Wo onto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong. Jer. xxii. 13.
Wo unto them that have made dishonest gain of their neighbours, by extortion, or by the iniquity of their traffic. Ezek. xxii. 12.
My soul come not thou into their secrets, unto their assemblies my honour be not thou united. Gen. xlix.
We have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, therefore let us not walk in craftiness. (For) better is a little with righteousness, than great revenues without right. 2 Cor. iv.
Wealth got by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase. Prov. xiii. 11.
If sinners entice thee, consent thou not. Walk not then in the way with them; lest thou learn their ways, and get a snare to thy soul. Prov. i. 10, 15.—Chap. xxii.
With his own goods, or others, during the said term, without license of his said Master, he shall neither buy nor sell. The apprenticeship is a time of labour and improvement, not of gain; it is the season wherein youth are to acquire a thorough knowledge of trade, and to establish in themselves such habits as will enable them to carry it on hereafter with pleasure and profit. A liberty for the Apprentice to trade on his own account, would, in most instances, be rather a snare than an advantage to him; it would oftener increase his acquaintance and expenses than his fortune; it would furnish him with excuses for absenting himself from his Master’s house and business, under pretence of promoting his own; and lead him into company-keeping, and a large acquaintance, before he hath judgment to make a proper choice; and it is to be feared, would sometimes be the occasion of his being unfaithful, and create continual jealousies and misunderstandings between him and his Master. Upon all which accounts this prohibition is for their mutual advantage; and the breach of it on no account to be connived at by the Master, nor practised by the Apprentice.
If ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own?
He shall not haunt taverns or play-houses, nor absent himself from his said Master’s service day or night unlawfully. I have joined these three prohibitions together, because of the connexion they have; the Apprentice cannot commit the two first without being guilty of the last, which is a great act of injustice; for the Master has not a better title to his own money or goods than to the time of his Apprentice. He therefore must not upon any pretence whatsoever absent himself day or night from his Master’s house, without his consent. He must not, when the common business of the day is over, think himself at his own disposal, and take the liberty of going on his pleasure, without permission. Many things may occur which require his presence: business sometimes offers very unexpectedly; and the Apprentice should be always ready for his Master’s service. Add to this, that the house, the shop, and effects of his Master, are continually under his care, and the looking well after them a duty always incumbent on him; which such a one can never faithfully discharge who lists himself in clubs, or haunts taverns, or any other kind of tippling houses, or who frequents play-houses, and such like diversions. These habits are not only attended with a great waste of the Master’s time, but with an expense which few Apprentices can afford, and will probably lead him from wrong to robbery, when the Master’s money becomes as necessary to his pleasures as his time; for, he who scruples not to waste the one, will not be long before he makes free with the other. It is therefore the interest and happiness of youth, to be restrained from frequenting these places, where they can only associate themselves with the young and giddy, the raw and inexperienced, the loose and disorderly; for discreet and prudent persons will not encourage Apprentices in such unlawful haunts, by keeping them company. And what must be the fruits of such society? what, but noisy empty mirth; loose and licentious discourse, riot, intemperance, and disorder; of the same pernicious kind are the pleasures they receive from plays, interludes, and such like diversions. These, to youthful and unsettled judgments, are but vain and airy entertainments, which fill the head with romantic and unnatural ideas of life and the world, and tend only to alienate the mind from business, which is its proper, and ought to be its chief entertainment; and to expose youth to the danger of being corrupted by lewd and vicious persons of both sexes, who always crowd such places. Upon the whole, then, it is evident, the Apprentice cannot haunt taverns, that is, any kind of public tippling-houses, or frequent play-houses, nor absent himself day or night from his Master’s service, without breach of covenant, nor indeed without exposing himself to the loss of reputation (for such as his companions and pleasures are, such will his character be) and contracting vicious and expensive habits, which will probably bring him to want and misery, to shame and punishment.
He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much; and he that is unjust in the least, is unjust also in much. Luke vi. 10.