pass by an Instance I have from a very honest Man in the next Parish who told me it himself That his Wife being big with Child near her Delivery he buys half a Dozen of Boards to make her a Bed against the time she lay in The Boards lying at the Door of his House there comes an old Fisher-woman yet alive and asked him whose were those Boards He told her they were his own She asked him again For what use he had them He replied For a Bed She again said Intend them for what you please she saw a dead Corps lying on them and that they would be a Coffin which struck the honest Man to the Heart fearing the death of his Wife But when the old Woman went off he calls presently for a Carpenter to make the Bed which was accordingly done but shortly after the honest Man had a Child died whose Coffin was made of the ends of those Boards 27. I shall tell you what I have had from one of the Masters of our College here a North-Country-man both by Birth and Education in his younger Years who made a Journey in the Harvest-time into the Shire of Ross and at my Desire made some Enquiry there concerning the Second-sight He reports That there they told him many Instances of this Knowledge which he had forgotten except two The first one of his Sisters a young Gentlewoman staying with a Friend at some 30 Miles distance from her Father's House and the ordinary place of her Residence One who had the Second-sight in the Family where she was saw a young Man attending her as she went up and down the House and this was about Three Months before her Marriage The second is a Woman in that Country who is reputed to have the Second-sight and declared that eight Days before the Death of a Gentleman there she saw a Bier or Coffin cover'd with a Cloth she knew carried as it were to the place of Burial and attended with a great Company one of which told her it was the Corps of such a Person naming that Gentleman who died Eight Days after Those that have this Faculty of the Second-sight see only things to come which are to happen shortly thereafter and sometimes foretel things which fall out Three or Four Years after For instance 28. One told his Master that he saw an Arrow in such a Man thorough his Body and yet no Blood came out His Master told him that it was impossible an Arrow should stick in a Man's body and no blood come out and if that came to pass he would be deem'd an Impostor But about five or six Years after the Man died and being brought to his Burial-place there arose a Debate anent his Grave and it came to such a height that they drew Arms and bended their Bows and one letting off an Arrow shot thro' the dead Body upon the Bier-trees and so no Blood could issue out at a dead Man's Wound Part of a Letter written to Mr. Aubrey by a Gentleman's Son in Straths-pey being a Student in Divinity Sir I am more willing than able to satisfie your Desire As for Instances I could furnish many I shall only insert some few attested by several of good Credit yet alive 29. And first Andrew Mackpherson of Clunie in Badenoch being in sute of the Laird of Gareloch's Daughter as he was upon a day going to Garloch the Lady Garloch was going somewhere from her House within kenning to the Road which Clunie was coming the Lady perceiving him said to her Attendants that yonder was Clunie going to see his Mistress One in her Company replied and said If you be he unless he marry within six Months he 'll never marry The Lady asked how did he know that He said very well for I see him saith he all inclosed in his Winding-Sheet except his Nostrils and his Mouth which will also close up within Six Months which happened even as he foretold within the said space he died and his Brother Duncan Mackpherson this present Clunic succeeded I have heard of a Gentleman whose Son had gone abroad and being Anxious to know how he was he went to consult one who told him that that same day 5 a Clock in the Afternoon his Son had married a Woman in France with whom he had got so many Thousand Crowns and within Two Years he should come to see Eather and Friends leaving his Wife with Child of a Daughter and a Son of six Months of Age behind him which accordingly was true About the same time two Years he came home and verified all that was soretold 30. One Archibald Mackeanyers alias Mackdonald living in Ardinmurch within 10 or 20 Miles or thereby of Glencoe and I was present my self where he foretold something which accordingly fell out In 1683 this Man being in Strathspey in John Mackdonald of Glencoe his Company told in Balachastell before the Laird of Grant his Lady and several others and also in my Father's House that Argyle few or none knew then where he was or at least there was no word of him then here should within two Twelvemonths thereafter come to the West-Highlands and raie a Rebellious Faction wh ich would be divided among themselves and disperse and he unfortunately be taken and Beheaded at Edinburgh and his Head set upon the Talbooth where his Father's Head was before him Which proved as true as he foretold it in 1685. thereafter 31. There as a young Lady of great Birth whom a Rich Knight fancied and came in sute of the Lady but she could not endure to fancy him being a harsh and unpleasant Man But her Friends importuning her daily she turned melancholy and lean Fasting and Weeping continually A common Fellow about the House meeting her one Day in the Fields asked her saying Mrs. Kate What is that that troubles you and makes you look so ill She replied That the Cause is known to many for my Friends would have me marry such a Man by Name but I cannot fancy him Nay says the Fellow give over these Niceties for he will be your first Husband and will not live long and besure he will leave you a rich Dowry which will procure you a great Match for I see a Lord upon each Shoulder of you All which came to pass in every Circumstance as Eye and Ear can witness 32. Near 40 Years ago Macklend and his Lady Sister to my Lord Seaforth were walking about their own House and in their Return both came into the Nurses Chamber where their young Child as on the Breast At their coming in the Nurse falls a weeping they asked the cause dreading the Child was sick or that she was scarce of Milk The Nurse replied the Child was well and she had abundance of Milk yet she still wept and being pressed to tell what ailed her she at last said Macklend would die and the Lady would shortly marry another Man Being enquired how she knew that Event she told
yet a spacious Field to turn me in having to deal with a Tribe of Men that have as much Faith as Goodness and perhaps little more and yet being to handle a Point wherein God himself hath taken care to obviate the Scruples and Infidelity of Ill Men more than in the former case where Self-Interest disposeth them to a Belief The Devil in the Serpent tempting Eve the Evil Angels sent among the Egyptians Psal 78.49 The Devil in the case of Job 's Affliction Job 1.17 19. of our Saviour Mat. 4. of the Demoniacs up and down in the Gospels c. One would think were enough to startle these Infidel Bravadoes into at least a modest fear and humble silence and suspension of Judgment But because they are so obstinate we shall here muster up a Legion of Devils to attack and out-face their Confidence and let them look to it and consider well with themselves in due time how they will be able to stand to the adventure of such a Conflict I shall not stay to tell all the Stories at large that I meet with but give a short Epitome of them enough to satisfie any People of an unbiassed Judgment and clear Intellectuals And if at last they do not surrender up their Faith I shall be ready to say as John 10.20 Themselves have Devils and are mad 1. Among the Antients we have several Stories of such Apparitions and Spectres 1. When Cassius and Brutus were to pass out of Asia into Europe and to transport their Army into the Opposite Continent and horrible Spectacle is said to appear unto Brutus in the dead of the Night the Moon not shining very bright and all the Army being in silence a black Image of a huge and horrid Body standing by him silently is said to offer itself to Brutus his Candle being almost out and he musing in his Tent about the Issue of the War Brutus askt what Man or God he was The Spirit answered O Brutus I am thy Evil Genius and thou shalt see me again at Philippi Brutus replied I will meet thee there then The Spirit disappeared but according to his Promise appeared again in the Fields of Philippi to Brutus the Night before the last Fight Plutarch in Vit. Bruit p. 1000. Camerar Medit. Hist l. 4. c. 2. The same Cassius in the very same Battel in the Field of Philippi is reported by Historians to have seen one in the shape of Julius Caesar of a more than ordinary height coming towards him on Horse-back with an angry Countenance and a forc'd Gallop to strike him which struck such a Fear into him that he turned back upon his Enemies and soon after killed himself Camerar ibid. l. 4. p. 289. 3. The like befel Cassius of Parma a renowned Poet who followed the side of Brutus and Cassius say Acron and Porphyrio being Colonel of a Regiment of Foot His Masters being dead he retired to Athens where Qu. Varus sent for that purpose by Augustus slew him But Valerius Maximus adds That whilst he was at Athens one Night being overwhelm'd with cares he thought that he saw a very great Black Man with long Hair and his Beard uncombed stand before him who being asked what he was answered I am the Evil Spirit Cassius affrighted with that fearful Countenance and so fearful a Name called aloud for his Servants ask'd if they saw such a Person come into his Chamber or go out they all swore they saw none VVhereupon he laid him down and began to take some rest but the same Phantome appeared again and so awaken'd him that he called for a Light and charged his Servants not to leave him Between this Night and his Death there passed not many Days Idem lib. 4. ex val Max. 4. Dio of Syracuse before he was killed by those that conspired against him sitting one evening very Pensive and Solitary in his Gallery a sudden Noise made him lift up his Head and looking towards the other side of the Gallery he espied a great Woman of such a Face and Dressing as one of the Furies is represented with sweeping the place upon which in great Amazement he called his Friends and wish'd them to stay with him all Night fearing the return of the Spectre A while after a young Son of his in a Transport of Passion threw himself headlong from the Top of the House and was killed Plutarch in vit Dion et ex eo Camerar medit Hist. l. 4. 5. Cornelius Sylla being in the Countrey saw an ill Spirit that called him which in the Morning he told his Friends made his Will Seal'd it in the Evening and the Night following died of a Feaver Aged Sixty Years Camerar Ibid. l. 4. Wanley's wonders c. Book 6. 6. Xerxes had a Spectre appeared twice to him in his Sleep stirring him up to make War upon the Grecians and the last time with a pair of burning Tongues in his Hands as if he would have put out his Eyes because he opposed the Counsels of War Ibid. 7. Julian the Apostate the Night before he was declared Emperour told his Friends that as he reposed himself there stood before him as it were a Genius or Familiar Spirit saying to him in pretty rough Terms Julian I have a long time without making any ado waited at thy Lodging-door desiring to make thee Great sometimes I have gone away as if no reckoning had been made of me if now thou reject me tho many are of the same mind to advance thee I will take my leave and go away very sorrowful For the rest mark this well that I will not tarry much longer with thee And a little before he was kill'd in the War against the Persians the same Genius or Demon appeared to him again all ragged and filthy to look upon with a horn of plenty in his hand covered with a Linnen Cloath walking very sadly a-long by the Hangings of his Tent. Amm. Marcell l. 20. Camerar medit Hist l. 4. Lavater de Spectr c. 12. Wanley's Wonders of the little World Book 6. p. 612. 8. Curtius Rufus being come into Africa with the Governour being yet of little Credit or Reputation walking one day at Noon in the Portico or Gallery before his House a Woman greater and fairer then ordinary appeared to him whereat he was abash'd but she said to him I will foretell thee thy Fortunes thou shalt return to Rome shalt be advanced to great Office shalt be chosen Proconsal and Governour of Africa and shalt die in that Dignity Plin. Secundus lib. 3. Epist. Camerar Ibid. Wanley c. Ibid. 9. A Woman pretending to have the Holy Ghost proved a Witch and did many VVonders She had a gift of Prayer and did Baptize and Administer the Lords Supper in the ordinary way c. Epist Firmil ad Cypr. 75. p. 238. This is much like the story of Magdalena Cracia c. 10. To come nearer to our own times as Luther was once walking in his
a Pin and squeez'd out the Blood and put it into a Pen and put the Pen in the Maids Hand to write in a great Book and one of the Spirits laid his Hand or Claw upon the Witch whilst the Maid wrote and when she had done writing whilst their Hands were together the Witch said Amen and made the Maid say Amen and the Spirits said Amen Amen And the Spirits Hand did feel could to the Maid as it touched her Hand when the Witches Hand and hers were together writing And then the Spirit gave a piece of Silver which he first bit to the Witch who gave it to the Maid and also stuck Two Pins in the Maids Head-cloaths and bid her keep them and bid her be gone and said also I will vex the Gentlewoman well enough as I did the Man in Clarington Park which I made walk about with a Bundle of Pales on his Back all Night in a Pond of Water and could not lay them down till the next Morning All these things the Maid deposed upon Oath and I think it now beyond all Controversy evident that unless she did knowingly forswear her self that they are certainly true For they cannot be imputed to any dreaming Fancy nor melancholly Now that the Maid did not forswear herself nor invent these Narrations she swore to many Arguments offer themselves for Eviction As first that it is altogether unlikely that a sorry Wench that could neither write nor read should be able to excogitate such Magical Forms and Ceremonies with all the Circumstances of the effects of them and declare them so punctually had she not indeed seen them done before her Eyes Secondly if she had been so cunning at inventing Lies she could not but have had so much wit as to frame them better for her own Advantage and for theirs by whom she was imployed or told so much only of the truth as would have been no Prejudice to her self nor any else to have it revealed For in brief the case stood thus her Mistriss either had or feigned her self to have a Suspicion that her Two Daughters in Law Mrs. Sarah and Mrs. Ann Goddard complotted to poison her Hereupon this Maid Anne Styles was sent to the Witch upon pretence to know when this Poysoning would be and how to prevent it and at the Second time she consulted her the VVitch sent her to the Apothecaries to buy her some white Arsenick and bring it her which she taking told her she would burn it and so prevent the poysoning of her Mistress The buying of this Arsenick was the great occasion of the Maids flying for it coming to the knowledge of the Two Sisters how they were suspected to endeavour the poysoning of their Mother and that they had bought an Ounce and half of Arsenick lately at the Apothecaries they to clear themselves from this Suspicion made diligent Enquiry at all the Apothecaries Shops throughout Sarum and at last found where the Poison was bought Hereupon the Maid was desired by her Mistriss to go away and shift for her self to avoid that trouble and disgrace that might come upon them if she should stay and be examined before some Justice VVhile she was upon her Journey Mr. Chandler Son in Law to Mr. Goddard hearing how his Mother in Law was in danger of being poysoned and that a Servant of hers that had bought the Poison was fled he forthwith with another Man made after her overtook her near Sutton had her there into an Inn where she confessed what has been above related VVhich Confession I say cannot be any feignment or forged Tale but certain Truth it making nothing for the Parties Advantage or their that imployed her but rather against them and mainly against her self when as if she had confessed the buying of the Arsenick with the purpose of preventing her Mistress being poysoned by the help and skill of the VVitch or wise-VVise-VVoman it might have gone for a tolerable piece of Folly and could not seem so criminal and execrable as these other Acts do Nothing therefore but a guilty Conscience and the power of truth did extort from her this impartial Confession which thus every way touches her Friends her Self and the VVitch Thirdly that her Compact with the Devil was no Fable but a sure Truth and if that be true there is no reason to doubt of the rest was abundantly evinced by the real effects of it For after she had delivered the Piece of mony above-mentioned and the Two Pins to Mr Chandler she said she should be troubled for not keeping these things secret For the Devil told her so long as she kept them secret she should never be troubled but now she said having revealed them she feared she should be troubled At her Recovery of the first Fit she fell into both Mr. Chandler and William Atwood the man that went with him saw a black Shade come from her whereupon presently she came to herself Again she was so strong in her Fits that Six Men or more could not hold her and once as they were holding her she was caught up from them so high that her Feet touched their Breasts As also at another time about midnight she being miserably tormented and crying out the Devil will carry me away she was pulled from them that held her and cast from the low Bed where she lay to the top of an high Bed with her Cloaths torn off her Back and a piece of her Skin torn away The Candle in the Room standing on the Table was thrown down and put out at which time there being a little Boy that was almost asleep but with this noise being affrighted had no power with the rest to go out of the Room stayed there and saw a Spirit in the likeness of a great black man with no Head in the Room scuffing with the maid who took her and set her into a Chair and told her that she must go with him he was come for her Soul she had given it to him But the maid answered that her Soul was none of her own to give and he had already got her Blood but as for her Soul he should never have it and after a while tumbling and throwing about of the maid he vanished away And that which the Boy heard and saw was no Fancy of his own but a real object of his Senses the Witches condition in another Chamber at the same time does not obscurely argue for she was then seen with her Clothes off in her Fetters running about like mad and being asked why she ran about the Room she replied she could not keep her Bed but was pulled out by violence and being asked the Reason why she replied pray you what is the matter in your Chamber Nothing said they but a Child is not well To which she answered Do not you lie to me for I know what is the matter as well as your selves But to return to the maid from whom we may draw further
them plainly that as they came both into the Room she saw a Man with a Scarlet Cloak and a white Hat betwixt them giving the Lady a Kiss over the Shoulder and this was the Cause of her weeping All which came to pass after Macklend's Death the Tutor of Lovat marry'd the Lady in the same Habit the Woman saw him 33. One Instance I had from a Gentleman here of a Highland Gentleman of the Mackdonalds who having a Brother that came to visit him saw him coming in wanting a Head yet told not his Brother he saw any such thing but within 24 Hours thereafter his Brother was taken being a Murderer and his Head cut off and sent to Edinburgh Many such Instances might be given 34. Diembrooke in his Book de Pete gives us a Story of Dimmerus de Raet that being at Delft where the Plague then raged sent then his Wife Thirty Miles off And when the Doctor went to see the Gentleman of the House as soon as he came in the old chair-Chair-woman that washed the Cloaths fell a weeping He asked her Why said she My Mistress is now dead I saw her Apparition but just now without a Head and that it was usual with her when a Friend of hers died to see their Apparitions in that manner tho' never so far off His Wife died at that time 35. Th. May in his History Lib. 8. writes That an old Man like an Hermit Second-sighted took his Leave of King James the First when he came into England He took little notice of Prince Henry but addressing himself to the Duke of York since King Charles I. fell a weeping to think what Misfortunes he should undergo and that he should be one of the miserablest unhappy Princes that ever was 36. A Scotch Noble Man sent for one of these Second-sighted Men out of the Highlands to give his Judgment of the then great Favourite George Villers Duke of Buckingham as soon as ever he saw him Pish said he he will come to nothing I see a dagger in his Breast and he was stabb'd in the Breast by Capt. Felton Thus far I am beholding to Mr. Aubrey's Collections 37. Before the Battle at Philippi began two Eagles sought in the Air between the two Armies Both the Armies stood still and beheld them and the Army was beaten that was under the vanquished Eagle See Appian's Hist Part 2. Lib. 4. Sect. 2. 38. 'T is commonly reported That before an Heir of the Cliftons of Clifton in Nottinghamshire dies that a Sturgeon is taken in the River Trent by that place 39. Thomas Fludd of Kent Esq told me That it is an old Observation which was pressed earnestly to King James I. that he should not remove the Queen of Scots Body from Northamptonshire where she was Beheaded and Interred For that it always bodes ill to the Family when Bodies are remov'd from their Graves For some of the Family will die shortly after as did Prince Henry and I think Queen Anne 40. A little before the Death of Oliver Protector a Whale came into the River Thomas and was taken at Greenwich Foot long T is said Oliver was troubled at it 41. When I was a Freshman at Oxford 1642. I was wont to go to Christ-Church to see King Charles I. at Supper where I once heard him say That as he was Hawking in Scotland he rode into the Quarry and found the Covey of Partridges falling upon the Hawk and I do remember this Expression farther viz. And I will swear upon the Book 't is true When I came to my Chamber I told this Story to my Tutor said he That Covey was London 42. The Day that the Long Parliament began 1641. the Scepter fell out of the Figure of King Charles in Wood in Sir Trenchard's Hall at Wullich in Dorset as they were at Dinner in the Parlour Justice Hunt then dined there 43. When the High Court of Justice was voted in the Parliament-House as Berken-head the Mace-bearer took up the Mace to carry it before the Speaker the top of the Mace fell off This was avowed to me by an Eye-witness then in the House 44. The Head of King Charles I.'s Staff did fall off at his Tryal that is commonly known 45. King Charles II. went by long Sea to Portsmouth or Plymouth or both an extraordinary Storm arose which carried him almost to France Sir Jonas Moor who was then with his Majesty gave me this Account and said that when they came to Portsmouth to refresh themselves they had not been there above half an Hour but the Weather was Calm and the Sun shone His Majesty put to Sea agian and in a little time they had the like Tempestuous Weather as before 46. The Gloucester-Frigot cast away at the Lemanere and most of the Men in it the Duke of York escaping in a Cockboat An. 1682. May the fifth on a Friday 47. When King James II. was Crown'd according to the antient Custom the Peers go to the Throne and kiss the King the Crown was almost kiss'd off his Head An Earl did set it upright And as he came from the Abbey to Westminster-Hall the Crown totter'd extreamly 48. Mr. Hill at Shellen in Herefordshire in 1648. after saying God bless our Gracious Soveraign he puts the Cup to his Lady to drink at which a Swallow flew in at the Window and pitch'd on the Brim of the Earthern Cup not half a Pint and sipt and so flew out again This was in the Presence of Parson Still Major Gwillim and two or three more that I knew very well The Cup is preserv'd here still as a Rarity See Mr. Aubrey 's Mscellanies for a larger Account 49. When King James II. was at Salisbury Anno 1688. the Iron Crown upon the Turret of the Councel-House was blown off 50. I did see Mr. Chr. Love beheaded on Tower-Hill in a delicate clear day About half an Hour after his Head was struck off the Clouds gathered blacker and blacker and such terrible Claps of Thunder came that I never heard greater 'T is reported that the like happened after the Execution of Alderman Cornish in Cheapside Octob. 23. 1685. 51. Anno 1643. as Major John Morgan of Wells was marching with the King's Army into the West fell sick of a Malignant Fever at Salisbury and was brought dangerously ill to my Father 's at Broad-Chalk where he was lodged secretly in a Garret there came a Sparrow to the Chamber-Window which peck'd the Lead of a certain Pannel only and only one side of the Lead of the Lozenge and made one small hole in it He continued this pecking and biting of the Lead during the whole time of his Sickness which was not less than a Month when the Major went away the Sparrow desisted and came thither no more 52. Sir Walter Long 's Widow of Dorset in Wilts did make a solemn Promise to him on his Death-bed that she would not marry after his Decease But not long after one Sir Fox
this Story concerning Charms that himself had an Horse which it he had stood sound had been of a good Value his Servants carried him to several Farriers but none of them had the skill to Cure him At last unknown to their Master they led him to a Farrier that understood some tricks more then ordinary and dealt in Charms or Spells or such like Ceremonies by Vertue of these he made the Horse sound The owner of him after he had observed how well his Horse was ask'd his Servants how they got him cured whence understanding the whole matter and observing also that there was an S. branded on his Buttock which he conceited stood for Satan chid his Servants very roughly as having done that which was unwarrantable and impious Upon this profession of his dislike of the Fact the Horse forthwith fell as ill as ever he was insomuch as for his unserviceableness he was fain to be turned loose to the Pasture But a Kinsman of the Owner's coming to his House and after chancing to see the Horse in the Grounds took the advantage of so low a Price for so fair a Gelding and bought him the Horse had no sooner changed his Master but presently changed his plight of Body also and became as sound as ever Ibid. p. 164 165. 4. The Jews use the Zizith for an Amulet against Sorceries and Preserver from Dangers Some superstitious Christian Women in St. Hierom's time wore Parvula Evangelia or short Sentences of the Gospel to the same purpose and the Papists at this Day permit the wearing about their Necks the beginning of St. John's Gospel Dr. Addison 5. The Chinese some of them invoke the Devil at this Day and use Incantations Many also in Guinea and the East-Indies wear Rings made by their Fetissero for Gods next their Bodies for Preservatives View of the English Acquisitions in Guinea 6. Martin Del-rio gives us the Relation of several Demons expulsed out of possessed Persons by the recital of the Lord's Prayer the Angels Salutation Ave Maria the beginning of St. John's Gospel The Word was made Flesh the Name of Jesus the Sign of the Cross the Apostles Creed the Rosary the Litanies of the Saints Salve Regina c. the Relicks of the Saints Holy Water Agnus Dei's pious Sentences Psalms Ringing of Bells c And is very angry with those Hereticks as he calls them who have no more Modesty or Grace than to laugh at these as superstitious Fancies Delrius Disquis Mag. L. 6. C. 2. § 3. Q. 3. 7. Most of the common Charms used by our Country-people and old Women and ignorant Quacks are nothing else but a certain Jargon of hard Words designed on purpose to cheat the Fancies of the credulous Patient into a strong Imagination and Confidence of the Effect promised as I remember a Friend of mine told me once when he was at the University he wrote on a Piece of Paper those words Barbara Celarent Daris Fario Baralipton which when he had done he chewed the Paper in his Mouth and made it in the form of a Pill and gave it to his Bed-maker an old Woman then afflicted with an Ague with this assurance That if the would take that and swallow it down it would certainly cure her Ague she did as she was directed and as my Friend told me was afterwards effectually cured 8. This which follows was not so innocent an application When I was at Oxford one Smith Apprentice to Mr. John Knibb Clock-maker still living in that City out of Curiosity went to an old Vagrant Fortune-Teller then in Town to know his Fortune he receives from her a Scroli of Paper which he was to wear under his Heel that Day and at Night to put under his Head in the Night he was disturbed with an unexpected Storm of Wind which threatned to blow down the House upon which he awaked lay sweating in Bed and dreading the Effects of it 'till near Morning when the Tempest ceasing he fell asleep and dreamed That a Coach with two or three Gentlewomen in it all in Mourning came to the House where they made a stop and one of them looks out of the Coach and invited him into them I came to the House next Day where his Master and he both told me and others the Story with some Concernment and Passion About half a Year after the young Man removes to London and there in a short time fell sick and died CHAP. LXXXIX Satan Hurting by Interposing with Melancholly Diseases 'T IS no Point of Generosity or Bravery to set upon Persons when they are infeebled with any Calamity or afflicting Circumstances yet the Devil who cares for nothing so much as the satisfying of his malicious Appetite hath this cowardly Trick with him that he takes opportunity from our Weaknesses to attack us with double Wickedness to surprize us with Assaults when Nature most fails us to countermine the Divine Goodness which is most abundant to us at such times For as Man's Extremity is God's Opportunity for shewing of Mercy so it is the Devil 's for the discovery of his Malice 1. Aug. 24. 1662. saith Mr. Baxter a Gentlewoman of London came to me secretly with her Sister an Witness Persons as commonly called of Quality and Moderation to be resolved how to expound a strange thing that had befallen her which was That as she was Praying in secret she begg'd for the Deliverance of the Church and Religion and Ministers from the dreaded Sufferings that were determined and the sad Effects of Persecution Division and Publick Dangers and it was suddenly given her as an Answer That there should he a speedy Deliverance even in a very short time She desired to know which way and it was by somewhat on the King which I refused to hear our whether it was Change or Death it being set strongly on her as a Revelation she earnestly prayed That if this were a Divine Impulse and Revelation God would certifie her by some visible Sign and she ventured to choose the Sign herself and laid her Hand on the outside of the upper part of her Leg and begging of God That if it were a true Answer he would make on that place some visible Mark and there was presently the Mark of black Spots like as if a Hand had burnt it which her Sister witnessed she saw presently and after there being no such thing before But the Woman's strange Impulse and Mark proved but a Delusion Hist Disc Appar Witches p. 181. 2. Mr. Clark gives this Account of the Sickness of Mr. Rich. Rothwell He had a Vertigo capitis Forty Fits in an Hour and every one of them accompanied with mischievous Temptations which when the Fit was over he dictated and writ down these held about three Weeks in which time he had the Advice of learned Physicians from London York New-Castle Durham and other places they all jumped in their Judgments imputing it to be much Study Fasting and inward Trouble of Spirit
upon a time at dalliance with his Women one of them plucked a Hair from his Breast which being fast rooted plucked off a little of the Skin that the Blood appeared This small Scar festred and gangreened incurably so that in few Days he despaired of life and being accompanied with his Friends and divers Courtiers he brake out into these excellent Words Which of you would not have thought that I being a Man of War should have died by the stroke of a Sword Spear or Bow But now I am enforced to confess the Power of that Great God whom I have so long despised that he needs no other Lance than a little hair to kill so Blasphemous a wretch and contemner of his Majesty as I have been Dr. Burthogge out of Purchas in his Essay upon Human Reason p. 177. Mr. Greenham in his Works which I have not now by me and therefore cannot quote the particular Place and Page as I should do tells us That a certain Man not well grounded in his Religion took view of the Papists Life but not finding it so glorious as they pretended it was joyned with the Familists in whom he so stayed that he grew into Familiarity with them the first Principle that there was no God boyl'd so much in him that he began to draw Conclusions viz. If there be a God he is not so Just and Merciful as they say if there be no God then there is neither Heaven nor Hell or if any the Joys and Pains not so Eternal as some have taught why then do I sell my Pleasures in this World for uncertain Pleasures in another World So this Devilish Illusion prevail'd on him to steal a Horse for which he was Apprehended and at last condemned But by the Providence of God meeting and conferring with a Godly Minister was Reprieved till the next Assize in hope of his Conversion He confessed himself an Atheist but could not be brought any thing from his Atheism The Assize following drew near when he was to be executed and the Place assigned And at the Place of Execution when he should be turned off the Ladder cryed out directly For Christ's sake stay my Life whereupon he spoke these or the like words Well let the World say what they will doubtless there is a God and the same God is Just for ever to his Enemies and everlastingly keeps his Mercies with his Children Now turn me over And so he made an end of his Speech and of his Days This Story I took down in Writing out of Mr. Greenham's Works Five or Six and Twenty Years ago but not having the Book at present I must deliver it with a Latitude without particular Quotations And 't is the more credible because Mr. Greenham if my Memory fail me not extreamly is character'd by Bishop Joseph Hall for a Saint 5. Mr. Mather speaking of the Obstacles which Mr. Eliot met with in Preaching the Gospel to the Indians in New-England tells us That Elliot made a tender of the Gospel to King Philip Ring-leader of the most calamitous War that ever the Pagan Indians made upon them but Philip entertained it with Contempt and Anger and after the Indian Mode he took hold of a Button upon Mr. Eliot's Coat adding That he cared for his Gospel just as much as he cared for that Button The World hath heard saith my Author what a terrible Ruine soon came upon that woful Creature and upon all his People It was not saith he long before the Hand which now writes upon a certain occasion took off the Jaw from the Blasphemous exposed Skull of that Leviathan and the renowned Samuel Lee is now Pastor to an English Congregation sounding and shewing the Praises of Heaven upon that very spot of Ground where Philip and his Indians were lately worshipping the Devil Cotton Mather in Mr. Eliot's Life pag. 114. 6. Pope Leo the Tenth was so Impudent as to make the Promises and Threats contained in the Word of God things to be laughed at mocking the simplicity of those that believe them And when Cardinal Bembus quoted upon ocasion a place out of the Gospel The Pope Answered Quantum nobis profuit fabula haec de Christo O what Profit hath this Fable of Christ brought unto us The Pope having by his Pardons and Indulgences scrap'd together vast Sums of Money to maintain his Courtezans and Whores and to enrich his Bastards As he was one day at Meat News was brought to him of the Overthrow of the French in Lombardy which he much rejoyced at and doubled his Good Chear but before he arose from the Table God's Hand struck him with a grievous Sickness whereof he died within three days Clark's Mar. Chap. 9. p. 40. 7. Pope Julius the Third another Atheist a despiser of God and his Word on a time missing a cold Peacock which he had commanded to be kept for him raged and blasphemed God exceedingly whereupon a Cardinal that was present intreated him not to be so angry for such a Trifle What saith he if God was so angry for eating of an Apple as to thrust Adam and Eve out of Paradise should not I who am his Vicar be angry for a Peacock which is of far more worth than an Apple 8. Francis Ribelius was so Profane that he made a mock at all Religion counting it a thing to be laugh'd at But the Lord struck him with Madness so that he died mocking at all those that talked of God or made any mention of God's Mercy to him CHAP. CIV Divine Judgments upon Cursing RAshness is a fault in any Humane Action but in no cases more dangerous than in meddling with edg'd Tools but above all in the Imprecation of Divine Judgments Men had need to be deliberate and well-advised before they Appeal to Heaven for Vengeance for God is not to be played with And oftentimes it seems good to the Almighty to hear the Prayers of these rash People beyond their Expectation on purpose to strike them with a more dreadful awe of the Divine Majesty and let every one beware by the Examples which follow how they play with the Thunder-bolts of Heaven lest they are checked as the Apostles Luke 9.54 55. 1. In France a Man of good Parts and well instructed in Religion yet in his Passion Cursing and bidding the Devil take one of his Children the Child was immediately possessed with an Evil Spirit From which though by the fervent and continual Prayers of the Church he was at length released yet ere he fully recovered his Health he died Beza 2. Anno Christi 1557. at Forchenum in the Bishoprick of Bamberg a Priest Preaching about the Sacrament used these and such-like blasphemous Speeches O Paul Paul if thy Doctrine touching the Receiving of the Sacrament in both kinds be true and if it be a wicked thing to Receive it otherwise then let the Devil take me And if the Pope's Doctrine concerning this Point be false then am I the Devil's Bond-slave
Execution he was not suffered to speak to the People who much lamented his Death yet was very chearful saying Thanks be to God I am even at home And when he had prayed and made himself ready he went to the Stake and kissed it The Fire being kindled he held up his Hands and called upon God saying Merciful Father of Heaven for Jesus Christ my Saviour's sake receive my Soul into thy hands And so stood still without moving till one with an Halberd struck out his Brains Ibid. p. 178. 30. Mr. Bradford as soon as he approached the Stake fell flat on the Ground intending there to pur forth his Prayers to Almighty God for he was not permitted to do it publickly but Woodroffe the Sheriff commanded him to arise and dispatch for the People encreased and pressed upon him Whereupon as soon as he got up he embraced the Stake and kissed it put off his Cloaths gave them to his Servant comforted the Stripling that was to be burned with him and earnestly exhorted the People to Repentance Which so enraged the Sheriff that he commanded his Hands to be tyed His last Words that were audible were Strait is the way and narrow is the gate that leads to salvation and few there be that find it He endured the Flame as a fresh gale of Wind in a hot Summer's Day without any Reluctancy Ibid. p. 189. 31. Bishop Ridley and Bishop Latimer suffered together but were not permitted to speak at the Stake The Evening before their Execution Ridley washed his Beard and his Feet and bad those that supped with him to his Wedding the next Day demanding of his Brother Mr. Skipfide whether he thught his Sister his Wife could find in her Heart to be there and he answering That he durst say she would with all her Heart he professed to the thereof very glad At Supper-time he was very chearful and merry desiring those there present that went of which number Mrs. Irish his Hostess tho' an eager Papist was one to quiet themselves affirming That tho' his Breakfast was like to be somewhat sharp and painful yet his Supper he was sure would be pleasant and sweet They endured a long time in the Fire with most grievous Pains to the great Grief of the Beholders thro' the Indiscretion of those that composed the Pile burning as it were by piece-meal till at last their Souls mounted as in a flaming Chariot up to Heaven Ibid. p. 203 204. 32. Bishop Latimer when he came to the Stake lifting up his Eyes with a comfortable and lovely Countenance cried out God is faithful who will not suffer us to be tempted above what we are able and when the Fire was kindled O Father of Heaven receive my Soul His Blood as he was burning running out of his Heart in such abundance as if all the Blood of his Body had been gathered thither to the great Astonishmnt of the Beholders Ibid. p. 210. 33. Mr. Philpot going into Smithfield and the way being very foul two Officers took him up and bore him to the Stake to whom he said merrily What will you make me a Pope Being got into Smithfield he kneeled down and said I will pay my Vows in the midst of thee O Smithfield and kissing the Stake Shall I disdain to suffer at this Stake when my Lord and Saviour refused not to sufer a most vile Death for me And when the Fire was kindled with much Meekness and Comfort he resigned up his Spirit unto God Ibid. p. 222. 34. Archbishop Cranmer when tied to the Stake thrust first of all his Right Hand into the Fire wherewith he had subscribed to Popery crying out Ah my unworthy Right Hand So that his Hand died a Malefactor and the rest of his Body a Martyr Ibid. p. 228. 35. Bugenhagius drawing near to his End often repeated This is Life Eternal to know Thee the only true God and him whom thou hast sent Jesus Christ and so quietly departed this Life Aged 73. Ibid. p. 233. 36. Phil. Melancthon in the midst of many Heavenly Prayers surrendred his Soul unto him that gaveit Aged 63. Ibid. p. 241. 37. Hyperius falling sick of a Fever gave diverse Instructions to his Wife for the Education of his Children to his Children for the serving of God and obeying their Mother and when his Friends visited him requested them to bear Witness That he now died in that Faith which he had taught while he lived and so yielded up his Spirit to God Aged 53. Ibid. p. 265. 38. John Brentius falling sick of a Fever made his Will and therein set down a Confession of his Faith received the Sacrament exhorted the Ministers of Stutgard to Unity in Doctrine and a mutual Love always saying That he longed for a better an Eternal Life and so died Aged 71. Ibid. p. 298. 39. Bishop Jewel died praying and prayed dying His last Words worthy to be written with the Point of a Diamond never to be razed out were these A Crown of Righteousness is laid up for me Christ is my Righteousness this is my Body this day quickly let me come unto thee this day let me see thee Lord Jesus He was arrested by Death as he was preaching at Lacock upon those Words Walk in the Spirit and so carried from the Pulpit to Bed from which he never rose more Ibid. p. 311. 40. John Knox a Day or two before his Death sending for Mr. Lawson Mr. Lindsey the Elders and Deacons of the Church told them the Time was approaching which he long thirsted for wherein he should be released from all his Cares and be with his Saviour Christ for ever And now saith he God is my Witness whom I have served with my Spirit in the Gospel of his Son that I have taught nothing but the true and sincere Word of God I am not ignorant that many have and do blame my too great Rigor and Severity but God knows that in my Heart I never hated those against whom I thundered God's Judgments I did only hate their Sins and laboured according to my power to gain them to Christ That I did forbear none of what Condition soever I did it out of Fear of my God who hath placed me in the Function of his Ministry and I know will bring me to an Account Now Brethren for your selves I have no more to say but to warn you to take heed to the Flock over which God hath placed you Overseers which he hath Redeemed by the Blood of his only-begotten Son And you Mr. Lawson Fight a good Fight do the Work of the Lord with Courage and with a willing mand and God from Heaven bless you and the Church whereof you have the Charge Against it so long as it continues in the Doctrine of the Truth the Gates of Hell shall not prevail Having thus spoken and the Elders and Deacons being dismissed he called the two Preachers to him and said There is one thing that grieves me exceedingly you have
the Chapel of Lambeth House where he received his Archiepiscopal Consecration His chief Motto painted on the Walls of his House and in his Windows was that of St. John The World passeth away and the lust thereof Ibid. p. 529. 60. Archbishop Abbot preached upon this his last Text John 14.16 I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter that may abide with you for ever Upon the first Proposal whereof as many of his Hearers presaged his departure from them so it proved his last Farewel-Sermon For soon after he came out of the Pulpit he fell into grievous Fits of the Stone which first stopped the Passages of Nature and within a few days shut up all the Offices of his Senses To those that came to visit him who were not a few and among others the Judges being then at Sarum in their Circuit he comunicated most Christian and grave Advice insisting very much upon the Benefit of a good Conscience the Comfort whereof he felt now in his Extremity admonishing all that heard him so to carry themselves in their most private and secret Actions as well as publick that they might obtain that at the last which would stand them in more stead than what all the World could afford them besides At last with Hands and Eyes lift up to Heaven he gave up the Ghost with these Words Come Lord Jesus come quickly finish in me the Work that thou hast begun Into thy hands I commend my Spirit for thou hast redeemed me Save me for thy Mercy 's sake for I put my whole trust in thee Let thy mercy be shewed upon me for my sure trust is in thee O let me not be confounded for ever Ibid. p. 550. 61. William Cooper born at Edinburgh used these amongst other Meditations in his last Sickness Now my Soul be glad for of all parts of this Prison the Lord hath set to his Pioneers to loose thee Head Feet Milt and Liver are fast failing yea the middle Strength of the whole Body the Stomach is weaken'd long agoe Arise make ready shake off thy Fetters mount up from the Body and go thy way I saw not my Children when they were in the Womb yet there the Lord fed them without my knowledge I shall not see them when I go out of the Body yet shall they not want a Father Death is somewhat dreary and the Streams of that Jordan between us and our Canaan run furiously but they stand still when the Ark comes Let your Anchor be cast within the Veil and fastened on the Rock Jesus Let the end of the three-fold Cord be buckled to the Heart so shall ye go through He expressed a great Willingness to Exchange this Life for a better which he did Anno 1619. Ibid. p. 563. 62. Andrew Willet in a Journey from London homewards had his Leg broken by a Fall from a Horse and was God's Prisoner for 9 Days together being so long confined to his Bed where his Time he spent in meditating upon the Song of Ezekiel Isa 38. his Contemplations being taken down in Writing by his Son who then attended upon him Two Sabbath-Days which happen'd in that time he spent in Conscionatory Exhortations to those who waited upon him Upon the tenth Day on occasion of a Bell tolling for one near Death he discoursed with his Wife touching the Joys of Heaven and then they both sang an Hymn composed by himself which they usually every Morning praised God with Their Spirits being thus raised they continued their Melody and sang the 146 Psalm sometimes stopping a little and glossing upon the Words by way of Self-application till on a sudden fetching a deep Sigh or Groan he sunk down in his Bed but being raised up a little he said Let me alone I shall do well Lord Jesus And with that Word gave up the Ghost ibid. p. 575. 63. Mr. Bolton falling sick of a Quartan-Ague and finding his Distemper get strength revised his Will and having preached upon Death Judgment and Hell he promised next to preach upon Heaven the only fourth and last Thing that remained but never preached more He often breathed forth these Speeches O when will this good Hour come When shall I be dissolved When shall I be with Christ Tho' Life be a great Blessing yet I infinitely more desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ He thanked God for his wonderful Mercy in pulling him out of Hell in sealing his Ministry by the Conversion of Souls which he wholly ascribed to his Glory He called for his Wife and desired her to bear his Dissolution with a Christian Fortitude and turning to his Children told them they should not now expect from him in his Weakness to say any thing to them he had told them enough formerly and hoped they would remember it and verily believed that none of them durst think to meet him at the great Tribunal in an unregenerate State Some of his Neighbours moved to him that he would tell them what he felt in his Soul Alas said he do ye look for that now from me who want Breath and Power to speak I have told ye enough in my Ministry Yet to satisfie you I am by the wonderful Mercies of God as full of Comfort as my Heart can hold and feel nothing in my Soul but Christ with whom I heartily desire to be And seeing some weeping he said Oh what a deal of Doe there is before one can die The very Pags of Death being upon him after a few gapings for Breath he said I am now drawing on apace to my Dissolution Hold out Faith and Patience your Work will quickly be at an end Then shaking them by the Hand he desired them to make sure of Heaven and remember what he had formerly taught them protesting that it was the Truth of God as he should answer it at the Tribunal of Christ before whom he should shortly appear And a dear Friend taking him by the Hand ask'd him if he did not feel much pain Truly no said he the greatest that I feel is your cold Hand And then being laid down again not long after he yielded up his Spirit unto God Anno 1631. Aged 60. Ibid. p. 591. 64. Mr. Will Whately in his Sickness gave heavenly and wholsome Counsel to his People exhorting them to Redemption of Time Reading Hearing and Meditating on the Word of God to be much in Prayer Brotherly Love and Communion of Saints c. A Minister praying with him That if his time were not expired God would restore him or put an end to his Pains c. he lifting up his Eyes stedfastly towards Heavne and one of his Hands in the close of that Prayer gave up the Ghost shutting his Eyes himself as if he were fallen into a Sleep Anno 1639. Aged 56. a little before the Civil Wars began and before the sad Desolations that befel the Town of Banbury in particular Ibid. p. 599. 65. Dr. Robert Harris when
huge great ibid. 5. King Hardiknute his Tables were spread every day four times and furnish'd with all kinds of curious Dishes as delighting in nothing else but gormandizing and swilling but in a solemn Banquet Reveling and Carousing he suddenly fell down without Speech or Breath Bakers Chron. p. 25. 6. Schenckius tells of a Man of 50 years of Age who from his Youth with a strange kind of greediness was wont to eat all sorts of Food and as speedily to eject them but his strong Appetite lasted not above 20 days and for so many days after he had a loathing of all things and for the rest of the year eat sparingly p. 304. 7. Nicholas Wood of Harrison in the County of Kent Yeoman did with ease eat a whole Sheep of 16 s. Price and that raw at one meal another time he eat 30 dozen of Pidgeons At Sir William Sidleys he eat as much as would have sufficed 30 Men at the Lord Wottons in Kent he eat at one meal Fourscore and four Rabbets which number would have sufficed 168 Men allowing to each half a Rabbet he suddenly devoured 18 yards of black-pudding and when at once he had 60. pound weight of Cherries he said they were but wash-meat he made an end of a whole Hog at once and after it for Fruit swallowed three Pecks of Damsons After he had broken his Fast having as he said eaten one Pottle of Milk one Pottle of Pottage with Bread Butter and Cheese he eat in my presence saith Taylor 6 penny wheaten Loaves 3 six penny Veal Pies one Pound of sweet Butter one good Dish of Thornback and a shiver off a Peck Houshold Loaf of an Inch thick and all this in the space of an Hour the House yielding no more he departed unsatisfied One John Dale was too hard for him he laid a Wager he would fill Woods belly with wholsom Victuals for two Shillings another Wagered that when he had eaten Dales two shillings he should forthwith eat up a good Sir-loin of Beef Dale bought six Pots of mighty Ale and twelve new penny white Loaves which he sop'd in the Ale the powerful Fume whereof Conquer'd this Conqueror and laid him in a Sleep to the preservation of the Roast-beef and un-expected winning of the Wager He spent all his Estate to provide for his Belly and though a Landed Man and true Labourer died Poor about 1630. Wanleys Wonders Book 4. p. 390. 8. Not long ago there was here in England a private Soldier very famous for digesting of Stones and a very inquisitive Man assures me that he knew him familiarly and had the curiosity to keep in his Company for 24 hours together to watch him and not only observed that he eat nothing but Stones in that time but also that his grosser excrement consisted chiefly of a Sandy substance as if the devoured Stones had been in his body dissolved and crumbled into Sand. Mr. Boyles Exp. philo par 2. Essay 3. p. 86. 9. Dr. Bulwer saith he saw the Man and that he was an Italian Francis Battalia by name at that time about 30 years of Age and that he was born with two stones in one hand and one in the other which the Child took for his first Nourishment upon the Physicians Advice and afterwards nothing else but 3 or 4 pebbles in a spoon once in 24 hours and a draught of Beer after them and in the interim now and then a pipe of Tobacco for he had been a Souldier in Ireland and particularly at the Siege of Limerick and upon his return to London was confined for some time upon suspicion of imposture and falseness of pretence Bulwer's Anthropometamorphosis p. 307. He eat about half a peck of Stones daily CHAP. X. Persons of Wonderful Shapes Figures Members Entrails c. IF we consider our Bodies according to their ordinary Form and Temper we must acknowledge with the Psalmist that they are curiously wrought in the Womb and Fearfully and Wonderfully made but the commonness of our Natural Composition looseth much its Remarkableness and Wonder upon that very score because 't is common and therefore the God of Nature doth sometimes remove his Footsteps and vary his Methods and go out of his ordinary way as if on purpose to awaken Men into a more attentive and thinking Posture that they may be astonish'd into a serious Meditation of his Wisdom and Power and Goodness who is able when he pleaseth to shuffle his Counsels at this rate and do even what he pleaseth in the Structure of his Creatures I. The BRAIN HEAD and SCVLL 1. Nicolaus Ricardius an Italian had an Head unreasonably big his Scull so hard that he would often break Nuts or Peach-stones with one blow of it Jan. Nicii Pinacoth 1. p. 43. 2. Some time after the Battel of Plataea when the Bones were freed of the Flesh the Plataeans found a Scull without any Suture Herod l. 9. p. 544. 3. Bartholinus speaks of another whose Scull was so firm it was able to endure Coach-wheels to pass over it Hist Anat. Cen. 5. Hist 44. 4. Albertus Marquis of Brandenburg and Cardinal Ximenes had no Sutures Korman de Mir. Mort. l. 4. c. 78. p. 32. 5. The Head of a Giant amongst the rarities of Pope Paul the Fourth had the lower Jaw conjoined to the Head so fast that it could never move Columb Anar l. 15. p. 484. 6. Zacutus tells of a Man with a straight Horn in his Forehead a span broad at the Root Prax. Adm. Hildauus of one with a Horn like that of a Ram. Prax. Adm. l. 3. Obs. 93. 7. Pfeil the Physician found in a Patients Brain a Stone as big as a Mulbetry the eating of which Fruit brought his Disease Melch. Adm. in Vit. Germ. Medic. p. 41. II. The HAIR 1. Cardan speaks of one that when he Comb'd his Head sparks of Fire flew out of his Hair Scaliger tells of a Lady whose Hair did the same thing St. Augustine speaks of some that would move all the Hair of their Heads forwards and backwards without moving of their Heads Schot Phis. curios l. 3. c. 34. p. 573. This is common 2. Tamberlane wore his Hair long and Curl'd contrary to the Tartars who shave their Hair they believing that in those long Hairs there was some fatal Destiny known Among the Indians the King causeth the Hair of the greatest Malefactors to be cut the Persian and Canarian Women cut their Hair at the Funeral of their Friends The People of Brasil when they are Angry let their Hair grow long and when they mourn they Cut it The Maxies wear their Hair long on the right side of the Head and save the left side The Sasquesahanoughs a Giant-like People of Virginia wear the Hair on the one side long on the other short and close with a Ridge over their Crowns like a Cock's-comb Man Transform'd p. 54. III. The BEARD 1. Thirty Miles from Madrid the King of Spains Court was a Woman aged 60
his Judgment and Piety that notwithstanding the Opposition made by some great ones without his own seeking he was made Bishop of Meath in Ireland which just then fell void while he was in England and the King often boasted That he was a Bishop of his own making Clark in his Life 12. The Papists very rashly and hastily had Publish'd a Libel against Luther supposing he was deâ—d because he was constrained for his own safety to use caution in appearing abroad by râ—â—on of his many Enemies that laid wait for him signifying How the Devils had carried away his Body c. Which Libel came to Luther's hands two Years before he died and he reading of it thank'd God that the Devil and his Instruments were such Tools that they could not stay till his Death Pref. to Luther 's Sermons I pass over the Story of Queen Emma Mother to King Edward the Confessor who is said by our Historians to be causlesly suspected of too much Familiarity with Alwinus Bishop of Winchester of which Suspicion she purged herself and him by the Fire-Ordeal walking bare foot over nine red-hot Plough-shares without any hurt in thankfulness for which 't is said they gave each of them nine Manours to the Church of Winchester Dugdale Monast. Angl. Vol. 1. inter Addenda p. 980. 13. A. C. 1650. Anne Green a Servant-Maid to Sir Tho. Read of Duns-Tew in Oxfordshire being with Child by some one of the Family through over-working her self in turning of Malt fell in Travail about the fourth Month of her time but being but a young Wench and not knowing how it might be repairs to the House of Easement where after some Straining the Child scarce above a Span long and of what Sex not to be distinguished fell from her unawares She was three Days after conveyed to the Castle of Oxford and there Sentenc'd to be Hang'd She hung half an Hour was pulled by the Legs and struck on the Breast by divers of her Friends and after all had several Stroaks given her on the Stomach with the But-end of a Soldier 's Musket Afterwards being cut down and put in a Cossin and brought away to a House to be dissected though the Rope still remained strait about her Neck they perceived her Breast to rise whereupon one Mason a Taylor in Charity to her set his Foot upon her Breast and Belly and as some say one Orum a Soldier struck her again with the But-end of his Musket After a while they perceived a small Rattling in her Throat and then they used means for her Recovery by opening a Vein laying her in a warm Bed and causing another to go into Bed to her and using other Remedies with respect to her Senselesness Head Throat and Breast insomuch that within 14 Hours she began to speak and the next Day Talk'd and Prayed very heartily In the mean time her Pardon was sued out from the Powers then in being and Thousands of People came to see her magnifying the just Providence of God in thus asserting her Innocency of Murder She affirmed that she neither remembred how the Fetters were knock'd off how she went out of the Prison when she was turn'd off the Ladder whether any Psalm was sung or not nor was she sensible of any Pains that she could remember but which is most observable she came to her self as if she had awakened out of her Sleep not recovering the use of her Speech by slow degrees but in a manner altogether beginning to speak just where she left off on the Gallows She lived afterwards and was Married and had three Children not dying till 1659. Dionysius Petavius takes notice of it in his Continuation of the Hist of the World so doth Mr. Heath and Dr. Plot in his Natural Hist of Oxfordsh p. 193. 14. I shall only take notice further of an awful Example mentioned by A. B. Spotswood in his History of Scotland p. 449. His Words are these This Summer viz. Anno 1597. there was a great Business for the Tryal of Witches amongst others one Margaret Atkin being apprehended on Suspicion and threatned with Torture did confess her self Guilty being Examined touching her Associates in that Trade she named a few and perceiving her Delations find Credit made offer to detect all of that sort and to purge the Country of them so she might have her Life granted For the reason of her Knowledge she said That they had a secret mark all of that sort in their Eyes whereby she could surely tell how soon she looked upon any whether they were Witches or not And in this she was so readily believed that for the space of three or four Months she was carried from Town to Town to make Discoveries in that kind many were brought in question by her Delations especially at Glasgow where divers Innocent Women through the Credulity of the Minister Mr. John Cowper were condemned and put to Death In the end she was found to be a meer Deceiver and sent back to Fife where she was first Apprehended At her Tryal she affirmed all to be false that she had Confessed of her self or others and persisted in this to her Death which made many fore-think their to great forwardness that way and moved the King to re-call his Commission given out against such Persons discharging all Proceedings against them 15. There was in the Year 1649. in a Town called Lauder in Scotland a certain Woman accused and imprisoned on Suspicion of Witchcraft when others in the same Prison with her were Convicted and their Execution ordered to be on the Monday following she desired to speak with a Minister to whom she declared freely that she was guilty of Witchcraft acknowledging also many other Crimes committed by her desiring that she might die with the rest She said particularly that she had Covenanted with the Devil and was become his Servant about Twenty Years before and that he kissed her and gave her a Name but that since he had never owned her Several Ministers who were jeasous that she accused her self untruly charged it on her Conscience telling her That they doubted she was under a Temptation of the Devil to destroy her own Body and Soul and adjuring her in the Name of God to declare the Truth Notwithstanding all this she stiffly adhered to what she had said and was on Monday Morning Condemned and ordered to be Executed that Day When she came to the place of Execution she was silent until the Prayers were ended then going to the Stake where she was to be burnt she thus expressed her self All you that see me this Day know ye that I am to die as a Witch by my own Confession and I free all Men especially the Ministers and Magistrates from the guilt of my Blood I take it wholly on my self and as I must make answer to the God of Heaven I declare I am as free from Witchcraft as any Child but being accused by a Malicious Woman and
Imprisoned under the Name of a Witch my Husband and Friends disowned me and seeing no hope of ever being in Credit again through the Temptation of the Devil I made that Confession to destroy my own Life being weary of it and chusing rather to Die than to Live This her lamentable Speech did astonish all the Spectators few of whom could refrain from Tears The Truth of this Relation saith my Author is certainly attested by a worthy Divine now living who was an Eye and an Ear Witness of the whole Matter 16. Mr. Showers in his Discourse of Tempting of Christ saith Many Instances might be named of a sinful limiting the Power of God One among others is that of rash Appeals to Heaven expecting that God by his powerful Providence should interpose to the Decision of doubtful Cases And this Men do in the use of such things unto which some notable Effects are ascribed which they were never inabled or appointed by Nature or Divine Institution to produce As when a Person was Indicted upon Suspicion or for a Fault that was secretly committed or upon the Testimony but of one Witness he was to purge himself by Ordeal Fire or Water that is to put himself upon GOD and Appeal to Him This was allowed by some of the Laws of Charles the Great and was in frequent use in this Nation in the Saxons time Many Instances in the ninth and tenth Century may be given of this as a common Practice in the Christian World when there was not sufficient Evidence of a Man's Guilt to put him on such Extraordinary Tryals expecting some miraculous Appearance of God to vindicate his Innocence or conclude against it In such doubtful Cases they said they would go ad Juaicium Dei they would Appeal to Heaven Many ways they had of this in different Forms and several Ceremonies and particular Prayers with Fasting and Adjurations in the Names of God to the particular Element various according to the Quality of the Person whether a Freeman or a Slave that is one of a mean and base condition the former was to be tried by Fire and the latter by Water hot or cold But what Ground have we to think that if Men are Innocent the Power of God will this way preserve them or if they be Guilty that He will leave them to suffer by it It is true He appointed under the Law a draught of bitter Waters for the Woman suspected of Adultery to discover her Innocency or Guilt this was peculiarly enacted by God himself who doubtless would assist such extraordinary Procedure as was of his own Institution But it is not for us to use such Methods of our own devising and expect the like success Philip de Comines tells us of Two Franciscan Friars at Florence who offer'd themselves to the Fire to prove Savonarola to be a Heretick But a certain Jacobine offer'd himself to the Fire to prove that Savonarola had true Revelations and was no Heretick In the mean time Savonarola preach'd and made no such confident Offer nor durst he venture at that new kind of Fire Ordeal But if all Four had past through the Fire and died in the Flames what would that have proved Had he been an Heretick or no Heretick the more or the less for the Confidence of two or three Zealots Thus far Mr. Showers 17. The Persians had a Law That if a Man were accused and found guilty he should not straitway be Condemned but after a diligent enquiry of his Life and Conversation And if the number of his praise-worthy Deeds did countervail the contrary he was fully quit of the Trespass Chetwind's Hist Collect. 18. Eustathius a Man famous for Preaching and Holiness of Life opposing the Arrian Heresie the Arrians suborned a naughty Strumpet to come with a Child in her Arms and Accuse Eustathius of Adultery and She Swore that he begat that Child of her Body which though he constantly denied yet he was put out of his place Howbeit his Innocency e'er long was made known for the Strumpet being struck with Sickness She was in such horrour of Conscience that She confessed the whole Practice and how She was hired to slander this holy Man and that yet She was not altogether a Liar for Eustathius the Handicrafts Man begat the Child though not Eustathius the Preacher See Mr. Nathanael Vincent 's Childs Catechism CHAP. XXIV Doubts strangely Resolved and the Weak Confirmed SAint Peter was resolved concerning the Divinity of our Saviour by a Miracle which so startled him that he â—ell down at Jesus Feet saying Depart from me for I am a sinful Man O Lord Thomas doubting of his Resurrection was resolved to accept no Satisfaction in the case but by his own Senses and it was granted him as a special favour And 't is strange to observe how low God stoops many times in condescension to Human Infirmities on this Score to help their Faith and clear their Doubts meeting his Children in their own way and sometimes Surprizing them when their Doubts are at full tide and they least expect them 1. That good Gentlewoman Mrs. Honeywood under a deep and sad Desertion refused and put off all Comfort seeming to Despair utterly of the Grace of God A worthy Minister being one Day with her and Reasoning against her desperate Conclusions she took a Venice-Glass from the Table and said Sir I am as sure to be Damned as this Glass is to be broken and there with threw it forcibly to the Ground but to the Astonishment of both the Glass remained whole and sound which the Minister taking up with admiration rebuked her Presumption and shewed her what a VVonder Providence had wrought for her Satisfaction and it greatly altered the Temper of her Mind O how unsearchable are all his ways and his paths past finding ouâ— Lo these are part of his ways but how small a portion do we know of him Flavel's Divine Conduct p. 73. 2. Mrs. Joan Drake of Emersham in her great Temptations had a custom of turning over the Bible to put her Finger suddenly upon some Verse saying Now whatsoever my Finger is upon is just my Case whatsoever it be and my Doom But the Lord did so order it that looking upon the Verse it was always found encouraging and comfortable She was much entreated to desist but she prayed that she might do it once more promising faithfully to leave off afterwards being permitted she open'd the Bible and put her Finger upon that excellent Text without looking or reading a word Isa 40.27 c. Why sayest thou O Jacob and speakest O Israel my way is hid from the Lord c. which being read and considered of so crossed her hopes that it made her blush Clark Exam. vol. 2. p. 357. 3. In the Life of Arch-Bishop Vsher we are told of a Lady wavering in her Religion who was resolved by occasion of a Jesuit's being disabled to proceed in a Disputation with the Bishop and leaving the place