against thee, O Lord, and against thine anointed, our Sovereign under thee, and against thy people that call upon thy name: but thou hast cast them down from time to time, and scattered them abroad, for thy mercy endureth for ever. They have taken wicked counsels together, saying, None shall be able to espy it: but thou hast opened them, and brought them out of darkness into light; for thou art God alone which destroyest the wisdom of the wise, and castest away the understanding of the prudent: therefore do we worship thee and praise thy holy Name, rejoicing continually in thy strength and thy salvation; for thou art the glory of our power, and by thy favour and loving kindness are we preserved. Our shield and defence belongeth to thee (O Lord of hosts), and our gracious Prince to thee, O thou Holy one of Israel. And because thou hast loved her for thy name's sake, and the glory of thy kingdom upon the earth, and us also thy people to whom thou hast given her and many excellent blessings together with her righteous government, thou hast many times also preserved and kept her, as the apple of thine eye, from the mischievous imaginations and cruel hands of thine and her enemies, and from the secret practices of those that have endeavoured to rise up against her. Thou (O Lord) hast preserved her Honour from the ignominy, her life from the cruelty, and her Crown from the tyranny of the wicked, her estate from ruin, her peace from disturbance, her kingdom and her people from being a prey to the malignant. The foot of pride hath come against us, but the hand of iniquity hath not cast us down. Therefore do we rejoice before thee, and be glad in thee, yea, our songs do we make of thy name, O thou most Highest, and will be ever setting forth thy praise and thy glory, thy might and thy mercy, from one generation to another. Only, O Lord, forsake us not in this time of our age, until we have shewed thy strength to this generation, and thy power to all that are yet for to come. And albeit, if thou, Lord, in thy displeasure do mark among us all what is done amiss, there is none that can abide it, yet forsake us not, nor leave us, O God of our salvation. Give courage and constancy to our Sovereign to persevere in perils: prudence and wisdom to her Council, wisely to foresee and discover the subtil sleights and dangers of all enemies: faithfulness and fortitude to the Nobles of the For land, duty and obedience to us all that are under her. give also, we most humbly pray thee thorow thy fatherly kindness in Jesus Christ, the multitude of our sins and transgressions against thy divine majesty, and thy commandments, and according to the multitude of thy mercies do away all our offences, that the light and candle of thy servant Elizabeth, our gracious Queen and Governor, which is our life in the light of thy countenance, and the breath of our nostrils, be not put out, but may still shine and burn bright, illumined by the beams of thy heavenly grace. Protect her (O Lord), we still beseech thee, in safety, save her in majesty, keep her in peace, guide her in counsel, and defend her in danger bless her, Lord, in all temporal and celestial blessings in Christ, that she may still bless thee: for in death no man remembereth thee, and who shall give thee thanks in the pit? Detect and reveal still the foundations and buildings of all treasons and conspiracies, both at home and abroad; and herein (O Lord) either convert the wicked hearts and secret conceits from their wicked imaginations, or confound their devices, and make them as the untimely fruit that they never see the sun. Say (O Lord) to her soul, as sometime thou didst to Abraham the father of the Faithful, I am thy buckler and thy exceeding great reward; and, as thou didst sometime to the soul of thy servant David, I am thy salvation, with my holy oil have I anointed thee. Therefore my hand shall hold thee fast, and mine arm shall stablish thee. The enemy shall not be able to do thee violence, the son of wickedness shall not hurt thee. I will beat down thy foes before thy face, and plague them that hate thee. Hear, Lord, and save us, O King of heaven, when we call upon thee and so shall we all, both Prince and people, dwell still under the shadow of thy wings, protected by thy power, and preserved by thy providence, and ordered by thy governance, to thy everlasting praise, and our unspeakable comfort in Jesus Christ, to whom with thee, O Father and God of all consolation, and the holy Spirit of sanctification, be all honour and glory both now and for ever. Amen. A PRAYER set forth by authority to be used for the xxxvII. prosperous success of her Majesty's Forces and Navy. Nor unto us (O Lord) not unto us, but unto thy. name give the glory, by beholding of us thy servants graciously at this time, against whom the proud are risen up, and the enemies have conspired and banded themselves. It is thy might and Majesty alone (O Lord) that putteth down all the ungodly of the earth like dross, that stilleth the raging of the Sea, and the noise of his waves, and the madness of the people, that breaketh the bow and knappeth the spear in sunder, and burneth the Chariots in the fire. Arise then (O Lord) to our defence, and break the power and counsels of thine and our enemies, and make them like those people that became as the chaff before the wind, when they conspired and went out against those whose shield and buckler, whose castle of defence, whose God and Saviour thou wast from everlasting. And bless, good Lord, (we most humbly beseech thee) the people of our land provided to withstand their tyranny, and to stand for the just defence of thy servants and people of this kingdom. Encourage all our hearts (O heavenly King and Prince of power) with joy and gladness in thy saving health, and the hands of our armies with strength and constancy. And as thou art the God of hosts, so bless our hosts and companies by sea and by land, by giving them victory in battle and strength in conflict to overcome. So shall we confess to the praise of thy Name, that it is not our bow nor our sword that hath saved us, but thy holy hand and outstretched arm. And all the world shall know, that it is thy favour that prospereth, and thy power that overcometh, and thy blessing that preserveth thy Church from hostility and tyranny, and us thy people from destruction. Hear us (O Lord our defender) for the glory of thy holy Name, through Jesus Christ our blessed Saviour and Redeemer. Amen. Imprinted at London by the Depu- ties of Christopher Barker, Printer to the Queenes most excellent Maieftie. Anno Domini. 1596. XXXVIII. A1 Prayer made by the queen at the departure of the fleet. MOST omnipotent: Maker and guider of all our worlds' mass, that only searchest and fadomest the bottom of all our hearts' conceits, and in them seest the true original of all our actions intended thou that by thy foresight dost truly discern, how no malice of revenge, nor quittance of injury, nor desire of bloodshed, nor greediness of lucre, hath bred the resolution of our now set out Army, but a heedful care and wary watch, that no neglect of foes, nor over surety of harm, might breed either danger to us, or glory to them: These being grounds, thou that didst inspire the mind, we humbly beseech with bended knees, prosper the work, and with best forewinds guide the journey, speed the victory, and make the return the advancement of thy glory, the triumph of their fame, and surety to the realm, with the least loss of English blood. To these devout petitions, Lord, give thou thy blessed grant2. [1The queen composed two prayers, one for her own use, the other to be daily used in the fleet during the expedition. The former may be seen in Birch, ii. 18, with a letter to Essex from sir Robert Cecil.' Lingard, Vol. vii. p. 324. It has been printed also, (under different titles, and not without variations,) in Sorocold and Strype, the latter (Annals, Vol. IV. p. 216.) supposing it to belong to 1595, if not to 1594, whilst Sorocold, who lived so much nearer the time, with more correctness refers it expressly to 1596. See p. 472.] [ The two prayers, which follow, are unconnected with the object of this volume: still, as being attributed to Elizabeth, their insertion, appears allowable. The first is her prayer just before proceeding to her coronation, the 14th day of January, 1559. Holinshed (p. 1180), and Heylin (Elizabeth, p. 106), have printed it. The second, which exists in the Bibl. Lans. 116. art. 26, indorsed the Q. prayer after a progress, Aug. 15, [1574], being then a Bristow' [Bristol], is likewise in the State Paper Office, (Domestic Elizabeth,) whence the present copy was procured. Zurich Letters, p. 480. HER highness, being placed in her chariot within the Tower of London, lifted up her eyes to heaven, and said: O Lord almighty, and everlasting God, I give thee most hearty thanks, that thou hast been so merciful unto me, as to spare me to behold this joyful day. And I knowledge, that thou hast dealt as wonderfully with me, as thou didst with thy true and faithful servant Daniel the prophet, whom thou deliveredst out of the den, from the cruelty of the greedy raging Lions: even so was I overwhelmed, and only by thee delivered. To thee therefore be only thanks, honour and praise for ever. Amen. The Queenes Prayer. I RENDER unto Thee (O mercifull and heavenly Father) most humble and hearty thanks for thy manifold mercies so abundantly bestowed upon me, as well for my creation, preservation, regeneration, and all other thy benefites and great mercies exhibited in Christ Jesus, but especially for thy mightie protection and defence over me, in preserving me in this long and dangerous journey, as also from the beginning of my life unto this present hower, from all such perills as I should most justly have fallen into for mine offences, haddest Thou not, O Lord God, of thy great goodness and mercy preserved and kept me. Continue this thy favorable goodness toward me, I beseech Thee, that I may still likewise be defended from all adversity both bodily and ghostly: but specially, O Lord, keep me in the soundness of thy faith, fear, and love, that I never fall away from Thee, but continue in thy service all the daies of my life. Stretch forth, O Lord most mightie, thy right hand over me, and defend me from mine enemys, that they never prevayle against me. Give me, O Lord, the assistance of thy Spiritt, and comfort of thy Grace, truly to know Thee, intirely to love Thee, and assuredly to trust in Thee. And that as I do acknowledge to have received the Government of this Church and Kingdome at thy hand, and to hold the same of Thee, so graunt me grace, O Lord, that in the end I may render up and present the same unto Thee, a peaceable, quiett, and well ordered State and kingdome, as also a perfect reformed Church, to the furtherance of thy Glory. And to my subjects, O Lord God, graunt, I beseech thee, faithfull and obedient hearts, willingly to submit themselves to the obedience of thy Word and Commandments, that we altogether being thankfull unto Thee for thy benefitts received, may laud and magnifie thy Holy Name world without end. Graunt this, O mercifull Father, for Jesus Christes sake our only Mediatour and Advocate. Amen.] |