Toaklys Son Languished and Died calling and crying out upon her that she was the cause of his Death She also declared that about eight days before Susan Cock Margaret Landish and Joyce Boanes brought to her House three Imps which Joyce taking her Imp too carried them all four to Robert Turners to Torment his Servant because her refused to give them some Chips his Master being a Carpenter and that he forthwith fell Sick and oft barkt like a Dog and she believed those four Imps were the cause of his Death Rose Hallybread was for this Wickedness Condemned to be Hanged but Died in Chelmsford Goal May 9. 1645. Ibid. p. 16. Susan Lock was another of the Society concerning whom see more in the Chap. of Satans Permission to hurt the Innocent in their Estates 6. Much about the same time in Huntingtonshire Elizabeth Weed of great Catworth being Examined before Robert Bernard and Nicholas Pedley Esq Justices of the Peace March 31. 1646. Said that about Twenty one years before as she was one Night going to Bed there appeared to her three Spirits one like a young Man and the other two in the shape of Puppies one white and the other black He that was in the form of a youth spoke to her and Demanded Whether she would deny God and Christ which she agreed to The Devil then offered her to do what mischief she would require of him provided she would Covenant he should have her Soul after Twenty one years which she granted She confest further that about a week after at Ten a Clock at Night he came to her with a Paper asking whether she were willing to Seal the Covenant she said she was then he told her it must be done with her Blood and so prickt her under the left Arm till it bled with which she scribled and immediately a great lump of Flesh rise on her Arm in the same place which increased ever since After which he came to Bed and had Carnal Knowledge of her then and many times afterwards The other two Spirits came into the Bed likewise and suckt upon other parts of her Body where she had Teats and that the Name of one was Lilly and the other Priscil One of which was to hurt Man Woman or Child and the other to destroy what Cattel she desired and the young Man was to lye with her as he did often And saith that Lilly according to the Covenant did kill the Child of Mr. Henry Bedel of Catworth as she required him to do when she was angry tho she does not now remember for what and that about two or three days before she sent him to kill Mr. Bedel himself who returned and said he had no Power and that another time she sent the same Spirit to hurt Edward Musgrove of Catworth who likewise returned saying He was not able And that she sent her Spirit Priscill to kill two Horses and two Cows of Mr. Musgroves and Thomas Thorps in that Town which was done accordingly And being askt when the one and twenty years would be out she said To the best of my Remembrance about low Sunday next Being further demanded why she did so constantly resort to Church and to hear the Sermons of Mr. Pool the Minister she said She was well pleased with his Preaching and had a desire to be rid of that unhappy Burthen which was upon her VVitches of Huntington p. 2. 7. About the year of our Lord 1632. As near as I can Remember having lost my Notes and the Copy of the Letter to Serjeant Hutton but I am sure that I do most perfectly remember the substance of the Story near unto Chester in the street there lived one VValker a young Man of Good Estate and a Widower who had a young Woman to his Kinswoman that kept his House who was by the Neighbours suspected to be with Child and was towards the Dark of the Evening one Night sent away with one Mark Sharp who was a Collier or one that digged Coals under Ground and one that had been born in Blakeburn-Hundred in Lancashire And so she was not heard of for a long time and no Noise or little was made about it In the Winter time after one James Graham or Grime for so in that Countrey they call them being a Miller and living about two Miles from the place where Walker lived was one Night alone very late in the Mill grinding Corn and as about twelve or one a Clock at Night he came down the Stairs from having been putting Corn in the Hopper the Mill doors being shut there stood a Woman upon the midst of the Floor with her hair about her head hanging down and all Bloody with five large Wounds on her head He being much affrighted and amazed began to Bless him and at last asked her who she was and what she wanted To which she said I am the Spirit of such a Woman who lived with Walker and being got with Child by him he promised to send me to a private place where I should be well lookt to until I was brought to Bed and well again and then I should come again and keep his House And accordingly said the Apparition I was one Night late sent away with one Mark Sharp who upon a Moor Naming a place that the Miller knâ—w slew me with a Pike such as Men dig Coals withal and gave me these five Wounds and after threw my Body into a Coal-Pit hard by and hid the Pike under a Bank And his Shoes and Stockings being Bloody he endeavoured to wash but seeing the Blood would not wash forth he hid them there And the Apparition further told the Miller that he must be the Man to reveal it or else that she must still appear and haunt him The Miller returned home very sad and heavy but spoke not one word of what he had seen but eschewed as much as he could to stay in the Mill within Night without Company thinking thereby to escape the seeing again of that frightful Apparition But notwithstanding one Night when it began to be dark the Apparition met him again and seemed very fierce and cruel and threatned him that if he did not reveal the Murder she would continually pursue and haunt him Yet for all this he still concealed it until St. Thomas's Eve before Christmas when being soon after Sun-set walking in his Garden she appeared again and then so threatned him and affrighted him that he faithfully promised to reveal it the next Morning In the Morning he went to a Magistrate and made the whole matter known with all Circumstances and diligent search being made the Body was found in a Coal-Pit with five Wounds in the Head and the Pike and Shoes and Stockings yet Bloody in every Circumstance as the Apparition had related unto the Miller Whereupon Walker and Mark Sharp were both apprehended but would confess nothing At the Assizes following I think it was at Durham they were Arraigned and found guilty
an House eternal durable Riches and Righteousness Rivers of Pleasure for evermore there only is a continual Day a Light that suffers no Darkness a Sun always shining an everlasting Summer a long Eternity Bliss and Happiness This is easily demonstrable to any one that knows the present World and can but see the Skirts of the Holy Land the very Borders of Heaven Were it not Wisdom for us them to leave off Building with so much Anxiety here to take down our Scaffolds and get a Jacob's Ladder and climb up to that place of Angels to send our Hearts before us and cast our Anchor safe within the Veil and choose that other World for our Portion and think and speak of it and provide for it and account it as our own and pack up all our last Cares and Passions for it that whilst we live upon Earth we may have our Conversations above and then we shall be eternally safe from Hell beneath But especially at the approach of any unkindly stop or period in our worldly Comforts whether it be a black Night or a cloudy stormy Day or an ill Winter or Poverty or Shame or Sickness or Death let us then take the advantage of the opportunity and look up as high as the Firmament and further even beyond the Starry Orbs and say with our selves In those Countries in that World is no Night or Darkness or Sickness or Sea or Hell let us scorn to grovel here as we have done Let us pack hence our best Goods and be gone let that be our Home and the Lord of that Country our Father and let us live heavenly holily humbly as becomes Citizens of that heavenly Jerusalem the Metropolis of both Worlds 4. Let us live by Rule as those Coelestial Bodies all do even the Rule prescribed us by our Maker and fitted to our Natures and conducive to the Ends of our Being And this without stragling aside deviation or error on the one hand or the other without intermission or passion or weariness or any thing that may disturb our Motion I know as our Natures are more excellent than the Stars so we are upon greater Disadvantages upon the score of Sin that hath so enfeebled our Spirits and emasculated the Courage and Vigour of our Piety that as long as we live we shall be apt to flag but then let it be considered that our God hath offered to accommodate us with all the excellent Helps of the Gospel and the Assistance of his Spirit and therefore in the strength of these let us go on from Day to Day in the exactest Course of a Religious Piety making no considerable Blot or Faulter if possible in the whole Series of our Life or if that through the fraility of Human Nature may not be done let the Blot be presently washed off by the Tears of a sound Repentance and then by that means all the crookedness of our former ways being made streight let us take care for the time to come to move upright steady and streight according to the excellent Rules prescribed us in the Laws of God and Life of our Saviour Let us try not only to keep pace with the Sun but to out-vie all the Stars of the Firmament and let it be accounted no Disgrace to be thus watchful and curious about the keeping of our Orbs and observe our due Postures and modelling our Actions but rather our greatest Excellency and Glory Slight those who say amidst their sickly Healths Thou liv'st by Rule What doth not so but Man Houses are built by Rule and Common-wealths Entice the trusty Sun if that you can From his Ecliptick Line becken the Sky Who lives by Rule then keeps good Company 7. Of the Extensiveness of the Heavens The Stars and Firmament the expanded Sky and all the Hosts of the Aetherial Orbs speak expresly unto all the Nations of the Earth that there is a God to be worshipped and with such a Worship as becomes his Infinite Excellency Their words are so loud they may be heard to all the Ends of the World Then let us consider 1. WHether the most dark and distant Nations of the Earth have taken Notice of this Rule heard this Voice 2. What they have understood by it 3. What they might understand 4. What Inferences we may deduce from the whole for our own Vse 1. Whether the darkest Nations have heard this Voice Answ Yes Their Sound hath gone out to all the Ends of the World And it is very easily made out For 1. They had no other Bible to read in than that of Nature and this of the Heavens was the most legible Page in the whole Book They were without the Written Law but they were not without this Natural Light They had neither Moses nor the Prophets nor Evangelists nor Apostles and therefore whither else should they go but to the Word writ upon the Book of the Creation the Divine Handy-works in the Make of the World Rom. 1.20 2. We find them confessing it making use of this Book reading studiously amongst the Stars poring with an inquisitive Eye upon the Heavens and Firmament to gather some Scraps of a Religious Philosophy and trace the Principles of a Spiritual Divinity Seneca when he hath placed the Wise Man walking to and fro by the Contemplation of his Mind amongst the Stars Illic demum descit saith he quod diu quaesivit illic incipit Deum nosse And in the beginning of his Book of Natural Questions having undertaken some Philosophical Account of the Heavenly Bodies we find him no where in such a Rapture of Divinity as upon that Thesis Nisi ad haec the Study of Divine Things the Contemplations of the Heavenly Bodies c. admitterer non fuerat operae pretium nasci O quam contempta res est Homo nisi supra humana se erexerit Nay more than this they had generally the Original of all their Theology from the Firmament Their Gods were amongst the Stars nay the Stars were their only Gods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Homer Even the Egyptians themselves are accounted to have lead the way to this Superstition And for this Reason it was chiefly that their several Priests Prophets and Magi amongst the Egyptians Chaldeans Assyrians Persians c. were so well skilled commonly in the Curious Arts of Astrology and Divination which have been since derived and diffused from them to us and the rest of the World Their Hermes Tresmegistus Ptolomy and Haly being Authors of great Request still with our Astrologers and Prognosticators 2. What did they learn from hence Truly a great deal more than some Christians learn from Nature and Revelation both I speak not of all the poor dark Heathen World but of some who were more serious and contemplative amongst them who took more Pains than their Fellows And I dare safely say that tho' their Eyes were dim and the Light they saw by but like the obscure Twilight or the first Dawning of the Morning
of Lot Gen. 19. of Jacob Gen. 31. of Moses Exod. 3. of Balaam Gideon Manoah Elijah c. in the Old Testament And in the Case of the Baptist's and our Saviour's Birth in the New Testament they appeared to the Two Maries Zechariah and the Shepherds Act. 10.3 Cornelius is said to have seen a Vision evidently viz. An Angel of God coming to him More may be observed by Men of Leisure and Ingenuity that will take the pains to examine their Concordance and turn over a few leaves of the Bible The greatest difficulty is with Men of an Infidel Nature not only of the Sadducean humour who Account Angels no more then Divine Praises or of the Familist's Principle who say they are meer Phantasms created for the present occasion and then presently when their Business is over manumitted into Old Vanity and Nothing but Hobbists and Scepticks and Atheists The first of which Symbolizes much with the Old Sadduces the Sceptick doubts and the Atheist flatly denies them To all which I have no more to say it being not my business now to engage in the Lists of Disputation which would swell my Book into a Volume too big for the Purses of the present Age but to submit fairly the aforesaid Texts and the following stories to the Sober and Mature consideration of the Reader Only be pleased to take this distinction along with you that Angels may appeaâ— visibly to the Eye of the mind as well as to the Eye of sense And now let us lay aside our Bible a while to humour the Infirmity of this Unbelieving Club who could be well enough content there might be Good Angels concerned for us so there were no Bad ones against us Bodinus who had it from the Mouth of the Man whom it concerned a Holy and Pious Man and an Acquaintance of Bodinus's tells us that he had a certain Spirit that did perpetually accompany him which he was then first aware of when he was about Thirty Seven years of Age but conceived that the said Spirit had been with him all his Life time as he gathered from certain Monitory Dreams and Visions whereby he was forewarned as well of several Dangers as Vices That this Spirit discovered himself to him after he had for a whole year together earnestly prayed to God to send a Good Angel to him to be the Guide and Governour of his Life and Actions adding also that before and after Prayer he used to spend two or three hours in Meditation and Reading the Scriptures diligently enquiring with himself what Religion might be the Best beseeching God that he would be pleased to direct him to it And that he did not allow of their way that at all adventures pray for Confirmation of them in that Opinion they are in whether right or wrong That whilst he was thus busy in matters of Religion he light on a passage in Philo Judeus de Srcrificiis where he Writes That a Good and Holy Man can offer no greater nor more acceptable Sacrifice to God then the oblation of himself And therefore following Philo's Counsel that he offered his Soul to God And after that amongst many other Divine Dreams and Visions he once in his sleep seemed to hear the Voice of God saying to him I will save thy Soul I am he that appeared unto thee Afterwards the Spirit would every day knock at the Door about three or four a Clock in the Morning tho he rising and opening the Door could see no body This Trouble and Boysterousness made him begin to conceit that it was some ill Spirit that thus haunted him and therefore he daily Prayed earnestly to the Lord that he would be pleased to send his Good Angel to him and often also Sung Psalms having most of them by heart Wherefore the Spirit afterwards knocked more gently at the Door and One day discovered himself to him Waking which was the first time that he was assured by his senses that it was He for he often touched and stirred a Drinking-Glass that stood in his Chamber which did not a little amaze him Two days after when he entertained a Friend of his Secretary to the King his Friend was much abashed while he heard the Spirit thumping on the Bench hard by him and was strucken with fear but he bid him be of good courage there was no hurt towards him and the better to assure him of it told him the truth of the whole matter From that time saith Bodinus he did affirm that this Spirit was always with him and by some sensible Sign did ever advertise him of things as by striking his Right Ear if he did any thing amiss if otherwise his left If any body came to Circumvent him his right Ear was struck but his left if a good Man and to good Ends accosted him If he was about to Eat or Drink any thing that would hurt him or intended to do any ill Action he was inhibited by a Sign and if he delayed to follow his Business he was quickened by a Sign given him When he began to Praise God in Psalms and to declare him Marvellous Acts he was presently raised and strengthened by a Supernatural Power He daily begg'd of God that he would teach him his Will and set one day of the Week a part for meditation and Reading the Scripture and Singing of Psalms and did not stir out of his House all that day But in his ordinary Conversation he was sufficiently merry and of a cheerful mind for which he cited that saying Vidi facies sanctorum letas But in his conversing with others if he had talked Vainly and Indiscreetly or had some days together neglected his Devotions he was forthwith Admonished thereof by a Dream He was also Admonished to rise betime every Morning about four a Clock with a Voice coming to him while he was asleep saying Who gets up first to Pray He was often Admonish'd likewise to give Alms and observed the more Charity he bestowed the more Prosperous he was On a time when his Enemies sought after his Life knowing he was to go by Water his Father in a Dream brought two Horses to him the one white the other Bay and thereupon he bid his Man hire him two Horses and tho he said nothing of the Colours his Man brought him a White Horse and a Bay one In all Difficulties Journeyings c. He us'd to ask Counsel of God and one Night when he had begg'd his Blessing while he slept he saw a Vision wherein his Father seemed to Bless him At another time when in great danger and was newly gone to Bed he said the Spirit would not let him alone till he had raised him again whereupon he watched and prayed all that Night the day after he escap'd the hands of his Persecutors in a wonderful manner which done in his next sleep he heard a Voice saying Now Sing Qui sedet in latibulo altissimi c. He once attempting to speak to this
yet a spacious Field to turn me in having to deal with a Tribe of Men that have as much Faith as Goodness and perhaps little more and yet being to handle a Point wherein God himself hath taken care to obviate the Scruples and Infidelity of Ill Men more than in the former case where Self-Interest disposeth them to a Belief The Devil in the Serpent tempting Eve the Evil Angels sent among the Egyptians Psal 78.49 The Devil in the case of Job 's Affliction Job 1.17 19. of our Saviour Mat. 4. of the Demoniacs up and down in the Gospels c. One would think were enough to startle these Infidel Bravadoes into at least a modest fear and humble silence and suspension of Judgment But because they are so obstinate we shall here muster up a Legion of Devils to attack and out-face their Confidence and let them look to it and consider well with themselves in due time how they will be able to stand to the adventure of such a Conflict I shall not stay to tell all the Stories at large that I meet with but give a short Epitome of them enough to satisfie any People of an unbiassed Judgment and clear Intellectuals And if at last they do not surrender up their Faith I shall be ready to say as John 10.20 Themselves have Devils and are mad 1. Among the Antients we have several Stories of such Apparitions and Spectres 1. When Cassius and Brutus were to pass out of Asia into Europe and to transport their Army into the Opposite Continent and horrible Spectacle is said to appear unto Brutus in the dead of the Night the Moon not shining very bright and all the Army being in silence a black Image of a huge and horrid Body standing by him silently is said to offer itself to Brutus his Candle being almost out and he musing in his Tent about the Issue of the War Brutus askt what Man or God he was The Spirit answered O Brutus I am thy Evil Genius and thou shalt see me again at Philippi Brutus replied I will meet thee there then The Spirit disappeared but according to his Promise appeared again in the Fields of Philippi to Brutus the Night before the last Fight Plutarch in Vit. Bruit p. 1000. Camerar Medit. Hist l. 4. c. 2. The same Cassius in the very same Battel in the Field of Philippi is reported by Historians to have seen one in the shape of Julius Caesar of a more than ordinary height coming towards him on Horse-back with an angry Countenance and a forc'd Gallop to strike him which struck such a Fear into him that he turned back upon his Enemies and soon after killed himself Camerar ibid. l. 4. p. 289. 3. The like befel Cassius of Parma a renowned Poet who followed the side of Brutus and Cassius say Acron and Porphyrio being Colonel of a Regiment of Foot His Masters being dead he retired to Athens where Qu. Varus sent for that purpose by Augustus slew him But Valerius Maximus adds That whilst he was at Athens one Night being overwhelm'd with cares he thought that he saw a very great Black Man with long Hair and his Beard uncombed stand before him who being asked what he was answered I am the Evil Spirit Cassius affrighted with that fearful Countenance and so fearful a Name called aloud for his Servants ask'd if they saw such a Person come into his Chamber or go out they all swore they saw none VVhereupon he laid him down and began to take some rest but the same Phantome appeared again and so awaken'd him that he called for a Light and charged his Servants not to leave him Between this Night and his Death there passed not many Days Idem lib. 4. ex val Max. 4. Dio of Syracuse before he was killed by those that conspired against him sitting one evening very Pensive and Solitary in his Gallery a sudden Noise made him lift up his Head and looking towards the other side of the Gallery he espied a great Woman of such a Face and Dressing as one of the Furies is represented with sweeping the place upon which in great Amazement he called his Friends and wish'd them to stay with him all Night fearing the return of the Spectre A while after a young Son of his in a Transport of Passion threw himself headlong from the Top of the House and was killed Plutarch in vit Dion et ex eo Camerar medit Hist. l. 4. 5. Cornelius Sylla being in the Countrey saw an ill Spirit that called him which in the Morning he told his Friends made his Will Seal'd it in the Evening and the Night following died of a Feaver Aged Sixty Years Camerar Ibid. l. 4. Wanley's wonders c. Book 6. 6. Xerxes had a Spectre appeared twice to him in his Sleep stirring him up to make War upon the Grecians and the last time with a pair of burning Tongues in his Hands as if he would have put out his Eyes because he opposed the Counsels of War Ibid. 7. Julian the Apostate the Night before he was declared Emperour told his Friends that as he reposed himself there stood before him as it were a Genius or Familiar Spirit saying to him in pretty rough Terms Julian I have a long time without making any ado waited at thy Lodging-door desiring to make thee Great sometimes I have gone away as if no reckoning had been made of me if now thou reject me tho many are of the same mind to advance thee I will take my leave and go away very sorrowful For the rest mark this well that I will not tarry much longer with thee And a little before he was kill'd in the War against the Persians the same Genius or Demon appeared to him again all ragged and filthy to look upon with a horn of plenty in his hand covered with a Linnen Cloath walking very sadly a-long by the Hangings of his Tent. Amm. Marcell l. 20. Camerar medit Hist l. 4. Lavater de Spectr c. 12. Wanley's Wonders of the little World Book 6. p. 612. 8. Curtius Rufus being come into Africa with the Governour being yet of little Credit or Reputation walking one day at Noon in the Portico or Gallery before his House a Woman greater and fairer then ordinary appeared to him whereat he was abash'd but she said to him I will foretell thee thy Fortunes thou shalt return to Rome shalt be advanced to great Office shalt be chosen Proconsal and Governour of Africa and shalt die in that Dignity Plin. Secundus lib. 3. Epist. Camerar Ibid. Wanley c. Ibid. 9. A Woman pretending to have the Holy Ghost proved a Witch and did many VVonders She had a gift of Prayer and did Baptize and Administer the Lords Supper in the ordinary way c. Epist Firmil ad Cypr. 75. p. 238. This is much like the story of Magdalena Cracia c. 10. To come nearer to our own times as Luther was once walking in his
his Son who was then scarce ten Years of age that he should always propound and set before him the Thirty-sixth year of his Life as the utmost he should ever attain unto which neither he nor his Father had gone beyond and his Son never reach'd unto for Robert Devereux his Son and also Earl of Essex was beheaded in the Thirty-fourth year of his age So that his dying Father seemed not in vain to have Admonished him as he did but to speak by Divine Inspiration and Suggestion Cambd. Annal. rer Angl. Part 2. p. 277. 5. Philip de Mornay L. du Plessis was in Paris upon black St. Bartholomew's-Day when News was brought him that the Admiral was slain he leaped out of his Bed and whilst he was putting on his Cloaths he felt an extraordinary Motion in himself which caused him to say God will deliver me out of this danger and I shall live to see it revenged On the contrary Monsieur Rameny his Tutor presently answer'd And I shall die in it both which came to pass Clark's Examples Vol. 2. p. 552. 6. Mr. John Carter sometimes Minister of Belstead in Suffolk having long studied the Book of the Revelations some of his Friends ask'd him what he thought of the Future Estate of our Church here in England You shall not said he need to fear Fire and Faggot any more but such dreadful Divisions will be amongst God's People and Professors as will equalize the greatest Persecution Herein we have found him a true Prophet Ibid. 7. It may seem happily incredible to some to relate how many Years agon Dr. Vsher L. Primate of Ireland confidently foretold the Changes which since are come to pass both in Ireland and in England both in Church and State and of the Poverty which himself should fall into which he oft spoke of in his greatest Prosperity Some took much notice of the Text on which he preached in St. Maries in Cambridge Anno Christi 1625. Upon the late Coronation-Day out of 1 Sam. 12.25 If you still do wickedly you shall be consumed both you and your King Others of the last Text he preached on at Court immediately before his Return into Ireland on 1 Cor. 14.33 God is not the Author of Confusion but of Peace as in all the Churches of the Saints IN his application he spake of the Confusions and Divisions which he was confident were then at the Doors Ibid. 8. A. C. 1624. He spake before many Witnesses and oft repeated it afterwards that he was perswaded that the greatest stroke to the Reformed Churches was yet to come And that the time of the utter Ruin of the Roman Antichrist should be when he thought himself most secure according to that Text Rev. 18.7 When she shall say I sit as a Queen and shall see no Sorrow c. Ibid. 9. When in the Reign of Queen Mary Dr. Sands was forced to fly out of England he was oonvey'd to the House of one Mower a Master of a Ship at Milton-Shoarâ— and and when the Wind served he took his leave of his Landlord and Landlady who had been married eight Years and had no Child and when he took his Leave of the Woman he thank'd her kindly for his Entertainment and gave her his Handkercheif with an old Royal of Gold in it saying Be of good Comfort e're an Year be past God will give you a Son and it came to pass according For when there lacked but one day of a Twelvemonth she was brought to Bed of a fair Son Ibid. 10. A. C. 1601. Popery much increasing in Ireland and there being too much connivance at them Dr. Vsher preaching before the State at Christ-Church in Dublin gave them his Sence about that Toleration boldly applying that Passage in the Vision of Ezek. ch 4.6 Where the Prophet by lying on his Side was to bear the Iniquity of Judah Forty Days each Day being appointed for a Year signifying the time of Forty Years to the Destruction of Jerusalem whereupon he added From this Year will I reckon the Sin of Ireland that those whom you now embrace shall be your Ruin and you shall bear this Iniquity which accordingly came to pass at the end of the Forty Years viz. A. C. 1641. in the late Rebellion and Massacre in Ireland affected by those Papists that were then connived at See his Life in Dr. Bernard 11. About the Year 1544. There was in Scotland one Mr. George Wiseheart a Man of Admirable Graces and singularly Learned who first Preached in Ross then in Dundee where to the great Admiration of his hearers he went over the Epistle to the Romans till at the Instigation of the Cardinal one Robert Misle a chief Man in that Town inhibited him from Preaching and required that he should trouble their Town no more for he would not suffer it And this was spoken in the Publick Congregation Whereupon Mr. Whiseheart musing a space with his Eyes lift up to Heaven after a while looking sorrowfully upon the Speaker and People he said God is my Witness that I minded never your trouble but your comsort Yea your trouble is to me more dolorous than it is to your selves But I am assured that to refuse Gods word and to chase from you his Messenger shall not preserve you from trouble but shall bring you into it For God shall send unto you Ministers that shall neither fear Burning nor Banishment I have offered you the Word of Salvation with the hazard of my Life And now ye your selves refuse me and I must leave mine innocency to be declared by my God If it be long prosperous with you I am not led by the Spirit of Truth but if unlooked for troubles come upon you acknowledge the cause and turn to God who is Gracious and Merciful and if you turn not at the first warning he will visit you with Fire and Sword And so he came down from the Pulpit and went out of the Town And whilst he was Preaching up and down in the Countreys News was brought him that the Plague was broken out in Dundee which begun in four days after he was prohibited Preaching there and raged so extreamly that it 's almost beyond credit how many dyed in twenty four hours space c. The Cardinal very eagerly sought Mr. Wisehearts Death and for that end caused a Letter to be sent unto him as if it had been from his familiar Friend the Laird of Kinnur desiring him with all possible speed to come unto him for that he was taken with a sudden Sickness In the mean time he had provided Sixty Men Armed to lye in wait by the way to Murther him The Letter being brought unto him by a Boy who also brought him an Horse to ride on Accompanied with some honest Men his Friends he set forwards on his Journey But as he was riding stopping on a sudden and musing a while he turned back and said to his Friends I will not go I am forbidden of
in a strange Sickness that he had shrewdly buffeted and handled by him and not far from a Possession His Sickness was a Vertigo 40 Fits at least in an hour and every one of them accompanied with sore Temptations but by Prayer and Fasting they were removed and he recovered Strength and Courage and Comfort though the Devil had tempted him strongly to blaspheme threaten to make him the Scorn of Religion to torment and hinder him if he offered to fast or pray or preach Clark in his Life p. 71. 5. Mr. Tho. Tregosse for five Weeks was kept under by the Spirit of Bondage and Afflicting Tortures till at last he took up a Resolution of discovering some Sins which most burdened his Conscience and meeting with a comfortable Passage concerning God's Love to Mankind in some of our English Divines he was somewhat quieted and refrashed See his Life 6. Mrs. Elizabeth Wilkinson was much troubled with Temptations Doubts Fears and Sickness but imparting her Condition to some Christian Friends hearing Sermons and reading proper Books after many years she was much strengthned and comforted and on her Death Bed even ravished with Joy See her Life by Mr. Clark 7. Mrs. Katherine Bretterge was upon her Death-Bed assaulted with most greivous Temptations which made her cry out That a Roaring Wilderness of Woe was within her her Sins had made her a Prey to Satan wishing she had either never been born or made any other Creature than a Woman crying Wo wo wo c. a weak wretched woful forsaken Woman c. But at last through the Mercies of God recovered extraordinary Comfort See more in the Chap. of Earnests of a Future Retribution 8. Mr. Robert Glover for five years was so worn and consumed with Cares and Fears about his Soul and Reflections upon his Backsliding that he had no pleasure of Meat Drink Sleep nor Life itself but seemed as if he had been almost in the Pit of Hell yet before he died recovered his Comforts so that he lived as if already possessed of Heaven Clark 's Examp. vol. 1. c. 3. 9. I have already or shall have occasion hereafter to speak of the Afflictions and subsequent Comforts of Mr. Mackarnesse Mr. Rob Smith of Ludshelft Mr. Charles Langford all which have published a Narrative of their own particular Cases and following Cures to the World for the Caution and Encouragement of others 10. Mr. Timothy Rogers who is a very ingenious Gentleman of great Learning Candor and Moderation upon his Recovery after two years very heavy Sickness thought himself obliged to commemorate the Mercy of God to him in delivering him in a manner Miraculously from his Malady after the Fruitless Attempts of many Physicians of great Note to restore him in the Assemblies of his People on these words Psal 30.3 4. O Lord thou hast brought up my Soul from the Grave c. Sing unto the Lord O ye Saints of his and give Thanks at the remembrance of his Holiness They are of great use not only for Persons in his Case but for all in general since they not only contain grateful Remembrances of God's Mercies for Deliverance out of Trouble but necessary Directions for all Christians how to behave themselves which Precautions to acquit themselves so as to provide for the worst of Afflictions After Pathetical Acknowledgments of the great Mercies he received from God in his Affliction both for giving him Patience under it and Deliverance from it and to the People for their Kindness to him in his Distress he raises these two Observations from the Words 1. That God alone is the Soveraign-Disposer of Life and Death 2. That to be brought up from the Grave is a Mercy greatly to be acknowledged and for which we ought to be very thankful He afterwards proceeds to give a plain Relation of some part of his sore distress and I shall give it you in his own words I would desire says he to praise God my self for his great Mercy in my Recovery and also beg of you to praise him in my behalf I will give you a short Account of the Deplorablness of my Condition before I was delivered It will not be a very delightful Account but yet as Solomon says Eccl. 7.2 It is better to go to the House of Mourning than to the House of Feasting It is better some times to hear sad than always pleasant Things And in as much as Grief and Mourning is in it self a very grave and homely thing that requires not Ornament or artificial setting off I shall without affecting to be thought eloquent give You A plain Relation of some part of my sore Distress AFter an ill habit of Body that had for some years attended me together with some little Ilnesses now and then which were but as drops to the greater Storm that was to come upon me and which I could not foresee it pleased God at length in his just and righteous Judgments to suffer my growing Distemper to arrive to a most formidable height So that before I desisted from coming to this place my Sleepdeparted quiâ—e away and for several Nights in a Week I slept no more than I do at this time upon which there immediately followed a general Weakness and Decay of Spirits a general Listlessness and a total Indisposition and by feeling of this I had a strong Impression in my Mind that I shouldvery speedily die as strongly fix'd in my Apprehensions as if it had been said to me as to Hezekiah Thou shalt surely die I thought I was immediately to go to the Tribunal of God and the Thoughts of immediate appearance before him continued with me for about a year there was not a Day past wherein I did not think that I should be dead before Night and at Night I should be dead before the Morning I thought my self just at the entrance into the Grave And what a strange prospect that is and what a mighty Change it causes in a Man's Thought none know but those that have apprehended themselves so near it nor do they fully know it unless they have been near it for many Months together He adds in another place If at any time I rested a little that little Rest was all the while disturb'd with terrible and amazing Dreams and when I awaked I always sound my self in strange and unexpressible Pain in Anguish and Bitterness such as nothing in this World is able to represent even as to its lowest degrees And judge you into what Confusions and Disorders this alone would throw a Man if it were single My Disease and my Fears and sad Apprehensions came upon me as a Whirlwind like the rushing of many mighty Waters strange and horrible Pains and great Fears so that it was as an universal Storm from which there was no retreat Sometimes by the Greatness of my Trouble I was even stifled with Grief that I could not for a great while speak a Word and when I spoke it was in a mournful
and all the World 2. Colonel HOLMES THe next Place was Lime where many of Note died particularly Colonel Holmes who was the first of those there executed near the same Place where they landed when they came ashore with the Duke of Monmouth Being brought to the Place after some difficulty for the Horses that were first put into the Sledge would not stir which obliged those concerned to get others which they did from the Coachman who had that Morning brought them to Town When they were put into the Sledge they broke it in pieces which caused the Prisoners to go on foot to the Place of Execution Where being come as I told you before the Colonel began thus at the foot of the Ladder He sate down with an Aspect altogether void of Fear but on the contrary with a kind of smiling Countenance so began to speak to the Spectators to this purpoe That he would give them an Account of his first Undertaking in the Design which was long before in London for there he agreed to stand by and assist the Duke of Monmouth when Opportunity offer'd in order to which he went to Holland with him and there continued until this Expedition in which God had thought fit to frustrate his and other Good Mens Expectations He believed the Protestant Religion was bleeding and in a step towards Extirpation and therefore he with these his Brethren that were to suffer with him and Thousands more had adventured their Lives and their All to save it but God Almighty had not appointed 'em to be the Instruments in so glorious a Work Yet notwithstanding he did verily believe and doubted not but that God would make use of others that should meet with better success tho the way or means was not yet visible but of this he did not doubt He also was satisfied of the Duke's Title so that matter did not afflict him on account of his engaging on his Score And going on further with a Discourse of this nature he was asked by a Person why he did not pray for the King He with a smiling Countenance answered I am sorry you do not yet understand the Difference between Speaking and Praying And having ended his Discourse he then prepared himself by Prayer for his Dissolution which was very devout and pious for half an Hour which was as follows Colonel Holme's Last Prayer MOst Glorious most Great and most Merciful God! there is none in Heaven or in Earth that is like unto Thee Heaven is thy Throne and the Earth is thy Footstool Who shall say unto thee What doest thou Here we are poor deplorable Creatures come to offer up our last Prayers and Services unto thee We beseech thy favourable Ear to our Prayers and the Comfort of thy Holy Spirit at this time We praise and magnifie thy Name for all the Dispensations of thy Providence towards us especially for this thy Providence in bringing us to this Place and at this time to suffer Shame for thy Name Help and assist all of us to submit to thy Will patiently Pardon all our Sins remove them out of thy Presence as far as the East is from the West and accept of us in the Merits of thy Son Jesus Christ Thou who art the Searcher of Hearts and Tryer of Reins let there not at the moment of Death be the least spark of Sin in-dwelling in us nor the Strivings of Flesh and Blood that may hinder us from a joyful Passage unto thee Give us Patience also under these Sufferings and a Deliverance to all others from undergoing them and in thy good time work a Deliverance for poor England let thy Gospel yet flourish among them Hasten the Downfall of antichrist we trust the time is come Prevent O Lord this Effusion of Christian Blood and if it be thy Will let this be the last Lord bless this Town let them from the highest to the lowest set the Fear of God before their Eyes Bless all sorts and conditions of Men in all Ranks and Qualities pardon all their Sins give them all true Repentance and the Grace of thy Holy Spirit Fit and prepare us for the chearful fulfilling of thy Holy Will Let the Comforter be still with us Be Merciful to all our Friends and Relations and Acquaintance Forgive our Enemies Accept of our Thankfulness for all the Mercies and Favours afforded us and hear and graciously answer us in these our Requests and what else thou knowest needful and expedient for us and all for our Redeemer the Lord Jesus Christ his sake who died for us that we might reign with him for ever and ever To whom with Thee and thy Blessed Spirit of Grace be ascribed as is most due all Honour Glory and Praise both now and for ever After having ended his Prayer he took occasion to speak to his suffering Brethren taking a solemn Leave of them encouraging them to hold out to the end and not to waver observing that this being a glorious Sun-shining Day I doubt not though our Breakfast be sharp and bitter it will prepare us and make us meet for a comfortable Supper with our God and Saviour where all Sin and Sorrow shall be wiped away So embracing each of 'em and kissing of them told the Sheriff You see I am imperfect only one arm I shall want assistance to help me upon this Tragical Stage Which was presently done and Execution suddenly followed 3. The Execution of Mr. SAMPSON LARKE MR. Sampson Larke who was a very Eminent Pious Minister and had lived in that Town but a little before Many Years he was there well acquainted and all People that knew him had a Value for him behaving himself with that Humility and Circumspection as no body could have any other Occasion but to value him He design'd to have spoken somewhat on a Portion of Scripture and was beginning having mentioned the Place he intended to speak upon but was interrupted and told the Work of the Day being great they should want time So then he stopp'd and reply'd He could make Application where he should not meet with Interruption and so apply'd himself to Prayer which he performed with great Devotion and Zeal for a quarter of an Hour to the great Satisfaction of the Auditors And so taking leave of his suffering Brethren he mounted the Stage which was to be the last Act he made in this World Being on the Ladder he saw some of his Friends and Neighbours weeping and mourning for him to whom he spake Pray weep not for me I am going to a Place of Bliss and Happiness Wherefore pray repair to your Houses and e're you get thither I doubt not but I shall be happy with my God and Saviour where all Tears shall be wiped away and nothing shall remain but Hallelujahs to all Eternity Leaving this Place we proceed to other Parts of the Country where with the like Butchery were only five Executed amongst whom was one 4. Mr. TYLER MR. Tyler of Bristol
if those Princes were truly such as the Historians represented them they had well deserved that Treatment And others who tread their Steps might look for the same For Truth would be told at last and that with the more Acrimony of Style for being so long restrained It was a gentle suffering to be exposed to the World in their true Colours much below what others had suffered at their Hands She thought that all Sovereigns ought to read such Histories as Procopius for how much soever he may have aggravated Matters and how unbecomingly soever he may have writ yet by such Books they might see what would be probably said of themselves when all Terrors and Restraints should fall off with their Lives Ibid. 20. She did hearken carefully after every thing that seemed to give some hope that the next Generation should be better than the present with a particular Attention She heard of a Spirit of Devotion and Piety that was spreading itself among the Youth of this great City with a true Satisfaction She enquired often and much about it and was glad to hear it went on and prevailed She lamented that whereas the Devotions of the Church of Rome were all Shew and made up of Pomp and Pageantry that we were too bare and naked And practised not enough to entertain a serious Temper or a warm and an affectionate Heart We might have Light enough to direct but we wanted Flame to raise an exalted Devotion Ibid. 21. She was â—o part of the Cause of the War yet she would willingly have sacrificed her own Life to have preserved either of Those that seemed to be in Danger at the Boyne She spake of that Matter two Days after the News came with so tender a Sense of the Goodness of God to her in it that it drew Tears from her and then she freely confessed That her Heart had trembled not so much from the Apprehension of the Danger that she herself was in as from the Scene that was then in Action at the Boyne God had heard her Prayers and she blessed him for it with as sensible a Joy as for any thing that had ever happened to her Ibid. 22. The Reflections that she made on the Reduction of Ireland looked the same way that all her Thoughts did Our Forces elsewhere both at Sea and Land were thought to be considerable and so promising that we were in great Hopes of somewhat that might be decisive Only Ireland was apprehended to be too weakly furnished for a concluding Campaign Yet so different are the Methods of Providence from Humane Expectations that nothing memorable happened any where but only in Ireland where little or nothing was expected Ibid. 23. When sad Accidents came from the immediate Hand of Heaven particularly on the occasion of a great Loss at Sea she said Tho' there was no occasion for Complaint or Anger upon these yet there was a juster Cause of Grief since God's Hand was to be seen so particularly in them Sometimes she feared there might be some secret Sins that might lie at the Root and blast all But she went soon off from that and said Where so much was visible there was no need of Divination concerning that which might be hidden Ibid. 24. She was sorry that the State of War made it necessary to restrain another Prince from Barbarities by making himself feel the Effects of them and therefore she said She hoped that such Practices should become so odious in all that should begin them and by their doing so force others to retaliate that for the future they should be for ever laid aside Ibid. 25. She apprehended she felt once or twice such Indispositions upon her that she concluded Nature was working towards some great Sickness so she set herself to take full and broad Views of Death that from thence she might judge how she should be able to encounter it But she felt so quiet an Indifference upon that Prospect leaning rather towards the desire of a Dissolution that she said Tho' she did not pray for Death yet she could neither wish nor pray against it She left that before God and referred herself entirely to the disposal of Providence If she did not wish for Death yet she did not fear it Ibid. 26. We prayed for our selves more than for her when we cried to God for her Life and Recovery both Priest and People Rich and Poor all Ranks and Sorts joyned in this Litany A universal Groan was Ecchoed to those Prayers through our Churches and Streets Ibid. 27. But how severely soever God intended to visit us she was gently handled she felt no inward depression nor sinking of Nature She then declared That she felt in her Mind the Joys of a good Conscience and the Powers of Religion giving her Supports which even the last Agonies could not shake Thus far Bishop Burnet 28. In the Publick Worship of God she was a bright Example of solemn and unaffected Devotion She prayed with humble Reverence heard the Word with respectful Silence and with serious Application of Spirit as duly considering the infinite Interval between the Supremacy of Heaven and Princes on Earth That their Greatness in its Lustre is but a faint and vanishing Reflection of the Divine Majesty One Instance I shall specifie in this kind When her Residence was at the Hague a Lady of Noble Quality coming to the Court to wait on her on a Saturday in the Afternoon was told she was retired from all Company and kept a Fast in Preparation for the receiving the Sacrament the next Day The Lady staying 'till Five a Clock the Princess came out and contented herself with a very slender Supper it being incongruous to conclude a Fast with a Feast Thus solemnly she prepared herself for Spiritual Communion with her Saviour Dr. Bates 's Sermon upon the Death of the Queen 29. She had a sincere Zeal for the healing our unhappy Divisions in Religious Things and declared her Resolution upon the first Address of some Ministers that she would use all Means for that Blessed End She was so wise as to understand the Difference between Matters Doctrinals and Rituals and so good as to allow a just Liberty for Dissenters in things of small moment She was not fetter'd with superstitious Scruples but her clear and free Spirit was for the Union of Christians in Things essential to Christianity Ibid. 30. In her Relation to the King she was the best Pattern of Conjugal Love and Obsequiousness How happy was her Society redoubling his Comforts and dividing his Cares Her Deportment was becoming the Dignity and Dearness of the Relation Of this we have the most convincing Proof from the Testimony and Tears of the King since her Death Solomon adds to many Commendations of a vertuous Woman as a Coronis That her Husband praises her The King 's declaring that in all her Conversation he discovered no Fault and his unfeigned and deep Sorrow for his Loss are the Queen 's