[172] Squeezing.
[173] Livid.
This charlatan seimed to be very weill experimented. He had bein at Rome, which voyage is nothing in France, and thorow the best of France. The stone thats to be found in the head of the hie[174] toad is very medicinal and of great use their. They call a toad grappeau; a frog grenouille.
[174] i.e. he.
The papists looks very much on the 7 sone for the curing of the cruels;[175] severall of the protestants look on it as superstition. They come out of the fardest nooks of Germany, as also out of Spain itselfe, to the King of France to be cured of this: who touches wt thir wordes, which our King æquivalently uses, tho he gives no peice of Gold as our King does, c'est le roy qui vous touche, c'est Dieu qui vous guerisse. He hath a set tyme of the year for the doing of it. The day before he prepares himself by fasting and praying that his touche may be the more effectuall. The French could give me no reason of it but lookt on it as a gift of God.
[175] Cruels, scrofula, king's evil. For the healing powers of the seventh son, compare Chambers's Book of Days, vol. i. p. 167; Notes and Queries, June 12, 1852.
We can not forget a witty answer of a young English nobleman who was going to travel thorow France and Italie, whom his friends feared exceedingly that he would change his Religion, because he mocked at Religion. They thought that King James admonition to him might do much to keip him constant, wheiron they prayed the King to speak to him. Yes I shall do that, quoth he. When he came to take his leave of the King, King James began to admonish him that he would not change his Religion, for amongs many other inconveniences he would so render himselfe incapable of serving his King and his country, and of bearing any office theirin. He quickly replied, I wonder of your Majesty who is so wise a man that ye sould speak so; for ther is no a man in all France or Italy that wil change wt me tho I would give him a 100,000 livres aboot.[176] The King was wery weill satisfied wt this, telling his freinds that he was not feared he would change, but that he saw he would bring back all the Religion he carried afield wt him.
[176] To boot.
At the Marcher Vieux beyond our expectation we saw one of the fellows eat the Viper head and all. The master striped it as a man would do an elle, and clasped it sicker wtin a inch of its neck. The fellow took the head of it in his mouth and zest[177] in a instant bit it of its neck and over his throat wt it, rubing his throat griveously for fear that it stake their. He had great difficulty of getting it over, and wt the time it had bein in his mouth his head swalled as big as 2 heads. The master immediatly took a glasse halfe full of wine, in which he wrang the blood and bowells of the headlesse body of the Viper and caused him drink it also, breaking the glasse in which he drank it to peices on the stage, causing sweip all wery diligently away that it might do no harme. Immediatly on the fellows drinking of it he had ready a cup of contrepoison, which he caused him drink, then giving him a great weighty cloak about his shoulders he sent him to keip him selfe warme before a great fire. The reason of which was to contrepoise the cold nature of this poison as of all that poison thats to be found in living creatures, which killeth us by extinguishing our natural radical heat, which being chockt and consumed the soul can no more execute its offices in the body but most depart.
[177] Just.