banner we have vowed manfully to fight that is to learne of our Saviour Christ to be meeke and lowly love our Enemies and to pray for them that persecute us And you on the other side to lay aside the peevish froward disposition of corrupt Nature which makes us so prone to rebell against God and to reject his commandements and so likewise makes us so wilfully to oppose our Superiours to disdaine their good councell wilfully run in those courses that tend to everlasting destruction as like the men of Sodom who said unto that holy man Lot that had deserved so much of them yet when he perswaded them from that furious and beastly rage in pressing upon his house to offer violence upon his angelicall guests they cried out against that good man away with him they said he is come alone as a stranger and shall he rule judge we will now deale worse with him then with them But you know what became of them the Lord preserved his servant Lott and safely conveighed him out of the City and smote the outragious men with blindnesse and the next morning caused fire and brimstone to raine downe upon them utterly consume them their city this instance I bring to shew what we are when we are led by the unruly Passions of our sinfull nature but now I speak to men I hope of wisedome and such as God hath endewed with grace and that will teach us to deny ungodly lusts and to behave our selves charitably that if any man be fallen by occasion into any sinne yee which are Spirituall restore such a one with the Spirit of meekenesse considering thy selfe least thou also be tempted Gal. 6.1 And therefore I besech you if any heere have fallen by any such suddaine passion or caused others by their provocations O let them now acknowledge their errour unfeinedly desire to entertaine one another with all love and cheerefulnesse and assure your selves as it is the honour of a Souldier to be the first that entereth the breach and for the country-man that hath the first blow at the Ball so it will be the honour of a Christian man that shall now shew himselfe most forward to acknowledge his error and to seeke a holy reconciliation A PRAYER which Master Spencer doth use ordinarily in his familly Morning and Evening which he doth earnestly desire might be zealously and devoutly performed in every family in this Kingdome that are not provided of a better O Lord open our lipps and teach us to pray that wee may humble our soules and truely repent of all our sins for our Lord Iesus Christ his sake in whose holy name onely wee presume to come unto thee to bege and crave mercy in thy sight O Most Heavenly Father and gracious Lord God the Father of our Lord Iesus the God of mercy and salvation wee poore creatures doe humbly prostrate our selves before the throne of mercy confessing and acknowledging that we are miserable sinners conceived in sinne and brought forth in iniquity nay wee must acknowledge wee stand guilty of that originall sinne of our first parents for the transgressing thy holy holy Commandements and eating of the forbidding fruit plunged themselves and their posteritie unto shame and confusion their Soules and bodyes to be tormented in hell fire with the Devill and his Angels in utter darknesse and in that miserable estate thou might have left us all to perish in our sinnes but this is not that we have to answere for But we have made our selves seventy times the Children of the Devill more by our actuall transgressions in violating all thy holy lawes and Commandements both with vile thoughts wicked speeches and abominable actions which we have done in the sight of men to the great dishonour of thy holy name and the utter damnation of our own soules and the greatly endangering of others by our evill example and that not onely in the time of Ignorance and practise we have desperatly and Presumptiously gone on in those wicked courses which our Conscience have accused us and thy sacred word condemned us and therefore thou mightest have cast us off in thy heavy displeasure never more shewed pitty upon us but exposed us to the heaviest judgement this world could afford of plung pestilence utter madnesse and despaire and when we have passed all the miseries of this life then to cast us downe in utter darknesse with the Devill and his Angels to be tormented in everlasting darkenesse but good Lord good Lord pitty us and shew mercy upon us and teach us to bewaile our sinnes and truely to repent us of them before we goe hence and be no more seene and that we may finde mercy and favour in thy sight remember us oh remember us with that everlasting love of thine towards us in sending thy eternall sonne Christ Iesus our blessed Saviour and our everlasting Redeemer to take upon him our humane nature in all thinges sinne onely excepted to become the sonne of the blessed Virgin Mary and so both God and man in one person to accomplish the glorious worke of our redemption by leading a most pure and holy life by fulfilling all thy holy Commandements in one absolute and perfect manner that he might free us from that death and damnation that our sinnes have justly deserved and by his death and passion and those bitter torments and again which he suffred upon the crosse which neither the tongue of man and Angels is able to expresse and shedde his precious blood even unto death which is of that infinite value to make satisfaction for the sinnes of the whole world and of that infinite vertue to purifie our soules and consciences and make them as pure and undefiled as if we never comitted any sinne and rose againe the third day according to the Scriptures and is ascended into the highest heaven and there sits in all glory at the right hand of God and triumpheth over all the enemies of our salvation Hell Death damnation and shall come from thence to judge both the quicke and the dead and hath oppened the Kingdom of heaven to all beleivers we doe beleive Lord help our unbeleife and give us grace to use all holy meanes that we grow more in faith then ever we have done make us more zealous for thy glory more devout in prayer and zealous in good workes more carefull to keep holy the Sabboth and come more reverently unto thy holy ordinances and walke dilligently and faithfully in our calling and worke in our hearts an everlasting hatred against all sinnes and the sins especially that wee are most prone unto by nature and those whereunto the Devill doth so eagerly tempt us and allure us and those sinnes which wicked and ungodly men that run the headlong course to hell and damnation do inforce perswade us but Lord let them never prevaile with us and ours to give any liking and allowance thereunto but ever let us
same make clearely appeare unto them thy everlasting mercy towards them in our Lord Iesus Christ their blessed Saviour and Redeemer and that his precious blood doth cleanse them from all their sins and make them as pure in thy sight as if they continued in their happie estate of innocency and let thy grace bee sufficient for them to support them in all their aflictions And confound the power and malice of the Devill and all his devilish devises whereby hee labours to drive them to dispayre and to lay violent hands upon themselves and make him feâ—re and tremble with the consideration that all these evill thoughts and wicked suggestions which hee puts into our hearts shall be set upon his own score and adde to his greater damnation in utter darkenesse and hell fire Blesse all our Christian brethâ—en that are visited with the Plague and other mortall diseases comfort their soules and worke in their hearts godly sorâ—ow for all thâ—iâ— sinnes and that they may cry mightily unto the Lord for mercy before they go hence and be no more seen and give them faith to beleeve in our Lord Iesus to bee their Saviour and everlasting Redeemer and that his precious bloud that cleanseth from all their sinnes and that hee will vouchsafe to bee unto them advantage both in life and death O blesse we beseech Thee our distressed brethren that are in distraction raging madnesse fury those that wee have taken the speciall care custody of whether present or absent oh stay them from laying violent hands on themselves or others thou that art the God of infinite wisdome and power that stillest the raging of the Seas and the madnesse of the people stay those raging fits and set their feet into the way of peace Blesse all our Christian friends Father Mother sisters and brothers those we have taken the speciall care and custody of wife children and servants and other our neighbours and friends amongst whom we live grant that wee and they may labour to keepe our soules and bodies pure and undefiled and make our houses the houses of prayer not a den of theeves and keep us from all infection of Idolatry popery and prophanenesse and if it shall please thee to bring us to such an honorable triall grant that wee may witnesse thy truth with our best bloud And now good Lord in the name of our Saviour Iesus Christ we praise magnifie thy holy name for that everlasting love of thine towards us in sending our Lord Iesus to be our Saviour for all those blessed comforts revealed unto us in thy sacred word for comforting our soules when wee have been so neer the point of despaire raysing our weak bodies when wee have been so neer the point of death and set our feet in the way of peace when we have been running the headlong course to damnation and blessed our labours and made us a meanes to yeeld comfort to any of our destressed brethren and sisters and blessed bee thy holy name that hath enabled us to write this book unto our gratious King good Lord blesse it that it may tend to thy glory to the confounding of Antichrist and his friends and the comfort of our afflicted brethren in their afflicted state And blessed be thy holy name for blessing us with the good things of the land thou hast given us the first and second raine and caused the earth to bring forth hearbs for the use of man and fodder for cattle and caused our vallies to stand so thicke with Corne and Wheate that wee have cause to tell of thy goodnesse all the day long and sent us peaceable dayes that we might receive the fruit of the Earth in due season notwithstanding the feare and terrour of the Schottish Armies hast given such holy wisedome to our gracious King to compose those dangerous warres with honour and safety to both Nations and blessed be thy holy name for continuing thy holy word unto us thy holy sacrament and thy holy ordinances unto us and blessed be thy holy name that continues our gracious King unto us and our great Counsell of Parliament and us with comfort and confidence that thou wilt be graciously pleased to make a holy reformation on both in Church and Common wealth and rise up with all holy indignation to root out all Idolatry popery and all prophannesse and Papeists Atheists and Anabaptistes that doe so oppose thy truth authority government of our gracious King oh convert their hearts or else confound their devices and bring them to their well deserved ends And blessed be thy holy name that hast done such great thinges for us in discovering those horrible treasons and rebellious Idolatry popery and prophanesse and so confounded them and brought many of them to their shamefull and well deserved ends And blessed be thy holy name for thy gracious providence over us this night that we have not perished in workes of darknesse that wee have not fallen into despaire raging madnesse that thou hast not suffered our houses to be burnt downe with flames of fire or our enemies to possesse our gates and now good Lord what shall we render unto thee for all thy mercies shewed towards us still take up the cup of salvation and still entreat thy mercies to be continued towards us this day and for evermore and that wee may be the better for thy service and the workes of our calling sanctifie all the faculties of our soules and all the parts and members of our bodyes make our will ever liable to thy will our understanding apt to conceive of those misteries of our salvation and our memories apt to retaine all holy lessons good directions that we may make use of them in our lives and conversations sanctifie all the affections of our hearts our love that it may be setled upon thee and thy sacred word our feare that it may make us feare and tremble to commit the least sinne or doe any thing that might tend to thy dishonour or the hurt of our neighbour and sanctifie our anger that it make us zealous for thy glory and boldly to reproove sinne both in our selves and in others and sanctifie our sorrow that it may be termed into a godly sorrow for our sinnes and the abominations of this land And sanctifie all the partes and members of our bodyes that our eares may be dilligent to heare the word of God and all good councell that our eyes may be dilligent to see and observe thy glorious workes in the creatures and to admire thy infinite wisedome and power in the creating of them and thy mercy and goodnesse in preserving them for our use and comfort our speeches that they may be gracious and tend to thy glory and the edifying of one another in our holy faith and keepe us from lying and swearing that whereunto by nature we are so prone and sanctifie our tast and smelling that wee may not abuse them to drunkennesse and gluttony and sanctifie our handes that we may imploy them dilligently in our calling and that they may be ready to defenâ— the poore Fatherlesse Widows sanctifie our feet that they may be swift to heare thy word to visit the poore in their afflicted state and sanctifie our bodyes that wee may keep them pure and undefiled all the dayes of our life for these and other graces which we stand in need of Lord mercifully supply them for our Lord Iesus sake in whose most holy name in whose most holy wordes we pray unto Thee as our blessed Saviour hath taught us saying Our Father which art in Heaven c. FINIS
feare of God with good works I beseech you in the feare of God deck your selfe with these rich jewels of faith and repentance humilitie patience fasting and prayer and good works that so you may be like the Kings Daughter glorious within and this will make you amiable in the sight of God and glorious in the eies of his Saints and remember you are the Daughter of a religious Ladie and the Wife of an ancient Knight and the Mother of two Sons and therefore you must give them good example of wisdome and sobrietie for godlinesse is great gaine if we can be contented with that we have and God hath blessed you with a rich portion of outward beauty and comelinesse and therefore do not deface that incomparable worke of God with such base trash and trumperie for you shall never enter into the Kingdome of Heaven into the companie of glorious Saints with that trumperie on your back and gaudes on your head Consider what I say and the Lord give you grace to repent of your sins before you go hence and be no more seen Amen Amen From him that doth desire your endlesse happinesse Iohn Spencer Good Brother I Am desirous to heare if my Father Winne have paid the fifty pounds unto Sir Milss Fleetwood and also to admonish you as I take it of your unseasonable payment of one hundred pounds upon the Sabbath day morning before Harborough Faire alas was that a fit time to tell money and to make your Accompts with men when you should accompt with God was that a fit time to rumble in your Chest for your money-bags when you should have ransackt your heart for your sins must not the Lord of Sabboths needs be highly offended to see the service of men preferred before his divine Service and more care had for the buying of Oxen than for the keeping of his holy Sabbath must not the Lord needs visit for such sins nay hath he not already visited although in great mercy for was not your dear and onely son within a few dayes after closed up in a Chest and there found by his mother speechlesse and near his last breathing had not the Lord in judgement remembred mercy and restored life when we deserved death and if you did not already make use of it I beseech you in the feare of God assure your selfe that in that judgement the Lord would have you take notice of that particular sinne for if you remember when I was with you at Arlsen I told you before I heard of this that you must thinke that there was something amisse that the Lord would have reformed when he threatened such fearefull judgement to this effect And therefore I beseech you bewaile that grievous sinne and as Iob made a Covenant with his eyes so doe you make a Covenant with your hands never to abuse them so againe with telling money upon the Sabbath day And remember it was Balaams ever to be lamented error still to pursue the wages of iniquity although the Angell threatened him with a drawing sword but let his fearefull end teach us with wisedome to returne in time and repent of our sinnes and make our peace with our God before we goe hence and be no more seene and to say truth these dayes and dangerous times requires a continuall preparation for our last departure when so many wise and strong are taken away and their honour laid in the dust and we must looke also for our changing we know not how soone and therefore good brother let us walke circumspectly as the children of the light and such as are risen with Christ setting our affections on things that are above and not on things that are on the earth for our life is hid with Christ in God When Christ which is our life shall appeare then shall we appeare with him in glory In the meane time let us be diligent to exhort and admonish one another and to edefie one another in our holy faith that so we may grow from grace to grace and strength to strength till we become perfect men in Christ Amen Lord Jesus Amen Your loving Brother and the Lords unworthy Creature John Spencer Staughton More Novemb. 7. 1616. A Copy of a Letter to the prisoners at Bedford with a Booke of common Prayer and M. Dods exposition upon the Commandements bound up together with bosses and claspes BRethren my hearts desire and prayer to God for you poore prisoners is that your soules might be saved For I beare you record that in these places you endure many times hunger cold and much misery together with the fearefull expectation of the Judges comming and the sentence of death yet if God doth not worke in your hearts true repentance and sanctifie these afflictions unto you it will be but as a forerunner of the appearing before that dreadfull Iudge that will pronounce that fearefull sentence of damnation against the wicked of Goe ye cursed into hell fire and these yron chaines a shadow of those everlasting chaines of darknesse wherein the wicked shall be for ever tormented and therefore that I might be a meanes through Gods mercy to further you in that holy worke of true repentance I have procured these two bookes to be bound up together for your better use in this place of restraint the one commended and commanded by the publique authority for the publique service of God the other the worke of a reverend Preacher an excellent exposition of the Commandements both being undertaken in the feare of God and diligently used may be a blessed meanes to further you in the way of repentance and to set your feet into the way of peace First therefore pray earnestly to God to give you understanding hearts and then read and then pray and read againe and the Lord of heaven so blesse you in reading and praying that you may truly repent you of all your sinnes before you goe hence and be no more seene Amen Stoughton Moore 1624. From him that wisheth your everlasting happinesse LEt me intreat you in the feare of God that one of you that is best affected and best inabled to read Prayers and the Psalmes for Morning and Evening Prayer according to the order that is appointed in the booke of common Prayer and then instead of the Chapters which you should read in the Bible if you had it read every morning and evening a portion of the Commandements as is appointed for the day of the month that so the booke of the Psalmes and the exposition of the Commandements may be read over once every moneth and upon every Sabbath day I would have you besides the ordinary portion appointed for that day of the month read the exposition of the fourth Commandement halfe at morning prayer and halfe at evening prayer Let one read distinctly and reverently and let the rest heare diligently and devoutly I doe humbly desire the honourable Court of Parliament to take that to their consideration that every prison
hate and abhorce them as cursed workes of darkenesse and have nothing to doe with them and grant us grace to serve thee in holinesse and righteousnesse all the dayes of our life and labour to keep our soules and bodies pure and undefiled as the temples of the holy Ghost and walk honestly and religiously in our calling and deale justly and charitably all the dayes of our life that so it may be well with us at our last breathing and in the dreadfull day of judgement and in this confidence we do not only pray for our selves but also for all our christian brethren upon the face of the Earth those especially that are wounded in their soules and consciences and those that sufferd for the truth sake and those that are visited with mortall disstresse and tormenting crosses and weare new the point of death and prepare them for thy glorious Kingdome good Lord blesse our gracious King Charles and his great Court of Parliament worke graciously in the heart of the King and all his Subjects and in the heart of the Prince and all his people godly sorrow for all our sinnes and give us grace to weepe and mourne night and day for the sinnes and abominations of these sinfull times and cry mightily unto the Lord to turne away those heavie judgements we have justly deserved and continue his great mercy towards us and inflame their hearts with all holy zeale and devotion to advance the glory of God and doe good unto thy faithfull ones and on the other side to raise up their hearts with an everlasting hatred of all sinnes and utterly to abolish that and to roote that out and make them zealous to execute justice upon the malefactors that have so dishonoured God and labour to bring in Idolatry Popery and shed innocent blood and persecute thy faithtull ones that there may be that due execution of justice upon them as may most tend to thy glory the peace of the Church and comfort of thy faithfull ones and to the terrour of all wicked and prophane men blesse our Royall Queen convert her heart more more glorious to the love of the Gospell that shee may renounce all popery and Idolatry and wholly rest upon our Lord Iesus Christ to be her onely Saviour and her everlasting Redeemer that so the Angels in Heaven might rejoyce to see her true conversion unto Thee and blesse all good meanes that may effect the same in thy due and appointed time and make all faithfull Bishops and ministers of thy sacred word take all opportunities to effect the same as they will answere that in the dreadfull day of judgement good Lord blesse the Prince and the Princesse and all those of the Royall posterity and the Prince of Orringe and his Royall Consort sanctifie their hearts now in their tender yeares with the truth of thy holy religion and work in their hearts an everlasting hatred against all Popery Idolatry and prophanesse Good Lord blesse the Prince Elector worke graciously in his Royall heart godly sorrow for all his sinnes and let oh let wee humbly beseech thee the precious blood of our Saviour Christ cleanse him from all his sinnes and make him as pure both in soule and body as if he never had sinned but continued in the first state of innocency and cloath him with the holynesse and righteousnesse of our Lord Iesus Christ that hee may stand ever acceptable in thy fight and enabled to performe that great service unto thee to burne the Whore of Babylon with sire and revenge the blood of thy Saints to that end put it into the hearts of all the Kinges and Princes of the Earth to fulfill thy will to hate the Whore make her desolate and naked and burne her with fire Good Lord for the Lord Iesus sake blesse the Queene of Bohemiah and the Queene of Swedon those of that Royall issue that hath pleased the a long time to humble them with a dejected state and to suffer the enemies of thy truth greatly to insult over them to spoile their goodly Cities to burne downe their houses with fire and carry so many of our Christian brethren and sisters into a miserable captivitie and to shed so much innocent blood but thou doest all things with infinite wisedome thou knowest the fittest meanes to humble thy children and thou knowest the fittest time to make them glorious in their deliverance good Lord in thy blessed time revenge their cause and setle them againe in the inheritance of their Fathers and set them up to sit with the Princes of thy people in the meane time give unto thy servants faith and patience a godly sorrow for all their sinnes and holy zeale and wisedome to make their inheritance sure in heaven and lay up their treasure where that is not subject to these alterations and changes and confound the power of Ante-Christ that man of sinne and his adherentes that they may not to much insult over thy Children nor to much disturbe the peace of thy faithfull ones but in thy blessed time make it appeare how precious the blood of thy Saints is in thy sight and what a fearefull accompt they shall make for the same at the day of judgement before the great God of Heaven and Earth that art no respector of persons Blesse the good Bishops and faithfull Ministers of thy sacred word especially those that thou hast placed over us give them wisedome and grace to preach thy heavenly word powerfully and profitablely to our soule and consciences and blesse them in their lives and conversations that ye may be pure and peaceable that so they may be a a blessed meanes to convert many soules unto thee Root out those that are to scandolous and ignominious and labour to bring in Idolatry and prophanes and make them evermore to finde by experience that thou that fittest in the heavens will laugh them to scorne and have them in dirision Be mercifull unto our Christian brethren in the Palatinate in Germany other places of Christendom which suffer for the truth and the profession of the glorious Gospell and deliver them from blood thirstie men and gratiously supply all their wants both soule and body in thy appointed time Blesse our Christian bretheren in Virgenia and new England those remoted places of the world keepe them from secret schismes herisies and set their feete into the way of peace and deliver them from their enemies Blesse our Nobles Peares Iudges of the land and Councellers of state blesse them and their councell that tend to thy glory the peace of the Church and the good of the commonwealth that their councels may evermore bee happely established to the confusion of the wicked devises of ungodly men and women that labour to bring in Idollatry popery and prophannesse oh blesse we beseech thee our afflicted brethren sisters that are humbled with the sight of their sinnes and the terror of thy judgements due unto them for the