and moved northward, and fent out a prodigious long taill, greater then any that had been obferved for theffe many 100 years. Some doubted if it was a comet, (it was a reall comet) but called it that meteor which goes under the name of Trabs or Columna; however it was red, and interpreted by every on according to ther feverall jealoufies and interefts. Generally comets are thought to portend war, defolation, blood, ruine, converfions of states, catastrophes of kingdomes, deaths of great men, fterilities, famines, plagues, &c.; and in refpect of the prefent fears of confufions and diforders, each applyed it as he pleased. Some faid, you banish, confine, and imprifon our preachers, but ther is a preacher fent from Heaven, who is without the reach of malice. Rufhworth in his Hiftoricall Collections, in anno 1618 page 8, tells of a great comet appeared in that year 1618, wheirupon enfhued, firft, the Bohemian wars, then P. 7. the German and Swedish, &c. Doctor Bainbridge obferved it to be verticall to London, and to paffe over it in the morning, fo it gave England and Scotland in ther civil wars a fad wype with its taill. They feldome shine in wain, though they proceed from exhalations and other naturall caufes. See Lucan's defcription of that comet, which appeared before the civil wars betwixt Cæfar and Pompey, de bello Pharfalico libro. See infra this fame page, and infra page 39 in principio.

In the beginning of December 1680, Howard Viscount Stafford, on of the 4, 5 popish lords imprisoned in the Tower, being accufed in name of the Commons of England before the Houfe of Lords, and the Lord Chancelor nominate by Stewart for that effect, after a fair tryall of 5 dayes, and a probation by Oats, Dugdale, Turbervile, and others, that he was prefent at confults wher the King's death was propofed, and that he had offered Turbervile 1500 lb. fterling to kill his Majefty; the Lords, by the plurality of votes, found him guilty of treason, though every overt individual act was not proven by 2 concurring witneffes, for they judged it eneugh that the witneffes agreed on treasonable acts in the generall, and each of them de

poned on speciall deids though they ware feverall ones, which adminiculative probation, Cavalcanus and other Lawyers approve of in crimine læfæ majeftatis; and therfor, he was condemned to be headed on the 29th day of December 1680, which was accordingly done at Towerhil on that day. See his printed fpeach, apud me. The Chancelor in his fpeach to him hath this expreffion, that the Plot was now clearly made out and proven beyond all contradiction and doubt; which is a great conviction of its reality, this flowing from him who was no hearty encourager of the discoverie of this Plot. It is reported this V. Stafford had been only a filly man, and exceeding vitious. See animadverfions on his fpeach in my 4 Manuscript marked A 3, page 22. I find 55 Lords of the House of Peers voted him guilty upon ther honor, and 31 not guilty: the Bifchops abstained from voting. See his printed tryall. Vide of Turberville, infra page 21.

In profecution of what we spoke fupra, in the præceeding page, of comets, the place and fituation thereof is much queftioned; of old it was thought by Ariftotle and others, they did not afchend above the third region of the air, but ware generat ther with other meteors, and the learned Julius Scaliger hath interpolat and defended this opinion, but, however eminent he was in other knowledge, it appears from his difputations against Cardan, he was no great aftronomer nor mathematician: now commonly Tycho Brache, Galileo, and others, they place comets above the fun and other planets in cœlo 8vo., because they find they have no parallaxes for the moft part. See this noted in another manufcript, page 67. As to the effects, prognosticks, and fignifications therof, some will allow them none at all, because, forfooth, during all the reigne of Nero, comets appeared very frequent at Rome; fo the people concluded the figne gave them hopes that the tyrant fhould fhortly be cut of, and when he was killed ther was no comet at all appearing. But this is only a particular inftance, and the effects of thir fatall and ominous ftars doe not follow

immediatly; fome think it takes as many years to operate as it appears nights. Others will only have them to be the fore-runners of evill, but ther is no reason to reftrict ther influence folely to malignity. For, if that was a comet which appeared to the 3 wife men, and directed them to Chrift's cradle, (as fome learned men, viz. Grotius in his annotations on the 2d of Mathew, will have that ftar to be on,) fure I am it portended the greatest good that ever happened to poor mortalls. It is true, that fad comet which hung over Jerufalem by the space of a year before Titus Vefpafian took it, in the forme of a bloody fword, pointed out fearfull defolation approaching to theffe ftubborn Jews; yet it had on good fignification, that the glorious Gospell was to propagat and spred from thence P. 8. to all the Gentile world, which immediatly followed. Jofephus and others tell of ftrange prodigies ware feen in the air and the earth before the deftruction of Jerufalem, as armies of cavalry and infantry drawn up, voices in the temple, the door locked opening of its oune accord, a man crying to them to depart, and no whipping would hinder him. Which minds me, before the German wars by Guftavus, Mr. Clark and others tell, befyde the comet mentioned fupra page 6th, ther ware direfull accidents, fhowers of blood, a child borne at Magdeburg with head peice and all other armor of flesch, weemen cutting breed, blood gusheth out, &c. (See prodigious fignes in the 2d of the Maccabees, cap. 5, v. 2, and 3, item, cap. 3, v. 24, cap. 10, commate 29, cap. xj. v. 8.) See many other terrible prodigies in Germany, marked by Clark in his Generall Martyrologie, page 219 et fequente. I have feen a printed book anent a great comet appeared in Scotland in December 1652. Chrift, in the 24 of Mathew, v. 29, tells us there fhall be fignes and wonders in the heavens, fo they are not altogither accidentall, though we are not to rely to much on them, for God forbids that by the prophet, I will make the diviners mad, which was to fortify the Jews against the poifon of the Chaldeans, who were miferably addicted to this curious wain judiciall aftrologie; fee

Howards Defenfative against the poifon of pretended Prophecies. It is a true Latin proverb, Sapiens dominabitur aftris, and esto, that Astra regunt horas, which may be denyed as to our minds and wills, except in fo far as they are organically influenced by our bodies, yet Regit aftra Deus. Ricciolus, in his Almageftum Magnum hath defcribed all the comets ever were heard of before his tyme; but I dare fay, theffe 3000 years, ther was not a comet feen with fuch a long ray, and prodigious byffome and taill, as this prefent on is, which is near 3000 miles in longitude. See our Weekly Gazette for this, making it 60 degrees, and each degree is 60 miles. Some affirme that comet in Germany in 1618 had its taill 90 degrees long, which, if true, is 30 degrees longer than this.

The learned preacher to the learnedft auditory in England, the Innes of Court, Mr. Gataker, wryting against that impoftor Lillie, the astrologue, he reasons why that great ecclypfe of the fun in 1652, which occafioned a darkness for a whille, could have no fignification, for it is all on in nature whither the folar ecclypfe happen by intervention of the moon or of the earth; now every 24 howers the earth interpofes betwixt the fun and us, and the night makes a greater and more totall eclypfe then any occafioned by the moon's intervention, (I doe not speak of that fupernaturall ecclypse at Chrift's paffion,) and yet no man counts this ecclypfe ominous, but fleeps quietly till the fun's refrefching beams bring back the day again fee Obferves from Mr. Gataker, upon lots and chance games, alibi in a quarto manufcript, page 43. Some make the rife of comets to be occafioned by the concurrence of 2 fixed ftars, wheir the on falls out of its oune cycle, orbe, or vortex (to speak in Cartefius words) unto that of another ftar, and its ftrength and influence is theirby diffipated, abforbed, and fucked up, and the brightneffe of it fpends itself in that taill we obferve the comets to have. Of comets fee Mr. D'Avity, difcourfing very largely in the Introduction to his Monde Univerfelle, page 101 et feq.: vide infra, the effects of it, page 20. Sin and fecuritie abounding in

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Scotland are fadder and furer prognofticks of blood and defolation then any comet can be, which, by no astronomicall or natural efficiency, can portend or fignifie fuch things, farder, then the air infected by it may occafion fterility, peftilential difeafes, and famine.

About this tyme dyed Gordon, Earle of Aboyne, a man of much naturall sharpnes and a very good poet; was popish, but made a faint profeffion of being converted to the reformed religion. Vide fupra, page 6, Macdonald's death.

On the 26 of December 1680, being Christmas day, fome of the schollars P. 9. of the Colledge of Edinburgh having contributed together for the making ane effigies and image of the Pope, they entred in a bond and combination to burne him after a folemne proceffion on Yuille day, and gave oaths on to another for the fecrecy of it; yet it came abroad, and a Councell being called on the 24 of December, at night, for preventing it, they ordered the Kings forces to be brought within the City of Edinburgh to oppose it, and feized on fome English boyes of the name of Gray and others, the next morning in thair beds, and imprifoned thame. Yet all this did not divert the defigne, but, by a witty stratagem, the boyes carried a portrait to the Castlehil, (as if this blind had been the true on, and they had intended to carry it in proceffion doune the ftreets, and performe ther ceremony and pageantrie in the Abbey Court over againft the Duke of Albanies windows,) which made all the forces draw up at the Weft Bow head, and in the Graffe Mercat, leift the boyes fhould efcape by coming doune the South Back of the Caftle, and thus having ftopped all avenues as they thought, thir boyes efcaped by running doune vennells leading to the North Loch fide, and other boyes carried the true effigies from the Grammar School yeard to the head of Blackfreis Wind, and that on the HyStreet, firft clodded the picture with dirt, and then fet fyre to the pouder within the trunk of his body, and fo departed. This was highlie refented by fome as ane inhofpitall affront, defigned to the Duke of York, (though