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
as though we were either wearie of our time or afraid of the ayre wee breath in we vainly wish the long desired Sommer would now flye fast away and turne vs ouer to the cold and carefull Winter And because wee poysoned all things by our sins now thou iustly makest vs feare poyson in our very meate drinke and apparell Nay but for thy speciall mercy we are not safe in our Pues Pulpits in our Church And because we delighted not to come to thy house now thou makest vs glad to flye from our owne houses And because we cared not to come to thy house for the food of our soules thou hast iustly brought it to this that we knowe not whither to goe nor to what house safely to send for the food of our bodies because we haue wickedly set our hearts vpon the miserable Mammon of this World thou hast now in Iustice made a great number at their wits and not knowing what to doe with it where to hide it with whom to leaue it nor whom to trust with it neither can they carrie it with them nor dare they tarrie with it themselues and because they would lend nothing in Charitie they haue now none left to lend vnto at all And now they that loue it best by thy wonderfull Iudgement are affraid to touch it least that which formerly poysoned their soules should now infect their bodies O Lord how wonderfull are thy workes and how iust are all thy Iudgements And now O Lord that wée sée our case and are sensible of thy hand that is vpon vs what shall wée say what shall wée thinke might bée the cause of this so fearefull a Plague and that so mercifull and pitifull a Father is now become so seuere and angry a Iudge Shall we be so Foolish as to thinke it comes because our King is not Crowned as though former experience hath not proclaimed the contrary Or so Prophane as to ascribe it to the Summer and Season of the yéere as though thou wert not God as well of the Winter as the Summer Or so Proud as to thinke that because we haue hitherto held vp thy Religion better then some other Nations and haue in some measure maintayned the Preaching of thy Word and haue béene a Sanctuary and Refuge For some distressed Christians of other Countries wée may therefore with the Hypocritical Iewes trust vnto our externall Prefession and cry The Temple of the Lord The Temple of the Lord as though thou hadst néed of any Nation to kéep vp the credit of thy cause Or so Presumptuous as to thinke that because thou hast taken vs to be thy Church and some of thy Children are amongst vs thou canst not therefore be angry with vs Or because we haue done some good wée may be therefore the bolder in Cuill Or because there bee some holy Lots amongst vs therefore our Sodome cannot be consumed O Lord all these be the broken staues of Egypt these cannot comfort vs in this our Calamity These will not vphold vs in this day of our distresse and this houre of temptation that thou hast brought vpon vs No Lord all these and all other like to these are eyther lyes or vanities And thy holy Prophet hath told vs and wée beléeue it that those who trust to lying vanities forsake their owne mercies Therefore O Lord wee renounce for those our Idle and Idoll conceits haue spoken vanitie our Deuiners haue séene a lye and haue told false Dreames O Lord they comfort vs in vaine For contrariwise thy Word hath taught vs thy Spirit informes vs and now our owne Consciences tell vs that our own wayes and doings haue procured this vpon vs and none but our selues and nothing but our sins haue pulled down this Plague and that we haue forsaken thée the Lord our God who didst lead vs the right way but with thy people Israel we haue committed two euils we haue forsaken thée the Fountains of Liuing Waters and haue hewes our selues broken Cisternes that can hold no water Thus haue wee requited thee the Lord our God being a foolish people and vnkind therefore now our owne wickednesse both correct vs and our back-slidings doe reprooue vs and haue made vs know and sée and féele how euill and bitter a thing it is that wée haue forsaken thée the Lord our God and that thy feare was not in vs. And now O Lord that wée sée our case and sée also the cause of it now what shall we doe for remedie where shall we séeke reliefe whither shall wee goe to whom shall we flie but euen from thée vnto thée euen from thy deserued anger to thy vndeserued mercy For destruction is from our selues but Saluation is of thée O Lord and thou art hee that canst both wound and heale both kill and make aliue None but thou couldst haue laid this vpon vs none but thou canst remooue it from vs To thée therefore doe wee lift vp our eyes O thou that dwellest in the Heauens and do beséech thée helpe vs in this distresse for vaine is the helpe of Man and though our sinnes plead against vs and make thée for a time kéepe backe thy comfort from vs pet our eyes shall waite vpon the Lord our God vntill hee haue mercie vpon vs For whateuer wée be thou art the Lord that changest not for else thy Children should bee all consumed We therefore take comfort and say one to another Come let vs returne vnto the Lord for he hath torne vs he will heale vs He hath smitten and hee will bind vs vp after two dayes he will reuiue vs in the third day he will ravse vs vp and we shall liue in his sight For art not thou he in whom our Fathers trusted and were deliuered Art not thou the God that brought thy people through the raging Sea and through the barren Wildernesse into the Land of Peace and Plentie Art not thou he that saued thy Seruants in the fiery Ouen in the Lions den in the Whales belly And is there not mercy with thee else there should not be left a man on the earth to feare thee And is not that mercy of thine euerlasting endures to al Generations And though we be cast into the last ends of the World and may fears that the Store-house of thy mercies is exhaust and spent yet hast not thou taught vs twenty times in one Psalme that thy mercy endures for euer And in that mercy hast thou not made a couenant of Peace Parson and Reconciliation with the Sonnes of men And hast thou not sealed that Couenant and made it firme in the bloud of thy blessed Sonne And hast thou not proclaymed thy selfe to be the God that kéepes Couenant and Mercy to thousand Generations Séeing then thou hast vouchsafed to take vs and make vs thy people and to receiue vs into thy holy Couenant and hast pleased to place thy holy Tabernacle among vs and
finding out Againe how infinite and vnmeasurable are thy Mercies to all them that feare thée and seeke thy Face Therefore we beséech thée let the sorrowfull sighing of these thy Prysoners come before thee and according to the greatnesse of thy power preserue thou those that are appointed to dye At least wée beséech thée as thou emptiest the Earth fill the Heauens and whom thou takest from vs Lord take vnto thy selfe and fill thy heauenly Mansions with their Soules whose bodies haue left so many houses desolate in our streetes And for so many of vs whom thou pleasest to preserue Lord Let vs not liue but to honour thee therefore mark vs with thy holy stampe and seale vs for thy selfe that when the Angell of Iustice sees vs sorrowing for our sinnes and for the iniquitie of the time and mourning for the Miseries and sighing for the sufferings of thy Saints and laying to our hearts the affliction of Ioseph he may then not only passe by vs but euen in the midst of this common calamitie leaue vs some badge of thy blessing some better Testimonie of thy Loue in the holy vse of this thy Iudgement then the more secure times of our liues past haue formerly afforded vs. Thus Lord haue wee powred out our soules into the bosome of thy Mercie Thou art hee that heares the Prayer vnto thee shall all flesh come and if all flesh may come shall not then thy Children be bold to presse vnto thee And seeing we haue poured out our hearts to thee O poure not out the Uialls of thy Wrath vpon vs but poure down vpon vs the new of thy fauour the showres of sweet Compassion Heare vs thou blessed Father plead for vs thou blessed Sonne helpe our infirmities thou blessed Spirit of Grace and make thou Intercession for vs with those holy groanes that cannot by vs bee expressed Heare vs and answere vs thou glorious Trinitie in holy Unitie not for any Merits of ours for wee lay our hands vpon our mouthes nay wee abhorre our selues in dust and ashes but only for the precious bloud-shedding and all sufffcient Satisfaction of Iesus Christ the Suretie and Sauiour of our Soules the Mediatour of our Peace and the Eternall High Priest of the New Testament In whose blessed Name and holy words wee shut vp this our weake Prayer offer this our poore Sacrifice and tender this pitifull complaint of our poore soules vnto the hands of thy heauenly Maiestie as hee hath taught vs and left vs in his holy Gospel the Charter of our Peace Our Father c. A SOVEREIGNE MEDICINE FOR and against the Plague Being an ancient and approoued Antidote and the sure and infallible way how to escape the Plague or at least the Plague of the Plague TAke thy Heart for there beginnes the Plague and euery morning wash it in the teares of true repentance and heartie sorrow for thy sinnes But that it may bee throughly washt see first thou stretch it vpon the tenters or rather set it vpon the racke of a strict Examination that so it may poure it selfe out and make a free and full Confession Then mollifie it in the precious Oyle and bathe it in the bloud of Iesus Christ the true Balme of Gilead by a true and liuely Faith Being thus clensed then strengthen it by cordiall comforts confected of nothing else but the pure and sweet promises of the Gospell And this Confection is only to be made by the skilfull hand of the holy Physician and Spirituall Apothecarie the Minister of God whom thou shalt alwayes find at the signe of the Bible or the Holy Lambe and there thou art sure of true and wholesome Simples But take heed of them at the Crosse-keyes or the Signe of Agnus Dei for though the Shops be gorgeous and all things gloriously painted thou art sure to be coozened with counterfeit Drugs and with the corrupt Balsome of Aegypt in stead of the true Balme of Gilead Thy Heart thus rectified let it then command thy tongue and lippes to acknowledge that thou for thy part by thy sinnes of Commission and Omission hast had thy hand and borne thy part in pulling downe this Pestilence and all other plagues of God Let it then command it selfe to promise and vow that if thou for thy part may by the power and mercie of God bee preserued thou wilt performe some speciall seruice to him his Church or Children more then before And let it command the said tongue and lips to vtter and publish the same promise the better to bind it selfe to obedience Let it then command the eyes to turne away from beholding and the eares from hearkening after vanitie and yeeld themselues the instruments of holy Obseruation to marke and consider the works of the Lord It must then command the hands to keepe themselues free from corruption and that they bee painfully and faithfully imployed in the honest labour of thy lawfull Calling and thy feet to walke in those wayes and tread onely in those steps which God hath appointed thee This done then take for thy Breakfast in the Name of the Lord a Chapter of the blessed Bible and so set thy selfe vnto thy worke and faithfull labour of thy lawfull Calling Then after thy dayes labour done bodily refection take for thy Spirituall Dinner and Supper thy heartfull of holy Obseruations of those mightie Workes of God both of his Iustice and Mercie towards thy selfe and others which all that day long eyther thine eyes haue seene or thine eares haue heard of Then the day beeing done see that thou and thine for your Banquet or reare Supper doe close vp your stomackes with those true Sweet-meates certaine selected Chapters of the blessed Bible Then after a holy Commemoration of what euery one hath heard or seene or obserued that day touching the wondrous Workes of God and application of the same one to another and each one to himselfe Let then the Heart command the Tongue with comfort and boldnesse to recommend the soules and bodies of Thee and Thine into the blessed tuition powerfull protection and safe keeping of the Keeper of Israel But forget not noe thing as thou wouldest haue all this profitable and to doe thee any good namely to learne which thou maist doe of that excellent Apothecary Saint Paul what it is to liue the life of faith when naturall reason and humane helpes not only faile thee but haply are all against thee This Faith I tel thee afore-hand is not easily found but I deale truly with thee who had it and can teach thee how to get it for though himselfe cannot giue it thee yet hee will both direct and lead thee and bring thee acquainted with that holy Spirit who gaue it him and will not denie it thee if thy Tongue doe begge it and thy Soule seeke it Neuer so little of this Faith is precious therefore so thou get it and haue it right care not for the quantity for it is