THE DUTY OF SERVANTS, CONTAINING  
First, Their Preparation for, and Choice of a Service.  
Secondly, Their Duty in Service.  
Together with Prayers suited to each Duty.  
To this is added A Discourse of the Sacrament suited peculiarly to Servants.  
By the Author of Practical Christianity.  
LONDON, Printed for Sam. Smith at the Prince's Arms in St. Paul's Churchyard. 1685.   

THE EPISTLE TO SERVANTS.  
Good Fellow-Christians,  
I Will not increase the Bulk or Price of this Book, by giving the World an account of all the Reasons that moved me to publish it; let it suffice to tell you, that 'tis a Design of great Charity for your Temporal and Eternal Interest. I would, as much as lies in me, render your Estate easy, profitable, and at least not dishonourable, which I shall certainly effect, if I can persuade you to Contentment, and a faithful discharge of your Duty in your Place; for 'tis not the Nature of Service, but the Faults of Servants, which render this state uneasy and contemptible, the greatest Burden and Dishonour of it being in truth to be imputed to the unreasonable Discontents, to the negligent, unfaithful, or undiscreet behaviour of many Servants. I would possess you therefore with such Virtues as may render you the Favourites and Confidents of your Masters, dear to them (as you ought to be) next to their own Children; and by being so, you will become more considerable to all that know you, and nearer every day to Advancement: These Virtues are Contentment in your Condition, Justice, Truth, Industry, Humility, the Fear of God, and such like. By the Practice of these, you will convince the World, that you differ from the Rich and Great only in outward Circumstances, that you have true Honour and Goodness in your Souls, and that you have nothing mean in you besides your Fortune: These therefore cannot miss of making you worthy to be esteemed, to be beloved, to be trusted, to be encouraged.  
But this is not the utmost of my Design, I would make you Happy and Glorious hereafter, I would make you the Children, the Heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ, though the Servants of Men; I would deliver you from the Bondage of Sin and Satan, and make you partakers of the true Liberty of the Sons of God. Now this cannot be done, unless you can be prevailed with to love and pursue after those Virtues which become your condition in the World, and so discharge your Duties conscientiously; for I must deal faithfully with you, no man can be a good Christian, who is not good in that station wherein God has placed him: You cannot then be Obedient Servants of God, unless you be Faithful Servants of Men; nor yet do I confine the whole of your Duty within the compass of your Service to Man, there is a Duty also which you own to God, which you are to perform in the first place, not only because he is your Chief and Best Master, (I should rather have said, your Good Lord and Father too) but also, because this is the best and most solid Foundation of your Duty towards Man; and therefore easily conceiving that no good, nay no wise Man will grudge you the time that is necessary for the Service of God, since unless this be performed, they can neither expect that you should serve them as you ought, nor if they did, that God would give a Blessing to your Service. I have taken care to direct you also in this little Treatise, how to employ this time, laying down such Rules as may be more peculiarly useful to you in Reading, Hearing the Word, Receiving the Sacrament, etc.  
The Method I have followed is very plain, and I need give you no other account of it, than what you have in the Title. I have nothing more but to beseech you, that you would join with me in hearty Prayers to God, that he would bless this my Endeavour with success, not only to your Advantage and Comfort, but to the Peace and Interest of all Families, which is nearly concerned in your Behaviour, that he would possess all of you with Virtues suitable to your Quality and Condition in the World, with a Spirit of Meekness and Humility, with a Spirit of Faithfulness and Industry, with a Spirit of Love and Gratitude, and with a Spirit of Fear of, and Dependence upon him our God, that so you may not only be considerable and useful in your Places, but also Examples of an Excellent Virtue, and by a necessary consequence happy here, and glorious hereafter, which is the sincere Desire of  
Your Affectionate Friend, Richard Lucas.   

The Contents.  

PART I. Of Preparation for, and Choice of a Service.  
Ch. 1. Of Preparation for Service. The Duty of Parents in this point. The Duty of those who design themselves for Service.  
Ch. 2. Of the Choice of a Service. The Importance of this Choice. Rules to be followed in making it.   

PART II. Containing the Duty of Servants.  
Ch. 1. Of the Servant's Duty towards God.  
Ch. 2. Of the Servant's Duty towards his Master and Mistress.  
Ch. 3. Of the Servant's Duty towards the Children of the Family, Sojurners, Strangers.  
Ch. 4. Of the Servant's Duty towards his Fellow-Servants.  
Ch. 5. Of the Servant's Duty towards himself; with 6. The Conclusion of this part, containing general Motives to the Servant's conscientious performance of his Duty.   

PART III. Containing  
The Servant's Preparation for the Sacrament.    

PART I. Of Preparation for, and Choice of a Service.  

CHAP. I. Of Preparation for Service, as 'tis the Duty partly of Parents, and partly of those Young People who resolve upon Service.  
THERE is scarce any particular Work, 
The Necessity of Preparation.  or any single Action that is well done, unless by such who are trained up to it, or fitted for it, either by an actual or habitual preparation; how can it then be imagined, that Service, which is a state of Life, of so great importance, to the welfare of all the other members of a Family, as well as that of Servants themselves, should be wisely entered into, and happily discharged without any Preparation? Many and important are the Duties of Servants, great is the Trust reposed in 'em, the Estate, the Honour of their Masters and Mistresses, the Peace, the Happiness and Virtue too of the whole Family, doth very often depend much upon 'em; and can any one question, whether such a Charge, such a Trust as this does not require many Virtues and Excellent Qualifications? and these cannot be obtained without due Preparation; for as no man is happy, so neither is any man wise or virtuous by chance.  

The Qualifications of a good Servant.  Now the Qualifications which make a good Servant, are such as these; Fear of, and Dependence upon God, Contentment in their Condition, Love of their Masters and Mistresses, Humility, Meekness and Patience, Faithfulness, Industry and Discretion: These I confess, are eminent Virtues; and though they are necessary in this lower station, they make men fit for, and worthy of the highest: These will make a Servant both happy and considerable in despite of the meanness either of his Birth or Fortune; and happy must those Masters be, who are served by Persons of such Virtues: Since therefore the Trust is so great which is reposed in Servants; since the Virtues necessary to make a good Servant are so many and great; and since the fruit of their good Service is so extremely profitable to themselves, and the Families they are Members of, it doth naturally follow, that they should with great Care and Pains be trained up, and fitted for Service.  
Now this Duty of Preparation doth in the first place belong to such Parents who are of that Rank in the World, that they have no better way of providing for their Children, than by Service. And next 'tis the particular and immediate Business of such Children before they enter upon this state. 
This Preparation in part the Duty of Parents.   
First, 'Tis the Duty of Parents. Every Parent is by the Law of God and Man, bound to make provision for their Children, and then sure they who can make no other provision for 'em, are much the more bound to be diligent and zealous in their Education. 
Motives to the Parents Care.  There are indeed some sorts of Skill necessary to qualify Men for some particular sorts of Service, which cannot be obtained without Charge; the poorer sort may peradventure look upon themselves excused from bestowing this sort of Education upon their Children by its expensiveness; but the Education I require of 'em, consisting in the Fear of God, Truth, Industry, Humility, and such like, is no way expensive; the Poor as well as the Rich may resolve with Joshua 
* Josh. 24.15. , I and my House will serve the Lord. Good Example, good Instruction, and good Government, does not cost much, nor does it put 'em to any Charge to acquaint their Children frequently with Instances of God's Goodness and Power in providing for all those that depend upon him in these ways of Humility and Industry; and if Examples of this sort be picked out in the Neighbourhood, such as their Children are well acquainted with, men whom their own Industry, and God's Blessing has raised from little, this will be very apt to affect 'em, and to teach 'em the Excellent Lessons of Contentment and Trust in God: Parents by this Labour bestowed upon their Children, will reap this great advantage; their Children will be more serviceable and delightful to 'em, their mean Condition will be more easy and honourable, being freed from the two Plagues of Poverty, Disorder and Sloth: Their Children again will reap a double Advantage; first, in being fitted to encounter every Fortune; and next, this Piety and Religious Wisdom, visible in the Family they are of, will give them very great Credit and Reputation; such a House will be looked upon as a Temple consecrated to Religion; and he that takes a Child from hence, will believe that he receives a Guardian Angel into his Family, or at least one whom God will bless in all that he does, and for whose sake he will bless all that belongs to him. Thus a good Edcucation is both a delightful and provident work; 'tis a good Estate to Children, recommending 'em to the Favour both of God and Man, and making 'em worthy of the best Fortune, 
The Mischiefs which pursue the neglect of this Duty.  and able to bear the worst: These are the Advantages which Parent and Child reaps from this sort of Education, but this is not all the Motive to this Duty; for there are as mischievous Effects which attend the neglect of it, as there are good ones which attend the performance. How can the careless Parent answer for his neglect to God, to himself, or to his Children, since by it he betrays the Honour of God, the Happiness of his Children, and his own Peace and Comfort? What shall those wretched Children do? Whither shall they go who are as destitute of good Education and Virtue, as of a Maintenance and Provision? Whither shall they go? to Service? they are unfit for it, and uncapable of obtaining it: For who will receive into his Family one o'erspread with the Leprosy of a Slothful and Vicious Education? Shall they stay at home, the shame and burden of their Parents? Alas, there they must perish through want of Bread, or abundance of Idleness: What remains then for 'em to do? they must either betake themselves to unlawful ways to get a Maintenance, or else miscarry through the Vices of their Education in lawful and good ones: Who have these poor creatures to complain of in the day of their misery or of Judgement? Shall they complain of God? he gave 'em Health, Strength and Understanding: Shall they complain of themselves? 'Tis true, they will have Reason, for they preferred Ignorance and Idleness before the means and opportunities of Grace, which have been provided for 'em in Public at least, but most of all must their Complaints be leveled against their Parents, who suffered 'em to perish for lack of Knowledge, who suffered 'em to fall into the bondage and mischiefs of sin, before they were throughly instructed, what sin was, nay prompted 'em, and I had almost said, compelled 'em into both by the lewdness of their own Examples: Let me speak to such Parents, with what hearts must you, if you have any sense remaining, behold your Children lost to Virtue, engaged in sinful and destructive Courses, and finally plunged into the misery that attends them; when you shall reflect and consider that they have been abandoned, betrayed and debauched into all this, by you yourselves? With what face can you beg of God for 'em the assistance of his Grace, which you have yourselves bereft 'em of, or at least refused to contribute what lay in you to implant it in 'em? Or how can you finally beg of God support and comfort under the Calamity which you have brought upon yourselves? Go wretches, hid yourselves from the sight of those Children which you have undone, and if you can, from the sight of God, whose Trust reposed in you you have betrayed!  
Having put Parents in mind of this Duty of Preparation, 
The children's Duty in this point.  as far as it concerns them, I must now address myself to Children and Young Persons of the Rank and Quality supposed all along; for the Duty of Preparation is not so to be cast off from yourselves upon your Parents, as if no part of it lay upon you. 
Motives to it.  As soon then as you come to years of Discretion, your first business is to consider the Condition and Fortune of your Birth; you are seriously to consider the narrowness of that Portion God has allotted you, and with what pains and travail your poor Parents provide this; you see you are not sent into the World to take your Pleasure and Pastime therein, but you are born to take Pains and Care, or else you must ever suffer the straits of Poverty, the reproach of Sloth, and the Plagues of Nastiness and Ignorance: When you have laid this to heart, consider too the infinite kindness of God, who fills, or is ready to fill all things living with his Goodness. Consider his Alsufficiency and Power, that 'tis he 
* Psal. 75.7.  who pulleth down one, and setteth up another: There is no Cottage so retired which God does not look into and regard; no Condition so desperate, so destitute of Friends, and all means, that God cannot redress and relieve it: He that called his People out of the Brick-kills, and from between the Pots, and chose Herdsmen and Shepherds for his Prophets and Princes, this God can never want means to raise or provide for such who call upon him, and serve him. Thus, if you lay to heart your Quality and Condition in the World; if you demand each one of himself, Who am I? What am I born to? What Station has God assigned me in the World? This will soon convince you, that you have nothing to trust to but God and your own Virtue: And if you lay to heart in the next place the Goodness and All-sufficiency of God, you'll easily conclude, that they who have him for their Friend and Patron, can want no Encouragement, no Assistance, that they who serve him, and depend upon him, 
* Psal. 34.  shall lack no manner of thing that is good; and so all together will put you upon the practice of Virtue, and a dependence upon God, in which consists almost the whole Preparation I am treating of.  
Having advanced thus far, 
Children must accustom themselves at home to the Duties they must practise in Service.  your next business will be, to learn and accustom yourselves to those Duties as far as you can, in the Family of your Parents, which you must practise afterwards in that of your Masters: Above all, practise those Virtues which you shall find useful and necessary, wherever you shall come; such are Industry, Humility, Contentment, and the like. First, Industry; for why should you not ease and assist your poor Parents, who with much Affection, Care and Trouble, nursed and succoured you, when unable to help yourselves? Or why should you indulge yourselves in Idleness, who cannot live but by taking pains? Secondly, Humility; for why should you not pay that Respect to those who are your Parents, which you are to do to those who will be your Masters? to those whom the Law of Nature has set over you, which you must to those whom your Necessities will set over you? Or how will you learn the Humble and Respectful Language or Demeanours of a Servant, who accustom yourselves to nothing but Rudeness, Disrespect and Undutifulness towards your own Parents, whom though you (which you ought not,) it may be, fear less, yet sure you love more, or aught to do so? Lastly, Contentment in your state; for you are unfit to be Servants, if you are wanton and discontented Children; your Diet, it may be, and such other Circumstances, may be bettered by the exchange of a Father's for a Master's House; but there may be other things which may be more insupportable than your Parent's Poverty; something every where must be borne with, and therefore inure yourselves betimes to Contentment in the meanest Condition, without which you shall never be happy in the best. In a word, if you would prove good Servants, you must first prove good Children; look upon your Parents not only as your Father and Mother, but Master and Mistress too: Let not the meanness of their Estate tempt you to slight 'em; 'twere a sin in a Neighbour or a Stranger to despise them for their Poverty; but 'tis a Crime, a Crying wickedness in you their Children: Make no use of the Indulgence and Fondness of your Parents, but only this, to inform yourselves of 'em more freely, what you are to do, and more carefully avoid doing amiss, and more cheerfully to reform what is amiss; for if you have no sense upon your minds of Duty and Kindness, you will never make better than Eye-Servants, whom God as well as Man detests.  
Thus prepared, 
The Resolution fit for such as are entering into Service.  as soon as you are invited to, or have yourselves found a fit Service, fortify and confirm yourselves in this Resolution, that you will perform the utmost that you undertake at least, and whatever more you can, that you will do your Duty with Cheerfulness, and with all your Might, and with all imaginable Faithfulness and singleness of Heart, as doing Service to God, not Man. Look upon your Master and Mistress as your Adopted Parents; resolve to love and serve 'em as such, and never to be persuaded that your own Interest can be divided from theirs. Ah! would you but go thus qualified to Service, you would find it indeed a state of True Liberty, not Slavery; you would not be driven to poor and dishonourable shifts ever and anon; you would grow up and thrive in the Affections of your Masters and Mistresses, and your Interest would ripen with their Affection and Value for you; they would be your Adopted Parents, you their Adopted Children, as necessary and dear to 'em, as their Feet, their Hands, their Eyes.  
Fraught with these Virtues, and Armed with these Resolutions, enter into the World and prosper; having first begged your Parent's Blessing and Advice, and devoted that little time between your being hired to, and entering upon Service, to Prayer, and the consideration of these things.  

A Prayer to be used by Parents fitted to this Duty.  
O Almighty God, Father of the Family of Heaven and Earth, possess my Soul with a tender sense of the Duty of a Parent, that I may not be bereft of the Peace and Satisfaction which springs from a faithful discharge of it, nor of the Pleasure and Advantage which Wise and Virtuous Children bring their Parents, nor of that Blessing which thou dost bestow upon all such as train up their Children in thy Holy Faith and Fear. O suffer me not, instead of all these Advantages, to fall into that wretched state, wherein my Conscience shall be tortured, and my Soul afflicted by the sense of my children's Ruin, my own Gild, and thy heavy Displeasure. Suffer me not, O Lord, to imitate that wicked One the Devil, who delights to betray his Children into Sin and Ruin; but make me to imitate thee, my Heavenly Father, who dost fill all things with thy Goodness, whose merciful Providence is over all thy Works, who providest for all thy Children both spiritual and bodily food, and art most infinitely kind and gracious even to the undutiful and ungrateful. O Lord, open thou my mouth, that I may pour forth Instruction. O Lord, purify and sanctify me, that if I be slow of speech, and unlearned, they may yet learn from my Life more than they can from my Tongue: But above all, O Lord, pour forth thy Grace in their hearts, that they may be meek and teachable, industrious and dutiful, devout and religious. Lastly, O Lord God, I resign and recommend these my Children unto thee, O be thou their Father; take thou the Care of providing for 'em upon thee, and do thou so direct the whole Course of their Lives by thy Gracious Providence, that every passage of it may tend to thy Glory, to my Comfort, and to their own Honour and Happiness. All which I most humbly and most earnestly beg for the sake of thy dear Son Jesus Christ.   

A Prayer to be used by Children under the Government of their Parents.  
O Eternal God and Heavenly Father, thou that art the kind Author of my Being, be thou the gracious Guide of my Life; my Age is simple and unexperienced; O be thou pleased to inspire me with true Wisdom from above: I am come into a World full of Snares and Temptations, O do thou fill me with the Knowledge and Love of thy Truth, that it may keep me from the path of the Destroyer. O possess my heart with the Fear of thee, and dependence upon thee, that I may walk before thee the Almighty God and be perfect; that I knowing, that thou art my exceeding great Reward, may neither be discontented in my present state, nor distrustful of a Provision for the future. Possess also my heart, O my God, with that natural tenderness for my Parents, and with that Christian sense of my Duty towards 'em, that my Language may be respectful, my Actions dutiful, and my whole Behaviour such, that I may not increase the Burden and Care of their Life, but prove a comfort and support to 'em. O my God, possess me lastly with a spirit of Meekness, Justice, Truth and Industry, that by Reverence to my Betters, by Courteousness, Truth and Faithfulness towards all, and by Diligence in whatever I am employed, I may grow like a Tree planted by the Rivers of Water, my Leaf may not whither, whatsoever I do, may prosper, and I may bring forth my fruit in due season, increasing daily in Wisdom and Stature, and in Favour with God and Man: Hear, O hear the Voice of my Petition, for in thee only is my Trust, through Jesus Christ our Lord.   

A Prayer to be used by such as are just entering into Service.  
O Almighty God and Heavenly Father, who art wont to lead and defend all those who call upon thee, be thou pleased to go now and ever along with me, and make my ways plain and prosperous before my face. Vouchsafe me, I beseech thee, the Assistance of thy Grace, that I may both contentedly submit to thy blessed Providence, and also do my Duty faithfully in that station to which thou dost call me. Make me always to remember that I do Service to thee my God, whilst I do it as I ought, to Man; and that I am not only to expect my Wages from my Earthly, but also my Reward from thee my Heavenly Master. And, O my God, because I know that I am frail flesh and blood, I beseech thee to confirm and strengthen me against all Temptations, that nothing may be able to prevail with me to deceive the Trust that is reposed in me. Keep me also from all unchristian frowardness and passion, which may disturb the Peace and Charity of the Family whither I go. Above all, keep me from forgetting thee in my Success and Plenty, and from preferring my Worldly Interest before thy Favour. Let me find Favour in their sight, with whom I go to sojourn, and bless thou them, and do good unto 'em for thy Servants sake: Thou art my God, in thee is my Trust, to thee I dedicate and devote my Life; O hear me now, and whenever I call upon thee, O God of my Salvation, through Jesus Christ my Lord.    

CHAP. II. Directions to be followed in the Choice of a Service.  

The Rules to be followed in this Choice.  I Do not design here to lay down any Rules of Carnal Policy, there are very few so stupid, as not to be able to discern what sort of Services do best promote their Worldly Interest; passing therefore over these, I shall only direct you what way Servants are most likely to secure their Peace and Tranquillity, and a good Conscience. Sometimes the Straits and Necessities of Servants are pressing, and the Choice of Services is little or none at all: And in this case, whoever draws you, as the Midianites did Joseph, out of this Pit, is to be looked upon as appointed by Providence for your Master; provided the Employment be lawful, and not repugnant to your Christian Profession, for than it is much better to suffer by the want of an Employment, than thrive by a sinful one: But whenever your wants are not urgent, 'tis much more adviseable to attend the Providence of God for a more suitable place, than out of Distrust to put yourselves into men, as you must again soon quit, not without some guilt of Lightness and Ingratitude, or continue in very uncomfortably: But you must in this deliberation take care that you do not impose upon yourselves, and pretend to do that out of Religion, which you do really out of Pride or Idleness, or Wantonness. If several Services be offered, it is, no doubt on't, highly agreeable to Reason and Religion, that a Servant should with great wariness proceed to choose a Master whose Commands must be Laws to him, to choose that company which he must always live in: 'Tis, in a word, highly reasonable that a Servant should with good Advice put himself into a Family, by whose Orders and Customs the whole manner of his Life is to be regulated and determined, and both his Mind and Fortune probably to be shaped and fashioned.  
Now, that you may not miscarry in this Choice, you are in the first place earnestly to implore the Guidance and Direction of God; for if he interpose in those things which seem wholly given up to Chance, as Solomon assures us, 
* Prov. 16.33.  The Lot is cast into the lap, but the coming forth is of the Lord. How much more will he be entreated to be present in those Affairs, wherein Men proceed by Rules of Wisdom and Religion? And if the slightest matter of Life do fall under his notice, which our Saviour intimates, by telling us that 
† Matth. 6.  The Hairs of our head are all numbered, how much more the weightiest? 
1. Beg God's Direction.  Look then up to God, and call upon him for his Direction in this matter; 'tis he who by a secret Providence can overrule all things; 'tis he who can give Light to obscure and doubtful things, or a more discerning Judgement to weak and simple minds. 
2. Consult Virtuous Friends.  In the second place; you are to take the Advice of Wise and Virtuous Friends, and you are generally to look upon that Advice most sound, which presses you most to Duty and Religion, and flatters not your Pride nor Sloth. In the third place, 
3. Weigh your own Capacities.  you must well weigh your own Capacities and Abilities, comparing 'em with the business that you are entertained for; for if you undertake what you are unfit for, 'tis impossible that your Master should reap any thing from your Service but Vexation, and it may be Damage, or you yourselves any thing but discredit; so that this is both sin and folly, a downright deceiving others, and betraying yourselves: Sometimes indeed there is not so much Regard had to your Ability, as Cheerfulness and Industry, and in this case, if your Capacity come not up to their Expectation, you wrong 'em not; but then, they lay upon you a double Obligation to good Nature and Diligence; for 'tis monstrously ingrateful, if you force 'em to bear not only your Ignorance, but your Idleness and Ill Nature too. In the fourth place; 
4. Choose as if you were never to change.  you are to choose a Service, as if you were to make your Fortune in it, and as if you missed there, you could hit no where: For if you only design it as a Refuge for your present want and pressing necessity, if you only put in there, as into a Port, to avoid a Storm, being resolved to hoist up Sail to the next fair Wind, you will be shrewdly tempted to do your business very negligently and carelessly, and so besides the guilt of Ingratitude, you will incur that of Injustice too. 
A Religious Family the best Service.  In the last place; instead of all further Rules, take this; You are to account that Family the best for you, which is in itself the most Religious; the best for your Temporal, and the best for your Eternal Interest. First, for your Temporal Interest; good men, if they are able, do generally more than they promise; wicked men much less: Good Christians will look upon you as their Fellow-Citizens, nay, Fellow-Servants, for you have one Master; nay, what is more, members of the same body, for you have one Head Christ Jesus; and therefore such will treat you with Charity and Gentleness, and will as hearty seek your Interest as their own; for 'tis impossible but that a good man should make much of them that fear the Lord. But besides that gain which you will reap from the Countenance and Assistance, or receive from the hand of a Religious Master, there are two other Advantages which the Religion of any Family gives the Servants of it, Credit and Reputation in the World, and the Blessing of God, which how much they conduce to your Worldly Interest, I need not, I suppose, acquaint you.  
But, suppose this Choice of a Religious Family did not serve your Worldly Interest altogether so well as the Choice of some other peradventure might, yet surely it best serves your Eternal Interest; and therefore a Religious Family is to be preferred, especially by people of greener years. 'Tis true, a good man, like Joseph, may serve the God of Israel in the House of Potiphar; but sure, nothing but Necessity, not his own Choice, shall bring him thither; the Salvation of the Soul is the 
* Luke 10.42.  one thing needful, and therefore this is the Interest that is first to be secured. They have certainly but little Veneration for Religion, who will prefer the gain of two or three Crowns in a year, with the hazard of their Virtue, before all the Advantages of a Religious and well-governed Family. They are certainly very little sensible of the danger of Temptations, and the weakness of Human Nature, who for a very inconsiderable profit are ready to expose themselves to the Infection of ill Company, to the Corruptions of ill Example, which are much more apt to affect you, when Authority and Interest is joined with the Deceitfulness of sin, as in the Examples of Masters and others whom you depend upon and respect. 'Tis an unspeakable disadvantage to your Virtue and Religion, to be in a Family where you must wholly want the common means of Grace, I mean the Reading of the Word of God, good Instruction, Prayer, and a Christian Discipline in the Family: But how much greater disadvantage when these are not only neglected, but contemned and derided? To live bereaved of the Means of Grace in a mere Dearth of Spiritual Food, is an unhappy state; but to live amidst daily Temptations, and even Solicitations to sin, is an unhappier still. If young unexperienced people are apt to forget God, even in those Families where they are often put in mind of him, how will they remember him where all forget him? If they can hardly be preserved by the Care of a Religious Master, and the conscientious observance of Religious Duties, how will they be secured in a Family where there are no opportunities or means of Virtue? and not only so, but where there are all opportunities and means of Vice, and where Vice is countenanced and encouraged by common practice?  
But in all this, let me not be mistaken, when I say, 
What Family to be accounted Religious.  that Family is to be chosen by Servants which is the most Religious; I do not mean that they should measure the Religion of the Master by mere words, or mere Opinions, but by the orderly Government of his Family, by the conscientious Practice of Family Duties, by the peaceableness and gentleness of his Conversation, by the Justice and Charity of his Actions; for this is true Religion and undefiled before God.  

A Prayer to be used on this occasion.  
O Thou the only Wise and Almighty God, who wast with Jacob in his flight, and Joseph in his Captivity, who didst provide for thy Servant Moses a Retreat and Entertainment in the Wilderness, be thou with me, guide thou and direct me; I desire to resign up myself to thy Providence: O lead thou me, and I shall securely and safely follow thee: O give me Bread to eat, and Raiment to put on, and I will be thy Servant, and thou shalt be my God. But O suffer not mine Eye, my Imagination, to be dazzled by a vain show of Wealth and Plenty, so as to prefer the Hopes of it, before the Advantages of Religion and Virtue. Suffer me not to be led into Egypt by my Wantonness and Idleness. Let not my Lot be to live in any place whence thou art banished. Shut me up, O Lord, in the Ark of some Religious Family, that I may escape the Deluge of this wicked Generation, and where I may enjoy thee, and discourse of thee, and tell of all thy wondrous works, and be fed with Divine Truths. This, this, O Lord, is the thing I would choose, though with hardship and difficulties, rather than to dwell with Ease and Plenty in the Tents of Wickedness: But not my will, O Lord, but thy will be done; if it be thy pleasure, that I should dwell amongst those who are strangers to a Life of Godliness, O never suffer me to be ashamed to own thy Truths, or practise thy Precepts. O never suffer me to forget thee amidst the Temptations of ill Company, and ill Examples; but Lord, let me be a burning and a shining Light, that the rest of the Family may be moved by my Devotion and Virtue, to glorify thee. Let my Life so far adorn and set off the Doctrine of Christ, that others may be in love with Holiness, and be ashamed of Sin. Hear me, O Lord, for I wait upon thee; direct me, for thou art the guide of my Youth: O my God and my Father, in thee is my Trust, through Jesus Christ my Lord.     

PART II. The Servants Obligations to Religion.  

CHAP. I. Of the Servants Duty towards God; their Obligation to Religion; Directions for Relative Duties, Reading, Praying, etc. The Virtues God requires of 'em; dependence upon him; Contentment; Faithfulness to their Masters.  
ONE 
* Luke 10.40.  thing is needful, said our Saviour to Martha, when she was cumbered about much serving, when she was careful and troubled about many things, and that is Religion. Religion is as necessary for a Servant as a Gentleman, for a Peasant as a Prince; for Salvation is of equal importance to both, and I cannot see, but that those of the meanest Rank lie under as strong Obligations to Religion as any other men do. If the Condition of a Servant be well weighed, 
A Servant is less liable to Temptations than others.  it will be found, that he has fewer Temptatations to, and consequently excuses for sin, than any other sort of men; for he is restrained and kept within the bounds of a Regular & Civil Life by the necessities of his Fortune, by the confinement of his Duty, and by the indispensible Attendance of his Place: Ambition, Idleness and Luxury, which are the great Incentives to sin and folly in other men, are not ordinarily incident to the state of Servants: Besides, that Labour and Care is a sort of good Discipline to the body, and keeps it more modest and humble in its Appetite. 'Tis true, there are a sort of Servants which serve rather for grandeur, than any necessary Duty, who are only the state of the Hall and Antichamber, and the Ornament of Coaches; such are generally too well fed, and too little employed, and consequently, they are exposed in a state of Servitude almost to all the Temptations, that men of the highest Rank are; it were hearty to be wished, that such as these would rescue themselves from this worst sort of Servitude, by betaking themselves to something that might consist with their Service; and it highly concerns the Masters of such, as they would avoid the guilt of their Servants Ruin, to find out some ways to employ them; in the mean time, they are to stand like Soldiers on their Guard, and while they keep with Sobriety and strict Attendance to their Pòst, I hope they may be said to be upon their Duty, and in their Employment, and may be so accounted by God. But to pass on from the Consideration of this Case, which is not altogether so common, and to return to the Ordinary sort of Servants, besides the Restraints which Servants lie under, which are so many Guards and Fences of Virtue, besides the Travail and hardship which the Body undergoes, which is a sort of Discipline to it, they are restrained from sin by the narrowness of their Fortune, which should reasonably, nay must necessarily keep 'em from expensive sin, (and almost all sins are such,) and by Hopes and Fears more peculiar to this state than any other they dread, or at least should do so, not only the displeasure of God, but of their Masters too: Their good Fortune depends directly and immediately on their good Behaviour, and 'tis next to an impossibility, that they should fall into Vicious Courses, but that they must at the same time fall into Ruin as well Temporal as Eternal, being discarded, disgraced, and not only reproachfully thrust out of their present Service, but thereby made incapable of another. To all these Considerations, I might peradventure add one more, that sin in itself is not so taking or luscious to a Servant, as to those of higher quality: The World doth not court them in so much Pomp and Lustre, as it doth the Rich and the Great: Temptations are not set off with so many Beauties and Ornaments, when dressed and prepared for the Servant, as when for the Master; and as this Rank of People doth not encounter the same force and allurement in Temptations; so they have more Allays, Fears and Checks mixed with their sinful Enjoyments, than others have; so that upon the whole, I may conclude, that the Servant who lives in any Course of Vice, is of all Sots the most desperate; he breaks through more restraints to commit sin; he runs more hazards to be damned than any other man whatever; he sets his Soul at a viler Rate than any other Mortal, and rather than not be ruined and be damned; he will be both without Temptation, and without Pleasure: Ah infatuated wretch! that will be miserable in despite of God and Fortune too! that will be vicious and wretched in despite of so many difficulties and discouragements, and are content to be ruined rather than not be damned! A man would think Damnation had Temptation in it, for the poor despicable sins, by which these wretched creatures incur it, have none.  
That station is very commodious for Virtue, 
A Servant enjoys many peculiar Motives to Religion.  which has in it no Temptations to Vice: But besides this Advantage, Service contains in it some Incitements to Holiness, almost peculiar to this state. A mean Fortune, like Calamities, whets and sharpens those Minds that have any sparks of honour or courage in 'em; he may be thought justly to deserve a mean Fortune, and a servile Condition, who does not labour to qualify himself for a better. Virtue then is wholly necessary to redeem mean persons from Servitude and Contempt, and therefore, if a Servant had any Soul, it should, methinks, be enkindled with an honest Ambition of coming up, though not to the Fortune, yet to the Merit of those above him; he should be zealous to compensate the meanness of his Birth and Condition, by the Virtue of his Life, and the goodness of his Actions: This is that which will set him on the same level with the Rich and Mighty, if any thing will; for whatever lose and vain people may talk, great Virtues are excellent Qualifications, and render Men extremely serviceable and necessary in the World. 'Tis very rare that any man does long want a higher station, who has Ability enough to fill it; however it be, he is as truly great who truly meriteth Greatness, as he that possesseth it. Besides this, that Virtue is the most natural way to advance a mean man's Fortune; there is in this state one further Motive to Virtue, which is, that a Servant stands almost in daily need of it: So many and various are the Pleasures of the Wealthy and the Great, that while these last, as they desire not to exchange their Paradise for a Heaven; so they do not discern the Use and Necessity of those Virtues that qualify 'em for it; they do not feel the want of Spiritual and Inward Pleasures, who are wholly taken up with Carnal ones; they need not the support of Faith, or the Belief of another World, who are more than well enough content with this; they see not the Use of Dependence upon God, who have goods laid up for many years, and are secure in their hearts, as if their station were such that they could defy the common Events of Providence to reduce 'em to Necessity. What business have they for Patience, Industry, Moderation, where every thing not only obeys their Will, but flatters their Fancy, and their Wealth is sufficient to support Idleness and Riot too? But in the condition of Servitude, all is the quite contrary, they cannot only not live happily in another World, but they cannot live pleasantly in this without Virtue; the Peace and pleasure of their Minds is necessary to compensate the Travail of their Bodies, the belief of another Life to render this tolerable and easy: Patience, Meekness, Industry is absolutely necessary in them, to render them contented and satisfied in their station: The Reason's plain, without these they cannot be good Servants, and every Service is a burden, and slavery to an ill one: So that Virtue is as needful to the Happiness of a Servant, as his Food or his Wages; his state is slavish & unsupportable without it, free and easy with it. I will take upon myself the person of a Servant, that I may the better express the force and strength of these Arguments which I have made use of to persuade Servants to become Religious. I see my Condition, my Parents are unable to serve me, I have no Friends, none that can, or none that will be of any considerable use to me. What shall I do? I have but one way to render myself dear to God, or valuable to Man, and that is by living religiously and virtuously; if I do otherwise, God will cast me off, I shall meet with Contempt from Man, and what is worse, I shall deserve it; I shall ever be a slave, and ever deserve to be so: Pity and compassion is the highest honour and favour from Man that I must ever aspire to, and when my strength for drudgery fails, that, it may be, will do so too; and then Beggary and Reproach must be the Portion of my decayed Age. I can never think on these things, but I am filled with blushes and disdain; surely I have a Rational and Immortal Soul as well as the Rich and Wealthy: and sure the Incense of Virtuous Actions, and devout Prayers, would smell as sweet to God, if offered up by me, as by a more Fortunate Man; and if so, what Reason have I to distrust, but that God who is rich in bounty towards all, would be so towards me too? Well then, I am steadfastly resolved, that I will lead an unblameable life, and whatever my Fortune be, the World shall see I can deserve a good one; and by this, if I do not thrive and prosper, and get in time into a better station, I shall obtain this unspeakable Advantage, that I shall render my present one both honourable and easy: 'Tis not a servile Birth, nor servile Fortune, but a servile Mind that makes a Man contemptible, a Mind that has no Faith, no Truth, no Courage, no Industry, no Gratitude, that is, in one word, no Honour in it: But if I have all these, and if together with all this, Moderation, so that I am my own Master, though fewer Servant, I am in such case full of Honour, no Cloud of Meanness can obscure or conceal me, I am a Star visible by my own Light, a Gem valuable for my own intrinsic worth, I shall be beloved and respected wherever I am; for Virtue, how ever it be clad, has beauty and majesty on its forehead; nor is this all, my station will be full of ease as well as credit, for what should trouble me? The Travail and Care of my Place? Alas! this is but pleasure to the industrious! the displeasure of those I depend upon? Alas! I shall never fall under it, or at least, I shall never deserve it! and then the peace and the satisfaction of my mind will more delight me than ever their weakness can disturb me! Finally, what can it be that can trouble me? The uncertainty of a Servants station? why, while I live virtuously, I can never want; whatever betides me, I have a God, an Almighty God that cares for me, and if the worst comes to the worst, my trouble can be but short, my Life and it will end at least together, and then Glory and Eternity will receive me.  
Thus I hope I have convinced Servants of the many Obligations they lie under to be Religious: I have insisted a little largely upon this, because I have ever found it a harder Task to persuade people to do their Duty, than to teach 'em what it is. But against all that has been said, two things are wont to be objected; First, The meanness of their Capacity, or at least Education: And secondly, their want of time or opportunity for Religious Duties; 
Objection of the Servant's Incapacity answered.  but both these are mere shifts and pretences; for as to the first, their Souls are endowed with the same Faculties and Capacities, they have the same Reason, Courage and Immortality with the Rich or Mighty, as 'tis evident from innumerable Instances of men, who, ascending from the lowest to the highest station, have not only filled, but adorned it too. As to Education, here I confess, there is some difference between those of a higher and lower Rank, but as 'tis generally managed, it consists in such poor punctilios, such trifling and slight Accomplishments, that 'tis not easy to say on which side the Advantage lies: But omitting this, I will put you in mind of one thing that will silence all excuses of this sort. The Philosophy of Christianity, which is the only true Wisdom, doth not require a learned Education; a poor Fisherman now, as well as formerly, is as capable and fit for it, as he that is bred up at the feet of Gamaliel: The Belief of another Life depends not on niceties and subtleties of arguing, but on the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead; not the acutest Philosopher, but the best liver has the fullest Convictions, and the most lively and transporting Representations of Divine Truths. 
* John 7.17.  If any man will do his will, he shall know of my Doctrine whether it be of God. One thing further I am to put you in mind of, that the Book of God is the great Rule and Standard of Discretion as well as Duty, and that Religion naturally tends to make men wise as well as good: There is no action of life so indifferent, but it has in some part or other of it, a Connexion with, or Dependence on our Duty, some degree or other of Service or This service to our great End; so that true Rules of Policy are no where more successfully to be sought, than in that Book which contains all the wise Rules of every Imaginable Duty. If these things be rightly considered, there is no man can ever justly think himself excused for his Folly or Irreligion by the meanness of his Birth, his Fortune, or his Education; there is not one Christian Servant, but may prove an Epictetus, or something much greater, 
* 1 Pet. 2.9.  a holy Prophet, a Royal Priest: He may, in a word, be truly wise, and truly good.  

2 Objction, want of time, answered.  As to the second Objection, want of time: When I think upon Epictetus his Lamp, and Cleanthes his Labour, who wrought and earned by night what might maintain him in the study of Philosophy by day; when I observe how indefatigable Ambition is, how wakeful Covetousness, how restless and obstinate all our Lusts and Passions are, I cannot but blush to see, how lazy our Religion is; your Meals, your Sleeps, your Divertions, your Talk and Chat (for there are few Servants who spend not some portion of their days and nights in these last) can lend you time for Reading and Devotion: He can never want time, who wants not Zeal for the Service of God: But besides this, I must tell you, the Religion of all Christians in general, if it be perfect, consists more in practice than speculation; and yours no less in the faithful discharge of the Duties of your place, than in acts of Devotion towards God; but I know how apt weak people are to run from one extreme to another, and therefore I will not insist longer on this Argument, lest I should be thought to place the Religion of a Servant merely and solely in the Duties of his Service. There are many ways by which Servants may redeem time, and consecrate it to the Interest of their Souls, and the Honour of God, namely, by exalting their minds to Heaven in frequent Ejaculations, by Pious and Religious Discourses to one another, by easing and assisting one another, which will make the burden of the Family lie easier on all, and gain time to each.  
Having thus showed the Obligations Servants lie under to Religion, and answered the little Pretences, by which they endeavour to palliate their Coldness and Negligence, I proceed to consider the Duties, wherein their Religion towards God consists, which are, First, such as may be called Instrumental or Relative, as Prayer, Hearing and Reading the Word, and Receiving the Sacrament. Secondly, Trust in God. Thirdly, Contentment. And Fourthly, Fidelity to their Masters.  

The Duty of Reading the Word.  I will begin with Reading the Word. The Book of God is a Legacy of that value, containing not only the Wisdom of God, but the ravishing expressions of his Love too, and in a word, the only way to Life and Immortality, that no one can be guilty of the neglect of it, but at the same time, he must be guilty of the most ingrateful Contempt of God, and the most sottish Contempt of his own true Interest. This therefore is the Book which the Servant must endeavour to be familiarly acquainted with; with some portion of this he should begin the Morning, and close the Evening. Hence is that Wisdom to be learned, of whose manifold use 
* Prov. 6.22.  Solomon speaks in those few, but weighty words, When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee. No Guide, no Guard, no Company, no Divertion is wanting to any one who is instructed as he ought to be in the Book of God. Now if you would read profitably, you must observe the Direction of St. Peter, 
* 1 Pet. 2.2.  As new born babes desire the sincere Milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby. When you set yourself to read, endeavour to banish all unruly Lusts and Passions, all worldly Cares and Distractions, and to possess your Soul with an humble Awe and Reverence for the Word, as the Word of God, and with a devout thirst for it as the Word of Life. Secondly, Be not more fond of strong Meat, than of Milk, of Mysteries, than of practical Truths; choose especially to read those parts of the Bible which are most plain, most practical, most moving and affecting. Thirdly, Propose this as the chief, nay sole End of thy Reading, that thou mayest grow thereby; that is, that thy Conscience may be more and more awakened, that thy Resolutions of Obedience may be more and more strengthened, that thy Heart may be more purified, thy Affections more exalted, and in a word, thy Faith may be more confirmed, and thy Love of God, thy Love of Jesus, thy Love of Heaven, and thy Love of Righteousness may be more and more quickened and inflamed: If your leisure will permit, and you desire to join the reading of other Books with the Bible, let 'em be but very few, very plain, and very practical; and such, if you can find 'em, as concern more particularly the Duties of your station, or the particular state of your Soul; for 'tis good Advice, especially to persons in your circumstances, in Spiritual as well as Temporal Affairs, 
* 1 Thes. 4.11.  Study to be quiet, and to do your own business. The Catechism of Our Church is an excellent Abridgement of Christian Faith and Practice, 'tis a complete System of all necessary Catholic Doctrines, not as some others are, of the Controverted Opinions of a Sect and Party: I would therefore recommend this to you, as being plain, short, and free from dispute, and if well digested, you will not want any necessary Instruction.  
The same Rules, 
The Duty of Hearing the Word.  with little variety, are to be observed in Hearing, which were prescribed in Reading the Word; rising something the earlier on the Sunday, that you may the sooner dispatch your necessary business, and be the freer from any distraction, retire, and consider with thyself the great End to which God has dedicated that day, namely, to bless and praise him for the Redemption of the World, by the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, to commemorate that his bitter Death and Passion in the Holy Sacrament, to prepare ourselves for a Holy Death, a glorious Resurrection, and a Kingdom wherein dwells Righteousness, to glorify and honour God by a solemn and public Worship of him, that so his Name may be honoured upon Earth; and finally to hear and learn his blessed Will, and to be strengthened and comforted in our Warfare upon Earth by his heavenly Truths, and by his great and precious Promises, and then earnestly beg of God to dispose thy heart into such an humble and grateful frame, that thy praises and adorations may be acceptable to him, to possess thee with such a due sense of thy wants and infirmities, and with such a devout thirst after the Grace of God and his Truth, that thou mayest pray with a steady fervency, and hear the Word with pure attention, and devout affection. Enter into the Church as into the House of God, and the place of his more immediate Residence: In hearing, attend to the great End, that is, that thou mayest grow thereby, that some Infirmity may be cured, some Virtue improved, some fresh Resolution formed, and in a word, thy Soul raised into a more heavenly and holy frame; being returned home, as soon as thou canst find an opportunity, bless God that he has spoke to thy Soul, that he has affected thee by his Word and his Spirit, and endeavour by a solemn Review and Consideration, of those things by which thou wast most affected, to fix 'em better in thy memory, I should have said, in thy heart; and then lay all thy Desires and Resolutions in devout Prayers before God, and earnestly beg and depend upon his goodness for the obtaining the one, and his grace for the performing the other: In the evening, the last thing thou dost, call thyself to an account, look back on every part of the day, examine thy behaviour, bewail thy defects, bless God for all thy spiritual Advantages of the day, and thou shalt find unspeakable comfort and peace, thy delight in spiritual things will increase, and thy hopes will grow up, thou wilt begin to relish and anticipate the joys, and long for the possession of Heaven.  

The Duty of Prayer.  Another Duty we own to God is Prayer, concerning which, a Servant is to observe these three or four things; First, you must endeavour to awaken a steady Devotion in your heart, by imprinting in it a holy Reverence, and awful Dread of the Divine Majesty, by these or the like thoughts; O God, thou art the Eternal God, the Almighty Lord of Heaven and Earth, all things are upheld by thy Power, and filled by thy Goodness; at thy Rebuke the foundations of the Earth will tremble, and the Heavens at the Voice of thy displeasure; all the Nations upon Earth, are but as the Drop of the Bucket, and the Grain of the Balance before thee; Oh what then am I a poor, despicable, sinful, and extremely small part of 'em! O suffer me not to forget thy Majesty, suffer me not to forget myself. Or thus, O just and holy God, thou art the Creator and Redeemer, thou art the Judge of all Mankind, thou art the Searcher of the Heart, and Trier of the Reins; O suffer me not to be cold or careless, much less hypocritical in my Addresses to thee; for not only 
* Eccl. 16.11.  mercy, but wrath is with thee; and as thou art mighty to forgive, so art thou too to pour out displeasure. O suffer me not therefore rudely and inconsiderately to stretch forth my hands towards thine Ark, the place where thine Honour dwelleth, lest I be smitten like Uzzah, and perish in my folly. Or thus, O Lord, thou art MY God, by thee have I been holden up ever since I was born, thou art my God, and I will praise thee; I will love thee, O Lord my God, for thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, thou God of Truth, thou Rock of my Salvation; my Soul thirsteth after thee, open thou my mouth, that I may praise thee in the joys and transports of my Soul; inflame my heart, that I may cleave to thee by the Embraces of Love, that I may wrestle with thee by unfeigned Faith, and devout Desire, and not let thee go till I have obtained a Blessing: for still I have many Infirmities that will separate between thee and me, O let me never be divided from thee; Lord, save me, or I perish. Secondly, See that thou do nothing that is repugnant to thy Prayers, for 'tis in vain to beg of God that which thou deniest thyself; nay, 'tis extreme Hypocrisy to importune God for that Grace which thou dost manifestly resist, or incapacitate thyself for by thy actions; if God or his Prophet bid thee wash and be clean, 'tis mere presumption to expect the Cure of thy Leprosy without the use of the means prescribed. Thirdly, Mark the Issue and Return of thy Prayers, that thou mayest be thankful as thou hast been importunate for a Blessing, or if thou receive it not, that thou mayest correct and reform what is amiss; it may be, thy Prayer wants Sincerity, or it wants Faith, or there is a Babylonish Garment, and a Wedge of Gold hid in thy Tent, some darling Lust concealed in thy bosom, or thy Petition itself is a foolish Lust, or wanton Passion, and 'tis well, if it bring not down a Curse instead of a Blessing: As to your Prayer, I think it matters not much whether it be a form, or a sudden Effusion, provided it have in it a steady Faith, and humble Devotion, which is the Life and Soul of Prayer: But as far as I am able to see, good forms fitted to their necessities, are most useful for Servants, because mental Prayer,  it can be such as it ought, requires good ability, solemn preparation, or at least an habitual exaltation of mind, and takes up much time: Particular Forms suited to particular occasions, I have endeavoured to provide in this Treatise, for general ones, Morning and Evening, you may use these which follow.  

A Prayer for the Morning.  
O Lord my God, thou hast preserved me this night, which might have been my last, and for this my Soul blesses thee: Thou hast given me another day, O give me Grace too, to spend it so as if it were to be my last: O let it not increase my guilt, and the number of my sins, but enable me to work in it the work for which thou hast sent me into the World, for the night cometh wherein I cannot work: The number of my sins is great enough already, they would sink my Soul down to Hell, if the blessed Jesus had not loved me, and given himself for me; and if thy Mercy were not as thy Majesty, that is, Infinite; for I have forgotten thee too too often; though thou hast given me my Being, and hast provided for me when there was none other to help me, I have forgotten thee, though thou gavest me thine own Son to redeem me, not only to free me from the punishment due to my sins, but also to procure for me Life Eternal. I have feared the displeasure of man, whose breath is in his Nostrils, more than I have feared thine, O thou just and holy Judge of Mankind; I have been more solicitous for the Bread that perishes, than for thy Favour, which is better than the Life itself; and oh, well were it for me, if I had only omitted my Duty towards thee, or performed it lifelesly or sluggishly; but woe is me, I have despised thy Goodness and Long-suffering; I have hardened my heart against thy Commandments, I have dealt proudly and presumptuously, and have done wickedly, (here mention those sins which most burden thy Conscience, if thou hast any such, and particularly those of thy Service) and yet after all this, vain and senseless Creature that I am! I have repined and murmured at thy Providence, been discontent in my Condition, and complained of thy Deal towards me: 'Tis true, O my God, that thou of thine infinite goodness hast convinced my Conscience of sin, affected my Soul with a sorrow for it, and wrought in me Resolutions of amendment, but oh! how many have been my falls! how many and grievous have been my Relapses! how negligent have I been of the Covenant of my God Oh how soon have the tears of my Repentance dried up! how soon has the flame of my Devotion and Love slackened, and even gone out! O God, thou holy God, thou Witness of all my actions, and Judge of all my thoughts and affections, what would become of me, if thou shouldest enter into strict Judgement with me? how should I stand before thy Tribunal covered with the guilt and shame of so many sins! But O thou God of Mercy, O thou God and Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, I know that thou art always ready to pardon poor Penitents, Lord I repent, increase thou my Repentance, trouble has taken hold of me, my Soul is cast down and disquieted within me, I am ashamed, yea even confounded, for I do bear the Reproach of the folly and ingratitude of my sins. O be thou reconciled to me, pardon me I beseech thee by the Merits and Intercession, by the Agony and Passion, and by all the painful Sufferings of thy Son, pardon me, O pardon me I beseech thee, by thine own boundless goodness, by those tender Mercies and Compassion which thou art wont to exercise towards Repenting sinners: And Lord, not only pardon my sins, but deliver me I beseech thee from the Dominion and Power of 'em; O assist me to break off those Chains of carnal Lusts, and worldly Cares, in which I have been held bound; I have a false deceitful heart, O give me Sincerity and Truth; have a sluggish and drowsy body, O enkindle in me fervency of spirit; I am conscious to myself of great weakness and fraily, O do thou confirm and strengthen me who alone canst; make me a clean heart, O O God, and renew a right spirit within me; give me a true Faith, and inflame my heart with a holy Love, that I may delight myself in thy Commandments, that I may walk before thee in uprightness, and fear, diligently seeking thee, constantly depending upon thee, cheerfully submitting to thy Will, and doing the Duty of my place in singleness of heart, as knowing that I shall be accountable to thee, as well for those Duties which I own Man, as for those which are more immediately to be paid to thee: O Lord, keep me that my foot stray not out of the path of Justice; O Lord keep me that I offend not with my Tongue, and after I have done all, O Lord, suffer me not to fall short of my Reward through my pride or ingratitude, but make me always thankful, always humble, neither defrauding thee of the Praise due to thine infinite Bounty and Mercy, nor Man of the Thanks due to him, for any act of kindness or charity towards me; help me, O my God, to walk thus, that my Soul may enjoy a true Liberty, that my Life may be full of comfort, my Death of peace, and my Eternity of glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  
And, O my God, bless not me only, but this whole Family, thou that art the God of Love, the God of Peace, sow in all our hearts the seeds of unfeigned Charity, that we may all enjoy the comfort of a mutual Affection, and of a mutual Assistance and Aid in our several places; and Lord possess every Soul of this Family with a just sense of our Duty towards God and Man, that all of us may be living Members of thy blessed Son, and being protected by thy Providence, directed by thy Word, and assisted by the Influence of thy Spirit, we may all at last meet in the Family of Heaven, where we shall adore and praise thee, love and enjoy thee to all Eternity, through Jesus Christ our Lord.   

A Prayer for the Evening.  
O My God, my Strength, and the Rock of my Salvation, the Day is past, and the Evening is come, O give me grace to remember, that this Life will one time be past, and Death will come, that I may live so, that my work may be then finished as 'tis this day, and I may have nothing else to do, but go to my Rest, where I shall be invested with Liberty and Glory, Eternal, Eternal! O blessed Wages of a short Life's service! how does my Soul praise thee, O Lord, in Transports, and even Ecstasies! thou hast called me indeed to be a Servant, but thou hast called me too to be a Son; thou hast not indeed given me any great portion of the Wealth or Honour of this Life, but thou hast given me the blessed Jesus to be my Redeemer, and thy holy Spirit to be my Sanctifier; O do but ever continue thus to me, the Light of thy Countenance, thy Grace and thy Truth, and I shall never think myself to stand in need of any thing that the World admires; but O my God, how often are these my Comforts abated, nay even interrupted! how often is this blessed, this cheerful Light obscured and o'ercast by my infirmities and sins! my sins the only causes that keep good things from me; my sins the only real troubles of my Life! Thus, O my God, though I renewed my Covenant with thee but this morning, though I devoted myself to thee, vowing Obedience to thee, and faithfulness to my Master, yet have I prevaricated my Duty, (here mention the Errors and Infirmities of the day passed) have mercy upon me, O Lord, have mercy upon me, and forgive me these, and all other my offences, and give me grace to keep myself upon my watch and guard against them: Enable me sincerely to endeavour to repair and reform 'em as much as in me lies, that I may every day grow and increase in goodness, and be so much the fiter for Death, the nearer I do every day approach to it, and whenever it comes, let it find me, O Lord, with my Loins girt, and my Lamp burning, in a disposition and frame of spirit fit to die, possessed with an unshaken Faith, with an humble Resignation and Submission of Mind, with a holy Contempt of Earth, and a devout Love of Heaven: In the mean time, thou, keeper of Israel, thou who never slumberest nor sleepest, watch over me, and this whole Family, protecting and delivering us in our coming in, and going out; particularly, let thine Angels pitch their Tents about us this night; let us lie down securely; and let our sleep be sweet to us, for thou Lord shalt make us dwell in safety. Amen, Amen, Blessed Jesus.  
If any one expects from me Directions here for Mental or Extemporary Prayers, I must tell 'em freely, that little less than a Volume much bigger than I purpose this, is sufficient for such an undertaking. What I have to say in a word here is this, they who would be extremely devout, must be extremely pious; they who would find the pleasure of transports in Prayer, must be frequent in their Retirements, strict in their Self-denial and Mortification, devout, if it may be, even in their daily Conversation: In a word, they must be crucified to the World, and delight in God and in Jesus above all things.  
The Servants Duty, as it respects their Obligation to, and Preparation for the Sacrament, shall be handled at large in the close of this Book.  
I have insisted thus long upon these Duties, because whoever conscientiously performs these, will not be like to miscarry in any other; I will now single out those other Duties which do seem to me more peculiarly to concern Servants; for as there are some times, so there are some stations which do more particularly require the practice of some Virtues, as Adversity of Patience, Prosperity of Thankfulness. The station of a Magistrate requires the practice of Justice, and the station of a Subject the practice of Loyalty; and both the one and the other is bound to this out of Conscience towards God: So is it in the station of a Servant, tho' he must not look upon himself as dispensed from any Duty common to him with others, yet there are some wherein he must endeavour to excel and be eminent, as being more immediately and directly necessary in his Employment; such are these three, Fidelity to his Master, dependence upon God, 
The Servant's Fidelity to his Master a Duty owing to God.  and Contentment in his station. First, Fidelity to his Master; I place this first, because all his Prayers and Sacrifices without this, cannot be accepted by God; his diligence in reading and hearing the Word is, without this, Hypocrisy; and his communicating of the Sacrament is, without this, but a bold and presumptuous profanation of it: And I place this here as a Duty towards God, because I would have every Servant know that it really is so; nothing can be plainer than that the 
* Eph. 6.5, etc.  Apostle thought so, which you will readily acknowledge, if you'll read with impartiality, that weighty and earnest Exhortation which he makes to Servants, Eph. 6.5, etc. Servants, be obedient to them that are your Masters according to the flesh, in fear and trembling, with singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but as the Servants of Christ, doing the Will of God from the heart; with good will, doing service as to the Lord, and not to men; knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. How could the Apostle more fully or more pathetically express your Obedience to your Masters to be a duty to God? he tells you, that the discharge of your Place is a good work, that God owns it, and will reward it as a Service done to him; that it doth very much concern the Honour of your Christian Profession, that the Rule by which you are to behave yourselves, is the Conscience of its being a Duty towards God, a firm persuasion, that you are to be accountable for it to Christ our Lord and Master, and our Judge; and for these Reasons, you are to perform this Duty with fear and trembling, that is, not an apprehension of what you shall suffer in your Temporal Interest, if you perform it not faithfully, but a dread of dishonouring Christ, and provoking God by it. Those other Properties of the right performance of this Duty, singleness of heart, cheerfulness, etc. as they respect your Duty towards your Master, shall be treated in their proper place. I am only here to mind you, that they are here pressed upon you as Duties to God; the Apostle intimating, that where the Master's Eye could not, there God's Eye would see, regard and mark the behaviour of the Servant; and that though his heart were not open to the inspection of his Master, yet 'tis to God's; and therefore he must serve his Master from his heart too: He that is acted by such a Conscience as this, will certainly do his Duty; for when he shall think that God overlooks him, and fills every place which his Master cannot, he cannot then easily be tempted to allow himself in murmuring, or unfaithfulness, or idleness: Whatever he would not do or say, if his Master's Eye were upon him, that being governed by this Conscience, he will not do, how far soever he be absent; for he will fear Damnation more than the loss of his Service, and the displeasure of God more than that of Man.  
A second Duty towards God, which I would recommend to Servants, is, 
2. Trust in God.  Trust in him, or dependence upon him. There is no state so secure or so fortunate, as not to stand in need of God, and consequently none wherein this is not a proper Duty: But yet, it seems most proper and indispensible for such as have fewest Friends, fewest supports to rely upon, and such are Servants; they are therefore to endeavour to be eminent in this Grace; there is no way, by which they can more directly and immediately own God, by which they can make a more public and eminent Profession of their firm Belief of his Wisdom, Power and Goodness. The Servant therefore must learn to look upon God as his Father, as his Patron, as his Guardian, as all in all to him; to him he must resort for Counsel, to him he must complain if wronged, of him he must beg assistance, and on him alone he must rely for a blessing in all he doth, and for Provision: He must learn to call upon him in all his Straits, and praise him in all his Enjoyments. From the conscientious practice of this Duty, the Master will reap two great Advantages; the first, that his Servant will do his Duty with much better courage, as aiming in all he doth, to recommend himself not only to his Master, whose power to requite him is, it may be very little, but most especially to God, who, he knows, is a Patron that never wants either power or will to recompense those that apply themselves to him: The second, that God will bless him and all he has for his Servants sake: This was the Advantage which Potiphar enjoyed in the Service of Joseph and Laban, in that of Jacob; the Prosperity of those Idolaters being owing to the Religion of their Servants; the Servant, besides the contentment and satisfaction of his mind arising from his frequent Addresses to God; and besides the actual blessings which God will one time or other certainly bestow upon those that trust in him, will also find a good support, a ready Antidote against all the real and imaginary Evils of his state: For, were but this Duty of Trust in God conscientiously practised, Servants of ability and spirit would never want encouragement, nor those of meaner Capacity satisfaction and comfort: They who served in hope, would be able in despite of an ill face and appearance of their present Circumstances, to carry their prospect farther, and believe their Advancement very easy to God, though it scarce appeared probable to the Eye of Man; and they whose Ambition mounts no higher than a mean Service, would not be frighted by fears of want in Sickness or in Age, as being fully persuaded that God cares for them. Having said this, I cannot think it necessary to stir you up to trust in God by any new Motives; for the two which I have insinuated are, methinks, abundantly sufficient, namely, first, the pleasure and satisfaction of mind that springs from it, in that it gives men an unshaken support and security in a troublesome and uncertain World; hence that of the 
* Psal. 4.8.  Psalmist, I will both lay me down in peace and sleep, for thou only makest me dwell in safety. And hence 'tis, that a fearless Security, even amongst the Menaces and Alarms of approaching Dangers, is by the Psalmist made the Character of one that trusts in God, 
* Psal. 112.17.  He will not be afraid of any evil tidings, his heart is fixed trusting in the Lord. A second Motive is the actual Benefit this Trust procures you, namely, Relief in all your Wants, and Deliverance in all your Dangers; for this is that the Scripture teaches us; 
* Psal. 34.10.  Fear the Lord ye his Saints; for there is no want to them that fear him: The young Lions do lack and suffer hunger, but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. And so Psal. 46.1. God is our Refuge and Strength; a very present help in trouble. O that you would be persuaded to make a Trial of the Pleasure and Happiness of this Duty, that you would experience the blessedness of that state, wherein a man hath nothing to do, but 
* Psal. 4.5.  to sacrifice the Sacrifice of Righteousness, and put his Trust in the Lord.  
A third great Duty of the Servant towards God, 
3. Contentment in his place.  is Contentment in his place; this is a Duty necessary to your own Happiness, necessary to the Service of your Master, and necessary to the Honour of God; To your own Happiness, for though your Circumstances be never so good, yet if you do not think 'em so, you must needs be uneasy; and discontent doubles the weight and burden of any Service; To the Service of your Master, for you can never serve him well, if you do not serve him cheerfully, and from the heart, which you can never do, whilst you are sick of your Employment. Lastly, To the Honour of God, which requires, that you submit to the Wisdom of his Providence, and not murmur and repine at his Dispensations: This Humility is a Virtue so consonant to common Reason, that 'tis just matter of wonder how any should be guilty of the contrary; for though we should not be able to give a Reason of God's deal with us, yet sure the Reverence we have for his Infinite Wisdom, and the persuasion we have of his Infinite Goodness, may easily induce us to believe, that he has always a kind and good Reason for what he doth; and surely, you that look upon it as your Duty, to execute the Commands of your Masters, without demanding the Reasons or Motives of 'em, cannot but think it reasonable to treat God with as much Reverence and Humility as you do a mortal man. I might in the next place, put you in mind, that all we possess is owing merely to the favour of God, not to your Merit, and that he that has least, has much more than he deserves, and if so, you have no reason to complain of him, as if he had dealt niggardly with you, because he has dealt more bountifully with others; May he not do what he will with his own? but there are two Motives to Contentment, which I would more especially recommend to you; One is, that whatever you undergo in this World, shall be made up and recompensed to you a hundred-fold in another, if you suffer with Meekness, Patience and Humility: So that this state of Humiliation doth but put you into a capacity of greater degrees of Glory hereafter. The other is, that if you consider your state aright, you have no reason at all of murmuring against God, as dealing unequally with you; for in all these things, which are substantially good and valuable, he has dealt as bountifully with you as with others: You enjoy the Light of the Sun; the Beauties of the Creation are as much exposed to your view, as to any Monarch's, the freshness of the Air, the coolness of the Stream, the fragrancy of the Spring are imparted as bountifully to you, as any others whoever. You have Rational and Immortal Spirits, healthy, strong and active Bodies; the Food that is best for health, the Raiment that is best for for warmth, is every where to be had; the things wherein God has made a difference between you and others, are trifles, imaginary, and fantastic, not real Advantages; but you take pains for what you have; your Labour is not half so great a burden to you, as is their Idleness to them: But even of those things which I call substantial blessings, they enjoy more than you. 'Tis true, but you enjoy enough, and more than enough, like Manna, breeds but Worms, that is, troubles and cares: And this puts me in mind that the state of a Servant has some Advantages really and truly above that of a Master. Not to mention that Obedience itself is not only a much plainer, but also a much easier Duty than Government, that it has nothing in it disobliging, or unkind, as Reproof, Chastisement, and putting away of Servants has, that it is no way responsible for the discretion of its actions, etc. not to mention, I say, these and such like Advantages which you possess, there are others of greater importance. You enjoy the World without the Cares of it; Storms sink no Ships of yours, nor scorching Vapours blast your Fruit or Corn; the Turns and Changes of Fortune concern you very little, or not at all; and I do very much question, whether your travail and labour, as well as your care, be not much less than that of many Masters. 'Tis true, there are a sort of men who account Idleness and Looseness as the Prerogatives of an ample Fortune, envy 'em not; you ought rather to bless God that he has hedged in your ways, that he has put you in a state of Life, wherein it is extremely difficult for you to be large or intemrate, to be proud or wanton; for surly 'tis a blessed Advantage belonging to your condition, that it has fewer incitements to sin, and more to Virtue than that of the Rich and Great: But of this I have discoursed at large in the beginning of this Chapter. There remains then nothing for you to quarrel at, in the condition and quality of a Servant, unless you think it too mean and contemptible for you in the Eye of the World; but why should you think that Condition too mean for you, which our dear Lord thought not too mean for him? For he came in the form of a Servant, Phil. 2. But if this trouble you, I have showed you before an infallible way of redeeming yourselves from Contempt; namely, by a Religious and excellent Behaviour; for true Virtue is much more honourable than Nobility of Blood, or Ampleness of Fortune.   

A Prayer for Contentment in your Condition.  
O Eternal and gracious Lord God, before whom a meek and humble spirit is of great price; O God who givest Grace to the humble, but resistest the proud, keep me, I beseech thee, from pride and frowardness, from discontent and murmuring, and give me a meek and humble spirit: Make me adore thy Wisdom and Goodness in every dispensation of thy Providence, and cheerfully submit to thy Will, and follow thy Conduct. O suffer me not to despise or murmur at that state, which my great Lord and Master honoured, by taking it upon himself, for he came not to be ministered to, but to minister. Make me always thankful to thee for those Real Advantages which I enjoy in this state; thou hast given me all the necessary Comforts of Life without the Cares and Troubles of it; thou hast hedged in my ways, and kept me from Idleness, and Worldly and Carnal Lusts by my Necessities and indispensible Restraints of my Calling. O never suffer me to break thorough all these to commit sin, and die. O grant, that since my station has fewer Temptations to sin, and more Encouragements to Virtue than that of others, I may be so much more eminent and exemplary than others in all virtuous and holy living, as knowing my offence more inexcusable: So shall I ever have reason to bless thy Love for the meanness and necessities of my state, when they shall have made me rich in goodness, then shall I adore and magnify thy Love for those Restraints and Confinements thou hast put upon me, when they shall prove the meanest Instruments of my Eternal Preservation and Safety, then shall I adore thy Mercy for the bodily hardships of my Service, when they shall prove to me an excellent Discipline, to train me up to Virtue and Glory. Amen, so be it blessed Jesus.   

A Prayer for Fidelity to your Master, and Trust in God.  
O Holy and Righteous God, whose Eyes are set upon the Righteous, and thine Ears are always open to their Prayers, who feedest those that fear thee, and art a present help in time of trouble, possess me, I humbly beseech thee, with such a sincere Faith in all thy Promises, with such a firm persuasion of thy Wisdom, Power, and Goodness, that I may ever trust and rely upon thee, as my God and my Saviour; and O let me never be ashamed of my hope in thee, nor let my distrustful or fearful heart ever give thee occasion to be ashamed to be called my God: And because, O Lord, the Sacrifices of the wicked are an abomination to thee, and the Prayers of the unjust a mere profanation of thy holy Name, therefore I beseech thee, let thy fear be before mine Eyes, and make me faithful and diligent in the station to which it has pleased thee to call me. I know O Lord, that thou art a holy and a righteous God, and an Avenger of all Covenant-breakers: O suffer me not therefore to fall into breach of Trust with Man, lest I fall under the Vengeance of my God. I know, that my Duty towards my Master is one great part of my Religion towards thee, O suffer me not by idleness or falsehood to lose the Eternal Reward of my Service: I know, O Lord, that all things are naked and bare before thee, and that though my Master's Eye cannot, yet thine does in all times, and in all places, behold me, that thou mayest render to me according to my works: O how fatal then must that Laziness prove, for which I must be condemned to everlasting pain? O how fatal must my frauds be, since though I may deceive my Master, I cannot thee? Lord, therefore enable me so to serve with fear and trembling, and singleness of heart, that I may have a good ground to trust and depend upon thee, for protection and provision in this World, and for reward in another, through Jesus Christ our Lord.   

A Prayer for right performance of Instrumental or Relative Duties.  
O Lord my God, I know that my Lamp will soon go out, unless there be Oil to feed it; that my Graces will soon languish, unless they be nourished and refreshed by thy Word and Sacraments; I know, O Lord, that my spiritual life, my corporal life cannot be upheld, but by a daily supply, a supply of thy Grace, the life and strength of my Soul; and I know, that this is not in thy ordinary course otherwise to be obtained, than by fervent Prayer, awful Meditatation of thy Word, and a devout and frequent Use of the Communion: I beseech thee therefore, O my God, not only that thou wouldst imprint upon my heart a just sense of the necessity of these Duties, but also that thou wouldst instruct and assist me, that I may perform 'em devoutly and conscientiously, and persevere in them constantly to my life's end. O do thou teach me to pray in contrite groans, and transporting love. O do thou open my heart, that it may receive thy Word with true Faith, and devout Affection; O do thou raise in me such a grateful passion for the love of Jesus, that I may not only commemorate his Death in joy and tears, but meet him with ardent love, and be inseparably united to him, and he to me. But, O my God, how often shall I fall short of this through my own default? Ah how seldom shall I come up to it? O therefore pardon, pardon the infirmities of thy Servant! Ah! pardon me my want of preparation to these Duties, my heaviness and distraction in 'em, and whatever mixtures of other frailties may cleave to them; and however weak my performances may be, let 'em not be wholly unprofitable, let 'em at least beget in me Humility, clearer Convictions of my spiritual Poverty and Weakness, greater Watchfulness, and new Resolutions for the time to come; and all this, I most earnestly and most humbly beg for the sake of Jesus Christ my Lord.    

CHAP. II. Of the Servant's Duty towards his Master and Mistress, consisting in Obedience, Faithfulness, Love.  
I Think, 
Injustice or Uncharitableness in Servants implies a double guilt.  nothing can be more evident, than that every Servant owes his Master and Mistress in the first place all those Duties, at least, which every Man owes another, whether he be Friend or Enemy, Neighbour or Stranger, namely, Truth, Justice and Charity; nay, I believe, all will readily confess, that the transgression of these Duties in Servants towards their Masters and Mistresses, has many more and greater Aggravations in it, than any Error of this kind, in one Man towards another; for the nearer any Relation is, the stricter is its obligation to those Virtues. Two things do evidently aggravate the guilt of a Servants Injustice or Uncharitableness: First, Trust reposed in Servants makes it much more easy for them to do wrong, and much more difficult for their Masters to guard themselves against it. Secondly, The Obligation Servants lie under to Gratitude for the Benefits they enjoy, and to Fidelity enjoined 'em by the Law of God and Nature, must needs render any wrong they do their Masters or Mistresses, a more abominable Crime in the sight of God and Man, as being not only a sin of Injustice and Uncharitableness, which is of itself a sin big enough to damn any man; but also of the foulest Ingratitude, and basest Treachery and Perfidiousness: This, I would have well considered, because, if it were, it would make Servants dread the commission of some Crimes which they seem not to have that sense of, which they ought: Such are for instance, raising Dissension and Feuds in the Family, by lying and whispering. Secondly, Blasting the Credit and Reputation of their Masters and Mistresses, whether by false or true Reports; the guilt of these practices will be evident to him who considers. The spreading Report, though true, to another's disadvantage, is uncharitableness in any man; but in a Servant, 'tis not only a breach of Charity, but of Faith and Secrecy too, and the blackest Ingratitude to boot; and if it be a sin to spread an Uncharitable Truth, how much a greater to forge a Malicious Lie? For one Neighbour or one Stranger to belie or slander another by a false Charge, is an effect & property not only of a mean, but devilish spirit; what name then can this sin find, when a Master or a Mistress is thus treated by a Servant, who lies under not only the general Obligations of Charity, Truth and Justice, but also more particular, and if it can be more sacred ones, of Secrecy, Faith and Gratitude? The same thing may be said of kindling strife; for if it be a heinous wickedness in any one to stir up Contention by Lying and Whispering, how much more in a Servant, who is so strictly obliged to preserve the Peace of the Family he lives in?  
The very same is the case of a Servant in all other Injuries committed against his Master; they are not only Violations of his Christian Profession, (as every act of Injustice or Uncharitableness in all other men is) but also of the particular Obligations of his Calling; and therefore such sins, as they have greater aggravations, so shall they receive greater punishment than other men's: This is extremely necessary to be remembered, that, as you have easier opportunities of doing wrong, so you may also have greater dread and horror of it, as looking upon every Injury that were but a single act of Injustice or Defect of Charity in others, as a Complication of sins and villainies in you, being a transgression not only of your Duty as Christians, but as Servants too. Having laid this before you, as a strong Engagement to a most strict and conscientious discharge of your Duty, I come now in the  
Second place, to consider the particulars of this Duty. I might sum up all, as our Saviour doth, under one Virtue of Faithfulness, for he makes a Good and Faithful Servant to be terms equivalent, Matth. 25. Well done good and faithful Servant. But that you may more fully and distinctly comprehend the whole of your Duty, I will speak of it under these three Heads; 1. Obedience. 2. Faithfulness. 3. Love.  
First therefore of Obedience: 
1 Obedience.  This is that which constitutes the very nature of Service: Right to command makes a Master, and obligation to obey a Servant; that Subjection which the Centurion describes, Luke 7.8. I say unto one, go, and he goes, and to another come, and he cometh; and to my Servant, do this, and he does it, is an indispensible Duty of every one that professes himself a Servant. This, Reason teaches us, His Servants ye are, 
Rom 6.6.  to whom ye obey: And the very nature of the Covenant between the Master and his Servant implies this, Obedience on the one hand, and maintenance on the the other. God doth strictly exact this Duty of Servants, and that upon pain of damnation to the transgressor, and promise of an Eternal Reward to the observer of it. Thus Col. 3.22, etc. Servants obey in all things your Masters according to the flesh, not with eye-service as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart fearing God. And whatsoever ye do, do it hearty, as unto the Lord, and not unto men: Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the Reward of the Inheritance, for ye serve the Lord Christ: But he that doth wrong, shall receive for the wrong which he has done; and there is no respect of persons. To the same purpose is Eph. 6.5. 1 Pet. 2.18. and innumerable other Texts of Scripture; by all this put together, you may easily discern how grievous a sin the Disobedience of Servants is, 'tis a downright contempt of God's revealed Will; 'tis a violation of the Law of Nature, disturbing that just and wise Government which the Providence of God has introduced into the World, by that difference he has put between the several Ranks of Mankind; 'tis a manifest breach of the Servant's Covenant which he entered into with his Master, and by consequence, the Disobedient Servant has no right to the Bread he eats, or to the Wages he receives, and he can expect nothing from God, who is the Supreme Lord of all, and by whose Appointment, the Distinction and Order which now is in the World was established; but some severe Judgement, as upon an unrighteous person, and a Covenant-breaker; and 'tis no wonder, that God should so strictly exact this Duty, or so severely punish the Violation of it; for this sin of Disobedience proceeds from Pride, or Frowardness, or Idleness, and ends in Wrath, and Contention, and Confusion.  
Nor is the Spirit of God in Scripture content only to enjoin Servants Obedience, 
The properties of this Obedience.  but it takes care to acquaint 'em, what kind of Obedience this must be: First, It must be in all things, that is, all things that are not repugnant to the Will of God, who is our supreme Master; or the Laws of the Land, which are stamped with an Authority superior to that of their Master in all things else. Servants are not to dispute nor interpret, but obey the Commands of their Master, for they are not to answer for the discretion or reasonableness of his Commands. Their Obedience Secondly, must be in singleness of heart, not with eye-service, as men-pleasers. He is a very ill Servant who obeys only when his disobedience cannot be concealed or excused; for at this rate, the Master would be the greatest Drudge in his Family, and the Care and Toil of overseeing others in their work, would be more intolerable than the work itself. Thirdly, This Obedience must be performed from the heart; the Servant must not only do his Duty, and do it honestly, but he must do it willingly and cheerfully, without this he will not be like to be very prosperous, exact, or diligent in his Service; nor can his Service prove very acceptable to his Master; for to all ingenious Tempers, the Affection and Zeal of a Servant is as valuable as his Service; so that for want of this, he will incur two great Evils, his Labour will be harder, and his Reward will be less: To all this, must be added Fourthly, Humility; Self-conceit and Impatience are the most improper qualities in a Servant imaginable; for what can be more absurd than Pride and Wilfulness in one whose very profession 'tis to obey? These are grievous sins in any Fortune, but more extremely grievous in a low one. The Scripture therefore doth not permit the Servant to answer again when reproved or blamed; nay, what is more, it commands him to behave himself respectfully towards the froward and peevish, as well as mild and gentle Master, and to 
* 1 Pet. 2.  suffer patiently when he suffers wrongfully.  
That you may perform this Duty as you ought, 
Means of performing this Duty.  you are to endeavour to persuade yourselves, that an humble, honest, and cheerful Obedience, is the glory of a Servant; that this is as much the honour of your station, as Prudence, Liberality and Gentleness is of the Masters: That the meanness of any business you are employed in, cannot so much disparage you, as Murmuring and Pride; for 'tis the Master's, not the Servant's dishonour, if he exacts what is not fit or becoming at the hands of his Servant: No Servant can ever lose himself by his Humility, for he may with expressions of respect and kindness quit his Service when he will, and so avoid any Rudeness or Indecency; nor can I possibly conceive, that this course can be prejudicial to any Servant, for let the Servant be of the highest Rank, and the business commanded of the lowest and meanest, any man may do that once or twice out of Humility, which yet he cannot take upon him as his constant work without the imputation of Pusillanimity or meanness of Spirit. Secondly, The Servant must endeavour to entertain a good Opinion of, and Value for his Master, for otherwise it will not be easy to obey those whom you can think reasonable to despise. Thirdly, And above all, the Servant must persuade himself, that he obeys God in obeying his Master; he must look upon himself as placed in this station by God, and he must look upon his Master as invested with Authority over him by God, and this will be an encouragement to him to do his Duty, and a comfort and support to him when he suffers wrongfully.  
A second Duty which a Servant owes his Master is Faithfulness, 
2 Faithfulness.  a Duty without which 'tis impossible that the Master can enjoy any real pleasure or satisfaction, or the Servant any peace of Conscience; for how can the Master's mind be at ease, if he be not secure of the Faith of those of his own Family, but must needs suspect those whom he must needs trust? and what an ulcered gauled Conscience must that Servant have, who dwells continually under the Roof, and eats daily of the Bread of that man whom he wrongs and injures, where every thing he doth or sees calls his sin to remembrance, and every Benefit, every Favour is a Reproach, and a stab to his Soul? Now this Fidelity is to be practised in all those things, wherein the Master is capable of receiving any Benefit by the Faith, or suffering any wrong by the Falsehood of his Servant; and besides this, it ought to be understood, that Fidelity obliges the Servant not only, not to do his Master any wrong himself, but also not to suffer any others to do him any. Fidelity taken in this large extent compreprehends a great many Duties of the Servant towards his Master. As for Example, 
Fidelity towards his Master's Soul.  First, That he endeavour, as far as it lies in him, to promote the Virtue, and procure the Salvation of his Master, for this is his truest and greatest Interest: This he may effect, partly by Prayer to God for him, partly by Advice and good Discourse; if his Master give him any such opportunity, or admit him into any such freedom: Partly like Serapion, by the Example of an excellent Life, but if he cannot serve him this way, he must at least take care that he be not guilty of the contrary; he must not be an Incentive to, or Instrument of his sin; he must not be a Contriver of, or Purveyor for his Lust; he must not flatter and applaud him in his wickedness; for this is the worst sort of unfaithfulness, the betraying the very Soul of his Master, and how wretched a state doth the Servant reduce himself to by this perfidiousness, if his Master never reputes, he has drawn upon his own Soul the guilt of his Damnation; if he do repent, he draws upon himself his Master's perpetual contempt and aversion. Secondly, 
Towards the Peace and Honour of his Master.  The Servant must endeavour to preserve the Peace and Honour of his Master, for these things are or should be dear to every one next to his Soul and Virtue. Now the Peace of a Master may be disturbed either by the Contentions of those of his Family amongst themselves, or by their unkindness and undutifulness towards himself; the Servant therefore who by lies or slanders, by vile whisper and informations doth alienate the Affections of the Family, or any Member of it, from their Head, or sets them at variance between one another, is guilty of the blackest treachery, for he perfidiously robs his Master of the Peace of his mind, and the Affections of those of his Household, than both which, nothing can be dearer to him: Nor is this all the aggravation of this sin, for it loads the perfidious wretch with all the guilt of the numerous and great mischiefs which always may, and very often do ensue upon the Contentions and Divisions of Families. In a word, such a one draws upon himself the Wrath of God, and as soon as he is discovered, the displeasure and hatred of the whole Family. As to the Honour of their Master or Mistress, it may be wounded by the Servant two ways. First, by speaking ill of 'em either abroad or at home; or else Secondly, by promoting that Immorality in the Family, which must necessarily tend to their disparagement and scandal: They therefore that will be Faithful in this point, must be so far from making the faults of their Master or Mistress public, that if it be possible, they must not see 'em themselves; they must be so far from making 'em the subject of their discourse abroad, that they must vindicate 'em all that possibly they can; nay, they must not endure any such sort of Talk at home; they must no more connive at a Fellow-Servant that wrongs their Master or Mistress in their Honour, than if they did wrong 'em in their Goods; they must excuse whatever will admit of excuse, what will not, they must hate but not spread or censure; by doing this, a Servant shall gain true Honour to himself, while he preserves his Masters; for though the ill temper of some people be such, that they are pleased with malicious Informations, with spiteful and slanderous Discoveries, yet I never knew any temper so bad, that loved the Informer, if a Servant; for they cannot but judge Ingratitude and Treachery as odious Vices in him, as are any that he condemns in his Master. 
Towards the goods and possessions of his Master.  The Third and last thing wherein the Faithfulness of a Servant is required, is the goods and possessions of the Master; in these the Servant must not wrong his Master, neither by theft, nor fraud, nor waist, nor must he suffer others to do so, for all this is downright Injustice, and expressly forbid by Almighty God. Thus Titus 2.10. They are forbid to purloin, as being directly contrary to that Faithfulness which they are commanded to show; nor is the consuming the Master's goods by Riot and Intemperance, by unnecessary Wast, or by Sloth and Carelessness, one jot a less sin than Theft or Fraud. The unjust Steward in the Gospel, Luke 16. is accused, that he had wasted his Master's goods; and under the Law, if Parents had brought a Son before the Congregation, and accused him of these Crimes, he was to be stoned. 
* Deut. 21.20.  This our Son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our Voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard; and all the men of his City shall stone him with stones that he die. And surely a wicked and slothful Servant is no less punishable than a wicked and slothful Son. I will insist a little longer upon the Servant's Duty in this point of Justice, both because the Servant is more apt to offend this way, being betrayed by the Temptation either of profit or pleasure, and because the Master is wont to resent offences of this nature most heinously, and to account 'em as the worst of Injuries he is capable of suffering by his Servant, not (I hope) that he doth esteem his Goods above his Soul or his Honour, or above the Virtue and Peace of his Family, but because he is less able to secure the one than the other against the perfidiousness of Servants; for if he be a good man, he will easily be able to secure himself and his Family against the slander by which any Servant endeavours to blast his Honour, or against the Lies and Whispers by which he endeavours to breed discontent, or against the Infection of his ill Morals; but there is no way to secure himself against the wrongs which he may suffer by the Fraud and Purloining, by the Waste and Riot, or by the Sloth and Negligence of an unfaithful Servant.  
First therefore of Purloining. 
of Purloining.  By this is to be understood, the converting the goods of your Master to your own use; you cannot be so ignorant as not to know, that this is downright Theft, and forbidden by an express Commandment, Thou shalt not steal: Nor can you be ignorant, that Theft is a Crime of the foulest nature, as being not only repugnant to the excellencies and perfections of Christianity, but even to the common Morality of Heathens, to the natural Law of Justice, Thou shalt do to others, as thou wouldst be done by; and you cannot but know, how outrageously you would yourselves resent such an Injury; for if you love the World so well, as to venture the being damned for it, 'tis easy for me to conclude, how grievously you would take it, to be rob of it by another. How vile a sin this is, in the Opinion of others, may easily be inferred from the indelible stain and infamy which sticks upon it amongst all people, and from the severe punishments pronounced against it in all civilised Nations; but most of all, from the punishment which a wise and a merciful, as well as just God adjudges it to. The punishment in the Old Testament, you may read, Exod. 22. But that which most concerns you, is that of the New, which is exclusion from the Kingdom of Heaven, and Eternal Imprisonment in Hell, in the Lake that burns with Fire and Brimstone for ever. 
* 1. Cor. 6.9.10.  Know ye not, that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither Fornicators, etc. nor Thiefs, nor Covetous, nor Drunkards, nor Revilers, nor Extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God. How grievous a sin this is, all this may sufficiently convince you, and should methinks strike a guilty Soul with horror and amazement; but some peradventure make less Conscience to rob their Master than another man: How impudent a folly is this? Can you think, that he by becoming your Master forfeits his Right and Property, and is no longer under the fence and protection of the Laws of God? or can you think, that you, by becoming a Servant, gain a Licence to commit that sin with Impunity, which you could not have otherwise done without incurring Damnation? Is not the Injustice the same? Is not the wrong the Master suffers notorious? Nay, I must be free to tell you, that though the Injustice and Wrong be the same, the guilt and sin of Theft is not the same in a Stranger and a Servant: Or dost thou think that base Ingratitude, and perfidious breach of Trust, adds nothing to the guilt of the Injustice? Poor creature! Dost thou not see, how vile a sin thou dost commit, a sin that nothing can attend, if it have it's due, but reproach and infamy, bodily punishment according to Law, and, if not repent of, Eternal Damnation? Nay dost thou not discern what a heap of sins thou art guilty of in one, Ingratitude, breach of Trust, Lying, and, it may be, Perjury together with Injustice in every single act of this sort of Theft? And what art thou to gain by all this? What is it that thou expectest as the price of thy Honour, thy Life and thy Soul? 'Tis very often something so little, that were it not for fear of thy being plunged by degrees in greater mischiefs, thy Master would hardly think it worth his taking notice of: But be it what it will, it can be but some small portion of thy Master's Wealth, and art not thou a poor and desperate Slave indeed, who art content to sell, not thy Strength and thy Liberty, but thy Credit, thy Blood and thy Soul at so vile, so cheap, a Rate? After all, do but consider, what it is that moves thee, that draws thee on to this sin, and thou shalt find, that it is to gratify some other as bad as itself; for what is it that thou dost want? Food and Raiment is provided for thee, thou must therefore either steal to gratify thy Covetousness, and this is downright Idolatry in thee, or thou must steal out of distrust, and to secure thyself against thy Infidel fears of Poverty hereafter. Unhappy creature! who canst not rely upon God, even when thou art provided for! What couldst thou do worse than this, if thou wert destitute of any provision? How great a distrust of God, how vile and impious a piece of Infidelity is this? And how great is the sin of Distrust and Infidelity without any extraordinary aggravations? 
* Revel 21.8.  The fearful and unbelieving, etc. shall have their part in the Lake which burneth with Fire and Brimstone. Or Lastly, Thou must steal to feed some other Lust, such as Riot, Uncleanness, or the like, and then in what a course of wickedness art thou engaged? Thou art then to satisfy, not only the Extravagancies of thy own, but of others Lusts, and thou makest thyself a Slave to all that are thy Confederates in sin; nay, they are the Masters of thy Reputation, thy Fortune, and thy Life; and when thou considerest what lose and debauched wretches thou dost trust these thy dear Concerns with, thou canst not but think thyself as desperate a Fool, as thou art desperately wicked: So that, as to this end of thy Theft, the gratifying some wild and lewd Affections, the more thou dost succeed in it, the more desperate and deplorable is thy state: The two other ends, namely, the satisfaction of thy Covetousness, or thy security against future want, are in all probability subverted and defeated by that very sin, by which thou dost endeavour to attain 'em: For thy Theft forfeits the favour and patronage of God, thy distrust, and this course it puts thee upon, is an open renouncing and relinquishing the Care and Providence of God over thee, so that though thy sin, should be concealed from man, thou canst expect no other, than that thou shouldst be cursed in all thou settest thy hand to, and that thy fairest Hopes should be blasted; but if thou art discovered, the least that can befall thee is the Restitution of thy Unjust Rapines, and a brand or mark of Infamy fixed on thee, which will render thee uncapable of any Trust, and expose thee consequently to unavoidable and perpetual want and beggary: Ah the wretched Life of an infamous and beggarly Thief, forsaken and abandoned by God and Man!  
I have said enough, I hope, to make any one sensible of this sin of Purloining; yet I am almost afraid, lest my Design may be in some part defeated, by the foolish Collusions, and trifling Excuses of such, who though they cannot deny Purloining or Theft to be a damnable sin, yet they commit the thing, and deny it to be Theft; just like men that acknowledge Rebellion a sin, but will not own taking up Arms against the Supreme Magistrate to be Rebellion: Give me leave therefore to tell you, that when I make Theft to be the converting your Master's goods to your own use, I understand by it all acts of yours, by which your Master suffers detriment and wrong. For Instance, not only the deceiving him in what is in your own Trust, or the pilfering what is in another's, or the taking to yourselves any way unjustly what is his, but also the giving away to others without his knowledge, or contrary to his will any part or portion of his, than which, nothing, I hear, is more common; Servants as well as Masters, having their attendants and hangers on, their Parasites and Flatterers, who at once soothe them in their Pride and Vanity, by fawning and flattering, and cherish 'em in their Idleness by doing their business. I must put you in mind further, that I mean by your Master's goods, whatever he possesses, whatever it be wherein he can suffer, or you commit wrong. And in the last place, I must put you in mind, that you are guilty, not only of the wrong and injustice which you personally commit, but also of whatever is committed by any other, if you consent to it, and connive at it, even though you should receive no benefit by it: For thus far I conceive the Reproof of the Psalmist may be extended, 
* Psa. 50.18.  When thou sawest a Thief, thou consented'st with him, which is there looked upon as an abominable wickedness, and surely the commands of God, Thou shalt not suffer sin in thy Brother, but by any means reprove him, and 
* Eph. 5.11.  Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove 'em, do nearly concern a Servant in this case, as he would avoid the guilt of the sin which he doth not reprehend, for the neglect of Reproof is here a tacit approbation of the sin, and tho' peradventure this sort of theft be not to be loaded with all the Aggravations of the former, yet the least that can be said of it, is, that it is a downright injustice, a breach of trust, and extreme unfaithfulness towards the Master: But you'll demand of me, how is a Servant to behave himself towards his guilty Fellow-Servant, that he may, in such a case as this, acquit himself with a good Conscience towards God and Man? If he conceal his fault, he is unfaithful to his Master, if he discover it, he is unkind to his Fellow-Servant: He must betray the one or the other, if he do not reveal the wrong● he sees his Master suffers, and, what is more, his Conscience must suffer too; if he do, he shall be hated and persecuted by his Fellow-Servants as an Informer, nay peradventure, what is worse than this, he he that is accused shall out-wit him, or shall be able to form a Combination against him, and so find more credit with the Master, and by consequence the good Servant shall by his Integrity and Justice forfeit his Place, and it may be, his Reputation, or at least live uneasily, persecuted by the vexatious Calumnies, affronts and unkindnesses of those others that are combined against him. To this demand take this answer, I should never have fancied this Objection, had I not been extremely sensible of the frailty of Man; for, whence should any one doubt, whether he should preserve his Faith and Duty to his Master, or commit a sin to oblige a Fellow-Servant? Whence should spring this question, whether you should support and cherish a wicked Fellow-Servant in his Vice, or whether you should preserve a Master, (to whom you owe Fidelity, Truth and Love,) from injuries and wrongs? How finally should a Man come to be troubled with this scruple? Whether he should preserve his Integrity, a good Conscience, and the Favour and Blessing of God by doing his Duty, or, by deserting it, run the hazard of the worst that the wit or malice of his wicked Fellow-Servant can bring upon him? These you must readily acknowledge are doubts and scruples, which do not become the sincerity and Faith of a good and honest Christian: However, you shall not want here the best advice that I can give you, for I know, there may be some little struggle of good nature and interest, in opposition to your Duty in this point; the first thing then, you are to do, is to reprove your guilty Fellow-Servant, to lay before him, as well as you can, the heinousness of his sin, together with the danger of it, both with respect to his Temporal and Eternal Interest, acquaint him with the Beauty and Pleasure, the security and advantage of Virtue and the Fear of God, advise and exhort him earnestly to expiate his sin by Repentance towards God, and restitution towards man, mix this Reproof ever and anon with Professions of tenderness and affections for him, with expressions of your good meaning and sincere intention, which he may discern by your accusing him only to himself, and lastly with assurances, that, if he follow your advice, he shall not suffer the least prejudice, either in his credit or interest by your knowledge of his fault, nay, that it shall not diminish in the least your respect or Affection towards him: For you are not insensible of the wiles of the Devil, and the infirmity of man, it being commonly incident to humane frailty to fall into sin, and 'tis the work of a true Faith to repent of it, and therefore, as your compassion is kindled in you upon the former account, so should you necessarily be engaged to honour and love him upon the latter, now if you prove successful in this, you gain a Soul to God, a good Servant to your Master, and an inseparable Friend to yourself, and what is more than all, you gain peace and satisfaction to your Conscience, together with the blessing of God, the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the increase of his Holy Spirit. Whereas suppose you connive at, and he proceed in his sin, Ah! How fatal an obligation do you lay upon him! You encourage him in his sin, and, if he never repent, you damn his Soul Eternally; if he do repent, how must he needs condemn you in the bitterness and grief of his Reflections, as one false to God and him, and no less unfaithful to his Eternal, than your Master's Temporal Interest? And what the guilt is, that you load your own Conscience with, I have showed you before: But if you would do any good this way, you must take care, that you do it betimes, and that you do not let his fault take air before you have thus represented it to him, for if you first publish, and then reprove his guilt, I cannot wonder, if he do question either your sincerity or discretion, and his doubting of either must needs forfeit in him all respect for your advice or reproof, and tempt him rather to stand upon his defence, than trust you with his Confession or Repentance.  
If you can effect nothing this way towards the reclaiming your Fellow-Servant, you must communicate his offence with some body else; as well that you may yourself avoid the Imputation of Connivance and Consent, as also that you may deliver, if possible, his Soul from guilt without the ruin of his Credit and Fortune: And in the choice of such a Person, you are, if it may be, to find out some one that is considerable with him, one whose Virtue and Authority he Reverences, and whose Affection and Discretion he can confide in; this will make him more apt to be free in his Confession, and if he has any modesty, any ingenuity left in him, he cannot but be wrought by this method into Repentance. This very method may be made use of in other cases as well as this, as in those injuries you see your Master suffer, either by the negligence or waist of your Fellow-Servants, only where the matter is little and trifling, you are not to communicate it with others, for this will look like a formal and solemn impertinence, but if he refuse to reform upon your single reproof, you are to go directly to your Master or Mistress, for a slight wrong repeated daily may grow a very outrageous one in time; However, they are the most proper Judges of what is slight and trifling, or otherwise; for what may seem to you very inconsiderable, may seem otherwise to them, who best know their own minds and their own Fortunes. The same thing lastly you must do in matters of greater moment, when those ways I have prescribed you fail, you must not provoke God, wrong your Master, and wound your own Conscience, for fear of displeasing, nay of ruining your unjust, slothful or wasteful Fellow-Servant, but you must honestly and courageously do your Duty, leaving the issue to God, and to the prudenc● and goodness of your Master, and tho●… it should end in his ruin, or in th● forfeiture of your own place, or the disturbance of your quiet and peac● in it, (which I can hardly believe if you will pursue this method) ye● you shall have delivered your own Soul, God shall bring forth your Righteousness as the Noonday, whatever calumnies the wit or the malice of your Fellow-Servants raise to obscure it, and you shall thrive and prevail in despite of all confederacies against you.  
A second Vice of Servants, 
Of Negligence.  by which a Master suffers is negligence, by which I mean, either a total Omission or neglect of Duty, or such a careless and lazy performance of it, that it were as good left undone, as be thus done: Or else, Lastly, heedlessness or want of care. Now tho' this be very common, you cannot, upon due examination of the nature of this fault, but confess it a very great one; for as to the Master, (if he be hereby endamaged) is it not the same thing for him to suffer by your negligence as fraud? And I need not tell you, where there is much trust or confidence on the Master's side, and no Industry or Care on the Servant's, that all must necessarily go to wrack and ruin: Or if he suffer not in his interest, he must suffer in the peace and contentment of his mind, for there cannot be a greater plague and vexation to any man than a confident and careless Servant: Nor is it a small matter, that the Master is forced to bear the rudeness and contempt which a Servant's heedlessness and idleness is too plain an expression of, 'tis a troublesome thing to a man to be leveled with his own Servant, yet so he is in this case, for if there be no authority in the Master, nor fear or care in the Servant, if tho' the Master may command, the slothful Servant will perform only what he pleases, 'tis hard to say wherein is the difference and distinction between 'em. Is it possible for any Servant to think, that this is to do his Duty? Can any one think that this is to obey with fear and trembling? Can any one think that this sluggishness is any thing better than Eye-Service, so much condemned by God? Can any one who carries himself thus heedlessly ever persuade himself, that he doth service as if he made it to God not Man? Or can he ever have the impudence to expect a reward from God for this kind of Deportment? What such a one has reason to expect, he may learn from the Parable of the Lord and his Servants, Matth. 25. where he is called a wicked and a slothful Servant, and adjudged to outer Darkness, who had not answered the trust committed to him, who had only behaved himself idly and unprofitably, tho' he had neither wronged his Master by fraud or theft, or waste, and riot. Alas! The unprofitable Servant must not flatter himself that he doth his Duty, for care and industry are as essential and necessary parts of the Faithfulness of a Servant, as truth and honesty, and he that any time stands idle can never be excused, unless he can plead, what they in the Marketplace did to that question, Why stand ye here idle all the day long? Because no man has hired us. But you are hired, you have no doubt work to do, for no Master will purchase heedlessness and sloth at the rate of such a charge as a Servant puts him to: Nor can I think that a Servant himself would judge this behaviour a good discharge of any man's Duty in any other Station: Would he think that Master did his Duty, who made no provision for his Family? And yet care and industry is as indispensible a Duty of the Servant, as provision or maintenance of the Master: But I need say no more, if nothing else will, the effects of this ill demeanour may convince a Servant, how great an evil this is, for besides the loss and vexation which it creates the Master, it begets perpetual quarrels and discontents in the Family, for the Fellow-Servants of a sluggard are not only bereaved of that assistance which they should receive from him, but also oppressed by that burden of which he eases his Shoulders; the Drone himself is forced upon many Lies and Shifts to excuse his omissions and errors, and finally after some time spent in the displeasure of his Master, the contempt and hatred of his Fellow-Servants: He is at last reproachfully cast off, and branded with such a character as makes all that know him, shut their Doors against him, as unwilling to receive such a trouble and encumbrance into their Families.  
There is a Third vice, 
Of Consumption and Wast.  which Servants are too often guilty of, where the Fortune of the Family can allow it, and that is Consumption & Wast, whether by wantonness and delicacy, whether by riot and excess, whether by junketting and drinking amongst themselves, or also by drawing in others into the Club and Association, it matters little, 'tis a downright injustice committed against the Master, 'tis every jot as bad as theft, much worse than the common theft of poor people, for the poor steal to relieve their necessities, but these rob to feed their gluttony and wantonness, nay, 'tis every jot as bad as theft in a Servant (the guilt of which has been sufficiently displayed to you before, for what difference is there, either in respect of the guilt of the Crime, or in respect of the effects of it towards a Master, whether a Servant steal from him out of Covetousness or fear of future want, or whether he rob and plunder him out of Luxury and Riot, if so, than you may be sure, that if the wrong be the same in respect of the Master, and the guilt the same in respect of the Servant, the Temporal ill consequences of it in this Life, and the punishment of it in another, will be much the same; for such Servants must finally without Repentance and Amendment, be abandoned and forsaken by God and Man: And accordingly 'tis generally observed, and I have marked it myself, that such as have been extremely Prodigal, Wanton and Wasteful, in their Master's Houses, have been afterwards reduced to extreme Poverty, even to the want of a Morsel of Bread; and that which adds to their misery in this state, is commonly this, that such as have been sharers with 'em in the waist of their Master's goods, have been the most apt to reproach their former Pride and Wantonness, and to despise their present Poverty, and the only Persons from whom they could expect relief, have been those very Masters and Mistresses whom they had before abused and wronged.  
Besides this Duty of Justice in Deed, there is another sort of Justice in Word, which a Servant owes his Master, which is Truth; but because this is a common and avowed Duty between Man and Man, I think 'tis not needful to dwell upon it here, there is no body can be ignorant of the wickedness of this sin which makes one of the greatest Prerogatives of Mankind, that is, Speech, an Instrument of the greatest Mischiefs; which is 2dly, An Argument of a mean base Spirit, and destitute of the Faith and Fear of God; which is 3dly, The Product and Effect of some sin or other, for Virtue never needs the Service or Protection of a Lie; which Lastly, Prevents Repentance for sin; for as soon as men have obtained a great slight and dexterity in Lying, they grow hard and confident in their faults, because they find they can without any difficulty conceal or excuse 'em by a Lye.  
And as no one can be ignorant of the evil of this sin, so neither of the evil which will punish it: Who knows not how many plagues are denounced against it by God? What infamy attends it from Man? What secret shame and disquiet it tortures the mind with? and finally, how it certainly involves the Liar in Temporal and Eternal Ruin? Let the Servant therefore, as he would avoid all this, always keep up to strict Truth in his words; if he have committed a fault, let him not go about to excuse it, by the commission of a greater, that is, by Lying; let him rather choose to try the goodness of his Master by an humble and honest confession, than tempt him to suspicion by frivolous Excuses, or barefaced Untruths; however, if he should think his Master stupid enough to be imposed on by any idle Tale, yet let him remember that he has a Master in Heaven who may be conquered by Confession and Repentance, but cannot be imposed upon, or mocked by any slight or artifice of words.  
I have now spoke sufficiently of the Duty of Faithfulness, and will therefore pass on to the  
Third and last great Duty of Servants, 
3dly, Of Love of Masters and Mistresses.  The Love of their Masters and Mistresses: This is a Virtue which is extremely necessary in Servants, it being a very difficult matter to do their Duty without it; but if this be once implanted in their hearts; if the Master be looked upon as a Father, one whose Affection and Esteem for 'em they value as their greatest worldly happiness, there will need no other motive either to their Obedience or Faithfulness: For what St. John observes concerning the Service of God, Eph. 5. that to them who love him, his Commandments are not grievous; the same is true of the Service of Man, the burden of it is very light, if Love help to bear it; for how natural is it for a Servant to obey when he is as fond of the Love of his Master, as of his own Interest? and how natural to be faithful, when he loves his Master's Interest as his own? He will abhor to see him wronged in his Goods, or disturbed or disquieted in his Mind, since if he loves him, he cannot but in every evil that befalls him, suffer with him; how sacred will such a Servant esteem the Honour of his Master? How much will he be concerned for the Virtue of his Children, the good behaviour of his fellow-servants, and the success of his Erterprises in the World? Such a Servant will not stand upon Punctilios, and nicely weigh his Duty by grains and scruples; but he will think all his Duty (whatever it be) wherein he can serve his Master: And whatever he does, he will perform with that delight, that care and cheerfulness, that one would think that he were like Eliezer to Abraham, rather an Heir of his Master's blessing, and his own labours, than an hired Servant; such a one will not stay to expect commands, where his Master's interest requires his Service, much less will he be solicitous, which way he may be excused from his Duty, for he accounts nothing more disingenuous than to stand in need of an excuse. Finally; how easy will it be for such a Servant to receive direction humbly, to bear any infirmity of his Master patiently, to answer respectfully, to remember heedfully, to reform carefully, and to do all out of singleness of Heart?  
How many and great the advantages of this Virtue are, both to the Master and to the Servant, both in point of credit and delight, both in point of Religion and Interest, is very easy to be discerned; the Master will have his business done, and that very prosperously; he sees nothing miscarry under the hands of his Servant, he hears no discontent nor contention in his Family, he sees that his Servant is a good example and guide to his whole Household; in a word, he meets with nothing to displease him when at home, nor is he disturbed by any suspicions or fears when abroad; for he can as entirely confide in his Servant's Faith and Affection as in himself; how will such a man be ready like him, who bought Diogenes to run out into the Exchange and Market, to publish to the World that a Guardian Angel is come into his House? Without any Amplification of the matter, such a Master, if he be not savage and insolent as well as stupid, must confess that he enjoys a great blessing, that he cannot set too high a value upon his Servant, and by consequence, he is in Honour and Justice bond not only to treat him with courteous words and kind looks, but to reward him too, and this cannot but tend to the honour and interest of the Servant, which cannot but reflect advantageously upon the Master, for to have good Servants, and to do well for 'em, is, I think, in the opinion of judicious men, no small argument of a good and wise man: But to proceed, not only the credit and interest, but even the content and Religion of Families is highly concerned in the love and Duty of Servants; for Love is the Parent of Unity and Peace, and it Nurse's up the Children it brings forth, it maintains and preserves the quiet which it procures, and in a Family where Charity and Contentment reign, where order and peace dwell, how necessarily must Religion thrive and flourish? They will watch over and assist one another, they will affectionately give, and meekly receive advice, they will not want time for Religious Duties, nor a sedate composure of mind to make the best use of that time; no one's Prayers and Reading will be rendered useless through discontent and distraction: No one will be kept back from the Sacrament by confusion of business, or disturbance of mind: If all this be put together, I need not trouble you with many motives or inducements to this Duty of Love, for what greater blessings can a Servant desire than those are, which this gives him? 'Tis a help to him in the performance of his Duty, lightens the burden of his Service, it gives him the love of his Master and the Family, peace at home, credit and reputation abroad, both which are the most solid foundations of a Servant's interest imaginable, unless it be the favour of God; and this behaviour gives him a right claim to that too; for whatever is a work of Religion, as this indeed is, whatever procures men more opportunities of grace, and whatever prepares and disposes 'em for the best use of 'em, must needs very much promote our Heavenly Interest, and I have sufficiently made it out, that all these are the blessed fruits of this Duty. To all which I will add but one consideration more to convince you of your obligation to it, which is this, that you cannot without monstrous ingratitude be guilty of the contrary: Do you think, that you own no affection to your Master and Mistress, who have received you into their House, reposed a confidence and trust in you, who are very solicitous to inform and instruct you, who not only bear long with your Ignorance, but wink at many other infirmities in you, who provide for you in your health, and are tender of you in your sickness, who are desirous to oblige and encourage you, and rejoice when you behave your selves so as to deserve it? Is there nothing due to 'em for their compassion for your Souls, for their watchfulness over your manners, for their care in providing for you spiritual as well as bodily food? You cannot be guilty of hating or despising these who have deserved so well of you, nay you cannot be guilty of what is less, the not loving 'em, but you must be profligately ingrateful, you must be stupid and base to a degree that brutish Creatures have never yet been guilty of; For the Ox knows his Owner, and the Ass his Master's Crib: Nay there is no beast of the Field, or of the Desert so fierce and savage, but he has been tamed and obliged too by repeated courtesies and benefits,  

A General Prayer relating to the Duties of this Chapter.  
O Holy and Just God, I know that without Holiness it is impossible for me to please thee here, or to enjoy thee hereafter; I beseech thee therefore, that my understanding may be so enlightened, my Conscience convinced, and my whole Heart inflamed with the love of Holiness, that I may be Holy in all manner of Conversation: Beget in me a most tender and lively sense of the great Duties of Obedience, Justice and Charity which I own to my Master, that I governing myself by these in all my actions, I may in my Station, advance the Honour of God, the Contentment and Interest of my Master, the Peace and Virtue of the Family, and my own both Temporal and Eternal Happiness. I know, O Lord, that no acts of injustice or unfaithfulness between Man and Man shall go unpunished, I know that for these things sake, the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven, O what then must be my punishment, if I heap upon the guilt of injustice and uncharitableness many others, namely, of Ingratitude, Unfaithfulness, Lying, Perjury. O preserve me therefore, O my God, from all falsehood and wrong; and suffer me not to forfeit thy favour and destroy my Soul, for the sake of those things that perish. O let me be fully convinced, that the ways of Righteousness are ways of Pleasantness, and that all her paths are Prosperity and Peace, that so I may delight myself in the Law of my God, and may find comfort, and a blessing in the discharge of my Duty: Teach me O Lord, Humility and Obedience, Faith and Truth, Care and Industry, Charity and Meekness, that I may adorn the Doctrine of God my Saviour, win others over to a love of Virtue, and after an humble and contented, tho' laborious life here, may enter into Rest and Glory hereafter, through Jesus Christ our Lord.   

A Prayer for Obedience.  
O Glorious and Eternal Lord God, who dwellest with those who are of a meek and lowly Spirit, behold me, I beseech thee, and pour into my Heart that Virtue of Humility, which is so highly esteemed by thee: O Lord, my Heart is too too apt to be filled with Pride and Vanity, O do thou convince me every day more and more of my own vileness and worthlesness, that I may be preserved from self-conceit and wilfulness; O give me Grace often to consider the Humility of my Lord and Saviour, that I may learn of him, and obtain the peace which flows from a meek Spirit and Humble Obedience. And O my God, because I am to give an account to thee, who art the searcher of the Heart, and the tryer of the Reins, the Judge of my most secret Thoughts, as well as my most secret Actions, teach me therefore to do my Duty cheerfully and in singleness of Heart; make me to abominate all Lying shifts and pretences, as well as all proud wilfulness and sluggishness. Make me careful to learn my Duty, sincere in the performance of it, patiented under reproof, and diligent in reforming whatever is amiss; thus, O my God, whilst every part of my Duty towards Man, shall prove an instance of my Obedience towards thee, I shall enjoy the peace of a good Conscience, and the hopes of an Eternal Reward: Hear me and answer me, O Lord, for thy Mercies sake, and thy Son Jesus Christ's Sake.   

A Prayer for Faithfulness.  
O God thou God of Truth, Right and Just art thou, and there is no iniquity with thee, fill my Heart, I beseech thee with the love of Truth and Faithfulness, make me true in all my words, and upright in all my deeds: O teach me to take heed to my ways, that I offend not with my Tongue; teach me to keep my Mouth, as it were, with a Bridle, while the ungodly are in my sight: O make me to abhor the sin of Unfaithfulness, and let no such cleave unto me. Let no slander or detraction, no mischievous accusations proceed out of my Mouth, nor suffer me ever to stretch forth my hand to iniquity: O let me not fall through Covetousness or Distrust in God, and let me never commit injustice to maintain my Pride or Riot, or Idleness, adding sin to sin: If sinners entice me, suffer me not to consent to 'em, permit me not to have any Fellowship with the Unfruitful Works of Darkness, but give me courage and discretion to reprove 'em, that so my Righteousness may be as the Noonday, and thou mayest make me to prosper in the Land, and I may at last obtain the Blessing, Well done good and faithful Servant, enter thou into thy Master's Joy, Amen, Amen, Blessed Jesus,   

A Prayer for Love.  
O Thou God who art Love, give me thy Grace, that I may practise more abundantly that Charity which I own all Mankind, towards those of the same Family: give me a grateful sense of the benefits which I enjoy under this Roof, of the care and kindness of my Master towards me in providing for me, both spiritual and bodily Food, that so I may make returns to him in the Fruit of Love, Obedience and Faithfulness; Lord let his interest and his honour, let his quiet and content be dear to me as my own, that I may not only serve him with Justice, but Zeal too. And O my God, diffuse the gift of Charity through the Hearts of this whole Family, that we may all live in Godly love and peace together, that our Prayers be not hindered, nor we kept back from thy Holy Table, or approach it unworthily: But that we all enjoy thee our God in the beauty of Holiness, enjoy one another in the beauty of Charity, and enjoy those Temporal Blessings which thou hast richly bestowed upon us in the beauty of order and virtue, and and all things may finally and uniformly tend to thy Glory, and our Comfort, through Jesus Christ our Lord.    

CHAP. III. Of the Duty of Servants. § 1st. Towards their Master's Children, consisting of Affection, due Respect, Care of their Morals, Care of their Honour and Care of their Interest. § 2dly. Towards Sojourners. § 3dly. Towards Strangers.  

What the Servant owes his Master's Children.  WHatever it be that Servants own the Children of the Family, 'tis only the result of that Duty which they own their Master: Children are (as it were) parts of their Parents, their Blood and Birth gives 'em a just claim, as to the care and love of their Parents, so to a proper share of th' Affection and Service, and all other advantages of the Family. First. Therefore a Servant owes the Children of his Master a sincere Affection, 
Affection  which will easily be granted, if it be but considered, that 'tis impossible for a Servant to bear Faith and Love to his Master, and have neither for his Children; for Children are the dearest interest and most valuable Treasure of their Parents; Children are the joys and hopes of their Fathers, they double the pleasure of his prosperity by being sharers in it, and ease the toil of his labours by being the Heirs of 'em. How therefore can any one pretend to love his Master, who hates or despises what is dearest to him? Now this affection of the Servant must express itself towards his Master's Children. 1st. In a due Respect. 2dly. In his care for their Morals. 3dly. In a sincere Zeal for their Honour; and 4dly. For their Interest.  
1st. In Respect. 
Due Respect.  This their birth Challenges every slight or neglect offered the Children by a Servant, is some diminution of the Reverence which he owes his Master, for the Father must needs suffer in the contempt of the Son; and yet this Respect ought to be wisely regulated; for as it ought not to be so slight as to reflect any disadvantage on the other, so on the other hand, it ought to be so moderated and tempered, that the Son be not to soon set up for a young Master, and so soothed and fooled into Pride and Vanity, and the Father forfeit his Authority by deriving too much of it upon his Son; for a foolish Child is too too apt to assume and forget himself, and take as his due what he possesses but of Courtesy, I mean of his Father; and a foolish Servant is too apt to forget his Reverence to his old Master out of Compliment to his young one.  

Care for their Morals.  2dly. Servants must express their Affection to their Master's Children by a tender Care for their Morals, I do not mean, that they should be Spies upon their Faults, but Ministers and Assistants to their Virtues; This your Aid is to be afforded according to the Age and Capacity of the Children, they may instil into 'em early Instruction, in their green years; they may suggest to 'em their Duty, and excite and persuade 'em to it, as they grow up to Estate of Reason; and all along they must take care, that they be no example of any Vice to them; neither of frowardness, nor lying, nor disobedience to those of Tender Years; nor of Riot, Intemperance, Idleness, Pride, Prodigality and Wilfulness to those of Riper; for all are much apt to imitate Vice than Virtue: But in stead of performing this excellent Service to their Master, it often happens that some Servants are the Corrupters of their Child's Youth; they misled 'em by their Examples, and prompt and instigate 'em to Sin both by word and deed: They fawn and flatter 'em into Arrogance and Self-conceipt, they not only conceal, but applaud their Errors, they instruct 'em how to play the lose Gallant, and the disobedient Child, and are in a word ever ready to advise 'em not what is consonant to their good, but to their humour and fancy. But you will ask me, how shall a Servant acquit himself, if his Master's Child should take ill courses. What shall he do? If he oppose and resist the Child what in him lies in the Progress of his Sin, he incurs his hatred; if he favour him in it, and aid him by secrecy and shelter, or any other way, he is unfaithful to his Master: there is no upright man who measures his Obligation to a Duty by the Event and Success of it; every man that will have a peaceful Conscience, must do what becomes him, and leave the Issue of it to God, but however, he must do it with all the discretion he can too, and his Duty will direct him here how to perform another Duty which seems harsh and hazardous; for Instance, in this Case Charity to the Son will so regulate the Servants Faith to his Master, that he shall not only do his Duty, but do it with true discretion: Thus Charity will direct him, First as to the nature of the Child's offence, that he is not to take notice of little frailties, and inconsiderable defects, much less to complain of 'em to his Parents; for this were, if not a peevish malignity of Spirit, yet at least, a busy and officious piece of Impertinence not without some mixture of defect of Charity, but such matters wherein the Virtue, the Honour, the Health, the Interest of the Child, and consequently the happiness and comfort of the Parent is concerned, deserve the Servants Care and Faith: but Secondly in Errors of this nature, Charity will teach him to distinguish between a slip or fall, and a settled depravity of mind, or Vicious habit in the Child, so that, as he will not complain at all, of little and trifling Errors, so neither will he too soon of greater: and in the last place when he shall be convinced of the Indispensible Necessity of making known the fault of a Child, Charity will teach him, that he should proceed in this with all imaginable mildness, not aggravating or amplifying the Crime, and that he should use all imaginable Caution both to prevent any mischievous effect of such discovery, and to secure as much as in him lies, the good success of it. And here Charity seems to me to point out the way to this, and to tell you that First you are to try what you can effect yourself by a modest humble & affectionate Representation to your young Master of the sin and hazard wherein he is engaged, for if this may prevail, it were not so Charitable to bring him into peril of his Father's displeasure or disesteem; but if this sort to no good end, you cannot be bound by Faith and Secrecy to your Young Master to betray your Faith and Duty to your Old, for this is in effect but to betray both: You must therefore either make known the Son's ill Courses to his Father, or if there be apparent Reasons to apprehend no good effects of this way, but rather ill ones for want of a well poised judgement, or tolerable temper in the Father you must then put the business into the hands of some faithful and discreet Friend, whose Authority and good nature may so far mitigate the Violent Choler, and sweeten the Implacable temper of the Father, that the Son's Virtue may be repaired without the Ruin of his Fortune. I have in this Advice insinuated, that as a Servant ought not to be peevish and impertinent in complaining of trifling faults, so neither ought he to be too forward in revealing greater, much less ought he to exaggerate and exulcerate the Crime: but my meaning is not, that his Information should want any one grain or scruple of truth necessary to give the Friend or Father a right notion of the offence, nor yet that he should delay the discovery of a fault, where the concealment breeds Danger, but if he cannot trust his own Judgement in this point, and the Issue of his delay seem doubtful to him, he must then consult some body else, whose Judgement he may better rely upon, and whose affection both to Father and Son, he can be very confident of. The Servant who behaves himself thus in this case, acquits himself with a good Conscience towards God and Man, he doth Both very considerable service, for there can be nothing more acceptable to God, than the converting a sinner from his evil way, nor to a Father, than the Preservation of a Child just on the brink of misery, nor indeed to the Son, than the restoring him to his Virtue, & the preserving to him that Honour and Fortune which were both ready to suffer wreck: So that this Servant will hereby procure to himself the everlasting goodwill of his Master and Child, the Peace of his own mind, and the Blessing and Favour of God. 
James 5.20.  * He that converteth a sinner from the Error of his way, shall save a Soul from Death, and shall hid a multitude of sins. Nor is he far remote from that blessed reward mentioned Daniel 12.3. They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the Firmament; and they that turn many to Righteousness; as the Stars for ever and ever. Whereas on the other side, that Servant who either corrupts his Master's Children, or affords 'em his Aid and Assistance, his Shelter and Secrecy in their Vicious Courses, betrays Man, falsifies his Faith, not only to his Master, but his God; he doth the drudgery of his Master the Devil, who employs all his Slaves in propagating sin, and shall certainly one day receive the wages of his wickedness, even that Death which is denounced against men of the most abominable Character; men 
* Rom. 1.32.  who not only do the worst of things themselves, but also have pleasure in them that do 'em.  
I have said enough to convince the Servant that he is to be careful of the Morals of his Master's Children, but there are two Virtues which he ought to have more especial care of, being those two which every Child should be eminent in, which are in some sort the Foundation and Guard of all the rest, namely, a filial and dutiful Love of his Parents, and hearty affection to his Brethren; the Servant therefore, if there happen any breach or interruption of this mutual and Reciprocal Kindness between Father and Son, or Brethren, must do all that he can to repair it and make it up: But at leastwise if he cannot close, he must not widen the Breach; Peacemakers are blessed, 
* Math. 5.  and shall be called the Children of God. But they who sow strife and contention, are the Children of their Father the Devil; 'tis the Villainous Practice of some Servants to enkindle Emulation and Strife amongst Brethren, and to take a side and party, when they have created a Faction to over-value one Child to the disparagement of the rest, and sometimes to fill their Ears with Lies and Tales, that they may alienate their Minds from their Brethren: And sometimes the very same method is made use of to withdraw 'em from the Love and Duty which they own their Parents, by possessing 'em of the partiality of the Father and Mother, amplifying their kindness towards one even to fondness and dotage, and aggravating their unkindness to another even to coldness & hatred: One while they will not stick to insinuate the peevishness or jealousi'e of a Parent, another while they will magnify the Fortune of the young Heir, they will provoke him by laying before him the Liberty and Fineness of this or that Young Gentleman who is of a meaner Fortune than he, they will impute the strictness and care of Parents to the Niggardliness of their Temper, the narrowness and Antiqueness of their Education, or to the natural Austerity of old age, and thus they delude and betray the silly and unexperienced youth, and make him cease to be a Child to his Father, that he may be a slave to his Servant. Now I would earnestly entreat Servants to lay this sadly to heart, that these and such like Practices are an abomination to God, that the more successful they are in 'em, the more fatal they'll prove to 'em, for if they be not chastised in this world, they will be damned for 'em in another. Amongst those things which Solomon tells us, the Lord hates, and are an abomination to him, you will meet a Lying Tongue, Prov. 6.17. and verse 19 A false witness that speaketh Lies; and him that soweth discord among Brethren; Nor is it to be wondered at that God should abominate such a sin as this is, for the mischiefs that very commonly ensue upon such divisions and animosities between Brethren, or between Parents and Children, are not to be expressed: St. James tells us briefly, ch. 3. v. 16. Where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. And he certainly who alienates a Child from his Parent, thrusts him headlong into sin and Ruin, and creates the Parent insufferable vexation and discontent. But suppose God would not exact an account of you for this sin, what is it a Servant can propose to himself from all this mischief? He may flatter himself with strengthening his Interest, or raising his Fortune, but generally, it happens quite otherwise, for that dearness and Familiarity between a Child and Servant which is founded in the contempt of Faith and Truth on the one side, and natural affection on the other, can never be firm and steady, any little accident will undo all; Nature in the Child will return to it's bend, some little Obligation passed upon him, or wholesome advice insinuated in a fit season will awaken his natural affection, and then he'll make no scurple to redeem his Error towards his Father or his Brother by the discovery, that is, the Ruin of a perfidious Servant. But suppose this Combination or Conspiracy should hold some time, how can a Servant rationally expect a constant Friendship from him who upon very slight and trifling pretences could be divided from his Father and his Brethren, and tempted to forget the Duty he owed the one, and the affection he owed the other.  
I have spoken of the main care of the Servant towards the Children of his Master, namely, his care to secure their good Morals; he that neglects this, or what is worse, ministers to the corrupting of Children, is guilty of the most fatal unfaithfulness to his Master: for he who betrays the Virtue of the Son, destroys the happiness of the Father: But he that performs this, performs a service that can never be sufficiently rewarded, not only, because a Child is the greatest Blessing of a Father, and Virtue the greatest Blessing of the Child, but also because he has hereby laid the best Foundation of the Child's Honour and Interest, 
Care for their Honour and Interest.  which puts me in mind of another care a Servant is obliged to, namely, for the Honour and Interest of his Master's Children; wherever you can advance these, you are to refuse no pains, no hazard: The lest you can do, is to conceal Their defects, or excuse 'em, to lay hold on every opportunity to speak honourably of what is Virtuous and praiseworthy in 'em, to increase the number of their Friends, and to be wanting neither in advice nor travail to promote their Interest: Nothing therefore can be more repugnant to this Duty in a Servant, than to entertain their acquaintance with spiteful stories of the silliness or viciousness of their Master's Children, or to raise a suspicion of faults in 'em, where there are none apparent, or to lessen by any suggestion whatever, the esteem of their Virtue, Parts or Person, or the Credit and Reputation of their Estates; but of all the mischiefs, a Servant is capable of doing his Master's Son, 
The Servant must not promote the secret Marriage of the Child.  there is none I think greater than the assisting him in a concealed Courtship, or aiding him in carrying on a Marriage without the knowledge, or what is worse, contrary to the will of his Father; all the rest seem to be but single sins, but this is a complication of all mischiefs together, the Child's Virtue, Honour and Interest, are all betrayed at once; whereas other instances of negligence or unfaithfulness did hazard 'em but single and alone, other mischiefs are capable of a Reparation but this very seldom, if ever: A Chi●● may be recovered to the Duty a●d Virtue which he had forsaken, ●●…e may be restored to the favour 〈◊〉 his Father, and the interest he ha● forfeited, the Honour which he ●ost by any single fault may be repaired by the Merit and service of his following actions, but this, an unhappy Marriage sticks fast like Hercules his poisoned shirt, he may tear away his flesh, but not the evil: Not to aggravate the matter, 'tis a mischief very seldom retrieved, and no wonder, for down what a precipice must a raw Youth tumble that renounces, First his reason, than his Duty, that quits the Government of his Father, and the conduct of God, that sells his Inheritance, his Father's, and God's blessing, to gratify a dishonourable affection, or it may be a Fantastic Passion, or it may be, something worse than both, a dishonourable Lust: What Bridewell, nay what Gibbet doth not that Servant deserve, ●●t aids the poor Creature thus to ●●●o himself, nay it may be, not himself only, but his Father and his whole Fa●●ly too?  
§. I pass on now to the Duty of Servants towards Sojourners. Sojourners, 
Servant's Duty towards Sojourners.  ●ho ' they are not natural branches as the Children, yet seem they to be grafted into the same stock, and to constitute one Family with them, and therefore they have in their Place a Right to their proportion of all the advantages of the Family; they have in their degree a claim to the love and care of the Master, to the Brotherly Affection of the Children, and to the Respect and Duty of the Servants: I need not therefore repeat here all the Duties of the Servant, which are all of 'em in their time, place and degree, due to these whom the Master hath Adopted into his Family, and made members of that body, whereof he is the Head, so that 'tis impossible, that the Servant can wrong them, but that the injury must reflect and rebound on the Master. 'Tis true, there is great variety in the case and circumstance of Sojourners, and by consequence in the Duty of Servants towards them, so that 'tis hard to fix a constant and general Rule by which it may be measured and regulated; unless I should say, that since whatever degree of Duty is owing 'em, springs from their Union to the Family, and Relation to the Master of it, therefore the Service and Respect towards them is to be proportioned to the degrees of that Union which is between them, and the other Members of the Family, and the dearness and tie there is, or aught to be between them and the Master of it.  
This Rule I think will generally hold good, or at leastwise, a very little discretion will inform any Servant, what variation must be observed in this point: But here to complete the Servants Instruction, I must put you in mind of two Rules more. First, That you must avoid all occasions of difference between you and the Servants of Sojourners, contending rather in courtesy to ease and assist 'em, than putting off, what is your business and Duty, or any part of it upon them; and you must abhor to be any way instrumental to breed misunderstanding between Sojourners and your Master, for this is the unkindest Office you can do both. Secondly, You must never go about to endear yourselves to Sojourners by any Unfaithfulness to your Master, that is, by entertaining 'em with the faults or secrets of the Family, or by preferring their Honour or Interest, or Humour before your Masters: For in all this, you are ungrateful and unjust, and will finally forfeit that esteem which you endeavour thus to raise: For how can those which you caress at this rate, believe that you'll be kinder and trustier to Strangers, than you have been to those, to whom by the Law of God and Nature, you own Obedience, Faithfulness and Love?  
§ 3. Besides these Boarders, 
Servant's Duty towards Strangers.  there are others, which tho' they are not of the Family, may be considered as having some Relation to it, such are Visitants, Guests, Strangers; now the Rule Servants are to observe here, are such as concern discretion and good manners; in the First place, courtesy, civility and respect towards all, is an indispensible Duty of every Servant, and reflects an Honour on the Government of the Master, and the breeding of the Family; but as to the degrees of these, a discreet Servant should behave himself as if he were acted and inspired by his Master's Soul, and moved by his affections, showing an extraordinary cheerfulness and even zeal to serve those the Master calls his Friends, civility towards his Acquaintance, & coldness, tho' not rudeness, towards Intruders, and downright Aversion towards such as the Master looks upon as dangerous hangers on, Spies, Parasites, Suckers, and such like which are to a House; what Moths are to a Garment, they slain the Honour and consume the substance of it. Secondly. 'Tis a piece of justice to right such as are traduced to your Master, and to convey to him the knowledge of all either kind expressions, courteous or generous actions, which are designed on purpose to pass an Obligation on the Master, and so it is to represent any Errand or business truly and seasonably to him, the neglect of which is not only a discourteous contempt of the Stranger, but also Unfaithfulness, and an affront to the Master: But yet as to neglect an Errand or business you charge yourselves with, is unjust and discourteous, so to obtrude yourselves upon the affairs of Strangers, or to lie in wait for the secrets of your Master or his Friends, is insolence and immodesty, and as great a folly as rudeness, and commonly unfaithfulness is joined with this, and the Servant who takes pains to discover, doth generally take as much to vent a secret, and all finally tends as much to their own disgrace as their Masters disquiet.  
There is but one thing more that I would mind you of on this occasion, and that is, your behaviour upon a day of any Solemn Entertainment. Your Masters and your own credit, as well as the satisfaction of his Guests are nearly concerned in it, the decency of your attire, the diligence and cheerfulness of your attendance, the order and silence of the whole management, being not only one of the fairest Ornaments of the Entertainment, but also a good mark of your breeding, and of your Master's prudence and good Government as well as an addition to the satisfaction of all entertained by him: But above all, nothing savouring of rudeness, immodesty, excess, or any other immorality, must be practised by you that day: For this must necessarily bring you and the Discipline of the Family into contempt, nothing being a more certain symptom of Folly or Looseness, or Poverty, or at least Meanness than this is.  

A Prayer answering the End and Design of this Chapter.  
O Holy God our great Creator, who dost delight to be remembered by us in the days of our Youth, assist me with thy grace that I may both worship thee sincerely and devoutly myself, and may also be instrumental both by my example and discourse to move others to do so; particularly as to the Children of this Famimily, I beseech thee, that thou wouldst give me a tenderness for their Souls, that I may, as far as lies in me, promote in them the knowledge and love of thy truth, and the fear of thy name: But O never suffer me to be any example or occasion of sin to 'em, that I bring not upon my own Soul the guilt of their ruin, my Master's trouble, and thy dishonour. Possess me with such an affection for 'em, as may express itself in a due respect, and hearty care for their true good. And O thou God of Peace and lover of Concord, make me always study how to advance Love and Unity amongst Brethren, and to sow the seeds of peace and mutual affection amongst all the Members of this Family, that I may not only escape the Curses which attend Lying and deceitful Lips, and all the Authors of strife and contention, but also may be called the Child of God, and inherit the blessing of the Peacemakers Finally O Lord, I beseech thee, the God of Order, and the Author of Wisdom, that thou wouldst give me prudence and discretion, that I may behave myself towards all with that Truth, Modesty and Respect, that becomes me in my Station: I desire, O Lord, to take heed unto my way according to thy word. O let thy word be a Light to my Feet, and a Lantern to my path, and let Truth and Faithfulness never departed from me all the days of my Life. Amen, Lord Jesus, So be it.    

CHAP. IU. Of the Servants Duty towards his Fellow-Servants, consisting in Justice, Charity, Concord, Mutual Assistance: The Grounds of Discord between Servants.  
THE Duties which Servants own one another, are the very same with those which all Mankind are mutually obliged to, that is, Justice and Charity, only their nearer Relation to one another ties this Obligation faster upon them, by adding new motives and incitements to these Duties. 
Of Mutual Justice between Servants.  Thus, First for Justice, they are obliged to it towards one another under pain of Damnation, and by the hopes of Salvation, as all other men are. But then, they must further consider, that they are bound to it not only as Christians, but as Fellow-Servants, in which Relation, the more indispensible necessity of Justice increases their Obligation to it, and renders the Transgression of it more unpardonable. Fellow-Servants are so necessarily exposed to the injuries of one another, and those daily one's too, that their life would be intolerable, without a strict observance of Justice. I need say nothing of the injustice of pilfering and stealing, every one being watchful enough to secure his own; but there are other sorts of injustice, to which Servants are more prone, and against which they are less able to defend themselves, such are for instance, Laziness in one, Insolence in another, and Lying in a third; the sluggish Servant shifts the burden off himself, and this must lie somewhere; now this is the highest injustice, for 'tis to ease one's own trouble by increasing another's. A second error to which Servants are prone, is Insolence; there are no Masters so tyrannical and domineering as is one Servant over another; and this is commonly the use a disingenuous Servant makes of that Authority, which the favour or trust of the Master confers upon him, namely, to oppress, insult over, and despise his Fellow-Servants; methinks it should now be difficult to convince any of you of the injustice of this behaviour; for how can any one of you be so stupid as to think that behaviour just in him towards his Fellow-Servants which he would think, were not to be endured in his Master towards himself? besides, I cannot tell whether the folly of this carriage be not greater than the injustice, not only, because such a Servant forgetting his own quality, upbraids himself, whilst he insults over his Fellow-Servants, and renders the worst usage his Master and Mistress can treat him with, just and reasonable, for he has no reason to complain of his Superiors for that usage, which he is guilty of towards his Equals; but besides this, such a Servant must expect to be undermined at home, and most certainly defamed abroad, and when any ill accident befalls him, or lessens his interest in his Master, he must expect the just return of his insolence in contempt and hatred. I would have such Servants as these, call to mind what our Saviour saith of that Servant, who being by his Lord made Ruler of his Household, 
* Matth. 24.49.50, 51.  Began to smite his Fellow-Servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken: The Lord of that Servant shall come in a day when he looks not for him, and in an hour that he is not ware of: And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his Portion with the Hippocrites: There shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth. Now, tho' you should not eat and drink with the drunken, yet if you smite your Fellow-Servant, you shall have your share of this punishment in proportion to your guilt, or if you do not smite with the Hand, yet if you smite with the Tongue either by bitter and reviling Language, or by froward or malicious accusations of your poor Fellow-Servants, to their Master or Mistress, your guilt is much the same; he that doth the one, doth not want Pride or Uncharitableness enough to do the other, but is held in by some other motive than Justice or Charity. A Third sort of Injustice incident to Servants, is belying one another, which whether it be by libellous discourses abroad, or unworthy and base detraction in private at home, which is a common Artifice to make parties, and set one Servant against another: Or whether it be lastly by sly insinuations or malicious accusations to the Master, it matters little; this is in each instance the fruit of a naughty and wicked Heart, 
* Matt. 15.19.  For out of the Heart proceed not only Murders, Adulteries, etc. but also evil Thoughts, false Witness, Blasphemies; And these are the things which defile a Man. 'Tis strange to observe, that if this sin were to be estimated by the practice of Servants, 'tis so common, one would be tempted to think, it were no sin at all: And yet if it were to be estimated from the word of God, one would be tempted to think it were the greatest of sins; for I do not know, whether there be any sin against which more judgements, more curses, are denounced, or which is represented more detestable to God than Lying Lips, a Lying Tongue, a spiteful and a malicious Heart. There is indeed a sort of Lying by way of Recrimination and Self-defence, which is generally thought to have something of extenuation in it, and something indeed it has, but not enough to excuse it, for the best that can be said of it is this, it may sometimes have something less of Malice and habitual Rancour, but it has never less of falsehood and injustice, and therefore, is vile and dishonourable in the sight of Man, and damnable in the sight of God. One sort of Injustice more, I must just touch upon, and that is Envy; weak and base minds are extremely subject to this, such as are too sluggish to have any Merit, and too selfconceited to see their want of it; these, and these only are apt to be envious, and such a one will count every excellence in his Fellow-Servant a disparagement to himself, and every favour vouchsafed another an injury to him: And this stirs him up to detract from another's good Service, and to supplant another's interest by all imaginable Arts, which shows the heinousness of this Crime consisting in the utmost contradiction to Justice and Charity, but this sin is so great a Plague and Torment to ones self, that methinks, there needs few motives to persuade men not to entertain it, or to get rid of it. Thus much I thought necessary to speak of this Duty of the Justice of Servants towards one another, and were this well observed, this would lay a sure Foundation for Charity, and this again for Mutual Assistance and Concord; for if you would not wrong one another either in word or deed, all occasions of debate and contention would be cut off: It were very happy for you yourselves, and for your Masters and Mistresses, if you could advance thus far, if you could come up to the pitch of honest Heathens, but this is not enough to make you perfect Christians, there's something more required of you, if you'll be the Disciples of our dear Lord and Master, than merely not to do wrong. I will proceed therefore to the second Duty of Servants towards one another, namely Charity.  
I need not insist on the necessity of this grace in general, 
Mutual Charity between Servants.  you well enough know, you cannot be saved without it; the heart that is void of love, is void of God, for 
* 1 John.  God is Love; if you be destitute of Charity, you cannot be the Children of God, or the Disciples of Christ. 
1 John 4.20.  If a man say, I love God, and hateth his Brother, he is a Lyar. And our Saviour saith, hereby shall I know that ye are my Disciples, if ye love one another. This is an irresistible motive to every one that believes and weighs it, but there are others which being more peculiar to your state, aught to prove strong engagements to it; for instance, how uncomfortable must strife and hatred render your service? it must needs be extremely troublesome to be condemned to the company and conversation of those you cannot endure, nor will this only bereave you of the pleasure you would take in one another, but of the assistance you would afford each other, if you did love as Brethren: nor is this all, your discontents do generally rebound upon those above you, and you grow by degrees as uneasy and unacceptable to your Masters and Mistresses, as you are to one another; nay any discreet man tho' he could brook the trouble of your quarrels and discontents, yet to deliver himself from the disparagement & scandal of 'em, will judge himself obliged to discard all peevish & contentious Servants, what over other good qualities they may have: And then another ill consequence is, you lose your good name, and lie under such odious characters, that being cast out of one house, no other will receive you; for who can be fond of noise and mischief? This little, if it be seriously considered, is sufficient to convince you of your obligation to Charity, and Brotherly affection towards one another. I will now go on to show you in what instances you must express this affection, having first only put you in mind that your Charity must be real, and not feigned, that you must love not in word, but in deed and in truth; for Hypocrisy and Dissimulation is as sinful and mischievous, and in common account at least more odious and despicable, than professed hatred or open contention. Having premised this, I proceed; there are two ways by which you are to express your mutual Charity, First, by the mutual assistance you are to afford each other. Secondly, by preserving constant peace and unity amongst yourselves. 1. If you be possessed with Charity towards one another, it will show itself in the good turns you will do one another, in the assistance you will yield to each other, and here sure, the Soul of your fellow-Servant deserves your aid in the first place, if he be ignorant & unacquainted with Religion, and not only so, but incapable through the meanness of his education to inform himself in it by reading, for if he be not ignorant, but what is worse, viciously inclined, if he know God, but do not fear nor glorify him as he ought, you cannot do God or him a more eminent service than by endeavouring to instruct and inform him, reading to him, and teaching him to read, or by endeavouring to convince his Conscience of his Duty, and to make him sensible of the necessity and happiness of a Religious and holy life. Next to the ignorance of Religion, and Immorality, a Servant's ignorance in his business, requires your compassion and aid, and what help you afford him in this, is a work of excellent Charity in you, and aught to be acknowledged not only by your fellow-Servant, but your Master too, as an obligation; for 'tis a Real benefit to both: To be brief, if you'll behave yourselves with that goodness, gentleness and sweetness, that may evidence your love to one another, you must in a literal sense bear one another's burdens, you must pardon and forgive one another's infirmities, you must excuse and conceal one another's Errors, unless they be such, as imply manifest unfaithfulness to your Master, in which case, they are no longer Errors and Frailties, but Crimes. Concord, which was the second instance of Charity I recommended to you, is the natural result of all this. For these mutual Assistances and Obligations can never miss of preserving a right Understanding, and nourishing a sincere Friendship between you; but yet because Concord must be preserved, where Friendship sometimes cannot, and you must wish well to, and carry yourselves fairly towards some Servants whom you cannot fancy, whom you cannot take any complacency or delight in: therefore I will say something of this.  
I need say nothing more to convince you of the necessity of Concord, than what has frequently been insinuated all along this Treatise; only I will remind you how great the evils of Discord and Contention are; perpetual Vexation and Disturbance to the Father of the Family, who must either with great prejudice to order and government dissemble his knowledge of your misdemeanours, or to the lessening of his Authority become a party in the quarrel, or else seem guilty of that severity which is very uneasy to every good Temper. The next evil that attends Discord, and that a very sore one, is, it generally infects the Family with a peevish and froward disposition, and by degrees sours the most sweet and obliging humour. A Third evil is confusion and disorder in all business, for mutinous and quarrelsome Servants are like factious men in a State, instead of assisting, rather than not cross one another, they will obstruct the business and good of the Family. The Last evil of Discord is this, that it utterly indisposes you for Religious Duties; and this is a sad consideration, that by your brawls and quarrels, you not only afflict and vex, but damn one another; these and many more being the mischiefs of disagreement, 'tis plain, that you are to purchase Peace almost at any Rate; it will not then seem hard to you that I should prescribe you two things for this end. First, that you would not suffer yourselves to be easily provoked, much less, be rude or irreconcilable upon any provocation; if you can maintain Peace with none but those who are exempt from faults, you must converse only with Angels, not Men: And if we are all liable to Errors and Offences, we must be all alike forward to bear and pardon 'em, which, methinks, should be no very difficult matter to one who considers the Long-suffering and Patience of God towards him; I beseech you to remember, what sentence was passed upon that wicked Servant who would not use that goodness towards his Fellow-Servant, which his Master had showed towards him. 
Matth. 18.32, etc.  O thou wicked Servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me, shouldst not thou also have had compassion on thy Fellow-Servant, even as I had pity on thee? And his Lord was wroth, and delivered him to the Tormentors till he should pay all that was due unto him: So likewise saith our Saviour, shall my Heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his Brother their Trespasses. This is a dismal Issue of contentions, he is miserable who doth wrong, how much less miserable is he who doth not pardon it? the wrath of God will swallow up both. Secondly, that you may preserve Peace, you must often do more than is your business to do, nor can this seem an unreasonable advice to him that shall consider, that the trouble of that work he doth above his own, is not half so great as the trouble of quarrel and contention which he prevents by it: Nor can you possibly take a more ready way to rid yourselves of a slothful and quarrelsome Fellow-Servant; for the more diligent you are to supply his Errors and Defects, the more confidently will he commit 'em, growing every day more negligent and intolerable, till his sloth, and folly, and your Industry and Prudence can no longer be unknown to the Master. I have but one thing more to recommend to you in this place, and that is, that you should be very tender of one another's credit and reputation, for this is the Livelihood and estate of a Servant, it is become fashionable with men of all ranks, to make other's faults the subject of their discourse and entertainment, and the meaner a man's Education is, the more subject is he to do this; but the commonness of the sin doth not lessen it, much less excuse it. It is the Character of one of the worst of men, Psal. 5.19, 20. Thou givest thy Mouth to evil, and thy Tongue frameth deceit. Thou sittest and speakest against thy Brother, thou slanderest thine own Mother's Son. Nor is the folly less than the guilt of this sin, for thou teachest others an evil Lesson against thy own Soul, and dost justify the worst practices thine Enemies can devise to defame and disparage thee.  
I had designed here to discourse of the grounds and causes of strife and contention, but this labour is prevented by what I have said upon the Duties of Justice and Charity, where you may easily discern, what are the general springs and causes of Discordn, amely, Laziness, Lying, Envy, and such like, and how great the mischief and guilt of these is; but besides these, there is a proud, froward, and churlish Temper, which renders some Servants utterly unfit for Conversation, makes 'em apt to do wrong, without any motive to it, and apt to be provoked without any ground for it: this is a temper directly contrary to Charity, and therefore is by a necessary consequence sufficiently condemned already under that Head: However, I cannot be too careful to secure you against this sin, and therefore it will not be labour lost to take particular notice of it here: Pride and Frowardness are the dishonour of the greatest Men; how intolerable then must they appear in the meanest? They are indeed vices, which one would think, the frailty and contemptibleness of our nature would easily restrain us from, for proud and haughty wrath is unbecoming a poor sinner, a corruptible mortal Creature; what should such a one be proud of? or what can inspire him with the arrogance of frowardness? Now if there be in the nature of every man, let him be never so high, Argument enough for Humility, ground enough to shame him out of Pride and Peevishness; what excuse can there be for either in that man, where the meanness of his nature is rendered yet more contemptible by the meanness of his Fortune? But what do I talk of? these are mean, impotent and beggarly vices; these are weeds which grow not where but on dunghills. A proud and peevish Temper is generally the symptom of a foolish understanding; a low birth, & a lower Education: For the wiser any man is, the better born, and the better bred, the more courteous and the more humble he is, a consideration which methinks, should make you extremely sensible of the dishonour and scandal of this Temper: But after all, there is another Argument behind which should even scare and frighten you into meekness and humility, and that is, that a proud and froward heart is an abomination to the Lord; to be hated or despised by man, which is the general fate of all such tempers is an uncomfortable state, but to be hated by God, this is infinitely more dreadful and astonishing: As than you value, I will not say, your Service, but your Salvation, subdue this devilish Disposition: for assure yourselves, whoever is unfit to live peaceably in any Family, can never enter into the company of Angels and Spirits of just Men made perfect: For all these are meek and gentle, kind and loving Spirits.  
Now for the Conquest of all these Vices which engender strife, you must observe the same method, which is wont to be prescribed for the Conquest of any other, that is, you must lay before you frequently and seriously the guilt and mischief of these sins, you must endeavour to persuade yourselves of the loveliness and advantage of the contrary Virtues, you must carefully avoid all occasions of, and temptation to these sins, you must watch over the motions of your own Hearts, you must resolve sincerely upon reformation and amendment, you must call yourselves to an account for these your resolutions, you must not faint nor be weary, tho' you do not presently conquer; but you must repeat and reinforce all your vows and purposes, and go on patiently till you have brought forth Righteousness unto Victory; and with all this, you must join fervent Prayers to Almighty God for his Assistance.  

A Prayer on the Subject of this Chapter.  
O Lord my God, who art the Author of Peace and Lover of Concord, enable me, I beseech thee to live in that Brotherly Affection, Unity and Concord with my Fellow-Servants, that we may be a Mutual Comfort and Assistance to one antoher, as well in our Spiritual as Temporal concern. And to this end subdue in me, O Lord all unnatural and unchristian Pride and Peevishness; and give me the Wisdom which is from above, which is not only pure, but peaceable, gentle and easy to be entreated, full of Mercy and good Fruit, without partiality, and without Hypocrisy. O never suffer me to be guilty of Malice, Guile, Hypocrisy, Envy or Evil-speaking, but let my Heart be always tender and affectionate, and let the words of Truth and Meekness, and Charity, proceed out of my Mouth, that I may never minister any occasion of strife, and contention, but way ever preserve and make Peace; And O Lord, because offences will come, make me I beseech thee, slow to anger, ready to forgive, and that from the Heart, that I imitating thy Divine Mercy and Compassion, may be made partaker of it in the full pardon of my sins, and the Salvation of my Soul through him, who was also the great Example of Patience and Forgiveness, even Jesus Christ our Lord.    

PART II.  
CHAP. V Of the Servants Duty towards himself, his Credit, which way raised and preserved; the Love of his Master, etc. how to be abstained. His thrift, etc.  
'Tis certain that every man's Duty, is his Interest, and that in whatever station a man is, there is nothing can render him more prosperous in it, or more effectually recommend him to a better than a faithful and conscientious discharge of the Duties of his place. Nor did Solomon, when he ascribed to Wisdom these glorious effects or fruits, length of days, Riches and Honour, understand by wisdom, Subtlety, Craft or worldly Policy, but purely a sincere performance of our Duty towards God and Man: having therefore fully discoursed of a Servant's Duty both towards God and his Master, it might suffice here to tell him in general, that a sincere performance of this, is his only true wisdom, his only true policy. However, that this may more evidently appear, and that the Servant may be more sensible of the obligation he lies under to the Duties prescribed him, I will descend to a particular consideration of his Interest, a thing which Servants as well as others, are allowed, nay obliged to pursue and advance by all fair means.  
It will easily be granted, that the Interest of a Servant consists in these three things, his Credit, the Love of his Master, etc. the profit of his place; 'tis therefore a duty which concerns a Servant to consider what course he must take to promote these three. 
The Servants Credit, how advanced.  First then, if we consider the grounds of a Servant's Credit or Reputation, it depends upon an opinion of his Religion or Virtue, and of his ability or sufficiency for the place he undertakes; As to this latter, 'tis not my business to direct you in it, only I must put you in mind that there are some greneral qualifications, such as Truth, Industry, and Humility, which are necessary recommendations to all sorts of lawful Employments; without which whatever skill or experience any man has, he is unfit for any service. The other Basis or Pillar of a Servant's Credit is, Religion and Virtue, he that has raised in others an opinion of his Virtue, hath by consequence rendered himself more valuable and considerable to 'em, for such is the Beauty and Majesty of Virtue, that it commands from all some degree of affection and respect; and such is the manifold use of it in the world, that he who is possessed of it, is presently accounted of as more worthy and more serviceable than other men, which is a Character which commands esteem. Now if you would possess men with the persuasion of your Virtue, the most effectual way is really to be, what you would fain appear to be; for a Hypocrite cannot long be concealed, and when he is discovered, he looks more loathsome than an open sinner: besides that a Hypocrite lies under this one great disadvantage, that his Dissimulation once proved upon him, his Credit can never be redeemed by his following sincerity, his very Repentance shall never find Credit with men, there being no way left man to distinguish it from a strain of his known Art: You must therefore be really virtuous if you would gain a Reputation for Virtue; you must endeavour to be most eminent in these Virtues which are proper to your station, sobriety, industry faithfulness, &c, for these are the Virtues men require and regard in you. There is scarce any place wherein there is not an opportunity of practising these in some degree, which practice is one way, and the best too of raising your Reputation; but besides this, that you may both confirm and increase these Virtues in yourselves, and the opinion that you have of 'em, in others, you must First industriously avoid all vicious company. For this, if it do not destroy your Virtue (which were next to a miracle) it will certainly destroy your credit; for no wise man will ever believe, that you can be otherwise than vicious in vicious Company. This is generally the ruin of most Servants; 'tis here they learn to despise Virtue, and their Masters; 'tis here they learn to love Liberty and Idleness; and Finally, 'tis here they learn those sins which they can neither maintain nor enjoy without the guilt of disobedience and unfaithfulness to their Masters, therefore follow the advice of Solomon, Prov. 4.14, 15. Enter not into the Path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away; where the wise man doth excellently insinuate, that he that would be safe, can never keep too great a distance from evil company. Secondly, you must resolutely arm yourself against, and carefully resist the Temptations of the Family you are in; let not the Authority of great examples delude or deceive thee; let not any prospect of Interest ensnare thee; let not the solicitations of thy fellow Servants persuade thee; let no opportunity betray thee into sin; for thou dost purchase thy profit or the favour of man at too dear a rate, if by the loss of thy Virtue, thy Soul, thy Heaven, thy God: Never be ashamed of singularity, where thou canst not be virtuous unless singular, 
* Eccles. 4.20, 21, 22.  Observe the Opportunity, and beware of evil, and be not ashamed, when it concerns thy Soul; for there is a shame that bringeth sin, and there is a shame which is glory and grace: Accept no person against thy Soul, and let not the Reverence of any man cause thee to fall. For thou mayest assure thyself, that Virtue is never more honourable than when it stands the shock of Temptations, and despises the allurements of Opportunity, and that whatever profit or honour sin may flatter thee with, it will prove shame and bitterness in the latter end. Thirdly, besides the practice of Religion in private, and the frequenting the Sacrament in public, as often as you have Opportunity, you must conscientiously attend to Family-Duties, for this peradventure is the only Rule by which your Master will measure your esteem for Religion, and your esteem for Religion is the only thing, or at least the main thing, by which he will judge of your Truth and Faithfulness: Not that this should be your first and chief motive to it, for that must be not the opinion of others concerning you, but the Honour of God, and the improvement of your Soul; There lies upon you more than common Obligations to these Duties, for your absenting yourselves from 'em, is not only a slight put upon the Worship and Truths of God, but also an Act of Disobedience to your Master. In the second place, the meaner your Education is, the more ought you to covet these opportunities of instruction, and the less your time for Religion is (which you are often wont to pretend at least) the more carefully ought you to embrace this time of Worshipping God. Thus much of the First thing, wherein the interest of a Servant doth consist, which is his Credit or Reputation. The Second is the affection which his Master and others bear towards him, of which now.  
And here 'tis certain that the surest Foundation of this affection or love, is the merit of your Service, 
The Affection of the Master, how attained.  a Faithful, that is, honest and careful discharge of your Duty; but besides this, there are some qualities that do more immediately tend to recommend and endear a Servant, such are First, an humble and cheerful temper, which always puts 'em forward even beyond the bounds of their indispensible Duty, makes 'em ready to undertake even more than they are bound to, if they think it tends in the least either to the interest or satisfaction of their Master, and in doing this, they must appear glad of the opportunity, desirous of purchasing their Master's favour at any rate; and this is such an obliging temper, that 'tis almost impossible to fancy a Master so stupid or ungrateful, as not to take notice of, Love and Reward such a Servant. Secondly. He that will win the affection of those he serves, must make it appear that he loves 'em, he must rejoice in every good that befalls 'em, and be afflicted in every evil; he must be extremely tender of creating 'em trouble or disturbance, not so much out of the fear of any damage growing from it, as out of a filial delight in their satisfaction, and a filial affliction in their trouble; besides all this, he must always speak well and kindly of 'em, he must look upon it as a lucky accident, when ever he has opportunity to check the ingratitude of a Fellow-Servant towards 'em, or to vindicate their Reputation against the calumnies of a Stranger; and if he will take my advice, he must not only speak well of his present, but his former Master: For I can hardly be persuaded that a Servant will speak well of me, when gone from me, who speaks ill of him whom he served before; but if there be nothing good which he can speak of him, yet at least, let him never speak any ill of him, unless he be unavoidably forced to it. Nor let the Servant only speak well of his former Master, but let him serve him to the utmost of his power, for gratitude to a former, is the Servants highest merit with his present Master. Lastly, That the Servant who desires to be beloved, keep at the greatest distance he can from all sorts of quarrels and contests in the Family, let him never make any himself, nor be a party in those made by others, and let him be so far from insinuating himself into those things which his Superiors or any others would keep secret, that on the contrary, he must rather fly from the knowledge of a secret, which others would disclose to him, unless they have some good use to make of his trust; all this that I have here directed, I would have performed, not with art and skill, but sincerity; for a Servant cannot counterfeit an obliging temper long, if he do not endeavour to possess himself really of it: He must endeavour to love his Master truly and hearty, or else it will be very hard for him to make a good show of that love which he has not; and he must be finally endowed with an humble and quiet spirit, or else it will be a very difficult task for him to stand neuter amidst the quarrels of others, and to close his Eyes and Ears against the secrets, news and tattle which most are so naturally inquisitive after.  
The third thing on which the interest of a Servant depends is the profit or gain of his Place: 
The Servants Profit, how advanced.  And here I need not tell you, that a Faithful discharge of your Duty serves most to promote this, for this, as you have seen, gains you affection at home, and credit abroad, and the Master will certainly give most countenance and encouragement as far as he is able to the Servant he loves best, and every Member of the Family will favour and assist such a one as far as they can; and if there be no ground for a rational expectation of reward from those he serves, his own credit, will in a little time open the way to it, an extraordinary Virtue can be no more concealed than the Light, the meanest and most private Employment is Theatre enough to an excellent Person, but what is most considerable of all, he that serves faithfully in any Station, has God for his Spectator and Patron: There is therefore one thing only which I am to put you in mind of, and that is, that you be good Husbands of what you gain; I mean, that you do not waste and lavish it out in unnecessary expenses, whether in fine Attire, or the extravagancies of gaming or entertainments. And to this good Husbandry, you lie under the strongest obligations that can be, for First, By these ways, you bring into question not your Discretion only, but your Virtue too: For if a Servants expenses look bigger than his gains, it cannot be thought uncharitable in the Master, if he do not only condemn his folly, but also enter into a suspicion of his unfaithfulness to him; or else his engagement in some unlawful course or other for the supply either of his Pride or Prodigality. But Secondly, The loss of your credit is not the only evil, you are to apprehend from this Folly, but also Distress and Poverty one time or other: For Alas! The Revenue of a Gentleman is not able, (we see by daily experience) to support the folly of a spendthrift, and how much less, the narrow salary of a Servant: 'tis true indeed, 'tis the extremity of unkindness in a Master to turn a faithful Servant to the Common, after he has spent his strength and youth in his service, but I think it is extremity of folly in a Servant to expect that his Master should be kinder to him than he is to himself, or to eat the bread of his old age at the Courtesy of others, when if he pleases he may eat his own. This cannot but prove a very strong engagement upon Servants to thrift, especially if it be considered, that they are more unable to sustain the wants and hardships of Poverty, than Common Day-Labourers are; for he generally has not the same palate who is accustomed to feed at his Master's Table, that the poor man has, who feeds at his own.  
But whilst I recommend Thrift to you, and a regard to your own profit, I would not have you make use of this advice for a pretence to justify either your want of Charity, or your quitting a service wherein you have been highly obliged upon the least show of a little more gain in another: For first as to Charity, it is the Duty of Servants as well as Masters, 
The Servant's Charity.  God requires of every man in proportion to that wealth which he gives him, a part of it for the poor; and if the reward of the Servants Mite cast into the stock of the Poor, shall be as great as that of the pounds of the Rich, no doubt the punishment of his uncharitableness shall be as great as that of theirs: For the refusal of contributing this his Mite, can't but be judged an extreme wickedness, if it be considered that he may spare it easily, and that the reward of it is no less than a Heaven. 
A Servant must not for a slight gain, quit the Service where he has been long instructed and born with.  As to the second thing, the quitting a service wherein you have been obliged upon show of a very little gain, 'tis an action of extreme folly and ingratitude, for a raw and untutoured Servant after he has been form and shaped, and fitted for service, immediately to relinquish that Family where he has been thus instructed in prospect of a slight gain, is extreme ingratitude; for certainly he ought to think his service most due to those who have made him a Servant, and taught him how to perform it: they have done more for him, than they who after he is well qualified, give him larger wages: I do not know, whether I may not add, that this is Injustice in a Servant; for surely he that plants and watereth a tree, has best claim to its fruit, and that Master who has born the trouble of a Servants Ignorance, has the best right sure to his better service, which is but the fruit of his own Care, Patience and Instruction: Nay 'tis easy to be conceived, that this is due to him by a Tacit Pact and Contract; for the Servant cannot but think, that no Master would give himself the care and trouble which the instruction and Patience to be used towards a raw Servant requires, did he not propose to reap some ease and fruit from it afterwards, to defraud him then of this rational expectation, doth look extremely like Injustice as well as Ingratitude; Nor is the folly of this action generally less than the ingratitude, for Masters generally love most, and confide most in those whom they have themselves bred up and fitted, so that generally such a Servant may thrive better by keeping than quitting his service: But if this once grows to an humour of flitting and shifling from place to place, than the folly of it is remarkable even to a Proverb, A Roulingstonce never gathers Moss, for whatever good Qualities such a Servant may be possessed of, they cannot turn much to his profit, because he does not allow time for the raising of his Credit, or the establishing a value of, and affection for him in any Master; and these are the usual seeds of a Servant's gain.  

The Conclusion.  Thus I have given you a short, but I hope a clear and full view of your Duty; some of you may peradventure fancy, that I have bound a heavy burden upon you; but I must tell you, 'tis no heavier than what God lays upon you, than what the reason of every one of you, if you would make use of it, would lay upon you; than what lastly, the necessities of your place and station, and your own Interest doth indispensibly require of you: Nor have I only presented you with a draught of your Duty, but I have also pressed and recommended every part of it by such reasons as may convince you of the truth of what I have last said, namely, that your Interest, your Conscience, and our God, exact the observance of those things I have here perscrib'd you; there is therefore less need of of any pathetic address to you here by way of Conclusion: However, I cannot forbear putting you in mind briefly of two things: First, The great and many evils the neglect of your Duty is the cause of. Secondly, The great and many benefits the right performance of it will procure both to yourselves and others: The First thing is too sadly and notoriously evident to be denied, who can reckon up the Children who have been corrupted, or betrayed the Families, whose Fortunes have been subverted by the falsehood or negligence of Servants? Who knows not how often the love of the Master and Mistress has been dissolved, and their Honours blasted by the lying and deceitful Tongues of those of their own household? who knows not how miserably the peace and quiet of Families has been disturbed, the beauty and order of 'em deformed and confounded, and the Religion of 'em obstructed, and their substance consumed and exhausted by the pride and peevishness, by the sloth and carelessness, by the lavishness and unfaithfulness of ill Servants. And can you think, that these, and innumerable other mischiefs which your transgression of your Duty creates, the World shall go unpunished? Shall not God, who in his compassion hears the cry of an injured Servant, in his Justice, behold the wrongs and crimes of an evil one? Shall that God, who will not wink at the transgressions of the Rich and Mighty, the Monarch and the Potentate, pass over, and connive at those of the Servant; No, no, assure yourselves, you shall be as accountable to Almighty God for your negligence & falsehood, for your disobedience, unfaithfulness and discontent, as the rich and great shall be for their Luxury or Covetousness, for their Ambition or Oppression for their Mutinies, Factions, and Disloyalty: For these your sins are but a Copy and Transcript of theirs, tho' in an humbler stile, and less character, according to the circumstances of your Fortune and Station; and when God shall enter into Judgement with you for these things, it will be well for you if he punish you only with Temporal Chastisements; you will escape well, if your Pride end only in contempt, your Frowardness in a general hatred and aversion, your Carelessness and Wastfulness in Want and Beggary; and your Unfaithfulness in indelible Reproach; God will I say be extremely tender and compassionate in distributing Justice, if this be the worst that befalls you, if you buy repentance at so cheap a rate as the suffering any or all of these evils; and yet how dreadful these appear to you, I appeal to your own thoughts; for I believe a sluggish and evil Servant can hardly read this without Impatience and Murmuring against me, because I do not prophesy to him smother things: but alas! I have not half vented the Burden which the Lord has charged me with against wicked and unfaithful Servants; for I must tell you, Tophet is ordained of old, as well for undutiful Servants, as tyrannical Kings; for as your sins are sins of accumulated aggravations, your acts of injustice and uncharitableness, when they are put into the balance, being pressed down, not only by their own weight, but that also of Ingratitude, Lying, breach of trust, an impudent contempt of all restraints, and a bold defiance of all the necessities of Virtue which God's providence imposed upon you: Your sins, I say, being of such an accumulated guilt, you cannot but in reason expect, that your punishment shall be laid on in good measure, pressed down, heaped up, and running over. Ah poor Souls! my bowels are moved, my compassions are kindled towards you, when I consider this your wretched Fate, must you pass from a state of travail and meanness, to a state of Eternal Pain and Eternal Reproach? Must your servitude end in a Hell at last; and can you be content it should do so?  
But that I may not seem to delight to prophesy evil and not good concerning you, let me beseech you, that you would deliver the World and yourselves from all these evils with which your miscarriages plague and threaten them and you: Let me beseech you, that you would rescue yourselves from the contempt, from the insolences and severities, with which, not your Fortunes, but your Vices now oppress you, and that you would by sincere and Christian Virtues recommend yourselves to the love and esteem of Mankind, and make yourselves an useful and considerable part of the World as good Servants indeed are: O redeem at least your Souls from slavery, let not your Unfaithfulness and Pride, your Disobedience and Frowardness, your Looseness and Carelessness exclude you from Heaven, and bereave you of Crowns and Glory, which the meanness of your Birth or Fortune never can. No, no, God is not such a fond accepter of Persons, as partially to condemn any of his poor Creatures to meanness here, and misery hereafter: Your Service is but an opportunity of Merit and of Glory, it puts you into a capacity to do and suffer more, with design that you should receive more too than other men in another World at least, proportionably to those hardships you undergo, and these Virtues which you practise in this. And the blessed Jesus, who took your Form and Character upon him, did not disdain the lowness of your condition, but shed as much Blood for you as for the Rich and Noble; he purchased for you the same Peace of God, the same Favour, the same Kingdom; all that is required of you is, that you should live in those Virtues that are suitable to your condition, that you should do the Duty of your Station, when you are assured you shall have your Reward from God, which shall be nothing less than a never-fading Crown of Righteousness: Besides the love and esteem of Man, and a Provision of all things necessary made for you by the blessed Providence of God; nor let it seem strange to you, that your Service in so low a Station, should entitle you to such great Rewards, your Virtue is as necessary in the World as that of Men in a higher Station; the motion of the Feet, and motion of the Hands, is as necessary to the Body, as the direction and guidance of the Eye: 'Tis by you the order and beauty of the World in a great measure subsists, for were there no Servants, there could be no Masters: 'Tis by your Travail, that not only the necessities of Mankind in general are supplied, but also the Pleasure and Grandeur of States supported; for neither would the Earth bring forth it's increase, nor would our Tables be covered with the Fish of the Sea, the Beasts of the Earth, or the Fowl of the Air without your Ministry and Attendance; nay farther, 'tis by you that we enjoy the Studies of the Learned, and the Prudence of the Statesman, for the necessities of Life would so wholly take Men up, that they would have little time for these Nobler Works, were not those lower Cares devolved on you: If we come to more particular effects, the Prosperity, the Virtue, the Peace, the Unity of Families depends not a little upon you: Thus you see; you are not the least useful Members of the Community, and therefore 'tis not to be wondered at, if the Rewards designed you, should be proportioned to the Service required of you: Acquit yourselves then like Men, like Christians; you serve God while you serve Man Faithfully, and of him you shall receive your Reward.  

A Prayer.  
O Lord my God, thou hast made and dost dispose of all things in a wise and excellent order, thou hast placed me in this Rank of Mankind, thou hast appointed me this my Station; O grant, that I may discharge the Duties of it Zealously and Faithfully, enable me to employ and improve the Talents thou hast entrusted to me, and make me useful and serviceable in my Place. Lord, let not my Soul lie under the guilt of the discontent or ruin of any Family or Person, but make me an instrument of Peace and Prosperity where I am; I know, O Lord, that Humility and Industry are Virtues that are not so pleasing to a Carnal Mind, but Lord, make me sensible, how great the recompense of my self-denial will one day be: Make me O Lord remember that I am always in thy sight, and that thou dost ponder all my Paths, that I may be fully convinced that both my Temporal and Eternal Interest depends upon the Conscientious performance of my Duty; that so I may not be seduced or discouraged by any Temptations whatever, but still looking up to God, and having regard to the recompense of Reward, I may run with patience the Race that is set before me, Amen, Blessed Jesus. So be it.     

PART III. The Necessity of Communicating; Concerning the Sacraments of the Lords Supper, there are two things which Servants are to be Instructed in. First, Their Obligation to Receive it as often as they can have an opportunity. Secondly, What Preparation is necessary to it.  

CHAP. I. The Servants Obligation to Receive the Sacrament.  

General Obligations.  THE Obligations to Commemorate the Death of our blessed Lord, which arise from the consideration of his great Love in dying for us, and the great benefits we are made partakers of in that Holy Communion; and from the need we stand in of the Grace and Mercy that is conveyed and sealed to us in this Sacrament; these and such like are Universal Obligations, and equally concern all Mankind, the Servant as well as the Master, the Poor as well as the Rich, for the Son of God has died for all alike; Mercy to pardon us, and Grace to assist us is tendered to all alike, and all do alike stand in need of both: And of this sort of Obligation is the command of Christ, and the practice of the Primitive Church, and the nature of the Duty, as 'tis the renewing of our Covenant; all these do oblige all Men alike to frequent Communion; for no sort of Men were excepted in the command of our Saviour, no Rank of Men were excluded in the practice of the Church, and since 'tis a public owning of our Covenant, it seems to me that it cannot be utterly neglected, much less contemned without Relinquishing the Communion of Saints, Renouncing the Faith, and falling almost into the guilt of open Apostasy: All these Arguments and Motives to the frequent use of the Sacrament do as strongly bind, and forcibly press Servants, as any other sort of People whatever. 
Obligations peculiar to Servants.  But besides these, there are some considerations which may more peculiarly concern Servants than others, and which seem to render the neglect of this Duty more inexcusable in them than in any others. As First; As they enjoy not the pleasures which Men of plentiful Fortunes do, so neither are they distracted by the cares which Masters of Families may reasonably be supposed to be: Nor are they engaged in so many contentions as the many designs and interests of their Superiors do necessarily expose them to; they live, if it be not their own fault, by constant Rules, they have all the advantages of retirement in the midst of the World, lying under no pressing Temptation either to care, or contest, or sensuality: So that unless they be extremely careless of their Souls, unless they be extremely insensible of the love of Jesus, they must live in an habitual preparation for the Sacrament, or at least they can have no tolerable excuse for the neglect of it. It deserves well to be further considered, that the great stress of business which lies upon many Masters of Families, in their Trades and Employments, lies not alike upon them, or if it do, it may indispose and incapacitate the Master for the Communion, and yet not the Servant: 'Tis the Master's choice, but the Servants necessity that puts him upon it; 'tis often the Master's Ambition and Covetousness, but 'tis the Servant's Obedience and Faithfulness that engages him; so that the weight of business which may be the Master's fault, is the Servants Duty; and therefore tho' it keep the one, it must not the other from the Sacrament; for 'tis impossible that any one should be made unfit for the Communion by doing his Duty. 'Tis true, (to advance a little further) that the love of Jesus in dying for us was equal towards all, for all were subject to the punishment of sin; but if there were any difference, the obligation would be greater on the poor and mean in one respect than on the rich: Because such do need the support and comfort which they derive from this Blood, not only to uphold 'em against the terror of another Life, but also under the troubles of this; and certainly the more low and mean any man's State in this present World is, the more unpardonable in him, is the love of this Life, or the neglect of another: for the less pleasure we enjoy from without, the more natural is it to seek the pleasures of Religion, the pleasures of Faith, the pleasures of the mind, from all which, it necessarily follows, that a Servants coldness towards his blessed Lord and Master, has something less of excuse in it than any other Man's: For in what Heart shall the blessed Jesus find an Entertainment, in what Soul shall he find place to dwell, unless in that which has no Temptation to love the World? Where should the love of Heaven, the love of Jesus, and the love of Virtue, take deeper Root than in that Heart which hath rationally no Foundation, no place to raise any other hopes on that are considerable? Where might our dear Lord expect sooner to be received with open Arms, and the whole Heart, than by these who have no other Friend, no other Patron to trust to? According to this discourse, this was the success, the real issue of things in the first times. The Poor had the Gospel Preached unto 'em, that 〈◊〉, these (generally speaking) were the only Men which were affected and wrought upon by the Preaching of the Gospel. But now, ah now! The times are inverted, the Servant and the mean Man appears as much more stupid and negligent in the things of another Life, as he has less share than others in this; they seem to be sunk as much beneath the Virtue, as Fortune of their Superiors, and being freed from the Cares and Emulations, from the Ambition and Designs of those above 'em, their Souls seem to be grown so unactive, so thoughtless, so dark, that they carry not one Meditation beyond the works of their hands, like him in Ecclesiasticus, 
* Chap. 38.25.  How can he get wisdom that holdeth the plough, and that glorieth in the goad, that driveth Oxen, and is occupied in their Labours, and whose talk is of Bullocks? For shame show yourselves men, and convince us that you have Rational and Immortal Souls: let me entreat you, consider how great a dignity you are advanced to, how great an honour you are vouchsafed by God in being invited by him to this feast: you do here more nearly approach God, you are feasted and entertained by him as his Children, you are united in the closest Ties and Bonds with your dear Lord and ours, you are become one with him, and he with you, and with us all, for in Jesus Christ there is neither bond nor free; you all sit equal guests, equal favourites at this table, O let not the humility, the condecension, the love of Jesus be slighted and despised by you; ah how trifling a favour in comparison of this, conferred upon you by your Master, or any body else, wherein you value as supposing him rich and great, would transport you into all the heats of thankfulness, and put you upon any task how hard or how mean soever, by which you might do him honour. I'll insist no longer on this point, I'll only mention the little and mean objections against this Duty, 
Objections Answered.  with which you are nevertheless wont to content yourselves; you have, you'll say, so much business, so much work, that you have no time to prepare for the Communion. You do then serve not only a very hard, but a very foolish Master, so foolish, that I can scarce believe, there is any such: for who can be such a sot as to be unwilling to give you time wherein you may give him the greatest security, the surest pledge of your Fidelity, Industry, Humility, and all other Virtues of a good Servant, that his heart can desire? Can any man be such a sot as not to give a bad Servant time to reform in, or a good one time to repeat his Vows and Resolutions of his perseverance, and to fortify himself, in his Duty by fresh engagements? And this benefit certainly every Master reaps by his Servant's conscientious frequenting the Communion: and yet after all, let your Master be never so unreasonable towards you, or ungrateful towards God, (for he is both in this) I must tell you to your comfort, no Servant is rendered unfit for the Communion by doing the Duty of his place, the discharge of your Duty towards man is a part of your Religion towards God; this peradventure may render your preparation less solemn and laborious, but never less acceptable; a sincere sigh or groan from you in such a case as this, (if such a one can be supposed) shall be admitted for as good satisfaction, as the most solemn confession consisting in a particular enumeration of every sin, and an act of sorrow appropriated to each when performed by others who are Master's of their own time; a Devout Ejaculation shall be accepted from you as well as the most careful trimming of their Lamps, the most studious dressing of their Souls from others: But here let me beseech you, that you do not abuse that unto a plea for your negligence and security, which I have taught you only as a comfort under the necessity of your circumstances: For when you have time for more solemn preparation, you must not out of presumption or laziness content yourself with this, but this I must leave to your own consciences, and to God the searcher of hearts to determine: this then, that you have no time, is a vain excuse; but you'll say, you are ignorant and unlearned, and do not understand the nature of this Duty, why do you not then consult those that do? Is it so that there is no good Christian in the Family? Is there no Pastor in the Parish? Is it possible that in these days of light, any, though the meanest of the people, should perish for lack of knowledge. But you are unworthy to approach that table; and are you resolved that you'll ever continue so? If by unworthiness, you mean any course of sin; break it off speedily, lest you perish in it, peradventure this call to the Sacrament may otherwise be the last Invitation to Repentance, the last tender of mercy that shall be ever made you: but if by unfitness, you mean Frailties and Imperfections, Defects and Weaknesses, if this should make us unfit, who then could be fit? If this should make us unworthy, who then could be worthy? Sin and folly would be a qualification for the Communion, if none were fit for it, but such as were arrogant enough to think themselves so, for that in this sense of fitness, were to think themselves void of defect and frailty, which were flatly repugnant not only to Humility, but Truth too; But you'll lastly say, you are conscious to yourselves of great weakness, and are afraid of entering into Engagements, which you have much ground to fear you shall not be able to perform: If you prove unable, it will not be your sin, but misfortune, but I am afraid, you mean, which you shall not be always willing to perform: And if so, I must confess, I fear you are not fit for the Communion; for this insinuates that your Heart at present is not sincere, that your meaning is not right, and that you have some darling sin, or at least some remainder of sin, which you cannot yet be fully persuaded to part with: If it be otherwise, the weaker you are, the more need you have of that Sacrament by which you will be confirmed and strengthened; if you are sincere, you are always safe.   

PART III.  
CHAP. II. Directions for the Servants Worthy Receiving the Lord's Supper. Contemplations tending to stir up a Devout Conviction of this Duty in the Soul.  
OUR Savour's Institution of this Sacrament is thus related. Our Lord Jesus the same Night that he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and gave it to his Disciples, saying, Take, eat, this is my body which is given for you, do this in remembrance of me. Likewise after Supper, he took the Cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to 'em, saying, drink ye all of this, for this is my Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for you, and for many, for the remission of sins. Do this, as oft as ye shall drink it, in remembrance of me. Out of these words, our Church forms that excellent Prayer, Almighty God our Heavenly Father, who of thy tender mercy, didst give thy only Son Jesus Christ to suffer death upon the Cross for our Redemption, who made there (by his one oblation of himself once offered) a full, perfect and sufficient Sacrifice, Oblation and Satisfaction for the sins of the whole World, and did institute, and in his Holy Gospel command us to continue a perpetual memory of that his precious death, until his coming again; hear us, O merciful Father, we most humbly beseech thee, and grant that we receiving these thy Creatures of Bread and Wine, according to thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ's Holy Institution, in remembrance of his death and passion, may be partakers of his most blessed Body and Blood: On the parts of this Prayer you may descant thus, O my God, and my Father, didst thou give thine only begotten Son to suffer death upon the Cross for my Redemption! what then was my state, that it was capable of no lesser Redemption than the bitter death of thy Son? A state of sin and misery; a state of bondage and fear; a state of darkness and affliction; a state of wrath and death, death, eternal death; and shall I be so fond of this state, as to continue in it, after thy Son has shed his blood to redeem me from it? Shall I despise this Redemption, and not hasten to be partaker of his Blood, and all the benefits of his death and passion? O my God, and my Father, it was an act of the most tender mercy in thee, to offer up thy Son to death for me. Ah what Ingratitude must I be guilty of towards thee, what cruelty towards myself, if I neglect this great salvation, if I renounce, or at least forget my Saviour, and exclude myself from any Interest in his death? O blessed Jesus, didst thou by thy one painful oblation of thyself upon the Cross, make a full, perfect & sufficient Sacrifice, Oblation and Satisfaction for the sins of the whole World? and can there be any thing more dear to me than the memory of this thy love, more worthy of my remembrance than the redemption of the whole Word? Redemption! ah blessed word! What happiness, what Heaven doth it import to be redeemed by Christ, is to be translated out of darkness into a marvellous light, out of the Regions and shadows of death, into the glory of the Sons of God, out of a state of bondage, into the most perfect liberty, out of a state of wrath, into a state of Love and Mercy, out of a state of Dread and Terror, into a state of Peace, and Joy, and Hope, or at least, into a capacity of all this! and doth not all this deserve, that I should ever commemorate this thy Redemption of me and of the World, with devout joys, with humble transports, and the most grateful passion? Didst thou need, O my Blessed Saviour, to institute, and in thy Holy Gospel command me to continue a perpetual memory of that thy precious death until thy coming again, lest I should forget it? Ah wretched nature! Ah wretched state! Can there be any temptations that can betray me into so vile a baseness? Can the love of the World, a false deceitful World, make me forget thee, thy Agonies, thy Wounds, thy Death, thy Love? Ah my dear Saviour! can it be so hard a matter to keep my remembrance and love of thee awake, alive, that thou shouldst need to command me thus to commemorate thy death in the lively symbols and representations of it, and to enforce thy command by putting me in mind of thy coming again? Methinks, without all this, my love for thee should have been so bright and flaming, that I should have despised all things as dung and dross in comparison of thee, and have desired to have known nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified! methinks I should have lived in the devout contemplation of thy great & excellent actions, and thy great sufferings, till I had been weary of this World, and of this body of this poor Beggarly and Imperfect state, and have longed for my Dissolution and Entrance into thy presence! this, thy love deserved from me, even though I had been encompassed with the pleasures, and crowned with the honours of this World; how inexcusable then must I be, who am one of the meanest of the people, who have no allurements, no temptations in my Fortune, if I forget thee and forsake thee! Ah! how shall I stand before thee when thou comest again. How shall I behold thee in the glory of thy Father, and on this tribunal, if I should now forget thy sufferings for me, forget thy love of me, and neglect thy last, thy dying commands, the highest token of thy passion for me, showing how solicitous thou wast lest I should lose the benefit of thy blood, when thou hadst shed it! ah! with what, not shame and blushes, but horror and amazement would my guilty Soul be covered at thy appearance! but this shall never be my Crime, this shall never be my state, never shall my Soul be guilty of such ingratitude to the Tender Mercys of my God, or the tender love of my Saviour: No; my sorrows overflow me, my heart is wounded within me, that I have forgot thee so long already, that I have remembered thee so seldom, that I have turned my back so often upon that Holy Sacrament, wherein thy passion ought to have been commemorated by me; O pardon, pardon, blessed Lord thy unkind, thy unfaithful Disciple: I come to thee, I come to confess thee, I come to worship thee in the troubles and desires of a broken Spirit, a contrite passion, a restored Faith, and a Revived affection. O receive me, covered with my tears, and with my shame, but ravished with thy love too; henceforth, O my Saviour, I will live with thee, nothing shall divide thee from me; not Business nor Interest, not Relations nor Friends, not the sluggishness of the body, nor distractions of the World, not life nor death itself; I will live with thee in devout Prayers and Holy Meditations, and with an impatient passion, I will hast to meet thee in the Holy Sacrament which thou hast appointed as the representation of thy death, the pledge of thy love in the symbols oif thy extraordinary presence: And, O blessed God, who of thy tender mercy didst give thy Son to suffer death upon the Cross for my Redemption, out of the same tender mercy assist me with thy grace, that I may commemorate that his death, with that Faith and humble gratitude, that I may be made partaker of the Redemption wrought by it; help me so to approach these Holy mysteries, so to receive these Elements of Bread and Wine, that I may be made partaker of the most precious body and blood of my Saviour, that so being washed from my sins by his blood, united and incorporated with him by Faith and Love, I may be strengthened and supported, governed and protected by him, while I am in the body, and may meet him at his coming again with unspeakable rejoicing, and be acknowledged by him as his Faithful Disciple and Follower. Amen, Amen, for the sake of the same my crucified Redeemer and Saviour Christ Jesus.  

A Devout Exercise of Faith, Repentance, Love, and Hope, by way of Preparation for the Sacrament.  
FIrst, The Exercise of Faith. The former Exhortation of our Church, to the Receiving of the Sacrament, lays down the design of Communion in these few, but full words; The most comfortable Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ, is to be received in remembrance of his meritorious Cross and Passion, whereby alone we obtain remission of our sins, and are made partakers of the Kingdom of Heaven. On which you may thus comment, Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief, I believe that thou the Son of God, didst take upon thee the form of a Servant, and waste made in the likeness of Men, and being found in fashion as a Man, didst humble thyself, and becamest obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross. I believe, that by that thy painful Death, painful indeed to thee, but comfortable and happy to us, thou didst not only make an Oblation and Satisfaction for the sins of the whole World, if they would believe and repent, but also purchase for 'em an Eternal Kingdom: I do therefore desire in this Holy Sacrament to make a public Confession of my Faith in thee, I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for 'tis the power of my God unto Salvation, I am not ashamed of thee my Crucified Saviour, for I know, there is no other name given unto Man, by which he may be saved, but only the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I do therefore most earnestly desire to be made partaker of the benefits of thy Death; and to have the assurance of my Redemption by thy Blood sealed to me; for I have, O Lord, a weight of sin that hangs upon my Soul, from which, unless thy Death deliver me, it will sink me down into the lowest Hell; therefore with impatience doth my Soul desire to approach this comfortable Sacrament, where I may give thee the sincere assurances of my Faith, Repentance and Love, and may receive from the assurances and pledges of my Redemption wrought by thy Cross and Passion: But Lord, I know, that they only can draw near with comfort to this Sacrament, who with hearty Repentance, and true Faith turn to thee: I do therefore desire to place myself first as in the presence of God, and under the awe of his allseeing Eye, to examine and try my Life and my Heart, and to enter into the most sincere purposes of reforming what is amiss in me; and help thou me, O my God, that I may do this as I ought to do, give me that just sense of the weight and importance of this work, that I may do it with care and vigour, convince me so of the indispensible necessity of sincerity, that I may neither hid nor disguise any sin in my Examination, nor make any, the least reserve for any in my Resolution of amendment. And, O my God, if through the necessities of my Employment, or through the straitness of my time, or through the ignorance or prejudice of my Education, any thing shall escape me, O impute it not to me, but have compassion upon the Frailties of my Nature, and the Infelicities of my State, and upon whatever weaknesses unknown to me, are grown upon me.  
Secondly, The Exercise of Repentance. O Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Maker of all things, and Judge of all Men, thou Holy, Allseeing and Impartial Judge, I present myself before thee in the Humility of my Soul, in the grief and bitterness of my Heart, to confess and bewail my sins, and actually and sincerely to renounce 'em.  
Here consider first the course of your past Life in general. Thus, how you have behaved yourselves towards your Parents when under their Government, I mean not the particulars of your actions, which 'tis impossible to recollect, but such generals as these: Whether you have been notoriously disobedient, whether you have notoriously neglected the means and opportunities of your Education, or by any other way procured the grief, affliction or shame of your Parents: Then consider your course of Life since you came into Service, as whether you have lived carelessly and coldly towards God in an habitual neglect, or it may be, contempt of Religion, whether you have been a Faithful and good Servant, or on the contrary, whether you have lived in the custom and habit of Disobedience or Unfaithfulness to your Master: And lastly, as to yourselves, consider whether you have lived in a habit of Drunkenness, Gluttony, Uncleanness, Pride and Wilfulness; now if upon Examination, you find yourselves to have been guilty of any of these things in your past lives, it will be necessary to confess and bewail your error, altho' you have now long ago renounced it, broken off your sin, and lived a new Life; and it will not be amiss to consider what aggravations are to be found in these your sins; for example, what convictions you have resisted and stifled, what restraints you have broke through, what inconveniences you have suffered by your sins, what extraordinary Mercies and Deliverances you have had, what extraordinary Chastisements God has inflicted upon you, what Opportunities of Grace you have slighted; these and such like considerations serve to render the Soul more Humble and Contrite, and to quicken the sense of God's Goodness and Lovingkindness towards you: When you have thus examined what the State of your Life past has been, you are secondly, to examine what the present State of your Soul is, and here, you are to consider, First, Whether you are now under the dominion and power of any sin, and this your Conscience, if it be not seared, will soon inform you, for it cannot but tell you, that it has accused you for the Commission of this or that sin: But lest you should deceive yourselves, you may examine yourselves in the former manner upon those several Heads of your Duty treated of in this Book, as you stand related to God, to your Parents, to your Master and Mistress, to their Children, to your Fellow-Servants, to your Neighbours in general, and to yourselves: Weighing your present behaviour and affection towards each in this, as you did your past in the former part of this Examination.  
If upon this view of yourselves, it appears to you, that you live in any sin, you must not only bewail it, and resolve against it, but you must also make Restitution, if you have wronged your Master, your Fellow-Servant, or any other; if you have wronged 'em in their goods, you must restore it if you can; if you cannot, you must confess the wrong, and beg their pardon: If you have wronged 'em by Lying, you must discover the truth, and take the shame to yourselves: If you have grieved, disturbed and troubled 'em by rudeness, contumelious Language, or any such way, you must make 'em what amends you can, by confessing your error, promising Reformation, and begging Forgiveness: If you have been injurious to the Souls of any, you must be as industrious to reclaim 'em; when you have done all this, I would not have you make too much haste to the Sacrament: But first, make some trial of the Truth and Sincerity of your Repentance; but in giving this Rule, I would be understood to speak either of sins of habitual Omission, or else of those notorious transgressions of God's Laws, which the Scripture calls, the works of the Flesh, the wickedness in which the Gentile World lay, the filthiness of Flesh and Spirit; for as to defects and frailties, tho' we must strive against 'em, we shall never be free from 'em: As to Lukewarmness, Stupidity or Lifelesness in Religion, if you mean by it a form of Godliness without the power, that is, that you profess to believe and live civilly, but the Duties that you perform are done heedlessly and perfunctorily, without any seriousness, or any relish, and the whole application of your mind runs upon the World; this is a State to be repent of, and you must enter upon resolutions of greater care and watchfulness, and fervency; and having done this, you may proceed to the Sacrament, without making so long a trial of yourselves as in the former case; because neither the Church nor your Neighbour can receive any scandal thereby.  
Now beside this part of Examination consisting in an enquiry what sins you have been guilty of, or now live in: there is a second part of Examination consisting in this enquiry, what good you have done, what resemblance there is between your life and the life of Jesus, your Spirit and the Spirit of Jesus? for negative righteousness is not sufficient to make a man a good Christian, and though it be true, that we are not bound to the highest perfection under pain of damnation; yet the love of God, the love of Jesus, and the hopes of eternal glory do all oblige us to aim at it, and therefore we ought to bemoan our nonproficiency, barrenness and unprofitableness, I mean not, absolutely such, but comparatively with respect to what we should attain to: And that you may do this aright, demand of yourselves, what requital have we made our Parents? What assistance have we afforded them since God has blessed us? What share, of what God has prospered us with, have we given to the poor, the hungry, and the naked? What service have we done for the comfort and support of any that have been any ways distressed? After this, read with a sober devotion the Beatitudes, Mat. 5. and examine the state of your Souls by 'em; thus, am I poor in Spirit, contented in the lowest state, resigned up to God both as to my undderstanding and my will, filled with humble thoughts of my own endowments both natural and moral? do I mourn under the sense of my past sins, and my present defects and infirmities? Do I weep in secrets for the sins of my people, for the Desolations and Divisions of the Church of Christ, for the infidelity of Jew and Gentile, and in general, for the dishonour God's name suffers in the World? Am I of a meek and quiet Spirit, peaceable, and slow to anger, full, of humility and reverence towards all, but especially my Governors and Masters, studying to do my own business, and to live quietly in my Station? Do I hunger and thirst after righteousness? Is my Soul inflamed with a desire of saying knowledge? Do I delight in the meditation of Heavenly truths? Am I ravished with the Loveliness and Beauty of works truly great and truly Christian? Am I merciful? do I delight to imitate my heavenly Father as far as I am able, being bountiful to the needy, compassionate to the distressed, long suffering towards the offender, gentle and easily entreated, carefully studying and resolv'dly pursuing the good of all, even of mine Enemies, and such, whose either Ingratitude to me, or their aversion to their own good, renders the work much more difficult? Am I pure in heart? Is the World crucified to me? Do I account all things but dung and dross in comparison of the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord? Do I love my God, and love my Jesus, even to a thirst after a dissolution, that putting off the body, I may enjoy 'em in Heaven? Do I in the singleness and simplicity of my heart pursue the honour of God without regard to any by-interest or corrupt affection? Am I a peacemaker, content to purchase it for myself, or promote it amongst others by any travail or pains, and by very great disadvantages to myself? Do I pursue peace in the Church of Christ, in the State, in the Neighbour hood, in the Family, in my narrow, capacity withal imaginable zeal? Lastly, Am I willing, if the will of God so be, to part with all, and follow Christ, to undergo not only reproach and contempt, but if need be, the spoil of all I have, nay Stripes, Imprisonment, and Death itself? These are the heights you are to labour after, and though you may fall very short of 'em, this Examination will serve to increase your humility, to make you more importunate for the assistance of God, and more desirous of being strengthened and refreshed by the Holy Sacrament, nay it will excite and quicken your graces in you; for there is a loveliness in Virtue, and therefore the oftener you seriously behold it, the more you'll be enamoured of it.  
When you have discovered by this Examination the state of your Souls, then proceed to bewail 'em before God, thus; These and many more which I cannot recollect, are my sins, O thou Judge of the World, and these have all been repeated from time to time, so that they now are grown formidable to me for their very number, & yet besides this, how provoking are the aggravations of them, that I should sin thus in defiance of the brightest revelation of thy will, in contempt of thy long suffering, patience and goodness; in contempt of thy astonishing love manifested in my redemption by the blood of Jesus, in defiance of thy great and precious promises, and of all the calls of thy Spirit and of thy Providence? nay, O my God, I have trampled under foot all my most solemn engagements, and returned to the commission of sin, in contempt even of my repentance, my vows and resolutions, and canst thou have mercy upon such a wretch as I am? I know, I have most justly provoked thy wrath and indignation against me, my sins are gone over my head as a thick cloud, they are a sore burden, too heavy for me to to bear, they are more in number than the hairs of my head, and my heart has failed me; but O Lord God, I do earnestly repent, and am hearty sorry for these my misdoings, the remembrance of 'em is grievous to me, the burden of 'em is intolerable, I am ashamed, yea even confounded under the sense of my folly and ingratitude, I have considered thy terror, and fearfulness and trembling has taken hold upon me; I have considered thy tender mercies, and my Soul is wounded within me, for having so falsely and unworthily forsaken and offended thee: I have considered the humiliation and the sufferings of my blessed Saviour, and my Soul suffers an Agony of love and shame with in me for what I have done against my dear Lord. I have considered the Beauty of Holiness, and I loathe myself for the deformity and pollutions of my sins: O therefore thou, who dost delight to show mercy to repenting Sinners, thou God of love and mercy, have mercy upon me, and O thou Lamb of God, which didst shed thy blood for sinners, have mercy upon me; thou that takest away the sins of the World, have mercy upon me; and O my Heavenly Father, deliver me not only from the guilt, but from the power of my sin; I tremble indeed at thy wrath, and my soul faints within me, when I think of being excluded forever from tny presence; but I do also loath and detest my sin, O deliver me from it: aid me by thy blessed Spirit that I may conquer and subdue all my corrupt affections: O let that Spirit which was in Jesus be in me also, that the life of Jesus may be seen in all my actions, and the image of Jesus may be formed in my Soul, and my conversation may be in Heaven; and here O Lord, I offer up and devote to thee even my Soul and my body, resolving to live a life of Devotion, a life of Justice and Charity a life of Meekness and Humility a life of Industry and Watchfulness, a life of Purity and Sobriety: O Lord strengthen me, O Lord establish me by the might of thy Spirit, by the power of thy Word, by the protection of thy Povidence, that I may persevere and be faithful unto the end, and so obtain a Crown of Righteousness, through Jesus christ our Lord.  
3dly. The Exercise of Charity. O my my God, thou hast taught me by thy holy Word, that thou art love, & that he only who dwelleth in love, dwelleth in thee; and accordingly, I do find that thou art long-suffering and merciful, that thou fillest even the Wicked and thine Enemies with thy goodness; and O my blessed Savour and Redeemer, I find that in this also thou art the express Image of thy Father, and the brightness of his glory; for thou camest from Heaven to Earth to die for thine Enemies, to reconcile man to God first, and then to reconcile and endear us all to one another, and has taught us that we cannot be thy Disciples unless we love one another: I do therefore most readily forgive all those that have wronged me either by word or deed, I do from my heart readily pardon all those who have or do wish me evil, or who endeavour or design me any; I do earnestly desire to be the Child of my Heavenly Father, and the Disciple of my dear Master in this point, and therefore being jealous lest my reconciliation should not be sincere or perfect enough, I do firmly purpose upon every opportunity to express my Charity towards mine Enemies, my acts of Love and Kindness; and lest after all, I should not be zealous enough to promote that Love and Unity which is so dear and acceptable to my God and my Saviour, lest I should not throughly copy out the Divine pattern that is set me, I will not only with unfeigned Humility and Affliction of Soul confess my offence, make reparation, and beg pardon for any wrong I have done others, but I will woo and importune those who have wronged me into a reconciliation: For how well must this become me when God himself courts and beseeches the sinner, and the Son of God Preached and Prayed, and Wept and Died for those who were irreconcilably set against him; 
To be used by such as are conscious of Undutifulness towards their Governors.  and O my God, I do now call to mind how unkindly, how unchristianly I have behaved myself towards those who are my Governors in Church and State; I have often made false, slanderous and spiteful reflections upon 'em, and have aided and countenanced others in the like, I cannot make to them a Personal Acknowledgement of my offences, nor sue to 'em in particular for the pardon of 'em: Here therefore before thee my God and my Judge, whom I have hereby offended, I do confess and bewail my sin and folly, humbly imploring thy pardon, and the assistance of thy Grace, that I may henceforth walk in Christian Charity towards those who are my Governors, thy Ministers for my good; not only forbearing all Disloyalty, Disobedience, Malice and Uncharitableness myself, but also discountenancing and opposing it in all others, as far as in me lies.  
O thou God of Love, fill me with thy Divine Spirit, fill me with Brotherly Affection, and with a Fervent Zeal for the good of my Neighbour, nor suffer me ever to be wanting according to my capacity to increase the happiness of the Prosperous and the Pious, or to relieve the misery of the Afflicted and the Sinner.  
But O my God, whilst I pray for a Spirit of Love towards my Neighbour, I must not forget to beg, and beg earnestly, that by the same Spirit thou wouldst shed abroad the Love of thee my God in my Heart: O Let me ever remember the great things which thou hast done for me; O Let me ever think upon the Patience and Long-suffering, which thou hast exercised towards me; above all, let my Soul ever adore, and love, and bless thee, that thou hast given thine own Son out of thy Bosom to die for me, and for all Mankind, that whoever believed on him might not perish, but have Everlasting Life. And O let me ever love and glorify that Son of thy Bosom, who hast loved me, and given himself for me, and washed me from my sins in his own Blood; and O may I ever express this my Love by a frequent Commemoration of it, by Devout Addresses to thee my God, by a Devout Zeal for thy Glory, and the propagation of the Kingdom of my Saviour. Amen, Amen.  
Fourthly, The Exercise of Hope. After all these reflections which I have made upon my sinfulness and the Divine goodness, upon my guilt and the atonement, and satisfaction wrought by the Blood of Jesus, I find, that as the consideration of the one begets sorrow, so doth the consideration of the other beget hope in me; and I find the trouble of my Soul clear up into Christian Peace and Comfort: My past sins indeed, and my present unworthiness, fill me with grief and shame, and reproach of Conscience, but there are other things that lift me up from the Earth, that wipe away my Tears, and remove the Garments of my mourning, and fill my Soul with cheerfulness and delightsome expectations; such are these, when I consider the Divine Nature, I am assured that God delights not in the death of a Sinner, but delights in exercising Lovingkindness, Righteousness and Mercy upon Earth: When I consider the death of Jesus, I am well assured, that it is a full, perfect and sufficient Sacrifice, Oblation and Satisfaction for my sins, and the sins of the whole World; when I lastly consider the tenor of the Gospel-Covenant, as 'tis published to the World by the Son of God and his Followers, I find contained in it pardon of sins to all repenting and believing Sinners without Restriction, without Limitation, without Exception of any Person, or Reservation of any case: 
* Math. 11.28.  Come unto me all that travail and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you. 
* John 3.16.  So God loved the World, that he gave his only Begotten Son, to the end that all that believe in him should not perish, but have Everlasting Life. 
* 1 Tim. 1.15.  This is a true saying, and worthy of all Men to be received: That Christ Jesus came into the World to save Sinners. 
* 1 John 2.1.  If any Man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous, and he is the propitiation for our sins. And now I lift up my Heart O Lord unto thee, I approach near thee, and Sacrifice to thee in the joy of hope and thankfulness. For tho' I do not presume to come to this thy Table trusting in my own Righteousness, yet I do firmly trust in the multitude of thy Mercies, I know I am not of myself worthy to gather up the Crumbs under thy Table, yet I do with all know, that the Son of God has died for Sinners; and that thou art the same Lord, whose property is ever to have Mercy; I do not therefore doubt but I shall be a welcome and acceptable, tho' in myself an unworthy Guest to this Table, and being assisted by thy Grace, shall so eat the Flesh of thy Son Jesus Christ, and drink his Blood, that my sinful Body shall be made clean by his Body, and my Soul washed through his most precious Blood, and I shall evermore dwell in him, and he in me. Amen, Amen.     

Aug. 5. 1685.  
Imprimatur Liber cui Titulus, The Duty of Servants, etc.  
H. Maurice R more. D no. W more. Arch po. Cant. a sacris.  
●INIS.   

There is lately published by the same Author a Book entitled, An Enqutry after Happiness, etc.