in chastity and purity, in all holiness of conversation: and do thou give thy holy and blessed Spirit, to guide and teach me all my days, that I may overcome all my infirmities, and comply with and bear the infirmities of others, and charitably pardon their errors, and fairly expound their actions, and wisely perceive their intentions, and with a Christian ingenuity deport myself in all things, giving offence to none, but doing good to all I can; that I may receive pardon from thee for all my sins, and pity for all my infirmities, and thy blessing upon all my actions, and a sanctification of all my intentions, and when my life is done I may have the peace of God, and the testimony of a holy conscience, to accompany me to my grave, and to consign me to a holy and a blessed resurrection, to partake of the inheritance which thou hast provided for thy saints and servants. Grant this for Jesus Christ's sake, our dearest Lord and Saviour. Amen.

For a fruitful Womb.

I.

O MOST gracious and eternal God, Father and Lord of all the creatures, thou didst sanctify marriage in the state of innocence, in the dwellings of paradise, and didst design it for the production of mankind, and didst give it as one of the first blessings of mankind. O be pleased to look upon thy handmaid who waits for thy mercy, and humbly begs of thy infinite goodness to make me partaker of that blessing, which thou didst design to all the sons and daughters of Adam: thou, O God, hast the keys of heaven and hell, of rain and providence, of the womb and the grave: O let not thy servant feel the curse of dry breasts and a barren womb; but make me a joyful mother of children, that thy handmaid may serve thee in increasing the number of thy redeemed ones, and may minister blessings to this family into which thou hast adopted me, and may bring comfort to my dear husband, whom do thou bless, and love, and sanctify for ever.

II.

O God, I confess I am unworthy of this or any other favour; I am less than the least of thy mercies, yet our weakness and unworthiness cannot be the measures of thy

mercy thou art good and gracious, infinitely gracious, essentially good, and delightest in showing mercy to them that call upon thee, and put their trust in thee: O dear God, I remember that thou didst relieve the sorrows of thy servant Hannah, and gavest her the blessing of children; thou didst bless the womb of Elizabeth, who was barren; thou spakest the word, and the rocks did rend, and they sent forth a pleasant stream: thy hand is not shortened, and thy mercies are not less than ever, no less than infinite, and why should not thy servant hope that thou wilt hear my prayer, and grant the desire of my soul? Even so, O gracious Father, let it be as thou pleasest: thy wisdom is infinite, and thy counsels are secret, and the ways and lines of thy providence are like the path of a bird in the air, and are not to be discovered by our weak sight.

III.

I know, O God, that thou lovest to hear our prayers, and thou delightest in the humble, passionate, and resigned desires of thy servants. Although, O God, I desire this blessing with an earnestness as great as any temporal favour, yet I humbly submit my desires, my interests, my content, and all that I am or have to thy holy will and pleasure, humbly begging of thee that I may cheerfully suffer, and obediently do thy will, and choose what thou choosest, and observe the ways of thy providence, and revere thy judgment, and wait for thy mercy, and delight in thy dispensation, and expect that all things shall work together for good to them that fear thee. O let thy Holy Spirit for ever be present with me, and make me to fear thee and to love thee above all the things in the world for ever, and then no ill can come unto thy servant: for whosoever loves thee cannot perish. Hear the prayer of thy servant, and relieve my sorrow, and sanctify my desires, and accept me in the Son of thy love and of thy desires, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

A Prayer to be used by an afflicted Wife in behalf of a vicious Husband. I.

O ETERNAL Father, thou Preserver of men, thou great Lover of souls, who didst send thy holy Son to die, that mankind might be redeemed, and sin might be destroyed: thou

knowest how intolerable a thing it is, that a soul should, to eternal ages, be encircled with thy wrath and the indignation of a mighty and an angry God; and, therefore, dost love to do miracles of mercy, because thou lovest not that a sinner should perish: be pleased to give thy handmaid leave to present her humble desires in behalf of a sinner, one sinner for another; the miserable for him that is ready to perish. Lord, look down in mercy upon my husband; snatch him from the jaws of hell, suffer him not to perish in his sin; but open his eyes with the light of thy word and of thy Spirit, that he may espy his danger, that he may behold the deformity of his sins, [the injuriousness of his actions, the folly of his pleasures,] the iniquity of his vows.

II.

Cleanse his hands and heart from all unrighteousness, [from blood-guiltiness, from rapine, from violence, from cruelty,] O Lord, and purify his soul and body from all impurity, [from all intemperance, from the violence and fury of passion] giving him a perfect repentance, and a perfect pardon: and if it be thy will, let me also, some way or other, co-operate towards the recovery of his precious soul; and be pleased to remember the sufferings of thy handmaid, not that he may receive evil, but that I may find good from thy gracious hands, in the day of recompense; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

If she have escaped any Violence intended against her, by his Malice or Passion, then add this Prayer of Thanksgiving.

O God, my God and Father, thou hast strangely preserved and rescued me from evil, thou hast made decrees in heaven for my safety and preservation; and for the glory of thy own name, thou hast diverted the arrow that was directed against me. What am I, O Lord, and what can I do, or what have I done, that thou shouldst do this for me? I am, O God, a miserable sinner, and I can do nothing without a mighty grace; and I have done nothing by myself, but what I am ashamed of, and yet I have received great mercies, and miracles of providence. I see, O God, I see that thy goodness is the cause and the measure of all my hopes, and all my good and upon the confidence and greatness of that

goodness, I humbly beg of thy sacred Majesty to keep and defend me from all evil by thy wise providence; to lead me into all good by the conduct of thy divine Spirit; and where I have done amiss, give me pardon; and where I have been mistaken, give me pity; and where I have been injured, give me thy favour, and a gracious exchange; that I may serve thee here with diligence and love, and hereafter may rejoice with thee, and love thee as I desire to love thee, and as thou deservest to be loved, even with all the powers and degrees of passion and essence, to eternal ages, in the inheritance of Jesus, whom I love, for whom I will not refuse to die, in whom I desire to live and die, to whom with thee, O gracious Father, and the Holy Spirit, be all honour and glory, love and obedience, for ever and ever. Amen.

A Mother's Prayer for her Children.

I.

Most gracious and eternal God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Father of men and angels, Father of mercies, and God of all comforts; thou hast promised to be a Father to a thousand generations of them that love and fear thee, be thou a God and a father to me, and the children which thou hast given me. Enable me, O Lord, to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and in the fear of God, to the praise of thy holy name. O give me thy grace and favour, that I may instruct them with diligence and meekness, govern them with prudence and holiness, provide for them useful employments, and competent provisions of life and comfort, leading them in the paths of religion and justice, by example and precepts of holiness; never provoking them to wrath, never indulging them in their follies, never conniving at an unworthy action: and that all my children may be thine, O preserve them in thy favour, or take them away from hence while they are. If thou pleasest, let them live to a full age, but secure to them a full measure of piety and holiness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

II.

To this end give them grace to obey their parents, that doing the duty, they may receive the promise: preserve them from sin and shame, from youthful follies, and youthful

crimes. Sanctify them throughout in their bodies, and souls, and spirits; that their thoughts may be pure and holy, not displeasing or misbecoming the eye of him who is the Searcher of hearts; let their words be true, prudent, and ingenious, seasoned with grace, and apt to minister grace unto the hearers: let all their actions, in their whole life, be such as become the servants of Jesus, holy and useful, that they may not be burthens to the public, or to their family; but pleasing thee, and doing good to others, they may increase in the love of God, and in favour with men, and may have the portion of the meek and humble in this world, and of the pure and merciful in the world to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Widow's Prayer.

I.

O ETERNAL GOD, most gracious Lord, and my most merciful Father, thou art my refuge and my hope, my sanctuary and my rock, my guardian and protector, all my days. I have offended thee, and thou hast smitten me; I have deserved very much evil, and thou hast corrected me with the gentle visitation of a father's rod: and though thy hand is heavy and thy rod presseth me sore, by reason of my own weakness and infirmities, yet when I consider how little I suffer in respect of what I have deserved, I cannot but adore thy goodness, and delight in thy mercies, and run for help and comfort, support, and conduct to that hand which smites me. O my God, give me patience under thy afflicting hand; for my impatience, I fear, hath provoked thee to anger, and hath doubled my own calamity; and since my duty is my proper cure, and will make thy hand easy, and thy anger little; give thy servant a quiet and a resigned, an humble and a meek spirit, that I may not become my own tormentor, and my sin may not be my own punishment.

II.

O my gracious Lord, do to me what seemeth good in thy own eyes; I am like clay in the hands of the potter; and what am I that I should repine against the acts of thy providence and dispensation? Behold, O God, thy handmaid is but a worm before thee; shall dust and ashes repine against