The Royal Sufferer A MANUAL OF MEDITATIONS AND DEVOTIONS Written for the Use of a Royal tho' Afflicted FAMILY By T K D. D. Printed in the Year 1699. TO THE KING Great Sir PErmit me I beseech You to lay at Your Royal Feet this small Manual which has no other design but the Supporting of Your Sacred Majesty and Your Faithful Friends and Adherents under those Calamities which Your Majesty has born with so much Magnanimity Patience and Christian Resolution that it shews You to be the Heir not only of Your Royal Father's Crown but of his Afflictions and Sufferings Exerting the like Constancy and Courage under them as that Blessed Martyr did 'T is true indeed Your Royal Father was a Protestant and Liv'd and Dy'd in and for that Profession and I cou'd heartily wish that Your Majesty was so too For then we might quickly hope to see an end of our present Miseries in a short time But tho' so great a Blessing be deny'd us yet shall my Loyalty and Duty approve it self the same as if You were 〈◊〉 for I cannot conceive what ever some may think that Your Majesty's being of another Perswasion than my self can discharge me from my Allegiance to You. And I hope Your Majesty will not the less regard what I have here Written because I profess my self as I always did to be a Member and an Vnworthy Son of the Church of England For as it has always been my Iudgement that he that Believes Lives and Prays according to the Rules that Christ has given us is a True Christian and a happy Man so I believe that the next way to Heaven is not to look after Controversie but Conscience and to spend our Zeal and Time not in being Contentious but Religious And therefore wheresoever I live in the Christian World whither East or West it is not my being a good Scholar that will make me happy but a good Christian not a Learned Disputant for Christ but a Devout Servant to him Nor the being of such or such a Party or side in the Church but a True Member of his Body AND if Your Majesty wou'd Vouchsafe to bear with me a little I cou'd easily demonstrate this to be the most Safe Way For if I am Regenerated by the holy Spirit and made a Christian by true Baptism believing the Scriptures can it with any Colour of Reason be Suppos'd that I shall suffer Damnation for not equally Believing Traditions And if I make Conscience to serve and Worship GOD can it be thought I shall Perish for not Worshiping Images If I pray to GOD as our Blessed Saviour hath taught me saying Our Father c. Who can think I should incur the Sentence of Damnation for not Invocating Saints and Angels And if I receive the holy Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ in both kindes according to Christ's Institution as even the Roman Church Confesses who can believe I shall be damned because the Cup is taken away by a Council THESE things I urge with all humility only to let Your Majesty see what reason I have to believe the Protestant Religion to be the most Safe Way And if through the Divine Blessing they should be made Efficacious to cause Your Majesty to Return to and Embrace the Religion professed even to Death by Your Royal Father for whom I am sure You have so justly a great Veneration it wou'd be the Ioy and Rejoycing of all Your People and wou'd open a Door of hope to 'em even in this Valley of Achor But if for our Sins we shall still be depriv'd of so great a Blessing it is yet our Duty to submit to the Soveraign Will of our Almighty Maker and to continue our Loyalty to Your Majesty praying That the Divine Goodness would graciously support You under those great and many Troubles wherewith it has pleased Him to Exercise You here and at last to Translate You to a brighter Crown even a Crown of Immarcessible Glory Which is the Daily and Earnest Prayer of Your Majesties most Loyal Faithful and Obedient Subject and Servant T. K. INTRODUCTION HAVING with grief of Heart observed that Uninterrupted Series of Afflictions that has now for some Years attended one of the most Royal Families in Europe to which I have the Honour to be particularly related and thereby am involved in their common Fate my self having run the same Risque with that of my Royal Master and suffered the loss of all as well as He I have thought it my Duty by the Ensuing Meditations to cast my Mite into the Royal Treasury and by considering the Vicissitude and Uncertainty of all Sublunary States and Things to offer some Support under that weight of Sorrow which a Mind less Magnanimous than that of our Great Master would have sunk under long ago AND since the Holy Scriptures do inform us that Afflictions rise not out of the Ground neither does Trouble spring out of the Dust it will not be unnecessary to inquire into the Cause from whence our great and sore Calamities arise for as in the Case of a Diseased Body to know the Cause from whence the Morbifick Affect proceeds is accounted half the Cure so if by a thorow search we can come to know the Cause why it has pleas'd the Soveraign Majesty of Heaven to Bring and to Continue these Calamiries upon us it may accompany'd with the Divine Blessing go a great way towards the Removal of them There being nothing more certain than that the way to have our Offended Maker Reconcil'd unto us is To Search our Hearts and try our Ways and to turn unto Him against whom we have sinned and so may we hope He will have Mercy upon us and say to the Proud Waves of Affliction that have so long been rolling over our heads Thus far have ye gone but ye shall proceed no further and here shall your proud Waves be stopped For the same GOD that puts a stop to the Raging of the Sea can soon put a Period to the Madness of the People and bring back our Captivity as the Streams in the South NOW since the Loss of what we formerly Enjoy'd is that which makes us the most Uneasie and gives us the greatest Disquiet I will first Endeavour to remove it by giving you a Scheme of the Vanity and Emptiness of all those things and consequently that it is not worth our while to afflict our selves for the Loss of that which is so Fading and Transitory in its own Nature and when Enjoy'd in its greatest Advantages adds so very little to our happiness Which things are properly reducible to three Heads viz. Honours Riches and Pleasures which I shall distinctly consider in Meditations upon each And that what I write may be the more effectual to the End for which it is written I shall Address my self to the Divine Majesty for a Blessing thereupon A PRAYER O Most Gracious and Blessed GOD who art the Source and Fountain of
unhappy in it And especially since they profess that Happiness consists in being Lesser and not Greater In a word whatever Happiness Honour and Ambiton promiseth it is nothing else but suffering of much Evil to get more Men think by daily climbing higher to make themselves happy and yet the height whereunto they so painfully aspire is the height of Misery it self BUT having thus consider'd both the Uncertainty and Vanity of Worldly Honour it is necessary to see what use is to be made of it before we proceed any further The Soul's Expostulation AND now O my Soul why shou'dst thou Disquiet thy self for the loss of that which is not worth the keeping If the Possession of it cou'd add nothing to thy Happiness what hast thou to complain of now 't is lost Is it not better to enquire what just Title thou hadst to it than to repine at the loss of it If thy Honour was the Reward of Vertue it is still thy own for whilst the Cause continues which is Vertue the Effect cann't cease and then thou hast no reason to complain But if thy Honour came from any other Cause thou truly never hadst any real Honour it only was an empty Name and nothing else For it is Vertue is the Life and Soul of Honour Thou oughtest therefore O my Soul to look well before thou leap'st into the Chair of Honour or else the higher thou climbest the lower thou fallest If Vertue prefer thee then Vertue will preserve thee But if Gold or Favour do advance thee thy Honour is but pinn'd upon the Wheel of Fortune and when that Wheel shall turn thy Honour falls and thou remain'st an everlasting monument of thy own Ambitious Folly If therefore thou desire O my Soul to purchase Honour with thy Wealth consider first how that became thine If thy Labour got it let thy Wisdom keep it if Oppression found it let Repentance restore it and if thy Parents left it let thy Vertues deserve it For if thou art a Palace Honour like the Sun-beams will make thee more Glorious but if thou art a Dunghil the Sun may shine upon thee but it cannot sweeten thee Thy Prince may give thee honour but not make thee honourable The best way therefore O my Soul is to despise that empty Nothing which the World calls Honour and seek after that Honour which none can Rob thee of or take away and that is in a word to seek the Honour which GOD gives For they that honour Him He has promis'd to honour whereas they that despise Him shall be lightly esteemed A PRAYER O Almighty and most gracious Lord God who alone rulest in the Kingdoms of Men and sufferest one to be plucked down and another to be set up as best seemeth good in thy sight Thou givest and thou takest away blessed be thy holy Name for ever O Lord be pleased in Mercy to look down upon an unworthy Sinner now before thee and graciously Support me under the present Dispensation of thy Providence and quiet my Soul under thy Wise and Soveraign Disposal of 〈◊〉 Affairs and make me willing to suffer whatever it shall please thee to inflict upon me O Lord make me sensible that thou hast dealt favourably with me and hast punish'd me less than mine Iniquities deserved I do confess I have been too much puffed up with that Honour which comes from Man which therefore I am justly deprived of and O that now thou wouldst help me to take shame to my self and henceforth to see after that Honour which comes from God only That so unfainedly turning to thee by true Contrition and Amendment of Life Thou also mayst graciously return unto me with Mercy and with Loving-kindness Hear O Lord and help and Answer for the sake of Iesus Christ thy blessed Son and my alone Saviour To whom with thee O Father and the holy Spirit be ascribed all Honour and Glory and Power henceforth and for ever more Amen Our Father c. Meditation II. On the Vncertainty of Riches THERE is nothing in the World more certain than the Uncertainty of Riches therefore it is that the Apostle St. Paul calls 'em Vncertain Riches bidding us not to trust in Vncertain Riches but in the Living GOD. And tho' there be many in the World that make Wings for Riches I mean that Study and Contrive how to spend it as thinkthey shall never be poor yet they need not be so much concern'd about that and might well save themselves that Labour for whether they make them Wings or no Solomon tells us that Riches will make themselves Wings and fly away yes says he they will fly so far as never to return any more for they will fly as an Eagle towards Heaven Riches are such Volatile things as he compares them to Non-Entities Wilt thou says he set thy Heart on that which is not Riches are like Quicksilver so Volatile there 's no fixing of 'em for they fly away when their Possessors think themselves as sure of 'em having them close Prisoners in Bags and Bolts under Lock and Key as the Romans thought themselves of the Goddess Victoria when they clipt her Wings and Wall'd her within their City And tho' in this respect also our own Experience is more convincing than a Thousand Witnesses yet will it not be amiss to recite some Examples of the Uncertainty and Emptiness of Worldly Riches and the rather that we may see there is nothing has befallen us in the late Revolution but what has befallen others in former times who have been better than we Now that we are Try'd in the Furnace of Affliction we may have good hopes of coming forth like Gold refined and made better but if we faint in this Day of our Adversity it will argue our Strength is but small AND first The Example of Iob is Illustrious who was not more Eminent for his Riches than his Piety which was so very remarkable that he was the Nonsuch of his Age the very boast of Heaven Hast thou considered my Servant Job says the Almighty that there is none like him a Perfect and an Vpright Man one that Feareth God and Escheweth Evil What Man cou'd have a fairer Character especially considering who it was that gave it And yet this holy Iob this Favourite of Heaven was deprived in one Day Nay in one Hour of such an Estate besides his Children which were more dear to him than all the rest in Oxen Camels Sheep and Moveables as the greatest Man in the East did not possess the like And yet Iob never murmur'd at his Loss but only made this Inference from it Naked we came into the World and Naked shall we go out again The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away and blessed be the Name of the Lord. There is at this Day an Illustrious Instance in the World that has well near Equaliz'd Iob in his Afflictions God grant that he may do it in his Patience and his Piety and then we
satisfied in every condition into which it shall please thee to bring me And however things may seem to me through the blindness of my Mind and the Darkness of my Vnderstanding to go contrary to my Interest yet make me to know O Lord that it is my great Interest to acquiesce in thy Will who doest all things well Pardon I humbly beseech thee the Stubbornness of my Heart and the Vnwillingness of my Will to submit to thy good Pleasure and make me sensible that there is nothing more obstructs thy restoring of former Mercies to me than my murmuring and repining at thy Present Dispensations Give me therefore O Lord such a composedness of Spirit that I may thankfully entertain whatever thou art further pleased to bring upon me how hard soever it may seem to Flesh and Blood and be made willing to say The Will of the Lord be done And if the blessed Angels that are always in thy presence and the Spirits of just Men made perfect rejoyce in the fulfilling of thy Will what am I sinful Dust and Ashes that I shou'd murmur and repine thereat Help me O Lord to Consider that however my heart may fret against it yet thy holy Will is the Result of Infinite Wisdom as well as the Rule of all Righteousness And that therefore it is both my Duty and Interest willingly to submit thereto And help me also O Lord to believe That when thou hast humbled me by thy present Providences and brought me to lie at thy foot in a due sense of my own Vnworthiness and a just acknowledgment of the Righteousness of thy dealings towards me that thou wilt again cause the Light of thy Favour to shine upon me and make the Bones that thou hast broken to rejoyce Grant this O Lord and whatsoever else thou seest needful for me for the sake of Iesus Christ thy beloved Son and my alone Saviour who has further taught me to pray saying Our Father c. HAVING by the afore-going Meditations Endeavour'd to shew the Uncertainty and Emptiness of our former Enjoyments and consider'd the Nature and Causes of Afflictions and how far by our Sins we have brought them upon our selves and also shewn you the Advantages that accrew to us by a Patient continuance under them and laid before you both our Duty and Interest in an intire Resignation of our Souls to the Will of God under the Darkest Dispensations of Divine Providence I shall in the next Place as what I think will be very seasonable furnish you with a Manual of Devotions upon all occasions fitted for Times of Trouble to render it more Proper for our present use And conclude with some general Rules for our Daily Practice and so leave the whole to the Blessing of God who alone is able to make it effectual to the End for which it is design'd A Manual of Devotions FOR Times of Trouble and Affliction Morning-Prayer Psal. LXXI LXXIII LXXIV Or CXXIV CXXV CXXVI CXXIX Proper Lessons Dan. IX or Ezra IX and X. to Vers. 7. or 2 Chron. XXXVI Ier. XIV Luk. XXI A Collect Confessing and Deprecating Iudgments O Lord we are brought into Times of great Sorrow and Affliction and we have seen Violence and Spoil before our Eyes Our Houses are full of Mourning and our Hearts of bitter Lamentation And tho' thy Temples are not shut up yet several of thy Ministers are shut out of thy Temples Dearest Lord These things are due to our Sins Thou art Just and Righteous in thy Dealings but we are sinful and wicked For we have sinned against the great Means of thy Grace and the Mercies of they Goodness for many years Vouchsafed to us and to our Fathers before us Notwithstanding which we are full of Hypocrisie full of Prophaness full of Lewdness and most Abominably wicked And I even I have contributed by a great measure of my Sins to fill up those Woes But O God! That art Merciful as thou art Just that delightest not so much to appear Just as Merciful Pardon those Sins of ours that cause these Woes and pardon those Sins of mine which concur to that Cause And with the pardon of our Sins grant us a release of our Punishments Let all Feuds and Animosities cease and true Piety and Peace flourish again amongst us Thou that out of Evil canst work Good and out of Confusion didst set up the Order of the World be pleas'd out of those Evils and Confusions that are upon us to bring forth a blessed Establishment for us O thou King of Kings and Judge of the World plead the Cause of thy Servants to the faces of all those who seek to distress and destroy us And do thou from Heaven own us in our Extremity and deliver us O thou that Powerfully canst Mercifully do this for us To the Honour of thy great Name and to the Comfort and Happiness both in Body and Soul of us and ours and all that truly fear and love thee and true Religion in and for Thee Even for thy Tender Mercies sake hear us and for the Precious Blood and Passion of our dearest JESUS help us Even for his sake in whose Merits and Mediation alone stands all our Hope and Help thy dear Son our only Saviour Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen A Prayer for Preservation of the Church O Lord the Church is thy Body and thou art her Head She is thy Spouse and thou art her Husband O save thine own Body preserve thine own Spouse Protect her from all Enemies Men and Devils Keep her from all Ills Errors and Dangers Thou didst Purchase thy self a Church at the Price of thy Blood O let no hand seiz and spoil so dear a Purchase MORE particularly O Lord hear my Prayers for that part thereof in this Nation The Petition of a poor unworthy Child for a dear distressed Mother Many O Lord are the Enemies that wou'd destroy it and few are the Friends that it has to defend it Strong are the Arms that are ready to pull it down and weak are the hands that are willing to uphold it But O Powerful God do not thou desert it Uphold it with thy mighty Arm Maintain the Religion Established amongst us and thy holy Truth and Worship in that Religion Maintain a Clergy that may be able by Learning and a holy Life to defend thy Truth and Worship and the Means that may continue such a Clergy Let not Error and Heresie corrupt it Ignorance blind it Superstition infect it Prophaness over-grow it Schism tear it Sacriledge devour it Atheism lay it waste Persecution make it desolate Lord make us as happy as we were and more thankful and less sinful that we may be so happy Let Errors vanish Sects cease Fury leave us and the Spirit of Truth and Love again possess us Let Confusions end and all Irreverences in thy Service be banish'd from us and holy Order and Decency be more regarded amongst us Let Divisions be cemented and Names of Reproach buried
up your heart to God and pray Lord keep me from all Sin and danger this day for Iesus Christ his sake WHEN you are up kneel down and say this Prayer Almighty God who hast touched my heart with a sense of thy fear and holy dread of thy Majesty I beseech thee give me thy grace so to govern my thoughts and look to my Words and Ways this day that I may avoid all Sins especially those to which I am most inclin'd or may be most provoked That so my Soul and Body may be kept pure and unspotted before Thee and whensoever the hour of their Separation shall come may be ready and prepared for Thee through the Merits and Mercies of Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen WHEN you are ready for your Morning Prayers you may use the Service before recited for the Morning Rules for the Evening AFTER you have Used the foregoing Prayers for Evening Service and before you go into your Bed kneel down and say this short Prayer O God who hast made the Day for Labour and the Night for Rest let thy Sons Blood cleanse me from this Days guilt that I may sleep in thy Peace and rise again refreshed and preserved by thy Favour through Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen AND this Thanksgiving and Prayer Almighty God who hast preserved me this day from many Sins and Dangers I do humbly magnifie thy Name for thy Grace and Goodness towards me beseeching Thee to forgive me all the Errors of this day whereof my Conscience doth or may accuse me And grant that those sins which by my frailty I have Committed may by the help of thy Spirit be more carefully avoided that I may ever stand in thy Favour Walk under thy Protection and now rest and lie down in thy Peace and at last come to thy heavenly Kingdom through the Merits and Mediation of Iesus Christ. Amen When you lie down say I will lay down my head in Peace and take my Rest for thou only O Lord makest me to dwell in safety Then Pray thus LIGHTEN mine Eyes O Lord that I sleep not in Death I commit my Soul and Body to thee keep me for thy Mercies sake Amen Some General Rules for our Daily Practice 1. REmember That tho' Knowledge especially the Knowledge of God be an excellent thing yet it will be no farther available to thee than as thou puttest it into Practice For Knowledge without Practice is like Light without Heat which never ripens any Fruit to the Glory of God or Good of thy own Soul Be sure therefore to labour after the Knowledge of Gods Will and to put that Knowledge into Practice 2. Let the Worship of God have the first place in thy Affections and Actions And tho' Private Prayer and secret Ejaculations be necessary yet let not Publick Prayers in the House of God be Omitted 3. Neglect not the Common Prayers and other Publick Duties of Devotion but say with holy David I was glad when they said unto me We will go into the House of the Lord. 4. Be careful that Divine Service be performed aright as it ought to be and delight thy self in the Beauty of Gods House 5. In all the Various Changes that befal thee especially in Afflictions and Distresses make Prayer thy Refuge 6. Set aside appointed times for thy Private Devotions and observe them not only out of Custom but of fervency of Spirit to increase thy Piety 7. The Pious Rites and Ceremonies of the Church esteem highly of I mean those which are not repugnant ot Gods Word and on the other side fly Superstition 8. Use constantly the Prayers for the Church and by name for all those for whom thou art bound to pray especially the Royal Family 9. If thou art a Father of a Family govern all under thy Care piously and religiously Let all resort to Morning and Evening Prayer either Privately or Publickly if it may be And let this be a Law to thy Family Whosoever comes within this House let him be Sober Just Religious and Honest in all things Lye not Swear not Forswear nor Blaspheme not Detract not from others mind not Cups and Revels offend not any Bodies Ears or Eyes or Mind either by Words or Deeds Whoso doth otherwise let him depart hence 10. Discipline thy Children betimes and Train them up in the way they should go and when they are old they will not depart from it 11. Rule thy Wife with Prudence and provoke her to the Love of Vertue and good Works by thy Example 12. If thou hast Daughters be solicitous about the Preservation of their Chastity the Age is corrupted and full of Debauchery and if they come to be defiled they are in danger of Eternal Ruine and therefore this requires thy utmost Care for thou hast no Treasure so much expos'd as these And to this End keep with a double-Lock their Ears and Tongue from Obscenity and Scurrility let none come near them that use impudent Jests or Gestures for shameless Companions and evil Conversation Corrupts good Manners and ought to be avoided as so many Serpents and Vipers 13. Be careful to avoid all known Sins To which End be sure thou commit not the least fault wittingly or willingly for the dearest Friends sake It is better to renounce all Friendship with Men than to endanger the breaking of thy Friendship with God And nothing will break this Friendship sooner than Sin 14. Use not thy self unto Swearing I mean not only Vain and Prophane Swearing but also Promisory Oaths But if thou hast made any such take care to perform 'em tho' it may be to thy own outward hurt 15. Vow nothing rashly but upon great Deliberation and what thou hast Vowed pay 16. Imitate the Life of thy blessed Saviour and follow the steps of his Saints in all things wherein they ought to be imitated 17. Next after thy Duty to God consider what thou owest to thy Neighbour and do it whilst it is in the Power of thy hand 18. Do good to all according to thy Ability Feed the Hungry give drink to the Thirsty Entertain the Stranger Cloath the Naked Visit the Sick Redeem the Prisoners and Bury the Dead This Charity belongs to the Body 19. There is likewise a Charity due to the Soul which is To instruct the Ignorant Correct the Sinner Counsel the Doubtful Comfort the Afflicted indure Injuries forgive Wrongs pray for Others yea for thy Enemies 20. Observe Friendship with Constancy fasten that knot and if it be loosed tie it again Reconcile those that are fallen out Strifes and Contentions which are the Bane of Charity Extinguish and Wipe away 21. Interpret all things from others in the best sense scorn none nor detract from any neither provoke 'em by Railing or Opprobrious Terms but give to all that honour that belongs to ' em 22. Let thy gesture be without Affectation yet not Phantastical and let thy Countenance be Free but not Lofty and Chearful but not Lowring let thy Speech be Sober Simple and Harmless without Deceit or Flattery and without Mimical Actions like a Stage-play 23. Be sensible of the hand of God under all Afflictions and think with thy self that he does nothing without a Cause and let that keep thee humble and put thee upon a serious Reflection on thy past Actions 24. If Reproaches Revilings and other Injuries be thrown upon thee strengthen thy Soul in God and under-go them both with Courage and Constancey and as far as thou art Innocent with Rejoycing 25. Under all Afflictions be silent let the Causes be what they Will for it argues Impatience to Complain Beware therefore that thou accuse neither Heaven nor Men for none is more injurious to thee than thou to thy self if thou be Impatient Righteous is the Lord and true are his Judgments 26. Be sure take heed least under thy Afflictions thou forgettest thy Creator and seekest Deliverance by indirect means For many have stumbled upon this Rock and been broken to pieces by it For such men wou'd prescribe to God and have him directed by their foolish Fancies But who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord Or being his Counsellour have taught Him 'T is a vain thing to attempt it Therefore to be willing to tarry till God sees good to deliver is the way to hasten our Deliverance but to go about to deliver our selves and throw off the Burden that God has laid upon us is the only way to bind it on the faster and to keep back that deliverance which for ought we know may be at the Door And therefore 27. If the Times compel thee to suffer for Righteousness sake be not afraid The three Children lost nothing by being in the fiery Furnace so long as there was a Fourth there with them which was the Son of God 28. In times of Affliction especially throw away all vain desire of Riches despise the World and all the Allurements of it whether they be Honours Pleasures Friends and Acquaintance or whatever else That which keeps down thy Affections from mounting to Heaven and soaring Above is a dead weight which thou hadst better be without 29. Whatever thou losest take care to keep thy Innocence If thou losest all the World and keepest thy Innocence thou mayst yet be a Gainer But if thou losest thy Innocence then indeed thou losest All and thy Loss becomes truly Unvaluable 30. If thou wouldest preserve thy Innocence make Gods Word thy Rule and humbly implore the gracious Conduct and Guidance of his holy Spirit For he it is that leads in the way of Righteousness and in the midst of the Paths of Judgment and he has assur'd us in his Word That if in all our Ways we acknowledge him he will direct our Paths FINIS