ioy in thy strength O Lord and exceedingly reioyce in thy saluation Then all our friends shall reioyce with vs and all our enemies be couered with confusion and the World shall say Blessed are the people that bee in such a case yea a thousand times blessed the people that haue such a Lord for their God who hath purged them from their old pollution and purified them for himselfe that now he may dwell among them for euermore Heare vs G God of Mercie for thy Name sake But Lord wée beséech thée begin with the better part first euen the spirituall sores of our Soules and of our Land remoue those Plagues first which hath pulled downe this Plague therefore begin wée beséech thée at the right end and make vs not healthfull and found in body and leaue vs sicke in soule and miserable in our spirituall state Turue vs therefore O God of our saluation cause thy louing countenance to shine vpon vs and wée shall bée safe Bring vs againe into thy Temples with ioy and into thy Courts with praifs satisfie vs early with thy Mercies and comfort vs according to the dayes wherein thou hast afflicted vs Now let thy worke appeare vnto thy Seruants and thy gloeie vnto their Children Then we will gee into thy house with true Burnt offrings and with théerefulnesse of heart wil pay thee our vowes which our lips haue vttered and our mouthes haue spoken in the dayes of our affliction And wée that bée thy People and shéepe of thy Pasture will giue thée thankes for euer and shews forth thy Prayses vnto the Generations that shall follow after vs vnto the Worlds end And this our poore Prayer which here wée haue presented and this our weake thanks-giuing which wée haue here rendred to thy holy Maiestie we humbly beg may bée accepted not for our selues alone but for thy whole Church euen the blessed body of thy deare Sonne Nor for our friends alone but euen our enemies for whom we implore rather thy Mercie to couuert them then thy Iustice to corfound them yet if they will not be reclaymed restraine their rage good Lord and frustrate all their furie make the malice of Man turne to thy praise and if our Prayers can doe them no good at least let their causelesse Curses and cursed Plots doe vs no hurt Stand by all the Armies and Forces of thy Church both by Sea and Land and by all them that stand vp for thy holy Cause especially that chiefe Champion of thy Church thy deuoted Seruant our Souereigne Lord rouse vp his Royal heart inflame him more and more with zeale and loue to thée that thy Church may finde him and thy foes may féele him to be the Great Defender of thy Christian Faith and the Man of Men whom thou hast marked for thy selfe euen a second Cyrus raised vp anoynted and sanctified by thy selfe to performe all thy pleasure and to execute thy great and glorious Designes not only for the building vp of our Ierusalem in the Reformation and Restoration of our Church but to subdue the Nations before thee and to weaken and loose the Loynes of such Kings as will not open their hearts to thée The promise thou didst please to make to Cyrus who knew thée not make good wée beséech thée much more to Him who knowes thée and feares thée and submits his soule vnto thée and casts his Crowne downe at thy féete That is Make him thy great Shepheard hold vp his Right hand subdue thine enemies before him open to him all dores of difficulties breake in pieces the gates of Brasse and cut in sunder the barres of Iron and goe before him when hée goes to make the crooked places of the World streight To which end giue him good Lord beside all thy other blessings the Treasures of darknesse and hidden riches of secret places that euen therby also he may know that thou the Lord who hast called him and set him on work art able to payhis Armies prouide for him do this O Lord for Iacob thy Seruants sake and Israel thine Elect. Blesse the Quéene Thou that hast made her His make her also Thine that so she may be a helpe to him a blessing to vs a cōfort to the distressed Churches of France and a Ioy to the Christian World Blesse therefore good Lord and make powerfull all meanes of her Conuersion publike and priuate and for the settling of her soule in thy holy Truth and in the waies of righteousnesse And besides the Prayers of vs and thy whole Church ouer the World daily made for Her wee beséech thée gratiously to regard the serious supplications which wée are sure his Maiestie daily powres out before thee for her happie and spéedie Connersion that so shée may bée a Pursing Mother as he is a nursing Father to thy Church Shine from Heauen with the beames of Loue and Mercy vpon those glorious Seruants of thine the King and Queene of Bohemia and their Royall Branches and as thou haft honoured them not only to beléeue in thée but to suffer for thée so giue them in thy good time a blessed Issue of all their vniust sufferings and in the meane time arme them with Faith and Patience to waite on thée Looke downe in Mercie and blesse with thy speciall blessing the High Court of Parliament be with them at their Méetings Consultations and Conclusions set thy fear before their eyes and let thy glorie bee their greatest Ayme knit the hearts of Prince and People one to onother and all to thée Confound all priuate Plots any way tending to the hinderance of the comfortable continuance of that blessed Méeting till they haue first discouered and then found meanes to cure the Corruptions Plagues and great diseases of this Church and State Blesse this whole Land make his Maiesties Councell faithfull to thée least otherwise they proue false to him Purge the Tribe of Leui that their lips may preserue pure knowledge and their liues may expresse the Life of true Religion Refine our Nobilitie from the fil thie dregs of Poperie and all ignoble bafenesse Cleanse the hearts and hands of our Iudges and Magistrates and purifie our People in this furnace of Affliction and humble vs all from the King vnto the Captiue that so we may bée a People prepared for the Lord. And looke downe in Mercy as thou art a God of Mercy vpon those many hundreds nay yet alas alas thousands of our deare brethren in this Land and especially in this Citie who still lye groaning vnder the burthen of thy Wrath the Sword of thy destroying Angell Alas O Lord these Sheepe what haue they done Or are wee better then our Brethren Or are these thousands that fall before our faces any greater sinners then the rest Or rather haue not wee sinned more then they and yet they are smitten rather then wée O how wonderfull are thy workes how vnsearchable are thy Iudgements and thy wayes past
vs if we doe not and will follow them whoeuer they bee that double and dissemble with their God in this case And if any that be abroad and yet vnvisited thinke I deale too farre and too freely in this Confession I aske no more but to forbeare his judgment til they be vnder the hand of God as we haue bin now three moneths and more and then they will iudge I am too short The while God in mercy pardon that and wherin I may be thought to go too far I shall easily answere it to God or Gods Anointed shal sigh sob in secret to consider the wrath woes that wait for those wicked ones who as they deeply haue had their hand in pulling downe this Plague so carelessely seeke to passe it ouer and looke not after the God that hath smitten them and the whole Land for their sakes and will if they turne not betimes smite them downe to Hell What stony hearted Stoicke can he be who sees more then forty thousand Christians many as good and some better then Himselfe laid in the dust in little more then twice forty dayes and is not humbled vnder the Hand that did it and sensible of the Sin that did procure it Can hee bee a good Seruant of God or Subiect to his Souereigne that besides ten thousand aged weake and poore shall see an Army of ten thousand more braue lustie and seruiceable young men and tenne thousand more comely and mariageble young women and ten thousand more young Infants whose proofe and hope had beene still before them already taken out of one Corner of this Kingdome and sits not downe in dust and ashes mourning to that God that tooke them for that King that lost them with that Land that wants them For that Sinne that pluckt them from vs I dare pronounce vpon him from God whoeuer hee bee that can or dare thus sleightly and sliely passe by the workes of God and laughes in his sleeue at such a judgement as this is markt vp by God for some greater vengeance as sure as the fourteenth of Ezekiel is Gods true Word For if hee that mournes for sinne be the man that is Markt by God for blessing and deliuerance what 's hee that makes a sport of sinne and layes from his heart the Iudgements thereby procured but one that 's sealed vp for confusion and destruction O therefore that my heart were a Fountaine and my eyes Riuers of teares that I might worthily bewaile the sinnes of our Nation together with mine owne and weepe for the slaine of the Daughter of my people So cried the holy Prophet of the abundance of his holy Zeale and so I am sure in their seuerall measures doe all the Ministers and men of God amongst vs that haue but tasted of the same spirit mourning for the desolations of this Citie and more for the Contagion that causeth it and most of all for the sinnes that procured them both And who would not care to sacrifice themselues what way the Lord should please so the wrath of God might bee pacified towardes this Church and Nation and those plagues remooued which are the cause of this Plague And till these be remooued we shall find the Prophets tell vs true that eyther this Plague shall stil stay creep like a Canker ouer our whole body or else only make make way to some more fearefull that shall follow after it That this may be preuented he cannot be a Christian that will not both cry to God and confesse to him the publike and priuate and personall sinnes that be the cause thereof And as all that are enabled and taught by the holy Spirit of God to poure out their soules in humble Prayer and hearty Confession will in holy obedience to the holy Prophets counsell Take vnto themselues words and returne vnto the Lord So for those that cannot open their mouthes as they desire and yet haue hearts that groane after God and soules that seeke the Lord. For their assistance only haue I beene perswaded to publish this which now I leaue to them and them and it together with our selues to the mercifull acceptation and gracious blessing of our Good God who grant vs all in these dayes of danger when somtimes almost a thousand a day are pickt vp and pluckt away before our faces So to liue and so to dye as when we dye we may be sure to liue for euer And so to part with one another here as we may be sure to meet in Heauen And here so to confesse our sinnes as at the last Day Christ may confesse vs to be his owne And so to pray here as we may prayse God eternally in Heauen LONDONS LAMENTABLE COMPLAINT to her GOD. Containing A Prayer for the time of Infection afore confession of SINNE A Meditation vpon the causes and remedie of this Plague A Thankesgiuing for Gods mercie euen in this Crosse Most high and holy Iehouah thou being of beings who giues life and being to euery Creature giue leaue vnto us the most unworthy oues of all thy Children to come before thee and present our petitions at the Throne of Grace Wee durst not rush so rudely into thy holy presence mightie Lord God nor beg so boldly so great a sauour were it not that thou hast gratiously vouthsafed not onely to call and inuite vs but euen command vs to come vnto thee and call vpon thee in the day of our affliction and hast moreouer mercifullypromised that thou wilt heare vs and deliuer vs that we may glorifie thy great Name In this confidence we take comfort to come to thee O Lord in this day of our trouble and common calamitie of our Church and Kingdome And first we doe all in the name one of another and wée for our parts euery one of vs for himselfe humbly and freely cousesse wee haue all had our hands in this blood and each one borne apart in pulling down these heauie plagues vpon this City and our Nation O Lord wée doe none of vs excuse our selues but wee doe euery one of vs accuse and arraigue our selues at the barre of thy Iustice and we doe all pronounce our selues guiltie in thy sight Nor are we onely tainted with Originall sin in our natures but Lord our liues are stayned with all actuall pollutions in our thoughts words and déeds by sins of Comission and Omission by sins not onely of Ignorance but euen of negligence carelesnesse and presumption Miserable sinners that wée are wée haue not only committed soule and fearefull things abhominable to thy pure and holy Maiestie dishonorable to thy holy Religion offensiue to thy holy Law and therefore iust prouocations of thy Wrath but alas we haue sometime totally omitted and at the best alwaies failed in all the good and holy duties required at our hands Wée haue not béene humbled for thy iudgements nor thankfull for thy mercies as wee ought to haue beene therefore thy mercies being abused haue
LONDONS LAMENTATION for her Sinnes AND Complaint to the LORD Her GOD. Out of which may bee pickt a Prayer for Priuate Families for the time of this fearefull INFECTION And may serue for a Helpe to Holinesse and Humiliation for such as keepe the Fast in Priuate Together with a Souereigne Receipt against the PLAGVE By W. C. Pastor at White chappell IER 47. 6 7. O thou Sword of the Lord how long will it bee ere thou be quiet Put vp thy selfe vnto thy scabberd rest and be still How can it be quiet seeing the Lord hath giuen it a charge c. LONDON Printed for G. Fayerbeard at the North side of the Royall Exchange 1625. TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE THE Lord Maior of London the Right Worshipfull the Sheriffes and Aldermen and the rest of the Godly Citizens and Offiers who haue eyther stayed in their Places and Duties during this Visitation or sent their large and comfortable Beneuolence for the Poore The Blessings of this and a better Life RIGHT HONORABLE IT was the Ordinance and Appointment of GODS owne Wisdome in the Law that all his Sacrifices and burnt Offrings should be seasoned with Salt the Fire importing Zeale by which euery Sacrifice must be offered and the Salt signifying Discretion with which it must be seasoned If it wanted eyther of these it could not bee accepted Now as this literall Fire and Salt belonged to the Iewes so the Spirituall is both commended and commanded to vs that liue vnder the sweet yoke of the Gospell euen to the Worlds end Namely that all our Sacrifices Seruice if we mean to haue them acceptable to God or auaileable to our selues must not onely bee offered with the Fire of holy Zeale but tempered with holy Wisdome and seasoned with the Salt of due Discretion therefore sayth Christ euen in his Gospell Euery one shall bee salted with Fire and euery Sacrifice shall bee seasoned with Salt Whereunto Saint Paul alluding exhorts all Christians to see that Their Seruice and Sacrifice bee not only holy and liuely but also reasonable Hence it is Right Honourable and Worshipfull that as our gracious King out of his Humilitie and holy Zeale commanded publike Fasting Prayer for the diuerting of this publike Iudgement So now out of holy and deepe discretion hath suspended for a time those publike meetings within the Citie Out of no dislike of Fasting and Prayer nor any wearinesse of those holy Exercises as some Malignant Spirits malitiously traduce Him But out of conscience to his God care of his Subiects liues wisely considering in our knowledge most truely that seeing the sick sore do what we Ministers could to the contrary mingled themselues confusedly with the sound by which meanes its more then manifest many thousands haue perished in this Citie and Suburbs It therefore lay vpon him as Supreme Magistrate and Gods Lieutenant to looke to the liues as well as to the Soules of all his people and to take order that the Fasts ordained for the bettering of the Soule should not so be vsed as to tend to the destruction of the body Leauing vs therefore in this distressed Citie the Lords Day or Sunday for our soules which being of Diuine Institution can admit no Dispensation by humane power and still commending and commanding vs that Day to fast pray in priuate and all the Kingdome else to doe it in publike for vs And for the sauing of our liues and to auoyd the tempting and prouoking of God Hath wisely forbidden all other publike meetings of dangerous concourse in places Infected till order can be taken which is no easie thing to doe to keepe the sound and sicke asunder Now as all those that be well are notwithstanding to repaire to the Church to be partakers of the publike Prayers the holy seruice appointed for that day so for a helpe of Humiliation and holy Deuotion to them that stay at home whereof also many thousand Families especially in our Suburbs are not able to buy the Booke I haue therefore beene perswaded to make publike this Meditation Confession and Prayer which in these dayes of publike Calamitie I walking hourely through the valley of the shadow of Death burying forty fifty sometime sixty a day and in the Totall more then two thousand alreadie I poured out in the presence of my God First in priuate for my selfe afterwards for the vse of those many thousand sicke soules that are or haue beene in my great poore Parish And lastly that hereby I might offer some Sacrifice and speciall piece of Seruice in way of holy thankfulnesse to the Lord our God who hath hitherto pleased to preserue me and my Brethren the Pastors of this Citie by his owne hand and power beyond all humane helpe and hope walking continually euen in the midst of the fiery flames alwayes in danger and neuer in more perill then in the Pulpit wherein the Lord hath beene so marueilous so magnified his loue and power vpon vs as if he should now take vs away yet hath hee so deliuered vs in discharging our duties and by his holy Angels kept vs thus being in our way till hee hath literally made good that promise in the Psalme yea and much more for alas wee haue not only seene a thousand fall at one side of vs and ten thousand at another but alas alas that our sinnes should so prouoke our God euen more then ten thousand on the one and more then twenty thousand on the other Which mighty work of God if wee should sit still and swallow and superficially passe ouer and not commend it to our Brethren in the Countrey whose turnes must follow God knowes how soone as sure as God hath begunne with vs and if we did not preserue the memory of it and represent it to Posterity for their instruction and that the Generations yet vnborne may prayse the Lord all holy men would accuse vs Gods Church would censure vs our own Consciences would condemne vs and God himselfe take vengeance of vs as most vnthankfull Caitiffes euen Monsters of Mankind vnworthy to breath vpon the Earth Being therefore in some sort touched with the sense of this hand of our God both of his hand of Iustice and of Mercy and being euerymoment put in mind of our mortality eyther by the sound in our eares or sights in our eyes can we but be moued vnlesse we were senselesse Stocks Stoicks to take into our serious and continuall Consideration the now most lamentable Case of this late so florishing a Citie and of this whole Kingdome into which this wild-fire of Gods wrath begins so fast to flie and can wee but lay to heart so great a sorrow Or dare wee for our soules but deale truly with our God in seeking sincerely and carefully searching out the true cause in our selues in our people and in the whole Kingdome that should thus prouoke the Lord against vs Certainly some heauy judgement must fall vpon
honoured vs with thy holy Word and Sacraments and hast among vs hundreds and thousands whom thou hast separated from the sinfull masse of Mankind and sanctified and sealed for thy selfe so as they runne not riot with the wicked World but waite on thee in the holy wayes of thine Ordinances Iudgements and Mercies and lay to heart thy words and warnings and mourne in Sion for the affliction of Ioseph and for their owne and the sinnes of others and for the iniquities of the Time Therefore our Faith bids vs beléeue and the truth and certainty of thy Couenants causeth vs to hope that thou wilt chastise vs to our correction but not plague vs to destruction And in this confidence wee come vnto thée thou Father of Mercies and are bold to beséech thée to call to mind thy Couenant whereby thou hast bound thy selfe to be our God and to take vs to bee thy People and neuer to forsake vs although by our sinnes we haue forsaken thée as long as by Faith we cleaue vnto thée and in Repentance and Humilitie doe seeke thy face And in the vertue and merit of that blessed bloud of thy holy Sonne which hee hath shed for vs and all Beléeuers we take boldnesse to our selues to challenge at thy hands the performance of those swéet promises thou hast made vnto vs and sealed in his bloud shedding And first we begge at the hands of thy holy Maiestie euen rather then our lines or beliuerances from this dreadfull Plague peace and pardon to our poore Soules and assurance of thy loue in Christ for our eternall happinesse and then wee beséech thée not so much to deliuer our bodies from this Plague as to saue our soules from sin which is the Plague of all Plagues and the true cause of this Plague therefore wee cry and pray with thy holy Prophet Lord haue mercie vpon vs and heale our soules which haue sinned against thee Then wee beséech thée thou God of compassions looke in mercie vpon this Land make vs not like Sodome Gomorrha as wee haue deserued wee confesse wee are vnder thy Hand and all the World could not haue laid this on vs but only thou O Lord And it was time for thee O Lord to lay to thy hand for wee had almost made void thy Law Thou hast therefore iustly taken vs vnder thy hand and because thy gentle warnings were despised thy holy Counsels contemned thy Iudgements neglected and thy Mercies abused thou hast therefore iustly giuen way to thy wrath and let loose thy heauy Iudgements vpon our Land Yet this is our comfort and Man nor Deuill can take it from vs that we are in thy hand O Lord and with thée is mercie And as we blesse thy Name that thou hast not giuen vs ouer into the cruell hands of mercilesse men the wicked bloudie Papists so in this our soules take comfort that we are vnder the hand of our heauenly Father whose mercies are great And in the multitude of those thy mercies we looke vp to thée O Lord and beséech thée be mercifull to this Land Thou art our Father and we haue fouly offended therefore thou must needs correct vs or else thou louedst vs not punish vs also or else thou wert not iust Correct therefore Lord and spare not but yet in thy Iudgement not in thy furie lest we be all consumed And forasmuch as corrections are to worke our not onely Humiliation but Reformation also we begge not the remoouing of thy Iudgement till it hath wrought thy worke and not onely brought vs down vnder thy hand but euen purged our hearts and renewed the face of our Church Common-wealth And séeing till then O Lord wee neyther may expect nor dare desire thou shouldst remooue it wee beseech thee to prepare vs all to bee both willing and ready to meete thee our God and now to be content thou glorifie thy selfe in vs and vpon vs by Life or Death so thou saue our Soules But when it hath done thy worke and finished that for which thou didst send it vpon vs then O Lord in mercie remooue it from vs And preuent the other grieuous plagues that must needes follow vpon and after this And howsoeuer thy iust and long forborne Decree is now gone out against vs so as yet our cryes and teares mooue thée not Nay the Prayers of our Prophets preuaile not with thee Insomuch as those Noabs Daniels and Iobs that are among vs are onely able to deliuer themselues and scarce that O Lord so great is the Contagion of our sinnes yet we beséech thée giue vs leaue to take comfort in beléeuing thine owne Word and trusting to that which no mortall Creature no Humane Assurance but thine owne holy Selfe hast told and taught vs Euen that in Wrath thou rememberest Mercie and that thou keepest not anger for euer but that thy mercies endure for euer And that thou hast not onely betrothed vs vnto thy selfe in faithfulnesse and truth but euen married thy selfe to vs and though we wickedly in our spirituall Idolatries and other sinfull courses cut off our selues from thee and whorishly giuen our selues to others yet most mercifully hast thou called vpon vs to returne againe to thee and thou wilt receiue vs But miserable Catiffes that wee are wee cānot turn to thée we could of our selues fal away from thée but of our selues wee cannot returne home vnto thee Cause vs therfore to returne O Lord and séeing thou so louest vs as thou wilt not leaue vs wee beseech thee also loose vs not nor suffer vs good Lord to loose our selues but renew our hearts towards thée and cause vs to cry and mourne after thée and say with Ephraim turne thou vs and wee shall bee turned conuert vs and wee shall bee conuerted thou art the Lord our God And bring vs backe againe O Lord the right and holy way First make our faces ashamed of our back-slidings and our Soules more grieued for the same then for the Plague that is vpon vs Then make vs seeke thee sincerely and not slauishly and out of Loue more then Feare and make vs turne vnfaynedly and with the whole heart And let vs not come with sorrow onely in our hearts but holy words also in our mouthes and take vnto our selues the words that thou hast taught vs and say vnto thee Take away all iniquitie and receiue vs graciously so will wee render the calues of our lips And that our Prapers be not bull let vs whet and sharpen them by Fatting nor let vs bring thee Bare words but let our humiliation be accompanied with works of Mercie Pietie Pittie and Compassion And that the Humiliation of vs bath Prince and People may bee both more acceptable to them and auaileable to vs stirre vp the holy heart of our holy Phineas thy Seruant and our Souereigne that hee may stand vp in the Zeale of his God and execute thy iust Iudgement vpon the Zimryes and Cozbyes that bee
amongst vs euen the great sinnes and bold Sinners of this Nation that then as thy Word hath told vs thy Plague may bee stayed To which end also make our Mosesses to stand in the Gappe and our Aarons with the swéet Incense of their holy Prapers to stand betwixt the liuing and the dead and stirre vp our Priests the Ministers of the Lord to wéepe for vs before thy Altar and let them cry and say Spare thy people O Lord and giue not ouer thine Heritage to reproach Let not the Papists and Schismatickes insult ouer vs Let them not say at their Idolatrous Méetings nor prophane Conuenticles Where is now their God for thou art our God and thou art in Heauen and thou doest what thou pleasest and all thy wayes are right and the Iust walke in them but Transgressors shall fall therein Let them know O Lord that thou being our Father and wee hauing iustly prouoked thee thou wilt take thy Children in hand and that they ought not to haue reioyced ouer vs in the day of our destruction O suffer them not good Lord to make thy correction their aduantage O let them not lay their hands vpon our substance in this Day of our Calamitie suffer them not to stand in the crosse-wayes to cut off those whom thou shalt spare and make a prey of those that shall remaine Wee shall euer acknowledge how great soeuer this Plague bee yet thy mercies are greater in that thou tookest vs into thine owne hand to correct vs and gaue vs not ouer into the hands of these men the Iesuited Papists whose mercies are cruell and their cruelties insatiable Therefore good Lord when thou hast remooued thy hand let vs not fall into their hand but saue vs for thy selfe and let vs liue to call vpon thy Name and let vs desire rather now to dye vnder the hand of thee our Father and in thy feare and loue then to liue to heape sinne vpon sinne and to be reserued for further vengeance or to be exposed to the cruel Papists the wicked Enemies of Religion O looke vpon vs in mercie Lord who lye downe in the dust of Desolation and are couered with confusion of our faces O look downe vpon vs who looke vp vnto thée and who desire to rend our harts though not our garments and to turne to thée the Lord our God O looke vpon this desolate and distressed Citie who now may cry to all her stately Sisters the Cities of Europe and to all her beautifull Daughters the Cities of England and with ashes now vpon her head instead of her stately costly Crowne cals vpon them all and sayth Come and behold the workes of the Lord what desolations hee hath made in the midst of my most wealthy and populous streets learne by mée and seeke the Lord while hee may bee found left he pull downe your Pride And reioyce not ouer mee O thou mine Enemie thou Daughter of Babylon lest the Lord turne his wrath from mee to thee and hasten the vengeance so long agoe deserued by thee and pronounced vpon thee trust thou in thy Horses aud in thy Chariots thy Idols and thy Idoll Superstitions We will remember the Lord our God For thy Name O Lord is a strong tower and the righteous flying vnto it are alwayes helped Thou hast spoken it Lord and wee beléeue it and in that beliefe are wee bold to presse vnto thee nay to presse thee with performance of thy promise Therefore O thou that art the helper of the friendlesse helpe vs in this City who are forsaken by so many friends and left destitute by them that should haue stood to vs in this day of our desolation but hast not thou told vs that if our Fathers and Mothers should forsake vs yet thou Lord wilt take vs vp Thou therefore who séest our friends faile vs and our acquaintance to stand afarre off stand thou so much the néerer vs O Lord our God And now that humane helpes fall short Helpe thou vs O God of our Saluation for the glory of thy Name O thou in whom the Fatherlesse finds mercie in thée let the comfortlesse findcomfort In thée let this desolate Citie find consolation Looke mercifully vpon vs who come vnto thée with teares in our eyes sorrow in our soules Lamentations in our mouthes heauinesse in our hearts workes of mercie in our hands and humilitation of the whole man And thou that loosest not a teare forgettest not one desire but hearest euery greane and counts the very sighes and sobs of all thy Saints giue vs comfort and fill our hearts with hops that this humiliation of our King and his people shall not be fruitlesse but after it is not barely performed but accomplished and perfected as thou appointest it shall then preuaile with thée our God not onely to make an end of our miseries but to remember and renew thy Cauenant with vs and to bring vs and this Citie and our whole Land both Court and Kingdome neerer vnto thée and hauing in this fire of affliction consumed our corruption and purged away our drosse both in Church and Common-wealth wilt make vs come out new creatures both high and low both publike and priuate persons pure as Siluer and as Gold most precious before thée And wilst hereby worke out that inward Renouation and that outward Reformation in our Church and State in our Court and Kingdome and all that see it shall say This hath God done for they shall shall perceiue it is thy worke Then we that did sowe in teares shall reape in ioy Then the long night of our sorrow beeing ended the long desired morning of our ioyes shall shine forth The voice of the Turtle shall be heard in our Land Blessed shall then they all be that come to vs in the Name of the Lord And beautifull the feete of those that bring vs the glad tydings of the Gospell whose faces formerly haue béene contemned Olde things shall then be done away and all things shall bee made new Truth shall flourish and Heresie finde no footing Iustice shall reigne Oppression shall be oppressed The hand of Briberie shall be broken The arme of iniustice cut off and the Mouth of Iniquitie shall be stopped Then shall our Sons grow as plants and our Daughters bee like polished precious ftones Our Garners shall be full and our Cattle shall increase we shall feare no breaking of Enemies to inuade vs nor heare any newes or noyses to affright vs no cryes nor clamours nor complaynings in our stréets Our poore shall eat and be satisfied and our rich shall reioyce in the blessings of their God Our Priests shall be clothed with Saluation and Sions Saints shall sing aloud for ioy Our Princes shall be wiser and our Iudges better instructed and insteed of seruing themselues and the time will then learne to serue the Lord with feare and reioyce to him with reuerence Then shall our King and Queene
a holy Elixir a true Quintessence which will presently and perpetually multiply beyond ordinary beliefe to the infinite inriching of the Soule that enioyes it But this Faith hath one strange propertie that although it will bee content to bee gathered vp by graines of young and weake Christians and treasured vp by drammes and ounces of such as be rich and strong men in Christ yet can it not abide to be measured or mixt with Scruples For these Scruples are of a contrary nature to true Faith but otherwise be it more be it lesse so it be true its perfect and thou shalt find thy selfe happy if thou haue it for the least quantitie of this Faith will affoord thee euery Morning and Euening a proportion of that true Treacle or Methrydate which yet was neuer made at Venice except closely in some corners by reason of that great Iugler the Pope who conueyes in corrupt Drugs and false Ingredients This Methrydate is made of more strange Simples then bee the bloud of Scorpions or the flesh of Vipers For it is and must bee confected of the flesh and body and bloud of a Man but such a Man as the World neuer had a Second for he must be the child of Adam and yet the Sonne of no Man and a true Man and yet no Man to be his Father Now his bloud taken from him while he is aliue and yet so taken from him as he must needs dye is of that Souereigne excellency and that infinite vertue and Merit as the Quintessence that may be extracted out of it which only this fore-named Faith can doe Is that Superexcellent nay Supercelestiall Methry date of that high infallible and inualuable vertue as the Soule that out tastes of it Morning and Euening did neuer perish nor shall to the Worlds end Therefore I say againe as thou wouldst haue this Medicine worke and become powerfull for thy preseruation forget not to take a taste of this continually the first thing in the Morning and the last at Night Then lye thee downe in Peace and securely take thy rest for thou art free from the feare of all that are able to hurt thee But bee sure for a signe whereby to know this Physicke workes well that instantly when thou wakest thy heart doe forth-with fixe it selfe on God and vpon him bestow thy first thoughts And so when thy body hath receiued so much sleepe and rest as may make it seruiceable for the Soule then vp with it in the Name of the Lord that so both Body and Soule may set themselues to serue their God Then taking this Medicine and following all the former directions thou mayst safely enter vpon thy businesse and aduenture vpon the dangers of that day both thou thine Prouided first that you alwayes intermixe as occasion is together with the duties of your Calling such workes of Piety towards God Iustice and Equity towards Man Mercy and Charity towards the Poore as the Diuine Prouidence shall lay before thee or cast in thy way For take it for a Rule that these foure must alwayes goe together and God himselfe hath so ioyned them all together as cursed bee the Man that puts them asunder for hee carries such a heart about him as this Physicke can neuer doe him good But where these foure are conscionably conioyned this Physicke neuer fayled to worke his worke but where any of the foure is wanting and totally neglected there the other three will doe no good but contrariwise if they cannot get the company of their companion they mourne and pine away and in a short time will bee gone and stay no longer there where they cannot be compleate Prouided also that Man nor God doe euer find thee out of thy way but alwayes eyther walking faithfully in thy lawfull calling or else doing some good in the performance of some of the foresaid duties of Piety Iustice or Mercie For these bee the wayes of a Christian and hee that is found out of all these is vtterly out of his way and consequently out of that protection which God hath granted to them that wayte on him which runnes in these words That Hee hath giuen his Angels charge ouer them to keepe them in all their wayes c. And the power of this Protection no Creature can infringe So as by vertue thereof the Seruants of God haue walked in safetie in the midst of such dangers as hath beene an amazement to the World and a wonder to themselues And for the want of this many thousands haue miscarried not only of Gods Enemies who walke in wrong and wicked wayes but euen such of his friends and followers who being misled by the World or their owne Presumptions tooke to themselues the boldnesse to step aside out of their owne wayes and so haue shifted themselues out of that shelter or safetie which otherwise they might haue challenged as their owne And lastly Prouided that in all times of danger thou take heed of tempting God for otherwise thou mayst iustly prouoke him to deny his blessing to this Medicine without which as Souereigne and powerfull as it is it can do no good Now if thou wilt auoid this feareful and dangerous Sinne of tempting GOD thou must take heed First of putting thy selfe into any needlesse danger And it is then needlesse when without necessary cause or lawfull calling eyther for gaine or pleasure or any priuate respect thou puts thy selfe into places or among persons infected Secondly thou must also at thy vtmost perill carefully vse all good helpes of Nature and Art which Gods good Prouidence affoords thee whether they bee commended vnto thee by the Learned Physician or approued by true and reall experience and whether they be meanes Preseruatiue Curatiue or Restoratiue Thirdly thou must bee wary of all wilfull distemper and bee diligent in keeping a carefull and orderly dyet not only for moderation and sobriety in respect of the quantity both of meate and drinke especially but also for Wisdome in the choice of the quality and condition of that little thou feedst vpon And lastly abhorre more then Poyson or the Plague it selfe these wicked Opinions and all that hold them First that the Pestilence is not infectious in it selfe and of it owne nature but so immediately and only the hand of God as none become infected but only by his stroke Secondly that euery mans dayes are so numbred as doe or not doe what hee will he cannot liue longer nor die sooner then his day and houre appointed Thirdly that therefore all carefull auoyding of persons or places infected and diligent vsing of meanes appointed for prescruation are needlesse and to no purpose The foulenesse and falsenesse of all these three appeares First in that the Leaper must bee shut vp and all men auoyd him yea though he were a King which being nothing so deadly as is the Pestilence seeing some liued with it many yeeres It is manifest it was so commanded only in respect