Neck who did thy Head unthrall Faithful thou art yet hast no Faith at all I did not have my Fishing as some say But still imploy'd my Nets to catch and lay The Gabels on the ground The Royal Throne I brought into the Market every Stone Can witness it The Nobles I did quell Thou still shalt live but I must fry in Hell While my dragg'd body bleeds so basely slain Thou Triumph'st in the Freedom I did gain Learn hence ye Mortals all Be not too rash and bold To fight for other Men Least you be bought and sold Clarks Mirrour part 1. p. 518. LXXIII And as Inferiour Persons so likewise small and Contemptible things as Beasts Birds Insects and the like have been Scourges and wonderful Afflictions to several People and Nations For we read That Sapores King of Persia besieged the Christian City of Nisibis but St. James the Holy Bishop thereof by his Prayers to Heaven obtained that such an infinite number of Gnats came into his Army as put it into the greatest disorder these small Creatures flew upon the Eyes of their Horses and Tormented them in such a manner that growing furious they threw off their Riders and the whole Army was thereby so scattered and brought into confusion that they were inforced to break up their siege and depart Luther Colloquia p. 245. LXXIV Marcus Varro writeth That there was a Town in Spain undermined with Rabbits Another likewise in Thessaly by Moles or Molewarps In Africa the people were compelled by Locusts to leave their Habitations and out of Gyaros an Island one of the Cyclades the Islanders were forced by Rats and Mice to fly away Moreover in Italy the City Amyclae was destroyed by Serpents In Ethiopia there is a great Countrey lies wast and Desart by reason it was formerly dis-peopled by Scorpions and a sort of Pismires And if it be True that Theophrastâ—s reporteth the Treriens were chased away by certain worms called Scolopendres Annius writes that an Antient City scituate neer the Volscian Lake and called Contenebra was in times past overthrown by Pismires and that the place is thereupon vulgarly called to this day The Camp of Ants In Media saith Diodorus Siculus There was such an infinite number of Sparrows that eat up and devoured the seed which was cast into the ground that men were constrained to depart their old Habitations and remove to other places LXXV About the year of our Lord 872 came into France such an innumerable Company of Locusts that the vast multitude of them darkned the very Light of the Sun they were likewise of a very extraordinary Bigness and had a six-fold Order of Wings six feet and two Teeth the hardness whereof surpassed that of a Stone These eat up every green thing in all the Fields of France At last by the force of the Winds they were carried into the Sea and there drowned After which by the Agitation of the Waves the dead Bodies of them were cast upon the Shores and from the Stench of them together with the Famine they had made with their former devouring there arose so great a Plague that it was verily thought every third person in France died thereof In one of the Cities of France the Inhabitants were driven out and forced to leave it by reason of the multitude of Frogs Gualterus Chron. p. 599. LXXVI The Island of Anaphe heretofore had not a Partridge in it till such time as an Astypalaean brought thither a pair that were Male and Female which couple in a short time did increase in such wonderful manner that oppressed with the number of them the Inhabitants upon the point were inforced to depart from the Island Astypalaea of old had no Hares in it but when one of the Isle of Anaphe had put a brace into it they in a short time so increased that they almost destroyed whatever the Inhabitants had sowed whereupon they sent saith the Historian to consult the Oracle concerning this their Calamity which advised them to store themselves with Grey-hounds by the help of which they killed six Thousand Hares in the space of a year and many more afterwards whereby they were delivered from their Greivance The Inhabitants of the Gymnesian Islands are reported to have sent their Embassadors to Rome to request some other place to be assigned them for their Habitation because they were oppressed by the incredible number of Conies among them And the Baleares through an extraordinary increase of the same Creatures among them did Petition the Emperor Augustus that he would send them some Souldiers against these Enemies of theirs which had already occasioned a Famine amongst them Plin. Nat. Hist lib. 8. LXXVII Myas saith Dr. Heylin was a principal City in Ionia upon an Arm of the Sea but in after-times the water drawing further off the Land brought forth such an innumerable multitude of Fleas that the Inhabitants were fain to forsake the City and went with their Bag and Baggage to retire to Miletus nothing hereof being left but the Name and Memory in the time of Pausanias And Herodotus writes That the Neuri a People bordering upon the Scythians were forced out of their Habitation and Countrey by reason of Serpents For whereas a multitude of Serpents are bred in the Soil it self at that time there came upon them such an abundance of them and so infested them that they were constrained to quit the place and to dwell among the Budini Cassander in his return from Apollonia met with the People called Abderitae who by reason of the multitude of Frogs and Mice were constrained to depart from their Native Soil and to seek out Habitations for themselves elsewhere The Countrey of Troas is exceedingly given to breed great store of Mice so that already they have enforced the Inhabitants to quit the place and depart Justin Hist Lib. 15. LXXVIII In the 17th year of the Reign of Alexander the third King of the Scots such an incredible swarm of Palmer Wormes spread themselves over both Scotland and England that they consumed the Fruits and Leaves of all Trees and Herbs and eat up the Worts and other Plants to the very Stalks and Stumps of them As also the same year by an unusual increase and swelling of the Sea the Rivers overflowed their Banks and there was such an Inundation especially of the Tweed and Forth that divers Villages were overturned thereby and a great number both of men and all sorts of Cattle perished in the Waters Zuinglius Theat Vol. 3. Lib. 2. LXXIX About the year 1610 the City of Constantinople and the Countreys thereabouts were so plagued with Clouds of Grashoppers that they darkned the beams of the Sun they left not a green herb or leaf in all the Countrey yea they entred into their very Bed-chambers to the great Annoyance of the Inhabitants being almost as big as Dormice with red Wings Knowls's Hist of the Turks p. 1308. Thus we see there is nothing so small and inconsiderable
consisting of Forty Thousand Housholds He was kindly received into Mexico by the affrighted King whom he caused to acknowledge himself a Vassal to Spain and to present him in the name of a Tribute with so much Treasure as amounted to an hundred and threescore thousand Castellins of Gold A quarrel growing not long after the Spaniards were driven out of the Town But Cortez aided with the whole Forces of the Tlascalans and a recruit of more Spaniards sent thither upon a design against himself he made up an Army of an hundred Thousand Indians 900 Spanish Foot 80 Horse 17 pieces of Ordinance and having with great Diligence made ready a Navy of 13 Galliots and 6000 Canoes or Boats he laid siege to Mexico by Sea and Land wherein the Admirable Courage of that King is very remarkable for having for three Moneths most valiantly defended the City and endured therein all manner of inconveniencies he was at the taking thereof unhappily delivered up alive into the hands of the Spaniards his Enemies upon condition to be used as became a King during his Imprisonment he said or did nothing but what became that Title but after the Victory the Spaniards not finding that quantity of Gold which they had promised themselves though they had left no place unsearcht to discover it they then proceeded by the most cruel and horrible Tortures to force those Prisoners they had taken to confess where they had hid it But unable to prevail this way finding the Indians hearts more strong than their Torments they thereby grew so inraged that contrary to all Law of Nations and against their solemn Vows and Promises they condemned the King himself and one of the Chiefest Princes of his Court to the Rack in the sight of each other The Prince being encompassed with hot burning Coals and being overcome with the extraordinary Torment at last turned his dying Eyes in a most lamentable manner toward his Master as if he begged his Pardon that he could endure the pain no longer The King fixing his Eyes fiercely upon him seemed to upbraid him with pusillanimity and want of Courage and with a stern and setled voice spoke thus to him What Supposest thou that I am in a cold Bath Am I at more ease than thou art Whereat the miserable Prince immediately fainted under the Torture and gave up the Ghost The King being half rosted was carried away not so much for Pity for what Compassion could enter into such Barbarous Wretches who only upon supposing to get some odd Vessel or piece of Gold would broyl a Man to death before their Eyes and not only a Man but a King and a King of such mighty Grandeur and Renown but because his undaunted Constancy baffled their inhuman Cruelties they afterward hanged him for Couragiously attemping by Arms to deliver himself from his long Captivity and miserable subjection and thus he ended his wretched life Wonderful even to Amazement was the Magnificence of the famous Cities of Cusco and Mexico and admirable the Curiosities of this King who had all the Trees Fruits Herbs Plants according to their Order and full bigness in the Garden most Artificially framed in Gold He had likewise in his Cabinet all the Living Creatures that his Countrey or his Seas produced cast in Gold besides abundance of exquisite Works in Precious Stones Feathers Cotton and Painting After a siege of three Moneths Mexico was Taken Plundered and Burnt Aug. 13. 1521. but afterward rebuilt more beautifully than before and thus fell this mighty Kingdom into the hands of the Spaniards by the Valour and good Fortune of Cortez a private Adventurer who was rewarded for that Service by Charles the fifth with many fair Estates in the Province of Mexico and dignified with the Title of Marquess de Valla. Montaigne's Essays Lib. 3. The woful deaths of the 2 Mighty Emperors of Peru Mexico by the Spaniards Page â— Atabaliba came with Twenty five Thousand unarmed Men in Ostentation of his greatness and without any design of making resistance of which this treacherous Pizarro taking the advantage picked a quarrel with him and suddenly charged upon him with his Horse and Ordnance slaying his Guard without resistance and coming neer the Kings Person who was carried upon mens Shoulders upon Rafters or Beams of Massy Gold in a Chair of State also all of Gold they killed several of the Bearers to make him fall endeavouring to take him alive but as soon as one of them fell another presently succeeded in his place so that he could never be brought down or made to fall what slaughter soever was made of these People till a Horseman furiously rid up and taking him by his Clothes pulled him down and took him Prisoner They took as much Gold with him as amounted to fourscore Thousand Castellans and as much Silver as amounted to seven Thousand Marks of his Houshold Plate every Mark weighing eight Ounces and in the soyl of Caxamala they found almost infinite Riches The wretched King they set at so excessive a ransom as exexceedeth all belief which though he truly paid and though by his Conversation he had given apparent Signs of a great and undaunted Soul and of a generous and ingenious Mind yet these insolent Conquerours having exacted from him an House piled upon all sides with Gold and Silver amounting to a Million three hundred Twenty five thousand and five Hundred pound weight in Gold besides the silver and other precious things which came to as much more so that even their Horses were shod with Massy Gold yet they Villainously and Traiterously contrived a false Accusation against him pretending that he designed to raise his Subjects against them for procuring his Liberty upon which they condemned him to be publickly hanged and strangled having first made him to be baptized as he went to Execution thereby to prevent the Torment of being burned alive wherewith they threatned him He took his Death patiently and with a Royal Gravity and undismayed Constancy without the least discomposure either in Words or Countenance The Treasures here gotten were so great that besides the fifth part which Pizarro sent to the Emperour and that which Pizarro and his Brethren kept to themselves every Footman had 7 Thousand 200 Duckets and every Horseman ' twice as much for their part of the Spoil beside what they had gotten in way of Plunder But Vengeance persued these horrid Murtherers though the Spaniards put many fair pretences upon their Actions few of the greatest undertakers going to the Grave in peace for all that were consenting or accessary to the death of this King came to wretched ends but especially his four Brethren Ferdinand Gonsal John Martin of Alâ—antara and Diego of Almagro who as they were principal in the Actions so were they in the punishment and first John Pizarro was surprized in the City of Cusco and slain by some of King Atabaliba's Souldiers then there happened such differences between Francis Pizarro and
Almagro that after they had wasted this rich Countrey of Peru and divided the Spoil among them yet they destroyed one another for Pizarro envying Almagro for being Governour of Cusco and not himself sent his Brother Ferdinand to Challenge him who was so fortunate as to take Almagro Prisoner and delivered him bound to Francis his Brother who cused him to be strangled privately in Prison and afterward publickly beheaded Ferdinand was after sent to Spain with a great Mass of Gold to clear himself of the death of Almagro yet could not so well justifie himself but that all his Treasure was seized and himself secretly made away in Prison Soon after this the kindred and Friends of Almagro whose Estate Pizarro had seized consulted with Don Diego Almagro his Son to revenge the death of his Father Twelve of them undertook the Business who coming into Francis Pizarro's house at Lima he being then Marquess and Governour of Peru they suddenbroke into it and immediately killed a Captain who guarded the entrance of the Hall and Martin of Alcantara so that he fell dead at his brother the Marquess his Feet who though he saw his men thus slain before his eyes and himself left alone in the midst of his Enemies yet he still made a stout defence till all falling upon him at once he was stabbed into the Throat and died Lastly Gonsal had his head cut off by the Emperours Command and thus finished they their wretched dayes answerable to their cruel Deserts Thus have we seen the deplorable Ends of Two of the most mighty and glorious Monarchs of this New World and peradventure of all our Western parts who were Kings over so many Kingdoms And these are the cursed Fruits of Covetousness and Ambition for which so many goodly Cities were ruined and destroyed so many Nations made desolate such infinite Millions of harmless innocent People of all Conditions Sexes and Ages wofully Massacred and Murdered and the richest fairest and best part of the World turned to a Field of Bloud And though we have the Vanity to call those Nations Barbarous who are not so wickedly knowing as our selves yet the ingenious discourse and Replies of these naked Americans shew that their Honesty Truth and Integrity have been the chief occasions of exposing them to the Slavery and Barbarity of these wicked Treacherous and Idolatrous Spanish Christians of which it may not be amiss to give the following Instance Certain Spaniards coasting along the Sea in search of Mines happened to Land in a very Fruitful Pleasant and well peopled Countrey who declaring to the Inhabitants That they were quiet and well meaning People coming from far Countreys being sent from the King of Castile the greatest King on the Habitable Earth unto whom the Pope representing God on Earth had given the Kingdoms and Dominions of all the Indies and that if they would become Tributary to him they should be kindly used and courteously dealt withal They likewise desired them to give them some Victuals to eat and some Gold wherewith to make certain Physical Experiments They also declared to them That they ought to believe in one God and to embrace the Catholick Religion adding withall some Threats thereunto The Indians having patiently heard them one of them returned this Ingenious answer That possibly they might be quiet and well meaning People though their Countenances shewed them to be otherwise And as for their King since he seemed to beg he appeared to be poor and needy And for the Pope who had made that distribution he seemed to be a man who loved mischief and dissention in going about to give that to a third man which was none of his own and so to make it questionable and raise quarrels among the ancient Possessors thereof As for Victuals they should have part of their store and for Gold they had but little and that it was a thing they very little valued as being utterly unprofitable for the service of their lives whereas all their care was to pass their time happily and pleasantly and therefore what quantity soever they should find of it except what was employed in the service of their Gods they should freely take it As touching one only God the discourse of him had very well pleased them but they were resolved by no means to change their Religion in which they had so long time lived so happily neither indeed did they use to take advice or Counsel but from their Freinds and Acquaintance As concerning their high words it was a sign of great want of Judgment to threaten those whose nature condition strength and power was utterly unknown to them And that therefore they should with all speed hasten out of their Countrey and Dominions since they were used to take in good part the kindnesses and discourses of Strangers but if they did not suddenly depart they would deal with them as they had done with some others shewing them the Heads of divers Persons lately executed sticking upon Stakes about their City Montaign's Essays Lib. 3. V. John Cabot succeeded Columbus in this Countrey who on the behalf of King Henry the seventh of England discovered all the North-East Coasts of America from the Cape of Florida in the South to New-found-land in the North causing the American Royolets or petty Kings to turn Homagers and swear Allegiance to the King and Crown of England In 1496 Sebastian Cabot his Son rigged up two Ships at the charge of the same King Henry who intended to go to the Land of Cathay and from thence to turn towards India to this purpose he aimed at a passage by the Northwest but after certain dayes he found the Land ran toward the North He followed the Continent to the 56 Degree under our Pole and there finding the Coast to turn toward the East and the Sea covered with Ice he turned back again Sailing down by the Coast of that Land towards the Equinoctial which he called Batalaos from the number of Fishes found in that Sea like Tunnies which the Inhabitants call Bacalaos Afterward he Sailed along the Coasts to 38 Degrees and Provisions failing he returned into England and was made Grand Pilot of England by King Edward the sixth with the allowance of a large Pension of 166 pound 13 shillings four pence a year Hackluits Voyages Vol. 3. VI. Sir Francis Drake was born nigh South Tavestock in Devonshire and brought up in Kent being the Son of a Minister who fled into Kent for fear of the six Bloudy Articles in the Reign of King Henry the Eighth and bound his Son to the Master of a small Bark which Traded into France and Zealand his Master dying unmarried bequeathed his Bark to him which he sold and put himself into farther Employment at first with Sir John Hawkins and afterward upon his own Account In the year 1577 Dec. 13. He with a Fleet of five Ships and Barks and 174 Men Gentlemen and Saylors began that Famous Navigation of his wherein he
of a hard Cudgel I could not long endure this Service and therefore sought to displease my Patron and make him sell me to another He gave me next to an Officer of the Militia who was so well pleased with my Person and Countenance that he resolved not to part with me for any Money I offered him 800 Dollars he told me I should first go with him into the Countrey and at his return I should have Liberty to be redeemed if I behaved my self well The Turks about this time sent a strong Army to gather the Contributions of the People and to relieve Tremisen or Climsan a strong Populous City in the Inland parts of Africa which commands all the rest of Countrey and was now besieged by the Arabs their deadly Enemies Having run through so many strange and unexpected Fortunes and Adventures I doubted not but to meet with as much variety in this Expedition my Master was Commander of an 100 men he was very passionate and Lascivious but withal valiant Our Army was composed of a thousand Horse and two thousand Foot besides Slaves and Servants with which strong Party we set forward and found the Countrey very fruitful of Corn and Fodder As we past by a Wood we had the sight of several wild Beasts that returned from seeking their Prey Our Vanguard shot at many of them one of our Company to shew his Valour met a Lyon that advanced toward us and with his Scymiter in his hand encountred him but the sport almost cost the Fellow his Life for the Lyon was very strong and struck him down twice with his Paws and the last time in a rage bit off part of his Arm and would have instantly devoured him had we not all shot at him and fixed above an hundred Bullets in his Body We found the Fellow almost dead with fear under the Lion He was glad with the loss of some of his Flesh to have so happily escaped none pitying him since his rashness deserved it In three Leagues we came to a little Valley fruitful of Palms and Olivetrees with a small Rivulet covered with Strawberry Bushes and a Grove at the end Wherein I saw a flying Serpent about the bigness of an ordinary Dog with a large mouth and Tongue about four foot long we shot at it but could not kill it It threatned some of our men who ventured to go near it and would not go till a great number came toward it I saw it near a pleasant Fountain but could not learn the name It had Wings of divers colours especially Red and White bigger than those of our winged Fowls but I could not discern the substance of them It hovered long over our heads and had not the noise of our Guns frighted it away I think it had ventured among us again all the Birds that saw it at a distance fled away I imagined it to be a kind of Basilisk a desperate Serpent and extraordinary venemous it was admired by all of us having never seen the like which made me believe it some Inland Creature not usually seen near the Sea-Coasts Our business in this Journey was to gather Contribution of the Inhabitants who do not willingly pay and therefore the Turks are forced to go in great numbers to oblige them to it The third day we passed over high Mountains fenced on all sides with craggy Rocks so that we were forced to climb over them Our Horse took a Compass about by a way more easie About noon the Sun was extraordinary hot which caused us to seek a repose under the shady Trees that grew in this stony ground as I was resting my self between sleep and waking a great venemous Scorpion fixed her sting in my naked Leg so gently that I had not felt it had I not been told thereof I had heard much of this Serpent and being stung began to fear the increase of the Venom but some had already killed it and brought the bloud to me to apply to the Wound which wonderfully gave present Cure for it had no sooner touched the Tumor but it began to decrease and out of the little wound came forth a Liquor white as Milk by which I found the bloud of the Scorpion hath an attractive Virtue I had no sooner escaped this Adventure but I fell into a worse My Master had sent me to the Rear of the Army to buy Victuals for himself it being there sold ready drest As I was returning loaded I fell down a steep Rock with my Burden but for fear my Master should Cudgel me I soon recovered my self From this unhappy place we removed up a Hill into a Countrey uninhabited but by Monsters and wild Beasts whereof we saw a great many This Mountain is part of the Atlas and runs through all this Kingdom and Fez as far as the Main Ocean part thereof being in the second Region of the Air and so cold that in some Corners which are not exposed to the Sun there was a great deal of Ice and Snow Here we found plenty of Woods and Trees and several sorts of Birds we killed one that had 4 Legs like a Beast Its body was as big as a Turky-cock and the head like an Owl its Tail was extream broad the Feathers Gray and the head black it flies slowly and was therefore killed without difficulty Toward Evening we saw several sorts of Lyons go out of their Dens when the Jackals began to bark the Noblest is called the Royal Lyon of shape bigger and stronger and a more couragious Voice when any of the rest meet such a one they seem to yeild a respect to him He is graver in his motion fiercer in the Encounter and undaunted in the greatest danger others are smaller every night we were visited with several Companies of wild Creatures some of whom had the boldness to break in upon us but never returned back to tell news One Evening we discovered a great Beast afar off and some of us went nearer to discharge our Guns at it It was a Monster of a large size the head like a Lion the Paws like a Bear the hinder parts much like an Ass When it was killed every one in the Army had a sight thereof and I then remembred the saying of the Romans Africa alwayes produces something new for there is every year some strange Creature or other to be seen in those remote places some make it their business to watch them when they come into the World and imploy all their Art to catch them and shew them for money In this wild place were several other sorts of Beasts and Serpents one of a strange nature seeming like a white Lamb which fled before us Our Captain thought it to be so and that it had straggled and therefore we had order to persue it and coming near it made more hast than ordinary to shift among the Trees but being very weary and over-fat it could not escape us yet ran into one of the Bushes
found the Normans dispersed in divers Coasts of his Realm Charles marches with his Army against them but at the first encounter is overthrown this Check though the loss was small struck a great Terror and at last caused an apparent impossibility to succour the City of Neustria then besieged by them with very great Forces He was therefore advised to Treat with them and to make them of Enemies Friends and to leave them that which he could not take from them Whereupon he yeilded Neustria to them by his own Authority without the consent of the Estates and the Normans called the Countrey Normandy By this and some other things he fell into a deep hatred with the French upon which Charles fell sick and that sickness was accompanied with a distemper of the mind thorow Jealousy conceived against his Queen Richarda After this the Germans dispossess him of his Empire and give it to Arnold and the French reject him from governing that Realm electing in his room Odo Duke of Angiers This poor Prince deposed from all his Dignities was forsaken of every man having so ill provided for himself in prosperity that he had not a house wherein to shrowd himself and being banished the Court he was driven to a poor Village in Swevia where he lived some days in extream want without any means of his own or releif from any man In the end he died neither pitied nor lamented of any man in a Corner unknown till now made famous as being the Theatre of so extraordinary a Tragedy And surely for one of the greatest Monarchs in the World thus to dye without House without Bread without Honour without Mourning and without Memory is a singular instance of the Vanity and inconstancy of this uncertain World Hist France pag. 72. XV. Dionysius the younger King of Sicily had his Kingdom in good constitution and sufficiently fortified having no less then 400 Ships of five or six Oars in a Seat He had one hundred Thousand Foot and Nine Thousand Horse His City of Syracuse had strong Gates and was compassed with high Walls he had in readiness all manner of Warlike Provisions to furnish out 500 Ships more He had Granaries wherein he laid up an 100 Myriads of that measure which contains 6 bushels of Bread Corn. He had a Magazine filled with all sorts of Arms Offensive and Defensive He was also fortified with Confederates and Allies so that he himself thought the Government was fastened to him with Chains of Adamant But being invaded by Dion in his absence his People revolted and behold what a fatal Revolution fell out in his Family Himself had before slain his Brothers and in this Insurrection against him his Sons were cruelly put to death his Daughters were first ravished then stript naked and in short none of his Progeny obtained so much as a decent Burial for some were burnt others cut in peices and some cast into the Sea and he himself died old in extream Poverty his manner being to 〈◊〉 in Barbers Shops and as a Jester to move men to â—aughter Thus in the midst of Greece in a very mean and low condition he wore out the miserable remains of a wretched Life Aelian var. Hist k. Cambuses cruelly kills the Son of One of his Principall Favourites Page 54. After the death of Cyrus Cambyses his Son reigned King of Persia and King Croesus still remained in that Court Now it happened that King Cambyses had slain twelve Persians of Principal rank whom K. Croesus thus admonished Do not O King said he indulge thine Anger and Rage in every thing but refrain your self It will be for your advantage to be prudent and provident and foresight is the part of a wise man but you upon slight occasions put to death your Countreymen and spare not so much as young Children If you shall go on to do often in this manner consider if you will not give occasion to the Persians to revolt from you your Father Cyrus laid his strict Commands upon me that as often as occasion should require I should put you in mind of those things which might conduce to your profit and welfare Cambyses snatch up a bow and arrow with intention to have shot Croesus through therewith but he hastily fled Cambyses thus prevented commanded his Ministers to put him to death but they supposing the King would repent himself and then they should be rewarded for his safety kept him privately alive It was not long before Cambyses wanted the Counsel of Croesus and when his Servants told him that he yet lived Cambyses rejoyced thereat but ordered them to be slain who had disobeyed his Commandment in preserving him whom he had condemned to Death This Cambyses was a very bloudy Tyrant which might be partly occasioned by his Flatterers for having a mind to marry his Sister he was told by his Lawyers That they knew no Law which admitted such Marriages but that there was a Law that the Persian Kings might do what they listed which Maxim he often put in Practice For on a time desiring to be truly informed by Prexaspes his beloved Favorite what the Persians his Subjects thought of his Conditions He answered They were followed with abundance of praise from all men only it was observed by many that he took more than usual delight in the Taste of Wine Cambyses being enraged at this reproof replied And are the Persians double Tongued then who also tell me that I have in all things excelled my Father Cyrus Thou Prexaspes shalt be my witness whether in this report they have done me right For if at the first shot I pierce thy sons heart with an Arrow then it is false that hath been spoken but if I miss the mark I am then pleased that the same be counted True and my Subjects believed And immediately he shot an Arrow at the innocent Child who falling down dead with the stroke Cambyses commanded the body to be opened and his heart was found sticking upon the Arrow at which this monstrous Tyrant greatly rejoycing shewed it to his Father with this saying instead of an Epitaph Now Prexaspes thou maist resolve thy self and conclude that I have not lost my wits with wine but the Persians there 's who report such things of me He died miserably afterward in Egypt without any Son or Successor of his Family Rawleigh Hist World Lib. 3. XVII Strange and bloudy was the Consequence of a small accident at Lisbon in Portugal Upon April 10 1506. many of the City went to the Church of St. Dominick to hear Mass On the left side of this Church there is a Chappel much reverenced by those of the Countrey and called Jesus Chappel Upon the Altar there stands a Crucifix the wound of whose side is covered over with a peice of Glass some of those who came thither to do their Devotions casting their eyes upon this hole it seemed to them that a kind of Glimmering Light came out of it Then happy
Physicians had left him as a person whose case was utterly desperate and his Servants eager after the spoil enter his Chamber and seize upon all the Ornaments of it They took down the Hangings Pictures Statues carry out the Carpets Cushions and the very Clothes of their Master yea his Cardinals Gown while he yet breathed and looked upon them The Cardinal kept an Ape and he observing how his Fellow servants had been busied comes also himself into the Chamber looks round about him to see what was left for him he finds nothing but only the Cardinals Cap which lay neglected upon the ground this the Ape merrily takes up and puts upon his own head This Spectacle moved the almost dying Cardinal to an extream laughter the laughter broke the Impostume and after he had well vomited he was restored to his health and to the recovery of his imbezelled Goods Wanly's Hist Man pag. 631. LI. In the year 1602. saith the famous Crollius I saw at Prague a Bohemian Countrey Fellow named Matthew aged about 36 years this man for 2 years together with a strange and unheard of Dexterity in his Throat used often in Company of such as sate drinking to take a knife af the usual bigness with a haft of Horn and this after the manner of a Jugler he would put down his Throat and drink a good draught of Ale after it which was given him for his pains But he could recover it at his pleasure and with a singular Art take it by the point and draw it out But by I know not what misfortune the day after Easter the same year he swallowed the same knife so far that it went down into his very Stomach and by no Artifice of his could be drawn back any more He was half dead through the apprehension of death that would undoubtedly follow but after he had retained the knife in manner aforesaid for the space of seven weeks and two days entire by the use and means of Attractive Plaisters made up with Loadstone and other things the knife point by a natural impulse began to make its way out near the Orifice of the Stomach which the Patient perceiving though by many perswaded to the contrary because of the imminent hazard of his Life was very earnest that incision might be made and so the knife drawn out which he at length obtained to be done by many intreaties and upon Thursday after Whitsontide about seven a Clock in the Morning all was happily performed by Florianus Mathis of Brandenburg the chief Chirurgeon both of the City and Kingdom The Knife is laid up amongst the Emperors Rarities and shewed as an incredible miracle by the Courtiers and others in the City the length of this Knife is nine Inches and the colour of it was so changed as if it had all that time lain in the Fire The Countrey Fellow in some few weeks by the care of his expert Chirurgion without any further Sickness or Trouble and contrary to the Judgment of Physitians recovered his former health so perfectly that soon after he married and lived many years Crollius Chymistry pag. 125. LII This mans Recovery was very admirable but that which follows seems yet more strange being much more likely to kill than cure as having been the occasion of many a mans Death but however since a credible Author reports it I shall do the same Paleologus the Second Emperor of Constantinople was dangerously sick and when Nature nor the Art of his Physitians could any way help him and that he had kept his Bed for a whole year to the great prejudice of the State His Empress was informed by an old Woman that it was impossible her husband should recover unless he was continually vexed and provoked by her harsh dealing and ill usage for by that means the humors that were the occasion of his sickness would be dissipated and discharged This advice was approved and by this way of contrary cure as one would think the Empress proceeded For she began continually to vex and torment him to an exceeding height scarce observing him in any one thing that he commanded with these frequenâ— and incessant vexations the malignant Humors were dispersed by the Augmentation of heat and the Emperor did so perfectly recover that throughout those twenty years in which he afterward lived even to the sixtieth year of his Age he remained sound and well Camerarius's Spare Hours Cent. 3. LIII A certain man saith Solenander lay sick upon his Bed and in all appearance entring upon the last moments of his life at which time came an Enemy of his and inquires of his Servant where his Master was He is said he in his bed and in such a condition that he is not likely to live out this day But he as the manner of the Italians is resolving he should dye by his hands enters his Chamber and giving the sick Person a desperate Stab departs but by the Flux of Bloud that issued from that wound and the diligent attendance of his cure the man recovered receiving as it were a new life from him who came for no other purpose than to assure himself of his death Schenk Observat lib. 5. LIV. Sir John Cheek was once one of the Tutors to King Edward the 6th and afterwards Secretary of State much did the Kingdom value him but more the King for being once desperately sick the King carefully enquiring of him every day at last his Physitian told him there was no hope of his Life being given over by him for a dead man No said the King He will not dye this time for this morning I begged his life from God in my prayers and obtained it which accordingly came to pass and he soon after contrary to all expectation wonderfully recovered This saith Dr. Fuller was attested by the old Earl of Huntington bred up in his Childhood with King Edward to Sir Thomas Cheek who was alive in 1654. and eighty years of Age. Lloyds State Worthies pag. 194. LV. Duffe the Threescore and eighteenth King of Scotland laboured with a new and unheard of Disease no cause was apparent all Remedies insignificant his body languishing in a continual sweat and his strength apparently decaying insomuch that he was suspected to be bewitched which was increased by a rumor that certain Witches of Forrest in Murray practiced his destruction arising from a word which a Girl let fall That the King should dye shortly who being examined by Donald Captain of the Castle and Tortures shewed her Confessed the Truth and how her Mother was one of the Assembly And when certain Souldiers were sent in search they surprized them roasting the waxen Image of the King before a soft Fire to the end that as the wax melted by Degrees so should the King dissolve by little and little and his life should waste away with the Consumption of the other But the Image being broken and the Witches hanged for this Treason the King recovered his wonted
by many degrees his Superiors to battels burnings plunder spoil blood and death and it was admired that amongst such a confused multitude he could proceed so regularly in his orders and have them so exactly observed He was very observant to Ladies and Churchmen not suffering any outrage to them yea among such mighty rich goods as were burnt he would not suffer the value of a pin to be converted to his own private use The first order Published by Massanello on Thursday Morning was That none should wear Cloaks Gowns Cassocks c. nor women any Fardingals and that when they went abroad they should tuck up their Petty-coats least they should carry any Arms underneath and it was strange to see what Universal Obedience was given to the same then might you see even the Nobility Churchmen Religious Orders of all sorts going up and down in querpo without upper Garments during Massanello's Reign every one submitting to so vile a fellow This Morning likewise he caused the great Guns to be mounted and planted in the most advantageous places of the City and Guards of Horse and Foot placed near them He commanded all Noble men and Gentlemen to deliver their Arms to persons appointed upon pain of death and though this might expose them to the fury of the people yet they durst not disobey He also set a rate upon all edible Commodities But now by the mediation of the Archbishop Articles were drawn up between the Vice-Roy and the People whereby their Priviledges were confirmed and a general pardon granted and the people were acknowledged for the King's Children and the most Loyal Subjects he had in all his Dominions About Ten a Clock this day it being reported that the Accord was finished and that Massanello was to go to the Vice-Roy to the Castle for confirming it with the hands of the Vice-Roy the Council Royal and the Council of State hereupon an incredible multitude of People Assembled together and command was given under pain of Firing That all Masters of Families should hang their Windows Walls and Balconies with the Richest Silks and Tapestryes that they had and that all the wayes to the Castle should be swept clean Which was no sooner spoken than done by persons of all sorts and ranks Massanello then sent one of his Captains to acquaint the Vice-Roy of his purpose of coming to parlee with him who answered That he might when he pleased for he would gladly see him Presently after cloathing himself in Cloath of Silver with a large Plume of White Feathers in his Hat and a Naked Sword in his hand he mounted on a Prancing Gelding and marched toward the Castle attended by Fifty Thousand of the choicest of the people some on Foot others on Horse-back next after him followed the Archbishop in his Coach on whose right hand rode Massanello's Brother in Cloth of Gold c. The cry was in every corner as they passed along Let the King of Spain live let the most faithful people of Naples live When he came to the Castle he was met by the Captain of the Vice-Roys Guard welcoming him in his Masters name to the Pallace where his Excellency expected him with great desire Massanello returning a grave and short answer stopped and made a sign to the People that they should go no farther there being Twenty Thousand already entred and it was admirable to see how immoveably they all stood and with incredible silence whereupon alighting he began with a loud yet gentle voice to exhort them to return thanks for their good success in obtaining their Liberties telling them That for his own part he desired nothing but the publick good For said he I was offered Two Hundred Crowns a Month all the time of my life if I would have desisted but I do refuse it Moreover if the Archbishop had not enjoyned me and threatned me with Excommunication I would not have apparelled my self as you now see me I would never have altered my Seamans Cloths such a one I was born such a one I lived and such a one I mean to dye after I have once Established the publick Liberty But yet lay not down your Arms till a Confirmation comes from the King of Spain Trust not the Nobles they are Traytors and our Enemies After which he went into the Castle and upon the Stairs the Vice-Roy met him to whom he humbled himself thanking him for condescending to their Articles telling him That he might dispose of him as he pleased either to hang him break him on the Wheel or any other kind of death But the Vice-Roy raised him up telling him That he knew not that he had committed any fault nor had offended his Majesty and therefore he should be cheerful and that he should alwayes respect him And herewith he often embraced him Whilst they were consulting together a rumor arose among that infinite number of people which staid without That Massanello was arrested or some hurt done to him therefore the Vice-Roy took him with the Arch-Bishop unto a Balcony where he might be seen of all who looking on the people said to them Lo I am here I am alive and free Peace Peace at which the multitude exceedingly rejoyced Then said Massanello to the Vice-Roy My Lord you shall see how obedient the People be and so he bid them cry Let God live let the King of Spain live c. which they immediately did and then he added Let the ill Government dye they all cryed so likewise Then putting his finger to his mouth there was a profound universal silence that scarce a man was seen to breath He then with a loud voice commanded that every one there present should depart from that Court under pain of Rebellion and Death which was punctually and presently obeyed whereat the Vice-Roy was much astonished After many discourses it was agreed That the Peoples demands should be printed and subscribed by the Vice-Roy and all his Councils and that the Sunday following they should all come to the Cathedral and there swear to observe them for ever as also to procure the Confirmation thereof from his Catholick Majesty after which Massanello took leave to depart At his departure the Vice-Roy gave him a rich Chain of Gold worth three thousand Crowns putting it about his neck with his own hands and declared him to be the Duke of St. George both which he would have refused but that the Archbishop advised him to the contrary Massanello then went with the Archbishop to his Palace and whilst they were discoursing together a Rumour was spread that many of the Banditi were coming into the City but it proved to be the Marquess of St. Ermo who with his Followers returned from his Countrey house to the City yet had the jealous People almost pulled him to peices had not Massanello at the request of a Lady interposed for his safety and so ended the fifth day being Thursday July 11. 1647. On Friday Morning there came a Boat with
a small Grate where the Provost was The Provost conjured him as a Christian to go and tell the Duke of Alva That his Provost was there clapt up nor could he imagine why The Gentleman did his Errand and the Duke being astonished sent for the Warden and his Prisoner Hereupon the Provost was brought in Cuerpo full of Straws and Feathers Mad-man like before the Duke who at the sight of him breaking into a Laughter asked the Warden why he had made him a Prisoner Sir said the Warden it was by Virtue of your Excellencies Commission brought me by Captain Bolea Bolea stept forth and told the Duke Sir you have often asked me how these hairs of mine grew so suddenly Grey I have not revealed it to any Soul breathing but now I will tell your Excellency and so fell a relating the Passage in Flanders and Sir said he I have been ever since beating my brains how to get an equal revenge of him for making me old before my time The Duke was so well pleased with the Story and the wittiness of the Revenge that he made them both Friends and the Gentleman who told me this Passage says Mr. Howel said that this Captain Bolea was then alive so that he could not be less than ninety years of Age. Howel's Letters Vol. 1. XCV Not much unlike this is another peice of Innocent Revenge related by Mr. Chetwind The Pope that he might congratulate Charles Cardinal of Lorrain for his great Zeal against the Protestants sent him his Letters of Thanks and withal the Picture of the Virgin with Christ in her Arms being the curious Master-peice of Michael Angelo The Messenger in his Journey fell sick and lighting upon a Merchant of Lucca who pretended himself a Retainer to the Cardinal delivered the Popes Letter and Present to him to convey to the Cardinal who undertook it This Merchant was a bitter Enemy to the Cardinal for divers injuries from him received and therefore determined at this time to have upon him at least a moderate and bloodless Revenge Being therefore arrived at Paris he gets a Limner who also owed ill will to the Cardinal to draw a Picture of equal Bigness in which instead of the V. Mary were drawn to the Life the Cardinal the Queen his Neice the Queen Mother the Wife of the Duke of Guise all stark naked their Arms about his Neck and their Legs twisted in his This being put in the Case of the other with the Popes Letters were delivered to one of the Cardinals Secretaries while he was with the King in Council At his return the Cardinal having read the Letter reserved the opening of the Case till the next day where having invited those very Ladies with many Nobles and Cardinals they found themselves miserably deceived disappointed and exceedingly confounded and sham'd Chetwind's Hist Collections p. 359. XCVI The same Author relates another that An Astrologer foretold the death of King Henry the seventh such a year the King sent for him and asked him if he could tell Fortunes He said Yes The King then asked If he did not foresee some eminent danger which much about that time should hang over his own head He replied No Then said the King Thou art a foolish Figure-caster and I am more skilful than thou for as soon as I saw thee I instantly prophecied thou shouldst be in Prison before night which thou shalt find True and immediately sent him thither He had not been long in Custody but the King sent for him again enquiring if he could cast a Figure to know how long he should be in Prison He still answered No Then said the King Thou art an illiterate Fellow who canst not fâ—retell the good or bad that shall befal thee therefore I will conclude thou canst not tell of mine And 〈◊〉 set him at Liberty Chetwind's Hist Collect p 327. XCVII I shall add one more and so conclude this Subject A certain Jeweller had sold the Wife of Galienus the Roman Emperor counterfeit and glass Jewels for true Ones The Empress being informed of the Cousenage requested that he might have due punishment The Emperor having heard the Complaint of his Wife commands the man to be dragged from his Presence with this sentence That he should be exposed to a Lion to be torn to peices But while the Impostor fearfully and the People greedily expect that some fierce and Terrible Lyon should be let out of his Den to devour him The Head of a man only appears from the Den and it was a Cryer who by the Emperors Order proclaimed these words He has played the Cheat and now he is cheated himself and thereupon he was immediately pardoned and discharged Wanly's Little World pag. 177. XCVIII Stupendious was the Tragedy Acted at the Hague upon Mr. John de Wit Pentionary of Holland and West-Friesland and his Brother Mounsieur Cornelius The Tragical Deaths of Iohn and Cornelius de wit at the Hague in Holland Page 180. de Wit Ancient Burgomaster of the City of Dort Ruwart of the Countrey of Putten on the 20 of August 1672. which happened in the manner following On the last day of July 1672 the Counsellor Fiscal having according to the Orders of the Court of Holland fetched Cornelius de Wit called Ruwart Van Putten from Dort to the Hague secured him in the Castle where he was accused by a Barber who about a fortnight before had impeached him in the following manner That Ruwart Van Putten would have hired and obliged him the said Barber called William Tichelaar to murder his Highness the Prince of Orange Upon which several Examinations having been made the said Ruwart was ordered to be kept close Prisoner and August 6 was removed from the Castle to the Prison Gate as also the Barber who voluntarily surrendred himself August 15 in the Evening a Report was spread in the Hague that Ruwart had a design to break out of the Prison which made divers Flock to the Prison Gate and Guard the same all night Yet nevertheless the People were so dissatisfied fearing that by some means or other he might be got away that they threatned to pull down the adjacent houses if they did not find him which forced several Persons of Quality to go into the Prison and at their return assured the enraged Multitude that they had both seen and spoke with the said Ruwart But this availing little they resolved to be further satisfied by making this Ruwart shew himself to them all at a Window of the Prison that they might both see and know him which being done their Fury was somewhat allayed for that time yet the Prison was guarded Night and Day by the Burgers Aug. 20. The following Sentence was pronounced against Ruwart Van Putten by the Court of Holland and West-Friesland The Court of Holland having seen and examined the several Points and Articles given â—n by the Procurator General of the same Court against Mounsieur Cornelius de Wit Ancient Burgomaster