One would have thought that at such a time the hearts of our forefathers
would be full of nothing but hope and joy, content and thankfulness. And
yet it was not so. One cannot help seeing that in the prayer-book, which
was put together in those days, there is a great deal of fear and
sadness. You see it especially in the Litany, which was to be said not
only on Sundays, but on Wednesdays and Fridays also. Some people think
the Litany painfully sad--too sad. It was not too sad for the time in
which it was written. Our forefathers, three hundred years ago, meant
what they said when they cried to God to have mercy upon them, miserable
sinners, and not to remember their offences nor the offences of their
forefathers, &c. They meant, and had good reason to mean, what they
said, when they cried to God that those evils which the craft and
subtilty of the devil and men were working against them might be brought
to nought, and by the providence of His goodness be dispersed--to arise
and help and deliver them for His name's sake and for His honour; and to
turn from them, for the glory of His name, all those evils which they
righteously had deserved.
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