Colleges Schools c. Jews THE Jews have had many Colleges not go speak of those mentioned in Scripture Naioth and Gibeah Bethel and Jericho since the destruction of Jerusalem their most famous have been Jabne or Jafne three Miles from Joppa Tiberias or Tzephorias Soran and Pumbedith Hottinger Persians There are many Mandresaes Colleges all over Persia D. of Holstein's Embass Trav. into Musc Tartary c. p. 159. The Persians in their Colleges observe this way the Student Reads two or three lines and the Doctor Expounds them then another Reads two or three more and rises up till the Doctor hath expounded them and bids him sit down again Their Books are mostly the Works of Kadgia Nesir some of Aristotle the Almagestes of Ptolomy which they call Magesti some of Euclide some of Archimedes the Opticks of Ebne Heister Galen Galenous they call him Averroes Abonalt or great Father Hermes Trismegistus Ormous Their chief Historian is Ronze el Zapha who wrote a Chronology from the Creation very Fabulously saying the World was Inhabited by Devils before the Creation c. Taver l. 5. c. 11. The Persians call their Colleges Medrese where there are a great number of Schollars bred up at little Charge out of the Legacies left to the Foundations They allow them a Chamber without Furniture themselves providing a Coverlet and Mattress for themselves They have no certain Masters but sometimes learn of one sometime of another seldom of the Monderes Principal who is generally the greatest Block-head of them all But there are several others in every good Town that Teach the Sciences to purchase Honour to themselves who are therefore liberal to get many Schollars to publish the Wisdom of their Akroom or Doctor Tavern l. 5. Mahometans There are two stately Colleges in Fez for Professors in Diverse Sciences Rosse Also 200 Grammar Schools About the Walls of their Mosquits are diverse Pulpits for their Readers who begin their Lectures shortly after break of day in the Summer They read after Sun-set Mahomet's Law and Moral Philosophy are read To the winter Lectures large Revenues are allowed Books and Candles Rosse Heathens In New Spain they had Schools and Seminaries Idem and Purchas c. Mahometans Near Belgrade the Grand Visier hath Built a Metreseck or College for Students I saw a Student Habited in Green and wearing a Turbant with four Corners which is a peculiar distinction Dr. Brown's Travels Idolatrous Indians The Bramins have a kind of University in a City which is called Benarez where they make all their Exercises in Astrology and where they have Doctors that Expound their Law which they very strictly observe But in regard they are so great a Number and cannot all come to Study at that University they are all very ignorant and consequently very Superstitious Those that go for the most refined Wits being the greatest Sorcerers Tavernier l. 3. c. 3. Tunquin The Tunquinese have a very great inclination for Learning and apply themselves to their Studies with diligence and success for that they cannot be advanced without it to the Offices and Dignities in the Kingdom by Learning I mean the Knowledg of the Laws of their Countrey Mathematicks Astronomy to which all the Orientials have a great Inclination Musick and Poetry Comedy and Tragedy To obtain Nobility in your Youth by Learning you must pass through three degrees of the Syude by close studying eight years and a rigorous Examination and this qualifies for the Office of a Notary Proctor c. The Doucan by studying Musick Astrology and Poesy five years The Tansi by spending four years more in Learning the Chinese Character to such a number of Words The last Examination is made in the great place within the enclosure of the Palace of Tunquin which is a stately Marble structure There the King is present Princes and great Lords of the Court the Manderim for Learning and all the Tansies and many also from distant Provinces come to the Solemnity Some have asserted extravagantly that sometimes there are 30 or 40000 Students present at this Examination but I cannot learn that the number ever exceeds 3000. Eight days are spent in Examination which is performed upon nine Scaffolds built like an Amphitheatre The eight days being passed they all appear again upon the same Scaffolds where in the View of all the World they who faultered in their Examinations are dismissed as unworthy of any Employment the rest are honoured with a Vest of Violet Satin which they presently put on and then take upon them the name of Tansies Then they have given them a list of the Towns and Villages where they are to receive the Rents which the King allows them some more some less To which places when they come the Inhabitants meet them with all sorts of Musick and a guilded Branquar carried by eight men where they divert themselves for three Months and then return to Court to Instruct themselves in the Affairs of the Kingdom and King's House and fit themselves for the Dâ—â—â—nity of a Mandarin Tavernier 's Collect of several Relat. Saracens About the year 1000 the Saracens had a famous Academy at Babylon wherein the Sorences especially Astrology and Physick were I aught Hotting Christians Under Valentinian the Emperor Students were not permitted to stay after 20 years of age lest the Splendor and Vanities of the City should tempt them to forsake the Service of their Countrey Five or six years time was allowed them there and no more Antiq. of the Brittish Churches Cardinal Pool Arch bishop Granmer and since them Dr. Marshal of Lincoln College in Oxon. were of Opinion that they who are designed for the Clergy should be Educated from their Infancy in the Cathedrals or with some Pious and Learned Divines and so inured to a good Life I wish our Universities were not detective in that point of Education which Ladies call Breeding and Accomplishment a Fault incident to all Schools of I earning yea Athens it self Plutarcho Taste the longer they stayed there the greater Clowns they proved Auth. of the Educ of Young Gentlemen Halor and Schalholt Bishops Sees with Petty Schools in Iseland Dr. Heylin Premonitions of Death Jews THE most remarkable Instances of this kind among the Jews we find in sacred Scripture first in the case of Aaron's Death which is foretold to Moses Numb 20.24 Next in the case of Moses which was revealed by God to himself Num. 27.12 13. and thirdly of Elijah's discovered before-hand to the Prophets both of Bethel and Jericho 2 Kin. 3.3 5. c. I say nothing of the Communication of God made of his recret Purposes concerning the Judgments he had decreed against Offenders as the drowning of the old World the Destruction of Sodom c. the drownning of the Egyptians the punishment of the Israelites by War Plague Famine the Earth swallowing up Corah Dathan and Abiram c. nor lastly the Death of our blessed Saviour presignified by Types Prophecy and Christ's own
Body Let them who have a mind to 't glory in the Flesh we are under the profession of Humility all Glory is vain and swelling especially from the Flesh A Christian may glory in the Flesh but when 't is torn in pieces for the sake of Christ that the Spirit may be crowned not that it may prove a Snare to attract the Eyes and Sights of Young-Men's ungovernable Passions after it c. Cyprian Obj. 'T is acceptable to our Husbands Answ 1. Every wise and good Man cannot but like his Wife better without them Every Husband is a rigid Exactor of his Wife's Chastity If he be a Christian he will not require any such feigned Beauty if a Gentile let her do what she can he will suspect her to be naught Tertull. 2. The loose delicate Arts come too near the Practice of lewd wanton Prostitutes Birds and Beasts are content with their own natural Beauty and Colours Woman only as if inferiour to them thinks her self so deformed as that there is need to repair the defect by external bought and borrowed Beauty Children-like they admire every thing that is strange and gawdy they shew themselves to be Women that have put off shame and modesty and whosoever calls them so shall do them no wrong as carrying the very signs and representations of it in their Faces Clem. Alex. 3. These additional Arts are a bold and sacrilegious Attempt and an high contempt of God that is to reform what God hath formed That such a one hath cause to fear least when the Day of Resurrection comes He that made them should not know them c. And then he brings in the Densor of the World thus speaking This is none of my Workmanship nor this my Imdge and Likeness Cyprian Theodoret tells of his own Mother That when young having a Distemper in one of her Eye s which had baffled the Physicians she went to one Peter near Antioch famous for Miracles of a very Severe and Ascetic Life she to render her self the more considerable in his Eye put on her richest Robes Pendants Chains of Pearl c. The uncomplemental Man severely check'd her with a comparison drawn from an unskilful Bungler going about to correct a Picture made by an excellent Artist and not without much importunity would grant her Errand In fine she went away with a double Cure of Body and Mind Hist Relig. c. 9. in vit Petri. Clemens Alex. compares such Women to the Egyptian Temples without Splendor and magnificent Groves rows of Pillars Walls set off with Stones of several Countries Carved c. The Temples garnished with Gold Silver Amber c. within behind the Curtain a Cat a Crocodile So Women trimming themselves with Gold Curling their Hair Painting their Faces blacking their Eyes colouring their Locks c. within a lustful Ape a crafty Serpent c. Nazianzen saith his Sister Gorgonia used no Gold to make her Fine no yellow Hair ordered into Locks and Curles No loose transparent Garments no Lustre of Stones and Jewels no Arts of Painting c. Clothe your selves with the Silks of Honesty the fine Vertues of Piety the Purple of Modesty and being thus beautified and adorned God himself will be your Lover Tertull. Mahometans and Hindoes They never Pride it in any New Fashion The Habits of highest and lowest are the same which they never alter pure white fine Callico-Lawn is the bravery of the highest which they wash every day The Women are Habited somewhat like Men they of the greatest Quality are Adorned with many rich Jewels Temperance in Meats Jews THe Pharisees Fasted on Mondays and Thursdays as hath been noted before in remembrance of Moses going up and returning from Mount Sinai c. Concerning which we have spoken already in the first part of this Book in the Chapter of Fasting Christians Our Food and Diet should minister to Health and repair the Weakness of Nature Basil Our Nourishment ought to be simple and easy subservient to the two main ends of Life Health and Strength Clem. Alex. Nor are we less to take heed of Gluttony contenting our selves with a spare Diet and such only as is necessary not giving way to the Infinite and unsatiable cravings of a nice and intemperate Appetite which will have a thousand pretences to defend it self 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Justin Mart. Clemens Alex. reckons up the Inconvenience of Excess viz. wasting the Estate ruining the Body impairing the Health Debauching the Stomach deflouring the taste begetting an ill habitude and temper sowing it with the Seeds of all diseases dulling the mind preparing it for the entertainment of any Vice c. S. Cyprian in an Epistle to the Priests and Deacons Ep. 7. adviseth them to eat and drink sparingly that they might be watchful unto Prayer S. Hierom adviseth Leta to give her Daughter such a thin and mean Diet that after Meals she might be presently fit either to read or sing Psalms Ad Let. Tom. 1. The Council of Laodicea Can. 53. forbade them light and ludicrous Actions as leaping and Dancing enjoyning them to Dine and Sup gravely and modestly as Christians Julian Emperor being about to raise War and squeeze the Christians sent to S. Basil his fellow-student formerly at Athens for 1000 l. he return'd Answer That it was not to be expected there where he had not Provision before hand for one day That his greatest Dainties were a few Pot-herbs a piece of Bread and a little sowre Vapid Wine Basil Ep. 208. Tom. 3. Chrysostom commends Olympias that she had taught her Stomach to receive only so much Meat and Drink as was enough to keep her alive and in Health Alcibiades afterward Martyr had accustomed himself to a very rigid and sordid Course rejecting all sorts of Food but Bread and Water this before and after he was in Prison which had an ill influence upon others whereupon Attalus one of the most Eminent of those famous Martyrs the day after his being exposed the first time in the Amphitheatre had it Reveal'd to him That Alcibiades did amiss in refusing the good Creatures of God and giving scandal c. upon which he laid aside his singularity Eusebius out of the Letter of the Churches of Lyons and Vien in France to those in Asia Hist Eccl. l. 5. c. 3. Luther saith of himself I lose too much time by invitations to Feasts here in this City I know Satan hath such a hand in it that I may not deny it and yet it doth me harm to accept the Courtesy And again My Converse with my Friends which I use to call a Feeding of my Corps doth very badly steal away a great part of my time Fuller's Lives Muscovites Those who take Tobacco in Muscovy by reason of their Excess in it and doing hurt by it c. Burning their Houses and Infecting their Images with a stinking Breath are by order of the great Duke to have their Nostrils slit or be whipt as we have often
Book of the Law put his Statue in the Temple Cessat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Scaliger This Fast of Moses's breaking the two Tables the loss of their daily Sacrifice Setting up Idolatry in the Temple The second Siege of the City on the 17th of Thamuz our June lasts till the 10th of Ab and is kept with a strict Idleness Dr. Addison See more on the fifth day of Ab. They avoid all great Business on these days and School-masters will not beat their Scholars Rosse Ancient Christian Because the Ancient Christians observed so few Holy-days rather than leave this Section quite vacant I shall set down some Remarks and Censures of Eminent Persons made upon the Abuses of Festivals in these latter Ages The Sixth General Council of Constantinople ordained That the whole Week after the Day of our Saviour's Resurrection should be thus Celebrated Christians must go constantly to Church rejoycing in CHRIST with Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs and give their minds to the reading of Divine Scriptures and chearfully enjoy the Holy Mysteries For so saith the Canon we shall rejoyce and rise together with CHRIST But by no means let there be any Horse-Races or Publick Shews on the aforesaid days Conc. Con. 6. Gen. Can. 66. Card. Bellarmine in one of his Sermons delivers himself to this purpose I cannot verily good Hearers explain by Words with how great grief of mind I behold in how perverse and diabolical manner Holy-days are celebrated in this our Age how far perverse Men have obscured and defiled their Picus Institution with their corrupt manners may be understood by this That to Strangers and those who are ignorant what manner of Festivals these are from those things which they may see every where done they may seem to be not the Feasts of God but of the Devil and even the Bacchenalian Revels themselves Yea verily when I Pray are more Sins committed than on Holy-days When are there more Sumptuous Feasts kept When more Lascivious Songs heard When Bowling-Allies and Taverns more frequented When are there more execrable kinds of Plays Scurrilities and Fooleries When are there more Dances in most places to the Sound of the Harp and Lute than on these Days Mahometan Persian-Harizon 30 Days On the Feast of St. John Baptist in Fez they make Bone-fires Rosse July 16. A. C. 622. was the time of Mahomet's Flight and the Hagyra or Epoche of the Mahometans Ancient Heathen Jun. 20. Summani Sact. ad Circ max. 25. Crowned Ships carried Banquets over Tyber Jul. 1. Migrationes ex adibus in alienns aedes Jul. 9. Ancillarum festum Jul. 11. Ludi Apollinares 5. In Ali July and August Jewish 1. A Fast Aaron the High-Priest died Scaliger 5. On the fifth of Ab the Jews sit on the ground read Jeremiah's Lamentations bewail the loss of Jerusalem and for ten days live severely abstaining from all Delights Dr. Addison Ninth day of the fifth Month was a Fast held in respect of the City and Temple burnt first by Nebuchadnezzar secondly by Titus on the same day which the Jews do yet observe with a strict Penance going bare-foot sitting naked on the ground reading some sad History of the Bible and the Lamentations of Jeremiah three times over Sam. Purchas Also it was decreed That the Fathers should not enter into the Land of Judea The same Author out of Scaliger From the first to the tenth Day they abstain from Flesh Wine Shaving Bathing Marrying Pleading and all Delights Ross 18. A Fast The Evening Light was put out in the Days of Ahaz Scal. Ancient Christian The same Cardinal in the procedure of his Discourse goes on Who knows not that Holy-days are after the same manner as Churches Chalices and Priest's Garments Consecrated and Dedicated to GOD and to be spent in no other than Holy Works Which of you if you should see any one enter into the Church with incredible boldness and use the Consecrated Garments instead of Prophane the Temple for a Tavern the Altar for a Table the Corporals or Altar-Clothes for a Table-Cloth or Napkins eating in the Sacred Patines and drinking in the Chailces which of us would not tremble Who would not cry out And now we behold the most Solemn the most Famous the most Sacred Holy-days which should be spent in Prayers Meditations reading holy Things in Hymns and Psalms c. to be prophaned with Sacrilegious Dances Morises Caperings Feastings Drinking Matches Uncleanness Scurrilities and yet no Body trembles no Man is moved no Man wonders O Immortal GOD What part hath Righteousness with Unrighteousness What Fellowship hath Light with Darkness GOD with Belial What hath the merriment of the Flesh to do with the gladness of the Spirit What the Solemnities of GOD with the Feasts of Bacchus and his Crew What! Those Days wherein we ought to please GOD most shall we on them more provoke Him to anger with our wickedness On those days in which the Spirit is to be fed and recreated shall we in them more overwhelm him with Wine and Uncleanness c. What a madness is this What infernal Furies affright us out of our wits Bellarm. Conc. 6.3.19 Mahometan Persian Temouze Thirty one Days Zoulidge 10. Bairam Adgi or little Easter for the Pilgrims of Mecha Ancient Heathen Jul. 25. In this Month red Dogs were Sacrificed to the Canicula Jul. 28. Neptunalia Aug. 1. Boedromia Aug. 13. Dianae Sacr. The Servants Men and Maids Holiday In Elul August September Jewish 17. A Fast The Spies that brought an ill Report upon the Land died 22. Xylophoria On this Day it was the custom for every one to carry Wood to the Temple to maintain the Fire at the Altar Purchas out of Josephus de Bell. Jud. l. 2. c. 17. Ancient Christian Sept. 1. The Muscovites celebrate the first Day of their New-Year deriving their Epoche from the Creation of the World which they believe to be in Autumn accounting it to the Year 1692. of CHRIST 7200. Years from the Creation according to the Opinion of the Greek and Eastern Church Voyages and Trav. of the D. of Holst Amb. p. 14. Their Procession on this Day consisted of above 20000 Persons viz. the Patriarch 400 Priests all in pontifical Habit carrying many Banners Images and old Books open coming out of one Church and the Great Duke his Chancellors Knez and Bojares out of another place The Patriarch with a Mitre on his head and a golden Cross in his hand beset with Diamonds gives it the Great Duke to kiss which done the Patriarch Blesses him and all the People wishing them all Prosperity in the New Year Idem Sep. 8. The Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Mother of GOD kept by the Muscovites Sept. 6. The Manifestation of CHRIST on the Mount Sept. 13. The Assumption of the Mother of GOD. Both Feasts of the Muscovites Mahometan Persian Ab. Thirty One Days Maharrim the first day which my Author makes to answer to July 15th is Aaschoor or the Feast
are Tombs for his Wives and Children In another Chappel at C. P. lies buried Sultan Selim with his 37 Children about him his Grandfather In another Amaruth his Father with 45 Children only Emperors and Bassaes Thus others are buried in Fields with Marble Stones at the Head another at the Feet Ancient Heathen The Romans burned the Bodies of the Dead that the Soul might be purged in Fire before it ascended to the Stars Quintil. Declam 10. Yet they excepted from this burning the Bodies of Traitors Tyrants Killers of their Masters Feloes de se Young Infants The four first as profane the Infants as needing no purgation The Grave of an Infant was called Suggrundium of others Bustum The Egyptians and Persians used not burning At Funerals were used Orations Sword-plays and Feasts and a Doal among the Romans The Romans first buried in their private Houses To bury in the City was forbidden by a Law Hominem mortuum endo Vrbe nei sepelito neive urito in a Roman Edict it was prohibited to burn the Dead within two miles of the City The Rich were buried in their own Suburbane Fields where stately Monuments were erected on the sides of the publick ways as of the Via Flaminia the ground for so many Feet consecrated The Poor at Puticulae so called from the little Pits or Graves Among the Lacedemonians and in some parts of Greece and at last in Rome it self Burial was admitted within the City Lastly it was admitted in the Temples Amongst the Druids whatever was dear to Great Persons whilst living was sent to the Fire after them when dead viz. Living Creatures Servants or Clients Caes de Bell. Gall. Vide plura in Parte Secunda Modern Heathen In the East-Indies the Ceremony of Burying differs according to Places In some places they carry the Body cloathed in goodly Apparel sitting in a Chair with the beat of a Drum with the attendance of Friends and Relations and after the usual ablution the Body is surrounded with wood and the Wife who hath followed in Triumph hath her Seat prepared there where she places her self singing and seeming very desirous to die a Bramen ties her to a Stake in the middle of the Funeral Pile and sets fire to it the Friends pour Odoriferous Oyls into it In other places the Bodies are carried to the River-side put in the water and washed and then the Wife holding her Husband on her Knees and recommending her self to the prayers of the Bramen she desires him to set fire to the Pile In some places they fill deep Pits with combustible matter and throw the Body in and the Wife after she hath sung and danced to shew the firmness of their resolution and sometimes the Maid-slaves throw themselves after their Mistresses to shew their Love In other places the Husband is interred with his Legs a-cross and the Wife put into the same Grave alive and when the Earth is filled up to their Neck they are strangled by the Bramens The Woman being burnt with all their Ornaments of Gold Silver c. the Bramens pick up all that is precious out of the Ashes none else being suffered to touch them But the Mahometan Governours endeavour to suppress this Barbarous Custom M. de Theven They believe that when People die they go into another World and will have occasion for many of the same things they use here Courts Jewish 1. ECclesiastical the Synagogues Mat. 10.17 the end of them was to put a difference between things Holy and Unholy Clean and Unclean and to determine Controversies It was a Representative Church Mat. 18.16 Tell the Church They had Power of Excommunication which was of three Degrees 1. Niddui putting out of the Synagogue Joh. 9.22 It prohibited the Person for 30 days more or less 1. Society with any within four Cubits 2. Eating and Drinking with any 3. Use of the Marriage-Bed 4. Shaving Washing It allowed him To be at Divine Service To teach and be taught To hire Servants or be hir'd 2. Cherem Anathema done in publick with Curses and Candles 3. Schamatha Maranatha Excommunicatio in Secreto Nominis Tetragrammati an Excommunication to Death 1 Joh. 5.16 The President herein was the High-Priest next his Sagan 2. Civil 1. The Sanhedrim from whence was no Appeal The Place the Paved Chamber of the Court of the Temple Joh. 19.13 The Judges 71 in number out of every Tribe six except Levi and out of that but four Junius 2. The Lesser Consistory Two-fold 1. Consisting of 23 Aldermen two at Jerusalem one at the Door of the Court before the Temple the other at the Door of the Mount of the Temple and in most Cities one kept in the Gates 2. Of 3 Aldermen erected in lesser Cities in the Gates These sate not on Lise and Death Ancient Christian It is not to be expected that the Primitive Christians could have any Civil or Political Courts having as yet got no Civil Power or Government into their hands till the time of Constantine the Great And as for the Ecclesiastical neither could that be so regular and compleat as might be desired For though we read of the Synod of the Apostles Acts 15. Roman Caesarian Gallick Pontick Ostroenick Asiatick Arabick c. before the Reign of Constantine the Great yet no General Council till then viz. A. Chr. 325 kept at Nice called Oecumenick or General as afterwards at Constantinople Ephesus Chalcedon and two more at Constantinople all which are universally acknowledged and these were 1. Called by the then present Emperor 2. They were free for all Bishops Priests and Deacons I think I am in the right for at Nice there was an infinite number of all Degrees of Ecclesiasticks Bishops Priests and Deacons 3. They took upon them the Censure of Doctrines and Practices 4. They had power of inflicting Penalties of Suspension Deposition Excommunication The Civil Government was various according to the Places and Countries But whatever it was the Ecclesiastical Persons bore a part of the burden in many places the Common People often making application to them in cases of difference as St. Augustine frequently complains that he was over-charged with the trouble of Arbitrations between his Neighbours c. It being expected that they who were the Messengers of Grace and Peace should be both skilful and willing to promote Peace among their Neighbours Mahometan They who have place in the Divan are 1. Visiers 2. Cadilesquers 3. Beglerbegs 4. Nischangi viz. the Keeper of the Seals 5. Defterdais or Treasurers 6. Many Secretaries or Clerks 7. Capigi Basha and Chiaux Basha keep the Door All Persons of any Quality Country Religion may be heard here The Grand Visier sits as Judge A Tryal shall not last above four or five Hours at most here M. de Thev The Musti sits with the King every Day in Judgment except Friday when the King sits alone Rosse Persons here plead their own Causes Tavern Divano a Court near the Emperor's or Grand
them go without any severity shewed to them Euseb l. 3. c. 20. Origen refusing the maintenance of others Sold his Books to one that was to allow him four Oboli a day the day he spent in laborious exercises and tasks the most part of the Night in study always remembring that of our Saviour not to have two coats nor to wear shoes nor anxiously to care for the morrow Clemens Alex. speaks against Ivory Hafts or garnished with Silver Ivory-Tables Lamps of the Goldsmiths making and Ivory Bed or Couch Purple Carpets c. Paedag. l. 2. c. 3. Give us this day our daily bread i. e. saith Gregory Nyssen not Delicacies Riches Purple Vestures Golden Ornaments Pearls Jewels Silver Vessels Marble Pillars Silk Carpets Choirs of Musick c. Renounce the Devil and all his works the pomps and pleasures c. i. e. The sights and sports of the Theatre and such like Vanities Cyril Tertullian tells his Adversaries all the Plagues God sent in this World could not hurt them because they had no other concernment in this world but as soon as they could to get out of it Ap. c. 41. Hierom tells of Marcella that she lived so as always believing she should immediately die and never put off her Garments but it put her in mind of her Grave and Winding-sheet Tertullian tells of a Christian Woman possessed by the Devil at the Theatre and being asked how the durst enter into a Christian Woman He made Answer that he found her on his own ground Papists S. Francis renounced the World and when a Priest to whom he offered it would not take his Mony he cast it away and enter'd into a Vow of perpetual Poverty Baker's Chron. S. Francis Sales speaking of Cordial and Mental Prayer adviseth thus Begin all thy Prayers mental or Vocal with the presence of God keep this Rule without exception and in short time thou wilt perceive what profit thou shalt reap by it And again having finished saith he this mental Prayer take heed lest thou give thy heart a jog lest thou spill the Balm which thou hast received c. keep thy self silent for some time and fair and softly remove thy Heart from thy Prayers to thy worldly business Introd to a Devout Life Frequency and Diligence at Church Jews BEfore the Sun go down the Women kindle their Sabbatarian Lights which is an old Custom observed by Persius Satyr 5. The reason is because the first Woman extinguish'd the Light of Man by her Disobedience Rosse The Jews make haste to the Synagogue but go backward and slowly home Dr. Addison In Jerusalem are said to have been 480 Synagogues Purchas The Jews are rather too Precise in their Preparation for the Synagogue than too Remiss they Pray in order thereto betimes in the Morning for the earlier the Orison they think the more acceptable to God 'T is their common saying In Winter they raise the day in Summer the day raises them Some rise early every Morning to lament the Ruins of Jerusalem It is a general Tradition among them Heaven-gates are shut up at night after midnight they are opened and the noise of opening them awakens the Cocks and the Cock ought to awaken us to Prayers by his crowing and in their publick Liturgy they give thanks for this good Office of the Cock On Sabbath-mornings they creep under the Counterpane when they put on their Shifts that the beams of the House may not be privy to their Nakedness Before they go to the Synagogues at leaving their Apartments they bow their Heads moderately in Lamentation for the Temple They use all needful Evacuations they wash make haste to the Synagogue Dr. Addison Christians Chrysostom Hom. 56. Tom. 1. saith of the Church at Antioch that they would set aside all Affairs at home to come and hear Sermons at Church That it was the Honour of the City not their rich Suburbs brave Houses and gilded Dining-rooms but a diligent and attentive People that it was his great Encouragement to see such a famous and chearful Concourse a People so well ordered and desirous to hear Dr. Cave Origen in his Sermons reproved no fault so much as Absence from Church The Primitive Christians had several Sermons in the same Church Morning and Afternoon The Swedes have three Services every Sunday The Switzers likewise a daily Sermon Jacobites The Jacobites in Socotera Island have Altars in their Churches which they enter not but stand in the Porch Rosse Armenians The Bells all rang about midnight and every one rose to go to Church I believe it was more than usual because it was Shrove-tide for both the Office and the Missa were concluded before break of day Saith M. Tavernier concerning the Armenians in the Convent of St. Stephen's l. 1. c. 4. p. 18. Lutherans The Protestants in the Palatinate have two Sermons on Sunday and every first Wednesday of the Month one Heathens At Hierapolis none who had look'd upon a dead Corps or in whose House any had died might be admitted into the Temple for thirty days Rosse out of Lucian In Siam every King of the Country is bound to erect a Temple with high Steeples and a multitude of Idols Idem At Jagrenate in India is a great Pagod where the Arch-Bramin keeps his Residence wherein is a great Idol called Resora with two Diamonds for his Eyes and one about his Neck the least of which weighs about forty Carats Bracelets about his Arms sometimes of Pearls sometimes of Rubies The Revenues of which Pagod are sufficient to feed 15 or 20000 Pilgrims every day which is a number often seen there that Pagod being the greatest place of Devotion in all India it maintains above 20000 Cows That which makes it so Rich is the vast Alms that are continually bestowed by so incredible a Multitude as comes from all parts Tavernier Part 2. l. 3. c. 9. Greeks The Greeks in Cyprus upon Sundays and Holy-days rise between one and two of the clock in the Morning to sing Matins for which purpose there is a Clerk that goes from Door to Door and knocks with a Hammer to wake the People and then cries out with a loud Voice Christians go to Church Tavernier l. 2. c. 6. p. 81. They seem to me scarcely excusable from a Capital Sin that build or adorn Churches and Monasteries with immoderate Expences when so many living Temples of Christ are Poor c. Erasmus Muscovites The Muscovites go thrice to Church on Sundays and Festivals to Mattins Sasterim before day to the Obedny at noon to Vespers or Wadschemi in the Evening They stand all the Service-time or kneel incessantly bowing before the Images c. Whereas in my former Impression of these Travels I said that in the City and Suburbs of Moscou there were above 1500 Churches and Chappels and John Lewis Godfrey Author of the Archontologia Cosmica thinks that number incredible I must needs acknowledge that I was much mistaken and now affirm for certain
perform'd at Ispahan riding on Horse-back to the side of the River with all his Nobility M. Tavernier l. 4. c. 11. Bohemians Neither are we alone in this use viz. of kneeling at the Lord's Supper the Church of Bohemy allows and practiseth it Dr. Hall Gilolo and Amboina The Inhabitans here Circumcise by only slitting the Prepuce with a Cane provided for that use Packet broke open vol. 2. Persia The Persians dedicate their Children to their Saints Ibid. Sanchion In Sanchion there are several Monasteries of Idols to whom they Dedicate their Children and on Festivals Sacrifice Rams for their preservation ibid. Circassians The Circassians Baptize and Circumcise and indeed are composed of both Christians Mahometans Jews and Idolaters ibid. Loango They are Idolaters and Circumcise ibid. Guinea In Guinea the Priest sprinkles young boys with Water in which a Newt swims they also use Circumcision ibid. Madagascar In Madagascar they are Circumcised ibid. Mexico The Mexicans have among them a kind of Baptism viz. cutting the Ears and Members of young Children washing them presently upon their birth and putting a Sword in the Right Hand and a Target in the left this for Kings and Noble Mens Children But to the Children of the Vulgar they put the marks of their Callings and to their Daughters Instruments to Spin Knit and Labour Purchas Confession sorrow for Sin Mortifications c. Absolution Jews AT the Feast of Expiation or Attonement every morning during the Feast they thrice repeat this Confession O Lord thy People have sinned c. Instead of a proper Sacrifice because they want a place every Father of a House takes a Cock and waves it three times about his Neck c. About the middle of their Service they make an interruption and two by two step aside in the Synagogue and confess their Sins each to other he that Confesseth turns his Face Northwards and with great seeming Contrition bows his Body beats his Breast and readily submits his back to such stripes as his Friend will inflict who yet never exceeds the Number of 39. Dr. Addison Ancient Heathen Diamastigosis was a great Solemnity among the Lacedaemonians of which Tertullian makes mention in his Apolog. c. and Philostratus in the Life of Apollonius Tianaeus in which young Gentlemen were beaten with Scourges before the Altar Papists The Papists are bound to Confession at least once a year at or near Easter and to receive the Sacrament and to undergo the Penance Assign'd them by the Priest after which Penance the Bishop goes to the Church-door where the Penitent lies Prostrate on the ground saying Come ye Children hearken unto me I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Then he kneels and Prays for him admonishes him brings him into Church where he cuts his Hair and Beard lays aside his Penitential Robes puts on clean Clothes and receives the Lord's Supper Rosse Abassines The Abassines being of a soft and mild disposition for the most part so soon as they have committed an offence that is notable presently run to their Confessors and confessing that they have sinn'd desire to receive the Communion for the quiet of their Consciences Ludolph Some of the Abassine Monks have invented several ways of Afflicting their Bodies as for example To stand whole days together in cold Water To gird their Loyns with a heavy Chain To feed only upon Pot-herbs and Roots To thrust themselves into the Clefts of Trees and upon their closing again to suffer themselves to be buried alive Jo. Ludolph Armenians I staid at the Three Churches Egmiasin with the Patriarch three hours and while we were discoursing together in came one of the Monks of the Convent who had not spoken to any person whatsoever in 22 years by reason of a Penance that was imposed upon him Never did Man appear so meager and deformed but the Patriarch sent for him and by his Authority Commanded him to break silence which he did by speaking at the same time M. Tavernier l. 1. c. 3. Mahometans Some Santoes in Egypt go stark naked many of whom I have seen without the least rag to cover their Nakedness in Winter or Summer And suffer their Hair to grow as long as it can for greater mortification Go often to dine with the great Men of the City which is accounted a Blessing to the House but very Lascivious many Women kissing their Priapus with great Veneration M. de Thev Some eat Serpents Idem A Santo at Caire had a Turban as broad as a Milstone weighing half an hundred weight The weight of his Turban made him walk very softly Idem Heathens In Narsinga and Bisnagar Pilgrims resort to a certain Idol either with their Heads bound or Ropes about their Necks or Knives sticking in their Arms and Legs which Limbs if they Fester they are accounted Holy When their Idol is carried in Procession Pilgrims strive to be crushed to Death and when their Bodies are burned their Ashes are kept as Holy Relicks Some of them cut their Flesh in pieces and stab themselves with Knives to the Honour of this Idol Rosse In Ceylon or Zeilan some go on Pilgrimages a thousand Leagues eighteen Miles whereof they wade up to the middle in dirty stinking Water full of Blood-leeches and seven Leagues they clamber up a steep Mountain by the help of Nails and Thorns tied together and all this to visit a Stone on the top of this Hill having in it the print of a Man's Foot who they say came thither first to instruct them in Religion Near the Stone is a Springing water in which they Wash then Pray and with sharp-pointed Instruments cut their Flesh and draw Blood thinking thereby all their Sins are pardoned and God pleased Idem In New-Spain on the Feast of Penance and Pardon when they Sacrificed a Captive after much Adoration they took up Earth and eat it desiring Pardon for their Sins and bringing Rich Presents to their Idol and Whipping themselves on the Shoulders On this day much Meat is presented to the Idols and then to the Priests who five days before had eat but one Meal a day Idem The Southern Americans at an Eclipse Fast the married Women scratch their Faces and pluck their Hairs the Maids draw Blood with sharp Fish-bones supposing the Sun to be angry with them Idem The Gaurs in Persia preserve Cows-piss and compound it with a Water which they cause them to drink who have committed any Sin after they have been at Confession for it They call it the Cazi's Water which Urine ought to be preserved forty days with an Infusion of Willow-bark and certain Herbs When any Person is confessed if it be a Crying Sin the Party is to stay ten days in the Cazi's House and not to eat or drink but what the Priest gives him And in order to Absolution the Priest strips him naked and tyes a little Dog to his right great Toe which he leads with him about the Cazi's House where-ever he goes
Womb 70 years without losing her Virginity he exhorted the Grandees to build Hospitals in all Cities Agreeing much with Chacabout in Doctrine Taver Mahometans I Believe 1. That there is but one God and that there is no number in him 2. That Mahomet is the Messenger of God the most excellent and last of all the Prophets That the Christian Religion was to Cease at his Appearance 3. That Jesus Christ was a great Prophet Inspired by the Spirit of God 4. That God is a Being of great Perfection 5. Angels are Executioners of God's Commands without Sex different in Dignity and appointed to several Offices as well in Heaven as Earth 6. Good and Evil only happen because God hath Fore-ordain'd them having writ on a Table from all Eternity things that are and are to be 7. There shall be a general Resurrection of the Dead But before that 1. Anti Mahomet must come 2. Jesus shall come from Heaven to Kill him and Establish Mahometanism 3. Gog and Magog c. 4. A Beast is to come out of Meccha 5. All Living Creatures shall Die Hills fly into the Air the Heavens melt and drop upon the Earth Then shall God renew the Earth and raise the Dead naked but Saints and Prophets clothed and carried by Angels to the Empyrean Heavens 8. The Bad shall suffer Hunger Thirst painful Sweating c. 9. The Pains of the Wicked shall be proportioned to their Merits but shall not last above 50000 years 10. That at the day of Judgment S. Michael with be a Ballance shall weigh the good and bad Actions of Men. 11. They whose good Deeds out-weigh their Bad shall go to Paradise 12. There is a particular Judgment at Death to distinguish the Mussulman from Unbelievers F. Simon out of a Mahometan Dr. Ancient Heathen I Believe in one Supreme God who presides over all the rest who seeth and Governs all things in all places And in as many more Inferior Gods as our Magistrates and Laws shall require us to believe in That the Law of Nature and Reason is the ordinary Rule of our Manners And the Laws of the Nation Of our Religigious Worship That our Souls are Immortal and shall survive our Bodies That they who have defiled themselves with Vice their Souls at Death shall be secluded from the Society of the Gods and be tossed about the Earth but they who have lived well and honestly and have imitated the Lives of the Gods the Souls of these Men shall go to the Stars or Gods from whence at first they came This is extracted especially out of Cicero and Somn. Scip. Diabolical Their Creed is nothing but a Reverse of the Orthodox Faith an open Profession or secret Practice contrary to the Truth which must needs be so pregnant with Blasphemy that it will not be safe to exhibit a Copy of it to common View The Bannyans I Believe that a God of Immense Power Eternal and Provident in the beginning Created the whole World that he made the first Man by Name Pourous and for his Society Created the first Woman Parconty both so innocent that they would not cut any thing that had a Sensitive Life but fed upon Herbs and Fruits that from them sprung two couple of Boys Bramon Cuttery Shuddery and Wise the first a Priest the second a Warrior the third a Merchant the forth a Peasant which Peopled the four Parts of the World but upon their Impiety the World was Destroyed by a Deluge That afterwards upon Mount Meropurbatea God gave the Shaster to Bremaw in Clouds and Lightning for a rule of Living Mr. Hobbes's I Believe that God is Almighty matter that in him are three Persons he having been thrice represented on Earth that it is to be decided by the Civil Power whether he Created All things else That Angels are not Incorporeal Substances but preternatural Impressions on the Brain of Man that the Soul of Man is the Temperament of his Body that the very Liberty of Will in that Soul is Physically necessary that the Prime Law of Nature in the Soul of Man is Self-Love that the Law of the Civil Soveraign is the only obliging Rule of Just and Unjust that the Books of the Old and New Testament are not made Canon and Law but by the Civil Powers that what is written in these Books may be denied upon Oath in times of Persecution That Hell is a tolerable condition of Life for a few years upon Earth to begin at the general Resurrection and that Heaven is a blessed Estate of good Men like that of Adam before his Fall beginning at the general Resurrection to be from thence-forth Eternal upon Earth in the Holy Land Dr. Tenison Precepts or Commands Mahometan THeir Law is divided into eight Precepts or Commandments 1. There is but one God and his Prophet Mahomet 2. Children must be Dutiful to their Parents 3. Neighbours must Love each other 4. They must Pray five times every day 5. A Lent of thirty days is to be kept every year 6. They must be Charitable and give Alms to the Poor 7. Every one must Marry by twenty five years of Age. 8. They must abstain from Murder Pacquet broke open vol. 2. F. Simon makes Five Articles thus 1. There is one God 2. Mahomet is his Messenger 3. They must be exact in Prayers and Alms-deeds 4. And in the Fast of Ramazan 5. And in their Pilgrimage to Mecha Bannyans Their Moral Law hath eight Commandments most of which agree with the Seven which R. Solomon saith Noah taught the World in his time called Noah-Cady 1. Thou shalt not destroy any living Creature for thou and it are both my Creatures 2. Thou shalt not sin in thy five Senses Eyes not beholding Vanity Ears stopt in hearing Evil Tongue uttering no Filthiness Pallat hating Wine Flesh and all live things Hands abhoring all things defiled 3. Thou shalt duly observe set times of Devotion as Praying Washing Elevation Prostration c. 4. Thou shalt not Lie nor Dissemble 5. Thou shalt not be hard-hearted but helpful to others 6. Thou shalt not Oppress nor Tyrannize 7. Thou shalt observe certain Festivals and Fasting days 8. Thou shalt not Steal Sir Tho. Herb. Trav. into Persia out of their Shaster Persees 1. For Behedens or Lay-men 1. Cherish Modesty 2. Cherish Fear 3. Premeditate what you are to do if bad reject it if good c. 4. Let every day's object move to thankfulness 5. Pray daily to the Sun and nightly to the Moon 2. For the Herboods Daroos or Priests Besides those of the Beheden which they are to observe 1. Be constant to the form of Worship in the Zundavastaw 2. Covet not what is another man's 3. Abhor Lies 4. Be not worldly minded 5. Learn the Zundavastaw by rote 6. Keep your selves free from Pollution 7. Teach the Laity how to Comport themselves in Adoration 8. License Matrimony 9. Be frequent at Church 10. Forgive Injuries 11. Upon pain of Life Eternal
because then the Face is disfigured on the second because then the Body begins to Putrify and on the twentieth because then the Heart Corrupts Some build Huts over the Grave and cover them with Mats because the Priest Morning and Evening for six Weeks Prays over the Grave The D. of Holstein's Embas Travels Lutherans The Lutheran Women Mourn in White Dr. Brown's Trav. p. 169. Tartars When a Sick Person lies dangerously ill they send for a Moullah who comes with the Alcoran which he opens and shuts three times saying certain Prayers and laying it upon the Sick Person 's Face if the Sick Person recover 't is attributed to the Sanctity of the Alcoran and the Moullah is Presented with a Sheep or Goat If he die all his Kindred meet and carry him to the Grave with great Testimonies of Sadness crying continually Alla Alla. When he is Interr'd the Moullah mutters certain Prayers over the Grave and is paid for his Pains according to the Wealth of the Heirs For the Poor he generally spends three days and three nights in that Exercise for the Rich he as usually spends a Month never stirring all the while from the Grave and sometimes seven or Eight M. Tavernier l. 3. c. 13. Circassians and Comanians At their Funerals the near Relations or Friends of the Dead cut their Faces and some other parts of their Bodies with sharp Flints others Prostrate themselves upon the Ground and tear their Hair so that when they return from the Burial they are all of a gore Blood However notwithstanding all this Affliction they never Pray for the Dead Idem l. 3. c. 12. Gaurs When the Gaurs are Sick they send for their Priests to whom they make a kind of Confession whereupon the Priests enjoyn them to give Alms and other good Works to gain Pardon of their Sins They neither Burn nor Bury but carry the Corps without the City to a Wall'd place where are abundance of Stakes about 7 or 8 foot high fixt in the Ground and tie the Dead Corps to one of the Stakes with his Face towards the East The People falling to their Prayers till the Crows come which those Coemeteries draw to them If the Crow fasten on the right Eye they believe the Person to be happy and for joy give large Alms and make a Feast in the Field but if upon the left Eye they return home sad without speaking to one another give no Alms nor Eat nor Drink Idem l. 4. c. 8. When a Man is just breathing his last they put the Mouth of a Dog to the Mouth of the Person Dying and cause him to Bark twice in that posture that the Soul of the Deceased may enter into the Dog who they say will deliver it into the hands of the Angel appointed to receive it When any Dog dies they carry him out of the City and Pray to God for the Carrior Idem Armenians When an Armenian Dies the Mordichou one whose Office it is to wash the Dead fetches from Church a Pot of Holy-water puts in into a great Vessel of Water in which he puts the Corps and washes it then they dress it with a new white shirt breeches wastcoat bonnet put it in a linnen Sack carry it to Church with every one a Taper in their hand there the Priest saith certain prayers sets up lighted Tapers round the Corps and so leaves it all night Next morning the Bishop or Priest saith Mass and then carry the body before the door of the Bishop's house where the Bishop comes forth and saith a prayer for the soul of the deceased then 8 or 10 of the poorer sort carry the body to the Church-yard the Priests Singing Dirges all the way till the body is let down into the grave the Bishop throwing 3 handfuls of Earth into the grave saying from Earth thou camest to Earth thou shalt return and stay there till our Lord comes Their feasts afterwards for Priests and poor are chargeable for 7 days together believing no soul departed can be saved without it Tavernier l. 4. c. 13. If a slave dies the Master writes a note let him not grieve I make him free In Mexico The Pagans buried their dead in gardens or on mountains sometimes they burn'd the body and if he was a great man they killed his chaplain and his officers to attend him and buryed his wealth with him that he might not want in the other world Ross The Priest used to attire himself at these funerals like a Devil with many mouths and glass-eyes and with his staff stir'd and mingled the ashes When the King died the Priests were to Sing his Elogies and to sacrifice 200 persons to serve him Idem Armenians When we were at Breakfast news came that a certain Bishop was dead in his return from the three Churches whither he was sent by the Patriarch to gather certain duties due from the Villages Immediately the Arch-Bishop rising from Table with all his Assistants and having made a prayer for the dead sent a Bishop and six Monks to fetch the Corps who returning a little after midnight the body was presently laid in the Church upon a Carpet spread upon the ground with the face turn'd toward the Altar In the mean time a great number of Wax-Tapers were lighted and all the rest of the night two Monks watch'd by turns to pray for the dead The next morning early the Arch-Bishop the Bishops and all in Religious orders said the Office for the dead which lasted half an hour and at the end of the Mass they brought the Corps to the Altar so that they made the feet of the Corps to touch it Then they took off the linnen cloth that cover'd his head at which time the Arch-Bishop anointed him in six places with holy oyl saying certain prayers every time Then they cover'd him again and said other prayers which lasted half an hour Then they carryed the Corps out of Church with Grosses and Banners and every one a Taper in his hand As the Corps pass'd by one of the Bishops put a paper in his right hand containing these words I came from the Father and I return to the Father Being brought to the grave upon a little mountain near the Covent and set down they said other prayers which lasted a quarter of an hour In the mean time a Bishop going down into the grave took away all the stones and made the place smooth after which the Corps was let down wrapt in a large linnen sheet Then the Bishop according to the Custom raised his head a little higher than his feet turning his face to the East Which done the Arch-Bishop and Assistants took every one a handful of Earth which the Arch-Bishop bless'd and gave it to the Bishop who strewd it over the body Then the Bishop coming out again the grave was filled up M. Tavernier l. 1. c. 4. p. 18. Nestorians Armenians and Jacobites At Bagdat if a Christian dies all the rest