Holy Ghost, three persons and one eternal God, to whom be all dominion and glory, with praise and thanksgiving, for ever and ever. Amen.

Psalm xlvi.

1 THE Lord is our defence and aid, 7 The Lord of hosts doth take our

5 In midst of her the Lord doth Among the heathen high and low,

at Lon

don by Christopher Barker

Printer to the Queenes

Maieftie.

1580.

Cum Priuilegio.

The Report of the Earthquake.

On Easter Wednesday, being the sixt of April, 1580, somewhat before six of the clock in the afternoon, happened this great Earthquake whereof this discourse treateth: I mean not great in respect of long continuance of time, for (God be thanked) it continued little above a minute of an hour, rather shaking God's rod at us, than smiting us according to our deserts: Nor yet in respect of any great hurt done by it within this Realm: For although it shook all houses, castles, churches, and buildings, every where as it went, and put them in danger of utter ruin; yet within this Realm (praised be our Saviour Christ Jesus for it) it overthrew few or none that I have yet heard of, saving certain stones, chimneys, walls, and pinnacles of high buildings, both in this City and in divers other places: Neither do I hear of any Christian people that received bodily hurt by it, saving two children in London, a boy and a girl: the boy, named THOMAS GRAY, was slain out of hand, with the fall of a stone shaken down from the roof of a Church; and the girl (whose name was MABEL EVERITE), being sore hurt there at the same present by like casualty, died within few days after: But I term it great in respect of the universalness thereof almost at one instant, not only within this Realm, but also without, where it was much more violent and did far more harm; and in respect of the great terror which it then strake into all men's hearts where it came, and yet still striketh into such as duly consider how justly GOD may be offended with all men for sin, and specially with this realm of England, which hath most abundantly tasted of God's mercy, and most unthankfully neglected his goodness, which yet still warneth us by this terrible wonder, what far more terrible punishments are like to light upon us ere long, unless we amend our sinful conversation betimes.

A3 godly Admonition for the time present.

MANY and wonderful ways (good christian reader) hath God in all ages most mercifully called all men to the knowledge of themselves,

[This Report does not appear to have belonged to the Form intended solely for the diocese of London: it is found, however, in that for the provinces of Canterbury and York, where it occupies its present position, and whence it has been now transcribed.]

[Christchurch, near Newgate, where they were hearing a Sermon.' Dr Williams's MS.]

[ When published by itself, the Admonition was thus entitled:A Discourse containing many wonderful examples of God's Indignation poured upon divers people for their intollerable sins, which Treatise may be read instead of some part of the Homily [p. 563], where there is no Sermon. Dr Williams's MS.]

and to the amendment of their Religion and conversation, before he have laid his heavy hand in wrathful displeasure upon them. And this order of dealing he observeth, not only towards his own dear children. but also even towards the wicked and castaways: to the intent, that the one sort turning from their former sins, and becoming the warer all their life after, should glorify him the more for his goodness in not suffering them to continue in their sins unreformed, to their destruction; and that the other sort should be made utterly unexcusable for their wilful persisting in the stubbornness of their hard and froward hearts, against all his friendly and fatherly admonitions.

He called Cayne to repentance, before he punished him for shedding his brother's blood, and gave him a long time to have bethought himself in.

He warned the old world a hundred year and more, before he brought the flood upon the Earth.

He chastised the Children of Israel divers ways, ere he destroyed them in the wilderness.

He sent Hornets and wild Beasts, as foregoers of his host, into the land of Canaan, before he rooted out the old inhabiters thereof.

He punished not David for his murder and advoutry1, until he had first admonished him by his Prophet.

He removed not the Israelites into captivity, until all the warnings of his Prophets, and all the former corrections which he had used in vain to reform them, did shew them to be utterly past hope of amendment. Before the last destruction of Jerusalem, there went innumerable signs2, tokens, and wonders.

Finally, God never poured out his grievous displeasure and wrath upon any Nation, Realm, City, Kingdom, State, or Country, but he gave some notable forewarning thereof by some dreadful wonder.

To let pass the examples of foreign Nations, which are many and terrible: what plagues, pestilences, famines, diseases, tempests, overflowing of waters both salt and fresh, and a number of other most prodigious tokens happened successively long time together, before the displacing of the Britons by the hands of our ancestors, for their neglecting of God's word3 preached and planted many hundred years among them! Likewise, what great warnings did God give to our forefathers, in divers Princes' reigns, before the alteration of the State, both by the Danes, and also by William the Conqueror! Again, even in these our days, how manifestly hath God threatened, and still doth threaten our contempt of his holy Religion, and our security and sound sleeping in

[Advoutry: adultery.]

[2 See Josephus de Bello Judaico, Lib. iv. cap. 4. § 5: Lib. vi. cap. 5. § 3. Taciti Histor. Lib. v. cap. 13.]

3

[3 See the Historia (cap. 19, &c.), as well as Epistola, of Gildas. Bede (Hist. Eccles. Lib. i. cap. 14.) repeats his account, and in nearly the same words. See also Becon's works, Prayers, &c. pp. 10, 11.]

sin, shewing us evident tokens of his just displeasure near at hand, both abroad and at home!

I will not speak of the great civil Wars, nor of the horrible and unnatural massacres of good men, betrayed under the holiest pretences*, which have been of late years in the Countries bordering upon us: because such dealings, being pleasant to such as seek blood, are taken for no wonders. Neither will I stand upon the rehearsal of the strange things that befel in the Realm of Naples in the year 1566: nor of the Earthquake, whereby a great part of the City Ferrara in Italy was destroyed in the year 1570: or of the miraculous sights that were seen in France about Mountpellier the year 1573: or of the like terrible sight that appeared little more than a year ago at Prague, the chief City of Bohemia: nor of divers other things" which have happened in foreign Countries within the compass of these few years: because it will perchance be thought, that those tokens concern the Countries where they befel, and not us.

Well, I will not say, That whatsoever things have been written aforetimes, were written for our learning, that we might learn to beware by other men's harms.

We have signs and tokens ynow at home, if we can use them to our benefit.

What shall we say to the sore Famine which happened in the time of our late sovereign Lady queen Mary, which was so great, that men were fain to make bread of Acorns, and food of Fern roots? or to the particular Earthquake, in the time of our most gracious sovereign Lady that now is, which transposed the bounds of men's grounds, and turned a Church to the clean contrary situation?? or to the monstrous births both of Children and Cattle? or to the unseasonableness of the seasons of some years, altering (after a sort) Summer into Winter, and Winter into Summer? or to the wonderful new Star so long time fixed in Heaven?

8

[* The flattering attentions and false hopes, whereby the choicest of the Hugonots were allured to Paris in 1572, are well known.]

[See Strype's Annals, Vol. I. p. 510: Zurich Letters, second edition, p. 396. The Physica Curiosa of P. Gaspar Schottus, 1662, records a great variety of natural prodigies.]

[The year 1557 was remarkable, both for the great scarcity of corn in England before harvest, and for the extraordinary abundance of it afterwards. Stow, p. 1068. Pilkington, p. 611.]

[ Camden (Kennet's Collection), p. 433, tells us of a hill with a rock of stones at the foot of it, which rose from the earth at Kinnaston in Herefordshire, on the 17th of February, 1571, and walked from Saturday evening till Monday noon.' He gives a particular description of its devastations, among which was the throwing down of a chapel which stood in its way: he only says, however, that a yew-tree, standing in the churchyard, was removed from the west to the east.]

["In November, 1572, a luminous body, brighter than Jupiter, ap

or to the strange appearings of Comets, the often Eclipses of Sun and Moon, the great and strange fashioned lights seen in the firmament in the night times1 the sudden falling and unwonted abiding of unmeasurable abundance of Snow, the excessive and untimely rains and overflowing of waters3, the greatness and sharp continuance of sore frosts, and many other such wonderful things, one following in another's neck? Shall we say that none of these also do concern us? or rather more truly, that because they be gone and past (Oh over great security and blindness of heart) we have clean forgotten them, or at leastwise make no great account of them, according [to] our common Proverb, that a wonder lasteth with us but nine days?

Therefore, lest we should want either proof of the certainty of God's irrevocable judgments, or argument of his continual merciful dealing towards us, or matter wherewith to convict us of our excessive unthankfulness: behold, he sendeth us now lastly this Earthquake that befel the sixt day of this Month, not so hurtful in present operation, as terrible in signification of things to come. For the tried experience of all ages teacheth us, and the writings of the wise and learned (specially of holy Scripture) do assuredly witness unto us, that such tokens are infallible forewarnings of God's sore displeasure for sin, and of his just plagues for the same, where amendment of life ensueth not.

And although there be peradventure some, which (to keep themselves and others from the due looking back into the time erst misspent, and to foade them still in the vanities of this world, lest they should see their own wretchedness, and seek to shun God's vengeance at hand) will not stick to deface the apparent working of God, by ascribing this miracle to some ordinary causes in Nature: Yet notwithstanding, to the godly and well disposed, which look advisedly into the matter, pondering the manner of this Earthquake throughly, and considering the manner of our dealings from the late restitution of the Gospel unto this day, and conferring the same with the manner of God's favourable dealing with us, and with his ordinary dealing in cases where his truth hath been planted, and groweth to be contemned; it must needs appear to be the very finger of God, and as a messenger of the miseries due to such deserts.

For, first of all, whereas naturally Earthquakes are said to be engendered by wind gotten into the bowels of the earth, or by vapours bred and inclosed within the hollow caves of the earth, where, by their

peared in Cassiopea's chair. It continued there full sixteen months, but at the end of eight months began gradually to grow less. Camden, p. 446. Strype's Annals, Vol. 11. p. 173.]

[Stow, the great chronicler of prodigies, (p. 1149), seems to describe the lights here meant, as visible on the 14th and 15th of November, 1574. Ibid. p. 1164.]

[2 In February and April, 1579. Holinshed, pp. 1271, 1272.] [See Zurich Letters, pp. 343, 455: Holinshed, pp. 1222-1224.] [Foade or Fode: supply with food, feed. See Nares's Glossary.]