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hand,

L.

Prov. xv.

xxii. 4.

Eccles. v.

Prov. x. 4.

Eccles. vi.

I, 2.
St. Paul ex-

rich. horteth to

designs and pleasures; and most evident it is, that SERM. in the natural course of things, industry is the way to acquire it, to secure it, to improve and enlarge it; the which course pursued innocently and modestly, God will be so far from obstructing, that he will further and bless it; for that indeed it would be a flaw in providence, if honest industry, using the means it affordeth, should fail of procuring a competency; which joined with a pious contentedness, in St. Paul's computation, is great wealth. Wherefore although 1 Tim. vi.6. Solomon telleth us, that the blessing of the Lord is 16. x. 22. that which maketh rich; yet doth he not forget or 2 Chron. contradict himself, when he also doth affirm, that xxix. 12. the hand of the diligent maketh rich; and that he 19 who gathereth by labour shall increase; because xiii. God blesseth the industrious, and by his own as the most proper instrument, maketh him When the Preacher said, There is a man to whom work with God hath given riches and wealth, he knew well vandv enough what man it was, to whom God giveth them; x. and that sluggards were not fit objects of that libe-11. rality: for he had observed it to be their doom to be poor and beggarly, their nature to waste and embezzle an estate: he could assure us, that drowsi- Prov. xxiii. 21. xviii. 9. ness shall clothe a man with rags; he could propound it as a certain observation, that he who is slothful in his work is brother to a great waster ; or that want of industry in our business will no less impair our estate, than prodigality itself; he could more than once warn the slothful, that if he did sleep on, or persist in his sluggish way, indigency Prov. x. 4. would surprise and seize on him with an insupportable violence: So, saith he, shall thy poverty come as Prov. vi. 11. one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.

our hands,

χρείαν

I Thes. iv.

xxiv. 34.

SERM.

Another darling of human affection (and a jewel L. indeed of considerable worth and use in our life) is honour, or reputation among men: this also plainly, after the common reason and course of things, is purchased and preserved by industry: for he that aspireth to worthy things, and assayeth laudable designs, pursuing them steadily with serious application of heart, and resolute activity, will rarely fail of good success, and consequently will not miss honour, which ever doth crown victory; and if he should hap to fail in his design, yet he will not lose his credit; for having meant well, and done his best, all will be ready to excuse, many to commend him; the very qualities which industry doth exercise, and the effects which it doth produce, to beget honour, as being ornaments of our person and state. God him1 Chron. self (from whom honour cometh, and whose special Dan. v. 18. prerogative it is to bestow it, he, as King of the Eccles. v. world, being the fountain of honour) will be concerned to dignify an industrious management of his gifts with that natural and proper recompense thereof; conducting him who fairly treadeth in the path of honour, that he shall safely arrive unto it. It is therefore a matter of easy observation, which the Prov. xxii. wise prince doth prompt us to mark; Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men: that is, diligence, as it is the fairest, so it is the surest way to the best preferment: as it qualifieth a man for employment, and rendereth him useful to the world, so it will procure worthy employment for him, and attract the world to him; as the same Prov. xii. great author again doth assert: The hand, saith he, of the diligent shall bear rule; yea, so honourable

xxix. 12.

19.

29.

24.

L.

a thing is industry itself, that an exercise thereof in SERM. the meanest rank is productive of esteem, as the Wise Man again doth observe and tell us; He that Prov. xxvii. waiteth on his master (that is, with diligence at-o quáu tendeth on the business committed to him) shall be honoured.

18.

κύριον, τιμη

θήσεται.

No industrious man is contemptible; for he is ever looked upon as being in a way of thriving, of working himself out from any straits, of advancing himself into a better condition. But without industry we cannot expect any thing but disrespect, shame, and reproach, which are the certain portion of the slothful; he not having the heart to enterprise, or the resolution and patience to achieve any thing deserving regard, or apt to procure it; he wanting all the ornaments and good fruits that grow from industry; he being only fit for a sordid and servile condition; whence the slothful, saith Solo-Prov. xii. mon, shall be under tribute; and, He that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame; he causeth προνομῇ. it to his relations by his beggarly accoutrements, he Prov. x. 5. causeth it much more to himself by his despicable faultiness, and by the disgraceful consequences of it.

24.

ἔσονται ἐν

11. iii. 14,

Another yet more precious good, far surpassing all external advantages of our state; the which, in the judgment of him who (together with it having a full possession of all secular prosperity, wealth, dignity, and power) was best able to prize it, is better Prov. viii. than rubies, and incomparably doth excel all things 15. iv. 7. that may be desired, as ennobling, enriching, and Job xxviii. embellishing our better part: wisdom, I mean, or a good comprehension and right judgment about matters of highest importance to us, is the prize of industry, and not to be gained without it; nature con

18.

15, 16.

SERM. ferreth little thereto', fortune contributeth much L. less; it cannot be bought at any rate; It cannot, Job xxviii. saith Job, be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof. It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire; it is the offspring of watchful observation and experience, of serious meditation and study; of careful reflection on things, marking, comparing, and weighing their nature, their worth, their tendencies and consequences; these are needful to the getting of wisdom, because truth, which it seeketh, commonly doth not lie in the surface, obvious to a superficial glance, nor only dependeth on a simple consideration of few things; but is lodged deep in the bowels of things, and under a knotty complication of various matters; so that we must dig to come at it, and labour in unfolding it: nor is it an easy task to void the prejudices springing from inclination or temper, from education or custom, from passion and interest, which cloud the mind, and obstruct the attainment of wisdom.

If we will have it, we must get it as Solomon himself did, that great master of it. How was that? Eccles. i. I gave, saith he, my heart to know wisdom. He 1 Kings iii. who made it his option and choice before all things; Qui 29 who so earnestly and so happily did pray for it;

17. ii. 3.

Wisd. viii.

21. ix. 17.

Eccles.

26.

Jam. i. 5.

upon whom it is so expressly said, that God in a special manner and plentiful measure did bestow it; who averreth God to be the sole donor of it, (for, Prov. ii. 6. The Lord, saith he, giveth wisdom, out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding;) yet even he did first give his heart to it before it was

Nec rude quid prosit video ingenium. Hor. de Arte Poet.

L.

given into his heart: he did not only gape for it, to SERM. receive it by mere infusion; but he worked and studied hard for it. He was indeed a great student, an inquisitive searcher into nature, a curious observer of the world, a profound considerer and comparer of things; and by that industrious course, promoted by divine blessing, he did arrive to that great stock of so renowned a wisdom.

3, 4.

And the same method it is which he prescribeth to us for getting it; exhorting us, that we incline Prov. ii. 2, our ear unto wisdom, and apply our heart to understanding; that we cry after knowledge, and lift up our voice for understanding; that we seek her as silver, and search for her as for hid treasures; in following which course he doth assure us of good success; for then, saith he, shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God, which is the head or chief part of wisdom; and Blessed, saith he again, in the person and place Prov. viii. of wisdom itself, is the man that heareth me, watch- 34, 35. ing daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For he that findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the Lord. It is the way he supposeth of finding wisdom, to watch assiduously, to wait diligently upon the means of attaining her; and how infallible the acquist of her is thereby, she doth again by his mouth thus acquaint us; I love Prov. viii. them that love me; and those that seek me early Wisd. vi. shall find me; and she, saith his imitator, is easily 12, 13, 14. seen of them that love her, and found of such as seek her: whoso seeketh her early shall have no great travel: for he shall find her sitting at his doors.

This indeed is the only way; idleness is not ca

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