CHAP. I. Of the Soul-Bell, its Antiquity, the Reason of its Institution, the Benefit and Ad­vantage of it, an Exhortation to the Use of it according to its first Institution.

THE Ceremony of Tolling the Bell at the Time of Death, seems to be as ancient as the having of Bells themselves; we are told, ^* it was about the seventh Century when Bells were first in the Church, and that venerable Bede is the first [Page 2] that mentions them. If this be true, then it is as true, that the Tolling of the Bell was insti­tuted about that Time; for where our Coun­try-man mentions the Word Campana, or Bell, there it also is, that we find a Bell made use of for the Dead: ^* For at the Death of the Abbess St. Hilda, he tells us that one of the Si­sters of a distant Monastery, as she was sleeping, thought she heard the well known Sound of that Bell, which called them to Prayers, when any of them had departed this Life. But be that as it will, it is evident, that the Bell was tolled up­on this Occasion about Bede's Time, and conse­quently that the Ceremony is as ancient, as his Days.

THE Reason why this Custom was instituted, was not, as some seem to imagine, for no other End than to acquaint the Neighbourhood, that such a Person was dead; but chiefly, that who­ever heard the Noise of the Bell, should put up their Prayers for the Soul: Thus the Fa­ther [Page 3] above-mentioned tells us again, ^† That she who presided in this Monastery, had no sooner heard this, than she raised all the Sisters, and called them into the Church, where she exhorted them to pray fervently, and sing a Re­quiem for the Soul of their Mother. Cassalion also upon this Place of Bede, says, That ^* the same Custom is still observed in England, that as soon as any hath departed this Life, the Bell be­longing to the Parish he liv'd in, was immedi­ately tolled, and for some Time.—And tho' (says he) the English now deny, that Prayers are of any Service to the Dead; yet I could meet with no other Account of this Ceremony, than that it was a Custom of the old Church of England.

[Page 4]AND for this Reason it is, that this Custom was first observed, and should be still retain'd among us, viz. That the Prayers of the Faith­ful may be assisting to the Soul; and certainly it might be more profitably retain'd, were it so order'd, that the Bell should be tolled before the Person's Departure, as was undoubtedly de­signed when this Ceremony was continued, that good Men might give him their Prayers. Was this always so observed, there might be some Moses amongst the Number of the Faithful, whose Prayers could prevail upon GOD, to beat back the Amalekites of Darkness; some whose Faith might remove a Mountain of Sins, and some whose Tears procure a Multitude of Mer­cies. O the Comfort of the Forgivenness of Sins! Of being guided safely through the Sha­dow of Death! Of arriving securely at the Hea­venly Country! What is it that Prayer can't obtain?

BUT tho' the Wickedness and Impenitency of the dying Person be such, as that the Pray­ers of the Faithful will not be sufficient to avert the Wrath and Punishment of a justly incensed [Page 5] GOD; yet as this can be only known to GOD, it will not discharge Men from recommending him to the Divine Mercy, in the most passionate and affectionate Manner. They thereby ex­press the most laudable Zeal, the most disinte­rested Charity; and whilst they are so sollici­tous for the Happiness and Welfare of other Mens Souls, they cannot but be thereby influ­enced to have the greatest Concern for their own, and be both encouraged and directed to proceed with an holy Emulation from Strength to Strength, and endeavour as the ^* Apostle ad­vises, to go on to Perfection.

BUT, alas! we are fallen into Times of such Irreligion and Prejudice, such Contempt of An­tiquity, and such too great Reformation, that what with Indolence on one Hand, and Igno­rance on the other; what with no Zeal on this Side, and too ^† false a one on that; we either neglect the most decent Ceremonies of Religion, [Page 6] or we think it is Religion to have no Ceremo­nies at all. No Wonder then, that, in the Midst of such a crooked and perverse Generation, when the most of Men are negligent of themselves, they are also negligent of others: No Wonder, that when there is such a general Contempt of Religion, and Men are careless of their own Souls, they are not careful for the Souls of their Friends.

BUT it is called ^* Popish and Superstitious; [Page 7] for what true Reason, I know not. Did we in­deed imagine with the Papists, that there is any ^† Virtue or extraordinary Power in a Bell, that it is ^* hallowed by Baptism, and drives away the Spirits of Darkness, then it might justly be called Superstition, and therefore just­ly abolished. But when we retain the Custom, only to procure the Prayers of the Faithful for a departing Soul, it would surely be of Advan­tage to observe it, if the Prayers of a righteous Man avail any Thing at all; which, if we may believe an inspir'd Apostle, are of very great Efficacy and Validity.

ART thou then attending a Friend in his last Moments? Art thou careful for his Soul, and sollicitous for his Salvation? Dost thou wish him safe through the Valley of Death to the ever­lasting Hills? Wouldst thou have the good An­gels [Page 8] protect him, and be his Shield against the Powers of Darkness? In short, wouldst thou have him crown'd with the Joys of Paradise? Be assured then, that the Prayers of good Men will very much contribute to the gaining of these Things. But how shall they then pray for him, if they know not of his Departure? And how can they know that, without the Tol­ling of the Bell? Do thou therefore put in Practice this decent and profitable Custom, not as our Age generally does, after the Death of thy Friend, but before it; before he leave the World, when the Prayers of good Men can assist him, and facilitate his Journey into the other Life.

OR art thou working in the Field, or grind­ing at the Mill? Remember then, when thou hearest the Sound of the Bell for one departing, that thou put up thy Prayers for him. Be thy Business what it will, it will always permit thee to say at least, LORD, now lettest thou thy Servant depart in Peace: Or to use the Words of St. Oswald, when he and his Sol­diers were ready to be slain, LORD, have [Page 9] Mercy on the Soul of thy ^† Servant. It will not be long, till thou thy self shalt have Occasion for such Prayers, till thou come to die, and en­ter on thy Journey to the other State: If then thou hast been merciful, thou shalt obtain Mercy; if by thy Prayers thou hast assisted the Souls of thy Brethren, thou shalt either be remembred in the Prayers of good Men, or surely these thy Prayers for others will be of Service to thy self also, at that dreadful Hour.

BUT now it may be objected, That as the Bell is seldom tolled till after the Person's De­parture, it is to no Purpose to pray for the Soul; nay to pray for it, would be praying for the Dead: And since that is repugnant to the Do­ctrine [Page 10] of our Church, our Prayers at that Time had much better be omitted.

INDEED it is too true, this Custom is not so common as it should be; but however, it is so much observed, as will be able to vindicate the putting up of constant Prayers. I know se­veral Religious Families in this Place, and I hope it is so in other Places too, who always observe it, whenever the melancholly Season offers; and therefore it will at least sometimes happen, when we put up our Prayers constantly at the Tolling of the Bell, that we shall pray for a Soul departing. And tho' it be granted, that it will oftner happen otherwise, as the re­gular Custom is so little followed; yet that can be no harmful praying for the Dead. We be­lieve that the Soul is but departing, and it is charitably done to offer up our Prayers: And therefore when it proves otherwise, our ^* Pray­er shall turn into our own Bosom; and like as that Peace, which the Disciples wished to an unworthy House, returned to the Disciples a­gain; [Page 11] so, tho' our Prayers at that Time may be of no Service to the Soul, yet they will be of no Disservice to us. They will return to us a­gain, but it will be no Fault to have misplaced them.

CHAP. II. Of Watching with the Dead.

WATCHING with the Corps was an ancient Custom of the Church, and every where pra­ctised. They were wont to sit by it, from the Time of its Death till its Exportation to the Grave, either in the House it died in, or in the Church it self. Agreeable to this, we read in St. Austin, That as they watched his Mother Monica, ^* Euodius took the Psalter, and began to sing a Psalm, which the whole Family answered with that of the Psalmist David, I will sing of Mercy and [Page 16] Judgment, unto thee, O LORD, will I sing. And we are told, ^* That at the Death of St. Ambrose, his Body was carried into the Church before Day, the same Hour he died. It was the Night before Easter, and they watched with him there.

HOW unlike to this ancient Custom of Watch­ing is the modern one, of locking up the Corps in a Room, and leaving it there alone? How un­like to this decent Manner of Watching, is that Watching of the Vulgar, which is a Scene of Sport and Drinking and Lewdness? Watching at that Time with a dear Friend, is the last Kindness and Respect we can shew him; and how unfriendly is it, to change it into Negli­gence and too great Resignation? How unchri­stian, instead of a becoming Sorrow and decent Gravity, to put on an unbecoming Joy and un­decent Pastime.

CHAP. III. Of following the Corps to the Grave, what it is an Emblem of: Of carry­ing Greens in our Hand, what it sig­nifies, what Use it may be of: Of Psalmody, its Antiquity, the Advan­tage and Use of it.

IT hath been observed among all Nations, both in the Heathen and the Christian World, as a becoming and profitable Cere­mony, to follow the Corps to the Grave. The Heathens observed it, ^* be­cause it presented to them, what would shortly follow, how they themselves should be so car­ried [Page 18] out, and laid down in the Grave. The going of the Corps before, shewed that their Friend was gone before them to the State of Death; and their following after, was as much as to say, that they must also in a short Time fol­low him thither. For this Reason the Christian also observes the Custom, and may, if he plea­ses, as he follows the Body to the Grave, en­tertain himself with a pious Meditation upon it, in such like Thoughts as these of the Psalmist. ^* Thou art GOD from Everlasting, and World without End; Thou turnest Man to Destruction; again, Thou sayest, Come again ye Children of Men. For a thousand Years in thy Sight are but as Yesterday, seeing that is past as a Watch in the Night. As soon as thou scatterest them, they are even as a Sleep, and fade away suddenly like the Grass. In the Morning it is green and grow­eth up, but in the Evening it is cut down, dried up and withered. Do thou therefore, O LORD, ^† let me know my End, and the Number of my Days, that I may be certified how long I have to live. Behold thou hast made my Days, as it [Page 19] were a Span long, and mine Age is nothing in re­spect of Thee; and verily every Man living is al­together Vanity. And now, LORD, what is my Hope? Truly my Hope is even in Thee. Deliver me from all mine Offences, and O spare me a little that I may recover my Strength, before I go hence and be no more seen. Such Thoughts as these of our Friend's, and of our own Mortality, would excite us to prepare for our own Change.

AND as this Form of Procession is an Em­blem of our dying shortly after our Friend, so the carrying of Ivy, or Laurel, or Rosemary, or some of those Ever-Greens, is an Emblem of the Soul's Immortality. It is as much as to say, That tho' the Body be dead, yet the Soul is Ever-Green and always in Life: It is not like the Body, and those other Greens which die and revive again at their proper Seasons, no Autumn nor Winter can make a Change in it, but it is unalterably the same, perpetually in Life, and never dying.

THE Romans, and other Heathens upon this Occasion, made Use of Cypress, which being [Page 20] once cut, will never flourish nor grow any more, as an Emblem of their dying for ever, and be­ing no more in Life. But instead of that, the ancient Christians used the Things before men­tioned; they ^* laid them under the Corps in the Grave, to signifie, that they who die in CHRIST, do not cease to live. For tho', as to the Body they die to the World; yet, as to their Souls, they live to GOD.

AND as the carrying of these Ever-Greens is an Emblem of the Soul's Immortality, so it is also of the Resurrection of the Body: For as these Herbs are not entirely pluck'd up, but only cut down, and will, at the returning Season, revive and spring up again; so the Bo­dy, like them, is but cut down for a while, and will rise and shoot up again at the Resurrection. For, as the Prophet Isaiah says, ^† Our Bones shall flourish like an Herb.

[Page 21]IT was customary ^* among the ancient Jews, as they returned from the Grave, to pluck up the Grass two or three Times, and then throw it behind them, saying these Words of the Psal­mist, They shall flourish out of the City like Grass upon the Earth: Which they did, to shew, that the Body, tho' dead, should spring up again as the Grass. Thus by these two ancient Cere­monies, we have placed before our Eyes, our Mortality and Immortality; the one speaks the Death of the Body, the other the Life of the Soul, nay, and the Life of the Body too; for like that Herb we carry, it is not quite pluck'd up, but shall one Day be alive again. When it hath laid in the Earth the Winter Season, the Continuance of this World, and the Warmth and Influence of the Spring is come, the joyful Spring of the Resurrection, it shall be enliven'd, and shoot up, and eternally flourish. ^* For this Corruptible must put on Incorruption, and this Mortal must put on Immortality. O Death, where is thy Sting! O Grave, where is thy Victo­ry! Thanks be to GOD, who giveth us the Victo­ry through our LORD JESUS CHRIST. ^†

[Page 22]THERE is another Custom used in some Places, at the Procession of Funerals, which pays a due Honour to the Dead, and gives Com­fort and Consolation to the Living; and that is, the carrying out the Dead with Psalmody. This was an ancient Custom of the Church. For in some of the earliest Ages, they carried out their Dead to the Grave with singing of Psalms and Hymns. Thus Socrates tells us, That when the Body of Babylas the Martyr was removed by the Order of Julian the Apostate, the Chri­stians ^* with their Women and Children, rejoy­ced and sung Psalms all the Way, as they bore the Corps from Dauphne to Antioch: Thus was ^† Paula buried at Bethlehem; thus did St. An­thony bury Paul the Hermite; and thus were the Generality of Men buried after the three first Centuries, when Persecution ceased. In Imitation of this, it is still customary in seve­ral Parts of this Nation, to carry out the Dead with singing of Psalms and Hymns of Triumph; to shew that they have ended their spiritual War­fare, that they have finished their Course with^‖ [Page 23] Joy, and are become Conquerors; which sure­ly is a Matter of no little Consolation for the loosing of our Friend. And how becoming is it to pay such Honour to the Body! How is it imitating the blessed Angels, who rejoyced at Meeting of the Soul, and carrying it to Hea­ven. For as they rejoyce at her Conversion on Earth, so most certainly they rejoyce at her go­ing to Heaven. And as they rejoyce at the car­rying of the Soul thither, so we, in Imitation of them, at the carrying out the Body to the Grave. They rejoyce that the Soul hath got out of a World of Sin, we that the Body out of a World of Trouble; they that the Soul can sin no more, we that the Body can no more suf­fer; they that the Soul enjoys Glory and Hap­piness, we that the Body rests from its Labours.

WHEN therefore we attend the Corps of a Neighbour or Relation, and this decent Cere­mony is perform'd, let it also have a Share of our Thoughts, and excite in us Joy and Com­fort, and Thanksgiving and Praise. And when these Customs are so observed, they will be of great Advantage to us, making us still fitter [Page 24] for the Heavenly Life. And surely a Thing of this Good and Profit, is much to be preferr'd to what hath in it nothing but Undecency and Irreverence; such is our laughing and jesting, and telling of News, when we accompany a Neighbour to the Grave. There is indeed a Mean to be observed, as in all other Things, so in this; we must neither be too sad, nor too merry; we must not be so merry as to throw off all the Signs of Affection and Love, all the Tokens of Esteem and Humanity; nor must we ^* sorrow even as others, which have no Hope. But we must ^† be so merry as to be able to sing Psalms, and so afflicted as to be excited to pray.

CHAP. IV. Of Garlands in Country Churches: Of strawing Flowers on the Grave; the Antiquity of these Customs, the Inno­cency of them.

IN some Country Churches 'tis cu­stomary, to hang a Garland of Flowers over the Seats of deceased Virgins, as a Token of Esteem and Love, and an Emblem of their Reward in the Heavenly Church.

THIS Custom perhaps may be look'd upon, as sprung from that ancient Custom of the Hea­thens, of crowning their Corps with Garlands in Token of Victory. But Mr. Bingham tells us, That we find not this Custom used by the Ancients in their Funeral-Rites. For as he ob­serves, [Page 26] the Heathen in Minutius, makes it one Topick of Accusation against them, ^* That they did not crown their Sepulchres.

BUT if they did not crown them after the Manner of the Heathens, they had a Custom of using Crowns of Flowers, if we may believe Cassalion, who tells us, ^† It was a Custom of the ancient Christians to place Crowns of Flow­ers, at the Heads of deceased Virgins; for which he quotes Damascen, Gregory Nyssen, St. Jerom and St. Austin. And this hath probably been the Original of this Custom among the Vulgar.

THAT other Custom of strawing Flowers upon the Graves of their departed Friends, is also derived from a Custom of the ancient Church. For it was usual in those Times for the common Sort of People, to straw the Graves of their Friends, with various Flowers. Of this there are two notable Instances taken No­tice of by Cassalion, and several other Ritualists. [Page 27] The one is that of St. Ambrose, in his Funeral Oration on the Death of Valentinian, ^* I will not sprinkle his Grave with Flowers, but pour on his Spirit the Odour of CHRIST. Let others scatter Baskets of Flowers: CHRIST is our Lilly, and with this will I consecrate his Relicks.

THE other is that of St. Jerom, in his E­pistle to Pammachius upon the Death of his Wife. ^† Whilst other Husbands strawed Vio­lets, and Roses, and Lillies, and purple Flow­ers, upon the Graves of their Wives, and com­forted themselves with such like Offices, Pam­machius bedew'd her Ashes and venerable Bones, with the Balsom of Alms.

NOW these Instances, tho' they justly com­mend these other Actions, and wisely prefer them to the Ceremonies of adorning Graves with [Page 28] Flowers: Yet they no Way decry these ancient Customs. These lower Marks of Esteem and Honour, which the Vulgar paid to the Remains of their Friends, were in themselves harmless and innocent, and had no Censure; and as they were so, so should the present Customs be with­out any, being full as harmless and innocent as the other.

CHAP. V. Of Bowing towards the Altar at the first coming into the Church; a Custom ge­nerally observed by ignorant People; its Meaning and Antiquity.

WE may observe the Generality of old People among the Com­monalty, as they enter into the Church, to turn their Fa­ces towards the Altar, and bow or kneel that Way. This, no Doubt, is the Remains of that ancient Custom of the Church, of worshipping toward the East. For in the an­cient Church they worshipped that Way upon several Accounts. First, That by so worship­ping, they might lift up their Minds to GOD, who is called the Light and the Creator of [Page 30] Light. And therefore St. Austin says, ^* When we pray standing, we turn our Faces to the East, from whence the Day springs, that we might be reminded of turning to a more excellent Nature, namely, The LORD. Secondly, That foras­much as Man was driven out of Paradise, which is towards the East, he ought to look that Way, which is an Emblem of his Desire to return thither. St. Damascen therefore tells us, That ^† because the Scripture says, That GOD plan­ted Paradise in Eden towards the East, where he placed the Man which he had formed, whom he punish'd with Banishment upon his Transgres­sion, and made him dwell over against Paradise, in the Western Part; we therefore pray, (says he) being in Quest of our ancient Country; and as it were panting after it, do worship GOD that Way. Thirdly, It was used when any were baptized. They first turn'd their Faces to the West, and so renounc'd the Devil; and then to the East, and made their Covenant with CHRIST. Last­ly, [Page 31] They prayed that Way, believing that our SAVIOUR would come to Judgment from that Quarter of the Heavens. For as the Lightning cometh out of the East, and shineth unto the West, so shall the Coming of the Son of Man be; and he is to come in like Manner as he ascended. And that he ascended up Eastward from Mount Oli­vet, St. ^* Damascen assures us. For (says he) when he ascended into Heaven, he was taken up Eastward, and his Disciples worshipped him that Way. And therefore chiefly it was, that in the ancient Church they prayed with their Faces to the East; and that many of our own Church at this Day, turn their Faces to that Quarter of the World, at the Repetition of the Creed.

WHAT may more confirm this, and speak it to have been the universal Opinion of the Church, is the ancient Custom of burying the Corps, with the Feet to the East, and the Head to the West; which Custom is continued to this Day in the whole Church of England: This was observed for the same Reason, That, at the Coming of CHRIST to Judgment from [Page 32] the oriental Part of Heaven, our Bodies might be found in a praying Posture, with their Faces towards the East.

OUR learned Countryman Gregory tells us, ‘That the holy Men of Jerusalem hold a Tra­dition generally received from their Ancients, that our SAVIOUR himself was buried, with his Face and Feet towards the East. It is affirmed by the Geographers of the holy Land.’ And Bede says, ^* That as the Holy Women enter'd at the Eastern Part into the Round-House, which is hewn out in the Rock, they saw the Angel sitting at the South Part of the Place, where the Body of JESUS had lain, that is, at his Right Hand; for undoubtedly his Body having its Face up­wards and its Head to the West, must have its Right Hand to the South. Cassalion says, [Page 33] ^* The Faithful of old were so observing of this Ceremony of looking towards the East, that they not only strictly observed it in their Pray­ers when living; but even when they were dead, their Bodies were placed with their Fa­ces upwards in the Sepulchre, looking towards the East.

THE learned Dr. Comber in his Discourse of the solemn Interment, hath these Words upon "this Subject, ‘We may note the Positure and Position of the Corps, which among the Chri­stians hath always been to turn the Feet to the East, with the Head to the West; that so they may be ready to meet the LORD, whom the Ancients did believe should appear in the oriental Part of Heaven. Durand. Rat. Lib. 7. Cap. 33. Or as our ingenious Mr. Gre­gory believes, That they might be in the Po­sture of Prayer, with their Faces to the East, as soon as they were raised. There are some [Page 34] ancient Authors tell us, That the old Inha­bitants of Attica buried thus before the Days of Solon, who, as they report, convinced the Athenians, that the Island of Salamis did of Right belong to them, by shewing them dead Bodies looking that Way, and Sepulchres tur­ned towards the East, as they use to bury. Diog. Laert. Vit. Solon, &c. And the Scho­liast upon Thucidides says, It was the Man­ner of all the Greeks to bury their Dead thus: Tho' a learned modern Writer supposes these Authors mistaken, and cites Plutarch and Elian to prove, that the Athenians turned their Dead towards the West. However it is certain, that all Nations had one certain Way of placing the Corps, from which they would not vary; and we Christians have so great Antiquity for our Custom, that we ought not out of Singularity to alter it.’

NO Doubt but this learned Man had great Reason for this Conclusion, as well knowing that this ancient Rite, was struck at by the whole Herd of Sectaries, as a silly Fancy and an idle Dream: Who never would observe it, [Page 35] were it not that they are sometimes obliged; but would with those who are not obliged, act the very Reverse, and bury North and South. I wish there were no powerfuller Enemies to it, than them now a Days; but, as a Man's Ene­mies are too often those of his own Houshold; so, 'tis to be lamented, that some who pretend to be of our own Church, are upon all Occasions secret Advocates against this Ceremony. When therefore there is such Opposition without, and such Treachery within, 'tis high Time to be on the Guard against our Enemies; least a Cere­mony so venerable for its Antiquity, and so use­ful in its Observation, be laid aside: Was it but for this one Thing, that it speaks the Hope of the whole Christian Church, since the ear­liest Times of Christianity, about the Resur­rection of the same Body. It is too true, that there are some at this Time of the Day, as well as were in the Days of the Apostle, who think it a Thing incredible that GOD should raise the Dead; some really disbelieving the Resurrection of any Body, and others that of the same Body. But as long as this Ceremony is in Being, it will always be a ready Proof, that the whole [Page 36] Christian Church, did not only believe the Re­surrection of the Body, but of that very Body, which was laid down in the Grave. For they observed it, that they might be ready with their Faces to meet their SAVIOUR at his coming to Judgment, which certainly implies that they believed that very Body should rise again.

CHAP. VI. Of the Time of Cock-crow: Whether evil Spirits wander about in the Time of Night; and whether they fly away at the Time of Cock-crow. Reflections upon this, encouraging us to have Faith and Trust in GOD.

IT is a received Tradition among the Vulgar, That at the Time of Cock-crowing, the Midnight Spirits forsake these lower Re­gions, and go to their proper Places. They wander, say they, about the World, from the dead Hour of Night, when all Things are buried in Sleep and Darkness, till the Time of Cock-crowing, and then they [Page 38] depart. Hence it is, that in Country-Places, where the Way of Life requires more early La­bour, they always go chearfully to Work at that Time; whereas if they are called abroad sooner, they are apt to imagine every Thing they see or hear, to be a wandring Ghost. Shakespear hath given us an excellent Account of this vulgar Notion, in his Tragedy of Hamlet.

It was about to speak, when the Cock crew.

[Page 39]NOW to shew what Truth there is in this vulgar Opinion, I shall consider, First, What Truth there is in the Roaming of Spirits in the Night. And, Secondly, Whether they are obli­ged to go away at Cock-crow.

I believe none who assent to the Truth of Divine Revelation, deny that there are good and evil Angels attending upon Men; the one to guard and protect them, and the other to harm and work their Ruin; that the one are those ^* ministring Spirits, which are sent out to minister to the Heirs of Salvation; the other the roaring Lion, and his Instruments, ^† who wander to and fro in the Earth; these ^‖ unclean Spirits who wander through dry Places, seeking Rest and finding none.

NOR, I believe, will it be question'd, that there have been Apparitions of good and evil Spirits, and that many, with our SAVIOUR'S Disciples, have been affrighted and cried out, not only with supposing they had seen, but really with seeing a Spirit. Of this the Testi­mony [Page 40] of all Ages, and Scripture it self are a sufficient Demonstration.

WHAT then could these have ordinarily been, but the Appearances of some of those Angels of Light, or Darkness? For I am far from thinking that either the Ghosts of the Damn'd or the Happy, either the Soul of a Di­ves or a Lazarus, returns here any more. For as St. Athanasius observes, ^* These Visions and Shades of the Saints, which appear in the Tem­ples and at the Tombs, are not the Souls of the Saints themselves, but the good Angels appearing in their Shapes. Not that GOD could not re­mand the Ghost of Samuel, and order it again to visit the Earth, as he made Moses and Elias to appear at our SAVIOUR'S Transfiguration; but that a Thing of this Nature was very un­common, and seldom happen'd.

TAKING it therefore for granted, that there have been Apparitions of Angels, I believe it will also be owned, that these Apparitions have frequently happen'd in the Night. And truly, [Page 41] was there no direct Proof of this, yet the No­tion of their appearing in the Night, being as it were link'd and chained to our Idea of an Ap­parition, would almost perswade us, that the Night is the most proper Time for such Appea­rances. Whether it is, that the Fables of Nur­ses, ^* as an ingenious Author imagines, ‘have so associated the Idea of Spirit to the Night, that the one never appears without the other;’ or whether there is something in the Presence of Night, some Awfulness and Horrour, which naturally dispose the Mind of Man to these Reflections. I am indeed very inclinable to be­lieve, that these Legendary Stories of Nurses and old Women, are the Occasion of much greater Fears, than People without them, would generally have of these Things; but I cannot help thinking, that the Presence of Night, would naturally lead a Man to some Reflection of Spirits, without any such Cause as that learned Author mentions. There are some particular Times, which will naturally raise some parti­cular Thoughts: Thus on a bright sunny Day [Page 42] we are naturally disposed to Mirth and Gaiety; when the Day over-casts, or the Weather is hazy, we then turn indolent and dull, and sooth our selves in Melancholly; if it Thunder and Lighten, we think of the Day of Judg­ment and sudden Death: And thus also the Night, as it inclines us to grave and serious Thoughts, raises in us Horrour and Dismay, and makes us afraid, even when our Judgment tells us there is no Fear; so it may of it self be look'd upon as a natural Cause of such Reflections.

BUT however this be, we must necessarily own, that Spirits have frequently appeared in the Night, or we must give the Lye to the Traditions of all Ages, to Historians prophane and sacred, and the wisest and best in the Ge­nerations of Men.

IN the Heathen World there are many In­stances, of which I shall only mention this one out of Plutarch: ‘^*One Night, before Brutus passed out of Asia, he was very late all alone in his Tent, with a dim Light burning by [Page 43] him, all the Rest of the Army being husht and silent; and musing with himself, and very thoughtful, as he turn'd his Eye to the Door, he saw a strange and terrible Appearance, of a prodigious and frightful Body coming towards him without speaking. Brutus boldly asked him, What art thou? Man, or God? Or upon what Business do'st thou come to us? The Spi­rit answer'd, I am thy Evil Genius, thou shalt see me at Philippi; to which Brutus not at all disturbed, reply'd, Then I will see thee there.’

IN the sacred Writings we have Job ^* terri­fied with Visions of the Night, when deep Sleep falleth upon Men, Fear came upon him and Trembling, which made all his Bones to shake; then a Spirit passed by before his Face, and the Hair of his Flesh stood up. In the Night ^† Jacob wrestled with the Angel; in the Night an Angel delivered ^‖ Peter out of Prison, &c.

BUT tho' it be true from Scripture, that there have been nightly Apparitions, yet these [Page 44] are chiefly of good Angels; whereas this Opi­nion principally means, the Appearances of evil Spirits. It must be owned indeed, that the Appearances of evil Spirits, if litterally, are yet but very seldom mention'd in the Night in Scripture; but however, that they wander and appear at Night, is very deducible from, if not litterally mentioned in it. Their's is the Land of Darkness, and the Shadow of Death: They are reserved under Chains of Dark­ness to the Judgment of the great Day; and we know that every one that doth Evil natu­rally hateth the Light: They therefore love Darkness rather than Light, because their Deeds are Evil. The Night therefore, in a more e­special Manner, seems to be their Hour, and the Power of Darkness.

THIS was the Opinion of the Jews, as may be learned from the Fear of the Apostles, when they saw our Saviour about the fourth Watch of the Night, coming to them upon the Waters: ^* They were affrighted and cryed out, supposing [Page 45] they had seen a Spirit. Doctor Whitby upon this Place, says, ‘That the Jews had then an Opinion of hurtful Spirits walking in the Night, is evident from the seventy, who ren­der'd,’ from the Pestilence walking in Dark­ness; ^* From the Fear of the Devils that walk in the Night.

AND that this was also the Opinion of the ancient Christians, is evident, not only from their dividing the Night into four Watches, the Evening, Midnight, Cock-crowing, and the Morning; which were the Military Divisions of the Night, and which ^† they observed to guard their Souls from the silent Incursions of evil Spirits, as the others did those of the Enemy; but also from their many Relations of such Ap­pearances. Cassian in giving an Account of the Watching of the Ancient Monks, and their be­ing assaulted with Midnight Spirits, tells us, That at the Beginning of the Monkish Life, [Page 46] ^* the Rage of the Midnight Spirits was so great, that but few, and these too Men of Age and unshaken Resolution, were able to endure the Life in the Desart. For such was their Fierceness, that where Eight or Ten had been together in a Monastery, they would have made frequent and visible Incursions: Insomuch, that they never all slept at the same Time, but took it by turns; some watching the Rest, and ex­ercising themselves in singing Psalms, in Pray­ing and Reading. And St. Athanasius in his Life of Anthony the Hermit, tells, Of many Conflicts that good Man had in the Night with the Powers of Darkness, whilst they endeavour­ed to batter him from the strong Holds of his Faith. And what can our Church chiefly mean in the Collect for Aid against Perils; but that GOD would send us Protection from all the Spirits of Darkness, these Midnight Wanderers [Page 47] of the World: And for this Reason, every good Man, when he lies down to sleep at Night, desires the great Keeper of Israel, who never slumbereth nor sleepeth, to send his Holy Angels to pitch their Tents round about him, and banish from him the Spirits of the Night.

SO far then this Tradition is just and good, that there are Midnight Spirits who wander a­bout the World, going too and fro in the Earth, seeking whom they may devour. Let us now in the next Place enquire, what Truth there is in the other Part of it; namely, That they always fly away at Cock-crow.

THIS Opinion, whatever Truth there may be in it, is certainly very Ancient. We have it mentioned by the Christian Poet Prudentius, who flourished in the Beginning of the fourth Century, as a Tradition of Common Belief: His Words are these,

CASSIAN also, who lived in the same Cen­tury, giving an Account of a Multitude of De­vils [Page 49] who had been Abroad in the Night, says, ^* That as soon as the Morn approached, they all vanished and fled away. By this we see, that this was a current Opinion at this Time of Day; but what Reason they had for it, except some Relations of the disappearing of Evil Spirits at that Hour, I never yet have met with: But there have been produc'd at that Time of Night, Things of very memora­ble Worth, which might perhaps raise the pious Credulity of some Men to imagine, that there was something more in it, than in other Times. It was about the Time of Cock-crow­ing when our Saviour was born, and the An­gels sung the first Christmas-Carol to the poor Shepherds, in the Fields of Bethlehem. Now it may be presum'd, that as the Saviour of the World was then born, and the Heavenly Host had then descended to proclaim▪ the News, that the Angels of Darkness would be terrified and confounded, and immediately fly away: And perhaps this Consideration has partly been the Foundation of this Opinion; for as this [Page 50] may easily be supposed, so perhaps it has been imagin'd, that the Spirits of Darkness, having always in Memory that fatal Hour, are start­led and frighted away as the Cock proclaims it.

IT was also about this Time when he rose from the Dead. And when the great Sun of Righ­teousness was risen upon the World, no wonder that all the Clouds of Darkness and Wickedness were dispell'd; no wonder that the conquer'd Powers of Hell were not able to shew their Heads: And this perhaps hath been another Reason of their imagining that Spirits go away at that time.

A third Reason is, that Passage in the Book of Genesis, where Jacob wrestled with the Angel for a Blessing; where the Angel says unto him, ^* Let me go, for the Day breaketh.

BUT indeed this Tradition seems more, e­specially to have risen from some particular Circumstances attending the Time of Cock-crowing; and which, as Prudentius seems to say above, are an Emblem of the Approach of [Page 51] the Day of the Resurrection. For when we leave the World, we lie down in our Graves, and Rest from our Labours; Sleep and Dark­ness lay hold upon us, and there we abide till the last Day appear, when the Voice of the Arch-Angel shall awake us, that we may meet the LORD of Light and Day. And when we leave the common Business and Care of Life, we lie down in our Beds, as in a Grave, buried as it were in Sleep and Darkness, till the Cock crow, the welcome Messenger of the News of Day.

THE Circumstances therefore of the Time of Cock-crowing, being so natural a Figure and Representation of the Morning of the Resurre­ction; the Night so shadowing out the Night of the Grave; the third Watch, being as some suppose, the Time our Saviour will come to Judgment at; the Noise of the Cock awaken­ing sleepy Man, and telling him as it were, the Night is far spent, the Day is at Hand; re­presenting so naturally the Voice of the Arch-Angel awakening the Dead, and calling up the Righteous to everlasting Day; so natural­ly does the Time of Cock-crowing shadow out [Page 52] these Things, that probably some good well-meaning Men, have been brought to believe, that the very Devils themselves, when the Cock Crew, and reminded them of them, did fear and tremble, and shun the Light.

NOW in Answer to the first of these Con­jectures: 'Tis very likely the Evil Spirits did fly away in the Morning of the Nativity, and because of our Saviour's Birth and that Com­pany of the Heavenly Host, might be afraid and retire into thick Darkness; yet it will not hence follow, that it always happens so at the Time of Cock-crowing: For if they did fly away that Morning, the Circumstances of our Saviour's Birth, the heavenly Glory of the Angelick Quire, their Musick and their Presence were the Occasion of it: And why only the bare Remembrance of what happened at that Time, should always at the Time of Cock-crowing drive them away, rather than when they remem­ber it at another, no Reason seems to be given.

AS to the second Conjecture, namely, That it was the Time of our Saviour's Rising from [Page 53] the Dead, I answer in the same Manner, That tho' it be allowed, that the Evil Spirits might have returned to the Land of Darkness, upon our Saviour's Rising from the Dead; yet why it should Occasion them always to do so at that Time, no Reason can be given.

AS to the third Conjecture, it is easy to observe, That this was a good Angel, where­as they that shun the Light, are bad ones: This was the Angel of the Covenant, the Cre­ator of Light, and the Lord of the Day: We may therefore as well imagine, that it was not in his Power, to get out of the Arms of Jacob, without saying, Let me go; as to suppose he was obliged to go, because he said the Day breaketh. The meaning of which Words, ‘According to Willet, is not that the Angel was gone to the blessed Company of the Angels, to sing their Morning Hymn to GOD, as the Hebrews imagine: For the Angels, not only in the Morning, but at other Times, are exercised in praising GOD. But the Angel thus speaketh according to the Custom of Men, having now taken the [Page 54] Form and Shape of a Man, as tho' he had hast to other Business, and leaving Jacob al­so to his Affairs.’

THE last Conjecture of the Rise of this Tra­dition, seems to carry greater probability than the Others: For as these Things are a Repre­sentation of the Circumstances of the Morning of the Resurrection, so they must sure enough bring that last Day into Remembrance; and they never can do so, but as surely they must create Terrour and Confusion in all the Devils and Ghosts of the Night: Whilst they assure them they shall never any more enjoy the Realms of Bliss, but be hurried into that ^* e­verlasting Fire, prepared for the Devil and his Angels. But that these Things are the Occa­sion of their Flying away at the Approach of Day, is not to be supposed. On the contrary, the Devil and his Angels ramble o'er the World in Day-light, and are mid-day Devils, as well as mid-night ones: For the Devil is incessant in his Temptations, and therefore he is abroad in the Day as well as the Night, tho' [Page 55] perhaps has seldom appear'd but in Darkness. Thus St. Austin, in one of his Meditations, ^* We implore thee, O GOD! that thou woul­dest deliver us from our daily Enemy, who by his Wiles and Cunning is always watching us, Day and Night, Sleeping and Waking; and both openly and in secret, shooting at us his poisoned Arrows, that he may destroy our Souls.

AND now, what, tho' this be true, as it most certainly seems to be so, that at the chearful Hour of Cock-crowing, the wander­ing Ghosts are not driven away, but still continue going too and fro? What, tho' then their Power be still the same, and their In­tentions as fully bent to do Evil? Consider but that GOD'S Care and Providence govern the World, and there will be found as much Safety for us, in the midst of Evil Spirits, as if they absented at that Time. The Al­mighty Power of GOD, is the same then, as [Page 56] at other Times; nothing but that, preserved us continually, and that, will always be able to preserve us. However great may be the Malice of Devils; however desirous of work­ing our Ruin; tho' they watch all Opportu­nities, and are unwearied in tempting us; yet the loving Kindness of the LORD endureth for Ever, and his Mercy is over all his Works: He will not suffer our Foot to be moved; he that keepeth us will not sleep: We shall not be afraid of the Sun by Day, nor the Moon by Night: For the Pestilence that walketh in Darkness, nor for the Sickness that destroyeth in the Noon-day.

ARE we then afraid of Darkness and the presence of Night? Let us remember the Cre­ator of them, and have but Faith in him, and we shall find our Night turned into Day. In his Light shall we see Light: We shall be as secure as if there was no Darkness about us, as well knowing, that that GOD which pro­tects us, sees through the thickest Mediums, and the darkest Night: For with him the Dark­ness is no Darkness, but the Night is as clear as the Day; the Darkness and Light to him are [Page 57] both alike. Or are we afraid of that old Ser­pent the Devil, that nightly Rambler of the World, who is a Lover of Night and Dark­ness? Let us trust in GOD, and no harm shall happen to us. If we will but fear no Evil, his Rod and his Staff shall Comfort us, tho' we walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death: For GOD hath reserved the Devil and his Angels in everlasting Chains, under Darkness, unto the Judgment of the great Day. Tho' therefore he is permitted to wan­der the World, yet he is so chain'd up, that without GOD'S particular Order or Permis­sion, he is not allowed to touch the Sons of Men; and he is so reserved and kept in Dark­ness, that it is not in his Power even barely to appear and be visible to them, without the Permission of GOD: So little Reason hath e­very good Man to fear the Spight and Malice of all the Devils in Hell.

WHEN then the Night pours out her Ter­rours, covers all Things with Darkness, and strikes thee with Horrour; Lift but up thy Eyes to the Hills, from whence cometh thy Help, [Page 58] and thou shalt clearly see, that our Lord GOD is a Light and Defence to thee. ^* For to those who are the Children of the Light, the Day shineth in the Night: They are never without Light, whose Hearts are illuminated; never without Sun-shine, whose Sun is CHRIST. In short then, if thou fear Darkness, look up to CHRIST, and thou hast eternal Day; if the Angels of Darkness, look but up with the Eye of Faith, and thou shalt see the Moun­tains full of Chariots and Horses of Fire: Thou shalt see, as did the Servant of the Prophet Elisha, That they who be with us, are more than they who are against us. No Matter then whe­ther the Spirits of the Night go away, or only tremble at the Time of Cock-crowing: For sure we are, that the Angel of the LORD tarrieth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them; nay, That GOD himself will arise and scatter his Enemies, and make them that hate him to flie before him. And if GOD be for us, who can be against us?

CHAP. VII. Of Church-Yards; why the Vulgar are generally afraid of passing through them at Night: The Original of this Fear: That there is nothing in them now, more than in other Places to be afraid of.

THE most of ignorant People are afraid of going through a Church-Yard at Night-time. If they are obliged upon some hasty and urgent Affair, they fear and tremble, till they are beyond its Bounds, but they generally avoid it, and go further about. It would, no Question, be better if there were fewer Path-ways through Church-Yards than there are, both as it would prevent several Abuses committed in them, and also cause the Ashes of the Dead to be in [Page 60] greater quiet, and more undisturbed Peace: We should not then see Church-Yards changed into common Dunghils, nor should we tread so frequently upon the Bones of our Friends: But when for the Conveniency of Neighbour­hood, or other Reasons, there are allowed pub­lick Ways, it is a very great Weakness to be afraid of passing through them.

THE Reason of this Fear is, a Notion they have imbib'd, that in Church-Yards there is a frequent walking of Spirits at the Dead-time of Night. Indeed there is at that Time some­thing awful and horrible every where, and it must be confess'd something more solemn in a Church-Yard, than in the Generality of other Places; but that it is then more frequented with Apparitions and Ghosts than other Places are, is at this Time of Day intirely ground­less, and without any Reason.

THE Original of this Timorousness may be deduc'd from the Heathens: For they believ­ed that the departed Ghosts came out of their Tombs and Sepulchres, and wander'd about the [Page 61] Place where the Body lay buried. Thus ^* Virgil tells us, That Maeris could call the Ghosts out of their Sepulchres: And ^† Ovid, that Ghosts came out of the Sepulchres, and wandered about: And Clemens Alexandrinus, in his Admonitions to the Gentiles, upbraids them with the Gods they worshipped; which, ^‖ says he, are wont to appear at Tombs and Sepulchres, and which are nothing but fa­ding Spectres and airy Forms. And the learn­ed Mr. Mede observes, from a Passage of this same ancient Father, ^* ‘That the Heathens supposed the Presence and Power of Daemons (for so the Greeks called the Souls of Men departed) at their Coffins and Sepulchres; as tho' there always remain'd some natural Tye between the Deceased and their Relicts.’ Agreeable to this, Dr. Scot, ^† in his Discourse of the Christian Life, speaks of ‘gross and sensual Souls, who appeared often, after [Page 62] their Separation, in Church-Yards or Char­nel-Houses, where their Bodies were laid. The ^* Soul that is infected with a great Lust to the Body, continues so, for a great while after Death, and suffering many Reluctances, ho­vers about this visible Place, and is hardly drawn from thence by Force; by the Daemon that hath the Guard and Care of it. By the visible Place, he means ^† their Monuments and Sepulchres, where the shadowy Fantasms, of such Souls, have sometimes appeared.’

IT having therefore been a current Opinion of the Heathens, that Places of Burial and Church-Yards were frequently haunted with Spectres and Apparitions, it is easy to imagine, that the Opinion has been handed from them, among the ignorant and unlearned, through­out all the Ages of Christianity to the present Day. And indeed, tho' now there may be no such Things, yet that there have been, need not be disputed; not that they were the real Souls of Men departed: For I cannot see for [Page 63] what Reason it should be supposed, ‘(^* how­ever unacquainted such Souls might be with the Pleasures of Spirits) that they are per­mitted to wander, to hover about, and linger after their Bodies.’ It seems rather to be true, what is mentioned of such Apparitions in St. Athanasius's Questions to Antiochius, that ^† these Apparitions of the Saints which ap­pear at Tombs and Temples, are not the Souls of the Saints themselves, but the good Angels appearing in their Likeness. And I imagine it must be so too, with the Souls of bad Men, they appear not themselves, but they are re­presented by the Evil Angels. For the Soul upon the Departure, returns to GOD that gave it, who alots it its Station in the World of Spirits, where it is kept till the Day of Judg­ment in Happiness or Misery, when it shall receive its Compleation of the one, or the other. However, whatever these Apparitions were, they are a certain Proof, that such Appearan­ces have been in such Places; and indeed, to add no more, it is the whole Voice of Antiquity.

[Page 64]BUT now with us, GOD be thanked, the Scene is changed, we live not in the Darkness of Errour, but in the Light of Truth; we worship not Daemons, but the GOD of the whole Earth; and our Temples are not the Temples of Idols, but the Temples of the Ho­ly GOD. If among the Heathens such Delu­sions were permitted, it was because GOD had forsaken them: But when he vouchsafes to have his Residence in his Holy Temple, we are the further from Harm, the nearer we ap­proach it; ^* There the Sparrow hath found her an House, and the Swallow a Nest, where she may lay her Young; and there shall no Harm happen to good Men, but they shall be rather protected, because they are so near their Fa­ther's House, the House of Prayer.

CHAP. VIII. Of visiting Wells and Fountains: The Original of this Custom: The naming of them of great Antiquity: The Wor­ship paid them by the Papists, was gross Idolatry.

IN the dark Ages of Popery, it was a Custom, if any Well had an awful Situation, and was seated in some lonely melan­cholly Vale; if its Water was clear and limpid, and beautifully ^* margin'd with the tender Grass; or if it was look'd upon, as having a Medicinal Quality; to gift it to some Saint, and honour it with his Name. Hence it is, that we have at [Page 66] this Day Wells and Fountains called, some St. John's, St. Mary Magdalen's, St. Mary's Well, &c.

TO these kind of Wells, the common People are accustomed to go, on a Summer's Evening, to refresh themselves with a Walk after the Toil of the Day, to drink the Water of the Fountain, and enjoy the pleasing Prospect of Shade and Stream.

NOW this Custom (tho' at this Time of Day, very commendable, and harmless, and innocent) seems to be the Remains of that superstitious Practice of the Papists, of paying Adoration to Wells and Fountains: For they imagin'd there was some Holiness and Sancti­ty in them, and so worshipped them. In the Canons of St. Anselm, made in the Year 1102, we find this Superstitious Practice in some Measure forbid. ^* ‘Let no one attribute Reverence or Sanctity to a dead Body, or a Fountain, or other Things, (as sometimes [Page 67] is to our Knowledge) without the Bishop's Authority,’ And in the 16th of the Canons made in the Reign of King Edgar, in the Year 963, it is order'd, ^* ‘That every Priest in­dustriously advance Christianity, and ex­tinguish Heathenism, and forbid the Wor­shipping of Fountains, &c. Mr. Johnson says upon this Canon, that the Worshipping of Wells and Fountains, was a Superstiti­on, which prevailed in this Nation, till the Age before the Reformation: Nay, I cannot say, it is extinguish'd yet among the Papists. In the Ages of dark Popery it was thought sufficient to forbid the Honouring of Wells and Fountains, without the Bishop's Appro­bation.’

THE giving of Names to Wells, is of great Antiquity: We find it a Custom in the Days of the old Patriarchs. Abraham observed this Custom; and therefore the Well, which he recover'd from the Servants of Abimeleck, He ^† called Beer-sheba, or the Well of the Oath, [Page 68] because there they sware both of them. Thus also Isaac, when his Herdsmen had found a Well, and the Herdsmen of Gerar had a Con­test with them about the Right of it, ^* called the Name of the Well Eseck, that is, Strife: because they strove with him. And he digged another Well, and strove for that also, and he called the Name of it Sitnah, that is, Hatred. And he removed from thence, and digged ano­ther Well, and for that they strove not; and he called the Name of it, Rehoboth, that is, Room. And he said for now the LORD hath made Room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the Land. And we read it was at Jacob's Well where JESUS talked with the Woman of Sa­maria. To give Names therefore to Wells, is of an ancient Standing; but to pay Homage and Worship to them, was never heard of a­mong the People of GOD, till they sunk in­to gross Idolatry, and became Worshippers of Stocks and Stones: When the Creature became worshipped instead of the Creator, then was this Custom first introduced, in the Ages of Popish Ignorance and Idolatry.

[Page 69]THERE need be no Question, but as this Custom is practically Heathenish, so it is also originally: For the Heathens were wont to worship Streams and Fountains, and to sup­pose that the Nymphs, whom they imagin'd the Goddesses of the Waters, presided over them. As the Papists have borrowed many of their silly and superstitious Ceremonies from the Religion of the Heathens, so this in par­ticular, a sottish, stupid, and abominable Cu­stom, they could borrow no where else. For we had no such Custom, neither at any Time the Churches of GOD.

CHAP. IX. Of Omens: Their Original: The Obser­vation of them sinfull.

OMENS and Prognostications of Things are still in the Mouths of all, tho' only observed by the Vulgar. In Country Pla­ces, especially they are in great Repute, and are the Directors of several Acti­ons of Life; being looked on by them as Presages of Things future, or the Determi­ners of present Good or Evil: If ^* a Hare cross their Way it is an Omen of ill Luck: If ^† a Crow cry, it portends something Evil: [Page 71] If ^* an Owl, which they reckon a most abo­minable and unlucky Bird, sends forth its hoarse and dismal Voice, it is an Omen of the Approach of some terrible Thing; that some dire Calamity, and some great Misfor­tune is near at Hand. If Salt fall towards them, to be sure something has happened to one in the Family, or is shortly to happen to themselves: Such also is the Chattering of a Mag-pye, the Cry of Ravens, the Dead-watch, Crickets, &c.

THIS is a Copy of the Omens of the Hea­thens, ^† who never went upon any Enter­prize, nor undertook any Business of Moment, without consulting the Augurs and Wise-Men, and being guided by Omens and Presages of Things. Hence it was that they consulted the Intrails of Beasts, the Flights of Birds, and several other Things: And that the very [Page 72] Things above-mentioned, as the Authori­ties there declare, have been observed by them; yea, they have observ'd them, even in the remotest Ages, beyond the Days of the oldest Records. The Heathen World there­fore was full of them, and without all doubt they have been handed down to us, from these Times.

AND as it is not to be question'd, but we had them from the Heathens, so in all proba­bility the Heathens have taken them from the People of GOD, and built many of their Folies and ominous Superstitions on a Custom which they alone were indulged in. For in the ear­liest Ages of the World, when a Matter of a­ny great Consequence was depending, and the Servants of GOD would know what the E­vent would be, they asked a Sign of GOD, by desiring that such a Thing might happen, if they were to succeed, and GOD was some­times so condescending as to grant them their desire. Thus we read, That ^* Jonathan ac­company'd only by his Armour-Bearer, not fear­ing [Page 73] the Steepness of the Rocks, nor Multi­tudes of Enemies, attempted the Garrison of the Philistines and conquered, through a To­ken of this Nature. If they say, says he to his Armour-Bearer, Tarry untill we come up, then we will stand still in our Place, and will not go up unto them; but if they say come up unto us, then we will go up; for the LORD hath delivered them into our Hands, and this shall be a Sign unto us. And so indeed it came to pass, GOD who had inspired Jonathan with this Thought, directing the Tongues of the others according to his Wishes. In like Manner, when the good old Servant of Abraham had arrived at the City of Nahor, to find a Wife for his Master's Son; we have him desiring of GOD, that the Sign of the Woman he should pitch upon, might be her saying, Drink, and I will give thy Camels drink also. ^* And he said, O Lord GOD of my Master Abraham, I pray thee send me good speed this Day, and shew Kindness unto my Master Abraham: Behold, I stand here by the Well of Water, and the Daughters of the Men of the City come out to draw Water. And [Page 74] let it come to pass, that the Damsel to whom I shall say, let down thy Pitcher, I pray thee, that I may Drink; And she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy Camels drink also: Let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy Servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shewed Kindness unto my Master. This happened ac­cording to his Prayer, by which he knew that the LORD had prospered his Journey. Now this Custom we know the Philistines imitated, when they would know whether they had been afflicted by the GOD of Israel for keep­ing the Ark. ^* They took the Ark of the LORD, and laid it on a Cart, and sent it away. And they said, If it goeth by the Way of his own Coast to Beth-shemoth, then he hath done us this great Evil.

IN these early Ages of the World, GOD permitted such Things upon extraordinary Oc­casions, to be asked by his own People. But they were only peculiar to those Times. We have no Warrant for doing the like: It be­comes not us to prescribe Means to GOD, by [Page 75] which we may judge of our future Success, but to depend on his Power and Wisdom, his Care and Providence. The Observation of Omens, such as the falling of Salt, a Hare crossing the Way, of the Dead-Watch, of Cric­kets, &c. are sinful and diabolical: They are the Inventions of the Devil, to draw Men from a due Trust in GOD, and make them his own Vassals. For by such Observations as these, they are the Slaves of Superstition and Sin, and have all the While no true Dependance upon GOD, no Trust in his Providence.

CHAP. X. Of the Country Conversation in a Winter's Evening: Their Opinions of Spirits and Apparitions; of the Devil's ap­pearing with a cloven Foot; of Fai­ries and Hobgoblins; of the walk­ing Places of Spirits; and of haun­ted Houses.

NOTHING is commoner in County Places, than for a whole Family in a Winter's Evening, to sit round the Fire, and tell Stories of Appariti­ons and Ghosts. And no Question of it, but this adds to the natural Fearfulness of Men, and makes them many Times imagine they see Things, which really are nothing but their [Page 77] own Fancy. From this, and seldom any o­ther Cause, it is, that Herds and Shepherds have all of them seen frequent Apparitions, and are generally so well stock'd with Stories of their own Knowledge. Some of them have seen Fairies, some Spirits in the Shapes of Cows and Dogs and Horses; and some have seen even the Devil himself, with a cloven Foot. All which, is either Hearsay or a strong Imagina­tion. Not that there have not been, or may not be Apparitions; we know that there have undoubtedly been such Things, and that there still are, upon particular Occasions; but that almost all the Stories of Ghosts and Spirits, are grounded on no other Bottom, than the Fears and Fancies, and weak Brains of Men.

IN their Account of the Apparition of the Devil, they always describe him with a cloven Foot: That is always his distinguishing Badge, whatever Shape he appears in; whether it be in Beauty or Deformity, he never appears with­out it. Such is the old Tradition they have received of his appearing, and such is their Belief of it.

[Page 78]INDEED it must be confess'd, that this is not so improbable and ridiculous as many Things they hold. For tho' perhaps few of them have ought else for this Opinion, but old Wives Fables, or the Picture of the Devil, which they have always observed drawn with a cloven Foot, yet there seems to be some Truth in it. For in the Times of frequent Apparitions, the Devil was wont to appear so, if we may believe Antiquity; and there is also some Reason for it, considering the Cir­cumstances of the fallen Angels.

THE ^* Author of the Vulgar Errors upon this same Subject, hath these Words. ‘The Ground of this Opinion at first, might be his frequent appearing in the Shape of a Goat, which answers this Description. This was the Opinion of the ancient Christians, concerning the Apparitions of Panites, Fauns and Satyrs; and of this Form we read of one, that appeared to Anthony in the Wil­derness. The same is also confirmed from Expositions of Holy Scripture. For where­as [Page 79] it is said, Thou shalt not offer unto Devils: The original Word is Seghnirim; that is, rough and hairy Goats, because in that Shape the Devil most often appeared, as is expoun­ded by the Rabbins, as Tremellius hath also explain'd, and as the Word Ascimah, the God of Emath is by some conceived. He observes also, That the Goat was the Em­blem of the Sin Offering, and is the Emblem of sinful Men at the Day of Judgment.’

AND of this Opinion was also the learned Mr. ^* Mede. He says, ‘That when Spirits converse with Men, it is under some visible Shape, and that there is a Law given them that that Shape they assum'd, should be of something which more or less resembled their Condition. For as in Nature we see every Thing hath a several and suitable Phy­siognomy or Figure, as a Badge of their in­ward Nature, whereby it is known, as by a Habit of Distinction, so it seems to be in the Shapes and Apparitions of Spirits. And as in a well governed Common-Wealth, eve­ry [Page 80] Sort and Condition is known by a diffe­ring Habit, agreeable to his Quality; so it seems it should be in GOD'S great Common-Wealth, concerning the Shapes which Spi­rits take upon them. And he that gave the Law, that a Man should not wear the Ha­bit of a Woman, nor a Woman the Habit of a Man, because that as he had made them diverse, so would he have them so known by their Habits; so it seems he will not suf­fer a good and a bad Spirit, a noble and ig­noble one, to appear unto Man after the same Fashion.’

‘NOW from this it will follow, that good Angels can take upon them no other Shape, but the Shape of Man, because their glori­ous Excellency is resembled only in the most excellent of all visible Creatures. The Shape of an inferior Creature would be un­suitable, no other Shape becoming those who are called the Sons of GOD, but his only, who was created after GOD's own Image. And yet, not his neither as he now is, but according as he was before his Fall [Page 81] in his glorious Beauty of his Integrity. Age and Deformity are the Fruits of Sin; and the Angel in the Gospel appears like a young Man, His ^* Countenance like Lightning, and his Raiment white as Snow, as it were resem­bling the Beauty of glorified Bodies, in Im­mutability, Sublimity and Purity.’

‘HENCE also it follows on the contrary, that the Devil could not appear in humane Shape whilst Man was in his Integrity; be­cause he was a Spirit fallen from his first glorious Perfection, and therefore must ap­pear in such Shape, which might argue his Imperfection and Abasement, which was the Shape of a Beast: Otherwise no Reason can be given, why he should not rather have appeared to Eve in the Shape of a Woman, than of a Serpent; for so he might have gain'd an Opinion with her, both of more Excellency and Knowledge. But since the Fall of Man, the Case is alter'd; now we know he can take upon him the Shape of Man; and no Wonder, since one falling Star [Page 82] may resemble another. And therefore he appears it seems in the Shape of Man's Im­perfection, either for Age or Deformity, as like an old Man (for so the Witches say:) And perhaps it is not altogether false, which is vulgarly affirmed, that the Devil appear­ing in humane Shape, hath always a Defor­mity of some uncouth Member or other; as tho' he could not yet take upon him hu­mane Shape intirely, for that Man himself is not intirely and utterly fallen as he is.’

THUS far hath this great and learned Man given his Opinion of this Matter, and that with such Strength of Reason and Argument, as leaves at least a Probability behind it, of the Truth of this Opinion.

ANOTHER Part of this Conversation gene­rally turns upon Fairies. These, they tell you, have frequently been heard and seen, nay that there are some still living who were stollen away by them, and confined seven Years. According to the Description they give of them, who pretend to have seen them, they [Page 83] are in the Shape of Men, exceeding little: They are always clad in Green, and frequent the Woods and Fields; when they make Cakes (which is a Work they have been often heard at) they are very noisy; and when they have done, they are full of Mirth and Pastime. But generally they dance in Moon-Light, when Mortals are asleep, and not capable of seeing them, as may be observed on the following Morn; their dancing Places being very distin­guishable. For as they dance Hand in Hand, and so make a Circle in their Dance, so next Day there will be seen Rings and Circles on the Grass.

NOW in all this there is really nothing, but an old fabulous Story, which has been handed down even to our Days from the Times of Heathenism, of a certain Sort of Beings called Lamiae, which were esteem'd so mis­chievous and cruel, as to take away young Children and slay them. These, together with the Fauns, the Gods of the Woods, seem to have form'd the Notion of Fairies.

[Page 84]THIS Opinion, in the benighted Ages of Popery, when Hobgoblins and Sprights were in every City and Town and Village, by every Wa­ter and in every Wood, was very common. But when that Cloud was dispell'd, and the Day sprung up, those Spirits which wander'd in the Night of Ignorance and Error, did real­ly vanish at the Dawn of Truth and the Light of Knowledge.

ANOTHER Tradition they hold, and which is often talk'd of, is, that there are particular Places alotted to Spirits to walk in. Thence it was that formerly, such frequent Reports were abroad of this and that particular Place being haunted by a Spirit, and that the com­mon People say now and then, such a Place is dangerous to be pass'd through at Night, be­cause a Spirit walks there. Nay, they'll fur­ther tell you, that some Spirits have lamented the Hardness of their Condition, in being obli­ged to walk in cold and uncomfortable Places, and have therefore desir'd the Person who was so hardy as to speak to them, to gift them with a warmer Walk, by some well grown Hedge, [Page 85] or in some shady Vale, where they might be shelter'd from the Rain and Wind.

THE Stories, that Apparitions, have been seen oftner than once in the same Place, have no Doubt been the Rise and Spring of the wal­king Places of Spirits; but why they are said sometimes to cry out for Places that are more comfortable, is not so certainly known. It is however highly probable, that when the Ig­norance and Superstition of the Romish Church, had filled the World with Apparitions and Ghosts, that this also was invented among them. For they seem to have the most Right to an In­vention of this Nature, whose Brains were so fruitful of Folly, as to invent that ⁷⁹ Dunstan took the Devil by the Nose, with a Pair of hot Tongs till he roar'd again. For if the De­vil may be burnt, he may also be starv'd; if he took such Pains to get his Nose out of the Pincers, without Doubt in a frosty Night, he would wish to be as warm as possible. He that believes the one, must necessarily believe the other. And therefore it very near amounts [Page 86] to a Demonstration, who were the Authors of this Opinion, viz. The Monks. We are sure they invented the one, and need little que­stion but they invented the other.

THERE is a Story in the Book of Tobit, (which they may believe that will) of the evil Spirits flying into the utmost Parts of Egypt. ^* For as Tobias went in unto his Wife, he re­membred the Words of Raphael, and took the Ashes of the Perfumes, and put the Heart and Liver of the Fish thereupon, and made a Smoke therewith. The which Smell, when the evil Spirit had smelled, he fled into the utmost Parts of Egypt, and the Angel bound him. Now from this it is evident, that the Spirit was o­bliged to forsake his good old Quarters and warm Lodgings, for inhospitable Desarts and open Air: And from this, perhaps, some of those doting Monks, have persuaded themselves into a Belief of these Things.

WHEN it is proved to us, that this Book of Tobit is the Word of GOD, we may enter­tain [Page 87] more Veneration for this Vulgar Opini­on; but till then, we must be iudulg'd in wondering, how a Spirit, that is an immateri­al Substance, can be affected with our Heat or Cold, or any Power or Quality of material Beings.

THE last Topick of this Conversation I shall take Notice of, shall be the Tales of haunted Houses. And indeed it is not to be wonder'd at, that this is never omitted. For formerly almost every Place had a House of this Kind. If a House was seated on some melancholly Place, or built in some old Romantick Man­ner; or if any particular Accident had hap­pen'd in it, such as Murder, sudden Death, or the like, to be sure that House had a Mark set on it, and was afterwards esteemed the Habita­tion of a Ghost. In talking upon this Point, they generally show the Occasion of the House's being haunted, the merry Pranks of the Spi­rit, and how it was laid. Stories of this Kind are infinite, and there are few Villages, which have not either had such an House in it, or near it.

[Page 88]AND indeed there are Men of good Learn­ing and Knowledge, who are as far as others from Superstition, who are inclinable to be­lieve, that such Things have been upon par­ticular Emergencies; tho', among the Stories that are told, they believe not one in a thou­sand. They know that Spirits have frequent­ly appeared to Men out of Houses, and they can see no Reason why they may not have ap­peared in them: They know nothing in an House more than in another Place, to prevent an Apparition, but an equal Help to its Visi­bility. The Air, which a Ghost is supposed to be wrapped in, when it becomes visible to Men, is there to be found, and they know of nothing else that may be an Argument against it. An Author of good Credit tells us, ^* That when he was at Rome, he was taken with Ill­ness, and obliged to keep his Bed: As he lay in this Condition, he observed, as he was once [Page 89] awake, a Woman of a very beautiful Person coming towards him. Upon this he was silent for some Time, and very thoughtful, weigh­ing all the while with himself, whether it was not rather a deceptio visus than a real Being. But when he perceived his Senses sound and intire, and that the Object still continued; he asked, What she was? In Answer to which, she repeated the very Words he had spoke to her, in a sneering and disdainful Manner. After she had taken a good View of him, she departed.

THE Commentator upon this Place, says, ^* He looks upon this Story, and the rest which are mention'd along with it, to be nothing but Dreams and Fancies. And for ought that I know to the contrary, they may be so; but however it must be confess'd, this Story in particular is well attested, being told by the Man himself, who was a great and a learned Man, and who, if we may believe himself, seems to be as sure that he had his Eyes open, as the Commentator can be of the contrary.

[Page 90]BUT whatever Truth there may be in it, it is certain that in the Church of Rome they are perswaded of the Truth of it, to a Fault. For they are so sure of it, that they have par­ticular Forms of exorcising such Houses; which because they have often been heard of, but seldom seen; and are those very Things, which raised, in the Vulgar formerly, such an Opinion of their ignorant Priests, as to make them be esteemed Men of the greatest Faith and Learning; and because also the Opinion has reached even our Days, and 'tis common for the present Vulgar to say, none can lay a Spirit but a Popish Priest; it shall be the Busi­ness of the next Chapter, to give one of those Forms of exorcising an House; not that they are envied for their Art of conjuring, but that it may be seen, how well they deserve the Character they go under.

CHAP. XI. POSTEXER CITATIO SEPTIMA, F. VALERII POLIDORI PATAVINI. Quae ordo dicitur Domum a Daemone per­turbatam liberandi. The FORM of exorcising an haunted HOUSE.

THE ^* House which is reported to be vexed with Spirits, shall be visited by the Priest once every Day, for a whole Week together: And Day after Day he shall proceed as follows.

CHAP. XII. Of Saturday Afternoon; how observed of old, by the ancient Christians, the Church of Scotland, and the old Church of England: What End we should observe it for: An Exhorta­tion to the Observation of it.

IT is usual, in Country Places and Villages, where the Po­liteness of the Age hath made no great Conquest, to observe some particular Times with some Ceremonies, which were customary in the Days of our Fore-fathers: Such are the great Festivals of Christmas, Easter, and several o­thers, [Page 116] which they observe with Rites and Cu­stoms appropriated to them.

AMONG these we find a great Deference paid to Saturday Afternoon, above the other worky Days of the Week: Then the Labours of the Plough ceast, and Refreshment and Ease are over all the Village.

THIS seems to be the Remains of a lau­dable Custom once in this Land (but now al­most buried in that general Contempt of Re­ligion and love of the World, which prevail so much every where) of attending the Even­ing Prayers on Saturday, and laying aside the Concerns of this Life, to be fitter for the Duties of the Day following. For ^* ‘it was an holy Custom among our Fore-fathers, when at the Ringing to Prayer the Eve be­fore the Sabbath, the Husbandman would give over his Labour in the Field, and the Tradesman his Work in the Shop, and go to Evening Prayer in the Church, to prepare their Souls, that their Minds might more [Page 117] chearfully attend GOD's Worship on the Sab­bath-Day.’

AND indeed it was the Custom both of the Jewish and the Christian Church. They nei­ther of them entred upon the Sabbath, without some Preparation for it. Moses ^* taught the Jews to remember the Sabbath over Night; from whence in all Probability it comes to pass, that the Eve of the Jewish Sabbath is called the Preparation. The Preparation mentioned by the Evangelists, begun at Three a Clock on Friday Afternoon; it was proclaimed with the Noise of Trumpets and Horns, that they might be better put in Mind of the Sabbath's draw­ing on, and of that Preparation which was re­quisite for it.

AMONG the primitive Christians the LORD'S Day was always usher'd in, with a Pernoctation or Vigil. They assembled in the House of GOD, and sung Psalms and Praises to him a great Part of the Night, that they might be better prepa­red to serve him on his own Day following.^†

[Page 118]IN the Year of our LORD 1203, William, King of Scotland, called a Council of the chief Men of his Kingdom, at which also was present the Pope's Legate; and it was then determin'd, that Saturday after the twelfth Hour should be kept holy; that no one should follow their Business nor Callings, but desist as on other Holy Days: That they should be put in Mind of it by the Tolling of the Bell, and then mind the Business of Religion as on Holy Days, be present at the Sermon, and hear Vespers; that this should be the Practice till Munday Morn­ing, and whoever acted otherwise should be se­verely punished.

AND this, as is said before, was also the Custom of our own Country, long before this order'd in Scotland. For in the Year 958, when^* [Page 119] King Edgar made his Ecclesiastical Laws, we find one made to this very Purpose: In which it is order'd, That ^* the Sabbath or Sun­day shall be observed from Saturday at ^† Noon, till the Light appear on Munday Mor­ning.

NOW hence hath come the present Custom, of spending a Part of Saturday Afternoon with­out servile Labour. And that our Fore-fathers, [Page 120] when the Bell was heard, attended the Evening Prayer, not fearing the Loss of Time, nor the Necessities of Poverty; happy would it be for us, would we so banish the Care of the Body for the Care of the Soul! Would we leave to converse about secular Business, and mind then the Business of Religion; would we remember that it is ^* the Preparation, and that the Sab­bath draws on.

WHEN Jacob was going to worship GOD at Bethel, he order'd his Family to ^† put away the strange Gods that were among them, and be clean, and change their Garments, and arise and go to Bethel. He knew that the GOD of Pu­rity and Holiness was to be approached with the utmost Purity they could possibly cloth them­selves with. And would we, before we enter into the Presence of GOD on his own Day, endeavour to purifie our selves from the Filth of the World we have contracted in the Days before; would we disperse these busy Swarms of Things, which so attract our Minds, and prepare our selves for the following Day; we [Page 121] should appear before GOD, less earthly and more heavenly, less sinful and more holy; Our ^* Prayers would be set forth in his Sight as the Incense, and the lifting up of our Hands be an Evening Sacrifice: And like the Smell of Ja­cob's Garment in the Nostrils of his Father, the Smell of our Prayers would ^† be like the Smell of a Field which the LORD hath bles­sed.

AND now what is this Preparation, but the Trimming of our Lamps against we meet the LORD on the next Day? Our Bodies should be refreshed by ceasing early from their Labour, that they may be active and vigorous; and our Souls washed with Sobriety and Tem­perance, and the private or publick Prayer of the Evening. Thus should we meet the LORD at Bethel, and obtain those Mercies we sought of him there.

ART thou then blessed with an Affluence of Things, and hath Providence placed Thee above the careful Stations of Life? What Rea­son [Page 122] then can be sufficient for thy Neglect of this Custom? For neither canst thou plead the want of Time, neither dost thou dread the straits of Poverty.

OR art thou involv'd in the Cares of Busi­ness? Dost thou earn thy Bread by the Sweat of thy Face, and the Labours of thy Hands? O well is Thee! And happy mayst thou be. Wouldst thou dedicate this small Time to the Service of GOD, it would be like the Wi­dow's Mite, which was more than all that was thrown into the Treasury: But perhaps, thou wilt say thou art under the Yoke, subject to Servitude, and obliged to work even to the latter End of the Day. It may be so, but yet, as GOD is every where present, so wouldst thou Remember that it is the Preparation, and put up an Ejaculation at thy Work, GOD would accept it, and it would prove to thee, an equal Good with the other Preparation. Cassian ^* tells us, That the ancient Monks, [Page 123] whilst they were working in the private Cells, repeated their Religious Offices: And St. Je­rom, when he is commending the pleasing Re­tirement of the Village of Bethlehem, ^* says, That in the Village of CHRIST, there is a secure Rusticity: No Noise is heard there, but the Singing of Psalms. Wheresoever you go, you have either the Plough-Man singing Halle­lujahs as he's holding the Plough, or the sweat­ing Mower pleasing himself with Hymns; or the Vine-dresser singing David's Psalms. These without doubt were acceptable to GOD, and thine undoubtedly will be acceptable also.

BUT if thou art not ty'd down by Neces­sity, do not say that the common Necessa­ries of Life require then thy Labour: For this is not losing, but Redeeming the Time; what thou spendest in the Care of thy Soul, is not lost in the Care of thy Body. Never was Man poorer, for observing the Duties of Religion. If thou lose any Thing of the Wages [Page 124] of the Day, to do the Service of GOD, he will take care to supply it, thou shalt be no loser.

WHY then art thou fearful, O! Thou of little Faith! Why dost thou take so much Thought for thy Life? Behold the Fowls of the Air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into Barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them: Art thou not much better than they? And why takest thou thought for Rayment? Con­sider the Lilies of the Field, they toil not, nei­ther do they Spin; and yet I say unto thee, that Solomon, in all his Glory, was not arrayed like one of these. And shall he not much more Cloath thee, O Thou of little Faith! Therefore take no Thought for what thou shalt Eat, or what thou shalt Drink, or where withal thou shalt be Cloa­thed; but seek thou first the Kingdom of GOD and his Righteousness; prefer the Care of these, to the Care of all other Things, and all these Things shall be added unto Thee.

LET not then the busy Cares of this Life, be any hinderance to thy Care of the other; set apart this small Time, for the Time of [Page 125] Preparation, and look on it, as an Emblem of the whole Time of Life: Which is our Day of Preparation, for the eternal Sabbath, the e­verlasting Rest, the undesturbed Quiet of the other Life.

CHAP. XIII. Of the Yule-Clog and Christmas-Candle; what they may signifie; their Antiqui­ty; the like Customs in other Places.

IN the Primitive Church, Christ­mas-Day was always observ'd as the Lord's-Day was, and was in like Manner preceeded by an Eve or Vigil. Hence it is that our Church hath ordered an Eve before it, which is observed by the Religious, as a Day of Preparation for that great Festival.

OUR Fore-Fathers, when the common De­votions of the Eve were over, and Night was come on, were wont to light up Candles of an uncommon Size, which were called Christmas-Candles, [Page 127] and to lay a Log of Wood upon the Fire, which they termed a Yule-Clog, or Christ­mas-Block. These were to Illuminate the House, and turn the Night into Day; which Custom, in some Measure, is still kept up in the Nor­thren Parts.

IT hath, in all probability, been derived from the Saxons. For Bede tells us, That this very Night was observed in this Land before, by the Heathen Saxons. They ^* began, says he, their Year on the Eight of the Calends of January, which is now our Christmas-Day: And the very Night before, which is now Holy to us, was by them called Maedrenack, or the Night of Mothers; because, as we imagine, of those Ceremonies which were perform'd that Night. The Yule-Clog therefore hath probably been a Part of that Night's Ceremonies. The very Name seems to speak it, and tells its Ori­ginal to every Age.

[Page 128]IT seems to have been used, as an Emblem of the return of the Sun, and the lengthening of the Days. For as ^* both December and Jan­uary were called Guili or ^† Yule, upon Ac­count [Page 129] of the Sun's Returning, and the Increase of the Days; so, I am apt to believe, the Log has had the Name of the Yule-Log, from its being burnt as an Emblem of the returning Sun, and the Increase of its Light and Heat.

THIS was probably the Reason of the Cu­stom among the Heathen Saxons; but I cannot think the Observation of it was continued for the same Reason, after Christianity was em­braced. For Bishop Stillingfleet observes in his Origines Britanicae, ‘That tho' the ancient Saxons observed Twelve Days at that Time, and sacri­ficed to the Sun, in hopes of his Returning; yet when Christianity prevail'd, all these Ido­latrous Sacrifices were laid aside, and that Time of Feasting was joined with the religious So­lemnity of that Season, which in other Parts of the World were observed by Christians.’ And in like Manner as these Days of Feasting were joined with the religious Solemnities of that Season, so the keeping up of this Custom, seems to have been done with another View, than it was originally. If a Conjecture may be allowed, it might have been done on Account [Page 130] of our Saviour's Birth, which happened that Night. For as the Burning of it before Chri­stianity, was an Emblem of the Coming of the Sun, which they worshipped as their God; so the continuing it after, might have been for a Symbol of that Light, which was that Night born into the World: The Light that shineth in Darkness; the Light that lightned the Gen­tiles, that turn'd them from Darkness to Light, and from the Power of Satan unto GOD.

AND indeed it will be some strengthening of the Conjecture, that Light has been the Em­blem of several Things, both in Scripture, and in the ancient Church: For the Scripture makes use of it, and the Church in Imitation of the Scripture, as a lively Representation of several Things. Thus Light is the Emblem of GOD: For GOD is Light, says the Apostle St. John. John the Baptist was a Burning and a Shining Light. And therefore in some Places it ^* is [Page 131] customary to carry Torches on St. John the Baptist's Eve, to represent St. John Baptist him­self, who was a Burning and a Shining Light, and a Preparer of the Way for the True Light, that lighteneth every Man that cometh into the World. The Apostles were the Light of the World; and as our Saviour was frequently called Light, so was this his Coming into the World signified, and pointed out by the Em­blems of Light: ‘It was then (says our Coun­try-man Gregory) the longest Night in all the Year; and it was the midst of that, and yet there was Day where he was: For a glo­rious and betokening Light shined round a­bout this Holy Child. So says Tradition, and so the Masters describe the Night Piece of the Nativity.’ If this be called in Questi­on, as being only Tradition, it is out of Dis­pute, that the Light which illuminated the Fields of Bethlehem, and shone round about the Shepherds as they were watching their Flocks, was an Emblem of that Light, which was then come into Word. What ^* can be the meaning, [Page 132] says venerable Bede, that this Apparition of An­gels was surrounded with that heavenly Light, which is a Thing we never meet with in all the old Testament? For tho' Angels have ap­peared to Prophets and holy Men, yet we ne­ver read of their Appearing in such Glory and Splendor before. It must surely be, because this Privilege was reserved for the Dignity of this Time. For when the true Light of the World, was born in the World, it was very proper that the Proclaimer of his Nativity, should appear in the Eyes of Men, in such an heavenly Light, as was before unseen in the World. And that supernatural Star, which was the Guide of the Eastern Magi, was a Fi­gure of that Star, which was risen out of Ja­cob; of that Light which should lighten the Gentiles. ‘GOD, says Bishop Taylor, sent a miraculous Star, to invite and lead them to a new and more glorious Light, the Light of Grace and Glory.’

[Page 133]IN Imitation of this, as Gregory tells us, the Church went on with the Ceremony: And hence it was, that for the three or four First Centuries, the whole Eastern Church, called the Day, which they observed for our Saviour's Nativity, the Epiphany or Manifestation of the Light. And Cassian tells us, ^* That it was a Custom in Egypt, handed down by Tradition, as soon as the Epiphany, or Day of Light was over, &c. Hence also came that ancient Custom of the same Church, taken Notice of by St. Jerome, of ^† lighting up Candles at the Read­ing of the Gospel, even at Noon-Day; and that, not to drive away the Darkness, but to speak their Joy for the good Tydings of the Gospel, and be an Emblem of that Light, which the Psalmist says, was a Lamp unto his Feet, and a Light unto his Paths.

[Page 134]LIGHT therefore having been an Emblem of so many Things, and particularly of our LORD JESUS CHRIST, both in the sacred History, and in the Practice of the Church; it is no way improbable, that after their Conver­sion, the Saxons used it as an Emblem of him, who that Night came into the World, and was the Light thereof. In the City of Constantino­ple, on the Eve of Easter, there was a Custom practised, much like this of ours on Christmas-Eve. For then the whole City was illumina­ted with Tapers and Torches, which continued all the Night, turning the Night into Day, till almost the Day appeared. The Reason of this Custom, was to represent that Light which the next Day arose upon the World. The Diffe­rence between these two Customs, is that of the Time, the Reason of their Observation is much the same. The one illuminated the Eve of Easter, that there might be an Emblem of the Sun of Righteousness, who the next Day arose upon the World; the other, the Eve of Yule, to give an Emblem of that Light which^* [Page 135] was the Day spring from on High. Nay, this Eve of Yule, as Gregory tells us, ‘was illumi­nated with so many Tapors among the An­cients, as to give to the Vigil the Name of Vigilia Luminum; and the Ancients, says he, did well to send Lights one to another, whatever some think of the Christmas-Candle.’

CHAP. XIV. Of adorning the Windows at Christmas with Laurel: What the Laurel is an Emblem of: An Objection against this Custom taken off.

ANOTHER Custom observed at this Season, is the adorning of Windows with Bay and Laurel. It is but seldom observed in North, but in the Southern-Parts, it is very Common, particularly at our Universities; where it is Customary to adorn, not only the Common Windows of the Town, and of the Colleges, but also to bedeck the Cha­pels of the Colleges, with Branches of Laurel.

THE Laurel was used among the ancient Romans, as an Emblem of several Things, and [Page 137] in particular, of ^* Peace, and Joy, and Victory. And I imagine, it has been used at this Season by Christians, as an Emblem of the same Things; as an Emblem of Joy for the Victory gain'd o­ver the Powers of Darkness, and of that Peace on Earth, that Good-will towards Men, which the Angels sung over the Fields of Bethlehem.

IT ^† has been made use of by the Non-Con­formists, as an Argument against Ceremonies, that the second Council of Bracara, ^‖ Can. 73. forbad Christians ‘to deck their Houses, with Bay Leaves and Green Boughes.’ But the Council does not mean, that it was wrong in Christians, to make use of these Things, but only ‘at the same Time with the Pagans, when they observed and solemnized their Paganish Pastime and Worship. And of this Prohibiti­on, [Page 138] they give this Reason in the same Canon; Omnis haec observatio paganismi est. All this kind of Custom doth hold of Paganism: Be­cause the outward Practice of Heathenish Rites, perform'd jointly with the Pagans themselves, could not but imply a Consent in Paganism.’

BUT at present, there is no hazard of any such Thing. It may be an Emblem of Joy to us, without confirming any, in the Practice of Heathenism. The Time, the Place, and the Reasons of the Ceremony, are so widely diffe­rent; that, tho' formerly, to have observed it, would unquestionably have been a Sin, it is now become harmless, comely, and decent.

CHAP. XV. Of the Christmas Carol, an ancient Cu­stom: The common Observation of it very unbecoming.

AS soon as the Morning of the Nativity appears, it is custom­ary among the common People to sing a Christmas-Carol, which is a Song upon the Birth of our Saviour, and generally sung with some ^* o­thers, from the Nativity to the Twelveth-Day, the Continuance of Christmas. It comes, they say, from Cantare, to sing, and Rola, which is [Page 140] an Interjection of Joy: For in ancient Times, the Burden of the Song, when Men were Mer­ry, was Rola, Rola.

THIS kind of Songs is of an Ancient stand­ing: They were sung early in the Church it self, in memory of the Nativity, as the many HYMNS for that Season manifestly declare: Tertullian says, ^* it was customary among the Christians, at their Feasts, to bring those, who were able to sing, into the Midst, and make them sing a Song unto GOD; either out of the Holy Scripture, or of their own Composing and Invention. And as this was done at their Feasts, so no doubt it was observed at the great Feast of the Nativity; which Song, no Question of it, was to them, what the Christmas-Carol should be to us. In after Ages we have it also taken Notice of: For Durand tells us, ^† That on the Day of the Nativity, it was usual for the Bi­shops [Page 141] of some Churches to sing among their Clergy, in the Episcopal House, which Song was undoubtedly a Christmas-Carol.

THE Reason of this Custom seems to be an Imitation of the Gloria in Excelsis, or Glory be to GOD on High, &c. which was sung by the Angels, as they hovered o'er the Fields of Beth­lehem, in the Morning of the Nativity. For e­ven that Song, as the learned Bishop Taylor ob­serves, was a Christmas-Carol. As soon, says he, as these blessed Choristers had sung their Christmas-Carol, and taught the Church a Hymn, to put into her Offices for Ever, in the Anniver­sary of this Festivity; the Angels, &c.

WAS this performed with that Reverence and Decency, which are due to a Song of this Nature, in Honour of the Nativity, and Glo­ry to our LORD, it would be very commend­able; but to sing it, as is generally done, in the midst of Rioting and Chambering, and Wan­toness, is no Honour, but Disgrace; no Glory, but an Affront to that Holy Season, a Scandal to Religion, and a Sin against CHRIST.

CHAP. XVI. Of New-Year's-Day's Ceremonies: The New-Year's-Gift an harmless Custom: wishing a good New-Year, no Way sin­ful. Mumming, a Custom which ought to be laid aside.

AS the Vulgar are always very careful to End the old Year well, so they are also careful of Beginning well the new one: As they End the For­mer with a hearty Compotation, so they begin the Latter with the Sending of Presents, which are termed New-Year's-Gifts, to their Friends and Acquaintances: The Original of both which Customs, is ^* superstitious and sinful; [Page 143] and was observed that the succeeding Year, might be prosperous and successful.

‘BISHOP ^* Stilling fleet tells us, That a­mong the Saxons of the Northren Nations, the Feast of the New-Year was observed with more than ordinary Jollity: Thence as Ollaus Wormius and Scheffer observe, they recko­ned their Age by so many ^† Jola's; and Snorro Sturleson describeth this New-Year's Feast, just as Buchannan sets out the British Saturalia, by Feasting and sending Presents, or New-Year's Gifts, one to another.’

THE Poet Naogeorgus says, ^‖ That it was usual at that Time, for Friends to present each other with a New-Year's Gift; for the Hus­band the Wife; the Parents, their Children; and Master's their Servants; which, as ^* Hos­pinian [Page 144] tells us, was an ancient Custom of the Heathens, and afterwards practis'd by the Chri­stians.

AND no doubt, those Christians were high­ly worthy of Censure, who imagined, as the Heathens did, that the sending of a Present then, was any way Lucky, and an Omen of the Success of the following Year. For this was the very Thing that made both several Holy Men, and some general Councils, take notice of, and forbid any such Custom: because the Observance of it, out of any such Design and View, was Superstitious and Sinful. We are told, in a Place of St. Austin, ^* the Observati­on of the Calends of January is forbid, the Songs which were wont to be sung on that Day, the Feastings, and the Presents which were then sent as a Token and Omen of a good Year. But to send a Present at that Time, out of E­steem, or Gratitude, or Charity, is no where [Page 145] forbid: On the Contrary, it is Praise worthy. For tho' the ^* ancient Fathers did vehemently invey against the Observation of the Calends of January; yet it was not because of those Pre­sents, and Tokens of mutual Affection and Love that passed; but because the Day it self was dedicated to Idols, and because of some pro­phane Rites and Ceremonies they observed in solemnizing it. If then I send a New-Year's Gift to my Friend, it shall be a Token of my Friendship; if to my Benefactor, a Token of my Gratitude; if to the Poor, (which at this Time must never be forgot) it shall be to make their Hearts sing for Joy, and give Praise and Adoration to the Giver of all good Gifts.

ANOTHER old Custom at this Time, is the wishing of a good New-Year, either when a New-Year's Gift is presented, or when Friends meet, or when a New-Year's Song is sung at [Page 146] the Door; the Burden of which is, we wish you a happy New-Year.

THIS is also a Custom among the Modern Jews, who on the first Day of the Month ^* Tisri, have a splended ^† Entertainment, and wish each other a happy New-Year.

NOW the Original of this Custom is Hea­thenish, as appears by the Feasting and Presents before mentioned, which were a Wish for a good Year. And it was customary among the Hea­thens on the Calends of January, to go about and sing a New-Year's Song. Hospinian there­fore tells us, That ^‖ when Night comes on, not only the Young, but also the Old of both [Page 147] Sexes, run about here and there, and sing a Song at the Doors of the wealthier People, in which they wish them a happy New-Year. This he speaks indeed of the Christians, but he calls it an exact Copy of the Heathens Custom.

BUT however I cannot see the Harm of re­taining this ancient Ceremony, so it be not used superstitiously, nor attended with Obsce­nity and Lewdness. For then there will be no more in it, than an hearty Wish for each o­thers Welfare and Prosperity; no more Harm, than wishing a good Day, or good Night; than in bidding one GOD speed; or than in wishing to our Friend, what Abraham's Servant did to himself, O ^* LORD GOD of my Master A­braham, I pray thee send me good speed this Day.

THERE is another Custom observed at this Time, which is called among us Mumming; which is a changing of Clothes between Men and Women; who when dress'd in each others Habits, go from one Neighbour's House to ano­ther, [Page 148] and partake of their Christmas-Cheer, and make merry with them in Disguise, by dancing and singing, and such like Merriments.

THIS ^* is an Imitation of the Customs of the Sigillaria, or Festival Days which were added to the ancient ^† Saturnalia, and observed by the Heathens in January; which was a going in Disguise, not publickly, or to any indiffe­rent [Page 149] Place; but privately, and to some well known Families.

THIS kind of Custom received a deserved Blow from the Church, and was taken Notice of in the Synod ^* of Trullus; where it was de­creed, that the Days called the Calends, should be intirely strip'd of their Ceremonies, and the Faithful should no longer observe them: That the publick Dancings of Women should cease, as being the Occasion of much Harm and Ruin, and as being invented and observed in honour of their Gods, and therefore quite averse to the Christian Life. They there­fore decreed, that no Man should be Cloathed with a Woman's Garment, no Woman with a Man's.

IT were to be wish'd, this Custom, which is still so Common among us at this Season of the Year, was laid aside; as it is the Occasion of much ^† Uncleanness and Debauchery, and [Page 150] directly opposite to the Word of GOD. The ^* Woman shall not wear that which partaineth unto a Man, neither shall a Man put on a Woman's Garment; for all that do so, are Abomination unto the LORD thy GOD.

CHAP. XVII. Of the Twelfth Day; how observed: The Wickedness of observing the Twelve Days after the common Way.

ON the Epiphany, or Manifestati­on of CHRIST to the Gen­tiles, commonly called the Twelfth-Day, the Eastern Magi were guided by the Star, to pay their Homage to their Saviour; and because they came that Day, which is the Twelfth after the Day of the Nativity, it is therefore called the Twelfth-Day.

The Twelfth-Day it self is one of the great­est of the Twelve, and of more jovial Obser­vation than the Others, for the visiting of [Page 152] Friends and Christmas-Gambols. The Rites of this Day are different in divers Places, tho' the End of them is much the same in all; namely, to do honour to the Memory of the Eastern Magi, whom they suppose to have been Kings. In ^* France, one of the Courtiers is chosen King, whom the King him­self, and the other Nobles attend at an En­tertainment. In Germany, they observe the same Thing on this Day in Academies and Cities, where the Students and Citizens create one of themselves King, and provide a Magni­ficent Banquet for him, and give him the At­tendance of a King, or a stranger Guest. Now this is answerable to that Custom of the Sa­turnalia, of Masters making Banquets for their Servants, and waiting on them; and no Doubt this Custom has in Part sprung from that.

NOT many Years ago, this was a common Christmas-Gambol in both our Universities; and it is still usual in other Places of our [Page 153] Land, to give the Name of King or Queen to that Person, whose extraordinary Luck hits upon that Part of the divided Cake, which is honour'd above the others, with a Bean in it.

BUT tho' this be generally the greatest of the Twelve, yet the others preceeding are observed with Mirth and Jollity, generally to Excess. Was this Feasting confined within the Bounds of Decency and Moderation, and gave more way than it does to the Exercises and the Re­ligious Duties of the Season, it would have nothing in it immoral or sinful. The keeping up of Friendship, and Love, and old Acquain­tance, has nothing in it harmful; but the Misfortune is, Men upon that Bottom, act ra­ther like Brutes than Men, and like Heathens than Christians; and the Preservation of Friendship and Love, is nothing else but a Pretence for Drunkenness, and Rioting, and Wantonness And such I am afraid hath been the Observation of the Christmas-Holy-days, since the holiest Times of the Christian Church; and the generality of Men have rather look'd [Page 154] upon them, as a ^* Time of Eating and Drink­ing, and Playing, than of returning Praises and Thanksgivings to GOD, for the greatest Benefit he ever bestow'd upon the Sons of Men.

Gregory Nazianzen, in that excellent Orati­on of his upon Christmas-Day, says, Let us not celebrate the Feast after an Earthly, but an Heavenly Manner; let not our Doors be crown'd; let not Dancing be encourag'd; let not the Cross-paths be adorned, the Eyes fed, nor the Ears delighted, &c. Let us not Feast to excess, nor be Drunk with Wine, &c. From this we may clearly see, what has been the Custom in these Days. And in all Probability it has been much the same among us, from the Beginning of Christianity: However fabulous that Story may be, taken Notice of by ^† Bishop Stilling fleet, from Hector Boethius, ‘That King Arthur kept with his Nobles at York, a very [Page 155] prophane Christmas for ^† Thirteen Days toge­ther, and that such Jollity and Feasting then, had its Original from him.’ But however these Words, if true, may be a Testimony of the too great Antiquity of the Abuse of this Festival; yet they will by no Means justifie Buchannan's Comment upon them. For as the learned Bishop goes on, ‘Buchannan is so well pleased with this notable Observation, that he sets it down for good History, saying upon it, that the old Saturnalia were re­new'd, only the Days increased, and Sa­turn's Name chang'd to Caesar's: For says he, we call the Feast Julia. But why should the Name of Saturn be changed into Caesar's? Was he worshipped for a GOD among the [Page 156] British Christians, as Saturn was among the old Pagans? But the Name Julia imports it; by no Means. For Buchannon does not prove, that this Name was ever used for that Festival among the Britains; and the Saxons, who brought in both the Name and the Feast, give another ^* Reason for it.’

BUCHANNAN seems therefore to have a great deal more Malice than Truth on his Side. But however such Revellings, and Fro­licks, and Extravagances, whether or not de­rived from the old Saturnalia, as are customary at this Season, do come very near to, if not ex­ceed its Liberties. In particular, what commo­ner at this Season, than for Men to rise early in the Morning, that they may follow strong Drink, and continue untill Night, till Wine inflame them? As if CHRIST who came into the World to save us, and was manifested to destroy the Works of the Devil; was to be honour'd with the very Works he came to destroy.

[Page 157]WITH some, Christmass ends with the Twelve Days, but with the Generality of the Vulgar, not till Candlemass. Till then they continue Feasting, and are ambitious of keeping some of their Christmass-Chear, and then are as fond of getting quit of it. Durand tells us, ^* They ce­lebrated this Time with Joy, because the Incar­nation of CHRIST was the Occasion of Joy to Angels and Men. But the lengthening of the Time from Twelve to Forty Days, seems to have been done out of Honour to the Virgin Mary's Lying-in: Under the old Law, the Time of Purification was Forty Days, which was to Women then, what the Month is to Women now. And as during that Time, the Friends and Relations of the Women, pay them Visits, and do them abundance of Honour; so this Time seems to have been calculated, to do Honour to the Virgin's Lying-in.

THERE is a Canon in the Council of Trul­lus, ^† against those who bak'd a Cake in ho­nour [Page 158] of the Virgin's Lying-in, in which it is decreed, that no such Ceremony should be observed; because it was otherwise with her, at the Birth of our Saviour, than with all other Women. She suffer'd no Pollution, and therefore needed no Purification, but only in Obedience to the Law: If then the Baking of a single Cake was faulty, how much more so many Feasts in her Honour?

CHAP. XVIII. Of St. Paul's Day; The Observation of the Weather, a Custom of the Heathens, and handed down by the Monks: The Apostle St. Paul himself is against such Observations; The Opinion of St. Au­stin upon them.

THE Observation of the Wea­ther which is made on this Day is altogether ridiculous and superstitious. If it hap­pen to be unclouded and without Rain, it is look'd upon as an Omen of the following Year's Success, if otherwise that the Year will be unfortunate. Thus the old Verse,

THE Interpretation of which is very well known to be this,

SUCH also is the Observation of St. Swi­thin's Day, which if rainy is a Token that it will rain for forty Days successively; such is the Observation of ^* Candlemas-Day, such is Chil­dermas-Day, such Valentine's-Day, and some o­thers.

HOW St. Paul's Day came to have this par­ticular Knack of foretelling the good or evil [Page 161] Fortune of the following Year, is no easy Matter to find out. The Monks who were undoubtedly the first who made this wonder­ful Observation, have taken Care it should be handed down to Posterity, but why and for what Reason this Observation was to stand good, they have taken Care to conceal. In Church Affairs indeed they make free with handing down Traditions from Generation to Generation, which being approved by an in­fallible Judgment, are to be taken for granted; but as far as I hear, they never pretended to an infallible Spirit, in the Study of the Pla­nets. One may therefore, without the Sus­picion of Heresy, or fear of the Inquisition, make a little Inquiry into this Affair, and see whether it be true or false, whether it is built upon any Reason or no Reason, whether still to be observed, or only laugh'd at as a Mon­kish Dream.

NOW as it is the Day of that Saint, the great Apostle St. Paul, I cannot see there is any Thing to be built upon. He did indeed labour more abundantly than all the Apostles; but ne­ver, [Page 162] that I heard, in the Science of Astrology. And why his Day should therefore be a stand­ing Almanack to the World, rather than the Day of any other Saint, will be pretty hard to find out. I am sure there is a good Num­ber of them, have as much Right to Rain or fair Weather as St. Paul, and if St. Andrew, St. Thomas, &c. have not as much Right to Wind or Snow, let the Reader judge.

AS it is the Twenty fifth Day of January, one would think that could be no Reason. For what is that Day more than another? In­deed they do give some Shew of Reason, why Rain should happen about the Time of St. Swithin, which is this. About the Time of his Feast, which is on the Fourteenth of July, there are two rainy Constellations, which are called Praecepe and Asellus, which arise cosmi­cally, and generally produce Rain. And to be sure in the Course of the Sign Aquarius, there may be both Rain and Wind and fair Weather, but how these can foretell the Destiny of the Year, is the Question.

[Page 163]AS then there is nothing in the Saint or his Day to prognosticate any such Thing, I mean, as it is the Day of St. Paul, or the Twenty fifth of January, so I must confess I cannot find out what may be the Ground of this particular Observation. But however thus much is very obvious, that this Observation is an exact Copy of that superstitious Custom a­mong the Heathens, of observing one Day as good, and another as bad. For among them, were lucky and unlucky Days; some were dies atri, and some dies albi; the atri were pointed out in their Calendar, with a black Character, the albi with a white; the former to denote it a Day of bad Success, the latter a Day of good. Thus have the Monks in the dark and unlear­ned Ages of Popery copy'd after the Heathens, and dream'd themselves into the like Supersti­tions, esteeming one Day more successful than another; and so according to them, it is very unlucky to begin any Work upon Childermass-Day; and what Day soever that falls on, whe­ther on a Munday, Tuesday, or any other, no­thing must be begun on that Day through the Year; St. Paul's Day is the Year's Fortune-Teller, [Page 164] St. Mark's Day is the Prognosticator of your Life and Death, &c. and so instead of perswading the People to lay aside the Whims and Fancies of the Heathen World, they brought them so effectually in, that they are still reigning in many Places to this Day.

BUT of all the Days of the Year, they could not have chosen one so little to the Pur­pose. For the very Saint, whose Day is so observed, has himself cautioned them against any such Observation: For in the Fourth Chapter of his Epistle to the Galations, he tells them, how dangerous it was to observe Days and Months, and Times, and Years; which is not, as some would perswade us, to Caution us against the Observation of any Day but the Lord's-Day; but only that we should not ob­serve the abolished Feasts of the Jews, nor the abominable Feasts of the Gentiles, nor their superstitious Observation of fortunate and un­fortunate Days. St. Austin, upon this Place, hath these Words, ^* Let us not observe Years, [Page 165] and Months, and Times, least we hear the A­postle telling us, I am afraid of you, least I have shewn on you labour in Vain. For the Persons he blames, are those who say, I will not set forward on my Journey, because it is the next Day after such a Time, or because the Moon is so; or I'll set forward that I may have Luck, because such is just now the Po­sition of the Stars. I will not Traffick this Month, because such a Star presides, or I will, because it does. I shall plant no Vines this Year, because it is Leap-Year, &c.

THE learned Mr. Bingham, has among se­veral others, a Quotation from the same St. Austin on these superstitious Observations, with which I shall conclude this Chap­ter. ‘To this kind, says he, belong all Li­gatures and Remedies, which the School of Physicians reject and condemn; whether in Inchantments, or in certain Marks, whichBingham, 16 L. C. 5. Antiq. Eccl. P. 300. Aust. de Doct. Christ. L. 2. C. 10. [Page 166] they call Characters, or in some other Things which are to be hanged and bound about the Body, and kept in a dancing Posture; not for any Temperament of the Body, but for certain Significations, either Ocult, or Manifest: Which by a gentler Name, they call Physical, that they may not seem to affright Men with the Appearance of Super­stition, but do good in a natural Way: Such are Ear-rings hanged upon the Tip of each Ear, and Rings made of an Ostriches Bones for the Finger; or when you are told in a Fit of Convulsions, or Shortness of Breath, to hold your left Thumb with your right Hand. To which may be added a thousand vain Observations, as, if any of our Members beat; if when two Friends are talking together, a Stone, or a Dog, or a Child, happens to come between them, they tread the Stone to Pieces, as the Divi­der of their Friendship, and this is toller­able in Comparison of beating an innocent Child that comes between them. But it is more pleasant, that sometimes the Childrens Quarrel is revenged by the Dogs; for ma­ny [Page 167] Times they are so superstitious, as to dare to beat the Dog that comes between them, who turning again upon him that smites him, sends him from seeking a vain Remedy, to seek a real Physician indeed. Hence proceed likewise these other Super­stitions: For a Man to tread upon his Thre­shold when he passes by his own House, to return back to Bed again, if he chance to sneeze as he is putting on his Shoes; to return into his House, if he stumble at his Going out; if the Rats knaw his Clothes, to be more terrified with the Suspicion of some future Evil, than concerned for the present Loss. He says, Cato gave a wise and smart Answer to such an one, who came in some Consternation to consult him, about the Rats having knawed his Stock­ings; that, said he, is no great Wonder, but it would have been a Wonder indeed, if the Stockings had knawed the Rats. St. Austin mentions this witty Answer of a wise Heathen, to convince Christians the better of the Unreasonableness and Vanity of all such superstitious Observations. And [Page 168] he concludes, that all such Arts, whether of triffling or more noxious Superstition, are to be rejected and avoided by Christians, as proceeding originally from some pernici­ous Society between Men and Devils, and being the Compacts and Agreements of such treacherous and deceitful Friendship. The Apostle forbids us to have Fellowship with Devils; and that, he says, respects not only Idols, and Things offered to Idols, but all imaginary Signs pertaining to the Worship of Idols, and also all Remedies, and other Observations, which are not appointed pub­lickly by GOD to promote the Love of GOD and our Neighbour, but proceed from the private Fancies of Men, and tend to delude the Hearts of poor deluded Mortals. For these Things have no natural Virtue in them, but owe all their Efficacy to a pre­sumptuous Confederacy with Devils: And they are full of pestiferous Curiosity, tor­menting Anxiety, and deadly Slavery. They were first taken up, not for any real Power to be discerned in them, but gained their Power by Mens observing them. And there­fore [Page 169] by the Devil's Art they happen dif­ferently to different Men, according to their own Apprehensions and Presumptions. For the great Deceiver knows, how to procure Things agreeable to every Man's Temper, and ensnare him by his own Suspicions and Consent.’

CHAP. XIX. Of Candlemass-Day; why so called; the Blasphemy of the Church of Rome in consecrating Wax Candles.

THIS Day goes under several De­nominations: It is called the Day of CHRIST's Presenta­tion; because on it CHRIST was presented in the Temple; it is called the Holy-Day of St. Simeon; be­cause it was on it, that he took our SAVI­OUR up in his Arms: And it is called the Purification, because then the Holy Virgin was purified. It is generally a Day of Festivity, and more than ordinary Observation among Women, and is therefore called the Wives-Feast-Day. The Feasting seems to be observed [Page 171] in Honour of the Virgin Mary; for as on the Day of a Woman's being church'd, there is no common Entertainment, so it seems, that this Feasting was begun in the Times of Popery, by Way of Compliment to the Churching-Day of the Virgin Mary.

IT has the Name of ^* Candlemass-Day, be­cause Lights were distributed and carried about in Procession, or because also the Use of lighted Tapers, which was observed all Winter at Vespers and Litanies, were then wont to cease, till the next All-Hallowmass.

THESE Lights so carried about, were bles­sed of the Priest, as Hospinian tells us, who made Use of the following Prayers at their Consecration. ^† We implore thee by the In­vocation [Page 172] of thy Holy Name, and by the In­tercession of the blessed Virgin Mary, the Mo­ther of thy Son, whose Feast we this Day ce­lebrate with the highest Devotion; and by the Intercession of all thy Saints, that thou wouldst sanctifie these Candles to the Good and Profit of Men, and the Health of his Soul and Body, whether in Earth or Sea. And again, O LORD JESU, I beseech thee, that thou wouldst bless this thy Creature of Wax, and grant it thy Heavenly Benediction, by the Power of thy Holy Cross; that as it was a Gift to Man by which the Darkness might be driven away, so now it may be en­dow'd with such Virtue by the Sign of the Holy Cross, that wheresoever it is lighted and placed, the evil Spirit may tremble, and, with his Servants, be in such Terror and Confusion as to fly away from that Habitation, and no more vex and disturb thy Servants.

AFTER this, he adjures the Wax Candles, in Words like these. ^* I adjure thee, O thou [Page 173] waxen Creature, in the Name of our LORD and the Holy Trinity, that thou repel and ex­tirpate the Devil and his Sprights, &c. And therefore all Christians (says Eccius. Tom. 3. Hom. de Purificat.) ought to use these Lights, with an holy Love, having a sincere Depen­dance, that thus they shall be freed by the Power of the Word and this Prayer, from all the Snares and Frauds of the Devil.

OUR Author upon this, says, That this is manifest Blasphemy and Idolatry. For as on the one Hand, they take the Name of GOD and the Holy Trinity in vain, so on the other they attribute to a Wax Candle, what should be ascribed to CHRIST alone, and the quick­ning Power of the Holy Ghost.

CHAP. XX. Of Valentine-Day; its Ceremonies; what the Council of Trullus thought of such Customs; that they had bet­ter be omitted.

IT is a Ceremony, never omitted among the Vulgar, to draw Lots, which they Term Valen­tines, on the Eve before ^* Va­lentine-day. The Names of a select Number of one Sex, are by an equal Number of the other put into some Vessel; and after that, every one draws a Name, which for the present is called their Valentine, and is also look'd upon as a good Omen of their be­ing Man and Wife afterwards.

[Page 175]THERE is a rural Tradition, that on this Day every ^* Bird chuses its Mate. From this perhaps the youthful Part of the World hath first practised this Custom, so common at this Season.

In the Trullan Council we have Lots and Divinations forbid, as being some of those Things which provoked the LORD to anger against King ^† Manasses, who used Lots and Divinations, &c. upon which the Scholiast hath these Words. ^‖ The Custom of drawing Lots was after this Manner; on the 23rd Day of [Page 176] June, which is the Eve of St. John Baptist, Men and Woman were accustomed to gather together in the Evening by the Sea-side, or in some certain Houses, and there adorn a Girl, who was her Parents first-begotten Child, af­ter the Manner of a Bride. Then they feast­ed and leaped after the Manner of Bacchanals, and danced and shouted as they were wont to do on their Holy-days: After this they poured into a narrow neck'd Vessel some of the Sea-Water, and put also into it certain Things be­longing to each of them. Then as if the Devil gifted the Girl, with the Faculty of telling future Things; they would enquire with a loud Voice, about the good or evil Fortune that should attend them: Upon this the Girl would take out of the Vessel, the first Thing that came to Hand, and shew it, and give it to the Owner; who upon receiv­ing it, was so foolish as to imagine himself wiser, as to the good or evil Fortune that should attend him.

THIS Custom, as he tells us a little after, is altogether diabolical: And surely it was so, [Page 177] being used as a Presage of what was future. Was the Custom of the Lots now mention'd, used as among the Heathens, they would no Doubt be as worthy of Condemnation; but as far as I know, there is but little Credit given to them; tho' that little is too much, and ought to be laid aside. But if the Cu­stom was used without any Mixture or Allay of Superstition, as I believe it is in some Pla­ces, yet it is often attended with great Incon­veniences and Misfortunes, with Uneasinesses to Families, with Scandal, and sometimes with Ruin.

CHAP. XXI. Of Shrove-tide; what it signifies; the Custom of the Papists at this Season; that our present Customs are very un­becoming.

SHROVE-TIDE signifieth the Time of confessing Sins, as the Word Tide, which signifies Time; and the Saxon Word Shrive or Shrift; which signi­fies Confession, plainly shew. The Reason why this Time is so denominated is, because it was set apart by the Church of Rome for a Time of Shriving or confessing Sins. For then Peo­ple were wont to confess their Sins, and re­ceive [Page 179] the Sacrament, that they might be bet­ter prepar'd for the Religious Observation of the following Season of Lent. Thus in the Constitutions of ^* Simon Sudbury, it is orde­red, ‘That Lay-Men should be admonished to confess in the very Beginning of Lent.’ And in Theodolphus's Capitula, it is order'd, ‘That on the Week next before Lent, every Man should go to his Shrift, and his Shrift should shrive him in such a Manner, as his Deeds which he had done requir'd: And that he should charge all that belong to his District, that if any of them have Discord with any, he make Peace with him; if any one will not be brought to this, then he shall not shrive him; but then he shall inform the Bishop, that he may convert [Page 180] him to what is right, if he be willing to belong to GOD: Then all Contentions and Disputes shall cease; and if there be any one of them, that hath taken Offence at another, then shall they be reconcil'd, that they may more freely say in the LORD'S Prayer, LORD, forgive us our Trespasses, &c. And having thus purified their Minds, let them enter upon the Holy Fast Tide, and cleanse themselves by Satisfaction against Holy Easter, &c. Johnson 994.36. Consti­tut.’

THIS Custom of confessing to the Priest at this Time, was laid aside by our Church at the Reformation: For Sins are to be confess'd to GOD alone, and not to the Priest, except when the Conscience cannot otherwise be quieted: Then indeed the Grief is to be open­ed to the Spiritual Guide in private, ^* That by the Ministry of GOD's Word, he may give the Benefit of Absolution, together with ghostly Council and Advice, to the quieting of the Con­science, [Page 181] and the avoiding of all Scruple and Doubtfulness. But how this other worse Cu­stom came to be retain'd, of indulging all Manner of Luxury and Intemperance, I know nothing but that the Flesh was too powerful for the Spirit: The Duties of Religion, how justly soever enjoyn'd us, are tamely dispensed with, but what won't we rather do, than give up the Pleasures of Life? Surely the Church never design'd, when she so justly took away the publick Confessions of this Sea­son, that Rioting, and Gaming, and Drunken­ness, should continue amongst us. Are these a fit Preparation for so solemn a Season? Will they qualifie us for the Hearing of the Histo­ry of our LORD'S Passion? Will they pre­pare us for the Reception of his Body and Blood? And fit us to meet him in the Mor­ning of the Resurrection? Will they not ra­ther speak us Heathens than Christians? And lead us to Hell, than on the Way to Hea­ven? Such Customs as these may, in some Measure, be excusable among them whose ^* Church has too much led them into those [Page 182] Things; but it is scandalous and sinful and abominable in those, who pretend to be the Enemies of Error and Superstition, to con­tinue the Observation of such sinful Cu­stoms.

CHAP. XXII. Of Palm-Sunday: Why so called; how observed in the Popish Times: What it is truely to carry Palms in our Hands on this Day.

THE Sunday before Easter, which is denominated Palm-Sunday, is so called, ^* because, as the Ri­tualists say, on that Day, the Boughs of Palm-Trees were wont to be carried in Procession, in Imitation of those which the Children of Israel strawed in the Way of CHRIST. For they cut down Branches from the Trees, and strawed them in the Way; which according to the Consent of Antiquity, were [Page 184] the Branches of the Palm-Tree; it being very Common in that Country, and used as an Emblem of Victory. And a Doctor of our own Church, in his Discourse upon this Fe­stival, says, ‘^* From the Story, as described by St. Luke and St. Matthew, some of the an­cient Church took Occasion, as on this Day, to go in Procession with Palms in their Hands, and to denominate it Palm-Sunday.’

BUT however harmless this Custom might have been, in the Times of its first Institution, it is certain, that in after Ages it sunk into Super­stition and gross Idolatry. Thus the Rhemists, in their Translation of the New Testament, de­scribe the Ceremony themselves: ‘These Of­fices of Honour, done to our Saviour extra­ordinarily, were very acceptable. And for a Memory hereof, the Holy Church maketh a solemn Procession every Year upon this Day; specially in our Country, when it was Catholick, with the Blessed Sacrament reverently carryed, as it were CHRIST up­on the Ass, and strawing of Bushes and [Page 185] Flowers, bearing of Palms, setting up Boughs, spreading and hanging up the richest Clothes, the Quire and Queristers singing, as here the Children and the People; all done in a very godly Ceremony, to the Honour of CHRIST, and the Memory of his Triumph upon this Day. The like Service, and the like Duties done to him in all other solemn Processions of the Blessed Sacrament, and otherwise, be undoubtedly no less grateful.’ Dr. ^* Fulke upon this, gives this Answer: ‘Your Palm-Sunday Procession was horrible Idolatry, and abusing of the LORDS Insti­tution, who ordained his Supper to be eaten and drunken, not to be carryed about in Procession like a Heathenish Idol: But it is pretty Sport, that you make the Priests that carryeth this Idol, to supply the Room of the Ass, on which CHRIST did ride: Thus you turn the Holy Mistery of CHRIST'S riding to Jerusalem, to a May-game and pa­gent Play. And yet you say, such Service done to CHRIST is undoubtedly exceed­ing grateful; yea, no less grateful, than [Page 186] that was done by his Disciples, at the Time mentioned in the Text: Your Argument and Proof is none, but your bare Assevera­tions. That which the Disciples did, had the Warrant of the Holy Scripture; but who hath regarded these Theatrical Pomps at their Hands? Or what Word of GOD have you to assure you that he accepteth such Will-worship? Who detesteth all Wor­ship, which is according to the Doctrines and Traditions of Men, and not after his own Commandment.’

FROM this superstitious and idolatrous Custom, without all doubt it comes to pass, that we now and then, on a Palm-Sunday, see the young People carrying Branches of Palms in their Hands; which they seem fond of ha­ving that Day, and which they as little regard at other Times. It is true indeed, it is a Re­lick of the ancient Superstition of the Papists, but as it is now intirely stript of any Super­stiton, and is an Emblem of the Season, and the Transactions of that Day; so I see no harm in so innocent an Observation.

[Page 187]BUT how much better would it be to car­ry in our Hands this Day, ^* the Palm of good Works, the Graces of Humility, and Kindness, and Charity, to feed the Hungry, to give drink to the Thirsty, to clothe the Naked, to entertain the Strangers, to visit the Sick and in Prison, &c. By such Actions as these, should we truly carry Palms in our Hands; by these we should truly straw the Way for our LORD, and so follow his Steps to the Hea­venly Jerusalem.

CHAP. XXIII Of rising early on Easter Day: What is meant by the Sun dancing that Morn: The Antiquity of rising early on this Day; the End and Design of it: The great Advantage of it.

IT is a common Custom among the Vulgar and uneducated Part of the World, to rise be­fore the Sun on Easter-day, and walk into the Fields: The Reason of which, is to see the Sun Dance; which they have been told, from an old Tra­dition, always Dances as upon that Day. We read indeed that the Sun once ^* stood still, but whether the Sun danced upon the very Day [Page 189] our Saviour rose on, we cannot tell: It's very probable it did not, because the Scriptures are silent; and that it never did so since, I think we may be well assur'd; forasmuch as never any, that we have heard of, have seen any such Thing since that Time. If therefore this Tradition hath any Meaning, it must be a Metaphorical one; that when the Morning proves clear, there is a seeming Smile over the Face of Nature, and Earth and Heaven shew Tokens of Joy. For as the Earth and her Valleys, by standing thick with Corn, are said, to laugh and sing; so, on Account of the Resurrection, the Heavens and the Sun may be said to Dance for Joy; or as the Psalmist Words it, ^* The Heavens may rejoyce, and the Earth may be glad.

THERE is then, really speaking, nothing in the Dancing of the Sun upon Easter-Day; but yet it is a very ancient and commendable Custom to be up early at this Holy Time: And therefore Damascen, in his Paschal Hymn, [Page 190] sings, ^* Let us watch very early in the Morn­ing; and instead of Ointment, let us bring an Hymn to our LORD; and let us see our CHRIST, the Sun of Righteousness, who is the Life that riseth to all Men. And indeed it is the most seasonable Time for meditating on our LORD'S Resurrection, and it's pleasing Circumstances. For as the Place where any notable Thing has been transacted, seldom or never fails to raise the Idea of the Transacti­on; so the particular Time, when it was done, does generally produce the same Effect. And as the Truth of the Former, was the Occasion of many holy and religious Men go­ing ^† to visit the Place of the Sepulchre, and hear it, as it were, say, what the Angel did to the Women, Come, see the Place where the LORD lay; so the Truth of the Latter was the Reason, why devout and holy Men, did in the best Ages of the Church, rise early in the Morning of the Resurrection. The Pri­mitive Christians spent the Night preceeding [Page 191] it, in Prayers and Praises, till the Time of Cock-crow, the supposed Hour of our Saviour's rising. For as ^* Durant tells us, it is univer­sally assented to by the Latin Church, that after our Saviour had conquer'd Death, and broken the Gates of Hell, he arose from the Dead, not at Mid-night, but in the Morning, at the Time of Cock-crow; which not the Cocks, but the Angels themselves proclaimed. And when these Pernoctations were laid aside, it was the Custom to rise early, and spend the Morning in such a Manner as was suitable to the Nature of the Time. The Saluta­tion of the Eastern Church Anestese; or, The LORD is risen, and the usual Answer, The LORD is risen indeed; were no doubt the common Salutation of that Morning: And if this present Custom of the Vulgar, has had at any Time any laudable Custom for its O­riginal, it was, no doubt, this of rising early to contemplate the more seasonably on the Resurrection of CHRIST.

[Page 192]AND now, was this the End of Rising ear­ly at that Holy Time, it would be very ad­vantageous; but to rise with the View of the Vulgar, is foolish and ridiculous. Would we rise before the Sun, and prevent the Dawn of Day, our Meditations would be strong and vigorous, and almost persuade us that the real Actions of that Morn, were presented to our View. For when at that Time, all Things are husht in Silence, and warp'd in Darkness, or but illuminated with the friendly Moon, the ^* Guide of Mary Magdalene, and the other Women to the Sepulcher; 'tis easy and natural to meditate on these Things; to see our Savi­our's Tomb; to see the Angels sit as Guardians on it; and the trembling Watch fled into the City. And now the LORD is risen indeed, and they that seek him early shall find him. ^† Be­hold then Mary Magdalene, on the first Day of [Page 193] the Week, coming from her own House at Bethany, before the other Women, very early in the Morning, when it was as yet Dark, ^* to find Ease and Consolation at the Sepulchre: Behold she and the other Women bringing the prepared Spices to Embalm their LORD; Behold Peter and John running to the Sepul­chre and returning, whilst Mary continues in Sorrow and Tears: And as she weeps, ye may see her look into the Sepulchre; but he is not there, he is risen. Behold then the Guar­dians of the Tomb, saying, ^† Woman, why weepest thou? Nay behold the Lamb of GOD himself, with the very same Words, wiping away the Tears from her Eyes. And JESUS said unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She supposing him to be the Gar­diner, saith unto him, Sir, If thou have born him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. JESUS said unto her, Mary. With what Joy, now does she run to his Feet, willing and desirous, and eager [Page 194] to Embrace them. But he bids her not to touch him, but go to his Brethren, and say un­to them, I ascend unto my Father and your Fa­ther, to my GOD and your GOD, Behold a little after this, his Apparition to her and the other Women, and how he suffers them to kiss his Feet. ^* He appeared also about the same Time to Peter.

THESE and the other Accidents at our LORD'S Resurrection, would afford us a sa­tisfactory and comfortable Meditation; would inflame our Hearts with a burning Love, and melt us into Tears of Joy. In our eager Wishes and warm Desires, we should, with the Holy Women, kiss the Feet of our Savi­our, and be almost Partakers of equal Hap­piness with them; or, sure we are, that we should have our Saviour in our Hearts, and not fail of seeing him in his Kingdom. He whom we have so carefully sought for, will vouchsafe to be found of us; in his Grace, at the Sepulchre, and in his Glory, in Hea­ven. Happy they, who so early seek their [Page 195] Saviour; who long after him, as the Hart doth after the Water-Brooks; who seek him among the ^*Lilies, until the Day break, and the Shadows flee away. Happy they, their Conversation is now in Heaven, and their Happiness hereafter, will be the Joys of Eternity: Where they shall no more be absent, but ever Present with the LORD.

CHAP. XXIV. Of Easter Holy-Days: A Time of Re­laxation from Labour: How observed in the dark Ages of Popery: That our Customs at this Time, are sprung from theirs.

ON the Holy-Days of Easter, it is customary for Work to cease, and Servants to be at Liberty: Which is a Resem­blance of the Practice of the primitive Church, which set apart the whole Week after Easter, for to praise and glorifie GOD, for our SAVIOUR'S Resurrection: In which ^* Time all servile Labour ceas'd, that [Page 197] Servants as well as others might be present at the Devotions of the Season. But other Customs so frequently observed at this Time, such as publick Shows, Gamings, Horse-Races, &c. were forbidden, as being foreign to the Holiness of this Season.

IN after Ages, when the Church fell into Corruption, and the Substance of Religion de­cay'd into the Shadow of Ceremonies, the usual Prayers and Praises of the Season, were either much neglected, or but superficially observed. For Belithus, a Ritualist of those Times tells us, ^* That it was customary in some Churches, for the Bishops and Arch-Bishops themselves to play with the inferior Clergy, even at Hand-Ball; and this also, as Durandus witnesseth, ^† even on Easter-Day it self. This was cal­led ^‖ the Liberty of December, because that [Page 198] formerly, it was customary among the Hea­thens in that Month to indulge their Servants with a certain Time of Liberty; when they were on the Level with their Masters, and feasted and banqueted with them.

WHY they should play at Hand-Ball at this Time rather than any other Game, I have not been able to find out; but I suppose it will be readily granted, that this Custom of so playing, was the Original of our present Recreations and Diversions on Easter Holy Days, and in particular of playing at Hand-Ball for a ^* Tanzy-Cake, which at this Season, is gene­rally practised; and I would hope practised with Harmlessness and Innocence. For when the common Devotions of the Day are over, there is nothing sinful in lawful Recreation. But for the Governors of Churches to descend to such Childish Exercises, and that even on the Great Sunday of the Year, was not only unbecoming their Gravity and Reservedness, but was also a down-right Breach of the fourth [Page 199] Commandment. But these were Ages of Ig­norance and Darkness, when the World was taught for the Doctrines of GOD, the Command­ments of Men.

CHAP. XXV. Of May-Day; the Custom of going to the Woods the Night before; this the Practice of other Nations: The Origi­nal of it; the Unlawfulness.

ON the Calends, or the first Day of May, commonly called May-Day, the juvenile Part of both Sexes, are wont to rise a little after Mid-night, and walk to some neighbour­ing Wood, accompany'd with Musick and the blowing of Horns; where they break down Branches from the Trees, and adorn them with Nose-gays and Crowns of Flowers. When this is done, they return with their Booty home-wards, about the rising of the Sun, and make their Doors and Windows to Triumph in the Flowery Spoil. The after-part of the [Page 201] Day, is chiefly spent in dancing round a Tall-Poll, which is called a May-Poll; which being placed in a convenient Part of the Village, stands there, as it were consecrated to the God­dess of Flowers, without the least Violation offer'd it, in the whole Circle of the Year. And this is not the Custom of the British Common People only, but it is the Custom of the Generality of other Nations; particularly of the Italians, where Polydore Virgil tells us, The ^* Youth of both Sexes were accustomed to go into the Fields, on the Calends of May, and bring thence the Branches of Trees, sing­ing all the way as they came, and so place them on the Doors of their Houses.

^† THIS is the Relick of an ancient Custom among the Heathen, who observed the four [Page 202] last Days of April, and the first of May, in Honour of the Goddess Flora, who was ima­gin'd the Deity presiding over the Fruit and Flowers. It was observed with all Manner of Obscenity and Lewdness, and the undecent Sports and Postures of naked Women, who were called together with the Noise of Trum­pets, and danced before the Spectators.

FROM this Custom of the Heathens hath ours undoubtedly come; and tho' for that Reason barely, it need not be laid aside; yet forasmuch as many Country People are of O­pinion, ^* That the Observation of this Cere­mony is a good Omen, and a Procurer of the Success of the Fruits of the Earth, which is intirely a Piece of Superstition; and because also much Wickedness and Debauchery are committed that Night, to the Scandle of whole Families, and the Dishonour of Religion, there is all the Reason in the World, for laying it aside.

CHAP. XXVI. Of Parochial Perambulations: Their An­tiquity, the Benefit and Advantage of them.

IT was a general Custom for­merly, and is still observed in some Country Parishes, to go round the Bounds and Limits of the Parish, on one of the three Days before Holy Thursday, or the Feast of our LORD's Ascension; when the Minister, accompany'd with his Church-Wardens and Pa­rishoners, were wont to deprecate the Venge­ance of GOD, beg a Blessing on the Fruits of the Earth, and preserve the Rights and Pro­perties of their Parish.

[Page 204]THE Original of this Custom is dated from the Times of the Heathens. For ^* from the Days of Numa Popilius, they worshipped the God Terminus, whom they looked upon to be the Guardian of Fields and Landmarks, and the Keeper up of Friendship and Peace among Men: Upon this Account the Feast called Ter­minalia, was dedicated to him; instead of which it is a very ancient Custom to surround the Bounds of Parishes every Year: And in­stead of Heathenish Rites and Sacrifices to an imaginary God, to offer Praises and Prayers to the true GOD, the GOD of the whole Earth. The Custom was, the People accom­pany'd the Bishop, or some of the Clergy into the Fields, where Litanies were made, and the Mercy of GOD implor'd, that he would avert the Evils of Plague and Pestilence, that he would send them good and seasonable Wea­ther, and give them the Fruits of the Earth in due Season.

[Page 205]THE Litanies or Rogations, which were ^* then made Use of, and gave Name to the Time of Rogation-Week, were first observed by Ma­mertus, Bishop of Vienna, in the Year 550, ^† on Account of the frequent Earthquakes that happened, and the Incursions of wild Beasts, which laid in Ruins, and depopulated the City. Not that Litanies and Rogations were not used before, but that before this Time they were not affixed to these Days. And since that, they have been observed of the whole Church at this Season, except the Church of ^‖ Spain, who chus'd rather to have them after Pentecost than before it; because [Page 206] from Easter-day to the Feast of Pentecost, it was the Custom of the Church not to Fast: For as they themselves reason'd, the Children of the Bride-Chamber cannot Fast so long as the Bridegroom is with them; and therefore they held their Rogations after Pentecost.

WHAT now remains among us, is the Re­lick of this antient and laudable Custom, which was always observed in the old Church of England, and has been also in some Mea­sure since the Reformation too.

In ^* the Canons of Cuthbert, Arch-bishop of Canterbury, which were made at Cloves-hoo, in the Year 747, it was order'd that Litanies, that is, Rogations, should be observed of the Clergy, and all the People with great Reve­rence on these Days, viz. the seventh of the Kalends of May, according to the Rites of [Page 207] the Church of Rome, who termeth this the greater Litany; and also according to the Cu­stom of our Fore-fathers, on the three Days before the Ascention of our LORD into the Heavens, with Fasting, &c. And in the In­junctions made in the Reign of Queen Eliza­beth, it is ordered, ‘^* That the Curate, at certain and convenient Places, shall admo­nish the People to give Thanks to GOD, in the beholding of GOD'S Benefits; for the Increase and Abundance of his Fruits upon the Face of the Earth, with the say­ing of the 103 Psalm, &c. at which Time the Minister shall inculcate these or such Sentences. Cursed be he which translateth the Bounds and Doles of his Neighbour: Or such Orders of Prayers as shall be here­after.’

AGREEABLE to this we read, in the Life of the pious Hooker, ‘^† That he would by no Means omit the Customary Time of Pro­cession, persuading all, both Rich and Poor, [Page 208] if they desired the Preservation of Love, and their Parish Rites and Liberties, to ac­company him in his Perambulation, and most did so; in which Perambulation, he would usually Express more pleasant Dis­course, than at other Times, and would then always Drop some loving and facetious Observations, to be remembred against the next Year, especially by the Boys and young People: Still inclining them, and all his present Parishioners, to meekness and mutu­al Kindnesses and Love; because Love thinks not Evil, but covers a Multitude of Infirmi­ties.’

WE may also observe, That the particular Office order'd by our Church for Rogation-Sunday, is exactly suited to the Nature of the Season; that the three Days following are ap­pointed Fasts by our Church, and that one of our Church Homilies is composed particular­ly, for the Parochial Perambulation. All which shews the Custom and Intention of the Church, and that the practising of it would be service­able to the Sons of Men; Would save their [Page 209] Lives from Destruction, and crown them with Mercy and loving Kindness; would send them Springs into their Rivers, and make them run among the Hills: Would bring forth Grass for the Cattle, and green Herb for the Service of Men.

CHAP. XXVII. Of Midsummer-Eve: Of kindling Fires, their Original: That this Custom for­merly was superstitious, but now may be used with Innocence.

ON the Eve of St. John Baptist, commonly called Midsumner-Eve, it is usual in the most of Country Places, and also here and there in Towns and Cities, for both Old and Young to meet together, and be Merry over a large Fire, which is made in the open Street. Over this they frequently leap and play at various Games, such as Run­ning, Wrestling, Dancing, &c. But this is generally the Exercise of the younger Sort; for the old Ones, for the most Part, sit by as [Page 211] Spectators, and enjoy themselves and their Bottle. And thus they spend the Time till Mid-night, and some-times till Cock-crow.

BELITHUS tells us, ^* That it was a Custom to carry lighted Torches on Midsum­mer-Eve, as an Emblem of St. John Baptist, who was a burning and a shining Light, and the Preparer of the Way of CHRIST. But if this was the Reason of this Custom formerly, as it's probable it was, (it having been a com­mon Thing, to shadow out Times and Seasons by Emblems;) yet the Custom still continu'd among us, was originally instituted upon an­other Bottom.

AND indeed the ^† Original of this Custom is Heathenish. For in ancient Times the Dra­gons, [Page 212] being incited to Lust through the Heat of the Season, did frequently, as they flew through the Air, Spermatize in the Wells and Fountains. By this Means the Water became infected, and the Air polluted; so that who­ever drank the Waters, was either tormented with a grievious Distemper, or lost his Life. As soon as the Physicians perceived this, they ordered Fires to be made every where about the Wells and Fountains, and those Things which occasioned the noisomest Smell, to be burnt, knowing that thereby the Dragons would be driven away. And forasmuch as this Custom was observed about the Time we now celebrate St. John Baptist's Feast, it is therefore still observed among some People. And agreeable to this it is, that Mr. Cambden tells us, that Barnwell, a Village near Cam­bridge, got its Name from the Children play­ing about a Well on St. John Baptist's Eve.

THE Custom of kindling such Fires, was severely censur'd by the Church: And there­fore in the Council of Trulius, this Canon was [Page 213] made against it, ^* That if any Clergy-man or Lay-man observed the Rite of making on Fires on the New-Moon, (which some were wont to observe, and according to an old Custom, to leap over them in a mad and foolish Man­ner,) he should be deposed, if the Former, if the Latter, he should be excommunicated.

THE Scholiast upon this Canon hath these Words: The New-Moon was always the first Day of the Month, and it was Customary a­mong the Jews and Greeks, to hold then a Feast, and pray that they might be lucky du­ring the Continuance of the Month. Of these it was, that GOD spake by the Prophet: My Soul hateth your New-Moons and your Sab­baths. And not only this, but they also kindled Fires before their Shops and Houses, and leaped over them; imagining that all the Evils which had befallen them formerly, would be burnt away, and that they should be more successful and lucky afterwards. Now about the Sitting of this Synod, there were some of the Christians, who observed this Cu­stom [Page 214] upon the same Accounts that the Hea­thens did, which occasioned it's being forbid by the Council; and that if a Clergy-man was Guilty of it, he should be deposed; if a Lay-man, excommunicated. He also tells us, that on St. John Baptist's-Eve, the Vulgar were wont to make on Fires for the whole Night, and leap over them, and draw Lots, and Divine about their good or evil Fortune.

BUT whatever Reason the Heathens had for kindling these Fires; whether as Duran­dus thinks, that the lustful Dragons might be driven away, or as the Canon, that their evil Fortune might be burnt, it is certain that the Custom was invented and practised by them; and because of the Superstion attending the Observation of it, was very justly forbidden by the Council. And undoubtedly was the Making of such Fires now, attended with any such Superstition, it would be equally crimi­nal to observe them. But ^* when they are [Page 215] only kindled as Tokens of Joy, to excite in­nocent Mirth and Diversion, and promote Peace and good Neighbourhood, they are law­ful and innocent, and deserve no Censure. And therefore when on Midsummer-Eve, St. Peter's-Eve, and at some other Times, we make ^* Bonefires before Shops and Houses, there would be no harm in doing so; was it not, that some continue their Diversion to too late Hours, and others are guilty of excessive Drinking.

CHAP. XXVIII. Of the Feast of Sheep-shearing, an anci­ent Custom.

THE Feast of Sheep-sheering, is generally a Time of Mirth and Joy, and more than or­dinary Hospitality; indeed it is but little observed in these Northern Parts, but in the Southern it is pretty common. For on the Day they be­gin to sheer their Sheep, they provide a plen­tiful Dinner for the Sheerers, and for their Friends who come to visit them on that Occa­sion; a Table also, if the Weather permit, is spread in the open Village, for the young People and Children.

[Page 217]AFTER what Manner soever this Custom reach'd us, it is certain it may boast of great Antiquity. It is mention'd in the Second Book of Samuel, as a Feast of great Magnifi­cence, both for Grandeur of Entertainment and Greatness of Company. No less a Person than Absalom the King's Son was the Master of this Feast, and no less Persons were the Guests than the King's Sons, the Brethren of Absalom; nay it was a Feast that might enter­tain the King himself, or surely the King would never have been so importun'd, never would have receiv'd the Compliment so kindly. For 'tis said, It came to pass after two full Years, that Absalom had Sheep-sheerers in Baal­hazor, which is beside Ephraim, and Absalom invited all the King's Sons. And Absalom came to the King, and said, Behold, now thy Servant hath Sheep-sheerers, let the King, I beseech thee, and his Servants, go with thy Servant. And the King said, Nay, my Son, let us not all go, lest we be chargeable unto thee. Of this kind also was the Feast which Nabal made for his Sheerers, when David was driven to straits in the Wilderness, and sent his Servants to ask [Page 218] a Present of him. He calls the Day it was held on, a good Day; that is, a Day of plenti­ful Eating and Drinking. And therefore Na­bal answer'd the Servants of David, shall I then take my Bread and my Water, and my Flesh that I have killed for my Sheerers, and give it unto Men, whom I know not whence they be? And further, it is said in the same Chapter, that so grand and magnificent was this Feast, that he had a Feast in his House, like the Feast of a King. We find also in the Book of Genesis, that Laban went to sheer his Sheep, in which Time Jacob made his Escape, which Laban heard not of till the third Day. Of such great Antiquity then is this Custom, and tho' its Antiquity is not of such force as to pal­liate Luxury and Profusness in these Enter­tainments; yet no doubt it will vindicate the Harmlesness of a moderate Feast upon this Occasion.

CHAP. XXIX. Of Michaelmass: Guardian Angels the Discourse of Country People at this Time: that it seems rather true, that we are protected by a Number of An­gels, than by one particular Genius.

THE Feast of this Season is ce­lebrated in Commemoration of St. Michael, and all the Orders of Angels. It is cal­led, The Dedication of St. Michael, because of a Church being dedicated to him on this Day in Mount Garganus.

AT this Season of the Year, it is a general Custom to elect the Governors of Towns and Cities, to promote Peace among Men, and [Page 220] guard them against Harm from their malici­ous Fellow Creatures. Whether this particu­lar Time of the Year has been chosen for e­lecting them, because then is the Feast of An­gels, the Guardians and Protectors of Men, and of their Communities and ^* Provinces, is not so certain. It is certainer, that when ever it comes, it brings into the Minds of the Peo­ple, that old Opinion of Tutelar Angels, that every Man has his Guardian Angel; that is, one particular Angel who attends him from his Coming in, till his Going out of Life, who guides him through the Troubles of the World, and strives as much as he can, to bring him to Heaven.

NOW that good Angels attend good Men is without Dispute. They guide them in the Mazes of the Wilderness of Life, and bring them to their desir'd Homes; they surround them in the Seas of Afflictions, and lead them to the Shores of Peace; and as when the Is­raelites passed through the Red-Sea, the Cloud became Light to them, but Darkness to their Ene­mies, [Page 221] so in the troublesome Seas of this Life, the Angels are both the Guides of good Men, and their Protectors from Evil, from the De­vil and his Angels. And therefore the Psal­mist says, The Angel of the LORD tarrieth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them; and that he will give his Angels Charge over good Men. They are also supposed to be that Hedge, which GOD placed about Job, which the Devil so much complains of; and sure we are, that when the Eyes of Elisha's Servant were open'd, he saw the Mountain full of Chariots and Horses of Fire round about Eli­sha. That therefore good Men are guarded and protected by Angels the Scripture shews very clearly. But that every Man has his particular Genius, seems to be founded more upon Tradition, than any Certainty from Scripture. Thus the Egyptians believed that every Man had three Angels attending him; the Pythagoreans, that every Man had two; the Romans, that there was a good and an evil Genius. And hence it is that the Roman Poet says, Quisque suos patitur manes, every Man hath his evil Genius. And if we may believe [Page 222] the Authority of Plutarch, the evil Genius of Brutus appeared to him the Night before the Battle of Philippi, and told him he was his evil Genius, and that he would meet him there.

BUT there are greater Authorities then these in Vindication of this Opinion: Casalion ob­serves, it may be proved from Scripture, and not only from the Tradition of the ^* Hea­thens. And of this Opinion was Justin Mar­tyr, Theodoret, St. Basil, St. Jerome, and St. Austin.

THERE are indeed two Places in the new Testament, which have a View to this Opini­on. The first is in the 18th of St. Matthew, the 10th Verse, Take heed that ye despise not one of these little Ones: For I say unto you, that their Angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in Heaven. Now because this Place takes notice of the Angels of these little Ones, some have therefore concluded that [Page 223] every Man has his good Angel; at least that good Men have. But now this Conclusion does not certainly follow from these Words: For when it is said their Angels, it does indeed certainly infer, that the Angels do protect good Men, but not that every Man has his particular Angel. And hence therefore, as one observes, St. Chrisostom makes use of these Words, Enteuthen delon, &c. it is manifest that the Saints at least, if not all Men, have their Angels: But he does not hence conclude, that every Man has one. The other Place is in the Acts of the Apostles, where it is said, that when Peter was delivered out of Prison, they would not believe the Maid it was he, but said, It was his Angel. It must be own'd in­deed from this, that it seems the Opinion of those in the House, that every Man had his Guardian Angel; but this is no Proof of the Things being so: It only proves, that it was their Opinion, but not that this Opinion is true. The Jews had such a Tradition among them, and what was here spoken, was perhaps only according to that Tradition. Besides we read on the contrary, that sometimes one and [Page 224] the same Angel has been sent to different Per­sons; thus Gabriel was sent to Daniel, Zacha­rias, and the blessed Virgin: Sometimes the Scripture tells us of many Angels protecting one Man; for so was Elisha protected; and as we wrestle not only against Flesh and Blood, but against all the Powers of Darkness, so we have many Angels to assist and defend us. I shall not dare to determine positively against this Opinion, which has travelled down through so many Ages, which has been held by so many wise and learned Men, and which has such Scriptures brought to its Defence; this I shall only say, that of the two Opinions, the Latter seems to be the more probable; that it seems more consonant to Scripture, that we are attended by a Number of Angels, than by a particular Tutelar Angel. But this I menti­on, not as necessary to be believed. For I am perswaded there is no fault in believing either the one or the other, as it appears more pro­bable: For whether soever we believe, we be­lieve in the Protection of Angels, and that seems to be all which the Scripture requires.

CHAP. XXX. Of the Country Wake: How observed formerly: A Custom of the Heathens, and regulated by Gregory the Great.

IN the Southern Parts of this Nati­on, the most of Country Villages are wont to observe some Sunday in a more particular Manner, than the other common Sundays of the Year, viz. the Sunday after the Day of Dedication, i. e. the Sunday after the Day of the Saint, to whom their Church was dedicated. Then the Inhabitants deck themselves in their gaudiest Clothes, and have open Doors and splendid Entertainments, for the Reception and Treating of their Relations and Friends, who visit them on that Occasion, from each neighbouring Town. The Morn­ing is spent for the most Part at Church, tho' not as that Morning was wont to be spent, not [Page 226] with the Commemoration of the Saint or Mar­tyr, nor the grateful Remembrance of the Buil­der and Endower. The remaining Part of the Day, is spent in Eating and Drinking; and so is also a Day or two afterwards, together with all Sorts of Rural Pastimes and Exercises, such as Dancing on the Green, Wrestling, Cudgelling, &c.

AGREEABLE to this we are told, that formerly ^* on the Sunday after the Encaenia, or Feast of the Dedication of the Church, it was usual for a great Number of the Inhabitants of the Village, both Grown and Young, to meet together about break of Day, and cry, Holy-wakes, Holy-wakes, and after Mattens to go to Feasting and Sporting, which they continu'd for two or three Days.

IN the Northren Parts, the Sunday's Feast­ing is almost lost, and they observe only one other Day for the whole, which among them is called the Hopping; I suppose from the dan­cing [Page 227] and other Exercises then used. The an­cient Name, and which is still common in the Southern Parts, is the Wake; which according to Sir H. Spelman, are ^* Bacchanal Feasts, ob­served about Fruit Time, and which were in Villages by Turns, among the Northern and Western English. He calls them Bacchanals, because, as he observes, the Saxon Word Wak, signifies Drunkenness. This Custom our Fore­fathers did in all Probability borrow from their Fellow Heathens, ^† whose Paganalia, or Coun­try Feasts, were of the same Stamp, with this of the Wake.

AT the Conversion of the Saxons by Austin the Monk, it was continu'd among the Con­verts, with some Regulations, by an Order of Pope Gregory the Great, to Mellitus the Abbot, who accompany'd Austin in his Voyage. His Words are these, ^‖ On the Day of Dedication, [Page 228] or the Birth-Day of the Holy Martyrs, whose Relicks are there placed, let the People make to themselves Booths of the Boughs of Trees, round about those very Churches, which had been the Temples of Idols, and in a Religious way to observe a Feast; that Beasts may no longer be slaughtered by way of Sacrifice to the Devil, but for their own Eating, and the Glory of GOD; and that when they are full and satisfied, they may return him Thanks, who is the Giver of all good Things.

THIS then is the Beginning of our Country Wakes, but they continu'd not in their original Purity: For the Feasting and Sporting got the ascendant of Religion, and so this Feast of De­dication, degenerated into Drunkenness and Lux­ury. At present there is nothing left but the very Refuse and Dregs of it; Religion having not the least Share in it, which till these latter Ages always had some. Rioting and Feasting are now all that remain, a Scandal to the Feast in particular, and to Christianity in general.

CHAP. XXXI. Of the Harvest Supper: A Custom of the Heathens, taken from the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles.

WHEN the Fruits of the Earth are gather'd in, and laid in their proper Receptacles, it is common, in the most of Country Places, to provide a plentiful Supper for the Harvest-Men, and the Servants of the Family; which is called a Har­vest-Supper, and in some Places a Mell-Supper, a Churn Supper, &c. At this the Servant and his Master are alike, and every Thing is done with an equal Freedom. They sit at the same Table, converse freely together, and spend the remaining Part of the Night in dancing, sing­ing, &c. without any Difference or Distinction.

[Page 230]THERE ^* was a Custom among the Hea­thens, much like this, at the gathering in of their Harvest, when Servants were indulg'd with Liberty and being on the Equality with their Masters for a certain Time.

NOW the Original of both these Customs, is Jewish: And therefore Hospinian tells us, ^† That the Heathens copy'd after this Custom of the Jews, and at the End of their Harvest, offer'd up their first Fruits to the Gods. For the Jews rejoyced and feasted at the getting in of the Harvest.

THEOPHYLACT in talking of this Feast, is undoubtedly mistaken, when he says, ^‖ That the Feast of Tabernacles was celebrated, that [Page 231] Thanks might be returned for the getting in of the Fruits of the Earth. For GOD himself tells his own People, it was instituted, ^* that their Generations might know, that he had made the Children of Israel to dwell in Booths. But however, it is certainly true, that it was a Time of returning Thanks to GOD, for the Success of the Harvest, a Time of Festivity, and Joy and Gladness, Thus the Scripture, ^† Thou shalt observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven Days, after thou hast gather'd in thy Corn and thy Wine. And thou shalt rejoyce in thy Feast, thou and thy Son and thy Daughter, and thy Man-Servant, and thy Maid-Servant; and the Levite, the Stranger, and the Fatherless and the Widow, that are within thy Gates.

NOW as the Heathens have imitated the Jews in this Custom, so it is not improbable that we have had it from the Heathens; there being a very great Likeness between the Cu­stom now, and that of the Heathens formerly. [Page 232] For Macrobius tells us, That ^* the Masters of Families, when they had got in their Harvest, were wont to Feast with their Servants, who had labour'd with them in Tilling the Ground: Which is exactly answerable to the Custom now amongst us. But whatever Truth there is in this, it is certain this Custom was practi­sed by the Saxons, and is at least as Ancient amongst us, as their Days. For among their Holy-days, we find a ^† Week set apart at Har­vest; of which our Harvest-Home, and Mell-Supper, in the North, are the only Remains.