they were hardly used and now in their Journey loaded with heavy Irons and more inhumanely dealt with They with great chearfulness profess'd That they were better in a more happy Condition than ever in their Lives from the sense they had of the Pardoning Love of God in Jesus Christ to their Souls wholly referring themselves to their wise and gracious God to chuse for them Life or Death Expressing themselves thus Any thing what pleases God what he sees best so be it We know he is able to deliver but if not blessed be his Name Death is not terrible now but desirable Mr. Benjamin Hewling particularly added As for the World there is nothing in it to make it worth while to live except we may be serviceable to God therein And afterwards said ' Oh! God is a strong Refuge I have found him so indeed The next Opportunity I had was at Dorchester where they both were carried there remaining together four days By reason of their strait Confinement our Converse was much interrupted but this appeared that they had still the same Presence and Support from God no way discourag'd at the approach of their Tryal nor of the event of it whatever it should be The 6th of September Mr. Benjamin Hewling was ordered to Taunton to be tryed there Taking my leave of him he said Oh! Blessed be God for Afflictions I have found such happy Effects that I would not have been without them for all this World I remained still at Dorchester to wait the Issue of Mr. William Hewling to whom after Tryal I had free Access whose Discourse was much filled with Admiring of the Grace of God in Christ that had been manifested towards him in calling him out of his Natural State he said God by his Holy Spirit did suddenly seize upon his Heart when he thought not of it in his retired Abode in Holland as it were secretly whispering in his Heart See ye my Face enabling him to answer his gracious Call and to reflect upon his own Soul shewing him the Evil of Sin and Necessity of Christ from that time carrying him on to a sensible adherence to Christ for Justification and Eternal Life He said Hence he found a Spring of Joy and Sweetness beyond the Comforts of the whole Earth He further said He could not but admire the wonderful Goodness of God in so Preparing him for what he was bringing him to which then he thought not of giving him hope of Eternal Life before he called him to look Death in the face so that he did chearfully resign his Life to God before he came having sought his Guidance in it and that both then and now the Cause did appear to him very Glorious notwithstanding all he had suffered in it or what he further might Although for our Sins God hath with-held these good things from us But he said God had carryed on his blessed Work in his soul in and by all his Sufferings and whatever the Will of God were Life or Death he knew it would be best for him After he had received his Sentence when he returned to Prison he said Methinks I find my Spiritual Comforts increasing ever since my Sentence There is no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus it 's God that justifies who shall condemn When I came to him the next Morning when he had received News that he must die the next day and in order to it was to be carried to Lyme that day I found him in a more excellent raised Spiritual Frame than before He said he was satisfied God had chosen best for him he knows what the Temptations of Life might have been I might have lived and forgotten God but now I am going where I shall sin no more Oh! it 's a blessed thing to be free from sin and to be with Christ Oh! the Riches of the Love of God in Christ to Sinners Oh! how great were the Sufferings of Christ for me beyond all I can undergo How great is that Glory to which I am going It will soon swallow up all our Sorrow here When he was at Dinner just before his going to Lyme he dropt many abrupt Expressions of his inward Joy such as these Oh! the Grace of God the Love of Christ Oh that blessed Supper of the Lamb to be for ever with the Lord He further said When I went to Holland you knew not what Snares Sins and Miseries I might fall into or whether ever we should meet again But now you know whither I am going and that we shall certainly have a most joyful meeting He said Pray give my particular Recommendations to all my Friends with acknowledgments for all their Kindness I advise them all to make sure of an Interest in Christ for he is the only Comfort when we come to die One of the Prisoners seemed to be troubled at the manner of the Death they were to die to whom he replied I bless God I am reconciled to it all Just as he was going to Lyme he writ these few Lines to a Friend being hardly suffered to stay so long I AM going to Launch into Eternity I hope and trust in the Arm of my Blessed Redeemer to whom I commit you and all my dear Relations my Duty to my dear Mother and Love to all my Sisters and the rest of my Friends William Hewling As they passed through the Town of Dorchester to Lyme multitudes of People beheld them with great Lamentations admiring at his Deportment at his parting with his Sister As they passed upon the Road between Lyme and Dorchester his Discourse was exceeding Spiritual as those declared who were present taking occasion from every thing to speak of the Glory they were going to Looking out on the Country as he passed he said This is a Glorious Creation but what then is the Paradise of God to which we are going 'T is but a few hours and we shall be there and for ever with the Lord. At Lyme just before they went to die reading John 14.18 He said to one of his fellow-Sufferers Here is a sweet Promise for us I will not leave you comfortless I will come unto you Christ will be with us to the last One taking leaving of him he said Farewel till we meet in Heaven Presently I shall be with Christ Oh! I would not change conditions with any in this World I would not stay behind for Ten Thousand Worlds To another that ask'd him how he did now He said Very well he bless'd God And farther asking him if he could look Death in the face with Comfort now it approach'd so near He said Yes I bless God I can with great Comfort God hath made this a good Night to me my Comforts are much increased since I left Dorchester Then taking leave of him said Farewel I shall see you no more To which he replied How see me no more Yes I hope to meet you in Glory To another that was by him to the last
in a strange Sickness that he had shrewdly buffeted and handled by him and not far from a Possession His Sickness was a Vertigo 40 Fits at least in an hour and every one of them accompanied with sore Temptations but by Prayer and Fasting they were removed and he recovered Strength and Courage and Comfort though the Devil had tempted him strongly to blaspheme threaten to make him the Scorn of Religion to torment and hinder him if he offered to fast or pray or preach Clark in his Life p. 71. 5. Mr. Tho. Tregosse for five Weeks was kept under by the Spirit of Bondage and Afflicting Tortures till at last he took up a Resolution of discovering some Sins which most burdened his Conscience and meeting with a comfortable Passage concerning God's Love to Mankind in some of our English Divines he was somewhat quieted and refrashed See his Life 6. Mrs. Elizabeth Wilkinson was much troubled with Temptations Doubts Fears and Sickness but imparting her Condition to some Christian Friends hearing Sermons and reading proper Books after many years she was much strengthned and comforted and on her Death Bed even ravished with Joy See her Life by Mr. Clark 7. Mrs. Katherine Bretterge was upon her Death-Bed assaulted with most greivous Temptations which made her cry out That a Roaring Wilderness of Woe was within her her Sins had made her a Prey to Satan wishing she had either never been born or made any other Creature than a Woman crying Wo wo wo c. a weak wretched woful forsaken Woman c. But at last through the Mercies of God recovered extraordinary Comfort See more in the Chap. of Earnests of a Future Retribution 8. Mr. Robert Glover for five years was so worn and consumed with Cares and Fears about his Soul and Reflections upon his Backsliding that he had no pleasure of Meat Drink Sleep nor Life itself but seemed as if he had been almost in the Pit of Hell yet before he died recovered his Comforts so that he lived as if already possessed of Heaven Clark 's Examp. vol. 1. c. 3. 9. I have already or shall have occasion hereafter to speak of the Afflictions and subsequent Comforts of Mr. Mackarnesse Mr. Rob Smith of Ludshelft Mr. Charles Langford all which have published a Narrative of their own particular Cases and following Cures to the World for the Caution and Encouragement of others 10. Mr. Timothy Rogers who is a very ingenious Gentleman of great Learning Candor and Moderation upon his Recovery after two years very heavy Sickness thought himself obliged to commemorate the Mercy of God to him in delivering him in a manner Miraculously from his Malady after the Fruitless Attempts of many Physicians of great Note to restore him in the Assemblies of his People on these words Psal 30.3 4. O Lord thou hast brought up my Soul from the Grave c. Sing unto the Lord O ye Saints of his and give Thanks at the remembrance of his Holiness They are of great use not only for Persons in his Case but for all in general since they not only contain grateful Remembrances of God's Mercies for Deliverance out of Trouble but necessary Directions for all Christians how to behave themselves which Precautions to acquit themselves so as to provide for the worst of Afflictions After Pathetical Acknowledgments of the great Mercies he received from God in his Affliction both for giving him Patience under it and Deliverance from it and to the People for their Kindness to him in his Distress he raises these two Observations from the Words 1. That God alone is the Soveraign-Disposer of Life and Death 2. That to be brought up from the Grave is a Mercy greatly to be acknowledged and for which we ought to be very thankful He afterwards proceeds to give a plain Relation of some part of his sore distress and I shall give it you in his own words I would desire says he to praise God my self for his great Mercy in my Recovery and also beg of you to praise him in my behalf I will give you a short Account of the Deplorablness of my Condition before I was delivered It will not be a very delightful Account but yet as Solomon says Eccl. 7.2 It is better to go to the House of Mourning than to the House of Feasting It is better some times to hear sad than always pleasant Things And in as much as Grief and Mourning is in it self a very grave and homely thing that requires not Ornament or artificial setting off I shall without affecting to be thought eloquent give You A plain Relation of some part of my sore Distress AFter an ill habit of Body that had for some years attended me together with some little Ilnesses now and then which were but as drops to the greater Storm that was to come upon me and which I could not foresee it pleased God at length in his just and righteous Judgments to suffer my growing Distemper to arrive to a most formidable height So that before I desisted from coming to this place my Sleepdeparted quiâ—e away and for several Nights in a Week I slept no more than I do at this time upon which there immediately followed a general Weakness and Decay of Spirits a general Listlessness and a total Indisposition and by feeling of this I had a strong Impression in my Mind that I shouldvery speedily die as strongly fix'd in my Apprehensions as if it had been said to me as to Hezekiah Thou shalt surely die I thought I was immediately to go to the Tribunal of God and the Thoughts of immediate appearance before him continued with me for about a year there was not a Day past wherein I did not think that I should be dead before Night and at Night I should be dead before the Morning I thought my self just at the entrance into the Grave And what a strange prospect that is and what a mighty Change it causes in a Man's Thought none know but those that have apprehended themselves so near it nor do they fully know it unless they have been near it for many Months together He adds in another place If at any time I rested a little that little Rest was all the while disturb'd with terrible and amazing Dreams and when I awaked I always sound my self in strange and unexpressible Pain in Anguish and Bitterness such as nothing in this World is able to represent even as to its lowest degrees And judge you into what Confusions and Disorders this alone would throw a Man if it were single My Disease and my Fears and sad Apprehensions came upon me as a Whirlwind like the rushing of many mighty Waters strange and horrible Pains and great Fears so that it was as an universal Storm from which there was no retreat Sometimes by the Greatness of my Trouble I was even stifled with Grief that I could not for a great while speak a Word and when I spoke it was in a mournful
taking what she had intends for Dover and so for France but the Child who had been playing up and down in the Copice crying after him he returned and cut his Throat and leaves him by his Mother and now goes forward on his Journey thinking all safe But mark the Providence of God Quickly after comes a Boy from Chatham to gather Sticks and a Dog with him the Boy being busie a gathering Sticks the Dog was busie a hunting up and down and having found out these two dead Corpses never leaves howling till the Boy came to him who no sooner saw this dreadful Spectacle but runs like one mad to the Town and acquainted his Neighbours who hasting to the Place and finding it as the Boy had related it unto them by her Cloaths and by her Son knew the Persons and now they want to find out the Murderer They knowing that Writtle was a Suiter to her a Hue-and-Cry was sent after him and he was taken at Dover and sent to Gaol See the Narrative 22. Ann Cocketon of the Parish of Stepney was Indicted in the Old-Baily for the Murder of her Male Bastard Child on the 9th of May 1696. by throwing it into a House of Office The Evidence deposed That she did think that the Prisoner was troubled with the Gripes and did desire her to give her some Water And about Four in the Morning the Prisoner did go down to the Vault with the Close-stool-pan and a while after came up again very weak but did not think of any thing that had happened but going down the next Morning with a China-Bowl by accident she let it fall in and looking after it she espied the Child there and she took it and washed it and laid it in a Cellar The Midwife declared that searching her she found that she had lately been delivered of a Child CHAP. CXIV Divine Judgments upon Theft Robbery c. HE that hath taken so much care for the Security of our Estates and Possessions as to make a Prohibition of Stealth one of the Commandments bath taken care likewise to annex a Penalty to the same Law and hath allowed us to kill a Night-Thief without imputing it to us at the Sin of Murder Exod. 22.2 And hath himself likewise appeared an Avenger of the Crime as in the case of Achan Ahab c. And besides it may appear plain enough to any one that makes any careful Remarks upon Divine Providence that Ill-got Goods seldom prosper 1. Draco the Law-giver of Athens appointed Death to be the Punishment of Theft Solon mitigated that Rigour and punished it with double Restitution The Locrians put out his Eyes that had stolen ought from his Neighbour The Hetrurians stoned them to Death The Scythians abhorred them more than all Creatures because they had a Community of all Things except their Cups The Vaccians used such Severity towards this kind of Men that if one had but taken a Handful of Corn he was sure to die for it Beard 's Theatr. p. 294. 2. Marcus Fabius being Censor condemn'd his own Son Buteo to Death being apprehended for Theft Tiberius the Emperor punished a Soldier after the same manner for stealing a Peacock In sum there was no Commonwealth wherein this Sin was not highly detested and sharply punished except the Lacedoemonians where it was permitted and tolerated for their Exercise of Warlike Discipline Ibid. 3. It was a rash and severe yet as it proved a just Deed of Tamberlain that mighty Tyrant and Conqueror of Asia when a poor Woman complained to him of one of his Soldiers that had taken from her a little Milk and a piece of Cheese without payment He caused the Soldier 's Belly to be ripped to see whether she had falsly accused him or no and finding the Milk in his Stomach adjudged him worthy of that Punishment for stealing from so poor a Woman Ibid. 4. Ibicus the Poet being set upon by Thieves when he saw that they would not only rob him of his Money but of his Life also he cryed for Help and Revenge to the Cranes that flew over his Head A while after as these murdering Thieves sate together in the Market-place the same Cranes appearing unto them in the Air they whispered one another in the Ear and said Yonder fly Ibicus 's Revengers Which tho' secretly spoken yet was over-heard So that they being Examined and found Guilty were put to Death for their Pains The like Story Martin Luther reporteth touching a Traveller only differing in this That as Cranes detected the former so Crows laid open the latter 5. In Georgia a Thief is acquitted paying Sevenfold what he hath stole two Parts to the Party robbed one to the Judges and four to the King If he hath not wherewith to satisfie he is sold if the Product do not yet equal the Summ his Wife is sold and if that will not do his Children Tavernier l. 3. c. 9. 6. The great Mogul will himself sit as Judge in Matters of Consequence that happen near him They proceed in Tryals Secundum allegata probata They punish Theft and Murder with Death and what kind of Death the Judge pleaseth to appoint Some are hanged beheaded empailed and put on Stakes torn in pieces by wild Beasts killed by Elephants stung with Snakes No Malefactors lie above one Night in Prison sometimes not at all but are speedily brought upon Tryal and so to Execution See my Book of all Religions 7. The Chinese punish Murder and Theft with Death Sir Tho. Herb. Their Justice is severe their Prisons strong and Executions quick 8. The Japonese punish all manner of Theft with Death Tavernier's Collect. p. 4. 9. A. C. 1659. At Brightling in Sussex there was a stupendious and amazing piece of Providence November the 7th in the Evening a Fire kindled in a Man's Milk-house the 9th Dust was thrown upon the Man and his Wife as they lay in Bed together next Morning things were thrown about and the Fire kindled again in the same Place but put out by the Woman then in the Eeves of the House and put out by a Neighbour a Pot broken on the Table with a piece of Brick and as they were going to fill a Tub with Water to set by them all Night the Fire was kindled again in the Milk-house and suddenly the whole House was on fire but most of the Goods saved The Fire was very white and did not singe their Hands when they pulled things out of it The Houshold-stuff was carried next Day to a Neighbour's House and put in one end the Family being in the other end there Dust was thrown upon the Man and his Wife in Bed At last up riseth the Man and with another accompanying him with a Candle and Lanthorn in his Hand went to Mr. Bennet the Minister of the Town and entreated him to go down with him Accordingly He and his Brother went prayed with them and at first Dust was thrown at them but all quiet
Monster yet often viewing will make it familiar and free it from distaste Walk every day with Joseph a turn or two in thy Garden with Death and thou shalt be well acquainted with the Face of Death but shalt never feel the Sting of Death Death is black but comely Philostrates lived Seven Years in his Tomb that he might be acquainted with it against his Bones came to lie in it Some Philosophers have been so wrapp'd in this Contemplation of Death and Immortality that they discourse so familiarly and pleasingly of it as if a fair Death were to be preferâ—◠〈◊〉 a pleasant Life 1. King Xerxes standing on a Mountain and having many Hundred thousand of his Soldiers standing in the Plain fell a weeping to think upon it how in a few Years he and all those gallant valiant Men must die Adam he lived 930 Years and he died Enoch he lived 965 Years and he died Methusalem lived 967 Years and he died Oh the longest Day hath its Night and in the end Man must die Maximilian the Emperor made his Coffin always to be carried along with him to this end that his high Dignity might not make him forget his Mortality Joseph the Jew in his best Health made his Stone Coffin be cut out in his Garden to put him in mind of his Ego abeo I go hence The Persians they buried their dead in their Houses to put the whole Houshold in mind of the same Lot Semel mori once to die Simonides when commanded to give the most wholsome Rule to live well willed the Lacedoemonian Prince ever to bear in mind Se tempore brevi moriturum E're long he must die I have read of a sort of People that used dead Mens Bones for Money and the more they have they are counted the more Rich Herein consists my richest Treasure to bear that about me that will make me all my Life remember my End Great Sultan Saladin Lord of many Nations and Languages commanded upon his Death-bed that one should carry upon a Spear's point through all his Camp the Flag of Death and to proclaim for all his Wealth Saladin hath nought left but this Winding-sheet An assured Ensign of Death triumphing over all the Sons of Adam I uncloath my self every Night I put off all but what may put me in mind of my Winding-sheet Anaxagoras having Word brought him his only Son was dead his Answer was Scio me genuisse mortalem I know he was born to die Philip of Macedon gave a Boy a Pension every Morning to say to him Philippe memento te hominem esse Philip remember thou art a Man and therefore must die When I was a young Man saith Seneca my care was to live well I then practised the Art of Well-living When Age came upon me I then studied the Art of Dying well Platonius in Stobelas 'T is not enough saith he to spend the present Day well unless thou spendest it so as if it were to be thy last Caesar Borgias being sick to Death said When I lived I provided for every thing but Death now I must die and am unprovided to die A Man saith Luther lives Forty Years before he knows himself to be a Fool and by that time he sees his Folly his Life is finished So Men die before they begin to live When dying then sin if you can said Picus Mirandula In Sardis there grew an Herb called Appium Sardis that would make a Man lie laughing when he was deadly sick Such is the Operation of Sin Beware therefore of this Risus Sardonicus Laughter of Sardis Commonly good Men are best at last even when they are dying It was a Speech worthy the Commendation and frequent Remembrance of so divine a Bishop as Augustine which is reported of an aged Father in his time who when his Friends comforted him on his Sick Bed and told him they hoped he should recover answered If I shall not die at all well but if ever why not now Surely it is Folly what we must do to do unwillingly I will never think my Soul in a good case so long as I am loath to think of dying There is no Spectacle in the World so profitable or more terrible than to behold a dying Man to stand by and see a Man dismanned Curiously didst thou make me in the lowest part of the earth saith David But to see those Elements which compounded made the Body to see them divided and the Man dissolved is a rueful sight Every dying Man carries Heaven and Earth wrapped up in his Bosom and at this time each part returns homeward Certainly Death hath great dependency on the course of Man's Life and Life it self is as frail as the Body which it animates Augustus Caesar accounted that to be the best Death which is quick and unexpected and which beats not at our doors by any painful Sickness So often as he heard of a Man that had a quick passage with little sense of pain he wished for himself that Euthanesie While he lived he used to set himself between his two Friends Groans and Tears When he died he called for his Looking-glass commanded to have his Hair and Beard kembed his rivelled Cheeks smoothed up then asking his Friends if he acted his part well when they answered Yes Why then says he do you not all clap your hands for me Happy is he who always and in every place so lives as to spend his every last moment of Light as if Day were never to return Epictetus most wisely teaching this Death saith he and Banishment and all that we look upon as Evils let them be daily set before thy Eyes but of all most chiefly Death So shalt thou think upon nothing that is too low nor too ardently covet any thing The Day-Lily is a Flower whose Beauty perishes in a Day There is also a Bird haunts the River Hypanis called Haemorobios or the Bird of one Day ending its Life the same Day that it begins dying with the dying Sun and travelling thro' the Ages of Childhood Youth and Old Age in one Day In the Morning it is hatch'd at Noon it flourishes in the Evening it grows old and dies But this is more to be wonder'd at in that winged Creature that it makes no less Provision for one little Day than if it were to live the Age of a Crow or a Raven To this little Animal the Life of Man is most fitly to be compar'd It inhabits by the River of Gliding Time but more fleet than either Bird or Arrow And often only one Day determines all its Pomp oft-times an Hour and as often a Moment We ambitiously desire great Names and without any prejudice to our Ears we hear the Titles of Magnificent most Illustrious Happy Pious Most Potent Most August Most Invincible the Best the Greatest What can we do more unless we should imitate Sapor King of the Persians in an Epistle which he thus began to Constantine the Emperor Sapor King
as Mr. Battiscomb and made him such frequent Visits in the Prison till the Place it self was so far from being Scandalous that there was generally all the Conversation and where you might be sure to meet the best Company in the Town of both Sexes Mr. Battiscomb had the Happiness not to be displeasing to the fair Sex who had as much Pity and Friendship for him as consisted with the Rules of Decency and Vertue and perhaps their Respect for him did not always stop at Friendship tho' it still preserved the other Bounds inviolable Pity is generally but a little way from Love especially when the Object of it is any thing extraordinary But after he had been there some time and nothing could be prov'd against him which could any ways affect him he was at length almost unwillingly deliver'd from this sort of happy Slavery And when the Duke landed appear'd with him and serv'd him with equal Faith and Valour till the Rout at Sedgmoor when he fled with the rest and got up as far as Devonshire where he was seiz'd in a Disguise and brought to his old Palace the Prison at Dorchester He behav'd himself there the second time in the same courteous obliging manner as he did at the first tho' now he seem'd more thoughtful and in earnest than before as knowing nothing was to be expected but speedy Death tho' his Courage never droopt but was still the same if it did not encrease with his Danger At his Tryal Jeffreys rail'd at him with so much eagerness and barbarity that he was observ'd almost to foam upon the Bench. He was very angry with him because he was a Lawyer and could have been contented all such as he should be hang'd up without any Trial and truly 't was no great Matter whether he or the rest had had that Formality or no. Mr. Battiscomb was as undaunted at the Bar as in the Field or at Execution How he demeaned himself in Prison before his Death take this following Account verbatim as 't was written by his Friends The Account given of him by his Relations HE was observed to be always serious and chearful ready to entertain Spiritual Discourse manifesting Affection to God's People and his Ordinances he seem'd to be in a very calm Indifference to Life or Death referring himself to God to determine it expressing his great Satisfaction as to some Opportunities of Escape that were slipt saying That truly he sometimes thought the Cause was too good to flee from suffering in it tho' he would use all lawful Means for his Life but the Providence of God having prevented this he was sure it was best for him for he said he bless'd God he could look into Eternity with Comfort He said with respect to his Relations and Friends to whom his Death would be afflictive That he was willing to live if God saw good but for his own part he thought Death much more desirable He said I have enjoyed enough of this World but I never found any thing but Vanity in it no Rest or Satisfaction God who is an Infinite Spiritual Being is the only suitable Object for the Soul of Man which is spiritual in its Nature and too large to be made happy by all that this World can afford which is all but sensual Therefore methinks I see no reason why I should be unwilling to leave it by Death since our Happiness can never be perfected till then till we leave this Body where we are so continually clogg'd with Sin and Vanity frivolous and foolish Trifles Death in it self is indeed terrible and natural Courage is too low to encounter it nothing but an Interest in Christ can be our Comfort in it he said which Comfort I hope I have intimating much advantage to his Soul by his former Imprisonment The Day he went from Dorchester to Lyme after he had received the News of his Death the next Day he was in the same serious Cheerfulness declaring still the same Apprehension of the Desirableness of Death and the great Supports of his Mind under the Thoughts of so sudden passing through it alone from the Hope of the Security of his Interest in Christ taking leave of his Friends with this Farewel Tho' we part here we shall meet in Heaven Passing by 〈◊〉 Estate going to Lyme he said Farewel Temporal Inheritance I am now going to my Heavenly Eternal One. At Lyme the Morning that he died it appeared that he had the same Supports from God meeting Death with the same cheerfulness When he was mounting the Ladder he smiled and said I am not afraid of this I am going to a better Place from a poor and miserable World to a Celestial Paradise a Heavenly Jerusalem I might have chosen whether I would have undergone this Death if I had hearkened to the L. C. J. but it was upon such unworthy Terms that shou'd I have accepted of my Pardon it wou'd have been troublesome to me I die a true Protestant I am in Charity with all Men. God preserve this Nation from Popery The Lord bless you all So taking his leave of them he knew after Prayer he lanched into Eternity His CHARACTER All that knew or saw him must own Mr. Battiscomb was very much a Gentleman not that thin sort of Animal that flutters from Tavern to Play-house and back again all his Life made up of Wig and Crevat without one dram of Thought in his Composition but one who ha◠solid Worth well drest and set out to the World His Body made a very handsome and creditable Tenement for his Mind and it had been pity it shou'd have liv'd in any other He wa◠pretty tall well made I think inclining to Black not altogether unlike Mr. Benjamin Hewling as He has been thought to resemble the Duke of Monmouth He was Witty Brave exactly Honourable Pious and Vertuous and if ever that Character belong'd to any Man it did eminently to Mr. Battiscomb That he liv'd universally belov'd and dy'd as generally lamented 3. Mr. WILLIAM JENKYNS HIS Father was sufficiently known and his Circumstances hard enough being seized only for his Opinion and clapt up close in Newgate where the Inconvenience of the Place and want of the Exercise he formerly enjoy'd quickly kill'd him as he used to say before his Confinement 't would certainly do if ever it happen'd Thus was he requited by that very Person for whom with Mr. Love he ventured his Life so deeply and so hardly escaped with it 'T was his inhumane Treatment which edg'd and animated his Son and the Revenge of his Father's Blood may be presum'd to have gone very far in pushing him on to engage his Life and Fortune in this Undertaking he having given Funeral Rings for his Father with this Poesie William Jenkyns murder'd in Newgate He was his Father's only Son who had taken care to have him educated suitable to his ingenuous Birth and Inclinations He improved sufficiently in all useful Learning and was
is a certain way by which some Men make Trial what Death is but for my own part I cou'd ne'er yet find it out But let Death be what it will 't is certain 't is less troublesome than Sleep for in Sleep I may have disquieting Pains or Dreams and yet I fear not going to Bed I hope these Thoughts will put a gloss upon the Face of Death and to make Death yet the easier to thee think with thy self I shall not be long after thee for 't is but t'other Day I came into the World and anon I am leaving it I now take my leave of every Place I depart from There is says Feltham no fooling with Life when 't is once turned beyond Thirty Silence was a full Answer of him that being ask'd what he thought of Humane Life said nothing turn'd him round and vanish'd Abraham see how he beginneth to possess the World by no Land Pasture or Arable Lordship the first thing is a Grave The first Houshold-stuff that ever Seleucus brought into Babylon was a Sepulchre-stone a Stone to lay upon him when he was dead that he kept in his Garden and you know my Dear a Friend of ours tho' in perfect Health that 's now making his Coffin as a daily Monitor of his own Mortality Life at best is uncertain yet as to outward Appearance I am likely to go first But should'st thou die before me But what a melancholy thing wou'd the World then appear I 'll retire to God and my own Heart whence no Malice Time nor Death can banish thee The variety of Beauty and Faces I shou'd see after thy Decease tho' they are quick Underminers of Constancy in others to me wou'd be Pillars to support it since they 'd then please me most when I most thought of you I 've graved thy Picture so deep in my Breast that 't will ne'er out till I find the Original in the other World Don't think my Dear that conjugal Affection can be dissolved by Death The Arms of Love are long enough to reach from Earth to Heaven Fruition and Possession principally appertain to the Imagination If we enjoy nothing but what we touch we may say Farewel to the Money in our Closets and to our Friends when they go to Agford Part us and you kill us nay if we wou'd we cannot part Death 't is true may divide our Bodies but nothing else We have Souls to be sure and whilst they can meet and caress one another we may enjoy each other were we the length of the Map asunder Thus we may double Bliss stol'n Love enjoy And all the Spight of Place and Friends defie For ever thus we might each other bless For none cou'd trace out this new Happiness No Argus here to spoil or make it less 'T is not properly Absence when we can see one another as to be sure we shall tho' in a State of Separation For sight of Spirits in unprescrib'd by space What see they not who see the Eternal Face The Eyes of the Saints shall out-see the Sun and behold without Perspective the extreamest Distances for if there shall be in our glorified Eyes the Faculty of Sight and Reception of Objects I could think the visible Species there to be in as unlimitable a way as now the intellectual The bright transforming Rays of Heavenly Light Immense Immortal Pure and Infinite Does likewise with its Light communicate The Spirit exalt and all its frame dilate St. Augustine tells us The Saints of God even with the Eyes of their Bodies closed up shall see all things not only present but also from which they are corporally absent for then shall be the Perfection whereof the Apostle saith we Prophecy but in part then the Imperfect shall be taken away Whether this be so I cannot say yet sure I am that nothing can deprive me of the Enjoyment of the Vertues while I enjoy my self Nay I have sometimes made good use of my Separation from thee we better fill'd and farther extended the Possession of our Lives in being parted you lived rejoyced and saw for me and I for you as plainly as if you had your self been there But sure I dream for lo on a sudden all the Arguments I use to sweeten our parting are as so many Daggers thrust into my Heart and now it comes to the push I can't bear the Thoughts on 't Part bless me how it sounds 't is impossible it shou'd be so it does not hang together What part after so many Vows of never parting here or scarce a Minute in the other World 'T is true we first came together with this Design to help and prepare one another for Death but now the Asthma is digging thy Grave and thy Coffin lies in view I am fainting quite away methinks I feel already the Torments to which a Heart is expos'd that loses what it loves never did Man love as I have loved my Sentiments have a certain Delicacy unknown to any others but my self and my Hearts loves Daphne more in one Hour than others do in all their Lives Say dear Possessor of my Heart can this consist with parting No With Gare on your Last Hour I will attend And least like Souls should me deceive I closely will embrace my new-born Friend And never after my dear Pithia leave 'T is my Desire to Die first or that we expire together in thy tender Arms I wou'd imitate herein the Mayor of Litomentia's Daughter who leaping into the River where her Husband was drowned she clasped him about the middle and expires with him in her Arms and which is very Remarkable they were found the next Day embracing one another I likewise admire the Resolution of the Indian Wives who in Contempt of Death scorn to survive their Husbands Funeral Pile but with chast Zeal and undaunted Courage throw themselves into the same Flames as if they were then going to the Nuptial Bed As Remarkable is that of Laodomia the Wife of Protesilaus who hearing that her Husband was killed at Troy slew her self because she would not out-live him Neither is Artemisia to be less valued who after the Death of her Husband lived in continual Mourning and dy'd before she had finished his Tomb having drunken the Bones of her Husband beaten into Powder which she buried in her own Body as the choicest Sepulchre she cou'd provide for him And if we look back into ancient Times we find there was hardly a (g) (g) Dr. Horneck's Lives of the Primitive Christians Widow among the Primitive Christians that complained of Solitariness or sought Comfort in a Second Marriage Second Marriage then was counted little better than Adultery their Widows were the same that they were whilst their Husbands lived Neither are the Men without Ancient and Modern Instances of this Nature For C. Plautius Numida a Senator having heard of the Death of his Wife and not able to bear the Weight of so great a Grief thrust his Sword into
by the force of his Love and Loss as having lost the most certain and faithful Companion of his Fortune of his Counsels this Cares his Labours and his Thoughts who far exceeded all the Excellencies of the Female Sex that hardly the Vertue of any Woman in any Age can be compar'd to hers For that Reason perhaps in was that Heaven deny'd her Off-spring lest she should bring forth a worse than herself and here Husband seeing Nature could go no further Ibid. 68. Thou best and greatest of Queens thou departest this Life in the Flower of thy Age but what remorsless Death has abstracted from the Number of thy Years Men will add as much and more to the Eternal Glory Fame and Remembrance of thy Name This Life will prolong thy Consecrated Memory to after Ages Nor Marble Mausoleum nor Golden Urn shall hide thee thy Tomb shall be our Breasts Ibid. 69. Being once put in Mind of her approaching End with an undaunted Countenance she return'd this Masculine and truly Royal Expression I am not now to prepare for Death it has been my Study all the Days of my Life Francius 's Oration upon the Death of the Queen 70. Upon the Death of the Queen His Majesty 's otherwise invincible Courage gives way to raging Grief and he who had so often contemn'd the Bullets and Swords of his Enemies he who dreaded neither Flames nor Steel nor Death itself languishes falls and swoons away upon the Death of his dearest Queen He remembers himself to be but a King finds himself a Man and not unwilling acknowledges the Excess of his Grief Miserable Man that I am said he I have lost the best of Women and the most pleasing Companion of my Life Ibid. 71. When she was sometimes forc'd to rise at Midnight by reason of the urgent Affairs of the State and could not afterwards Sleep she commanded either the Holy-Scripture or some other pious Book to be brought her If any Persons came to visit her in a Morning before she had pour'd forth her Prayers she sent 'em back with this Expression That she was first to serve the King of Kings If any Persons were said to seek her Life by Treachery and Conspiracy her Answer was That she submitted to the Will of Heaven Ibid. 72. When any new-fashion'd Garment or costly Ornament was shewed her she rejected 'em as superfluous and answered The Money might be better laid out upon the Poor Ibid. 73. The Mind of Man is better discern'd by his Death than by his Life for Man is apt in his Life-time to conceal and dissemble his Affections but at his Death the Mask being remov'd he appears what he is What was more noble and signal than the Death of this Queen What more becoming a wise Man and a Christian than that Saying of hers This is not the first time that I prepar'd my self for Death Ibid. 74. When the more solemn Duties of Religion were over she never gave her Mind to the frivolous Stories of Amadis and impertinent Fictions of Amad. but attentively studied the Volumes of those Authors by which she might improve her Knowledge and her Prudence I shall relate not what I gathered from the common Reports of Fame but from the Lips of a most worthy Person and my Friend who being admitted in the Morning to kiss her Hands found before her Cambden's Annals of Queen Elizabeth and Doctor Burnet's History of the Reformation But Piety is never to be accounted solidly accomplish'd unless accompanied with Liberality otherwise it would be Piety only in Words and not in Deeds as she herself would say upon the approach of her expiring Minutes Ortwinius's Oration upon the Death of the Queen 75. While Her Majesty was sick the King refus'd to stir from the languishing Queen's Bed-side assiduous to serve her and careless of the Infection that many times accompanies the Malady she had and being often requested to spare His Royal Person and not to inflict another Wound upon suffering Europe made answer That when he Marry'd the Queen he Covenanted to be the Companion not only of her Prosperity but of whatever Fortune befel her and that he would with the Hazard of his Life receive from her Lips her last expiring Gasps All hope of Recovery now was fled away and the most Reverend Father in God the Arch-bishop of Canterbury being admitted into the Room in order to perform the last Duties of his Function Such harsh and disconsolate News would have struck another Person with Horrour and Trembling But what said the Queen to this Full of Faith and Constancy she receiv'd the Tidings with a chearful and undaunted Countenance saying withal That she did no way seek to shun the Stroke of Death but was ready prepar'd for the dark Mansion of the Grave for that she had always so led her Life that whenever Death gave her his last Summons she should be a Gainer by it Ibid. 76. In the first Years of her Youth this Princess display'd the best Natural Disposition in the World a sweet Humour agreeable and always equal a Heart upright and sincere a solid and firm Judgment and a Piety beyond her Age. And it was upon this sincere Report that the great Prince who espous'd her desired to be united to her declaring That all the Circumstances of Fortune and Interest did never engage him so much as those of her Humour and Inclination Funeral Orations upon the Queen recited by the Learned Author of The Collection of Canons Printed at the Hague 77. They who had the Honour to be acquainted with the Character of this great Queen well knew that the Lustre of a Crown did never dazle her 78. She has been heard to say and I have heard her myself when she was congratulated upon her Advancement to the Crown That many times so much Grandeur was a Burthen That in such Stations People liv'd with less Consent to themselves than others and that she should wish she were in Holland again And indeed she had Reason to say so For it may be said of those that Govern that they resemble the Stars that shine with a bright Luster but are never at rest Ibid. 79. I have let no Day pass said the pious Queen when they told her what a dangerous Condition her Life was in I have let not Day pass without thinking upon Death So that she did not look upon it as the People of the World are wont to look upon it with dread and horrour but she look'd upon it after a most Christian-like manner as the end of her Time and the happy Entrance into Eternity She had frequently thought upon that Sentence which will be pronounced to every one of us at the Hour of Death You shall be no more Ibid. 80. With what Goodness did she still inform herself of the Wants and Necessities of those that were in Affliction With what Care did she order 'em to be provided for Her Alms had no other Bounds than those
the bravery of the Temple by the Excellency of the outward Court If the Walls of Babylon are so great what is the City But if the very Suburbs of the New Jerusalem yea the Neighbour-Villages and Country round about at so vast a distance be so rich so plentiful what shall we think of the place itself If the Sun shines to us so glorious so far off what is it if you were near to it I desire not Readers to impose upon your Faith tell me you that admire this World for so delicate an Eden do not you think the God that made it and gave it to the Children of Men most of which care but little for him hath he not a far better for himself and his own Children Psal 8.1 3 c. 2. The Reports of them that have been there or had some sight of the place I shall name St. Paul for one 2 Cor. 12.2 4. Will ye believe such a Man See what he saith 2 Cor. 4.17 18 2 Tim. 4.8 and in several other places I mention St. John the Apostle for another entertained with extraordinary Visions in the Isle of Patmos Rev. 21.2 c. Will ye believe the Son of God that came down from Heaven to visit the Children of Men And came on purpose to court us and prepare our way thither he hath told you of those Rewards in several places Mat. 8.11 Mat. 13.43 Mat. 22.30 Luke 12.32 Luke 20.36 John 10.28 Neither have they only told us these Stories but seal'd their Reports with Miracles and Sufferings And others have believ'd them as wise as we and we believe others in Things as strange and incredible that are not so worthy of Credit as this And why do we stumble here But verily Canaan was a Type of Heaven and the Reports of that a Figure of these and the Unbelief of the Israelites in that Case a Shadow of ours in this They would not believe then nor we now but the Aggravation is on our part Caleb only of them that were sent to search the Land encourag'd them We have a Cloud of Witnesses to encourage us and yet we will not believe Well many of them fell short God not being pleased with them let us take care lest we fall also the same Example of Vnbelief 4. The Inhabitants that dwell there and are like to be our Companions for ever Here we sojourn in Meshech and dwell in the Tents of Kedar we cohabit with a People of unclean Lips and an uncircumcised Heart In Hell the Company is worse nothing there but damned cursed blaspheming Spirits In Heaven is pure Society without any mixture of Evil or Unkindness The Apostle tells you who they are and I suppose you know Heb. 12.22 23 c. 1. God himself Blessed for Evermore The Lord is in his holy Temple the Lord's Throne is in Heaven Psal 11.4 The Lord of Hosts wonderful in Counsel and excellent in Working A King Eternal Immortal Invisible who dwells in the Light which no meer Mortal Man can approach unto The Strength of Israel glorious in Holiness fearful in Praises gracious and merciful slow to anger of great kindness abundant in Goodness and Truth The Father of Lights with whom is no variableness nor shadow of turning The Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come the same God for ever and ever The humble holy and compassionate Jesus who died for us who trod the Wine-press of his Father's Wrath alone for us and came from Heaven to Earth from Earth to Hell from Earth to Heaven again to prepare the Way and provide Mansions of Bliss and Crowns of Glory for us The Blessed Spirit the Second Advocate our tender Guide Solliciter and Comforter the Three-One God blessed for evermore 2. The holy Angels glorious Creatures as far superiour to the Excellency of Man as Man is to the Beasts that perish We may guess their Excellency 1. From their Priority of Creation Indeed Moses or whoever was the Author of Genesis gives us no Historical Account of their Creation because it concern'd not us But we may probably conjecture that they were made before us not only because of their Excellency but because likewise they are said to be present Witnesses of the Creation of Man and sung together Job 38.7 When the Foundations of the World were fasten'd and the Corner-stone laid And besides no sooner scarce was Man in Paradise but Satan was there ready one of the fallen Angels to lay a Temptation for him 2. Their Nature having neither the Clogs of Flesh Bones or Blood as we have but free nimble intellectual Spirits 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Principalities and Powers endow'd with an extraordinary Measure of Knowledge 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eyes before and behind of a quick Sight and Conception and a quicker Expedition in the Dispatch of Sacred Duty Love hath given Wings of an ardent Zeal and a flaming Affection thence called Seraphim in a word immaterial and immortal 3. Their Number You will not expect that we should count the Stars of Heaven Rev. 12.4 Some of the Heathens thought them innumerable so Max. Tyr. and Pythagoras thought all the Air was full of them Thales omnia Deorum sunt plena Orpheus counted 365 Hesiod Three Myriads the Holy Scripture Thousands and Ten thousand times Ten thousand c. Dan. 7.10 Whatever they are they are many and glorious Creatures insomuch that the very appearance of them in this lower World would dazle and affright us We have frequent mention made in the Old Testament of their appearing to some Persons of greater Favour and Eminency in the Church and yet even then it was an astonishing Wonder and even good Men look'd upon it as a Presage of Death Judg. 13.6 19 22. and it would be so now We are dash'd in the Presence of a Man that is extraordinarily famous and eminent for Wisdom Goodness or Greatness How many have we read or heard of Men of a competent Spirit Presence and Courage have been struck mute in the Company of some Great Sir How should we veil our Faces now to Angels as they to God in Heaven The Rags of our Mortality Sin and Baseness is enough to make us blush in such pure glorious heavenly Company That which I drive at in all this is to shew That if the Inhabitants be so rich so brave the Country is a Paradise If the Courtiers are so gorgeously apparelled and arrayed with so high a Glory the Court is more glorious These are the Natives of the place And do not you think the place where they live is mighty pleasant They must needs fare well that go to such good Company 4. But besides all this we shall have the Society of the Spirits of Just Men made perfect Fan the World and sift it so clean that all the Chaff may be driven away and nothing left but pure Grain Good Men Men that love God and work Righteousness and cleave to that which is good Run over all
then the Bravery of the Vniverse in one entire Eternal Scene Infinite Glory display'd in Paraphrase You shall see then what a God is and what he can do And when ye have seen the Beauty Order and Excellence of it you shall believe and wonder and say as the Queen of Sheba of Solomon's House the Reports you heard of Heaven in the lower World were far short of the Truth Chrysostom says It were worth the while 't would quit Costs to suffer daily Torments yea to endure Hell itself for some time to see Christ come in his Glory and joyn himself to the Number of his Saints For my part I am very sensible that the outward Court of this World is strew'd with variety of Comforts very pleasant to Flesh and Blood to the Sensitive part of Man but I do firmly believe that if we had but a sight of the inner part of Heaven were the Curtains drawn and could we look within the Veil 't would be a Sight worth all this World and more The Cherubims over the Mercy-Seat were enough to put a Sinner into Rapture and Extasie Glorious Things are spoken of thee thou City of GOD. Thus having told you the Joys of Heaven are great now I am to tell you they are certain And all the Arguments I have used already to prove the Joys great are of some validity and tendency to prove them certain If the Preparation for it hath been so long a making from Eternity to the present Time by Decree Creation Providence Redemption Sanctification variety of Dispensations c. If the wisest and best of Men have taken such Pains for it if it be the Purpose of Almighty God whose Power nothing is able to resist then to shew forth the Greatness and Excellency of his Glory we may safely conclude that God will certainly accomplish his whole Will and will not be frustrate in any of his Decrees and that the wisest and best of Men in the World cannot be all mistaken in a Point of so great moment and if they should be so yet it were the safest way to err in such Company But be it how it will with some I am very confident some will be as willing to have it certain as I to prove it so and for the sake of those I go on 1. God hath promised it Dan. 12.2 3. Mat. 5.8 Luke 12.32 Fear not little Flock for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom c. 1 Cor. 15.19 If in this Life only we have hope in Christ we are of all Men most miserable 2. But if ye dare not take his Word he hath sworn by his Life and Being that if the Future Glory be not ours it shall not be by his default he will not be wanting to do his part As I live saith the Lord I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked Ezek. 33.11 3. He hath entred into a very solemn Covenant with us by Baptism and hath confirmed it too in the Lord's Supper and therein hath avowed to us before Witness that he will be our God and do what is fit for a God to do in order to the saving of us Thus have I briefly proved that the Joys of Heaven are very great and very certain with such Arguments as I cannot answer myself and I suppose nor you neither such as are enough to make a lame Man run a Coward fight a Sinner repent and the heaviest Sluggard rouze up shake himself and be Religious in earnest Enough to make the Sinner leave his wicked Courses the Miser his Bags and the Martyr his Body Oh that Joy O my God when shall I be with thee The Saying of the young Lord Harrington To sit on Thrones with Robes of White and Crowns of Glory To live like Angels to see God Face to Face To sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven To shine as the Sun in the Firmament To feel no Hunger Thirst Pain Sickness Death more To have our Bodies glorified and our Natures refined and all our Faculties perfected and we safe in the full Enjoyment of God to all Eternity To be made free to Rivers of Pleasure and Joys unspeakable for evermore What Soul not clogg'd with Flesh and Blood and bewitched with Sin would not leap at these Tidings and scorn to truckle any longer to the Moon and Clouds and little Vanities of this World Those soft effeminate Souls that sleep out their Life in a Golden Dream of Happiness and awake anon in Everlasting Burnings shall sadly find too late that Heaven was worth more than a cold Wish I would fain Reader Is it not possible to awaken myself and you into a posture of Work and Resolution When you find yourself declining into a Slumber look up and remember what lies beyond the Stars and then gird your Loyns put on Courage and scorn to keep pace with an ill-natur'd sluggish drowsie World put on with Courage and fear no Colours Heaven is before you i. e. Joy so great as you cannot conceive enough to make amends for all the Travel foul Way and Charges of your Journey A Compleat HISTORY Of the Most Remarkable Providences Both of Judgment and Mercy which have happened in this Present Age. Extracted from the best Writers the Author 's own Observations and the Numerous Relations sent him from divers Parts of the Three Kingdoms To which is added Whatever is Curious in the Works of Nature and Art The Whole digested into one Volume under proper Heads being a Work set on Foot Thirty Years ago by the Reverend Mr. Pool Author of the Synopsis Criticorum and since Undertaken and Finish'd by William Turner M. A. Vicar of Walberton in Sussex Recommended as useful to Ministers in Furnishing Topicks of Reproof and Exhortation and to Private Christians for their Closets and Families Together with the Names of those Modern Authors and persons of Note from whose Printed Works or Manuscripts the aforesaid Author has received great Assistance in the Compiling of this Book The CONTENTS PART I. COntaining The History of Divine Providences to which is Prefixt A Practical Introduction to this Work being the Author's Meditations On The Being of a God On The Works of Creation and Providence On The Existence of a separate Soul On The Ministry of Angels and On The Future State c. Chap. 1. Of the Appearance and Manifestation of God Himself in the World p. 5 Chap. 2. Of the Appearance of good Angels p. 7 Chap. 3. Of the Appearance of bad Angels or Daemons p. 16 Chap. 4. Of the Appearance of separate Souls with several late Instances of that nature p. 34 Chap. 5. Revelation of secret or future Things by express Voice p. 40 Chap. 6. The discovery of things secret or future by signs common sounds and voices p. 43. Chap. 7. Discovery of things secret or future by Prodigies Comets Lights c. p. 44. Chap. 8. Discovery of things secret or future by Dreams
yet a spacious Field to turn me in having to deal with a Tribe of Men that have as much Faith as Goodness and perhaps little more and yet being to handle a Point wherein God himself hath taken care to obviate the Scruples and Infidelity of Ill Men more than in the former case where Self-Interest disposeth them to a Belief The Devil in the Serpent tempting Eve the Evil Angels sent among the Egyptians Psal 78.49 The Devil in the case of Job 's Affliction Job 1.17 19. of our Saviour Mat. 4. of the Demoniacs up and down in the Gospels c. One would think were enough to startle these Infidel Bravadoes into at least a modest fear and humble silence and suspension of Judgment But because they are so obstinate we shall here muster up a Legion of Devils to attack and out-face their Confidence and let them look to it and consider well with themselves in due time how they will be able to stand to the adventure of such a Conflict I shall not stay to tell all the Stories at large that I meet with but give a short Epitome of them enough to satisfie any People of an unbiassed Judgment and clear Intellectuals And if at last they do not surrender up their Faith I shall be ready to say as John 10.20 Themselves have Devils and are mad 1. Among the Antients we have several Stories of such Apparitions and Spectres 1. When Cassius and Brutus were to pass out of Asia into Europe and to transport their Army into the Opposite Continent and horrible Spectacle is said to appear unto Brutus in the dead of the Night the Moon not shining very bright and all the Army being in silence a black Image of a huge and horrid Body standing by him silently is said to offer itself to Brutus his Candle being almost out and he musing in his Tent about the Issue of the War Brutus askt what Man or God he was The Spirit answered O Brutus I am thy Evil Genius and thou shalt see me again at Philippi Brutus replied I will meet thee there then The Spirit disappeared but according to his Promise appeared again in the Fields of Philippi to Brutus the Night before the last Fight Plutarch in Vit. Bruit p. 1000. Camerar Medit. Hist l. 4. c. 2. The same Cassius in the very same Battel in the Field of Philippi is reported by Historians to have seen one in the shape of Julius Caesar of a more than ordinary height coming towards him on Horse-back with an angry Countenance and a forc'd Gallop to strike him which struck such a Fear into him that he turned back upon his Enemies and soon after killed himself Camerar ibid. l. 4. p. 289. 3. The like befel Cassius of Parma a renowned Poet who followed the side of Brutus and Cassius say Acron and Porphyrio being Colonel of a Regiment of Foot His Masters being dead he retired to Athens where Qu. Varus sent for that purpose by Augustus slew him But Valerius Maximus adds That whilst he was at Athens one Night being overwhelm'd with cares he thought that he saw a very great Black Man with long Hair and his Beard uncombed stand before him who being asked what he was answered I am the Evil Spirit Cassius affrighted with that fearful Countenance and so fearful a Name called aloud for his Servants ask'd if they saw such a Person come into his Chamber or go out they all swore they saw none VVhereupon he laid him down and began to take some rest but the same Phantome appeared again and so awaken'd him that he called for a Light and charged his Servants not to leave him Between this Night and his Death there passed not many Days Idem lib. 4. ex val Max. 4. Dio of Syracuse before he was killed by those that conspired against him sitting one evening very Pensive and Solitary in his Gallery a sudden Noise made him lift up his Head and looking towards the other side of the Gallery he espied a great Woman of such a Face and Dressing as one of the Furies is represented with sweeping the place upon which in great Amazement he called his Friends and wish'd them to stay with him all Night fearing the return of the Spectre A while after a young Son of his in a Transport of Passion threw himself headlong from the Top of the House and was killed Plutarch in vit Dion et ex eo Camerar medit Hist. l. 4. 5. Cornelius Sylla being in the Countrey saw an ill Spirit that called him which in the Morning he told his Friends made his Will Seal'd it in the Evening and the Night following died of a Feaver Aged Sixty Years Camerar Ibid. l. 4. Wanley's wonders c. Book 6. 6. Xerxes had a Spectre appeared twice to him in his Sleep stirring him up to make War upon the Grecians and the last time with a pair of burning Tongues in his Hands as if he would have put out his Eyes because he opposed the Counsels of War Ibid. 7. Julian the Apostate the Night before he was declared Emperour told his Friends that as he reposed himself there stood before him as it were a Genius or Familiar Spirit saying to him in pretty rough Terms Julian I have a long time without making any ado waited at thy Lodging-door desiring to make thee Great sometimes I have gone away as if no reckoning had been made of me if now thou reject me tho many are of the same mind to advance thee I will take my leave and go away very sorrowful For the rest mark this well that I will not tarry much longer with thee And a little before he was kill'd in the War against the Persians the same Genius or Demon appeared to him again all ragged and filthy to look upon with a horn of plenty in his hand covered with a Linnen Cloath walking very sadly a-long by the Hangings of his Tent. Amm. Marcell l. 20. Camerar medit Hist l. 4. Lavater de Spectr c. 12. Wanley's Wonders of the little World Book 6. p. 612. 8. Curtius Rufus being come into Africa with the Governour being yet of little Credit or Reputation walking one day at Noon in the Portico or Gallery before his House a Woman greater and fairer then ordinary appeared to him whereat he was abash'd but she said to him I will foretell thee thy Fortunes thou shalt return to Rome shalt be advanced to great Office shalt be chosen Proconsal and Governour of Africa and shalt die in that Dignity Plin. Secundus lib. 3. Epist. Camerar Ibid. Wanley c. Ibid. 9. A Woman pretending to have the Holy Ghost proved a Witch and did many VVonders She had a gift of Prayer and did Baptize and Administer the Lords Supper in the ordinary way c. Epist Firmil ad Cypr. 75. p. 238. This is much like the story of Magdalena Cracia c. 10. To come nearer to our own times as Luther was once walking in his
Devil appeared to her in her House in the likeness of a white Dog and that she called this Imp or Familiar Spirit Elimanzer and that she often fed it and that the Spirit spoke to her very audibly and bid her deny Jesus Christ which she did then assent to but denied that she killed the young maid She was Executed at Mannintree Apr. 15. 1645. 4. Anne West and Rebecca her Daughter were likewise of this black Society against whom Prudence the VVife of Thomas Hart of Lawford in Essex deposed upon Oath that about Eight weeks before going on Sunday to the Parish-Church about half a mile from her House being about Twenty weeks gone with Child and to her thinking very well and healthy upon a sudden she was taken with great Pains and miscarried before she came Home And about Two months after one Night when she was in Bed something fell down upon her Right Side but being dark she could not discover its shapes and that she was presently taken lame on that side with extraordinary Pains and burning and was certainly perswaded that Anne and Rebecca West were the cause of her Pains having expressed much Malice toward her and counted her their greatest Enemy Mr. John Edes a Minister deposed That Rebecca West confessed to him that about Seven Years before she began to have familiarity with the Devil by the instigation of her Mother Anne West and that he appeared in several Shapes As once like a proper young man who desired to have familiarity with her promising that he would then do what she desired and avenge her on her Enemies requiring her also to deny God and put her faith and trust in him which being agreed to she order'd him to avenge her on one Thomas Hart of Lawford by killing his Son who was soon after taken sick and died VVhereupon Rebecca told the Minister she thought the Devil could do like God in destroying whom he pleased After which she gave him Entertainment and he lay with her as a man She likewise confest to him that when she lived at Riverhall in Essex her Mother came and told her The Barley Corn was picked up meaning that the Son of one George Francis a chief Inhabitant of that Town was Dead and his Father very much suspected he was bewitched to Death and her Mother hearing of it said Be it unto him according to his Faith Mr. Matthew Hopkins deposed upon Oath that going to the Prison where Rebecca West and five others were he asked her how she first came to be a Witch who told him that her Mother and she going one Evening after Sunset toward Mannintree her Mother charged her to keep secret whatever she saw which she promising to do they went both to the House of Elizabeth Clark where they found her together with Ana Leach Elizabeth Gooding and Hellen Clark and that Instantly the devil appeared in the shape of a Dog then came two Kitlins and after them two Dogs more who all seemed to reverence Elizabeth Clark skipping into her lap and kissing her and then Kist all in the Room except her self Whereupon one of the Witches askt her Mother if her Daughter were Acquainted with the Business who assuring them of her secrecy Ann Leach pulled out a Book and Swore her not to reveal any thing she saw or heard and if she did she should endure more torments than there could be in Hell Whereupon she again ingaged to be silent They told her she must never confess any thing tho the Rope were about her Neck and she ready to be Hanged To which after she had given her absolute Ingagement the Devil leapt up into her Lap and Kissed her promising to perform whatever she would desire About halt a year after the Devil appeared as she was going to Bed and said he would marry her which she could not refuse whereupon he Kissed her but was as cold as Clay and then took her by the Hand Leading her about the room and promised to be her Loving Husband till Death and to avenge her of all her enemies She likewise obliging her self to be his Obedient Wife till Death and to deny God and Christ Jesus She confest that after this she sent him to kill the Son of Thomas Hart who died within a Fortnight and thereupon she took the Devil for her God and thought he could as God Rebecca West being likewise Examined before the Justices at Mannintree confessed that all was true concerning their Meeting at Elizabeth Clarks where they spent some time in Praying to their Familiar Spirits and then every one made their desires known to them Elizabeth Clark requested her Spirit that Mr. Edwards might be met withal at a Bridge near her House and that his Horse might be frighted and he thrown down and never rise again Mr. Edwards deposed that at the same place his Horse started and greatly indangered him and he heard something about the House Cry Ah Ah much like a Polecat and that with great difficulty he saved himself from being thrown off his Horse Elizabeth Gooding desired her Imp to kill Robert Jaylors Horse for suspecting her to be a Witch which was done accordingly Hellen Clark required to kill some Hogs of a Neighbours Ann Leach that a Cow might be Lamed and Ann West her Mother desired her Spirit to free her from all her enemies and to have no trouble And she her self desired that Thomas Harts Wife might be taken Lame of her right side after which they departed appointing the next Meeting at Elizabeth Goodings House for these and several other Notorious Crimes Ann West was Sentenced and Executed at Mannintree Elizabeth Gooding at Chelmsford and the Bill found against Rebecca West by the Grand Jury but was acquitted by the Jury of Life and Death Ibid p. 14. 5. Rose Hallybread was another of this black Regiment against whom Robert Turner of St. Osyth in Essex deposed that about eight days before his Servant was taken Sick shaking shrieking and crying out of Rose Hallybread that she had bewitched him and that he sometimes Crowed like a Cock sometimes barked like a Dog and sometimes Groaned violently beyond the ordinary course of Nature and tho but a youth struggl'd with so much strength that four or five lusty Men were not able to hold him down in his Bed and sometimes he would Sing several strange Songs and Tunes his Mouth not being opened nor his Lips so much as stirring all the time of his Singing She being examined confest That about sixteen years before one Goody Hagtree brought an Imp to her House which she entertained and fed it with Oat-Meal and Suckled it on her Body a Year and a half and then lost it She confessed likewise that about half a year before one Joyce Boanes brought to her another Imp in the likeness of a small gray Bird which she received and carried to the House of one Thomas Toakly of St. Osyths and put it under his Door after which
was safely carried by the Angels into Abraham 's Bosom so that 't is plain that the Angels are employed to convey the Souls of true Believers into a fixed State of blessedness But because Men are very apt to be incredulous in these Cases my Design is to enquire in their Chapter what knowledge we can pick up concerning the Existence of particular Souls after their Separation out of Antient and Modern Histories and I believe it will appear by what follows that the Soul is really alive and active and concerned after Death I Insist not on the Parable to the Rich Man and Lazarus mention'd by our Saviour nor any particular Instances out of Sacred Writ Read the following Stories and if all of them are not credibly and rightly interpreted and applied if Satan may in some be concerned on purpose to put Tricks upon poor Incredulous shall I say or Credulous Souls yet 't is strange if they are all untrue 1. A Narrative of an Apparition which a Gentleman in Boston had of his Brother just then Murthered in London It was on the Second of May in the Year 1687 that a most ingenious accomplished and well-disposed Gentleman Mr. Joseph Beacon by Name about Five a Clock in the Morning as he lay whether Sleeping or Waking he could not say but judged the latter of them had a View of his Brother then at London altho he was now himself at our Boston distanced from him a Thousand Leagues This his Brother appeared to him in the Morning about five a Clock at Boston having on him a Bengal Gown which he usually wore with a Napkin tied about his Head his Countenance was very Pale Gastly Deadly and he had a Bloody Wound on one side of his Forehead Brother says the affrighted Joseph Brother answered the Apparition Said Joseph What 's the matter Brother How came you here The Apparition replied Brother I have been most barbarously and injuriously Butcher'd by a Debauch'd drunken Fellow to whom I never did any wrong in my Life Whereupon he gave a particular Description of the Murderer adding Brother This Fellow changing his Name is attempting to go over unto New England in Foy or Wild I would pray you on the first Arrival of either of these to get an Order from the Governour to Seize the Person whom I have now described and then do you Indict him for the Murder of me your Brother I 'll stand by you and prove the Indictment And so he vanished Mr. Beacon was extreamly astonished at what he had seen and heard and the People of the Family not only observed an extraordinary Alteration upon him for the Week following but have also given me under their Hands a full Testimony that he then gave them an Account of this Apparition All this while Mr. Beacon had no Advice of any thing amiss attending his Brother then in England but about the latter end of June following he understood by the common ways of Communication that the April before his Brother going in haste by Night to call a Coach for a Lady met a Fellow then in Drink with his Doxy in his Hand Some way or other the Fellow thought himself affronted with the hasty passage of this Beacon and immediately ran into the Fire-side of a Neighbouring Tavern from whence he fetch'd out a Fire-fork wherewith he grievously wounded Beacon in the Skull even in that very part where the Apparition show'd his Wound Of this Wound he Languished until he Died on the Second of May about Five of the Clock in the Morning at London The Murderer it seems was endeavouring to Escape as the Apparition affirmed but the Friends of the Deceased Beacon seized him and prosecuting him at Law he found the help of such Friends as brought him off without the loss of his Life since which there has no more been heard of the Business This History I received of Mr. Joseph Beacon himself who a little before his own pious and hopeful Death which follow'd not long after gave me the Story written and signed with his own Hand and attested with the Circumstances I have already mentioned See Mr. Cotton Mather's Wonders of the Invisible World 2. In the City of Athens there was a goodly Lodging which yet was out of Request as a Place very dangerous for in the Night there was a Spirit that walked in it drawing a Chain and making a Noise and seemed as if he came afar off and then would suddenly be hard by After that there would appear a great Old Man his Flesh all worn away having a Long Beard his Hair standing an end and all tangled Fetters on his Feet a Chain at his Hands which he would always be shaking They that dwelt in the house could never rest in the Night but would grow heavy and pensive and so fall sick and dye For in the very day time though they saw not the Spirit yet they would think he always was in their sight and that the ringing of his Chain did always beat in their Ears Upon this the Lodging stood empty though it was by Bills exposed to sale After some time Athenodorus the Philosopher came to Athens lacked a House and purchasing this at a small Rate the first Night put his Servants into the back-part of it to lodge chose for himself the forepart where he had a Bed placed his VVriting-Tables brought and a Lamp well lighted Here he betook to Read VVrite and Study very earnestly And late in the Night the Spirit came with his old Noise Chain and Fetters the Philosopher continuing still earnest at his Business 'Till at last the Spirit shaking his Chain over his Head made a Sign to him as if he desired the Philosopher to follow him Upon which he obeyed taking a Light in his Hand and following till such time as the Ghost vanished away in the Street Athenodours marked the Place with some Grass and Leaves which he laid upon it and the next Day went to the Council of the City desired the Place might be searched which being done they found a Dead body all rothen nothing left but Bones and Chains which they took up and buried elsewhere After which the House was no more Haunted Camerar Hist Med. l. 4. ex Plen. 2d Epist l. 3. 3. The Elder Countess of Donagal a Lady Pious Discreet and Credible told me That one of her Husband's Tennants near Belfast or Carickfergus where he was Lord agreed with him for to put his Son's Life with his own Life in a renew'd Lease of a Farm and he paid part of the Money and dy'd before the Lease was made and seal'd His Wife marry'd another Man and paid the rest of the Money out of her second Husband's Purse and therefore put in his Son's Life instead of her Son by the former Husband into the Lease The Earl of Donagal going into England and being then in the West a Servant of his in Ireland his Porter a stout lusty Man was haunted with the
tell any one of it The Gentlewoman died and afterwards in a Tavern in London he spake of it and there going to make Water the Ghost of the Gentlewoman did appear to him He was afterwards troubled with the Apparition of her even sometimes in Company when he was drinking but he only perceiv'd it Before she did appear he did find a kind of a Chilness upon his Spirits she did appear to him in the morning before he was kill'd in a Duel This Account I have from an intimate Friend of mine who was an Acquaintance of his 13. In James-street in Covent-Garden 1647. did lodge a Gentlewoman a handsome Woman but common who was Mr. Mohun's Son to the Lord Mohun Sweet-heart Mr. Mohun was murthered about Ten a Clock in the Morning and at that very time his Mistress being in Bed saw Mr. Mohun come to her Bed-side drew the Curtain looked upon her and went away She call'd upon him but no answer She knock'd for her maid ask'd her for Mr. Mohun she said she did not see him and had the Key of her Chamber Door in her Pocket This Account I had from the Gentlewoman's own mouth and her maid's A parallel Story to this is That Mr. Brown Brother-in-law to the Lord Conningsby discover'd his being murther'd to several His Phantome appear'd to his Sister and her maid in Fleet-street about the time he was Killed in Herefordshire which was about a Year since 1693. 14. I must not forget an Apparition in my Country which appear'd several times to Dr. Turbervile's Sister at Salisbury which is much talk'd of One marry'd a second Wife and contrary to the Agreement and Settlement at the first VVife's marriage did wrong the Children by the first Venter The Settlement was hid behind a VVainscot in the Chamber where the Doctor 's Sister did lie And the Apparition of the first VVife did discover it to her By which means Right was done to the first Wife's Children 15. One Mr. Towes who had been School-fellow with Sir George Villers the Father of the first Duke of Buckingham and was his Friend and Neighbour as he lay in his Bed awake and it was Day-light came into his Chamber the Phantome of his dear Friend Sir George Villers Said Mr. Towes to him Why you are Dead what make you here Said the Knight I am dead but cannot rest in Peace for the Wickedness and Abomination of my Son George at Court I do appear to you to tell him of it and to advise and dehort him from his Evil ways Said Mr. Towes The Duâ—e will not believe me but will say that I am Mad or Dâ—at Said Sir George Go to him from me and tell him by such a Token some Mole that he had in some secret place which none but himself knew of Accordingly Mr. Tomes went to the Duke who laugh'd at his message At his return home the Phantome appear'd again and told him that the Duke would be stabb'd he drew out a Dagger a quarter of a Year after and you shall outlive him half a Year and the Warning that you shall have of your Death will be That your Nose shall fall a-bleeding All which accordingly fell out so 16. The Learned Henry Jacob Fellow of Merton-College in Oxford died at Dr. Jacob's M. D. House in Canterbury About a Week after his Death the Doctor being in Bed and awake and the Moon shining bright saw his Cousin Henry standing by his Bed in his Shirt with a white Cap on his Head and his Beard mustaches turning up as when he was alive The Doctor pinched himself and was sure he was awaked He turned to the other side from him and after some time took Courage to turn the other way again towards him and Henry Jacob stood there still he should have spoken to him but did not for which he has been ever since sorry About half an Hour after he vanished Not long after this the Cook-maid going to the Woodpile to fetch VVood to dress Supper saw him standing in his Shirt upon the VVoodpile This Account I had in a Letter from Dr. Jacob. 1673. relating to his Life for Mr. Anthony Word which is now in his Hands 17 Mr. T. M. an old Acquaintance of mine hath assured me that about a quarter of a Year after his VVives Death as he lay in Bed awake with his little Grand-child his Wife open'd the Closet Door and came into the Chamber to the Bedside and looked upon him and stooped down and kissed him her Lips were warm he fancied they would have been cold He was about to have embraced her but was afraid it might have done him hurt When she went from him he asked when he should see her again she turn'd about and smiled but said nothing The Closet Door striked as it uses to do both at her coming in and going out 18. Mr. Jo. Lydall or Trinity-College Soc. Oxon. March 11. 1649 50. Attests the ensuing Relation in a Letter to Mr. Aubrey thus Mr. Aubrey Concerning that which happened at Woodstock I was told by Mr. W. Haws who now lives with Sir William Fleetwood in the Park That the Committee which sat in the Mannor-house for Selling the King's Lands were frighted by strange Apparitions and that the Four Surveyors which were sent to measure the Park and Lodged themselves with some other Companions in the Mannor were pelted out of their Chambers by Stones thrown in at the Windows but from what Hands the Stones came they could not see that their Candles were continually put out as fast as they lighted them and that one with his Sword drawn to defend a Candle was with his own Scabbard in the mean time well Cudgell'd so that for the Blow or for fear he fell Sick and the others forced to remove some of them to Sir William Fleetwood's House and the rest to some other places But concerning the cutting of the Oak in particular I have nothing Your Friend To be commanded to my power John Lydall 19. A Minister who liv'd by Sir John Warre in Somersetshire about 1665 walking over the Park to give Sir John a Visit was rencounter'd by a venerable old Man who said to him Prepare your self for such a day which was about three Days after you shall die The Minister told Sir John Warre and my Lady this Story who heeded it not On the Morning fore-warn'd Sir John calls upon the Parson early to ride a Hunting and to Laugh at his Prediction His Maid went up to call him and found him stark dead This from my Lady Katherine Henly who had it from my Lady Warre 20. Dr. Twiss Minister of the New Church at Westminster told me That his Father Dr. Twiss Prolocutor of the Assembly of Divines and Author of Vindiciae when he was a School-Boy at Winchester saw the Phantome of a School-fellow of his deceased a Rakehell who said to him I am damned This was the occasion of Dr. Twiss the Fathers Conversion who had been before
after comes to her and tells her she had sent the Devil to him and bids her take the Land and so gave it up and her Son is now possest of it His Name is Mat. he lived in the Service of Mr. Reading's Brother for some Years but he has forgot his Sir-name though he knows him very well Related in a Letter of Dr. Ezekias Burton to Dr. H. More Mr. Glanvil's Saducism Triumph p. 417. 3. Dr. Bretton late Rector of Ludgate and Deptford lived-formerly in Herefordshire and married the Daughter of Dr. S. This Gentlewoman was a Person of extraordinary Piety which she expressed as in her Life so at her Death She had a Maid that she had a great kindness for who was Married to a near Neighbour whose Name as I remember was Alice Not long after her death as Alice was rocking her Infant in the Night she was called from the Cradle by a knocking at the Door which opening she was surprised at the sight of a Gentlewoman not to be distinguished from her late Mistress neither in Person nor Habit. She was in a Morning Gown the same in appearance with that she had often seen her Mistress wear At first sight she expressed very great Amazement and said Were not my Mistress dead I should not question but that you are she She replied I am the same that was your Mistress and sook her by the Hand Which Alice affirmed was as cold as a Clod. She added That she had Business of great Importance to imploy her in and that she must immediately go a little way with her Alice trembled and beseecht her to excuse her and intreated her very importunately to go to her Master who must needs be more fit to be employed â—he answered That he who was her Husband was not at all concerned but yet she had a desire rather to make use of him and in order thereunto had several times been in his Chamber but he was still asleep nor had she power to do more than once uncover his Feet towards the awakning of him And the Dr. said That he had heard a walking in his Chamber in the Night which till now he could give no account of Alice next objected That her Husband was gone a Journey and she had no one to look to her Child that it was very apt to cry vehemently and she feared if it awaked before her return it would cry it self to death or do it self mischief The Spectre replyed The Child shall sleep till you return Alice seeing there was no avoiding it sorely against her will followed her over a Stile into a large Field who then said to her Observe how much of this Field I measure with my Feet And when she had taken a good large and leasurely compass she said All this brlongs to the Poor it being gotten from them by wrongful means And charged her to go and tell her Brother whose it was at that time that he should give it up to the Poor again forthwith as he loved her and his deceased Mother This Brother was not the Person who did this unjust Act but his Father She added That she was the more concerned because her Name was made use of in some Writing that related to this Land Alice ask'd her How she should satisfie her Brother that this was no Cheat or delusion of her Fancy She replyed Tell him this Secret which he knows that only himself and I are privy to and he will believe you Alice having promised her to go on this Errand she proceeded to give her good Advice and entertained her all the rest of the Night with most heavenly and divine Discourse When the Twi-light appeared they heard the Whistling of Carters and the noise of House-Bells whereupon the Spectre said Alice I must be seen by none but your self and so she disappeared Immediately Alice makes all haste home being thoughtful for her Child but found it as the Spectre had said asleep as she left it When she had dressed it and committed it to the care of a Neighbour away she went to her Master the Doctor who amazed at the account she gave him sent her to his Brother-in-Law He at first hearing Alice's Story and Message laughed at it heartily but she had no sooner told him the secret but he changed his Countenance told her he would give the Poor their own and accordingly he did it and they now enjoy it This with more Circumstances hath several times been related by Dr. Bretton himself who was well known to be a Person of great Goodness and Sincerity He gave a large Narrative of this Apparition of his Wife to two of my Friends First to one Mrs. Needham and afterwards a little before his Death to Dr. Whichcot Some Years after I received the fore-going Narrative viz. near four Years since I light into the company of three sober Persons of good Rank who all lived in the City of Hereford and I travelled in a Stage Coach three days with them To them I happened to tell this Story but told it was done at Deptford for so I presumed it was because I knew that Dr. Bretton lived there They told me as soon as I had concluded it that the Story was very true in the main only I was out as to the place for it was not Deptford but as I remember they told me Pembridge near Hereford where the Dr. was Minister before the Return of the King And they assured me upon their own knowledge that to that Day the Poor enjoyed the piece of Ground They added That Mrs. Bretton's Father could never endure to hear any thing mentioned of his Daughters appearing after her death but would still reply in great anger That it was not his Daughter but it was the Devil So that he acknowledged that something appeared in the likeness of his Daughter This is Attested by me this 16th of Febr. 1681. Edward Fowler This Narrative was sent to Dr. H. More from Mr. Edward Fowler Prebendary of Gloucester Glanv Sad. Triumph p. 419. 4. These Relations seem strange indeed but was it now as strange that Constantine the Great praying earnestly to God should see the sign of the Cross figured in the Air with an Inscription in it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in hoc vince by this overcome And yet Eusebius Reports it in these words While the Emperour was thus earnestly praying unto God and besought him that he would reveal himself to him and that he would assist him in his purposes and resolutions while he was thus earnestly at his Prayers a divine and wonderful Vision appeared unto him which was scarce credible if himself had not related it But seeing this victorious Emperour did with an Oath confirm it to be true when he related it to me who intended to write his History long after when taking notice of me he admitted me to familiar Conference with him who can doubt of the Truth of his Relation which even then was seen and admired
somewhat not obscurely pointed at by them 5. Thales Milesius by help of the Stars foretold an abundance of Olives that should be the Year following Arist Pol. l. 1. c. 7. 6. In the Reign of Theodosius there appear'd a Star shooting forth Beams in the shape of a Sword and in the time of Sultan Scilim an infinite Number of Crosses appear'd shining in the Air which foreshewed the Loss he afterward receiv'd by the Christians Gaffarel unheard of Curios Part 2. Ch. 3. And who knows not that the Emperor Pertinax was forewarn'd of his Death three Days before by a certain Vision that seem'd to threaten him in a Pond with a drawn Sword in his Hand Idem ibid. 7. Appian hath reckon'd up what miraculous things were seen and heard before the breaking out of the Civil Wars as fearful Voices and strange running up and down of Horses which no Body could see Pliny hath likewise set down those that were heard in the same manner before the Cymbrian War and among the rest divers Voices that were heard from Heaven and dreadful Alarms sounded by certain terrible Trumpets Before the Lacedemonians were overthrown at the Battle of Leuctra the Arms in the Temple were heard to make a Noise of their own Accord and about the same time at Thebes the Gates of the Temple of Hercules open'd of themselves without any Man touching thee and the Arms that hung against the Wall were found cast on the Ground as Cicero reports the Story lib. de Div. not without the great Astonishment of the Beholders At the time that Milliades went against the Persians divers strange Sights foreshew'd what the Event would be and that I may trouble my self to reckon up these Wonders no longer you may have recourse to Livy who for having been so copious in his Stories of this Nature is thought fit by some Authors to be stiled a Tragedian rather than an Historian Gaffarel unheard of Curios par 2. c. 3. Cicerone de Divin Val. Max. l. 1. Ces l. 1. de Bell. Civ Malleal de Nob. c. 30. c. 8. Constantine the Great marching towards Rome with an Army of 9000 Foot and 8000 Horse against the Tyrant Maxentius and musing with himself unto what God he should address his Prayers for Success for as yet he was not settled fully in the Christian Faith and considering withal that his Predecessors who had worshipp'd many Gods and put their Trust in them had very often miscarry'd and that on the contrary his Father that had only worshipped one and the true God had a happy Reign and was still preserved from many Dangers he therefore resolved to adore that God only which his Father had served and upon that prayed earnestly to God to reveal himself to him and to prosper him in his Journey and whilst he was thus praying lifting up his Eyes to Heaven about Noon-day he beheld the Sign of a Cross lively figured in the Air with this Inscription In hoc Vince by this Overcome himself and all his Army wondring at so strange a Prodigy and being much troubled in his Mind to know the meaning of it the next Night following Christ appear'd to him in his Sleep commanding him to make the like Figure and Banner and to carry it against his Enemies Whereupon the next day imparting the Vision to his Friends he sent for the best Goldsmiths and Lapidaries to make the like Cross with Gold and precious Stones and resolved to worship that God only who thus appear'd to him Afterwards with great courage he went forwards bearing before him and his Victorious Army instead of the Imperial Eagle the form of this Vision upon his Standard Maxentius as much depending upon his Sorcerers was no less confident of Victory for the furtherance whereof he framed a deceitful Bridge over Tiber to intrap Constantine and sent out divers Armies to oppose him before he should come near the City But Constantine trusting only in God overthrew at the first Encounter his first second and third Armies and so marching thro' all Italy he brought his Victorious Ensigns near the Walls of Rome Hereupon Maxentius led forth his Army above a mile from Rome and joyned Battle with Constantine but being overcharged with Constantine's Vantguard he with the rest of his Army fled and either thro' Haste or Forgetfulness took over the Deceitful Bridge which he had made to entrap Constantine with where they had no sooner enter'd but it fell asunder and so they were all drown'd Clark in vit Constantin p. 4. Centuria Magdeburg ex Eusebiâ— 9. In the Reign of Justinian there was such a prodigious Sight seen about the Sun that the like had not been seen or heard of before The Sun for the greatest part of the Year gave so little Light that it was but equal to the Light of the Moon and yet at the same time the Sky was clear without Clouds or any thing to obscure it after which there followed a great Famine and much War and Bloodshed Idem in vit Justinian Tho' the Centurians of Magdeburgh are silent in the Case and make no mention of it notwithstanding they undertake to record all the Prodigies and Wonders that happen'd in the Reigns of the several Emperors however I offer it only upon the Credit of my Author who lays it wholly at Evagrius his Door 10. Gasper Cruciger â—s he lay in his Bed in the Night Nov. 6. A. C. 1548. Seeing a Prodigy which then happen'd viz. A great Chasm in the Heaven and in some places Fire falling to the Earth and flying up again into the Air much bewailed the great Commotions and Dusipations in the Church which he foresaw by this Prodigy Fuller Abel Rediv. p. 145. 11. Mr John Lewis a Learned Justice of Peace in Cardiganshire speaking concerning the strange and usual Appearance of Lights call'd in Welch Dead Mens Candles before Mortality hath these Words This is ordinary in most of our Counties that I never searce heard of any Young or Old but this is seen before Death and often observ'd to part from the Body of the Persons all along the way to the place of Burial and infallibly Death will ensue Now Sir It is worth your Resolution whether this may proceed from God or no it is commonly imputed to the Igneous Air of the Counties But that evil Spirits can come by so much Knowledge as to be always so infallible tho' herein I confess them very vast and be so favourable and officious unto man as to be such seasonable monitors of his Dissolution and to give so much Discovery of Spiritual Essences and the Immortality I doubt whether they mean us so much Good as this Some Wiles I confess they may have by such Appearance but it carries the Benefits mention'd with it whereas their Disappearance makes more for Infidelity and Atheism But this I leave to your Judgment begging Pardon for this Boldness in diverting you from your far better Thoughts and seeing
Daughter drew near her time he sent for her to himself with design to destroy what should be born of her The Infant was delivered to Harpagus to be slain a Man of known Fidelity and with whom he had Communicated his greatest Secrets But he fearing that upon Astyages his death Maudane his Daughter would succeed in the Empire the King having no Issue Male and that then he should be paid home for his Obedience doth not kill the Royal Babe but delivers it to the King 's chief Herdsman to be exposed to the wide World It fell out that the Wife of this Man was newly brought to Bed and having heard of the whole Affair earnestly requests her Husband to bring her the Child that she might see him He is overcome goes to the Wood where he had left him finds there a Bitch that had kept the Birds and Beasts off from the Babe and suckled it her self Affected with this Miracle he takes up the Child carries it to his Wife who saw it loved it bred it up till it grew up first to be a Man and then a King He overcomes Astyages his Grandfather and Translates the Scepter from the Medes to the Persians Just Hist l. 1. p 16. Val. Max. l. 1. c. 7. Wanley l. 6. c. 1. 13. When Alexander after the long and difficult Siege of Tyre lead his Army with great Indignation against the Jews devoting all to Slaughter and the Spoil Jaddas the then High-Priest admonished by God in a Dream in his Priestly Attire and with his Mitre on his Head and upon that the Name of God with a Number of Priefts and People goes to meet him Alexander with great Submission approaches him Salutes and Adoves him telling Parmeno who was displeased with it That he worshipped not the Man but GOD in him who as he said had appeared to him in that Form in Dio a City of Macedonia in his Dream encouraging him to a speedy Expedition against Asia promising his Divine Power for Assistance in the Conquest of it Upon this he pardon'd the Jews honoured and enriched the City and Nation Jos l. 1. c. 8. Wanley l. 6. c. 1 c. 14. Julius Caesar dreamed that he had carnal Knowledge of his Mother which the Soothsayers Interpreted That the Earth the common Mother of Mankind should be subjected to him Sueton. in Jnl. p. 8. Wanley's Wonders of the little World l. 6. c. 1. 15. The Night before Polycrates King of Samos went thence to go to Oretes the Lieutenant of Cyru in Sardis his Daughter dreamed that she saw her Father lifted up in the Air where Jupiter washed him and the Sun anointed him which came to paâ—s For as soon as he was in his Power Oretes caused him to be hang'd upon a Gibbet where his Body was washed with the Rain and his Fat melted with the Sun Camerar Oper. Subcisiv Cent. 2. c. 57. ex Herodot l. 3. 16 Antigonus dreamed that he Sowed a spacious Field with Gold which sprang up flourish'd and ripen'd was reaped presently and nothing left but Stubble and then he seemed to hear a Voice That Mithridates was fled into the Euxine Sea carrying along with him all the Golden Harvest This Mithridates was then in the Retinue of Antigonus King of Macedonia his own Countrey of Persia being ruin'd and therein his own Fortunes The King awakes and terrified with this Dream he resolves to cut off Mithridates but being informed by Demetrius Antigonuâ—'s Son of the danger he was in he flies privately into Cappadocia where he Founded the Famous Kingdom of Pontus Wanley's Wond l. 6. c. 1. Ex Lips Plutarch 17. Qu. Catalus in his Dream saw Jupiter delivering into the hand of a Child the Roman Ensign The next Night the same Child hugg'd in Jove's Bosom and when Catalus offered to pluck him thence Jupiter forbade him telling him He was born jor the welfare of the Romans The next Morning seeing Oâ—tavianus afterwards Angustus in the Street he ran to him and cryed out This is He whom the last Night I saw Jupiter hâ—g in his Bosome Idem en Xiphil August Fulgos. l. 1. 18. Two Accadians of intimate Acquaintance lodging at Megara the one with a Friend the other at an Inn he at his Friend's House saw in his sleep his Companion begging of him to assist him for he was circumvented by his Host The other awakening leaps out of his Bed with intention to go to the Inn but suspecting his Dream to have nothing in it returned to his Bed and Sleep The same Person appears to him a second time all bloody requesting him earnestly to revenge his Death affirming That he was killed by his Hoâ— and that at his very time he was carried out in a Cart towards the Gate all covered with Dung The Man at last overcome with these Entreaties of his Friend immediately runs to the Gate finds the Cart seizeth and searcheth it where he found the Body of his Friend and thereupon dragg'd the Inn-keeper to his deserved punishment Idem ex Val. Max. i. 1. c. 7. Dr. More Immort 〈◊〉 Soul l. 2. c. 16 c. 19. Alexander the Philosopher the same Hour that his Mother died saw in his sleep the Solemnities of his Mother though she was at that time a Day 's Journey distant from him Wanley's Wonders of the little World l. 6. c. 1. 20. Sionia â— 1523. dreamed that falling into a River he was in great danger of drowning and calling to one for Succour was neglected This Dream he told to his Wife and Servants the next Day going to help a Child that was fallen into the River near the Castle of Pâ—sâ—aâ—â— he leap'd in and perished in the Mud. Idem ex Heywood Hierarch l. 4. Jovio 21. Galen being troubled with an Inflammation about the Diaphragma dreamed that upon opening of a Vein between his Thumb and Fore-ringer he should recover his Health which he did and was restored Idem ex Schot Phys Curios l. 3. c. 25. Col. Rhod. c. 22. Celitts Rhodiginses saith When he was 22 Years of Age being perplexed with Ectrapali a Greek Word in the Annotations upon Pliny signifying those who grow beyond the common Proportions of Nature assign'd to their kind in his perplexity he lay'd him doâ—n to sleep and in his Dream recalled to mind the very Book page and place of the page of another Author where he had formerly read it Col. Rhod. Am. lact l. 27. c. 9. 23. A Citizen of Millain was demanded a Debt as owing from his dead Father and when he was in some trouble about it the Image of his dead Father appears to him in his sleep tells him the Debt was paid and in such a place he should find the Writing with the Hand of his Creditor to it Awaking from his Dream and Sleep he finds the Acquittance Which Saint Austin saith himself saw with his own Eyes Wanley ex Fulgos. l. 1. c. 5. p. 130. 24. When S. Bernard's Mother
c. Isaac Vâ—s de Sybil. Orac. p. 20. The Sybils Oracles gave such Testimony to the Expectation of a Messiah that at last the reading of them was forbid to private Persons Justin Martyr saith It was a capital Crime for any one to read the Books of Hystaspes Sybilla and the Prophets as the same Vossius tells us out of his Second Apology And the Christians whenever they were engaged in Disputation with the Gentiles always Appealed to the Sybils and commended them to their Books as is clear from Justin M. Clements Tertullian Lactantius and all Ibid. p. 34. 5. Croesus King of Lydia having determined to War upon Cyrus Consulted the Oracle of Apollo at Delphos touching the Success whence he received this Answer Croesus Halyn penetrante magnam disperdet opnmvim When Croesus has the Halys past A Sword of Treasure shall he wast He Interpreted this of the Riches of his Adversaries but the Event shewed they were his own for he lost his army Kingdom and Liberty in that Expedition Herodot l. 1. p. 20. Dinoth memorab p. 409. 6. There were some ancient Stories of the Sybils in which was contained That Africa should again fall under the power of the Romans Mundum cum prole sua interiturum This Prophecy of the Sybils affrighted very many extreamly sollicitous lest the Heavens and the Earth together with all Mankind should then perish But Africa being Reduced by the fortunate Virtue of Belisarius it then appeared That the Death of Mundus the then General and of Mauritius his Son was Predicted by the Sybil who in Battle against the Goths were both Slain at Salona a City in Dalmatia Dinoth l. 6. p. 412. 7. Nero Caesar Consulted the Oracle of Apollo at Delphos touching his future Fortune and was thereby Advised To beware of the Sixty and Third Year he concluded that he should not only arrive to old Age but also that all things should be prosperous to him and was so entirely possessed that nothing could be Fatal till that Year of his Age that when he had lost divers things of great value by Ship-wreck he doubted not to say amongst his Attendants That the Fishes would bring them back to him But he was deceived in his Expectation for Galba being in the Sixty third Year of his Age was Saluted Emperor by his Soldiers and Nero being forced to death was succeeded by him in the Empire Sueton. l. 6. c. 40. p. 259. Zuring Theatr. vol. 1. l. 1. p. 78. 8. Alexander King of Epirus Consulted the Oracle of Jupiter at Dodona a City of Epire about his Life he was Answered That he should shun the City of Pandosia and the River Acherusius as fatal places he knew there were such places amongst the Thospoci Warring therefore upon the Brutii a warlike People he was by them overthrown and slain near unto places amongst them called by the same name Alex. ab Alexand. dies Genial l. 5. c. 2. Fitzherb of Relig. and Policy Part 1. c. 36. p. 446. Just. l. 12. p. 134. 9. Croesus sent to Delphos to know of the Oracle if his Empire and Government should be durable or not the Answer he received was Regis apud medos mulo jam sede potico Lyde fugam mollis scruposum corripe ad Hermum Neve mane ignavus posito sis Lyde pudore When the Verses came to Croesus he took great pleasure therein hoping it would never come to pass that amongst the Medes a Mule instead of a Man should Reign and that therefore he and his Posterity should preserve their Empire unabolished But when after he was overcome he had got leave of Cyrus to send to Delphos to upbraid the Oracle with the Deceit Apollo sent him word That by the Mule he meant Cyrus because he was Born of Parents of two different Nations of a more noble Mother than Father for she was a Mede the Daughter of Astyapes King of the Medes the Father a Persian and Subject to the Medes and though a very mean Person had yet married Mandane the Daughter of his King Herod l. 1. p. 21. 39. 10. In the last place I recommend to the Consideration of the Ingenuous Reader these Verses out of Virgil ascribed to Cumaea one of the Sybils concerning Christ as I find them Translated out of the Ancient Ecclesiastical Histories of Eusebius Socrates and Evagrius c. by Dr. Hanmer in Constantines Oration to the Clergy c. 20. p. 124. Now a new Progeny is sent down from Heaven high Yea Muses with a lofty wing Let us of higher Matters sing This is the last Age wherein Cumaea shall her Verses sing The Integrity of Times shall new renew again And a Virgin shall bring back old Saturn's Reign The Birth of that most happy Child in whom The Iron Age shall end and the Golden Age back 〈◊〉 Chast Lucina favour He shall the powers of wickedness destroy And free the World from Fears and all Aâ—â—y He shall live with the Gods and see again The Gods and Heroes and be seen of them And with his Fathers Vertues he shall Reign Over the World which shall Peace obtain The grateful Earth sweet Child shall be most willing To bring forth Gifts for thee without all Tilling The winding Ivy and the Ladies Gloves And also Saffron that the Medow loves And is called Medow-Saffron and with those That smiling Flower that 's call'd our Ladies Rose The Goats shall bring their Vdders home And the gentle Flocks great Lyons shall not shun Thy Cradle fairest Flowers shall bring forth still Which shall have power the poysonous Herbs to kill The Serpent he shall to destruction bring Assyrian Amomum shall each-where spring He may at once know Vertue and may read His Father's Works and what the Heroes did The Fields when the soft Ears are ripe Shall by degrees even wax white And the red Grnpe shall not scorn To grow on the undrest Thorn From the hard Oak there shall Sweet Honey sweat forth and fall Yet some few Prints of wickedness shall remain So that Ships shall sail on Thetis Waves again Which shall make them to encompass their Towns round With Walls and to make Trenches on the ground Another Typhis and Argos there shall be To convey the chosen Heroes and besides we Shall have other wars again us to destroy And great Achilles shall be sent to Troy VVhen thou shalt attain at length To Years of Man-hood and firm strength The Sea shall then be quiet no Ships shall range Abroad her Wares with others to exchange Then every Land shall every thing produce And then to Plough the Earth they shall not use Vines by the Hook shall not be rectify'd Nor VVooll with divers colours shall be dy'd Fair Fleeces voluntary shall proceed And cloath the Lambs while they do gently feed Jove's Off spring and the Gods dear Progeny Come to those Honours which attend on thee See how the VVorld doth nod though poised even Both Earth the broad Sea and the highest
the Apparition of the same Bird which hovered over her and a very docible Girl and of gentle Behaviour who died in a peaceable manner Sep. 9. 1635. Attested by Elizabeth Avery and Mary Stephens She was no sooner Dead but Thomazine a little child of the aforesaid James Oxenham and Thomazine his Wife being in the Cradle fell Sick over whom did presently appear the said Bird in form as aforesaid and so she Died Sep. 15. 1635. Witnesses hereunto the aforenamed Eliz. Avery and Mary Stephens Add to all these that the said Bird had appeared formerly to Grace the Grandmother of the said John over her Death-Bed a Virtuous Woman who Died A. C. 1618. And to make it yet more remarkable There were four more of the same Family and Kindred Sick and Recovered who did never see any such Apparition See the Relation it self Printed at London by J. O. for Rich. Clutterbuck at the Gun in little Britain A. 1641. 20. Being lately at Sir John Brisco's Huse a Baronet now living at Amley Castle in Sussex His Sister then a Guest at his House and Married to an East-India Merchant a Gentlewoman of good parts told me that living at New-Salisbury and designing to make some Provision for her Husbands Return and speaking of it in the House she was often discouraged by a Nurse that she kept in the House with her who advised her still to stay till she saw him return At last Tidings came that he was Dead in the Indies Upon which the Nurse told her that she being in Bed one Night with her Mistress and sitting up to give the child Suck by Moon-shine a Person in the form of her Husband whom she never had seen but only guessed at by the representation given of him by others appeared to her standing at the Bed-side and looking stedfastly upon her and after some short space departed And for this reason she suspected his Death and consequently gave the advice afore-said And upon computation and comparing the Story of the Nurse and the Contents of the Letter together it was found that the Apparition was made at the very time of his Death This the Lady assured me with great Confidence with some other particular Circumstances which have slipt my memory 21. A Scotch Minister removed lately upon the Turn of the times out of Scotland into England and here placed near Oswestree in Shropshire having lost his Wife by Death was earnestly desirous to know what was become of her at last as he lay in Bed one Night she appeared to him by his Bed-side told him she was well and where she was he should be e're long and so Vanished away Afterwards he fell Sick and about Christmas after Died A. 1694. This was reported to me by a very Learned and Pious Divine Mr. Henry who had it from Mr. James Owne of Oswestree aforesaid who was with him in his Sickness 22. Mr. Cartwright the Lord's day before he Died which was the last Sermon that he made Preached upon Eccl. 12.7 Then shall the dust return to the Earth and the Spirit shall return to God who gave it Mr. Clark in his Life 23. James Faber of Picardy flying in a time of Persecution for security to the Queen of Navarr then residing at Albert in Gascoign The Queen one day having a design to Dine with him and for that end having invited some Learned Men whose conference she took much delight in At Dinner Mr. Faber became exceeding sad and brake out into bitter Weeping The Queen asking why he wept when she came to be Merry with him He Answered Most Serene Queen how can I be glad or make others so who am as Wicked a Man as the Earth bears What is that Wickedness said she you complain of so who are known from your youth to have lived so Holily He Answered I am now a Hundred years Old free from the touch of any Woman and Remember not that I have done any thing to Burden my Conscience c. Except one Sin for which yet I am assured there is a Propitation And as she pressed him to declare what it was he could scarce speak for abundance of Tears and said How can I appear before the Throne of God who having taught others in purity and sincerity the H. Gospel many of which having followed by Doctrine have constantly suffered 1000 Torments and Death it self whereas I like an unconstant Doctor did cowardly fly c. The Queen endeavour'd to comfort him with the Examples of other Holy Men so did the rest of the Company with other Considerations And thereupon he said There remains now nothing but that I go to my God and having made my Will I have an Impression that I must delay no longer knowing that the Lord calls for me And so fixing his Eyes upon the Queen he said Madam I make you my Heir and to your Preacher Monsieur Gerard I leave my Books and to the Poor I give my Cloaths and what else I have The Queen smiling said What then Mr. Faber shall I have The Care Madam said he to see this distributed to the Poor It is well said she and I solemnly profess that thie Legacy is more acceptable to me than if the King my Brother had named me his Heir After this he was more joyful but at last said I have need of some Rest be you merry and joyful and in the mean time Adieu Upon which he laid himself down upon a Bed that was near where to their great Admiration when they went about to awake him they found him fallen asleep in the Lord dead in good earnest without the least sign of any previous Indisposition The Narrative the Queen of Navar did relate her self to Frederick the 2d Prince Elector Palatine when he lay sick at Paris and it was communicated by Mr. Hubertus Thomas Counsellor to the said Frederick and present at the Relation to Dr. Rivet who hath set it down in his Epistle to his Brother 24. Bishop Jewel long before his Sickness told the Approaching and in his Sickness the precise day of his Death in a Letter to the Bishop of Norwich A. 1570. he writes Flux Flux i. e. in the German Tongue Quick Quick If you make any Delay I shall prevent you And in another You shall yet in this Life sing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In his Life 25. Mr. Herbert Jones of Monmouth when he was a little Boy was used to eat his Milk in a Garden in the Morning and was no sooner there but a large Snake always came and eat out of the Dish with him and did so for a considerable time till one Morning he striking the Snake on the Head it hissed at him Upon which he told his Mother that the Baby for so he call'd it cry'd Hiss at him His Mother had it kill'd which occasion'd him a great Fit of Sickness and 't was thought woul'd have dy'd but did recover 26. Extracted from Mr. Aubrey 's Miscellanies I cannot
or more some big some small together then so many and such Corpses together If two Candles come from divers places and be seen to meet the Corpses will the like if any of these Candles are seen to turn sometimes a little out of the way or path that leadeth to the Church the following Corps will be forced to turn in that very place for the avoiding some dirty Lane or plash c. Now let us fall to evidence Being about the Age of Fifteen dwelling at Lanylar late at Night some Neighbours saw one of these Candles hovering up and down along the River-Bank until they were weary in beholding it at last they left it so and went to Bed A few Weeks after came a proper Damsel from Montgomery-shire to see her Friends who dwelt on the other side of that River Istwith and thought to Ford the River at that very place where the Light was seen being dissuaded by some Lookers on some it is most likely of those that saw the Light to adventure on the Water which was high by reason of a Flood She walked up and down along the River-Bank even where and even as the aforesaid Candle did waiting for the falling of the Water which at last she took but too soon for her for she was drowned therein Of late my Sexton's Wife an aged understanding Woman saw from her Bed a little bluish Candle on her Tables end within two or three Days after came a Fellow enquiring for her Husband and taking something from under his Cloak clap'd it down upon the Tables-end it was a dead-born Child Another time the same Woman saw such another Candle upon the end of the self-same Table within a few Days after a weak Child newly Christend by me was brought to the Sexton's House where presently it died ' And when the Sexton's Wife who was then abroad came home she found the Child on the other end of the Table where she had seen the Candle Some thirty or forty Years since my Wife's Sister being Nurse to Baronet Rudd's three eldest Children and the Lady Mistress being dead the Lady Comptroller of the House going late into the Chamber where the Maid-Servants lay saw no less than Five of those Lights together It happen'd a while after that the Chamber being newly Plaister'd and a Grate of Coal-fire therein kindled to hasten the drying of the Praister that five of the Maid-servants went to Bed as they were wont but as it fell out too soon for in the Morning they were all dead being Soffocated in their Sleep with the steem of the new-temper'd Lime and Coal This was at Langathen in Carmarthenshire Jo. Davis See more Generglyn March 1656. To this Account of Mr. Davis I will subjoyn what my worthy Friend and Neighbour Randal Caldicot D. D. hath affirmed to me many Years since viz When any Christian is drowned in the River Dee there will appear over the Water where the Corps is a Light by which means they do find the Body Thus far Mr. Aubrey Ominous Presages taken notice of as relating to the Troubles and Death of King Charles I. in a Printed Relation 1655. 68. When he was in Spain treating and prosecuting the Match with the Infanta Jun. 30. 1623. a great Clap of Thunder struck away the Flag and Flag-staff from the Main-top-mast-head of a Ship then riding at Black-wall and bound for Spain with Provision of fresh Victuals to fetch the Prince home it also split the Main-top-mast and threw one part on one side and the other part on the other side of the Ship and raized the Main-mast down to the Ship it killed two Men and one Woman at Croydon This was two Days after the Prince wrote to the Pope Thursday next there were many great Claps of Thunder abundance of Rain and so great a Pillar of Fire from Heaven out of the South that it reach'd from the Heavens to the Farth not as a Flash of Lightning gone in the very sight but a very firm Pillar of Fire The Crown and Vane from the top of the Gate-House of St. James whereon the Clock stood was struck down a piece of the Bell where the Priuce kept his Court melted a Gardiner near Westminster kill'd and his Wife hurt another at Croyden kill'd c. Old Tho. Earl of Arundel having sent for the King's Statue out of Italy viewing it at Greenwich where it was landed and commending the Workmanship whilst they were discoursing of it there fell three drops of Blood on the top of it no Man knowing how they should come there A. 1623. A Buckinghamshire Taylor came from Alisbury aged 41 and a sober Man went along London Streets pronouncing Woe to Rome Woe to the Pope Woe to all Papists and all that did adhere to Popery Dukes Marquesses Earls c. This three or four Days in the Week praying earnestly at White-Hall-Gate for the Continuance of the Gospel in England till he was sent to the New-Bridewell near Clerken-well where he continued three Weeks After which he proceeded again to the same Execrations One of the Crowns and Vanes of the Tower was turned over the Top of the Spindle with a very small Gale of Wind and so hung for three quarters of a Year or more the Crown and Vane weigh'd 100 weight His Hand and Scepter broke off from his Statue at the Exchange and fell down to the Ground even at Change-time to the admiration of all Beholders and the next day it was set up again One Mrs. Cary of Bristol a Woollen-Draper's Widow on the Back of the Town having seen many strange Apparitions of the late King at several times as his Crown all bloody himself in Black and his Head off by means of the Earl of Dorset was admitted to the King who dismissed her with only this Reflection Take her away she is a merry Woman The VVoman returns home to Bristol where the like Visions appear'd to her again she could not contain but away she makes for London a second time and the King gone to York by the help of a Lady at Court she follows in a Coach thither and with much Importunity of Speech beseecheth him to consider what she had seen and said but was not credited At Caussam near Reading the King playing at Chess with White Men the Head of the VVhite King fell off VVhen the Lord Fairfax was at St. Albans and the General Council of the Army drawing up the grand Rdmonstrance against the King the Sign of the Kings-Head beneath the Hill from the Cross that part of the Board between the Head and Shoulders was broken out of the Sign so that the Head and Shoulders seem'd parted VVhen the King was at the High Court of Justice as it was then called on his Tryal the Head of his Cane fell off he stooped to take it up himself looked upon it as an ominous Presage 69. William Writtle condemn'd at Maidston Assizes for a double Murder mention'd hereafter told a Minister
and Strictness in Religion and told them that in a clear Moonshine Night the Devil in the shape of a great uggly Man stood by his Bed-side opening the Curtains and looking him in the Face and at last took up the Blanket and sometimes smiled on him then was more uggly and after a while in which he lay in great Terror the Apparition vanished and he was affrighted into the aforesaid Change of Life Attested by most credible and Religious Persons near Wolverhampton in Staffordshire who dwelling in the same-House with Mr. Baxter oft told the same to him Hist Disc of Apparitions and Witches p. 59. 30. Serj. Glanvil's Father had a fair Estate which he intended to settle on his elder Brother but he being a vicious young Man and there appear'd no Hopes of his Recovery he settled it on him that was his second Son Upon his death his eldest Son finding that what he had before looked on as the threatnings of an angry Father was now but too certain became Melancholy and that by Degrees wrought so great a Change on him that what his Father could not prevail in while he liv'd was now effected by the Severity of his last Will so that it was now too late for him to change in hopes of any Estate that was gone from him But his Brother observing the reality of the Change resolv'd within himself what to do so he call'd him with many of his Friends together to a Feast and after other Dishes had been serv'd up to the Dinner he order'd one that was cover'd to be set before his Brother and desired him to uncover it which he doing the Company was surpriz'd to find it full of Writings so he told them that he was now to do what he was sute his Father would have done if he had liv'd to see that happy Change which they now all saw in his Brother and therefore he freely restored to him the whole Estate Dr. Burnet in his Life of Sir Matthew Hale y. 8. 31. Bruno born in Collogne and Professor of Philosophy in Paris about the year of Christ 1080. being present at the singing of the Office for his Fellow-Professor now dead highly reputed for his Holy Life the dead Corps sits up in the Bier and crys out I am in God's just Judgments condemn'd These words he utter'd three several Days at which Bruno was so affrighted that a Man held so Pious was Damn'd began to think what would become of himself and many more Therefore concluding there was an Hell took himself with six of his Schollars to a hideous place for dark Woods high Hills Rocks and wild Beasts in the Province of Dauphin near Grenoble and there built a Monastery having obtain'd the Ground of Hugo Bishop of Grenoble the place call'd Carthusia whence his Monks took their Name See my Book of all Religions 32. Luther tells us of two Cardinals riding in great Pomp to the Council of Constance and by the way they heard a Man bitterly weeping and wailing When they came to him they found him intently viewing an uggly Toad and ask'd him why he wept so bitterly he told them his Heart was melted with this consideration that God had not made him such a loathsome and deformed Creature hoc est quod amarè fleo said he Whereupon one of them crys out Well said the Father Surgunt indocti rapient Coelum The Unlearned will arise and take Heaven and we with all our Learning shall be cast into Hell Luther in tertium praecept See more in this Book A Relation of the wonderful Conversion of a Kentish Gentleman Mr. Studly related to me by Mr. Knight Minister intimately acquainted with him 33. His Father was a Lawyer in Kent of about 400 l. per annum who had built a very fair Mansion-House upon the Estate He was a great Enemy to the Power of Religion and an Hater of those that were then call'd Puritans His Son in his youth seem'd to follow in the same Steps till the Lord that had separated him from the Womb call'd him home which was as followeth The young Man was at London and being drunk in some Company and going in the Night towards his Lodging fell into a Cellar and in the Fall was seiz'd with Horror and thought he fell into Hell at that time It pleased God he took little Harm by the Fall but lay there some Hours in a drunken Drowse his Body being heated with what he drank and his Soul awakned he thought he was actually in Hell After that he was come to himself and was gotten home into Kent he fell into Melancholy betook himself to read and study the Scriptures and to much Prayer Which at length his Father perceiv'd and fearing he would turn Puritan was troubled and dealt roughly with him made him dress his Horses which he humbly and willing submitted to And when at that time his Father perceived he sate up late at Night reading in his Bible he denied him Candle-light But being allowed a fire in his Chamber he told Mr. Knight he was wont to lye along and read by the fire light and said that while he was dressing his Fathers Horses in his Frock and in that time of reading by the fire he had those Comforts from the Lord and Joys that he had scarce experienced since His Father seeing this means ineffectual resolved to send him into France that by the Airiness of that Countrey his Melancholly temper might be cured He went and being at his own dispose by the Lords guiding him he placed himself in the House of a Godly Protestant Minister and between them after they were acquainted and such is the Cognation of saving grace in Divers Subjects that a little time will serve for Christians to be acquainted there grew great endearment Great progress he made in speaking the Language and his Father expecting an Account from the Gentleman with whom he sojourn'd of him of his proficiency in speaking French he sent it to him but soon after had Orders to return home And the Father directing it or he intreating it the Landlord with whom he had sojourned came into England with him and both made very welcome at his Father's House He not knowing that he was a Minister At last the Father took the French Gentleman and his Son at Prayers together and was angry paid him what was due to him and sent him away Then his Father having an interest in 〈◊〉 Person of Honour a great Lady at White-Hall whose Courts he as a Lawyer kept and his Son by his now past Education accomplisht for such an employ prevailed with that Lady to take his Son for her Gentleman to wait upon her in her Coach He thought by a Court Life to drive away his Melancholy as he call'd his Sons seriousness in Religion The Lady had many Servants some given to Swearing and Rudeness whom this Young Gentleman would take upon him to reprove with that Prudence and Gravity that Sin fell down
Hastings about Three Years ago where when the People were in great Poverty and suffer'd much by Scarcity of Money and Provisions it pleased God that an unusual and great Showl of Herrings came up the River by which the Inhabitants were plentifully supplied for the present and the next week after a Multitude of Cod succeeded them which were supposed to have driven the former into the River before them by which means the Necessity of the poor Inhabitants was supplied unexpectedly to Admiration 6. And this very Year 't is very observable when Money is at a low ebb amongst us and People every where muttering and complaining of the baseness of the old Coyn and the slowness of Coyning new Money c. God hath sent us in his Gracious Providence such a plentiful Harvest that not only the Farmers and poor People but even the Fields themselves to use the Psalmist's Phrase seem to laugh and sing 7. One Mr. Norwood late of Deptford a serious Christian being low in the VVorld and having several small Children his VVife then lying in was extreamly discontented at the Poverty and Straits of the Family the poor man pinched with this double Distress VVant of Provision and Peace too and belng unwilling to trouble his Master who was a Meal-Man and had relieved him formerly in his Troubles retires to Prayer opens his Case to God Almighty begs earnestly for a Supply returns home to his VVife and finds her in a pleasant Temper who ask'd him If any body had been with him Telling him That some body who would not tell whence he came had brought her Five Shillings This extreamly affected and chear'd the good man that he was free to speak of it in all Companies as occasion offered it self and at last mentioned it to the very Person a Minister Mr. J. J. that sent it who professed that being in his Study at that time upon a sudden and warm Impulse of mind he was put upon it 8 Another time his VVife was reduced to great Necessities for want of Shifts c. and was disturbed as before the good man goes the next Lord's Day to Church was Invited to Dine and Sup with a Friend said nothing of these wants but at going away the good VVoman of the House put him up Shifts for his VVife and Children and I think saith my Relater for himself too and ties up some money in one of them These are both Attested by one Mr. John Lane of Horsly down Lane in Southwark in a Letter dated July 3. 1695. and subscribed by several other hands of St. Olives Parish 9. Another person one Atkins formerly of Oxford lately of St. Olives in Southwark being brought to low Circumstances and so straitened with Poverty that they had neither Bread nor Drink nor Candle nor money to buy with the Wife grew impatient and the good man endeavoured to satisfie her with recounting over their former Experiences of Gods Goodness to them c. told her they would go to Prayer and beg for a supply he had not been long at his Devotions but a person knocking at the Door ask'd for Mr. Atkins but not willing to stay for his coming left Five Shillings with the woman for him not telling who sent it nor did they ever know his Name to this day which so wrought upon the unbelieving Wife that she was mightily affected with it and laid the consideration of it deeply to Heart This is likewise Attested by the aforesaid Author Mr. John Lane c. 10. A. C. 1555. betwixt Oxford and Aldebrough in the County of Suffolk when by unseasonable Weather a great Dearth was in the Land a Crop of Pease without Tillage or Sowing grew in the Rocks insomuch that in August there were gathered above one hundred Quarters a Quarter being 8 Bushels and in Blossoming remained as many more This is related by Mr. Speed and by the Author of the World Surveyed and others for a very great Truth CHAP. XXII Strange Instances of Consolation and Protection in Dangers MAN's Extremity we use to say is God's Opportunity and no doubt but one great Reason why God chuseth rather such Seasons to appear in is to give a clearer Demonstration of his Power and to shut out all others that may put in for a share of the Glory as Co-rivals with Him He will not give His Honour to any of His Creatures which they would be apt to challenge if God should put forth himself too early for their Relief and Assistance when they think they can stand upon their own Legs I. Personal Deliverances and Comforts c. 1. Polycarp being Conducted to the Theatre in order to his Suffering Martyrdom was Comforted and Encouraged by a Voice from Heaven Be of good Chear O Polycarp and play the Man The Speaker no Man saw but the Voice was heard by many of us said his Church at Smirna in their Epistle to the Brethren of Pontus Clark's Marr. of Ecclesi History 2. A brief Account of Mr. Roswell 's Tryal and Acquittal About the same time Mr. Roswell a very worthy Divine was Tryed for Treasonable Words in his Pulpit upon the Accusation of very vile and lewd Informers and a Surry Jury found him Guilty of High Treason upon the most villanous and improbable Evidence that had been ever given notwithstanding Sir John Tallot no Countenancer of Dissenters had appeared with great Generosity and Honour and Testified That the most material Witness was as Scandalous and Infamous a Wretch as lived It was at that time given out by those who thirsted for Blood That Mr. Roswell and Mr. Hays should die together and it was upon good Ground believe that the happy deliverance of Mr. Hays did much contribute to the preservation of Mr. Roswell though it is very probable that he had not escaped had not Sir John Talbot's worthy and most honourable Detestation of that accursed Villany prompted him to repair from the Court of King's Bench to King Charles II. and to make a Faithful Representation of the Case to him whereby when inhumane bloody Jefferys came a little after in a Transport of Joy to make his Report of the Eminent Service he and the Surry Jury had done in finding Mr. Roswell Guilty the King to his disappointment appeared under some Reluctancy and declared That Mr. Roswell should not die And so he was most happily delivered Bloody Assizes 3. Origen mightily Encouraged the Martyrs of his time visited such as were in deep Dungeons and close Imprisonment and after Sentence of Death accompanied them to the place of Execution putting himself often in great Danger thereby he kissed and embraced them at their last Farewell so that once the Heathens in their Rage had stoned him to Death if the Divine Power of God had not marvelloussy deliver'd him and the same Providence did at many other times Protect and Defend him oven so often as cannot be told c. Ibid. 4. Augustine going abroad to visit his Churches was laid
of Ireland once had but I have been assured from my Honoured Friend James Tyrrel Esq his Lordship's Grand-son that this was not an Ecstasie but that his Lordship upon reading the 12 13 14 c. Chapters of the Revelation and farther Reflecting upon the great increase of the Sectaries in England supposed that they would let in Popery which consideration put him into a great Transport at the time when his Daughter the Lady Tyrrel came into the Room when he Discoursed to her divers things tho' not all contained in the said Printed Paper Thus far Mr. Aubery 10. Mr. Brewen of Sâ—apleford as he excelled others in the Holiness of his Life so he much excelled himself towards his death his Motions towards Heaven being then most vigorous and quick The Day before his last sickness he had such extraordinary Inlargements of Heart in his Closet-Duty that he seemed to forget all the Concernments of his Body and this lower World and when his Wife told him Sir I fear you have done your self hurt with Rising so early He Answer'd If you had seen such glorious things as I saw this Morning in private Prayer with God you would not have said so for they were so wonderful and unspeakable that whether I was in the Body or out of the Body with Paul I cannot tell And so it was with the Learned and Holy Mr. Rivet who seemed as a Man in Heaven just before he went thither 11. It is Recorded of our Famous Jewel That about the beginning of Queen Mary's Reign the Inquisition taking hold of him in Oxford he fled to London by Night but providentially losing the Road he escaped the Inquisitors who pursued him However he fell that Night into another eminent hazard of Life for wandring up and down in the Snow he fainted and lay starving in the way panting and labouring for Life at which time Mr. Latimer's Servant found and saved him See his Life 12. The Protestants besieged in Bezier's in France were delivered by a Drunken Drummer who going to his Quarters at Mid-night rang the Alarm-Bell of the Town not knowing what he did and just then were their Enemies making their Assault And as weak and improbable means have been blessed with Success to the Church in general so to the preservation of its particular Members also William of Nassau Prince of Orange as he lay in Camp near to the Duke of Alva's Army some Spaniards in the Night brake into his Camp and some of them ran as far as the Prince of Orange's Tent where he was fast asleep but he had a Dog lying by him on the Bed that never left Barking and Scratching him by the Face till he had awaked him whereby he escaped the Danger Strada 13. Queen Elizabeth's Preservation in the Tower in the time of her Imprisonment is a Remarkable Providence not to be forgot viz. When her Bloody Sister Queen Mary had design'd her Death she was preserved by King Philip Queen Mary's Husband who had not perhaps his Fellow in Christendom at that time for Cruelty and Persecution of the Reformed and was moved to the Saving the Princess Elizabeth's Life not so much by his Bowels of Compassion as a Principle of Policy For if Queen Mary should die Childless as indeed he feared if the Princess Elizabeth had been taken out of the way the Queen of Scots a Papist would have come to the Crown of England who being inseparably joyned in League with France might both of them together been too hard for Spain and that his Gentleness to the Princess could be on no other account appears plainly by his putting his Eldest Son to death upon no other Account than for his being so mercifully inclined to the Protestants in the Netherlands This remarkable Providence needs no vouching but however it may be found in a Book that goes under the Name of Mr. Slingsby Bethel in Octavo p. 6. Printed in London A. C. 1694. 14. When several oppressed with the Cruelty and Tyranny of Richard the Third did confederate to Raise Henry Earl of Richmond to the Crown and by his Marriage with Elizabeth Eldest Daughter of Edward the Fourth to Unite the Houses of York and Lancaster Mr. Henry Wiat was one therein Ingaged and Intrusted in the Association and Correspondence between the Duke beyond Sea and his Friends in England and passed with Messages for which he was Suspected and Examined but for want of Proof discharged he was afterwards thereof Accused committed to the Tower and Tortured for Discovery of the Duke's Design and Friends in England but neither Threats Torture or fair Promises of Reward could prevail so that he was cast into the Dungeon and Fed with Bread and Water and there lay at the Duke's Descent and Victory where a Cat did use to come to him and bring Provision or he had been Starved He for his Fidelity was preferred made a Knight Baronet by Henry the Seventh and of the Privy Council to Henry the Seventh and Henry the Eighth This Relation hath been received true in the Family in Kent and in Memory thereof his Picture is preserved with a Cat creeping in at a Grate with a Pidgeon in its Mouth and these Verses added Hunc macrum rigidum maestum fame frigore cura Pavi fovi acui carne calore Joco This Relation was sent me November 16. 1696. by Counsellor Wiat now Living at Serjeants Inn near Fleet-street II. Sea-Dangers and Deliverances 1. Great were the Dangers and wonderful the Deliverances of Will. Okely and his Company the Relation of which from his own Book I have thus Contracted An. Dom. 1639. We took Ship at Gravesend in the Mary of London Mr. Boarder Master bound for the Isle of Providence in the West-Indies Five Weeks we lay in the Downs waiting for a Wind and then we set Sail and came to Anchor near the Isle of Wight but by this time all our Beer in the Ship stunk and we were forced to throw it over-board and to take Vinegar to mix with Water for our Voyage The next Lord's Day we set Sail again and coming between the Island and the main Land we stuck fast in the Sands but the Tide coming in heaved us off The sixth Day after our setting Sail from the Isle of Wight we discovered three Turks Men of War who Chased us and at break of Day boarded and took us Having kept us close Prisoners at Sea at the end of five or six Weeks they brought us to Algiers where I was sold for a Slave the first Market-Day to a Patron who told me I must allow him two Dollars a Month and live ashoar where I would and get it where I could though I knew not where to Levy the least Mite of it Wandering up and down I light of an English-Man in his little Shop that Traded with Tobacco and a few other Things His Partner I became with a little Money I had reserved and a small modicum my Patron had allowed me for my
Qualities upon any but as Dispositions to Eternal Glory and a Token of special Love and everlasting Favour I shall therefore in the next place proceed to enquire after a few Remarkable Instances of this Nature and first of all of Faith that Grace that is so mightily commended under the Oeconomy of the New Testament 1. Luther was a Man of great Faith and Resolution as appears by these Passages in his Sermons Sir Devil I gear not thy Threatenings and Terrors for there is one whose Name is Jesus Christ in whom I believe He hath abolished the Law condemned Sin vanquished Death and destroyed Hell And again Good Mrs. Death Dost thou know this Man Christ Come and bite out his Tooth Hast thou forgotten how little thy Biting prevailed with him once Faith kills Reason that Beast and Monster that all the World cannot kill and Laughs at all the Iniquiry Rage and Fury of the World c. 2. Arch-Bishop Vsher though he fore-told in the time of his greatest Prosperity that he should die in Poverty yet made little Provision for the Storm and though his Losses in Ireland upon the turn of the Times were great and his Straits in England very considerable yet when two several Offers were made him from Foreign Nations the one from Cardinal Richlieu in relation to his great Learning with a promise of large Maintenance and Liberty to live where he listed in France among the Protestants the other from the States of Holland who proffered him the Place of Honorarius Professor at Leyden which had an ample Stipend belonging to it yet he refused both and chose rather to put himself upon Divine Providence in his own Countrey Clâ—rk in his Life 3. Mr. Heron on his Death-bed being minded of his young Children whom he had made but slender Provision for made this Answer which my Author saith was Censured for too light by some Persons That he did not fear but He that fed the young Ravens when they cried unto him would likewise take care of and provide for the young Herons Dr. Fuller in his Meditations 4. Mr. Lancaster being by Birth a good Gentleman and sometime Fellow in King's College in Cambridge he was but little of Stature but eminent as for other things especially for his living by Faith His Charge being great and his Means so small his Wife would many times come to him when she was to send her Maid to Banbury Market to buy Provision and tell him that she had no Money his usual Answer was Yet send your Maid and God will provide and though she had no Money yet she never returned empty for one or other that knew her to be Mr. Lancaster's Maid either by the way or in Banbury Town meeting her would give her Money which still supplied their present wants Mr. Clark in the Life of Dr. Harris 5. Mr. Edw. Lawrence formerly Minister of Basckarth in Shropshire but refusing to comply with the Act of Vniformity and thereupon being in danger of being turned out of his Living being ask'd How he would maintain his VVife and so many small Children as he had Made Answer I intend to live and maintain my Family upon the Fifth Chapter of Saint Matthew CHAP. XXVIII Remarkable Courage and Boldness FEar not thou them saith our Saviour that can destroy the Body and after that have nothing that they can do c. certainly a good Christian Courage in a good Cause and under the Conduct of an humble Prudence is the Gift of God and Blessing of Heaven and one of those Graces that bespeak the person endowed therewith to be somewhat more than common Man Our dear Saviour was taken notice of for one that Preach'd with Authority and the Apostles with a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a liberty of Speech and boldness of Spirit which their Adversaries were not able to resist And sometimes we may pick up such Examples of boldness in succeeding Ages of the Church as these that follow 1. Ignatius being required to be present at the Gratulatory Sacrifices appointed by Trajan after the Parthian War which were to be offered in every City before Trajan's Face did justly and sharply reprove the Idolatry for which cause he was delivered to ten Soldiers to be carried to Rome Clark's Mar. of Eccl. Hist 2. Polycarp would not flie when in danger of Persecution and Martyrdom saying The will of the Lord be done and coming to the Searchers he communed with them very chearfully and commanded that the Table should be spread for them intreating them to eat and dine well requesting but one Hours space for his Prayers which was granted him Ibid. 3. Origen was in his early Years desirous of Martyrdom and would have thrusted himself into the Persecutors Hands had not his Mother in the Night time privily convey'd away his Cloathes on purpose to restrain him and when he could do no more he stoutly Exhorted his Father then â—â—â—â—rison by Letters that he would not alter his purpose of Suffering for his Son's sake Dr. Cave Prim. Christ Clark Marrow of Eccl. Hist. c. 4. Valentinian Jun. compassing the Church where Ambrose was in a great rage with a great number of Armed Souldiers commanded him to come forth but he nothing terrified answered That I will never willingly do neither will I betray the Sheepfold of my Sheep to the Wolves nor deliver up the Temple of God to the Authors of Blasphemy but if thou pleasest to kill me here 's my Breast peirce it as thou pleasest with Spear or Sword I am willing to embrace such a Death Upon which resolute Answer the Emperor with-drew ibid. 5. Luther's Courage and Boldness is well known when disswaded from going to Dispute at Worms for fear of his Enemies If I thought saith he there were danger of our Cause I would go tho' there were as many Devils in Worms as Tiles upon the Houses And another time to his Friends quaking for fear of future troubles Come saith he let 's sing the 46th Psalm and let all the Devils in Hell do their worst Pref. to his Sermons 6. John Frith to certain Messengers sent by the Arch-Bishop to bring him before him and they disswading Frith from stiffness in his Opinion about the Sacrament made answer I most heartily thank you for your Good-will and Councel whereby I see your Good-will to me yet my Cause and Conscience is such that in no wise I may or can without danger of Damnation start aside and fly from the Truth whereof I am convinced and which I have Published concerning the Lord's Supper so that if I be askt what my Judgment is about it I must needs declare my Judgment and Conscience therein as I have formerly written tho' I was sure to lose Twenty Lives if I had so many Clarks Eccl. Hist p. 158. 7. King Arthur to increase the Courage of his Soldiers Instituted the Order of Knights of the Round Table that he might reward the well deserving with Titles of Honour None
forsaken and hardned Another time to Mrs. N. How deplorable a thing is this that I who have preached so much of the Glory of another World should now be deprived of it all You will as surely see me damned as you now see e stand here And again being prest to publish his Repentance for his Book that had caused him so much Trouble he answered I have thought sometimes so to do but I am so confused and confounded in my Mind that I know not what to do I can do nothing to purpose Again with a deep Sign said The black Tokens of Reprobation are upon me I cannot stoop to the Sovereignty of God I would be above him In short he drew three Papers of Recantation written with his own Hand The first of which begins thus That it is a Dishonour to the Church and Clergy of England to have such an one that hath no more Wit so little Justice Reason and Conscience plead for them that the Author of this Libel is worthily so represented appears by divers base false devillish and most scandalous Passages therein contained They are represented as a People weak and phantastical and not rendring a tolerable Reason for their differing from others which is a devillish stroke made by a black blow to assert the Nonconformists have no kind of Order in sending forth their Ministers that Preachers run on their own Head upon a phansiful Supposition that they are able to Preach or at the most have but the Consent and Connivance of a few weak Persons is a Devillish Lie as thousands can witness to say it is a true State or the Case being truly thus as we are able to make it good is a Lie if possible more than damnable c. After which he miserable destroyed himself Octob. 13. 1684. See the Narrative attested by Tho Blunt and Ben. Dennis and printed May the 7. 1688. CHAP. XLVI Good People extreamly Afflicted and mightily Comforted THE sharpest Afflictions often befal the best of Men not only Outward and Temporal but Inward and Spiritual insomuch that they are ready sometimes to cry out with our Blessed Saviour Eli Eli Lama-Sabachtheni God withdraws his glorious Countenance and Satan shews his ugly Visage and all this on purpose to rouse and startle a secure World and convince us that it is no very easy matter to get to Heaven and that 't is the safest way to work out our Salvation with Fear and Trembling Besides it serves to shew the Sincerity of the poor deserted Christian for in such cases the Man is mightily humbled and confesseth all his Sins and strips himself stark naked of any Merit or Conceit of his own inherent Righteousness and freely acknowledges that he hath none else to fly to for Succour and Consolation but God only 1. Mr. Tho. Peacock Batchelor of Divinity and Fellow of Brazen-Nose Colledge in Oxford in his Illness was strangely Afflicted and as strangely comforted as may be collected by these Despairing and Comfortable Expressions of his in the time of his Visitation compared together 1st His Despairing Expressions were such as these ' I thought I had been in a good Estate but I see it now sat otherwise for these things my Conscience lays against me First I brought up my Scholars in Gluttony while I was talking they did undo themselves And further I did unadvisedly expound many places of Scripture many times at the Table and for these I now feel a Hell in my Conscience Again I have procured my own Death by often eating like a Beast when I came jostling up and down to my Friends in the Country and now I see before my Face those Dishes of Meat wherewith I clogged my Stomach Sin Sin Sin I am uncapable of Prayers A damnable wretched c. O! how woful and miserable is my Estate that thus must converse with Hell-hounds The Lord hath cursed me I have no Grace I was a foolish glorious Hypocrite it is against the Course of God's Proceeding to save me he hath otherwise decreed he cannot I can put my Trust in God no more than a Horse I desire to believe no more than a Post than a Horse-shooe I have no more Sense of Grace than these Curtains than a Goose than that Block O! O miserable and woful the burden of my Sin lieth heavy upon me I doubt it will break my Heart Comforts They are nothing to me hold your Peace do not trouble your selves idly you vex me your words are as Daggers to my Heart To one saying Good Sir endeavour to settle your Mind he answered Yes to play with Hell-hounds I cannot desire Grace I can as well leap over the Church I fear to be damned for my Sins I cannot so much as name Jesus I had rather be in the Fire than here Cursed be the day when I took Scholars c. 2d His Gracious and Comfortable Expressions As O if God! O God give me a Spark of Grace c. O if God would give me a drop O if I had O if it would please God! I had rather than any thing in this or other three thousand Worlds I thank God he hath began to ease me O I love your Company to Dr. Aiery and Mr. Dod c. for the Graces in you O God reconcile me unto thee that I may taste one dram of thy Grace Being put in mind of that place Isaiah 45.8 11 c. he lift up his Eyes saying Take heed be not too bold look to the Foundation Lord grantme the Comfort of the Deliverance c. Blessed be God! blessed be God! blessed c. I am a thousand times happy to have such Felicity thrown upon me a poor wretched Miscreant Lord Jesus unto thy hands Lord receive my Soul Lord lift thou up the Light of thy Countenance upon me and be merciful unto me Then very weak he repeated the Lord's-Prayer twice his Belief once with a strong Voice and so slept in the Lord. The last Conflicts and Death of Mr. Tho. Peacock Published by E. B. 1646. 2. See the Story of Mrs. Joan Drake and her great Afflictions together with her subsequent Comforts in the foregoing Chapter Of Earnests of a Future Retribution of Mr. Honywood and others in the Chap. of Doubts strangely Resolved 3. Mr. Paul Baynes on his Death-Bed had many Doubts and Fears upon him so that he went out of the World with her less Comfort than many weaker Christians saith my Author Mrs. Harris Dr. Harris's last Wife though a pious Woman yet was much afflicted and delivered up to the Buffetings of Satan and such hellish Temptations that the ablest Divines were at their Wits-end to answer them and her poor self was put even beyond herself But as her Husband would often say The Difference is not great whether Comfort come a little before Death or an hour after Death See Dr. Harris 's Life 4. Mr. Richard Rothwell that bold Divine that often encountred the Devil with a Courage extraordinary yet was
is at best fickle and subject to change We are short sighted and cannot see at first what the Effects of such Love will be And therefore what more ordinary than for Lovers to grow cold and indifferent If the Person be loved for Beauty the Small-Pox or Feaver may put an end to that Love If for good Humour Age and Sickness often alters it if for Money Riches may make themselves Wings and fly away or else any Vnkindness or unsuitable Carriage from the Person loved often alters the Affections Yet with what delight can they talk of these they love 't is hard to put them off with other Discourse Lovers think not the time long they are together Yet O my Soul I am infinitely obliged to God his Love is beyond all Expression I have ever since I was born offended him and brought Sin enough into the World with me to set me at an eternal Distance from him Yet God's great Love was such that he thought nothing too much for fallen Man He knew before ever he fixt his Love on me what I should prove how I should carry it towards him yet that could not hinder his Thoughts of Love O my Soul thou canst never do enough to testify thy Love to God There 's no fear of the Decay of his Love to thee if thou dost but carry it ingenuously towards him There can be no Defect in God all that is is on my part I have cause to bewail my former Miscarriages and now to resolve to walk more holily and humbly before God Christ he is altogether lovely there is nothing in him but what if considered may inflame my Heart with Love to him I may wonder at my self that I do no more love to talk of this lovely Jesus that I do so seldom think of him Well now let me learn something from this Reflection to fill my Soul with Love to him and to set me a longing after Communion with him O that I may for ever have him in my Thoughts whose Thoughts I was never out of from Eternity if I am not mistaken but am truly his REFLECTION III. On her Brother H 's telling her Mother that she lay at Mrs. B 's and her Mother discoursing what her Landlord said of her Febr. 2. 1679. Her Reflections on this were these viz. OH my Soul What use should I make of all this I may see how vain it is to expect Satisfaction in the Creatures when they do in so small a matter disappoint me and prove false Sure the use God would have me to make of all the Disappointments I have ever yet met with is to expect more from God and less from the Creature I see and find by Experience this I may soon expect more from them than is to be had But I never yet expected that from God that is to be had in him I find I may soon loose my good Name and Credit in the World I should from hence learn to make it my business to keep a Conscience void of offence towards God and Man that so whatever the World says or thinks of me I may still be able to approve my Heart to God and to carry it so towards all I converse with as not willingly to give them any just cause to speak Evil of me I see 't is a vain thing nay I shall be the most inexcusable of any one in the World if ever I should expect Satisfaction in the Creature For my Experience tells me it is not there to be had I no sooner promise my self Comfort in any Earthly Enjoyment but some way or other it is imbittered to me I promised my self a great deal of Comfort in Mrs. B 's Acquaintance and now I cannot go to see her without hazarding my good name Well I will now retreat back again to my former SOLITVDE and converse more with God and my own Soul I have found enough of the Vanity of Acquaintance But I never yet had cause to complain of my God The more I acquaint my self with him the better it is I should be so ingenuous in all cases to make a Spiritual Improvement of an Earthly Disappointment that so I may reap real Benefit by outward Vexations REFLECTION IV. Upon her being taken ill in the Night and thinking she was struck with Death OH my Soul thou seest what need I have to be always prepared for Death How soon can God take away Health and Life I am but Tenant at Will to my Maker and therefore I need to be ready I then began to call my self to account to see with what Comfort I could appear before God I find upon Examination and some sight of Eternity here is abundance of Sin to be repented of I dare not think of appearing before God without an Assurance of an Interest in Christ Well O my Soul what use should I make of this Providence I know not how soon I may die Death is a serious thing it is a solemn thing to appear before the Heart-searching God there to be accountable for all I have done in the body and for ever to be doomed to endless Happiness or Misery What a mad Body and Fool am I then to be so negligent in working â—â—t of my Salvation when I am sure I cannot live long The Pain I felt was great but nothing to what the Damned feel I did then bless God that it was not eternal I thought if my Pain was so sad what is it to be tormented in Body and Soul and that for ever I then considered what Sin it was that most disturbed my Peace and find it is trifling with God Well O my Soul it is time for thee now to resolve to be more serious and always prepared because in such an hour as I think not the Son of Man comes REFLECTION V. Upon her Mother's and Sister T 's saying to her She would neither make a fond Wife nor Mother OH my Soul What use should I make of all the Opinions People have of me and of their thinking I shall never be fond of any Relation Sure God hath some end in it that notwithstanding my Willingness to please all manner of Persons I cannot yet have their good word Let me now more than ever endeavour to please God I have great cause to love my Parents for under God I am beholding to them for my Being But I am not only beholden to God for my Creation but I hope for Redemption and a whole Life of Mercies that be hath continually followed me with I have great cause to love Relations but that is nothing if compared with what cause I have to love God Their greatest Love is Hatred when compared with God's Love Well then the use I should make of all this is to consider my Obligations to God I would not willingly displease an Earthly friend sure then had not Sin basely besotted me I should abhor the Thoughts of doing any thing that might displease God I should endeavour
On the Lord's Day Octob. 6. she said thus Here is nothing here but sin I am willing to die but either to live or to die which the Lord pleaseth his Will be done and so it will whether I will or no On Tuesday at Night Octob. 8. seeing her Mother weeping she said Mother do not weep for me but leave me to the Lord and let him do with me what he pleaseth And then clasping her Arms about her Mother's Neck her Mother said Thou embracest me but I trust thou art going to the Embracings of the Lord Jesus She answered Mother I know it that when I go from hence I shall go into Health and Happiness or else I should not undergo all my Pains with so much patience More Expressions of Mary Warren Pray you Mother take off these Plaisters for I would not have them I would have no Doctors or Apothecaries for God shall be my Physician and he will heal me I do not value the Things of this World no more than Dirt. Her Mother had told one That she thought her Daughter had Assaults of Satan she once looked very ghastly and now her Daughter said thus Once I think I looked ghastly and turned my Head on one side and on the other Satan stood upon my left side and God was upon my right side and opened the Gates of Heaven for me and he told me Satan should not hurt me though he sought to devour me like a roaring Lyon I am very sore from the Crown of my Head to the Sole of my Foot but I am so full of Comfort and Joy that I do feel but little of my Pain I do not know whether I shall live or die but whether I live or die it will be well for me I am not in trouble for my sins God is satisfied with his Son Jesus Christ for he hath wash'd them away with his Blood Then her Sister standing by she said Sister Betty and Sister Anne be sure your first Work be in the Morning to seek the Lord by Prayer and likewise in the Evening and give Thanks for your Food for you cannot pray too ofen to the Lord and though you cannot speak such Words as others have yet the Lord will accept of the Heart for you do not know how soon your Speech may be taken away as mine was She desired her Mother thus Do not let too much Company be here late at Night lest it should hinder them from seeking the Lord in Duty at home I know not whether I shall live or die but if I die and if you will have a Sermon I desire this may be the Text the Place I do not know but the Words may be comfortable to you That David when his Child was sick he cloathed himself in Sackcloth and wept but when his Child was dead he washed and eat Bread For you have wept much while I have been sick and if I die you have cause to rejoyce My Comfort is in the Lord there is Comfort indeed Though we may seek Comfort here and the Glory of this World yet what is all that All will be nothing when we come to lie upon a Death-bed then we would fain have the Love of God and cannot get it I am full of Comfort and Joy Though my Pains are very great yet I am full of Joy and Comfort I was very full of Comfort before but I am fuller of Joy this Hour than I have been yet It is better to live Lazarus's Life and to die Lazarus's Death than to live Dives's Life he had his Delicates and afterwards would have been glad to have had Lazarus dip his Finger in Water and cool his Tongue The last Night I could not stir my Head Hand nor Foot but by and by the Lord did help me to move my Head a little and at length my Body O what a good God have I that can cast down and raise up in a moment 29. Of the Expressions of an hopeful Child the Daughter of Mr. Edward Scarfield that was but Eleven Years of Age in March 1661 Gathered from a Letter written by one fearing God that lived in the House with the Child In August last this Child was sick of a Fever in which time she said to her Father who is a holy humble precious Man I am afraid I am not prepared to die and fell under much trouble of Spirit being sensible not only of actual Sins but of her lost Estate without Christ in Unbelief as Ephes 2.12 John 16.8 9. and she wept bitterly crying out thus My sins are greater than I can bear I doubt God will not forgive them telling her Father I am in unbelief and I cannot believe Yet she was drawn out to pray many times in those words of Psal 25. For thy Name 's sake O Lord pardon my sin for it is great Thus she lay oft mourning for sin and said I had rather have Christ than Health She would repeat many Promises of God's Mercy and Grace but said she could not believe But whilst her Father was praying the Lord raised her Soul up to believe as she told her Father when Prayer was ended Now I believe in Christ and I am not afraid of Death After this she said I had rather die than sin against God Since that time she hath continued quiet in mind as one that hath Peace with God Her Father saith that since she was Five Years old he remembred not that either a Lye or an Oath hath ever come out of her Mouth neither would she have wronged any to the value of a Pin. For these two last Relations I 'm beholding to Mr. Henry Jessey Next follows a Narrative of the Conversions and happy Deaths of several young Children extracted from Mr. White 's and Mr. Janeway's Treatises upon that Subject to which the Reader is refer'd for a much larger Account 1. THere was a Child of whom many things which I here relate I was an Ear-witness of and other things which I shall speak of him I am fully satisfied of This little Child when he died was in Coats somewhat above eight years old of singular Knowledge Affections and Duties for his Age of whom that I may give a more full Account For his Knowledge 1. He asked how the Angels could sin since there were none to tempt them and they were with God 2. It being told him that all Sins and Duties were commanded in the Ten Commandments and forbid I asked him what Commandment forbad Drunkenness He said Thou shalt not kill for they quartelled and killed one another His Father asked him who bid you learn your Book and there is no Commandment saith Thou shalt learn thy Book The Child answered in these words or to this purpose It is said Thou shalt honour thy Father and thy Mother you bid me learn my Book He asked his Father when he was at Dinner what became of Children that died before Baptism he made a little stop that he might answer him
no ways related to him but a constant Eye and Ear-witness of his Godly Life and Honourable and Cheerful Death from whom I received this Information 12. Of a notorious wicked Child who was taken up from begging and admirably converted with an Account of his holy Life and joyful Death when he was Nine Years old A very poor Child of the Parish of Newington-Butts came begging to the Door of a Dear Christian Friend of mine in a very lamentable Case so filthy and nasty that he would even have turned ones Stomach to have looked on him but it pleased God to raise in the Heart of my Friend a great pity and tenderness towards this poor Child so that in Charity he took him out of the Streets whose Parents were unknown who had nothing at all in him to commend him to any ones Charity but his Misery A Noble Piece of Charity And that which did make the kindness far the greater was that there seemed to be very little hopes of doing any good upon this Child for he was a very Monster of Wickedness and a thousand times more miserable and vile by his Sin than by his Poverty But this Sin and Misery was but a stronger Motive to that gracious Man to pity him and to do all that possibly he could to plack this Firebrand out of the Fire The Lord soon struck in with his godly Instructions so that an amazing Change was seen in the Child in a few Weeks space he was soon convinced of the Evil of his Ways no more News now of his calling of Names Swearing or Cursing no more taking of the Lord's Name in vain now he is Civil and Respective and such a strange alteration was wrought in the Child that all the Parish that rung of his Villany before was now ready to talk of his Reformation his Company his Talk his Employment is now changed and he is like another Creature so that the Glory of God's Free Grace began already to shine in him He was made to cry out of himself not only for his Swearing and Lying and other outwardly notorious Sins but he was in great horrour for the Sin of his Nature for the Vileness of his Heart and Original Corruption under it he was in so great anguish that the Trouble of his Spirit made him in a great measure to forget the Pains of his Body Being informed how willing and ready the Lord Christ was to accept of poor Sinners upon their Repentance and Turning and being counselled to venture himself upon Christ for Mercy and Salvation he said He would fain cast himself upon Christ but he could not but wonder how Christ should be willing to die for such a vile Wretch as he was and he found it one of the hardest things in the World to believe But at last it pleased the Lord to give him some shall hopes that there might be Mercy for him The Wednesday before he died the Child lay 〈…〉 for about half an Hour in which time be thought he saw a Vision of Angels 〈◊〉 he was out of his Trance he was in a little Pett and asked his Nurse Why she did not let him go Go whither Child said she Why along with those brave Gentlemen said he but they told me they would come and fetch me away for all you upon Friday next And he doubled his Words many times upon Friday next those brave Gentlemen will come for me And upon Friday Morning he sweetly went to rest using that very Expression Into thy Hands Lord I commit my Spirit He died punctually at that time which he had spoken of and in which he expected those Angels to come to him He was not much above Nine Years Old when he died This Narrative I had from a Judicious Holy Man unrelated to him who was an Eye and Ear-witness to all these things 13. Of a Child that was very serious at Four Years old John Sudlow was born of Religious Parents in the County of Middlesex whose great Care was to instil Spiritual Principles into him as soon as he was capable of understanding of them whose Endeavours the Lord was pleased to Crown with the desired Success so that to use the Expression of a Holy Man concerning him scarce more could be expected or desired from so little a one The first thing that did most affect him and made him endeavour to escape from the Wrath to come and to enquire what he should do to be saved was the Death of a little Brother when he saw him without Breath and not able to speak or stir and then carried out of Doors and put into a Pit-hole he was greatly concerned and asked notable Questions about him but that which was most affecting of himself and others was Whether he must die too which being answer'd it made such a deep Impression upon him that from that time forward he was exceeding serious and this was when he was about Four Years old When any Christian Friends have been Discoursing with his Father if they began to talk any thing about Religion to be sure they should have his Company and of his own accord he would leave all to hear any thing of Christ and creep as close to them as he could and listen as affectionately though it were an hour or two When he was Reading by himself in Draiton's Poems about Noah's Flood and the Ark he ask'd Who built the Ark It being answered That it was likely that Noah hired Men to help him to build it And would they said he build an Ark to save another and not go into it themselves Another Question he put was this Whether had the greater Glory Saints or Angels It being answered That Angels were the most excellent of Creatures and it 's to be thought their Nature is made capable of greater Glory than Man's He said He was of another Mind and his Reason was Because Angels were Servants and Saints are Children and that Christ never took upon him the Nature of Angels but he took upon him the Nature of Saints and by his being Man he hath advanced Human Nature above the Nature of Angels In the time of the Plague he was exceedingly concerned about his Soul and Everlasting State very much by himself upon his Knees This Prayer was found written in Short-hand after his Death O Lord God and merciful Father take pity upon me a miserable Sinner and strengthen me O Lord in thy Faith and make me one of thy Glorious Saints in Heaven O Lord keep me from this poisonous Infection however not my Will but thy Will be done O Lord on Earth as it is in Heaven but O Lord if thou hast appointed me to die by it O Lord fit me for Death and give me a good Heart to bear up under my Afflictions O Lord God and merciful Father take pity on me thy Child teach me O Lord thy Word make me strong in Faith O Lord I have sinned against thee Lord pardon my Sins I had been
the Faith that we may have this Testimony in our own Consciences that all our Ways and Paths are well-pleasing to the Lord our great Soveraign that we may so even so run as to obtain an immortal Crown at last though the Righteous shall scarcely be saved and that we might be found upon Mount Sion with the Lamb among the Sealed ones of God is the earnest and daily Prayer of Your loving Sister Lydia Carter Mrs. Lydia Carter's Letter to her Brother Jeremiah Carter Loving Brother Jeremiah YOU are a young Man and you read of the young Man in the Gospel concerning whom it is said Christ looking upon him loved him I think that was but a common Love because of some hopefulness of more good or of less discovery of more evil in him than in many others The Lord knows that I do most tenderly love you as a Brother in the Flesh but oh how much more should I love you as a Brother in Christ Now that you may have a share in the Soul-saving Love of Christ that you may be more intimately acquainted with the deep Mystery of the Gospel that you may consecrate the Flower of your Youth to God that you may fly all Sins incident to your present State that you may be sensible of continued Mercies that you may improve all Opportunities and Abilities which you have received from God for God that you may earnestly contend for the Faith once delivered to the Saints that you may follow the Lord fully in your Generation and that you and I with all our Relations may one Day sit down in heavenly places together with Jesus Christ is the uncessant Prayer of Your very Loving Sister Lydia Carter August 10. 1655. Mrs. Lydia Carter's Letter to her Sister Child Loving Sister Child YOU are a Mother 't is a Blessing yet but an earthly Blessing Children are certain Cares uncertain Comforts Now that you may bear Christ in your Spirit as you have born Children in your Body that you may have further Experience of the preserving Love of God which passeth the Tenderness of Maternal Affection Isai 49.14 15. that you may always enjoy the Light of God's Countenance that you may be strengthned with all Might according to the glorious Power of God in your inward Man unto all Patience and Long-suffering with Joyfulness that you may by your heavenly Conversation adorn the Gospel of Jesus Christ that you may be counselled and comforted by the sweet Influences of the Spirit of Grace and that you may be one of those who shall be caught up in the Clouds together with all the Saints to meet the Lord in the Air and befor ever with him is the fervent Prayer of Your very Loving Sister Lydia Carter Mrs. Lydia Carter's Letter to her Aunt Child Most endeared Aunt WHom I love in the Truth and not I only but also all they that have known the Truth Grace be with you Mercy and Peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in Health even as your Soul prospereth I have no greater Joy than to hear that all the Lord's People walk in the Power of Godliness shewing forth the Praises of him who hath called us out of Darkness into his marvelous Light It is true I have need to be more fully instructed of those who have attained unto a full Age and by reason of use have their Senses exercised to discern both Good and Evil yet as one who hath obtained this Grace of the Lord as to be faithful in a few things I shall not be negligent to put you in remembrance of these things tho' you know them and are established in the present Truth That which the Lord expects at our Hands is that we should walk worthy of him who hath called us unto a Kingdom that we should live unto the praise of his rich Grace who hath so freely poured out his Soul unto Death for us Dying Love justly merits an humble holy thankful and fruitful Conversation Truly we live in a crooked and perverse Generation Satan hath his Seat in every place great is the subtilty of Sin the deceitfulness of our own Hearts the power and malice of our Spiritual Adversary it nearly concerns us therefore to give all diligence to make our calling and election sure before we go away from hence and be no more Aunt My continual and fervent Desire is That we may be every Day more and more enlightned into the Depths of Special and Distinguishing Love and that I may be helped forward in my Faith and Joy in the Holy Ghost by your Experiences is the Prayer of Your Affectionate Cousin Lydia Carter My Love unto all my Cousins praying that they may be blessed with all Spiritual Blessings in the common Saviour Mrs. Lydia Carter's Letter to her Sister Desborrow Loving Sister Desborrow THat we should exhort one another daily consider one another and provoke one another unto Love and Good Works is the Exhortation of the Scripture and such Counsel as I desire might be written upon your Heart and mine Sister You are now entred into the World with me but that an abundant entrance may be administred into the Kingdom of God unto us both that we may with Mary choose the better part which shall never be taken from us that we may grow in Grace and in the Knowledge of Jesus Christ that we may not be weary of Well-doing that we may approve our Hearts unto God in all manner of Holiness that we may be filled with Spiritual Graces suitable to our Relations and Conditions that we may persevere unto the End that we may have the Sence of God's Love kept alive and warm upon our Hearts that we may bring forth much Fruit proportionable to the precious Enjoyments of Divine Mercy that we may make it our Business to praise exalt and glorifie him who hath abundantly loved us in his Son that we may have a continual Eye upon him who is the Author and Finisher of our Faith that we may earnestly strive to attain unto the Resurrection of the Dead and that we may learn Christ love Christ and live Christ is the restless Desire of Your very Loving Sister Lydia Carter Your Husband and you shall not be forgotten by me in my Pleadings at the Throne of Grace Farewel These Letters were all sent me by her own Son who received 'em from his Father a little before his Death He also sent him the following Letter and Directions for the Management of his whole Life which being full of pious Instructions may properly come under this Head His Letter was this following My dear Child THY Master's Letter to me last Week gives me great Encouragement to think that if please God I live I shall receive a great deal of Comfort from thee he writes so fully that I profess I never read more written concerning any one in my Life of thy
chearfulness tractableness industriousness willingly to learn and obey of thy Truth and honesty and especially of thy Desire and Endeavour to know and serve the Lord. Oh Child this good Character of thee is the most comfortable and reviving Cordial that I have taken all the time of my late and long Sickness I pray God continue thy good Resolutions of living up to thy Master's wonderful Commendations of thee Now dear Child if thy Deserts answer these Praises I shall not fear but I shall meet thy Face in Heaven hereafter though through my corporal Indisposition I fear I shall see thy Face no more on Earth and in the new Jerusalem if thou diest in the Arms of Divine Embraces I shall see thee not disfigured with Pock-holes but dignified with celestial Glory and there wilt thou see thine own Mother's Face who killed herself with excessive Love to thee and who died Praying so earnestly for thy everlasting Salvation But I must subscribe in hast being much indisposed through a Cold I catch'd last Lord's Day in Preaching Your real loving Father Still Praying for the Welfare of your Soul and Body May 10. 1675. I shall next add his pious Counsel to his Son which he gave him at his own House December 25th 1675. which here follows in his own Words viz. Concerning your SOVL 1. AS you have been a Son of many Prayers and Tears being a long time earnestly begg'd of God and against all Human Hope being brought forth into the World by God's Special Hand of Providence and being wonderfully restored to Life again after sâ—me Hours seeming Death which immediately ensued after your Birth and being likewise as signally delivered from the nearest hazard and likelihood of Death when you had the Small-Pox I do therefore exhort and charge you in the Presence of the All-seeing God and as you will answer it before Jesus Christ the Judge of the Quick and Dead that you make it your primary and principal Care and Endeavour to know fear love obey and serve God your Creator and Deliverer as he hath revealed himself through his Son by his Spirit in his Holy Word 2. I do likewise counsel you to read God's Holy Word both in the Latin and English Bible as often as you have opportunity and I also counsel you to read over Wollebius's Compendium of Theology in Latin and English 'till you well understand both at such Seasons as you may most conveniently do it 3. I do likewise counsel you constantly every Morning and Evening to pray unto God for his Direction Protection and Benediction in all that you do and that with an audible Voice when you may conveniently do it or at least mentally expressing all possible Reverence Affection Joy and Thankfulness to God through Christ therein 4. I counsel you likewise manfully to resist all Extreams sinful Sadness and Despondency of Spirit and to exercise Faith Chearfulness and Delight in the remembrance of all God's Mercies and Deliverances 5. I do likewise counsel you carefully to shun all evil Company with all Temptations to and Occasions of Evil. 6. I do likewise counsel you to be Dutiful to your Mother Loving to your Brother and Sisters Obedient to your Master diligently and faithfully to serve the Lord in all Relations and Conditions as he requireth Concerning your BODY 1. I Counsel you to use moderate Exercise and lawful Recreations for the necessary Health of your Body being always moderate in your Eating Drinking and Sleeping Never spend too much Time of Cost in any Exercise or Recreation Concerning your ESTATE 1. I Do counsel you never to desert your Trade or Calling which you have by God's special Providence been call'd unto 2. I do counsel you to serve out your full time with cheerfulness and delight endeavouring to acquaint your self with all the Mysteries and Improvements of your Trade and if you find not convincing Reasons to the contrary to serve as Journey-man for One Year because I judge you may by that means gain more Acquaintance and Interest and a further Insight into your Trade 3. I do counsel you not to marry before you be Twenty five Years of age unless some remarkable Providence shall induce you thereunto 4. I do likewise counsel you to use all possible Prudence in your Choice of a Wife that she be truly Religious or at least eminently Vertuous that is born of honest Parents and who is of Age and Estate suitable unto your self 5. I do likewise counsel you not to sell any part of your Estate in Land if either your Wife's Portion or your borrowing of Money upon Interest may conveniently serve to set up your Trade 6. I do likewise counsel you to have a convenient Shop in a convenient Place at your own Charge which will very much facilitate and make way for your suitable and comfortable Marriage yet if you shall by some remarkable Providence meet with a Wife of a considerable Estate you may by her Portion set up your Trade without Mortgaging of your Land 7. Lastly I likewise counsel you in all Things and in all Times so to Think and Speak and Act as you may be willing to appear before God at Death and Judgment Decemb. 25. Anno Dom. 1675. 20. Constantine the Great did so honour the Countenance of old Paphnutias tho' disfigured by the loss of his Eye that he often with delight did kiss the Hollow of that Eye which was lost for the Cause of Christ Chetwind's Historical Collections 21. I have read of one Chilion a Dutch Schoolmaster who being perswaded to recant and save his Life for the sake of his Wife and poor Children answered If the whole Earth was turned into a Globe of Gold and all mine own I would part with it rather than with my Wife and Children and yet these I can part with for the sake of Jesus Christ. The like was said by George Carpenter as Mr. Fox relates Part 2. p. 113. Mr. Barker's Flores 22. A young Man condemned and brought to the Block and then remitted by Julian as he rose spake these Words Ah sweet Jesus am not I worthy to suffer for thy sake Luther's Coll. p. 247. CHAP. LXII Remarkable Zeal and Charity in Propagating Religion EVery thing is naturally apt to communicate its own Qualities Earth Air Fire and Water the Sun Moon and all the Planets the Light makes an Infant smile and the Night affects us with dulness and sleepiness God would make us good and happy as himself is and the Devil bad and miserable Jews and Mahometans and Hereticks have a Zeal many times to promote their particular and unsound Principles but we have some Examples of good Christians who have been forward and zealous to propagate the Gospel in sincerity 1. Mr. Tho. Gouge having a compassion for those parts of Wales which were distressed with Ignorance and wanted the Means of Knowledge made a Journey into South Wales and in every Town where he came he enquired what poor People there were
out of Breath as if they had been dragg'd up and down through Thorns and Mirey Places but when they had well ey'd them they were gone in a moment out of their sight they knew not how nor whither These Herdsmen talked of the business but the certainty of it came out not long after For the free Confessions of those two Men they then saw being so exactly agreeing with what the Herdsmen had related made the whole matter clear and undoubted 5. The other Story is of the same Persons known afterwards by their Names viz. Amantius and his Partner Rotarius who having coursed it aloft again in the Air and being cast headlong out of a Cloud upon an House the latter of them being but a Novice and unexperienced in those supernatural Exploits was much astonished and afraid at the strangeness of the matter but Amantius being used to those Feats from him Youth his Parents having devoted him from his Childhood to the Devil made but a sport of it and laughing at his Friend called him Fool for his fear and bad him be of good Courage for their Master in whose Power they were would safely carry them through greater dangers than those And no sooner had he said these words but a Whirlwind took them and set them both safe upon the ground but the House they were carried from so shook as if it would have been overturned from the very Foundations This both those Men Examined apart confessed in the same words not varying in their Story at all whose Confessions exactly agreed in all Circumstances with what was observed by the Common People concerning the time and the manner of the Tempest and shaking of the House ibid. pag. 172 173. 6. Remigius out of whom Mr. More cites these Relations hath some others of the like nature and at last concludes What is more common in our Times than both the frequent and daily Assertions of Witches concerning this very thing and the Testimonies of Men agreeing thereto who have stedfastly affirmed not only in ordinary Conversation but Solemnly upon their Oaths That they have seen not in their Dreams or with their Senses drawn aside by the Arts of Magick but with waking Eyes these kind of Women shaken out of the Clouds and hang upon the Tops of Trees or the Roofs of Houses c. 12. l. 3. 7. Martin Delrio who quotes the very same Stories out of the same Author concludes thus Have not the like things happen'd in Italy in the Case of Lucrece In Switzerland at Schiltacâ— in case of the Witch mentioned by Erasmus in his Epistles In Holland concerning that unwary curious young Man of Rousey Why tell me I beseech you Might not that which hath happen'd in Italy Switzerland Holland c. happen likewise in France Delrius in Mag. Disq Sect. 3. l. 5. 8. There was a Witch of Constance who being vexed that all her Neighbours in the Village where she lived were invited to the Wedding and so were drinking and dancing and making merry and she solitary and neglected got the Devil to transport her through the Air in the midst of the Day to a Hill hard by the Village where she digging a Hole and putting Urine into it raised a great Tempest of Hail and directed it so that it fell only upon the Village and pelted them that were dancing with that Violence that they were forced to leave off their Sport When she had done her Epxloit she returned to the Village and being spied was suspected to have rais'd the Tempest which the Shepherds in the Field that saw her riding in the Air knew well before who bringing in their Witness against her she confessed the Fact More 's Antid against Ath. c. 4. l. 3. Mr. Baxter speaking of Lightnings and Thunderbolts falling more upon Churches than upon other Buildings hath these Words 9. The Church that my Grandmother was born near had a Ball of Fire by Lightning came in at the Belfry-Window and turned up the Grave-stones and went out at the Chancel-Window 10. The Church that I Baptised in High Ercall close to London Newport's-House had in such a Storm the Leads rolled up and cast on the back-side of the Church and in the War was levelled with the Ground 11. The Church of Anthony in Cornwal near Plymouth was torn by Lightning at the time of Worship on Whitsunday 1640. and some People hurt and the Brains of one struck up to a Pillar It is in Print 12. ' So was used much like the Church of Withicomb in Devonshire at the same time 13. The Church where the Earl of Dorset and Middlesex his Ancestors Monuments were was torn by Lightning that came in at the Steeple melted the Bells and went up to the Chancel and there tore the Monuments in pieces I saw pieces of the Monuments that had some of the golden Letters which a truly worthy Lady brought home that went from Tunbridge Waters to see the Church Many and many Churches have been thus torn proportionably so much beyond all other Buildings especially of Stone that I cannot but think there is some knowing Agent that maketh she Choice though I know not who nor why 14. Except a few Hayricks I remember not that till this Seventy sixth Year of my Age I have known Lightnings to have had hurting Power on any Buildings but Churches save very rarely and small as this last Year at Istington it entred a House and killed a Woman and Child Nor to have torn any Wood but Oak which in Trees and Buildings I have seen torn where I dwelt But divers Persons have been killed and scorched by it And an eminent Knight that I knew is commonly said to have been struck dead by it in his Garden Hist Discourse of Appar and Witches p. 165. 15. Though Porphyry and Procus and Jamblicus tells us That bad Daemons will oft speak for Good Actions and against Bad in Pride and Subtilty to be thought Good yet it is hard to think that it is not rather a good Spirit that speaks for some notable Good Work where no By-end is discernable As that mentioned by Mr. Glanvil and Dr. More of Dr. Britton's Wife whose Likeness appeared after Death to her Servant-Maid and shewed her a parcel of Land that was as part of her Brother's and told her it belonged to the Poor and was unjustly alienated from them and bid her tell the Possessor That he must Restore it and gave her a Secret to tell him if he refused And upon the angry Refusal when he heard the Secret he yielded and restored the Land to the Poor who now possess it Ibid. 16. An. 1553. Two Witches were taken which went about by Tempest Hail and Frost to destroy all the Corn in the Country These Women stole away a little Infant of one of their Neighbours and cutting it in pieces put it into a Cauldron to be boiled but by God's Providence the Mother of the Child came in the mean while and found the Members
to himself by the frequent Noises and Disturbances which he makes in Peoples Houses When I first began this Work I heard a rapping at my Hall-door as with a Horse-whip twice and my Maid heard it likewise at the same time tho' she was in the Kitchen and I in the Parlour at that very Juncture My Wife suspected it to be a Token of some Funeral out of the Family within such a set time as a Year or so c. Many People have had the like and yet no Harm followed And I quere Whether by the Appearance of the Ghosts of Persons departed he doth not design to promote the Doctrine of Purgatory or some other superstitious Fancies I am sure many of the wild and fantastical Notions and Practices that have been adopted into Religion by Jews Greeks Papists and Pagans have been fathered upon such Causes viz. Visions and Revelations Ominous Signs and Apparitions 10. Joan Williford a Witch confessed before the Mayor and other Jurats of Feversham 1645. That the Devil promised her that she should not lack But never brought her more than Eight Pence or one Shilling at a time See the Examination and Confession of the said Joan and others 1645. CHAP. XCIX Divine Judgments by way of Retaliation THERE is no juster Law saith the old Poet than that those who are the Authors of Contriving a Mischief for others fall into it themselves and the Sacred Scripture agrees thereto and we have many Instances of such Judgments And certainly if any Evils in the World carry in them the Signature and Indication of the Cause these do 1. Haman was hanged upon the same Gallows that he prepared for Mordecai 2. David for his Adultery with Bathsheba was threatened with a Punishment of the like kind which was accordingly inflicted on him 2 Sam. 16.22 when Absalom spread a Tent upon the top of the House and went in unto his Father's Concubines 3. Those that accused Daniel to Darius and procured the throwing of him into the Lyons Den were afterwards thrown there themselves Dan. 6.24 4. The Story of Phalaris's Bull invented for the Torment of others and serving afterwards for himself is notorious in Heathen Story 5. The Lord Cromwel in Henry the VIII's Reign is remarked for suffering capital Punishment without ever coming to a Tryal by a Law which they say himself out of a servile Flattery to his Prince procured for others Of which Michael Drayton thus writes Those Laws I made alone my self to please To give a Power more freely to my Will Even to my Equals hurtful several ways Forced to things that most do say were Ill Upon me now as violently seize By which I lastly perish'd by my Skill On mine own Neck returning as my due That heavy Yoke wherein by me they drew Winstanly's Worth p. 216. 6. The Duke of Somerset in the Fifth Year of Edward VI. died by a Law which but a year before was Passed by himself Spelman 7. The Papists pitch'd upon the Fifth of November for their Gunpowder-Plot but that was by Divine Providence seasonably Discovered and some of the Traitors flying into Worcestershire c. with two pounds of Powder which they had Rifled out of the Lord Windsor's House and laid to dry at the Fire by occasion of a Spark flying upon it Catesby Rookwood and Grant were much scorched both in their Bodies and Faces and at the same time the Roof of the House was blown up with the violence of the Powder And upon the same day viz. November 5. 1623. according to the Popish Account by the fall of a House in Black-fryars London at a Popish Conventicle where one Drurie Preach'd at least Ninety Persons were killed Again upon the same day Novemb. 5. to the best of my Remembrance King William III. by Divine Favour and a special Conduct of Providence entered England in order to the Delivering of us from Popery and Arbitrary or Tyrannical Government 8. It was a voluntary Judgment which Archbishop Cranmer inflicted on himself when he first thrust that very hand into the Fire and burnt it with which he had Signed to the Popish Articles crying out Oh! my Vnworthy Right Hand but who will deny that the Hand of the Almighty was also concerned in it 9. The Spaniards who exercised so much Cruelty in the West-Indies telling the poor Natives that they had a Disease upon them which Gold was a Sovereign Remedy for were many of them Taken and Slain by the Indians and Gold poured down their Throats in a Reproachful way as if it were their God 10. The Bishop of Mentz who Burned the Poor of his Neighbourhood in a Barn and called them Rats mentioned elsewhere in this Book was afterwards punished to death with Rats 11. I have read of a Man that was haled out of doors in a violent manner by his own Son who cried out to him Oh! pray no further for just so far I dragg'd my Father 12. Often the very instrument of our Sin is the Instrument of our Punishment as a Child that we Cocker too much a Persons we Love inordinately any thing we doat upon 13. Sisera annoys God's People with Iron Chariots and is Slain with a Nail of iron Jezabel's Brains that devised Mischief against the Innocent were strewed upon Stones By a Letter to Jezreel she shed the Blood of Naboth and by a Letter from Jezreel the Blood of her Sons was shed Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Solomon's Temple that seven years work of so many Thousands therefore let him be turned a Grazing and seven Seasons pass over him Dan. 4.16 14. Frederick Barbarossa Emperor of Germany had often punished the City of Milan for siding with the Pope against him Yet on a time when Beatrix the Empress came to the Town the uncivil Citizens first Imprisoned her and then in a Scornful manner set her on a Mule with her Face towards the Tail which they caused her to hold in her hand instead of a Bridle And having thus Disgracefully carried her through all the Town they brought her to a Gate and kick'd her out The Emperor to Revenge this Wrong Besieged the City and at last took it adjudging all the People to Death but such as would redeem their Lives in this opprobrious manner He caused a Bunch of Figs to be fastned between the Buttocks of a skittish Mule and such as would live must with their hands bound behind them run after the Mule till with their teeth they had snatched out one or more of the Figs which condition with the hazard of many a sound kick was accepted and performed by many of them Heyl. Geog. p. 214. 15. The Donatists that cast the Holy Elements in the Lord's Supper to Dogs were themselves afterwards devoured by Dogs Zonaras 16. The Archbishop of Tours made sute for the Erection of a Court called Cambre Ardent wherein to condemn the Protestants to the Fire and was himself stricken with a Disease called the Fire of God which began at his Feet and
shall deliver into their Hands take heed of them and cleave fast to Christ For they will leave no corner of his Conscience unsearched but will attempt by all guileful and subtle means to corrupt him and to cause him to fall from God and his Truth The Night after he had Subscribed he was greatly troubled and through Affliction of Conscience could not Sleep neither could his Mind be eased till he had procured his Subscription and tore out his Name Being Condemned to be Burned he thus said My Mind and Conscience I Praise God is now quiet in Christ and I by his Grace am very willing and content to give over my Body to the Death for a Testimony of his Truth and pure Religion against Antichrist and all his false Religion and Doctrine Ibid. p. 28. 7. In Suffolk among others there was one Peter Moon and his Wife who were Charged for not coming to Church and for neglecting other Popish Ceremonies Moon was first Examined Whether the Pope was not the Supreme Head of the Church Whether the Queen were not the right Inheritrix of the Crown Whether Christ's Body was not Really Present in the Sacrament c and being of a timorous Disposition he so answered as his Adversaries were satisfied His Wife also by his Example was drawn into the same Dissimulation and so they were dismissed But when they came home and began to bethink themselves what they had done they fell into such Trouble and Horror of Conscience that they were ready wholly to Despair And Moon seeing a Sword hanging in his Parlor was tempted to have slain himself with it which yet the Lord was pleased to prevent and afterwards upon their unfeigned Repentance to restore and comfort them Ibid. 8. Sir John Check who had been Tutor to King Edward VI. in the Reign of Queen Mary was cast into the Tower and kept close Prisoner and put to this miserable choice either to forego his Life or that which was more precious his Liberty of Conscience Neither could his Liberty be procured by his great Friends at any lower Rate than to Recant his Religion This he was very unwilling to accept of till his hard Imprisonment joyned with threats of much worse in case of his refusal and the many large promises made upon his Submission with what other means humane Policy could invent wrought so upon him whilst he consulted with Flesh and Blood as drew from him an Abrenuntiation of that Truth which he had so long Professed and still Believed upon this he was Restored to his Liberty but never to his Comfort for the Sense of and Sorrow for his own Apostacy and the daily sight of the cruel Butcheries exercised on others for their constant adherence to the Truth made such deep Impressions upon his broken Spirit as brought him to a speedy yet through God's Mercy and Goodness to a comfortable end of his Miserable Life A. C. 1557. ibid. p. 28. 9. There was one Ralph Allerton who coming into his Parish Church of Bently in Essex and finding the People idle or ill imployed he exhorted them to go to Prayers and after he had read to them a Chapter out of the New Testament for which being Apprehended he was carried before Bishop Bonner who by his subtle perswasions and flatteries so prevailed with this poor Man that he drew him to Recant his former Profession and so dismissed him But this base Cowardice of his brought him into such Bondage and Terrors of Conscience and so cast him down that if the Lord had not been exceeding gracious unto him he had Perished for ever But the Lord looking upon him with the Eyes of Mercy after he had Chastned raised him up again giving him not only hearty and unfeigned Repentance of his Back-sliding but also a constant boldness to profess his Name and Gospel even unto Death ibid. 10. In the City of Bristol there was one Richard Sharp a Weaver who being Apprehended for Religion was carried before Doctor Dalby the Chancellor who after he had Examined him about the Sacraments of the Altar so wrought upon him by Perswasions that he drew from him a promise to make a publick Recantation and the time and place were appointed for it But after this Promise Sharp felt such an Hell in his Conscience that he was not able to follow any Business and he decayed in his bodily Health and wholly lost his Colour Whereupon on a Sabbath going to his Parish-Church he pressed to the Quire-door and with a loud Voice said Neighbours bear me Record that yonder Idol pointing to the Altar is the greatest and most abominable Idol that ever was and I am sorry that ever I denied my Lord God For this he was carried to Prison and Sealed the Truth with his Blood Ibid. p. 29. 11. When Jerome of Prague came to the Council at Constance they sent him to a Town where they tied him fast to a great Block and set his Legs in the Stocks his Hands also being made fast unto them the Block being so high that he could not possibly sit thereon but his Head must hang downward where also they allowed him nothing but Bread and Water But within eleven days hanging thus by the Heels he fell very sick Yet thus they kept him in Prison almost Twelve Months and then sent to him requiring him to Recant and to Subscribe that John Huss was justly put to Death which he did partly out of fear of Death and hoping to escape their hands Yet they sent to Examine him again but he refused to Answer except he were brought in Publick before the Council and they presuming that he would openly confirm his former Recantation sent for him May 25. 1416. subborning False Witnesses to Accuse him But he so learnedly cleared himself and refuted his Adversaries that they were astonished at his Oration which he concluded with this That all such Articles which Wickliff and Huss had written against the Enormities Pomps and Disorders of the Prelates he would firmly Hold and Defend even unto Death And that all the Sins he had committed did not so much gnaw and trouble his Conscience as did that most Pestiferous Act of his in Recanting what he had justly spoken and to the consenting to the wicked Condemnation of Huss and that he repented with his whole Heart that ever he did it For this he was Condemned and Burned Ibid. p. 30. 12. Some of the Friends of Galcacius Garacciolus Marquess of Vico having promised to accompany him in his voluntary Exile but afterwards looking back and turning again to their Vomit they were Apprehended and cast into the Inquisition were they were forced publickly to Recant and to Abjure their Religion and so they became the Subject of Misery and Infamy and were equally Odious to both Parties Ibid. p. 30. 13. Tho. Bilney A. C. 1531. of Cambridge Professor of both Laws Converted Thomas Arthur and Mr. Hugh Latimer but after recanting his Principles for the space of two
stretching out her Fingers to the full length used to swear by these Ten Bloody Bones This Woman had a Son called Stephen Maurice who was born with two Thumbs upon a Hand and he likewise marrying had several Children born in like manner with two Thumbs a-piece upon each Hand all which supernumerary Thumbs she in a bloody manner with her own Hand cut off This Woman assisted my Mother as Midwife when she brought me into the World W. T. 6. Sir Roger Mosson of Mosson in Flint-shire had a Coal-pit sunk pretty deep by some Workmen who discovered a good Mine of Coal but meeting with a Fire-damp were so affrighted that they deserted the Work At last a bold Fellow that was a notorious Swearer came and undertook to go on with it He with two or three more Men goes down into the Pit leaving the other Men near the Eye thereof whilst himself with a Candle lighted goes forward but presently was so attacked with the Fire-damp that the other Men were struck down with it in great amazement and had much adoe to recover themselves and an Engine of a vast bulk and weight that stood near the Eye of the Pit was carried up into the Air as high as the tops of some Trees that grew upon a Hill near adjoyning and the Man himself that went foremost with the Candle miserably and irrecoverably perished This I had out of the Philosophical Transactions printed some Years ago but in what Year particularly I remember not having not the Pamphlet by me at present 7. Anno Christi 1649. about the end of June there was a Soldier at Ware going with some others to wash himself in the River but finding the Water shallow he asked if there was no deeper a Place for him to swim in Some told him that there was not far off a deep Pit but that it was very dangerous and therefore advised him to take heed how he went into it To whom he answered God damn me if it be as deep as Hell I will go into it which accordingly he did but immediately sunk to the bottom never rising again but was there drowned Attested by good Witnesses Clark's Mirr c. 129. 8. One Mr. Barrington a great Swearer going forth a Hunting or Hawking on a Lord's-Day or a Festival and not speeding to his Mind came to an Ale-house at Puckrych Five Miles from Ware in the way to Cambridge and called for Drink beginning to swear after his unhappy Custom saying By God's Blood this is an unlucky Day and presently after he bled at the Nose which so vexed him that he began to rail and blaspheme the Name of God swearing Passion Wounds Flesh Nails Blood and Body c. till at last he proceeded farther to bleed at the Ears Eyes Wrists joynts of his Hands and of all his Body at the Navil and Fundament in a wonderful great Quantity and Streams of Blood blaring out his Tongue in a fearful manner as black as Pitch so that no Person durst come near him This continued faith my Author till the Devil and Death made an end of him Next day the Body was laid on a Cart carried to Stondâ—n and buried in the High-way Mr. Batman in his Doom warning to the Judgment p. 418. Who saith he had it from Mr. Barrington's wife afterward married to Mr. Carington in Cambridge CHAP. CVII Divine Judgments upon Sabbath-breakers AS God requires us to Remember the Sabbath-Day so as to keep it Holy so himself Remembers them that dare to Profane it The Child that gathered Sticks on that Day among the Israelites in the early Times of the Mosaick Oeconomy was by the Order of God himself stoned to Death And as he began to shew his Severity betimes in the Punishing of this Sin so he hath continued to the present Age to shew his great Displeasure against it insomuch that I think King James was much in the right when he caused his Declaration for Sports upon that Day to be torn out of his printed Volume of Writings where it is not now to be seen 1. A certain Nobleman profaning the Sabbath usually in Hunting had a Child by his Wife with a Head like a Dog and with Ears and Chaps crying like a Hound 2. Stratford upon Avon was twice on the same Day Twelve month being the Lord's-Day almost consumed with Fire chiefly for Profaning the Lord's-Day and Contemning his Word in the Mouth of his Faithful Minister 3. Feverton in Devonshire whose Remembrance makes my Heart bleed was oftentimes admonished by her Godly Preachers that God would bring some heavy Judgment on the Town for their horrible Profanation of the Lord's-Day occasioned chiefly by the Market on the Day following Not long after his Death on the 3d. of April Anno Dom. 1598. God in less than half an Hour consumed with a sudden and fearful Fire the whole Town except only the Church the Court-House and the Alms-Houses or a few poor Peoples Dwellings where a Man might have seen Four Hundred Dwelling-Houses all at once on fire and above Fifty Persons consumed by the Flame Not many Years after this a Misfortune of the like nature befell the Town again for on the Fifth Day of August 1612. Fourteen Years since the former Fire it was again fired and all consumed except some Thirty Houses of poor People with the School-House and Alms-Houses They are blind which see not in this the Finger of God God grant them Grace when it is next built to change their Market-Day and to remove all Occasions of Profaning the Lord s-Day Let other Towns remember the Tower of Siloe Luke 13.4 and take Warning by their Neighbours Chastisements Fear God's Threatnings Jerem. 17.27 And believe God's Prophets if they will prosper 1 Chron. 20.20 Thus far Dr. Bread in his Theatre of God s Judgments p. 419 420. 4. Mr. Smythyes Curate of St. Giles's Cripplegate in the Confession and Discovery of a Condemned Prisoner executed May the 25th 1687 for Theft saith that it was his Earnest Desire That all young Men especially should take care not to mispend the Lord's-day And I do now know saith he that ever I observed any Repentance in a Condemned Malefactor who did not bitterly lament his Neglect of his Duty to God on that Day 5. Edmund Kirk Vintner executed at Tyburn July 11. 1684. for murdering his Wife in his Confession acknowledged himself frequently guilty of Profaning the Lord's-Day Vpon which Holy Day saith he I committed the hainous Sin of murdering my poor Wife Thus Sin was punished with Sin a Less with a Greater and the Greater with the Gallows and that Greater committed near the same Gallows And himself confessed That he had to his Wife asking whilst she passed by what Place that was told it was Tyburn where John Gower was lately hanged for killing his Wife O Lord how dear to me thy Counsels are but how just and terrible are thy Judgments 6. Famous and memorable also is that Example which happened at
〈◊〉 King James 3. A certain Drunkard whom I knew very well saith mine Author a Godly Minister when he was in Drink quarrelled with his Fellow-Servant and after a few words knock d him down with his Flail and killed him at one blow Yet when he came to his Tryal by the help of Friends he made a shift to escape the Halter and came home again and there he used to Swear and Curse and Drink at as high a rate as ever But at last when he was in the same Yard where he committed the aforesaid Murther he fell down dead in a moment And I was saith he one of the first that saw him 4. In the Year 940. Hatto Archbishop of Mentz assembled certain poor Beggars together into a great Barn not to relieve their wants as he might and ought but to rid them of their Lives as he ought not but did For he set on Fire the Barn wherein they were and consumed them all alive comparing them to Rats and Mice that devoured good Corn but served to no other good Use But God that had regard and respect unto those poor wretches took their Cause into his Hand to quit this proud Prelate with just Revenge for his Outrage committed against them sending towards him an Army of Rats and Mice to lay Siege against him with the Engines of their Teeth on all sides which when this cursed Wretch perceived he removed into a Tower that standeth in the midst of the Rhine not far from Bing whither he presumed this Host of Rats could not pursue him but he was deceived For they swam over the Rhine thick and three-fold and got into his Tower with such strange Fury that in a very short space they had consumed him to nothing in Memorial whereof this Tower was ever after called The Tower of Rats And this was the Tragedy of that Bloody Arch-Butcher that compared poor Christian Souls to brutish and base Creatures and therefore became himself a Prey unto them as Popiel King of Poland did after him in whose strange Examples the Beams of God's Justice shine forth after an extraordinary and wonderful manner to the Terror and Fear of all Men when by the means of small Creatures they made room for his Vengeance to make entrance upon these execrable Creature-Murtherers notwithstanding all Man's Devices and Impediments of Nature For the Native Operation of the Elements was restrained from hindring the passage of them armed and inspired with an invincible and supernatural Courage to fear neither Fire Water nor Weapon till they had finished his Command that sent them And thus in old time did Frogs Flies Grashoppers and Lice make War with Pharaoh at the Command of him that hath all the World at his beck Beard 's Theater p. 196. Munster's Cosmogr c. 5. Anno 1346. Popiel King of Poland amongst many of his particular kinds of Cursings and Swearings whereof he was no niggard used ordinarily this Oath If it be not true would Rats might devour me Prophesying thereby his own Destruction for he was devoured by the same means which he often wished for as the Sequal of his History will declare The Father of this Popiel feeling himself near Death resigned the Government of his Kingdom to two of his Brethren Men exceedingly reverenced of all Men for the Valour and Vertue which appeared in them He being deceased and Popiel being grown up to Ripe and Lawful Years when he saw himself at full Liberty without all Bridle of Government to do what he listed he began to give the full swinge to his lawless and unruly desires in such sort that within few days he became so shameless that there was no Vice which appeared not in his Behaviour even to the working of the Death of his own Uncles for all their Faithful dealing towards him which he by Poison brought to pass Which being done he caused himself forthwith to be crowned with Garlands of Flowers and to be perfumed with Precious Oyntments And to the end the better to Solemnize his Entry to the Crown commanded a Sumptuous and Pompous Banquet to be prepared whereunto all the Princes and Lords of his Kingdom were invited Now as they were about to give the Onset upon the delicate Chear behold an Army of Rats sallying out of the dead and putrefied Bodies of his Uncles set upon him his Wife and Children amidst their Dainties to gnaw them with their sharp Teeth insomuch that his Guard with all their Weapons and Strength were not able to chase them away but being weary with Resisting their daily and mighty Assaults gave over the Battle Wherefore Counsel was given to make great Coal Fires about them that the Rats by that means might be kept off not knowing that no Policy or Power of Man was able to withstand the unchangeable Decree of God for for all their huge Fires they ceased not to run through the midst of them and to Assault with their Teeth this cruel Murtherer Then they gave him Counsel to put himself his Wife and Children into a Boat and thrust it into the midst of a Lake thinking that by reason of the Waters the Rats would not approach unto them But alas in vain for they swam thropugh the Water a main and gnawing the Boat made such chinks in the sides thereof that the Water began to run in which being perceived of the Boat-men amazed them sore and made them make Post-hast to Shoar where he was no sooner arrived but a fresh Muster of Rats uniting their Forces with the former encountred him so sore that they did him more mischief than all the rest Whereupon all his Guard and others that were there present for his Defence perceiving it to be a Judgment of God's Vengeance upon him abandoned and forsook him at once Who seeing himself destitute of Succour and forsaken on all sides flew into a high Tower in Chouzitze whither also they pursued him and climbing even up to the highest Room where he was first eat up his Wife and Children she being guilty of his Uncles Death and lastly gnawed and devoured him to the very Bones Ibid. 6. Anno 1056. a certain Nobleman abounding with Wealth not far from Augusta of the Vindilicians brought up in his HOuse a Young Black-a-more which Villain when his Master was from home rose up in the Night and slew not only his Lady but the whole Family excepting one little Daughter of the Nobleman's The Nobleman returning home after two days and finding his Gate shut rode nearer to the Walls of the House wondring Where the Black-a-more upon the top of the House with a fearful Countenance spake unto him these words O thou cruel Man thou rememberest how unworthily thou beat'st me not long since for no fault the memory whereof I still retain in my mind and have revenged this wrong upon thine behold here part of the Carcass of thy Wife whom I have slain with thy whole Family except this little Child which I have reserved
something in her Lap that looked like a white Bag as he thought which he did not observe before So soon as he had emptied his Pail he went into his Yard and stood still to try whether he could see her again but she was vanished In his Information he says That the Woman seemed to be habited in a brown-colour'd Petticoat Wastcoat and a white Hood such a one as his Wife's Sister usually wore and that her Countenance look'd extream Pale and Wan with her Teeth in sight but no Gums appearing and that her Physiognomy was like to that of his Wife's Sister who was Wife to William Barwick But notwithstanding the ghastliness of this Apparition it seems it made so little Impression in Lofthouse's Mind that he thought no more of it neither did he speak to any Body concerning it till the same Night as he was at his Family Duty of Prayer that that Apparition returned again to his Thoughts and discompos'd his Devotion so that after he had made an end of his Prayers he told the whole Story of what he had seen to his Wife who laying Circumstances together immediately inferr'd that her Sister was either drown'd or otherwise murdered and desired her Husband to look after him the next Day which was the Wednesday in Easter-Week Upon this Lofthouse recollecting what Barwick had told him of his carrying his Wife to his Unkle at Selby repairs to Harrison before-mentioned but found all that Barwick had said to be false For that Harrison had neither heard of Barwick nor his Wife neither did he know any thing of them Which notable Circumstance together with that other of the Apparition encreas'd his Suspicion to that degree that now concluding his Wife's Sister was murdered he went to the Lord-Mayor of York and having obtained his Warrant got Barwick apprehened who was no sooner brought before the Lord-Mayor but his own Conscience then accusing him he acknowledg'd the whole Matter as it has been already related as it appears by his Examination and Confession herewith printed To which are also annex'd the Informations of Lofthouse in like manner taken before the Lord-Mayor of York for a further Testimony and Confirmation of what is here set down On the Sixteenth of September 1690. the said William Barwick was brought to his Tryal before the Right Honourable Sir John Powel Knight one of the Judges of the Northern Circuit at the Assizes holden at York where he was found Guilty and afterwards hang'd in Chains See the Narrative 19. Colonel Venables had a Soldier in his Army that came out of Ireland and as under Colonel Hill who was then in London and would attest this following viz. That this Soldier looked pale and sad and pined and the Cause was unkown At last he came to Colonel Hill with his Confession that he had been a Servant 1. England as I remember to one that carried Stockings and such Ware about to sell an for his Money he had murdered his Master and buried him in such a Place and flying into Ireland listed himself his Soldier and that of a long time whenever he lay alone somewhat like a headless Man stood by his Bed saying to him Wil t thou yet Confess And in this case of Fear he had continued till lately it appeared to him when he had a Bedfellow which it never did before and said as before Wil t thou yet Confess and now seeing no hope of longer concealing it he confessed And as I remember saith my Author his going to Hispaniola was his Punishment instead of Death where Vengeance followed him This he offered then to bring Colonel Hill to me to attest Mr. Baxter 's Histor Disc of Apparitions and Witches c. p. 58. 20. Sir Edmundbury Godfrey's Murder was secretly acted and strangely discovered and the Actors brought to condign Punishment as is well known to most of this Nation that are now living 1. Captain Bedloe deposed thus concerning the Murder The Papists because Sir Edmundbury seemed to be an Obstacle to them and had taken the Information of Oats and Tonge about the Plot resolved and contrived to take away his Life 2. Pursuant to which Design they hired for 4000 Pound Le Phaire Welch Atkins Pritchard the Deponent and some Jesuites to do the Fact 3. Accordingly the above-named Persons trapann'd Sir Edmundbury into Somerset-house about 5 a Clock at Night on Saturday October the 12th 1678. 4. This Trapan was effected thus The Deponent was told by le Phaire that He Welch and Atkins met Sir Edmundbury near the King's-head Inn in the Strand and decoyed him into Somerset-house under Pretence of Apprehending some Plotters 5. When they had him in the upper great Court of Somerset-house they thrust him into a low Room put a Pistol to him and threaten'd him if he made a noise then stifled him between two Pillows and finding him still alive strangled him with a long Cravat in the Room where he lay 6. On Monday following precisely between Nine and Ten a Clock at Night the Body was shewn to the Deponent by Le Phaire in the Room or the next to it where the Duke of Albemarle lay in State in the upper square Court there it was by the help of a Dark-lanthorn the Deponent saw the Body in the presence of Le Phaire Welch Atkins and two other Persons Extracted out of the Journals of the Lords and Council Mr. Prance adds That pursuant to this Design they hired Hill Green Kelley the Deponent Gerald and Berry to do the Fact Accordingly they trapann'd Sir Edmundbury into Somerset-house Hill decoyed him down to the Water-Gate under pretence of parting a Fray when they had him near the Rails by the Queen's Stables Green strangled him with a twisted Handkerchief wrung his Neck quite round punched him with his Knee and dragg'd him into Dr. Godwin's Lodgings On the Monday Night following the Body was shown by he help of a Dark-lanthorn to the Deponent and then at Nine a Clock at Night the dead Body was carried out by certain Chair-men to the corner of Clarenden-house and from thence in a Coach to Primrose-hill says Bedloe into Covent-Garden and so to Long-acre and thence to Sohoe says Prance and from thence he was conveyed a-stride on Horseback before Hill into the Fields where they thrust his Sword through his Body and cast him into a Ditch Out of the Lord's Journal As this Murder was committed for Reward so it was discovered for Reward too 21. Anno 1675. March the 19th William Writtle of Chatham was condemn'd at Maidstone Assizes to be hang'd in Chains on Beacon-hill for murdering of Ann James his Sweetheart and her Son John about Six Years old The manner of which Murder and its Discovery was thus He tells her That he had taken a Malt-house near Canterbury and had near Faulson a small Living under Pretence of going to see them he leads her and her Son into a Copice near Beacon-hill where he first murdered the woman and
Love or Good-will towards him Though he stayed long at Brundusium she never went to see him and when his Daughter took that long Journey from Rome to Brundusium to visit him she neither provided Company to conduct her nor gave her Money or other Necessaries for the way yea she so handled the matter that when Cicero came to Rome he found nothing in his House but bare Walls and yet was greatly in Debt by her Plut. in Vita ejus 2. Alboynus King of the Lombards having overcome in War Cunemundus King of the Jepidi and having slain him made a Drinking-Cup of his Skull yet took his Daughter Rosamund to Wife Now it fell out that Alboynus being one day drunk forced his Wife to drink out of her Father's Skull which she so much stomached that she promised one Helmichilâ—â— her self to Wife and Lombardy for a Dowry if he would kill her Husband the King which he assented to and performed But they were afterwards so hated for it that they were forced to fly to the Court of the Exarch of Ravenna who seeing Rosamund's Beauty and the Mass of Money and Jewels which they brought with them perswaded her to kill Helmichilde and to take him for her Husband which accordingly she promised to do And when her Husband Helmichilde coming out of the Bath called for Beer she gave him a strong Poyson but when he had drunk half of it suspecting the Matter he forced her to drink off the rest and so both died together Heil Geog. p. 150. 3. Joan Queen of Naples was insatiable for her Lust which cause her to hang her first Husband which was Andrew Second Son to the King of Hungry at her Window for Insufficiency Her second Husband was Lewis of Tarentum who did with over-straining himself to satisfie her Appetite Her third Husband James of Tarracon a gallant Gentleman she beheaded for lying with another Woman Her fourth Husband was Otho Duke of Brunswick in whose time the King of Hungary drave her out of her Kingdom and having taken her hung her out of the same Window where she had hang'd her first Husband Ibid p. 162. 4. An ancient Gentleman of good Account marrying a beautiful young Gentlewoman but having no Issue he took into his House a young Gentleman a Neighbour's Son and compleatly qualified purposing to make him a Sharer in his Estate This Gentleman grows familiar with his Wife which gave so much occasion of Suspicion and caus'd such a Rumour in the Country that his Father requires him to return home again He doth so but at parting promiseth Marriage to the Gentlewoman in case of her old Husband's Decease and she to him both with Oaths The old Gentleman's Maid meeting with this young Gallant over a Glass of Wine tells him in private how much his Company was missed at her Master's House and his Return desired But withal tho' she knew the Familiarities between him and her Mistress yet it was all feigned for another enjoyed both her Heart and Body naming the Person The Gentleman is startled but Incredulous After some time the old Gentleman sends for him again He goes in the Night but very privily having before by Letter desired that the Garden Door might be left open for him and tells the old Gentleman the Reason of his Absence But before he went back he goes softly to the Gentlewoman's Bed-Chamber Door who often lay by her self and hears the Whispers of two distinct Voices Upon which in a sudden Passion he resolves to break in upon them and run them through with a Sword but relenting with Tenderness he departs softly to his own home grows Melancholy and Distemper'd but recovering he resolved to Travel The old Man sends for him to take an unwilling Farewel At the Importunity of his Father he goes After Dinner the Wife singles him for a Farewel weeping in his Bosom and beseeching him to have a care of his Safety but especially of his Vow and Promise Instead of Reply he gave her a Letter which he desired her to peruse in his Absence She opens the Letter and reads there all the Story of her Lust laid open particularly and pathetically This struck her to the Heart she fell presently into Frensie and Despairing soon after died Which News came to the Gentleman before he reach'd Gravesend The old Man afterwards inriched him with a great part of his Land which he enjoys saith my Author to this Day Wonders of the Female World p. 125. out of Heywood CHAP. CXX Divine Judgments upon Undutiful Children A Wife Son maketh a glad Father but a foolish Son is the heaviness of his Mother saith Solomon Prov. 10.1 And in another Place the disobedient Child is threatned with a Punishment to be inflicted on him by the Ravens of the Valley and the young Eagles Prov. 30.17 as it were to signifie that such a one is in a fair way to an untimely and disgraceful Death like to perish and lie unburied in the open Air for Birds of Prey to feed upon and 't is certain many such Instances there are of Children who forsake the Counsels of their Parents and never return to the Paths of Vertue but go on till their Sin brings them to some miserable End 1. Freeman Sondes Esq Son of Sir George Sondes of Lees-Court in Shelwich in Kent being commanded by his Father to comply with the Will of his elder Brother in a small Matter relating to their Cloaths and in an obstinate manner disobeying so that his Father was provoked to use some threatning Expressions as that he should for the future depend much upon his Brother Freeman hereupon in great discontent when his elder Brother was fast asleep gave him a deadly Blow on the right side of his Head with the back of a Cleaver taken out of the Kitchen the Sunday Night before he did the Fact He after the Blow said he would have given all the World to recall it and made a stop of the rest to see how deep he had wounded him and finding it to be a mortal Wound having broken the Skull his Brother stretching himself on his Bed and struggling for Life and he gathering from thence that he was in great torment discovered then even in that Storm of Temptation so much of a relenting Spirit that to put him out of his pain he did reiterate his Blows with a Dagger which he had about him When he had thus imbrued his Hands in his Brother's Blood he threw the Cleaver out of a Window into the Garden and came with great confusion and disturbance in his Face into his Father's Bed-Chamber adjoyning to his Brother's with the Dagger in his Pocket and undrawing the Curtains shook his Father by the Shoulder who being thus awaken'd out of his Sleep received from his Mouth this Heart-breaking Message Father I have killed my Brother He being asTonished at it made this Reply with much horror What sayest thou Hast thou Wretch killed thy Brother Then you had
of his Death and Passion that Satisfaction may be made by this means for all my Sins and Crimes and the remembrance of them may be blotted out I witness also and profess that I humbly beg of him that being washed and cleansed in the Blood of that most high Redeemer shed for the sins of Mankind I may stand at the Judgment-Seat under the Image of my Redeemer Also I profess that I have diligently done my Endeavour according to the measure of Grace received and Bounty which God hath used towards me that I might Preach his Word holily and purely both in Sermons Writings and Commentaries and interpret his Holy Scriptures faithfully I also witness and profess That I have used no Jugglings no Evil and Sophistical Arts in my Controversies and Disputations which I have held with the Enemies of the Gospel but have exercised my self candidly and sincerely in maintaining the Truth But out alas that Study and Zeal of mine if it be worthy to be so called hath been so remiss and languishing that I confess innumerable things have been wanting in me to the well-performing of my Duty and unless the unmeasurable Bounty of God had been present my Studies had been vain and languid Moreover I acknowledge that unless the same Bounty had been present to me the Goods of the Mind which God hath given me would have made me guilty of the greater sin and Slothfulness before his Judgment-seat For which causes I witness and profess that I hope for no other help for Salvation but this only that seeing God is a Father of Mercy he shewed himself a Father unto me who acknowledge my self a Miserable Sinner As for Other Things after my Departure out of this Life I would have my Body committed to the Earth in that order and manner which is usual in this Church and City till the blessed Day of Resurrection cometh As for that Slender Patrimony which God hath given me I determine thus to dispose of it Let Anthony Calvin my most dear Brother be my Heir but only for Honour-sake let him take before hand and have to himself the Silver Charger given me by Varannius wherewith I desire him to be contented For whatsoever things remain in my Inheritance I request and commit them to his Faith that he return them to his Children when he dies I bequeath Ten Golden Scutes to the School of Boys from the same my Brother and Heir Also so much to Poor Strangers So much to Joan the Daughter of Charles Costan and of my Kinswoman But to Samuel and John the Sons of my said Brother I desire 40 Golden Scutes may be given to them by mine Heir when he dies To Ann Susan and Dorothy his Daughters 30 Scutes of Gold but to David their Brother because of his lightness and miscarriages but 25. This is the whole Sum of the whole Patrimony and Goods which God hath given me so near as I can estimate it setting a Price upon my Library my Moveables and all my Houshold Goods with all other my Faculties If there be found any thing above I would have it to be distributed to all these Children the Sons and Daughters of my Brother Neither do I exclude that David if he prove a good Husband If there shall be any surplusage above that Sum I believe there will be no great matter especially when my Debts are paid the care thereof I have committed to my said Brother upon whose Love and Fidelity I rely For which cause I will and appoint him to be the Executor of my Testament and together with him the Worshipful Lawrence Normandy giving them power to takean Inventory of my Goods without any more accurate Diligence of the Court I also permit them to sell my Moveables that out of the Money made thereof they may execute my Will above-written Dated this 25th of Apr. A. C. 1564. After this Will signed he made a Speech to the Senators and another to the Ministers both very grave and pathetical wrote a Letter to Mr. Viret an old Friend of his 80 Years of Age to prevent his Visiting of him concluding thus I would not have you to weary your self for my sake I hardly draw my Breath and I expect daily when it will fail me wholly It is enough that I live and die to Christ who is gain to his both in Life and Death Again Farewell May 11th 1564. On May 27th after much short breathing and sighing and those Words frequently uttered How long Lord how long about Sun setting he fell asleep Ibid. p. 312. 12. Cardinal Bellarmine made this his Last Will and Testament In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ I Robert Bellarmine Cardinal of the Title of our Blessed Lady's Church called in Via This was a Year before his Death changed to the Name of St. Praxedes being promoted thereunto out of the Society of Jesus desired leave of Clement VIII of Sacred Memory to make my Will That my Goods might be applied to pious Uses that I might be sure that such Temporal Things as should remain after my Death and such as whilst I lived could neither be bestowed on the Poor or on Churches as being necessary for my own Maintenance might return unto the said Poor and Churches The Pope gave me a more general Grant than I desired which I did not accept but only for bestowing them on good Uses as I had desired This Indult or Grant is amongst other Bulls granted me in a great Leaf of Parchment sealed with Lead dated A. C. 1603. Apr. 8. in the 12th Year of the Pontificate of the said Pope Clement This Grant presupposed I made my Will at Capua whilst I was Archbishop of that City afterwards that Will being annulled I made another in Rome but the Circumstances of things being altered and that Second also abrogated I determined now again to make my Will being of the Age of Sixty Nine and very near as I imagine to my last Day but yet by the Grace of God in perfect Health of Body and Mind First therefore I desire with all my Heart to have my Soul commended into the hands of God whom from my Youth I have desired to serve and I beseech him not as a Valuer of Merit but as a Giver of Pardon to admit me amongst his Saints and Elect. I will have my Body not being opened to be carried without any Pomp to the Church of the Society either of the Roman College or of the professed Fathers and let the Exequies be made by the Fathers and Brothers alone of the Society without Concourse of the Holy College to wit of the Cardinals without any Bed made aloft without Arms or Scutcheons with the same plainness as is usual for others of the Society And this I do as earnestly as I can humbly entreat His Holiness that he will satisfie my Desire in it As for the Place of my Burial I would gladly have had my Body at the Feet of blessed Aloysius Gonzaga once my
sometime seen the Courage and Constancy of the Laird of Grang. See this Passage under the Head of Discovery of Things secret or future by Impulses The next Day Knox gave Order for the making of his Coffin continuing all the Day in fervent Prayer crying Come Lord Jesus sweet Jesus into thy hands I commend my Spirit Being ask'd whether his Pains were great he answered That he did not esteem that a Pain which would be to him the end of all Troubles and the beginning of Eternal Joys Oft after some deep Meditation he used to say Oh! serve the Lord in Fear and Death shall not be troublesome to you Blessed is the Death of those that have part in the Death of Jesus The Night before his Death he slept some Hours with great unquietness often sighing and groaning And being ask'd why he mourned so heavily he answered In my Life-time I have been assaulted with Temptations from Satan and he hath oft cast my Sins into my Teeth to drive me to Despair yet God gave me Strength to overcome all his Temptations But now the subtil Serpent takes another course seeking to perswade me that all my Labours in the Ministry and the Fidelity that I have shewed in that Service hath not merited Heaven and Immortality But blessed be God that brought to my Mind these Scriptures What hast thou that thou hast not received And Not I but the Grace of God in me With which he is gone away ashamed and shall no more return And now I am sure that my Battle is at an end and that without pain of Body or trouble of Spirit I shall shortly change this Mortal and miserable Life with that Happy and Immortal Life that shall never have end After which one Praying by his Bed asked him after he had done If he heard the Prayer Yea said he and would to God all present had heard it with such an Ear and Heart as I. Adding Lord Jesus receive my Spirit With which words without any motion of Hands or Feet he fell asleep aged 62. A. C. 1572. The Earl of Murray when the Corpse was put into the Ground saying Here lies the Body of him who in his Life-time never feared the face of any Man Fuller Abel Rediv. p. 323 324. 41. Henry Bullinger in his last Sickness endured the sharpest Pains for four Months with an admirable Patience caused the Pastors and Professors of the City to come to him unto whom he delivered a large Oration wherein he thanked them for their Love opened to them his Faith freely forgave all his Enemies exhorted them to Constancy and Unity commended the Care of the Church and Publick School in Writing to the Senate desired that Rodolphus Gualterus might be his Successor c. And so in the midst of his Extremities sometimes repeating the 16 sometimes the 42 and sometimes the 51 Psalms sometimes the Lord's Prayer sometimes other Prayers at the last as one going to sleep he quietly yielded his Soul into the hands of God Sept. 18. 1575. aged 71. Ibid. p. 339. 42. Mr. Edw. Deering to his Friends on his Death-bed upon occasion of the Sun shining said There is but one Sun in the World nor but one Righteousness one Communion of Saints if I were the most Excellent of all Creatures in the World equal in Righteousness to Abraham Isaac and Jacob yet had I reason to confess my self to be a sinner and to expect Salvation only in the Righteousness of Jesus Christ for we all stand in need of the Grace of God As for my Death I bless God I feel so much inward Joy and Comfort that if put 〈◊〉 my choice whether to die or live I would a Thousand times rather chuse Death if it so stand with the Holy Will of God Ibid. p. 342. 43. Boquine in the Year 1582. on a Lord's-day preached twice and in the Evening heard another Sermon then supped chearfully and after Supper refreshed himself by walking abroad then went to visit a sick Friend and whilst he was comforting of him he found his own Spirits begin to sink and running to his Servant he said unto him Pray adding Lord receive my Soul and so departed in the Lord. Fuller Abel Rediv. p. 349. 44. Mr. Gilpin finding Death to approach him commanded the Poor to be called together unto whom he made a Speech and took his leave of them he did so likewise by others made many Exhortations to the Scholars and to divers others and so at last fell asleep in the Lord Anno 1583. aged 66. Ibid. p. 360. 45. Olevian in his Sickness made his Will and by Pious Meditations prepared for Death declared that he had learned by that Sickness to know the greatness of Sin and the greatness of God's Majesty more than ever he had done before To John Piscator coming to visit him he said that the day before for four hours together he had been filled with ineffable Joy for said he I thought I was in a most pleasant Meadow in which as I walked up and down I was besprinkled with a Heavenly Dew and that not sparingly but plentifully where both my Body and Soul were filled with unspeakable Joy To whom Piscator made answer That good Shepherd Jesus Christ lead thee into fresh Pastures yea said Olevian to the Springs of Living Waters Afterwards having repeated some Sentences full of Comfort out of Psal 42. Isa 9. and Mat. 11. he often said I would not have my Journey to God any longer deferred I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ And so bidding Farewel to his Colleagues and Friends in the Agony of Death Alsted asking if he were sure of his Salvation in Christ He answered Most sure and so gave up the Ghost Anno 1587. aged 51. Ibid. p. 376. 47. George Sohnius of Fribourg in Wetteraw bore his last Sickness with much Patience and with fervent Prayer often repeating O Christ thou art my Redeemer and I know that thou hast redeemed me I wholly depend upon thy Providence and Mercy from the very bottom of my Heart I commend my Spirit into thy Hands And so he slept in the Lord Anno Christi 1589. aged 38 Ibid. p. 385. 48. James Andreas born in Waibling at Wittenberg falling sick sent for James Herbrand saying I expect that after my Death many Adversaries will rise up to asperse me and therefore I sent for thee to hear the Confession of my Faith that so thou mayest witness for me when I am dead and gone that I died in the True Faith The same Confession he made also before the Pastors and Deacons of Tubing The Night before his Death he slept partly upon his Bed and partly in his Chair When the Clock struck Six in the Morning he said My â—our draws near He gave Thanks to God for bestowing Christ for revealing his Will in his Word for giving him Faith and the like Benefits And when ready to depart he said Lord into thy Hands I commend my Spirit
to the uttermost I humbly beseech thee give me now in this great Instant full Patience proportionable Comfort and a Heart ready to die for thy Honour the King's Happiness and this Church's Preservation and my Zeal to these far from Arrogancy be it spoken is all the Sin Humane Frailty excepted and all Incidents thereto which is yet known to me in this Particular for which I now come to suffer I say in this particular of Treason but otherwise my Sins are very many and great Lord pardon them all and those especially whatever they are which have drawn down this special Judgment upon me And when thou hast given me Strength to bear it do with me as seems best in thine own Eyes and carry me through Death that I may look upon it in what Visage soever it appear unto me Amen And that there may be a Stop of this Issue of Blood in this more than miserable Kingdom I shall desire That I may pray for the People too as well as for my self O Lord I beseech thee give Grace of Repentance to all Blood-thirsty People but if they will not Repent O Lord confound all their Devices defeat and frustrate all their Designs and Endeavours upon them which shall be contrary to the Glory of thy Great Name the Truth and Sincerity of Religion the Establishment of the King and his Posterity after him in their just Rights and Privileges the Honour and Conservation of Parliaments in their just Power the Preservation of this poor Church in her Truth Peace and Patrimony and the Settlement of this distracted and distressed People under their ancient Laws and in their native Liberties And when thou hast done all this in Mercy for them O Lord fill their Hearts with Thankfulness and with Religious Dutiful Obedience to thee and thy Commandments all their Days So Amen Lord Jesus Amen And receive my Soul into thy Bosom Amen Our Father c. Again kneeling by the Block he prayed thus Lord I am coming as fast as I can I know I must pass through the Shadow of Death before I can come to see thee But it is but umbra mortis a meer Shadow of Death a little Darkness upon Nature but thou thro' thy Merits and Passion hast broke through the Jaws of Death So Lord receive my Soul and have Mercy upon me and bless this Kingdom with Peace and Plenty and with Brotherly Love and Charity that there may not be this Effusion of Christian Blood amongst them for Jesus Christ's sake if it be thy Will Then laying his Head upon the Block and praying silently to himself he said aloud Lord receive my Soul Which was the Signal given to the Executioner Thus he died Aged 71. Jan. 10. 1644. A brief Relat. of his Death and Sufferings printed at Oxon c. 1644. 114. King Charles the First made this his last Speech upon the Scaffold I Shall be very little heard by any body here I shall therefore speak a Word unto you here Indeed I could hold my Peace very well if I did not think that holding my Peace would make some Men think that I did submit to the Guilt as well as to the Punishment but I think it is my Duty to God first and to my Country for to clear my self both as an honest Man and a good Christian I shall begin first with my Innocency In troth I think it not very needful for me to insist long upon this for all the World knows I never did begin a War with the two Houses of Parliament and I call God to witness to whom I must shortly make an Account that I never did intend to encroach upon their Privileges They began upon me it was the Militia they began upon They confess'd that the Militia was mine but they thought it fit to have it from me And to be short if any Body will look to the Dates of Commissions both theirs and mine and likewise to the Declarations will see clearly that they began these unhappy Troubles not I So that for the Guilt of these enormous Crimes that are laid against me I hope in God that God will clear me of it I will not I am in Charity God forbid that I should lay it upon the two Houses of Parliament there is no necessity of either I hope they are free of this Guilt For I do believe that ill Instruments between them and me have been the Cause of all this Bloodshed so that by way of speaking I find my self clear of this I hope and pray God that they may be so too Yet for all this God forbid that I should be so ill a Christian as not to say That God's Judgments are just upon me Many times he doth pay Justice by an unjust Sentence that is ordinary I will only say this That an unjust Sentence that I suffered to take effect is punished now by an unjust Sentence upon me That is so far I have said to shew you that I am an innocent Man Now for to shew you that I am a good Christian I hope there is a good Man pointing to Dr. Juxon that will bear me witness that I have forgiven all the World and those in particular that have been the chief Causers of my Death who they are God knows I do not desire to know I pray God forgive them But this is not all my Charity must go further I wish that they may repent for indeed they have committed a great Sin in that Particular I pray God with St. Stephen that this be not laid to their Charge nay not only so but that they may take the right way to the Peace of the Kingdom So Sirs I do wish with all my Soul and I hope there is some here will carry it further that they may endeavour the Peace of the Kingdom Now Sirs I must shew you how you are out of the way and will put you in a way First You are out of the way for certainly all the way you ever had yet as I could find by any thing is in the way of Conquest Certainly this is an ill way for Conquest Sirs in my Opinion is never Just except there be a good just Cause either for Matter of Wrong or a just Title and then if you go beyond it that makes it Unjust in the end that was Just at first But if it be only Matter of Conquest then it is a great Robbery as a Pirate said to Alexander That he was the great Robber he was but a petty Robber And so Sirs I do think the way you are in is much out of the way Now Sirs for to put you in the way believe it you will never do right nor God will never prosper you until you give God his due the King his due that is my Successors and the People their due I am as much for them as any of you You must give God his due by regulating rightly his Church according to his Scriptures which is now out
he said Pray remember my dear Love to my Brother and Sister and tell them I desire they would comfort themselves that I am gone to Christ and we shall quickly meet in the Glorious Mount Sion above Afterwards he prayed for about three quarters of an hour with the greatest fervency exceedingly blessing God for Jesus Christ adoring the Riches of his Grace in him in all the Glorious Fruits of it towards him Praying for the Peace of the Church of God and of these Nations in particular all with such eminent Assistance of the Spirit of God as convinced astonished and melted into Pity the Hearts of all present even the most malicious Adversaries forcing Tears and Expressions from them some saying They knew not what would become of them after Death but it was evident he was going to great Happiness When he was just going out of the World with a joyful Countenance he said Oh! now my Joy and Comfort is that I have a Christ to go to and so sweetly resign'd his Spirit to Christ the 12th of September 1685. An Officer who had shewed so malicious a Spirit as to call the Prisoners Devils when he was Guarding them down was now so convinced that he after told a Person of Quality That he was never so affected as by his chearful Carriage and fervent Prayer such as he believed was never heard especially from one so young and said I believe had the Lord Chief Justice been there he could not have let him die The Sheriff having given his Body to be buried although it was brought from the Place of Execution without any notice given yet very many of the Town to the Number of about 200 came to accompany him and several Young Women of the best of the Town laid him in his Grave in Lyme Church-yard the 13th of September 1685. After which his Sister writ this following Letter to her Mother ALthough I have nothing to acquaint my Dear Mother withal but what is most afflictive to Sense both as to the Determination of God's Will and as to my present Apprehension concerning my Brother Benjamin yet remaining yet there is such abundant Consolation mixt in both that I only wanted an Opportunity to pay this Duty God having wrought so Glorious a Work on both their Souls revealing Christ in them that Death is become their Friend My Brother William having already with the greatest Joy declared to those that were with him to the last That he would not change Conditions with any that were to remain in this World and he desired that his Relations would comfort themselves that he is gone to Christ My Brother Benjamin expects not long to continue in this World and is exceeding willing to leave it when God shall call being fully satisfied that God will choose that which is best for him and us all by these things God doth greatly support me and I hope you also my dear Mother which was and is my Brothers great desire there is still room for Prayer for one and God having so answered though not in kind we have Encouragement still to wait on him Honoured Mother Your Dutiful Daughter Hannah Hewling When I came to Taunton to Mr. Benjamin Hewling he had received the News of his Brother's being gone to die with so much comfort and joy and afterwards of the continued goodness of God increasing it to the end He expressed to this effect We have no cause to fear Death if the Presence of God be with us there is no evil in it the sting being taken away it 's nothing but our Ignorance of the Glory that the Saints pass into by Death which makes it appear dark for our selves or Relations if in Christ What is this World that we should desire an abode in it It 's all vain and unsatisfying full of sin and misery Intimating also his own chearful expectations soon to follow discovering then and all along great seriousness and sense of Spiritual and Eternal things complaining of nothing in his present Circumstances but want of place of Retirement to converse more uninterruptedly with God and his own Soul saying That this lonely time in Newgate was the sweetest in his whole Life He said God having some time before struck his Heart when he thought of the hazard of his Life to some serious Sense of his past Life and the great consequences of Death and Eternity shewing him that they were the only happy Persons that had secured their Eternal states The folly and madness of the ways of sin and his own Thraldom therein with his utter inability to deliver himself also the necessity of Christ for Salvation He said it was not without Terror and Amazement for some time the sight of unpardon'd sin with Eternity before him But God wonderfully opened to him the Riches of his Free-Grace in Christ Jesus for poor Sinners to flee to enabling to look alone to a crucified Christ for Salvation He said this blessed Work was in some measure carried on upon his Soul under all his business and hurries in the Army but never sprung forth so fully and sweetly till his close Confinement in Newgate There he saw Christ and all Spiritual Objects more clearly and embraced them more strongly there he experienced the blessedness of a reconciled State the Excellency of the ways of Holiness the delightfulness of Communion with God which remained with very deep and apparent impressions on his Soul which he frequently express'd with Admiration of the Grace of God towards him He said Perhaps my Friends may think this Summer the saddest time of my Life but I bless God it hath been the sweetest and most happy of it all nay there is nothing else worth the name of happiness I have in vain sought satisfaction from the things of this World but I never found it but now I have found Rest for my Soul in God alone O how great is our Blindness by Nature till God open our Eyes that we can see no Excellency in Spiritual things but spend our Precious Time in pursuing Shadows and are deaf to all the Invitations of Grace and Glorious Offers of the Gospel How just is God in depriving us of that we so much slighted and abused Oh! his Infinite Patience and Goodness that after all he should yet sanctifie any Methods to bring a poor sinner to himself Oh! Electing Love distinguishing Grace what great cause have I to admire and adore it He said What an amazing Consideration is the Suffering of Christ for sin to bring us to God his Suffering from wicked Men was exceeding great but alas what was that to the Dolours of his Soul under the infinite Wrath of God This Mystery of Grace and Love is enough to swallow up our thoughts to all Eternity As to his own Death he would often say He saw no reason to expect any other I know God is infinitely able to deliver and I am sure will do it if it be for his Glory and my Good in
and all the World 2. Colonel HOLMES THe next Place was Lime where many of Note died particularly Colonel Holmes who was the first of those there executed near the same Place where they landed when they came ashore with the Duke of Monmouth Being brought to the Place after some difficulty for the Horses that were first put into the Sledge would not stir which obliged those concerned to get others which they did from the Coachman who had that Morning brought them to Town When they were put into the Sledge they broke it in pieces which caused the Prisoners to go on foot to the Place of Execution Where being come as I told you before the Colonel began thus at the foot of the Ladder He sate down with an Aspect altogether void of Fear but on the contrary with a kind of smiling Countenance so began to speak to the Spectators to this purpoe That he would give them an Account of his first Undertaking in the Design which was long before in London for there he agreed to stand by and assist the Duke of Monmouth when Opportunity offer'd in order to which he went to Holland with him and there continued until this Expedition in which God had thought fit to frustrate his and other Good Mens Expectations He believed the Protestant Religion was bleeding and in a step towards Extirpation and therefore he with these his Brethren that were to suffer with him and Thousands more had adventured their Lives and their All to save it but God Almighty had not appointed 'em to be the Instruments in so glorious a Work Yet notwithstanding he did verily believe and doubted not but that God would make use of others that should meet with better success tho the way or means was not yet visible but of this he did not doubt He also was satisfied of the Duke's Title so that matter did not afflict him on account of his engaging on his Score And going on further with a Discourse of this nature he was asked by a Person why he did not pray for the King He with a smiling Countenance answered I am sorry you do not yet understand the Difference between Speaking and Praying And having ended his Discourse he then prepared himself by Prayer for his Dissolution which was very devout and pious for half an Hour which was as follows Colonel Holme's Last Prayer MOst Glorious most Great and most Merciful God! there is none in Heaven or in Earth that is like unto Thee Heaven is thy Throne and the Earth is thy Footstool Who shall say unto thee What doest thou Here we are poor deplorable Creatures come to offer up our last Prayers and Services unto thee We beseech thy favourable Ear to our Prayers and the Comfort of thy Holy Spirit at this time We praise and magnifie thy Name for all the Dispensations of thy Providence towards us especially for this thy Providence in bringing us to this Place and at this time to suffer Shame for thy Name Help and assist all of us to submit to thy Will patiently Pardon all our Sins remove them out of thy Presence as far as the East is from the West and accept of us in the Merits of thy Son Jesus Christ Thou who art the Searcher of Hearts and Tryer of Reins let there not at the moment of Death be the least spark of Sin in-dwelling in us nor the Strivings of Flesh and Blood that may hinder us from a joyful Passage unto thee Give us Patience also under these Sufferings and a Deliverance to all others from undergoing them and in thy good time work a Deliverance for poor England let thy Gospel yet flourish among them Hasten the Downfall of antichrist we trust the time is come Prevent O Lord this Effusion of Christian Blood and if it be thy Will let this be the last Lord bless this Town let them from the highest to the lowest set the Fear of God before their Eyes Bless all sorts and conditions of Men in all Ranks and Qualities pardon all their Sins give them all true Repentance and the Grace of thy Holy Spirit Fit and prepare us for the chearful fulfilling of thy Holy Will Let the Comforter be still with us Be Merciful to all our Friends and Relations and Acquaintance Forgive our Enemies Accept of our Thankfulness for all the Mercies and Favours afforded us and hear and graciously answer us in these our Requests and what else thou knowest needful and expedient for us and all for our Redeemer the Lord Jesus Christ his sake who died for us that we might reign with him for ever and ever To whom with Thee and thy Blessed Spirit of Grace be ascribed as is most due all Honour Glory and Praise both now and for ever After having ended his Prayer he took occasion to speak to his suffering Brethren taking a solemn Leave of them encouraging them to hold out to the end and not to waver observing that this being a glorious Sun-shining Day I doubt not though our Breakfast be sharp and bitter it will prepare us and make us meet for a comfortable Supper with our God and Saviour where all Sin and Sorrow shall be wiped away So embracing each of 'em and kissing of them told the Sheriff You see I am imperfect only one arm I shall want assistance to help me upon this Tragical Stage Which was presently done and Execution suddenly followed 3. The Execution of Mr. SAMPSON LARKE MR. Sampson Larke who was a very Eminent Pious Minister and had lived in that Town but a little before Many Years he was there well acquainted and all People that knew him had a Value for him behaving himself with that Humility and Circumspection as no body could have any other Occasion but to value him He design'd to have spoken somewhat on a Portion of Scripture and was beginning having mentioned the Place he intended to speak upon but was interrupted and told the Work of the Day being great they should want time So then he stopp'd and reply'd He could make Application where he should not meet with Interruption and so apply'd himself to Prayer which he performed with great Devotion and Zeal for a quarter of an Hour to the great Satisfaction of the Auditors And so taking leave of his suffering Brethren he mounted the Stage which was to be the last Act he made in this World Being on the Ladder he saw some of his Friends and Neighbours weeping and mourning for him to whom he spake Pray weep not for me I am going to a Place of Bliss and Happiness Wherefore pray repair to your Houses and e're you get thither I doubt not but I shall be happy with my God and Saviour where all Tears shall be wiped away and nothing shall remain but Hallelujahs to all Eternity Leaving this Place we proceed to other Parts of the Country where with the like Butchery were only five Executed amongst whom was one 4. Mr. TYLER MR. Tyler of Bristol
late As to the Meetings I bless God I ever was at any of them and that I was any way Instrumental to the upholding of them and am troubled that I have I fear sinfully deprived my self of them and do believe if ever the Ordinances of God were rightly administred and the Gospel effectually preached it was in those Meetings that were held in Taunton the Lord bless the Seed that was there sown As to Elections of Members for Parliament I judge it my Birth-right and therefore was Industrious in it but I hope never did I am sure never intended troublesomness to any in it but especially to my Superiors I had ever a venerable and due esteem of Magistrates as the Ministers of God and they administring an Ordinance of God I also lie under a Reproach of being unfaithful to an Interest that I owned which I utterly deny and disown I pray God bless and forgive my violent Enemies that have industriously sought the taking away my Life It 's the hearty Prayer of JOHN HVCKER From Taunton-Castle a little before he suffered Sept. 30th 1685. 7. Captain MADDERS CAptain Madders at the time of the Duke's Landing was a Constable at Crewkern in the County of Somerset and so diligent and active for the King in his Office that when two Gentlemen of Lyme came there and brought the News of the Duke's Landing and desired Horses to Ride Post to acquaiut His Majesty therewith he immediately secured Horses for them the Town being generally otherways bent and assisted them so far as any called Loyal in those Times could do which was represented to the Lord Chief Justice in expectation thereby to save his Life But an Enquiry being made about his Religion and returned by a very worthy Gentleman of those Parts That he was a good Protestant an honest Man had a very good Character amongst his Neighbours O then says he I 'll hold a wager with you he is a Presbyterian I can smell them Forty Miles then surely he must die Being brought to the Place of Execution he was the last Man except one executed and he behaved himself whilst the rest were executing with great Zeal and lifting up his Hands and Eyes would often say Lord make me so willing and ready to the last And God did hear his Prayers for though he seemed to the Spectators to be somewhat unwilling to die yet at the last he died with as much Assurance and Christian Resolution as any for after his Publick Prayer he came once down the Ladder and prayed again privately then mounted the Ladder again The Sheriff saying Mr. Madders if you please you may have more Liberty He answered No I thank you Mr. Sheriff now I am ready I am willing and desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ Oh! you cannot imagine what Comfort and Refreshment I have received in a few minutes my Comforts are so great that I cannot contain my self So blessing and praising of God he was translated as I hope we have no grounds to imagine the contrary from Earth to Heaven repeating Rev. 20.6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first Resurrection on such the second Death hath no Power 8. The Dying Words of Captain Kidd Executed at the same Time and Place THis Gentleman was the last executed at that time as soon as Captain Madders was turned off he began to prepare to follow and called to the Guards and those present Do you see this pointing up to Eleven that were dead before him do you think this is not dreadful to me that Eleven of Twelve of us that but a few hours since came down together are dead and in Eternity And I just going to follow them and shall immediately be in the same condition Says one to him It must be dreadful to Flesh and Blood Says he Well Gentlemen I will assure you I am so far concerned that methinks I bethink their Happiness that they should be so long before me in Bliss and Happiness But I 'll make haste to follow I am satisfied this is the best day that ever I saw The day of a Man's Death is said to be better than the day of his Birth And truly so I find it as to my Flesh for I shall be presently free from sin and sorrow I am satisfied God hath done his best for me I might have live and forgotten God but now I am going where I shall sin no more 'T is a blessed thing to be free from sin and to be with Christ O how great were the Sufferings of Christ for us beyond all that I can undergo how great is that Glory to which I am going Then taking his leave of the People then present he prayed some small time very devoutly and with seeming great Joy and Comfort the Executioner did his Office 9. The Last Speech of Dr. Temple of Nottingham at the Place of Execution DOctor Temple was one of them that Landed with the Duke and was his Chief Physician and Chirurgeon he lived in Nottingham but minding to see other Parts of the World as I have heard goes for Holland where he came acquainted with the Duke of Monmouth concerning which he thus spoke just as he was going off the Ladder Christian Friends and dear Countrymen I Have somewhat to say and not very much before I depart from you and shall be seen no more And First As to my Engagement with the Duke of Monmouth Secondly How far I was concerned And Thirdly I shall leave all of you to be Judges in Matter of Fact And so for the First As a Dying Man I now declare That when I entred my self with the Duke of Monmouth to be his Chirurgeon it was on no other Account but to serve him in the West-Indies where I knew no other Design whatsoever but to possess himself of some of those Islands until I had been at Sea two days wherein one privately told me We are absolutely bound for England and I should take it from him it was true It much surprized me but knowing no way to avoid it or to get on shore though it was at that time contrary to my Inclinations if I could have avoided it I would not let others see that I had that dissatisfaction within me After our Landing at Lyme I knew it was never the nearer to attempt my Escape the Country being so beset on the other hand if the Duke of Monmouth did win the Day I might have raised my Fortunes as high as I could expect These were the Arguments that Flesh and Blood did create in my Breast for Self-prefervation While I was with the said Duke I did him as much Service as I could and faithfully After it pleased God to disperse that Army under his Command I endeavoured to secure my self but by Providence was taken at Honiton from thence committed to Exon and after removed to Dorchester where I received my Sentence and am now as you see just going to Execution The Lord
Ciod of Earth or if she wou'd ' Ise too much a Platonick to tell her I am Flesh and Blood No my Dear when you are gone I can easily part with every thing my Leave then will soon be taken of All but my self Never did any Man bid Adieu to the World more absolutely and purely and shake Hands with all Women in it than I shall do when thou art dead not but I kindly resent thy recommending that dear Saint But she and Argus have nothing to fear For tho' my Flesh is malicious enough yet I 'm as Chast as Ice and a perfect Enemy to Caterwauling I love my Daphne ' cause she pleases me And therefore only pleases ' cause 't is she And therefore in her shake Hands with the whole Sex But tho' I 'm averse to a Second Wife yet to forbid thee Marriage after my Death according to the Property of some Husbands I will not for the Holy Scripture saith The Wife is bound unto the Marriage as long as her Husband liveth If her Husband die she is at Liberty to marry with whom she will only in the Lord. If therefore after my Death thou hast a mind to Marry again as I scarce think it of thee Marry in the Name of the Lord our God but follow not the Practice of doating Widows who couple with those to whom they might more properly have given suck Neither would I have thee engage in a Smithfield Bargain What! Marry for Money or be laying new Foundations of Life now you are half way through it To lay up Goods for many Years was thought by the Primitive Christians fitter for Heathens than Christians for having seen no such thing in their Master they could not tell how it should be proper in his Servants but thou art a Rational Creature tho' a Woman and hast no need of this Advice I come next to tell thee I have made my Will wherein thou art sole Executrix that I might give at the rate I love thee from our Marriage till now I have been wrapp'd in a Circle of Obligations to thee and am so desirous to require thy Love that I am scarce contented with giving All but cou'd grutch my Funeral Expences my very Shroud and Grave that I might add to your future Store I need not press you to believe this for Men in their Last Wills and Speeches appear just as they are they here grow Open and Plain-Hearted and dare not depart with their Hands to a Lye But if you think this Will a Romance or that my Words out-love my Actions I must referr all to Death it self for then will be seen whether the Items in it come only from my Mouth or from my Heart I say I referr you to Death for the Truth of this for my Carriage in Health en't able to shew how Dear you are I have not that Fondness in my natural Temper that trumpets forth great Love and to speak my Conscience I think it unhandsome in a (k) (k) As I hinted in a Letter to the Ingenious Cl s. Marry'd State The Stork is a fond Creature and by always kissing his Mate in publick gives a bad Example to Marry'd People who have learn'd it from him Publick Wantonness is odious between Birds much more so between Man and Wife Believe me Daphne more Souls of our Youth perish this way than any other It pleases not me tho' spoken by an Emperor Give me leave by the Lusts of others to exercise mine own tho' a witty yet a wicked Speech I ever thought an intemperate Man in Wedlock differs little from a Brute for too much Billing in Publick sheweth the way to unexperienc'd Youth to commit Riot in Private Cato accus'd one before the Senate that he had kissed his Wife before his Neighbour's Daughter The very Elephants cry out against the Stork and Marry'd Wantons in this Matter who as Pliny writes make not the least Love one to another except they be covered with Bought 'T was a witty Answer of the Lacedaemouian Virgin who being ask'd in the Morning by her Friend whether or no in the Night she had embrac'd her Husband reply'd Good Words good Man not I him but he me Intimating that Fondness in a Wife was unsufferable and in a Man 't is scandalous Which makes me so little practise it Surely a Landlord may value his House without riding o' th' ridge on 't But I need not bring Arguments to prove I love tho' I am not fond seeing your Charity for me makes you say I out-love every thing Then wonder not I'm grieved at Neither am I less concern'd for the after Reflections so far as they relate to my Dear But pray forgive all my Errors and the Excess of a Love that has nothing of parting in 't 'T will if I do survive you follow thee to thy Dying-Bed 'T is there I 'll attempt to expire that I may if possible follow thee in the same Tract to Heaven where I hope to find and (l) (l) As I lately proved in a Letter upon that Subject know thee hereafter For why may not Husband and Wife that helped forward each others Salvation whose Souls were mutually dear and who went to Heaven as it were Hand in Hand there meet and return each other Thanks for those Christian Offices Holy David cheared up his Thoughts after the Death of his Child with this Meditation (m) (m) 2 Sam. 12.23 I shall go to him but he shall not return to me Which had been little Comfort if he had thought never to have known him there It will be no small Augmentation of our Complacency as I told Ignotus to find those very Friendships which we had contracted here below translated to the Mansions above when I shall see and know thee again with whom I had lived so well and slept so long in the Dust With what Ardours shall we then caress one another With what Transports of Divine Affection shall we mutually embrace and vent those innocent Flames which had so long lain smothering in the Grave How passionately Rhetorical and Elegant will our Expressions be when our Sentiments which Death had frozen up when he congeal'd our Blood shall now be thaw'd again in the warm Airs of Paradise Like Men that have escap'd a common Shipwrack and swim safe to the Shore we shall Congratulate each others Happiness with Joy and Wonder Our first Addresses will be a Dialogue of Interjections and short Periods the most pathetick Language of Surprize and high-wrought Joy and all our after-Converse will be couch'd in the highest Strains of Heavenly Oratory intermixed with Hallelujahs But I 'll stop here to let you see that my Love to your Soul is not so great as to make me forget the House it dwells in No to thy Ashes I 'll keep a Body pure and Troth inviolable for Separation shall have no place in our Union which is too great to be exampled And as to thy Burial it shall speak
of Christ It is not all I can do that will or can save me Were I to live my Days over again and spend them in nothing but Prayers and Tears that could not Save me no it is nothing but the Mercy of God in Christ that must save me and upon this will I trust I am resolved that at the last I will lay my self wholly at the Feet of God's Mercy in Jesus Christ and there I will die This he uttered with raised and enlarged Affections They have brought my Coffin and I am not afraid to see it proceeded he I thank God I can freely lie down in it These Shackles about my Legs are as if they were not I do not regard them My Heart is so cheared with the consideration of the Precious Promises God hath made to poor perishing Sinners and why not to me And why not to thee indeed said I She loved much to whom much was forgiven Ah reply'd he it is much must be forgiven me Much indeed More to this purpose passed between us Several other Ministers were with him that Day and prayed with him as he told me what Discourse they had with him I know not A little before Execution enquiring of him what Confession he thought to make he said he was not inclined to speak much publickly in that respect for this reason That he judged it useless and at most would only gratifie some who came for nothing else but to hear him tell a long Story of a Vicious Life which was more likely to discompose his own Minds than tend to their Edification Moreover he said I cannot affect the Guilty and for others some may believe me some may not The Guilty know themselves I will therefore leave them to God and their own Consciences wishing them true Repentance that they may never come to this miserable End He did not think fit to go out of the World accusing others whom he could no more than accuse and neither bring them to deserved Punishment for what they had done hor prevent thereby their proceeding in the same course of Wickedness No for said he God must convince them and change their hearts which he did and would Pray earnestly for to his last He was desirous to employ all his little space in seeking God and giving up himself to Jesus Christ in humble Prayer now and then saying Oh! my Time is short within a few hours yea moments I shall be in Eternity O vain World Requesting me oft not to leave him till Death separated us I accompanied him to the Place of Execution where I prayed with him committing his Soul to God he joyned with me with great Ardency Then was sung the latter part of the 39th Psalm by his Appointment in singing whereof he seemed elevated in Heart and Voice above most present At last turning about and looking round on the Multitude he took his Farewel in these words or words to the like effect Gentle Spectators You are come to see a sinful miserable Wretch suffer this Ignominious Death I thank God it is not terrible to me for I trust that I shall find Mercy with God for my poor Soul through the precious Blood of my sweet Jesus You may see here what Sin will bring you to Oh take warning by me take heed of Sin shun Temptationsâ— flee Ezsil Company beware of Sabbath-breaking for by this Sin the Devil begins with many to draw them to all manner of Wickedness so he did with me Oh forsake all your Evil Wars turn to the Lord he is a gracious God Oh vile Wretch that I have so sinned against a holy just and merciful God I have been a Prodigal indeed but I hope now a Returning one Oh that they that have been my Companions in Mischief may Repent before it be too late I beg of them to fear God and mind their Souls There may be some of them that hear me at this time the Lord touch their hearts Oh do not still go on you are known to God who will call you to Account for all one day Think of it I beseech you the Lord give you true Repentance and Pardon your Sins that you may not come to this miserable End you see me come to With more to the like purpose Then Resigning himself to God and begging Acceptance with him for the Merits of a Dear and All-sufficient Redeemer he ended this Temporal and Miserable Life Thus far Mr. Burroughs CHAP. CXLV The Last Wills of Persons Remarkable for their Oddness and Singularity HAving had occasion to mention before several Wills with a particular Respect to Charities bestowed and some which were Remarkably Serious and Devout here I shall present the Reader with a few that I thought not very suitable to either of those Heads having something of Oddness or Levity or Brevity in them extraordinary 1. I have already spoken of Endamidas the Corinthian who dying Poor left his Aged Mother to Aretaeus and his Young Daughter to Charixenus two Rich Friends of his the one to be maintained till she died and the other till she married She the Chapter of Remarkable Friendship 2. Hilarion is reported at Eighty Years Old to have made this Will All my Wealth that is the Gospel and one Hair Vest my Coat and little Cloak I leave to my most loving Friend Hesychius Mourning Ring 3. Antonius the Great this As for the Place of my Burial let none know but your own Love my Felt and old Cloak give it to Athanasius which he gave me when it was new Let Serapion take the other which is somewhat better Do you take my Hair Garment And so Farewel my Bowels for Antony is going Ibid. 4. I Acathius Victor have been running to Eternity from A.C. 1581. and have Eternity in my Mind Now I commend my Spirit to God my Body to the Earth and Worms But as for Estate nothing now is mine but Good-Will which I carry with me to the Tribunal of God Ibid. 5. S. Hierom Martyr left his Estate to his Mother and Sister but to Rusticius the Chief Magistrate of Ancyra his Right-hand already cut off Ibid. 6. Zisca bequeath'd his Skin to make a Drum and his Flesh to the Fowls of the Air and Wild Beasts Ibid. 7. A Woman left her Cat 500 Crowns to maintain her with Food so long as she lived 8. I have mentioned already an Old Witch that on her Death-bed bequeathed her Imp the Devil to her Daughter 9. Luther was more serious and wise when he in his Last Will bequeath'd his Wife to God who gave her 10. Cardinal Bellarmine as I have noted before makes a long sputter in his Last Will about his Disposal of a few Cloaths and fine Pictures c. 11. I have been credibly informed that a certain School-Master in Shropshire making his Will his Wife who had always the Whip-hand over him standing by took occasion frequently to Advise the Clerk that wrote for him or rather to Correct and altar what
of the Provincial Presidents have written heretofore unto Our Father of Famous Memory whom he answered in Writing again That they were not to be longer molested unless they had practised Treason against the Roman Empire And many have given Notice unto Us of the same Matter whom We answered as Our Father did before Us. If any therefore hereafter be found thus busied in other Mens Affairs We Command that the accused be absolute and free though he be found such a one I mean faulty and that the Accuser be grievously punished This Edict was proclaimed at Ephesus in the hearing of the great Assembly of Asia Euseb l. 4. c. 13. 6. Dr. Heylin in his Cosmography tells us That some of the Natives of America would say to some of the English at their first going over to those Foreign Plantations That King James was a good King and his God a good God but their Tauto naught 7. In the City of Aleppo a handsome French Slave a Young Man of Eighteen Years Old being tempted to Sodomy by his Master's Steward and upon his denial being threatned with immediate Death if he disputed any longer The vertuous Slave finding himself destitute of all other Remedies nimbly seized upon a Scymetar which hung upon the Wall of the Chamber and at one blow with it smote off the Turk's Head To escape Death for this Fact which was the lightest Punishment he could expect he takes an Arabian Horse out of his Master 's Stable with a design to make for Scandaroon to the English Factory there But unhappily meeting his Master upon the way he was stop'd brought back again and upon discovery of the Murther brought before the Basha by whom upon the Importunity of the Turks he was condemned to be beheaded The Slave then as brought to the Place of Execution which is a Field without the City where being come he appeared though very modest yet undaunted and fearless of Death And having prayed with much Fervour and Devotion and having particularly acknowledged his Fault and begged Almighty God's Pardon for telling his Master that his House was robbed when he met him upon the Road he was strip'd stark naked according to the Custom of that Place and discovered a lovely Body in which inhabited a more lovely Soul And immediately before his Death he did aver that he died a Christian depending wholly for his Salvation upon the Merits of our Saviour and that he killed the Steward for no other reason but to avoid being polluted by him and that he hoped God would shew some sign upon his Body to attest his Innocency and the Truth of what he said After having said this his Head was struck off from his Body and both left unburied according to Custom Many rebellious Turks were executed at the same time in the same place whose Bodies were quickly torn in pieces and devoured by a certain sort of great Dogs kept at Aleppo who were allowed no other Sustenance almost but the Carcasses of Malefactors But it was observed that none of those Dogs would touch the Body or Head of this Martyr of Chastity And which is more strange yet though this Young Man's Body lay in the Field unburied Ten or Twelve days and no other Execution in all that time and the Dogs so extreamly pinched with Hunger that they were ready to devour living Men yet they would not touch this Body And which is more Remarkable yet though it lay exposed all this time to the heat of the Sun in that very intemperate Climate yet did it not stink corrupt or change colour And this Circumstance moreover is affirmed as Remarkable that after Ten days there being another Execution in the same Place that Carcass was immediately devoured in the sight of the People But the Turks to bury their own shame were necessitated at last to dig a Grave and entomb this chaste Martyr See the Narrative Printed with License at London Anno Christi 1676. 8. The Testimony of Cublay the Emperor of the Tartars concerning Christ upon occasion of a Victory obtained by him over the Great Province of Mangi A. C. 1286. THis Day I cannot deny but that the Victory which I have obtained over mine Enemies is by especial Grace from my great God the Sun Moon and Stars abiding in this Glorious Vault of Heaven To whom I purpose to render Thanks to Morrow even in this open Field to which purpose I give Order that the Places be avoided of Humane Bodies here slain as also of the dead Beasts and decent Altars purposely erected As for the Prisoners being most part of them Christians whom I behold despoiled of their Arms shouted at mocked despised and jested at by the Jews Mahometists and others upbraiding them with their God Jesus Christ who was sometime fastened to a Cross by the said Jews for not aiding and helping them to the Victory as wanting such Power because so many of their Ensigns are here prostrated at my feet From this present hour forward I forbid all manner of Persons of what Quality or Religion soever they be to use any more such Derisions of themm on pain to be deprived of their Arms and well whipped with Rods at two several times yea on the very greatest pain beside that can be imagined And so much the rather because their God Jesus Christ is esteemed of Us to be one of the very greatest Coelestial Deities full of all Right Equity and Justice For he knowing these Christians to make War against Us unjustly being Our Subjects that never gave them occasion but revolted of themselves and adhered with Our Enemies therefore hath he permitted that I should win the Day albeit I have heard him to be called the God of Battels Over and besides this I Pardon all them that have followed my unkind Nephews Naiam and Caydve as being meerly deceived by them in making them believe they were levied for my Service and therefore I receive them again into my Protection Giving further to understand that all such as have any Prisoners they are not to offer the least harm whatsoever but immediately to set them at Liberty delivering them their Arms and all other Equipages to them belonging on pain to pass through the danger of the Army even he the proudest that shall make denial Our Charge imposed on the Christians is to Pray unto their God for Our Prosperity and to do Us Nine Months Service by taking Wages of Us in Our Instant War against the King of Nixamora who denieth to pay Us Our Tribute and strives to equal himself with Our Greatness Treasur of Ancient and Modern Times l. 2. p. 130. 9. The Testimony of Sidan King of Morocco concerning Jesus Christ in a Letter to James the First King of England WHen these Our Letters shall be so happy as to come to Your Majesty's sight I wish the Spirit of the Righteous God may so direct your Mind that you may joyfully embrace the Message I send presenting to you the means
that Persons had when absent suffers by their Presence Bishop Fowler 's Preface relating to the Queen 4. As to the Sobriety which relates to the Palate she was so far from being fond of great Dainties that I heard her once say That she could live in a Dairy Ibid. 5. What an Enemy she was to Idleness even in Ladies those who had the Honour to serve her are living Instances It is well known how great a part of the Day they were employed at their Needles and several Ingenuities the Queen herself when more Important Business would give her leave working with them And that their Minds might be well employed at the same time it was her Custom to order one to read to them while they were at Work either Divinity or some profitable History Ibid. 6. As to the positive Instances of the Queen's Piety or Fear of God they were such as shewed she made no less Conscience of Sins of Omission than of Commission Ibid. 7. I might speak of the pious Care she took of her immediate Attendants and how concerned she was to have them secured from Temptations when they had occasion to go abroad But I cannot omit one passage which is an equal Instance both of her Piety and Humility She having condescended to be God-Mother to a Daughter of one of her Servants and calling to mind those Words at the end of the Office of Baptism You are to take Care that this Child be brought to the Bishop to be Confirmed by him c. she not only took this Care of her God-Daughter but in order to her due Preparation for Confirmation would instruct her herself and hear her say her Catechism She did not think it enough to Command one of her Servants or the Clerk of her Closet to do this Office Ibid. 8. How great a concern she had for the Reforming of the Manners of her Subjects in this very loose Age appeared by her most pious Letter to the Justices of Middlesex Wherein she vigorously excited them to do their Duty according to their Oaths in Executing the Laws against Swearers and Cursers and Profaners of the Lord's Day and all debauched Persons Ibid. 9. The Queen's Death was such as it might have been presumed such a Life would end in Upon her having the first Intimation of the Danger she was in she replied to this effect I have been instructed by the Divines of our Church how very hazardous a thing it is to rely upon a Death-bed Repentance and I am not now to begin the Great Work of Preparing for Death And I praise God I am not afraid of it Ibid. 10. She was so composed throughout her Sickness that 't was evident she had not the least Disturbance upon her Mind but that all was calm and serene within her One of her Physicians a very worthy Gentleman was so affected with the Observations he then made of her as since to say She seemed to me more like an Angel than a Woman Ibid. 11. Frequently she called for the Prayers which my Lord of Canterbury still read to her And about Twelve Hours before her Departure she comfortably received the Holy Communion at his Hands Seven Bishops communicating with her And at last she went away as quietly as a Lamb with her Works following her 12. She would conclude with Words that carried in them an Air of Modesty that shined then most particularly when she seemed to desire an increase or Knowledge She would say She did not know if there was any Difficulty in such Things or not or if she apprehended or expressed it right or if it was only her Ignorance Bishop Burnet's Essay on the Memory of the Queen 13. She gave her Minutes of leisure with the greatest willingness to Architecture and Gardenage She had a Riches of Invention with a Happiness of Contrivance that had Airs in it that were freer and nobler than what was more stiff tho' it might be more regular She knew that this drew an Expence after it she had no other Inclinations besides this to any Diversions that were expenceful and since this employed many Hands she was pleased to say That she hoped it would be forgiven her Ibid. 14. When her Eyes were endangered by Reading too much she found out the Amusement of Work And in all those Hours that were not given to better Employments she wrought with her own Hands and that sometimes with so constant a Diligence as if she had been to earn her Bread by it It was a new thing and looked like a Sight to see a Queen work so many Hours a Day She looked on Idleness as the great Corrupter of Humane Nature And believed that if the Mind had no Employment given it it would create some of the worst sort to itself And she thought that any thing that might amuse and divert without leaving a Dreg and ill Impressions behind it ought to fill up those vacant Hours that were not claimed by Devotion or Business Ibid. 15. She scarce ever expressed a more entire Satisfaction in any Sermon that she had heard than in our late Primate's against Evil Speaking When she thought some were guilty of it she would ask them if they had read that Sermon Ibid. 16. She was as free from Censures as she was from deserving them When Reflections were made on this before her she said She ascribed that wholly to the Goodness of God to her For she did not doubt but that many fell under hard Characters that deserved them as little She gave it this further turn That God knew her Weakness and that she was not able to bear some Imputations and therefore he did not try her beyond her strength Ibid. 17. Her Attention to Sermons was so entire that as her Eye never wandred from a good Preacher so she shewed no weariness of an indifferent one When she was asked how she could be so attentive to some Sermons that were far from being perfect she answered That she thought it did not become her by any part of her Behaviour to discourage or seem to dislike one that was doing his best Ibid. 18. Pluralities and Non-Residence when not enforced by real Necessity were otherwise so odious to her that she resolved to throw such perpetual Disgraces upon them as should oblige all Persons to let go the hold that they had got of these Cures of Souls over whom they did not watch and among whom they did not labour In a full Discourse on this very Subject the Day before the fatal Ilness overtook her she said She had no great Hope of mending Matters yet she was resolved to go on and never to suffer herself to be discouraged or to lose Heart She would still try what could be done and pursue her Design how slow or insensible soever the Progress might be Ibid. 19. When Reflections were once made before her of the Sharpness of some Historians who had left heavy Imputations on the Memory of some Princes she answered That
entire Elogy Ibid. 31. I cannot omit her Reverential Regard for the Lord's-Day which at the Hague I had a very particular occasion to take Notice of On a Saturday a Vessel the Pacquet-Boat was stranded not far from thence which lying very near the Shore I view'd happening to be thereabouts at that time 'till the last Passengers were brought as all were safe off Multitudes went to see it and her Highness being inform'd of it said she was willing to see it too but thought she should not for it was then too late for that Evening and she reckoned by Monday it would be shiver'd to pieces thô it remaining entire 'till then she was pleas'd to view it that Day but she resolved she added she would noe give so ill an Example as to go see it on the Lord's-Day Mr. Howe 's Discourse on the Death of our late Queen 32. She was not inaccessible to such of her Subjects whose dissentient Judgments in some such Things put them into lower Circumstances Great she was in all valuable Excellencies nor greater in any than in her most Condescending Goodness Her singular Humility adorn'd all the rest Speaking once of a good thing which she intended she added But of my self I can do nothing and somewhat being by one of two more only then present interposed she answered She hoped God would help her Ibid. 33. He that will read the Character Psal 15. and 24. of an Inhabitant of that Holy Hill will there read her true and most just Character Wherein I cannot omit to take notice how sacred she reckoned her Word I know with whom she hath sometimes conferr'd whether having given a Promise of such a seeming import she could consistently therewith do so or so saying That whatever prejudice it were to her she would never depart from her Word Ibid. 34. She had a Love to all good Men thô of a different Communion Her Esteem and Affection were not confin'd to one Party or to the Church of which herself was a Member This is the Unchristian Character of many that they hate and despise those who differ from them in the Circumstantials of Religion But the deceas'd Queen had a larger Soul she lov'd and valu'd the Image of God wherever she found it 'T is well known how frequently I may say constantly she joyn'd in the Worship of God with the Dutch and French Churches thô their Constitution and Order are very different from those of the Church of England I have been a Witness of the Kindness and Respect with which she treated English Dissenting Ministers and was present when she thank'd one of that quality for a Practical Book of Divinity which he had publish'd and had been put into her Hands This Consideration makes our Loss the greater because she is taken away who was so capable and willing to compose the unhappy Differences in Matters of Religion which she did lament and earnestly wish'd the removal of ' em Mr. Spademan 's Sermon preach'd at Rotterdam the Day of Her Majesty's Funeral 35. Those who never had themselves Experience of Want and Distress are tempted unto a neglect and disregard of the Miserable Most of the Great and Rich choose rather to lay out their Treasures on any Vanity than in Relieving the Destitute and Distress'd But this pious Queen was rich in this kind of good Works and did as willingly seek out Objects of her Charity as others do avoid ' em The Character which Solomon gives of a Vertuous Woman did most visibly belong to the deceas'd Queen Prov. 31.20 She stretched out her Hand to the Poor yea she reacheth forth both her Hands to the Needy And it might truly have been said of her what Job alledged as an Evidence of his Sincerity in the Service of God Job 29.13 15 16. The Blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me and I caus'd the Widow's Heart to sing for Joy c. By such a Christian Practice this wise Queen laid up Treasure in Heaven Ibid. 36. Could we and those who were related to the late Queen be perswaded to walk in the Steps of her Faith and Piety we should reap more Advantage after her Death than we did in her Life 'T is a memorable Wonder that is related 2 Kings 12.21 How when a dead Man was cast into the Sepulchre of Elisha as soon as he touch'd the Bones of Elisha he revived and stood upon his feet We may hope that if the holy Example of the deceas'd Queen might touch our dead Souls they would be reviv'd and gain Spiritual Life Ibid. 37. She knew how dangerous an Instrument of the Devil Flattery is and how fatally her Station exposed her to it And she took care for nothing more than to secure herself against the danger of it I Shall never forget with what weight of Reason and sincerity of Concern I have sometimes heard this Great Queen represent the Dangers which Princes above all others are apt to run in this respect And with what Earnestness she has exhorted those about her to deliver to her the plainest Truths and with all Freedom to tell her if they had observed any thing amiss in her Conduct that she might amend it Dr. Wake 's Sermon preached at Grey's-Inn on the Occasion of the Queen's Death 38. She thought herself engag'd to labour not only her own particular but the Salvation of others You may know it you that by your Employments were design'd to her immediate Service have been so often corrected by her when over zealous for her and so negligent of God she would not admit of your Sedulities but when they were sanctifi'd by Prayer It behoves ye in the first place to serve God said she to ye that 's your first Duty I will have none of your Attendance but upon that Condition Mr. Claude's Sermon on the Queen's Death preach'd at the Hague 39. Never was Majesty better tempered with Easiness and Sweetness She knew how to be familiar without making herself cheap and to condescend without meanness She had all the Greatness of Majesty with all the Vertues of Conversation and knew very well what became her Table and what became the Council-Board She understood her Religion and loved it and practised it and was the greatest Example of the Age of a constant regular unaffected Devotion and of all the eminent Vertues of a Christian Life In the midst of all the Great Affairs of State she would rather spare time from her Sleep than from her Prayers where she always appeared with that great Composure and Seriousness of Mind as if her Court had been a Nunnery and she had nothing else to do in the World Dr. Sherlock 's Sermon preached at the Temple upon the sad Occasion of the Queen's Death 40. She was not wrought up to any Bigottry in unnecessary Opinions She was most conversant in Books of Practical Divinity of which some of the latest used by her were certain Sermons and some Discourses concerning
from making a Dishonourable Peace with King Pyrrhus Val Mar. l. 8. c. 13. p. c 236. 11. Gorgias Leontinus the Master of Isocrates when he was in the 107 year of his Age being asked why he would tarry solong in this Life because saith he I have nothing whereof I can accuse my Old Age Val. Max. l. 8. c. 13. p. 237. 12. Lemnius tells of one at Stockholm in Sweden who at the Age of 100 married a Wife of 30 years and begat Children of her this Man was of so fresh and green Old Age that he scarce seemed to have reached more then 50 years Cam. Hor. Sub. Cent. 2. p. 277. 13. Isocrates in the 94th year of his Age put forth his Book Intituled Panathenaicus he lived 15 years after it and in that extream Age of his he was sufficient for any work he undertook both in Strength Judgment and Memory Zuin. Theat Vol. 2. l. 4. p. 337. 14. Agesilaus King of Sparta though he had attained to a very great Age yet was often seen to walk without Shooes on his Feet or Coat on his back in Frost and Snow and this for no other cause then that being now an Old Man he might give those that were young and Example of Patience and Tolerance Ibid. 15. Asclepiades the Prusian gave it out Publickly that no Man should esteem him as a Physician if ever he should be Sick of any Disease whatsoever and ideed he credited his Art for having lived to Old Age without Alteration in his Health he at last fell down a pair of Stairs and died of the fall Ibid. 16. Mithridates King of Pontus who for 40 years managed a War against the Romans enjoyed a prosperous Health to the last of his Life used to Ride to throw Javelins and on Horses disposed at several Stages Rode 1000 Furlongs in one day and also could drive a Chariot that was drawn with 16 Horses Cel. Rhod. Ant. lect l. 29. c. 17. p. 1365. 17. Mr. Patrick Wian Minister of Lesbury Read the Divine Service David's Psalms one Chapter out of the Old Testament and one out of the New without the use of Spectacles he had two New Teeth his Sight much decayed was restored unto him about the 110th year of his Age Hair was restored to his bald Scull and he could Preach a Sermon without the help of Notes he gave this Accunt of himself October 19. 1657. 18. A certain German living in Italy had at 60 years of Age recovered his Teeth and black Hair and had extended his Life to a great many years with the only use of black Helebore White-Wine and Roses Bartholin Hist Anat. cent 5. Hist 28. p. 51. 19. At Tarenturn there lived an Old Man who at the Age of 100 years was grown young again he had changed his Skin like unto a Snake and had recovered a New Being withal he was become so young and fresh that hose who had seen him before could then scarce believe their own Eyes and having continued above 50 years in this Estate he grew at length to be so Old as he seemed to be made of Barks of Trees Hakewell's Apol. l. 3. c. 1. p. 167. 20. in Anno 1536. Noâ—nio de Cugne being Vice-Roy of the Indies for the King of Portugal it was averred by good Proofs and sufficient Testimony that an Indian brought unto him was 340 years Old he had grown young again 4 times changing his white Hair and recovering his New Teeth when the Vice-Roy did see him he then had the Hair of his Head and Beard black This Man was born in the Realm of Bengala and did affirm that he at times 700 Wives whereof some were dead and some were put away The King of Portugal being advertised of this wonder did often enquire and had Yearly News of him by the Fleet which came from thence He lived about 370 years Camerar Hor. Subs c. 2. cap. 68. p. 278. 22. An Old Abbatess being decrepit suddenly became Young her Monthly Courses returned her rugged and wrinkled Skin grew smooth her hoary Hairs grew black and New Teeth in her Head and Paps swelled after the manner of Virgins Donat. Hisi Med. Mir. l. 6. c. 2. p. 300. 21. Mr. John Craig of Scorland a great Divine and excellent Preacher sincere and inclining to no Faction lived 88 years thô he endured many Toffings Troubles and Dangers in his Life time after many Troubles for his Religion in his own Countrey he went to France and from thence to Rome where by the favour of Cardinal Pool he was received among the Dominions of Bononia he was employed in all their Affairs throughout Italy and was sent in Commission to Chios where he behaved himself so well that at his return he was made Rector of their School where having access to their Libraries he met with Calvin's Institutions by which and the Advice of a Reverend Old Man he was confirmed in the Opinion he had entertain'd for which being accused of Heresie and sent to Rome where after 9 Months Miserable Imprisonment he was condemned to be burnt the next Day But the same Night Pope Paul the Fourth died upon the Noise whereof the People in a Tumult broke open the Prisons by which means Mr. Craig had his Liberty As he sought to escape he met with one of the Banditi who remembring a Charity received from him gave him Money to bear his Charge to Bononia trusting to find Friendship from his Acquaintance but fearing to be intrapt fled from thence And being in a wild Desart Pensive and without Money a Dog with a Purse in his Teeth fawned upon him and gave it him From thence he came to a Village and meeting Travellers to Vienna he went with them whilst at Vienna professing to be a Dominican he was brought to preach before the Emperour Maximilian the Second from whence Pope Pius the Third sent for him but the Emperour sent him away with Letters of safe Conduct so returning to Scotland where he preached painfully many Years till spent with Age he died in Peace Anno 1600. Arch-Bishop Spotswood 's Hist Church of Scotland p. 461. 22. The Reverend Dr. Annesley appeared of a hale and hardy Constitution of Body which was such as to endure the coldest Weather without Hat Gloves or Fire For many Years he seldom drank any thing besides Water His Sight so strong that to his Death he read the smallest Print without Spectacles and in a Life lengthen'd do his 77th Year he was rarely Sick His Natural Capacity was good and his Temper vigorous and warm which his Grace over-ruled mostly to undertake those most excessive Labours and sustain the Difficulties which without a Body and Mind so fashioned had been impossible in so long a course of Service And this Vigour he so retain'd to his very Death as if God would give an Instance that the Fervour of some Men's Souls in his Work were either in dependent on the Body or their Bodies with Moses were still
the promised Land Methinks I hear God saying to me as to Moses Go up to Mount Nebo and die there so Go thou up to Tower-Hill and die there Isaac said of himself That he was Old and yet did not know the day of his Death But I cannot say thus I am Young and yet I know the Day the Kind and the Place of my Death also It is such a kind of Death as two Famous Preachers of the Gospel John the Baptist and Paul the Apostle were put to before me we have mention of the one in Scripture-Story of the other in Ecclesiastical History And Rev. 20.4 The Saints were Beheaded for the Word of God and for the Testimony of Jesus But herein is the disadvantage which I am in in the thoughts of many who judge that I Suffer not for the Word or Conscience but for meddling with State-matters To this I shall briefly say that it is an old Guise of the Devil to impute the cause of God's Peoples Sufferings to be Contrivements against the State The Rulers of Israel would put Jeremiah to death upon a civil Account tho' it was the Truth of his Prophecy made them angry because he fell away to the Chaldeans So Paul must die as a Mover of Sedition The same thing is laid to my Charge whereas indeed it is because I pursue my Covenant and will not prostitute my Principles to the Lusts of Men. Beloved I am this Day to make a double Exchange I am exchanging a Pulpit for a Scaffold and a Scaffold for a Throne and I might add a third I am changing this numerous Multitude upon Tower-hill for the innumerable Company of Angels in the Holy Hill of Sion and I am changing a Guard of Soldiers for a Guard of Angels which will receive and carry me into Abraham's Bosom This Scaffold is the best Pulpit I ever preached in God through his Grace made me an Instrument to bring others to Heaven but in this he will bring me to Heaven and it may be this Speech upon a Scaffold may bring God more Glory than many Sermons in a Pulpit Before I lay down my Neck upon the Block I shall lay open my Case and that without Animosity or Revenge God is my Record whom I serve in the Spirit I speak the Truth I Lye not I do not bring a Revengeful Heart unto the Scaffold this Day Before I came here I did upon my bended Knees beg Mercy for them that denied Mercy to me I have forgiven from my Heart the worst Enemy I have in the World and this is the worst I wish to my Accusers and Prosecutors who have pursued my Blood that I might meet their Souls in Heaven I have no more to say but to desire the Help of all your Prayers that God would give me the Continuance and Supply of Divine Grace to carry me through this great Work I am now to do that I who am to do a Work I never did may I have a Strength that I never had that I may put off this Body with as much Quietness and Comfort of Mind as ever I put off my Cloaths to go to Bed And now I am to commend my Soul to God and to receive my fatal Blow I am comforted in this Tho' Men kill me they cannot damn me and tho' they thrust me out of the World yet they cannot shut me out of Heaven I am now going to my Long Home to my Father's House to the Heavenly Jerusalem to the innumerable Company of Angels to Jesus Christ the Mediator of the New Covenant to the Spirits of Just Men made perfect to God the Judge of all in whose Presence there is Fulness of Joy and at whose Right Hand there are Pleasures for evermore Then he kneeled down and made a short Prayer privately Then after rising up he said Blessed be God I am full of Joy and Peace in believing I lie down with a world of Comfort And then saying The Lord bless you he lay down with his Head over the Block and when he stretched out his Hands the Executioner did his Office 118. The Last Speech of Sir Walter Rawleigh MY Honourable Lords and the rest of my good Friends that are come to see me die know That I much rejoyce that it hath pleased God to bring me from Darkness to Light and in freeing me from the Tower wherein I might have died in Disgrace by letting me live to come to this Place where tho' I lose my Life yet shall I clear some false Accusations unjustly laid to my Charge and leave behind me a Testimony of a true Heart both to my King and Country Two things there are which have exceedingly possess'd and provoked His Majesty's Indignation against me viz. A Confederacy or Combination with France and disloyal and disobedient Words of my Prince For the first His Majesty had some Cause though grounded upon a weak Foundation to suspect mine Inclination to the French Faction for not long before my Departure from England the French Agent took occasion passing by my House to visit me We had some Conference during the time of his abode only concerning my Voyage and nothing else I take God to witness Another Suspicion is had of me because I did labour to make an Escape from Plimouth to France I cannot deny but that willingly when I heard a Rumour that there was no hope of my Life upon my Return to London I would have escaped for the Safeguard of my Life and not for any ill Intent or Conspiracy against the State The like Reason of Suspicion arose in that I perswaded Sir Lewis Steukly my Guardian to flee with me from London to France but my Answer to this is as to the other that only for my Safegard and nough else was my Intent as I shall answer before the Almighty It is alledged That I feigned my self Sick and by Art made my Body full of Blisters when I was at Salisbury True it is I did so the Reason was because I hoped thereby to deferr my cooming before the King and Council and so by delaying might have gained time to have got my Pardon I have an Example out of Scripture for my Warrant that in case of Necessity and for the Safeguard of his Life David feigned himself Foolish and Mad yet it was not imputed to him for Sin Concerning the second Imputation laid to my Charge That I should speak Scandalous and Reproachful Words of my Prince there is no Witness against me but only one and he a Chymical Frenchman whom I entertained rather for his Jests than Judgment This Man to incroach himself into the Favour of the Lords and gaping after some great Reward hath falsly accused me of Seditious Speeches against His Majesty against whom if I did either speak or think a Thought hurtful or prejudicial Lord blot me out of the Book of Life It is not a time to Flatter or Fear Princes for I am a Subject to none but Death
Therefore have charitable Conceit of me That I know to swear is an Offence to swear falsly at any time is a great Sin but to swear falsly before the Presence of Almighty God before whom I am forthwith to appear were an Offence unpardonable Therefore think me not now rashly or untruly to confirm or protest any thing As for other Objections as That I was brought perforce into England That I carried Sixteen Thousand Pounds in Money out of England with me more than I made known That I should receive Letters from the French King and such like with many Protestations he utterly denied England's Worthies by Will. Winstanley p. 303. 119. The Death of Henry Bullinger Mr. Bullinger falling Sick and his Disease encreasing many Godly Ministers came to visit him but some Months after he recovered and preached as formerly but soon Relapsed when finding his vital Spirits wasted and Nature much decayed in him he concluded his Death was at hand and thereupon said as followeth If the Lord will make any farther use of me and my Ministry in his Church I will willingly obey him but if he pleases as I much desire to take me out of this miserable Life I shall exceedingly rejoyce that he will be so pleased to take me out of this miserable and corrupt Age to go to my Saviour Christ Socrates said he was glad when his Death approached because he thought he shou'd go to Hesiod Homer and other Learned Men deceased and whom he expected to meet in the other World then how much more do I joy who am sure that I shall see my Saviour Christ the Saints Patriarchs Prophets Apostles and all Holy Men which have lived from the beginning of the World These I say I am sure to see and to partake with them in Joy Why then should I not be willing to die to enjoy their perpetual Society in Glory And then with Tears told them That he was not unwilling to leave them for his own sake but for the sake of the Church Then having written his Farewel to the Senate and therein admonished them to take care of the Churches and Schools and by their permission chose one Ralph Gualter his Successor he patiently resigned up his Spirit into the Hands of his Redeemer dying Anno Christi 1575. and or his Age 71. 120. Mr. Haines Minister of Westminister was acquainted with a Gentleman of a very Holy Life and Conversation Which said Gentleman as he lay in his Bed one Morning a Boy of about twelve Years of Age appeared to him in a radiant Light and bid him prepare to Die in twelve Days He being surprized at it sent for Mr. Haines and told him of it who perswaded him from believing of it telling him 't was only a Fancy But within six Days he was siez'd with a violent Fever and four or five Hours before his Death the same Boy came and sate upon his Pillow and as the Gentleman grew paler he changed colour too and just as the Breath went out of the Body he disappeared This is attested by the Gentleman's Family for they all saw it and Mr. Haines related it to a Person of good Reputation from whom I received it 121. The Last Will of Mr. Henry Stubbs Deceased July â— 1678. Published at the Desire of his Widow Mrs. D. S. KNowing that I must shortly put off this my Earthly Tabernacle I make my Last Will and Testament Imprimis I commend my Soul into the Hands of God wholly trusting in Jesus Christ my dear Lord and Saviour through his All-sufficient Satisfaction and powerful Mediation to be accepted Eph. 1.6 Item I commit my Body to the Earth from whence 't was taken in sure and certain Hope of a Resurrection to Life Eternal building upon that sure Word John 6.40 Item I leave my Fatherless Children to the Lord who hath promised to be a Father to the Fatherless Ps 68.5 And to preserve them alive Jer. 49.11 Commanding them to keep the way of the Lord Gen. 18.19 Item I â—xhort my Widow to trust in the Lord of whose care she hath had no little Experience and therefore should trust in him Psal 9.10 And I desire her to read often Jer. 49.11 Psal 68.5 Heb. 13.5 Item The Congregations to which I have been formerly a Preacher and that with which I now am by a special Hand of Providence I commend to God and the Word of his Grace which is able to build them up and to give them an Inheritance amongst all them which are sanctified Acts 20.32 beseeching them by the Lord Jesus That as they ahve received of me how they ought to walk and please God so they would abound more and more 1 Thes 4.1 Item And for my Kindred according to the Flesh my Hearts Desire and Prayer to God for them is That they may be saved Rom. 10.1 Item And for all those yet living and who have seriously and earnestly desired my Prayers my earnest Request to God for them is That it would please him to do for them all as the Marter shall require 1 Kings 8.59 Item And for my Brethren in the Ministry my Prayer is That they may take heed to themselves and to all the Flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made them Overseers to feed the Church of God which he hath purchased with his own Blood Acts 20.28 Item And for the People my Prayer is That they may obey them that have the Rule over them Heb. 13.17 Item And for Professors of Religion my Prayer is That they may walk worthy of God unto all well-pleasing being fruitful in every Good Work Col. 1.10 11. Item And for the King my Prayer is That Mercy and Truth may preserve him Prov. 26.28 And for Him and all that are in Authority my Prayer is That they may so lead their own Lives that the People under them may lead quiet and peaceable Lives in all Godliness and Honesty 1 Tim. 2.2 Item And for the whole Land of my Nativity my humble Prayer to the Lord of all Grace and Mercy is That the Power and Purity of the Gospel together with a Learned and Faithful Ministry to dispence the same may be continued and preserved therein The Last Words of those Eminent Persons who fell in the Defence of the Protestant Religion and the English Liberties both in London and the West of England from the Year 1678. to this time IN the two last Reigns many of the Flower of our Nobility and Gentry either lost their Lives or Estates or Liberties or Country whilst a Crew of Parasites triumphed and fluttered in their Ruins To see a Russel die meanly and ignobly in the Flower of his Age an Essex or a Godfry sacrificed to the insatiable Ambition and Revenge of their Enemies who yet not content with their Lives would like the Italian stab on after Death and tho' they could not reach their Souls endeavour to damn their Memories These and too many other such melancholy Instances would be
Cruelties to sweep the Country before him and Young and Old were hang'd by Clusters as if the Lord Chief Justice had designed to raise the Price of Halters After Ages will read with Astonishment the Barbarous Usage of those poor People of which among many Instances this one may seem sufficient whereby to take the Dimensions of all the rest That when the Sister of the two Hewlings hung upon the Chief Justice's Coach imploring Mercy on the behalf of her Brothers the merciless Judge to make her let go caused his Coachman to cut her hands and fingers with the Lash of his Whip Nor would he allow the Respite of the Execution but for two days tho' the Sister with Tears in her Eyes offered a Hundred Pounds for so small a Favour And whoever shelter'd any of those forlorn Creatures were hurried to the Slaughter-House with the same inexecrable Outrage without any consideration either of Age or Sex witness the Execution of the Lady Lisle at Winchester As for Argile and the Duke tho' they might die pitied yet in regard they had declared open Hostility it was no more than they were to expect upon ill Success The Christian Behaviour and Dying Speeches of some that were Condemned and Executed in the West I Shall next proceed to give an Account of the Christian Behaviour and Dying Speeches of some that were Condemned and Executed in the West And I shall begin with 1. The Dying Speech and Behaviour of Mr. Matth. Bragg MR. Matthew Bragg was a Gentleman descended from an Ancient and good Family he was bred an Attorney in which he practised the Law His Case being this He happened to be upon the Road Riding home to his House being come from a Gentleman's House for whom he kept Courts He as before being met with by a Party of Horse belonging to the Duke of Monmouth who were going to search the House of a Roman Catholick for Arms who lived two or three Miles from the Place they met him they required him to go with them and shew them the way he knowing the Country better than they did he desired to be excused telling them It was none of his Business and besides had no Arms. But his Excuses signified nothing they forced him amongst them where they went Being Arraigned and Pleading Not Guilty he put himself on the Tryal of God and his Country which found him and 28 more of 30 Guilty the Lord Chief Justice often saying If any Lawyer or Parson came under his Inspection they should not escape The Evidence against him was a Roman Catholick and a Woman of ill Fame to whom the Lord Chief Justice was wonderfully kind But his Evidence which were more than Twenty to prove his Innocence signified nothing the Jury being well instructed by my Lord Chief Justice Being thus found Guilty Sentence as presently pronounced and Execution awarded notwithstanding all the Interest that was made for him Thus being Condemned on Saturday and ordered to be Executed on Monday he spent the residue of his little time very devoutly and much becoming a good Christian and a true Protestant of the Church of England all which availed nothing with this Protestant Judge He was frequently visited by a worthy Divine of the Church of England who spent much time with him and received great Satisfaction from him The said Divine â—old me That his Deportment Behaviour and Converse was so much like an extraordinary Christian that he could not in the least doubt but this violent Passage would put him into the fruition of Happiness He wish'd and desir'd a little longer time out of no other Design but throughly to repent him of his Sins and make himself more sensible of and fit for to receive the Inheritance that is prepared for those that continue in Well-doing to the end When he came to the Place of Execution with great Courage and Resolution being as he said prepared for Death he behaved himself very gravely and devoutly Being asked when he was on the Ladder whether he was not sorry for his being concerned in the Rebellion He replied That he knew of none that he was Guilty of and prayed them not to trouble him adding He was not the first that was martyr'd He was so much a Christian as to forgive his Enemies And after some private Devotions he suddenly was Translated as we have all Hopes to believe from Earth to Heaven The only Favour of this Protestant Judge was to give his Body to his Friends in order to its Interment amongst his Ancestors 2. The Behaviour of Mr. Smith Constable of Chardstock ANother eminent Person that suffered with him at the same time and place was one Mr. Smith who was Constable of Chardstock who having some Monies in his Hands that belonged to the Militia which came to the knowledge of some of the Duke's Friends they obliged him to deliver it to them which he was forced to deliver and for this was Indicted for High Treason in assisting the Duke of Monmouth To which he pleaded Not Guilty The Evidence against him were the same with those that had been against Mr. Bragg The said Mr. Smith informed the Court and the Jury what little Credit ought to be given to the Evidence The Lord Chief Justice thundred at him saying Thou Villain methinks I see thee already with a Halter about thy Neck thou impudent Rebel to challenge these Evidences that are for the King To which the Prisoner reply'd very boldly My Lord I now see which way I am going and right or wrong I must die but this I comfort my self with That your Lordship can only destroy my Body it is out of your power to touch my Soul God forgive your Rashness Pray my Lord know it is not a small matter you are about the Blood of a Man is more precious than the whole World And then was stopped from saying any more The Evidences being heard a strict Charge was given the Jury about him To be short the Jury brought him in Guilty so that he with the rest received the Sentence of Death all together and were Executed on Monday but by particular Order from my Lord he was ordered to be first Executed The Day being come for Execution being Monday he with a Courage undaunted was brought to the Place where with Christian Exhortations to his Brethren that suffered with him he was ordered to prepare being the first to be Executed where he spake as followeth CHristian Friends I am now as you see launching into Eternity so that it may be expected I should speak something before I leave this miserable World and pass through those Sufferings which are dreadful to Flesh and Blood which indeed shall be but little because I long to be before a just Judge where I must give an Account not only for the Occasion of my Sufferings now but for Sins long unrepented of which indeed hath brought me to this dismal Place and shameful Death And truly dear Country-men having ransacked
my Soul I cannot find my small Concern with the Duke of Monmouth doth deserve this heavy Judgment on me but I know as I said before it is for Sins long unrepented of I die in Charity with all Men I desire all of you to bear me witness I die a true Professor of the Church of England beseeching the Lord still to stand up in the Defence of it God forgive my passionate Judges and cruel and hasty Jury God forgive them they know not what they have done God bless the King and though his Judges had no Mercy on me I wish he may find Mercy when he standeth most in need of it Make him O Lord a nursing Father to the Church let Mercy flow abundantly from him if it be thy Will to those poor Prisoners to be hereafter tried and Lord if it be thy holy Will stop this issue of Christian Bood and let my guiltless Blood be the last spilt on this account Gentlemen all Farewel Farewel all the Things of the World Then singing some few Verses of a Psalm and putting up some private Ejaculations to himself said O Lord into thy hands I commend my Spirit and so submitted to the Executioner September the 7th 1685. 3. The Behaviour and Dying Speech of Mr. Joseph Speed of Culliton AT the same time and place as he came near the Place of his Execution he spying his Country-man and Friend called him and said I am glad to see you here now because I am not known in these Parts being answered by his Friend I am sorry to see you in this Condition He replies It is the best Day I ever saw I thank God I have not led my Life as Unchristian-like as many have done having since the Years of Sixteen always had the Checks of Conscience on me which made me to avoid many gross and grievous Sins my course of Life hath been well known to you yet I cannot justifie my self All Men Err. I have not been the least of Sinners therefore cannot excuse my self but since my Confinement I have received so great Comfort in some Assurance of the Pardon of my Sins that I can now say I am willing to die to be dissolved and to be with Christ and say to Death Where is thy Sting and to Grave Where is thy Victory Being ask'd by some rude Soldiers Whether he was not sorty for the Rebellion he was found Guilty of He courageously reply'd If you call it a Rebellion I assure you I had no sinister Ends in being concerned for my whole Design in taking up Arms under the Duke of Monmouth was to fight for the Protestant Religion which my own Conscience dictated to me and which the said Duke declared for and had I think a lawful Call and Warrant for so doing and do not question that if I have committed any Sin in it but that it is pardoned Pray Mr. Sheriff let me be troubled no farther in answering of Questions but give me leave to prepare my self those few Minutes I have left for another World and go to my Jesus who is ready to receive me Then calling to his Friend who stood very near him said My dear Friend you know I have a dear Wife and Children who will find me wanting being somewhat incumbred in the World let me desire you as a Dying Man to see that she be not abused and as for my poor Children I hope the father of Heaven will take care of them and give thern Grace to be Dutiful to their distressed Mother And so with my dying Love to all my Friends when you see them I take leave of you and them and all the World desiring your Christian Prayers for me to the last moment Then repeating some Sentences of Scripture as Colossians chap. 3. v. 1 2. If you then c. and praying very fervently said I thank God I have Satisfaction I am ready and willing to suffer Shame for his Name And so pouring forth some private Ejaculations to himself and lifting up his Hands the Executioner did his Office The Soldiers then present said They never before were so taken with a Dying Man's Speech his Courage and Christian-like Resolution caused many violent Men against the Prisoners to repent of their Tyranny towards them some of whom in a short time died full of Horror And thus fell this Good Man a true Protestant and one that held out to the end An Account of those that suffered at Bridport and Lyme 1. AT Bridport one John Sparke who was a very Good Man and behaved himself with a great deal of Christian-like Courage to the end Being asked how he could endure those Hardships he had undergone since his being taken Says he If this be all 't is not so much but my Friend if you were to take a Journey in those ways you were not acquainted with you would I hope desire Advice from those that had formerly used those ways or lived near by them Yes says he Then said he The ways of Affliction which I have lately travelled in I had Advice many a time from a Minister who hath often told his Congregation of the troublesomeness of the Road and of the difficulty of getting through and has given me and Hundreds of others to understand the Pits and Stones in the way and how to avoid them He has been a Man used to those Roads many Years I have taken his Advice I am got thus far on comfortably and I trust shall do so to the end I am not afraid to fight a Duel with Death if so it must be Now I thank God I can truly say Oh Death where is thy Sting and Oh Grave where is thy Victory Two or three Days after his Sentence he was drawn to Execution but was very rudely and opprobriously dealt with to the Shame of those that then had the Charge over him their Rigour to him was more more like Turks than Christians Being come to the Place of Execution he prayed very devoutly but by the Rudeness of the Guards there could be no Copy taken to be said to be true He died very Couragiously and spake to them in these Words looking on the Soldiers saying Little do you think that this very Body of mine which you are now come to see cut in pieces will one Day rise up in Judgment against you and be your Accuser for your delight in spilling of Christian Blood The Heathens have far more Mercy Oh 't is sad when England must out-strip Infidels and Pagans But pray take notice Don't think that I am not in Charity with you I am so far that I forgive you and all the World and do desire the God of Mercies to forgive you and open your Hearts and turn you from Darkness to Light and from the Power of Satan to the Lord Jesus Christ And so Farewel I am going out of the Power of you all I have no dependance but upon my blessed Redeemer to whom I commit my dear Wife and Children