of thy mercy I here prostrate my Self before thee begging leave of thee that I may once more worship and adore thee and be admitted into thy Service which is perfect Freedome It is the unfeigned desire of my soul now wholly to attend upon thee and to devote my self entirely to thy Service I am come into thy presence to call my self to an Account for my Sins with Sorrow to bewail them most earnestly to deprecate thy displeasure for them and to renew my Vows and Obligations to thee against them for the time to come to acknowledg my dependance on thee to praise thee for thy Mercies and to make an absolute surrender of my self all the daies of my Life unto thy Service But alas O Lord what am I and what can I do without thee I do not attempt this great Work trusting in any power or strength of my own but in the gracious assistance of thy most holy and blessed Spirit O Gracious God who hast promised to give thy Holy Spirit unto them that ask it send it now down into my Soul and let him bring into my remembrance and convince me of every Sin and every Evil way What I see not teach thou me Search me O God and know my heart O try me and know my thoughts and see what way of Wickedness there is in me and lead me in the way everlasting Make the 〈◊〉 remembrance of my former sins bitter unto my soul Work in me a compleat repentance for them a loathing and abhorrence of them stedfast purposes and resolutions of forsaking them for the time to come and of making an entire resignation of my Self to thy service that so I may obtain the pardon of them in and through Jesus Christ O let not O Lord any of my former great and crying Sins the breach of former vows and promises my impenitency or obduracy or want of suitable Affections for this holy Exercise or any other thing interpose between me and thee this day to stop the current of thy mercy or cause thee to hide thy Face from me in displeasure But gracious God scatter all my Sins which may be as a cloud to hinder my prayers from coming up towards thee and thy mercies from coming down upon me that so in the end of this my Duty I may have an assurance of thy favour which is better than life and all the comforts of it I may have peace with thee and peace in my own Conscience and joy in the Holy Ghost and receiving Power and Strength from thee may run with chearfulness the ways of thy Commandments and serve thee by 〈◊〉 sincere impartial uniform obedience all the days of my Life through Jesuâ— Christ Amen Those whose Piety may inlarge their Devotions may here also fitly use thâ— two Prayers of the Author of the wholâ— Duty of Man for Sincerity and Contrition which because all those perhapâ— into whose hands this Manual may fall may not have by them I shall anon insert towards the end of it Then betake your self to a Seriouâ— and Impartial Examination of your seâ—â— concerning your Sins and if you be a person who use your self to those periodical Returns every Week your inquisition need go no farther than the preceding Week unless it be before every Sacrament when it may be necessary to renew your Repentance for the Capital Sins of your whole Life you may begin with reflecting upon the spending every day of the week where you were in what Company and what your Business or the like which will be apt to afford you fresh remembrances of your Sins and then if you please you may first consider and examine what your thoughts have been wherein they have been exorbitant and sinful what the bent and inclinations of your heart have been and how you have endeavoured to suppress the evil and to cherish the good and when you have found them humbly confess them and lift up your Soul to God in this Ejaculation Lord be merciful to me a Sinner Consider next your Words Whether they have been Vain Idle Corrupt Lying Detracting Uncharitable Passionate or the like Whether they have been mix'd with that Grave Discretion tending to Reprehension and Edification c And then after Confession annex the former Ejaculation God be merciful c. Last of all Examine thy self strictly also concerning all thy Actions thy Violations of the First and Second Table thy Sins of Omission and Comission towards God thy Neighbour and thy Self Examine how thou hast spent thy time resisted Temptations or compli'd with them and what the circumstances of aggravation have been then humbly confess them Endeavour to Work your heart to a true Sorrow and Contrition for them Be angry with your self that you should be so basely led away by the corruptions of your Nature and the pleasures of Sin which are but for a Moment by Evil company or the like Temptations then lift up thy Soul in this manner Thus thus O Lord have I sinned against thee yea I know not O Lord how often I have offended many a times more I am sure I have which I have either forgot or not adverted to O clâ—anse cleanse thou me from my secret faults Here make serious Resolutions against every Sin and especially those thou hast by Examination found thy self guilty of After this fall down up on thy knees or perhaps if the Sins be great and thy humility so too thou may'st think it more proper to prostrate thy self on the ground and Petition the Throne of Grace in this or the like Form following O God the Father of Heaven have Mercy upon me a miserable Sinner O God the Son Redeemer of the World have Mercy c. O God the Holy Ghost proceeding from the Father and the Son have Mercy c. O Holy Blessed and Glorious Trinity Three Persons and one God have Mercy c. The Prayer taken out of the Whole Duty of Man magna ex parte O Most holy holy holy Lord God who art of purer Eyes than to behold Iniquity how shall I who am nothing but Iniquity dare to appear before thee Or take so Sacred a Name into my unhallowed lips but yet O Lord whom shall I invoke but thee whom I have offended Against thee thee only have I sinned and done these evils in thy sight I know that thou alone canst forgive sin and that we might not be discouraged to come unto thee thou hast publish'd thy self to be the Lord gracious and merciful slow to anger and of great goodness a God forgiving Iniquity Transgression and Sin yea thou hast promised That if we confess our Sins thou wilt be faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness Relying therefore on this thy gracious promise I am now emboldened to postrate my self before thee in all Humility of Soul and Body desiring to be ashamed and to blush when I lift up mine Eyes unto thee for my Iniquities are increased over
well as America in England as well as Soldania yea in the cleerest times of Light and greatest Knowledg when Reason seems to be exalted to its 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 highest pitch yet like the Moon at full by a strange kind of interposition of our sensual and brutish Appetites suffers the greatest Eclypse and all the use it seems to serve us for is to make us only more ignorant and less pious For how do Men now a days strain their Reason shall I call it or Curiosity rather to so high a peg endeavouring to find out hidden and abstruse Mysteries such as God hath not revealed and he thought fit we should be ignorant of How curious and inquisitive are they to find out how the World was made according to the Rules of Philosophy and how it is still upheld by the same natural Causes And they proceed so far till at length they lose both their Hypothesis and Reason too and because they cannot find how these things should Physically be will thence conclude they are not at all The Fool hath laid aside all his Modesty that he had in the days of the Royal Prophet then he dared not to make his Tongue the Index of his Mind and prate of his Folly but only tacitly in his heart said there is no God but now alass he out-braves the Sun at Noon day and not only his heart but his lips which should shew forth God's praise are become the Trumpets of his wicked Thoughts he dares boldly proclaim the No-being of Him who gave to him and all things else a Being and thinks it a certain badg of Gentility and the mark of a pregnant polite wit so to do But whether these brave Gallants think as they say will be no hard matter to determine for certainly though they may be so bold as to utter it with their lips yet they cannot with all their skill disband their own fears lest it should be otherwise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no more than they can run away from their guilty Consciences nor yet quiet or satisfie their guilty Souls Otherwise what mean these secret Stings and Racks of Conscience That horrour of Mind and paleness of Countenance Those distracted and many times desponding thoughts when seiz'd with a fit of some sharp Disease and the apprehensions of their approaching death Quos diri consciafacti Mens habet attonitos sur do verbere caedit Occultum quatiente animo tortore flagellum Juvenal 13. Satyr Epicurus himself though he seem'd to disown a Deity yet confesses he feared nothing more than Death and the Gods One clap of Thunder shall force Caligula to run under his Bed and even the rough and stubborn Marriners in a Storm will cry every one unto his God The Satyrist of old observ'd it of such Hi sunt qui trepidant ad omnia fulgura pallent God hath imprinted a fear of punishment in the very hearts of Men which upon the Commission of any great Sin dogs them with secret pangs and horrours and though like the Wounded Deer they run every where to disentangle themselves Haeretlateri Laethalis arundo yet still the Arrow sticks fast Though they love not God yet they have a flavish fear of him and are forced with Juvenal to confess Esse aliquos manes subterranea Regna That there are some tormenting Spirits and a Kingdom of darkness The Prophet Isaiah excellently describes them Isaiah 48.22 The wicked is like the troubled Sea when it cannot râ—st whose Waters cast up mire and dirt There is no peace saith my God to the Wicked So that the Psalmist's Axiom is undeniable Psalm 58.11 Doubtless there is a God that judgeth in the Earth But lest these stout Hectors should still maugre all the impressions of Nature and convictions of Conscience which they endeavour as much as in them lies to stifle and silence continue to persist in those most Irrational and Atheistical Tenets let them laying aside all prejudicate thoughts consider with me the subsequent Reasons endeavouring to evince That the Existence of a God and a Providence in the World is as cleerly demonstrable as any Truth whatsoever The greatest Physical certainty that it is possible for any Man to have is from Mathematical Demonstrations as That every whole is greater than its part that of a Triangle its three Angles are equal to two right Angles that if you add equal to equals the result will be equal c. These Axioms I say are as undeniable and as certain as any we can speak of now that the Being of God is as certain as any or all of these will appear hence As first of all without this Concession of a Deity all things that are the Objects of Sense may quite delude and impose upon our understandings Cartes Princ. lib. 1. yea we cannot be assured of Mathematical Demonstrations themselves or any thing else that seems cleerest and truest to our judgments and apprehensions and we may be still in a Dream and not discover whether these things seemingly so demonstrable are really true or barely Phantasms Chimaera's and the results of our giddy Fancies for I must be first ascertain'd of the infallibillity of my Senses before I conclude that things represented to me by them are true and this it is impossible for me to be assured of before I have the knowledg of a Divine Existence But when I seriously consider and am assured that there is a God and that his chiefest Attribute is Truth which hath a direct Repugnancy to Deception and Error and that He will not cannot therefore impose upon and delude my Senses Hence is it that I infer the reality of them and thence conclude that all things that are truly represented to my Senses are indeed so as they are represented because God never obtrudes Falsities upon us under the pretext of Truth Neither doth it at all invalidate this Argument to assert that we are often deceived because that the Deception proceeds not from the Understanding but from our Will when we too rashly consent to things not clearly and distinctly understood Therefore all Mathematical Truths are not to be suspected and the Existence of the Divinity no more nay less to be doubted of than them Next of all it is plain and obvious even to the lowest Capacity yea known by the dim light of Nature that what at first had a beginning did not derive its being from it self but that there must be some super-intended Cause on which in respect of their Substance all other things do depend and which must have in it the Complement of all Perfections and that can be no less than a Ray of Divinity or rather God himself How perfect is every part of the Creation Who can tell where any thing is superfluous or any thing deficient And the more perfect cannot be produced from that which is less perfect as by its efficient and total Cause Therefore seeing such Beauties and Perfections as
my head and my Trespass is grown up even unto Heaven All the thoughts and imaginations of my heart have been Evil and only Evil and that continually I have wrought many and great provocations in thy sight especially O Lord c. Here enumerate thy old capital Sins and that in the mosâ— provoking manner They have not been only single but repeated acts of sin for O Lord of this black Cataloguâ— which I have now brought forth before thee how few are there which I have not often times committed nay which are not become even habitual and customary unto me And to this frequency I have added both agreediness and obstinacy in sinning turning into my course as the Horse rusheth into the Battel doing evil with both hands earnestly yea hating to be reformed and casting thy words behind me quenching thy Spirit within me which testified against me to turn me from my evil ways and frustrating all those outward means whether of Judgment or Mercy which thou hast used to draw me to thy self Nay O Lord even my Repentances may be numbred amongst my greatest Sins they have sometimes been feigned and hppocritical always so slight and ineffectual that they have brought forh no Fruit in amendment of Life but I have still return'd with the Dog to his vomit and the Sow to the mire again and have added the breach of many resolutions and vows both at thy Table and in private to all my former Guilts Yea O Lord I desire to confess to my own shame and confusion that since the last time that I humbled my self in thy sight and so solemnly vowed and purposed to forsake every Sin and not to regard any iniquity in my heart I have returned unto the same if not worse Sins than I then came to confess before thee and to beg pardon at thy hands for for my thoughts O Lord have been vain c. Here enumerate the sins My Words have been inconsiderate c. my Actions have been unweighed c. And besides all this O Lord I have still the same proneness to that which is evil aversness and obstinacy towards what is good I have still an impenitent hard heart which is not sufficiently mollified with the sense of my Sins or thy wrath due unto me for them O God! God be merciful to me a Sinner yea I know not how often I have offended O cleanse cleanse thou me from my secret faults Thus thus O Lord am I become out of measure sinful and since I have thus chosen death I am most worthy to take part in it even in the second death the lake of Fire and Brimstone which burneth for evermore This this O Lord is in Justice to be the portion of my Cup to me belongs nothing but shame and confusion of face and that eternally But to thee O Lord God belongeth mercy and forgiveness though I have â—â—belled against thee O remember not my Sins and Offences but according to thy mercy think thou upon me O Lord for thy goodness Thou sentest thy Son to seek and to save that which was lost be hold O Lord I have gone astray like a Sheep that is lost O seek thy servant and bring me back again to the Shepherd and Bishop of my Soul Let thy Spirit work in me a hearty sense and detestation of all my abominations that true contrition of heart which thou hast promised not to despise And then be thou pleased to look upon me in mercy to take away all my iniquity and to receive me graciously into thy favour and for his sake who hath done nothing amiss be thou reconciled to me who have done nothing well Wash away the guilt of all my Sins in his Blood bury them so deep in his grave and hide them in his Wounds that they may never rise up in Judgment against me either here to shame me or hereafter to condemn me and subdue the power of them by his grace and grant O Lord that I may from this hour bid a final adieu to all Vngodliness and Worldly Lusts that I may never once more cast a look toward Sodom or long after the Flesh Pots of Egypt but consecrate my self intirely to thee to serve thee in righteousness and true holiness all the days of my life reckoning my self to be dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our blessed Lord and Saviour Amen After this go on with your Devotions and pray over the One and fiftieth Psalm HAve mercy upon me O God after thy great goodness according to the multitude of thy mercies do away mine offences Wash me throughly from my wickedness and cleanse me from my sins For I acknowledg my faults and my sin is ever before me Against thee thee only have I sinned and done these Evils in thy sight that thou mightest be justified in thy saying and clear when thou art judged Behold I was shapen in Wickedness and in sin hath my Mother conceived me But lo thou requirest Truth in the inward parts and shalt make me to understand Wisdom secretly Thou shalt purge we with Hysop and I shall be clean thou shalt wash me and I shall be whither than Snow Thou shalt make me hear of joy and gladness that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoyce Turn thy face from my sins and put out all my misdeeds Make me a clean heart O God and renew a right spirit within me Cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy holy Spirit from me O take away this stony this hard heart of mine and give me a heart of flesh O give me the comfort of thy help again and stablish me with thy free Spirit Then shall I teach thy ways unto the wicked and sinners shall be converted unto thee Deliver me from blood-guiltiness O God thou that art the God of my health and my tongue shall sing of thy righteousness Thou shalt open my lips O Lord and my mouth shall shew thy praise For thou desirest no Sacrifice else would I give it thee but thou delightest not in burnt Offering The Sacrifice of God is a troubled Spirit a broken and contrite Heart O God shalt thou not despise O be savourable and gracious unto Sion build thou the Walls of Jerusalem Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifice of Righteousness with the burnt Offerings and Oblations then shall they offer Young Bullocks upon thine Altar Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be World without end Amen Conclude your Penitentials with the following Collects ALmighty and everlasting God who hatest nothing that thou hast made and do'st forgive the sins of all them that are penitent create and make in me a new and contrite heart that I worthily lamenting my sins and acknowledging my wretchedness may obtain of thee the God of all mercy perfect remission and forgiveness through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen O
blessed Remove from me all Distractions by worldly Thoughts enlighten my Judgment quicken my Invention rectifie my Will and increase my Affection to heavenly Things that my Heart may be more enlarged towards thee and my Devotion so enkindled that I may find my Corruptions abated and my Graces thriven and my Life every way bettered by this holy Exercise Grant this O Lord for Jesus Christ his sake Amen Next consider seriously with your self what the thing is whereof you meditate and endeavour rightly to understand it in its definition then proceed to the division and explication of it from thence if it be an Attribute of God proceed to the Admiration and Love of God for such his infinite Perfections and if it be such as is imitable stedfastly resolve to seek to attain it in part which thou canst not in degrees if it be a Vertue thou art meditating of represent it to thy Soul in the most amiable dress by comparing it with the contrary deformities of Vice If a Vice uncover its nakedness and shew all its ugliness and evil consequences freely confess thy former Follies resolve against it and beg Gods Assistance against future Backslidings If it be Mercies or Providences thou art meditating of be sure to mention all the Circumstances of them and to raise thy Soul to the highest pitch of gratitude for them And in all these remember that if the Sacrifice wants a Heart it will not be accepted by God never therefore leave considering and meditating until thou hast ingaged thy Heart and Affections in the Work Throughout the whole time of thy Meditation be frequent in Soliloquies and Ejaculations and at length conclude all with Thanksgiving and recommending thy self to God It will be impossible for me and I think for any other to prescribe an exact method for proceeding in this Duty because of the different matter and various subjects of Meditation Every pious Soul after some constancy in it will know best how to adapt it to his own greatest profit However take in good part Reader those following Exemplifications The Thanksgiving after Meditation O Blessed God the fountain of all Mercies I give thee most humble and hearty Thanks for this present Expression of thy love and kindness for the Assistances of thy holy Spirit and inward Comforts which I have now received by â—his holy Exercise O that Men would praise the Lord for his goodness and declare the wonders â—hat he doth for the Children of Men for he satisfieth the empty Soul and filleth the hungry Soul with goodness Grant me O Lord an unweariedness in well-doing and let it be the delight and joy of my Soul to do thy will and let thy comforts always encourage and refresh my Soul Pardon O Lord all my sins pity all my Infirmities especially those of my present performances and receive me into thy gracious protection both now and ever through Jesus Christ Amen Divine Meditations Concerning Gods Omnipresence BY the Omnipresence or Ubiquity of God is meant Gods being present in every place and at all times Gods most glorious presence is in the highest Heavens where he is encircled with Myriads of Angels and beautifi'd Spirits who continually behold and admire his Majesty and Glory yet he is not here Circum Scriptivè or as confined only to that place for then he were not God but he is here also on the lowest Earth and we daily discover him in his Providences Nay he is in Hell too and that the Devil and Damned discover by their Torments his Center is every where and his Circumference no where Though no place can contain him yet none can exclude him for he fills Heaven and Earth â—rem 23.24 Whither shall I flee from â—y presence saith David if I ascend 〈◊〉 into Heaven thou art there if I â—ake my Bed in Hell behold thou art â—ere also Psalm 139.7 8. No place no time can bound his preâ—â—nce The most wild and untrodden â—aces of the Desart the solitary Caves â—nd Recesses of the Earth the thickest â—nd more than Cimmerian darkness of â—e Night are no shelter from thy All-â—eing Eye the darkness is no darkness â—ith thee yea the day and night to â—â—ee are both alike Psalm 139.12 God is present in the Church beholdâ—â—g our Order and Behaviour there He 〈◊〉 present in the Closet when the door 〈◊〉 closest shut to inspect our seriousâ—ess and devotion there He is present â—t our Tables and at our Merry Meetâ—ngs at our Feasts and at our Fasts â—e is about our Beds and about our â—aths he takes particular notice of all â—ur Actions and weighs all our words â—n a ballance Nay thoughts secret â—houghts are not hid from him but he â—nows them long before we do or can Our flesh alas is too pervious to hinder â—im from entring into the secret recesses â—f our hearts 1. This then should teach thee O my Soul to revere and adore the God of such infinite Perfections and firmly to believe what thou canst not comprehend We know a humane Body the perfection of the whole Creation cannot be in two places at one and the same time yet blessed God I am assured by Faith and by the constant dispensation of thy Providences in all places that thou art Omnipresent at the same time That there is not any Creature that is not manifest in thy sight Heb. 4.13 but all things are open and naked unto the Eyes of thee with whom we have to do for in thee we live and move and have our being Acts. 7.28 2. Thou may'st learn hence O my Soul to have continually an awful sense of the Divine Majesty to tremble at the apprehensions of his presence Jereuâ— 5.22 and to behave thy self always as in his sight not to dare to commit any even the most minute sin in secret because God sees and is present who will be both thy Witness and thy Judge How shall I do this Wickedness saith Joseph and sin against God Genesis 39.9 Though no Eye saw him yet he was conscious that God was a Spectator and therefore he dares not offend in his presence Do thou therefore good God throughly convince my Soul of this great Truth that I can never abscond my self from thy presence that thy Eye is watchful over all my Actions that thy Ear is ever open to hear all my words and that thou discernest the most secret of my thoughts that so looking upon thee as a Witness of my whole Conversation I may always keep a Conscience void of offence towards thee and towards all Men. 3. Be careful O my Soul because thou art in the immediate presence of God to be sincere towards him in all thy Religious Duties as well private as publick and approve thy self to thy Father who seeth in secret Matth. 6.6 4. This will be a comfort to thee O my Soul in all the Afflictions in all the Troubles thou can'st meet withal here in this World Psal 91.15 Gen. 17.1 God is present with
multiplicity of Lusts and Sins insnared with passions amazed with fears divided between cares and impertinencies wearied with labours loaden with diseases afflicted with want evil spoken of with and without a cause I have had many disappointments and losses been unfortunate in my Friends and Relatives and which is worst of all I have been daily harrassed with many impetuous Lusts and Temptations My sins have prevailed against me I have displeased my God and wounded my own Conscience interrupted my hopes of Heaven and am continually tormented with evil and wicked inclinations I find still a Law in my Members warring against the Law of my Mind and bringing me into Captivity to the Lavv of Sin and Death Those things vvhich I vvould do I cannot do but those things that I would not do those I do O Wretched Man that I am Who shall deliver me from this Body of Sin and Death that I carry about me I am afraid lest my Faith should fail lest having received the Grace of God and tasted of the heavenly Powers I should again be entangled by the Snares of my old beloved Lusts and so forfeit all my right to Heaven lose the Reward of all my strict and circumspect Walking and not continue faithful unto Death But O my Soul there is something the remembrance of which alleviates my grief and sweetens this bitter Cup These my sorrows will not last long a few years are the most and they will suddenly come and then I shall go the way whence I shall not return I shall then cease to grieve any more cease to sorrow cease to fear and cease to sin any more for ever All tears shall then be wiped away from mine Eyes and there shall be no more Sickness nor Sorrow nor Death nor Crying nor Pain I shall then have perfect rest and joy peace and quietness without any interruption for in his presence is fulness of joy and at his right hand are pleasures for evermore Though the way be foul and troublesome yet the Journey is but short and the end will be pleasant and peaceable and this consideration shall make me go cheerfully away with my present burthen for when a few years are come then I shall go the way whence I shall not return Meditations before or at Dinner or Supper 1. VVHen you see the Table spread Meditate on Gods Fatherly goodness and providence towards all his Creatures what vast infinite numbers there are and yet he carefully as a loving Father for his Children provides for them all their Meat in due season 2. Meditate how much more gracicious God is to thee who hath richly furnished thy Table and prepared these his good Creatures for thee without any great care or trouble of thine whereas there are many thousands in the World far better than thy self who are sentenced to a necessitous Condition and are enforced daily to tug at the Oar to delve in the Dirt to wash their Faces and bathe their Bodies in their own Sweat and yet for all this must be content at last with course Fare and hungry Stomachs 3. Meditate that every Creature of God is good if it be received with Thanksgiving and that it is sanctified by the Word of God and by Prayer and therefore resolve always to implore his blessing on the same in the first place 4. Meditate that several of Gods Creatures lose their lives to preserve thine whose Nature have as great a repugnancy to Annihilation as thy own and as thou now feedest on them so the Worms shall shortly feed on thee and let this excite thee to be temperate in the use of them and so to eat and drink as may the better dispose thee for any service of God thy Neighbour or thy self Let not the daintiness of the Cheer tempt thee to Luxury remembring that it is the greater Vertue to abstain when there is the greater Temptation 5. Lastly Meditate that God who filleth things living with his goodness expects no other return but praise and thanksgiving therefore when thou hast eaten and art full have a care that thou forget not to pay him that so easie Tribute Occasional Meditations Vpon the sight of a Dying Friend IT was not many days since that we had sweet Commerce together and our Conversation was dear to each other we frollick'd it till the Night parted us and then our separation was as the shadow of Death We thought the Nights tedious and the Days long till we should be again happy in each others Embraces but â—o how soon the Scene is altered my Friend is arrested by a fatal Disease and is just expiring his last Breath I came to comfort him and to receive Comfort and Satisfaction from him but alass all that is left me to do now is to be only a witness of his dying groans to close his Eyes and to receive his departing Breath Those Arms that used to hug and imbrace me at our first Meetings are now become so weak and languid that he cannot shake hands at parting nor lift them up unto his Maker That Tongue that was formerly the Conduit of Eloquence and Charm'd all that heard him by its sweet and mellifluous Expressions into a sensible but silent admiration is now become mute and speechless that he cannot as much as take his Vltimum Vale or bid me farewell at parting Those Ears that were heretofore delighted with pleasant Discourse and melodious Sonnets are now become thick of hearing and cannot distinguish between the soft murmurs of some and the louder cries of other his mournful Friends nor can admit of the least comfortable Advice in this his greatest extremity His Eyes sometimes so sparkling and sprightly that they would not suffer the most minute Object to pass their Advertency are now become so dull and heavy that they can scarce peep out of their Casements to behold the most glorious Object nay not so much as to salute that Heaven which he is just going to be the possessor of That countenance which a few days since was so amiable and pleasant as to attract the Eyes as well as raise the Envy of all beholders is now so pallid and ghastly and his Cheeks so bedewed with Cold Sweats that his dearest Friends and Relations draw the Curtains about him that they may not contemplate his grim Visage In a word his brother Body the Receptacle of his Divine Soul and partner with her in all her Actions which till now kept an indissoluble Relation with it is turning into Dust and says to the Grave Thou art my Father and to the Worms my Mother and my Sister Job 17.13 Good God how great a change is this in so short a span of time This shall teach me to put a very slight estimate on all the imperfect Perfections of this World and to seek after those things which alone are truly valuable This shall teach me also to think often of my latter end and all the days of my appointed time to wait until
times knowingly and wilfully against the Motions of thy holy Spirit against the Checks of our own Consciences against those various methods of thy Mercies and thy Judgments which thou hast used to draw us to thy self yea against those many Promises Vows and Resolutions which we have so often made betwixt thee and our own Consciences both in publick and in private of better obedience and amendment of Life And now O Lord what belongeth unto us but shame and confusion of Face And should'st thou abandon and cast us out of thy favour for ever we must needs confess that the Lord our God is Righteous and that we reap but the fruit of our ways but unto thee our God belong Mercies and Forgiveness though we have rebelled against thee Thou hast published thy self to be the Lord Merciful and Gracious slow to Anger and abundant in goodness and in truth A God forgiving Iniquity Transgression and Sin and therefore it is that we yet hope and because we hope we pray Have Mercy therefore upon us O God according to thy loving kindness and according to the multitude of thy tender Mercies blot out all our Transgressions washus throughly from our Iniquities and cleanse us from our Sins for we acknowledg our faults and our sins are ever before us We know O Lord that though our sins are exceeding great and many yet they cannot exceed the multitude of thy Mercies nor the greatness of Christ his Merits O we beseech thee therefore remember thy tender Mercies which have been ever of old and remember the bitter Sufferings of our blessed Redeemer and for the Merits thereof pardon all that is past and become unto us a reconciled Father and own us for thy Children Neither do we desire thee only to forgive unto us our past sins but we pray thee also to sanctifie our Natures to instruct our Understandings that we may know the things that belong to our Peace to regulate our Affections and place them on their right Objects and to dispose and incline our Wills readily to choose and cheerfully to imbrace what relates to thy Glory and our own Eternal Happiness Subdue all our Lusts mortifie all our Corruptions and bring into obedience whatsoever exalteth it self against thy most holy and blessed will that at last we may come to be such as thou wouldest have us and canst delight in Strengthen us O Lord against all the Temptations of the Devil the World and our own corrupt Flesh O Lord thou knowest the Frailties and weaknesses of our Natures and the number and strength of those Temptations we have to struggle with We humbly pray thee leave us not to our selves for then we shall quickly leave thee but assist us with thy Grace perfect thy Strength in our weakness and where thou feest we are either by Nature or Custom Company or Temptation most apt to be drawn aside to sin there do thou more especially magnifie thy power in our preservation Set a watch O Lord before our Mouths and keep the doors of our Lips Turn away our Eyes from beholding Vanity our hearts lest they think on Vanity and our hands lest they at any time act it and quicken thou us in thy way Search us O God and know our hearts O try us and know our thoughts and see what ways of Wickedness there are in us and lead us in the way Everlasting Give us grace to abstain from the very appearance of Evil and to watch and pray that we enter not into Temptation Possess our Souls continually with an holy fear and love of thee our God Make us holy as thou art holy pure as thou art pure and merciful as thou our heavenly Father art Merciful and Crown all thy Graces in us with Patience and Perseverance that notwithstanding all those discouragements and oppositions which we may meet withal here in this sinful World we may go on chearfully and constantly to do and suffer those things which thou requirest of us in order to thy Glory and the Salvation of our precious and immortal Souls O grant that we may not recede from any Christian performance upon the sight of any Obstruction lying in the way but may be willing to resist even unto Blood for the Name and for the sake of Jesus Christ Fit and prepare us O Lord for all Estates and Conditions whatsoever thou in thy Divine Providence hast allotted for us for Adversity as well as prosperity for Sickness as well as health for an Evil as well as a good Report But above all fit and prepare us for the hour of Death and the day of Judgment that so whensoever wheresoever or howsoever it shall please thee to call for us out of this Vale of Tears we may be found prepared for thy coming and may cheerfully and contentedly resign our Souls up into thine hands as into the hands of a faithful Creator But seeing that whilst we are here below we have a continual need of supply of all those outward things for supportance of these Houses of Clay we humbly beseech thee give us such a portion of them as thou knowest may make most for the glory of thy Name and the good of our selves and others Grant that we may seek first thy Kingdom and the Righteousness thereof and then let all those outward things be added unto us in such a measure as thou in thy Divine Wisdom seest best for us and in every condition that it shall please thee to place us give us Grace to be content Take away from us O Lord both the Evil of Sin and the Evil of Punishment O keep thy Servants from presumptuous Sins deliver us from thine Anger from the withdrawing of thy Grace and from Everlasting Damnation and as for all Temporal Afflictions not as we will O Lord but thy holy and blessed will be done in all things only whatsoever thou shalt please to inflict upon us give us patience and contentment under it and then chasten us here O Lord as thou pleasest that we be not condemned with the World With us we humbly beseech thee to be mindful of all thine the World over give thy Enlightning Grace to all that are in darkness Thy Converting Grace to all that are in Sin O be favourable and gracious unto Zion Build thou the Walls of Jerusalem look upon the Tribe of thine own Inheritance and the place where thou hast dwelt Let thy Mercies and Blessings rest upon all people of this Nation from the highest to the lowest more especially bless with thy choicest blessings our Gracious King Charles The Queen and all the Royal Family Bless all our Ministers and Magistrates Grant that they may be Men fearing God and hating Coverousness Charge thy Providence with all our Friends and Relations Let those that are near and dear unto us be near and dear unto thee let their Souls be bound up in the bundle of Life give them all things necessary for their Souls and Bodies guide them here by thy