THE LAST WORDS OF THE Reverend, Pious, and Learned Dr. HAMMOND.
Being Two PRAYERS FOR THE Peaceful Resettlement OF THIS CHURCH and STATE.
LONDON, Printed for Luke Meredith, at the Star in St. Paul's Church-Yard▪ 1696.
Prayers for the Church and State.
Prayer I.
O Blessed Lord, who in thine infinite mercy didst vouchsafe to plant a glorious Church among us, and now in thy just judgment hast permitted our sins and follies to root it up; be pleased at last to resume thoughts of Peace towards us, that we may do the like to one another. [Page] Lord, look down from Heaven, the Habitation of thy Holiness, and behold the Ruines of a desolate Church; and compassionate to see her in the dust. Behold her, O Lord, not only broken but crumbled, divided into so many Sects and Fractions, that she no longer represents the Ark of the God of Israel, where the Covenant and the Manna were conserved, but the Ark of Noah, filled with all various sorts of unclean Beasts: and to complete our misery [Page] and guilt, the Spirit of Division hath insinuated it self as well into our Affections as our Judgments; that Badge of Discipleship which thou recommendedst to us, is cast off, and all the contrary wrath and bitterness, anger and clamour, called in to maintain and widen our breaches. O Lord, how long shall we thus violate and defame that Gospel of peace that we profess? How long shall we thus madly defeat our selves, lose that Christianity which we [Page] pretend to strive for? O thou which makest Men to be of one mind in an House, be pleased so to unite us, that we may be perfect [...]y j [...]n'd together in the same min [...], and in the sam [...] [...]ent. And now tha [...] [...] Civil Affairs there seems some aptness to a co [...]posure, O let not our Spiritual Disserences be more unreconcileable Lord, let not the roughest winds blow out of the Sanctuary, let not those which should be Embassadours for Peace, still sound a Trumpet for [Page] War: but do thou reveal thy self to all our Eliahs in that still small Voice; which may teach them to echo thee in the like meek treating with others. Lord, let no unseasonable stissness of those that are in the right, no perverse obstinancy of those that are in the wrong, hinder the closing of our wounds; but let the one instrust in meekness, and be thou pleased to give the other repentance to the acknowledgment of the truth. To this end do thou, O Lord, mollifie [Page] all exasperate minds, take off all animosities and prejudices, contemp [...] and heart-burnings, and by uniting their hearts prepare for the reconciling their opinions: And that nothing may intercept the clear sight of thy truth, Lord, let all private and secular Designs be totally deposited, that gain may no longer be the measure of our Godliness, but that the one great and common concernment of Truth and Peace may be unanimously and vigorously [Page] pursued. Lord, the hearts of all Men are in thy hands, O be thou pleased to let thy Spirit of Peace overshadow the minds of all contending Parties; and if it be thy will, restore this Church to her pristine state, renew her days as of old; let her escape out of Egypt be so entire, that not an hoof may be left behind: but if thy wisdom see it not yet a season for so full a deliverance, Lord, defer not, we beseech thee, such a degree of it, as may at least secure her a being; [Page] if she cannot recover her Beauty, yet, O Lord, grant her Health, such a soundness of Constitution as may preserve her from dissolution. Let thy Providence find out some good Samaritans to cure her present Wounds: and to whomsoever thou shalt commit that important Work, Lord, give them skilfull hands and compassionate hearts; direct them to such applications as may most speedily, and yet most soundly heal the hurt of the Daughter of Sion; and [Page] make them so advert to the interests both of Truth and Peace, that no lawfull condescension may be omitted, nor any unlawful made. And do thou who art both the wonderful Counsellor and Prince of Peace, so guide and prosper all Pacifick endeavours, that all our distractions may be composed, and our Jerusalem may again become a City at unity in it self; that those happy Primitive days may at length revert, wherein Vice was the only Heresie; [Page] that all our intestine cententions may be converted into a vigorous opposition of our common Enemy, our unbrotherly Feuds into a Christian Zeal against all that exalts it self against the obedience of Christ. Lord hear us, and ordain peace for us, even for his sake whom thou hast ordained our Peace maker, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Prayer II.
O Most gracious Lord, who dost not afflict willingly, nor grieve the Children of Men, who [Page] smitest not till the importunity of our sins enforce thee, and then correctest in measure; we thy unworthy Creatures humbly acknowledge that we have abundantly tasted of this patience and lenity of thine. To what an enormous height were our sins arrived, e'er thou began'st to visit them! and when thou couldst no longer forbear, yet mastering thy Power, thou hast not proportion'd thy vengeance to our crimes, but to thy own gracious design of reducing and [Page] reclaiming us. Lord, had the first stroke of thy hand been exterminatings, our guilts had justified the method; but thou hast proceeded by such easie and gentle degrees, as witness how much thou desired'st to be interrupted, and shew us, that all that sad weight we have long groaned under, hath been accumulated only by our own incorrigibleness. 'Tis now, O Lord, these many years that this Nation hath been in the Furnace, and yet our [Page] dross wastes not, but increases; and it is owing only to thy unspeakable Mercy, that we, who would not be purified, are not consumed; that we remain a Nation, who cease not to be a most sinful and provoking Nation. O Lord, let not this long-suffering of thine serve only to upbraid our obstinacy, and enhance our guilt; but let it at last have the proper effect on us, melt our hearts, and lead us to repentance. And, O that this may be the day for [Page] us, thus to discern the things that belong to our Peace! that all who are (yea, and all who are not) cast down this day in an external humiliation, may by the operation of thy mighty Spirit have their Souls laid prostrate before thee in a sincere contrition! O thou who canst out of the very stones raise up Children unto Abraham, work our stony flinty hearts into such a temper as may be malleable to the impressions of thy Grace, that all the sinners in Sion may [Page] tremble; that we may not by a persering obstionacy seal to our selves both temporal and eternal ruine, but instead of our mutinous complaining at the punishments of our sins, search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord. O be thou pleased to grant us this one grand fundamental Mercy, that we who so impatiently thirst after a change without us, may render that possible and safe by this better and more necessary change within us; that our sins [Page] may not, as they have so often done, interpose and eclipse that Light which now begins to break out upon us. Lord, thy Dove seems to approach us with an Olive Branch in her mouth: On let not our filth and noisomness chase her away; but grant us that true repentance which may atone thee, and that Christian Charity which may reconcile us with one another. Lord, let not our breach either with thee, or among our selves, be incurable, but by making [Page] up the first, prepare us for the healing of the latter. And because, O Lord, the way to make us one Fold is to have one Shepherd, be pleased to put us all under the conduct of him to whom that charge belongs; bow the hearts of this People as of one Man, that the only contention may be, who shall be most forward in bringing back our David. O let none reflect on their past Guilts, as an Argument to persevere, but repent, and to make their return so sincere as [Page] may qualifie them, not only for his but thy Mercy. And, Lord, be pleased so to guide the hearts of all who shall be intrusted with that great Concernment of setling this Nation, that they may weigh all their deliberations in the Balance of the Sanctuary, that Conscience, not Interest, may be the ruling principle, and that they may render to Coesar the things that are Coesar's, and to God the things that are God's; that they may become healers of [Page] our breaches, and happy Repairers of the sad Ruines both in Church and State: And grant, O Lord, that as those sins which made them are become National, so the repentance may be National also, and that evidenc'd by the proper fruits of it, by zeal of restoring the rights both of thee and thine Anointed. And do thou, O Lord, so dispose all hearts, and remove all obstacles, that none may have the will, much less the power, to hinder his peaceable restitution. [Page] And, Lord, let him bring with him an heart so intirely devoted to thee, that he may wish his own Honour only as a means to advance thine. O let the precepts and example of his blessed Father never depart from his Mind; and as thou wert pleas'd to perfect the one by suffering, so perfect the other by acting thy will; that He may be a blessed Instrument of replanting the power in stead of the form of Godliness among us, of restoring Christian [Page] vertue in a profane and almost barbarous Nation. And if any wish him for any distant ends, if any desire his shadow as a shelter for their riots and licentiousness, O let him come a great, but happy defeat to all such, not bring fuel, but cure to their inordinate appetites; and by his example as a Christian, and his Authority as a King, so invite to good, and restrain from evil, that he may not only release our temporal, but our spiritual Bondage, suppress those [Page] foul and scandalous Vices which have so long captivated us, and by securing our inward, provide for the perpetuating our outward Peace. Lord, establish thou his Throne in Righteousness; make him a signal iustrument of thy glory and our happiness, and let him reap the fruits of it in comfort here, and in bliss hereafter, so that this Earthly Crown may serve to enhance and enrich his Heavenly. Grant this, O King of Kings, for the take and intercession of our Blessed Mediator Jesus Christ,