Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A Word B Word C Word D Occurrence Frequency Band MI MI Band Prominent
death_n life_n sin_n way_n 9,518 5 4.8304 4 true
View all documents for the selected quad

Text snippets containing the quad

ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A62015 To the nobility and gentry lawyers and physicians, sea-men & trades-men, magistrates subordinate and supreme, &c. By Tho. Swadlin D.D. Swadlin, Thomas, 1600-1670. 1658 (1658) Wing S6229A; ESTC R220646 17,046 127

There are 5 snippets containing the selected quad. | View lemmatised text

the whole world thus From pestilence famine and war from earth-quakes inundations and great fires from the plagues of immoderate rains and droughts from corrupting winds and blastings from thunder lightning and tempests from epidemicall and sharp diseases and from suddain death Deliver the whole world good Lord From private interpretations of Scriptures from innovations in holy things from strange doctrines from doating about questions from heresies schisms and scandals publick and private Deliver thy whole Church good Lord From the Priesthood of Micah and Jeroboam from the combination of Judas Iscariot and Simon Magus from the doctrins of the unstable and the unlearned from the pride of novices and from people that strive with the Priest Deliver this Church good Lord From forain invasion and civil insurrection from displacing good Magistrates and exalting bad from the massacre of Athaliah and from the bloodinesse of Herod Deliver this nation good Lord From the Anarchy of Corah and Dathan from the tyranny of Ashur and Achab from the dangerous counsil of Achitopel and the foolish counsil of Zoan from the Statutes of Omri and the Judgements of Jesabel from the floods of Belial and from the plagues of Peor Deliver the state of this Nation good Lord From the pride of the Amorite from the envy of the Hittite from the anger of the Perizzite from the gluttony of the Gergashite from the wantonnesse of the Hivite from the worldlinesse of the Cananite and lukewarmnesse of the Jebusite Deliver this City good Lord for Jesus Christ his sake Amen In whose blessed name and words c. To the condemned to dye YOur time is short therefore my discourse to you shall not be long not many dayes betwixt you and death and therefore not many words lest I keep you from the thought of death I dare not be so unchristian as to think you prepare not your selves for the last fatal stroak and therefore one onely prayer for you from me if you have not a better from others for your selves O God! most powerfull yet most pitifull by thy Power preserve them that are appointed to dye and redeem them from the sentence of death which is past upon them if it may stand with thy Goodnesse But if thy Providence hath appointed this time for their period and this way for their dissolution yet by thy pity save their souls from eternal death and grant them all those graces which are necessary for their salvation Remember not their ignorances Forget the sins of their youth and Forgive the sins of their age Give them a sight of all their sins Give them a sense of all their sins and true repentance to bewail them Give them a sight of all thy Promises Give them a sense of all thy Promises and true faith to apply them Suffer not their Ghostly enemies to assault them to any present desperation for their former presumptions against thy Justice Send thy holy Angels to take their souls as they did the soul of Lazarus and carry them into Abrahams bosome and let thy everlasting Gates be open to receive them for his sake who by overcoming the sharpnesse hath opened the Kingdom of Heaven to all Beleevers Make keep their senses intire their understandings right their penitence unfeigned their hope well grounded their faith firm and their charity perfect Give them ô give them a quiet and joyfull departure by carrying their eyes back unto Jesus who died for them and forward to those Joyes which are purchased for them by the life and death of Jesus Christ Amen In whose most blessed Name and words I further call upon thee as he hath taught me saying Our Father which art in Heaven c. Or if any sin lies heavy upon thy soul and thou canst not have those assistances thou desirest then confess thy sins and comfort thy soul in this or such a kind of Devotion as this Behold ô God! I was conceived in sin Psal 51. and brought forth in iniquity and therefore I pray God be mercifull to me a sinner And mercy I hope to have Because my Saviour was conceived by the Holy Ghost Luc. 1. and born in innocency not for himself but me for which My soul doth magnifie thee ô Lord But I have discoursed with the Devil Gen. 3. and at his temptations have tasted the forbidden fruit and therefore I pray God be mercifull to me a sinner And mercy I hope to have Because my Saviour wrestled with and overcame the Devil for me Mat. 4. for which My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord But I have committed all sin and kept the poyson of Asps under my lips Psal and therefore I pray God be mercifull to me a sinner And mercy I hope to have Because my Saviour did no sin 1 Petr. neither was any guile found in his lips for which My soul doth magnifie thee ô Lord But I have fulfilled the will of the flesh too Psal and done no good and therefore I pray God be mercifull to me a sinner And mercy I hope to have Because my Saviour fulfilled thy will Joh. and did all good for me for which My soul doth magnifie thee ô Lord But I have defiled my body Gen. as Onan by Pollution if not as Judah by Fornication Gen. if not as David by Adultery 1 Sam. 11. if not as Ammon by Incest if not as the Sodomites by Bestiality and therefore I pray God be mercifull to me a sinner And mercy yet I hope to have Because my Saviour offered his Body to the knife of Luc. 2. Circumcision to the water of Baptisme Mat. 3. to the Curse of the Tree to the Death of the Crosse and all this to expiate the sins of my body for which Philip 2. My soul doth magnifie thee ô Lord But mine hands have been lifted up against Heaven and therefore I pray God be mercifull to me a sinner And mercy yet I hope to have Because my Saviours hands in Heaven are as upon the Crosse they were stretched out to embrace me for which My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord But my feet my very feet have been swift to shed the blood of Revenge and therefore I pray God be mercifull to me a sinner And mercy yet I hope to have Because my Saviours feet were nail'd to shed the blood of Attonement for me for which My soul doth magnifie thee ô Lord But my heart my inmost and remotest heart hath been filled with evil imaginations and that continually and therefore I dare not but continue to pray God be mercifull to me a sinner And mercy yet I hope to have Because my Saviours Heart was pierced to offer up the blood of satisfaction for the sins of my heart for which My soul doth magnifie thee ô Lord But my soul my once most precious soul I have defaced by all manner of ungodlinesse and therefore I pray God he mercifull to me a sinner And mercy I yet
hope to have Because my Saviours soul descended victoriously to trample upon the enemies of my soul for which My soul doth magnifie thee ô Lord But yet in my Body I can see nothing but wounds in my soul nothing but soars in my life nothing but sins and therefore I pray God be mercifull to me a sinner And mercy I yet hope to have Because in my Jesus I see balme enough to cure my wounds in thy Christ I see unction enough to heale my soares In his life obedience and in that obedience merit enough to pardon my sins In his death patience and in that patience redemption enough to save my soul In his blood innocence and in that innocence satisfaction enough to cure my wounds to heal my sears to pardon my sins to save my soul in his Descent Humility in his Resurrection and Ascension Hope in his Intercession Comfort for he is now at thy right hand to make intercession for me and for which My soul doth magnifie thee ô Lord But yet but yet I have trampled that blood under foot I have crucified my Jesus afresh and therefore dare not but pray afresh God be mercifull to me a sinner But yet but yet but yet I am the greatest sinner upon the face of the whole Earth for who or what man or devil durst to doe what I have done I have broke all thy commandements I have broken all my vows for better obedience and that even to this moment of my life the very last moment of my life and therefore will pray so long as life doth last God be mercifull to me a sinner And mercy yet I hope to have Because that saying which is worthy of all acceptation is believed by me and I desire I may believe it to the very last minute Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners even my self the chiefest of sinners for which My soul doth magnifie thee ô Lord And now most gracious God! I beseech thee to accept of my resolutions and to accomplish them in my true though weak and late endeavours and look upon me nor as I am in my self but as I am in thy Sen washed washed in his Baptism as well from my actuall trangressions I have committed since as from my original corruption I stood guilty of before I was baptized look upon me ô my God! as I am in thy Son clothed clothed with his righteousnesse for his love clothed himself with the imputation of my wickednesse and doth not thy gift of faith cloth me with the imputation of his righteousnesse I doe believe the one That he came into the world and I desire to believe the other That he came into the world to save me for I am a sinner the chief of sinners look upon me ô my God! as I am in thy Son healed healed by his stripes for the bled to save the whole Body the Church and of that body I am a member and doe not ô God! doe not suffer any member of thy Sons body to perish look upon me ô my God! as I am in thy Son reconciled and at peac with thee Rom 5.1 for being just fied by faith I have peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Look upon me so ô God! and thy baptism shall cleanse me cleanse me as well from future filth as from passed guilt look upon me so ô God! and thy other blessed Sacrament which I have now or shall by and by receive received shall preserve me unto everlasting life otherwise I dare not look upon thee but in the Face of Jesus Christ and otherwise I beseech thee look not upon me but through the merits of Jesus Christ in whose blessed name and presence I promise thee new and better obedience if I live and for whose blessed sake and merits I beg thy assistance that I may have victory over sin victory over the commanding power of it and never again obey it in the lusts of my mortal body while I live nor never despaire under the condemning guilt of it when I dye but now while I live and then when I dye be cured of all the stings I have received from the fiery Serpents of the World the Devil and mine own flesh by fixing the eyes of my faith upon the true brasen Serpent Jesus Christ Amen In whose blessed name and words I conclude my prayer and life in that most perfect form of prayer which he hath taught me in his holy Gospel saying when yee pray say Our Father which art in Heaven c. To my Benefactors YOu are blessed men so the Psalmist tells you Psal 41.1 Blessed is the man that considers the poor and needy So my saviour tels you Come ye blessed of my Father For yee gave me meat when I was hungry Mat 25. ye visited me when I was in p●ison So St. Paul tells you It is a better thing to give than to receive Such blessed men I have hitherto met with in my hunger in my thirst in my mprisonment in my nakednesse Their blessednesse hath blessed me and they have made themselves more blessed by the law of beneficence which is they forget their charity But I may not make my self cursed by forgetting my duety in the law of gratitude No I will remember my Duty by remembring God not to forget their labor of love because they have not forgot to doe good to them that are in bonds and particularly to my self the worst and unworthiest of the rest To you my Benefactors I say Be not weary of well doing You shall reap if you faint not To God I pray Reward them seven-fold ô God! with Grace and Plenty here with Glory and Eternity hereafter From Him I assure you of both if you add but your own Faith to the Devotion of your Beadsman with whom Vindicta oneri Gratia in quaestu habetur FINIS
TO THE NOBILITY AND GENTRY Lawyers And Physicians Sea-men Trades-men Magistrates Subordinate and Supreme c. By THO. SWADLIN D. D. Cui ad Manticam res redit Printed in the Year 1658. TO The Readers IF any of you ask Why these incomposed Papers They are to beg your Charity Nor am I ashamed of it since a King without dishonour because without dishonesty did it before me when he said Date obolum Belisario and a better King since him when he said He had rather live on the Churches alms than take the bread out of Priests mouths and another before them both when he said Have pitty upon me Have pitty upon me ô yee my friends for the hand of God is upon me The Hand of God permitting else the Hand of man punishing could not continue so violent as to threaten a starving which how neer it is though not known is yet much feared by Tho. Swadlin TO THE NOBILITY AND GENTRY NObility and Riches are not absolutely good For they are given to the Bad as well as to the Good Esau was a Noble man and a Rich ma● as well as Jacob Dives as well as James and therefore I have no reason to put my confidence in them or to think my self the more in Gods favour because I have more of the worlds Treasure Neither yet are Riches and Nobility absolutely bad For they are given to the Good as well as to the Bad. David was Noble and Rich as well as Saul and so was Nicademus as well as Caiaphas and therefore I have no reason to be diffident of my self because I am Rich and Noble or to think my self out of Gods favour because I have so much of the worlds Nobility and Riches are onely bad when they are badly obtained or retained worse and then onely good when they are sent by Gods blessing either by way of inheritance from my Parents or by way of industry from my Pains and again distributed and used to Gods glory and the good of his servants Achan by an ill obtention of Riches purchased an ignominious death and if others Knew what it were to kill and then possesse They would aspire still but to be lesse Dives by an ill detention of Riches purchased the torments of Hell and if others Knew what it were to deny poor men food They would covet still but covet to be good Job with his humble Nobility with his large possessions obtained Gods favours And Zacheus by his munificent distributions possessed the Joyes of Heaven I fear not my self therefore because I am Noble because I am Rich all that I fear is That I may use my Riches and Nobility ill and that I may not I ask my self these Cases of Conscience Whether I abate of mine own superfluities to relieve the poor's necessities Else I am Dives like Luk. 16. Whether I consider the Poor and Needy and save them the pains and shame of begging at my dore and elbow Then I am David like Ps 4. Whether I look contemptuously upon them that are poor and needy Sam That is Nabal-like Whether I have not resolved to deny relief to them that want This is Devil-like And when these Cases are resolved to the comfort of my soul I may humbly and confidently addresse my self to Almighty God O most gracious God! thou hast dealt largely with me in thy Outward blessings I beseech thee also give me a large portion of thy Inward grace My heart is full of corruption and even with these thy blessings of a Noble blood and a full purse I shall pride my self and despise others and scorn the Poor and forget thee unlesse with this Nobility in my blood and this plenty in my purse thou give me the Poverty of thy spirit It is not a poor spirit I desire but to be poor in spirit that while others highly conceit of me I may be humble in mine own conceit remembring the more I have of thee the more thou wilt require from me and the greater my charge is by thy trust the greater must be my discharge by my truth Else my Nobility will puff me with security and my wealth will be a thorn to choak and wither the seed of thy word in me and make it unfruitfull to me Let me therefore take more delight in thy word than in all manner of Riches that in this slippery place for Riches and Nobility are but slippery they either thaw from us or we melt from them I may keep an even step and walk with a right foot Let not mine eye be dazled with the glory nor heart bewitched with the delicacy of those Treasures lest e're I am aware They be taken from me or I from them Let my chief delight be upon that durable wealth and eternal Nobility which is better than Gold and Coronets that my heart may be enriched with the dew of thy spirit my soul filled with the knowledge and my hands enabled with the practise of thy will Oh! let me remember That these Riches these Titles are not my Lordship but my Stewardship that the bowels of the Saints may be refreshed and the hearts of the widows rejoyced and the loins of the Naked warned by the fruits of my faith my good works and thereby others provoked to glorifie thee Let that be the Emd of my charity To glorifie thee not any thought of merit or to glorifie my self Let every Mite I give be a fruit of faith not a gift of fortune and every mercy I shew to others upon this ground assure me it is a beam of thy love unto my self and while I have no other aime but thy glory no other ground but my obedience let me in the End find it a good ground-work against the time to come and so attain the End of my faith even the salvation of my soul not for these works-sake but for that Promise sake Psal 41.2 Blessed is he that considereth the poor and needy the Lord shall deliver him in the time of trouble Deliver me ô Lord in the trouble of my life from worldly care and deliver me ô Lord in the trouble of my death from sinfull guilt through Jesus Christ Amen In whose most blessed Name and words I further call upon thee as he hath taught me in his holy Gospel Our Father which art in heaven Hallowed be thy name c. The Noblemans Character HE is endowed with the four cardinal vertues and is a man neither covetous nor prodigal but temperate he knows how to give charitably and to gather providently He is a man neither foolish nor craf●y but prudent and knows when to speak plainly when politickly never falsly He is a man neither indulgent nor cruel but just and knows how to punish Iniquity and to reward Honesty He is a man neither timorous nor temerous but magnanimous and knows how to bridle precipitancy to spur pusillanimitie and dares scarlet his sword in an Honourable cause Sola Virtus vera Nobilitas To
mercy upon me The Ship that I am now in is but a vain thing to save a man and that Pyrates may not board us that windes and waves may not drown us that Infidels may not captivate us Have mercy upon us That th● Devil may not infect us That we may be constant in our Religion That we may be true and just in our dealings That in all places we may demean our selves as the Professors of Christ and give no occasion to the Adversary to speak evil Have mercy upon us That the great Leviathan may not seize upon our souls as the Whale did upon Jonas his body for sins we stand guilty of Have mercy upon us and blot out all our offences In a Storm O God! who didst save Noah and his Family in the A●k from perishing by water Help us or else we perish O God! who didst hear the prayer of thy Prophet from the bottom of the Sea and our of the belly of Hell Hear us and help us else we perish O God! who hast commanded and raised the stormy winde which lifteth up the waves of the Sea Help us else we perish O God! these winds and these waves mount us up to Heaven and bring us down again to the depth and melt our souls Help us else we perish O God! we reel to and fro and stagger like drunken men and are at our wits end Help us else we perish Our sins have raised thy Anger O God! and thy Anger hath raised these storms In justice thou mayest deal with us as thou didst with Pharaoh and the Egyptians but we beseech thee to deal with us in mercy as with Moses and the Israelites in the red Sea Cast our sins into the bottomlesse Sea of thy mercy Drown them in the red Sea of Jesus Christs blood and as he did rebuke the waves and the Sea so doe Thou turn this Sea into a Calme and bring us to our desired Haven Spare us a little longer before we goe hence and be no more seen Guide us in this whole voyage by thy Power Govern is with thy Mercy Return us with thy Grace that we may give up our lives in the Land where we received them Or if thou hast 〈◊〉 appointed us unto death● prepare us for death in the full remission of our Sins in the free justification about Persons in the frui●full sanctification of our remaining Dai●s and in the future glor●fication of our Souls through Jesus Christ Amen In whose Name c. After the Storm That thou hast heard us from above and drawn us out of many waters My soul doth magnifie thee ô Lord That thou hast delivered us from all our Fea●s and hast not suffered the water-floods to over whelm us nor the deeps to swallow us up My soul doth magnifie thee ô Lord That thou ●ast shewn us thy w 〈…〉 in the deep and 〈◊〉 delivered us from death by preserving us in the ship and commanding the waves to be quiet and the winds to be still My soul doth magnifie thee ô Lord That 〈◊〉 hast brought me 〈◊〉 to the shoar comforted me with the sight and life health if my friends My soul doth magnifie thee ô Lord At thy Return And now what shall I render unto thee ô Lord for all thy benefits My soul and body I dedicate unto thee and beseech thee to consecrate them unto thy self They have been washt in the waters of the Sea oh now wash them in the laver of Regeneration They have tasted the saltness of the Sea oh let them now taste the Merits of my Saviour and then my soul shall never consent again to sin my body shall never again commit sin And that this may not prove presumption but that I may bring my promise into performance Be 〈…〉 O God! with the earnestnesse of my soul upon the k●ees of my body I beg thy assistance ●nd th● graces of 〈◊〉 holy Spirit that I m●y conq 〈…〉 s in he commanding power of sin and never again obey it the condemning guilt of sin and never despair under it And this for the bitter Agony and precious death ●f my Lord Saviour Jesus Christ Amen In whose blessed Name and words I further call upon thee saying Our Father c. The Sea-mans Character IN him I see a warrantable a dangerous a gainful and an honourable Calling so warrantable that Christ of his twelve Apostles chose four Sea-men Andrew Peter James and John so dangerous that there is never above a foot and half betwixt him and death which made one Poet say Ille robur c. He had an heart of oake that first adventured to Sea and another Aut insanit c. He is either a mad-man or a begger or desirous to die that goes to Sea onely they are so happy in this danger that they see Gods wonders in the deep and give him thanks when they are by him brought unto the haven so gainful that Solemons good huswife is compared to a Merchants Ship that brings riches from a far Countrey so honourable that of old the merchants of Tyre were called Princes and of late years those of Genoa Venice and the Low-Countries are arrived so high that a great part of the world envies them the rest admires them to them we are beholding for Balme from Gilead for Incense from Sheba for Gold from Ophir for Cedar and Firr from Tyre for Gumms and Spices from India and somewhat more than ordinary there is in this Calling since Christ hath graced it with the immaterial letters of his own name The Travailer I Am now taking a journey by land whether for the necessity of businesse or the visiting of my friends or the wooing of a wife I need not scruple my self so I am sure it is not for vanity or sin I may pray God for his protection and thus I addresse my self to his Throne of Grace O most gracious God! who didst protect thy servants Abraham Isaac and Jacob in their several journeys and gavest thy servant Tobias a convoy of Angels to conduct and bring him back again conduct me also in this my journey by thy Angels that I may be safe from the violence of Thieves and guide me by thy spirit that I may be safe from the assaults of those great Thieves of my Soul the Flesh the World and the Devil against the World give me the staffe of faith against the Devil give me the bag of charity against the Flesh give me the bottle of tears that as a Pilgrime I may not be cumbred with any thing of impediment but only furthered with all things of emolument and in every step of this journey remember my great journey from Earth to Heaven and keep such an even pace in the path of Grace that thou mayest return me back from this journey to my home receive me at the end of that journey to thy City of Glory for his sake who is the way the Truth and the life Jesus Christ In
encrease doing to and dealing by others as I would others should do to and deal by me and that I may so doe and deal I beseech thee let me ever remember That the wages of unrighteousnesse and Riches gotten by wrong and Robbery are put into a broken bag and shall soon diminish and be devoured or if they do continue they shall be for my greater hurt and such prosperity shall destroy me That a little with thy blessing is better than great Revenues with thy curse That thy all-seeing eye is ever beholding me in all my doings and all my doings however close from the world are naked in thy sight Add to this grace of remembrance the grace of holy care whereby I may walk uprightly and approve my self before thee in an even behaviour toward all men and if it shall please thee to blesse my labours and increase my store by my honest industry ô let me not set my heart upon that increase and make those Riches my strong City lest such deceitfulnesse choak the seeds of thy graces in me steal my heart from thee from the Poor from my Calling but let me follow my Calling in an holy measure not wholly ingulphing my self into nor wholly sequestring my self from the businesse of it but giving my self all convenient opportunities to serve thee in piety and to relieve the Poor in charity that when thou shalt put an end to these dayes of labour thou mayest say unto me Well done good and faithfull servant enter into thy Masters rest All which and all other things needfull for me I beg of thee in the Name and for the sake of Jesus Christ saying as he hath taught me Our Father which art in Heaven c. The Trades-mans Character HE is a good Commonwealths-man but a bad Statesman and then the best when he meddles least with it The ware in his Shop next to the care of his soul should take up his time and tongue for if he make no conscience how he spends his time he hath no care for eternity and if he care not to guide his tongue he sets the Greater and the Lesser himself and the whole world on fire and combustion Happie he if he praies aright and endeavors to doe as he praies without injuring his Customer by false weights and measures These and many more instructions are given him from the name of his Trade whatsoever it is since all Trades are called Instituta Rationes Mores Disciplinae To the Magistracy MY Calling is lawfull whether I be supreme or subordinate because God made David supreme and Moses appointed the subordinate both Justice of Peace and Judge and Lord Chief Justice and Lord Keeper onely if I am a Justice of Peace I must resolve these Queries Whether ambition or virtue set me on this Bench Whether I sit upon this Bench with an eye of fear to my Superiors with an eye of favour to my Equals with an eye of scorn to my Inferiors or with an eye of impartiality to them all If I am a Judge I must resolve these Quaeries Whether I imitate Christ in his scarlet Gown and Minivere Hood Whether as his Garments were red with the spoyle of his Enemies onely so mine be red onely with the spoyle of malefactors Whether as his hood was white by a holy conception by a sinlesse life and a saving death so mine be white by an unspotted conversation without taking bribes to turn the stream of Justice into a strange and contrary channell If I so live I may then assure my self when I come to his Judgement Seat I shall find him not Judex to condemn me but Jesus to save me and so I shall live if I will remember Judicium non mei sed Dei If I am a Lord Chief Justice I must then resolve these queries truly Whether I compound the Ark of God with nothing but the Law of God Whether from that Arke I tell no man lesse than his duty I give no man more than his due condemnation if he be a transgressor without taunts absolution if he be an observer of the Law without bribes If I doe so I may then assure my self the incorruptible Law-giver will not condemn me though a corruptible Law-expounder because I was not wilfully corrupted and so I shall doe if I remember Hoc fac vives sin aliter peribis If I am a Lord Keeper I must resolve these Queries truly Whether I behave my self answerably to the Propitiatory upon the Arke Whether I like that covering keep the Law from a too severe pleading against the poor Client Whether I doe moderate the extremity of Jus summum for the maintenance of Aequum bonum And this I shall doe if I command my cursitory Angels to become Dii tutelares of several Shires if I prohibit the sending out of Fines without the spunge of Repentance to wash out the transgressions of the Law If I doe so I shall find Christ as Christ hath placed me The poor mans Advocate my Advocate with the Father to plead his merits against my demerites Sicredo vivam If I be Supreme The Kings I must then resolve these Queries truly Whether like the Sun I give grace to Saturn gravity to my Councellors Whether I give might to Jupiter respect unto my Nobles Whether I give fortitude to Mars magnanimity to my Soldiers Whether I allow benevolence to Venus beauty to my Ladies Whether I allow pyth to Mercury Rhethorick and reward to my Scholars Whether I give constancy to the Moon stedfastness and stability to the Commons Or if the Sun teaches me not my duty sufficiently I will take it higher and because I am like God in all only that I am a King of Men and God is the King of Kings I must resolve these Cases of Conscience because my Conscience must answer for them to God Whether my Throne be cloathed with Majesty else my Subjects will not respect me Whether my Scepter be full of Mercy else my Subjects will not love me Whether my Chair be fathom'd with Justice else my Subjects will not fear me Whether my sword be armed with Power else my Soldiers will not obey me And because God dwels in absconditis I must be careful that my Majesty be not lookt upon by every eye And because Gods justice is upright I must secure my justice from being staind by a●y bribes And because Gods mercy is not denyed to any sinner I must not deny my mercy to any Delinquent And because God will not suffer his Power to be disputed by any Tongue I must preserve my Power from the quarrel of any Rebel and when it is thus I may pray with confidence But now I think upon it I shall not be so sawcy as to set down a Prayer for these great persons because Justices and Judges and Lord Chief Justices and Lord Keepers and Kings know better how to pray than I to inform them only I hope without offence I may pray for them and