N00618:42
A good master well served. A brief discourse on the necessary properties & practices…
A good master well served. A brief discourse on the necessary properties & practices of a good servant in every-kind of servitude: and of the methods that should be taken by the heads of a family, to obtain such a servant. / By Cotton Mather. ; [Two lines from Joel]
printed by B. Green, 1696
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
But are these Three Things, all that you owe unto your Servants? No, There is a Fourth, which is of more Importance than all the Rest; And this is, Your Care about the Souls of your Servants. It will be the Care of an Abraham, He will Command his Household, that they shall keep the way of the Lord. It […] be the Care of a Joshua, As for me and my House, we will Serve ⟨p. 17⟩the Lord. The Apostle says of Ministers, They watch for Souls, as they that must give an Account; Thus it may be said of Masters; They must give an Account of the Souls, that belong unto their Houses. Masters, When any Servant comes to Live with you, the God of Heaven does betrust you with another Precious and Immortal Soul; a […] to be Instructed, a Soul to be Governed a Soul to be brought home unto the Lord. At he said, in 1 King. 20. 20, 39. Behold, one brought a man to thee, and said, Keep this man; […] by any means, he be missing, then shall thy Life be for his: Even so, God has brought the Soul […] thy Servant unto […] Soul; if that Soul be utterly […] nothing for the Salvation of it, thy Soul shall go for that Soul. May the […] on you, cause you, to be […] of your Servants, that […] ever! Jab could say, in […] 31. 13. I despises not the Cause of my Man servant, or my Maid servant. Hast thou a Man servant, or a Maid servant? On! Despise not the […] Servant But you'll say, What shall we Do? I answer; Do This for your Servants; Leave them not Unacquainted with, and […] in, the […] of Religion. Let your Servants be able to say of you, as in Math. 22. 16. Master, the Teachest the way of God, […] Truth; and let then not be Ignorant of any saving Truth. Again Do This for your Servants; enquire critically ⟨p. 18⟩into their Spiritual Estate before God. Be prudently Inquisitive into their Experiences, into their Temptations, into their Behaviours. Further, Do This for your Servants; Reprove every Miscarriage that may be Discerned in them. Show them all the Paths of the Destroyer, whereto they may be Inclining, and Lovingly, Solemnly, Scripturally Chide them out of those Paths. Once more, Do This for your Servants; Require them to Do the Things that will be pleasing unto God. Charge them to Repent of Sin, Believe on Christ, and Consider their Ways, and Prepare for their Eternity, and not Omit the Daily Devotions of a New-Creature.