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<DATE>2010-06-18</DATE>
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<NAME>Greg Schutz</NAME>
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<STC T="S">18070.5</STC>
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<VID>184106</VID>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
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<P>A true Di&s;cour&s;e concer|ning the certaine po&s;&s;e&s;sion and di&s;po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of 7 per&s;ons in one familie in <HI>Lanca&s;hire,</HI> which al&s;o may &s;erve as part of an An&s;were to a fayned and fal&s;e <HI>Di&s;coverie</HI> which &s;peaketh very much evill, a&s;well of this, as of the re&s;t of tho&s;e great and mightie workes of God which bee of the like excellent na|ture.</P>
<P>By George More, Mini&s;ter and Preacher of the worde of God, and now (for bearing wit|ne&s;&s;e vnto this, and for iustifying the rest) a pri&s;oner in the Clinke, where he hath continued almost for the &s;pace of two yeares.</P>
<Q><P>Remember thou magnifie the worke of God which men beholde.
<BIBL>Iob. 36.24.</BIBL></P></Q>
<Q><P>We &s;peake that we know, &amp; te&s;tifie that which we haue &s;eene: but ye receiue not our te&s;timonie.
<BIBL>Iob. 3.11.</BIBL></P></Q>
<P>1600.</P>
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<DIV1 TYPE="to the reader">
<PB REF="2">
<PB N="3" REF="2">
<HEAD>To the Chri&s;tian READER.</HEAD>
<P>FOra&s;much good Reader as it is the ma|ner of men that &s;et foorth any &s;torie, though it be but &s;hort, to giue a Rea&s;on of their purpo&s;e therein, least they &s;hould &s;eeme either ra&s;hly to attempt that which is not conuenient, or otherwi&s;e bu&s;ie them &s;elues to bring forth that which is not nece&s;&s;arie, for this cau&s;e I haue thought good to prefixe the&s;e Rea&s;ons en&s;uing to this di&s;cour&s;e, that &s;o the weighing of them might make the matter &s;omething more worth in their conceite, with whom nothing (though of it &s;elfe it be neuer &s;o &s;avorie) tasteth well, except it be rare and excellent, neither can they digest that, which is verie good and whole&s;ome, except it be of great con&s;equence and expectation: this &s;orte may mi&s;like the handling of this &s;trange &s;torie in this har&s;he manner, whiles they affecte great and high things: yet the moo|ving cau&s;es of &s;etting it out being con&s;idered, may ouercome that curio&s;itie, and worke &s;ome contentement.</P>
<PB N="4" REF="3">
<P>First then in respect that both the Storie of the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion &amp; dispo&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of <HI>Thomas Darling,</HI> and al&s;o many things concerning the &s;traunge handling of <HI>William Su~mers</HI> to &s;econde the &s;ame, are both put in print, &amp; though the trueth of both be &s;ufficie~tlie clea|red therin, yet there is great oppo&s;ition both by worde &amp; writing offered of &s;et purpo&s;e to hinder the crediting of either: I thought it fit to adde to the&s;e two the &s;torie of tho&s;e in <HI>Lanca&s;hire,</HI> as famous as the rest, both in that they were 7 in one familie all po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed at once, as al&s;o that they were all 7 dispo&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed within two dayes by prayer and fa&s;ting: that this al&s;o being publi&s;hed as the thirde glori|ous witnes of the wonderfull workes of God wrought and &s;eene in 3 &s;euerall Shires of our lande, all men might be the more moo|ved to beleeue the trueth of the&s;e thinges: &s;eeing at the mouth of 3 &s;uch &s;ufficient wit|ne&s;&s;es, it is &s;o &s;urely &s;ealed vp and confir|med.</P>
<P>Secondlie, in respect of the papistes who doe more maligne this particular of Lanca|&s;hire then any of the rest, labouring mighti|lie and by many meanes both to di&s;credite and di&s;annull it; wherevpon &s;ome of them haue giuen it out, that tho&s;e 7 were not po&s;|&s;est: other &s;ay, that they were all 7 po&s;&s;e&s;t
<PB N="5" REF="3">but neuer yet dispo&s;&s;est: and &s;ome others of them affirme, that they were all di&s;po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed, yet not by Preachers of the Gospell, but by their Seminaries, &amp; ma&s;&s;e-prie&s;tes: and this last runnes for currante among them.</P>
<P>For there being 8 or 9 Seminaries in the Clincke, diuers of them &s;tood out against me to my face, and tolde me, that what &s;oever was done in Lanca&s;hire by vs, was done by coniuring and knaverie: And though M. Starkie him &s;elfe did iu&s;tifie the whole mat|ter, and cleared it from all their &s;launders, and that before the chiefest of them in the Clincke, yet they receyued not his testimo|nie, but tolde him, they had receyued the re|port of this from a Gentleman in that coun|trie, whom they would credit before him in this ca&s;e. And no maruell, for if the Church of Englande haue this power to cast out de|vills, then the Church of Rome is a fal&s;e Church, for there can be but one true Church, the principall marke whereof (as they &s;ay) is to worke miracles, and of them this is the greatest, namely to cast out Devills. And herevpon conferring at another tyme with two of them, they brought out this bold pro|testation, that if we could proove any &s;uch power to be in our Church, and &s;hew them an infallible instance or example to iustifie
<PB N="6" REF="4">the practi&s;e thereof, then would they ioyne them &s;elves to your Church a&s;&s;emblies, and freely embrace our religion.</P>
<P>Thirdlie, in respect of that gro&s;&s;e and great errour, which is a common and recei|ued opinion among the most, namely, that we doe challenge to our &s;elues &s;ome &s;peciall gift to cast out Devills aboue other men, which though we haue vtterly di&s;claymed, yet many doe ignorantlie a&s;cribe the effect of the worke wrought, rather to &s;ome ex|traordinarie power in vs, then to the ordi|nance of Christ, which in no ca&s;e ought &s;o to be.</P>
<P>But chieflie J haue taken in hande this brief di&s;cour&s;e for the better clearing both of Ma. Darrell and my &s;elfe, from tho&s;e ac|cu&s;ations and &s;launders of co&s;inage &amp; coun|terfeiting, werwithall we are charged both by word and writing, as if wee were guiltie thereof, even in this particular of Lanca|&s;hire.</P>
<P>For there is a booke of a large volume late|lie come out vnder the name of <HI>S. H.</HI> cro&s;|&s;hing and contradicting the whole cour&s;e of proceeding for Mai. Darrels clearing,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Di&s;cover. booke 1. chap 5. pag. 29.</NOTE> yoa|king me al&s;o with him in this develi&s;h leger|demaine (as they terme it) calling vs a cou|ple of cou&s;ining hipocrites, v&s;ing al&s;o manie
<PB N="7" REF="4">other badde termes.</P>
<P>The title of this booke is termed, <HI>A di&s;co|verie of fraud<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">lent practi&s;es concerninge prete~ded po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions.</HI> It contained 5 bookes, the firct whereof doth more concerne me, &amp; the matter of facte for <HI>Lanca<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">hire,</HI> then the rest doe: &s;o much therfore as I can conveni|entlie for the clearing of both, I will an&s;wer vnto, and leaue the rest vnto him who hath iust occa&s;ion offered, to v&s;e his best defence in that behalfe.</P>
<P>Lastlie for that this di&s;couerer,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Di&s;cover<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> booke 1. chap. 3. pag. 17. booke <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">. chap. 10. pag 58. booke 5. chap. 8. pa. 324.</NOTE> who&s;oe|uer he be, finds great fault with &s;ome of our friendes, for that they &s;pake &s;o much of the dispo&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of <HI>Summers</HI> in a little treati&s;e or two, but nothing of the dispo&s;&s;e&s;&s;io~ of the&s;e 7 in Lanca&s;hire and of &s;ome others: And &s;eemes &s;ometimes to challe~ge vs to make our an&s;were, if we haue any more to &s;ay, and to &s;peake for our &s;elves what we can.</P>
<P>&V;pon the&s;e iust occa&s;ions, I haue vnder|taken this &s;hort di&s;cour&s;e, hoping here by to detect the fal&s;ehoode of this di&s;couerie con|cerning this particular facte, by clearing it, and in it the rest which are like vnto it, of &s;uch malitious &s;launders as are ray&s;ed a|gainst it: that &s;o all things being faithfullie de&s;cribed from point to point, appertayning to this matter, all men may &s;ee, both what
<PB N="8" REF="5">great cau&s;e J haue aboue any other to de|fende this, as the wonderfull worke of God, as al&s;o that it might better appeare, whether we or they that haue written and dealt a|gainst vs, be deepest in this di&s;&s;imulation, and who bee greatest cou&s;iners and decey|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters">ers.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB N="9" REF="5">
<HEAD>A brief and true di&s;cour&s;e con|tayning the certayne po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion and di&s;po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of 7 per&s;ons in one familie in <HI>Lanca&s;hire,</HI> as namely of <HI>Iohn Starkie, Anne Starkie, Margret Hurdman, Ellynor Hurdman, Ell<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> Hollande, Margret Byrom,</HI> and <HI>Iane A&s;hton,</HI> which may &s;erve (as an interim) for a peece of an an&s;were to that fraudulent di&s;coverie lately come out, which depraveth the&s;e, a&s;well as the re&s;t of tho&s;e great &amp; mightie workes of God, which be of the &s;ame kinde.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="part">
<P>_IN this di&s;cour&s;e, I meane not to meddle with that deceitful and depraving di&s;coverie, further then concernes this matter of facte for Lanca&s;hire on|lie, re&s;erving all matters of opinion, and the an&s;wering of all their obi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">ctions, to a more full and fitter time. And &s;o avoyding all tediou&s;nes as neare as I can, I will indevour fullie and plainly to reveile the trueth, that I may quicklie di&s;patch the &s;torie.</P>
<P>And becau&s;e the drift of this de&s;perate detractour is to detecte our dealing with the 7 to be a deceiueable practize, a&s;well
<PB N="10" REF="6">as the re&s;t which are (by him) pretended &s;o to be: And that this chiefe&s;t oppo&s;ition vnto this worke con&s;i&s;teth in 5. principall things, which bring &s;ore vrged, and ea&s;ilie receyued, will endanger greatly the credit of the Storie. In re&s;pect hereof. I will di|ge&s;t this whole di&s;cour&s;e into 5 principall heades or chiefe places; which may &s;erue fitly, both to giue more light to the &s;torie, and for a more direct aun&s;were to the di&s;|couerie.</P>
<P>In the fir&s;t place, I will as truelie as I can de&s;cribe the &s;tate of the&s;e per&s;ons and of their &s;trange and trouble&s;ome afflictions, together with the outward cau&s;es and oc|ca&s;ions thereof, which al&s;o continued for the mo&s;t parte, for the &s;pace of two yeares and a halfe, before we came vnto them.</P>
<P>Secondly, I will &s;et downe the &s;traunge &s;ignes &s;hewed forth by them, both gene|rally and particularly, to prooue that they were truely and actually po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed.</P>
<P>In the 3 place I will &s;hew the cau&s;es and occa&s;ions of our co~ming into Lanca&s;hire, &amp; what beginning &amp; proceeding we made in performing that great worke which we tooke in hande.</P>
<P>Fourthly, I will manife&s;t the meanes, &amp; cleare the maner of their deliuerance.</P>
<PB N="11" REF="6">
<P>And la&s;tly, I will brieflie mention the &s;i|gnes of their di&s;pe&s;t &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters">o~, which may &s;erve to cleare it from all &s;u&s;puion.</P>
<P>The&s;e points I purpo&s;e briefly to touch, &amp; not to handle the at large according to the worthines of the matter, which indeed is &s;uch as doth de&s;erve both a more ful di&s;+cour&s;e, and al&s;o a more pregnant facultie to commend it, then I am able to afforde.</P>
<P>In the fir&s;t place, order requireth, that we &s;how<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> the &s;tate of the&s;e 7 per&s;ons af|flicted, before we come vnto them, which was mo&s;t &s;trange and fea<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> full, and howe it came &s;o to pa&s;&s;e, and of the coutinuance of it for th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> &s;pace of two yeares and more: all which may plainly appeare by this which followeth.</P>
<P>At Cl<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">worth in Lanca&s;hire within the pari&s;h of Leigh, there dwelleth one Ni|cholas Starkie gentleman, who maried a gentle woman that was an inheretrix, and of who&s;e kinred &s;ome were papi&s;tes, of whom &s;ome partly for Religion, and part|lie for that the lande de&s;cended not to the heires male, wi&s;hed and vowed &s;til to pray for the peri&s;hing of her i&s;&s;ue, and accor|dingly 4 of her children (though at their birth likely to lin<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">) yet afterward pined a|way in mo&s;t &s;trange maner.</P>
<PB N="12" REF="7">
<P>Some of M^^r^^s Starkies kinred ob&s;erving how one childe pined away after another, moued with co~pa&s;&s;ion, told Mi&s;trers Star|kie of the &s;aid vnnatural vowe, &s;he here <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">|pon conceyued &s;uch a grief, that &s;he made an e&s;tate of her lande to her hu&s;band &amp; his heires, (all i&s;&s;ue fayling her &s;elfe.) After which conveyance made, Mi&s;tres Starkie had two children, a &s;onne and a daughter, both which pro&s;pered well, till they came to 10 or 12 yeares of age, but the~ with &s;iue moe in her family, they were po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed and vexed with evill &s;pirites, as the &s;equele doeth declare.</P>
<P>In the beginning of February 1594: fir&s;t Anne the daughter was taken with a dum|pi&s;he heavie countenance, and with a cer|tain fearfull &s;tarting &amp; pulling together of her-bodie. About a weeke after, Iohn Star|kie the &s;onne was taken as he was going to &s;chole, and was compelled to &s;howte vehe|mentlie, not being able to &s;tay him &s;elfe. After this they waxed wor&s;e and wor&s;e, fal|ling into often &s;trange &amp; extreame fittes.</P>
<P>Wherewith M. Starkie grieved &amp; having bin at charges 200 lb. or therabouts, &s;oght remedie without due regard, (for to &s;peake of no more) he went to a Seminarie Prie&s;t, who could do no good, becau&s;e (for&s;ooth)
<PB N="13" REF="7">he had not then his bookes, wherevpon M. Starkie co~tinued &s;til &s;eeking for helpe: and heard of one Edmond Hartley a witch whom hee made acquainted with the &s;tate of his children, and with large offers craved his helpe: in the end Hartley con|&s;ented to come. Who being there, and ha|uing v&s;ed certayne popi&s;h charmes and hearbes, by degrees, the children were at quiet, &amp; &s;o continued, &s;eeming to be well almo&s;t a yeare and a halfe; All which time Hartley came often to vi&s;it the~, at length he fayned as though he would goe into another countrie, but whither M. Starkie might not know, and when hee began to goe his way, Iohn Starkie fell a bleeding, and Hartley comming to him, &s;aied, if he had bene but 40 roodes from him, none could haue &s;taunched him, and thus it fell out at other times.</P>
<P>M. Starkie then fearing lea&s;t his chil|dren would be much troubled in his ab|&s;ence, &amp; he vncertaine where to find him, offered to giue 40. &s;hillings a yeare penti|on for his a&s;&s;i&s;tance in time of need, which offer at the fir&s;t hee con&s;ented to accepte, but afterward not &s;atisfied, hee coueted more (hou&s;e and ground:) which whe~ M. Starkie refu&s;ed to giue, he threatned in a
<PB N="14" REF="8">fume in the ab&s;ence of M. Sta<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">kie, but in the hearing of many, that if he would not fulfill his minde, hee would m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters">k &s;uch a &s;howre at Clew<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">rth, as neuer was heard, which was al&s;o <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">ffected in &s;uch a hideous and fearfull maner, as the like in England hath not bene heard.</P>
<P>After this Mai. Sta<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">kie going to his Fa|thers hou&s;e, this Hartley went with him, who being there after he was in bed, was tormented &s;ore all night longe: the next day being recouered, he went into a little wood not farre off from the hou&s;e where he made a Circle the compas of a yard and halfe, with many cro&s;&s;es and partitions, which being fini&s;hed he came back to call M. Starkie, telling him what he had done, and de&s;ired him to goe and tread out his circle, for he &s;aid he might not doe it him &s;elfe. This beeing al&s;o di&s;patched, well quoth hee, now I &s;hall trouble him that troubled me, and be meete with him that &s;ought my death.</P>
<P>Whe~ M. Starkie perceyued this, &amp; many other bad qualities in this fellowe, he wa|red weatie of him, e&s;pecially &s;eeing no a|mendment in his children but that they rather became wor&s;e and wor&s;e, hee then &s;ought (though &s;ecretlie) for other helpe
<PB N="15" REF="8">to the Phi&s;itions: after that to one Doctor Dee at Manche&s;ter, who wi&s;hed Ma<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> Star|kie to craue the helpe &amp; a&s;&s;i&s;tance of &s;ome godlie Preacher, with whom hee &s;hould ioyne in prayer and fa&s;ting, for the helpe of his children.</P>
<P>He procured al&s;o the &s;aide Hartley the Witch to come before him, whom hee &s;o &s;harplie reprooved, that the children had better re&s;t for &s;ome 3 weekes after.</P>
<P>But then they began their accu&s;tomed fittes: fir&s;t Iohn Starkie about the 4 of Ia|nuarie 96. as he was reading of a booke, &s;omething gaue him &s;uch a thumpe in the necke, that he was &s;uddenly &s;triken down with a mo&s;t horrible &s;krike, and &s;aid that Satan had broken his necke, lying there pitifullie tormented for the &s;pace of two houres.</P>
<P>At night on the &s;ame day being in bed, he leapt out on a &s;uddaine with &s;uch a ter|rible outcry, that amazed them all, being to&s;&s;ed and tumbled a long time, being ex|ceeding fierce and &s;trong like a mad man, or rather like a madd dogge, that I may &s;o &s;peake, &s;natching at and biring euerie bo|die that laide hold on him, not &s;paring in that fit<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> his owne mother: &s;m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">ing furi|ou&s;ly all that came neare him, hu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">ling the
<PB N="16" REF="9">bed &s;taues at their heades, and throwing the pillowes into the fire.</P>
<P>His &s;i&s;ter Anne likewi&s;e beganne again to be troubled, &amp; three other yong girles in the hou&s;e, of whom Mai. Starkie had the education, with their portions com|mitted vnto him by their pare~ts. The fir&s;t was Margret Hurdman of 14 yeares age: the &s;econd Ellinor her &s;i&s;ter of 10 yeares: the third Ellen Holland of 12 yeares, the&s;e all had many &s;trange and &s;ore fittes being po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed by this witches meanes: His ma|ner was when he ment them a mi&s;chiefe, then he would ki&s;&s;e them if he could, and therewith breathe the Devil into their bo|dies: he ki&s;&s;ed Iohn Starkie, and all the maydes that were po&s;&s;e&s;t, Margret Byrom, Iane A&s;hton, &amp; all: he &s;trugled much with one Ioan Smith to haue ki&s;&s;ed her, but with much a doe &s;he e&s;caped his handes, &s;o that of all the maide &s;eruants, &s;he onely was pre&s;erued and not once troubled at al. Wherevpon Ellinor &s;aid in one of her fits, that if Edmond had ki&s;&s;ed her, three men could not haue held her.</P>
<P>Margret Byrom of 33 yeares, a kin&s;|woman to Mi&s;tres Starky, comming to. Cleworth to &s;ee her friendes, in her conti|nuance there beganne to be troubled like
<PB N="17" REF="9">the re&s;t, &amp; by the &s;ame meanes; for Hart|ley the Witch beeing in a &s;ore fitt in the night, &s;he in a de&s;ire to comfort him, went into his chamber and &s;at down by his bed &s;ide, and beganne to &s;peake vnto him, and it was not long before he ro&s;e vp, and &s;it|ting vppon his bed, hee leaned his heade downe to the maide who &s;att iu&s;t vnder|neath him, wherevpon &s;he was &s;uddenlie taken that &s;hee could neither &s;tande nor &s;peake; when &s;he endevoured to ari&s;e, &s;he could not; when others held her vp, &s;hee &s;unke downe &amp; became &s;enceles: but Ed|mond the Witch lefte her and went to another rowme, and he had no moe fittes after while he was at Cleworth, though he had divers before he met with this maide.</P>
<P>Iane A&s;hton of the age of xxx yeres, be|ing the la&s;t that was po&s;&s;e&s;t, confe&s;&s;ed, that once cro&s;&s;ing of Edmond, hee tolde her, &s;he had be&s;t be content, or ells hee would anger the be&s;t vaine in her harte: at other times &s;he &s;aid, he offered great kindnes &amp; large promi&s;&s;es in the way of mariage, and had ki&s;&s;ed her al&s;o: the like loving affe|ctions he &s;ometimes &s;hewed to Margret By|rom, as &s;he confe&s;&s;ed, and had ki&s;&s;ed her al&s;o as it was thought.</P>
<P>About the 14 of lanuarie, the 5 yonge&s;t
<PB N="18" REF="10">&s;ort began the renewing of their &s;traunge fitts, entring ordinarilie thereinto by a ve|rie &s;uddaine and fearfull skriking, bar|king &amp; howling, in &s;uch a hideous noy&s;e, as can not be expre&s;&s;ed.</P>
<P>Shortlie after this time, Margret Byrom ha&s;ted homeward to her mothers hou&s;e at Salford neare Manche&s;ter, hoping to finde &s;ome more ea&s;e and relea&s;e from her fittes then &s;he did at Cleworth: &s;hee taking her leaue, Edmond the witch &s;aide he would goe with her home though he never came again, &s;o &s;he went accompanied with him and another: in the way being 7 miles, &s;he had 10 fittes: when &s;he was recouered, &s;he de&s;ired Edmond to tell her how &s;he might be holpen; he tolde her plainlie, that both &s;he and the re&s;t were pa&s;t his handes, and that no one man could do them any good, it was too great a worke, but they mu&s;t be 3, or 2 at the lea&s;t with feruent and hartie prayer.</P>
<P>After &s;he came home, her fittes doubled and &s;till encrea&s;ed, Edmond came to her euery day: &s;o &s;oone as &s;he &s;aw him &s;he fell &s;traight into a fitt, and therein &s;orer hand|led then euer &s;he was before. There came in diuers to &s;ee her, and &s;ome Preachers, who founde Edmond with her, and &s;u&s;pe|cting
<PB N="19" REF="10">him by &s;ome &s;ignes, a&s;ked himwhat he did with the maid, he &s;aid that he came to pray with her. Pray! quoth one, why man thou can&s;t not pray: yes but I can, quoth he: &s;ay then the Lords prayer, &s;aide the Preacher: and he began to fumble a|bout it verie ilfavouredlie; but could not for his life &s;ay it to the ende. They then thought him to be a witch, &amp; cau&s;ed him pre&s;entlie to be apprehe~ded, and brought before 2 Iu&s;tices of peace, where hee was examined, and after diuers witne&s;&s;es had come again&s;t him, the Iu&s;tices &s;ent him backe to Margret Byrom, that &s;he might accu&s;e him to his face; but &s;o &s;oone as &s;he &s;aw him, &s;traightway &s;he fell down back|wards and became &s;peechles, this was try|ed the &s;econd time, yea 5 times was hee brought to her, &amp; &s;he was euer ca&s;t down, and &s;triken dumbe, &s;o that &s;hee could not &s;peake one word again&s;t him.</P>
<P>Yet when he was taken away, and &s;et be|hinde the backes of the people, &s;hee reco|uered her &s;elf, began to &s;peake to him, &amp; to charge him with many thinges, vppon which accu&s;ations of hers, &amp; many other te&s;timonies taken again&s;t him for witche|rie, he was by the Iu&s;tices &s;ent to Lanca&s;ter Iayle. In the way thitherward, he came by
<PB N="20" REF="11">Cleworth to fetch his clothes to carrie with him: the 2 of Februarie 1597. and all the children &s;eeming to be well before he came, pre&s;ently they fell into verie violent and outragious fittes; they made at him al at once, offring to &s;trike him; It was much a doe for two &s;trong men to hold the lea&s;t of them; and if they had not bene forcibly re&s;trayned, the witch had bene in great daunger, for they were &s;o fierce and furi|ous again&s;t him, as if they would haue pulled him in pieces.</P>
<P>After this, about y^e beginning of March, when Ma. <HI>Hopwood</HI> Iu&s;tice of peace came of purpo&s;e to take the te&s;timonie of the&s;e 5 children again&s;t Edmonde the witch, to carrie to Lanca&s;ter at the A&s;&s;i&s;es to further his inditement, the~ the&s;e 5 euerie one be|came &s;peachles, and beeing called for one after another, they fell and &s;unke downe by the way, not being able to goe, nor to &s;tande, nor &s;peake one word. After the Iu|&s;tice was gone, they complayned that Ed|mond had &s;topt their mouthes, &amp; would not &s;uffer them to &s;peake.</P>
<P>At the &s;ame time Iane A&s;hton began to howle, and to barke, when &s;hee &s;hould be brought in for a witnes again&s;t Edmond, wherevpon one of the yonger girles &s;aide
<PB N="21" REF="11">then in her fitt: Ah Edmond, doe&s;t thou trouble her now, when &s;hee &s;hould te&s;tifie again&s;t thee.</P>
<P>Margret Byrom al&s;o two nightes before her examination again&s;t Edmond, had di|uers apparitions, wherin &s;he was &s;ore ter|rified by the Deuill in Edmonds likenes, charging her deepely to take heede what &s;he &s;aid again&s;t him, for now the time was come.</P>
<P>And when the A&s;&s;i&s;es came, Edmonde was brought forth, arraigned, and convi|cted: Mai. Starkie having charged him with bewitching his children, which hee proved &s;ufficientlie, &amp; made it evident to the whole bench: howbeit (for that) they could finde no law to hange him, where|vpon M. Starkie called to minde the ma|king of the circle (whereof we haue alrea|die &s;poken) which being deliuered vpon his oath, was receyued. Yet Edmond &s;tif|lie denied it, and &s;toode out again&s;t him, and tolde him to his face, that hee &s;hould not hang him, let him doe what he could, (for the Devill had promi&s;ed him, that no halter &s;hould hange him) yet the Iurie ca&s;t him; the Iudge co~demned him, Hart|ley was hanged &amp; the halter brake, wher|vpon he penitentlie confe&s;&s;ed, that he had
<PB N="22" REF="12">de&s;erued that puni&s;hment, and that all which M. Starkie had charged him with, was true, and &s;o he was hanged out the &s;econd time.</P>
<P>Now this being &s;o, as you haue heard, howe dete&s;table then is that Di&s;couerie which is come out, fraught with &s;o manie fraudulent accu&s;ations again&s;t this cau&s;e, &s;pecially charging the&s;e 7 per&s;ons to be al counterfaits, &amp; that M. Darrel had taught them that deceitfull trade, coupling mee equallie with him in that craftie iuglinge (as they call it,) making vs bewitching mates, and ioint companions, working to|gether in that cou&s;inage. Again&s;t which infamous &s;claunder, that which hitherto hath bene ob&s;erved, is &s;ufficient to cleare vs. For herein wee haue &s;eene the parties proved to be bewitched. Seco~dly the par|ties bewitching every one of them. Third lie, the cau&s;es therof mentioned in the be|ginning. Fourthly, diuer&s;e &amp; &s;undry wit|ne&s;&s;es. Fiftly, his apprehe~ding, examining, impri&s;oning, indighting, condemning, &amp; executing, are vpon recorde. Moreover, the Iurie, the Iudge, and the Bench, toge|ther with the whole A&s;&s;i&s;es holde~ at Lan|ca&s;ter, about the 6 of March Anno 1597: doe all beare witnes to our innocency and
<PB N="23" REF="12">doe iu&s;tifie vs to be iu&s;te men, concerning this matter, and with greate indignation, doe dete&s;t and defie all detecting di&s;coue|ries to the contrarie what&s;oeuer: And la&s;t of all, that memorable execution of Ed|mond Hartley the coniurer &amp; witch, who was hanged with a witnes: the gallowes, the halter, and his dubble hanging, toge|ther with that la&s;t and famous confe&s;&s;ion out of his owne mouth, that hee was the man that had done the deede, and onely guiltie of bewitching the&s;e 7 &s;euerall par|ties, and of &s;ending evill &s;pirits into them. This famous champion doth chaleng this di&s;couerer to bee but a deceivable detra|ctour, and a fal&s;e accu&s;er of the brethren: And is al&s;o mo&s;t &s;ufficient to cleare vs in this matter, again&s;t all Athei&s;tes and Papi&s;tes, and the whole worlde. And thus much &s;hal &s;uffice for the fir&s;t point.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="part">
<PB N="24" REF="13">
<HEAD>The &s;econd part.</HEAD>
<P>THe &s;econd thing that mu&s;t bee cleared in this Di&s;cour&s;e, is the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of the&s;e 7 per&s;ons, to which purpo&s;el wil pro+ceede to &s;hew the &s;traunge &s;ignes acted by euery one of the~ in particular fir&s;t, &amp; after co~tract them more briefly in the general, by which I hope it will appeare to the in|different Reader, that &s;uch great thinges were done by the~, as be very harde &amp; vn|v&s;ual quite beyond the nature of things, &amp; &s;uch as neither by arte, nor any humaine skil could be cou~terfaited: that as the fir&s;t part of this Di&s;cour&s;e hath cleared vs from counterfaiting; &s;o this may be &s;ufficient to prove the truth of their po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion, con|trarie to that overbolde, &amp; confident con|futation made by the di&s;couerer, who la|boreth both toth and nayle, to cro&s;&s;e and contradict the &s;ame.</P>
<P>Fri&s;t Iohn Starkie &s;onne and heire of M. Nicholas Starkie, among &s;undrie fitts had &s;ome very rare and &s;trang, wherein he &s;hewed very extraordinary knowledge, for he being but of the age of 12 yeres, or there abouts, did in his traunce declare the
<PB N="25" REF="13">&s;traunge &s;innes of this land committed in all e&s;tates &amp; degrees of people, denounced the fearfull iudgements of God due vnto them. He the~ exhorted his parents, &amp; the people there pre&s;ent to repent, that they might avoide all tho&s;e grievous plagues, and wi&s;hed that all the whole land might doe the like. After this hee made a mo&s;t excelle~t prayer, fir&s;t for the whole church, then for the Queenes Maie&s;tie for the &s;ub|duing of her enemies, for the continuance of her life, and peaceable governement, for the vpholding of the Go&s;pell, and for all the true Mini&s;ters of Chri&s;te, for tho&s;e that haue Authoritie, for his parents, and all the people of God. In this exhortation &amp; prayer, he continued aboue two houres performing the &s;ame &s;o excellently both for the matter and maner of handling and vttering the &s;ame, as they that heard it did admire it, &amp; thought that a good preacher could very hardly haue done the like, this being done, he &s;unge a good peece of the 4 P&s;alme in a mo&s;t &s;weete and heavenly tune, as ever might be heard. All this was done in a traunce, his eyes being clo&s;ed vp, &amp; neither knew what he &s;aid nor did; In this longe and continued &s;peach, his father wi&s;hed him to lie &s;til, &amp; to &s;peak no
<PB N="26" REF="14">more: &s;aying vnto him, &s;onne, thou mar|re&s;t thy head, and can&s;t not tell what thou &s;aye&s;t: yes father, quoth hee, I know well what I &s;ay: then &s;aid his father, thou can&s;t tel me how many per&s;ons be in this cham|ber and what bee their names: therevpon he reckoned them, and told the names of euery one of them, to the number of 18 or 19 his eyes being clo&s;e &s;hut vp, as they had bene all the morning before, the neigh|bours, and &s;ome &s;traungers hauing come in after he begunne his fitt, and in the end he &s;aid vnto his father, there is now one of your Tenau~ts newly come into the cham|ber, he told him his name, &amp; that he dwelt farre of in the peak, let him come &s;aid he, and take me by the hand, and I &s;hal &s;ee &amp; be well for this time, &amp; &s;o it came to pa&s;&s;e, at which they all marveilled, and asked him whether he remembred what he had &s;aid all that long time: and he denied flat|lie, that he had &s;poken any thing at all.</P>
<P>Secondly, Margret Hurdma~, of the age of xiij. yeres, being in a trau~ce of 3 houres long, and po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed at that time, as it &s;ee|med, with a &s;pirit of pride, did mo&s;t liuely expre&s;&s;e both by wordes and ge&s;tures, the proud women of our times: who can not co~tent them&s;elues with any &s;ober or mo|de&s;t
<PB N="27" REF="14">attire, but are euer readie to followe euery newe and di&s;gui&s;ed fa&s;hion, and yet neuer thinke them &s;elues fine enough: wherevpon &s;he &s;aide, come on my lad, for &s;o &s;hee called the &s;pirit that &s;toode before her in that likenes, to teach her all the trickes of pride, come on and &s;et my part|let on the one &s;ide as I doe on the other: and as &s;he was a &s;etting of it, &s;he &s;aid vnto him, thus, my lad, I wil haue a fine &s;mock of &s;ilke, it &s;halbe finer then thine. I will haue a peticote of &s;ilke, not of redd, but of the be&s;t &s;ilke that is: it &s;halbe garded a foote high; it &s;halbe laide on with golde lace; it &s;hall haue a french bodie, not of Whalebone, for that is not &s;tiffe inough, but of horne, for that will holde it our; it &s;hal come low before, to keepe in my bel|lie: my lad, I will haue a French fardin|gale, it &s;halbe finer then thine; I will haue it low before and high behinde, &amp; broad on eyther &s;ide, that I may lay my armes vpon it. My lad, thy gowne is crim&s;on &s;at|ten, but mine &s;halbe of blacke wrought velvet, it &s;halbe finer the~ thine, I will haue my &s;leeues &s;et out with wire, for &s;ticks wil breake, and are not &s;tiffe inough. I will haue my perwincle &s;o fine, finer the~ thine. I will haue my cappe of black velvet with
<PB N="28" REF="15">a feather in it, with &s;lewes of gold, and my hayres &s;halbe &s;ett with pearles, finer then thine. I will haue my partlet &s;et with a re|bater, and &s;tarcht with blew &s;tarch, &amp; pin|ned with a rowe or twoo of pinnes. With this &s;he &s;natched the partlet fro~ her necke and threw at him, &s;aying: Take it thou, for I can not make it &s;o fine as thine. I pray thee come and helpe me to &s;et it as fine as thine. My ladde, I will have a bu&s;ke of Whale-bone, it &s;halbe tyed with two &s;ilke points, and I will haue a drawen wrought &s;tomacher imbo&s;te with golde, &amp; a girdle of golde finer then thine. I will haue my ho&s;e of orenge colour, this is in reque&s;t, &amp; my corke &s;hoes of redd &s;pani&s;h leather, fi|ner then thine. I will haue a &s;karfe of red &s;ilke, with a gold lace about the edge. I will haue a fanne, with a &s;ilver &s;teale and a gla&s;&s;e &s;ett in it, finer then thine. My lad, thou mu&s;t bring me a paire of gloues of the fine&s;t leather, that may be, with twoo gold laces about the thumbe, and a fringe on the toppe with flewes and red &s;ilke vn|derneath, that I may draw them through a gold ringe, or els I will none of them.</P>
<P>My lad, I will haue my ba&s;ine and ewer of &s;iluer, and my towel of &s;ilke, finer then thine: I will haue my gelding and &s;addle
<PB N="29" REF="15">and furniture fitte, my foot&s;toole al&s;o fine and braue, or els I will not ride, I wil haue my cloake and &s;avegarde laide with lace mo&s;t fine and braue, and finer then thine, and pre&s;entlie after this, &s;he &s;aide, I defye thee Satan and thy pride, for this is thy il|lu&s;ion and deceite, I will none of it, and then reverting &s;aide, Ie&s;us ble&s;&s;e me, but remembred nothing that &s;hee had eyther &s;aide or done.</P>
<P>At another time in her fitt &s;hee went to the maides as they were wa&s;hing of cloa|thes, and beganne to wa&s;h with them, and though they were two lu&s;tie women, and &s;he but a yong girle, yet &s;hee wa&s;ht more for the &s;pace of an hower &s;o quicke and &s;o fine, that they could not come neare her.</P>
<P>The; is Margret Byron, of whom there be many things worthie to bee ob&s;erued: Shee being at Mai. Starkies hou&s;e about the ende of Ianuary, was for the &s;pace of a whole day and a night grievou&s;lie mole|&s;ted &amp; &s;ore frighted with a terrible vi&s;ion which appeared vnto her lying in bedde, (&s;welling &amp; tumbling) like a fowle black dwarfe, with halfe a face, longe &s;hagged haire, blacke broad handes, &amp; blacke clo|ven feete; &s;he ever fearing lea&s;t he came to carrie her away: and when &s;hee began to
<PB N="30" REF="16">pray, he threatned that if &s;he did pray, he would carrie her away: &s;hee was in &s;uch a &s;traite, that &s;he knew notwhat to do, whe|ther to pray or not to pray: yet in the ende &s;hee re&s;olved that &s;hee would pray to the Lord, for her helpe was onely in him, who indeed gaue her &s;trength and courage to call earne&s;tly vnto him; pre&s;enthe Sathan remoued and vani&s;hed away.</P>
<P>At her mothers hou&s;e at Salforde, &s;ixe times within 6 weekes Sathan &s;ought to pine her, in not &s;uffering her to eate nor drinke for diuers dayes togither: and if at the earne&s;t reque&s;t of her friendes &s;hee did offer to drinke, he would ca&s;t both her &amp; the drinke downe togither. And againe at other times &s;hee would eate vp all, were it neuer &s;o much: with &s;uch &s;natching and greedines, like a hungrie d<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">gge: all was fi&s;he that came to net; &s;he &s;pared nothing, deuouring all that came, and yet &s;till cry|ing that &s;he had nothing: &s;he thought &s;he could haue eaten vp halfe a calfe: and yet after that great abundance of meate and drinke, her bellie &s;eemed as emptie as at the fir&s;t, &s;o that they all wondered at that which &s;he had eaten, and marveiled al&s;o which way it went.</P>
<P>Sometimes al&s;o the &s;pirit would appeare
<PB N="31" REF="16">vnto her in the likenes of a great blacke dog, with ope~mouth, &amp; the greate&s;tchaine that euer &s;he &s;aw, beeing verie thicke and longe, drawing it after him, wherewith he did cro&s;&s;e her, and tooke her legges from vnder her; &s;hee had little re&s;t for the &s;pace of 6 weekes, eyther day or night: yea ina|nie times when the people &s;tood round a|bout her, &s;he was taken &s;uddenlie and vi|olentlie ca&s;t headlong &s;ometimes vnder the bed, &s;ometimes vnder the cofers, and &s;ometimes throwen to the barres of the fire, and there aid as if Satan m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">nt to ro&s;t her. When &s;he &s;at vpon a &s;toole, he would &s;uddenlie throwe het quite back warde, as if he ment to haue broken her necke.</P>
<P>After this he appeared in <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters">e likenes of a big black Cat, with very fen<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">full broad eyes, which came &s;taring her in the face, ru~ning by her and about her, and chrow|ing her downe, and leaving her &s;en&s;eles, departed. And about halfe an houre after that fi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">t, the &s;pirit came like a big Mou&s;e, leaping vpon her knee, and ca&s;t her down backwarde, as before, her &s;ences being ta|ken from her; her eyes clo&s;e &s;hurt vp, her tongue pluckt duble into her throte, her mouth open, her chawes &s;ett, and all her whole body &s;tretched out as &s;tiffe as iron:
<PB N="32" REF="17">And thus &s;he lay many times for the &s;paed of an houre as a &s;pectacle very fearfull to beholde.</P>
<P>It was v&s;uall al&s;o with the &s;pirit to come vnto her in the night in the likenes of a blacke man with half a face, which tooke her iu&s;t as &s;he was going to bed, &amp; would be &s;ure to picke her backwarde: and &s;hee being recovered and got into her bed, it would come and &s;it vpon the toppe of her head, holding his 4 fingers vpon her fore|head very heavie, holding her very &s;trait, that &s;he could not &s;ee nor &s;tirre, yet for all that was her kirchefe and headgeare pul|led of, and though they had tyed it vp, and bound it on very fa&s;t, yet &s;uddenly in a moment he pluckt all a &s;under, and her hayre that was &s;o fa&s;t tyed vp, was broken loo&s;e, and brought about her eares, and this was tryed twice or thrice in a night, that when they had done the be&s;t they could to keepe it on, yet in the twinke of an eye, it was all vndone, he marred their worke in that point, and they lo&s;t all their labour: and ever when he tooke his leaue and departed, his maner was to give her great thumpe on the hinder part of her heade, in&s;omuch that with tho&s;e thumpes &s;he felt her head &s;ore a good while after.
<PB N="33" REF="17">She at another time, learned; verie excel|lent graces by the apparition &amp; in&s;tructi|on of the &s;pirit: &s;he neuer could read, nor euer heard the before in all her life, as &s;he prote&s;ted, yet &s;he learned them vppon the &s;uddaine, and did rehear&s;e them all three verie perfectlie, and &s;o it is like &s;he can do till tis day.</P>
<P>About the 10 of Febrn. &amp; at &s;ome other times before, &s;he felt (as &s;he thought) &s;ome great thing rowle vp &amp; downe in her bel|lie, like a calfe; it prickt as if the head and no&s;e thereof had bene full of nayles (as &s;he thought) wherwith being &s;ore payned &s;he was compelled to skrike, &s;hee was excee|dingly &s;wolne by it, &amp; &s;omtimes it pulled her as &s;he thought in a hundred peeces, it made a loude noy&s;e in her bellie, like that in the bellie of a great trotting hor&s;e; it cau&s;ed her to barke and houle: then it would plumpe downe into her bodie, like a cold long whet&s;tone on her left &s;ide, wherevpon the re&s;t of her bodie was be|numed with an extreame colde, wherewith &s;he fell a quaking, her teeth al&s;o chatte|ring in her head, and if then &s;he offered to warme her &s;elf at the fire, &s;he was pre&s;ent|ly picked backward; after the&s;e fitts her breath &s;tanke &s;o ill, that her neighbours
<PB N="34" REF="18">came not neare her for the &s;pace of a day and a night, yea it was &s;o exceeding noy|&s;ome that after the fitt, &s;he her &s;elf could perceiue it &amp; could very hardly endure it.</P>
<P>Further to fini&s;he this particular, &s;ix &s;e|uerall times in her fits at Cleworth, euery time &s;ix &s;pirits appeared to her: 5 of them very black, fowler then blackmores, mar|veylous vglie to beholde: the&s;e &s;he <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="3 letters">ei|ued &s;houeing and thru&s;ting into her great nayles to torment her (as &s;hee thought) wringing and bending of her, as if they would breake her backe bone: the other &s;pirite was in her eyes, like a very faire litle childe, &s;o fine and comely as ever might be &s;een, (which &s;he &s;aid) &s;at euer next her, &amp; would &s;ay vnto her, feare not, for thou &s;halt haue no harme: and for that it was &s;o amiable, &s;he was euer catching &amp; coueting to take it, but her hand being &s;tayed by &s;ome that &s;tood by, &s;traight &s;he was &s;orer troubled, and fell a to&s;&s;ing and tumbling, as at other times.</P>
<P>Ellen Holland and Ellinor Hurdman, the one being 10, the other 12 yeares of age, were both of them (by the malice of Satan) kept fa&s;ting for the &s;pace of 3 dayes and 3 nights, for &s;o long time they remay|ned &s;enceles, &amp; did neither eat nor drink
<PB N="35" REF="18">any thing: wherein hee laboured they might both of them peri&s;h and pine away. And when the third night was come, Eilen Hollande called for the houre gla&s;&s;e, and tolde them, &s;hee mu&s;t now haue a fitt, and mu&s;t not come out of it for the &s;pace of foure houres, &s;hee then called for a di&s;taffe and a &s;pindle, &amp; bad them turne the gla&s;&s;e, for thee would &s;pinne an houre and a halfe of that time. And though &s;hee was but a child, &amp; as it were but beginning to learne to &s;pinne, yet &s;he did it at that time &s;o fine|lie &amp; with &s;uch expedition, as was thought impo&s;&s;ible for a verie skilful woman to do the like, and gaue ouer iu&s;t at the ende of the appointed time, and then had &s;he mo&s;t cruell and terrible fittes, till the gla&s;&s;e had runne out the re&s;t of the time, and reverted iu&s;t at the foure houres end, as before &s;hee had &s;aid: but what &s;hee had &s;aid or done in all this time, that &s;he remembred not.</P>
<P>Likewi&s;e Ellinor Hurdman tolde them that &s;he mu&s;t haue a fit of 3 houres longe, &s;hee called for the houre gla&s;&s;e, bad them turne it and marke it well, &s;hee pre&s;enthe with the turning of the gla&s;&s;e fell into a traunce, her eyes clo&s;e &s;hut vp, and her face turned quite from the gla&s;&s;e, the other way: Notwith&s;tanding &s;hee mea&s;ured the
<PB N="36" REF="19">time mo&s;t di&s;tinctly as the gla&s;&s;e did runne deviding the houre into 4 quarters, by very iu&s;t &amp; equall proportions, according as it was mo&s;t duelie ob&s;erued, &s;he recko|nod it her &s;elfe, and named euery quarter as it had runne out: &s;aying thus, a quarter runne, half houre runne, 3 quarters runne, and the fourth time, turne the gla&s;&s;e: euen iu&s;t when it had runne out; and &s;o did &s;he the &s;econd time and mi&s;&s;ed not; and the 3 likewi&s;e till it was out, and then iu&s;t with the very time &s;he reverted and &s;aide, Ie&s;us ble&s;&s;e me, &amp; &s;o was re&s;tored for that tyme. Among all the &s;trange thinges acted by them, there was none better marked then this, it was done in the day, in the pre&s;ence of many witne&s;&s;es, M. Starkie him&s;elf the man that did chieflie ob&s;erue it, and to the be&s;t ayme he could giue, the quarters were mo&s;t equally deuided, and the proportion mo&s;t iu&s;t in the mea&s;ure: At which they all marueiled greatly, and could not chu&s;e but impute this &s;upernaturall skill to the work of Satan, who a&s;well by his &s;traung and cunning &s;ugge&s;tions, as by other en|forced &s;ignes, doth make it evident, that that working &s;ubiect is in his power, and po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion.</P>
<P>Furthermore Iohn Starkie, Anne Star|kie,
<PB N="37" REF="19">Ellen Holland, and Ellinor Hurdman, the&s;e 4 had the v&s;e of their legges taken from them, for the &s;pace of 7 houres, and being &s;o, all that time, they went vpo~ their hands and their knees onely, out of one chamber into an other, and that as fa&s;t, as if they had had the v&s;e of their feete: they could re&s;t in no place, but went without cea&s;ing all that while, they could leape vp from the flore to the bed, &amp; down fro~ the bed to the flore, hopping &s;o vp and downe, as lightlie, like froggs, and &s;o continued for the &s;pace of 7 houres, at the lea&s;t.</P>
<P>This time being out, they were re&s;tored to the v&s;e of their feete, but yet &s;till remai|ned both &s;encele&s;&s;e &amp; &s;peachles, in which ca&s;e they all 4 went into the garden, and forthwith euery one of them gathered one leafe of euery kinde of hearbe that grew therein, from the greate&s;t to the lea&s;t, they mi&s;&s;ed not one even to the very gra&s;&s;e: which being done, they came againe into the hou&s;e, and then they went fir&s;t into the hall, then into the parlour, and then into every chamber in the hou&s;e, excep|ting one which was lockt, &amp; there in the windowes of the&s;e &s;euerall rowmes, euery one of them laid downe one leaf, of the &s;ame kind of hearbe which they had ga|thered,
<PB N="38" REF="20">for looke where any one of them did lay downe one, there all the re&s;t would lay downe another of the &s;ame &s;ort, and no moe nor no other.</P>
<P>Now marke the &s;traungnes of this acte, which how&s;oeuer it &s;eeme in it &s;elf to be but a trifle, yet in the trial of it, it wil proue a wonder, if the circum&s;tances bee duely co~&s;idered: for fir&s;t, the herbes were many, &s;eeing the garden is large. Secondly, the rowmes were many, for it is a gentlemans hou&s;e, and it is of good receipte. Thirdly, they were 4, and they were but children, the elde&s;t was not aboue 12 yeares olde, &amp; yet that they &s;hould gather of euery &s;ort, one leafe only and no more. Fourthly, that the hearbes being mingled altogether in their hands, yet that euery one did mo&s;t quicklie, &amp; readilie, without any &s;earching at all, lay down the right hearbe, &s;o that in euery place there where euer 4 iu&s;t of one and the &s;ame kind. La&s;tly, and that which is the chiefe&s;t of all, that all this (as was duely ob&s;erued) was done and di&s;patched within le&s;&s;e then one houre, in &s;o diuers rowmes and &s;undry places, yea vpon the &s;tayres and thre&s;holds of the&s;e rowmes, &amp; in their own chamber where they lay the~|&s;elues, not only in euery window, but a|gain&s;t
<PB N="39" REF="20">euery &s;taunch of the windowe were the&s;e herbes thus laid downe in maner a|fore&s;aid.</P>
<P>This was &s;earched &amp; found to be thus &s;peedly and exactly done, as is abou&s;eaid, which thing if it &s;hould haue bene perfor|med by other 4 of good di&s;cretion, the cir|cum&s;tances con&s;idered, it would haue bin the work of a whole day, &amp; yet not &s;o excel|lently performed, as it was by the&s;e: which when they did it, were all out of their right mindes, not knowing at all what they did, in &s;o much that when they came out of their traunce, they merveiled where they had bene, &amp; could not be per&s;waded that they had done this &s;traunge thinge, though it was &s;hewed vnto them by plaine demon&s;tration.</P>
<P>The&s;e 4 al&s;o in another traunce, did daunce &s;o finely, as if they had come out of the dauncing &s;chole, one of the yonge&s;t playing with her mouth as cunningly for the pre&s;ent, as if &s;he had bene a min&s;trell.</P>
<P>It was further ob&s;erued, that in tho&s;e times when the&s;e were &s;o &s;ubiect to haue their fits very often and very thicke, and to before vexed, and tormented, yet for all that if they went <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">o cardes or othe<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> games they were not troubled at all, during the
<PB N="40" REF="21">whole time of their playing and gaming and though they went from home being reque&s;ted to a gentlemans hou&s;e to heare a play, yet all that while, they were not troubled, nor one whitte di&s;quieted, but contrariwi&s;e if either &s;criptures were read, or prayers v&s;ed for them, or exhortations applyed vnto them, then ordinarily they fell into their fitts, and were very fearfully tormented. In&s;omuch that for the &s;pace of two yeares or there-abouts, till they were deliuered, they neuer came to the church, only for feare to increa&s;e their torments.</P>
<P>Moreouer the 4 yonge&s;t girles being po&s;&s;e&s;t with &s;corning &s;pirites in the day of their di&s;po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion, and in the time of the la&s;t &s;ermon did &s;hew the &s;ame: for when the word was applied vnto them, &s;hewing what &s;traunge things Satan worketh in the children of di&s;obedience, as grining and gna&s;hing of teeth, &s;taring with their eyes, making mowes with their lips, thru&s;ting out their to~gues, &amp; drawing their mouths awrye very vgly, &amp;c. It is mo&s;t certaine that as the&s;e particulars were named, one after another, &s;o they all foure did in actio~ an&s;were the word of God which was &s;po|ken, &s;hewing &s;uch vn&s;emely ge&s;tures, fear|full lookes, &amp; vglie cou~tenances in euery
<PB N="41" REF="21">particular, and in the very &s;ame in&s;tant &amp; point of time when they were named. And though not one of them did &s;ee what an|other did, yet for all that, they did iumpe &s;o right in &s;hewing and &s;etting out the&s;e vn&s;eemly &s;ignes, as that it could verie hardly bee di&s;cerned, which of them all 4 was fir&s;t or la&s;t in performing of the &s;ame. Further &s;uch was the great and extraordi|nary &s;trength that were in the&s;e 4 in the time of their fitts, that though &s;ome of the~ were but of the age of x or xj yeares, yet two or three &s;tro~g men, could hardly hold one of them.</P>
<P>And that the&s;e two yonge&s;t and &s;ome of the re&s;t, though they were vnlearnd and neuer went to &s;chole, yet in their fitts they were able to make an&s;wer to latin que&s;ti|ons propounded vnto them, &s;o truely and readily, as if they had &s;oundly vnder&s;tood them. And herein were they tried &s;undry times. And if now they &s;hould be exami|ned therein, they can neither an&s;wer nor vnder&s;tande one worde.</P>
<P>There be al&s;o many other very &s;trange things acted by euery one of the&s;e in par|ticular, which if they &s;hould be &s;et downe euery one, they would fill a large volume, for brevities &s;ake therfore the mo&s;t things
<PB N="42" REF="22">be omitted. And this al&s;o is mo&s;t certaine, that very many &s;traunge thinges, and as wonderfull as anie that heere haue bene &s;poken of, were lo&s;t, and let &s;lippe for want of heede, and good ob&s;ervation.</P>
<P>Nowe it is worthie to bee marked, that though the&s;e po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed per&s;ons, had euery one, &s;ome thinges peculiar to them &s;elues which none of the re&s;t did &s;hew, and that &s;o rare &amp; &s;traunge, that all the people were forced to confe&s;&s;e it was the worke of an euill &s;pirite within them: &s;o had they al&s;o many thinges in co~mon one with another, and were in their fittes for the mo&s;t parte handled alike.</P>
<P N="1">1 They had all and euery one of them very &s;traunge vi&s;ions, and fearfull appariti|ons, wherevpon they would &s;ay: looke where Satan is: looke where Beelzebub is: looke where Lucifer is looke wher a great blacke dogge is, with a firebrand in his mouth: &s;ee how Satan runneth at me with a &s;peare in his hande to &s;ticke mee to the hart, but God will defend me.</P>
<P N="2">2 They had euery one of them two &s;pi|rits at the lea&s;t, one to torment them in|wardly, with all the torments of hell, as i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> were, for the pre&s;ent, and eyther one o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> more to &s;tand before their faces, mo&s;t vgly
<PB N="43" REF="22">and terrible to beholde, to driue them into all feare and a&s;toni&s;hment.</P>
<P N="3">3 They heard verie hideous and fearfull voices of the &s;pirits &s;undrie times, and did make marveillous aun&s;weres backe a|gaine vnto them verie directlie and &s;tranglie.</P>
<P N="4">4 They were in their fittes ordinarilie holden in that captiuitie &amp; bondage, that for an houre, two, or three, &amp; longer time they &s;hould neither &s;ee nor heare nor ta&s;t, nor feele nothing but the Divells, they imploying them whollie for them &s;elues, vexing and tormenting them &s;o extream|lie, as that for the pre&s;ent they could feele no other paine or torture that could bee offered vnto them; no not though you &s;hould plucke an eare from the head, or an arme from the bodie.</P>
<P N="5">5 They all of them were taken &s;udden|lie, with a verie fearfull &s;chriking, and a marveilous &s;traunge howling and &s;how|ting, making a noi&s;e, as it were to call on, and to waken one another, that &s;o the &s;pi|rites being rai&s;ed vpp, might goe to their worke, and proceed to torment their &s;ub|iectes according to their cu&s;tome; when one beganne, they all followed after in or|der, ob&s;erving time and tune, as it had bin
<PB N="44" REF="23">the ringing of vij. Bells, and &s;uch was the &s;traungnes of the&s;e voyces, that the vtte|ring and framing of them, exceeded all cunning invention, or the skill of anie counterfaite imitation, and the effect al&s;o &s;o fearfull, that it was both terrible and trouble&s;ome to the whole Countrie, and wrought a wonderfull a&s;toni&s;hment in all that heard it.</P>
<P N="6">6 Further they all of them had their bo|dies &s;wolne to a wonderfull huge bignes, and almo&s;t incredible, if there had not bin many eye-witne&s;&s;es vnto it.</P>
<P N="7">7 They had al&s;o a marveilous &s;ore hea|ving and lifting, as if their heartes would bur&s;t, &s;o that with violent &s;trayning of the~ &s;elues, &s;ome of them vomited much bloud many times.</P>
<P N="8">8 They had their faces di&s;&s;igured, and turned towardes their backes, a fearfull thru&s;ting out of their tougues with a mo&s;t vglie di&s;torting of their mouthes, being drawen vp, as it were vnto their eares.</P>
<P N="9">9 They were all of them verie fierce, offering violence both to them &s;elves and others, wherein al&s;o they &s;hewed verie great and extraordinarie &s;trength.</P>
<P N="10">10 They bla&s;phemed God, and the Bi|ble; they reviled the Preachers; rayled v|pon
<PB N="45" REF="23">&s;uch as feared God; &s;corned all holy prayers, &amp; whole&s;ome exhortations, whi|che being offered and applied vnto them, they euer became much wor&s;e.</P>
<P N="11">11 They for the mo&s;t part delighted in filthie &amp; vn&s;avorie &s;peaches, verie aggtea|ble to the nature of that vncleane &s;pirite which then dwelled within them; in &s;o|much as in the verie &s;ermon time, when &s;uch vn&s;eemelie behauiour was &s;poken a|gain&s;t, the evill &s;pirit wrought mo&s;t mali|tiou&s;ly and &s;pitefullie again&s;t the grace of God, and forced one of them (though &s;he was a maide) to vtter ope~lie in the hearing of the people, &s;uch filthie vncleanes, as is not to be named.</P>
<P N="12">12 The mo&s;t of them were both blinde, deafe, and dumbe, for diuers dayes togi|ther.</P>
<P N="13">13 They were out of their right mindes, without the v&s;e of the &s;ences, e&s;peciallie voyde of feeling; as much &s;ence in a &s;tock as in one of them: or as po&s;&s;ible in a man|ner to quicken a dead man, as to alter or chaunge them in their traunces, or fittes, in any thing that they eyther &s;aid or did.</P>
<P N="14">14 They were kept fa&s;ting a long time, and diuers of them for the &s;pace of three dayes and 3 nightes, did neither eate, nor
<PB N="46" REF="24">drinke anie thing, Satan purpo&s;ing there|by to procure their pining away.</P>
<P N="15">15 They in their fitts had diuers partes and members of their bodies &s;o &s;tiffe and &s;tretched out, as were inflexible, or verie hard to be bended.</P>
<P N="16">16 They &s;hewed very great and extraor|dinarie knowledge, as may appeare by the &s;trange things &s;aid and done by them, ac|cording to that which we haue alreadie &s;et downe in the particulars.</P>
<P N="17">17 They all in the ende of euerie &s;it, &s;aid euer thus <HI>IES&V;S ble&s;&s;e me,</HI> yea though they had 40 or a 100 fittes in one day, as it is certaine &s;ome of them had, yet they neuer mi&s;&s;ed to &s;aye thus, but as &s;ure as they had a fitt, whether it were &s;hort, or long, &s;o &s;ure it was, that it &s;hould bee en|ded, with this prayer, <HI>IES&V;S ble&s;&s;e me,</HI> this was euer a &s;ure &s;igne, that they were re&s;tored to the v&s;e of their &s;ences for that time, which neuer failed.</P>
<P N="18">18 They euer after their fits, were as wel as might be, an felt verie little or no hurt at all; although they had bene neuer &s;o &s;ore tormented immediatlie before.</P>
<P>Now this harmonie &amp; con&s;ent in &s;ignes and actions, both for the matter &amp; maner of &s;trange handling of all the&s;e in their &s;e|uerall
<PB N="47" REF="24">fits, doth make it evident, that they were all really and corporally po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed.</P>
<P>Notwith&s;tanding that is true, which is obiected, namely, that &s;undry of the&s;e &s;i|gnes, may be in one that is not po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed: for one may &s;ee very fearfull &s;ights, and &s;traung apparitions, and may be haunted with evil &s;pirits, &amp; driuen into great feares and frights, and yet not be po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed.</P>
<P>Another may be both lame and blind, and dumbe and deafe.</P>
<P>The third may bee very fierce, offering violence, both to them&s;elues ond others.</P>
<P>The fourth may gna&s;h and fome, and &s;tare with his eyes, and fall downe fearful|lie, and &s;uddenly, &amp; lye as if he were dead.</P>
<P>And &s;o it may be &s;aid of diuers others, whiche may manie other wayes bee verie &s;trangly handled, and yet not one of them truely po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed.</P>
<P>The rea&s;on is becau&s;e that when &s;undry of the&s;e &s;ignes, are &s;euered from the re&s;t, and goe alone by them &s;elues, or ells are found but two or three, or &s;ome few togi|ther, then &s;uch &s;ignes may ari&s;e, as effects from &s;ome other workinge cau&s;e in the &s;ubiect, or from the immediate hande of God, or &s;ome other way.</P>
<P>But when all the&s;e &s;ignes &s;hall concurre
<PB N="48" REF="25">and meete together in one man, or the mo&s;t of the&s;e, being ioyned with any one acte aboue the power of nature, as &s;uper|naturall knowledge, and extraordinarie &s;trength, or anie &s;uch impo&s;&s;ible worke, then if it &s;halbe examined, eyther accor|ding to the &s;criptures, or hi&s;tories, or rea|&s;on it &s;elfe, it will prooue a verie &s;ounde and corporall po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion: And &s;o by con&s;e|quence the great varietie of &s;trange &s;ignes and &s;upernaturall actes, performed by the&s;e 7. and &s;hewed a&s;well in everie particular, as in tho&s;e thinges which they had in common one with another, doth ea|&s;ilie conclude a verie true and &s;ound po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="part">
<PB N="49" REF="25">
<HEAD>The third part.</HEAD>
<P>The 3 part of this di&s;cour&s;e co~cernes our comming to Mai. Starkies hou&s;e, &amp; the occa&s;ion thereof, how we came to haue to deale with the&s;e 7 per&s;ons; our entrance into, and our whole cariage in that action; whiche beeing truelie &s;ett downe, may &s;erue to di&s;charge vs of tho&s;e grievous calumniations co~tayned in the di&s;couerie: charging vpo~ vs both the names and practize of cou&s;iners, juglers, exorci&s;tes, impo&s;ters, &amp;c.</P>
<P>FIRST then the continuance of the&s;e troubles in Mai. Starkies hou&s;e: the re|membrance of Doct. Dees cou~&s;ell, to &s;end for &s;ome Preachers: the impri&s;oning of Edmond the Witch in Lanca&s;ter Iayle: the hearing of the Boy of Burton, who being &s;trangelie afflicted, receyued helpe &amp; de|liuerance by M. Darrells advi&s;e: vpo~ the&s;e occa&s;ions, Mr. Starkie &s;ent for M. Darrell 3 &s;euerall times before he came, hee euer imparted the newes vnto the brethren as it came to his hand, becau&s;e he would at|tempt nothing in tho&s;e ca&s;es without very
<PB N="50" REF="26">good advi&s;ement, and lawfull con&s;ent. In the end it was concluded, that hee &s;hould goe: and thought fit, that I al&s;o &s;hould go with him, as a companion in the iourney, and a witnes to all his proceedings accor|ding to his owne reque&s;t.</P>
<P>This being done, M. Darr: wrote his let|ter to M. Starkie, wherin he promi&s;ed that aftter &s;ome pre&s;ent and important bu&s;ines was di&s;patched, he would come, and vi&s;ite him; de&s;iring with all, the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of &s;ome faithful Mini&s;ters about M. Starkie, e&s;pecially his Pa&s;tour to ioyne with vs.</P>
<P>This letter M. Starkie reade in the pre|&s;ence of Iohn Starkie his &s;onne, and &s;ome other: after which time, he, the &s;aid Iohn, had no fit at all, till the day of our co~ming thither; the re&s;t had &s;ome little fitts, but not &s;o grieuous as before: in which fitts they would &s;ay to the &s;pirit, thou naughtie lad, thou make&s;t vs &s;icke, for thou knowe&s;t the Preachers will come &s;hortlie.</P>
<P>So we hauing prepared our &s;elues for this iourney, at the time appointed, wen<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> towards Lanca&s;hire, where we neuer came in our liues before. And vpon Wedne&s;day the xvj^t^h of March, about one of the clock wee came to Mai. Starkies hou&s;e at Cle|worth, who hearing that wee were come
<PB N="51" REF="26">Mi&s;tres Starkie with Iohn Star. her &s;onne, and Ann her daughter with &s;ome other of the family came forth to meete vs, and en|terteyned vs with great ioye, and brought vs into the hall, where we found M. Star. him&s;elfe, being then ready to ri&s;e from dinner, who after our welcome to him, commanded the meate to be brought a|gaine, and de&s;ired vs to &s;irt downe at table, and &s;o we did: Pre&s;ently after pray&s;ing of God, wee began to enquire of M. Starkie, the &s;tate of his family, and asked him how they did: He an&s;wered, he thanked God, they were all much better then they had bene, but &s;pecially Iohn Starkie had bene well for a fortnight together, and not &s;o much as once troubled, and Anne Star. his daughter had bin well divers dayes before our comming, without any firt at all, and the re&s;t began to mend now &s;ince Edmond the witch was hanged; And both hee and his wife doubted not, but that they &s;hould now doe well. Which when wee hearde, wee &s;u&s;pected greatly Satans lurking in them: And de&s;ired to &s;ee tho&s;e that were &s;till troubled, which were e&s;pecially three, who were all in the kitchin quiet; he cal|led for them to come vp into the hall, and &s;o they came: fir&s;t the elde&s;t came neare
<PB N="52" REF="27">vnto the table and made lowe courte&s;ie, &amp; pre&s;enthe in a moment was trowen into a chayre, about 3 yardes di&s;tant from the place where &s;he &s;toode, where &s;hee reared backward in the chaire as though &s;he had ben a &s;leepe, her body &s;tretched out to the furthe&s;t, and as &s;tife as yron: This beeing done, in comes the &s;econde, who did like the fir&s;t, and was &s;uddenly ca&s;t to a table &s;ide, iu&s;t oppo&s;ite again&s;t the other: After|warde comes in the la&s;t, with both her handes clo&s;ed to her face, &amp; vttered the&s;e wordes, I am come to coun&s;ayle before I be called, and &s;traight way while the word was in her mouth, &s;he was &s;tricken back|ward to the forme-&s;ide, where &s;hee &s;att all aga&s;te like the re&s;t. Herevpon we aro&s;e fro~ the table, beeing much ama&s;ed at the &s;trangnes of the &s;ight, and came to behold them, and &s;ee in what maner they were vi|&s;ited. And after we had vewed them well, within a quarter of an houre, they al &s;tood vp. And amo~g many odd plea&s;ant, though vnv&s;uall &s;peaches, one of the&s;e three &s;pake thus merily (about the hanging of Hartley the witch, who was newlie executed) doe they think that they could hange the De|vill: I whi&s;h no, they might hange Edmo~d, but they could not hange the Devill, for
<PB N="53" REF="27">they were two, Edmond and the Devill. And after they began to raile and revile and to &s;trike both with handes and with feete, and could not be ruled till they were remoued into an vpper chamber, where they continued together, talking one to another, mocking and &s;corning &s;uch as held them downe, or &s;aid, or did any good vno them: And &s;o they remayned, depri|ued of the right v&s;e of their &s;ences, both &s;peaking, and doing much evill, and yet vtterly ignorant and &s;enceles in all that pa&s;&s;ed from them, &s;o continuing from that houre being 2 a clock on the Wedne&s;day till 6 at night vpon Thur&s;day, when it plea&s;ed God to deliuer them and the re&s;t.</P>
<P>Then we went into the garden, con&s;ul|ting with M. Starkie, what was be&s;t to bee done. We agreed vpon this cour&s;e, namely to take in hand the exerci&s;e of fa&s;ting and prayer the next day, con&s;idering with our &s;elues where wee might haue &s;ome other Godly Preacher to ioyne with vs, to a&s;&s;i&s;t vs in that worke, We thought of diuer&s;e, but in the end we made choy&s;e of one M. Dickoms, the mini&s;ter at Leigh, which is the Pari&s;h Church to M. Starkie. Where|vpon we &s;ent for him.</P>
<P>In the meane time we purpo&s;ed to pre|pare
<PB N="54" REF="28">the whole familie again&s;t the next day, to make them all as fit as we could for that holy worke: and chieflie that they might bee truely humbled, and &s;anctifi|ed, that &s;o wee might with the more cou|rage and comfort ioyne with them the next day in fa&s;ting and prayer. But when &s;ome of the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed were tried, they were found vncapable of all good coun&s;ayle &amp; in&s;truction, and yet had abilitie and pow|er to re&s;i&s;t &amp; &s;corne the &s;ame. After &s;ome halfe houre &s;pent this way with &s;ome of the~, the re&s;t of the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed were all come into the chamber: Margret Byrom was newly come from Manche&s;ter, whom Ma. Starkie had cau&s;ed to be &s;ent for, and Iane A&s;hton al&s;o, which before our comming was not much &s;u&s;pected:
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Though y^e Divel had di&s;&s;embled &amp; hid him &s;elf in both the&s;e, yet nowe the word fin|deth him out, &amp; he can di&s;|&s;emble no lo~ger, but mu&s;t nee|des &s;hew him &s;elfe.</NOTE> Yet &s;hee that day in the morning had her belly &s;welled as bigge as a woma~ with childe, &amp; &s;traight vpon our comming, a &s;traunge skriking and howling, as the re&s;t had. So Mai. Star|kie holding his &s;onne Iohn, and Mi&s;tre&s;&s;e Starkie her daughter Anna fa&s;t in their armes, Ma. Darrell began to exhort them. Pre&s;entlie Iohn Starkie and Anne, cryed out mightilie, with &s;uch outrageous roa|ring and belling, that they could not of a
<PB N="55" REF="28">long time be re&s;treyned. And Iohn Star|kie being ca&s;t and holden downe vppon a bedd, was mo&s;t fearfullie tormented, and &s;o payned in his &s;tomacke, and pulled in his belly, heaving &amp; lifting, as if his heart would bur&s;t, wherevpon hee &s;hedd manie bitter teares, and &s;o continued, &s;ometimes crying out exceeding loude, and &s;ome|times in the&s;e torme~ting fitts, to the great griefe of the beholders. And while we la|boured to comfort them by exhortations, we were &s;corned by the fir&s;t three that lay by vpon beddes in euery good worde that we &s;pake, and they would take it into their mouthes, and mocke it: When we called for the Bible, they fell a laughing at it, and &s;ayde, reach them the <HI>Bibble bable, bibble babbell,</HI> it went &s;o round in their mouthes from one to another, and continued with manie other &s;corninges and filthie &s;pea|ches, that we could not bereaue them of it. Therevpon we purpo&s;ed to leaue them for a while, exhorting againe Iohn Stat|kie to tru&s;t in the Lorde; to bee patient in that affliction; to pray to God, and de&s;ired him to &s;ay after vs, the Lordes prayer: but he was the more tormented a great deale, and not a worde could he &s;peake, but that &s;corner that lay next him, &s;aide after vs,
<PB N="56" REF="29">nicknaming euery worde in the Lordes prayer, &s;o farre as we went in it. For when we perceaued &s;uch horrible bla&s;phemie, we dur&s;t not proceede but gaue ouer or euer we came to the end, being exceedinglie grieued, that they had de&s;pi&s;ed &s;uch holy thinges as dogges and &s;wine, that would if they could haue turned againe, and all to rent vs: wherevpon we were forced to giue place to the Devill, who indeed at this time be&s;tirred him &s;elfe, working mightilie in all the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed &s;uch torme~ts and &s;uch troubles, with &s;uch outrageous &s;pite and contempte, as I am per&s;waded was &s;eldome or neuer &s;eene the like, and all of purpo&s;e to di&s;courage vs in that &s;kir|mi&s;h, and to driue vs out of the fielde, and if it were po&s;&s;ible not to dale to &s;ett vpon him any more.</P>
<P>The trueth is, we were greatly di&s;cou|raged at that time, not knowing wel what to doe: we left them &s;o, and went into a garden tor<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">efre&s;h our &s;elues, hauing &s;pent a good while with them, it grewe towarde &s;upper time; we were reque&s;ted to come in, and being &s;et at &s;upper, Mai. Dickoms (whom we had &s;ent for) came in. We told him what &s;traunge things had fallen out, &s;ince our comming thither, &amp; of our pur|po&s;e
<PB N="57" REF="29">to fa&s;t and pray with the familie, if he would ioyne with vs; which thing he was verie readie to doe. And hauing purpo&s;ed al&s;o to prepare the familie therevnto, wee went about it. Hauing the whole familie togeather, and diuer&s;e hone&s;t neighbours for the holding and tending of the po&s;&s;e&s;|&s;ed, we made entrance into the preparatio~, which was by way of exhortation. Wee found the~ verie lowde, froward &amp; rough to deale withall, that we could hardlie get any audience: but perceaving the great malice &amp; &s;pite of the Deuill, that wrought again&s;t vs, labouring violentlie to trouble vs, that we might againe giue ouer the worke as wee had done before, Wee were provoked in this re&s;pect with great zeale to pray again&s;t him, &amp; with all the de&s;ires of our &s;oules, to intreate the Lorde to put the Devill to &s;ilence, and that hee would charge, and commaund the evill &s;pirites to holde their peace;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">The pray|er was not &s;ooner made but pre&s;ently they held their peace euery one, pray&s;ed be God.</NOTE> that &s;o wee might both haue good audience in praying and &s;peaking the Worde, and al&s;o performe all other dueties profitably without lette: which came to pa&s;&s;e accordingly, for wee found the Lorde neare and readie to heare vs: who pre&s;entlie &s;hewed his power in commaunding Satan to &s;ilence, and to be
<PB N="58" REF="30">&s;till, and they obeyed him, for there fol|lowed a great calme. So we went forward performing that &s;eruice which remay n<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> with much comfort. This preparation be|ing fini&s;hed, by this time it drewe towa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> midnight, wee went all to bedde, to tak<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> &s;ome re&s;t, that being thereby refre&s;hed, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> might bee the better able to performe <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> greater &s;eruice the next day, which we ha<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> bound our &s;elues vnto, being exceeding <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> encouraged to &s;et vpon it with &s;ure ho<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> of the victorie, in that the Lord had p<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> the pawne and pledg of it into our hand ouer night, giuing vs &s;uch plaine expe|rience both of his pre&s;ence &amp; of his power by rea&s;on wherof our faith gathered grea<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> &s;trength, that &s;eeing the Lord had ble&s;&s;e<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> our endevour thus far in the entrance an<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> giuen vs &s;uch good &s;ucce&s;&s;e in the prep<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">|ration, that he would not faile to be pre|&s;ent with vs in the bataille it &s;elfe, to &s;he<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> his power, and to worke with vs till we had troden Satan vnder our feete. There fore when the morning came, we prepare our &s;elues after the be&s;t maner we coul<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> that that holy exerci&s;e of fa&s;ting &amp; pray<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> might be performed both by our &s;elves all that &s;hould ioyne with vs therein, wi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> mo&s;t fruite, that wee might attaine to th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">
<PB N="59" REF="30">marke that we &s;ett before vs: namely, the confounding of Satan and the full deliue|rance of the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed. There was al&s;o great preparation in the familie to &s;ett all things in good order, that we might not be trou|bled in the work. And having a faire large parlour alreadie trimmed, they brought in thither certaine beds or couches, vppon which they laide the 7 &s;icke po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed per|&s;ons. All this while the hone&s;t neighbours neare about, coming in, the roome filled apace, &s;ome holding and tending the &s;icke po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed, &amp; &s;ome &s;itting by. It being now about 7 a clocke, and all things made rea|die, the parties being &s;till troubled, their torments &s;til increa&s;ing, &amp; their fits doub|ling vpon them, &s;omtimes either howling or crying, or els lifting, heaving, or vomit|ting, or els &s;corning, or rayling, or ca&s;t into a traunce, which was euer at the ende of their fits, being as a breathing time to re|fre&s;h them by, and then too it againe. The &s;ight and hearing of the&s;e thinges was &s;o wonderfull that a man can not po&s;&s;iblie come neere it in de&s;cribing of it, neither was euer &s;uch a thing &s;eene in our dayes, nor in the dayes of our fathers, &s;uch a number in one place, lying in &s;uch a fear|full maner &s;o mi&s;erably vexed by the De|vill.
<PB N="60" REF="31">We could not chu&s;e but be exceeding|ly affected with great &s;orrow and grief <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 word"> compa&s;&s;ion of their mi&s;eries, which pro|voked vs to offer vppe our prayes wi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters"> &s;trong crying &amp; teares vnto God that w<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters">|able to heare, and to &s;aue vs from th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters"> which we feared.</P>
<P>Wee then with &s;uch reuerence as wa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> meete, beganne the exerci&s;e of humbli<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters"> our &s;oules vnto God, in the mediation <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 word"> Ie&s;us Chri&s;t, and by the direction of th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> holy Gho&s;t proceeded in the worke till <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 word"> was fini&s;hed. In which proceeding it is <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 word"> to ob&s;erue diver&s;e &s;trang eventes which happened. For the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed being of diuer<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> kinds, we had more adoe with them: for<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> of th&ecirc; were po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed with skorning &s;pirit<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="3 letters"> &amp; quite bereaued of the right v&s;e of the<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters"> &s;ences, with whom wee were much mo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters"> troubled then with the other three which were euer very &s;ober, though they wer<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> very &s;ore tormented. And yet through th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> great mercy of God, after we had made a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> entrance, God bridled the rage of Satan and &s;o re&s;trained his fury, that after h<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters"> had made his flouri&s;h in the beginning <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 word"> and &s;hewed his power (as then he will d<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> the wor&s;t hee can) it plea&s;ed God as be|fore in our preparation ouer-night, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 word">
<PB N="61" REF="31">the exerci&s;e it &s;elf, where many were a&s;|&s;embled together, to make them all quiet, and to keepe them all in &s;uch order, that to~ 7 a clocke in the morning till 3 a clock <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> the afternoone, we went forward with|out any great interruption, &s;aue that now and then, &s;ome of them had &s;ome &s;udden <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters">tt for the &s;pace of halfe a quarter of an houre; which being ended, we went on &s;til perceauing the Lord working with vs, gi|ding vs oftentimes &s;undry &s;ignes of the victory, whereby we were much encoura|ged. Forin the fir&s;t Sermon while&s;t Ma&s;ter Dickoms was preaching, Margret Hurd|man, who was the principall and chief of the &s;corners, was plainely heard, both by &s;ome of the Preachers &amp; of the people, to v&s;e the&s;e words oftentimes: <HI>J mu&s;t be gone, I mu&s;t be gone, whether &s;hall I goe? whether &s;hall I goe? I will nor dye, I will not dye.</HI> Repeating ouer againe &amp; againe the &s;ame thing halfe a dozen times at the lea&s;t, in a &s;ine lowe voice and in the tune of &s;inging.</P>
<P>After this there appeared no great di&s;tra|ction till three of the clocke in the after|noone: and toward the end of my &s;ermon (as the Di&s;couerer hath reveyled) when the abouenamed Margret Hurdman was heard againe to vtter the&s;e wordes, <HI>I can|not
<PB N="62" REF="32">tarie: I cannot tarie: I am too hoote: am too hoote: let me goe: let me goe.</HI> Whi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> wordes gaue vs this comfort, that Satha<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> would not long keepe his holde, he was heated by fa&s;ting and prayer, and by t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> word of God &s;o zealou&s;lie and powerfull applyed, as if fyer were put into his ho<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> to burne him out: for herevpon before <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> &s;ermon was or could be ended, &s;hee wi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> all the re&s;t brake out into exceeding loud cryes, all &s;eaven roaring, &amp; belling in &s;u<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> extreame and fearfull manner that the troubled vs al, being &s;o violent and outra|gious that they had much adoe to be hol|den. For Satan then being ready to depart did fir&s;t vexe all the vaynes of their hart<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> and did &s;o torment them, that they we<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> forced to lay about them with both hand and feete, to pull their hayre, and to re<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> their clothes, to knocke their heads, an to &s;trike them&s;elues, crying out with ope<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> mouthes, &amp; roaring as if they were mad<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> Then was there &s;uch &s;trugling &amp; &s;triuin<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> betweene vs and tho&s;e &s;eaven Devills, cr<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">|ing out &s;o loude with &s;uch violence a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> extention of voyce, labouring who &s;hou<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> be loude&s;t, till our voyces were &s;pent a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> no &s;trength almo&s;t left in vs. This battay continued verie neare the &s;pace of i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">
<PB N="63" REF="32">houres, till we were exceedinglie weake|ned with longe and loude crying vp vnto heauen, but it plea&s;ed God toweaken Sa|tans power much more, and to tread the euill &s;pirits vnder our feete. And thus much may &s;erue to &s;hew, what beginning we made into this worke, and howe wee proceeded therein, and that our whole cour&s;e &amp; cariadge held in this cau&s;e thus farre may cleare vs, that we neither &s;ought worke, nor &s;et our &s;elues to work, though we be charged &s;o to doe, by this Di&s;cove|rie, as may appeare by the &s;cope of the whole la&s;t chapter of the fir&s;t booke: nei|ther in dealing with the&s;e &s;traunge afflie|tions, haue we v&s;ed eyther delu&s;ions, iug|lings, exorci&s;mes, or any &s;uch vayne and ridiculous fooleries as they haue detected in the popi&s;h Prie&s;tes, nor yet any &s;uch lightnes as &s;hould be co~demned by men that meddle with matters of &s;uch mo|ment.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="part">
<PB N="64" REF="33">
<HEAD>The fourth part.</HEAD>
<P>NOw; it followeth in the fourth plac<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> to de&s;cribe brieflie the meanes a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> maner of the di&s;po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of the&s;e 7 pe<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">|&s;ons, that &s;o it may appeare that Mai. Da|rell was neither the only, nor yet the prin|cipal agent therein; co~trarie to that whi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> the Di&s;coverer doeth fal&s;lie report of him Chap. 1. pag. 2. namelie, <HI>That though he had gloried in</HI> 2 <HI>exploites, yet his name w<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> not &s;o famous, till he had dispo&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed</HI> 7 <HI>per|&s;ons in Maister Starkies hou&s;e, at one cla<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"></HI> And for proofe heereof they alleadge th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> &s;torie of the boy of <HI>Burton,</HI> in the ende<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> which booke, it is thus written viz. <HI>Short|lie you &s;hall haue the true &s;torie come foor<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> of tho&s;e</HI> 7 <HI>in Lanca&s;hire, that were po&s;&s;e&s;|&s;ed with vncleane &s;pirites, and all</HI> 7 <HI>deliue|red at one time by this man.</HI> And the more to confirme this, they alleadge Mai. Dar|rels owne te&s;timonie, in his an&s;were to the 6 artic. of his exam. (quoted in the marg) therevppon inferring thus: <HI>By this man, meaning Mai. Darrell, as he him&s;elfe hath confe&s;&s;ed:</HI> I will therefore fir&s;t &s;ett downe the trueth concerning their deliuerance,
<PB N="65" REF="33">and after proue that Mai. Darrell is made the principall in this action by this Di&s;co|uerer, but vnder a pretence onely, and for a further fetch.</P>
<P>For the truth fir&s;t you haue heard alrea|die, that we were three Preachers that ex|erci&s;ed that day, of whom I was the la&s;t; &amp; indeed in the latter end of my &s;ermon (as the <HI>Di&s;couerer hath reveyled</HI>) they grewe to be &s;o &s;trong, that they could verie hard|lie be holden downe vppon their beddes, though they had lyen before rea&s;onablie quiet.</P>
<P>But chieflie one of them namely Iane A&s;hton, being both the &s;tronge&s;t &amp; wor&s;t of all the re&s;t, was al&s;o more violentlie ve|xed, having her fittes &s;o &s;ore and &s;o thick, that we feared, &s;he would either haue fain|ted and fallen downe, orells have yeelded vnto Sathan, who laboured mightilie to make her workeable to his purpo&s;e: wher|vpon Mai. Darrell and Mai. Dickoms the other Preacher that ioyned with vs, being much affected with her mi&s;erie, as by force of her fittes &s;he was violentlie caried a&s;ide from the re&s;t, they two attended vpon her, &s;triving with all their power to vpholde &amp; &s;trengthen her.</P>
<P>In the meane time the other 6 being &s;ore
<PB N="70" REF="34">tormented, and &s;trugling with tho&s;e th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> kept them, were got from them, and be|ing tumbled fro~ their pallets to the flo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> and neare to the fire &s;ide, where by th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> good providence of God, I was brough<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> euen into the midde&s;t of them: and the<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> being a&s;&s;i&s;ted with the prayer of their p<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">|rents and the people, we earne&s;tlie entre<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">|ted the Lorde for them, with &s;tronge an<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> mightie cryes: And it plea&s;ed God to hea<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> vs at that in&s;tant for tho&s;e 6. who were a vpon a &s;uddaine &s;traungelie and fearfull ca&s;t downe before vs, where they lay all along one by another, altogeather fenc|les, their bodies &s;tiffe and &s;tretched out, a if they had bene &s;tarke dead, for the &s;pa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> of halfe a quarter of an houre.</P>
<P>In which time, Mai. Dickoms came<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> me, and &s;aw all of them, laide as dead, at how they ro&s;e vp agayne one after ano|ther, in order as they fell, acknowledgit that they were freed from the euill &s;pi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> and that he was departed from them.</P>
<P>Wherevpon euerie one of them &s;elue with great ioy and gladnes of heart, ga<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> thankes to God for that benefite.</P>
<P>All this while Mai. Darr. was with t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> other mayde &s;tanding at a great wind<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> in another part of the parlour, which <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word">
<PB N="71" REF="34">both long and large, &s;o that hee neither &s;awe, nor heard, of the deliuera~ce of the&s;e 6. he neither knewe, when they were ca&s;t downe, nor when they ro&s;e vpp, nor once &s;u&s;pected any &s;uch thinge, vntill &s;uch time as they being perfectlie re&s;tored, &s;toode vpon their feete, leaping and daun&s;ing &amp; pray&s;ing God: when al&s;o we were all fil|led with exceeding ioy, which was te&s;tifi|ed by &s;howting and clapping of handes, &s;o that the earth range with the pray&s;es of God, and the whole hou&s;e was filled with the &s;ounde thereof.</P>
<P>Now the diligent ob&s;erving of the &s;tate and condition of the&s;e 6 per&s;ons in one houre, what violent pa&s;&s;ions, &amp; extreame outrage they were in for the beginning of the houre, driuen and drawen to crye and roare with all madnes and furie, and to do they knew not what. And then &s;econdlie in the la&s;t part of the houre, to bee quite chaunged into another condition, caried as it were with all force and violence into other contrarie extremities of vn&s;peakea|ble and exce&s;&s;iue ioyes, the be&s;t way: to be &s;o &s;uddenlie brought from the bondage and torture of Satan, into the glorious li|bertie of the &s;onnes &amp; daughters of God. By the&s;e &s;ignes and &s;uddayne chaunge, it
<PB N="68" REF="35">is mo&s;t evident, that the fir&s;t e&s;tate is &s;o ma|nife&s;t the worke of Satan, &amp; the 2 &s;o clea|red to be the worke of God, that it cannot po&s;&s;iblie be the worke of fle&s;h and bloud, neither could it bee counterfayted by anie man. For I am per&s;waded that if 6 of the cunninge&s;t wittes that be in the worlde, &s;hould ioyne their heads togither to make &s;uch another worke: yet they could not deceyue the &s;ences of &s;uch men, as had &s;eene by experience, and had made &s;ome triall of the&s;e &s;traunge and great workes, for they could quicklie di&s;cerne, their clo&s;e iugling and &s;leightie conveyance to be but delu&s;ions &amp; hipocri&s;ie, &amp; &s;o would their wickednes be manife&s;ted to all men.</P>
<P>By this it may appeare that Ma. Darrell was not the principall or chiefe Actour in their di&s;po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion, neither can he in deed be &s;o accounted, &s;eeing that at the verie time whiles we were crying vnto the Lord for the&s;e 6: hee was &s;eparated to another worke, and bu&s;ilie imployed another way, namelie, in&s;tructing, comfortinge, and &s;trengthening the Maide, who remayned all this while mi&s;erablie vexed by the De|vill.</P>
<P>Wherevpon at our being there he com|playned vnto mee concerning the di&s;po&s;|&s;e&s;&s;ion
<PB N="69" REF="35">of the&s;e 6, &amp; tolde me that he &s;awe neuer a one of them when they were deli|uered, which he &s;aide grieued him excee|dinglie.</P>
<P>After this al&s;o I confe&s;&s;e that to be true which the di&s;couerer hath di&s;clo&s;ed book 1. chap. 10. pag. 56. namelie, that I tooke all the&s;e 6 vnto me, and exhorted them to continue in the feare of God: telling them that Satan would &s;eeke to enter into them againe, whom I admoni&s;hed to re&s;i&s;t by faith and prayer, and by putting on all the whole armour of God, incouraging them by all meanes to &s;tande fa&s;te, &s;aying thus vnto them: If you doe manfullie re&s;i&s;t, no doubt but you &s;hall &s;ee that Sathan will flie, not being able to doe you any harme. And as they regarded well this coun&s;ell, &s;o it plea&s;ed God to ble&s;&s;e it accordinglie, for he gaue them &s;uch &s;trength and courage, though fiue of them were but children, that they did mo&s;t &s;tronglie re&s;i&s;t him, &s;o that though his a&s;&s;autes were v&s;ually ve|rie fierce and importunate for the pre&s;ent, yet could he not prevaile with the lea&s;t to yeelde vnto him. And &s;o hitherto they haue all 6 bene pre&s;erued both &s;afe and &s;ounde, without anie further mole&s;tation, to the great prai&s;e and glorie of God.</P>
<PB N="74" REF="36">
<P>Now whiles I was thus imployed about tho&s;e 6. Mai. Darrell tooke great paynes with the Maid, hoping &s;till that &s;he would haue bene di&s;po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed that night al&s;o, but it came not &s;o to pa&s;&s;e. Wherevppon tho|rough the deceitfulnes of Satan, who had drawen her to di&s;&s;emble, and brought her to an impudent outfacing of the truth, we were driue~ to giue ouer for that time, pur|po&s;ing in the morning to renewe the exer|ci&s;e of fa&s;ting and prayer in the behalfe of that maide onlie: which when we had en|tred into, &s;he was &s;orer vexed and tormen|ted then euer &s;he was before, till it was a|bout noone or one of the clocke, about which time, &s;hee al&s;o through the great mercie of God, receiued helpe and deliue|rance.</P>
<P>For when we had all three in order per|formed this duetie of prayer, &s;hee hauing wrought vs all one after another till wee were wearie, the la&s;t time as it came to my cour&s;e I having continued &s;ome time, de|&s;ired another to take my rowme: which when the maide hearde, &s;hee &s;uddenl<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> caught me by the hande, held me fa&s;t, and &s;aide vnto me: Nay for Gods &s;ake leaue me not yet, &s;ticke to it a litle longer, &amp; you &s;hall &s;ee he will departe &s;hortlie.</P>
<PB N="75" REF="36">
<P>Herevpon receyuing this good incou|ragement, I continued &s;till, and with the ioynt a&s;&s;i&s;ta~ce of the re&s;t, we earne&s;tly en|treated the Lord for her, &s;o it was not long before &s;he was ca&s;t into a traunce, lying as if &s;he had bene fa&s;t a &s;leepe, anon &s;he bur&s;t out into weeping that the teares trickled downe her cheekes apace in a verie extra|ordinarie maner; after which &s;he pre&s;ent|lie ro&s;e vp, and thanked God that the evill &s;pirit was departed from her.</P>
<P>She al&s;o being violentlie a&s;&s;aulted by the Devill, re&s;i&s;ted ma~fully, as the re&s;t did, and likewi&s;e prevayled, and &s;o was by the mercie of God pre&s;erued, during all the time &s;he was in her mi&s;tres hou&s;e, but af|terward &s;he departed thence, and dwelt with her Vncle, a papi&s;t, in the furthe&s;t parte of Lanca&s;hire, where there re&s;orted vnto her certayne Seminarie prie&s;tes, by who&s;e co~iurations and magical inchaunt|ments, (as it is reported) the evil &s;pirit was brought into her againe, &s;ince which time &s;he hath bene exceedinglie torme~ted, and &s;o &s;till co~tinueth like So~mers repo&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed.</P>
<P>As therefore the good providence of God may be di&s;cerned in the di&s;po&s;ing of all things, &s;o al&s;o it &s;heweth it &s;elfe mo&s;t clearelie in the wel ordering of this whole
<PB N="72" REF="37">action, if it be well ob&s;erued.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t in &s;ending me with Mai. Darrells be a witnes of tho&s;e &s;traunge and vnwo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">|ted workes of God.</P>
<P>Secondlie, in not v&s;ing Mai. Darrells the chiefe in&s;trument, neither for the di&s;|po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing of the &s;ix the fir&s;te day, nor y<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> for the deliuerance of the &s;eauenth on th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> &s;econd day.</P>
<P>Thirdlie, in that without his labor the were prepared by faith and prayer and o|ther &s;pirituall armour to re&s;i&s;t the euil &s;pi|rit, by meanes whereof they were pre&s;er|ued from Repo&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion. For if Mai. Darre<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> had bene the chiefe&s;t in di&s;po&s;&s;e&s;&s;inge <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> the&s;e 7. and of Thomas Darling, as he w<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> of other two, namely of Katherine Wrigh<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> and of William Sommers: then &s;urelie<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> would haue bene thought that he had h<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> &s;ome &s;peciall gifte that way aboue othe<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> men, and this di&s;couerer might haue ha<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> the greater &s;hew of advantage in chargin<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> him &s;o deepelie and &s;o often with th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> matter.</P>
<P>For which cau&s;e que&s;tionles it plea&s;e<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> God to preuent him in the&s;e 7. And as &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> Thomas Darling, Mai. Darrell onlie ga<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> advi&s;e to his friendes to fa&s;t and pray, an<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> humble them &s;elues on his behalfe, and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word">
<PB N="73" REF="37">they did, neither he nor any other Prea|cher being pre&s;ent, it plea&s;ed God at their Prayers, being but 9 or 10 &s;imple people to be intreated, and to deliuer the partie from that po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion, that &s;o by diuers and &s;undry experimentes, it might appeare to all the world that this is no extraordinarie gifte, peculiar to any one man, but com|mon to all the faithfull, a&s;well to one as to another, and that the meane and &s;imple people may haue as great priviledge and power to ca&s;t out Satan, by their faith and fa&s;ting and fervent prayer, as either he, or I, or the be&s;t and chiefe&s;t Preacher.</P>
<P>Out of the premi&s;&s;ed then it may be col|lected that if there bee any evill in this worke, it is rather to be imputed vnto me then vnto Ma. Darrel: for in trueth (as the Lord liveth) there is no occa&s;ion of euill in him concerning this matter; for if hee had wrought craftilie at other times, and practi&s;ed deceyte: why &s;hould it not haue appeared and broken out a&s;well in dealing with the&s;e 7 as in other places; but I am per&s;waded (&s;uch is his &s;implicitie) that he is as cleare, and was euer as free from cou~|terfayting, as I my &s;elfe am. And I dare boldlie prote&s;t euen before the Lord, that &s;uch a thought came neuer once into my minde.</P>
<PB N="78" REF="38">
<P>Nowe how&s;oeuer it might &s;eeme more expedie~t for me to be &s;ilent in the&s;e things lea&s;t I &s;hould &s;eeme, or be taken even as a foole in boa&s;ting my &s;elf: yet herein I may &s;ay with the Apo&s;tle, you haue euen com|pelled me: for indeed &s;o great is the inco~|venience that hath come by the mi&s;con|ceyuing and mi&s;reporting of this matter of facte, as that it hath enforced a nece&s;&s;i|tie of manife&s;ting the trueth therof in the plaine&s;t maner which yet hitherto for mo|de&s;ties &s;ake, hath bene &s;uppre&s;&s;ed for the &s;pace of 3 yeares, and likelie neuer to haue come to light, if our innocencie could haue bene cleared without it.</P>
<P>But now I mu&s;t returne to the Di&s;coue|rer, and proceed to performe my promi&s;e, which is, to proue, that the purpo&s;e of the Detectour, to make Mai. Darrell the prin|cipal agent in this di&s;po&s;&s;e&s;&s;io~, is onlie vn|der a pretence &amp; not that he is &s;o per&s;wa|ded, my rea&s;ons are the&s;e: Fir&s;t to pretend Mai. Darrell to be principall, in this, a&s;wel as in all the re&s;t, is great pollicie: for vnder this prete~ce, all that they charge him with concerning teaching of Sommers, hath the greater colour of trueth. Secondly, by inforcing this, as they doe much in their booke, it doeth more ea&s;ilie per&s;wade men
<PB N="79" REF="38">to beleeue, that he is a verie common and lewde practizer and deceiuer. Thirdlie, by this title of principall, &amp; in al places where he comes to bee the chiefe&s;t, it pre&s;uppo|&s;eth an extraordinarie iugling &s;kill, and a &s;ingular cunning in legerdemaine, as they terme it: wherevpon they &s;aye that when he beganne with Katherine Wright, then he dealt but rudelie and vn&s;kilfullie: but after he had practized with Thomas Dar|ling and the 7 of Lanca&s;hire, then he was his craftes mai&s;ter. Fourthlie, It helpes to iu&s;tifie that accu&s;ation of vaine glorie, and that he de&s;ires to haue a great name, and to make him &s;elfe famous, or ells that he is the onelie man that hath a peculiar pre|rogatiue to ca&s;t out Devills aboue all men, &s;eeing that where-&s;oeuer he comes, hee beares a way the bell (as they &s;ay) and that no bodie can doe the feate but he. Fiftlie, vnder this pretence they may with le&s;&s;e preiudice proceede again&s;t him; &s;eeing that in foure &s;euerall actions, though they finde &s;ome acce&s;&s;ories, yet they finde none principall but him &s;elfe. And thus polli|cie hath preferred him to bee principall, when in deed they know hee is not; &s;o of purpo&s;e to doe him a mi&s;chiefe, and to di|&s;honour the cau&s;e it &s;elfe, euen the great
<PB N="76" REF="39">worke of God.</P>
<P>And that they are not per&s;waded, that hee is the principall in this worke, it may thus appeare: Becau&s;e they haue the &s;to|rie of this matter of Lanca&s;hire penned by Mai. Dickoms, as is plainely confe&s;&s;ed and prooued in the Di&s;couerie, wherein the di&s;po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of the&s;e 7 is mo&s;t plainly de|&s;cribed, with the circum&s;tances thereof, according to that which I haue heere &s;e<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> downe. And therein Mai. Darr. (except that hee was the man that was &s;ent for to come, and principallie aymed at) is made equall. Concerning this booke I &s;peake that which I know, for I was examined, in that whole &s;tory out of it, from the begin|ning to the ende: and yet the Di&s;couerer will take no knowledge of this matter, which is written there, (though it be mo&s;t &s;ure &amp; certayne) becau&s;e it makes again&s;t him, and takes the ra&s;h te&s;timonie of the printer, which &s;pake onclie as hee hearde, that Mai. Darrell was the man: and as for Mai. Darrell him &s;elfe in his te&s;timonie, it was eyther mi&s;taken or mi&s;reported: for<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> dare &s;ay, that he would not &s;ay, that tho&s;e 7 were deliuered or di&s;po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed by him principallie: yet the di&s;couerie vrgeth both the&s;e te&s;timonies to the full, becau&s;e they
<PB N="77" REF="39">&s;eeme much to make for him in all the former re&s;pectes.</P>
<P>If then, this may bee receyued for the trueth, as in deed it is, I doubt not but that all &s;u&s;pition of counterfayting and coniu|ring, and of all other bad dealing where|with we haue ben mo&s;t vniu&s;tlie charged, may be remoued; as al&s;o that gro&s;&s;e errour which is tootoo commo~, of a&s;cribing anie gift or extraordinarie power of ca&s;ting out of Devills, to anie one man, more then to another, may be both convinced and &s;up|pre&s;&s;ed: for herein all men may mo&s;t clear|lie &s;ee, that the good hande of God, (in ble&s;&s;ing his own ordinance, and the poore endeuours of his &s;ervants) is the onely in|ward, &amp; efficient cau&s;e of this great worke of di&s;po&s;&s;e&s;&s;io~, that &s;o all the glorie ther|of, may wholie &amp; onely be a&s;cribed vnto him, who worketh all thinges, according to the plea&s;ure of his own wil, to whom be pray&s;e for euer.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="last" TYPE="part">
<PB N="82" REF="40">
<HEAD>The last part.</HEAD>
<P>NOw it followeth la&s;t of all, to &s;et dow<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> the &s;ignes of di&s;po&s;&s;. &s;hewed forth b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> the&s;e 7 immediatlie before their deliue|rance, in, and after the &s;ame: and therwit<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> al&s;o brieflie to &s;hewe the retourne of th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> &s;pirites being ca&s;t out: how &s;undrie time and diuers wayes by many &s;trange &amp; fea<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> full a&s;&s;aultes, they &s;eeke to reenter: whi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> al&s;o may &s;erue, as an an&s;wer to that proof of the Di&s;couerie, contayned in the 9 an<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> 10. chap. touching tho&s;e pointes, that <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> the&s;e &s;ignes being conferred according<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> divine and hi&s;toricall ob&s;ervation, th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> that be indifferentlie minded, may bee a|ble to iudge what cau&s;e they haue to &s;co<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> the&s;e &s;ignes, and to &s;port them &s;elues wit<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> them, as they doe.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t &s;igne to manife&s;t the&s;e di&s;po&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> was, that the &s;pirites did rent, and tea<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed, in&s;omuch that they were &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">|rer vexed and tormented immediatlie be|fore they left them, and euen as it were <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> their departure, then ever they were at a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">|nie time before: &s;o it is &s;aide, when Chri<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> charged the &s;pirite to come out of the th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">
<PB N="83" REF="40">childe, then the &s;pirit rent him &s;ore, &amp; af|ter came out, Marke 9.26.</P>
<P>The &s;econde &s;igne is that they cryed out with loude voyces, and roared out excee|dinglie, after the manner of bea&s;tes, mo&s;t fearfull and lamentable to heare, beeing neuer &s;o fierce and outragious in anie of their fittes, as euen then when the &s;pirites were forced and compelled to come out of them. And of this &s;igne it is thus writ|ten, <HI>f.</HI> that vncleane &s;pirites, crying with a loude voyce, came out of manie that were po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed, Act. 8.7.</P>
<P>Thirdlie, they were ca&s;t downe &s;udden|lie, &amp; lay all along &s;tretched out as if they had bene dead, and &s;o leaving them as dead, the evill &s;pirites departed from the~. And thus it is written of the childe whom Chri&s;t di&s;po&s;&s;e&s;t: when the vncleane &s;pirit came out, he was as one deade, in&s;omuch that manie &s;aid, he is dead, Mark 9.26.</P>
<P>Fourthlie, the evill &s;pirites departed out of the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed in the likenes of &s;ome vg|lie creature: and euerie one of the 7 &s;awe and perceyued the &s;pirites to departe out in a &s;euerall likenes: one, in the likenes of a crowes head, round, which when it was our, went and &s;att in a corner of the par|lour, with darknes about it a while, then
<PB N="80" REF="41">went it out of the windowe with &s;uch a fla&s;h of lightning, that all the parlour &s;ee|med to her to be on a light fire: It left al&s;o behinde it in the maide a &s;oare throat,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Margree <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">yrom.</NOTE> &amp; a mo&s;t fil thie &s;mell, in &s;o much that het meate was verie vn&s;avorie for a weeke af|ter.</P>
<P>Another &s;aid,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Iohn Star|kie.</NOTE> it went out like a man with a great bulche on his backe, as bigge as a man: verie evill-favoured and vglie to be|holde.</P>
<P>The third &s;awe him goe out like an vr|chine or hedgehogge,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ellyno<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> Hurdman</NOTE> and crept as &s;hee thought, out at a verie little hole of the window.</P>
<P>The fourth like a fowle vglie man,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Anne Star|kie.</NOTE> with a white beard, and a great bulch on his brea&s;t, bigger then a mans head.</P>
<P>The fifte like a blacke man,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">lle~ Ho<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">|land</NOTE> or like the fourth, as afore &s;aid.</P>
<P>The &s;ixt perceyued it to goe out in the likenes of a great breath vglie like a toad,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Iane A&s;h|ton.</NOTE> and round like a ball.</P>
<P>The la&s;t like an vglie man with a great bunch on his backe,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Margret Hurdman</NOTE> &amp;c.</P>
<P>Fiftlie, the evill &s;pirits did pre&s;entlie te|turne vnto them againe in the &s;ame like|nes that they went out, and &s;ought to re|enter, and, being re&s;i&s;ted, they departed, &amp;
<PB N="81" REF="41">then returned after in other likene&s;&s;es &s;ee|king &s;till both by promi&s;es &amp; threatnings to prevaile: &s;omtimes co~ming in the like|nes of a man profering bagges of golde and &s;iluer, and &s;hewing them all maner of co&s;tlie and &s;umptuous things: tempting them therby to yeeld vnto him, and to let him in: enforcing his temptations by pro|mi&s;ing of honours &amp; plea&s;ures, and great preferments, of the retourne of the &s;pirit, when he is ca&s;t out, and his &s;eeking to re|enter, we read in Mat. 12. Luk. 11. And for his diuer&s;itie of temptations and large of|fers to prevaile, it is evident in his dealing again&s;t Chri&s;t, Math. 4. In the&s;e a&s;&s;aults to reenter, the &s;pirits appeared &s;ometimes in the likenes of a beare with open mouth, &s;omtimes of an ape, &s;ometimes of a bigge blacke dogg, &s;omtimes of a black Raven, with a gellow bill, &s;omtimes of a flame of fire, &s;omtimes of diuers whelpes, but mo&s;t v&s;ually in the likene&s;&s;e of Edmo~d Hartley a coniurer, who had bewitched them, and was hanged al&s;o at Lanca&s;ter, for that facte, and for coniuring. In the&s;e appari|tions, if hee could not prevaile with his large offers, and faire promi&s;&s;es, then would he terrifie them with verye fearfull threatnings: As that he would ca&s;t them into pitts, or breake their necks, or &s;ome
<PB N="82" REF="42">other way to plague them, &s;aying th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> they &s;hould neuer pro&s;per.</P>
<P>Wherevpon when he &s;aw, that in a&s;&s;a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">|ting of them, he lo&s;t al his labour and pre|vailed not, hee laboured at the length <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> be revenged of them, for re&s;i&s;ting of him to which purpo&s;e hee did trouble them i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> all the partes of their bodies: in their eye with manie vncomfortable &s;ights, to te<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">|rifie them: he tyed their tongues that they could not pray, nor &s;peake as they &s;hould he pinched them in their armes, that the<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> could not lift them vp, nor &s;tirre them for a good &s;pace: he pricket them in the<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> knees, and in their legges that they could not goe, or yet if they did goe, that the<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> they went lame and limping for an hou<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> or two together, and could not po&s;&s;ibli<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> goe vp right: they had paine al&s;o in thei<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> feete, and in their head: thus they we<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> mole&s;ted, but they &s;till &s;o re&s;i&s;ted tha<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> they gaue him the foyle, &s;o that in the en<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> hee was forced to leaue them and to fle<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> away.</P>
<P>Sixtly they being all di&s;po&s;&s;e&s;t by fa&s;ting and prayer, according to the ordinance of Chri&s;t, &s;ince that time, all their &s;wellings and torments haue cea&s;ed, neither haue they bin troubled or vexed with any more fitts: Only Iane A&s;hton being repo&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed,
<PB N="83" REF="42">hath manife&s;ted the &s;ame by &s;undrie fear|full &s;ignes, and is now become wor&s;e then &s;he was, euery way: but as for the re&s;t, they haue continued now for the &s;pace of two yeares &amp; a half very peaceable and quiet, neither haue they &s;hewed forth any &s;igne of po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion, nor any &s;u&s;pition thereof.</P>
<P>La&s;tly they all gaue great thanks to God, for their deliuerance, and that of them|&s;elues &s;o freely and cherefully in &s;o excel|lent &amp; heavenly maner, as that they could neuer doe the like, neither before, nor &s;ince: they are al&s;o &s;o changed in their conditions, and their maners &s;o well re|formed, that a man &s;hall heare no evill come from them, nor any vn&s;eemely be|haviour: and now they can pray, and take delight in pray&s;ing God. They goe to church, to heare the word, and continue there with much comfort, and are euery way better then they were before.</P>
<P>And thus I haue fini&s;hed this di&s;cour&s;e, wherein I haue delt faithfully to my pow|er, and whereby I haue detected this di&s;|couerer to be a great deceyuer: like a Tra|veyler that takes vpon him to di&s;couer di|uers countries, wherein hee neuer came, and to de&s;cribe the &s;tate &amp; people of cer|taine new-found landes, the &s;cituation
<PB N="84" REF="43">whereof he neuer knew or heard of, on<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> a meere fiction of his owne invention. Thus hath this detractour dealt with vs; <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> with this mo&s;t honourable and famo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> fact of Lanca&s;hire: In de&s;cribing it to be<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> vayne and ridiculous practize, detecting therein great deceite, and much legerde<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> mayne: and yet for all that, he neuer &s;a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> the practize of it with his eyes, neither di<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> he euer heare any evill detected, or decei<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> v&s;ed therein. This worke was neuer y<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> called in que&s;tion nor euer examined by way of tryall, as is plainly confe&s;&s;ed in the Di&s;couerie: and hitherto there hath no<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> bene found any one witne&s;&s;e to bring i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> any evidence to proue it counterfaite, no<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> any Chri&s;tian euer yet heard to open his mouth to &s;peake any evill again&s;t it.</P>
<P>The Reader therefore may much won|der at the intollerable boldnes of this ma|licious Accu&s;er, that dare vndertake to di&s;couer men &amp; their dealings, e&s;pecially Preachers of the Go&s;pell to be lewde cou|&s;iners, and mo&s;t notorious deceyvers, and yet neuer &s;aw nor knew any evil by them, or any &s;ure and certaine &s;ignes of any &s;u|&s;pitio~ therof. And may al&s;o &s;ee how iniu|rious they are, to this vnblameable work, that in an vn&s;atiable de&s;ire to di&s;credite it,
<PB N="85" REF="43">they haue ca&s;t an evill name vpon it, defa|ming it for a fraudulent practize, though <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">t was neuer tryed, nor yet euer detected to haue decey<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">e or bad dealing in it, by any in the worlde be&s;ides them&s;elues: which yet being meere &s;traungers to the cau&s;e, will needs condemne it before they heare it, and puni&s;h the parties that haue pra|ctized in it, as mo&s;t impious, before they know what evill they haue done: And now hauing thus wronged vs being iu&s;t men, yea both robbed and wounded vs, as I may &s;ay: We mu&s;t be bound to the peace, and mu&s;t promi&s;e neither to publi&s;h nor practize the&s;e matters: or els remaine pri|&s;oners &s;till, with expectation of further puni&s;hment, which wee are willing to endure, &s;eeing we cannot chu&s;e but &s;peake tho&s;e thinges, which wee haue both heard &amp; &s;eene.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="postscript">
<P><HI>This di&s;cour&s;e good Reader was di|&s;patched in December la&s;t. The difficultie of printing hath hindred the publi&s;hing of it thus longe.</HI></P>
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