A SERMON Preached before the Honourable Company of MERCHANTS Trading to the Levant-Seas.  
At St. HELEN'S, January 16. being Sunday, 1697/8.  
By EDM. CHISHULL, M. A. Fellow of Corpus-Christi College in Oxon: And Chaplain to the Factory at Smyrna.  
LONDON, Printed for S. Manship, at the Ship near the Royal Exchange in Cornhill, 1698.   

To the Right Worshipful Sir William Trumbull, Knt. GOVERNOR, And to the Honourable Company of MERCHANTS Trading to the Levant-Seas.  
Right Worshipful, etc.  
THIS Discourse which was at first hastily Composed, whilst I was a Candidate for your Favours, is now, with great reluctancy, drawn into public view. I am uneasy to think, how slender and imperfect a Piece is now put into the hands of Those Men, who were always justly esteemed as a most Accomplished and Excelling Part of the English Nation. But this being the first Command with which You were pleased to honour me, I was willing to give You any, even this imprudent Earnest of my future Observance. If Your Choice of this occasional and peculiar Subject, cannot exempt my Performance from the Censures of other Men; it will be my only Refuge to appeal to Your Protection. That I am now happily Entitled to it, I can ascribe to nothing but the known Candour and Generosity of the several Eminent Members that compose Your whole Society: Who as They at first surprised me by Their unmerited unexpected Kindness; so They now render me solicitous by what degrees of Sobriety, Honesty, and Industry, I may deserve Their Favours.  
Give me leave Gentlemen to assure You; That I go Abroad with Courage and Resolution to answer, as far as I am able, All those weighty Ends, to which Your Free Choice, and God's Providence, have determined my Endeavours. I quickly hope to serve You in that Ancient Seat of Christianity, which will Itself constantly excite me to a Conscientious Performance of my Duty. And another fresh Encouragement I shall receive from those great Examples, by which You have there Honoured and Adorned Your Native-Country. I am,  
Right Worshipful, etc. Your most Faithful, and most Obedient Servant, Edm. Chishull.   

A SERMON Preached before the Levant-Company.  PSALM cvij 23, 24. 
They that go down to the Sea in Ships, that do Business in great Waters;  
These see the Works of the Lord, and his Wonders in the Deep.  
IT is the great Design of this Psalm to remind the several Orders and Degrees of Men of their Obligations to Almighty God; and to recollect to them all that variety of Gifts, of Encouragements, and of Mercies, that they have received from Providence. A Consideration this, very highly necessary in our corrupted Age, in which the Affairs of this World are apt to terminate even our highest Thoughts, and teach us to forget God with whom we have to do. Whereas there is nothing more certain than that the best of us here below are nothing but so many Agents, or rather Instruments of Providence, directed and ordained by the high hand of God, to act by his Commission, to make use of his Assistances, and to fulfil his Purposes in our appointed stations. In the mean time, the only true End we can propose to ourselves, is to attain, as near as we are able, to the Good of our own Souls, and the Glory of our Maker. And as the meanest Peasant upon Earth ought not to do less than this; so the greatest Monarch can do no more. However, the different Posts and Stations, in which we are all to endeavour after this Common End, have given different names and degrees to Virtue; and according as our Talents are more or less, so more or less Improvement is expected of us. For some there are who can exercise little other Virtue in this Life, except that of Patience and Submission to the Yoke of Providence; and who are for the most part constrained to bring Glory to God by their Sufferings only. Others again there are, who are indeed called to an active state of Life, but that of so inferior a Rank, and so confined a Compass, that the benefit of their Duty can hardly be derived to any besides themselves. At the same time there is a Nobler part of Mankind, set up as Lights in the World, and ordained to be the Blessings of their Age and Country; Men adorned with Wisdom, Ability and Renown; dispensing the Gifts of Heaven to all that are round about them. But however these may be again diversified in the several degrees, and qualities, and circumstances of Life; there are none either more happy in themselves, or beneficial to their fellow-creatures, than those whom God is pleased to employ on more than one Scene of the Creation; those whom he leads, as it were by the Hand, over the Paths of the Watery Deep, and whom he takes as Witnesses of his Power, his Justice, his Mercy, and of his Immense Goodness even to the unconverted World. For whilst others are confined at home to a more narrow sort of Observation, and have no other Notices of an Universal Providence but such as are received by Report only; in the mean time, They that go down to the Sea in Ships, that do Business in great Waters, These see the Works of the Lord, and his Wonders in the Deep.  
In Discoursing on which words, the Scope of the whole Psalm, the Import of the Text itself, and that which is the Natural Inference from both, direct me to do these Three Things.  

I. To prove that the Glory of God ought to be the principal Aim of all our Undertake.  
II. To show that the Glory of God may more especially be promoted by Travel, and Foreign Commerce.  
III. To consider what Duties are more immediately incumbent upon those whom Providence has called to this important Service.   
First, Therefore I am to prove that the Glory of God ought to be the principal Aim of all our Undertake.  
When I say of all our Undertake, I thereby directly exclude all that is indeliberate, all that is idle and trivial, much more all that is vicious in the Conduct of our Life. For these are so many Scandals of our Nature, and blemishes to our Moral Prudence, that either indeed they do not, or at least we could wish they did not, make up any part of our real Character: But in every momentous and important Scene of our Human Life, in this or that considerable Enterprise, in this or that hinge of our main End, and indeed every thing which we think productive of our true and chiefest Good, in this we ought directly and formally to intend the Almighty's Glory: and that not only according to the Command of St. Paul, (1 Cor. 10. 31.) Whatsoever ye do, do all to the Glory of God; but likewise according to the Example of our Blessed Saviour, who sought not his own Glory, (John 8. 50.) but in all his Desires, his Precepts, his Endeavours studied the sole Glory of him who sent him: And though there is no Name under Heaven, which in respect of God's Glory, can bear any degree of comparison with our Lord and Saviour; yet because we all are parts of the Rational World, endowed with capacious Faculties, and prescribed a large variety of Duties, therefore as far as we are capable of arriving at any Perfection in these, so far are we capable of promoting our Maker's Glory; i. e. of answering those remote Ends for which God created the World in general, as well those immediate ones, for which he created us in particular. In the mean time that it ought to be our concern so to do, or at least so to intend, will appear from the Three following Reasons. And,  
1. The Glory of God ought to be the principal Aim of all our Undertake, because this is a certain Method to be constantly secure of Success. For those Men alone can be frustrated in their Undertaking who terminate their hopes in Temporal Riches or in Worldly Honour; whereas he who first enters upon any laudable Profession, and then dedicates his Services therein to the Glory of Almighty God, that Person has done all, which in this uncertain Life, he was capable of doing. Whether or no he shall execute his Designs, lies hid in the Counsel and good Pleasure of him that made him; but that he intended well was the free and deliberate Choice of his own Will. After which, though he be oppressed by Envy, though he be frowned upon by Fortune, nay, though he be intercepted by Mortality itself, yet he has taken an effectual Method to ensure the Success of his Designs: He has approved his Resolutions in the Sight of an All seeing God, he shall at length be admitted into his Master's joy, and accepted under the Character of a good and faithful Servant. 
Mat. 25. 21.  But,  
2. The Glory of God ought to be the principal Aim of all our Undertake, because the happiest Success we can promise to ourselves is not due to us, but to God alone. We are all the Servants and Vassals of our Heavenly Lord and Master, Commission'd in our Earthly Pilgrimage to trade with that Talon which he has entrusted to us; and therefore it is but Reasonable that the Gain and the Credit of our Service should finally accrue to the great Proprietor. We ourselves are the Workmanship of his Hands; our Being he renews to us every moment of our Life; he is pleased to concur with us in every Action that we undertake; we live freely upon his Earth, and are daily fed by the Bounty of his Hands; we act by those Faculties which he has lent to us; and we make use of such Materials as are supplied by his Providence; and if after all this, we can attribute any Honour to ourselves, or can take Pleasure in our Productions, as if they were the Works of our own Hands, what do we else do, but idolise the Creature, and adore Dust and Ashes for those Perfections which we borrowed from above? An eminent Presumption this, to rob God of that Glory of which he is known to be so Jealous, and of which he has peremptorily declared, (Isa. 42. 8.) That he will not give it to another. But,  
3. The Glory of God ought to be the principal Aim of all our Undertake, because the Glory of God is no other than our own Happiness. For though the Glory of God, and the Happiness of Mankind are often represented to us under distinct Characters, yet if duly apprehended they cannot but appear to be one and the same thing. Whatsoever is the ultimate End of our best and honestest Endeavours, that at the same time is sufficient to make Man happy, and to glorify his Maker. As it is the end of our Labours, and is agreeable to our Human Nature, so it is the Creatures Good; but as it is the Reward of our Virtue, and is agreeable to the Divine Will, so it is the Creator's Glory. And upon this account it is, that God who created Man on purpose to make him happy, says likewise by Isaiah, that he created him for his own Glory. But if this indeed be the Case, we need not then be directed to aim at the Glory of God in all our Undertake: for as we are Men, and Masters of right Reason, we shall be sure so to do. It remains only, that as we are Christians we propose it to ourselves under that Notion, and that we terminate our Hopes in this or that ultimate Reward, not for our own sake, but for the sake of our Creator. This, if we could once practise it, would prove an excellent Rule for the Conduct of our whole Life. This would be such a blessed subordination of our Human Nature to the Heroic Spirit of Christianity, that we according to the Dictates of right Reason, should in all things be made happy; and God according to the Dictates of Religion in all things should be glorified. (1 Pet. 4. 11.) But having thus far insisted upon the First General Head, and proved that the Glory of God ought to be the principal Aim of all our Undertake; I proceed now,  
Secondly, To show that the Glory of God may more especially be promoted by Travel and Foreign Commerce.  
It having been already asserted, that the Glory of God is not really to be distinguished from the Good of the Creature, it will here follow that those may be chiefly Instrumental in promoting the Glory of their Maker, who either by Nature, by Fortune, or Education, are fitted to be beneficial to their Fellow-Creatures. For the further illustration of which; We are to know that God is a bountiful and indulgent Parent to the Universe. He no sooner had created the World by his Power, but he plentifully endowed it by his Goodness. He has provided not only for the Necessities, but also for the Pleasures and Perfections of Life. He has furnished us with an inexhaustible variety of Materials for the Goods of the Mind, the Goods of the Body, and the Goods of Fortune; for Riches, for Pleasure, for Virtue, for Religion, and the like. In the mean time, there needs only some large and exalted Spirits to be the Dispenser's of the Almighty's Bounty: Men who are worthy to display, to propagate, and to communicate the Gifts of Heaven: Men who by long Habits of Industry and Resolution, have made it their familiar Province, to improve themselves, and enrich the Public. But that these happy Opportunities of being serviceable to the Glory of God, are in a great measure peculiar to the Employment of Travelling and Traffiquing with Foreign Nations, is what I shall endeavour to prove from no other than those Three Particulars, which are plainly hinted in my Text; namely, 1. Because it advances our Native Country. 2. Because it acquaints us with the Works of the Creation. 3. Because it acquaints us with the Dispensations of Providence. Therefore,  
1. Travel and Foreign Commerce may be serviceable to the Glory of God as they are a Means of advancing our Native Country.  
When at first Providence distributed its Goodness to the several Inhabitants of the Earth, to these it gave Fruits, to those Metals, and to others Precious Stones: but on its Favourite and beloved People, It bestowed a Spirit and a Genius to use these Treasures of the Creation. Treasures not sprung up amongst them, lest they should administer to their Ignorance and Idleness; but rather shown them at a distance, the better to encourage and to provoke their Industry. These Men therefore receive Vigour and Activity from their own, but Food and Raiment from other Climates. At Home they make Laws and erect a Polity; but Abroad they ransack both the East and the West for Riches. Valuable Blessings these; if we employed them to the Credit of Religion, and in the Service of him, who first planted this Wealth in other Countries, and then showed us the way to bring it hither. But whatever be the Ends to which they are at Home converted, 'tis the Traveller and the Merchant to whom we are beholden for those good things of the Earth, which others make the matter either of their Vice or Virtue. These are they who bring us in the Fruits, the Treasures, and when they too are laudable, even the Customs of our Neighbours. These are they who have raised not only whole Trading Nations, but even lesser Marts and Cities of Traffic, to be the Wonder of the World. Insomuch that either in Sacred or Profane History, no Place of old was ever mentioned with a Veneration equal to that of Tyre: Tyre, says the Prophet Isaiah, 
Isa. 23. 8.  the crowning City, whose Merchants are Princes, whose Traffickers the Honourable of the Earth.  
2. Travel and Foreign Commerce are serviceable to the Glory of God, as far as they are the Means of acquainting us with the Works of the Creation.  
When the Sea was as yet locked up from the Use and Observation of Mankind, they were then strangely unacquainted with the parts of the Creation; and the narrowness of that Sphere wherein they conversed, detained them from any large and exalted Speculations. But when the Experience of Navigation had opened another Scene, and the new World of Waters was added to that other of the Earth, than the boundless Curiosity of Man was overcome with a variety of Wonders. With Terror and Amazement he travelled over the trackless Ocean: and the immeasurable extended Main led him by degrees to conceive the Infinity of Him, whose way is in the Sea, and his path in the great Water. To say nothing of those other surprising Objects that adorn the prospect of the Deep: those raging Waves, those impending Rocks, that herd of monstrous Animals. Add to this, those various Constellations, that different appearance of the Planets, that new vicissitude of Days and Seasons, together with the innumerable unknown Productions of distant Countries. All which when we reflect upon, we shall think that the Psalmist had reason to cry thus Pathetically towards the Throne of Grace; Lord, how manifold are thy Works! in Wisdom hast thou made them all: the Earth is full of thy Riches. So is this great and wide Sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great Beasts. There go the Ships; there is that Leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein. (Psal. 104. 24, 25, 26.) For these are all matter of Astonishment, even while they continue under the ken of Reason only: but being once subject to the naked Eye, and become the visible Objects of our outward Apprehensions, they then directly lead us to the Contemplation of Things above, and fix our Thoughts on him, who is the Author and Disposer of them all. So that viewing the Universal Cause in this multiplicity of Effects, and taking some Estimate of God from the Grandeur of his Works, we may presume with holy Job to make that familiar Exclamation; I have heard of thee by the hearing of the Ear; but now mine Eye seeth thee. (Job 42. 5.) But,  
3. Travel and Foreign Commerce are serviceable to the Glory of God, as they are a Means of acquainting us with the Dispensations of Providence.  
To illustrate which Proposition, I need only cite that part of this exalted Psalm which follows the Verses of my Text: They that go down to the Sea in Ships, that do Business in great Waters; These see the Works of the Lord, and his Wonders in the Deep. For he commandeth and raiseth the stormy Wind, which lifteth up the Waves thereof. They mount up to the Heaven, they go down again to the depths; their Soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken Man, and are at their wit's end. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them to their desired Haven.  
Lo, here a large description of Providential Goodness! Lo, here a mixture of Judgement and Mercy, that will admit of no Comment or farther Illustration. It is so lively, and so Poetical a passage; it so represents that Scene of Danger to all who have had the least Experience of Maritime Affairs; it so recollects to them the whole variety of their Fortune; it so urges them to remember, how in the midst of these Fears and Uncertainties they have yet sailed securely over that dangerous and devouring Element. But if we take a view of National as well as of Personal Providence; It cannot but be entertaining to all those who have been called into Foreign Parts, to observe the dealings of Almighty God with those places which heretofore were the Seat of his true Religion. To see that unworthy Land of Palestine, unworthy aforetime of the Prophets, the Messiah, and the Apostles, now deservedly become a Shame, and a Desert, and the Portion of an ignorant and unbelieving People. In the mean time, we who were then a Nation overspread with Error and thick Darkness, do now enjoy the purest Light and Profession of the Gospel. Nay, it has been the Fate of this very Kingdom to have got to itself not only the Religion, but also the Trade of those Eastern Countries. And as the greedy 
* Vid.  Tyrians of old trafficked to these Isles for Tin and Silver, 
Bochar.  and reserved us as their peculiar Mart, 
Geogr.  unknown as yet to other Nations of the Earth; 
Sac.  so we who were then impoverished and exhausted by them, 
lib. 1.  do now by an happy turn of Providence, 
cap. 39  fetch in our Stores and our Riches from the Land of Tyre and Sidon. Wonderful things are these, and not inferior to those other, of which it was once said in a strain of Prophecy, Who shall live when God doth this? (Numb. 24. 23.) But having insisted thus far upon the Second General Head, and shown that the Glory of God may more especially be promoted by Travel and Foreign Commerce; I proceed now,  
Thirdly, To consider what Duties are more immediately incumbent upon those whom Providence has called to that important Service.  
If what has hitherto been urged can convince any considerate and thoughtful Person, 1. That the Glory of God ought principally to be endeavoured after; and then, 2. That it may thus happily be attained by Travel and Foreign Commerce; it will here naturally follow that those, whose Lot is fallen in this so Honourable a Service, are liable to many great and signal Obligations: Which that they may the better be exemplified, with an eye to the several parts of the foregoing Discourse, I shall endeavour briefly to comprehend them under these Three General Heads. First, The Duty of Praise to God. Secondly, The Duty of Example to our Neighbour. Thirdly, The Duty of Consideration with ourselves. Therefore,  
First, Those who are employed in Travel and Foreign Commerce are obliged to the Duty of praising God.  
It is a confessed Principle, and that too even in Natural Religion, That as far as we are possessed of the good things of this Life, so far we are Debtors to the bountiful Hand of God. Which as it is true of all, so most remarkably of that Order of Men, to which we are now addressing. For there is a wide and palpable difference betwixt the Profession of the Husbandman and the Merchant. The one is enriched by the ordinary Womb of Nature; but the other by the immediate Care of Providence: The one grows fat in his own Land, but the other in a Land that is not his: The one is wont to reap in proportion to what he sows, but the other is often blest with a much more abundant unexpected Affluence. From all which Particulars the true and genuine Inference must needs be this; viz. That if the Benefits which those enjoy are seven times due to God, than these are indebted to him seventy times seven. But be it more or less which Heaven has entrusted to us; As a Jew or an Heathen would repay these with the First-Fruits of his Temporal Increase; so a true Christian will prepare his devout Acknowledgements in better Sacrifices than those. He will thank his Almighty Benefactor, not in an air of Boasting, but in devout and mental Adorations: Not in the Marketplace, but in the inmost privacy of the Closet: Not for that he has made him Rich, but that of his Grace and Mercy he has granted him enough. After which, he will be careful to employ the Overplus, to the Honour of Religion, in the Education of his Family, or for the Benefit of his Native Country. And doubtless, this is the most likely progress to complete the several degrees of an Hearty and Religious Praise. For a truly generous Mind is sensible of all its real Obligations; a sense of our Obligations will remit us to the thoughts of Providence; the thoughts of Providence will commemorate God's Mercies; the memory of God's Mercies will beget a Christian Gratitude; and that Gratitude will break forth into the Ejaculation of the Blessed Psalmist; Oh that Men would therefore praise the Lord for his Goodness, 
Ver. 31.  and for his wonderful Works to the Children of Men. But,  
Secondly, Those who are employed in Travel and Foreign Commerce, are obliged to the Duty of good Example to their Neighbour.  
As the Example of each single Person is always to be measured by the Character which he bears; so in some sense it is true, that none bear a greater Character than those, whom Providence has ordained to any Foreign Employment. For the Charge which they carry with them is, in truth, a sacred and inestimable Charge: no less than the Credit of their Religion and their Native Country. They ought to approve themselves Abroad not only as Persons of sober and honest Conversation; but what is much more, as becomes true Englishmen and sincere Christians. So that if by means of those who shall travel from hence into the Unbelieving World, this Nation is not esteemed as a Brave, a Generous and Heroic People; this Faith as an Holy, Sincere and Heavenly Profession; the fault will lie at their doors, whose Life and whose Behaviour have misrepresented either. But as these are the Circumstances of our Countrymen Abroad; so being returned Home, the Case is not much altered. For these are the Men who committed themselves and their Fortune to God's immediate Protection; these are the Men who have prospered in that state of Life; these are the Men who have seen the Works of the Lord, and his Wonders in the Deep; and therefore these too are the Men who stand obliged to a more exact performance of their Duty. Otherwise there never will be wanting such weak and unwary Persons, who being less acquainted with the Dispensations of Providence, will be led by these great Authorities into the like remissness of Obedience. And then they, by whose Example our most holy Religion is thus unhappily dishonoured, will appear at the great Tribunal, not only guilty of their own, but likewise as partakers of other men's Sins. (1 Tim. 5. 22.) But,  
Thirdly and Lastly, Those who are employed in Travel and Foreign Commerce, are obliged to the Duty of Consideration with themselves.  
The Art of knowing one's self is what some Heathens have much talked of, but what some Christians have better practised. And in truth it is so desirable a Perfection, that it is much to be wished that the several stations and degrees of Men were acquainted with it: Especially the Merchant and the Traveller, in whose Life there must needs be so great a variety of Accidents, so many remarkable Events, and such a mixture of Joy and Wonder, as will be always entertaining to themselves. To this end it would prove a Method of excellent good Service, if each single Person preserved a faithful Register of all his Actions, and as it were an History of his own Life. There it might be pleasant, as well as useful to observe, what diversity of Men, of Things, or of Places, they have seen; what Works of God's Power, or what Dispensations of his Providence; what Dangers they have escaped; what Difficulties they have encountered by Sea or Land; with how little, or with how much, they at first began; and finally, with what increase of Fortune God has blessed their industry. After which it will be necessary to deal sincerely with themselves, and to put to an Impartial Conscience these or the like Questions. Have they been desirous to praise and to adore God for his manifold and repeated Mercies? Have they been fair and just in all their Dealings? Have they improved the Talon of Grace, as well as that of Fortune? Have they been Charitable to the Distressed according to their Ability? Have they been studious to do Honour to the Country from whence they came, but chiefly to that unblemished Religion which they profess? In general, Have they approved themselves as wise and faithful Stewards to their great Master, and managed the good Things of this Life to the Glory of him who lent them? These are those only pious Considerations which shall complete the admired Person, who is in Favour both with God and Man: These are they which shall make him happy in himself, and happy to his Fellow-Creatures: These are they which shall lead him from Honour to Honour, and from Virtue to Virtue; till by several gradations of Prudence, his Character shall at length come up to that Idea, and that Desire of the Wise Solomon; Happy is the Man that findeth Wisdom, and the Man that getteth Understanding: For the Merchandise of it is better than the Merchandise of Silver, and the Gain thereof than fine Gold. (Prov. 3. 13, 14.)  
Now the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who accepteth the Doers of the Word and not Hearers only, bless, confirm, preserve, strengthen us, and establish us in every good Word and Work!  
The Peace of God which passeth, etc.  
FINIS.