N00618:89
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.
So, though your Skins are of the colour of •he Night, yet your Souls will be washed White in the Blood of the Lamb: and be Entitled unto •n Inheritance in Light: Though you are in Slavery to men, yet you shall be the Free men of the Lord, the Children of God: Though you are Fed among the Dogs, with the Orts of our Tables, yet you shall at length, Lie down unto a Feast with Abraham himself, in the Heaven of the Blessed. Be not you Discouraged; it will be but a Little, a Little, a Little While, and all your pains will End in Everlasting Joys.
So, though your Skins are of the colour of •he Night, yet your Souls will be washed White in the Blood of the Lamb: and be Entitled unto •n Inheritance in Light: Though you are in Slavery to men, yet you shall be the Free men of the Lord, the Children of God: Though you are Fed among the Dogs, with the Orts of our Tables, yet you shall at length, Ly down unto a Feast with Abraham himself, in the Heaven of the Blessed. Been't you Discouraged; it will be but a Little, a Little, a Little While, and all your pains will End in Everlasting Joyes.
But if you will not be such Orderly Servants, 'tis a terrible thing that I have to say unto you. All the Sorrows that you see in this World, are but the Beginnings of Sorrows, and Little Emblems of the Sorrows that remain for you in another. Do you meet with Hunger here? You shall there be Hungry and hardly bestead for ever. Does the Heat Oppress you here? You shall there be Tormented in a Flame hotter than that of Brimstone for ever. Does the Cold afflict you here? You shall there have Gnashing of Teeth for ever? Do you here sometimes want your Sleep? There you shall not Rest, neither Day nor Night, for ever? Are you Beaten here? Why, the Devil will be your Overseer; and you'll be Weltering under intolerable Blows and Wounds, World without End.
But if you will not be such Orderly Servants, 'tis a terrible thing that I have to say unto you. All the Sorrows that you see in this World, are but the Beginnings of Sorrows, and Little Emblems of the Sorrows that remain for you in another. Do you meet with Hunger here? You shall there be Hungry and hardly bestead for ever. Does the Heat Oppress you here? You shall there be Tormented in a Flame hotter than that of Brimstone for ever. Does the Cold afflict you here? You shall there have Gnashing of Teeth for ever? Do you here sometimes want your Sleep? There you shall not Rest, neither Day nor Night, for ever? Are you Beaten here? Why, the Devil will be your Overseer; and you'l be Weltring under intollerable Blows and Wounds, World without End.