Sir William Russell fought so desperately at Zutphen, that he got
mistaken for the Evil One;[2] and Drake also gave the Spaniards good
reason for believing that he was a devil, and no man.[3]
[Footnote 1: See also D'Ewes, p. 688.]
[Footnote 2: Froude, xii. 87.]
[Footnote 3: Ibid. 663.]
33. This intense credulousness, childish almost in itself, but yet at
the same time combined with the strong man's intellect, permeated all
classes of society. Perhaps a couple of instances, drawn from strangely
diverse sources, will bring this more vividly before the mind than any
amount of attempted theorizing. The first is one of the tricks of the
jugglers of the period.
"_To make one danse naked._
"Make a poore boie confederate with you, so as after charms, etc.,
spoken by you, he unclothe himself and stand naked, seeming (whilest he
undresseth himselfe) to shake, stamp, and crie, still hastening to be
unclothed, till he be starke naked; or if you can procure none to go so
far, let him onlie beginne to stampe and shake, etc., and unclothe him,
and then you may (for reverence of the companie) seeme to release
him."[1]
[Footnote 1: Scott, p. 339.]
The second illustration must have demanded, if possible, more credulity
on the part of the audience than this harmless entertainment. Cranmer
tells us that in the time of Queen Mary a monk preached a sermon at St.
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