1 "you) if the meaner fort of People fhould ftop their "Hands, if the Plough, and the Mill, and the Wheel "ftood ftill, if the Pains of those who seem cut out for "nothing but conftant Drudgery in Tillage or Manu"factures fhould ceafe, or but intermit for a fhort Sea"fon, the Wealthy and Great might be starv'd in the "midst of all their large Revenues, and all their Trea"fures of Gold and Silver. The King himself is ferv'd by the Field, Ecclef. 5. 9. Now how many poor Men's Labour doth the Field require in manuring, plowing, harrowing, fowing, fencing, weeding, reaping, and gathering in the Fruits of the Earth? And yet after all this is done the Corn that is thus reap'd and hous'd is not presently made Food, there must be threshing, winnowing, grinding, and baking, in which the Service of many poor Men's Hands is neceffary before the greatest Prince, Nobleman or Gentleman can have any Bread to Eat; and as for their Delicacies and Superfluities, their State and Magnificence, and coftly Ornaments, it were endless to reckon up how many Trades and Occupations of meaner People are in several ways employ'd and made ufe of to supply and furnish them. Learn from hence not to treat any Mechanicks, Husbandmen, or Peafants, with difdainful Infults upon the Account of their fervile Employment, and be not guil ty of fuch inhuman and unreasonable Imperioufnefs as to vilify and trample upon thofe Faces to whofe Sweat you owe all your rich and pleasant Accommodations, nay, your very Support and Subfiftence. Such Practice is greatly to be condemn'd upon a Civil Confideration, and much more upon a Religious; for has not God requir'd us to bonour all Men, 1 Pet. 2. 17. to pay fome Regard to the Dignity of Human Nature, and to render unto all the common Civilities that are due to thofe of our own Kind, how mean foever their external Condition may be? The poorest and most forlorn Creature that begs at your Doors is made after the Image of God, and may have as noble and excellent a Soul Soul as the greatest Potentate in the World hath. And as for his Body, tho' cover'd with Rags, the exquifite Fabrick thereof is no lefs admirable than that of his who is cloath'd in Scarlet and adorn'd with Gold; those who are most despicable in your Eyes are as dear to God as the richest of you all, as much under his benign Care and Providence here, and as capable of enjoying him in Eternal Happiness hereafter; Chrift has paid the fame invaluable Price for their Redemption as well as yours; the fame Gospel is publish'd, the fame Terms of Salvation are equally propounded both to you and them. It may also be confider'd that the Contempt and Infults of the Great and Rich towards those of a meaner Condition are often justly retaliated with the like Contempt. For altho' Perfons' in an elevated Station may be allow'd to aflume fome Liberties with respect to their Inferiors, yet if they take fuch a Freedom as exceeds all the Bounds of Juftice and Humanity, if they delight in mortifying any one with all the fmarteft Ralleries they can poffibly invent, or with any very imperious or difdainful Behaviour, they will not easily be forgiven. Whereas on the other fide the civil and modeft Gentleman, that discovers no Haughtiness upon the Account of his Quality, Power or Riches, but is of easy Access to thofe beneath him, and treats them with obliging Language and kind Ufage, attracts the Efteem, and wins the Hearts of all the World. 3. To poffefs your Minds with a juft Abhorrence of the crying Sin of oppreffing thofe that are in a poorer and meaner Condition, which St. James obferves to be too frequent among rich Men, you may confider what a bafe and cruel Wickedness it is, and what a mifchieVous Abuse of Wealth or Power, to take Advantage of another's Poverty and Weakness for the fpoiling him of that little he hath; to take away from thofe to whom a Man fhould rather give, to make them naked and hungry whom he fhould cloath and feed, to devour Widows Houses at his Feafts, to mingle the Tears of Orphans with his Wine, and the Groans of the Injur'd with his Mufick; to make his ample Revenues ftill larger by invading the little Spot of Land of his indigent Neighbour, who cannot contend, and perhaps dures not complain; this were horrid Unthankfulness to God, and directly contrary to his Design in bestowing upon one a larger Portion of these Temporal Bleffings than he gives to another, which was, that he that has much might be helpful and beneficent to him that hath little, and not that he might thereby be enabled to keep under and crufh his needy Brother; the less Power fuch a one has to defend or right himself the more, unfafe it is to opprefs him, for Almighty God has undertaken to be the Protector of those who cannot protect themselves. For the Oppreffion of the Poor (faith the Lord) and for the fighing of the Needy, will I arife to fet him in Safety from him that puffeth at him, Pfal. 12. He delivereth the Poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the Poor and Needy from him that spoileth him, Pfal 35. 10. 5. 4. To fupprefs the Fumes of Ambition, and all vain and immoderate Defires of being higher and greater, you may confider in what anxious and hazardous, and oftentimes in what fatal and pernicious Enterprizes, that Man is engag'd who is continually forcing his Way thro' the Briars and Thorns, the dark Methods of secret Plots, the Labyrinths of intricate and perplexing Combinations, and the very Precipices of Danger, that he may climb up to that Height of Elevation where he has a mind to place himfelf; and if by many wearilom and difficult Steps he chance to arrive at the unsteady Seat of Greatness, doth he not put on with his Robes the excruciating Tortures of Jealousies and Fears? Is he not hated by fome, envy'd by others, and often made a common Curie by moft? The exalted Favourite and Statesman may be very uneafy and difcontented in the highest Honours, and no lefs furprizingly and un unexpectedly depriv'd of them all. Haman being advanc'd above all the Princes at the Court of Abafuerus, faw every Knee among the Perfians bowing to him, and yet in what a Flame of Wrath and Vexation did he live because one Fem refus'd to pay him any fuch Regard? And when his Indignation and bloody Revenge contrived the Destruction, not of Mordecai alone, but of the whole Nation of the Jews, what a cutting Mortification was it to him to be forc'd to be the Inftrument of conferring thofe Honours on Mordecai which he thought the King had defign'd for himself? What a terrible and doubly killing Difappointment, to be hang'd at laft on the Gallows he had provided for his Adverfary? Thofe that move in a lower Orb may look up and gaze upon Greatnefs with Admiration, and think a Phaeton a happy Man because he fits fo high, and in the midst of fo much Brightness, but alas they know not what Labours and Intrigues rais'd him thither, what Furies carry him on, what Dangers attend him, or what dismal Ruin his Fall may bring with it! And even those that afcend the lubricous Pinacle of Courtly Grandeur by the fairest and feemingly fafeft Steps, after they have fhone a little while with the borrow'd Luftre of their Prince's Favour, do often go down eclips'd, having all their Glory darken'd and extinguish'd by the blackening Detractions and foul Calumnies of those that feek to undermine and overthrow them; fo inconftant are those Honours that depend on the uncertain Efteem, mutable Interefts, and fickle Inclinations and Affections of Men. But what a truly noble Ambition is it to ftrive to be great in the Favour of God, the King of the Univerfe, to make our felves Friends among the Angels and Archangels, and all the Courtiers of Heaven, and to make the very Son of God our Friend, that he may admit us at last to be Partakers of his Glory, in a Kingdom which cannot be fhaken, in an Inheritance incorruptible, which fades not away, in a Place most blessed, where where no Enemies can undermine us, and for an infinite Duration of Time, without any End, without the leaft fear of ever falling from fo great Felicity. 5. To arm and fortify you against that Luxury and Intemperance to which your full Tables, delicate Meats, and rich Wines, as well as the Encouragement and Example of a diffolute Age are no fmall Allurements, you may perufe what has been faid of these Vices in my Book entituled Youth's grand Concern, and you may further confider what an infamous Degradation the indulging thefe Sins carries along with it, rendring Men no better than Brutes, meer Animals, whofe Souls retain little or nothing of their proper Nature, but that they are immortal, whofe impair'd and ftupify'd Reafon only helps them to play the more perfect Epicures, by inventing no fmall Variety of ftrange, compounded, artificial Dishes, whereas their Brother Beast must be content with what is fimple and natural. Indeed every Creature of God is good, (even the most delicious) if it be receiv'd with Thanksgiving, and us'd with Moderation, but it is certainly then best both for the Health of Soul and Body when 'tis plainly drefs'd, without those elaborate Preparations and coftly Sauces, which ferve only to gratify an adulterated Palate, and provoke an unfeaTonable Appetite, beyond the juft Cravings of Nature. and the Measures of Temperance. There is often the groffeft Senfuality, and fomething more than Brutality, in what Men call good Eating and Drinking. There are not many Beafts that will overcharge themfelves, after their Hunger and Thirst is fatisfy'd; the Dog indeed will forfeit of the Scraps and broken Meat, as well as his Master upon the whole Difh, but who ever knew any Hares, or Deer, or Sheep, eat till they vomited? Our Saviour admonishes us to take heed to our felves, left at any time our Hearts be overcharg'd with Surfeiting and Drunkenness, and we have the more reafon to obferve this Caution with a fedulous Watchfulness, be cause |