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
and fear a state of darkness and affliction a state of wrath and death death eternal death and shall I be so fond of this state as to continue in it after thy Son has shed his blood to redeem me from it Shall I despise this Redemption and not hasten to be partaker of his Blood and all the benefits of his death and passion O my God and my Father it was an act of the most tender mercy in thee to offer up thy Son to death for me Ah what Ingratitude must I be guilty of towards thee what cruelty towards my self if I neglect this great salvation if I renounce or at least forget my Saviour and exclude my self from any Interest in his death O blessed Jesus didst thou by thy one painful oblation of thy self upon the Cross make a full perfect sufficient Sacrifice Oblation and Satisfaction for the sins of the whole World and can there be any thing more dear to me than the memory of this thy love more worthy of my remembrance than the redemption of the whole Word Redemption ah blessed word What happiness what Heaven doth it import to be redeem'd by Christ is to be translated out of darkness into a marvelous light out of the Regions and shadows of death into the glory of the Sons of God out of a state of bondage into the most perfect liberty out of a state of wrath into a state of Love and Mercy out of a state of Dread and Terrour into a state of Peace and Joy and Hope or at least into a capacity of all this and doth not all this deserve that I should ever commemorate this thy Redemption of me and of the World with devout joys with humble transports and the most grateful passion Didst thou need O my Blessed Saviour to institute and in thy Holy Gospel command me to continue a perpetual memory of that thy precious death until thy coming again lest I should forget it Ah wretched nature Ah wretched state Can there be any temptations that can betray me into so vile a baseness Can the love of the World a false deceitful World make me forget thee thy Agonies thy Wounds thy Death thy Love Ah my dear Saviour can it be so hard a matter to keep my remembrance and love of thee awake alive that thou shouldst need to command me thus to commemorate thy death in the lively symbols and representations of it and to enforce thy command by putting me in mind of thy coming again Methinks without all this my love for thee should have been so bright and flaming that I should have despised all things as dung and dross in comparison of thee and have desired to have known nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified methinks I should have lived in the devout contemplation of thy great excellent actions and thy great sufferings till I had been weary of this World and of this body of this poor Beggarly and Imperfect state and have long'd for my Dissolution and Entrance into thy presence this thy love deserv'd from me even though I had been encompassed with the pleasures and crown'd with the honours of this World how inexcusable then must I be who am one of the meanest of the people who have no allurements no temptations in my Fortune if I forget thee and forsake thee Ah! how shall I stand before thee when thou comest again How shall I behold thee in the glory of thy Father and on this tribunal if I should now forget thy sufferings for me forget thy love of me and neglect thy last thy dying commands the highest token of thy passion for me shewing how solicitous thou wast lest I should lose the benefit of thy blood when thou hadst shed it ah with what not shame and blushes but horrour and amazement would my guilty Soul be covered at thy appearance but this shall never be my Crime this shall never be my state never shall my Soul be guilty of such ingratitude to the Tender Mercys of my God or the tender love of my Saviour No my sorrows overflow me my heart is wounded within me that I have forgot thee so long already that I have remembred thee so seldom that I have turn'd my back so often upon that Holy Sacrament wherein thy passion ought to have been commemorated by me O pardon pardon blessed Lord thy unkind thy unfaithful Disciple I come to thee I come to confess thee I come to worship thee in the troubles and desires of a broken Spirit a contrite passion a restor'd Faith and a Revived affection O receive me cover'd with my tears and with my shame but ravish't with thy love too henceforth O my Saviour I will live with thee nothing shall divide thee from me not Business nor Interest not Relations nor Friends not the sluggishness of the body nor distractions of the World not life nor death it self I will live with thee in devout Prayers and Holy Meditations and with an impatient passion I will hast to meet thee in the Holy Sacrament which thou hast appointed as the representation of thy death the pledge of thy love in the symbols oif thy extraordinary presence And O blessed God who of thy tender mercy didst give thy Son to suffer death upon the Cross for my Redemption out of the same tender mercy assist me with thy grace that I may commemorate that his death with that Faith and humble gratitude that I may be made partaker of the Redemption wrought by it help me so to approach these Holy mysteries so to receive these Elements of Bread and Wine that I may be made partaker of the most precious body and blood of my Saviour that so being wash't from my sins by his blood united and incorporated with him by Faith and Love I may be strengthen'd and supported govern'd and protected by him while I am in the body and may meet him at his coming again with unspeakable rejoycing and be acknowledg'd by him as his Faithful Disciple and Follower Amen Amen for the sake of the same my crucifi'd Redeemer and Saviour Christ Jesus A Devout Exercise of Faith Repentance Love and Hope by way of Preparation for the Sacrament FIrst The Exercise of Faith The former Exhortation of our Church to the Receiving of the Sacrament lays down the design of Communion in these few but full words The most comfortable Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ is to be receiv'd in remembrance of his meritorious Cross and Passion whereby alone we obtain remission of our sins and are made partakers of the Kingdom of Heaven On which you may thus comment Lord I believe help thou mine unbelief I believe that thou the Son of God didst take upon thee the form of a Servant and wast made in the likeness of Men and being found in fashion as a Man didst humble thy self and becamest obedient unto death even the death of the Cross I believe that by that thy painful Death painful
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.
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
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-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