9. A Thankesgiuing for Mariner being safely landed.
EVerlasting thankes doe we pay vnto thee (O thou that art mercie it selfe) in that when our feete were stepping into the graue, thou diddest raise vs (with poore Lazarus) from the dead. Blessed bee the God of hostes, that thus hath redeemed vs from da¯ger. Wee were in the lions denne and yet did he deliuer vs: Wee were in the fornace, yet not a haire hath perished: Wee were at the gates of hell, yet did hee fetch vs backe; the bitter cup of death did hee remoue from our lippes, and out of the pit of desperation hath hee pulled vs vp aliue. He did but say the word, and the winds stood still; hee did but frowne, & the waters shrunke in their heads; hee did but beccon, and his Angel came and brought vs comfort. Wee wil sing therefore vnto our good God a song of tha¯ks: Wee will sound foorth his Name eue¯ amongst Turks and Saracens: and send abroad the miracle of our deliuerance to the furthest corners of the earth. All glorie, honour and praise bee thine, O Lord: for thou art iust without corruption, mercifull beyond our deseruings, and mightie aboue our apprehension. All glorie, honour and praise bee thine for euer and euer. Amen.
10. A Prayer for a Souldier going to a Battell.
ARme mee (O thou God of Battels) with courage this day, that I may not fall before my enemies: The quarrell is thine, let the victorie bee thine; tie to my sinewes the strength of Dauid, that I may with a peeble stone strike to the earth these Giants that fight against thy trueth. The weaker meanes I vse, the greater shall bee thy glory, if I come from the fielde crowned with conquest. I put no co¯fidence (O Lord) either in the strong horse, or the iron-headed speare: the armor that must defend mee, is thy right arme. Bee thou therefore this day my Captaine to conduct mee: let thy word bee the trumpet to incourage mee; the banner of the Church, the colours which I follow; the weapo¯s which I fight with fayth and hope; and the cause for which I fight, The aduancement of true Religion. Keepe my handes (O my God) from playing the bloody executioners; let pitie sit vpon mine eylids, euen in the heate of battell, and mercie on the point of my sword when it is most readie to kill. So let mee fight, that whether I come off, lame or sound, dead or aliue, I may liue or dye thy Souldier. Amen. Blesse me, strengthen mee, guide me, guard mee, saue me, O thou Lord of hosts. Amen.
11. A Prayer, or Thanksgiuing for a Souldier after victorie.
VEngeance is thine, O Lord: and the fall of thy enemies is thy glorie. Immortal honour (like the beames of the sunne) shine about thy Temples, because thou hast this day stood by thy poore seruant. When death trampled vpon heapes of mangled carcases, thou (O Lord) plantedst a guard of Angels about mine. Thou hast circled my browes with Baytree, in signe of conquest, and with the Palme-tree, in token of peace. All that I can giue to thee for these blessings, is but a giuing Thanks. Accept it (O my God) accept this sacrifice of my heart: and so hold in the reines of my passions, that I bee not swolne vp with arrogance and pride, for that which is no worke of mine; but that I may humbly acknowledge thee for the Author both of my owne safety, and my foes deseature. And so instruct me in the heauenly discipline of other wars which I am to fight in, in this world, that I may defie sathan and his troupes, beate downe sin and his damned regiment, & triumph ouer the assaults of the world, that in the ende I may march vnder the banner which Christ shall spread in Heauen. Amen.
12. A Prayer for a woman great with childe.
LOoke downe from Heauen (O Lord) vpon me thy handmaid, look downe from thy throne of mercie. A curse hast thou laid vpon all women, (for their Grand mother Eues sake) which is, that the fruites of their wombes shal fill them with paine and torments: Iust art thou in thy sentence, for all women in that battel of life and death, doe feele the rigour of thy doome. The horrors of the graue doe in that houre stand before them, the terrors of hell, do in that conflict houer-rou¯d about them; yet (O God) one drop of thy mercy hath souereigne power to cure all the wou¯ds of those sorrowes. Shed it therefore (O Father) shed that drop of grace vpon me (most miserable woman) in that minute when I am to encounter with so sterne an enemie. What weight of thy wrath soeuer thou layest vppon mee (for my sinnes,) strengthen mee with patience to beare it, that I may not in that fearfull agony bee vnruly, or vnforgetfull of that modestie fitting a woman beset with such dangers; but rather, that in those throws of child birth, (to which no pangs in the world are comparable) I may verily belieue I see thy blessed Sonne (my Redeemer) torn vpon the crosse: suffering paines insufferable, tortures inexpresseable, and sorrowes of soule in-vttereble, onely for me, onely to pay for my sins, & only to free mee from the shame of death and hell. Let his immensurable & inco¯prehensible agonies on the crosse, put me in mind how much he ventured for mee (a wretch) and that hee can not plague mee with too many miseries, that haue (for all this loue bestowed) euery day, and euery houre in a day, and euery minute of an houre, playd the wa¯ton with his fauour, and haue abused his mercies. Forget my sinnes notwithstanding (O my God) but forget not thy seruant. Forgiue me: and so forgiue me, that the childe in my bodie bee not punished for the mothers offe¯ces Blesse this fruit of my wombe, which thou hast grafted with thine own hand: giue it growth, giue it florishing, giue it forme. And when the time is come that thou wilt cal it out of this close house of flesh, (wher now it inhabiteth) to dwell in the open world. Sanctifie thy creature, and on the forehead of it, set that sacred seale of Baptisme, that it may be known to be a La¯b of thy own flocke. Graunt this, O maker of mankind, grant this (O Redeemer of mankind) at the request of thy seruant and handmaid. Amen.
13. A Praier for a midwife
WIth handes lifted vppe to Heauen, knees prostrated on the earth, & with a soule humbled at thy feete (O Lord) do I beg, that thou wouldst prosper this worke which I am to vndertake. Suffer mee not to bee feareful in my office, fainting in my spirits, or too violent in my duetie: but that I may discharge it to thy honor, this thy handmaids comfort (who is full of paine) and to my owne credit. Blesse me (O God) with skil, sithence thou hast placed me as thy deputie in this great and wonderfull businesse: giue vnto thy seruant an easie & speedy deliuerance. Giue vnto me a quick, a constant & a gentle hand. Giue vnto this new vnborne creature (into whom thou hast breathed a soule) a faire & wel-shape¯ body; that thou mayst haue glorie by thy works, & the mother gladnesse in beholding her infant, after all her sorrowes. Graunt this, O Father, for thy Sons sake Iesus Christ. Amen.
14. A Prayer, or Thanksgiuing, after a womans deliuerie.
GLorified bee thy Name (O God) for this mercy extended to thy seruant: It lay in thy power to strike death into her wombe, but thou hast giuen her a double life: and to heape sorrowes vpon her sorrowes, but her anguishes hast thou sweetened with gladnesse. Praised bee thy blessed Name: Praised be thy wo¯drous workes. Continue (O Lord) these thy fauours to thy weake hand-maide: put stre¯gth into her blood, blood into her veines, and courage into her heart, that her lips may render thee a thanksgiuing. Looke (O God) vpon this babe with an eye of loue; preserue it in health, quicken it with thy grace, and crowne it with long life, that it may growe vp to bee a seruant in thy houshold. Vnty the strings of his vtterance (when thou thinkest it meete) and giue vnto it a tongue that may without stammering or any other imperfect sound speake clearely. Let all other organs of his bodie execute their offices, as in thy mercie thou hast appointed. Sanctifie O Lord, the brests that must giue it sucke, and feed the soule of it (when it shall please thee to fill it with vnderstanding) with the milk of thy word. Blesse vs (O Lord) that are heere met together to behold the glorie of our creation, and the wonders of our creator in this little infant. Tha¯ks, honour, & praise be giuen vnto thee for euer and euer. Amen.
15. A Prayer for a sicke man, to be sayd by himself.
SIcknesse (O Lord) is, I know, thy herald, and summoneth vs to death: It is thy messenger, and thou hast sent it into my body: Welcome it is, because it commeth from thee; yet (O my God) if it bee thy pleasure, let thy anger cease, & cast thou that rod into the fire which hath beaten mee thus long with affliction. My soule is brought lowe, (euen to the dust) hide not theref
ore thy beames from mee, but shed the light of them vpon my face, that I may lift vp my head and be co¯forted. Mercifully hast thou dealt with mee I confesse, for I deserue, and it lies in thy strength vtterly and in an instant to confound mee in the heate of thy indignation: But thou hast laid a gentle punishment vpon mee, and the blowes are such as fathers giue to children, not to kill them, but to correct them. Thou hast not yet calde me to the barre of death, yet hast thou cald mee to a triall. My sinnes cry out as witnesses against my soule, & my soule pleadeth guiltie of treason against thy Maiestie. Restore mee (O God) by thy pardon vnder that great seale of thy promise, To forgiue a sinner at what time soeuer hee heartily powres out his teares of repentance. Or if it bee set down in thy booke of irreuocable decrees, that my flesh must with this sicknes bee turned into dust, so strengthen mee (O my Redeemer) that to the last houre and latest gaspe, I may hold thy Name betweene my lippes, and die with that musicke onely sounding in my voyce. Grant this request O Lord to me thy seruant; that whensoeuer or howsoeuer the glasse of my mortalitie shall runne out, my soule at her departure may runne and be receiued into Abrahams bosome, which is the sanctuarie for all the faithfull: at which blessed hauen that I may arriue, praier shal for euer be the sailes that shall carrie vp my heart; and aboue all, that, praier which the best preacher of the world hath taught me; saying, Our father, &c.
16. A Prayer to be sayd by them that visit the sicke.
O Thou (O Lord) that art the Physitian both of soule and bodie, stretch foorth, wee beseech thee, thine arme toward this thy seruant: poure out the oile of thy mercy and compassion, and with it balme his temples, that his memorie may not be taken from him, but that hee may call vpon thy glorious Name. Speake vnto him, as thou didst speake to thy seruant, when thou saidst, Arise, take vp thy bedde and walke: for health is thy subiect and obeyes no command but thine. Arme him (O father of vs all) arme this thy sonne with patience to indure this triall, and with constancy to wait thy pleasure: giue him the fortitude of Iob, to beare the burden of all tribulations, of all crosses, and of al calamities, sithence the waight of them is not to beare him downe, but to lift him vp to blessednes. Settle O Lord his spirits, that they may not wander and flie out into any vnruly motions. Lay thy finger vpon his lippes, that they may not fall into cursing or blaspheming thy deity, or into any vaine language. Take fro¯ his eye al delight of this fraile world, and let his soule make readie onely for a voyage to heauen: heare vs O Lord that beg this at thy hands: heare him O Lord, that lifteth vp his hands vnto thee, and begges a pardon for his sinnes: open the gates of mercy: open the doors of thy sauing health: open thine armes, to receiue him into thy fauour, or into the celestiall freedome: adopt him for thine owne: adopt him in the blood of thy Sonne; or if it be thy will, to adde more daies to his life, turne then speedily his weakenes into strength, and his sickenesse into health; so shall he confesse that thou art mighty, that thou art mercifull, and that thou alone art the God of saluation. To thee therefore that art One in Three, and Three in One, and in all things incomprehensible, bee all honour. Amen.
17. A Prayer for a Prisoner.
MY feete (O my Sauiour) are in the snares of the hunter, and like a beast in the Wildernesse haue my enemies pursued mee: I am now entangled in the chaines of captiuitie; yet (O my God) bestow thou vpon mee the freedome of my soule: Soften thou the flintie hearts of those men, that haue cast me into this house of mourning and heauinesse: and as thou didst to Daniel in the Lions denne, defend and keepe mee from the iawes of miserie, that are stretched wide open to swallow mee vp aliue. It is for my sinne that I am thus round beset with pouerty, shame, and dishonour. Receiue thou therefore these sacrifices of my contrition, and turne not away thine eare, when my prayers are flying towards thee. The sighes of a sinner repenting is a sweete breath in thy nostrils, his teares are pretious, and like those teares that washed the feet of Christ. Accept therefore this offring from the altar of an humble, contrite, and wounded heart.
Put into my bosome Good and Charitable thoughts, that I may pray for them that persecute and trouble mee; and that I may vndergoe and passe ouer all their oppressions and bearings of mee downe, with a setled, constant, and suffering spirit. Let this imprisonment (O LORD) bee alwaies vnto mee a Booke wherein I may reade, first, the knowledge of thee (which hitherto I haue not studied) and secondly, the knowledge of my selfe. Let it be a glasse wherein I may see all the blemishes of my youth; as riots, whoredomes, drunkennesse, pride, and such like foule and vlcerous spottes, that haue disfigured my soule. Change (O mercifull God) if it bee thy will, my wants into plentie, my thraledome into liberty, my mourning into gladnesse, for thy Sonne Iesus Christ his sake, who was a prisoner vpon the Crosse, onely to set all mankind free: Worke pitie O my Sauiour, in the brests of my aduersaries, that I may sing with the Prophet: Blessed is hee that considereth the poore and needy: the Lord shall deliuer him in the time of trouble. But if it be thy will and pleasure that I must grone vnder this trouble and affliction; arme mee (O God) with a constant patience to beare all. Amen.
A Prayer for a Gally-slaue.
O THOV that thorow the redde Sea diddest guide the children of Israel, thrust forth the selfe same arme, and pull mee thy seruant, out of the hands of a Tyrant, whose heart is hardened worse then Pharoahs. Hee that hates thy glorious Name (O Lord) and persecuteth thy beloued Sonne in the bodies of Christians; doeth with an iron rodde bruise my bones: O Lord be thou my deliuerer. In penury and woe doe I toyle out my dayes: In cold and hunger doe I passe ouer and waste out my nights: my labours are at the Oare, and my tortures at the will of a barbarous infidell; in whose eye, stripes to a wretched and poore Gally-slaue are but a merriment; and the gushing out of a Christians blood but a mockerie. For the honour of thy beloued Sonne (who laid downe his owne life for my ransome) suffer not these enemies of thy glory to insult ouer one of thy children. For the honor of thy Church (of which I am a member) suffer not thy Religion to be trodden to dust (in mee) by the tyranny and crueltie of a blaspheming Pagan: or if it bee in thy Diuine purpose, to haue me longer to grone vnder this heauie yoake of seruitude and slauerie for the triall of my faith; thy will bee done: yet O LORD, stand thou by my side: shrink not from me, lest thou forsaking mee I fall away from thee, & so vtterly perish in Turkish ignorance: confirm me in my religio¯, infuse into me thy grace, teach my tongue to speake of thee boldly, my thoughts to meditate vpon thee sincerely, and strengthen thou my bodie to maintaine thy cause euen to the death. Amen.
19. A Praier for men that worke in dangerous workes as Colepits mines, &c.
OVT of my Bedde (the image of my Graue) hast thou raised mee (O Lord) thy Angels sat vpon mine eye-liddes, like Centinels to guard me all the while I lay asleepe: O suffer thou the same watchmen to protect me now I am awake. I need thy help alwayes, (for what is man without thee?) but so neere the house of danger must I this day dwell, that on my knees I entreate thee to keepe side by side with mee in my goings. Saue my bodie, O Lord: for death is (at euery turning about) at my elbow. Saue my soule, whatsoeuer fals vpon my bodie. Which diuine part of me, that it may come into thy heauenly treasure-house, inspire mee with that wisedome which descendeth from aboue. Purifie my thoughts, & let them with spotles wings bee continually flying about thy throne. Purge my heart, that it may come before thee like a bride-groome, full of chaste loue. Refine my soule, that like siluer seuentimes tried in the fire, it may beare the bright figure of Saluation. In vaine doeth the builder lay his foundation, vnlesse thy hand bee at the setting vp. Set therefore thy hand to this worke of mine; encourage mee to vndertake it, embolden mee to goe forward, and enable me to finish it. Amen.
20. A Prayer for a poore man.
O Thou King both of Heauen and earth, whose blessings fall vpon man like showers of raine: open that rich fountain of thy grace, and let the drops of it reliue me that am the miserablest of thy creatures. Thou hast clothed mee in the habits of basenesse; but, O LORD, furnish thou my minde with the riches of thy mercie. I am content (O FATHER) with this poore estate, and
comfort my selfe with it, knowing that thy blessed Sonne had at his birth but a ma¯ger in stead of a cradle to ly in, & being the Lord of the whole world, not so much as a dwelling house of his his owne to lodge in. The Sparrow lighteth not vppon the ground without thy prouidence, nor doeth the meanest of thy children breath, but thou prouidest for him. Sithence I came naked into the world, this nakednesse of mine is but the badge of my natiuitie: bestow therefore thy grace vpon mee, that I may not enuy those that swim in the abundance of wealth. Feed me, O Lord, with the bread of life: that I may growe stro¯g in health euerlasting; let me drinke of the benefit of my Redeemers blood: Clothe mee (O God) with righteousnesse: and albeit thou hast in thy iudgement and to expresse thy glorie, appointed mee to bee an out-cast amongst men, and to be the scum of the world, yet, O Lord, cast mee not out of thy presence, but for thy deare Sons sake, whose blood bought the begger as well as the Prince, make mee a free-denizen in the citie of Heauen. So be it.
FINIS.
THE Eagle.
Complete Dramatic Works of Thomas Dekker Page 221