Ser><rì. CLVIII. andparticular Calling. influence of our Power and Eftate, and by the authority of our example, to con- tribute all we can, to the welfare and happinefs of others. . For it is a great miflake to think that any Man is without a calling, and that God does not expert that every one of us fhould employ himfelf in doing good in one kind or other. Some perfons indeed, by the privilege oftheir Birth and Quali- ty, are above a common Trade and Profefliion, but they are not hereby either ex- empted or excufed from all bufinefs, and allowed to live unprofitably to others, becaufe they are fo plentifully provided for themfelves: Nay on the contrary, they have fo much the greater obligation, having the liberty and leifure to attend the good of others ; the higher our character and ftation is, we have the bitter opportunities of being publickly ufeful and beneficial; and the heavier will our account be, if we neglect thefe opportunities. Thofe who are in a low and pri- vate condition, can only thine to a few; but they that are advanced to a great height above others, may, like the heavenlybodies, difpenfe a general light and influence, and fcatter happinefs and bleífings among all that are below them. And as they are capable of doing more good than others, fo with more eafe and effect; that which perfons of an inferior rank can hardly bring others to, by all the importunity of counfel and perfwafion, as namely to the practice of any Vir- tue, and the quitting and abandoning of any Vice, a Prince and a great Man that is good himfelf, may eafily gain them to, without ever fpeaking a word to them, by the filent Authority and powerful allurement of his Example. So that tho' every Man have not a particularprofeffion, yet the higheft among Men have fume employment allotted to them by God, fuitable to theircondition, aProvince which he expecîs they fhould adminifler and adorn with great care. Thegreat bufinefs of the lower part of Mankind is to provide for themfelves the necelfaries of life, and it is well if they can do it with all their care and dili- gence; but'thofe who are of higher rank, their proper bufinefs and imployment is to difpenfe good to others; which furely is a much happier condition and employ- -ment, according to that admirable faying of our Saviour, mentioned by St. Paul, It is a more bleffed thing to give, than . to receive. Thofe of meaner condition can only be Men to one another, and it were well if they would be fo; but he that is highly raifed and advancedabove others, hath the happy opportunity inhis hands, if he have but the heart to make ufe of it, to be a kind of God to Men. Let no Man then, ofwhat Birth, or Rank, or Quality foever, think it beneath him to ferve God, and to be ufeful to the benefit and advantage of Men ; let us remember the Son of God, a Perfon of the higheft Qpality and Extraction that ever was, who fpent himfelf wholly in this bleffed work of doing good, toyled and laboured in it as it had been for his life, fubmitted to all the circumftances of meannefs, to all the degrees of contempt, to ail kind ofhardlhip and fufferings, for the benefit of Salvation of Men, fweat drops of blood, and at Tait poured it all forth in full ftreams, to fave us from eternal mifery and ruin; and is any of us better than theSon of God, the heir of all things, and the elder brother of us all ? Shall any of us, after this, think our felves too good to be employed in that work which God himfelf difdained not to do, when he appeared in the likenefs and na- ture of Man? If we would efteem things rightly, and according to reafon, the true privilege and advantage of greatnefs is, to be able todo more good than others; and in this the Majefty and Felicity of God himfelf doth chiefly .confift, in his ready and for- ward inclination, and in his infinite power and ability to do good. The Creation of the World was a great and glorious defign, but this God only calls his Work; but to preferve and fupport the Creatures which he hath made, to biefs them and to do them good, to govern them by wife Laws, and to conduct them to that hap- pinefs which he defigned for them, this is his re, his perpetual Sabbath, his great delight and fatisfaaion to all eternity; to do good is our duty and our bufinefs, but it is likewife the greateft- pleafure and recreation, that which refrefheth the heart of God andMan. I have
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