Note 57 — PART II.
Reading edition
It must have been difficult for a common-sense Man, as Mr. Calef was, to hear such Matters treated seriously in the Pulpit, and keep his Risibility under complete Controll. If Thunder and Lightning were the Work of the Devil, as it seems Mr. Mather believed, it is not very strange that he should discover some very odd Pranks in their Operations. The Father (Dr. I. Mather) relates, among his Philosophical Meditations, that as "a Man was walking, in August, 1682, in the Field, near Darking in England, he was struck with a Clap of Thunder; on being taken up, his dead Body was found exceeding hot, and withall smelling strong of Sulphur, insomuch that they were forced to drop him, and let him ly a considerable Time ere he could be removed. It is reported that sometimes Thunder and Lightning has been generated out of the sulphurous and bituminous Matter which the firey Mountain Ætna hath cast forth."