Dr. Heylin, in his "Life of Archbishop Laud," thus speaks of her: "And that the other sex might whet their tongues upon him also, the Lady Davies, the widow of Sir John Davies, attorney-general for King James in Ireland, scatters a prophecy against him. This lady had before spoken somewhat unluckily of the Duke of Buckingham, importing that he should not live till the end of August, which raised her to the reputation of a Cunning Woman among the Ignorant people: and now (1634) she prophesies of the new archbishop, that he should live but a few days after the 5th. of November; for which and other prophecies of a more mischievous nature, she was after brought into the court of high commission; the woman being grown so mad, that she fancied the spirit of the prophet Daniel to have been infused into her body; and this she founded on an anagram which she made up of her name: namely, Eleanor Davies: Reveal, O Daniel. And though it had too much by an S, and too little by an L, yet she found Daniel and reveal in it, and that served her turn. Much pains was taken to dispossess her of this spirit; but all would not do, till Lamb, then dean of the arches, shot her through and through with an arrow borrowed from her own quiver: for whilst the bishops and divines were reasoning the point with her out of the Holy Scriptures, he took a pen into his hand, and at last hit upon this excellent anagram: Dame Eleanor Davies: Never so mad a Lady; which having proved to be true by the rules of art, 'Madam,' said he, 'I see you build much on anagrams, and I have found out one which I hope will fit yon.' This said, and reading it aloud, he put it into her hands in writing; which happy fancy brought that grave court into such a laughter, and the poor woman thereupon into such confusion, that afterward she grew either wiser, or was less regarded."
In the continuation of "Baker's Chronicle," the Lady Davies is mentioned with more respect Dr. Peter du Moulin also thus speaks of her: "She was learned above her sex, humble below her fortune, having a mind so great and noble, that prosperity could not make it remiss, nor the deepest adversity cause her to shrink, or discover the least pusillanimity or dejection of spirit; being full of the love of God, to that fullness the smiling world could not add, nor the drowning from it detract." It is probable that the learning of this lady, acting upon a raised imagination, and a fanatic turn of mind, produced a partial insanity.
"Great wit to madness nearly is allied."
The year before her death, which took place in 1652, Lady Davies published a pamphlet, entitled "The Restitution of Prophecy; that buried Talent to be revived. By the Lady Eleanor, 1651." In this tract, written very obscurely, are many severities against the persecutors of the author.
DEBORAH,
A prophetess and judge in Israel, and the most extraordinary woman recorded in the Old Testament. She lived about a hundred and thirty years after the death of Joshua. The Israelites were in subjection to Jabin, king of the Canaanites, who for twenty years had "mightily oppressed" them. Josephus says, "No humiliation was saved them; and this was permitted by God, to punish them for their pride and obstinacy;" according to the Bible, for their
