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<DATE>2014-11-12</DATE>
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<NAME>Mona Logarbo</NAME>
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<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed as part of batch B140733.pdcc.</ITEM>
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<BIBNO T="oclc">[ocn]690988930</BIBNO>
<VID>211657</VID>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1">
<PB REF="2" MS="y">
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<P>A Weapon of Defence AGAINST <HI>Sudden Death.</HI></P>
<P>OR, A brief De&s;cription of the de&s;perat times in which we live. Being a brief and true Relation of the evils that proceeds and follows after vain-glorious opinions and cur&s;ed De&s;peration: By the example of &s;everal people both in the City of <HI>London,</HI> and in other parts of our Nation. Shewing the manner of their ungodly living, and how they came by their untimly deaths this pre&s;ent year, 1656. for want of &s;erving of God, and taking good heed.</P>
<P>Here is al&s;o a brief and true Relation of the terrible &s;torms of Light|ning and Thunder, Hail and Rain which happened at <HI>Norwich,</HI> July 20. 1656.</P>
<P>Written by <HI>L. Price,</HI> and printed on pur|po&s;e for others to take warning by.</P>
<P><HI>London,</HI> Printed for <HI>W. Gilbett&s;on</HI> at the &s;ign of the Bible in Gilt&s;pur-&s;treet, 1656.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="preface">
<PB N="2" REF="3">
<HEAD>The Epi&s;tle, or Preface</HEAD>
<P>BRiefly &s;hewing and &s;etting fort<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> the mercies of God, the frailty o<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> man, the deceitfulne&s;s of the world, an<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> the temptations of the Devil; Being fit pattern for all &s;orts of people, whe+ther they be rich or poor; not onely t<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> look upon, but al&s;o to bare it in re+membrance, and to thinke upon it at e+very up-ri&s;ing and down-lying, and a<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> every going forth and comming in and my Prayer &s;hall be, that God wil<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> be plea&s;ed to give a Ble&s;&s;ing both t<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> your &s;ouls and bodies, &s;o that you ma<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> never fall into de&s;paration, nor com<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> by any untimely death, as of late to<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> many have done, as you &s;hall hear i<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> this my &s;trange and true Di&s;cour&s;e.</P>
<P>Collected and written by one tha<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> would wi&s;h that all men might have <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 word"> care how they lead their lives,</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Your Friend, <HI>L. P.</HI></SIGNED></CLOSER>
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</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="text">
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<HEAD>A Weapon of Defence again&s;t Sud|den Death.</HEAD>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<P>_ON the fir&s;t day of <HI>March</HI> this pre&s;ent year, 1656. which is called Saint <HI>Davids</HI> day there was one <HI>David Har|ri&s;on</HI> living in the Town of <HI>Meedly</HI> in <HI>York&s;hire,</HI> a Taylor by trade, who was given very much to mocking, &s;coffing, and j&eacute;ering, Swearing, Drunkenne&s;s, and the like; It chanced &s;o that he com|ming into an Al-hou&s;e where were &s;om of his acquaintance, he &s;ate down to drink with them, being half drunk be|fore he came in; &s;o his Neighbours &s;hewed him civil re&s;pect, and bade him &s;it down: Now mark what after came to pa&s;s, this <HI>David Harri&s;on</HI> &s;aid, and did &s;wear a mo&s;t bloody Oath, that he would make all the folks in the hou&s;e drunk of his own charge, in honour of his name, becau&s;e it was S. <HI>Davids</HI> day, &s;o calling in for a dozen together, he be|gan to drink Healths to one, and to a|nother, &s;o long, that he had made him|&s;elf &s;o drunk, that he coule hardly go or
<PB N="4" REF="5"> &s;tand, his Neighbours all per&s;waded him to forbear &s;wearing and drinking, and ho go home, but the more they per|&s;waded him, the wor&s;e he was, for eve|ry time he drunk he &s;pew'd it up again, and every time he &s;pake he &s;wore a bloody Oath, and at the la&s;t he &s;ware God dam him body and &s;oul if he did not drink him&s;elf &s;ober again, before he did go out of the hou&s;e; but in that he was fal&s;ly for &s;worn, for as he put the Flagon pot to his mouth, thinking to have &s;wal|lowed down all the drink, his no&s;e bur&s;t out a bleeding, and he fell backwards to tee round like a man di&s;tracted of his wits, where he lay cur&s;ing and &s;wearing n&eacute;er upon eight and forty hours, for his bleeding at no&s;e could never be &s;topt nor &s;tinted, till &s;uch time he had bled him|&s;elf to death; and now Ile leave it for all men to judge whether this man had not his death de&s;ervedly.</P>
<P>But &s;urely, though a man will &s;ay, that every one &s;hall have that Death which is allotted for them; My opinion is this, if he had &s;erved God in a better maner, he might have come to a better end, and that if he had made good u&s;e of
<PB REF="5">
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<PB N="5" REF="6"> his time, he might have lived many a fair year longer; But to be brief, the matter that is here &s;poken of was &s;ent up in a Letter from the Ma&s;ters of the Pari&s;h were it was done, and de&s;ired to have it put in Print, to the end that all Mockers and Scorners, Swearers, and Pot-companions, both in the City of <HI>London,</HI> and in all other places may take warning hereby, and with &s;peed a|mend their &s;infull lives, which GOD grant we may all do.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<HEAD>Here followeth another &s;trange and tru Relation of the deplorable life and untimely death of <HI>James Parnell,</HI> a Quaker.</HEAD>
<P>SOme people of <HI>England</HI> are now grown to &s;uch a giddy-headed man|ne&s;s, the like was never known in any Age before, as it ma appear by one <HI>James Parnel</HI> a Quaker, which traveled up and down from place to place prea|ching and teaching fal&s;e Doctrine, and telling them that all that were not of
<PB N="6" REF="7"> his Congregation were damned to e|ternity; moreover he &s;aid, how that the Bible was of none effect, and that <HI>Davids</HI> P&s;alms were but Ballads: Furthermore he &s;aid, that he him&s;elf was a Prophet, and that he could do as many Miracles as Chri&s;t did do when he was living on the earth, and that he was able to make the deaf to hear, the dumb to &s;peak, the lame to go, the blind to &s;ee, and to rai&s;e the dead to life a|gain; Now mark what became of him at the la&s;t, through his vain-glorious opinion of him&s;elf, After he had travel|led through many Cities, Towns, and Countries, as <HI>London, Bri&s;tol, Glo|ce&s;ter, Exe&s;ter, Salisbury, Worce&s;ter, Hereford, Cice&s;ter, Chiche&s;ter, South|hampton, the Ile of Wight, Winche&s;ter,</HI> and many other places, &s;till teaching the people after his own inventions; He came at la&s;t into the County of <HI>E&s;&s;ex,</HI> where he fini&s;hed up his la&s;t dayes, the manner how was thus, he told the peo|ple there, that if they would believe in him he would &s;hew them a miracle, and &s;aid that as Chri&s;t fa&s;ted forty dayes and forty nights, &s;o would he undertake
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<PB REF="8">
<PB REF="8"> to do, but for &s;educing the people, and bringing them to a fal&s;e belief, and for his Bla&s;phemies, he was apprehended, and &s;ent to <HI>Colche&s;ter,</HI> and there kept in pri&s;on, where he undertook (as he &s;aid he would do) to fa&s;t forty days and nights, &s;o becau&s;e he &s;hould have no ex|cu&s;e for his falacy, he was watcht that none &s;hould come to give him victuals in private, but if he would eat openly in the &s;ight of the people, he was allowed to have as much victuals as he would de&s;ire, to be &s;et before him every day: But to be brief, he &s;till continued in his own wilfull fopperies, and fa&s;ted ten days and nights together, and ne er ta|&s;ted of one bit of bread nor drop of drink, and all this was done becau&s;e he would have been though to have been a Pro|phet, but the eleventh day he became to be &s;o hungry, that he had no longer po|wer to forbear, but call'd for food, and had it brought unto him, but alas it did do him no good, for by rea&s;on of his o|ver long fa&s;ting, his guts and intrails were clammed up, and clung together, in&s;omuch that the victualls could not have its naturall pa&s;&s;age into the parts
<PB N="8" REF="9"> of his body which it &s;hould have gone into, and &s;o in that mi&s;erable taking was &s;tarved to death, having plenty of victuals at command, but could not eate.</P>
<P>And being dead a Iury of men went upon him, whereby to find the true man|ner of the cau&s;e of his death, and &s;o at the la&s;t they gave up their Verdict to this purpo&s;e, that he was guilty of his own death, and that he had done wilfull murder upon him&s;elf, in that he re&s;trai|ned him&s;elf from that bodily &s;u&s;tenance that the Lord in mercy hath ordained for the relief of all mankind: And be|cau&s;e no one &s;hall have any cau&s;e to make any doubt of the truth hereof, it is witne&s;&s;ed by Ma&s;ter <HI>Jude Tayler</HI> the Fore-man of the Inque&s;t, and Ma&s;ter <HI>Jo&s;eph Smith,</HI> another of the Inque&s;t, who with the con&s;ent of Ma&s;ter Alder|man <HI>Gael</HI> of <HI>Colche&s;ter,</HI> the Verdict was given in and approved, on <HI>May</HI> the fifth, 1656.</P>
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</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
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<HEAD>Here is a true Relation of a mo&s;t horri<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> Murder commited on the River o<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> <HI>Thames</HI> by two Watermen, and after|wards di&s;covered by them&s;elves, who were excecuted for the &s;ame Murder in July la&s;t, 1656 at <HI>Maid&s;tone</HI> in <HI>Kent</HI> and afterwargs brought to <HI>Graaefend</HI> and their hang'd in Chains both up|on one Gibbet, for others to take warning there by; The manner was as followeth.</HEAD>
<P>IN the year that is here &s;poken of, on the time which is called my Lord Maiors day, a young man that lived neer <HI>Smithfield-Bars,</HI> who&s;e name was <HI>Chri|&s;topher Savage</HI> unfortunate<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">y kill'd his Mother-in-law with a &s;tab of a knife, the cau&s;e wherefore it was done there's no man can tell, for &s;o &s;oon as ever he had done the bloody deed he ran away, and &s;o took Boot to go by water becau&s;e he would not be di&s;covered, but as they were upon the water, he began to tell the watermen &s;trange matters, and &s;aid that he was a Gra&s;ier, and had been at a
<PB REF="11"> Fayre and &s;old a great many head of Cattle; moreover he &s;aid that his bu&s;i|ne&s;&s;e was in great ha&s;te, and that if they <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ould row apace he would pay them well for their pains, for he &s;aid he had money enough; whereupon the Water|men &s;eeing the Coa&s;t to be clear, laid by their Oars and ran &s;uddenly upon him, to one held him that he &s;hould not &s;tirre whil&s;t the other cut his throat; No &s;oo|ner was this bloody murder performed, but they took away his money, tyed a great &s;tone about his body, becau&s;e he &s;hould &s;ink to the bottom, &amp; &s;o threw him over-boord into the water, thinking that he &s;hould never be &s;een nor heard of a|gain: But now mark the wonderfull works of the Lord, how &s;trangly mur|der will be brought to light, though it be don never &s;o &s;ecretly, the&s;e two Wa|termen which had don the Murder after|wards fell out about &s;haring the Money, one of their names was <HI>Smith,</HI> and the others name was <HI>Gurney,</HI> both of them dwelling in <HI>Grave&s;end;</HI> Sometimes <HI>Smith</HI> would &s;ay when they were in a place where they thought no body could hear them, that <HI>Gurney</HI> had more &s;hare
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<PB N="11" REF="12"> of the Money then he dad; Sometimes <HI>Gurney</HI> would &s;ay that <HI>Smith</HI> had the greate&s;t part of the Money; but at one time among&s;t the re&s;t they fell out grie|vou&s;ly, and were ready to fight about it, and one of them told the other in plaine terms that he was the party that cut the mans throat, and ca&s;t him over-boord, which words were heard and taken no|tice of, whereupon they were both appre|hended and &s;ent to <HI>Maid&s;tone</HI> Gaole, and at the A&s;&s;izes were found guilty by the Iury, condemned by the Iudge, and according to their de&s;erts were both hang'd in Chaines neer <HI>Grave&s;end</HI> in <HI>Kent,</HI> where all the Pa&s;&s;engers that goes or comes that way either by Land or by Water may &s;ee them.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<PB N="12" REF="13">
<HEAD>Here followeth another &s;trange Relati|on which is very well known to be true.</HEAD>
<P>UPon the twentieth day of Iuly, this pre&s;ant year 1656. in the county of <HI>Norfolk</HI> there hapned &s;uch a dreadfull tempe&s;t of Thunder. Lightning, Hayle Rayne, and Whirle-winds, that the li<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">e thereof was never &s;een nor known in England by the olde&s;t man or wom|an that is now alive, which tempe&s;t fir&s;t of all began at the City of <HI>Norwich,</HI> it being then the Sabath of the Lord about four or five a clock in the afternoon; the maner how the tempe&s;tious weather began in <HI>Norwich</HI> was in this manner; The fir&s;t aparitions that were &s;een and taken notis of was Lightning and thun|der in a mo&s;t &s;trange and vyolent maner which made the people all amazed that &s;aw the lightning and heard the thunder, in &s;o much that &s;om thought that the world was then at an end, but tis very known that their ws &s;orrowas was not then at an end, let them think what they
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<PB N="13" REF="14"> would, for it was &s;o that in a little time after there appeared a mighty black Hitchy Cloud, which darkned both the Sun and the Skye, in&s;omuch that the that &s;tood one clo&s;e to another, could hardly know one from another, yet that Cloud afforded &s;tore of fire, in &s;uch plenty, as if it had come from the mouth of a Furnace, with &s;uch a &s;moakes if it had proceeded from hell it &s;elf.</P>
<P>Then pre&s;ently after followed a bright &s;hining Cloud, which the people under|&s;tood to be a token of Gods mercy to|wards them, and &s;o it was indeed, for had the black Clowd continued a longer time there, it is &s;uppo&s;ed by men of good under&s;tanding, that matters had hap|ned wor&s;e then they did, and it was too bad as it wwas, for why immedietely there came &s;uch a mighty &s;torme of Hayl and Rain that powred down as if Hea|ven and Earth would come together, with a &s;trong whirl-wind, that the force thereof beat down many Buildings; and made the Gla&s;s windows to flye in pieces, in&s;omuch that five thou&s;and pou<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ds will not &s;uffice to make that good that was &s;poyled at that time,
<PB N="14" REF="15"> Some of the Hail-&s;tones being taken up were found to be as big as Pidgeons Eggs, &s;ome as big as Hens Eggs, and &s;ome bigger.</P>
<P>But that's not all, for the Countrey round about felt and &s;uffered greater ex|tremities; for by the means of the dread|full Lightning that fell from the Sky, there were many Ricns of Hay and Corn &s;et on fire, and by the violence of the Thunder, and Whirl-wind, hou&s;es were beaten to the ground, and many people lo&s;t their lives. A multitude ef Corn was quite de&s;troyed by Lightning and Thunder, and Tr&eacute;es were torn up by the yoots; Birds flying in the ayre were &s;tricken dead, and Herbs and Flowers in fields and Gardens bla&s;ted Some grounds that were fruitfull and b<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">re Corn on Saturday night, was made like Plou'd land before Monday mor|ning: The&s;e things (dear Chri&s;tans) are hard to be believed, but it is known to be too true.</P>
<P>And now to draw to a conclu&s;ion let us con&s;ider that this was the handy work of the Almighty God of Heaven and Earth, and that he that did &s;o by them,
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<PB N="15" REF="16"> can do the like to us therfore let us all with faithful hearts and true repentance &s;eek the Lord whil&s;t he may be found in mercy.</P>
<P>One thing more is to be con&s;idered concerning the hayle-&s;tones that fell in the City of <HI>Norwich</HI> how them that were the bige&s;t and greate&s;t of all were of divers &s;everall &s;hapes and fa&s;hions, &s;om of them had the likene&s;s of a mans eye to be &s;een in them, &s;ome had the likene&s;s of a mans face; &s;ome of them were like Great Buttons which is a fa|&s;hion that is now in great reque&s;t in the City; &s;ome of them were like pieces of Ice, and had the likene&s;s of a Lion upon them, and many other &s;trange &s;hapes were then to be &s;een: The&s;e things in the judgment of the world &s;eems to be impo&s;&s;ible, but there is nothing impo&s;&s;i|ble to God; and verile I am per&s;wa|ded that God &s;ent the&s;e wonderfull &s;igns and tokens among&s;t them &s;o &s;udden and unexpectedly, to put us all in mind of a greater &s;orrow that will &s;hortly come upon the World, except we &s;peedily re|pent and amend our &s;inful lives.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<PB REF="17">
<P>UPon the five and twentieth day of Iuly, at <HI>Lem&s;ter,</HI> and the Coun|trey thereabouts there was &s;uch a hor|rible Tempe&s;t of Thunder and Light|ning, which de&s;troyed and bla&s;ted a num|berle&s;s deal of Corn, of Hops, and of Garden fruits, and Orchard fruits, in|&s;omuch that many people are undon by the means thereof: And at <HI>Bran&s;yard</HI> in <HI>Wrce&s;ter&s;hire</HI> the Lightning &s;et four Barns on fire that &s;elf-&s;ame nigh<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">.</P>
<P>The 26. day of Iuly in <HI>Nottingham|&s;hire</HI> there was a wonderfull &s;trange tempe&s;tuous weather, the like whereof there's no man alive can remember, for in the dark&s;om time of the night there a|ro&s;e &s;uch a terrible Tempe&s;t of Thun|der, Lightning, Hail and Rain, as if heaven and earth would come together; in&s;omuch that the people that were tra|velling upon the road, might by means of the fla&s;hes of Lightning &s;&eacute;e every way what was before &amp; behind them, as brief as if it had been at noon day, by means whereof were many Barns, Ricks, and Fields of &s;tanding Corn burned and con&s;umed to a&s;hes, and many people kild with the Thunder.</P>
</DIV2>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
<PB REF="17">
</DIV1>
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