resolued once to translate the Papacy to Auinion in France if that a certaine Cardinall wiser then himselfe had not disswaded him The originall cause of all this hatred is iealousie together with a false perswading humor that our Church vsurps his holy power which somtimes he pretends from the Emperour Constantine and some other times from S. Peter Whether this exercising of another mans authority be legitimate or spurious let them who thinke themselues iniured redreste the iniury how they can In the meane time we perceiue the minde of man impatient of vsurpers and Detractors to boile for reuenge as if an euerflaming Torch were set vnder it No maruell then if Princes punish forgery and other detracting crimes He that detracts his Kings Prerogatiue with a malicious purpose to attribute the same to himselfe is Laesae Maiestatis râ—â—s guilty for wounding the Royall Maiesty and to be attainted of high treason Will King IAMES our dread Soueraigne suffer any subiect of his to weare a crowne of golde to deâ— act his royall authority to leuie armes at pleasure to encampe himselfe to hang a man without due course of law or to coine golde No it is against his prerogatiue against his Iurisdiction The world abides not two Sunnes No more can the vnited Empire of great Britaine endure but one supreme Monarch He that sueth into the Court of Rome detracts from the Kingly glory and therefore encuires the danger of Premunire Euen so if a subiect of this Realme bring in a Bull of Excommunication from Rome against another subiect it is by the auncient common law high treason against the King his crowne and dignity as hath beene adiudged in the Raigne of Edward the first For the King of England is the Vicar of the â—â—ghest King In a Constable or any other it is forgery and detraction to write a warrant in a Iustice of Peace his name without his consent Yea and a Justice himselfe was fined in the Star-chamber circa 30. Elizab. Reg. for sending his warrant vpon suspition of felony with a blanke or window to put in ones name which he knew not at his friends request without certainly acquainting him with the matter before What a tedious quarrell continued with vnsheathed swords betweene the Turkish Ottoman and the Persian Sophy about the very colour of the Turbant which both were bound by their ceremonious law to weare Such another friuolous iatre hapned among the Friers touching the colour of their frizen weedes One stood vpon blacke betokening mourning another vpon white the displayed ensigne of innocency This busie body claimed it to be gray that their weeds being like vnto ashes might moue them to repentance That hare-brain'd Scholer proued out of Schoolemen and profound Dunces that all the rest of the Disputants were arrand Heretickes for their sinnes being as redde as Scarlet or as purple they ought not to hold with any other colour Many brawles many factions yea and bloud-sheds arose about these Idly vsurped colours till after diuers commotions decrees and orders on all sides infringed a finall end with much adoe was established by the generall Councell of Christendome There was a dangerous tumult in France very like to chance betwixt a famous Auncestour of mine out of Wales and the Lord Norris concerning their armes Both gaue the Rauen both challenged it from the same house from one Vrian Prince of Rheged otherwise called Carict in Scotland who eyther by conquest or marriage seated himselfe in our countrey of West-Wales My said Auncestour as our Walsh nature relies ouermuch vpon Genealogies and Heraldry and his Walsh company being no lesse then fifteene hundred horsemen and footemen could by no meanes be disswaded from the quarrel vntill the Duke of Norsâ—lke whose daughter sithence Countesse of Bridgewater was married vnto his heire sollicited King Henry the eight then in camp to take vp the Controuersie and order the Lord Norris to giue it flying and the others as he did before If mens mortall feuds conceiued against their emulous concurrents for light occasions and as the Prouerbe termes them for a Goats haire be so heynous hereditary so frequent so customary in all Countreyes why doe we tempt the Lord our God and doubt that his eternall Maiesty in whom there is not the least spot of sinfull perturbation hates Detractours of his euer-shining glory and also them which attribute his miraculous deedes to his creatures or enemies I say why doe we doubt that he detesteth them in a faire higher degree then if they were profested Atheists blinded with ignorance Hee that knowes his Masters will and doth it not is worthy of many stripes Wherefore I constantly auerre that the Lord hateth Antichristians Euchanters Coniurers and Witches for their detractions forgeries delusions and false miracles worse then the Heathen with all their Idolatries To this end that auncient Father affirmeth If any that went afore vs eyther of ignorance or simplicity hath not obserued that which the Lord commanded his simplicity through the Lords indulgence may be pardoned but we whom the Lord hath taught and instructed cannot be pardoned Where the Spirituall Steward lends one talent there he looketh the interest of one againe but where he exposeth out twenty talents there he iustly expecteth the encrease of twenty againe Like as a simple seruant sent out in a darkesome night and misseth his way deserues his pardon more freely then he which purposely gaddes and goes out of his way in the cleare day light preferring his own wanton pleasures before his Masters profite so the ignorant Christian sinning of meere simplicity is farre more tolerable then the enlightned Gospeller which afterwards dissembles and detracts vpon a greedy or gaudic hope of golden mountaines LINEAMENT XII 1 Wherefore God diuerteth his naturall creatures against mankinde 2 That all crosses and misfortunes proceede onely from God 3 That in any wise we must not delay repentance 4 An obiection against sudden death by the spirit of Detraction out of the Letany with a consutation thereof THus the starres haue their ordinary motions the Elements their courses and the Metcors their voluble dispositions except otherwhiles it please their Arch-mouer to diuert some of them as terrible alarums for our admonishment Then euery thing fights against vs Our natiue ayre strangles our wearied winde-pipes Our nourishment through gluttony works our latter end Fire water conspire against vs One dieth by fire another by water Thus armes he nature against nature creature against creature and man against man eyther for his glorie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that mortall men may know his strength and acknowledge their owne weakenesse or for mens tryall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to trie their integrity to mollifie their stony hearts and to shape their inward man to regeneration Others he smites 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 33 vessels of wrath to perpetuall punishment though commonly he lets them flourish in this world like Palme trees reseruing them to damnation
Summers attendance after many a frozen Winters watching expecting my conuersion to knocke againe most patiently at the doore of my soule and thus to call vnto her while shee slept so carelesly Open vnto me my sister my loue my doue for my head is full of dâ—â—r and my lockes with the drops of the night Againe and againe it pleased thee to inuite mee after this manner Returne O thou rebellious childe and I will heale thy rebellions for euen as a woman hath rebelled against her husband so hast thou rebelled against mee How dease is he that heares not such a voyce A voyce more vehement then the sound of many waters How deepely sleepes he that is not wakened vvith such a morning vvatch vvith such a melodie A melodie more musicall then euer Tuball Amphion or Arion could possibly conceiue When all thy creatures combined against me in reuenge of my disloyaltie towards thy sacred soueraigntie thou didst temper their fiery fury thou didst moderate their biting bitternesse The foure Elements which thou madest for my conseruation conspired all to roote my being out of the Land of the liuing The Ayre threatned to taint my breathing with contagious smels with Stigian stinckes The Fire assayed to burne my bruitish body The Water stroue vvith might and maine to ouerwhelme me vtterly The Earth endeuoured before her time to abridge my luxurious life And all because I had offended their great Creator But thou more mercifull then thy creatures for the loue of thy Name and for the loue of thy Sonne didst controule all their practises and confound the deuises of the Diuel himselfe How happy am I that thou prolongst my dayes how kinde art thou that sparest to spill the bloud of thy very foes O kindenesse without desert O courtesie without comparison Behold behold yee mortals all how the Lord hath deliuered me from the danger nay from the dungeon of death from sodaine death The God of glory hath defended mee from Thunder and Lightning from vvater and fire O what oblation can the poore Samaritanâ— sacrifice vnto his sacred Maiestie for these his wonderous workes Ille magis gratae laetatur mentis odore Quam consecrato sanguine mille boum Nam prece non alio gaudet honore Deus God better loues a thankfull minde then many Oxens bloud For poore mens prayers he preferres before the rich and proud Seeing thankfulnesse is such a sweet smelling odour in his sacred no strils let me proclaime his glorious Name Alleluiah Osanna in the Highest Blessed be the name of his heauenly Highnesse blessed in heauen blessed on earth and blessed throughout all ages The Lord be blessed for euermore vvhich hath enlightned mee in the darksome shadow of errours vvhich hath enlarged mee from a vvorld of perils vvhich hath recalled me failing vvhich hath raised me falling vvhich hath recouered mee running almost out of breath from falling and fainting Let all Nations performe their duties let them praise the Lord for it is hee that commandeth the waters It is the glorious God that maketh the Thunder It is the Lord that ruleth the sea The voyce of the Lord is a glorious voyce the voyce of the Lord breaketh the Cedar trees yea the voyce of his thunder was heard round about the lightning shone upon the ground The Earth was moued and shooke withall his way is in the sea and his paths in the great waters Applaud him O my soule applaud his magnificent Maiesty Let his laud be euer in thy thoughts Let all thy faculties all thy attributes and operations spread themselues as blooming Vines round about my heart my braine my tongue that the same may become as the pen of a ready writer to sound out and resound his most puissant power Others according to the altitude of his iudgements he cutteth off by vntimely death but me he spares aliue as a monument of his liuing mercy O what had become of me if thou haddest cited mee likewise at that horrible houre before thy tribunall throne of Iustice O my Sauiour I thanke thee for thy peerlesse patience I praise thee though basely and barely in respect of thy benefits I adore thee I honour thee I humble my selfe before thee all the dayes of my life I returne I repaire vnto thee not haltingly not hollowly but holily I vvould I could say vvholy all the dayes of my life O giue me grace help my weaknesse heale mine vnbeliefe LINEAMENT XVI 1 The Conclusion of this present Circle consecrated by the Authour to his Wiues memory 2 The Application of her memorable death 3 The Authours Apologie against the Spirit of Detraction on the beâ—aâ—se of this present Circle where his Wiues memory is saluted with a Christian Farewell INgenuous Reader hitherto after the example of Antimachus who composed a Booke in the commendations of his wife Lydia haue I labored to eternize my deere wiues memory to the end entent that when the Spirit of ' Detraction as the Sorcerers rod was swallowed vp by Aarons rod is consumed to nothing and vvhen his lying mates doe dye and lie ingloriously in rotten earth the vvorld shall finde that shee liues for euer among the liuing inuita inuidia in despite of enuie that shee flourisheth like a Palme tree which the more it is suppressed the more returneth vpwards consonant to that of the Wise-man The memoriall of the iust shall be blessed but the name of the wicked shall rot Her memorable end anatomized and embalmed in this my bookish coffin shall yeeld odoriferous perfumes of her milde meeke and modest life to the sence-pleasing comfort of the elected innocent And that I may record the memory of her end Allegorically with the Poet Etumulo viâ—lae fortunat à que fauillâ Nascentur cippusque leuis sua contâ—get ossa Out of her graue fine Violets shall bloome And a light stone shall her sweet bones entombe Thus out of my miseries as out of the ashes of a burnt Phoenix is built a beacon of liuing miracles vvhich I humbly pray his heauenly Highnesse among other suppliants of his that they may effect in me what a more radiant light effected in Saint Paul namely the illumination of a darke conscience For vvhen my body like a bowle was carryed about vvith the bias of concupiscence my soule rockt a sleep in the cradle of worldly securitie by Sathans inchanting lullabies then my Lord that saw me so misse-led like vnto Salomons foole laughing when indeed I had more cause to weepe then my louing Lord I say tooke compassion on my foolish fals and gaue me a sound pinch or prick in the flesh that started and stirred vp all my reasonable faculties to consider more iudiciously in what a case I stood both body and soule What better vse of this temptation can I produce then that thy death deere wife like Elishaes bones which reuiued a dead corse hath vvrought a double miracle the one in thy translation the other in my
is whether that power of his be suppressed now that miracles are ceased For then God caused such strange actions to ensue whereby his Gospell might be confirmed Surely in my iudgement where the Gospell flourisheth there the Diuell dares not draw nigh and if he appeared according to the relation of such as wrote of his miracles he neuer appeared but vnto them who like vnto Caine vtterly dispaired of Gods grace to simple wretches and to grosse headed folkes His chiefest plot and practize is to vndermine the reasonable will and to seduce men from the operation of Goodnesse For this cause he is called the Accuser the Prince of the aire the Prince of this world that is the great spirituall Tempter of Mankind for whose sake this world and all the creatures therin were made LINEAMENT VII 1 How Popish Shaueling inuented the vse of common Coniurations and fictions in policy for the greater efficacie of their Jdols Holy water and Masse-moâ—ging wherein the weakenesse of their Holy water is sh wed 2 That they cained lies of purpose to confirme their sect namely in Luthers life time of Luthers death 3 A note deliuered by the Authour touching the Diuels reall power BVT here our Popish miraclemongers wil obiect that the Diuell cannot be coniured without Masses Holy water or charmes of a consecrated person The Diuell say they will not obey any of our Religion O generation of Vipers Is not the fulnesse of your sacriledge come in before the Lord Are not the Bulles of Basan so fat that they cannot hold out any longer Yea euer since Printing rose vp by the mouthes of babes and infants the Lord hath confounded your quirks quillets and transubstantiate quiddities Your fat lieth in the fire your Masses bring in but small masses of money Your Holy water is become dead like a stinking stange The glorious brightnesse of Christs comming the forerunning word of euerlasting life hath almost abated all your lying wonders your coniurations yea and your chiefe Patron of policie onely for the triall of the Elect ye are permitted dispensed and tollerated to dwell among vs as the Chanaanites and Philistines amidst the Israelites Ye are permitted as the ministers of Sathan to tempt Christs flocke that the great Iudge may commend their constancy Neuerthelesse I am sory I speake after flesh and bloud that your stinges according to our Acts of Parliament voce populi Christiani being voce Dei are not quite abolished This sting a graue and a great man of this Kingdome felt when he was seduced to send ouer Sea his sonne that lay possessed with the spirit of frenzie The spirit of falshood made him beleeue that holy water and masse-hearing would chase away the Diuell if it were a Diuell At Pont y Musson in Lorraine it was my hap to meete with the said diseased Gentleman in an English Priests house where he soiourned his friends expecting his deliuerance by the Spirit of illusion by vertue of the Masse and of the sanctified water But all the fat fell in the fire and he poore Gentleman left still vncured hauing formerly bin bound in a cradle besprinckled with holy water in time of Masse and so continued bound for three dayes together in the Church A most fearefull vsage able to driue a whole man out of his wits His friends hearing at length that the matter fell not out correspondent to their expectation they sent him to Padua for the tempering of his braine by the Phisitians of the body where I met him againe with his Curator who told me the whole businesse and circumstance and how the spirit would not be dislodged for all their holy water Now their generall opinion was that eyther it was a stubborne spirit vnremoueable by exorcismes or else the patient was sicke with extreme choler or melancholy Likewise to confirme their false doctrine with false miracles by the Diuels instinct they coined many fictions and such as the eares of the Elect would glow to heare These fopperies as treacherous spirits out of the woodden horse of Troy our subtle Sinons coniure vp for worldly respects and chiefly lest their Pontificiall purple robes or scarlet habites be altered to another colour of a baser graine Among many miracles in their lying Legends they recorde that a Religious woman hauing put a sanctified hoast into her hiue of Bees to make them fruitfull in steed of increase found a little Chappell of Hony and Waxe built in the hiue with doores and windowes with an Altar with a Steeple of Belles and also that the Bees had laid the hoast vpon the Altar with melodious noise flying round about it Thus the Diuell sometimes playeth the part of a Mountebanke venting out his counterfeite wares vnder the faire colour of sanctification some othertimes he seemes to raise vp himselfe really at sinfull mens commaunds and all for the establishment of the scarlet coloured beast the Pope and his Cardinals whose Kingdome he wots well cannot chuse but decline without such trash trickes and trumperies And for their concealements he beates this ambitious lesson into our Canonists heads that it is sacriledge to reason about the Popes deedes whose murthers say they are excused like Sampsons whose thefts like the Hebrewes whose adulteries like Iacobs After mens deathes the Diuell eyther by himselfe or by his agents wicked worldlings seemes to appeare vnder the person of a Samuel and will not be coniured back without such Popish bables thereby setling his Reprobates in their reprobate natures But most of all I cannot but wonder what phantasie possesseth men when they publish miraculous lies derogatory to their credites that be liuing and able in their liues time to retort the whetstone vpon them Surely I can deuise none other excuse on their behalfe then that such miracles of strange sights were inuented by them of Diuellish policy to make their profession famous among the simple and on the other side to withdraw the Protestant from the true worship of God As for example the Diuell forseeing that by Luthers preaching he was like to lose many of his guests euen in Luthers life time soborned one of his false Prophets to set out a booke in print of Luthers death The same very day when Luther died as this Homeromastix reported many that were possessed of Diuels in a towne of Brabant which lay distant from the place where hee was supposed to die aboue three hundred miles were suddenly deliuered and not a long time after repossessed againe And when it was demanded of the Diuels where they had beene They answered that by the appointment of their Prince they were called forth to Luthers Funcral Which likewise was proued to be true because a seruant of Luthers that was in his chamber when hee died opening the casement to take the ayre saw a great number of vgly Spirits hard by the window leaping and dancing Afterwards when Luthers body was laid in his graue presently there arose a tumultuous noise and terrible sound that
to the Arch-spirit of heauen is the knowledge of goodnesse both which Good and Euill we know euer since the eating of the forbidden fruite which man had not lusted except God had commanded the contrary Deteriora sequor Sinne tookâ— occasion by the commandement and deceiued vs. So that we left the tree of life and tooke the worst The knowledge of euill is sinne or worldly craft The knowledge of the good is the seruice of God or innocency Assoone as Adam had eaten the Apple in the garden of triall his eyes were opened and he knew the differences both of the Good and Euill yea he was made partaker of Euils and miseries as well of equity happinesse and innocency O what a Diuine mysterie is this Mans body and soule stands almost in suspence in an equall ballance betwixt God and the Serpent betwixt innocency and sinne Or more mystically to compare our states we stand in this world like our Sauiour Christ cruelly crucified betwixt two theeues the one penitent the other desperate the one acknowledging his Deity the other blasphemously detracting from his innocent life Euen so doe we wade betwixt Good and Euill betwixt the spirit and the flesh betwixt peace and warre betwixt heauen and hell betwixt life and death betwixt vertue and vice Xenophons pathes for Hercules in his youth betwixt light and darkenesse betwixt truth and falshood betwixt loue and hatred betwixt ioy and sorrow betwixt eternity and time Gods spirit of Goodnesse seekes to winne vs by infusing into our intellectual senses faith loue truth and other vnderspirits of his Our Ghostly tempter wicked sinne the old Serpents sting inwardly prickes our soules to know euill as well as good for malum cognitum facilius euitatur euil being knowne is the more easily auoyded to permit wantonnâ—sse licentiousnesse Detraction and other petty petulant spirits of sinne vnto our children in their tender age that they may leaue them of the sooner in their riper yeares according to the prouerbe A wilde colt will proue a good horse a rude youth a good man and a young Diuell an old Saint God labours to mortifie the body that the soule may see his Godhead The Diuell by sinne his earthly substitute deceitfully aduiseth to pamper the body with daiaty delicaciâ—s that the soule being stupefied may behold nothing but perpetuall darkenesse God pronounceth rigorousnesse vnto them which fall but towards thee kindnesse if thou continue in kindnesse The Diuell whispereth into thy heedlesse heart Sisaluaberis saluaberis If thou shalt be saued thou shalt be saued If thou be reserued among the remnant of Baals seuen thousand according to the election of Grace what needest thou make this world thy hell thy body thy crosse thy contentment thy discontentment If thou be not predestinated vnto saluation wilt thou enioy a double holi Therefore while thou hast time cheerish vp thy body with all kindes of sports and pleasures Laugh and bâ—fat I am veniet tacito curua sexecta pede Anon olde age with stealing pace will come Ah poore soule how art thou entangled being created after the image of God composed for his Spouse endowred with his spirit redeemed with his blood accompanied with his Angels capable of happinesse and partaker of reason as a learned Spaniard in imitation of Father Bernard broke out into admiration O Alma hecha a laimagen de Dios compucsta como para esposa dotada consu espiritu redimida consu sangre accompanadae consus Angeles capaz de bienauenturanza participante derazon Why dost thou follow thine enemy and forsake thy Maker O heauenly soule Why dost thou offer vnto the Diuell the fairest and the sartest of thy flocke and leauest vnto God a leane and a lame sacrifice Wilt thou draw vnto the Diuell thy sweetest drinkes and vnto God thy sowrest dregges O carelesse creature Say not God hath caused thee to erre for he hath no need of the sinful man He made thee from the beginning and left thee in the hand of thy counsell and gaue thee his commaundements and precepts He hath set water and fire before thee stretch out thy â—and vnto which thou wilt Before thee was life and death good and euill What liked thee was giuen Which excellent doctrine another confirmed Thus saith the Lord Behold I set before you the way of life and the way of death Say not thou I am besieged with Diuels with reall spirits out of hell For in thy center O intellectual soule is imprinted the very character of Gods owne essence and three persons in Trinity insomuch that thou resemblest the Diuine Hypostasis and indiuisible vnity and also possessest immortality from the Father vnderstanding from the Sonne and sanctification from the Holy Ghost All which concurring in one identified essentiall vnion make thee a perfect soule without blemish Let not thy fall from that blessed state discomfort thee The bloud of Christ if the fault be not thine owne doth like a lauer purifie thy sins though they become as red as scarlet These theeues of the Deity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as a very ancient Father terms them can neuer harme thee really howsoeuer their spirit of Detraction as false spectacles to multiply thy feares layes downe that humourous tradition before thy simple sight Seest not thou how those spirits which dallied with the holy water dare not once come neere our reformed Church As there be degrees of sinnes so in my iudgement these deluding spirits neuer appeare but to the grossest sinner Where a man hath but one honest man in his house there that house prospereth better then if that one were absent for that hee terrifieth the rest from cousenages and conspiracies so where one Godly man dwelleth there the Diuell dares not draw neere LINEAMENT III. 1 That all wicked Spirits ordinary and extraordinary doe issue from the same head 2 That they cannot harme a man really without his owne naturall or wanton motion 3 Their varieties proued out of the Scripture where Saules lunacie is censured 4 That the Spirit of Detraction attendeth on all the said spirits EVen as good spirits or vertuous motions issue from the Godhead as from the cleere fountaine of goodnesse so wicked spirits and vnbridled affections fetch their pedegree from the deceitfull Serpent wâ—h allured Eue to insring the Lords commandement For his malicious spirit repining that man a new made creature found more fauour then himselfe belike long afore an out-cast from Gods presence turned about the weaker vessell the simple woman and makes her an instrument for all their ouerthrowes together They were all of them accursed mankind destinated to death the Serpent to darkenesse Since which time continuall calamities and phantasticall spirits the blacke guard of sinne pursue mankinde till death gets the vpper hand and looseth the soule out of her prison of flesh and bloud I say vntill death as Gods Sergeant doe attach our bodies vpon debt due vnto nature and our soules vpon sinnes committed
coyishly like a cunning queane to her youthfull nouice seemed to repell their suits They loth or perhaps not daring to returne homewards to their wiues without some notice touching the stolne goods vrged him more instantly to cast a figure and rather then faile to coniure vp a spirit that they might learne who was the theefe At last with some adoe the scholler in respect of his pouertie resolued to make a purchase of these vnlooked for guests and to that end first requiring their oath of secrecy like a true Chymist willed them to resort within three houres of night to a chamber remote from company The honest men with pure protestations thanked his grauity and went home to their Inne with gladsome hearts iudging each houre a day til the prefixed time drew nigh In the meane space the adulterate Coniurer calles vnto him more good fellowes boone companions confederates with them that about such a time they should likewise repaire to the designed chamber with a whole Cutlers shop of weapons as Proctors and Officers to apprehend both the Coniurer and his mates Well the appointed time approached the good Yeomen missed not to come thither where also the Coniurer met them lockt fast the chamber doore and hauing prepared afore hand a great Caldron full of hote scalding water on a good fire caused them to cast their money therein for feare lest the spirit might annoy them by reason of such prophane trash His commaundement stood for a law Assoone as he had fashioned his Circle crossed it and inuocated on these terrible spirits Barbara Celarent Darij Ferio Baralipton Celantes Dabitis Fapesmo Fricesonorum Cesarâ— Camestres Festino Baroco Darapti Felapton Disamis Datisi Bocardo Ferizon In stead of spirits the false Proctors bounced and knocked at the doore menacing to breake it open if out of hand they opened it not The poore men not aduenturing to budge one inch from the center of the Circle without their money and now without hope of commiseration among strange Officers stood amazed in a quandaâ—y with great horrour and dread till the Proctors were let in by the Coniurer Ah villaine haue we taken thee in the manner said these new Proctors there is no way saue one for thee nor for these assistants of thine And with that in a faigned vehement rage charged them vpon their allegeance to follow them towards the prison The liuer-hearted Yeomen very dutifully obeyed went along with them all the way begging for grace and fauour with large promises of golden mountaines and with faithfull assurances of millions of prayers for their prosperity The pitifull Proctors ouercome at last with their important suits and knowing their money to be lest behinde safe in the hote Caldron let fall the raines of their rage Their iustice became mitigated their authority relented vpon condition that these honest men would assume on their credite to come againe vnto them the next morning which they faithfully promised But being arriued at their lodging they tooke counsell together to giue the Proctors the slip and leaue the Coniurer to goe to the gallowes alone without their fellowship And so at midnight by the benefite of that darke time as they thought they left both Proctors and Coniurer in the lurch posting away with great ioy for their fortunate escape LINEAMENT X An example translated out of Monsieur du Chesâ—e his pourtrait de la sante declaring how one Monsieur Poena a Phisition of Paris coâ—iured two spirits out of a possessed mans body MOnsieur Uignier a Phisitian of Champaine and the Kings Chonicler had a cousin of his that was a person well descended and also learned afflicted of such a spirituall sickenesse that he imagined and firmely beleeued that a certaine fellow of his acquaintance newly come from Italy had giuen him and put within his body two spirits which spake vnto him and taught him many things which also threatned him eyther to cause his death or else to vexe him with some great mischiefe After that he had discouered his malady to the said Vignier he presently knew that it was a sickenesse of the spirit and for that he loued very well this kinseman of his he deuised and aduised with himselfe how to helpe him For this purpose both of them resolued to goe together to Paris and there they addressed themselues vnto Monsieur Poena who immediatly vnderstood what sickenesse it was to wit that the patients imaginatiue faculty was hurt and depraued and also counselled them that they should looke for spirituall remedy for that spirituall sickenesse which likewise the said Poena promised that he would endeuour to get for his recouery Hereof the diseased partie was very glad and pressed on him very hard that he should hasten him telling him withall that his said spirits continually menaced to kill him or to torment him with some grieuous sickenesse Here the Phisitian was faine to vse stratagems and subtilties to take away these wicked impressions out of the sicke-mans phantasie in regard that the party being learned and very speculatiue as all melancholike men are would comprehend by reason the manner of his cure which after many circumstances in briefe was thus The Phisitian tooke vpon him to fashion in a little booke certaine characters and names of spirits and to make as though he must coniure vp a stronger spirit then those which were in his body by whose forcible means the lesser spirits should be chased therehence The remedie was plausible to the sicke man In the meane that all things were accommodating and making readie for the said exploit the Phisitian ministred vnto him purgations to tame and moderate the humour of melancholie Atlength the time approached that this feat should be put in practise There was a great Hall chosen out for the nonce wherein this saigned coniuration should be made for the effecting whereof an honest Chirurgion was appointed to act the person of the pretended spirit All things thus prepared together with the Circle and other ceremonies which Negromancers vse in such a case they came to the place where the possessed party was seated in the midst of the Circle and to blindfolde him the more he was encouraged not to be astonished at what accident soeuer that should befall After some counterfeit whispering crossing and inuocations the Spirit of the South was called vp who appeared not Then the Spirit of the East was called who likewise came not In the end at the third call the Chirurgeon that lay hid in a certaine place there for the nonce began to appeare in this hall that was somewhat darke And then the Patient was againe comforted and counselled more then before not to be affraid who answered that he was resolued not to feare at all So earnestly did he attend and repose confidence and hope in this illusion At last the matter passed so finely and luckily that the poore Patient beleeued that this spirit which he tooke to be no fained one had power to ouercome and