Children nearer to him and not to suffer them to live out of full Communion with his Church or else he would in his Anger leave them to such Abominations as shall cut them off from his Church And since this time many young People have by the Grace of the Lord been prepared for full Communion and have taken hold of the Covenant confessing that they have felt the impression of the Word upon that abashing Occasion spoken And thus the fall of one hath been the rising of many Where Sin abounds the Lord can make Grace to superabound Concerning some Personal Deliverances 1. There was a Young man endeavouring to subdue a Young Horse and a Rope at one end of it was fastened about the Horses Neck but the Horse running with great speed the other end of the Rope caught the Foot of this Young Man as in a snare and was so entangled therein that he was drawn Ten Rods upon his back in a very rough and uneven place of Land he being utterly unable to free himself and none at hand that could help him and thus it being come to this Extremity the Horse of himself stood still so long and no longer time than that the Young Man did clear his Foot out of the Rope and thus was delivered out of the danger and suffered not a broken Bone nor any considerable bruise or harm 2. There was another Young Man who sate upon a Plough-Beam and suddenly his Cattle moving his Plough turned and one of his Legs was Entangled within the Plough and the Plough-Irons pressing hard against some part of his Body but could not free himself and the more he called to the Cattle the more speedily they moved and thus was in danger of being torn in pieces but in this extremity it was not long before the Cattle of themselves stood still 3. There was another Young Man who did fall about Ten Foot from some part of the Mill Timber into deep Waters and a place of many Rocks a Stream very violent and he was carried about eleven Rods down the Stream where there was a great piece of Ice and while he was in this confounded and amazed Posture his hand was guided to take hold of that Ice and there to hold until one who saw him fall did adventure upon that Ice and drew him out of the Waters and thus they were both delivered Thus far Mr. Mather 4. Martin Bucer upon a Sermon Preached against the Impieties and Superstitions of the Church of Rome whilst he attended upon the Prince Elector Palatine in Belgium did so incur the ill will of the Monks and Friars that they said Snares for him but he having notice thereof fled secretly away and went unto Franciscus Sickingem by whom he was kindly entertained promising him safety till the times were better quieted in reference to Religion Ibid. p. 155. 5. I will here set down a Remarkable story of my Own Father William Turner a Private Man and disengaged from Parties who yet in the time of our late Civil Wars being requested by a Neighbour to assist him in the seecuing of a Gelding which he had in a Pasture not far from my Father's House upon the Expectation of an Army that was coming in that Road My Father readily without any excuse went along with him took the Horse out of the Pasture went along the Road so long till the Neighbour fearing danger diverted into the Feilds My Father being not far from his own House and trusting partly to the innocence of his cause kept the Road and bid Farewel to his Companion but by and by meeting with some Souldiers he passed by them and after them others till at last finding the lane narrow and the Souldiers come in greater multitudes to avoid the trouble of giving way to so many having a confidence in the swiftness of his Horse and the Knowledge of by-paths he turned back again but had not gone far till he was shot at once and again and at last shot through his Body between the Bowels and Bastard-Ribs and at last seized His Horse Boots Sword and Cloaths all taken from him and a tattered suit of Apparel from a common Souldier put upon him And at last brought to the General who passed this Sentence upon him that he should be hang'd the next Rendezvour Accordly he was driven before them to the next Market-Town Drayton in Shropshire put under the Table whilst the General and his Officers went to breakfast in order to be hanged by and by But upon a false report the General caused the Trumpeter to sound a March and so left my Father bleeding inwardly in the Inn. Three Chirurgeons that were sent for successively one after the other gave him over for desperate but at last a Gentlewoman related to the Earl of Shrewsbury looking upon his wound did believe it curable and accordingly undertook the Cure and in six Months at least effected it but so that my Father upon the least Surcharge of new Ale or Beer or any windy Liquor was obnoxious to Fainting-Fits till it pleased God after 20 Years or thereabouts to order it so that the Escharre broke out in way of an Issue which continued with him I think to almost the time of his Death which was in the 77th Year of his Age A. D. 1689 90. This I thought my self bound in point of Gratitude to the Divine Providence to Record 6. Beza being in France in the first Civil War and there tossed up and down for two and twenty Months Recorded six hundred Deliverances from Dangers in that space for which he solemnly gave God thanks in his last Testament Flavel's Divine Conduct p. 104. 7. Extracted from Mr. Aubery 's Miscellanies Anno 1670. A poor Widow's Daughter in Herefordshire went to Service she was Aged about 20 fell very ill even to the point of Death her Mother besought God to spare her Daughter's life and take her to him At this very time the Daughter fell into a Trance which continued about an Hour they thought she had been Dead When she recovered out of it she declared the Vision she had in this Fit viz. That one in black Habit came to her whose Face was so bright and glorious she could not behold it and also he had such brightness upon his Breast and if I forget not upon his Arms and told her That her Mother's Prayers were heard and that her Mother should shortly die and she should suddenly recover And she did so and her Mother died She hath the Character of a modest humble vertuous Maid Had this been in some Catholick Country it would have made a great Noise 8. T is certain there was one in the Strand who lay in a Trance a few Hours before he departed And in his Trance had a Vision of the Death of King Charles the II. It was at the very Day of his Apoplectick Fit 9. There is a Sheet of Paper Printed 16 concerning Ecstasies that James Vsher late Lord Primate
of it Catesby and the rest posted into Warwickshire and began an open Rebellion being joyned with about Eighty more and so Trooping together broke open the Stables belonging to Warwick-Castle and took thence some great Horses Thence into Worcestershire and so to Staffordshire where they rifled the Lord Windsor's House of all the Armour Shot Powder c. But being pursued by the high Sheriff of Worcestershire and his Men who rush'd in upon them both the Wrights were shot through and slain with one Musquet-Bullet the rest being taken were carry'd Prisoners to London being all the way gaz'd at revil'd and detested by the common People for their horrid and horrible Treason and so at last they receiv'd the just Guerdon of their Wickedness See a fuller Account in Bishop Carleton's Thankful Remembrance of God's Mercy III. In the Reign of King Charles the First 1. Sir John Temple Master of the Rolls and one of His Majesty's most Honourable Privy-Council within the Kingdom of Ireland and who was Father of the present Sir William Temple relates in his History of the Irish Rebellion in 1641. and which History was first Printed in London in 1646. there in P. 16 17 and 18 sets down that the first Plot for the Rebellion carried on with so great Secresie as none of the English had Notice of it before it was ready to be put in Execution and that on the 22d of October 1641. In the very Evening before the Day appointed for a Surprizal of the Castle and City of Dublin Owen O Conall a Gentleman of an Irish Family but one who had been bred a Protestant and who had been drinking that Evening came to the Lord Justice Parsons there about Nine of the Clock and acquainted him with a Conspiracy for the seizing upon His Majesty's Castle of Dublin and the Magazine therein the next day but he did then make such a broken Relation of a Matter that seem'd so incredible in its self as that his Lordship did then give but very little Belief to it at first in regard it came from an obscure Person and one he conceived somewhat distemper'd in Drink but in some Hours after O Conall being somewhat recover'd from his said Distemper was examin'd upon Oath before the Lords Justices and his Examination gave such a particular Account of the Conspiracy and the Conspirators therein that caused the Lords Justices to sit up all that Night in Consultation for the strengthning of the Guards in the Castle of Dublin and likewise of the whole City and for the seizing of the Persons of the Conspirators that the Execution of the Plot was thereby prevented and otherwise the Castle of Dublin had been the next day in the Possession of the Rebels of Ireland and all the Protestants in Dublin had been the next day massacred The Papists planted the Soveraign Drug of Arminianism here in England on purpose to promote Divisions among us and endeavoured to Advance Arbitrary Power and inflame the Puritans as the Author of the History of Popish Sham-Plots from the Reign of Queen Elizabeth tells us out of a Letter sent to the Rector of Brussels And Cardinal Richlieu sent over one Chamberlain hither who for four Months had Consultations with the Jesuits how to stir up the Scots and foment our Broils as may be seen in Dr. Heylin's Life of Archbishop Laud and Habernfeild's Plot c. Or to speak in the very Words of the late Learned Bishop of Lincoln Dr. Barlow When King James slept with his Fathers and was Translated to a better Kingdom out of the reach of Popish Conspirators their Designs slept not they prosecuted their Plots and Conspiracies to Ruin our Church and Establish'd Religion as much in Charles the First as in his Father's time and at last it came to this Issue that other Means failing the King and Arch-Bishop must be taken away This was discover'd by an Honourable Person Andreas ab Habernfeild to the English Embassador Sir W. Boswel at the Hague and by him to the Arch-Bishop and by him to the King and the Original Copy of the Discovery being found in the Arch-Bishop's Library after his Death was then publish'd and is in print in many Hands and among others in mine In the mean time adds my Author the Civil Wars began and our Popish Conspirators are first in Arms and the bloody Rebellion and in Ireland murder'd above 100000 Protestants in cold Blood without any Provocation given but to kill Hereticks which according to them was Lawful and Meritorious And farther when in Process of that fatal Rebellion carry'd on by English and covertly by Popish Rebels that good King was taken and a Council of Priests and Jesuits sitting in London signified the Condition of Affairs here to a Council of their Confederates at Paris and they transmitted the Case to Rome from whence Directions and Commands were return'd back again to London in short it was determined that it was for the Interest of the Catholick Cause that the King shculd die and accordingly their Council of Priests and Jesuits in London voted his Death This saith the same Reverend Author is now notoriously known to be true and in print publish'd to the World by Reverend and Learned Person who if any shall call him to Account for it is so convinced of the Ttuth of what he writ that he publickly offers to make it good viz. Dr. Du-Moulin Canon of Canterbury in two Books written to the same purpose See more in Bishop Barlow's Book called Popish Principles c. inconsistent with the Safety of Protestant Princes The Irish Papists when they had promised to furnish his Majesty with 10000 Men for the helping of him against the Parliament did not but endeavour'd to cut off the King's Army there by Force and Treachery and employ'd Commissioners to Rome France Lorrain and Spain to invite a Foreign Power into England See Fowles Hist of Rom. Treasons and the Lord Orcery 's Answer to Peter Welsh About 30 Priests or Jesuits were met together by a Protestant Gentleman between Roan and Diep to whom they said taking him to be one of their Party they were going to England and would take Arms in the Independant Army to be Agitators The Romish Priest and Confessor is known who when he saw the fatal Stroke given to the King flourish'd with his Sword and said Now the greatest Enemy we had in the World is gone When the Murder was cried down as the greatest Villany the Pope commanded all the Papers about the Queen to be burnt Many intelligent Travellers told what Joy there was in the English Convents beyond Seas and the Seminaries upon Tidings of the King's Death Benedictines were afraid lest the Jesuits should get their Lands and the English Nuns contended who should be Abesses the Fryars of Dunkirk were jealous lest the Jesuits should engross all the Glory to themselves Du-Moul Answer to Plul. Angl. And tho' the Papists during the Civil Wars flock'd to the King's
the Press and very curious and attentive in Reading and Marking them In all my Conversation I have not met with such a Walking-Library except the late Bishop of Lincoln Dr. Barlow 33. Dr. Rich Blackmore my Contemporary and Colleague at Oxon now living and one of the College in London was in his first Years the most eager and diligent Student that I ever knew sitting up at his Book 'till Twelve One Two and sometimes Three a Clock in the Morning and then lying down only upon his Chairs 'till Prayer-time 'till his Health broke and he was constrained by necessity to retire into the Country to repair himself by Physick CHAP. XLIX Remarkable Instances of Contempt of Wealth JAcob 's Vow That if God would be his God and allow him Bread and Water c. Our Saviour's Poverty St. Paul 's Contentedness and the Community of the Primitive Christions are well known and in truth the very Intention of the Doctrine of the Gospel is to draw us off from a Love of the World to the Love of God and a fond Affection of Secular Riches to a diligent Enquiry after the Kingdom of Heaven so that it is no wonder if we find sometimes the Spiritual and Heavenly Temper of Christians so great and strong and vigorous as quite to conquer and triumph over all their little Cares and Concernments about the present Life 1. Origen was a great Contemner of worldly Wealth inuring himself to Cold and Nakedness never wearing two Coats nor Shooes nor taking care for the time to come with any convetous desire sold his Books especially of Humanity for Two-pence a Day to be allowed him for his Maintenance with which he was content Clark's Marr. of Eccl. Hist Dr. Cave's Prim. Christ 2. Lactantius was so far from seeking after Riches that he died poor 3. St. Augustine would neither buy either House or Land but any thing that was given to the Church he would not refuse except Inheritances offered by those who had poor Children Parents or Kindred judging it unfit to alienate them in such Cases for he would often say That it were much better to bestow Legacies than Inheritances on the Church Clark Ibid. 4. Gregory the Great could never read those words Son remember that thou in thy life-time receivedst thy good things c. without horrour and astonishment least having such Dignities and Honours as he had he should be excluded from his Portion in Heaven Ibid. p. 99. 5. Luther when he reflected upon the Favours and Presents bestowed upon him by Princes and Gret Personages fearing least they might be a Bait to draw him to an inordinate Love of the World broke out into these pathetick Expressions Valde protestatus sum me nolle ita satiari That is I protested stoutly that I would not be satisfied with worldly Welfare for my Portion Ibid. p. 144. 6. St. Bernard going to entr himself into a Monastery of the Cistertians perswaded Four of his Brethren to leave the World and all their worldly Preferments and to joyn with him in this Retirement which they did and accordingly taking leave of their Father seeing their youngest Brother Nivard a playing with other Boys and Guido the elder bidding him Farewel Brother Nivard behold said he we leave to you all our Earthly Possessions He presently answered You will take Heaven and leave me Earth this is no equal Division Afterwards he himself took leave of his Father and followed them Clark's Marr. of Eccl. Hist p. 104. 7. Thomas Aquinas was so great a Contemner of worldly Honours and Wealth that when Promotions were offered him his usual Answer was Chrysostomi Commentarium in Mattheum vellem I had rather have Chrysostom 's Commentary on Matthew Idem in Vit. ejus 8. Constantine the Great was so averse from all Superfluities that upon Festival Days and when he entertained Strangers he was fain to borrow Plate of his Friends to furnish his Cupboard Idem in Vitâ ejus p. 2. 9. Arch-bishop Vsher's Father having left him a good Estate in Land finding that he must have involved himself in many Suits of Law before he could attain to the quiet Enjoyment of it to the interrupting of his other Studies he gave up the Benefit of it to his Brothers and Sisters suffering his Uncle to take Letters of Administration for that end resolving to cast himself upon the good Providence of God to whose Service in the Work of the Ministry he had wholly devoted himself not doubting but he would provide for him yet that he might not be judged weak or inconsiderate in that Act he drew up a Note under his Hand of the State of all things that concerned it and Directions what to do about it 10. Sir Matthew Hale had a Soul enlarged and raised above that mean Appetite of loving Money which is generally the Root of all Evil. He did not take the Profits that he might have had by his Practice for in common Cases when those who came to ask his Counsel gave him a Piece he used to give back the half and so made Ten Shillings his Fee in ordinary Matters that did not require much time or study If he saw a Cause was unjust he for a great while would not meddle further in it but to give his Advice that it was so if the Parties after that would go on they were to seek another Counsellor for he would assist none in Act of Injustice if he found the Cause doubtful or weak in Point of Law he always advised his Clients to agree their Business 11. Mr. John Janeway upon his Death-bed had these words The World hath quite lost his Excellency in my Judgment O! how poor and contemptible a thing it is in all its Glory compared with the Glory of that invisible World which I now live in the sight of And as for Life Christ is my Life Health and Strength and I know that I shall have another kind of Life when I leave this I tell you it would more incomparably please me if you should say to me You are no Man for this World you cannot possibly hold oput long before to Morrow you will be in Eternity I tell you I do so long to be with Christ that I could be content to be cut in pieces and to be put to the most exquisite Torments so I might but die and be with Christ. Oh how sweet is Jesus Come Lord Jesus come quickly Death do thy worst Death hath lost its terribleness Death it is nothing I say Death is nothing through Grace to me I can as easily die as shut mine Eyes or turn my Head and sleep I long to be with Christ I long to die See his Life 12. Miles Coverdale Bishop of Exeter flying beyond Sea in Queen Mary's Reign his Bishoprick was reserved for him till his Return and then sundry times proffered him but he would by no means accept thereof but chose rather to live a more private Life yet not of Action for he
Samuel Fairclough at 13 years of Age upon hearing a Sermon of Mr. Ward 's concerning Zacheus his Restitution began to be very serious and devout as will be shewed under the Chapter of Restitution 23. Jabez-Eliezer Russel Son to William Russel in the Parish of St. Bartholomew the Great London was remarkable in his Life for his Obedience to his Parents in what they commanded him For his addicting himself to the reading of the holy Scriptures For his great Memory he was able to give a particular Account of most of the memorable Passages both in the Old and New Testament with the Names of Persons their Actions and the Circumstances thereof To say no more his retentive Faculty was so capacious that what-ever he read he made it his own His Meditations in the Word of God in the Practice of which he was both frequent and serious His frequent Praying taking notice of the Words and Works of God fearing Sin greatly wishing he had died when he came first out of the Womb because then he should not have sinned c. And in his Sickness having a great sense of both Original and Actual Sin using such Expressions as these I shall see the holy Angels and I shall be ashamed they will be so glorious for I am Dust and Ashes and there I shall see the Twelve Apostles sit upon Twelve Thrones c. And to his Mother ' Prayer will do me more good and is better than Sleep I am best when I pray And at last enquiring after his Sisters Names because as was supposed he thought he should know them in Heaven though he never saw them on Earth and so fell asleep in the Lord Feb. 19. 71. aged 9 years 2 months and 6 days See the Account of his Life and Death 24. Mrs. Luce Perrot late Wife of Mr. Rob. Perrot of London Minister amongst her last Speeches hath these I would not for ten thousand Worlds but have began to seek God betimes he then took me off from other Delights and carried me on step by step I then could see nothing in the World to delight in I then thought Holidays a Wearisomness to me would sometimes sit and see others play but took no delight therein for which they would laugh at me and tell me I studied Divinity c. When Children grow crooked at first they are hardly ever set streight again afterwards c. See the Printed Account of her Speeches p. 1 2. 25. Tho. Aquinas is reported to have loved his Book so dearly when he was but a Child that he must have it constantly to Bed with him and if at any time when he awaked out of Sleep he missed it he would fall a crying Pontan Attic. Bellar. 26. Susanna Bickes who died in the 14th Year of her Age Sept. 1. 1664. of a Pestilence at Leyden The first night she was seized betook her self earnestly to Private Prayer breaking forth into those words Psal 119. If thy law were not my Delight I should perish in my Affliction and Heb. 12.10 11. No chastening for the present seems joyous c. and then sighing to God with her Eyes up to Heaven she said Be merciful to me O Father be merciful to me poor Sinner according to thy Word Commending that Text Ps 55.23 to her sorrowful Parents and Isaiah 49.15 16 addding ' O comfortable words for both Mothers and Children c. Upon the Lord's-day she minded her Father of having her Name given up to be remembred in the Publick Prayers saying she had learned That the effectual fervent Prayer of the Righeeous availes much Yet out of Tenderness for their Safety would not have the Ministers to visit her but rather cast her self upon the Lord 's own Hand and accept of the Visits of others whom the Providence of God should send unto her One of her Visitants having told her that the Minister was taken ill at Church she wept bitterly saying to her Father Have I not matter enough for weeping having heard but just now that Domine de Wâ—t was taken sick in the Pulpit and went home so ill It is a sad Token for the People for when God is about to smite a Land or a City oftentimes he smites and removes their Pastors and ought we not then to lay such a thing to heart although for my part I know that I shall not long live to behold the Evil which may come and which I have helped to procure as well as others And I therefore pray with David Ps 25. Remember not O Lord the Sins of my Youth nor my Trespasses according to thy tender Mercy Remember thou me for thy Goodness sake O Lord. O how do I long Even as the Hart panteth c. Ps 42. and Ps 51. to the 11th verse which she enlarged upon much especially the 5th verse Behold I was shapen in Iniquity and in Sin did my Mother conceive me citing other Texts to the same purpose as Gen. 5.3 Eccl. 7.29 c. She desired her Father to go to Domine de Wit and Ardenois and thank them for the Learning and Instruction she had received by their Catechising O! that sweet Catechising said she unto which I did always resort with Gladness and waited upon it without Weariness until it were ended I have seen and understood that there is so little Comfort and Good and so much Vanity in the Kermis and idle Holidays of Play that I have grieved and been ashamed both for young and old People to see them so glad and mad upon Vanity Also dear Father ye shall give Thanks to my School-master and School-mistress who taught me the first beginnings of my Reading Professing that her Parents Carefulness for her Education and Instruction had been better to her than if they had provided ten thousand Gilders of Portion for her With many Arguments and Texts she comforted her Parents as 2 Sam. 24.14 2 Sam. 12.23 adding so ought ye to comfort your self after my Death and say Our Child is well for we know that they who trusted in God are well My dear Mother who hath done so much for me you must promise to me that after my Death ye shall not sorrow so much for I am afraid for you when I consider your Grief for me and for my other Sister and Brother who are gone through Death before me And consider your Neighbour who hath lost her two Sons and hath no more Children Ye shall both of ye promise me that ye will comfort one another Comfort your selves with Job who having lost all his Children said The Lord hath given c. And John 16.33 c. O Dear Father and Mother I wax more and more feeble and weak Oh! that I may quietly fall asleep in his Bosom Mark 10.14 16. I he here as a Child O Lord I am a Child receive me into thy gracious Arms. O Lord Grace Grace and not Justice for if thou enter into Judgment with me I cannot stand yea no Man living shall in
from Thee that when thou shalt call me hereunto I may practise this my Resolution through Thy Assistance to forsake all that is dear unto me in this World rather than to turn from Thee to the Ways of Sin and that I will watch against all its Temptations whether of Prosperity or Adversity lest they should withdraw my Heart from Thee beseeching Thee also to help me against the Temptations of Satan to whose wicked Suggestions I resolve by thy Grace never to yield myself a Servant And because my own Righteousness is but menstruous Rags I renounce all Confidence therein and acknowledge that I am of my self a hopeless helpless undone Creature without Righteousness or Strength And for as much as Thou hast of Thy bottomless Mercy offered most graciously to me wretched Sinner to be again my God through Christ if I would accept of Thee I call Heaven and Earth to Record this Day that I do here solemnly avouch Thee for the Lord my God and with all possible Veneration bowing the Neck of my Soul under the Feet of Thy most Sacred Majesty I do here take Thee the Lord Jehovah Father Son and Holy Ghost for my Portion and Chief Good and do give up myself Body and Soul for Thy Servant promising and vowing to serve Thee in Holiness and Righteousness all the Days of my Life And since Thou hast appointed the Lord Jesus Christ the only Means of coming unto Thee I do here upon the bended Knees of my Soul accept of him as the only new and living Way by which Sinners may have Access to Thee and do here solemnly joyn myself in a Marriage-Covenant to him O blessed Jesus I come to Thee hungry and hardy bestead poor and wretched and miserable and blind and naked a most loathsome polluted Wretch a guilty condemned Malefactor unworthy for ever to wash the Feet of the Servants of my Lord much more to be solemnly married to the King of Glory but sith such is thine unparallell'd Love I do here with all my Power accept Thee and do take thee for my Head and Husband for better for worse for richer for poorer for all Times and Conditions to love and honour and obey Thee before all others and this to the Death I embrace Thee in all Thine Offices I renounce my own Worthiness and do here avow Thee for the Lord my Righteousness I renounce mine own Wisdom and do here take Thee for my only Guide I renounce my own Will and take Thy Will for my Law And since Thou hast told me that I must Suffer if I will Reign I do here Covenant with Thee to take my Lot as it falls with Thee and by Thy Grace assisting to run all Hazards with Thee verily purposing that neither Life nor Death shall part between Thee and Me. And because Thou hast been pleased to give me Thy Holy Laws as the Rule of my Life and the Way in which I should walk to Thy Kingdom I do here willingly put my Neck under Thy Yoke and set my Shoulder to Thy Burden and subscribing to all Thy Laws as holy just and good I solemnly take them as the Rule of my Words Thoughts and Actions promising that tho' my Flesh contradict and rebel yet I will endeavour to order and govern my whole Life according to thy Direction and will not allow myself in the neglect of any thing that I know to be my Duty Only because through the frailty of my Flesh I am subject to many Failings I am bold humbly to protest that unallowed Miscarriages contrary to the settled Bent and Resolution of my Heart shall not make void this Covenant for so Thou hast said Now Almighty GOD. Searcher of all Hearts Thou knowest that I make this Covenant with Thee this Day without any known Guile or Reservation beseeching Thee that if Thou espiest any Flaw or Falshood therein thou wouldst discover it to me and help me to do it aright And now Glory be to Thee O God the Father whom I shall be bold from this Day forward to look upon as my God and Father that ever thou shouldst find out such a way for the Recovery of undone Sinners Glory be to Thee O God the Son who hast loved me and washed me from my Sins in thy own Blood and art now become my Saviour and Redeemer Glory be to Thee O God the Holy Ghost who by the Finger of Thine Almighty Power hast turned about my Heart from Sin to God O dreadful Jehovah the Lord God Omnipotent Father Son and Holy Ghost Thou art now become my Covenant-Friend and I through Thine Infinite Grace am become thy Covenant-Servant Amen So be it And the Covenant which I have made on Earth let it be ratified in Heaven HENRY GEARING April 11. 1667. 16. For the Christians better Help for the keeping of this Covenant Mr. Allen in his Allarm to the Vnconverted gives this Advice about it This Covenant says he I advise you to make not only in Heart but in Word not only in Word but in Writing and that you wou'd with all possible Reverence spread the Writing before the Lord as if you would present it to him as your Act and Deed and when you have done this set your Hand to it keep it as a Memorial of the solemn Transactions that have passed between God and you that you may have Recourse to it in Doubts and Temptations Mr. Corbet in his Enquiry into the State of his Soul has these Expressions I do not cease says he to lament the more heinous Sins of my Life and cannot forbear the continual imploring of the Pardon of them I do not return again to them and I resolve never so to do I Watch and Pray and strive against all Sin but especially against those Sins to which I am more especially inclined my Conflicts are daily and am put hard to it But I do not yield up my self to any Sin nor lie down in it yea I do not suffer sinful Cogitations to lodge in me I find upon the review of my Life past according to the clearest Judgment that I can make that I have not gone backward but proceeded forward in the ways of Godliness I have been grieved that I am no more elevated in the hope of Heaven and that I cannot attain to a longing desire to be gone hence and to be there with Christ I think with my self sometimes were my Evidences clear for Heaven I would exult to be gone hence this very Hour but I find not this readiness at all times O Lord forgive my ten Thousand Talents I come to Jesus Christ who hath made satisfaction and lay this heavy Reckoning to his Account Lord forgive my Iniquity for it is exceeding great I have done what in me lies to call to remembrance all my remarkable Sins from my Childhood and Youth till now And as far as I can judge I have repented of them both generally and particularly And I now repent of them all from
a Staff only And now he is greatly increased in Strength feeds moderately sleeps well and his Intellects and Faculties are become exceeding clear and strong His Wife behaved herself toward him all the while he lay under this great Affliction with great Care and Affection and by an honest and industrious course of Life supported him and his Children Attested by Rich. Parr D. D. of Camerwel Tho. Gale D. D. Will. Perry M. A. N. Paget M. D. Elias Ashmole And. Needham Curate of Lambeth c. 6. In the Year 1676 about the thirteenth or fourteenth of this Month October in the Night between one and two of the Clock Jesch Claes being a Dutch Woman of Amsterdam who for fourteen Years had been Lame of both legs one of them being dead and without feeling so that she could not go but creep upon the Ground or was carried in peoples Arms as a Child being in Bed with her Husband who was a Boatman she was three times pulled by her Arm with which she awaked and cryed out O Lord What may this be Hereupon she heard an Answer in plain Words Be not afraid I come in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost Your Malady which hath for many Years been upon you shall cease and it shall be given you from God Almighty to walk again But keep this to your self till further Answer Whereupon she cryed aloud O Lord that I had a Light that I might know what this is Then had she this Answer There needs no Light the Light shall be given you from God Then came Light all over the Room and she saw a beautiful Youth about ten Years of Age with curled yellow Hair Clothed in White to the Feet who went from the Beds-head to the Chimney with a Light which a little after vanished Hereupon did there shoot something or gush from her Hip or diffuse it self through her Leg as a Water into her great Toe where she did find Life rising up felt it with her Hand crying out Lord give me my Feeling now which I have not had in so many Years And further she continued crying and praying to the Lord according to her weak Measure Yet she continued that Day Wednesday and the next Day Thursday as before till Evening at six a Clock at which time she sate at the Fire dressing the Food Then came as like a rushing Noise in both her Ears with which it was said to her Stand your going is given you again Then did she immediately stand up that had so many Years crept and went to the Door Her Husband meeting her being exceedingly afraid drew back In the mean while she cryed out My dear Husband I can go again The Man thinking it was a Spirit drew back saying You are not my Wife His Wife taking hold of him said My dear Husband I am the self-same that hath been Married these thirty Years to you The Almighty God hath given me my Going again But her Husband being amazed drew back to the side of the Room till at last she claspt her Hand about his Neck and yet he doubted and said to his Daughter Is this your Mother She answered Yes Father this we plainly see I had seen her go also before you came in This Person dwells upon Princes Island in Amsterdam This Account was sent from a Dutch Merchant procured by a Friend for Dr. R. Cudworth and contains the main Particulars that occur in the Dutch Printed Narrative which Monsieur Van Helmont brought over with him to my Lady Conway at Ragley who having enquired upon the spot when he was there at Amsterdam though of a genious not at all credulous of such Relations found the thing to be really true As also â—hilippus Lambergius in a Letter to Dr. Henry Moor sent this Testimony touching the Party cured That she was always reputed a very honest good Woman and that he believed there was no Fraud at all in that Business Glanvile's Saducism Triumph p. 427. 7. In this place may be accounted the strange way of curing the Struma or Scrophula commonly called the Evil which took its Derivation first of all from King Edward the Confessor and hath in after Ages been effected by the Kings of England and of France Concerning which take only this Story discoursing upon a time with Mr. Philip Caryll of Shipley in Sussex a Roman Catholick concerning Miracles done in this last Age in this Nation he produced this for an Instance That his Son being affected with that Distemper he having no Faith in the case was earnestly perswaded to address himself to King Charles the Second for a Touch of his Hand which having procured his Son was restored to perfect Health which he declared to me calling his Son into company and shewing him perfectly healed 8. Galen had a Man in Cure that had an Artery in his Ankle-bone half cut in sunder whereby he lost all his Blood before any Remedy could be applyed to him He writeth That he was advertised in his Sleep by some God or Angel that he should cut the Artery quite in sunder and the Ends would retire to each side and so lock together again When he awaked he executed what his Dream had represented to him and by that means cured the Man Treas of Ancient and Modern Times l. 5. p. 475. 9. A young Woman Married but without Children had a Disease about her Jaws and under her Cheek like unto Kernels and the Disease so corrupted her Face with Stench that she could scarce without great shame speak unto any Man This Woman was admonished in her Sleep to go to King Edward and get him to wash her Face with Water brought unto him and she should be whole To the Court she came and the King hearing of the matter disdained not to undertake it but having a Basin of Water brought unto him he dipped his Hand therein and washed the Womans Face and touched the diseased Part oftentimes sometimes also signing it with the Sign of the Cross When he had thus washed it the hard Crust or Skin was softned the Tumors dissolved and drawing his Hand by divers of the Holes out thence came divers little Worms whereof and of corrupt Matter and Blood they were full The Kings still pressed it with his Hand to bring forth the Corruption and endured the Stench of it until by such pressing he had brought forth all the Corruption This done he commanded her a sufficient Allowance every day for all things necessary until she had received perfect Health which was within a Week after and whereas she was ever before Barren within one Year she had a Child by her Husband This Disease hath since been called the Kings Evil and is frequently cured by the Touch of the Kings of England Stew's Annals p. 98. 10. Sir John Cheeke was once one of the Tutors to King Edward the Sixth afterwards Secretary of State much did the Kingdom value him but more the King for being once desperately
Simps 12. Constans the Emperor a Monothelite also was slain by one of his Servants in a Bath Simps 13. Constantius a great favourer of the Arian Heresie died suddenly of an Apoplexy 14. Sabinianus presently after the Death of St. Hierom denying the distinction of Persons in the Trinity wrote a Book for confirmation of his Heresie under the Name of St. Hierom Sylvanus Bishop of Nazareth reproving him sharply for it do detect his Falshood agreed with Sabinianus that if St. Hierom did not the next day by some Miracle declare his Falshood he would willingly die if he did the other should die The day came they went to the Temple at Hierusalem multitudes of People followed them to see the Issue the day drew towards an end and no Miracle appeared Sylvanus is required to yield his Neck to the Headsman he did and was ready to receive the blow but immediately somewhat like St. Hierom appeared and stay'd the blow and presently the Head of Sabinianus fell off and his Carkass tumbled upon the Ground This Mr. Clark in his Examples Vol. I. c. 63. tells us out of Cyril who he saith Records it of his own knowledge 15. Grimoald King of Lombardy an Arian bled to Death Ibid. viz. ex Clark 16. Mahomet that notorious Impostor died of the Falling-Sickness Ibid. 17. Some Donatists which cast the Elements of the Lord's Supper to Dogs were devoured by Dogs Simpson 18. John Duns Scotus Doctor Subtilis who obscured the Body of Divinity with his crabbed knotty subtil Questions and Distinctions died miserably being taken with an Apoplexy and buried before he was dead c. 19. Arminius a Pelagian if I may venture to put him into the Catalogue a Semi-Pelagian at least died of a complicated Distemper Cough Gout Ague Gripes Asthma Obstruction in his Optick Nerves his left Eye blind his right Shoulder swelled c. Hist of the Netherl 20. Olympius an Arian Blaspheming the Trinity in a Bath at Carthage was suddenly burnt with three fiery Darts of Lightning Ibid. ex Paul Diacon 21. Anno Christi 1327. Adam Duff an Irishman for denying the Incarnation of Christ the Purity of the Blessed Virgin the Truth of Sacred Scriptures and the Resurrection of the Dead as also the Trinity of Persons was burnt at Dublin Camb. Brit. Irel. p. 181. 22. John of Leyden a Taylor King of the Anabaptists in Germany presently after his Coronation invites 4000 Men and Women to a Feast and between the First and Second Course accuseth a Man of High Treason cuts off his Head returns merry to Supper and after Supper with the same Bloody Hands Administers the Lord's Supper He and his Courtiers continuing to Feast tho' a great Famine was then in the City viz. Munster one of his Fifteen Wives for saying She thought God was not pleased with their Feasting when others pined with Hunger died in the streets was brought into the Market-Place and her Head cut off and his other Wives commanded to Sing and give Praise for it to their Heavenly Father Hist Anabapt Within the space of Two Years John of Leyden and his Consul Knipperdoling were tied to a Stake and together with their great Prophet and their Flesh torn off with hot Pincers and being slain had their Bodies put into Iron Cages and hanged on the Steeple in St. Lambert Sleid. Comment l. 10. 23. Thomas Muncer another of the Tribe was put to the Rack by George Duke of Saxony where he roared most fearfully and at last had his Head cut off and set upon a Pole in the Fields Ibid. 24. Three Hundred Anabaptists that fell upon a Monastery in Friesland and rifled it were most of them either killed by the Ruines of the Monastery or put to Death by the Hangman Ibid. 25. Michael Servetus a Spanish Arian was burnt at Geneva 1551. For which Calvin is blamed as writing to the Magistrates and pushing them on to do it 26. Priscillian for confounding the Persons of the Trinity asserting Man's Soul to be of the same Essence with God pleading for Lying and Perjury as Lawful in Persecution was Executed at Trevers Clark's Exampl Vol. I. c. 63. 27. The first Generation of Adamites in Bohemia for going naked and lying promiscuously one with another were slain by Zisca Claver Hist Mund. 28. Anno Christi 1647. One Quarterman then Marshal of the City of London affirmed there was no more Holiness in the Scripture than in a Dog's Tail and within a few days after was smitten with a violent Disease whereof he died presently Clark's Examp. Vol. I. c. 63. 29. The same Year certain Sectaries in York-shire pretending a Divine Revelation to Sacrifice to God certain Creatures and among the rest their aged Mother whom they slew accordingly perswading her that she should rise again the third day were hanged at York Ibid. 30. Anno 1648. A Sectarian Preacher Gunne by Name in Southwark had lived in Adultery with another Man's Wife for about Nine Years and afterwards lay with one Green's Widow but at last grew Raving Mad and murdered himself Ibid. 31 Bolton one that by Separation made the first Schism here in England first made a Recantation at Paul's Cross and being still dog'd with a desperate Remorse hang'd himself Baily's Disswasive p. 13. c. Robins Justif c. 32. 1647. Some She-Anabaptists at Newbery pretended to strange Revelations and one had very strange Fits the like was seldom seen she gave out that such a Night she should be taken up into Heaven the Night came People assembled the Women took their leave of her with Tears expecting her Ascension 'T was a Moon shiny Night and a Cloud by chance covering the face of the Moon they all cry out Behold he come in the Clouds The Cloud vanished and Flock of Wind Geese appear a good way off they cry out again He comes he comes But when the Wild Geese were gone these tame silly Women return home again as wise as they came having made themselves a ridiculous Spectacle to may Ibid. 33. Anno 1611. One Bartholomew Legate in London for denying the Divinity of our Saviour whom me confessed to King James he had not prayed to for Seven Years together was burnt in Smithfield Fuller's Eccl. Hist p. 63. 34. The same Year Edw. Whightman for Ten abominable Heresies was burnt at Litchfield Ibid. 35. Anno 1653. John Gilpin of Kendal in Westmorland for joyning himself with the Quakers began to quake howl and cry out terribly was by the Devil drawn out of his Chair thrown upon the Ground all Night tempted to cut his own Throat in hopes of Eternal Life but at last by the Grace of God recovered out of this Snare of the Devil Attested by the Mayor and Minister c. of Kendal 36 William Facy Pastor of the Anabaptists at or near Tiverton in Devonshire after Suspension for his disorderly Life and readmission feigned himself Mad pretends to cut his Throat and calls for a Basin to receive the Blood offers to