complaine I so mournefully as if our afflictions exceeded all that ever were sent upon the children of men If I consider our estate by it selfe I cannot choose indeede but conclude it miserable but if I weigh it with the Pestilences of former ages it will not perhapps appeare a burden so un-supportable Comparisons may peradventure ease my griese and lessen my torments therfore with David I will remember the dayes of ould I will meditate on all the workes of God Ps 143 5. It may be that Solomon may advise mee and comfort mee too where hee thus counselleth Eccl 7.10 Say not in thine heart What is the cause that the former dayes were better then these For thou doest not enquire wisely concerning this I will therfore consider the dayes of ould Ps 77.5 and the yeeres of ancient times Num 16.41 example 1 The children of Israël murmured against Moses and Aaron about the destruction of Korah Dathan Abiram and their accomplices saying Yee have killed the people of the Lord vers 46 and presently there was wrath gone out from the Lord the plague was begunne vers 49 So they that dyed of the plague were foureteene thousand and seaven hundred and all in a day beside them that dyed about the matter of Korah example 2 When Israel abode at Shittim the people committed whoredome with the daughters of Moab and Num 25.1 vers 3. Ps 106 28. vers 29 not contented with this high offence they allso joyned themselves unto Baal-Peor and did eate the sacrifices of the dead Thus they provoked the Lord to anger with their inventions and the plague brake in upon them Num 25.9 and those that dyed in the plague were twentie and foure thousand Their sinne was double it was whoredome both carnall and spirituall their punishment was therfore allmost double to that which was sent for murmuring example 3 When David sent for the Captaine of the hoast to number the people Ioab answered him fairely saying 2. Saâ—… 24.3 Now the Lord thy God adde unto the people how many soever they be an hundred fold and that the eyes of my Lord the King may see it but why doth my Lord the King delight in this thing vers 4. Notwithstanding the King's word prevailed against Ioab and against the Captaines of the boast and Ioab and the Captaines of the hoast went out from the presence of the King to number the people of Israel But what was the event thereof vers 15 The Lord sent a Pestilence upon Israël from the morning even to the time appointed and there dyed of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seaventy thousand men and all of them in the space of but three dayes vers 13 Here was yet a greater number then before and yet all of them fell for the sinne of one onely man but this one man was a King and for his eminent offence five times as many were slaine as when the multitude of people joyned in a murmuring Hee who by the people was acknowledged worth ten thousand of them c 18.3 now for his sinne became the destroyer of seaven times as many of them as hee was vallued at by them so greate was the anger of the Lord for a sinne so greate and committed by a person so greate so eminent example 4 The All-mighty threatned Ierusalem by the mouth of his Prophet that hee would make that cittie desolate Ier 19.8 and an hissing every one that passed thereby should be astonished and hisse c 49.17 because of the plagues thereof The same God threatned Edom allso by the same Prophet saying Edom shall be a desolation every one that goeth by shall be astonished and shall hisse at the plagues thereof The same God againe threatned Babylon by the same Prophet saying c 50.13 Because of the word of the Lord it shall not be inhabited but it shall be wholly desolate Every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished and hisse at her plagues Thus I remember thy judgments of old ô Lord Ps 119 52. and receave comfort Comfesse I must indeede that wee have sinned with our fathers 2. Chr 6.37 wee have done amisse and dealt wickedly but are our punishments as greate as our fathers were Foureteene thousand and seaven hundred of them fell at one time twentie and fower thousand at another time threescore and ten thousand at a third time Lord what mighty numbers were here and yet wee feare when one dyeth wee tremble when ten wee runne when twentie wee are dismayed when an hundred wee are hopelesse heartlesse even allmost quite dead allready when a thousand depart But why should not wee expect as greate plagues as were sent upon any of our ancestours seeing that our sinnes are not lesse either in number or weight Wherein are wee better then Ierusalem or Edom or Babylon that wee are not yet as desolate as were they That every one that passeth by is not astonished nor hisseth at us as they did at them Hee who visited them doeth visit us Ps 89.32 hee visiteth our offences with his rod and our sinnes with his scourges Yet hee visiteth us not so sorely as hee did the Israelites when fowreteene thousand and seaven hundred of them dyed or not so severely as when twentie and fowre thousand of them were swept away or not so grie vously as when threescore and ten thousand of them were destroyed or not so terribly as Ierusalem Edom and Babylon for wee are not quite desolate or not so furiously as Nineveh to whom God spake by his Prophet saying Nah 3.19 There is noe healing of thy bruise thy wound is grievous all that heare the bruite of thee shall clapp the hands over thee Or howsoever not so remedilesly as the army of Pharaoh at Euphrates whom the Lord mocketh by the mouth of his Prophet saying Ier 46.11 Goe up unto Gilead and take balme ô virgin the daughter of Egypt In vaine shalt thou use any medicines for thou shalt not be cured Eze 12 18. This ô this maketh mee to eate my bread with quaking and to drinke my water with trembling and carefullnesse for feare lest our sinne-revenging God should punish us as hee hath done them O what mercies doeth hee not yet offer unto us What kindnesse doeth hee not yet afford us To our Physitians hee giveth knowledg to our medicines hee giveth vertue The herbes of the fields and the fruits of the trees and the flesh of the beastes doe yet offer themselves for our cure and our sustenance O that wee had but so much happinesse as to know the miserie which is due to our offences O that wee had but so much mercy from God as to know his mercy in his gentle visitation For this our miserie will I groane for these our sinnes I will lament for the mercy of my God I will pray and I will cry Heare Ps 30.10 Ps 60.11 ô Lord
was as mine owne soule the sad losse of whom still doeth and still will sitt cold heavy upon my wounded heart Some comfort indeede I have in that sweete odour he left behind him from whence every Christian may receave an Aromatick perfume of learned profit and content yea even those who too unkindly were the cause of putting salt water upon that sweete waxe whereby the Tapour was extinguished To these losses afflictions I might adde many many more beside my present condition among strangers and forrainers and my continuall heart-quakes at the strickt menaces of the ruine and Desolation of my poore bleeding gasping countrie Yet while there is life there is hope even that hee who hath made our land to tremble Ps 60.2 and hath broaken it will in his owne due time heale the breaches thereof for it shaketh In this Manuall thou shalt find noe Author quoted but the Best of all and noe language but English The whole booke is in thy mother tongue and all the proofes excepting a very few are Scripture Luc 23 â—8 The weeping daughters of Ierusalem love best to be comforted in the language of Canaan Is 19.18 Here I â—ould an Ewer nay a Fountaine of â—ater to those that neede it for the reâ—eshing of their soules yet I hinder â—…ne from turning their owne Cocks â—…d letting them runne If any conâ—emne the worke as needlesse in these rightest times for so they are â—ought to be set formes of prayers beâ—…g by many dashed quite out of counâ—mance let them know that these are â—…t intended for them but for those â—ho doe neede and will use them I â—nfine not any to these Formes nor â—e I deny them to any who shall wilâ—ngly accept them In them thou hast â—e helpeâ— â—f many choice places of â—cripture 〈◊〉 for thy severall occasiâ—…s which â—eradventure otherwise would not be so ready at hand when â—ou shouldest stand in neede of them Whatsoever throughout the whole â—ooke thou findest good know that 〈◊〉 is Gods now made thine as well as mine blesse him for it What thou â—ndest here amisse except the faults of the presse I confesse it mine yet â—either wittingly nor willingly is it mine howsoever charge it to mine account Doe thou friendly reckon with mee and I will thankfully satisfie thee and be sure to remember that as it is thy duety to be thankfull for the best so thou oughtest to be charitable in thy censure of the rest Consider what I say 2. Tim. 2.7 and the Lord give thee understanding in all things Thy servant in him Phil 2.7 who tooke upon him the forme of a servant for us IOHN FEATLEY From my house in Flushing April 17. 1646. A Table of the particular contents THe First subject Teares of Godly sorrow or devout Melancholy wherein a flexible disposition apt to weepe employeth those Teares in a Sorrow for sin The Soliloquie p. 1 The Prayer p. 7 Teares from the Heart The Soliloquie confistnig of 3 parts viz 1 The wickednesse of a corrupted heart p. 11 2 Alamentation for the losse of an honest heart p. 23 3 Griefe for an old and sinfull heart and an earnest desire of a righteous new one p. 35 The Prayer p. 45 Teares of Time The Soliloquie consisting of 3 parts viz 1 A Revieuw of the time past p. 48 2 A Consideration of the time present p. 64 3 A Resolution for the time to come p. 75 The Prayer p. 83 Teares in the night The Soliloquie Devided into 3 parts fitted for the time 1 Immediately before going to bed p. 85 Evening Prayer p. 98 2 Of lying downe in the bed p. 100 3 Of awaking in the night p. 111 Teares in the Day Devided into 3 parts and fitted for the time 1 Of awakng early in the morning p. 123 2 Of beeing newly risen p 136 The morning Prayer p. 146 3 Of preparing to goe to dinner p. 149 Teares of Compassion in time of prosperity The Soliloquie treating of earthly riches and the rewarâ— of Charity p. 161 The Prayer p. 18â— 7 Teares in time of adversity in 4 Soliloquies treating of 1 A decayed estate or plenty turned into poverty p. 18â— 2 The prayer p. 204. 2. Hunger both corporall spâ—rituall p. 208 The prayer p. 23â— 3 Thirst both bodily and ghostly p. 23â— The Prayer p. 24â— 4 Nakednesse both of the Outward and Inwarâ— man p. 249 The Prayer p. 260 8 A Virgin 's Teares The Soliloquie p. 26â— The Prayer p. 27â— 9 Teares of a Married woman Soliloquie treating of thâ— dutyes of a wife to her husband p. 275 the prayer p. 29â— 10 Teares of an Aged woman p. 293 The prayer p. 307 11 Teares of a Barren woman p. 311 The prayer p. 321 12 Teares of a Childbearing woman 1 At the time when thee beginneth to fall in travell 2 After her delivery The soliloquie consisting of 3 parts 1 The Cause of the forrow and the confidence of thâ— sorrowing p. 324 2 The greatenesse of the pangs hazards and feares of a Travelling woman p. 332 3 Consolation and comfort for a woman in the bitternesse of her Travell p. 340 The prayer p. 343 2 Teares of a woman after her delivery from the paines of childbearing p. 346 The Prayer p. 351 13 Teares in time of Pestilence The Soliloquy consesting of 6 severall parts treating of 1 Mourning by example in a publick calamity p. 354 2 Severall causes of gods visitations p. 368 3 Sin especially the cause of the pestilence p. 381 4 Severall examples of dreadfull Pestilences p. 388 5 Gods threatning before his visitation p. 395 6 The duty of a Christian decreeing to whome and for whome wee ought to pray in time of Pestilence p. 403 The Prayer p. 413 â—4 Teares of her whose house is shutt up for the Pestilence The Soliloquy p. 420 The Prayer p. 431 â—5 Teares of her who is visited with the Pestilence beeing 1 Either wounded with a Sore p. 437 2 Or marked with the tokens p. 445 The prayer p. 455 â—6 Teares of a Mother for the sicknesse of her child the Soliloquie p. 461 The Prayer p. 469 â—7 Teares of a Mother for the death of her child The Soliloquie p. 473 The Prayer p. 480 â—8 Teares of a Wife for the sicknesse of her husband The Soliloquie p. 484 The Prayer p. 492 â—9 Teares of a woman lamenting the death of her beloved husband the Soliloquie p. 495 the prayer p. 506 â—0 A woman's Teares at the Funerall of her husband the Soliloquie p. 510 The Prayer p. 528 â—1 Teares of a woman in the state of Widdow-hood the Soliloquie p. 531 The Prayer p. 543 â—2 Teares of an Orphan at the death of her father The Soliloquie p. 545 The Prayer p. 561 â—3 Teares for the death of a beloved Freind or Brother The Soliloquie p. 563 the Prayer p. 573 â—4 Teares in a Cousumption or any languishing sicknesse the Soliloquie consisting of 3 parts 1 a complaint and
and naked When the Israëlites were to give an offering to the Lord to make an atonement for their soules Ex 30.15 the rich were not to give more nor the poore to give lesse then halfe a shekel If God should require so much at my hands I should be apt to pleade the want of money or if I had so much I feare that I should appeare too unwilling to spare it But all coveteousnesse is a distrust of providence and either denyeth the power or questioneth the will of the greate disposer Hee provided for the poorest Israëlite on him therfore must I depend for reliefe comfort Something hee require's that I should offer unto him I have nothing of the world's All that I can offer is but my selfe and certainly my selfe shall be best accepted If I can but present him an honest heart it matter 's not how hungry or thirstie or cold or naked the body is which conteineth that heart Iob. 34.19 Hee accepteth not the persons of Princes nor regardeth the rich more then the poore for they all are the worke of his hands The rich may offer to him of their aboundance Mar 12 44. but I of my want will give him my heart which is all that I have Peradventure hee will say of mee vers 43 as hee did once of the widdow This poore woman hath cast more in then all they that have cast into the treasurie Thus if I sieke the Lord I cannot want for so the Prophet telleth mee Ps 34.10 The young Lyons doe lack and suffer hunger but they that sieke the Lord shall not want any good thing Saint Paul assureth mee saying 1. Cor 3.22 Whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come vers 23 all are yours and yee are Christ's and Christ is God's And now what can I feare Whereat can I be displeased God is mine and I am his For what hee giveth mee I will be thankfull whatsoever earthly thing hee depriveth mee of I will be contented This poverty will not endure for ever If it continueth while I live yet it must end when I die that blessed time draweth neerer and neerer every moment I am assured of a deliverance I must attend with patience Afflicted Iob doe's certainly assure mee that Iob. 36.15 God delivereth the poore in his affliction and openeth their eares in oppression The same God promised to Tzion saying I will abundantly blesse her provision Ps 132.15 I will satisfie her poore with bread The Psalmist refresheth mee with unspeakeable comfort when hee telleth mee that Ps 9.18 Ps 72.12 The needy shall not allways be forgotten the expectation of the poore shall not perish for ever The Lord shall deliver the needy when hee cryeth the poore allso and him that hath noe helper Hee will defend the poore Ps 82.3 and fatherlesse hee will doe justice to the afflicted and needy Ps 140.12 Hee will maintaine the cause of the afflicted and the right of the poore Thus am I promised and thus shall it be performed It is noe new thing with God to take pitty upon the distressed The Prophet Isaiah saith unto him Thou hast beene a strength to the poore Is 25.4 a strength to the needy in his distresse a refuge from the storme a shadow from the heate Ps 34.6 This poore man cryed saith David and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles Againe Hee raiseth up the poore out of the dust Ps 113.7 Ps 10.14 Heb. 13 5. and lifteth the needy out of the dung-hill Therfore I resolve that I will commit my selfe unto him for hee is the helper of the friendlesse Hee hath promised that hee will never leave nor forsake them that trust in him Parents are commonly indulgent to their children yet because their naturall affection is possible to be quenched therfore say's the Psalmist When my father and my mother forsake mee Ps 27.10 then the Lord will take mee up I will therfore begge seing now I am poore I will begge of God because hee is rich I will begge of God to keepe mee to love mee to blesse mee that so I may never forsake my dependance on him nor hee his love and compassion to mee Earnestly will I besiech him and confidently will I resolve Rom 8 38. that Neither death nor life nor Angells nor principalities nor powers nor things present vers 39. nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall ever be able to separate mee from the love of God which is in Iesus Christ our Lord. The Prayer FAther of pitties Lord of comfort thou that hearest the cryes of the afflicted Iob. 34.28 Ps 32.4 looke downe in mercy on a distressed sinner Thy hand ô God is heavy upon mee for thou hast taken from mee what I called mine by reason that I did not acknowledg it thine ô Lord thou knowest my bleeding heart my sorrowfull eyes and my mournfull teares Thou seest how poore I am and what miseries I suffer Ps 44.13 I am a scorne to my neighbours and a derision to them that are round about mee My life is become a burden unto mee because thou hast deprived mee of the comforts thereof My lovers Ps 38.11 and mine acquaintance stand looking upon my miserie and my kinsmen stand a farre off Lord if it be thy pleasure thus to humble mee with poverty let it be thy goodnesse to give mee patience to endure it The pride of my heart and my forgetfullnesse of thee in the time of plenty did cry aloud for thy severest punishments Now ô now I feele thy just displeasure and I groane under the burden and weight thereof Yet thou Lord canst ease mee thou canst restore mee Heare Lord and have mercy Lord Ps 30.10 be thou my helper Suffer mee noe more to rely upon the arme of flesh 1. Tim 6.17 or to put my trust in un-certaine riches but make mee for ever depend upon thy bounty Forgive mee ô father the sinnes which I committed when I lived in prosperitie Ps 30.7 for I am sensible that they are a cause why at this time thou hidest thy face from mee and causest mee to be troubled O give mee a sight and sense of the greatnesse of them and true contrition and sorrow for them that so though the world forsake mee yet I may find favour and mercy in thy sight Without thy assistance this sore burden is too heavy for mee to beare Ps 38.4 Lord either remove it from mee or make it easier for mee Lend mee thy gratious and helping hand Ps 23.4 that as I am scourged with thy rod so I may leane upon thy staffe Let mee never despaire of thy comfortable reliefe but in all my miseries be thou my refuge Be pleased to endue mee with patience from above that I may give noe
to beare or her patience to endure O what shall I doe What shall I doe I cry Ps 38.8 I reare for the very disquietnesse of my heart But hath not God promised to beare my cry and to helpe mee Hath hee not commanded mee to call upon him in the day of trouble Ps 50.15 and then promised that hee will deliver mee and I shall glorifie him Now ô now is the time for the fullfilling of his promise This this is the day of my trouble Ps 143.7 My spirit is waxed faint my friends are disturbed all eyes here pitty mee and weepe for my sufferances and grieve that they cannot ease mee But what shall I doe Shall I despaire of his mercy who hath promised mee deliverance O noe I may not I dare not I dare not I will not ps 71.5 vers 6. The Lord God shall be my hope hee who hath beene my trust from my youth By him have I beene holden up from the wombe hee it is who tooke mee out of my mother's bowells and may deliver mee of mine infant my praise shall therfore be ever of him I cannot choose but thinke that Tamar had pangs as greate as mine can be when shee laboured of the twins Gen 38 27. I cannot choose but imagine that Rebekah suffered as much as I doe c 25.22 when Esau and Iacob struggled in her wombe If these were freed from their paines delivered of their children Why should I complaine so much of my torments and forget what greater I have justly merited Should I live a thousand yeeres in one continued and most bitter throw yet would it not be comparable to a minuit of sufferance in the infernall flames and yet eternitie of those have I wickedly merited allthough I feele them not Seeing then that my God is so good as not onely to send mee here lesse torment then I deserve but allso to assure mee of an escape from those infernall horrours why should I repine at these lesser sufferances Sometimes I find a comfortable intermission my pangs are not constant and continued I have times to breath and provide for the next Surely hee who sometimes refresheth mee with respite and cessation doeth intend that in my paine I should rely upon his mercy Is 66.5 vers 9. Let him therfore be glorified and hee shall appeare to my joy Shall hee bring to the birth and not cause to bring forth Shall I cause to bring forth and shut the wombe saith the Lord God There is comfort in his promises there is ease in his mercy I must wayte the time of his pleasure and then shall I have the content which hee hath promised his chosen My pangs may endure for a while but they shall not continue long 1. Tim. 2.14 This chastisement is sent to put mee in mind that Adani was not deceaved but the woman being deceaved was in transgression Yet to my comfort let mee likewise remember that the Apostle addeth Notwithstanding shee shall be saved in child bearing vers 15 if they continue in faith and charity and holinesse with sobriety By child-bearing is meant the plunges which I am in as well as the cares of education the rest of the dueties to which wee are obliged Doe thou ô my Iesus strengthen my faith in the assurance of thy merits renew my love and my charity both to my maker and my neighbour sanctifie mee ô blessed Spirit that I may continue in holinesse and give mee patience that I may endure with sobrietie and peace what I must goe thorough The time may come that this child may blesse the wombe that bare it Lue 11 27. and these pappes which my God may spare to give suck unto it His will must be fullfilled and my will must submit If hee spare mee life I will render him thanks If hee give mee my child I will dedicate it to his service but if it be his pleasure through this tribulation to end my dayes then I know and am assured that hee will wipe away all teares from mine eyes Reu. 21.4 Then hee will bring mee to his heavenly throane where shall be noe more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more paine for the former things shall be passed away The Prayer O My Lord and my God my heavenly father my mercifull Iesus thou who hast filled my belly with thine hidden treasure Ps 17.14 and now hast brought mee to hope and depend in the middest of mine anguish upon thy wonted mercies bow downe thine eare and hearken to the cryes of a pained woman Vnto thee ô Lord doe I crye Ps 142 5. thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living attend therfore unto my cry vers 6. Ps 119 153. Ps 69.29 for I am brought very low Consider mine affliction and deliver mee for I doe not forget thy law I am poore and sorrowfull let thy salvation ô God set mee up on high Ps 38.8 I am feeble and sore smitten I roare by reason of the disquietnesse of my heart vers 9. 1. Tim. 4.10 Ps 18.1 vers 2. All my desire is before thee and my groaning is not hid from thee In thee I trust who art the living God who art the saviour of all especially of them that believe I love thee ô Lord my strength thou art my rock and my fortresse my strength in whom I trust my buckler the horne of my salvation and my high tower Ps 7.1 Ps 20.1 ô save mee now in this heavie visitation and deliver thy servant Heare mee ô Lord in this day of trouble thy name ô God of Iacob vers 2. defend mee Send mee helpe from thy sanctuarie Ps 25.16 strengthen mee out of Sion Turne thee unto mee and have mercy upon mee for I am desolate vers 17 and afflicted The troubles of my heart are enlarged ô bring thou mee out of my distresses vers 18 Looke upon mine affliction and my paine vers 20 and forgive all my sinnes O keepe my soule deliver mee let mee not be confounded for I put my trust in thee Ps 71.1 In thee alone doe I put my trust vers 2. let mee never be put to confusion but deliver mee in thy righteousnesse and cause mee to escape incline thine eare unto mee and save mee Ps 40.13 Be pleased ô Lord to deliver mee ô Lord make hast to helpe mee Give a happie end to these my torments that I may enjoy the fruit of my wombe for which I suffer them O Lord in mercy if it may stand with thine eternall decree preserve both my life and the life of mine issue Arme mee with patience to undergoe these pangs and in the â—nd give mee comfort in what thou shalt send mee If otherwise thou hast determined to end my life by these heavy torments ô my sweete and mercifull Iesus receave mee into thy bosome that I
and this child have dyed so should the teares which I had shed through the extreamitie of my pangs be seconded with more for the losse of my desires In all these mercies I must looke up to my Redeemer and acknowledg him the father and donour of these blessings I will therfore magnifie him for his goodnesse and praise him for his loving-kindnesse Ps 106 1. I will give thankes unto the Lord for hee is gratious because his mercy endureth for ever The Prayer O Mercifull God heavenly father who hast now most especially made knowne unto mee Eph 3.20 that thou art able to doe exceeding aboundantly above all that wee aske or thinke make mee thankfully rejoyce in the worke of thy love and thy tender mercie Thy favours are greate and wonderfull in sparing the life of my selfe mine infant in freeing mee from my pangs and him from the darknesse of the silent wombe Thine ô Lord is the power by which I am delivered thine is the mercy by which I am safely returned unto my bed thine is the worke of the frame and fashion of this my babe thine therfore shall be likewise the glory for ever and ever Graunt blessed Father that I may never sorget thy goodnesse but expresse my thankfullnesse in my new obedience Make mee carefull in the performance of what service I promised thee in the extreamitie of mine anguish As thou hast given mee the fruit of my body to the joy of my heart so give mee the fruit of righteousnesse sowen in peace Iam 3.18 vers 17 Give mee the wisedome which is from above that is full of good workes without hypocrisie Lord make mee thy servant by grace and make this child thy child by adoption and mercy Give mee comfort in his life for the sorrowes which I endured at his birth Gal 1.15 Seperate him from the wombe as thou didst Saint Paul that hee may be a chosen vessell of sanctification and honour Teach mee innocency and simplicitie by the example of this infant and make mee hereafter teach him goodnesse and righteousnesse by the power of thy grace Make us allways children in wickednesse 1. Cor. 14.20 1. Pet 2.2 Gal 4.19 but not in understanding that so as new borne babes wee may desire the sincere milke of thy word that wee may grow thereby Let thy sonne Christ be formed in this litle infant that as it hath beene preserved by thy power and providence in the first birth so it may feele thy mercy and grace in the second Lord give a blessing to whatsoëver shall be used for the recovery of my strength that I may allways praise thee both in prosperitie and adversitie Give thy blessing to the meanes for the nourishment of this child Give it strength that it may live to receave the seale of thy mercy in the laver of Baptisme and doe thou be present with thy blessing when the signe shall be administred Lu 2.52 O let it live if it be thy blessed will and grow up in wisedome and in stature and in grace both with thee and with men that so I may magnifie thy name for making mee an instrument to propagate the number of thine elect who am the weakest and the unworthiest of women Increase thy Kingdome daâ—ly Take pittie upon all that suffer afflictions especially on those women who are in labour of children Give them comfort in the time of their miseries ease from their torments joy in their desired issue and thankfullnesse for thy blessings Lord graunt that both I they may sing praises to thy name for the greatnesse of our deliverances and expresse our thanks in our godly lives that when this painfull life shall have an end wee may sing tryumphantly in eternall glory through Iesus Christ our onely Lord and Saviour Amen 13. THE THIRTEENTH SUBJECT Teares in the time of a generall Pestilence The Soliloquie Consisting of sixe severall parts and treating of 1 Mourning by example in a publike calamitie 2 Severall causes of God's visitations 3 Sinne especially the cause of the Pestilence 4 Severall examples of dreadfull Pestilences 5 God's threatning before his visitation 6 The duety of a Christian decreeing both to whom and for whom wee ought to pray in the time of Pestilence The first part of the Soliloquie treating of mourning by example in a publike calamitie THE EjACULATION Psal 5. vers 1. Give eare to my words ô Lord consider my meditation vers 2. Hearken unto the voyce of my cry my king and my God for unto thee will I pray THe heart of the wise is in the house of mourning Eccl 7.4 saith Solomon but the heart of fooles is in the house of mirth Is the heart then sometimes in a pilgrimage from the body Or is the body required to visit the sick yea though the disease be infectious Or are wee allways by command Ps 42.3 to imitate the Prophet whose teares were his meate day and night The heart indeede is often from home and is least where it liveth most where it loveth The sick must be visited or else my Saviour will complaine as hee doth in the Gospel saying I was sick Mat 25 43. Iob 2.11 and yee visited mee not When Iob's three friends heard of the evill that was come upon him they came every one from his owne place for they had made an appointment together to come to mourne with him and to comfort him vers 13 So they sate downe with him upon the ground 2. King 13.14 and mourned seaven dayes and seaven nights When Elisha was fallen sick of his sicknesse wherewith hee dyed Ioash the King of Israël came downe unto him and wept over his face and said O my father my father the charet of Israel and the horse-men thereof c 8.29 When wicked King Ioram went to be healed in Iezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him at Ramah Ahaziah the sonne of heboram King of Iudah went downe to see him in Iezreel because hee was sick Thus doe I reade of a holy Patient visited by friendly mourners a holy Prophet visited by a weeping King a wicked King visited by another as wicked as himselfe All these were visiters or visited but I doe not find that the diseases were infectious Noe I must therfore imitate the best of them in my charitie to others but I may not forget charity to my selfe Willfully to runne into apparent danger is desperately to tempt the keeper of Israel What shall I then doe The passing bells informe mine eares of the mortalitie of my neighbours yet I cannot I must not visit them What I say shall I doe What course shall I take Charitie commandeth mee compassion hasteneth mee to the dying Christians that by my advice or at least by my prayers I might expresse my commiseration And yet when I am just at my doore provided resolved intended to goe even then mine owne health the health of my familie and which is
hungrie cry when they buy of the rich and are cozened by the rich when they suffer in the cozenage and suffer likewise in the publike in the generall punishment for the cozenage For this our land mourneth for this our people are visited our houses are shut up our streetes are not frequented ouâ— markets not filled and yet the hungry lament and the thirstie doe mourne The poore can neither buy for their money not be imployed in their willing labours to earne them money Is 59.11 nor live without money Wee roare all like Beares and mourne sore like Doves Wee looke for judgment but there is none for salvatien but it is farre from us Therfore with the oppressed I will cry and with the visited allso I will cry I will cry with the oppressed for right and I will cry with â—…e visited for health How long Lord â—ow long wilt thou punish us c. 44.22 O remove â—…ur sinnes like a cloude blott out as a thick cloude our transgressions and as a cloude our sinnes returne unto us for thou hast redeemed us part 3 The Third part of the Soliloquie shewing that Sinne especially is the cause of the Pestilence THe diseased ignorant of the kind of their maladies cause the Phisitian 〈◊〉 consult with their pulses to examine their â—rine and by symptomes to find out the â—ause of their disturbance So should the sick soule allso or else the ignorance of the sinne may hinder the cure Generall complaints have beene made by men groaning under the burdens of severall visitations but doeth the Pestilance come by the same rules and arise from the same causes Surfeits and Consumptions and Feavers and Palsies and Plurisies and other such sicknesses may have their causes in nature and their remedies oftentimes by physick but neither is the cause of the Pestilence so cleere in nature nor is the cure thereof so easie by physick Or if it be yet is this disease more infectious more mortall and therfore more dreadfull then any of the rest It shall therfore be my first care to find out the cause in my soule before I looke upon the effects thereof in the bodies of sinfull mortalls I will examine our times by those of our ancestours and see whether this generall contagion doeth not rather proceede from the mallice of the soule then from the aire dyet or whatsoever else the Phisitians conjecture at The men which Moses had sent to spie out the land of Canaan returned 1. Num 14.36 and made all the congregation to murmur against Moses by bringing up a slaunder upon that land of promise those very men that did bring up that evill report upon the land vers 37 dyed of the plague before the Lord. What Of the plague Of the Pestilence There were but ten of those spies and those ten onely dyed Wee have the Pestilence too but it contenteth not it selfe with ten ten and ten and ten but hundreds dye hundreds are visited thousands complaine every one feareth But was their disease the same as ours Was not theirs an inflammation of their tongues and wormes issueing out of them as a just recompenseâ— because with their tongues they had lyed Or was it not some other extraordinarie plague from the hand of God Or was it not that Pestilence which was threatned when the Lord said unto Moses vers 11 How long will this people provoke mee and how long will it be ere they believe mee for all the signes which I have shewed among them vers 12 I will smite them with the Pestilence and disinherit them and will make of thee a greater nation mightier then they Whatsoever their disease was though I cannot determine it yet will I consider the cause thereof The cause was a sinne a grievous sinne a lye and the effect of this was a sinne a grievous sinne it was murmuring O thus have wee allso added sinnes unto sinnes Wee allso lye wee lye grievously desperately impudently Like unto Iob's friends wee are forgers of lyes Iob. 13.4 Ps 40.4 Ps 58.3 Ps 62.4 Eze. 24 12. Hos 10 13. wee turne aside to lyes wee goe astray so soone as wee be borne and speake lyes wee delight in lyes and wee have wearied our selves with lyes justly therfore now doe wee eate the fruit of lyes And yet not contented with this wee murmur too Against our superiours wee murmur for not governing us according to our licentious and sinfull desires against the rich wee murmur because wee floate not in their plentie yea even against God himselfe wee murmur because hee graunteth not our sinfull desires Thus in every thought and in every word wee either find a sinne or make a sinne For this our lying for this our murmuring wee are now visited wee are now stricken wee are as those spies were destroyed of the destroyer 1. Cor. 10.10 The rebellious Israëlites were threatned by Moses that Every sicknesse 2. Deut. 28.61 every plague which was not written in the booke of the law them should the Lord bring upon them untill they were destroyed vers 62 And they should be left few in number whereas they were as the starres of heaven for multitude These were the menaces these were the threats to the children of Israël but among all these sicknesses where is that which reigneth among us Hath God prepared a new punishment for us such as the Israëlites never suffered nor the law ever mentioned nor skill ever cured Doubtlesse thus God could afflict us but hee chuseth rather to punish us as hee did others that so wee might find out the cause as others have done Hee was pleased to tell the Israëlites the cause of their plague which hee would send upon them vers 62 even Because they would not obey the voyce of the Lord their God Iust thus hee punisheth us as hee punished them even untill wee are allmost quite destroyd and hee telleth us our sinne our offence too by his word by his ministers by our owne consciences even that wee refuse to obey the voyce of the Lord. Iust therfore most just it is that seeing wee have wee doe wee will thus sinne even thus yea thus severely likewise wee should be punished Yea wee deserve it in a farre greater manner in a sarre greater measure Hee who threatned those that would walke contrarie unto him and would not hearken unto him Lev 26 21. that hee would bring seaven times more plagues upon them according to their sinnes Hee who by Moses threatned them that If they would not observe to doe all the words of that law which are written in that booke Deut 28.58 that they might feare this glorious name The Lord thy God vers 59 Then the Lord should make their plagues wonderfull and the plagues of their seede even greate plagues and of long continuance and sore sicknesses and of long continuance The selfe-same God hath found us walking contrarie unto him and therfore hath
gates of Ierusalem Thus it was with them but must it therfore be thus with those which dye of the sicknesse of the Pestilence With all This were a dreadfull sentence indeede To dye and not to be pittyed to dye of the plague and before death not to be prayed for Who knoweth indeede but that some such as those men of Iudah may be among us Who knoweth but that some Iehojakims may be among the visited What then Shall I therfore pray for none Yea shall I not pray for them God forbid The lesse they pray for themselves the more will I pray for them The lesse they know God the more will I pray that they may know him The sicker they are in body the more neede they have of comfort in mind What though they in part may be a cause of this mortalitie What though their wickednesses have helped to bring this contagion If they are enemies to mee in particular I will forgive them though they are God's I will pray for them even that hee in his good time would be pleased to call them home both to the knowledg and the practise of his trueth David I am sure did pray for and pittie his enemies for so hee professeth saying Ps 35.13 As for mee when they were sick my cloathing was sack-cloth I humbled my soule with fasting Lu 19.41 And thus did my Redeemer too for Ierusalem for When hee was come neere to the citty hee beheld it yea hee wept over it vers 42 saying If thou hadst knowne even thou at least in this thy day the things which belong unto thy peace But now are they hid from thine eyes Shall David weepe then for his enemies Shall my Iesus weepe for his enemies for the enemies of his father Ioh 20 17. and my father of his God and my God and shall not I weepe for those who are in miserie and distresse My saviour knew who were elected and who were reprobates and yet hee wept over the whole citty I dare not pry into those secret counsells of my God nor can I know all those whom hee hath ordained for heaven othell shall not I then weepe for them all in generall in this generall calamitie Yes I will keepe my turne I will sing my part in this dolefull consort Surely if my God should forbid mee praying for them even the very prohibition might peraduenture encourage mee to performe it hee knoweth that wee are apt to doe whatsoever hee forbiddeth O my God either take away my readinesse and aptnesse to contradict thee or else forbid mee nothing but what thou wouldest have mee to performe But why should I pray for those who though they are visited refuse to repent Shall I hope to alter the eternall decree of him with whom is noe variablenesse Iam. 1.17 neither shadow of change What if hee hath reserved them for vengeance Can I by my prayers snatch them out of the fire If they are sick peradventure I cannot cure them If they are not yet sick I cannot preserve them O these churlish inhumane un-christian uncharitable thoughts God therfore sendeth them this affliction that they may repent and that they may rather prevent then hee exercise his revenge Seeing therfore that I know not the hearts of any I will pittie all and since by my prayers I cannot prevaile for them to whom is reserved the blacknesse of darknesse for ever I will grieve Iud 13. that Man is become so wicked Rom 2 5. as to treasure up unto himselfe such wrath against the day of wrath Faine would my God have conquered the stubbornnesse of stiffe-necked Israel with the pleasant allurements of his heavenly blessings yet they would not yeeld they would not relent Then hee threatned them yet they would not yeeld Then hee punished them and yet they would not turne which made him cry out by his Prophet Amos. 4.10 I have sent among you the Pestilence after the manner of Egypt yet have yee not returned unto mee saith the Lord. Surely the Lord is very angry with such as will not tremble at his judgments which made him threaten so by Ezekiel saying If I send a Pestilence into that land Eze 14 19. and powre out my furie upon it in blood to cut off from it man and beast Though Noah Daniel vers 20 and Ioh were in it as I live saith the Lord God they shall deliver neither sonne nor daughter they shall deliver but their owne soules by their righteousnesse What comfort then can I receave or give when I mourne for the comfortlesse What hope have I to speede when these worthies should be denyed if they were here to intercede for them by their earnest supplications Sure I am that I am not so good as any of those three Not as the worst Not as Noah though hee had beene drunke Gen 9.21 Not as Iob though Eliphaz taxed him with impatience when as hee justified him selfe and seemed to taxe even God himselfe with injustice Iob 16.15 saying I have sewed sack-cloth upon my skinne and defiled my horne in the dust My face is fowle with weeping vers 16 and on mine eye-lids is the shadow of death vers 17 Not for any injustice in my hands allso my prayer is pure Noe Noe farre short come I of either of any of them poore I a poore weake sinfull woman even as sinfull as the worst as wicked as the worst And now I begin better to bethinke my selfe by thinking worse of my felfe what are those which I questioned whether I might pray for them or not Are they sinners So am I. Are they grievous sinners So am I. Surely I doe not know enough of my selfe if I doe not know my selfe the worst the vilest the chiefest of sinners It is then but justice that I should pray for the worst since I my selfe either am or might have beene worse then them My prayers shall be generall for all hoping that God may be pleased to have mercy on all But if any among them be certainly reprobates though I know it not yet I will pray that they may be taken from the number of the faithfull that so they may neither seduce by their temptations nor offend by their examples nor dishonour my good God any longer by their crying and multiplying abhominations Yet must I howsoever be charitable in my devotions and pray for others as well as for my selfe But all this while since my thoughts have beene fixed upon those that are visited and I am certainly resolved for whom I will pray let mee be sure that I direct my prayers aright or else my devotion may be but blindnesse and my religion superstition To him without doubt and to him alone must I tender my petitions from whom yea from whom alone this sicknesse is sent upon this sinfull land And who is hee which visiteth the earth but onely the great Creatour of heaven and earth The very Philistines could
pronounced against them who take away the right from the poore of the people of the Lord that widowes may be their prey and that they may robbe the fatherlesse Yea and from God himselfe by the mouth of King Solomon the advice is given Remove not the ould land-marke Prov. 23.10 and enter not into the fields of the fatherlesse By the Allmighty to the fatherlesse friends are raised thus was Iob Iob. 29.12 I delivered the poore saith hee that cryed and the fatherlesse and him that had none to helpe him c 31.17 And againe hee saith If I have eaten my morsell alone and the fatherlesse hath not eaten thereof vers 22 then let mine arme fall from the showlder-blade and mine arme be broken from the bone Thus if I am God's then God will be mine If in my wants I misse my father my God will relieve mee if in my troubles I want my father my God will deliver mee What could my earthly parent have added to my content which my heavenly parent cannot much more supply If therfore I grieve too much for the death of him I forget my God who liveth for ever If too much I complaine of his absence who delighted in mee I manifest my rebellion against him who should be my delight Mat. 6.9 Hee taught mee to pray and when I pray hee taught mee to say Our father which art in heaven On him therfore will I depend who is the father of all that believe in him Rom. 4.11 To him in my wants will I addresse my selfe who is the giver of all Iam. 1.17 Upon him will I call and to him will I cry and say The Prayer ALl-mighty God heavenly father who art a Lord of comfort Rom. 15.5 and a God of consolation looke downe upon a sinfull and distressed orphane bereft of the joy and helpe of an earthly parent Thou ô Lord didst send mee unto him that thy Kingdome might be increased and thou hast taken him from mee that my faith and patience might be fully tryed I was apt to forget thee while hee was living looking upon him as the donour of blessings and neglecting thee from whom they proceeded I relyed too much on the arme of flesh 2 Chr. 32.8 and trusted too fondly in the power of man but now thou hast humbled mee by his mortalitie and taught mee wholly to rely and depend upon thee Mine owne unworthinesse of so loving a father made thee to take him away from mine eyes My dis-obedience to his commands and my neglect of honouring him according to thy lawes have provoked thee to anger and to deprive mee of his comfort Lord forgive my manifold offences since I find that all flesh is but as grasse 1. Pet. 1 24. Iam. 4.14 and that the life of man is but as a vapour which van sheth away make mee allways to apply my service wholly unto thee who livest forever Remember thy promises which thou hast made unto the fatherlesse and that I may be capable of those thy promises give mee grace to become thy child by obedience Thou ô Lord art my father to whom belongeth honour Mal. 1.6 thou art my master and requirest mee to feare thee Lord make mee feare to offend thee who art a righteous judge and make mee love and honour thee who art a gracious father Be with mee in all the wayes wherein I shall walke in this mortall life Lu 1.79 guiding my feete into the way of peace Comfort mee in my sorrowes support mee in my miseries provide for mee in my wants and in all places and at all times be thou my father Ps 62.6 Ps 82.3 my rock and my strong salvation Doe thou defend the poore and fatherlesse doe justice to the afflicted and needie Supply all my wants and conferre upon mee all necessarie blessings O be reconciled unto mee in the blood of thy sonne that I may here depend upon thy fatherly protection hereafter be receaved into thy celestiall Kingdome there to reigne with thee world without end through Iesus Christ my onely Lord and Saviour Amen subject 23 THE TWENTIE-THIRD SUBJECT Teares for the death of a beloved brother And may likewise serve at the decease of any other faithfull friend The Soliloquie THE EjACULATION Psal 5. vers 1. Give eare to my words ô Lord consider my meditation vers 2. Hearken unto the voyce of my cry my king and my God for unto thee will I pray A Friend saith King Solomon loveth at all times Prov. 17.17 and a brother is borne for adversitie Friendship which is begotten by the outward forme or any other sinister and by respect liveth noe longer then that ground of affection but nature is stronger then our election can bee and religion obligeth farre more then both O how greate then is my losse of my dearest brother in whom both excellency of feature neerenesse of blood and a gracious conversation conspired together to render him matchlesse To mee hee was a friend but now to the grave what losse can be greater then the losse of a friend To mee hee was a brother but now to the wormes and what losse can be more deplorable then the losse of a brother But to mee hee was yet more hee was a friend in his love and courtesies a brother by his blood yea and an instructer a teacher of religion and goodnesse and yet nor love nor blood nor religion could preserve him mine O what sorrowes doe accompanie all thing transitorie His love could not dye but his body could and so I am deprived of the societie of my brother because my brother was subject to corruption But is this the adversitie for which hee was borne according to King Solomon Did the wise man intend that a brother is borne to bring adversitie Or rather to comfort us in the time of adversitie Had hee beene a cause of my least disturbance while hee was living hee would have eased my griefe by grieving himselfe Hee would have comforted mee in the time of trouble had hee lived to see my grievous mourning But now alas I am left to lament alone and so much the more for the want of his comfort I now must grieve for him who was my joy and my laments and my griefes increase the higher because for his sake they arise who cannot allay them Had wee lived in hatred his death peradventure might have beene my comfort Had wee loved but sleightly a teare or two I might have thought enough to pay at his funerall But our love was firme it was strong yea strong as death Cant. 8.6 and who then can blame mee if my sorrowes in some measure keepe pace with my love O what tye can be so greate as that of affection What love so greate as of a brother and sister And yet so vaine is man so fraile are mortalls that either our affection or our persons must have a divorce Had my deceased brother
Ier 3.22 And this is hee to whom Israel replyeth and saith vers 23 Behold wee come unto thee for thou art the Lord our God Truely in vaine is salvation hoped for from the hills and from the multitude of mountaines truely the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel This is hee who promiseth unto Zion c 30.17 saying I will restore health unto thee and I will heale thee of thy wounds saith the Lord because they called thee an out-cast saying This is Zion whom no man seeketh after This is the same Lord to whom the people of Israel addressed themselves Hos 6.1 when they said Come let us returne unto the Lord for hee hath torne and hee will heale us hee hath smitten and hee will bind us up Since then my God hath cured both lands and waters and bodies and soules Since hee woundeth and hee healeth none can deliver out of his hand Since hee bringeth downe to the grave and bringeth up Since hee woundeth and his hands make whole Since it is hee onely who forgiveth all our iniquities healeth all our diseases and saveth our lives from destruction Since it is hee that bindeth up the breach of his people and healeth the stroake of their wound Since it was hee that promised to penitent Iudah that hee would restore comforts to him and to his mourners Since it is hee alone who is the salvation of Israël Since it is hee that promised unto Zion to restore health unto her and to heale her of her wounds I will resolve therfore with the people of Israel to returne unto him for hee hath torne mee and hee alone can heale mee hee hath smitten mee and hee alone can bind mee up To him to him will I humbly sue for the cure of my wounded and distressed soule and to him will I willingly submitt my weake and feeble body I will powre out my soule unto him I will send up my supplications unto him and will pray and say The Prayer GReate Creatour full of compassion who both sendest sicknesse and restorest health be thou graciously pleased I most humbly beseech thee to turne thy wrath from thy distressed servant Thy hand ô Lord is heavie upon mee in this languishing consumption and the sting of my transgressions pierceth mee with sharpe and grievous torments Yet I must confesse ô my God that my sufferances doe not any wayes equall mine offences nor can the paines which I endure satisfie thee mine offended Lord for the least of my transgressions O my sinnes are upon mee Eze 33.10 and I pine away in the punishment for them how then shall I live My body languisheth my flesh consumeth Ps 22.15 Ps 39.11 Iob 33 19. vers 20 and now am I very neere drawne unto the dust of death Thou with thy rebukes doest correct mee for mine iniquities thou makest my beautie to consume away like a moath I am chastened with paine upon my bed and the multitude of my bones with strong paine so that my life abhorreth bread and my soule the daintie meate that is to be desired vers 21 My flesh is consumed away that it cannot be seene and my bones that were not seene vers 22 stick out My soule draweth neere unto the grave and my life to the destroyers But yet I know that with thee ô God is compassion Mat 9.12 and tender mercies The whole have noe neede of the Physitian but such as I who am sick and in miserie O that it might be sayd of mee as it was by Mary concerning her brother Lazarus Io 11.3 even that Shee whom thou lovest is sick O my God make mee thy friend in heart and soule and graunt that I may expresse it in my dutifull obedience to all thy commandements and then be thou my friend in thy succour and reliefe Ps 41.1 vers 2. Deliver mee now in this time of trouble preserve mee and If it may be thy good pleasure keepe mee alive make mee blessed upon the earth and deliver mee not over into the hands of death vers 3. Lord strengthen mee upon this my bed of languishing make thou turne thou all my bed in my sicknesse Thou hast chastened mee sore Ps 118.18 Ps 116.8 vers 9. Ps 143.6 ô give mee not over unto death but deliver my soule from death mine eyes from teares and my feete from falling that I may walke before thee in the land of the living Vnto thee ô my God doe I stretch forth my hands my soule thirsteth for thee as a thirstie land vers 7. Heare mee speedily ô Lord my spirit faileth hide not thy face from mee for I am become like unto them that goe downe into the pit Thou hast promised by thine Apostle Iam 5.15 that the prayer of faith shall save the sick and that thou wilt raise him up Lord I pray unto thee strengthen thou my faith I am sick Lord raise thou mee up and make good unto mee that thy promise by thy holy Apostle Heale mee ô Lord Ier 17.14 and I shall be healed save mee and I shall be saved for thou art my praise O Lord I call upon thee Ps 141.1 hast thee unto mee consider my voyce now I cry unto thee and restore mee to health But howsoever if thou hast otherwise determined of mee ô my Iesus cleanse thou mee by thy blood and cure my soule by the merits of thy passion My sinnes I must confesse are the cause of my sicknesse but doe thou ô God Ps 44.22 blott out as a thick clowde my transgressions as a clowde my sinnes returne unto mee for thou hast redeemed mee O give mee patience in this time of adversitie give mee comfort in the examples of thy mercy and give mee assurance of thy love in the sanctifying of this sicknesse unto mee As my body doeth dayly draw neerer to the earth so make my soule allso dayly draw neerer unto heaven If it may be thy pleasure to restore mee to health againe ô let it be thy mercy allso to renew mine obedience But if thou art resolved by this disease to free mee from the labours of this wearisome world and to bring mee downe to my grave for thy Christs sake o my mercifull and indulgent father bring thou my soule into thy celestiall paradise O graunt that my sinnes may consume farre faster then doeth my flesh and as thou takest away the strength of my body so be pleased to adde unto the strength of my faith I am thine ô Saviour and cost thee deere even the very blood that issued from thy crucified body be thou allso mine ô Iesus both now and for ever Abate the temptations â—… Satan and arme mee with strength to resist his suggestions Ravish my soule with the love of thy selfe that so I may with willingnesse forsake the vanities of this world with readinesse lay downe this tabernacle of flesh and with comfort that my soule may
the rivers are full of us Good God what a menace was this which went out against Egypt What water the land with blood Yes with blood And good reason for that countrie which had beene so fertile through the overflowings of Nilus was now growne more glutted with skarlet sinns then their river was pregnant reemed with misse shâ—ppen monsters Thus Goâ— can doe and thus God will doe when hiâ— patience is over-pressed with the infinite in crease of insufferable crimes And thus o thus he now doe's to my poore nativeâ— bleeding countrie This this land which waâ— like the land of Egypt Gen. 13 10. Lam. 1.1 Ier. 5.9 vers 10 even as the garden of thâ— Lord which was great among nations and Princesse among Provinces is now Made an astonishment and an hissing and a desolation The voyce of mirth and the voyce of gladnesse and the voyce of the Bride-groome and the voyce of the Bride and the sound of the mill-stones and the light of the candle are taken from us and this whole land by degrees become's a desolation vers 11 Lam. 1.4 and an astonishment Her priests sigh her virgins are afflicted and she is in bitternesse Lord what a strange and sad alteration is here in every corner of the Kingdome in all estates and conditions of the people Our cities are become prisoners even to their owne fortifications and seeme to be coffind in the walls of their strength The grave and ancient inhabitants of them who had out-lived their sweat and labour are now enforced to become young apprentices to their allmost forgotten crafts and finding their stiffe stickie fingers unapt to purchase bread for their bellies they moisten their shrivell'd cheekes with those few teares their age can allow them The cornets and the sack-buts are turned into trumpets and fifes our feasts are turned into mourning Amos. 8.10 and all our songs into lamentation and sack-cloth is brought upon all loines and baldnesse upon every head and our mourning is as for an onely sonne and the end of our mirth is this our bitter day Our dances are changed into marches our banquets into famine our gownes and liveries into garments made of the skinns of Elkes and Buffeloes and the suites of gold and Tissue into glittering armour The hatts composed of the sofe wooll of the Beaver are turned into helmets beavers of hard and heavy mettall the lofty proud structures into poore and narrow hutts and tents and the pride of the cup-board and the glory of the fingers into salarie for souldiers and the price of blood Ioel. 3.9 Warre is proclaimed in our gates it is prepared our mighty men are awaked all the men of warre draw neere and come up vers 10 Our plough-shares are beaten into swords and our pruning hookes into speares Our citizens hands forget the cunning of their trades and occupations Ps 144.1 by teaching their hands to warre and their fingers to fight Our penns are turned into pikes our maces into swords our walking staves into halbeards and partizans and leading staves and our voyces of harmonie and musick into showtes and horrid cries of formidable armies The bells which merrily rang the peales and the changes either roare out our destructions in engines of warre by a strange metamorphosis or if they continue in their ould condition they skarce know any other tone then knells for the slaine the death of whom causeth the wringing of hands among orphanes widdowes Our Beth-els are turned into Beth-avens so that now wee skarce dare to seeke Bethel Amos. 5.5 or enter into Gilgal or passe unto Beersheba Our Daniels Dan. 6.16 vers 18 oh our Daniels are cast into the denns of Lyons and yet few of us doe passe the night in fasting nor doe we send away the instruments of musick from before us nor doth our sleepe goe from us O that wee would yet once tremble and feare before the God of Daniel vers 26 who is the living God and stedfast for ever and his Kingdome that which shall not be destroyed for his dominion shall be even to the end vers 27 He delivereth and rescueth and hee worketh signes and wonders in heaven in earth Sad was the time with Ieremiah the Prophet Ier 37.12 when he went out of Ierusalem to goe into the land of Benjamin to separate himselfe thence in the midst of the people For vers 13 when he was in the gate of Benjamin a captaine of the ward was there whose name was Irijah vers 14 and he tooke Ieremiah the Prophet saying Thou fallest away to the Caldeans but Ieremiah said It is false I fall not away to the Caldeans but he hearkened not unto him So Irijah tooke Ieremiah and brought him to the Princes vers 15 wherfore the Princes were wroth with Ieremiah and smote him and put him in prison in the house of Ionathan the Scribe for they had made that a prison Bad Eze 2.6 o full bad are our times too for our Ezekiels live among briars and thornes and dwell among scorpions Heb 11 36. The Prophets of the Lord have their trialls of cruell mockings yea of bonds and imprisonment They are stoned they are tempted vers 37 they are slaine with the sword they wander about in sheepe-skinns and goate-skinns being destitute afflicted and tormented vers 38 of whom the world is not worthy They wander in deserts and in mountaines and in denns and caves of the earth This thou hast seene ô Lord Ps 35.22 vers 23 keepe not silence ô Lord be not thou farr from them Stirre up thyselfe and awake to their judgment and to their cause o our God and our Lord. The time is allready come that judgment hath begun at the house of God 1. Pet. 4.17 and if it first begin at them what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel Wee see not our signes there is skarce any Prophet more and who is there among us that knoweth how long Ps 74.9 Wee have unsettled people among us who are apt to say to the Seers see not to the Prophets Is 30.10 Prophesie not unto us right things speake unto us smooth things Prophesie deceits Get yee out of the way turne aside out of the path vers 11 cause the holy one of Israel to cease from before us The Prophet Ieremiah complained that in his time a wonderfull and horrible thing was committed in the land Ier 5.30 vers 31 the Prophets prophesied lies and the people loved to have it so and what saith hee shall wee doe in the end thereof c 14.13 Againe he cries out Ah Lord God behold the Prophets say unto them Yee shall not see the sword neither shall yee have famine but I will give you assured peace in this place vers 14 The Prophets Prophesie lies in thy name whereas thou sentest them not neither hast thou