The Gentlemans Calling, Section 9 – Part 2
SECT. IX. The Conclusion.
1. WE have now according to our proposed Method, surveyed distinctly those several Advantages which Gentlemen enjoy, and may surely give the same Testimony, which Caleb and Joshua did of Canaan, Num. 14. The Land which we passed thorow to search it, is an exceeding good Land. 'Tis a rich and fertile soyle wherein these men are planted, such as hath a natural aptitude and vigor to produce the most excellent fruits. But Paradise it self required dressing, and therefore we find Adam had that work assigned him in his Innocence; and surely these his Sons may well submit to the same task, by the faithfull discharge whereof they may make some approaches towards that his pristine state.
2. It need not be again inculcated, that all these their Receits have their special and particular ends in Gods assignment; 'twill be more useful to remember them, how neerly they are concern'd not to pervert the Councel of God against themselves, by neglecting to give them their due expected improvements: For though he be a most liberal, yet is he not a negligent Master, but keeps an exact and punctual account of whatever he thus delivers out, and will not faile severely to avenge the embezeling of his goods; Indeed such an abuse has so Fatal an Efficacy, that it quite changes their nature, converts them from Blessings to the heaviest Curses: would God too many men had not thus exemplified their own destructive power, and by a kind of Anti-creation brought darkness out of light.
3. But 'tis pity they should be permitted to sleep in that darkness, which themselves have made; and therefore if this little Tract shall fall into any such hands, it must avow to come upon that uncivil, yet friendly Errand, to disturb their rest, to awake them to some Consideration, and as Philips Monitor was to remember him, that he was but a man, so to put them in mind, that in the middest of their freest enjoyments they are still but Stewards and know not how soon their Lord may summon them to their Accounts. And with what confusion and consternation must they appear at the great Audit, who have so unfaithfully managed their trust; 'Tis therefore now no longer time to dally, but by an assiduous care and diligence to endeavor to Redeem their past ill husbandry, lest they run the Fate of that Evil-servant mentioned, Mat. 24. be surprized in the midst of their Inordinacies, and have their portion assigned them in weeping and gnashing of teeth.
4. And now what Objection can they possibly make against this so necessary a Caution, which is founded upon such Motives, as should me thinks infallible prevaile upon all sorts of tempers? If they have any sence of Feare, here are those Terrors of the Lord, which are amazing enough to set even a Belshazz… (though with the Cup at his mouth, his Concubines by his side) a trembling. Certainly he must not be onelyonly frozen but petrified in desperate impiety, whom even a glimpse of those eternal flames will not be able to dissolve.
5. But if Fear (though of God) be too degenerous a Passion for a Gentleman to own, this advice can upon as good grounds Address it self to their Hope; there is as well the Joy of the Lord for the Faithful, as the outter darkness for the unprofitable servant. For though God have Right of absolute Dominion, and might exact obedience on his bare command, yet he is more pleased to shew himself a Benefactor then a Lord, and therefore descends to treat with men by the more gentle, and inviting methods of Promises and Rewards. Nay, indeed the end of his Commands is onelyonly to make us capable Subjects of those Eternal Felicities he desires to bestow. And this surely is enough to excite men to a diligent negotiating with those Talents they have received, since it is indeed themselves they are trading for. The stock it is true is Gods, but all the increase of it will by his bounty certainly devolve on them. And therefore as Naamans Servants thought the cure he was in pursuit of, deserved a submission to the severest Prescriptions, If the Prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldst thou not have done it? 2 Kings 5. 3. So surely we may conclude those endless joys proposed by God, are cheaply earned even by the most exhausting Labors, the most vigorous Tasks.
6. But such is the Tenderness and Indulgence of our gracious Master, so earnest his desire of dispensing his Rewards, that he will not trust mens sloth and folly with such a pretence of defeating themselves; and therefore hath annexed no such condition. We have seen, through all the several parts of Duty, which constitute the Gentleman's Calling, that they are of a quite distant frame, not Toils but Refreshments, not Yokes but Crowns, such as differ onelyonly in size from those Celestial ones to which they tend; so that here is bait even to the greatest voluptuary. And who that observes how many such there be, would expect this Fruit of Paradise should still hang untouched; yet such a preposterous Temperance have they put on, that they are proof against all these alurements. Good God! what contradictions are men made up of? It is the business of their lives to pursue pleasures, and yet when those of the most resined and exquisite sort would run into their embraces, they grow coy, and cannot be courted to receive them. We daily see the Devil hath his Martyrs, it seems he hath his Asceticks too; and so witty is the World grown in creating sins, that they have found out a sin of self-denial. Would God these absurd Mortifiers might be perswaded to remit somewhat of their severity, the most rigid Orders in Religion have still indulged some relaxation, some times of Festivity; why should Satans Votaries be so much more zealous, then Gods, as to make their abstinences so perpetual?
7. It speaks indeed the Cruelty of that Master they serve, but so it does his Policy also, he well knows that if these Divine Lights should but insinuate themselves, they would soon undermine his whole Foundation; so ravishing and attractive are they, that nothing but a perfect Ignorance of them can be Amulet sufficient against their Charms; and therefore it is his necessary concern to keep men from ever tasting of them, the least rellish whereof would be sure to make them despise all his adulterated delicacies. So we see he can give some rational account of his part of the matter. But what can Men say for themselves, who play his game for him, even when their own souls are at the stake, that at once renounce that Eternal interest, and Present pleasure? This is indeed in Davids phrase, 2 Sam. 3. 33. to die as a fool dieth. Their hands are not bound, nor their feet put into fetters; no extrinsick hindrance lies on them, why they may not stretch forth their hand to this Tree of life, and cat and live happily here, and gloriously sor ever. And yet like Solomons Sluggard, they hide their hands in their bosom, and will not so much as bring them to their mouths, Pro. 19. 24.
8. This is so stupid a Folly, as none that pretends to common sense, would in any worldly concernment be guilty of, Will any man renounce a rich unchargeable Reversion, when he is not only wooed, but bribed by a considerable sum in hand not to disclaim it? I fear there are few so mortified to Wealth, as to do it upon the score of Self-denial; and sure no man would be thought in his wits, that should do it upon any other; for what jealousies soever he had entertained of the Security, or Value of that future Estate, yet the present visible profit would deserve his consideration: There is but one circumstance imaginable, that could reasonably avert him, and that is the suspition of Deceit, that the Coin which is offered him is false and adulterate. And that I may not be under a necessity of pronouncing so many men mad, I shall suppose it not unlikely that this scruple may occur to them in the present Case: They have so long brought all their Bullion to Sathans Mint, suffered him to stamp their Pleasures, that none will now pass for current with them, which has not his Impress; and upon this account 'tis too probable they may distrust the validity of the present Paiment, disbelieve the pleasantness of those Duties I have here recommended to their Enjoyment, as well as Practice. Nor shall I desire to impose on their belief, but shall very willingly wave their Faith, and appeal to their Sense. But then they must remember, that that is uncapable of judging by any other means but Experience; and therefore if all that has been addrest to their Reason be ineffectual, that remains as the last reserve for their convincement. Let every one of them seriously and conscientiously set to the Practice, (and allow only for so much of difficulty, as naturally attends the interrupting a contrary Custom) and then let him, if he can, doubt of the Pleasure: Let him allow himself but this one Medium to infer it, and I shall defie his dissent to the Conclusion. Let him sow with me this handful of seed in the tears of true contrition for remembring his Duty and Interests so late, and I shall rest confident he will reap in joy in this world, and carry the news of it to another, even thither also bring his sheaves with him, abundance of fruit to his account, be blest here, and crown'd eternally.
FINIS.
ERRATA.
Pref. Sect. 17. l. 8 r. recommend. p. 17. l. 30. for soul r. speech, p. 35. l. 14. r. gentler, p. 57. l. 9. for said r. so, p. 88. l. 23 r. supersedes, p. 94. l. 21. r. deference, p. 96. l. 7. after vice add that, p. 98 l. 2. after of add his▪ p. 99. l. 19. r. constitution, p. 106. l. 28. r. motive, p. 111. l. 32. r. deterr, p. 129. l. 7. r delighted, p. 192. l. 18. r, amiability.
PRIVATE DEVOTIONS.
LONDON: Printed for Timothy Garthwait at the Little North door of St. Pauls. 1660.
A Confession.
O Blessed Lord, I thy wretched Creature, thy not onelyonly unprofitable, and slothful, but wicked Servant, do here. prostrate my self at thy Feet, humbly acknowledging that I have most perversly and most treacherously mis-imployed those many precious Talents wherewith thou hast intrusted me. I have, O Lord, unworthily abused those common Mercies which thou hast afforded me as a Man, and a Christian, my whole life having been a continued resistance to the dictates both of Reason and Religion. But I have yet farther perverted those more special Liberalities of thine, whereby thou hast essayed to vanquish and melt an ungrateful heart. My Knowledge hath had no influence on my Choices, but I have obstinately pursued those ways, which I knew led to the Chambers of Death, and by advancing my Sins from Ignorances to Presumptions, hath served onelyonly to render me lyable to the greater number of stripes. That Wealth whereby I should have glorified Thee, and succoured my Brethren, I have converted into fuel to maintain and accend my Covetousness, Pride, and Luxury, so levying war against Thee with thine own Treasure. Thus unfaithful, O Lord, have I been in the unrighteous Mammon; and who then shall commit to my trust the true Riches? I have wasted that Time thou hast given me to work out my own Salvation, vainly and impertinently, nay often so viciously and impiously, that Idleness, though a Crying sin of Sodom, hath been the silentest of my guilts, the greater portion of my Days having been devoted either to the pursuit or enjoyment of my brutish Pleasures, so making it my business to provide for the Flesh to fulfil the Lusts thereof; and of those many Days and Years thou hast afforded me, how few minutes are there of which I can give any tolerable account to Thee, or my own Soul? Nay, O Lord, as if my single and personal Impieties had been too little, I have propagated them to Others, and have made that Authority and Esteem, which thou gavest me for better purposes▪ the means of ensnaring all whom my Interest or Example could seduce. And now, O Lord, how unknown astonishing a weight of guilt do I lie under, that am to answer for so many Sins of Other men, as well as my self, that have thus been a Snare on Miz…ah, and a Net spread on Mount Tabor, the Instrument of entangling and betraying so many Souls? O merciful Lord; who delightest not in the death of a sinner, look with pitty both on them, and me; Give me a sincere and earnest Repentance for my own offences, and if it be thy blessed will, make me some way instrumental to the begetting the like in them, that I may be as contributive to their Recovery, as I have been to their Fall: And let the consciousness of my great Sloth and Unfaithfulness in all the parts of my Stewardship, excite me to a more diligent and industrious improvement of all those advantages thou hast put into my hands, for thy glory, the benefit of my Brethren, and the eternal joy of my own Soul. Grant this, O gracious Lord, for his sake who came to Call sinners to Repentance, Jesus Christ our Lord.
A Thanksgiving.
O Most gracious and most bountiful Lord, who doest good unto all, but hast in an extraordinary measure abounded to me thy unworthiest Servant, I desire with all exuberant thankfulness of heart, to confess and celebrate this thy great goodness. Lord, Thou hast not been to me a Wilderness, a Land of Darkness, but hast caused my Lot to fall in a fair ground. Thou hast not onelyonly given me a Natural, and a capacity of a Spiritual life, but hast also enriched me with many Advantages for the comfortable support of the one, and the happy improvement of the other, above what thou affordest to multitudes of others. Thou hast liberally given me of the Dew of Heaven, and fatness of the Earth, an Assurance of all those good things which may both oblige and assist me cheerfully to serve Thee. O let not my Heart like Gideons Fleece remain dry, whilst all about it is thus plentifully watred from Heaven; but give me, I beseech thee, such a sence of thy Mercy, as may express it self in a constant and zealous Obedience. Thou hast done so much for this meanest Plant in thy Vineyard, drest it and fenced it about with Thy Grace and Providence; and having built a Wine-press, mayest most reasonably expect some Clusters to be brought to it at the Vintage. O let not so gracious, so equitable a demand be frustrated, when thou lookest it should bring forth Grapes, let it not bring forth wilde Grapes; let not those Advantages I enjoy above others, tempt me to exalt my self, or despise them, but grant me always to remember that it is Thou onelyonly that makest me differ from another. Lord, let thy Methods be my Documents, thy Dispensations of Indulgence towards me, the Engagements and Bands of the closest and most inviolable Duty, that that Eminency of Condition wherein Thou hast placed me in this World, may be an effectual Admonition to me to be eminent in Vertue that Men seeing my good Works, may glorisie Thee my Heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ our Lord and Blessed Saviour.