Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	body_n	glory_n	soul_n	7,514	5	5.1723	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
B06693	Wonderful and strange news from Scotland, being a true and full relation of a person lately deceased at the town of Dumfreez, whose corps could by no art of man, or strength of cattle, be removed from the place where it lay. And when the house wherein it was, was wholly burnt down to the ground, the body, coffin, and table whereon it stood, remained whole and untoucht, and so continues to the great astonishment of all spectators. / Faithfully communicated by a person of quality, in a letter from the said town of Dumfreez. Dated Septemb. 8. 1673.		1673 (1673)	Wing W3361A; ESTC R187844	3,339	16

Wonderful and Strange NEWS FROM Scotland BEING A true and full Relation of a Person lately Deceased at the Town of Dumfreez whose Corps could by no Art of Man or Strength of Cattle be Removed from the Place where it Lay. And when the House wherein it was was wholly Burnt down to the Ground the Body Coffin and Table whereon it stood remained Whole and Vntoucht and so Continues to the great Astonishment of all Spectators Faithfully Communicated by a Person of Quality in a Letter from the said Town of Dumfreez Dated Septemb. ●8 1673. Great and Wonderful are the Works and Judgments of Jehovah And who can find them out London Printed for B. H. Anno Dom. 1673. Wonderful and Unparralleld News from Scotland WHether those St pendious Operations of Omnipotency which dim-sighted Humanity admires by the Name of Miracles and Infinite VVisdom made use of for Confirming and Propagating Evangelical Truths in the In●ancy of the Ch●●ch be yet totally Ceased is a Disp●te too Abstruse and Curio●● to be Discussed much less Determined by our ●e●…er Pen Yet this we must declare that the ens●ing Na●rative carries with it so much of Rarity and VVonder that had we not been well Satisfied in the worth and Credit of the Relaters we could not have presumed to Expose it thus publickly to the VVorld without much Caution and a large Apologie But being amply Convinced of the Truth of the thing as to matter of Fact we conceive it a Duty rather than Crime to Divulg● 〈◊〉 Register so Eminent and Signal an Accident or rather Di●pensation of Providence to the View of the present Age an notice of Posterity Not that we are Ignorant how Obnox●ous generally and sometimes for good Reason s●●n Relations a●e to Suspition and Censure and how ready those that Pride themselves in being counted mighty VVits as they make a Mock of Sin are to turn the most dreadfu● Judgments into Scoff and Drollery from such we may expect a Thousand Intorrogatives As wherefore To what end By what means And how could such a strange thing as this c●me to pass c. But our Answer is as ready that Had we designed to abuse the World with a Fiction an ordinary Invention might so Artificially have composed a Story as might have been Plausible enough to Answer all the Nice Scurtinies of their wanton Imaginations But that 's a Liberty we dare not take and only shall Nakedly set forth the Truth of the thing as it happened and leave each Reader to make his own Gloss or Comment on it afterwards as he pleases IN the Town of Dumfreez Situate in Galloway on the South of Scotland near the Marshes or Borders there lately Dwelt an Antient man of an ordinary Fortune who in the second week of this last September happened to fall very Sick his Distemper seemed to be only a violent Feaver nor was there any thing Extraordinary in it but this That as he was Seized with it he declared to his VVife and Neighbours that he should certainly Die of that Sickness which continually prevailing against Languishing Nature soon perswaded them also to be of the same Opinion But the very day before he departed this Life he charged his wife to get him Buried within Three Hours after he should be Dead This his sorrowful wife little Regarded thinking them only to be Extravagant words that proceeded from the Distemperature of his Brain which he obsorving Repeated the same Injunction several times both to her and diverse others of his Friends very solemnly adding that unless they did so Bury him in that short space they should never be able afterwards to bear away or remove his Body They askt him often what he meant And why he should say so But could procure no Answer from him but this with many deep sighs It would be so The Malignity of the Disease was now arrived to the height that Nature overpoured could no longer-resist so that on the 28th of the said Month of September last this poor Creature was forced to quit the Stage of this Tran●itory Life Dying in a calm and ordinary Temper without declaring much his hopes or betraying any symptoms of dispair His enfranchised Soul had no sooner quitted the Prison of his Body and was wafted to Eternity but his Friends remembring his Charge of being speedily Buried resolve to make a Truce with their Griefs and not ●t still stupified with an unprofitable Sorrow but rather execute as fast as they can his dying Commands in that particular To this purpose a Coffin is immediately sent for and the Corps as soon as said forth put into it being placed on a Table in a Ground round Neighbours are invited and all preparation made to inter him that very Night but the three hours were Elapst It being almost impossible to provide all things in so small a time At last the Company being met with Charitable intentions to bear and Accompany the body to it 's long home in the place Sacrated set a part for that purpose which was above half a Mile distant when they went to take up the Coffin Behold It would not stir four or five men confessed themselves too weak and then the whole Company add their helping hands but to no purpose the Coffin seems fixed to the Table to grow out of the Ground rather than stand there so that neither one nor the other could by all their strength be removed or stirred in the least This accident astonishes all the Company who having wearied themselves to no purpose repair at night to their respective Habitations fill'd with Admiration and leaving the disconsolate Widdow and her poor Children in the House equally ore whe●m'd with Grief and affrighted with this new kind of Prodigy Next day New Counsells were taken about carrying away this Corps Since the Coffin could not be stirred nor the Table moved by strength of Man they resolve at last to try what may be done with that of Cattel and to come at it conveniently are forced to pull down a wall and one side of the House which being done they fasten several Teems both of Oxen and Horses to the Coffin sometimes and sometimes to the Table But both remain still as fixed and immoveable as a Rock and which was remarkable though the strength of the Cattle broke most of their Tackling yet neither the Coffin nor the Table received the least prejudice They then essayed to open the Coffin and take out the Body but that neither could be done so that at length dispairing of any success t●ey give over attempting any thing further but a ●●i●e● the poor Woman and her C●ildren to get out of the House and so ●eave it standing which they did accordingly and carried all their moveable Goods to another House in the Town Thus the Corps stood in the f●rsa●en Tenement for two or three days and had as many wondring Pilgr●ms to visit it out of Curo●●ty as Superstition in Fo●eign parts carries to the Tomb of some Celebrated 〈◊〉 At last the Land Lord of the House who dwelt some Miles distant hearing great R●port of this Prodigy came to see it and fin●ing ●ll things as we have r●lated because his House by this means wa● rendred Incapable of being Tenanted for who would willingly dwell in a Charnel House and that it was before old and ruinous resolves wholly to demolish it and build a new one in the place and that he might be rid of this unparalleld Tomb concludes to set the House on Fire not do●bting but thereby the Coffin Table and Corps would tog●ther with the rest be so●n reduced to Ashes but he promi●ed himse●f too much for when they had set ●he House all on Flames and the same was wholly Burnt down to the Ground The Coffin and Table stood as before whole firm and untoucht Seeing all ways fail some Friends of the deceased after the House was Burnt took the pains to cast up Earth ●bout Table and at last have cover'd the Coffin with that Bank which yet can never hide the strangeness of the thing b●t that it will remain a wonder and a Rid●le to fu●ure Generations And such we leave it without any impertinent di●qui●●tion after the Cause of so Admirab●e Phen●●●non or Saucy prying into the Eternal Dooms-day Book of Providence which sometimes for Reasons only known to its infinite Wisdom suffers wonderful things to come to pass and often as in the well known Case of Lots Wife turned into a lasting Pillar of Salt sets up amazing Monuments of Divine Justice for Sin to warn and deter others from such Crimes Let not the Reader busie himself so much in gue●sing what notorious off●nce could cause the Infliction of so strange a punishment or branding the Deceased Party with harsh and unwarrantable because uncharitable Censures as to forget his own Duty which is to become more Holy and more Humble by such dreadful Examples And so to work out ●h● Sa●vation with Fe●r and T●em●ling That when himself shall be Summoned by Death however Providence shall dispose of his Body His Soul may be received into the Mansions of Bliss and Glory FINIS IF the Reader doubts of the Truth of this Matter He may Repair to these Persons following Mr. Edward Crouch Living in Cow-Lane Mr. Humphry Eeds Living in Princes-street Mr. Stephen Harwood Living on the backside of the Exchange Mr. Edward Barker Living in Dunnings-Alley without Bishops-Gate Mr. John Ames Living at Tobie's Coffee-house near Pie-Corner