Death-bed his heart was so set on fire of Hell and so exceedingly filled with enraged madness against Heaven that he desperately desired the standers by to help him with Oaths and to Swear for him though he himself in the mean â—ime swore as fast and furiously as he could Mr. Robert Bolton XXIV One hearing Perjury condemned by a Minister and how it seldom or never escaped unpunished he in a bravery said I have often forsworn my self and yet my Right Hand is no shorter than my Left which words he had scarce uttered when such an Inflamation arose in that Hand that he was forced to have it immediately cut off lest it should have infected the whole Body whereby it soon became shorter than the other Clarks Examples 1 p. A young Lady of a considerable Estate in Saxony promised Marriage to a handsom Young Man but of a mean Fortune he foreseeing that Wealth and Inconstancy might alter her mind freely discovered his thoughts to her whereupon she made a thousand Protestations of her Constancy to him and as many Imprecations upon her self wishing That if ever she Married another the Devil might take her away on the Wedding day yet afterwards a Person of more Wealth making his Addresses to her she was contracted and Married to him a great Marriage-Feast was provided but while they were at Dinner two Men on Horseback came to the House and as Strangers were invited to the Feast after Dinner one of them desired to lead the Bride a Dance and taking her by the Hand led her a turn or two and then in the presence of her Bridegroom and all her Friends he caught her up in his Arms crying in vain for help and going out of the Gate he hoisted her up into the Air and vanished away together with his companions and Horses so that she was never seen more Sword for Swearers A Blasphemer turn'd into a black Dog pa. 4. A Woman torn in peices by the Devil pa. 14. XXVI Godwin Earl of Kent in the Reign of Edward the Confessor 1055. sitting at Table with the King it happened that one of the Cup-bearers stumbled but did not fall whereat Godwin laughing said That if one Brother had not helpt another meaning his Leggs all the wine had been spilt With which words the King calling to mind his Brothers death who was slain by Godwin answered So should my Brother Alfred have helped me had it not been for Godwin whereat Godwin fearing the King 's new kindled displeasure excused himself by many words and at last said If I be any way guilty of Alfred 's Death I pray God I may never six allow down a morsel of bread more but he swore falsly as the Judgment of God declared for he was immediately choaked in the presence of the King before he stirred one foot from the place Beards Theatre In the daies of Queen Mary John Cooper an honest Religious Man was falsly accused by one Grimwood for Treason in speaking some words against the Queen and was accordingly put to Death but this Perjured Villain did not long escape divine Vengeance for being shortly after about his Labour in the Harvest and in good health his bowels suddenly fell out of his Body and so he miserably died Acts. and Monuments XXVII In the Reign of Queen Elizabeth Thomas Lovelace by forged Letters sought to have three of his Cousin Germans brought into question for their Lives about Matters of High Treason but the Malice and Forgery of this wicked business being found out the false Accuser had Judgment to be carryed on Horse-back about Westminster-Hall with his Face to the Horse Tail and a Paper on his Back containing his Offence from thence to be carryed in the same manner and set on the Pillory in the Pallace Yard and there to have one of his Ears cut off also to be set on the Pillory on a Market day in Cheapside with the like paper after that to be carried into Kent and at the next Assizes there to be set on the Pillory with the like Paper his other Ear to be there cut off also to stand in the Pillory one Market day at Canterbury another at Rochester and in all these Places his Offence to be openly Read which Sentence was accordingly Executed and may be rather thought too mild against such Villains as by Forgery Perjury and False Swearing shall endeavour to destroy Innocent Persons Stows Annals XXVIII Narcissus Bishop of Jerusalem though a man famous for his Virtues and Faithfulness in the Reproof and Correction of Vice was yet maliciously and falsly accused of Incontinency There were three of these wicked and Suborned Varlets who bound their Accusations with Oaths and fearful Imprecations upon themselves The first of these at the close of his Testimony added If I say not the Truth I pray God I may perish by Fire The second said If I speak any thing of falshood I pray God I may be consumed by some filthy and cruel Disease And said the third If I accuse him falsly I pray God I may lose my sight and become blind This wicked charge although it was not believed by such as knew the greâ— Integrity of the Bishop yet the good man partly foâ— grief to lye under such a scandal and partly to retiâ—â— himself from worldly Affairs left his Bishoprick anâ— lived privately But his forsworn Accusers escaped noâ— the All-seeing Justice of Heaven for the first according to his Imprecation had his House set on fire it 〈◊〉 unknown how and was therein himself together with his Family burnt to Ashes The second languished away under a soul and loathsom Disease The third seeing the woful ends of his Companions confessed all the complotted Villany and lamenting his case and crime be continued weeping so long till he utterly lost his sight and thus God said Amen to all that they had wickedly and presumptuously wished upon themselves Eusebius lib. 6. XXIX Vladislaus King of Poland and Hungary had fortunatey sought against the Turks at the Mountain Hamus and taken Carambey the General of their Army by means of which Victory he occasioned Amurath Emp. oâ— the Turks to sue for Peace which was agreed to upon honourable and advantagious Terms and was solemnly sworn to by the King of Poland upon the Holy Evangelists and by Amuraths Ambassadors in behalf of their Master upon the Turkish Alcoran This being known to the Pope and other Christian Princes they said it was unseasonable unprofitable and dishonourable whereupon the Cardinal Julian is sâ—nt by the Pope as his Legate to break the Peace and to absolve the King from his Oath The young King therefore by their persuasion breaks the League and undertakes the War with greater preparations and vigour than sormerly advancing with his Army to Varna a City upon the Pontick Shore doing all the mischief he was able to the Enemies Country which as soon as the Great Turk understood he returns out of Cilicia and enters Battel
wherefore thou hast undeservedly put me to this bitter and unworthy death The Duke received this Summons with laughter and unappalled and unconcerned made answer Well go thou before and I will then present my self the year being almost spent the Duke fell in to a light Feaver and remembring the appeal said to the standers by The time of my death does now appreach and I must go to Judgment and so it happened for he died soon after Dinoth lib. 8. XXII Ferdinand the fourth King of Spain was a great Man both in Peace and War but somewhat rash and rigid in pronouncing Judgment so that he seemed to incline to cruelty About the year 1312. he commanded two Brothers Peter and John of the Noble Family of Carvialii to be thrown headlong from an high Tower as being suspected guilty of the death of Benavidius a noble Person of the first rank and though they with great constancy denyed they were guilty of any such crime yet it was to small purpose when therefore they perceived that the Kings Ear was shut against them they openly cryed out they died innocently and since they found the King had no regard to any Plea or defence they could make they did appeal to the Divine Tribunal and turning themselves to the King bid him Remember to make his Appearance there within the space of thirty days at the furthest Ferdinand at that time made no reckoning of their words but upon the thirtieth day after his servants supposing he was asleep found him dead in his Bed in the flower of his Age for he was but twenty four years and nine months old Wanly Hist Man 34. Lambertus Schasnaburgenss an excellent writer as most in these times tells that Buchardus Bishop of â—aâ—berstadt in the year 1059 had an unjust controversy with the Abbot of Helverdense about some Lands in Saxony which the Bishop by force without Law sought to make his own it was to small purpose to make any resistance against so powerful an Adversary but the injured Abbot some few days before his death sent to Frederick Count Palatine and intreated him to bear these his last words to the Prelate That being too weak to contend though the Law was on his side he gave place and was also departing this life but that God would be the Judge unto whom he made his Appeal that therefore both of them should prepare to order their cause before his Tribunal where favour and power set aside only Justice should prevail In a short time the Abbot died of a Feaver and not long after him the Bishop also for as he was one time mounting his Horse he fell down as one stricken with a Thunderbolt and his last words were That he was hurried away to the Judgment Seat of God there to be Judged Delrio Disquisit l. 4. XXV Francis Duke of Brittain cast his Brother Aegidius into Prison who was one of his Council and falsely accused him of Treason where when Aegidius was almost famished perceiving that his fatal hour approached he spied a Franciscan out of the window of the Prison and calling him to confer with him he made him promise That he would tell his Brother that within fourteen days he should stand before the Judgment Seat of God The Franciscan having found out the Duke in the Confines of Normandy where he then was told him of his Brothers death and of his Appeal to the high Tribunal of God the Duke terrified with this message immediately grew ill and his distemper increasing he expired upon the very day appointed Drixelius Oper. The Genoways sent out their Gallies against the Pyrates and in the way took a small Ship of Sicily together with the Mr. of it whom in contempt of the Sicilians they hanged up the poor man pleaded he suffered unjustly since he had never done any the least injury to them but perceiving all his plaints to be in vain he appealed unto God for Justice and cited the Admiral of the Genoese to make his Appearance at his Bar within six months within which time he that was thus cited died Wanly Hist Man XXVI Master Patrick Hamilton of an Antient and Honourable Family in Scotland left his own Country and went into Germany where he became acquainted with those worthy Men Martin Luther and Philip Melancthon then at the famous University of Wittenburg from thence he went to the University of Marpurg which was then newly erected where he was intimate with other learned Men and by reason of his Learning and Integrity of life he was had in admiration of many however he could not rest till he had returned into his own Country where the Doctrine of the Reformation began then to break forth as well in publick as in private which so disturbed the Popish-Clergy that James Beaton Archbishop of St. Andrews sent for Mr. Patrick Hamilton to St. Andrews where after divers days conference he had his Freedom and Liberty the Bishop seeming to approve his Doctrine acknowledging that in many things there needed a Reformation in the Church but withal searing that their Kingdom of Darkness should be endamaged they persuaded the King who was then young and much led by them to go on Pilgrimage to St. Dothess in Ross that so by reason of his absence no application might be made to him for the saving the life of this innocent Gentleman who not suspecting their malice remained like a Lamb among Wolves the King being gone one night Mr. Hamilton was seized upon by the Bishops Officers and carried to the Castle and the next day was brought forth into Judgment and Condemned to be burnt upon several Articles about Pilgrimages Purgatory Prayers to Saints c. After Dinner the fire was prepared and being tyed to the Stake he cryed out with a loud voice Lord Jesus receive my Spirit how long shall darkness overwhelm this Realm and how long wilt thou suffer the Tyranny of these Men The fire was slow and therefore put him to the greater torment but that which most troubled him was the clamour of some wicked Men set on by the Fryers who continually cryed Turn thou Heretick call upon our Lady say Salve Regina c. To whom he answered Depart from me and trouble me not thou Messenger of Satan and speaking to one Alexander Campbell a Fryer with whom he had conferred about matters of Religion and who had informed against him and was now the Ringleader who roared against him to recant Mr. Patrick with great vehemency said to him Wicked Man thou knowest the contrary and hast confessed the contrary to me I appeal thee before the Tribunal of Jesus Christ After which words he resigned up his Spirit unto God in the year 1527. Campbell was troubled at these words and from that very day was never in his right mind but soon after died mad Clarks Martyr Thus Though the Fool hath said in his heart there is no God and because Justice is not presently inflicted upon Sinners
Torments Hereupon awaking he called for Lights and causing his Servants to arise he told them what he had heard and seen The next morning by break of day word was brought him that the Justice Clerk was dead which fell out just at the same time when the King found himself so troubled and almost in the same manner for he died in great terrour of mind often repeating these words By the Righteous Judgment of God I am condemned and the manner of his death answering the King's Dream so exactly made it yet more terrible to him Another Vision he had in the same place not many nights after which did more affright him for whilst he lay sleeping he thought that Sir James Hamilton whom he had caused to be Executed came to him with a drawn Sword in his hand and therewith cut off both his Arms threatning also within a short time to return and to deprive him of his Life with which he awaked and as he lay musing what this Dream should signifie news was brought him of the Death of his Two Sons James and Arthur the one dying at St. Andrews and the other at Sterling at one and the same hour The next year which was 1542. being overwhelmed with grief he died at Faulkland in the Thirty second year of his Age a little before he died he had word brought him that his Queen was delivered of a Daughter whereupon he burst forth into a passion saying It came with a Lass meaning the Crown and will go with a Lass Fie upon it Spotswoods History of Scotland XL. Drahomira Queen of Bohemia was an implacable Enemy to the Christians and caused many of them to be slain but as she happened to pass over a place where the Bones of some godly Ministers who had been martyred lay unburied the Earth opened its mouth and swallowed her up alive together with the Chariot wherein she was and all that were in it which place is to be seen before the Castle of Prague to this day About the year 1488 some Popish Bishops in Bohemia stirred up the Queen who was then great with Child to move King Vladislaus her Husband severely to punish the Piccards as the Protestants were then called and the Queen much pleased her self in thinking what grateful Spectacles she should have when she should see some of them burnt some beheaded and others drowned in the River But it pleased God before she could see it effected she fell in Travel and could by no means be delivered of her burden whereupon the Physicians advised that the Child should be cut out of her Womb which being done accordingly the Child lived but the Mother died Two years after the Bishops by their Importunity prevailed with the King to use sharp Remedies against this growing Religion whereupon an Edict was drawn up That all the Piccards or Protestants without distinction of Age Sex K. Hen. 2. whipt by the Popes Order pa. 88 Q Bohemia swallowed up alive pa. 112 or Quality should be murdered This Edict was brought â—o the Assembly of the States at Prague to be confirmed by them Many of the Nobles opposed it but by subâ—ilty of the Chancellor and his bloody Associates it was at last carryed by the Major part The Chancellor as â—he returned from the Parliament visited a Nobleman of his Acquaintance and there with great rejoycing told him what was concluded against the Protestants The Nobleman having a Servant by who was a great favourer of them asked him how he liked this Decree The Servant answered That all Parties were not agreed the Chancellor suspecting some Conspiracy asked him who durst oppose the States of the Kingdom The Servant said There is one in Heaven who if he were not present at your Councils you have but consulted in vain The Chancellor replied Thou Knave thou shalt find that as well as the rest of you and so rising up in a fury immediately a Carbuncle arose upon his foot which turned to a Disease called Ignis Sacer of which he died soon after in much misery Clarks Martyr XLI Another who was very forward in promoting this Decree in his return homeward as he was alighting out of his Chariot to make water struck his Privy Member on a sharp Nail that was in the Boot whereby as he fell forward he drew out his Guts and Entrails along with him and not long after gave up the Ghost Another Nobleman who promoted this cruel Decree as he was Hunting his Horse threw him and one of his Arrows ran into his Thigh and came out at his Loins whereby he died a very painful death The year after two German Tradesmen were apprehended at Prague and by the Monks accused of Lutheranism for which they were condemned and burnt One of their Chief Persecutors was so violent against the Protestants that he wished they were all hanged burnt or beheaded by his hands but it pleased God in his Just Judgment that shortly after all these evils fell upon himself for being exceedingly in debt for very trouble and vexation he went and hanged himself and when his Friends had privately buried him the common people hearing of it digged up his Carkass and threw it out and by the Magistrates command it was ordered to be burnt but when the wood was consumed and the Body only scorched one came and cut off his head Clerks Martyr XLII Neither has Almighty God failed to shew his displeasure against wicked Persecutors in our own Country especially those in bloody Queen Maries Reign of which we shall only collect some few Alexander the Keeper of Newgate was a cruel Enemy to those that lay there for Religion and used to go to bloody Bonner Story Cholmly and the rest crying out Rid my Prison Rid my Prison I am too much pestered with these Hereticks the wretch dyed a miserable death his Body being so swoln that he was rather like a Monster than a Man his Intrails also were so rotten that none could abide the stink of them his Son James to whom he left a great Estate soon wasted it all saying in a jeer Ill gotten ill spent and as he went through Newgate-Market he fell down dead John Peter Son in Law to this Alexander an horrible Blasphemer who used upon every occasion to say If it be not so I pray God I may rot before I die he was likewise very cruel to the poor Christians in Prison but Divine Justice met with him for all for his Body rotted away by peice-meal and so he died miserably Robert Baulding as he was apprehending William Seaman the Martyr was stricken with Lightning and thereupon pined away and died Ralph Lardin the Betrayer of George Eagles was afterward Arraigned and hanged as he stood at the Bar he said publickly This is justly fallen upon me because I betrayed the Innocent blood of that good and just man George Eagles who was condemned by my means and I sold his blood for a little mony The like vengeance of God fell
upon Richard Petto and Justice Brown both cruel Persecutors of George Eagles one Dale a Promoter and Persecutor was eaten up of Lice and dyed Dr. Dunning Chancellor of Norwich a bloody Persecutor in Queen Maries days was suddenly taken sitting in his Chair and dyed Dr Berry Commissary of Norfolk another bloody Persecutor as he was walking with one of his Concubines fell down suddenly with an heavy groan and never stirred after A Persecuting suffragan of Dover having been with Cardinal Pool for his blessing coming out of the Cardinals Chamber fell down stairs and broke his Neck Acts Monu XLIII Bishop Thornton a cruel Persecutor as he was looking upon his Men at Bowls fell suddenly into a Palsy and being carried to his bed and bid to remember the Lord yea so I do said he and my Lord Cardinal too and so he dyed Dr. Jefferies Chancellor of Salisbury a wretched Persecutor having appointed to call before him 90 Persons to examine them by Inquisition the day before looking upon his Buildings fell down dead Sir Thomas More Lord Chancellor of England was a sworn Enemy to the Gospel a profest Persecutor by Fire and Sword of the Protestants and as if he designed thereby to grow famous and get renown he caused a Sumptuous Tomb to be erected whereon to eternize the memory of his Cruelty he caused among other worthy deeds this principally to be Ingraven thereon That with all his might he had persecuted the Lutherans but it fell out contrary to his expectation for being Accused Condemned and Executed for High-Treason his Head was taken off and his Body found no other burial but the Gibbet Beards Theatre These and many more such examples are recorded by Mr. Fox in his Acts Monuments which makes good that of the Psalmist God hath prepared for the Wicked the Instruments of Death he ordaineth his Arrows against the Persecutors Psal 7.13 If the Reader desire to know more of the Cruelties of the Papists in all Countries for above six hundred years past and Gods judgments upon them he may find it at large in a little book called the Protestant Schoolmaster of a shilliog price and sold where this Book is to be had CHAP. V. Fearful Judgments upon Cruel Tyrants Murderers and other notorious and debauched Persons with the wonderful discovery of several Murders c. IT appeareth in History that there have been a multitude of proud cruel and vicious Princes and Governours in former Ages who have thought that their Will ought to be their Law and have gloried in Tyrannizing over their poor Subjects however it hath pleased the Divine Majesty many times to discover his abhorrence and detestation of such practices by his severe Judgments upon the Actors thereof It is likewise as plain that God Almighty as well to declare his detestation of that crimson sin of Murther as to beget and retain in us a horrour thereof hath most vigorously imployed his Providence by strange and miraculous ways to bring to light deeds of darkness and to drag the bloody Authors of them out of their greatest privacies and concealment to condign punishment it were an infinite Labour to trace the several footsteps of Divine Providence in this matter neither hath Lust Revenge and other notorious enormities escaped Gods Justice many times in this world as by the following relations it doth remarkably appear I. Ptolomeus Pisco one of the Kings of Aegypt caused his own Son Memphites whom he had begot of his Wife Sister Cleopatra to be slain and then commanded his Head Hands and Feet to be cut off and to be shut up in a curious Casket made for that purpose and sent them to his Mother as a present upon his Birth-day and when afterward he perceived that by his barbarous Tyranny he was grown odious to all his Subjects to prevent the danger thereof he caused a School where most of the Children of the Nobility and others were educated to be beset and incompassed round with fire and men with drawn Swords and then suddenly assaulted them whereby they were all destroyed not one of them escaping but that which he thought to be his refuge proved his ruine for the People were so extreamly incensed with this cruel Act that with an unanimous consent they fell upon him and tore him to pieces The like if not greater Cruelty was practised by a Woman one Cycenis the Daughter of Diogerides King of Thrace who took great delight in beholding living men cut in the middle and invited Parents to feast upon their own murthered Children cookt and drest several ways but she was afterward deposed from her Government and her Inhumanities were so hateful that none of her Subjects would relieve her whereby she was famisht to death and dyed of hunger Vitaldus Prince of Lithuania studied divers sorts of Tortures and Torments for men whom upon every slight occasion he condemned to death among the rest he would command them to be sowed up in Bear-skins and then made it his sport to behold them torn in pieces with fierce Mastives in all his warlike expeditions he carried continually a Steel-bow ready bent and if any Souldier happened but to step out of his Rank he instantly stroke him dead with an Arrow glorying to himself that he was so good a marks-man but after these and abundance of other Cruelties he that delighted to see men die like Bears was himself in the end torn in pieces with wild Wolves being requited much in the same manner as he had exercised Barbarities upon others Beards Theatre II. The Tyrant Periander usurped the Government over Corinth after he had murdered the Principal men of the City he put to death his own Wife to content and please his Concubine nay he was so execrable as to lye with his own Mother he banished his Natural Son and caused many Children of his Subjects to be guelded Finally he committed all manner of Villanies which he was sensible had made him abhorred of his People and therefore fearing that some miserable and monstrous death would be inflicted on him and that he should not be buried He gave Order to two of his stoutest Souldiers that they should strictly guard a place by him appointed and not to fail to kill the first that came in their way and to bury his body being slain Now the first that met them was himself who offered himself to them without speaking a word and was therefore immediately killed and afterward buried by them These two were soon after encountred by four others whom he had likewise appointed to kill them as they had done him which they performed accordingly Sabellici opera III. In the year 830. Popiel the Second King of Poland careless of matters of State gave himself over to all manner of Dissoluteness and Debauchery so that his Lords and People scorned and despised him He fearing therefore that they would set up one of his Kinsmen in his stead by the advice of his Wife whom
him in that danger that she took a Tyle and with both her hands threw it at Pyrrhus which glancing upon his Helmet break his Neek bone and slew him Plutarchs Lives VIII Aristippus a Tyrant of Argos left not an Enemy alive in the City and had Antigonus a Potent Prince for his Friend yet was he so fearful that he kept a great guard of Souldiers continually about him causing them to watch night and day and to lie about his Pallace in the Cloisters and Galleries adjacent after Supper he used to turn all his Men out of doors and then shutting his Court Gates to him he locked himself up only with his Concubine in a little high Chamber with a Trap door setting his bed every night over the door as one that was continually afraid of his life and when he was got up into his Chamber his Concubines Mother used to take away the Ladder and to look it up in another Chamber till the next morning yet notwithstanding all this extraordinary care and cautiousness his Enemies broke in upon him and slew him Plutarchs Lives IX Alexander a Tyrant in Thessaly was of so cruel a disposition that he neither regarded Reason nor Justice toward any for he caused some to be buried alive others he put into the skins of Bears and wild Boars and then set his Hounds upon them and one day as the Inhabitants of a certain City in League with him were assembled together in Council he caused his Guard to inclose them round suddenly and to kill them all not sparing the very Infants he consecrated the Dart wherewith he had slain his Uncle and crowned it with Garlands calling it the Happy Killer Being one time at a Tragedy where the miseries of Hecuba and Andromache were represented he could not forbear weeping and therefore went out of the place lest it should be observed by the People that he pitied these feigned sorrows who never had any compassion for the multitude of Citizens whom he had cruelly murdered now though this Tyger was continually guarded with Troops of Souldiers who kept watch about his Body night and day and had also a most furious Dog constantly waiting on him who was unacquainted with any but himself his Wife and one Servant who gave him his meat and was tyed to his Chamber door every night yet vengeance found him out for by his Wises means he was killed who taking away the Stairs of his Chamber let in three or four of her own Brethren with whom she had conspired to murther him who finding him fast asleep one took him by the heels and another by the hair of the head and wrung his neck behind the third thrust him through with a Sword she all this while giving them light to dispatch their business the Citizens of Pheres having notice hereof got the dead body which they drew about the Streets and having kicked abused trampled upon it and drawn it through the mire and dirt they threw it out to be devoured of the Dogs so odious was the remembrance of his Tyranny among them Plut. Lives X. Nero that Monster of Men was well educated under Burrhus and Seneca and for the first five years behaved himself very well so that Trajan used to say That all the Emperors came short of Nero's first five years but afterward he fell into all manner of Wickedness and Debauchery his manner was to come into the publick Theaters and there to spend some days in singing and he scarce took delight in any thing so much as the applause of the Vulgar and the Crowns which they gave him for his sâ—nging and playing on the Harp At other times he would have them come and see his skill dexterity in driving of Chariots at Naples he came with his Harp into the publick Theatre afterward he used publickly to sing at Rome and Athens and would not suffer any to depart out of the Theatre whil'st he was singing what necessary occasion soever they had insomuch that Women with Child were sometimes delivered in the Theatre and others being tyred with hearing and commending him the doors being shut would get over the walls or seem to be dead that they might be carried out he caused his Statue to be made in the habit of an Harper and all his Coin with the like he exercised his Lust Luxury Covetousness and Cruelty at first privately but soon after more openly when it began to be dark he would go to the Taverns and Victualling-Houses and run about the Streets doing mischief to many by beating and abusing them and sometimes if they resisted throwing them into Privies sometimes he would break open Shops and rob them and in his quarrels often endangered his life he was once beaten to death almost by a man whose Wife he had abused after which he had Tribunes following him at a little distance he used to lengthen out his Feasts from the midst of the day to the midst of the night and would oftentimes sup in publick being attended with the most famous Whores and Women Pipers about the City He was given to Sodomy and caused the Genitals of a Boy called Sporus to be cut off and endeavoured to have made him a Woman causing him to be dressed and brought to him like a Bride whereupon one merrily said That it had been well for the world if Nero's Father had had such a Wife He committed Incest with his own Mother Agrippina He caused one Pythagoras to marry him as he himself had married Sporus He invented such Bestialities to be committed by Men and Women as are not fit to be named He murdered his Wife Octavia by whom he had the Empire and soon after married Poppaea Sabina whom he took from her Husband a Roman Knight and loved her dearly yet when she was great with Child he coming home late one night from his Chariot-driving and she blaming him for it he so kicked her on the Belly that he killed her He was of a most cruel and bloody disposition he hastened the death of Claudius by Poison which he would often boast of afterward and exceedingly rail against him though he received the Empire from him before which Agrippina his Mother went to an Astrologer to know the fortune of her Son Nero who told her He should be Emperour but he should be the death of her to which she replied Let him kill me so he does but Reign The first part of the Prognostication she saw accomplished and the last now followed for having attempted by Poison and divers other waies to take away her life which did not succeed he sent a Centurion to murther her Agrippina seeing him coming toward her with his drawn Sword took up her cloths exposed her naked Belly to him bidding him strike that since her womb had brought forth such a Monster into the world After she was slain Nero came to view her naked Body and her wounds and without any concernment villanously said I did not think I
ridiculous Laws were made he exercised all manner of filthiness in his Pallace and exceeded all that went before him in Lust and Uncleanness and being unapt by nature for the act of Generation he would turn himself into a Woman and sought through the world for those who were most prodigious for Debauchery that they might exercise their Lust upon him he had some days at Dinner the Brains of Estriches another time the Tongues of Popinjays and other singing Birds when he was near the Sea he would never eat Fish but in places far distant from the Sea his House was served with the most delicate Fish his Table was furnished with seven thousand Fishes and five thousand Fowls at one Supper in his progress he was usually attended with six hundred Chariots he cruelly Sacrificed young Children and conferred the best Offices upon the most debauched Persons as Bawds Fidlers Players and the like in a word he was an utter Enemy to all honesty and Sobriety and when he was foretold by his Astrologers and Sorcerers that he should die a violent death he provided Ropes of Silk to hang himself swords of Gold to stab himself and strong Poysons in Jacinths and Emeraulds to poyson himself if he should on a sudden be forced thereto he likewise made an high Tower and covered the floor with Plates of Gold inlaid with precious Stones and underneath the window the ground was covered with Sands of Gold from whence he might throw himself down if he were persued of his Enemies but notwithstanding all this Provision Divine Vengeance would not suffer him to dye as he desired for his Souldiers abhorring his filthy carriage they went to seize on him upon which he fled into an house of Office where they slew him and because the Privy was not big enough to receive his body they dragged him through the Streets of Rome crying out Behold a Whelp of Cruel and Insatiable Lust and then threw him into the River of Tyber fastning a great stone to him that he might be seen no more Suetonius Hist XIII Caligula another Roman Emperour began to shew his Cruelty to his own kindred as soon as he was setled in the Empire diâ—inheriting and then flaying Tiberius who was Co-heir with him he compelled his Father in Law to murder himself envying his Nobility Virtues and Affinity to him his Adulteries were most abominable abusing betrothed Virgins and Married Wives whom after he had defiled he hated and abhorred he abstained not from the most Illustrious and Noble Women he caused his Grand-mother to kill her self for reproving him for his wickedness and accused his two Sisters with whom he had committed Incest for Adulteresses and Conspirators against him and therefore banished them he caused the head of the Image of Jupiter to be taken off and his own put in the place he built his Pallace as far as the Market place and set up the Images of Pollux and Castor at his door and oft standing between them would cause all that passed by to worship him as a God and some of his flatterers called him Jupiter he caused a Temple to be built for his God-head and had Priests and Sacrifices he used all sorts of Magistrates scornfully and irreverently he would reach forth his Hands and his Feet to the Senators to be Worshipped and those who had this favour must publickly thank him for it in the Senate some of the Senators he privately murthered and yet would have them called for as if they had been living and a few days after would declare that they had murdered themselves many Persons of good quality he would stigmatize or dismember and then condemn them some to the Mettal-mines others to mend High-ways some to be cast to wild Beasts and others to be sawn asunder he used to compel Parents to be present at the torments of their Sons and one excusing himself by reason of his sickness he sent his Litter for him another asking whether he might not shut his Eyes whil'st his Children were tormented he caused him to be slain for it another Father he brought home with him from seeing the miserable death of his Son and would force him to laugh jest and be merry A Roman Knight being cast to the wild Beasts declared that he was Innocent upon which he caused him to be brought back and to have his tongue cut out and then to be cast to them again If he wanted Condemned Persons to be thrown to the wild Beasts he would cause his Officers to seize any that stood near and throw them to be torn to pieces having first cut out their Tongues that they might tell no tales when he designed to destroy any one of the Senators he suborned some Person to go into the Senate house and there proclaim him a publick Enemy and so presently murther him neither would he be satisfied till his Members Joints and Bowels were drawn about the Streets and then brought and laid on an heap before him he would not suffer any to be slain presently but commanded the Hangman so to strike that they might feel themselves die he had a Horse which he named Swift whom he invited to Supper and gave him Provender in a Golden Manger and drank Wine to him in golden Bowls he swore by his Horses health and Fortune and promised to make him a Consul as before he had made him a Priest he caused a Marble Stable to be built for him and a Manger of Ivory with Horsecloaths of Purple and a chain of precious Stones he gave him likewise a House furnished with costly Houshold-stuff and Servants that he might the more splendidly entertain those who in his name were invited to be his Guests having by such mad profuseness and prodigality exhausted his Treasury he sought by all unjust and oppressive means to supply his wants he disannulled many Mens Wills because they had not made him their Heir he slew many rich Men and seized upon their Estates and confiscated the Estates of others so that it was a Crime to be rich he levied unheard of Taxes and Tributes he proclaimed that at New-years-tide he would receive New-years-gifts and himself stood at the door to receive all that were brought him even by the Common People he set up likewise a Bawdy house or Stews in his own Pallace and therein prostituted the chiefest Women and the most noble Boys to the Lusts of all and made gain and advantage to himself thereby he was so enamoured with a desire of handling Money that he caused huge heaps of Gold to be spread over a large Room and would walk bare-foot upon it and sometimes would strip himself naked and roll himself upon it he was an horrid Atheist and desperate Blasphemer of the Deity and yet when it thundered he would wrap his head and face in his Garments and if the Thunder were great he would run under his Bed to hide himself and yet he had caused an Engine to be made wherewith to Thunder against
pretending to affect the Parthian name he sent Ambassadours to Artabanus King of Parthia to give him his Daughter in Marriage Artabanus willingly embracing the motion came to him as to his Son-in-law bringing the Bride and a multitude of unarmed followers crowned with Flowers and whilst they were offering Sacrifice to their Gods giving the watchword to his Army he slew them all the King himself hardly escaping by flight At length the People being wearied by his Ravages and cruelties as he was easing nature Marcinus Prefect of the Pretorian Souldiers stabbed him with a Dagger into his bowels and slew him Sueâ—onius Hist XVI Aulus Vitellius being chosen Emperour by the Army in Germany hastened toward Rome He used no Government either in his Family or among his Souldiers so that all places were filled with violence and rapine which he turned into sport and joking When he came into a Field where a late Battel had been fought and all his followers were offended with the stench of the dead bodies he uttered this detestable speech That of all smells he liked best the smell of a slain Enemy but much more of a slain Citizen When he entred Rome he sacrificed to the Ghost of Nero in Mars his Field to shew what an excellent Pattern he would follow and there prepared a Solemn Feast sending for Musicians to sing Nero's Verses which himself first of all much applauded For the most part he governed the Commonwealth by the advice of the basest Players and Chariot-Drivers and was ready upon every small occasion to deliver men over to death and punishment He spared not Usurers who had formerly called to him for their Debts nor Publicans who â—ad exacted Tribute from him One of them coming to salute him when he came to the Empire he caused him to be slain in his presence saying That he would â—eed his Eyes with his death Two Sons of another coming to intercede for their Father he caused to be killed He â—anisht all Mathematicians out of Rome because they had given out that he was born under unhappy Planets He was suspected to be guilty of his own Mothers death Neither was he only thus cruel but likewise extreamly given to Luxury and Excess He feasted at least thrice and often four times a day after each of them disburthening his stomach by vomiting He used the most curious and costly delicates which could not be had from remote parts atex cessive charges both from Land and Sea insomuch that it was commonly said That if he had lived longer he would have undone the Roman Empire with his Luxury and costly Table He was so extreanâ—ly given to Gluttony that he could not forbear eating while â—e was sacrificing or in a Journey His whole life was spent in Gluttony Drunkenness and Cruelty whereby he grew so hateful that the Army chose Vespasian then in Judea for their Emperour whereupon Vitellius forced Flavius Sabinus Vespasians Brother and the rest of his Family and Kindred to fly into the Capitol for shelter which Vitellius caused to be set on fire and so burned them in it and himself being at a Feast fed his Eyes with that pleasing spectacle for he was resolved to eat and drink well that he might not die without his Dinner and that he might not be afraid of death nor disgrace The day after when news was brought him that Vespasian his Enemey drew near he sought out all private corners wherein to hide himself all men forsaking him but only his Baker and his Cook When his Enemies entred the City they sought for him and some of the Souldiers that knew him not finding him he denied his own name and when others that knew him came he pretended he had something to reveal to Vespasian that concerned his safety but this prevailed not for casting a Halter about his neck they dragged him half naked into the Market-place where he received many scorns and reproaches they then set a Dagger under his chin that he might not hang down his head to hide his face Some threw dirt and dung at him Some reproaching him with one thing and some with another at last carrying him to Tyber they there cut him in pieces and then fastening a hook to his Trunk they threw it into the River Suet. Hist XVII Domitian was the younger Son of Vespasian he behaved himself very wickedly in his Childhood and Youth and when he came to be Emperor he retired himself every day for an hour in secret as if it were to meditate upon some secret Affairs but he spent that time in catching of flies and pricking out their Eyes with a Bodkin so that one asking his Chamberlain whether any body was with the Emperor he wittily answered No not so much as a fly he daily entertained the People with sumptuous and costly Shows wherein himself sat as chief in the habit of one of the Heathen Gods and like Caligula commanded himself to be called Lord and God and in his publick Edicts he used this Phrase Our Lord and God commands this to be done one while he set himself to reform abuses and enacted some good Laws but quickly returned to his former Cruelty causing many Senators and such as had been Consuls to be slain and among them one because he had a Map of the world in his Chamber and because he read the Orations of Kings and Princes recorded by Titus Livius he banished all Philosophers and Mathematicians out of Italy and sought out new ways to enrich his Coffers his Cruelty was not only great but crafty and unexpected for he would send some away merrily and with assurance of safety and presently send men to murther them and that he might the more abuse mens patience he would never pass any hard and unjust Sentence without a Preface to set forth his Clemency his Treasury being exhausted he contrived to recruit it by Rapine and Oppression suborning some to accuse both the living and the dead that he might seize upon their Estates he was extream cruel against the Christians because they would not Worship him as a God or his Idols at least pretending that he was Brother to the Sun and Moon and adorning his Shoes with Gold and precious Stones he commanded the People to kiss his feet he ordered all the Churches of the Christians to be pul'd down and destroyed and the Book of the Holy Scriptures to be burnt which was executed with all the rigour and contempt that could be he then sent forth Edicts for displacing all Christian Magistrates and put all others out of their Offices imprisoning such of the common People as would not abjure Christianity and subscribe to the Heathen Idolatries then were cruel Edicts sent abroad for Imprisoning the Elders and Bishops and constraining them by divers torments to Sacrifice to Idols upon which there followed all manner of Cruelty against the Christians by all kind of tortures among the rest Galerius his General was sent to invade Antioch and to force
Chaldean when and how he should die which soon after happened and the vengeance of Heaven fell upon him for all his Tyranny and Cruelty for Stephanus one of his Officers desiring to speak with him in private presented him with a writing which whilst he was looking upon he stabbed him with a Dagger into the lower part of his Belly but not being quite dead seven of his own freed men came about him and dispatched him it is said that a while before his death a Chough spoke Greek from the Tarpeian Rock which was in English All shall be well which could not be till the Tyrants Death and Apollonius Tyaneus being at Ephesus in Asia reading a Lecture in a Grove there many hundred miles from Rome he on a sudden began to speak low and more slowly and straight looked pale and stood silent at last stepping hastily some paces he cryed out as one transported O brave Stephanus strike the Tyrant kill the Murderer thou hast struck him thou hast wounded him thou hast slain him this being spoke in publick it was carefully taken notice of and the time when it was spoken diligently observed and it was afterward found and well known that Domitian was stabbed in Rome that day and the same hour of the day by Stephanus who was of his Bedchamber Lipsius Monit lib. 1. XVIII Maximinus the Emperour was born in Thracia his Parents were Barbarians but being of a vast body and huge strength so that he could lift a Cart loaden he applied himself to the Wars under the Emperour Severus who observing his Strength Activity and Industry preferred him to divers Offices in the Army insomuch that when Severus was slain the Army made him Emperour Having thus attained to this high Dignity he slew all those that knew any thing of the baseness of his Birth yea many of his friends who in his low condition had often relieved him He would not suffer any Nobleman to be about him He cruelly murdered all the Servants of Severus his Predecessor and executed many of the Souldiers hanging some knocking others on the head and throwing others to wild Beasts He hired and suborned some Villains at Rome to accuse divers of the Senators of Treason whom he presently commanded to be slain By which means he became so feared and consequently hated and abhorred that the Senate yea the Women daily in their Temples made solemn Prayers and Supplications against him He slew divers of his Captains which so provoked the Souldiers that one day as he with his Son whom he had made partner with him in the Empire were refreshing themselves in his Tent they rushed in upon them and slew them both declaring publickly That of a Dog of so base a breed the Whelp ought not to be spared but to be destroyed likewise Sueton. Hist XIX Charles King of Navar was a cruel Oppressor and Tyrant over his Subjects for he imposed upon them grievous Taxes and Tributes and when many of the chief of them came to complain of their Poverty and that they were not able to bear them he caused them all to be put to death for their boldness He was the kindler of many great mischiefs in France and also of Fires wherewith divers Places of Strength and famous Buildings were burnt down He counselled the Son of the Earl of Foix to poison his Father and gave him the Poison to effect the Villany with his own hand His Lechery likewise and Adulteries besotted his Soul even in his Old Age for at threescore years of Age he had a Whore upon whom he extreamly doted and was hardly ever out of her company who at length was the cause of his death For returning from her as he daily did and entring into his Chamber he went to Bed all quaking and half frozen with cold neither could he by any means recover his heat until by Art they endeavoured to revive Nature which was by blowing upon him with brazen Bellows Aquavitae and hot blasts of Air but it happened that a spark of the fire by chance flew between the sheets and inflamed the dry linnen and the Aquavitae in an instant so that e're it was quenched his late quivering bones were now half burnt he lived in great grief and torment for fifteen days after finding no help nor asswagement of his Torture by Physick or Chirurgery and then miserably dyed and thus as while he lived his mind constantly burned in Lust and his defires were hot upon mischief and oppression so his days were finished with cruel heat and burning Beards Theatre XX. Luctack King of Scotland succeeded his Father Galdus in that Kingdom but was so wretched and mischievous a Tyrant that his Subjects hated him no less for his Vices than they loved his Father for his Virtues he murdered many Rich and Noble Persons for no cause but only to inrich himself with their Estates he committed the Government of the Realm to debauched wretched Persons in whose Company he chiefly delighted he was so impudent as to deflour his own Aunts Sisters and Daughters and to forsake his own Wife and scorned the Advice and Council of his wife and grave Counsellors calling them Old doting Fools all which monstrous Villanies with a thousand more so incensed his Nobility that they slew him after he had reigned three years but as the Proverb says Seldom comes a better for another Tyrant as bad if not worse succeeded him called Mogallus Cosen German to Luctack a Man notoriously infected with all manner of wickedness for though at first he gave himself to follow the wisdom and good Government of his Uncle Galdus yet in his old Age his vices abundantly discovered themselves but chiefly in Oppression Lechery and Cruelty this King Licensed Theives and Robbers to take the Goods of their Neighbours without punishment and he first ordained that the Goods of condemned Persons should be confiscate to the Kings use without respect either to their Wives Children or Creditors but he also like his Predecessor was slain by his Nobles There was likewise another King of Scots called Athirco in the year 240. who shewed himself a most abominable wretch for he wallowed in all manner of unclean and effeminate Lusts and was not ashamed to go along the Streets in sight of the People playing upon a Fluâ—e rejoycing more to be accounted a good Fidler than a good Prince from this he proceeded at length to the deflouring and ravishing of Women and Virgins insomuch that the Noblemens Daughters could not be secure from his unsatiable and intolerable lust whereupon being pursued by the Nobility when he saw no means to escape he desperately slew himself Beards Theatre XXI Theodorick King of France for his negligence and sluggishness in his Government was Deposed and of a King was made a Fryar being put into a Monastery and Childerick succeeded him who exercised Barbarous and Inhumane Cruelty upon his Subjects for he spared neither Noble nor Ignoble but sent them to their Graves