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
true a Man as above is not bound always to impart all he knows Prov. 29. 11. A Fool uttereth all his Mind but a wise Man keepeth it in till afterwards But he is never permitted to deal in mental Reservations and Equivocations whereby to deceive his Neighbour which are nothing else but painted Lies Your ambiguous Words are in one Sense true it may be but in another false and you present them to him in one Sense and keep them to your selves in other or perhaps you will speak out so much as may deceive another and reserve so much in you own Mind as were it added to the rest would contradict what you have said Now these as they are equally injurious with downright Lies to them with whom you deal so they are equally abhorred and avoided by the upright Tradesman For as a Thief disguis'd is fully as dangerous as bare-fac'd so all such sophistical trafficking is as destructive to Justice and Honesty as plainer Falshoods The upright Tradesman tho he should be a wise Man yet he is a plain Man he will speak as he thinks and do as he speaks It savours strong of Knavery when a Man's Speech is like Apollo's Oracles which may be understood either in a fair or in a fatal Sense Would any of you be so trapan'd or be pleased with such double-dealings why then renounce such dealing your selves Be Israelites indeed in whom there is no gule 6. The Veracity in the Tradesman extends to the Restraining the multiplicity of Words The Scripture doth every where condemn a multitude of Words and saith Prov. 10. 19. In the multitude of Words there wanteth not Sin but he that refraineth his Lips is wise And Eccles 5. 3. That a Fools Voice is known by multitude of Words Yea Prov. 29. 20. Seest thou a Man that is hasty in his Words there is more hope of a Fool than of him And on the contrary Prov. 17. 27. He that is wise spareth his Words And yet what a flood of Words are commonly poured out about the smallest Traffick Amongst which there must needs be many vain and unprofitable The Seller commonly asking unreasonably high while the Buyer doth as commonly bid unreasonably low and a long ado ere they can come near one another Yea oftentimes he that sells shall peremptorily affirm he will take no less than he hath spoken and he that is buying as possitively concluding that he will give no more than he hath offered and yet both of them shall recede from their Words ere they have done Now tho I cannot say that every altering of a Man's Price either in the Seller or the Buyer is a Lie for you have heard that a Lie is a falsifying the Truth with an Intention to deceive whereas this when it is justifiable is only to ask too much that the Chapman may give just enough or only to bid too little that the Tradesman may not have too much iniquum petere ut aequum ferat Yet great Caution must herein be used lest you take an unjust Price as well as ask it or at least occasion others to think you do so but as our Saviour saith in a like case Mat. 5. 37. Let your Communication be yea yea nay nay for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil So certainly these Methods proceed from that Injustice which Men either have in themselves or suspect to be in others or else why might not any such Traffick be dispatch'd in two Words as well as in two hundreds And this shews how far we are degenerated from the Primitive Simplicity for there in one Verse Gen. 23. 15. Ephron saith The Land is worth four hundred Shekels of Silver and in the next Verse Abraham weighed to Ephron the Silver without more ado The like in the case of Boaz of David and Araunah of Jeremiah and Hanameel And you will find that frequent recedings from your Word will indanger to forfeit your Credibility and it were much better and easier for Men to be at a word in their Bargains unless upon a stricter Observation of the Commodity there is visible cause to alter it Say not there is no trading without this Custom for we see that de facto considerable trading is dispatch'd by divers Persons without either many Prices or many Words which shews that the thing is possible and surely should be endeavoured by all discreet and consciencious Persons IV. And here let us make Application of this Point 1. Let all Tradesmen reflect upon and take due Cognizance of their own Behaviour in this matter Have you in the foresaid Particulars liv'd in all good Conscience to this day Have you always spoken the Truth in your Hearts Have you been cunning Hunters as Esau or plain Men as Jacob have you set a watch before the Door of your Lips and kept your Mouth with a Bridle have you never made Lies your Refuge nor affirm'd any thing which your Consciences have contradicted O judg your selves that ye may not be judged of the Lord Erect a just Tribunal in your own Breasts and call over your Behaviour in your several Callings let matters have a fair Trial and pronounce righteous Judgment And if you find your selves faulty make your Atonement with God and make what possible Amends you can to those that have been deceived by you Make true Confessions of your false Equivocations and rest not till you have obtain'd Pardon through the Blood of Jesus Christ 2. I am authoriz'd from this Point to speak Reproof and Terror to all those Tradesmen that do love or make a Lie There are too many that care not what they say so that they may gain by it affirm any thing deny any thing cloud colour equivocate deny their own Words contradict themselves and their Consciences prostitute their Credits cheat and injure their Brethren and all this to get that Wealth from which they may be rent or it rent from them in a moment Is this Wisdom Is this Religion Is it Morality No none of them This is to burn your Fingers to save yours Snuffers to suffer your Heads to be broken to spare your Helmet It is to over-reach your selves They that observe lying Vanities for sake their own Mercy 'T is ten to one that this course will disappoint you in this World You will at length be detected and shun'd of all Men Prov. 12. 19. The Lip of Truth shall be estabishled for ever but a lying Tongue is but for a moment God may justly pronounce your Fate like Moabs Jer. 48. 30. His Lies shall not so effect it But if he please in Judgment to prosper a lying Tongue and that you grow rich thereby yet a heavy Curse is intail'd upon your Estates They will be means to feed your or your Posterities Sins in this World and to sink your Souls into endless Misery in another Behold Gehazi 2 Kings 5. His Heart was set upon Money no matter how he got it he makes one Lie to Naaman
and another to Elisha and got the Prize but he got the Curse of Leprosy with it let him be a Pillar of Salt to you If you value your External Credit if you value your Internal Comfort if you value your Eternal Happiness buy the Truth and sell it not and banish away those lying Lips You dare not swear you think and that truly that swearing is an heinous Sin but lying it 's a Peccadillo a venial matter but deceive not your selves For Rev. 22. 15. without are Dogs and Sorcerers and Whoremongers and Murderers and Idolaters and whosoever loveth and maketh a Lie Behold the Company that Liars are found in and the Place whither they are cast And tho among Sins there is no best yet there is a bad and a worse and Lying is justly reckon'd among the very worst of Sins he must have a great measure of Atheism and very little Life in his Conscience that can indulge himself in this Trade yea it is worse than Swearing in some respects Therein you offend God and hurt your selves but herein you offend God hurt your own Souls and injure your Neighbour also If all this cannot stop your lying Tongues behold shortly that shall come to pass which is written Psal 63. 11. The Mouth of them that speak Lies shall be stopped 3. I exhort you in God's Name and Behalf to speak Truth every Man with his Neighbour seeing you are Members one of another Let your Words be a true Copy of your Meaning Do not row one way and look another speak one thing and think another The People whom God will save are Children that will not lie Isa 63. 8. What Man is he that desireth Life keep thy Tongue from evil and thy Lips from speaking Guile Psal 34. 12 13. Study and practise it your selves recommend it to your Children charge it upon your Apprencices If you permit them to lie to your Advantage they will not scruple to lie to your Prejudice No let Justice and Truth have both of them a place behind your Counters let them rule in the Shop let them accompany you to the Exchange so shall you find Favour and good Understanding in the sight of God and Man When Agur had but two things to ask of God this was one of them Prov. 30. 7 8. Remove far from me Vanity and Lies and then will God give you the other thing which he requested that is he will find you with Food convenient for you To this end 1. Labour for the true Faith and Fear of God So you will set the Lord always before you and then sure you dare not utter an Untruth This will make you say with holy Paul 2 Cor. 11. 31. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which is blessed for evermore knoweth that I lie not Few that will dare to speak an Untruth if they know that a stander-by is able to disprove them If you had but one dram of Faith or Fear actually stirring in your Hearts you durst not you could not speak a false thing He always sees tho he be oft unseen He is not far from every one of us How can you lift up your Faces to him in Prayer at Night when you have so affronted his Truth and Omniscience in the Day Assure your selves that the God of Truth will never bless either a Lie or a Liar Learn that Lesson Prov. 23. 17. Let not thy Heart envy or imitate so it may be rendred Sinners they 'l go their own way but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long Place thy self always before him and believe every place to be filled with God 2. Get and keep a truly tender Conscience This is God's Substitute and being in our Bosoms is at hand to smite when the Tongue trips even natural Conscience would go far in this matter The wise God hath placed Conscience and Shame in us for the bridling of Sin and of this Sin in particular Conscience that stands in awe of God and Shame that stands in fear of Man and when these Bridles are broken by the strength and custom of Sin Man grows the most profligate and abominable Creature in the World But unsanctified Consciences are very often either void of Sense or full of Rage they are either slumbring with Security or roaring with Horror A renewed Conscience is the great Preservative which having smarted for Sin is tender at the approach of it again and so dare not come nigh any of the Avenues of Sin In the Body the Hand can endure a Blow the Eye cannot endure a Mote the tenderness of the part cannot bear it Conscience is the Eye of the Soul it is Index Judex Vindex And therefore beware of baffling or of bribing your own Consciences If they may not speak they will write and write bitter things And some Care must be used tothis end you must with that holy Apostle Act. 24. 16. Exercise your selves herein to have always a Conscience void of Offence toward God and toward Men. 3. And lastly You must Love your Neighbour as your selves Delicatares est amor we are impatient of any Injury done to those whom we love It is base Self-love that begins and ends at home No he that rightly loves himself truly loves his Neighbour And every Man is our Neighbour O the Excellency of our Religion It teaches us to be sober righteous and godly here as well as how to be happy hereafter It teaches us to be wise and yet upright Nature teaches us to love our selves but Grace teaches us to love our Neighbour as our selves and what Man ever told a known Falshood to himself But whither is this lovely Grace fled and gone Of old the Christians Occultis se notis nôrunt amant mutuò penè antequam noverint as Min. Faelix observes but now it is not so Let every Man revive this noble Grace in his own Heart Let all Tradesmen walk according to this Rule you are supported by others be willing that others be supported by you you that expect plain dealing use it And if you have any true Love to God or to your Neighbour or to your own Souls putting away Lying speak every Man Truth with his Neighbour for we are Members one of another SECT 5. Of Contentedness in a Trade A Fifth Requisite to the right managing of your Trades is Contentedness This the Apostle aims at in that Exhortation 1 Cor. 7. 20. Let every Man abide in the same Calling wherein he was called For it seems that some raw Christians had a conceit that the Christian Religion dissolv'd all precedent Obligations that the believing Wife was ipso facto released from her Infidel Husband that it was unlawful and unreasonable for a Christian Servant to continue in his outward Servitude And the Servants by the Jewish and Roman Laws were in such Slavery that Flesh and Blood was glad of such an occasion for Liberty Now to rectify this Mistake says the Apostle Let
stays Hearken to the Voice of God Prov. 23. 4 5. Labour not to be rich cease from thine own Wisdom Wilt thou set thine Eyes upon that which is not For Riches certainly mark that certainly make themselves Wings they flee away as an Eagle towards Heaven What Wise-Man will fall in love with a Bird on the House-top and such are Riches Unless you find that you are ready according to your ability to any good-work and that you can find in your Heart to eat and drink and wear Apparel sutable to your Estate the World is in your hearts and you must ply the work of Mortification quickly and lift up your Affections from things below to the better things that are above 8. The Religion of the Tradesman is to be exercised in the frequent use of holy Ejaculations An Ejaculation is the darting up of the Heart unto God in a short and lively Prayer And they may be used either by way of Confession as that God be merciful to me a Sinner O wretched Man that I am who shall deliver me from the Body of this Death Or by way of Petition as that of Neh. 13. 31. Remember me O my God for good Or by way of Deprecation as David O Lord turn the Counsel of Achitophel into Foolishness Or by way of Intercession as O that the Salvation of Israel were come out of Zion Or by way of Thanksgiving as that of Christ I thank thee Father Lord of Heaven and Earth c. Now this is the excellency and advantage of these kind of Prayers that as they will dispatch much business in Heaven so they will hinder no business upon Earth they are like a well-plac'd Parenthesis they hinder not the Sense they may be interlin'd not only in a Sermon but in the throng of your Imployments Nehemiah could list up such a Prayer while the King and Queen were all in Presence Neh. 2. 4. Especially you that are Artificers whose Imployment lies in manual Operation what excellent opportunities have you to step often to Heaven by these kind of Prayers and Praises And that you may see this is not a new Invention or piece of modern Preciseness hear what holy Augustin says De Opere Monachorum As vain Men have their Fables and filthy Songs at work quid ergo impedit Servum Dei manibus operantem in Lege Domini meditari psallere nomini Dei altissimi Cantica divina cantare etiam manibus operantes facile possunt ipsum laborem tanquam divino celeumate consolari that is God's Servants should while they are at work sing the Praises of God When the Heart is inditing a good matter the Tongue will quickly be as the Pen of a ready Writer By these you will keep in the fire of Grace between your set-times of Prayer by these you may meet with and quench a Temptation on the sudden When Satan is at his Injections and Injaculations have you recourse to your Ejaculations When you feel the Guilt of Sin to pinch you or the Sense of any Mercy to affect you or of any Danger or Difficulty to affright you this will be a present Relief till you have opportunity of more solemn Prayer And as no Ship is so laden but one may thrust in two or three small Jewels into it so no Man's Business is so throng but he may interline an holy Ejaculation And of the like nature are Soliloquies wherein we speak to our own Souls either to rouze up our dull Spirits or to revive our drooping Souls as we find holy David frequently Psal 42. 62 c. Hereby you may make Company of your selves when as in some Callings you are working alone all the day and it is a sad thing that a Man shall know how to confer with Men yea how to converse with God and yet cannot tell how to commune with his own Heart 9. This Religion or Godliness in a Tradesman is shewed In exercising of Grace in his Calling It is not enough to have all Organs of a human Body without a vital Principle and vital Acts what 's a Hand if it work not or an Eye if it see not and what signifies your Grace within if it be not actually imployed Joh. 4. 14. But the Water that I will give him shall be in him a Well of Water springing up into Everlasting Life A Well is always springing up and true Grace should be still in Activity Most Men act only according to their natural Humour all the week long and others consult only their worldly Interest but the Christian Tradesman hath not so learned Christ He must every day act the Graces of Spiritual Wisdom Zeal Self-denial Patience Charity and particularly that Truth Justice and Contentedness which hath been described to him you will have more Comfort in the review of this than of all your other Gains You will be frequently provoked by your Servants and others here ye must act both Wisdom and Patience you will see too much Sin and Dishonour done to God every day here 's Work for your Zeal you will be often presented with poor Objects there 's occasion for your Charity In short you will have occasion to buy or sell every day there 's Work for your Veracity and Equity And the acting of these Graces is so necessary that you are but dead Christians without it and so pleasing to God that every such Act both strengthens the Habit and opens the charitable Hand of God to give you more And without these you will be but the World's drudg here and that 's sad and the Devil 's hereafter and that 's worse A pious Tradesman may act Grace as much as the greatest Rabbi Famous is the Story of a Primitive Saint in Egypt Who having for many Years retired himself from the World and chiefly imployed himself in the Acts of Mortification and Devotion and being thereupon tempted to think himself among the holiest Men on Earth and long'd to know who should sit next him in Heaven was warned to inquire for a Man in Alexandria who was holier than himself and who should that be but when he had found him but a poor Cobler that work'd hard most of the day but was so circumspect in his Life so just in his Dealings so thankful with his Wife for his mean fare and then so truly devout in the Worship of God that the poor Hermite return'd crest-faln to his Cell and found that the honest Tradesman was like to sit above him in Heaven So that the Exercise of Grace should be no uncouth Business to a Christian Tradesman 10. The Tradesman's Piety must be shewed In the sincere promoting of Goodness and discouraging of Sin As it is the Honour of God that he is good and doth good so he ingraves the same image upon his Children Whatsoever doth regularly tend to the advancing of God's Honour or the Spiritual and Temporal Good of Mankind Religion inclines the honest Tradesman to further it to his utmost