M. Lord, let it be thy good pleasure to blefs all those whom we have any way wronged, and to forgive those who have wronged us, to comfort the difconfolate, to give healthto the fick, eafe to thofe that are in pain, patience to the afflicted, food to the hungry, cloaths to the naked, liberty to the captive, and a fafe delivery to women with child.-A. Lord, have mercy: We befeech thee to hear us, good Lord. M. Lord, be thou the guardian of infants, a guide to the traveller, fafety to thofe that are at fea, and a refuge to the oppreffed; be thou a father to the fatherless, take care of the widows, pity and relieve all poor prifoners for debt, and have mercy on all ideots and mad perfons.-A. Lord, have mercy: We befeech thee to hear us, good Lord. M. Lord, let it be thy good pleasure to blefs all our relations, acquaintance, friends, and benefactors, thofe who and all who defire or fland in need of our prayers: pray for us, thou beft knoweft all their conditions, all their defires, all their wants; O do thou therefore fuit all thy graces and bleffings to their feveral neceffities of body and foul. A. Lord, have mercy: We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord. M. We pray lafly for our unworthy felves; give us grace to love and fear thee, and to keep thy commandments always, that it may be well with us, and that thou mayest rejoice over us to do us good.-A. Lord, have mercy: We befeech thee to hear us, good Lord. M. Hear thefe our interceffions, O gracious Lord, and accept them for the fake of thy dearly beloved Son, Jefus Chrift, our bleffed Lord, and Saviour.-A. Lord have mercy: We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord. Then the following Prayers. M. WE return thee our humble and hearty thanks, O Lord God, for thy prefervation of us the day paft, and for all the bleffings of our whole lives-4. All love, all praise be to thee. M. Lord, have mercy upon us.-A. Lord, have mercy upon us. M. Chrift, have mercy upon us.-A. Chrift, have mercy upon us. M. Lord, have mercy upon us.-A. Lord, have mercy upon us. M. Father, forgive us the fins of the day paft, and of all the rest of our lives; give us grace to repent of them, and refolution folution to forfake them, for the merits of Jefus thy beloved, -A. Amen. M. O merciful God, preferve us from all fin and danger this night, give us a convenient measure of refreshing sleep, and grant that we may rife the next morning more fit for thy fervice, for the fake of Jefus our Saviour.-A. Amen. M. O bleffed Lord, the keeper of Ifrael, who neither flumbereft nor fleepeft, be pleafed in thy mercy to watch over us this night; make us ever mindful of that time, when we shall lie down in the duft: And, because we know neither the day nor the hour of our Master's coming, grant us grace that we may always live in such a ftate, as we shall not fear to die in; but that whether we live, we may live unto the Lord, or whether we die, we may die unto the Lord; fo that living or dying, we may be thine, through Jefus Christ thine only Son our Saviour.-A. Amen. M. Vifit, we beseech thee, O Lord, this habitation, and drive far away all fnares of the enemy: Let thy holy angels dwell therein to preferve us in peace, and thy bleffing be upon us for ever, through our Lord Jefus Chrift thy Son; by whom and with whom, in the unity of the Holy Ghoft, all honour and glory be unto Thee, O Father Almighty, world without end.-A. Amen. (Here must follow on the refpective days the Collect for Sundays, Wednesdays, Fridays, or Saturdays.) M. O Lord, hear us for the fake of our blessed Saviour Jesus Chrift, who hath taught us a perfect form of prayer, which we beseech thee to accept, not according to our weak understanding, but according to the full fenfe and meaning thereof: in confidence of which we are bold to say, Then let all fay the Lord's prayer. OUR Father, which art in heaven; &c. M. O Lord, hear our prayers;-A. And let our cry come unto thee. M. We blefs thee, O Lord:-A. And render thanks to thee, our God. M. May the divine affistance remain with us for ever. -A. Amen. M. O God, unto thy gracious mercy and almighty protection we humbly commit ourselves. O Lord, blefs us, and keep us: O Lord, make thy face to fhine upon us, and be gracious unto us: O Lord, lift up thy countenance upon us, and give us peace, both now and evermore.-A. Amen. Then rife, and conclude with, M. Bleffed be the Holy and Undivided Trinity now and for evermore.-A. Amen. Extracts. Account of the Sufferings of the Rev. THOMAS SWIFT, (Grandfather of DEAN SWIFT), Vicar of Goodrich and Bridflow, in the County of Hereford. [From the Mercurius Rufticus, and Walker's Sufferings of the Clergy.] WHEN the earl of Stamford was in Herefordshire in October 1642, and pillaged all that kept faith and allegiance to the king, information was given to Mrs. Swift, wife of Mr. Thomas Swift, parfon of Goodrich, that her houfe was defigned to be plundered. To prevent fo great a danger, fhe inftantly repaired to Hereford, where the earl then was, fome ten miles from her own home, to petition him that no violence might be offered by his foldiers to her house and goods; he most nobly, and according to the goodness of his difpofition, threw the petition away, and fwore no fmall oath, that the fhould be plundered to-morrow. The good gentlewoman being out of hope to prevail, and feeing there was no good to be done by petitioning him, speeds home as fast as fhe could, and that night removed as much of her goods as the shortnefs of the time would permit. Next morning, to make good the earl of Stamford's word, captain Kirle's troop, confifting of 70 horfe, and 30 foot which were hangers on (birds of prey) came to Mr. Swift's houfe: there they took away all his provifion of victuals, corn, houfhold-ftuff, which was conveyed away: they empty his beds, and fill the ticks with malt they rob him of his cart and fix horses, and make * this * This was an ancestor of the worthy Kyrle, better known by the name of the Man of Ross. this part of their theft the means to convey away the rest, Mrs. Swift much affrighted to fee fuch a fight as this, thought it best to fave herself, though, the loft her goods: therefore taking up a young child in her arms, began to fecure herself by flight; which one of the troopers perceiving, he commanded her to ftay, or (holding his piftol at her breaft) threatened to fhoot her dead. She (good woman) fearing death, whether he went on, or returned, at laft, fhunning that death which was next unto her, fhe retires back to her house where fhe faw herfelf undone, and yet durft not oppofe, or afk why they did fo? Having thus rifled the house and gone, next morning early fhe goes again to Hereford, and there again petitions the earl to fhew fome com. paffion on her and her ten children; and that he would be pleased to cause her horses, and fome part of her goods to be reftored unto her: the good earl was fo far from granting her petition, that he would not vouchsafe so much as to read it. When the could not prevail herself, she makes ufe of the mediation of friends; these have the repulfe too, his lordfhip remaining inexorable, without any inclination to mercy: at laft, hoping that all mens hearts were not adamant, relentlefs, the leaves the earl, and makes her addrefs to captain Kirle; who upon her earnest entreaty, grants her a protec tion for what was left; but for reftitution, there was no hope of that. This protection coft her no lefs than gos. It feels paper and ink were dear in those parts. And now thinking herself secured by this protection, the returns home, in hope that what was left, the might enjoy in peace and quietnels. She had not been a long time at home, but captain Kirle fends her ward, that if it pleafed her, fhe might buy four of her own fix horfes again; affuring her by his father's fervant and tenant, that the fhould not fear being plundered of them any more by the earl of Stamford's forces while they were in those parts. Encouraged by these promifes, fhe was content to buy her own, and depofited eight pounds ten fhillings for four of her horfes and now conceiving the form to be blown over, and all danger paft; and placing much confidence in her purchased protection, fhe caufeth all her goods fecured in her neighbours houses to be brought home; and fince it could not be better, rejoiced that fhe had not loft all. She had not enjoyed thefe thoughts long, but captain Kirle fent unto her for fome veffels of cider, whereof having tafled, but not liking it, fince he could not have drink. for himself, would have provender for his horfe; and there fore fore instead of cider, he demands ten bufhels of oats. Mrs. Swift fearing that the denial might give fome grounds of a quarrel, fent him word that her hufband had not two bushels of oats in a year for tythe; nor did they fow any on their glebe; both of which were moft true: yet, to fhew how willing fhe was (to her power) to comply with him, that the meffenger might not return empty, the fent him forty fhillings to buy oats. Suddenly after, the captain of Goodrich Castle fends to Mr. Swift's houfe for victuals and corn: Mrs. Swift inftantly repairs to him, and fhews him her protection. He, to anfwer, fhews her his warrant; and fo without any regard to her protection, feizeth upon that provifion which was in her house, together with the cider which captain Kirle refufed. Hereupon Mrs. Swift writes to captain Kirle, complaining of this injury, and the affront done to him in flighting of his protection: but before the meffenger could return with an answer to her letter, fome from the castle came a fecond time to plunder the house; and they did what they came for. Prefently after comes a letter from capt. Kirle in answer to Mrs. Swift's; telling her, that the earl of Stamford did by no means approve of the injuries done unto her; and withal, by word of mouth, fends to her for more oats. She perceiving, that as long as fhe gave, they would never leave afking, refolved to be drilled no more. The return not answering expectation, on the third of December, two hours before day, captain Kirle's lieutenant, attended by a confiderable number of horse and dragoons, comes to Mr. Swift's houfe, and demands entrance; but the doors being kept fhut against them, and not being able to force them, they broke down two iron-bars in a flone-window; and fo with fwords drawn, and piftols cocked, they enter the house: being entered, they take all Mr. Swift's and his wife's apparel, his books, and his children's clothes, they being in bed; and thofe poor children that hung by their clothes, unwilling to part with them, they fwang them about, until (their holdfaft failing) they dafhed them against the walls. They took away all his fervants clothes, and made fo clean work with one, that they left him not a fhirt to cover his nakednefs. There was one of the children, an infant, lying in the cradle, they robbed that, and left not the little poor foul a rag to defend it from the cold; they took away all the iron, pewter, and brafs; and a very fair cupboard of glaffes, which they could not carry away, they brake to pieces; and the four horfes lately redeemed, are with them lawful prize |