In her bill she brings a branch, vpon which growes seueral sorts of fruit, & al of the¯ wholsome for the soule. You are the first to whose ha¯d they are offred: if any others gather the¯ after you, & find in them the sweetnes of the food of life, they shall (as I) pray to God, that his blessings may stil more & more be multiplied so long vpon you, til the last garla¯d which he keepes in store for those that run their race (here) wel, may be to you a crown of heauenly blessednes.
Euer bounden to your worship.
To the Reader.
REader, I haue for thy comfort sent vnto thee 4. Birds of Noahs Ark, vpon foure seuerall messages: and haue changed the notes of those Birds voices into Prayers of different musicke, but all full of sweetnesse. Vnder the wings of the Doue, haue I put Prayers, fitting the nature of the Doue, that is to say, simple Prayers, or such as are fitting the mouthes of yong & the meanest people: and for such blessings as they haue most need of. The Eagle soares more high, & in his beake beareth vp to heauen supplications in behalfe of Kings and Rulers. The Pellican carieth the figure of our Redeemer on the crosse, who shed his blood to nourish vs (hee being the right Pellican): with the drops of which blood, haue I writ Prayers against all those deadly & capitall sinnes, to wash out whose foulenes our Sauiour suffered that ignominious death. And lastly, in the spiced nest of the Phoenix (in which Bird likewise is figured Christ risen againe) shalt thou find a book written ful of Thanks & Wishes: of thankes, for those benefits which grow vnto vs by Christs death and resurrection: of Wishes, that hee would in diuers gifts bestow those blessings vpon vs. Nothing that is set downe is tedious, because I had a care of thy memorie Nothing is done twice, because thou mayst take delight in them. If thou art yong, here is pleasure for thee: if old, here is co¯fort if thou art poore, here is riches; if thou hast enough, here is more: vse this physicke wel, and liue well: runne this circle truely, and die wel: that is the goale: winne that, winne Heauen.
Fare-well.
What Prayer is.
PRayer, is the language in which we talk to God: for when we read (the Booke) God speaketh to vs, but when we Pray, wee speake to him: It is therefore a dialogue between him and vs. It is that leader which Iacob saw ascending vp to the clouds, for by the staires of it do we climb vp to heauen. Prayer is the key that opens all the gates of heauen. It is the compasse by which we saile thither. It is the badge by which a Christian is knowen that he serueth God. It is our best friend that speaketh to him in our behalfe. It is the eloquence that onely ouercommeth him. It is the musicke, that only charmes his anger to sleepe. It is our peace-maker, in the warres betweene God and vs. It is the sword of defence in the combat betweene vs and the diuell. It is the ship, in which if our soule sailes not, we perish. It is the anchor, at which we lie safe in the stormes of death. It is the balme that cureth the wounds of pouertie, of oppression, of imprisonment, of banishment, of despaire, of cares, of sorowes & of all calamities, that like diseases hang vpon our life. Such is Prayer, such armor must we put on if wee meane to winne Heauen.
The Doue, compared to Prayer.
THe Doue was the first Bird that being sent out of Noah his Arke, brought comfort to Noah: So Prayer being sent out of the Arke of our bodyes, is the onely and first bringer of comfort to vs from Heauen. The Doue went out twice ere it could finde an Oliue Branch, (which was the ensigne of peace:) So our Prayers must flie vp againe and againe, and neuer leaue beating at the doores of Heauen, till they fetch from thence the Oliue-Branch of Gods mercie, in signe that wee are at peace with him, and that he hath pardoned our sins. The Doue no sooner broght that bough of good tidings into the Arke, but the vniuersall floud fell, and sunck into the bowels of the deepe: So no sooner doe our hearty Prayers pierce the bosome of the Lord Almightie, but the waters of his indignation shrinke away, melting to nothing like hilles of Snowe, and the vniuersall deluge of sinne that floweth 40. dayes and nights togeather, (that is to say, euery houre, or all our life time) to drowne both soule and body, is driuen backe, & ebs into the bottomlesse gulfe of hell. The Doue is said to be without gall: Our Prayer must be without bitternesse, and not to the hurt of our neighbour (for such Prayers are curses) lest we pull down vengeance on our heads. Such was the Doue that Noah sent out of the Ark, with such wings let our Prayers carry vp our messages to Heauen.
1. A Prayer for a childe before he goeth to his study, or to schoole.
O GOD, that art the fountaine of all wisedome, & founder of all learning: breathe into my soule the spirit of vnderstanding, that in my childhood I may learne, and (as I grow farther into yeres) may practise the study only of thee and of thy lawes. Feed me (O Lord) as babes are fed, with the milke of thy holy word, that I may grow stro¯g in setting forth thy praises. Make me (O Iesus thou Son of God) one of those of whom thou speakekest thus, Suffer little children to come vnto mee, and forbid them not. And as thou hast promised that thy wonders shold be sou¯ded foorth by the tongues of infants & sucking babes; so powre into my lips the waters of the well of life, that whatsoeuer I learne may bee to proclaime thy glorie. Polish thou my mind (O God) that it may shine bright in goodnesse: and that I may not defile or deface this weake temple of my body by corrupted manners or leaud speeches; but so season my tongue that all the lessons which I take foorth, may seeme to be read to mee in thine owne schoole. Bee thou my Schoole-master to instruct mee, so shall I repeate the rules of true wisedome: keepe thou mee in feare of the rod of thy displeasure, so shall I bee sure to haue my name set in the booke of life. Make mee obedient to my Parents: dutiful to my Teachers: louing to my Schoole-fellowes: humble to my superiours; full of reuerence to old men: proud towards no man; & that I may win the loue of all men. Blesse mee, O Lord, this day: guide my feete, direct my mind, sanctifie my studies, gouerne al my actions, preserue my body in health, my soule from vncleannesse. Graunt this, O my God, for thy Sonnes sake (Iesus Christ:) or if it bee thy pleasure to cut me off before night, and that this flower of my youth shall fade in all the beauty of it, yet make me (O my gratious Sheepheard) for one of thy Lambs, to whom thou wilt say, Come you blessed, & clothe mee in a white robe (of righteousnes) that I may be one of those singers, who shall cry to thee Allelluia. Amen.
2. A Prayer for a prentice going to his labour.
O The builder of this world! (whose workemanship is to bee seene excellent euen in the frames of the least and basest creatures which thou hast set together:) Cast a gratious eye vpon mee, and lend me thy directing hand that the labours which this day I am to vndertake may prosper. Let me not (O God) goe about my busines with eye-seruice; but sithence thou hast ordained that (like poore Ioseph) I must enter into the state of a seruant, so humble my mind, that I may perform with a cheereful willingnes whatsoeuer my master commands mee, and that all his commandements may be agreeable to the seruing of thee. Bestow vpon me thy grace that I may deale vprightly with all men, and that I may shew my selfe to him, who is set ouer mee (a Ruler) as I another day would desire to haue others behaue themselues to mee. Take away from him (that is, my master) all thoughts of crueltie, that like the children of Israel vnder the subiection of Pharaohs seruants, I may not be set to a taske aboue my strength: of if I be; stretch thou out my sinewes (O God) that I may with vn-wearied limbs accomplish it. Fill my veynes with blood, that that I may goe thorow the hardest labours: sithence it is a law set downe by thy selfe, that I must earne my bread with the sweat of my owne browes. Giue mee courage to beginne: patience to goe forward: and abilitie to finish them. Cleanse my heart (O thou that art the fountaine of purity) from all falsehood, from all swearing, from all abuse of thy sacred Name, from all foule, loose and vnreuerend languages. Let my thoughts when I am alone bee of thee: let my mirth in company bee to sing Psalmes, and the arguments of my talke onely touching the works of thy hand. Take sloth from my fingers, and drowsinesse from the lids of mine eye; whether I rise early, or lie downe late, so gladly let me doe it, as if my prentiship were to bee consumed in thy seruice. The glasse of my yeares shal thereby run out in pleasure, & I in the end shall
be made free of that citie of thine, The heauenly Ierusalem; into whose fellowship, I beseech thee, to enfranchise & enrol me, and that after I haue faithfully laboured six dayes of my life here vpon earth, I may vpon the seuenth rest in thy euerlasting Sabbath. Amen.
3. A Prayer for him that buyes and sels.
O Good God, what is our life but a common Mart, wherein we sel away our bodies to shame for the price of momentarie pleasure, & barter away our soules to sinne, which were bought at the dearest rate (euen thy Sonnes blood?) What are all our labours, but desperate voiages, made to purchase wealth? And what are the riches of a worldly man when they are gotten, but (as thy Prophet singeth) The weauing of a spiders webbe? The spider makes fine nets to catch flyes; and the worldling wasteth his nights, & weareth out his dayes in tying his conscience full of knots to pull vp riches. Sithence then the heaping vp of wealth is for the most part, the heaping vp of wickednesse; and that all the trauailes of our life, are but like buying and selling in a fayre, which wee beginne to day and end to morrow: so direct my steps (deare Lord) that I may neither wa¯der to get goods by vnlawfull courses, nor that I may fal in loue with riches, how well soeuer they bee gotten. Let me not be one of those buyers and sellers, whom thy Sonne Iesus thrust out of the Temple: But rather one of those Merchants that sell all to follow thee. And since to loue our neighbour is the fulfilling of the Law, giue mee grace that I may bee counted no breaker of that Law, but a keeper of it sound, dealing iustly with all men. And for that purpose, let not mine eye look vpon false waights, nor my hand be held out to take vp an vneuen ballance. Hee loseth a piece of his soule, (euery time) that robbeth his chapma¯ of his measure: & he that vniustly gaineth but thirtie pence, selleth (like Iudas) euen his master Christ. As thou (O Father of vs all) hast giuen mee two hands, so appoint those seruants of my bodie to execute none but good and holy offices: Let the one hand buy honestly, and the other sell iustly. Let the left bee to lay vp wealth to maintain my bodie, and the right to distribute thy blessings to those whose bodies are in miserie. Seale vp my lips from lying and forswearing (the two poisons that ouerflow euery citie.) Purge my bosome from corruption: pull out of my heart the stings of enuy, and let me reioyce to see others prosper in the world, & not to murmure if I my selfe wither like trees in Autumne, though I lose the golde¯ leaues of wealth, and be left naked with pouertie. Keep the Wolf from my doore, & the Fox out of my bed-cha¯ber, that other men may neither lye in waite to robbe mee of my goods, nor I sit vp late in the counsell of the wicked, how to deceiue other men of theirs. Be thou (O Lord) at my elbow in all my proceedings, so shall I feare to doe amisse in any. And so mortifie my affections, that euery day casting behinde my backe the comfort, the cares, the vanities, the vilenesse, the pleasures and the sorowes of this bewitching world, I may continually haue this cry aloude in my mouth, I desire to be dissolued and to be with thee. Amen.
4. A Prayer for a mayd-seruant.
STop not thine eares (O Lord) to the requests of thy poore and humble handmaid, but as thou hast laid vpon her the condition of a seruant, so let her mind be subiected to the state to which thou hast called her. And for that thou didst ordaine in that great worke of the Creation of mankinde, that woman should bee the weaker vessell, both in the labours of the body, and endeuours of mind: strengthen mee therefore (O God) with thy assistance, & enlighten my soule with thy diuine inspiration. Bestow vpon my youth a prosperous flourishing, but let it be in goodnes. As I grow vp in yeres, let me grow vp in grace: & write my name (O thou eternal Register) in that general pardon wherein thou forgiuest the follies of our youth. Crown my Virginstate with chaste & religious thoughts: & so temper my desires, that the wanton pleasures of the flesh may not drown in mee the heaue¯ly treasures of the Spirit. Take from me (O God) the health of my bodie, rather then by the possession of it, I shold grow proud of beautie. So thou accountest me faire, I care not how vgly I appeare to the world. And for that I am but poore, so blesse mee, that I may preserue my fame: for an honest reputatio¯ is to a maide¯ an ample dowry. Defe¯d me fro¯ the poiso¯ of euil to¯gues, which are more deadly the¯ the stings of scorpions Defend me fro¯ violating those lawes written downe by thine owne finger: defend me fro¯ shame, whose spots disfigure the liuing, & disgrace the dead. Defend me from sinne, for the wages thereof are death and hell. Make mee a faithfull steward in ordering the goods of my M. & Mris. so shal I be a more carefull disposer of my own. At my going to rest, take thou charge of my soule, for it is thy iewel; at my vprising guard thou my body, for thy Son hath bought it: so shall I at the Sunnes rising pray to thee; when hee is at his height, I shall praise thee; and at his going downe, shall I sing Hymnes of thankes to thy Name. To which bee all honour, for it is due; All glorie, for it is proper; all feare, reuerence and adoration, for they are onely thine.
5. A Prayer for a seruingman.
NO seruice (O God) is like vnto that of thine: It is the highway to the highest honour; It is a preferment to eternitie, a promotion beyond that which is bestowed by Kings. Admit me therfore into thy houshold of Faith: clothe me in the liuery of a true Christian, so shall I euer waite vpon thee (O my Lord:) lead me out of the company of swearers, quarrellers, drunkards, boasters, adulterers, & all those that blaspheme thee. Arme mee with thy grace, assist mee with thy Spirit, blesse me with thy hand, fill me with thy blessings, looke downe vpon my weakenesse; lift me vp in strength: beare with my frailtie: suffer not my heart to swell with pride, mine eye to burne in lust, my tongue to sting with slaunder, my hand to be dipt in blood. But succour me (O my maker) and saue mee, (O saue me) now and euer, (O my Redeemer,) So bee it. Amen.
6. A Prayer for an husband man.
THe earth (O Lord) is thy garden in which thou hast appointed man to be a labourer. Of that stuffe in which hee daily diggeth and delueth was Man made; so that in trimming the earth, Man doeth but dresse himselfe. But albeit Paul planteth and Apollo watereth, no herb or flowre can come vp or tree prosper vnlesse thy hand be at the graffing: send thou therfore forth a wholsome breath from thy nostrils vpon those fruits of the earth which out of the bou¯ty of thy loue thou hast bestowed vpon me thy seruant. Let not the leafe of my labors wither, but prosper it till it grow vp like a Cedar on the top of Libanus, or like a tree planted by the waters side, bringing forth fruite in due season. Checke (O my God) the Northren wind, that it beate not downe the husbandmans hopes, but that the sicke mayl in fit time send in a ripe and plentiful haruest. Strike not the oxe at the plough with death, nor the horse in the pasture with diseases: yet I confesse, that my sinnes deserue to haue the plagues of Egypt fall on mee and my cattell. But the wings of thy mercie (O gracious God) spread further then those of thy Iustice. Shed therefore those comfortable beames vpon mee that am a creeping worme vpon earth. And not onely do I begge these worldly and fading blessings at thy hand, but those rather that are heauenly, & which laste for euer: powre thy abundant grace on my soule, that it may be fruitfull in good workes, and euer bringing foorth seedes of holinesse. Open my heart, that it may not bee barren of vnderstanding thee; cleare thou mine eyes, that they may behold the face of ignora¯ce & lothe her, and that they may look vpon the beautie of thy sacred wisedome, and be enamored of it. For these and whatsoeuer else thou thinkest fit for the health of my bodie or happinesse of my soule: I most humbly beseech thee in the Name of that blessed Son of thine, Iesus Christ.
7. A Prayer for a Marriner going to Sea.
O Thou that ridest vpon the Cherubins and fliest vpon the wings of the winds: Thou, at the brightnesse of whose presence the clouds remoue, & at whose chiding hailestones and coales of fire fall vpon the world, whose arrowes are swiftest lighting, & whose bow at the going off, shooteth forth thunder. Be mercifull vnto me (O my God) that am to venture into the horrors of the deep. There shall I see thy wonders, but let mee not see thy wrath: there shall I looke into hel, but let me not fall into the iawes of feare & desperation. Preserue mee (O Lord) in the wombe of the ship, though the waters climbe round about the ribbes to swallow mee vp, as thou didst
saue Ionas in the belly of the Whale. And when with thy seruant Peter I cry out (to thy Sonne) Helpe Lord, or we perish: let his ha¯d be stretched forth, to command the waters to bee quiet. Fill our sayles with gentle & prosperous windes; let not the sunne bee couered in stormes by day, nor the Moone and starres conspire with darkenesse by night, to spoile vs by ship-wracke. But set thou an Angel at our helme, when wee hoist sailes to go forth, & charge the same Angel to guide vs through that wildernes of waters, till wee safely ariue on shore. Or if for our sins it bee thy pleasure that our bodies in this voiage shall perish, yet (O our mercifull Pilot) saue our soules from the great Leuiathan, whose iawes are euer open to deuoure: vpon what rocks soeuer the vessel that beares vs bee split, yet wee (most wretched sinners) beg at thy hands, that our heauenly vessels may arriue at the euerlasting land of promise. Graunt this (O Father) for his sake, that swum thorow a red Sea of pretious blood on the crosse, to bee mans Redeemer.
8. A Prayer for a Marriner at Sea in a storme.
SAue vs (O saue vs miserable wretches.) who haue no hope in the helpe of man, but only (O Lord Almightie) in thee. Heare the cryes of thy seruants, and let them pierce into thine eare, thorow this battell of the clouds & the waters. Wee perish (O Sauiour) we perish in this prison of the deepe, vnlesse by thy miraculous power thou deliuer vs from death. Cast a bridle therefore about the stubburne neckes of the windes, for they are thy seruants: and beate backe this furious armie of the waters, for they are thy slaues. Send (O Lord) a Moses vnto vs, to co¯duct vs thorow this Sea of death: send but a warrant vnder thy dreadful & commaunding voyce, & the tempest shall obey thee. Thou holdest the windes in thy right hand, & the waues in the left; the heauens are thy throne, and earth thy footstoole: All is thine, & thou art all; to thee therefore do we fly for succour, because there is no succour but vnder thy wings. The sorrowes of death doe round encompasse vs, the paines of hell are felt in our bones; gather thou therefore the seas into an heape, and lay these stormes of wrath vp in thy treasure house of ve¯geance, to confound thy professed enemies. Wee (silly wretches) call vpon thy Name, O heare vs: we are the worke of thine own hands, O deface not thine owne buildings: it was a part of thy glorie to make vs, let it be a greater part of thy glorie to saue vs, now that we are vpon the point to perish. Saue vs, O saue vs, for thine owne sake, for thy Sonnes Sake, for thy glories sake, and wee shall sing Psalmes in thy praises vpon the lute, and vpon an instrument of ten strings.
Complete Dramatic Works of Thomas Dekker Page 220