as please This Relation is attested by many Religious Persons whose Names follow Ericus Westergard Rotalph Rakestat and Thor. Venes Coadjutors of the Pastor in the Parish of Niaess That Anno 1639 upon the 20th Day of May by Command of the Lord President in Remerigi the Lord Paulus Tranius Pastor in Niaess we went to receive an Account of the monstrous Birth in Sundby brought forth by an honest Woman Anna the Daughter of Amandus the Wife of Gandbrandus Erlandsonius who had already been the Mother of Eleven Children the last of which she was delivered of upon March 4. 1638. This Anna in the Year 1639 upon the 7th of April began to grow ill and being in great Pains in her Belly her Neighbours were called the same Day at Evening in the presence of her Neighbours she brought forth an Egg in all respects like that of an Hen which being broken by the Women then present Anna Grim Elen Rudstad Gyro Rudstad and Catharina Sundby they found that in the Yolk and White it answered directly to a common Egg. Upon the 18th Day of April about Noon in the Presence of the same Persons she was delivered of another Egg which in Figure differed nothing from the former This was the Confession as well of the Mother as of them that were present we do Artest by our Seals in the Presence of the Lord President in the Parish of Niaess the Day and Year abovesaid Bar. Hist Anat. c. 1. n. 4. p. 10. 8. Anne Tromperin was delivered of a Boy and two Serpents upon St. John's Day Anno 1576. She said That in a very hot Day she had drunk of a Spring where she suspected that she had drank of the Sperm of Serpents The Child was so lean as that he was scarce any thing but Bones The Serpents were each of them an Ell in length and thick as the Arm of an Infant both which alive as they were were buried by the Midwife in the Church-yard Sennert Pract. Med. l. 4. par 2. sect 4. cap. 10. p. 327. 9. The Concubine of Pope Nicholas the Third was delivered of a Monster which resembled a Bear Martin the Fourth in the First Year of his Popedom entertained this Lady and fearing lest she should bring forth other Bear-Whelps he caused all the Bears which were painted or carved in the Pope's Palace whilst the Family of Vrsini bore sway in Rome to be blotted out and removed Camer Hor. Subs Cen. 10. At a Procession in Bois le Duc in Brabant some of the Citizens were disguised according to the Custom of the Place some in the Habit of Angels and others in the Shape of Devils as they are painted One of these Devils ran home to his House in that Attire took his Wife and threw her upon a Bed saying He would get a young Devil upon her He was not much deceived for his Wife bore a Child in that Shape which at his coming into the World began to run and skip up and down all over the Chamber Ibid. 11. Anno 1678 upon the 17th Day of January at Eight of the Clock after Noon there was at the Town of Quiro an honest Matron who was then deliver'd of a Child which had upon its Head five Horns opposite each to the other and like unto those of a Ram also from the upper part of his Forehead there hung backward a very long piece of Flesh that covered most part of his Back in Form like a Woman 's Head-Tire about his Neck there was a double Row of Flesh like the Collar of an Horse at the end of his Fingers were Claws like to those Tallons in Birds of Prey his Knees were in the hinder part of his Leg his Right Leg and Foot were of a shining red Colour the rest of his Body all swarthy He is said to come into the World with a great Cry which so frighted the Midwife and the Women present that they ran immediately out of the House Paraeus de Mons l. 24. 12. Lithgow tells of a Monster that below the Middle Part there was but one Body and above the Middle there were two living Souls the one separated from the other with several Members their Heads both of one bigness the belly of the one join'd with the Posterior Part of the other and their Faces looked both one way as if the one had carried the other on his Back Their Eyes were exceeding big and their Hands greater than an Infant of three times their Age. The Excrements of both issued forth at one place and their Thighs and Legs were of a great Growth not agreeable to their Age which was but 36 Days Their Feet like the Foot of a Camel round and cloven in the midst They eat insatiably and continually mourn'd when one slept the other waked Lithg par 2. p. 52. 13. A Woman at Prague having felt a Commotion in her Bowels while the Inwards of a Calf were taking out brought forth a Boy whose Liver Intestines Stomach and Spleen with the greatest part of the Mesentery hung out beyond the Navel Fabrit Obs Chir. Cen. 3. Obs 55. p. 239. 14. At Cracovia was born a Child terrible to behold with flaming and shining Eyes the Mouth and Nostrils were like to those of an Ox it had long Horns and a Back hairy like a Dog's It had the Faces of Apes in the Breast where the Teats should stand it had Cats Eyes under the Navel fasten'd to the Hypogastrium and they looked hideously It had the Heads of Dogs upon both Elbows and at the Whire-Bones of each Knee looking forwards It was Splay-footed and Splay-handed the Feet like Swans Feet and a Tail turn'd upwards that crook'd up backwards about half an Ell long It lived four Hours from its Birth and near its Death it spake thus Watch for the Lord your God comes This was Anno 1543. Lycosten de Prod p. 582. 15. Anno 1573 at St. Lawrence in the West-Indies was a Child born that had two Horns on the Head like those of Kids long Hair on the Body a Fleshy Girdle about his Middle double from whence hung a piece of Flesh like a Purse and a Bell of Flesh in his Left Hand white Boots of Flesh on its Legs doubled down In brief the whole Shape was horrid and diabolical and conceived to proceed from some Fright taken from the Antick Danceâ— of the Indians among whom the Devil sometimes appears Dr. More 's Immortality of the Soul l. 3. c. 7. p. 173. 16. At Boston in New-England Anno 1637 Mrs. Dyer was delivered of a Monster which had no Head the Face on the Breast the Ears like Apes Ears growing on the Shoulders the Eyes and Mouth stood far out the Nose hooking upward the Breast and Back full of Prickles the Navel and Belly where the Hips should have been in stead of Toes it had on each Foot three Claws upon the Back it had two great Holes like Mouths above the Eyes it had four Horns and
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
Bird of Prey an Eye on his Knee and both Kinds Ypsilon amidst his Breast and the form of a Cross This I have read saith my Author in John Multi Vallis and Gasper Hedio in the History Synopsis after Sabellicus I have seen another Portracture of the like Monster but somewhat differing and not answering the first in all Points with the Interpretation set out in Verse Batman's Doom p. 294. 6. Anno 1531. At Ausburg a Woman brought forth three Monsters first a Man's Head wrapt in a Caul secondly a Serpent with two Legs which had a great Head like unto a Pike the Body and Feet of a Frog and the Tail of a Lizard thirdly a Pig whole in all Parts Batman's Doom p. 315. 7. In the same year a horrible Monster very wild having four Feet a Man's Head Bearded and Combed Eagles Feet Hands almost like a Lions Paws a Dogs Tail and his Body of a dark yellow colour somewhat shining was taken in the Lordship of the Bishop of Saltsburg in the Forest of Hanesberg He did fly Men's sight and hid himself in dark Corners and length when he could be neither compelled nor allured to Eat he Died for Hunger Ibid. 316. 8. Anno 1540. At Milan a Cow brought forth a Calf with two perfect Heads with Tongue Teeth Eyes and Ears but the Heads were joined together in the Nap the one a Bull 's Head the other a Cow's Head Idem ex Cardan l. 14. c. 37. 9. Anno 1543. in Flanders upon the day of St. Paul's Conversion others write at Cracovia their was Born a Child of honest and gentile Parents very hideous and horrible to behold with turning and sparkling Eyes having a Mouth and Nostrils standing out with the form of a Horn and a Back rough with Dog's Hair Ape 's Faces appearing on his Breast where his Dugs should stand Cats Eyes under the Navel cruel and currish Dog's Heads at both Elbows and Knees looking forward the form of Toads Feet a Tail bending upward and turning again crooked of an Ell long he is said to have lived four hours after he was Born and at length after he had uttered these words Vigilate Dominus Deu vester advenit that is Watch your Lord is a coming to have Died. Batman ibid. p. 537. Out of Gasper Pucer and Munster's Cosmography 10. Anno 1546. At Bitterfield a Calf was found in the Field with Man's Eyes Nostrils and Ears having his Head shaven and as it were covered with Vermilion in Mouth and Breast like a Calf his fore Legs like a Calf and his hinder like a Man and very short but both were partly Hoved like a Calf and partly Toed and Fingered like a Man which Fingers were under the Hoof and hung out severally This Monster Gasper Pucerus describeth in his Book Teratascopia Ibid. p. 346. 11. The same Author writeth That he saw in the year 1553. a Calf fearful and horrible to behold looking like a Cat having a great swelling hanging from under his Jaw long like a Bladder white and soft his Hair was black like a Dogs his Stones were of no common greatness like unto them of a Ram double Codded Ibid. p. 36. 12. Anno 1534. At Stetin a Monster was Born having this Form In the place of his Head was a deformed lump moveable as the Intrails of a Sheep in the place of one of his Ears stood an Arm in the place of the Face curled Locks like to Cats Hair and sticking thereon like the Spawn of a Pike through which beneath there appeared glassy bright little Eyes his Mouth was a very small hole without Lips his Nose little and without a Neck The other Arm grew out of his side but there was no likeness of Breast nor Back He was of no Kind his Arms and long Feet had Houghs whole Bone through without Joints Elbows and Hams his Hands and Feet tender and hanging down as it were twice broken like unto crooked and bending Claws Batman Ibid. Ex Fincelio 13. Anno 1551. Febr. 18. A Lamb was yeaned at Halberstadt with a round Head and with three Eyes three Mouths two Noses with his Ears hanging to his back ward like to Dogs Ears but which is to be accounted a great Prodigy in his three Mouths he had a great Eye greater than the other and there he put forth a long Tongue He lived one day with continual crying Ibid. Ex Fincelio p. 372. 14. Anno 1554. In Marchia not far from Regemont a Mare brought forth a Monstrous Colt having the Skin gagg'd every where hanging Breeches and Dublet cut like to the fashion of the Lance Knights Batman p. 373. Ex Fincelio 15. Anno 1556. The day before the Nones of January in Germany at a Village belonging to the Bishop of Dilling called Overhassen a Cow brought a Calf that had but two hinder Feet yet of so great swiftness that running with the Body upright he surpassed all other Calves on foot Batman's Doom p. 375. 16. The same year July 24. at Clesdorf 3 miles from Pabenberg a Cow brought forth a Calf with a Man's-head a black Beard two Mens Ears indifferently well haired likewise a Man's Breast with Dugs Idem ex Fincelio 17. The same year a Child was Born of a Woman by Copulation with a Dog having a Man's shape in the upper part but in the lower the full form of a Dog and to purge the Sin he was brought to the Pope Cardan de Varietate Rerum l. 14. c. 64. 18. Anno 1563. A monstrous Fish was cast on shore at Grimsby in Lincolnshire in length 19 yards his Tail 15 Foot long and 6 yards between his two Eyes Batmans Doom p. 391. out of Dr. Coopers Chron. 19. Anno 1577. in June was seen in London a Mare having a Colt brought from the Parish of Emeley in Worcestershire the Mare was 22 years old and Foaled such a Colt as forthwith gave Milk which my Author saith he saw adding that one Mrs. Dawson endeavouring to take away the House of the Poor Man and the Man having spent almost all that he had in defence of his own Right this abundance of Milk continually flowing from the Colt was for the time a great cherishing to him Ibid. p. 403. 20. Anno 1581. Feb. 1. One Annis Fig an Adultress of Chichester in Sussex brought forth a monstrous Child of little shape of Body trussed together the Head very great bigger than the Body the Body in compass 9 Inches the Arm an Inch long and two Inches about the Face on the Cheek and Chin the likeness of a black Beard the Legs wanted Thighs the Toes crooked Idem p. 415. 21. Anno 1680. May 19. in Somersetshire near Taunton Dean a Woman was brought to Bed of two Children They grew together side to side from the Armpits to the Hip Bone they had two Fundaments whereby to avoid their Excrements they had also two passages for their Urine yet had they but one Navel by which both were nourished while
both in publick Repositories and in private Hands two such as these the one 10 foot long were presented not long ago to the King of Denmark being taken near Nova Zembla and I have seen some full 15 foot long some wreath'd very thick some not so much others almost plain some largest and thickest at the End near the Head others are largest at some distance from the Head some very sharp at the end or point others blunt My Honoured Father Sir Tho. Brown had a very fair piece of one which was formerly among the Duke of Curland's Rarities I have seen a Walking Staff a Scepter a Scabbard for a Sword Boxes and other Curiosities made out of this Horn c. But of these Unicorns the King of Denmark and his Father had so many that he was able to spare a great number of them to build a Magnificent Throne out of Unicorn's Horns Dr. Browns Trav. p. 101. c. CHAP. XXXIX Strange Fish I remember when I was a little Boy and went first a Angling I brought home two or three small Dace and Breams with no little Joy and a secret promise of Applause to my self for my Success in the Game but my Mother with some Indignation refused to give her consent fro the Dressing of them I have not served my Reader so here No the Watry Element is so stored with such abundance of these Animals and the Sea takes up so great a part of this lower World that I have passed by all the common Species and present my Reader with the Huge Leviathan the Loving Dolphin the great Manaty and others strange and admirable for some Property or other that I promise my self my Reader will not serve me now as my Mother did then 1. The Whale is the greatest and chief of all Fishes That Whale taken in the Scheld 10 Miles from Antwerp Anno 1677 was of a blackish blue colour he had a Snout on his Head wherewith he belch'd up Water with great force he was 58 foot long 16 foot high his Tail was 14 foot broad from his Eye to the tip of his Nose 16 foot his lower Chap 6 foot of each side armed with 25 Teeth and there were as many holes in the Upper Chap where Teeth had been the longest of his Teeth 6 Thumbs long A Whale taken at Sceveling near the Hague was 60 foot long Johnston Class 9. cap. 3. p. 290. In the 6th year of Queen Elizabeth in the Month of December at Grimsby in Lincolnshire was driven on shoar a Monstrous Fish in length 19 Yards his Tail 15 foot broad and 6 yards between the Eyes 12 Men stood upright in his Mouth to get out the Oyl In the 17th Year a vast Whale was cast upon Thanet Isle in Kent 20 Ells long and 13 foot broad from the Belly to the Back-bone and 11 foot between the Eyes one of his Eyes being taken out of his Head was more then 2 Cart with 6 Horses could draw the Oyl being boiled out of his Head was Parmacittee Bakers Chron. The ordinary Dimension of the Whale is 36 Cubits in length and 8 in thickness yet Nearchus in Arianus is said to have measured one in the Indian Seas 50 Cubits long and proportionably broad Pliny exceeds all bounds of Credibility when he tells of some 960 foot or 4 Acres long Heylin's Cosmogr p. 876. 2. The Dolphins are so swift that they swim faster then a Shp under Sail before the Wind saith Bellonius when they play on the calm Sea they foreshew which way the Wind will blow and when they cast up Water the Sea being troubled they foreshew a Calm Thomas thinks that Exhalations rising from the bottom of the Sea when a Storm is at hand in Winter is the cause of it and he thinks that the Dolphin feels heat thereby and so breaks forth the oftner but Rondeletius thinks they are affected in the Water with the motion of the Air as those that are Sick are wont to be when the South Wind begins to blow Johnston p. 294. The last Year of King Edward VI. was taken at Quinborough three Dolphins and at Blackwall 6 more the last of which was bigger then a Horse Baker 3. The Manaty is a great Fish taken in the Rivers of Hispaniola his Head is like an Ox-head or bigger his Eyes in respect of his body are small he hath two thick Feet like Wings in the place of Gills with which he swims he hath a thick Skin and no Scales He is so great that there needs a Yoke of Oxen to carry him sometimes he is 14 or 15 foot long and 8 hands thick he hath two stones or rather bones in his Head so great as little hand-balls he wants Ears but in their place he hath small holes by which he hears His Skin is like the Skin of a shrevell'd Ox a Finger thick Ash colour and thin of Hairs the Tail is all Nervous which being boiled or fryed it resolves into fat Johnston p. 296. 4. The Swordfish hath a beck on both Chaps but the lower of them is short and triangular the upper is more bony and harder and far longer sometimes two Cubits long In the Indian Sea they grow so great that they will pierce the sides of the strongest Ship a hand and a half in thickness sometimes Gesner writes that a faithful Friend of his saw a Man when he sailed to Syria thar swam by the Ships side and he was cut in the middle by the beck of this Fish Johnston p. 304. 5. The Torpedo has his name because he benums the Hands and he doth this so effectually that before he is taken he will do it by the Net or the Rod. Johnston p. 303. 6. The â—unies are chiefly caught about Constantinople for when they are past Chalcedon a certain white Rock appears to them and so terrifies them that immediatly they put over to the farthest Bank and being taken by the swift Current of the Waters turns their course to Constantinople so that they are tkane in their Snares in great numbers they are bred in the Lakes of Maeotis 9. The Remora is said to stay Ships Petrus Melaras of Bononia reports That the Ship of Francis Cardinal of Troas when he went by Sea out of France was held frst in the swiftness of its course Many have sought the cause but no Man hath certainly found it Saith Johnston Hist Nat. Class 9. c. 7. p. 331. 8. Tritons or Fishes having the Face Lineaments and shape of Man's body one was seen in the days of Tiberius another in the time of Augustus a third under Nero Aelian Theodor. Gaza Trapezuntius Alex. ab Alex. Scaliger and divers others affirm the Truth of this yet these Tritons or Nereides cannot be called nor are they Men though they have the outward shape for it is not the matter nor outward Lineaments but the form that gives Essence and Denomination Ross Arcana Microcosin l. 2. p. 18. In King John's Reign such a Fish was taken
dreggy Body and outward gross material Part And what must he be then but a Spirit himself 2. 'T is impossible he should be made up of Matter and material Parts when he is the Creatour of the whole World For how should a Body be able to stand and fix his Presence to a particular Place when he must be present at the making of every particular Piece and Member of the Creation and that in a short time if not in an Instant A Body we know must be circumscribed limited to a Space so far it may take up and no further here it may be and not there or there and not here at the same time But God at the make of the World must stretch his Presence to a wide if not immense Capacity â—â—e must be able to climb the Sun and fathom the Depths to walk about the Spheres and pierce the thicker Bodies he must search those Beings he makes within and without must see the outward shape and the inward form And what can this be but a Spirit 3. He searcheth the Hearts and knows the Thoughts afar off Those outward Cases we wear those thick Covers of our Bodies do not hide us from his Knowledge Jer. 17.10 His Eye walks to and fro upon the Earth scanning the Actions of Thoussands with a Glance in a Moment turning over the whole Book of the Creation which his own Hand wrote and folded up and reading any Page and Line with a single Cast of his Omniscience And what is this but a Spirit 4. He is invisible Exod. 33.20 He said Thou canst not see my Face Job 1.18 God may please sometimes to pourtray himself and shadow out his Excellency to us with a visible Form may appear in a Flame or mask his Glory with a Cloud but never come in his own proper and genuine Dress If he speaks to us 't is but a borrowed Lisping from our own Faculties if he be seen by us 't is but in a Coat borrowed from some of his Creatures Job 5.37 No God himself as he is in his own Nature pure and sparkling Essence is not obvious to our Senses never was caught by the Hand Eye of Ear of living Men and therefore is a Spirit and to be worshipped in Spirit and Truth According to our Apprehensions of God's Nature so are commonly our Devotions to him and indeed this is founded upon a sound Maxime sc That as God is in his own Nature so he requireth a suitable Worship a Worship correspondent to those Properties he hath he is good and therefore would have us do and be good And so in whatever Attributes are given to him if they are communicable to the Creature he is to be imitated by us Be ye Followers of God as dear Children like your heavenly Father And therefore as God is a Spirit so he requires such a Worship God's Motto in this respect is the same with Solomon's My Son give me thy Heart A pure Aim after God's Glory a sincere Compliance with our Duty an upright pursuance of Holiness and Piety are the Whole or the Mâ—rrow of our Religion We should not only bring our Lips our Hands our Knees our Ears or Our Bodies to our Devotions but as the Psalmist My Soul follows hard after thee And Psal 62.1 Truly my Soul waiteth upon God Reader 't is certain when we have to do with God a Spirit an immaterial Substance we have not to do with a Man like our selves but a Quick-eyed Being Omnisciency itself a God all Sight that seeth within as well as without us Methinks such a Thought should strike us with an awful Reverence of his Majesty Such a Meditation as the Psalmist takes up Psal 139.1 might seize us with a filial Dread and possess our Hearts with Trembling in our daily Comportment before him it might awaken our Affections to go hand in hand and move joyntly with our ordinary Duty Inward Religion is the only acceptable Devotion to the Father of Spirits and therefore no running now to Mount Guizem no matter now for travelling to the Old Jerusalem no matter for running to the Stalls for a Kid or Hetfer to the Altar with an Offering or Sacrifice No matter now for these Ceremonies Washings Cleansings c. used by the ancient Jews Touch not taste not handle not and all the pompous Trade of a Ceremonious Worship once enjoyn'd to the Old Church and now imposed by the Antichristian is now an illegitimate a base-born Service usurp'd by Sacrilegious People who make it no Crime to steal from Christ's Prerogative and put themselves instead of him Head of the Church 'T is true we may and must Worship yet with Hand and Knee we may yet attend upon a Font and wash in Water and wait upon a Sacramental Table we may eat Bread and drink Wine as Signs and Seals of spiritual and abstruse Mysteries But these are derived to us by a Divine Institution they come with a Mandamus from God himself and we have so few Ceremonies besides except those which are natural and serve lively to express the inward Motions of our Hearts and so much inward spiritual Devotion is required with them That our Religion may deservedly pass under the Title of Spirit and Truth Learn we then to put an evenness of proportion between our outward and inner Man To compose not only our Shape and Visage but our Heart and Soul to the Knowledge and Presence of an All-seeing God Learn we to call upon our Spirits and summon our Affections when we address our selves to the Father of Spirits Think what a thin pure subtile spacious Nature the Sun and Light are of how they pierce through the Air dart their Beams through the Clouds pierce the Windows and shine into our Houses Chambers the Corners of our Habitations and think God Almighty is a purer a finer a more spiritual Substance and therefore can see through us scan our Thoughts and try our Reins afar off Heb. 4.12 13. II. Meditations on the Works of Creation and Providence 'T IS the Prerogative of Human Nature that we have not only a lofty Figure and Visage but Intellectuals too far superiour to all the Bruitish kind And this Endowment bestowed upon us by him that made us for very wise and good Ends Not to be more ingenâ—ously wicked and dishonest to immerge our selves deeper in the Concerns and Pleasures of a Material and Sensual World but to live above it My Design then in these Meditations having already proved the Being of a God is to climb a Jacob's Ladder to satisfie a little the Curiosity of my Nature to inform myself first of all and then my Fellows so far as soberly and modestly I may with all the Phenomena of the Aetherial Region To acquaint myself and others with the outward Face of Heaven first of all and all the visible Furniture of the outward Court those glorious Spangles of Stars and Planets those fiery Meteors and other strange Exhalations and Vapours
words she used and so calling Belzebub Tormentor Satan and Lucifer appear there suddenly Arose a very high VVind which made the House shake and presently the Back door of the House flying open there came five Spirits as the Maid supposed in the likeness of ragged Boys some bigger then others and ran about the House where she had drawn the Staff and the VVitch threw down upon the ground Crumbs of Bread which the Spirits picked up and leapt over the Pan of Coals oftentimes which she set in the midst of the Circle and a Dog and a Cat of the VVitches Danced with them and after sometime the VVitch looked again in her Book and threw some great white Seeds upon the ground which the said Spirits picked up and so in a short time the VVind was laid and the VVitch going forth at her back Door the Spirits Vanished After which they VVitch told the Maid that Mr. Mason should demand Fifteen Hundred Pound and one Hundred and Fifty Pound per Annum of Mr. Goddard and if he denied it he should Prosecute the Law against him and be gone from his Father and then he should gain it VVith which message the Maid returned and acquainted Mr. Mason The same Maid being sent again to her from the same Party to enquire in what part of the House the Poyson was that should be given her Mistress Hereupon she took her Stuff as before and making therewith a Circle the VVind rose forthwith then taking a Beesome she swept over the Circle and made another and looking in her Book and Glass as formerly and using some words softly to her self she stood in the Circle and said Belzebub Tormentor Lucifer and Satan appear There appeared first a Spirit in the shape of a little Boy as she conceived which then turned into another shape something like a Snake and then into the shape of a shagged Dog with great Eyes which went about in the Circle and in the Circle she set an earthen Pan of Coals wherein she threw something which burned and stank and then the Spirit Vanished After which the Witch took her Book and Glass again and shewed the Maid in the Glass Mrs. Sarah Goddard's Chamber the colour of the Curtains and the Bed turned up the wrong way and under that part of the Bed where the Bolster lay she shewed the Poyson in a white Paper The Maid afterwards returned home and acquainted Mistress Rosewel with what the Witch had shewed her in a Glass that the Poyson lay under Mistress Sarahs Bed and also spoke to her that they might go together and take it away When the Maid was another time sent to procure some exemplary Punishment upon Mr. Goddard's two Daughters who yet were unjustly as it seems aspersed with the suspicion of endeavouring to Poyson their Mother in Law The Witch receiving the VVenches errand made a Circle as formerly and set her Pan of Coals therein and burnt somewhat that stunk extreamly and took her Book and Glass as before is related and said Belzebub Tormentor Lucifer and Satan appear and then appeared five Spirits as she conceived in the shape of little Ragged Boys which the VVitch commanded to appear and go along with the Maid to a Meadow at Wilton which the VVitch shewed in a Glass and there to gather Vermin and Dill and forthwith the Ragged Boys ran away before the Maid and she followed them to the said Meadow and when they came thither the Ragged Boys looked about for the Herbs and removed the Snow in two or three places before they could find any and at last they found some and brought it away with them and then the Maid and the Boys returned again to the VVitch and found her in the Circle pairing her Nails and then she took the said Herbs and dried the same and made Powder of some and dried the Leaves of other and threw Bread to the Boys and they Eat and Danced as formerly and then the VVitch reading in a Book they Vanished away And the VVitch gave the Maid in one Paper the Powder in another the Leaves and in the Third the paring of the Nails and which the Maid was to give her Mistress The Powder was to put in the young Gentlewomens Mrs. Sarah and Mrs. Ann Goddard's Drink or Broth to rot their Guts in their Bellies the Leaves to rub about the Brimbs of the Pot to make their Teeth fall out of their Heads and the paring of the Nails to make them drunk and mad And when the Maid came Home and delivered it to her Mistress and told her the Effects of the Powder and the other things her Mistress laughed and said that it is a very brave thing indeed But yet she had the discretion not to make use of it This Powder was shewn at the Assizes so that is could be no Fancy or Dream together with a piece of Money that she received of the Spirits which one of them first bit and gave it to the VVitch and then the VVitch gave it to the Maid The Hole also in her Finger was then shown out of which Blood was squeezed to subscribe a Covenant with the Devil as you may see in the Fourth and Last bout of Conjuring the VVitch performed in the Maids presence For she being advised by Mr. Goddard's Houshold to go to London she went to the VVitches first before she quitted the Countrey who being made acquainted with her Journey asked her whether she would go to London High or Low To which she replied what do you mean by that She answered if you will go on High you shall be carried to London in the Air and be there in Two Hours but if you go a low you shall be taken at Sutton Town 's End and before unless you have help But before the Maid departed the VVitch earnestly desired the Maid to live with her and told her if she would do so she would teach her to do as she did and that she should never be taken Then the Maid asked her what she should do She answered you shall know presently and forthwith she appeared in the shape of a great black Cat and lay along by the Chimney at which the Maid being much affrighted she came into her own Shape again and told her I see you are afraid and I see you are willing to be gone and told her if she was she should say so and not speak against her Conscience and the Maid replied she was willing to go and not dwell with the VVitch Then the VVitch said she must seal unto her Body and Blood not to discover her which she promising to do she forthwith made a Circle as formerly she had done and looking in her Book called Belzebub Tormentor Lucifer and Satan appear Then appeared Two Spirits in the likeness of great Boys with long shagged Hair and stood by her looking over her Shoulder and the VVitch took the Maio's Fore-finger of her Right Hand in her Hand and pricked it with
that time as he told his Son a very wicked Boy 21. John Evelyn shewed us at the Royal Society a Note under Mr. Smyth's Hand the Curate of Deptford that in November 1679 as he was in Bed sick of an Ague came to him the vision of a Master of Arts with a white Wand in his Hand and told him That if he did lie on his back three Hours viz. from ten to one that he should be rid of his Ague He lay a good while on his Back but at last being weary he turned and immediately the Ague attacked him afterwards he strictly followed the Direction and was perfectly cured He was awake and it was in the Day-time 22. A Dutch Prisoner at Woodbridge in Suffolk in the Reign of Charles II. could discern Spirits but others that stood by could not The Bell tolled for a Man newly deceased The Prisoner saw his Phantome and did describe him to the Parson of the Parish who was with him exactly agreeing with the Man for whom the Bell tolled Says the Prisoner now he is coming near to you and now he is between you and the Wall the Parson was resolved to try it and went to take the Wall of him and was thrown down but could see nothing This Story is credibly told by several Persons of Belief Dr. Hooke the Parson of the Parish has often told this Story of which I know many more particulars 23. Vavasor Powell saw several Apparitions See page 8. of his Life As concerning Apparitions of a Man 's own self there are sundry Instances some whereof I shall here set down 24. The Beautiful Lady Diana Rich Daughter of the Earl of Holland as she was walking in her Father's Garden at Kensington to take the fresh Air before Dinner about Eleven a Clock being then very well met with her own Apparition Habit and every thing as in a Looking-Glass About a Month after she died of the Small-pox And 't is said that her Sister the Lady Isabelta Thinne saw the like of her self also before she died This Account I had from a Person of Honour 25. Mrs. E. W. Daughter of Sir W. W. affirms that Mrs. J. her Father's Sister saw her self i. e. her Phantome half a Year before she died or a quarter of an Hour together She said further that her Aunt was sickly Fourteen Years before she died and that she walked Living i. e. her Apparition and that she was seen by several at the same time The like is reported of others 26. Mr. Trehern B. D. Chaplain to Sir Orlando Bridgman Lord Keeper a Learned and sober Person was the Son of a Shoe-maker in Hereford One Night as he lay in Bed the Moon shining very bright he saw the Phantome of one of the Apprentices sitting in a Chair in his red Wastcoat and Head-band about his head and Strap upon his Knee which Apprentice was really a Bed and asleep with another Fellow-Apprentice in the same Chamber and saw him 27. When Sir Richard Nepier M. D. of London was upon the Road coming from Bedfordshire the Chamberlain of the Inn shewed him his Chamber the Doctor saw a dead Man lying upon the Bed He look'd more wistly and saw it was himself He was then well enough in Health He goes forward in his Journey to Mr. Steward's in Berkshire and there died This Account I have in a Letter from Elias Ashmole Esquire They were intimate Friends Thus far Mr. Aubery CHAP. V. Revelation of secret or future Things by express Voice BY this Title I do not mean any Declarations Discoveries Confessions or Predictions made by any Person living but only such as are uttered either with only an audible Voice alone or with a Voice proceeding from some Phantasm or Apparition either in the likeness of some deceased Person Friend or Relation or of some Ghost dressed up in the Figure of some Animal that we are generally acquainted with as the Serpent to Eve the Ass to Balaan c. Histories are full of Testimonies and Instances of this kind to enquire after all would be a wild Chase and nauseous to the Reader as well as laborious to the Writer We will call a few out of many for a Specimen which will give such a lustre to the Theme we are upon that will certainly run us up in our Meditations and Searches to Digitus Dei the Finger of God as having a signal stroke in all such Voices and Occurrences as cannot with any shew of Reason be imputed or ascribed to any Inarticulate Inorganical Irrational Being which yet appears to be the only Immediate Instrument they proceed fro◠1. In Jerusalem before the Destruction of it by Titus Vespasian at the Feast of Pentecost the High-Priest entering into the Temple to offer the usual Sacrifices which at that time God regarded no more there was a sudden Noise heard and a Voice immediately following it which said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let us depart hence Gaffarella's unheard of Curios Part 2. Ch. 3. out of Josephus Besides we know that our blessed Saviour had by express Words Predicted the same dismal Calamity to that place and People with a particulat notation of the Time when it should happen viz. before the then present Generation should be passed away 2. An Inhabitant of the Town of Guilford in Surrey who was possest of some Copy-hold Land which was to descend to his Children or in default of such Issue to his Brother dies having no Child born And his Wife apprehending her self not to be with Child which her Husbands Brother asked her immediately after his Brother's death she told him she believed she was not but afterward proved to be Which when she knew she went by the instigation of Neighbours to her Brother and told him how it was with her He railed at her called her Whore and told her That she had procured some Body to g et her with Child knowing that such a Field must be Inherited by the Posterity of her Husband but her whoring should not fool him out of the Estate The poor Woman went home troubled that not only her Child should lose the Land but which was worse that she should be thought a Whore However she quieted her self and resolved to sit down with the loss When her times came she was delivered of a Son he grew up and one Summer's Night as she was undressing him in her Yard her Husband appeared and bid her go to his Brother and demand the Field which she did but was treated very ill by him He told her That neither she nor her Devil for she had told him her Husband appeared and bid her speak to him should make him forego his Land Whereupon she went home again But some time after as her Brother was going out of this Field home-ward the dead Man appears to him at the Stile and bids him give up the Land to the Child for it was his Right The Brother being greatly frighted at this runs away and not long
against Heresies saith That some in his time had the spirit of Prophecy to foreknow things to come they saw Divine Dreams and Visions Ibid. 3. Cyprian in his 4th Epistle sets down this Vision with a Respect to the Persecution then raised by Aemilianus President of Egypt Paternus c. There was saith he an aged Father sitting at whose Right Hand was a young Man very Pensive and Sorrowful with his Hand on his Breast on the other Hand another Person with a Net in his Hand as threatning to catch those Men that were about him Whilst Cyprian was wondring hereat he seem'd to hear a Voice saying unto him The young man is sorrowful because his Precepts are not observed he on the Left Hand danceth and is merry for that hereby occasion is given him from the Antient Father to afflict Men. This was long before the Persecution happened Ibid. Cyprian faith he was by another Vision admonished to use a Spare Diet and he sparing in his Drink Ibid. 4. Valens the Emperor fully purposing to drive Basil out of Cesarea was warn'd by his Wife to desist for that she had been troubled with dreadful Dreams about him and their only Son Gallates was desperately ill at that time in the Judgment of the Physitians and this she imputed to the ill Design of the Emperor against Basil Valens hereupon sent for Basil saying thus to him If thy Faith be true pray that my Son die not of this Disease To whom Basil answer'd If you will believe as I do and bring the Church into Vnity and Concord your Child shall doubtless live The Emperor not agreeing to this Basil departed and the Child presently died Ibid. 5. Antonius Physitian to Augustus was admonished in a Dream by a Daemon that appeared to him in the form of the Goddess Pallas that altho' Augustus was sick yet he should not fail to be present in the Battle which was next day to he given by Brutus and Cassius and that he should there abide in his Tent which he would have done but by the Physicians deep Perswasions to the contrary For it came to pass that the Enemy's Soldiers won the Tents where questionless they had slain Augustus if he had been present there So upon this Dream he prevented his Death won the Day and remain'd sole Monarch of the Roman Empire and under his Reign was born the Saviour of the World Mexico's Treasury of Antient and Modern Times Book 5. C. 25. 6. Quintus Curtius declares in the Life of Alexander That when he laid Siege to the City of Tyre he being intreated for Succour of the Carthaginians who said they were descended of the Tyrians concluded to raise his Siege as despairing of ever surprizing it But in a Dream a Satyr appear'd to him after whom he follow'd as he fled before him into a Chamber his Interpreters told him that it was a sure Sign he should take the City if he pursued and continued the Siege which fell out to be true Idem ex Qu. Curtio 7. Katherine de Medicis Queen of France and Wife to King Henry the II. dream'd the day before the said King was wounded to Death That she saw him very sickly holding down his Head as he walked along the Streets of Paris being followed by an infinite number of his People that lamented for him Hereupon she most earnestly intreated him with wringing Hands and bended Knees not to adventure in the Rank of Tilters on that Day But he giving no Credit to her words the last Day of Feasting for the Marriage of Madam Margaret his Sister to Emanuel Philibert Duke of Savoy entred the Lists of Honour and running to break the Lance against a bold and worthy Knight the Count of Montgomery happened to be wounded of which wound the King died soon after Aged about 40. leaving his Kingdom sadly mourning for him Ibid. l. 5. c. 25. 8. His Son King Henry the third three days before he was murdered at St. Clou beheld in a Dream all his Royal Ornaments viz. his Linnen Vesture Sandals Dalmatian Robe Mantle of Azure Sattin Crowns Scepter and Hand of Justice Sword and gilt Spurs all bloody and soil'd with the Feet of Religious Men and others and that he was very angry with the Sexton of St. Dennis And though good Advice was given him to stand upon his Guard yet so it fell out that he could not avoid the fatal Chance Ibid. 9. Calphurnia Wife to the Adopted Father of Caesar having dreamed That she beheld Caesar slain and massacred gave him notice thereof but he in despite of the Dream went jocundly to the Senate next day where he found the sad Effect and Consequence of this Dream Ibid. Mr. Chetwind in his Hist Collections gives us the Account more at large thus viz. Caesar in the fifty sixth year of his Age was slain in the Senate Seventy of the chief Senators conspiring his Death he having the Night before when a Question was asked What Death was best answered The suddain and not propensed His Wife dreamt that Night That he lay dead in her lap and Spurina warned him to have heed to the Ides of March and a Note was given to him going to the Senate discovering the Conspiracy which he began to read but was interrupted and died with it in his hands 10. Bradwarain in his Preface to his Learned Book de Causa Dei tells us of a Dream he had in the Night when he was about his Book in Confutation of Pelagius he thought he was caught up into the Air and Pelagius came and took hold of him to cast him down head-long upon the Earth but he prevailed against him after much strugling and cast down Pelagius so that he brake his Neck and he lay dead upon the Earth Whereby he faith he was much comforted and strengthened Mr. Barkers Flores 11. Thomas Wotton Esq of Bocton Malherb in Kent Father to the Famous Sir H. Wotton a little before his death dreamed That the Vniversity-Treasury was Robbed by Townsmen and poor Scholars in number Five and wrote this Dream the next day by way of Postscript in a Letter to his Son Henry then of Queens Colledge The Letter dated 3 days before out of Kent came to his Son's hands the very Morning after the Robbery was committed The Letter being Communicated by Mr. Wotton gave such Light to this Work of Darkness that the Five guilty Persons were presently discovered and apprehended Dr. Plat's Nat. Hist of Oxfordsh c. 8. p. 47. 12. Astyages last King of the Medes saw in his Dream a Vine springing forth from the Womb of his only Daughter and at last so Flourish and Spread out it self that it seemed to overspread all Asia The Sooth-sayers being Consulted about it answered him That of his Daughter should be born a Son that should seize on the Empire of Asia and divest him of his Tertified with this Prediction he bestowed his Daughter on Cambyses an obscure Person and a Foreigner When his
a Wheelright caused Wheels to be painted on the Walls of his House and in his Bed-chamber these Words Willegis Willegis Memento unde veneris Camerar 5. Lesco the second King of Poland being the Son of a Farmer kept his old Coat by him as a Monument of his poor Descent Idem 6. Dr. Prideaux kept his Leathern Breeches by him which he wore at his first coming to Oxford and used to shew them young Schollars for their Encouragement in studying 7. Sir Matthew Hale when at the Inns of Court used such a Plainness in his Apparel that he was impressed once for a common Soldier See his Life 8. Mr. Bernard Gilpin could never away with any 〈◊〉 Apparel See his Life by Bishop Carleton 9. Mr. Eliot's Apparel was without any Ornament except that of Humility which the Pope elegantly compares to a Knot of Ribbons in the Text where he bids us be clothed with it any other flanting Ribbons in those that came in his way he would ingeniously animadvert upon and seeing some Scholars once as he thought a little too gawdy in their Cloaths Humiliami Juvenes Humiliamini was his immediate Complement unto them Had you seen him with his Leathern Girdle for such a one he wore about his Loins you would almost have thought what Herod feared that John Baptist was come to Life again In short he was in all regards a Nazarite indeed unless in this one that long Hair was always very loathsome to him Cotton Mather in his Life p. 36. 10. Mr. John Carter sometime Minister of Belstead in Suffolk for his own and his Wives Habit used that which was plain and homely retaining their old Fashion yet always very cleanly and decent And in all his House there was nothing but honest Plainness He was such another as Jacob a plain and sincere Man a true Nathaniel in whom was no Guile He never used any Plate in his House but Vessels of Wood and Earth Brass and Pewter were the highest Mettals for his Utensils All the time of his House-keeping he constantly used at his Table a wooden Salt which with Age was grown to be of a Nutmeg colour See his Life in Mr. Clark 's Thira Volume of Lives p. 8. 11. Of Lewis the XI King of France may ye find in the Chamber of Accompts a Reckoning of Two Shillings for Fustion to new-sleeve his Majesty's old Doublet and Three Halfpence for Liquor to grease his Boots which was Anno Christi 1461. 12. Cato tho' a great Man in Rome when the was in all her Glory never wore a Gown that cost him above 100 pence when he was Consul and General of the Army He never drank better Wine than his Hinds and Workmen drank and his Caterer never bestow'd in Meat for his Supper above 30 farthings of the Roman Money Being made Heir to one of his Friends that died who had a piece of Tapistry with a broad Border called then the Babylonian Border he caused it to be sold as being too costly for him Of all the Houses which he had in the Country not one of them was well Plaistered or Rough Cast He never bought Bond-man or Slave that cost him above One Thousand Six Hundred Pence not seeking for fine made Men and goodly Personages but for strong Fellows that could take pains c. To conclude he used to say That a Man bought any thing too dear that was for little purpose tho' he gave but one Farthing for it thinking it much to bestow so little for that which was needless He advised Men to purchase Houses that had more Arrable Land and Pasture belonging to them then fine Gardens and Orchards Plut. in Vita ejus 13. Charles the V. Emperor of Germany was very frugal through the whole course of his Life especially in his Apparel which the Italians wondered at and some jeared him for it Once being to make a Royal Entrance into Millain there was great Preparation for his Entertainment The Houses and Streets were beautified and adorned the Citizens dressed in their richest Apparel a golden Canopy was prepared to be carried over his Head and great expectation there was to see a Great and Glorious Emperor But when he entered the City he came in a plain black Cloth Cloke and an old Hat on his Head so that they which saw him not believing their Eyes enquired which was he laughing at themselves for being so deceived in their expectation Lip Exemp Pol. 184. 14. Bishop Latimer at his last Examination before the Commissioners in Queen Mary's Days appeared thus he bowed his Knee down to the Ground holding his Hat in his Hand having a Handkerchief on his Head and upon it a Night Cap or two and a great Cap such as the Townsmen use with broad Flaps to button under the Chin wearing an old Bristol Frize thread-bare Gown girded about his Body with a penny Leather Girdle at which hanged by a long string of Leather his Testament and his Spectacles without case depending about his Neck upon his Breast Fox Martyrol 15. S. Augustin's Apparel Shooes and Bedding were but mean not over Fresh nor over homely Bishop Jewel out of Posidonius 16. Serapion wore only one poor Linnen Garment never any other 17. There may be a Case put wherein in some exigency it may be Lawful for the Woman to wear the Apparel of the Man and Asterius gives one I know a Woman saith he that Polled her Hair and put on Mans Apparel and a Flowered Garment too that she might not be separated from her dear Husband that was forc'd to fly and hide himself See Mr. Alsop's Sermon of strange Apparel CHAP. XXXV Remarkable Humility in Behaviour SHould any one saith St. Augustine ask me concerning the Christian Religion and the People of it I would answer that the First Second and Third things therein and All is Humility Sure I am our Saviour hath made it the First when he hath assigned Self-denial for the Test of his Disciples If any one will be my Disciple let him deny himself And it is so requisite for all the consequent Duties of a Christian that a Man is neither qualified to be Taught nor Obey nor Suffer without it Nay there 's no Ascending to Glory unless we are first Cloathed with Humility for before Honour is Humility for God will exalt the Humble and Meek but Behold the Proud a far off as they behold others No wonder then if this Grace be owned as a sure Characteristick of those that belong to the Retinue of an Humble Jesus 1. Ignatius was so Humble that he Disdained not to learn of any Clarks Marrow of Eccl. Hist Nicephorus Reports that when he was a Child our Saviour took him in his Arms and shewed him to his Disciples It may be he was one of those little Children that were brought to Christ that he should touch them or that little One whom Jesus took and set in the midst of his Disciples for a Pattern of Humility Ibid. 2.
witness against the Ministers of England as false Prophets and Priests of Baal All the Night after he was much troubled with Dreams about his Sins and when he awaked as he thought thereon he perceived something lighting on his Neck and giving him a great Stroke which caused much Pain and so a second third and fourth each less then other discerned something to enter into his Body which Satan suggested to be the Spirit of God like a Dove and he thought he heard a Voice within him saying Is is Day Adding twice As sure as it is Light so surely shall Christ give thee Light Two or three days after he still waited for more light and walking into his Garden he lay down with his Face to the Ground at which time his right Hand began extreamly to shake and he was in a great Rapture of Joy apprehending it to be a Figure of his spiritual Marriage and Union with Christ Then did the Power within raise him and set him on his Feet and afterwards laid him on his Back brought his Sins into his remembrance causing his Hand at every Sin to strike the Ground and he heard a Voice saying Now is such a Sin mortified Then he arose up and it was said unto him Ask what thou wilt of the Father in my name and he will give it thee Then said Gilpin What shall I ask It was answered Ask Wisdom in the first place which he did and it was answered That his Request was granted and that he should be endowed with the Gift of Prophecy and Singing Praise to God Presently after at another of their Meetings after one Atkingson had spoke and one John Audland was speaking Gilpin was drawn out of his Chair and thrown upon the Ground where he lay all Night all which time his Body and Members were all in Mortion being turned from his Back on his Belly and so back again several times making Crosses with his Legs and his Hands moving on the Ground as if he had been Writing and he heard as he thought a Voice saying That that Writing with his Hand on the Ground signified the Writing of the Law in his Heart Then were his Hands moved to his Head and he heard the Voice saying Christ in God and God in thee Which Words he was compelled to sing forth in a strange manner as also dives Phrases of Scripture then the Devil raised him up and did him be humble then brought him on his Knees again saying Stoop low low Then he was drove down the Street to a Fidler's House where his Hand was forced to knock at the Door and a Voice bid him say Behold Christ stands at the Door and knocks where entring in and taking down a Base Viol he Played upon it and Danced The Voice answering him This is not beeause I love Musick but to signifie the Joy in Heaven for thy Conversion c. Then being carried through the Town he proclaimed as he went I am the Way the Truth and the Life Once being cast upon his Back on the Ground the Voice said Thou shale two Angels to keep thee and immediately two Swallows came down the Chimney and sat on a Shelf near him whereupon he cryed My Angels my Angels which presently flew up the Chimny again though the Doors and Windows were open Then was he cartied upon his Hands and Knees out of the Door into the Streets saying He must forsake Wife Children and all to follow Christ. Thus went he up the Street till some pull'd him out of the Mire and by force carried him into his House his Wife and Family going to Bed he remained alone trembling and questioning what these strange Actions should mean whereupon his Hand was forced to take up a Knife which lay by and to point it to his Throat and the Voice said to him Open a Whole there and I will give thee eternal Life But he threw away the Knife and by his Wife's perswasions went to Bed and in the Morning he roared out now the Devil is gone out of me at which instant he and his Family heard it Thunder Shortly after the Devil came to him again and told him that it was Satan that had possessed him hitherto but now Christ was come and had cast out Satan and that now what he had done before in his Clothes in obedience to Satan he must undoe in his Shirt in obedience to Christ Whereupon he rose out of his Bed went into the Street in his Shirt 'till being stopped the Devil told him That he must be carried into the House by four Women or else for ever stand there like a Pillar of Salt c. Then four Women carried him to his Bed where he played topsey turvey from one Bed to another the Devil bidding him not to fear c. Promising him also to give him Bread of Life to Eat an Water of Life to Drink and that out of his Belly should flow Rivers of Living Water Then were his Teeth moved as if he were eating and he thought that he felt in his Belly a flowing up and down of Waters and being told that Christ's Angels should now wait upon him he saw two Butter-flies in the Window he swallowed one and put the other to his Throat which the Voice said should enter in there nothing being impossible to him that believeth Then was he forced to make Circles on the Bed whereupon suspecting that he was acted by Satan and being in great fear crying Lord what wilt thou have me to do The Devil answered It is too late for thee to cry unto God for Sentence is already passe aginst thee Hereupon he lay down in dispair but presently the Devil told him the third time That is was a white Devil that had deluded him this second time but that now Christ was come indeed and would cast him out and accordingly he thought the Devil was ejected But then all his Members fell on working as if the Pangs of Death had been upon him the Voice telling him That they were the Pangs of the New-birth and that now Chrost was New-born in him Thus he continued a whole day and the Devil told him That now he should work Wonders and cast out Devils in Christ's Name c. A while after he began again to question whether in all this he were not deluded by Satan which made him fall into great fear and then the Devil told him That all this while he had been serving him and blaspheming God and that now it was too late to repent hereupon he fell into a Despair and great Terrors when at last it pleased God to give him Repentance and Peace in his Conscience Whereupon he published a Narrative of these things for a Caution to others This was arrested under the Hand of the Mayor of Kendal the Minister School-master c. Clark's Exampl Vol. 1. C. 63. 4. A. C. 1653. Some Quakers came out of the North into Wales about Wreâ—ham at their Meetings after long silence
With much more which would be too tedious to relate in this place See the Narrative At last with a chearful and smiling Countenance embracing Dr. Sibbalds he said Truly Sir I do take you in mine Arms and truly I bless God for it I do not fear I have an Assurance that is grounded here laying his hand upon his Heart now that gives me more true Joy than ever I had I pass out of a Miserable World to go into an Eternal and Glorious Kingdom and Sir though I have been a most sinful Creature yet God's Mercy I know is infinite and I bless my God for it I go with so clear a Conscience that I know not the Man I have Personally injured Then Embracing those his Servants which were there present he said to each of them You have been very Faithful to me and the Lord bless you And so turning himself to the Executioner he said I shall say a very short Prayer unto my God while I lie down there and when I stretch out my Hand my Right-hand then Sir do your Duty and I do freely forgive you and so I do all the World Then the Earl of Cambridge said to the Executioner Must I lie all along He answered Yes and 't please your Lordship Then he said When I stretch out my hands but I will fit my Head first tell me if I be right and how you would have me lie And being told he must lie a little lower he said Well stay then till I give you the Figure And so having lain a short space devoutly Praying to himself he stretch'd out his Right-hand whereupon the Executioner at one blow severed his Head from his Body which was received by two of his Servants then kneeling by him into a Crimson Taffaty Scarff and that with the Body immediately put into a Coffin brought upon the Scaffold for that purpose and from thence conveyed to the House that was Sir John Hamilton's at the Mews 116. The Speech of the Earl of Holland upon the Scaffold IT is to no purpose I think to speak any thing here which way must I speak And then being directed to the Front of the Scaffold he leaning over the Rail said I think it is fit to say something since God hath called me to this Place The first thing which I must profess is what concerns my Religion and my Breeding which hath been in a good Family that hath been ever Faithful to the True Protestant Religion in the which I have been bred in the which I have lived and in the which by God's Grace and Mercy I shall die I have not lived according to that Education I had in that Family where I was born and bred I hope God will forgive me my sins since I conceive that it is very much his Pleasure to bring me to this Place for the sins that I have committed The cause that hath brought me hither I believe by many hath been much mistaken They have conceived that I have had ill Designs to the State and to the Kingdom truly I look upon it as a Judgment and a just Judgment of God not that I have offended so much the State and the Kingdom and the Parliament as that I have had an extream Vanity in Serving them very extraordinarily For those Actions that I have done I think it is known they have been very Faithful to the Publick and particularly to the Parliament my Affections have been ever exprest truly and clearly to them The disposition of Affairs now have put things in another posture than they were when I was engaged with the Parliament I have never gone off from those Principles that ever I have profest I have lived in them and by God's Grace will die in them c At last the Earl turning to the Executioner said Here my Friend let my Cloaths and my Body alone there is Ten Pounds for thee that is better than my Cloaths I am sure of it Execut. Will your Lordship please to give me a sign when I shall strike And his Lordship said You have room enough here have you not Execut. Yes Then the Earl of Holland turning to the Executioner said Friend do you hear me if you take up my Head do not take off my Cap. Then turning to his Servants he said to one Fare you well thou art an honest Fellow and to another God be with thee thou art an honest Man And then said Stay I will kneel down and ask God forgiveness and then prayed for a pretty space with seeming earnestness Then speaking to the Executioner he said Which is the way of lying which they shewed him and then going to the Front of the Scaffold he said to the People God bless you all and God deliver you from any such Act as may bring you to any such Death as is violent either by War or by those Accidents but that there may be Peace among you and you may find that the Accidents that have happened to us may be the last that may happen in this Kingdom it is that I desire it is that I beg of God next the saving of my Soul I pray God give all Happiness to this Kingdom to this People and this Nation And then turning to the Executioner he said how must I lie I know not Execut. Lie down flat upon your Belly Whereupon after he had prayed with much Affection for a short space the Executioner upon the sign given at one blow severed his Head from his Body 117. The Lord Capel after a brave Speech made upon the Scaffold wherein he prayed for his Enemies taxed the Illegality and Injustice of the Proceedings against him lamented the Consent he gave to the Sentence of Death passed upon the Earl of Strafford as an Act of Cowardice commended the King Charles for a Vertuous and sufficient Prince prayed for the Prince his Son commended the Case of the Nation to the Grace and Mercy of God prayed for all the People and humbly beg'd that God would stanch that Issue of Blood and lastly for himself at last he submitted his Neck to the stroke of the Executioner 118. Mr. Love's Speech on the Scaffold on Tower-Hill August 22. 1651. BEloved Christians I am this Day made a Spectacle to God Angels and Men a Grief to the Godly a Laughing-stock to the Wicked and a Gazing-stock to all yet blessed be my God not a Terror to my self tho' there be but a little between me and Death yet this bears up my Heart there is but a little between me and Heaven It comforted Dr. Tallour the Martyr when going to Execution that there were but two Stiles between him and his Father's House There 's a lesser way between me and my Father's House but two steps between me and Glory it is but lying down upon the Block and I shall ascend upon a Throne I am this day Sailing towards an Ocean of Eternity through a rough Passage to my Haven of Rest through a Red-Sea to
coming in publick remembring the hot Pavement when one plays on the Taber they will lift up their Feet and dance The swiftest kind are called by the Affricans Ragnail Johnston Hist Nat. Class 7. cap. 6. p. 209. 9. The Beaver is a most strong Creature to bite his hinder-feet are like a Gooses and his fore-feet like an Apes his fat Tail is covered with a scaly Skin and he useth it for a Rudder when he pursues Fish he comes forth of his Holes in the Night and biting off boughs of Trees about the Rivers he makes his Houses with an upper loft and when the Water riseth he lies there Johnston p. 211. 10. The Bear when he is Hunted will send forth a Breath that will corrupt the Flesh of of the Hunters and if they come nearer they will cast a Flegm out of their Mouths that kills or blind Dogs and Men. Aristot de Mirab. she brings forth her Young somewhat bigger then a Rat that is both anked and unformed in its parts a rude Mass When he is Fat he creeps into his Den on his back and so takes away his Footsteps that the Hunters may not perceive them In this Den he will grow lean in 40 days and he will keep himself alive lying still and sucking his right Foot 14 days Johnston p. 237. In Brasil is the Ant Bear as big as a g reat Dog the Tail twice as long as the Body and so full of Hair that under it he shelters himself from Rain Heat Cold and Wind his Tongue 3 quarters of a Yard long which he thrusts into Ant hills upon which they run and when full he licks them in Pur. Pilgr Vol. 4. v. 1301. 11. Whether the Vnicorn be Authors are of divers Opinions some affirm it and some deny it Ludovicus Vartomanus saith that he saw two of them sent to the Sultan at Mecha out of Ethiopia they were shut up in Lattises and were not fierce the Horns of this Creature are shewed in many places at the Monastery of St. Dennis there is one also at St. Mark 's Church in Venice and another at Rome Cardan describes it That it is a rare Creature as big as an Horse a Head like a Stag that hath one Horn growing on it 3 Cubits long it stands in the middle of the Forehead it is straight and is broad at the bottom it hath a short Neck a thin Mane with Feet like a Goat A Portuguese affirms that he saw them in the Abyssine Empire as large as a handsome Horse of a dark brown Colour with the Mane and Tail black with a fair beautiful Horn in the Forehead 5 palms long the Colour inclining to white they live in close Woods and Thickets sometimes venture into the Champion not often seen being timerous are not many and those conceal'd in the Woods A Portuguese Captain with 20 Soldiers in Company designing to breastfast while their Horses graz'd a Vnicorn described as before sprang among the Horses the Spectators had sufficient time to see and observe him See the Relation Printed by the Order of the Royal Society Anno 1669. by Sir Peter Wyche 12. The Baboon is a Creature with a Head like a Dog But in shape like a Man he will Fish cunningly for he will dive all day and bring forth Fish abundantly he takes wonderful delight to wear a Garment he hurts no Man he understands the Indians he will gently feed Sheep for their Milks sake Pliny l. 7. c. 7. Strabo l. 15. Two things are most wonderful in him that in the two Equinoctials 12 times a Day he will make Water once every Hour and doth the same at Night hence the Egyptians had the Picture of a Baboon Pissing upon their Dials The second is that when the Moon hath been sometimes in Coniunction with the Sun and loseth her Light the Male will not look not feed but holds down his Face to the Earth nor will the Female move her Eyes any way casting withal her Sperm forth therefore are they held Sacred and fed unto this day that by them the set time of the Moon 's Conjunction with the Sun may be known by them Johnston's Nat. Hist Clas 7. c. 13. 13. The marmaset is a larger kind of Monkey the Tail 5 Cubits long his Hair hanging down from his Forehead by their Legs Face Genitals they look like Countrey Men they are elsewhere all over Hairy they love Children and Women and desire to embrace them saith Cardan When they eat up the Ears of Corn one of them lies perdue in the Field and makes an out cry when he spies a Countrey-man the rest flie They so hate a Crocodile that they can't endure to see his Skin at a g reat distance In the Borders of Cariai there are some will leap from bough to bough as if they flew Ibid. 14. The Cocus is a 4 footed wild Beast in Slythia and Sarmatia for greatness between a Stag and a Ram white and very swift drinking with their Nostrils and bearing it for some days so that they will feed well enough in Pastures where no Water is Strabo l. 7. About About Easter you may see 2000 together upon eating a Venerious Herb in March they lie for a day as half dead Johnston Ibid. out of Gesner 15. The Buff is bigger then an Ox with a bunch on his Back with a very large Forehead curled with Hair that smells like Musk the Flesh fattest in Summer but tasting of Garlick that it feeds on so strong it will take up a Horse and his Rider The Blood redder then Purple so hot that it will soften the Iron of the Hunters Spear and in the greatest Cold it will Corrupt in two hours In the Scotch Woods they will not touch the Shrubs that Men have touched for many days being taken by Art they will die for Grief Camd. in Scotia 16. The Haut or Cercopithecus is a Creature in America mighty Ill-favoured as big as a Monkey his Belly touching the Ground his Head and Face like a Child and when taken he Sighs like a Child Three Claws hang to his hinder-feet like the great prickly Bones of a Carp and by these he creeps up upon Trees when tame he will love a Man and climb upon his Shoulders Thevet lift one in the open Air which yet was never wet Johnston Nat. Hist chap. 7. c. 3. 17. The Elk is a 4 Footed Beast commonly found in Scandinavia in Summer of an Ash colour almost in Winter enclining to black his Horns fit for Footstools each of them 12 pound weight and two Foot long his upper Lip hangs out so long that he cannot eat but going backwards He will run as much Ground in one day as a Horse in three a strong blow with his Foot will kill the Hunter Ibid. ch 1. 18. Bonasus is a kind of Bugle which dungs extream hot when the Hunter follows him Philip King of Macedon kill'd one with a Dart at the foot of Mount Orbclus The Horns
de Verit. Reâ—um Cardan records that Erasmus saw an Italian who spoke perfect Dutch which he never learned so that he was thought to be possessed but being rid of his Worms recovered not knowing that he ever spake Dutch Ambrose Parry l. 19. c. 3 shews that a Woman voided out of an Impostume in her Belly a multitude of Worms about the bigness of ones Finger with sharp Heads which had pierced her Intestines A Woman in Delph in three several Days voided three great Worms out of her Navel and not â—â—ng after was delivered of two Boys 7 Days one after another But of this Mention is made already Thed Dâ—nus speaks of a Switzer Woman who voided a piece of a Worm 5 Ells long without Head and Tail having Scales like a Snake after this she voided another bred in her Bowels above 20 Ells long This poor Woman was tortured so long as she was fasting but when she eat she had some ease Rosse arcan Microcosm p. 103. I could set down saith the same Author many other Stories of Worms voided out of Mens Bodies some like Lizards some like Frogs some Hairy and full of Feet some voided by the Eyes Ears Vomiting Stool some by Urine but this may suffice to let us know of what Materials this Body of ours which we so much pamper is composed and how little Cause we have to be sollicitous for the Back and Belly and withal let us stand in awe of God who when he pleaseth can for our Sins plague us with vermin in our Bodies whilst we are yet alive Ibid. CHAP. XLII Strange Vegetables Trees Plants c. ADam when he was innocent was placed in a Garden and after he had sinned was turned out into the wide and wild World most of his wiser Posterity after they have sinned away a great part of their Life and rambled about through the Bustle and Cares of the World desire to make a Garden the place of their Retreat as suitable for Retirement Meditation and Devotion For such Purposes this Chapter will be serviceable wherein I take not upon me to mention every Vegetable and as Solomon to give the Natural History of all Plants from the Tall Cedars of Lebanus to the Hysop upon the Wall nor read particular Lectures upon any of them as our Saviour when he sends us to consider the Lillies of the Field to learn the Duty of Contentment but I expose to publick View a Collection of some of the choicest vegetables in the Garden of God enough to furnish a Man of Methusalem 's Age with Subject enough to Philosophize and Meditate devoutly upon for me may tread and read all the way to our Graves 1. The Boramet which grows in Scythia is said to have the perfect resemblance of a Lamb with the Head Eyes Ears Teeth and the rest of the Parts of the Body proportionable This Plant is reported to crop and feed upon all the Grass that grows round about it and when there is no more left it dies with Famine You may have the Story of it saith my Author in Sigismundus Cardan Scaliger Vigenerius Rovillius Duret and one of the most Excellent of the French Poets Tels que les Boramets c. Englished by Silvester thus Such as those Boramets in Scythia bred Of slender Seeds and with green Fodder fed Althô their Bodies Noses Mouths and Eyes Of new-yean'd Lambs have full the Form and Guise Gaff Cur. p. 2. c. 5. 2. There is now at this instant shewed in my House a couple of Mandrakes found in a Field called the Shoulder of Mutton Field between Croydon and London in Mr. Anderson's Grounds in August 1695 of a Form very much resembling the Humane Shape with distinction of Sexes the Female with Hair much longer than the Man the Man with Beard Mustachoes and all other Parts answerable It is now living and shoots forth Leaves At first it was found in a Wheat-Field out of which Wheat was carried but three Days before and then no appearance of any such Plant yet at the first discovery the Leaves were near upon as broad as a Woman's Apron of a pale Green and narrow pointed with Apples like Oranges Yet this is almost altogether Imposture for as Johnston tells us there are Counterfeits made of Reeds and Briony Roots Matth. l. 4. Discor c. 7. sheweth the Way and Imposture used to make one They carve in these the Images of both Men and Women sticking the Grains of Barly and Millet in the places where they will have Hair come forth then making a Hole in the ground they cover it with thin Sand so long till these Grains shoot forth which will be in 20 Days at least then they take them up again and cut the Roots where the Grains grow to them with a very sharp Knife and they fit them so that they represent the Hairs of the Head the Beard and other Parts that are Hairy John Nat. Hist a. 5. c. 29. p. 148. 3. The Palm-Tree accounted the most excellent both for Use and Ornament takes no Repose but every Month in the Year presents new Fruit A beautiful Cluster of thirty forty sometimes more Cocoes or Nuts monthly appearing and thô not above seven twelve at the most come to be ripe and attain the last Perfection yet it is questionless that the Palm-Tree by her Fruitfulness was by God peculiarly created for the Advantage of Mankind Some think rev 22.2 is an Allusion to it this being a Tree of Life on Earth as that is in Heaven It grows mostly in Asia particularly India and best nearest the Sea side Of this Tree there are many kinds I. The Coco-Tree which bears Coco Nuts whereof some are wild some excellent called Barcaes very sweet refreshing and wholsome II. The Casuri which bears Dates thô in India it yields none but a certain Liquor which they distil and make a Wine of III. The Trefulim which bears a Fruit called Arequâ—ira of whose Leaves are made Vmbrellaes large enough to shelter two Men from Sun or Rain without which they cannot travel IV. A fourth Species which is Nameless produces the Fruit called De Raposa i. e. Foxes Fruit a kind of Wild Date of no good Taste and never coming to Maturity V. The Berline which bears no Fruit only used for adorning Churches and of a fit size for that use VI. The Macomeira whose Fruit is in Clusters of Thirty or more every one as big as an ordinary Apple when ripe of a Date-colour and very grateful the Rhind as hard Tow oftner suck'd than eaten if swallowed of very hard Digestion The Stone green and hard yet Sovereign against many Diseases These are the Real Estates in India as Vineyards and Oliveyards in Europe They are planted by sowing the Cocoes or Nuts in a Bed afterwards transplanted and ranked at a fit distance afford a beautiful Prospect to the Eye They bear Fruit at five Years sometimes not till seven in some part of Ceilon at two Years Some of