are of all other most suitable sweet and satisfactory to immortal Souls And also I see that he that departs from iniquity makes himself a Prey and so many plunging themselves into the ways of Iniquity lest they should be accounted odious and vile which makes them so much degenerate not only from Christianity but from Humanity it self as if they were scarce the Excrement of either contemning even that most Noble Generous Heroick Spirit that dwelt in many Heathens who accounted it most honourable and glorious to contend for their Rights and Liberties yea to suffer Death and the worst of Deaths in Defence of the same and judge them accursed and most execrable in the World that do so and not only so but for their own Profit and Advantage have many of them enslaved their Posterity by it and are most industrious and laborious most fierce and furious to destroy them whereby they are become as unnatural as Children that seek the ruine of their Parents that begot them and brought them forth or them that lay violent hands upon themselves dashing out their own Brains cutting their own Throats hanging and drawing themselves ripping up their own Bellies tearing out their own Bowels they being in different senses Children and Members of that Body Politick they design and attempt the Destruction of and when I know not how long the Duration and Continuance of these things shall be or a Conclusion or End by God shall be put thereto who by Divine and Unerring Wisdom Governs the World why shall my Soul be unwilling to take its flight into the unseen and eternal World Where no sullied sordid or impious thing most incongruous and unbecoming Nature shall be seen and found and where I shall behold no narrow conclusive contracted Soul there habitually preferring their private before a publick good but all most unanimously and equally centre in one common universal good and where the sighs and groans and cries of the afflicted and persecuted shall be heard no more for ever I earnestly exhort all most highly to prize and value Time and diligently improve it for Eternity to be wise seriously and seasonably to consider of their latter End For by the irrepealable and irreversible Law of Heaven we must all die yet we know not how where or when Live with your Souls full of solicitude and care with a most deep concernedness and most diligent industriousness whilst you have time and opportunity and the means of Grace Health and Strength make sure of these two great things viz. 1. What merits for you a Right and Title to Eternal Life and Glory and the future unchangeable Blessedness as the Redeemer's most precious Blood and Righteousness that thereby a real Application and Imputation may be unto you by sincere Believing 2. That that which makes you qualified Subjects for it is the great work of Regeneration wrought in your Souls being renewed in the Spirit of your Minds the Divine Nature being imprest upon them repairing of the depraved Image of God in you that being transformed into his own likeness thereby in the World you may mind and savour more the things of the Spirit than the things of the Flesh Coelestial and Heavenly more than Terrestrial and Earthly Superiour more than Inferiour things And therewith have a holy Life and Conversation conjoyned that results and springs from the same as Fruit from the Root and Acts from the Habits Let all in order thereto seriously consider these few Texts of Sacred Scripture let them predominately possess you let them be deeply and indelibly Transcribed upon your Souls let them be assimilated thereunto and made the written Epistles the lively Pictures thereof Matth. 5.8 20. Blessed be the pure in heart for they shall see God Vers 20. For I say unto you except your Righteousness exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven John 3.3 Jesus answered and said unto him Verily verily I say unto thee except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God 1 Cor. 6.9 10 11. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God c. Gal. 5.19 20 to 23. Now the works of the Flesh are manifest which are these Adultery c. James 1.18 Of his own Will begat he us with the Word of Truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his Creatures 1 Pet. 1.3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to his abundant Mercy hath begotten us again to a lively hope by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Vers 13. Wherefore gird up the loyns of your Minds c. Colos 3.1 2. If ye then be risen with Christ seek those things that are above Set your affections on things above not c. Gal. 5.24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the Flesh with the Affections and Lusts c. Ephes 2.1 And you hath he quickned who were dead in trespasses and sins Rev. 20.6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first Resurrection on such the second Death hath no power Rom. 8.1 There is therefore now no Condemnation c. 1 Pet. 1.15 But as he that hath called you is holy so be ye c. Vers 23. Being born again not of corruptible Seed c. Psal 4.3 But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself c. I shall mention now no more the whole Bible abounds with these Texts with what a Renovation and Change of our Carnal and Corrupt Hearts and Natures there must be with Holiness of Life and Conversation before we can be capable of a future and blessed Immortality and of inheriting the Kingdom of God for ever and ever Amen 15. Captain Abraham Ansley 's Last Speech I AM come to pay a Debt to Nature 't is a Debt that all must pay though some after one manner and some after another The way that I pay it may be thought by some few ignominious but not so by me having long since as a true English-man thought it my Duty to venture my Life in defence of the Protestant Religion against Popery and Arbitrary Power For this same purpose I came from my House to the Duke of Monmouth's Army At first I was a Lieutenant and then a Captain and I was in all the Action the Foot was engaged in which I do not repent For had I a Thousand Lives they should all have been engaged in the same Cause although it has pleased the wise God for Reasons best known to himself to blast our Designs but he will deliver his People by ways we know nor think not of I might have saved my Life if I would have done as some narrow-soul'd Persons have done by impeaching others but I abhor such ways of Deliverance choosing rather to suffer Affliction with the People of God than to enjoy Life with Sin As to my Religion I own the way and
particular Instances of these kind of Meteors the Scripture tells us at the Birth of our Saviour a Star appeared which perhaps was the Comet spoken of by Heathen Authors in the Days of Augustus of a stupendious Greatness upon which the Tibertine Sibyl shewed the Emperour the Divinity of our Saviour in these words Hic Puer Major te est Ipsum adora Our last great Comet I doubt not was of extraordinary signification not to us only but to whole Europe and farther so far as it was conspicuous What a gracious God have we that never scarce goes about any great Commotions or Changes in the World but he gives Warning before-hand As if not willing to take us tardy He shews his Signs in the Heavens above when he is about to do any great Work in the Earth beneath And therefore as Darius in the Case of Daniel Chap. 6.26 27. Let Men tremble and fear before this God for he is the Living God and steadfast for ever his Kingdom that which shall not be destroyed and his Dominion shall be even unto the end he delivereth and rescueth and worketh Signs and Wonders in Heaven and Earth 2. Thunder and Lightning Called by the Psalmist the Voice of God and by some supposed to be that Trumpet that shall sound at the Last Day to raise the Dead and to call to Judgment I will not trouble you with declaring the strange and divers Effects of this kind of Meteor its hurting of things inward when the outward are safe shattering the Bones when the Flesh is left sound melting the Blade of the Sword when the Scabbard is free breaking the Vessel when the Wine slows not away exempting poisonous Creatures from their Venom and infusing it into those who are not so striking Men dead and leaving them in the same posture it found them as if still alive c. It is enough to say that 't is a stupendious Meteor and may well be called the Voice of the Divine Excellency Job 37.2 3 4 c. Job 26 6-14 It is said of Nero that a Thunder-bolt fell upon his Table and struck the Cup out of the Emperor's Hand And we have known in our Age some strong Towers and high Buildings demolished to the very Ground with Lightning Some Men struck dead some lamed some blinded Trees clove asunder A Learned Divine of our Nation tells of a profane Person walking abroad with another upon the Lord's-Day when it thundred his Companion telling him of it made Answer 'T is nothing but a Knave Cooper beating of his Tubs But he had not gone much farther but himself was struck dead This may teach us to put on a Reverential Awe of the Divine Majesty at such Seasons That Emperor Caligula who used to brave it out as if he meant to vie with the Almighty and cry 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was an Instance of the Divine Patience but no safe Example for Imitation The Psalmist is more ingenuous Psal 29. c. Give unto the Lord O ye mighty give unto the Lord Glory and Strength And Psal 97.1 2 3 4. To see all the lower World cover'd with thick Clouds and the Cracks of Thunder shake the very Pillars of the Earth and terrible Flashes and Corruscations of Lightning with a speedy pace fly from one end of the Heavens to the other is so like the Voice of God and a Type or Shadow of that black gloomy Day which shall put a Period to the World that it may well be a Memento of our Duty and Reverence we owe to the Divine Majesty and may well put that Question into our Mouths Who shall be able to stand when God appears When this great and terrible God shall by the Sound of this Trumpet or the Voice of an Arch-Angel Summon the World to Judgment who shall dare to appear before him If the Giving of the Law and the Enacting or rather Promulgation of our Religion upon Mount Sinai was so dreadful as Exod. 19.16 Chap. 20.18 19. What will the Great Assizes be when all the Men that ever lived in the World shall be called to give up their last Account and receive their Final Doom Then Oh! Come ye Mountains and fall upon us and ye Rocks cover us and hide us from the Wrath of the Lamb Then Oh! where will the Heart and Stoutness of the presumptuous Sinner shew itself How will he that brav'd it here with the Almighty be able then to stand his Ground and maintain his Cause Psal 50.1 2 3 4. 3. Air and Winds Which what to make of we know not 't is such an invisible and yet real Meteor that it will puzzle the Natural Reason of the most subtile Philosopher to tell the Nature of it The Air is so like the Nature of the Souls in our Bodies or a Spirit in general that we know little more of either one or other than what we know by the sensible Effects John 3.8 The Wind bloweth where it listeth c. If Man be so dim in Naturals with what Face can he boast his Knowledge of Spiritual Objects We neither know the Air that surrounds us every-where nor the Wind that whistles in our Ears nor the Souls that lodge in our own Bodies We are so blind so near home And 't is enough to make us blush at our own Weakness and such Ignorance should make us Humble and such Humility should make us Learn And 'till we are thus qualified we are not fit to learn What a proud Lump of Clay is foolish Man that cannot comprehend Things so near him Things meerly natural Things so common and ordinary and yet will call every Point of his Religion even the sublimest Mysteries to the Tribunal of meer Reason and determine in particular Branches and Puâ—ctilio's as peremptorily and decisively as if be had been Privy Counsellour to the Almighty and judge others censoriously unkindly for differing from him but in the lesser doubtful difficult Points of Religion and prosecute severely for not knowing and believing with equal clearness as himself But besides We are often wondring at the Nature of God himself and cannot tell how to frame a Notion of a Being every-where present Is not the Air and Wind a fit Emblem to shadow forth this Attribute of the Divinity to us Is not the Air in every Creviss of our Houses in our Nostrils in our very Bowels Doth it not fill the World and enter into the smallest Pores of our Bodies And yet 't is but a Creature and we see it not Why should we think it such an impossible thing for the God of Heaven to fill all Places with his Presence and yet be limited to no Bounds nor visible to any Eyes The same word that we use to signifie Air is used also to express the Spirit of God by in almost all the Languages viz. Spiritus Latin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 amp c. And we find the Spirit of God choosing sometimes to come down and shew
When all is said that I can say the one half will not be told you But this I will be bold to promise if I do not make it out by sober Reason to any Man of a sober Mind and reasonable Spirit a Man that is humble enough and impartially willing to believe Truth to be Truth that the Rewards are 1. Great 2. Certain I say Reader if I make not this out by sober Reason to be very credible then say either first that the whole Business of Religion is back'd with but a cold Encouragement or which would be more favourable that I am very unskilful in the Managery But I do hope so to explain the Matter as to convince you That the Joy beyond is worth our seeking thô it cost us much more than is required from us And if it prove upon our serious enquiry to be both Great and Certain exceeding great and very certain then I hope it will add Courage to our Religion and Strength to our Devotion and we shall be willing to work harder in Consideration of our Wages I remember St. Augustine tells of himself That going about to write to St. Hierom that very Day on which Hierom died as it proved on a sudden he saw a Light breaking into his Study and perceived the Room perfumed with a fragrant Smell and heard a Voice as he thought O Austin what art thou going to do to put the Sea into a little Vessel when the Heavens shall cease from their perpetual Motion then and not till then shalt thou be able to understand the Glory of Heaven unless thou come to feel it as now I do We are Reader upon a great Disadvantage in this Case we cannot conceive the Glories of another World which we never saw especially of such a World as that is whilst we dwell in such a place as this is But more especially yet if we live in Sin and belong to the Kingdom of Darkness then 't will be hard indeed If we not only walk with our bodies on this Earth but stoop low with our Souls towards Hell then the great Gulf between will make the Prospect darker to Heaven and we shall find it difficult and even impossible to see so far with such weak Faculties The natural Man understands not the Things of God For in order to the Discovery there is requisite the Grace of Faith as well as Natural Knowledge and if Mens Hearts are not disposed to believe it all the Wonders of the Future Glory told with the greatest Demonstration of Natural Reason will signifie no more than the fine Description of a Utopia or the World in the Moon and Men will be as far from seeking after it as if they look'd upon all as a Romantick Fiction Well Reader think of it how you please I shall begin I. To tell you That God doth mean great Rewards for them that love him And this I shall shew from several Topicks 1. The Preparation that hath been making 2. The Place 3. The Riches of the Place 4. The Company 5. The Sufferings of good Men for it 6. The Author and Design 1. The Preparation for it We are wont to guess the Greatness of a Solemnity Feast Triumph Building any extraordinary Work by the Preparations that are made afore-hand in order thereunto whereas little Works require little Preparation If this Rule be worth any thing we have this Argument here The first Stone of this Building was set from Eternity the Counsel was taken up before the Foundation of this World was laid Our Saviour was intentionally provided before we had actually sinned nay before Adam was actually created 1 Pet. 1.20 Thus the chief Corner-stone was provided from Etenrity God who saw before-hand that Man after his Creation would not stand before he put him into the World provides a Remedy for his Fall and this Remedy not provided without the concurrent Assent of all his Attributes Wisdom Power Truth Justice and Mercy And as he selected Christ so early for our Messiah so he chose us to Salvation in and through him Ephes 1.4 Besides consider what a brave World he made for Man before he created him what Powers and Faculties he created him with what a Paradise he put him in and there set him down vested with Righteousness and Holiness in order to his Happiness All the Creatures besides were but Attendants to wait upon Man Man for God Observe here a Messiah provided from Eternity for Man in case he should fall the Mercy of Election contrived before-hand for such as would accept it a whole World provided filled with variety of Creatures all excellently and wonderfully made and put in admirable Order and at last Man a little Being usher'd upon the Stage with the Songs of Angels for Job 38.7 Those Morning-Stars sung together at this Solemnity All this lower World was but a Theater for Man to act in a Preface to Eternity and Eden's a Type of Heaven and Man design'd thither in the Sequel of his Journey for as yet he was but upon his Journey just entring his Sojourning State No sooner scarce was Man come hither but he fell soully and exposed himself and Posterity to the Danger of Hell for ever From that time to this hath God been laying out himself for us by Providence Promises Threatnings Judgments Mercies variety of Dispensations diversity of Administrations by Law by Gospel by Angels by Men by Prophets by Apostles by his own Son by his Holy Spirit by Circumcision and Passover by Baptism and Eucharist by ordinary Means by extraordinary Miracles by such manifold Methods all tending to our Salvation and conducive to our future Glory that it would fill a Volume enough to cloy you to enumerate the Particulars of them The whole Frame and Furniture of this wide vast Universe all the Lustre and Transactions of Divine Providence for these many Thousands of Years ahve been but so many several preparations subservient to the State of Happiness and Glory hereafter nay Hell itself the Infernal Tophet ordained of old was made for this vâ—â—y purpose for a Prison or Dungeon to remove those wicked Men and Devils into which are unfit for this State of Glory and would be offensive and troublesome to the Good if God should do violence to his Justice to admit them there All things work together for good But neither is this all we ourselves are prepared for this very thing 2 Cor. 5.5 He who hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God He hath not only made the Elect but predestinated redeem'd called justified and sanctified them for this purpose and so hath created some Vessels of Silver and some Vessels of Gold of Honour and Glory in order to it Our Sins after Repentance and Pardon are but like the cold stormy and cloudy Days of Winter which will make the Summer more welcome and pleasant and he that knows how to bring Good out of Evil hath fetch'd Honey out of this Lion to whom much is
my Soul into the Kingdom of Heaven See her Life 23. I Remember says Mr. Increase Mather in his Disc of Angels that once in Discourse with the Learned Doctor Spencer in Cambridge concerning his Book of Prodigies he said to me that his Judgment was That the Evil Angels had Prenotions of many Future Things and did accordingly give strange Premonitions of them No doubt it is often so and yet as Lavater Schottus and others have noted there are sometimes Things signified by Angels which it is not easie to determine of what sort those Genii are VVhat shall be thought of the Phantom which appeared to General Vesselini assuring him that he might take the City of Muran by the Assistance of a Widow which Lived in that City which strangely came to pass accordingly in the Year 1644. There comes to my mind a very Unaccountable Thing which happened at London above Thirty Years ago It was this One Mr. Cutty an honest Citizen passing between Milk-street and Wood-street in Cheap-side on March 2d 1664 took up a Letter Sealed The Superscription whereof was these VVords following From Geneva to a Friend VVithin the Letter these VVords were written This is to give both timely and speedy Notice that in the Year 1665 in the latter end of May shall begin a Plague and hold very hot till the latter end of December and then cease but not quite and then go on till the latter end of the Spring the next Year And in 1665 and 66 putting both together shall not only happen a Plague but great Sea Fights such as the like was scarce ever heard of and this shall not be all but in the Year 1666 on the Second of September shall happen a Fire that shall burn down one of the Eminentest Cities in the World Mr. Cutty carried the Letter to the then Lord Mayor A Reverend Divine in London who was of his Acquaintance had a Copy of it before the sad Things here Predicted came to pass and at my last being at London was pleased to favour me with it as 't is here Related This Account being certainly true and very surprizing I thought it not unworthy the Publication 24. There are sometimes very unaccountable Motions and Impressions on the Spirits of good men which are wrought in them by the ministry of Holy Angels whose work it is to prevent and disappoint the Designs of Satan and of his evil Angels I remember one relates a remarkable Passage of a good man that when he was reading in his House he could not rest in his Spirit but he must step out of Doors which he had no sooner done but he saw a Child in a Pond of VVater ready to perish which would have been gone past recovery had not he gone out of his Doors just at that moment This Impression must needs be from a good Angel And an other like Passage is related in the Life of that Holy Man Mr. Dod One Evening though he had other work to attend he could not but he must got to such a Neighbour's House when he came to him he told him he knew not what he was come for but he could not rest in his Spirit until he had visited him The poor man was astonished for he had in the Violence of a Temptation put a Rope into his Pocket with an intent to have destroyed himself had not Mr. Dod's thus coming prevented it Surely an Angel of the Lord was in this Providence Bishop Hall speaks of one whom he knew that having been for Sixteen Years a Cripple had these monitions in his Sleep that he should go and wash in St. Matherns Well in Cornwell which he did and was suddenly recovered This he thinks was from Angelical Suggestion Marcus Aurelius Antoninus did in a Dream receive the Prescript of a Remedy for his Disease which the Physitians could not cure A Physitian of Vratislavium followed the Counsel he had given him in a Dream concerning the cure of a Disease which was to him incurable and he recovered the Patient It added to the wonder that a few Years after he met with that Receipt in a Book then newly Printed Histories report that the like to this happened to Philip and to Galen If Angels may Suggest things beneficial unto the minds of Men who are Strangers to God much more unto them that fear him Thus far Mr. Mather Converse with Angels and Spirits Extracted from the Miscellanies of John Aubery Esq 25 Dr. Richard Nepier was a Person of great Abstinence Innocence and Piety He spent every Day Two Hours in Family Prayer When a Patient or Querent came to him he presently went to his Closet to Pray and told to admiration the Recovery or Death of the Patient It appears by his Papers that he did converse with the Angel Raphael who gave him the Responses 26. Elias Ashmole Esq had all his Papers where is contained all his Practice for about Fifty Years which he Mr. Ashmole carefully bound up according to the year of our Lord in Volumes in Folio which are now reposited in the Library of the Museum in Oxford Before the Responses stands this Mark viz. R â„ž is which Mr. Ashmole said was Responsum Raphaelis The Angel told him if the Patient were curable or incurable There are also severalâ— other Queries to the Angel as to Religion Transubstantiation c. which I have forgot I remember one is Whether the Good Spirits or the Bad be most in Number R â„ž is The Good It is to be found there that he told John Prideaux D. D. Anno 1621 that Twenty Years hence 1641 he would be a Bishop and he was so sc Bishop of Worcester R â„ž is did resolve him That Mr. Booth of in Cheshire should have a Son that should inherit Three Years hence sc Sir George Booth the first Lord Delamere viz. from 1619. Sir George Booth aforesaid was born Decemb. 18th Anno 1622. This I extracted out of Dr. Nepier's Original Diary then in the possession of Mr. Ashmole It is impossible that the Prediction of Sir George Booth's Birth could be found any other way but by Angelical Revelation This Dr. Richard Nepier was Rector of Lynford in Bucks and did practise Physickâ— but gave most to the Poor that he got by it 'T is certain he foretold his own Death to a Day and Hour he died Praying upon his Knees being of a very great Age 1634. April the First One says why should one think the Intellectual World less Peopled than the Material Pliny in his Natural History tells us that in Africa do sometimes appear Multitudes of Aerial Shapes which suddenly Vanish Mr. Richard Baxter in his certainty of the World of Spirits hath a Discourse of Angels and wonders they are so little taken notice of he hath counted in Newman's Concordance of the Bible the word Angel in above 300 places Thus far Mr. Aubery CHAP. III. Concerning the Appearance of bad Angels or Daemons HEre I have a great Task and
Oxford at the same time when the Relation came fresh to the Vice-Chancellor And Lodging at Chadlington not far from Oxford upon the Saturday Night after with the Minister of the Place then a Fellow of Merton-Colledge of thirteen or fourteen years standing He told me that having an occasion of Travelling into Wiltshire near to the very place where this Goddard dwelt he had the very story fully attested to him by many credible Persons 7. Mrs. Taylor of the Ford by S. Neots in a Letter to Dr. Ezekiel Burton relates how one Mary Watkinson whose Father lived in Smithfield but she Married to one Francis Topham and she living in York with her Husband being an ill one who did steal her away against her Parents consent so that they could not abide him That she came often to them and when she was last with him upon their parting she expressed that she feared she should never see him more He Answered her if he should die if God did permit the Dead to see the Living he would see her again now after he had been Buried about half a year one Night when she was in Bed but could not sleep she heard Musick and the Chamber grew lighter and lighter and she being broad awake saw her Father stand at her Bed-side who said Mall did I not tell thee that I would see thee once again She call'd him Father and talk'd of many things and he bad her be Dutiful and Patient to her Mother And when she told him that she had a Child since he died he said That would not trouble her long He bad her speak what she would now to him for he must go and that he should rever see her more till they met in the Kingdom of Heaven So the Chamber was darker and darker and he was gone with Music and she said that she did never dream of him nor ever did see any Apparition of him after He was a very honest godly Man as far as I can tell saith the same Mrs. Taylor in the Clause of a Letter Ibid. and it is attested by G. Rust likewise afterward Bishop of Dromore 8. Dr. Farrar a Man of great Piety and Physician to King Charles the II. and his Daughter Mrs. Pearson's Mother a very pious Soul made a Compact at his Intreaty that the first of them that died if happy should after Death appear to the Surviver if it were possible the Daughter with some Difficulty consenting thereto Some time after the Daughter who liv'd at Gillingham-Lodge two Miles from Salisbury fell into Labour and by a Mistake being given a noxious Potion instead of another prepared for her suddenly died Her Father liv'd in London and that very Night she died she open'd his Curtains and looked upon him He had before heard notâ—ing of her Illness but upon this Apparition confidently told his Maid that his Daughter was dead and after two Days receiv'd the News Her Grandmother told Mrs. Pearson this as also an Uncle of hers and the abovesaid Maid and Mrs. Pearson I know and she is a very Prudent and Good Woman Saith Mr. Edward Fowler in a Letter to Dr. H. More An. 1678. Ibid. 9. Mr. Quick in his Relation of a Family poison'd at Plymouth relates this Story which he saith he had from one Mr. B. Cl. a very Holy Man and a Reverend Minister formerly of Petrocks by the Castle of Dartmouth This Minister was sent for to visit and pray with a dying Man under very much Troubles of Conscience His Case was this Sir said he unto the Minister about 7 months since as I was going to Buscow I met a Comerade of mine who had gone to Sea about a Fortnight since and taking him by the Hand wondring at his Arrival I said What chear Mate What makes thee return so soon and look so pale I am dead quoth this Spectrum Dead man and yet walk and talk Yes saith he I am dead I was took sick shortly after my going to Sea and died this day and about an Hour since so many Leagues off I was thrown overboard Now I desire thee to go home and to tell my Wife of it and to open my Coffer and shew my Will and see my Legacies paid which having so promised to do for him at parting he added And as for that business between thee and me that thou well wotest of I charge thee that thou never speak of it to any Man living for if thou dost I will in that very moment tear thee in a thousand Pieces Now Sir this lies heavy upon my Conscience Fain would I declare it it is upon my Tongue but I cannot And why can you not said the Minister Oh! Sir do not you see him Look how terrible he is there he is just against me Oh how doth he threaten me I would tell you but I dare not And whatever Arguments this Reverend Parsonage could use unto the sick man he could never bring him to a Confession but he pined away under his Terrors and Horrors till at last not being able to subsist any longer by reason of them he died See the aforesaid Relation called Hell open'd or the Infernal Sin of Murder punished P. 82 83. 10. No longer since than the last Winter there was much Discourse in London concerning a Gentlewoman unto whom her dead Son and another whom she knew not had appear'd Being then in Lodnon I was willing to satisfie my self by enquiring into the Truth of what was reported and on Febr. 23. 1691. my Brother who is now a Pastor to a Congregation in that City and I discoursed the Gentlewoman spoke of she told us that a Son of hers who had been a very civil young Man but more airy in his Temper than was pleasing to his serious Mother being dead she was much concern'd in her Thoughts about his Condition in the other World but a Fortnight after his Death he appear'd to her saying Mother you are solicitous about my Spiritual Welfare trouble your self no more for I am happy and so vanish'd See Mr. Increase Mather's Cases of Conscience about Witches p. 11. 11. Apparitions extracted from the Miscellanies of John Aubrey Esq The Antiquities of Oxford tell us that St. Edmund Archbishop of Canterbury did sometimes converse with an Angel or Nymph at a Spring without St. Clements Parish near Oxford as Numa Pompilius did with the Nymph Egeria This Well was stopped up since Oxford was a Garrison See the Life of John Donn D. D. Dean of St. Pauls writ by Mr. Isaac Walton where it is affirmed that the Dean did see the Apparition of his Wife 12. Mr. Cashio Burroughs was one of the most Beautiful Men in England and very Valiant but very proud and Blood-thirsty There was then in London a very Beautiful Italian Lady who fell so extreamly in Love with him that she did let him enjoy her which she had never let any man do before Wherefore said she I shall request this Favour of you never to
Daughter drew near her time he sent for her to himself with design to destroy what should be born of her The Infant was delivered to Harpagus to be slain a Man of known Fidelity and with whom he had Communicated his greatest Secrets But he fearing that upon Astyages his death Maudane his Daughter would succeed in the Empire the King having no Issue Male and that then he should be paid home for his Obedience doth not kill the Royal Babe but delivers it to the King 's chief Herdsman to be exposed to the wide World It fell out that the Wife of this Man was newly brought to Bed and having heard of the whole Affair earnestly requests her Husband to bring her the Child that she might see him He is overcome goes to the Wood where he had left him finds there a Bitch that had kept the Birds and Beasts off from the Babe and suckled it her self Affected with this Miracle he takes up the Child carries it to his Wife who saw it loved it bred it up till it grew up first to be a Man and then a King He overcomes Astyages his Grandfather and Translates the Scepter from the Medes to the Persians Just Hist l. 1. p 16. Val. Max. l. 1. c. 7. Wanley l. 6. c. 1. 13. When Alexander after the long and difficult Siege of Tyre lead his Army with great Indignation against the Jews devoting all to Slaughter and the Spoil Jaddas the then High-Priest admonished by God in a Dream in his Priestly Attire and with his Mitre on his Head and upon that the Name of God with a Number of Priefts and People goes to meet him Alexander with great Submission approaches him Salutes and Adoves him telling Parmeno who was displeased with it That he worshipped not the Man but GOD in him who as he said had appeared to him in that Form in Dio a City of Macedonia in his Dream encouraging him to a speedy Expedition against Asia promising his Divine Power for Assistance in the Conquest of it Upon this he pardon'd the Jews honoured and enriched the City and Nation Jos l. 1. c. 8. Wanley l. 6. c. 1 c. 14. Julius Caesar dreamed that he had carnal Knowledge of his Mother which the Soothsayers Interpreted That the Earth the common Mother of Mankind should be subjected to him Sueton. in Jnl. p. 8. Wanley's Wonders of the little World l. 6. c. 1. 15. The Night before Polycrates King of Samos went thence to go to Oretes the Lieutenant of Cyru in Sardis his Daughter dreamed that she saw her Father lifted up in the Air where Jupiter washed him and the Sun anointed him which came to paâ—s For as soon as he was in his Power Oretes caused him to be hang'd upon a Gibbet where his Body was washed with the Rain and his Fat melted with the Sun Camerar Oper. Subcisiv Cent. 2. c. 57. ex Herodot l. 3. 16 Antigonus dreamed that he Sowed a spacious Field with Gold which sprang up flourish'd and ripen'd was reaped presently and nothing left but Stubble and then he seemed to hear a Voice That Mithridates was fled into the Euxine Sea carrying along with him all the Golden Harvest This Mithridates was then in the Retinue of Antigonus King of Macedonia his own Countrey of Persia being ruin'd and therein his own Fortunes The King awakes and terrified with this Dream he resolves to cut off Mithridates but being informed by Demetrius Antigonuâ—'s Son of the danger he was in he flies privately into Cappadocia where he Founded the Famous Kingdom of Pontus Wanley's Wond l. 6. c. 1. Ex Lips Plutarch 17. Qu. Catalus in his Dream saw Jupiter delivering into the hand of a Child the Roman Ensign The next Night the same Child hugg'd in Jove's Bosom and when Catalus offered to pluck him thence Jupiter forbade him telling him He was born jor the welfare of the Romans The next Morning seeing Oâ—tavianus afterwards Angustus in the Street he ran to him and cryed out This is He whom the last Night I saw Jupiter hâ—g in his Bosome Idem en Xiphil August Fulgos. l. 1. 18. Two Accadians of intimate Acquaintance lodging at Megara the one with a Friend the other at an Inn he at his Friend's House saw in his sleep his Companion begging of him to assist him for he was circumvented by his Host The other awakening leaps out of his Bed with intention to go to the Inn but suspecting his Dream to have nothing in it returned to his Bed and Sleep The same Person appears to him a second time all bloody requesting him earnestly to revenge his Death affirming That he was killed by his Hoâ— and that at his very time he was carried out in a Cart towards the Gate all covered with Dung The Man at last overcome with these Entreaties of his Friend immediately runs to the Gate finds the Cart seizeth and searcheth it where he found the Body of his Friend and thereupon dragg'd the Inn-keeper to his deserved punishment Idem ex Val. Max. i. 1. c. 7. Dr. More Immort 〈◊〉 Soul l. 2. c. 16 c. 19. Alexander the Philosopher the same Hour that his Mother died saw in his sleep the Solemnities of his Mother though she was at that time a Day 's Journey distant from him Wanley's Wonders of the little World l. 6. c. 1. 20. Sionia â— 1523. dreamed that falling into a River he was in great danger of drowning and calling to one for Succour was neglected This Dream he told to his Wife and Servants the next Day going to help a Child that was fallen into the River near the Castle of Pâ—sâ—aâ—â— he leap'd in and perished in the Mud. Idem ex Heywood Hierarch l. 4. Jovio 21. Galen being troubled with an Inflammation about the Diaphragma dreamed that upon opening of a Vein between his Thumb and Fore-ringer he should recover his Health which he did and was restored Idem ex Schot Phys Curios l. 3. c. 25. Col. Rhod. c. 22. Celitts Rhodiginses saith When he was 22 Years of Age being perplexed with Ectrapali a Greek Word in the Annotations upon Pliny signifying those who grow beyond the common Proportions of Nature assign'd to their kind in his perplexity he lay'd him doâ—n to sleep and in his Dream recalled to mind the very Book page and place of the page of another Author where he had formerly read it Col. Rhod. Am. lact l. 27. c. 9. 23. A Citizen of Millain was demanded a Debt as owing from his dead Father and when he was in some trouble about it the Image of his dead Father appears to him in his sleep tells him the Debt was paid and in such a place he should find the Writing with the Hand of his Creditor to it Awaking from his Dream and Sleep he finds the Acquittance Which Saint Austin saith himself saw with his own Eyes Wanley ex Fulgos. l. 1. c. 5. p. 130. 24. When S. Bernard's Mother
God I am assured there is a Treachery Let some of you go to yonder place and tell me what you sind They went accordingly and discovering the Ambush they came back and told Mr. Wiseheart whereupon he said I know that I shall end my Life by that Blood thirsty Mans hands but it will not be on this manner At another time as he was Preaching among others that came to hear him there were two Grey Fryars who standing at the Church-Door whispered to such as came in which Mr. Wiseheart taking notice of said to the People I pray you make room for these two Men it may be they come to Learn And turning his Speech to them he said Come near for I assure you you shall hear the word of Truth which this day shall Seal unto you either your Salvation or Damnation And so he proceeded in his Sermon supposing that they would be quiet But when he perceived that they still continued to disturb the People that were near them he said unto them the Second time with an angry Countenance O Ministers of Satan and Deceivers of the Souls of Men Will you neither hear Gods Truth your selves nor suffer others to hear it Depart and take this for your Portion God shall shortly disclose and confound your Hypocrisie within this Kingdom you shall be Abominable unto Men and your Habitations shall be desolate Which accordingly came to pass not long after Not long after as he was Preaching at Haddington seeing what a thing Auditory he had he said O Lord how long shall it be that thy Holy Word shall be despised and Men shall not regard their own Salvation I have heard of thee O Haddington that in thee there used to be two or three Thousand Persons at a vain and wicked Play adn now to hear a Messenger of the Eternal God of all the Parish can scarce be Numbred one Hundred Persons present Sore and Fearful shall be the Plagues which shall ensue upon this thy contempt with Fire and Sword shalt thou be Plagued Yea thou Haddington in special strangers shall possess thee and you the present Inhabitants shall either in Bondage serve your Enemies or else ou shall be chased from your own Habitations and that because you have not known nor will know the time of your Visitation This Prophecy was accomplished not long after when the English took Haddington made it a Garrison enforced many of the Inhabitants to fly and oppressed others And after a while a great Plague brake forth in the Town whereof Multitudes died which forced the English to quit it who at their departure burnt and destroyed a great part of it and presently after it was Seized upon by the French who came as Auxiliaries into Scotland and but few of the Ancient Inhabitants returned to it So that Haddington to this day never recovered its former Beauty and Populousness Mr. Wiseheart being Condemned by the Cardinal of St. Andrews and his Bishop to be burnt as he was at the stake he saw the Cardinal sitting in one of his Castle Windows to see Execution done upon him whereupon he said He who in such State from that high place feeds his Eyes with my Torments within a few days shall be hanged out at the same Window to be seen with as much Ignominy as he now Learns there with Pride Which accordingly came to pass Clark's mirrour See more in the next Chapters following but one Viz. Premonitions of General Changes c. 12. There was a Relation publish'd A. 1671. at London by one Tho. Astree concerning his son a Schollar at Christs-Hospital who having a mind to go to Sea and being put off with delays by his Father at last was told by one in the habit of a Seaman with his Cloaths of sad-coloured silk water'd and over them a sad-coloured cloth Coat with Gold Buttons a plain Cravat a Cane with a Silver Head and a Sword by his Side that if he went to Sea he should have a Flux that would cost him his Life that all the rest of the Men should go safe and that he knew this very well adding my Son before the Sun be down that shall be tyed that was never tyed before and before the morrow Sun be down that shall be loose that was never tyed before And afterwards on his way home from the Bridge where this was spoken Do you believe what I have said The Boy Answering No. Do you not remember that Zacharias was struck Dumb quoting Luk. 1. I do remember saith the Boy but that was because he did not believe the Angel c. Ans It may be so with you Boy are you an Angel No answer was made the Man departed the Boy goes home leans upon the Table could not speak with Tears trickling down his Cheeks and Smiting on his Breast made Signs for a Pen and Ink c. Writes down I cannot speak speak to me and I shall understand And so continued for twenty four hours At last his Father reading to him and citing Ps 56.3 He coughed three times and somewhat gave a jerk like the breaking of a string upon which his Tongue was loosed and he spake saying Blessed be God I can speak c. CHAP. XIV Of Vrim and Thummim Teraphim c. VRim and Thummim mentioned Exod. 28.30 According to Mr. Simpson signify Light and perfection from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and they are put in the plural Number to signify the plenty and excellency of the Divine Graces This was meant as some conceive of the splendor and perfection of the precious Stones of the Breast-Plate which were of most clear and perfect Beauty But some conceive that these words were Writ or Engraven upon some of the precious Materials of the HIgh Priests Garments or Ornaments neither made nor placed by the inspired Artificers but as some Learned Writers rather think by God himself Exod. 39.10 compared with Lev. 8.8 Seem to make for this Opinion And so they were put by Moses into the Breast-Plate It was called the Breast-Plate of Judgment v. 15. and the Judgment of Vrim Num. 27.21 Because the High-Priest put it on when he consulted with God and received from him clear and determmate Answers in Cases of Doubt Which Answers were made sometimes by audible Voice sometimes by secret Inspiration which when he had told it to the People the Stones had Letters in the Breast-Plate as is probably conceived for there is nothing certain of it in the Scripture might have an extraordinary brightness on them for the better assurance of the People that the Priest had spoken with the Lord and received an Answer from him As by the shining of Moses's Face when he came from God witht he Tables of the Testimony in his hand Exod. 34.29 30. It was manifest that he had from God what he brought unto the People And whereas David being to consult with the Lord called for the Ephod 1 Sam. 23.9 The reason was
half his Kingdom Thurxo Bishop of Vratislavia went Ten Days Journey out of his way to see him and you must not think that he parted with him without giving him any thing Another of the same Name sent him Four Watches Four Ingots of pure Gold and a Muntero lined with rich Sables Christopher Sheidlovitz Chancellor of Poland a Clock Spoon and Fork all of pure Gold Peter Bishop of Cracovia Thirty Duckers Joh. Paungarnerus a good Quantity of Gold uncoyned with a large Silver Bowl Rinkius another Fuggerus a Third All Gifts as himself jested not unbefitting a Hollander Jacob Piso Two Pieces of Ancient Coyn one Gold the other Silver resembling Gratian and Hercules Vigilius Zuichemus a Gold Ring which explicated became an exact Coelestial Sphere And William Earl of Eysenburg a Dagger which by the Inscription he wished in the Heart of his Enemies With a large Nomenclatura of many more Friends Patrons and Correspondents Quos hic parscribere longum esset Fuller Alct. Rediv. p. 70. Out of the Bishop of Kilmore's Life of Erasmus 13. Bishop Vsher was highly admired and much honoured by all the famous Lights of his time through the Christian World Spanhemius Divinity Professor at Geneva Anno Christi 1639 in his Epistle Dedicatory to him before this Third part Dubiorum Evangelicorum spends above Two Leaves in extolling him some of his Expressions are Your very great Parts most excellent Vsher are known not only within your own Country but in ours and wheresoever else there is Honour given to Piety or Price set upon Learning c. He speaks much of his Charity to Strangers his Humility Piety his Library of which he made such use for the Publick Good that it was not so much his own as the Library of all Learned Men In a word saith he the Name of Vsher with us is a Name of Piety and Vertue it was of great Renown at our Geneva c. Gerard Vossius frequently admires him as a Man of vast Learning worthy of an everlasting Monument The high Merits said he of this most excellent and throughout most Learned Man both of the Church and of the whole Common-wealth of Learning deserved an everlasting greateful Memory A Man so excelling in the Knowledge both of Humane and Divine Things that I cannot speak any thing so high of him but his Worth doth surpass it Bochartus and Simplicus call him frequently Magnum Vsherium Vsher the Great Morus in his Oration at Geneva dedicated to him stiles him The most Excellent Servant of God The most Reverend Man of God The Athanasius of our Age. Thy Breast saith he is a Breathing Library Thou art to Britain as Austin was to Hippo Farewel Britain 's great Honour Ludovicus de Dieu in his Animadversions on the Acts dedicated to him entitle him To the Excellent Prelate worthy of Eternal Memory c. Paulus Testardus Blesensis stiles him The greatest Honour of the Church and Age. Arnoldus Bâ—osius saith of him That he did excel with a most singular Judgment in the Oriental Languages and in all other abstruse and deep Learning Venerable to all Europe whose Authority prevails much with all Men c. Master Selden saith of him The most Reverend Prelate James Usher A Man of great Piety singular Judgment Learned to a Miracle and born to promote the more severe Studies c. Dr. Prideaux calls him The most rich Magazine of solid Learning and of all Antiquity Dr. Davenant speaks thus of him A Man of singular Piety abounding with all manner of Learning Sir Roger Twisden acknowledging the Assistance he had from him in his History saith thus This we owe to the most worthy Arch-bishop of Armagh in whom with incredible Learning and rare Knowledge of Antiquity his most courteous Conversation and wonderful Sweetness c. See his Life written by Dr. Bernard and by Mr. Clark Dr. Preston looked high and aimed at Court-preferment thinking it below him to be a Minister and accordingly got in with a Merchant in order to a Removal to Paris to learn the Language and Garb of France for this end he sells some Lands that were fallen to him by the Death of Mr. Creswel of Northampton But the Merchant dies and his blooming Hopes died with him See his Life by Mr. Clark p. 77. CHAP. LX. People loving and kind to their Ministers 'T IS the Duty of People to know and value those who are set over them and watch for their Souls and labour among them and to esteem them very highly for their Works sake And good People who love God and have any care for their own Souls will do so and according to their Respects and Faithfulness in this point they may expect the Divine Blessing For as they sow they shall reap sparingly or plentifully 1. When Chrysostom was banish't by the Empress the People as he went along burst into Tears and cried out It was better the Sun should not shine than that John Chrysostom should not preach 2. Nazianzen when willing to leave his Place at Constantinople to live a private Life was besought with Tears by his People not to forsake his Flock 3. Sir Henry Spelman having an Impropriation in his Estate viz. Middleton in Norfolk took a course to dispose of it for the Augmentation of the Vicaridge and also a small Addition to Cougham Spelm. de non temerandis Eccl. Preface 4. Sir Ralph Hare of Norfolk upon reading Sir Henry's Treatise restored a good Parsonage which he had in his Estate to the Church and gave the perpetual Advowson to St. Johns-Colledge in Cambridge Ibid. 5. Sir Roger Townsend in the same Country restored three Impropriations to the Church besides many singular Expressions of great respect to the Clergy Ibid. 6. Sir William Dodington of Hampshire a very religious Gentleman restored no less than six Impropriations out of his own Estate to the full value of Six hundred pounds yearly and more Ibid. 7. Richard Knightley of Northamptonshire restored two Fansley and Preston 8. The Right Honourable Baptist Lord Hicks Viscount Campden besides many other Works of Charity to Hospitals and Churches restored and purchased many Impropriations viz. one in Pembrokeshire which cost 460 l. one in Northumberland which cost 760 l. one in Durham of 366 l. another in Dorsetshire of 760 l. he redeemed certain Chantry-Lands which cost 240 l. and gave Pensions to two Ministers which cost 80 l. besides Legacies to several Ministers Ibid. Out of the Survey at London p. 761. 9. Mrs. Ellen Goulston Relict of Theodore Goulston Doctor of Physick gave the Impropriate Parsonage of Bardwal in Suffolk to the Vicaridge and gave the Donation of the Vicaridge to St. Johns-Colledge Ibid. 10. The Lord Scudamore Viscount Slego restored much to some Vicaridges in Herefordshire 11. Dr. Moreton Bishop of Lincoln did abate a good part of his Fine to encrease the Portion of the Minister in the Vicaridge of Pitchley in Northamtonshire So did his Successor Dr. Wright for
〈◊〉 King James 3. A certain Drunkard whom I knew very well saith mine Author a Godly Minister when he was in Drink quarrelled with his Fellow-Servant and after a few words knock d him down with his Flail and killed him at one blow Yet when he came to his Tryal by the help of Friends he made a shift to escape the Halter and came home again and there he used to Swear and Curse and Drink at as high a rate as ever But at last when he was in the same Yard where he committed the aforesaid Murther he fell down dead in a moment And I was saith he one of the first that saw him 4. In the Year 940. Hatto Archbishop of Mentz assembled certain poor Beggars together into a great Barn not to relieve their wants as he might and ought but to rid them of their Lives as he ought not but did For he set on Fire the Barn wherein they were and consumed them all alive comparing them to Rats and Mice that devoured good Corn but served to no other good Use But God that had regard and respect unto those poor wretches took their Cause into his Hand to quit this proud Prelate with just Revenge for his Outrage committed against them sending towards him an Army of Rats and Mice to lay Siege against him with the Engines of their Teeth on all sides which when this cursed Wretch perceived he removed into a Tower that standeth in the midst of the Rhine not far from Bing whither he presumed this Host of Rats could not pursue him but he was deceived For they swam over the Rhine thick and three-fold and got into his Tower with such strange Fury that in a very short space they had consumed him to nothing in Memorial whereof this Tower was ever after called The Tower of Rats And this was the Tragedy of that Bloody Arch-Butcher that compared poor Christian Souls to brutish and base Creatures and therefore became himself a Prey unto them as Popiel King of Poland did after him in whose strange Examples the Beams of God's Justice shine forth after an extraordinary and wonderful manner to the Terror and Fear of all Men when by the means of small Creatures they made room for his Vengeance to make entrance upon these execrable Creature-Murtherers notwithstanding all Man's Devices and Impediments of Nature For the Native Operation of the Elements was restrained from hindring the passage of them armed and inspired with an invincible and supernatural Courage to fear neither Fire Water nor Weapon till they had finished his Command that sent them And thus in old time did Frogs Flies Grashoppers and Lice make War with Pharaoh at the Command of him that hath all the World at his beck Beard 's Theater p. 196. Munster's Cosmogr c. 5. Anno 1346. Popiel King of Poland amongst many of his particular kinds of Cursings and Swearings whereof he was no niggard used ordinarily this Oath If it be not true would Rats might devour me Prophesying thereby his own Destruction for he was devoured by the same means which he often wished for as the Sequal of his History will declare The Father of this Popiel feeling himself near Death resigned the Government of his Kingdom to two of his Brethren Men exceedingly reverenced of all Men for the Valour and Vertue which appeared in them He being deceased and Popiel being grown up to Ripe and Lawful Years when he saw himself at full Liberty without all Bridle of Government to do what he listed he began to give the full swinge to his lawless and unruly desires in such sort that within few days he became so shameless that there was no Vice which appeared not in his Behaviour even to the working of the Death of his own Uncles for all their Faithful dealing towards him which he by Poison brought to pass Which being done he caused himself forthwith to be crowned with Garlands of Flowers and to be perfumed with Precious Oyntments And to the end the better to Solemnize his Entry to the Crown commanded a Sumptuous and Pompous Banquet to be prepared whereunto all the Princes and Lords of his Kingdom were invited Now as they were about to give the Onset upon the delicate Chear behold an Army of Rats sallying out of the dead and putrefied Bodies of his Uncles set upon him his Wife and Children amidst their Dainties to gnaw them with their sharp Teeth insomuch that his Guard with all their Weapons and Strength were not able to chase them away but being weary with Resisting their daily and mighty Assaults gave over the Battle Wherefore Counsel was given to make great Coal Fires about them that the Rats by that means might be kept off not knowing that no Policy or Power of Man was able to withstand the unchangeable Decree of God for for all their huge Fires they ceased not to run through the midst of them and to Assault with their Teeth this cruel Murtherer Then they gave him Counsel to put himself his Wife and Children into a Boat and thrust it into the midst of a Lake thinking that by reason of the Waters the Rats would not approach unto them But alas in vain for they swam thropugh the Water a main and gnawing the Boat made such chinks in the sides thereof that the Water began to run in which being perceived of the Boat-men amazed them sore and made them make Post-hast to Shoar where he was no sooner arrived but a fresh Muster of Rats uniting their Forces with the former encountred him so sore that they did him more mischief than all the rest Whereupon all his Guard and others that were there present for his Defence perceiving it to be a Judgment of God's Vengeance upon him abandoned and forsook him at once Who seeing himself destitute of Succour and forsaken on all sides flew into a high Tower in Chouzitze whither also they pursued him and climbing even up to the highest Room where he was first eat up his Wife and Children she being guilty of his Uncles Death and lastly gnawed and devoured him to the very Bones Ibid. 6. Anno 1056. a certain Nobleman abounding with Wealth not far from Augusta of the Vindilicians brought up in his HOuse a Young Black-a-more which Villain when his Master was from home rose up in the Night and slew not only his Lady but the whole Family excepting one little Daughter of the Nobleman's The Nobleman returning home after two days and finding his Gate shut rode nearer to the Walls of the House wondring Where the Black-a-more upon the top of the House with a fearful Countenance spake unto him these words O thou cruel Man thou rememberest how unworthily thou beat'st me not long since for no fault the memory whereof I still retain in my mind and have revenged this wrong upon thine behold here part of the Carcass of thy Wife whom I have slain with thy whole Family except this little Child which I have reserved
thee to Morrow Sigismund the Second King of Poland because of his perpetual delay and heaviness in weighty Affairs was called the King of to-morrow Such are we certainly Men of to-morrow we delay all things most willingly also if we could to put off Death it self but the business of dying admits of no delay suffers no put-offs Francis the First King of France being taken by Charles the Fifth when he had read at Madrid Charles's Impress upon the Wall Plus ultra Farther yet added thereto To day for me to morrow for thee The Victor took it not ill but to shew that he understood it wrote underneath I am a Man there is no Humane Accident but may befal me Barlaam the Hermit an Old Man of Seventy Years when Jehosaphat the King asked him how Old he was Answered Forty five at which when the King admired He reply'd that he had been absent rom his Studies Twenty five Years as if those Years which he had spent upon the Vanity of the World had been quite lost Sir Tho. Moor that no Age might delude a Person with the hopes of a longer Life gives this Admonition As he that is carried out of a Prison to the Gallows though the way be longer yet fears not the Gallows the less because he comes to it a little the later and though his Limbs are firm his Eyes quick his Lungs sound and that he relish his Meat and Drink yet this is still his Affliction that he is upon his Journey Thus are we all carried to the Gibbet of Death we are all upon the way only parted by some little Intervals The Elector of Brandenburg came to Visit Charles the Fifth being Sick of the Gout and advised him to make use of his Physicians To whom Charles replied The best Remedy in this Disease is Patience The compleat Armour of a Sick Man is Patience being so guarded he need fear neither Sickness Pain nor Death He is Proof against the blows of his Enemies and shall certainly overcome for Patience overcomes all things St. Austin Bishop of Hippo went to visit another Bishop of his Familiar Acquaintance lying in Extremity to whom as he was lifting up his Hands to Heaven to signifie his Departure St. Austin replyed That he was a great support of the Church and worthy of a longer Life To whom the sick Person made this Answer If never 't were another thing but if at any time why not now Thus Sitenus being taken by Midas and asked what was the best thing could happen to Man For a while stood silent At length being urg'd to speak he answer'd That the best thing was never to be born the next to die the soonest that might be This I must not omit very wonderful unheard-of and pleasant in the Relation Lodowick Cortusius a Lawyer of Padua forbid to his Relations all Tears and Lamentations by his Will And desir'd that he might have Harpers Pipers and all sorts of Musick at his Funeral who should partly go before partly follow the Corps leaving to every one of them a small Sum of Money His Bier he ordered to be carry'd by Twelve Virgins that being clad in green were to sing all the way such Songs as Mirth brought to their remembrance leaving to each a certain Sum of Money instead of a Dowry Thus was he buried in the Church of St. Sophia in Padua accompanied with a Hundred Attendants together with all the Clergy of the City excepting those that wore black for such by his Will he forbid his Funeral as it were turning his Funeral-Rites into a Marriage-Ceremony He died the 17th of July 1418. Admirable was the saying of St. Bernard Let them bewail their Dead who deny the Resurrection They are to be deplor'd who after Death are buried in Hell by the Devils not they who are plac'd in Heaven by the Angels Cyrus being about to die My Son said he when I am dead close up my Body neither in Silver nor in any other Metal but return its own Earth to the Earth again His last words were Be grateful to your Friends and you will never want the Power to punish your Enemies Farewel my dear Son and tell these my Words to your Mother also Wisely said Theophrastus upon his Death-Bed Many fine and pleasant things doth Life impose upon us under the pretence of Glory than the love of which there is nothing more vain Hither may be referred the saying of Severus the Emperor I was all things but nothing avails Alexander after many and great Victories overcome at length he fell not only into his Bed but into his Tomb contented with a small Coffin Peter Alphonsus reports That several Philosophers flock'd together and variously descanted upon the King's Death One there was that said Behold now four Yards of Ground is enough for him whom the spacious Earth could not comprehend before Another added Yesterday could Alexander save whom he pleas'd from Death to Day he cannot free himself Another viewing the Golden Coffin of the deceased Yesterday said he Alexander heaped up a Treasure of Gold now Gold makes a Treasure of Alexander This was their Learned Contention yet all ended in this Then he fell sick and died Lewis King of France gave these his last Admonitions to his Son Beware my Son that thou never commit any deadly Sin rather suffer all manner of Torments First chuse such about thee as will not be afraid to tell thee what thou art to do and what to beware To thy Parents give all Obedience Love and Reverence Ferdinand the Great King of Castile falling sick of his last Sickness caused himself to be carried to the great Church in all his Royal Robes where putting off all his Royal Ornaments and as it were restoring God his own he put on a Hair-Clâ—â— and casting himself upon the Ground with Tears in his Eyes Lord said he the Kingdom which thou gavest me I return to thee again seat me I beseach thee in Eternal Light Charles King of Sicily spoke these words Oh the Vain Thoughts of Men Miserable Creatures we are delighted with Honour heap up Treasure and neglect Heaven O the happy Fate of the Poor who content with little sleep in Tranquility What does now my Kingdom what do all my Guards avail me I might have been miserable without all this Pomp. Where is now the power and strength of my Empire The same necessity involves me as hampers the meanest Beggar Of so many Thousands of Clients Servants and Flatterers there is not one that will or can accompany me to the Tribunal of God Go Mortals go and swell your Breasts with great Thoughts to Day or to Morrow ye must die Farewel Earth would I could say welcom Heaven Dionysius the Areopagite being condemned to lose his Head with a Christian Generosity contemning the Reproaches of the Spectators Let the last words of my Lord upon the Cross said he be mine in this World Father into thy Hands I commend my Spirit
his End drew near being often ask'd how he did answered In no great pain I praise God only weary of my unuseful Life If God have no more Service for me to do here I could be gladly in Heaven where I shall serve him better free from Sin and Destractions I pass from one Death to another yet I fear none I praise God I can live yet dare die If God have more Work for me to do here I am willing to do it altho' my infirm Body be very weary Desiring one to pray That God would hasten the Work it was ask'd whether Pain put him upon that Desire he replied No But I do now no Good I hinder others which might be better imployed if I were not Why should any desire to live but to do God Service Now I cease from that I do not live The Violence of his Distempers and Advice of Physicians forbidding his Speech he called upon his Attendants to read the Scriptures and his Son to Pray with him and whilst Life and Language lasted he concluded all Prayers with a loud Amen Once upon his awaking finding himself exceeding ill he called for his Son and taking him by the hand said Pray with me it is the last time in all likelihood that ever I shall joyn with you And complaining to him of his weariness his Son answered There remains a Rest To whom he replyed My Sabbath is not far off and yours is at hand ere that I shall be rid of all my Trouble and you shall be eased of some At last his ruinous Fort which had held out beyond all expectation came to be yielded up About Saturday Evening he began to set himself to die forbids all Cordials to be administred gives his Dying Blessing to his Son who only of all his Children was with him and upon his Request enjoyns him to signifie in that Country where he was longest known that he lived and died in the Faith which he had Preached and Printed and now he found the Comfort of it And afterwards spake no more only commanded Rom. 8. to be read to him dying into his perpetual Rest betwixt Twelve and One of the Clock on Saturday Night December 11. 1658. aged 80 and more W. D. in the Life and Death of Dr. Harris p. 58 59 c. In all his Wills this Legacy was always renewed Item I bequeath to all my Children and their Children's Children to each of them a Bible with this Inscription None but Christ Ibid. I may not here forget to Remark an Answer which he made to one that told him Sir You may take much comfort in your Labours you have done much good c. All said he was nothing without a Saviour my best Works would Condenmn me O I am ashamed of them being mixed with so much Sin Oh! I am an unprofitable Servant I have not done any thing for God as I ought Loss of Time sits heavy upon my Spirits Work work apace assure your self nothing will more trouble you when you come to die than that you have done no more for God who hath done so much for you At another time I never in all my Life saw the worth of a Christ nor tasted the sweetness of God's Love in that measure as now I do And to two Reverend Doctors his chief Friends I praise God he supports me and keeps off Satan Beg that I may hold out I am now in a good way home even quite spent I am now at the Shore I leave you tossing on the Sea O it is a good time to die in Ibid. p. 57. 58. 66. Mr. John Machin made the following Will. I commit my Soul to God my God and my Saviour that created and redeemed it even into the Bosom of the Father of Spirits my Body to my Father Corruption and to the Worms my Mother and Sister Job 17.14 In hopes he will make good to me who with them some time have endeavoured to serve him his Promise of Eternal Life Rom. 2.7 As for my dear beloved Wife I freely return and I pray it may be with Advantage to him that hath lent her to whom I leave John 17.24 Rev. 21. last Jude 24. Psal 84.10 11 hoping that I leave them Heirs together with me or rather with Jesus Christ of a Kingdom that cannot be removed If the Lord should graciously give me Issue I pray it may be of his Heritage and prepared for a Room in Heaven to it I would leave 1 Chron. 28.9 and I pray God see it executed according to my Will And it is my Will concerning my Heir if the Lord give one that he may be a Samuel lent to the Lord and his Service in the Ministry for I can say he is an asking of the Lord as was Samuel And that he may have my Inheritance performing his Father's and my Will concerning my Lecture As for my Personal Substance c. ending thus Praying whoever Rules here may keep open house for God and his and all I leave may be his to whom I would in Faith say Psal 31.5 hereunto subscribing with my Heart and Hand _____ J. M. And in a Schedule dated herewith as followeth Some Particulars concerning the thing that hath long been in my heart to do for God written as my last Will as an occasion of some standing Service when I am not Motives God's Glory Christ's Kingdoms increase and poor Souls Salvation an expression of my Thankfulness for what he hath done for our Family and for me the least and last of it And the rather because I am here in my own apprehension so little serviceable in speaking doing and suffering for him and nothing at all advantageous in writing as others have been and I could have desired Those Motives together with that blessed Experience I have had of its Advantage already through God's sealing work with it makes me to think my self favoured the more of God if I may do this for him and I doubt not but he can and will if need be give me and mine much more than this as is said 2 Chron. 25.9 and if I could say as David 1 Chron. 29.23 I would think it little betwixt him and me who hath said That whosoever shall give you a Cup of cold Water to drinkin my Name because ye belong to Christ verily I say unto you he shall not lose his Reward and my Prayer is that those that come after me whose it might have been think it's better bestowed than the rest The Thing A double Lecture viz. of two Sermons once a Month chiefly intending Souls Conversion The Ministers The most Orthodox Able and Powerful that can be procured for love to Jesus Christ and his Service or the Will of the Dead chosen by my Trustees successively The Trustees Four Ministers and four Lay-men The Ministers I leave in Trust and question not their Faithfulness herein for Christ's sake are my dearest fellow-labourers in our Lord's Work Mr. N. Mr. S. Mr. B. and Mr.
rise up in Judgment against you My Lord I profess my self a True and Obedient Son to the Church of England to that Church wherein I was born and wherein I was bred Prosperity and Happiness be ever to it And wherein it hath been said That I have been enclined to Popery If it be an Objection worth answering let me say truly That from the Time I was One and twenty Years of Age till this Hour going up Nine and forty I never had thought in my Heart to doubt of the Truth of my Religion in England and never any had the boldness to suggest to me the contrary to the best of my Remembrance and so being reconciled to the Mercies of Christ Jesus my Saviour into whose Bosom I hope shortly to be gathered to enjoy those Eternal Happinesses that shall never have end I desire heartily the Forgiveness of every Man both for any rash or unadvised Word or Deed and desire your Prayers And so my Lords Farewel Farewel all the Things of this World Lord strengthen my Faith give me Confidence and Assurance in the Merits of Christ Jesus I desire that you would be silent and joyn in Prayers with me and I trust in God we shall all meet and live eternally in Heaven there to receive the Accomplishment of all Happiness where every Tear shall be wiped from our Eyes and every sad Thought from our Hearts and so God bless this Kingdom and Jesus have Mercy upon my Soul After this he prayed twice and with a low Obeysance took his Leave submitting to the Block The Relat. of his Execut. 113. Archbishop Laud made this his last Speech on the Scaffold Jan. 10. 1644. GOod People this is an uncomfortable time to preach yet I shall begin with a Text of Scripture Hebr. 12.2 Let us run with patience the race c. I have been long in my Race and how I have look'd to Jesus the Author and Finisher of my Faith he best knows I am now come to the end of my Race and here I find a Cross a Death of Shame but the Shame must be despised or no coming to the Right of God Jesus despised the Shame for me and God forbid but I should despise the Shame for him I am going apace as you see towards the Red Sea and my Feet are now upon the very brink of it an Argument I hope that God is bringing me into the Land of Promise for that was the way through which he led his Prophets but before they came to it he instituted a Passover for them a Lamb it was but to be eaten with sour Herbs I shall obey and labour to digest the sour Herbs as well as the Lamb and I shall remember it is the Lord 's Passover I shall not think of the Herbs nor be angry with the Hand that gathers them but look only to Him who instituted that and governs these for Men can have no more power over me than what is given them from above I am not in love with this Passage through the Red Sea for I have the Weaknesses and Infirmities of Flesh and Blood plentifully in me and I have prayed with my Saviour that this Cup of Red Wine might pass from me but if not God's Will not mine be done And I shall most willingly drink of this Cup as deep as he pleaseth and enter into this Sea yea and pass through it in the way that he shall lead me But I would have it remembred Good People that when God's Servants were in this boisterous Sea and Aaron among them the Egyptians which persecuted them and did in a manner drive them into that Sea were drowned in the same Waters while they were in pursuit of them I know the God whom I serve is able to deliver me from this Sea of Blood as the Three Children from the Furnace And I most humbly thank my Saviour for it my Resolution is now as theirs was then they would not worship the Image the King had set up nor will I the Imaginations which the People are setting up nor will I forsake the Temple and the Truth of God to follow the Bleating of Jeroboam's Calf in Dan and in Bethel And as for this People they are at this Day miserably misled God of his Mercy open their Eyes that they may see the right way for at this Day the Blind lead the Blind and if they go on both will certainly fall into the Ditch For my self I am and I acknowledge it in all Humility a most grievous Sinner many ways by Thought Word and Deed and I cannot doubt but that God hath Mercy in store for me a poor Penitent as well as for other Sinners I have now upon this sad Occasion ransacked every corner of my Heart and yet I thank God I have not found among the many any one Sin which deserves Death by any known Law of this Kingdom And yet hereby I charge nothing upon my Judges for if they proceed upon Proof by valuable Witnesses I or any other Innocent may be justly condemned and I thank God tho' the weight of this Sentence lie heavy upon me I am as quiet within as ever I was in my Life and tho' I am not only the first Archbishop but the first Man that ever died by an Ordinance in Parliament yet some of my Predecessors have gone this way tho' not by this means For Elphegus was hurried away and lost his Life by the Danes 3. and Simon Suabury in the Fury of Wat. Tyler and his Fellows before these St. John Baptist had his Head danced off by a lewd Woman and St. Cyprian Archbishop of Carthage submitted his Head to a persecuting Sword Many Examples great and good and they teach me Patience for I hope my Cause in Heaven will look of another dye than the Colour that is put upon it here and some Comfort it is to me that I go the way of these Great Men in their several Generations and also that my Charge as foul as it is made looks like that of the Jews against St. Paul Act. 25.3 for he was accused for the Law and the Temple i. e. Religion and like that of St. Stephen Act. 6.14 for breaking the Ordinances which Moses gave i. e. Law and Religion the Holy Place and the Temple v. 13. But you will say Do I then compare my self with the Integrity of St. Paul and St. Stephen No! far be that from me I only raise a Comfort to my self that these Great Saints and Servants of God were laid at in their times as I am now and 't is memorable that he who helped on this Accusation against St. Stephen did after all fall under the very same himself Yea but here 's a great Clamour that I would have brought in Popery I shall answer that more fully by and by In the mean time you know what the Pharisees said against Christ himself If we let him alone all men will believe in him venient Romani
of Exalting the Majesty of God and your own Reward amongst Men. The Regal Power allotted to us makes us common Servants to our Creator then of those People whom we Govern So that observing the Duties we owe to God we deliver Blessings to the World in providing for the Publick Good of our States we Magnifie the Honour of God like the Coelestial Bodies which though they have much Veneration yet serve only to the Benefit of the World It is the Excellency of our Office to be Instruments whereby Happiness is delivered into the Nations Pardon me Sir This is not to Instruct for I know I speak to one of more clear and quick sight than my self but I speak this because God hath pleased to grant me a happy Victory over some part of those rebellious Pirates that have so long molested the Peaceful Trade of Europe and hath presented further occasion to Root out the Generation of those who have been so pernicious to the Good of Our Nations I mean since it hath pleased God to be so auspicious to Our beginnings in the Conquest of Salla that We might joyn and proceed in hope of like Success in the War against Tunis Algier and other Places Dens and Receptacles for the Inhumane Villanies of those who abhor Rule and Government Herein whilst We interrupt the Corruption of Malignant Spirits of the World We shall glorifie the great God and perform a Duty that will shine as glorious as the Sun and Moon which all the Earth may see and Reverence A Work that shall ascend as sweet as the Perfume of the most Precious Odours in the Nostrils of the Lord A Work grateful and happy to Men. A Work whose Memory shall be reverenced so long as there shall be any that delight to hear the Actions of Heroick and Magnanimous Spirits that shall last as long as there be any remaining amongst Men that Love and Honour the Piety and Vertue of Noble Minds This Action I here willingly present to you whose Piety and Vertues equal the Greatness of your Power That we who are Servants to the Great and Mighty God may Hand in Hand Triumph in the Glory which this Action presents unto us Now because the Islands which you Govern have been ever Famous for the unconquered Strength of their Shipping I have sent this my Trusty Servant and Embassador to know whether in your Princely Wisdom you shall think fit to assist me with such Forces by Sea as shall be answerable to those I provide by Land which if you please to grant I doubt not but the Lord of Hosts will Protect and Assist those that Fight in so Glorious a Cause Nor ought you to think this strange that I who much reverence the Peace and Accord of Nations should exhort to a War Your great Prophet Christ Jesus was of the Line of the Tribe of Judah as well as the Lord of Peace which may signifie unto you that he which is a lover and maintainer of Peace must always appear with the Terror of his Sword and wading through a Sea of Blood must arrive to Tranquility This made James your Father of Glorious Memory so happily renowned amongst all Nations It was the Noble Fame of your Princely Vertues which resounds to the utmost corners of the Earth that perswaded me to invite you to partake of that Blessing wherein I boast my self most Happy I wish God may heap the Riches of his Blessings on you increase your Happiness with your Days and hereafter perpetuate the Greatness of your Name in all Ages Heylin Cosmogr p. 961 962. It were not difficult to add many more such Attestations as these from Heathens Indians Jews c. For indeed all the Converts brought over to Christianity contribute a particular strength to this kind of Evidence But these I think are enough to satisfie any reasonable Reader and the unreasonable will not be convinc'd though Witnesses should arise from the Dead CHAP. CL. The Sufferings of the Reformed in the Kingdom of France THE Sufferings of the Reformed in the Kingdom of France within the Revolution of a few Years have been so great and attended with so many Remarkable Providences that tho' we cannot pretend to give our Reader a full Idea of them here that being reserved ' till the Publication of the Two last Volumes of the Edict of Nants it self yet we cannot but take notice of a few Particulars which were Transacted within the Bounds of Lower Languedoc and that may in the mean time serve for a Specimen of the same 1. When the Parliament of Toulouse and other Parliaments in France laboured to destroy the Protestant Churches God was pleased to raise up a Lawyer named Claude Brousson who with much Zeal and holy Boldness sollicited the Parliament of Toulouse on their behalf but being at last through the Violence of the Persecution forced to go out of France in the Year 1683. after he had run through many Dangers there he did yet from thence forward labour according to his Ability for the Defence Edification and Consolation of his distressed Brethren Lausanne in Switzerland was the principal place of his Residence and though he had not been bred in the Study of Divinity yet by assiduous Application and the blessing of God upon his Labours he Composed and caused to be Printed several small Pieces adapted for the Use of the afflicted Churches c. and which he took care to have dispersed up and down France and elsewhere continually As the extraordinary Ministers of God's Word were pleased to come often to confer with him concerning what both the one and the other of them had done for advancing the Lord's Work and that on the other hand he found he had not now as also for some time past the same liberty as formerly to disperse his Writings in France by the Post he was sollicited by his Conscience to return thither also in order to do what he could for the Promotion of God's Glory and had always these Words upon his Spirit Ezek. 13.4 5. O Israel thy Prophets are like the Foxes in the Desares Ye have not gone up into the Gaps neither made up the Hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the Battel in the day of the Lord. And that other Text in Judges 5.23 Curse ye Meroz said the Angel of the Lord c. Wherefore he at length determined to go thither and in order thereunto made up several Bales of those Writings he had got Printed and which he judged most proper for the advancement of the Kingdom of Heaven he did suppose he might be able to find out a way to convey those Bales into Languedoc and that when he found himself in the Heart of the Kingdom he might disperse the said Writings with more Facility then he could have done during his abode in Switzerland but the Ways of God are not like nor Ways nor his Thoughts like our Thoughts But whatever be proposed hereby the Danger
it as on dry Land but many Fowls and Birds perished and Herbs in Gardens were killed Cark Mir. p. 578. CHAP. LIII Concerning Thunderbolts or Thunderstones THunderbolts and Thunderstones are nothing else but the foeculent matter of those Vapours and Exhalations which are the material cause of the Thunder and Lighening for we sea by experience that even our Vrine has always some such concreted dregs belonging to it and sometimes perfect Stones made out of it either in the Reins or Vreters or Bladder and why there may not be a pâ—trification in this case I know no Reason 1. Avicenna saith That he saw a Thunderbolt which fell at Corduba in Spain and that it had a Sulphurous smell and was like Armoniac It is possible that not only Sulphurous and Bituminous but stony substances may be generated in the Clouds with the Lightning George Agricela writeth That near Lurgia a Mass of Iron being 50 pound in weight fell from the Clouds which some attempted to make Swords of but the Fire could not melt it nor Hammers bring it into Form Anno 1492. 2. At Ensisheimiun a Stone of 300 pound weight fell from the Clouds which is kept in a Monument in the Temple there Anno 1581 a Stone came out of the Clouds in Thuringia which was so hot that it could not be touched with which one might strike fire as with a Flint There is now to be seen at Dresden a Stone which descended out of a Cloud and is reserved amongst the Amâ—anda belonging to the Elector of Saxony some lately living were present at the sall of that Stone Anno 1618 in Bobemia a considerable quantity of Brass Mettal fell from the Clouds 3. May 28 1677 at a Village near Hana in Germany there was a Tempest of Lightning and a great multitude of Stones of Green and partly Caerulean Colour fell therewith and a considerable Mass of Mineral Matter in traste like Vitriol being ponderous and friable having also Metallick sparks like Gold Intermixt Gesner saith that a Gentleman gave him one of those Stones supposing it to be a Thunderbolt and that it was 5 digits in length and 3 in breadth This sort of Stone is usually in form like unto an Iron Wedge and has an hole quite through it Boetius reports that many Persons worthy of Credit affirmed that when Houses or Trees had been broken with the Thunder they did by digging find such Stones in the places where the Stroke was given nevertheless that fulminous Stones or Thunberbolts do always descend out of the Clouds when such breaches are made by the Lightning is a Vulgar Error Mâ—ther's remark Prov. p. 113. CHAP. LIV. Comets Blazing-Stars I am no Prophet nor Prophet's Son nor Astrologer to pretend any skill in the particular Significations of these fiery Meteors and they that make a Profession that way I do humbly conceive had need to be very modest All that I can assert with any Confidence in such Cases is that Comets are as it were Colours hung forth or a Hand stretched out at the Windows of Heaven to signifie the Indignation of the Almighty that he is frowning and bending his Bow and making his Quiver ready to shoot at the Inhibitants of the Earth and that they had best consider and examine and prepare themselves to meet him in the Way of his Judgments 1. Before the last Destruction of Jerusalem a Comet in the likeness of a Fiery Sword hung over the City for a year together also at the â—east of Passover a great Light appeared about the Altar at Midnight which continued half an hour also a Cow that was led to be Sacrificed at the Altar brought forth a Lamb c. Also a little before Sun-set were seen in the Air Iron Chariots and an Army in Battle-Array as it were begitting the City Joseph Hist 2. Before the Peloponesian Wars there was a Comet which continued 57 days together there was also so great an Eclipse of the Sun the Stars appeared at Noon-day Idem 3. The same Year that Nero was adopted by Claudius there appeared three Suns Ibid. 4. Irone the Empress râ—ling in Constantinople after the Murder of her Son Constantine the Sun was darkned for 17 days together Isac Chron. p. 276 5. In Flanders Anno 1088 was seen a Fiery Dragon flying in the Air casting out Flames from his Mouth Ibid. p. 315. 9. The â—cast of Baster before the coming of the Normans into this Kingdom there was seen for a Week together a Blazing-Star of anâ—hideous and fearful Form Camb. Brit. 7. Anno 1698. While a Battle was Fought between the English and Scots the Sun appeared as red as Blood so long as the battle continued Camb. Brit. Irel. p. 162. 8. Anno 1342. October 11 the Moon being 11 days old there was seen two Moons at Dublin the one in the East the other in the West Ibid. Ir. p. 188. 9. Anno 1406 in the Time of the Holy War there appeared in Judea a Comet for 50 days also three Suns one on each side of the True but smaller a great white Circle environing them and in it a Rainbow of four Colours the Bow towards the Sun and reaching to the two other Suns Purch's Pilg. v. 2. p. 1287. 10. Anno 1611 Three Suns were seen in the Firmament over Vienna Turk Hist p. 1311. 11. Anno 1618 there appeared in the Night over Constantinople a Comet in the form of a crooked Sword it was of a vast bigness at the first appearing it was whitish but as it rose the redder it was and like unto Blood Ibid p. 1379. 12. In March following 1650. three Glorious Suns were seen at once in Cumberland to the Astonishment of many Thousands that beheld them Clark's Mir. p. 483. 13. Anno 1648 Mr. Clark saith That in January the Week before the Beheading of King Charles the First there was seen a fiery Meteor in the Air near Bristol on the South-side of the City for divers Nights together in Form long with fiery Streams shooting out East and West Ibid. 14. Anno 1572 in November there appeared a new Star in Cassiopeia which continued sixteen Months soon after which Charles the Ninth King of France who was the Author of the Parisean Massacre died of exceeding Bleeding from divers parts of his Body Cursing and Swearing saith Camb. in his Elizabetha 15. A while after Charles the Fifth sickended whereof he died there was seen a Blazing-Star in Spain at first somewhat dim but as his Disease increased so it grew in brightness at last shooting its fiery Hair point-blank against the Monastery where he lay in the very Hour that the Emperour died the Comet vanished which was Sept. 21. 1558. Strada 16. The new Star in Cassiopeia is supposed to be set as a sign of the Reformation and the Renovation of the Gospel-Light after a long interval of Darkness CHAP. LV. Lightnings and Thunder I Know not well whether the Philosophical Account of Lightnings and Thunder will be accepted
an Angel that gave the Boy Bread and Cheese Manlius Folio 17. Batman's Doom p. 421. 18. Mr. Patrick Simpson's Wife Martha Barson in her last Sickness was sorely Assaulted by Satan who suggested to her that she should be given over into his hands And it ended in a Visible Distraction which for a time grew upon her So that most unlike to her former practice she would break forth into dreadful and horrid Expressions and it was most violent on a Sabbath Morning when Mr. Simpson was going to Preach whereupon with an heavy Countenance he stood silent for a time and at last kneeled down and Prayed which she no whit regarded After which he turned to the Company that were present and said that he was sure that they who were now Witnesses of that sad hour should yet see a Gracious change and that the Devil's Malice against that poor Woman should have a shameful toil Her Distraction still continued untill Tuesday August the Ninth which Morning at the very dawning of it he went into his Garden and shut the Door where for many hours he was alone But a Godly VVoman one Mrs. Helen Garner VVife to one of the Bayliffs of Sterling who had been with his VVife all Night apprehending that Mr. Simpson might much wrong himself by much grief and fasting by some help she did climb over into the Garden But as she came near to the place where Mr. Simpson was she was terrified with an Extraordinary Noise which made her fall to the Ground It seemed to her like a mighty Rushing of Multitudes running together and withal she heard such a Melodious sound as made her Judge that it was more then humane VVhereupon she prayed to God to pardon her Rashness which her Affections to that Good Man of God had carried her to Yet afterwards going forwards she found him lying upon the ground she earnestly intreated him to tell her what he had from God He whom she had promised not to reveal it so long as he lived said O what am I being but Dust and Ashes that the Holy ministring Spirit should be sent by the Lord to deliver a message to me Adding that he had seen a Vision of Angels who did with an audible Voice give him an Answer from the Lord concerning his Wife's condition And returning into his House he said to all that were present Be of good cheer for e're ten hours be past I am sure that this Brand shall be plucked out of the Fire After praying by his VVife's Bed-side and making mention of Jacob's wrestling in Prayer she sate upright in the Bed and drawing aside the Curtain said Thou art this day Jacob who hast wrestled and also prevailed And now God hath made good his words which he spake this Morning to you for I am plucked out of the hands of Satan and he shall have no more Power over me This Interruption made him silent a while as I remember my self was in the Case of my Maid Mary Holland mentioned before But afterwards with great melting of heart he proceeded in Prayer and Magnified the Riches of Gods Love towards her And from that hour she spake most Comfortably and Christianly even to her Death which was Friday following Aug. 13. A. C. 1601. Her last words were with a loud Voice Come Lord Into thy hands I commend my Spirit Clark's Lives last Vol. p. 217 218. 19. In the Year 1539 not far from Sitta in Germany in the time of a great Dearth and Famine a certain Godly Matron having two Sons and destitute of all manner of Sustenance went with her Children to a certain Fountain hard by praying unto Almighty God that he would there relieve their Hunger by his infinite goodness As she was going a certain Man met her by the way and saluted her kindly and asked her whither she was going who confessed that she was going to that Fountain there hoping to be relieved by God to whom all things are possible for if he nourished the Children of Israel in the Desart 40 years how is it hard for him to nourish me and my Children with a Draught of Water And when she had spoken these Words the Man which was doubtless an Angel of God told her that seeing her Faith was so constant she should return Home and there should find Six Bushels of Meal for her and her Children The Woman returning found that true which was promised Beard 's Theat p. 442. 20. Under the Emperor Mauritius the City of Antioch was shaken with a terrible Earthquake after this manner There was a certain Citizen so given to bountifulness to the Poor that he would never Sup nor Dine unless he had one poor Man to be with him at his Table Upon a certain Evening seeking for such a Guest and finding none a Grave Old Man met him in the Market-place cloathed in white with Two Companions with him whom he entreated to sup with him But the Old Man answered him That he had more need to pray against the destruction of the City and presently shook his Handkerchief against One part of the City and then against another and being hardly entreated forbore the rest Which he had no sooner done but those Two parts of the City terribly shaken with an Earthquake were thrown to the Ground and Thousands of Men slain Which this good Citizen seeng trembled exceedingly To whom the Old Man in white answered and said by reason of Charity to the Poor his House and Family were preserved And presently these three Men which to question were Angels vanished out of sight This Story Sigisbert in his Chronicle reporteth Anno 583. 21. Hottinger tells a strange Story out of Nauclerus and Evagr. to this purpose it was an ancient custom at Constantinople at Communion to call for the Young Children that went to School and give them the Parcels of Bread and Wine that were left at doing of which the child of a certain Nobleman a Jew was with the Children who took of the Bread and Eat with them his angry Father who was a Glass-Maker put him into an Oven burning hot with Coals his Mother after Three Days finding him alive in the Furnace he told her a Woman in Purple habit came often to him and brought VVater to quench the Coals and Meat to allay his Hunger The Mother and the Child were afterwards Converted and Baptized and the Father Crucified by command of Justinian the Emperor Mr. Beard relates the same out of Nicephorus Lib. 17. Chap. 35. See more in The Chapters of Miraculous Cures of Diseases and Earnests of a Future Retribution and the last Example in the Ch. of Prediction of Prophets c. 22. Oh! said Mrs. Katharine Stubs upon her Death-bed if you saw such glorious Sight as I see you would rejoyce with me for I see a Vision of the Joys of Heaven and of the Glory that I shall go unto and I see infinite Millions of Angels attendant upon me and watching to carry