A SERMON Preached before the Honourable House of Commons, AT St. MARGARET'S WESTMINSTER, Upon December the 11th, 1695.  
BEING The Solemn Day of Fasting and Humiliation, for Imploring the Blessing of Almighty GOD upon the Consultations of this Present PARLIAMENT.  
BY WILLIAM HAYLEY, D. D. Rector of St. Giles' in the Fields, and Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty.  
LONDON, Printed for jacob Tonson, at the judges-head in Fleetstreet, 1696.   

A FAST-SERMON BEFORE THE House of Commons.  EZRA VIII. 21. Then I proclaimed a Fast there— that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way, for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance. 
THE Words are a part of the Relation, which Ezra the Scribe gives of his Conduct, in leading back a Remnant of Israel from their Captivity. They had been, since the time of Nabuchadnezzar, who carried them from their own Country, Sojourners in a strange Land, Subjects to a Foreign Prince, and deprived of the Protection of their Laws, the Glory of their Temple, and the Exercise of their Religion: But it having pleased God, after some years' Chastisement, to turn their Captivity, and to put it into the Heart of Cyrus, to grant, and of Darius to confirm, the Restauration of their Temple, a part of that unfortunate People were now resettled in jerusalem and the Cities of judah. And by the favour of Artaxerxes, another Portion of them were to be led by Ezra, to a Re-establishment in their own Country, and to the Enjoyment of their ancient Laws and Religion.  
They were now assembled together at the River Ahava, in the Borders of Assyria; joyful in their deliverance from a Foreign, and their prospect of their Native Land; but however great the Blessing, and how sweet soever their Hopes were, they were not unmixed with Fears and doubtful Apprehensions, for they were to pass through People that were Enemies to their Name and Nation; and they had reason to expect all the Opposition their Malice could make, and all the Obstructions their Spite could contrive, to disturb their Journey, and prevent their Settlement.  
And for this Reason their wise Conductor looked upon it as the most prudent and rational Course he could take, and what was like to procure the most certain success to his Expedition, to begin the undertaking with a solemn Approach to God in Fasting and Praying, that the same Goodness which had begun their Deliverance would perfect it, and direct them to the taking of such measures, and the using of such means, as the Divine Wisdom saw most conducing to the safety of their March, and to their Re-establishment in their Land. Then I proclaimed a Fast there— that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.  
We cannot easily hear this Story, without reflecting on some kind of Parallel that runs between it, and our own past and present Circumstances; how near we ourselves were brought to a sort of Captivity, even in our own Land. There lay before us the dismal Prospect of Slavery in our Persons, Consciences, and Estates, and what made it yet more grievous, in this very Island, a place, which God had blessed with a long Possession of a just Liberty, and well regulated Government. We saw a strange Worship eager to extirpate our purer Religion, our Laws just submitting to an Arbitrary Sway, and both Church and State, by the Artifice of our Enemies abroad, and the Violence of those at home, upon the Brink of Subjection to a Foreign Power.  
It hath pleased God to Bless us with the grateful Surprise of a Deliverance from these great Evils, to turn our steps, and to set us on our way toward Settlement and Peace, and the Establishment and Security of our Religion and Laws. And we are now here before him, to beg a Blessing upon the Counsels of those, who are studying and and consulting upon the best Methods for the furtherance of so great Ends, and therefore we ought to imitate, and to exceed, if possible, the Humiliation of this Jewish Remnant in our Fast, and their Devotion in our Prayers to the God of Heaven, who has brought us thus far; considering that we now make our Addresses, not for a handful of our Countrymen, but for our whole Nation; for the Security and Happiness immediately of Three-Kingdoms, and by Consequence of all the reformed Churches, and the greatest part of the States of Europe. And we are concerned (as these jews were) for ourselves, for our little ones, and for all our substance.  
I. For ourselves; who have asserted our Native Rights and Liberties, and therefore must be the most unfortunate of all Men, if at last we come to lose them; who have stood up for the Reformed Religion, and the Preservation of our Church, as it is happily established amongst us; and who therefore can with less Patience see Error and Superstition invade our Temples, and corrupt our Brethren, the Temples of the living God. And who have personally exasperated the Enemies of both our Liberties and Religion; have thwarted their Projects, baffled their Hopes, and turned the Mischief they designed us upon their own Heads; and therefore, should they ever prevail, must expect the highest Degrees of their Rage, and the redoubled Violence of their Malice and Cruelty.  
II. For our little ones, whose trusties and Guardians we are, to whom we ought with our Blood to convey the Rights and Privileges that accompany it; that as we have been instrumental in giving them Life, we may be likewise so, in handing down to them those things, without which Life would scarce be desirable: For whom, if we have any natural Tenderness, we must be concerned both for their Souls and Bodies, that the one be not blinded with Ignorance or Error, and led out of the Way of Salvation; and that the other be not enslaved to the Will of those, who seek only their own Grandeur, and have no regard to public Good. Lest, if we be wanting in our care for Posterity, we be justly reproached as unsensible of the common Tendency of human Nature, and unworthy of those Rights, which the Vigilance and Courage of our Ancestors have continued to us.  
III. For our substance, which makes this Nation considerable in the World, and furnishes us with means for its Preservation; which our Enemies have long envied; which they would have devoured at once, had not Providence overruled them, but which they continue with all their Policy still to undermine. And it must be confessed, that they have been but too successful in it, by obstructing our Commerce abroad; and wicked Men among ourselves have contributed to the same end, in disturbing that at home, and robbing the Public by the Corruption of our Coyn. And these are Evils of so dangerous a Consequence, that it becomes as necessary for us by our Counsels to countermine and stop the Progress of them, as by our Arms, to oppose that Power which appears against us in the Field. That we may secure those Advantages which God has given us above our Neighbours, and that we may not forfeit the Kindness of Heaven by our own Remissness and want of Care; or betray the Favour of Nature and Providence, which seem to have designed us for a Rich and a Powerful People.  
These are all very great and weighty Articles, and therefore it highly becomes us to behave ourselves under them, as Persons that have a Sense of their Importance; and to begin there, where Reason, and Piety, and the Words of my Text lead us; to invoke the Assistance of Heaven for our Counsellors, and those that watch over us, To fast, and afflict ourselves before our God, and to seek of him a right way, for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.  
Now in Order to this end, I shall in my Discourse upon these words, propose to myself this following Method.  
1st, To show that the best means to procure Success upon our Counsels and Endeavours, is to seek to God for his Blessing.  
2dly, That solemn Fasting is a very proper Method to be used in such Addresses to God.  
3dly, I shall reflect how much we of this Nation are particularly obliged to a devout performance of this Duty.  
4thly, I shall inquire what conduct will be proper for us, in order to obtain that Blessing which we seek of God in this Solemnity.  
1. I begin with the first. To show that the best means to procure Success upon our Counsels and Endeavours, is to seek to God for his Blessing. This is a Truth that plainly results from the very first Principles upon which all Religion is built; That there is a God of infinite Power who governs the World, and can dispose all Things in it to such Ends as are agreeable to his good Will and Pleasure; That Human Policy and Strength are of no moment when they come in opposition to his Providence; and that, as the Wise Man expresseth it, There is no Wisdom, nor Understanding, nor Counsel against the Lord, and that this God has a particular Care of those who serve him Faithfully; who call upon him with Devout Hearts, direct their designs to his Glory, and depend on his assistance in the Execution of them.  
Now though this Supreme Governor of the World may, if he please, alter the Course of Nature, for the effecting his Purposes, and hath frequently made use of a miraculous Power, for the Assistance or Deliverance of his Servants; has rendered the wisest Counsels, and the most powerful Means, fruitless and abortive; yet he generally conveys his Blessing by the more common Methods of his Providence, directing those who are the Defenders of Truth and justice, by the Influence of his good Spirit, to the wisest Counsels, and the most proper Methods, and infatuating the Enemies of his Church and People; carrying them headlong to rash, or rendering them deaf to wise Counsels, as he did particularly to that of Achitophel. Thus Eliphaz remarketh in the 5th of job, 13, etc. He taketh the Wise in their own Craftiness, and the Counsel of the froward is carried headlong; they meet with darkness in the day time; and grope at noon day as in the night, but he saveth the poor from the Sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty.  
'Tis true, the Spirit of God does not act always in the conveying his Direction and Assistance, in so palpable a manner, as that whereby we see Second Causes produce their Effects; and therefore Men, who live and act by Sense, do generally not regard it; and are not much affected with Discourses concerning it. But whoever will reflect a little seriously; that 'tis impossible for a Creature to be Independent, that God can no more cease to Govern the World, than he can cease to be God; that he cannot Govern his Creatures, if he do not Influence them; that those who depend on their own Policy and Strength, without any Regard to his Will, affront his Majesty, reject his Government, proceed in Opposition to him, and justly provoke him to punish and disappoint them: Whoever, I say, makes but these and such like Reflections, which are obvious enough to any Man that will give himself Leisure to consider, will be apt to conclude, That 'tis the most rational and prudent, as well as the most religious Way, to begin at Heaven in all his Consultations and Designs, and to beg Light from that God, who Foresees Things that are hid to our unbiased Judgements, and whose Goodness, as well as the common Methods of his Government, obliges him to have a peculiar Care of those that seek him, and put their Trust in his Mercy. And therefore we find it is the Advice of the greatest Master of Wisdom, Prov. 3. 6, 7. Be not wise in thine own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil; in all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.  
2. I proceed now to my Second General; That Solemn Fasting is a very proper Method to be used in such Addresses to God. We have but two Ways to express our Thoughts and the Inclinations of our Minds, either by Words, which are made common Signs of them by Art and Agreement, or by such Actions as naturally flow from them; and both of these are very proper Expressions of our Sentiments, and therefore such as become our Devotions.  
For God is the Author of Decency and Order, and his Service is then most decent and orderly, when 'tis unaffected and agreeble to Nature; and therefore such Gestures or Actions are proper in his Worship, which do naturally flow from, or by Custom are used to accompany such a Disposition of Mind, as we ought to be in when we make our Approaches to him. Thus Kneeling becomes us at our Prayers, because 'tis the usual Posture of Supplicants; Singing of Hymns is decent in Thanksgiving, because Songs and Music are fit attendants on Praise and Joy; and Fasting is extremely proper for a Solemn Humiliation before God, for the begging Pardon of our Sins, and Assistance in our Difficulties, because it is a natural Expression of Sorrow, and a deep Concern, and is productive of humble Thoughts in ourselves, and devout ones towards God. And therefore we find that it has been the constant Practice; not only of the Churches of God, but even of the Heathens themselves, to use solemn Fasts upon extraordinary Applications to Heaven; and that so Universally, that it may justly enough be reckoned a part of Worship, which the common Sense of Men, and Nature itself has prescribed.  
And 'tis highly fit and decent, that upon such Solemn Occasions our Fasting should be attended with all the Public Demonstrations of Seriousness and Concern, such as a Gravity in our Discourse and Behaviour, a ceasing from the Business of our particular Callings, abstaining from Ornaments, Recreations and Places of Civil Concourse, and spending the Day in the Public Devotions of the Church, and in the Retirements of our Closets. For though a Private Christian may Fast, (as he may Pray) without any of this Pomp, and discharge the Duty in his own Breast; yet to make it public, there is no other way but an outward Solemnity▪ and a Community cannot hold a Fast but by such an appearance.  
Neither is this a bare empty Show and Formality, but 'tis of real Use; the Minds of Men are more apt to be Grave and Serious, when there is no appearance of Jollity to divert them: And Men are drawn off from the thoughts of Worldly Business, and fixed upon Pious Meditations, when they see their Neighbours thronging to the Temple, when there is no Commerce in the Shops nor Hurry in the Streets. But such a face of things, as shows that Men are about the more Serious Business of another World.  
Thus have I done with my two first Heads. That the best Means to procure success upon our Counsels and Endeavours, is to seek God for his Blessing, and that Solemn Fasting is a very proper Method to be used in such Addresses to God, which I have discoursed of very briefly, just to represent the rational Grounds of our present Assembly; but I forbear insisting longer upon them; partly, because a moderate Degree of Natural Light, and a common Sense of the Obligations of our Holy Religion, will convince a Considering Man of the Truth of them; and partly, because the very Solemnity of the Day, the Piety of the King in enjoining, of this Honourable House in requesting, and of all the Congregations that join in the Devout Celebration of it, show that it is the general Persuasion of both the Governors and the Body of our People, that the Occasion of this Solemnity is important, the Duty rational, and the Manner decent.  
3. I come now therefore to bring the matter something nearer to ourselves, by considering under my third General, how much we of this Nation are particularly obliged to a Devout Performance of this Duty: And this I shall show, by reflecting upon what we have already received, and what we yet want; The former of which will discover the Encouragement God has given us to trust in him, and the Latter, the Necessity of having recourse to him.  
(1.) What we have already received. Now the Main and Body of the Blessing God has already vouchsafed us, is the unexpected Deliverance of our Nation from an utter ruin, ready to befall our Laws, our Liberties and our Religion, from Calamities, the greatest that can happen either to Wise Men, or Good Christians; an Arbitrary Government, and an Idolatrous Worship: And this wonderful Mercy has been sweetened and improved by many concurring Circumstances that attended it; it was wrought for us by the Hand of Providence, without the blood of our Inhabitants, or the dismal Ravages of our Country, by an Intestine War; it surprised us when we had lost even our hopes, and came whence the most Vigilant of our Enemies never suspected it. It has been maintained against Superior Force and United Counsels abroad, and against turbulent Spirits and divided Parties at home; and it has pleased God wonderfully to preserve to us the Instrument he has made use of for this great end, and to deliver him from open Force and private Conspiracies; to give such success to his Arms, as to put a stop to a Power generally thought Irresistible, to convince us by a late Signal Demonstration, that it is declining, and to give us a rational Prospect of what we so much desire, the Settlement and Establishment of this Deliverance by an Honourable and a secure Peace.  
These are very moving Encouragements to make our Addresses to that God, who has done so great things for us, and should persuade us to all possible Demonstrations of Duty and Gratitude, though we had nothing more to expect; but his Wisdom has thought fit to keep us yet in expectation, and under a Necessity of having recourse to him for our own Interest, which may further influence us to a Devout attendance on his Mercy; and this will appear by reflecting,  
(2.) Upon what we yet want. It has pleased Almighty God to deliver us from a state of Misery, into which we were just falling; but he has not yet blessed us with a state of Confidence and Security, which we still wish for, and labour after. The Rod does not seem to be wholly out of our sight; we are frequently in Fears and doubtful Expectations, and solicitous under the Apprehension, that what we dread may still return, and that the Evil is rather put off for a time, than fully subdued. The Force of our Enemies is yet too considerable, to be trusted where there is so little Justice to manage it, and we cannot think we have any tolerable degree of Security, whilst the Peace of our Land, and of all Christendom shall depend upon the bare Will of one single Person, and of one, whose Faith in Treaties and Compacts has not yet been accounted Inviolable. We are not free from Domestic Enemies, who endeavour to disturb our Peace, and obstruct those Counsels and weaken those Hands, that work for the Public Safety; and we have very considerable difficulties to struggle with, to secure our Commerce, and heal those Grievances that disturb the Minds of our People, and render them less active, or less united in the Support of our Government. And besides, what gives the most dismal Prospect is, that we labour under a very great Corruption of manners, and our National Vices are so very heinous, and so plainly visible, that it gives us just fears, that if Providence be now expecting what our fruitfulness will be under past Mercies, in order to determine the Event of things; it is like to be (which God avert) rather what is wished for by our Enemies, than ourselves.  
These are things of the most weighty Consequence, and in which we are all most nearly concerned; and therefore 'tis with very good reason, that we are now assembled to humble ourselves deeply under the Sense of our Corruption, the last of the Evils I mentioned; that we may be in the fitter preparation to implore the Blessing of God, upon those Counsels, which are employed for obviating of the rest.  
Let us then out of a deep Sense of our manifold Provoca 〈…〉 r selves before the Throne of Grace, and confess with shame that we are a Sinful People, and unworthy of that Mercy that watches over us, that we have merited the Severity of God's Wrath, and that 'tis of his undeserved Grace that we are yet in a Capacity to send up our united Prayers for our Preservation. This Humiliation may prevail with a Merciful God, to hear our Cry, and graciously to answer our Addresses, by Blessing the Consultations of this present Parliament, and by directing them to such means, as may prove most effectual for the removing our Pressures, and securing our Happiness and Peace.  
Now that we may not obstruct the Gracious Designs of Providence for our Good, nor by want of a due Management of ourselves, prevent God's granting our requests; let us  
4. Inquire what conduct will be proper for us, in order to obtain that Blessing which we seek of God in this Solemnity; and that (1.) more Particularly with relation to our Counsellors themselves, and (2.) in General with respect to the whole Nation, for whose safety they consult.  
I. Now to prepare our Counsellors themselves for this Blessing, it seems very requisite;  
1. That they would reflect that in our present Circumstances we depend upon their Wisdom and Prudence, as well for the security of those advances which God has already enabled us to make, as for such a further Progress, as may secure us against those Evils, which we have lately felt, and still fear. That the Crisis is such, that they can scarce act within the Limits of Indifference, but must either gain the Honour of Perfecting, or the Reproach of Spoiling the most Glorious Attempt, that has been known in this Part of the World, may be in any Generation. And that they would for this reason conscientiously use their best Endeavours to answer the Expectation of their Country, and convince the World that they have not been the Authors of idle Prayers; but that they would apply their most serious Thoughts, and their utmost Diligence) to further what they pray for, and to find out such Means as may be by God's Blessing most effectual, for the accomplishing the great work we are engaged in.  
2. That they would consider that should there any Mischief flow from an unfaithful Discharge of their Duty, they must be one day accountable for it; and that, not only to their Country, whose Experience will at last give Judgement upon their Counsels, but to God himself, who is a severe Revenger of all Breach of Trust, and whose subordinate Ministers all they are, who are employed in the Government or Direction of a People.  
Such a Reflection as this will be apt to discover, that it is a sinful, as well as an imprudent thing, to govern those Debates by the Tendency or Interest of a Party, which are designed for the public Peace and Welfare, or to clog and retard those good Provisions which are of evident necessity, by distant Surmises, or present Delays; and that 'tis the Duty of all such as consult in our public Councils, to do it with that Uprightness and Sincerity, as becomes those who are fully persuaded, that there is a God who sees the Spring of their Advice, and will Judge them accordingly, that they who take Counsel as well as they who sit in Judgement do it for the Lord and not for Men, and that 'tis of him they must at last receive their final Censure or Reward.  
3. As a Natural Consequence of such reflections, that they would resolve to have respect to the Glory of God, and the Public Good, in all their Debates, that they would endeavour to divest themselves of all those Passions that usually trouble, and retard their Work, and cast away the thoughts of Private Interest, Ambition, or Resentment from their Consultations; that they would set themselves with Calmness, Industry, and Application to the Dispatch of those Important Matters that lie before them, and that they would have a Just regard to his Providence who advances them to this Charge; and to the end for which they Assemble; and so, not guide themselves by Humane Passions, but steer that Even and Unbyass'd Course, to which the Honour of God, the Obligations of Conscience, and the Happiness of their Country direct them.  
Such Reflections and Resolutions, highly become Persons in so Honourable a Station, and upon so Important a Conjuncture; and blessed be God, there is a fair Appearance that they have been considered, and have had a due Influence, by the happy beginning which shows itself in the Weight and Unanimity of the first Debates and Votes of this Session. These give us very promising Presages of a happy Progress, and a comfortable hope that God will hear our present Prayers, and continue and improve the same good Dispositions to a joyful Conclusion: Which that we may not obstruct by our own Unworthiness, I proceed,  
II. To consider in the last place what Conduct more generally becomes us of this Land, in order to influence Heaven to give a Blessing to the Consultations of this present Parliament.  
Now the great Preparation that God requires of us, to fit us for this, or for any other Mercy, is to amend our Lives; if our Fast have not this Influence upon us, it will have no Influence upon Heaven, except it be to hasten the Judgements which we pretend to deprecate. For how can we expect that God should remember it, to make us happier, if the thoughts of it are lost to us, when the performance is over, and we never reflect upon it to make ourselves better? This every single Person should apply to his Conscience, and immediately begin the private Reformation of his own Life, in order to promote the public One.  
But the more General one, is a proper consideration in this Solemnity, and our Corruptions are so general, that there is scarce any serious Man, but sees the Necessity of it, and wishes for it; God is visibly and universally provoked among us, by National Vices and Public Wickedness, which good Men daily see the increase of, but know not how to remedy. We have lost the Seriousness and the Sobriety of our own Ancestors, and outdo our Neighbour Nations in Vices and Follies; Religion and Virtue are almost every where Neglected or Derided, and even Honour and Humanity fallen to a very low Ebb. Base Interests and Shameful Pleasures have so generally obliterated the Sense of Public Good, even among those, whose distinction should make them value it, that 'tis hard to say where there was to be found in any Age, a more depraved and degenerate People: 'Tis too plain we do not deserve the Mercies we pray for, God grant our Unworthiness do not so far prevail, as to hinder their descending.  
'Tis without doubt a very fit Consideration, for those who have the Government of us, to seek for some means or other to oppose those growing Corruptions that disgrace us on Earth, and render us unacceptable to Heaven. That boldness wherewith Atheism attacks the very Being of a God, that Liberty which Deists take to despise, and sometimes to ridicule the Mysteries and Revelations of our Holy Religion, and that general Profaneness and Contempt of things Sacred, which is a Public Demonstration of the decay of Piety among us.  
But these are too weighty to be distinctly handled in the remaining part of my present Discourse, I shall therefore leave them to your Private Reflections, and shall now only instance in two or three Particulars, more immediately relating to our Present Circumstances, in which many among us seem to behave themselves unworthy of the Deliverance God has wrought for us; and these I shall briefly caution against, and so conclude.  
1. The first is an Insensibility of what God has already done for us, and a Forgetfulness of our former State; what we would then have given, and what we would have suffered to have purchased one much short of the present. The thoughts of these things are among too many vanished with the Condition that suggested them, and now no Pressures are thought comparable to the present.  
2. Impatience in the Expectation of that Settlement which we so much desire▪ we are weary of waiting God's leisure, and fancy the Fruit is too long in ripening; we press faster than the Nature of things will bear, and are angry that all those Evils are not removed in a few years by the Conduct of our present Prince, which our own Stupidity suffered to grow, almost past Cure, in the many ones of his Predecessors.  
3. Murmuring and Discontent at the Charge and the Losses that attend our Deliverance, and must be felt before it be perfectly Established: Whereas it ought to be considered that so great a Birth must have some Pangs, and that the Nature of the thing is such, that it cannot be perfected without some Trouble, some Charge, and some Misfortunes too. But that the Production will abundantly recompense what we suffer; and our Pains would soon be forgotten for Joy, if it were once fully brought forth, and in our Arms.  
These and such like Dispositions are very unbecoming the Circumstances we are now in, and may justly provoke God to blast his Favours, to those that behave so unworthily under them: And therefore let us out of a due Sense both of what we have deserved, and what we have received, praise God that we are now a People, and wait patiently for what his Goodness has still in store for us. Let us reflect that it is not a small thing, that the Torrent of our Enemy's Conquests has a stop to it, and that the Tide is turned upon them; that we are out of fear of their Invasions, and at Peace among ourselves, that our own Nation is free from the Ravages and Distractions of War, and that our Enemy's Cities, and Coasts, and Frontiers now feel those Severities which they exercised in many Places, and threatened in more. These are plain Signs of the care that Providence has had of us, and the Blessings it still designs for us, if we do not by our own Murmuring and Impatience stifle that in the Birth.  
Let us then be ashamed of being insensible of God's Protection, even while we feel it; and subsist by it; and let not our Impatience for what is to come, destroy the Sense and Memory of what is past; let not our thoughts crowd faster than the Nature of Human Affairs will permit, but let us thankfully enjoy what we have, bless God for the Hopes he gives us of better, and with steady Endeavours and Dependence on his Providence wait for its arrival.  
Neither let us diminish the Value of our Deliverance, by Murmuring at the Expense and Troubles that attend it, but let us ●●●●owledge that God's Judgements have been 〈◊〉 in what we have suffered, and that the P●●●● we have paid, how great soever it be, is 〈…〉 o than the Mercies it has purchased; 〈◊〉 no Difficulties make us undervalue the Advantages we enjoy, or the Blessings we expect; o 〈…〉 e ma●●● Pretence to thwart the good 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉, by rendering us negligent, unactive, or qu●●●●lous; but let us conclude, that we do not ●●●serve to share in the Happiness, if we do not think our Charge well applied, and our 〈◊〉 well employed in promoting it.  
In one Word, Let us prep 〈…〉 a Serious Conversion for the 〈◊〉 we wish for, but do not deserve, and 〈◊〉 patient Continuance in 〈◊〉 incline ●●e God of Heaven to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to preserve the Instrument of our Deliverance, and Complete his Work, to give the Direction of his Spirit to those that Con●●●●, and Success to the Arms of those that Fight for us, and to Crown all at last with an Honourable, a Secure, and a Lasting Peace, which, with Grace to make a good use of it, may GOD in his due time Grant.  
FINIS.