Page:Wonderful progidies (sic) of judgment and mercy.pdf/58

58 Lord's battles againſt his known enemies, the idolatrous and bloody Papiſts in Ireland, rebels to Queen Elizabeth my ſovereign, by whoſe authority I bore arms againſt them, them, otherwiſe I have killed no man.

Then the devil ſwore and blaſphemed, ſaying, Thou didſt murder one this day as thou comeſt hither, and there is one behind thee but will teſtify it; upon which Mr. Rothwell looking over his ſhoulder, the devil ſet up an hideous laughter that nothing could be heard for a great while, and then ſaid, ''Look you now, did I not tell you I would make Rothwell a fool? and yet it is true, thou didſt murder one this day; for as thou cameſt over ſuch a bridge (which he named) there I would have killed thee, and there thy horſe trod upon a fly, and killed it.'' It ſeems Mr. Rothwells horſe ſtumbled at that place, the devil having power to cauſe it, though without hurt to either horſe or man.

Mr. Rothwell then ſaid, Thou haſt often beguiled me, I hope God will in time give me wiſdom to diſcern, and power to withſtand all thy deluſions, and he it is that hath delivered me out of thy hands, and I doubt not will alſo deliver this poor man; the devil then blaſphemed fearfully, and quoted many ſcriptures out of the Old and New Teſtament, both in Hebrew and Greek, cavilling and playing the critic therewith, and backing his allegations out of the fathers, and poets, in their own language, which he quoted very readily, ſo that the company trembled to hear ſuch things from one that underſtood no learning, and neither moved tongue nor lip all the while: but Mr. Rothwell was wonderfully enabled by divine power to detect the devil's ſophiſtry; upon which the devil ſaid, What ſtand I talking with thee, all men know thou art bold Rothwell and thou feareſt nobody, nor careſt for words, therefore I will talk to thee no more. This name he carried to his grave; for the people