SUND/1T READING. SOME NEW THOUGHTS FOR THE NEW TEAR. DUBLIN: SOLD BY WILLIAM WATSON, AND SON No. 7, Capel Street , Printers to the Cheap Repoftory for Religious and Moral T ro&t And by the Booksellers, Chapmen and Hawkers, in Town and Country. f?^ Great Allowance to Shopkeepers, Chapmen and H^wlcerv Pkice CMe Penny. SOME NEW THOUGHTS FOR THE NEW YEAR. SHEW I N G How Mr. Thrifty the great Mercer fucceeded in hi$ r Trade, by always examining his Books foon after Chnftmas, and how Mr. Carelefs, by neglecting this rule, let all his affairs run to ruin before he was aware of it. After which fome Chriftian help is offered to ail thofc perfons, high or low, who have a mind to ex- amine into the account of their own lives during the-laft year. r . • .^fa— mum i iilnirWt SOME NE/V THOUGHTS, ®c; TITFIEN Mr. Thrifty (who keeps that great * Mercer's (hop in London, which has been getting on fo famoufly of late) was once afked to dine two days after Chriftmas by his neighbour Carelefs (who i have heard by-the-by has been fince made Bankrupt) Thrifty anfwered, that it was quite inapoffible to dine outther s for that he was fetiing hisChriftmas accounts, " which," added he, 61 mud ii not be neglected for the world, for 1 fhould neve* tc know where I was ; I fliould not underftand (t whether I was going forward or backward, get- " ting rich, or growing ever fo poor, if Iwasto neglect 4< carting up, and balancing, and examining into " every thing at Chriftmas." — i( Why to be lure," anfwered Carelefs, " you have a large bufinefs Mr. f( Thrifty, and a large bufmefs niuft be looked *? after." — " 'Tis by my looking after it that it. has " become fo large," returned Thrifty with a look of great ihrewdnefs, " and if I were not to look " after it (till, it would foon grow little again I if warrant you." I am |p; ( 4 ) i am pcrfuaded that my Readers and I mall enc ktid all of us allow, that this was a very right ob- fervation of- Mr. Thrifty's, and yet I doubt whe- ther we (hall equally agree in the foil wing re- mark, though it has nearly the fame foundation ; namely, that if we hope to be faved from ruin in the next world, and to fucceed in our everlafting interefts, it is neceffary that we mould ufe the very fame kind of diligence in examining the ftate of our fouls, which Mr. Thrifty ufed in examining the -* flate of his worldly bufmefs. There is alfo a manner of 'deceiving ourfelves in our religious concerns, which is very like that j n which they who fail in bufinefs are apt to be deceived. No man means entirely and at all times to neglect his foul ; no, be merely puts off his felf examination, or he is idle and fiovenly about it. Mr. Carelefs ufed always to be of opinion, that a regular yearly balancing of his books was not * neceffary. He thought he could form a pretty fair general guels at the ftate of his affairs, without taking all the trouble that Mr. Thrifty took in go- ^ Ing particularly into them. It proved, however, xvhen Mr. Carelefs broke, that the few goods he had to mew had been moll ifrangely overvalued, and On the other hand, that the debts he owed amount- ed to about five times the fum he expected. Now I am perfuaded, that thbfe of my Readers who never examine their hearts, ivill, on the day of judgment, find themfelves as much miftaken in ; refpe£fc to the worth of their fuppofed virtues as well a* the number of their iins (which are like fo many debts due to God) as ever Mr. Carelefs was, and the i only way of recovering from their danger, will be to Hp immediately what the friends of Mr. Carelefs 0#vifed him to do the Chriftmas before he broke— : I mean to look their affairs fully in the face, to J ( 5 ) to take inftaist meafures for getting at a true and j u it eftimate of them, . and then to adopt feme wife and prudent plan for their effectual relief. I will add one other obfervation. This Mr. Carelefs, as I have heard, did not break through any violent mifconducl: : he never was guilty or any fcahdalous and immediately .ruinous Irani .;c- - tion like fome others, hut then be wa c inattentive to his bnnnefs, and by this mere inattention he was year after year dropping down, without Eyeing a- ware of it, into fare and certain ruin : he never could be perfuaded to lock carefully into his af- fairs, which was owing at fall, to icdenefs, .and :at- terly to this additional c ufe, that a certain kind of fearfulnefs. and falfe ftunie had got about him, infomueh, that when fome friends of h ; s who per- ceived his ignorance of book- keeping. bIFered oh the 4 Chnhrmas before he broke to lend htm fome aftiftance, he abfolutely declined it, which was o nodered always as one of the raoft unpardonable part., of his whole conduct I propofe now, after the example of thefe friends of Mr. Carelefs, to hold out to nay readers fome affijfance in entering into that felt examination which I am here prefRng upon them, and if they think proper to neglect the help that is offered them, i can only fay, that 1 think they really fo much refemble Mr. Carelefs, that they ought to come forward and take his part, that they ought to come forward and take his part, and to defend his f * character from thofe fevere cenfures which I am, { told that his neglect of a like offer has every where brought upon him- But let me fir ft add a few more words to prove that the kind of companion which 1 have fpoken A s oi i of Is really a jufl one; for many people feem by no means to be convinced, that a man may be ruined in his foul by mere ncglec~t, in the fame manner as he may in his trading bufinefs. 1 will venture to obferve on this head, that neglect is apt to bring on ruin not in a mercer's (hop only, hut even in every thing. Name me now, if you can any trade or profeirion in life which can thrive with- out diligence ? Has not God fo made the world as to (hew that man mufi: he diligent, and that it is at his peril to be neglectful ? There is no bu- finefs that will do itfelf ; moreover, if a man he ever fo diligent in one thing, but quite neglectful of another, he is fure to feel the confequence even of this partial careleflnefs. If a farmer was to look well to his labourers in the field, but not to mind his marketing, or if trader Thrifty was to be always bringing up his books in the counting- houle but was never to go forward into the fhop and wait upon his cufiomers, do you think he would not fuffer by it ? So if a man minds this world only, and never thinks of the next, the bufinefs of the next world will certainly not be done, as he will find hereafter to his coft. Some men, if any one fhould inquire into the frate of their fouls, and fhould afk " for a reafon of the hope that is in them,'' would merely anfwer in general that God is merciful, and that Chrih 1 died for them, and add the like general reafons, which any man in Chriitendom may give as well as they, and if you were to prefs them further they could only fay, I know not much about the matter, 1 hope well, 1 trutl God with my foul : 1 (hall fare ab well as other men do : I thank God I never made any doubt of my Salvation." Now what do all fuch kind of fay- ings dilcjver, but a wilful negkcl of their Sal- vation, ( 7 ) .' ; % nation. It Is as if a fliip mailer fhould let his veffel alone and fay, " I will venture it among ** the rocks and waves, and winds: 1 will truft €( God with it : It will fare as well as other vef- " fels." I fay what horrible abufe of God's mercy is this ! he commands us to give diligence to make our calling and election fure> and in this way of diligence to truft him. It may be further added, that in general we find in all our affairs in this life, that whatev, r ismoft important requires the higheil: degree of care and diligence : ought we not therefore to fear lead negli- gence fhould prove the mod fatal of all in the con- cerns of the immortal foul, which are certainly the greatefr. of ourconcerns ? What caieis neeeffar) to keep alive our body : it mud be daily fed, and clothed, and cherifhed, and provided for in a vaft variety of ways ; and it is not necefiary to lay violent hands upon it in order to deftroy it. if due care be not taken of it, it peri flies of courfe. So is it with a man's foul, it is certainly pe- ri (hi ng if its interefts are neglected and forgotten by him, and it may be as effectually deftroyed without any great fin, as the body may without any great blow. Once more I beg leave to add, that it is no proof our fouls are fafe that we feel at preient no harm or inconvenience from our neglect of them. Mr. Carelefs felt no inconvenience from his neg- lect at the time when he a(ked Thrifty to dinner. His bankruptcy came upon him quite iike a thun- der-clap : his things indeed were in confuhon be- fore, but the fame idicnefs which kept him from examining them, kept him from knowing before- hand the mifery that awaited him. I apprehend, therefore, that the chearfulnefs of which fome A 4 thought! ;fs i s ) *lhoughtlefs and irreligious people make their boad is no proof of their fafety, but is merely like the gaiety of Mr. Carelefs on the day when he was making merry with his company, in Head of calling up his books* and minding the main chance, as it is called. But I rnuil ohferve further, that there is one great error which a vafl number of people fail into, and by which they are apt to be made very eafy under the mod complete neg!e£t of their fouls. The miilake I mean is the following one : they are diligent as they call it, at .their duty : thus , for in- ilance, they dig hard, if digging is their bufinefs, they write and cart: accounts and keep (h©p dili- gently if they are clerks or fhop- keepers, or they do their exercife brifkiy and follow orders readily if they are foldiers or failors, and having done this their daily work they think they have done all that can be required of them. Religion they pof- * iibly allow to be a good thing, but this, fay they, is Religion : nay, to do their work well is the bed fort of Religion, and they defire to know no other. Let us now combat this error which has a very fair appearance, and which has alfo fome mixture of truth with it. Prefuming, my Readers to believe the Bible, I will here, in the firft place, quote Scripture on the fubje£t If to labour merely in our calling is one and the fame thing as to labour for our fouls, how comes our Saviour to have ufed for inflance fuch txpreflions as the following ? <( Labor not for the " meat thai perifheih but jor the meat which endu* ** eth to everlajiing life" I grant our Saviour does :not hereby mean we ought not in any fenfe to labor for the " meat that pa-inietr)/' but he cer- tainly ■■p - ^ \ ^ I . A 9 ) tainly mil ft mean that we ought not to labor for this only , nor even for this chiefly ; he mud alfo mean that there is a duty called by him Ci labor* " ing for everlafting life/' which is a diflin6t thin^ from laboring to fupport our bodies ; for if thefe two things were not didinct^ he would not haye mentioned them fo dirlin£tly. Again our Saviour fpeaks of a man who had been €S filling his. gamers and laying up goods for many years/' who evi- dently therefore was a very diligent man in his bu- finefs, and yet this is the very man who is pointed out as one whole foul had been neglected : fox it i^> fa id, " Thou fool, this night (hall thy foul be re- quired of thee" I will add another remarkable faying of our Saviour on the fame fubje£L He defcnbes the general invitation to attend to the Gofpel by comparing it to " a Marriage Supper,'* to which*, faid he. when men were a&ed to come, c< they all -with one conjeni began to make excufe 9 *f for one zvent to his farm, another to his rner- ** chan/ize. One faid I have bought a yoke of oxen * ( and I mufl needs go and prove them, and another fi< faid I have married a vjife y and therefore I can- " not corned* Nothing, can prove more plainly than this parable the point v,e are now urging; for it (hews that attention to our worldly bufinefe* fo tar from being the fam,e thing as attention to Religion, is oiten the main hindrance he it. A ain O * ft ■■ going to my farm, faid the men in Chriirs time, and therefore 1 cannot attend to fcfee sSofpei> I am going to my farm, lay thefe men now, but they have the face even to pretend that this .'5 the fame thing as attending to the Gofpel, than which nothing can be m^re contrary to our Saviour's declaration* Our Saviour end-s hi parable by alluring all the people who put .him rT hy any fuch excuies, that " none of thole men that i$ere A 5 u hidde n ( I* ) ** bidden JJjuH tafle of his Supper which is as if he had faid, ft You who give no attention to fC the Gofpel {hall have no fhare in the benefits 4i of it. You have been invited indeed, but fi nee " you do not come you fhaJl never tafle of it's £( falvauon." And indeed it feerns quite agreeable to ' reafon to fuppofe, that God, who has made man to con- lift both of body and mind, is not likely to be fatisfied with his mere bodily labour, but that he muft require the affections of the mind to be given to Him alio. If mere diligence in our calling is all in all, I fee not why a man may not be allowed even to deny the being of God : for an Atheift may very poftibly be led to mind his bufinefs tolera- bly well from mere worldly motives, - and juft in like manner feme perfons who call themfelves Chriftians, may be induced to go on regularly with their work, all the while forgetting God as much zp, if they were downright Atheiits. Having thus proved, as I truft, the rieceffity of attending to the interefts of the foul, and having alio {hewn that it. is not fufficient to carry on our worldly bufinefs merely on worldly principles, I ih all proceed to the main point which is before us, namely, to offer the Reader fomc help towards a ferious examination of his conduct during the fail year, and I truft that what will be further faid will throw much additional light on the general fub]e€& Firft then I defire the Reader fericufly to afk * feixttfeif, what has been the ordinary ground and motive cf bis a$ipnj during lie I aft year. You profek, I doubt not, to believe in God, and you expect rrertafter to J>e j'tdg.d by Him, but have }ou m the r ( " ) the laft year made it the leading motive of all your a&ions to endeavour to pleafe him ? It is in vain to think thar you have pleafed Him if you have not intended to pleafe Him. How is it that we judge in cafes that arife between a man and his fellow creatures ? I believe a wife, for inftance, would not much thank her hufband for doing her a kindnefs, if (he thought he never intended her a kindnefs, and had her not at all in his thoughts when he did it. Her hufband's affection is the thing fhe chiefly wants, and the kind action is only fo far pleating to her, as it is a fymptom of this affection in the mind. Now all this is ex- tremely reasonable : there is fome nicety I grarit in the diflinction, but it is a nicety we all very well underftand in our own cafe, and we have no right therefore to fay that we cannot underftand it when God is concerned. My Jon" (faith God to us in the fcripture) will, they certainly would take all means oi knowing it. It a fervant had got a letter dire&ed to him which he believed to be from his mailer, and was zealous to do his matter's will, do you chink he would not be eager to open and read the let- ter ? And if we are earned, in like manner to know and do the will of God, mall we not be eager to open and read the fcriptures ? I believe it is the excufc of fome that the fcriptures are diffi- cult to be underftood, and that their meaning in many places is doubtful ; to which I anfwer, that fo is the meaning of all books more or lels to fome kind of perfons. The objection proves only at the mod, that you mould read for the prefent thofe parts of them which are more eafy, and which have the mod maniieft tendency to do you good In fact however it is the want of a deep concern about the falvation of our fouls, (which is the chief fubje<5fc the Bible treats of) that caufes it to appear fo difficult, as well as infipid and unim proving as it does to fome people. We have fpoken hitherto only of religious duties. We will now fay fomething of the ordi- nary duties of life, and if we defcribe them truly, it will immediately appear that even theie are not likely to have been fulfilled in any refpeel a? they ought, unlefs there has been religious principle for the foundation. Fiift, ( »6 > Firft, bow have you performed the duties of your own calling in the lad year ? Here it may perhaps be anfwered by Tome people, " We have " no calling, for we are able through the money * e which we faved, or which our fathers have * ( faved for us, to live without work. We have ** therefore had nothing to do; we are indepen- *' dent perfons." What* then, are you indepen- dent on God ? It is the bufinefs of Religion to put an end to this fancied right to independence, and to fubjeft every thought, word, and action, io the will of a fuperior, to the will I mean of a ft-ri6t and holy God- What a-bleffing to fociety ,s Religion-, whea considered in this view ! It turns all thole perfons who are otherwife the drones of the community* into, fome of the moft fervice- : hie people in it. O, how many, troubles and ml* feries are there in this land, which* if a few more of our independent ladies and gentlemen would he fo good as to turn Chrtftians, (I mean zealous Chriftian !) would presently be relieved. What a great number of poor cottagers are there who drag on life both in wickednefs and mifery for the want . r being overlooked, and intlrucled, and advifed, md now and then affifted by their fuperiors who dwell near them ? Here perhaps a whole pariHt Is neglected through want of a chriftian parim of- ficer; there the accounts of an holpital need exa- mining, or a workh^ufe is given up to vice and ruin ; here a uieful club wants a Freafurer or Patron, or a declining char it) fchool ib without an Infpector, or a new fchool ought to be fet up ; here again a private quarrel is raging which the interference of a fuperior if he (houli aifo be a Chriftian, might p d. fitly heat Wha* in- numerable opportunities alfo has an indepen- dent ( *7 > dent perfon of diitributing religious books, c; conveying ferious advice to thofe whom Provi- dence has placed under his influence. Now there are the employments which cenftitute the calling of independent people. Chriftianity brings them to a ftri£fc fenfe of their refponlibility in thefe and many other like points, and at the fame time en- larges their hearts in love to all their fellow crea- tures. Well then, have you followed this your Chriftian calling, and followed it diligently during the laft year ? Oh I no, you are one of thofe perhaps who have fpent the whole year in fome trifling employment, merely to gratify your own tafte, or to pleafe your own vanity. Thefe are the things which have formed your chief calling, and while the vices of the poor have been dread- fully increasing in your parifli, and the groans of ■i the miferable have been almoft reaching your door, you have ■ been fpending your little inde- pendent income on yourielf, and fancying that all was well. But let us next addrefs the more laboring part of the community, and if they will allow us to examine them clofely, I believe it will equally appear, that a chriftian principle is neceiTary in their cafe, in order to carry them through their bufmefs with real faithfulncfs and integrity. Firft 3 have none of you been on the whole very idle during the laft year ?-J Are there none who have flackened in their work becaufe they thought the Parilh muft relieve them whenever their idlenefs fhould have brought them to want ?■ Are there none who have chofen, rather to burthen fome charitable { i8 ) charitable friend than to buckle heartily to their work ? And has every one of you been as dili- gent jutt after he had got a week's wages in hand as before ? Now Chrittianity will have led ou to work at a 1 ! times, not on Saturday only, but on Monday alio, making conscience of bab tpal di! ;gence; nay. you will have been ready (as the apottle exhorts) fuppofed to authorize them; the new year there- fore feems a very proper tlm< for examining into thefe points. It may in general be lu petted that all profits or privileges, as they are. called, winch are carefully concealed, have fomcthirg diftioneft in them, for if they are quite boneft, why fhouldf they not be public ? The difficulty of breaking through thefe cuftoms is often much increafed by a certain falfe (liame, which makes people afraid of doing it, led they fliould Thereupon be charged with pretending to be better than their neighbours. Religion however tends to cure this falfe fhame, for when a deep concern about thefalvation of the foul arifes, a man is carried above all thofe little^ feelings which fo often interfere with his duty, and being obliged to turn over a new leaf in many great points, he takes the opportunity of rectifying a thoufand fmaller inadvertencies, which many men of the world, though accounted moral, never think of doing, becaufe they have no mo'.ive ftrong enough to put them upon any kind of change. We (hall now name a few more fubje&s for felf- cxamination, which we (hall not do with much ggir- ticularity; flnce the Reader's own mind may en- large upon them. How have you behaved through the lad year in refpect to relative duties ? It may not be amifs at this time of the year to recollect the names of our relations and connections one by one, and then to aik ourlelves who is there of thefe whom i have either hurt by my mifconduct, or neglected, through idlenefsor fecret diflike, who is thereof them whom I have put oft by a little outward complaifance, when i -ought to have been affectionate and kind f* Again y who is there of them with whom I have too much agreed, not daring to (hew any ChnfHaxv Angularity in their prefence, and conforming both to them and to the world,' through- fear of their ill will ? The duty fubfitVing between near con- nections, foch bufoands and wives, or parents i ( 2* 1 children, ought to form at this time of year a very great fuhjccl of felf examination, and that which our Chriftian duty dictates will be found to contribute exceedingly to increafc our private happi nefs. Have you alfo in the lad year been temperate^ fober, and chafte, as the Scriptures require ? Have you not allowed yourfelf to live in any of thofc ""vices of which the fcripture fays that * ( they which i€ do fuch things fliall not inherit the kingdom of ** God." Again, have you been combating with all your evil tempers in the laft year, anu whar has been your fuccefs in the conHicV? Every man has fome particular infirmity. Some are apt to be (tub- born and felf willed, others weak and yielding* Some are hold and forward, others too fearful and afhamed Some are fleepy and inactive, others are too bufy and prone to meddle even in what doe^s not concern them. Some are too {ilent and others as much too talkative. Some have affec^ tions that are continually betraying them into in- » conveniences if not dangers, and fome have an. ungracious- and difagreeable harfhnefs. with which they ought to contend. Some alfo have much na- tural pride, or a ftrong turn to vanity.— Now if you are ufed to fearch out your faults, you will have long fince known in fome meafure which of thefe may be yours, and you will be glad to be reminded at the year's end that you ought to in* quire how far yoti have gained ground on that fin which has moft eafily befetyou. We will only mention further, have you been * obfervant of the hand of Providence in all the events that have come acrofs you in the Iaft year ? Have you. referred your fick nefs or vouf health, your i ( m > your loflf« in trade, or your fucceffes, as Hvcli a*- all the deaths in your family and among your friends, together with every other incident of* the year, to a Divine Providence, which has ordered all things that have befallen you? And have you confidered the affronts and injtrics of men, the ha r d(hips you have fuffered, the national calamities alfo of which you may have borne your part, in the fame religious light, namely, as the means by which God has been pfeafed to try you? And have** you been therefore rcfigned and patient under ftaf- ferings, as well as thankful for your mercies ? And killy, while you are now recollecting afl the Escapes and Deliverances you have experi- enced, as well as the affe&'ng Dea hs and Changes which you have perhaps witnefTed during the lad twelvemonth in your family, are you led thereby to meditate on the uncertainty of your own fu- ture life, and on the coming of that awful daV, when " we mull all appear before the judgment " feat of Chrifl: to give account of the things done " in the bDdy," and when both you and *f all *' that are in their graves mall c©me forth, they * ( th it have done good to the refurre&ion of life, €f and they that have done evil to the refurrection ** of damnation?" To this fubjeel: of felf- examination which is now clofed, one important remark mall be added. Per- haps fome Reader will have been ready- to reply to fome of the ftr ict queft-ons which have been put to him, " Why at this rate who can be fav- ed ? tc If all this be ueceffary for falvationl muft 44 defpair and give up the point." We would re- quell every fuch delponding Reader to turn this Tract to the following ufe: Let him avail hirnfelf of ( 2J V •f it in the firft place in order to alarm his fears, and to do away thai ialfe notion of innocence, which men who never examine themfelves are apt to truft to as the ground of their faIvation,and whenjwhat he has read has thus convinced him of his exceeding guilt, let it then fend his thoughts to that Saviour of the world '* whom God hath fet forth to be a propitia- tion through faith in his blood, to declare his righ« teoufnefs for the temiffion of (ins that are part, through the forbearance of God." Let him proceed to think deeply and often on that inftru&ive fubje£t of " his being juftified freely by God's g'ace> through the redemption that is in Jefu* Chrift a fubjec\ the powerful force of which in turning the whole heart to God, the -Reader has perhaps not yet taken into his calculation, bneouraged by the par- don of which this doctrine affureshim if he is penitent, and accepting 'm oft heartily and thankfully it's free and undeferved falvation, let him then account him- felf to be " not his own, but " bought with a price,** and let him " live no longer to himfelf, but to him that hafh died for him " A heart warmed with gra- titude to Chrift will ftand in the place of a thonland arguments ; it will make that labor pleafant which otherwife feems intolerable : and it wdl caufe all thofe 'duties, which we feemed to defcribe with fo much ftri&nefsj^tG appear now no more than ajuftand reafonable fervicc. &6 Hymn for the New Ye GOD our help in ages pad, Quj- hope in years to come. Our fhelter from the ftormy blaft. And our eternal home. To thee we pay our yearly vow Of humble thanks and praifc $ ^To thee we freely offer now The remnant of our days- Lord if our fins are counted ^'er They flxike us with furprifc. Not all the fands upon the fliore To equal numbers rife. ^each us to feel our guilty ftatc, To view the path we've trod, Teach us to fue at mercy's gate Before we meet our God. T:aeh us tb walk with ready feet In thy moft holy ways, To count < ur Saviour's fervice fweet. And gi^e him all the praife. Thus when the fun at thy command Shall ceafe his \ early found, When at thy bar the world (hall (land And the lad trumpet found, Then while the. awful fenrence rings In fleepy finners' ears ; To us our God redemption brings And endlefs are our years. THE END