STRANGE NEWS of a prodigious Monster, borne in the township of Adlington in the Parish of Standish in the County of Lancaster, the 17. day of April last, 1613. Testified by the Reverend Divine Mr. W. LEIGH, Bachelor of Divinity, and Preacher of God's word at Standish aforesaid.  
Printed by I.P. for S.M. and are to be sold at his Shop in Paul's Churchyard at the Sign of the Ball. 1613.   

STRANGE NEWS of a prodigious Monster, borne in the township of Adlington, in the Parish of Standish, in the County of LANCASTER.  
MAN at the first losing of his innocency, lost also his place, and contracted a heavy curse both to himself, and to his posterity. The Earth itself innocent of his crime was accursed for his sake, for whom it was created, and brought forth thorns, briars, and stinking weeds, where before it was full of pleasure, and delight, and so had continued, if man had continued in his first creation: Now the Earth brought forth Monsters and ugly shapes, strange, and full of terror: The heavens themselves changed the frame of their beauty, putting forth fiery meteors, blazing comets, and other prodigious sights, breeding wonder and amazement: Nature suffering violence by sin perverted her order, producing strange births in preposterous shapes, and all grew out of frame, and sin being the cause of all, brought forth the effects of all: which serving as punishments betwixt the justice of God, and the unrighteousness of Man hath nevertheless but corrected, not rectified Man, that continuing in sin, finds the continuance of punishment, and yet with obdurate heart, grows from bad to worse, getting by custom an incorrigible habit of sinning.  
All Creatures but Man, have continued in the kind and nature of the first Creation; The Sun, the Moon, the Stars, and every Planet in his several orb or Sphere, have continued their order to the glory of their Creator, ever since the day of their first Creation. The fowls, beasts, and fishes in the Air, Earth, and Sea, and every other unsensible Creature have continued in their kind, to the glory of their great Maker; Only Man, miserable Man, wretched Man, whom God hath made according to his own Image, and hath endued with reason and understanding, only he degenerates, committing sins, heinous, and detestable in the sight of his Creator, which doth many times so incense the wrath of the most high God against us, that Air, Earth, and Sea, do many times produce Monsters of ugly and most horrid shapes, to signify unto us the ugliness of sin in the eyes of that pure essence. Never was the world so wicked as it is now; for it thrives in ill, as it decays in Age. It is the worst world (saith an old Man) that ever was, and the best that ever will be. No marvel if Nature grow out of kind in the procreation of children, when men unnaturally go out of kind in the Acts of sinning. Forbidden sins are most of all practised, and sins committed that are not to be named: So deep hath Man's iniquity descended, that it hath brought misshaped forms and devices out of hell, and it hath again soared so high, that it hath brought down vengeance from heaven.  
This causeth the Earth to bring forth prodigious Monsters, so far from the fair frame of Nature, that they make Nature herself afraid to look upon them, in whom she finds her laws and order to have been violated. Never Country hath brought forth more, than this of England, and that of late years, which have been so prodigious, that they have brought horror to the looker on, and have also proved certain predictions, foregoing many notable events. The Sea cast forth and horrid Monster of a strange shape and bigness, upon the Coast of Cornwall, in the beginning of that fatal year Eighty Eight, when the Spanish fleet soon after frighted England with a dangerous Invasion, even to the utter extirpation of the English name out of this Land, had not Almighty God with his high hand of grace and glory made prevention, returning the Spanish purposes upon themselves. The Island of Lecale in Ireland within the County of Down, produced an hideous Monster, bearing the shape both of a Man and a beast, whose eyes sparkling like fire, and his voice sounding harsh and shrill, far from the common strain, gave certain foresignifications of those troubles that the year following began to vex both the kingdoms of England and Ireland, in that fearful yet memorable war of Tyrone, that in few years after proved so fatal to both Nations, that it brought wretchedness not only to the people then living, but hath also prepared misery for the Child yet unborn, as is too well known by the miserable death and slaughter, not only of the common sort of people, but also by the lamentable overthrows and slaughters of many great, and honourable Personages, famous in blood and quality, that by that unlucky war, and other fatal accidents depending thereupon, found utter ruin, and destruction, not only to the incessant grief of their own particular families, and dependencies, but also to the general loss & sorrow of all the English Nation: which war, monstrous war, (for so I may call it) when the body against the head, the subject against the Prince shall rebelliously conspire, God never gave unto the world a more memorable example, either in what unsurety stands the state of any Name, or Nation, or what unhappy success follows such unnatural attempts, or finally what end follows such bloody, and despiteous cruelly, as both the head and principal members of that Irish faction, that bloody, and horrid war, do at this day endure, as appeareth in the present state, and condition of the Original of that monstrous war, bloody Tyrone himself, and other his Associates, who having made by their Attaynders, forfeitures, and confiscations both of lands and goods, do now wander up and down Spain, Italy, and other Countries, poor, forsaken, wretched, miserable, and hated of all the world.  
There was another Monster produced in Antwerp with four hands and Arms, two heads, and two bodies, joined in one back, not much unlike to this Monster, we are now to write of; and this happened in the year foregoing the beginning of those troubles of the low Countries, which the matchless cruelty of Rome and Spain, hath plagued with unspeakable miseries. But above all, that hideous monster bred in Russia not above five years since with three pair of hands, foresignifying that miserable war that since hath happened, betwixt the three kingdoms, Russia (otherwise called Muscovia) Poland, and Swethland, under the Reigns of Demetrius, Emperor of Russia, Sigismond King of Poland, and Charles King of Swethland, the fame whereof will never die, so long as the memory of those kingdoms states endure.  
It is credibly reported that near Liverpool in Lancashire, about a Twelvemonth since a child was borne, both monstrous in shape, and strange in accident; It is fresh in memory, though it lived not above three days. But I stay too long in matters, though extravagant yet not impertinent to our present discourse, where I am to deliver as strange a producement of a prodigious birth, as was ever known in this part of the world; and this happened but of late, at a Town called Adlington in the Parish of Standish near Wigon in the County of Lancaster; where there was a child borne of a strange and wonderful shape, with four legs four Arms, two bellies, proportionably joined to one back, one head two faces, like double faced janus, the one before, the other behind, four eyes, and two noses. It behoves us to look about, when such examples beyond the order of Nature are brought forth to put us in mind of our iniquities, especially the sins of Adultery and fornication, which are ever justly punished by the righteous law and justice of God, even upon the children's children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate him, who also shows mercy unto thousands, in them that love him, and keep his commandments, which is well proved in the grace, and blessing that Almighty God secretly infundeth in right generation, the contrary whereof is known in the curse that he denounceth against Bastardy, which the Prophet utters in these words, Spuria vitulamina non agent radices altas. Bastard slips shall never take deep root: which was shown in the example of this Monster, the father and mother whereof were both branded, she with the mark of Basterdy, and from her Parents crimes in Adultery, endured this punishment: he of very lewd carriage and conditions: neither was this monster borne in the night time, but towards the day, when the morning Sun began to glad the earth with his brightness, to this end, that the black mantle of the night should not cover this child of darkness, but that the day might plainly discover to all eyes this wonderful example of his justice.  
Certain Gentlemen, and many of the common people, that were then at Cockpit, when the news came of this prodigious birth, left their sports and went to behold it with wonder and amazement. Many people came flocking from all places thereunto adjoining, who beheld it with astonishment. The most impious of all could not but confess, that it was a notable example of God's fearful wrath, which God for his mercy sake turn from us. This happened a little before Easter Term last upon relation of some of the Inhabitants there, Master William Leigh Bachelor of Divinity, a very worthy and Reverend gentleman, Preacher of the Parish of Standish aforesaid, being also an eye witness of the same.  
Thus have you a true relation of this prodigious birth, testified by the general report, (besides the particular mentions) of that Country. The consideration whereof I leave to the godly disposed, whether as a punishment of sins and offences past, or as a true foresignification of some notable event to follow in succeeding times, or both; Only thus much, when Nature is thus violated through the Corruption, there commonly fall out many strange and unheard of actions, either for the time present, or to come, such as hath amazed the world to look upon, as in that memorable and ever to be adored Passion of our Saviour, where after his bloody sufferings in his body, and the heavy expiration of his Soul, the vail of the Temple rend in sunder from the top to the bottom, the Sun without any natural cause lost his light, and there was a sudden darkness over all the Land, the graves opened and rendered forth their dead, who appeared in the holy City unto many. In the same day and year the Pantheon in Rome, which was the Temple of the Roman Gods, suddenly fell, and one cried out in a Prophetical manner, that either the frame of the world was at that time to be broken, or the God of Nature suffered violence.  
Let us once more cast back our eyes upon the wonders of this misshapen monster (the cause of this Treatise) the report whereof not giving full satisfaction to some people that were incredulous of it, unless they might be made also eye witnesses of such an unheard of accident: the grave was opened again wherein it had been buried, and the body laid to the view of a great number of beholders: which were at the least five hundredth, that not only bear a bare report, but can also give true Testimony of this occurrent to their much wonder, and admiration.  
Yet these monstrous and prodigious births aswell of other Countries as our own, are not greatly to be marveled at, if we look but only into the causes of them, which for the most part are our sins, and careless negligences: And they are not slightly to be accounted off, because they seldom fall out alone, without some other strange event, but are ominous foregoers of some worse evils to follow. The Circle of misery which hath for many years been drawn about us, is large, the lines of it are not yet closed, the perfect content thereof cannot be ful●y known, till it please that hand (that first moulded the globe of the world, and which setteth down in numbers, and proportion, the state of kingdoms) to throw away the rod, that it hath so long held over us, to correct, nay rather to draw blood of us. Yet all these work not in us the effects of our amendment, but that we still wallow in the mire of our wont wickedness. The four Elements of Earth, Water, Air, and Fire, have severally commenced their wars against us: Air hath breathed forth pestiferous fumes to choke us, she hath burst open the Clouds of Infection, and hath powered sickness upon our heads. Water (like Egyptian Grasshoppers) hath often covered our Cornefields, and eaten up the fruits of the Earth; whilst the Earth by that misery hath closed up her womb, nothing being promised by her (that hath always been so plentiful to her Children) but barrenness. Fire hath also had his several days of triumph to increase in us our sorrows, and to show unto us God's wrath and displeasure against us for our iniquities. So that all that is above us, and all that is under our feet, have conspired to work our overthrow, or to cause our amendment. Those Creatures, which in the first, and great Parliament of our Creation, were appointed to be our Comforters, have been many times sent forth and armed with Celestial weapons to be our destroyers.  
Besides these inflictions, which Time (occasioning men's sorrows and great losses) hath brought forth, there have been also many misfortunes in the prodigious portraitures of the like misshapen Creatures: which who can behold without trembling? or if he behold, not shed tears in abundance to think upon God's heavy indignation against us? The causes of his just quarrel with us, are writ upon every man's forehead, the defiance is in our lips, the maintenance of it in our hearts, the end of it (unless we suddenly repent, and amend,) will be dangerous wounds in our souls.  
There is yet a means to be made for reconciliation, the first borne of the great King of heaven and earth, goes between his father and us as mediator to work our peace and atonement: It may easily be brought to pass and take effect, if we would but utterly shake of a bad and base company of ugly and detestable sins, that hang upon every one of us: If we do not, let us be well assured, that these fatherly menaces, will be turned into causes of greater mournings, and these friendly chastisements and beat, will be changed into blows not to be endured, to the taking away of our lives for ever.  
The Earth that hath yet but begun to shrink up her nerves, and to hide a handful of her blessings, will open her veins to swallow up the memory of them. The water that hath gone about but to drown a few, will be instrument of general shipwrecks. The Air will in surphureous flakes drop down all on fire, and that Fire bring the world to a consumption not to be restored. Yea and these Monstrous births which as yet the Earth contains in her womb, shall at length be delivered by her, and produced as witnesses against us of our hardness of heart, and obduracy, and of our careless negligence and slackness of amendment. The Nature therefore of the disease being known, and the Physical remedy heard, be counseled, take what is ministered (so long as you find it wholesome) and grow strong both to your body, and your soul's comfort.  
FINIS.   

 
IN Hassia Germaniae haud ignobili ac evangelica doctrina potissimum nobilitata provincia, Vui tzenhausiae tertio post festum trium Regum die, infans masculus biceps, collo duplici, duobus capitibus, ac corpore optime cum reliquis membris compacto natus est.