rise up in Judgment against you My Lord I profess my self a True and Obedient Son to the Church of England to that Church wherein I was born and wherein I was bred Prosperity and Happiness be ever to it And wherein it hath been said That I have been enclined to Popery If it be an Objection worth answering let me say truly That from the Time I was One and twenty Years of Age till this Hour going up Nine and forty I never had thought in my Heart to doubt of the Truth of my Religion in England and never any had the boldness to suggest to me the contrary to the best of my Remembrance and so being reconciled to the Mercies of Christ Jesus my Saviour into whose Bosom I hope shortly to be gathered to enjoy those Eternal Happinesses that shall never have end I desire heartily the Forgiveness of every Man both for any rash or unadvised Word or Deed and desire your Prayers And so my Lords Farewel Farewel all the Things of this World Lord strengthen my Faith give me Confidence and Assurance in the Merits of Christ Jesus I desire that you would be silent and joyn in Prayers with me and I trust in God we shall all meet and live eternally in Heaven there to receive the Accomplishment of all Happiness where every Tear shall be wiped from our Eyes and every sad Thought from our Hearts and so God bless this Kingdom and Jesus have Mercy upon my Soul After this he prayed twice and with a low Obeysance took his Leave submitting to the Block The Relat. of his Execut. 113. Archbishop Laud made this his last Speech on the Scaffold Jan. 10. 1644. GOod People this is an uncomfortable time to preach yet I shall begin with a Text of Scripture Hebr. 12.2 Let us run with patience the race c. I have been long in my Race and how I have look'd to Jesus the Author and Finisher of my Faith he best knows I am now come to the end of my Race and here I find a Cross a Death of Shame but the Shame must be despised or no coming to the Right of God Jesus despised the Shame for me and God forbid but I should despise the Shame for him I am going apace as you see towards the Red Sea and my Feet are now upon the very brink of it an Argument I hope that God is bringing me into the Land of Promise for that was the way through which he led his Prophets but before they came to it he instituted a Passover for them a Lamb it was but to be eaten with sour Herbs I shall obey and labour to digest the sour Herbs as well as the Lamb and I shall remember it is the Lord 's Passover I shall not think of the Herbs nor be angry with the Hand that gathers them but look only to Him who instituted that and governs these for Men can have no more power over me than what is given them from above I am not in love with this Passage through the Red Sea for I have the Weaknesses and Infirmities of Flesh and Blood plentifully in me and I have prayed with my Saviour that this Cup of Red Wine might pass from me but if not God's Will not mine be done And I shall most willingly drink of this Cup as deep as he pleaseth and enter into this Sea yea and pass through it in the way that he shall lead me But I would have it remembred Good People that when God's Servants were in this boisterous Sea and Aaron among them the Egyptians which persecuted them and did in a manner drive them into that Sea were drowned in the same Waters while they were in pursuit of them I know the God whom I serve is able to deliver me from this Sea of Blood as the Three Children from the Furnace And I most humbly thank my Saviour for it my Resolution is now as theirs was then they would not worship the Image the King had set up nor will I the Imaginations which the People are setting up nor will I forsake the Temple and the Truth of God to follow the Bleating of Jeroboam's Calf in Dan and in Bethel And as for this People they are at this Day miserably misled God of his Mercy open their Eyes that they may see the right way for at this Day the Blind lead the Blind and if they go on both will certainly fall into the Ditch For my self I am and I acknowledge it in all Humility a most grievous Sinner many ways by Thought Word and Deed and I cannot doubt but that God hath Mercy in store for me a poor Penitent as well as for other Sinners I have now upon this sad Occasion ransacked every corner of my Heart and yet I thank God I have not found among the many any one Sin which deserves Death by any known Law of this Kingdom And yet hereby I charge nothing upon my Judges for if they proceed upon Proof by valuable Witnesses I or any other Innocent may be justly condemned and I thank God tho' the weight of this Sentence lie heavy upon me I am as quiet within as ever I was in my Life and tho' I am not only the first Archbishop but the first Man that ever died by an Ordinance in Parliament yet some of my Predecessors have gone this way tho' not by this means For Elphegus was hurried away and lost his Life by the Danes 3. and Simon Suabury in the Fury of Wat. Tyler and his Fellows before these St. John Baptist had his Head danced off by a lewd Woman and St. Cyprian Archbishop of Carthage submitted his Head to a persecuting Sword Many Examples great and good and they teach me Patience for I hope my Cause in Heaven will look of another dye than the Colour that is put upon it here and some Comfort it is to me that I go the way of these Great Men in their several Generations and also that my Charge as foul as it is made looks like that of the Jews against St. Paul Act. 25.3 for he was accused for the Law and the Temple i. e. Religion and like that of St. Stephen Act. 6.14 for breaking the Ordinances which Moses gave i. e. Law and Religion the Holy Place and the Temple v. 13. But you will say Do I then compare my self with the Integrity of St. Paul and St. Stephen No! far be that from me I only raise a Comfort to my self that these Great Saints and Servants of God were laid at in their times as I am now and 't is memorable that he who helped on this Accusation against St. Stephen did after all fall under the very same himself Yea but here 's a great Clamour that I would have brought in Popery I shall answer that more fully by and by In the mean time you know what the Pharisees said against Christ himself If we let him alone all men will believe in him venient Romani
himself under this Representation as 1 Kings 19.11 12. to Elijah in a still small Voice Qu. only the whistling Noise of a calm Air But Acts 2 2. to the apprehension in the sound of a rushing mighty Wind. I have one thing more to remark upon this Meteor as tending very much to set forth the Glory of God and that is its divers Uses and Effects 'T is a wonder that such a thin tenuious invisible Body as that is should serve for such divers and excellent Purposes Consider them and wonder It carries all the Fowls of the Air which would be no more able to fly without it than the Fishes of the Sea to swim without Water it bears up the heavy Clouds and fans purges and transports them from place to place so that we say truly as Psal 18.10 That the Divine Glory doth ride upon the Cherubs and flies upon the Wings of the Wind It is a faithful Messenger in the Hand of the Almighty to bring Tokens of Kindness or Judgments to a People One while Flies and Caterpillars innumerable Frogs and Lice Plagues and Pestilential Infections another while Quails and Manna Flesh and feather'd Fowl Rain Plenty and Prosperity In short it fans our Lungs and walks to and fro through our Nostrils every moment and we are not able no breath without it And yet this so useful so necessary so common a Creature we cannot see we cannot comprehend In God we live move and have our Being he is within us and without us and we know him not And no Absurdity in all this 4 I might add to these Storms and Tempests not as specifically different from them but yet such as may require a Consideration by themselves I mean those more violent Irruptions of Wind and Vapours or other watry Exhalations commixed as either by their suddeness or violence or surprizing and contrary Motion seem prodigious or prove hurtful to us These are sometimes so dreadful that they overturn Trees Houses Cities over-run whole Countries with a Deluge of Waters drowning or swallowing up the Inhabitants rending sometimes Rocks asunder and carrying them into the midst of the Sea sometimes dividing parcels of Land from the Continent and carrying them into the Ocean for Islands of which Histories are full of Examples All that I shall remark upon this Particular is that as the Storms are of God's sending so they are subject to his Government Nah. 1.3 4. The Lord hath his way in the Whirlwind c. vide Psal 107.25 26 27 29. And Psal 148.8 The stormy Wind fulfilling his Word You know the Story Mat. 8.23 24 25 26. 27. But that which I drive at in these Quotations is this That he who rules the raging of the Sea and stiâ—leth the violent Storms of the Wind and Waters is able also to appease the Madness of a People to bush the Noise and Tumult of the World into a deep Silence to turn our Spears into Pruning-hooks and our Swords into Plough-shares to give us instead of a Storm a Calm in our own Breasts in our Houses and Families in our Churches and Nations Had not we best then in such Cases arise from ouâ— sleep every one and call upon his God as Jonah 1.4 5 6. And if our Lord seem to sleep too let us go and awaken him in good earnest and say Lord save us or we perish And then he that keepeth Israel and never slumbers nor sleeps will arise and scatter our Enemies and shew himself mighty in our Salvation upon the Ungodly he will rain down Snares Fire and Brimstone and an horrible Tempest This shall be the Portion of their Cup. Psal 11.6 For the righteous Lord loveth Righteousness his Countenance doth behold the upright 5. Hail Rain Snow and Frosts c. I will not stay now to shew the particular Usefulness of all these in their Kind Order and Seasons not if I cared to spend time upon it have I Skill to do it perfectly Something might be said which perhaps every one is not well sensible of concerning the Wisdom as well as the Power and Goodness of God in using such a diverse Method in Manuring of the Earth and Nursing of Sublunary Bodies I shall conclude this with only that emphatical Exhortation of the Psalmist 147.12 ad finem Praise the Lord O Jerusalem praise thy God O Zion For he hath strengthned the Bars of thy Gates He hath blessed thy Children within thee He maketh Peace in thy Borders And filleth thee with the finest of the Wheat He sendeth forth his Commandment upon Earth His Word runneth very swiftly He giveth Snow like Wool he scattereth the Hoar-frost like Ashes He casteth forth his Ice like Morsels Who can stand before his Cold He sendeth out his Word and melteth them He causeth his Wind to blow and the Waters to flow He sheweth his Word unto Jacob His Statutes and Judgments unto Israel He hath not dealt so with any Nation And as for his Judgments they have not known them Praise ye the Lord. 6. To pass over Eclipses Conjunctions and Rain-bows c. I shall instance only in Extraordinary Signs and Apparitions as that of Angels appearing to Arbaham to Lot to Jacob to Manaoh to David to divers others the extraordinary Chasms of Light in the Heavens at our Saviour's Baptism his Transfiguration his Ascension the Cloud and Pillar of Fire to the Israelites the Darkness at our Saviour's Passion the Holy Ghost in the Likeness of a Dove the Apparition exhibited to Saul to St. Stephen the Revelations of St. John the Prodigies before the Destruction of Jerusalem Armies conflicting in the Air with a Thousand more such Wonders which I list not to relate particularly I confess they are often mixed with false incredible Relations yet not therefore all to be rejected Our Saviour hath given us warning to expect some such Mat. 24. and Acts. 2.19 20. and every Age almost is Witness of some Miracle or other of this Nature thô not so many as many would believe Even Heathen and Mahometan History as well as Christian give Suffrage to this From the whole we have this Lesson intimated to us viz. If the outward insensate Heavens that are neither endued with Sense nor Reason but are of a bruitish Nature declare to the World the Glory of God what would be expected from us Men to whom all these Creatures are given but as Servants If these mute sensless Things preach so expresly the Glory of him that made them what should not Man do who tho' he lives in place below them yet is endowed with an Excellency far above them God himself sometimes appeals to them for Testimony against us to upbraid our Disobedience Hear O Heavens and give Ear c. All the Host of the Inferiour Heavens keep their place and observe the Laws of their Creation the very Clouds and Winds obey him only Man is an unruly undutiful disingenuous obstinate Thing that will neither keep his Orb nor serve the Ends of
together for their Good and for the promoting of their Salvation But on the other hand as the Learned Mr. Willam's observes in his Sermon to Youth Vanity unhealed is of an improving Nature and there 's no bad Child but grows worse Sin is not a Stream that grows empty or a Root that dies by meer time God knows we have had experience of that Alas how does Villany grow with Years The Child that began with few Sins grows up to many Sins insomuch that we have some Young Men before eighteen have committed as great Sins as the Man of eighty Youth enters with lesser Sins and proceeds to grosser Sins We have many Young People that seem to abound in Wickedness as they improve in Age as if they grew older only that they may grow Viler One Sin brings on another by the lesser thou art sitted for a greater Sinful Habits are strengthned by Sinful Acts And fear and shame for Sin wear off yea are even extinguished by a course of Sin Lust may be strongly Rooted before old Age and I sear 't is so with abundance of Youths Is it not so with some of you Did not some of you blush at a little Sin and now thou canst mock at great ones Are there not some amongst you that once dared not to tell a small Lye and now you can lye all sorts Are there none here that trembled when they swere a little Oaeth and now can Swear at the Bliodiest rate and add Blasphemy and Cursing to their Oaths Sirs did not some of you feel a check for a light Act and now you can commit Fornication and Vncleanness without any inward Rebuke It was hard to bring thee to pilfer a Pâ—nâ—y and now thou canst steal Shillings and Pounds It was much ado that thou couldst endure to be Drunk in the Night but now thou canst do it openly and Glory in it Thou durst not formerly have neglected a Sermon and thou must pray by thy self but now alas poor Creature Thou canst play away a whole Sabbath and spead Weeks without Prayer without one serious Prayer Thus far Mr. Wilkins I now proceed to give Instances of Persons restrain'd from Sin 1. St. Augustine after his conversion being grievously vexed with inward conflicts against his corrupt and remanent affections to Sin intentively musing and meditating with himself what to do more then he had done Viz. By purposes vows watchings fasting c. heard a Voice saying in te stas et non stas whereupon addressing him to Jesus Christ in an humble manner by faithful and fervent Prayer he found present releif and was much strengthen'd with the grace of Gods Spirit in the inner Maâ— Ibid. 2 Mr. Dod being late at Night in his Study was strongly moved tho at an unseasonable hour to visit a Gentleman of his Acquaintance and not knowing what might be the design of Providence therein he obeyed and went when he came to the house after a few knocks at the Door the Gentleman himself came to him and askt him whether he had any business to him Mr. Dod Answered no but that he could not be quiet till he had seen him O Sir replyed the Gentleman you are sent of God at this hour for just now and with that takes the halter out of his Pocket I was going to destroy my self And thus was the mischief prevented Mr. Flavel's Div. Conduct p. 98. 3. Mr. Bolton whilst he was in Oxford had familiar acquaintance with Mr. Anderton a good Schollar but a strong Papist who knowing Mr. Bolton's good parts and perceiving that he was in some out-ward wants took this Advantage and used many Arguments to perswade him to be reconciled to the Church of Rome and to go over with him to the English Seminary assuring him he should be furnished with all necessaries and have Gold enough Mr. Bolton being at that time poor in mind and purse accepted the motion and a day and place was appointed in Lancashire where they should meet and take Shipping and be gone But Mr. Anderton came not and so he escaped the Snare See the Life of Mr. Bolton 4. Thus Basil was along time exercised with a violent Head-Ach which as he observed was used by Providence to prevent lust 5. Dela Cerda saith that Albertine a Jesuit told him that a Young Man came hastily to him to confess and told him O Sir saith he I could not stay so strange a thing hath befallen me I and my Companion were resolved in Revenge against one that had wronged me to go after him into the Fields and kill him And while I was setting my Pastol in order that I might not miss a Beautiful Young Man stood by me and asked me what I was about And when I denied to tell him he told me that he knew my purpose and disswaded me and in short did so open the suflerings of Christ for his Enemies and what Sins he had forgiven us and bound us to forgive one another That I was melted into Tears and my mind changed and the Young Man Vanished away An Angel if true Hist Disc of Apparitions and Witches p. 162. CHAP. XX. Strange ways of Promoting Salvation THE ways of the Almighty and his Dealings with particular Men as well as those of his common Providence and Judgments are so strange and filled with variety of Spiritual stratagems that we may well say of him His Paths are in the deep waters and his Footsteps are not known The Woman of Samaria drawing water and giving to our Saviour to Drink received the water of Everlasting Life from him and drank to her Neighbours likewise of the Spiritual Drink Zacheus climbing a Sycamore out of Curiosity to see Jesus Jesus saw him and invited himself to his House S. Paul was knockt down in the midst of his Sinful Career and made to do obeysance at the Feet of that Jesus he was going to persecute 1. Origen after he had been prevailed upon to offer incense in the Idol Temple being Excommunicated by the Church going into Judea being well known there for his Expositions was intreated by the Ministers at Jerusalem with much importunity to bestow a Sermon he stood up took the Bible open'd it and at the very first casting his Eye upon that Text Psal 50.16 Vnto the ungodly said God why dost thou Preach my Laws c. He presently shut the Book wept bitterly the People also weeping with him and was able to say no more After this he wandred up and down in great greif of Conscience and wrote his Lamentation Clark's Mar. of Eccl. Hist 2. S. Augustine going on a time to hear S. Ambrose was accidently rebuked by some words of the Sermon or lecture that he heard which he applyed to himself as design'd particularly against him Ibid. See the Chapter of strange Conversions 3. It is Noted by Melchior Adam in the Life of Junius how very an Atheist he was grown in his younger years but in order to his Conversion to
Life he recover'd his former Health and Beauty See Mr. Clark 's Lives of the Fathers p. 160. 9. Philip Melancthon was very sparing in his Diet In his Apparel he had Respect only to his Health and was well content with a small Stipend On a time Prince Maurice Elector of Saxony asked him if he wanted any thing for the Supply of his Necessities He said No. The Elector bad him ask what he would he answer'd That he had his Stipend with which he was well content The Elector wonder'd that he was so well pleased with so small Means Ibid. p. 571. 10. Dr. William Whitaker was always very Temperate in his Diet from his Childhood and afterwards he drank very little Wine and in the Summer time he mixed it with water He never overloaded his Stomach with Meat no not in the greatest Feasts but always used a sparing and moderate Diet. Ibid. p. 815. 11. Dr. Harris was exactly Temperate confining himself to hours for Diet Sleep c. He would often say That he would rather pour Liquor into his Boots than into his Mouth between Meals He was a strict observer of those Laws of Sobriety which St. Paul had Pressed upon Ministers and which himself in his Drunkards Cup had taught to others He used to Eat seasonably and sparingly which without question was one great means of preserving such vigourous Spirits to so great an Age. See his Life in Mr. Clark's 3 vol. of Lives 12. Bishop Joseph Hall saith thus of himself If I see a Dish to tempt my Palat I fear a Serpent in that Apple and would please my self in a wilful denial 13. Dr. Hopkins late Bishop of London-Derry in his Discourse of the Vanity of the World tells us That Epicurus himself the great Master and Servant of Pleasure who made it the highest Good and chiefest Happiness of Man set himself certain Days of Abstinence in course wherein he would but niggardly satisfie his Stomach well knowing that the pleasure of Gluttony could never be so much enhanc'd as an Interval of Hunger for that continues the same Author is a furnisht Table to him whose constant Meals overtake one another but only the heaping of Food upon Crudities and Indigestion What the Titles of Honour to a Person Born Noble They signifie no more to him than it doth to another Man when he hears himself called by his ordinary Name What is Respect and Honour to a Man long accustomed to it It brings him no great content when he hath it but torments him when he fails of it give these things to those that are unacquainted with them If you would have them valued Bring a poor Man to a Table of Delicates Invest an Ignoble Person with Honours and Dignities give Respect to a dispised Person and for the present you bless him but Time and Custom will wear of this Content and Tediousness even of such a Life as this will make them willing at least for their Divertisment and Recreation to retire to their homely Cells and Station For as it is with those that are accustomed to strong Perfumes they themselves cannot scent those Odours which to others that use them not are most Sweet and Fragrant So it fares with us in the long continuance of Worldy Engagements our Senses are so stuft and even Soffocated with them that we cannot perceive them and unless we purchase Pleasure by Alternate Sorrow they are but lost upon us Now how vain must the World needs be whose Comforts are not valuable while we have them but while we have them not And how vain are those Joyes for which we must pay down as much Grief as the Joyes themselves are worth So that upon Ballancing the Accompt there remains nothing to us And it had been altogether as good to have enjoyed nothing Thus far Bishop Hopkins 14. 'T is said of Martin Luther though he was big of Body and in very good Health that he would usually continue four Days together without Eating or Drinking any thing at all and that for many Days together he would content himself with a little Bread and one single Herring Melanchton in Vita Lutheri CHAP. XXXIII Remarkable Temperance in Drinks DRunkenness is a Vice not fit to be Named much less Practised among Christians nay we are forbid so much as to look upon the Wine when it is Red when it sparkles in the Cup or to rise early in the Morning to follow the Strong Drink and as to the Quantity these Sinners are marked with a Note of Infamy that drink Wine in Bowles When at the same time they are Incurious as commonly such Persons are about the Poverty and Afflictions of their Brethren And we have frequently in Sacred Scriptures the ill Effects of Intemperate Drinking intimated to us for which reason we find all along that the best Christians are generally the Soberest Persons 1. Pontanns writes that in his time there was a Woman who in all her Life time did never drink either Wine or Water and that being once enforced to drink Wine by Command of Ladislaus King of Naples she received much hurt thereby Marcel Donat. Hist Med. Mira. l. 6. c. 3. p. 306. But this seems a natural Infirmity rather than a Christian Virtue and the next hath some Affinity with it 2. A Noble Man of Piedmont being Sick of that kind of Dropsie which is called Ascites sent for Dr. Albertus Roscius who finding the Dropsie confirmed and the Patient averse from all kind of Remedies he said thus to him Noble Sir if you will be cured and perfectly freed of this mighty Swelling that is if you desire to live there is an absolute necessity that you Determine with your self to dye of that Thurst wherewith you are so Tormented if you will do this I hope to cure you in a short time The Noble Man at the hearing of this did so command himself that for a Month he refrained not only all kind of Drink but not so much as tasted of any thing that was liquid by which means he was restored to his former Health Fabi Obs Chirurg Cent. 4. Obs 41. p. 319. 3. Paul the Hermit St. Anthony St. Hierom Patroclus drank Water Alcibiades Martyr Water with Salt Amodeus the Spaniard Simeon of Antioch Sisinnius the Monk Serapion Nicolaus Torlentinas Maxentius the Abbot c. all drank Water 4. The Drink which Mr. John Eliot still used was very small he cared not for Wines or Drams and I believe he never once in all his Life knew what it was to feel so much as a noxious Fume in his Head from any of them Good clear Water was more precious as well as more usual with him than of those Liquors with which Men do so frequently spoil their own Healths while perhaps they drink those of other Men. When at a Stranger 's House in the Summer time he hath been entertained with a Glass which they told him was of Water and Wine he hath with a Complaisant Gravity
replied unto this purpose Wine is a noble generous Liquor and we should be humbly thankful for it but as I remember Water was made before it Yet he lived till near 90 Years of Age. Cotton Mather in his Life p. 33. 5. Abraames Bishop of Carras saith Theodoret lived with that rigorous Abstinence that Bread and Water Bed and Fire seemed superfluous to him It is said of this great Man that he drank not nor made use of Water wherein to boil his Herbs or any other thing but his manner was to feed upon Endive and Lettice and Fruits and such other things as were to him both Meat and Drink and from these also he used to abstain till the Evening Yet he was a Person of great Liberality to such as were his Guests these he entertained with the best Bread the most generous Wines the better sort of Fishes and all such other things as a generous Mind and a real Love could produce and himself would take upon him to be the Carver and to distribute to every Man his Portion Drexel oper tom 1. p. 796. 6. Pittacus made a Law that whosoever committed any Crime when drunk should be punished double Laert. 7. Solon made another That if any Prince were taken Drunk he should die for it Idem 8. Plato's Suppers were Frugal to a Proverb He despised delicate Banquets and sumptuous Feasts being himself content with his Academical Olives and Bread and Water Text. Offic. 9. Zeno drank Water instead of Wine and by his own Example invited his Scholars to Temperance insomuch that it became a Proverb More sober than Zeno. Idem 10. About Zurich notwithstanding their Neighbourhood to the Switzers Drinking is very little known amongst them Dr. Burnet's Letters 11. A. C. 1606. Mr. George Coldwel Mayor of Northampton having assembled the Aldermen of the said Town declared to them his Purpose to ordain these Acts That no Inhabitants should enter into any Ale-House to drink together upon pain of forfeiting the Inholder 3 s. 4 d. and Imprisonment during the Mayor's Pleasure the Tippler or Person offending 3 s. 4 d. and Imprisonment in like manner The Scourging of Tipplers by R. R. CHAP. XXXIV Remarkable Frugality and Humility in Cloaths Houshold-stuff c. NAture is content with a little Grace with less How many things are there said Diogenes standing in the Market and observing the Abundance of fine things and Knick-knacks that were to be sold there which I have no need of In truth 't is an excellent Lesson which S. Paul had learned in what State soever he was therewith to be content And when we consider our Saviour's Birth in a Stable and a Manger served him for a Cradle and that he had no settled Dwelling where to lay his Head and that his Coat was all of a piece woven from the top to the bottom and John Baptists Apparel made of Camels Hair and that girt about him with a piece of Leather 't is enough to mortifie our Pride and make us Frugal and Humble about these things The Reverend Mr. Alsop in his Sermon of Strange Apparel advises his Readers not to come near those Fashions whose numerous Implements Trinckets and Tackling requiring much time in dressing and undressing no Cost of Apparel is so ill bestow'd as that of precious time in Apparelling And if common time be so ill spent what is the solemn sacred Time laid out in such Curiosity how many Sabbaths Sermons Sacraments Prayers Praises Psalms Chapters Meditations has this one vainly devour'd Let me recommend the Counsel of Holy Mr. Herbert to you Church-Porch be dress'd Stay not for t'other Pin why hast thou lost A Joy for it worth Worlds Thus Hell doth jest Away thy Blessings and extreamly flout thee Thy Cloaths being fast but thy Soul loose about thee O ye wanton Folly of our times when as one expresses it it 's almost as easie to enumerate all the Tackling of the Royal-Soveraign as the Accoutrements of a capacious Lady And perhaps it requires not much more time to equip and rig out a Ship for the Indies as a whimsical Madam when she is to sail in State with all her Flags Streamers Pennons bound for a Court-Voyage With less Labour did Adam give Names to all the Creatures in Paradice than an Attire-Herald shall give you the Nomenclature of all the Trinkets that belong to a Ladies Closet And yet all this is but to consume a whole Morning to put on which must waste the whole Evening to put off But adds this Author in another place they that spend unmercifully must gain unconscionably The Mill will not grind unless some Lust brings grist unto it A Gentleman anticipates his Rents in the Country he comes up to Town to vamp his fine Lady and Daughter with the newest Fashion He ransacks the Court and City for the Fashion searches the Shops for Materials to furnish out the Pomp he retnrns home and then his poor Tenants go to rack the sweat is squeez'd out of their Brows the Blood screw'd out of their Veins the Marrow out of their Bones that they may pay the unconscionable Reckonings and monstrous Bills that his own Prodigality has drawn upon him Nor is it one single Sin that fills the Train of Pride Pride drinks the Tears of Widows and Orphans revels with the hard Labours of the Indigent feeds on the Flesh of Thousands Elegantly Tertullian A vast Estate is enclosed in one small Locket a Necklace hf almost 8000 l. hangs on one single String a slender Neck carries Lordships and Mannors and the thin Tip of the Eaer wears a Jewel or Pendent that wou'd defray the Charges of House-keeping for a Twelve-month Thus far Mr. Alsop But I shall prcceed now to give Instances of Remarkable Frugality and Humility in Cloaths 1. Holinshed saith that he knew some old Men who told him oft times in England that if the good Man of the House had a Matris or a Flock Bed and a Sack of Chaff to rest his Head on he thought himself as well lodged as the Lord of the Town For ordinarily they lay upon Straw Pillars cover'd with Canvas and a round Log of Wood under their Heads instead of a Boulster and why not that as well as a Stone which was Jacob's Pillow they said that soft Pillows were fit only for Women in Child-bed and in a good Farmer 's House it was rare to find four pieces of Pewter And it was counted a great Matter that a Farmer should shew five Shillings or a Noble together in Silver Clark's Mirr V. 2. P. 1. 2. John Duns Scotus Dr. Subtilis was noted as for his Meager Countenance and homely Aspect so for his mean and course Apparel and going barefoot Dr. Subtilis Nomen subtilia donant Quem vestis vilis pes nudus corda coronant Leigh in his Relig. and Learning 3. Primislaus King of Bohemia kept his Country Shoes always by him Dr. Jer. Taylor 4. Willigis Bishop of Mentz being the Son of
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
out of Breath as if they had been dragg'd up and down through Thorns and Mirey Places but when they had well ey'd them they were gone in a moment out of their sight they knew not how nor whither These Herdsmen talked of the business but the certainty of it came out not long after For the free Confessions of those two Men they then saw being so exactly agreeing with what the Herdsmen had related made the whole matter clear and undoubted 5. The other Story is of the same Persons known afterwards by their Names viz. Amantius and his Partner Rotarius who having coursed it aloft again in the Air and being cast headlong out of a Cloud upon an House the latter of them being but a Novice and unexperienced in those supernatural Exploits was much astonished and afraid at the strangeness of the matter but Amantius being used to those Feats from him Youth his Parents having devoted him from his Childhood to the Devil made but a sport of it and laughing at his Friend called him Fool for his fear and bad him be of good Courage for their Master in whose Power they were would safely carry them through greater dangers than those And no sooner had he said these words but a Whirlwind took them and set them both safe upon the ground but the House they were carried from so shook as if it would have been overturned from the very Foundations This both those Men Examined apart confessed in the same words not varying in their Story at all whose Confessions exactly agreed in all Circumstances with what was observed by the Common People concerning the time and the manner of the Tempest and shaking of the House ibid. pag. 172 173. 6. Remigius out of whom Mr. More cites these Relations hath some others of the like nature and at last concludes What is more common in our Times than both the frequent and daily Assertions of Witches concerning this very thing and the Testimonies of Men agreeing thereto who have stedfastly affirmed not only in ordinary Conversation but Solemnly upon their Oaths That they have seen not in their Dreams or with their Senses drawn aside by the Arts of Magick but with waking Eyes these kind of Women shaken out of the Clouds and hang upon the Tops of Trees or the Roofs of Houses c. 12. l. 3. 7. Martin Delrio who quotes the very same Stories out of the same Author concludes thus Have not the like things happen'd in Italy in the Case of Lucrece In Switzerland at Schiltacâ— in case of the Witch mentioned by Erasmus in his Epistles In Holland concerning that unwary curious young Man of Rousey Why tell me I beseech you Might not that which hath happen'd in Italy Switzerland Holland c. happen likewise in France Delrius in Mag. Disq Sect. 3. l. 5. 8. There was a Witch of Constance who being vexed that all her Neighbours in the Village where she lived were invited to the Wedding and so were drinking and dancing and making merry and she solitary and neglected got the Devil to transport her through the Air in the midst of the Day to a Hill hard by the Village where she digging a Hole and putting Urine into it raised a great Tempest of Hail and directed it so that it fell only upon the Village and pelted them that were dancing with that Violence that they were forced to leave off their Sport When she had done her Epxloit she returned to the Village and being spied was suspected to have rais'd the Tempest which the Shepherds in the Field that saw her riding in the Air knew well before who bringing in their Witness against her she confessed the Fact More 's Antid against Ath. c. 4. l. 3. Mr. Baxter speaking of Lightnings and Thunderbolts falling more upon Churches than upon other Buildings hath these Words 9. The Church that my Grandmother was born near had a Ball of Fire by Lightning came in at the Belfry-Window and turned up the Grave-stones and went out at the Chancel-Window 10. The Church that I Baptised in High Ercall close to London Newport's-House had in such a Storm the Leads rolled up and cast on the back-side of the Church and in the War was levelled with the Ground 11. The Church of Anthony in Cornwal near Plymouth was torn by Lightning at the time of Worship on Whitsunday 1640. and some People hurt and the Brains of one struck up to a Pillar It is in Print 12. ' So was used much like the Church of Withicomb in Devonshire at the same time 13. The Church where the Earl of Dorset and Middlesex his Ancestors Monuments were was torn by Lightning that came in at the Steeple melted the Bells and went up to the Chancel and there tore the Monuments in pieces I saw pieces of the Monuments that had some of the golden Letters which a truly worthy Lady brought home that went from Tunbridge Waters to see the Church Many and many Churches have been thus torn proportionably so much beyond all other Buildings especially of Stone that I cannot but think there is some knowing Agent that maketh she Choice though I know not who nor why 14. Except a few Hayricks I remember not that till this Seventy sixth Year of my Age I have known Lightnings to have had hurting Power on any Buildings but Churches save very rarely and small as this last Year at Istington it entred a House and killed a Woman and Child Nor to have torn any Wood but Oak which in Trees and Buildings I have seen torn where I dwelt But divers Persons have been killed and scorched by it And an eminent Knight that I knew is commonly said to have been struck dead by it in his Garden Hist Discourse of Appar and Witches p. 165. 15. Though Porphyry and Procus and Jamblicus tells us That bad Daemons will oft speak for Good Actions and against Bad in Pride and Subtilty to be thought Good yet it is hard to think that it is not rather a good Spirit that speaks for some notable Good Work where no By-end is discernable As that mentioned by Mr. Glanvil and Dr. More of Dr. Britton's Wife whose Likeness appeared after Death to her Servant-Maid and shewed her a parcel of Land that was as part of her Brother's and told her it belonged to the Poor and was unjustly alienated from them and bid her tell the Possessor That he must Restore it and gave her a Secret to tell him if he refused And upon the angry Refusal when he heard the Secret he yielded and restored the Land to the Poor who now possess it Ibid. 16. An. 1553. Two Witches were taken which went about by Tempest Hail and Frost to destroy all the Corn in the Country These Women stole away a little Infant of one of their Neighbours and cutting it in pieces put it into a Cauldron to be boiled but by God's Providence the Mother of the Child came in the mean while and found the Members
Bolton at first with an Ugly Intanglement sometime in the form of a great Snake sometime of many little ones full of Nastiness Vermin and noisome Smell and that which is most to be admired and never Age saw before pricked with a Needle they yielded bloody Drops This first began in Poland afterwards entred into Germany and all that then cut off this horrible snaky Hair either lost their Eyes or the Humour falling down upon other Parts tortured them extreamly Methinks saith our Author Our monstrous Fashionists Maies and Females the one for nourishing their horrid Bushes of Vaity the other for cutting their Hair should fear and tremble c. Bolton's Preparation to Death 8. Mr. John Mackerness born at Brickstock-Park in Northamptonshire in a Narrative published by his own Hand A. D. 1676. confesses That God had â—orely handled him by Melancholy and Fretfulness and such Fluctuation of Thoughts and Temptations that he was not far from being mad or possessed which he especially imputed to his Pride and Discontent as the Cause and begs the Prayers of others for himself CHAP. CXXVII Divine Judgments upon Boasting AS thâ—se Sticks that send forth most Smoak offerd the least Heat so the greatest Boasters are the least Doers saith Mr. Spencer according to our English Proverb Great Boast and small Roast Erasmus in his Adagies tells us of a young Man and Traveller that being returned home began to praise himself in all Company and amongst other excellent Feats boasted that in the Isle of Rhodes he out-jump'd all the Men that were there as all the Rhodians could hear him Witness Whereupon a stander-by said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Suppose this to be Rhodes and jump here and then he could do just nothing Alas What are Words without Deeds but Vanity and a Lye 1. When Alcibiades then but young was boasting himself of his Riches and Lands Socrates took him into a Room and shewed him the Map of the World Now said he where is the County of Attica When Alcibiades had pointed to it Lay me then said he your Finger upon your own Lands there When the other told him they were not there described And what said Socrates do you boast your self of that which is not a part of the Earth He that hath most hath nothing to boast of and great Boasts for the most part as they betray great Folly so they end in as great Derision Wanley's Wonders of the little World p. 433. 2. Oromazes had an inchanted Egg in which this Impostor boasted that he had enclosed all the Happiness in the World but when it was broken there was found nothing in it but Wind. Causin's Holy Court Tom. 2. p. 465. 3. Mr. John Carter Vicar of Bramford in Suffolk an excellent Scholar and a modest Person being at Dinner at Ipswich in one of the Magistrates Houses where divers other Ministers were also at the Table one amongst the rest who was old enough and had learned enough to have taught him more Humility was very full of Talk bragged much of his Parts and Skill c. and made a Challenge saying Here are many Learned Men if any of you will propound any Question in Divinity or Philosophy I will dispute with him resolve his Doubts and satisfie him fully All at the Table except himself were silent for a while Then Mr. Carter when he saw that no other would speak to him calling him by his Name I will said he go no further than my Trencher to puzzle you here is a Soal Now tell me the Reason why this Fish that hath always lived in the salt Water should come out fresh To this the forward Gentleman could say nothing and so was laughed at and shamed out of his Vanity Clark's Lives of Ten Eminent Divines p. 12. 4. Eunomius the Heretick boasted That he knew the Nature of God at which time notwithstanding St. Basil puzzled him in 21 Questions about the Body of an Ant. Ful. Hol. Stat. l. 2. c. 4. p. 57. Wanley's Wonders of the little World p. 433. 5. Paracelsus boasted that he could make a Man immortal and yet himself died at 47 Years of Age. Ful. Hol. Stat. l. 2. c. 3. p. 54. 6. Pompey the Great at such times as the News of Caesar's passing Rubicon came to Rome boasting That if he should but once stamp with is Foot upon the Earth of Italy forthwith armed Troops of Horse and Foot would leap out thence yet was he put to a shameful Flight by that Enemy he so much despised Clark's Mirr c. 102. 471. 7. See the Story of Sigismund King of Hungary in the preceding Chapter on Pride Ambition c. 8. Abel by Bribes bestowed in the Court of Rome from the Archdeacon of St. Andrews got himself to be preferred Bishop there and was Consecrated by Pope Innocent the IV. At his Return he carried himself with great Insolence They write of him That in a vain-glorious Humour one day he did with a little Chalk draw this Line upon the Gate of the Church Haec mihi sunt tria Lex Canon Philosophia Bragging of his Knowledge and Skill in those Professions and that going to Church the next day he found another Line drawn under the former which said To levant absque tria Fraus Favour Vanasophia This did so gall him that taking his Bed he died within a few Days having sate Bishop only ten Months and two Days This was about Anno 1238. Bish Spots Hist of the Churck of Scotland l. 2. p. 44. CHAP. CXXVIII Divine Judgments upon Curiosity TO be wise unto Sobriety is an excellent Rule prescribed us by the Apostle and the Reason is obvious enough to any Man of competent Sense and Brains For Adam by an affectation of knowing more than was necessary came to know more than was comfortable and an insatiate Desire of Wisdom is certainly a Symptom of the Hereditary Disease derived to us from him God hath set us Bounds to all our Disquisitions and if we do not keep within compass we forfeit our Faculties and expose our selves to all the Dangers that are out of ken Whatever we do let us do prudently and have a regard to some good End For whatsoever is more than this is more than is needful or safe or honourable 1. There is saith Mr. Baxter now in London a Youth the Son of a very Godly Conforming Minister who reading a Book of that called Conjuration coming to the Word and Actions which that Book said would cause the Devil to appear was presently very desirous to try and desirous that the Apparition might be accordingly He came saith he to me in terrour having before opened his Case to a Parish-Minister and affirmed to me That the Devil had appeared to him and sollicited him with a Knife to cut his Throat and told him he must do it suddenly for he would stay no longer I told him how safe he was if he truly repented and begged Pardon through Christ and
Polemical Books concerning them here I greatly deplore and bewail the greedy Appetite and insatiable Thirst that Professing Protestants have after the Blood of their Brethren and the high pleasure they take in the effusion thereof But what will not Men do when they are either Judicially blinded or their secular Worldly Interest insensibly insinuates and winds it self into their Religion is so twisted and incorporated with it that it animates and acts it is the Life and Soul the vital Form and Power and made wholly subservient thereunto I bless God for all my Sufferings and particularly for this last for the benefit and fruit of it by God's sanctifying of them to me have been great hereby I have been effectually convinced of the Vanity of the World and my own sinfulness by Nature and Practice and to see that to be sin which I never saw before and to be more throughly humbled for what I know to be â—n not only of Commission but of Omission also Hereby I have been brought to a more thorough deep inward sense and feeling of the absolute necessity of the Righteousness of Christ to justifie me and he hath been made much more dear and precious to my Soul than ever he was before Hereby my Soul hath been more refin'd from the Dross of Sensuality wrought into a more Heavenly Frame raised up to a higher pitch of Spirituality hereby I am made more meek and humble and so judge more charitably of others that differ from me in Opinion and Judgment So though by God's most Righteous Judgment I have been â—â—prehended and most justly and deservedly undergo this Suffering for my Sins yet I hope thâ—â— have wrought for me a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory fitting and preparing me making me a better qualified Subject for and far more meet to be a Partaker of the same By the Grace and Strength of God I will not purchase my Life by the Death and Blood of my Protestant Brethren but choose to die rather than be a Betrayer of them the impetuous and violent Assault of this I dreaded more than Death it self Blessed be God I was not exposed unto it and conquered by it as some have been Having such full bodily vigour and strength being in such perfect Health notwithstanding my Age predominating in me it hath made it more difficult to die than if I had been clogged and incumbred with Infirmities made to bow and stoop under them by prevailing Diseases and Distempers gradually worn out therewith which many times makes Men weary of Life and to desire to die and this in Conjunction with many things which I forbear to mention highly gratifying and pleasing to Sense which I must leave for ever strengthens and heightens the Difficulty and begets a great Regret and Reluctancy in my Will to have the Earthly Tabernacle of my Body dissolved and my Soul to dislodge and quit the same But now when the black and gloomy Shades of Death do overspread me I can say to the Glory of God's most Free and Powerful Grace True Faith in some measure hath changed the Difficulty into a Facility and easiness of dying It hath very much subdued the reluctancy of my Will against it for it makes future things present and invisible things visible and doth realize and substantiate the same to me and as by it I penetrate and pierce into Eternity and behold invisible and immortal things so hereby blessed be God I have obtained a greater Victory over Sense The World is crucified to me and I to the World and all the most pleasant and delightful Objects therein all finite fading Creatures Comforts and Enjoyments are become minute and small despicable and contemptible to me in comparison thereof being infinitely contained and comprehended therein Shall my Soul clasp and cling about these Mortal and perishing things Shall it cleave and be glued to them Shall it be confined and captivated into what is kept in the narrow bounds of Time and in this lower World Shall it earnestly desire and thirst for muddy Streams yea Rivers of Flesh-pleasing good when by an Eye of Faith I can look into the indeficient inexhaustible purest Fountain the immense immensurate Ocean of Divine Good hoping to drink thereof to swim and bathe my Soul therein for ever and ever And when I consider how long my Ears have been bound up and tyed to their innumerable and horrid Oaths and cursed Blasphemies and mine Eyes to see the Profanation of the Day of God and when I beheld such an overflowing Flood of most prodigious Impiety such an inundation of most monstrous Iniquity and so much Hell upon Earth and that there is so much decay of holy Zeal and true Piety and Christian Religion among the Professors of it such seeming incurable Breaches and Divisions such expiring Love and Charity and parting 's among 'em it hath powerful influence on my Soul to reconcile it more to Death and makes it electively and from choice to leave this present World and to take up my abode in that which is unseen and future where there shall be nothing but perfect Love and Holiness a sinless state and serving God with all unweariedness and perfection with the highest complacency and delight that immortal Souls can be capable of There is perfect Peace and Concord the innumerable Company of Angels and the Spirits of Just Men made perfect all fastened together with indissoluble and uninterrupted Chains of most pure Love and all continually wrapt up in and transported with the highest Admiration of God's Love his infinite and incomprehensible Excellencies and Perfections singing Hallelujahs to him without ceasing and triumphing in his Praise for ever and ever The Consideration also that I know so little of these Sublime Profound and Divine Mysteries of the most Glorious Mystery of Salvation by Jesus Christ that I am so uncapable to Fathom the depth of the Providences of God whose ways are in the Sea and whose paths are in the deep Waters and whose foot-steps are not known and particularly in the late stupendous and amazing one and that I am so ignorant of the Nature of Angels and Spirits with their Offices and Operations and of their high and glorious Excellencies and that I am so little acquainted with the Nature of my own Soul as at present dwelling in and united to my Body and as disunited and separated from it how without Corporeal Organs it shall most vivaciously and vigorously perform all its proper Functions and Offices and more than ever strongly and indefatigably serve the Lord Jesus most fervently and abundantly love him and delight in him every way much more obtain the supream and highest end of its Creation and Being and this makes me much more willing to die that I may have the knowledge thereof with innumerable other things that I am now either ignorant of or do but imperfectly know and so be made happy by a plenitude of fulness of enjoying intellectual Pleasures which
repaired even to old Age when he designeth extraordinary Services by them Dr. Annesley 's Funeral Sermon preached by Mr. Daniel Williams CHAP. XXXIV Persons reviving after a supposed Death I Expect this Title will be quarrelled at both by Naturalists and Divines the former will object the Impossibility of a habit returning into the subject after a perfect Privation the latter will fetch an Argument from the Decree of the Almighty and alledge the Determination of the Immortal Soul immediately after a Dissolution and Separation to its Eternal State and Abode To both which I make only this short Answer That I conceive that in some of the Cases hereafter mentioned the Privation was not perfect in others the Return was not Natural 1. Anno 1537 when the Plague raged at Colen one Richmet Adolick a Noble Lady died in Appearance and as the Fashion was then had her Rings and Jewels buried with her of which the covetous Sexton having notice came with a Companion of his to dig her up that being done they opened the Coffin and going about to pull off her Rings she rose up in her Shroud at which the Sacrilegious Villains being conscious of Guilt and oppressed with Fear fled and for haste left the Lanthorn and the Church Door open so that the Lday loosing her self took up the Lanthorn and went home her Husband hearing her Voice was as much terrified as the others had been but by degrees lessening his Fears he received her with Joy when he perceived she was a living Corps and not a Ghost or Spectre and she confessed to him that she had all that time been as one in a Sleep till two Men came rudely and waked her but when she was made sensible that she had been buried she started and then praised GOD that those Men's Evil Purposes had been the Means of her Safety and being thereupon taken great Care of she recovered her Health and lived to have three Sons afterwards as appears by her Monument erected in Memory of so strange a Deliverance and standing now in the Entrance of the Apostle's Church in Colen The Ladies Dictionary p. 491. 2. In the same City John Duns called Scotus falling into an Apoplexy was buried alive but had not the good Fortune as the other to be timely relieved for before he could be taken up he had beat his Brains against the Grave-Stone Ibid. 3. Anno 1661 to the Knowledge of many Hundred about London one Lawrence Cawthorn a Butcher in St. Nicholas Shambles who having provided all Things to his Marriage it is doubtful whether too much strong-Strong-Waters or Opium given him by his Landlady who aimed at what Moneys he had got and knew she should not be the better for it if he married cast him into a profound Sleep so sleeping all that Night and all the next Day she got some of her Confederates to give out he was dead so buried him but the next Day being Sunday as the People passed to Church they heard a strange Groaning in the Ground but for a time could not tell what to make of it growing louder thô a kind of hollow Sound they informed the Churchwardens of it who only flouted at it as a Delusion of the Senses but the next Day being better informed and all Circumstances considered this new Grave was opened and the Body found warm thô dead with the stifling Vapours and violent Beatings against the Sides of the Coffin upon News of which the barbarous old Woman fled and we do not hear she ever was found agains Ibid. 4. The Story of Anne Green hanged at Oxford and returning to Life again is already related in the former part of this Book 5. Anno 1658 Elizabeth the Servant of one Mrs. Cope of Magdalen Parish in Oxford was indicted at the City Sessions for killing her Bastard-Child and putting it in the House of Office of which being convicted she was condemned to die and accordingly was hanged at Green-Ditch the place appointed for the Execution of the City-Malefactors where she hung so long that one of the By-standers scrupled not to say If she were not dead he would be hanged for her Being out down put into a Coffin and brought to the George Inn Life was found in her and after breathing a Vein being put to bed with another young Wench by her she came quickly to her self but was the Night following barbarously carried to Glocester-Green and there hanged a second time Dr. Plot 's Nat. Hist of Oxford ch 8. p. 119. 6. I have a Relation by me from Coventry well attested concerning a young Damosel who was given for dead by her Parents laid forth and Cakes baked for her Funeral and other Preparations made for the Solemnity yet afterwards returned to Life again But having misplaced the Paper and not being able to find it presently I cannot be exact in Particulars Mr. Richard Harris who lives there and is employed commonly in dispersing and collecting Letters Patents in several Counties of England is by Marriage related to the Family 7. I have mentioned another Example out of Dr. Marc Casauben of a Person who revived again before he was buried on purpose to discover a Murder of a former Wife 8. Mrs. Anna Atherton being about 14 Years of Age fell sick in November 1669 whereupon several Physicians were called to her Assistance who consulted about her Distemper and judged it to be something of an Ague thô the Symptoms thereof were somewhat different from those that were usual in that Distemper Her Disease proved too hard for their Skill and Medicines and brought the Patient to a thinness of Body paleness of Countenance and stupidness to any thing but her Devotions She was before of a full habit of Body of a brisk and lively Temper and prone to all kind of Exercise befitting her Age. Under this strong Alteration she continued till the beginning of February ensuing when by little and little she felt a sensible Decay of her whole Body which daily encreasing prevailed at length upon all the Organs of Life and Motion so that in appearance she lay void of either whereupon she was concluded to be really dead The Women who came to do their last Office to her Body perceived more heat and warmth in her than they thought to be usual in dead Bodies upon which they desisted a while and because the Room was close and a Fire had been always in it thinking the usual Warmth might proceed from thence they opened the Casements to let in what Air they could and put out the Fire and then left her sometime to her self But returning they found the same warmth to continue then they left her in this manner one whole Day yet could find no Alteration whereupon they applied a Looking-glass to her Mouth but not the least Cloud appeared They put live Coals to her Feet which discovered not the least sign of Life or Sense Notwithstanding her Mother was very timorous which made her delay her Burial and
Nat. Hist p. 210. c. 10. True Nitre is now little known which was anciently made of the Water of the River Nilus Albertus Magnus saith that in Goselaria was a Mountain that contained a very Rich Mine of Copper and that the Water that issued out at the bottom of it being dried became Nitre we know little also of Aphronitrum which is as it were the Froth of Nitre It is bitterer then Salt but less Salt Ibid. The Egyptians strowed their Rhadishes with Nitre as we with Salt 11. Salt-Peter is the means between them two and consists of very dry ad subtle parts it grows on the Walls of Old Houses and in Stables Cow-houses and Pidgeon-houses it will grow again in the same Earth it was taken out of if that Earth be thrown into Earth and not stirred and taken care of the use of it is well known in making Gun-powder Aqua Fortis it is used also in melting Mettle Ibid. It is disputed variously whether the Nitre of the Ancients be of the same Species with our Salt-Peter Ibid. 12. Alom is either Congeal'd or Liquid the Congeal'd is of many Figures that which is called Scissum is the Flower of Alom in Clods and is prest together like Plank or it flourishes severally like Gray-hairs round Alom like Bubbles or is like a Sponge by reason of the holes in it the Liquid Alom send out of it self such a Vapour that smells like Fire as Sones when rubb'd together to cause Fire when burnt it swells into bubbles and loseth something of its substance Johnston's Nat. Hist Clas 4 c. 5. 13. Amber has been reputed by some a Gum by others the Sperm or Dung of Whales hardned by the Sea but Dr. Heylin affirms it to be the juice of a Stone growing like a Coral in Poland in a Mountain of the North-Sea clean covered with Water and rent thence in the Winter and so cast into the Neighbouring Havens hardening like Coral when taken out of the Water burning like Pitch attracting Straws and Iron good for stopping the Blood Agues c. Tavernier saith that 't is a certain Congelation found only upon the Coast of Prussia in the Baltick Sea Farm'd out by the Elector of Brandenbourg for 20000 Crowns a Year or more Hevelius in a Letter to Mr. Oldenbourg from Dantzick July 5. 1670 saith he had received a piece of Amber so soft that he had Printed his Seal on it yellowish transparent and burning as other Amber but of a stronger seent yet had been cast up from the Baltick the year before In China their great Lords at their Feasts throw a vast quantity of Amber into persuming Pots set upon the Table burning it partly for the scent and partly because they adore the Fire there are several sorts of Amber pale black spotted c. The Shops know only the white which is best and the yellow Sir Tho Pope Blunts Nat. Hist p. 13. 24. Jet Gagates Obsidianus is a black Bitumen hardned in the Sea which the Floods use to cast upon the Shores of the Estyii with Amber Earthen Vessels that are glased with it are not defaced lin l. 36. c. 19. When burnt it smells like Brimstone it kindles with Water but is extinguished with Oyl it is found great and of a pale colour at the Town of Ganges in Licia Strabo saith creeping things flie from the scent of it it is called Earthy Bitumen otherwise burning Stone because it will flame it is called Ampelitis because it kills little Worms called Enipaes it is dug up in Scotland and in the Jurisdictions of Leids they make Chaplets of it to say their Prayers upon In Collaum a Province of Peru there is a place all bare not Tree nor Plant upon it the Earth being Bituminous out of which the Indians extract a Liquor good for many Diseases the way this they cut the Ground into Turss lay it upon Rods or great Reeds putting Vessels under it to receive it the Sun Melts this Bitumen and the dry Turfs are fit to make Fires 15. Coal or Sea-Cole so called because carryed by Sea from several places as Wales and New-Castle to other Parts for Fewel is dug out of Pits or Mines where it is found in manner of a continued Black-Rock or hard Bitumen well known in England there being no less then 50000000 Chaldrons yearly gotten in the Nation the greatest remarkable concerning them is that there is a Species of it in Cheshire and some other Parts of a more Fat and Unctuous substance called Cannal-Coal which gives a pleasant flaming Light in the Burning like a Lamp or Câ—ndle But there are often found in these subterrauean Vaults such Stagnations of Vapours that for want of a due Ventilation produce very strange and dangerous Damps of which we shall speak more hereafter 't is called Carbo petrae Lithanthaeax or New-Castle Coal the chief Fewel in England and Germany the Chymical Spirit or Oyl is no ways inferior to that of Amber healing Wounds softning Tumours c. 16. Sulphur or Brimstone is dug up in an Island by the Mountain Hecla and that without Fire It is yellow that is digged out of the Plain of Brimstone which is called in Campania Virgin-Brimstone because Women Paint their Faces with it It is so Friendly to Fire that pieces of it laid about the Wood will draw the Fire to it put into Fire it will by the Scent discover the Falling-Sickness Johnston's Nat. Hist Clas 4. c. 13. Mr. Salmon makes 5 kinds of Mineral Sulphures Brimstone Arsnick or Orpiment Amber-Grease Amber and Bitumen Sulphur Vive is a Resinous Fatness of the Earth full of a Vitriolick Acidity being Gray or Greenish inflamable with a Blue and Suffocating Fume An Artificial is made of Sulphur Vive being Porous and Yellow or boyled out of Sulphurous Water the Foeces of either of which is the Sulphur Cabaline or Horse-Brimstone besides which there are other Artificial Brimstones drawn out of Copper Cinnaber and Vitriol which as it is rarer so it is better For in Chimneys where Vitriol is commonly boyled you may find Flower of Sulphur elevated all Sulphur of Brimstone is hot and dry Aperitive Cutting Discussive c. 17. Arsnick is a Mineral coagulated Juice or Fat made of Combustible Sulphur and corrosive Salts being Natural or Artificial the Natural is either yellow or red the yellow is called Orpiment the red is called Risgalum Real-gal and Sandaracha the Artificial is white and is made of the yellow sublimed with Salt of each equal quantities and this is that which is properly called Arsnick which being pure hard heavy and white like Milk or Chrystal is good Unprepated it is one of the greatest Poysons and a perfect Enemy to the Balsom of Life causing Heat Thirst Torment Corrosion Vomitting Palpitation Cold Sweats Intollerable burning Pains Convulsions and Death Outwardly it is used in Amulets and Cauteries with good Success it eats away proud and dead Flesh takes off Hair Salmon Disp p. 400. Spirit and