Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	great_a	know_v	lord_n	3,918	5	3.5901	3	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A54590	A faithful narrative of the wonderful and extraordinary fits which Mr. Tho. Spatchet (late of Dunwich and Cookly) was under by witchcraft, or, A mysterious providence in his even unparallel'd fits with an account of his first falling into, behaviour under, and (in part) deliverance out of them : wherein are several remarkable instances of the gracious effects of fervent prayer / the whole drawn up and written by Samuel Petto ... who was an eye-witness of a great part ; with a necessary preface.	Petto, Samuel, 1624?-1711.	1693 (1693)	Wing P1897; ESTC R181742	29,299	38

from that Day he hath been freed from them which was about 8 weeks before the Death of that Woman which Confessed her self to be a Witch for she Dyed about April 1667. before this 8 Weeks she was under Tortures from the Devil and whether she had no leisure to send to and Afflict him or whether it were only from God laying a restraint upon that grand Enemy of Mankind Satan that he injoyed this Eight Weeks freedom from those Fits must be left to others to Judge it is good to ascribe all to God but it being thus long before her Death this argueth that it was no Corroboration of his Imagination by her Death that was the Cause of his freedom Indeed he had not a freedom from all Fits so early he was under a Restraint from Travel until the very time of Her Death About a Week before she Dyed Mr. R. a Conformist sent for him to go to her when she was Ill he went about a Close length and the● if it had been upon his Life he could not get one step further forward he indeavoured very earnestly to go on but could not he did get back again in ● long time and with much difficulty and was forced to make many Courtesies like Women all the way back again with many other like actions which were unavoidable Mr. R. Went to her without him and came to Mr. Spatchet saying he never saw such a Spectacle for all the Skin of her Hands and Arms was scratched or torn off hardly one place appeared whole as big as his Finger She would not Confess to him any thing of Witchery but only this That She had made an agreement with the Devil and it was now too late for Her to Repent for she was Damned or to this Effect she spake She had two Cudgels lay on her Bed and he asked her what she did with those She answerd she had them there to Fight with the Devil he did so misuse her She was there alone and he dragged her out of the Bed and under the Bed they below hearing such a Noise and knowing there was no Body with her they went up and she was Bloody she Confessed to them it was the Devil that came to her So she Dyed near the time called Easter 1667. Mr. Spatchet was under restraint for travel at the time of her Death and possessed with some fear that he should so continue until his Death because he was so at her Death and nothing done to her to bring her to Justice He had not any Imagination that he should then have freedom but rather limited the Holy One of Israel by thinking the contrary Also she had said to some persons before her Death that if she Dyed yet Mr. Spatchet should not be fully Free for others had him in hand as well as she But yet the same Week that she Dyed and the next time after when he attempted to visit Friends he found a liberty for Travel and hath injoyed that freedom ever since viz. for the space of above two Years Thus Gods thoughts were not as his thoughts Divine Mercies did surpass his Faith And yet the Lord would have it known to be his Work his will was the determining rule how far deliverance should be afforded it was not all at once but gradually for although he had then a freedom from Violent Fits and such as hindred travel Yet immediately after the Death of that Woman he had no Liberty for Religious Exercises either to perform them himself or to joyn with others therein he remained without that freedom until the latter end of the September following which was almost half a Year and then only Mentally he tryed after her Death as well as often before Vocally to Pray and could not either alone or with others but at the end of September 1667. he could Mentally Pray a quarter of an hour together or more daily with Invention as clear and Affection raised as high as ever before he had Fits and he had no disturbance And because he found such a freedom that way after some time he would try to express it and when he did so though he did it with a whispering Voice yet he had not spoken usually Twenty words before he found a shattering in his head so as he was utterly disabled for Invention of Expression and for a time could not rise up from his Knees in case he were Kneeling After this he would Pray Mentally and still before the ending would try to utter words but found it as before lost his speech and Invention and reeled and staggered about the Room yet even when he was worst of all this way he knew how it was with him Thus he continued until the first Day of the Month of Ianuary following when meeting with a rebuke one blaming him for what was his Duty and reflecting that as the cause of his great Affliction though probably there was not any other cause than Divine Soveraignty for Tryals sake And as if the Lord would witness against such undue reflections upon this Holy Man he returning home the Lord was pleased that very Night after he met with that rebuke to give him a Liberty by himself Vocally to Pray he had tryed the Morning before and could not But it was only by himself he could Pray before others but if they desired it and he did adventure then that very night after he had Prayed before others he lost his Liberty of Praying by himself and had no Liberty that way nor with others for the space of a Week And then at the Weeks end he had Liberty again Vocally by himself and so continued till he did Pray again with others and if it were but with one on a sick Bed or with more it was all a Case he lost his Liberty by it for a Week or a fortnight as before Thus he continued until November 5 1668 and that very Night he had a Liberty to hear one Pray although he had tryed the Lords Day before to hear a Sermon repeated and could not yet now he could And the same Person that was the last he had Liberty to Pray with before his Fits disabled him was the First that he had Liberty to Pray with when his Fits le●t him and at the same Persons House was his First Liberty to hear one Pray and also to Pray before others and not lo●e the Liberty his self The next Day he Prayed in the Family and did not lose his Liberty by it then nor at any time since Only if his head faileth by hearing others exercise then sometimes he loseth his liberty of praying by himself or with others exactly for a week and then it returneth again He findeth less liberty to hear others exercise than to pray himself He can ●ear a a Sermon if he doth not hear the Prayer before and sometimes can hear both Sermon and Prayer but that is seldom In case he adventureth usually he findeth a great distemper disturbance

and shattering in his head which unfitteth him for any service till it be over it is sometimes procured not only by Religious but other actings as he hath attempted often to ride on horse-back since his freedom from Fits but ca●not Even in the month called May 1669. He tryed but he found that he lost all his strength could neither go stand nor speak nor so much as hold a stick in his hand but was in a confusion his head much disturbed by the motion of the horse yet had a knowledge of all things done or said at this time And it is to be noted that since his Fits have left him he findeth no alteration in his body as to working of humours any other ways more than formerly when he was under Fits or before Only findeth some decay of strength by reason of Age yet he hath more strength now than he had in the time of his Fits And this is the true account of his Condition both formerly and at present 1669. Whereby it may be seen that he injoyeth a wonderful Salvation from the Lord which all that have waited upon God in prayer on his behalf are to own him in although it be but partial not total There be some remainders of bodily distempers yet there is great cause to sing forth the high praises of God in all the Assemblies of the Saints and to say What hath God wrought It is a mercy that hath been waited for prayed for and believed for by many Christians and now the Lord expecteth the tribute of praises As for Mr. Spatchet himself he is desirous to glorifie God by offering up praises to him Whe● he had been many weeks under great tossings formerly so as it was a rare thing in six or seven weeks to have one days intermission yet when he had that short breathing he was quieted and did not so much make account of liberty as earnestly beg of God a preparation of heart for what was behind and so when he had ten days or a fortnight or a months liberty the Lord did then put him upon begging a submissive frame of heart for what was yet coming Whereas since the death of that Woman and his freedom that did insue he is less begging submission but more praising God for what he hath afforded and begging an improving Spirit of that freedom It is true he had not an absolute and firm perswasion of deliverance before it came but at some times was not without Faith about it yet submitting it to the Divine Will That Scripture was a wonderful stay to his heart and a great incourag●ment to believe Rom. 16. v. 20. The God of Peace shall tread Satan under your feet shortly And that also of Aeneas who kept his bed eight years and was sick of the Palsie Act 9 v. 33. Peter said unto him v. 34. Aeneas Jesus Christ maketh thee whole And indeed this man was eight years and a little more under this Tryal and sometimes as if he had been in Palsie Fits but at last Jesus Christ hath in some measure made him whole Indeed it was gradually and not all at once thus of old the Lord said to the Children of Israel concerning the Canaanite and the Hittite Exod. 23. v. 29. I will not drive them out from before theee in one year v. 30. By little and little I will drive them out from before thee until thou be increased So the Lord would not drive out this mans Distempers in one year but by little and little and it is hopeful his design was that Spiritually he might the more fructifie and increase to the advancement of his glorious Grace through our Lord Jesus Christ. FINIS A Postscript I Lately Conversed with a near Relation of M. Spatchet with whom he lived after the time of the foregoing Narrative until he Dyed who informed me that he had Fits to the last Shaking his Head and other Limbs but not frequently sometimes many weeks without yet ordinarily could not Pray or Ioyn with others in Prayer And thus he continued till his Death ERRATA PAge 2. Line 20. read Exaltation of p. 9. l. 14. for stirring r. striving l. 23. for 1693. r. 1663. p. 10. l. 25. for are r. were Advertisement MAthematical Di●inity Or A plain Demonstration from the Holy Scriptures that the Times of this World were fore-appointed by the Covenant made with Abraham And determined to be according to the Measure of the Age and Fulness of Christ Kept Secret since the World began but is now made plain upon Twelve Tables in a Solar Calendar as familiar to the Understanding as a common Almanack With a full Proof that this is the last Generation which shall not pass away till all things be Fulfilled and the Gates of Righteousness be opened Being the Result of many Years Study By Elias Palmer Price One shilling Printed for Iohn Harris at the Harrow in the Poultrey

WE whose Names are subscribed do Testifie That we have often seen Mr. Thomas Spatchet in many strange and violent Fitts some of which disabled him for joyning with others in Religious Exercises as Praying Preaching c. concluded to be by Witchcraft And many others in these Parts can testifie the same Witness our Hands May the 4th 1693 Richard Whincop Daniel Sheppard Iohn Felle A Faithful Narrative OF THE Wonderful and Extraordinary FITS WHICH M r. Tho. Spatchet Late of Dunwich and Cookly was under by WITCHCRAFT OR A Mysterious Providence in his even Unparallel'd Fits With an Account of his first Falling into Behaviour under and in part deliverance out of them Wherein are several Remarkable Instances of the Gracious Effects of Fervent Prayer The whole drawn up and written by SAMVEL PETTO Minister of the Gospel at Sudbury in Suffolk who was an Eye-witness of a great part With a Necessary Preface Job 2.6 And the Lord said unto Satan Behold he is in thy hand but save his Life LONDON Printed for Iohn Harris at the Harrow in the Poultrey 1693. Price 6 d. Licensed July 17. 1693. Edward Cook ADVERTISEMENT 1. THE Revelation Vnvail'd Or an Essay towards the Discovering 1. When many Scripture Prophecies had their Accomplishment and turned into History 2. What are now Fulfilling 3. What rest ●till to be Fulfilled with a guess at the Time of them With an Appendix proving that Pagan Rome was not Babylon Rev. 17. And that the Iews shall be Converted By Mr. Sam●el Pet●o of Sudbury in Suffo●k Price One shilling six pence 2. The Life and Death of the Late Antient and Eminent Divine Mr. Hanserd K●ollys who Died in th● 93d Year of his Age. Written with his own Hand to the Year 1672. and continued in general in an Epistle By Mr. William Kiffien To which is added His last Leg●cy to the Church Price stitch'd Six pence 3. A Compendious History of the first Inventers and Instituters of the most Famous Arts Mysteries Laws Customs and Manners in the whole World Together with many other Rarities and Remarkable things never before made Publick To which are added several Curious Inventions peculiarly attributed to England and English men The whole Work Alphabetically digested Being very helpful to the Readers of History Price One shilling 4. A Collection of Modern Relations of Matter of Fact concerning Witches and Witchcraft upon the ●ersons of People To which is prefixed a Meditation concerning the Mercy of God in preserving us from the Malice and Power of Evil Angels Written by the Late Lord Chief Justice Hale upon occasion of a Tryal of several Witches before him Part I. Price One Shilling 5. Necessary Questions concerning Witches and Witchcraft briefly Answered By the same Author Price One shilling All Printed for Iohn Harris at the Harrow in the Poultrey A Preface to the Christian Reader THE fol●owing Narrative and Letter concerning the Case of Mr. Spatchet to the Postscript I did draw up many Years ago when the matters were fresh in Memory I my Self was an Eye-Witness of many of his Fits and there are others not a few yet alive about Walpoole and Cookly who can attest them So as the matter of Fact hath c●nvi●cing Evidences and is undeniable in the Substance of it There are Atheistical and Irreligious Pers●ns in this Age which would perswade us that all such matters are Cheats or come only from a Natural Cause If some be Cheats and Counterfeits must all be so Surely not It is not imaginable that this should be a Cheat for the dispensation was so Stupendous and Terrible that no Man would Voluntarily have b●en biassed by Interest or hired into such a Condition for such a number of Years whatever Worldly advantage could be laid before him If some strange Convulsive Motions may be from a Natural Cause yea even in this Person in part yet it is Irrational to think that the Principal or chief of his unusual Fits should be reducible thereunto Men might more probably say that the sore Boils which Job was smitten with were from a Natural distemper and not from Satan Job 2.7 Many of these Motions were beyond Mr. Spatchets skill as his acting the part of a Drummer a Musician others were apparently involuntary even against his own Life others not only Morally but Naturally impossible without Super added strength as far transcending his Natural power which together with the speedy recovery in a quarter or half an hour after the removal of the Fits from such Tormenting Wracking Pains by Violent Distorting of Limbs sufficiently argue it s not proceeding meerly from a Natural bodily distemper To this I might add what I my self and my Friend Mr. William Bidbank a Minister did observe in another Famous Case at Lowstoft where divers persons not only Dissenters but also others had Torturing Fits and raised or Vomited many Pins all Wrankled and bent so as I could not observe two Pins of th●se which I saw that were bent in the same manner Can any imagine that these Pins were from a Natural Cause engendred in their Bodys and thus bent and when divers of them had Fit●s together at the same time if one recovered and did but go and lay a hand upon the others they would immediately recover and be well again Surely these things may be enough to evince that these things were praternatural And those Lowstoft Witches had their Tryal before that Renowed Cautious and Iudicious Iudge Hale were found guilty and Executed and afflicted persons freed we hope as an answer of Prayer Solemnly made there on the accou●t of the persons before so sorely Visited It remaineth then that if those things were not meerly from a Natural Cause then they must be Diabolical And in the present instance of Mr. Spatchet it is unquestionabl● it b●ing confessed by the Witch her self I would therefore Caution such as are Witch-Advocates to take heed of being incredulous Mockers and Deriders at such things lost the Lord leave them to find by sad Experience that there are such wicked Creatures in the World If any should stumble at it that such a good man as Mr. Spatcher should suffer by the hands of Witches such Children of the Devil Let them know that God for Wise ends permitted Satan sorely to afflict his Servant Job a man who had a Testimony from the mouth of God himself Job 1.8 and 2.3 That he was an upright man one than feared God and escheweth evil ●ea he had a high Encomium that there was none like him upon the Earth And if a Godly man may so deeply suffer by the hand of Witches why may not Satan be permitted to take the shape of a graci●us man may he not do that as well as trasnform himself into an ●ngel of light This is the Comfort of Believers that God doth limit Satan and set bounds to him that he can hurt them no farther than God will permit him As to Mr. Spatchets being afflicted after the Death of the