore the Service and Respect towards them is to be proportion'd to the degrees of that Union which is between them and the other Members of the Family and the dearness and tie there is or ought to be between them and the Master of it This Rule I think will generally hold good or at leastwise a very little discretion will inform any Servant what variation must be observ'd in this point But here to compleat the Servants Instruction I must put you in mind of two Rules more First That you must avoid all occasions of difference between you and the Servants of Sojourners contending rather in courtesie to ease and assist 'em than putting off what is your business and Duty or any part of it upon them and you must abhor to be any way instrumental to breed misunderstanding between Sojourners and your Master for this is the unkindest Office you can do both Secondly You must never go about to endear your selves to Sojourners by any Unfaithfulness to your Master that is by entertaining 'em with the faults or secrets of the Family or by preferring their Honour or Interest or Humour before your Masters For in all this you are ungrateful and unjust and will finally forfeit that esteem which you endeavour thus to raise For how can those which you caress at this rate believe that you 'l be kinder and trustier to Strangers than you have been to those to whom by the Law of God and Nature you owe Obedience Faithfulness and Love § 3. Besides these Boarders Servants Duty towards Strangers there are others which tho' they are not of the Family may be consider'd as having some Relation to it such are Visitants Guests Strangers now the Rule Servants are to observe here are such as concern discretion and good manners in the First place courtesie civility and respect towards all is an indispensible Duty of every Servant and reflects an Honour on the Government of the Master and the breeding of the Family but as to the degrees of these a discreet Servant should behave himself as if he were acted and inspir'd by his Masters Soul and moved by his affections shewing an extraordinary chearfulness and even zeal to serve those the Master calls his Friends civility towards his Acquaintance coldness tho' not rudeness towards Intruders and downright Aversion towards such as the Master looks upon as dangerous hangers on Spies Parasites Suckers and such like which are to a House what Moths are to a Garment they stain the Honour and consume the substance of it Secondly 'T is a piece of justice to right such as are traduced to your Master and to convey to him the knowledge of all either kind expressions courteous or generous actions which are design'd on purpose to pass an Obligation on the Master and so it is to represent any Errand or business truly and seasonably to him the neglect of which is not only a discourteous contempt of the Stranger but also Unfaithfulness and an affront to the Master But yet as to neglect an Errand or business you charge your selves with is unjust and discourteous so to obtrude your selves upon the affairs of Strangers or to lie in wait for the secrets of your Master or his Friends is insolence and immodesty and as great a folly as rudeness and commonly unfaithfulness is join'd with this and the Servant who takes pains to discover doth generally take as much to vent a secret and all finally tends as much to their own disgrace as their Masters disquiet There is but one thing more that I would mind you of on this occasion and that is your behaviour upon a day of any Solemn Entertainment Your Masters and your own credit as well as the satisfaction of his Guests are nearly concern'd in it the decency of your attire the diligence and chearfulness of your attendance the order and silence of the whole management being not only one of the fairest Ornaments of the Entertainment but also a good mark of your breeding and of your Masters prudence and good Government as well as an addition to the satisfaction of all entertain'd by him But above all nothing savouring of rudeness immodesty excess or any other immorality must be practised
THE DUTY OF SERVANTS CONTAINING First Their Preparation for and Choice of a Service Secondly Their Duty in Service Together with Prayers suited to each Duty To this is added A Discourse of the Sacrament suited peculiarly to Servants By the Author of Practical Christianity LONDON Printed for Sam. Smith at the Prince's Arms in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1685. THE EPISTLE TO SERVANTS Good Fellow-Christians I Will not increase the Bulk or Price of this Book by giving the World an account of all the Reasons that mov'd me to publish it let it suffice to tell you that 't is a Design of great Charity for your Temporal and Eternal Interest I would as much as lies in me render your Estate easie profitable and at least not dishonourable which I shall certainly effect if I can persuade you to Contentment and a faithful discharge of your Duty in your Place for 't is not the Nature of Service but the Faults of Servants which render this state uneasie and contemptible the greatest Burthen and Dishonour of it being in truth to be imputed to the unreasonable Discontents to the negligent unfaithful or undiscreet behaviour of many Servants I would possess you therefore with such Virtues as may render you the Favourites and Confidents of your Masters dear to them as you ought to be next to their own Children and by being so you will become more considerable to all that know you and nearer every day to Advancement These Virtues are Contentment in your Condition Justice Truth Industry Humility the Fear of God and such like By the Practice of these you will convince the World that you differ from the Rich and Great only in outward Circumstances that you have true Honour and Goodness in your Souls and that you have nothing mean in you besides your Fortune These therefore cannot miss of making you worthy to be esteemed to be beloved to be trusted to be encouraged But this is not the utmost of my Design I would make you Happy and Glorious hereafter I would make you the Children the Heirs of God and Joynt-Heirs with Christ though the Servants of Men I would deliver you from the Bondage of Sin and Satan and make you partakers of the true Liberty of the Sons of God Now this cannot be done unless you can be prevail'd with to love and pursue after those Virtues which become your condition in the World and so discharge your Duties conscientiously for I must deal faithfully with you no man can be a good Christian who is not good in that station wherein God has placed him You cannot then be Obedient Servants of God unless you be Faithful Servants of Men nor yet do I confine the whole of your Duty within the compass of your Service to Man there is a Duty also which you owe to God which you are to perform in the first place not only because he is your Chief and Best Master I should rather have said your Good Lord and Father too but also because this is the best and most solid Foundation of your Duty towards Man and therefore easily conceiving that no good nay no wise Man will grudge you the time that is necessary for the Service of God since unless this be perform'd they can neither expect that you should serve them as you ought nor if they did that God would give a Blessing to your Service I have taken care to direct you also in this little Treatise how to imploy this time laying down such Rules as may be more peculiarly useful to you in Reading Hearing the Word Receiving the Sacrament c. The Method I have followed is very plain and I need give you no other account of it than what you have in the Title I have nothing more but to beseech you that you would joyn with me in hearty Prayers to God that he would bless this my Endeavour with success not only to your Advantage and Comfort but to the Peace and Interest of all Families which is nearly concern'd in your Behaviour that he would possess all of you with Virtues suitable to your Quality and Condition in the World with a Spirit of Meekness and Humility with a Spirit of Faithfulness and Industry with a Spirit of Love and Gratitude and with a Spirit of Fear of and Dependence upon him our God that so you may not only be considerable and useful in your Places but also Examples of an Excellent Virtue and by a necessary consequence happy here and glorious hereafter which is the sincere Desire of Your Affectionate Friend Richard Lucas The Contents PART I. Of Preparation for and Choice of a Service Ch. 1. Of Preparation for Service The Duty of Parents in this point The Duty of those who design themselves for Service Ch. 2. Of the Choice of a Service The Importance of this Choice Rules to be followed in making it PART II. Containing the Duty of Servants Ch. 1. Of the Servant's Duty towards God Ch. 2. Of the Servant's Duty towards his Master and Mistress Ch. 3. Of the Servant's Duty towards the Children of the Family Sojurners Strangers Ch. 4. Of the Servant's Duty towards his fellow-Fellow-Servants Ch. 5. Of the Servant's Duty towards himself with 6. The Conclusion of this part containing general Motives to the Servant's conscientious performance of his Duty PART III. Containing The Seruant's Preparation for the Sacrament PART I. Of Preparation for and Choice of a Service CHAP. I. Of Preparation for Service as 't is the Duty partly of Parents and partly of those Young People who resolve upon Service THERE is scarce any particular Work The Necessity of Preparation or any single Action that is well done unless by such who are train'd up to it or fitted for it either by an actual or habitual preparation how can it then be imagin'd that Service which is a state of Life of so great importance to the welfare of all the other members of a Family as well as that of Servants themselves should be wisely entred into and happily discharg'd without any Preparation Many and important are the Duties of Servants great is the Trust repos'd in 'em the Estate the Honour of their Masters and Mistresses the Peace the Happiness and Virtue too of the whole Family doth very often depend much upon 'em and can any one question whether such a Charge such a Trust as this does not require many Virtues and Excellent Qualifications and these cannot be obtain'd without due Preparation for as no man is happy so neither is any man wise or virtuous by chance The Qualifications of a good Servant Now the Qualifications which make a good Servant are such as these Fear of and Dependence upon God Contentment in their Condition Love of their Masters and Mistresses Humility Meekness and Patience Faithfulness Industry and Discretion These I confess are eminent Virtues and though they are necessary in this lower station they make men fit for and worthy of the highest These will make
our great End so that true Rules of Policy are no where more successfully to be sought than in that Book which contains all the wise Rules of every Imaginable Duty If these things be rightly consider'd there is no man can ever justly think himself excus'd for his Folly or Irreligion by the meanness of his Birth his Fortune or his Education there is not one Christian Servant but may prove an Epictetus or something much greater * 1 Pet. 2.9 a holy Prophet a Royal Priest He may in a word be truly wise and truly good 2 Objction want of time answer'd As to the second Objection want of time When I think upon Epictetus his Lamp and Cleanthes his Labour who wrought and earn'd by night what might maintain him in the study of Philosophy by day when I observe how indefatigable Ambition is how wakeful Covetousness how restless and obstinate all our Lusts and Passions are I cannot but blush to see how lazy our Religion is your Meals your Sleeps your Divertions your Talk and Chat for there are few Servants who spend not some portion of their days and nights in these last can lend you time for Reading and Devotion He can never want time who wants not Zeal for the Service of God But besides this I must tell you the Religion of all Christians in general if it be perfect consists more in practice than speculation and yours no less in the faithful discharge of the Duties of your place than in acts of Devotion towards God but I know how apt weak people are to run from one extream to another and therefore I will not insist longer on this Argument lest I should be thought to place the Religion of a Servant merely and solely in the Duties of his Service There are many ways by which Servants may redeem time and consecrate it to the Interest of their Souls and the Honour of God namely by exalting their minds to Heaven in frequent Ejaculations by Pious and Religious Discourses to one another by easing and assisting one another which will make the burden of the Family lie easier on all and gain time to each Having thus shew'd the Obligations Servants lie under to Religion and answer'd the little Pretences by which they endeavour to palliate their Coldness and Negligence I proceed to consider the Duties wherein their Religion towards God consists which are First such as may be called Instrumental or Relative as Prayer Hearing and Reading the Word and Receiving the Sacrament Secondly Trust in God Thirdly Contentment And Fourthly Fidelity to their Masters The Duty of Reading the Word I will begin with Reading the Word The Book of God is a Legacy of that value containing not only the Wisdom of God but the ravishing expressions of his Love too and in a word the only way to Life and Immortality that no one can be guilty of the neglect of it but at the same time he must be guilty of the most ingrateful Contempt of God and the most sottish Contempt of his own true Interest This therefore is the Book which the Servant must endeavour to be familiarly acquainted with with some portion of this he should begin the Morning and close the Evening Hence is that Wisdom to be learnt of whose manifold use * Prov. 6.22 Solomon speaks in those few but weighty words When thou goest it shall lead thee when thou sleepest it shall keep thee and when thou awakest it shall talk with thee No Guide no Guard no Company no Divertion is wanting to any one who is instructed as he ought to be in the Book of God Now if you would read profitably you must observe the Direction of St. Peter * 1 Pet. 2.2 As new born babes desire the sincere Milk of the Word that ye may grow thereby When you set your self to read endeavour to banish all unruly Lusts and Passions all worldly Cares and Distractions and to possess your Soul with an humble Awe and Reverence for the Word as the Word of God and with a devout thirst for it as the Word of Life Secondly Be not more fond of strong Meat than of Milk of Mysteries than of practical Truths chuse especially to read those parts of the Bible which are most plain most practical most moving and affecting Thirdly Propose this as the chief nay sole End of thy Reading that thou mayest grow thereby that is that thy Conscience may be more and more awakened that thy Resolutions of Obedience may be more and more strengthen'd that thy Heart may be more purified thy Affections more exalted and in a word thy Faith may be more confirm'd and thy Love of God thy Love of Jesus thy Love of Heaven and thy Love of Righteousness may be more and more quickned and enflam'd If your leisure will permit and you desire to joyn the reading of other Books with the Bible let 'em be but very few very plain and very practical and such if you can find 'em as concern more particularly the Duties of your station or the particular state of your Soul for 't is good Advice especially to persons in your circumstances in Spiritual as well as Temporal Affairs * 1 Thes 4.11 Study to be quiet and to do your own business The Catechism of Our Church is an excellent Abridgment of Christian Faith and Practice 't is a compleat System of all necessary Catholick Doctrines not as some others are of the Controverted Opinions of a Sect and Party I would therefore recommend this to you as being plain short and free from dispute and if well digested you will not want any necessary Instruction The same Rules The Duty of Hearing the Word with little variety are to be observed in Hearing which were prescrib'd in Reading the Word rising something the earlier on the Sunday that you may the sooner dispatch your necessary business and be the freer from any distraction retire and consider with thy self the great End to which God has dedicated that day namely to bless and praise him for the Redemption of the World by the Death and Resurrection of Jesus to commemorate that his bitter Death and Passion in the Holy Sacrament to prepare our selves for a Holy Death a glorious Resurrection and a Kingdom wherein dwells Righteousness to glorifie and honour God by a solemn and publick Worship of him that so his Name may be honour'd upon Earth and finally to hear and learn his blessed Will and to be strengthened and comforted in our Warfare upon Earth by his heavenly Truths and by his great and precious Promises and then earnestly beg of God to dispose thy heart into such an humble and grateful frame that thy praises and adorations may be acceptable to him to possess thee with such a due sense of thy wants and infirmities and with such a devout thirst after the Grace of God and his Truth that thou mayest pray with a steady fervency and hear the Word with pure
is this they who would be extremely devout must be extremly pious they who would find the pleasure of transports in Prayer must be frequent in their Retirements strict in their Self-denial and Mortification devout if it may be even in their daily Conversation In a word they must be crucified to the World and delight in God and in Jesus above all things The Servants Duty as it respects their Obligation to and Preparation for the Sacrament shall be handled at large in the close of this Book I have insisted thus long upon these Duties because whoever conscienciously performs these will not be like to miscarry in any other I will now single out those other Duties which do seem to me more peculiarly to concern Servants for as there are some times so there are some stations which do more particularly require the practice of some Virtues as Adversity of Patience Prosperity of Thankfulness The station of a Magistrate requires the practice of Justice and the station of a Subject the practice of Loyalty and both the one and the other is bound to this out of Conscience towards God So is it in the station of a Servant tho' he must not look upon himself as dispens'd from any Duty common to him with others yet there are some wherein he must endeavour to excel and be eminent as being more immediately and directly necessary in his Imployment such are these three Fidelity to his Master dependance upon God The Servant's Fidelity to his Master a Duty owing to God and Contentment in his station First Fidelity to his Master I place this first because all his Prayers and Sacrifices without this cannot be accepted by God his diligence in reading and hearing the Word is without this Hypocrisie and his communicating of the Sacrament is without this but a bold and presumptuous prophanation of it And I place this here as a Duty towards God because I would have every Servant know that it really is so nothing can be plainer than that the * Eph. 6.5 c. Apostle thought so which you will readily acknowledge if you 'l read with impartiality that weighty and earnest Exhortation which he makes to Servants Eph. 6.5 c. Servants be obedient to them that are your Masters according to the flesh in fear and trembling with singleness of your heart as unto Christ not with eye-service as men-pleasers but as the Servants of Christ doing the Will of God from the heart with good will doing service as to the Lord and not to men knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doth the same shall he receive of the Lord whether he be bond or free How could the Apostle more fully or more pathetically express your Obedience to your Masters to be a duty to God he tells you that the discharge of your Place is a good work that God owns it and will reward it as a Service done to him that it doth very much concern the Honour of your Christian Profession that the Rule by which you are to behave your selves is the Conscience of its being a Duty towards God a firm persuasion that you are to be accountable for it to Christ our Lord and Master and our Judge and for these Reasons you are to perform this Duty with fear and trembling that is not an apprehension of what you shall suffer in your Temporal Interest if you perform it not faithfully but a dread of dishonouring Christ and provoking God by it Those other Properties of the right performance of this Duty singleness of heart chearfulness c. as they respect your Duty towards your Master shall be treated in their proper place I am only here to mind you that they are here pressed upon you as Duties to God the Apostle intimating that where the Master's Eye could not there God's Eye would see regard and mark the behaviour of the Servant and that though his heart were not open to the inspection of his Master yet 't is to God's and therefore he must serve his Master from his heart too He that is acted by such a Conscience as this will certainly do his Duty for when he shall think that God overlooks him and fills every place which his Master cannot he cannot then easily be tempted to allow himself in murmuring or unfaithfulness or idleness Whatever he would not do or say if his Master's Eye were upon him that being govern'd by this Conscience he will not do how far soever he be absent for he will fear Damnation more than the loss of his Service and the displeasure of God more than that of Man A second Duty towards God which I would recommend to Servants is 2. Trust in God Trust in him or dependance upon him There is no state so secure or so fortunate as not to stand in need of God and consequently none wherein this is not a proper Duty But yet it seems most proper and indispensible for such as have fewest Friends fewest supports to relie upon and such are Servants they are therefore to endeavour to be eminent in this Grace there is no way by which they can more directly and immediately own God by which they can make a more publick and eminent Profession of their firm Belief of his Wisdom Power and Goodness The Servant therefore must learn to look upon God as his Father as his Patron as his Guardian as all in all to him to him he must resort for Counsel to him he must complain if wrong'd of him he must beg assistance and on him alone he must relie for a blessing in all he doth and for Provision He must learn to call upon him in all his Straits and praise him in all his Enjoyments From the conscientious practice of this Duty the Master will reap two great Advantages the first that his Servant will do his Duty with much better courage as aiming in all he doth to recommend himself not only to his Master whose power to requite him is it may be very little but most especially to God who he knows is a Patron that never wants either power or will to recompence those that apply themselves to him The second that God will bless him and all he has for his Servants sake This was the Advantage which Potiphar enjoy'd in the Service of Joseph and Laban in that of Jacob the Prosperity of those Idolaters being owing to the Religion of their Servants the Servant besides the contentment and satisfaction of his mind arising from his frequent Addresses to God and besides the actual blessings which God will one time or other certainly bestow upon those that trust in him will also find a good support a ready Antidote against all the real and imaginary Evils of his state For were but this Duty of Trust in God conscientiously practised Servants of ability and spirit would never want encouragement nor those of meaner Capacity satisfaction and comfort They who serv'd in hope would be able in despight of an
ill face and appearance of their present Circumstances to carry their prospect farther and believe their Advancement very easie to God though it scarce appeared probable to the Eye of Man and they whose Ambition mounts no higher than a mean Service would not be frightned by fears of want in Sickness or in Age as being fully persuaded that God cares for them Having said this I cannot think it necessary to stir you up to trust in God by any new Motives for the two which I have insinuated are methinks abundantly sufficient namely first the pleasure and satisfaction of mind that springs from it in that it gives men an unshaken support and security in a troublesom and uncertain World hence that of the * Psal 4.8 Psalmist I will both lay me down in peace and sleep for thou only makest me dwell in safety And hence 't is that a fearless Security even amongst the Menaces and Allarms of approaching Dangers is by the Psalmist made the Character of one that trusts in God * Psal 112.17 He will not be afraid of any evil tydings his heart is fixed trusting in the Lord. A second Motive is the actual Benefit this Trust procures you namely Relief in all your Wants and Deliverance in all your Dangers for this is that the Scripture teaches us * Psal 34.10 Fear the Lord ye his Saints for there is no want to them that fear him The young Lions do lack and suffer hunger but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing And so Psal 46.1 God is our Refuge and Strength a very present help in trouble O that you would be persuaded to make a Trial of the Pleasure and Happiness of this Duty that you would experience the blessedness of that state wherein a man hath nothing to do but * Psal 4.5 to sacrifize the Sacrifice of Righteousness and put his Trust in the Lord. A third great Duty of the Servant towards God 3. Contentment in his place is Contentment in his place this is a Duty necessary to your own Happiness necessary to the Service of your Master and necessary to the Honour of God To your own Happiness for though your Circumstances be never so good yet if you do not think 'em so you must needs be uneasie and discontent doubles the weight and burden of any Service To the Service of your Master for you can never serve him well if you do not serve him chearfully and from the heart which you can never do whilst you are sick of your Employment Lastly To the Honour of God which requires that you submit to the Wisdom of his Providence and not murmure and repine at his Dispensations This Humility is a Virtue so consonant to common Reason that 't is just matter of wonder how any should be guilty of the contrary for though we should not be able to give a Reason of God's dealings with us yet sure the Reverence we have for his Infinite Wisdom and the persuasion we have of his Infinite Goodness may easily induce us to believe that he has always a kind and good Reason for what he doth and surely you that look upon it as your Duty to execute the Commands of your Masters without demanding the Reasons or Motives of 'em cannot but think it reasonable to treat God with as much Reverence and Humility as you do a mortal man I might in the next place put you in mind that all we possess is owing merely to the favour of God not to your Merit and that he that has least has much more than he deserves and if so you have no reason to complain of him as if he had dealt niggardly with you because he has dealt more bountifully with others May he not do what he will with his own but there are two Motives to Contentment which I would more especially recommend to you One is that whatever you undergo in this World shall be made up and recompensed to you a hundred-fold in another if you suffer with Meekness Patience and Humility So that this state of Humiliation doth but put you into a capacity of greater degrees of Glory hereafter The other is that if you consider your state aright you have no reason at all of murmuring against God as dealing unequally with you for in all these things which are substantially good and valuable he has dealt as bountifully with you as with others You enjoy the Light of the Sun the Beauties of the Creation are as much expos'd to your view as to any Monarch's the freshness of the Air the coolness of the Stream the fragrancy of the Spring are imparted as bountifully to you as any others whoever You have Rational and Immortal Spirits healthy strong and active Bodies the Food that is best for health the Raiment that is best for for warmth is every where to be had the things wherein God has made a difference between you and others are trifles imaginary and phantastick not real Advantages but you take pains for what you have your Labour is not half so great a burden to you as is their Idleness to them But even of those things which I call substantial blessings they enjoy more than you 'T is true but you enjoy enough and more than enough like Manna breeds but Worms that is troubles and cares And this puts me in mind that the state of a Servant has some Advantages really and truly above that of a Master Not to mention that Obedience it self is not only a much plainer but also a much easier Duty than Government that it has nothing in it disobliging or unkind as Reproof Chastisement and putting away of Servants has that it is no way responsible for the discretion of its actions c. not to mention I say these and such like Advantages which you possess there are others of greater importance You enjoy the World without the Cares of it Storms sink no Ships of yours nor scorching Vapours blast your Fruit or Corn the Turns and Changes of Fortune concern you very little or not at all and I do very much question whether your travail and labour as well as your care be not much less than that of many Masters 'T is true there are a sort of men who account Idleness and Looseness as the Prerogatives of an ample Fortune envy 'em not you ought rather to bless God that he has hedg'd in your ways that he has put you in a state of Life wherein it is extremely difficult for you to be large or intemrate to be proud or wanton for surly 't is a blessed Advantage belonging to your condition that it has fewer incitements to sin and more to Virtue than that of the Rich and Great But of this I have discours'd at large in the beginning of this Chapter There remains then nothing for you to quarrel at in the condition and quality of a Servant unless you think it too mean and contemptible for you in
the Eye of the World but why should you think that Condition too mean for you which our dear Lord thought not too mean for him For he came in the form of a Servant Phil. 2. But if this trouble you I have shewed you before an infallible way of redeeming your selves from Contempt namely by a Religious and excellent Behaviour for true Virtue is much more honourable than Nobility of Blood or Ampleness of Fortune A Prayer for Contentment in your Condition O Eternal and gracious Lord God before whom a meek and humble spirit is of great price O God who givest Grace to the humble but resistest the proud keep me I beseech thee from pride and frowardness from discontent and murmuring and give me a meek and humble spirit Make me adore thy Wisdom and Goodness in every dispensation of thy Providence and chearfully submit to thy Will and follow thy Conduct O suffer me not to dispise or murmure at that state which my great Lord and Master honour'd by taking it upon himself for he came not to be ministred to but to minister Make me always thankful to thee for those Real Advantages which I enjoy in this state thou hast given me all the necessary Comforts of Life without the Cares and Troubles of it thou hast hedg'd in my ways and kept me from Idleness and Worldly and Carnal Lusts by my Necessities and indispensible Restraints of my Calling O never suffer me to break thorow all these to commit sin and die O grant that since my station has fewer Temptations to sin and more Encouragements to Virtue than that of others I may be so much more eminent and exemplary than others in all virtuous and holy living as knowing my offence more inexcusable So shall I ever have reason to bless thy Love for the meanness and necessities of my state when they shall have made me rich in goodness then shall I adore and magnifie thy Love for those Restraints and Confinements thou hast put upon me when they shall prove the meanest Instruments of my Eternal Preservation and Safety then shall I adore thy Mercy for the bodily hardships of my Service when they shall prove to me an excellent Discipline to train me up to Virtue and Glory Amen so be it blessed Jesus A Prayer for Fidelity to your Master and Trust in God O Holy and Righteous God whose Eyes are set upon the Righteous and thine Ears are always open to their Prayers who feedest those that fear thee and art a present help in time of trouble possess me I humbly beseech thee with such a sincere Faith in all thy Promises with such a firm persuasion of thy Wisdom Power and Goodness that I may ever trust and relie upon thee as my God and my Saviour and O let me never be ashamed of my hope in thee nor let my distrustful or fearful heart ever give thee occasion to be ashamed to be called my God And because O Lord the Sacrifices of the wicked are an abomination to thee and the Prayers of the unjust a mere prophanation of thy holy Name therefore I beseech thee let thy fear be before mine Eyes and make me faithful and diligent in the station to which it has pleased thee to call me I know O Lord that thou art a holy and a righteous God and an Avenger of all Covenant-breakers O suffer me not therefore to fall into breach of Trust with Man lest I fall under the Vengeance of my God I know that my Duty towards my Master is one great part of my Religion towards thee O suffer me not by idleness or falshood to lose the Eternal Reward of my Service I know O Lord that all things are naked and bare before thee and that though my Master's Eye cannot yet thine does in all times and in all places behold me that thou mayest render to me according to my works O how fatal then must that Laziness prove for which I must be condemn'd to everlasting pain O how fatal must my frauds be since though I may deceive my Master I cannot thee Lord therefore inable me so to serve with fear and trembling and singleness of heart that I may have a good ground to trust and depend upon thee for protection and provision in this World and for reward in another through Jesus Christ our Lord. A Prayer for right performance of Instrumental or Relative Duties O Lord my God I know that my Lamp will soon go out unless there be Oil to feed it that my Graces will soon languish unless they be nourisht and refresht by thy Word and Sacraments I know O Lord that my spiritual life my corporal life cannot be upheld but by a daily supply a supply of thy Grace the life and strength of my Soul and I know that this is not in thy ordinary course otherwise to be obtain'd than by fervent Prayer awful Meditatation of thy Word and a devout and frequent Use of the Communion I beseech thee therefore O my God not only that thou wouldest imprint upon my heart a just sense of the necessity of these Duties but also that thou wouldest instruct and assist me that I may perform 'em devoutly and conscientiously and persevere in them constantly to my lifes end O do thou teach me to pray in contrite groans and transporting love O do thou open my heart that it may receive thy Word with true Faith and devout Affection O do thou raise in me such a grateful passion for the love of Jesus that I may not only commemorate his Death in joy and tears but meet him with ardent love and be inseparably united to him and he to me But O my God how often shall I fall short of this through my own default Ah how seldom shall I come up to it O therefore pardon pardon the infirmities of thy Servant Ah! pardon me my want of preparation to these Duties my heaviness and distraction in 'em and whatever mixtures of other frailties may cleave to them and however weak my performances may be let 'em not be wholly unprofitable let 'em at least beget in me Humility clearer Convictions of my spiritual Poverty and Weakness greater Watchfulness and new Resolutions for the time to come and all this I most earnestly and most humbly beg for the sake of Jesus Christ my Lord. CHAP. II. Of the Servant's Duty towards his Master and Mistress consisting in Obedience Faithfulness Love I Think Injustice or Uncharitableness in Servants implies a double guilt nothing can be more evident than that every Servant owes his Master and Mistress in the first place all those Duties at least which every Man owes another whether he be Friend or Enemy Neighbour or Stranger namely Truth Justice and Charity nay I believe all will readily confess that the transgression of these Duties in Servants towards their Masters and Mistresses has many more and greater Aggravations in it than any Errour of this kind in one Man towards another for
the nearer any Relation is the stricter is its obligation to those Virtues Two things do evidently aggravate the guilt of a Servants Injustice or Uncharitableness First Trust repos'd in Servants makes it much more easie for them to do wrong and much more difficult for their Masters to guard themselves against it Secondly The Obligation Servants lie under to Gratitude for the Benefits they enjoy and to Fidelity enjoyn'd 'em by the Law of God and Nature must needs render any wrong they do their Masters or Mistresses a more abominable Crime in the sight of God and Man as being not only a sin of Injustice and Uncharitableness which is of it self a sin big enough to damn any man but also of the foulest Ingratitude and basest Treachery and Perfidiousness This I would have well consider'd because if it were it would make Servants dread the commission of some Crimes which they seem not to have that sense of which they ought Such are for instance raising Dissention and Feuds in the Family by lying and whispering Secondly Blasting the Credit and Reputation of their Masters and Mistresses whether by false or true Reports the guilt of these practices will be evident to him who considers The spreading Report though true to another's disadvantage is uncharitableness in any man but in a Servant 't is not only a breach of Charity but of Faith and Secrecy too and the blackest Ingratitude to boot and if it be a sin to spread an Uncharitable Truth how much a greater to forge a Malicious Lye For one Neighbour or one Stranger to belie or slander another by a false Charge is an effect property not only of a mean but devilish spirit what name then can this sin find when a Master or a Mistress is thus treated by a Servant who lies under not only the general Obligations of Charity Truth and Justice but also more particular and if it can be more sacred ones of Secrecy Faith and Gratitude The same thing may be said of kindling strife for if it be a hainous wickedness in any one to stir up Contention by Lying and Whispering how much more in a Servant who is so strictly obliged to preserve the Peace of the Family he lives in The very same is the case of a Servant in all other Injuries committed against his Master they are not only Violations of his Christian Profession as every act of Injustice or Uncharitableness in all other men is but also of the particular Obligations of his Calling and therefore such sins as they have greater aggravations so shall they receive greater punishment than other men's This is extremely necessary to be remembred that as you have easier opportunities of doing wrong so you may also have greater dread and horrour of it as looking upon every Injury that were but a single act of Injustice or Defect of Charity in others as a Complication of sins and villanies in you being a transgression not only of your Duty as Christians but as Servants too Having laid this before you as a strong Engagement to a most strict and conscientious discharge of your Duty I come now in the Second place to consider the particulars of this Duty I might sum up all as our Saviour doth under one Virtue of Faithfulness for he makes a Good and Faithful Servant to be terms equivalent Matth. 25. Well done good and faithful Servant But that you may more fully and distinctly comprehend the whole of your Duty I will speak of it under these three Heads 1. Obedience 2. Faithfulness 3. Love First therefore of Obedience 1 Obedience This is that which constitutes the very nature of Service Right to command makes a Master and obligation to obey a Servant that Subjection which the Centurion describes Luke 7.8 I say unto one go and he goes and to another come and he cometh and to my Servant do this and he does it is an indispensible Duty of every one that professes himself a Servant This Reason teaches us His Servants ye are Rom 6.6 to whom ye obey And the very nature of the Covenant between the Master and his Servant implies this Obedience on the one hand and maintenance on the the other God doth strictly exact this Duty of Servants and that upon pain of damnation to the transgressor and promise of an Eternal Reward to the observer of it Thus Col. 3.22 c. Servants obey in all things your Masters according to the flesh not with eye-service as men-pleasers but in singleness of heart fearing God And whatsoever ye do do it heartily as unto the Lord and not unto men Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the Reward of the Inheritance for ye serve the Lord Christ But he that doth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he has done and there is no respect of persons To the same purpose is Eph. 6.5 1 Pet. 2.18 and innumerable other Texts of Scripture by all this put together you may easily discern how grievous a sin the Disobedience of Servants is 't is a downright contempt of God's revealed Will 't is a violation of the Law of Nature disturbing that just and wise Government which the Providence of God has introduced into the World by that difference he has put between the several Ranks of Mankind 't is a manifest breach of the Servant's Covenant which he entred into with his Master and by consequence the Disobedient Servant has no right to the Bread he eats or to the Wages he receives and he can expect nothing from God who is the Supreme Lord of all and by whose Appointment the Distinction and Order which now is in the World was establisht but some severe Judgment as upon an unrighteous person and a Covenant-breaker and 't is no wonder that God should so strictly exact this Duty or so severely punish the Violation of it for this sin of Disobedience proceeds from Pride or Frowardness or Idleness and ends in Wrath and Contention and Confusion Nor is the Spirit of God in Scripture content only to enjoyn Servants Obedience The properties of this Obedience but it takes care to acquaint 'em what kind of Obedience this must be First It must be in all things that is all things that are not repugnant to the Will of God who is our supreme Master or the Laws of the Land which are stampt with an Authority superior to that of their Master in all things else Servants are not to dispute nor interpret but obey the Commands of their Master for they are not to answer for the discretion or reasonableness of his Commands Their Obedience Secondly must be in singleness of heart not with eye-service as men-pleasers He is a very ill Servant who obeys only when his disobedience cannot be concealed or excus'd for at this rate the Master would be the greatest Drudge in his Family and the Care and Toil of overseeing others in their work would be more intolerable than the work it self Thirdly
This Obedience must be perform'd from the heart the Servant must not only do his Duty and do it honestly but he must do it willingly and chearfully without this he will not be like to be very prosperous exact or diligent in his Service nor can his Service prove very acceptable to his Master for to all ingenious Tempers the Affection and Zeal of a Servant is as valuable as his Service so that for want of this he will incur two great Evils his Labour will be harder and his Reward will be less To all this must be added Fourthly Humility Self-conceit and Impatience are the most improper qualities in a Servant imaginable for what can be more absurd than Pride and Wilfulness in one whose very profession 't is to obey These are grievous sins in any Fortune but more extremely grievous in a low one The Scripture therefore doth not permit the Servant to answer again when reproved or blamed nay what is more it commands him to behave himself respectfully towards the froward and peevish as well as mild and gentle Master and to * 1 Pet. 2. suffer patiently when he suffers wrongfully That you may perform this Duty as you ought Means of performing this Duty you are to endeavour to persuade your selves that an humble honest and chearful Obedience is the glory of a Servant that this is as much the honour of your station as Prudence Liberality and Gentleness is of the Masters That the meanness of any business you are imploy'd in cannot so much disparage you as Murmuring and Pride for 't is the Master's not the Servant's dishonour if he exacts what is not fit or becoming at the hands of his Servant No Servant can ever loose himself by his Humility for he may with expressions of respect and kindness quit his Service when he will and so avoid any Rudeness or Indecency nor can I possibly conceive that this course can be prejudicial to any Servant for let the Servant be of the highest Rank and the business commanded of the lowest and meanest any man may do that once or twice out of Humility which yet he cannot take upon him as his constant work without the imputation of Pusillanimity or meanness of Spirit Secondly The Servant must endeavour to entertain a good Opinion of and Value for his Master for otherwise it will not be easie to obey those whom you can think reasonable to despise Thirdly And above all the Servant must persuade himself that he obeys God in obeying his Master he must look upon himself as placed in this station by God and he must look upon his Master as invested with Authority over him by God and this will be an encouragement to him to do his Duty and a comfort and support to him when he suffers wrongfully A second Duty which a Servant owes his Master is Faithfulness 2 Faithfulness a Duty without which 't is impossible that the Master can enjoy any real pleasure or satisfaction or the Servant any peace of Conscience for how can the Master's mind be at ease if he be not secure of the Faith of those of his own Family but must needs suspect those whom he must needs trust and what an ulcer'd gauled Conscience must that Servant have who dwells continually under the Roof and eats daily of the Bread of that man whom he wrongs and injures where every thing he doth or sees calls his sin to remembrance and every Benefit every Favour is a Reproach and a stab to his Soul Now this Fidelity is to be practised in all those things wherein the Master is capable of receiving any Benefit by the Faith or suffering any wrong by the Falshood of his Servant and besides this it ought to be understood that Fidelity obliges the Servant not only not to do his Master any wrong himself but also not to suffer any others to do him any Fidelity taken in this large extent compreprehends a great many Duties of the Servant towards his Master As for Example Fidelity towards his Master's Soul First That he endeavour as far as it lies in him to promote the Virtue and procure the Salvation of his Master for this is his truest and greatest Interest This he may effect partly by Prayer to God for him partly by Advice and good Discourse if his Master give him any such opportunity or admit him into any such freedom Partly like Serapion by the Example of an excellent Life but if he cannot serve him this way he must at least take care that he be not guilty of the contrary he must not be an Incentive to or Instrument of his sin he must not be a Contriver of or Purveyor for his Lust he must not flatter and applaud him in his wickedness for this is the worst sort of unfaithfulness the betraying the very Soul of his Master and how wretched a state doth the Servant reduce himself to by this perfidiousness if his Master never repents he has drawn upon his own Soul the guilt of his Damnation if he do repent he draws upon himself his Masters perpetual contempt and aversion Secondly Towards the Peace and Honour of his Master The Servant must endeavour to preserve the Peace and Honour of his Master for these things are or should be dear to every one next to his Soul and Virtue Now the Peace of a Master may be disturb'd either by the Contentions of those of his Family amongst themselves or by their unkindness and undutifulness towards himself the Servant therefore who by lyes or slanders by vile whisperings and informations doth alienate the Affections of the Family or any Member of it from their Head or sets them at variance between one another is guilty of the blackest treachery for he perfidiously robs his Master of the Peace of his mind and the Affections of those of his Houshold than both which nothing can be dearer to him Nor is this all the aggravation of this sin for it loads the perfidious wretch with all the guilt of the numerous and great mischiefs which always may and very often do ensue upon the Contentions and Divisions of Families In a word such a one draws upon himself the Wrath of God and as soon as he is discovered the displeasure and hatred of the whole Family As to the Honour of their Master or Mistress it may be wounded by the Servant two ways First by speaking ill of 'em either abroad or at home or else Secondly by promoting that Immorality in the Family which must necessarily tend to their disparagement and scandal They therefore that will be Faithful in this point must be so far from making the faults of their Master or Mistress publick that if it be possible they must not see 'em themselves they must be so far from making 'em the subject of their discourse abroad that they must vindicate 'em all that possibly they can nay they must not endure any such sort of Talk at home
gratifie thy Covetousness and this is downright Idolatry in thee or thou must steal out of distrust and to secure thy self against thy Infidel fears of Poverty hereafter Unhappy creature who canst not relie upon God even when thou art provided for What couldst thou do worse than this if thou wert destitute of any provision How great a distrust of God how vile and impious a piece of Infidelity is this And how great is the sin of Distrust and Infidelity without any extraordinary aggravations * Revel 21.8 The fearful and unbelieving c. shall have their part in the Lake which burneth with Fire and Brimstone Or Lastly Thou must steal to feed some other Lust such as Riot Uncleanness or the like and then in what a course of wickedness art thou engag'd Thou art then to satisfie not only the Extravagancies of thy own but of others Lusts and thou makest thy self a Slave to all that are thy Confederates in sin nay they are the Masters of thy Reputation thy Fortune and thy Life and when thou considerest what loose and debauched wretches thou dost trust these thy dear Concerns with thou canst not but think thy self as desperate a Fool as thou art desperately wicked So that as to this end of thy Theft the gratifying some wild and lewd Affections the more thou dost succeed in it the more desperate and deplorable is thy state The two other ends namely the satisfaction of thy Covetousness or thy security against future want are in all probability subverted and defeated by that very sin by which thou dost endeavour to attain 'em For thy Theft forfeits the favour and patronage of God thy distrust and this course it puts thee upon is an open renouncing and relinquishing the Care and Providence of God over thee so that though thy sin should be conceal'd from man thou canst expect no other than that thou shouldst be curst in all thou settest thy hand to and that thy fairest Hopes should be blasted but if thou art discover'd the least that can befal thee is the Restitution of thy Unjust Rapines and a brand or mark of Infamy fixt on thee which will render thee uncapable of any Trust and expose thee consequently to unavoidable and perpetual want and beggary Ah the wretched Life of an infamous and beggarly Theif forsaken and abandoned by God and Man I have said enough I hope to make any one sensible of this sin of Purloyning yet I am almost afraid lest my Design may be in some part defeated by the foolish Collusions and trifling Excuses of such who though they cannot deny Purloyning or Theft to be a damnable sin yet they commit the thing and deny it to be Theft just like men that acknowledge Rebellion a sin but will not own taking up Arms against the Supreme Magistrate to be Rebellion Give me leave therefore to tell you that when I make Theft to be the converting your Master's goods to your own use I understand by it all acts of yours by which your Master suffers detriment and wrong For Instance not only the deceiving him in what is in your own Trust or the pilfering what is in anothers or the taking to your selves any way unjustly what is his but also the giving away to others without his knowledge or contrary to his will any part or portion of his than which nothing I hear is more common Servants as well as Masters having their attendants and hangers on their Parasites and Flatterers who at once sooth them in their Pride and Vanity by fawning and flattering and cherish 'em in their Idleness by doing their business I must put you in mind further that I mean by your Master's goods whatever he possesses whatever it be wherein he can suffer or you commit wrong And in the last place I must put you in mind that you are guilty not only of the wrong and injustice which you personally commit but also of whatever is committed by any other if you consent to it and connive at it even though you should receive no benefit by it For thus far I conceive the Reproof of the Psalmist may be extended * Psa 50.18 When thou sawest a Thief thou consented'st with him which is there look't upon as an abominable wickedness and surely the commands of God Thou shalt not suffer sin in thy Brother but by any means reprove him and * Eph. 5.11 Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather reprove 'em do nearly concern a Servant in this case as he would avoid the guilt of the sin which he doth not reprehend for the neglect of Reproof is here a tacit approbation of the sin and tho' peradventure this sort of theft be not to be loaded with all the Aggravations of the former yet the least that can be said of it is that it is a down-right injustice a breach of trust and extream unfaithfulness towards the Master But you 'l demand of me how is a Servant to behave himself towards his guilty Fellow-Servant that he may in such a case as this acquit himself with a good Conscience towards God and Man If he conceal his fault he is unfaithful to his Master if he discover it he is unkind to his Fellow-Servant He must betray the one or the other if he do not reveal the wrongâ— he sees his Master suffers and what is more his Conscience must suffer too if he do he shall be hated and persecuted by his Fellow-Servants as an Informer nay peradventure what is worse than this he he that is accused shall out-wit him or shall be able to form a Combination against him and so find more credit with the Master and by consequence the good Servant shall by his Integrity and Justice forfeit his Place and it may be his Reputation or at least live uneasily persecuted by the vexatious Calumnies affronts and unkindnesses of those others that are combined against him To this demand take this answer I should never have fancied this Objection had I not been extreamly sensible of the frailty of Man for whence should any one doubt whether he should preserve his Faith and Duty to his Master or commit a sin to oblige a fellow-Fellow-Servant Whence should spring this question whether you should support and cherish a wicked Fellow-Servant in his Vice or whether you should preserve a Master to whom you ow Fidelity Truth and Love from injuries and wrongs How finally should a Man come to be troubled with this scruple Whether he should preserve his Integrity a good Conscience and the Favour and Blessing of God by doing his Duty or by deserting it run the hazard of the worst that the wit or malice of his wicked fellow-Fellow-Servant can bring upon him These you must readily acknowledge are doubts and scruples which do not become the sincerity and Faith of a good and honest Christian However you shall not want here the best advice that I can give you for I know
God not Man Or can he ever have the impudence to expect a reward from God for this kind of Deportment What such a one has reason to expect he may learn from the Parable of the Lord and his Servants Matth. 25. where he is called a wicked and a slothful Servant and adjudged to outer Darkness who had not answered the trust committed to him who had only behaved himself idly and unprofitably tho' he had neither wrong'd his Master by fraud or theft or wast and riot Alas The unprofitable Servant must not flatter himself that he doth his Duty for care and industry are as essential and necessary parts of the Faithfulness of a Servant as truth and honesty and he that any time stands idle can never be excus'd unless he can plead what they in the Market-place did to that question Why stand ye here idle all the day long Because no man has hired us But you are hired you have no doubt work to do for no Master will purchase heedlesness and sloth at the rate of such a charge as a Servant puts him to Nor can I think that a Servant himself would judge this behaviour a good discharge of any man's Duty in any other Station Would he think that Master did his Duty who made no provision for his Family And yet care and industry is as indispensible a Duty of the Servant as provision or maintenance of the Master But I need say no more if nothing else will the effects of this ill demeanour may convince a Servant how great an evil this is for besides the loss and vexation which it creates the Master it begets perpetual quarrels and discontents in the Family for the Fellow-Servants of a sluggard are not only bereav'd of that assistance which they should receive from him but also oppressed by that burden of which he eases his Shoulders the Drone himself is forced upon many Lies and Shifts to excuse his omissions and errors and finally after some time spent in the displeasure of his Master the contempt and hatred of his Fellow-Servants He is at last reproachfully cast off and branded with such a character as makes all that know him shut their Doors against him as unwilling to receive such a trouble and incumbrance into their Families There is a Third vice Of Consumption and Wast which Servants are too often guilty of where the Fortune of the Family can allow it and that is Consumption Wast whether by wantonness and delicacy whether by riot and excess whether by junketting and drinking amongst themselves or also by drawing in others into the Club and Association it matters little 't is a downright injustice committed against the Master 't is every jot as bad as theft much worse than the common theft of poor people for the poor steal to relieve their necessities but these rob to feed their gluttony and wantonness nay 't is every jot as bad as theft in a Servant the guilt of which has been sufficiently display'd to you before for what difference is there either in respect of the guilt of the Crime or in respect of the effects of it towards a Master whether a Servant steal from him out of Covetousness or fear of future want or whether he rob and plunder him out of Luxury and Riot if so then you may be sure that if the wrong be the same in respect of the Master and the guilt the same in respect of the Servant the Temporal ill consequences of it in this Life and the punishment of it in another will be much the same for such Servants must finally without Repentance and Amendment be abandoned and forsaken by God and Man And accordingly 't is generally observ'd and I have mark't it my self that such as have been extreamly Prodigal Wanton and Wastful in their Master's Houses have been afterwards reduced to extream Poverty even to the want of a Morsel of Bread and that which adds to their misery in this state is commonly this that such as have been sharers with 'em in the wast of their Master's goods have been the most apt to reproach their former Pride and Wantonness and to despise their present Poverty and the only Persons from whom they could expect relief have been those very Masters and Mistresses whom they had before abus'd and wrong'd Besides this Duty of Justice in Deed there is another sort of Justice in Word which a Servant owes his Master which is Truth but because this is a common and avow'd Duty between Man and Man I think 't is not needful to dwell upon it here there is no body can be ignorant of the wickedness of this sin which makes one of the greatest Prerogatives of Mankind that is Speech an Instrument of the greatest Mischiefs which is 2dly An Argument of a mean base Spirit and destitute of the Faith and Fear of God which is 3dly The Product and Effect of some sin or other for Virtue never needs the Service or Protection of a Lye which Lastly Prevents Repentance for sin for as soon as men have obtain'd a great slight and dexterity in Lying they grow hard and confident in their faults because they find they can without any difficulty conceal or excuse 'em by a Lye And as no one can be ignorant of the evil of this sin so neither of the evil which will punish it Who knows not how many plagues are denounc'd against it by God What infamy attends it from Man What secret shame and disquiet it tortures the mind with and finally how it certainly involves the Lyar in Temporal and Eternal Ruine Let the Servant therefore as he would avoid all this alwaies keep up to strict Truth in his words if he have committed a fault let him not go about to excuse it by the commission of a greater that is by Lying let him rather chuse to try the goodness of his Master by an humble and honest confession than tempt him to suspicion by frivolous Excuses or barefaced Untruths however if he should think his Master stupid enough to be imposed on by any idle Tale yet let him remember that he has a Master in Heaven who may be conquer'd by Confession and Repentance but cannot be imposed upon or mockt by any slight or artifice of words I have now spoke sufficiently of the Duty of Faithfulness and will therefore pass on to the Third and last great Duty of Servants 3dly Of Love of Masters and Mistresses The Love of their Masters and Mistresses This is a Virtue which is extremely necessary in Servants it being a very difficult matter to do their Duty without it but if this be once implanted in their hearts if the Master be lookt upon as a Father one whose Affection and Esteem for 'em they value as their greatest worldly happiness there will need no other motive either to their Obedience or Faithfulness For what St. John observes concerning the Service of God Eph. 5. that to them who love him
his Commandments are not grievous the same is true of the Service of Man the burden of it is very light if Love help to bear it for how natural is it for a Servant to obey when he is as fond of the Love of his Master as of his own Interest and how natural to be faithful when he loves his Masters Interest as his own He will abhor to see him wrong'd in his Goods or disturb'd or disquieted in his Mind since if he loves him he cannot but in every evil that befalls him suffer with him how sacred will such a Servant esteem the Honour of his Master How much will he be concern'd for the Virtue of his Children the good behaviour of his fellow-servants and the success of his Enterprizes in the World Such a Servant will not stand upon Punctilioes and nicely weigh his Duty by grains and scruples but he will think all his Duty whatever it be wherein he can serve his Master And whatever he does he will perform with that delight that care and chearfulness that one would think that he were like Eliezer to Abraham rather an Heir of his Master's blessing and his own labours than an hired Servant such a one will not stay to expect commands where his Master's interest requires his Service much less will he be solicitous which way he may be excused from his Duty for he accounts nothing more disingenious than to stand in need of an excuse Finally how easy will it be for such a Servant to receive direction humbly to bear any infirmity of his Master patiently to answer respectfully to remember heedfully to reform carefully and to do all out of singleness of Heart How many and great the advantages of this Virtue are both to the Master and to the Servant both in point of credit and delight both in point of Religion and Interest is very easy to be discern'd the Master will have his business done and that very prosperously he sees nothing miscarry under the hands of his Servant he hears no discontent nor contention in his Family he sees that his Servant is a good example and guide to his whole Houshold in a word he meets with nothing to displease him when at home nor is he disturb'd by any suspicions or fears when abroad for he can as entirely confide in his Servant's Faith and Affection as in himself how will such a man be ready like him who bought Diogenes to run out into the Exchange and Market to publish to the World that a Guardian Angel is come into his House Without any Amplification of the matter such a Master if he be not savage and insolent as well as stupid must confess that he enjoys a great blessing that he cannot set too high a value upon his Servant and by consequence he is in Honour and Justice bound not only to treat him with courteous words and kind looks but to reward him too and this cannot but tend to the honour and interest of the Servant which cannot but reflect advantagiously upon the Master for to have good Servants and to do well for 'em is I think in the opinion of judicious men no small argument of a good and wise man But to proceed not only the credit and interest but even the content and Religion of Families is highly concern'd in the love and Duty of Servants for Love is the Parent of Unity and Peace and it Nurses up the Children it brings forth it maintains and preserves the quiet which it procures and in a Family where Charity and Contentment reign where order and peace dwell how necessarily must Religion thrive and flourish They will watch over and assist one another they will affectionately give and meekly receive advice they will not want time for Religious Duties nor a sedate composure of mind to make the best use of that time no one 's Prayers and Reading will be rendred useless through discontent and distraction No one will be kept back from the Sacrament by confusion of business or disturbance of mind If all this be put together I need not trouble you with many motives or inducements to this Duty of Love for what greater blessings can a Servant desire than those are which this gives him 'T is a help to him in the performance of his Duty lightens the burden of his Service it gives him the love of his Master and the Family peace at home credit and reputation abroad both which are the most solid foundations of a Servant's interest imaginable unless it be the favour of God and this behaviour gives him a right claim to that too for whatever is a work of Religion as this indeed is whatever procures men more opportunities of grace and whatever prepares and disposes 'em for the best use of 'em must needs very much promote our Heavenly Interest and I have sufficiently made it out that all these are the blessed fruits of this Duty To all which I will add but one consideration more to convince you of your obligation to it which is this that you cannot without monstrous ingratitude be guilty of the contrary Do you think that you owe no affection to your Master and Mistress who have receiv'd you into their House reposed a confidence and trust in you who are very solicitous to inform and instruct you who not only bear long with your Ignorance but wink at many other infirmities in you who provide for you in your health and are tender of you in your sickness who are desirous to oblige and encourage you and rejoice when you behave your selves so as to deserve it Is there nothing due to 'em for their compassion for your Souls for their watchfulness over your manners for their care in providing for you spiritual as well as bodily food You cannot be guilty of hating or despising these who have deserved so well of you nay you cannot be guilty of what is less the not loving 'em but you must be profligately ingrateful you must be stupid and base to a degree that bruitish Creatures have never yet been guilty of For the Ox knows his Owner and the Ass his Master's Crib Nay there is no beast of the Field or of the Desart so fierce and salvage but he has been tamed and obliged too by repeated courtesies and benefits A General Prayer relating to the Duties of this Chapter O Holy and Just God I know that without Holiness it is impossible for me to please thee here or to enjoy thee hereafter I beseech thee therefore that my understanding may be so enlightened my Conscience convinced and my whole Heart enflamed with the love of Holiness that I may be Holy in all manner of Conversation Beget in me a most tender and lively sense of the great Duties of Obedience Justice and Charity which I owe to my Master that I governing my self by these in all my actions I may in my Station advance the Honour of God the Contentment and Interest of my
as it ought not to be so slight as to reflect any disadvantage on the other so on the other hand it ought to be so moderated and temper'd that the Son be not to soon set up for a young Master and so soothed and fooled into Pride and Vanity and the Father forfeit his Authority by deriving too much of it upon his Son for a foolish Child is too too apt to assume and forget himself and take as his due what he possesses but of Courtesy I mean of his Father and a foolish Servant is too apt to forget his Reverence to his old Master out of Complement to his young one Care for their Morals 2dly Servants must express their Affection to their Masters Children by a tender Care for their Morals I do not mean that they should be Spies upon their Faults but Ministers and Assistants to their Virtues This your Aid is to be afforded according to the Age and Capacity of the Children they may instil into 'em early Instruction in their green years they may suggest to 'em their Duty and excite and perswade 'em to it as they grow up to Estate of Reason and all along they must take care that they be no example of any Vice to them neither of frowardness nor lying nor disobedience to those of Tender Years nor of Riot Intemperance Idleness Pride Prodigality and Wilfulness to those of Riper for all are much apter to imitate Vice than Virtue But in stead of performing this excellent Service to their Master it often happens that some Servants are the Corrupters of their Children's Youth they mislead 'em by their Examples and prompt and instigate 'em to Sin both by word and deed They fawn and flatter 'em into Arrogance and Self-conceipt they not only conceal but applaud their Errours they instruct 'em how to play the loose Gallant and the disobedient Child and are in a word ever ready to advise 'em not what is consonant to their good but to their humour and fancy But you will ask me how shall a Servant acquit himself if his Masters Child should take ill courses What shall he do If he oppose and resist the Child what in him lies in the Progress of his Sin he incurs his hatred if he favour him in it and aid him by secrecy and shelter or any other way he is unfaithful to his Master there is no upright man who measures his Obligation to a Duty by the Event and Success of it every man that will have a peaceful Conscience must do what becomes him and leave the Issue of it to God but however he must do it with all the discretion he can too and his Duty will direct him here how to perform another Duty which seems harsh and hazardous for Instance in this Case Charity to the Son will so regulate the Servants Faith to his Master that he shall not only do his Duty but do it with true discretion Thus Charity will direct him First as to the nature of the Childs offence that he is not to take notice of little frailties and inconsiderable defects much less to complain of 'em to his Parents for this were if not a peevish malignity of Spirit yet at least a busie and officious piece of Impertinence not without some mixture of defect of Charity but such matters wherein the Virtue the Honour the Health the Interest of the Child and consequently the happiness and comfort of the Parent is concern'd deserve the Servants Care and Faith but Secondly in Errours of this nature Charity will teach him to distinguish between a slip or fall and a setled depravity of mind or Vicious habit in the Child so that as he will not complain at all of little and trifling Errours so neither will he too soon of greater and in the last place when he shall be convinced of the Indispensible Necessity of making known the fault of a Child Charity will teach him that he should proceed in this with all imaginable mildness not aggravating or amplifying the Crime and that he should use all imaginable Caution both to prevent any mischievous effect of such discovery and to secure as much as in him lies the good success of it And here Charity seems to me to point out the way to this and to tell you that First you are to try what you can effect your self by a modest humble affectionate Representation to your young Master of the sin and hazard wherein he is engaged for if this may prevail it were not so Charitable to bring him into peril of his Fathers displeasure or disesteem but if this sort to no good end you cannot be bound by Faith and Secrecy to your Young Master to betray your Faith and Duty to your Old for this is in effect but to betray both You must therefore either make known the Son's ill Courses to his Father or if there be apparent Reasons to apprehend no good effects of this way but rather ill ones for want of a well poiz'd judgment or tolerable temper in the Father you must then put the business into the hands of some faithfull and discreet Friend whose Authority and good nature may so far mitigate the Violent Choler and sweeten the Implacable temper of the Father that the Son's Virtue may be repaired without the Ruin of his Fortune I have in this Advice insinuated that as a Servant ought not to be peevish and impertinent in complaining of trifling faults so neither ought he to be too forward in revealing greater much less ought he to exaggerate and exulcerate the Crime but my meaning is not that his Information should want any one grain or scruple of truth necessary to give the Friend or Father a right notion of the offence nor yet that he should delay the discovery of a fault where the concealment breeds Danger but if he cannot trust his own Judgment in this point and the Issue of his delay seem doubtful to him he must then consult some body else whose Judgment he may better relie upon and whose affection both to Father and Son he can be very confident of The Servant who behaves himself thus in this case acquits himself with a good Conscience towards God and Man he doth Both very considerable service for there can be nothing more acceptable to God than the converting a sinner from his evil way nor to a Father than the Preservation of a Child just on the brink of misery nor indeed to the Son than the restoring him to his Virtue the preserving to him that Honour and Fortune which were both ready to suffer wreck So that this Servant will hereby procure to himself the everlasting good-will of his Master and Child the Peace of his own mind and the Blessing and Favour of God James 5.20 * He that converteth a sinner from the Errour of his way shall save a Soul from Death and shall hide a multitude of sins Nor is he far remote from that blessed
against which more judgments more curses are denounced or which is represented more detestable to God than Lying Lips a Lying Tongue a spiteful and a malicious Heart There is indeed a sort of Lying by way of Recrimination and Self-defence which is generally thought to have something of extenuation in it and something indeed it has but not enough to excuse it for the best that can be said of it is this it may sometimes have something less of Malice and habitual Rancour but it has never less of falsehood and injustice and therefore is vile and dishonourable in the sight of Man and damnable in the sight of God One sort of Injustice more I must just touch upon and that is Envy weak and base minds are extreamly subject to this such as are too sluggish to have any Merit and too self-conceited to see their want of it these and these only are apt to be envious and such a one will count every excellence in his Fellow-Servant a disparagement to himself and every favour vouchsafed another an injury to him And this stirs him up to detract from anothers good Service and to supplant anothers interest by all imaginable Arts which shews the hainousness of this Crime consisting in the utmost contradiction to Justice and Charity but this sin is so great a Plague and Torment to ones self that methinks there needs few motives to persuade men not to entertain it or to get rid of it Thus much I thought necessary to speak of this Duty of the Justice of Servants towards one another and were this well observ'd this would lay a sure Foundation for Charity and this again for Mutual Assistance and Concord for if you would not wrong one another either in word or deed all occasions of debate and contention would be cut off It were very happy for you your selves and for your Masters and Mistresses if you could advance thus far if you could come up to the pitch of honest Heathens but this is not enough to make you perfect Christians there 's something more requir'd of you if you 'l be the Disciples of our dear Lord and Master than meerly not to do wrong I will proceed therefore to the second Duty of Servants towards one another namely Charity I need not insist on the necessity of this grace in general Mutual Charity between Servants you well enough know you cannot be saved without it the heart that is void of love is void of God for * 1 John God is Love if you be destitute of Charity you cannot be the Children of God or the Disciples of Christ 1 John 4.20 If a man say I love God and hateth his Brother he is a Lyar. And our Saviour saith hereby shall I know that ye are my Disciples if ye love one another This is an irresistible motive to every one that believes and weighs it but there are others which being more peculiar to your state ought to prove strong engagements to it for instance how uncomfortable must strife and hatred render your service it must needs be extremely troublesom to be condemn'd to the company and conversation of those you cannot endure nor will this only bereave you of the pleasure you would take in one another but of the assistance you would afford each other if you did love as Brethren nor is this all your discontents do generally rebound upon those above you and you grow by degrees as uneasy and unacceptable to your Masters and Mistresses as you are to one another nay any discreet man tho' he could brook the trouble of your quarrels and discontents yet to deliver himself from the disparagement scandal of 'em will judge himself obliged to discard all peevish contentious Servants what over other good qualities they may have And then another ill consequence is you lose your good name and lie under such odious characters that being cast out of one house no other will receive you for who can be fond of noise and mischief This little if it be seriously consider'd is sufficient to convince you of your obligation to Charity and Brotherly affection towards one another I will now go on to shew you in what instances you must express this affection having first only put you in mind that your Charity must be real and not feigned that you must love not in word but in deed and in truth for Hypocrisie and Dissimulation is as sinful and mischievous and in common account at least more odious and despicable than professed hatred or open contention Having premised this I proceed there are two waies by which you are to express your mutual Charity First by the mutual assistance you are to afford each other Secondly by preserving constant peace and unity amongst your selves 1. If you be possessed with Charity towards one another it will shew it self in the good turns you will do one another in the assistance you will yield to each other and here sure the Soul of your fellow-Servant deserves your aid in the first place if he be ignorant unacquainted with Religion and not only so but incapable through the meanness of his education to inform himself in it by reading for if he be not ignorant but what is worse viciously inclined if he know God but do not fear nor glorifie him as he ought you cannot do God or him a more eminent service than by endeavouring to instruct and inform him reading to him and teaching him to read or by endeavouring to convince his Conscience of his Duty and to make him sensible of the necessity and happiness of a Religious and holy life Next to the ignorance of Religion and Immorality a Servant's ignorance in his business requires your compassion and aid and what help you afford him in this is a work of excellent Charity in you and ought to be acknowledg'd not only by your fellow-Servant but your Master too as an obligation for 't is a Real benefit to both To be brief if you 'l behave your selves with that goodness gentleness and sweetness that may evidence your love to one another you must in a literal sense bear one anothers burthens you must pardon and forgive one another's infirmities you must excuse and conceal one anothers Errours unless they be such as imply manifest unfaithfulness to your Master in which case they are no longer Errours and Frailties but Crimes Concord which was the second instance of Charity I recommended to you is the natural result of all this For these mutual Assistances and Obligations can never miss of preserving a right Understanding and nourishing a sincere Friendship between you but yet because Concord must be preserv'd where Friendship sometimes cannot and you must wish well to and carry your selves fairly towards some Servants whom you cannot fancy whom you cannot take any complacency or delight in therefore I will say something of this I need say nothing more to convince you of the necessity of Concord than
and loving Spirits Now for the Conquest of all these Vices which ingender strife you must observe the same method which is wont to be prescrib'd for the Conquest of any other that is you must lay before you frequently and seriously the guilt and mischief of these sins you must endeavour to persuade your selves of the loveliness and advantage of the contrary Virtues you must carefully avoid all occasions of and temptation to these sins you must watch over the motions of your own Hearts you must resolve sincerely upon reformation and amendment you must call your selves to an account for these your resolutions you must not faint nor be weary tho' you do not presently conquer but you must repeat and reinforce all your vows and purposes and go on patiently till you have brought forth Righteousness unto Victory and with all this you must joyn fervent Prayers to Almighty God for his Assistance A Prayer on the Subject of this Chapter O Lord my God who art the Author of Peace and Lover of Concord enable me I beseech thee to live in that Brotherly Affection Unity and Concord with my Fellow-Servants that we may be a Mutual Comfort and Assistance to one antoher as well in our Spiritual as Temporal concern And to this end subdue in me O Lord all unnatural and unchristian Pride and Peevishness and give me the Wisdom which is from above which is not only pure but peaceable gentle and easy to be intreated full of Mercy and good Fruit without partiality and without Hypocrisie O never suffer me to be guilty of Malice Guile Hypocrisie Envy or Evil-speaking but let my Heart be always tender and affectionate and let the words of Truth and Meekness and Charity proceed out of my Mouth that I may never minister any occasion of strife and contention but way ever preserve and make Peace And O Lord because offences will come make me I beseech thee slow to anger ready to forgive and that from the Heart that I imitating thy Divine Mercy and Compassion may be made partaker of it in the full pardon of my sins and the Salvation of my Soul through him who was also the great Example of Patience and Forgiveness even Jesus Christ our Lord. PART II. CHAP. V. Of the Servants Duty towards himself his Credit which way rais'd and preserv'd the Love of his Master c. how to be abtain'd His thrift c. 'T is certain that every man's Duty is his Interest and that in whatever station a man is there is nothing can render him more prosperous in it or more effectually recommend him to a better than a faithful and conscientious discharge of the Duties of his place Nor did Solomon when he ascribed to Wisdom these glorious effects or fruits length of days Riches and Honour understand by wisdom Subtlety Craft or worldly Policy but purely a sincere performance of our Duty towards God and Man having therefore fully discours'd of a Servant's Duty both towards God and his Master it might suffice here to tell him in general that a sincere performance of this is his only true wisdom his only true policy However that this may more evidently appear and that the Servant may be more sensible of the obligation he lies under to the Duties prescrib'd him I will descend to a particular consideration of his Interest a thing which Servants as well as others are allow'd nay obliged to persue and advance by all fair means It will easily be granted that the Interest of a Servant consists in these three things his Credit the Love of his Master c. the profit of his place 't is therefore a duty which concerns a Servant to consider what course he must take to promote these three The Servants Credit how advanc'd First then if we consider the grounds of a Servant's Credit or Reputation it depends upon an opinion of his Religion or Virtue and of his ability or sufficiency for the place he undertakes As to this latter 't is not my business to direct you in it only I must put you in mind that there are some greneral qualifications such as Truth Industry and Humility which are necessary recommendations to all sorts of lawful Imployments without which whatever skill or experience any man has he is unfit for any service The other Basis or Pillar of a Servant's Credit is Religion and Virtue he that has rais'd in others an opinion of his Virtue hath by consequence rendred himself more valuable and considerable to 'em for such is the Beauty and Majesty of Virtue that it commands from all some degree of affection and respect and such is the manifold use of it in the world that he who is possessed of it is presently accounted of as more worthy and more serviceable than other men which is a Character which commands esteem Now if you would possess men with the perswasion of your Virtue the most effectual way is really to be what you would fain appear to be for a Hypocrite cannot long be concealed and when he is discovered he looks more loathsom than an open sinner besides that a Hypocrite lies under this one great disadvantage that his Dissimulation once prov'd upon him his Credit can never be redeem'd by his following sincerity his very Repentance shall never find Credit with men there being no way left man to distinguish it from a strain of his known Art You must therefore be really virtuous if you would gain a Reputation for Virtue you must endeavour to be most eminent in these Virtues which are proper to your station sobriety industry faithfulness c for these are the Virtues men require and regard in you There is scarce any place wherein there is not an opportunity of practising these in some degree which practice is one way and the best too of raising your Reputation but besides this that you may both confirm and increase these Virtues in your selves and the opinion that you have of 'em in others you must First industriously avoid all vicious company For this if it do not destroy your Virtue which were next to a miracle it will certainly destroy your credit for no wise man will ever believe that you can be otherwise than vicious in vicious Company This is generally the ruine of most Servants 't is here they learn to despise Virtue and their Masters 't is here they learn to love Liberty and Idleness and Finally 't is here they learn those sins which they can neither maintain nor enjoy without the guilt of disobedience and unfaithfulness to their Masters therefore follow the advice of Solomon Prov. 4.14 15. Enter not into the Path of the wicked and go not in the way of evil men Avoid it pass not by it turn from it and pass away where the wise man doth excellently insinuate that he that would be safe can never keep too great a distance from evil company Secondly you must resolutely arm your self against and carefully resist the
Temptations of the Family you are in let not the Authority of great examples delude or deceive thee let not any prospect of Interest insnare thee let not the solicitations of thy fellow Servants perswade thee let no opportunity betray thee into sin for thou dost purchase thy profit or the favour of man at too dear a rate if by the loss of thy Virtue thy Soul thy Heaven thy God Never be ashamed of singularity where thou canst not be virtuous unless singular * Eccles 4.20 21 22. Observe the Opportunity and beware of evil and be not ashamed when it concerns thy Soul for there is a shame that bringeth sin and there is a shame which is glory and grace Accept no person against thy Soul and let not the Reverence of any man cause thee to fall For thou mayest assure thy self that Virtue is never more honourable than when it stands the shock of Temptations and despises the allurements of Opportunity and that whatever profit or honour sin may flatter thee with it will prove shame and bitterness in the latter end Thirdly besides the practice of Religion in private and the frequenting the Sacrament in publick as often as you have Opportunity you must conscientiously attend to Family-Duties for this peradventure is the only Rule by which your Master will measure your esteem for Religion and your esteem for Religion is the only thing or at least the main thing by which he will judg of your Truth and Faithfulness Not that this should be your first and chief motive to it for that must be not the opinion of others concerning you but the Honour of God and the improvement of your Soul There lies upon you more than common Obligations to these Duties for your absenting your selves from 'em is not only a slight put upon the Worship and Truths of God but also an Act of Disobedience to your Master In the second place the meaner your Education is the more ought you to covet these opportunities of instruction and the less your time for Religion is which you are often wont to pretend at least the more carefully ought you to embrace this time of Worshipping God Thus much of the First thing wherein the interest of a Servant doth consist which is his Credit or Reputation The Second is the affection which his Master and others bear towards him of which now And here 't is certain that the surest Foundation of this affection or love is the merit of your Service The Affection of the Master how attain'd a Faithful that is honest and careful discharge of your Duty but besides this there are some qualities that do more immediately tend to recommend and endear a Servant such are First an humble and chearful temper which always puts 'em forward even beyond the bounds of their indispensible Duty makes 'em ready to undertake even more than they are bound to if they think it tends in the least either to the interest or satisfaction of their Master and in doing this they must appear glad of the opportunity desirous of purchasing their Masters favour at any rate and this is such an obliging temper that 't is almost impossible to fancy a Master so stupid or ungrateful as not to take notice of Love and Reward such a Servant Secondly He that will win the affection of those he serves must make it appear that he loves 'em he must rejoyce in every good that befalls 'em and be afflicted in every evil he must be extreamly tender of creating 'em trouble or disturbance not so much out of the fear of any damage growing from it as out of a filial delight in their satisfaction and a filial affliction in their trouble besides all this he must always speak well and kindly of 'em he must look upon it as a lucky accident when ever he has opportunity to check the ingratitude of a Fellow-Servant towards 'em or to vindicate their Reputation against the calumnies of a Stranger and if he will take my advice he must not only speak well of his present but his former Master For I can hardly be persuaded that a Servant will speak well of me when gone from me who speaks ill of him whom he served before but if there be nothing good which he can speak of him yet at least let him never speak any ill of him unless he be unavoidably forced to it Nor let the Servant only speak well of his former Master but let him serve him to the utmost of his power for gratitude to a former is the Servants highest merit with his present Master Lastly That the Servant who desires to be belov'd keep at the greatest distance he can from all sorts of quarrels and contests in the Family let him never make any himself nor be a party in those made by others and let him be so far from insinuating himself into those things which his Superiors or any others would keep secret that on the contrary he must rather fly from the knowledge of a secret which others would disclose to him unless they have some good use to make of his trust all this that I have here directed I would have performed not with art and skill but sincerity for a Servant cannot counterfeit an obliging temper long if he do not endeavour to possess himself really of it He must endeavour to love his Master truly and heartily or else it will be very hard for him to make a good shew of that love which he has not and he must be finally endow'd with an humble and quiet spirit or else it will be a very difficult task for him to stand neuter amidst the quarrels of others and to close his Eyes and Ears against the secrets news and tattle which most are so naturally inquisitive after The third thing on which the interest of a Servant depends is the profit or gain of his Place The Servants Profit how advanced And here I need not tell you that a Faithful discharge of your Duty serves most to promote this for this as you have seen gains you affection at home and credit abroad and the Master will certainly give most countenance and encouragement as far as he is able to the Servant he loves best and every Member of the Family will favour and assist such a one as far as they can and if there be no ground for a rational expectation of reward from those he serves his own credit will in a little time open the way to it an extraordinary Virtue can be no more conceal'd than the Light the meanest and most private Imployment is Theatre enough to an excellent Person but what is most considerable of all he that serves faithfully in any Station has God for his Spectator and Patron There is therefore one thing only which I am to put you in mind of and that is that you be good Husbands of what you gain I mean that you do not wast and lavish it out in
unnecessary expences whether in fine Attire or the extravagancies of gaming or entertainments And to this good Husbandry you lie under the strongest obligations that can be for First By these ways you bring into question not your Discretion only but your Virtue too For if a Servants expences look bigger than his gains it cannot be thought uncharitable in the Master if he do not only condemn his folly but also enter into a suspition of his unfaithfulness to him or else his engagement in some unlawful course or other for the supply either of his Pride or Prodigality But Secondly The loss of your credit is not the only evil you are to apprehend from this Folly but also Distress and Poverty one time or other For Alas The Revenue of a Gentleman is not able we see by dayly experience to support the folly of a spend-thrift and how much less the narrow salary of a Servant 't is true indeed 't is the extremity of unkindness in a Master to turn a faithful Servant to the Common after he has spent his strength and youth in his service but I think it is extremity of folly in a Servant to expect that his Master should be kinder to him than he is to himself or to eat the bread of his old age at the Courtesie of others when if he pleases he may eat his own This cannot but prove a very strong engagement upon Servants to thrift especially if it be consider'd that they are more unable to sustain the wants and hardships of Poverty than Common Day-Labourers are for he generally has not the same palate who is accustom'd to feed at his Master's Table that the poor man has who feeds at his own But whilst I recommend Thrift to you and a regard to your own profit I would not have you make use of this advise for a pretence to justifie either your want of Charity or your quitting a service wherein you have been highly obliged upon the least shew of a little more gain in another For first as to Charity it is the Duty of Servants as well as Masters The Servant's Charity God requires of every man in proportion to that wealth which he gives him a part of it for the poor and if the reward of the Servants Mite cast into the stock of the Poor shall be as great as that of the pounds of the Rich no doubt the punishment of his uncharitableness shall be as great as that of their's For the refusal of contributing this his Mite can't but be judg'd an extream wickedness if it be consider'd that he may spare it easily and that the reward of it is no less than a Heaven A Servant must not for a slight gain quit the Service where he has been long instructed and born with As to the second thing the quitting a service wherein you have bin obliged upon shew of a very little gain 't is an action of extream folly and ingratitude for a raw and untutoured Servant after he has bin formed and shaped and fitted for service immediately to relinquish that Family where he has bin thus instructed in prospect of a slight gain is extream ingratitude for certainly he ought to think his service most due to those who have made him a Servant and taught him how to perform it they have done more for him than they who after he is well qualified give him larger wages I do not know whether I may not add that this is Injustice in a Servant for surely he that plants and watereth a tree has best claim to it's fruit and that Master who has born the trouble of a Servants Ignorance has the best right sure to his better service which is but the fruit of his own Care Patience and Instruction Nay 't is easie to be conceived that this is due to him by a Tacit Pact and Contract for the Servant cannot but think that no Master would give himself the care and trouble which the instruction and Patience to be used towards a raw Servant requires did he not propose to reap some ease and fruit from it afterwards to defraud him then of this rational expectation doth look extreamly like Injustice as well as Ingratitude Nor is the folly of this action generally less than the ingratitude for Masters generally love most and confide most in those whom they have themselves bred up and fitted so that generally such a Servant may thrive better by keeping than quitting his service But if this once grows to an humour of flitting and shifling from place to place then the folly of it is remarkable even to a Proverb A Roulingstonce never gathers Moss for whatever good Qualities such a Servant may be possessed of they cannot turn much to his profit because he does not allow time for the raising of his Credit or the establishing a value of and affection for him in any Master and these are the usual seeds of a Servant's gain The Conclusion Thus I have given you a short but I hope a clear and full view of your Duty some of you may peradventure fancy that I have bound a heavy burthen upon you but I must tell you 't is no heavier than what God lays upon you than what the reason of every one of you if you would make use of it would lay upon you than what lastly the necessities of your place and station and your own Interest doth indispensibly require of you Nor have I only presented you with a draught of your Duty but I have also pressed and recommended every part of it by such reasons as may convince you of the truth of what I have last said namely that your Interest your Conscience and our God exact the observance of those things I have here perscrib'd you there is therefore less need of of any pathetick address to you here by way of Conclusion However I cannot forbear putting you in mind briefly of two things First The great and many evils the neglect of your Duty is the cause of Secondly The great and many benefits the right performance of it will procure both to your selves and others The First thing is too sadly and notoriously evident to be denied who can reckon up the Children who have been corrupted or betrayed the Families whose Fortunes have been subverted by the falshood or negligence of Servants Who knows not how often the love of the Master and Mistress has been dissolv'd and their Honours blasted by the lying and deceitful Tongues of those of their own houshold who knows not how miserably the peace and quiet of Families has been disturbed the beauty and order of 'em deform'd and confounded and the Religion of 'em obstructed and their substance consumed and exhausted by the pride and peevishness by the sloth and carelesness by the lavishness and unfaithfulness of ill Servants And can you think that these and innumerable other mischiefs which your transgression of your Duty creates the World shall go unpunish't
ours you are become one with him and he with you and with us all for in Jesus Christ there is neither bond nor free you all sit equal guests equal favourites at this table O let not the humility the condecension the love of Jesus be slighted and despis'd by you ah how trifling a favour in comparison of this conferr'd upon you by your Master or any body else wherein you value as supposing him rich and great would transport you into all the heats of thankfulness and put you upon any task how hard or how mean soever by which you might do him honour I 'le insist no longer on this point I 'le only mention the little and mean objections against this Duty Objections Answer'd with which you are nevertheless wont to content your selves you have you 'l say so much business so much work that you have no time to prepare for the Communion You do then serve not only a very hard but a very foolish Master so foolish that I can scarce believe there is any such for who can be such a sott as to be unwilling to give you time wherein you may give him the greatest security the surest pledge of your Fidelity Industry Humility and all other Virtues of a good Servant that his heart can desire Can any man be such a sott as not to give a bad Servant time to reform in or a good one time to repeat his Vows and Resolutions of his perseverance and to fortifie himself in his Duty by fresh engagements And this benefit certainly every Master reaps by his Servant's conscientious frequenting the Communion and yet after all let your Master be never so unreasonable towards you or ungrateful towards God for he is both in this I must tell you to your comfort no Servant is rendred unfit for the Communion by doing the Duty of his place the discharge of your Duty towards man is a part of your Religion towards God this peradventure may render your preparation less solemn and laborious but never less acceptable a sincere sigh or groan from you in such a case as this if such a one can be supposed shall be admitted for as good satisfaction as the most solemn confession consisting in a particular enumeration of every sin and an act of sorrow appropriated to each when perform'd by others who are Master's of their own time a Devout Ejaculation shall be accepted from you as well as the most careful trimming of their Lamps the most studious dressing of their Souls from others But here let me beseech you that you do not abuse that unto a plea for your negligence and security which I have taught you only as a comfort under the necessity of your circumstances For when you have time for more solemn preparation you must not out of presumption or laziness content your self with this but this I must leave to your own consciences and to God the searcher of hearts to determine this then that you have no time is a vain excuse but you 'l say you are ignorant and unlearned and do not understand the nature of this Duty why do you not then consult those that do Is it so that there is no good Christian in the Family Is there no Pastor in the Parish Is it possible that in these days of light any though the meanest of the people should perish for lack of knowledg But you are unworthy to approach that table and are you resolv'd that you 'l ever continue so If by unworthiness you mean any course of sin break it off speedily lest you perish in it peradventure this call to the Sacrament may otherwise be the last Invitation to Repentance the last tender of mercy that shall be ever made you but if by unfitness you mean Frailties and Imperfections Defects and Weaknesses if this should make us unfit who then could be fit If this should make us unworthy who then could be worthy Sin and folly would be a qualification for the Communion if none were fit for it but such as were arrogant enough to think themselves so for that in this sense of fitness were to think themselves void of defect and frailty which were flatly repugnant not only to Humility but Truth too But you 'l lastly say you are conscious to your selves of great weakness and are afraid of entring into Engagements which you have much ground to fear you shall not be able to perform If you prove unable it will not be your sin but misfortune but I am afraid you mean which you shall not be always willing to perform And if so I must confess I fear you are not fit for the Communion for this insinuates that your Heart at present is not sincere that your meaning is not right and that you have some darling sin or at least some remainder of sin which you cannot yet be fully perswaded to part with If it be otherwise the weaker you are the more need you have of that Sacrament by which you will be confirm'd and strengthen'd if you are sincere you are always safe PART III. CHAP. II. Directions for the Servants Worthy Receiving the Lords Supper Contemplations tending to stir up a Devout Conviction of this Duty in the Soul OUR Savour's Institution of this Sacrament is thus related Our Lord Jesus the same Night that he was betray'd took bread and when he had given thanks he brake it and gave it to his Disciples saying Take eat this is my body which is given for you do this in remembrance of me Likewise after Supper he took the Cup and when he had given thanks he gave it to 'em saying drink ye all of this for this is my Blood of the New Testament which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins Do this as oft as ye shall drink it in remembrance of me Out of these words our Church forms that excellent Prayer Almighty God our Heavenly Father who of thy tender mercy didst give thy only Son Jesus Christ to suffer death upon the Cross for our Redemption who made there by his one oblation of himself once offer'd a full perfect and sufficient Sacrafice Oblation and Satisfaction for the sins of the whole World and did institute and in his Holy Gospel command us to continue a perpetual memory of that his precious death until his coming again hear us O merciful Father we most humbly beseech thee and grant that we receiving these thy Creatures of Bread and Wine according to thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ's Holy Institution in remembrance of his death and passion may be partakers of his most blessed Body and Blood On the parts of this Prayer you may descant thus O my God and my Father didst thou give thine onely begotten Son to suffer death upon the Cross for my Redemption what then was my state that it was capable of no lesser Redemption than the bitter death of thy Son A state of sin and misery a state of bondage
reproach of Sloth and the Plagues of Nastiness and Ignorance When you have laid this to heart consider too the infinite kindness of God who fills or is ready to fill all things living with his Goodness Consider his Alsufficiency and Power that 't is he * Psal 75.7 who pulleth down one and setteth up another There is no Cottage so retired which God does not look into and regard no Condition so desperate so destitute of Friends and all means that God cannot redress and relieve it He that called his People out of the Brick-kills and from between the Pots and chose Herdsmen and Shepherds for his Prophets and Princes this God can never want means to raise or provide for such who call upon him and serve him Thus if you lay to heart your Quality and Condition in the World if you demand each one of himself Who am I What am I born to What Station has God assigned me in the World This will soon convince you that you have nothing to trust to but God and your own Virtue And if you lay to heart in the next place the Goodness and All-sufficiency of God you 'l easily conclude that they who have him for their Friend and Patron can want no Encouragement no Assistance that they who serve him and depend upon him * Psal 34. shall lack no manner of thing that is good and so all together will put you upon the practice of Virtue and a dependence upon God in which consists almost the whole Preparation I am treating of Having advanced thus far Children must accustom themselves at home to the Duties they must practise in Service your next business will be to learn and accustom your selves to those Duties as far as you can in the Family of your Parents which you must practise afterwards in that of your Masters Above all practise those Virtues which you shall find useful and necessary wherever you shall come such are Industry Humility Contentment and the like First Industry for why should you not ease and assist your poor Parents who with much Affection Care and Trouble nurst and succour'd you when unable to help your selves Or why should you indulge your selves in Idleness who cannot live but by taking pains Secondly Humility for why should you not pay that Respect to those who are your Parents which you are to do to those who will be your Masters to those whom the Law of Nature has set over you which you must to those whom your Necessities will set over you Or how will you learn the Humble and Respectful Language or Demeanours of a Servant who accustom your selves to nothing but Rudeness Disrespect and Undutifulness towards your own Parents whom though you which you ought not it may be fear less yet sure you love more or ought to do so Lastly Contentment in your state for you are unfit to be Servants if you are wanton and discontented Children your Dyet it may be and such other Circumstances may be better'd by the exchange of a Father 's for a Master's House but there may be other things which may be more insupportable than your Parents Poverty something every where must be borne with and therefore inure your selves betimes to Contentment in the meanest Condition without which you shall never be happy in the best In a word if you would prove good Servants you must first prove good Children look upon your Parents not only as your Father and Mother but Master and Mistress too Let not the meanness of their Estate tempt you to slight 'em 't were a sin in a Neighbour or a Stranger to despise them for their Poverty but 't is a Crime a Crying wickedness in you their Children Make no use of the Indulgence and Fondness of your Parents but only this to inform your selves of 'em more freely what you are to do and more carefully avoid doing amiss and more chearfully to reform what is amiss for if you have no sense upon your minds of Duty and Kindness you will never make better than eye-Eye-Servants whom God as well as Man detests Thus prepar'd The Resolution fit for such as are entring into Service as soon as you are invited to or have your selves found a fit Service fortifie and confirm your selves in this Resolution that you will perform the utmost that you undertake at least and whatever more you can that you will do your Duty with Chearfulness and with all your Might and with all imaginable Faithfulness and singleness of Heart as doing Service to God not Man Look upon your Master and Mistress as your Adopted Parents resolve to love and serve 'em as such and never to be persuaded that your own Interest can be divided from theirs Ah! would you but go thus qualified to Service you would find it indeed a state of True Liberty not Slavery you would not be driven to poor and dishonourable shifts ever and anon you would grow up and thrive in the Affections of your Masters and Mistresses and your Interest would ripen with their Affection and Value for you they would be your Adopted Parents you their Adopted Children as necessary and dear to 'em as their Feet their Hands their Eyes Fraught with these Virtues and Arm'd with these Resolutions enter into the World and prosper having first begg'd your Parents Blessing and Advice and devoted that little time between your being hired to and entring upon Service to Prayer and the consideration of these things A Prayer to be used by Parents fitted to this Duty O Almighty God Father of the Family of Heaven and Earth possess my Soul with a tender sense of the Duty of a Parent that I may not be bereaved of the Peace and Satisfaction which springs from a faithful discharge of it nor of the Pleasure and Advantage which Wise and Virtuous Children bring their Parents nor of that Blessing which thou dost bestow upon all such as train up their Children in thy Holy Faith and Fear O suffer me not instead of all these Advantages to fall into that wretched state wherein my Conscience shall be tortur'd and my Soul afflicted by the sense of my Childrens Ruin my own Guilt and thy heavy Displeasure Suffer me not O Lord to imitate that wicked One the Devil who delights to betray his Children into Sin and Ruin but make me to imitate thee my Heavenly Father who dost fill all things with thy Goodness whose merciful Providence is over all thy Works who providest for all thy Children both spiritual and bodily food and art most infinitely kind and gracious even to the undutiful and ungrateful O Lord open thou my mouth that I may pour forth Instruction O Lord purifie and sanctifie me that if I be slow of speech and unlearned they may yet learn from my Life more than they can from my Tongue But above all O Lord pour forth thy Grace in their hearts that they may be meek and teachable industrious and dutiful devout and
Abilities comparing 'em with the business that you are entertained for for if you undertake what you are unfit for 't is impossible that your Master should reap any thing from your Service but Vexation and it may be Damage or you your selves any thing but discredit so that this is both sin and folly a downright deceiving others and betraying your selves Sometimes indeed there is not so much Regard had to your Ability as Chearfulness and Industry and in this case if your Capacity come not up to their Expectation you wrong 'em not but then they lay upon you a double Obligation to good Nature and Diligence for 't is monstrously ingrateful if you force 'em to bear not only your Ignorance but your Idleness and Ill Nature too In the fourth place 4. Chuse as if you were never to change you are to chuse a Service as if you were to make your Fortune in it and as if you mist there you could hit no where For if you only design it as a Refuge for your present want and pressing necessity if you only put in there as into a Port to avoid a Storm being resolv'd to hoise up Sail to the next fair Wind you will be shrewdly tempted to do your business very negligently and carelesly and so besides the guilt of Ingratitude you will incur that of Injustice too A Religious Family the best Service In the last place instead of all further Rules take this You are to account that Family the best for you which is in it self the most Religious the best for your Temporal and the best for your Eternal Interest First for your Temporal Interest good men if they are able do generally more than they promise wicked men much less Good Christians will look upon you as their Fellow-Citizens nay Fellow-Servants for you have one Master nay what is more members of the same body for you have one Head Christ Jesus and therefore such will treat you with Charity and Gentleness and will as heartily seek your Interest as their own for 't is impossible but that a good man should make much of them that fear the Lord. But besides that gain which you will reap from the Countenance and Assistance or receive from the hand of a Religious Master there are two other Advantages which the Religion of any Family gives the Servants of it Credit and Reputation in the World and the Blessing of God which how much they conduce to your Worldly Interest I need not I suppose acquaint you But suppose this Choice of a Religious Family did not serve your Worldly Interest altogether so well as the Choice of some other peradventure might yet surely it best serves your Eternal Interest and therefore a Religious Family is to be preferr'd especially by people of greener years 'T is true a good man like Joseph may serve the God of Israel in the House of Potiphar but sure nothing but Necessity not his own Choice shall bring him thither the Salvation of the Soul is the * Luke 10.42 one thing needful and therefore this is the Interest that is first to be secur'd They have certainly but little Veneration for Religion who will prefer the gain of two or three Crowns in a year with the hazard of their Virtue before all the Advantages of a Religious and well-govern'd Family They are certainly very little sensible of the danger of Temptations and the weakness of Human Nature who for a very inconsiderable profit are ready to expose themselves to the Infection of ill Company to the Corruptions of ill Example which are much more apt to affect you when Authority and Interest is joyned with the Deceitfulness of sin as in the Examples of Masters and others whom you depend upon and respect 'T is an unspeakable disadvantage to your Virtue and Religion to be in a Family where you must wholly want the common means of Grace I mean the Reading of the Word of God good Instruction Prayer and a Christian Discipline in the Family But how much greater disadvantage when these are not only neglected but contemn'd and derided To live bereav'd of the Means of Grace in a mere Dearth of Spiritual Food is an unhappy state but to live amidst daily Temptations and even Solicitations to sin is an unhappier still If young unexperienced people are apt to forget God even in those Families where they are often put in mind of him how will they remember him where all forget him If they can hardly be preserv'd by the Care of a Religious Master and the conscientious observance of Religious Duties how will they be secur'd in a Family where there are no opportunities or means of Virtue and not only so but where there are all opportunities and means of Vice and where Vice is countenanced and encourag'd by common practice But in all this let me not be mistaken when I say What Family to be accounted Religious that Family is to be chosen by Servants which is the most Religious I do not mean that they should measure the Religion of the Master by mere words or mere Opinions but by the orderly Government of his Family by the conscientious Practice of Family Duties by the peaceableness and gentleness of his Conversation by the Justice and Charity of his Actions for this is true Religion and undefiled before God A Prayer to be used on this occasion O Thou the only Wise and Almighty God who wast with Jacob in his flight and Joseph in his Captivity who didst provide for thy Servant Moses a Retreat and Entertainment in the Wilderness be thou with me guide thou and direct me I desire to resign up my self to thy Providence O lead thou me and I shall securely and safely follow thee O give me Bread to eat and Raiment to put on and I will be thy Servant and thou shalt be my God But O suffer not mine Eye my Imagination to be dazled by a vain shew of Wealth and Plenty so as to prefer the Hopes of it before the Advantages of Religion and Virtue Suffer me not to be led into Egypt by my Wantonness and Idleness Let not my Lot be to live in any place whence thou art banisht Shut me up O Lord in the Ark of some Religious Family that I may escape the Deluge of this wicked Generation and where I may enjoy thee and discourse of thee and tell of all thy wondrous works and be fed with Divine Truths This this O Lord is the thing I would chuse though with hardship and difficulties rather than to dwell with Ease and Plenty in the Tents of Wickedness But not my will O Lord but thy will be done if it be thy pleasure that I should dwell amongst those who are strangers to a Life of Godliness O never suffer me to be ashamed to own thy Truths or practice thy Precepts O never suffer me to forget thee amidst the Temptations of ill Company and ill Examples but Lord let
me be a burning and a shining Light that the rest of the Family may be mov'd by my Devotion and Virtue to glorifie thee Let my Life so far adorn and set off the Doctrine of Christ that others may be in love with Holiness and be ashamed of Sin Hear me O Lord for I wait upon thee direct me for thou art the guide of my Youth O my God and my Father in thee is my Trust through Jesus Christ my Lord. PART II. The Servants Obligations to Religion CHAP. I. Of the Servants Duty towards God their Obligation to Religion Directions for Relative Duties Reading Praying c. The Virtues God requires of 'em dependence upon him Contentment Faithfulness to their Masters ONE * Luke 10.40 thing is needful said our Saviour to Martha when she was cumbred about much serving when she was careful and troubled about many things and that is Religion Religion is as necessary for a Servant as a Gentleman for a Peasant as a Prince for Salvation is of equal importance to both and I cannot see but that those of the meanest Rank lie under as strong Obligations to Religion as any other men do If the Condition of a Servant be well weigh'd A Servant is less liable to Temptations than others it will be found that he has fewer Temptatations to and consequently excuses for sin than any other sort of men for he is restrain'd and kept within the bounds of a Regular Civil Life by the necessities of his Fortune by the confinement of his Duty and by the indispensible Attendance of his Place Ambition Idleness and Luxury which are the great Incentives to sin and folly in other men are not ordinarily incident to the state of Servants Besides that Labour and Care is a sort of good Discipline to the body and keeps it more modest and humble in its Appetite 'T is true there are a sort of Servants which serve rather for grandeur than any necessary Duty who are only the state of the Hall and Antichamber and the Ornament of Coaches such are generally too well fed and too little imploy'd and consequently they are expos'd in a state of Servitude almost to all the Temptations that men of the highest Rank are it were heartily to be wisht that such as these would rescue themselves from this worst sort of Servitude by betaking themselves to something that might consist with their Service and it highly concerns the Masters of such as they would avoid the guilt of their Servants Ruin to find out some ways to employ them in the mean time they are to stand like Souldiers on their Guard and while they keep with Sobriety and strict Attendance to their Pòst I hope they may be said to be upon their Duty and in their Imployment and may be so accounted by God But to pass on from the Consideration of this Case which is not altogether so common and to return to the Ordinary sort of Servants besides the Restraints which Servants lie under which are so many Guards and Fences of Virtue besides the Travail and hardship which the Body undergoes which is a sort of Discipline to it they are restrained from sin by the narrowness of their Fortune which should reasonably nay must necessarily keep 'em from expensive sin and almost all sins are such and by Hopes and Fears more peculiar to this state than any other they dread or at least should do so not only the displeasure of God but of their Masters too Their good Fortune depends directly and immediately on their good Behaviour and 't is next to an impossibility that they should fall into Vicious Courses but that they must at the same time fall into Ruine as well Temporal as Eternal being discarded disgrac'd and not only reproachfully thrust out of their present Service but thereby made incapable of another To all these Considerations I might peradventure add one more that sin in it self is not so taking or luscious to a Servant as to those of higher quality The World doth not court them in so much Pomp and Lustre as it doth the Rich and the Great Temptations are not set off with so many Beauties and Ornaments when dressed and prepar'd for the Servant as when for the Master and as this Rank of People doth not encounter the same force and allurement in Temptations so they have more Allays Fears and Checks mixt with their sinful Enjoyments than others have so that upon the whole I may conclude that the Servant who lives in any Course of Vice is of all Sots the most desperate he breaks through more restraints to commit sin he runs more hazards to be damned than any other man whatever he sets his Soul at a viler Rate than any other Mortal and rather than not be ruin'd and be damn'd he will be both without Temptation and without Pleasure Ah infatuated wretch that will be miserable in despight of God and Fortune too that will be vicious and wretched in despight of so many difficulties and discouragements and are content to be ruin'd rather than not be damn'd A man would think Damnation had Temptation in it for the poor despicable sins by which these wretched creatures incur it have none That station is very commodious for Virtue A Servant enjoys many peculiar Motives to Religion which has in it no Temptations to Vice But besides this Advantage Service contains in it some Incitements to Holiness almost peculiar to this state A mean Fortune like Calamities whets and sharpens those Minds that have any sparks of honour or courage in 'em he may be thought justly to deserve a mean Fortune and a servile Condition who does not labour to qualifie himself for a better Virtue then is wholly necessary to redeem mean persons from Servitude and Contempt and therefore if a Servant had any Soul it should methinks be enkindled with an honest Ambition of coming up though not to the Fortune yet to the Merit of those above him he should be zealous to compensate the meanness of his Birth and Condition by the Virtue of his Life and the goodness of his Actions This is that which will set him on the same level with the Rich and Mighty if any thing will for whatever loose and vain people may talk great Virtues are excellent Qualifications and render Men extremely serviceable and necessary in the World 'T is very rare that any man does long want a higher station who has Ability enough to fill it however it be he is as truly great who truly meriteth Greatness as he that possesseth it Besides this that Virtue is the most natural way to advance a mean man's Fortune there is in this state one further Motive to Virtue which is that a Servant stands almost in daily need of it So many and various are the Pleasures of the Wealthy and the Great that while these last as they desire not to exchange their Paradise for a Heaven so they do not discern the
Use and Necessity of those Virtues that qualifie 'em for it they do not feel the want of Spiritual and Inward Pleasures who are wholly taken up with Carnal ones they need not the support of Faith or the Belief of another World who are more than well enough content with this they see not the Use of Dependance upon God who have goods laid up for many years and are secure in their hearts as if their station were such that they could defie the common Events of Providence to reduce 'em to Necessity What business have they for Patience Industry Moderation where every thing not only obeys their Will but flatters their Fancy and their Wealth is sufficient to support Idleness and Riot too But in the condition of Servitude all is the quite contrary they cannot only not live happily in another World but they cannot live pleasantly in this without Virtue the Peace and pleasure of their Minds is necessary to compensate the Travail of their Bodies the belief of another Life to render this tolerable and easy Patience Meekness Industry is absolutely necessary in them to render them contented and satisfied in their station The Reason's plain without these they cannot be good Servants and every Service is a burden and slavery to an ill one So that Virtue is as needful to the Happiness of a Servant as his Food or his Wages his state is slavish unsupportable without it free and easie with it I will take upon my self the person of a Servant that I may the better express the force and strength of these Arguments which I have made use of to persuade Servants to become Religious I see my Condition my Parents are unable to serve me I have no Friends none that can or none that will be of any considerable use to me What shall I do I have but one way to render my self dear to God or valuable to Man and that is by living religiously and virtuously if I do otherwise God will cast me off I shall meet with Contempt from Man and what is worse I shall deserve it I shall ever be a slave and ever deserve to be so Pity and compassion is the highest honour and favour from Man that I must ever aspire to and when my strength for drudgery fails that it may be will do so too and then Beggery and Reproach must be the Portion of my decay'd Age. I can never think on these things but I am filled with blushes and disdain surely I have a Rational and Immortal Soul as well as the Rich and Wealthy and sure the Incense of Virtuous Actions and devout Prayers would smell as sweet to God if offer'd up by me as by a more Fortunate Man and if so what Reason have I to distrust but that God who is rich in bounty towards all would be so towards me too Well then I am stedfastly resolv'd that I will lead an unblameable life and whatever my Fortune be the World shall see I can deserve a good one and by this if I do not thrive and prosper and get in time into a better station I shall obtain this unspeakable Advantage that I shall render my present one both honourable and easie 'T is not a servile Birth nor servile Fortune but a servile Mind that makes a Man contemptible a Mind that has no Faith no Truth no Courage no Industry no Gratitude that is in one word no Honour in it But if I have all these and if together with all this Moderation so that I am my own Master though another's Servant I am in such case full of Honour no Cloud of Meanness can obscure or conceal me I am a Star visible by my own Light a Gem valuable for my own intrinsick worth I shall be beloved and respected wherever I am for Virtue how ever it be clad has beauty and majesty on its forehead nor is this all my station will be full of ease as well as credit for what should trouble me The Travail and Care of my Place Alas this is but pleasure to the industrious the displeasure of those I depend upon Alas I shall never fall under it or at least I shall never deserve it and then the peace and the satisfaction of my mind will more delight me than ever their weakness can disturb me Finally what can it be that can trouble me The uncertainty of a Servants station why while I live virtuously I can never want whatever betides me I have a God an Almighty God that cares for me and if the worst comes to the worst my trouble can be but short my Life and it will end at least together and then Glory and Eternity will receive me Thus I hope I have convinced Servants of the many Obligations they lie under to be Religious I have insisted a little largely upon this because I have ever found it a harder Task to persuade people to do their Duty than to teach 'em what it is But against all that has been said two things are wont to be objected First The meanness of their Capacity or at least Education And secondly their want of time or opportunity for Religious Duties Objection of the Servant's Incapacity answer'd but both these are mere shifts and pretences for as to the first their Souls are endow'd with the same Faculties and Capacities they have the same Reason Courage and Immortality with the Rich or Mighty as 't is evident from innumerable Instances of men who ascending from the lowest to the highest station have not only filled but adorn'd it too As to Education here I confess there is some difference between those of a higher and lower Rank but as 't is generally manag'd it consists in such poor punctilio's such trifling and slight Accomplishments that 't is not easie to say on which side the Advantage lies But omitting this I will put you in mind of one thing that will silence all excuses of this sort The Philosophy of Christianity which is the only true Wisdom doth not require a learned Education a poor Fisher-man now as well as formerly is as capable and fit for it as he that is bred up at the feet of Gamaliel The Belief of another Life depends not on niceties and subtilties of arguing but on the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead not the acutest Philosopher but the best liver has the fullest Convictions and the most lively and transporting Representations of Divine Truths * John 7.17 If any man will do his will he shall know of my Doctrine whether it be of God One thing further I am to put you in mind of that the Book of God is the great Rule and Standard of Discretion as well as Duty and that Religion naturally tends to make men wise as well as good There is no action of life so indifferent but it has in some part or other of it a Connexion with or Dependance on our Duty some degree or other of Service or Dis service to
attention and devout affection Enter into the Church as into the House of God and the place of his more immediate Residence In hearing attend to the great End that is that thou mayest grow thereby that some Infirmity may be cured some Virtue improv'd some fresh Resolution form'd and in a word thy Soul rais'd into a more heavenly and holy frame being return'd home as soon as thou canst find an opportunity bless God that he has spoke to thy Soul that he has affected thee by his Word and his Spirit and endeavour by a solemn Review and Consideration of those things by which thou wast most affected to fix 'em better in thy memory I should have said in thy heart and then lay all thy Desires and Resolutions in devout Prayers before God and earnestly beg and depend upon his goodness for the obtaining the one and his grace for the performing the other In the evening the last thing thou dost call thy self to an account look back on every part of the day examine thy behaviour bewail thy defects bless God for all thy spiritual Advantages of the day and thou shalt find unspeakable comfort and peace thy delight in spiritual things will encrease and thy hopes will grow up thou wilt begin to relish and anticipate the joys and long for the possession of Heaven The Duty of Prayer Another Duty we owe to God is Prayer concerning which a Servant is to observe these three or four things First you must endeavour to awaken a steady Devotion in your heart by imprinting in it a holy Reverence and awful Dread of the Divine Majesty by these or the like thoughts O God thou art the Eternal God the Almighty Lord of Heaven and Earth all things are upheld by thy Power and filled by thy Goodness at thy Rebuke the foundations of the Earth will tremble and the Heavens at the Voice of thy displeasure all the Nations upon Earth are but as the Drop of the Bucket and the Grain of the Ballance before thee Oh what then am I a poor despicable sinful and extremely small part of ' em O suffer me not to forget thy Majesty suffer me not to forget my self Or thus O just and holy God thou art the Creator and Redeemer thou art the Judge of all Mankind thou art the Searcher of the Heart and Trier of the Reins O suffer me not to be cold or careless much less hypocritical in my Addresses to thee for not only * Eccl. 16.11 mercy but wrath is with thee and as thou art mighty to forgive so art thou too to pour out displeasure O suffer me not therefore rudely and inconsiderately to stretch forth my hands towards thine Ark the place where thine Honour dwelleth lest I be smitten like Uzzah and perish in my folly Or thus O Lord thou art MY God by thee have I been holden up ever since I was born thou art my God and I will praise thee I will love thee O Lord my God for thou hast redeem'd me O Lord thou God of Truth thou Rock of my Salvation my Soul thirsteth after thee open thou my mouth that I may praise thee in the joys and transports of my Soul enflame my heart that I may cleave to thee by the Embraces of Love that I may wrestle with thee by unfeigned Faith and devout Desire and not let thee go till I have obtain'd a Blessing for still I have many Infirmities that will separate between thee and me O let me never be divided from thee Lord save me or I perish Secondly See that thou do nothing that is repugnant to thy Prayers for 't is in vain to beg of God that which thou deniest thy self nay 't is extreme Hypocrisie to importune God for that Grace which thou dost manifestly resist or incapacitate thy self for by thy actions if God or his Prophet bid thee wash and be clean 't is mere presumption to expect the Cure of thy Leprosie without the use of the means prescrib'd Thirdly Mark the Issue and Return of thy Prayers that thou mayest be thankful as thou hast been importunate for a Blessing or if thou receive it not that thou mayest correct and reform what is amiss it may be thy Prayer wants Sincerity or it wants Faith or there is a Babylonish Garment and a Wedge of Gold hid in thy Tent some darling Lust conceal'd in thy bosom or thy Petition it self is a foolish Lust or wanton Passion and 't is well if it bring not down a Curse instead of a Blessing As to your Prayer I think it matters not much whether it be a form or a sudden Effusion provided it have in it a steady Faith and humble Devotion which is the Life and Soul of Prayer But as far as I am able to see good forms fitted to their necessities are most useful for Servants because mental Prayer e're it can be such as it ought requires good ability solemn preparation or at least an habitual exaltation of mind and takes up much time Particular Forms suited to particular occasions I have endeavour'd to provide in this Treatise for general ones Morning and Evening you may use these which follow A Prayer for the Morning O Lord my God thou hast preserv'd me this night which might have been my last and for this my Soul blesses thee Thou hast given me another day O give me Grace too to spend it so as if it were to be my last O let it not increase my guilt and the number of my sins but enable me to work in it the work for which thou hast sent me into the World for the night cometh wherein I cannot work The number of my sins is great enough already they would sink my Soul down to Hell if the blessed Jesus had not loved me and given himself for me and if thy Mercy were not as thy Majesty that is Infinite for I have forgotten thee too too often though thou hast given me my Being and hast provided for me when there was none other to help me I have forgotten thee though thou gavest me thine own Son to redeem me not only to free me from the punishment due to my sins but also to procure for me Life Eternal I have fear'd the displeasure of man whose breath is in his Nostrils more than I have fear'd thine O thou just and holy Judge of Mankind I have been more solicitous for the Bread that perishes than for thy Favour which is better than the Life it self and oh well were it for me if I had only omitted my Duty towards thee or perform'd it lifelesly or sluggishly but woe is me I have despis'd thy Goodness and Long-suffering I have harden'd my heart against thy Commandments I have dealt proudly and presumptuously and have done wickedly here mention those sins which most burden thy Conscience if thou hast any such and particularly those of thy Service and yet after all this vain and sensless Creature that I am I have repin'd
and murmur'd at thy Providence been discontent in my Condition and complain'd of thy Dealings towards me 'T is true O my God that thou of thine infinite goodness hast convinc'd my Conscience of sin affected my Soul with a sorrow for it and wrought in me Resolutions of amendment but oh how many have been my falls how many and grievous have been my Relapses how negligent have I been of the Covenant of my God! Oh how soon have the tears of my Repentance dried up how soon has the flame of my Devotion and Love slackened and even gone out O God thou holy God thou Witness of all my actions and Judge of all my thoughts and affections what would become of me if thou shouldest enter into strict Judgment with me how should I stand before thy Tribunal cover'd with the guilt and shame of so many sins But O thou God of Mercy O thou God and Father of my Lord Jesus Christ I know that thou art always ready to pardon poor Penitents Lord I repent increase thou my Repentance trouble has taken hold of me my Soul is cast down and disquieted within me I am asham'd yea even confounded for I do bear the Reproach of the folly and ingratitude of my sins O be thou reconciled to me pardon me I beseech thee by the Merits and Intercession by the Agony and Passion and by all the painful Sufferings of thy Son pardon me O pardon me I beseech thee by thine own boundless goodness by those tender Mercies and Compassion which thou art wont to exercise towards Repenting sinners And Lord not only pardon my sins but deliver me I beseech thee from the Dominion and Power of 'em O assist me to break off those Chains of carnal Lusts and worldly Cares in which I have been held bound I have a false deceitful heart O give me Sincerity and Truth have a sluggish and drowsie body O enkindle in me fervency of spirit I am conscious to my self of great weakness and fraily O do thou confirm and strengthen me who alone canst make me a clean heart O O God and renew a right spirit within me give me a true Faith and enflame my heart with a holy Love that I may delight my self in thy Commandments that I may walk before thee in uprightness and fear diligently seeking thee constantly depending upon thee chearfully submitting to thy Will and doing the Duty of my place in singleness of heart as knowing that I shall be accountable to thee as well for those Duties which I owe Man as for those which are more immediately to be paid to thee O Lord keep me that my foot stray not out of the path of Justice O Lord keep me that I offend not with my Tongue and after I have done all O Lord suffer me not to fall short of my Reward through my pride or ingratitude but make me always thankful always humble neither defrauding thee of the Praise due to thine infinite Bounty and Mercy nor Man of the Thanks due to him for any act of kindness or charity towards me help me O my God to walk thus that my Soul may enjoy a true Liberty that my Life may be full of comfort my Death of peace and my Eternity of glory through Jesus Christ our Lord. And O my God bless not me only but this whole Family thou that art the God of Love the God of Peace sow in all our hearts the seeds of unfeigned Charity that we may all enjoy the comfort of a mutual Affection and of a mutual Assistance and Aid in our several places and Lord possess every Soul of this Family with a just sense of our Duty towards God and Man that all of us may be living Members of thy blessed Son and being protected by thy Providence directed by thy Word and assisted by the Influence of thy Spirit we may all at last meet in the Family of Heaven where we shall adore and praise thee love and enjoy thee to all Eternity through Jesus Christ our Lord. A Prayer for the Evening O My God my Strength and the Rock of my Salvation the Day is past and the Evening is come O give me grace to remember that this Life will one time be past and Death will come that I may live so that my work may be then finisht as 't is this day and I may have nothing else to do but go to my Rest where I shall be invested with Liberty and Glory Eternal Eternal O blessed Wages of a short Lifes service how does my Soul praise thee O Lord in Transports and even Extasies thou hast called me indeed to be a Servant but thou hast called me too to be a Son thou hast not indeed given me any great portion of the Wealth or Honour of this Life but thou hast given me the blessed Jesus to be my Redeemer and thy holy Spirit to be my Sanctifier O do but ever continue thus to me the Light of thy Countenance thy Grace and thy Truth and I shall never think my self to stand in need of any thing that the World admires but O my God how often are these my Comforts abated nay even interrupted how often is this blessed this chearful Light obscur'd and orecast by my infirmities and sins my sins the only causes that keep good things from me my sins the only real troubles of my Life Thus O my God though I renew'd my Covenant with thee but this morning though I devoted my self to thee vowing Obedience to thee and faithfulness to my Master yet have I prevaricated my Duty here mention the Errours and Infirmities of the day past have mercy upon me O Lord have mercy upon me and forgive me these and all other my offences and give me grace to keep my self upon my watch and guard against them Enable me sincerely to endeavour to repair and reform 'em as much as in me lies that I may every day grow and increase in goodness and be so much the fiter for Death the nearer I do every day approach to it and whenever it comes let it find me O Lord with my Loyns girt and my Lamp burning in a disposition and frame of spirit fit to die possessed with an unshaken Faith with an humble Resignation and Submission of Mind with a holy Contempt of Earth and a devout Love of Heaven In the mean time thou keeper of Israel thou who never slumbrest nor sleepest watch over me and this whole Family protecting and delivering us in our coming in and going out particularly let thine Angels pitch their Tents about us this night let us lie down securely and let our sleep be sweet to us for thou Lord shalt make us dwell in safety Amen Amen Blessed Jesus If any one expects from me Directions here for Mental or Extemporary Prayers I must tell 'em freely that little less than a Volume much bigger than I purpose this is sufficient for such an undertaking What I have to say in a word here
they must no more connive at a Fellow-Servant that wrongs their Master or Mistress in their Honour than if they did wrong 'em in their Goods they must excuse whatever will admit of excuse what will not they must hate but not spread or censure by doing this a Servant shall gain true Honour to himself while he preserves his Masters for though the ill temper of some people be such that they are pleased with malicious Informations with spiteful and slanderous Discoveries yet I never knew any temper so bad that loved the Informer if a Servant for they cannot but judge Ingratitude and Treachery as odious Vices in him as are any that he condemns in his Master Towards the goods and possessions of his Master The Third and last thing wherein the Faithfulness of a Servant is required is the goods and possessions of the Master in these the Servant must not wrong his Master neither by theft nor fraud nor wast nor must he suffer others to do so for all this is downright Injustice and expresly forbid by Almighty God Thus Titus 2.10 They are forbid to purloin as being directly contrary to that Faithfulness which they are commanded to shew nor is the consuming the Master's goods by Riot and Intemperance by unnecessary Wast or by Sloth and Carelesness one jot a less sin than Theft or Fraud The unjust Steward in the Gospel Luke 16. is accused that he had wasted his Masters goods and under the Law if Parents had brought a Son before the Congregation and accused him of these Crimes he was to be stoned * Deut. 21.20 This our Son is stubborn and rebellious he will not obey our Voice he is a glutton and a drunkard and all the men of his City shall stone him with stones that he die And surely a wicked and slothful Servant is no less punishable than a wicked and slothful Son I will insist a little longer upon the Servant's Duty in this point of Justice both because the Servant is more apt to offend this way being betrayed by the Temptation either of profit or pleasure and because the Master is wont to resent offences of this nature most heinously and to account 'em as the worst of Injuries he is capable of suffering by his Servant not I hope that he doth esteem his Goods above his Soul or his Honour or above the Virtue and Peace of his Family but because he is less able to secure the one than the other against the perfidiousness of Servants for if he be a good man he will easily be able to secure himself and his Family against the slander by which any Servant endeavours to blast his Honour or against the Lies and Whispers by which he endeavours to breed discontent or against the Infection of his ill Morals but there is no way to secure himself against the wrongs which he may suffer by the Fraud and Purloyning by the Wast and Riot or by the Sloth and Negligence of an unfaithful Servant First therefore of Purloyning of Purloining By this is to be understood the converting the goods of your Master to your own use you cannot be so ignorant as not to know that this is downright Theft and forbid by an express Commandment Thou shalt not steal Nor can you be ignorant that Theft is a Crime of the foulest nature as being not only repugnant to the excellencies and perfections of Christianity but even to the common Morality of Heathens to the natural Law of Justice Thou shalt do to others as thou wouldest be done by and you cannot but know how outragiously you would your selves resent such an Injury for if you love the World so well as to venture the being damn'd for it 't is easie for me to conclude how grievously you would take it to be robbed of it by another How vile a sin this is in the Opinion of others may easily be inferr'd from the indelible stain and infamy which sticks upon it amongst all people and from the severe punishments pronounc'd against it in all civiliz'd Nations but most of all from the punishment which a wise and a merciful as well as just God adjudges it to The punishment in the Old Testament you may read Exod. 22. But that which most concerns you is that of the New which is exclusion from the Kingdom of Heaven and Eternal Imprisonment in Hell in the Lake that burns with Fire and Brimstone for ever * 1. Cor. 6.9.10 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Be not deceived neither Fornicators c. nor Thieves nor Covetous nor Drunkards nor Revilers nor Extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God How grievous a sin this is all this may sufficiently convince you and should methinks strike a guilty Soul with horrour and amazement but some peradventure make less Conscience to rob their Master than another man How impudent a folly is this Can you think that he by becoming your Master forfeits his Right and Property and is no longer under the fence and protection of the Laws of God or can you think that you by becoming a Servant gain a Licence to commit that sin with Impunity which you could not have otherwise done without incurring Damnation Is not the Injustice the same Is not the wrong the Master suffers notorious Nay I must be free to tell you that though the Injustice and Wrong be the same the guilt and sin of Theft is not the same in a Stranger and a Servant Or dost thou think that base Ingratitude and perfidious breach of Trust adds nothing to the guilt of the Injustice Poor creature Dost thou not see how vile a sin thou dost commit a sin that nothing can attend if it have it 's due but reproach and infamy bodily punishment according to Law and if not repented of Eternal Damnation Nay dost thou not discern what a heap of sins thou art guilty of in one Ingratitude breach of Trust Lying and it may be Perjury together with Injustice in every single act of this sort of Theft And what art thou to gain by all this What is it that thou expectest as the price of thy Honour thy Life and thy Soul 'T is very often something so little that were it not for fear of thy being plung'd by degrees in greater mischiefs thy Master would hardly think it worth his taking notice of But be it what it will it can be but some small portion of thy Master's Wealth and art not thou a poor and desperate Slave indeed who art content to sell not thy Strength and thy Liberty but thy Credit thy Blood and thy Soul at so vile so cheap a Rate After all do but consider what it is that moves thee that draws thee on to this sin and thou shalt find that it is to gratifie some other as bad as it self for what is it that thou dost want Food and Raiment is provided for thee thou must therefore either steal to
reward mention'd Daniel 12.3 They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the Firmament and they that turn many to Righteousness as the Stars for ever and ever Whereas on the other side that Servant who either corrupts his Masters Children or affords 'em his Aid and Assistance his Shelter and Secrecy in their Vicious Courses betrays Man falsifies his Faith not only to his Master but his God he doth the drudgery of his Master the Devil who imploys all his Slaves in propagating sin and shall certainly one day receive the wages of his wickedness even that Death which is denounced against men of the most abominable Character men * Rom. 1.32 who not only do the worst of things themselves but also have pleasure in them that do ' em I have said enough to convince the Servant that he is to be careful of the Morals of his Masters Children but there are two Virtues which he ought to have more especial care of being those two which every Child should be eminent in which are in some sort the Foundation and Guard of all the rest namely a filial and dutiful Love of his Parents and hearty affection to his Brethren the Servant therefore if there happen any breach or interruption of this mutual and Reciprocal Kindness between Father and Son or Brethren must do all that he can to repair it and make it up But at leastwise if he cannot close he must not widen the Breach Peace-makers are blessed * Math. 5. and shall be called the Children of God But they who sow strife and contention are the Children of their Father the Devil 't is the Villanous Practice of some Servants to enkindle Emulation and Strife amongst Brethren and to take a side and party when they have created a Faction to over-value one Child to the disparagement of the rest and sometimes to fill their Ears with Lyes and Tales that they may alienate their Minds from their Brethren And sometimes the very same method is made use of to withdraw 'em from the Love and Duty which they owe their Parents by possessing 'em of the partiality of the Father and Mother amplifying their kindness towards one even to fondness and dotage and aggravating their unkindness to another even to coldness hatred One while they will not stick to insinuate the peevishness or jealousi'e of a Parent another while they will magnify the Fortune of the young Heir they will provoke him by laying before him the Liberty and Fineness of this or that Young Gentleman who is of a meaner Fortune than he they will impute the strictness and care of Parents to the Niggardliness of their Temper the narrowness and Antiqueness of their Education or to the natural Austerity of old age and thus they delude and betray the silly and unexperienced youth and make him cease to be a Child to his Father that he may be a slave to his Servant Now I would earnestly intreat Servants to lay this sadly to heart that these and such like Practices are an abomination to God that the more successful they are in 'em the more fatal they 'l prove to 'em for if they be not chastis'd in this world they will be damn'd for 'em in another Amongst those things which Solomon tells us the Lord hates and are an abomination to him you will meet a Lying Tongue Prov. 6.17 and verse 19. A false witness that speaketh Lyes and him that soweth discord among Brethren Nor is it to be wondred at that God should abominate such a sin as this is for the mischiefs that very commonly ensue upon such divisions and animosities between Brethren or between Parents and Children are not to be expressed St. James tells us briefly ch 3. v. 16. Where envying and strife is there is confusion and every evil work And he certainly who alienates a Child from his Parent thrusts him headlong into sin and Ruine and creates the Parent insufferable vexation and discontent But suppose God would not exact an account of you for this sin what is it a Servant can propose to himself from all this mischief He may flatter himself with strengthning his Interest or raising his Fortune but generally it happens quite otherwise for that dearness and Familiarity between a Child and Servant which is founded in the contempt of Faith and Truth on the one side and natural affection on the other can never be firm and steady any little accident will undo all Nature in the Child will return to it 's bent some little Obligation past upon him or wholesom advice insinuated in a fit season will awaken his natural affection and then he 'l make no scurple to redeem his Errour towards his Father or his Brother by the discovery that is the Ruine of a perfidious Servant But suppose this Combination or Conspiracy should hold some time how can a Servant rationally expect a constant Friendship from him who upon very slight and trifling pretences could be divided from his Father and his Brethren and tempted to forget the Duty he owed the one and the affection he owed the other I have spoken of the main care of the Servant towards the Children of his Master namely his care to secure their good Morals he that neglects this or what is worse ministers to the corrupting of Children is guilty of the most fatal unfaithfulness to his Master for he who betraies the Virtue of the Son destroys the happiness of the Father But he that performs this performs a service that can never be sufficiently rewarded not only because a Child is the greatest Blessing of a Father and Virtue the greatest Blessing of the Child but also because he has hereby laid the best Foundation of the Child's Honour and Interest Care for their Honour and Interest which puts me in mind of another care a Servant is oblig'd to namely for the Honour and Interest of his Master's Children whereever you can advance these you are to refuse no pains no hazard The least you can do is to conceal Their defects or excuse 'em to lay hold on every opportunity to speak honourably of what is Virtuous and praise-worthy in 'em to increase the number of their Friends and to be wanting neither in advice nor travail to promote their Interest Nothing therefore can be more repugnant to this Duty in a Servant than to entertain their acquaintance with spiteful stories of the silliness or viciousness of their Master's Children or to raise a suspition of faults in 'em where there are none apparent or to lessen by any suggestion whatever the esteem of their Virtue Parts or Person or the Credit and Reputation of their Estates but of all the mischiefs a Servant is capable of doing his Master's Son The Servant must not promote the secret Marriage of the Child there is none I think greater than the assisting him in a conceal'd Courtship or aiding him in carrying on a Marriage without the knowledge or
by you that day For this must necessarily bring you and the Discipline of the Family into contempt nothing being a more certain symptom of Folly or Loosness or Poverty or at least Meanness than this is A Prayer answering the End and Design of this Chapter O Holy God our great Creator who dost delight to be remembred by us in the days of our Youth assist me with thy grace that I may both worship thee sincerely and devoutly my self and may also be instrumental both by my example and discourse to move others to do so particularly as to the Children of this Famimily I beseech thee that thou would'st give me a tenderness for their Souls that I may as far as lies in me promote in them the knowledge and love of thy truth and the fear of thy name But O never suffer me to be any example or occasion of sin to 'em that I bring not upon my own Soul the guilt of their ruin my Masters trouble and thy dishonour Possess me with such an affection for 'em as may express it self in a due respect and hearty care for their true good And O thou God of Peace and lover of Concord make me always study how to advance Love and Unity amongst Brethren and to sow the seeds of peace and mutual affection amongst all the Members of this Family that I may not only escape the Curses which attend Lying and deceitful Lips and all the Authors of strife and contention but also may be called the Child of God and inherit the blessing of the Peace-makerâ— Finally O Lord I beseech thee the God of Order and the Author of Wisdom that thou would'st give me prudence and discretion that I may behave my self towards all with that Truth Modesty and Respect that becomes me in my Station I desire O Lord to take heed unto my way according to thy word O let thy word be a Light to my Feet and a Lanthorn to my path and let Truth and Faithfulness never depart from me all the days of my Life Amen Lord Jesus So be it CHAP. IV. Of the Servants Duty towards his fellow-Fellow-Servants consisting in Justice Charity Concord Mutual Assistance The Grounds of Discord between Servants THE Duties which Servants owe one another are the very same with those which all Mankind are mutually oblig'd to that is Justice and Charity only their nearer Relation to one another ties this Obligation faster upon them by adding new motives and incitements to these Duties Of Mutual Justice between Servants Thus First for Justice they are oblig'd to it towards one another under pain of Damnation and by the hopes of Salvation as all other men are But then they must further consider that they are bound to it not only as Christians but as Fellow-Servants in which Relation the more indispensible necessity of Justice increases their Obligation to it and renders the Transgression of it more unpardonable Fellow-Servants are so necessarily exposed to the injuries of one another and those daily one 's too that their life would be intolerable without a strict observance of Justice I need say nothing of the injustice of pilfering and stealing every one being watchful enough to secure his own but there are other sorts of injustice to which Servants are more prone and against which they are less able to defend themselves such are for instance Laziness in one Insolence in another and Lying in a third the sluggish Servant shifts the burden off himself and this must lie somewhere now this is the highest injustice for 't is to ease one's own trouble by increasing anothers A second error to which Servants are prone is Insolence there are no Masters so tyrannical and domineering as is one Servant over another and this is commonly the use a disingenious Servant makes of that Authority which the favour or trust of the Master confers upon him namely to oppress insult over and despise his Fellow-Servants methinks it should now be difficult to convince any of you of the injustice of this behaviour for how can any one of you be so stupid as to think that behaviour just in him towards his Fellow-Servants which he would think were not to be endured in his Master towards himself besides I cannot tell whether the folly of this carriage be not greater than the injustice not only because such a Servant forgetting his own quality upbraids himself whilst he insults over his Fellow-Servants and renders the worst usage his Master and Mistress can treat him with just and reasonable for he has no reason to complain of his Superiors for that usage which he is guilty of towards his Equals but besides this such a Servant must expect to be undermined at home and most certainly defamed abroad and when any ill accident befalls him or lessens his interest in his Master he must expect the just return of his insolence in contempt and hatred I would have such Servants as these call to mind what our Saviour saith of that Servant who being by his Lord made Ruler of his Houshold * Matth. 24.49.50 51. Began to smite his Fellow-Servants and to eat and drink with the drunken The Lord of that Servant shall come in a day when he looks not for him and in an hour that he is not ware of And shall cut him asunder and appoint him his Portion with the Hippocrites There shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth Now tho' you should not eat and drink with the drunken yet if you smite your Fellow-Servant you shall have your share of this punishment in proportion to your guilt or if you do not smite with the Hand yet if you smite with the Tongue either by bitter and reviling Language or by froward or malicious accusations of your poor Fellow-Servants to their Master or Mistress your guilt is much the same he that doth the one doth not want Pride or Uncharitableness enough to do the other but is held in by some other motive than Justice or Charity A Third sort of Injustice incident to Servants is belying one another which whether it be by libellous discourses abroad or unworthy and base detraction in private at home which is a common Artifice to make parties and set one Servant against another Or whether it be lastly by sly insinuations or malicious accusations to the Master it matters little this is in each instance the fruit of a naughty and wicked Heart * Matt. 15.19 For out of the Heart proceed not only Murders Adulteries c. but also evil Thoughts false Witness Blasphemies And these are the things which defile a Man 'T is strange to observe that if this sin were to be estimated by the practice of Servants 't is so common one would be tempted to think it were no sin at all And yet if it were to be estimated from the word of God one would be tempted to think it were the greatest of sins for I do not know whether there be any sin
what has frequently been insinuated all along this Treatise only I will remind you how great the evils of Discord and Contention are perpetual Vexation and Disturbance to the Father of the Family who must either with great prejudice to order and goverment dissemble his knowledge of your misdemeanours or to the lessening of his Authority become a party in the quarrel or else seem guilty of that severity which is very uneasy to every good Temper The next evil that attends Discord and that a very sore one is it generally infects the Family with a peevish and froward disposition and by degrees sours the most sweet and obliging humour A Third evil is confusion and disorder in all business for mutinous and quarrelsom Servants are like factious men in a State instead of assisting rather than not cross one another they will obstruct the business and good of the Family The Last evil of Discord is this that it utterly indisposes you for Religious Duties and this is a sad consideration that by your brawls and quarrels you not only afflict and vex but damn one another these and many more being the mischiefs of disagreement 't is plain that you are to purchase Peace almost at any Rate it will not then seem hard to you that I should prescribe you two things for this end First that you would not suffer your selves to be easily provok't much less be rude or irreconcileable upon any provocation if you can maintain Peace with none but those who are exempt from faults you must converse only with Angels not Men And if we are all liable to Errours and Offences we must be all alike forward to bear and pardon 'em which methinks should be no very difficult matter to one who considers the Long-suffering and Patience of God towards him I beseech you to remember what sentence was past upon that wicked Servant who would not use that goodness towards his Fellow-Servant which his Master had shew'd towards him Matth. 18.32 c. O thou wicked Servant I forgave thee all that debt because thou desiredst me shou'dst not thou also have had compassion on thy Fellow-Servant even as I had pity on thee And his Lord was wroth and delivered him to the Tormentors till he should pay all that was due unto him So likewise saith our Saviour shall my Heavenly Father do also unto you if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his Brother their Trespasses This is a dismal Issue of contentions he is miserable who doth wrong how much less miserable is he who doth not pardon it the wrath of God will swallow up both Secondly that you may preserve Peace you must often do more than is your business to do nor can this seem an unreasonable advice to him that shall consider that the trouble of that work he doth above his own is not half so great as the trouble of quarrel and contention which he prevents by it Nor can you possibly take a more ready way to rid your selves of a slothful and quarrelsom Fellow-Servant for the more diligent you are to supply his Errours and Defects the more confidently will he commit 'em growing every day more negligent and intolerable till his sloth and folly and your Industry and Prudence can no longer be unknown to the Master I have but one thing more to recommend to you in this place and that is that you should be very tender of one anothers credit and reputation for this is the Livelihood and estate of a Servant it is become fashionable with men of all ranks to make other's faults the subject of their discourse and entertainment and the meaner a mans Education is the more subject is he to do this but the commonness of the sin doth not lessen it much less excuse it It is the Character of one of the worst of men Psal 5.19 20. Thou givest thy Mouth to evil and thy Tongue frameth deceit Thou sittest and speakest against thy Brother thou slanderest thine own Mother's Son Nor is the folly less than the guilt of this sin for thou teachest others an evil Lesson against thy own Soul and dost justifie the worst practices thine Enemies can devise to defame and disparage thee I had design'd here to discourse of the grounds and causes of strife and contention but this labour is prevented by what I have said upon the Duties of Justice and Charity where you may easily discern what are the general springs and causes of Discordn amely Laziness Lying Envy and such like and how great the mischief and guilt of these is but besides these there is a proud froward and churlish Temper which renders some Servants utterly unfit for Conversation makes 'em apt to do wrong without any motive to it and apt to be provok't without any ground for it this is a temper directly contrary to Charity and therefore is by a necessary consequence sufficiently condemn'd already under that Head However I cannot be too careful to secure you against this sin and therefore it will not be labour lost to take particular notice of it here Pride and Frowardness are the dishonour of the greatest Men how intolerable then must they appear in the meanest They are indeed vices which one would think the frailty and contemptibleness of our nature would easily restrain us from for proud and haughty wrath is unbecoming a poor sinner a corruptible mortal Creature what should such a one be proud of or what can inspire him with the arrogance of frowardness Now if there be in the nature of every man let him be never so high Argument enough for Humility ground enough to shame him out of Pride and Peevishness what excuse can there be for either in that man where the meanness of his nature is rendred yet more contemptible by the meanness of his Fortune But what do I talk of these are mean impotent and beggarly vices these are weeds which grow no where but on dung-hills A proud and peevish Temper is generally the symptom of a foolish understanding a low birth a lower Education For the wiser any man is the better born and the better bred the more courteous and the more humble he is a consideration which methinks should make you extreamly sensible of the dishonour and scandal of this Temper But after all there is another Argument behind which should even scare and frighten you into meekness and humility and that is that a proud and froward heart is an abomination to the Lord to be hated or despised by man which is the general fate of all such tempers is an uncomfortable state but to be hated by God this is infinitely more dreadful and astonishing As then you value I will not say your Service but your Salvation subdue this devilish Disposition for assure your selves whoever is unfit to live peaceably in any Family can never enter into the company of Angels and Spirits of just Men made perfect For all these are meek and gentle kind
will one day be Make me O Lord remember that I am always in thy sight and that thou dost ponder all my Paths that I may be fully convinc'd that both my Temporal and Eternal Interest depends upon the Conscientious performance of my Duty that so I may not be seduc'd or discourag'd by any Temptations whatever but still looking up to God and having regard to the recompence of Reward I may run with patience the Race that is set before me Amen Blessed Jesus So be it PART III. The Necessity of Communicating Concerning the Sacraments of the Lords Supper there are two things which Servants are to be Instructed in First Their Obligation to Receive it as often as they can have an opportunity Secondly What Preparation is necessary to it CHAP. I. The Servants Obligation to Receive the Sacrament General Obligations THE Obligations to Commemorate the Death of our blessed Lord which arise from the consideration of his great Love in dying for us and the great benefits we are made partakers of in that Holy Communion and from the need we stand in of the Grace and Mercy that is conveyed and sealed to us in this Sacrament these and such like are Universal Obligations and equally concern all Mankind the Servant as well as the Master the Poor as well as the Rich for the Son of God has died for all alike Mercy to pardon us and Grace to assist us is tender'd to all alike and all do alike stand in need of both And of this sort of Obligation is the command of Christ and the practice of the Primitive Church and the nature of the Duty as 't is the renewing of our Covenant all these do oblige all Men alike to frequent Communion for no sort of Men were excepted in the command of our Saviour no Rank of Men were excluded in the practice of the Church and since 't is a publick owning of our Covenant it seems to me that it cannot be utterly neglected much less contemn'd without Relinquishing the Communion of Saints Renouncing the Faith and falling almost into the guilt of open Apostacy All these Arguments and Motives to the frequent use of the Sacrament do as strongly bind and forcibly press Servants as any other sort of People whatever Obligations peculiar to Servants But besides these there are some considerations which may more peculiarly concern Servants than others and which seem to render the neglect of this Duty more inexcusable in them than in any others As First As they enjoy not the pleasures which Men of plentiful Fortunes do so neither are they distracted by the cares which Masters of Families may reasonably be supposed to be Nor are they engag'd in so many contentions as the many designs and interests of their Superiours do necessarily expose them to they live if it be not their own fault by constant Rules they have all the advantages of retirement in the midst of the World lying under no pressing Temptation either to care or contest or sensuality So that unless they be extreamly careless of their Souls unless they be extreamly insensible of the love of Jesus they must live in an habitual preparation for the Sacrament or at least they can have no tolerable excuse for the neglect of it It deserves well to be further consider'd that the great stress of business which lies upon many Masters of Families in their Trades and Imployments lies not alike upon them or if it do it may indispose and incapacitate the Master for the Communion and yet not the Servant 'T is the Masters choice but the Servants necessity that puts him upon it 't is often the Masters Ambition and Covetousness but 't is the Servants Obedience and Faithfulness that engages him so that the weight of business which may be the Masters fault is the Servants Duty and therefore tho' it keep the one it must not the other from the Sacrament for 't is impossible that any one should be made unfit for the Communion by doing his Duty 'T is true to advance a little further that the love of Jesus in dying for us was equal towards all for all were subject to the punishment of sin but if there were any difference the obligation would be greater on the poor and mean in one respect than on the rich Because such do need the support and comfort which they derive from this Blood not only to uphold 'em against the terrour of another Life but also under the troubles of this and certainly the more low and mean any mans State in this present World is the more unpardonable in him is the love of this Life or the neglect of another for the less pleasure we enjoy from without the more natural is it to seek the pleasures of Religion the pleasures of Faith the pleasures of the mind from all which it necessarily follows that a Servants coldness towards his blessed Lord and Master has something less of excuse in it than any other Mans For in what Heart shall the blessed Jesus find an Entertainment in what Soul shall he find place to dwell unless in that which has no Temptation to love the World Where should the love of Heaven the love of Jesus and the love of Virtue take deeper Root than in that Heart which hath rationally no Foundation no place to raise any other hopes on that are considerable Where might our dear Lord expect sooner to be receiv'd with open Arms and the whole Heart than by these who have no other Friend no other Patron to trust to According to this discourse this was the success the real issue of things in the first times The Poor had the Gospel Preach't unto 'em that 〈◊〉 these generally speaking were the only Men which were affected and wrought upon by the Preaching of the Gospel But now ah now The times are inverted the Servant and the mean Man appears as much more stupid and negligent in the things of another Life as he has less share than others in this they seem to be sunk as much beneath the Virtue as Fortune of their Superiours and being freed from the Cares and Emulations from the Ambition and Designs of those above 'em their Souls seem to be grown so unactive so thoughtless so dark that they carry not one Meditation beyond the works of their hands like him in Ecclesiasticus * Chap. 38.25 How can he get wisdom that holdeth the plough and that glorieth in the goad that driveth Oxen and is occupied in their Labours and whose talk is of Bullocks For shame shew your selves men and convince us that you have Rational and Immortal Souls let me intreat you consider how great a dignity you are advanced to how great an honour you are vouchsafed by God in being invited by him to this feast you do here more nearly approach God you are feasted and entertain'd by him as his Children you are united in the closest Ties and Bonds with your dear Lord and
indeed to thee but comfortable and happy to us thou didst not only make an Oblation and Satisfaction for the sins of the whole World if they would believe and repent but also purchase for 'em an Eternal Kingdom I do therefore desire in this Holy Sacrament to make a publick Confession of my Faith in thee I am not asham'd of the Gospel of Christ for 't is the power of my God unto Salvation I am not asham'd of thee my Crucified Saviour for I know there is no other name given unto Man by which he may be sav'd but only the name of our Lord Jesus Christ I do therefore most earnestly desire to be made partaker of the benefits of thy Death and to have the assurance of my Redemption by thy Blood seal'd to me for I have O Lord a weight of sin that hangs upon my Soul from which unless thy Death deliver me it will sink me down into the lowest Hell therefore with impatience doth my Soul desire to approach this comfortable Sacrament where I may give thee the sincere assurances of my Faith Repentance and Love and may receive from the assurances and pledges of my Redemption wrought by thy Cross and Passion But Lord I know that they only can draw near with comfort to this Sacrament who with hearty Repentance and true Faith turn to thee I do therefore desire to place my self first as in the presence of God and under the awe of his all-seeing Eye to examine and try my Life and my Heart and to enter into the most sincere purposes of reforming what is amiss in me and help thou me O my God that I may do this as I ought to do give me that just sense of the weight and importance of this work that I may do it with care and vigour convince me so of the indispensible necessity of sincerity that I may neither hide nor disguise any sin in my Examination nor make any the least reserve for any in my Resolution of amendment And O my God if through the necessities of my Imployment or through the straitness of my time or through the ignorance or prejudice of my Education any thing shall escape me O impute it not to me but have compassion upon the Frailties of my Nature and the Infelicities of my State and upon whatever weaknesses unknown to me are grown upon me Secondly The Exercise of Repentance O Almighty God Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Maker of all things and Judge of all Men thou Holy All-seeing and Impartial Judge I present my self before thee in the Humility of my Soul in the grief and bitterness of my Heart to confess and bewail my sins and actually and sincerely to renounce ' em Here consider first the course of your past Life in general Thus how you have behav'd your selves towards your Parents when under their Government I mean not the particulars of your actions which 't is impossible to recollect but such generals as these Whether you have been notoriously disobedient whether you have notoriously neglected the means and opportunities of your Education or by any other way procur'd the grief affliction or shame of your Parents Then consider your course of Life since you came into Service as whether you have lived carelesly and coldly towards God in an habitual neglect or it may be contempt of Religion whether you have been a Faithful and good Servant or on the contrary whether you have liv'd in the custom and habit of Disobedience or Unfaithfulness to your Master And lastly as to your selves consider whether you have lived in a habit of Drunkenness Gluttony Uncleanness Pride and Wilfulness now if upon Examination you find your selves to have been guilty of any of these things in your past lives it will be necessary to confess and bewail your error altho' you have now long ago renounc'd it broken off your sin and liv'd a new Life and it will not be amiss to consider what aggravations are to be found in these your sins for example what convictions you have resisted and stifled what restraints you have broke through what inconveniences you have suffer'd by your sins what extraordinary Mercies and Deliverances you have had what extraordinary Chastisements God has inflicted upon you what Opportunities of Grace you have slighted these and such like considerations serve to render the Soul more Humble and Contrite and to quicken the sense of Gods Goodness and Loving-Kindness towards you When you have thus examin'd what the State of your Life past has been you are secondly to examine what the present State of your Soul is and here you are to consider First Whether you are now under the dominion and power of any sin and this your Conscience if it be not sear'd will soon inform you for it cannot but tell you that it has accus'd you for the Commission of this or that sin But lest you should deceive your selves you may examine your selves in the former manner upon those several Heads of your Duty treated of in this Book as you stand related to God to your Parents to your Master and Mistress to their Children to your fellow-Fellow-Servants to your Neighbours in general and to your selves Weighing your present behaviour and affection towards each in this as you did your past in the former part of this Examination If upon this view of your selves it appears to you that you live in any sin you must not only bewail it and resolve against it but you must also make Restitution if you have wrong'd your Master your Fellow-Servant or any other if you have wrong'd 'em in their goods you must restore it if you can if you cannot you must confess the wrong and beg their pardon If you have wrong'd 'em by Lying you must discover the truth and take the shame to your selves If you have griev'd disturb'd and troubled 'em by rudeness contumelious Language or any such way you must make 'em what amends you can by confessing your error promising Reformation and begging Forgiveness If you have been injurious to the Souls of any you must be as industrious to reclaim 'em when you have done all this I would not have you make too much hast to the Sacrament But first make some trial of the Truth and Sincerity of your Repentance but in giving this Rule I would be understood to speak either of sins of habitual Omission or else of those notorious transgressions of Gods Laws which the Scripture calls the works of the Flesh the wickedness in which the Gentile World lay the filthiness of Flesh and Spirit for as to defects and frailties tho' we must strive against 'em we shall never be free from 'em As to Lukewarmness Stupidity or Lifelesness in Religion if you mean by it a form of Godliness without the power that is that you profess to believe and live civilly but the Duties that you perform are done heedlesly and perfunctorily without any seriousness or any relish and the whole
presence but I do also loath and detest my sin O deliver me from it aid me by thy blessed Spirit that I may conquer and subdue all my corrupt affections O let that Spirit which was in Jesus be in me also that the life of Jesus may be seen in all my actions and the image of Jesus may be form'd in my Soul and my conversation may be in Heaven and here O Lord I offer up and devote to thee even my Soul and my body resolving to live a life of Devotion a life of Justice and Charity a life of Meekness and Humility a life of Industry and Watchfulness a life of Purity and Sobriety O Lord strengthen me O Lord establish me by the might of thy Spirit by the power of thy Word by the protection of thy Povidence that I may persevere and be faithful unto the end and so obtain a Crown of Righteousness through Jesus Chirst our Lord. 3dly The Exercise of Charity O my my God thou hast taught me by thy holy Word that thou art love that he only who dwelleth in love dwelleth in thee and accordingly I do find that thou art long-suffering and merciful that thou fillest even the Wicked and thine Enemies with thy goodness and O my blessed Savour and Redeemer I find that in this also thou art the express Image of thy Father and the brightness of his glory for thou camest from Heaven to Earth to die for thine Enemies to reconcile man to God first and then to reconcile and endear us all to one another and has taught us that we cannot be thy Disciples unless we love one another I do therefore most readily forgive all those that have wronged me either by word or deed I do from my heart readily pardon all those who have or do wish me evil or who endeavour or design me any I do earnestly desire to be the Child of my Heavenly Father and the Disciple of my dear Master in this point and therefore being jealous lest my reconciliation should not be sincere or perfect enough I do firmly purpose upon every opportunity to express my Charity towards mine Enemies my acts of Love and Kindness and lest after all I should not be zealous enough to promote that Love and Unity which is so dear and acceptable to my God and my Saviour lest I should not throughly coppy out the Divine pattern that is set me I will not only with unfeigned Humility and Affliction of Soul confess my offence make reparation and beg pardon for any wrong I have done others but I will wooe and importune those who have wrong'd me into a reconciliation For how well must this become me when God himself courts and beseeches the sinner and the Son of God Preach't and Prayed and Wept and Died for those who were irreconcileably set against him To be us'd by such as are conscious of Undutifulness towards their Governours and O my God I do now call to mind how unkindly how unchristianly I have behaved my self towards those who are my Governours in Church and State I have often made false slanderous and spightful reflections upon 'em and have aided and countenanced others in the like I cannot make to them a Personal Acknowledgment of my offences nor sue to 'em in particular for the pardon of 'em Here therefore before thee my God and my Judge whom I have hereby offended I do confess and bewail my sin and folly humbly imploring thy pardon and the assistance of thy Grace that I may henceforth walk in Christian Charity towards those who are my Governours thy Ministers for my good not only forbearing all Disloyalty Disobedience Malice and Uncharitableness my self but also discountenancing and opposing it in all others as far as in me lies O thou God of Love fill me with thy Divine Spirit fill me with Brotherly Affection and with a Fervent Zeal for the good of my Neighbour nor suffer me ever to be wanting according to my capacity to increase the happiness of the Prosperous and the Pious or to relieve the misery of the Afflicted and the Sinner But O my God whilst I pray for a Spirit of Love towards my Neighbour I must not forget to beg and beg earnestly that by the same Spirit thou wouldst shed abroad the Love of thee my God in my Heart O Let me ever remember the great things which thou hast done for me O Let me ever think upon the Patience and Long-suffering which thou hast exercised towards me above all let my Soul ever adore and love and bless thee that thou hast given thine own Son out of thy Bosom to die for me and for all Mankind that whoever believed on him might not perish but have Everlasting Life And O let me ever love and glorifie that Son of thy Bosom who hast loved me and given himself for me and washt me from my sins in his own Blood and O may I ever express this my Love by a frequent Commemoration of it by Devout Addresses to thee my God by a Devout Zeal for thy Glory and the propagation of the Kingdom of my Saviour Amen Amen Fourthly The Exercise of Hope After all these reflections which I have made upon my sinfulness and the Divine goodness upon my guilt and the atonement and satisfaction wrought by the Blood of Jesus I find that as the consideration of the one begets sorrow so doth the consideration of the other beget hope in me and I find the trouble of my Soul clear up into Christian Peace and Comfort My past sins indeed and my present unworthiness fill me with grief and shame and reproach of Conscience but there are other things that lift me up from the Earth that wipe away my Tears and remove the Garments of my mourning and fill my Soul with chearfulness and delightsome expectations such are these when I consider the Divine Nature I am assured that God delights not in the death of a Sinner but delights in exercising Loving-kindness Righteousness and Mercy upon Earth When I consider the death of Jesus I am well assured that it is a full perfect and sufficient Sacrifice Oblation and Satisfaction for my sins and the sins of the whole World when I lastly consider the tenour of the Gospel-Covenant as 't is publisht to the World by the Son of God and his Followers I find contain'd in it pardon of sins to all repenting and believing Sinners without Restriction without Limitation without Exception of any Person or Reservation of any case * Math. 11.28 Come unto me all that travail and are heavy laden and I will refresh you * John 3.16 So God loved the World that he gave his only Begotten Son to the end that all that believe in him should not perish but have Everlasting Life * 1 Tim. 1.15 This is a true saying and worthy of all Men to be received That Christ Jesus came into the World to save Sinners * 1 John 2.1 If any Man sin we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous and he is the propitiation for our sins And now I lift up my Heart O Lord unto thee I approach near thee and Sacrifice to thee in the joy of hope and thankfulness For tho' I do not presume to come to this thy Table trusting in my own Righteousness yet I do firmly trust in the multitude of thy Mercies I know I am not of my self worthy to gather up the Crumbs under thy Table yet I do with all know that the Son of God has died for Sinners and that thou art the same Lord whose property is ever to have Mercy I do not therefore doubt but I shall be a welcome and acceptable tho' in my self an unworthy Guest to this Table and being assisted by thy Grace shall so eat the Flesh of thy Son Jesus Christ and drink his Blood that my sinful Body shall be made clean by his Body and my Soul washed through his most precious Blood and I shall evermore dwell in him and he in me Amen Amen Aug. 5. 1685. Imprimatur Liber cui Titulus The Duty of Servants c. H. Maurice R mo D no. W mo Arch po Cant. a sacris â—INIS There is lately published by the same Author a Book intituled An Enqutry after Happiness c.
Shall not God who in his compassion hears the cry of an injur'd Servant in his Justice behold the wrongs and crimes of an evil one Shall that God who will not wink at the transgressions of the Rich and Mighty the Monarch and the Potentate pass over and connive at those of the Servant No no assure your selves you shall be as accountable to Almighty God for your negligence falshood for your disobedience unfaithfulness and discontent as the rich and great shall be for their Luxury or Covetousness for their Ambition or Oppression for their Mutinies Factions and Disloyalty For these your sins are but a Copy and Transcript of their's tho' in an humbler stile and less character according to the circumstances of your Fortune and Station and when God shall enter into Judgment with you for these things it will be well for you if he punish you only with Temporal Chastisements you will escape well if your Pride end only in contempt your Frowardness in a general hatred and aversion your Carelesness and Wastfulness in Want and Beggary and your Unfaithfulness in indelible Reproach God will I say be extreamly tender and compassionate in distributing Justice if this be the worst that befals you if you buy repentance at so cheap a rate as the suffering any or all of these evils and yet how dreadful these appear to you I appeal to your own thoughts for I believe a sluggish and evil Servant can hardly read this without Impatience and Murmuring against me because I do not prophesie to him smoother things but alas I have not half vented the Burden which the Lord has charg'd me with against wicked and unfaithful Servants for I must tell you Tophet is ordain'd of old as well for undutiful Servants as tyrannical Kings for as your sins are sins of accumulated aggravations your acts of injustice and uncharitableness when they are put into the ballance being pressed down not only by their own weight but that also of Ingratitude Lying breach of trust an impudent contempt of all restraints and a bold defiance of all the necessities of Virtue which God's providence imposed upon you Your sins I say being of such an accumulated guilt you cannot but in reason expect that your punishment shall be laid on in good measure pressed down heap't up and running over Ah poor Souls my bowels are mov'd my compassions are kindled towards you when I consider this your wretched Fate must you pass from a state of travail and meanness to a state of Eternal Pain and Eternal Reproach Must your servitude end in a Hell at last and can you be content it should do so But that I may not seem to delight to prophesie evil and not good concerning you let me beseech you that you would deliver the World and your selves from all these evils with which your miscarriages plague and threaten them and you Let me beseech you that you would rescue your selves from the contempt from the insolencies and severities with which not your Fortunes but your Vices now oppress you and that you would by sincere and Christian Virtues recommend your selves to the love and esteem of Mankind and make your selves an useful and considerable part of the World as good Servants indeed are O redeem at least your Souls from slavery let not your Unfaithfulness and Pride your Disobedience and Frowardness your Loosness and Carelesness exclude you from Heaven and bereave you of Crowns and Glory which the meanness of your Birth or Fortune never can No no God is not such a fond accepter of Persons as partially to condemn any of his poor Creatures to meanness here and misery hereafter Your Service is but an opportunity of Merit and of Glory it puts you into a capacity to do and suffer more with design that you should receive more too than other men in another World at least proportionably to those hardships you undergo and these Virtues which you practise in this And the blessed Jesus who took your Form and Character upon him did not disdain the lowness of your condition but shed as much Blood for you as for the Rich and Noble he purchas'd for you the same Peace of God the same Favour the same Kingdom all that is requir'd of you is that you should live in those Virtues that are suitable to your condition that you should do the Duty of your Station when you are assured you shall have your Reward from God which shall be nothing less than a never-fading Crown of Righteousness Besides the love and esteem of Man and a Provision of all things necessary made for you by the blessed Providence of God nor let it seem strange to you that your Service in so low a Station should entitle you to such great Rewards your Virtue is as necessary in the World as that of Men in a higher Station the motion of the Feet and motion of the Hands is as necessary to the Body as the direction and guidance of the Eye 'T is by you the order and beauty of the World in a great measure subsists for were there no Servants there could be no Masters 'T is by your Travail that not only the necessities of Mankind in general are supplied but also the Pleasure and Grandeur of States supported for neither would the Earth bring forth it 's increase nor would our Tables be cover'd with the Fish of the Sea the Beasts of the Earth or the Fowl of the Air without your Ministry and Attendance nay farther 't is by you that we enjoy the Studies of the Learned and the Prudence of the States-man for the necessities of Life would so wholly take Men up that they would have little time for these Nobler Works were not those lower Cares devolved on you If we come to more particular effects the Prosperity the Virtue the Peace the Unity of Families depends not a little upon you Thus you see you are not the least useful Members of the Community and therefore 't is not to be wondred at if the Rewards design'd you should be proportioned to the Service requir'd of you Acquit your selves then like Men like Christians you serve God while you serve Man Faithfully and of him you shall receive your Reward A Prayer O Lord my God thou hast made and dost dispose of all things in a wise and excellent order thou hast placed me in this Rank of Mankind thou hast appointed me this my Station O grant that I may discharge the Duties of it Zealously and Faithfully enable me to imploy and improve the Talents thou hast intrusted to me and make me useful and serviceable in my Place Lord let not my Soul lie under the guilt of the discontent or ruin of any Family or Person but make me an instrument of Peace and Prosperity where I am I know O Lord that Humility and Industry are Virtues that are not so pleasing to a Carnal Mind but Lord make me sensible how great the recompence of my self-denyal