beene as the hand to giue him from thee food for his body whereby by thy blessing he hath beene corporally sustained and growne strong in the flesh though weake in spirituall graces which are not in me to instill into him noâ— bestow vpon him He is indeed of the poluted seede of offending Adam yet maist thou be pleased and I humbly pray thee to accept him into thy fauour instructe him in thy feare indue him with heauenly knowledge and a perfect faith in thee and guide him by thy grace in a godly religious and sincere conuersation that he may cease to doe euill and cleaue vnto that which is good then shall hee serue thee and I shall prayse thee for his reformation and saluation Let neither his sinnes nor mine O Lord any more prouoke thee to anger lest thy seuere iudgements should fall vpon him and shame and griefe vpon vs his parents but his repentance shall be our comfort and wee shall reioyce in his conuersion and not onely we his parents but all the godly shall reioyce at his returne into the spirituall Societie of thy Saints Graunt it gracious Lord God for thy Christs sake whose righteousnesse accept as his righteousnesse and thy sonnes merits for mine and my sons many sinnes Amen Lord increase in him the holy feare of thy great name faith and obedience vnto thee and giue me grace with patience and prayer to wayte his holy reformation A perswasion to patience in the crosses that often fall betweene man and wife fit to be considered of maried folkes for their mutuall comfort with counsell to such as intend to mary THere is no man or woman fit for mariage estate that is ignorant and consider not of the causes for which that holy estate was instituted of God But now in this latter age many rashly enter into it neither knowing the causes rightly nor vse it reuerently which is the occasion of many breaches betweene man and wife In former times men and women were onely maried but now boyes gerles that onely feele by natures instinct that mariage is a pleasant life and are onely led by that lawe of lust to runne and rush headlong into that sacred estate without feare or wit like a barde horse into a battle not fore-seeing nor considering the dangers and troubles they runne into which holy estate ought not to be vndertaken but with highest reuerence vnto and in the feare of God the author of it Many onely consider that God created man male and female the man for the woman the woman for the man and consider not the sacred vse nor the institution of mariage they looke not into the beginning how God created man and the woman of the man to the end they two should by this coniunction become one and of one heart and one minde in two bodies they can peraduenture saye that indeed the woman was made of the ribbe of the man but that that bone became flesh of his flesh and by that meanes they two became one they cannot conceiue and yet will aduenture without either examination or consideration of the danger to take a wife and the woman a husband their least duties to God not learned of them at all nor considered Hastie mariages bring commonly as hastie repentance not that praise worthie repentance for sinne but for the sorrowe their vnaduised mariage hath brought them vnto rashly vndertaken without asking counsell of God whence doe spring all the troubles iarres brawles and discontentes betweene the man and the wife thus vnaduisedly coupled together But man and wife conioyned together in the Lord namely where they onely aime to liue together in his holy feare and humblenesse of heart in a liuely faith craue his holy fauour and fatherly direction to guide and gouerne them and after due reuerence vnto the Lord they yeeld mutuall and godly loue one to another with due obedience to God and after one to the other labouring to keepe peace vnitie and concorde betweene themselues in ayding helping cherishing sustaining each other in pouertie as in riches in sickenesse as in health and be of like godly affection one towards another with daily mutuall prayers to God that he will giue a blessing vnto them they may assure themselues to liue in plentie and peace and whatsoeuer crosses troubles or afflictions befall them they encourage one the other in the feare of God to beare them together with equall patience and whatsoeuer blessing they receiue at the hands of God they together giue thankes for the same These maried folkes thinke it not sufficient as many doe to ioyne hand in hand a token of their intire affections one to the other but heart with heart in the feare of God neuer to be disioyned vntill death deuide them But how can hearts be truely ioyned together that are of contrarie dispositions as many proue to be that make showe of a godly loues beginning can bitter and sweet can loue and hatred can ioye and griefe dwell together and how can hearts contrarily affected comfort one the other in the Lord can a truely louing wife reioyce to see her husband grieue or can a religiously kinde husband sing seeing his wife lament will they not rather enquire the cause of each others sadnesse and seeke the meanes to remoue it their ioye sorrow should be one as they are one they should beare equally one anothers burthen and neuer to be bitter one towards the other It is against the nature of man to hurt wittingly or wilfully his owne flesh but rather to vse all meanes to perserue it and therefore as man and wife by this sacred coniunction are of twaine made as it were one intire bodie though disiunct in person how can the one seeke to hurte the other but they must both feele the smart Discorde and dislike betweene man and wife is a crosse of all crosses a griefe of all griefes and a miserie aboue all miseries vnto either partie fearing God for as peace and concorde betweene them buildeth and establisheth the house so quarels and brawles turne it vpside downe Peace and loue twixt man and wife makes bitter waters sweet but hatred and iarres bring best things out of taste The good agreement betweene man and wife is one of the three things commended by God and man and the contrarie condemned of both If the loue and vnitie of brethren bee so sweete and pleasant a thing as that Dauid compares it to the most pretious oyntment what may be thought of the mutuall loue and godly agreement betweene a man and his wife when as either of them is to forsake father and mother brother and sister and all friends to betake them each to other A miserable thing it is and aboue all other former times in this our age to be lamented to see and obserue and many times to feele the discordes and quarels that arise betweene the husband and the wife the
a blessing Beware thou seeke not to the reputed cunning men and women who are supposed to heale by their Charmes and Spels who if they preuaile in any cure it is by the permission of God by the deuill The surest remedie is to haue thy recourse to God and not to Baalzâ—bâ—b as Ahaziah who dyed the death for running to Witches and Wizards the limbs of the deuill but put thy trust in the all-sufficient God alone vsing such lawfull meanes as hee hath appointed both for the ease of thy soule and health of thy body and then recommend the issue to him with godly patience committing thy will to his will If he restore thee to thy former health be thou thankfull to him and let thy thankfulnes appeare by a new and godly course of life and true obedience If he haue otherwise determined of thee namely to call thee out of this miserable mortall life reioyce and be glad for thy soule now sicke in sin shall suddainly receiue a new and glorious life thy body now oppressed with griefe shall be at rest though it perish and rot in the graue it shall rise againe and meete the soule and be thereunto again vnited with farre greater glory then thy hart can thinke In the meane time seeke or thinke of nothing but of the things that are aboue and endeuour to haue thy heart thine vnderstanding thoughts and affections so qualified and the Lampe of faith in the merits of Christ so liuely enlightned that thou mayest ioyfully meet the Bridegrome Christ in soule and body when hee shall appeare in the cloudes in glory and maiestie to giue euery man according to his works Be not afraide therefore of Death it is but the seperation of the soule now as in a prison from the body which is but a carkasse full of naturall infirmities which the soule possesseth for a little time fraught onely with miseries with griefe and feare which being dissolued shall bring end to all thy cares dangers feares miseries and afflictions and bring thee to the Paradise of God where thou shalt feele no more of these vnsauourie things of the flesh for the Lord will transforme this thy vile base and corrupt body and make it like vnto his most glorious body Then shalt thou be no more subiect to sinne or sicknesse no aduersity nor anguish shall afflict thee no enemies shall trouble thee no slanders disgrace thee And where thou art here mortall subiect to all the former euils thou shalt be there immortall The face of God which is the fountaine of light shall there shine vpon thee and no darknesse shall ouershadow thee all perfection of ioy glory and gladnesse thou shalt finde there and be so plentifully filled with the contemplation of the aboundance of those heauenly pleasures that you will or can delight in nothing but in the beholding of the most glorious face of Iesus Christ and onely delight in the association of that heauenly company which ioyes if thou truly knewest here as thou shalt enioy them there Thou wouldest be content rather to endure a thousand deaths then to be depriued of them Prepare thy selfe therefore with all diuine furniture with faith hope loue and all other holy and heauenly affections to goe the way of all flesh Lay willingly downe thy carnall part in the graue to become dust whereof it was made and commend thy soule into the hands of God that gaue it and of Iesus Christ who redeemed it And according to the counsell that God gaue to Hezekiah set thy house in order And aboue this thy corporaâ—l habitation set thy soule in order and as much as in thee lyeth haue peace with all men Depart in the loue of and to thine enemies And as farre as the possibilitie of thy earthlie substance will extend owe nothing to any man when thou departest hence but loue and thinke not much neither let it grieue or trouble thy minde to leaue thy worldly wealth which was but lent thee thy father mother wife children lands possessions siluer gold and the things that haue beene or are most deare vnto thee to hasten to this heauenlie habitation where eternall glorie shall bee thy wealth the eternall God thy Father Iesus Christ thy brother all the Saints and Angels and all the holie and most glorious heauenlie companie shall bee far more comfortable vnto thee then all the former who were both mortall and inconstant And in steede of the base and vncertaine possessions in the earth thou shalt possesse a Kingdome for euer In steede of thy gold and siluer and thy most precious Iewels thou here for a moment enioyest thou shalt enhabite a Citie whose walls are gold garnished with all maner of precious stones farre excelling the rarest and richest that euer the earth yeilded whose beauty and excellencie the tongue of man no not of an Angell can truly expresse to our apprehension But shadowed out vnto vs vnder these most precious ornaments incomprehensible Should any carnall consideration therfore hinder thee from a willing minde to change this thy mortall and miserable life as short as euill for a life so glorious and permanent The longer thou continuest here the more cause thou hast to desire to be dissolued for that thou here doest augment daily thy sinnes and euery day brings new griefe Prepare thy selfe therefore without delay make thee readie that when GOD shall call thee thou mayest be willing to goe And for thy better preparation vse prayer often in a liuely faith and if thine infirmitie will permit thee vse this prayer following or any other godly prayer with holy meditation to season thy soule through the holy Ghost commending thy spirit vnto God in Iesus Christ. A Prayer to be often said of a sicke man or woman O Lord my GOD and my most louing and mercifull Father in thy beloued Sonne Iesus Christ I thy most vnworthy creature heauie laden with the burthen of my manifold and grieuous sinnes much oppressed with the infirmity and sicknesse which thou hast iustly inflicted vpon my corrupt and weake body doe humbly pray thee to pardon my sinnes and giue me patience to beare this thy gentle correction in which I doe heartily submit my selfe vnto thy heauenly will whether it be thy pleasure to permit me yet a little while to enioy the health of my body to serue thee or to take my soule out of the lothsome prison of my sinfull carkasse into thine owne hands where I know it shall be safe and not perish And therefore Lord giue me a godly contented minde to suffer my body to returne vnto the earth from whence it was taken there to rest vntill it shall please thee to raise it againe at the last resurrection and to make it of a mortall an immortall and of a corruptible to make it a perfectly glorious body In the meane time O Lord I doe beseech thee to fortifie and strengthen my soule against all
it is decreed it must Thou must forgoe it all and giue account for all If thou voluntarily leaue them for Christes sake thou shalt finde a farre greater treasure in heauen If thou haue some beneficiall Office or place of dignitie in the world and for the profession of Christ thou bee thrust from it and lose thine honour and reputation among men what losest thou seeing thou art sure of a more high and excellent place and of farre greater honour in heauen If thy Parents thy friends contrarily minded disdaine thee discountenance thee and cast thee cleane out of their fauour and societie and seeme to be ashamed of thee vndergoe it with godly patience for Christ for whose sake thou endurest these things will not be ashamed of thee but will acknowledge thee to be his adopted brother and coheire with him of the Kingdome of his Father Thinke it therfore an honour and no shame vnto thee to be brought forth in the open view and vpon the publick stage of the world to be a witnesse of the truth of Christ and to suffer for the same Thou shalt be esteemed in the sight of good and godly men aboue those that onely preach it and barely professe it when there is no feare of troubles for it and in the time of persecution will not auowe vnto the world by their suffering what they haue taught and outwardly professed in the world for it is one thing to professe and publish the truth of Christ with the mouth in time of peace and another thing to auouch it boldly seeing trouble and euen death it selfe before their faces for the constant perseuerance in the same It is commonly reputed an ignominious thing to be imprisoned and a more reproachfull thing to be put to death after the manner of wicked men But let not this at all daunt thee for Christ at his death whose cause thou maintainest contented himselfe to be hanged as a Thiefe and a Murtherer for such were the companions of his death yet was the Crosse whereon he suffered a more triumphant Chariot of honour then the most pompous triumph of the greatest Monarch of the world for his greatest victories And be thou assured that if thy lot in the wisedome and loue of God be such towards thee as to number thee among his faithfull witnesses constantly suffering death for his sake thou shalt be crowned among the victorious Martyrs Remember the most honourable title that St. Paul giueth vnto that constant seruant of Christ Stephen stiling him the Martyr of Iesus Christ And of Antipas whom St. Iohn calleth a faithfull Martyr of Christ Then which there cannot be a more glorious remembrance of the dead Thinke not therefore that thou art the first that hath suffered for Christ but if thou look into the eleuenth of the Hebrewes thou shalt see such a cloude of like witnesses that haue professed and suffered as thou doest as will encourage thee to stand fast vnto the end And if thou consider the times not farre past thou mayst vnderstand of an infinite number of thine owne Country men and women euen the weakest sexe who haue gone the same way before thee with vnuanquishable patience euen to death and therefore with like patience runne the same race looking vnto Iesus Christ the Author and finisher of thy faith who for the ioy that was set before him endured the bitter death of the Crosse and despised the shame and is set at the right hand of the Throne of God where thou shalt behold him and his glory and be pertaker of it after thou hast endured a little speaking against of sinners persecution and death it selfe which is the most glorious liuerie of Gods dearest children whereby they are fashioned to the image of their Redeemer and which shall giue an end to all thy sorrowes and shame and bring thee to endlesse ioy and glory which not onely the Apostles of Christ but euen late Martyrs vnderstoode reiâ—yâ—ing that they were accounted wâ—rthy of the honour to suffer for their Masters sake What canst thou then less conceiue but that it is the meere loue of God in Christ towards thee to make choyse of thee among and aboue many others to afford thee this honour to be a maintainer of the glory and authority of the truth of Christ against the falshood and false authority assumed by Antichrist Therefore let it not trouble thee neither be thou the more fearefull to stand fast in thy profession because thou seest a million of Newters on euery side of thee who for the loue of their riches pleasures and carnall commodities the nicenesse of their owne dainty flesh their affection to father mother wife children and esteemed friends to be content to runne with the time and in steede of renouncing the things of this world for Christ rather to renounce Christ for the world In what a miserable case are these poore people poore be they neuer so rich that hold it a thing indifferent to follow God or Baal Christ or Antichrist forgetting that Christ dyed for them and that they shold acknowledge him whose bloud not Antichristian Bulls and Pardons must clense them from or to dye in their sinnes The reason of this their luke-warmenesse is for that the spirit of God by whom the faithfull haue power and strength to maintaine the truth to death dwelleth not in them who worketh mightily in the children of Saluation so that persecution for the same daunteth them not scourgings whippings scossings mockings stonings burning or whatsoeuer death cannot remoue their constancie in the profession of what they beleeue To conclude therefore with thee who art now vnder the crosse of persecution not knowing what end the Lord wil make with thee submit thy selfe to his will vndergoe with godly patience whatsoeuer the aduersaries of the Gospel of Christ shall lay vpon thy body thy soule they cannot touch and commend both thy body and thy soule into the hands and good pleasure of GOD thy heauenly Father in Christ in whom thou art blessed for whom thou sufferest and for whose sake thou shalt receiue a glorious reward In hope of which reward all the former Martyrs that haue beene content to spend their liues for Christ were willing to lay downe their liues desiring to be dissolued and to see the face of him for whom they suffered Feare not therefore if occasion so require to yeeld thy body to the mercilesse enemies of Christ they may kill the body the soule they cannot touch But if thou shouldest forsake him he will forsake thee and hee it is that can kill thy body and thy soule too and cast both into hell If a man take away thy life for Christ they doe thee a fauour against their willes they depriue thee of a mortall that thou maist immediatly receiue an immortall and a most glorious life from their tyrannie thou shalt be transported to the louing imbracements of thy
mentall vertues and therefore he that in euery iniury crosse or affliction grosly bewrayeth his impatience howsoeuer he may otherwise seeme not moued he is neither rightly religious nor truely vertuous No man indeed can be truly knowne to be a religious or a vertuous man vnlesse hee meete with the contraries of both and therein shew his valour constancie and patience in maintaining the one and shewing testimonies of the other for the man that is carried away or shewes himselfe newter betweene true and false Religion or betweene vertue and vice hath neither Religion nor vertue Men are not knowne to be truly vertuous but by tryall for as there are certaine minerals that seeme to be the very mother of gold or siluer which being cast into the fire appeare onely sulferous euaporate and turne to smoake so is there a kind of meeke and ciuile behauiour in some men that giueth a certaine outward faire lustre and show that it will beare the teste but when it is tryed by the fire of affliction crosses troubles iniuries reproches and the like it will appeare a meere shadowe without any true shew of that substantiall approued vertue Who is not a vertuous and valorous man before he be tryed and who is not a patient man before he be crost there be many seeming very valiant stout and strong men not dismaid or daunted at any perill yet if but a feauer take them the goute possesse them sickenesse befall them or any affliction crosse them they will either shewe their impatience by murmuring or grudging hanging downe their heads like a Bul-rush or sigh and groane vnder the burthen as if Maluerne hils were fallen vpon them and this for want of patience A rich man as long as he enioyeth health wealth and honour wished successe in all his affaires nothing crossing him how can he but be patient in shewe But when his wealth turneth into want his health into sickenesse his honour into disgrace when aduerse successe crosses his hopes and affliction seize vpon him as hee is a man without patience he will change his countenance and by his gesture and cariage shewe himselfe ashamed of the change of his estate fretting himselfe in the gall of his bitter impatience as if God did him iniurie thus to correct him whence also ariseth to the increase of his impatience diuersities of mens censures as they did of holy Iob. Surely sayes one he is a wicked man that God doth thus punish him Another Hee was very prodigall hee was proude vaineglorious ambitious the like and therefore hath God laid this heauie crosse vpon him as though they had liued in the very bosome of the man were priuie to the very counsell of God in punishing or correcting him In like manner doth the vnaduised multitude commonly censure all men afflicted be it by sorrow for sinne sickenesse and some lingring disease pouertie imprisonment banishment enemies shipwracke losse of goods by whatsoeuer meanes stubbornnesse of children disquietnesse betweene maried couples and in what sort soeuer a man is afflicted and visited by the hand of God though in his speciall loue hee must looke for censures according to the peruerse cenceits and opinions of such as seeme to knowe the very cause of Gods punishing and correcting men here belowe and yet neither looke into themselues nor knowe nor thinke of the cause of causes Seeing then that the best and dearest children of God are subiect to afflictions crosses and troubles of infinite kindes and consequently to the rash censures of the braine-sicke vulgar haue they not all good cause to flie vnto God for this heauenâ—y vertue Patience to support and sustaine them not onely in their proper crosses but in the vniust scandals of idle men But iudge thou no man hee standeth or falleth he is comforted or crossed according to the good pleasure of God and receiue thou thy lot whatsoeuer it be prosperous or aduerse as sent of God for thy good If he visit thee with sickenesse accept it as his fatherly chastisement to reforme thee before thou goe hence thereby summoning thee shortly to appeare before the Throne of his Maiestie If thou become poore bereft of all thy goods and haue little or nothing left content thy selfe consider thou hast yet more left thee then thou broughtest into the world with thee and were thou neuer so rich hadst thou neuer so great possessions neuer so high place of dignitie in the world thou must be taken from all thou must leaue all and all must leaue thee and as thy life is short so are thy pleasures crosses and patience of no long continuance If thou be backe-bitten and slaundered thinke thy selfe no better nor more worthy the applause of the world then Christs owne Apostles and Christ him selfe who were scoffed at railed vpon and scornefully reuiled yet reuiled not but with patience endured buffetings stripes and death in greatest meekenes If thou be banished thine owne natiue Countrie and from thy dearest friends inforced to wander from Countrie to Countrie from Citie to Citie remember wee are all strangers and pilgrims in this world and nothing better resembleth our earthly pilgrimage then doth banishment which may moue vs to thinke seriously and continually of a permanent Citie promised after our long and tedious exile which endureth but a little season and then wee returne ariue and shall be receiued into the Countrie of peace and Citie of perpetuall freedome If thou be troubled with disobedient and refractarie children haue patience remember Adam had a Kayne Abraham an Ismaël Izaacke an Esaii Dauid an Absalon It is the case of many a godly and religious father to haue an vngodly sonne If thou be troubled with a disquiet proude sullen tarte and taunting wife be patient vnder thine vnpleasant yoake looke into the Scriptures and thou shalt finde many good and godly men to haue gone before thee that haue shewed thee the way to beare this erosse with patience as Moses his Zipporah Dauid his Michal and others and if thou looke neere at home thou shalt finde many of thy good neighbours sicke of thy disease and nothing can ease it but patience prayer good counsell in the feare of God These are the salues for euery sore the phisicke for euery disease and Antidotes against euery poysonous and pestilent passion of the minde And for thy better help I haue though indeed weakely in this Treatise endeauoured briefly to touch many of the crosses that may befall thee wherein if thou be ignorant thou maist therein learne in some measure how to prepare thee to the patient bearing of them wayting the Lords leisure and his good pleasure with prayer in a liuely faith in true repentance of all thy sinnes which are the cause of all thy troubles crosses and calamities whatsoeuer and thou shalt finde the burthen of them light and the yoake which the Lord layeth vpon thee easie And be assured that if God correct thee here he loueth thee and doth it to
his sonne to goodnesse and to a godly course of life and cannot should be too much discouraged and cast downe through sorrow and griefe that hee should be the father of such a sonne let him but consider that his sonne though wicked is the creature of God knowne vnto him before hee was formed in the wombe his beginning course of life and end determined by God and the meanes and therefore when such a father hath done his vttermost godly endeauour to make his sonne good by counsell and findes contrarie effects of his hope let him onely praye for him The best and last dutie that a louing and well-wishing father can show for the good of his best beloued sonne If this worke not the reformation of his wicked childe hee may cast off all sorrowe and griefe for that he cannot reclaime him and before the world he may iustly disclaime him They therefore that will taxe and condeme such a father for hauing such an vngodly person to his sonne are vncharitable as long as the wickednesse of his sonne proceedes not of any neglect or knowne error of the father Doe we not vnderstand that most godly parents hauing two or more sonnes of equall education and equally instructed that the one proues tractable vertuous religious fearing God and another cleane contrarie Had not Izaak by his wife Rebecha two sonnes borne twinnes Esau and Iaakob the one wicked the other the Elect of God shall wee thinke that Kayne that Reprobate was not as well instructed in the feare of God by Adam his father as Abel was yet the one a murtherer and the other a godly religious and milde man Shall we thinke that Dauid instructed not his sonne Absolon in the feare of God though hee became a rebell against his owne father And what shall we thinke of Ismael the sonne of Abraham the father of the faithfull was it for want of diuine instruction that he became a fierce and cruell man whose hand was against euery man and euery mans hand against him Will any man be so iniurious or so vncharitable to iudge or condemne these godly parents for the wickednesse of their children doth it not hereby appeare that good men notwithstanding all their care diligence to make them good may haue wicked children neither doth it follow that wicked men haue alwayes vngodly children It is God who as hee formes the bodies of good and bad in the wombe so he frames the mindes of such as he intendeth to make the vessels of saluation and giueth them the meanes to become wise in him religious and faithfull in him yet yeeldeth he the libertie of his word equally alike to both but they haue not both equall grace to imbrace and to practise it alike Idolatrous Ahaz had religious Hezekiah good Hezekiah had wicked Manasses wicked Amon had godly Iosiah Iosiah idolatrous Iehoahaz Infinite are the examples in all ages showing that good men haue had wicked children and wicked fathers good sonnes that no man should presume vpon the towardnesse or dispaire of the vngodly beginning of his children but to commend both to the goodnes and prouidence of God in faithfull prayer vsing the meanes leauing the wicked to God in prayer for their reformation and the godly to him for continuance and perseuerance vnto the end in whose secret counsell it is determined what shall be the end of them that feare not God nor reuerence man A Prayer to bee vsed of godly parents for the reformation of vngodly and disobedient children and for patience not ouermuch to afflict themselues for the stubbornesse and disobedience of a wicked sonne O Gracious mercifull powerfull euermore louing Lord God the Creator of all man-kind to whom thou giuest and into whome thou infusest diuers and seuerall portions of vnderstanding wit wisedome and grace and none by nature can attaine vnto the least measure of these blessings but by thee Fathers thou hast ordained to beget and Mothers to conceiue and beare fruite to the increase and multiplication of humane kinde but it is not left vnto the power of parents to propagate grace in their seede Seeing then good Father that thou hast giuen vs power to propagate their earthly and carnall parts yet all formed by thee in the wombe and hast reserued vnto thy selfe the disposition of their mindes and affections So I humbly pray and beseech thee to dispose the inclination of them whome thou hast giuen me power to beget beget in them good and godly desires reforme the vngodly life and conuersation of that disobedient and vagodly son of mine whose behauiour is much grieuous vnto me and I doe confesse that mine owne sinnes haue prouoked thee to anger against me and thy displeasure appeareth in that hee whome I receiued in hope to be a comfort vnto me and the staffe of mine olde age is become not onely disobedient vnto me but as it were rebellious against thee and thy counsell Thou art a God righteous absolutely holy hating iniquitie it cannot be hid from thee how I haue neglected the training him vp in thy feare Yet thou also knowest O Lord that I haue laboured and endeuoured by my best counsell to winne him to the feare and seruice of thee if it haue beene in vaine thou hast wisedome and power to supply in him what is defectiue in me to giue him I haue endeuoured to make him to know thee and to walke in thy wayes but he hath contemned mine instructions and cast my counsell behinde his backe hee will not vnderstand that thou art a God of power to punish him or a God of mercie to comfort him if he returne from his sinnes to the obedience of thee Lord it is onely in thee to reclaime him as thou didst the prodigall sonne whome thou vouchsafedst to receiue vnto mercie after his long going astray whereby it appeareth that no man erreth so farre but thou canst recall him O recall this mine erronious sonne reduce him into the feare of thy great name and make him one of the sheepfolde of thy Saints He is the worke of thine owne hands O Lord though I wretched man begat him in corruption his mother conceiued him in sinne and bare him in miserie yet are these no hinderance to the worke of thy grace in him For what is or hath bin the man that hath not had the like corrupt beginning thine owne begotten Sonne excepted Enoch that walked vprightly before thee Abraham the father of the faithfull Eliah and Iohn Baptist and all thine Elect vessels came by nature of the same corrupt seed as hath this though my vngodly sonne Thou wert pleased to sanctifie these fore-fathers of ours whome if thou hadst left vnto themselues they had beene as this my sonne ready to lift vp their heeles against their parents and thee Lord giue thou grace wisedome faith and obedience vnto this my sonne these are thine and onely thine to giue I indeed haue
originally from Sathan who moueth and maketh mariages as farre as in him lyeth betweene vnequals which may import many inconuenient matches not made in the feare and reuerence of God great inequality of yeares and much difference in estates cause often disparagements Houses and riches are the inheritance of Fathers but a prudent and vertuous wife is the gift of God And he that findeth such a one recâ—iueth a fauour from the Lord. But how can any man thinke that God will bestow such a fauour vpon him without asking Abrahams seruant that was but put in trust to get a wife for Isaack his Maisters sonne went not rashly and as the prouerbe is hand ouer head in this weighty businesse as to take the first that came to hand as many doe that conclude the match at the first sight But hee prayed vnto the Lord to send him good speede in the choyse and wayted the Lords prouidence and besought him to shew him certaine probable tokens that the mayde Rebecka was she whom God had appointed for Isaack That businesse which is begun with faithfull Prayer to God seldome or neuer succeedeth ill And aboue all other earthly occasions there is none of higher importance then the choyse of a wife or a husband either of them being an assured crosse or a comfort as long as both of them doe liue And for want of this heauenly beginning faithfull Prayer to God it many times comes to a helliâ—h ending which may be a motiue to stirre vp men and women intending to entertaine this holy estate to craue direction and wisedome from God both for their choyse and peace in that estate And because many already coupled together seeme discontent and afflicted in minde at their mutuall crosses now past reuocation They must be content to make a vertue of necessity namely to vndergoe the burthen that the one vnkindly layes vpon another and to pray either that God will ease it or giue them patience to beare it A Prayer fit to be said by man and wife together or by either of them at any time in priuate O Lord our GOD most mercifull and louing Father in Iesus Christ vouchsafe as it hath pleased thee of thy great mercy to conioyne vs man and wife together according to thy holy institution in the beginning So let our hearts be truly conioyned vnto thee in a liuely faith and true obedience And so frame our affections one towardes another as there appeare no cause of breach of our sincere mutuall duties to the offence of thee But by thy blessing wee may as long as we liue endeuour to preserue and maintaine peace and vnity betweene our selues being a thing pleasing vnto thee Endue vs both Lord with thy grace heauenly spirit that as thou hast by thy holy ordinance of â—wayne now made vs one so our hearts affections and enclinations may be euer one not according to our naturall dispositions but answerable to thy blessed commandements that wee giue no cause of offence each to other and that wee may euer endeuour to continue perfect and mutable in our mutuall loue which we by nature cannot doe for wee are corrupt and sinfull of our selues and alwayes most enclinable to forbidden things We haue also O Lord thou knowest a subtill and malicious aduersarie who striueth to crosse in vs all good desires and to peruert our best duties to raise discordes debates quarels and as much as in him is to breake the band of fidelity which we made each to other before thee He began thou knowest O Lord with the first couple Adam and Heuah It was he that seduced the woman and shee by his meanes betrayed the man and so subuerted their blessed estate of innocencie and made them subiect to all kindes of miseries and their posterities whereof we thy poore seruants are feeble and sinfull members And as he began in malice and subtilty to betray our first Parents So is he alwayes busie to sowe the seedes of debate and strife betweene vs. But Lord preuent him and assise vs by thy power that we may haue power to resist him and all his suggestions and tentations Then as thou Lord hast ioyned vs together nothing shall seperate our mutuall loues but Death And forasmuch Lord as this estate though in it selfe honorable may bring vpon vs many troubles crosses and afflictions incident to marriage estate in the world yet by thy fatherly blessing we shall be able to vndergoe them with patience or to auoyd them with thankfulnes It is not in vs in our wisedomes strength or policies to preuent or auoyde the infinite troubles and vexations which this estate bringeth with it Therfore we humbly pray thee O Lord to endue vs with wisedome froÌ„ aboue that whatsoeuer thou haue determined shall befall vs be it pouerty or plenty sicknesse or health weale or woe we may embrace the one with patience the other with thanks And in both support vs in thy loue guide vs by thy grace protect vs by thy power and prouide for vs in thy prouidence If pouerty or want assaile vs supply our necessities if riches encrease make vs thankfull and alienate our hearts from too much loue of them If sicknesse or any corporall infirmity ceaze vs be thou our Physician to cure vs If health continue leaue vs not in security but giue vs watchfull hearts to wayte the time of thy visitation If the fruits of our bodies encrease encrease to vs the meanes to sustaine them both with corporall spirituall necessaries And prepare vs for the day of our departure out of this mortall life and in the meane time so season vs in all heauenly and diuine knowledge with true faith and perfect obedience vnto thee as that day may be vnto vs the first day of our euerlasting Sabaoth Be thou also wee humbly beseech thee O Lord a continuall guide vnto vs in our calling Blesse vnto vs and vnder our hands whatsoeuer we endeuor to performe in thy feare and let thy blessing be vpon all that appertaineth vnto vs. If enemies seeke to molest vs to trouble vs or to hurt vs preuent them of their euill deuices and graunt that wee giue no cause of offence to any nor be stirred vp to reuenge vpon euery light occasion but vpon all occasions to leaue the reuenge to thee And that we may seeke to maintaine peace with all men to loue our neighbours to comfort the comfortlesse and as farre as thou shalt be pleased to enable vs to hâ—lpe succour and relieue the poore and needie and to doe vnto other men as wee desire other men to doe vnto vs To guide and gouerne our family in thy feare to frequent the places where thy holy word is preached seeking the Kingdome of Iesus Christ and to doe all other holy duties according to thy will vnto our liues end Amen O Lord encrease our faith and our mutuall loue one towards another How the Husband ought to behaue himselfe towards his
discontented Wife IT is before shewed and there is none that is or ought to be of either sex ignorant that the man and the wife are of two distinct persons made one entire misticall body The man the head of the woman and the woman a principall member of that head whom she ought to obay In the head is or ought to be reason wisedome iudgement and all other gifts whereby it may rightly guide and direct the inferiour members and the whole body Therfore thou man that hast taken a wife and made her a member of thine owne body thou art bound to loue her with a perfect loue according to the counsell of the counsell of the Apostle who spake by the spirit of God Let euery man loue his wife as himselfe And this loue consisteth in cherishing her in giuing her competent maintenance in defending her from danger as thou thy selfe desirest to cherish maintaine and defend thine owne person Thou must dwell with her thou must doe vnto her all such duties as that holy estate whereunto you haue beene both called and as the faith plighted each to other requireth And thou husband thinke not that because she is the weaker and made subiect vnto thee that thou therefore shouldest neglect her or tiranize ouer her but to be so much the more tender ouer her by how much she is weaker Thou must loue her as Christ loueth the Church whereof thou art a member and gaue his life for it And thinke not that because thy wife hath some infirmities that therefore it is lawfull for thee to loathe her or leaue her for if Christ should so deale with his Church or with thee a member of it as to cast it or thee off for the blemishes of it who could be loued of him Let not therefore euery fault that she commits in her weakenesse cause thee to be bitter vnto her in words gesture or deedes for by this meanes thou mayest cause the meekest woman to become like one of the furies But dwell with her as a man of knowledge in passing by her infirmity for if thou loue her thou wilt not obserue at least reproue all that shee doth through weakenes against thy liking If her faults be wilfull and in thine opinion grosse and intollerable such as by nature thou seemest not to be able to beare Shew not in thy hastines a more grosse infirmity in being too furious but reproue her with meekenesse admonish her gently Let thy corrections be comfortable counsell strike her not for it is the greatest reproach in the world for a man to beate his wife And it is the way in deede though she loued thee before to cause her to hate thee And what gaynest thou by thy seuerity but a heape of coales vpon thine own head If thou canst reclaime her by counsell thou shewest great wisedome If thou canst beare with her faults so they be not capitall against God thou shalt be commended of all good men for thy patience If neither reproofe nor counsell nor conniuencie will bring her to obay thee yet art thou not to leaue her But consider seriously with thy selfe whether the cause or some great part of it be not in thee whereby shee is moued to speake or doe that whereat thou takest offence Art thou not a Gamester art thou not Prodigall of thy purse art thou not idle in thy calling art thou not often in Tauernes Ale-houses in lewde and suspicious companies consuming that vpon strangers which should maintaine thine estate and family when peraduenture thy wife and children languish in penurie at home hast thou not or dost thou not purpose to make away some things that thy wife brought thee goods or lands against her will If any of these occasions moue her thou hast reason to beare with her and more reason to reforme thy selfe for commonly men thus giuen ouer to these vngodly courses are most apte to abuse their wiues if thou be innocent free from these and thy wife through her vnciuile and immodest cariage towards thee doe abuse thee and neither counsell nor kindnesse gentle intreatie nor seuerest threates will calme her thou must sit downe by it in silence and saye It is my crosse and I will beare it The best course thou canst take to remoue this inconuenience is for thee to giue good example to liue vertuously to serue God and to praye with her and for her to repent thee of thy sinnes vnfainedly and suffer these domesticall and houshold crosses patiently Be not wilfull nor too wise in thine owne conceite as to thinke thou canst tame thy wife more by tyrannie then tractability search and peraduenture thou shalt finde thine owne faultes as great or greater then hers If thou could as well see thine owne as thou obseruest hers thou wouldest acknowledge thine owne sinnes hath caused her to become a trouble vnto thee reforme therefore what is amisse in thee and thou shalt finde a comfortable issue of thy good endeauours and prayer A Prayer to be said often of a man who hath a wife of refractarie conditions O Gratious Lord God mercifull and euer-louing Father in Iesus Christ who hast the disposing of all hearts the working and setling of all good affections in man and wife the one towards the other Thou art the Father of all that loue thee the keeper and helper of all that come vnto thee in a liuely faith who receiue comfort of thee in whatsoeuer trouble or affliction I humble my selfe before thee and pray thee in the name of Iesus Christ to pardon and to forgiue me my sinnes the ground of all my troubles the greatest whereof O Lord I finde to be the vnquietnesse of my wife and her infirmities thou gauest her me and I tooke her for a helper but thou seest she showeth her selfe rather a crosse then a comfort vnto me to the griefe of my heart and the more by reason we offend thee by our contentions Lord consider her weakenesse and her infirmities and giue her wisedome and grace to reforme them The corruption of nature O Lord is strong in vs both in her to commit things grieuous vnto mee in me too great and vnaduised reproofe of her Lord vouchsafe vnto vs both thy holy Spirit worke in vs conformitie and obedience to thy will patience to beare one the others weakenesse I cannot Lord excuse or cleere my selfe of deseruing thy iust displeasure towards me by reason of mine owne sinnes but must and doe confesse my selfe worthily crossed by her that should haue bin my comfort for how can I expect obedience of her that is by nature weake when I my selfe that shoulde showe more strength obey not thee O Lord reforme in me whatsoeuer thou seest imperfect then maist thou in mercie be pleased to reforme her We came not together Lord without thy prouidence wee were conioyned by thee and by thee commanded to loue and to cherish one the other