great glory as thou sholdest confesse is ascended on high and sitteth with almightinesse power and maiestie on the right hand of his heauenly father with open and fresh bleeding wounds the many fest marks impressions before him for euer of the purchased most preciouse redeemed inheritance euen for thee most notoriouse and deadly sinner by the secrete testimonie of thine owne conscience These things such like of thee thus christenly considered thou mayest bee bold with thy most merciful and louing god But yet agayne I say vnto thee hold thee sure vnto thy sauiour christ swarue not frō him nor frō the vertue of his onely merites wherby thou must be onely saued Cleaue then close to the rocke of assurance leane to no loose nor sandie safetie Trust not to the rottennesse of our humane deuises labour not to languish in a maze of vncertaintie Bemoyle not thy selfe in suche myre of mortalitie and shun soone such shoures as wil wrecke thy soules fidelitie Then cry as J sayd and ceasse not to craue pardon of God thy father in his sonne name ' Doubte not of thy sute what so euer it be for it shal by good motiō be so vpright so reasonable so acceptable before him and allowable and shal touch therwith so neere the tendernesse of his mercy his truthe and fidelitie that of necessitie graunt muste bee made vnto thee he wil not denie thee the requests of thy lippes yea he will so graciously tender thee that foreseing thy cause of inwarde complaynte he wyll prepare quickely thine heart most faithfully to call vpon him Beleeue therfore faithfully trust of assurance and thou shalte surely obteine thy desire with greate mercy and fanour at his holy hande Thy sinnes shal not be imputed vnto thee thou shalte bee blessed and righteouse in the sighte of God all the dayes of thy life so happily shall thine hart be prepared so mightily shal thy prayers preuayle for thee they will forcibly pearce the celestiall and high heauens approche neare to the onely throne of grace and maiestie cry incessantly for thee will not returne from the presence of God nor once be satisfied before the full graunt of their humble sute for thy sauing health and cōmoditie To conclude in all thy godly attemptes whether in praying fasting geuing of Almes frequenting the holy Sacramentes or rendering moste hartie thankes vnto God for his infinite Mercies Graces Blessinges and Benefites bestowed vppon thee and vppon his whole Churche from the beginning vntill this present day and what soeuer in holinesse thou commendest daily vnto him let it always be done vprightly orderly with christian comelynesse and modestie with peace of conscience faithfully constantly cherefully and in charity as the only worde of God moste straitely byndeth thee Which I pray to God may clerely shine into thee by the power of his holy spirite who quicken thee this day to morow and for euer and kindle in thee towardes him the firie flames of his true loue throughe his sonne Chryst Iesus who speedely graunt thee the same signement of his holy hand and satisfie thee with inward ioy in all thy moste lowefull and diuine desires Amen FINIS A deuout meditation of the godly Christian with a briefe Confession and Prayer WHen I O heauenly father thorowe the glorie of thine only eternal gracs am euē in the middest of many muses lamentable mournings déepe sighings and inwarde monings to my self most happily stirred to the due consideration of my self and in what perillous state I euer stande here in this wretched worlde how in the breuity therof I am compassed with many miseries with greuous plagues and punishmentes with dreadful calamities perilles and dangers with diuers maladies sicknesses aand infirmities bothe of body and mind how by the mighty power also pollicie of mine ancient and most deadly enimy the olde subtile serpent this deceitful vaine world as also mine own weaknes corruption apte inclination most vile subiection to sinne I am daily assaulted and tempted to sinne and in cōmitting sinne become the seruant of sin must acordingly looke for death the iuste reward of sinne bicause diuersly therwith and damnably through disobedience the breach of thy law in thought word and déede I haue and do most gréeuously offend the will of thy Maiestie and am become thereby a very Sathanist the childe of the diuel to hasten thy furies vpon mée that he shuld vse his tirānie against me for so witnesseth by accusation my wounded conscience whereby my soule is daylie dysquieted sore clogged gretly destled maruelously amased made monstruouse before thée and hated of thée wherevnto my freedom and innocencie being lost of my owne concupiscence am accustomably blinded drawne and entised and by the malice thereof both vnderstanding heart and wil are holden captiue and in deadelie slauery to the diuel the only author and beginner of all euell concupiscence and sinne By which occastō in stead of healthsome and profitable thinges I ofte desire very noysome most pernitious and hurtfull things And my soule also which in the excellencie therof through reason and the vprightnesse of the inward man should beare the beauty of thy heauenly and most glorious ymage in perfect puritie and innocencie through the corruption therof is sowly deformed and sore blemished and made accordingly his euill fauoured most filthy image and so woorthily by thy iustice shaken off and caste from the presence of thy deitie So that héereby O Lord thou hast yet by the continuance of thy grace moued me to consider that if thy mercies did not abounde vppon me or that thy gratious fauoure should nowe or at any time in this most deadly plight vtterly forsake me and not rather cōfortably with spéedy and most swift sway turne againe towardes me and bring therwith from thine heauenly presence the distilling moystures and large flowing streames of thy celestiall dewe plentifully drawne from the swéete fountains of my sauioure to refresh comfort make whole againe clense beautifie my very leprous moste sinneful and sicke soule and of thy méere mercie to reduce hir to hir pristinate former state my case should be most miserable my bands shuld be indissoluble I shoulde become a cursed reiect remain a fire brand of hell for euer But as thy loue O Lord is vnspeakeable and thy fatherly mercie toward me infinite which willest not the deathe of a sinner but rather he should fourne from his wickednesse and liue and offrest him time and space to repēt and amende so haste thou now in mercie remembred me looked back againe vpon me cheared and comforted me encreased true faithe in me thy spirit hath renued me stirred me to call moste humbly vnto thée set me frée from the ennemie pitied my soules deformitie prepared the most healthful remedie for the bloud of thy sonne Iesus hathe clensed me whereby thou haste so quickened me that my soule reioyseth within me with most earnest
of all our affences and be depely tormonted in vnsufferable anguishes 〈◊〉 forowes yelling lauguistying and the auinosse for our carelesse most gracelesse negligence bicause 〈◊〉 our health and tune of felicitie we 〈◊〉 forgetful of thée vs we caued not to tēpte thée we feared not thy threatned vengeance neither thy Preachers and Prophetes we were vnmindefull of the ende we considered not the way of all fleshe we remembred not deathe neither readily prepared for his sodaine comming whose ensigne by thy iustice is openly all blacke displayed most ougly issuing out of his darke sepulcher to the spéedie destruction of all fleshe Therefore O Lord as oure liues are wholely in thyne onely hande and are by thée when we call vppon thée most graciously directed quicken our harts to prayer endue vs thorowe thy grace wyth thine heauenly wisdome teache vs thereby to number our dayes to applie oure hartes vnto wisedome to be mindefull of thée our God not to be forgetfull of oure wretched and wicked state and to remember alwayes thy rightful iustice in iudgemente that we may endeuor to be suche in déede in oure liues as we woulde wishe moste gladly to be founde at our deathes O heauenly father so strengthen vs with thy vsuall and woonted grace that as we may haue this worlde in most earnest contempte so we may also as effectually craue at thine holy hād the daily prospering and going forwards in vertue pray that our loue may abounde towardes godly discipline for the fourme of good liuing yéelde fréely forth the frutes of earnest and true repentāce haue ready and prest wils to shewe true obedience bothe in body and soule to be humble and méeke in spirite not to stay at any time the deniall of oure selues to subiecte our selues to thy holy will and commaundements and so to leane gladly to the suffering of this worldes calamities not for oure selues but for the loue of Iesus Christe for our brethren for so shal we be knowne to be the children of god All which if we happely possesse vse and put in daily practise great shall be the cause of oure ioy to haue good affiaunce in thy mercy a swéete tast of good life and a sure hope by happie death becomming in the meane while parient Pilgrims in spirituall pouertie and not regarding the pleasures of this life that oure soules may possesse the felicitie of thy freedome be daily lifted vp vnto thée in this our short race that we may continually praie with sorowfull sighings déepe sobbings inwarde gronings and shedding salte teares in our accustomed and moste humble sutes bewayling oure miserable state mourning the delay of this bodyes dissolution and yéeld with pacience to abide the stroke of deathe that when it which is the laste enemie shall be destroyed our spirites may haue rest in thine eternall life therow the only merites of thy sonne our Lord and sauior Iesus Christe Amen Amen XVII To haue in remembrance the secrete iudgementes of God and to feare the withdrawing of his grace HAuing good experyence by thyne holy scriptures O thou rightuous God that as thou arte moste high most glorious most holy wise and mighty and a great God aboue all Gods eternal and from euerlasting so arte thou also a Lord a ruler a master an ouerscer a iudge ouer all the dooings of men yea a seuere iudge a straighte examiner an vpright iust rewarder against whome no man may once rowse or aduaunce him selfe stande in his owne conceite or shewe before thée any proude or hautie countinance for it is thou onely O Lorde that art omnipotent whose mighty arm reacheth ouer all which aduancest and bringest lowe which strykest and healest which woundest and makest whole which liftest vp and throwest downe againe which dealest in thy iudgement not after the manner of men wickedly winking at the sinnes generally committed of all or of a few but vsest vprightnesse vnto all withoute respecte of persons generally particularly to many to a fewe and to some one alone when their sinnes before thée are ful and waxeth ripe vnto iudgement apte to fall and ready to féele from thy wrathfull hande the sodaine stroke of thy vengeance for vengeance annexed to thy power is only thine and thy iust rewarde whose iudgementes for sinne are very terrible fierce a flaming and consuming fire to licke vp catche burne and deuonre all or some as the cause shal require and as by thy iustice in iudgement thou finedest thē for so in all ages we haue both truly heard and knowne which examples of thine in sundry wise are all wrytten for our vnderstanding and learning always to be remembred of vs to put vs in good mind to terrifie vs to bridle oure affections to feare thy maiestie to séeke the true knowledge of thy will reuerently therein to obey thée and to escape aptly therby thy iust rigor vengeance for vengeance is thine thou wilt reward O holy and iust god which also artmost gracious which sparest whē we deserue punishmēt in thy wrath thinkest vpon mercy and haste vowed compassion vpon the poore penitent haue mercy vppon me moste wretched sinner O forgéeue me all my wickednesse past let thy tender mercie preuent my sinnes cast them al behinde thy backe and shewe me againe thy cōfortable countinance for my sinnes sore trouble me they iustly accuse me thy iudgementes terribly thunder against me they sore shake my limmes with feare and trembling and terrifie out of measure my sore vexed and contrite heart And if by thine heauenly motion O Lorde I yet wade further in thy iudgemēts and consider the very heauens not to be cleane in thy sight but expecte the day of their renouation for further cleerenesse and puritie O how am I occasioned to be the more amazed and to bewail my wretched state in the lothsomnesse of my corruption And if in the Angels them selues thou haste founde sinne and the desert of eternall death therefore not spared thy iudgemēts ouer them O what shall become of me earthie fraile and moste sinnefull wretche And if also the gloryous starres themselues haue in the excellencie of their outwarde clearenesse and beautie falne down from heauen abide likewise thy iudgement what shall I a masse of darknesse stime and filthe of the earthe looke for at thy wrathfull hand hauing my very secrete sinnes not hid from thee in their moste horrible lothsome and poysoned apperance But yet I beséeche thée O heauenly father althoughe thou be a straighte iudge ouer all thy creatures for sin whether of heauen or of earth celestiall terrestriall or infernall subiecte to thy will and to abide iustly thy iudgement for thine approued clemencies sake and tender pity towardes me imprinted stil freshe in my memorie and boldened thereby to approche thy presence so to extēd vpō me thy great mercy and grace that as I nowe craue the continual good motion inward stirring vp of my mind
it is for them to be soughte oute with diligence to be brought home againe to the folde or to be pinned in fauourably pinched a while in some bare pasture and sometime to be kept lowe with thy milde touch of calamities and aduersities to abate their courages and to let their liuely leapes and oute girdes by meanes whereof they be oft called againe better to remember them selues and whereby they may also haue thée the more in minde and truely to knowe their owne state in this life whereunto they are called and to whose seruice to walke in the wayes of thy preceptes to kéepe them euer within their boūds and that during their shorte race they liue héere but as exiles or as Pilgrimes farre from theyr owne home not to liue héere in felicitie not to regarde the pleasures of thys worlde either yet to put theyr hope and affiance in them but to vse thē without abuse as by the way but for their only necessities homward we moste humbly beseeche thée O thou father of all mercie that thou wilt daily renue thy compassion vpon vs that thou wilt tēder vs in our frailty lustinesse vain iolitie that in our offences thou wilt with mercie reforme vs not vtterly by thy iustice confound vs but seeke mildely for vs call vs gently home to thy sheepfold with mercie embrace vs keepe vs togither for euer in one in the swéete vnitie felowship and amitie of thy flocke And if at any time we shall hencefoorthe wander abrode and goe astray wherby we shall offond thée and iustly incurre thy most heauie wrath and displeasure we craue yet at thine holy hād to remember thy mercie and so in the time of correction to temper it with thy iustice that we thy children by adoption and grace may largely tast in that respect the comfortes of thy moste tender and fatherly goodnesse that as we shal for oure disobedience and sinne iustly feele some parte of thy iustice and haue therfore great cause of inward gréefe and heauinesse occasioned daily to grone in our hartes for our spéedie deliuerance from thy rodde of correction and to attaine againe the bright countinunce of thy fauor so we may also in the meane time possesse a liuely faith shewe foorthe the fruites of the same pray continually vnto thée and beare paciently thy holy will wyth all thankfulnesse all the dayes of oure lyues through the only grace of the highe pastor and chéefe shepheard of oure soules thy sonne our Lord and only sauiour Iesus Christe Amen VIII To be humble in the sighte of God. O My lord God which arte mine only goodnesse a God of great Maiestie and to be blessed for euer I moste poore and wretched sinner moste vile woorme dust and ashes and of all others moste vnwoorthy thy grace and fauour yet beholding thy great mercie thy truthe and fidelitie thy vsual and approued clemencie towardes all humble and penitent sinners I among the rest but a lumpe of earthe and shaken by thy power to dust in a momēt doe prostrate my selfe vppon the earthe bewailing before thée my moste sinnefull state crying with the Prophet peccaui peceaui and with repentante teares call for thy mercie O my GOD almightie and my maker which truely knowest me thy creature euen as I am and searchest thorowly in me the very secretes of the heart and raines If I should in thy sight being nothing of my self esteeme any thing of my self or else glory in any thing besids thée vnder the sunne thou woldest as thou mightest by due iustice againste me woorthily reproue me and condempne me with the rest as most vaine and for naught Yea mine own sinnes would accuse me vnto thée and my conscience very terribly crie oute against me for I am before thée but a thing of naught and my sinnes hast thou sealed vp against me to the terrifying alwayes of me and to incurre daily in my mind diuers incommodities inward anguishes to myne owne ouerthrow and cōfusion But humbling my selfe before thée O my God and estéeming of my selfe as in déede I am but vile duste and ashes and cast vtterly from me all estimation of my selfe being pressed downe as it were to nothing then I trust I shall obtain thy mercie then shall I hope to possesse the happie peace then shall I féele true ioy in my self for thy presence shall be euen at hand thy grace shall cōfort me thy good spirit shal quicken me thy fauorable countinance shal cheare me vp and thine heauenly lighte approche neare mine heart wherby it shall most blessedly happen that where I haue héeretofore most vainly estéemed but the least thing of my selfe the same very vaine or small estimation conceyued shall sodenly consume and vanishe to naught for euer and shall thencefoorth by the hand of thy maiestie be so vndor propped and graciously holden vp that I shall neuer decline from due consideration of my selfe what I am of my selfe what I haue bene by whom I haue my being and from whence I am come namely of nothing and from nothing and being so lefte vnto my selfe I shall be founde nothing but only as a shadow or méere infirmitie and weakenesse Therefore I most humbly beséeche thée O thou father of al mercy the only assured stay of thine inheritance which seuerely chasest away the vaine glory of man turne a little towardes me tender me in my weakenesse and shewe me the strengthe of thy countenaunce that immediatly in thée I may be strong and newely chéered vp with inwarde and heauenly gladnesse that being entred into most sodaine admiration with my selfe to sée my self in a momēt by thy fatherly embracement raised vp to heauen which by myne owne pronenesse and waighte of sinne was before caryed downe to hell I may thanke thée my moste swéete and louing God and prayse thée with an humble and moste lowly heart with continual modestie zealously religiously and godly in thought woord and déede thorowe thy mercie and grace in thy sonne Iesus Christe all the dayes of my life Amen Amen IX Of true obedience and subiection to suche as be in authoritie according to the woorde of God. FOr as much O heauenly father as it is rather auaileable for men in this worlde to be in subiection to other than to leane to their owne only sway and leude libertie and so muche more safely to obey than to beare rule and haue all at commaundemente with all humblenesse we beséeche thée to directe vs with thy spirite of humilitie and lowelinesse and to be alwayes in subiection to aucthoritie according to thy woorde by the rule of thine holy Apostle not onely for feare for necessitie and therefore painefully but rather of true loue duetifully moste gladly and that for conscience sake For otherwise O Lorde wée slippe from our Christian profession true obedience and moste reuerente subiection and attaind not the true libertis of minde and the shewing
rest of the .v. Cities and their whole countrey with firie flames sulpher and Brimstone from heauen were destroyed with suche other like the terror of thy vengeance by sharpe plages punishments vpon others cléerly mentioned in thy holy scriptures plainly approued in other histories and daily both knowne and felt amongst vs O most gratious louing father create therfore in vs we beséeche thée hunble contrite clean harts renue within our bowels right spirites and turne all voluptuousnesse away from vs that neither in thought word nor déede we willingly offend the sight of thy maiestie And graunt that whether we liue vnmattried or in the holy state of Matrimonie we may leade our liues in puritie true holinesse and chastitie And when at any time we féele in our selues to be assalted with temtation or stirred by euil luste to cōmit obhomination we may then haue strengthe of thy grace to sette before oure eyes thy iustice the rewarde of sinne the terror of deathe the day and end of this life the gnawing worme of our conscience thy terrible doome the chalenge of the Deuill the euerlasting tormentes and the horrible paines of hell And that we liuing in oure christian calling and holy profession in all puritie hothe of bodie and soule all the dayes of our liues we may receiue in the ende the rewarde of euerlasting felicitie sée thée face to face in thine eternall and most glorious kingdome thorow thy sonne Iesus Christe Amen XIIII A Prayer against svvearing and blasphemie WHen we O holy eternall God haue in remembraunce as we be charged thy precise wil and cōmaundementes giuen generally vnto vs all and binding vs all from euil namely amōg the rest not to take the name of thée our god in vain nor in any wise to abuse it as doth the wicked Ethuieke that knoweth not thy name irreligiously vainly and falsoly but at all times to consider well of it highly to extoll it and haue it in dureuerence as behooneth the faithful louers and professors of the same least we be 〈◊〉 of thee accurssed and guiltie and sustaine as thou hast threatned thy moste iuste and sharpe reuenge we are héere greatly occasioned to consider our present and moste daungerous state howe vnperfecte wretched and dampnable it is in thy sighte throughe oure deadly fal from thy will in this holy precept and are nowe driuen cyther to séeke remedie at thine onely mercifull hande or to perishe in hel eternally we beséethe thée moste humbly O thou God of all grace that as thou beholdest in vs the erroure of oure liues and oure corrupted inclination to all sinne and vanitie contrary to the prescripte rule of thy holy lawe and to séeke thereby as muche as ut vs lyeth the disglory of thy name to worke our owne shame and vtter confusiou so to graunt nowe vnto vs that oure soules in their vnclenlinesse horriblenesse blasphemous state may be truly purged of al infectiōs deadly darknesse wilfull malice ignorāce and the sights of them refreshed quickened made liuely and perfecte by the bright light and true faith in thy holy woorde that they may cléerely and comfortably see know and beholde the true glory of thy maiestie thereby also inwardly féele the swéete promisses of thine heauēly grace the frée pardone also of all our sinnes and the receiuing of vs into thy grace fauor not for any thing at all in our selues but for thy sonne Christe Iesus sake throughe which only mercy and great goodnesse graunted vnto vs in him thou arte and of righte euer oughtest to be only estomed of vs only praised magnified and highly reuerenced as thy name in heauen in earth moste condignely of all requireth which is from vs euen so muche in euery respect as we in déede truely know thée in thy sonne Christe by whome only and throughe grace in him we are stirred most woorthily to extol thy most glorious and holy name but not so lightly by custome to prophane it and vnreuerently abuse it whether by cruell blasphemie contempte of thine heauenly woorde true religion doctrine or otherwise in our sinneful conuersation or euill maner of liuing Take vs therefore we pray thée to thy mercie O Lord and that soone for great is our sinne and iniquitie in this accustomed sinne of blasphemie O set thy feare spéedely before our eyes and shut not vp from vs the knowledge of thy truthe our director to rightuousnesse but kindle inwardly into oure soules the lighte thereof leaste in the deadly darkenesse pride and great peruersitie of our wicked harts we do daily degenerate turne from our profession fall willingly from thée become ingratefull vaine proude and high minded contumelious spitefull shamelesse open enimies and very blasphemous againste thée as the only possessors of the deuill and falling like reprobates from iniquitie to iniquitie Who for theyr horrible abuses sake and prophanation of thy name how they shall be woorthily plaged thine hande of iustice not being shortned is plainely euident in thy most sacred and heauenly woord of truthe For thou thy selfe haste saide that what so euer he be that is a blasphemer vseth thy name vainly and vnprofitably shall not escape thy scurges and punishments And in an other place it is also wrytten that who so euer vseth muche to sweare shall be filled with curssings and iniquity and the plage which is the iuste bengeance of thy wrath shall neuer depart frō his house but shal in time consume it and all the inhabitantes thereof Again we read out of thy Prophet Zacharie that thou shewedst vnto him flying in the air a maruellous large and a great booke euen .xx. cubites in length .x. in bredth wherin was contained the horrible plages that are prepared for all thē which contemptuously malitiously vainly falsly or rashely sweare by thy blessed and holy name O Lorde of infinite mercies and long suffering God that art to be blessed for euer whose mercyes reacheth vnto the heauens if thou in these our dayes of great abhomination curssed blaspheming taking thy holy name in vaine so carelessy vsually and by custome for euery smal trifle bisides other deadly and dampnable sinnes daily committed amōgst vs shouldest in the iudgement of thine owne cause flersly rise vp againste vs or as thy Prophet Dauid sayth extréemely marke what is done amisse O Lord how shuld we abide it How should we moste sinnefull wretches in these dayes abide the terror of thy vengeance that by thy iustice hangeth ouer vs or should in a moment consume vs all like stubble But thou rewardest vs not according to our sinnes thy mercie endureth for euer and therefore to auoide the terror of thy iustice due vnto vs most disobediēt sinners we appeale to the déep fountains of thy mercy humbling our selues before thy mercies seat with penitent harts for the remission of our sins that thou wilt not impute thē now vnto vs
thee and of good heart come towardes thée wilt thou turne thy face away from me and not cheare me with thy comfortable swéete countenance As I am constrained and by thy swéete allurementes persuaded or rather enforced beholdyng myne owne imperfection to come vnto thée that arte altogither perfecte euen so arte thou by thy large promisses bounde to accept me Thou diddest say If I shall once be exalted I will then braw all things vnto me Thine exaltation vppon the crosse O Lord hath bene as I beleeue long since perfourmed as also thy rising againe from deathe and thine aftention into heauen These things therefore thus truly of thée performed and finished I requyre thee O Iesu to draw me vnto thée as thou by thy promisse arte moste iustly bounde I knowe thou arte not angrie or at the leaste not at destance with me for seeing thou haste commaunded me that I be not at hatred with mine enemie I can not doubt but that thou thy self also kéepest truely this thy swéete commaundement and so much the rather to be perfourmed of thée as thou arte more able than I to expresse the vse of charitie Thou cāst not say that thou art not bounde to loue me alleaging that I am thine ennemie or that I haue done thée manifolde iniuries which I muste needes moste truely confesse for if by thy precept of charitie thou hast straightly bounde me to loue myne enemies to doe them good to helpe them in their néede and to pray vnto God for them I know right wel that in thus doing thou arte muche more bounde than I. Wherefore if thou wilt not loue me as thy frend loue me yet at the leaste as thyne enemie doe me good help me in my necessities and pray to thine heauēly father for me as thou art in dede moste bound to doe I doe assuredly know that thy vertue thy goodnes and thine heauenly charitie is not so small nor so stenderly planted in thée that it will suffer it selfe to be ouercome of mine extreme vnkindnes or naughtinesse no how greatly so euer it aboundeth Thy commaundement chargeth me that I in any wise suffer not my selfe to be vanquished by the malice of my enemies and wilte thou suffer thy solfe to be ouercome by my diffrétship leudnesse This verily hathe no likenesse of truth in it Thou hast taught and commaunded me that I with doing good to mine enemies do ouercome and vāquish their malice and I then require thée O my mercifull Lord and onely sauicure that thou also thy selfe obserue this diuine precept and commaundemēt of God thy father as thy godly nature bindeth thée Paie thy debte I pray thée that is vanquish my vain stoutnesse my wickednesse great malice with the vertue of gentlenesse and with thy most bounteous and plentifull goodnesse And if I haue an harte before thée hardened as the Adamant rock or Diamond breake it then or mollifie it I beseeche thee with the piercing moysture of thy moste pretious bloude O stéepe mine heart well therein souple it make it softe and temper it with the moisture of thy grace O lette thy Spirite then for euer possesse me henceforthe assiste me and be my moste gratious and good guide that I may vntill the ende obey thy moste holy wil. O woorke mine harte a newe after thine accustomed manner and according to thy good promisses of olde And if thou answeare that thou hast many times mercifully for giuē me and that thou therefore wilte looke no more vppon me or harken to my sute I answere If thou gauest Peter in commaundemente that he should pardon his enemies not seuen times onely but seuentie times seuen times that is alwayes and as often as they shall offende him It foloweth then that thou also arte so muche the more bounde héerein than I for as much as thou doste excéede me and all men in all charitie and specially bicause that I haue sinned not of any deadely malice but thorowe ignorance and frailtie and for that bothe I and others sawe not rightly the maiestie of him whome we so offended neyther coulde we make a right viewe of the goodes which we did lose nor of the euils in which we daily did incurre But thou peraduēture wilt yet say I haue giuen thée such plentie of lighte and true doctrine by sending my faithfull preachers and ministers these many yeres vnto thée that thou art now without excuse and thy faulte inexcusable Agaynst this doo I yet replie that euen to the Iewes thy peculier people thou gauost suche lights to sée and such knowledge to perceiue what thou was that they were yet inexcusable as thou thy selfe dyddest say And notwithstanding this thou beeing in triumphe vppon the Crosse diddest make their excuse and prayed for them saying that in putting thée to that cruell death they knew not what they dyd In consideration of which things seeing thou art myne onely aduocate myne onely Sauiour my God and dearely beloued of thy father my trust is in thée that thou wilt haue mercy vppon me and pray for me O pray for me therefore I beséeche thee make myne excuse to thyne and myne heauenly father O saue thou me and then shall I bée safe And if thou wilte yet lay to my charge O thou iuste God that I haue with earnest stoutnesse and rebellion offended thée myne answere agayne vnto thée is whych séest the secrotes of myne hearte that in so dooing I haue doone it not wilfully and of malice but rather of frayltie or through feruencie of zeale with all singlenesse of heart to seeke onely thy glory Wherein through wante of knowledge and the true lighte of thy holy Cospell I haue disobediently and stubbornly committed iniquitie but yet not in suthe wyse as doth the damned reprobate fixedly of wylfull malice or as an hater of thée who by all possible meanes séeketh thy dishonour and falleth with al gréedynesse from iniquitie to iniquitie Therefore I doubte not but suche zeale or frayletie ioyned with simplenesse is pardonable before thée through the gretnesse of thy mercy yea it is so much the more to the furtherance of thy glory o Christ rather than the only offences committed of meere simplicitie when the largenesse of thy mercyes so bountifully floweth from thee Yea and I know assuredly that throgh thy goodnesse and feruent charitie thou act inforced to vanquishe and vtterly ouerthrow my weakenesse wickeonesse malice and blindnesse euen to the pardoning of all from the firste to the laste that hathe beene amisse For if the iuste bloud of Abell called to God for vengeaunce agaynst his brother to hys condemnation and preuayled I know that thy bloud muche more effectually calleth to saluation and calling obteineth aboundaunce of Gods mercies for me Saue me therefore O my Lorde and swéete Iesu according to thy promyses and bonde of great charitie against the whiche neither thou oughtest nor canst resiste O saue me I beséeche