THose Accidents which are least expected, are either most dreadful, or most admirable: That which is common is contemned; and familiari­ty makes men disgust the most Noble, because Usual, works of God. The Occurrence of unexpected Casuali­ties breed Terrour; of unfrequent Wonder: This over­joys the Ears: That overwhelms the Mind. Here then I have a Subject will exercise the faculties of both Soul and Sense; If you have a mind to hear what former Ages have been seldome acquainted with, if to under­stand what later times may justly deprecate; I shall faithfully publish the Relation, and seriously examine the Events, of a late Accident, which may respond to both your desires. 'Tis pleasant to scann the variety of Natures operations, but grievous to pry into her Cryptick Machinations. The Tempest was amazing in facto, but will be terrible in futuro; 'twas repentine and violent, but will be significant and notable: But to the business.

Upon the 31 of May last. The Morning was calm, serene, and clear, at Ten of the Clock an uncouth and intense Heat of the Sun seem'd to scourge the moistned Plains, as if He would have redeem'd in a moment the continued Bathings They had been so long plung'd into, [Page 2] by the quick and penetrating stroaks of [...] redoubled Beams. This continued till about a quarter of an hour af­ter Noon; when presently a steddy and soft Wind see­m'd to dislodge from his Back,South-VVest, or South-west by South. and hoord up several Clouds and Vapors not far from our Zenith; Having obser'vd this, I forthwith erected a Scheme, and beheld the Position of the Heavens; from which I had no soo­ner learnt the impending Event, but immediately the presaged Storm came out of hand to attest the veracity of my judments.

A miraculous, dismal, and hideous Storm followed: First, a Cataegis, or rushing murmur was heard in the up­per Regions, which anon was felt in the lower: A huge, blustering, and boisterous Wind descended with such vehemence and irresistable force, that it proved inimical to antient Trees and anti (que) Edifices; was dan­gerous, if not destructive, to Way-faring Men, and out-laying Cattle; 'twas thick, and black, and with such violence reflected upon the Ter [...]ous Globe, that thereby it wheeled, and contorted it self into such windings, that it hoised up, and as it were absorbed, the more subtile, light, pulveriz'd and dry particles of the Terrestrial bodies, which had been divided and se­parated by the preceding Ardour of the Sun's scorching beames; these opacous particles were so gross and ma­ny, and so variously tossed in our Atmosphere, they denyed Us our Meridian Lustre of the Sun; for thse beams the upper Clouds transmitted, They terminated: So that without a contradiction, we might have asserted a Solar Eclipse, at two Signs Elongation of the Lumina­ries. Whereas other Subitaneous and Erratick Winds (as they call them) are usually distinguished into three Species, Arist Meteor. The Typhon, Prester and Ecnephias; This Thyel­la or Storm is reducible to none, but includes them all; The first blast was like the Ecnephiae, which are the effect [Page 3] of distracted and shattered Airy Clouds; Typhon pro­ceeds from the Fumigation of the clashing Vapors; and Prester is a Whirlewind intermixt with Fire, which were all visible in the time of this Storm's continuance. And the concomitant Thunder was no less astonishing, then the described Wind: for besides the frightful Claps at every Eruption, the Lightening was deadly, ruinous, and powerful▪ the Fulgur quick and Crispisulcant, and appeared several times to compose and distort its self to the Form and similitude of an Oxe's Horn▪ otherwhiles to the likeness of the Pyramidical flame of a burning Torch, or indeed not much unlike the Spiritual Cloven Tongues: This Coruscation comprehended those three Kinds of ominous and pernicious Sceptoe's: viz.Arist. Met. The Psoloes, fuliginous; killing and destroying the tender Herbs: Arges, rapid; blasting and smutting the hope­ful Fruits: and Elicias, morbiferous; and lineally compos'd according to the forementioned Figures. Lastly, the Rain was thick, strong, and ponderous; its fall caus'd the tender Scions as it were reverence it, and bow to its presence; several of the Drops were exten­ded to the full Breadth of a Six-penny-piece, which also followed one another so closely that They seemed one continued Spout or Stream; so that in less then half a quarter of an hour, these pouring Cataracts raised the water in a round and uniform Vessel of about 4 foot Di­amiter, near two Foot higher then before, without the asistance of any other interfluent Rivulet, or commixing water. Hesiod in his Theogonia decyphers a fictitious Tempest ad amussim, with all the expressive Terms that Horrour and Amazement can invent: But Truth de­lights in a plain Dress; such in Reality was This, as I have here described it; whose more immediate and direful effects, are sadly evident in several Instances, as [Page 4] in the Subversion of Bridges, the Discussion of Walls, and Demolition of Houses; the Despoliation of some Trees of their Boughs, and others of their Fruits, the E­radication of newly sown Seeds, the Exsiccation of those more deeply rooted, and a general either Deprivation or depravation of the Radical and vivificating moisture of all Trees, Herbs, Fruits and Plants: what the Wind left, the Rain beat down; and what That spared, the Lighten­ing struck: these are Tokens too evident.

Again, twas easy by a sleight Animadversion to un­derstand the Malitiousness of this Tempest, even from sensitive perceptions: You might have smell'd the Va­pours in their Descent, abounding (and therefore in­fecting subjacent Bodies) with Stench and Corruption: You might have beheld an unusual Proreption of Animalcles out of the Bowels of the Earth, hunting and searching about for Food, as sensible of some convenient Aliment, which they commonly extract out of corrup­ted matter: You might have tasted a vitious juice or moisture adhereing to the leaves of Vegetables, after­wards incorporated therein, and remaining a sure Ground for the Generation and Nourishment of Insects, Caterpillars &c. When the Vivific Energy of the Sun shall more powerfully work upon Them.

Now because such Events, with the vulgar, are usu­ally sealed immediato Dei vel Daemonis Digito, with the immediate Finger of God or the Devil, I shall essay to demonstrate this Phaenomenon to be the meer Result of Secundary Causes, and to salve it from the common Ob­servation of such like Contingencies, and the plain Operation of Physical Causes.

For consider: I suppose the Integral parts of all Sub­lunary Bodies, as the mixt Bodies of Earth, Water &c, to be minute, slender, sleight, and slippery, and accor­dingly [Page 5] as these parts are mingled and intertexed one with another. The Body is constituted Fluid or Solid &c: But I conceive, the Fluid Bodies are composed of Oblong, Solid Bodies of variously figurated, Particles; Now these Parts or Particles being Themselves compounded (according to the Corpuscularian Philosophers) of Self-moving Atoms, are either continual Movents or feasible Moveables: However, tis certain that by the diversly qualified Irradiations of aspected Planets, and chiefly of the two Luminaries, these Minute Particles are actuated or put in Motion; by which Motion or Agita­tion They are caused to ascend Upwards, without any inclination of their own; Because They find no other place, Cartesius Me­teor. To or By which they may more easily continuate their Motion, for their Natural Downwards is obstructed by the Earth; Just as the Dust being trampled upon, and put in Agita­tion by the prancing Feet of Coursers, assays Vpwards, although it have much more of an Internal Principle to retard such Motion. Those which are called Vapours are the parts of Fluid and more light Bodies, wherefore their Ascent is easily soluble; But the Exhalations, which are parts of Solid and more gross Bodies, I sup­pose to be wheedled Vpwards, being complicated in the Embraces of Ascendant Vapours. These Vapours then, being, as I said, agitated by the Influence of Celestial Bodies, are yet more forcibly struck and moved by the Intense Sun beams, as is manifest by Their then more frequent and apparent Ascent: And altho they be Oblong, yet in Their Ascension seem Globular, because of their ready and quick circumgiration, whereby They impel one another; till at length this Motion begin by litle and litle to languish and decay, when once, above the Atmosphere, they lose the Sun's reflex beams; and so at last, by the cold of the middle Region, cohere and [Page 6] stipate more close together; yet not altogether desti­tute of Motion, but retaining a Self-inflecting Activity, effectual to the conglomerating and reducing Them unto mutual Amplexes; whereby, together with con­trary Winds assistant to the Unition and Conjunction of their Vagabond parts, They concresce into Clouds. Whence tis evident, there are these causes prerequir'd to the Generation of Clouds, viz. The Superlunary Influence to exhale Vapours; gentle Winds to conjoyn Them; and sufficient Frigidity to congeal Them: which must all be duly contempered; and which never so joyntly and proportionally concur, as in the Spring, and hence proceeds the frequent Alteration of Weather in that Season.

But because I said, that Exhalations were carryed a­loft by their Adhesion to Vapours; 'tis to be noted how they are separed in the Superiour Regions; for We ob­serve that some Clouds are wholly Airy, others Watry, others Fiery, &c. which manifestly denotes That Ex­halations and Vapours are sometimes separated: Which will appear if we consider their Gravity or Levity; for 'tis plain that oft times the Gravity of Exhalations may stop their Course, and stay them behind, while the Light Vapours ascend higher; or sometimes They may be left alone, while That impells Downwards the more Volatile Vapours from them, which is not effectual to the moving of Them; or lastly They may be distin­guished by the constant Agitation of the Winds, like Butter from Milk.

Now therefore these Airy, Fiery, and Watry Clouds have large Superficies's considering their Matter, as Sense can testifie; and therefore are suffulted by the Air's Resistance, lest they should descend, even against their own Inclinations: but by the supervening Heat, and [Page 7] perhaps other Qualities of Celestial bodies, some (or all) of their Particles are Liquefacted, or otherwise prepa­red, and thereby unite the rest together more closely and compactly, and consequently become more Heavy (for ponderosity proceeds from the smallness or Paucity of Pores) till at length their own weight press and force them downwards; being adjuted sometime by an Im­pulse of the superiour, sometime by a Recess of the infe­riour Air; through which they are strained, and as it were sifted, so that accordingly as That is more laxe or presst, the Rain or Wind are greater or less; or as They connect with Analogus Vapours or Exhalations occurring in their Descent.

Thus you have seen in brief, the Manner of the As­cending and Cohereing of Vapours, the Impending and Descending of Clouds. All this happened to this Storm by a signal and suddain Concurrence; twas Signal, because Boisterous; Suddain, because Vnobserved.

The preceeding Serenity, Clearness and Emptiness of our Air, was the Reason, why the brisk, quick, and stated Southern Winds disburthened themselves here so fast of their Clouds (collected, exhaled and concreted in Forraign Countries) because of that Resistance was in the stuffed Air (circumscribing this pure Air of ours) less capable of admitting such grossly-coherent Clouds, being cloyed with such like before: or per­haps several opposite Winds blowing at the same time from opposite Plages (as has not been seldome observed) might terminate in Ours, and so Impell hither, dislodge themselves, and pile up, in our Vertex, several Clouds of different Contextures and Composures: and hence the Storm was made up of the Extreams of Wind, Thun­der, and Rain.

Amongst these Clouds being thus comping'd and penn'd up (on the South and West, by their proper [Page 8] Winds, on the East and North by the Closeness of the Air) the Celestial Powers bred intestine broils, and tu­multuous Strivings, whereupon Each meditated their Exit downwards, through the Lower Regions of the Air, being less Stipated, and more yeilding, then the other Circumambient: And This with the more Impe­tuosity, because of the more agitated (not rarified*) Par­ticles,As the Pe­ripateticks. assert. conspiring all to a Motion Deorsum, both by Natural Tendency, and Influential Impression; and with Difficulty overcoming obvious Remora's.

So, the Whirl-wind was caused when an Aerial and Superiour Cloud was dilated, (that is when his litle, long Particles put on a brisk and circular Motion, which required more Room then when they were almost quiet and still) by Superlunary Agents, and forcing his way through some narrow chink of an Inferiour Cloud, where it found least resistance, descended as it were per­pendicularly and from the Zenith; The manner where­of may be rarely exhibited in an Eolipile.

The Thunder was generated by a Tabulated and Com­piled Order of Oblong Clouds, the Superiours of Which, being forcibly condensed by Celestial Beams, and by that Condensation gravitated, and by that Gravity vio­lently detruded upon those subjected Clouds, caused a mighty Sound by their Impinging and Atrition there­upon, which rebounded in the Atmosphere; And be­cause the Exhalations were partly inflammable (such are the Spirits of Metalls, the Effluvia's of Sulphur, Ar­senick, Nitre, Ammoniack, Bitumen, Mercury, Camphire, Vitriol, Antimony and such like, abounding in the Bow­els of the Earth and emissed by Subterraneous Fires) therefore, I say, by this Elision and Attrition of the Clouds, Fire or Flame was accended; which Flame has us [...]lly those Effects, which are consequent to the Na­tures [Page 9] of the Exhalations or Vapours, whereof the Cloud is composed. The forementioned Variety of the Shapes of this Flame or Coruscation, I conjecture, to have born some Analogy, with their respective parts of the Superi­our striking, and clashing Cloud.

The Rain was generated by the hasty Resolution of an Inferiour Cloud, whose ponderous Ingredients pro­moted its Descent; The largeness of the Drops pro­ceeded partly from the other Vapours which coupled with them in their Rode to the Earth; but chiefly from the compactness of the Cloud, which may be said ra­ther to have been broken in peices, then resolved into parts: or perhaps, what is very probable, one watry Cloud fell upon another; so that in joynt Forces both mutually conspired to a Descent, and the drops of th' one, mixt with those of th' other.

Lastly, the ready Cessation of this Storm was caused by the few, but forcible, stroaks of the Superiour upon the Inferiour Clouds, which presently either totally de­jected, or dissipated Them.

Here suffer me to take a short digression, and make a parallel. We had a great, mighty, rushing Wind a few days before, the Apostles on the very day of, the Pen­tecost; That was Defluxus Caeli, This Exhalatio Terrae; That really came down from Heaven, This apparently; That filled only one place, This especially one; That happened where the Apostles and Disciples were gather­ed together, This where God's Ministers, Christ's Disciples are chiefly resident; That when men of dif­ferent Nations were dwelling at Jerusalem, Forreign Em­bassadours. This when men of different Countries were commorating in Eng­land: That brought Cloven Tongues, This their Si­militude; Those represented (with the Prophet) the Tongues, the best Member we have, Psal. 108. 1. These (with the A­postle) [Page 10] the worst Member we have; James 3. 6. That filled the Dis­ciples Hearts with the Holy Ghost, This the Peoples Hearts with Holy Thoughts; That caused Amazement, This Terrour; That was a certain Seal of his first come­ing in the Flesh, This may be a probable Sign of his second comeing in Glory; That was a Token of the plentiful Harvest of the Gospel of Christ, This of the scarce Crop of the Fruits of the Ground: The Summ of all is; That as the Spiritual Tempest was God's Ordinance and Method to prepare men for the Reception of the Holy Ghost, So this Natural one to awaken them to the Work of Repentance.

Thus I have endeavoured to trace out, and solve the unexpectedness of this Tempest; In all which I do not re­cur to that self-moving and subtile matter, which the Car­tesians so much dote upon; but allow the Celestial In­fluences to be the Principle Efficient, and Primary Movent in all such Accidents. For the Position of the Heavens did evidently manifest this Tempestuous Weather; and twas only the promising Sudum, made it unaccountable to the Vulgar, and the precedent Serenity of the upper Regions in our Zenith; which was permitted until the more effectual and continued darting of the Stellar beams upon the suddainly-coagulated Mass of Vapours; which after due, prepared, and sufficient operations, dissolv'd, dishevel'd and hurried Them downwards; And the more forcibly, because the more perpendicular Rayes of the Planets produced this so repentine Effect.

We find Mars, Sol and Mercury were pofited in Gemi­ni, where they had all some Essential Dignity just with­out the Cusp of the tenth house in the South South West Plage of Heaven, whence all this Storm arose; and we had all the rest of the Planets in or about medium Caeli in such an Hubbub and confused manner, as it was im­possible [Page 11] but some notable Effect should quickly follow; Observe the Congruity of this Position with the Storm, which seems to have been govern'd by the Influences of the Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Houses: The begin­ning of the Tempest was Wind, wherefore in the Ninth House we had the two Planets hot and dry by Nature, together with Ambiguous Mercury, in an Airy Sign: The middle was part Thunder, but most Rain, where­fore in the precise Tenth House we had a moist Planet in a Watry Sign; The end was most Thunder and part Rain, so in, and upon the Cusp, of the Eleventh House were the Planets (some of an hot and dry, others of a moist Nature) in a Fiery Sign; So that in all things the Storm was consonant to the Triplicities then possess'd by the Planets.

But as the Storm was rare, so its Effects, or rather Events, will be no less admirable: The Summer, I judge, will be pestered with many Showers, and abundance of disturbing Southerly Winds; Expect Diseases more rife; an universal Scarcity of wholesome, but Plenty of Noxious Fruits. Autumn will abound with Rain un­usual, and Sickness Epidemical; a Soultry, Dark, Cloudy and Unwholsome Season; and such unconstant Wea­ther, that the Husbandman will find it difficult to make the profit recompense his Labour this year: And to ga­ther empty Husks will be as great a Loss to him, as Grievance to the whole Nation. The Fields will be either scorched by interfering Ardour, or drowned by continual Moisture.

These are my Sentiments upon this unusual Accident; which seem to be more Ratified, by the preventional Comet, and postventional Conjunction; of the One I have already spoken, of the Other I intend to treat.

Search the Annals, and you may find what has been [Page 12] the usual Consequents of such like Tempests. Such an one happened in the Sixth of Hen. 3.Raph▪ Holins. whereupon fol­lowed a Dearth, an Earthquake, and a Comet. So in the Fifteenth of Richard 2. March 5. a suddain and terrible Tempest arose, with the violence whereof much hurt was done, after this ensued great Mortality by Pestilence, so that much Youths died every where, in Cities and Towns in passing great Numbers, herewith followed a great Dearth of Corn, so that a Bushel of Wheat in some places was sold at Thirteen-pence, which in those dayes was an exceeding great price: So in the Sixteenth of the same, were several such Tempests, whereby the Corn was spoiled, a Plague followed in Essex and a Dearth in Cambridge; And in the Fifth of Q. Mary was a signal Tempest of Wind, which Our's equall'd in violence not in continuance, and thereupon followed a great Mortality in the next Harvest, by Quartanes and other Epidemical Rotts. But more Instancies would be as unnecessary as tedious.

This therefore is the Flagellum Dei, to scourge the People's pride by blasting their Felicity: This is the de­nounced Wrath of God, to bring down their high minds by lopping of the Staff of their Bodies: But oh what Energy, what prevalency might a sincere Ninivitical Humiliation have against the Powers of Heaven! How might it wrest and extort Mercy from God, and avert these impending Catastrophies! which that you may all speedily set upon, is the hearty Desire, and earnest Prayer of