Duties
of SERVANTS
"Servants, obey your earthly masters with deep
respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. Work hard,
but not just to please your masters when they are watching. As servants of
Christ, do the will of God with all your heart. Work with enthusiasm, as
though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that
the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are
slaves or free." Ephesians 6:3-8
God is the Creator of all things, and the disposer of all
events. He is, therefore, the author of all those varieties which are to
be found in nature, and of all those differences which exist in society. He
who formed the sun to illuminate, and to rule, formed also the planets to be
enlightened and to be governed; and he who raises the king to the throne,
ordains the allotment of the servants in the house, and of the laborer in
the field. There is no such thing as chance; no not in the material
universe, where each bird which flies, each insect which crawls, each flower
which blooms amid the desert, which man's eye never explores—is the separate
production of divine power and skill, no less than the alpine height that
lifts its snow-crowned summit to the skies, and receives the admiring
contemplation of millions.
Nor is there any such thing as chance in society; the
rank and station of the poor little servant girl in the humblest dwelling of
the most obscure village, are as certainly determined by God, as the
elevation of the conqueror and ruler of nations. "The lot is cast into the
lap, but the disposal thereof is from the Lord." "The rich and the poor meet
together, but the Lord is the disposer of their all;" that is, not
simply their Creator, as men; but the disposer of their circumstances—as
rich and poor. This is comforting, this is reconciling. It prevents the poor
from being degraded in their own eyes, or in the eyes of others. They are
not like the dust, or the dried and withered leaves in autumn, which, amid
the more stately objects of nature and art, are blown about by the gusts
which sweep along the surface. But they are in the place which God intended
for them; and God has made everything beautiful in its place and season.
Who could have mended what he has done? What cause have
we to sit down contented, and thankful, in the place which he has ordained
for us! What obligation was he under to give us existence? And what did he
owe to us that he should have made us rational creatures, and not formed us
a beast, or a reptile? "Shall the thing formed, say to him that formed
it—Why have you made me thus?"
As God disposes everything, so it is the highest
excellence of a creature, to discharge the duties of his station, and to
shine in the orbit, and move with regularity through the course allotted to
him. A good servant is more honorable than a bad master; and a valuable
subject is more honorable than a worthless prince. He who is not
relatively good, is not really so; while he who acts his
part well, is more truly dignified, though his rank be low, than he who
stands on a pinnacle, but fails in the duty of his elevated station. What is
true honor? Not riches, not rank, not beauty, not learning, not courage. No!
But virtue; whether it be clad in the garb of poverty, or the robe of
affluence; whether it holds the plough, or grasps the scepter. VIRTUE IS
HONOR! Let all servants write this sentiment on the heart, and ever act
under its influence, as the living principle of all their conduct.
In stating, after these preliminary remarks, the duties
of servants, I would remind them,
First. That there are some
duties which they owe TO THEMSELVES,
the performance of which will constitute the best and surest foundation of
those which they owe to others.
1. RELIGION takes the
lead of all.
Religion is as much your business, as it is ours. You are
immortal creatures, you are sinners, you are the objects of God's mercy, in
Christ Jesus, and invited to seek pardon, peace, and eternal life, as well
as we your employers. You have souls that must suffer eternal torments in
hell, or enjoy everlasting happiness in heaven. You must be convinced of
sin, repent, confess to God, cry for mercy, commit your souls into the hands
of Christ by faith, be born again of the Holy Spirit, lead a sober,
righteous, and godly life—or you must depart accursed into everlasting fire,
prepared for the devil and his angels. God is as willing to have mercy upon
you; Jesus Christ is as ready to receive you as he is us. Your soul is as
precious in the eye of heaven as ours. God is no respecter of people, and is
not to be considered as less friendly to your best interests, because he has
placed you in service. Your situation is no excuse, therefore, for your
neglecting the claims of religion. You are not to imagine that attention
to your soul's concerns is not required from you. I repeat it, unless
you repent, and are born again, and believe in Christ, you will
perish eternally!
Your soul is your first concern, and must not be
neglected for anything. Do not think that it is impossible for a person in
your situation to attend to religion; for it is possible. Great
multitudes of servants, both male and female, are truly pious. I have twenty
or thirty in the church under my care, who are among its most consistent
members. I charge you all, to live in the fear of God. Remember your
Creator. Set the Lord always before you. Consider that he is ever about your
path, and that you act, speak, and think in his presence. He is now the holy
and ever present witness—and will hereafter be the inflexible judge of your
actions.
In order to cultivate religion, do not seek employment in
wicked families, where the Sabbath is profaned, the claims of piety despised
and rejected, and you can have no opportunity of going to public worship. Do
not dwell in a place where your sabbath is taken away from you; let no
amount of wages tempt you to go to, or to remain in such a situation. Always
stipulate for the privilege of going at least one part of the Lord's day, to
the house of God. Insist upon it as your right, and allow nothing to deprive
you of it. Endeavor to find a little time for reading the bible, and for
prayer. Never go out of your room in the morning, nor lie down on your
pillow at night, without reading a portion, even though it be a short one,
of God's holy word, and earnestly praying for his mercy. Let religion be the
basis of all your conduct, the very framework of your character, leading you
to practice "whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever
things are just, and pure, and lovely, and of good report."
Do not, then, as you would escape the torments of hell,
do not, as you would be brought at last to the felicities of heaven, DO NOT
NEGLECT YOUR SOULS. "Godliness is profitable for all things, having the
promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come." Your
situation is a very dangerous one; you are in a very unprotected state and
you need the fear of God to enable you to depart from evil. Men, and women
too, of bad principles, are lying in wait for you, spreading snares for your
feet, and seeking your ruin. Religion will guard you, and guide you, and
comfort you; it will keep you in safety, and raise you to respectability.
"Exalt her, and she shall promote you, she shall lead you to honor when you
embrace her."
2. A REGARD TO
TRUTH,
is another very important duty, and which you will be sure to perform if you
fear God. This duty you owe to your employers also; but while the
discomfort of lying will be felt by them, the more dreadful consequence
of that neglect will be yours.
Lying is a most hateful and wicked practice. And it is
said, that "all liars shall have their portion in the lake that burns with
fire." Strive to avoid everything in your conduct, that needs a lie to hide
it; but if you have at any time done anything wrong, do not make one sin
two, by telling a falsehood to conceal the matter. Let no temptation induce
you to violate truth, rather endure the punishment, or the bitterest wrath
of the severest master or mistress, than strive to avert it by a falsehood.
Lying is bad policy, as well as great wickedness; for, when once detected in
this vice, you will ever afterwards be suspected—even when you tell the
truth.
A servant, whose word can be implicitly relied upon, will
always be esteemed. Such a virtue will be made to extend a friendly covering
over many little faults. Never allow yourselves to be tempted by your master
or mistress, to commit a breach of truth. Inform them at once, that they
must tell their own falsehoods, for that you cannot do it for them. A clerk
once waited upon me, to ask me what he was to do in a situation, where he
was obliged weekly to make a false written return in his own name, to
defraud a public company, for the benefit of his employer. "Do," said I,
with surprise that the question should have been asked me, "instantly
refuse; and rather cast yourself and your family the next hour upon
Providence, than ever repeat the falsehood." You must not, dare not, lie for
others, any more than for yourselves. If required to adopt the modern
practice of saying your mistress is not at home, when she is at the same
time in the house; you dare not comply, for it is a falsehood, and as such,
a sin against God. When you are put by your employers upon committing any
sin, whether it be cheating, calumny, lying, or anything else forbidden by
the scriptures, let your reply be, "How can I do this great wickedness, and
sin against God?"
3. SOBRIETY is a virtue
you owe to yourselves, and also to your masters—but, as in the case of
lying, the injury done by intoxication to yourselves, is far greater than
that which you inflict upon them.
Beware of the besetting, impoverishing, debasing sin of
drunkenness, and of everything that leads to it. Household servants, have
many opportunities, and many temptations to practice this vice, if there be
any propensity to indulge in it. It is impossible even for the most rigid
watchfulness always to keep out of their reach the malt liquor, the spirits,
and the wine; there are means of gaining access by stealth to these things,
on the part of a vicious and ingenious servant, which no vigilant mistress
can altogether prevent. If we cannot trust these things to the guardianship
of your principles, our locks and keys will often be found an insufficient
security. Do, do consider, that if the habit of drunkenness be once
contracted, it is all over; and most probably you are ruined for both
worlds. Let there be a distinct understanding between you and your master or
mistress, what beverage you are to be allowed, both as to quality and
quantity, and most sacredly abstain from touching a drop more, or a drop of
anything else. Never put the decanters to your lips, when the stoppers are
all out before you. Stolen drams of this kind, are double poison, they are
venom for the body, and damnation for the soul; they lead to two crimes at
once, drunkenness and dishonesty. Beware of the temptation which is
presented at those times, when company is in the house, and when, through
the supposition that extra exertion requires an additional glass, you may be
led to take it, to love it, and to acquire the habit of it. I have
known excellent servants, both male and female, ruined forever by
intoxication.
As to workmen, the daily servants that occupy the
manufactories, this vice is the damning sin that is spreading immorality,
desolation, and misery through almost the whole laboring classes of the
community. It is distressing, beyond the power of language to describe, to
think of the effects of this most prevalent, most dreadful infatuation. How
many fine, athletic forms are enervated; how many wives are brokenhearted;
how many families are reduced to beggary; how many souls are damned
continually, by this crime! Drunken servants are the torment of almost all
our manufacturers, the curse upon our commerce, and the blight upon our
national prosperity.
4. CHASTITY is a duty of
infinite importance to the well being of servants.
I am now on delicate ground, and I will endeavor to step
with caution—but no false refinement shall hinder me from discharging a
duty, which, as a guardian of the public morals, I owe to a very large, and
a very much exposed class of my fellow creatures. I will not allow a prudish
and effected sentimentalism to turn away my holy and benevolent concern from
the interests of female servants, nor prevent me from addressing to them the
language of warning and admonition. When the miseries of prostitution are
considered, and when the prevalence of this desolating crime, and all its
attendant evils is at once admitted and deplored; when it is well known,
that of the miserable and loathsome victims of seduction that crowd the
paths of vice, a very large proportion were female servants, betrayed from
the ways of virtue, in the first instance, by their masters, or their
masters' sons, or their fellow servants of the opposite sex, surely it is
the duty of everyone who is specially addressing young women in service,
most solemnly and most pointedly to warn them against the wily arts of the
basilisk seducer, who is enchanting them to their ruin.
Young women, consider the value, even in this world, of
your character. With an unblemished reputation, you are respectable in
servitude—your virtue is your parents' honest boast, your families' only
renown, and your own wealth and honor—this will be your passport through the
world, your letter of recommendation to good society, and that which will
find you friends, and make them, and keep them, wherever Providence may cast
your lot. But if this be lost, oh, what a poor, forlorn, withered, wretched
creature you become; abandoned by your seducer, ejected from your place,
disowned by your friends, you have the pains, and the cares, and the labors
of a mother, but united with the infamy of a prostitute; you have to bear
from without the scorn of the world, the look and language of
shame-stricken, heart-broken parents, and the ceaseless reproach and remorse
of a guilty conscience from within; and all this, perhaps, but as
preliminary to the misery which the prostitute endures, through her
loathsome course on earth—and its awful termination in hell. Take warning
then, and reject with disdain and virtuous indignation, the very first
encroachments that may be made, by anyone, upon the most delicate modesty
and reserve.
Have you been unfortunate enough to draw upon yourself
the attention of a master, or a master's son, consider, it is with the eye
of lust, not of love, that he looks upon you; he may flatter your vanity by
his admiration of your person, but it is the flattery of a murderer; he
cannot mean anything that is honorable; his passion, that he talks of, is a
base, ruffian-like, deliberate purpose to ruin you. Turn from him, flee from
him with more haste than you would from a serpent or a tiger, for more than
a serpent or a tiger is he to be shunned by you. Make him feel that you are
his superior in virtue, though his inferior in rank. If, on the other hand,
you allow him to accomplish his purpose, and decoy you to perdition, he will
in cold-blooded, remorseless cruelty, abandon you and your child to a
workhouse, to a broken heart, and the bottomless pit!
Act in the same determined manner towards everyone else.
Preserve not only your virtue itself, but your modesty, which is its
outwork. Allow neither act, nor word, nor look, in your presence, which is
at variance with the most scrupulous purity. Let no prospect, nor promise of
marriage, throw you off your guard. The man who acts thus, is to be regarded
as a traitor, deceiving you into iniquity. He who would destroy your
reputation, will not scruple to falsify his own word; the vows of such a
wretch are not to be trusted. Be careful to whom you give your company. Let
not an concern to leave service, and be your own mistress, drive you to
accept the offer of the first individual, without considering whether he be
suitable or unsuitable, who may present himself to your notice.
5. FRUGALITY is an
incumbent duty upon people in your situation.
You are in very dependent circumstances. Your support
depends upon your own labor, and that upon your health. You have no arm but
your own to rely upon, and should therefore feel the obligation of laying up
something in the day of prosperity, against the night of adversity. We
are all enjoined to trust Providence, but not to tempt it.
To spend all we get in vanity and useless trifles, under the idea that we
shall be taken care of, in one way or other, is a presumption that generally
brings its own punishment. There is in the present day, a most censurable
propensity in female servants, and workwomen in general, to dress quite
beyond their station. It is not easy, in some cases, to distinguish between
the maid and her mistress. What abject folly is it, for a young woman to
spend all her wages in gay apparel. When she is in ill health and out of
work, will it be any consolation to look upon finery which she is obliged to
pawn, one article after another, for her support? The love of dress has led
in some instances to stealing; in others, to prostitution; in more, to
poverty. Character is respectability, not dress. Harlots are generally fine
and gaudy in their attire. Economize your little property, then; lay up in
store for the time to come. I know several servants who have, one forty,
another fifty, another one hundred pounds in the bank.
Besides, it is desirable to save from unnecessary expense
in dress, that you may have a little to give to the cause of humanity and
religion. The mite of the servant may mingle, in this age, with the pound of
the master, to help in spreading the blessings of Christianity over the face
of the earth. And it is to be poor indeed, to have nothing to give to the
cause of humanity or religion.
Secondly. I now lay before you,
the duties you owe to YOUR EMPLOYERS.
1. HONOR them, for they
are your superiors in station. Pay them the respect which is due to them;
and in order to this, cherish for them a proper respect in your heart. "Let
as many servants as are under the yoke," said the apostle, "count their own
masters worthy of all honor." Behave towards them with all proper humility
and submission—not that you are to crouch and tremble before them, like
slaves at the foot of a tyrant. Your address to them must be respectful—not
crude, boisterous, and impertinent. In talking of them to others, in their
absence, there should be no calling them names, no exposure of their faults,
no ridiculing their infirmities. On the contrary, you should, to the utmost
of your power, as far as truth will allow, defend them against the attacks
of slander, and the arts of detraction.
If at any time, they speak to you with tones of anger,
and in language of rebuke, you must remember the apostle's injunction, and
"not answer again." You may mildly and meekly explain, and sometimes
expostulate, but you must not reply in an angry and impertinent manner.
Should they so far forget their duty, as to let down their dignity, and be
too familiar, do not forget your place, but respectfully keep your proper
distance. Everything crude in conduct, and obtrusive, insolent or familiar
in language, must, therefore, be most sedulously avoided, as an essential
part of servants' conduct towards their employers.
2. OBEDIENCE is founded
upon respect, and is a necessary part of it. Observe the directions of the
apostle Paul—"Servants, obey in all things your masters." We
are of course to except those things which are contrary to the word of God;
for if they enjoin anything that is manifestly sinful, you must mildly, but
firmly, refuse to comply, and be prepared to take all the consequences of
your disobedience. In all other matters, however self-denying or difficult,
however contrary to your own views and wishes, you must submit; you are not
to choose your commands, but in all things to obey.
You are to obey "with fear and trembling,"
that is, with reverential regard for their authority, a dread of
their displeasure, and also, which is probably the apostle's meaning, with a
dread of the anger of God, who, having enjoined obedience, will punish the
disobedient.
You are to obey in "singleness of heart," that
is, with a willing and cheerful mind; and not with a mere compulsory
outside show of submission, and are to be free from all selfish personal
ends, and obey from the single consideration, that it is right.
You are to do this, "as unto Christ, as the
servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with good
will, doing service as to the Lord, and not to men." You must consider
that God commands it, and therefore you are to obey them, as obeying God;
they are in God's stead, in this particular, to you; and from a regard to
conscience, and a respect to the divine authority, you are to do what they
enjoin. "I do this," you are to say, "in reference to obedience, "not
merely to please my master and my mistress, but to please God." This is
turning all you do into religion. It signifies nothing, what is the nature
of the thing, whether it be an act of the most menial kind, in the kitchen,
the parlour, or the garden, if it be done with a view to the divine command,
that very aim elevates the humble service into an expression of piety
towards God, and a service that will be remembered in the day of judgment.
You are not to obey, "with eye service, as men
pleasers." How many are there, who need a master's eye always upon them,
to keep them industrious. No sooner is his back turned, than they are
indolent and neglectful. This conduct is as vile as it is wicked—it is
detestable hypocrisy, flagrant injustice, and obvious wickedness—for is it
nothing that the eye of God is upon you? Is he not there? Does he not
disapprove this conduct? And is it a small matter to make light of his
presence? Such servants will shortly find, to their fearful cost, that the
eye of God is far more to be dreaded, than the eye of the severest master.
Let it be your delight to do the will of your
employers. Strive to please them in all things, and feel anxious to draw
from them this testimony—"There is a servant, to whom no command, which it
is in her power to obey, comes unwelcome; who never need be told a second
time to do a thing; who anticipates my orders; and whose very pleasure seems
to arise from pleasing me."
3. GOOD TEMPER , is of
great consequence.
There are some servants who, let their work come
unexpectedly, and even oppressively, receive all with a cheerful
acquiescence, and are never put out of their way. Their mistresses are never
afraid of telling them of unlooked for company having arrived, and extra
exertion being necessary. While there are others, who, with many valuable
qualities, are withal so peevish, so soon put out of temper, so cross at any
little unexpected addition being made to their work, that their mistresses
are in constant bondage. I like not to hear it said, "She is a very good
servant, and has many excellent properties, but her temper is so bad, that I
am quite afraid to point out to her, in ever so gentle a manner, the least
imperfection, or to put her in the smallest degree out of her way." This is
a serious blemish upon any excellence, and often proves a very great
interruption to the comfort of the family, but a still greater interruption
to the comfort of the poor waspish creature herself. Temper is not
everything, but it is very important. Study, therefore, to be obliging, and
to avoid crossness, sullenness, and passion.
4. FIDELITY is a duty of
the highest rank.
What a delightful testimony is that which our Lord Jesus
Christ is represented as bearing to his people at the last day—"Well
done, good and FAITHFUL servant." Such also is the testimony, which it
should be in our power to bear to our servants. Fidelity has reference—To
the PROPERTY of your masters.
Faithful servants will not STEAL the property of their
masters. There are opportunities of this everywhere if you choose to avail
yourselves of them. Consider the horrible disgrace of being called a thief;
and add to this, the danger in the present world—and the punishment of such
a crime in the next. Write the eighth commandment upon your heart, and when
tempted by a favorable opportunity to embezzle the property of your
employer, let a voice more awful than thunder, repeat in your ears the
prohibition, "You shall not steal." At that perilous moment in your history,
let your imagination look up, and behold the flaming eye of God intently
gazing upon you. In whatever profusion, money, plate, jewelry, lace, may be
spread out before you—touch not, covet not! Determine, by God's grace, that
though you be ever so poor, you will, at least, be honest.
Honesty is indeed the best policy, to go no higher for a
motive and commendation. A single act of stealing may blast your reputation
forever—even to be suspected, is dreadful—but what inestimable value is
attached to a servant of tested honesty. Be honest even to scrupulosity.
Touch nothing in the house in the way of eatables or drinkables,
which you do not consider as belonging to you. If you want to taste the
luxuries of the larder, ask for them; but do not appropriate to yourself
what you think would be denied. I have read of a servant who went into the
pantry, only to make free with sweetmeats, but seeing some articles of
silver lying about, he took these, and went on from one degree of theft to
another, until he died at the gallows. He was under the influence of a
thievish disposition when he saw the silver, for he was going to take what
he had no right to, and he was in a favorable state of mind to be tempted by
Satan to a greater crime.
Servants should not allow themselves to appropriate any
refuse articles of dress, nor give away the extra food, or other articles of
the kitchen, without permission. Habits begin in acts; little sins lead
on to greater ones. She that commences by taking a sweet, knowing that
she is not allowed it, has violated so far, her integrity; has done
something to benumb her conscience, and has taken the first step towards
confirmed dishonesty. Sin is deceitful; and the way of a sinner is
like the course of a ball down hill. Servants, beware of the first
act of sin!
But fidelity, in reference to property, requires not only
that you should not embezzle your master's property, but that you should not
WASTE it. Those who carelessly waste, are almost as guilty as those who
wilfully steal. You cannot be an honest servant, unless you are as careful
of your employer's property—as if it were your own. Furniture, goods,
provisions, must all be thus preserved. You are not to say, "My master is
rich, he can spare it, and we need not be so niggardly." His wealth is no
concern to you; if he chooses to waste it, he has a legal right to do
so—but you have none.
Nor is this all; for fidelity requires that servants
should do all they can to make their employers' affairs prosper. They
should grieve over their master's losses, rejoice in his success, and so
identify their feelings with his interests, as to seem as if their fortune
were bound up with his. We have a fine instance of this, in the case of
Joseph while he was in the house of Potiphar.
Fidelity would also lead them to give their employers
information and warning when their affairs are going wrong, either through
their own neglect or ignorance, or through the injurious conduct of others.
They cannot be honest, if they witness in silence any fraud practiced upon
them, either by their fellow servants, or by friends or strangers. Such
connivance is a participation of the crime, although it should not be
rewarded by any participation of the profits. A proper feeling of concern
for your master's welfare would certainly lead you, if he were flagrantly
neglectful of his affairs, to suggest to him, in a respectful manner, your
apprehension of the consequences.
What man, except a fool or a madman, would be offended by
such an appeal as the following, made to him by a servant—"Pardon me, sir,
if I take the liberty of expressing my fears on the subject of your
business, which I am induced to do, by a sense of my own duty, and a true
love to your welfare. Your business is certainly declining, and I fear,
through your being so frequently absent from it. Customers are offended by
not meeting with the principal in the shop, and by finding the stock so low
and ill assorted. I am so concerned for your family, and so distressed at
the idea of your doing otherwise than well, that at the risk of incurring
your displeasure, which I entreat you not to indulge against me, for this
self-denying act of faithful service, I have determined to lay the matter
before you, and to beg you to give up your leisure, to look into your
accounts, and to attend more closely to your business." A servant that would
do this, and in this manner, is fidelity embodied, and is a treasure
beyond all price.
But faithfulness has a reference also to a master's
time, for in many instances, time is property, and servants may
as effectually rob their masters by idleness, as by stealing. This is always
the case where they are hired by the day; and indeed, where, as in many
branches of manufacture, they are paid by the piece, if by their idleness
they prevent their employers from executing orders, and realizing profits,
they can be scarcely called faithful. When you take a job, there should be
an explicit understanding, as I have already said, how much time you are to
render for the stipulated wages, and when this is known, all that by
indolence you keep back, is just so much of your employer's property stolen
from him.
Faithfulness has regard to the reputation
of your master and mistress. You have their character in your hands, and by
calumny and falsehood, may, if such a malicious disposition were in your
heart, do them considerable harm, either by stating what is absolutely
false, misrepresenting what is true, magnifying what is little, or
exaggerating what is insignificant. Remember, it is the utmost excess of
base conduct, and the wickedest kind of dishonesty, to attempt to rob them
of their good name.
Then there are also secrets which it would
be a very unfaithful act in you to disclose. Workmen, clerks, and
apprentices, are guilty of great impropriety, if they communicate the
private arts of their master's business, or lay open his relationships to
anyone. Such an act is, by common opinion, an instance of criminal
treachery. Female servants ought not to tell to others, what they see and
hear in the families where they are placed. It is to be apprehended, that
much of the gossip, and many of the reports, which circulate so much slander
and detraction through society, are to be traced up to this source. You are
not forbidden to form friendships with your fellow servants in other
families—but to meet merely for the purpose of exchanging gossip from the
respective households in which you live, is highly censurable. You should
maintain the strictest silence on these affairs, and not allow the most busy
and inquisitive curiosity of others, to draw anything from you. Nor are you
to tell these matters, as is often done, to one particular friend;
for she may tell them to one more, until at length the affairs of the family
are matter of public notoriety. Your admission into a family is attended
with an implied condition—that you are to keep all its secrets.
5. DILIGENCE is another
duty, but is so necessarily connected with honesty, and indeed, so
essentially a part of it, that much need not be said, in addition, to
illustrate and enforce it. The slothful servant is a wicked one, for, in
some instances, more mischief may be done by a day's idleness—than others
may be able to undo by a year's exertion. The habits of a sluggard are very
unfriendly to your own reputation, and to the comfort of the family by whom
you are employed. Early rising is absolutely indispensable, if in
addition to the duties of your station, you would attend to the salvation of
your soul. And will you not sacrifice half an hour's sleep, for the purpose
of seeking glory, honor, immortality, and eternal life? Diligence is opposed
to sauntering, inactive, and gossiping habits; to a slow, reluctant,
grudging, way of doing your work. A disposition to stint your labor, to do
as little as you possibly can, and to do that little, in a careless, unneat,
half-finished manner, is a great blemish in your character, and will be sure
to militate against your interest.
6. GRATITUDE for kindness
shown you, is very incumbent.
You ought to be thankful for having your faults pointed
out, and not resentful, as too many are, towards those who are kind enough
to show them what is wrong. If you have received kind attentions in
sickness, and have discovered a constant solicitude on the part of your
employers to soften as much as possible your labor, and to render you
comfortable in your situation, you should convince them that their
attentions are not thrown away upon one, who is insensible to their
kindness. Especially, if they have taken pains to promote your interests, by
warning you against bad company, or by endeavoring to correct your bad
practices, you should be grateful for their pains, and endeavor to comply
with their advice.
7. In all such cases as those mentioned, where your
masters and mistresses are your friends, and confer obligations by their
kindness, you should be truly
and cordially ATTACHED to them.
Where there is really nothing to produce attachment, you
cannot be expected to feel any. You cannot be required to feel gratitude,
where you have received no favors; nor to cherish affection, where you have
met with no indulgence. But all masters and mistresses are not
tyrants, as some of you know by experience; for you have found in them,
something, at least, of the kindness of a second father and mother. Here
there are certainly strong claims upon your affection, and as they have
cared for you with the kindness of parents—you should serve them
with the deep interest and devoted attachment of children. They have a
right to expect, in such instances, that as they have studied your comfort,
you should study theirs; that when sickness invades their frame or their
family, you will minister at the sick bed, by night or by day, not grudging
your ease or your sleep, so that you might do them good; that when losses
diminish their property or comforts, you will most tenderly sympathize with
them, mingling your tears with theirs, and be willing to share with them the
reduction of their usual plenty and gratification; that, in short, in all
their afflictions, you will be afflicted with them, and be the sharers of
all their joys.
They did not, and they could not bargain with you for
such a duty as this; affection cannot be made an article of money contract;
it must be given, or it is worth nothing, and indeed—bought and sold it
cannot be. Instances of a generous affection of this kind, we have perhaps
all known; instances of servants so attached to their masters and
mistresses, as to follow them, and remain in their service through all the
vicissitudes of fortune; as to descend with them from the lofty eminence and
luxurious gratifications of prosperity, down into the lowly and desolate,
and barren valley of poverty, there to suffer need with them; as to leave
their native land, and cross the seas, and dwell in a foreign country with
them; as even to find in their love for their master and mistress, a
principle and a feeling, that reconciled them to all the sufferings they
endured on their account.
I know a servant, who, when her master failed in
business, brought down her little hoard of savings, amounting to nearly
thirty pounds, and entreated him with tears to accept and apply it for the
relief of his family. "Sir," said a lady to a minister who called upon her
in sickness, "that girl," alluding to her servant, "who has just left the
room, is a greater comfort to me than I can express. She watches me with the
affection of a daughter, and the care of a nurse. When my complaints make me
peevish, she contrives something to soothe me. I often observe her taking
pains to discover what would add to my comfort, and often am presented with
the thing I wish for, before I express it in words. I live without
suspicion, for I perceive her to be conscientious, even to scrupulosity; my
chief complaint is, that she takes so much care of me, that I cannot make
her take sufficient care of herself."
Servants, look at this character, admire it, imitate it.
THIRDLY. There are
duties which servants in the same
family owe TO EACH OTHER.
There ought to be no tyranny nor oppression exercised
by one over the other. This is often the case in those families which
employ a numerous retinue of servants, and which admit the distinction of
superior and inferior servants. There is sometimes in such households, a
system of great cruelty carried on altogether unknown to the master. Some
poor creatures are degraded into the condition of a slave to the other
servants, and drag on a miserable existence under the heavy yoke which has
been imposed upon them, by an unfeeling minion, who stands before the
master's eye, and has always his ear at command.
Strive to agree with each other, for families are
often disturbed by the quarrels of the servants, and the uproar in the
kitchen is distinctly heard by the guests in the parlour. You should bear
with one another's infirmities, and never take delight in thwarting each
other. Instead of finding pleasure in converting the infirmities of anyone
into a means of annoyance, and a source of vexation to her, carefully avoid
whatever, by appealing to these imperfections, or bringing them into notice,
would render the subject of them irritable or sullen. Never tease one
another, which is too often done, especially where an individual is known to
be petulant. The worst consequences have sometimes arisen from this
practice.
A few days ago, I saw an individual put to the court of
his country, upon an indictment for manslaughter, under the following
circumstances.—His fellow servants, aware of his petulant disposition,
provoked him by some petty vexations, until, in his rage, he hurled hammer
at them, which struck one of them in the head, and inflicted a wound of
which he died.
Never bear tales to your employers, for the purpose
of exciting a prejudice against each other, and ingratiating yourselves in
their favor. A supplanter is a most hateful character, at once despicable
and despised.
At the same time, you are not to connive at sin;
if your fellow servants do anything wrong, either in the way of drunkenness,
lewdness, or dishonesty, you owe it to your master to make him acquainted
with the fact. You are dishonest if you conceal the dishonesty of others,
and you are a partaker of those vices which you allow to be perpetrated
under your notice, without making it known.
Servants that make a profession of religion have
great need to conduct themselves with singular propriety. Towards their
masters and mistresses there should be the deepest humility, and the very
reverse of everything that bears even a distant resemblance of spiritual
pride. There must be no consciousness of superiority, no air of importance,
no affected sanctity; but a meek, modest, unobtrusive exhibition of the
influence of religion, in making them strictly conscientious and exemplary
in the discharge of all the duties of their station. Their piety should be
seen, not only in a constant concern to attend to the public means of grace,
and in a regular performance of the private duties of religion, but also in
making them more respectful and obedient; more meek and submissive; more
honest and diligent than all the rest. That servant does not adorn the
doctrine of God her Savior in all things, who does not shine in her sphere
as a servant.
There are occasions when you may seek to do good to those
who employ you, if they are yet living without the possession of piety.
Instances have occurred, in which, such as you have been the instruments of
converting their employers—and a visible, but unostentatious exhibition of
eminent and consistent piety, supported by as eminent a discharge of the
duties of your station, followed by a modest and judicious introduction of
the subject, when suitable occasion presents itself, may by the grace of
God, be blessed for the salvation of even your master and mistress.
If, on the other hand, your profession of religion be not
supported by consistency; if it renders you proud and conceited; if it be
accompanied by an unsubdued temper, or by habits of inattention to the
duties of your place; if it makes you troublesome about your religious
privileges, so that in a time of emergency or sickness, you will not give up
a single sermon without murmuring and sullenness, you do not glorify God,
but dishonor him; you excite a prejudice against religion, rather than
produce a prepossession in its favor.
Towards your fellow servants you should be meek,
obliging, and generous; assuming nothing on the ground of your piety, never
disgusting them by any apparent consciousness of superior sanctity, but at
the same time, never scrupling to let them know and see that you fear God.
Timidly to conceal your regards to the claims of religion, or vauntingly to
acknowledge them, would equally excite a bad prejudice; but to yield to them
with a firmness that ridicule and opposition cannot bend, a consistency that
scrutiny cannot impeach, and a humility that the reproached conscience of
those who are offended cannot misrepresent, will be sure to raise
admiration, and, by the blessing of God, may produce imitation.
Are any of your fellow servants living in the neglect of
religion, it is your duty, in a solemn and affectionate manner, to warn
them. "I knew a religious servant," says Mr. Janeway, "that after other
endeavors for the conversion of one of his fellows had proved ineffectual,
spent some time at midnight to pray for him; and being very importunate, his
voice was heard in the next chamber, where the object of his pious
solicitude lay; who, on hearing the voice of entreaty, arose from bed to
listen, and was so struck with the affectionate concern that was breathed
out for him, that he was converted by the prayer."
Let me now, in conclusion, exhort you to attend to the
duties which have been set before you. It may be felt as a motive to this,
to consider, that though you are servants, you are not slaves, as was the
case with those who are addressed by the apostles, in their inspired
writings. Yes, they were slaves, and yet are they admonished
to give honor and service to those who held them by a tie they could not
break. You are free, and your labor is voluntary; you sell it for a
stipulated price, and are not degraded by your situation—nothing can
degrade you but bad conduct. Your interest lies in the faithful discharge of
your duties. This will secure to you peace and serenity of mind, the respect
and attachment of your employers, the esteem of the public, the testimony of
conscience, and the approbation of God. You will thus help to diffuse
happiness through the families in which you reside; for a good servant is
one of the springs of family comfort, and daily refreshes, by its pure and
pleasant stream, the members of the little community in the house; who, in
return, will do what they can to promote your present comfort, and provide
for your future support, when the days of sickness and the years of old age
shall come upon you.
Remember that God is everywhere, and his eye is always
upon you. "He encompasses your path, and knows your down-sitting and
uprising, and there is not a word upon your tongue, but he knows it
altogether." You may have an absent master, but you cannot have an absent
God. And he cites your conscience to his side, to take a correct copy, and
lodge it in your bosom, of the record of your actions, words, and feelings,
which he writes down in the book of his remembrance.
Time is short, life is uncertain, death
is at hand, and the judgment approaching, when it will be of no
consequence who was master and who was servant—but only who was holy and
faithful. God is now your witness, and will be hereafter your judge. Have
the promises and threatenings of the Great Master little efficacy? Are
heaven, glory, and eternal happiness worth nothing? If so, what do you think
of condemnation, wrath, and everlasting misery? If the former signifies
little, do the latter signify no more? Then I must confess, I know not what
further to say, for I have exhausted the differences of time, and the
varieties of eternity. I have spread out the miseries which sin brings, and
the pleasure which holiness produces upon earth; and have added to this the
consideration of the eternal torment which iniquity draws upon itself in
hell, aid the everlasting felicity which religion conducts the soul to enjoy
in heaven—what more can I add—but simply to say, choose whether to
you it shall be said in the last day, by the Lord Jesus Christ, "You wicked
and slothful servant, depart accursed from me into everlasting fire,
prepared for the devil and his angels!" Or, "well done, you good and
faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord!"
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