PHI LOS 0 P H Y . - Classic Works of Apologetics Online

124 Service.
sometimes also to get rid of a bad servant without the
uneas~ness of a dispute; for which nOlJling can be
pleaded, but the most ungenerous of all excuses,
that the person whom WE' deceive is a stranger.
There is a conduct, the reverse of thi~;, but more
injurious, because the injury faUs where there is no
remedy. I mean the obstructing a servant's advancement,
because you are unwilling to spare his service~
To stand in the way of your servant's interest, is a
poor .i~turn for his fidelity; and affords slen.le:- encourag~ment
for good behaviour, in this numerous
and therefore important part of the community.
It is a piece of injustice, which, if practised towards
an eqcal, the la\v of honour \vouJd Jay hold of; as
it is, it is neither uncommon nor disreputable.
A master of a fanuly is culpable, if he permit any
,rices among his domestics, which he might restrain
by due discipline and a proper interference. This results
from the general obligation to prevent misery
when in our power; and the assurance which \l'e
have, that vice and misery at the long run go together.
Care to maintain in his family a sense of
virtue and religion, received the divine 2pprobation
in the person of ABRAHAM, Gen. x\riii. 19-" I knOVl
him, thaI: he will command his children, and his
hf)UJeh~ld after him; and they ~hall keep the way of
the Lord, to do justice and judgment." And indeed
no authority seenlS so well adapted to this purpo~e,
as that of masters of families: because none opperates
upon the subjects of it, with an influence so immedi •
.ate and constant.
What the Chri£tian scriotures have deli~:ered con ..
•
ceming the relation and reciprocal dutie~ of masters
and servants, breathes a spirit of liberality, very little
known in age~ when servitude was slavery; and
which flowed from a habit of contemplating manlind
under the common relation in which they stand
,g
to their Creator, and with respect to their interest
another existence." "Servants, be obedient to
• Epb . .n. 5-~.