The Tradesmans Calling, Chapter 3
CHAP. III. Of the Choice of a Calling.
THE third thing then to be handled, is about the Choice of a Calling; which commonly belongs to Parents or Guardians, not excluding the Inclination of the Party to be diſpos'd, who muſt ſpend his Life in it.
And here both muſt agree to chuſe;
Firſt; A Calling that is lawful: For God calls us to no other, neither can we expect his Bleſſing in any other: Nay, every Minute we ſpend in any other, we offend and provoke God; and whatever Riches or Honour we purchaſe therein, comes with his Anger and Curſe; which very often cleaves to Poſterity that do inherit them. How then may we know a lawful Calling?
A lawful Calling is that which ſome way tends to the Glory of God, and conſequently doth ſome way further the true Happineſs of Mankind, either Temporal, Spiritual, or Eternal. If the Calling do thus tend to the good of Mankind, it undoubtedly pleaſeth and glorifieth God: Demonſtrate therefore the latter, and then you conclude the former. For our infinitely good God hath inſtituted no Calling, but what is for his Creatures good. From the Chief Good nothing but Good can come. Far ſooner may the Sun dart down Clouds and Darkneſs, than the Holy God appoint, or call any Man to a miſchievous Imployment. Not that every Calling promotes the Happineſs of every Individual; but it muſt be either for the particular or general Good. And ſo the very publick Executioner, that takes away Mens Lives, yet is a Calling for the Publick-Good. Yea, it muſt tend to the real Happineſs of Mankind; and this reſpects both Soul and Body, and comprehends both the Life that now is, and that which is to come. So that any Calling that doth really miniſter to the Health of the Body, to Man's comfortable Subſiſtence, to his lawful Pleaſure and Delight, to his Honour and Reputation, to his Defence and Safety, is a lawful Calling. Again, any Calling that ſerves for the inlightning of Man's Mind, for the refreſhing of his Spirits, for the reſtoring the Decays of his Faculties, for the increaſe of Knowledg in the Word or Works of God, is a lawful Calling. And then, doubtleſs, that Calling which directly tends to reconcile Man to God, to reſtore the Image of God in him, to direct a Man how to conquer his Luſts and Paſſions, to guide his Life in true Piety and Vertue; and laſtly, how to attain eternal Felicity, is a lawful and noble Calling. All and every of theſe Callings are juſtified by that of the Apoſtle, Tit. 3. 14. And let ours alſo learn to maintain good Works for neceſſary uſes, that they may not be unfruitful.
And on the other ſide, we may hereby diſcern which are unlawful Callings.
Namely, 1. Such as directly tend to God's Diſhonour; as the Craft of Demetrius, that conſiſted in making Silver Shrines for an Idol, Acts 19. 24. And thoſe curious or magical Arts mentioned Verſ. 19. of that Chapter. I ſay, which have this explicite and plain Tendency; for otherwiſe a Man may be innocently imployed in thoſe things, which others may wickedly abuſe; as may be inſtanced in moſt Callings in the World.
So, 2. Such Callings as directly tend to the hurt of Man, either in Body, Soul, Eſtate, or any way elſe; theſe are unlawful Callings, and were never appointed by God, who is Holineſs and Goodneſs it ſelf. Such are all Knights of the Post▪ Bawds, Cheats, Ballad-makers, meer Gameſters, and in the Judgment of the Ancient Church, Stageplayers. Theſe, and ſuch like, are not lawful for a Chriſtian, who hath renounc'd the World, the Fleſh, and the Devil, and is devoted to the Service of an holy God. And they that are fondeſt of them, and gain moſt by them, will reap no Fruit in the Iſſue from them, but Shame, if they repent; and Death, if they do not.
Let every one therefore conſider well, Is this Calling which I am chooſing lawful in it ſelf? Is the Imployment ſuch as to be made a Calling of? will it bring Glory to God? will it not only be beneficial to my ſelf, but uſeful to the Common-wealth? Will it conſiſt with the Welfare of my Soul? with the indiſpenſable Service, which I owe to my Maker? Will it neceſſitate me to omit the Worſhip of God, and to live as if all days were alike? Nay, if it may not ſome way promote the Glory of God, and others Good as well as my own, it is not a lawful Calling.
Secondly; You are to chuſe a Calling that is Fit: As the Apoſtle in another caſe concludes, All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: So here, every lawful Calling is not fit for every Man. And it is evident, that Raſhneſs and neglect of due Care in this matter, proves the Ruin of many a tender Plant, and alſo a publick Miſchief. For hence it comes to paſs, that ſome Youths have Capacities above their mean Callings, and ſo are not content in them, are ready to ſcorn them, and invade others that are above them. And others have Callings above their Capacities, wherein they do but bungle for a time, and then are diſcouraged; and if they obtain any Office in Church or State, prove Burdens and Miſchiefs to the Publick. The Country-man might learn this in his own Farm: every Ground will not bear every Grain, and therefore he doth wiſely diſpoſe of each Grain ſutably to his Ground, leſt he reap nothing but Sorrow for his Harveſt. And ſhould not Parents take more care of their dear Children, who are not committed to a Calling for a Year, but for term of Life? To find out a fit Calling then, you muſt conſult;
1. A Perſon's Education. A genteel or liberal Education directs to ſuch a kind of Calling, if other Requiſites do concur: and a plain ruſtick Imployment may well fit ſuch an Education. It is manifeſt, how difficultly a Perſon that hath been brought up in Learning and other Accompliſhments, can ſtoop to ſervile and low Imployments: a great deal of Wiſdom and Humility will be ſpent to make that Man eaſy in his Calling. That of the Apoſtle is a Myſtery, Let the Rich rejoyce that he is made low; Jam. 1. 10. Tho it be eaſier to deſcend than to aſcend in local Motion; yet on the contrary, it is an harder Leſſon to deſcend lower, than to get up higher in Worldly Eſtimation or Imployment. And then, he that hath been tenderly educated, ſhould not be ſettled under too much Severity; leſt ſuch new Wine being put into old Bottles, both be ſpilt and loſt. But you ſhould chuſe ſuch a Calling as will bear ſome Proportion and Sutableneſs to your Education.
2. You muſt conſider their Abilities; and that both of Mind and Body.
(1.) For the Mind. Never thruſt one of a dull Capacity, brittle Memory, ſhallow Judgment, or ungovernable Paſſions into an ingenious, eſpecially into a religious Profeſſion; for as ſuch will diſgrace the Imployment, ſo they will diſgrace and expoſe themſelves. They will be but like the Aſs in the Fable, the more derided for her coſtly Trappings. You may object, that ſome of mean Abilities have proved very uſeful in Church and State. But as that ſeldom falls out, ſo the Wiſdom and Goodneſs of God will not juſtify Men's Folly in ſuch prepoſterous Diſpoſals. For God may do what he will, but we muſt do what we ought; and that is, to fit the Means to the End, and for an ingenious Calling, chuſe out an ingenious Perſon. And ſo on the other ſide, it is great Pity to cramp one of great Parts into a ſordid Imployment: it is like thruſting one to the Oars, that might ſerve at the Helm. God by giving to ſome pregnant and excellent Parts, doth tacitly appoint them to Profeſſions ſutable thereunto; his way of calling Men (now) is not by audible Words, but by beſtowing real Gifts.
(2.) For the Body: A robuſt and healthy Conſtitution, where Gifts of the Mind are more ſparing, is fitteſt for a laborious Calling; as a heavy Burden ſits beſt on Strong Shoulders: whereas thoſe of weaker Complexions, muſt be fitted with more eaſy Imployments. As we ſee the wiſe God doth uſually call forth his ſtrongeſt and hardieſt Servants to the moſt difficult Services and Sufferings; and on the other ſide, he gently leads thoſe that are with young. And his Providence hath ſo ordered it, that there is as great a Variety of Callings, as there are of Diſpoſitions, that every one might have an Imployment proper and ſutable for him. Parents therefore and Schoolmaſters ſhould conſult together, who joyntly may fully diſcover the Abilities of ſuch as are to be diſpoſed, that they may not be ingaged in Matters either too high or too low for them.
3. You muſt conſult their Inclinations; which if they be vehement, and eſpecially well-grounded, are a great Indication, (if other Requiſites do concur) to the Diſpoſers of Youth, of their fitneſs for an Imployment. For ſometimes the Conſtitution doth ſtrongly biaſs Perſons to this or that ſort of Buſineſs, and accordingly doth greatly diſpoſe them thereunto. So that one that is unwillingly fix'd in a Calling, ſeldom thrives well in it; whether it be from that natural Abhorrence of any Force offered to the Will; or that the Inclination doth alſo facilitate and greatly aſſiſt in any matter. And therefore it concerns Parents to taſte the Option of their Children; and if they find it is not rational or fit, then to uſe all due means to conduct and regulate their Deſires to that which is expedient. For as in the caſe of Marriage, tho no diſcreet Parent will impoſe a Yoke-fellow upon their Child; yet they may muſter up all the fit Arguments they can, to induce them to a good Choice: So here is room for the Parent's Reaſons, as well as for the Child's Inclination; and every dutiful Child will give a great Deference to the Judgment of a wiſe and loving Parent.
But now if theſe three Ingredients of Fitneſs do not concur, or if they claſh one with another, how ſhall a right Choice be made? For Example, if a Perſon hath had an Education for a nobler Calling, but neither his Abilities nor Inclination are agreeable thereto; Or, if his Inclination to a Calling be ſtrong, and his Abilities weak: Or, if his Parts be ſufficient, and yet he hath no Diſpoſition to it. In all theſe Caſes, every Man ſhould ſtudy to find out God's Will, where his Call lies; and he ought to conform himſelf thereunto without any heſitation or diſputing. Now Abilities are the moſt ſignal Teſtimony of God's Will in this Caſe. A Man may have been unhappy in his Education, a Man may be humourſom in his Inclinations; but a Man's preſent Parts or Gifts do moſt unqueſtionably determine what he is fit for: But here, All Perſons, eſpecially Young Perſons, are not competent Judges of their own Abilities; and therefore it is their Wiſdom and their Duty to be concluded by the Advice of their Faithful Friends and Relations, who moſt commonly are the fitteſt Judges, in what Caſes Education, Abilities, and Inclinations ſhall, when they concur not, give place to one another. And let theſe ever conſult with the Wiſeſt of the Calling which they are about, who can beſt acquaint them with the Fitneſs of it: And above all Addreſs muſt be made unto God by earneſt Prayer, to direct and incline to what is beſt. For if God ſhould chuſe our Inheritance for us, Pſal. 47. 4. Then ſurely it's beſt that he chuſe our Calling for us; and doubtleſs the great matter to be inquired into and regarded in this Affair, is, to know in what Imployment God would have us to be; for there we ſhall be ſure to have his Bleſſing which is all in all.
Finally, it were alſo adviſable, that you chuſe a Calling, that is ſafe, uſeful, and attainable by ordinary means: Safe, that is chiefly in reſpect of the Soul; for ſome Callings there be, that are ſufficiently gainful, and perhaps in themſelves ſimply lawful (ſuch as the Retailers of Wine and Ale, &c.) which yet are attended with ſuch Temptations as are not eaſily avoided. His Grace muſt be ſtrong that lives innocently in them. What wiſe Parent will place his Child in the brink of a Precipice?
And then uſeful: For every one ſhould deſire to be as uſeful to the World as he can: Now ſome Callings there be, wherein a Man may get Riches abundantly for himſelf; but, in the way of his Calling at leaſt, he doth little good to Men's Souls or Bodies. It is very deſirable to a good Man to do as much Good as he can; and a kind of Penance, to ſpend the Subſtance of his Life in an Imployment about Trifles; but this, if the Heart and Ends be holy, may be lawful enough, tho not ſo expedient, or not ſo comfortable. Unſafe Callings may be needful, and ſome leſs uſeful Profeſſions may be lawful, and therefore (herein) I would not impoſe upon the Conſcience, but only direct to the beſt.
And then, laſtly, attainable, that is, by juſt and honeſt means. For if it be never ſo lawful and fit in it ſelf, yet if it be out of your reach, or if it be in others Diſpoſal, it were Folly in you to chuſe it. For Example, it were a ridiculous thing for a poor Country-Lad to chuſe the Calling of a Turkie-Merchant, which is out of his reach, or of a Judg, which is in the King's Diſpoſal. But whoſo is about to chuſe a Calling, let him ſit down firſt, and count the Coſt, let him conſider, whether he have Means proportionable to the End; whether with God's ordinary Bleſſing, he be able to deal with it; whether his Head be ſtrong enough to overcome the things to be learn'd, and his Heart ſtrong enough to undergo the things to be born, for the attaining of it; leſt haply after he hath laid the Foundation, and is not able to finiſh it, all that behold it, begin to mock him, ſaying, This Man began to build, and was not able to finiſh. Notwithſtanding, if a Perſon be capable of ſundry Callings of a different Excellency, it is his Wiſdom and Duty to chuſe the beſt, wherein he may moſt eminently ſerve God, and his Generation.
And from this Head about the Choice of a Calling, I infer the neceſſity of Deliberation, in order to ſuch Election. God hath given to Man Reaſon for this uſe; that he ſhould firſt conſider, then chuſe, then put in Execution; and it is a prepoſterous and brutiſh thing to fix, or fall upon any weighty Buſineſs, ſuch as a Calling or Condition of Life, without a careful pondering it in the Ballance of ſound Reaſon. It is enough for a Bowl to go according to its Biaſs, or for a Beaſt to follow its Fancy and Appetite; and yet many chuſe no better a Guide to themſelves in this matter. They fancy ſuch a Courſe of Life, but can give no ſolid Reaſon why or wherefore, and it thrives accordingly with them. They promiſe themſelves Eaſe and Honour by the Miniſtry, and meeting with neither, are ſick of it. They fancy wonderful Gain, or Delight in other Callings, and being diſappointed, are weary of them; and this befals them for want of Deliberation.
You ſhould therefore conſult (as is ſaid) grave and wiſe Men, Men of Experience and Fidelity, and ſteer your Courſe by their Advice; let Judgment and not Fancy determine your Reſolutions. So you will bid faireſt for good Succeſs therein; or, if the Event anſwer not your Expectations, you will have this ſolid Comfort, that you were not ruined by your own Raſhneſs. Conſider therefore, Is it lawful to follow ſuch a Calling? am I qualified for it? have I Wit, Strength, Patience; yea, and Stock to manage it? For, as good Dr. Harris wiſely told his Children, A rich Cobler is better than a poor Merchant. Herein let your Parents, Guardians, and Teachers aſſiſt you with their Judgments; for every purpoſe is eſtabliſhed by Counſel, and in the multitude of Counſellors is Wiſdom; Prov. 20. 18. It's better to loſe two or three Months of your Time in conſidering, than two or three Years afterwards in repenting when it is too late. Your Friends that were alive to adviſe you before, may be dead when they ſhould aſſiſt you after you have miſcarried; and thoſe that would pity a Man of Conduct in his Diſtreſs, will neglect a Man of Humour.
But generally this Care lies on Parents, who are ſolicitous enough in this Affair; unleſs they be ſurpriz'd and deceiv'd by the Flatteries or Folly of ſome unfaithful Friends, that abuſe their Ignorance and Credulity, and ſo will rather ſerve the Neceſſity of a Correſpondent or Cuſtomer, than ſtudy the Welfare of the Perſon to be diſpoſed. In all ſuch Caſes, it is better to have no Friend than a falſe Friend. And therefore above all, and before all, and after all, crave the Direction of the only wiſe God, who hath promiſed to be found of them that ſincerely ſeek him; and who will by one means or other, ſometimes by Perſons and Means unknown to you and unthought of, guide you into the Way which he ſhall chuſe; and then hoiſt up your Sails and lanch forth into your Buſineſs chearfully. And this may ſuffice concerning the Choice of a Calling, which is the third thing to be handled in this Subject.