him from their Mothers womb Our Lord Jesus Christ when he was on Earth took up in his Arms the little Children that were brought unto him laid his hands upon them and recommended them to God his Father and now that he is in Glory his Love and tender compassion for them is no less Therefore if we offer him our Children with all our hearts he will take them into his protection he will stretch over them the Arms of his Mercy and will never take them away again In short seeing that he promiseth to them the Kingdom of Heaven and his Eternal Felicities he will never with-hold from them things needful for this present life We can do nothing without God but God can do all things without us A great many Children become debauch'd and are spoil'd in their Parents over-fond tuition wherecas many that are out of their sight and that live when they are departed shew good examples of Piety and Godliness for example in Isaack's House in the presence of this Holy Man there was a prophane Esau a Glutton whereas Jacob that lived at a distance from his Parents when he fled for fear of his Brother had always before his eyes the fear of Isaack his Father Gen. 27. Gen. 31. that is to say the God whom his Father worshipped In Jacob's House Ruben defiled his Father's Bed in an incestuous manner whereas Jâ—seph in Potiphera's House chose rather an apparent death and present sufferings than to touch his Masters Wise Gen. 39. David had the unhappiness to see some of his Children guilty of Incest and Murder whereas Joas and Josias two Orphan-Princes in their tenderest infancy became Vertuous and Religious Kings zealous for the service of God How many Children are there who notwithstanding all the care and labor of their Fathers fall into extremity of misery How many are taken from their Parents embraces and dragg'd from thence to the Gallows whereas there are others that without Father or Parents assistance don't only escape grievous dangers but rise to Honors and Dignities as Joseph in Aegypt Daniel in Babylon and Esther that was Fatherless and a poor Captive became a Queen and moreover God made use of her and of her credit to deliver his People from Haman's conspiracy We see every day that God blesseth in an extraordinary manner many Orphans Cast your Eyes upon the Children of the blessed Martyrs and thou shalt perceive many that God hath made notable instances of his especial favors and of the Mercy that he promiseth to shew unto thousand Generations of them that serve him and obey his Holy Commands Thou shalt find some that have much more happiness in this life than the posterity of the Persecutors Thou shalt see them with astonishment bestow their Alms upon the Children of such as have plundered their Houses and spoiled their Goods Whilst you are yet in being exhort your Children to fear God to serve and to addict themselves with all their Heart to the study of Piety that hath the promises of this life and of the life to come Teach them first to seek the Kingdom of God and its Righteousness and all these things shall be added to them over and above Finally when your life should be much more useful to your Children than it is remember what our Lord and Saviour saith He that loves Son or Daughter more than him is not worthy of him Heaven is far more excellent than the Earth The Salvation and the Happiness of our Souls is to be preferr'd to all the considerations of Flesh and Bloud It is not just that such as have given us or to whom we have given the enjoyment of a temporal life should hinder us from the fruition of a Spiritual and Eternal Life Besides when we recommend them to God we put them into the protection of a true and of a wise Friend who is acquainted with their necessities who is so Good to procure them that which shall be needful for them and Almighty to accomplish all things which may be for their advantage Let us therefore conclude that it is the duty of a good Father that fears God not to resist death not to fly from it when the Lord calls but according to the good example of the antient Patriarchs he ought to end his days willingly with the praises of God in his mouth and with exhortation to his Children to love him fear him and serve him with all their heart to continue in his Holy Covenant and to prefer him to all the Riches and Honors of this miserable Earth And as when our Saviour had bestowed his Blessings upon his Disciples a Cloud carried him out of their sight into Heaven Likewise when a good Christian shall have thus given his Blessings to his Children he will shut his eyes to all inferior things and think upon nothing but upon the Eternal Bliss of the Heavenly Paradise If God calls us to himself in a miserable and wretched time when our beloved Infants are weeping about our Bed ready to say to us as Isaack unto Abraham My Father here is Wood a Fire and a Knife but where is the Beast for a Burnt-offering Gen. 22. God causeth the visible signes of his heavy displeasure to appear every where In every corner we see nothing but Fire and Sword Death's frightful Image and the fearful appearance of Masacres do scare and terrify us Destruction is come into the Holy places the Fire hath reacht as far as God's own Sanctuary and no body is able to deliver us The deluge of God's wrath hath overspread our Land in such a manner that as Noah's Dove we cannot find where to pitch our feet All our expectation is that God would also reach down his hand unto us from above to receive us into that Ark which is above the Heavens and unto which your Soul is now departing Gen. 8. If our dear Children speak unto us in this Language Let us with the courage assurance and faith of the Father of the Faithful return unto them this answer My Children the Lord will provide Gen. 12. Rom. 4. It is he that acts beyond appearance and against all hope who causeth the dead to live and calls things that are not as if they were he will send to you his good Angels to help you in all your necessities when you shall be reduc'd to the uttermost misery ready to receive the last stroke of death God's hands will stop the sword of his justice he will change your crying and fears into joy and Eternal gladness There will be some Holy and devout Soul that loves the publick peace and tranquility that will bring to you the Olive-branch of Peace God can appease the Tempest with his breath at his Command the winds will be still and the roaring Waves that are ready to devour you will return to their former tranquility Otherwise he will preserve you miraculously alive in the midst of the greatest troubles and most fearful confusion And as
midst of them St. Thomas who was not with the Apostles when Christ first appeared amongst them lost the comfort then of seeing him risen from the dead And if this merciful Redeemer had not had compassion of him he had perish'd in his unbelief for ever If upon the day of Penticost any of the faithful had been found absent from the Holy company of the Faithful in Jerusalem they had not seen the Glorious appearance of the Holy Ghost who knows but in a Sermon that we have neglected we have lost some pious advice some seasonable exhortation by which God might have brought our hearts to repentance Who knows but instead of that Fire that devours us we might have felt the Holy Flames kindled in us like unto those Flames of the burning Bush that would burn in us and not consume us Who knows but at the breaking up of the Assembly we might have said as the two Disciples of Christ going to Emaus Did not our heart burn within us when he spoke to us and opened the Scriptures 68. We must be fervent zealous and persevering in Prayers and other Holy Duties and embrace our Lord and Saviour with the Arms of Faith and Repentance and say unto him as Jacob I shall not leave thee until thou hast blessed me especially we ought to apply our selves to these blessed exercises when we feel the inward and troblesome struglings of the Flesh against the Spirit we must imitate that Holy and vertuous Woman who feeling two Children stirring in her Womb fell to her Prayers and unburdened her sorrows in the bosome of our Heavenly Father And as St. Peter when he began to sink lifted up his Hands in Prayer saying Lord save me Matth. 14. Likewise we who walk upon this dangerous Sea of the World assoon as we feel our selves sinking into the Delights of the World or assoon as the Waves of vicious examples and dangerous customs do hurry us away Let us cry out from the bottom of our Hearts O merciful God stretch out thine hand from above and deliver me from these Waters of Hell that carry me away accomplish thy vertue in mine infirmities and give me Grace in resisting against sin to resist unto Blood Psal 69. Heb. 50. 2 Cor. 22. Let thine Holy Spirit overcome mine let Heaven command the Earth and let Paradise lead Hell in Triumph If we make this Petition with all our Hearts God will grant it from his Holy Sanctuary He will extinguish the Fire that burns us He will shut the Lions mouth that intends to devour us He will appease the Winds and the Storms that the Devils have raised in us and at his first entrance into our Ship tost up and down with fears and apprehensions he will bring Peace and a blessed tranquility and will lead us to the safe Haven of Eternal Happiness as the Prophet Moses when he had been familiar with God came down from the Mountain with a shining countenance and as our Saviour when he was in Prayer upon Mount Tabor was transfigured his Garments were white as the Light and his Face appeared as glorious as the Sun Likewise if we lift up our selves above all these earthly and corruptible things and pray unto God with an Holy Earnestness and Zeal we shall see that our Souls shall be thereby cloathed with Holiness and full of Glory and Light they will be transformed into the blessed Image of the great God whom we adore for as soon as we behold him we become enlightened 69. To the end that we may tame this Body and reduce it to obedience and to overcome all our wicked and dangerous Lusts Psal 69 34. It is necessary that we should joyn Fasting to our Prayers we must not always expect a time appointed by the Rulers of our Church upon solemn accasions but we must order unto our selves a Fast according as we shall see it expedient and useful for if this Flesh is unruly it is rebellious against God and his Holy Commandements if because it is fed in Ease and Plenty it is Lustful Impure and Insolent Let us cut off from it all its dainties and labor to mortify it by Fastings and Abstinence and remember what our Saviour Christ saith in the Gospel That there are some evil spirits that are not to be driven out but by Fasting and Prayer Matth. 27. 70. If God gives us the Grace to overcome Sin and weaken our Lusts by fervent and earnest Prayers and by austere Fasting and hot tears of Repentance and by the assistance of his Divine Spirit that will pour his Blessings upon our Devotions take heed that we become not careless and negligent in good Works deceive not your selves Religious Souls and be not surprized for many times the old Man looks as if he were dead that we might not offer to strike him again to the Heart and give him the last blow that he may recover more strength there is always in the Ashes something of that infernal Fire that is able to do much mischief Lust is not rooted out so perfectly but that there remains some strings in our Hearts that may grow again This source of Iniquity is not so dry but that it may run afresh As it is during the time of Peace Men exercise themselves in feats of Arms and prepare new Armor for the War Likewise during the calm and rest of our Souls we must prepare some Armor for our Spiritual Warfare And as it is not sufficient to win a place by Assault and to have driven out the Enemies Forces but we must also watch day and night and keep a constant and a strong Guard that we may not be surprized and driven out again Thus when we have forced out the Devil and banish'd him out of our Hearts we must be always upon our Guard and stop all the Avenues for fear that this evil Spirit should come upon us accompanied with seven worse Spirits and that our last condition should be worse than the first 71. To these Works of Piety and Devotion in which we cannot be always employed we must remember to add a lawful Calling for Idleness is the Mother of all Vices when we are doing nothing the Devil prompts us to evil this happened to David a man after God's own heart for when he gave himself over contrary to his former practice to an unworthy idleness whilst he was looking into his neighbors House the Devil entred into his Heart and by the assistance of a lustful Object inflamed his Soul with an unlawful desire as the Iron that is not us'd becomes Rusty as the standing Water putrifies and as the Earth that is not manur'd begets insects and venemous Serpentss Likewise a Soul that is not employed is soon cover'd over with the rust of Vice It is easily drag'd along into the corruption of the age and apt to beget and bring forth Monsters therefore the Prophet Ezekiel examines the very beginning and first spring of Solomon's Sin saying That it was
glorify their Creator and advance his Kingdom When this good desire is well governed it is as acceptable to God as a sweet smelling Sacrifice This was David's earnest desire in the 119 Psalm Let my Soul live that it may praise thee This Holy Zeal forced so many bitter Tears from King Hezekiah in his sickness and caused him to intreat most earnestly to live yet longer in the World This Wise and Religious Prince did well foresee the fearful Evils the grievous Confusion and the abominable Idolatry that was likely to succeed after his Death in the Kingdom of Judea He was therefore very desirous to glorify God on Earth and to accomplish the Reformation which he had begun He desired to have Children whom he might teach to fear God with all their heart and to serve him according to his Holy and Divine Will that he might cause Piety to continue in his House and Royal Family he discovers this Holy desire in his Divine Hymn which he sung unto God after his miraculous recovery Behold for Peace I had great bitterness but thou hast in love to my Soul delivered it from the pit of corruption for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back for the Grave cannot praise thee Is 38. Death cannot celebrate thee they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy Truth the living he shall praise thee as I do this day the Father to the Children shall make known thy Truth The Lord was ready to save me therefore we will sing my Songs to the stringed Instruments all the days of our life in the house of the Lord. We find the same earnest desire in St. Paul for when he looks upon himself and upon the miseries that attend upon him on Earth and lifts up his Eyes to see the Heavenly Bliss that waits for him above he desires to depart out of this earthly Tabernacle and to be with Christ and acknowledgeth that it would be his great advantage but when he looks upon the Church of Christ his desire of the Salvation and instruction of his Brethren causeth him to prefer their Comfort to his own Happiness and Joy It is saith he more expedient for you that I remain in the Flesh and I know for certain that I shall abide and remain with you for your advantage and the joy of your faith This desire of Life with an intent of Glorifying God is Good and Holy but it is no easy task to keep it within its just and lawful bounds for very often it becomes vicious when it is stirr'd up by a fond love of our own persons which makes us so loth to dye For example when a great Prince animated with an Heroical Vertue is engaged in a War for the preservation of his Subjects and for the delivery of many afflicted People from oppression and Tyranny if God blesseth his Armies and causeth his Glorious designes to succeed he will not be well pleased if Death at that instant offers to cross him to break in pieces his victorious Arm to put an end to his Conquests and to cast his Crown to the ground he may justly complain in this manner Must I now leave off such a noble and a brave Designe must I here stop in the midst of such a glorious Race and must Death bury with my Body the expectations of so many good Men I am afraid that all my labors will vanish away with my breath I have just cause to fear that my fall will draw after me the destruction of many poor People that depend upon me I fear that oppression and Tyranny will resume fresh Spirits and a greater Boldness and prove for the future more grievous and unfufferable O cruel and inhumane Death by taking away my Life thou bringest my Friends to Execution and the Arrows that thou stickest in my Heart do pierce the Souls of many innocent People Likewise he that is promoted to be the King's Vicegerent in a Province or to be a Governor of a rich Countrey and an important Place may be grieved because Death snatcheth him away in the middle of all his business especially if it be in troublesome times and if he sees none of a sufficient ability to succeed him Must I will such an one say Must I quit so soon this Glorious employment Must I so quickly leave my Prince's service and forsake so many poor People as a Flock without a Shepheard Death how hateful and odious art thou Thou delightest to bring all things into confusion and trouble Thus a brave General of a victorious Army who being full of Courage manageth a successful War for the Honor of his Prince and the advantage of his Countrey cannot but complain against Death when it comes to subdue him before he hath totally subdued and overcome his Enemies especially if the times be so unhappy that none is able to undertake that employment after him he will be ready to break forth into complaints Must I leave off so many Glorious designs Must I forsake my most faithful Soldiers and abandon them to the mercy of their Enemies or to the capricious humour of an unexperienced Successor O Death full of envy wilt thou pluck out of my hands so soon this conquering Sword and cut off with one blow of thy Sithe so many great expectations In the same manner he that sits in the most Honourable seats of Judicature as a Judge a President or a Counsellor or any other chief Magistrate will doubtless mourn if Death seizeth upon him in the flower of his age especially if he fears that after him corrupt Men will succeed who may be likened to whitened Walls Must I will he say leave so soon this noble Office in which I took so much delight O inconsiderate Death why dost thou not suffer me to wear my Purple until such time as I shall be weary to bear it Why dost thou not permit me to sit here upon this magnificent Seat until I tumble off with old Age Likewise a faithful Minister of the Gospel when he perceives the work of the Lord to prosper in his hands Satan falls from Heaven by his means as a Lightning and Dagon to be brought upon his Face to the ground may justly wonder at Death's approaches and speak in this manner Must I so soon quit the duties of this Holy Function in which I took my greatest delight Must I break off from this Sacred Work by which I did advance so happily the Glory of God I am afraid that when I am gone ravening Wolves will enter into the Lord's Flock and a terrible night of ignorance will involve our posterity Thus a Father of a Family who passionately loves his Wife and Children shall never see death but shall feel all his Bowels move and his Heart tormented with grief he will sigh out such expressions as these Must I forsake a poor forlorn Wife swimming in Tears Must I leave my tender-hearted Parents who found my life a comfort and will find my
be that they have not enjoyed any unusual Plenty yet this wise Purveyor hath furnished them the things that have been necessary for them so that not only both they and their Children have subsisted in the greatest calamities but they have had the Honor of assisting God's Prophets and as that poor Widow of the Gospel gave Alms out of her poverty such Mites have been more pleasing to God than the Treasuries of the wealthy Morever when the Son of God was in the World he was pleased to express how much care and compassion he had of Widows for when he met at the Gate of the City of Nain a poor Widow weeping bitterly for her only Son that was carried out to be buried he was moved with a tender feeling of her affliction therefore he raised the young man to life again and restored him to his Mother It was also at the solicitation of some devout Widows that St. Peter raifed Dorcas from death to life I must needs take notice here of an admirable story proper to comfort every faithful servant of God The Widow of a deceased Prophet made this bitter complaint unto Elisha Thy Servant my Husband is dead and thou knowest that thy Servant did fear the Lord and the creditor is come to take unto him my two Sons to be bond-men 2 King 4. God who hears the cry of the afflicted had compassion of that poor distressed Widow so that he gave unto her by Elisha's means in a wonderful manner sufficient for the payment of her debts and for to nourish her Family by this glorious example God declares the care that he will have of his Prophets Widows whilst they walk in his fear and continue in his Holy Covenant In short the modern and antient Histories are full of notable examples of wise and vertuous Widows that have discreetly governed their Families and upon whom God's Blessings have visibly appeared Almighty God who is wonderful in all his Works doth sometimes order affairs in such a manner that Fathers don't gather up for their Children but he gives to some such Children in his Mercy that make provision for their Fathers such are an extraordinary Blessing to their Family as Joseph was to Jacob and his Houshold Such wise and vertuous Children who are so necessary to their Parents whom they Love and Honor might out of their violent affection for them speak unto Death in the language of the young man of the Gospel Suffer me to go first and bury my Father Let me alone awhile in the world suffer me to live O death until I have accompanied my Parents to their Grave until I have closed their Eye-lids and performed the last duties that Nature requires But hearken officious Son what the Lord saith to thee Suffer the dead to bury the dead but thou follow me Leave to them that remain after thee the care of Worldly affairs but do thou yield thy self at God's Call Thy Charity for others must not cause thee to be cruel to thy self and disobedient to the Commands of thy God Fear not to leave thy Father and Mother when thou art going to cast thy self into the ravishing embraces of thy Spiritual Bridegroom and of thine Heavenly Father The great God who hath given thee or rather lent thee to them and who caused them to subsist before thou hadst a Being can feed and bless them without thee his Mercy is not tied to thy Person nor confin'd to thine industry When our Lord and Saviour was upon the Cross seeing the Blessed Virgin and the Disciple whom he loved said to his Mother Woman behold thy Son and to St. John Son behold thy Mother John 19. and from that hour that Disciple took her unto his own home In the like manner when God cals unto his Eternal Rest him who was the supporter of his Family as Joseph was he provides for them by some other means so that if Elkanah had good cause to say to his Wife when she wept because she had no Child Am not I better to thee then ten Sons 1 Sam. 1. we may say with more reason that God's Grace his Assistance and the Comforts of his Holy Spirit are better worth than Ten thousand Children The strongest Passion and that which I judge to be the most apt to hinder a good Man is that which Fathers and Mothers have for their little ones especially if they be in an age unable to help themselves but that this natural passion may not hurry us beyond the limits prescribed by Reason and Piety consider well the promise that God made to Abraham I am thy God and the God of thy seed after thee Gen. 17. and what St. Peter told the Jews To you and to your Children was the promise made and to all such as are afar off as many as the Lord our God shall call Acts 2. especially meditate well upon and imprint in your minds that which God speaks unto you from Heaven by the Prophet Jeremiah Leave me thy Fatherless Children and I will give them to eat and let thy Widows trust in me Jer. 49. God is the Father of us all but more especially of the Fatherless he hath compassion of them and provides for all their necessities thy Children are more tender to him than to thee for thou hast been but a feeble instrument in his hand to put them into the world but he is the Creator of their Soul the fashioner of their Body and the redeemer of them both He loves them with a stronger and more constant Love than the best Fathers and the most tender-hearted Mothers therefore he assures us by his Holy Prophet that when the Mother should forget the Child unto whom she gives suck and when she should have no pity of the Fruit of her Womb he will never forget us so that all the Children that fear God may say as David When my Father and my Mother should have forsaken me the Lord will receive me Psal 27. Seeing that Job hath had a care of the Orphans Job 31. and Pharaoh's Daughter hath had compassion of the Tears of a little strange Child how much more shall God who is the Father of Mercies and the God of all Comfort have pity of Children that he hath redeemed with the precious Bloud of his only Son Exod. 2. 2 Cor. 1. Seeing that he hears the cries of the young Ravens he will sooner hear the Prayers Sighs and Tears of his Servants Children Psal 147. Matt. 6. he cloaths the Grass of the Fields which to day is and to morrow is cast into the Oven Gen. 21. how much rather will he cloath your Children O ye of little Faith Doth your Heavenly Father nourish the Birds of the Air and will not he rather feed your Children that are better worth than all the Birds together Jon. 4. In short seeing God hath had compassion of little Ishmael and of the Children of Ninivy how much rather will he regard Children that have been sanctified to
contentments of the Soul Let the nearer approach of my death make me to draw nearer to thee in love and obedience Give me power to overcome all carnal temptations O that the excellency of my Place and Dignity the precious Bloud of my Saviour with which thou hast washed my Soul and that immortal Bliss prepared for me might fill me with an hearty loathing and contempt of the vain and unprofitable Delights of the World that my Soul may not be fettered and enslaved to these filthy vanities so far below the excellency of its Being O Gracious God! with my Person I leave to thee the disposition of my Scepter and Kingdoms thou art able to give to my successor the same Piety Zeal and Love for thy Truth that I have always expressed I leave to thee the care and preservation of that Religion which thy powerful hand hath planted amongst us thou art able to cause it to flourish in the midst of so many envious attempts of adversaries Let me not therefore distrust thy good providence but grant to the person that thou hast appointed to succeed me a Love and Fear of thy Holy Name enrich his Soul with all Divine Graces and Royal Vertues My God and my King thou gavest me an earnest desire of building thee a Temple as to David a Man after thine own heart I have labour'd to recruit in my days the sensless divisions of my people but seeing that it is not thy pleasure that I should accomplish such a glorious Work Give to my Successor the Grace and Wisdom as to Solomon that he may perfect the pious designes that I have begun Establish his Throne with true Religion and sincere Reformation Let Justice and Peace flourish in his Reign Let Truth prosper Charity and Love enflame the Hearts of thy People Let all his neighbors bless him Let him have as many Guards as Subjects and as many Fortresses as Hearts in his Dominions But especially good God give him grace to build thee a setled House in these Nations and to raise it up to the highest pitch of Glory and Happiness that is possible on Earth In the mean while I shall depart out of this life and go to Glorify thee in the magnificent Palace of immortality where I shall cast down my Crown at the feet of the Lamb and adore him who liveth for ever and ever Amen A Prayer and Meditation for a Vice-Roy or a Governor O Almighty Governor of this great World seeing that thou hast granted to me the honor of representing the Person of my Prince thy living Image it is but just that I should return unto thee my unfeigned thanks for such a special Favor for I should not have this Power if it were not given to me from above and if thou who art the King of Kings and holdest in thine Almighty hand the Hearts of Princes hadst not caused the superior Powers to favor my Person Give me Grace never to forget that the Persons that I am to Govern are not my Slaves but the Subjects of my Prince moreover they are thy Creatures and Children it belongs not to me to dispose of them at my pleasure according to my passions but to observe the Orders that have been given me and to obey thy Divine Commandments Let me behave my self as if my Prince were always and every where at my elbows to be a witness of all my actions But especially let me remember that I am always before thine holy Eyes that behold my Heart and read my most secret thoughts Let me consider night and day that I must give an account to my Great Master of the Stewardship intrusted in my hands and that I must one day appear before thy dreadful Tribunal where disguising and lying will never take place If whilst I am diligently employed in the Duties of mine Office and managing my business with all the care and faithfulness that I am able Death comes to call me away out of the World give me such a courage that I may not be afraid but that I may quit my Dignities without repining for the Honor of Governing a Kingdom or a Monarchy or of Commanding many Worlds is nothing in comparison of the Glory and Happiness prepared for me in Heaven Let not the care of the time to come trouble the quiet of my Soul thou canst raise up other Governors unto whom thou canst grant a Spirit of Wisdom and Discretion with an happy and glorious Governance whilst I shall rest for ever from all my labors and cares and when I shall have overcome Satan the World Sin and Death and kept thy Works until the end thou wilt give me into my hands a never-fading Palm thou wilt put upon my Head a Glorious Crown and into my mouth the Songs of the Blessed in whose company I shall sing Praises and Tranksgivings unto thee for ever and ever Amen A Prayer and Meditation for a General of an Army and for a Captain O God of Hosts I have been perswaded that this employment in which I have engaged my self for the service of my King and Countrey would not be displeasing to thy Divine Majesty seeing that thou hast appointed Military Laws unto thy People and hast been so Gracious to them as to govern their Armies march out before them and Command in Chief when they have encountered with their Enemies Although thy Son is the Prince of Peace his first Minister and Fore-runner did not forbid the use of Weapons to the Soldiers that resorted to him but only to be content with their wages and to do violence to no man besides the Holy Apostles teach us that it is not in vain that thou hast put the Sword into the hands of Soveraign Princes and Kings who are the Images of thine Almighty power and of thy uncontroulable Justice Let me never appear at the head of an Army or of a Company but let me imagine my Prince to be there present as if I were to sight before his eyes but let me chiefly remember that I am in the sight of thy Holy Angels and of thee who art the King of Kings of all the Nations of the World and of their Armies Let not the power which thou hast given me over others cause me to neglect the obedience that I owe unto thee my great God and Creator Let not the honor of being a Captain make me forget that I am a Soldier of Jesus Christ who Judges and Wars according to right Let not the Sword that I carry at my side hinder me from receiving into my Heart the Sword of the Spirit which is the word of God that is sharper than a two-edged sword that searcheth to the division of the Soul and Spirit Joynts and Marrow Give me with this Heavenly Sword the Breast-plate of Righteousness and the Helmet of Salvation and especially give me the Buckler of Faith that I may be able to quench all the fiery Darts of the Devil O my God! cloath me with the
painful Fetters Rejoyce O my Soul look up to that Rest that God prepares for thee above The blessed time is come that I shall no longer endure the heat of the day and the watchings of the Night but I shall rest eternally under the shadowes of the Tree of Life and there satisfy my self with its delicious Fruits I shall no longer withstand the contradiction of Sinners nor hear the mocks of the sensual and factious minds I shall no longer encounter with the enemies of thy Sacred Truth nor endure the stings of my Lusts but I shall live for ever in the blessed company of the Holy Angels and rejoyce with the Glorified Saints I shall preach no more against the obstinacy of Men. nor weep for the sins that disgrace thy Church and Profession nor complain of the injustice and affronts done to my Person nor grieve for my own imperfections but I shall sing for ever thy Divine Praises with the Seraphins and the Congregation of the first-born whose Names are recorded in Heaven O Lord who hast an infinite Power in thy Hands and bottomless Treasuries of Mercy be pleased to drive away from thy Flock all ravenous Wolves and mercenary Souls and raise up to this thy Church ☞ a Faithful Sober Wise and a Learned Clergy bring in our dissenting Brethren reconcile the differences that are amongst us and give to us all a friendly compliance that we may no longer be a hissing and a by-word to our Enemies Thou art able yet to clap an effeciual Plaister to our bleeding wound and to cure the distempered minds Be pleased therefore O great Physitian of both Soul and Body mercifully to look down from Heaven upon these Nations Check that bold spirit of division that causeth so much disorder amongst us and make us all sensible of our chief interests which consists in a Blessed Vnion Pour upon our Clergy abundance of thy Grace and give an happy success to their painful Ministry but now I am going to serve thee above in Heaven in a more glorious and excellent Ministry where I shall meet with no trouble nor resistance no weariness grief pain sorrow nor displeasure I shall enter into the joy of my Lord and receive from his merciful Hand the uncorruptible Crown of Immortality and Glory I shall follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes and he shall be my Shepherd for ever he will lead me to the Fountains of living water and wipe away all Tears from mine Eyes Amen A Prayer and Meditation for a Father of a Family FAther of Eternity I yield unto thee my unfeigned thanks because thou hast made me an happy instrument to put into the World Children out of whose mouths thou mayest accomplish thine own praise and who may serve thee here below and worship thee for ever in Heaven amongst the thousands of Angels Whilst I have been in the World I have brought them up in thy Love and Fear I have caused them to suck from the Breast the Milk of Piety and when they were come to an age of understanding I have taught them to walk in thine holy Fear and obey thy Commandements I have laboured to shew them a good example and to guide them in thy Truth And now that I am ready to return unto thee who art the Author of my life and being the only source of my Happiness I leave them in thy merciful hands beseeching thee to look down upon them with the eyes of thy compassion they are thine Lord acknowledge thine own Image and Handywork Thy Finger hath fashioned these Bodies where so many wonders are to be seen And these souls that animate and move them are the breath and beams of thy Divinity Thou hast engaged to be our God and the God of our Posterity after us Thy great and precious promises have been made to us and to our Children O Heavenly Father I desire not that thou shouldest take them out of the World but that thou shouldest keep them from evil Cover them under the shadow of thy wings and preserve them from those Miseries and Calamities which thou hast threatened to send upon the Inbabitants of the Earth for their sins If thou dost chastise them let it be with the Rod of Men and with the scourges of the Sons of Men but withdraw not from them thy Grace and thy fatherly compassions Let the flames of affliction render their Faith more Pure their Lives more Holy and their Zeal more Sincere and Earnest and let it prepare them for thee and thine Eternal Bliss O Holy Father thou seest that the age in which we live is wonderfully corrupt that the Earth is inclined to Vice and that Sin raigns every where Thou knowest also how weak the Nature of Children is and how inclinable to evil therefore strengthen them I beseech thee with such Antidotes as may preserve them from the infection of the times Suffer not the wickedness of the World to win upon their affections nor Satan to prevail upon them by his suggestions nor evil company to spoil their pious Education Give them an understanding to know thee an Heart to love thee and Affections to embrace thee and thy Glory Let thy Holy Angels guard them by night and by day Let thy Providence defend them thy Word instruct them thy Promises comfort them and thy Holy Spirit Regenerate them and imprint in their Souls thy blessed Image Give them neither Poverty nor Riches but nourish them with Food convenient but especially give them that Bread which is come down from Heaven which hath brought Life into the World make them to raste of the Heavenly Gift and of the Powers of the World to come inflame them with thy Love and Charity and adorn them with all Christian Vertues but chiefly Sanctify them with thy Holy Spirit and make them to become new Creatures seeing that without Sanctification none shall see thy Face in Glory Confirm them for ever in thy Holy Covenant and give them grace to transmit it to their posterity after them as a blessed Inheritance that thou mayest be Glorified by them from Generation to Generation to all Eternity Suffer not the World nor Hell to pluck them out of thine Hand that nothing may separate them from the love which thou hast shewed to them in Jesus Christ thine only Son Let not Death terrify them but let it rather rejoyce and comfort them because that it is the entrance that leads to the Glorious Dwelling of their Heavenly Father and to the Celestial Paradise whatsoever change or alteration shall happen here below let them always lift up their Eyes to thee who art the same yesterday and to day and shalt be the same for ever Let them never forget their Duty to thee from whom they have received their Being and Life that they may prefer the Glory of thy Great Name the Purity of thy Worship and the hopes of thy Heavenly Kingdom to all worldly Glory Magnificence Riches advantages and Pleasures of the Flesh