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 Matth. 11. Psal. 50. 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 heretofore made way for thy Iudgements , but wee wicked wretches haue beene bettred by neither of both . Thou hast written Hos. 8. 12. to vs the great things of thy Law , but wée haue not regarded them , Thou hast reuealed to vs thy blessed Gospell , but wée haue not belieued it ; Thou hast honoured vs with thy loue , but wee haue not walked worthie of it : Thou hast afforded vs blessed meanes and many opportunities to doe good , and by well doing to come nearer vnto thee , but we haue , either so neglected them , or abused them , as thereby wee haue done much euill instead of good : Thou hast also giuen vs time to turns & repent , but we haue turned it the wrong way , & mispent it in vanities : Thou hast she wed vs the way , and offered vs the meanes to know and feare thée , but wee haue wilfully wandred in our owne wayes , and haue not cared to come neere thée , and haue put thy feare farre from vs , Such sinfull Caittfs are wee O Lord , as the meanes of thy honour , wee haue turned to thy dishonour , our owne helpes into hinderances , our Comforts into Crosses , and our Crosses into Curses , thy Mercies into Iudgements , and thy Uisitations into vengeance : And the gratious blessings that were giuen vs , as helpes to bring vs neerer thee ; Wée haue peruerted , to drive vs further from thée : Thy heauenly word , and holy Sacraments , which thou hast gratiously giuen vs , ( more then to many other Nations ) to be the meanes of our Conuersion , and Saluation , wee haue prophaned and peruerted , to our hardning in sinne , and agrauating our condemnation .

These O Lord are the common and generall sins of our times , of Us , our Citie , and our Nation , which as an vniuersall deluge running ouer our Land , wée also haue béene carried away by the violence of these sinfull streames : besides the personall sins preuailing in this age , as baine swearing , inordinate drinkings , super fluous feastings profusenesse in gaming , vanitie and pride in apparell , oppressions and fraudes in bargaining , prophaning thy Sabbaths , neglect of thy poore members , contempt of thy Word , and holy Ministers , formalitie in Religion , dulnesse in deuotion , coldnesse in charitie ; In all which O Lord and euery one of them , we are not able to excuse , much lesse exempt our selues , besides also the publicke sinnes of our State , in letting our Lawes bee laid a sleepe against Idolatrie & Superstition , whereby much Popish impietie hath not only beene practised in priuate , but so publickly professed , that euen the Remish Dagon did stand in defiance with thy holy Arke , whereby thy Religion hath béene villified , thy Ordinances despised , thy great Name dishonoured , and thy Sauctuarie troden vnder foot : Nor was this the sinne alone of some set ouer vs , who by their places , ought rather to haue defended thy truth and maintained the Integritie thereof with their liues and blood , & yet either wickedly , or weakly haue giuen way to these enormities , whereby Poperte and Idolatrie , were in a sort inuited and prepared for , before they came ; But in this sinne , like the sinne 1. Kings 14. 16. of Ieroboam , all our Israel hath sinned against the Lord of Hoasts , for alas wee haue all either had our hands , or held our tongues , and not béen zealous in the cause of thée our God And when for this our prophanenesse and presumptions against thée , Thou hast declared thy selfe angry against vs , both at home , and abroad , wée haue béene so far from fearing thée , and séeking thy face , in Prayer , & Fasting , and holy humiliation in true contrition , and hearty repentance : As contrariwise when other Nations were sighing , and sorrowing for our sin and securitie , wée were lul'd asleepe , and cryed peace , peace , when there was none : And when other Churches were fasting and praying , we alas were masking , feasting and playing : And when as thy Gospell had glutted vs , so as holy Lectures , begun to bee now held , like meate out of season , and preaching in some places to bee put downe , pet euen then O Lord , were the Theaters magnified , and enlarged , where Satan is serued and sinne secretly instilled , if not openly professed . Thus hast thou O mightie God béene little better then forgotten among vs these many yeares : And thus hath thy glorious Name béene dishonoured , thy precious Religion billified , thy gratious Ordinances despised , thy fearefull Iudgements neglected , thy bounteous Mercies abused , thy holy Councels contemned , thy fatherly warnings not regarded , and thy sacred Word in thew , and ceremonie aduanced , but indéed and truth troden vnder foot . It is true O Lord , wee thought and spake otherwise of our selues while our plenty pleased vs , our prosperitie bewitcht vs , and worldly carnalities blinded vs : Then wée séemed to our selues to be a glorious Nation , a beautifull Church and outwardly appeared to be a people that did Es●y . Iob. righteousnesse , and forsooke not the Ordinances of their God ; But now that affliction hath made vs wiser , and thy corrections haue opened our eyes , now we see what we are , and are ashamed of our selues : Now we cast the dust of contempt vpon our owne heads , we goe out of our selues , and we cry to thée in the hearing of thy holy Angels , & all thy holy Churches vpon earth , wee are vncleane , we are vncleane ; and like vncleane Le● and loathsome Leapers deserue to bee cut off from the blessed bodie of thy Church , May euen to bée rooted out of the Land of the Liuing , as being the Nation , next vnto the Iewes , who hauing béene honoured , and blessed by thée , aboue all the World , haue most dishonoured thée of all other , playing with thy Mercies , dallying with thy Iudgements , and prophaning all thy holy things , not considering wee are no better then the flye playing with the candle , wée in our sins being flaxe and stubble , and thou our God in thy furie a consuming fire . Therefore it Heb. is O Lord , that now thy mercies are gone aside , and giuen place vnto thy Iustice , and thy Iustice prouoked hath kindled thy wrath and the fire of thy wrath being now broke out in the most fearefull Pestilence this Nation euer saw : Now our beautie is turned into Ashes , our Melodie into Mourning , our Songs into howlings , our glorie into confussion of face , our triumphs into teares , and our flourishing Citie into a Wildernesse , there being now at our doores nothing but death , destruction , and desolation , nothing but miserie and mourning , crying and confusion in our streets ; This is our present estate O Lord , and it is thy doing , and herein only are we happy that wee sée thy hand , and know , and belieue it to bée thy doing : And wée all confesse O Lord , righteous art Psal. 119. thou in all thy wayes , and most iust are all thy iudgements : For séeing we all offended thee , therefore now thou makest vs one offend another ; And because we feared not thée , thou hast now iustly made vs afraid one of another . And because wee wickedly and carelesly mispent our time , now thou hast made vs wearie of our time , and brought to passe that which thou didst threaten , that in the morning we wish it were euening , and in Deu. 18. 67. the euening that the morning would appeare and 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 1. Ki. 20. 18 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 Ier. 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 Ionas 2. 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 Psal. 123. 2. shall waite vpon the Lord our God vntill hee haue mercie vpon vs : For whateuer wée Mal. 3. 6. be , thou art the Lord that changest not , for else thy Children should bee all consumed : We therefore take comfort , and say one to Hos. 6. 1 , 2. 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 Psal. 22. 4. 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 Psal. 130. 4 mercy with thee , else there should not be left a man on the earth to feare thee ? And is not Psal. 100. 4 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 Psal. 136. 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 honoured vs with thy holy Word and Sacraments , and hast among vs hundreds and thousands whom thou hast separated from the sinfull masse of Mankind , and sanctified , and sealed for thy selfe , so as they runne not riot with the wicked World , but waite on thee in the holy wayes of thine Ordinances , Iudgements , and Mercies , and lay to heart thy words and warnings , and mourne in Sion for the affliction of Ioseph , and for their owne , and the sinnes of others , and for the iniquities of the Time : Therefore our Faith bids vs beléeue , and the truth and certainty of thy Couenants causeth vs to hope , that thou wilt chastise vs to our correction , but not plague vs to destruction : And in this confidence wee come vnto thée , thou Father of Mercies , and are bold to beséech thée to call to mind thy Couenant , whereby thou hast bound thy selfe , to be our God , and to take vs to bee thy People , and neuer to forsake vs ( although by our sinnes we haue forsaken thée ) as long as by Faith we cleaue vnto thée , and in Repentance and Humilitie doe seeke thy face : And in the vertue and merit of that blessed bloud of thy holy Sonne , which hee hath shed for vs , and all Beléeuers , we take boldnesse to our selues , to challenge at thy hands the performance of those swéet promises , thou hast made vnto vs , and sealed in his bloud shedding .

And first we begge at the hands of thy holy Maiestie ( euen rather then our lines , or beliuerances from this dreadfull Plague ) peace and pardon to our poore Soules , and assurance of thy loue in Christ , for our eternall happinesse : and then wee beséech thée not so much to deliuer our bodies from this Plague , as to saue our soules from sin which is the Plague of all Plagues , and the true cause of this Plague , therefore wee cry and pray with thy holy Prophet , Lord haue mercie vpon vs , and heale our soules , which haue sinned against thee . Then wee beséech thée , thou God of compassions , looke in mercie vpon this Land , make vs not like Sodome , Gomorrha , as wee haue deserued , wee confesse wee are vnder thy Hand , and all the World could not haue laid this on vs , but only thou , O Lord , And it was time for thee O Lord , to lay to thy hand , for wee had almost made void thy Law : Thou hast therefore iustly taken vs vnder thy hand , and because thy gentle warnings were despised , thy holy Counsels contemned , thy Iudgements neglected , and thy Mercies abused , thou hast therefore iustly giuen way to thy wrath , and let loose thy heauy Iudgements vpon our Land : Yet this is our comfort , and Man , nor Deuill can take it from vs , that we are in thy hand , O Lord , and with thée is mercie . And as we blesse thy Name , that thou hast not giuen vs ouer into the cruell hands of mercilesse men , the wicked bloudie Papists , so in this , our soules take comfort , that we are vnder the hand of our heauenly Father , whose mercies are great : And in the multitude of those thy mercies , we looke vp to thée , O Lord , and beséech thée , be mercifull to this Land . Thou art our Father , and we haue fouly offended , therefore thou must needs correct vs , or else thou louedst vs not , & punish vs also , or else thou wert not iust : Correct therefore Lord , and spare not , but yet in thy Iudgement , not in thy furie , lest we be all consumed . And forasmuch , as corrections are to worke our not onely Humiliation , but Reformation also , we begge not the remoouing of thy Iudgement , till it hath wrought thy worke , and not onely brought vs down vnder thy hand , but euen purged our hearts , and renewed the face of our Church & Common-wealth . And séeing till then , O Lord , wee neyther may expect , nor dare desire thou shouldst remooue it , wee beseech thee to prepare vs all to bee both willing and ready to meete thee our God , and now to be content , thou glorifie thy selfe in vs , and vpon vs by Life or Death , so thou saue our Soules : But when it hath done thy worke , and finished that for which thou didst send it vpon vs , then , O Lord , in mercie remooue it from vs : And preuent the other grieuous plagues that must needes follow vpon , and after this .

And howsoeuer thy iust and long forborne Decree is now gone out against vs , so as yet our cryes and teares mooue thée not , Nay , the Prayers of our Prophets preuaile not with thee , Insomuch as those Noabs , Ezek. 14. Daniels and Iobs , that are among vs , are onely able to deliuer themselues ( and scarce that , O Lord , so great is the Contagion of our sinnes ) yet we beséech thée giue vs leaue to take comfort , in beléeuing thine owne Word , and trusting to that which no mortall Creature , no Humane Assurance , but thine owne holy Selfe hast told and Hab. 3. 2. taught vs : Euen that in Wrath thou rememberest Mercie , and that thou keepest not anger for euer , but that thy mercies endure for euer . And that thou hast not onely betrothed vs vnto thy selfe in faithfulnesse Hose 2. 19. ●● . and truth , but euen married thy selfe to vs , and though we wickedly , in our spirituall Idolatries , and other sinfull courses , cut off our selues from thee , and whorishly giuen our selues to others : yet most mercifully hast thou called vpon vs , to returne againe to thee , and thou wilt receiue vs : But miserable Catiffes that wee are , wee cannot turn to thée , we could of our selues fal away from thée , but of our selues , wee cannot returne home vnto thee : Cause vs therfore to returne , O Lord , and séeing thou so louest vs , as thou wilt not leaue vs , wee beseech thee also loose vs not , nor suffer vs good Lord to loose our selues , but renew our hearts towards thée , and cause vs to cry and mourne after thée , and say with Ephraim , turne thou vs and wee shall bee turned , conuert vs , and wee shall bee conuerted , thou art the Lord our God : And bring vs backe againe , O Lord , the right and holy way : First , make our faces ashamed of our back-slidings , and our Soules more grieued for the same , then for the Plague that is vpon vs : Then make vs seeke thee sincerely , and not slauishly , and out of Loue more then Feare , and make vs turne vnfaynedly and with the whole heart : And let vs not come , with sorrow onely in our hearts , but holy words also in our mouthes , and take vnto our selues the words that thou hast taught vs , Hos. 14. 2. ● and say vnto thee , Take away all iniquitie , and receiue vs graciously , so will wee render the calues of our lips .