get Footing with you which hath been one great Cause of the Poverty of our Nation at Home and our Reproach among the Rich and Trading Nations Abroad That it is below a Gentleman to follow Trade and Imployment Let not only all Falshood in Words and Actions be severely punished as what is inconsistent with Humane Society and Enervats and Destroys Trade Faith and uprightness in Dealing being the Life and Soul of Commerce Prov. 10.9 and the best Foundation of Success for he that walketh uprightly walketh surely But likewise Discourage and Disgrace Self-seeking and Narrowness to the prejudice of the Publick Let not every one seek his own Things to the Detriment of his Neighbour but every one the Good of others and common Benefit for in the Interest of the Publick and Prosperity of the Common-wealth that of each particular Person consists and is best secured Especially this is to be look'd to in the beginning of a Settlement and Infancy of a Government where Publick Spiritedness and Self-denial as they are Gospel-precepts so will be found best Principles of Policy whereas Self-seeking hath ever been the Bane and Ruine of many promising Undertakings We cannot forget to Recommend to you Brotherly-Love and Concord and that you Live in Peace and Unity among your Selves a Thing no less Profitable to you than Pleasant to the God of Peace and suitable to the Christian Name This is our Lord 's New Commandment left by Him in Legacy to all his Followers Joh. 13.34 35. that they Love one another By this ev'n the Heathen-Nations shall know that you are the Disciples of the Prince of Peace We need not tell you what is the Common-remark on these of our Nation that however Hasty Impatient and Warm they may be in their Debates while at Home yet they are Noted as Exemplary to others in an affectionat Concern in Sympathy with and close Adherence to one another when Abroad We heartily Wish this may be Verified of you now when you are far removed from your Native Land and plac'd amidst envious Neighbours who are waiting for your Halting and would make it their Work to Improve to your Hurt any Difference that might arise among you Let righteous Judgement be Executed betwixt Man and Man for the Judgement is the Lords Let it be done Impartially without vexatious Quibbles or dilatory Forms and Dispensed either Gratis or upon a publick Salary so as no Magistrat may Gain by Fynes of his own Imposing a Practice most hurtful in your Native Land whereby the Covetous are Tempted to Squeeze and Oppress and those of a more honest and free Disposition to become over Slack left they should appear gripping for their own Interest And in general whatever Scripture or solid Reason hath Discovered to you to be Wrong or of ill Consequence in the Customs you have seen at Home or else where and in the Errors of other Plantations let these Things be carefully Avoided in your New Government The Eyes of God of Angels and of Men are upon you The World begins to take Notice of you as a most hopeful Colony to the Envy of your Enemies and the Joy of your own Country and Friends Remember as you are a People of great Expectation and of great Advantages So your Honour and Renown your Temporal as well as your Spiritual and Eternal Gain shall be Great if you improve your Talent and Manage the Price put in your Hands Wisely and Well but if otherwise your Reckoning must be Sore and Heavy and your End Inglorious We again Repeat our most earnest Intreaties unto you our Dear and Honoured Friends that you be very Exact Vigilant and Conscientious in Modeling your New Colony to all Vertue and Godliness Especially in the first Beginning which is of vast Importance in all great Undertakings And a due Care of which will render all after Proceedings Easse Pleasant and Succesful That you bend your outmost Endeavours both by Example and Law to make Righteousness Sobriety and Godliness appear in the Eyes of others as they are in themselves Amiable and Honourable And all Vice and Impiety Detestable and Infamous So as a vitious Person may look like a Monster and Object of Horrour amongst you Thus Religion and Vertue will Incorporat into your very Customs and Constitutions and your Laws and Persons will be Venerable without the grievous Necessity of being Severe and God will Bless you and Delight to Dwell among you Isa 62.4 Ezek. 43. and your Land shall be called Hephzi-bah and the Name of your Place Jehovah-shammah the Lord is there But if any will do Wickedly if Men will be Foolish and Froward your Duty to God and Mercy to the Community calls for Speedy and Exemplary Justice that you may put the Evil away from among you and that Others may Hear and Fear As we Recommend unto you a Just and Christian Regard to all Gospel-Ordinances So in Particular a Religious Observance and Sanctification of the Lord's Day the Neglect of which will ly heavy on Governours the Command being peculiarly giv'n to them as Persons that must Answer for their Children and Servants and for the Stranger that is within their Gates as well as for Themselves If the Sabbath of the Lord be Prophan'd Lev. 26.43 He will cause your Land to Enjoy its Sabbaths by Desolation But if you Sanctifie the Holy Day of Rest unto the Lord he will Procure and Maintain Rest for you in your Land And as we are hopeful of your Just and Faithful Dealings with all Men whom you may have Occasion to Negotiat and Trade with So we Recommend not only Equity and Justice but obliging Kindness towards the Natives That your People may not only have their Conversation Honest among the Gentiles but winning and engaging by Beneficence That they Beholding and Enjoying the Benefit of your Good-Works may Glorifie God in the Day of your Visitation If you Partake of their Temporal Things are you not bound to Minister unto Them of your Spiritual Things Verily their Debtors you are And not only is it the Interest of your Trade and your Safety to keep good Measures with them but 't is your positive Duty for which the Lord seems in a peculiar Manner to have Designed your Plantation as its most glorious End To Propagat the Light of his Gospel amongst them and that Heavenly Wisdom which is more Precious than all Riches and whose Merchandise is better than the Gold of Ophir or Darien 'T is by their Consent that God Confirms your Right therefore Cherish them as your Brethren of the same Blood and Kindred in Adam And Endeavour that you may have them also your Brethren in Christ not only let no Stumbling-block or Occasion of Offence be laid before them but all due Encouragement giv'n them to Embrace the Everlasting Gospel Let them see what Veneration and Regard you Pay to your Ministers as the Servants of the most High God who must Labour amongst them and to
the Ordinances of Jesus Christ as the Common Means of your and their Salvation It will be needful you Study their Genius Well For some of these Nations are Naturally more Sincere and Simple Others more Subtile and Treacherous But Generally all of them Especially in the Beginning Suspicious and Jealous Credulous and Apt to take Ill Impressions and not Easie to Quit them Also most Revengful and Cruel where they can be Masters upon the Apprehension of the least Injury done them to which they have got too many Irritations by other Europeans who have come among them Therefore there 's need you be in the midst of them Wise as Serpents and Harmless as Doves You are always to be very Watchful and upon your Guard that you may prevent Surprizals and be able to Defend your Selves if they should take up any Prejudice and Irritation Groundlesly against you Be very Concerned to See that none of Yours Injure or Disoblige Them in the least without Due and Speedy Punishment and that more severely Inflicted than for these Injuries done by any of you against another of your Selves And beside the Punishment you may find Just and Necessar to Inflict be sure any Dammage they Sustain be Repay'd tho' it should be done by the Publick when the Offending-Party is not able By any Means by continual Converse endeavour to Civilize them and cultivat any Principles of Natural Understanding and Reason they have which will indeed require great Prudence and Dexterity in the Management And when they see Piety Sincerity and Equity Flourishing among You it will be the most Effectual and endearing Tye to Knit them to your Interest Be careful in doing Justice betwixt Masters and Servants Let their Service be a reasonable Service and Time allow'd them for their Publick and Privat Worshipping of God for they are your Brethren And when their Time Expires let them meet with such Encouragement as may always Engage them to continue and Settle among you whereby from time to time you will be Strength'ned and Increased and Others Encouraged to come unto You. If You shall have Servants for Life or Slaves of other Nations for the Natives of Darien we consider as your Confederats and Allies as we Wish you to be Tender both of their Souls and Bodies and to Encourage their Conversion to Christianity by all proper Means So we do not Urge that their absolute Liberty and Freedom from their Service should as in some other Places be made the immediat Reward of their Professing to Receive the Gospel For this hath tempted Masters to withhold them from the Means of their Conversion lest they should be Indammaged by the Lose of their Service and hath occasion'd the Slaves to make Counterfeit Professions to gain their Liberty But we Recommend a Gentle-Rule a Mild Treatment and that full Access and Time be Allow'd for their Christian Instruction and let such Rules be agreed on as that these at least of them who shal not only Profess the Christian-Religion but have such a Gospel-Adorning Conversation as may Recommend them to the Consciences of the Godly as Christians indeed may have their full Freedom by such Means and upon such Terms as may be Safe and Advantagious both to their Masters and Them Immortal Souls are of great Value and the Blessings of These who are ready to Perish are not to be Despised We shall in the next Place particularly Address our Selves to You that are in Military-Charge and have Command over the Souldiery whether by Land or Sea It 's on you Honoured and Worthy Gentlemen that a great Share of the Burden of the Publick Safety lyes you are in some Respect both the Eyes and Hands of this Infant Colony Many of you have been lately Engaged in a Just and Glorious War for Retriving and Defending the Protestant-Religion the Liberties and Rights of your Country under the Conduct of a Matchless Prince And now when thro' the Blessing of the Lord of Hosts His and Your Arms have procured an Honourable Peace at Home You and others with you have with much Bravery embark'd your Selves in a Great Generous and Just Undertaking in the Remote Parts of the Earth for Advancing the Honour and Interest of your Native-Country If in this you acquit your Selves like Men and Christians Your Fame will be Renown'd both Abroad and at Home We cannot Foresee what Opposition you may meet with from the Malice of Men who Envy the Prosperity of Others and seek to Enhance to Themselves that Part of the World whether you are Going which may justly Oblige you anew to the Trial of your Arms And in that Case you are Called to Use your Valour and Courage but not to Lean unto it nor Trust in the Arm of Flesh Seek to have the Lord Going before you Isa 52.12 and the God of Israel to be your Reerward And Remember what is giv'n in Charge to the Armies of Israel when the Host goeth forth against thine Enemies Deut. 23.9 14. then keep Thee from every wicked Thing lest the Lord seeing Wickedness and Prophanity in your Camp be provok'd to Turn away from you How Reproachful would it Prove to the Profession of Christianity if by the lewd Practice of any among you the Pagan-Nations should have Ground to Apprehend that you Entertain that Hellish and false Maxime of the Atheistical Debauchees of this Age which ev'n the Refined Heathen Abhor That 't is a Point of Gallantry and a necessary Qualification in a Souldier to cast off all Thoughts of God of his own Soul of Heaven and Hell As if These who are continually Conversant in the Jaws of Death were less Concerned than Others to Mind their Future State or that Wicked and Profligat Men could Adventure to Encounter with Death which to Them is a King of Terrors with that Boldness and fixed Resolution in Lawful and Allowable War that is to be found with the Upright Man who can encourage Himself with the Thoughts of This That his Latter-end will be Peace Do not Pagan as well as Christian Histories furnish sufficient Instances of the Noblest Hero's and bravest Commanders who were Themselves Patterns of Vertue and a Terror to the Vitious and Prophane And sure the most Eminent of Saints Recorded in the Holy Scriptures have been most Couragious Warriours and the Best of Souldiers Let Us therefore earnestly Intreat and Obtest You who are Commanders and Officers to go before your Souldiers in all Manner of Holy Conversation The Characters you bear by the Stations you are plac'd in the Respect you owe to the Honour Credit and Welfare of your Native Country and that New Part of it the Colony you are now Going to your own Temporal as well as Spiritual Interest and the Happiness of These under your Charge do all call aloud on you to Use your outmost Endeavours for Curbing by Exemplary Punishment and Marks of Disgrace in any of your Souldiers who may be Guilty of them the Horrid Wickedness of
prophane Swearing Uncleanness Drunkenness Prophaning the Lord's Day Neglect of Gospel-Ordinances Falshood Treachery Oppression and Idleness the Mother of All Wickedness and other Enormities the Suppressing of all Which we have already Recommended to the Honourable-Council of the Colony nor shall we need to Enforce this on you so far as your Stations call for it with any other Arguments than what We have Offered to Them Which we Intreat you Seriously to Mind And for the Encouragement of all under your Command to Carry as becometh Christian-Souldiers in the Way of Well-doing Let their due Allowance be Punctually giv'n Them Preferment and Reward Impartially and Readily Bestow'd on the best Deserving of Them That Wickedness being Disgrac'd and Banished Piety Encouraged and Flourishing in your Camp you may have Confidence toward God that the Lord will be your Protection and will Delight to go Forth in the Midst of You. Tho' much of what We have Written be Address'd Principally to the Governours and Magistrats of the Plantation and Others bearing Office among you Yet it doth likeways Concern every one of You Our Beloved Friends and Dear Country-men for whom the Desire of our Souls and Prayer to God is that you may be Saved that God may Countenance and Bless your Undertakings and Crown Them with Success that His Almighty Power may be a Wall of Fire about You But above all that his Gracious Presence in his Ordinances may be the Glory in the midst of you and that your Souls may Prosper untill you be Transplanted into the better Mansions above that Kingdom which is beyond the Injuries of envious Enemies a Kingdom that cannot be Shaken and whence you shall go forth no more We have found it Necessary from a sense of our Duty before God and our tender Regard both to your Souls and your outward Wellfare to lay before your Governours the indispensible Obligations of their Station as Christian-Magistrats to Set up and Maintain a Holy Righteous-Government over you and to Suppress and Punish all Vice with the Greatest and most Impartial Severity As this is absolutly Requisit to the very Civil Subsistance of your Colony so we hope it will not be grievous to any of you and that there is not one Soul so Degenerous and Dissolute in your Society as but to Wish for a Connivance to any Immoral or Prophane Practice And if there be such a Person is a Burden and Plague to the Rest that deserves to be cut off lest the Body be Infected and the heavy Judgements of God be pull'd down on the Community We are therefore Confident that you will Obey not only for Fear but for Conscience Sake and for your own Interest That you will Pay all Submission and dutiful Deference to your Rulers That you will with Patience and Contentment bear the Toils and Fatigues of your first Settlement not Murmuring for what Uneasiness may as yet be in your Circumstances but Waiting upon the Land in an Humble and diligent Application to your present Work till He in his infinit Mercy give you a confirmed Rest in the Land For tho' you do not find such Fruits attending your present Labours as may Answer all the Expectations you had Yet Patience Diligence and Industry will overcome your first Difficulties And thro' the Blessing of God you shall find the Promise made out unto you That the Hand of the Diligent maketh Rich. And we Obâ—est you by the Mercies of God in Jesus Christ our Saviour that in your several Stations you Walk Worthy of the Lord unto all Well-pleasing That you give no Offence to the Gentiles but be exceeding Wary and Tender of whatever may Scar them from Christianity or doing any thing Unbecoming the Church and Members of Christ That you be Blameless and Harmless the Sons of God without Rebuke shining as Lights in the World That you be Diligent and Faithful Sober and Loving among your Selves and Obsequious to them that are Over you whether in Matters Religious or Civil And that you be every one Exemplary Encouraging and Edifying to one another in Godliness and in whatever tends to Common-good Finally Brethren whatsoever things are True whatsoever things are Honest whatsoever things are Just whatsoever things are Pure whatsoever things are Lovely whatsoever things are of â—ood Report if there be any Vertue and if there be any Praise think on these Things And Particularly we Recommend unto you Frequency and Fervency in Prayer both a-part and in Christian-Societies or Fellowships together 'T is God most High who Performeth all Things for You on Whom you must Depend for all your Mercies and all your Hopes And therefore from the uttermost Ends of the Earth lift up your Cry unto Him who is the Hearer of Prayer and you shall not seek his Face in Vain That we be not further Tedious to you hoping our Dear Brethren the Ministers we have sent to Labour among you in the Work of the Lord shall be Furnished by Their Great Master so as to afford you from his Holy Word such Instructions and Directions from time to time as your Case shal require to whom we intreat you to Hearken that you may be mutually encouraging to one another in the Lord your God We only Repeat these Memorable Words which we Wish may be indelibly Engraven on your Hearts The Lord is with you 2 Chron. 15.2 while you are with him and if you seek him he will be found of you but if you forsake him he will forsake you And all your forward Expectations and blooming Hopes shall be Blasted and Wither and your Colony laid Desolate your Names instead of Honour and Renown shal be Branded with Infamy Hissing and Scorn and your Blessings turn'd unto Curses and the Lord shall Pluck you up Deut. 29.21 and not Plant you and shall separate you unto Evil after he had said he would do you Good But Beloved Brethren we are perswaded better things of you and things that accompany Salvation tho' for your Warning we thus Write and that the Lord will preserve you stedfast in Holiness and Faith and will Plant you in that Place destinated for you and make you a Name of Joy and Renown among the Nations Now to Conclude we Recommend these few Words of Exhortation proceeding from a most Tender and affectionat Concern for your Good to your most serious Consideration and to the Blessing of God To him we Commend all of you and to the Word of his Grace which is able to Build you up and to give you an Inh ritance among them that are Sanctified thro' Faith that is in Christ To whom be Glory For Ever and Ever Amen FINIS