the Command of Nero who rejoyces in that Villany playing upon his Harp and singing the Destruction of Troy This year the Jews rebel against the Romans and many of them were slain Gassius Florus being killed by them Boadicia Queen of the Brittains being assisted by Corbred King of Scots killeth Seventy Thousand Romans Natura Prodig p. 46. VII In the Sixty Seventh year after the Birth of our Saviour and about the Fortieth after the Jews had with cruel hands crucifyed the Lord of Life that innocent blood which they desired might fall upon them and their Children began to be revenged upon them for soon after the Romans came and burnt down and destroyed the City and Temple of Jerusalem and kil'd multitudes of them as by the sequel will appear but before these woful Desolations happened there wanted not Prodigious Signs and warnings from Heaven of their Approaching Miseries For the year before Vespasian came against them there was seen a Star over the Temple so bright as if a man had held many drawn swords in his hand And at the same time which was the Passover that whole night the Temple was light and clear as at Noon-day and continued so seven nights together which wise men understood to be a very ill Prognostick though others thought it good A Sword and other Instruments of War were seen hanging in the Air directly over the City very dreadful to behold The same time likewise they brought a Heifer for a Sacrifice which when she was knocked down she calved a Lamb besides there was a certain Gate called the East-gate which could never be opened or shut without the help of Twenty men and the creaking of the hinges might be heard afar off This Gate was found open without any mans help and they could not shut it till a great number joyned their strength Moreover there was discerned on the Sanctum Sanctorum or Holies of Holies a whole night long the face of a man very terrible There appeared also at the same time four Chariots with Horsemen fighting fiercely against each other and great Blasts of Fire in the sky coming toward Jerusalem In the Feast of weeks the Priests heard a man walking in the Temple and saying with a wonderful terrible voice Come let us go away out of this Temple let us make haste away from hence At that time also there was this writing found graven on an old Stone At what time the building of the Temple shall be brought to a four square then it shall be destroyed Now when the Temple was besieged and the Walls bruised the Jews making haste to repair the Ruins without remembrance of the old writing they made the Temple four square These words were likewise found in the Walls of the Sanctum Sanctorum When the whole building of the Temple shall be four square then shall a King reign over Israel and that King and Ruler shall reign over all the Land of Israel Some interpreted this of the King of Israel but the Priests said it was meant of the King of the Romans These were the dreadful Presages of their ensuing Calamities which never ended till the whole People were almost utterly destroyed and they ceased to be any more a Nation which sad Judgment remains upon them to this day and whereof I shall here give a brief Account The beginning of their troubles happened in the time of King Agrippa during whose Reign the Wars began between the Jews and Romans which never ceased till the people of Judea were led captive into the Provinces of the Romans and the Temple was made desolate the rise whereof was on this occasion In the Twentieth year of his Reign the ninth day of the First Moneth which is July Nero Emperor of Rome sent a Present for a Burnt Offering to be offered at the Temple of Jerusalem requiring peace of the Elders of Judea and Jerusalem and that they would enter into League with him saying My request is that you would offer my Present to the Lord your God for his service and Religion pleaseth me very well therefore I desire you to joyn in Friendship with me according as you have done with the Emperors of Rome my Predecessors in time past I have heard what Cassius the Captain of mine Army hath done to you which displeaseth me out of measure wherefore I assure unto you a faithful League by the Consent and Counsel of the Senate of Rome that hereafter there shall never any Roman Captain stir hand or foot against you but rather your Magistrates Rulers and Judges shall be all Jews and of Jerusalem Yea Agrippa your King shall be Lord of all your Rulers and what he commands you shall do it the Romans shall only be called your Lords and shall have no more to do with you When these Embassadors came to Jerusalem they delivered their Message to Anani the Priest and placed Nero's present before him which was a Bull for a Burnt-Offering with a Crown of Gold upon his head his Horns were also covered with Gold upon his Body was a Cloth of Purple adorned with precious Stones before him some Persons carried Ten Talents of Gold and behind a great number of Sheep followed for Peace-Offerings But when Eleasar the Son of Anani heard of it he came and turned Nero's Presents out of the Temple saying We will not prophane and unhallow the Sanctuary of our Lord with the Offerings of Strangers for God will not accept either their Burnt-Offerings or Peace-Offerings When he had thus spoke he sounded a Trumpet and set his Men in Array against the Guards of the Romans who were quartered in Jerusalem and falling suddenly upon them slew many of them that day with one of their Captains and took another of them alive who being a Valiant man and seeing himself overpowred by the Jews he cryed out save my Life and I will yield upon which Eleazer the Rebel swore That he would not kill him but spare him for his valour he having slain many of the Jews in the Conflict whereupon the Captain yielded himself Prisoner Then said Eleazer to him Even as thy sword hath made many Women Childless so shall thy Mother be made childless of thee above all others and thereupon contrary to his Oath he commanded his Servants to kill him King Agrippa seeing this was extreamly troubled and therefore as he stood in the street cryed out O thou Rebel Eleasar I pray God that this mischief of which thou art the cause and thy wickedness may fall upon thee and thy Fathers House which when it cometh to pass we shall not be disturbed thereat It seems hard to keep Peace and Tranquillity in thy days for they are not like to be continued by thee How long wilt thou go on to bring us into Bryers thou Enemy and hater of the Lord Why dost thou destroy and wast the Vineyard of the Lord God of Hosts To whom Eleazar replyed Why takest thou upon thee the Name of King If thou be
the Heavens the following Letters I. N. R. I. M. D. L. V. I. I. A. R. E. I. N. E. N. D. E. D. I. S. E. S. R. E. I. C. H. S. Nay that Author further affirmeth that at Friburg in Germany the same year on a very fair day Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Iridi insidentem conspectum fuisse Our Lord Jesus Christ was beheld sitting upon a Rainbow as if upon his Tribunal to denounce the Vniversal Judgment In 1558 there was seen a Blazing Star in Spain at first somewhat dim at which time Charles the 5th Emperor and King of Spain sickned but as his disease increased so it grew in bigness at last shooting its fiery streams point blank against the Monastery where he lay in the very hour the Emperor dyed the Comet vanished The same year in the Month of August a Comet in the form of a spit appeared of a pale envious colour denoting a more then ordinary mortality of great Potentates Queen Mary of Hungary and Bohemia and Queen Mary of England both dye Christian the 2. King of Denmark dyes in Prison after 26 years imprisonment Henry 2. King of France is slain by running at Tilt Pope Paul 4. dyes and likewise the Dukes of Venice and Ferrara with fifteen Cardinals besides many other Princes In 1562 an Earthquake happened in Constantinople Clashing of Weapons in the Elements and armed men seen there Much Thunder was heard in England and five Suns seen in Holland After this the English take many Towns in France There was a great Plague in England the Muscovites invade Leiseland and the Danes and Lubeckers Sweden the Polanders beat the Livonians Nine Thousand men were slain at Dreux in Normandy and among them the King of Navar The same year December 19. Mr. John Calvin lying in his bed sick of the Gout it being Sunday and the North Wind having blown strongly for two days together some Friends coming to visit him he said unto them Truly I know not what is the matter but I thought that the last night I heard warlike Drums beating very loud and I could not perswade my self but it was so Let us go to Prayers for surely some great business is at hand And indeed this very day there was a great Battle fought between the Papists and Protestants not far from Paris in France news whereof came to Geneva a few dayes after Clarks Examp. 2 Part Pag. 564. XXXIII In 1568 were many Locusts in France The Heavens seem all on fire in Hungary In England when the true Moon was under the Earth there appears a Moon and a Cross with a refulgent Star at the top thereof Soon after the Third Civil War in France began the King of Sweden is deposed and imprisoned The Prince of Conde is taken and shot to death with a Pistol The Earls of Northumberland and Westmorland rebel against Queen Elizabeth Selymus Emperor of the Turks invadeth Cyprus The Polanders and Danes fight at Sea About this time the Duke of Alva came first into the Low-Countreys and the future calamities of his Government were presaged by a boy born at Leige with two heads four legs and as many hands the terror whereof was increased by a fire happening immediately after in the City of Mechlin by a spark falling amongst Gunpowder which took hold of threescore Barrels and caused such an horrid Thunder and Earthquake that in most of the Cities of Flanders the Men and Houses trembled at the dreadful noise Not long after when the Prince of Orange brought an Army against the Duke in the behalf of the Protestants there were seen in divers places on a clear night two Armies in Battalia brandishing their glittering Pikes as if they were ready for a charge The next year a Comet appears at the setting of the Sun near the Planet Jupiter Then followed a Famine in Austria Sweden Bohemia Bavaria Rustia Lithuania Joachimus 2. Elector of Brandenburg dyes and a little after Four Hundred Thousand People are drowned in Flanders and Holland besides Cattel In 1572 there appeared a Comet or New Star in Cassiopeia which continued Six teen Months Soon after which Charles 9. King of France who was the Author of the bloody Massacre in France dyed of extraordinary bleeding which issued from divers parts of his body cursing and swearing in a most dreadful manner saith Mr. Camden in his History of Queen Elizabeth Sigismund King of Poland likewise dyeth The Duke of Norfolk in England is beheaded A great Rebellion in Ireland XXXIV In 1577 Another Blazing Star of great magnitude appeared Sebastian King of Portugal dyed the next year of two wounds which he received in his head in his expedition for Africa In 1579 a fiery Dragon and great Troops of Ravens flew through the Air in Germany A mighty Tempest happened in Bohemia and an Earthquake in Holland Armies are seen in the Heavens at Antwerp Two armed men are visible in the Air in Gelderland That which followed was the Polanders take Livonia and Polotia from the Moscovite The Popish Clergy are expelled out of the City of Antwerp by the People The Emperor forbids the Protestant Religion at Aken In 1585 a Comet appeared for many weeks together and the next year it rained Locusts in Thracia and Ducks and Geese in Croatia as Leonclavius testifies who was an eye-witness thereof The Locusts fell in such multitudes that they devoured all the Countrey and on the contrary the Geese and Ducks fed and nourished many Cluverius Hist World Soon after Osman Emperor of the Turks and Stephen King of Poland both dye In 1593 there was another terrible Earthquake at Lar in Persia which overthrew Three Thousand Houses crushing to death above Three Thousand Persons in their Ruins yea the Castle though built upon the top of a solid Rock groaned in the like affrighting downfall Herberts Travels In 1598 Feb. 25 which was a little before the Earl of Essex went into Ireland the Sun being almost totally Eclipsed it was so dark for the time that the like had never been seen in the Memory of Man XXXV In the year 1602 there was an Earthquake in England a very great Blazing Star appeared Armies of men were seen in the Air in France and warms of Grashoppers are visible in Germany asster this the Spaniards invade Ireland but are beaten thence The Swedes in vain attempt Livonia The Turks loose Alba Regalis and therein Threescore Thousand men Queen Elizabeth of England dyeth In 1607 another Comet appeared There were great Wars between the Swedes and Danes and Charles Duke of Lorrain dyeth In 1610 fiery Darts and Lances were visible in the Heavens Four Crosses appeared in the Air at once in Spain where likewise happened Thunder and a very great Earthquake Now the Danes war against the Swedes The Persians invade Babylon and kill Twenty Thousand Turks Henry 4. â—â—ing of France is murdered the Polanders overcome the Moscovites and Nine Hundred Thousand Meors are banished out of Spain J. G. This
have his Government upon his shoulders Even the Saviour of the whole World for besides what the Evangelists mention as of the Angel appearing to the Shepherds and that Star which directed the wise men of the East to find out the place 〈…〉 As the Earth with a New Sun was blest So th' Heavens with a New Star is drest It is likewise recorded by Paul Horatius and Eutropius Secretaries to Augustus and likewise by Eusebius That at the time that Jesus Christ was born it happened in Rome that in a publick Inn was discovered and broke forth a Fountain of pure Oil which for the space of a whole day continually issued out in great abundance and that at high Noon in a clear and fair day a Circle was seen about the Sun as shining and resplendent as the Sun it self About the same time the Senate and People of Rome offered to Augustus the Title of Lord which he refused and would not accept of unknowingly prognosticating that a greater Lord than he was upon Earth to whom that Title belonged Comestor in his Scholastick History affirms That the same day of the Birth of Christ the Temple in Rome dedicated by the Romans to the Goddess Pax fell to the Earth ruined adding that when it was first built by the Romans they addressed to the Oracle of Apollo to know how long time it should endure who returned answer Even until a Virgin should bring forth a Child which they judged impossible and that therefore their Temple should last Eternally nevertheless at the Virgins bearing a Child even the King of Heaven it fell to the Earth Lucas de Tuy in his Chronicle of Spain writes That he hath found in the Ancient Histories of that Countrey That by Computation of time the same night wherein our Saviour was born there appeared in Spain at mid-night a Cloud which gave so great a Light that it seemed like mid-day I remember also saith my Author I have read in St Jerom That when the Virgin fled with her Son into Egypt all the Idols and Images of the Gods which were there tumbled from their Altars to the Ground And that the Oracles and Answers which these Gods or rather Devils used to give to such questions as were propounded to them then ceased and never answered afterwards Rarities of the Creation p. 84. IV. About the first year after the Birth of Christ there were many Prodigious Births in Germany Armies in the Air were seen at Rome A terrible Eclipse of the Sun and dreadful storms of Hail and Rain Soon after Tiberius obtains a Victory in Germany and subdues the Lombards The Panonians Rebel A very great Famine in Rome Varus is defeated and killeth himself About the Twelfth year there was a great Earthâ—â—ake in Câ—prus which overthrew many Cities Jesus Christ disputes with the Doctors a great and terrible Comet then seen The Light of the Sun was seen apparently to fail The Heavens seemed to burn Fiery beams fell from Heaven Bloody Comets seen in other places The River Tiber overfloweth Rome 13 Cities in Africa destroyed with an Earthquake Noysome Flys come in great Swarms and Companies into Germany The Effects whereof were judged to be that a while after Aâ—â—â—â—s a great Commander was slain by the â—all of an Horse Caligâ—ia that Monster of Mankind was born King Agrippa was slain and Julia Daughter of the Emperor Augustus was starved to Death Caesar dyeth The Brittains are subdued In his 22 year Blood rained in Rome Great Flocks of Graâ—hopâ—er Armies seen fighting in the Air in Rome and Poâ—â—â—d Fiery Torches a blazing Star like a Sword soon after 〈◊〉 Theatre was burned Sejanus chief â—â—â—ourite to the Emperour Tiberius is executed for Aâ—â—â—ition his Son strangled his Daughter first deâ—lowred by the Hangman and then put to Death Drusâ—s the Emperors Son is poysoned The Arabians defeat Hâ—â—od the City of Tâ—â—â—ias is drowned Tiberius turned Tâ—â—ant and commits all mâ—nner of horrid Cruâ—â—ies upon the Romans Natura Prodig p. 43. V. In the Thirty Fourth year of our Blessed Saviours Life he was crucified by the wicked hands of theâ— Jews which produced prodigious Effects that were afterward attested as well by Heathens as Christians at the time of his Death a very great darkness happened in the day time which continued from six a Clock till nine and yet there was no Eclipse of the Sun for it was at a full Moon so that it was miraculous and contrary to the Order of Nature and only by the power of God who deprived the Sun of its light for that space of time And therefore Dennis the Areopagite being that day in Athens and seeing the Sun so darkened and also knowing as a man learned in Astrology and the course of the Hâ—avens that such an Eclipse must needs be contrary to the Rule of Nature spake with a loud voice saying Either the World is at an end or the God of Nature suffers and upon this Account say some Authors the Wise Men of Athens being astonished at this Prodigy they presently caused an Altar to be built to the Vnknown God after which St. Paul coming thither reproved them for it declaring to them that Jesus Christ the Redeemer of the World who had suffered was that Unknown God whereby he Converted many of them to the Christian Faith which doth also demonstrate that the darkness was over the whole Hemisphere since it was seen at Athens and other places far remote from Jerusalem Yea the Moon being then at full and having no light but what she hath from the splendour of the Sun and being then in the Firmament that is under us she came to be violently eclipsed and darkned so that the darkness was universal over all the World because the Moon and Stars can give no light unless they receive it first from the Sun It was likewise very observable and is acknowledged by the famous Historian Plutarch though a Heathen that after the Death of Christ not only the Oracles of Egypt but throughout the World ceased of which he can give no reason being ignorant of Christianity but that there were some Devils or Demons dead However it was very remarkable that Satan should so plainly demonstrate himself to be subdued and overcome immediately after the Death of our Saviour that he could never after give any answers The Words of Plutarch to Emilius the Orator a prudent and humble man concerning this matter of which Eusebius writ to Theodorus as a thing of great note are as followeth That his Father coming one time by Sea toward Italy and coasting by night about an Island not inhabited called Paraxis when all in the ship were silent and at rest they heard a great and fearful voice which came from that Island that called upon Alaman who was Pilot of the Ship and an Egyptian born now though this voice was heard once or twice by Alaman and others yet no man had the Courage to answer till at the third Call he
We will do so if you be so disposed but first hear me a few words have not these sinners rebelled against God in thus murdering themselves so shamefully neither could I by any means disswade them nor divert them from their opinion why should we sin so grievously against God and our own souls If thou say how shall we do by reason of the Oath we have sworn Dost thou not know that a wicked Oath is better broken than kept and this is a breach of one of the Ten Commandments which saith expresly Thou shalt not kill Now therefore my Brother if thou wilt be ruled by me thoushalt save both thy own Life and mine For I will not cast Lots neither will I perform the Oath we have sworn as being directly contrary to the Law of God but if thou wilt not I will fight with thee and kill thee and spare my self And herewith Joseph leapt back and drew his Sword in his own defence His Companion knowing Joseph too strong for him stirred neither hand nor foot but said Lo I am content do what thou thinkest good because thou art a man of God and half saved thine own life and mine Then Joseph called out of the Cave to Nicanor offering to come forth with all that were left alive upon security given which Nicanor readily gave in writing after the manner of the Romans and reacht it into the Cave upon a Spear then Joseph and his Companion came forth and Nicanor imbraced him kissed him and wept abundantly with him especially at the Relation of the cruel stubbornness of those self-murdering Jews Then Joseph was brought to Vespasians Army who with Titus his Son received him very kindly and carryed him about with him through the Cities together with King Agrippa then Vespasian marched to Caesarea a great City where he had Intelligence that the Citizens of Paphos spoiled the Islands with their Ships upon which an Ambush was laid without the Town and when the Pyrates were gone abroad to rove Vespasian entred the Town and took it without any great refistance because their Souldiers were absent when the Rovers therefore returned with their Navy and saw the Romans in the City they endeavoured to land but a huge Tempest and mighty storm drove all their Ships which were on the Sea-shore upon the Rocks where many were drowned and those who swam to Land the Romans slew so that hereby above Four Thousand stout Souldiers perished which with those that were slain in the Town amounted to Forty Thousand all Jews Then Vespasian sent his Son Titus who with his Forces won all the walled Towns in Galile saving the Lives of those which yielded and killing such as resisted He restored likewise to Agrippa all the Cities in Gallie which belonged to him except Tâ—aâ—va which he utterly rased slaying all the men who were fit for War and selling their Wives and Children this being the only 〈◊〉 all Galile where Tâ—tus shewed such severity Then Vesâ—aâ—ian went to Gamala a City upon the top 〈…〉 near which was another Town called 〈◊〉 They both belonged to Agrippa who therefore desired Vispasian that he might go and treat with them and thereby prevent the destruction of the place and accordingly the King went peaceably to them and they received him very courteously though they intended Treachery saying Thou art our Lord and King to whom therefore doth all that is of any value or tâ— be desired in all Israel belong but unto thee therefore coâ—â—near unto us and debate the matter with thy Servants Agrippa crediting their words came up close to the Wall and as he listned to those who talked with him one threw a great stone from the Wall which fell just between his shoulders with such violence that it struck him to the ground and broke his back almost and one of his Arms His Servants stept to him and taking him up carryed him to Vâ—sâ—â—sian who seeing him so terribly hurt swore he would never go from thence till he had taken the City which he soon after accomplished killing every man and leaving none alive in like manner as at Tiarva He came then to Nascala which was the only City of defence left throughout all Galilee and hitherto reforted many Cut-Throats and Wicked Persons of the Lond of Judea amongst whom was Jehochanan a mâ—n learned and witty to do mischief and of cunning â—loquence Titus was sent to offer them Peace but 〈◊〉 would not let the Romans speak to the People but told them the next day was the Feast of Weeks or Whitsunday and the third day they should have an answer But the night before the third day Jehochanan and his Accomplices got privately out of the Town and fled toward Jerusalem the next day the People sent word they desired friendship with the Romans and Titus hearing that Jehochanan and his Company were fled that night toward Jerusalem he sent to pursue him and overtook some men women children and impotent Persons and slew them all returning with great spoil Titus having gained all the Cities in Galile Vespasian marched to Mount Tabor which is continually covered with Snow the height thereof being Thirty Furlongs and upon the top is a Plain of Twenty three Furlongs this Mountain he took and the Town which stood thereon But Jehochanan being come to Jerusalem associated himself with a great number of Murtherers and blood-thirsty Villains who came out of all Judea upon pretence to defend the Sanctuary of the Lord and Anani the High Priest received all that came These observing the valour and courage of Jehochanan revolted from Anani and joyned with him and consulting together they resolved to rob all the Rich men of the City and began quarrels with them in this manner when they met any wealthy Person they thus accosted him Art not thou one of those who sent Letters to Vespasian and the Romans to betray the City to them Thus would they examine them before the People and when he would answer God forbid I should do so Then would they bring in periured Villains Limbs of the Devil of their own Company to bear false witness against him that he might be condemned as a Rebel under a pretence of Law Thus dealt they with several Noble men and chief Citizens and their Riches Jewels and Goods the seditious seized for their own use They likewise put the High Priests out of their Office placing ignorant Rusticks in their room These wretched and illegal practices so inraged the honest Citizens that they resolved to joyn themselves together and withstand them by force which they did accordingly and the Fight was very fierce on both sides in the Streets Market-place Temple and the entrance thereof so that all the City was full of dead Bodies and slain men but at length the people prevailed against the Ruffians and forced them to fly into the Temple of the Lord shutting it after them Anani the High Priest perswaded the People not to fight with them there lest they
bloodshed and without the Roman Army made inroads from Caesarea even to the Gates of the City between those three within there were most cruel Battels for the space of four days without breathing or ceasing and every day very many were slain so that the blood of the Jews ran abundantly through the Market-places and Streets even to the Temple of the Lord like a great Flood which had been caused by showers of Rain Then assembled the Priests Elders and many of the People beseeching these their Intestine and Domestick Enemies not to pollute and defile the Temple with their slaughters but they were almost all slain for their pains by the villany of the Seditious together with Anani and Joshua the Priests and Sechariahu the Prophet of the Lord. Then had the continual Sacrifice ceased Thirty six days for even till that time some good men or other in Jerusalem still offered Sacrifice to the Lord But now when the Priests had laid the Sacrifice on the Altar the seditious would run upon them and kill them so that the Priests and the Beasts they would have Sacrificed fell down dead to the ground together and so they likewise destroyed all that came â—hither for Devotions sake so that scarce one was left â—live and the pavement of the Temple being Marâ—le was made so slippery with the blood and fat of â—hose which were slain that no man could go upon it without falling Nay whosoever the seditious overâ—â—ne they set fire on their Houses which fired other great mens Houses nigh the Temple and at last caught hold of the Store-Houses of Corn Wine and Oyl to the number of One Thousand Four Hundred all filled full of Victuals against a time of necessity or the besieging of the Town For when Vespasian was in Galile the Priests and Elders made up the Doors of these Garner-houses and laid in Victuals sufficient for Two Hundred Thousand men for 20 years but now in this one Fight of the Seditious they were all burnt to the ground with all within them which caused a sudden hunger and Famine in Jerusalem At the same time the seditious pulled down all the fair and goodly Buildings that there should be no sign nor Monument of any Noble House left in the City Thus God visited the Citizens of Jerusalem with four dreadful Plagues at once Sword Pestilence Famine and Fire to which this Fifth was added the ruine and destruction of all beautiful and glorious Buildings So that whithersoever a man turned himself there were nothing but desolations pollutions of the Temple and all holy things and uproars without all rest and refuge no help no succour but every corner of Jerusalem was full of howling and yelling weeping and wailing sobbing and sighing of Women and Children Here you might hear the roaring and lamentation of men not quite dead there the mourning and throbbing of the Elders with the woful crys of young Children for bread in short all manner of misery oppressed them so that he was thought happy who dyed before this day and all those were in a woful case who were so unfortunate to see it when Joseph heard all these things at Caesarea he tore his Hair with his hands cast Ashes on his Beard and sitting with great sorrow on the ground he bewailed and made Lamentation over the miserable City of Jerusalem After this in the first year of the Reign of Vespasian Titus his Son mustered his men in the Plain of Caesarea and he found them a vast number so that they seemed almost to cover the Earth he then marched to Samaria and being received by the Citizens with great joy he spared them and did them no harm from thence he went to Ajelona thirty Furlongs from Jerusalem and there pitched his Tents and taking six Hundred Horsemen with him he went to Jerusalem to view the height of the Walls and the strength of the Town but the Jews laid an Ambush and slew sixty of Titus his men and might have slain him likewise but that they designed to take him alive whereby he took an Opportunity to escape The next day Titus brought his whole Army to Jerusalem and it being a little before the Feast of Vnleavened Bread an infinite number of People who came to celebrate it were shut up in the City by which means the City was soon oppressed with a cruel Famine all manner of Food and nourishment being consumed and Oxens Dung was accounted good Meat others fed upon old Leather and horrible dreadful things happened for some Women boyled their own Children and eat them many thinking to save their Lives by flying to the Romans were cut in pieces to search for their Gold and Jewels which they had swallowed to prevent Discovery Two Thousand were miserably destroyed one night upon this Account And on the Feast day which was April 14. Eleasar having seized on the Inner Temple opened the Gate that the People might sacrifice Jehochanan taking this opportunity sent privately many of his party armed with short swords under their Garments who being admitted with the rest of the multitude set upon Eleasar and seized the Inner Temple with the slaughter of many of his party and thus the threefold Faction was again reduced into two that of Jehochanans who were Eight Thousand Four Hundred and the other of Schimeons with whom were Ten Thousand besides Five Thousand Idumeans or Edomites Titus approaching the Walls pitched his Camp about the River Psephina and presently raised a Mount and with a battering Ram first shook and then beat down part of the Wall and May 7. broke into the City The first wall being beaten down and the Jews retiring inward he gained the North quarter of the City even to the Castle of Antonia and the Valley of Cedron On the fifth day after a Tower on the second Wall being shaken and battered down from the North-quarter Titus got the new lower City from which he was repulsed again by the Jews but on the fourth day after he regained it and so addressed himself for the assault of the third Wall May 12. he commanded four Mounts to be raised two at the Castle of Antonia whereby he thought to gain the Temple â—nd two at the Tomb of the High-Priest John 〈…〉 he hoped to win the upper City which 〈…〉 â—â—nished in 17 days Jehochanan by a Mine from Antonia cast down one of the Mounts and burnt it and Schimeon the second day after in a Salley that he made fired 2 of the Mounts opposite to him with the Rams and other Engines of the Romans whom they fell upon in their Camp but Titus relieving them from Antonia forced the Jews into the City again These Mounts being thus demolished Titus in three days time encompassed the City with a Wall of thirty nine Furlongs in Circuit about which he built 13 Castles each 10 Furlongs round so that none could go in or out whereby the Famine raged so cruelly in the City that with it and the Pestilence
the greatest part of the year gave so little light aâ— was only equal to that of the Moon though the Sky was clear and no Clouds or any thing to overshadow it After which there followed a great Famine Earthquakes and much War and bloodshed Narses winneth Liguria and Venice from the French The Romans rout the Persians at Phasido The Jews and Samaritans persecute the Christians and burn their Churches in Caesarea In 570 at York in England the Fountains ran blood Likewise blood fell from the Clouds in Lombardy in Kent a Boy laughed in his Mothers Belly and at London Trees seemed to be on fire This year the Persians begin a war with the Romans The Huns break into Germany and are expelled by the French There was so great a Famine in England that the People assembled together in flocks to throw themselves into the Sea In 590 was a great inundation in Constantinople there was a Comet this year which Blazed a Month together In the River Tyber at Rome was seen a Dragon and many Serpents and the water thereof overflowed the City an infinite company of Grashoppers are seen in Lombardy and many Locusts in France Not long after so great a Plague was in Rome that eight hundred men fell dead in an hour in the time of Procession Antharis is poysoned at Papia The Huns invade Italy and France the Emperor goes against them but was forced to return In 597 a dreadful Comet is seen at Constantinople the Elements seem to burn in Poland a fiery lance is seen in the Heavens at Rome An horrible Earthquake in Palestine A sign in the Heavens like a sword flamed thirty days together A Comet was seen for a month together at Jerusalem Soon after the Sclavi wast Thrace The Brittains and Scots invade the Saxons France and Poland are miserably wasted Brunchild a Daughter of the Royal Blood of France being found guilty of the death of Ten Kings she is tyed by the hair of the head and by the Arms to wild horses and torn to pieces The Romans and Persians differ and the Emperor is defeated in Thrace XV. In 639 was an Earthquake at Antioch and Horsemen were seen in the Air in Muscovia and blood rained at Naples A wonderful storm at Constantinople which spoiled the Fields and Gardens a fiery Dragon was seen in the Air there also After this the Saracens or Turks become Lords of all Mesopotamia Sigebert King of the East-Angles dies Dagobert becomes sole Monarch of France the Pope is imprisoned at Constantinople and afterward banished and starved In 674 appeared so horrible a fire and a Rainbow in the Element that many cryed out the world was at an end this was accompanied with Rain Thunder and Lightning which slew both Men and Beasts in Italy This year the Saracens besieged Constantinople and the sâ—ege continued 7 years till at last thirty thousand of them were slain and their Fleet is fired by Cariniceus who revolted from them Bamba warreth against the French Egbert of Kent dyeth King Lothari is slain with a dart The Goths overcome the Gascoigns In 687 there was a very great Comet at Christmass and several Mocksuns were seen in England the next year it rained blood seven days together through all Brittain In Campania Wheat rained from Heaven also Barly and Pulse in other parts of Italy two Comets of great magnitude were seen this year It rained blood seven days together through all Brittain and the milk cheese and butter turned into blood Soon after happened great controversy in Rome about a new Pope The King of Scots is slain by the Picts The Emperor defeateth the Sclavonians Kenwin the West-Saxon dyeth The French enter into Germany and subdue the Bavarians and Almains Italy began to choose themselves several Dukes this year In 735 a most Prodigious Hail fell in England Fire was seen to flame in the Heavens at Rome About this time Gregory the great being sent to the Emperor at Constantinople about some Ecclesiastical Affairs at his return to Rome the River Tyber swelled to such an immeasurable height that it ran over the Walls of the City and drowned a great part of it breaking into divers great houses and overthrowing many Antient Monuments flowing into the Granaries that belonged to the Church and carried away many thousand measures of Wheat Presently after which inundation there came down the River an innumerable company of Serpents and amongst the rest one so monstrous that it was as big as a great beam all which swimming down the River into the Sea were there choaked and their Carcasses being cast upon the shoar rotted there by the stink whereof the Air was infâ—â—â—ed so that a dreadful Plague followed whereof th◠〈◊〉 many Thousands Yea Arrowes were visibly seen sâ—◠〈◊〉 Heaven and whoever was struck with them dâ—ed immediately and among others Pelagius Bishop of Rome This Judgment so raged in the City that many houses were wholly emptied of their Inhabitants An inundation likewise happened in Constantinowe Oyl raired in Spain a Comet appeared in the fashion of a sword Croâ—â—â— fell from Heaven upon mens Garments An Earthquake in Palestim Fire rained from Heaven in many parts of France The French about this time enter the territories of the Goths and destroy their Caâ—â—â—es A mighty Pestilence in Constantinople for three years which devoured so many that they wanted men to bury their dead Selred the East-Saxon is slain The Emperor beats the Saracens in Cyprus the Huns General slain in Transilvania XVI In 761 in the month of September happened a very great Eclipse of the Sun A Blazing Star was seen in the East for many dayes together This year the King of Scotland invadeth Northumberland and is slain There was a Rebellion in Galloway The Bulgarians invade the Empire Dominico the great Duke is deposed by the Venetians for his Tyranny and his eyes put out About this time the Turks brake forth from the Caspian Sea and there was such an extraordinary cold Winter that the Euxine Sea was frozen thirteen foot thick and men walked on the see for an Hundred Miles into the Sea Yea all the Countreys from Lycia to Danubius and on the other â—â—de as far as to Euphrates were so joined together by the Frost as if they had been all one Continent And at the end of Winter began a very dry Summer so that the Fountains of water were dryed up Some pieces of Ice as big as Mountains fell upon and beat down the Walls of several Cities Stars were seen falling from Heaven so that men thought the end of the world had been come In 778 was another great Eclipse of the Sun Armies of men were seen in the Heavens in France This year it rained blood also Earth and Ashes fell from Heaven at Rome There were Meteors in the Air like unto fiery Serpents which fell in many parts of England Soon after Telerick King of Bulgaria is expelled by his people King Etheldred flyes from England
Cross and an half Moon was visible in Italy Not long after the Spaniards kill Two Hundred Thousand Moors The Pope giveth away England from King John to Prince Philip of France who lands there and striveth for it The Flemish with the English take three hundred sail of Ships from him and burn an hundred more The King of Aragon is slain William King of Scots and soon after King John both dye In 1234 a great Eclipse of the Sun happened and strange sights appeared in the Moon for whereas she usually seems round she now visibly appeared with six squares The Sun was darkned so much that the Stars were seen This year the King of Bulgaria puts out the Emperors eyes Vienna is subjected to the Empire Constantinople is besieged by the Turks but released by the Venetians King Henry III. of England and his Nobles quarrel but are reconciled The King of Poland dyeth In 1243 was a great Comet fearful to behold A Hill of a vast greatness removes it self out of its place A noise like Trumpets is heard in the air in Italy These were followed by a great Plague in Greece and a miserable Famine in Constantinople the King of the Cumans is slain and the Turks take Jerusalem and kill many Prisoners In 1255 a great Comet appeared Strange Lightning fell from Heaven The Sea overflowed in many places in England Dismal and strange noises are heard in the air At this time the Geneveses take Venice and are expelled again The Duke of Lithuania invadeth Prussia five petty Kings are expelled Spain the Venetians take Padua Eâ—â—â—line comes thither and kills twelve thousand Citizens Not long after Henry III. King of England dyes In 1277 there was a very great Rain about the Rhine in Germany the Sky was as bright in Poland at midnight as if it had been noon day Four Suns were seen in Russia and there was an Earthquake in England Now the Turks won all the lesser Asia from the Greeks The Pope is killed by a fall the Emperor slayes fourteen thousand Bohemians King Edward I. of England forceth the Welch to a Peace In 1285 a great Earthquake happened in Italy A Comet of notable greatness was seen this year A great swarm of divers coloured Flyes and mighty floods of waters were in England There was likewise about this time a battel or fight of Dogs in France saith Mr. Camden at a place called Genelon Castle wherein every one killed another being in number about Three Thousand no Dog escaping alive but only one Upon this followed the Invasion of Denmark by the Norwegians Hungaria is ruined by the Cumans the Helvetians war against the Emperor but are subdued The King of Sicily dyes and there was a great battel fought between the English and Scots wherein many of the Scots were slain the Sun the same day appeared as red as blood as long as the fight continued XXIII Launces and Darts of fire were seen in the Heavens in the year 1300 a great Snow fell and a Comet of a wonderful magnitude appeared In Germany Men and Horses were visible in the Air At this time the English beat the Scots The Turks invade the German Empire and commit great mischiess the Pope writes himself Vniversal Lord in Spirituals and Temporals Flanders is invaded and many Nobles are taken Prisoners Andrew King of Hungary dyes In 1310 was an Earthquake in England The Elements seem to burn many days together A Boy was born with four Arms and two Bodies Soon after the Polonians subdue Pomerania The Isle of Rhodes is taken from the Turks Robert Bruce King of Scotland wasteth that Countrey and drives out the English the Earl of Cornwal is banished and the Emperor burneth Brixia In 1322 the Sun in England for six hours together appeared like blood There was a great Earthquake in Germany and two Crosses appeared in the Heavens and a fiery Circle was seen about the Sun At this time the Scots oppose King Edward II. of England and put him to flight The King of Bohemia conquers Silesia and divers places in Lusatia The Emperor is taken in battel and imprisoned 3 years The King of England dyes In 1337 were two Comets seen together one of which continued four Months the other but three Blood rained in Rome wonderful flocks of Crows and Daws were seen in Germany The Lithuanians burn themselves their Wives Children and Goods to avoid taking The French burn Southampton The Scythians wast Thrace and take many Captives the King of Sicily dyeth About this time there happened a fearful Earthquake in the City of Venice which overturned divers Steeples and Palaces and among other dreadful Effects it caused many hundred women to miscarry in Child-birth and a terrible Plague sollowed it which reduced the City to such an height of misery that it was almost depopulated whereupon the Senate made a Decree that as many as would come to dwell at Vâ—â—ice should after they had continued there two years be free Ciâ—â—â—ens In 1341 a terrible Comet with many other apparitions were seen in the Heavens The Emperor Aâ—â—ronious about this time suffered death in an unheard of Tragical manner And the next year saith Mr. Camdâ—n October 11 when the Moon was eleven dayes old there were seen two Moons at Dablin in Ireland the one according to the â—ourse of nature in 〈◊〉 West the other in the East casting but a mean and slender Light In 1348 Divers Mocksuns appeared in the Sky and the Heavens seemed to burn There were several small Beasts rained from the Elements in the Eastern parts of the World There followed a grâ—at Piague in England the English beat the Scots and recover much from them The Poâ—anders â—â—solutely conqâ—er Russia In 1365 armed men were seen in the Heavens in England and fiery â—anceâ— in Italy Grashoppers cover Switzerland like Snow Soon after the Russians who rebelled in Pâ—land were sâ—bdued The King of France is exâ—â—lled his Kingdom The King of Sweden is taken Prssoner in Dattel the Tâ—rks expel the Christians from Adrianople In 1375 a Comet with a beard was seen many nights together in the Heavens Grashoppers eat up all the green things in France Mighty inundations in Germany and a very great Earthquake there After this five thousand Houses were burnt at Gaunt and seventeen other Towns in Flanders drowned the Christians kill twenty thousand Turks in Bosnia by a stratagem The Scots burn Roxborough there were great Calamities in Italy Prince Edward commonly called the Black Prince dyeth and not long after Edward III. King of England The French take the Isle of Wight and burn Rye and Hastings In 1378 a general Plague in a most miserable manner invaded the greatest part of the world It raged most among young Persons and Children In the City of Lubeck only in Germany it swept away ninety thousand persons there dyed of it in several places of bare-footed Fryers one Million two hundred forty four thousand four hundred thirty four The Jews were
Tilly lost in the whole by these encounters near seven thousand men In this year 1631 upon the fatal seventh of September in the bloody battle of Leipswick General Tilly himself was wounded twice or thrice with Pistol shot and his whole Army routed as aforementioned Upon the place of Battle which the Enemy had left for the King of Sweden there sate a flock of Birds which springing up at the King 's coming took their flight directly over Tillies Army and fetching a Circle about them which the Romans would have counted a happy presage they turned again toward the Kings Army as it were to fetch him victory But the King had a better presage on his side than a Flock of Birds God with us was his Watch-word which together with his Valour and his Sword obtained him the Victory XLVII In 1632 General Tilly received another shot of a Musket a little above his Knee at a skirmish between the King of Sweden and himself whereof he dyed April 20 after having 4 splinters cut out of his Thigh A few years before that long cruel and bloody battle was fought at Lutzen the water of the Ditch in that Town was turned to blood which Prodigy seemed accomplished November 6 this year wherein the Swedes after nine hours continual fighting absolutely overthrew the Imperial Army The morning wherein this great battle was fought was very misty the King of Sweden had a Divine to pray with him and other Ministers at the head of every Regiment about 10 a Clock the Fog cleared up and the King going first to his own Subjects spake to this purpose My dear Brethren carry your selves bravely this day fight valiantly in Gods Name for your Religion and your King which if you do Gods Blessing and the Peoples praises shall be your Reward and 〈◊〉 shall for ever retain an honourable memorial nor will I forget to reward you Nobly But if you play the Cowards I here take God to witness not a bone of you shall ever return again to Sweden To the Germans who joyned with him he thus expressed himself My Brethren Officers and Fellow-Souldiers I most earnesily intreat and beseech you to make full Tryal of your valour this one day fight manfully against your enemies this day both with me and for me be not faint-hearted in the battle nor upon any account discouraged set me before your eyes even me who without the least fear or dread am ready for your cause to adventure both Life and Bloud if you do this no doubt God himself will reward you from Heaven with a most glorious victory of which your selves and your posterity shall have the benefit if you do not farewel for ever to your Religion and your selves must for ever remain in slavery The Souldiers of both Nations answered the King with joyful Acclamations who thereupon added Now my hearts let us fall bravely on our enemies and the God of Heaven prosper our endeavours and so casting up his Eyes to Heaven with a loud voice he said Jesus vouchsafe this day to be my strong helper and give me courage to fight for thy glory and for the honour of thy Name Then drawing his sword he waved it over his head and advanced the foremost of all his Army Amongst the Kings own Guard were several English and Scottish Gentlemen He himself was attired in a plain Buff Coat without Armour and being required to put on his Corslet he said The Lord God is my Armour His word was God with us The Imperialist was Jesus Maria The King said I thank God I have both Wind and Sun to favour me The Field where the Battle was fought was a plain Champian Countrey but yet it had many Ditches which served Wallestein the Imperial General for Breast-works and the Kings Horse in passing over them were some of them overthrown there were likewise two little Hills upon which Wallestein had planted his Great Guns and his Army was so large that it extended 2 Miles in length the Armies coming within view the Canon began to play on both sides but those of the Imperialists being planted upon steady and fixt Batteries did very great Execution Whereas the Kings gave fire in motion which he observing and not liking the sport caused his Army to advance upon the very mouth of the Canon The Imperialists kept their ground expecting the Swedes fury would be over before they could get over the Ditches and beat out the Musqueteers yet they overcame these difficulties and their left Wing engaged with Wallesteins right Then the Ring advancing with his right Wing and observing where the Croats or Crabats stood and where the Curassiers were who were covered with black Armour from head to foot calling Colonel Stalbansh to him he said As for those Fellowes the Crabats I care not for them 〈◊〉 charge me those black Fellows soundly for they are the men that will undo us The King fought at the head of his Squadron himself being foremost with his Pistol in one hand and his Sword in the other and thus charging upon the Curassiers he was there overlaid with numbers insomuch that his men being in danger to be incompassed were forced to give ground and retire towards their body where the King received a snot in his Left Arm which he not feeling at first would have led on still but soon after perceiving the blood to issue out abundantly and that part of his bone was broken he called to Duke Albert of Saxon Lavoenburg saying Coren I am sore wounded help me to make my retreat which whilst the Duke and his Assistants were about to do an Officer of the Curassiers who too well knew the King comes up and said This is the right Bird and so discharging his Pistol shot him through the body and himself was presently shot dead upon the place The King was held up in his saddle but presently fell His horse also was shot and so ran away without his Master Just at this time fell a great mist the Sun which before shined very brightly on a sudden muffling up his face in a mourning Cloud as if not able to look upon the fall of the King of Sweden The Imperialists being now masters of the Kings Body fell to stripping it one getting his spurs another his sword another his Ring and another his Buff-coat c. every one being greedy to get some part of his spoils But before they could carry away his Body the Swedes returned and so charged their Enemies that they were forced to retreat whereupon Stalhaush recovering his Body carryed it away in an Ammunition Waggon privately so that few of his own Army knew of his death All this while the four Swedish Brigades of Foot were hotly ingaged and got ground of the Imperialists The horse likewise after an hours fight drove them back and got possession of seven Pieces of their Ordinance but by this time the mist was so extreamly thickned by the smoak that the Swedes could not
and eat each other so that none could pass safely on the way or in the streets without a guard or very well armed and though some have been taken and severely punished by Justice yet others continued lurking to seize upon Passingers Three Maidens at Odenheim near Worms agreed to live together and take their chance but as the Proverb saith Necessity hath no Law and hunger is a sharp Thorn for in a while they were all so extreamly pinched with Famine that they sought to take away one anothers lives to save their own Two of them conspired to kill the third by strangling her in bed or some other way and after to dress and eat her up All which they did accordingly Then the second resolved to strangle her Companion and cut off her head which when she had done and devoured her flesh her heart was so hardened that she went to a Village called Ridisheim to a Woman of her Acquaintance called Margaret whose Husband was absent for fear of the Souldiers the woman entertained her kindly rejoycing that she came to see her But in the night lying by the woman she barbarously cut off her head and binding the dead body upon a board brought it to her house at Piedessen but being pricked with the sharpness of hunger she had not patience to cut the body in pieces but only cut off the head and both the hands which she washed and dressed The Husband coming home missed his wife and inquiring of the Neighbours they told him such a maid was seen with her upon which he went immediately to her house and knocking at the door asked her if she had not seen his Wife she answered him no But such deeds of cruelty are hard to be concealed Murder will out as they say The man goes into her house and casting his eyes round looks into every corner at length he spies an hand to stick out of the Pot which hung over the Fire Hereupon being overcome with grief he rageth against the Murderess and threatens her so severely that she presently confesseth the whole truth to him thereupon he complains to a Justice the woman is seized and brought before the Lords of Justice sitting in the Judgment Seat They deliberate a great while about her punishment some were of opinion that what she had acted was not as a Rational Creature but as a Brute since the desire of Food is common to us with Beasts But others alledged such horrid wickedness ought severely to be punished for a Terror to others Upon which she was led to the common place of Justice her head was cut off and her body being bound to a wheel was left as a spectacle to all Passengers of the horror of the Fact That which follows saith my Author I cannot write without Tears no man ever hated his own flesh saith the Scripture and such are the Children of our Bodies so that it is even against nature to destroy such fruit Yet the dreadful sharpness of hunger hath brought this to pass Oh what is that miserable necessity which makes us even break stone Walls which causeth us to forget our nearest and dearest Relations that vanquishes our most natural and most powerful Passions and tempts us to destroy that which we before so dearly loved and so carefully cherished At Oterburg in the Palatinate a Widow woman living near the Church-yard her name well known had a Daughter of about nine or ten years old This child was grown so faint with hunger that one time with sorrowful eyes looking upon her Mother she said Sweet Mother I would willingly dye so I were rid of my The Terrible Prodigies during the Wars and Desolations in Germany Page 125 pain Oh that you would make an end of me then should I go from whence I came or if I should kill you then you would be rid of your pain The Mother looking earnestly upon her again with a woful sigh replyed And what wouldest thou do with me Child The Girl very mournfully replyed I would then eat you for they say that mans flesh is very sweet The Mother at these words fell a weeping and being wonderfully distracted in her own thoughts like a Ship tossed between the two Rocks of Desperate Neceffity and Motherly Affection at length the first of them prevailed and suddenly catching the Child by the head and untying her hairlace twisteth it about the neck of this innocent Lamb and so presently strangled her being dead and she having no knife to cut the Body in pieces she took a Spade and therewith hewed it into Gobbets and so dressing the head and part of the Body eat it up Some part thereof she sold to her Neighbours for about six pence a pound Her Child being long missed her acquaintance asked her where it was and how she came by that Flesh she replyed It was Hogs flesh which she had got of the Souldiers who passed that way But perceiving the truth would be discovered she freely confessed all whereupon she was taken and Imprisoned being allowed half a pound of bread and a Kann of Water a day till her sentence Being after examined before the Lords she told them That she was happy since she came to Prison and would be glad to lye there all her life for now she had wherewith to abate her hunger and thirst her dreadful pain was thereby much abated This so moved the Judges to compassion that they freed her from Prison and let her go as Innocent as being compelled thereto by woful Necessity I cannot but record another story of the like nature A Woman of Hornbach having been newly brought to bed and wanting milk to nourish her Babe she kissed and imbraced it a thousand times drowning it almost with her Tears and after a long Conflict with her own disturbed Soul she killed it with a knife and afterward dressed and eat it When it began to be known she was examined before the Judges who asked her Why she killed her Child she answered That mighty and intolerable hunger had forced her to do it and that it was the fruit of her own body which she thought she might better make use of than of any other However she was condemned to dye and accordingly executed for a terror to others I am even weary saith he of these lamentable Relations yet more miserable Accidents if more miserable can be followed these They traced and followed the dead bodies to their place of Burial and then digging them out of their Graves dressed and eat them so that in divers places at Worms especially they were forced to set watch at the Church-yards and over the Graves to keep the dead from being stolen and eaten Yea to that extremity were they brought that some constrained by hunger took Poyson to dispatch themselves nay the very Wild Beasts in Woods were starved for want of Prey The Earl of Arundel travelling to Frankford in his way toward England a Boor or Peasant of the Countrey being their Guide
such a destruction as is impossible to bedâ—scribed and at present 't is not throughly known what damage it hath done upon the eighth of this Moneth it pleased God not by any extraordinary rains from Heaven to our thinking to open the Mountains like Fountains and to cause the Seaso to swell that in less than four hours it overflowed the Town throughout sixteen foot high which prevented us not only from saving our Goods but also with great hazard of our lives have we escaped yet many lost their Lives with great destruction both of the Houses and Walls For my own part I feared my life for my house trembled under me extreamly so that not only my self but my whole Family had been destroyed had it continued but a small time longer though the Water ebbed not for Twenty four hours Many Iron Mills were destroyed many Thousand Loads of Charcoal were carryed away many bags of Wool spoiled All their Shops with their Goods were much damaged God knows the trouble we underwent and still I am every day in the mud half my height looking after my Goods and am fain to keep many men digging to find them and am looking out for bread to maintain my Family a little Chicken costs us two shillings in Spanish Plate In brief neither Horse Mule Hog nor any other Living Creature that goes upon the ground hath escaped drowning but only such as fled to the tops of the Mountains The destruction and losses of â—his Town are unspeakable the very pavement and ground being carryed away at least Ten Foot deep and the River hath altered its Chanel The first work that we now set upon by command of Authority is to throw away the Fish which the water brought with it which being tainted smells so abominably that we fear it will bring the Plague amongst us but we hope by to morrow night to throw it all into the River and thereby be rid of this stink and our next work must be to cleanse the River LXXII In 1652 There was a great Eclipse of the Sun and Two Eclipses of the Moon A Two handed Sword was seen in the Air in Cheshire and Armies of men encountring each other appeared in the North a Comet was visible in the Signs Gemini and Taurus from December 11 to the 30. This year the English subdued Scotland and beat the Dutch at Sea They beat the French at Sea this year also The English Parliament firnamed the Long are turned out of Doors by their own Army In 1653 Oliver Cromwell a private Gentleman by Birth but then General of the Army assumes the Government of Great Britain by the Title of Lord Protector of England Scotland and Ireland The King of the Romans and the Pope in two years after dye strange and unheard of Alterations in Law and Government here in England new Courts of Justice Council of State Major Generals In 1654 was another Eclipse of the Sun and an Earthquake in the West of England Apparitions are visible in the Air in the North of England A very great Rain falls in Bohemia At this time the English take Jamaica and make War with Spain The English and Swedes unite In 1655. Castles Cities and Towns appear in the Air in England and seem to be besieged the different Actions and Gestures of Men both Commanders and Souldiers being plainly visible This year Cardinal Guisi is made Pope by the Title of Innocent the 10. The Polanders are routed by the Swedes In 1656 An Earthquake happened in Cheshire doing much harm sinking the Ground and rending up many Trees by the Roots to the great damage of the Countrey In November a fiery Dragon was seen in the Air in Scotland This year the English land in Flanders and take Mardike from the Spaniards they become angry thereat and Wars between them grow high The King of Denmark was twice invaded by the King of Sweden There fell such abundance of Rain at Vienna in Germany that the River Danubius swelling above its banks the violence of the Waters broke down all the Bridges and most of their Mills Yea the Water came into their Suburbs called The Jews Suburbs drowning many Persons and carrying away a very great number of Cattel and did so great mischief to the Countrey that the loss was thought inestimable there being sixteen Towns and Villages swept away by the Flood Gadbury de Comet LXXIII In 1658 A great Whale came up to Greenwich near London a thing seldom known before This year Dunkirk was taken by the English Sir Henry Slingsby and Dr. Heuit being condemned by an High Court of Justice as they called it were beheaded at Towerhill and Sept. 3. following which used to be a great day of Triumph in Olivers Court for two great Victories at Dunbar and Worcester was turned into a day of Mourning by the Death of their Protector who dyed about 4 or 5 a Clock that day and Richard Cromwel confidently succeeds him in the Government as if it had been his just due Nay some People in England send such sugred Addresses to him that he believed himself to be what they flatteringly stiled him The King of Sweden loses much this year and dyes In 1659 there was a very great Inundation in Holland which overflowed Thirty Six Thousand Acres of Ground Also a great Eclipse of the Sun in Scorpio November 4. Lofty and strange unwonted Winds In May 1659 the Long Parliament returned and turned out Richard Cromwell but were soon after turned out themselves by Lambert and the Army A Committee of safety is set up The L. General Monk being troubled to behold the Confusions of the English Proceedings marched out of Scotland and after the Committee of Safety was fallen brings in the secluded Members of the Long Parliament who soon after dissolve themselves and call another Parliament who restore His Royal Majesty King Charles 2. to His just Rights and Priviledges whom God preserve with a Long and Happy Reign over us Gadbury of Prodigies LXXIV In 16â—0 Feb. 20. At Dantzick in Poland when the Sun was going down there were seen seven Suns together very distinctly in the Heavens three of them coloured and three white besides the True Sun it self about which was a Circle much like a Rainbow In 1661. Jan. 28. There is a Relation that near Worsup in Nottinghamshire there was an appearance of a gallant Troop of Horse marching which a Justice of Peace having notice of related to a Person of Honour thinking them to be real Men and Horses but upon a strict inquiry it was concluded to be only an Apparition The same Relation says about that time there happened a strange and dreadful storm of Hail at Northampton and fire mingled with the hail in some places and that it did run upon the ground in great sheets of Fire for a considerable way together It fell upon some part of Wellinborough Town in Northamptonshire Upon February 18. this year very early in the morning began a
Clock in the morning the Sea was observed to ebb and flow 7 times of which the greater notice was taken because the weather at that time was fair and calm and the Tydes very low the like accident having never been observed there but once before about three years since Upon June 20. this year at Jnspurg in Germany a little after noon there was a very violent Tempest with extraordinary hail rain Thunder and Lightning accompanied with an Earthquake which had such terrible Effects at Schnatz a Town about 3 miles distant from Jnspurg where the Emperor of Germany had some Silver mines that the River which runs through it overflowing drowned all the adjacent Fields driving down and destroying above Thirty Houses endamaging many more and drowning above Two Hundred People In July 1669 came Intelligence from Holstein in Denmark of Prodigious Tempests accompanied with such dreadful Thunder and Lightnings as affrighted the Cattel out of the Fields and drove some Hundreds of them into the Sea wherein they were all drowned From Mecklenburg likewise in Germany they write that there were several Fires kindled by Lightning in divers parts of the Countrey LXXXII In 1672 His Majesty proclaimed War against the States of the Vnited Provinces and May 28. His Royal Highness engaged the whole Dutch Fleet in Southwold Bay and after a sharp dispute of 8 hours the Hollanders retreated in which fight the Noble Earl of Sandwich was unfortunately slain About this time there happened a violent Fire at St. Katherines without the Iron-Gate near the Tower of London which consumed above an Hundred Houses this year the French overrun great part of Holland taking as it is said Thirty Cities and Towns in Thirty days In 1678 an horrid Popish Plot was discovered against His Majesties Person and Government and soon after Sir Edmondbury Godfrey who took the first Examination of Dr. Oats upon the Discovery thereof was murdered by the Papists for which three of them were executed Several Popish Lords were committed to the Tower and December 1679 the Lord Stafford was beheaded at Tower-Hill for High Treason In 1680 May 18. about 2 a Clock in the morning there began a furious storm of Thunder and Lightning in London so extream that the Heavens seemed to be in a flame which was accompanied with very large Hail and extraordinary violent and hasty Showrs of rain which continued for several hours but about 10 a Clock in the morning a strange and unusual darkness overspread the face of Heaven and immediately after there fell such a terrible storm of Hail as the like was hardly ever seen in England before the storm a great murmuring or ratling noise was heard in the Air the Hailstones were so very large that some of them being measured were found to be four Inches others five others six in compass nay it was confidently reported that some were seven eight and nine Inches about it continued not above a quarter of an hour otherwise it might have done much more damage than it did yet abundance of Glass-Windows were shattered to pieces especially of those called Sky-Lights The stones were of different Shapes and Sizes and the Fancies of People likened them to several things they fell with such violence that they cut the Faces of some and the heads and hands of others who were abroad some others ran into the ground in the Fields above an Inch and being taken out were found to be as big as Pullets Eggs and some larger several of them were round others square and flat with very sharp Edges LXXXIII Not long before this in the same year 1680 there fell a mighty tempest of Rain Hail Lightning and Thunder at a Town in Oxfordshire It began about eleven a Clock in the morning the Sky being for a considerable time black and dark when on a sudden there happened a great storm of Hail which by the assistance of an East-wind fell with such violence that the Hail-stones rebounded 3 Foot high from the ground after which followed a fierce showr of Rain which seemed rather to come down in pail-fuls than in the common way and so affrighted the Inhabitants that they ran immediately into the Fields to save their Sheep Lambs and other small Cattel but had much ado to return with their Lives during this dreadful storm the Heavens sent forth such huge and frequent flashes of Fire that notwithstanding that deluge of water which at that instant fell from the Skyes the Lightning took hold of some Houses but was happily quenched without any considerable damage yet several Barns were burnt down with all within them in one of which a man that was thrashing hardly made his escape Among others a youth being overtaken in the storm endeavoured to shelter himself in a Windmil but the ill-natured Miller began to swear and curse at him asking him if he was such a Fool and changling to be afraid of a little Lightning and Thunder the boy had scarce time to answer before he was struck off the stairs and the Miller was forced to go down and take him up half dead but this unkind Miller had hardly recovered the Youth ere he himself was struck down with the Thunder and taken up without any appearance of Life for the present though it is said he afterward recovered LXXXIV There is likewise a Relation of a strange Accident which happened this year 1680 at a Town called Blois in France That about one a Clock in the morning an amazing Tempest of Wind arose with such violence as soon affrighted the most sleepy from their repose and in a short time by its fury beat or blew down all the Body of the Church of St. Soulucas except the Belfry also half the Jesuits Church and two fair houses into the Highstreet the People whereof were glad to run into the arched Cellars to save themselves which they happily did for the ruins fell upon and round about the Arch but the Rubbish being removed they were afterward drawn out alive This Tempest was likewise accompanied with a most prodigious Hail many Thousand stones being found as big as a mans First which without sufficient Authority would seem incredible This unusual Artillery of Heaven broke all the Slates wherewith the Houses are covered and the Glass Windows all over the Town as if they had been beaten in a Mortar without the Town eight whole Parishes with the Fields adjacent were wholly ruined by the Hail in such a terrible manner that it seemed as if no Corn had been sown or Vines planted there There were four other Parishes much indamaged and multitudes of Chimneys beaten down so that the dammages thereby with the breaking of Windows and Tiles was valued to be above Two Hundred Thousand Crowns and the harm in the Vineyards and Cornfeilds invaluable But it pleased God the Protestant Church in that Town was wonderfully preserved though equally exposed to the Weather without a Slate or any glass broken the direful marks of the Tempest