Labour, with all the Care and Speed we can to Divert the _Great Wrath_
of Heaven from coming at the same time upon us. The God of Heaven has
with long and loud Admonitions, been calling us to _a Reformation of our
Provoking Evils_, as the only way to avoid that _Wrath_ of His, which
does not only _Threaten_ but _Consume_ us. 'Tis because we have been
Deaf to those _Calls_ that we are now by a provoked God, laid open to
the _Wrath_ of the Devil himself. It is said in _Pr. 16.17._ _When a mans
ways please the Lord, he maketh even his Enemies to be at peace with
him._ The Devil is our grand _Enemy_; and tho' we would not be at peace
_with_ him, yet we would be at peace from him, that is, we would have
him unable to disquiet our _peace_. But inasmuch as the _wrath_ which we
endure from this _Enemy_, will allow us no _peace_, we may be sure, _our
ways have not pleased the Lord._ It is because we have _broken the
hedge_ of Gods _Precepts_, that the hedge of Gods _Providence_ is not so
entire as it uses to be about us; but _Serpents_ are _biting_ of us. O
let us then set our selves to make our _peace_ with our God, whom we
have _displeased_ by our iniquities: and let us not imagine that we can
encounter the _Wrath_ of the Devil, while there is the _Wrath_ of God
Almighty to set that Mastiff upon us. REFORMATION! REFORMATION! has been
the repeated _Cry_ of all the Judgments that have hitherto been upon us;
because we have been as _deaf Adders_ thereunto, the _Adders_ of the
Infernal Pit are now hissing about us. At length, as it was of old said,
_Luke 16.30._ _If one went unto them from the dead, they will repent;_
even so, there are some come unto us from the _Damned_. The great God
has loosed the Bars of the Pit, so that many _damned Spirits_ are come
in among us, to make us _repent_ of our Misdemeanours. The means which
the Lord had formerly employ'd for our _awakening_, were such, that he
might well have said, _What could I have done more?_ and yet after all,
he has done _more_, in some regards, than was ever done for the
awakening of any People in the World. The things now done to awaken our
Enquiries after our _provoking Evils_, and our endeavours to Reform
those Evils, are most _extraordinary_ things; for which cause I would
freely speak it, if we now do not some _extraordinary_ things in
returning to God; we are the most _incurable_, and I wish it be not
quickly said, the most _miserable_ People under the Sun. Believe me,
'tis a time for all people to do something _extraordinary, in searching
and trying of their ways, and in turning to the Lord_. It is at an
_extraordinary_ rate of _Circumspection_ and _Spiritual mindedness_,
that we should all now maintain a _walk with God_. At such a time as
this ought _Magistrates_ to do something _extraordinary_ in promoting of
what is laudable, and in restraining and chastising of _Evil Doers_. At
such a time as this ought _Ministers_ to do something _extraordinary_ in
pulling the Souls of men out of the _Snares_ of the Devil, not only by
publick Preaching, but by personal Visits and Counsels, _from house to
house_. At such a time as this ought _Churches_ to do something
_extraordinary_, in _renewing_ of their Covenants, and in _remembring_,
and _reviving_ the Obligations of what they have renewed. Some admirable
Designs about the _Reformation_ of Manners, have lately been on foot in
the English Nation, in pursuance of the most excellent Admonitions which
have been given for it, by the Letters of Their Majesties. Besides the
vigorous Agreements of the _Justices_ here and there in the Kingdom,
assisted by godly Gentlemen and Informers, to Execute the _Laws_ upon
prophane Offenders; there has been started a _Proposal_ for the
well-affected people in every Parish, to enter into orderly _Societies_,
whereof every Member shall bind himself, not only to _avoid_
Prophaneness in himself, but also according unto to their Place, to do
their utmost in first _Reproving_; and, if it must be so, then
_Exposing_, and so _Punishing_, as the Law directs, for others that
shall be guilty. It has been observed, that the English Nation has had
some of its greatest Successes, upon some special and signal _Actions_
this way; and a discouragement given under Legal Proceedings of this
kind, must needs be very exercising to the _Wise that observe these
things_. But, O why should not _New-England_ be the most forward part of
the English Nation in such _Reformations_? Methinks I hear the Lord from
Heaven saying over us, _O that my People had hearkened unto me; then I
should soon have subdued the Devils, as well as their other Enemies!_
There have been some feeble Essays towards _Reformation_ of late in our
_Churches_; but, I pray what comes of them? Do we stay till the _Storm_
of his _Wrath_ be over? Nay, let us be doing what we can, as fast as we
can, to divert the _Storm_. The Devils having broke in upon our World,
there is great asking, _Who is it that has brought them in?_ And many
do by _Spectral_ Exhibitions come to be _cry'd out_ upon. I hope in Gods
time it will be found, that among those that are thus _cry'd out_ upon,
there are persons yet _Clear from the great Transgression_; but indeed,
all the _Unreformed_ among us, may justly be _cry'd out_ upon, as having
too much of an hand in letting of the Devils into our Borders; 'tis
_our_ Worldliness, _our_ Formality, _our_ Sensuality, and _our_ Iniquity
that has help'd this letting of the Devils in. O let us then at last,
_consider our ways_. 'Tis a strange passage recorded by Mr. _Clark_ in
the Life of his Father, That the People of his Parish, refusing to be
Reclaimed from their _Sabbath breaking_, by all the zealous Testimonies
which that good Man bore against it; at last, on a night after the
people had retired home from a Revelling Prophanation of the _Lords
Day_, there was heard a great Noise, with rattling of Chains up and down
the Town, and an horrid Scent of Brimstone fill'd the Neighbourhood.
Upon which the _guilty Consciences_ of the Wretches told them, the Devil
was come to fetch them away; and it so terrifi'd them, that an Eminent
_Reformation_ follow'd the Sermons which that Man of God Preached
thereupon. Behold, Sinners, behold and _wonder_, lest you _perish_: the
very _Devils_ are walking about our Streets, with lengthened _Chains_,
making a dreadful Noise in our Ears, and _Brimstone_ even without a
Metaphor, is making an hellish and horrid stench in our Nostrils. I pray
leave off all those things whereof your _guilty Consciences_ may now
accuse you, lest these Devils do yet more direfully fall upon you.
_Reformation_ is at this time our only _Preservation_.
_IV._ When the Devil is come down in _great Wrath_, let every _great
Vice_ which may have a more particular tendency to make us a Prey unto
that _Wrath_, come into a due discredit with us. It is the general
Concession of all men, who are not become too _Unreasonable_ for common
Conversation, that the Invitation of _Witchcrafts_ is the thing that has
now introduced the Devil into the midst of us. I say then, let not only
all _Witchcrafts_ be duly abominated with us, but also let us be duly
watchful against all the _Steps_ leading thereunto. There are lesser
_Sorceries_ which they say, are too frequent in our Land. As it was said
in _2 King. 17.9._ _The Children of +Israel+ did secretly those things
that were not right, against the Lord their God._ So 'tis to be feared,
the Children of _New-England_ have _secretly_ done many things that have
been pleasing to the Devil. They say, that in some Towns it has been an
usual thing for People to cure Hurts with _Spells_, or to use detestable
Conjurations, with _Sieves_, _Keys_, and _Pease_, and _Nails_, and
_Horse-shoes_, and I know not what other Implements, to learn the things
for which they have a forbidden, and an impious _Curiosity_. 'Tis in the
Devils Name, that such things are done; and in Gods Name I do this day
charge them, as vile Impieties. By these Courses 'tis, that People play
upon _The Hole of the Asp_, till that cruelly venemous _Asp_ has pull'd
many of them into the deep _Hole_ of _Witchcraft_ it self. It has been
acknowledged by some who have sunk the deepest into this _horrible Pit_,
that they began at these little _Witchcrafts_; on which 'tis pity but
the Laws of the English Nation, whereby the incorrigible repetition of
those _Tricks_, is made _Felony_, were severely Executed. From the like
sinful _Curiosity_ it is, that the Prognostications of _Judicial
Astrology_, are so injudiciously regarded by multitudes among us; and
altho' the Jugling _Astrologers_ do scarce ever hit right, except it be
in such _Weighty Judgments_, forsooth, as that many _Old Men_ will die
such a year, and that there will be many _Losses_ felt by some that
venture to Sea, and that there will be much _Lying_ and _Cheating_ in
the World; yet their foolish Admirers will not be perswaded but that the
Innocent _Stars_ have been concern'd in these Events. It is a disgrace
to the English Nation, that the Pamphlets of such idle, futil, trifling
_Stargazers_ are so much considered; and the Countenance hereby given to
a Study, wherein at last, all is done by _Impulse_, if any thing be done
to any purpose at all, is not a little perillous to the Souls of Men. It
is (_a Science_, I dare not call it, but) a _Juggle_, whereof the
Learned _Hall_ well says, _It is presumptuous and unwarrantable, and
cry'd ever down by Councils and Fathers, as unlawful, as that which lies
in the mid-way between Magick and Imposture, and partakes not a little
of both._ Men consult the Aspects of Planets, whose Northern or Southern
motions receive denominations from a _Caelestial Dragon_, till the
_Infernal Dragon_ at length insinuate into them, with a _Poison_ of
_Witchcraft_ that can't be cured. Has there not also been a world of
_discontent_ in our Borders? 'Tis no wonder, that the _fiery Serpents_
are so Stinging of us; We have been a most _Murmuring Generation_. It is
not Irrational, to ascribe the late Stupendious growth of _Witches_
among us, partly to the bitter _discontents_, which Affliction and
Poverty has fill'd us with: it is inconceivable, what advantage the
Devil gains over men, by _discontent_. Moreover, the Sin of _Unbelief_
may be reckoned as perhaps the chief _Crime_ of our Land. We are told,
_God swears in wrath, against them that believe not;_ and what follows
then but this, _That the Devil comes unto them in wrath?_ Never were the
offers of the _Gospel_, more freely tendered, or more basely despised,
among any People under the whole Cope of Heaven, than in this _N. E._
Seems it at all marvellous unto us, that the _Devil_ should get such
footing in our Country? Why, 'tis because the _Saviour_ has been
slighted here, perhaps more than any where. The Blessed Lord Jesus
Christ has been profering to us, _Grace, and Glory, and every good
thing_, and been alluring of us to Accept of Him, with such Terms as
these, _Undone Sinner, I am All; Art thou willing that I should be thy
All?_ But, as a proof of that Contempt which this Unbelief has cast upon
these proffers, I would seriously ask of the so many Hundreds above a
Thousand People within these Walls; which of you all, O how few of you,
can indeed say, _Christ is mine, and I am his, and he is the Beloved of
my Soul?_ I would only say thus much: When the precious and glorious
Jesus, is Entreating of us to Receive _Him_, in all His _Offices_, with
all His _Benefits_; the Devil minds what Respect we pay unto that
Heavenly Lord; if we _Refuse Him that speaks from Heaven_, then he that,
_Comes from Hell_, does with a sort of claim set in, and cry out, _Lord,
since this Wretch is not willing that thou shouldst have him, I pray,
let me have him._ And thus, by the just vengeance of Heaven, the Devil
becomes a _Master_, a _Prince_, a _God_, unto the miserable Unbelievers:
but O what are many of them then hurried unto! All of these Evil
Things, do I now set before you, as _Branded_ with the Mark of the Devil
upon them.
_V._ With _Great Regard_, with _Great Pity_, should we Lay to Heart the
Condition of those, who are cast into Affliction, by the _Great Wrath_
of the Devil. There is a Number of our Good Neighbours, and some of them
very particularly noted for Goodness and Vertue, of whom we may say,
_Lord, They are vexed with Devils._ Their Tortures being primarily
Inflicted on their _Spirits_, may indeed cause the Impressions thereof
upon their Bodies to be the less _Durable_, tho' rather the more
_Sensible_: but they Endure Horrible Things, and many have been actually
Murdered. Hard _Censures_ now bestow'd upon these poor Sufferers, cannot
but be very Displeasing unto our Lord, who, as He said, about some that
had been Butchered by a _Pilate_, in _Luc. 13.2, 3._ _Think ye that these
were Sinners above others, because they suffered such Things? I tell you
No, But except ye Repent, ye shall all likewise Perish:_ Even so, he now
says, _Think ye that they who now suffer by the Devil, have been greater
Sinners than their Neighbours?_ No, Do you Repent of your _own Sins_,
Lest the Devil come to fall foul of _you_, as he has done to _them_. And
if this be so, How _Rash_ a thing would it be, if such of the poor
Sufferers, as carry it with a Becoming Piety, Seriousness, and
Humiliation under their present Suffering, should be unjustly
_Censured_; or have their very _Calamity_ imputed unto them as a
_Crime_? It is an easie thing, for us to fall into the Fault of, _Adding
Affliction to the Afflicted_, and of, _Talking to the Grief of those
that are already wounded_. Nor can it be wisdom to slight the Dangers of
such a Fault. In the mean time, We have no Bowels in us, if we do not
Compassionate the Distressed County of _Essex_, now crying to all these
Colonies, _Have pity on me, O ye my Friends, Have pity on me, for the
Hand of the Lord has Touched me, and the Wrath of the Devil has been
therewithal turned upon me._ But indeed, if an hearty _pity_ be due to
any, I am sure, the Difficulties which attend our Honourable _Judges_,
do demand no Inconsiderable share in that _Pity_. What a Difficult, what
an Arduous Task, have those Worthy Personages now upon their Hands? To
carry the _Knife_ so exactly, that on the one side, there may be no
Innocent Blood Shed, by too unseeing a _Zeal for the Children of
Israel_; and that on the other side, there may be no Shelter given to
those Diabolical _Works of Darkness_, without the Removal whereof we
never shall have _Peace_; or to those _Furies_ whereof several have
kill'd _more people_ perhaps than would serve to make a Village: _Hic
Labor, Hoc Opus est!_ O what need have we, to be concerned, that the
Sins of our _Israel_, may not provoke the God of Heaven to leave his
_Davids_, unto a wrong Step, in a matter of such Consequence, as is now
before them! Our Disingenuous, Uncharitable, Unchristian Reproaching of
such _Faithful Men_, after all, _The Prayers and Supplications, with
strong Crying and Tears_, with which we are daily plying the Throne of
Grace, that they may be kept, from what _They Fear_, is none of the way
for our preventing of what _We Fear_. Nor all this while, ought our
_Pity_ to forget such _Accused_ ones, as call for indeed our most
Compassionate _Pity_, till there be fuller Evidences that they are less
worthy of it. If _Satan_ have any where maliciously brought upon the
_Stage_, those that have hitherto had a just and good stock of
Reputation, for their just and good Living, among us; If the _Evil One_
have obtained a permission to _Appear_, in the Figure of such as we have
cause to think, have hitherto _Abstained_, even from the _Appearance of
Evil_: It is in Truth, such an Invasion upon _Mankind_, as may well
Raise an Horror in us all: But, O what Compassions are due to such as
may come under such Misrepresentations, of the _Great Accuser_! Who of
us can say, what may be shewn in the _Glasses_ of the Great _Lying
Spirit_? Altho' the _Usual Providence_ of God [we praise Him!] keeps us
from such a Mishap; yet where have we an _Absolute Promise_, that we
shall every one always be kept from it? As long as _Charity_ is bound to
Think _no Evil_, it will not Hurt us that are _Private Persons_, to
forbear the _Judgment_ which belongs not unto us. Let it rather be our
Wish, May the Lord help them to Learn the _Lessons_, for which they are
now put unto so hard a School.
_VI._ With a _Great Zeal_, we should lay hold on the _Covenant_ of God,
that we may secure _Us_ and _Ours_, from the _Great Wrath_, with which
the Devil Rages. Let us come into the _Covenant of Grace_, and then we
shall not be hook'd into a _Covenant with the Devil_, nor be altogether
unfurnished with Armour, against the Wretches that are in that
_Covenant_. The way to come under the Saving Influences of the _New
Covenant_, is, to close with the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the
All-sufficient _Mediator_ of it: Let us therefore do, _that_, by
Resigning up our selves unto the Saving, Teaching, and Ruling Hands of
this Blessed _Mediator_. Then we shall be, what we read in _Jude 1._
_Preserved in Christ Jesus_: That is, as the _Destroying Angel_, could
not meddle with such as had been distinguished, by the Blood of the
_Passeover_ on their Houses: Thus the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ,
Sprinkled on our Souls, will _Preserve_ us from the Devil. The _Birds of
prey_ (and indeed the _Devils_ most literally in the shape of great
_Birds_!) are flying about. Would we find a Covert from these
_Vultures_? Let us then Hear our Lord Jesus from Heaven Clocquing unto
us, _O that you would be gathered under my wings!_ Well; When this is
done, Then let us own the _Covenant_, which we are now come into, by
joining our selves to a Particular _Church_, walking in the Order of the
Gospel; at the doing whereof, according to that _Covenant_ of God, We
give up Our selves unto the Lord, and in Him unto One Another. While
others have had their Names Entred in the _Devils Book_; let our Names
be found in the _Church Book_, and let us be _Written among the Living
in Jerusalem_. By no means let, _Church work_ sink and fail in the midst
of us; but let the Tragical Accidents which now happen, exceedingly
Quicken that _work_. So many of the _Rising Generation_, utterly
forgetting the Errand of our Fathers to build Churches in this
Wilderness, and so many of our _Cottages_ being allow'd to Live, where
they do not, and perhaps cannot, wait upon God with the Churches of His
People; 'tis as likely as any one thing to procure the swarmings of
_Witch crafts_ among us. But it becomes us, with a like Ardour, to bring
our poor _Children_ with us, as we shall do, when we come our selves,
into the _Covenant_ of God. It would break an heart of Stone, to have
seen, what I have lately seen; Even poor Children of several Ages, even
from seven to twenty, more or less, _Confessing_ their Familiarity with
Devils; but at the same time, in Doleful bitter Lamentations, that made
a little Pourtraiture of _Hell_ it self, Expostulating with their
execrable Parents, for _Devoting_ them to the Devil in their Infancy,
and so _Entailing_ of Devillism upon them! Now, as the Psalmist could
say, _My Zeal hath consumed me, because my Enemies have forgotten thy
words:_ Even so, let the Nefarious wickedness of those that have
Explicitly dedicated their Children to the Devil, even with Devilish
Symbols, of such a Dedication, Provoke our _Zeal_ to have our Children,
Sincerely, Signally, and openly _Consecrated_ unto God; with an
_Education_ afterwards assuring and confirming that Consecration.
_VII._ Let our _Prayer_ go up with great Faith, against the Devil, that
comes down in great Wrath. Such is the Antipathy of the Devil to our
_Prayer_, that he cannot bear to stay long where much of it is: Indeed
it is _Diaboli Flagellum_, as well as, _Miseriae Remedium_; the Devil
will soon be Scourg'd out of the Lord's Temple, by a _Whip_, made and
used, with the _effectual fervent Prayer of Righteous Men_. When the
Devil by Afflicting of us, drives us to our Prayers, he is _The Fool
making a Whip for his own Back_. Our Lord said of the Devil in _Matt.
17.21._ _This Kind goes not out, but by Prayer and Fasting._ But,
_Prayer and Fasting_ will soon make the Devil be gone. Here are _Charms_
indeed! Sacred and Blessed _Charms_, which the Devil cannot stand
before. A Promise of God, being well managed in the _Hands_ of them that
are much upon their Knees, will so resist the Devil, that he will _Flee
from us_. At every other Weapon the Devils will be too hard for us; the
_Spiritual Wickednesses in High Places_, have manifestly the Upper hand
of us; that _Old Serpent_ will be too old for us, too cunning, too
subtil; they will soon _out wit_ us, if we think to Encounter them with
any _Wit_ of our own. But when we come to _Prayers_, Incessant and
Vehement _Prayers_ before the Lord, there we shall be too hard for them.
When well-directed _Prayers_, that great Artillery of Heaven, are
brought into the Field, _There_ methinks I see, _There are these workers
of Iniquity fallen, all of them!_ And who can tell, how much the most
_Obscure Christian_ among you all, may do towards the Deliverance of our
Land from the Molestations which the Devil is now giving to us. I have
Read, That on a day of Prayer kept by some good People for and with a
Possessed Person, the Devil at last flew out of the Window, and
referring to a Devout, plain, mean Woman then in the Room, he cry'd out,
_O the Woman behind the Door! 'Tis that Woman that forces me away!_ Thus
the Devil that now troubles us, may be forced within a while to forsake
us; and it shall be said, _He was driven away by the Prayers of some
Obscure and Retired Souls, which the World has taken but little notice
of!_ The Great God is about a _Great Work_ at this day among us: Now,
there is extream Hazard, lest the Devil by Compulsion must submit to
that _Great Work_, may also by _Permission_, come to Confound that
_Work_; both in the Detections of some, and in the Confessions of
others, whose Ungodly deeds may be brought forth, by a _Great Work_ of
God; there is great Hazard lest the Devil intertwist some of his
Delusions. 'Tis PRAYER, I say, 'tis PRAYER, that must carry us well
through the strange things that are now upon us. Only that Prayer must
then be the Prayer of Faith: O where is our Faith in him, Who _hath
spoiled these Principalities and Powers, on his Cross, Triumphing over
them_!
_VIII._ Lastly, Shake off, every Soul, shake off the _hard Yoak_ of the
Devil. Where 'tis said, _The whole World lyes in Wickedness;_ 'tis by
some of the Ancients rendred, _The whole World lyes in the Devil._ The
Devil is a Prince, yea, the Devil is a God unto all the Unregenerate;
and alas, there is _A whole World of them_. Desolate Sinners, consider
what an horrid Lord it is that you are Enslav'd unto; and Oh shake off
your Slavery to such a Lord. Instead of _him_, now make your Choice of
the Eternal God in Jesus Christ; Chuse him with a most unalterable
Resolution, and unto him say, with _Thomas_, _My Lord, and my God!_ Say
with the Church, _Lord, other Lords have had the Dominion over us, but
now thou alone shalt be our Lord for ever._ Then instead of your
Perishing under the wrath of the Devils, God will fetch you to a place
among those that fill up the Room of the Devils, left by their Fall from
the Ethereal Regions. It was a most awful Speech made by the Devil,
Possessing a young Woman, at a Village in _Germany_, _By the command of
God, I am come to Torment the Body of this young Woman, tho I cannot
hurt her Soul; and it is that I may warn Men, to take heed of sinning
against God._ _Indeed_ (said he) _'tis very sore against my will that I
do it; but the command of God forces me to declare what I do; however I
know that at the Last Day, I shall have more Souls than God himself._
So spoke that horrible Devil! But O that none of our Souls may be found
among the Prizes of the Devil, in the Day of God! O that what the Devil
has been forced to declare, of his Kingdom among us, may prejudice our
Hearts against him for ever!
My Text says, _The Devil is come down in great Wrath, for he has but a
short time._ Yea, but if you do not by a speedy and through Conversion
to God, escape the Wrath of the Devil, you will your selves go down,
where the Devil is to be, and you will there be sweltring under the
Devils Wrath, not for a _short Time_, but, _World without end_; not for
a _Short Time_, but for _Infinite Millions of Ages_. The smoak of your
Torment under that Wrath, will _Ascend for ever and ever_! Indeed, the
Devil's time for his Wrath upon you in this World, can be but short, but
his time for you to do his Work, or, which is all one, to delay your
turning to God, that is a _Long Time_. When the Devil was going to be
Dispossessed of a Man, he Roar'd out, _Am I to be Tormented before my
time?_ You will _Torment_ the Devil, if you Rescue your Souls out of his
hands, by true Repentance: If once you begin to look that way, he'll Cry
out, _O this is before my Time, I must have more Time, yet in the
Service of such a guilty Soul._ But, I beseech you, let us join thus to
torment the Devil, in an holy Revenge upon him, for all the Injuries
which he has done unto us; let us tell him, _Satan, thy time with me is
but short, Nay, thy time with me shall be no more; I am unutterably
sorry that it has been so much; Depart from me thou Evil-Doer, that
would'st have me to be an Evil Doer like thy self; I will now for ever
keep the Commandments of that God, in whom I Live and Move, and have my
Being!_ The Devil has plaid a fine Game for himself indeed, if by his
troubling of our Land, the Souls of many People should come to _think
upon their ways, till even they turn their Feet into the Testimonies of
the Lord_. Now that the Devil may be thus outshot in his own Bow, is the
desire of all that love the Salvation of God among us, as well as of
him, who has thus Addressed you. _Amen._
* * * * *
Having thus discoursed on the _Wonders of the Invisible World_, I shall
now, with God's help, go on to relate some Remarkable and Memorable
Instances of _Wonders_ which that _World_ has given to ourselves. And
altho the chief Entertainment which my Readers do expect, and shall
receive, will be a true History of what has occurred, respecting the
WITCHCRAFTS wherewith we are at this day Persecuted; yet I shall choose
to usher in the mention of those things, with
A NARRATIVE OF AN APPARITION WHICH
A GENTLEMAN IN BOSTON, HAD OF HIS BROTHER,
JUST THEN MURTHERED IN LONDON.
It was on the Second of _May_ in the Year 1687, that a most ingenious,
accomplished and well-disposed Gentleman, Mr. _Joseph Beacon_, by Name,
about Five a Clock in the Morning, as he lay, whether Sleeping or Waking
he could not say, (but judged the latter of them) had a View of his
Brother then at _London_, altho he was now himself at Our _Boston_,
distanced from him a thousand Leagues. This his Brother appear'd unto
him, in the Morning about Five a Clock at _Boston_, having on him a
_Bengal_ Gown, which he usually wore, with a Napkin tyed about his Head;
his Countenance was very Pale, Gastly, Deadly, and he had a bloody Wound
on one side of his Fore-head. _Brother!_ says the Affrighted _Joseph_.
_Brother!_ Answered the Apparition. Said _Joseph_, _What's the matter
Brother? How came you here!_ The Apparition replied, _Brother, I have
been most barbarously and injuriously Butchered, by a Debauched Drunken
Fellow, to whom I never did any wrong in my Life._ Whereupon he gave a
particular Description of the Murderer; adding, _Brother, This Fellow
changing his Name, is attempting to come over unto +New-England+, in
+Foy+, or +Wild+; I would pray you on the first Arrival of either of
these, to get an Order from the Governor, to Seize the Person, whom I
have now described; and then do you Indict him for the Murder of me your
Brother: I'll stand by you and prove the Indictment._ And so he
Vanished. Mr. _Beacon_ was extreamly astonished at what he had seen and
hear'd; and the People of the Family not only observed an extraordinary
Alteration upon him, for the Week following, but have also given me
under their Hands a full Testimony, that he then gave them an Account of
this Apparition.