it hath the most general and certain Influence into Men's Misery hereafter Few Men being willing to be at the pains to be saved tho all the labour in Religion be accompanied with real Sweetness and be like a Scholars Studies tho they make his Brain and Back to ake yet refresh his Mind and he had rather study than be idle What is it that hinders Men from reading whereby to get Knowledge Sloth What from Prayer from afflicting their Souls from examing their Hearts and Ways Yea from Consideration or any thing that is difficult to Flesh and Blood But Sloth Shake off this base Distemper learn of them that will be rich what pains they take they rise they run they sweat they are unwearied for false Riches and shall we sleep and freeze in the pursuit of the true Riches In the Name of God stir up thy self strive to enter in at the strait Gate and work while it is Day wheu Night comes no Man can work Let spiritual Diligence accompany your temporal and out-strip it For that 's the brave Christian in holy Mr. Dod's Judgment that can work hard and pray hard also And so much for this second Requisite to a good Tradesman to wit Diligence SECT 3. Of Justice in a Trade THE next Requisite in a Trade is Justice we discourse not here either of Vniversal Justice which the Moral Philosopher reckons to include all Vertues in their Vse or Exercise nor of Distributive Justice which consists in a due Distribution of Rewards and Punishments which belongs not to the Tradesman as such But of that which is called Commutative which is exercised in Dealings between Man and Man and of this also not only as it is directed by the Law of Nature but also as it is adopted among the Christian Graces where we shall consider I. The Nature of it II. The Necessity of it III. The Extent of it IV. Make some Vse of it I. For the Nature of it It is a gracious Habit inclining one constantly to render to every one their Right Where you see 1. It s general Nature It is a gracious Habit. An Habit and so rooted and fix'd in the Soul and will exert it self when no body is present to applaud or to disgrace an Habit and so readily inclining a Man to Actions sutable to it self For neither is the Habit within sufficient nor the Acts without they must go both together And then a gracious Habit For tho Morality may restrain unjust Actions and smooth the outward Conversation yet it cannot breed in the Heart a love of Justice as it is pleasing to God especially when the Practice of it crosses a beloved Interest No that the Spirit of God must work For the Fruit of the Spirit is in all Goodness and Righteousness and Truth Ephes 5. 9. And then 2. The particular difference of this from other gracious Habits is that this inclines us constantly to render to every one their Right It supposes that there is a Property which every Man hath in these outward things and that the World lies not in common And that an intercourse is necessary among Men for their mutual well-being that no Man can so subsist of himself but that he hath use or need of others Then steps in Justice to regulate all such Negotiations and teaches and disposes the honest Tradesman to render to every one what of right belongeth to him To Superiours Inferious Equals Relations and generally to every one that he may be able to say with holy Paul I have lived in all good Conscience before God until this day Acts 23. 1. II. For the Necessity hereof 1. It is every Man's Duty For 1. It is commanded by the Law of Nature Those strictures of Man's primitive Righteousness which are left in him do teach him this It was an Heathen Emperour that made choice of this Motto Quid tibi non vis fieri alteri ne feceris What you would not have done to you do not to another Which being rightly understood is both the Foundation and the Rule of Justice Every Man would desire to be justly dealt with and is it not equal and reasonable to render to every man that which we expect from every man It is scarce possible to obliterate this Principle out of natural Conscience and they that act otherwise do overthrow the common Principles of Nature and right Reason 2. It is commanded by the written Law of God This is the tenour of all the second Table of the Moral Law and is particularly intended in the eighth Commandment which saith Thou shalt not steal Which is nothing else but the reviving of the Law of Nature or a new Edition thereof Other Scriptures are frequent and express to this purpose Deut. 16. 20. That which is altogether just or as the Hebrew emphatically Justice Justicer shalt thou follow Which Law is strengthned with the threatnings of Punishment in case of disobedience frequently in the Scripture and clear Instances of the Performance thereof accordingly In short the Righteous God whom we worship is a Spotless Mirrour and Pattern hereof in himself He is Righteous in all his Ways Psal 145. 17. And he tells us 1 John 3. 7. Let no man deceive you he that doth Righteousness is righteous even as he is Righteous And the Righteous Lord loveth Righteousness his Countenance doth behold the Vpright Psal 11. 7. 3. It is commanded by the Law of Christ Our heavenly Saviour that died for us hath own'd and urged this Justice For he came not to destroy the Law but to press it and so hath enfranchized this Adage Mat. 7. 12. Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you do ye even so unto them for this is the Law and the Prophets And when the Apostle describes the great Design of the Gospel Tit. 2. 12. He tells that the Grace of God which bringeth Salvation hath appeared to all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly towards our selves righteously towards others and godly towards God in this present world Wherein is contained the Sum of all practical Religion So that the unrighteous do blot out a third part of the Gospel and so are unworthy of the Christian Name 2. This Justice is every Man's Interest It is the sound and safe way to Prosperity In that Deut. 16. 20. That which is altogether just thou shalt follow that thou mayst live and inherit the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee Other ways possibly may be speedier to Riches but this is the safe way Psal 5. 12. For the Lord will bless the Righteous with Favour wilt thou compass him as with a Shield Tho it please God to suffer some right honest Men to be poor and distressed in this Life to evince that there is a Judgment to come yet he doth manifestly favour others with temporal Blessings to shew that there is a Providence at the present And on the contrary the most
only that some even Particular Callings as that of Ministers are conversant about Spiritual Matters tho they are distinct enough from our Christian Calling Our General or Spiritual Calling then is whereby a Person is called of God to believe and obey the Gospel which being revealed under the Notion of a Covenant of Grace is named Vocatio ad Foedus And this when the Word is accompanied with the Spirit is Effectual Calling and leads to Salvation according to that 2 Tim. 1. 9. Who hath saved us and called us with an holy Calling But here I shall discourse no more of this save only to note wherefore it is term'd our General Calling namely because this is common to All Christians requires of All the same Duties assures to All the same Promises and obliges All to the same Conditions So that as no Man may undertake any Particular Calling that is inconsistent with his General so in case of Competition in any Instance of present Duty that must humbly give place to this for every Man ought to manage his Temporal Calling in Subordination to his Spiritual and must remember that in the throng of all his Business he is a Christian A Particular or Temporal Calling is a setled Imployment in some special Business of God's Appointment for our own and others good And this is term'd Vocatio ad Vitae institutum vel ad munus The former and this latter are both elegantly mention'd in one Verse 1 Cor. 7. 20. Let every Man abide in the same earthly Calling wherein he was called by his heavenly Calling No Man should think that God likes him either the better or the worse meerly for his outward Calling and therefore let every Man contentedly abide in the same Earthly Calling provided it be a lawful one wherein his Heavenly Calling found him In the abovesaid Description consider 1. The Author of a Particular Calling which is God So the Apostle 1 Cor. 7. 17. But as God hath distributed to every Man as the Lord hath called every one so let him walk Hence certainly these Imployments are named Callings because every Man must be called of God unto them He directs Men to them he inclines them he enables them for them Now God calls unto them 1. Immediately by himself so he called Adam to be an Husbandman Gen. 2. 15. Amos to be a Prophet Amos 7. 15. Paul to be an Apostle Acts 9. But this Method he rarely useth in these latter days They that will pretend to an immediate Calling must produce extraordinary Gifts and Qualifications else it is but Conceit and Delusion 2. God calls Men mediately by Instruments such as Parents Guardians and in some cases Magistrates By those that have a Right either by the Law of Nature or Municipal Laws to dispose of others God doth as really call to this or that Imployment as if he did it immediatâ—ly For tho the Lord God who hath sole Right and Authority over all his Creatures doth never demise his Property to any other yet he doth delegate Parents and such Superiors to act under him and to dispose those that are under their Care according to his Will and he ratifies all that they regularly perform in that behalf There is besides also an inward Call of God which consists in Abilities of Body and Mind and Inclinations of which more hereafter 2. The second thing in the Description of a Particular Calling is the Essence of it which is a settled Imployment in some special Business For it is not enough to be doing something sometimes no Man is so idle but that he is sometimes doing but a Calling is some constant Business which fills a Man's time and it is requisite that it be a Man 's own his proper Business for we read of those that did not work at all yet are called Busy-bodies 2 Thess 3. 11. whom the Apostle notes for disorderly Livers that is they were busy Intermedlers in others Affairs but did not imploy themselves in any constant Business of their own And 1 Thess 4. 11. he exhorts them to study to be quiet and to do their own Business For the great Governour of the World hath appointed to every Man his proper Post and Province and let him be never so active out of his Sphere he will be at a great loss if he do not keep his own Vineyard mind his own Business 3. The third thing is the End of a Particular Calling the next End is a Man 's own Good That with quietness they work and eat their own Bread 2 Thess 3. 12. A Man 's own Bread tasts pleasantly to an ingenious Man tho never so course Yea a Person may design to gain such an Estate by his Calling that he may live comfortably that he may have whereon to live and wherewith to give Let him labour working with his Hands the thing which is good that he may have to give to him that needeth Ephes 4. 28. Another End is the Common Good For we are in this World as the Members are in the Body where each must be useful for the whole and where each preserves its self it 's true but 't is with regard to the whole And therefore it is a brutish Selfishness to design no bodies Good but our own and that Proverbial Speech is very unchristian if it be understood exclusively viz. Every one for himself No as the Community hath need of thee so thou hast need of the Community And the Eye cannot say unto the Hand I have no need of thee nor again the noble Head to the poor Feet I have no need of you 1 Cor. 12. 21. But the highest End of all being understood tho not exprest in the Description is the Glory of God For as of him and through him are all things so to him must the Glory of all things be intended and ascribed Rom. 11. 36. If the honest Tradesman desire a competent Estate it is that he may live not to himself but to the Glory of God if he get any thing more his aim is therewith to educate his Children so as they may honour God In short as the most religious Actions of an Hypocrite being trac'd to the utmost do end in self so the meanest Labours of a true Christian resolve themselves into the Glory of God And so much for the Description of a Particular Calling The Kinds of Callings are diversified by the different Objects about which they are conversant For 1. Some are imployed chiefly about the Soul as School-masters Tutors in Arts and Sciences and particularly Divines which tho they be often poor Trades yet are always rich Callings 2. Some are imployed only about the Body as Physicians Chirurgions Apothecaries and all that depend on them tho these oftentimes have fair Opportunities if withal they have but Hearts to suggest saving Counsel to their Patients Souls 3. Some Callings are for Man's Subsistence such is the Husbandman and the Tradesman The Husbandman's Calling indeed concerns the Being and
furtherances each to other I know that some Callings are of that nature and some Tradesmen again so necessitous that it is difficult to find Conveniences for the Worship of God and good of the Soul But Wisdom here is profitable to direct hereby the pious Tradesman after a due consideration of all Circumstances and of his necessary business within doors and without fixes a time for prayer for reading and hearing as well as for working and bargaining and tho he cannot assign so much as others can yet he doth it with a right good-will and he takes care that neither of these Affairs do intrench upon the other nor prejudice the other His Devotion disposes him for his business and his Diligence in his business renders his acts of Devotion welcome And it is imprudence as well as want of zeal which occasions the confusion in Families in these matters The uncertainty of Time or undue fixing of other Circumstances doth commonly thrust out those Exercises of Religion which if prudently and sincerely perform'd would bring a blessing with them both on Soul and Body But of these hereafter in a more proper place Let us now apply what hath been said on this Head First By way of Reproof 1. Of the great Indiscretion of many even Godly and well-meaning Tradesmen that do greatly Err in some or other of the foresaid Cases It 's true this fault is not so criminal as many others for you 'l say no Man can have more Wit or Prudence than God hath given him every Man is not born a Philosopher But I say many Men might have more Wisdom than they had at first they might have improv'd their single Talent and made it double For as there is Wisdom infus'd so there is Wisdom acquir'd by means which God hath appointed and for the want hereof he may justly punish you in this World however ye may escape in the next Hence proceed the ruines of so many Families the Man his Wife and Children brought to beggery Here lies one in Jail for Suretiship another for haunting ill Company yonder 's one sent to Jamaica by living above his Ability another for want of keeping and casting up his Books some for trusting others for trading too high All which might have been prevented if Men would either get more Prudence of their own or consult and be ruled by their wiser Friends O that the Shipwrack of others might be as marks to the rest That these Pillars of Salt might season all other Tradesmen to the End of the World 2. But all this gives no countenance but rather reproves the Carnal Policy of Vngodly Tradesmen who resolving to be rich will compass their Ends tho it be by the undoing others and of their own Souls That have the subtilty of the Serpent without the innocence of the Dove who have learned all the cunning tricks Satan or his instruments can inspire them withal and so are able to turn and wind their easy and well-meaning Neighbour This is Wisdom from beneath and however you may thrive with it for a moment yet ye fight against God whose Justice will find you out oftentimes in this World Prov. 20. 21. An Inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning but the end thereof shall not be blessed But to besure without Repentance in the never-ending World And what will it profit a Man to gain the whole World and lose his own Soul Secondly By way of Exhortation Then labour all Tradesmen for this Godly Wisdom It may stand you in more stead than all your Stock and all your Friends A Man's Wisdom maketh his face to shine It makes him amiable it makes him useful But how shall we obtain it Answ 1. Beg it of God James 1. 5. If any of you lack Wisdom let him ask it of God that giveth to all Men liberally and upbraideth not and it shall be given him Say not I am a weak Man a sinful Man he giveth to all Men Say not I am extreamly foolish and I need more than I have hopes to get for he giveth liberally Say not again I have received abundance of Mercy already and have not improved the Parts he gave me well ask still for he upbraideth not and it shall be given you This course Solomon took 1 Kings 3. 5. when he was entring upon his Calling and the Lord readily gave it him and threw him in Riches and Honour besides 2. Consult wise Men. For the Lord giveth Wisdom 't is true but not by inspiration but in the use of means The long Observations of others may be made yours in a few days if you would be willing to learn Do not think that you can grasp all the ways and rules of Prudence by your own Skill Prov. 12. 15. The way of a Fool is right in his own Eyes but he that hearkeneth unto Counsel is wise not only he that gives Counsel is wise but he that hearkeneth to it And therefore be sure that ye consort with such rather chuse to be learning among the wise than vaunting your selves among the foolish He that walketh with wise Men shall be wise as ye heard before but a Companion of Fools shall be destroyed 3. Study for it in the use of proper means Read God's Word wherein are the mines of all true Wisdom and particularly the Book of Proverbs which is a Collection of such wise Observations as may be applied to all particular cases Read also such other good Books whereof there is store to make you wise But add withal serious consideration of men and things whereby you will vastly improve in godly Wisdom for every thriving and decaying Tradesman will be a Book to teach you something Prov. 24. 32. Then I saw and considered it well that is the Vineyard of the slothful I looked upon it and received Instruction Which brings me to the second Requisite conducing to the right managing of a Trade or Calling SECT 2. Of Diligence in a Trade AND the second Requisite in a Trade is Diligence About which 1. I shall describe the Nature 2. The Object of it 3. Some Inducements to it 4. Make some Application First For the Nature of it It is a Christian Vertue disposing a Man to use his greatest Skill Care and Strength in his Calling It differeth not in substance from the same moral Vertue among the Heathen but that in a Christian there is a better Root whence it grows and that is a sanctified Heart a Conscience that stands in awe of God and so causes the Man to stand in awe of it And also he hath a higher End in his Diligence and that is the Glory of God and the good of others and not meerly for his own credit or advantage Whereas the industrious Pagan as he knows not God so he cares not for him but self is at the beginning self is at the middle and self is at the end of all his Care and Pains and the unsanctified Christian is little better but
THE Trades-man's CALLING BEING A DISCOURSE concerning the Nature Necessity Choice c. of a Calling in General AND Directions for the right Managing of the Tradesman's Calling in Particular 1 Cor. 7. 24. Brethren let every Man wherein he is called therein abide with God By Richard Steele M. A. and Minister of the Gospel LONDON Printed by J. D. for Samuel Sprint at the Bell in Little Britain MDCLXXXIV THE EPISTLE TO THE READER Friendly Reader FOR as much as the Pains and Trouble of writing Books is unto some Tempers I am sure very great unless animated thereunto by some Opposition Gain vain-Glory or such like Motives and the Age we live in so curious if not censorious it is meet that I give some account of this present Endeavour which plainly is only to guide the honest-minded Tradesman in the right way to Heaven It is evident that there are vast numbers of People that are imployed in some Trade or other and I reckoned their some Directions and Cautions about their Carriage therein would not be an unuseful undertaking Surely an Affair that takes up six parts of seven of their Time doth require more Rules and admits more Cases of Conscience than are digested into any one Treatise yet extant Whilst others therefore are canvassing more doubtful Points in Doctrine or Worship my present Province shall be to direct the Mind and Practice of the consciencious Christian in his daily Employment where certainly he hath most Temptations and without God's Grace falls into most Sins and where he hath need of all the Assistance that God or Man shall impart unto him For it is not sufficient to be devout in Prayer in the Morning and at Night and leave Conscience asleep all the Day no those Religious Duties are only the Means whereby to procure that Wisdom Faith Patience Self denial and Integrity of which he will have use all the day long And the Tradesman hath more Exercises for these Graces than most other Men he hath the same Corruption of Nature to bias him and the same Devil to tempt him with others but then he hath more variety of Trials from the World than the studious Scholar or the plain Husbandman And infinite are the Cases of Conscience that come in a Tradesman's way all which tho this small Tract cannot reach yet I hope hereby to instruct and resolve him in the most material of them or at least to establish such Principles and Rules as being faithfully applied to particular Cases will tend much to his Direction When therefore I have discoursed of the Nature and Kinds the Necessity the Choice and the right Entrance into a Calling in general I shall lay down those Directions that are necessary for the Christian Tradesman in his particular Calling and point at the Temptations to which he is liable and add something concerning the leaving or finishing his Calling and so commit all to the Blessing of the Almighty which only can make this Endeavour useful to the Souls of Men which is the unfeigned desire of May 12. 1684. The unworthy Instrument Richard Steele THE CONTENTS CHAP. I. OF the Nature and Kinds of Callings What is a Calling Page 1 What is our General or Spiritual Calling 2 What a Particular or Temporal Calling is ibid. Here 1. It s Author 3 2. It s Essence 4 3. It s Ends. ib. The several Kinds of Callings 5 Inference 1. Folly of Men 6 1. That mind neither Calling ib. 2. That neglect either of them 8 3. That respect not the Author 9 4. That mistake the Ends. 10 2. The Wisdom of God 1. In the variety of Callings 11 2. In qualifying and inclining Persons to them 12 CHAP. II. OF the Necessity of a Temporal or Particular Calling 1. Proved 1. From the Light of Nature Pag. 13 2. From the Light of Scripture 1. God's Institution 14 2. His Command 15 3. The Example of Christ 16 3. From the Light of Reason 1. In point of Justice and Equity 1. To a Man's Self 17 2. To a Man's Family ib. 3. To the Poor ib. 4. To the Publick 18 2. In point of Safety 1. From Sin 19 2. From Danger ib. Object 1. I have no Need. Answ 20 2. I have no Ability Answ 21 2. Applied 1. In Reproof 1. Of begging Friers â—â— 2. Of Idle Beggars 22 3. Of Lazy Christians 23 2. In Exhortation 1. To Parents 24 2. To Children and Youths 25 CHAP. III. OF the Choice of a Calling 1. It must be Lawful How this knows 26 What Callings are Unlawful 27 2. It must be fit for the Persons 1. Education 29 2. Abilities 1. Of Mind 30 2. Of Body 31 3. Inclinations ib. What to do in case these concur not 32 3. It should be Attainable Safe and Useful 33 Inference The Necessity of good Deliberation 35 CHAP. IV. OF Right Entrance into a Calling Four things needful 37 1. Right Ends. ib. Viz. 1. God's Glory 38 2. Common Good ib. 3. Own Good 39 2. Due Qualifications 1. Knowledg 1. To read and write 40 2. In the Principles of Religion 41 3. A Capacity for it 42 2. Grace Particularly 1. Humility 43 2. Fidelity 44 3. Firm Resolutions against 1. The Difficulties 45 2. The Temptations 46 4. Earnest Prayer 47 Vse 1. Reflection 49 Vse 2. Instruction ib. CHAP. V. OF the due Managing of a Trade or Calling Six Requisites thereunto Page 51 Sect. 1. The First Requisite in a Trade is Prudence or Discretion Where 1. The Description of it 52 2. The Excellency and Necessity of it 53 3. The Imployment of it which is 1. In getting a full Insight into it 55 2. In fixing the Circumstances of it as Time Place Persons 56 3. Due Deliberation in particular Cases 58 4. Proportioning the Affairs of your Trade to the Ability of your Mind Body Estate 59 5. Ordering your Expences sutable to it 60 6. Frequent Inspection into the state of your Affairs 62 7. Governing the Passions of Anger Fear Hope c. 63 8. Considering the Contingencies of it 66 9. Avoiding ruinous Courses as 1. Bad Company 67 2. Suretiship 68 3. Gaming 70 4. Pragmaticalness 71 10. Disposing your outward Calling in Subordination to your Christian Calling 72 Vse 1. Repr 1. Indiscretion of the Godly 73 2. Carnal Policy of the Vngodly 74 2. Exhort Labour for Wisdom 1. Beg it of God 2. Consult wise Men. 75 3. Study for it in the use of Means 76 Sect. 2. The second Requisite in a Trade is Diligence Pag. 76 Here 1. The Nature of it 2. The Extent of it Consists in 1. Imploying all the Faculties of the Mind 78 2. All the Strength of the Body ib. 3. The Substance of your Time 79 4. Laying hold of Opportunities 81 5. Taking care of seemingly lesser matters 82 6. Rejecting Avocations as Absence from 83 Shops Taverns useless Visits 84 Recreations undue Devotion 85 What time may be spent in Exercises of Devotion 86 3. Inducements to Diligence 1. It 's matter of
Duty 87 2. Of Safety ib. 3. Of Benefit 88 4. Of Comfort 89 4 Vse 1. Repr Of Idleness 90 2. Exhort 1. To this Diligence in your 91 Particular Callings Cautions herein 92 2. Much more in your Heavenly 93 Sect. 3. The Third Requisite in a Trade is Justice 1. The Nature of it 96 2. The Necessity of it 1. It is your Duty 1. By the Law of Nature 97 2. By the express Law of God ib. 3. By the Law of Christ 98 2. It is your Interest ib. 3. The Extent of it 1. Performing lawful Promises 99 Of paying your Work-Folks 101 2. Paying due Debts 102 Of breaking upon design 103 3. Vsing exact Weights Measures and Lights 104 4. Right working of Manufactures 105 5. Making Conscionable Bargains 106 viz. 1. Content with reasonable Gain 107 What is the best measure of a Tradesman's Gain ib. 2. No Advantage of anothers Necessity 109 3. Nor of their Unskilfulness 110 4. Deal not for stollen Goods 111 5. Vse an honest Plainness 112 6. Defraying lawful Impositions ib. Against stealing of Custom 113 and starving of Ministers 114 7. Paying due Respects to the Orders of your Society 115 8. Having an equitable Regard to Fellow-Traders 116 Particularly to Partners Against Engrossing 117 9. Having a paternal Care about Apprentices Warning against too much 118 1. Rigor 119 2. Indulgence 120 10. Making due Provision for Wife and Children 122 11. Shewing Mercy to the Poor 123 Objects of Charity specified 124 4. Use 1. Of Reflection 125 2. Of Comfort 126 3. Of Conviction 127 4. Of Exhortation 1. To proceed by this Rule 2. To Restitution 129 This your 1. Duty 2. Interest 130 Object 1. Of Inability Answ 131 2. Fear of Shame Answ 133 3. Absence or Death of Parties Answ 134 3. Take the safer Path in doubtful Cases 135 4. Prevent others from doing Wrong 136 Sect. 4. The Fourth Requisite in a Trade is Truth or Veracity Where 137 1. It s Nature is described ib. 2. Your Obligations to it demonstrated 1. From the Light of Nature 138 2. From the Light of Scripture 139 3. From the Light of sound Reason ib. There 's 1. Equity in it 141 There 's 2. Commodity in it 142 There 's 3. Ingenuity in it 142 There 's 4. Policy in it ibid Object 1. From Examples of the contrary Answ 143 2. From the smallness of the Sin of Lying Ans 144 3. From the pretended Necessity of it Answ 145 3. Instances wherein it is to be exercised 1. Not concealing what you should discover 146 2. Shunning all unjust Commendations of Commodities 147 3. Avoiding all unjust Disparagements thereof 148 4. Abhorring any Untruths in or about your Bargains 149 5. Forbearing all Equivocations 150 6. Restraining multiplicity of Words 151 4. Use 1. Of Reflection 153 2. Of Reproof 154 3. Of Exhortation to Veracity 155 Means 1. True Faith and Fear of God 156 2. A truly tender Conscience 156 3. A real Love of your Neighbour 157 Sect. 5. The Fifth Requisite in a Trade is Contentedness 158 Where 1. The Description of it 2. Reasons for it 159 1. In respect of God 1. His Command 161 2. His Providence 162 3. His Glory ibid 2. In respect of our Selves 1. Our Deserts 163 2. Our Mortality 164 3. Our Comfort ibid 3. The Practice of it 1. In chearful undergoing the Inconveniences of it 165 A list of some Inconveniences in a Trade 166 2. In a thankfull acknowledgment of the Excellencies of it 169 A Discourse of the Excellencies of a Trade 170 3. In a patient bearing the Losses c. in it 172 4. In watching against the contrary Temptations As 1. Ambition 175 As 2. Envy ibid As 3. Covetousness 177 As 4. Despondency 179 As 5. Invading other Callings 180 In what case one Man may have several Callings ibid 5. In a steady Continuance in it 181 4. The Use 1. Of Repr The Evil of Discontent 2. Of Exhort to Contentedness 183 Means 1. Faith 184 2. Humility 3. Prayer 185 Sect. 6. The Sixth Requisite in a Trade is Religiousness Where 1. The Nature of it 186 2. Inducements to it 1. Nature teaches it 187 2. Scripture teacheth it 188 3. Reason teacheth it It being 1. The truest Wisdom 189 2. The highest Equity 190 3. The soundest Comfort ibid 4. The greatest Necessity 191 Object 1. From the Difficulty Answered 192 Object 2. From the Prejudicialness Answ 193 Object 3. From the Singularity Answ 194 Object 4. From the Danger Answ 195 Object 5. From the Needlesness Answ 196 3. The Exercise of it 1. In maintaining a religious frame of Heart 197 2. In the due Exercise of Faith 199 3. In the right performance of Religious Worship 200 4. In observing a right Rule and End 203 Whether a Man may aim at Riches in his Calling 204 5. In spiritualizing your Calling ibid A Catalogue of all the Trades mentioned in Scripture 205 6. In the holy Observation of the Sabbath 206 7. In the Practice of Watchfulness 209 8. In the use of holy Ejaculations 211 9. In the exercise of all Grace 213 10. In promoting Goodness and discourag Sin 215 Some Directions for the. 1. Chusing some good Books 217 2. Vsing them 220 4. Use 1. Of Lamentation and Reproof 221 Particularly the Omission 1. Of Family-worship 223 Particularly the Omission 2. Of the Lord's Supper 225 2. Of Exhortation 226 CHAP. VI. OF the Finishing of a Calling 229 Conclus A Man cannot lawfully leave his Calling till God doth discharge him 230 He doth this 1. Immediately ibid 2. Mediately 1. By the Hand of Man 231 2. By his own special Providence 1. Disabling the Mind 232 2. Disabling the Body 233 Whether a Man may withdraw from his Calling and live upon his Estate 234 3. Disabling a Man in his Estate 235 4. Summoning him by Death 236 Here Advice to Tradesmen 1. To set their Souls in Order 237 2. To set their House in order 238 ERRATA SOme literal Mistakes have past the Press For others that are more material read as followeth Page 91. line 1. for I was read I went P. 93. l. 15. f. then r. thee P. 119. l. 31. f. own r. owe. P. 120. l. 28. f. incur'd r. inur'd P. 128. l. 8. f. Wrath r. Wealth P. 207. l. 25. f. all night r. as night THE Tradesman's Calling CHAP. I. Of the Nature and Kinds of Callings A Calling is some kind of Life to which we are called of God Now all Christians are called of God to know and believe in him to love and serve him and at length fully to enjoy him And besides this Calling and subordinate to it God doth call every Man and Woman as if he call'd them by Name to serve him in some peculiar Imployment in this World both for their own and the Common-Good And hence ariseth that Distinction of a General and of a Particular or Personal Calling they might with more clearness be stil'd our Spiritual and our Temporal Callings but
every thing by Prayer and Supplication with Thanksgiving we make our Requests known unto God Phil. 4. 6. How dare any then chuse their Calling without God's good liking or rush into it without earnest Prayer On the other side With what boldness and chearfulness may one proceed in his Imployment when he can aver that he was called to it by God himself who will therefore stand by him and carry him through it Prov. 3. 6. In all thy Ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy Steps 4. Their Sin and Folly is no less that mistake the Ends of their Calling Aiming therein only at their Wealth Ease and Honour and not at the Glory of God and the Publick Good as well as their own Subsistence The End is that which enobles or imbases any Action A right Principle Rule and End sanctifies every Step and Passage of a Man's Life but if any of these be wanting the thing is spoiled Grant the Calling to be never so lawful yet if ye imbark in it with an eye only to Self ye may get Wealth and Honour but therein you have your Reward You proceed herein but like prudent Pagans who may be as Industrious as Rich as Just as You but ye do no way shew forth the Praises of him that hath called you out of Darkness into his marvellous Light The Motto of Christians is Rom. 14. 7 8. None of us liveth to himself and no Man dieth to himself but whether we live we live unto the Lord c. He that liveth only to himself lives like a Beast he that lives to the Publick lives like a Man but he that lives also to the Lord lives like a Christian and that Man shall die to the Fruition of that Lord to whom and for whom he hath lived 2. Behold the Wisdom of God And that 1. In the Variety and Kinds of Callings suited to the various Necessities of our Human Life Hath Man a Soul there 's a Calling provided and sanctified for the Instruction and Salvation thereof Hath he a Body there 's a Calling fitted for the preserving and restoring the Health of that And then his Body must have Food and Rayment how many Callings are ready to prepare these Some for the Head some for the Hands some for the Feet every Member almost hath a Calling to attend it some for Necessity some for Delight all for the Comfort and Welfare of Mankind And 2. The like Wisdom in qualifying and inclining some to one Imployment and some to another One Man shall have a Fancy to travel to fetch in Materials from abroad another shall delight in working them up at home this Man shall have a subtile Head that a curious Hand the other a brawny Arm Skill in one Strength in another Prudence and Care in a third and all for the good of the whole Just as it is in the Natural Body the wise God hath placed every Part and Organ in its proper Situation and disposed them for their several Functions and each is at Ease and Content in its place even so in the Body Politick the infinite Wisdom and Goodness of God shines forth in distributing to every Man his Function and in qualifying and inclining some to one Office and some to another for the general good of all And his Providence is signal in making Men generally pleas'd with their several Imployments as it is in Habitations he that lives in the Champian wonders how the Inhabitant of the barren Mountains can indure it and he that inhabits a sweet Air admires how any can live comfortably among the Fens and yet so it is each Man is inamoured of the place of his own Birth and Breeding and sits and sings under his own Roof And as the most ignoble Parts of Man's Body do quietly and readily perform their Offices without Discontent or Envy at the rest so the Divine Providence hath most sweetly temper'd the various Minds of Men to chuse and use in this variety of Callings what is most acceptable to themselves and useful to the whole And as any anomalous and useless Part of the Body would be asham'd were it capable of Shame to adhere to the Body to no end or purpose so should that Man or Woman be out of Countenance that is not in some Calling useful to their Generation Which leads us to the second Head of Discourse upon this Subject which is of the Necessity of a Calling CHAP. II. Of the Necessity of a Particular Calling I Proceed then in the second place to shew That every Man and Woman that is capable thereof should have besides their General and Spiritual a Particular and Temporal Calling This I prove 1. From the Light of Nature this teaches us That every Man must endeavour to live that Sustenance drops not immediately out of the Clouds that it is unreasonable to live upon others that Motion is natural to Mankind so that if Idleness were enacted by Authority it is thought very many would pay their Mulct that they might work that Man is not only an active Creature but he hath Brains and Strength which were given to no Man to be useless and the very Pagans will addict themselves to some Imployment or other for their own and others good Hence Pharaoh's first Question to Joseph's Brethren was What is your Occupation Gen. 47. 3. This instructed Jubal to teach Musick and Tubal-Cain to be an Artificer in Brass and Iron Gen. 4. 21. In a word God's giving Men Hands as well as Mouths tells us that they who eat should also work And the Inclination and Aptitude to this or that Imployment which the God of Nature hath put into Men's Minds if they would observe and excite the same is a plain Indication and Proof that every Man should settle himself to be some way useful in the World 2. From the Light of Scripture And here we have 1. The Ordinance and Institution of God to Adam both before and after the Fall Before the Fall when Adam was in the State of Innocence yet the Wisdom of God chose a Calling for him Gen. 2. 15. And the Lord God took the Man and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it He was God's high Steward over all the Earth and might if any Man have lived at Ease yet was obliged to an Imployment He that was greater and wiser and holier than any of his Off-spring the second Adam excepted must have a Calling Let no Man therefore plead his Birth Estate his Parts or Graces to justify an idle Life After the Fall Gen. 3. 19. In the Sweat of thy Face shalt thou eat thy Bread till thou return unto the Ground He must into the same Calling again tho he found more Difficulty in it than he had before as a broken Tradesman that sets up again with a less Stock in worser Times And having two Sons they were each of them fixt in a Calling Gen. 4. 2. Abel was a Keeper of Sheep
usually a busy Tongue and he that doth not what he ought will commonly be speaking what he ought not Hence S. Augustin's Wish upon those words in Timothy Would to God that they who hold still their Hands would hold their Tongues also And spends a whole Book to shew the Sin and Mischief of an Idle Life 2. There is Safety from Danger For as he that is without a Calling is liable to Satan's Temptation so also is he from under God's Protection His Angels have a Charge to keep us but it is only in those ways which the Lord appoints to us Psal 91. 11. Every thing is safest in its place If a Cross do befall a Man in his Place and Calling he hath Comfort in it whereas those Disasters which meet with a Person that is not imployed or ill imployed have a double weight Famous is that Instance of Jonah he had a noble Calling tendred him but he had no Mind on 't and away he flees but a dreadful Tempest meets him the Ship could not bear such a sinful Weight and you know that never Man had such a fair escape as he had Whereas Elijah and other Prophets were wonderfully saved from Dangers in their Calling but no body is safe out of theirs If Satan find a Man on his Ground without God's great Mercy he will do him a Mischief And this you see is evident from the Light of Nature of Scripture and of Reason that every Man should imploy himself in a Calling I can imagine but Two Objections against this Assertion The first is I have no need of a Calling I can live without it Answ 1. Tho you have no Outward Necessity to inforce you to take up a Calling yet it may be necessary for you in respect of your Soul to prevent the Corruptions that are apt to breed there The standing Pool is prone to Putrefaction and it were better to beat down the Body and to keep it in subjection by a laborious Calling than through Luxury to become a Cast-away 2. Tho you have no need of a Calling in respect of your selves yet it may be useful to others If you have no Kindred that need your help yet the Poor you have always with you and you heard even now the Apostle appointing Men to work that they might have to supply those that need 3. Tho you have no need of a Calling yet there is a necessity upon you by reason of God's Command before mention'd that God who best knows what is fit and needful for all his Creatures The Apostle Paul had no need to preach in point of Livelihood yet upon this very account he says A Necessity is laid upon me yea wo unto me if I preach not the Gospel So tho you have no need of the World yet the World hath need of you and therefore why stand ye all the day idle go ye also into the Vineyard The other Objection is I have no Ability or Capacity for a Calling One is sickly another lame another old another blind and what can such as these do with a Calling Answ 1. If by any of these Infirmities you are wholly disabled then God himself releases you and you have time to bewail your Neglects and Loss of Opportunities heretofore and a fit occasion to exercise both your Trust in the Providence of God and your Patience under his heavy Hand Time was you could have done something if you would and now you would be doing if you could 2. You should bewail your present Unusefulness as a sore Affliction and also the Sins that have brought it upon you and endeavour to imploy your selves some way as far as possibly you can None except such as are under acute Sickness or Pain but might be doing something for their own or others Good and a willing Mind would break through small yea great Difficulties rather than sit and signify nothing in the World And so much for the Proof of this Proposition about the Necessity of a Calling which may be improved 1. By way of Conviction and Reproof of three sorts of guilty Persons 1. Of the Begging Friars and such Monks as live only to themselves and to their formal Devotion but do imploy themselves in no one thing to further theirown Subsistence or the Good of Mankind Some such sprang up of old who us'd to plead the Sixth of Matthew against all wordly Care and Labour and who interpreted that of the Apostle 2 Thess 3. 10. If any Man will not work neither let him eat of spiritual Work and Labour Which the Learned Augustin largely confutes by the Context But what would he have said if he had liv'd to see such swarms of Drones dividing their time between a dull Chappel and a warm Refectory covering a Life of Sense with a Vizor of Religion At the first these People both pray'd hard and labour'd hard and not only maintain'd themselves but help'd the Poor but they are since degenerated into a publick Grievance And yet they have the Confidence to boast of this their Course as a State of Perfection which in very deed as to the Worthiness of it falls short of the poorest Cobler for his is a Calling of God and their's is none 2. This meets with Idle Beggars A sort of People that live without Law and without Gospel that are neither useful to the Publick Good nor careful of their own but be like Wens upon the Body Politick and Sinks of all Uncleanness Happy for them if fewer People spent their foolish Pity upon their Bodies and if more shew'd some wise Compassion upon their Souls If they be any ways able doubtless they should be imploy'd if they be altogether impotent certainly they should be pitied and maintain'd but in the mean time they are wholly neglected by the Church and the excellent Laws in force for their reclaiming are generally disused by the Common-wealth 3. This reaches all lazy Christians of what Rank and Quality soever That live like the Leviathan in the Sea as if made only to play therein what Account can you give at Night to your own Consciences What Account can you give at last unto the great God He that hath lent you Talents hath also said Occupy till I come Luke 19. 13. Your Strength is a Talent your Parts are Talents and so is your Time How is it that ye stand all the day idle Why do you like those vain Athenians who spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or hear some new thing Acts 17. 21. What is Mankind the better for you What Gap do you stop Or what miss will there be of you from off the Earth You are like Ministers sine Titulo like wandring Stars that move in no proper Orb to whom is reserved if ye reform not the Blackness of Darkness for ever Object Yea but we do some good this way and that Answ Ay but are you in a Calling hath God called you to this lazy Life that you live
this Subject CHAP. IV. Concerning the right Entrance into a Calling I Come now in the fourth place to speak of the right Entrance into a Calling when you have made a discreet Choice For in all matters a right beginning is half the Business done and he that misses his way at setting out strays still further to the end of his Journey We may justly impute the Miscarriage of thousands to their rash Atheistical Entrance into their Callings How many go to the Vniversities and to Trades without any Sense of Religion of their Duty of their Dangers and the Temptations that are before them And being thus unarm'd are soon surpriz'd with Temptations and blown up to the Grief of their Friends and their own Ruine It 's true the most hopeful beginning may end sadly but what End then may we expect from a careless Entrance Let all Persons then at their first starting out be careful First To have right Ends for the End as I said before either enobles or debases the Action Tho a good End will not justify a bad Action yet it will sanctify a good one And on the contrary a base a wordly a wicked End will vilify the holiest Action in the World Now the Ends you should aim at in every Particular Calling are as you heard in the Description these three First and chiefly the Glory of God Reckon upon this that you were made redeem'd called and kept meerly to the end that you might glorify your Maker Now as every Pin and Nail in the Building how obscure soever concurs to the Beauty and Strength of the Work and consequently to the Credit of the Workman even so every Calling how mean soever it is contributes to the Honour of the great Housholder the Maker of Heaven and Earth Keep therefore the Honour of God in your Eye and then tho you may be disappointed in your inferiour Ends as Riches and Splendor yet you will attain your great and noble End which is best of all That is an undoubted comprehensive Rule 1 Cor. 10. 31. Whether ye eat or drink or whatsoever you do do all to the Glory of God Conclude thus with thy self that since the Lord made all things for himself I will make it make it my Design and count it my Honour to glorify this good God in that course of Life I am entring upon And assure your selves that the more sincerely solicitous you are for his Glory the more careful and provident he will be for your Welfare and Happiness for it is a tried Truth Those that honour me I will honour and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed 1 Sam. 2. 30. A second thing ye should aim at is the Common Good This thing is generally far enough from young Peoples Thoughts their narrow Spirits mind it not Their Eye is fixt upon a Livelihood for themselves let the Publick sink or swim But this Temper results from the Depravation of our Nature and the very Heathens have determin'd that the Common should always be prefer'd to ones Private Good And we see in the Body Natural which is a lively Resemblance of the Body Politick the Hand in case of any attempt upon the Head or Heart or Life will venture it self and will chuse to be wounded and in case of Gangrens to be cut off to preserve the whole Conclude then thus with thy self I am a poor inconsiderable Creature and tho I am oblig'd to endeavour to maintain my Life for the Service of my Maker yet my Business and Ambition shall be rather to be an useful Member to the Country that nourisheth me to promote the Good of Mankind than only or chiefly to build my Nest on high and load my self with thick Clay And you may be sure that if you contrive and consult the Publick Good the Publick will be interessed in your Welfare and he that watereth shall be watered himself And then thirdly You may and ought in the Entrance into your Calling to aim at your own Good Temporal Spiritual and Eternal You may desire the obtaining of a Competence in this World this is justified by the Light of Nature and commanded in the Eight Commandment yea as hath been said you may aim at a comfortable and plentiful Provision if it please God not thereby the more to satisfy your Appetite nor to gratify an ambitious Humour but that you may do the more Good not only to your Friends but to God's Friends the Poor But you should have a more special Eye at your Spiritual and Eternal Good For as there is a Natural so there is a Spiritual Life and you should chuse to be placed where this noble inward Life may be nourished where the true God is truly worshipped where his Day is strictly kept where you may be under a wholesome Restraint and in short where you may learn the Trade of true Godliness and both how to live in this World and in the World to come Secondly For the happy Entrance into a Calling you must be sped with due Qualifications for it And they are especially Knowledg in the Head and Grace in the Heart 1. Knowledg And for the meanest Trade 1. You should know how to read and write Reading is both necessary for your Spiritual and Temporal Calling Thereby you are inabled to read God's Word and other good Books which should be to you both Food and Recreation Thereby you may get Knowledg by the Fire side and receive that sacred Warmth into your Heart which will be helpful to you for every good Word and Work Particularly thereby you will injoy sweet Company on the Lord's-Day when you must not work and should not play Both these are also very necessary in your Temporal Affairs in so much that he who is unaccomplished with them is scarce to be reckoned among rational Creatures is unable to convey his Mind with any certainty to his distant Friends to understand their Minds or Desires but by Assistance from others He is unable to take or keep any just Account of his own Affairs of the Encrease or Decay of his Estate much less can he be useful to others which is always a comfortable thing and sometimes beneficial And the Book is delivered to him that is not learned saying Read this I pray thee And he saith I am not learned Isa 29. 12. A sad Answer But if you are designed for higher Callings a sutable measure of Learning is requisit according to the Quality of the Imployment you chuse rather always storing your self with some Grains too much than too little for any of them For in most Callings your Learning will suffer Loss either through want of List or want of Leisure 2. You should be well vers'd in the Principles of Religion These are the Ballast which must keep you steady in the various Assaults your Faith may meet with in your Christian Course An uncatechiz'd Head and an unsanctified Heart are liable to all manner of Temptations Think it no Burden
God's People of old their delight was in the Saints on the Earth they were Companions of those that feared God and if ever you expect to live with them you must live like them But what speak I of living in Heaven Such Companions will make you unfit and unable to live in the World Destruction and Misery are in their ways They are not only the Shame of Christianity but the Reproach of Mankind they are Brutes in human Shape and will none serve you for Companions but these Are you fond of a Prison or an Hospital or of the Plantations or of Tyburn for to some of these such Company send their Comrades And therefore for God's sake yea for your own sake cast in no Let among them let your early Prudence prevent your late Repentance 2. Another ruinous Mischief from which Discretion will guard you is Suretyship I will not affirm that this is utterly unlawful but I conclude that as few Men do use the Care and Caution necessary in this Affair so no Man should ingage therein unless first he be able to pay the Obligation without injuring himself or Family and secondly be contented to do it without perturbation of mind and with the same freedom wherewith he pays his other Debts For without doubt the Surety doth take upon himself the whole Debt both in Law and Conscience in case the Principal prove either unable or dishonest And which of you are able and willing to run this Risque If you object that without doing and receiving this act of Friendship for one another Trade cannot be upheld I answer Tho without it a Man cannot trade so high which perhaps may be his Sin and prove his Ruine yet he may trade still in a meaner degree which may be more safe and prove as comfortable And he that will lanch out further if the Creditor knows him to be a Man of good Discretion and Integrity he may securely rely upon his single Bond without intangling another with him If you reply that he hath formerly obliged you some other way or that he will take it unkindly to be denied I answer that you must study to oblige him some other way and labour to convince him that it is not want of Love but the force of a Preingagement which I would advise every prudent Tradesman to make to some near Relation without whose Consent you cannot without Injustice bind your self For alas this Person that now solicits you may be more indebted than you know of he may prove less careful and honest than you imagine he may be bound for others in more than he is worth at least he is mortal and may leave his Estate and you intangled at his Death to your great Molestation if not utter Ruine And these are not unlikely Suppositions but whereof sad Instances are visible every day Therefore before ye enter into any such Engagements read that Counsel of a wise Man yea of a wise God Prov. 6. 1 2 3 4 5. My Son if thou be surety for thy Friend thou art snared with the Words of thy Mouth deliver thy self give not Sleep to thine Eyes deliver thy self as a Bird from the hand of a Fowler And he that hateth Suretiship is sure Prov. 11. 15. See also Prov. 22. 26. 3. A third ruinous Course whence this Prudence will preserve you is Gaming I mean all such Games as make an in-road upon your Time when they devour that time which should be imployed either in your religious or secular Affairs or such as hazard any thing considerable of your Estate For it is certain that Gaming was never ordained to be a Trade whereon to live but for a Diversion a refreshment of the Spirits whereby Men may be more fitted for their general and particular Callings And therefore such Recreations only are to be used as do most contribute to the health of the Body and refreshment of the Mind and they are to be followed moderately seasonably and religiously so as you may comfortably beg the Blessing of God upon them and bless his Name after them Fix your unalterable Resolutions therefore against all vain prodigal and hazardous Games whatsoever For though Drunkenness Whoredom Idleness Injustice will certainly do it yet these two Follies of Suretiship and Gaming may suddenly destroy those that use them A Man may by these in a few hours undo himself and Family to all intents Play for no more in any Recreation than you may lawfully expend upon your Delight and can be content to lose without impairing your Estate or the Tranquillity of your Mind and never reckon the Estate you have your own until ye have made Restitution of what ye have dishonestly gain'd thereby 4. A Fourth dangerous Evil from which this Prudence will secure you is Pragmaticalness or Curiosity which is a busy meddling with matters which belong not unto you You have business enough of your own to imploy all your wit time and strength either in the works of Piety and Devotion or charity to the Souls and Bodies of others of civility to your Friends and Relations and of Industry in your own Callings And there is no Wisdom in intermedling in others Affairs without a just cause and a clear call and God never calls you thereunto when it interferes with the necessary Duties abovesaid But especially beware of the Athenian Disease who spend their time in nothing else but either to tell or hear some new thing Acts 17. 21. I know the Nature of Man is bent upon News and Religion not only permits but approves of our being concern'd for the prosperity of God's Church But it is a natural itch and not any pure devotion which inclines most Men to inquire after such things and much time is lost much hazard is run and little good is gain'd by this idle course Above all be conscionably careful of tampering with State-affairs You ought to make good the place wherein God hath set you and by all prudent and honest means in your Station promote the Publick-Good but let no pretence how pious soever let no pressure how heavy soever let no prospect how specious soever prevail with you to dishonour your Political Parents to disturb the Publick Peace or to imbark your self in any design foreign to your own Calling or unjustifiable by the Laws ye live under Let Almighty God alone to rule the World let the lawful Magistrate alone to rule his Subjects and let it be your business chearfully to obey or quietly to suffer 1 Pet. 4. 14 15. If ye be reproached for the Name of Christ happy are ye But let none of you suffer as an evil doer or as a busy-body in other Mens matters 10. This Godly Wisdom will help you To dispose your Outward in subordination to you Spirituel Calling That is so to order the particular duties which belong to each of them that in the instances of practice they may not clash or justle with one another but sweetly agree and be
III. Declare the Instances wherein it is to be exercised in the Tradesman's Calling IV. Make some Application of it I. Concerning the Nature of Truth I willingly let pass many Notions and Distinctions of the School-men And shall only take notice 1. That there is a Truth of Things whereby they are agreeable to that Idea according to which they were fram'd 2. A Truth of Apprechensions whereby we think know or believe of things according to their true Nature 3. A Truth of Expressions whereby we speak of things according to what we think know or believe Now when our Apprehensions of things are not right that 's Error or Mistake which is a Fault and Sin in us if it be about things which we ought to know or pretend to know As for Example when you conceive that such a Commodity which by your Calling you should have Knowledg in is good when indeed it is not But then when our Expressions agree not with our Apprehensions That 's a Lie and is a far greater fault because it 's voluntary So that every Mistake is not a Lie every concealing the Truth is not a Lie every doubtful Speech is not a Lie every Parable or Fable such as That Judg. 9. is not a Lie every rehearsing of a Lie is not a Lie though a Man may so rehearse it as to make it his own But a Lie is the voluntary falsifying of the Truth and it is aggravated when it is joyned with an intent to deceive Truth is like the Sun a Lie is the eclipse of it it puts out the Eye of Truth But of this afterward At the present this is sufficient That every Man in his Calling should judge of things as they are and should when he is called to it speak of them according to such his Judgment and this is called Veracity whereby a Man speaketh the Truth in his Heart as it is Psal 15. 2. neither adds nor diminishes neither depreciates a Commodity or puts Colours upon it will neither affirm a thing or deny it when he knows the contrary and this he doth out of Conscience to God and out of Love to Truth And this is sufficient for the Description of it II. Every Mans Obligations to this result 1. From the Light of Nature by which it is evident that the Tongue and Faculty of Speech is given to Man whereby to express and signify his Mind to others so that he that is dumb in Speech is better than he that deceives with it As the design of a Clock or Watch is to be a true measure of Time and to keep its just pace with the Sun but being false in this were better to be laid aside that to deceive you better to lie in your Desk than tell you a Lie in your Pocket The design and honour of the Tongue is to speak truly so that it is reported of the very Indians that in case they be convinced of a Lie they will in revenge draw Blood of their own Tongues Hence it is that even natural Conscience doth so strongly support a Man when he speaks Truth no Frowns can daunt him and on the contrary he that falsifies the Truth if Conscience be not utterly sear'd is pinch'd within even natural Conscience stings him tho no body can accuse him and then if he be detected intolerable is that Shame that covers him 2. By the Light of Scripture Which doth constantly command Sincerity and Truth and forbid the contrary Zech. 8. 16. These are the things that ye shall do Speak ye every Man Truth to his Neighbour It describes a good Man by his Veracity Prov. 13. 5. A righteous Man hateth Lying Urgeth it with most pregnant Reasons Ephes 4. 25. Wherefore putting away lying speak every Man no Man no not the Tradesman excepted Truth with his Neighbour for we are Members one of another Where the Apostle ushers in his Exhortation with one strong Reason couch'd in the Illative Wherefore which shews that this is an Inference from the foregoing Verses q. d. You have put off the old Man with his Deeds All of you professedly all true Christians really It is ridiculous and shameful for him that is invested with new Robes to retain any one foul Rag upon him And ye have put on the new Man after the Image of Christ who is Truth and so it is fit that all his Members be in the same Livery And then he backs his Exhortation with another Reason We are Members one of another Now every Man will be true to himself will never go about willingly to deceive himself It were a monstrous thing for one Member of the Body to go about to impose upon another Now we are all of us Members of one another 1. As Men. Adam was the Root we all are the Branches 2. As Christians and so we are all one in Christ Jesus our Religion doth knit us closer together than all other Ligaments in the World 1 Cor. 12. 25 27. The Members should have the same care one for another Now ye are the Body of Christ and Members in particular So that in deceiving any of the Members you affront the Head In short unless ye be true Men ye can be no true Christians a salse Man and a true Saint is a Contradiction Thus you see that the Scripture is direct for speaking Truth it doth indeed relate divers Untruths spoken by others both good men and bad but it never justifies them The Narration of such Faults of pious Men is a strong Argument of the Sincerity of the Scripture and that it no way excuses them of its Sanctity In which case Augustine charitably concludes that God accepted in Rahab and the Midwives c. Fidem mentis and pardon'd to them fallaciam mentientis In a word we own and worship a true God we profess a true Religion we pursue a true Happiness by all which we are obliged to all manner of Truth in Heart in Lip in Life 3. This Veracity is demonstrable by the Light of sound Reason that even those that care not for the Scripture may be convinced of the necessity of it unles they will not only renounce Divinity but Humanity also For 1. There is Equity in it Every Man would be truly dealt with No Man would be content that his Wife Children or Servants should deny the Truth or feed him with Lies Which of you chuses to have any thing to do with those whom you cannot believe Now is it not very equal that you should alway speak the Truth that do desire always to hear others speak it Is it reasonable that other Folks should live by one Rule and you by another That Truth should be eligible by all others and not by you This Veracity and Justice are so conjunct that he cannot be just in his Dealings that is false in his Words For the same Law that commands us to do by others as we would be done unto equally obliges us to speak in our Commerce to
Tradesman's Calling in general which they should thankfully acknowledg and which should render them very well content with their Condition Besides every Tradesman should study and collect the particular Advantages of his own Calling If it be laborious then it 's usually more free from Cares and less subject to Losses if you spend your time in buying and selling only then you have commonly more Time and less Toil. In some Trades you are brought into great Acquaintance with the Mysteries of Nature in others with the Curiosities of Art in some you learn to know Men in others Things Now the Tradesman should muster up and survey all these Excellencies and Advantages of his Calling both to demonstrate and to further his Contentment therein and so should conclude I am well if I can see it my Calling is but too good for me 3. This Contentedness is to be shewn in a patient bearing of the Losses and Disappointments that befal him in his Trade And here our Tradesman hath occasion for all Grace he hath For sometimes he meets with great losses in his Goods themselves perishing either by their own Corruptibility or by the Carelesness of his Servants sometimes he hath great Losses by the Breaking of his Chapmen or Correspondents and sometimes meerly by the Providence of God permitting either dreadful Storms at Sea or wicked Pirates to swallow them up Now if God's Grace do not support his Spirits under these Losses he frets himself in pieces with impotent Vexation he falls out with his Trade with Men yea with God himself and injoys nothing of what he hath left because he is deprived of what he hath lost He inlarges upon the Folly of Trading he condemns all Mankind because he finds some of them dishonest he extols every Man's Calling but his own he frets at the Providence of God nay almost questions whether there be any Providence because it frowns upon him quarrels with his Meat his Drink his Servants his Wife yea with himself because forsooth he could not prophesy he could not fore-see and fore-tell how the Seas or Men would prove whereas by virtue of Christian Contentment the Tradesman tho he be not insensible of his Losses yet he labours to digest them and things looking ill he will not make them worse by his own Folly He considers the Uncertainty of all worldly Imployments and of all human Affairs and that there is no sure trading but to Heaven he concludes that tho he will not do it yet God hath set Bounds to his Estate how much will do him good and that he takes nor suffers others to take any way but what he knows would do him hurt He knows that when he bears a Loss with Chearfulness God will the sooner make it up than when he murmurs He remembers that he undertook this his Calling with a supposition of such Events as these Tho he smart and have loss by the failing of his Neighbour yet he thanks God that he is not the Bankrupt himself and accordingly if he find him not dishonest extends Compassion towards him He knows that Indeavours belong to him but Events belong to God who he is sure is more careful of his good than he is himself And therefore when he hath examined his own Heart and Ways and mourn'd for the Sins which have deserved and procured the Affliction he satisfies himself in the Will of God refers the matter wholly to him and rests contented eats and drinks and sleeps as chearfully as before Thinks he if my Happiness did lie in these things I might repine at my Losses or if Man's Life did consist in the abundance of what he possesses I were in a forlorn Condition but my Happiness is in God he is the Strength of my Heart and my Portion for ever Or if my own Vices had brought me low my Idleness or Debauchery my Pride or Lusts there were cause enough of Dolour and Discontent But the Faults of others shall never make me fall out with my self And therefore whatever Losses or Disappointment I meet with I 'l be content 4. This Contentedness is to be exercis'd in watching against the contrary Temptations Those Vices which do oppose and thwart this excellent Temper And they are 1. Ambition whereby you will be tempted to reach at things too high for you When a Man's Heart is too big and too high for his Calling he is never at ease The Shoe is uneasy but it is because the Foot is swell'd This ruin'd our first Parents and this ruines many of their Posterity It is true a Tradesman may modestly aim at a convenient Pitch yea so that he do it soberly and honestly let him hopefully endeavour to attain the highest degree of Greatness attainable in his own Calling but this Indeavour so qualified will not make him restless and uneasy in his present Condition He is very well but yet hopes for better that he may be in a better Capacity to do good and rectify what he sees amiss in the Imployment He does not he ought not to aim only at himself herein His greatest Ambition is to do good in the World and to get well to Heaven 2. The Tradesman ought to watch against Envy whereby a Man hath an evil Eye at those that seem to be in a better Condition than himself There 's one in more Credit than I another gets far more Money than I such and such live without Care and Pains Riches flow in upon them they have what Heart can wish Sure the World is unequally divided we are as skilful and diligent as honest as they but they go away with all the Wealth and we sit down with all the Labour See what a House and what rich Furniture yonder is how they can lay up and how they can spend how they And what is all this to thee Is thine Eye evil because God's is good A little Modesty would teach thee that he hath Wisdom to know where to bestow his Gifts Alas he sees that thy Neighbour's high Estate and thy high Spirit would undo thee he knows what 's fit for him and he knows what 's fit for thee he knows that a Competence and Heaven at the end of it is enough for thee if thou be his Child and it is too much if thou be his Enemy While you have more than you deserve you need not care what God bestows upon others And then for those you envy you know not the Burdens they lie under you see their seeming Happiness but you see not their real Miseries You envy their brave Houses but you see not the Cares the Fears and Discontents that commonly lodg within them you are vext at the bravery of their Apparel but you would pity them if you knew the Diseases that are under it Their Cares and Troubles are proportionable to their Estates and so are their Temptations A wise Man would not have their Estates a Year for the Temptations they have in an Hour Temptations to Pride to
the 11th of France who coming incognito to discourse his Turnspit and to question him what he got in his Imployment had this Answer Says he I get as much as the King for the King has but his Life and so have I God feeds the King and the King feeds me 3. Prayer is another means Seek his Grace seek his Counsel If your Contentment be of the right kind it is won by Prayer Interrupt your disquieted Thoughts and compose your Heart to Prayer So David in his Dejections and he sped accordingly Recount to him your Difficulties and Discouragments and be sure then God will either make you fit for your Calling or provide a Calling fit for you And so much for the fifth Requisite SECT 6. Of Religiousness in a Trade THE Sixth Requisite for a Tradesman in his Calling is Religiousness or true Piety and Godliness This compleats him this crowns him Here I. I shall shew the Nature of it II. The Inducements unto it III. The Exercise of it IV. The Vse and Application I. For the Nature of it I do not consider it in this place in its utmost Latitude for so it comprehends all the before-mentioned Duties It teaches a Man to be wise diligent just true and contented but here it denotes only a Man's Behaviour towards God and we may describe it to be A due respect to God in Heart and Life The Scripture in the Old Testament describes it by walking with God Gen. 6. 9. And Noah was a just Man and perfect in his Generation and Noah walked with God He was not only just and exact towards Men but also he walked with God that is he lived in that Reverence and Respect to God as if God had walked with him upon Earth or as if he had lived and walked with God in Heaven In the New Testament it is called a walking in the Spirit Gal. 5. 25. If we live in the Spirit let us also walk in the Spirit that is if we or since we live a Spiritual Life if we have a distinct Principle of Life besides that of Nature let us walk by the Quickning and Conduct of that good Spirit as on the contrary to walk after the Flesh is to be acted and guided by the Motions of our carnal Concupiscence And we find that the Grace of God which bringeth Salvation teaches us to live not only soberly and righteously but also godly in this present World Tit. 2. 12. So that it is not enough for a Tradesman that he be discreet and just c. as before but if he design to be a happy Man here or hereafter he must be a religious Man an holy Man and that both in Heart and Life II. And for Inducements hereunto 1. Nature teacheth it Religion is as natural to Man as Reason It is a Principle so firmly six'd in the Soul of Man that he can scarce possibly raze it thence And tho some barbarous Nations have mist of the true God yet there are none so savage but that a Sense of Religion cleaves to them Cicero an Heathen could say Nulla est gens tam fera nemo omnium tam immanis cujus mentem non imbuerit Deorum timor So that he must devest himself of Humanity that denies the Obligation of Religion It is this that doth most clearly distinguish Men from Beasts who have some shadow some approaches to Reason but they are utter Strangers to any thing of Religion It 's true Education doth cherish and ripen these natural Notions but if we could conceive a Man to be brought up from his Infancy without any Society or Instruction from others he would no sooner reflect upon himself and imploy his Faculties but he would be sensible of a Power above him and of a deep Respect thereunto So that this is no precarious Business we need not to inlarge at all when we propound Religion to a rational Creature He must be a Brute that denies it Now if all Mankind agree to it the Tradesman must not think that he is exempt from it whom we must suppose to be somewhat refin'd from the Dregs of Mankind 2. The Scripture teacheth it It is the great design of the Scripture to make Men Religious And to this end the Holy Ghost doth therein lay down the clearest Rules propound the most excellent Examples produce the strongest Arguments and provide the most effectual Means and Helpes that the Wisdom of God could devise or the Heart of Man desire And as Piety and Religion is there urged upon all Men in general so also it is prest upon Men as they are distinguished by their particular Callings So 1 Cor. 7. 24. Brethren let every Man wherein he is called therein abide with God Mark let him ahide with God that is cleaving to God still to whom by his religious Allegiance he is obliged Or not imagining but that he may be godly in it Or with God as if God look'd at him and at his Carriage in his Place Also with God that is in a godly manner looking at him and walking with him So that this Text which must needs include the Tradesman doth lay an unquestionable Obligation upon you to add to your Vertue Godliness Hereupon it is that the Scripture checks those severely that say To day or to morrow we will go into such a City and continue there a Year and buy and sell and get Gain Jam. 4. 13. without taking due notice of God These are some of those Words by which you may be saved and by which you must be judged at the last day 3. Reason teacheth it For 1. Religion is the truest Wisdom When that wisest of Men Solomon had search'd in vain to find out an Happiness for Man in all thâ— Honour Riches and Pleasures which the World could afford and what can the Man do that cometh after the King he concludes the whole matter in these words Eccles 12. 13. Fear God and keep his Commandments for this is the whole of Man This is his real Wisdom this is his grand Duty this is his only Happiness For indeed there is nothing doth so conduce to our Happiness in this World as true Religion It is the most certain way to Health to Safety to Plenty to true Pleasure and to true Honour Nothing doth so much perfect and regulate the Faculties of the Soul nor crown it with that Peace and Tranquillity as the Fear of God and true Piety and then it 's plain that it and it only leads us to the Fruition of Eternal Happiness both in Soul and Body Therefore unto Man be said Behold the Fear of the Lord that is Wisdom and to depart from Evil is Vnderstanding Job 28. 28. And therefore let every Tradesman be truly Religious 2. There is the highest Equity in it And that upon the account of all the Favours and Blessings which you have receiv'd from God and which you now possess Did not that God whose Fear and Service we are now persuading place