A26888:321
The certainty of the worlds of spirits and, consequently, of the immortality of souls…
The certainty of the worlds of spirits and, consequently, of the immortality of souls of the malice and misery of the devils and the damned : and of the blessedness of the justified, fully evinced by the unquestionable histories of apparitions, operations, witchcrafts, voices &c. / written, as an addition to many other treatises for the conviction of Sadducees and infidels, by Richard Baxter.The certainty of the worlds of spirits and, consequently, of the immortality of souls of the malice and misery of the devils and the damned : and of the blessedness of the justified, fully evinced by the unquestionable histories of apparitions, operations, witchcrafts, voices &c. / written, as an addition to many other treatises for the conviction of Sadduces and infidels, by Richard Baxter.
London: printed for T. Parkhurst, 1691
Treatise › Chapter 8: Of good Angels, and some doubtful Spirits, and their notable Actions.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
The Story of Sir Richard Greenvile's Executions is printed already by Mr. Clark, and others. To confirm it, Mr. Kettleby Woodhouse, (Sister's Son to Justice Kettleby, and to Walter Kettleby the Bookseller's Father,) a sober, credible Man, then living in Bewdeley, oft told me, that he was one of the Five (or Seven) whose Lives were saved: Being Soldiers for the Parliament, and taken Prisoners, Sir Richard Greenvile commanded them all to be hanged. The first Man being turned off the Ladder, a new Hempen Rope brake: They sent for another, and hanged him again, and that brake; and, as I remember, a third. Whereupon Sir R. G. saved them all. And Mr. Woodhouse all the while stood by the Gallows, expecting his Turn, and by this escaped. 'Tis like it was by an invisible Power.
The Story of Sir Richard Greenvile's Executions is printed already by Mr. Clark, and others. To confirm it, Mr. Kettleby Woodhouse, (Sister's Son to Justice Kettleby, and to Walter Kettleby the Bookseller's Father,) a sober, credible Man, then living in Bewdeley, oft told me, that he was one of the Five (or Seven) whose Lives were saved: Being Soldiers for the Parliament, and taken Prisoners, Sir Richard Greenvile commanded them all to be hanged. The first Man being turned off the Ladder, a new Hempen Rope brake: They sent for another, and hang'd him again, and that brake; and, as I remember, a third. Whereupon Sir R. G. saved them all. And Mr. Woodhouse all the while stood by the Gallows, expecting his Turn, and by this escap'd. 'Tis like it was by an invisible Power.
VI. In 1662. came out divers Books of new Prodigies, most of them as Executions on notorious Sinners, and some as Deliverances of better Men. I read them, and enquired after the Matter of Fact; and I found by what Policy Satan hath perverted History, and obscured the Honour of God's Works, by causing weak-headed, factious ⟨p. 164⟩Persons to over do. I found many of the Strange, things there mentioned, had sufficient Proof: But the Writers dropped in many Circumstances and Stories, by partial Credibility, that were not true. And this frustrated the Books, and the Prodigies, by spoiling the Credit of all the rest.