A SERMON Preach'd before the Honourable Company of MERCHANTS Trading to the Levant-Seas At St. HELLEN'S January 16. being Sunday 1697 8. By EDM. CHISHULL M. A. Fellow of Corpus-Christi College in Oxon And Chaplain to the Factory at Smyrna LONDON Printed for S. Manship at the Ship near the Royal Exchange in Cornhil 1698. To the Right Worshipful Sir William Trumbull Knt. GOVERNOUR And to the Honourable Company of MERCHANTS Trading to the Levant-Seas Right Worshipful c. THIS Discourse which was at first hastily Compos'd whilst I was a Candidate for your Favours is now with great reluctancy drawn into publick view I am uneasie to think how slender and imperfect a Piece is now put into the hands of Those Men who were always justly esteemed as a most Accomplish'd and Excelling Part of the English Nation But this being the first Command with which You were pleased to honour me I was willing to give You any even this imprudent Earnest of my future Observance If Your Choice of this occasional and peculiar Subject cannot exempt my Performance from the Censures of other Men it will be my only Refuge to appeal to Your Protection That I am now happily Entitled to it I can ascribe to nothing but the known Candor and Generosity of the several Eminent Members that compose Your whole Society Who as They at first surpriz'd me by Their unmerited unexpected Kindness so They now render me sollicitous by what degrees of Sobriety Honesty and Industry I may deserve Their Favours Give me leave Gentlemen to assure You That I go Abroad with Courage and Resolution to answer as far as I am able All those weighty Ends to which Your Free Choice and Gods Providence have determin'd my Endeavours I quickly hope to serve You in that Antient Seat of Christianity which will It self constantly excite me to a Conscientious Performance of my Duty And another fresh Encouragement I shall receive from those great Examples by which You have there Honour'd and Adorn'd Your Native-Country I am Right Worshipful c. Your most Faithful and most Obedient Servant Edm. Chishull A SERMON Preached before the Levant-Company PSALM cvij. 23 24. They that go down to the Sea in Ships that do Business in great Waters These see the Works of the Lord and his Wonders in the Deep IT is the great Design of this Psalm to remind the several Orders and Degrees of Men of their Obligations to Almighty God and to recollect to them all that variety of Gifts of Encouragements and of Mercies that they have receiv'd from Providence A Consideration this very highly necessary in our corrupted Age in which the Affairs of this World are apt to terminate even our highest Thoughts and teach us to forget God with whom we have to do Whereas there is nothing more certain than that the best of us here below are nothing but so many Agents or rather Instruments of Providence directed and ordained by the high hand of God to act by his Commission to make use of his Assistances and to fulfil his Purposes in our appointed stations In the mean time the only true End we can propose to our selves is to attain as near as we are able to the Good of our own Souls and the Glory of our Maker And as the meanest Peasant upon Earth ought not to do less than this so the greatest Monarch can do no more However the different Posts and Stations in which we are all to endeavour after this Common End have given different names and degrees to Vertue and according as our Talents are more or less so more or less Improvement is expected of us For some there are who can exercise little other Vertue in this Life except that of Patience and Submission to the Yoke of Providence and who are for the most part constrain'd to bring Glory to God by their Sufferings only Others again there are who are indeed called to an active state of Life but that of so inferiour a Rank and so confin'd a Compass that the benefit of their Duty can hardly be deriv'd to any besides themselves At the same time there is a Nobler part of Mankind set up as Lights in the World and ordained to be the Blessings of their Age and Country Men adorned with Wisdom Ability and Renown dispensing the Gifts of Heaven to all that are round about them But however these may be again diversified in the several degrees and qualities and circumstances of Life there are none either more happy in themselves or beneficial to their fellow-creatures than those whom God is pleased to imploy on more than one Scene of the Creation those whom he leads as it were by the Hand over the Paths of the Watry Deep and whom he takes as Witnesses of his Power his Justice his Mercy and of his Immense Goodness even to the unconverted World For whilst others are confin'd at home to a more narrow sort of Observation and have no other Notices of an Universal Providence but such as are receiv'd by Report only in the mean time They that go down to the Sea in Ships that do Business in great Waters These see the Works of the Lord and his Wonders in the Deep In Discoursing on which words the Scope of the whole Psalm the Import of the Text it self and that which is the Natural Inference from both direct me to do these Three Things I. To prove that the Glory of God ought to be the principal Aim of all our Undertakings II. To show that the Glory of God may more especially be promoted by Travel and Foreign Commerce III. To consider what Duties are more immediately incumbent upon those whom Providence has call'd to this important Service First Therefore I am to prove that the Glory of God ought to be the principal Aim of all our Undertakings When I say of all our Undertakings I thereby directly exclude all that is indeliberate all that is idle and trivial much more all that is vitious in the Conduct of our Life For these are so many Scandals of our Nature and blemishes to our Moral Prudence that either indeed they do not or at least we could wish they did not make up any part of our real Character But in every momentous and important Scene of our Human Life in this or that considerable Enterprize in this or that hinge of our main End and indeed every thing which we think productive of our true and chiefest Good in this we ought directly and formally to intend the Almighty's Glory and that not only according to the Command of St. Paul 1 Cor. 10. 31. Whatsoever ye do do all to the Glory of God but likewise according to the Example of our Blessed Saviour who sought not his own Glory John 8. 50. but in all his Desires his Precepts his Endeavours studied the sole Glory of him who sent him And though there is no Name under Heaven which in respect of Gods Glory can bear any degree of
comparison with our Lord and Saviour yet because we all are parts of the Rational World endow'd with capacious Faculties and prescrib'd a large variety of Duties therefore as far as we are capable of arriving at any Perfection in these so far are we capable of promoting our Makers Glory i. e. of answering those remote Ends for which God created the World in general as well those immediate ones for which he created us in particular In the mean time that it ought to be our concern so to do or at least so to intend will appear from the Three following Reasons And 1. The Glory of God ought to be the principal Aim of all our Undertakings because this is a certain Method to be constantly secure of Success For those Men alone can be frustrated in their Undertaking who terminate their hopes in Temporal Riches or in Worldly Honour whereas he who first enters upon any laudable Profession and then dedicates his Services therein to the Glory of Almighty God that Person has done all which in this uncertain Life he was capable of doing Whether or no he shall execute his Designs lyes hid in the Counsel and good Pleasure of him that made him but that he intended well was the free and deliberate Choice of his own Will After which though he be oppress'd by Envy though he be frown'd upon by Fortune nay though he be intercepted by Mortality it self yet he has taken an effectual Method to ensure the Success of his Designs He has approv'd his Resolutions in the Sight of an All seeing God he shall at length be admitted into his Master's joy and accepted under the Character of a good and faithful Servant But 2. The Glory of God ought to be the principal Aim of all our Undertakings because the happyest Success we can promise to our selves is not due to us but to God alone We are all the Servants and Vassals of our Heavenly Lord and Master Commission'd in our Earthly Pilgrimage to trade with that Talent which he has entrusted to us and therefore it is but Reasonable that the Gain and the Credit of our Service should finally accrue to the great Proprietor We our selves are the Workmanship of his Hands our Being he renews to us every moment of our Life he is pleased to concur with us in every Action that we undertake we live freely upon his Earth and are dayly fed by the Bounty of his Hands we act by those Faculties which he has lent to us and we make use of such Materials as are supplyed by his Providence and if after all this we can attribute any Honour to our selves or can take Pleasure in our Productions as if they were the Works of our own Hands what do we else do but idolize the Creature and adore Dust and Ashes for those Perfections which we borrow'd from above An eminent Presumption this to rob God of that Glory of which he is known to be so Jealous and of which he has peremptorily declar'd Isa 42. 8. That he will not give it to another But 3. The Glory of God ought to be the principal Aim of all our Undertakings because the Glory of God is no other than our own Happiness For though the Glory of God and the Happiness of Mankind are often represented to us under distinct Characters yet if duly apprehended they cannot but appear to be one and the same thing Whatsoever is the ultimate End of our best and honestest Endeavours that at the same time is sufficient to make Man happy and to glorifie his Maker As it is the end of our Labours and is agreeable to our Human Nature so it is the Creatures Good but as it is the Reward of our Vertue and is agreeable to the Divine Will so it is the Creator's Glory And upon this account it is that God who created Man on purpose to make him happy says likewise by Isaiah that he created him for his own Glory But if this indeed be the Case we need not then be directed to aim at the Glory of God in all our Undertakings for as we are Men and Masters of right Reason we shall be sure so to do It remains only that as we are Christians we propose it to our selves under that Notion and that we terminate our Hopes in this or that ultimate Reward not for our own sake but for the sake of our Creator This if we could once practice it would prove an excellent Rule for the Conduct of our whole Life This would be such a blessed subordination of our Human Nature to the Heroick Spirit of Christianity that we according to the Dictates of right Reason should in all things be made happy and God according to the Dictates of Religion in all things should be glorified 1 Pet. 4. 11. But having thus far insisted upon the First General Head and prov'd that the Glory of God ought to be the principal Aim of all our Undertakings I proceed now Secondly To show that the Glory of God may more especially be promoted by Travel and Foreign Commerce It having been already asserted that the Glory of God is not really to be distinguish'd from the Good of the Creature it will here follow that those may be chiefly Instrumental in promoting the Glory of their Maker who either by Nature by Fortune or Education are fitted to be beneficial to their Fellow-Creatures For the further illustration of which We are to know that God is a bountiful and indulgent Parent to the Universe He no sooner had created the World by his Power but he plentifully endow'd it by his Goodness He has provided not only for the Necessities but also for the Pleasures and Perfections of Life He has furnish'd us with an inexhaustible variety of Materials for the Goods of the Mind the Goods of the Body and the Goods of Fortune for Riches for Pleasure for Vertue for Religion and the like In the mean time there needs only some large and exalted Spirits to be the Dispensers of the Almighties Bounty Men who are worthy to display to propagate and to communicate the Gifts of Heaven Men who by long Habits of Industry and Resolution have made it their familiar Province to improve themselves and enrich the Publick But that these happy Opportunities of being serviceable to the Glory of God are in a great measure peculiar to the Imployment of Travelling and Traffiquing with Foreign Nations is what I shall endeavour to prove from no other than those Three Particulars which are plainly hinted in my Text namely 1. Because it advances our Native Country 2. Because it acquaints us with the Works of the Creation 3. Because it acquaints us with the Dispensations of Providence Therefore 1. Travel and Foreign Commerce may be serviceable to the Glory of God as they are a Means of advancing our Native Country When at first Providence distributed its Goodness to the several Inhabitants of the Earth to these it gave Fruits to those Metals
and to others Precious Stones but on its Favourite and beloved People It bestow'd a Spirit and a Genius to use these Treasures of the Creation Treasures not sprung up amongst them lest they should administer to their Ignorance and Idleness but rather shown them at a distance the better to incourage and to provoke their Industry These Men therefore receive Vigour and Activity from their own but Food and Raiment from other Climates At Home they make Laws and erect a Polity but Abroad they ransack both the East and the West for Riches Valuable Blessings these if we imploy'd them to the Credit of Religion and in the Service of him who first planted this Wealth in other Countries and then show'd us the way to bring it hither But whatever be the Ends to which they are at Home converted 't is the Traveller and the Merchant to whom we are beholden for those good things of the Earth which others make the matter either of their Vice or Vertue These are they who bring us in the Fruits the Treasures and when they too are laudable even the Customs of our Neighbours These are they who have rais'd not only whole Trading Nations but even lesser Marts and Cities of Traffick to be the Wonder of the World Insomuch that either in Sacred or Profane History no Place of old was ever mention'd with a Veneration equal to that of Tyre Tyre says the Prophet Isaiah the crowning City whose Merchants are Princes whose Traffickers the Honourable of the Earth 2. Travel and Foreign Commerce are serviceable to the Glory of God as far as they are the Means of acquainting us with the Works of the Creation When the Sea was as yet lock'd up from the Use and Observation of Mankind they were then strangely unacquainted with the parts of the Creation and the narrowness of that Sphere wherein they convers'd detain'd them from any large and exalted Speculations But when the Experience of Navigation had open'd another Scene and the new World of Waters was added to that other of the Earth then the boundless Curiosity of Man was overcome with a variety of Wonders With Terrour and Amazement he travell'd over the trackless Ocean and the immeasurable extended Main led him by degrees to conceive the Infinity of Him whose way is in the Sea and his path in the great Water To say nothing of those other surprizing Objects that adorn the prospect of the Deep those raging Waves those impending Rocks that herd of monstrous Animals Add to this those various Constellations that different appearance of the Planets that new vicissitude of Days and Seasons together with the innumerable unknown Productions of distant Countries All which when we reflect upon we shall think that the Psalmist had reason to cry thus Pathetically towards the Throne of Grace Lord how manifold are thy Works in Wisdom hast thou made them all the Earth is full of thy Riches So is this great and wide Sea wherein are things creeping innumerable both small and great Beasts There go the Ships there is that Leviathan whom thou hast made to play therein Psal 104. 24 25 26. For these are all matter of Astonishment even while they continue under the ken of Reason only but being once subject to the naked Eye and become the visible Objects of our outward Apprehensions they then directly lead us to the Contemplation of Things above and fix our Thoughts on him who is the Author and Disposer of them all So that viewing the Universal Cause in this multiplicity of Effects and taking some Estimate of God from the Grandeur of his Works we may presume with holy Job to make that familiar Exclamation I have heard of thee by the hearing of the Ear but now mine Eye seeth thee Job 42. 5. But 3. Travel and Foreign Commerce are serviceable to the Glory of God as they are a Means of acquainting us with the Dispensations of Providence To illustrate which Proposition I need only cite that part of this exalted Psalm which follows the Verses of my Text They that go down to the Sea in Ships that do Business in great Waters These see the Works of the Lord and his Wonders in the Deep For he commandeth and raiseth the stormy Wind which lifteth up the Waves thereof They mount up to the Heaven they go down again to the depths their Soul is melted because of trouble They reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken Man and are at their wits end Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble and he bringeth them out of their distresses He maketh the storm a calm so that the waves thereof are still Then are they glad because they be quiet so he bringeth them to their desired Haven Lo here a large description of Providential Goodness Lo here a mixture of Judgment and Mercy that will admit of no Comment or farther Illustration It is so lively and so Poetical a passage it so represents that Scene of Danger to all who have had the least Experience of Maritime Affairs it so recollects to them the whole variety of their Fortune it so urges them to remember how in the midst of these Fears and Uncertainties they have yet sail'd securely over that dangerous and devouring Element But if we take a view of National as well as of Personal Providence It cannot but be entertaining to all those who have been call'd into Foreign Parts to observe the dealings of Almighty God with those places which heretofore were the Seat of his true Religion To see that unworthy Land of Palestine unworthy aforetime of the Prophets the Messiah and the Apostles now deservedly become a Shame and a Desart and the Portion of an ignorant and unbelieving People In the mean time we who were then a Nation overspread with Error and thick Darkness do now enjoy the purest Light and Profession of the Gospel Nay it has been the Fate of this very Kingdom to have got to it self not only the Religion but also the Trade of those Eastern Countries And as the greedy Tyrians of old traffickt to these Isles for Tin and Silver and reserv'd us as their peculiar Mart unknown as yet to other Nations of the Earth so we who were then impoverish'd and exhausted by them do now by an happy turn of Providence fetch in our Stores and our Riches from the Land of Tyre and Sidon Wonderful things are these and not inferiour to those other of which it was once said in a strain of Prophesie Who shall live when God doth this Numb 24. 23. But having insisted thus far upon the Second General Head and shown that the Glory of God may more especially be promoted by Travel and Foreign Commerce I proceed now Thirdly To consider what Duties are more immediately incumbent upon those whom Providence has call'd to that important Service If what has hitherto been urg'd can convince any considerate and thoughtful Person 1. That the Glory
of God ought principally to be endeavour'd after and then 2. That it may thus happily be attain'd by Travel and Foreign Commerce it will here naturally follow that those whose Lot is fall'n in this so Honourable a Service are lyable to many great and signal Obligations Which that they may the better be exemplified with an eye to the several parts of the foregoing Discourse I shall endeavour briefly to comprehend them under these Three General Heads First The Duty of Praise to God Secondly The Duty of Example to our Neighbour Thirdly The Duty of Consideration with our selves Therefore First Those who are imploy'd in Travel and Foreign Commerce are oblig'd to the Duty of praising God It is a confest Principle and that too even in Natural Religion That as far as we are possess'd of the good things of this Life so far we are Debtors to the bountiful Hand of God Which as it is true of all so most remarkably of that Order of Men to which we are now addressing For there is a wide and palpable difference betwixt the Profession of the Husbandman and the Merchant The one is inrich'd by the ordinary Womb of Nature but the other by the immediate Care of Providence The one grows fat in his own Land but the other in a Land that is not his The one is wont to reap in proportion to what he sows but the other is often blest with a much more abundant unexpected Affluence From all which Particulars the true and genuine Inference must needs be this viz. That if the Benefits which those enjoy are seven times due to God then these are indebted to him seventy times seven But be it more or less which Heaven has intrusted to us As a Jew or an Heathen would repay these with the First-Fruits of his Temporal Increase so a true Christian will prepare his devout Acknowledgments in better Sacrifices than those He will thank his Almighty Benefactor not in an air of Boasting but in devout and mental Adorations Not in the Market-place but in the inmost privacy of the Closet Not for that he has made him Rich but that of his Grace and Mercy he has granted him enough After which he will be careful to imploy the Overplus to the Honour of Religion in the Education of his Family or for the Benefit of his Native Country And doubtless this is the most likely progress to compleat the several degrees of an Hearty and Religious Praise For a truly generous Mind is sensible of all its real Obligations a sense of our Obligations will remit us to the thoughts of Providence the thoughts of Providence will commemorate Gods Mercies the memory of Gods Mercies will beget a Christian Gratitude and that Gratitude will break forth into the Ejaculation of the Blessed Psalmist Oh that Men would therefore praise the Lord for his Goodness and for his wonderful Works to the Children of Men. But Secondly Those who are imploy'd in Travel and Foreign Commerce are oblig'd to the Duty of good Example to their Neighbour As the Example of each single Person is always to be measur'd by the Character which he bears so in some sence it is true that none bear a greater Character than those whom Providence has ordain'd to any Foreign Imployment For the Charge which they carry with them is in truth a sacred and inestimable Charge no less than the Credit of their Religion and their Native Country They ought to approve themselves Abroad not only as Persons of sober and honest Conversation but what is much more as becomes true Englishmen and sincere Christians So that if by means of those who shall travel from hence into the Unbelieving World this Nation is not esteem'd as a Brave a Generous and Heroick People this Faith as an Holy Sincere and Heavenly Profession the fault will lye at their doors whose Life and whose Behaviour have misrepresented either But as these are the Circumstances of our Country-men Abroad so being return'd Home the Case is not much alter'd For these are the Men who committed themselves and their Fortune to Gods immediate Protection these are the Men who have prosper'd in that state of Life these are the Men who have seen the Works of the Lord and his Wonders in the Deep and therefore these too are the Men who stand oblig'd to a more exact performance of their Duty Otherwise there never will be wanting such weak and unwary Persons who being less acquainted with the Dispensations of Providence will be led by these great Authorities into the like remisness of Obedience And then they by whose Example our most holy Religion is thus unhappily dishonour'd will appear at the great Tribunal not only guilty of their own but likewise as partakers of other Mens Sins 1 Tim. 5. 22. But Thirdly and Lastly Those who are imploy'd in Travel and Foreign Commerce are oblig'd to the Duty of Consideration with themselves The Art of knowing ones self is what some Heathens have much talk'd of but what some Christians have better practic'd And in truth it is so desirable a Perfection that it is much to be wish'd that the several stations and degrees of Men were acquainted with it Especially the Merchant and the Traveller in whose Life there must needs be so great a variety of Accidents so many remarkable Events and such a mixture of Joy and Wonder as will be always entertaining to themselves To this end it would prove a Method of excellent good Service if each single Person preserv'd a faithful Register of all his Actions and as it were an History of his own Life There it might be pleasant as well as useful to observe what diversity of Men of Things or of Places they have seen what Works of Gods Power or what Dispensations of his Providence what Dangers they have escap'd what Difficulties they have encounter'd by Sea or Land with how little or with how much they at first began and finally with what increase of Fortune God has bless'd their industry After which it will be necessary to deal sincerely with themselves and to put to an Impartial Conscience these or the like Questions Have they been desirous to praise and to adore God for his manifold and repeated Mercies Have they been fair and just in all their Dealings Have they improv'd the Talent of Grace as well as that of Fortune Have they been Charitable to the Distressed according to their Ability Have they been studious to do Honour to the Country from whence they came but chiefly to that unblemish'd Religion which they profess In general Have they approv'd themselves as wise and faithful Stewards to their great Master and manag'd the good Things of this Life to the Glory of him who lent them These are those only pious Considerations which shall compleat the admir'd Person who is in Favour both with God and Man These are they which shall make him happy in himself and happy to his Fellow-Creatures These are they which shall lead him from Honour to Honour and from Vertue to Vertue till by several gradations of Prudence his Character shall at length come up to that Idea and that Desire of the Wise Solomon Happy is the Man that findeth Wisdom and the Man that getteth Understanding For the Merchandise of it is better than the Merchandise of Silver and the Gain thereof than fine Gold Prov. 3. 13 14. Now the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who accepteth the Doers of the Word and not Hearers only bless confirm preserve strengthen us and establish us in every good Word and Work The Peace of God which passeth c. FINIS Mat. 25. 21. Isa 23. 8. * Vid. Bochar Geogr. Sac. lib. 1. cap. 39. Ver. 31.