A PRAYER, OR PSALM, 



MADE BY THE LORD BACON, 



CHANCELLOR OF ENGLAND. 



MOST gracious Lord God, my merciful Father, from 

 my youth up, my Creator, my Redeemer, my Com 

 forter. Thou, O Lord, soundest and searchest the 

 depths and secrets of all hearts : thou acknowledgest 

 the upright of heart: thou judgest the hypocrite: 

 thou ponderest men s thoughts and doings as in a 

 balance : thou measurest their intentions as with a 

 line : vanity and crooked ways cannot be hid from 

 thee. 



Remember, O Lord, how thy servant hath walked 

 before thee : remember what I have first sought, and 

 what hath been principal in my intentions. I have 

 loved thy assemblies : I have mourned for the divi 

 sions of thy Church : I have delighted in the bright 

 ness of thy sanctuary. This vine which thy right 

 hand hath planted in this nation, I have ever prayed 

 unto thee, that it might have the first and the latter 

 rain ; and that it might stretch her branches to the 

 seas and to the floods. The state and bread of the 

 poor and oppressed have been precious in mine eyes : 

 I have hated all cruelty and hardness of heart : I 

 have, though in a despised weed, procured the good 



