I.

ALMIGHTY and most gracious Lord God, extend, we beseech Thee, Thy pity

and compassion toward this Thy languishing servant; teach her to place

her hope and confidence entirely in Thee; give her a true sense of the

emptiness and vanity of all earthly things; make her truly sensible of

all the infirmities of her life past, and grant to her such a true

sincere repentance as is not to be repented of. Preserve her, O Lord, in

a sound mind and understanding during this Thy visitation; keep her from

both the sad extremes of presumption and despair. If Thou shalt please

to restore her to her former health, give her grace to be ever mindful of

that mercy, and to keep those good resolutions she now makes in her

sickness, so that no length of time nor prosperity may entice her to

forget them. Let no thought of her misfortunes distract her mind, and

prevent the means toward her recovery, or disturb her in her preparations

for a better life. We beseech thee also, O Lord, of Thy infinite

goodness, to remember the good actions of this Thy servant; that the

naked she hath clothed, the hungry she hath fed, the sick and the

fatherless whom she hath relieved, may be reckoned according to Thy

gracious promise, as if they had been done unto Thee. Hearken, O Lord,

to the prayers offered up by the friends of this Thy servant in her

behalf, and especially those now made by us unto thee. Give Thy blessing

to those endeavours used for her recovery; but take from her all violent

desire either of life or death, further than with resignation to Thy holy

will. And now, O Lord, we implore Thy gracious favour toward us here met

together. Grant that the sense of this Thy servant’s weakness may add

strength to our faith; that we, considering the infirmities of our nature

and the uncertainty of life, may by this example be drawn to repentance

before it shall please Thee to visit us in like manner. Accept these

prayers, we beseech Thee, for the sake of Thy dear Son Jesus Christ, our

Lord, who, with Thee and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth, ever one

God, world without end. Amen.

II.

WRITTEN OCTOBER 17, 1727.

MOST merciful Father, accept our humblest prayers in behalf of this Thy

languishing servant; forgive the sins, the frailties, and infirmities of

her life past. Accept the good deeds she hath done in such a manner

that, at whatever time Thou shalt please to call her, she may be received

into everlasting habitations. Give her grace to continue sincerely

thankful to Thee for the many favours Thou hast bestowed upon her, the

ability and inclination and practice to do good, and those virtues which

have procured the esteem and love of her friends and a most unspotted

name in the world. O God, Thou dispensest Thy blessings and Thy

punishments as it becometh infinite justice and mercy; and since it was

Thy pleasure to afflict her with a long, constant, weakly state of

health, make her truly sensible that it was for very wise ends, and was

largely made up to her in other blessings more valuable and less common.

Continue to her, O Lord, that firmness and constancy of mind wherewith

Thou hast most graciously endowed her, together with that contempt of

worldly things and vanities that she has shown in the whole conduct of

her life. O All-powerful Being, the least motion of whose will can

create or destroy a world, pity us, the mournful friends of Thy

distressed servant, who sink under the weight of her present condition,

and the fear of losing the most valuable of our friends. Restore her to

us, O Lord, if it be Thy gracious will, or inspire us with constancy and

resignation to support ourselves under so heavy an affliction. Restore

her, O Lord, for the sake of those poor who, by losing her, will be

desolate, and those sick who will not only want her bounty, but her care

and tending; or else, in Thy mercy, raise up some other in her place with

equal disposition and better abilities. Lessen, O Lord, we beseech Thee,

her bodily pains, or give her a double strength of mind to support them.

And if Thou wilt soon take her to Thyself, turn our thoughts rather upon

that felicity which we hope she shall enjoy, than upon that unspeakable

loss we shall endure. Let her memory be ever dear unto us, and the

example of her many virtues, as far as human infirmity will admit, our

constant imitation. Accept, O Lord, these prayers, poured from the very

bottom of our hearts, in Thy mercy, and for the merits of our blessed

Saviour. Amen.

III.

WRITTEN NOVEMBER 6, 1727.

O MERCIFUL Father, who never afflictest Thy children but for their own

good, and with justice, over which Thy mercy always prevaileth, either to

turn them to repentance, or to punish them in the present life in order

to reward them in a better; take pity, we beseech Thee, upon this Thy

poor afflicted servant, languishing so long and so grievously under the

weight of Thy hand. Give her strength, O Lord, to support her weakness,

and patience to endure her pains without repining at Thy correction.

Forgive every rash and inconsiderate expression which her anguish may at

any time force from her tongue, while her heart continueth in an entire

submission to Thy will. Suppress in her, O Lord, all eager desires of

life, and lessen her fears of death by inspiring into her an humble yet

assured hope of Thy mercy. Give her a sincere repentance for all her

transgressions and omissions, and a firm resolution to pass the remainder

of her life in endeavouring to her utmost to observe all Thy precepts.

We beseech Thee likewise to compose her thoughts, and preserve to her the

use of her memory and reason during the course of her sickness. Give her

a true conception of the vanity, folly, and insignificance of all human

things, and strengthen her so as to beget in her a sincere love of Thee

in the midst of her sufferings. Accept and impute all her good deeds,

and forgive her all those offences against Thee which she hath sincerely

repented of or through the frailty of memory hath forgot. And now, O

Lord, we turn to Thee in behalf of ourselves and the rest of her

sorrowful friends. Let not our grief afflict her mind, and thereby have

an ill effect on her present distemper. Forgive the sorrow and weakness

of those among us who sink under the grief and terror of losing so dear

and useful a friend. Accept and pardon our most earnest prayers and

wishes for her longer continuance in this evil world, to do what Thou art

pleased to call Thy service, and is only her bounden duty, that she may

be still a comfort to us and to all others who will want the benefit of

her conversation, her advice, her good offices, or her charity. And

since Thou hast promised that where two or three are gathered together in

Thy name Thou wilt be in the midst of them to grant their request, O

gracious Lord, grant to us who are here met in Thy name that those

requests, which in the utmost sincerity and earnestness of our hearts we

have now made in behalf of this Thy distressed servant and of ourselves,

may effectually be answered, through the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

ON MUTUAL SUBJECTION. {377}

(FIRST PRINTED IN 1744.)

“Yea, all of you be subject one to another.”—I _Peter_ v. 5

THE Apostle having, in many parts of this Epistle, given directions to

Christians concerning the duty of subjection or obedience to superiors,

in the several instances of the subject to the prince, the child to his

parent, the servant to his master, the wife to her husband, and the

younger to the elder, doth here, in the words of my text, sum up the

whole by advancing a point of doctrine, which at first may appear a

little extraordinary. “Yea, all of you,” saith he, “be subject one to

another.” For it should seem that two persons cannot properly be said to

be subject to each other, and that subjection is only due from inferiors

to those above them; yet St. Paul hath several passages to the same

purpose. For he exhorts the Romans “in honour to prefer one another;”

and the Philippians, “that in lowliness of mind they should each esteem

other better than themselves;” and the Ephesians, “that they should

submit themselves one to another in the fear of the Lord.” Here we find

these two great Apostles recommending to all Christians this duty of

mutual subjection. For we may observe, by St. Peter, that having

mentioned the several relations which men bear to each other, as governor

and subject, master and servant, and the rest which I have already

repeated, he makes no exception, but sums up the whole with commanding

“all to be subject one to another.” Whence we may conclude that this

subjection due from all men to all men is something more than the

compliment of course, when our betters are pleased to tell us they are

our humble servants, but understand us to be their slaves.

I know very well that some of those who explain this text apply it to

humility, to the duties of charity, to private exhortations, and to

bearing with each other’s infirmities; and it is probable the Apostle may

have had a regard to all these. But, however, many learned men agree

that there is something more understood, and so the words in their plain

natural meaning must import, as you will observe yourselves if you read

them with the beginning of the verse, which is thus: “Likewise, ye

younger, submit yourselves unto the elder; yea, all of you be subject one

to another.” So that, upon the whole, there must be some kind of

subjection due from every man to every man, which cannot be made void by

any power, pre-eminence, or authority whatsoever. Now what sort of

subjection this is, and how it ought to be paid, shall be the subject of

my present discourse.

As God hath contrived all the works of Nature to be useful, and in some

manner a support to each other, by which the whole frame of the world,

under His providence, is preserved and kept up, so among mankind our

particular stations are appointed to each of us by God Almighty, wherein

we are obliged to act as far as our power reacheth toward the good of the

whole community. And he who doth not perform that part assigned him

towards advancing the benefit of the whole, in proportion to his

opportunities and abilities, is not only a useless, but a very

mischievous member of the public; because he takes his share of the

profit, and yet leaves his share of the burden to be borne by others,

which is the true principal cause of most miseries and misfortunes in

life. For a wise man who does not assist with his counsels, a great man

with his protection, a rich man with his bounty and charity, and a poor

man with his labour, are perfect nuisances in a commonwealth. Neither is

any condition of life more honourable in the sight of God than another;

otherwise He would be a respecter of persons, which He assures us He is

not; for He hath proposed the same salvation to all men, and hath only

placed them in different ways or stations to work it out. Princes are

born with no more advantages of strength or wisdom than other men, and,

by an unhappy education, are usually more defective in both than

thousands of their subjects. They depend for every necessary of life

upon the meanest of their people; besides, obedience and subjection were

never enjoined by God to humour the passions, lusts, and vanities of

those who demand them from us; but we are commanded to obey our

governors, because disobedience would breed seditions in the state. Thus

servants are directed to obey their masters, children their parents, and

wives their husbands, not from any respect of persons in God, but because

otherwise there would be nothing but confusion in private families. This

matter will be clearly explained by considering the comparison which St.

Paul makes between the Church of Christ and the body of man; for the same

resemblance will hold not only to families and kingdoms, but to the whole

corporation of mankind. “The eye,” saith he, “cannot say unto the hand,

‘I have no need of thee;’ nor again the hand to the foot, ‘I have no need

of thee.’ Nay, much more those members of the body which seem to be more

feeble are necessary; and whether one member suffer, all the members

suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with

it.” The case is directly the same among mankind. The prince cannot say

to the merchant, “I have no need of thee,” nor the merchant to the

labourer, “I have no need of thee.” Nay, much more those members which

seem to be more feeble are necessary; for the poor are generally more

necessary members of the commonwealth than the rich; which clearly shows

that God never intended such possessions for the sake and service of

those to whom He lends them, but because he hath assigned every man his

particular station to be useful in life, and this for the reason given by

the Apostle, “that there may be no schism in the body.”

From hence may partly be gathered the nature of that subjection which we

all owe to one another. God Almighty hath been pleased to put us into an

imperfect state, where we have perpetual occasion of each other’s

assistance. There is none so low as not to be in a capacity of assisting

the highest, nor so high as not to want the assistance of the lowest.

It plainly appears, from what hath been said, that no one human creature

is more worthy than another in the sight of God, further than according

to the goodness or holiness of their lives; and that power, wealth, and

the like outward advantages, are so far from being the marks of God’s

approving or preferring those on whom they are bestowed, that, on the

contrary, He is pleased to suffer them to be almost engrossed by those

who have least title to His favour. Now, according to this equality

wherein God hath placed all mankind with relation to Himself, you will

observe that in all the relations between man and man there is a mutual

dependence, whereby the one cannot subsist without the other. Thus no

man can be a prince without subjects, nor a master without servants, nor

a father without children. And this both explains and confirms the

doctrine of the text; for where there is a mutual dependence there must

be a mutual duty, and consequently a mutual subjection. For instance,

the subject must obey his prince, because God commands it, human laws

require it, and the safety of the public makes it necessary; for the same

reasons we must obey all that are in authority, and submit ourselves not

only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward, whether they rule

according to our liking or not. On the other side, in those countries

that pretend to freedom, princes are subject to those laws which their

people have chosen; they are bound to protect their subjects in liberty,

property, and religion, to receive their petitions and redress their

grievances, so that the best prince is, in the opinion of wise men, only

the greatest servant of the nation—not only a servant to the public in

general, but in some sort to every man in it. In the like manner a

servant owes obedience, and diligence, and faithfulness to his master,

from whom, at the same time, he hath a just demand for protection, and

maintenance, and gentle treatment. Nay, even the poor beggar hath a just

demand of an alms from the rich man, who is guilty of fraud, injustice,

and oppression if he does not afford relief according to his abilities.

But this subjection we all owe one another is nowhere more necessary than

in the common conversations of life, for without it there could be no

society among men. If the learned would not sometimes submit to the

ignorant, the wise to the simple, the gentle to the froward, the old to

the weaknesses of the young, there would be nothing but everlasting

variance in the world. This our Saviour Himself confirmed by His own

example; for He appeared in the form of a servant and washed His

disciples’ feet, adding those memorable words, “Ye call me Lord and

Master, and ye say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master,

wash your feet, how much more ought ye to wash one another’s feet?”

Under which expression of washing the feet is included all that

subjection, assistance, love, and duty, which every good Christian ought

to pay his brother, in whatever station God hath placed him. For the

greatest prince and the meanest slave are not, by infinite degrees, so

distant as our Saviour and those disciples, whose feet He vouchsafed to

wash.

And although this doctrine of subjecting ourselves to one another may

seem to grate upon the pride and vanity of mankind, and may therefore be

hard to be digested by those who value themselves upon their greatness or

their wealth, yet it is really no more than what most men practise upon

other occasions. For if our neighbour, who is our inferior, comes to see

us, we rise to receive him; we place him above us, and respect him as if

he were better than ourselves; and this is thought both decent and

necessary, and is usually called good manners. Now the duty required by

the Apostle is only that we should enlarge our minds, and that what we

thus practise in the common course of life we should imitate in all our

actions and proceedings whatsoever; since our Saviour tells us that every

man is our neighbour, and since we are so ready, in point of civility, to

yield to others in our own houses, where only we have any title to

govern.

Having thus shown you what sort of subjection it is which all men owe one

another, and in what manner it ought to be paid, I shall now draw some

observations from what hath been said.

And first, a thorough practice of this duty of subjecting ourselves to

the wants and infirmities of each other would utterly extinguish in us

the vice of pride.

For if God has pleased to intrust me with a talent, not for my own sake,

but for the service of others, and at the same time hath left me full of

wants and necessities which others must supply, I can then have no cause

to set any extraordinary value upon myself, or to despise my brother

because he hath not the same talents which were lent to me. His being

may probably be as useful to the public as mine; and therefore, by the

rules of right reason, I am in no sort preferable to him.

Secondly, It is very manifest, from what has been said, that no man ought

to look upon the advantages of life, such as riches, honour, power, and

the like, as his property, but merely as a trust which God hath deposited

with him to be employed for the use of his brethren, and God will

certainly punish the breach of that trust, though the laws of man will

not, or rather indeed cannot; because the trust was conferred only by

God, who has not left it to any power on earth to decide infallibly

whether a man makes a good use of his talents or not, or to punish him

where he fails. And therefore God seems to have more particularly taken

this matter into His own hands, and will most certainly reward or punish

us in proportion to our good or ill performance in it. Now, although the

advantages which one possesseth more than another may, in some sense, be

called his property with respect to other men, yet with respect to God

they are, as I said, only a trust, which will plainly appear from hence:

if a man does not use those advantages to the good of the public or the

benefit of his neighbour, it is certain he doth not deserve them, and

consequently that God never intended them for a blessing to him; and on

the other side, whoever does employ his talents as he ought will find, by

his own experience, that they were chiefly lent him for the service of

others, for to the service of others he will certainly employ them.

Thirdly, If we could all be brought to practise this duty of subjecting

ourselves to each other, it would very much contribute to the general

happiness of mankind, for this would root out envy and malice from the

heart of man; because you cannot envy your neighbour’s strength if he

make use of it to defend your life or carry your burden; you cannot envy

his wisdom if he gives you good counsel; nor his riches if he supplies

your wants; nor his greatness if he employs it to your protection. The

miseries of life are not properly owing to the unequal distribution of

things, but God Almighty, the great King of heaven, is treated like the

kings of the earth, who, although perhaps intending well themselves, have

often most abominable ministers and stewards, and those generally the

vilest to whom they intrust the most talents. But here is the

difference, that the princes of this world see by other men’s eyes, but

God sees all things; and therefore, whenever He permits His blessings to

be dealt among those who are unworthy, we may certainly conclude that He

intends them only as a punishment to an evil world, as well as to the

owners. It were well if those would consider this, whose riches serve

them only as a spur to avarice or as an instrument of their lusts; whose

wisdom is only of this world, to put false colours upon things, to call

good evil and evil good against the conviction of their own consciences;

and lastly, who employ their power and favour in acts of oppression or

injustice, in misrepresenting persons and things, or in countenancing the

wicked to the ruin of the innocent.

Fourthly, The practice of this duty of being subject to one another would

make us rest contented in the several stations of life wherein God hath

thought fit to place us, because it would, in the best and easiest

manner, bring us back, as it were, to that early state of the Gospel when

Christians had all things in common. For if the poor found the rich

disposed to supply their want, if the ignorant found the wise ready to

instruct and direct them, or if the weak might always find protection

from the mighty, they could none of them, with the least pretence of

justice, lament their own condition.

From all that hath been hitherto said it appears that great abilities of

any sort, when they are employed as God directs, do but make the owners

of them greater and more painful servants to their neighbour and the

public. However, we are by no means to conclude from hence that they are

not really blessings, when they are in the hands of good men. For,

first, what can be a greater honour than to be chosen one of the stewards

and dispensers of God’s bounty to mankind? What is there that can give a

generous spirit more pleasure and complacency of mind than to consider

that he is an instrument of doing much good; that great numbers owe to

him, under God, their subsistence, their safety, their health, and the

good conduct of their lives? The wickedest man upon earth takes a

pleasure in doing good to those he loves; and therefore surely a good

Christian, who obeys our Saviour’s commands of loving all men, cannot but

take delight in doing good even to his enemies. God, who gives all

things to all men, can receive nothing from any; and those among men who

do the most good and receive the fewest returns do most resemble the

Creator; for which reason St. Paul delivers it as a saying of our

Saviour, that “it is more blessed to give than receive.” By this rule,

what must become of those things which the world values as the greatest

blessings—riches, power, and the like—when our Saviour plainly determines

that the best way to make them blessings is to part with them?

Therefore, although the advantages which one man hath over another may be

called blessings, yet they are by no means so in the sense the world

usually understands. Thus, for example, great riches are no blessings in

themselves, because the poor man, with the common necessaries of life,

enjoys more health and has fewer cares without them. How then do they

become blessings? No otherwise than by being employed in feeding the

hungry, clothing the naked, rewarding worthy men, and, in short, doing

acts of charity and generosity. Thus, likewise, power is no blessing in

itself, because private men bear less envy, and trouble, and anguish

without it. But when it is employed to protect the innocent, to relieve

the oppressed, and to punish the oppressor, then it becomes a great

blessing.

And so, lastly, even great wisdom is, in the opinion of Solomon, not a

blessing in itself; for “in much wisdom is much sorrow;” and men of

common understanding, if they serve God and mind their callings, make

fewer mistakes in the conduct of life than those who have better heads.

And yet wisdom is a mighty blessing when it is applied to good purposes,

to instruct the ignorant, to be a faithful counsellor either in public or

private, to be a director to youth, and to many other ends needless here

to mention.

To conclude: God sent us into the world to obey His commands, by doing as

much good as our abilities will reach, and as little evil as our many

infirmities will permit. Some He hath only trusted with one talent, some

with five, and some with ten. No man is without his talent; and he that

is faithful or negligent in a little shall be rewarded or punished, as

well as he that hath been so in a great deal.

Consider what hath been said, &c.