A moſt Wonderful and true Relation of Mr John Mark­lain Miniſter of Gods Word at Lesbury in the County of Northum­berland, &c.

AL though this age wherein we live hath béen an Age full of wonders, and none have béen more frequent or more remarkable then in our owne Land: yet this wonder which I ſhall now declare unto you, will be ſound to tranſcend all o­ther Wonders whatſoever.

Not only invention, but Hiſtories Ec­cleſiaſttical and Civil, have told us of ſome2 rerſans, who from the grave have•een re­ſtored unto life, We have red of the dead Child which was revived by the Prophet, and of the wonder wrought by our Savi­our upon Lazarus, who payed to Nature one debt more then he owed: But of a man who from the age of one hundred and ſix­téen years was reſtored to a youthfull and vigorous conſtitution, to have a new ſtrength of light, to have new téeth, and new haire, to receive a new youth in all the faculties of Soul and Body, that no age but this no Land but our can parallel.

We ſhall find that the Prophet Daniel, a though in the thankful acknowledgement of Gods mercies to him, he ſaith, I hou haſt renewed my dayes like and Eagle, ye before all extraordinary progreſſe of time he ſtoop­ed to the infirmities of age, and being co­vered with cloathes he could get no heat; He found that true in himſelf which he ſaid of others; The age of a man is three ſcore and ten, if he attain to four ſcore yeers, his dayes are but ſorrow and wearineſſe: But this man of whom we ſpeak being almoſt one hundred and twenty years old, had his eyes that were dimm enlightned, and did ſay by his Spectacles which before he uſed, he might well take up this in the Ec­cleſiaſtes,3 and make the ſtrength of his age as much his gratitude as his wonder. The Keepers of the houſe did not tremble, nor the ſtrong men did bow themſelves, the Grindders did not ceaſe becauſe they were few, and thoſe that look out at the win­dow were not darkned, the Almond tree did not as yet flouriſh on his head, the ſil­ver cord was not looſed, nor the golden Bowle broken, nor the pitcher broken at the well, nor the wheele broken at the Ci­ſtorn, &c.

Nevertheleſſe it is not to be diſſembled, that if you will wipe off the duſt of Anti­quity from ſome of the Greek Poem we ſhall find that the Father of Jaſon being of a great age, and having a body laden with diſeaſes, was made young again by the charmes of his daughter in Law A••dea, we ſhall read alſo of & wonder wrought on Virbius, but theſe are inventions which have nothing but Fable to maintain their reputation in the world. The Narration of this is true, and ſent in Letters from the North to ſeverall Perſons of almoſt the higheſt account in this Nation.

His age was quickned into youth, and it was at this pregnant ſeaſon of the yeare, when Winter is quickned into Spring, I4 may call it his Renovation, or his Reſur­rection from the ruines of Age, to the ſtrength and beauties of youth. Indéed there are many things in nature which ſéem to point at a reſurrection ſuch as this, and would perſwade us by their examples to a more eaſie entertainment and belief of this Wonder, and in the firſt place,

We may look upon the ſolemn Poetry of the Phonix, a Creature rarer then the Reſurrection, though not ſo admirable, in whoſe Aſhes ſhe may ſée the fire of life ex­pecting to be fammed to the reſurrection of a flame as if this Creature by a Riddle of Fate ſhould by a fire both periſh and re­vive, you ſhall find that it recovereth it ſelf from diſeaſes and corruptions of age, in­to the vigour and the courage of youth.

But in earneſt we may behold the Eagle ſhooting forth her new quills, by which ſhe doth teſtific her indeavours and deſires of immortality.

But why ſhould we in the ſloth of con­templation ſtudy ſo broad an object: Let us with more gracefull induſtry confine our eyes to the ſmall ſéed of Corn, and at leaſt take the paines to ſée the pains of the Husband man, where behold the delightful Arithmatick of Nature, we may ſée the5 ſéed, whoſe hope ſéems ſmall at it ſelf, by being caſt away to be found, by deſtruction to receive increaſe, and from the ſame ſur­row to take both its buriall, and its birth.

Thus both the divine indulgence gradu­ally chaſtiſe the difficulty of the length of inſtruction, and by things more obvious both ſurpaſſe our underſtandings to things that are not, ſo the Phenix out of her aſhes to reaſſume new life, is both read and received: For the Eagle to renew her beak and her youth together, is approved of by experience. For the ſéed of Corne to riſe up from the ſurrow, and to be young again and multiply, is the daily obſerbati­on of the Farmer ▪ But for an old man of one hundred and ſixtéen years of age, to caſt away at once both his Spectecles and his Crutch, to leap from the infirmities of age, into the height and ſtrength at youth­full age, to have his heart warme againe with deſire, and his beins with blood, is ſuch a miracle, That not only Reaſon, but Nature her ſelf doth ſtartle at.

Son of man can theſe bones live? Saith God himſelf to the Prophet Ezekiel, Thoſe Bones whoſe hopes are as dry, and as much exhauſted as is their narrow; This is a Taske for God himſelfe to doe, be on­ly6 can revive him, who did create him; It is he that can bring fleſh again upon him, and can gird it about them with ſinews, it is he that can cover them with skin, and can cauſe his breath to enter into him, it is he alone can beſtow complexion upon him, and having made ſmooth the furrows, can plant the flowers of youth, on the brow of Age, it is he alone y^t returned the extream age of this old man to a youthfull and vi­gorous conſtitution, and hallowed be his name.

There are a generation of men in this age who live like the Sadduces, as if there were no reſurrection, they adde luſt unto oppreſſion, and murder to bypocriſie and vainly minding the glory of this world, they quite forget the Kingdome of God, let them therefore underſtand and tremble at the apprehenſion of it, the ſame Omni­potent God that gave both health & youth to this aged man, when he had one foote in the grave, hath a day at hand, when at the ſound of the Trumpet he will call all fleſh to judgement, The oppreſſor ſhall then give an account of his wealth, and the con­querer of his conqueſt, and in what holineſs of Spirit they have lived in the height o7 their fortunes, for though Heaven be high, no ſtep ſo néere as humility.

There is alſo a generation of men, who hanging their Harps on the Willows do ſit down on the banks of the rivers, and do increaſe them with their tears, who are either lying on the ground, or are laid in it, exhecting the reſurrection of the juſt, the ſame God who againſt hope did miraculouſ­ly revive this man unto youth, will raiſe them unto glory, for the day is appoaching when corruption ſhall put on incorruption, when looſe duſt by the warmth and moi­ſture of bloud ſhall be kneaded into man, when there ſhall be a reſurrection of the grave, of rottenneſſe, of ſickneſſe, of the winding ſheet of conſumptions, all which ſhall be purified into joy, into ſtrength, into perfect beauty, into a robe of glory, into a throne of glory, into life, into health, into immortality; when there ſhall be a reno­vation even of Majeſty it ſelf, whoſe glory which ſeemed here to be buried in this world, ſhall then illuſtriouſly ariſe in the face of heaven, when the tranſitory condi­tion of all good men living〈◊◊〉mainly be exchanged〈…〉

I ſhall now diſſend to give you a par­ticular account of the Birth and Profeſſion of this man, on whom God was pleaſed to conferre this VVonder.

By Birth he is a Scotch man, by Edu­cation a Schollar, bred up in the univerſity of Scotland in which having taken his degrees, and attained to the formality of Maſter of Arts, he profeſſeth the ſtudy of Divinity, and at a Village called Lesbury in the County of Northumberland, ſome five and twenty miles diſtant from New­caſtle, he was choſen to be Parſon and Rector of the ſaid place: his name is John Marklaine, he was noted alwayes to be a great Student, and to execute his Fun­ction with great induſtry and diligence, he was ſo temperate of life, and withall ſo ſtrong of conſtitution, that notwithſtand­ing his reſtleſſe lucubratious, he was al­moſt foureſcore before his eye grew dimm or any toth did begin to faile him, when he9 was three ſcore and fifteen years of age, or thereabouts, he began to uſe Spectacles, which he continuen full forty years toge­ther, untill lately he found by degrees his eye-ſight every day to grow ſtronger and ſtronger, and at laſt to be ſo perfect, that without any Spectacles he was able to reade the ſmalleſt Print that could be brought unto him.

The report of this ſeemed ſo ſtrange to many Miniſters and Gentlemen therea­bout, that they hardly could give any cre­dit to it, untill taking the pains to come to his houſe, their eyes did prove that to be true which their ears did heare: and the Wonder thereof being ſpread up and down the Country, it did draw many more of all ſorts unto him, who as they were Specta­tors of the bleſſing, ſo they were partakers in the joy, and departed giving thanks to God for what they had heard and ſeen.

As his eyeſight did improve it ſelfe, ſo did his hearing, for hearing before but hea­vily, and when they did ſpeak aloud unto him, his hearing was as quick and perfect as in the time of his ſtrongeſt youth.

10His téeth alſo which were moſt of them decayed, and many of them quite loſt by the injury of age, did begin to break forth again, and in a ſhort time did appear in as even and as full a row as at the firſt.

And whereas his haire was but thin be­fore and gray witth the tincture of age, his haire doth grow forth again very thick, and is of the ſame complexion as it was when he was but thirty years of age.

Neither was this reparation of nature only in his head and tongue, for ſpeaking before but ſoftly he now peracheth again very audibly, and with a good voice, but his whole body in all the faculties thereof, is miraculouſly renewed in his ſtrength, inſo­much that he now ſtudieth as cloſely as in thoſe dayes of his youth when the greateſt imployments were upon him & he preach­eth conſtantly euery Lords day, both in the forenoone and in the afternoone, hauing his memory, his apprehenſion and elocution as good as at the firſt time when he did take the Miniſtry upon him.

11Theſe things being very true, and at­teſted by a cloud of witneſſes, methinks thoſe men who had the Miniſters of the word of God in contempt, ſhould now be taught to give them a more mamerly re­reſpect, ſince we ſée that he was here plea­ſed to make uſe of a Miniſter of his word for the manifeſtation of his power. And it is obſer bable that he granted to this Mi­niſter ſo long a time of life, and almoſt thirty years beyond the cuſtome of ordina­ry men, on purpoſe the more to manifeſt the greatneſſe of his power, for ſurely it e­uer any man ſince the Creation deſerved to be called Virbius, that is to ſay, twice a man, it was this Miniſter, what did we think could put new eys into this old mans head, but the reſurrection, what could fa­ſten them in his Sums but Reſurrection. That hiſtory of the Téeth that were ſow­ed by Cadmus, and of the armed men that ſprang forth thereby, though otherwiſe wonderfull, is but a ſluggiſh miracle com­pared to this. It God who is both the re­ſurrection and the life, who did breach a new into this old man the breach of life, it was he that did indue him with a new warmth, and did create new ſpirits within him.

12And ſince be hath béen pleaſed to giue us ſo large a proof of the diſpenſation of his goodneſſe, let us walk worthy of his mer­cies, and beléeve that he who raiſed this man when he was falling into the grave, will alſo raiſe us, and that the manifeſta­tion of his Providence in this is a ſure ſign unto us of the reſurrection ſhortly to come, when Age ſhall be exchanged into youth, and imperfection into perfection, when all things ſhall be new, when there ſhall be a new Heaven, a Earth, and a new Jeruſa­lem, when the Son of man ſhall appear in the Clouds, attended with an innume­rable company of Angels, who are the Youth of Heaven, when the glory of this World ſhall vaniſh into nothing, and God ſhall be all in all, to whom be all Honour Dominion, and Obedience, now and for over more, Amen.