LONDON'S WONDER.  
Being a most true and positive relation of the taking and killing of a great Whale near to Greenwich; the said Whale being fifty eight foot in length, twelve foot high, fourteen foot broad, and two foot between the Eyes.  
At whose death was used Harping-Irons, Spits, Swords, Guns, Bills, Axes, and Hatchets, and all kind of sharp Instruments to kill her: and at last two Anchors being struck fast into her body, she could not remove them, but the blood gushed out of her Body, as the water does out of a Pump.  
The report of which Whale hath caused many hundred of people both by land and water to go and see her; the said Whale being slain hard by Greenwich upon the third day of june this present year 1658. which is largely expressed in this following discourse.  
June LONDON, Printed for Francis Grove near the Saracens head on Snow-hill. 1658. June 6.   

The Preface.  
IN the most sacred and holy Word of God, (which is written for our instruction; in which (by the merits of Jesus Christ) depends our salvation, by reading, hearing, and preaching) And in this holy Scripture, the perfect Creation of the World is set down, in the true and largest manner; as you may read, in the first Chapter of Genesis, penned by the faithful hand of Moses, who was in the place of a King, Priest, and Prophet, to the Children of Israel. In which Chapter, by reading or hearing, you shall find proved positively, how the Omnipotent God, great JEHOVAH, the Lord of lords, and King of kings, whose power has no end, whose glory is unspeakable, whose mercy is infinite, whose goodness cannot be numbered, nor his blessings paralleled: He who rideth on the skies, and makes the earth his footstool; that is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending. It was this good God, that first framed this Universe; It was the Lords work, and the Lords will, that created this world: It was the glorious almighty power of Heaven, that first founded this fabric; it was God that made of nothing, something; and it was the Lord that made the Sun to govern the day, and the Moon to govern the night; it was the Lord of Hosts that made the great Whales, and all the fishes swimming in the waters; and it was the great God of our salvation, that made every living creature. And was it not the Lords excellent power, to make man according to his own Image, pure, just, and holy; yea, in the State of all blessed felicity. But how soon, through transgression, did man remove himself from that happy paradise, that heavenly mansion, that portion of joy, which he so soon spent, like the prodigal son: read the 15 Chapter of St. Luke's Gospel.  
The fall of Adam has been our ruin, for we by his sins, as heirs from his loins, are all dead in sins and trespasses. Nevertheless, we are all made whole by the second Adam; For as the Serpent was lift up in the Wilderness, so must the Son of man be lift up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. The 3d. Chapter of St. John's Gospel, and the 14 and 15 verses. This place of holy Scripture does manifestly prove, by the mouth of our Saviour Jesus Christ, that whosoever believes in him shall be saved. But on the contrary, those that deny Christ, and have crucified our blessed Saviour and Redeemer, will deny them before his Father which is in heaven.  
It is through unbelief, that we have such strange apparitions in the air, where has been the appearance of four Suns altogether, the Moon has been seen as red as blood, strange kind of hail and rain, great winds and earthquakes, most horrible and terrible thunder in the midst of winter, to the great frights and terror of many thousands of people; great inundations of water, destroying hay, corn and cattle, besides men, women, and children: great and unheard of tempests at Sea, splitting the Vessels against the shore, and driving others upon the sands, where many a Mariner has been cast away through distress, and many a widow made contrary to expectation. Within this few years, great fires (by negligence, or some ill casualty) has happened in many places of this Commonwealth, and especially in the Metrapolitan City of London, turning many stately buildings into dust, and burying the living with the dead, by means of the pondeous weight of timber and goods that lay upon them. All these examples are sent as messengers of God, to forewarn us, and fore-arm us, against the dreadful day of the Lord: For saith the Lord, Behold, I come, I bring my judgements with me.   

A Brief Relation of a Great Whale that was Killed near Green-wich.  
UPon the third of June this present year 1658. a huge whale came swimming up the Thames and was first seen by a boy at blackwall being of a mighty bulk and bigness, which something frighted the boy to see such a Monstrous fish: the boy presently revealed it to some Watermens thereabouts, who instantly got Harping-irons: Spits, Hatchets, Bills and Axes, & fell a striking the Whale as far as they durst venture. The Watermens stripping off their Doublets and Breeches, and went only in their Shirts and Drawers to be light and nimble at their work; and to escape the danger of drowning in case the Whale had overturned them, they struck the Harping-irons all at one time into her body, but she quickly removed them out again.  
Some stabbed spits into her, and the Master of the hay that lives at the three Flower-deluces in Greenwich, shot a brace of bullets into her; and although the blood spouted out of her body, as if some had pompt her, they were half afraid that she would get from them; the vehemency of her Wounds made her disgorge the water out of her mouth in a abundance, that the people there present were amazed to see it, and although the tide was very strong and the wind against her, she hauld the boats at her pleasure, for they stuck Ankers into her body with spits & irons; and she removed them as fast as they struck her, till at last a Fisherman threw a little Anchor, which got into one of her nostrils, and stuck so fast that she could not remove it, and whilst she was in this ecstasy and danger of death she would sometimes bounce above the water as high as a house, and down she would sink into the Thames again, then up again leaping and tossing her body above the water, sometimes eight or nine foot high; all this while the Seamen, Watermens, and Ship Carpenters waited their opportunities to strike the harping irons into her, which upon all occasions they did with much vigellency, care and industry; and by wounding of the Whale so often, and so much, the water that the place contained thereabouts, for at least twenty yards round, was like a pond of blood, and those that were near her, and at her execution were besmeared with blond as if they had been in a slaughter house, there was such running and riding with the people both to see and hear of the destroying of this Whale, as is almost incredible; divers of the Gentry and worthy Citizens went thither in their Coaches, and abundance from Westminister, London, and the burrow of South-wark repaired both by Land and Water to see this Fish of Wonder, and the Watermens and others made a prize of her; for, they took twopences a piece of all the spectators, so it proved a gallant day of Jubillie to the Watermens, which is according to the old saying that it is an ill wind that blows no body profit, at last two Ankers belonging, to the fishers, was struck fast into the body of the Whale, which was the cause of her death; and when the people perceived that her breath was departed, they unanimously (with a great shout leaped upon the back of the Whale, and fell to cutting of her up with axes, hatchets, bills, and other sharp instruments for the same purpose, and it is to be noted that a little before her death she gave most grievious, deadly, doleful and heavy groans, that by the report of the people that both saw and heard it, they never heard of the like before. It had Crab-lice sticking upon the body of it, that were as big as a spider, then as they were a deviding the body into several pieces by chopping of it with hatchets and the like they made merchandise of it.  
Some bought pieces as big as a man's middle, and some took lesser pieces to show to their neighbours, friends and acquaintance, that what is reported concerning this hugeous whaile, is an absolute truth; and as a monument of Remembrance, they do both safely and securely lock it up, esteeming more rarely of it, than a dish of Anchovis, Salmon, or Lobsters, that is a present for a Lady, for although a whale be not good to eat, it is novelty, and very strange and much more stranger to be catcht in the River of Thames so near to London bridge. The Chronicles do specify, that several great fishes, have come at some remarkable times at the distance of many years, to the wonder and admiration of many people then living, which strange concourse of nature with those great fishes, have been as a sign of some dangers approaching, but this was one special favour of providence, that although at the kill of this whale there was abundance of men women and children, and some of them at sometimes were very near her, and yet none of them had so much hurt done them as the fillip of a finger. The company that was her Executioners, and at her death did measure her, and found the vast length of the whale to be full eight and fifty foot, and she was complete 12 foot high, she was 14 foot in breadth, and two foot long between the eyes; she had very large nostrils, and a hugeous wide mouth, and in one of her nostrils an anchor being cast, was one of the mane causes of her death, she stared with her eyes most strangely, and was at least six hours a killing, out at last the whale was made there prize, and the water men gained the conquest.  
But certainly I cannot conceive to the contrary, but that this whale (coming thus contrary to custom) is some sign or token of heaven's displeasure, for it is the judgement of the men of art, that strange things produecs strange affects now whether we gave credit to there say or no, we must and oughtt to believe the scripture which is spoken by the mouth of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, as you shall find it written in St. Matthew gospel the 24th Chapter read the whole chapter, which manifestly declaires the times and seasons as we live in, for we have had wars and rumours of wars signs and apparistions in the air, and sure enough that the day of the Lord is at hand, therefore whilst it is to day let us hearken to the will of God, and let every Christian that takes up the name of a Christian, by true Christiany, to prove himself to be a Christian both by his faith and good works, for saith the Apostle St. James in his Epistle, that faith without works is dead, and so is works without faith, Read the second chapter of James, then since it is so that we live in such times of danger let us be lovers of one another? and repent from the bottom of our hearts that God may divert his judgements from us, and repent him of the evil as he hath threatened against us, let us be as tender of one another's souls, as we are of the apple of our eye, let us lock them up in the love of Christ, that we may be made partakers of his heavenly Kingdom to be seated on the throne of grace, and Crowned with the Imperial Crown of Glory.  
FINIS.