THAT the World , my Self , and the Stars may be no longer abused by Counterfeit Predictions of the Weather ; that my Name may be no more Prophan'd by being set to Sham Prophecies , and that every one may know that I am not plac'd upon a Hill , like the Devil upon Bowsteeple , only to shew the variation of the Wind : I am resolved , for my own and Urania's Honour , to undertake this present Frost , to determine its Force and Continuance , that the Poor providing themselves in time with Fuel and Flannel , should not be forc'd to burn their Wooden Shoes ( as they have often done ) to warm themselves and their Pottage . If you inquire into my Lineage you must confess me best qualify'd for this Undertaking of any Pretending Astrologer in France . For , not to mention my other Qualifications , I am Descended in a Right Line by my Fathers side from Merlin and Erra P●ater , and by my Phiz I hope there 's no body will question but that Mother Shipton was my Great Grannum by my Mothers .

But that we may proceed according to the rules of Art , I am First to Calculate the Nativity of this Present Frost , which hapned at Paris exactly upon November 16 , Stilo Vetere , at Four in the Morning , that cold Sign Scorpio ascending three Planets in the Horoscope ; opposing the Moon in an Earthly Sign , in evil Aspect of that enemy to all Warmth : Saturn the Lord of the Ascendant in an Earthly sign also . And because fix'd Signs ocu 〈…〉 the Angles , it shews the Duration as well as the Severity of 〈◇〉 cold . So that , according to Natural Astral Causes , ( and I believe no other ) it cannot last less than 103 days , 7 hours , 25 minutes , 17 seconds ; till then it shall without the least remission Freeze , so that no man shall venture to Urine in the Streets of Paris ; and in the Northern parts of France many shall be Frozen to Death in Carnal Copulation . And truly considering how little Heat I have ( except in my Head ) or can my self make , my Wife and I have every terrible Apprehensions of that our Selves . Nay it shall be as common a thing to buy a pair of Scates to slide from Calice to Dover , as it is to take a Scull from Greenwich to Tower stairs . And I very much fear that the Crust which has so long been over the Suns Body , will now be doubty coated with Ice , so that the little remaining Light will be so intercepted , that we shall not have so much benefit of it as to see truly the Hour of the Day But no sooner shall the Thaw come , but The Sibyl in Virgil . Nova progenies Caelo demittitur also . ( as an old Witch , a Relation of mine has it ) and the Earth become more Beautiful and Productive than ever . Then shall Peascods be cryed about the Streets by Whitsontide , and Cherries by Midsummer-day : Then shall Mushromes grow in the Isle of Dogs , and Toadstools in Greenwich-Park . Then shall the li●tle Annual Petti-fogging Astrologers confess my Skill and worship towards the Mount where I inhabit . I will have them know that when I set my self to Prophesie , Nature her Self shall Obey , and the Fates shall sooner change than I Lye ; I mean when I Prognosticate . For tho the Quadrate of Mars and Mercury from Angles in my Nativity , and both in Evil Aspect to my Horoscope , have beat out my Teeth , and bent my Legs so that I can neither Kick nor Bite , yet every one knows that to be a Position which accomplishes me the better for Railing , and Scolding , and throwing of Dirt : and this is so Notorious , that when ever I land at Billingsgate , the boldest Fish-whore of them all dare as well eat her Oystershells as encounter me . I know well enough that the Vulgar Astrology will tell you , that he who hath that Position is very apt to be a Lyer , and to be believed in nothing that he says ; and a Deceiver , to be trusted in nothing that he does ; and 't is true enough , provided you understand it only in a mans ordinary Dealings and common conversation , but , ( as a Reverend Brother Butlers Christolog . Astrologue has told us in the Calculation of Christs Nativity , ) in other matters it gives the more prodigious Wit , and qualifies a man the better for Predictions . What tho it cannot be prov'd that ever I spoke well of any Man , not excepting my Royal Founder ( whose Bounty for so many years maintain'd me ) or that very Church whose Livery I wear ? What tho I never Published any thing for the instruction of Mankind beyond a Tide-Table , for the use of my Neighbouring Watermen ? What is this to my Prophetick Spirit ? I am not the first of my Order that has been Proud , Peevish and Unsociable . How many Nights have I sat Cross Legged , tooting upon the Stars to foresee the downfal of Kings and the Destruction of my own Enemies ? How many years have I Dieted my self that I might commence Prophet ? For they are not Poets only that diet themselves to become Proficients only in the Art they Profess . Do I not every Morning break my Fast upon the Spleen of a Viper , fryed in the Gall of a Toad , and served up with Pickled Spiders , and then wash it down with a Draught of the Juice of Wormwood , to Sweeten my Nature ? Do I not Supconstantly upon a Dish of Poach'd Stars , with Sippits in Hippomanes to render my self the more accomplished Wizzard , and fitter for the conversation of Silphs and Gobblins . Why then shold the World be Surprized that I , who have always declaim'd and rail'd against Astrology , repente sic Propheta nunc prodirem : but do they not know that I have always been a man of Mystery and lived in the Clouds ? Why may not I be supposed to understand Astrology , which I never publickly own'd , as well as be a Novice in Algebra , of which I would be feign thought a Master ? In a word , hath not the World been mistaken in every Particular of me , excepting only my Morals , and my good Nature ? And now I have for the good of my Country pull'd off my Mask as to my Conjuring too , all mankind will be satisfied that I am intus & in cute , Devil .