Manuscript description

[Fol. i r is blank. Fols i v and ii r indicate that Ferdinando Davies presented the volume to Elizabeth Hastings, the wife of the seventh earl of Huntingdon, in 1676. Fol. i v contains the following note: ""May it please your Honour I think it is no presumption to present your Ladyship with the Collection of that Gallant Lady whose name you bear you may like them the better for that they were hers, however they are to be liked from her for that they direct the way to Paradise which is heartily desired here and hereafter to your Ladyship By Madam Your Honour's most humble servant Ferdinando Davys"" . Fol. ii r reads, ""These For the now Right Honourable Elizabeth Countess of Huntingdon July 20th 1676"". Fol. ii v is blank. A scrap page is included with the manuscript with the following note dated June 29, 1998: "This book is addressed to Elizabeth, Countess of Huntingdon, wife of Theophilus , 7t Earl in 1676. However, it was apparently collected by or for Elizabeth [Stanley] the wife of Henry the 5th Earl. Hence it was written much earlier than 1676, as she died in 1634. C. Patterson". Another note in a different hand adds, "Copy of Ellesmere MS 6871, book of private devotions collected by Elizabeth [Stanley], wife of Henry, 5th Earl of Huntingdon, in 1633."]

[Fols i r and ii v are blank.]

Certain Collections of the right honourable Elizabeth late Countess of Huntingdon for her own private use

[This section contains biblical extracts with marginal biblical references. In contrast to HM 15369 and EL 6871, the date 1633 does not appear after this title. Folio 1r of Hastings Religious, Box 2, Folder 8 may have contained the date 1633 but that page is now torn.]

Thy prayers and thine alms deeds are come up for a memorial before God

...

and the Lord shall raise him up, and if he have committed sins they shall be forgiven him

[Marginal biblical references appear beside the biblical extracts, including beside the first line (Acts 10:4) and the last lines (James 5:13-15).]

Psalms of supplication

Unto thee oh Lord do I lift up my soul

...

Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, and establish me with thy free spirit

[Marginal biblical references appear beside the biblical extracts, including beside the first line (Psalm 25:1) and the last lines (Psalm 51:12).]

Eleven prayers, some untitled

[Two of the eleven prayers contain marginal biblical references: msItems 3.6 and 3.7.]

Diverse godly prayers

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart be always acceptable in thy sight, oh Lord my strength and my redeemer

[Psalm 19:14.]

A morning prayer

Oh eternal God, and merciful father which art the light which no man can attain unto

...

our saviour Jesus Christ, to whom with the father and the holy spirit be all honour and glory for evermore

Amen

An untitled prayer

I humbly beseech thee oh Lord, let my life be such as in it I may glorify thee

...

that I may be justified and be at peace with thee through our Lord Jesus Christ

Amen

An untitled prayer

I render unto thee oh Lord all humble and hearty thanks for all thy benefits and blessings

...

unfeignedly to beg remission of what is past and preservation for the time to come

Amen

An untitled prayer

Oh Lord God, father everlasting and full of pity, I most miserable and wretched sinner do utterly despair of salvation

...

to serve thee in righteousness and holiness all the days of my life, by the assistance of thy holy spirit

Amen

An untitled prayer

Oh my God and saviour if I come to thee only because thou hast said if ye shall ask anything in my name I will do it

...

and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil

Amen

[This prayer contains marginal biblical references (including beside the first line: John 14:14) and concludes with the Lord's Prayer.]

A prayer before the reading or hearing of the word

Oh my God forgive I most humbly beseech thee my want of attention in hearing, my negligence in reading, and my want of retention when I have heard thy word read or preached

...

but let thy word take deep root in my heart to bring forth fruit

Amen

[This prayer contains marginal biblical references, including beside the final line (Matthew 13:23).]

An untitled prayer

Although oh Lord I am not sufficiently humbled under the burthen of my sins

...

and let the weight of them bruise, but not break me

[This prayer is untitled in this manuscript, but it appears under the heading ""Prayers"" in HM 15369 and EL 6871. In Hastings Religious, Box 2, Folder 8 this prayer is not only untitled, it also runs directly from the previous item, leaving no space at all between them to indicate that this is a new prayer.]

A prayer before the receiving of the holy sacrament

I most humbly beseech thee oh Lord that it may please thy divine majesty

...

and receive this thy blessed mystery comfortably to the refreshing of my sick soul

Amen

[In HM 15369 and EL 6871 this prayer is msItem 3.11.]

Prayers

Oh my God I confess thou art slack in executing judgment, slow to anger, and of long sufferance

...

I humbly ask pardon for these my weak and imperfect prayers. Our father etc.

[In HM 15369 and EL 6871 this prayer is msItem 3.9, and it is the second prayer under the heading ""Prayers"".]

An untitled prayer

Blessed Lord grant me wisdom that I may know thee, that I may fear thee, that I may love thee

...

and grant me grace to lead an holy and upright life the residue of my days

[In HM 15369 and EL 6871 this prayer is msItem 3.10.]

Preparation before the receiving of the holy sacrament. How to consider our own unworthiness taken out of the book of the practice of piety and the holy scripture

[This item is in three parts: the first quotes from Lewis Bayly's The practice of piety, the second quotes from the Bible, and the third meditates upon those scriptural extracts.]

A man shall best perceive his own unworthiness by examining his life according to the ten commandments

...

by whose sacrifices we are healed, even Jesus Christ the Son of God

[The printed book from which Hastings is quoting is Lewis Bayly's extremely popular The practice of piety (the subtitle is Directing a Christian how to walk that he may please God). It seems to have been first printed in 1612 but it was reprinted throughout the seventeenth century. The extract is copied directly from Bayly, with a few small variants, from his section ""How to consider thine owne vnworthinesse"". This appears on pp. 564-565 (sigs Bb6v-Bb7r) of the 1630 edition, and is the second point in chapter 22, ""Holy and deuout Meditations of the worthy and reuerent receiuing of the Lords Supper"" (pp. 522-565).]

For I have received of the Lord that which I also delivered unto you

...

and drink the cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord

[The second section of Hastings's transcription comprises biblical extracts from I Corinthians 11: 23-27 (though the marginal reference lists the verses as 23-29).]

For the due performance of this work of preparation before the receiving of the holy sacrament

...

to be partaker of that heavenly banquet, and to thirst after the spiritual food of thy soul? Art thou so stupid?

[The third section provides commentary on I Corinthians 11 verses 27, 29, 28, 31, and 23, and further commentary on our unworthiness.]

The doctrine of the Lord's supper taken out of Mr A H book

None can receive worthily that doth not prepare himself carefully

...

fear and love we bear to God cast away such sins as we know by ourselves

[The printed book is Arthur Hildersham (or Hildersam)'s The Doctrine of Communicating worthily in the Lords Supper (1609). A marginal note mentions that Hastings is using the first impression. Marginal biblical references are used. The following page numbers are mentioned in the margins: pp. 2, 3, 4, 6, 13, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21, 36-41; a reference to pages 64-71 is embedded in the text. Some of Hastings's transcription differs significantly from the printed version. For example she has dispensed with the question and answer format, and she has taken out the first, second, and third structures and turned them into continuous prose, with some exceptions. For a discussion of Hildersham's rocky ecclesiastical career (due to his nonconformist sympathies), which involved preaching at Ashby-de-la-Zouch, see Bryan D. Spinks's article on "Hildersham, Arthur (1563-1632)" in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. James Knowles, in his Oxford Dictionary of National Biography article on Elizabeth Hastings's husband Henry Hastings, fifth earl of Huntingdon, mentions that Henry was a patron of Hildersham's into the 1620s.]

Two meditations on the misery of man

Of the misery of man. The 1 consideration in how miserable an estate we are in by nature

We were in the loins of our first parents created in the state of innocency in righteousness and true holiness

...

to lay upon us the curse due to sin, the angels fell and did not escape it

[Marginal biblical references appear in this meditation. The title is written with a different pen.]

The 2d consideration, what moved almighty God to elect us to salvation

The angels fell, and man fell; he spared not the angels, but chose the seed of Abraham

...

nothing in us, we are all sold under sin, nothing but thy infinite love

[Marginal biblical references appear in this meditation.]

Extracts from the bible

[ A brief meditation, written in smaller print and crossed out, appears at the end of msItem 7.6. One item, msItem 7.8, contains brief meditations after most of the biblical quotations.]

Of man's life

All flesh is grass, and the glory of it as the flower of the grass

...

he heapeth up riches and knoweth not who shall gather them

[Marginal biblical references appear beside the biblical extracts, including beside the first line (Isaiah 40:6) and the final lines (Psalm 39:6).]

Psalms of judgment

The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked shall perish

...

to cut off the remembrance of them from of the earth

[Marginal biblical references appear beside the biblical extracts, including beside the first line (Psalm 1:6) and the final lines (Psalm 34:16).]

Lamentations

We have transgressed and rebelled, thou hast not pardoned

...

It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth

[Marginal biblical references appear beside the biblical extracts, including beside the first line (Lamentations 3:42) and the last line (Lamentations 3:27).]

The reward of mercy

Blessed is he that considereth the poor the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble

...

The Lord will strengthen him in the bed of languishing, thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness

[Marginal biblical references appear beside the biblical extracts, including beside the first line (Psalm 41:1) and the last lines (Psalm 41:3). The first two words of the title are written with a different pen.]

God's love to those that seek him

Call upon me in thy day of trouble, I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me

...

for the spirit would fail before me, and the souls which I have made

[Marginal biblical references appear beside the biblical extracts, including beside the first line (Psalm 50:15) and the final lines (Isaiah 57:16). The title is written in a different pen; msItems 7.4 and 7.5 ran together when they were first written, then the scribe returned to add the title to this section in order to follow the other manuscripts.]

Psalms of comfort

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the council of the ungodly

...

The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them

[Marginal biblical references appear beside the biblical extracts, including beside the first line (Psalm 1:1) and the last lines (Psalm 34.7). The title ""Psalms of comfort"" is a running head at the top of each page. On fol. 20v three extracts have an X through them. A brief meditation, written in smaller print and crossed out, appears at the end of the biblical extracts. It begins, ""Therefore it grieveth me not that I am afflicted"." ]

Justification and salvation is by Christ only

Neither is there salvation in any other for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved

...

who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us

[Marginal biblical references appear beside the biblical extracts, including beside the first line (Acts 4:12) and the last lines (Romans 8:34). The words ""and salvation is"" in the title have been added with a different pen.]

Christ the object of faith

Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith

...

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends

[This section contains brief meditations on most of the biblical extracts. Marginal biblical references appear beside the biblical extracts, including beside the first line (Hebrews 12:2) and the last lines (the reference says just 13, but it is to John 15:13).]

The promises of God, and who they are that have any interest in them

Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

...

because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him, for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you

[Marginal biblical references appear beside the biblical extracts, including beside the first line (Matthew 5:3) and the last lines (John 14:17). After the first four words of the title the words ""to all that believe in him"" have been crossed out with a different pen and the rest of the title added.]

Notes taken out of Dr Andrewes's book of sermons Bishop of Winchester of the resurrection. 1 Peter 1.3.4. leaf 493

Blessed be God, and the father of our Lord Jesus Christ

...

Such is this: not erga aliquos vestrum, but erga vos

[The printed source is Lancelot Andrewes, XCVI. Sermons by the Right Honorable and Reverend Father in God, Lancelot Andrewes, late Lord Bishop of Winchester (1629). Hastings has copied a passage from pp. 500-501 (sig. Yy6v-Zz1r), noting p. 500 in the margin, with no obvious omissions or alterations. It appears in the section ""Sermons of the Resurrection, preached upon Easter-day"" as number 11 (pp. 493-504; sigs Yy4r-Zz2v) and is headed, ""A Sermon Preached before the King's Maiestie, at Whitehall, on the XXXI. of March, A.D. MDCXVI. being Easter Day."" The meditation opens with a transcription of the biblical verse I Peter 1:3-4. Andrewes's first words are ""We pass now to the inheritance"". Early in his career, in 1586, Andrewes was appointed chaplain to Henry Hastings, third Earl of Huntingdon, a man noted for nonconformist beliefs (see P.E. McCollough, ""Andrewes, Lancelot (1555-1626)"", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography). In this manuscript this item is numbered "1" in the margin.]

Of the church

The invisible church is the company of those whom God hath chosen to eternal life at all times and in all places

...

The impure are those in which the word of God and his sacraments are not rightly administered

[This passage consists of five statements about the church. In Hastings Religious, Box 2, Folder 8 this meditation is msItem 10.1. In this manuscript this item is numbered "3" in the margin.]

Of death

We must be mindful of death, for though we forget death, yet death will not forget us

...

the last parteth both soul and body from God's presence forever

[This section contains two meditations. In HM 15369 and EL 6871 this meditation is msItem 11.4, the final item in the manuscript. In Hastings Religious, Box 2, Folder 8 this meditation is msItem 10.5, also the final item in the manuscript. In this manuscript this item is numbered "7" in the margin.]

Dr Hall's meditations, and vows

It were better a man should want work than that great works should want a man answerable to their weight

...

but if I speak to a cold Christian, he cannot understand me

[The printed book is Joseph Hall's Meditations and vowes divine and morall (1605). Hastings has copied out 10 sayings from this source. Hall was born in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, where the Hastings family had their seat, and educated at the radically protestant grammar school there (Richard A. McCabe, ""Hall, Joseph (1574-1656)"", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography). In HM 15369 and EL 6871 these extracts are msItem 10, and in EL 6871 their title is simply ""Doctor Hall's meditations"". In Hastings Religious, Box 2, Folder 8 these extracts are msItem 9. In this manuscript this item is numbered "2" in the margin.]

Meditations (and one prayer) on the topics of repentance, fasting, and affliction

Of repentance

Without repentance no salvation. God poureth not out the oil of mercy but into the vessel of a contrite heart

...

which he grant who is able to save our souls, having redeemed us by his precious blood

Amen

[This section contains two short meditations and a prayer. In HM 15369 and EL 6871 these meditations and prayer are msItem 11.1, and in Hastings Religious, Box 2, Folder 8 they are msItem 10.4. In this manuscript this item is numbered "6" in the margin.]

Of fasting and prayer

When Jonah denouced God's judgment against Niniveh the king proclaimed a fast to be observed

...

we must pray in detestation of our sin. I Kings 18:26. Jeremiah 4:14.

[In HM 15369 and EL 6871 this meditation is msItem 11.2 and its title is simply ""Of fasting"". In Hastings Religious, Box 2, Folder 8 this meditation is msItem 10.3 and its title is ""Of fasting and prayer"". In this manuscript this item is numbered "5" in the margin.]

Of affliction

Though afflictions are in show much more terrible than prosperity, yet are they much weaker in truth

...

Then shall we be sufficiently strengthened against the day of trial obtaining victory over the enemies of our salvation

[This section contains two meditations. In HM 15369 and EL 6871 these meditations are msItem 11.3. In Hastings Religious, Box 2, Folder 8 this meditation is msItem 10.2. In this manuscript this item is numbered "4" in the margin.]

[Fols 31v-34r are blank.]

[A fragment written in a different, much messier hand appears on fol. 34v rev. It is the hand of Elizabeth Hastings. The page is torn at the top and seems to contain sermon notes. It appears that Hastings began to write sermon notes in this volume, but stopped after writing half a page. After her death this manuscript was reversed and begun again so that the final page became a new first page.]

[Fol. 35r-v is blank.]