Gregory the Great was so Exemplary in his Humility that tho' he was Born of Noble Parents yet he had so little respect to his Descent that he would often say with Tears in his Eyes That all Earthly Glory was miserable if the owner of it did not seek after the Glory of God Ibid. p. 96. 3. S. Bernard called himself an unprofitable Servant a dry Tree from whom no good had come either to himself or others a Man naked of Merits Ibid p. 105. 4. Pope Innocent about the Year of Christ 1207. sent with one Peter his Legate twelve Abbats of the Cistercian Order against the Albigenses to Reduce them to Obedience by their Preaching They having called a Council of Arch-Bishops and Bishops and Others to Deliberate upon the Case in came the then Bishop of Oxford bringing in his Company of Retinue belonging to his Lordship and being akt his Opinion he answered That there was no need of that outward Pomp that the Bishops were set out with but rather Preaching of the Word and Integrity of Life And that he might Instruct them with his own Example as well as his Doctrine he dismissed all his Retinue with Horses and Chariots and all the Provision which they had brought and sent them home He himself with a few Clergy-Men running on Foot and performing the Office of Preaching stoutly Cent. Hist. 13. c. 9. de Synod Vinc. l. 29. c. 93. Anton. Tit. 19. c. 1. Sect. 3. 5. Constantine the Great when a Flattering Presbyter told him That he was a Blessed Man and worthy to be Emperor over the whole World and to Reign with the Son of God in Eternal Glory he manifested his dislike and commanded him that he should not dare hereafter to use any such Speeches but rather pray earnestly for him that he might Live and Dye God's faithful Servant Clark's Hist. Eccl. in the Life of Constantine p. 10. 6. Maude Daughter to Malcolm Camoir King of Scots and Wife to King Henry I. went every day in Lent-time to Westminster-Abbey bare Foot and bare Leg'd wearing a Garment of Hair she would wash and kiss the Feet of the poorest People and give them bountiful Alms For which being Reprehended by a Courtier she gave him a short Answer which I have out of Robert of Glocester ' Madam for Gods love is this weli doo ' To handle sich unclene Lymmes and to kiss so ' Foule wolde the Kyng thynk if that hit he wiste ' And right well Abyse hym er he your mouth kiste ' Sur surqd the Queene be stille why sayeste thou so ' Our Lord himself ensample yaf so for to do She Founded as I said before the Priory of Christ Church within Aldgate and the Hospital of St. Giles's in the Fields She Builded the Bridges over the River of Lea at Stratford Bow and over the little Brook called Chanelsbridge She gave much likewise to the Repairing of the Highways Weaver's Funeral Monuments p. 454. 7. Bishop Vsher was so Humble that in Practical Subjects he would apply himself to the Capacity of the poorest and weakest Christian that came to him for Information and satisfactioo of their Doubts Nay sometimes he was more propense to Communicate himself to such than to others more Learned which Strangers have wondered at as the Disciples Marvelled at our Saviour talking with the poor Woman of Samaria John 4.27 and answered her Questions rather than taking notice of them See his Life by Mr. Clark In his Demeanour and Behaviour he had high thoughts of others and as low of himself and that in every condition of his Life both in Prosperity and Adversity Godly Persons of what Rank soever had great power over him he would put them into his Bosom Visit them in their Sickness supply their wants beg their Prayers and countenance their Cause and Persons See his Life Ibid. 8. Wickliffe and his Followers are reported to go bare-footed and in simple Russet Gowns and in Gesture and Behaviour to shew much Humility Ex. Hist. Monast. D. Alban 9. Mr. Bradford was so Humble that in several of his Letters he expresseth himself thus Alas I am worthy of nothing but Damnation I have clean forgot God I am all Secure Idle Proud c. I am a very stark Hypocrite not only like my Words and Works but even in these my Letters which I write to you Alas I write this but to put my self in Remembrance but I am without all Sense I do but only write it c. For God's sake pray for me And in a Letter to Sir T. H. he Subscribes himself a very Painted Hypocrite John Bradford And elsewhere pray for me what should I call me a most miserable and blaspemous Sinner And again by way of Subscription the Sinful John Bradford Fox Martyrol 10. Luther calls himself a sack of Worms-meat a lump of Earth a bundle of Wickedness an unworthy Minister of the Gospel Pref. to his Sermons 11. Mr. Rich. Capel could refuse Honours as Musculus did and content himself with plain and mean things Clark in his Life 12. Melancthon would not disdain to do that which his meanest Servants would scare put their Hands to Ibid. 13. Mr. Herbert the Divine Poet assumed this for his Motto Less than the least of all thy Mercies 14. Dr. Jo. Reinolds is Recorded to be as Learned as any Man in the World as Godly as Learned as Humble as Godly Clark in his Life 15. Lord I am Hell Thou art Heaven said Bishop Hooper 16. I am the unmeetest Man for this high Office of Suffeting for Christ that ever was appointed to it said Mr. Saunders 17. Oh! that my Life and a Thousand such Wretches more might go for yours saith Jo. Carelesse Martyr to Mr. Bradford Oh why doth God suffer me and such other Caterpillers to live c. Fox Martyrol CHAP. XXXVI Remarkable Veracity and Love of Truth BUY the Truth and sell it not saith Solomon that is be willing to purchase it at any Rates for 't is a precious Commodity viz. the Knowledge of things as indeed they are and will be in spite of all Opposition from Men or Devils for Truth will be the same when Mens Faces and Intellectuals change and the Scenes of humane Concerns vary and the pillars of the World shake and tremble And those People that walk in the Truth need not fear tho' the Heavens should vanish away like Smoak and the Earth wax Old like a Garment for not one Jot of Truth shall perish 1. Polycarp was honoured with this Character that he was a Faithful Witness and constant to the Truth so detesting Hereticks and those that oppugned the Truth of the Gospel that he quitted the Bath at Ephesus when Cerinthus the Heretick was there and when Marcion one of his old Acquaintance met with him at Rome and wondring that he took no notice of him answered dost thou not know me Polycarp to whom Marcion replyed Yes I know you well enough that you are the eldest Son of
Wind But that heavenly Country above for many Hundreds of Years affords space for the swiftest Stars to travel in without let or molestation In short the very Natural Propensity of Mankind to enquire into those upper Regions and peer amongst the Stars is some Argument of our Concernment that way 4. Let us beware of Idolatry the fault of the old Pagan World Who when they saw those Lights hung out at the Windows of Heaven which should have been but ministerial to help them in the Search of him that made them fell down and worshipped the Servants instead of the Master the Candles at the Door instead of the Lord of the House Deut. 4.19 Yet the Jews themselves were so forgetful of this Precept that we find them often taxed for burning Incense to the Queen of Heaven and worshipping the Star Rempham And 't is too well known that the Heathens generally worshipped the Sun Moon and Stars becoming vain in their Imaginations and though they professed themselves Wise they became Fools changing the Glory of the incorruptible God into the Image of his corruptible Creatures 5. By this Law they who want a Special Revelation shall be judged Rom. 2.12 13 14 15. Let no Man then whether within or without the Pale of the Church think to shroud his Guilt under the Cloak of Ignorance There 's no Corner of the World so remote no People so dark where this Voice hath not been heard the Musick of the Spheres is soft and still but such as shortly will make even both the Ears of the guilty Sinner tingle The Language wherein these Sermons are preach'd to the World is temperate and equal it makes no great Noise at present to them who are busie digging low in the Bowels of the Earth but it hath a sharp and heavy Accent at the end Let no Man then upbraid the Almighty as if he were a severe Judge for calling all Men to the same Judgment for damning Men that never had the knowledge of his Laws Fear not God will be just he 'll vindicate his Righteousness from the foul Aspersions and Abuses of a scandalous World Hast thou sinned without Law without Law then thou shalt be tried And a Hundred to One but condemned too and yet God clear from thy Blood and just in all this What a black List of Sins doth the Apostle present thee with Rom. 1.29 c. all chargeable upon all Nations of the World Jew and Christian and Turk and Heathen and damnable by the very Law of Nature Vnrighteousness Fornication c. But that which affects us most in all this is that not only the poor Infidel is guilty in this Case but a great part of Christendom also not only they that have no other Law to read in no other Rule to go by but the Book of the Creation but they also who have the Bibles in their Hands and the Creed upon their Tongues-end and have all the Advantages of Nature and Revelation both When these very Sins and as bad or worse walk bare-fac'd within the Confines of the Church and Men of the best Creed and Profession in the World are not ashamed to commit the foulest Sins and sometimes accounteit their Glory to boast of such Vices which ought not so much as to be named amongst Christians There are several live amongst us it may be in this place now whose ordinary Conversations are stain'd with such Blots as both the Lights both that of Positive Religion and that of meer Natural Reason too do abhor and condemn And yet which is mighty strange these very Men do please themselves with the hopes of escaping safely the Sentence of the Judge at the Last Day And upon their Repentance they may but else I cannot think of any plausible Argument that will stand their Friend at the Day of Judgment And to drive the Nail farther yet It will not be enough for Men to plead their Interest in a Church or Party in such Cases let the Church be never so pure nor the Profession never so good nor the Advantages of Knowledge and Information never so great if under all these Pretensions thou shouldst play the Hypocrite and live ill thy own Mouth would condemn thee and a whole Cloud of Witnesses depose Evidence against thee And yet notwithstanding all this we may take up the Complaint of the Prophet Jer. 18.13 Ask now among the Heathen who hath heard such Things The Virgins of Israel have done very horrible Things Thy poor Men are tenacious of their superstitious Vanities 't is hard to make a Proselyte to Christianity amongst them they will dispute fight die for their meer Shadow of Faith but Christians will barter away thier Conscience their Creed their Heaven their God for meer Vanities Ver. 14 15. In short if it be true what some of the poor ignorant Gentiles fancied that the Sun Moon and Stars do all look upon us and are daily Spectators and Witnesses of all we do it were well for many If the Sun were indeed turned into Darkness and the Moon into Blood and the Stars would leave off their Shining and the whole Face of the Heavens were reversed than thus to stand over our Heads and remark our Actions in order to a Solemn Convictive Testimony against us Jer. 2.9 10 11. 8. Of the Glorious Body of the Sun COnsider we next the Sun 1. In its Motion 1. Its Terms à quo ad quem 2. It s Swiftness 3. Continuance 4. It s Light 5. It s Heat 1. It s Motion Concerning which and the rest of its Attributes I shall have the less to say now because I have spoken so much of it in the General Notion of the Heavenly Bodies Yet for Order-sake consider we 1. Its Terms or Bounds from whence and to which the Sun moves From the one end of the Heavens to the other i. e. according to our Apprehension and Common Sence of Things For in truth the Heavens have neither Beginning nor End but are of a perfect Round Figure Indeed this Notion was so long hid from the World that not many Hundred Years agone a German Bishop was Excommunicated for broaching this Doctrine viz. That there were Antipodes and that the Earth in answer to the Heavens was inhabited round whereas now 't is generally agreed upon with good Reason by all the Learned of late Ages 2. It s Swiftness I need say little more upon this Point than what I said before viz. That the Sun according to the Judgment of some Astronomers goes in its Motion 1000000 German Miles in the Judgment of others 261905 in one Hour Whether either of them are in the right or no I am not much concerned to determine This is certain 't is of a vast Body 166 times bigger than the Earth say Astronomers who by the Eclipses say they have found its Diameter and by its Diameter its Compass Periphery and by that its Motion Indeed its Course is so swift so incredibly quick that
reserved for the Reward of our Faith and therefore 't is unseasonable now we must wait for it till we have done our work and are got safe into the other World and then we shall have purer Intellectuals and more refined Souls and more Glorious Bodies fitted up on purpose and disposed for such Ravishing Glory and such a Transcendent Object Obj. It is said Gen. 32.30 Jacob called the Name of the place Peniel for I have seen God face to face and my Life is preserved Answ Still I say Jacob saw not God in his Essence but in some visible Representation and that not adequate to the Nature or Glory of God but far beneath it For the shape of a Man is no more the excellency of God than a Rush-candle or a poor silly Glow-worm to the Noon-Sun nor so much neither All the ways of God's Appearance and Manifestation in the World that I can think of may be reduc'd to these following Particulars 1. By a Voice only as in the Case of Adam and Eve Gen. 3.8 9. of Noah Gen. 6.13 c. of Abraham Gen. 12.1 7 ch 13 14. 2. By a Vision as he did to Abraham Gen. 15.1 to Balaam Numb 24.4 16. to Samuel 1 Sam. 3.15 to Nathan 2 Sam. 7.17 1 Chr. 17.15 to the Prophets frequently These Visions are sometimes called Trances as in the Case of Balaam Numb 24.4 where the man seem'd to fall into a fit of Extasie with his Eyes open v. 16. He is said to exercise Two of his Senses Hearing and Seeing and both of them with his Eyes open Peter Acts 10.10 is said to fall into One of these Trances where he both heard a Voice and saw a Vision S. Paul Acts 22.17 affirms of himself That whilst he was praying in the Temple he was in a Trance Cornelius Acts 10.3 is said to have seen a Vision evidently viz. an Angel of God coming to him but with such a Glorious appearance that seeing him he was afraid and said Lord what is it c. S. Paul quite contrary to Balaam in the Vision mentioned before fell to the Earth and heard a Voice And though at first he saw a Light shining round about him yet afterwards we have Reason to believe that his Eyes were shut for it is said Acts 9.8 Saul arose from the Earth and when his Eyes were opened he saw no man and he continued three days without sight 3. By Angels in the shape or form of men as One Angel is said to find Hagar by a Fountain of water Gen. 16.7 c. Two appear to Lot Gen. 19.1 2 c. Three to Abraham Gen. 18. Many to Jacob Gen. 32.1 24. An Angel appeared to Moses in a Flame of Fire out of the midst of a Bush Exod. 3.1 2. c. And yet 't is said God called unto Muses out of the midst of the Bush saying I am the God of thy Father c. 4. By Dreams As to Abimelech Gen. 20.3 to Laban Gen. 31.24 to Jacob Gen. 31.11 But here likewise there was often the Appearance of an Angel as in the last Instance of Jacob and Mat. 1 20. and c. 2.13 19 c. an Angel appeared to Joseph in a Dream 5. By Angels in a Pillar of Cloud and Fire as Exod. 13.21 c. 14.24 c. 6. By such Works either of Creation or Providence as must necessarily be accounted the Effects of Infinite VVisdom and Power and can be supposed to proceed from no other Being in the VVorld but One of Unlimited Attributes that both Knows and VVills and acts in such a way as none can do but he that hath all the VVorld at his Command and all the diverse Classes of the Creatures at his back I meddle not here with that Universal Character that Idea of the Divine Nature which is impressed upon the Mind of all Mankind by him that made us Our Creator it seems would not suffer us to come out of his Hands till he had instamp'd his own Mark upon us But this I insist not here upon because that Impression was made upon the inward Tables of the Heart for the use of the Man himself And 't is so soyl'd with the Corruption of our Nature and Men are often so resolved upon the Trade of sinning and so exposing themselves to the Displeasure and Judgment of him that made them that they take no delight in Reading and Acknowledging this Divine Inscription Nay some are so set against it that they do all they cam to blot out the Characters and expunge them clearly out VVhen men are once arrived at this Degree of Obstinacy 't is a hard matter to deal with them Our utmost Aim and Design here is to present the world with such a Scheme of Divine Providences so strange and so true Relations put into a method and marshelled under their proper Heads that if our Scepticks and Atheists would but read what follows in this book and come to a fair Examination and Consideration of the matter they would find themselves so over-power'd with Evidence and so pinch'd with the strength of Arguments and Attestations that they must either honestly surrender up the Cause and acknowledge the Footsteps of the Divinity very plain and legible in the curious and wonderful Transactions of Providence or else very stoutly and impudently fly in the Face of all History Sacred and Profane Ancient and Modern Civil and Ecclesiastick Foreign and Domestick and very foolishly and dangerously encounter not only the Reason of all the World besides but their own Consciences too and even the Common Senses of Many VVise and Good Men. In short God hath manifested himself to us Inwardly and Outwardly by imprinting the Notion of Himself upon our Hearts and discovering his Excellent properties to us in his works the one legible to our Reasonable Minds and Consciences the other to our Common Senses And what more could we wish a God to do Bur if after all men will resolve to wink at the Light within and without too they are worthy in plain English neither of the Reason nor the Sense they are endowed with and the Curious VVorks of Divine Providence are drawn in vain to such dull Souls that are sunk down so deep into the Brutish Nature and almost choak'd up with the Thick Fumes of meer Flesh and Blood The God of heaven that Governs the VVorld with so much VVisdom and Goodness and Power and Constancy give a blessing to the Contents of this book and shew himself a little in every Chapter of it to every particular Reader with the like efficacy and brightness and kindness as he doth in all the various Scenes of Providence in his Government of the VVorld CHAP. II. Concerning the Appearance of Good Angels FOR those that will admit the Testimony of Sacred Scripture it will be easie to satisfy such That Good Angels do exist and are exercised in the Affairs of this Little World as in the Case of Hagar Gen. 16.7 c. of Abraham Gen. 18.
his Son who was then scarce ten Years of age that he should always propound and set before him the Thirty-sixth year of his Life as the utmost he should ever attain unto which neither he nor his Father had gone beyond and his Son never reach'd unto for Robert Devereux his Son and also Earl of Essex was beheaded in the Thirty-fourth year of his age So that his dying Father seemed not in vain to have Admonished him as he did but to speak by Divine Inspiration and Suggestion Cambd. Annal. rer Angl. Part 2. p. 277. 5. Philip de Mornay L. du Plessis was in Paris upon black St. Bartholomew's-Day when News was brought him that the Admiral was slain he leaped out of his Bed and whilst he was putting on his Cloaths he felt an extraordinary Motion in himself which caused him to say God will deliver me out of this danger and I shall live to see it revenged On the contrary Monsieur Rameny his Tutor presently answer'd And I shall die in it both which came to pass Clark's Examples Vol. 2. p. 552. 6. Mr. John Carter sometimes Minister of Belstead in Suffolk having long studied the Book of the Revelations some of his Friends ask'd him what he thought of the Future Estate of our Church here in England You shall not said he need to fear Fire and Faggot any more but such dreadful Divisions will be amongst God's People and Professors as will equalize the greatest Persecution Herein we have found him a true Prophet Ibid. 7. It may seem happily incredible to some to relate how many Years agon Dr. Vsher L. Primate of Ireland confidently foretold the Changes which since are come to pass both in Ireland and in England both in Church and State and of the Poverty which himself should fall into which he oft spoke of in his greatest Prosperity Some took much notice of the Text on which he preached in St. Maries in Cambridge Anno Christi 1625. Upon the late Coronation-Day out of 1 Sam. 12.25 If you still do wickedly you shall be consumed both you and your King Others of the last Text he preached on at Court immediately before his Return into Ireland on 1 Cor. 14.33 God is not the Author of Confusion but of Peace as in all the Churches of the Saints IN his application he spake of the Confusions and Divisions which he was confident were then at the Doors Ibid. 8. A. C. 1624. He spake before many Witnesses and oft repeated it afterwards that he was perswaded that the greatest stroke to the Reformed Churches was yet to come And that the time of the utter Ruin of the Roman Antichrist should be when he thought himself most secure according to that Text Rev. 18.7 When she shall say I sit as a Queen and shall see no Sorrow c. Ibid. 9. When in the Reign of Queen Mary Dr. Sands was forced to fly out of England he was oonvey'd to the House of one Mower a Master of a Ship at Milton-Shoarâ— and and when the Wind served he took his leave of his Landlord and Landlady who had been married eight Years and had no Child and when he took his Leave of the Woman he thank'd her kindly for his Entertainment and gave her his Handkercheif with an old Royal of Gold in it saying Be of good Comfort e're an Year be past God will give you a Son and it came to pass according For when there lacked but one day of a Twelvemonth she was brought to Bed of a fair Son Ibid. 10. A. C. 1601. Popery much increasing in Ireland and there being too much connivance at them Dr. Vsher preaching before the State at Christ-Church in Dublin gave them his Sence about that Toleration boldly applying that Passage in the Vision of Ezek. ch 4.6 Where the Prophet by lying on his Side was to bear the Iniquity of Judah Forty Days each Day being appointed for a Year signifying the time of Forty Years to the Destruction of Jerusalem whereupon he added From this Year will I reckon the Sin of Ireland that those whom you now embrace shall be your Ruin and you shall bear this Iniquity which accordingly came to pass at the end of the Forty Years viz. A. C. 1641. in the late Rebellion and Massacre in Ireland affected by those Papists that were then connived at See his Life in Dr. Bernard 11. About the Year 1544. There was in Scotland one Mr. George Wiseheart a Man of Admirable Graces and singularly Learned who first Preached in Ross then in Dundee where to the great Admiration of his hearers he went over the Epistle to the Romans till at the Instigation of the Cardinal one Robert Misle a chief Man in that Town inhibited him from Preaching and required that he should trouble their Town no more for he would not suffer it And this was spoken in the Publick Congregation Whereupon Mr. Whiseheart musing a space with his Eyes lift up to Heaven after a while looking sorrowfully upon the Speaker and People he said God is my Witness that I minded never your trouble but your comsort Yea your trouble is to me more dolorous than it is to your selves But I am assured that to refuse Gods word and to chase from you his Messenger shall not preserve you from trouble but shall bring you into it For God shall send unto you Ministers that shall neither fear Burning nor Banishment I have offered you the Word of Salvation with the hazard of my Life And now ye your selves refuse me and I must leave mine innocency to be declared by my God If it be long prosperous with you I am not led by the Spirit of Truth but if unlooked for troubles come upon you acknowledge the cause and turn to God who is Gracious and Merciful and if you turn not at the first warning he will visit you with Fire and Sword And so he came down from the Pulpit and went out of the Town And whilst he was Preaching up and down in the Countreys News was brought him that the Plague was broken out in Dundee which begun in four days after he was prohibited Preaching there and raged so extreamly that it 's almost beyond credit how many dyed in twenty four hours space c. The Cardinal very eagerly sought Mr. Wisehearts Death and for that end caused a Letter to be sent unto him as if it had been from his familiar Friend the Laird of Kinnur desiring him with all possible speed to come unto him for that he was taken with a sudden Sickness In the mean time he had provided Sixty Men Armed to lye in wait by the way to Murther him The Letter being brought unto him by a Boy who also brought him an Horse to ride on Accompanied with some honest Men his Friends he set forwards on his Journey But as he was riding stopping on a sudden and musing a while he turned back and said to his Friends I will not go I am forbidden of
door therefore we should be watching for we know not what hour he will come My Brother John and Cousin Deb. thank you for your kind Letters I remain April 1663. Caleb Vernon After some time falling sick he earnestly desired to be Baptized I suppose being born of Anabaptist-Parents saying Father pray have you come to any Conclusion to day about my being baptized I pray Father do for indeed I cannot be satisfied and I would fain be in Christ's Fold After which being admonished and many gracious Expressions uttered he died comfortably See his Life printed An. 1665. 17. A Child of one Master Maxey of Lime when it was but Two years old would use to kneel down often and with his Eyes and Hands lift up towards Heaven seemed to be very serious in Prayer and as it grew older would often be at Prayer by it self and ask very strange Questions of its Mother concerning Spiritual Matters much beyond its Age The Mother expounded all these things as proceeding rather from childish Imitation than from any Relish or Understanding that it had of those things At last when the Child was Five years old in the midst of his Sports as he was Whipping-top on a sudden he cast away all and went to his Mother saying to her with much Joy Mother I must go to Heaven will you go with me asking her the same Question the second time His Mother answered Yes dear Child when God shall please But how dost thou know that thou shalt go to Heaven The Child answered God hath told me so I must go to Heaven for I love God and God loves me After which time he never played more About three Weeks or a Month after he sickned and died speaking much during his Sickness of his going to Heaven still asking his Mother whether she would not go with him And when his Mother asked him whether he would not stay with her here he refused rather desiring that she should go with him Master White 18. A nameless Person J. B. gives this Relation concerning her self About seventeen years since a Child of mine about six years of age when I have bid him go forth to play he hath come in again very solitary and other Children would swear and be very debaucht I would ask him Robert what aileth you why do you not go to play He would answer That he had no Fellows to play withal but such as would swear and the like and they could not be said he God's Children I would say why not Child then he would say No Mother though I am but a little way in my Book yet I have learnt that God will not pardon such Sins as Swearing I have sometimes said yes Child I hope God will pardon them else God help thy Father and God help us all Then he hath replied Mother with great Repentance God can forgive for his Mercies are great but good Mother let us forbear that which is evil And many times I had such conference with that Child who seeing me troubled about it he hath said Good Mother be content their Parents are such and they must needs learn after them I thought upon my Child's words and having before often offended God about gathering of Flowers in my Garden on the Lord's-days and the Thoughts of other Failings in my Conversation it wrought great trouble upon my Heart so that I was much afflicted in Soul considering that my Child so young should give me such Instructions which hath proved a Blessing to me to bring me home to him I did make then some doubt whether God would forgive me those Sins and about that time hearing Dr. V. preach several Sermons at O. and particularly upon that Text That we are but Sojourners and Travellers here and shewing That we are not at home therefore we must keep on the straight-way to Heaven and take heed of the broad-way which leadeth to Hell which then as also other means since did much throw me down low under the sense of Sin yet not without sometimes some Refreshments Believers Experiences p. 54. 19. Bishop Vsher at Fourteen years old was judged fit and admitted to the Sacrament of the Lord's-Supper and his usual Custom was the Afternoon before to retire himself in private and to spend it in a strict Self-Examination and deep Humiliation for all his Sins wherein he had such Enlargements of Heart that a Stream of Tears flowed from his Eyes which afterwards he oft recalled to mind both as a Provocation and Censure of himself When he was elder of years there was a certain place by a Water-side whither he oft resorted sorrowfully to surveigh his Sins and with Floods of Tears to confess and bewaile them wherein he found so much Sweetness and Communion with God that he thirsted for such comfortable Opportunities and it was his usual Custom to spend Saturdays in the Afternoon in these Duties Amongst other Sins he much bewailed his too much love to Humane Learning which made him as glad when Munday came that he might renew his Studies as he was when Sabbath-day came wherein he was to apply himself to the Service of God and it cost him many Tears that he could not be more Heavenly-minded at that Age. See his Life 20. Lancelot Andrews Bishop of Winchester from his Youth declared an extraordinary worth that he was made up of Learning and Vertue in both of them so eminent that it was hard to judge which had the Precedency and greatest Interest though it was truly asserted from his Comtemporaries that there was not any kind of Learning that he was a stranger to but in his Profession admirable which was as well if not better known abroad than admired at home England's Worthies by Will. Winstanley p. 366 367. 21. Mr. Bernard Gilpin being yet a very Child gave Testimony of a future Holiness upon this Occasion A begging Frier lodging at his Father's House one Saturday Night in order to preach the next day but eating at Supper like a Glutton and drinking like a Beast in the Morning as if he had been some young Saint lately dropped from Heaven he caused the Bell to tole to the Sermon and in the midst there of blustering out certain good words he presumed to grow hot against some Sinners of the time and amongst the rest to thunder boldly against Drunkenness Young Gilpin who had but newly got the use of his Tongue having observed as it seemed the hateful Baseness of the Man by his Oversight the Night before and now hearing the Beast cry out so loud against these Crimes which himself had so lately been guilty of as he was sitting in his Mother's Lap in the Church suddainly cryeth out in these words O Mother do you hear how this Fellow dates speak against Drunkenness who was drunk himself yester-night at our House The Mother made speed to stop the Child's Mouth with her Hand that he might speak no further Mr. Gilpin 's Life by Bp. Carleton p. 2. 22. Mr.
Samuel Fairclough at 13 years of Age upon hearing a Sermon of Mr. Ward 's concerning Zacheus his Restitution began to be very serious and devout as will be shewed under the Chapter of Restitution 23. Jabez-Eliezer Russel Son to William Russel in the Parish of St. Bartholomew the Great London was remarkable in his Life for his Obedience to his Parents in what they commanded him For his addicting himself to the reading of the holy Scriptures For his great Memory he was able to give a particular Account of most of the memorable Passages both in the Old and New Testament with the Names of Persons their Actions and the Circumstances thereof To say no more his retentive Faculty was so capacious that what-ever he read he made it his own His Meditations in the Word of God in the Practice of which he was both frequent and serious His frequent Praying taking notice of the Words and Works of God fearing Sin greatly wishing he had died when he came first out of the Womb because then he should not have sinned c. And in his Sickness having a great sense of both Original and Actual Sin using such Expressions as these I shall see the holy Angels and I shall be ashamed they will be so glorious for I am Dust and Ashes and there I shall see the Twelve Apostles sit upon Twelve Thrones c. And to his Mother ' Prayer will do me more good and is better than Sleep I am best when I pray And at last enquiring after his Sisters Names because as was supposed he thought he should know them in Heaven though he never saw them on Earth and so fell asleep in the Lord Feb. 19. 71. aged 9 years 2 months and 6 days See the Account of his Life and Death 24. Mrs. Luce Perrot late Wife of Mr. Rob. Perrot of London Minister amongst her last Speeches hath these I would not for ten thousand Worlds but have began to seek God betimes he then took me off from other Delights and carried me on step by step I then could see nothing in the World to delight in I then thought Holidays a Wearisomness to me would sometimes sit and see others play but took no delight therein for which they would laugh at me and tell me I studied Divinity c. When Children grow crooked at first they are hardly ever set streight again afterwards c. See the Printed Account of her Speeches p. 1 2. 25. Tho. Aquinas is reported to have loved his Book so dearly when he was but a Child that he must have it constantly to Bed with him and if at any time when he awaked out of Sleep he missed it he would fall a crying Pontan Attic. Bellar. 26. Susanna Bickes who died in the 14th Year of her Age Sept. 1. 1664. of a Pestilence at Leyden The first night she was seized betook her self earnestly to Private Prayer breaking forth into those words Psal 119. If thy law were not my Delight I should perish in my Affliction and Heb. 12.10 11. No chastening for the present seems joyous c. and then sighing to God with her Eyes up to Heaven she said Be merciful to me O Father be merciful to me poor Sinner according to thy Word Commending that Text Ps 55.23 to her sorrowful Parents and Isaiah 49.15 16 addding ' O comfortable words for both Mothers and Children c. Upon the Lord's-day she minded her Father of having her Name given up to be remembred in the Publick Prayers saying she had learned That the effectual fervent Prayer of the Righeeous availes much Yet out of Tenderness for their Safety would not have the Ministers to visit her but rather cast her self upon the Lord 's own Hand and accept of the Visits of others whom the Providence of God should send unto her One of her Visitants having told her that the Minister was taken ill at Church she wept bitterly saying to her Father Have I not matter enough for weeping having heard but just now that Domine de Wâ—t was taken sick in the Pulpit and went home so ill It is a sad Token for the People for when God is about to smite a Land or a City oftentimes he smites and removes their Pastors and ought we not then to lay such a thing to heart although for my part I know that I shall not long live to behold the Evil which may come and which I have helped to procure as well as others And I therefore pray with David Ps 25. Remember not O Lord the Sins of my Youth nor my Trespasses according to thy tender Mercy Remember thou me for thy Goodness sake O Lord. O how do I long Even as the Hart panteth c. Ps 42. and Ps 51. to the 11th verse which she enlarged upon much especially the 5th verse Behold I was shapen in Iniquity and in Sin did my Mother conceive me citing other Texts to the same purpose as Gen. 5.3 Eccl. 7.29 c. She desired her Father to go to Domine de Wit and Ardenois and thank them for the Learning and Instruction she had received by their Catechising O! that sweet Catechising said she unto which I did always resort with Gladness and waited upon it without Weariness until it were ended I have seen and understood that there is so little Comfort and Good and so much Vanity in the Kermis and idle Holidays of Play that I have grieved and been ashamed both for young and old People to see them so glad and mad upon Vanity Also dear Father ye shall give Thanks to my School-master and School-mistress who taught me the first beginnings of my Reading Professing that her Parents Carefulness for her Education and Instruction had been better to her than if they had provided ten thousand Gilders of Portion for her With many Arguments and Texts she comforted her Parents as 2 Sam. 24.14 2 Sam. 12.23 adding so ought ye to comfort your self after my Death and say Our Child is well for we know that they who trusted in God are well My dear Mother who hath done so much for me you must promise to me that after my Death ye shall not sorrow so much for I am afraid for you when I consider your Grief for me and for my other Sister and Brother who are gone through Death before me And consider your Neighbour who hath lost her two Sons and hath no more Children Ye shall both of ye promise me that ye will comfort one another Comfort your selves with Job who having lost all his Children said The Lord hath given c. And John 16.33 c. O Dear Father and Mother I wax more and more feeble and weak Oh! that I may quietly fall asleep in his Bosom Mark 10.14 16. I he here as a Child O Lord I am a Child receive me into thy gracious Arms. O Lord Grace Grace and not Justice for if thou enter into Judgment with me I cannot stand yea no Man living shall in
an idle Person walking in the Streets but their Doors and Windows close shut the People within exercised in serious and grave Discourses reading of the Scriptures Repetition of Sermons Catechising Praying Singing of Psalms c. In the other the Doors open the Streets too much frequented with idle Company and licentious Exercises And even in Whitchurch where the Plague first and afterwards a Fire had the greatest Influence the Rector or Minister of the Parish did often enough and very plainly admonish them Inhabitants of that particular Street called the New-Town of their careless observance of the Lord's-Day as if that in his Judgment were the distinguishing Sin of that Street above any others in the Town 4. I have taken Notice elsewhere of Ministers and others who have been delighted and expended themselves in Sabbatical Devotions have been called to their Rest upon that Day As for instance 1. The Divine Poet nad Preacher Mr. Herbert 2. Mr. Edw. Deering 3. Theodore Beza 4. Arch-Bishop Abbot soon after he came out of the Pulpit fell sick and shortly after died 5. Dr. Rob. Harris died between Twelve and One a Clock on Saturday Night 6. Dr. Preston at Five a Clock on the Lord's-day Morning 7. Dr. Thomas Tailour of Aldermanbury Mr. Edward West the Lord's-Day-Night after having Preach'd there 8. Mr. Julius Herrings 9. Mr. Thomas Wadsworth and Mr. Richard Vines 10. Sir Matthew Hale upon Christmas-Day a Day which he used to Celebrate with great Devotion and much Spiritual Joy leaving behind him no less than Seventeen Poems which he had Composed upon that Day to the Honour of his Saviour Cum multis aliis c. On the same Day died Mr. Sam. Crook Minister See the Head of Sudden Death for more Relations of this nature 5. Mr. H. Burton after his Sufferings and Exile having an Order sent him from the Parliament for his Enlargement and his Return for England makes this Observation and in these Words Blessed Tidings indeed and the more because it comes from a Parliament and the more because it comes from a Parliament's Handsel presenting much Good but promising more The News filled Guernsey Castle with Joy and so the Island The First Observation I made of it was of the Day on which this Tidings came First I noted it was the Lord's-Day which Day I had mightily propugned and defended both by Preaching and Writing against the Malignant and Prophane Adversaries of the Sanctification thereof and of its Morality And when the Book for Dispensations and Allowance of Sports on that Day came with an Injunction to be publickly read in my Church upon the Lord's-Day that ery Day instead of Reading of it I turned my Afternoon Preaching into an opening of the Fourth Commandment therein proving the Lord's-Day both for Sabbath and Sanctification under the Gospel now the Order for my Liberty came on that Day See his Life p. 38. CHAP. LXXV Present Retribution to them that have been Obedient to Parents HOnour thy Father and Mother saith the Apostle which is the first Commandment with Promise And the particular Promise annexed to it is Length of Days viz. That thy Days may be long in the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee And the Reason is obvious and natural and plain to any Man of Common Sence for besides that the Dutifulness of Children is the likeliest may to engage the Favour of God and the Divine Conduct and Blessing on their sides it obligeth the Children who are temselves green in Years and unexperienced in the World and obnoxious to many Temptations and Snares of Ill Company Idleness Rashness Licentiousness c. to keep close to wiser Counsels and the grave Instructions of their faithful aged and experienced Parents by which means they oftentimes fare better than such rash and refractory Phaetons who throw off the Yoke of Parental Discipline and are left like Sons of Belial to do whatsoever seems good in their own eyes How many in the World have escaped the Stings of Poverty and the Ignominy of the Gallows and a violent Death and other Dangers by this means 1. Tho' Lamech had several other Children as Jabal Jubal Tubal-Cain c. yet none that we read of trod in the Steps and proved so dutiful and comfortable to his Parents as Noah Gen. 5.29 And he was remarkably blessed and rewarded for it for when all the rest of the World was destroyed He found Grace in the sight of the Lord Gen. 6.8 2. Noah had Three Sons Shem Ham Japhet but Ham dishonoured his Father and made a Scorn of his Nakedness and therefore was accursed by him Shem and Japhet joyned together and took a Garment to cover their Father's Infirmity and therefore Blessed saith Noah be the Lord God of Shem c. Gen. 9.26 3. Abraham had Two Sons Ishmael and Isaac the one scornful and disinherited and turned out of the House the other dutiful and his Father's Favourite and Heir 4. Isaac had Two Sons Esau and Jacob the one a cunning Hunter a profane Fellow that made light of his Birth-right and therefore forfeited his Blessing the other a plain Man and pious and according procured the Blessing 5. Jacob had many Children but Reuben the First-born unstable as Water went up to his Father's Bed and defiled it and therefore Gen. 49.4 Thou shalt not excel Simeon and Levi had Instruments of Cruelty in their Habitations in their Anger they slew a Man and in their Self-will digg'd down a Wall and therefore ver 7. Cursed be their Anger for it was fierce c. They were to be divided and scattered in Israel Judah to save Joseph's Life who was his Father's Fondling and the Son of his Old Age advised his Brethren to sell him and afterwards offered himself to be Joseph's Bondman for his Brother Benjamin out of Tenderness to his Aged Father Gen. 44.34 For how shall I go up saith he to my Father and the Lad be not with me lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my Father And therefore see how this Piety of Judah and Dutifulness to his Father was at last rewarded chap. 49.8 9 10. Judah thou art he that thy Brethren shall praise thy Hand shall be in the Neck of thy Enemies thy Father's Children shall bow down before thee Judah is a Lion's Whelp c. The Sceptre shall not depart from Judah c. 6. I have read saith my Author of a young Man hang'd at Four and twenty Years whose curled Black Locks upon the Gallows instantly turned White many enquiring into the Cause of such a strange Event a grave Divine assigned this Reason Had this young Man saith he been dutiful to his Parents obedient to his Superiours he might have lived so long 'till that in the Course of Nature his Black Hairs had become White Mr. Quick in his relation of the Poisoning of a whole Family in Plimouth c. p. 87. 7. Mr. Paul Baines of Christ's-College in Cambridge was at first very
was this One Day at an Atheistical Meeting at a Person of Quality's I undertook to manage the Cause and was the principal Disputant against God and Piety and for my Performances receiv'd the Applause of the whole Company upon which my Mind was terribly struck and I immediately replied thus to my self Good God! That a Man that walks upright that sees the wonderful Works of God and has the uses of his Sence and Reason should use them to the defying of his Creator But tho' this was a good beginning to my Conversion to find my Conscience touch'd for my Sins yet it went off again Nay all my Life long I had a secret Value and Reverence for an honest Man and lov'd Morality in others But I had form'd an odd Scheme of Religion to my self which would solve all that God or Conscience might force upon me yet I was not over-well reconcil'd to the Business of Christianity nor had that Reverence for the Gospel of Christ as I ought to have which estate of Mind continu'd till the 53d Chapter of Isaiah was read to him and some other Portions of Scripture by the Power and Efficacy of which Word assisted by his Holy Spirit God so wrought upon his Heart that he declar'd that the Mysteries of the Passion appear'd so clear and plain to him as ever any thing did that was represented in a Glass so that that joy and Admiration which possessed his Soul upon the reading God's Word to him was remarkable to all about him and he had so much delight in his Testimonies that in my absence he begg'd his Mother and Lady to read the same to him frequently and was unsatisfied notwithstanding his great Pains and Weakness till he had learn'd the 53d of Isaiah without Book At the same time discoursing of his Manner of Life from his Youth up which all Men knew was too much devoted to the Service of Sin and that the Lusts of the Flesh the Eye and the Pride of Life had captivated him he was very large and particular in his Acknowledgments about it more ready to accuse himself than any one else could be publickly crying out O blessed God! Can such an horrid Creature as I am be accepted by thee who has denied thy Being and contemn'd thy Power asking often Can there be Mercy and Pardon for me Will God own such a Wretch as I And in the middle of his Sickness said Shall the unspeakable Joys of Heaven be conferr'd on me O mighty Saviour never but through thine infinite Love and Satisfaction O never but by the purchase of thy Blood adding that with all abhorrency he did reflect upon his former Life that sincerely and from his Heart he did repent of all that folly and Madness which he had committed He had a true and lively sense of God's great Mercy to him in striking his hard Heart saying If that God who died for great as well as lesser Sinners did not spâ—edily apply his infinite Merits to his poor Soul his Wound was such as no Man could conceive or bear crying out That he was the vilest Wretch and Dog that the Sun shined upon or the Earth bore That now he saw his Error in not living up to that Reason which God endued him with and which he unworthily vilified and contemned wish'd he had been a starving Leper crawling in a Ditch that he had been a Link-Boy or a Beggar or for his whole Life-time confin'd to a Dungeon rather than thus to have sinend against God How remarkable was his Faith in a hearty embracing an devout Confession of all the Articles of the Christian Religion and all the Divine Mysteries of the Gospel saying that that absurd and foolish Philosophy which the world so much admir'd propagated by the late Mr. Hobbs and others had undone him and many more of the best Parts of the Nation He cast himself entirely upon the Mercies of Jesus Christ and the Free Grace of God declared to repenting Sinners through him with a thankful Remembrance of his Life Death and Resurrection begging God to strengthen his Faith and often crying out Lord I believe help thou mine unbelief His mighty Love and Esteem of the Holy Scriptures his Resolutions to read them frequently and meditate upon them if God should spare him having already tasted the good Word for having spoken to his Heart he acknowledged all the seeming Absurdities and Contradictions thereof fancied by Men of corrupt and reprobate Judgments were vanished and the Excellency and Beauty appeared being come to receive the Truth in the Love of it How terribly did the Tempter assault him by casting upon him wicked and lewd Imaginations But I thank God said he I abhor them all and by the Power of his Grace which I am sure is sufficient for me I have overcome them 'T is the Malice of the Devil because I am rescued from him and the Goodness of God that frees me from all my Spiritual Enemies He was greatly rejoiced at his Lady's Conversion from Popery which he called a Faction supported only by Fraud and Cruelty He was heartily concerned for the Pious Education of his Children wishing that his Son might never be a Wit that is as he explain'd it One of those wretched Creatures who pride themselves in abusing God and Religion denying his Being or his Providence but that he might become an Honest and a Religious Man which could only be the Support and Blessing of his Family He gave a strict Charge to those Persons in whose Custody his Papers were to burn all his profane and lewd Writings as being only fit to promote Vice and Immorality by which he had so highly offended God and shamed and blasphemed that holy Religion into which he had been baptized and all his obscene and filthy Pictures which were so notoriously Scandalous I must not pass by his pious and most passionate Exclamation to a Gentleman of some Character who came to visit him upon his Death-Bed O remember that you contemn God no more he is an avenging God and will visit you for your Sins will in Mercy I hope touch your Conscience sooner or later as he has done mine You and I have been Friends and Sinners together a great while therefore I am the more free with you We have been all mistaken in our Conceits and Opinions Our Perswasions have been false and groundless therefore God grant you Repentance And seeing him again next Day said to him Perhaps you were disobliged by my Plainness to you Yesterday I spake the Words of Truth and Soberness to you and striking his Hand upon his Breast said I hope God will touch your Heart He commanded me continues our Author to preach abroad and let all Men know if they knew it not already how severely God had disciplin'd him for his Sins by his afflicting Hand that his Sufferings were most just tho' he had laid Ten thousand times more upon him how he had laid one Stripe upon another
his right Wits and Senses conclude that all these brave and curious Beings made themselves or that they happen'd casually by a fortuitous Concourse of Atoms and little Particles of Matter accidentally jumbled together Men have lived now by Succession of Generations several Thousands of Years in the World and yet we never read or heard of any of them that ever saw a House built or a Fly made in this manner We cannot bring the Herbs in our Garden into the due Form and Mixture of a Sallad nor prevail with our Labouring Cattel to come into their Harness and draw in the Yoke nor range Soldiers into their due Order without the Exercise of Care and the Discipline of a Superiour And shall the whole Vniverse be filled with such Plenty and Variety of admirable Creatures and those Creatures made with admirable Wisdom and able to produce admirable Effects and nothing but what is common and visible and which occurs to our outward Senses contribute and concur to the making of them Fie upon such Stupidity and Bruitishness of Thought I do here present the Reader not with a Scheme of what is very common and obvious Things that we may see and hear of every Day every Way we go but the Rarities of Nature the most remarkable Particulars of the visible Creation the Archives and Treasury of this lower World the Repository of Things more strange and wonderful than ordinary And this I do on purpose to rouze and awaken the Reason of Men asleep into a Thinking and Philosophical Temper that if possible when they will wink and sleep and scorn to spend a serious Thought upon the Common Scheme of the World they may startle at Extraordinaries and wind up their Reasons a little higher upon the sight of Wonders But this is not all I aim at the Footsteps of the Divinity are so conspicuous in the Creation that methinks 't is very easie and natural for Human Reason to climb the Porphyry-Tree and ascend as it were by a Scala Coeli from Earth to Heaven from the Individuals here below to the Supreme Creator and Architect above And that Man that doth not improve his Faculties in this Case is unworthy of that Rational Soul he is endowed with And therefore I humbly request my Reader to shake himself and rub his Eyes and look about him first of all to see what Impressions of the Divine Attributes and Excellencies he can meet with upon the several Beings in the World and then fall down upon his Knees in an humble and modest Address and Adoration to the Great Wise and Gracious Creator The greatest Adversaries we have to deal with in this Case are the Wits of the Age some of Epicurus's Litter who deny all Revelation and Scripture-Evidence and take upon them to Philosophize upon the World and so professing themselves to be Wise they become Fools For I am sure the Apostle was no Fool when he tells us The invisible Things of the Godhead may be visibly seen by the Creation of the Things which are made No no themselves in the Judgment not only of St. Paul but even of the Heathen Poet will be found faulty through their Poverty of Wit and their Beggarliness of Reason Tentat enim dubiam mentem Rationis Egestas Ecquaenam fuerit mundi genitalis Origo Lucret. p. 227. And truly as Bishop Fotherby saith concerning his Athaeomastix how the Reader will be affected in the Reading of this Book I cannot tell but myself in Writing of it was no less affected than Tully in Writing his De Senectute being oftentimes so lively touched that I never found in myself a more quick Apprehension both of God's incomprehensible Majesty and Goodness and of Man's most contemptible Littleness and Baseness than by this Contemplation of God in his Creatures finding in myself the Truth of that in Tully Est Animorum ingeniorumque pabulum consideratio contemplatioque Naturae Erigimur latiores fieri videmur humana despicimus cogitantesque supera atque coelestia baec nostra ut exigna minima contemnimus Cic L 4. Acad. p. 38. The Contemplation of Nature is the Food and Nutriment of the Mind it lifts up the Soul and doth so brisk the Spirit that our Minds seem to be more dilated and spread as it were into a Paraphrase 'till at last we scorn Earth and our own Studies here as too little and narrow and fall presenly upon the Consideration of Things more Divine and Heavenly This Reader is the Design of the following Collections to glut and satiate the Mind with a Prospect of meer Nature and to administer a fair Occasion for the raising of the Soul to Higher and more Lofty and Noble Speculations the Study of Divinity and the Glories of the Vpper World which will please and make us happy without any Nauseousness for ever and ever Wonders of Nature PART II. NAture says Dr. Barrow offereth her self and her inexhaustible Store of Appearances to our Contemplation we may without any Harm and with much Delight survey her rich Varieties examine her Proceedings pierce into her Secrets every kind of Animals of Plants of Minerals of Meteors presenteth Matter wherewith innocently pleasantly and profitably to entertain our Minds There are many Noble Sciences by applying our Minds to the Study whereof we may not only Divert them but Improve and Cultivate them c. To do this we have an Unquestionable Right and by it we shall obtain vast Benefit Thus far Dr. Barrow in his Sermons against Evil Speaking We shall therefore here for Method-sake first relate the Wonders of Nature and then proceed to the Wonders of Art In relating the Wonders of Nature we shall first begin with Instances of Sympathy CHAP. I Instances of Sympathy THE Sympathy of the Simple Qualities and the Elements wherein they are found say the Virtuosi of France are the Causes of the Temperament of mix'd Bodies as Antipathy of their Dissolution 'T is they who unite and disunite those Compounds and by approximating or removing them one from another cause all their Motions When these Causes are apparent we take upon us to impute them to certain Qualities and discourse upon them with some Skill and Confidence but where we cannot by searching find out the Cause we fly to Occult Qualities that is Sympathy or Antipathy for a Refuge and Honourable Sanctuary for our Ignorance of which sort may be these that follow 1. Coral stays Bleeding Amber draws Straws the Loadstone Iron Garlick is a Friend to the Rose and Lilly increasing one the others Odour a Man's Fasting-Spittle kills the Viper Eels drown'd in Wine make the Drinker thenceforward hate it Betony strengthens the Brain Succory is proper to the Liver Bezoar a Friend to the Heart The Lungs of a Fox are useful to such as are Phthisical the Intestines of the Wolf is good for the Colick Eyebright for the Eye Solomon's-Seal for the Rupture the Black Decoction of Sena for Melancholy Yellow Rhubarb for Choler White
Lord Bacon casts up her Age to be 140 at least adding withal that she recovered her Teeth after casting them 3 several times Rawleigh Hist World l. 1. c. 5. p. 166. Fuller p. 310 13. Garsius Aretinus lived to 194 years in good state of Health and deceased without being seized with any apparent Disease only perceiving this Strength somewhat weakned Thus writes Petranch of him to whom Garsias was great Grandfather by the Fathers side Fulgos. l. 8. c. 14. p. 1096. 14. Thomas Parre Son of John Parre born at Alderbury in the Parish of Winninton in Shropshire he was born in the Reign of King Edward IV. Anno 1483. at 80 years he marryed his first Wife Jane and in the space of 32 years had but two Children by her both of them short lived the one lived but a Month the other but a few years being Aged 120 he fell in Love with Katherine Milton and got her with Child He lived to above 150 years two Months before his Death he was brought up by thomas Earl of Arundel to Westminster he slept away most of his time and is thus Characterised by an Eye Witness of him From Head to Heel his body had all over A Quick set Thick set Natural Hairy Cover change of Air and Dyet are conceived to Accelerate his Death which happened November 15 Anno 1634 and was buried in the Abby Church at Westminster Fullers Worthies p. 11. Shropshire 15. John of Times was Armour-bearer to Charles the Great by whom he was also made Knight being a Man of great Temperance Sobriety and Contentment of Mind in his Condition of Life lived unto the 9th year of the Emperor Conrade and died at the Age of 361 years Anno 1128. 1146 saith Fulgosus Bakers Chron. p. 73. 16. Guido Bonatus a Man of great Learning saith he saw a Man whose name was Richard Anno 1223 who told him that he was a Soldier under Charlemain and that he had now lived to the 400th year of his Age. Fulgos. l. 8. c. 14. p. 1098. CHAP. XXXIII Examples of a Vegete and Healthful Old Age. I have often look'd upon Old Age as the very Dregs of Life the Sediment of our Natural Humour 's a Complex of Infirmities but the following Instances would tempt one to love Temperance for Lifes sake and Life for it self for no doubt but the Sweetness of Life consists much in the Healthful and Vegete Temper of our Bodies and a Virtuous course of Life and due Abstinence Conduceth much thereto when the Debauch'd Sensualist lies down under the Burden of his Carelesness and the Sins of his Youth never able to retrieve the Damages of his former Lusts 1. Sir Walter Rawleigh in his Discovery of Guiana reports of the King of Aromaia being 110 years Old came in a Morning on foot to him from his House which was 14 English Miles and returned on foot the same day Hakew. Apolog. l. 3. c. 1. p. 166. 2. Buchanan in his Scottish History speaks of one Lawrence who dwelling in one of the Orcades marryed a Wife after he was 100 years of Age and more and that when he was 140 years old he doubted not to go a Fishing alone in his little Boat though in a rough and Tempestuous Sea Camor Hor Subs. c. 2. cap. 68. p. 277. 3. Sigismemd Polcastrus a Physician and Philosopher of Padua Read there 50 years in his Old Age he buried 4 Sons in a short time at 70 years of Age he married again and by his second Wife he had 3 Sons the eldest of which called Anronius he saw dignified with a Degree in both Laws Jerome another of his Sons had his Cap set upon his Head by his Aged Father who Trembled and Wept for Joy not long after which the Old Man died Aged 94 years Schenck p. 539. 4. Platerus tells of Thomas Platerus His Father upon the Death of his first Wife Anno 1572. and the 73 year of his Age married a second time within the compass of 10 years he had 6 Children by her 2 Sons and 4 Daughters the youngest of his Daughters was born in the 81 year of his Age two years before he died J Foelix was born Anno 1536 and my Brother Thomas 1574 the distance between us being 38 years and yet my Brother is all Gray and seems Elder then my self possibly because he was gotten when my Father was stricken in years Pl. Obs. p. 275. 5. M. Valerllus Corvinus attained to the fulfilling of 100 years betwixt whose first and sixth Consulship there was the distance of 47 years yet was he sufficient in respect of the entireness of his bodily Strength not only for the most important Matters of the Common-wealth but also for the exactest Culture of his Fields a Memorable Example Val. Max. l. 8. c. 13. p. 236. 6. Metellus equalled the length of his Life and in extream Age was created Pontiffe for 22 years he had the ordering of the Ceremonies in all which time his Tongue never faultred in Solemn Prayers nor did his Hand tremble in the Offering of the Sacrifices Val. Max. ibid. p. 238. 7. Nicholaut Leonicenus was in the 96 year of his Age when Langius heard him at Ferrara where he had Taught more then 70 years he used to say that he enjoyed a Green and Vegete Age because he had delivered up his Youth chast unto Man's Estate Melch. Adam in Vit. Germ. Med. p. 141. 8. Massanissa was the King of Numidia for 60 years together and excelled all other Men in respect of Strength and of an admirable Old Age that for no Rein or Cold he would be induced to cover his Head they say of him that when he was on Horseback he would lead his Army for the most part both a compleat day and the whole Night also nor would he in extream Age omit any thing of that which he had accustomed to do when young and after the 86th year of his Age he begat a Son and whereas his Land was was waste and desert he left it fruitful by his continual Endeavours in the Cultivation of it he lived till he was above 90 years of Age. Val. M. p. 236. 9. Cornarus the Venetian was in his Youth of a Sickly body began to eat and drink first by measure to a certain weight thereby to recover his Health this Cure turned by use into a Diet that Diet into an extraordinary long Life even of 100 years and better without any decay of his Senses and with a constant enjoyment of Health Verulam's Hist of Life and Death p. 134. 10. Appius Claudius Coecus was blind for the space of very many years yet notwithstanding he was burden'd with this mischance he govern'd 4 Sons and five Daughters very many Dependants upon him yea and the Common-wealth it self with abundance of Prudence and Magnanimity when he had lived so long that he was even tired with living caused himself to be carried to the Senate for no other purpose then to perswade them
Nature and Art the World is furnish'd with and we set as the principal Spectators of them in order to be High-Priests to offer the Sacrifices of Praise for the Rest of the visible Creation methinks I am ready to complain that our Lives are contracted to so short a Span that we can hardly have time to look about us and admire and give due Praise but we must be gone off the Stage Oh! think I if we might but live now to a Mathusalem's Age or at least a Nestor's or John of the Times or but so long as my Country-man Part what brave Schemes might we draw of Architecture What high Scaffolds might we raise What wonderful Projects might we contrive What ingenious and subtle Ideas might we form The Quadrature of the Circle the perpetual Motion the scaling of the Skies and a perfect Discovery of the Lunar World the Philosopher's Stone Flying Diving Any thing Every thing would be but mean and ordinary to imploy our Wits upon But God hath wisely prevented our Projection of these Babels by reducing our Time to a short Scantling of but a Span long and confounding our Thoughts with a Thousand Cares and Abbreviating our Necessities to a little Compendium of Fearing God and heeping his Commandments as the whole of Man Notwithstanding we have all of us almost some spare Minutes left from our necessary Offices which we might if we would spend in a more noble way upon more generous Exercises either of Veiwing or Doing of Speculation or Action or which were much better both I am not so fond as to conceit that I have given here a due Account of all or most of the Wonders and strange Improvements of Art 't is enough to my purpose if tanquam canis ad Nilum I have exhibited a short Specimen enough to beget Admiration and Emulation Let my Reader read and wonder and fall into an honest Indignation with himself that he hath suffer'd his Sands of Time to run so fast in his Glass and his Blood stagnate in his Veins and his Brains gather Flegm and Water whilst himself doth nothing or nothing to purpose or next door to nothing in comparison with those brave Intellectuals he is endowed with I am not for Domitian's pricking Flies with a Pin nor the Hungarian 's wooden Coat of Mail the work of fifteen Years nor Myrmerides 's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 coach with four Horses so little you might hide them under a Flie's Wing nor Collicrates 's Elegies writ so small that a Cherry-stone might hold them nor Mark Scaliot 's Lock spoken of hereafter c. These are all certainly but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a laborious Loss of Time an Ingenious Profusion of one of the best Talents we are intrusted with and more than that perhaps of Two viz. Our Time and Wit Let People know their Strength what they can do and consider the Price of Time they have allowed to act in and act accordingly with a due Aim and direct Tendancy to the Divine Honour their Neighbour's Benefit and their own Happiness and I do not doubt but Men will find better Work and at last receive a Better a more Comfortable and Satisfactory Reward Curiosities of Art PART III. CHAP. I. The English Tongue Improved THE Art of Speaking is none of the least Extellencies of Humane Nature the Confusion of Tongues introduced a great Obscurity in delivering the Sense of our Minds and Men were many Ages blundering and unskilful in expressing themselves properly Where Learning prevailed the Languages were sooner ripen'd to a Perfection and Purity The English Tongue by occasion of frequent Intermixtures with other People lay a long time corrupted with a variety of Dialects How it hath been improved of late Ages we may guess by comparing the Old Dialect with the New Of the old take these few Parcels out of Richard a Religious Hermit in the Earl of Exeter 's Library for a Specimen 1. His Te Deum begins thus We heryen ye God we knowlecnen ye Lord Alle ye erie worschips ye everlasting Fader Alle Aungels in Hevens and alle ye poures in yis VVarld Cherebin and Seraphin cryen by be voice to ye unstinting 2. His Benedictus thus Blessyd be ye Louerd God of Israel for he has visityd maad buying of his puple 3. The Magnificat thus My Soul worschips ye Louerd and my gost ioyed in God my hele for he lokyd ye mekeness of hys honde mayden So for i â—en of yat blissefulle Schal sey me all generaciouns For he has don to me grete yingis yat myrty is and his Nome hely 4. Nunc dimittis Louerd you leuest nowe yi Servaunt in pees astir yi word yat you hast seyde byfore for now I am ripe to die for mine eghen hau seen yin owen Son Christ yat is yin owen he le to Men. 5. Mat. Cap. 1. The Bok of ye Generacoun of Jhu Crist Sone of Dauid Sone of Abraham Abraham gendryde Isaac Isaac forsoye gendride Jacob Jacob forsoye gendride Judas and hys breyren 6. Acts 1. Ye dedis of ye Apostlis Theofile fyrst I maad a Sermon of all yingis yat ittu began to do and to teche into the day of his assencioun in whych he commandide in ye hoolst to his Apostlis whyche he hadde chosen to whyche he schewide hymselfe alyve aftyr his passioun by many Argumentys appering to hem fourti dais 7. Rem 1. Paul ye Servaunt of Jhu Crist clepid an Apostle depromptyd into the Gospel of God whyche he hadde behote tofore by hise Profetis in hooli Scriptur of his Sone Apoc. 1. Apocalipis of Jhu Crist whyche God 3 as to him to maak open to hys Servauntis whyche yingis hit behouey to be maad soone c. 8. Pater Noster thus Ure Fadir in Hevene riche Thy nome be haliid everliche Thou bring us to thy michilblisse Thi wil to wirche thu us wisse Al 's it is in Hevene ido Euer in Erth ben hit also That heli bred yat lastyth ay Thou send hious yis ilke day Forgive ous all yat we haueth don Al 's we forgive ych oder mon He let ous falle in no founding Alt scilde ous fro ye foul thing Amen 9. The Creed thus I beleive in God Fadir Almighty Shipper of Heven and Erth and in Jhesus Crist his onle thi Son ure Louerd that is iuange church the hooli gost bore of Mary maiden tholedepine undyr Pounce Pilat picht on rode tre dead and yburiid licht into helle the thrid day fro death arose steich into Heuene sit on his Fadir richt honde God Almichty then is comminde to deme the quikke and the dede I beleue in the hooli Gost alle hooli Chirche mone of Allehallwen forgiuenis of sine fleiss uprising lif withuten end Amen Wevers Fun. Men. p. 152. Of the New or Modern Dialect there is no necessity of giving any Specimen at all CHAP. II. Blind Persons Improved by Art and Industry WHere Nature is defective there the Assistance of Art
is required Nothing makes us more Ingenious than Necessity Rather than Men will suffer all the Inconveniencies consequent upon a Total Eclipse of any of their Senses especially that of Sight and the comfortable use of the Sun they will set their Brains upon the rack and use the greatest intention of Thought to procure a Compensation 1. Esther Elizabeth Van Waldkirk Daughter of a Merchant of Shaffhausen Residing at Geneva aged Nineteen Years having been Blind from two Months old by a Distemper falling on her Eyes nevertheless hath been put on to the Study of Learning by her Father so that she understands perfectly French High-Dutch and Latin she speaks ordinarily Latin with her Father French with her Mother and High-Dutch with the People of that Nation She hath almost the whole Bible by Heart is well skill'd in Philosophy plays on Organs and Violin and which is wonderful in this condition she hath learned to write by an Invention of her Fathers after this manner There was cut for her upon a Board all the Letters of the Alphabet so deep as to feel the Figures with her Fingers and to follow the traces with a Pencil till that she had accustomed her self to make the Characters Afterwards they made for her a Frame which holds fast her Paper when she writes and which guides her Hand to make strait Lines She writes with a Pencil rather than with Ink which might either foul her Paper or by failing might cause her to leave VVords imperfect 'T is after this manner that she writes often in Latin to her Friends as well as in the other two Languages This is an Extract of a Letter written from Lyons by M. Spon M. D. c. From the Journal des Scavans set forth March 25. 1680. 2. John Ferdinand born in Flanders being blind yet overcame that which most learned Men find hard For he was at once a very Learned Poet and Philosopher he was also an excellent Musician and play'd skilfully on divers kinds of Instruments Camer Hor. Subscis p. 171. 3. Vldaricus Schonbergerus a Doctor in Philosophy though blind yet he was Learnedly skill'd in the Latin Greek Hebrew and Syriack Languages an excellent Naturalist an Acute Disputant in Philosophy Skilful in Musick Studious both in Picture and Sculpture he would discharge a Gun with that dexterity that the Builet should oft hit the Mark he died of late Years at Regioment of which unusual Example Simon Dachius hath left to Posterity an Elegant Elegy Barthol Hist Anatom Cent. 3. Hist 44. p. 87 88. 4. James Vsher Lord Primate of Ireland was taught to read by his two Aunts who were Blind from their Cradles yet were they admirably vers'd in the Scriptures being able suddenly to have given a good Account of any part of the Bible Clarks Lives p. 190 191. 5. Count Manifield though Blind yet with the touch alone was able to distinguish white from black Barthol Cent. 3. Hist 44. p. 87. 6. Schenckius tells of one that though Blind yet received visible Species through his Nostrils Zacch quest Med. Legal l. 5. Tit. 3. p. 325. Schen Obs p. 1. 7. Sir Kenelme Digby says he saw one so blind that he could not discern when the Sun shined yet would play well at Cards and Tables Bowls and Shovel-Board discern the Gestures of his Scholars by their Voice walk in a Chamber or long Alley strait and turn exactly at the ends and by an effect of the Light upon his Body but chiefly on his Brain know when the Sun was up and distinguish exactly between a clear and cloudy Day Sir Kehelme Digby's Treatise of Bodies c. 28. p. 253 254. CHAP. III. Persons Deaf and Dumb much Improved by Art ONE would think this Defect of Nature very deplorable and hardly capable of any Alleviation for by it is barr'd and obstructed all Correspondence with the Reasonable Soul no information can be taken in no Communication permitted without The Ears are stopt so that the Person cannot learn from others nor he express the Sense of his own Mind to others So that what remains in such a case where all the Intercourse of Reason is damm'd up but the Expectation of a Bruitality and Sottishness of Nature to follow yet even here the Wit of Man hath found out something like a Remedy to Cure or in some measure to alleviate and assist this great Malady by finding out some uncommon way of conveying Intelligence to the immured Soul and pumping it of its own Sense and Conceptions 1. Mr. Increase Mather of New-England tells us of a Man and of a Woman at Weymouth both of them Deaf and the Woman so from her Infancy and yet that she understands as much concerning the State of the Country and of particular Persons therein and of observable Occurrences as almost any one of her Sex and which is more wonderful tho she is not able to speak a Word she has by Signs made it appear that she is not ignorant of Adam's Fall nor of Man's Misery by Nature nor of Redemption by Christ and the great Concernments of Eternity and of another World and that she her self has had experience of a Work of Conversion in her own Soul I have made Enquiry about this Matter of some that are fully acquainted therewith and have from a good Hand receiv'd this foregoing Account 2. Matthew Prat aged about Fifty-five Years was in his Minority by his godly Parents educated Religiously and taught to read when he was about Twelve Years old he became totally deaf by Sickness and so hath ever since continued after the loss of his hearing he was taught to write his Reading and Writing he retaineth perfectly and makes much good Improvement of both but his Speech is very broken and imperfect not easily intelligible he maketh use of it more seldom only to some few that are wonted to it He discourseth most by Signs and by writing He is studious and judicious in Matters of Religion hath been in Church Fellowship a Partaker of all Ordinances near Thirty Years hath approved himself unto good Satisfaction therein in all ways of Church-Communion both in publick and private and judged to be a well-wrought Convert and real Christian 3. Sarah Prat his Wife being about Forty-three Years old was also quite deprived of Hearing by Sickness when about the third Year of her Age after she could speak and had begun to learn Letters having quite lost her Hearing she lost all Speech doubtless all remembrance and Understanding of Words and Language her Religious Parents being both dead her godly Brother Ephraim Hunt yet surviving took a Fatherly Care of her she also happily fell under the Guardianship and Tuition of the Reveread Mr. Thomas Thatcher who laboured with design to teach her to understand Speech or Language by Writing but it was never observed that any thing was really effected she hath a notable Accuracy and Quickness of understanding by the Eye she discourseth altogether by Signs that they that
Death strike my Heart I fear not thy Stroke Now it is Father into thy blessed Hand I commend my Spirit sweet Jesus into thy Hands I commend my Spirit blessed Spirit of God I commit my Soul into thy Hands O most Holy Blessed and Glorious Trinity three Persons and one true and everlasting God into thy blessed Hand I commit my Soul and Body At which Words her Breath stayed and so moving neither Hand nor Foot she slept sweetly in the Lord. See her Life CHAP. LXXIX Protection of the Good in Dangers THE Divine Providence is exercised over all the Creation but more especially upon Man then other Creatures that are made subject to him For God causeth his sun to shine and his Clouds to distil with Rain upon the just and unjust But more remarkably upon those that fear God and keep close to him in the way of Duty and a close and cordial Devotion then any others For the Truth whereof I appeal to History and the Experiences of Private and good Men. 1. By Vertue of a Bull issued out by Pope Gregory against John Wickleif and signed by Twenty three Cardinals declaring his Writings to be Heretical and this Bull sent to Oxford together with letters to the King Arch-bishop Sudbury and Courtney then Bishop of London requiring them to Apprehend and Imprison the said Wickleif and they resolving to proceed against him in a Provincial Synod laying aside all Fear and Favour and going to work roundly with him in spite of all Entreaties Threatnings or Rewards god by a small matter overthrew and confounded their Devices for the day of Examination being come in came a Courtier name Lewis Clifford a Man of no great Birth and commanded them That they should not proceed to any definitive Sentence against the said Wickleif wherewith the Bishops were so amazed and crest-fallen that they became as mute Men not having a Word to answer And one that writes this Story saith further that whilst the Bishops were sitting at the Chappel at Lambeth upon John Wickleif not only the Citizens but the vise Objects of the City were so bold as to entreat for him and to stop them in their Proceedings Clark's Mar. of Eccl. Hist p. 112. 2. John Husse being condemned and excommunicated by the Pope and Cardinals for an Heretick opposed by some of the Barons of Bohemia and banished by King Winceslaus yet was entertained in the Country and protected by the Lord of the Soil at Hussinets and Preached there still 'till afterwards the Pope dying a Schism happened in the new Election at the Council of Constance whither Husse was commanded to come and make his Appearance which proved so fatal to him notwithstanding the safe conduct granted him by the Emperour for his Journey and Return Idem p. 117. 3. Henry Alting when Heidelberg was taken by Storm prepared for Death and being at the same time in his Study bolted his Door and betook to Prayer looking every Moment when the bloody Soldiers would break in to make a Sacrifice of him But the great Arbiter of Life and Death took care for his safety for Monsieur Behusius Rector of the School and his dear Friend hiring two Soldiers called him forth and conveyed him through a Back-door into the Lord Chancellors House which Tilly had commanded to be preserved from Plundering because of the publick Monuments of the Common-wealth that were kept there This House was commanded to be Guarded by a Lieutenant Colonel that was under the Count of Hoheuzollem a Man greedy of Prey who lest he should lose his Share in the Booty by his Attendance upon that place sent forth his Soldiers as it were a hunting commanding them That if they met with any Citizens of Note that under pretence of Safeguarding them they should bring them to him purposing by their Ransom to enrich himself To this Man Alting was brought who with his naked Sword reeking with Blood said to him This Day with this Hand have I slain ten Men to whom Dr. Alting shall be added as the eleventh if I knew where to find him But who art thou Such a Countenance and such a Speech by such a Man at such a time might have affrighted the most constant Mind but our Alting by a witty Answer neither denying himself to be Alting nor unseasonably discovering himself Answered as sometime Athanasius in the like case I was saith he a Schoolmaster in the College of Wisdom Hereupon the Lieutenant Colonel promised him safety who if he had known him to have been Alting would certainly have slain him But what a sad time had be that Night hearing the continual Shrieks and Groans which filled the Air of Women ravished Virgins deflowred Men some haled to Torments others immediately slain himself retiring into a Cockloft lest he should be discovered by some of those many which fled thither for Refuge At last the Colonel being remanded away thence the House was resigned to the Jesuits and so he was in fresh Danger but by a special Providence the Kitchin being reserved for Tilly's own Use he was close fed by one of the Palatine Cooks who at last hired three Bavarian Soldires to guard him to his own House Idem p. 493. The following Letter was sent me Novemb. the 8th 1696. by a Gentleman now living in London with whom I am well acquainted viz. SIR THere were three strange Accidents that befel my Son John during his abode at Chesham in Bucke some Years since which perhaps may be worth your taking notice of in your History of Remarkable Providences 1. The first was the great Danger he was once in of Drowning which hapned to him by venturing too fat upon the Groundsil just by a large Pond for a little Whisk where his Foot slipt and down he plunged and being but about eight Years of Age was not able to swim but by a wonderful Providence one Mr. John Reading his first Cosen was then at work in a Stable near the Pond who coming to see what it was made such a Plunge into the Pond found it to be my Son John strugling and sprawling for Life and almost at his last Gasp The Providence of God was signally remarkable in this my Son's Deliverance from Drowning for when his Cosen first heard the noise in the Pond he took it to be some Stone flung into the Pond and was a while resolved not to see after it as believing no harm had befallen any one But at last of a sudden it came into his Mind that the great noise which the Plunge made could not be made by a Stone he therefore now leaves his Work and runs to satisfie his dubious Thoughts and finds my Son almost Drowned when this Person with the hazard of his Life got my Son out of the Pond he could not be brought to speak the muddy and dirty Water had so swell'd him for about nine Hours time but then he came something to recollect his Senses he gave the Account of his falling
into the Pond as afore-mentioned and I desire he may be ever mindful of this wonderful Deliverance 2. About two Years after thus escaping from Drowning he in the middle of the Day gets a Leaden Bullet and unawares swallows it down and had certainly been choaked with it if his Aunt Reading with whom he then Boarded had not by violent means caused him to bring it up again 3. A third time whilst he lived at the same place he had like to have been choaked by putting a bearded Ear of Corn into his Mouth the Prickles stuck in his Throat after biting it unawares so hard and so fast that if his Aunt had not couragiously thrust her Fingers down his Throat and so by degrees got them our he had then lost his Life I think these three remarkable Deliverances from Death ought not to be forgotten by him to his dying Day I have only to add that I am Your Servant to Command c. London Nov. 16th 1696. 4. A Child of Mr. Collins now living in the Old Baily swallowed a large Corking Pin of near an Inâ—h and half it lay in the Child's Body for near six Weeks at length it appeared with the Point in the Fundament and by that means was pulled out and by its long lying in the Child's Body 't was Cankered the Child afterwards recovered and is now well and hearty 5. The same Gentleman had a Child about two Months since going to ease himself fell backwards into Fleet-ditch which is about four Yards deep into a Lighter of Deals and a Danish Man being then in the Lighter took him up and found he had received no manner of Hurt tho' 't was a Thousand to one the Fall being so high and backwards that it had not dash'd out the Child's Brains or at least bruised his Limbs 6. My eldest Son Samuel Wesly has had a fair scape of his Life he swallowed a Brass Counter last Saturday which had like to have choaked him in the passage of his Throat and starve him afterwards for it lay in the Mouth of his Stomach which made him throw up all he eat But yesterday it came out again at the other end and blessed be God he 's very well Sent us in a Letter from the present Rector of Ormesly in Lincoln-shire 7. Mr. Samuel Fairclough upon a Saturday about four of the Clock in the Afternoon had his heart much enlarged in Prayer but especially for that little one who was his youngest and then about Two Years Old This Child at that Hour a Servant had taken up with her into the highest Garret of the House and set him by the Window of the Room while she swept it and so carelessly neglected to have her Eye upon the little one as that the Child looking out of the Window upon a company of young Ducks which were swiming in a Vessel of Water right under the Casement thrust its Body so far out as it fell down and pitched first upon the Eaves of the next Floor with that force that it brake above a Dozen Tiles off from the place and with them fell down to the ground but not into the Vessel of Water which stood perpendicular to the Window but exactly between that Vessel and a large Door which lay very near it and upon which the Meat for those Ducks was laid Had it fallen a quarter of a Yard on either Hand its Brains had been dashed out either by the Door or Vessel But god by the Ministration of his Angels so ordered it that although the beighth of the place caused a Dizziness and a Swoon for a few Moments yet the child was no sooner taken up but immediately it came to Life again and there was not the least Bruise or Hurt inward nor outward no not the least Razing of the very Skin by any of the Tiles that fell with it but within a quarter of an Hour it went up and down the House as it had formerly done Ibid. CHAP. LXXX Guidance of the Good through Difficulties THis Subject is near a-kin to the former and therefore needs but a short Preface As God is a Son and Shield so he is a Shepherd and Captain and Guide to these that love him and dare put their Trust in him 1. Athanasius being in danger at Alexandria through the Attempts of the Arians against him in the Reign of Constantius and one Gregory sent to be Bishop there in his room when Athanasius and his People were assembled there to prepare for the Sacrament which was to be administred next Day the Captain and the Soldiers beset the Church Athanasius gave Orders to the Deacons to read the Collects for the Day and then to sing a Psalm which was so sweetly sung that all the People went out at one of the Church-doors and Athanasius in the midst of the Singers escaped without any hurt from the soldiers Dr. Clark's Marr. of Eccl. Hist 2. Athanasius another time being sought for by order of the Emperor in one of the Churches of Alexandria by a Divine Revelation had made his escape out of the Church a little before the Enemy broke in to search for him The like happen'd before when being grievously threatned by Constantius in the Life of Constance he had retired himself to a Friend and there lay hid in a Cave that formerly used to be full of Water there he continued long and a certain Maid used to minister to his Necessities but the Arians enquired diligently after him corrupted the Maid with large Promises yet were disappointed for God discover'd the Danger to him a little before so that he made his escape Ibid. 3. Athanasius another time being forced to flee from Alexandria entred a Pinace went up the River Nile was pursued by his Adversaries but by Divine Admonition turn'd back and having the Stream with him he swiftly passed by them and returning to Alexandria hid himself amongst his Friends Ibid. 4. Athanasius in the Reign of Julian flying a way in a Ship from the Governour of Egypt and the Enemy making haste to pursue him and his Friends in the Ship advising him to make haste to Shoar and hide in the Desart by direction from Heaven he required the Pilot to sail back to Alexandria upon which being met by the Pursuers and ask'd If they had not seen Athanasius to whom answer being made If they made haste they might soon overtake him By which means he escaped and hid in Alexandria with a most beautiful chast and pious Virgin and the very Night that Julian died appeared in his Church to the great Joy of his Friends and Astonishment of his Adversaries Ibid. 5. Another time in the Reign of Valence and Valentinian he flies again sought for but not found to the wonder of his Enemies Some say he hid Four Months in his Father's Sepulchre but whether he were there or in the Tomb of some of his Friends he was quickly invited home again by the Emperour's Letters Ibid. 6. In