Endlesse spring and endlesse peace Here is musicke heauen filling Sweetnesse euermore distilling Here is neither spot nor taint No defect nor no complaint No man crooked great nor small But to Christ conformed all Blessed towne diuinely graced On a Rocke so strongly placed Seated sure from feare of warre I salute thy walles from farre Thee I see and thee I long for Thee I seeke and thee I groane for O what Ioy thy dwellers tast All in pleasure first and last What full enioying blisse diuine What Iewels on thy walles do shine Ruby Iacinth Chalcedon Knowne to them within alone In this glorious Company In these streets of Syon I With Iob Moses and Eliah Will sing the heauenly Heluiah An Euery-dayes-Sacrifice or a Morning prayer for any day in the weeke or euery day in the Weeke TO thee the God of Heauen and Earth that by thy wisdome â—ast ordained all things by thy power created all things and by thy bounty and mercy as the two breasts of thy neuer dryed goodnesse preseruest and sustainest all things all the Creatures in the world that thy hands haue fashioned both man and beast both plant and flower whatsoeuer and wheresoeuer To thee alone most mercifull Father and into thy protection do I render my soule and body and the whole gouernement thereof as an vnworthy sacrifice beseeching theâ— that it may bee acceptable vnto thée preserue me O Lord this day without sinne this weeke following and all the dayes of my life and as thou hast renued this day vnto me and brought me safely to the beginning therof so giue me grace to renue my life from my former sinnes that I may now amend whatsoeuer heretofore hath beene amisse that I may be more carefull to walke in thy wayes then euer I was carelesse to run out of them I confesse O Lord that it is thy mercy that indureth for euer and thy compassion which neuer failes that is the cause that I haue not bene long ago consumed for with thee ô Lord there is mercy plenteous redemption Psal 130. 4. In the multitude therefore of thy mercyes and confidence in thy merits I intreat thee that thou wouldest not enter into iudgement with thy seruant neither be extreme to marke what hitherto I haue done amisse for if thou doest then no flesh can be iustified in thy sight I haue beene borne in sinne and in iniquity hath my mother conceiued me and in thought word and deed I haue broken all thy Commaundements and there remaines nothing for mee but shame and confusion I haue done more against thee this weeke then I haue done for thee since I was borne following the desires of mine owne will and the lusts and concupiscences of mine owne flesh not caring to be gouerned by thy holy word and Spirit and which is worse yet haue I not resolued to amend what father but thou would suffer this contempt and bee neglected still O where is my feare O where is my loue yet when I thinke vpon thy Son all my griefe is turned into ioy because his righteousnesse for me is more then my vnrighteousnesse against my selfe settle my faith in thy beloued that I may truly meditate what hee hath done for me that that sin that launced his side may also launce my soule with such effect that I may neuer againe commit that with delight that thou hast sustained with such passion and heauinesse And here O Lord from the bottome of mine heart I render vnto thee thanks for all the blessings and benefites thou hast bestowed vpon me both in my soule and body for my election redemption sanctification and preseruation from my youth vntill this present day howre by thy most gratious loue and prouidence And so good Lord I further beseech thee protect me this day and all the dayes of my life from all euill that may hurt me and from falling into any grosse sinne that should offend thee be thou present and assistant to all my good indeuours and blesse thou my purposes and intentions and let thy good spirit so rule my heart that all that I shall doe thinke or speake may be to thy glory and the good of others and the peace of mine owne conscience And for the better successe therein into thine hands I commend my selfe my soule and body my wayes and actions and all that appertaine vnto me to thy gratious protection and direction bee fauourable vnto me therefore O Lord and vnto all them that feare thee be neere vnto all such as faithfully call vpon thy name and comfort all such as be sicke or comfortlesse or by any crosse or affliction that thou hast layd vpon them either outwardly in body or inwardly in minde and by daily and howerly presidences of death and mortality before mine eyes teach me to be mindfull of mine owne end to set it alwayes in my view to make my preparation by faith and repentance thereafter that I may be ready whensoeuer thou shalt call me out of this wretched life and that whether I liue or dye I may rest in thée to thy eternall glory my euerlasting saluation through Iesus Christ my only Sauiour Redeemer in the mediation of whose blessed name I conclude this my vnperfect praier in that forme modell of prayer which he that must heare our prayers haue mercy vpon vs or we perish euerlastingly hath prescribed in forme sanctified with his own lips saying Our father c. An Euening prayer for any day in the week or euery day in the weeke for a priuate person O Eternal God most mercifull Father the faithfull guardian both of our bodies and soules who art about my bed knowest my down-lying mine vprising and art neâ—e vnto all such that call vpon thee in truth and sincerity bee present therefore O Lord I wretchâ—d sinner do beseech thee and with thy mercy couer the multitude of my sins which like a leprosie haue run ouer my whole body and so defiled both the outward and inward man that but for thy word promise sake and the examples of thy mercy and forgiuenesse so frequent and vsuall to sinners of so high a degree in offending such as were Peter Mary Magdalen the Publicane the Prodigall childe the Thiefe on the Crosse and others thy praying for thine enemies thy torments thy crucifiers many such examples of my comfort thy compassion that else with Iudas in the bitternesse of heart and desperation of mercy I should cry out My sinnes are greater then can be forgiuen so bee vtterly discouraged from presuming to come into thy presence considering the hardnesse of mine heart and the vnrulinesse of mine affection and the vncleanesse of my conuersation by meanes whereof I haue transgressed all thy lawes and broken thy Commandements and deserued thereby thy heauy displeasure which in iustice might draw from thy hand some fearefull punishment vpon this wretched body of mine and my soule to languish the death of
finger of thy good spirit I am bold to speake beeing but dust ashes prostrated before the throne of thy maiesty hartely to beseech and humbly intreate thee that thou wilt not deale with mee according to my deserts for then O Lord where should I stand to plead my case fire and brimstone should bee my portion to drinke that haue drunke downe sinnne as Behemoth drinketh downe water but thou art gracious compassionate therfore vnder the shadow of thy wings will I seeke for refuge desiring thee to naile all my sinnes to thy crosse that through thy sufferings I may obtaine remission thereof I am a sinner yet redeemed by thy pretious bloud a sinner I am remember thou camest into the world to saue sinners wherof I am chiefe lost in a wildernesse of errours wandring from thy presence helpe me O Lord or else who can deliuer me saue mee O Lord or else I perish for there is no redemption no saluation without thee heare him O Lord that coÌ„demneth himselfe caleth vpon thee O Sauiour whom wilt thou saue if yâ— sinner shall descend to perdition that dispaireth of himselfe and trusteth in thee O blessed Sauiour and Redeemer of the world aswage my griefe heale my diseases thou hast called me when I like the deafe Adder would not heare thy voyce wilt thou then turne away thy face when my cryes come vnto thee wilt thou suffer that to bee lost which thou purchasest at so deere a prise No Lord for thy mercies sake for thine owne sake sweet Iesus Of the danger of deferring our repentance with a praier suddenly to conceiue it and soone to practise it MErciful God and most louing father what may I render vnto thee for all thy benefits more in number then the moaths in the sunne or the sands by the sea-shore that hast made to be when I was not predestinated mee from yâ— beginning of the world to be in due time and season protected me in my mothers wombe carefully taken me out from thence euer since been my guardian to these years of my youth for all these thou requirest nought but thankfulnesse towards thee and remembrance of thee in my yonger yeares capacities and shall I neglect and deferre then to giue thee the gifts of thine owne giuing shall I giue the first of my life and best of mine yeares the strength and marrow of my dayes to the seruice of Sathan and think that thou wilt receiue me in my hoary age when sinne leaues me and I not it Good Lord wipe all such ingratitude out of my mind that I may with a present ioy felicity in thee imbrace thee in due time in some measure which hast done suffered so many things for my soule and body put farre from me O Lord the thoughts and imaginations of wicked men that vpon thy long suffering patience passe ouer their daies in mirth and iollity and thinke their latest yeares or last gaspes sufficient satisfaction for a lewd and long mis-spended life Thy father thy mother in the dayes of thy humanity loosing thee in the temple went but one dayes Iourney without thee but sought thee 3. dayes sorrowing before they found thee Hee yâ— hath lost thee many years must haue many yeares to finde thee againe and late and constrained repentance is seldome true repentance our time is not when wee our selues will but when God doth call heare wee must when he speaketh open we must when he knocketh else wee shall powre out our petitioÌ„s in vaine for when wee pray hee will not heare vs the first and best is his due more then we can giue or he expects and the last worst is not sufficient and hee iustly may and will reiect it Grant therefore mercifull Father that thy word may worke in vs so free and voluntary obedience to thy will that thou mayst accept it which in vs is willing subiection not by thy iudgements which is constrained obedience for feare of distruction which thou litle regardest O Lord take from me that common and dangerous sin of presumption presumption of thy mercies that thou desirest not the damnation of sinners that our yeares youth obseruation of diet curiosity of our health will carry vs to the lâ—st yeares of our expectation and when we draw neere to our end that then safely enough we may begin to thinke vpon thee all in due season And thus make presumption the rocke whereupon we shipwracke our soules and by the which many millions haue perished it drowned the old world it threw the rich glutton into hell Lord make my sence vnderstanding as a bulwark to beat back all the policies and assaults that Sathan can deuise to beat against with that engine that to day I may heare thy voice lest thou harden my heart And if I will deferre vpon hope and example make me that I rather feare the portion of the bad Thiefe then the successe of the good and let me not reâ—use thy grace in my health wheÌ„ thou offerest it lest when I shall craue it in my sicknesse thou refuse to giue it mee Touch mee O Lord with a consideration of the danger thereof that in time I may haue grace to call for thy grace to preuent it that I may now amend and not deferre till hereafter to the end to my death when there is no remedy but either I must to heauen or to hell to God or to the deuill and when that comfort is seldome found which presumptuously was imagined when the memory presentes fantasies and dreames the harte akes the handes tremblâ— the tongue faltereth the eyes wax dim checkes pale lips blacke feet weake and the whole body and soule possessed with anguish and griefe and terrour what repentance shall we then make when our sinnes are so great they ouer-presse vs our comfort so small that we haue noe feeling of it our time so short that we cannot thinke of them our friends weeping that they put vs out of them amasement distraction peeping wildly throughout all our sences miserable is that man in this case whose end and repentance comes so neare together-therefore Lord whatsoeuer at the time of my death I would wish to haue done grant that in this time of my health I may doe it and Lord make me vnderstaÌ„ding capable so wise in my generation so gratious in thy grace that foreknowing these things I may preuent them that with the wise virgines I may euer haue the oyle in my lampe that is bee in readinesse to goe with thee whensoeuer it please thee that now I heare thy voice when thou speakest vnto me be acquainted with thee that thou bee no stranger vnto me but a friend and a friend indeed as at all times so especially at this exigent last extremity which how long it may be I will not presume nor how short it may be dispaire but prepare my selfe against it my readinesse being my resolution that whensoeuer it
inioyng of these that seme what they are not as we haue allready examined that make thee to desire life that thou mayst reioyce therein the forsaking whereof maketh it death vnto thee to thinke of death yet know they are all but vanity thou must die aut sero aut setius eyther soner or later for there is no preuention no resistance can hinder it therefore that which must be imbrace willingly make a vertue of necessity and though thou mightest escape it yet it were but a madnes because if we peruert not the true nature of it it is the end of all misery and sorrow and labour and trauayle the gate that opens the may vnto all true pleasure happines whereof all in this world are but counterfets and shadowes so resolue thy selfe hereof prepare thy selfe hereto that the remembrance of thy passed dayes augment not the bitternes therof at the last hower and then thy paines shall not dismay thee because thou trauellest to bring forth eternall life which for the merry-madnesse of one hower take heed that thou lose not for euer But vse thy pleasures with such moderation euer remembring they are momentary he that hath most hath not all and he that least hath some that for a moments ioy thou reap not eternity of sorrow that thou loue them not so much y◠you forget God in whose presence is fullnesse of ioy at his right hand pleasures for euermore psal 16. and who giueth vs drinke out of a whole riuer of pleasures psal 36. contemne therefore these transitory pleasures and reserue your selues for pleasures there eternally compleat where neyther enuy nor iealousy nor sickenes nor taint shall alter or distast your happinesse where your ioy shall be euer present yet you cannot be filled rather you shall be filled but cannot be satisfied or if not satisfied then there is hunger or that you may then there is a loathing I know not how to expresse it Deus habet quod exhibeat God hath somthing there to bestow which I know not but ibi beata vita in fonte there is blessednes at the head of the spring not in cisternes that thou may be sure of and could you drinke vp the pleasures of the whole world at a draught as Cleopatra drunke the valew of 5. thousand pound yet remember it is but a draught quickly downe the throat and there hath an end and therefore I say againe vse them with moderation to sweeten and allay the many anguishes that if euer perdominant would vntimely waigh vs downe to our graues and we should faint in the middest of our race euer looking vp from these to that eternall rest and peace of mind which hereafter wee shall inioy and then when death shall approach neare vnto thee his aspect shall not be fearfull which shall end all our miseries heale all our infirmities wipe away all discontents in it we shall there finde an end of sinning an end of all vncleanesse an end of all wandering thoughts and cogitations by it we be freed from this wicked and exemplary world when the soule cannot looke out at the eye as her window but a whole army of vanity is ready to sease vpon her nor vse any of her seruants whereby treason is not offered vnto her by death the soule shall bee deliuered from this thraldome and bondage and as the Apostle speaketh this corruptible body shall put on incorruption and this mortall immortality 1. Cor. 15. 53. O blessed thrise blessed bee that death that ends in the Lord which deliuers vs out of so euill a world and freeth vs from such corruption and bondage Why then should we feare that wee would not escape because our chiefest happinesse is behinde where wee cannot come but we must passe through this doore of death and if euery houre of our life we should dye a death were too little to keepe vs from thence And but that our portion and felicity is behinde and when this our shadow of life ends our true life begins and the graue shall not euer inclose vs in her wombe which if it should then woe were man aboue any other creature liuing when sencelesse and irrationall creatures as the Stagge the Rauen and the Daw Rockes and Trees and such like haue an ages date beyond man for whose vse they were all created and made but that he hath an euerlasting inheritance in heauen with that great God that created made both him and them when so we shall raine euerlastingly whil'st they vpon earth in distance of time shall moulder and rot and drop downe to nothing O let vs not then dote so much vpon these vnprofitable and fading vanities vpon our wodden cottages our tottering buildings of painted clay such as our bodies are which are but y◠tents of vngodlinesse and habitation of sinners but let vs looke and long after this heauenly Citty whose builder and maker is God whither that we may the sooner come let vs with the Apostle desire to bee dissolued and to be with Christ The Sicke-mans Prayer O Gracious God look down from heauen with y◠eyes of mercy vpon me a most miserable wretched sinner grieuously afflicted in body and in minde a worme no man if a man such a one that neuer any with more need lifted vp eyes nor heart to the throane of thy mercy from whence all comfort commeth looke vpon mee O Lord with y◠eyes of thy mercy giue me patience to endure this my affliction tryall and giue mee grace O Lord to make such vse thereof that it may bee to thy glory and my good put into my minde all the precepts comforts instructions I haue heard or read of al my life before as strōg meditations to comfort mee in this my extremity Be not farre from me O Lord lest Sathan preuaile ouer me make thou my bed and I shall rest in peace visite me O Lord as thou didest visite Peters wiues mother and the Captaines seruant for vnto thee belongeth health and saluation thou bringest to the doore of death and to the brinke of the graue and yet if thy good will pleasure be thou restorest to health and perfection againe And gracious and louing father seale in my heart by thy holy spirit the forgiuenesse of all my sins throughout the whole course of my life that what I haue done or said amisse may bee buried in the wounds of thy sonne so that they be neuer layd vnto my charge nor imputed against me in his bloud purge my body and soule from all their corruptions and if this my visitation bee not vnto the death may it please thee to helpe me vpon the bed of my sorrowes speake but the word and it shall bee done renue my former health vnto me that I may take vp my bed and walk and by a happy transmutation turne my whole heap of sorrow into a bundle of ioy Heale me and I shall be whole saue me
branches round about his table Thy blessing vpon those yâ— feare thy name which blessing for thy blessed name sake grant thou God of al power goodnes AmeÌ„ The Prisoners prayer written by a Gentleman in passion and penitence a few dayes before his tryall O Euerliuing God most mercifull Father that art present in all places and neere vnto all such as call vpon thee haue mercy vpon mee most wretched sinner odious in the sight of God hateful in the eyes of man banished from thy fauour from the lights of the Sunne and firmament all humane comforts denyed me fettered in body and in soule with the links and chains of my sins and euen bound to destruction vnlesse thou send me succour froÌ„ aboue My life I haue abused and diuerted my course from the pathes of thy commandements by the which I haue not onely offended my brethren in the flesh the law of man by the which my body is condemned to dye hauing onely power ouer that But thee the great God of heauen and earth that madest me and induedst mee with many of thy good gifts and blessings as health strength agility of body had I had but one blessing more that was grace to haue vsed them well that art able to cast both body and soule into Hell-fire yet though by my offences against Dauids choyce I haue fallen into the hands of man from whom I expect no fauour for my life yet with thee there is mercy for the forgiuenesse of my sinnes beyond expectation which with that happy Thiefe not in his life but in his death I trust in thy goodnesse to finde so that when the day shall come that shall finish the Sentence that shall end my misery and wretchednesse in this life That day I shall be with thee in Paradise though euill haue bene my life euer since I had power to thinke or execute so farre forgetting humanity and nature as if I had sucked the Dragons in the wildernesse hauing done those things that I ought not to haue done and left vndone those that I should neuer remembring thy dreadfull name but in the abuse thereof neuer hearing thy word but with contempt neuer taking admonition but with scorne and quenching the good motions of the spirit with the whole deluge of sinne dishonouring my parents and all good men delighting in ryot drunkennesse whoredome and slouth yet neuer toutht in conscience for any nor for all so far had custome hardened me and Sathan possest me that I was sicke euen to death and felt not my ill I was at the brinke of hell and yet perceiued not my footing For the which O pardon me my God and shew thy mercy vpon mee and all prisoners and captiues teach mee that by this my restraint that my liberty and loose life neuer pointed finger vnto that it is a happy compunction in the body that makes a blessed compunction in the soule And it is not thy least fauour vnto mee that thou hast stopped my head-strong course in the middest of mine iniquities in the readiest path to destruction that the Diuill could prescribe or flesh and bloud follow ere I had filled vp the measure to the brimme are my condemnation was sealed and thy face for euer turned away from me Giue me grace O Lord to make such vse of this little time I haue to liue that what with many dayes and sins I had lost with many teares and sobbes I may recouer and that whether my life bee prolonged beyond my expectation or ended according to my account I may neuer from this time fall from thee but take such deepe root by this thy mercy that beeing fully perswaded my sinnes are washed away in the bloud of the lambe and my transgressions doâ—e away in his satifiying I may indeauour to liue in such newnesse of life and conuersation amongst men that whom my euill life corrupted by example my better may restore againe by imitation to the praise of thy name the good of thy Chiloren and and the saluation of my soule and the magnifying of thy mercy world without end A Thanksgiuing for our redeÌ„ption purchased through the bloud of Christ and for other both corporal and spirituall blessings VVHat can man say that hee inioyes amongst the innumerability of all thy benefits and mercies that he hath not receiued from thee and for the same ought to be thankfull but especially ought thy glory to be magnified by vs for our Election Creation Iustification Sanctification who hast preserued vs from day to day and from a thousand daÌ„gers threatning both body and soule to their vtter confusion O most gratious and louing Father which art beloued for thy goodnesse honoured for thy greatnesse reioyced in for thy happinesse praised for thy merits and prayed vnto for thy mercies I acknowledge my selfe all too meane vnperfect to sound forth thy praises in such a key as I ought or thou deseruest when I thinke thereof a debility ceizeth vpon all my parts and I want words to expresse powre out my soule before thee Inlarge O Lord mine vnderstanding that I may the more fully conceiue and apprehend thy benefites that yâ— abundance thereof may teach me new language and phrase of more copious signification and content and fill my heart with ioy aboue measure in the apprehension therof By thy loue I was elected by thy goodnesse I was created by thy spirit I was called by thy merâ—y I was iustified by thy grace I was sanctified and by thy power I am preserued and by thy sufferings I shall bee saued By thy permission goodnesse I moue liue and haue my being naked came I out of my mothers wombe and thou hast cloathed mee hungry haue I come to thy gates and thou hast fed me harborlesse haue I bene exposed and thou hast taken me in well therefore may I admire thy mercies in silence but speake of them as is meet I caÌ„not for there words forsake me my tongue becommeth mute Merciful father for all these thy benefites haue I laid them to heart resisted the motions of yâ— flesh the temptations of the diuell No I haue sinned grieuosly in thy sight preferred the desires of my flesh before the precepts of thy law choosing rather a short and momentary taste of dayes in iollity and pleasure in this world which at their fullest height are euer waning and attended on by sorrow then the eternall ioyes of thy kingdome in the world to come nothing dreading the displeasure of thy Maiesty whose breath shaketh the foundations of the earth and maketh the spirits of darknesse to tremble burneth vnquenchably in the bottomlesse pit of hell whose power is so infinite yâ— in the twinckling of an eye or more sudden the the flash of the lightning is able to consume what euer his haÌ„ds haue made yet notwithstanding sinfull carelesse creature that I am haue I bin bold to do wickedly to perseuer in the same so now touched in conscience by the
and graines in confusion Let vs cast vp our dayes by Iacobs account valewâ— them not to be more not to better then he did his few and euill as he that truly considers it shall most rightly find it true for the first that they are few what age since there were creatures that liu'd and breathed died in it and howers yeares to wast and spend themselues to giue it a quantitie and quality thereof that might speake with more probabilitie and exemplarie experience hereof then ours when our yong men in our streetes in our houses oftentimes part with there health there life and all within an hower and others fall downe dead as they trauaile vpon the way and the latest yeares of our ould men accomplish not the child-hood of our fore-fathers with such daily other presidentes of death before our eyes both of vntimely youth and ould age that might moue vs to looke into our selues yet as if we tooke leases of our liues as wee do of our houses we incroach and build set vp pull downe alter repaire like earth-deluing-moles presse crush our owne bowelles and consciences to heaue vp little piles of rubbish and earth toyle our bodies and beat our braines to ioyne our possessions together dispeopling whole villages that we may be Lordes alone drawing the earth from the poore that they liue tread vpon by exactions plottes and tyrannies pulling the bread from out there handes and the food from out there mouthes calling our habitations after our owne names as if we should for euer liue or our posterities after vs succeed to the worldes end or world without end when he that sits in heauen laugheth them to scorne for he that thinkes to be rich or great without him in the prophanenes of his heart Esay 14. 15. let him know Gen. 11. 7. that the least breath of his mouth shall so batter his seat that the place thereof shall be no more found and scatter his riches as the dust before the wind or the chaffe that slies in the ayre and all there thoughtes inteÌ„tions more vaine theÌ„ vanity it selfe if we liued like Adam without any president of death before our eyes and the length of our dayes in some measure stretched out like to his it were some little securitie for presumption to build vpon but wee that haue sene our thousand three-thousand weekly such a dearth of health that the sicke haue bene more then the sound the dead more then the lyuing and death hath so layd about in our streetes and in our houses that grasse hath growne in the one and solitarinesse so taken vp the other that the sight of a man in either hath bene more pretious then the gold of Ophir sometimes come so neare vs that it hath puld away the wife from our owne bosome children from our owne loynes reueld in the darke of the night at the noone of the day disposest vs of neighbour and frend neare and distant far of spared none from the child supported by the hand for weakenesse to him that walkes with the staffe for age with such an innumerable and daily witnesse in which number our owne bowelles sometimes a part the sentence of God vpon all flesh as a forerunner and the accomplishmeÌ„t thereof with such a â—ercenesse succeeding all crying with a loud voyce and proclaming this proclamation of God Statutum est omnibus semelmori O but may the yong man or some not aged say although we must once die yet we may liue many yeares and therefore we wil take our pleasures whilst we may and when they haue forsaken vs when age shall ceaze vpon vs with her whitenesse die our lockes into another coullor then will we repent vs and thinke of our end O but who euer thou art that thinkes so deceiue not thy selfe with this vaine procrastinating folly but let Salomons experienced councell be the tutor to thy youth forget not to remembe his MemeÌ„to To remember thy creator in the dayes of thy youth before the euill dayes approach and the times wherein thou shalt say I haue no pleasure in them and beeing a reasonable creature offer not God that indignity that hath made thee both body and soule giuen thee both health and strength thy beeing thy benefites all that thou hast as to offer him the huskes and refuse of Sathan What earthly maister that but for a few temporall benefits as in sustayning our yeares of infancye although all that he could for vs were but as a grauell stone in comparison to the whole sea shore of his goodnesse that would not expect in recompence hereof the abilitye of our best seruice to his imployment which if wee should neglect him in and forsake him vnacknowledged so long vntill our youth and strengthes were spent and old age were crept vpon vs and wee disabled to helpe our selues much lesse to stand him in stead or deserue his former kindnesse yet then with blushlesse faces should offer to put our selues vpon him for a second suppertance that with the acclamation and consent of the earthly maisters in the world would not only turne his face away but vtterly reiect foreuer cast vs off from his acknowledgement Is it then iust with vs and is it not much more iust with God We are all seruants to him in a thousand duties he fashioned vs in our mothers wombe carefully tooke vs out from thence euer since protected and preserued vs vpon the finger of whose prouidence we sticke as the sun in the firmament and shall wee from him that hath done so much for vs dedicate the ioy marrow of our bones to the enemie of our God our good the welfare of all mankind to him that compasseth the earth seeking whom he may deuour shal we I say in our ripest iudgement and abilitie of largest consideration make no vse hereof but run one with the spurre of the flesh and the pricke of the deuill all the sun-shine of our dayes in obliuion and forgetfulnesse of him we should euer remember If we doe the euening will bring heauinesse vnto vs which will not indure for a night and ioy approach in the morning but a night without end of sorrow and lamentation whom no day shall euer arise to cleare and he that hath lost Christ in a large youth and run from him many yeares must not thinke that few wil vntread that path againe and recouer him but rather that a yeare may so lose him that many shall not find him againe though with Ioseph and Mary he be sought in sorrowing Presume not vpon that text of mercy to much At what time soeuer a sinner although it be an Oracle of truth truth it selfe for if thou refuse the time of grace that is offered thou knowest not whether it wil be offered thee againe whether thou shalt euer after haue a time to repent thee of thy sins from the bottome of thy hâ—rt that thine owne
and tongues were strangers ignorant of eithers purpose the lippes babling without the heart no compunction within honouring God with our mouthes but our spirits farre from him our hearts not bleeding whose droppes should be heard and pittied our Altar without fire prayer without heat words without intention suppliancy of the body without the harmony and consent of the inward man And as they must bee zealous so directed to him alone for neither to Angels nor Saints Mediators or Friends one or other greater or lesser in heauen or in earth they are not due are not to be offered but to the eares of him and his annoynted after the example of so many both ancient righteous Patriarks Prophets Iudges Kings recorded in the booke of God and in an hundred and fifty Psalmes a hundred whereof at the least are prayers and supplications and in all the deuout requests that the Apostles of Christ and other his Disciples sent into heauen to him alone and his blessed Sonne our Sauiour without intercession or request to any other And by the example of that Kingly Prophet in the 86. Psalme Bow downe thine eare vnto mee I am poore and needy my distresse requireth thy helpe Bee mercifull vnto mee O Lord I cry vnto thee continually Reioyce the soule of thy seruant for vnto thee O Lord doe I lift my Soule VVhom haue I in Heauen but thee and in earth that I desire in comparison of thee But it is good for mee to hold mee fast by God to put my trust in the Lord God c. Psalm 73. And to whom wee must not onely pray with zeale and desire but with fitnesse and congruity and application vnto our seuerall necessities as for the generall blessings and benefites of God there must bee generall thankesgiuings for sins in generall generall confessions ancient and vsuall formes of prayer for ancient and vsuall occurrences we may take vnto vs words as the Prophet Hosea speaketh and say vnto the Lord at all times Take away all iniquity and receiue vs graciously so will we render the calues of our lippes But as the diuersity of our sinnes our newnesse and strangenesse and abhominations therin shall pull from the Iudgement seate of God new and varyed and diuâ—rsâ—â—y of punishments and iudgements therefore so wee must accordingly vary our prayers and speake in the language of their necessity In time of plague or infection sicknesse and mortality our prayers must bee to God that hee would stay and sheath vp the sword in the hand of his deuouring Angell that on euery side strikes downe to the graue emptying houses and streetes to fill vp Church-yardes and vaults making them a meâ—hridate or preseruatiue against the Contagion and danger thereof which indeed is the souerainest restoratiue vnder heauen to make sound againe what sinne hath hurt and wounded acknowledging with a sorrow from our hearts that our sinnes haue procuâ—ed â—t and the hand of GOD most iustly inflicteth it therefore acknowledging the original cause thereof to proceede more ouâ— of our owne corruption and nature then the aire or any other secundary cause beseeching his maiestie as Phinees did that the plague may cease and that hee will visite no longer with that kinde of iudgement If a barrennesse possesse the land leanenesse and scarsity and famine dwell vpon her borders so that the Children thereof cry for bread and swoone as they go in the streetes for food we must pray in another stile that the Lord will vouchsafe to heare the Heauens againe that the Heauens may heare the Earth the Earth the Corne and VVine and Oyle And these Israell and all other his distressed people Hosea 2 and that hee will visite no longer with this kinde of iudgement If the enemy shall threaten our Land to inuade our Territories to make a deuastation spoyle and hauocke of all that wee haue that may fall in his way saying Come wee will deuoure wee will deuoure the name of Syon shall bee no more had in remembrance Ioel. 2. Wee must addresse our petitions to the Lord in another key and forme of Supplication Spare thy people O Lord and giue not thy heritage to reproach that the Heathen shall rule ouer them VVherefore should they say amongst thy people VVhere is now their GOD O cease to visite thy seruant with this kinde of iudgement If the cloudes yeeld not their moisture vpon our fruites vpon earth so that the labour of our handes and the fat of our fieldes perish through sterility and drought Still as the Plagues are new so let vs come before him with new Complaints new Songs new Intercessions and Obsecrations meekly Kneeling before the Lord our maker lowly prostrate at the footstoole of his mercy that these iudgements may bee diuerted and turned away from vs. Thus did that great patterne of wisedome and experience Salomon whose foote-steppes are worthy our imitation beseeching the Lord that when the people should pray vnto him according to their seuerall necessities whether afflicted with the assault of their eneâ—y or with want or superfluity of raine with pestilence famine or mill-dew captiuity or any other affliction either in body or in minde he would then in heauen heare their complaints vpon earth and bee mercifull vnto them And as our prayers will not ascend vnlesse faith and deuotion beare them vp nor will speede vnlesse they yssue from a heart that vowes an vnfeined repentance which that wee may the more effectually doe wee must call to minde our sinnes and transgressions that haue procured those iudgements that wee may repent and wash them from vs that God may heare vs and haue mercy vpon vs. But this Repentance that here is meant is more bitter then many imagine For as concerning Repentance euery sorrow is not repentance for then should worldlings repent Some thinke euery confession to bee repentance then had Pharaoh and Saul repented Others imagine euery weeping repentance which is not for then had Esau repented Others take euery little humiliation repentance but mistaking for then had Achab repented Others that euery good word promise is repeÌ„tance if that were so theÌ„ should sicke men repent Some thinke to cry God mercy is repeÌ„tance then should euery foole repent But true repentance indeede and such as is here meant is more then the hanging downe the head like a Bull-rush or to wring out a teare to sob out a sigh to weare sackecloth or haire-cloth or onely with a verball sound and pronuntiation of the lippes without the priuity of the heart within to cry Lord haue mercy on mee and so cease but it is the scourging renting wracking and launcing of the very soule and a downe right showre of teares from a broken and bleeding heart and a filling of the raiâ—es wiâ—h exceeding bitternesse of sorrow and anguish for sinne committed And to this schoole of sharpenesse but sweetnesse of paine but of pleasure let no man thinke it too earely to go too earely to beginne ô go to it
the feild and we â—eed not only our selues but our oxen in our meadowes and stalles to feed our vnprofitable carcasses our horses in the stable to beare our vnprofitable carkasses when the poore in our streetes at our gates feed vpoÌ„ empty aire for lacke of sustenance we remeÌ„ber not theÌ„ not Christ in them the hungereth and Christ the must feed vs which is the aduocate for the poore yâ— iudge of the rich in this obliuion and height of our sins what is become of humility of repentance we are all begotten in sin and to misery are we brought forth coÌ„cupiscence hath bene the nurse whose milke wee haue sucked from time to time as we haue growne in yeares so hath corruptioÌ„ growne vp with vs as part of our owne nature what remayneth theÌ„ O Lord for vs but humility repeÌ„taÌ„ce to prostrate our selues vpon the knees of our harts and say Lord haue mercy vpoÌ„ sinners with the poore publican not with yâ— proud Pharise to say I am not like this maÌ„ or other my brethren for I doe thus and so let vs not be so mad as to forget nature so much all our imperfections the substance and mettall whereof wee are made and that we must suddenly turne to the earth vpon which now we trample with such contempt and scorne and must become chamberers and fellowes with wormes and rotlennesse and what cause haue wee then to be proud Nay what cause haue wee not to bee humble when of all the large possessions and inheritances wee possesse wee haue no more truely our own then the length and bredth of our Carkasses And againe let vs humble our selues that Christ may exalt vs and not exalt our selues lest hee throw vs downe as hee scattereth the proud in the imagination of their hearts Let vs learne of him to bee humble and meeke which although the King of heauen and earth hauing all power and preheminence and proud in subiection vnder his feet yet was not touched with this vice himselfe that chose poore Fisher-men to bee his Disciples payd tribute to his inferiours rode vpon an asse praied for his Persecutors imbraced yong children cured the halt and the lame and the blinde and regarded the low estate of his Handmaid and will regard vs if wee regard this vertue which hee so regarded if wee be imitators of his steps and examples which hee grant that hath thus led the way the God the King the Prince of humility for his own deere sake Amen The liuing words in effect of a dying man closed vp in this vertue I Vnto thy hands O Lord I commend my soule and body prostrate in all humility and obedience to thy good will and pleasure Lord Iesus haue mercy vpon thy humble and prostrate seruant The summe of the Prayer of the Lady G. at the time of her execution VVIllingly and ioyfully O Lord come I hither into thy hands to resigne my soule and body in whose protection I trust they shall bee safer and better then in this life although in the best measure they euer were giue vnto me my God thy poore and weake seruant and vessell patience constancy and strength to vndergo this my sentence of death strengthen the frailty of my sex in the act of this my suffering and though I dye for that I neuer of my selfe desired yet howsoeuer lest any sinne in the least consent or thought hath defiled my purity therein for it pardon me my God and blot it out of the booke of thy remembrance and not onely that but the whole course thereof throughout my whole life that my soule with the wings of faith in thy mercy may cheerefully ascend to thy blessed kingdome And so preparing her selfe to dye with these words rendred her life Lord Iesus receiue my Spirit A generall Thankesgiuing to God for all his benefites and mercies to man O Eternall God in Christ Iesus most gracious and mercifull for all thy blessings both temporall and spirituall bestowed vpon me the least of thy seruants and most vnworthy to cast vp mine eyes to thy heauenly Tabernacle where thou reignest in glory doe I yeild all possible hearty thanks vnto thy diuine Maiesty for all thy blessings and mercies bestowed vpon me especially for the singular benefite of my Iustification and the admirable gift of eternall saluation purchased by the righteousnesse and deerest life of thy beloued Son Christ Iesus my Sauiour My lot is fallen in a pleasant place well is me and yet woe is mee because it is and I vnderstand it not hast thou beene fauourable vnto all thy creatures in the world or hast thou neglected others and beene mindfull of me Good Lord why shouldest thou bestow thy health thy wealth thy rest and liberty aduancements friends possessions Children like the Oliue Oliue branches and their trees for me them to repose securely vnder Why shouldest thou I say bestow these blessings vpon me more then vpon others I can giue no reason for it but stand wondring and admiring thy mercy which is the cause of it and if thou shouldest take a suruey of my worthinesse to enioy all these at thy hands and finding mee so vnworthy as I am of the least shouldest withdraw them all backe againe what could I say but commend thy iustice Haue I deserued liberty and Ioseph thy seruant deserued bonds Haue I deserued rest and thy Dauid to bee tost to and fro vpon his watery couch day and night to haue the sonne of his owne loynes and the loynes of his owne body rebelling against him Hath thy Lazarus deserued to lye at the gates afflicted in body minde crauing but crums wherewithall to be refreshed and I like the rich man whose dogges more merciful theÌ„ their maister came and licked his sores sitting at my table furnished with abundance like his Haue I deserued health and thy Iob to lye full of botches and biles vpon the dung-hill Are these thy blessed seruants tried in the furnace of affliction layd in the throat of hell and am I wrapt vp into Abrahams bosome haue I their portion and do they stand at reward or sent empty Why my soule is it so well with thee mercy aboundance of mercy and why art thou so ill my soule O mercy yet most wretched sinner that I am haue I not in a Christian loue and godly nature beene moued to serue thee in a larger measure considering these thy benefites vpon mee so largely multiplyed then the poore and persecuted Children that neuer tasted thy mercy but in imitation of their misery Continue O Lord this thy goodnesse vnto me and the more to perswade thee thereunto lift my heart and spirit out of this dull and earthly Center wherein it moueth to the meditation of thée and these thy mercies with a thankfull retribution of all my thoughts and affections to thée from whence they come that I may euer serue thee from this hower with those dutyes which the world the flesh and