and not only fwearing to the truth, but curfing the whole company to hell, if they pretended to make the leaft fcruple of believing him. One time he fwore he had a cow at home, which gave as much milk at a meal, as would fill three thousand churches; and what was yet more extraordinary, would never turn four.. Another time he was telling of an old 'fign-poft, that belonged to his father, with nails and timber enough in it to build fixteen large men of war. Talking one day of Chinese waggons, which were made fo light as to fail over mountains : Z-ds, faid Peter, where's the wonder of that? by G-, I saw a * large house

The ridiculous multiplying of the virgin Mary's milk a mong the papifts, under the allegory of a cow, which gave as much milk at a meal, as would fill three thoufand churches. W. Wotton.

i By this fign poft is meant the cross of our bleffed Saviour; and, if all the wood, that is shewn for parts of it, was collected, the quantity would fufficiently juftify this farcafm.

* The chapel of Loretto. He falls here only upon the ridicu

lous inventions of popery: the church of Rome intended by these things to gull filly, fuperftitious people, and rook them of their money; the world had been too long in flavery, our ancestors gloriously redeemed us from that yoke. The church of Rome therefore ought to be expofed, and he deferves well of mankind that does expose it. W. Wotton,

Ibid. The chapel of Loretto, which travelled from the Holy Land to Italy.

of

of lime and ftone travel over fea and land, granting that it stopped fometimes to bait; above two thousand German leagues. And that which was the good of it, he would fwear defperately all the while, that he never told a lye in his life; and at every word; by G-, gentlemen, I tell you nothing but the truth: and the D-l broil them eternally, that will not believe me.

In fhort, Peter grew fo fcandalous, that all the neighbourhood began in plain words to fay, he was no better than a knave. And his two brothers, long weary of his ill ufage, refolved at laft to leave him; but first, they humbly defired a copy of their father's will, which had now lain by neglected time out of mind. Instead of granting this request, he called them damned fons of whores, rogues, traytors, and the reft of the vile names he could mufter up. However, while he was abroad one day upon his projects, the two youngsters watched their opportunity, made a shift to come at the will, and took a copia vera, by which they presently faw how grofly they had been abused; their father

Tranflated the fcriptures into the vulgar tongues.

f

having left them equal heirs, and strictly commanded, that whatever they got fhould lie in common among them all. Pursuant to which their next enterprize was to break upon the cellar-door, and get a little good drink to spirit and comfort their hearts. In copying the will they had met another precept against whoring, divorce, and feparate maintenance; upon which their next work was to difcard their concubines, and fend for their wives. Whilft all this was in agitation, there enters a follicitor from Newgate, defiring lord Peter would please to procure a pardon for a thief, that was to be hanged to morBut the two brothers told him, he was a coxcomb to feek pardons from a fellow, who deferved to be hanged much better than his client; and discovered all the method of that imposture, in the same form I delivered it a while ago, advising the follicitor to put his friend upon obtaining a pardon from the king. In the

row.

* Administered the cup to the laity at the communion. f Allowed the marriages of priests.

• Directed penitents not to

truft to pardons and abfolutions procured for money, but fent them to implore the mercy of God, from whence alone remiffion is to be obtained.

midst of all this clutter and revolution, in comes Peter with a file of dragoons at his heels, and gathering from all hands what was in the wind, he and his gang, after feveral millions of fcurrilities and curfes not very important here to repeat, by main force very fairly kicks them both out of doors, and would never let them come under his roof from that day to this.

SECT. V.

A digreffion in the modern kind.

WE,

E, whom the world is pleafed to honour with the title of modern authors, fhould never have been able to compass our great design of an everlasting remembrance, and never-dying fame, if our endeavours had not been fo highly ferviceable to the general good of mankind. This, O univerfe, is the adventurous attempt of me thy secretary;

By Peter's dragoons is meant the civil power, which those princes, who were bigot ted to the Romish fuperftition,

employed against the reformers:

The pope huts all who diffent from him out of the church.

Quemvis