Earldoms of Guyen and Poictou by Elbiner his wife and a great part of Ireland by conquest towards the latter end of his Reign he was much troubled with the unnatural Rebellion of his Sons He dyed the sixth day of July Anno 1189. and Reigned twenty four years and seven months lacking eleven days Richard the first for his valor and magnanimous courage sirnamed Coeur de Lion he with a most puissant Army warred in the Holy-Land where by his acts he made his name very famous overcoming the Turks in several Battels whom he had almost driven out of Syria he also took the Isle of Cyprus which he afterwards exchanged for the Title of King of Jerusalem after many worthy atchievements performed in those Eastern parts returning homewards to defend Normandy and Aquitain against the French he was by a Tempest cast upon the Coast of Austria where he was taken prisoner and put to a most grievous Ransom finally he was slain at the siege of Chaluz in France by a shot from an Arbalist the use of which warlike Engine he first shewed to the French whereupon a French Poet made these Verses in the person of Antropos Hoc volo non alia Richardum marte perire Ut qui Francigenis Balistae primitus usum Tradidit ipse sui rem primitus experiatur Quamque aliis docuit in se enim sentiat artis It is decreed thus must great Richard die As he that first did teach the French to dart An Arbalist 't is just he first should try The strength and taste the Fruits of his own Art In his days lived those Outlaws Robin Hood Little John c. King John next succeeded or rather usurped the Crown his eldest Brothers Son Arthur of Britain being then living He was an unnatural Son to his Father and an undutiful subject to his Brother neither sped he better in his own Reign the French having almost gotten his Kingdom from him who on the Popes curse came to subdue it with whom joyned many of his Subjects by which the Land was brought to much misery Finally after a base submission to the Popes Legat he was poysoned by a Monk at Swâ—nested-Abby after he had reigned seventeen years and five months lacking eight days and lyeth buried at Worcester Henry the third Son to King John against whom the rebellious Barons strongly warred yet however he expelled the intruding French out of England confirmed the Statutes of Magna Charta and having reigned fifty six years and twenty eight days was buried at Westminster of which Church he built a great part Edward the first sirnamed Long-shanks who warred in the Holy-Land where he was at the time of his Fathers death a most Heroick magnanimous Prince he awed France subdued Wales and brought Scotland into subjection disposing of the Crown thereof according to his pleasure he brought from thence the Regal Chair still reserved in Westminster-Abby he was a right vertuous and fortunate Prince Reigned thirty four years seven months and odd days and lyeth buried at Westminster Edward the second a most dissolute Prince hated of his Nobles and contemned by the vulgar for his immeasurable love to Pierce Gaveston and the two Spencers on whom he bestowed most of what his Father had purchased with his Sword as one writeth in these Verses Did Longshanks purchase with his conquering hand Albania Gascoyn Cambria Ireland That young Carnarvon his unhappy Son Should give away all that his Father won He having Reigned nineteen years six months and odd days was deposed and Edward his eldest Son Crowned King Edward the third that true pattern of vertue and valor was like a rose out of a Bryar an excellent Son of an evil Father he brought the Scots again to a formal obedience who had gained much on the English in his Fathers life time laid claim to the Crown of France in right of his Mother and in pursuance of his Title gave the French two great overthrows taking their King prisoner with divers others of the chief Nobility he took also that strong and almost impregnable Town of Callice with many other fair possessions in that Kingdom Reigned fifty years four months and odd days and was buried at Westminster Richard the second Son to Edward the black Prince the eldest Son of King Edward the third an ungovern'd and dissolute King He rejected the sage advice of his Grave Counsellors was most ruled by his own self-will'd passions lost what his Father and Grand-father had gained and at last his own life to the Lancastrian faction in his time was that famous or rather infamous rebellion of Wat Taylor and Jack Straw He having Reigned twenty two years three months and odd days was deposed and murdered at Pomfret Castle Henry the fourth Son to John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster third Son to Edward the third obtained the Crown more by force than by lawful succession he was a wise prudent Prince but having gotten the Crown unjustly was much troubled with insurrection of of the subjects which he having quieted surrendred to fate having reigned thirteen years six months and odd days and was buried at Canterbury Henry the fifth who from a dissolute vicious Prince became the mirror of Kings and pattern of all Heroick performance he pursued his Title to the Crown of France bear the French at Agin Court and was in a Parliament of their Nobility Clergy and Commons ordained Heir apparent to the French Crown but lived not to possess it dying in the full carrier of his victories at Vincent Boys in France and was brought over into England and buried at Westminster He Reigned nine years five months and odd days Henry the sixth sirnamed of Windsor his birth-place of whom it was prophesied that What Henry of Monmouth had won which was his Father Henry of Windsor should lose He was a very pious Prince and upheld his State during the life of his Unkles John Duke of Bedford and Humphrey of Glocester after whose deaths the Nobility growing factious he not only lost France to the French but England and his life to the Yorkish faction He having reigned thirty eight years was overthrown by Edward Earl of March descended by the Mothers side from Lionel Duke of Clarence second Son to King Edward the third was arrested and sent to the Tower where within a while after he was murdered and buried at Cherlsey since removed to Windsor Edward the fourth a prudent politick Prince He after nine bloody Battels especially that of Tawton in which were slain of the English thirty six thousand on both sides was at last quietly seated in his dominions of England and Ireland Reigned twenty two years one month and odd days and was buried at Windsor Edward the fifth his Son a King proclaimed but before his Coronation was murdered in the Tower Richard the third brother to Edward the fourth was Crowned King ascending to the same by steps of blood murdering King Henry the sixth and Prince Edward his Son 3.
George Duke of Clarence his own Brother with many faithful servants to King Edward 4. Edward the fifth his lawful Soveraign with Prince Richard his brother 5. Henry Duke of Buckingham his great friend and sixth one Collingborn an Esquire who was hang'd drawn and quartered for making this Verse The Cat the Rat and Lowel our Dog Rule all England under a Hog Finally having reigned two years and two months he was slain by Henry Earl of Richmond and buried at Grey Fryers Church at Leicester Henry the seventh who united the two Houses of York and Lancaster by marrying with Elizabeth the Daughter and Heir to Edward the fourth He was a Prince of marvellous Wisdom Policy Justice Temperance and Gravity and notwithstanding great troubles and wars which he had against home-bred Rebels he kept his Realm in right good order He builded the Chappel to Westminster-Abby a most accurate piece of Work wherein he was interred after he had reigned twenty three years and eight months Henry the eight who banished the Popes supremacy out of England won Bulloign from the French lived beloved and feared of his Neighbour Princes the last of our Kings whose name began with the Letter H. which Letter had been accounted strange and ominous every mutation in our State being as it were ushered in by it according as I find it thus versed in Albions England Not superstitiously I speak but H this Letter still Hath been accounted ominous to England's good or ill First Hercules Hesion and Helen were the cause Of war to Troy Aeneas seed becoming so Out-laws Humber the Hum with foreign Armes did first the Brutes invade Hellen to Romes Imperial Throne the British Crown convey'd Hengist and Horsus first did plant the Saxons in this Isle Hungar and Hubba first brought Danes that swayed here long while At Harold had the Saxons end at Hardy Cnute the Dane Henries the first and second did restore the English Reign Fourth Henry first for Lancaster did Englands Crown obtain Seventh Henry jarring Lancaster and York unites in peace Henry the eighth did happily Romes irreligion cease King Henry having Reigned thirty seven years nine months and odd days dyed and was buried at Windsor Edward the sixth a most vertuous religious Prince whose wisdom was above his years and whose piety was exemplary he perfected the Reformation begun by his father King Henry At the age of sixteen years he departed this life having Reigned six years five months and odd days and was buried at Westminster Mary his Sister whom King Henry begat of Katherine of Spain she restored again the Mass set at liberty those Bishops imprisoned in her brothers Reign and imprisoned those who would not embrace the Romish perswasion She was very zealous in the cause of the Pope for not yielding to which many godly Bishops and others of the Reformation suffered Mattyrdom In her time was Callice lost to the French the grief whereof it was thought brake her heart she Reigned five years four months and odd days and was buried at Westminster Elizabeth daughter to Henry the eighth by the Lady Ann of Bulloigne a most Heroick vertuous Lady she again banished the Popes power out of England reduced Religion to its primitive purity and refined the Coyns which were then much corrupt For the defence of her Kingdom she stored her Royal Navy with all warlike munition aided the Scots against the French the French Protestants against the Catholiques and both against the Spaniard whose invincible Armado as it was termed she overthrew in 88. Holland found her a fast friend against the force of Spain the Ocean it self was at her command and her name grew so redoubted that the Muscovite willingly entered into League with her She was famous for her Royal Government amongst the Turks Persians and Tartars which having endured forty four years five months and odd days she dyed being aged about seventy years and was buried at Westminster King James a Prince from his Cradle the sixth of that name in Scotland and the first in England He excelled for Learning and Religion a second Solomon in whose Reign during all the time thereof our Land was enriched with those two blessings of Peace and Plenty He died in a good old age notwithstanding the Treason of the Gowries and the Powder-plot Reigned twenty two years and three days and was buried at Westminster Charles the first Son to King James a most pious prudent vertuous Prince enriched with all excellencies both of mind and body He was by his own Subjects most barbarously murdered before his PallaceGate at Whitehall Jan. 30. An. 1648. after he had Reigned twenty three years ten months and 3 days Twit Papists now not with the Powder-plot This blacker deed will make the same forgot Charles the second the Heir of his Fathers vertues and Crown who having been long detained from his right by the prevailing sword of Rebels was miraculously restored to his Subjects and Kingdom May the 29. 1660. Who God grant long long long to Reign May they be all Rebels and Traitors reckon'd Who wish the least hurt unto Charles the Second Hereafter followeth the Histories of St Denis the Titulary Saint of France St. Romain and some others being after used in discourse for the Readers better information and delight according as we find it in the Legend of them SAint Denis is said to be the same Dionisius of Areopagita mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles who being converted himself â—hirsted after the conversion of others and â—o that end he with Rusticus and Elutherius â—ravelled into France then called Gauls where he converted many to Christianity and â—ecame the first Bishop of Paris making Rusâ—icus his Arch-Priest and Elutherius his Deaâ—on Afterwards in the Reign of Domitian the Emperor persecution growing hot Fesâ—ennius Governor of Paris commanded that â—e should bow before the Altar of Mercury and offer Sacrifice unto him which St. Denis with the other two beforenamed refusing to do they were all three of them condemned to be beheaded which was accordingly executed on Mont-Matre distant about a mile from Paris Now it came to pass that when the Executioner had smitten off Saint Denis his head that he caught it up between his Arms and ran with it down the Hill as fast as his legs could carry him half a mile from the place of his Execution he sate down and rested and so he did nine times in all till he came to the place where his Church is now built where he met with a very old woman whom he charged to bury him in that place and then fell down and died being three English miles from Mont-Matre and there he was buried together with Rusticus and Elutherius who were brought after him by the people Afterwards by the succeeding ages when Christianity had gotten the upper-hand of Paganism in the nine several places where he rested are erected so many handsome Crosses of stone all of a making To the memory of this Saint did
found â—n our Isles of Britain An. In the Isle of Man are found at this day certain Trees of Timber and other Wood in great abundance many fathoms under the ground which were thought to be brought thither and 〈◊〉 in Noahs flood and not discovered till of late years At Barry Island in Glamorgan-shire upon â— Clift or Hole of a Rock laying your ear unto it you may hear sometimes as it were â—he noise of blowing the Bellows others of Smiths striking at the Anvil sometimes â—iling clashing of Armour and the like this â—s said to be by inchantment by the great Merlin who bound certain Spirits to work here in making of Armour for Aurelius Amâ—rosius and his Britains until his return but he being killed they by the force of his harm are constrained to labour there still Qu. By how many several Nations hath this Land been inhabited An. The first Inhabitants hereof were the Britains whose off-spring at this day is the Welsh our seeming ancient Historians deâ—ive them from the Trojans who came hither under the conduct of one Brutus but this by Mr. Cambden and our late Antiquaries is rejected as a fable who by many unanswerable arguments prove them to be descended from the Gauls they were questionless a warlike Nation and stoutly with stood the Romans in their invasion of them being at last more over come by the treachery oâ— Androgeâ—s and others than by the Roman puissance The next were the Romans who entered the Island under the conduct of Julius Casar some few years before the birth of our Savior It continued a Roman Province till after the year 400 when Proconsul Aetite taking with him away the Legoniary Soldiers to defend Gallia from the Franks and Burgundians left South Britain a prey to the Scots and Picts quitting our Island of themselves to defend those Provinces nearer home The third Nation were the Saxons a people of Germany called in by Vortiger Kinâ— of the Britains in aid against the Scots and Picts who then over-run this Island buâ— these Guests soon become their Masters whâ— under the leading of Hengist and Horsus â— planted themselves in this Island that the nâ—tive Inhabitants could never recover it from them These Saxons came not in all at once bâ— at seven several times each under their Leâ—ders gaining a part from our Brittish Monarchy till at last they ingrossed the whoâ— to themselves then was England divideâ— into a Heptarchy or seven several Kingdom all which were united into one by Egbâ— King of the West-Saxons who was the first English Monarch The fourth people were the Danes who made violent irruptions in this Island under the Reign of King Ethelred the Saxon and so far they prevailed that he was contented to pay them the yearly Tribute of 10000 pounds which at last they enhanced to 48000 pounds This Tyranny Ethelred not able to endure warily writ to his Subjects to kill all the Danes as they slept on St Brices night being the 12. of November which being executed accordingly Swain King of Denmark came with a Navy of three hundred and fifty sail into England drove Ethelred over into Normandy and tyrannized over the English with a very high hand every English house maintaining one Dane whom they called Lord who living idly and receiving all the profit of the English labours gave occasion to after-ages when they saw an idle fellow to call him a Lurdan And so imperious were they that if an English man and a Dane had met on a Bridge the English man must have gone back and stayed till the Dane had come over They used also when the English drank to stab them or cut their throats to avoid which villany the party then drinking used to request some of the next sitters by to be his surety or pledge whilst he paid Nature her due and hence have we our usual custom of pledging one another finally after the Reign of three Kings the English threw off their yoke and the Saxons were re-inthronized The fifth Conquest thereof was by William Duke of Normandy Anno 1066. who with a strong Army entred the Land flew King Herald and with him 66654 of his English Soldiers Somewhat before that time was a great Comet which portended as it was thought this change of Government of which one wrote thus A thousand six and sixty year It is as we do read Since that a Comet did appear And English men lay dead Of Normandy Duke William then To England ward did sail Who conquer'd Harold and his men And brought this Land to bale A brief Epitome or Chronical-discourse of the Kings of England since the Norman Conquest VVIlliam the First sirnamed Conqueror bastard Son to Robert Duke of Normandy who having conquer'd the Country used such policies as utterly disheartened the English from hopes of better fortune who thereupon yielded to him and he having for twenty two years ruled or rather tyrannized over the English Nation dyed and was buried at Cane in Normandy William the second sirnamed Rufus the second son of the Conqueror took the Crown upon him his eldest Brother Robert being then busie in the Holy-Land who when the Christians had conquered Jerusalem chose him King thereof but he hoping for the Crown of England refused it but his brother William taking possession in his absence stoutly defended his Title brought Duke Robert to composition and having reigned twelve years and eleven months wanting eight days he at last hunting in the new Forrest was by the glance of an arrow shot by Sir Walter Tirrel struck in the breast whereof he immediately dyed and was buried at Winchester Anno 1100. Henry the first the youngest Son of the Conqueror yet too old for his brother Robert in policy took the advantage of time and stept into his Throne in his absence against whom he warring was by him taken and had his eyes put out this Henry was for his learning sirnamed Beauclark he reduced the measures of England to that proportion which we now call an Ell he left behind him only one Daughter reigned thirty five years and lieth buried at Reading Stephen Earl of Blois Son to Alire Daughter to the Conqueror usurped the Crown he was a man of Noble parts and hardy passing comely of favor and personage he excelled in martial policy gentleness and liberality towards men to purchase the peoples love he released them of the tribute called Darn-gelt he had continual War against Maud the Empress and after a troublesome Reign of eighteen years ten months and odd days he dyed and lieth buried at Font Everard Henry the Second Son to Maud the Empress Daughter to Henry the first and to Maud Daughter to Malcolm King of Scotland and Margaret Sister to Edgar Etheling by which means the Saxon blood was restor'd to the Crown This Henry was a most magnanimous Prince and by his fathers inheritance added many of the French Provinces to the English Crown as also the Dutchy of Aquitain and the
Dagobert the first build a Church in the place where he was buried for so it happened that this Dagobert during the life of Clotoyre the second his Father had cruelly slain Sadrasegille hâ—â— Governor To avoid the fury of his Father much incensed with that Unprincely action he was compelled to wander up and down France hungry and thirsty In this miserable condition coming to the Sepulchre of Sâ— Denis he laid him down and slept when there appeared to him an old man with a staff iâ— his hand who told him that his Father waâ— dead and that he should be King and desired him that when it came so to pass he would build a Church there in the honour of St. Denis which Dagobert coming to be King accordingly did and a Bishop was sent for iâ— all haste to bless it But it hapned the night before the Bishops coming that there camâ— to the Town an ugly Leper who desired to lie in the Church And when he was therâ— about twelve a clock at night our Saviour came into the Church in white Garments and with him the Apostles Angels and Martyrs with most delicious Musick And then Christ blessed the Church and bid the Leper telâ— the Bishop that the Church was already blessed and for a token of it he gave the Lepâ—â— his health who on the next morning waâ— found to be sound and perfectly whole The Legend of Saint Romain SAint Romain was Bishop of Roven iâ— France It happened that in his time there was a poysonous Dragon which had done much harm to all the country thereabouts many ways had been tryed to destroy him but none prospered at last Romain being then Bishop of the Town undertook to do it and accompanied onely with a Thief and a Murtherer he marched towards the place where the Dragon lay upon sight of the Dragon the Thief stole away but the Murderer went on and saw the Holy man vanquish the Serpent and onely with a Stole â— which is a neck habit sanctified by his Holiness of Rome and made much after the manner of a Tippet with this stole tyed about the neck of the Dragon doth the Murderer â—ead him prisoner to Roven the people much admiring at the same highly extolling the Bishop pardoned the Murderer and burned the Dragon to ashes In memory of this marvellous act King Dagobert the first who Reigned in France Anno 632 granted unto Andoin or Owen successor to St. Romain that from that time forwards the Chapitre of the Cathedral Church of Roven should every Ascension day have the faculty of delivering â—ny Malefactor whom the Laws had condemned This that King then granted and all the following Kings even to this time have successively confirmed it Of Saint Dunstan SAint Dunstan was Arch-bishop of Canterbury in the time of Etheldred the Saxon King he was according to the opinion of these times of great sanctity of life being â— sleep one day in the Church he dreamed some thing of the Devil whereupon he ran about pursuing him even to the top of the Church and came down again in his sleep without any hurt At another time the Devil came to tempt him in the likeness of a beautiful Damosel but St. Dunstan caught up a pair of tongs being red hot and therewith so pincht the Devil by the Nose aâ— quite spoiled his countenance and for ever taking Tobacco throw the nose again He also coming once into a Gentlemans house where were several Instruments hanging up against the Wall at his entrance in they of their own accord fell on playing It is reported of him that when he Christened King Ethelred the child with his ordure defiled the Fount whereupon Sr. Dunstan said By Gods Holy Mother this Child if he live will prove a sloathful person which accordingly came to Pass the Danes in his time over-running England This Saint Dunstan flourishing about the year of our Lord 978. Of Thomas Becket THomas Becket was the Son of one Gilbert Becket which Gilbert being taken prisoner among the Sarazens the Kings daughter of that countrey fell in love with him gained his liberty and came over into England where she was baptiz'd in the Church of S. Paul and married to this Gilbert who upon her begot this Thomas afterwards made Arch-bishop of Canterbury by King Henry thâ— second in which place he behaved himself very high as well against the King as against the Nobles nor was he it seems much beloved of the Commons for coming one day into Town in Kent the people cut off his Horse tail whereupon the Children of that Count for a long time after as the Legend reports were born with long tails like Horses he was at last slain in his Cathedral Church of Canterbury by four Knights and after his death by the Pope Canonized for aSaint Many miracles are said to be by him performed as namely how a fellow for stealing a Whetstone was deprived of his eyes but praying to St. Thomas he had his sight again restored nay a Bird flying out of a Cage and being pursued by a Hawk and ready to be seized on the Bird crying out only Saint Thomas help me the Hawk immediately fell down dead and the Bird escaped His Tomb was afterwards much enriched with costly gifts and visited by Pilgrims from all places according to what we find in Chaucer From every Shires end Of England do they wend The Holy blissful Martyrs Tomb to seek Who hath them holpen wherein they beseke JESTS A new way to know the Father of a Child A Wench that lived in a Knights service was gotten with child and brought to bed of a goodly Boy before it was publickly known in the house after her uprising being examined before a Justice of the Peace to know who was the Father of the child she said she could not tell well her self for there was two of the Knights servants that had to do with her about the same time whereof one was a Welsh man the other an English man one of them she said was the father but which of the two she was not certain This doubtful case put the Justice in a great quandary upon which of them to lay the charge of bringing up the child but the Clerk said he would soon decide the controversie whose the child was and thereupon went into the Kitchen and toasted a bit of Cheese and then brought it and offer'd it the child putting it to his mouth which made the Child to cry refusing it as much as it could Whereupon the Clerk said upon my life the Welshman is not the father of it for if he were it would have eaten toasted cheese at a day old The King of Swedens Goose THe King of Swethland coming to a town of his enemies with a very little company they to slight his force did hang out a Goose for him to shoot at but perceiving before night that these few soldiers had invaded and set their chiefest Holds on fire they demanded
Canopy Q. What is that which hath a voice but no Body speaks yet understands not itself what it says is often heard but never seen A. It is an Eccho said by Ovid to be a fair Maid that pined her self away to nothing for love Qu. Who are those amongst men that attempted to fly like birds A. Daedalus and Icarus Also one of our British Kings if the History of Geoffry of Monmouth be true who attempting to play the Fowl or rather the Fool fell down and brake his neck This King's name was Bladud It is also said that of late years an Italian flew from the top of St. Mark 's Tower in Venice and did it without hurt Q. What likeness have false men to countterfeit money A. Man and money a mutual falshood show Man makes false money money makes man so Q. To what are Souldiers in peace compared unto A. To Chimneys in Summer for though in hot weather we have no extraordinary need of Chimneys yet we do not pull them down as knowing that Winter will come in like manner Soldiers are continued in Peace either to prevent or to be ready if War do come Q. Amongst all Beasts and Birds which are of most beautiful and various colours yet not without some parts of great deformity A. The Peacock among Birds and the Panther among Beasts the first hath a very goodly Train but foul Feet The other a gay Body but deformed Head and therefore it is said that wanting Food and being a Beast but of slow pace she hideth her head whereat all the other Beasts come about her to wonder at her Beauty but coming within the reach of her Claws she catcheth them and makes them become her food Q. To what are out-side Gallants likened unto A. To Cinnamon trees whose bark is better than their whole body Q. What was the old saying concerning Friends A. That it was good to have Friends but bad to need their help since true friendship indeed is very rare No such friends to be found now adays as was Damon and Pythias Alexander and Lodowick Musidorus and Pyrocles Friendship extending now no further than profit according as one wittily versifies Friends like to leaves that on the Trees do grow In Summers prosperous state much love will shew But art thou in adversity then they Like leaves from trees in Autumn fall away He happy is that hath a friend indeed But he more happy that no friend doth need Q. What makes silver look so pale A. To this Diogenes the Cynick answers that it is because so many lies in wait for it Q. Why is it said 't is good to have a wolf cross the way and bad to have a Hare cross it A. By this is meant that when a Wolf crosses away from us it is good luck that we scape him and if a Hare it is bad luck that that scapes us but for any future things that is boded by them I am of the opinion of Cato who when one would needs know what harm attended him by reason that Rats had gnawn his Hose he answered That it was no strange thing to see that but it had been much more strange if his Hose had eaten the Rats Q. Who was the two men the one whereof was never born but died the other was born but never died Ans Adam and Enoch Q. Why do so many men praise poverty and yet covet after riches A. Their actions shew they mean not as they say for although the poor are accounted blessed yet most of them are of Ovid's mind Non tamen haec tanti est pauper ut esse velim Though blessings be for them in store To be their Heir I 'de not be poor Q. Who was the greatest Traveller in his time A. Sir Francis Drake who first put a Girdle about the world of whom a Wit in that Age thus descants Drake who th' encomapss'd Earth so fully knew And whom at once both Poles of Heaven did view Should men forget thee Sol could not forbear To Chronicle his Fellow-Traveller Q. What is the most beautiful thing in the world A. One said the Sun which if so then were blind men of all others most miserable but certainly virtue is most resplendent of all things and which is to be discerned by the eyes of the Soul wherein blind men of all others have the greatest help of Contemplation Q. What is the heaviest burthen that the earth bears A. Sin which is more ponderous than the biggest Mountains or greatest Piles of buildings for it weigheth down even to Hell Q. Which is the longest Letter in the Alphabet A. The letter L. which is more than a yard long Q. Which is the most unnecessary Letter in the Alphabet A. K. because C. is of the same sound Q. What three Vowels are most pernicious to Debtors A. These three IOV. Q. What two words are those that trouble the world A. Meum and Tuum Thine and Mine Q. What are the principal causes of the greatness of Cities A. Although they are many in number yet they are reduced principally to these seven 1. A Navigable River by which there may be continual concourse of Merchants as may be seen by Venice Amsterdam Constantinople and our Metropolitan City of London which as it is thought had it not been for the River of Thames would not have gone on so forward in the rebuilding since that terrible conflagration thereof by fire which may be evidenced in that the buildings towards the River side were the first begun and are the forwardest in finishing 2. The Palace of the Prince for where the Court is there will be continually store of Nobility and Gentry which enriches Tradesmen by selling commodities to them one instance whereof we have by Madrid in Spain which is grown from a mean Village to a very populous City only by the Kings Court. 3. The Residence of the Nobility by whom beautiful Buildings and stately Structures are raised to the great adornment thereof as may be seen in the Cities of Italy where their Nobles and Gentry constantly reside as ours do in Towns and Villages 4. The Seat or Tribunal of Justice which invites Lawyers and their Clients thither in abundance to the great enriching thereof as may be evidenced by the Parliamentary Cities of France and Spiers in Germany 5. Universities or publick Schools of Learning which draw thither the Sons of several Noble persons and Gentlemen from the adjoyning Counties to the great benefit and profit thereof as Paris well knoweth Oxford Collen and several other places 6. Immunities from Taxes and Impositions which cause many persons to come and inhabit in such places their Income being thereby greatest and their Priviledges most as in Naples Florence and Venice which being almost desolate by a Plague were again very suddenly peopl'd by granting Immunities to all Comers 7. The last but not the least is opinion of Sanctity as was evidenced in former times bp the City of Canterbury to
who should shroud themselves in his long fleece when he would jump into Heaven and so convey them all thither With a thousand of the like fopperies Qu. Which Heretick in his time had the most followers An. Arius a priest of Alexandria who hatched that devilish Doctrine against the perpetual Divinity of Christ to beat down which Heresie the first Council of Nice was called wherein was made the Nicene Creed and the Clause of one substance with the Father proved to be agreeable to the Word Constantine being then Emperor sent for Arius to subscribe to the Decrees of this Council who went to Constantinople with his own heretical Tenets written in a paper and put into his bosom where reading before the Emperor the Decrees of the Council he writ a Recantation of his Heresie laying his hand on his breast and swearing he meant as he had written but though thereby he blinded the Emperor God manifested his hypocrisie for passing in great triumph through the streets of the City a necessity of Nature enforcing him he withdrew aside into a House of Ease where he voided out his Guts and sent his soul as a Harbinger to the Devil to provide room for his body However his Heresie died not with him but overspread so far that one of the Fathers complained The whole world is turned Arian And long time it was ere this Serpent of Error was knocked on the head by the Hammer of Gods Word though very powerful then in the mouths of many faithful Ministers Many other Heresies might be reckon'd up which were frequent in the primitive times as the Nicholaitans Donatists c. but we descend to speak of some more modern Qu. Who was the first that broached that ridiculous Schism of the Adamites An. One Picardus a Native of Belgia or the Low Countreys who coming into Bohemia drew a great sort of men and women unto him pretending to bring them to the same state of perfection that Adam was in before his fall and having gotten a great many disciples they betook themselves to an Island called Paradise and went stark naked having no respect unto marriage yet would they not accompany any woman until the man coming to Adam said unto him Father Adam I am enflamed towards this woman and Adam made answer Increase and multiply But long they had not lived in this lascivious course of Irreligion but Zisca that renowned Bohemian Captain hearing of them with a selected Band of Soldiers entered their Fools Paradise and put them all to the Sword An. Dom. 1416 The same pretence to bring men to Paradise though in a different way was once practised by Aladine a seditious Persian who inhabited a Valley in that Countrey which he fortified with a strong Castle Hither he brought all the lusty Youths and beautiful Maidens of the adjoyning Provinces The women were confined to their Chambers the men to prison where having endured much sorrow they were severely cast into dead sleeps and conveyed to the women where they were entertained with all the pleasures youth and lust could desire or a sensual mind affect To the eyes were presented curious Pictures and other costly Sights the Ears were charmed with melodious Musick the Nose delighted with odoriferous Smells the Taste satiated with costly Viands and the Touch satisfied with whatsoever might be pleasing unto it nothing was wanting which a sensual appetite could desire to enjoy Having lived in this happiness a whole day they were in a like sleep conveyed to their Irons Then would Aladine come unto them and inform them how they had been in Paradise in which place it was in his power to seat them eternally and which he would do if they would hazard their lives in his Quarrels They poor souls thinking all to be real swore to perform whatsoever he requested whereupon he destinated them to the massacre of such Princes as he had a mind to be rid out of the way which for the hopes of this Paradise they willingly put in execution refusing no dangers to be there the sooner One of these was he who so desperately wounded our King Edward the first when he was in his Wars in the Holy Land Qu. Who was the most notorious Heretick of these latter times An. One David George born at Delft in Holland who called himself King and Christ immortal He fled with his wife and children Anno 1544 to Basil where he divulged his doctrine the chief heads whereof were 1. That the Law and the Gospel were unprofitable for the attaining of Heaven but his doctrine able to save such as received it 2. That he was the true Christ and Messias 3. That he had been till that present kept in a place unknown to the Saints And fourthly that he was not to restore the house of Israel by death or tribulation but by the love and grace of the Spirit He died in the year 1556. and three years after his doctrine was by them of Basil condemned his Goods confiscated and his bones taken up and burned He bound his disciples to three things 1. To conceal his name 2. Not to reveal of what condition he had been And thirdly Not to discover the Articles of his doctrine to any man in Basil Thus every age produces Hereticks Who against Christ and true Religion kicks Qu. From whence had the Sect of the Anabaptists their first original An. From Germany about the year 1527. being very ripe in the Province of Helvetia where one of them in the presence of his Father and Mother cut off his brothers head and said according to the humour of that Sect who boast much of dreams visions and enthusiasms that God had commanded him to do it Since which time this Sect like a pernicious infection hath spread it self into many Countries having been very baneful to England in our late uncivil wars I might instance many examples more of our late Schismaticks as of the Ranters Fifth-Monarchy-men c. but we will now turn our pen to other matters Qu. What women of all others are most fruitful An. Beggars wives that of all others one would think should be most barren Qu. What is mans ingress and egress in this world An. He is born head-long into this world and carried to the grave with his feet foremost of which one thus writes Nature which head-long into life did throng us With our feet forwards to our grave doth bring us What is less ours than this our borrowed breath We stumble into life we go to death Qu. What is that State comparable unto wherein is most Nobles and Gentry and the Husbandmen are made their meer drudges An. Sir Francis Bacon in his History of Henry the Seventh likens them to Coppice-woods in which if you let them grow too thick in the stadles they run to bushes or briars and have little clean under-wood This may be evinced by the Countrey of France which is very numerous of Nobles and Gentry but the poor Peasants kept in
they are and kiss it thrice so doing their devotion to Mahomet The carrying it about the streets hath no question in it a touch of the Jew this Ceremony being borrowed from that of carrying about the Ark on the shoulders of the Levites The other main part of it which is the Adoration is derived from the Heathens there never being a people but they which afforded divine honors to things inanimate But the people indeed I cannot blame for this Idolatrous devotion their Consciences being perswaded that which they see pass by them is the very body of their Saviour Certainly could the like belief possess the understanding of Protestants they would meet it with as great devotion The Priests and Doctors of the people therefore are to be condemned onely who impose and enforce this sin upon their Hearers and doubtless there is a reward which attendeth them for it Pope Innocent about the year 1215. in a Council at Rome was the first ordained it ordering that there should be a Pix made to cover the Bread and a Bell bought to ring before it The Adoration of it was enjoyned by Pope Honorius An. 1226. both afterwards encreased by the new Solemn Fast of Corpus Chrisbi day by Pope Urban the fourth An. 1264. and confirmed for ever with multitudes of Pardons in the Council of Vienna by Clement the fifth An. 1310. Qu. What other Popes were they which brought up as ridiculous Customs stil used amongst them An. Sergius the second was the first that changed his name for thinking his own name Bocca de Porco or Swines mouth not consonant to his dignity he caused himself to be called Sergius which president his Successours have followed varying their names contrary to their natures So if one be a Coward he is called Leo if a Tyrant Clement if an Atheist Pius or Innocens if a Rustick Urbanus and so of the rest Sextus the fourth brought in Beads and our Ladies Psalter Sergius the third instituted the bearing about of Candles for the purification of the blessed Virgin Mary Celestine the second was the Inventer of that mad kinde of Cursing by Bell Book and Candle Sergius the fourth was the first that on Christmas night with divers Ceremonies consecrated Swords Roses or the like which afterward are sent as a Token of love and honor to such Princes as they like best Leo the tenth sent a consecrated Rose to Frederick Duke of Saxony desiring him to banish Luther The like did Clement the seventh to our Henry the eighth for writing against Luther Paul the third sent an hallowed Sword to James the fifth of Scotland when he began the War with our Henry the eighth The like did Julius the second to our Henry the seventh in his Wars against his Rebels Boniface the eighth instituted the Roman Jubile and decreed that it should be solemnized every hundred years but by Clement the sixth it was brought to fifty Clement the fift first brought in Pardons and Indulgences and such like trumpery Qu. What is the Popes chief stile wherein the number of the Beast is reckoned as in the thirteenth of the Revelation and the last Verse is manifested in these words Here is wisdome let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast for it is the number of a man and his number is 666 An. VIcarIVs generaL Is DeI In terris Englished Gods General upon Earth Thus reckoned DCLVVIIIIII Qu. What is the Anagram of Roma the Latine word for Rome An. Amor or Love which one cast into this Distich Hate and Debate Rome through the world hath spread Yet Roma Amor is if backward read Then is 't not strange Rome hate should foster No For out of backward love all hate doth grow Qu. What number was most fatal to Rome An. The sixth number according to this Verse Sextus Tarquintus Sextus Nero Sextus iste Scilicet Papa Alexander 6. Semper sub sextis perdita Roma fuit What other names or numbers to her won In the sixth still she lost was Rome undone Qu. Why is Rome taken to be Babylon mentioned in the Revelations An. Because it is said there that the whore thereof sitteth on a beast with seven heads which cannot so properly be understood of any place as this being built upon seven hills namely 1 Palatinus 2 Capitolinus 3 Viminalis 4 Aventinus 5 Esquilinus 6 Caetius 7 Quirnialis governed by seven Kings viz. 1 Romulus 2 Numa 3. Annus Martius 4 Tullus Hostilius 5 Tarquin Priscus 6 Servius Tullus 7 Tarquin superbus And acknowledging several sorts of Rulers 1 Kings 2 Consuls 3. Decemviri 4 Tribunes 5 Dictators 6 Emperors and 7 Popes Qu. How many times hath Rome been taken by forraign Nations An. Ten. 1. By the Gauls under the conduct of Brennus the brother of Belinus King of Britain 2. By Alarick King of the Gothes who conquered Rome Campania and Naples 3. By Genserick King of the Vandals a people which inhabited the Countrey now called Swethland 4. By Totila King of the Gothes 5. By Odoarer King of the Heruli who drave Augustus out of Italy and twice in thirteen years laid the Countrey desolate 6. By Theodoricus King of the Gothes called by Zeno the Emperor to expel Odoarer 7. By Gundebald King of the Burgundians who having ransacked all Italy returned home leaving the Gothes in possession of the same who after they had continued there seventy two years were at last subdued by Belisarius and Narses two of the bravest Captains that served the Roman Emperors This Belisarius was a true Example of the mutability of Fortune who having served his Countrey in great Command for many years was at last brought to that necessity as to stand by the high-wayside and beg Date obolum Belisario Give a half-penny to Belisarius 8. The eight time was by the Moors and Sarazens followers of Mahomet his Law Gregory the fourth being Pope 9. By Henry the fourth Emperor of Germany Gregory the seventh being Pope 10. By Charles Duke of Burbon An. 1528. in which Rome suffered more than by the siege and sacking of the most barbarous Nations Clement the seventh being then Pope Qu. How many Natural Languages or Mother Tongues which have no affinity with others are spoken in Europe An. Fourteen 1. Irish spoken in Ireland and the West of Scotland 2. British in Wales 3. Cantabrian or Biscany nigh unto the Cantabrian Ocean and about the Pyrenian Hills 4. Arabique in the Mountains of Granada 5. Finnique in Findland and Lapland Dutch though with different Dialect in Germany Holland Denmark Swethland and Norway 7. Chanchian which the East Friezlanders or Canchi speak among themselves for to strangers they speak Dutch 8. Slavonish of great extent and use especially in the Turkish Countreys 9. Illyrian on the East side of Istria and in the Isle of Veggin 10. Greek 11. Hungarian 12. Epirotique in the Mountainous parts of the Kingdom of Hungary 13. Jaxygian on the North-side of Hungary between Danubius
Thus Englished Thy praise not fraud thy virtue not thy store Made thee to climb that height which we adore For which Encomion he was set at liberty and being gone out of the Popes Jurisdiction he sent to his Holiness and desired according to his own true meaning to read the self same verses backward which then run thus Eximium decus hoc fecit te scandere rerum Copia non virtus fraus tua non tua laus Englished The height which we adore what made thee climb Nor virtue nor thy worth rather thy crime Qu. What Inscription or Motto was that which Martin de Arsello fixing over his Gate by reason of false pointing of the Painter cost him his Bishoprick An. Porta patens esto nulli claudaris honesto Where the Painter mistaking himself made the Comma at nulli by which it was thus Gate be open to none but shut out all honest men The Pope riding that way before Martin had corrected his inscription taking it for a a grand abuse towards him discarded him of his bishoprick and placed another in his house who kept the inscription still but only added the Comma and made it thus Porta patens esto nulli claudaris honesto Adding thereto Ob unum punctum caret Martinus Asello Gate open to the good and shut out none For one poor point all is from Martin gone The like fallacy was used to our King Edward the second who being made a prisoner by his Rebellious Subjects to his Keeper was sent this verse To seek to shed King Edwards blood Refuse to fear I hold it good Where his Keeper making the comma at fear when it should have been at refuse the unhappy Prince by that disloyal Legerdemain of words lost his life Qu. In what Aenigma or Riddle was that Grand Traitor Oliver Cromwel's name included An. The Heart of the Loaf and the head of the Spring Is the name of the man that murther'd the King The heart of the Loaf is the Crom and the Head of the Spring is the Well which put together is Cromwell Qu. Which were the ten general Persecutors so famously known in the primitive Church An. The first was under Nero that bloody persecutor and enemy of mankind who set the City Rome on fire and ript up his Mothers belly to see the place of his conception Anno 67. The second was under Domitianus Anno 96. The third under Trajan Anno 100. The fourth under Marcus Antoninus Anno 167. The fifth under Severus Anno 195. The sixth under Maximinus Anno 237. The seventh under Decius Anno 250. The eight under Valerianus Anno 259. The nineth under Aurelianus Anno 278. The tenth under Dioclesian Anno 293. Yet notwithstanding these cruel Persecutions wherein as one of the Fathers writeth there were murthered five thousand every day in the year excepting onely the first day of January yet were they like Camomile the more they were trode on the thicker they grew and the blood of the Martyrs proved to be the seed of the Church Qu. How many were the Sybils and what were their names An. They were in number ten viz 1 Persica 2 Lybica 3 Delphica 4 Cumea 5 Samis 6 Helespontiaca 7 Tiburtina 8 Albunea 9 Erythrea 10 Cumana The first was of Persia called Samberta which among other prophecies said The womb of the Virgin shall be the salvation of the Gentiles The second was of Lybia one of her Prophecies were The day shall come that men shall see the King of all living things The third was Themis sir-named Delphica because she was born and prophesied at Delphos where was the Oracle and Temple of Apollo one of her Prophesies runs thus A Prohet shall be born of a Virgin The fourth was Cumea born at Campagnia in Italy of whom Virgil maketh mention in his book of Aeneids who prophesied That God should be born of a Virgin and converse among sinners The fifth was called Samia born in the Isle of Samos which said He being rich should be born of a poor Virgin the creatures of the earth should adore him and praise him for ever The sixth was called Hellespontiaca born at Marmiso in the Territory of Troy she prophesied A woman shall descend of the Jews called Mary and of her shall be born the Son of God his Kingdom shall remain for ever The seventh was Albunea sir'named Tyburtina because she was born at Tybur fifteen miles from Rome one of her prophesies was this The invisible word shall be born of a Virgin he shall converse among sinners and shall of them be despised The eighth was Albunea who prophesied The Highest shall come from Heaven and confirm the Counsel in Heaven and a Virgin shall be shewed in the Valleyes of the Desarts The ninth was the famous Erythrea born in Babylon who especially prophesied a great part of our Christian Religion in certain Verses recited by Eusebius the first Letters of every which Verses being put together makes these words Jesus Christ Son of God Saviour These verses are translated into Latine by St. Augustine Lib. 11. Cap. 25. of The City of God where they may be read at large and are excellently well translated be Sir John Beaumont where they may be found amongst his Poems The tenth was called Cumana from the name of the place where she lived she prophesied That he should come from Heaven and reign here in poverty This last Sybil is affirmed to be she who writ the Nine Books of the Sibyls which were by an old woman presented to Tarquinius Superbus demanding for the same a great sum of money which he being unwilling to pay the old woman burnt three of them before his face requiring as much money for the other six which being denied she also burned three more of them asking as much for the three remaining as for the rest which Superbus amazed gave and the old Trot vanished These books containned manifest Prophecies of the Kingdom of Christ his Name his Birth and Death They were all afterwards burned by the Arch-traitor Stilico so that those Prophesies which are now extant are onely such as are extracted out of others writings wherein mention of them was made Qu. What is it that may be said concerning the ubiquity of Marriage An. One Bed can hold a loving man and wife A whole house cannot hold them being at strife Qu What is the difference between the love and lust of a Courtezan An. That her love is like breath on steel soon on and soon off but her lust is as the Ocean still ready for an anothers embraces and prostitutes her body to every new commer Qu. What is the difference betwixt saying nothing and doing nothing An. The Poet will tell you in these verses Little or nothing said soon mended is But they that nothing do do most amiss Qu. What may Law in the abuse thereof fitly be compared unto An. To a thicket of Brambles into which by tempest the poor sheep being driven from the
animalia plebis Inveniunt For when the seven mouth'd Nile the Fields forsake And to his ancient Channel him betakes The tillers of the ground live Creatures find Of sundry shapes i' th mud that 's left behind This River is in length almost 3000. miles being the only River of Egypt and is for its varieties sufficiently famous all the World over Of the fortunate Islands The Air of those Islands is reported to be of that singular temperature and the Earth of that fruitfulness that the Husbandmen have their Harvest in March and April Here all good things do abound useful or delightful for the life of man plenty of Fruits store of Grapes the Woods and Hedges bringing forth excellent Apples of their own accord The grass being mowed down in five days space will grow up to the length of a Cubit the ground is so fertile At Christmas they have Summer and all fruits ripe The Earth yields her fruit five or six times a year the Mountains are always beautified with variety of Flowers the Trees and Hedges-rows evermore green Dame Flora hath here her continual habitation and Ceres therein a continual Mansion In their sowing every two grains bringing forth a thousand Qu. How many Kings did formerly 〈◊〉 in these Countrys whereof our now 〈…〉 Soveraign King Charles the second is the most absolute Monarch An. In England it self were seven during the time of the Saxon Heptarchy which were 1. The Kingdom of Kent containing Kent only begun by Hengist the Saxon Captain and ending in Baldred having a succession of eighteen Kings and the continuance of two hundred forty and two years Queens County Weishford and Dublin Scotland had formerly two Kings whereof one was of the Scots the other of the Picts Besides these there was a King of the Isles of Scotland and one of the Isle of Man and Henry the sixth created Henry Beauchamp Earl of Warwick King of the Isle of Wight so that reckoning seven Kings in England three in Wales five in Ireland two in Scotland and three in the other Islands and you will find the whole number to amount to twenty Kingdoms A Discourse of Wonders Foreign and Domestick And first of Foreign AN Artizan in the Town of Norenburg in Germany made a wooden Eagle which when the Emperor Maximilian was coming thither flew a quarter of a mile out of the Town to meet him and being come to the place where he was turned back of its own accord and accompanied him home to his lodging 2. There is a Lake about Armach in Ireland into which if one thrust a piece of wood he shall find that part which remaineth in the mud converted to Iron and that which continueth in the water turned to a Wherstone 3. The Hill Aetna in Sicily which continually vomiteth forth flames of Fire to the astonishment of all beholders The reason of these flames as is conjectured is the abundance of Silver and Brimstone contained in the bosom of this Hill which is blown by the wind driving in at the chaps of the Earth as by a pair of bellows through which chinks also there is continually more fuel added to the fire the very water administring an operative vertue to the combustible matter as we see that water cast on coals in the Smiths Forge doth make them burn more ardently The reason of this flame is thus rendred by the witty Ovid in his Metamorphosis I st â— bitumineâ— rapâ—unâ—t incendiâ—â— vices Luteaque exiguis ardâ—scunt Sulphura slammis Atque ubi terra cibos alimentaque debita slamma Non dabit absumptis per longum viribus annum Naturaeque suâ—m nutrimâ—ntum decrit edaci Non fâ—cit Aetna famem desertaque deseret ignis A rozen mould these siery flames begin And clayje Brinstone aids the sire within Yet when the slymie soylconsumed shall Yield no more food to feed the sire withal And Nature shall restrain her nourishment The flame shall cease hating all famishment 4. A Lake in Aethiopia superior of which whosoever drinketh either falleth immediately mad or is for a long time troubled with a drowsiness of which the aforesaid Ovid thus reciteth Aethiopesque Lacus quos siquis faucibus hausit Aut fuâ—iâ— aut patitar mirum gravetate soporem Who doth not know the Aethiopian Lake Whose waters he that drinks his thirst to slake Either groweth mad or doth his soul oppress With an unheard of drowsiness 5 The three wonders of which Spain boasteth of viz. 1. A Bridge over which the water flows that is used to run under all other Bridges 2. A City compassed with fire which is called Madrid by reason of the Wall that is all of Flints environ it round about 3. Another Bridge on which continually feed ten thousand Cattel the River Guadiana which hath his head in the Mountain Seira Molina afterwards runneth under ground the space of fifteen miles the like doth the River Lycus in Anatolia according to Ovid. Sic ubi terreno Lycus est epotus hiatu Exsilicit procul hinc alioque renascitur ore So Lycus swallowed by the gaping ground At a new mouth far off is rising found 6. The Tomb of Mansolus built by his Wife Artunesia Queen of Halicarnassus accounted one of the worlds seven wonders it being five and twenty Cubits high and supported by six and thirty curious Pillars of which thus writeth the witty Poet Martial Aere nam vacuo pendentia Mansolaea Laudibus immodicis Caris ad astra ferunt The Mansolaea hanging in the Sky The men of Caria's praises Deify 7. The Temple of Diana at Ephesus accounted also one of the worlds seven wonders It was two hundred years in building being four hundred twenty five foot long and two hundred twenty broad sustained with a hundred twenty seven Pillars of Marble seventy foot high whereof twenty seven were most curiously graven and all the rest of Marble polisht It was fired seven times and lastly by Herostratus the same night in which Alexander the great was born which made the Poets say that Diana who was the Goddess of Midwifery was so busie at the birth of that great Potentate that she had no time to defend her own Temple 8. The Pyramis of Aegypt reckoned also for one of the worlds seven wonders which have out-lived devouring time They were built nigh to the City of Memphis whereof two are most famous The first and greatest was built by Cleops a King of that Country who in the work employed a hundred thousand men the space of twenty years The Basis of which Pyramis contained in circuit sixty Acres of ground and was in height a thousand foot being made all of Marble This work was begun of such a prodigious vastness that King Cleops wanted money to finish the same whereupon as Herodotus writeth he prostituted his Daughter to all commers by which dishonest means he perfected his building and she besides the money due to her father exacted of every man that had the use of her body one stone
fish having the shape of a man which Fish was kept by Bartholemew de Glanvile Custos of the Castle of Oxford in the same Castle for the space of six moneths and more for a wonder he spake not a word all manner of meat he would gladly eat but most greedy was he after raw flesh or fish at length he stole away from his Keeper and ran to the Sea again Anno 1350. in the Reign of King Edward the third in Oxford shire near Chipping norton was found a Serpent having two heads and two faces like women one face attired of the new fashion of womens attire the other face like the old attire and had wings like a Batt Anno 1545. in the last year of King Henry the eight one William Foxely Pot-maker for the Mint in the Tower of London fell asleep the 27 of April who could not be awakened neither by kicking cramping or pinching till the first day of the next Term which was full fourteen dayes and fifteen nights The cause of this his thus sleeping could not be known â—ough the same were diligently enquired â—â—ter by the Kings Physicians and men of â—earning yea the King himself examined â—â—m and he was in all points found as if he had â—ept but one night living till the year of our â—ord 1587. Anno 1552. in the Reign of King Edward â—he sixth at Middleton eleven miles from Oxford a woman brought forth a child which â—ad two perfect bodies from the Navel upwards and were so joyned together at the Navel that when they were laid out at â—ength the one head and body was west â—nd the other east the legs of both the bodies were joyned together in the midst they â—ived eighteen days and were Female â—hildren In the last year of Queen Mary within a mile of Nottingham a rempest of thunder as â—t came through two Towns beat down all â—he Houses and Churches the Bells were cast to the outside of the Church Yard and some webs of Lead four hundred foot in the field writhen like a Glove The River of Trent running between the two Towns the water running was with the wind carried a quarter of a mile and cast against trees Trees were pulled up by the roots and cast twelve score off a child was pulled out of a mans hand and carried a hundred foot and then let fall and dyed five or six men were killed there fell some Hail-stones that were fifteen inches about Anno Domini 1571. in the thirteenth year of Queen Elizabeth at Kinnaston in Hereford shire the Ground was seen to opâ—â— and certain Rocks with a piece of grounâ— removed and went forward the space â—â— four days it removed it self between â—â— of the Clock in the Evening and seven thâ— next morning forty paces carrying greaâ— Trees and Sheep-coats along with it somâ— with threescore sheep in them The depth of the hole where it first broke out is thirty foot the breadth of the breach was eight score yards it overthrew in its passagâ— Kinnaston Chappel also two High-way were removed nigh a hundred yards with Trees and Hedge rows the ground in all is twenty six Acres and where Tillage ground was there is Pasture left in place and where was Pasture there is Tillage ground gone upon it In the seventeenth year of Queen Elizibeths Reign the 24 of February at Tewksbury a strange thing happened after a Flood In the afternoon there came down the River Avon a great number of Flies and Beettles such as in the Summer Evenings use to strike men on the face in great heaps a foot thick on the water so that to credible mens judgments there were with a pair of Buts length of those Flies about an hundred Quarters the Mills theroabout were quite dammed up with them for the space of four days after and then were cleansed by digging them out with shovels From whence they came is yet unknown but the day was cold and a hard Frost The twentieth of next June following in the same year one William Lumley a poor man in the Parish of Ernley in the County of Worcester being kept in prison by a wealthy Widow he having a mare of two and twenty years old with a Foal within three days â—fter foaled a mare-colt the which immediately had an Udder out of which was milâ—ed the same day a pint of milk and every â—ay after gave above three pints to the great relief of his wife and children Thus when that men and women cruel be God will provide for those opprest we see We shall next tell you of a wonder in workmanship one Mark Scaliot a Black-smith of London for tryal of his skill made one Lock of Iron Steel and Brass of eleven several pieces and one Pipe key all clean wrought which weighed but one Grain of Gold He also at the same time made a Chain of Gold of forty three Links to which Chain the Lock and Key being fastned and put about a Fleas neck she drew the same with ease all which lock and key chain and flea did weigh but one grain and a half Anno 1580 in the Parish of Blansdon in Yorkshire after a great tempest of lightning and thunder a woman of fourscore years of age named Alice Perin was delivered of a hideous Monster whose head was like unto a Saller the fore-part of him like a man only he had eight legs not one like another and a tayl of half a yard long The same year in the Marshes of Dengy-hundred in a place called South-Minster in the County of Essex there suddenly appeared an infinite number of Mice which overwhelmed the said Marshes and did gnaw and shear the grass by the roots spoiling and tainting the grass with their venemous teeth in such sort that the Cattle that grazed there on were smitten with a murrain and dyed thereof which vermin could not be destroyed by the policy of men till it came to pass thaâ— there flocked about the Marshes such a company of Owls as all the Shire was not able to yield whereby the Marsh-holders were shortly delivered from the vexation of those Mice the like of those was once in Kent In Suffolk at the time of a great dearth upon a hard Rock grew above six hundred quarters of Pease without any manner of tillage to the great relief of poor people at that time Anno 1581. the four and twentieth of Queen Elizabeth on the 17 of January in the Parish of Armitage at a place called Blackmore in Dorset-shire a piece of ground containing three Acres removed it self from the place where it was first planted and was carried clean over another Close where Elder and Willow-Trees grew the space of forty Goad every Goad containing fifteen foot and stopt up a High-way that directed towards the Market Town of Cearn and yet the Hedges wherewith it was enclosed environ it still and the Trees stand thereon bolt upright saving an Oak of almost twenty load which was tumbled down the
ground remaining a deep pit August 4. Anno 1584. At the end of the Town call'd Nottingham in Kent eight miles from London the ground began to sink three great Elms being swallowed up and driven into the Earth past mans sight March 17. 1586. A strange thing happened Mr. Dorrington of Spaldwick in the County of Huntington Esquire had a Horse which dyed suddenly and being ripped up to see the cause of his death there was found â—n a hole of the heart of the Horse a Worm of a wondrous form it lay on a round heap â—n a Kall or Skin in the likeness of a Toad which being taken out and spreed abroad was in form and fashion not easie to be described the length of which worm divided into many grains to the number of eighty spread from the body like the branches of a Tree was from the snout to the end of the longest grain seventeen inches having four Issues in the grains from whence dropped forth a red water The body in bigness round about was three inches and a half the colour was very like the colour of a Maycril This monstrous worm crawling about to have got away was stabbed in with a dagger and so died which after being dryed was shown to many persons of account for a great rarity Sunday December 5. in the thirty eighth year of Queen Elizabeths Reign a great number of people being assembled in the Cathedral Church of Wells in Sommersetshire in the Sermon time before noon a sudden darkness fell among them and storm and tempest follow'd after with lightning and thunder such as overthrew to the ground them that were in the body of the Church and all the Church seemed to be on a ligat fire a loathsome stench followed some stones were stricken out of the Bell-Tower the Wyers and Irons of the Clock were melted which tempest being ceased and the people come again to themselves some of them were found to be marked with strange figures on their bodies and their garments not perished nor any marked that were in the Chancel How daily ought we then for to pray thus From Lightning and Tempest Lord deliver us Anno 1604. in the Reign of King James John Lepton of Kepwick in the county of York Esquire a Gentleman of an ancient Family and of good reputation his Majesties Servant and one of the Grooms of his most honourable privy Chamber performed so memorable a journey as deserves to be recorded to future ages because many Gentlemen who were good Horse-men and divers Physicians did affirm it was impossible for him to do without apparent danger of his life He undertook to ride five several times betwixt London and York in six dayes to be taken in one week betwixt Munday morning and Saturday night He began his journey upon munday being the 26 of May in the year aoresaid betwixt two and three of the Clock nâ— the morning forth of Saint Martins near Aldersgate within the City of London and came to York the same day betwixt the hours of five and six in the afternoon where he rested that night The next morning being Tuesday about three of the clock he took his journey forth of York and came to his lodging in Saint Martins aforesaid betwixt the hours of six and seven in the afternoon where he rested that night The next morning being Wednesday betwixt two and three of the clock he took his journey forth of London and came into York about seven of the clock the same day where he rested that night the next morning being Thursday betwixt two and three of the Clock he took his journey forth of York and came to London the same day betwixt seven and eight of the clock where he rested that night the next morning being Fryday betwixt two and three of the clock he â—ook his journey towards York and came thither the same day betwixt the hours of seven and eight in the afternoon so as he finished his appointed journey to the admiration of all men in five days according to his promise and upon Munday the seven and twentieth of the same Moneth he went from York and came to the Court at Greenwich upon Tuesday the 28. to his Majesty in as fresh and cheerful manner as when he first began Anno 1608. in the fifth year of King James upon the 19. of February when it should have been low water at London-Bridge quite contrary to course it was then high water and presently it ebbed almost half an hour the quantity of a foot and then suddenly it flowed again almost two foot higher than it did before and then ebbed again until it came to its course almost as it was at first so that the next flood began in a manner as it should and kept its due course in all respects as if there had been no shifting nor alteration of Tydes all this happened before twelve a clock in the forenoon the water being indifferent calm And now we are come to our own memory viz. the Reign of King Charles the First in which we find that there was a Fish taken and sold in Cambridge Market which had in its belly a book of an ancient print part whereof was consumed but enough left to be legibly read as you may find in Mr. Hammond Lestrange his History of King Charles the first The wonder of his time old Thomas Parre a Shropshire man who attained to the age of 152 years and odd months being afterwards brought up to the Court as a miracle of nature but having changed his air and dyet he soon after dyed and was buried in Westminster Abbey The Woman at Oxford which was condemned upon a supposed crime having hanged a good space and being by the Soldiers knockt divers times on the breast with the but-end of their Muskets to put her the sooner out of her pain yet afterwards when she was cut down and ready to be Anatomized there was life perceived in her and by applying some things unto her she recover'd her memory and senses was afterwards found guiltless of the fact married and had three or four children June the second Anno 1657. a Whale of a prodigious bulk being sixty foot in length and of a proportionable bigness was cast on shore not far from Green-wich which was lookt upon to be a great presage of some wonderful matters soon after to ensue and indeed the event proved it to be true for not long after Cromwel full sore against his will in a great wind was hurryed away into another World The last but not the least wonder is of one Martha Taylor hear to Packwel in Darbyshire who from Saint Thomas day in the year â— four Lord 1667. to the present writing hereof being the 11. day of January 1668. hath not asted any sustenance in all that time she â—s still living and audible to be heard but more like an anatomy or Picture of death than â— living creature Qu. What other wonders are there to be
enough Turn up O Tyrant great Assay whether roasted or raw Thou find'st the better meat Aug. 15. Is according to Tradition the day when the blessed Virgin Mary was both Soul and Body taken up into Heaven Sep. 8. Is in memory of her happy birth â—y whom the Author of all life and safety was born into the world 29 Sep. Michael or Michaelmas is in commemoration of St. Michael the Arch-Angel and of all the nine Orders of holy Angels And it is called the Dedication of St. Michael â—rom the dedicating of a Church in Rome to â—im by Pope Boniface 1 Nov. All Saints or All-hallows is celebrated in commemoration of all the Saints 2 Nov. All Souls is likewise commemoraâ—ed for the Souls of all the faithful departed â—nd these two days All Saints and All Souls were of so eminent observance that no Courts were kept on those days in Westminster-hall The four Sundays of Advent are those preâ—eding Christmas day and were instituted as a commemorative of our Saviours Advent or coming to redeem the world by his happy birth Christmas Day or the Nativity of our Saviour Christ is a most solemn Feast yearly celebrated even from the Apostles time to this day in memory of the birth of our Saviour at Bethlehem 28 Dec. Holy Innocents is a Feast in memory of those Babes which Herod slew when he sought for our blessed Saviour in which massacre it is said that a Child of Herods being at nurse was murthered amongst the rest which Augustus hearing of he said it was better to be Herods Hog than his Son because the Jews would eat no Swines flesh The several Feasts of the Apostles and other Saints were instituted by the Church to honour God in his Saints and for us to imitate their holy and godly examples St. Peter and St. Paul are joyned in one solemnity because they were principal and joynt co-operators under Christ in the conversion of the world the first converting the Jews the other the Gentiles as also because both were martyr'd at the same place Rome and on the same day 29 June The four Ember weeks in Latine quatuoâ—tempora are times of publick prayer of falting partly instituted for the successful ordination of the Priests and Ministers of the Church and partly to beg and render thank to God for the fruits and blessings of the earth Ember comes from the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. dies a day others call them Ember day from the ancient custom of eating nothing on those days till night and then only a Cake baked under the Embers or Ashes which was called Panem subcineritium Ember bread Wakes or Countrey Feasts used always to be observed on the Sunday next after that Saints day to whom the Parish Church was dedicated and took its original from a Letter written by Gregory the Great to Melitus Abbot who was sent into England with Austin the Monk in these words It may therefore be permitted them meaning the English that on the Dedication days or other solemn days of Martyrs they make them Bowers about the Churches and refreshing themselves and feasting together after a good religious sort kill their Oxen now to the praise of God and increase of Charity which before they were wont to sacrifice to the Devil c. Bedes Eccl. Hist Chap. 30. And they were called Wakes because on those feasts the people were wont to awake from sleep at the several Vigils of the Night and go to prayer but that custom was long ago laid aside and the Feasting part also little or nothing regarded Besides these we have three other days by act of Parliament set apart for Religious holy Duties viz. the fifth of November when some bloody Papists intended to have blown up the Parliament-House with Gunpowder in the third year of the Reign of King James the second the 30 of January a day of humiliation for the execrable murther of King Charles the first And the third the 29 of May a day of thansgiving for the happy Restauration of King Charles the second Qu. What is the observation that is commonly made on St. Pauls day being the 25 of January An. If Saint Pauls day be fair and clear It doth betoken a happy year But if it chance to Snow or Rain Then shall be dear all kind of Grain And if that winds be aloft Then shall we hear of wars full oft And if it do thunder that day Great dearth shall be as wise men say Another Observation When our Lord doth lye in our Ladies Lap Then O England beware a clap Other short Observations for each Month in the year January If the Sun shine the twelfth of January there shall be store of wind that year February If it thunder upon Shrove-Tuesday it foretelleth wind store of fruit and plenty the Sun beams being early abroad and so much as he shineth on that day the like he will shine every day in Lent March So many Mists as there be in March so many hoar Frosts there will be after Easter April If it rain upon Ascension day which most cammonly falleth in April it doth betokeâ— scarcity of all kind of food for Cattel but being fair it signifieth plenty May. If the Sun shine upon the twenty fifth oâ— May wine shall prosper well also in the end of May if Oaks begin to bear Blossoms iâ— doth foreshew great store of Tallow and Fruiâ— June If it rain the twenty fourth day of June Hazel-nuts will not prosper July If it be fair three Sundays before St. Jame's day Corn will be good but wet Corn will wither August If the wind change on St. Bartholemews day at night the following year will not be â—ood September So many dayes old the Moon is on Michaelmas day so many Floods will be that winter October If leaves now hang upon the Trees it portends a cold winter or many Catterpillers November If on the tenth of November the Heavens be cloudy it prognosticates a wet winter if clear and dry a sharp winter December If Christmas-day comes in the new of the Moon it is a token of a good year and so much the better by how much it is nearer the new Moon the contrary happeneth in the decrease Thus each month doth procure an observation Which may be made useful unto the Nation For if that we do things but rightly weigh We will believe what our Forefathers say Who by experience knew such things to be And so preserv'd them for posterity Qu. What is that they call the Golden Number Epact Circle of the Sun Dominical Letter c. An. The Golden Number is the Revolution of 19 years in which time all the Lunations or Aspects betwixt the Sun and Moon return to the same place they were in before and is so called either because it was sent in Golden Letters from Alexandria in Egypt to Rome or for that it is written in red or Golden Letters in the Kalendar The Epact is the number of 11
dayes which the Solar year doth exceed the Lunar the one consisting of 365 dayes the other of 354 so that in every 4 years there is added a number more than 30 which being greater than the Epact can be for from change to change there can be but 30 days therefore 30 being taken from that excess the remainder is the Epact for the next year The Epact is thus found out multiply the Golden Number of the year by 11. the product whereof if it be under 30 is the Epact but if it be above 30. they divide the product by 30. and the remainder shall be the Epact Qu. What is the Circle of the Sun An. The Circle of the Sun is a Revolution of 28 years in which time the Dominical Letters make all their several changes and is called the Solar Circle because it comprehends all the varieties and changes that the Sunday Letter can have Qu. What is the meaning of the Dominical Letter An. The Dominical Letter is alwaies one of these seven A. B. C. D. E. F. G. and sheweth the Sunday Letter all the year But in Bissextile or Leap-year there be two Dominical Letters whereof the first holdeth from the beginning of January to St. Mathias Eve and the other to the years end The Golden Number and the Dominical Letter change the first of January and the Epact the first of March Easter day never talleth lower than the 23 of March nor higher than the 25 of April Shrove sunday hath his range between the first of February and the 7 of March Whit-sunday between the 10 of May and the 13 of June and for a Rule for Shrovetide the Tuesday after the change of the Moon in February is always Shrove Tuesday Qu. What causes the Eclipses and Full of the Moon An. The Eclipse of the Moon is caused by the interposition of the Earth betwixt the Sun and her for she being a dark body of her self and having no light but what she borrows by reflection from the Sun so far as the Earth interposes so much of her is darkened The cause of the Sans Eclipse is when the Moon passes betwixt the Sun and us and shadows some of the body thereof from our sight so that what part is interposed by the Moon cannot be seen by us by reason she is a dark body hiding the same from our sight The Moon being in right opposition against the Sun causes her to be at the full as her increase is by drawing nearer to opposition and her decrease by departing further off Qu. Of what substance be the Stars what are their motions and what causeth blazing Stars An. The Stars are of the same substance with the Moon thick aad not transparent as the Heavens borrowing all their light from the Sun being otherwise of themselves dark bodies and shine as well in the day as the night though by reason of the Suns refulgent beams they are not obvious to our sight And as for their motion it is the same of the Heavens wherein they are placed Shooting or blazing Stars are hot fumes of a thick substance like glew which being exhaled above in the air and bovering alost until it be kindled flyes like a squib through the Air but if it mount to a higher place and there be kindled it turneth to a blazing Star A brief discourse of the natural cause of Airy Meteors as Snow Hail Rain c. YOu must first understand that there be four Elements viz. Fire Air Water and Earth the Fire is hot and dry the Air hot and moist the Water cold and moist and the Earth cold and dry These four Elements are the simples whereof all things under the Moon are made compounded and mixt Of Rain Rain is a cold vapour and earthly humour drawn from the Earth by the vertue of the Sun and the rest of the Planets into the middle Region of the Air where by the extremity of cold it is thickned into the body of a Cloud which the wind driving before it it doth dissolve and fall upon the Earth Of Snow Snow is ingendred of Rain the Cloud congealing through extremity of cold but not altogether so hard as Hail Pliny writes that the Hail sooner melts than Snow and that Hail falls oftner in the day than the night Of Hail Hail is likewise ingendred of Rain which the excessive cold when the Cloud dissolves freezes the drops and congeals into Ice whereby great and irregular stones do sometimes fall on the Earth Stow in his Annals reports that in the time of King Henry the 8. Anno 1545 there fell in Lancashire Hail-stones as big as mens fists and that which is most strange some were of the shape of mens faces others were fashioned like Gun-holes c. In the 23 year of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth August 12. Anno 1581. there fell a great shower of Hailstones which were fashioned like the Rowels of spurs and were two or three inches about Of Frost and Dew Dew is a thin vapour which through the faint heat of the Suns elevating it self but a little from the Earth presently at night descendeth again which in the Spring-time is called Dew but in the Winter by means of cold being congealed it is called Frost Of Wind. Wind is hot and dry fumes drawn from the Earth by the Stars which seeking to fly to the Sun is by the freezing cold driven back but from the fields fumes another fire which carries them back again so that thereby together with the confluence of other exhalations rising out of the Earth his motion is forced to be rather round than right and the reason why he bloweth more sharply one time than another and in some places more than others and sometimes not at all is fumes arising out of new exhalations and out of Floods Fenns and Marshes joyning with it to encrease his force the defect or dulness whereof may either allay or increase it as also the Globe or rotundity of the Earth may be the cause of the blowing of it more in one place than in another or Mountains Hills or Woods may hinder his force from blowing in all places eqnal whereas upon the Plain and broad Sea it bloweth with an equal force and as for the stilness or ceasing thereof it cometh to pass divers ways either by frost closing or congealing up the pores of the earth whence it should issue or by the heat of the Sun drying up fumes and vapors that should encrease it and whereof it is ingendred Of Earth-quakes Earth-quakes are caused by plenty of wind which getting into the holes and caverns of the earth and wanting a vent the earth closing again causeth the shaking or Earth-quake which is more violent according to the quantity of wind so inclosed Anno 1580. in the 22 year of Queen Elizabeths Reign happened a terrible Earth-quake at London and generally throughout all England by violence whereof the great Clock-bell aâ— Westminster struck against the hammer as divers