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
his Parts be sufficient and yet he hath no Disposition to it In all these Cases every Man should study to find out God's Will where his Call lies and he ought to conform himself thereunto without any hesitation or disputing Now Abilities are the most signal Testimony of God's Will in this Case A Man may have been unhappy in his Education a Man may be humoursom in his Inclinations but a Man 's present Parts or Gifts do most unquestionably determine what he is fit for But here All Persons especially Young Persons are not competent Judges of their own Abilities and therefore it is their Wisdom and their Duty to be concluded by the Advice of their Faithful Friends and Relations who most commonly are the fittest Judges in what Cases Education Abilities and Inclinations shall when they concur not give place to one another And let these ever consult with the Wisest of the Calling which they are about who can best acquaint them with the Fitness of it And above all Address must be made unto God by earnest Prayer to direct and incline to what is best For if God should chuse our Inheritance for us Psal 47. 4. Then surely it's best that he chuse our Calling for us and doubtless the great matter to be inquired into and regarded in this Affair is to know in what Imployment God would have us to be for there we shall be sure to have his Blessing which is all in all Finally it were also advisable that you chuse a Calling that is safe useful and attainable by ordinary means Safe that is chiefly in respect of the Soul for some Callings there be that are sufficiently gainful and perhaps in themselves simply lawful such as the Retailers of Wine and Ale c. which yet are attended with such Temptations as are not easily avoided His Grace must be strong that lives innocently in them What wise Parent will place his Child in the brink of a Precipice And then useful For every one should desire to be as useful to the World as he can Now some Callings there be wherein a Man may get Riches abundantly for himself but in the way of his Calling at least he doth little good to Men's Souls or Bodies It is very desirable to a good Man to do as much Good as he can and a kind of Penance to spend the Substance of his Life in an Imployment about Trifles but this if the Heart and Ends be holy may be lawful enough tho not so expedient or not so comfortable Unsafe Callings may be needful and some less useful Professions may be lawful and therefore herein I would not impose upon the Conscience but only direct to the best And then lastly attainable that is by just and honest means For if it be never so lawful and fit in it self yet if it be out of your reach or if it be in others Disposal it were Folly in you to chuse it For Example it were a ridiculous thing for a poor Country-Lad to chuse the Calling of a Turkie-Merchant which is out of his reach or of a Judg which is in the King's Disposal But whoso is about to chuse a Calling let him sit down first and count the Cost let him consider whether he have Means proportionable to the End whether with God's ordinary Blessing he be able to deal with it whether his Head be strong enough to overcome the things to be learn'd and his Heart strong enough to undergo the things to be born for the attaining of it lest haply after he hath laid the Foundation and is not able to finish it all that behold it begin to mock him saying This Man began to build and was not able to finish Notwithstanding if a Person be capable of sundry Callings of a different Excellency it is his Wisdom and Duty to chuse the best wherein he may most eminently serve God and his Generation And from this Head about the Choice of a Calling I infer the necessity of Deliberation in order to such Election God hath given to Man Reason for this use that he should first consider then chuse then put in Execution and it is a preposterous and brutish thing to fix or fall upon any weighty Business such as a Calling or Condition of Life without a careful pondering it in the Ballance of sound Reason It is enough for a Bowl to go according to its Biass or for a Beast to follow its Fancy and Appetite and yet many chuse no better a Guide to themselves in this matter They fancy such a Course of Life but can give no solid Reason why or wherefore and it thrives accordingly with them They promise themselves Ease and Honour by the Ministry and meeting with neither are sick of it They fancy wonderful Gain or Delight in other Callings and being disappointed are weary of them and this befals them for want of Deliberation You should therefore consult as is said grave and wise Men Men of Experience and Fidelity and steer your Course by their Advice let Judgment and not Fancy determine your Resolutions So you will bid fairest for good Success therein or if the Event answer not your Expectations you will have this solid Comfort that you were not ruined by your own Rashness Consider therefore Is it lawful to follow such a Calling am I qualified for it have I Wit Strength Patience yea and Stock to manage it For as good Dr. Harris wisely told his Children A rich Cobler is better than a poor Merchant Herein let your Parents Guardians and Teachers assist you with their Judgments for every purpose is established by Counsel and in the multitude of Counsellors is Wisdom Prov. 20. 18. It 's better to lose two or three Months of your Time in considering than two or three Years afterwards in repenting when it is too late Your Friends that were alive to advise you before may be dead when they should assist you after you have miscarried and those that would pity a Man of Conduct in his Distress will neglect a Man of Humour But generally this Care lies on Parents who are solicitous enough in this Affair unless they be surpriz'd and deceiv'd by the Flatteries or Folly of some unfaithful Friends that abuse their Ignorance and Credulity and so will rather serve the Necessity of a Correspondent or Customer than study the Welfare of the Person to be disposed In all such Cases it is better to have no Friend than a false Friend And therefore above all and before all and after all crave the Direction of the only wise God who hath promised to be found of them that sincerely seek him and who will by one means or other sometimes by Persons and Means unknown to you and unthought of guide you into the Way which he shall chuse and then hoist up your Sails and lanch forth into your Business chearfully And this may suffice concerning the Choice of a Calling which is the third thing to be handled in
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
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
the Tradesman's the Well-being of Man's Life The Substance and first Principles of our Food and Rayment are conveyed to us by the Care and Labour of the Husbandman the Tradesman moulds and fits them for our immediate Use and Service 4. Some again are imployed for Man's Delight and Convenience as Musick and divers other Arts wherein also several Trades have some Concern 5. Some Callings there are again which are conversant about the Defence of Mens Bodies and Estates such as Souldiers and all those Imployments that relate to Military Affairs And lastly some are imployed for the Publick Peace and Safety of Mankind as Princes and Magistrates of all kinds and degrees whose Calling also is of God for there is no Power but of God the Powers that be are ordained of God Rom. 13. 1. And here let us make a stand and behold 1. The Folly of Man in reference to what hath been said 1. Of those that mind neither their Spiritual nor Temporal Callings As for their general Christian Calling they were born and bred in it it is true and so do profess it and if they had received their Birth and Education under Paganism or Mahumetanism they had yielded up themselves to those Religions For as they have never searched into the Foundations and Reasons of Christianity so they never study nor set themselves to the Practice of the great Duties of it but their whole business is to please their Appetite and to promote their Interest in this World and do wholly neglect the World to come A lively Faith sound Repentance constant Holiness Self-denial and undissembled Love to God and Man they are Strangers unto and some of them for Temperance Justice Patience Friendship might go to School to Heathens and have only to support them a Form of Godliness but in the mean while they deny the Power thereof And the same Persons are equally mindful of any Temporal Calling that is they no way promote the Good of Mankind they have Parts but improve no Science with them have Strength and Health but use no Art or Faculty Talents but hide them in a Napkin O how will these give account to the Judg of Quick and Dead Do ye think that he will never reckon with you because he delays his coming Or that he will be put off with the Story of your Extraction or Education You have Abilities to ridicule Religion and to do Mischief you have Strength enough to drink to hunt to whore ye are only wise to do Evil but to do Good ye have no Knowledg Wo to you if ye reform not ye have a long Arrear and he that is gracious and merciful and slow to Anger yet by no means will clear the Guilty And therefore bethink your selves grant your selves but Leisure to consider what ye have done for God what for Mankind and what for your own Souls and upon a serious Reflection you will find that ye have been all this while asleep in a pleasant foolish Dream and that it is high time to awake to Action and Imployment who knows but that you may receive your Penny tho you come into the Vineyard at the eleventh Hour 2. Their Folly is here taxed that neglect either of their Callings Perhaps they are very diligent in Reading and Hearing in Prayer and Fasting and do run from one Sermon to another all the Week long but do nothing in any Particular Calling they serve God but serve not their Generation by the Will of God as David did Acts 13. 36. and as they ought to do But these People live as if they were all Soul and no Body or as if they were born only for themselves and for no body else And if some of their Ancestors had taken no more care of them than they do for Posterity they must have fasted out of necessity instead of fasting out of choice Against such as these holy Augustin wrote a whole Book of old who are but a sort of Secular Monks and Nuns that forget the old Canon 2 Thess 3. 10. That if any let them be who or what they will will not work being capable of it they should not eat On the other hand there are a far greater number that are very diligent in their worldly Imployments that rise early sit up late and eat the Bread of Care Labour and Sorrow but apparently neglect the Welfare of their Souls and the Care of the World to come No labouring to get Knowledg Faith or Holiness no reading or hearing of God's Word or Prayer but only such as is meerly superficial and customary busy at the Exchange at Noon but sleepy in their Prayers at Night exhausting all their Strength and Spirits in their Shops and quite heartless in their Closets and Families that live as if they were all Body and no Soul or as if after this short Life there were not a far longer to come yea the very Sabbath that Sacred Day of Rest which should be a Delight is a Grief to them and in their Hearts they cry When will it be over that we may to our worldly Business again yea in that very Day tho the Law doth bind their Hands from Labour yet their Souls are filled with Cares and Contrivances about temporal things But why do ye separate those Callings which God hath joined what Blessing can you expect upon an Estate that is gain'd without Godliness or What will it profit you to gain the whole World and lose your own Souls You might work hard and pray hard also you may gain enough of both Worlds if you would mind each in its place whereas if you neglect the main God may justly as he hath frequently rent away the Earthly and lock'd up the Heavenly Riches from those who value not a grain of Grace above a world of Gold Trust him therefore who never deceived you saying Seek first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness and all other things shall be added to you Mat. 6. 31. 3. Their Folly is manifest who respect not the Author of their Callings to wit Almighty God That seek not his Advice that mind not his Blessing It is most certain that all Persons and Things are governed by the Providence of God that there is nothing so great nor any thing so small which is not directed thereby Now if this be really believed surely it concerns all Men in their weighty Affairs to have recourse to Him to consult his Will and to crave his Blessing else we neglect him we make nothing of him and he may very justly neglect us and be unconcern'd about our Welfare Learn of Abraham's Servant Gen. 24. when he went about his Master's Son's Affair how earnestly he craves the Direction of God in that matter and how well he sped thereafter Learn of Jacob Gen. 28. when he set forth into the World how he prays and vows and how the Lord blest him exceedingly And that Apostle who forbids distracting Care in any matter commands that in
occasions why should I expect Men to be without human Infirmities I that have Frailties of my own surely may indure them in others Since the holy God bears long with the Follies of Men why should not I that am obnoxious to his Justice as well as they And therefore I 'l take up my own Burden and Contentment will help me to carry it easily These are some of the Inconveniences that are common to most Trades But besides these particular Trades have their proper Inconveniences and every Tradesman is apt to enlarge and pore upon his own because he feels them and smarts under them not considering that there may be far greater Troubles which belong to others and that every Man hath his Load And tho these are the Fruits of Sin yet the infinite Goodness of God permits and ordains these to be occasions for the Exercise of Grace and Means to wean us from this World and to prepare us for a better The like is to be said of the Difficulties which the Tradesman meets with Some Trades require hard Labour others continual Care sometimes he hath too much Work and sometimes too little One day a Bill is brought him and he wants Money next day he goes to dun his Debtors and can get nothing Now there is no Relief in these cases but Christian Patience and Contentedness You must go out of this World if you would be free from Difficulties For Man is born unto Trouble as the Sparks flie upward Job 5. 7. Shall the Earth be forsaken for thee and shall the Rock be removed out of his place Job 18. 4. Must a new kind of World be created to give give you Satisfaction No no your business is to imploy your Wit your Time and your Strength in that Condition wherein you are plac'd and humbly to submit to the Providence of God and to assure your selves that God will either lighten your Burden or strengthen your shoulder that no Evil shall befal you out of which he will not bring some good to you and in short that innocent Troubles are better than sinful Triumphs 2. This Contentedness of the Tradesman is shewed In a thankful Acknowledgment of the Excellencies and Advantages of his Calling For herein God hath in great Wisdom set the one over against the other Conveniences to ballance Inconveniences to the end that Man should find nothing after him Eccles 7. 14. no just cause to complain of his Proceedings And tho the Tradesman must be content to give place to some other Callings that move in a Sphere above him the Stars do not envy the Sun and Moon yet he hath many Advantages let him not grow proud by them above others that are below him And these you ought to take thankful notice of since it is both a sign and means of your Contentedness And first in general The Calling of a Tradesman is more comfortable for the Body than divers other Callings unless it be some of the more servile Trades for the most part you meet with less Toil than the poor Husband-man and less Danger than the Souldier There are few of you that are kept from sleep by the Aches of your Bones in daily Labour or that will be content with the Fare or Apparel of the Country-man you know best how it is within but one may easily see by your outside that you have the advantage of him every way and therefore you may be well content Again Your Calling is more friendly to the Mind you have generally a more ingenious Education than labouring-Persons and when Apprentices you are fix'd in Families and among Persons where you have opportunity to cultivate your Parts In many Trades you have much spare time wherein by reading and converse you may accomplish your selves above the ordinary sort of Men not that I would incourage any of you to extravagate or wander out of your proper place but therein you have room enough for the exercising of your Invention Judgment and other Faculties and thereby to advance your Trades to greater Perfection and your own Credit and Profit therewithal Again You have in your way more opportunity to get good than the poor Husbandman For spiritual Good which is the main you are usually feated in such Places Cities or Towns where God's Word is most constantly and seriously preached whereas many poor Husbandmen can seldom reach an edifying Sermon you converse among good Books which carefully read do convey Light and Heat into your Souls when many poor Country-men are happy if they can procure a Bible and a Practice of Piety and that 's all And then you are commonly seated among many sober and godly Neighbours by whose sweet Company and Converse you have much Comfort and Benefit and so beguile the Tediousness of your Pilgrimage whereas the poor Rustick hath very few near him that can be helpful to him And then for outward good things you have a great advantage For if God add his Blessing to your Prudence and Diligence you may arrive at a greater Estate and make better Provision for your Posterity then the Country-man is ever like to do If he can but get plain Food and Rayment pay his Rent and bring up his Children to read and write and then advance them to some Trade among you it is the highest of his Ambition but you many times obtain a plentiful Estate and prove a Credit and Succour to all your Relations And then lastly You Tradesmen have a great Opportunity to do good which next the beatifical Vision is Man's greatest Honour and Happiness You have opportunity to educate and instruct divers young ones that are committed to you and to direct them by your Counsel and Example into the way of Piety and Vertue whereby they may when they swarm out of your Hive carry those Habits with them which will inable them to do worthily in Ephrata and be famous in Bethlehem And if the Lord do bless you in your Imployments you are inabled to do much good both for the Church and Common-wealth It was once the Character of a Bishop that he could not preach but he could make Preachers by his liberal Maintenance and Education of Persons for that Calling So though the Tradesman cannot preach yet he can support and incourage Preachers he can settle a Maintenance on the poor Vicarage or Chappel where he was born or erect a School and endow it for the Instruction of poor Men's Children in reading and writing at least or an Hospital for the decrepit poor in the place of his Nativity or at least he can bestow a quantity of Bibles and other good Books upon those that would read them if they had them He can educate and prefer some or other of his poor Kindred and perhaps make his old Parents bless God for their Relief and Assistance by him And thanks be to God there be many Instances of such Feats which the Tradesman hath done in every Country And these are the Advantages of a
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
Law and yet offend or stumble in one point he is guilty of all If the Fear and Love of God did induce you to other good Duties they would also oblige you to this and you would no more plead Inability Bashfulness or Business but seriously set about it Till then you live in danger of that Fury which is prepar'd for the Heathen and for the Families that call not upon his Name Jer. 10. 25. Better were it for you to break through these petty Obstacles and either with a Book or without it render to God a Morning and Evening Sacrifice with your Families For tho you may perhaps read and pray alone yet 't is great odds some others who are under your charge have no time or mind to it and so live without Prayer and without God in the World And then why will you that pray with them only at night thereby curtail half the Homage and Rent that is due to God Doth not the same Scripture that commands the Evening Sacrifice require the Morning Sacrifice also Exod. 29. 38 39. Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the Altar two Lambs of the first Year day by day continually The one Lamb thou shalt offer in the Morning and the other Lamb thou shalt offer at Even And have not you as much cause to bless the Lord together for your Sleep and Safety in the Night as for your Mercies in the Day Nay have you not greater need to beg divine Assistance Protection and Grace when you go out into the World than when you only go to bed Think of it and answer these things in your Consciences if you can And then how unfit are you and the rest of your Houshold for any lively and earnest Prayers at unseasonably late hours Do not you come to them at such times rather as to an unwellcome Task than as to a gracious Priviledg and accordingly they are performed one sleeping in one corner and another in another God hath no Honour you no Edification by them which should be great Ends of all Religious Duties And the other grand Omission of the Tradesman is of the Lord's-Supper Some of them can live to thirty forty fifty Years of Age I speak what I know without ever once approaching the Lord's Table And yet that blessed Saviour of ours in his last Will and Testament and dying Commands are usually observed commanded the frequent use thereof to all that expect benefit by his Death If Do this in remembrance of me be not a plain Command nothing is plain in the Scripture How can ye satisfy your Consciences in such a palpable Disobedience Besides you lose unspeakable Comfort and Strength which is conveyed into the Soul of the true Beliver therein Say not you are not worthy but labour to be worthy and let your godly Minister be judg in the case certainly that Unworthiness which keeps you from the Sacrament will also keep you out of Heaven and where are you then Plead not that you are unprepared for that is your Sin which you should not sleep in another Night How long I pray will you be preparing No no the plain truth is you are loth to be at the trouble of Self-Examination loth to be disturbed in a sinful and slothful course loth to settle to the Practice of serious Piety loth to forgo the Sin you wot of and here it sticks but Sirs these are the Suggestions of your Enemy He commonly tells Men it is too soon till at length it be too late If you could make a Covenant with Death and escape the Judgment that follows it were another matter But Sin must be repented Grace must be obtain'd Heaven must be ensur'd and how shall these things be unless you buckle to it unless you use the means whereof this is one I do therefore earnestly advise and perswade you to take a speedy course to come and come worthily to the Lord's Table Read such good Books as may direct you apply your selves to some faithful Minister who will gladly assist you and above all beseech the Lord to help you to pardon your great Neglect to cloath you with necessary Graces and to welcome you afterward with a Blessing 2. Let all Tradesmen be hence exhorted to introduce Piety into their Callings I beseech you to abide with God in your Callings You cannot be truly rich you cannot be safe you cannot be happy without it It is a poor House that hath no Fire in it it is a poor Shop that hath no Goods in it but tho you have Fire and Meat enough in the House and Goods sufficient in your Shop yet it is a miserable a cursed House and Shop that have no Religion in them You may I grant get Estates dispose your Children live deliciously c. Go on and prosper but you will die like Fools and these very Estates as you have been often told will help to sink your Posterity in the spending that have ruin'd your Souls in the getting of them Remember your Profession remember your Baptismal Vow remember Eternity and be wise for your own Souls If you abide with God in your Calling he will abide with you and then you shall be happy here and happy for ever Happy are the People that are in such a case yea happy is that People whose God is the Lord Then will your Callings be better for you and you will not be worse for your Callings Say not again it is impossible to be religious in your Calling for tho it be more difficult to walk with God in some Callings yet it is possible to do it in any In the Apostles times they that were Servants yea Slaves to very Heathens are required to abide with God even in that Calling There is no lawful Calling under Heaven but there have been holy Men in it and if you be not so it is the fault of the Person and not of the Calling To this end be restless until you have a sense of Religion in your Hearts Embrace Christ there yield up your Souls to him take his Yoke upon you Accept of him in all his Offices and resign your Souls to him with all its Faculties and then you are past the strait Gate It is said Mat. 22. 5. They made light of it and went their ways one to his Farm another to his Merchandize Miserable is that Merchandize that keeps Men from Jesus Christ If you are too busy to go to Heaven your Money will perish with you But if laying aside every weight and the Sin that doth so easily beset you you immediately set upon the Work of Repentance and Holiness you will have Fruit unto Holiness and the end Everlasting Life Prov. 4. 7. Get Wisdom get Vnderstanding You are all for getting here 's Gain without hazard a great Bargain without Money And now what say you What Answer shall I return to him that sent me As the Levite said of old Consider of it and take Advice and