o watch him; for then it might not be in the power of
him and his other friends to secure him from taking the Covenant, or
Sequestration: for which reasons he did vary somewhat from the strict
rules of the Rubric. I will set down the very words of confession
which he used, as I have it under his own hand; and tell the Reader,
that all his other variations were as little, and much like to this.

[Sidenote: A Confession]

HIS CONFESSION.

"O Almighty God and merciful Father, we, thy unworthy servants, do
with shame and sorrow confess, that we have all our life long gone
astray out of thy ways like lost sheep; and that, by following
too much the vain devices and desires of our own hearts, we have
grievously offended against thy holy laws, both in thought, word, and
deed; we have many times left undone those good duties which we might
and ought to have done; and we have many times done those evils,
when we might have avoided them, which we ought not to have done.
We confess, O Lord! that there is no health at all, nor help in
any creature to relieve us; but all our hope is in thy mercy, whose
justice we have by our sins so far provoked. Have mercy therefore upon
us, O Lord! have mercy upon us miserable offenders: spare us, good
God, who confess our faults, that we perish not; but, according to
thy gracious promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord,
restore us upon our true repentance into thy grace and favour. And
grant, O most merciful Father! for his sake, that we henceforth study
to serve and please thee by leading a godly, righteous, and a sober
life, to the glory of thy holy name, and the eternal comfort of our
own souls, through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Amen.

[Sidenote: Wise submission]

In these disturbances of tearing his servicebook, a neighbour came on
a Sunday, after the Evening service was ended, to visit and condole
with him for the affront offered by the soldiers. To whom he spake
with a composed patience, and said; "God hath restored me to my
desired privacy, with my wife and children; where I hoped to have met
with quietness, and it proves not so: but I will labour to be pleased,
because God, on whom I depend, sees it is not fit for me to be quiet.
I praise him, that he hath by his grace prevented me from making
shipwreck of a good conscience to maintain me in a place of great
reputation and profit: and though my condition be such, that I need
the last, yet I submit; for God did not se