of Ireland once had but I have been assured from my Honoured Friend James Tyrrel Esq his Lordship's Grand-son that this was not an Ecstasie but that his Lordship upon reading the 12 13 14 c. Chapters of the Revelation and farther Reflecting upon the great increase of the Sectaries in England supposed that they would let in Popery which consideration put him into a great Transport at the time when his Daughter the Lady Tyrrel came into the Room when he Discoursed to her divers things tho' not all contained in the said Printed Paper Thus far Mr. Aubery 10. Mr. Brewen of Sâ—apleford as he excelled others in the Holiness of his Life so he much excelled himself towards his death his Motions towards Heaven being then most vigorous and quick The Day before his last sickness he had such extraordinary Inlargements of Heart in his Closet-Duty that he seemed to forget all the Concernments of his Body and this lower World and when his Wife told him Sir I fear you have done your self hurt with Rising so early He Answer'd If you had seen such glorious things as I saw this Morning in private Prayer with God you would not have said so for they were so wonderful and unspeakable that whether I was in the Body or out of the Body with Paul I cannot tell And so it was with the Learned and Holy Mr. Rivet who seemed as a Man in Heaven just before he went thither 11. It is Recorded of our Famous Jewel That about the beginning of Queen Mary's Reign the Inquisition taking hold of him in Oxford he fled to London by Night but providentially losing the Road he escaped the Inquisitors who pursued him However he fell that Night into another eminent hazard of Life for wandring up and down in the Snow he fainted and lay starving in the way panting and labouring for Life at which time Mr. Latimer's Servant found and saved him See his Life 12. The Protestants besieged in Bezier's in France were delivered by a Drunken Drummer who going to his Quarters at Mid-night rang the Alarm-Bell of the Town not knowing what he did and just then were their Enemies making their Assault And as weak and improbable means have been blessed with Success to the Church in general so to the preservation of its particular Members also William of Nassau Prince of Orange as he lay in Camp near to the Duke of Alva's Army some Spaniards in the Night brake into his Camp and some of them ran as far as the Prince of Orange's Tent where he was fast asleep but he had a Dog lying by him on the Bed that never left Barking and Scratching him by the Face till he had awaked him whereby he escaped the Danger Strada 13. Queen Elizabeth's Preservation in the Tower in the time of her Imprisonment is a Remarkable Providence not to be forgot viz. When her Bloody Sister Queen Mary had design'd her Death she was preserved by King Philip Queen Mary's Husband who had not perhaps his Fellow in Christendom at that time for Cruelty and Persecution of the Reformed and was moved to the Saving the Princess Elizabeth's Life not so much by his Bowels of Compassion as a Principle of Policy For if Queen Mary should die Childless as indeed he feared if the Princess Elizabeth had been taken out of the way the Queen of Scots a Papist would have come to the Crown of England who being inseparably joyned in League with France might both of them together been too hard for Spain and that his Gentleness to the Princess could be on no other account appears plainly by his putting his Eldest Son to death upon no other Account than for his being so mercifully inclined to the Protestants in the Netherlands This remarkable Providence needs no vouching but however it may be found in a Book that goes under the Name of Mr. Slingsby Bethel in Octavo p. 6. Printed in London A. C. 1694. 14. When several oppressed with the Cruelty and Tyranny of Richard the Third did confederate to Raise Henry Earl of Richmond to the Crown and by his Marriage with Elizabeth Eldest Daughter of Edward the Fourth to Unite the Houses of York and Lancaster Mr. Henry Wiat was one therein Ingaged and Intrusted in the Association and Correspondence between the Duke beyond Sea and his Friends in England and passed with Messages for which he was Suspected and Examined but for want of Proof discharged he was afterwards thereof Accused committed to the Tower and Tortured for Discovery of the Duke's Design and Friends in England but neither Threats Torture or fair Promises of Reward could prevail so that he was cast into the Dungeon and Fed with Bread and Water and there lay at the Duke's Descent and Victory where a Cat did use to come to him and bring Provision or he had been Starved He for his Fidelity was preferred made a Knight Baronet by Henry the Seventh and of the Privy Council to Henry the Seventh and Henry the Eighth This Relation hath been received true in the Family in Kent and in Memory thereof his Picture is preserved with a Cat creeping in at a Grate with a Pidgeon in its Mouth and these Verses added Hunc macrum rigidum maestum fame frigore cura Pavi fovi acui carne calore Joco This Relation was sent me November 16. 1696. by Counsellor Wiat now Living at Serjeants Inn near Fleet-street II. Sea-Dangers and Deliverances 1. Great were the Dangers and wonderful the Deliverances of Will. Okely and his Company the Relation of which from his own Book I have thus Contracted An. Dom. 1639. We took Ship at Gravesend in the Mary of London Mr. Boarder Master bound for the Isle of Providence in the West-Indies Five Weeks we lay in the Downs waiting for a Wind and then we set Sail and came to Anchor near the Isle of Wight but by this time all our Beer in the Ship stunk and we were forced to throw it over-board and to take Vinegar to mix with Water for our Voyage The next Lord's Day we set Sail again and coming between the Island and the main Land we stuck fast in the Sands but the Tide coming in heaved us off The sixth Day after our setting Sail from the Isle of Wight we discovered three Turks Men of War who Chased us and at break of Day boarded and took us Having kept us close Prisoners at Sea at the end of five or six Weeks they brought us to Algiers where I was sold for a Slave the first Market-Day to a Patron who told me I must allow him two Dollars a Month and live ashoar where I would and get it where I could though I knew not where to Levy the least Mite of it Wandering up and down I light of an English-Man in his little Shop that Traded with Tobacco and a few other Things His Partner I became with a little Money I had reserved and a small modicum my Patron had allowed me for my
was safely carried by the Angels into Abraham 's Bosom so that 't is plain that the Angels are employed to convey the Souls of true Believers into a fixed State of blessedness But because Men are very apt to be incredulous in these Cases my Design is to enquire in their Chapter what knowledge we can pick up concerning the Existence of particular Souls after their Separation out of Antient and Modern Histories and I believe it will appear by what follows that the Soul is really alive and active and concerned after Death I Insist not on the Parable to the Rich Man and Lazarus mention'd by our Saviour nor any particular Instances out of Sacred Writ Read the following Stories and if all of them are not credibly and rightly interpreted and applied if Satan may in some be concerned on purpose to put Tricks upon poor Incredulous shall I say or Credulous Souls yet 't is strange if they are all untrue 1. A Narrative of an Apparition which a Gentleman in Boston had of his Brother just then Murthered in London It was on the Second of May in the Year 1687 that a most ingenious accomplished and well-disposed Gentleman Mr. Joseph Beacon by Name about Five a Clock in the Morning as he lay whether Sleeping or Waking he could not say but judged the latter of them had a View of his Brother then at London altho he was now himself at our Boston distanced from him a Thousand Leagues This his Brother appeared to him in the Morning about five a Clock at Boston having on him a Bengal Gown which he usually wore with a Napkin tied about his Head his Countenance was very Pale Gastly Deadly and he had a Bloody Wound on one side of his Forehead Brother says the affrighted Joseph Brother answered the Apparition Said Joseph What 's the matter Brother How came you here The Apparition replied Brother I have been most barbarously and injuriously Butcher'd by a Debauch'd drunken Fellow to whom I never did any wrong in my Life Whereupon he gave a particular Description of the Murderer adding Brother This Fellow changing his Name is attempting to go over unto New England in Foy or Wild I would pray you on the first Arrival of either of these to get an Order from the Governour to Seize the Person whom I have now described and then do you Indict him for the Murder of me your Brother I 'll stand by you and prove the Indictment And so he vanished Mr. Beacon was extreamly astonished at what he had seen and heard and the People of the Family not only observed an extraordinary Alteration upon him for the Week following but have also given me under their Hands a full Testimony that he then gave them an Account of this Apparition All this while Mr. Beacon had no Advice of any thing amiss attending his Brother then in England but about the latter end of June following he understood by the common ways of Communication that the April before his Brother going in haste by Night to call a Coach for a Lady met a Fellow then in Drink with his Doxy in his Hand Some way or other the Fellow thought himself affronted with the hasty passage of this Beacon and immediately ran into the Fire-side of a Neighbouring Tavern from whence he fetch'd out a Fire-fork wherewith he grievously wounded Beacon in the Skull even in that very part where the Apparition show'd his Wound Of this Wound he Languished until he Died on the Second of May about Five of the Clock in the Morning at London The Murderer it seems was endeavouring to Escape as the Apparition affirmed but the Friends of the Deceased Beacon seized him and prosecuting him at Law he found the help of such Friends as brought him off without the loss of his Life since which there has no more been heard of the Business This History I received of Mr. Joseph Beacon himself who a little before his own pious and hopeful Death which follow'd not long after gave me the Story written and signed with his own Hand and attested with the Circumstances I have already mentioned See Mr. Cotton Mather's Wonders of the Invisible World 2. In the City of Athens there was a goodly Lodging which yet was out of Request as a Place very dangerous for in the Night there was a Spirit that walked in it drawing a Chain and making a Noise and seemed as if he came afar off and then would suddenly be hard by After that there would appear a great Old Man his Flesh all worn away having a Long Beard his Hair standing an end and all tangled Fetters on his Feet a Chain at his Hands which he would always be shaking They that dwelt in the house could never rest in the Night but would grow heavy and pensive and so fall sick and dye For in the very day time though they saw not the Spirit yet they would think he always was in their sight and that the ringing of his Chain did always beat in their Ears Upon this the Lodging stood empty though it was by Bills exposed to sale After some time Athenodorus the Philosopher came to Athens lacked a House and purchasing this at a small Rate the first Night put his Servants into the back-part of it to lodge chose for himself the forepart where he had a Bed placed his VVriting-Tables brought and a Lamp well lighted Here he betook to Read VVrite and Study very earnestly And late in the Night the Spirit came with his old Noise Chain and Fetters the Philosopher continuing still earnest at his Business 'Till at last the Spirit shaking his Chain over his Head made a Sign to him as if he desired the Philosopher to follow him Upon which he obeyed taking a Light in his Hand and following till such time as the Ghost vanished away in the Street Athenodours marked the Place with some Grass and Leaves which he laid upon it and the next Day went to the Council of the City desired the Place might be searched which being done they found a Dead body all rothen nothing left but Bones and Chains which they took up and buried elsewhere After which the House was no more Haunted Camerar Hist Med. l. 4. ex Plen. 2d Epist l. 3. 3. The Elder Countess of Donagal a Lady Pious Discreet and Credible told me That one of her Husband's Tennants near Belfast or Carickfergus where he was Lord agreed with him for to put his Son's Life with his own Life in a renew'd Lease of a Farm and he paid part of the Money and dy'd before the Lease was made and seal'd His Wife marry'd another Man and paid the rest of the Money out of her second Husband's Purse and therefore put in his Son's Life instead of her Son by the former Husband into the Lease The Earl of Donagal going into England and being then in the West a Servant of his in Ireland his Porter a stout lusty Man was haunted with the
or more some big some small together then so many and such Corpses together If two Candles come from divers places and be seen to meet the Corpses will the like if any of these Candles are seen to turn sometimes a little out of the way or path that leadeth to the Church the following Corps will be forced to turn in that very place for the avoiding some dirty Lane or plash c. Now let us fall to evidence Being about the Age of Fifteen dwelling at Lanylar late at Night some Neighbours saw one of these Candles hovering up and down along the River-Bank until they were weary in beholding it at last they left it so and went to Bed A few Weeks after came a proper Damsel from Montgomery-shire to see her Friends who dwelt on the other side of that River Istwith and thought to Ford the River at that very place where the Light was seen being dissuaded by some Lookers on some it is most likely of those that saw the Light to adventure on the Water which was high by reason of a Flood She walked up and down along the River-Bank even where and even as the aforesaid Candle did waiting for the falling of the Water which at last she took but too soon for her for she was drowned therein Of late my Sexton's Wife an aged understanding Woman saw from her Bed a little bluish Candle on her Tables end within two or three Days after came a Fellow enquiring for her Husband and taking something from under his Cloak clap'd it down upon the Tables-end it was a dead-born Child Another time the same Woman saw such another Candle upon the end of the self-same Table within a few Days after a weak Child newly Christend by me was brought to the Sexton's House where presently it died ' And when the Sexton's Wife who was then abroad came home she found the Child on the other end of the Table where she had seen the Candle Some thirty or forty Years since my Wife's Sister being Nurse to Baronet Rudd's three eldest Children and the Lady Mistress being dead the Lady Comptroller of the House going late into the Chamber where the Maid-Servants lay saw no less than Five of those Lights together It happen'd a while after that the Chamber being newly Plaister'd and a Grate of Coal-fire therein kindled to hasten the drying of the Praister that five of the Maid-servants went to Bed as they were wont but as it fell out too soon for in the Morning they were all dead being Soffocated in their Sleep with the steem of the new-temper'd Lime and Coal This was at Langathen in Carmarthenshire Jo. Davis See more Generglyn March 1656. To this Account of Mr. Davis I will subjoyn what my worthy Friend and Neighbour Randal Caldicot D. D. hath affirmed to me many Years since viz When any Christian is drowned in the River Dee there will appear over the Water where the Corps is a Light by which means they do find the Body Thus far Mr. Aubrey Ominous Presages taken notice of as relating to the Troubles and Death of King Charles I. in a Printed Relation 1655. 68. When he was in Spain treating and prosecuting the Match with the Infanta Jun. 30. 1623. a great Clap of Thunder struck away the Flag and Flag-staff from the Main-top-mast-head of a Ship then riding at Black-wall and bound for Spain with Provision of fresh Victuals to fetch the Prince home it also split the Main-top-mast and threw one part on one side and the other part on the other side of the Ship and raized the Main-mast down to the Ship it killed two Men and one Woman at Croydon This was two Days after the Prince wrote to the Pope Thursday next there were many great Claps of Thunder abundance of Rain and so great a Pillar of Fire from Heaven out of the South that it reach'd from the Heavens to the Farth not as a Flash of Lightning gone in the very sight but a very firm Pillar of Fire The Crown and Vane from the top of the Gate-House of St. James whereon the Clock stood was struck down a piece of the Bell where the Priuce kept his Court melted a Gardiner near Westminster kill'd and his Wife hurt another at Croyden kill'd c. Old Tho. Earl of Arundel having sent for the King's Statue out of Italy viewing it at Greenwich where it was landed and commending the Workmanship whilst they were discoursing of it there fell three drops of Blood on the top of it no Man knowing how they should come there A. 1623. A Buckinghamshire Taylor came from Alisbury aged 41 and a sober Man went along London Streets pronouncing Woe to Rome Woe to the Pope Woe to all Papists and all that did adhere to Popery Dukes Marquesses Earls c. This three or four Days in the Week praying earnestly at White-Hall-Gate for the Continuance of the Gospel in England till he was sent to the New-Bridewell near Clerken-well where he continued three Weeks After which he proceeded again to the same Execrations One of the Crowns and Vanes of the Tower was turned over the Top of the Spindle with a very small Gale of Wind and so hung for three quarters of a Year or more the Crown and Vane weigh'd 100 weight His Hand and Scepter broke off from his Statue at the Exchange and fell down to the Ground even at Change-time to the admiration of all Beholders and the next day it was set up again One Mrs. Cary of Bristol a Woollen-Draper's Widow on the Back of the Town having seen many strange Apparitions of the late King at several times as his Crown all bloody himself in Black and his Head off by means of the Earl of Dorset was admitted to the King who dismissed her with only this Reflection Take her away she is a merry Woman The VVoman returns home to Bristol where the like Visions appear'd to her again she could not contain but away she makes for London a second time and the King gone to York by the help of a Lady at Court she follows in a Coach thither and with much Importunity of Speech beseecheth him to consider what she had seen and said but was not credited At Caussam near Reading the King playing at Chess with White Men the Head of the VVhite King fell off VVhen the Lord Fairfax was at St. Albans and the General Council of the Army drawing up the grand Rdmonstrance against the King the Sign of the Kings-Head beneath the Hill from the Cross that part of the Board between the Head and Shoulders was broken out of the Sign so that the Head and Shoulders seem'd parted VVhen the King was at the High Court of Justice as it was then called on his Tryal the Head of his Cane fell off he stooped to take it up himself looked upon it as an ominous Presage 69. William Writtle condemn'd at Maidston Assizes for a double Murder mention'd hereafter told a Minister
Blessings but when by the King and Pope's leave he had dissolved Forty small Monasteries to Erect two Colleges the one in Oxford the other in Ipswich the King seizeth upon his Palace at Westminster takes the Great Seal Wealth and Liberty from him his College at Ipswich destroyed before it was built that at Oxford receives a new Name himself is arrested of High Treason and to prevent a Publick and Ignominious Death Poisons himself 10. The Cardinal in dissolving his Forty Monasteries had made use of five Men besides Cromwel whereof two fought a Duel in which one was slain and the other hanged for Murder a third drowns himself in a Well a fourth a Rich Man too lives to beg his Bread from door to door the fifth a Bishop was cruelly murdered in Ireland by Tho. Fitz-Garret Son to the Earl of Kildare Pope Clement the Seventh that gave consent to this Dissolution is forced out of his Palace besieged at his Castle constrained there to eat Asses Flesh and at last dies of a miserable Disease Cromwel Cardinal Woolsey's Servant and Successor whilst sitting at the Council-Table is suddenly Apprehended sent to the Tower and thence to the Place of Execution 11. King Henry the Eighth who engrossed Sacrilege and entailed it to Posterity is afflicted with the Rebellion of his Subjects in Suffolk Lincoln Somerset York-shire the North Ireland c. with a great Dearth falls from one sin to another in the case of his Wives the three last die Childless the Children of the two first are declared Illegitimate And though he entail'd the Crown upon his Children and they all successively wore it yet they all die Childless and his Family is extinct and not to be mentioned but with his Crimes 12. Charles Brandon was an Active Man and aiding to Henry the Eighth in the Dissolution of Monasteries and received great Rewards out of his Church-Spoils and though he had four Wives yet by the fifth of Edw. 6. the Name Title and Family of Brandon was extinct 13. The Duke of Norfolk had by the Statute of Hen. 8. c. 13. the Monastery of Sibaton in Suffolk and the Lord Cobham the Chantry of Cobham in Kent since which time my Author remarks how heavy the Hand of Justice hath fallen upon those two Families 14. The Duke of Somerset had in the First Year of Edward the Sixth procured the Dissolution of some Chantries Free-Chapels and Hospitals defaceth part of St. Paul's Church converts the Charnel-House and a Chapel by it into Dwelling-Houses destroys the Steeple and part of the Church of St. John's of Jerusalem and with the Stone begins to build his House in the Strand but the consecrated Stone becomes unsuccessful so as the Builder doth not finish his House nor his Son Inherit it Afterwards the Duke was Indicted of Felony found Guilty and suffered by a Law that was but the year before passed by himself Sir Hen. Spelman De non Temerand Eccl. Epist to the Reader p. 28-38 CHAP. CXVII Divine Judgments upon Treachery TReachery had ever an ill Name and not undeservedly for it discovers the falseness of a Man's Heart and represents him to the World as a Man to fit to be trusted For who dares lean with any confidence upon a broken Reed And accordingly though it meets often with fine Promises yet is often served in self as it serves others with poor and miserable Performances Every one is ready to retort upon the traitor in the words of the Emperor Aâ—no proditionem odi proditorem I love the Treachery but hate the Traitor 1. Sir Robert Carre afterwards Earl of Somerset a great Favourite of King James admitted Sir Thomas Overbury into his Favour and put him in Trust with his most Secret Employments in which he behaved himself so discreetly and honestly that afterwards when the Earl of Somerset falling in Love with the Lady Frances Howard late Wife of the Earl of Essex but then divorced or intended to be divorced consulted with Sir Thomas about it and Sir Thomas freely disswading him from the Match with words reflecting much on the Countess's Reputation and doing this upon a Principle of unfeigned Love the Earl with the Advice of the Countess resolved upon Revenge and contrived the murdering of Sir Thomas afterwards in the Tower but after a mighty Celebration of the Wedding the Murder was discovered the Instruments hanged the Earl and Countess both convicted their Estate seized only their Lives by the King's favour were reprieved Select Lives of England 's Worthies p. 286 287. Detect of the Court and State in the Four last Reigns p. 39 40 c. 2. Nicholas Keretschen Governour of Gyula in Transylvania betrayed the same unto the Turks for a great Sum of Money but when he expected the Reward he was by the Command of Solyman the Great Turk thrust into an Hogshead stuck full of Nails with the points inward with this Inscription upon it Here receive the Reward of thy Treason if thou beest not faithful to thy Master neither wilt thou be so to me And so he was rolled up and down till he died Turk Hist p. 824. 3. Banister Servant to the Duke of Buckingham in the Reign of Richard the Third upon the Promise of a Thousand Pounds basely betrayed his Lord and Master from whom he had formerly received great Favours but after this base Treachery he never had the Reward promised and beside had these Judgments befel him His Eldest Son fell Mad and so died in a Swine-stye His second Son became deformed in his Limbs and fell Lame His third Son was drowned in a small Puddle of Water His Eldest Daughter was suddenly struck with a Leprosie and himself in his Old Age was arraigned found guilty of Murther and escaped Hanging very narrowly Speed Chron. p. 97. 4. One Mr. Roscadden going on Pilgrimage according to the Blindness and Superstition of those Times his Wife had in his absence one if not more Children Whereupon at his return one John Tregoss advised and perswaded him to settle his Estate upon some Friend for the Use and Benefit of his Wife and Children lest after his Death the Heir at Common Law should turn his Wife and Children out of Doors Mr. Roscadden entertained and approved the Motion and entreated him to accept of the Trust which Request the said John Tregoss readily embraced But instead of a Deed in Trust he made it Absolute to himself and his Heirs for ever And accordingly so soon as Mr. Roscadden was dead he entred upon all his Lands and turned his Children out of Doors who for some time were fain to lie in a Hog-stye and every Morning went forth to the Dunghil and there upon their Knees imprecated and prayed that the Vengeance of God might fall upon this Tregoss and his Posterity for this so perfidious and merciless dealing And after this God's severe but righteous Judgments fell upon Tregss's Family For his Son Walter one day riding upon a Horse in a fair way
Operations which ought to attract our Thoughts to particular Disquisitions and Meditations especially in Cases where we our selves are more nearly concerned 1. Zoroastres Laughed the same day wherein he was Born his Brain also did pant and beat that it would bear up their Hands that laid them on his Head Solinus cap. p. 181. 2. M. Tullius Cicero is said to have been Born without any of those Pangs usual in Child-bearing Plut. par in Cicerone 3. Nero was Born with his Feet forwards Plin. Nat. Hist l. 7. c. 8. p. 160. 4. M. Curius Dentatus and Cnâ— Papyrius Carbo were Born with Teeth in their Mouths Ibid. 5. Scipio Affricanus was cut out of his Mother's Womb So was Julius Caesar Thus saith Schenck was that Manlius Born who entred Cartbage with an Army And so was that Mackduff Earl of Fife who slew Mackbeth the Usurper of Scotland Edward VI. of England is said by Baker to be so but that 's doubtful Also Buchardus Earl of Lintsgow c. Anno 959. Also Gebbardus Son of Otho Earl of Brigentz Anno 1001. Cornelius Gemma saith He hath cut out of the Womb six living Children Schenck Obs Med. p. 580. 6. I saw saith Horatius Augonius a poor Woman of a fleshy and good habit of Body who for nine months had an Exulceration of the Ventricle and for twenty days together Vomited up all she took and so Died a living Boy being taken out of her Womb afterwards Ibid. 7. When Spinola Besieged Bergopsoma a Woman near her Reckoning going forth to draw Water was taken off in the middle by a Cannon Bullet so that the lower part of her fell into the Water those that were by ran to her and saw there a Child moving it self in the Bowels of the Mother which was afterwards Baptized by the Infanta Isabella at Antwerp by the name of Alb. Ambrosius one of her Fathers Captains Barth Hist Anat. Cer. 2. Hist 8. p. 159. 8. Lewis the 9th King of Hungary c. was Born without a Skin Crown'd in his second year Married a Wife at nine took upon him the Government at ten had a Beard before his time was Grey before eighteen and Slain at twenty Anno 1526. Camerar Hor. Subscis Cen. 1. c. 55. p. 241. 9. Anno. 1647. Jacob Egh in the City of Sarda in Belgia had a Bull which he fed tying him in a Close near his House but provoked by the Boys he brake his Bonds and ran to the Cows the Herdsman endeavoured with his Staff to return him to his former place The Bull â—ing incens'd with his blows ran upon him and with his Horns born him to the ground His 〈◊〉 being now in the last month of her Count seeing the danger of her Husband ran into his assistance The Bull with his Horns hoisted her up into the Air the heighth of one Story and tore the Belly of the Woman From the Wound in her Belly forthwith came the Birth with its Secondine and was thrown at some distance upon a soft place was carried home diligently lookt after by a Midwife and was Baptized and lived to be a Man Bartholin Ibid. Cent. 2. Hist 8. p. 157. 9. Gorgias a Gallant Man of Epirus is said to be Born in the Coffin while his Mother was carrying to the Grace Val. Max. l. 1. c. 8. p. 20. 10. Carsias King of Navarre being with Vrracha his Queen at Larumbe was surprized by Moors and Slain they wounded the Queen in the Belly with a Lance who being put to flight The Queen at the wound was delivered of a Son and Died the Child to all Men's wonder was safe and was named Sasias Garsia who succeeded his Father in the Kingdom Anno 918. Zuing. Theat vol. 2. l. 1. p. 270. 11. Schenckius speaks of a Woman that voided a Child a Finger long at her Mouth CHAP. XXVII Monstrous Animals I Do not pretend here to give a new Edition of Aldrovandus nor write a large Voluminous Treatise of of all the Monsters within ken of a well-read Historian but to give a few of the latest Instances of the greatest Errors of Nature in this kind that I could meet with just enough to awaken and put a man's Brains into Fermentation and dispose him to some Gravity and Seriousness and Sublimity of Thought 1. At Rome in the River of Tyber a Monster was found with a Man's Body an Ass's Head one of whole Hands was like a Mans but the other like an Elephants Foot one of his Feet was as the foot of an Eagle the other resembled another Beast He had a Womans Belly trimly set out with Breasts and his Body was covered all over with Scales except his Belly and Breast having in his hinder parts an old Man's Head bearded and another besides spitting out Flames like a Dragon Doom's Warning to Judgment p. 288. This happened Anno 1496. 2. Anno 1530. in January a Monstrous Serpent with seven Crowned Heads like a Dragon was brought out of Turkey to Venice and afterwards given to Francis the French King and for the rareness was valued at 6000 Ducats Batmans Doom p. 312. 3. A Butcher having killed a Cow at Limington in Hampshire found she was big with a Calf which began to be hairy its hind Legs had no joints and its feet were divided like the Claws of a Dog his Tongue was tripple and after the manner that Cerberus's is described one in the middle of its Mouth and two others on the sides Between the fore and hind Feet there was a great Stone upon which it was laid This Stone weighed 20 pound and a half its colour was greyish like to a cut Stone which is commonly called the Grison the Superficies thereof was unequal and full of little Cavilia's When it was broken they perceived small Grains of Stone of an Oval Figure and its colour was mixed with yellow and black Veins which are all over it Dr. Haughton of Salisbury keeps this Stone of which he hath sent a part to Mr. Boyle who communicated it together with a Letter to the Royal Society The Young Students Library p. 210. 4. At Burdham near Chichester in Sussex about 23 years ago there was a Monster found upon the Common having the Form and Figure of a Man in the fore-part having two Arms and Hands and a human visage with only one Eye in the middle of the Forehead the hinder part was like a Lamb. A young Man of the Neighbourhood was supposed to have Generated this Monster by a Bestial Copulation and that the rather because he was afterwards found in the like Beastly Act with a Mare upon discovery whereof he fled out of the Country This young Monster was nailed up in the Church-Porch of the said Parish and exposed to publick view a long time as a Monument of Divine Judgment Attested by Henry Read of Barnham an Eye witness 5. Anno 1511. At Ravena a Monster was Born with a Horn on his Head He had Wings no Arms one Foot as a
upon his Head and a Charter in his Hand They are stiled by the King Consanguinii nostri our Cousins and may use the Stile of Nos but so may Viscounts too All Earls are Local except the Earl-Marshal of England who is also Officiary and the Earl Rivers who is denominated not from the Place but Family 4. Viscounts are so made by Patent 5. Barons so called from Baron or Varon Vir in Spanish are made by Writ and called thereby to sit in the Higher House of Parliament but most usually by Patent The Earls Palatines and Earls Marches of England had anciently their Barons under them and in Cheshire there are still such Barons But these not holding immediately from the King as the Bishop of Man under the Earl of Darby are no Peers The Head of the Barony is some Castle or chief Seat of the Noble Man which is not to be divided amongst Daughters if there be no Son but must defcend to the eldest Daughter All the Lords of England are Feudatories to the King swearing Fealty and doing Homage to him Their several Titles are thus A Duke hath the Title of Grace and may be stiled Most High Potent and Noble Prince a Marquess Most Potent and Noble Lord But so may Earls and Viscounts also A Baron Right Noble Lord. Their Coronets differ thus A Baron hath six Pearls upon the Circle A Viscount hath the Circle of Pearls without number An Earl's Contronet hath the Pearls raised upon Points and Leaves low between The Marquess a Pearl and a Strawberry-leaf round of equal height And a Duke's Coronet only Leaves without Pearls Note That the Dukes of the Blood-Royal bear a Coronet of Crosses and Flower-de-luce which is the same with that of the Prince of Wales and his is the same with the Kings the Arches Globe and Cross on the top of the King's Crown Their Parliamentary Robes are thus distinguished A Baron hath but two Guards on him Mantlet or short Cloak a Viscount two and a half an Earl three a Marquess three and a half and a Duke four Also the Mantle of a Duke Marquess and Earl is faced with Ermin that of a Viscount and Baron with plain white Fur. Their Marks of State are thus A Duke may have in all places out of the King's Presence a Cloth of Estate hanging down within half a Yard of the Ground so may his Dutchess and her Train born up by a Baroness and no Earl to wash with a Duke without the Duke's Pleasure A Marquess may have a Cloth of Estate reaching within a Yard of the Ground and that in all Places out of the Presence or the King or a Duke and his Marchioness to have her Train borne by a Knight's Wife and no Viscount to wash with a Marquess but at his Pleasure An Earl also may have a Cloth of Estate without Pendants but only Fring and a Countess may have her Train borne up by a Gentlewoman out of the Presence of her Superiors and in her Presence by a Gentleman A Viscount may have a Cover of Assay holden under his Cup while he drinks but no Assay taken as Dukes Marquesses and Earls may have and have a Travers in his own House and a Viscountess may have her Gown borne up by a Woman out of the Presence of her Superiours and in their Presence by a man A Baron may have the Cover of his Cup holden underneath whilst he drinketh and a Baroness may have her Gown borne up by a Man in the Presence of a Viscountess All Dukes eldest Sons are born as Marquesses and the younger as Lords with the addition of their Names as Lord Thomas Lord John c. A Marquess's eldest Son is called Lord of a Place and the younger Sons as Lord Thomas Lord John c. And Earl's eldest Son is born as a Viscount and shall go as a Viscount and shall have as many Powderings as a Viscount so their younger Sons are said to be born as Barons but shall go after all Barons and before all Baronets An Earl's eldest Son is called Lord of a place and all his Daughters Ladies but his youngest Sons are not Lords A Viscount's eldest Son is no Lord nor his Daughters Ladies and therefore the eldest Sons and the eldest Daughter of the first Viscount of England is said to be the first Gentleman and Gentlewoman without Title in England yet a Viscount's eldest Son is said to be born a Baron 6. The next Degree to Barons are Baronets which is the lowest Degree of Hoour that is Hereditary An Honour first instituted by King James An. 16 11. given by Patent to a Man and his Heir Males of his Body lawfully begotten for which each one is obliged to pay in the Exchecquer so much oney as will for three Years at Eight Pence per Diem pay 30 Foot Soldiers to serve in the Province of Vlster in Ireland which Sum amounts to 1095 l. which with Fees doth commonly arise tp 1200 l. Baronets have Precedence before all Knights except Knights of the Garter Knights who are Privy-Counsellors and Knights Banorets made under the King's Banner or Standard displayed in an Army Royal in open War and the King personally present or the Prince of Wales Baronets have the Priviledge to bear a Canton of their Coat of Arms or in a whole Scutcheon the Arms of Vlster viz. In a Field Argent a Hand Gules Also in the King's Armies to have place in the Gross near the King's Standard with some other particular for their Funerals The whole Number of Baronets are not to exceed 200 at one and the same time after which Number compleated as any one for want of Heirs come to be extinct the Number shall not be made up by new Creations but be suffered to diminish as appears by their Patent No Honour is ever to be created between Baronets and Barons The word Knight is derived from the German word Knecht signifying Originally a lusty Servitor The Germans by publick Authority bestowed on their young Men able to manage Arms a Shield and a Javelin as fit for Martial Service and to be a Member of the Commonwealth accounted befoe but a part of a Family and such a young Man publickly allow'd they call'd Knetcht from whence we had our Institution of Knighthood The thing Knight is at this Day signified in Latin French Spanish Italian and also in High and Low-Dutch Tongues by a word that properly signifies an Horseman because they were wont to serve in War on Horseback and were sometimes in England called Radenhyts id est Riding Soldiers the Latine Milites according to the common Law 1. Knights of the Garter so call'd because the Garter is an Emblem of Concord or Combination to prevent all Sinister Interpretation whereof the King commanded that Motto or Impress to be wrought on the Garter Honi Scit qui Maly Pence This Honourable Company was anciently a College or Corporation of 25 Companions called Knights of the Garter 14 secular
Dorsershire and also in Essex Colchester Dedham Coxal and other places abound in Bays Says and other new Drapery Appleby and Kendal in Cumberland for its great Cloth-Manufacture 17. Among the Woollen-Manufacture of England may be reckon'd the Weaving and Knitting of Stookings the use of which Woven and Knit Stocking hath not been in this Nation longer than the beginning of King James's Reign It being very memorable what Dr. Fuller relates of one William Rider an Apprentice at the Foot of London-Bridge called St. Magnes-Church who seeing in the House of an Italian Merchant a pair of knit Worsted-Stockins which he brought from Mantua and taking special Observation of them made a pair exactly like them which he presented to William Earl of Pembrooke and they are said to be the first of that sort worn in England and thenceforward they became more and more in use so that for many Years they have been very much and are now altogether worn and are a great part of the Trade in most places where there is any thing of Woollen-Manufacture especially at Norwich also the Isles of Jersey and Guernsey have a particular Name Present State of England Part 3. p. 74 c. The Silk-Stockin-Frame a curious Contrivance invented by an Oxford Scholar as Dr. Plot tells us was first used at Nottingham Ibid. The Weavers-Loom-Engine hath not been in use many Years in England especially the highest Improvement thereof call'd the Duck-Loom brought in a few Years since by Mr. Crouch a Weaver in Bishopsgate-street Ibid. 18. Bone-Lace which is the chief of the Ornamentals worn in this Nation tho not so totally as before Needlework came in fashion which tho brought to great Perfection yet hath obtained less esteem since those of Flanders and the Points of de Venice in Italy and Lorrain in France came into fashion yet Honyton in Devonshire is a noted Town for this sort of Workmanship as likewise Salisbury and Marleborough in Wiltshire Oldney in Buckinghamshire Amersham and Chesham in the same Shire Blandford in Dorsetshlre which last place also hath been famous for making of Band-strings and now Point-Laces it is said are much made there It is observed that the only Thread made in England till within a few Years was made at Maeidston in Kent Ibid. 19. The Blanketing Trade of Witney is advanced to that height that no Place comes near it the chief Material whereof is Fell-wool which they separate into five or six sorts viz. Long Fell Wool Head VVool Bay Wool Ordinary Middle and Tail Wool Long Fell VVool they send to Taunton c. for making VVorsted Stockins of Head VVool and Bay VVool they make the Blankets of 12 11 or 10 Quarters broad and sometimes send it to Keddermincter for making their Stuffs and to Evesham c. for making Yarn-Stockins or into Essex for making Bays of the Ordinary and Middle they make Blankets of 8 and 7 Quarters broad and of those mixt with the courser Locks of Fleece-wool a sort of Stuff they call Duffeilds of which and Blankets consists the chief Trade of Witney Nat Hist. Oxfordsh p. 278. These Duffields so called from a Town in Brabant otherwise called Shags or Trucking-Cloth are made in Pieces about 30 Yards long and one Yard and three Quarters broad and dyed Fâ—ed or Blue to please the Indians with whom the Merchants truck them for Beaver and other Furs c. of their best Tail VVool aremade Blankets call'd Cuts of 6 Quarters broad which serves Seamen for their Harnmocks and of their worst they make VVednell for Coller-makers VVrappers to pack Blankets in and Tilt-Cloths for Bargemen Ibid. 20. The Starch is made of the shortest and worst Bran steept in a VVater prepared for that Purpose by a Solution at first of Roch-Allum about a Pound to a Hogshead which will last for ever after for 10 or 14 Days in great Tubs then washt through an Ofier Basket over three other Tubs the sowre VVater of the second Tub washing it into the first and the sore of the third into the second and clear water from the Pump washing it into the third the fine Flowre thus wash'd from the Bran let stand in its own water for about a week then being settled at the bottom it is stirred up again and fresh Pump-water added and strained from its smallest Bran through a Lawn-sieve then being left to settle again for one day the water is drawn off to a small Matter then standing two Days more it becomes so fixt that with a Birchen broom they sweep the water left at the top up and down upon it to cleanse it from Filth and then pouring it off they wash its Surface yet cleaner by dashing upon it a bucket of fair Pump-water Then being cut out of the Tubs in great pieces with sharp Trowels it is boxed up in Troughs having holes in the bottom to drain the water from it always putting wet Cloaths between the wood and it within a day they take it out lay it on cold Bricks for two Days and dry it over a Bakers Oven four or five Days together to make Powder for Hair but if intended for Starch they then give it the Stove to give it the Starch grain Ibid. 21. Dr. Plot speaking of the Soles he met with in Oxfordshire he mentions these viz. Clay Chalk and others from their different Mixtures called Maum Red Land Sour Land Stone-brask Sandy and Gravelly For Clay it being most kindly for VVheat it is fallowed in May stirred in June or July when Manured their Manure is sometimes Dung sometimes with Sheep folded upon it Thus it â—es till the time of sowing VVheat in case of weeds they give it a second stirring before the last for Sowing In strong Clay the sowe Cone-wheat and the next year Beans and the next plowing in the Bean-brush at All-Saints Barley if the Land be rank Sprat-barley the fourth Year it lies fallow and then after a Summer till they sow it with VVinter Corn again c. For Chalk-lands when designed for VVheat it is tilled as the Clay only laid in four or six furrowed Lands and soiled with the best Mould or Dung but half rotten but Barley and Vetches are the most suitable Grain Ray-Grass mixt with None-such or Trefoild are most proper for the poorest sort For Maumy viz. White-clay Chalk and some Sand it is commonly sown with Wheat Miscellan Barly c. having the same Tillage kept high in Ridges Lying dry and warm as the Clay Rottennest Dung is most proper here Pease are best after Wheat a smart showre presently after the Sead-time within two Days is dangerous Red-Land is tilled before the Clay if moist when fallowed the better It requires no double stirring and if too fine it runs to May-weed Horse Cow and Sheepfold Dong agree well with it which must be plowed in for Wheat in the end of July for Barley slater this lies fallow every other year Sour-Land if of strong Swarth is Fallowed when