INDEED all Pleasures if they die not like Children in their very Birth yet they are liable to so many accidents that they quickly wither and decay and all their Gust is gone The pain in one Tooth the Cramp in one Joynt the Gout in one Toe the Megrim in the Head the Collick in the Guts the Feaver in the Blood the Sciatica in the Thigh the Fistula or Hemorrhoids in the nether parts or any one of these takes away the relish of our Pleasures and imbitters all the Voluptuous Persons Enjoyments turning his Singing into Sighing his Musick into Mourning and his Riot into Rage And who wou'd mourn the loss of things so Subject to a Thousand Accidents which have so little real Good in the Enjoyment The Soul's Expostulation AND now O my Soul consider with thy self how vain and how pernicious the Pleasures of the World are For tho' Mankind do generally give up themselves to the Pursuit thereof yet how full of Pain do they find these Pleasures Consider O my Soul that sensual Pleasures are the Pleasures of Beasts which relish them with more delight than Men and use 'em according to the Dictates of Nature and for the Satisfying of their Wants and that with more Moderation for they only drink for the quenching of their Thirst and Eat for the satisfying of their Hunger Whilst Men endow'd with Reason and born to a higher End even to Glorifie and Enjoy their Maker do immerse themselves in the filthy Puddles of Drunkenness and Gluttony and other base Carnal Delights and thereby degenerate below the Beasts that Perish Raise up thy Affections therefore O my Soul and place them upon Things above there are Pleasures and Delights that are worthy of thee even such as are adequate to thy Wants and capable of Satisfying the Desires of an Immortal Soul And tho' thy outward Circumstances and late Losses have render'd thee uncapable of Pursuing the Pleasures of this World thou art thereby the more fitted to aspire to those Pleasures that the World cann't take from thee and which alone are Worth the Enjoying If thou hearkenest to the Enchanting Syrens of Worldly Pleasure they do but intice thee with their Pleasant Songs as they would have doue Vlysses till they bring thee to cast thy self into the Sea of Destruction and over-whelm'd thee with Eternal Ruine But if O my Soul thou waitest at the Gates of Wisdom and hearkenest to her Voice thou soon shalt find not only that her Ways are Ways of Pleasantness but also that all her Paths are Peace A PRAYER MOST Gracious and Merciful Father who art the God of all Consolation and Comfort in whose Presence there is fullness of Ioy and at whose right hand there are Pleasures for evermore be pleased to look down in mercy upon me a wretched and miserable Sinner who have been so long seeking that Pleasure and Satisfaction in the Creature which is alone to be found in thy Self and grant that my Mind and Affections being taken off from all Carnal Delights and fix'd upon thy Self I may henceforth lay aside every weight and the Sin that doth so easily beset me and may run with Patience the Race that thou hast set before me And since I find in thy Word that that it is the Character of some in the last Day That they shall be Lovers of Pleasures more than Lovers of God make me I humbly beseech thee in the Number of those that have rather chose to suffer affliction with the People of God than to enjoy the Pleasures of Sin for a season Like Moses esteeming the Reproaches of Christ to be far more Eligible than the Pleasures of Egypt Grant this O Lord for Iesus Christ his sake thy Beloved Son and my alone Saviour who has further taught me to Pray saying Our Father c. Meditation IV. Of the Nature and Causes of Afflictions NOtwithstanding what has been said in the three former Meditations of the Uncertainty and Emptiness of Honours Riches and Pleasures and what little Cause we have to be troubled at the loss of them yet since the best of Men are apt to look upon the loss of those things as Afflictions and are more forward to bemoan themselves under them than to Enquire into their Causes and since the finding out of their Causes is the best way to remove their Effects I will now Enquire into the Nature and Causes of Afflictions and therein what were the Sins that procur'd those Calamities under which our Royal Master and his Family has so long suffer'd AFFLICTIONS are always Evils in themselves and in their own Nature tho' through the Over-ruling Providence of Almighty God they are often turn'd to the great Advantage of those that suffer 'em So the Author to the Hebrews tells us No Chastening for the Present is Ioyous but Grievous nevertheless afterwards it yieldeth the Peaceable Fruits of Righteousness to them that are excercised thereby Heb. XII 11. And this was the Experience of the Royal Prophet Before I was Afflicted I went astray but now says he have I kept thy Word And in another place he tells us It is good for me that I have been afflicted And yet these Afflictions were grievous to him to bear for he cries out They made him go mourning all the Day long But these sufferings are never brought upon a People or a Family without a Cause for God does not afflict willingly nor grieve the Children of Men and St. Peter tells us expresly that it is not without need be that we are in Heaviness And it is as sure that Sin is always the cause of Suffering And therefore the Psalmist says When thou with rebukes doest correct Man for Iniquity thou makest his Beauty to consume as the Moth And the Prophet Ieremiah asks Wherefore does a living Man complain a Man for the Punishment of his Sins So that nothing can be more clear then that Sin is the cause of Affliction Which being laid down as an Undoubted Truth it remains that we Enquire what those Sins are which are most likely to bring down National Judgments and then to Examine whether we have not been guilty of those Sins that so we may thereby come to know wherefore it is that God contendeth with us and knowing that that we may repent of our Iniquities and return unto him against whom we have Sinned that he may return unto us with Mercy and with loving kindness 1. THE Sin of Prophane Swearing and Cursing is that which brings Gods Judgments on a Nation Hence the Prophet tells us That because of Swearing the Land mourns and this Sin is expresly forbidden by the third Commandment which enjoyns us not to take the Name of the Lord our God in vain and threatens that God will not hold him guiltless that does so whereby is implied That GOD will charge the guilt and violation of his holy Law upon such a one the taking his Name in vain being a Prophaning of it Whereas we are commanded to
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
our selves more Our Strength is to sit still and to wait for the Salvation of God For when he works there 's none can let it and till he does arise and work all we can do will be in vain And this many have found to their cost Let us learn to be wise by other mens harms There are many Devices in the heart of Man but the Counsel of the Lord that shall stand And whoever goes about to resist it will find him self sadly deceiv'd I will always maintain my Loyalty to the King and quietly submit to the Power that Protects me That so I may keep a Conscience void of offence both towards God and towards Man And it is the grief of my heart to see any otherwise minded For if we must not Speak wickedly for God nor Talk deceitfully for him much less must we Act wickedly for him And yet I would be found doing too I mean I would be found in the daily Exercise of Faith and Repentance and endeavour to get a broken and a contrite Heart for my past Sins because God has assur'd me that with such Sacrifices he is well pleased The Soul's Expostulation AND now O my Soul consider with thy self If Sin be the procuring Cause of all thy Troubles hast thou not greater Reason to be troubled for thy Sins than for thy Sufferings Afflictions may make thee better but Sin always makes thee worse It may be necessary sometimes to chuse Sorrow but it never can be so to chuse Sin 'T is God alone is that Wise Alchymist that can Extract Good from Evil and make even the Sins of his People turn to his Glory Thus through the working of God's Grace thy Pride may tend to humble thee and a due sence of thy Passion may produce Patience But this is alone the Effect of God's Grace for the Nature of Sin is only Evil. What reason then O my Soul hast thou to bless God who has made thy Outward Losses prove thy Inward Gain by taking thee off from the Pursuit of Sin and Training thee up in the School of Affliction Sure O my Soul it concerns thee to see what good Lessons thou hast learn'd there for if thou art not the better for 't thou wilt certainly be the worse Affliction is a Furnace and if thou comest not forth purified like Gold thy dross will appear the more But if thou canst say with David It has been good for me that I have been afflicted thou hast great cause to bless God for it If these Trials have done thee good what hast thou to complain of And if by the light of Affliction thou hast seen the greatness of thy Sin and that sight of Sin has humbled thee and brought thee to Repentance thou art hereby become a greater Gainer than all the outward Prosperity in the World could make thee For there is no Comparison between Temporal Losses and Spiritual Gains For all the things that are seen are but Temporal but the things that are not seen are Eternal How blessed a thing is it O my Soul to be afflicted Seeing these light Afflictions that are but for a moment work out for thee a far more Exceeding and Eternal Weight of Glory T his O my Soul is enough not only to make them rejoyce but even glory in Tribulations since they have so blessed an effect See then O my Soul that thy Tribulation worketh Patience and Patience Experience and Experience Hope even that Hope which maketh not ashamed and so shalt thou have rejoycing in thy self and not in another A PRAYER O Almighty and merciful Lord God who madest all things for thy own Glory and canst Over-rule all Events so as to bring glory to thy Name and good to thy People out of the darkest of thy Dispensations towards them Grant I beseech Thee that these Afflictions with which thou hast been pleased to Exercise me may by thy gracious Ordination bring forth the Peaceable fruits of Righteousness unto me that I may be Enabled to say It is good for me that I have been Afflicted And suffer me not O Lord neither to despise thy chastening by going on in those Ways of Sin and Rebellion against thee which have brought thy Iudgments down upon this Nation nor to defer my Repentance for those Iniquities which I have been guilty of And since thou hast declared in thy Word That he which hideth his Sins shall not prosper but that those who confess 'em and forsake 'em shall find Mercy Help me I humbly beseech thee with all thy People to make our Confession unto thee and to acknowledge that we have sinned and have committed Iniquity and have rebelled by departing from thy Precepts and thy Iudgments neither have we hearken'd to thy Servants the Ministers which spoke in thy Name to our Kings our Princes and our Fathers and to all the People of the Land And therefore O Lord Righteousness belongs unto thee but unto us Confusion of face as at this day to our King our Princes and our Iudges because we have sinned against thee And have added this Evil unto all the rest that yet we have not made our Prayer before the Lord our God that we might turn from our Iniquities and understand thy Truth O Lord our God we pray thee hear encline thine Ear and open thine Eyes and behold our low Estate For we do not present these our Supplications before thee for our Righteousness sake but for thy great Mercies through Iesus Christ our Lord and only Saviour Our Father c. Meditation V. Of the Benefit and Advantage of Afflictions WE have in the former Meditation Enquir'd into the Nature of Afflictions they are Evils in themselves not joyous but grievous and into the Causes of them which generally is Sin and what some of those Sins are we have also examin'd and found our selves to be concern'd in them which calls for our hearty Sorrow and Repentance But as a wife Physician will so temper Poyson as not only to allay its Venom but turn it into an Antidote so does the great Physician of our Souls do with Afflictions making them work together for our Good and bring forth for us the Peaceable Fruits of Righteousness And here I will a little Meditate upon the reasons why it pleases God to Afflict his Children and what the Benefits are that we reap thereby 1. Because we might shew our Conformity to our Blessed Redeemer who first Suffered and then Entered into his Glory In like manner we are told that if we suffer with him we shall also reign with him And the greater Tryals we endure here the brighter will our Crown of Glory shine hereafter The Author to the Hebrews having given a large account of the sufferings of the People of God in former Ages and of their not accepting Deliverance gives this as the reason that they expected a better Resurrection Agreeable to which our Lord tells us That those that are persecuted here for Righteousness sake
of Mercy by the great Physician of my Soul that they may purge out all those sinful Distempers and Evil Habits that Prosperity and Ease has caus'd me to contract that so being purged from my Sins and refined in the Furnace of Affliction I may come forth like Gold And seeing my Foolish and Deceitful Heart is so ready to run after Lying Vanities let thy Chastisements be as so many Thorns to hedge up my Way that so being stopt from running into the Paths of the Destroyer my Soul may be like a Garden inclosed a Spring shut up and a Fountain sealed And blessed Lord grant also that by my Patient continuance in well doing under thy Afflicting hand I may Evidence the sincerity of my Love to-towards thee which the Waters of Affliction can never quench nor all the Floods of Tribulation drown And tho' former Prosperity has caus'd me to forget thee yet let this storm that it has pleased thee in thy Righteous Iudgment to bring upon me cause me to fly unto thee for shelter who art a Covert from the Storm and from the Rain and my only Refuge and Rock of Defence where I can be safe against the fear of Evil. And as the depressing of a Palm-tree makes it grow the Straighter and the treading of Cammomile makes it smell the Sweeter so let my present Afflictions cause the Graces of thy holy Spirit in me to send forth the greater Fragrancy and to appear more Eminently And further be pleased to grant O Lord through thy Wise and all-Disposing Providence these light Afflictions that are but for a moment may work out for me a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory And that when thou shalt graciously please to accomplish all the purposes of thy Grace towards me by thy Afflicting hand and caused thine Anger towards me to cease that my Mouth may be filled with Songs of Diliverance That I may say with thy Servant of Old Bless the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me bless his holy Name Bless the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his Benefits who forgiveth all thine Iniquities who healeth all thy Diseases who redeemeth thy Life from Destruction and Crowneth thee with loving Kindness and tender Mercies Grant this O Lord for the sake of Iesus Christ thy blessed and only Son who for the Ioy that was set before him endured the Cross and despised the Shame and is set down at the right hand of the Majesty on high To whom with thee O Father and the Eternal Spirit be ascribed all Honour Glory Power and Praise World without End Amen Meditation VI. Of our Resignation to the Will of God OUR Blessed Saviour in that most Excellent Form of Prayer he has taught us has made this one Principal Petition in it Thy Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven And tho' I hope we all make use of this Prayer yet how few of us are there that understand what we ask Tho' there is nothing more pleasing to God nor nothing that tends more to the Establishment of our own quiet than this Resignation of our Wills to the Will of God which we therein pray for For could we in times of greatest Trouble and at the lowest Ebb of Affliction consider that it is the Will of God without whom nothing comes to pass and whose alone Will is the Rule of all Righteousness that consideration would soon allay all those storms of Passion and Discontent which are so ready to arise in our Souls under such Dispensations of Providence and make all calm and quiet there And this was that which silenc'd all the Complaints of Gods People in the Days of Old when they were even cover'd with the Cloud of his Anger Of which tho' many Instances might be given I shall confine my self to a few AND the first shall be that of old Eli the Priest who was a good Man but too indulgent a Father his wicked Children who thereby took Encouragement to sin by which God was so provok'd that he sent Samuel to Eli with such a Message as was enough to make his Ears to tingle importing no less than the destruction of him and his house and that the Iniquity of his house should not be purged with Sacrifice nor Offering for Ever because his Sons had made themselves Vile and he restrained them not And yet even under so heavy a Message as this was the good old Man resigns himself up to the Will of God saying It is the LORD let him do what seemeth him good A Second Instance shall be that of King David when he was forced to fly from the Rebellion which Absalom his own Son had rais'd against him Absalom having aspir'd to the Kingdom and wheedled the People out of their Loyalty and Allegiance upon a Pretence of the Mismanagement of his Father telling those that came to the King for Judgment in any Cause That there was no Man deputed of the King to hear them and then wishing he was made Iudge in the Land that he might do them Iustice By which sly Insinuations he had stolen away the hearts of the Isralites from his Father And when by these ill Practices things were ripe for an Open Rebellion Religion too must be brought in for a Part and a Vow to the Lord is pretended to be paid at Hebron on which pretence Absalom having obtain'd leave to depart from the King blows the Trumpet of Rebellion throughout all Israel and makes himself King in Hebron This News being brought to David he finds himself in Danger from his Rebellious Son and thereupon resolves to Abdicate the Royal City of Ierusalem to which Absalom was hastening as fast as he could In this flight of the King he had several of his Loyal Subjects to attend him and among them were Zadok and Abiathar the Priests and the honest Levites with the Ark of God But the good King who was more concern'd for the Ark of God than for himself knowing that God had chosen the Gates of Zion before all the Dwellings of Iacob would by no means suffer the Ark to be carried after him but sends it back again into the City not knowing how God might deal with him with this Noble Resignation of himself to the Will of God Carry back says he to Zadock the Ark of God into the City if I shall find Favour with the Lord he will bring me again and shew me both it and his habitation But if he thus say I have no delight in thee behold here am I let him do to me as seemeth good unto him This is a truly Royal Example and well worthy Imitation A Third Instance of this Resignation of our Wills to the Will of God shall be that of King Hezekiah who after his Recovery from Sickness having Received the Congratulatory Ambassadors of Merodach Baladan the King of Babylon was so pleas'd with the Honour which he thought was thereby done him that he shewed the Ambassadors the
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
in Oblivion and the Voice of True Peace and Joy be heard again in our Land Lord let us have that Religion which may make us happy in Heaven and that True Peace which may give Time and Leave to Enjoy that Religion And to that end let Power be Establish'd upon Righteousness and Employ'd for the Preservation of thy Church and People and then maintain that Power and them O Thou by whom Kings Reign who hast promised to make them Nursing Fathers to thy Church Grant us these Blessings to the Glory of thy Name the Quiet of our Lives and the Saving of our Souls Even for thy dear Son our Saviour's Sake Amen A Prayer for Mercy to the Nation O Lord we are a Nation not to be beloved a Nation ready to be ruined for our Iniquities and for our Sins thou may'st justly destroy us both Prince and People But spare us good Lord spare us for thy Mercy sake Let the Blood of Jesus Expiate all our Guilts and the Spirit of Jesus amend our Misdoings O thou who wouldst not have one Sinner Dye suffer not Millions of poor Souls to perish Be reconciled to us in a Meditators Blood and be the Reconciler of us in a firm and blessed Peace God of Pity and Peace be at Peace with us and make it for us Even that Peace which none can take from us do thou make us Partakers of O thou holy One of God who camest into the World to take away the Sins of it O thou Prince of Peace pity a poor Church and Nation ready to Perish Pity that Church that hath so long maintain'd thy Truth and Worship in the Nation Pity them who are ready to perish for seeking to maintain thy holy Truth and Worship in thy Church And do thou from Heaven Preserve It and Us and Them O thou that hast the Power of Heaven and Earth in thy hand who stillest the raging of the Sea when the Waves thereof roar and lift up themselves make bare thy holy Arm for our Deliverance O God make haste to help us for we are brought very low stir up thy strength and come and save us and make no long tarying O our God but deliver us for thy Mercy sake Amen A Prayer for those that are in great Distress and Danger O God of Power and Pity who hast promis'd to regard the Prayer of the destitute and not to despise their Cry Look down O Lord from thy Sanctuary from the Heavens do thou behold the Earth to hear the groaning of the Prisoners and to loose those that are in danger of Death Rescue them from the rage of Violence and shew thy self Merciful to them in this time of their distress O thou Preserver of Men And grant them all Graces and Mercies needful for the saving of their Souls And let them glorifie thee both in Life and Death and do thou glorifie them with Life Eternal through the Merits and Righteousness of Jesus Christ our Lord. In whose blessed Name I further beg for Mercy for all that suffer in these Times of Trouble Chiefly for those that are Destitute for the Widows and the Fatherless Let thy Mercy be extended to them in the daily supplying of their several Wants and Necessities Take them into thy peculiar Care O thou Father of the Fatherless and Judge of the Widow And be thou their Comfort Help and Succour for Jesus Christ his sake Amen A Collect for Grace O God I can ask no greater Gift than thy Glory and therefore beg no better Gift than thy Grace yea even this perfect is nothing else but that Nor can I come at it but by the way of Grace I do therefore for Jesus Christ his sake beseech thee bestow on me this blessed Gift Grace to do thee Service on Earth that thou may'st give me thy Salvation in Heaven through the Merits of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen A Collect for Peace O God my poor Soul is an humble Suitor for Peace the Blood of Jesus is my Plea thy Spirit my Advocate I deserve by my Sins Eternal Enmity but for thy dear Sons sake have Favour for me By whom the World is Attoned O let me be Reconciled to thee I know not how to pray this as I ought but thy Spirit can make Effectual Intercession for me Lord let thy Spirit move and thy Son make my Peace Subdue my Lusts Conquer Satan for me that my Conscience may have Peace with thee and I in it by thy Grace through the Mediation of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen A Collect for Health O Lord when I am Sick let me think I may Die when I am in Health that I may be Sick that I may not mis-spend the stock of my Life but do thee Honour with my Health and thou mayst give me Comfort for it in my Sickness Even this that Sin hath not bound me to my Bed but thy Providence hath cast me down which can and will lift me up or to Health in this World or to Happiness in a better Such an Enjoyment of Health give me I beseech Thee for Iesus Christ his sake Amen A Collect for Safety O Lord so many days as I live so many Lives I owe Thee Thou renewest my Lease every day A poor Tenant at thy Will I am and a frail Cottage of Clay by thy Power I keep Lord thou hast hitherto spar'd me still preserve me and let me pay as I can what I owe of Service the only Rent thou requiest for Tenement and Appurtenances Life Health Wealth and all the good things I have of thee for which thou both grantest Term of Life and givest Eternity This to that continue I beseech thee for his sake who was Surety and is sole Purchaser for me Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen A Collect for Friends O Lord graciously accept my Prayers for all my Kindred and Friends Do thou good unto them all O God To those that Err shew thy Truth and those that see it keep from Error To those that do amiss give Grace to do better and those that do well continue in so doing To those that are Afflicted give Comfort and Deliverance to those that Prosper Humility and Temperance Bless the Sick with Health and the Healthy from Sickness Supply those that want and let those that want not give Supply To all grant thy Grace O God and shew thy Mercy Let Love bind us one to another and Religion knit us all to Thee that all who are of Natural Kindred may meet in Heavenly Consanguinity Even so Lord let the Blood of Jesus run through all the Veins and the Spirit of Jesus go along with the Blood that the Glory of Jesus may be the End of us all And that hower we suffer and scatter on Earth we may Live and Joy together in the Bliss and Felicity of Heaven by the Union of that holy Spirit and Communion of that blessed Blood Amen and Amen A Collect for the Catholick Church O God of Peace send Unity