⧠A blazyng Starre or burnyng Beacon seene the 10. of October laste and yet continewyng set on fire by Gods prouidence to call all sinners to earnest speedie repentance Written by Francis Shakelton Minister and preacher of the worde of GOD. ¶ I will shewe wonders in heauen and in the earth bloud and fire and pillers of smoke Ioel. 2 30. ¶ Imprinted at London by Ihon Kyngston for Henry Kirkham and are to bee solde at the signe of the blacke boye adioynyng to the little Northdore of sainct Paule 1580. To the right Honorable sir Thomas Bromley knight lord Chauncellour of Englande and one of her Maiesties moste honourable priuie Councell long life and health with increase of honor and all maner of spirituall blessynges IT maie be demed in the iudgement of the worlde a great presumptiō in me right Honourable thus vnaduisedly to aduēture the discourse of this late blazing Starre whiche appeared the x. daie of October laste 1580. whereof verie small or rather no accompt at all is made emong the vulgare sort for that it hath not altogether suche splēdant brightnesse and glisteryng radiation as some other Cometes heretofore haue had I knowe I say I shal be launced with the bitter reproofes and Zoilous reprehensions of certaine fine mouthed mates who looke for finer phrases and more mellow and sugred sentences then my poore skill or habilitie will aford My onely drift herein right Honourable is to disswade the worlde from freezing in the dregges of their synnes by admonisheyng them of the finall dissolution of the Engine of this worlde and seconde commyng of Christ in the cloudes whiche by many manifest and ineuitable reasons J gather can not bee farre of Jn respecte whereof accordyng to the duetie of my profession J exhort all men to awake out of their slepe by earnest repentance whiche is the perfecte and plain path waie to auert Goddes iuste plagues deseruedly threatened vnto vs. The artificiall description of whiche Starre together with his appearance motion colour continuance matter forme significatiō and effect as J by the aduise of some right skilfull in the Mathematiques haue by the waie superficiallie touched So dooe J leaue the fuller delineation thereof to them who professedly dwell in the same Art Astronomie I meane are best hable to yeeld their learned resolutions My profession drawyng me an other waie requireth an other maner of methode which as J haue here to my poore skill discouered So am J with all humilitie moste duetifully to craue your Honors pardō for the acceptance thereof at my handes till it shall please God to enhable me with other opportunitie to preferre vnto your Lordshippes censure some other woorke of greater momente importance Till then alwaies J shall humblie beseeche the Almightie lōg to preserue your good Lordshippe with honour healthe and all felicitie to his Diuine will and pleasure Amen Your Honors moste humble Francis Shakelton ¶ Jn hanc Francisci Shakeltonj Cometologiam Ogdoastichon ECce Shakeltonj non parua volumine paruo Commoda Brutigenis hexapla certa suis Eia agè lector in hoc forsan reperire libello Multa potes tibi quae vix aliunde patent Vt tibi vt patriae prodesset amicus amicae Participem tersi te facit esse styli Tu tantùm grates memor esto rependere dignas Sic fructum studij demetet ipse sui Thomas Newton Cestreshyrius SO often as there hath been at any time sene eclipses of the Sōne or the Moone either any Comette or blasyng Starre in any parte of the Heauen Those that are Christians haue forthwith been taught by Christe hymself to lifte vp their heades Luke 21.28 knowyng that their redemption draweth nigh that is to saie Christians are admonished thereby that the daie of Iudgement is at hande When thei shall see the Sonne of manne commyng in the Cloudes with power and greate glorie to iudge the quicke and the deade and to giue to euery man accordyng to his deedes that thei haue doen in their bodies be thei good or euill 2. Pet. 3.10 Whose comming shal be as Peter saith as a theefe in the night In the which daie the Heauen shall passe awaie with a noyce and the Elementes shall melte with heate and the yearth with the workes that are therein shall bee burnt vp whiche is as muche to saie that all the worlde shall bee consumed accordyng to the saiyng of our Sauiour Christe Math. 24.35 Heauen and yearth shall passe awaie but my wordes shall not passe awaie Arist lib. de caelo lib. 8. Phis Yet notwithstandyng I am not ignorant how that Aristotle the Prince of all those Philosophers whiche the Latinistes doe call Peripatetici doth labour very earnestly to proue that the worlde is eternall meanyng thereby that it hath no beginning neither shall it haue any endyng Of this opinion is Galenus also that moste experte Phisition of Pergamus a citie of Asia who liued in those daies that Marcus and Commodus were Emperors Galenus and dreamyng also of the perpetuitie and continuance of the worlde saith after this maner Sēper ita stetit sic igitur perdurabit Moreouer Manilius writeth thus Manilius Non alium videre patres alumne ne potes aspicient that is to say our Fathers haue seene no other worlde and shall our Nephewes see any other c. Moreouer you shall vnderstande that among the Latinistes Plinie Plinie doth also maintaine this opinion affirming Mundum esse aeternum immensum neque genitum neque interiturum vnquam Auerrois lib. 1. de caelo And in like maner Auerrois a follower and imitator of Aristotle doeth tread so right in his Maisters steppes that in his firste booke De caelo Idem super 8. Phis Arist he disputeth earnestly against those who doe acknowledge that the worlde was created c. Declaryng also the same thyng in his Commentaries where he doeth expounde and defende the argument of his Maister Aristotle concerning the eternitie and perpetuitie of the worlde I am not vnmindfull also of those wordes whiche Peter doeth alledge in the person of the vngodly and wicked worldlinges 2. Pet. 3.4 saiyng Where is the promise of his commyng For since the fathers dyed all thinges continue alike from the beginnyng of the creation But ye shall vnderstande that all these prophane and wicked reasons and Heathnishe and vnfruitfull questions shall bee confuted orderly God willyng in their places by the authoritie of the holy Scriptures Knowe ye therefore first deare Christians that almightie GOD hym self doeth teache vs by his holie Prophettes and Apostles but moste specially by his onely begotten Soonne Hebr. ◠2 whom he hath made heire of all thinges that the worlde was created of nothyng and shall returne into nothyng againe And therefore wee must not onely beleeue it Read Gene. 14.19 cap. 20.11 cap. 31.17 but also defende the same to bee so as he hath vndoubtedly spoken it And to the ende
As the Philosophers and the Diuines dooe affirme Accordyng to the saiyng of Paule Praeterit sigura huius mundi 1. Cor. 7.31 Whereunto I might adde the Iudgement of Heathen writers whiche shal bee verie profitable to be considered of those that are conuersant in the readyng of Ouide Ouid. lib. 1. metamorp lib. 1. Metamorpho where speakyng of Iupiter he saith thus Esse quoque in fatis reminiscitur affore tēpus Quo mare quo rellus correptaque regia coeli Ardeat mundi moles operofa laboret Of the same thyng reade Lucane also lib. i. Who dooeth as it were appoint a certaine hower wherein all the worlde shal bee consumed and brought to nothyng saiyng Sic cum compage soluta Saecula tot mundi suprema coegerit hora Antiquum repetens iterum chaos oīa mistis Sydera syderibus concurrent ignea pontum Astra petent c. Wherunto I doe referre that whiche Peter doeth set doune vnto vs saiyng 2. Pet. 3.20 The heauens shal passe awaie with a noise and the Elementes shall melt with heate and the yearth with the workes that are therein shal be burnt vp by sire as hath bin before declared Vbi figura mūdi praeterit non natura For whiche cause the master of the Sentences dooeth affirme Magister sententia lib. 4. dist 47. that the qualities of the corruptible elementes whiche were somtymes agreable vnto our corruptible bodies should bee burnt vp vtterlie in the generall consummation And the substance of those Elementes shall haue thesame qualities whiche through a maruelous mutation shall agree with immortall bodies This sentence was borowed out of Augustine lib. xx cap. xvj de ciuitate Dei August lib. 20 cap. 16. de ciuitate dei And seeyng that wee haue proceaded thus farre I thinke it not to bee muche amisse for me to speake somwhat of the time when this daie of Doome or generall consummation of the worlde shal be Knowe ye therefore that the Mathematiques dooe dreame of a greate yere after the whiche all the Starres shall retourne Ad sua principia And then thei saie that the ende of the worlde should immediatly followe And their opinion is that heauen and yearth shal be burned when all the Starres whiche doe now obserue diuers and sonderie courses shall mete together in the signe Cancer Euen as Berosus that Chaldaean Astronomer dooeth affirme that the firste age in the daies of Noe was drouned when all the Starres had their concurse and meetyng together in the signe called Capricornus Naie there haue been some in this our age that haue gone about to appoint a certaine yere when this daie should bee As Hosiander and Stiphelius did but thei wer deceiued Hosiander Stiphelius by the erronious spirite of the Anabaptistes inspired into them by Sathan who is altogether delighted in lyes erronious opiniōs thereby if it were possible entendyng to deceiue all those that thurste after the simple truthe whiche is onely founde in the sacred Scriptures wherein there is no mention made at all of the duration or the continuaunce of the worlde I knowe also that there bee certaine whiche doe deuide the worlde into sixe ages The firste from Adam vnto Noe. The second from Noe vnto Abraham The third from Abraham vnto Dauid The fowreth from Dauid vnto the transmigration into Babilon The fifte from the transmigratiō vnto Christ And the sixt and laste from the Incarnation of Christ vnto the ende of the worlde Wherefore thei alledge that seyng that age wherein now wee liue is the laste age it maie be verie fitly called aetas decrepita a crooked age Seyng that the Euangelist Ihon doeth terme it the laste howre 1. Ihon. 1.18 but yet neuerthelesse how long that age or howre shall endure is kept frō the knowledge of all men I am not ignoraunt yet notwithstandyng how some beeyng moued thereunto through certaine weake and feeble coniectures haue as it were appointed out the time of the daie of Iudgement and ende of the worlde Bringyng forthe the Oracle of Elias whiche thei borowe from the tradition of the Hebrewes whereunto many doe giue verie greate credite And these fellowes dooe affirme That the worlde shall endure 6000. yeres and thei dooe also deuide those yeres after this maner Affirmyng that 2000. yeres should bee consumed before the tyme that almightie God gaue the lawe to Moises to the rest of the children of Israell Thei acknowledge also that the other twoo thousande yeres should be spent vnder the tyme of the Lawe And the laste 2000. yeres should bee expired in the Kyngdome of Christe And thei adde moreouer that these twoo laste 2000. yeres shall not be fullie finished the synnes of the worlde should be so abundantly encreased and should appeare so abhominable in the sight of God I can not forget but that there are other some also who haue faigned that the world shall endure sixe daies euen as it was created in sixe daies But for so long tyme as it shall endure thei dooe giue to euery daie a thousande yeres whiche commeth all to one rekonyng as before As though the Prophet Dauid would haue it to be so Psal 90.4 whē he saieth for a thousande yeres in thy sight are as yesterdaie when it is paste c. Other some also are founde who dooe thinke that the misticall bodie of Christe that is to saie his Churche shall liue the space of 33. yeres vpon the yearth because Christe hymself liued so long in the worlde after he had taken his humaine bodie of the Virgine Marie but thei doe adde to euery yere fiftie lackyng one to make the yeres of Iubelaei But all these thinges are but the foolishe inuentions and dreames of mortall men And without all doubt it is a miserable and moste lamentable case that we hauyng so many plaine and manifest and cōfortable testimonies in the holie Scriptures concernyng Faithe Hope and Charitie and other Godlie and Christian offices and dueties wherein there is no obscuritie or darknesse at all that wee doe altogether neglecte I saie and despise them as matters not worthie the talkyng of and with so greate diligence and paines I will not saie superstition wil seme to prosecute and busie our heades aboute suche vnfruitfull questions as are no whit appertainyng to our Saluation But suche is the wretchednesse and curiositie of our age and tyme. That as the Apostle saieth 1. Tim. 6.4 Euery man is puffed albeeit he knowe nothyng in deede at all but doteth about questions and strife of woordes whereof commeth enuie strife railynges euill surmisynges vaine disputations of men endewed with corrupt mindes and destitute of the truthe c. Let vs therefore aunswere this question concernyng the time when the worlde shal be consumed with Augustine and conclude after this maner viz that this is altogether a vaine friuolous and vnfuitfull question For if it were conuenient and meete for vs to knowe the tyme who might more better
Queene Maries daies And since that tyme in Fraunce and Spaine and other places there hath been thereof to muche experience if the will of GOD had been otherwise Verse 10. More ouer he saieth And then shall many bee offended and shall betraie one an other and shall hate one an other And hath there not been many offences bothe giuen and taken Yea oftentymes more offence taken then occasion hath been giuen Was there euer the like treasons and treacherous conspiracies committed in any age As hath been in these our daies And was there euer more bitter hatred showed betwixt one and other then is at this present I am perswaded the like enemitie betweene partie and partie was neuer seen as is in this our age otherwise there would not be so many brabbling matters sette abroche almoste in euery Courte in Englande as there be c. Moreouer Christe sheweth that many false Prophetes shall arise and shal deceiue many for proofe whereof what saie you to the swarmes of Anabaptistes whiche doe sowe their Deuelishe doctrine almoste in euery place in the worlde And is not this verified also thinke you Of the secrete reuelation of H. N. and of the deuelishe darnell and cursed doctrine of Dauid George and Christopher Vitell and diuers others the cheefest Pillers of the familie of Loue Whose bookes of damnable heresies directly againste diuerse of the moste principall Articles of the christian faithe are scattered abroad in many places of this realme to the greate disturbaunce and breache of that vnitie of faithe which ought to be kept in the bonde of peace But thākes be giuen vnto God the Queenes Maiestie by her graue and learned Counsaile hath taken suche order that not onely all suche bookes shal be called in againe throughout the whole Realme but also that the Sectaries them selues shall bee attached and committed to close prison there to remain till either thei shal be purged and cleared of their heresies by recantation or els by the Lawes of the Realme to suffer the iuste sentence of condemnation for their demerites and to bee condemned as heretiques The heresies whiche thei maintain as thei are infinite in nomber so are thei also full of blasphemie 1 As namelie thei affirme that thei dooe liue so perfectly that thei synne not 2 Also that who soeuer is one of their cōgregation is either as perfecte as Christe or els a very Deuill 3 Thirdlie thei denie with Arrius that Christe is equall with the Father in the power and substance of the Godhead groundyng that opinion out of this place of the Scripture where Christe saieth Ihon. 14.27 My Father is greater then I. Not consideryng that Christe saieth in an other place I and my Father are one c. Ihon. 10.30 4 Thei doe affirme that the Resurrection is paste alreadie with Hymeneus and Philetus Whiche concernyng the truthe haue erred 2. Tim. 2.18 and dooe destroye the faithe of certaine 5 Thei do refuse to suffer persecution for their Religion because thei saie that their bodies are the temples of the holie Ghoste wherein thei doe deny the wordes of Christ who saieth Math. 5.10 Blessed are thei whiche suffer persecutiō for righteousnesse sake for theirs is the kyngdome of heauen c. These with an infinite nomber of other grosse errours doe this deuelishe family of Loue maintain in their blasphemous bookes whiche I doe omit for breuities sake Onely haue I giuen the worlde a taste of a fewe of their opinions that by the consideration thereof all men maie maie take heede of the reste of their Pharisaicall Leuine and damnable doctrine whiche is set a broche in their seditious Bookes firste made in the Dutche tongue in the name of H. N. and lately translated into Englishe haue been secretly brought ouer from beyonde the Seas into the Realme The titles whereof are called Euangeliū Regni or a Ioyfull Message of the Kingdome Documentall sentences The Prophecie of Loue. A publishyng of the peace vpon earth and diuers others which for auoiding of tediousnesse I will not recite at this present Math. 24. verse 12. And furthermore Christ saieth ver 12. that because iniquitie shal bee encreased the loue of many shal be colde but he that endureth to the ende shal be saued Was there euer I praie you more iniquitie Did synne and transgression so aboundantly raigne euery where as it doth at this present Was Christian loue and brotherly fellowshippe more cold at any time then now No truely Suche wickednesse at this daie is raignyng generally vpon the face of the earth that if it were not for the electes sake that these wretched daies should bee shortened it were not possible that any fleshe should bee saued But to conclude our Sauiour Christ addeth verse 14. Math. 24.14 That this Gospell of the kyngdome shal be preached through the whole worlde for a witnesse vnto all Nations and then shall the ende come Now I hope that there is no man so impudent that will deny these Prophecies of Christe to bee alreadie fulfilled For so muche as the Gospell hath been so vniuersally and plentifully preached throughout the worlde that there is none who cā excuse hymself in the daie of the lorde and saie that he hath not heard the sounde of his Gospell preached and published vnto hym by those which are appointed to be the stewardes of suche holie misteries but rather thei must needes confesse that greate hath been the multitude of the Preachers c. What reason can there bee alledged to the contrarie then but that the consummation of the worlde is imminent Seyng that Christe who is the truthe the waie and the life hath spoken it Of whō it is written Math. 17.5 that a voice came out of a Cloude saiyng This is that my beloued Soonne in whom I am well pleased heare hym Hereunto I doe adde that which is writtē by the Apostle Paule 2. Thes 2.1 Now wee beseche you brethren by the commyng of our Lorde Iesus Christ and by our assemblyng vnto hym That you be not sodainly mooued from your minde nor troubled neither by spirite nor by woorde nor by letter as it were from vs as though the daie of Christe were at hande Lette no man deceiue you by any meanes For the daie shall not come except there come a departyng first that is to saie Apostasie or a deniall of the Christian faithe and that the man of synne be disclosed euen the sonne of perditiō whiche is an aduersarie and exalteth hymself against all that is called God or that is worshipped c. Well all these signes ye see haue been already paste and wee can not deny but that wee haue seene and yet doe daiely see an infinite nomber of Antichristes whiche deny the manifest and vndoubted truthe and fall to Poperie and all abhominable Idolatrie so that the daie of the Lorde can not bee farre of but must needes be at hande Moreouer I beseche you harken what Christe