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diff --git a/40962-0.txt b/40962-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6b18658 --- /dev/null +++ b/40962-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4082 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Prophecies of Robert Nixon, Mother Shipton, +and Martha, the Gypsy, by Anonymous + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Prophecies of Robert Nixon, Mother Shipton, and Martha, the Gypsy + + +Author: Anonymous + + + +Release Date: October 7, 2012 [eBook #40962] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PROPHECIES OF ROBERT NIXON, MOTHER +SHIPTON, AND MARTHA, THE GYPSY*** + + +This ebook was transcribed by Les Bowler + + [Picture: Great skill had they in palmistry] + + + + + + PROPHECIES + OF + ROBERT NIXON, + MOTHER SHIPTON, + AND + MARTHA, THE GIPSY. + + + * * * * * + + LONDON: + _PUBLISHED FOR THE BOOKSELLERS_. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + PAGE +The Life of Robert Nixon, commonly called The Cheshire 5 +Prophet. +The Original predictions of Robert Nixon, as delivered by 18 +himself. +The Following predictions of Robert Nixon are copied from 31 +old pamphlets. +Nixon’s Cheshire prophecy at large, from Lady Cowper’s 36 +copy; with historical and political remarks, and many +instances wherein it has been fulfilled. +The Editor presents his Readers with a Copy of a printed 56 +Paper, which several aged Persons, residing near the +Forest, have vouched for the Authenticity of. +Prophecy of the French Revolution, from a publication by 61 +the late Mr. Peter Jurieu, in 1687. +Extracts from sermons by Dr. John Gill. 69 +An extraordinary prediction related by Mr. John Wesley. 95 +The Life and Prophecies of Mother Shipton. 103 +Prophecies of Martha, the Gipsy. 197 +Remarkable fulfilment of a prediction. 250 + +THE LIFE OF ROBERT NIXON, +COMMONLY CALLED +THE CHESHIRE PROPHET. + + +THE Prophecy of Nixon has so often given a name to the productions of +authors of different principles, that it is now almost become a doubt +whether such a person ever existed. Passing through Cheshire lately, +curiosity led me to inquire what credit these legends bore among the +natives: and I was not a little surprised to find with what confidence +they related events which have come to pass within the memory of many of +the inhabitants; and how strictly they adhered to the notion that he +would not fail in the rest. Amongst his number was a namesake and +descendant of the same family with this famous idiot, who, at this time +lives not far from Vale-Royal, from whom I had mostly what follows, which +he said he had often heard his father and other ancient people in the +country relate. I also obtained a manuscript copy which seemed to bear +the appearance of antiquity.—Mr. Gerrard, Mr. Grimes and many others of +the inhabitants of the forest of Delamere very obligingly told me what +they knew, and confirmed what was past. + +John, or Jonathan Nixon, the father of our prophet was a husbandman who +held the lease of a farm from the abbey of Vale-Royal, to this day known +by the name of Bark, or Bridge-house in the parish of Over near +New-Church, and not far from Vale-Royal, on the forest of Delamere, which +house is still kept up and venerated by the natives of Cheshire for +nothing else that I could hear of but this extraordinary person’s birth, +which took place Whitsuntide, and he was christened by the name of +Robert, in the year 1467, about the 7th year of Edward IV.; and from his +infancy he was remarkable for a stupidity and invincible ignorance, so +that it was with great difficulty his parents could instruct him to drive +the team, tend the cattle and such sort of rustic employments. + +His parents at their decease left the farm and our Robert very young, to +the care of an elder brother with whom he first gave an instance of that +foreknowledge which renders his name so famous. + +As he was driving the team one day, whilst his brother’s man guided the +plough, he pricked an ox so very cruelly with his goad that the +plough-holder threatened to acquaint his master; on which Nixon said, the +ox should not be his brother’s three days hence; which accordingly +happened for a life drooping in the estate, the lord of the manor took +the same ox for an heriot. {7} + +During his residence here he was chiefly distinguished for his +simplicity, seldom spoke, and when he did it was with so rough a voice +that it was painful to hear him; he was remarkably satirical, and what he +said had generally some prophetic meaning. It was about this time that +the monk of Vale-Royal having displeased him he said in an angry tone, + + When you the arrow come on high, + Soon a raven’s nest will be; + +which is well known to have come to pass in the person of the last abbot +of that place, whose name was Harrow. Being called before Sir Thomas +Holcroft he was put to death for denying the supremacy of King Henry +VIII. Having suppressed the abbey the King gave the domain to this +knight and his heirs who bore a raven for their crest. + +At another time he told them that Norton and Vale-Royal abbeys should +meet on Acton-bridge, a thing at that time looked upon as improbable; yet +those two abbeys being pulled down the stones were used for the purpose +of repairing the bridge; and what was more improbable still a small thorn +growing in the abbey-yard would become its door. We may easily guess no +one thought this last would ever come to pass, and especially as it was +understood by every one at that time of day that thorns never grew so +large; but this shows the uncertain meaning of a prophecy, and that what +we understand one way is possibly meant quite different; so it happened +in this case, for, at the Reformation the savage ravages under the +sanction of religion sought nothing but rapine and plunder to enrich +themselves; and under the name of banishing superstition and pulling down +idolatry, spared not even the most revered lineaments of antiquity, the +most sacred piles, the most noble structures, or most valuable records, +books written by our most venerable forefathers and heroic ancestors. +Pieces of the nicest paint and figures of the best workmanship being all +lost, irrecoverably lost in one common fit of destructive zeal which +every hue and cry is too apt to raise in the breast of a hot-headed +bigot; whilst the truly religious, honest and learned men regret to this +day the loss those destructive times have occasioned. Whilst these +reached Vale-Royal, this thorn amongst the rest, being cut down was cast +in the door-way, to prevent sheep which grazed in the court from going +in. + +But the Reformation he declares in still plainer terms; for he says, + + A time shall come when priests and monks + Shall have no churches nor houses, + And places where images stood, + Lined letters shall be good, + English books through churches are spread, + Where shall be no holy bread. + +It is not my intention to recite every particular he is said to have +foretold, which regard either private families or past occasions—however, +it may not be amiss to mention what is fresh in every one’s memory who +lives near Delamere forest and was vouched to me by several of the oldest +inhabitants. + + Thro’ Weaver-hall shall be a lone {10} + Ridley-pool shall be sown and mown, + And Darnel-Park shall be hacked and hewn. + +The two wings of Weaver-hall are now standing and between them is a +cart-road; Ridley-pool is filled up and made good meadow land: and in +Darnel-Park the trees are cut down and it is made into pasture-ground. + +I was also assured that he foretold the use of broad wheels, etc. and +that the town of Northwich now a considerable place of trade for salt +will be destroyed by water, which is expected to come to pass, by the +natives of Cheshire, as much as any other part of his prophecy has done; +and some urge that the navigable cuts lately made is the water meant: but +whether a prejudice against those useful improvements may not have given +rise to this notion, time only can determine. + +But what rendered Nixon the most noticed was that at the time when the +battle of Bosworth-field was fought between King Richard the Third and +King Henry the Seventh, he stopped his team on a sudden and pointing with +his whip from one to the other cried, “Now, Richard! Now, Harry!” +several times; till at last, he said, “Now, Harry, get over that ditch +and you gain the day.” The plough-holder, amazed, related what had +passed when he came home, and the truth of the prediction was verified by +special messengers sent to announce the proclamation of King Henry of +England on the field of battle. + +The messenger who went this circuit related on his return the prediction +of Nixon concerning the King’s success; which, though it had been +confirmed by his arrival had made it no news to the natives of those +parts; but Henry perhaps the wisest Prince of his time not willing to be +deceived, nor yet doubting the dispensations of Providence though by the +mouth of a fool, sent the same messenger back to find Nixon, and to bring +him before him. At the moment the King gave his orders our prophet was +in the town of Over, about which he ran like a madman declaring the King +had sent for him and that he must go to court and there be _clammed_: +that is, be starved to death. Such a declaration caused a great deal of +laughing in the town, to think that his Majesty so noted for his wisdom +should send for a dirty drivelling clown to court, and that being sent +for he should fear to be starved there; but how great was their surprise, +in a few days after, when the messenger passing through the town demanded +a guide to find Nixon who (then turning the spit at his brother’s at the +Bark-house) cried, “He is coming, he is now on the road for me!” but the +astonishment of the family can scarcely be imagined when, on the +messenger’s arrival he demanded Nixon in the King’s name; the people who +before scoffed at his simple appearance and odd sayings, and had pointed +to the very children to make him their sport were now confounded on +finding the most ridiculous of all he ever foretold (in their opinion) +become a truth, which was vouched to their own eyes. Whilst hurried +through the country Nixon still loudly lamented that he was going to be +starved at the court. + +He had no sooner arrived there than the cautious King willing to make +trial of his foreknowledge devised the following scheme to prove it. +Having had a valuable diamond ring which he commonly wore after the most +seemingly strict inquiry made through the palace whether any one had seen +it; he sent for Nixon, telling him what a loss he had sustained, and that +if he could not help him to find it, he had no hopes left. But how much +surprised was the King, when he got for answer that old proverb, + + He who hideth can find; + +On which he declared with a smile that he had done this only to try the +prophet; but ever after ordered that what he said should be carefully put +in writing. + +To prevent Nixon’s being starved his Majesty gave orders for him to have +the liberty to range through the whole palace and the kitchen was to be +his more constant dwelling. Besides which, an officer was appointed to +take care that he was neither misused or affronted by the servants, nor +at loss for any necessary of life. Thus situated one would have thought +want would never have reached him; yet one day, as the King was going out +to his hunting-seat Nixon ran to him crying and begged in the most moving +terms that he might not be left, for that if he was his Majesty would +never see him again alive: that he should be starved; that now was the +time, and if he was left he must die. + +The King whose thoughts were doubtless fixed on the diversion he was +going to and supposing the matter so very unlikely to come to pass, only +said that it was impossible and recommended him strongly to the officer’s +care; but scarcely was the king gone from the palace-gate when the +servants mocked and teased Nixon to such a degree, that the officer to +prevent these insults locked him up in a closet and suffered no one but +himself to attend on him thinking that he should prevent this part of his +prophecy coming true: but a message of great importance coming from the +King to this very officer, he in his readiness to obey the royal command +forgot to set poor Nixon at liberty and though he was but three days +absent when he recollected his prisoner he found him at his return, dead +as he had foretold of hunger. + +Thus evidenced with what is past stands his prophecy in every mouth in +Cheshire; yet a greater affront cannot be given than to ask a copy from +the families said to be possessed of it. Every possible means it is well +known has been used to smother the truth, perplex the curious, and even +to abolish the very remembrance that such a one ever existed, but from +what reason cannot appear except that it is foretold that the heir of O— +is to meet with some ignominious death at his own gate, {16} with other +family events which, though no person or time being perfectly +distinguished may perhaps occasion this secrecy. + +I must also observe that the cross on Delamere forest, that is, three +steps and the socket in which the cross formerly stood are now sunk +within a few inches of the ground, though all remember to have seen it +within the memory of man nearly six feet above, the cross itself having +been destroyed long since. It is also remarkable that Headlets cross is +mentioned by Merlin de Rymer and most other English and Scotch prophets +as the last place in England on which it is supposed a decisive action +will happen; but as to any fixed period when the things will come to pass +I cannot learn, being all mentioned with the greatest uncertainty. + + + + +THE ORIGINAL PREDICTIONS +OF +ROBERT NIXON, +AS DELIVERED BY HIMSELF. + + + When a raven shall build in a stone lion’s mouth, + On a church top beside the grey forest, + Then shall a king of England be drove from his crown, + And return no more. + + When an eagle shall sit on the top of Vale-Royal house, + Then shall an heir be born, who shall live to see great troubles in + England. + + There shall be a miller nam’d Peter, + With two heels on one foot, + Who shall distinguish himself bravely, + And shall be knighted by the victor: + For foreign nations shall invade England; + But the invader shall be killed, + And laid across a horse’s back, + And led in triumph. + + A boy shall be born with three thumbs on one hand, + Who shall hold three King’s horses, + Whilst England three times is won and lost in one day. + + But after this shall be happy days, + A new set of people of virtuous manners shall live in peace. + But the wall of Vale-Royal near the pond shall be the token of its + truth, + For it shall fall: + If it fall downwards, + Then shall the church be sunk for ever: + But if it fall upwards against a hill, + Then shall the church and honest men live still. + + Under this wall shall be found the bones of a British King. + Peckforton-mill shall be removed to Ludington hill, + And three days blood shall turn Noginshire-mill. + But beware of a chance to the lord of Oulton, + Lest he should be hanged at his own door. + + A crow shall sit on the top of Headless cross, + In the forest so grey, + And drink of the nobles’ gentle blood so free; + Twenty hundred horses shall want masters, + Till their girths shall rot under their bellies. + + Thro’ our own money and our own men, + Shall a dreadful war begin; + Between the sickle and the suck, + All England shall have a pluck; + And be several times forsworn, + And put to their wits’ end, + That it shall not be known, whether to reap their corn, + Bury their dead, or go to the field to fight. + + A great scarcity of bread corn. + Foreign nations shall invade England with snow on their helmets, + And shall bring plague, famine, and murder in the skirts of their + garments. + A great tax will be granted but never gathered. + + Between a rick and two trees, + A famous battle fought shall be. + + London street shall run with blood + And at last shall sink, + So that it shall be fulfilled, + Lincoln was, London is, and York shall be + The finest city of the three. + + There will be three gates to London of imprisoned men for cowsters. + Then if you have three cows, at the first gate fell one, and keep thee + at home, + At the second gate fell the other two, and keep thee at home. + At the last gate all shall be done. + + When summer in winter shall come, + And peace is made at every man’s home, + Then shall be danger of war; + For tho’ with peace at night the nation ring, + Men shall rise to war in the morning. + + There will be a winter Council, a careful Christmas, and a bloody + Lent. + In those days there shall be hatred and bloodshed, + The father against the son, and the son against his father, + That one may have a house for lifting the latch of the door. + Landlords shall stand, with hats in their hands, + To desire tenants to hold their lands. + + Great wars and pressing of soldiers, + But at last clubs and clouted shoes shall carry the day. + It will be good in these days for a man to sell his goods, and keep + close at home. + Then forty pounds in hand + Will be better than forty pounds a year in land. + The cock of the North shall be made to flee, + And his feathers be plucked for his pride; + That he shall almost curse the day that he was born. + + One asked Nixon, where he might be safe in those days? he answered, + In God’s croft, between the rivers Mersey and Dee. + + Scotland shall stand more or less, + Till it has brought England to a piteous case. + The Scots shall rule England one whole year. + Three years of great wars, + And in all countries great uproars. + The first is terrible, the second worse, but the third unbearable. + + Three great battles; + One at Northumberland-bridge, + One at Cumberland-bridge, + And the other the south side of Trent. + Crows shall drink the blood of many nobles. + East shall rise against West, and North against South. + + Then take this for good, + Noginshire-mill shall run with blood, + And many shall fly down Wanslow-lane. + + A man shall come into England, + But the son of a king crown’d with thorns + Shall take from him the victory. + + Many nobles shall fight, + But a bastard Duke shall win the day, + And so without delay, + Set England in a right way. + A wolf from the East shall right eagerly come, + On the South side of Sandford, on a grey Monday morn, + Where groves shall grow upon a green, + Beside green grey they shall flee + Into rocks, and many die. + They shall flee into Salt strand, + And twenty thousand, without sword, shall die each man. + The dark dragon over Sudsbrown, + Shall bring with him a royal band; + + But their lives shall be forlorn, + His head shall be in Stafford town, + His tail in Ireland. + He boldly shall bring his men, thinking to win renown: + Beside a wall in forest fair he shall be beaten down. + On Hine’s heath they shall begin this bloody fight, + And with train’d steed shall hew each others’ helmet bright: + But who shall win that day no one can tell. + + A Duke out of Denmark shall him dight, + On a day in England, and make many a lord full low to light, + And the ladies cry, ‘Well away,’ + And the black fleet with main and might + Their enemies full boldly their assail. + + In Britain’s land shall be a knight, + On them shall make a cruel fight, + A bitter boar with main and might + Shall bring a royal rout that day. + There shall die many a worthy knight, + And be driven into the fields green and grey, + They shall lose both field and fight. + + The weary eagle shall to an island in the sea retire + Where leaves and herbs grow fresh and green. + There shall he meet a lady fair, + Who shall say, ‘Go help thy friend in battle slain:’ + Then by the counsel of that fair, + He eagerly will make to flee + Twenty-six standard of the enemy, + A rampant lion in silver set, in armour fair, + Shall help the eagle in that tide, + When many a knight shall die. + + The bear that hath been long tied to a stake shall shake his chains, + That every man shall hear, and shall cause much debate. + The bull and red rose shall stand in strife, + That shall turn England to much woe, + And cause many a man to lose his life. + + In a forest stand oaks three, + Beside a headless cross. + A well of blood shall run and ree, + Its cover shall be brass, + Which shall ne’er appear, + Till horses’ feet have trod it bare; + Who wins it will declare, + The eagle shall so fight that day, + That ne’er a friend’s from him away. + A hound without delay shall run the chase far and near. + + The dark dragon shall die in fight. + A lofty head the bear shall rear, + The wide wolf so shall light, + The bridled steed against his enemies will fiercely fight. + + A fleet shall come out of the North, + Riding on a horse of trees, + A white hind beareth he, + And there wreaths so free, + That day the eagle shall him slay, + And on a hill set his banner straightway. + That lion who’s forsaken been and forced to flee, + Shall hear a woman shrilly say, + ‘Thy friends are killed on yonder hill,’ + Death to many a knight this day. + With that the lion bears his banner to a hill, + Within a forest that’s so plain, + Beside a headless cross of stone, + There shall the eagle die that day, + And the red lion get renown. + A great battle shall be fought by crowned Kings three; + One shall die and a bastard Duke will win the day. + In Sandyford there lies a stone, + A crowned King shall lose his head on. + + In those dreadful days, five wicked priests’ heads shall be sold for a + penny. + Slaughter shall rage to such a degree, + And infants left by those that are slain, + That damsels shall with fear and glee, + Cry, ‘Mother, mother, I’ve seen a man!’ + + Between seven, eight, and nine, + In England wonders shall be seen. + Between nine and thirteen + All sorrow shall be done. + Then rise up Richard, son of Richard, + And bless the happy reign, + Thrice happy he who sees this time to come + When England shall know rest and peace again. + + * * * * * + + _End of the Original Prophecies_. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE FOLLOWING PREDICTIONS +OF +ROBERT NIXON +ARE COPIED FROM OLD PAMPHLETS. + + +The famous Cheshire prophet Nixon, besides his prophecies relative to the +fate of private families, also predicted much of public affairs, which we +find literally verified by the sequel. + +On the Christmas before he went to court, being among the servants at Mr. +Cholmondeley’s house, to the surprise of them all he suddenly started up +and said, + +“I must prophecy.” He went on, the favourite {32a} of a King shall be +slain. “If the master’s neck shall be cleft in twain. And the men of +the North {32b} shall sell precious blood; yea their own blood. And they +shall sacrifice a noble warrior {32c} to the idol, and hang up his flesh +in the high places; and a storm shall come out of the North, which shall +blow down the steeples of the South: and the labourer shall rise above +his lord, and the harvest shall in part be trampled down by horses, and +the remainder lie waste to be devoured by birds. + +“When an oak tree shall be softer than men’s hearts, then look for better +times but they be but beginning. + +“The departure of a great man’s {33a} soul shall trouble a river hard by, +and overthrow trees, houses, and estates. From that part of the house +from whence the mischief came you must look for the cure. First comes +joy, then sorrow; after mirth comes mourning. + +“I see men, women, and children, spotted {33b} like beasts, and their +nearest and dearest friends affrighted at them. I see towns on fire, and +innocent blood shed; but when men and horses walk upon the water, then +shall be peace and plenty to the people, but trouble is preparing for +Kings; and the _great yellow fruit_ {33c} shall come over to this +country, and flourish: and I see this tree take deep root and spread into +a thousand branches, which shall afterwards be at strife one with +another, because of their numbers: and there shall come a wind from the +South, and the West, which shall shake the tree. I see multitudes of +people running to and fro, and talking in a strange tongue. And there +shall be a famine {34} in the midst of great plenty, and earthquakes and +storms shall level and purify the earth.” + +After these sayings, which every one, with the slightest knowledge of our +history will instantly apply to those events which they so wonderfully +foretold, Nixon was silent, and relapsed into his wonted stupidity: from +which he did not recover until many weeks after, when he became again +inspired, and gave vent to those remarkable predictions which were +recollected by Mr. Oldmixon. Those which we have just now related were +taken down from the prophet’s mouth by the steward, in pursuance of the +orders of Mr. Cholmondeley himself; and the original manuscript is now in +the hands of a gentleman in Shropshire. + + + + +NIXON’S CHESHIRE PROPHECY AT LARGE, +FROM LADY COWPER’S COPY; +WITH HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL REMARKS, AND MANY INSTANCES +WHEREIN IT HAS BEEN FULFILLED. + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +This remarkable Prophecy has been carefully revised, corrected, and +improved; also some account given of our author, Robert Nixon, who was +but a kind of idiot, and used to be employed in following the plough. He +had lived in some farmers’ families, and was their drudge and their jest. + +At last, Thomas Cholmondeley, of Vale-Royal, Esq., took him into his +house, where he lived when he composed this prophecy, which he delivered +with as much gravity and solemnity as if he had been an oracle; and it +was observed that though the fool was a driveller, and could not speak +common sense when uninspired, yet in delivering his prophecies, he spoke +plainly and sensibly; how truly will be seen in the following pages. + +As to the credit of this prophecy I dare say it is as well attested as +any of Nostradamus’s or Merlin’s, and will come to pass as well as the +best of Squire Bickerstaff’s; it is plain enough that great men in all +ages had recourse to prophecy as well as the vulgar. I would not have +all grave persons despise the inspiration of Nixon. The late French King +gave audience to an inspired farrier, and rewarded him with an hundred +pistoles for his prophetical intelligence; though by what I can learn he +did not come near our Nixon for gifts. + +The simplicity, the circumstances, and the history of the Cheshire +Prophecy are so remarkable that I hope the public will be as much +delighted as I was myself. + +By the way, this is not a prophecy of to-day; ’tis as old as the +powder-plot, and the story will make it appear that there is as little +imposture in it as the Jacobites pretend there is in the person it seems +to have an eye to; but whether they are both impostures alike or not I +leave the reader to determine. + + J. OLDMIXON. + + + +THE PROPHECY. + + +IN the reign of King James the First there lived a man generally reputed +a fool, whose name was Nixon. One day, when he returned home from +ploughing, he laid the things down which he had in his hands, and +continued for some time in a seemingly deep and thoughtful meditation, at +length he pronounced in a loud hoarse voice, ‘Now I will prophecy;’ and +spoke as follows; + +“When a raven shall build in a stone lion’s mouth on the top of a church +in Cheshire, then a King of England shall be driven out of his kingdom, +and never return more. + +“When an eagle shall sit on the top of the house, then an heir shall be +born to the Cholmondeley family, and this heir shall live to see England +invaded by foreigners, who shall proceed as far as a town in Cheshire; +but a miller, named Peter, shall be born with two heels on one foot, and +at that time living in a mill of Mr. Cholmondeley’s he shall be +instrumental in delivering the nation. + +“The person who then governs the nation will be in great trouble, and +skulk about:—The invading King shall be killed, laid across a horse’s +back like a calf, and led in triumph. The miller having been +instrumental in it, shall bring forth the person that then governs the +kingdom, and be knighted for what he has done; and after that England +shall see happy days. A new set of young men, of virtuous manners, shall +come, who shall prosper, and make a flourishing church for two hundred +years. + +“As a token of the truth of all this a wall of Mr. Cholmondeley’s shall +fall, if it falls downwards, the church shall be oppressed, and rise no +more; but if it fall upwards, next the rising hill on the side of it, +then shall it flourish again. Under this wall shall be found the bones +of a British King. + +“A pond shall run with blood three days, and the Cross stone Pillar in +the forest sink so low into the ground, that a crow from the top of it +shall drink of the best blood in England. + +“A boy shall be born with three thumbs, and shall hold three kings’ +horses, while England shall be three times won and lost in one day.” + + * * * * * + +The original may be seen in several families in the county, and in +particular in the hands of Mr. Egerton, of Oulton, with many other +remarkable things; as that Peckforton wind-mill should be removed to +Ludington hill and that horses saddled should run about while their +girths rotted away. But this is sufficient to prove Nixon as great a +prophet as Partridge; and we shall give other proofs of it before we have +done with him. + +I know your prophets are generally for Raw-head and bloody-bones and +therefore do not mind it much; or I might add that of Oulton mill shall +be driven with blood instead of water, but these soothsayers are great +butchers and every hall is with them a slaughter-house. + +Now as for authorities to prove this prophecy to be genuine and how it +has hitherto been accomplished, I might refer myself to the whole country +of Chester, where it is in every one’s mouth and has been so these forty +years. As much as I have of the manuscript was sent me by a person of +sense and veracity and as little partial to visions as any body. For my +own part I build nothing on this or any other prophecy; only there is +something so very odd in the story and so pat in the wording of it that I +cannot help giving it as I found it. + +The family of the Cholmondeleys is very ancient in this county and takes +its name from a place so called near Nantwich; there are also Cholmton +and Cholmondeston; but the seat of that branch of the family which kept +our prophet Nixon is at Vale-Royal, on the river Weave in Delamere +forest. It was formerly an abbey, {43} founded by Edward I. and came to +the Cholmondeleys from the famous family of the Holcrofts. When Nixon +prophesied this family was near being extinct, the heir having married +Sir Walter St. John’s daughter, a lady not esteemed very young, who, +notwithstanding, being with child, fell in labour and continued so for +many days, during which time an eagle sat upon the house-top and flew +away when she was delivered of a son. + +A raven is also known to have built in a stone lion’s mouth in the +steeple of the church of Over, in the forest of Delamere. Not long +before the abdication of King James the wall spoken of fell down and fell +upwards and in removing the rubbish were found the bones of a man of more +than ordinary size. A pond at the same time ran with water that had a +reddish tincture and was never known to have done so before or since. + +Headless cross in the forest, which in the memory of man was several feet +high, is now only half a foot from the ground. + +In the parish of Budworth a boy was born about eighteen years ago with +three thumbs; the youth is still living there and the miller Peter lives +in Noginshire mill in expectation of fulfilling this prophecy on the +person of Perkin: he hath also two heels on one foot and I find he +intends to make use of them in the interest of King George, for he is a +bold Briton and a loyal subject, zealous for the Protestant succession in +the illustrious House of Hanover, has a vote for the knights of the shire +and never fails to give it on the right side: in a word, Peter will prate +or box for the good cause that Nixon had lifted him in and if he does not +do the business, this must be said of him, that no man will bid fairer +for it; which the Lady Egerton was so apprehensive of, that wishing well +to another restoration, she often instigated her husband to turn him out +of the mill; but he looked upon it as whimsical and so Peter still +continues there, in hopes of being as good a knight as Sir Philip his +landlord was. + +Of this Peter I have been told, that the Lady Narcliff of Chelsea and the +Lady St. John of Battersea, together with several other persons of credit +and fashion, have often been heard to talk and that they all asserted +their knowledge of the truth of our prophecy and its accomplishment, with +many particulars that are more extraordinary than any I have yet +mentioned. + +The noise of Nixon’s Predictions reaching the ears of King James the +First, he would needs see this fool, who cried and made ado that he might +not go to court and the reason that he gave was, that he should there be +STARVED.—(A very whimsical fancy of his, courts not being places where +people are used to starve in, when they once come there, whatever they +may have done before.)—The King being informed of Nixon’s refusing to +come, said he would take particular care that he should not be starved +and ordered him to be brought up. Nixon cried out, that he was sent for +again; and soon after the messenger arrived, who brought him up from +Cheshire. + +How or whether he prophecied to his Majesty, no person can tell; but he +is not the first fool that has made a good court prophet. + +That Nixon might be well provided for it was ordered that he should be +kept in the kitchen, where he grew so troublesome in licking and picking +the meat, that the cooks locked him up in a hole; and the King going on a +sudden from Hampton Court to London in their hurry they forgot the fool +and he was really starved to death. + +There are a great many passages of this fool-prophet’s life and sayings +transmitted in tradition from father to son in this county palatine; as, +that when he lived with a farmer before he was taken into Mr. +Cholmondeley’s family, he goaded an ox so cruelly that one of the +ploughmen threatened to beat him for abusing his master’s beast—Nixon +said, “My master’s beast will not be his three days.” A life in an +estate dropping in at that time, the lord of the manor took the same ox +for a heriot. This account whimsical and romantic as it is was told to +the Lady Cowper in the year 1670, by Dr. Patrick late Bishop of Ely then +chaplain to Sir Walter St. John; and that lady had the following further +particulars relating to this prophecy and the fulfilling of many parts of +it from Mrs. Chute, sister to Mrs. Cholmondeley of Vale-Royal, who +affirmed that a multitude of people gathered together to see the eagle +before-mentioned and the bird was frightened from her young; that she +herself was one of them and the cry among the people was, Nixon’s +prophecy is fulfilled and we have a foreign King. She declared that she +read over the prophecy many times when her sister was with child of the +heir who now enjoys the estate. She particularly remembers that King +James the Second was plainly pointed at and that it was foretold he +should endeavour to subvert the laws and religion of this kingdom, for +which reason they would rise and turn him out: that the eagle of which +Nixon prophecied perched in one of the windows all the time her sister +was in labour. She says it was the biggest bird she ever saw; that it +was in a deep snow and it perched on the edge of a great bow-window, +which had a large border on the outside and that she and many others +opened the window to try to scare it away, but it would not stir till +Mrs. Cholmondeley was delivered; after which it took flight to a great +tree over against the room her sister lay in, where having stayed about +three days it flew away in the night. She affirmed further to the Lady +Cowper, that the falling of the garden wall was a thing not to be +questioned, it being in so many people’s memory that it was foretold that +the heir of Vale-Royal should live to see England invaded by foreigners +and that he should fight bravely for his King and Country: that the +miller mentioned is now alive and expects to be knighted and is in the +very mill that is foretold: that he should kill two invaders who should +come in, the one from the West and the other from the North: that he from +the North should bring with him of all nations, Swedes, Danes, Germans, +and Dutch; and that in the folds of his garments he should bring fire and +famine, plague and murder: that many great battles should be fought in +England, one upon London-bridge, which should be so bloody, that people +will ride in London streets up to their horses’ bellies in blood; that +several other battles should be fought up and down most parts of +Cheshire; and that the last that ever would be fought in England should +be on Delamere forest: that the heir of Oulston, whose name is E— and has +married Earl Cholmondeley’s sister, should be hanged up at his own gate. + +Lastly, Nixon foretells great glory and prosperity to those who stand up +in defence of their laws and liberties; and ruin and misery to those who +should betray them. He says, the year before this would happen, bread +corn would be very dear and that the year following more troubles should +begin which would last three years; that the first would be moderate, the +second bloody, and the third intolerable; that unless they were shortened +no mortal could bear them; and that there were no mischiefs but what poor +England would feel at that time. But that GEORGE the SON of GEORGE, {51} +should put an end to all. That afterwards the church should flourish, +and England be the most glorious nation on earth. + +Lady Cowper was not content to take these particulars from Mrs. Chute, +but she enquired of Sir Thomas Aston, of the truth of this prophecy and +he attested it was in great reputation in Cheshire and that the facts +were known by every one to have happened as Nixon said they would; +adding, that the morning before the garden wall fell, his neighbour Mr. +Cholmondeley, going to ride out a hunting, said “Nixon seldom fails but +now I think he will; for he foretold that this day my garden wall would +fall and I think it looks as if it would stand these forty years;” that +he had not been gone above a quarter of an hour before the wall split and +fell upwards against the rising of the hill, which as Nixon would have +it, was the presage of a flourishing church. + +As to the removal of Peckforton-mill, it was done by Sir John Crew, the +mill having lost its trade there, for which he ordered it to be set upon +Ludington hill; and being asked if he did it to fulfil the prophecy, he +declared he never thought of it. I myself have inquired of a person who +knows Mr. Cholmondeley’s pond as well as Rosamond’s in St. James’s Park +and he assured me the falling of the wall and the pond running blood, (as +they call it) are facts which in Cheshire any one would be reckoned mad +for making the least question of them. As there are several particulars +in this prophecy which remain unfulfilled; so when they come to pass, +some other circumstances may be added, which are not convenient to be +told until accomplished. + +If I had a mind to look into the antiquities of this county, I might find +that prodigies and prophecies are no unusual things there. Camden tells +us that at Brereton not many miles from Vale-Royal which gave name to a +famous, ancient, numerous, and knightly family, there is a thing as +strange as that of the eagle, or the falling of the wall, which he says +was attested to him by many persons and was commonly believed; that +before any heir of this family dies there are seen, in a lake adjoining +the bodies of trees swimming upon the water for several days together. +He likewise adds that near the abbey of St. Maurice in Burgundy there is +a fish-pond in which a number of fish are put equal to the number of +monks of that place; and if any one of them happens to be sick, there is +a fish seen floating on the surface of the water; and in case the fit of +sickness proves fatal to the monk, the fish foretells it by its death +some days before. This the learned Camden relates in his description of +Cheshire and the opinion of the trees swimming in the lake near Brereton, +prevails all about the county to the present day, only with this +difference, that some say it is one log only that swims and some say +many. + +Lancashire, which is not far off, has been famous for witches and I am +afraid Cheshire is a little infected by its neighbourhood. Those that +will not believe our prophecy may leave it alone; but if hope is a good +help to faith, I shall not be long among the incredulous. + + * * * * * + +_The Editor presents his Readers with a Copy of a printed Paper_, _which +several aged Persons_, _residing near the Forest_, _have vouched for the +Authenticity of_. + + + + +A true and particular Account of a strange and surprising Vision, that +was seen in the Forest of Delamere, in Cheshire, on the 4th of last +Month. + + +AS Nixon, in the reign of King James the First, prophesied of many +strange and wonderful things that should come to pass, such as an heir +being born to Lord Cholmondeley’s which at that time there was little +reason to expect, but which came to pass; and that the eldest son or +young Lord Cholmondeley should have the misfortune to break his neck by +riding a hunting, which accident really did happen; and several other +things already come to pass according to the said prophecy, but, in +particular, of a wonderful battle or engagement that should be fought in +the forest of Delamere; and as it is now fully expected that we shall +have an invasion from our natural and inveterate enemies the French, it +is also thought it will be in the North of England and in all probability +the said Forest of Delamere may be the place of action or engagement: and +what strengthens the belief more is the vision that was seen in the said +forest on the 4th, as follows: + +As two ancient persons were walking over the said Forest, to their great +surprise, they saw at a distance before them an army rise out of the +ground drawn up with their proper officers and their commanders in front +of them, and whilst they were looking at and ruminating upon so strange a +sight, to their most wonderful surprise and amazement there arose also +another army out of the ground, at a small distance from the first, and +farther in the forest, which army was headed or commanded by a man in +royal apparel, who, after having drawn up his army, marched to meet and +engage the first; upon which a most bloody battle ensued with firearms, +and many appeared to be killed on both sides; but, being so near each +other, they laid down or grounded their arms and took to their swords, +with which great slaughter was made; and then came to such close quarters +that they put up their swords and fought with their hands; all of which +engagements continued more than three quarters of an hour, during which +time the said two ancient people were spectators; and at last the remains +of the army that first appeared retreated towards the sea, and vanished +directly out of their sight; whilst the other army which was commanded by +the man in royal apparel marched victorious out of the field as far as it +was possible to see them. These ancient people having spoken of the +above vision it came to the ears of several gentlemen, who sent for, and +examined them concerning the truth of it, which they were ready to make +oath of for their satisfaction. + +On the 6th of the same month, as seven men were going to Cheshire over +the said forest, about the middle of it they saw to their astonishment, a +vision much resembling that which was on the sixth as above described; +only with this addition that the victorious army had many slain to all +appearance, yet they resumed life again and joined their own army; all +which is looked upon as a good omen, that if in case England is invaded +by her enemies though the nation be seemingly dead and in great division, +yet on the approach of the enemy they will all in one general heart and +one mind exert themselves to repel our most inveterate enemies. + +As Nixon’s Prophecies are by some persons thought fables, yet by what has +come to pass it is now thought and very plainly appears that most of them +have or will prove true; for which reason we have all occasion not only +to exert our utmost might to repel by force our enemies, but to return +from our abandoned and wicked course of life, and make our continual +prayers to God for protection and safety. + + + + +PROPHECY +OF THE +FRENCH REVOLUTION, +FROM A PUBLICATION BY +THE LATE MR. PETER JURIEU, +IN 1687. + + + Rev. xi. 13. + + _And the same hour there was a great earthquake_, _and the tenth part + of the city fell_, _and in the earthquake were slain of men seven + thousand_, _and the remnant were affrighted_, _and gave glory to + God_. + +NOW what is the tenth part of the city which shall fall? in my opinion we +cannot doubt that it is France. This kingdom is the most considerable +part or piece of the ten horns, or states, which once made up the great +Babylonian city: it fell; this does not signify that the French Monarchy +shall be ruined: it may be humbled; but in all appearance Providence does +design a great elevation for her afterwards. ’Tis highly probable that +God will not let go unpunished the horrible outrages which it acts at +this day. Afterward, it must build its greatness upon the ruins of the +papal empire and enrich itself with the spoils of those who shall take +part with the papacy. They who at this day persecute the protestants +know not whither God is leading them: this is not the way by which he +will lead France to the height of glory. If she comes thither it is +because she shall shortly change her road. Her greatening will be no +damage to protestant states; on the contrary, the protestant states shall +be enriched with the spoil of others and be strengthened by the fall of +Antichrist’s empire. This tenth part of the city shall fall, with +respect to the papacy; it shall break with Rome and the Roman religion. +One thing is certain, that the Babylonian empire shall perish through the +refusal of obedience by the ten Kings, who had given their power to the +beast. This thing is already come to pass in part. The kingdoms of +Sweden, Denmark, England and several sovereign States in Germany have +withdrawn themselves from the jurisdiction of the Pope. They have +spoiled the harlot of her riches. They have eaten her flesh, i.e. seized +on her benefices, and revenues, which she had in their countries. This +must go on and be finished as it is begun. The Kings who yet remain +under the empire of Rome must break with her, leave her solitary and +desolate. + +But who must begin this last revolt? it is most probable that France +shall. Not Spain, which as yet is plunged in superstition and is as much +under the tyranny of the clergy as ever. Not the Emperor, who in +temporal matters is subject to the Pope and permits that in his states +the Archbishop of Strigonium should teach that the Pope can take away the +Imperial crown from him. It cannot be any country but France, which a +long time ago hath begun to shake off the yoke of Rome. ’Tis well known +how solemnly and openly war hath been declared against the Pope by a +declaration of the King (ratified in all the parliaments) by the +decisions of the assembly of the French Clergy, by a disputation against +the authority of the Pope, managed in the Sorbonne, solemnly and by order +of the court. And to heighten the affront the theses were posted up even +upon the gates of his Nuncio. Nothing of this kind had hitherto happened +at least in a time of peace and unless the Pope had given occasion by his +insolence. + +Besides this superstition and idolatry lose their credit much in +France.—There is a secret party, though well enough known, which greatly +despiseth the popular devotions, images, worship of saints, and is +convinced that these are human inventions: God is beforehand preparing +for his great work. + +To this it may be objected that for the last hundred and fifty years the +Pope’s empire hath not been made up of ten Kings, because the Kings of +England, Sweden, Denmark, etc., have thrown off his government; and +consequently, France is not at this day the tenth part of the Babylonian +empire; for it is more than a tenth part of it. But this is no +difficulty; for we must know, that things retain the names which they +bore in their original (without regarding the alterations which time does +bring along.) Though at this day there are not ten kingdoms under the +Babylonian empire, it is, notwithstanding, certain, that each kingdom was +called, and ought to be called in this prophecy, the tenth part, because +the prophet having described this empire in its beginning, by its ten +horns, or ten kings, it is necessary for our clear understanding, that +every one of these Kings and kingdoms, should be called one of the ten +Kings, or of ten kingdoms, with respect to the original constitution of +the Antichristian empire. + +Seeing the tenth part of the city that must fall, is France, this gives +me some hopes that the death of the two witnesses hath a particular +relation to this kingdom. It is the street or place of this city, i.e. +the most fair and eminent part of it. The witnesses must remain dead +upon the street and upon it they must be raised again. And as the death +of the witnesses and their resurrection have a relation to the kingdom of +France, it may well fall out, that we may not be far distant from the +time of the resurrection of the witnesses, seeing the three years and a +half of their death are either begun, or will begin shortly. + +And in the earthquake were slain seven thousand; in the Greek it is seven +thousand names of men, and not seven thousand men. I confess that this +seems somewhat mysterious: in other places we find not this phrase, names +of men, but simply men. Perhaps there is a figure of grammar, called +_hypolage casus_, so that names of men are put for men of name, i.e. of +raised and considerable quality, be it on account of riches, or of +dignity, or of learning. But I am more inclined to say, that here these +names of men, must be taken in their natural signification and do +intimate that the total Reformation of France shall not be made with +bloodshed, nothing shall be destroyed but names; such as are the names of +Monks, of Carmelites, of Augustines, of Dominicans, of Jacobins, of +Franciscans, Capuchins, Jesuits, Minimes and an infinite company of +others, whose number it is not easy to define and which the Holy Ghost +denotes by the number seven, which is the number of perfection, to +signify that the orders of monks and nuns shall perish for ever. This is +an institution so degenerated from its first original, that it is become +the ruin of Antichrist. These orders cannot perish one without the +other. + +These great events deserve to be distinguished from all others; for they +have changed, or shall change, THE WHOLE FACE OF THE WORLD. + + + + +EXTRACTS +FROM +SERMONS +BY +DR. JOHN GILL. + + +THERE are some times fixed in prophecy, which by diligence, attention, +and application men may arrive to some understanding of. There are +indeed some times and seasons, the knowledge of which is not to be +attained unto; and it would be wrong, as well as in vain, curiously to +search into them. _It is not for us to know the times or the seasons_, +_which the Father hath put in his own power_; for he has _determined the +times before appointed_, when every thing that he has purposed or +promised shall come to pass; and he has fixed a _time for every purpose +under the heaven_, for the performance of every thing he has designed +shall be; _a time to be born_, _and a time to die_, and for every +intermediate event; but these times are not known beforehand, until +things are brought into execution. There are others and very remarkable +events, the times of which are pointed at in prophecy; and which with +diligence and application, a knowledge of them may in some measure be +attained unto: as for instance, the first coming of Christ into this +world to save men: the time for it was not only agreed upon and settled +between the Father and the Son, called _the fulness of time_, but there +were several prophetic hints of it; nay, not only was it described by +some general circumstances, as that it should be before the second temple +was destroyed, since he was to come into it and while the sceptre was in +the tribe of Judah; but the precise time was fixed by Daniel’s seventy +weeks, or four hundred years, which were to commence from a date given +him; and before the expiration of which the Messiah was to come: and so +as he by reading Jeremiah’s books knew the time when the Babylonish +captivity should end; another by reading his prophecies might know when +the Messiah would come; and accordingly about the time when those weeks +were drawing near to an expiration, there were many that were looking for +the Messiah and redemption by him, as knowing that it was about the time +by these weeks that he should come. There is a time set for the second +coming and God in his times will show him, or cause him openly to appear; +and though he will come in an hour we know not of, yet there are some +circumstances pointed out in the word of God by which it may be known +that it is nigh at hand; as that the day when the Son of man shall be +revealed shall be as the days of Noah and Lot, when men indulged +themselves in pleasure, lived in great security, unaware of the ruin +coming upon them; and that when the Son of man cometh, faith will not be +found in the earth; whether this be understood of the grace or doctrine +of faith, or of faith with respect to Christ’s coming: and when we +compare these things with the present times, and consider the luxury, +love of pleasure, carnal security and infidelity that abound among us, we +might conclude that the coming of Christ is just at hand, were it not +that there are many things which require time yet to be fulfilled +previous to it, as the destruction of Antichrist, the conversion of the +Jews, and the bringing in of the fulness of the Gentiles. So the last +judgment which will take place at the second coming of Christ, and is +most certain, being early known and often spoken of. Enoch, the seventh +from Adam, prophecied of it, and of Christ’s coming to it; the day is +appointed when it will come on, though of that day and hour knoweth no +man, not the angels in heaven, but the Father only: but then the +principal things that should come to pass, relative to the church, +between the first and second coming of Christ to judgment, are signified +to us in the book of the Revelation. + + _Sermon from_ 1 _Chron._ xii. 32, + _preached Jan._ 1, 1752. + +The destruction of Antichrist is the grand leading event to the glories +of this state. This is hinted at in the epistle to the church at +Philadelphus, the emblem of the spiritual reign; it will be the last +struggle of the beast that will cause that _hour of temptation which +shall come upon all the world to try_ the inhabitants of it: when the +seventh trumpet will be sounded, which will bring on the spiritual +kingdom of Christ throughout the world, he will destroy them which +destroy the earth; meaning the Papists, who have destroyed the +inhabitants of the earth with their false doctrine, superstitious +worship, and with those bloody wars, murders, and massacres they have +been at the bottom of. And till this is done the spiritual reign cannot +take place, especially in its full compass, and in all its branches, for +so long as Antichrist reigns, the church will be more or less in an +afflicted state: the date of the church’s troubles, and of the reign of +Antichrist are alike, and will expire together: the power given to the +beast is to continue forty and two months; wherefore there can be no +truly good and happy days, till these dates are ended. + +The destruction of Antichrist will be by the spirit of Christ’s mouth, +and the brightness of his coming; that is, by his coming in a spiritual +way; or through the word of his mouth, his gospel attended by his spirit +and power; which will shine out with so much lustre, splendour, light, +and glory, as will chase away the darkness of popery, and enlighten the +minds of people, to see into all the fopperies, absurdities, and +wickedness of that religion and cause them to cast it off: yea, even to +open the eyes of the kings and princes of the earth, to behold and loath +the abominations of the whore of Rome they have committed fornication +with; and fill them with wrath and indignation against her, as to hate +her, make her bare and desolate, and burn her with fire. + +This work will be greatly effected by the pouring out of the seven vials +of God’s wrath, or the inflicting the seven last plagues upon the +anti-Christian states, upon the western and eastern Antichrist, the Pope +and Turk; who must be both removed to make way for the spiritual reign of +Christ. These seven vials will be poured out, or those plagues inflicted +by Angels; by whom we are to understand protestant kings, and princes, +and generals of armies; and these will be given them by one or the first +of the four beasts, or living creatures, the emblems of gospel ministers; +who having some notice of the time of antichrist’s destruction being at +hand, will stir and animate the christian princes and potentates to take +this work in hand; and who are therefore said to go forth from the +temple, the church, the place of divine and spiritual worship, and where +they themselves are worshippers; and from whence they have orders to go +forth and do their work. + +The first five of these vials concern the western Antichrist, and his +dominions: between which, and the trumpets, there is a great +correspondence, though they respect different times and persons. The +first vial will be poured out upon the earth, and designs those popish +countries which are upon the continent, as France and Germany, especially +the latter; and as the first trumpet brought the Goths into Germany, so +the first vial will bring great distress upon the popish party in the +empire, and issue in a reformation from popery. The second vial will be +poured out upon the sea, and may intend the maritime powers belonging to +the see of Rome, particularly Spain and Portugal; and as the second +trumpet brought the Vandals into these places, so this vial will effect +the same, and bring wars and desolations into them, and make a change in +their religion. The third vial will be poured out upon the rivers and +fountains of water, which may point to those places adjacent to Rome, as +Italy and Savoy; and as the third trumpet brought the Huns into those +parts; so this vial will bring in large armies hither, which will cause +much bloodshed, and a great revolution in church and state. The fourth +vial will be poured out upon the sun, which must denote some person or +persons of great dignity and influence, and as the fourth trumpet brought +destruction upon the Emperor of Rome, the sun of the empire, and upon +governors under him, signified by the moon and stars; this vial will +bring on the ruin of the pope of Rome, the sun of the antichristian +empire, with all his cardinals, bishops, priests, etc. The fifth vial +will be poured out upon the seat of the beast, which is Rome, the seat +that the devil gave to the beast, and will produce great darkness in his +kingdom; though as yet it will not be utterly destroyed, which is +reserved to the seventh vial. Now these several vials as they will be so +many plagues on the western Antichrist, and make so many breaches and +ruins upon his states and dominions, so they will be so many gradual +steps to the advancement of the glory and kingdom of Christ, and issue in +the reformation of these places from popery. The sixth vial will be +poured out on the river Euphrates, which designs the Turkish empire, in +the midst of which that river is; and as the sixth trumpet let loose the +four angels, or heads of the Ottoman family into Europe, so this vial +affects the same empire and brings destruction on it, signified by the +drying up of the waters of that river, as Babylon’s destruction is +expressed by the drying up of her sea, Jer. li. 36, which will make way +for the king, or kingdoms of the East; the kingdoms of Persia and Tartary +and others, to receive and embrace the Christian religion: this is the +second, or Turkish woe, which shall pass away; when the kingdoms of this +world will become Christ’s and his dominion will be from sea to sea, from +the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Sea; and from the river Euphrates to +the ends of the earth. The seventh vial will be poured out upon the air, +the whole kingdom of Satan, in all the branches of it, who is the prince +of the power of the air; and this vial will clear the whole world of all +the remains of Christ’s enemies, pagan, papal, and Mahometon, which the +other vials left or did not reach; and now will Christ’s kingdom be in +its full glory. Now the heathens, papists, pagans and Mahometans, will +perish out of this land and these sorts of sinners will be consumed out +of the earth and such wicked ones will be no more. + +God will make a short work in righteousness, upon the enemies of his +church: as yet I take it, none of them are poured out, though some great +and learned men have so thought; as yet there have been no such +devastations on the continent, as in France and Germany, as to produce +the above effects; nor in the countries of Spain and Portugal; nor in +Italy and Savoy, and like the places near Rome, nor in the seat of the +beast, Rome itself; nor on the Pope and his cardinals; the river +Euphrates is not dried up; the Ottoman empire is yet in being; the +Turkish woe is not passed away; and much less the world cleared of all +the enemies of Christ and his church; no, before this work is done, the +outer court must be given to the Gentiles, and the witnesses must be +slain. Had they begun to be poured out at the time of the reformation, +as some have thought, in all likelihood they would have been finished +before now; and Antichrist would have been destroyed, and better times +than we are now in would have succeeded; but, however, this we may be +assured of, that as the plagues in Egypt issued in the destruction of +Pharaoh, and in the deliverance of the Israelites, so these vials will +end in the ruin of Antichrist, and in the salvation of the church of +Christ. As soon as these things will take place, nay, as soon as you +hear of those seven plagues, immediately you hear of persons on a sea of +glass, triumphing over Antichrist, having the harps of God, and singing +the song of Moses and the Lamb: and no sooner it is said, that Babylon is +fallen, but voices are heard in heaven ascribing salvation, glory, honour +and power to God, for his judgments on the great whore; declaring that +the Lord God omnipotent reigneth; that the marriage of the Lamb is come; +and his bride made ready; and proclaiming them happy that are called to +the marriage-supper of the Lamb; all which respect the spiritual reign of +Christ, now introduced by the ruin of Antichrist. + +There will be very large conversions every where, in the several parts of +the world: in all popish countries and antichristian states; even the ten +kings that have given their kingdoms to the beast, have been associates +of Antichrist and reigned with him, shall withdraw from him; they and +their subjects shall revolt from him, and be converted, and embrace the +pure gospel: as it will be the christian princes and potentates that will +pour out the seven vials on Antichrist, they will carry the gospel with +them wherever they go; or, however, the ministers of it will follow +closely at their heels, way being made by the former for them; whose +ministry will meet with great success every where, and those that escape +the judgments of God in these nations, will not only be affrighted at +them, but will be truly converted by the gospel and give glory to the God +of heaven. In the Mahometan nations, the Turkish woe being past and that +empire being destroyed and way made for the gospel to be carried into the +eastern kingdoms, great and large conversions will be made by it; there +is a most glaring prophecy of this in Isa. lx. 7., which whole chapter +concerns the spiritual and personal reign of Christ; all the flocks of +Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall +minister unto thee; they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar and +I will glorify the house of my glory. Now Kedar and Nebaioth were the +sons of Ishmael, Gen. xxv. 13., who settled in Arabia, the country now +possessed by the Turks; so that this is a prophecy of the conversion of +multitudes in those parts, whereby the interest of Christ will be +increased and his church glorified. Moreover, in all Pagan countries the +gospel will make its way, and be successful; the covering and veil of +blindness and ignorance, cast and spread over all people and nations, +will be removed by it; not only the darkness of popery and Mahometanism, +but the gross darkness of paganism shall flee away at the light and +brightness of Zion’s rising; the Gentiles shall come to it; the fulness +and forces of them shall be brought into the church, being converted by +the word: and not only vast multitudes of the common people but great +personages also; kings shall be enlightened by it; these shall come to +Christ, fall down before him and worship him; these shall come into his +church and become members of it; kings shall be nursing fathers and +queens nursing mothers to his people; they shall bring their riches, +honour, and glory into his house; and his saints shall suck the breasts +of kings, be enriched, honoured and protected by them. This will be the +time when the kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under +the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most +High; not that there will be any change or alteration in the form and +order of civil government, which will be the same as now; there will be +kings and queens then, as at this time, as these prophecies show, it will +not be until the personal reign of Christ takes place, that all rule, +authority and power, will be put down: civil magistracy in the spiritual +reign will continue as it is; only it will change hands, it will be +entirely in the hands of christian kings and princes all the world over; +and no doubt but it will be better exercised, be more orderly and +regular; and that truth and righteousness will prevail every where. But +I must not forget the conversion of that considerable body of people the +Jews, who have been preserved a distinct people for several hundreds of +years for this purpose; the conversion of these people will be sudden and +of them altogether a nation shall be born at once. It looks as if their +conversion would be like that of the apostle Paul, and he seems to hint +that it will, when he says, that he, in obtaining mercy, was a pattern to +them which should hereafter believe; meaning, perhaps, his own countrymen +that should believe in Christ in the latter day, whose conversion would +be similar to his; that as his conversion was sudden, in the midst of all +his ignorance, unbelief, and rebellion, and without the word, by the +immediate power and grace of God, so will theirs be in like manner: nor +is it likely that their conversion should be by means of the word, since +there is such an aversion in that people to the hearing of it; and a rare +thing it is to see a Jew in a Christian assembly. But, however, all +Israel shall be called, converted, and saved; there is a famous prophecy +of this in Hos. iii. 4, 5., in the first of these verses it is said, the +children of Israel shall abide many days without a king and without a +prince; without any civil government of their own, the sceptre having +departed from them many hundred years ago; and without sacrifice; daily +or yearly, or on any occasion: they believing it to be unlawful to +sacrifice any where but in their own land, and at Jerusalem, and on the +altar of God there; and without an image, and without an ephod, and +without seraphim; without any manner of idols, or idol-worship; they +being not addicted to idolatry, since their return from the Babylonish +captivity: and now as all these things are exactly fulfilled in them, so +will in like manner that which follows: afterwards shall the children of +Israel return: by faith and repentance, from their evil way, from their +impenitence and unbelief, and rejection of the Messiah, and seek the Lord +their God, and David their king; the Messiah, the son of David, their +king, as their own _Targum_ paraphrases it; and shall fear the Lord and +his goodness in the latter days; in the spiritual reign of Christ; and it +is hinted as in the Philadelphian state, Rev. iii. 9, then will the +children of Israel appoint themselves one head, which is Christ, whom +they will own and acknowledge to be their head, lord, and king; and they +shall come out of the land, or countries where they are, to their own +land, and great shall be the day of Jezreel: and this will make a +considerable part of the glory of Christ’s spiritual kingdom. + +The light of the gospel, both in the preachers and professors of it, will +be very great, clear, and distinct; the light of the moon, as in the +present dispensation to which it may be compared, shall be as the light +of the sun, to which that dispensation shall be like; and the light of +the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days: as if the light +of seven days were collected together, and shone out at once; +hyperbolical expressions, setting forth the exceeding greatness of gospel +light in those times: not only the watchmen, ministers of the word, shall +see eye to eye, all truths clearly and distinctly, but their ideas and +sentiments shall be regular and uniform; there will be an entire harmony +and agreement between them; and even private Christians, common members, +shall all know the Lord, and the things of the gospel, in a very clear +and comfortable manner, even from the least of them unto the greatest of +them; when God shall lay Zion’s stones with fair colours, and her +foundation with sapphires, make her windows of agates, and her gates of +carbuncles, and all her borders of pleasant stones; then all her children +shall be taught of God, to such a degree as they never were before, so +clearly, fully and universally. + +Brotherly love, which is now waxed cold, will be in its height and glory, +agreeable to the name of this state, Philadelphia, which signifies +brotherly love: there will be no more contentions, animosities, and +quarrels: Ephraim shall not envy Judah on account of pre-eminence of +office, gifts and grace; and Judah shall not envy Ephraim, by any haughty +or overbearing carriage, or with wrangling debates and opprobrious +language: the two sticks of Ephraim and Judah shall be one in the hand of +the Lord; there will be perfect harmony and love, nothing to disturb, +distress, and make uneasy, or tend to alienate the affections of one from +another; there will be no pricking briars nor grieving thorns among them; +they will be like the first Christians, of one heart and of one mind, and +of one judgment, all studying to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond +of peace. + +Holiness, which becomes the house of God for ever, will now adorn every +member in it; nor will there be such immorality in the world as at this +present time: holiness will be as common as profaneness is now; in that +day there shall be upon the bells of the horses holiness to the Lord—yea, +every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah, shall be holiness unto the Lord of +hosts: Christ therefore takes his titles in writing to the church at +Philadelphia, the emblem of the spiritual reign, suitable to its state; +as truth and holiness shall then prevail, he addresses it thus, these +things saith he that is holy, he that is true; truth and holiness go +together; truth influences the heart, and that the life and conversation. + +There will be great peace and prosperity of all kinds, inward and +outward, spiritual and temporal; in these days of the Messiah’s spiritual +reign, shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as +the moon endureth: as the saints will enjoy great peace of conscience and +tranquillity of mind so they will have nothing to disturb them without; +there will be no more persecution; there will be none to hurt or destroy +in all the Lord’s holy mountain, as there will be no discord among +themselves, so no distress from any enemies, violence shall no more be +heard in their land, nor wasting and destruction within their border. O +happy, halcyon days! I go on to observe, + +There will be a personal appearance of the Son of God, and a glorious one +it will be: he will personally appear; the Lord himself shall descend, +not by his spirit, or by the communication of his grace, or by his +gracious presence, as before; but in person he will descend from the +third heaven, where he is, in our nature, into the air, where he will be +visible; every eye shall see him, when he cometh with clouds, or in the +clouds of heaven, which will be his chariot; he will descend on earth et +the proper time; and his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives; on that +spot of ground from whence he ascended to heaven. Job seems to have this +descent of his in view when he says, he shall stand at the latter day +upon the earth; which seems to respect not so much his first coming as +his second; since it is connected with the resurrection of the dead. + +This appearance of Christ will be a very glorious one: it is called the +glorious appearing of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ. + +Happy are those that belong to this city, who are fellow-citizens with +the saints, and of the household of God; whose citizenship is in heaven, +and they have a right to enter in through the gates into the holy city, +the new Jerusalem; but miserable will these be that will be without, for +without are dogs: and then he that is unjust, will be unjust still; and +he that is filthy, will be filthy still; and he that is righteous, will +be righteous still; and he that is holy, will be holy still. + +_Sermon from Psalm_ lxxxvii. 3, _preached Dec._ 27, 1752. + + * * * * * + +_An Extraordinary Prediction relating to the Downfall of the House of +Bourbon and the House of Austria_. + + + + +RELATED BY MR. JOHN WESLEY. + + +A LITTLE before the conclusion of the late war in Flanders, one who came +from thence gave us a very strange relation; I knew not what judgment to +form of this, but waited till John Haim should come over, of whose +veracity I could no more doubt than of his understanding. The account he +gave was this; Jonathan Pyrah was a member of our society in Flanders, I +knew him some years, and knew him to be a man of an unblameable +character. One day he was summoned to appear before the Board of General +Officers; one of them said, What is this we hear of you? we hear you have +turned Prophet, and that you foretell the downfall of the bloody house of +Bourbon, and the haughty house of Austria; we should be glad if you were +a real Prophet, and if your prophecies came true; but what sign do you +give to convince us you are so, and that your predictions will come to +pass? He readily answered, Gentlemen, I give you a sign: to-morrow, at +twelve o’clock, you shall have such a storm of thunder and lightning as +you never had before since you came into Flanders. I give you a second +sign: as little as any of you except any such thing, as little appearance +of it as there is now, you shall have a general engagement with the +French within three days. I give you a third sign: I shall be ordered to +advance in the first line; if I am a false Prophet I shall be shot dead +at the first discharge, but if I am a true Prophet I shall only receive a +musket-ball in the calf of my left leg. At twelve the next day there was +such thunder and lightning as they never had in Flanders; on the third +day, contrary to all expectation, was the general battle of Fontenoy; he +was ordered to advance in the first line, and at the very first discharge +he did receive a musket-ball in the calf of his left leg. + +When the war was over he returned to England, but the story was got here +before him, in consequence of which he was sent for by the countess of +Stair, and several other persons of quality, who were desirous of hearing +so surprising an account from his own mouth. He could not bear so much +honour; it quite turned his brain. In a little time he went stark mad, +and so he continues to this day, living still, as I apprehend, on Wibsey +Moor Side, within a few miles of Bradford. + +So much for this military Prophet. Mr. Wesley remarks in a note that he +is since dead; but we are not able to ascertain whether there be any +account of him and his predictions in the papers or other periodical +publications of that time. If any gentleman is in possession of +information on this subject, the intelligence is worth communicating to +the public. + +Part of this prophecy being fulfilled, the objects in view to be obtained +by a publication are, what was the exact prophecy? whether the several +circumstances mentioned did take place. + + + + +PROPHECIES +OF +MOTHER SHIPTON, +AND +MARTHA, +THE GIPSY. + + + * * * * * + + LONDON: + _PUBLISHED FOR THE BOOKSELLERS_. + + + + +THE +LIFE AND PROPHECIES +OF +MOTHER SHIPTON. + + +IN the second year of the reign of Henry VII., which was the year 1486, +there lived a woman called Agatha Shipton, at a place called +Knaresborough, in Yorkshire. She came of poor parentage, who died and +left her, at the age of fifteen, destitute. After their decease, she +still lived in the old house; but being now deprived of those helps she +formerly enjoyed, she was obliged to seek relief from the parish; which +she did, but with so much regret and grief, that she seemed in her +begging rather to command alms, than in a humble manner to desire it. + +Satan looked on her poverty to be great, and knowing her evil inclination +(for you must understand that Satan is a good scholar), and perceiving +that she was willing to accept of any proposition to change her +condition, he, one time, as she was sitting melancholy under a tree by a +river side, accosted her in the form of a very handsome young man. +“Pretty maid,” said he, “why so sad? thy age is too tender for thy head +to be troubled with the cares of the world; come, tell me what is the +matter, and if it lie within my power to assist thee, as I am sure it +doth, thou shalt not want a friend of me.” + +Agatha cast up her eyes, and seeing a face so lovely, could not suspect +Satan hid in that comely shape, whereupon, in a lamentable tone, she +expressed all that troubled her, informing him of her great wants, and +that, not knowing how to work, she could not provide what her necessities +required. “Pish,” said Satan “this is nothing; be ruled by me, and all +shall be well.” She told him she would. Hereupon, he ordered her to +meet him at the same place the next day, and he would bring some friends +along with him; for he told her he resolved to marry her. She promised +him she would; and accordingly they met. He came riding upon a stately +horse, with a pillion behind him for his spouse, attended by a great many +gallants (as they appeared), well mounted, and in a noble equipage. + +Satan’s attendants soon conveyed his mistress behind him; she not in the +least doubting the reality of all she saw. + +They needed neither switch nor spur to hasten them forward, the horses +were fiery enough of themselves, and ran with that swiftness, that the +wind could not overtake them in their full speed: soon they arrived at +their journey’s end, where seemed to be a very stately house, with a pair +of great gates, which, at their approach, was opened by a porter in his +livery gown. Alighting, she went in, where she saw a great many +servants, who seemed, at the sight of her and their master, to show much +respect and obeisance. + +Now did Satan command rich garments to be brought, which she was +immediately clothed with; and being thus richly attired, she was ushered +into a great hall, where was a long table, furnished with all the +varieties the whole world could afford; at the upper end of which table +she was placed, next to her intended husband: all the rest of the guests +placed themselves as they thought fit. As they had the choicest cheer, +so they had the best of wines, and sweetest music. + +Dinner being ended, they fell to dancing; and now Satan told her he was +no mortal, but spirit, immaterial, and not burdened by a body, nor +hindered by any material thing; “So that I can, when I please, pierce +through the earth, and ransack its treasures, and bring what precious +thing I please from thence to bestow on those that serve me. I know all +rare arts and sciences, and can teach them to whom I please. I can +disturb the elements, stir up thunders and lightnings, destroy the best +of things which were created for the use of man, and can appear in what +shape or form I please. It will take too long to describe my power, or +tell you what I can do; but I will only tell thee what thou shalt do. +That being done, I will give thee power to raise hail, tempests, with +lightning and thunder; the winds shall be at thy command, and shall bear +thee whither thou art willing to go, though ever so far off, and shall +bring thee back again when thou hast a mind to return. The hidden +treasures of the earth shall be at thy disposal and pleasure, and nothing +shall be wanting to complete thy happiness here. Thou shalt, moreover, +heal or kill whom thou pleaseth; destroy or preserve either man or beast; +know what is passed, and assuredly tell what is to come.” Here note, by +the way, Satan is a liar from the beginning, and will promise more by ten +millions than he knows he is capable of performing, to the intent that he +may ensnare a soul. + +This poor ignorant wretch easily believed what this grand deceiver of +mankind told her, and being ravished with the thoughts of being so highly +preferred, she condescended to all Satan would have her do, whereupon he +bid her say after him in this manner: _Raziel ellimiham mir amwish +ziragia Psonthonphanchia Raphaelel have run a tapinot am becaz mitzphecat +jarid cuman hapheah Gabriel Heydon turris dungeonis philonomostarkes +sophecord hankim_. After she had repeated these words after him, he bid +her say after him again: _Kametzeatuph Odel Pheraz Tumbag in Gall +Flemmugen Victow Denmarkeonto_. Having finished his last wicked speech, +which even the chief of his minions understood not, and of which none but +Satan himself can pick out the meaning, it thundered so horridly that +every clap seemed as if the vaulted roof of heaven had cracked, and was +tumbling down on her head; and withal, that stately palace, which she +thought she was then in, vanished in a thrice; so did her sumptuous +apparel: and now her eyes being opened, she found herself in a dark +dolesome wood, a place, which, from the creation, had scarce ever enjoyed +the benefit of one single sun-beam. Whilst she was thinking in what +course to steer, in order to return, two flaming fiery dragons appeared +before her, tied to a chariot, and as she was consulting with herself +what was best to be done, she was insensibly hoisted into it, and with +speed unimaginable, conveyed through the air to her own poor cottage. + +Being come home, the neighbours flocked around her, having missed her for +two or three days, shrewdly suspecting some mischief had befallen her; +but when they beheld her face, they were all amazed to see such a strange +alteration in her countenance in so short a time! Before she met Satan +she looked healthy, but now that red plumpness had vanished, there was +nothing to be seen but a pale shrivelled skin on her cheek, which, for +want of flesh seemed to fall into her mouth, to be devoured by her +hunger-starved jaws. Those about her, who were charitable-minded, pitied +her, comforted, and gave her money, which, with a great deal of disdain +and scorn, she threw at them, saying, she wanted not, nor stood in need +of their alms, “for here,” said she, “is money enough,” plucking her hand +out of her pocket; the people near her discovered that what was in her +hands was nothing else but some aspen-leaves, and notwithstanding they +endeavoured to persuade her that she was mistaken in supposing that to be +money, yet she would not believe them, so strong a power had Satan gotten +over her already. + +In fine, she bid them all begone, for now she began to take little +delight in human society; it was not long that they had left her, before +Satan came in to see her, in the same handsome young form as he first +appeared unto her, telling her that he came to supply the company of +those she had wisely dismissed; that she needed not the society of any +human creature, for he would not fail to be constantly with her: always +bringing with him what should not only serve for a bare livelihood, but +be her delight, pleasure, and satisfaction: hereupon, by Satan’s command, +there instantly seemingly appeared a complete noise of music, with a +great variety of dishes of meat of the choicest and most pleasing sort, +which so ravished Agatha that she fell to the ground in a profound and +deep trance. One of the neighbours coming in at this time, wondered to +see Agatha lying on the floor motionless; however, out of pity, she +endeavoured to awaken Agatha; but using what means she could, it all +signified nothing; she shook and pinched her, yet still she lay +insensible. This woman being strangely amazed, ran out among the rest of +the neighbours, crying out poor Agatha Shipton was suddenly struck dead, +and desired them to go into the house with her, and be eye-witnesses of +the truth; whereupon several went, and found what this woman said to be +seemingly true; but one wiser than the rest, stooped down, and perceiving +that she breathed, said, “Friends, ye are all mistaken; Agatha is not +dead, but in a trance, or else she is bewitched.” She had scarcely +uttered these words before Agatha began to stir, and soon after, raising +herself on her legs, cried out in a very distracted tone, “What do you +here, vile wretches! Cannot I enjoy my pleasures, but ye must be +eaves-dropping? Get ye gone, ye have nothing to do here;” and hereupon +she fell a dancing; which they wondered at because they could hear no +music. At length, Agatha turned about, and seeing they were not gone, +said, “If you are resolved thus to disturb me, and will not go, I will +make ye.” This somewhat affrighted them, for they now verily believed +she was a witch, and as they were hastening away, with all imaginable +speed, a sudden strong wind hoisted them to a great height into the air, +falling all to the ground again without the least harm, the men were like +overgrown goats, with large horns on their heads, and the women riding on +their backs, which sight, as they produced inexpressible wonder, so +amidst their amazement they could not but burst out into excessive +laughter. + +This wonderful and unexpected exploit was instantly noised all about the +country, and occasioned a great resort of people to the place where +Agatha lived; which so perplexed her by their undesired visits, that she +resolved within herself to be revenged on some of them; which by Satan’s +help she effected: one had a horse that died suddenly, and being opened, +there was found in his stomach fish-hooks and hair, instead of hay and +oats; another going to sit down at table with persons of good quality, at +dinner-time, and thinking himself very spruce and fine, had in an instant +his ruff pulled off his neck, and the seat of a house of office clapped +on in its place: he that sat next to him breaking out in a great laughter +at the sight thereof, was served a little better, for his hat was +invisibly conveyed away, and the kitchen pan put on instead thereof; a +modest young gentlewoman, who did sit at the table at that time, and was +come on no other errand but to see this young witch, which was so much +talked of, looking on these two worthy spectacles of laughter, +endeavouring all she could to refrain from laughing, but could not for +above a quarter of an hour: this made them all laugh so extremely, that +the master of the house was alarmed, and being desirous to share with his +guests in their mirth, came running upstairs as fast as his legs could +carry him; when about to enter the door, he could not, and no wonder, +since the oldest man living never saw a larger pair of horns than he had +on his head. + +Whilst they were gazing one on another, more than half distracted, they +were reduced to the same condition they were in before; after which there +followed a noise, as if a hundred persons were laughing together, but +nothing at all was seen. + +These persons fearing something worse might befall them if they stayed +any longer, made all the haste they could to be gone. Agatha knowing +their intent, resolved to take her farewell of them by serving them one +trick more, which was this: As they were about to mount on horseback, +they were pelted with rotten apples and filth. As they rode through the +town, such as thought they rode singly, were all observed to have behind +them, each man, a deformed old woman; and as their faces differed all one +from another, so did their habits, which were all tattered and ragged, +and patched with a hundred colours. Fear, shame, and the hooting of the +people, made them put spurs to their horses, neither did they forbear the +whip, nor anything that might add speed to their horses’ heels, so that +it may be said, they rather flew than rode. + +Coming home, they declared what wonderful things they had seen performed, +though by a young one, yet as they believed, the greatest witch in the +world. This news being so generally spread, came at length to the ears +of the justices, who now thought it high time to question and bring to +examination a person that was so much talked of, and might, if let alone, +do a great deal of mischief. Accordingly two stout fellows were +despatched for her; they soon found her, and nothing daunted by her +witcheries, they resolutely carried her before the justice, where being +brought, she, not a jot daunted, told him that she had more authority +than he, and that notwithstanding his power, she could command one that +could overrule him; that she was a princess, and could have at her back a +thousand spirits of the air, and as many of the earth and water; that she +could raise a tempest presently that should overturn his house about his +ears, “and that you may know it lies not in your power to detain me, +three words will procure my liberty.” Hereupon, she said, “Updraxi, call +Stygician Helluox!” She had scarce uttered the last word, before there +came in a horrid winged dragon, which immediately took her up, and +carried her away from the amazed justice and the attendants about him, +half dead with fear. + +This so affrighted all that heard of it, that none would undertake to +meddle with her more, so that she had a considerable time of respite. +But she now began to be more admired than before, being discovered to be +enceinte. The people could not tell what to think, or who could be the +father. While people were generally passing their verdict on Agatha, she +was once taken and brought before a justice, and amongst other questions, +was asked, whether she was enceinte? She acknowledged it; nay, further, +that the father was no mortal wight. The justice gave no credit to what +she said, as looking on her as an ignorant seduced woman; and so asked +her what bail she could produce, intending to defer the business until +she was delivered. In this very nick of time, two gentlemen, as they +appeared by their habits, voluntarily proffered themselves, but as soon +as accepted for bail, vanished; however, Agatha had permission to go +home. + +In course of time was born, Mother Shipton, which proved the conclusion +of her miserable life. But her entry into the world was such a terror to +all that beheld her, that several credible person then presented, have +several times confessed that they have never beheld the like: such +strange and horrible noises, that the persons about her could scarcely +find so much courage in themselves as to continue in the place where she +was; much less when they beheld the strange and unparalleled physiognomy +of the child, which was so misshapen, that it is altogether impossible to +express it fully in words, or the most ingenious to describe her in +colours, though many persons of eminent qualifications in that art have +often attempted it, but without success; therefore, according to the best +observations of her, take this true, though not full, account of her +features and body. She was of an indifferent height, but very morose and +big-boned; her head very long, with very great goggling, but sharp and +fiery eyes; her nose of an incredible and unproportionable length, having +in it many crooks and turnings, adorned with many strange pimples of +divers colours, as red and blue mixed, which, like vapours of brimstone, +gave such a lustre to the affrighted spectators in the dead time of the +night, that one of them confessed several times, that her nurse needed no +other light to assist her in the performance of her duty: her cheeks were +of a black swarthy complexion, much like a mixture of the black yellow +jaundice, wrinkled, shrivelled and very hollow; insomuch that as the ribs +of her body, so the impression of her teeth was easily to be discerned +though both sides of her face, answering one side to the other, like the +notches in a valley, excepting only two of them, which stood quite out of +her mouth, in imitation of the tusks of a wild boar, or tooth of an +elephant, a thing so strange in an infant, that no age can parallel: her +chin was of the same complexion as her face, turning up her mouth; and +shrieks being heard from an unknown cause, as if there had been more than +an ordinary correspondence between her teeth and it. Her neck was so +strangely distorted, that her right shoulder was forced to be a supporter +to her hood, it being propped up by her chin, so that the right side of +her body stood lower than her left, like the reeling of a ship that sails +with a side wind; again, her left side was quite turned the contrary way, +as if her body had been screwed together piece after piece, and not +rightly placed; her left shoulder hanging just perpendicular to the +bottom of the back. Her legs were very crooked and misshapen; the toes +of her feet looking towards her left side, so that it was very hard for +any person (could she have stood up) to guess which road she intended to +steer her course, because she never could look that way she resolved to +go. + +After she had remained under the care of the nurse for a space of a month +or thereabouts, she was put out to nurse at the charge of the parish to a +poor woman hard by in the town, where she continued for the space of half +a year or thereabouts, the house not being in any way disturbed at all, +till at last her nurse having been abroad with the chief of the +parishioners, either to procure something of their charity for her +subsistence and the maintenance of her family, or else to fetch her money +from the overseers of the poor for nursing the child; and returning home +to her house she found her door wide open, at which she, much amazed and +affrighted, ran to her next neighbour and acquainted her she was quite +undone, for her house was broken open and robbed. The man immediately +rose from his dinner, accompanied by his wife and also a labouring man. +Approaching the door, they endeavoured to enter, but before they could +all get in a very strange noise was heard in the next room to them, as if +it had been a concert of cats, which so affrighted them that they all ran +towards the door, endeavouring to get out again, but in vain; for at +their approach there were great long yokes put about their necks, in the +form of a cross or turnstile, so that they could not possibly return; and +while they were thus striving and crying out for help, their yokes at +last fell off, and a staff was laid upon the men’s shoulders, upon which +an old woman presented herself, sometimes hanging by the heels and +sometimes by the toes. These sports continued for the space of half an +hour, so that the poor men were never more tired nor less pleased at +anything than in being constrained to humour this piece of activity. + +After they had got a discharge from this their new employment, the house +being now quiet, and they had a little recovered their senses, missing +the woman they ran further into the house, where they found them in a +room in which stood a pair of yarwingles made in the form of a cross. +The two women were forced to take the four ends thereof in their hands, +and so danced round about one after the other until they were almost +tired to death, carrying upon their shoulders an imp in the likeness of a +monkey or ape, which hung close upon them; and whenever they slacked +their pace, these spirits pricked them forward, continuing this for a +considerable time, till at length they vanished quite out of sight, +leaving these poor wretches no less weary than astonished, and who, +perceiving themselves at liberty, ran to several of the neighbours, +acquainting them with what had happened, and causing great amazement +amongst them; and immediately the whole town was in an uproar. The +minister and several of the most eminent of the inhabitants consulted +together upon the occasion what to do in the business; some of them +threatening the informers, others thinking they were distracted, but at +last they resolved to go to the house; yet when they came near there +arose a dispute who should first enter, which at last was agreed upon; +and the parson, with his congregation attending him in the rear, entered +the door quivering and shaking, whereupon there was suddenly a noise like +the treading of people on stones, though the house had no other but an +earthen floor; and very sweet musical harmony of several notes was heard, +and all presently vanished again. The minister and inhabitants entered, +and searching the house, missed the child; one of them looking up the +chimney, saw the cradle wonderfully hanging up, three yards high, without +any support; this was as strangely conveyed down again. They encouraged +the nurse, left her in the house (though affrighted), and departed. + +Mother Shipton’s nurse was, after this, sometimes in great perplexity, +not knowing what was become of her for days together; but when she was in +her greatest scare after her, she saw her oftentimes drop suddenly +through the roof of the house. Going out, upon her return she many times +found her child stretched out to a prodigious length, taller than the +tallest living, and at other times as much shortened. The poor woman’s +work for the major part, was only to rectify what these spirits +disordered about her house. The chairs and stools would frequently march +up stairs and down, and they usually played at bowls with the trenches +and dishes: sometimes at dinner the meat would be removed before she +could touch a bit; which things, as they much troubled the nurse, so they +gave great satisfaction to Mother Shipton, as it appeared by her +monstrous smiles. Now and then, to pacify her nurse, when she saw her +much vexed, she would say, “Be contented; there is nothing here that will +harm you.” + +To be short, the nurse was so continually terrified by these apparitions, +that she resolved to complain to the parish; and, having made known the +truth of what had passed, in commiseration to the almost distracted +woman, they removed Mother Shipton to another place, where she was put to +school, being of an age fit for it. + +By this time Mother Shipton was grown a lusty girl, and as she was left +to the care of the parish, so the parish took care that she should have +the common sort of learning, that is to say, reading and writing, +bestowed upon her. Coming to school her mistress began to instruct her +as other children, beginning with three or four letters at first; but to +the amazement and astonishment of her mistress, she exactly pronounced +every letter in the alphabet without teaching; her mistress then showed +her a primer, which she read at first sight as well as any in the school, +and so on with every book that was shown her. + +As this produced wonder in her schoolmistress, so it caused hatred and +envy in her comrades; some flouted her for her monstrous long nose, +others endeavoured to beat her, and all strove to harm her; but she +valued them not, revenging herself on every one of them that intended her +harm. Some were pinched, and yet no hand seen that did it; others struck +speechless when they were about to say their lessons, not being able to +utter a word; none escaped from being served one scurvy trick or other. +This so enraged the parents of these children, looking on Mother Shipton +as the sole cause thereof, that she was discharged from the school, and +so left to the wide world. The singularities of Mother Shipton now began +to be talked of everywhere; she was often seen, when alone, to laugh +heartily; at other times to talk to herself; uttering very strange +riddles, which occasioned some of the more sober sort to converse with +her, receiving such strange things from her, as required a long study to +find out the meaning. + +Never a day passed, wherein she related not something very remarkable, +and that required the most serious consideration. And now it was that +people flocked far and near (her fame was so great), to be resolved of +their doubts, all returning wonderfully satisfied in the explanations she +gave to their questions. + +And now Mother Shipton, beginning to grow famous in the world for her +notable judgment in things to come, there resorted to her house a number +of people of all sorts, both old and young, rich and poor, especially +young maidens, who have always a great desire to know when they shall be +married, as also, what manner of husbands they shall have, to which she +gave such satisfactory answers, both for the person and time, that no +sooner could a young maid get into her teens, but she would presently +trot to Mother Shipton’s, to be resolved of her doubt. Now though she +was not mercenary herself, but refused great gifts when proffered unto +her; yet did she keep a young wench, who, rather than fail, if they +forgot to open their purse to her, would remember to open her mouth to +them, and tell them, that neither Dame Shipton nor she could be +maintained with thanks, but that the belly required meat to feed it; and +that it was money that made the mare to go. One day, there came a +certain young heir thither, whose father was sick, to be resolved by her +whether he should live or die; but Mother Shipton could by no means be +wrought upon to tell him anything; whereupon he proffered the maid great +store of money, if she could by any means persuade the dame to fulfil his +request; the wench, greedy of money, promised him fair; that if he would +come the next morning, he would be certain to be resolved; in the +meantime, she importuned her dame with the most cunning rhetoric that she +could invent; but she was deaf to all entreaties, and would by no means +be induced thereto, whereupon the wench resolved with herself, rather +than lose the money, to give him an answer of her own invention; when the +next morning came she performed her part in these words:— + + “The grave provided hath a room: + Prepare for death, thy hour is come.” + +The young gentleman having received this answer, went away very joyful, +hoping presently to reap the golden crop which his father had sown, and +to be in an instant possessor of all his vast estate; but the sequel +proved quite contrary; for by the time he came home, great hopes of +amendment appeared in his father, who each day grew better and better, so +that in a short time he became perfectly well. This unexpected recovery +of the old man struck such a damp into the young heir, that he presently +took to his bed, fell extremely ill, and in a short time grew so much +worse that all the symptoms of a dying man appeared in him; the old man +having no more children, was very desirous of his life; and to know +whether he should recover, he sent to Mother Shipton, who, knowing by her +art what her maid had done, severely chid her for the same, threatening +to turn her out of her service. In the meantime the messenger was come +to her house, who having delivered his errand returned back with this +answer:— + + “For other’s death who do gape out, + Their own, unlook’d for, comes about.” + +The old man having received this answer, was much troubled, thinking his +own death predicted thereby, not imagining what his son had done: but he +was soon quieted of that suspicion, for within two days the young man +died; when a servant (who knew the circumstance) informed him of the +truth of the whole matter. + +At divers other times, when persons of quality came to visit her, she +delivered the following prophecies: + +“Before the Ouse Bridge and Trinity Church meets, they shall build it in +the day and it shall fall in the night, until they get the highest stone +of Trinity Church the lowest stone of Ouse Bridge.” + +This came to pass; for Trinity steeple in York was blown down with a +tempest, and Ouse Bridge broken down with a flood, and what they did in +the day time in repairing the bridge fell down in the night, till at last +they laid the highest stone of the steeple for the foundation of the +Bridge. + +“A time shall happen when a ship shall come sailing up the Thames, till +it comes against London, and the master of the ship will ask the captain +why he weeps, since he has made so good a voyage. And he will say, and +what a good city this was, none in the world comparable to it, and now +there’s scarce a house left, that can let us drink for our money.” + +These last words were sadly verified after the dreadful fire of London in +1666, when there was not a house left along the Thames side from the +Tower to the Temple. + +About this time, some differences arising betwixt King Henry VIII. and +the French king, great preparations for war were made in England, the +drums beating in every county to summon voluntary valour to express +itself in defence of their king and country. Many heroic spirits who +made honour their aim, not dreading dangers, now came forward, and +indeed, so many appeared under Mars’ banner, that he who was furnished +with limbs and an estate, and declined the service, was called a coward. +There was then living in the North a young heir, who was newly come to +his estate; one whose tongue was all fire, and his heart all ice; who +would kill thousands by his words, but durst not venture to do anything +in deeds; this gallant being by some of his equals pricked on to make his +appearance in the field of Mars, and not to lie sleeping at home, when +fame summoned him forth to action, knew not what to do in this case; +loath was he to lose his loved life; and yet the aspersion of a coward, +even to a coward himself, is of all things most odious; he therefore +promised that none should be more willing than he to spend his blood in +the quarrel of that country from whence he received his dear life; but +yet he resolved within himself not to set one step forward in that path +of danger till he had first consulted with Mother Shipton, concerning +what success he should have in his journey; if it was bad, he resolved by +a feigned sickness to evade it; thinking it no good policy for a man to +part with that life in an instant, which with great cost and care had +been many years in bringing up. + +Hereupon he hastened to our Northern Prophetess, acquainted her with his +condition, and very earnestly desired of her (as she to whom nothing was +hid) that she would unfold to him whether good or bad fortune should be +his attendant in this his expedition. Mother Shipton, though she +perceived his sheepish courage to be very unanswerable to that of a +soldier, yet foreknowing what would come to pass, returned him the +following answer: which without more ado, fully satisfied him to proceed, +and performed what he had promised. + +“When the English Lion shall set his paw on the Gallic shore, then shall +the Lilies begin to drop for fear. There shall be much weeping and +wailing amongst the ladies of that country: because the princely Eagle +shall join with the Lion, to tread down all that shall oppose them; and +though many sagittaries shall appear in defence of the Lilies, yet shall +they not prevail; because the dull animal of the North shall be put to +confusion; and though it be his will, yet shall cause great shame unto +them. Now shall the mitred Peacock first begin to plume, whose train +shall make a great show in the world for a time, but shall afterwards +vanish away, and his honour come to nothing; which shall take its end at +Kingston.” + + + +Explanation. + + +By the “English Lion” was meant the King of England; and by setting his +“paw on the Gallic shore,” the landing of his army in France; by the +“Lily beginning to drop for fear,” was signified the great trouble and +perplexity of the French, the Lilies being the arms of France; the +“weeping and wailing amongst the ladies of that country,” denotes the +miseries and destruction incident to war; by the “princely Eagle joining +with the Lion, and treading down all that shall oppose them,” is meant +the German Emperor (whose arms were the Eagle) who joined in amity with +King Henry, and served him in his wars; by the “sagittaries that appeared +in defence of the Lilies,” were meant the French cavalry, the chief +strength of France, consisting of horsemen, who appeared like +sagittaries, that is to say, half men and half horses; and whereas it was +said, “yet they should not prevail,” it fell out so accordingly; for +notwithstanding all the opposition of the French armies, King Henry +proceeded on vigorously, conquering and taking several towns of +importance. But to come to that which most nearly concerns the matter, +viz., the success of our young heir in his expedition, which was hinted +forth unto him in these words: “Because the dull animal of the North +shall put them to confusion, and though it be against his will, yet shall +cause great shame unto them;” by the dull animal of the North was meant +this fresh-water soldier, who, according to the Prophecy, put the +Frenchmen to confusion and great shame; for passing the seas with King +Henry, being mounted on a stately horse, as both armies confronted each +other, he being at the head of the battle, just before the charge, +somebody striking his horse, he carried him upon the enemy with such +violence, as put their front in some disorder, which being perceived by +our men, they presently so seconded him that the French ran away, leaving +the English a glorious victory, purchased with little cost. + +By this means was Mother Shipton’s predictions fulfilled, to the disgrace +of the French, and great praise to the young gallant; for the rest of the +Prophecy the interpretation runs thus:— + +By the “mitred Peacock,” was intended Cardinal Wolsey, signified by that +bird, because of his great pride, who, being but a poor butcher’s son of +Ipswich, in Suffolk, grew to such a height, that he thought himself +superior to the chief nobles of the land, living in such splendour as not +to be paralleled; according to the new Prophecy, “whose train shall make +a great show in the world;” and whereas it is said, “the peacock should +then begin to plume,” so it was, that when King Henry had taken the city +of Tournay, in France, he made Wolsey bishop thereof, who soon after rose +to the highest degree of honour a subject could be capable of, which +afterwards (as the Prophecy says) “vanished away, and his great honour +came to nothing.” And lastly, whereas it said, he should “have his end +at Kingston.” The cardinal being told of this prophecy, would never pass +through the town of Kingston, though lying directly in the road from his +own house to the court; but afterwards being arrested for high treason, +by the Earl of Northumberland, and Sir Anthony Kingston, the Lieutenant +of the Tower, sent unto him, his very name (remembering the prophecy) +struck such a terror to his heart that he soon after expired. + +Mother Shipton had now got a name far and near for a cunning woman, or a +woman of foresight, that her words were counted oracles, nor was she +visited only by private persons, but advised with by people of the +greatest quality. Among which number at that time was Cardinal Wolsey; +when it was reported that he intended to live at York, she publicly said, +“He should never come thither,” which, coming to his ears, and being +offended, he caused three lords to go to her, who came disguised to +Dringhouses, near York, where leaving their men, they took a guide to +Mother Shipton’s, and knocking at the door, she called from within, “Come +in, Mr. Besley (the guide), and these noble lords with you,” which +surprised them, that she should know them; for when they came in she +called each of them by their names, and treated them with ale and cakes; +whereupon, said one of the lords, “If you knew our errand you would not +make so much of us; you said the cardinal should never see York.” “No,” +said she, “I said he might see York but never come at it.” “Well,” said +the lords, “when he does come thou shalt be burnt.” Then, taking off her +linen handkerchief from her head, she said, “If this burns,” and +immediately flung it into the fire, but it did not burn; and after it had +laid in the flames a quarter of an hour, she took it out again not so +much as singed. One of the lords then asked her what she thought of him. +“My lord, the time will come when your lordship will be as low as I am, +and that is low indeed,” which proved true, for shortly after he was +beheaded. + +Nor was her speech of the cardinal less verified; for coming to Cawood, +he went to the top of the tower and asked where York was, which being +shown him, he inquired how far it was thither. For, quoth he, “There was +a witch said I should never see York.” “Nay,” said one present, “your +eminence is misinformed; she said, you might see it, but never come at +it.” Then he vowed to burn her when he came there, which was but eight +miles distant; but, behold, he was immediately sent for back by the king, +and never returned. + +Mother Shipton’s prediction coming thus effectually to pass, spread her +fame far wider than it was; insomuch that many who before looked upon her +as a crack-brained woman, now began to admire her, and to esteem her +words as oracles. And as the nature of English people is rather to +desire to know what is to come, than to seek to rectify aught that is +done amiss, so the greatest part of her visitants came only to be +acquainted with what she knew would come to pass; of which number was the +Abbot of Beverley, who fearing the downfall of religious houses, and a +change of the religion then professed, putting on counterfeit clothes, +came to Mother Shipton’s, and knocking at the door, she being within, +called to him, and said: “Come in, Mr. Abbot, for you are not so much +disguised but the fox may be seen through the sheep’s skin. Come take a +stool and sit down, for you shall not go away unsatisfied of what you +desire,” and thereupon she began to utter forth her Prophecies in this +sort:— + + “When the cow doth wive the bull, + Then, oh! priest, beware thy skull! + And when the lower shrubs do fall, + The great trees quickly follow shall. + The mitred Peacock’s lofty pride + Shall to his master be a guide. + And one great court to pass shall bring + What was ne’er done by any king. + The poor shall grieve to see that day, + And who did feast, must fast and pray. + Fate so decreed their overthrow, + Riches brought pride, and pride brought woe.” + +These prophecies were thus explained: by the “Cow,” was made King Henry, +by reason of the Earldom of Richmond, which was his inheritance; and the +“Bull,” betokened Anne Boleyn, whom the king took to wife in the room of +Queen Catherine; her father gave the black bull’s head in his cognizance; +and when the king had married Queen Anne, then was fulfilled the second +line of the prophecy, viz., “Then, oh! priest, beware thy skull!” for +what a number of priests, religious and secular, lost their heads, for +offending against the laws, made to bring this matter to pass. + +Cardinal Wolsey (who was intended by the “mitred Peacock”), in the height +of his pride and vastness of his undertakings, intending to erect two +colleges, one at Ipswich, where he was born, the other at Oxford, where +he was bred; and finding himself unable to endow them at his own charge, +he obtained licence of Pope Clement VII. to suppress forty small +monasteries in England, and to lay their old lands to his new +foundations, which was done accordingly, and the poor people that lived +in them were turned out of doors. Many of the clergy were very much +against this action of Wolsey, especially John Fisher, Bishop of +Rochester, alleging for the same an apologue of Æsop, that “the iron head +of the axe craved a handle of the wood of oaks, only to cut off the +boughs of the trees: but when it was a complete axe it felled all the +wood;” applying it, that the suppressing of those smaller houses would +prove destructive to all the rest, which came to pass accordingly; for +King Henry, seeing the cardinal’s power to extend so far as to suppress +these lower shrubs, he thought his prerogative might stretch so far as to +fell down the great trees; and soon after dissolved the priory of Christ +Church, near Aldgate, in London (now known by the name of Duke’s Place), +the richest in lands and ornaments of the priories in London or +Middlesex; which was a forerunner of the dissolution of the rest; and +that not long after came to pass. + +By the “Great Court,” is meant the Parliament, the supremest court of +England; which, in the twenty-seventh year of King Henry’s reign, to +support the king’s states, and supply his wants, conferred on the crown +all religious houses which were not able clearly to expend above two +hundred pounds a year; the great ones not long after following the same +fortune of the smaller, which was not done (though attempted) by any king +before. + +By the dissolution of these houses, many thousands were driven to seek +their fortunes in the wide world, and became utterly exposed to want; +when monkish profession was without possession, many a young man proved +an old beggar, and many forced to fast for want of victuals, who formerly +had it provided for them to their hands. + +The great riches and pride of the monks and friars, was, no doubt, the +main cause of their overthrow; for whatsoever was the pretence, +questionless profit was the rope which pulled these religious houses +down. + +All those things coming to pass before the abbot died, caused him to have +a great esteem of Mother Shipton, and to value her prophecies more than +ordinary conjectures; though at first he could not tell what to make of +her ambiguous lines, which, like the oracles delivered at Delphos, rather +brought one into a labyrinth of confused conjectures than satisfied the +expectation, until by the clue of time, the riddles were manifest; and +that which at first seemed so hard, now appeared to the understanding as +easy; however, he at present kindly thanked Mother Shipton, and liberally +rewarded her maid, much admiring that she could be so clear-sighted as to +see through his counterfeit dress; resolving afterwards to be more +informed by her concerning future events, he at that time took his solemn +leave of her, and returned home. + +Not long had the abbot been at home, but his abbey was visited by some +instrument employed by the Lord Cromwell for that purpose. He who knew +what was intended by this compliment thought it not safe to strive +against the stream, and therefore quietly surrendered his monastery into +the king’s hands. And now perceiving Mother Shipton’s prophecies plainly +fulfilled in the downfall of those houses, which were judged to be +impregnable against all the assaults of malice and time, considering the +strange revolution of so short a space, he was very desirous to be more +fully informed of the future. In this resolution he repairs again to +Mother Shipton, whom he now accosts more familiarly than he did before, +making himself plainly known unto her; telling her that as what she had +formerly spoken he had found to be true in the event, so his judgment +persuaded him she was not ignorant of those things which were in the +future to ensue; and therefore desired she would not be nice in imparting +her foreknowledge to him; for which great favour, though it were more +than his deserts could command, yet should there never in him be wanting +a grateful tongue to acknowledge, and a grateful heart to be thankful +unto her, for so great a favour. + +“Mr. Abbot,” said she, “leave off complimenting, as it is more fit for +courtiers and lovers, and not agreeable to an old woman, who will neither +flatter nor be flattered by any; and for what you came about, I shall not +be squeamish to fulfil your request; let me therefore desire you to lend +me your attention;” and thereupon, after some short pause, she thus +began— + + “A prince that never shall be born, + Shall make the shaved heads forlorn, + Then shall commons rise in arms, + And woman’s malice cause much harms.” + +These lines being prophecies of the actions in King Edward’s reign, for +the reader’s benefit we will unfold the meaning of them by themselves, +that we may not too much burden his memory; but by variety add a pleasure +to the reading of them. + +By the “Prince that never shall be born,” is meant King Edward VI., of +whom all reports agree that he was not naturally delivered into the +world, but that his mother’s body was opened for his birth, that she died +of the operation the fourth day following: and by “shaved heads,” is +understood the monks, friars, etc., who are said to become “forlorn;” the +Reformation beginning with the commencement of King Edward’s reign. + +King Edward set out certain injunctions for the reformation of religion; +as the commissioners passed to divers places for the establishing of +them, much scorn was passed upon them, and the farther they went from +London, as the people were more uncivil, so did they the more rise into +insolence and contempt; for in Cornwall, the commons flocked together, +having killed one of the commissioners, and although justice was done +upon the offenders (the principal of them being executed in several +places), yet could not their boldness be beaten down by that severity, +but that the mischief spread farther. In Wiltshire and Somersetshire, +where the people, supposing that a Commonwealth could not stand without +commons, beat down enclosures, and laid parks and fields bare. The like +commotions followed in Suffolk, Hampshire, Kent, Gloucestershire, +Warwickshire, and Rutlandshire, but the greatest of all was in +Devonshire, and Norfolk. + + “A virtuous lady then shall die, + For being raised up too high; + Her death shall cause another’s joy, + Who shall the kingdom much annoy. + Mitres shall rise, mitres come down, + And streams of blood shall Smithfield drown. + England shall join in league with Spain, + Which some to hinder strive in vain, + The Lioness from life retires, + And pontifical priest expires.” + +The Lady Jane Gray, assuming the title of Queen upon her, for her offence +lost her head. This Lady Jane was a woman of most rare and incomparable +perfections; for besides her excellent beauty, she was the mirror of her +time for religion and education, in the knowledge of the liberal sciences +and skill in languages; and far exceeded all of her sex and years. + +The death of the Lady Jane was supposed to be a rejoicing to Queen Mary, +and who, by restoring Popery, and the persecutions that the professors of +the Gospel suffered in her time, is said to bring the kingdom to much +annoy. + +By the “Mitres,” are meant the bishops, who in the change of religion +found great change; very few keeping their seats wherein they had been +seated by King Edward VI. + +Great was the number of martyrs burned in Smithfield in this queen’s +reign, under the bloody hands of Bonner, Bishop of London, and Dr. Story, +Dean of St. Paul’s; the first persecuting by wholesale, the second by +retail; the names of all those who in this place thus testified their +faith by the loss of their lives, would be too long here to recite; the +chief of them were Mr. John Rogers, Mr. John Bradford, Mr. Robert Glover, +etc. + +Queen Mary intended to match herself with Philip, King of Spain; the news +thereof of being spread amongst the people, was by them ill-resented, as +dreading to be under the yoke of a stranger; but all to no purpose, for +soon afterwards they were married, to the mortification of the English. + +By the “Lioness” is meant Queen Mary, who having reigned five years and +some odd months, died of a dropsy. + +The “pontifical priest” signifies Cardinal Pole, who expired within a few +hours after the death of Queen Mary. This prelate was of princely +extraction, his mother, Margret, being daughter to George Duke of +Clarence; when he was young, he was brought up together with Queen Mary, +and being a zealous Catholic, during King Edward’s reign, suffered a +voluntary exile for the same; when the marriage between Prince Philip and +Queen Mary was made up, he returned into England, and was made Archbishop +of Canterbury, but was more moderate than some of his fellow bishops, +having a favourable inclination towards the Protestants. + + “The Lion fierce being dead and gone, + A maiden Queen shall reign anon. + The Papal power shall bear no sway, + Rome’s creed shall hence be swept away. + The western monarch’s wooden horses + Shall be destroyed by the Drake’s forces. + More wonders yet! a widowed Queen + In England shall be headless seen. + The Harp shall give a better sound. + An Earl without a head be found. + Soon after shall the English Rose + Unto a male her place dispose.” + +These lines being a prophecy of the most remarkable actions during the +reign of Queen Elizabeth, are to be interpreted after this manner: + +Queen Mary is here meant, not so much for the cruelty done by her, as by +the bishops and priests under her; in respect to the blood that was shed, +and the persecutions then suffered, she is here termed a fierce “Lion;” +after whom is said, “A maiden Queen to reign anon,” meant by Queen +Elizabeth, one who was the mirror of her age and sex, who for above forty +years managed the affairs of this kingdom; having, when she began, few +friends that durst help, and leaving no foes when she died that could +hurt her; acting her part so well whilst here she reigned, that history +can scarce afford us one prince to be matched to her fame in all +considerable particulars. + +Soon after the queen coming to the crown, a Parliament began at +Westminster, wherein the laws of King Henry VIII. against the see of +“Rome” were renewed, and those of King Edward VI. in favour of the +Protestants revived, and the laws by Queen Mary made against them, +repealed. + +Uniformity of prayer and administration of sacrament were enacted, and +the queen acknowledged to be the only and supreme governor of her +kingdom. The people in each place beating down superstitious pictures +and images, which misguided zeal had set up. + +By the “western monarch’s wooden horses,” is meant the King of Spain’s +great Armada, by them termed invincible, though the success of it +answered not the name; being by Sir Francis Drake and others fought with +and really vanquished; most of it sunk, and the rest, destitute and +scattered, being chased by our ships into the northern latitudes, and +there left to be pursued by hunger and cold; a victory so remarkable, +that neither time nor age will ever wear the remembrance thereof away. + +The “widowed Queen” signifies the Queen of Scots, the mother of King +James, who was beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle, some say by the privity, +others say to the great discontent of Queen Elizabeth; a lady of sharp +wit, undaunted spirit, comely person, beautiful face, and majestic +presence; a fluent orator, and an excellent poetess, as appears by +several things of her writing now extant; she was beheaded on the 8th of +February, 1587, and was first buried in the choir of Peterborough; and +afterwards by her son, King James, solemnly removed from thence to +Westminster, where, in the south side of the chapel of King Henry VII. he +erected a stately monument to her memory. + +“The Harp” signifies Ireland, as being the arms of that country, when +Queen Elizabeth, by reducing it to a better obedience, made it give a +better sound, that is, made it more civilized and profitable to the +exchequer than it ever was before. + +“An Earl without a head be found.” This was spoken of the Earl of Essex, +one who was the favourite of the queen and darling of the people (two +things which seldom come together), and yet could not both of them +protect him from the scaffold, but thereon he lost his head. + +By the “English Rose” is meant Queen Elizabeth, as we said before, by +whose death the right and title to the crown came to James VI., King of +Scotland, as lineally descended from Margaret, eldest daughter to King +Henry VII., the male issue failing by the death of Queen Elizabeth; and +here is to be remembered the policy of King Henry VII., who having two +daughters, married the eldest of them to the King of Scotland, and the +youngest to the King of France, that if his male issue should happen to +fail, as it afterwards did, then Scotland might wait upon England as the +greater kingdom, and not England upon France as the lesser. Besides, +there was an old prophecy which intimated King James coming to the +English crown; for when King Edward I. harassed Scotland, amongst other +things he brought from thence their royal chair (still preserved at the +Abbey, in Westminster), upon which chair these verses were written: + + “If Fates go right, where’er this chair is pight, + The regal race of Scots shall rule that place.” + +Which by the coronation of King James there performed, made good the +words of the prophecy. + + “The Northern Lion over Tweed, + The maiden Queen shall then succeed, + And join in one, two mighty States; + Janus then shall shut his gates; + Hell’s power, by a fatal blow, + Shall seek the land to overthrow, + Which by mistake shall be reverst, + And heads from shoulders be disperst. + The British Olive next shall twine + In marriage with the German Vine.” + +Next follows the remarkable actions of King James’s reign, predicted in +the foregoing lines, which may be thus explained: + +By the “Northern Lion” is meant King James, and by the “maiden Queen,” +Queen Elizabeth, whom King James, being King of Scotland, succeeded to +the English crown, joining thereby the two nations of England and +Scotland, which had often been attempted before. + +The lines “Hell’s power,” etc., have reference to the Gunpowder Plot, +which was planned to blow up the Parliament House with gunpowder—king, +princes, peers, bishops, judges, knights, and burgesses, being all +designed to destruction. To bring the purpose about, a vault was hired +under the Parliament House, wherein were stowed thirty-six barrels of +gunpowder, with several iron bars, to make the force of the fire more +effectual, all which were covered with billets and coals. The 5th of +November, the day of Parliament first sitting, was the time appointed to +put this design in execution; but Providence had ordered it otherwise, +that those who intended mischief should taste the effects of it. In the +evening before, Lord Monteagle received a strange letter from an unknown +hand, without date or name to it, and which, when it was opened, was even +still sealed. The letter being communicated to the king, he commanded +the rooms under the Parliament House to be searched, where the mystery of +iniquity was quickly discovered. Some of the traitors were taken in +London, others in the country; the hands of justice overtaking them, they +became its examples, and tasted of that cup which they intended others +should have drunk of. + +By the “British Olive” is meant the Lady Elizabeth, daughter of King +James; and by the “German Vine” the most illustrious Prince Frederic, +Count Palatine of the Rhine. This Lady Elizabeth was enriched with all +the endowments of both body and mind which make to the completing of a +princess; most dearly beloved of the English, as one that deserved well +of all. They were married with great solemnity at Westminster, February +14, 1602. + +Mother Shipton having proceeded thus far with her prophecies, broke up +abruptly with a deep sigh, the tears trickling down her cheeks, +accompanied by a wringing of her hands, as if some extraordinary +mischance had befallen her. The abbot wondered greatly what should be +the cause of this sudden alteration, having observed all along before a +settled composedness in her countenance, and now to break out in such +exclamations. He therefore said unto her, “Mother Shipton, it is more +than some extraordinary matter which hath made you break out into this +sudden passion; and if it may not be troublesome unto you, I shall desire +that, as hitherto you have not been scrupulous in revealing those secrets +unto me, which have wrought in me both wonder and amazement, so that you +will not so abruptly break off as to leave me in suspense of the cause of +your sorrow.” “Ah! Mr. Abbot,” said she, “who can with dry eyes repeat +what must next ensue, or but think upon it without a heart full of agony? +to see virtue trampled on, and vice exalted; beggars on horseback, and +princes on foot; the innocent condemned, and the bloodthirsty go scot +free; but since my promise binds me to fulfil your request, I shall +proceed from where I left off: + + “The crown then fits the White King’s head, + Who with the Lilies soon shall wed; + Then shall a peasant’s bloody knife + Deprive a great man of his life. + Forth from the North shall mischief blow, + And English hob shall add thereto. + Then shall the Council great assemble, + Who shall make great and small to tremble, + The White King then (O grief to see!) + By wicked hands shall murdered be.” + +By the “White King,” is meant King Charles I., so called not only in +respect of the purity and uprightness of his life, signified by white; +but also at the time of his coronation he was clothed in white. He had, +previous to the death of King James, married the Lady Henrietta Maria, +daughter of Henry IV., King of France; who is hereupon said to wed the +“Lilies,” the lilies being the arms of France. + +By the “great man,” who was to lose his life by a bloody knife, was meant +the Duke of Buckingham, the greatest man in favour of those times, and +(as is commonly seen) most hated of the people, who laid the blame of all +miscarriages in state upon him; being made general for the relief of +Rochelle (then besieged by the French forces), before he embarked at +Portsmouth, he was stabbed by one Felton, an officer in his army; who, so +far from flying for the same, though he might pass away undiscovered, +boldly avowed himself to be the man that did it. He was hanged in chains +at Portsmouth, in the year 1627. + +The next part of this prophecy alludes to that ancient proverb, “From the +cold ‘North’ all ills come forth,” and may be understood of our troubles +commencing in 1630, taking their original rise from Scotland, and +fermented by several factious spirits in England, the venom of which +poison so infected the veins of the English, that it broke forth into a +most bitter war, and ended not but with the deaths of many thousands of +people. + +By the “great Council” is meant the long-lasting Parliament, as known to +all posterity for the remarkable transactions therein. By them fell the +wise Strafford, and Reverend Laud; by them was Episcopacy voted down, and +Presbytery voted up; by them was the common-prayer denied, and the +Directory exalted; by them was the Church and State turned topsy-turvy; +but this cannot be reported of all amongst them; many of them hated their +doings, dissented from them, and suffered by them. + +The “White King by wicked hands,” etc., alludes to the beheading of King +Charles I., who was the principal victim of these savage wars. + + “The White King dead, the Wolf shall then + With blood possess the Lion’s den. + But Death shall hurry him away; + Confusion shall awhile bear sway; + But Fate to England shall restore + A king to reign as heretofore. + Great death in London shall be though, + And men on tops of houses go.” + +By the “White King,” as we said before, is meant King Charles I., and, by +the “Wolf,” Oliver Cromwell, whose ambition was such that he left no +means unattempted until he had got into the “Lion’s den,” that is to say, +until he had attained the sole government. + + “But Death shall hurry him away.” + +Very remarkable was the day in which the Protector died, being September +3, 1658, wherein the wind was so violent, that it overthrew many houses, +tore up many trees by the roots, tumbled down chimneys, and unroofed +barns and stables; but it is a very ill wind that blows none good, so +with all the hurt this wind did, it made recompense to some folks who had +lost their estates in the civil wars, by blowing this Oliver away. + + “But fate to England shall restore + A king to reign as heretofore.” + +Which part of the prophecy was fulfilled in the restoration of King +Charles II., which put a period to all the Commonwealth, and restored the +land to its ancient government. + +“Great death in London,” verified by the great plague in London, in 1665, +which, for number, was the greatest that hath been known in these latter +centuries of years. + +“And men on tops of houses go.” This was suddenly fulfilled in that +great conflagration of fire which happened in London, September 2, 3, and +4, 1666, by which so many houses were destroyed, that men afterwards, in +the ruins, went on the tops of those houses whose lofty structures not +long before seemed to brave the sky. + + * * * * * + +It will be observed that some of the following prophecies of Mother +Shipton relate to the present time, while others more closely concern the +future. We will leave them to the reader’s own interpretation:— + + I. + + Ploughed with swords the earth shall be, + And blood will mingle with the sea. + + II. + + Soon as the fiery year has passed. + Peace again shall come at last. + + III. + + Great accidents the world will fill, + And carriages without horses go; + Whilst, in the twinkling of an eye, + Around the world our thoughts shall fly. + + IV. + + In England, now will come to pass + A house that shall be built of glass. + + V. + + State and State, in most deadly strife, + Will fight and seek each other’s life; + Then, when the North divides the South, + The Eagle will build in the Lion’s mouth. + + VI. + + Three tyrant rulers France shall see, + And each of a different dynasty. + But when the greater fight be done, + France and England shall be as one. + + VII. + + In the water shall iron float, + The same as now a wooden boat. + More wonders still shall water do, + And England yet admit a Jew. + + VIII. + + Gold and riches will be shown + In a land that’s not now known. + + IX. + + Under rivers man shall walk, + Shall ride, shall sleep, and shall talk. + + X. + + A river and a town shall be on fire. + + * * * * * + +_The following remarkable Prophecy_, _which is known as_ “_Mother +Shipton’s prophecies_,” _was first published in 1448_,_ and republished +in 1641_. _It will be seen that the events it predicts have come to +pass_, _except that contained in the last two lines_, _which is still in +the future_. + + XI. + + Over a wild and stormy sea, + Shall a noble {184} sail, + Who to find, will not fail, + A new and a fair countree. + From whence he shall bring + A herb {185a} and a root {185b} + That all men shall suit, + And please both the ploughman and the king. + And let them take no more than measure. + Both shall have the even pleasure. + The world to an end shall come + In eighteen hundred and eighty-one. + + * * * * * + +_Here follow other Prophecies which Mother Shipton stated at various +times in her life to different persons_:— + + The first coming in of the King of the Scots (James I.) shall be at + Holgate Town, but he shall not come through the bar. And when the + King of the North shall be at London Bridge, his tail shall be at + Edinburgh. + +This was fulfilled in the following manner—When King James arrived there +was such a multitude of people at Holgate bar to behold him, that to +avoid the danger of the crush he was forced to ride another way. When +King James was at London, his children were at Edinburgh, preparing to +come into England. + + Water shall come over Ouse Bridge, and a windmill shall be set upon a + Tower, and a Elm Tree shall lie at every man’s door. At that day + women shall wear great hats and great bands. + +This was verified by the conducting of water into York streets through +bored Elms; and the Conduit-house had a windmill on the top that drew up +the water. + + When there is a Lord Mayor living in Minster-yard in York, let him + beware of a stab. + +A Lord Mayor, whose house was in Minster-yard, was stabbed by an assassin +in three places, which caused his death. + + When two Knights shall fall out in the York Castle-yard, they shall + never live kindly all their after lives. + +Sir Thomas Wentworth and Sir John Savile in choosing Knights for the +Shire in the Castle-yard at York, did so fall out, that they were never +after well reconciled. + + When all Colton-hag hath borne crops and corn for seven years; seven + years after that you shall hear news. + +Colton-hag in Mother Shipton’s time was a woodland ground full of trees, +which some long time after her death was cultivated and bore crops and +corn for seven years; and the seven years after that, was the year of the +coming in of the Scots, and their taking of Newcastle. + + You shall have a year of pining hunger, and then a dearth without + corn. You shall not know of the war over-night, yet you shall have + it in the morning; and when it comes it shall last three years. + + Between Calder and Aire + Shall be great warfare, + When all the world is aloft, + It shall be called Christ’s Croft. + +Calder and Aire are two rivers in Yorkshire; and this Prophecy relates to +the Civil War in the time of Charles I. + + When the battle of warfare begins, it shall be where Crookback + Richard made his fray. + +It was near Leicester where Richard the Third was slain in battle. There +Colonel Hastings was one of the first in arms at the commencement of the +civil war. Or it may thus be understood—That as King Richard began his +march from Nottingham when he first set out against the Earl of Richmond, +so also should these wars take rise from thence. And indeed at +Nottingham, on Aug. 25th, 1640, Charles I. set up his standard, and there +continued it to little purpose. + + They shall say to warfare for your King for half-a-crown a day, but + stir not. They will say to warfare for your King on pain of hanging, + but stir not. + +At the time of the Civil War in 1642, many Lords promised two shillings +and sixpence a day for each horseman who would join the King’s service. + + For he that goes to complain, + Shall not come back again. + +This seems to refer to the Welsh and the Irish serving the King, for very +few lived to return back again to their own country. + +_The following Prophecies by Mother Shipton_, (_extracted from Lilly’s +collection_, _with his remarks_,) _being rather quaint in the +composition_, _are left for the reader to decypher_. + + (_a_) There will be a great battel between England and Scotland, and + they will be pacified for a time; and when they come at (_b_) + Bramma-moore they fight, and are again pacified for a time: Then + there will be a great battel between England and Scotland at (_c_) + Knavesmore: Then they will be pacified for a while: Then there will + be a great battel between England and Scotland at (_d_) Storktonmore; + then will Ravens sit on the (_e_) Crosse, and drink as much blood of + Nobles as of the Commons. Then wo is me, for London shall be + destroyed. + +(_a_) God I hope will prevent this threatened mischief. (_b_) Brammish +is a river in Northumberland. (_c_) I conceive it should be +Knaresborough, by which the river Nidd runs. (_d_) Storkton I conceive +mistaken for Stanemore, in Richmondshire. (_e_) It is to be noted and +admired, that this Crosse in the North in Mother Shipton’s days, was a +tall stone Crosse which ever since hath been by degrees sinking into the +ground, and is now (1640) sunk so low, that a Raven may sit upon the top +of it and reach her bill to the ground. + + Then will come a woman with one eye, and she shall tread in men’s + blood to the knee; and she shall meet a man leaning on a staff, and + shall say to him, What art thou? and he shall say, I am King of the + Scots. And she shall say, Go with me to my house, for there are + three Knights. And he will go up with her, and stay there three days + and three nights. Then will England be lost; and they will cry twice + in one day, England is lost. Then there will be three Knights in + Petergate in York, and the one shall not know of the other. There + shall be a child born in Pomfret with three thumbs, and these three + Knights will give their horses to this (_f_) child with three thumbs + to hold, whilst they win England again: then come in Clubs and + Clouted shoes, and they with the three Knights win England again: and + all Noble blood shall be gone but one, and they shall carry him to + Sheriff Hutton’s Castle, six miles from York, and he shall die there; + and they shall chuse their Earl in the field, and hang their horses + on a thorn, and rue the time that ever they were born to see so much + blood shed. + +(_f_) There was a child not many years since born at Pomfret with three +thumbs, and credibly reported. + + (_g_) Then they will come to York to besiege it; and they shall keep + them out for three days and three nights: and a peny-loaf shall be + within the Bar at half a Crown, and without the Bar at a peny; and + they will swear, if they will not yield, to blow up the Town-walls. + Then they will let them in: and they will hang the Maior, Sheriffs, + and Aldermen. There will three Knights go into Crouch-Church, and + but one of them come out again; and he will cause Proclamation to be + made, That any man may take House, Tower, or Bower, for One and + twenty yeers. And while the world endureth, there shall never be + warfare again, nor any more (_h_) Kings or Queens; but the Kingdom + shall be governed by three lords; then York shall be London. + +(_g_) This is yet unacted. (_h_) All old Prophecies do intimate a final +subversion of the Monarchy in England. + + After this, shall be a white Harvest of Corn gotten in by women. + Then shall be in the North, that one woman shall say to another, + Mother, I have seen a man to day. And for one man there shall be a + thousand women. There shall be a man sitting on Saint James church + hill, weeping his fill. + + The time will come when England shall tremble and quake for fear of a + (_i_) Dead-man, that shall be heard to speak: Then will the Dragon + give the Bull a great snap; and when this battel is done they will + all go to London Town. + +(_i_) This Dead-man hath not yet appeared, but is at hand doubtless. + + * * * * * + +_Here follow other Prophecies she uttered_, _which because they concern +Future Times we shall leave to the Interpretation of the reader_. + + I. + + The Fiery Year as soon as o’er, + Peace shall then be as before; + Plenty everywhere is found, + And men with Swords shall plough the Ground. + + II. + + The time shall come, when seas of Blood, + Shall mingle with a greater Flood. + + III. + + Great noise there shall be heard, Great Shouts and Cries, + And Seas shall Thunder louder than the Skies; + Then shall three Lions fight with three, and bring, + Joy to a People, Honour to their King. + +Mother Shipton, the authoress of these Prophecies, continued for years +esteemed as the Sybil or Oracle of her time; and though she was generally +believed to be a Witch, yet all persons that either saw or heard of her, +held her in great esteem, and her memory is much honoured by those of her +own country, especially in Yorkshire. A long time before her death, she +foretold the day and hour she was to take her departure; and the time +approaching which she had Prophecied, and which was in the year 1561; she +took solemn leave of her friends, who were all greatly attached to her, +laid down on her bed, and died, at the good old age of 75 years. Many +more “_Prophecies_” are current in Yorkshire as of her utterance, but the +Publisher being unable to find them either properly authenticated, or in +any old works, they have been omitted, being desirous of not adding +anything which might tend to destroy her sterling reputation. + +A stone was erected to her memory near Clifton, about a mile from the +city of York, upon which was the following inscription: + + Here lyes she who never ly’d + Whose skill often has been try’d; + Her prophecies shall still survive, + And ever keep her name alive. + + + + +PROPHECIES +OF +MARTHA, THE GIPSY. + + +London may appear an unbefitting scene for a story so romantic as that +which I have here set down: but, strange and wild as is the tale I have +to tell, _it is true_; and, therefore, the scene of action shall not be +changed; nor will I alter or vary from the truth, save that the names of +the personages, in my domestic drama shall be fictitious. + +To say that I am superstitious would be, in the minds of many wise +personages, to write myself down an ass; but to say that I do not believe +_that_ which follows, as I am sure it was believed by _him_ who related +it to me, would be to discredit the testimony of a friend, as honourable +and as brave as ever trod the earth. He has been snatched from the +world, of which he was a bright ornament, and has left more than his +sweet suffering widow and his orphan children affectionately to deplore +his loss. + +It is, I find, right and judicious most carefully and publicly to disavow +a belief in supernatural visitings: but it will be long before I become +either so wise or so bold as to make any such unqualified declaration. I +am not weak enough to imagine myself surrounded by spirits and phantoms, +or jostling through a crowd of spectres, as I walk the streets; neither +do I give credence to all the idle tales of ancient dames, or frightened +children, touching such matters: but when I breathe the air, and see the +grass grow under my feet, I cannot but feel that HE who gives me ability +to inhale the one, and stand erect upon the other, has also the power to +use for special purposes such means and agency, as in his wisdom he may +see fit; and which, in point of fact, are not more incomprehensible to us +than the very simplest effects which we every day witness, arising from +unknown causes. + +Philosophers may pore, and in the might of their littleness, and the +erudition of their ignorance develope and disclose, argue and discuss; +but when the sage, who sneers at the possibility of ghosts, will explain +to me the doctrine of attraction and gravitation, or tell me why the wind +blows, why the tides ebb and flow, or why the light shines—effects +perceptible to all men—then will I admit the justice of his +incredulity—then will I join the ranks of the incredulous. However, a +truce with my views and reflections: proceed we to the narrative. + +In the vicinity of Bedford-square lived a respectable and honest man, +whose name the reader will be pleased to consider Harding. He married +early: his wife was an exemplary woman, and his son and daughter were +grown to that companionable age, at which children repay, with their +society and accomplishments, the tender cares which parents bestow upon +their offspring in their early infancy. + +Mr. Harding held a responsible and respectable situation under the +government, in Somerset House. His income was adequate to his wants and +wishes; his family a family of love: and, perhaps, taking into +consideration the limited desires of what may be fairly called middle +life, no man was ever more contented, or better satisfied with his lot +than he. + +Maria Harding, his daughter, was a modest, unassuming, and interesting +girl, full of feeling and gentleness. She was timid and retiring; but +the modesty which cast down her fine black eyes could not veil the +intellect which beamed in them. Her health was by no means strong; and +the paleness of her cheek—too frequently, alas! lighted by the hectic +flush of our indigenous complaint—gave a deep interest to her +countenance. She was watched and reared by her tender mother, with all +the care and attention which a being so delicate and so ill-suited to the +perils and troubles of this world demanded. + +George, her brother, was a bold and intelligent lad, full of rude health, +and fearless independence. His character was frequently the subject of +his father’s contemplation; and he saw in his disposition, his mind, his +pursuits, and propensities, the promise of future success in active life. + +With these children, possessing as they did the most enviable +characteristics of their respective sexes, Mr. and Mrs. Harding, with +thankfulness to Providence, acknowledged their happiness, and their +perfect satisfaction with the portion assigned to them in this transitory +world. + +Maria was about nineteen, and had, as was natural, attracted the regards, +and thence gradually chained the affections, of a distant relative, whose +ample fortune, added to his personal and mental good qualities, rendered +him a most acceptable suitor to her parents, which Maria’s heart silently +acknowledged he would have been to _her_, had he been poor and penniless. + +The father of this intended husband of Maria was a man of importance, +possessing much personal interest, through which George, the brother of +his intended daughter-in-law, was to be placed in that diplomatic +seminary in Downing-street, whence, in due time, he was to rise through +all the grades of office, (which, with his peculiar talents, his friends, +and especially his mother, was convinced he would so ably fill,) and at +last turn out an ambassador. + +The parents, however, of young Langdale and of Maria Harding were agreed, +that there was no necessity for hastening the alliance between their +families, seeing that the united ages of the couple did not exceed +thirty-nine years: and seeing, moreover, still, that Mrs. Langdale, who +was little more than six-and-thirty years of age herself, had reasons, +which she also meant to be private, for seeking to delay as much as +possible a ceremony, the result of which, in all probability, would +confer upon her, somewhat too early in life to be agreeable to a lady of +her habits and propensities, the formidable title of grand-mamma. + +How curious it is, when one takes up a _little bit_ of society (as a +geologist crumbles and twists a bit of earth in his hand, to ascertain +its character and quality,) to look into the motives and manœuvrings of +all the persons connected with it; the various workings, the +indefatigable labours, which all their little minds are undergoing to +bring about divers and sundry little points, perfectly unconnected with +the great end in view; but which for private and hidden objects, each of +them is toiling to carry. Nobody, but those who really understood Mrs. +Langdale, understood why she so readily acquiesced in the desire of her +husband to postpone the marriage for another twelvemonth. A stranger +would have seen only the dutiful wife according with the sensible +husband; but I knew her, and knew that there must be something more than +met the eye, or the ear, in that sympathy of feeling between her and Mr. +Langdale, which was not upon ordinary occasions so evidently displayed. + +Like the Waterman who pulls one way and looks another, Mrs. Langdale +aided the entreaties and seconded the commands of her loving spouse, +touching the seasonable delay of which I am speaking; and it was agreed, +that immediately after the coming of age of Frederick Langdale, and not +before, he was to lead to the hymeneal altar the delicate and timid Maria +Harding. + +The affair got whispered about; George’s fortune in life was highly +extolled—Maria’s excessive happiness prophesied by everybody of their +acquaintance; and already had sundry younger ladies, daughters and nieces +of those who discussed these matters in divan after dinner, began to look +upon Miss Harding with envy and maliciousness, and wonder what Mr. +Frederick Langdale could see in her: she was proclaimed to be insipid, +inanimate, shy, bashful, and awkward: nay, some of her female friends +went so far as to discover that she was absolutely awry. + +Still, however, Frederick and Maria went loving on; and their hearts grew +as one; so truly, so fondly were they attached to each other. George, +who was somewhat of a plague to the pair of lovers, was luckily at +Oxford, reading away till his head ached, to qualify himself for a +degree, and the distant duties of the office whence he was to cull the +bunches of diplomatic laurels, and whence were to issue rank and title, +and ribbons and crosses innumerable. + +Things were in this prosperous state, the bark of life rolling gaily +along before the breeze, when as Mr. Harding was one day proceeding from +his residence, to his office in Somerset-place, through Charlotte-street, +Bloomsbury, he was accosted by one of those female gypsies who are found +begging in the metropolis, and especially in the particular part of it in +question: ‘Pray remember poor Martha, the gipsy,’ said the woman: ‘give +me a halfpenny for charity, sir, pray do.’ + +Mr. Harding was a subscriber to the Mendicity Society, an institution +which proposes to check begging by the novel mode of giving nothing to +the poor: moreover, he was a magistrate—moreover, he had no change; and +he somewhat sternly desired the woman to go about her business. + +All availed him nothing; she still followed him, and reiterated the +piteous cry, ‘Pray remember poor Martha, the gipsy.’ + +At length, irritated by the perseverance of the woman—for even +subordinates in government hate to be solicited importunately—Mr. +Harding, contrary to his usual custom, and contrary to the customary +usages of modern society, turned hastily round, and fulminated an oath +against the supplicating vagrant. + +‘Curse!’ said Martha; ‘have I lived to this? Hark ye, man—poor, weak, +haughty man! Mark me, sir—look at me!’ + +He did look at her; and beheld a countenance on fire with rage. A pair +of eyes blacker than jet, and brighter than diamonds, glared like stars +upon him; her black hair dishevelled, hung over her olive cheeks; and a +row of teeth whiter than the driven snow displaying themselves from +between a pair of coral lips, in a dreadful smile, a ghastly sneer of +contempt which mingled in her passion. Harding was riveted to the spot; +and, affected partly by the powerful fascination of her superhuman +countenance, and partly by the dread of a disturbance in the street, he +paused to listen to her. + +‘Mark me, sir,’ said Martha; ‘you and I shall meet again. Thrice shall +you see me before you die. My visitings will be dreadful; but the third +will be the last!’ + +There was a solemnity in this declaration which struck to his very heart, +coming too as it did only from a vagrant outcast. Passengers were +approaching; and wishing, he knew not why, to soothe the ire of the angry +woman, he mechanically drew from his pocket some silver, which he +tendered to her. + +‘There, my good woman—there,’ said he, stretching forth his hand. + +‘Good woman!’ retorted the hag, ‘Money now? I—I that have been cursed! +’tis all too late, proud gentleman—the deed is done, the curse be now on +you.’ Saying which, she huddled her ragged red cloak about her +shoulders, and hurried from his sight, into the deep and dreary recesses +of St. Giles’s. + +Harding experienced, as she vanished from his eye, a most extraordinary +sensation: he felt grieved that he had spoken so harshly to the poor +creature, and returned his shillings to his pocket with regret. Of +course, fear of the fulfilment of her predictions did not mingle with any +of his feelings on the occasion; and he proceeded to his office in +Somerset-place, and performed all the arduous official duties of reading +the opposition newspapers, discussing the leading politics of the day +with the head of another department, and signing his name three times, +before four o’clock. + +Martha the gipsy, however, although he had ‘poophoohed’ her out of his +memory, would ever and anon flash across his mind; her figure was +indelibly stamped upon his recollection; and though, of course, as I +before said, a man of his firmness and intellect could care nothing, one +way or another, for the maledictions of an ignorant, illiterate gipsy, +still his feelings—whence arising I know not—prompted him to call a +hackney-coach, and proceed _en voiture_ to his house rather than run the +risk of again encountering the metropolitan sibyl, under whose forcible +denunciation he was actually labouring. + +There is a period in each day of the lives of married people, at which, I +am given to understand, a more than ordinarily unreserved communication +of facts and feelings takes place; when all the world is shut out, and +the two beings, who are in truth ‘but only one,’ commune together freely +and fully upon the occurrences of the past day. At this period, the else +sacred secrets of the drawing-room coterie, and the _tellable_ jokes of +the after-dinner convivialist, are mutually interchanged by the fond +pair, who, by the barbarous customs of uncivilized Britain, have been +separated during part of the preceding evening. + +Then it is, that the husband informs his anxious consort how he has +forwarded his worldly views with such a man—how he has carried his point +in such a quarter—what he thinks of the talents of one, of the character +of another; while the communicative wife gives _her_ views of the same +subjects, founded upon what she has gathered from the individuals +composing the female cabinet, and explains why she thinks he must have +been deceived upon this point, or misled upon that. And thus, in +recounting, in arguing, in discussing, and descanting, the blended +interests of the happy pair are strengthened, their best hopes nourished, +and perhaps eventually realized. + +A few friends at dinner, and some refreshers in the evening, had +prevented Harding from saying a word to his beloved Eliza about the +gipsy; and perhaps, till the ‘witching time’ which I have attempted to +define, he would not have mentioned the circumstance, even had they been +alone. Most certainly he did not think the less of the horrible vision; +and when the company had dispersed, and the affectionate couple had +retired to rest, he stated the circumstance exactly as it had occurred, +and received from his fair lady just such an answer as a prudent, +intelligent, and discreet woman of sense would give to such a +communication. She vindicated his original determination not to be +imposed upon—wondered at his subsequent willingness to give to such an +undeserving object, particularly while he had three or four soup tickets +in his pocket—was somewhat surprised that he had not consigned the bold +intruder to the hands of the beadle—and, ridiculing the impression which +the hag’s appearance seemed to have made upon her husband’s mind, +narrated a tour performed by herself and some friends to Norwood, when +she was a girl, and when one of those very women had told her fortune, +not one word of which ever came true—and, in a discussion of some length, +animadverting strongly upon the weakness and impiety of putting faith in +the sayings of such idle creatures, she fell fast asleep. + +Not so Harding: he was restless and worried, and felt that he would give +the world to be able to recall the curse which he had rashly uttered +against the poor woman. Helpless as she was and in distress, why did his +passion conquer his judgment? Why did he add to the bitterness of +refusal the sting of malediction? However, it was useless to regret that +which was past—and, wearied and mortified with his reflection, he at +length followed his better half into that profound slumber, which the +length and subject of his harangue had so comfortably ensured her. + +The morning came, and brightly beamed the sun—that is, as brightly as it +ever beams in London. The office-hour arrived; and Mr. Harding +proceeded, _not_ by Charlotte-street, to Somerset-house, such was his +dread of seeing the ominous woman. It is impossible to describe the +effect produced upon him by the apprehension of encountering her: if he +heard a female voice behind him in the street, he trembled, and feared to +look round, lest he should behold Martha. In turning a corner he +proceeded carefully and cautiously, lest he should come upon her +unexpectedly; in short, wherever he went, whatever he did, his actions, +his movements, his very words, were controlled and constrained by the +horror of beholding her again. + +The malediction she had uttered rang incessantly in his ears; nay, such +possession had it taken of him, that he had written the words down, and +sealed the document which contained them. ‘Thrice you shall see me +before you die. My visitings will be dreadful, but the third will be the +last.’ + +‘Calais’ was not more deeply imprinted on our Queen’s heart, than these +lines upon that of Mr. Harding; but he was ashamed of the strength of his +feelings, and placed the paper wherein he had recorded them at the very +bottom of his desk. + +Meanwhile Frederick Langdale was unremitting in his attentions to Maria; +but, as is too often the case, the bright sunshine of their loves was +clouded. Her health, always delicate, now appeared more so, and at times +her anxious parents felt a solicitude upon her account, new to them; for +decided symptoms of consumption had shown themselves, which the faculty, +although they spoke of them lightly to the fond mother and to the gentle +patient, treated with such care and caution, as gave alarm to those who +could see the progress of the fatal disease, which was unnoticed by Maria +herself, who anticipated parties, and pleasure, and gaieties, in the +coming spring, which the doctors thought it but too probable she might +never enjoy. + +That Mr. Langdale’s ‘punctilio,’ or Mrs. Langdale’s excessive desire for +apparent juvenility, should have induced the postponement of Maria’s +marriage, was, indeed, a melancholy circumstance. The agitation, the +surprise, the hope deferred, which weighed upon the sweet girl’s mind, +and that doubting dread of something unexpected, which lovers always +feel, bore down her spirits, and injured her health; whereas, had the +marriage been celebrated, the relief she would have experienced from all +her apprehensions, added to the tour of France and Italy, which the happy +couple were to make immediately after their union, would have restored +her health, while it ensured her happiness. This, however, was not to +be. + +It was now three months since poor Mr. Harding’s rencontre with Martha; +and habit, and time, and constant avocation, had conspired to free his +mind from the dread she at first inspired. Again he smiled and joked, +again he enjoyed society, and again dared to take the nearest road to +Somerset House; nay, he had so far recovered from the unaccountable +terror he had originally felt, that he went to his desk, and selecting +the paper wherein he had set down the awful denunciation of the hag, +deliberately tore it into bits, and witnessed its destruction in the +fire, with something like real satisfaction, and a determination never +more to think upon so silly an affair. + +Frederick Langdale was, as usual, with his betrothed, and Mrs. Harding +enjoying the egotism of the lovers, (for, as I said before, lovers think +their conversation the most charming in the world, because they talk of +nothing but themselves) when his curricle was driven to the door to +convey him to Tattersall’s, where his father had commissioned him to look +at a horse, or horses, which he intended to purchase; for Frederick was, +of all things in the world, the best possible judge of a horse. + +To this sweeping dictum, pronounced by the young gentleman himself, Mr. +Harding, however, was not willing to assent; and therefore, in order to +have the full advantage of two heads, which, as the proverb says, are +better than one, the worthy father-in-law elect, proposed accompanying +the youth to the auctioneer’s yard at Hyde-Park Corner, it being one of +those few privileged days when the labourers in our public offices make +holiday. The proposal was hailed with delight by the young man, who, in +order to show due deference to Mr. Harding, gave him the reins, and +bowing their adieus to the ladies at the window, away they went, the +splendid cattle of Mr. Langdale prancing and curvetting, fire flaming +from their eyes, and smoke breathing from their nostrils. + +The charioteer, however, soon found that the horses were somewhat beyond +his strength, even putting his skill wholly out of the question, and in +turning into Russell-street, proposed surrendering the reins to +Frederick. By some misunderstanding of words in the alarm which Harding +felt, Frederick did not take the reins which he (perfectly confounded) +tendered to him in great agitation. They slipped over the dashing iron +between the horse, who thus freed from restraint, reared wildly in the +air, and plunging forward, dashed the vehicle against a post, and +precipitated Frederick and Harding on the curbstone; the off-horse kicked +desperately as the carriage became entangled and impeded, and struck +Frederick a desperate blow on the head. Harding, whose right arm and +collar-bone were broken, raised himself on his left hand, and saw +Frederick weltering in his blood, apparently lifeless before him. The +infuriated animals again plunged forward with the shattered remnant of +the carriage, and as this object was removed from his sight, the wretched +father-in-law beheld, looking upon the scene with a fixed and unruffled +countenance—MARTHA, THE GIPSY. + +It was doubtful whether the appearance of this horrible vision, coupled +as it was with the verification of her prophecy, had not a more dreadful +effect upon Mr. Harding, than the sad reality before him. He trembled, +sickened, fainted, and fell senseless on the ground. + +Assistance was promptly procured, and the wounded sufferers were +carefully removed to their respective dwellings. Frederick Langdale’s +sufferings were much greater than those of his companion, and, in +addition to severe fractures of two of his limbs, the wound upon his head +presented a most terrible appearance, and excited the greatest alarm in +his medical attendants. + +Mr. Harding, whose temperate course of life was greatly advantageous to +his case, had suffered comparatively little: a simple fracture of the +arm, and dislocation of the collar-bone (which was the extent of his +misfortune,) were, by skilful treatment and implicit obedience to +professional commands, soon pronounced in a state of improvement; but a +wound had been inflicted which no doctor could heal. The conviction that +the woman, whose anger he had incurred, had, if not the power of +producing evil, at least the power to foretell it, and that he had twice +again to see her before the fulfilment of her prophecy, struck deep into +his mind; and although he felt himself more at ease when he had +communicated to Mrs. Harding the fact of having seen the gipsy at the +moment of the accident, it was impossible for him to rally from the shock +which his nerves had received. It was in vain he had tried to shake off +the perpetual apprehension of again beholding her. + +Frederick Langdale remained for some time in a very precarious state. +All visitors were excluded from his room, and a wretched space of two +months passed, during which his affectionate Maria had never been allowed +to see him, nor to write to, nor to hear from him. While her +constitution was gradually giving way to the constant operation of +solicitude and sorrow. + +Mr. Harding meanwhile recovered rapidly, but his spirits did not keep +pace with his mending health; the dread he felt of quitting his house, +the tremor excited in his breast by a knocking at the door, or the +approach of a footstep, lest the intruder should be the basilisk Martha, +were not to be described; and the appearance of his poor Maria did not +tend to cheer the gloom which hung over him. + +When at length Frederick was sufficiently recovered to receive visitors, +Maria was not sufficiently well to visit him: she was too rapidly sinking +into an early grave, and even the physician himself appeared desirous of +preparing her parents for the worst, while she, full of the symptomatic +prospectiveness of disease, still talked anticipatingly of future +happiness, when Frederick would be sufficiently re-established to visit +her. + +At length, however, the doctors suggested a change of air—a suggestion +instantly attended to, but, alas! too late; the weakness of the poor girl +was such, that upon a trial of her strength it was found inexpedient to +attempt her removal. + +In this terrible state, separated from him whose all she was, did the +exemplary patient linger, and life seemed flickering in her flushing +cheek; and her eye was sunken, and her parched lip quivered with pain. + +It was at length agreed, that on the following day Frederick Langdale +might be permitted to visit her;—his varied fractures were reduced, and +the wound on the head had assumed a favourable appearance. The carriage +was ordered to convey him to the Hardings at one, and the physicians +advised by all means that Maria should be apprized of and prepared for +the meeting the day previous to its taking place. Those who are parents, +and those alone, will be able to understand the tender solicitude, the +wary caution with which both her father and mother proceeded in a +disclosure, so important as the medical men thought to her recovery—so +careful that the coming joy should be imparted gradually to their +suffering child, and that all the mischiefs resulting from an abrupt +announcement should be avoided. + +They sat down by her—spoke of Frederick—Maria joined in the +conversation—raised herself in her bed—by degrees, hope was excited that +she might soon again see him—this hope was gradually improved into +certainty—the period at which it might occur spoken of—that period again +progressively diminished: the anxious girl caught the whole truth—she +knew it—she was conscious that she would behold him on the morrow—she +burst into a flood of tears and sank down upon her pillow. + +At that moment the bright sun, which was shining in all its splendour, +beamed into the room, and fell strongly upon her flushed countenance. + +‘Draw down the blind, my love,’ said Mrs. Harding to her husband. +Harding rose and proceeded to the window. + +A shriek of horror burst from him—‘She is there!’ exclaimed the agitated +man. + +‘Who?’ cried his astonished wife. + +‘She—she—the horrid she!’ + +Mrs. Harding ran to the window and beheld, standing on the opposite side +of the street, with her eyes fixed attentively on the house—MARTHA, THE +GIPSY. + +‘Draw down the blind, my love, and come away; pray come away,’ said Mrs. +Harding. + +Harding drew down the blind. + +‘What evil is at hand? What misery is impending?’ sobbed Harding. + +A loud scream from his wife, who had returned to the bedside, was the +horrid answer to his painful question. + +Maria was dead! + +Twice of the thrice he had seen this dreadful fiend in human shape; each +visitation was (as she had foretold) to surpass the preceding ones in its +importance of horror.—What could surpass this? + +There, before the afflicted parents, lay their innocent child stretched +in the still sleep of death; neither of them believed it true—it seemed +like a dreadful dream. Harding was bewildered, and turned from the +corpse of his beloved to the window he had just left.—Martha was gone—and +he heard her singing a wild and joyous air at the other end of the +street. + +The servants were summoned—medical aid was called in—but it was all too +late! and the wretched parents were doomed to mourn their loved, their +lost Maria! George, her fond and affectionate brother, who was at +Oxford, hastened from all the academic honours which were awaiting him, +to follow to the grave his beloved sister. + +The effect upon Frederick Langdale was most dreadful: it was supposed he +would never recover from a shock so great, and at the moment so +unexpected; for, although the delicacy of her constitution was a +perpetual source of uneasiness and solicitude, still the immediate +symptoms had taken rather a favourable turn during the last few days of +her life, and had re-invigorated the hopes which those who so dearly +loved her entertained of her eventual recovery. Of this distressed young +man I never indeed heard anything, till about three years after, when I +saw it announced in the papers that he was just married to the only +daughter of a rich west-country baronet, which event, if wanted to work +another proverb here, would afford me a most admirable opportunity of +doing so. + +The death of poor Maria, and the dread which her father entertained of +the third visitation of Martha, made a complete change in the affairs of +the family. By the exertion of powerful interest, he obtained an +appointment for his son to act as his deputy in the office which he held, +and having achieved this desired object, resolved on leaving England for +a time, and quitting a neighbourhood in which he must be perpetually +exposed to the danger which he was now perfectly convinced was +inseparable from his next interview with the weird woman. + +George, of course, thus checked in his classical pursuits, left Oxford, +and at the early age of nineteen commenced active official life, not +certainly in the particular department which his mother had selected for +his _debût_; and it was somewhat observable, that the Langdales, after +the death of Maria, not only abstained from frequent intercourse with the +Hardings during their stay in England, but that the mighty professions of +the purse-proud citizen dwindled by degrees into an absolute +forgetfulness of any promise, even conditional, to exert an interest for +their son. + +Seeing this, Mr. Harding felt that he should act prudentially, by +endeavouring to place his son where in the course of time, he might +perhaps attain to that situation, from whose honourable revenue he could +live like a gentleman, and ‘settle comfortably.’ + +All the arrangements which the kind father had proposed, being made, the +mourning couple proceeded on a lengthened tour of the continent; and it +was evident that his spirits mended rapidly, when he felt conscious that +his liability to encounter Martha had decreased. The sorrow of mourning +was soothed and softened in the common course of nature, and the quiet +domesticated couple sat themselves down at Lausanne, ‘the world +forgetting, by the world forgot,’ except by their excellent and exemplary +son, whose good qualities, it seems, had captivated a remarkable pretty +girl, a neighbour of his, whose mother seemed to be equally charmed with +the goodness of his income. + +There appeared, strange to say, in this love affair, no difficulties to +be surmounted, no obstacles to be overcome; and the consent of the +Hardings (requested in a letter, which also begged them to be present at +the ceremony, if they were willing it should take place,) was presently +obtained by George; and at the close of the second year, which had passed +since their departure, the parents and son were again assembled in that +house, the sight of which recalled to their recollection their unhappy +daughter, and her melancholy fate, and which was still associated most +painfully in the mind of Mr. Harding with the hated Gipsy. + +The charm, however, had, no doubt, been broken. In the two past years, +Martha was probably either dead or gone from the neighbourhood. Gypsies +were a wandering tribe—and why should she be an exception to a general +rule?—and thus Mrs. Harding checked the rising apprehensions and renewed +uneasiness of her husband; and so well did she succeed, that when the +wedding-day came, and the bells rang, and the favours fluttered in the +air, his countenance was lighted up with smiles, and he kissed the +glowing cheek of his new daughter-in-law with warmth, and something like +happiness. + +The wedding took place at that season of the year when friends and +families meet jovially and harmoniously, when all little bickerings are +forgotten, and when, by a general feeling founded upon religion, and +perpetuated by the memory of the blessings granted to the world by the +Almighty, an universal amnesty is proclaimed; when the cheerful fire, and +teeming board, announce that Christmas is come, and mirth and gratulation +are the order of the day. + +It unfortunately happened, however, that to the account of Miss +Wilkinson’s marriage with George Harding, I am not permitted, in truth, +to add, that they left town in a travelling carriage and four, to spend +the honeymoon. Three or four days permitted absence from his office, +alone, were devoted to the celebration of the nuptials, and it was agreed +that the whole party, together with the younger branches of the +Wilkinson’s, their cousins and second cousins, etc., should meet on +twelfth-night to celebrate, in a juvenile party, the return of the bride +and bridegroom to their home. + +When the night came, it was delightful to see the happy faces of the +smiling youngsters: it was a pleasure to behold them pleased—a +participation in which, since the highest amongst us, and the most +accomplished prince in Europe, annually evinces the gratification he +feels in such sights, I am by no means disposed to disclaim. And merry +was the jest, and gaily did the evening pass; and Mr. Harding, surrounded +by his youthful guests, smiled, and for a season forgot his care; yet, as +he glanced around the room, he could not suppress a sigh, when he +recollected, that in that very room his darling Maria had entertained her +little parties on the anniversary of the same day in former years. + +Supper was announced early, and the gay throng bounded down stairs to the +parlour, where an abundance of the luxuries of middle life crowded the +board. In the centre appeared the great object of the feast—a huge +twelfth-cake; and gilded kings and queens stood lingering over circles of +scarlet sweet-meats, and hearts of sugar lay enshrined with warlike +trophies of the same material. + +Many and deep were the wounds the mighty heap received, and every guest +watched with a deep anxiety the coming portion, relatively to the +glittering splendour with which its frosted surface was adorned. +Character cards, illustrated with pithy mottoes, and smart sayings, were +distributed; and by one of those little frauds which, in such societies, +are always tolerated, Mr. Harding was announced as king, and the new +bride as queen; and there was such charming joking, and such harmless +merriment abounding, that he looked to his wife with an expression of +content, which she had often, but vainly, sought to find upon his +countenance, since the death of his dear child. + +Supper concluded, the clock struck twelve, and the elders looked as if it +were time for the young ones to depart. One half-hour’s grace was begged +for by the ‘King,’ and granted; and Mrs. George Harding on this night was +to sing them a song about ‘poor old maidens’—an ancient quaintness, +which, by custom and usage ever since she was a little child, she had +annually ‘performed’ upon this anniversary; and, accordingly, the promise +being claimed, silence was obtained, and she, with all that show of +tucker-heaving diffidence which is so becoming in a pretty plump +downy-cheeked girl, prepared to commence the venerable chaunt, when a +noise resembling that produceable by the falling of an eight-and-forty +pound shot, echoed through the house. It appeared to descend from the +very top of the building, down each flight of stairs rapidly and +violently. It passed the room in which they were sitting, and rolled its +impetuous course downwards to the basement. As it seemed to leave the +hall, the parlour door was forced open, as if by a rude gust of wind, and +stood ajar. + +All the children were in a moment on their feet, huddled close to their +respective mothers in groups. Mrs. Harding rose and rang the bell to +inquire the meaning of the uproar. Her daughter-in-law, pale as ashes, +looked at George; but there was one of the party who moved not, who +stirred not; it was the elder Harding, whose eyes first fixed steadfastly +on the half-opened door, slowly followed the course of the wall of the +apartment to the fire-place;—there they rested. + +When the servants came, they said they had heard the noise, but thought +it proceeded from above. Harding looked at his wife; and then turning to +the servant, observed carelessly, that it must have been some noise in +the street, and desiring him to withdraw, entreated the bride to pursue +her song. She did; but the children had been too much alarmed to enjoy +it, and the noise had in its character something so strange and so +unearthly, that even the elders of the party, although bound not to admit +anything like apprehension before their offspring, felt extremely well +pleased when they found themselves at home. + +When the guests were gone, and George’s wife lighted her candle to retire +to rest, her father-in-law kissed her affectionately, and prayed God to +bless her. He then took a kind leave of his son, and putting up a +fervent prayer for his happiness, pressed him to his heart, and bade him +adieu with an earnestness which, under the common-place circumstance of a +temporary separation, was inexplicable to the young man. + +When Harding reached his bed-room, he spoke to his wife, and entreated +her to prepare her mind for some great calamity. + +‘What it is to be,’ said Harding, ‘where the blow is to fall I know not; +but it is over us this night!’ + +‘My life!’ exclaimed Mrs. Harding, ‘what new fancy is this?’ + +‘Eliza, love!’ answered her husband, in a tone of unspeakable agony, ‘I +have seen her for the third and last time.’ + +‘Who?’ + +‘MARTHA, THE GIPSY.’ + +‘Impossible,’ said Mrs. Harding, ‘you have not left the house to-day.’ + +‘True, my beloved,’ replied the husband; ‘but I have seen her. When that +tremendous noise was heard at supper, as the door was supernaturally +opened, I saw her. She fixed those dreadful eyes of her’s upon me; she +proceeded to the fire-place, and stood in the midst of the children, and +there she remained till the servant came in.’ + +‘My dearest husband,’ said Mrs. Harding, ‘this is but a disorder of the +imagination!’ + +‘Be it what it may,’ said he, ‘I have seen her. Human or +superhuman—natural or supernatural—there she was. I shall not strive to +argue upon a point where I am likely to meet with little credit: all I +ask is, pray fervently, have faith, and we will hope the misfortune, +whatever it is, may be averted.’ + +He kissed his wife’s cheek tenderly, and after a fitful feverish hour or +two fell into a slumber. + +From that slumber never awoke he more.—He was found dead in his bed in +the morning. + +‘Whether the force of imagination, coupled with the unexpected noise, +produced such an alarm as to rob him of life, I know not,’ said my +communicant; ‘but he was dead.’ + +The story was told me by my friend Ellis in walking from the City to +Harley-street late one evening; and when we came to this part of the +history we were in Bedford-square, at the dark and dreary corner of it +where Caroline-street joins it. + +‘And there,’ said Ellis, pointing downward, ‘is the street where the +circumstance occurred.’ + +‘Come, come,’ said I, ‘you tell the story well, but I suppose you do not +expect it to be received as gospel.’ + +‘Faith,’ said he, ‘I know so much of it that I was one of the +twelfth-night party, and heard the noise.’ + +‘But you did not see the spectre?’ cried I. + +‘No,’ replied Ellis, ‘I certainly did not.’ + +‘Nor anybody else,’ said I, ‘I’ll be sworn.’—A quick footstep was just +then heard behind us.—I turned half round to let the person pass, and saw +a woman enveloped in a red cloak, whose sparkling black eyes, shone upon +by the dim lustre of a lamp above her head, dazzled me.—I was +startled—‘Pray remember old MARTHA, THE GIPSY,’ said the hag. + +It was like a thunder-stroke.—I instantly slipped my hand into my pocket, +and hastily gave her three from a five-shilling piece. + +‘Thanks, my bonny one,’ said the woman, and setting up a shout of +contemptuous laughter she bounded down Caroline-street towards +Russell-street, singing, or rather yelling a wild air. + +Ellis did not speak during this scene—he pressed my arm tightly, and we +quickened our pace. We said nothing to each other till we turned into +Bedford-street, and the lights and passengers of Tottenham-court-road +re-assured us. + +‘What do you think of _that_?’ said Ellis to me. + +‘_Seeing is believing_,’ was my reply. + +I have never passed that dark corner of Bedford-square in the evening +since. + + + + +REMARKABLE FULFILMENT OF A PREDICTION. + + +A certain German author relates the following: + +In my younger days, there was a dinner given in the _Florenburg +Westphalen_, where I was born, on the occasion of a baptism to which a +clergyman was invited. During dinner, the conversation turned upon the +gravedigger of the place, who was well known on account of his +second-sight; for, as often as he saw a corpse, he was always telling +that there would be a funeral from such and such a house. Now, as the +event invariably took place, the inhabitants of the house he indicated +were placed by the man’s tale in the greatest anxiety. + +This man’s prophecying was an abomination to the clergyman. He therefore +forbade him, but all to no purpose; for the poor dolt, although he was a +drunkard, and a man of low and vulgar sentiments, believed firmly that it +was a prophetic gift of God, and that he must make it known, in order +that the people might still repent. At length the clergyman gave him +notice that, if he announced one funeral more, he should be deprived of +his place, and expelled from the village. This availed—the gravedigger +was silent from that time forward. Half a year afterward, in the autumn +of 1745, the gravedigger came to the clergyman, and said to him: ‘Sir, +you have forbidden me to announce any more funerals, and I have not done +so since, nor will I do it any more; but I must tell you something that +is particularly remarkable, that you may see that my second sight is +really true. In a few weeks a corpse will be brought up the meadow, +which will be drawn on a sledge by an ox.’ The clergyman seemingly paid +no attention to this, but listened to it with indifference, and replied: +‘Only go about your business, and leave off such superstitious follies. +It is sinful to have anything to do with them.’ + +Some weeks after a strong body of Austrian troops passed through the +village on their way to the Netherlands. While resting there a day, the +snow fell nearly three feet deep. At the same time, a woman died in +another village of the same parish. The military took away all the +horses out of the country to drag the waggons. Meanwhile the corpse lay +there, no horses came back; the body began to putrify; they were, +therefore, compelled to make a virtue of necessity—to place the corpse +upon a sledge, and harness an ox to it. + +In the meantime the clergyman, and the teacher with his scholars, +proceeded to the village to meet the corpse; and, as the funeral came +along the meadow in this array, the gravedigger came up to the clergyman, +pulled him by the gown, pointed with his finger toward the sledge, and +said not a word. + +Such was the tale as related by the clergyman. I was well acquainted +with the good man, and he was incapable of telling an untruth, much less +in a matter which contradicted all his principles. + + + + +PROVIDENTIAL FOREBODING. + + +IN the ‘Museum of Wonders,’ Vol. II., page 153, there is a striking +presentiment related, which Madame de Beaumont received from the lips of +a credible person. This individual had a friend in the country, who, +being unmarried, committed his domestic concerns to the care of an +housekeeper who had been with him for many years. When his birthday +arrived, he made many preparations for celebrating it, and told his +housekeeper in the morning to clean out a certain arbour in the garden, +which he named, because, as the weather was fine, he intended to pass the +day in it with his guests. She seeming quite amazed at this, told and +entreated him to receive his guests in a room, for she had last night in +her dream a presentiment that the arbour would that day be struck by +lightning. He laughed at the assertion, as there was no appearance of a +storm coming on that day, and he told her not to mind her foolish dream, +and to prepare the arbour for the reception of his guests. She did as +she was ordered, the guests arrived, and as the day was fine, made +themselves merry. But in the meantime clouds gathered in the distant +horizon and were at last powerfully driven to that place by the wind. +The company were so intent on their entertainment that they did not in +the least observe it: but scarcely was the housekeeper aware that the +storm was approaching, than she begged her master to leave the arbour +with his company, for she could not divest herself at all of the idea of +the lightning striking it. At first they would not listen, but at last, +when she continued her entreaties and the thunder commenced to approach +with great violence, they suffered themselves to be induced to leave the +arbour. Hardly had they reached the room when they heard a heavy crash +of thunder, and the quick following lightning struck the arbour and +dashed everything that had been left in it to pieces. + + + + +WONDERFUL PRESENTIMENT. + + +Madame Beaumont relates the following: + +My whole family still remember an accident from which my father was +preserved by a presentiment of danger. On one occasion, he agreed with a +party to sail to Port St. Osmer. When it was time to go on board, an +aunt of my father’s, who was deaf and dumb, uttered a kind of howl, +placed herself at the door, blocked up the way with her arms, struck her +hands together, and gave him, by signs, to understand that she conjured +him to stay at home. My father, who had promised himself much pleasure +from this excursion, only laughed at her entreaties; but the lady fell at +his feet, and manifested such signs of poignant grief, that he at length +determined to yield to her entreaties, and postponed his excursion to +Port St. Osmer until some other day. + +He therefore endeavoured to detain the rest also; but they laughed at him +for being so easily persuaded, and set sail. Scarcely had the vessel +proceeded half the distance, before those on board of it had the greatest +reason to repent that they had not followed his advice. Some serious +accidents happened to the vessel, so that it broke to pieces; several +lost their lives, and those who saved themselves by swimming were so much +terrified at their narrow escape, that they, with difficulty, got the +better of it. + +By some written statements the dumb afterwards made, it was shown that, +in the night preceding, she had an awful and life-like dream, in which it +seemed that the excursion-boat, which would set sail on the following day +for Port St. Osmer, would be wrecked; and that most of the persons on +board would either get drowned or barely escape. The warning angel found +that he could influence no one more effectually than the deaf and dumb +aunt; he therefore selected her for the execution of his commission. My +father, all his life, was profoundly thankful, both to her and the +guardian angel, for this providential warning and foreboding. + + * * * * * + + * * * * * + + PRINTED FOR THE BOOKSELLERS. + + * * * * * + + + + +NOTES. + + +{7} Or acknowledgment, which, by the tenure of some estates, is given +to every new lord of a manor. + +{10} The term used in this country for a lane. + +{16} A few years ago, (since the above was written) Mr. E of O—, was +killed by a fall from his horse, at his own gate, as he was returning +from hunting. + +{32a} The Duke of Buckingham (favourite of James and Charles I. who was +beheaded) assassinated by J. Felton. + +{32b} The Scots, who sold their King, Charles I. for a large sum of +money, to the English rebels. + +{32c} Supposed to have been the Marquis of Montrose. + +{33a} Supposed to have been Oliver Cromwell, at whose death the greatest +storm of wind happened that had been known in England. + +{33b} The plague and fire of London were here plainly foretold. + +{33c} The Great Yellow Fruit, supposed to have been the Prince of +Orange, King William III. + +{34} This was said in the book whence the PREDICTIONS were extracted, to +mean oppression of the poor. + +{43} It is reported that there is a room in this house the door and +windows of which are kept closely fastened, and no one is ever permitted +to enter the same except the next heir, when he attains his twenty-first +year, at which time he goes in alone and when he returns it is shut up as +before. + +{51} The original prophecy says, “Richard the son of Richard.” + +{184} Sir Walter Raleigh. + +{185a} Tobacco. + +{185b} The Potatoe. + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PROPHECIES OF ROBERT NIXON, MOTHER +SHIPTON, AND MARTHA, THE GYPSY*** + + +******* This file should be named 40962-0.txt or 40962-0.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/4/0/9/6/40962 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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