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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	wonder_n	wonderful_a	word_n	33	3	3.6366	3	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A52817	The signs of the times, or, VVonderful signs of wonderful times being a faithful collection and impartial relation of several signs and wonders, call'd properly prodigies, (together with some philosophical and theological descants upon them) which have been seen in the heavens, on the earth, and on the waters, as they have been testifyed by very credible hands, all of which have hapned within the compass of this last year 1680 : which may well be called another annus mirabilis, or wonderful year, wherein the Lord hath given us loud warnings to repent of our sins and return to him, that he may have mercy upon us / by C. N.	Ness, Christopher, 1621-1705.	1681 (1681)	Wing N463; ESTC R32306	68,903	90

his Head and give him to be meat to his People There be many more Signs and Wonders I omit though mentioned in publick Intelligences because not to me enough Authentically Attested I would also subjoyn here the many marvelous and prodigious Providences not only reported but likewise Recorded in our own Land of late were it not to avoid prolixity such as the Wonderful Discovery of Justice Godfreys Death The Wonderful delivery of Justice Arnolds life The Wonderful disappointment hitherto of all the Popish Plots both Sham and Real against King and Kingdom The Wonderful Death of three grand Enemies to an honest Alderman in Hull who all dyed in three Weeks time in the heat and height of their Persecutions against him with many more such marvelous Occurrences befalling several Persecutors and Prophane Scoffers as him whose Eyes dropt out of his Head immediately after his Scoffing at the late Comet not yet plenarily proved The Application in short after a long Explication general and particular yet Applicatorily Explained all along is twofold 1st General 2ly Particular the latter of those to be possitive and peremptory in without a peculiar Gift which we pretend not to is by the best Casuists called Nefas and no better than presumption to pry too curiously into the Ark of Divine Secrets for which fifty Thousand Bethshemites were slain 1. Sam. 6.19 Arcana Dei sunt Arca Dei we may not search into Gods Secrets Deut. 29.29 Mirari oportet rimari non licet 't is as unmannerly to pry into our Neighbours House as 't is to press into it said Xenocrates how much more may men be paid for peeping into Gods House as the men of Bethshemesh were contrary to Gods Command Num. 4.20 Eorum que scire nec Datur nec fas est Docta est ignorantia istius scientiae Appetentia est insaniae species saith Austin 'T is a learned Ignorance not to know what we ought not to know and 't is a kind of madness to desire it Funccius sings well saying Tufuge seu pestem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And Peter giveth charge against this Impious Curiosity as against Theft and Murder 1. Pet. 4.15 't is a being too buisy with Gods matters Baldwin therefore concludes this point praestat Ergo c. 't is better to pass over prodigies in silence and leave the particular Application of them to the most Wise God than by an over-curious Divining to betray our own temerity Bald. Cases of Conscience Lib. 3. Pag. 813. However to make a general Application which is the former of them is to be Wise unto Sobriety seeing Events in all Ages do evidence that Prodigies do portend in the general a Futurition or Approach of some things not yet existent and such as bear some proportion in quality to the Predigies themselves as Armies portend Wars c. This is acknowledged by Herodotus and Machiavel that no extraordinary Calamities befal Nations or Cities but 't is foreshewn by some Extraordinary Signs and Wonders as the Reverend Dr. Jackson in his Sermen preached before King Charles the I. quoteth them pag. 9.10 Yea our Saviour himself did Institute Signs and Wonders as immediate forerunners of that final Destruction of Jerusalem so forely threatned and so severely executed by Titus Vespasian Matth. 24. Mark 13. and Luke 21. and Josephus hath a good Note upon it lib. 4. cap. 12. of the Wars of the Jews that it was Gods Clemency to Mankind to foreshew by those extraordinary Signs and Wonders what wasting Desolations were approaching that his people being forewarned might be forearmed also and take the best Course for their own safety The General Application of Prodigies which are unquestionable be principally two according to Cornelins à Lapide's Notion on Joel 2.30 Prodigia sunt Credentibus benefica incredulis vero Malefica Horribilia 1st They do portend much mischief to that part of the World which wallows in Wickedness without Repentance The Signs and Wonders God shewed to Pharoah were not only Messengers but even Harbingers of his and his Peoples Destruction so was the Hand-writing upon the Wall a Prodigy portending Belshazzars Downfal for his Drunken and Debauched Quaffings Dan. 15.22.23 So were the Prodigies in Heaven Earth and Sea as Luke ranks them Luke 21.25 Infallible portents and presages of the final fall of the Jews and their Jerusalem for Persecuting Christ and his Apostles c. Thus it was of latter times in Germany as their wickedness and Debauchery increased so did their Prodigies Signs and Wonders Hist Iron-Age pag. 66. Yea and in our Land Sir Rich. Baker hath worthily Recorded How the many Mischiefs that have befallen this Nation were all foreshewed by many foregoing Signs and Wonders which he calleth Casualties in every Reign whereof I have extracted an Epitome and thought to have inserted it here were not my Book too bulky already 2ly They do Prognosticate Relief and Remedy to the Religious part of the World Aegypts Overthrow was Israels Deliverance and so was and will be Babylons to Sion Therefore Christ encourageth his Servants at the sight of such Signs to lift up their Heads for their Redemption draweth nigh Luke 21.25.28 All men ought therefore to Regard the Works of the Lord and to consider the Operations of his Hands least by neglect thereof they provoke a Jealous God to Destroy them and not build them up Ps 28.5 How oft doth God call on Zechary lift up thine Eyes and behold c. and what seest thou c. God shews his Signs and Wonders not that men should cast scurrilous Scoffs at them who knoweth whether such have a minute betwixt his last Jest in this World and his Everlasting Earnest in a worse World but to make serious Contemplations on them what curious Artist can endure when he exposes some special peice to publick View to see sottish men take no notice of it or silly spectators that cannot understand its Admirable Art Deride it God is Certainly Tuning his Instrument as I say in pag. 32. and will shortly play some choice Tune though made up of Discords The good Lord help us to Dance after his Pipe and to meet him in the way of his Judgments or in the way of his Mercies Isa 26.8 Otherwise the Great Turk who 't is said is so allarm'd with those Prodigies that he hath proclaimed a Fast to be kept throughout all his Dominions will rise up in Judgment against all Scoffers as the Queen of Sheba will against the Jews Math. 12.42 The Heavens those Catholick Preachers Ps 19.1 The spangled Curtains of the Bridegroomes Chamber hath Read such a Divinity-Lecture to us in Signs and Wonders and so hath the Earth and the Sea all terrifying and testifying Gods Anger against Mans Sin yea in his own people in whom he will pardon but not patronize Evil and shall we look on those Signs of the times to be Inania Terriculamenta insignificant Scar-crows which the Sorcerers of Aegypt were they here to see them would acknowledge to be the Finger of God As Jerusalem that Slaughter-house of Saints had her Signs of Destruction So Rome the like Slaughter-house had at the Rise of Luther such a Storm upon her chief Church as struck the Keys out of Peters Hands while the Pope was creating Cardinals in it ever since a cold Sweat hath stuck upon all the Limbs of Antichrist as Bellarmine his great Champion confesseth assuredly the pouring out of the seaven Vials mentioned Revel 16. will produce such a prodigious Storm upon Rome as will not only blow down her Keys but her Images also yea blow away all the Trash and Trumpery of that Scarlet Whore and the Whore her self with all her proud helpers all Christs Foes shall then be made his Foot-stool the fittest place for them in all Lands yet before the accomplishment hereof sad Calamities if not the Salaughter of the Witnesses may be seen yea such Tribulation as hath not heretofore Matt. 24.21 The very Time may seem nothing else but Affliction it self Mark 13.19 So befel it to the Jews that had not God cut short those Days Matth. 24.22 No Flesh had been Saved no Jewish Flesh had been left alive What Woes may befal the Gentile World after such prodigious presages we know not 'T is good for us to get into Augustus's posture who once sitting 'twixt Virgil a frequent sigher and Horace that had watery Eyes pleasantly said he sat inter Suspiria Lachrymas betwixt Sighs and Tears sure I am Our Day calls upon us not only to say so but also to sit so with all seriousness Christs Council to the Jews was pray ye Matth. 24.20 'T is no less the Duty of us Gentiles Prayer is the best Ordinance and Artillery wherewith to Batter Heaven Flecti●ur Inatus Voce Rogante Deus Wher God seems most bitterly bent yet will he yield something to prayer which is the best lever at a dead lift provided it be the Prayer of Faith for as Gods mercy is the Mother so the Churches Faith is the Midwife of Deliverance Hereupon Joel in setting down the Dreadful Signs of direful Days least any should despondingly say as Mark 10.26 Who then can be saved concludeth with this comfortable Corollary whoever calleth on the Name of the Lord shall be saved Joel 2.31.32 That such may be Reserved as a Remnant for Royal Use being accounted worthy to escape those things that may yet come to pass Luke 21.36 Is the Hearty prayer of C. N. FINIS The Reader is requested to correct these following Faults that have escaped the Press Errata PAg. 1. line 19. read Math. 12. p. 6. l. 14. r. Ear p. 11. read line 20. before line 19. p. 18. l. 25. for 80. r. to p. 31. l. 16. for 18. r. 11. p. 37. l. 27. r. prognostick p. 40 d. 24. r. Truths p. 48. l. 29. for through r. though p. 49. l. 2. for Councelor r. Councel p. 55. l. 16. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 57. l. the latter r. 65 66 67 c. to 71. in p. which should be 96. l. 11. r. next Answer as Messengers only not as Mediators according to the Popish Doctrine and l. 22. after are r. mostly and l. 34. for Virgin r. Virgins p. 69. l. 20. for Trimethius r. Trithemius the Sheet L. should begin with 73 and so on p. 76. falsly paged 68. l. 20. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉

Sacriledg Perjury and other wicked ways Such Balls of Fire Resembling this Flying Roll c. have been seen faling out of Heaven Gods Temple upon Woods Ground yea Houses here in England The bigness of which Fire Balls have seemed to Spectators as large as the greatest Chaldrons these must be predictive Signs to us as Jeremys Boyling-Pot was to the Jews Jer. 1.13 and as Ezekiels was Ezek. 24.3.4.13 Representing Jerusalem which then had a mighty Scum in her but the Fire of Gods Wrath set the Pot on boyling by the Chaldeans until it had boyled out all the Bones and the Flesh the Stoutest and Richest at which they had Scoffed Ezek. 11.3.7 But when they go to the Po● and boyl lustily there their Scoffs are forced back down their own Throats and their Hearts might then bespeak them as the Heart of the Tyrant Apollodorus who dreamed he was taken and flead by the Scythians and boyled in a great Chaldron did cry out of the Kettle or Chaldron to him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 't is I that am the Cause of all this thy Misery No less a Sign was Ezekiels Iron Pan to the Hard-Hearted Jews Ezek. 4.3 both which Hieroglyphicks and Emblems did not only signify their City should be hardly Besieged but also that God would so seeth them in a Pot and so fry them in a Pan as that they should pine away in their Iniquitys Levit. 26.39 The good Lord Divert this sore Judgment from London and Direct it to Rome or mystical Babylon for she is worthy Revel 16 6. The fifth wonderful Signs in the Heavens is the Several Suns that have been seen in the Firmament at some due distance one from another as hath been Testifyed to me but I shall not Insist upon this as I have upon the former not only because my Book begins to swell beyond my Expectation but also because I have resolved to enlarge upon nothing no nor insert here any thing upon slender Evidence without evident and sufficient Testimony It shall therefore suffice to say but little to this save only that such an Apparition need the less to be doubted of seeing natural Phylosophy mentioneth it as one of Natures Products though not ordinarily calling them parelia or Mock-Suns yet that Divine Philosopher Zanchy doth not only in concurrence with Heathen Philosopers suppose such Apparitions to prognosticate abundance of wet weather but also as he saith further various Judgments as Famine Sword c. Zanch. de Oper. Dei Pag. 348. Yea our own English Chronicles tell us that such an Apparition was seen in the Heavens in the beginning of Queen Maries Reign as there had been the like before to presage the Death of that insolently proud Prelate Thomas Becket Arch-Bishop of Canterbury In a word both time and room and it may be Credit too would fail me should I insert the other Apparitions in the Air we hear off if not see as the Dreadful Thunders and Lightnings the Impetuous Wind and Whirlwinds and many strange Meteors which I designedly omit until I get better prooff which I truly desire from all good Hands well knowing my Brethren that went before me in this Work 20 years ago some do blame for credulity Alterius perditto mea fit cautio The Censure passed upon my Predecessors in the like work for being over Credulous hath been cogent to make me a little the more Cautelous Therefore I pass on to the second Scene or Theatre whereon God shews his Wonderful Signs or Prodigies to wit on the Earth as well as the first in the Heavens or Air And first of the Prodigious Hail-stones which God cast out of the Air down to the Earth which cannot be called Apparitions in the Air and so belong to the first Scene seeing their prodigious bulkiness could not be distinctly discerned until they appeared faln taken up and measured upon Earth This same Prodigy or Wonderful Sign happened upon the 18th of May 1680. which became so mischievous to all the Sky-Llights all over London c. and knockt down many Rooks by their vast weight and bigness some of them being measured were found seven Inches about c. This Sign also may be exemplified both out of Sacred and Civil History 1st Sacred and 1st The Plague of Hail slones upon Aegypt Exod. 9.18 to 27. Such as that Land never saw or felt before for this seventh Plague was 1st More General than any being over the whole Land at once 2ly None ever was so Temper'd with Fire which ran along the Groun v. 23. Though Fire and Hail be of two contrary Tempers yet in this they made a Peace betwixt themselves that they might obey the Will of their Creatour This was a strange mixture and a Miracle within a Miracle saith Rab. Solomon such Hail-stones and Coals of Fire mingled together are mentioned Ps 18.13.14.15 and Isa 30.30.31 as here and Ps 78.47.48 and Ps 105.32.33 3ly None ever so punctually Predictied and as punctually Performed according to the Prediction v. 18.23.24.25 4ly None ever so Destructive to Man Beast and Trees v. 25. Ps 66.46.47.48 and 105.33 5ly None ever so Distinguishing though it was over all the Land of Aegypt yet the Land of Goshen a part of it was exempted v. 26. Such an Exemption was that Torrent of Fire which ran down from Mount Aetna vouchsafed to those Religious Children which ventured to Rescue their Aged Parents from those fearful Flames made Aristotle say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It extorted from him an acknowledgement of Gods good Providence for the Godly here on Earth when he saw the Flames of Fire dividing themselves and making a Lane for those Godly Rescuers of their Helpless Parents The second sacred Instance of Prodigious Hail-Stones Josh 10.11 Observed the like exemption or distinction as that in Exod. 9.26 't is said the Lord cast down great Stones from Heaven explained there beebeni Habarod Hagedeloth such huge Hail-stones as brained the Canaanites but hurt not the Israelites that were not only at their Heels but also mingled amonst them as they flew them in their Flight and dreadful Thunder and Lightning came along with those Hail-stones also as not only Josephus saith but Habaccuck likewise Habbac 3.11 Where God shot off his shining Arrows and darted from him his Glittering Spears yea he level'd them whether Huge Hail stones or Hot Thunderbolts with so even an Hand to their several marks that he hit the one and missed the other even when they were intermingled together this was Digitus Dei 2ly Civil History mentions strange Hail-stones both Ethnicks as Livy Decad 1. Lib. 1. and Decad. 3. Lib. 10. Claudian c. And Ecclesiastick as Eusebius Lib. 5. Tertullian Cap. 5. Apolog. And Dio in the Life of Marcus Antonius the Philosopher so called who fought against the Quades and by the prayers of the Thundring L●●●on as in Aurelius the Emperors time they were called of Christians Ingens Gr ando complur aque fulmina in Hostes Ceciderunt c.

Vanity of their Gods or Idols saying That all certain Predictions of future Providences which yet have no assured natural Cause or significant Sign belongeth only to the true God Thus the Prophet Argues ch 44.7 and 45.20.21 and 46.10 and 48.14 Idols cannot declare things to come Secondly The Devil though a most Intelligent Spirit can know nothing of what shall befal for the future save only those things he seeth in their Causes or in the light of participation The Devil can better Discover what is past and done by his own Instigation as that Murder committed on a Stranger at an Inn in Exeter 30 years before the Discovery was made by an Apparition as was likewise the Fraud of an Executor converting a Gentlemans Estate from his Children to his own use who was affrighted by an Apparition unto a Restitution to the right Heirs both hapned lately and seem to be well attested by Godly Ministers 'T is certain that future Contingents are not within the compass of the Devils Cognizance any other way seeing they are wholy at Gods disposing yet Satan in some Cases and at some times can foretell things to come as 1st He being a Mighty Naturalist able by his Angelical sagacity to dive into the deepest causes and secrets of Nature which men cannot do and so accordingly to frame his Predictions such as seem supernatural to us he is also an Exact Artist attained both by his acute Observations and almost 6000 years Experience to an acquaintance of all natural moral and political causes of things as the Premisses hence may he give shrewd guesses though he know nothing Infalibly and gather such consequences as may probably come to pass if the great God be not pleased to interrupt this Chain of Causes as he sometimes doth by his over-ruling Power Though Satan be a Prince of Darkness yet may he have secondly such a participation of some light by Divine not only pirmission but Commission when God makes him the Executioner of his Judgments and in such a case 't is easy for him to foretel future things as in the Case of Job he could predict without difficulty that such and such Evils would shortly befal that good man when he had got a Commission from God for them and wanted no tools to work them and as in the Case of the 400 false Prophets of Ahab in whose Mouth he had a Commission from God to be a Lying Spirit and delude them 1. Kin. 22 6● 22. which shews King Ahab's Death was revealed to the Devil and then he could Reveal it to whom he pleased The Devil Deceived those Deceivers the false Prophets and they Deceived Ahab and draws him as the Mouse into the Trap where he Perished not only for his Cruelty to Nabeth but by his Credul●ty to those many cursed Sycophants yea and in the Case of Saul which is yet higher he only could have foretold the ●a●● of King ●ha● ut supra but he actually did foretel the Death of King Saul 1. Sam. 28.19 Naming the time though in ambiguous Words as to morrow is indefinitely used Exod. 13.14 and Matt. 6.34 Thus the Devil Equivocates in all his Oracles as in this and in that of Ahab The Lord shall deliver into the Hands of the King 1. Kin. 2.26 where the Particle it is not in the Original The word thee may as well be supplyed and this Lying Spirit names not which of the Kings he meant whether Ahab or Benhadad yea his quibling Oracle as the Delphick Devil had many might be construed in a quite contrary Sense either 1st The Lord will deliver thee Ahab into the hands of Benhadad or 2ly It to wit Ramoth Gilead into the hand of Ahab thus the deceitful Devil will save his Credit what ever hapned and yet as bad as this Abaddon is he shews more ingenuity here than doth the Jesuits for he ingeniously acknowledgeth his Equivocating Oracle to be no better than a Base Lye saying I will go and be a Lying Spirit in the Mouth of all Ahabs Pa●asytical Prophets v. 22. However Satan that mock Samuel seems more positive and peremptory in his Predictions of Sauls Dow●fal as above yet this was no more than what a prudently-thinking man might have conjectured from the concurrence of secundary Causes how much more might an acutely observing Devil make up a shrewd Guess by comparing things with things of Sauls approaching Ruine He could not be ignorant both of Sauls Rejection and of Davids Election the Courage and Confidence of the Philistines Army the Despondenties and Diffidence of Saul and his Souldiers both which had been formerly Valorous were not unknown to him or possibly he might peep into those Prophetick Predictions concerning Saul and David in ch 15. and 16. of the first of Sam. Yea he well knew what himself designed to do in the day of Battle with Gods Permission against Saul who had forfeited Gods Protection The third Consideration I shall conclude with is that the Devil hath his Instruments or Vassals amongst Mankind to whom he imparts his Predictions that they may impart them to others and those are mostly Women of the Devils choice more than Men because they are Weaker Vissels whose credulity is sooner imposed upon and easilyer abused and deluded by the Devil we have two samous Instances one in the Old the other in the New Testament the 1st hereof is 1. Sam. 28.7 where Saul said seck me out a Woman that hath a familiar Spirit not a Man but a Woman he had put down Witches before yet hoped he some might be remaining though not of Men yet of Women which are wont to be lighter and proner to Superstition not only because of weaker Wits and apter to be Deceived but seeing they cannot compass any Fame or Glory by Noble Exploits as men can they therefore would become Famous by Magick Art hence this Woman became a Dame to a familiar Spirit and thither Saul comes who rather than fail would crave help from Hell c. And the second Instance is not unlike this first Act. 16.16 The Divining Damosel who probably foretold many things that came to pass otherwise she could never have brought so much Gain to her Masters as that Scripture saith she might make unhappy Hits sometimes from the sagacity of her grand Master Satan yet miss too at other times for if the Divel himself cannot foretel all future Events nor any thing Infalibly himself but either as it is Revealed to him by God as was Ahab's Fall at Ramoh Gilead or as be foreseeth them in the Causes Signs or Prophecies of Holy Scripture wherein he is not a little skil'd and out of which he sometimes stealeth a parcel Far be it from me to apply our present Apparition to either of these aforementioned especially upon these Grounds 1st We do not find that this Apparition required any Adoration when Saul bowed himself to Satan that Mock Samuel 1. Sam. 28.14 That Adoration was the main thing that the Devil

chiefly aimed at 2ly We do not find in our Case any seeking to this Apparition for that is Tantamount a Worshipping though there be no bowing and how far amounts holding Conference with Apparitions see above but yet it seems an higher step to obey their Commands especially such as are dissonant to the Law of Nature or Nations or Scripture which is not our Case neither doth this comport with the latter Instance though here 's a Divining Damsel yet not such an one as the Septuagints usually call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because the Devil spake out of their Bellys for which cause also the Hebrews call them Oboth or Bottles because the Bellys of those Women thus made use of by the Devil swelled as big as Bottles when they began to Prophesy 2ly Neither do we hear of any gain either to her self or to her Masters here as appeareth there 3ly Neither do we find any Disturbance given to Gods Worship under specious pretences here as is found there They that desire to know more of those Divining Intrigues let them consult Baldwins Cases of Conscience Lib. 3. Pag. 533. to 620. c. too long here so much as to abridge in this small Treatise and other Casuists I add this only 1st If the Death of any be foretold by the Devil we ought not to believe it as from him the Lyar God can Cross it 2ly If God permit it 't is to harden the superstitious Observers of it 3ly 't is enough Gods Word foretels that all shall fall out for the best to them that love God Rom. 8.28 So ail's welcome so far as Gods Word guideth us we walk safely but if we step farther into a By-way 't will lead us down into the Chambers of Death I Omit the strange Apparitiors at Pons Town in Tipperary in Ireland attested by 16 persons Eye Witnesses and Printed The last and latest of Land-Prodigies omitting many others that come not yet well proved to my Hand is the Death of 3 Tower-Lyons called Old Charls Queen and Duke which is the more Remarkable because we do not find scarce in a whole Age any Record of the Death of so much as one of those Royal Long Lived Creatures the Keeper whereof is so much obliged both by Loyalty and Advantage to preserve them much less of so many and that within few days as if they had conspired to march off together the more to amuse and amaze this Tripple Realm for every Kingdom one to Exemplify it in our English Chroniels though something like it is said to happen in King Richards Reign yet I cannot find a fit Paralel unto this strange Prodigy upon Record save only in Henry the sixths Reign Whereof Sir Richard Baker who is generally owned as an Impartial Chronicler of former Times giveth us this Account That in the 18th year of Henry the sixth all the Lyons in the Tower Dyed Bakers Chron. pag. 199. This Kings Reign was attended with many mischiefs betwixt him and the then Duke of York Henry the Fifth after he had Conquered France and kept his Court with incompatable Magnificence for some time then he Returns with his Queen into England who was delivered of a Son at Windsor called therefore Henry the 6. of Windsor upon whom at his Birth his Father spake Prophetically I Henry of Monmouth have gain'd much and shall remain but a short time but Henry of Windsor shall Reign long and loose all and acording to this Paternal Prophesy the Son first lost His All in France and after 2ly His All in England In this Henry the sixths time France Normandy Aquitain were all lost from the English and in England such were the bloody Contentions between the two Houses of York and Lancaster that ten several fierce Battels were fiercely fought between the two Factions whereof 5 were fought in Henry the sixths time The first at St. Albans in which Yorks prevailed the second at Black-Heath in which the Confederate Lords were Conquerors the third at Northampton in which Henry the sixth was again overthrown the fourth at Wakefield in which the King was Victorious the sixth at Towton in which the new Duke of York carried it who became thereby King Edward the IV. In whose time also five more several set Battels were fought upon the same Quarrel as first that at Exham secondly that at Banbury thirdly the Battel of Loose-Coats fourthly that in Barnet Fields and fifthly that at Tewxbury Thus even the White Rose was Dyed Red over and over again with the blood of many brave men and a Period was never put to this Contention twixt the White and Red Rose until that concluding Battel at Bosworth Fields in which the Plantaginets expired and both the Houses were after united in Henry the VII Rosse's History of the World pag. 534. c. and Dr. Prideaux's History of Successions in our own Land pag. 333. Who tells a memorable Story of those such Catching Times as he calls them of one Burdet a Mercer in Cheap side who jocularly said to his Son if he would ply his Book he should be Heir to the Crown meaning his own House which had the Crown for its Sign and had no Relation to the Crown of the Kingdom for this Jest the Man lost his Life assuredly an Honest Jury would not have given him such hard Measure God bless us from such Contentious and such catching Times which were presaged not only by the Death of the Tower Lyons as above but also by several other Prodigies as a Blazing Star Monstrous Births a prodigious C●●k out of the Sea at Portland crowing three times and turning his Head to the South North and West and Pauls Steeple was fired with Lightning See Ra●●es History of the World pag. 534. And Sir Richard Bakers Chronology of the same time all these Prodigies were Presages of sad future Calamities Enquiry Why must the Death of Lyons be made a Prodigy seeing they are M●r●● as other Beasts and Dye only in the common course of Nature Answer the first Consider in the general A Lyon 1st For his Majesty that sits enthroned in his looks 2ly For his Magnanimity as disdaining to go out of his stately pace though Danger pursue him Prov. 30. v. 30. 3ly For his Formidableness insomuch that when the Lyon Roareth all the Beasts Tremble Am. 3.8 and have not power to fly from him though they can out run him hence he is the Hyeroglyphick of Dominion and worthily as well as vulgarly is called the King of Beasts Hereupon the Fall of a Lyon is as the Fall of Abner the Fall of a Prince 2. Sam. 3.38 'T is looked on as a Fatal Fall the Death of a Lyon was the presage of Julian's death saith Ammianus Marcellinus Answer the second more specially as the living Lyon Resembleth Majesty Domineering according to Aesops Apologue over the Ass and the Fox in sharing the Prey they had joyntly caught in Hunting So the Dead Lyon representeth Majesty Deceased according to

Alciats Emblem and the Greek Epigram 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thouth the Lyon while living be the Noblest of Beasts Prov. 30.30 yet when Dead this Noble Beast is exposed to the Scorn of the most weak and timorous Hares Hence arose the Hebrew Proverb that a living Dog with them the basest of Creatures was better than a Dead Lyon both as to Use and as to Essence Eccles 9.4 Importing that the meanest man Living is better than the greatest man Dead Answer the third The Death of a Tower Lyon is more portentous than the Death of many Lyons in the Wilds of Lybia whereof no notice would be taken but a Tower Lyon is the Darling as well as Emblem of Princes and the Delight as well as Wonder of the People that have been admitted to behold them and seeing they naturally live longer than the oldest of Men scarce any one Age brings Tidings of the Death of a Tower Lyon as before so carefully attended c. This occasions the general Opinion that such an Occurrence is a Fore-runner of some Fatality Answer the fourth How much more the Death of 3 Tower Lyons at once as if a Lyon Pestilence that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Divine Thing had been sent to kill three Lyons at one blow this hardly finds a Paralel in History the strong Tower it self with all its high Walls deep Trenches brass Guns great Guards and warded Gates could not be a Tower of Defence to them or to any one them and if Tria had been Omnia here as it is in Philosophy the Tower had been left a Lyon-less Tower Sacred Story speaks of one Prodigy not altogether dissonant to this to wit Samson turned aside to see the Carcase of the Lyon and behold there was a Swarm of Bees and Honey in the Carcase Judg. 14.8 prodigiosum est saith Lovater quòd Meilificarunt Apes in Cadavere c. 'T was no less than a Prodigy that Bees should breed and make Honey so soon in such a place seeing they are naturally driven away by an ill Smell as abhorring all stinking things such as this Carcase must needs be upon its Putrefaction herein Pliny Columella Aelian Varro and all Naturalists do unanimously concurr Indeed some as Virgil Ovid c. do say Bees may breed in the Carcase of a Bullock raturally but never in the Carcase of a Lyon which hath a more foetid flesh and a more stinking smell however not in so short a time as was between Samsons Contract and the solemnizing of his Marriage It therefore only came to pass by the special Providence of God producing this Prodigy not only by a praeternatural but also by a Supernatural power Now that the Tower Lyons be dead though we had no hand in their Death as Samson had in his let us turn aside a little to view these Carcases as Samson did this and behold both the Congruity and Disparity of them As 1st God Bless us that no Swarms of those Bees of Babylon Isa 7.18 may breed out of their Carcases nor out of them whose names they bore to Sting us with their Fatal Stings And God bless us not only from those Honey-less Wasps and Dronish Robbers but also that the right Honey may be bred in the body of the superviving Lyon call'd Charles the II. and in him whose name he beareth 3ly Though we find no Honey in any of those 3 Carcases as Samson did in his one yet may we find such a Riddle in them which may puzzle and Non-Plus all the uncircumcised Philistins Judg. 14.12.14 Out of those Eaters may came forth Meat and out of the strong sweetness This Problem as many of Gods Providences is made up of contraries yet the aenigmatical Sentence seems to signify that it should come to pass the Philistins which ruled with rigour over the Israelites at that time should be subdued and eaten up by the Israelites and when they were most strong they should not damnify but accommodate the Hebrews The good Lord grant the same Priviledges to the Protestants over the Papists who have eaten us up as their Daily Bread with the like voracity as the Hungry devour Bread Ps 14.4 Yea those cruel Cannibals makes Flesh as well as Bread of poor Protestants and do as barbarously and brutishly worry them with open Mouth as the bloody Lyons do the helpess Sheep Ps 27.2 O that they may now stumble and fall in attempting it and both they and their Leviathan the Pope with his broken Head may be given as meat to the people Inhabiting the Wilderness Ps 74.13.14 Then would God unriddle how out of the grand Eater cometh Meat and out of the strong cometh Sweetness This Leads me to the third and last Scene or Theatre whereon God thews his Wonderful Signs to wit as in Heaven and on the Earth so upon the Waters As I do designedly omit many marvelous things mentioned in Forreign and Domestick Letters such as the Earth-quake at Malago which overturn'd their Religious Houses and put all Spain into a Fright c. And such as have lately hapned also in our Lands because they come not well Attested to make them enough Authentick in the foregoing Stage or Theatre so I must do in this last omitting many Stories and pitch first upon that which hath unquestionable Testimony of the Truth thereof to wit the Drying up of the River Wye in Wales between Radnorshire and Brecknock-shire where 't is near as broad as Thames at Brainford about a stones cast over and of a sierce Current yet on the 25th of January last at Lewysford it stop't its course and parted it self and became dry so that several persons walked over Dry-shod some gathered up Fishes for several Miles this continued for several Hours This is Attested for Truth by Mr. Probat High Sherriff of Radnorshire and Mrs. Jones whose letter hereof I had to assure me both Eye-Witnesses and it was also observed that the two Rivers I thou and Yrvon which fall into that River Wye were at the same time likewise suddenly dry but after a few hours flowed with more Violence and higher than usual and as my Letter addeth no natural Reason could be rendred hereof Now to exemplify this Prodigy by Paralel Instances from Sacred and Civil History 1st Satred Story saith that when God brake the Heads of the Dragon Satans sworn Sword-men and Pharoahs chief Captains and the Head of the grand Leviathan or Pharoah himself then did God also Divide the Sea and clave also the Fountains and the Flood Ps 74.13.14.15 Drying up mighty Rivers as Jordan Euphrates and the Red Sea which in respect of the Main Ocean was but a mighty River This the Angel of God Divided and dryed up for six hundred Thousand to pass over in Rank and File Exod 14.21.22 Ps 136.13 and 106.9 Gods Rebuke was upon the Waters clove them in twain and bound them up with his Swadling Band as easily as a Nurse doth her Infant Job 38.9 so that they