GReat and Terrible are the Wonderful Works of God in his Creation, and yet more amazing and stupen­dious, the Effects of them relating to the power and force he Arms the Elements withal, which demonstrates his Almightiness, and the weakness of our greatest Strength and Force; when he designs to baffle and over­throw them, even the Winds, the Sea, the Fire and the Aire, are In­struments [Page 4]of Might in his hand, and when he raises them up, who can stand before them? The Holy Scrip­ture tells us, The Earth trembles at his presence, and the foundations there­of are shaken; the Hills melt, and the Mountains smoak at his touch; he drys up the Deep with his looks, and at his Rebuke the Heavens flee away, and are rolled up together like a Scrowl.

These things should strike fear and awe into the hearts of Men, and make them tremble at so great a Ma­jesty; and amongst all these, Earth-quakes are very terrib [...]e and amazing; for how can we but tremble, when we feel the Frame of the Earth shake under us, the Foundations of the Round World totter, so that we know not in the Consternation and Confusion, whither to fly for safety!

This happens generally in Earth-quakes, of which we in our Age have had many sad Instances; people have been shaken out of their Habitations, [Page 5]or buried in the Rubbish, some swal­lowed up alive in the gaping brea­ches of the Earth; and indeed, all Contingencies of this nature have been very fearful and amazing: Eng­land, as many Histories make men­tion, has not been free at sundry times from these strange Convulsi­ons, and a trembling of it was felt near a Year [...]ince, here and in Ire­land at one and the same time: Naples and Lima have lately had their share, the one much shatter­ed, and the other quite demolished: But to leave what has been a few Years past, we come now to the present lamentable Subject of this Paper.

After what has been said relating to Earth-quakes, I shall instance those that have happened very lately: and because it is nearest and most in Me­mory, I shall first instance that which happened in England on the 8th. of September, the which though it did [Page 6]not any damage as yet heard of, was very terrible and amazing, because not frequent in these parts.

It happened after much Rain, in the former part of the Year, to be a very hot and dry Season in August and the beginning of September, and was on the day this happened, to be the first considerable Rain that had interve­ned, when between One and Two in the Afternoon it Raining hard, and being very Cloudy Weather, all on a sudden the Houses in London, Westminster, Wapping, Southwark, and many Miles d [...]stant, and (as we since have heard) almost throughout Eng­land, began to Rock and Dance as it were, to the great startling and amazement of the Inhabitants, some imagining the Foundations were sink­ing, others that they were possessed with Dizziness;, or Vertigo their heads by the unexpected motion, swiming with an unusual kind of Giddyness; Some conjectured it the sudden blow­ing [Page 7]up of Powder Mills near London; however, though the Cause was not in such a surprize presently known, yet the Stools, Chairs, Pewter, and other Houshold Utensils, moving, and as it were, taking an unusual Dance: The Streets were filled with people that left their Houses, some with Chil­dren in their Arms, others with Chil­dren following and crying after them; and although it gave but three Shakes, and those in about a Minutes space, yet so great was the Consternation, the people fearing a worse Effect, that their disturbance and disorder conti­nued a long time. Some old decayed Houses were a little shattered by the Shock, but we hear not of any that totally fell: Nor had it only its effects on Land, but on the Water, the Ri­ver of Thames tossing at that time, as if it had been a great Tempest, to the Admiration of those that were passing it; and a strange Murmuring in the Aire was heard, as of a sudden Whirl­wind; [Page 8]and those that came for many Miles from the adjacent parts, report, that its. Effects there were very fear­ful and surprizing. We have a parti­cular Account its Effects were felt at Shierness, Portsmouth▪ and many other places, but more sensibly at Cambridge, where the Colledge-Halls, and other Famous Structures of the University Rocked and Tottered exceedingly, as well as the meaner Buildings, whilst the affrighted Students and other In­habitants, run out trembling, as in o­ther places; though, through Gods wonderful Mercy, it only Frighted, without occasioning any extraordina­ry Damage, as usually attends Earth-quakes; for which Let us Praise and Magnifie his Holy Name, since other Nations have not been so preserved, as in the following Account will more evi­dently appear.

Few, we believe, there are in England, but have heard of the Fa­mous Island of Jamaco, taken by the English from the Spaniards, in their Expedition to the West-Indies, 1653. an Island then very Fruitful, but since more plentifully improved, but more especially it has been noted for the Terrible Earth-quake lately happening there: some signs of an Earth-quake appeared by the paleness of the Sun at setting, dullness of the stars in the Night, thickness and grossness of the Aire, the unusual murmuring of the Winds, and huge swelling of the Sea; the which on the 7th. of July about Noon, broke out by the Harbour side in Port-Royal, and did great Damage upon the Island, throwing down there many Houses, but on the Harbour divers of the Houses sunk down, from three to five Fathom, in a very short space, computed at no more than a Minute: And what was yet [Page 10]more fearful, in the Streets next the Wharf, the Ground opened, with fearful Gapings, out of which issued such abundance of Water, that di­vers of the Inhabitants were drown­ed in the Flood, which came out like a mighty Deluge, the Breach being very wide and deep: The other part of the Town that escaped the Water, was very much shatter­ed, so that the people were forced to fly from them, some being much Wounded by the falling Ruins, and some are supposed to have perished in them; but those who had lost their Habitations and escaped, were taken care of by order of the Ma­gistrates, who took great care for their safety and subsistance.

The Swan Frigat that was Ca­reening on the Wharf, and not able to get off, was driven in among the ruined Buildings, and Stones of the VVorks where she was, beaten to pieces, and the trembling of the Earth continued for a long time; the Sea seemed to Swell more than usual, and boile up, as being extra­ordinarily Agitated.

During this Disorder in the Island, it happened that divers French Ves­sels came in to the Northward, and Landed about Three Hundred Men, doing some little Damage: where­upon their Majesties Ship the Guern­sey, being a Man of VVar, and some Sloops, took a Compass to come in with them, and fell so successfully upon them, that having battered the French Vessels a while, they set them on Fire, and so warily plyed those on the Land, that they were all cut off, except Eighteen that got [Page 12]off in a Shallop and narrowly e­scaped the fury of our Men, who in this Action got some considerable Booty: So that as our people suf­fered by the Earth-quake, against which there is no contending, or at least preventing, in humane power or possibility, the French bore a part in this, or a more shameful Misfor­tune, by being overthrown with a small number, when they had, no doubt, promised themselves great things from this attempt, as being at great Charge to enterprize it; and indeed, it happened at such a time as might have promised them better success than they met with­al; So leaving them to their deser­ved Fate, we come to make some Remarks upon the Earth-quake.

The extraordinary Fury that did this Execution, we find was so sudden and unexpected, that divers people more than did, must have perished in the Waters, and the Ru­ins [Page 13]of the tottering Houses, that could not presently be known who they were; for by the report of se­veral that were Spectators of their lamentable Misfortune, the blowing up was so swift, as if it had been a Train of Powder laid under some mighty Pile of Buildings; yet they thought in that combustible Confu­sion, they heard the Cry of the mi­ferable people that perished; but as soon as the Terr [...]r and Consternati­on was over, all diligence and care was used to save and succour those that had got off, and the people e­very where shewed their extraordi­nary Charity towards them, and commiserated their sufferings; and the Enemy, as you have heard, who came to make advantage and insult over their Miseries in this great Ca­lamity, not only lost his expectation, but was utterly Routed; so that these distressed people in the midst of dan­ger, found Mercy and Deliverance.

These kind of Earth-quakes are in themselves very Ter­rible, and are occasioned by an Exhalation of Hot and Cold that is enclosed in the Caves of the Earth, strugling there to find passage and break forth, and forces out violent­ly when it comes into so nar­row a passage that it cannot find wideness enough to breathe, being more violent in shaking the Earth, sometimes rending and cleaving it, at other times casting up Earth a great height into the Aire, and sometimes it causeth it to sink to great depths, as in the present case.