{"collection":"philosophy-ethics","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_31053/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_31053","id":"gutenberg_31053","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/31053","summary":null,"tags":["Banned Books from Anne Haight's list","Category: History - Religious","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Devil -- Early works to 1800"],"text":"Produced by Michael Roe, Stephanie Eason, and the Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. (This\nfile was produced from images generously made available\nby The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries.)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  THE\n  HISTORY\n  OF THE\n  DEVIL,\n  AS WELL\n  ANCIENT as MODERN:\n  IN TWO PARTS.\n\n  PART I.\n\n  Containing a State of the _Devil_'s Circumstances, and the various\n     Turns of his Affairs; from his Expulsion out of Heaven, to the\n     _Creation_ of Man; with Remarks on the Several Mistakes concerning\n     the Reason and Manner of his Fall.\n\n  Also his Proceedings with _Mankind_ ever since _Adam_, to the first\n     planting of the Christian Religion in the World.\n\n  PART II.\n\n  Containing his more private Conduct, down to the present Times: His\n     Government, his Appearances, his manner of Working, and the Tools\n     he works with.\n\n  _Bad as he is, the Devil may be abus'd,_\n  _Be falsly charg'd, and causelesly accus'd,_\n  _When Men, unwilling to be blam'd alone,_\n  _Shift off these Crimes on Him which are their Own._\n\n\n\n  The SECOND EDITION.\n\n  _LONDON:_\n  Printed for T. WARNER, at the _Black Boy_ in\n  _Pater-noster Row_. 1727.\n\n\n\n\n  The PREFACE\n  TO THE\n  SECOND EDITION.\n\n\n_This Second Edition of this Work, notwithstanding a large Impression of\nthe First, is a Certificate from the World of its general Acceptation;\nso we need not, according to the Custom of Editors, boast of it without\nEvidence, or tell a F----b in its Favour._\n\n_The Subject is singular, and it has been handled after a singular\nManner: The wise World has been pleased with it, the merry World has\nbeen diverted with it, and the ignorant World has been taught by it;\nnone but the malicious part of the World has been offended at it: Who\ncan wonder, that when the_ Devil _is not pleased,_ his Friends should be\nangry?\n\n_The strangest thing of it all is, to hear_ Satan _complain that the\nStory is handled prophanely: But who can think it strange that his\nAdvocates should_ BE, what he was from the Beginning?\n\n_The Author affirms, and has good Vouchers for it (in the Opinion of\nsuch whose Judgment passes with him for an Authority) that the whole\nTenor of the Work is solemn, calculated to promote serious Religion, and\ncapable of being improv'd in a religious manner. But he does not think\nthat we are bound never to speak of the_ Devil _but with an Air of\nTerror, as if we were always afraid of him._\n\n_'Tis evident the_ Devil, _as subtle and as frightful as he is, has\nacted the ridiculous and foolish Part, as much as most of God's\nCreatures, and daily does so. And he cannot believe 'tis any Sin to\nexpose him for a foolish_ Devil, _as he is, or shew the World that he\nmay be laugh'd at._\n\n_Those that think the Subject not handled with Gravity enough, have all\nthe Room given them in the World to handle it better; and as the Author\nprofesses he is far from thinking his Piece perfect, they ought not to\nbe angry that_ he gives them leave to mend it. _He has had the\nSatisfaction to please some Readers, and to see good Men approve it; and\nfor the rest, as my Lord_ Rochester _says in another Case,_\n\n  He counts their Censure Fame.\n\n\n_As for a certain Reverend Gentleman, who is pleased gravely to dislike\nthe Work_ (_he hopes, rather for the Author's sake than the_ Devil's)\n_he only says,_ Let the Performance be how it will, and the Author what\nhe will, it is apparent he has not yet preach'd away all his Hearers.\n\n_It is enough to me (says the Author) that the_ Devil _himself is not\npleased with my Work, and less with the Design of it; let the_ Devil\n_and all his fellow Complainers stand on one side, and the honest, well\nmeaning, charitable World, who approve my Work, on the other, and I'll\ntell Noses with_ Satan, _if he dares._\n\n\n\n\nTHE CONTENTS.\n\n\nPART I.\n\nCHAP. I.\n\n  _Being an Introduction to the whole Work_,                        Page 1\n\n\nCHAP. II.\n\n  _Of the Word_ DEVIL, _as it is a proper Name to the Devil, and\n  any or all his Host, Angels_, &c.                                     18\n\n\nCHAP. III.\n\n  _Of the Original of the_ DEVIL, _who he is, what he was before\n  his Expulsion out of Heaven, and in what State he was from that\n  Time to the Creation of Man_                                          31\n\n\nCHAP. IV.\n\n  _Of the Name of the Devil, his Original, and the Nature of his\n  Circumstances since he has been call'd by that Name_                  38\n\n\nCHAP. V.\n\n  _Of the Station Satan had in Heaven before he fell; the Nature\n  and Original of his Crime, and some of Mr._ Milton's _Mistakes\n  about it_                                                             63\n\n\nCHAP. VI.\n\n  _What became of the_ Devil _and his Host of fallen Spirits after\n  their being expell'd from Heaven, and his wandring Condition till\n  the Creation; with some more of Mr._ Milton_'s Absurdities on\n  that Subject_                                                         77\n\n\nCHAP. VII.\n\n  _Of the Number of Satan's Host; how they came first to know of\n  the new created Worlds now in Being, and their Measures with\n  Mankind upon the Discovery_                                           86\n\n\nCHAP. VIII.\n\n  _Of the Power of the Devil at the Time of the Creation of this\n  World; whether it has not been farther straiten'd and limited\n  since that Time, and what Shifts and Stratagems he is oblig'd\n  to make use of to compass his Designs upon Mankind_                   95\n\n\nCHAP. IX.\n\n  _Of the Progress of Satan in carrying on his Conquest over\n  Mankind, from the Fall of_ Eve _to the Deluge_                       111\n\n\nCHAP. X.\n\n  _Of the Devil's second Kingdom, and how he got footing in the\n  renewed World by his Victory over_ Noah _and his Race_               129\n\n\nCHAP. XI.\n\n  _Of God's calling a Church out of the midst of a degenerate\n  World, and of Satan's new Measures upon that Incident: How\n  he attacked them immediately, and his Success in those Attacks_      159\n\n\nPART II.\n\nCHAP. I.\n\n  _The Introduction_                                                   192\n\n\nCHAP. II.\n\n  _Of Hell as it is represented to us, and how the_ Devil _is to\n  be understood, as being personally in Hell, when at the same\n  Time we find him at Liberty ranging over the World_                  206\n\n\nCHAP. III.\n\n  _Of the Manner of_ Satan's _acting and carrying on his Affairs\n  in this World, and particularly of his ordinary Workings in the\n  dark, by_ Possession _and_ Agitation                                 216\n\n\nCHAP. IV.\n\n  _Of Satan's Agents or Missionaries, and their Actings upon and\n  in the Minds of Men in his Name_                                     226\n\n\nCHAP. V.\n\n  _Of the_ Devil_'s Management in the Pagan Hierarchy by Omens,\n  Entrails, Augurs, Oracles, and such like Pageantry of Hell; and\n  how they went off the Stage at last by the Introduction of true\n  Religion_                                                            245\n\n\nCHAP. VI.\n\n  _Of the extraordinary Appearances of the Devil, and particularly\n  of the Cloven-Foot_                                                  265\n\n\nCHAP. VII.\n\n  _Whether is most hurtful to the World, the_ Devil _walking about\n  without his Cloven-Foot, or the Cloven-Foot walking about without\n  the_ Devil?                                                          282\n\n\nCHAP. VIII.\n\n  _Of the Cloven-Foot walking about the World without the_ Devil\n  (viz.) _of Witches making Bargains with the_ Devil, _and\n  particularly of selling the Soul to the_ Devil                       316\n\n\nCHAP. IX.\n\n  _Of the Tools the_ Devil _works with_ (viz.) _Witches, Wizards\n  or Warlocks, Conjurers, Magicians, Diviners, Astrologers,\n  Interpreters of Dreams, Tellers of Fortunes; and above all the\n  rest, his particular modern Privy-Counsellors call'd Wits and\n  Fools_                                                               339\n\n\nCHAP. X.\n\n  _Of the various Methods the Devil takes to converse with Mankind_    352\n\n\nCHAP. XI.\n\n  _Of Divination, Sorcery, the Black-Art, Pawawing, and such like\n  Pretenders to Devilisms, and how far the_ Devil _is or is not\n  concern'd in them_                                                   377\n\n\nThe CONCLUSION.\n\n  _Of the_ Devil'_s last Scene of Liberty, and what may be supposed\n  to be his End; with what we are to understand of his being\n  tormented for ever and ever_                                         404\n\n\n\n\n  THE\n  HISTORY\n  OF THE\n  DEVIL, _&c._\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. I.\n\n_Being an Introduction to the whole Work._\n\n\nI doubt not but the title of this book will amuse some of my reading\nfriends a little at first; they will make a pause, perhaps, as they do\nat a witch's prayer, and be some time resolving whether they had best\nlook into it or no, lest they should really raise the _Devil_ by reading\nhis story.\n\nChildren and old women have told themselves so many frightful things _of\nthe Devil_, and have form'd ideas of him in their minds, in so many\nhorrible and monstrous shapes, that really it were enough to fright the\n_Devil_ himself, to meet himself in the dark, dress'd up in the several\nfigures which imagination has form'd for him in the minds of men; and as\nfor themselves, I cannot think by any means that the _Devil_ would\nterrify them half so much, if they were to converse face to face with\nhim.\n\nIt must certainly therefore be a most useful undertaking to give the\ntrue history of this _Tyrant of the air_, this _God of the world_, this\nterror and aversion of mankind, which we call _Devil_; to shew what he\nIS, and what he IS NOT, where he IS, and where he IS NOT, when he is IN\nUS, and when he IS NOT; for I cannot doubt but that the _Devil_ is\nreally and _bona fide_ in a great many of our honest weak-headed\nfriends, when they themselves know nothing of the matter.\n\nNor is the work so difficult as some may imagine. The _Devil_'s\n_history_ is not so hard to come at, as it seems to be; His original and\nthe first rise of his family is upon record, and as for his conduct, he\nhas acted indeed in the dark, as to method in many things; but _in\ngeneral_, as cunning as he is, he has been fool enough to expose himself\nin some of the most considerable transactions of his Life, and has not\nshewn himself a politician at all: Our old friend _Matchiavel_ outdid\nhim in many things, and I may in the process of this work give an\naccount of several of the sons of _Adam_, and some societies of 'em too,\nwho have out-witted _the Devil_, nay, who have out-sin'd _the Devil_,\nand that I think may be call'd out-shooting him in his own bow.\n\nIt may perhaps be expected of me in this history, that since I seem\ninclin'd to speak favourably of _Satan_, to do him justice, and to write\nhis story impartially, I should take some pains to tell you what\nreligion he is of; and even this part may not be so much a jest, as at\nfirst sight you may take it to be; for _Satan_ has something of religion\nin him, I assure you; nor is he such an unprofitable _Devil_ that way,\nas some may suppose him to be; for tho', in reverence to my brethren, I\nwill not reckon him among the Clergy; No not so much as a gifted\nBrother, yet I cannot deny, but that he often preaches, and if it be not\nprofitably to his hearers; 'tis as much their fault, as it is out of his\ndesign.\n\nIt has indeed been suggested that he has taken orders, and that a\ncertain Pope, famous for being an extraordinary favourite of his, gave\nhim both institution and induction; but as this is not upon record, and\ntherefore we have no authentic document for the probation, I shall not\naffirm it for a truth, for I would not slander the _Devil_.\n\nIt is said also, and I am apt to believe it, that he was very familiar\nwith that holy father Pope _Silvester_ II. and some charge him with\npersonating Pope _Hildebrand_ on an extraordinary occasion, and himself\nsitting in the chair apostolick, in a full congregation; and you may\nhear more of this hereafter: But as I do not meet with Pope _Diabolus_\namong the list; in all father _Platina_'s lives of the Popes, so I am\nwilling to leave it as I find it.\n\nBut to speak to the point, and a nice point it is I acknowledge;\n_namely_, what religion _the Devil_ is of; my answer will indeed be\ngeneral, yet not at all ambiguous, for I love to speak positively and\nwith undoubted evidence.\n\n     1. _He is a believer._ And if in saying so it should follow, that\n     even the _Devil_ has more religion than some of our men of fame can\n     at this time be charged with, I hope my Lord ---- and his Grace the\n     ---- of ---- and some of the upper class in the red-hot club, will\n     not wear the coat, however well it may sit to their shapes, or\n     challenge the Satyr, as if it were pointed at them, because 'tis\n     due to them: In a word, whatever their Lordships are, I can assure\n     them that the _Devil_ is no Infidel.\n\n     2. _He fears God._ We have such abundant evidence of this in sacred\n     History, that if I were not at present, in common with a few\n     others, talking to an infidel sort of Gentlemen, with whom those\n     remote things call'd Scriptures are not allow'd in evidence, I\n     might say it was sufficiently prov'd; but I doubt not in the\n     process of this undertaking to shew, that _the Devil_ really _fears\n     God_, and that after another manner than ever he fear'd Saint\n     _Frances_ or Saint _Dunstan_; and if that be proved, as I take upon\n     me to advance, I shall leave it to judgment, who's the better\n     Christian, _the Devil_ who _believes_ and _trembles_, or our modern\n     gentry of ---- who believe neither _God nor Devil_.\n\n\nHaving thus brought the _Devil_ within the _Pale_, I shall leave him\namong you for the present; not but that I may examine in its order who\nhas the best claim to his brotherhood, the Papists or the Protestants;\nand among the latter the Lutherans or the Calvinists; and so descending\nto all the several denominations of churches, see who has less of _the\nDevil_ in them, and who more; and whether _less_ or _more_ the Devil has\nnot a seat in every synagogue, a pew in every church, a place in every\npulpit, and a vote in every synod; even from the Sanhedrim of the\n_Jews_, to our friends at the _Bull and Mouth_, &c. from the greatest to\nthe least.\n\nIt will, I confess, come very much within the compass of this part of my\ndiscourse, to give an account, _or at least make an essay toward it_, of\nthe share _the Devil_ has had in the spreading religion in the world;\nand especially of dividing and subdividing opinions in religion;\nperhaps, to eke it out and make it reach the farther; and also to shew\nhow far he is or has made himself a missionary of the famous clan _de\npropaganda fide_; it is true, we find him heartily employ'd in almost\nevery corner of the world _ad propagandum errorem_: But that may require\na history by it self.\n\nAs to his propagating religion, 'tis a little hard indeed, at first\nsight, to charge _the Devil_ with propagating religion, that is to say,\nif we take it literally, and in the gross; but if you take it as the\n_Scots_ insisted to take the oath of fidelity, _viz._ with an\n_explanation_, it is plain _Satan_ has very often had a share in the\nmethod, if not in the design of propagating the _christian faith_: For\nexample.\n\nI think I do no injury at all to the Devil, to say that he had a great\nhand in the old _holy war_, as it was ignorantly and enthusiastically\ncall'd; stirring up the christian princes and powers of _Europe_ to run\na madding after the _Turks_ and _Saracens_, and make war with those\ninnocent people above a thousand miles off, only because they entred\ninto God's heritage when he had forsaken it; graz'd upon his ground when\nhe had fairly turn'd it into a common, and laid it open for the next\ncomer; spending their nation's treasure, and embarking their kings and\npeople, (I say) in a war above a thousand miles off, filling their heads\nwith that religious madness, call'd, in those days, _holy zeal_ to\nrecover the _terra sancta_, the sepulchers of Christ and the Saints, and\nas they call'd it falsly, the _holy city_, tho' true religion says it\nwas the accursed city, and not worth spending one drop of blood for.\n\nThis religious _Bubble_ was certainly of _Satan_, who, as he craftily\ndrew them in, so like a true _Devil_ he left them in the lurch when they\ncame there, fac'd about to the _Saracens_, animated the immortal\n_Saladin_ against them, and manag'd so dexterously that he left the\nbones of about thirteen or fourteen hundred thousand Christians there as\na trophy of his infernal politicks; and after the christian world had\nrun _a la santa terra_, or in _English_ a _saunt'ring_, about a hundred\nyear, he dropt it to play another game less foolish, but ten times\nwickeder than that which went before it, _namely_, turning the crusadoes\nof the Christians one against another; and, as _Hudibras_ said in\nanother case,\n\n  \"Made them fight like mad or drunk\n  \"For dame religion as for punk.\n\n\nOf this you have a compleat account in the history of the Popes decrees\nagainst the Count _de Thoulouse_, and the _Waldenses_ and _Albigenses_,\nwith the crusadoes and massacres which follow'd upon them, wherein to do\n_the Devil_'s politicks some justice, he met with all the success he\ncould desire; the zealots of that day executed his infernal orders most\npunctually, and planted religion in those countries in a glorious and\ntriumphant manner, upon the destruction of an infinite number of\ninnocent people, whose blood has fatten'd the soil for the growth of the\nCatholick faith, in a manner very particular, and to Satan's full\nsatisfaction.\n\nI might, to compleat this part of his history, give you the detail of\nhis progress in these first steps of his alliances with _Rome_; and add\na long list of massacres, wars, and expeditions in behalf of religion,\nwhich he has had the honour to have a visible hand in; such as the\n_Parisian_ massacre, the _Flemish_ war under the Duke _d' Alva_, the\n_Smithfield_ fires in the _Marian days_ in _England_, and the massacres\nin _Ireland_; all which would most effectually convince us that _the\nDevil_ has not been idle in his business; but I may meet with these\nagain in my way, 'tis enough, while I am upon the generals only, to\nmention them thus in a summary way; I say, 'tis enough to prove that\n_the Devil_ has really been as much concerned as any body, in the\nmethods taken by some people for propagating the christian religion in\nthe world.\n\nSome have rashly, and I had almost said maliciously charg'd _the Devil_\nwith the great triumphs of his friends the _Spaniards_ in _America_, and\nwould place the conquest of _Mexico_ and _Peru_ to the credit of his\naccount.\n\nBut I cannot join with them in this at all, I must say, I believe _the\nDevil_ was innocent of that matter; my reason is, because, _Satan_ was\nnever such a fool as to spend his time, or his politicks, or embark his\nallies to conquer nations who were already his own; that would be\n_Satan_ against _Beelzebub_, making war upon himself, and at least doing\nnothing to the purpose.\n\nIf they should charge him, indeed, with deluding _Philip_ II. of _Spain_\ninto that preposterous attempt call'd _the Armada_, (_anglice_, the\n_Spanish Invasion_,) I should indeed more readily join with them; but\nwhether he did it weakly, in hope, _which was indeed not likely_, that\nit should succeed; or wickedly, to destroy that great fleet of the\n_Spaniards_, and draw them within the reach of his own dominions, the\nelements; this being a question which authors differ exceedingly about,\nI shall leave it to decide it self.\n\nBut the greatest piece of management, which we find _the Devil_ has\nconcern'd himself in of late, in the matter of religion, seems to be\nthat of the mission into _China_; and here indeed _Satan_ has acted his\nmaster-piece: It was, no doubt, much for his service that _the Chineses_\nshould have no insight into matters of religion, I mean, that we call\nchristian; and therefore, tho' _Popery_ and the _Devil_ are not at so\nmuch variance as some may imagine, yet he did not think it safe to let\nthe general system of Christianity be heard of among them in _China_.\nHence when the name of the christian religion had but been received with\nsome seeming approbation in the country of _Japan_, _Satan_ immediately,\nas if alarm'd at the thing, and dreading what the consequence of it\nmight be, arm'd the _Japoneses_ against it with such fury, that they\nexpell'd it at once.\n\nIt was much safer to his designs, when, if the story be not a fiction,\nhe put that _Dutch_ witicism into the mouths of the States commanders,\nwhen they came to _Japan_; who having more wit than to own themselves\nChristians in such a place as that, when the question was put to them,\nanswered negatively, _That they were not_, but that _they were of\nanother religion call'd_ Hollanders.\n\nHowever, it seems the diligent _Jesuits_ out-witted the Devil in\n_China_, and, as I said above, over-shot him in his own Bow; for the\nmission being in danger _by the Devil and the_ Chinese _Emperor_'s\n_joining together_, of being wholly expell'd there too, as they had been\nin _Japan_, they cunningly fell in with the ecclesiasticks of the\ncountry, and joining the priestcraft of both religions together, they\nbrought _Jesus Christ_ and _Confucius_ to be so reconcilable, that the\n_Chinese_ and the _Roman_ idolatry appeared capable of a confederacy, of\ngoing on hand in hand together, and consequently of being very good\nfriends.\n\nThis was a master-piece indeed, and, _as they say_, almost frighted\n_Satan_ out of his wits; but he being a ready manager, and particularly\nfamous for serving himself of the rogueries of the priests, fac'd about\nimmediately to the mission, and making a virtue of necessity, clapt in,\nwith all possible alacrity, with the proposal[1]; so the _Jesuits_ and\nhe form'd a _hotch-potch_ of _religion_ made up of _Popery_ and _Paganism_\nand calculated to leave the latter rather worse than they found it,\nbinding the faith of Christ and the philosophy or morals of _Confucius_\ntogether, and formally christening them by the name of _religion_; by\nwhich means the politick interest of the mission was preserved; and yet\n_Satan_ lost not one inch of ground with the _Chineses_, no, not by the\nplanting the Gospel it self, _such as it was_, among them.\n\nNor has it been such disadvantage to him that this plan or scheme of a\nnew modell'd religion would not go down at _Rome_, and that the\nInquisition damn'd it with Bell, Book and Candle; distance of place\nserv'd his new allies, the missionaries, in the stead of a protection\nfrom the Inquisition; and now and then a rich present well plac'd found\nthem friends in the congregation it self; and where any Nuncio with his\nimpudent zeal pretended to take such a long voyage to oppose them,\n_Satan_ took care to get him sent back _re infecta_, or inspir'd the\nmillion to move him off the premisses, by methods of their own (that is\nto say, being interpreted) to _murther him_.\n\nThus the mission has in itself been truly _devilish_, and the Devil has\ninterested himself in the planting the christian religion in _China_.\n\nThe influence _the Devil_ has in the Politicks of mankind, is another\nespecial part of his history, and would require, if it were possible, a\nvery exact description; but here we shall necessarily be obliged to\ninquire so nicely into the Arcana of circumstances, and unlock the\ncabinets of state in so many courts, canvass the councils of ministers\nand the conduct of princes so fully, and expose them so much, that it\nmay, perhaps, make a combustion among the great politicians abroad; and\nin doing that we may come so near home too, that tho' personal safety\nand prudentials forbid our medling with our own country, we may be taken\nin a double entendre, and fall unpitied for being only suspected of\ntouching truths that are so tender, whether we are guilty or no; on\nthese accounts I must meddle the less with that part, at least for the\npresent.\n\nBe it that the Devil has had a share in some of the late councils of\n_Europe_, influencing them this way or that way, to his own advantage,\nwhat is it to us? For example, What if he has had any concern in the\nlate affair of _Thorn_? What need we put it upon him, seeing his\nconfederates the _Jesuites_ with the _Assessorial_ tribunal of _Poland_\ntake it upon themselves? I shall leave that part to the issue of time. I\nwish it were as easy to persuade the world that he had no hand in\nbringing the injur'd Protestants to leave the justice due to the cries\nof protestant blood to the arbitrament of a popish power, who dare say\nthat _the Devil_ must be in it, if justice should be obtain'd that way:\nI should rather say, _the Devil_ is in it, or else it would never be\nexpected.\n\nIt occurs next to enquire from the premisses, whether _the Devil_ has\nmore influence or less in the affairs of the world now, than he had in\nformer ages; and this will depend upon comparing, as we go along, his\nmethods and way of working in past times, and the modern politicks by\nwhich he acts in our days; with the differing reception which he has met\nwith among the men of such distant ages.\n\nBut there is so much to enquire of about _the Devil_, before we can\nbring his story down to our modern times, that we must for the present\nlet them drop, and look a little back to the remoter parts of this\nhistory; drawing his picture that people may know him when they meet\nhim, and see who and what he is, and what he has been doing ever since\nhe got leave to act in the high station he now appears in.\n\nIn the mean time, if I might obtain leave to present an humble petition\nto _Satan_, it should be, that he would according to modern usage oblige\nus all, with writing _the history of his own times_; 'twould, as well as\none that is gone before it, be a Devilish good one; for as to the\nsincerity of the performance, the authority of the particulars, the\njustice of the characters, _&c._ if they were no better vouch'd, no more\nconsistent with themselves, with charity, with truth, and with the\nhonour of an historian, than the last of that kind which came abroad\namong us, it must be a reproach to _the Devil_ himself to be the author\nof it.\n\nWere _Satan_ to be brought under the least obligation to write truth,\nand that the matters of fact, which he should write, might be depended\nupon, he is certainly qualified by his knowledge of things to be a\ncompleat historian; nor could the Bishop himself, _who, by the way, has\ngiven us already the Devil of a history_, come up to him: _Milton_'s\n_Pandemonium_, tho' an excellent dramatick performance, would appear a\nmeer trifling sing-song business, beneath the dignity of _Chevy-chase_:\nThe _Devil_ could give us a true account of all the civil wars in\nHeaven; how and by whom, and in what manner he lost the day there, and\nwas oblig'd to quit the field: The fiction of his refusing to\nacknowledge and submit to the _Messiah_, upon his being declar'd\nGeneralissimo of the Heavenly forces, which Satan expected himself, as\nthe eldest officer; and his not being able to brook another to be put in\nover his head; I say, that fine-spun thought of Mr. _Milton_ would\nappear to be strain'd too far, and only serve to convince us that he\n(_Milton_) knew nothing of the matter. _Satan_ knows very well, that the\n_Messiah_ was not _declared to be the Son of God with power_ till by and\nafter _the resurrection from the dead_, and that all power was then\ngiven him _in Heaven and earth_, and not before; so that _Satan_'s\nrebellion must derive from other causes, and upon other occasions, as he\nhimself can doubtless give us an account, if he thinks fit, and of which\nwe shall speak further in this work.\n\nWhat a fine History might this old Gentleman write of the Antediluvian\nworld, and of all the weighty affairs, as well of state as of religion,\nwhich happen'd during the fifteen hundred years of the patriarchal\nadministration!\n\nWho, like him, could give a full and compleat account of the Deluge,\nwhether it was a meer vindictive, a blast from Heaven, wrought by a\nsupernatural power in the way of miracle? or whether, according to Mr.\n_Burnet_'s _Theory_, it was a consequence following antecedent causes by\nthe meer necessity of nature; seen in constitution, natural position,\nand unavoidable working of things, as by the Theory publish'd by that\nlearn'd enthusiast it seems to be?\n\n_Satan_ could easily account for all the difficulties of the _Theory_,\nand tell us whether, as there was a natural necessity of the Deluge,\nthere is not the like necessity and natural tendency to a Conflagration\nat last.\n\nWould _the Devil_ exert himself as an Historian, for our improvement and\ndiversion, how glorious an account could he give us of _Noah_'s Voyage\nround the world, in the famous Ark! he could resolve all the\ndifficulties about the building it, the furnishing it, and the laying up\nprovision in it for all the collection of kinds that he had made; He\ncould tell us whether all the creatures came voluntier to him to go into\nthe ark, or whether he went a hunting for several years before, in order\nto bring them together.\n\nHe could give us a true relation how he wheedled the people of the next\nworld into the absurd ridiculous undertaking of building a _Babel_; how\nfar that stupendous stair-case, which was in imagination to reach up to\nHeaven, was carried, before it was interrupted and the builders\nconfounded; how their speech was alter'd, how many Tongues it was\ndivided into, or whether they were divided at all; and how many\nsubdivisions or dialects have been made since that, by which means very\nfew of God's creatures, except the Brutes, understand one another, or\ncare one farthing whether they do or no.\n\nIn all these things _Satan_, who, no doubt, would make a very good\nchronologist, could settle every Epocha, correct every Calendar, and\nbring all our accounts of time to a general agreement; as well the\n_Grecian Olympiads_, the _Turkish Heghira_, the _Chinese_ fictitious\naccount of the world's duration, as our blind _Julian_ and _Gregorian_\naccounts, which have put the world, to this day, into such confusion,\nthat we neither agree in our holy-days or working days, fasts or feasts,\nnor keep the same sabbaths in any part of the same globe.\n\nThis great Antiquary could bring us to a certainty in all the\ndifficulties of ancient story, and tell us whether the tale of the siege\nof _Troy_, and the rape of _Helen_ was a fable of _Homer_ or a history;\nwhether the fictions of the Poets are form'd from their own brain, or\nfounded in facts; and whether letters were invented by _Cadmus_ the\n_Phoenician_, or dictated immediately from _Heaven_ at mount _Sinai_.\n\nNay, he could tell us how and in what manner he wheedled _Eve_, deluded\n_Adam_, put _Cain_ into a passion, till he made him murther his own\nbrother; and made _Noah_, who was above 500 years a preacher of\nrighteousness, turn Sot in his old age, dishonour all his ministry,\ndebauch himself with wine, and by getting drunk and exposing himself,\nbecome the jest and laughing-stock of his children, and of all his\nposterity to this day.\n\nAnd would Satan, according to the modern practice of the late right\nreverend Historian, enter into the characters of the great men of his\nage, how should we be diverted with the just history of _Adam_, in\nparadise and out of it; his character, and how he behaved at and after\nhis expulsion; how _Cain_ wandered in the land of _Nod_, what the mark\nwas which _God_ set upon him, whose daughter his wife was, and how big\nthe city was he built there, according to a certain Poet of noble\nextraction,\n\n  How _Cain_ in the land of _Nod_\n    When the rascal was alone\n  Like an owl in an ivy tod\n    Built a city as big as _Roan_.\n\n  _Roch._\n\n\nHe could have certainly drawn _Eve_'s picture, told us every feature in\nher face, and every inch in her shape, whether she was a perfect beauty\nor no, and whether with the fall she did grow crooked, ugly, ill-natur'd\nand a scold; as the learned _Valdemar_ suggests to be the effects of the\ncurse.\n\nDescending to the character of the Patriarchs in that age, he might, no\ndoubt, give us in particular the characters of _Belus_, worship'd under\nthe name of _Baal_; with _Satan_, and _Jupiter_, his successors; who\nthey were here, and how they behaved; with all the _Pharaohs_ of\n_Egypt_, the _Abimilechs_ of _Canaan_, and the great monarchs of\n_Assyria_ and _Babylon_.\n\nHence also he is able to write the lives of all the Heroes of the world,\nfrom _Alexander_ of _Macedon_ to _Lewis_ the XIV. and from _Augustus_ to\nthe great King _George_; nor could the Bishop himself go beyond him for\nflattery, any more than the Devil himself could go beyond the Bishop for\nfalshood.\n\nI could enlarge with a particular satisfaction upon the many fine things\nwhich _Satan_, rummaging his inexhaustible storehouse of slander, could\nset down to blacken the characters of good men, and load the best\nPrinces of the world with infamy and reproach.\n\nBut we shall never prevail with him, I doubt, to do mankind so much\nservice, as resolving all those difficulties would be; for he has an\nindelible grudge against us; as he believes, and perhaps is assur'd that\nmen were at first created by his sovereign, to the intent that after a\ncertain state of Probation in life, such of them as shall be approved,\nare appointed to fill up those vacancies in the Heavenly Host, which\nwere made by the abdication and expulsion of him (_the Devil_) and his\nAngels; so that man is appointed to come in _Satan_'s stead, to make\ngood the breach, and enjoy all those ineffable Joys and Beatitudes which\n_Satan_ enjoy'd before his fall; no wonder then, that _the Devil_ swells\nwith envy and rage at mankind in general, and at the best of them in\nparticular; nay, the granting this point is giving an unanswerable\nreason, why the _Devil_ practises with such unwearied and indefatigable\napplication upon the best men, if possible, to disappoint GOD\nAlmighty's decree, and that he should not find enough among the whole\nRace, to be proper subjects of his clemency, and qualified to succeed\n_the Devil_ and his host, or fill up the places vacant by the Fall. It\nis true indeed, _the Devil_, who we have reason to say is no fool, ought\nto know better than to suppose that if he should seduce the whole race\nof mankind, and make them as bad as himself, he could, by that success\nof his wickedness, thwart or disappoint the determined purposes of\nHeaven; but that those which are appointed to inherit the Thrones, which\nhe and his followers abdicated, and were deposed from, shall certainly\nbe preserv'd in spite of his Devices for that inheritance, and shall\nhave the possession secur'd to them, notwithstanding all that _the\nDevil_ and all the Host of _Hell_ can do to prevent it.\n\nBut, however he knows the certainty of this, and that when he endeavours\nthe seducing the chosen servants of the most High, he fights against GOD\nhimself, struggles with irresistible grace, and makes war with infinite\npower; undermining the church of God, and that faith in him which is\nfortified with the eternal promises of Jesus Christ, that the gates of\n_Hell_, that is to say, the _Devil_ and all his power, shall not prevail\nagainst them; I say, however he knows the impossibility there is that he\nshould obtain his ends, yet so blind is his rage, so infatuate his\nwisdom, that he cannot refrain breaking himself to pieces against this\nmountain, and splitting against the rock. _qui Jupiter vult perdere hos\ndementat._\n\nBut to leave this serious part, which is a little too solemn, for the\naccount of this rebel; seeing we are not to expect he will write his own\nHistory for our information and diversion, I shall see if I cannot write\nit for him: In order to this, I shall extract the substance of his\nwhole story, from the beginning to our own times, which I shall collect\nout of what is come to hand, whether by revelation or inspiration,\nthat's nothing to him; I shall take care so to improve my intelligence,\nas may make my account of him authentick, and, _in a word_, such as the\nDevil himself shall not be able to contradict.\n\nIn writing this uncouth story I shall be freed from the censures of the\nCriticks, in a more than ordinary manner, upon one account especially;\n(_viz._) that my story shall be so just and so well grounded, and, after\nall the good things I shall say of _Satan_, will be so little to his\nsatisfaction, that _the Devil_ himself will not be able to say, I _dealt\nwith the Devil_ in writing it: I might, perhaps, give you some account\nwhere I had my intelligence, and how all the Arcana of his management\nhave come to my hands; _but pardon me, Gentlemen_, this would be to\nbetray conversation, and to discover my agents, and you know statesmen\nare very careful to preserve the correspondences they keep in the\nenemy's country, lest they expose their friends to the resentment of the\nPower whose councils they betray.\n\nBesides, the learned tell us, that ministers of state make an excellent\nplea of their not betraying their intelligence, against all party\ninquiries into the great sums of money pretended to be paid for _secret\nservice_; and whether the secret service was to bribe people to betray\nthings abroad or at home; whether the money was paid to some body or to\nno body, employ'd to establish correspondences abroad, or to establish\nfamilies and amass treasure at home; in a word, whether it was to serve\ntheir country or serve themselves, it has been the same thing, and the\nsame plea has been their protection: Likewise in the important affair\nwhich I am upon, 'tis hoped you will not desire me to betray my\nCorrespondents; for you know _Satan_ is naturally cruel and malicious,\nand who knows what he might do to shew his resentment? at least it might\nendanger a stop of our intelligence for the future.\n\nAnd yet, before I have done, I shall make it very plain, that however my\ninformation may be secret and difficult, that yet I came very honestly\nby it, and shall make a very good use of it; for 'tis a great mistake in\nthose who think that an acquaintance with the affairs of _the Devil_ may\nnot be made very useful to us all: They that know no evil can know no\ngood; and, as the learned tell us, that a stone taken out of the head of\na Toad is a good antidote against poison; so a competent knowledge of\n_the Devil_, and all his ways, may be the best help to make us defie\n_the Devil_ and all his _works_.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. II.\n\n_Of the word_ DEVIL, _as it is a proper name to the Devil, and any or all\n     his host, Angels,_ &c.\n\n\nIt is a question, not yet determined by the learned, whether the word\n_Devil_ be a _singular_, that is to say, the _name_ of a person standing\nby himself, or a _noun of multitude_; if it be a singular, and so must\nbe used personally only as _a proper name_, it consequently implies one\nimperial _Devil_, Monarch or King of the whole clan of Hell; justly\ndistinguish'd by the term THE DEVIL, or as the _Scots_ call him, _the\nmuckle horn'd Dee'l_, or as others in a wilder dialect, _the Devil of\nHell_, that is to say, the _Devil_ of a _Devil_; or (better still) as\nthe Scripture expresses it, by way of emphasis, the _great red Dragon_,\nthe _Devil_ and _Satan_.\n\nBut if we take this word to be, as above, _a noun of multitude_, and so\nto be used _ambo-dexter_, as occasion presents, singular or plural; then\n_the Devil_ signifies _Satan_ by himself, or _Satan with all his\nLegions_ at his heels, as you please, more or less; and this way of\nunderstanding the word, as it may be very convenient for my purpose, in\nthe account I am now to give of the infernal Powers, so it is not\naltogether improper in the nature of the thing: It is thus express'd in\nScripture, where the person possess'd _Matt._ iv. 24. is first said to\nbe possess'd of _the Devil_ (singular) and our Saviour asks him, as\nspeaking to a single person, _what is thy name?_ and is answer'd in the\nplural and singular together, my name is LEGION, for _we are many_.\n\nNor will it be any wrong to _the Devil_, supposing him a single person,\nseeing entitling him to the conduct of all his inferior Agents, is what\nhe will take rather for an addition to his infernal glory, than a\ndiminution or lessening of him in the extent of his Fame.\n\nHaving thus articl'd with the _Devil_ for liberty of speech, I shall\ntalk of him sometimes in the singular, as a person, and sometimes in the\nplural, as an host of _Devils_ or of infernal Spirits, just as occasion\nrequires, and as the history of his affairs makes necessary.\n\nBut before I enter upon any part of his history, the nature of the thing\ncalls me back, and my Lord B---- of ---- in his late famous orations in\ndefence of liberty, summons me to prove that there is such a thing or\nsuch a person as _the Devil_; and in short, unless I can give some\nevidence of his existence, as my Lord ---- said very well, I am talking\nof _nobody_.\n\nD--m me, Sir, says a graceless comrade of his to a great man, _your\nGrace_ will go to _the Devil_.\n\nD--m ye, Sir, says the D----, then I shall go _no where_; I wonder where\nyou intend to go?\n\nNay, to _the D----l_ too I doubt, _says Graceless_, for I am almost as\nwicked as my _Lord Duke_.\n\n_D._ Thou ar't a silly empty Dog, says the D--, and if there is such a\nplace as _a Hell_, tho' I believe nothing of it, 'tis a place for fools,\nsuch as thou art.\n\n_Gr._ I wonder then, what Heaven the great wits go to, such as my _Lord\nDuke_; I don't care to go there, let it be where it will; they are a\ntiresome kind of people, there's no bearing them, they'll make _a Hell_\nwherever they come.\n\n_D._ Prithee hold thy fool's tongue, I tell thee, if there is any such\nplace as we call NO WHERE; that's all the Heaven or Hell that I know of,\nor believe any thing about.\n\n_Gr._ Very good, my Lord--; so that _Heaven_ is _no where_, and\n_Hell_ is _no where_, and the _Devil_ is _nobody_, according to my _Lord\nDuke_!\n\n_D._ Yes Sir, and what then?\n\n_Gr._ And you are to go _no where_ when you die, are you?\n\n_D._ Yes, you Dog, don't you know what that incomparable noble genius my\nLord _Rochester_ sings upon the subject, I believe it unfeignedly,\n\n  After death nothing is,\n    And nothing death.\n\n_Gr._ You believe it, my Lord, you mean, you would fain believe it if\nyou could; but since you put that great genius my Lord _Rochester_ upon\nme, let me play him back upon _your Grace_; I am sure you have read his\nfine poem upon _nothing_, in one of the stanzas of which is this\nbeautiful thought,\n\n  And to be part of [2] thee\n    The wicked wisely pray.\n\n_D._ You are a foolish Dog.\n\n_Gr._ And my _Lord Duke_ is a wise Infidel.\n\n_D._ Why? is it not wiser to believe _no Devil_, than to be always\nterrify'd at him?\n\n_Gr._ But shall I toss another Poet upon you, my Lord?\n\n  If it should so fall out, as who can tell\n  But there may be a GOD, a _Heaven_ and _Hell_?\n  Mankind had best consider well, for fear\n  'T should be too late when their mistakes appear.\n\n_D._ D--m your foolish Poet, that's not my Lord _Rochester_.\n\n_Gr._ But how must I be damn'd, if there's _no Devil_? Is not _your\nGrace_ a little inconsistent there? My Lord _Rochester_ would not have\nsaid that, and't please your Grace.\n\n_D._ No, _you Dog_, I am not inconsistent at all, and if I had the\nordering of you, I'd make you sensible of it; I'd make you think your\nself damn'd for want of _a Devil_.\n\n_Gr._ That's like one of _your Grace_'s paradoxes, such as when you\nswore _by God_ that you did not believe there was any such thing as _a\nGod_, or _Devil_; so you swear by _nothing_, and damn me to _no where_.\n\n_D._ You are a critical Dog, who taught you to believe these solemn\ntrifles? who taught you to say there is a GOD?\n\n_Gr._ Nay, I had a better school-master than my _Lord Duke_.\n\n_D._ Why, who was your school-master pray?\n\n_Gr._ _The Devil_, and't please your _Grace_.\n\n_D._ The Devil! _the Devil he did?_ what you're going to quote\nScripture, are you? Prithee don't tell me of _Scripture_, I know what\nyou mean, _the Devils believe and tremble_; why then I have the\nwhip-hand of _the Devil_, for I hate trembling; and I am deliver'd from\nit effectually, for I never believed any thing of it, and therefore I\ndon't tremble.\n\n_Gr._ And there, indeed, I am a wickeder creature than the _Devil_, or\neven than my _Lord Duke_, for I believe, and yet don't tremble neither.\n\n_D._ Nay, if you are come to your penitentials I have done with you.\n\n_Gr._ And I think I must have done with my _Lord Duke_, for the same\nreason.\n\n_D._ _Ay, ay_, pray do, I'll go and enjoy my self; I won't throw away\nthe pleasure of my life, I know the consequence of it.\n\n_Gr._ And I'll go and reform my self, else I know the consequence too.\n\nThis short Dialogue happen'd between two men of quality, and both men of\nwit too; and the effect was, that the Lord brought the reality of _the\nDevil_ into the question, and the debate brought the profligate to be a\npenitent; so in short, _the Devil_ was made a preacher of repentance.\n\nThe Truth is, _God_ and _the Devil_, however opposite in their nature,\nand remote from one another in their place of abiding, seem to stand\npretty much upon a level in our faith: For as to our believing the\nreality of their existence, he that denies one, generally denies both;\nand he that believes one, necessarily believes both.\n\nVery few, if any of those who believe there is a GOD, and acknowledge\nthe debt of homage which mankind owes to the supreme Governor of the\nWorld, doubt the existence of _the Devil_, except here and there one,\nwhom we call practical Atheists; and 'tis the character of an Atheist,\nif there is such a creature on Earth, that like my _Lord Duke_, he\nbelieves neither GOD or _Devil_.\n\nAs the belief of both these stands upon a level, and that GOD and the\n_Devil_ seem to have an equal share in our faith, so the evidence of\ntheir existence seems to stand upon a level too, in many things; and as\nthey are known by their Works in the same particular cases, so they are\ndiscover'd after the same manner of demonstration.\n\nNay, in some respects 'tis equally criminal to deny the reality of them\nboth, only with this difference, that to believe the existence of a GOD\nis a debt to nature, and to believe the existence of _the Devil_ is a\nlike debt to reason; one is a demonstration from the reality of visible\ncauses, and the other a deduction from the like reality of their\neffects.\n\nOne demonstration of the existence of GOD, is from the universal\nwell-guided consent of all nations to worship and adore a supreme Power;\nOne demonstration of the existence of the _Devil_, is from the avow'd\nill-guided consent of some nations, who knowing no other GOD, make a GOD\nof the _Devil_, for want of a better.\n\nIt may be true, that those nations have no other Ideas of the Devil than\nas of a superior Power; if they thought him a supreme Power it would\nhave other effects on them, and they would submit to and worship him\nwith a different kind of fear.\n\nBut 'tis plain they have right notions of him as a Devil or evil Spirit,\nbecause the best reason, and in some places the only reason they give\nfor worshiping him is, that he may do them no hurt; having no notions at\nall of his having any power, much less any inclination to do them good;\nso that indeed they make a meer _Devil_ of him, at the same time that\nthey bow to him as to a GOD.\n\nAll the ages of Paganism in the World have had this notion of _the\nDevil_: indeed in some parts of the World they had also some Deities\nwhich they honour'd above him, as being supposed to be beneficent, kind\nand inclined, as well as capable to give them good things; for this\nreason the more polite Heathens, such as the _Grecians_ and the\n_Romans_, had their _Lares_ or houshold Gods, whom they paid a\nparticular respect to; as being their Protectors from Hobgoblins, Ghosts\nof the Dead, evil Spirits, frightful Appearances, evil Genius's and\nother noxious Beings from the invisible World; or to put it into the\nlanguage of the day we live in, from _the Devil_, in whatever shape or\nappearance he might come to them, and from whatever might hurt them: and\nwhat was all this but setting up _Devils_ against _Devils_, supplicating\none _Devil_ under the notion of a good Spirit, to drive out and protect\nthem from another, whom they call'd a bad Spirit, the white _Devil_\nagainst the black _Devil_?\n\nThis proceeds from the natural notions mankind necessarily entertain of\nthings to come; _superior_ or _inferior_, GOD and the _Devil_, fill up\nall futurity in our thoughts; and 'tis impossible for us to form any\nimages in our minds of an immortality and an invisible World, but under\nthe notions of perfect felicity, or extreme misery.\n\nNow as these two respect the Eternal state of man after life, they are\nrespectively the object of our reverence and affection, or of our\nhorror and aversion; but notwithstanding they are plac'd thus in a\ndiametrical opposition in our affections and passions, they are on an\nevident level as to the certainty of their existence, and, as I said\nabove, bear an equal share in our faith.\n\nIt being then as certain that there is _a Devil_, as that there is _a\nGod_, I must from this time forward admit no more doubt of his\nexistence, nor take any more pains to convince you of it; but speaking\nof him as a reality in Being, proceed to enquire who he is, and from\nwhence, in order to enter directly into the detail of his History.\n\nNow not to enter into all the metaphysical trumpery of his Schools, nor\nwholly to confine my self to the language of the Pulpit; where we are\ntold, that to think of GOD and of the _Devil_, we must endeavour first\nto form Ideas of those things which illustrate the description of\nrewards and punishments; in the one the eternal presence of the highest\ngood, and, as a necessary attendant, the most perfect, consummate,\ndurable bliss and felicity, springing from the presence of that Being in\nwhom all possible Beatitude is inexpressibly present, and that in the\nhighest perfection: On the contrary, to conceive of a sublime fallen\nArch-angel, attended with an innumerable host of degenerate, rebel\nSeraphs or Angels cast out of Heaven together; all guilty of\ninexpressible rebellion, and all suffering from that time, and to suffer\nfor ever the eternal vengeance of the Almighty, in an inconceivable\nmanner; that his presence, tho' blessed in it self, is to them the most\ncompleat article of terror; That they are in themselves perfectly\nmiserable; and to be with whom for ever, adds an inexpressible misery to\nany state as well as place; and fills the minds of those who are to be,\nor expect to be banish'd to them with inconceivable horror and\namazement.\n\nBut when you have gone over all this, and a great deal more of the like,\ntho' less intelligible language, which the passions of men collect to\namuse one another with; you have said nothing if you omit the main\narticle, namely, the personality of _the Devil_; and till you add to all\nthe rest some description of the company with whom all this is to be\nsuffer'd, _viz._ the _Devil and his Angels_.\n\nNow who this _Devil and his Angels_ are, what share they have either\nactively or passively in the eternal miseries of a future state, how far\nthey are Agents in or Partners with the sufferings of the place, is a\ndifficulty yet not fully discover'd by the most learned; nor do I\nbelieve 'tis made less a difficulty by their medling with it.\n\nBut to come to the person and original of _the Devil_, or, as I said\nbefore, of _Devils_; I allow him to come of an ancient family, for he is\nfrom Heaven, and more truly than the _Romans_ could say of their\nidoliz'd _Numa_, he is of the race of the Gods.\n\nThat _Satan_ is a fallen Angel, a rebel Seraph, cast out for his\nRebellion, is the general opinion, and 'tis not my business to dispute\nthings universally receiv'd; as he was try'd, condemn'd, and the\nsentence of expulsion executed on him in Heaven, he is in this World\nlike a transported Felon never to return; His crime, whatever particular\naggravations it might have, 'tis certain, amounted to High-treason\nagainst his Lord and Governor, who was also his Maker; against whom he\nrose in rebellion, took up arms, and in a word, rais'd a horrid and\nunnatural war in his dominions; but being overcome in battle, and made\nprisoner, he and all his Host, whose numbers were infinite, all\nglorious Angels like himself, lost at once their beauty and glory with\ntheir Innocence, and commenc'd _Devils_, being transform'd by crime into\nmonsters and frightful objects; such as to describe, human fancy is\nobliged to draw pictures and descriptions in such forms as are most\nhateful and frightful to the imagination.\n\nThese notions, I doubt not, gave birth to all the beauteous Images and\nsublime expressions in Mr. _Milton_'s majestick Poem; where, tho' he has\nplay'd the Poet in a most luxuriant manner, he has sinn'd against\n_Satan_ most egregiously, and done the _Devil_ a manifest injury in a\ngreat many particulars, as I shall shew in its place. And as I shall be\noblig'd to do _Satan_ justice when I come to that part of his History,\nMr. _Milton_'s admirers must pardon me, if I let them see, that tho' I\nadmire Mr. _Milton_ as a Poet, yet that he was greatly out in matters of\nHistory, and especially the History of the _Devil_; in short, That he\nhas charged _Satan_ falsly in several particulars; and so he has _Adam_\nand _Eve_ too: But that I shall leave till I come to the History of the\nRoyal Family of _Eden_; which I resolve to present you with when the\n_Devil_ and I have done with one another.\n\nBut not to run down Mr. _Milton_ neither, whose poetry, or his judgment,\ncannot be reproached without injury to our own; all those bright Ideas\nof his, which make his poem so justly valued, whether they are capable\nof proof as to the fact, are notwithstanding, confirmations of my\nhypothesis; and are taken from a supposition of the Personality of the\n_Devil_, placing him at the head of the infernal host, as a sovereign\nelevated Spirit and Monarch of Hell; and as such it is that I undertake\nto write his history.\n\nBy the word Hell I do not suppose, or at least not determine, that his\nresidence, or that of the whole army of _Devils_, is yet in the same\nlocal HELL, to which the Divines tell us he shall be at last chain'd\ndown; or at least that he is yet confin'd to it, for we shall find he is\nat present a prisoner at large: of both which circumstances of Satan I\nshall take occasion to speak in its course.\n\nBut when I call the Devil the Monarch of _Hell_, I am to be understood\nas suits to the present purpose; that he is the Sovereign of all the\nrace of Hell, that is to say of all the Devils or Spirits of the\ninfernal Clan, let their numbers, quality and powers be what they will.\n\nUpon this supposed personality and superiority of _Satan_, or, as I call\nit, the sovereignty and government of one Devil above all the rest; I\nsay, upon this notion are form'd all the systems of the dark side of\nfuturity, that we can form in our minds: And so general is the opinion\nof it, that it will hardly bear to be oppos'd by any other argument, at\nleast that will bear to be reason'd upon: All the notions of a parity of\nDevils, or making a common-wealth among the black Divan, seem to be\nenthusiastick and visionary, but with no consistency or certainty, and\nis so generally exploded, that we must not venture so much as to debate\nthe point.\n\nTaking it then as the generality of mankind do, that there is a Grand\nDevil, a superior of the whole black race; that they all fell, together\nwith their General, _Satan_, at the head of them; that tho' he, _Satan_,\ncould not maintain his high station in Heaven, yet that he did continue\nhis dignity among the rest, who are call'd his servants, _in Scripture\nhis Angels_; that he has a kind of dominion or authority over the rest,\nand that they were all, how many millions soever in number, at his\ncommand; employ'd by him in all his hellish designs, and in all his\nwicked contrivances for the destruction of man, and for the setting up\nhis own kingdom in the world.\n\nSupposing then that there is such a superior Master-Devil over all the\nrest, it remains that we enquire into his character, and something of\nhis History; in which, tho' we cannot perhaps produce such authentick\ndocuments as in the story of other great Monarchs, Tyrants, and Furies\nof the World; yet I shall endeavour to speak some things which the\nexperience of mankind may be apt to confirm, and which the Devil himself\nwill hardly be able to contradict.\n\nIt being then granted that there is such a thing or person, call him\nwhich we will, as a Master-Devil; that he is thus superior to all the\nrest in power and in authority, and that all the other evil Spirits are\nhis Angels, or Ministers, or Officers to execute his commands, and are\nemploy'd in his business; it remains to enquire, whence he came? how he\ngot hither, into this World? what that business is which he is employ'd\nabout? what his present state is, and where and to what part of the\ncreation of God he is limited and restrained? what the liberties are he\ntakes or is allow'd to take? in what manner he works, and how his\ninstruments are likewise allow'd to work? what he has done ever since he\ncommenc'd Devil, what he is now doing, and what he may yet do before his\nlast and closer confinement? as also what he cannot do, and how far we\nmay or may not be said to be exposed to him, or have or have not reason\nto be afraid of him? These, and whatever else occurs in the History and\nconduct of this Arch-devil and his Agents, that may be useful for\ninformation, caution, or diversion, you may expect in the process of\nthis work.\n\nI know it has been question'd by some, with more face than fear, how it\nconsists with a compleat victory of the Devil, which they say was at\nfirst obtained by the Heavenly Powers over _Satan_ and his apostate army\nin _Heaven_, that when he was cast out of his holy place, and dash'd\ndown into the abyss of eternal darkness, as into a place of punishment,\na condemn'd hold, or place of confinement, to be reserved there to the\njudgment of the great Day; _I say_, how it consists with that entire\nvictory, to let him loose again, and give him liberty, like a thief that\nhas broken prison, to range about God's creation, and there to continue\nhis rebellion, commit new ravages, and acts of hostility against God,\nmake new efforts at dethroning the almighty Creator; and in particular\nto fall upon the weakest of his creatures, MAN? how _Satan_ being so\nentirely vanquish'd, he should be permitted to recover any of his wicked\npowers, and find room to do mischief to mankind.\n\nNay they go farther, and suggest bold things against the wisdom of\nHeaven, in exposing mankind, weak in comparison of the immense extent of\nthe _Devil_'s power, to so manifest an overthrow, to so unequal a fight,\nin which he is sure, if alone in the conflict, to be worsted; to leave\nhim such a dreadful enemy to engage with, and so ill furnish'd with\nweapons to assist him.\n\nThese objections I shall give as good an answer to as the case will\nadmit in this course, but must adjourn them for the present.\n\nThat the Devil is not yet a close prisoner, we have evidence enough to\nconfirm; I will not suggest, that like our _Newgate_ Thieves, (to bring\nlittle Devils and great Devils together) he is let out by connivance,\nand has some little latitudes and advantages for mischief, by that\nmeans; returning at certain seasons to his confinement again. This\nmight hold, were it not, that the comparison must suggest, that the\npower which has cast him down could be deluded, and the under-keepers or\njaylors, under whose charge he was in custody, could wink at his\nexcursions, and the Lord of the place know nothing of the matter. But\nthis wants farther explanation.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. III.\n\n_Of the original of the_ DEVIL, _who he is, and what he was before his\n     expulsion out of Heaven, and in what state he was from that time\n     to the creation of Man._\n\n\nTo come to a regular enquiry into Satan's affairs, 'tis needful we\nshould go back to his original, as far as history and the opinion of the\nlearned World will give us leave.\n\nIt is agreed by all Writers, as well sacred as prophane, that this\ncreature we now call a Devil, was originally an Angel of light, a\nglorious Seraph; perhaps the choicest of all the glorious Seraphs. See\nhow _Milton_ describes his original glory:\n\n  _Satan_, so call him now, his former name\n  Is heard no more in Heaven: He of the first,\n  If not _the first Archangel_; great in power,\n  In favour and preeminence.\n\n  _lib._ v. _fol._ 140.\n\nAnd again the same author, and upon the same subject:\n\n  ------Brighter once amidst the host\n  Of Angels, than that star the stars among.\n\n  _lib._ vii. _fol._ 189.\n\n\nThe glorious figure which Satan is supposed to make among the _Thrones_\nand _Dominions_ in Heaven is such, as we might suppose the highest Angel\nin that exalted train could make; and some think, _as above_, that he\nwas the chief of the Arch-angels.\n\nHence that notion, (and not ill founded) _namely_, that the first cause\nof his disgrace, and on which ensued his rebellion, was occasioned upon\nGod's proclaiming his SON Generalissimo, and with himself supreme ruler\nin heaven; giving the dominion of all his works of creation, as well\nalready finish'd, as not then begun, to him; which post of honour (say\nthey) _Satan_ expected to be conferr'd on himself, as next in honour,\nmajesty and power to God the Supreme.\n\nThis opinion is follow'd by Mr. _Milton_ too, as appears in the\nfollowing lines, where he makes all the Angels attending all a general\nsummons, and God the Father making the following declaration to them.\n\n    \"Here, all ye Angels, prodigy of light,\n  \"Thrones, dominions, princedoms, virtues, pow'rs!\n  \"Hear my decree, which unrevok'd shall stand.\n  \"This day I have begot whom I declare\n  \"My only SON, and on this hill\n  \"Him have anointed, whom you now behold\n  \"At my right hand; your Head I Him appoint:\n  \"And my self have sworn to him shall bow\n  \"All knees in Heav'n, and shall confess him Lord,\n  \"Under his great vice-gerent reign abide\n  \"United, as one individual soul,\n  \"For ever happy: Him who disobeys,\n  \"Me disobeys, breaks union, and that day\n  \"Cast out from GOD, and blessed vision, falls\n  \"Into utter darkness, deep ingulph'd, his place\n  \"Ordain'd without redemption, without end.\n\n\nSatan, affronted at the appearance of a new Essence or Being in Heaven,\ncall'd the Son of God; for God, says Mr. _Milton_, (tho' erroneously)\ndeclared himself at that time, saying, _This day have I begotten him_,\nand that he should be set up, above all the former Powers of Heaven, of\nwhom Satan (as above) was the Chief and expecting, if any higher post\ncould be granted, it might be his due; I say, affronted at this he\nresolv'd\n\n  \"With all his Legions to dislodge, and leave\n  \"Unworship'd, unobey'd, the throne supreme\n  \"Contemptuous. ------\n\n  _Par. lost_, lib. v. fo. 140.\n\n\nBut Mr. _Milton_ is grosly erroneous in ascribing those words, _This day\nhave I begotten thee_, to that declaration of the Father before Satan\nfell, and consequently to a time before the creation; whereas, it is by\nInterpreters agreed to be understood of the Incarnation of the Son of\nGod, or at least of the Resurrection: [3] see _Pool_ upon _Acts_ xiii.\n33.\n\nIn a word, Satan withdrew with all his followers malecontent and\nchagrine, resolv'd to disobey this new command, and not yield obedience\nto the Son.\n\nBut Mr. _Milton_ agrees in that opinion, that the number of Angels which\nrebel'd with _Satan_ was infinite, and suggests in one place, that they\nwere the greatest half of all the angelick Body or seraphick Host.\n\n        \"But Satan with his Power,\n                     \"An host\n  \"Innumerable as the stars of night,\n  \"Or stars of morning, dew drops, which the Sun\n  \"Impearls on ev'ry leaf and ev'ry flower.\n\n  _ib._ lib. v. fo. 142.\n\n\nBe their number as it is, numberless millions and legions of millions,\nthat is no part of my present enquiry; Satan the leader, guide and\nsuperior, as he was author of the celestial rebellion, is still the\ngreat Head and Master-Devil as before; under his authority they still\nact, not obeying but carrying on the same insurrection against God,\nwhich they begun in Heaven; making war still against Heaven, in the\nperson of his Image and Creature man; and tho' vanquish'd by the thunder\nof the Son of God, and cast down headlong from Heaven, they have yet\nreassumed, or rather not lost either the will or the power of doing\nevil.\n\nThis fall of the Angels, with the war in Heaven which preceded it, is\nfinely describ'd by _Ovid_, in his war of the _Titans_ against\n_Jupiter_; casting mountain upon mountain, and hill upon hill (_Pelion_\nupon _Ossa_) in order to scale the Adamantine walls, and break open the\ngates of _Heaven_; till _Jupiter_ struck them with his thunder-bolts and\noverwhelm'd them in the abyss: _Vide Ovid Metam._ new translation, lib.\ni. p. 19.\n\n  \"Nor were the Gods themselves secure on high,\n  \"For now the _Gyants_ strove to storm _the sky_,\n  \"The lawless brood with bold attempt invade\n  \"THE GODS, and mountains upon mountains _laid_.\n    \"But now the _bolt_, enrag'd _the Father_ took,\n  \"_Olympus_ from her deep foundations shook,\n  \"Their structure nodded at the mighty stroke,\n  \"And _Ossa_'s shatter'd top o'er _Pelion_ broke,\n  \"They're in their own ungodly ruines slain.--\n\n\nThen again speaking of _Jupiter_, resolving in council to destroy\nmankind by a deluge, and giving the reasons of it to the heavenly Host,\nsay thus, speaking of the demy-Gods alluding to good men below.\n\n  \"Think you that they in safety can remain,\n  \"When I my self who o'er Immortals reign,\n  \"Who send the lightning, and Heaven's empire sway,\n  \"The stern [4] Lycaon practis'd to betray.\n\n  _ib._ p. 10.\n\n\nSince then so much poetic liberty is taken with the Devil, relating to\nhis most early state, and the time before his fall, give me leave to\nmake an excursion of the like kind, relating to his History immediately\nafter the fall, and till the creation of man; an interval which I think\nmuch of the Devil's story is to be seen in, and which Mr. _Milton_ has\ntaken little notice of, at least it does not seem compleatly fill'd up;\nafter which I shall return to honest Prose again, and persue the duty of\nan Historian.\n\n    _Satan_, with hideous ruin thus supprest\n  _Expell'd_ the seat of blessedness and rest,\n  Look'd back and saw the _high eternal mound_,\n  Where all _his rebel host_ their _outlet_ found\n  _Restor'd impregnable_: The breach made up,\n  And garrisons of Angels rang'd a top;\n  In front a hundred thousand thunders roll,\n  And lightnings temper'd to transfix a soul,\n  Terror of _Devils_. _Satan_ and his host,\n  Now to themselves _as well as station lost_,\n  Unable to support the hated sight,                  }\n  Expand _seraphic wings_, and swift as light         }\n  Seek for new safety in _eternal Night_.             }\n\n    In the remotest gulphs _of dark_ they land,\n  Here vengeance gives them leave to make their stand,\n  Not that to _steps_ and _measures_ they pretend,\n  _Councils_ and _schemes_ their station to defend;\n  But broken, disconcerted and _dismay'd_,\n  By guilt and fright to guilt and fright _betray'd_;\n  Rage and confusion ev'ry Spirit possess'd,\n  And _shame_ and _horror_ swell'd in ev'ry breast;\n  Transforming envy to their essentials burns,\n  And _the bright_ Angel to a _frightful Devil_ turns.\n    _Thus Hell began_; the fire of conscious rage\n  No years can quench, no length of time asswage.\n  _Material Fire_, with its intensest flame,\n  Compar'd _with this_ can scarce deserve a Name;\n  How should it up to _immaterials_ rise,\n  When we're _all flame_, we shall _all fire_ despise.\n    This fire outrageous and its heat intense\n  Turns all the pain _of loss_ to pain _of sense_.\n  The folding flames _concave_ and _inward_ roll,\n  Act _upon spirit_ and penetrate _the soul_:\n  Not force of _Devils_ can its new powers repel,\n  Where'er it burns _it finds_ or _makes_ a HELL;\n  For _Satan_ flaming with unquench'd desire\n  Forms _his own Hell_, and kindles _his own fire_,\n  Vanquish'd, _not humbl'd_, not in will brought low,\n  But as _his powers_ decline _his passions_ grow:\n  The malice, _Viper like_, takes vent within,\n  Gnaws its own bowels, and bursts in _its own sin_:\n  Impatient of the change _he scorns to bow_,\n  And never _impotent_ in power _till now_;\n  Ardent with hate, and _with revenge_ distract,\n  A will to new attempts, _but none_ to act;\n  Yet all _seraphick_, and in just degree,\n  Suited _to Spirits high sense_ of misery,\n  Deriv'd from _loss_ which _nothing_ can repair,\n  And _room for nothing left_ but meer despair.\n  _Here's finish'd Hell!_ what fiercer fire _can burn_?\n  Enough ten thousand Worlds to over-turn.\n    HELL's but the frenzy of defeated pride,\n  Seraphick Treason's strong impetuous tide,\n  Where vile ambition _disappointed_ first,\n  To its _own rage_ and _boundless hatred_ curst;\n  The hate's _fan'd up to fury_, that to _flame_,\n  For _fire_ and _fury_ are in kind the same;\n  These burn unquenchable in every face,\n  And the word ENDLESS constitutes the place.\n\n    O _state of Being!_ where being's the only grief,\n  And the _chief torture_'s to be damn'd to life;\n  _O life!_ the only thing they have to hate;\n  The _finish'd torment_ of a future state,\n  Compleat in all the parts of endless misery,\n  And worse ten thousand times than _not_ to BE!\n  Could but the Damn'd _the immortal law_ repeal,\n  And _Devils dye_, there'd be _an end of Hell_;\n  Could they that thing call'd _Being_ annihilate,\n  There'd be _no sorrows_ in a future state;\n  The Wretch, whose crimes had shut him out _on high_,\n  Could be reveng'd on God himself _and die_;\n  _Job's Wife_ was in the right, and always we\n  Might end _by death_ all human misery,              }\n  Might have it in our choice, _to be_ or not to be.  }\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. IV.\n\n_Of the name of the Devil, his original, and the nature of his\n     circumstances since he has been called by that name._\n\n\nThe Scripture is the first writing on earth where we find the _Devil_\ncalled by his own proper distinguishing denomination, DEVIL, or the [5]\n_Destroyer_; nor indeed is there any other author of antiquity or of\nsufficient authority which says any thing of that kind about him.\n\nHere he makes his first appearance in the world, and on that occasion he\nis called the _Serpent_; but the _Serpent_ however since made to signify\nthe _Devil_, when spoken of in general terms, was but the Devil's\nrepresentative, or the Devil _in quo vis vehiculo_, for that time,\nclothed in a bodily shape, acting under cover and in disguise, or if you\nwill the _Devil_ in _masquerade_: Nay, if we believe Mr. _Milton_, the\n_Angel Gabriel_'s spear had such a secret powerful influence, as to make\nhim strip of a sudden, and with a touch to unmask, and stand upright in\nhis naked original shape, meer _Devil_, without any disguises\nwhatsoever.\n\nNow as we go to the Scripture for much of his history, so we must go\nthere also for some of his names; and he has a great variety of names\nindeed, as his several mischievous doings guide us to conceive of him.\nThe truth is, all the ancient names given him, of which the Scripture is\nfull, seems to be originals derived from and adapted to the several\nsteps he has taken, and the several shapes he has appeared in to do\nmischief in the world.\n\n  Here he is called the _Serpent_, Gen. iii. 1.\n            The _old Serpent_, Rev. xii. 9.\n            The _great red Dragon_, Rev. xii. 3.\n            The _Accuser of the Brethren_, Rev. xii. 10.\n            The _Enemy_, Matt. xxiii. 29.\n            _Satan_, Job i. Zech. iii. 1, 2.\n            _Belial_, 2 Cor. vi. 15.\n            _Beelzebub_, Matt. xii. 24.\n            _Mammon_, Matt. vi. 24.\n            The _Angel of light_, 2 Cor. xi. 14.\n            The _Angel of the bottomless pit_, Rev. ix. 11.\n            The _Prince of the power of the air_, Eph. ii. 2.\n            _Lucifer_, Isa. xiv. 12.\n            _Abbaddon_ or _Apollion_, Rev. ix. 11.\n            _Legion_, Mark v. 9.\n            The _God of this world_, 2 Cor. iv. 4.\n            The _Foul Spirit_, Mark ix. 5.\n            The _Unclean Spirit_, Mark i. 27.\n            The _Lying Spirit_, 2 Chron. xxx.\n            The _Tempter_, Matt. iv. 3.\n            The _Son of the morning_, Isa. xiv. 12.\n\n\nBut to sum them all up in one, he is called in the new Testament _plain_\nDEVIL; all his other names are varied according to the custom of speech,\nand the dialects of the several nations where he is spoken of; But in a\nword, _Devil_ is the common name of the _Devil_ in all the known\nlanguages of the earth. Nay, all the mischiefs he is empowered to do,\nare in Scripture placed to his account, under the particular title of\nthe _Devil_, not of _Devils_ in the plural number, though they are\nsometimes mentioned too; but in the singular it is the identical\nindividual _Devil_, in and under whom all the little _Devils_, and all\nthe great _Devils_, if such there be, are supposed to act; nay, they are\nsupposed to be govern'd and directed by him. Thus we are told in\nScripture of the works of _the Devil_, 1 John iii. 8. of casting out\n_the Devil_, Mark i. 34. of resisting _the Devil_, James iv. 5. of our\nSaviour being tempted of _the Devil_, Mat. iv. 1. of _Simon Magus_, a\nchild of the _Devil_, Acts xiii. 10. The _Devil_ came down in a great\nwrath, _Rev._ xii. 12. _and the like_. According to this usage in\nspeech we go on to this day, and all the infernal things we converse\nwith in the world, are fathered upon the _Devil_, as one undivided\nsimple essence, by how many agents soever working: Every thing evil,\nfrightful in appearance, wicked in its actings, horrible in its manner,\nmonstrous in its effects, is called the _Devil_; in a word, _Devil_ is\nthe common name for all _Devils_; that is to say, for all evil Spirits,\nall evil Powers, all evil Works, and even all evil things: Yet 'tis\nremarkable _the Devil_ is no old Testament word, and we never find it\nused in all that part of the Bible but four times, and then not once in\nthe singular number, and not once to signify _Satan_ as 'tis now\nunderstood.\n\nIt is true, the Learned give a great many differing interpretations of\nthe word _Devil_; the _English_ Commentators tell us, it means _a\ndestroyer_, others that it signifies a deceiver, and the _Greeks_ derive\nit from a _Calumniator_ or false witness; for we find that _Calumny_ was\na _Goddess_, to whom the _Athenians_ built altars and offer'd Sacrifices\nupon some solemn occasions, and they call her Diabole from\nwhence came the masculine Diabolos which we translate _Devil_.\n\nThus we take the name of _Devil_ to signify not persons only, but\nactions and habits; making imaginary Devils, and transforming that\nsubstantial creature call'd DEVIL into every thing noxious and\noffensive: Thus St. _Francis_ being tempted by the _Devil_ in the shape\nof a bag of money lying in the highway, _the Saint_ having discover'd\nthe fraud, whether seeing his _Cloven-foot_ hang out of the purse, or\nwhether he distinguish'd him by his smell of _sulphur_, or how\notherwise, authors are not agreed; but, I say, the Saint having\ndiscover'd the cheat, and out-witted the _Devil_, took occasion to\npreach that eminent sermon to his disciples, where his Text was, _Money\nis_ THE DEVIL.\n\nNor, upon the whole, is any wrong done to _the Devil_ by this kind of\ntreatment, it only gives him the sovereignty of the whole army of Hell,\nand making all the numberless legions of the bottomless pit servants;\nor, _as the Scripture calls them_, Angels to _Satan_ the grand _Devil_;\nall their actions, performances and atchievements are justly attributed\nto him, not as the prince of _Devils_ only, but the Emperor of _Devils_;\nthe prince of all the princes of _Devils_.\n\nUnder this denomination then of DEVIL, all the Powers of Hell, all the\nPrinces of the air, all the black armies of _Satan_ are comprehended,\nand in such manner they are to be understood in this whole work;\n_mutatis mutandis_, according to the several circumstances of which we\nare to speak of them.\n\nThis being premis'd, and my authority being so good, _Satan_ must not\ntake it ill, if I treat him _after the manner of men_, and give him\nthose titles which he is best known by among us; for indeed having so\nmany, 'tis not very easy to call him out of his name.\n\nHowever, as I am oblig'd by the duty of an Historian to decency as well\nas impartiality, so I thought it necessary, before I used too much\nfreedom with _Satan_, to produce authentick Documents, and bring\nantiquity upon the stage, to justify the manner of my writing, and let\nyou see I shall describe him in no colours, nor call him by any name,\nbut what he has been known by for many ages before me.\n\nAnd now, though writing to the common understanding of my Readers, I am\noblig'd to treat _Satan_ very coarsly, and to speak of him in the common\nacceptation, calling him plain _Devil_, a word which in this mannerly\nage is not so _sonorous_ as others might be, and which by the error of\nthe Times is apt to prejudice us against his Person; yet it must be\nacknowledg'd he has a great many other names and sirnames which he might\nbe known by, of a less obnoxious import than that of _Devil_, or\n_Destroyer_, &c.\n\nMr. _Milton_, indeed, wanting titles of honour to give to the Leaders of\nSatan's Host, is oblig'd to borrow several of his Scripture names, and\nbestow them upon his infernal _Heroes_, whom he makes the Generals and\nLeaders of the armies of Hell; and so he makes _Beelzebub_, _Lucifer_,\n_Belial_, _Mammon_, and some others, to be the names of particular\nDevils, members of _Satan's upper house_ or _Pandemonium_; whereas\nindeed, these are all names proper and peculiar to _Satan_ himself.\n\nThe Scripture also has some names of a coarser kind, by which _the\nDevil_ is understood, as particularly, which is noted already, in the\nApocalypse he is call'd the _Great Red Dragon_, the _Beast_, the _Old\nSerpent_, and the like: But take it in the Scripture, or where you will\nin History sacred or prophane, you will find that in general the _Devil_\nis, as I have said above, his ordinary name in all languages and in all\nnations; the name by which he and his works are principally\ndistinguish'd: Also the Scripture, besides that it often gives him this\nname, speaks of the works of _the Devil_, of the subtilty of _the\nDevil_, of casting out _Devils_, of being tempted of the _Devil_, of\nbeing possess'd with a _Devil_, and so many other expressions of that\nkind, as I have said already, are made use of for us to understand the\nevil Spirit by, that in a word, _Devil_ is the common name of all wicked\nSpirits: For _Satan_ is no more _the Devil_, as if he alone was so, and\nall the rest were a diminutive species who did not go by that name; But,\nI say, even in Scripture, every Spirit, whether under his Dominion or\nout of his Dominion, is called the _Devil_, and is as much a real\n_Devil_, that is to say, a condemn'd Spirit, and employ'd in the same\nwicked work as _Satan_ himself.\n\nHis Name then being thus ascertain'd, and his Existence acknowledg'd, it\nshould be a little enquir'd _what he is_; we believe there is such a\nthing, such a creature as _the Devil_, and that he has been, and may\nstill with propriety of speech, and without injustice to his Character\nbe call'd by his antient name _Devil_.\n\nBut who is he? what is his original? whence came he? and what is his\npresent station and condition? for these things and these enquiries are\nvery necessary to his History, nor indeed can any part of his History be\ncompleat without them.\n\nThat he is of an antient and noble original must be acknowledged, for he\nis _Heaven-born_, and of _Angelic Race_, as has been touch'd already: If\nScripture-evidence may be of any weight in the question, there is no\nroom to doubt the genealogy of the _Devil_; he is not only spoken of as\nan _Angel_, but as a _fallen Angel_, one that had been in _Heaven_, had\nbeheld the face of GOD in his full effulgence of glory, and had\nsurrounded the Throne of the most High; from whence, commencing rebel\nand being expell'd, he was cast down, down, down, GOD and the _Devil_\nhimself only knows where; for indeed we cannot say that any man on Earth\nknows it; and wherever it is, he has ever since man's creation been a\nplague to him, been a tempter, a deluder, a calumniator, an enemy and\nthe object of man's horror and aversion.\n\nAs his original is _Heaven-born_, and his Race _Angelic_, so the Angelic\nnature is evidently plac'd in a class superior to the human, and this\nthe Scripture is express in also; when speaking of man, it says, he\nmade him a little lower than the Angels.\n\nThus _the Devil_, as mean thoughts as you may have of him, is of a\nbetter family than any of you, nay than the best Gentleman of you all;\nwhat he may be fallen to, is _one thing_, but what he is fallen from,\n_is another_; and therefore I must tell my learned and reverend friend\n_J. W._ LL. D. when he spoke so rudely of _the Devil_ lately, That in my\nopinion he abus'd his Betters.\n\nNor is the Scripture more a help to us in the search after _the Devil_'s\nOriginal, than it is in our search after his Nature: it is true, Authors\nare not agreed about his age, what time he was created, how many years\nhe enjoy'd his state of blessedness before he fell; or how many years he\ncontinued with his whole army in a state of darkness, and before the\ncreation of man. 'Tis supposed it might be a considerable space, and\nthat it was a part of his punishment too, being all the while unactive,\nunemploy'd, having no business, nothing to do but gnawing his own\nBowels, and rolling in the agony of his own self-approaches, being a\nHell to himself in reflecting on the glorious state from whence he was\nfallen.\n\nHow long he remain'd thus, 'tis true, we have no light into from\nHistory, and but little from Tradition; _Rabbi Judah_ says, the _Jews_\nwere of the opinion, that he remain'd twenty thousand years in that\ncondition, and that the World shall continue twenty thousand more, in\nwhich he shall find work enough to satisfy his mischievous desires; but\nhe shews no authority for his opinion.\n\nIndeed let the _Devil_ have been as idle as they think he was before, it\nmust be acknowledg'd that now he is the most busy, vigilant and\ndiligent, of all GOD's creatures, and very full of employment too,\n_such as it is_.\n\nScripture indeed, gives us light into the enmity there is between the\ntwo natures, the Diabolical and the Human; the reason of it, and how and\nby what means the power of _the Devil_ is restrain'd by the _Messias_;\nand to those who are willing to trust to Gospel-light, and believe what\nthe Scripture says of _the Devil_, there may much of his History be\ndiscover'd, and therefore those that list may go there for a fuller\naccount of the matter.\n\nBut to reserve all Scripture-evidence of these things, as a Magazine in\nstore for the use of those with whom Scripture-testimony is of force, I\nmust for the present turn to other enquiries, being now directing my\nstory to an age, wherein to be driven to Revelation and\nScripture-assertions is esteem'd giving up the dispute; people\nnow-a-days must have demonstration; and in a word, nothing will satisfy\nthe age, but such evidence as perhaps the nature of the question will\nnot admit.\n\nIt is hard, indeed, to bring demonstrations in such a case as this: _No\nman has seen_ GOD _at any time_, says the scripture, 1 _John_ iv. 12. So\n_the Devil_ being a spirit incorporeal, an Angel of light, and\nconsequently not visible in his own substance, nature and form, it may\nin some sense be said, _no man has seen the Devil at any time_; all\nthose pretences of phrenziful and fanciful people, who tell us, they\nhave seen _the Devil_, I shall examine, and perhaps expose by\nthemselves.\n\nIt might take up a great deal of our time here, to enquire whether _the\nDevil_ has any particular shape or personality of substance, which can\nbe visible to us, felt, heard, or understood; and which he cannot alter,\nand then, what shapes or appearances _the Devil_ has at any time taken\nupon him; and whether he can really appear in a body which might be\nhandled and seen, and yet so as to know it to have been _the Devil_ at\nthe time of his appearing; but this also I defer as not of weight in the\npresent enquiry.\n\nWe have divers accounts of Witches conversing with _the Devil_; the\n_Devil_ in a real body, with all the appearance of a body of a man or\nwoman appearing to them; also of having a _Familiar_, as they call it,\nan _Incubus_ or _little Devil_, which sucks their bodies, runs away with\nthem into the air, _and the like_: Much of this is said, but much more\nthan it is easy to prove, and we ought to give but a just proportion of\ncredit to those things.\n\nAs to his borrow'd shapes and his subtle transformings, that we have\nsuch open testimony of, that there is no room for any question about it;\nand when I come to that part, I shall be oblig'd rather to give a\nhistory of the fact, than enter into any dissertation upon the nature\nand reason of it.\n\nI do not find in any author, whom we can call creditable, that even in\nthose countries where the dominion of _Satan_ is more particularly\nestablish'd, and where they may be said to worship him in a more\nparticular manner, as _a Devil_; which some tell us the _Indians_ in\n_America_ did, who worship'd the _Devil_ that he might not hurt them;\nyet, _I say_, I do not find that even there the _Devil_ appear'd to them\nin any particular constant shape or personality peculiar to himself.\n\nScripture and History therefore, giving us no light into that part of\nthe question, I conclude and lay it down, not as my opinion only, but as\nwhat all ages seem to concur in, that the _Devil_ has no particular\nbody; that he is a spirit, and that tho' he may, _Proteus_ like, assume\nthe appearance of either man or beast, yet it must be some borrow'd\nshape, some assum'd figure, _pro hac vice_, and that he has no visible\nbody of his own.\n\nI thought it needful to discuss this as a preliminary, and that the next\ndiscourse might go upon a certainty in this grand point; namely, that\nthe Devil, however, he may for his particular occasions put himself into\na great many shapes, and clothe himself, perhaps, with what appearances\nhe pleases, yet that he is himself still a meer Spirit, that he retains\nthe seraphic Nature, is not visible by our eyes, which are human and\nOrganic, neither can he act with the ordinary Powers, or in the ordinary\nmanner as bodies do; and therefore, when he has thought fit to descend\nto the meannesses of disturbing and frightning children and old women,\nby noises and knockings, dislocating the chairs and stools, breaking\nwindows, and such like little ambulatory things, which would seem to be\nbelow the dignity of his character, and which in particular, is\nordinarily performed by organic Powers; yet even then he has thought fit\nnot to be seen, and rather to make the poor people believe he had a real\nshape and body, with hands to act, mouth to speak, _and the like_, than\nto give proof of it in common to the whole World, by shewing himself,\nand acting visibly and openly, as a body usually and ordinarily does.\n\nNor is it any disadvantage to the Devil, that his Seraphic nature is not\nconfin'd or imprison'd in a body or shape, suppose that shape to be what\nmonstrous thing we would; for this would, indeed, confine his actings\nwithin the narrow sphere of the organ or body to which he was limited;\nand tho' you were to suppose the body to have wings for a velocity of\nMotion equal to spirit, yet if it had not a power of invisibility too,\nand a capacity of conveying it self, undiscover'd, into all the secret\nrecesses of mankind, and the same secret art or capacity of insinuation,\nsuggestion, accusation, _&c._ by which his wicked designs are now\npropagated, and all his other devices assisted, by which he deludes and\nbetrays mankind; I say, he would be no more a Devil, that is a\nDestroyer, no more a Deceiver, and, no more a Satan, that is, a\ndangerous Arch enemy to the souls of men; nor would it be any difficulty\nto mankind to shun and avoid him, as I shall make plain in the other\npart of his History.\n\nHad the Devil from the beginning been embodied, as he could not have\nbeen invisible to us, whose souls equally seraphic are only prescrib'd\nby being embody'd and encas'd in flesh and blood as we are; so he would\nhave been no more a Devil to any body but himself: The imprisonment in a\nbody, had the powers of that body been all that we can conceive to make\nhim formidable to us, would yet have been a Hell to him; consider him as\na conquer'd exasperated Rebel, retaining all that fury and swelling\nambition, that hatred of God, and envy at his creatures which dwells now\nin his enrag'd spirit as a _Devil_: yet suppose him to have been\ncondemn'd to organic Powers, confin'd to corporeal motion, and\nrestrain'd as a Body must be supposed to restrain a Spirit; it must, at\nthe same time, suppose him to be effectually disabled from all the\nmethods he is now allow'd to make use of, for exerting his rage and\nenmity against God, any farther than as he might suppose it to affect\nhis Maker at second hand, by wounding his Glory thro' the sides of his\nweakest creature, MAN.\n\nHe must, certainly, be thus confin'd, because Body can only act upon\nBody, not upon Spirit; no species being empower'd to act out of the\ncompass of its own sphere: He might have been empower'd, indeed, to have\nacted terrible and even destructive things upon mankind, especially if\nthis body had any powers given it which mankind had not, by which man\nwould be overmatch'd and not be in a condition of self-defence; for\nexample, suppose him to have had wings to have flown in the air; Or to\nbe invulnerable, and that no human invention, art, or engine could hurt,\nensnare, captivate, or restrain him.\n\nBut this is to suppose the righteous and wise Creator to have made a\ncreature and not be able to defend and preserve him; or to have left him\ndefenceless to the mercy of another of his own creatures, whom he had\ngiven power to destroy him; This indeed, might have occasion'd a general\nidolatry, and made mankind, as the _Americans_ do to this day, worship\nthe _Devil_, that he might not hurt them; but it could not have\nprevented the destruction of mankind, supposing the Devil to have had\nmalice equal to his power: and he must put on a new nature, be\ncompassionate, generous, beneficent, and steadily good in sparing the\nrival enemy he was able to destroy, or he must have ruin'd mankind: _In\nshort_, he must have ceas'd to have been a Devil, and must have\nre-assum'd his original, Angelic, heavenly nature; been fill'd with the\nprinciples of love to, and delight in the Works of his Creator, and bent\nto propagate his Glory and Interest; or he must have put an end to the\nrace of man, whom it would be in his Power to destroy, and oblige his\nMaker to create a new species, or fortify the old with some kind of\ndefence, which must be invulnerable, and which his fiery darts could not\npenetrate.\n\nOn this occasion suffer me to make an excursion from the usual stile of\nthis Work, and with some solemnity to express my Thoughts thus:\n\nHow glorious is the wisdom and goodness of the great Creator of the\nWorld! in thus restraining these seraphic OUTCASTS from the power of\nassuming human or organic bodies! which could they do, envigorating them\nwith the supernatural Powers, which, as Seraphs and Angels, they now\npossess and might exert, they would be able even to fright mankind from\nthe face of the Earth, and to destroy and confound God's Creation; nay,\n_even as they are_, were not their power limited, they might destroy the\nCreation it self, reverse and over-turn nature, and put the World into a\ngeneral conflagration: But were those immortal Spirits embodied, tho'\nthey were not permitted to confound nature, they would be able to\nharrass poor weak and defenceless man out of his wits, and render him\nperfectly useless, either to his Maker or himself.\n\nBut the Dragon is chain'd, the Devil's Power is limited; he has indeed a\nvastly extended Empire, being Prince of the Air, having, at least, the\nwhole Atmosphere to range in, and how far that Atmosphere is extended,\nis not yet ascertain'd by the nicest observations; _I say at least_,\nbecause we do not yet know how far he may be allow'd to make excursions\nbeyond the Atmosphere of this Globe into the planetary Worlds, and what\npower he may exercise in all the habitable parts of the _solar system_;\nnay, of all the other _solar systems_, which, for ought we know, may\nexist in the mighty extent of created space, and of which you may hear\nfarther in its order.\n\nBut let his power be what it will there, we are sure 'tis limited here,\nand that in two particulars; first, he is limited as above, from\nassuming body or bodily shapes with substance; and secondly, from\nexerting seraphic Powers, and acting with that supernatural force,\nwhich, as an Angel, he was certainly vested with before the fall, and\nwhich we are not certain is yet taken from him; or at most, we do not\nknow how much it may or may not be diminish'd by his degeneracy, and by\nthe blow given him at his expulsion: this we are certain, that be his\nPower greater or less, he is restrain'd from the exercise of it in this\nWorld; and he, who was one equal to the Angel who kill'd 180000 men in\none night, is not able now, without a new commission, to take away the\nlife of one _Job_, nor to touch any thing he had.\n\nBut let us consider him then limited and restrained as he is, yet he\nremains a mighty, a terrible, an immortal Being; infinitely superior to\nman, as well in the dignity of his nature, as in the dreadful powers he\nretains still about him; it is true the brain-sick heads of our\nEnthusiasticks paint him blacker than he is, and, as I have said,\nwickedly represent him clothed with terrors that do not really belong to\nhim; as if the power of good and evil was wholly vested in him, and that\nhe was placed in the Throne of his Maker, to distribute both punishments\nand rewards; In this they are much wrong, terrifying and deluding\nfanciful people about him, till they turn their heads, and fright them\ninto a belief that the _Devil_ will let them alone, if they do such and\nsuch good things; or carry them away with him they know not whither, if\nthey do not; as if the _Devil_, whose proper business is mischief,\nseducing and deluding mankind, and drawing them in to be rebels like\nhimself, should threaten to seize upon them, carry them away, and in a\nword, fall upon them to hurt them, if they did evil, and on the\ncontrary, be favourable and civil to them, if they did well.\n\nThus a poor deluded country fellow in our Town, that had liv'd a wicked,\nabominable, debauch'd life, was frighted with an Apparition, as he\ncall'd it, of the _Devil_; He fancy'd that he spoke to him, and telling\nhis tale to a good honest christian Gentleman his neighbour, that had a\nlittle more sense than himself; the Gentleman ask'd him if he was sure\nhe really saw the _Devil_? yes, yes, Sir, _says he_, I saw him very\nplain, and so they began the following discourse.\n\n_Gent._ See him! See the Devil! art thou sure of it, _Thomas_?\n\n_Tho._ Yes, yes, I am sure enough of it, _Master_; to be sure 'twas the\n_Devil_.\n\n_Gent._ And how do you know 'twas the _Devil_, _Thomas_? had you ever\nseen the _Devil_ before?\n\n_Tho._ No, no, I had never seen him before, _to be sure_; but, for all\nthat, I know 'twas the _Devil_.\n\n_Gent._ Well, if you're sure, _Thomas_, there's no contradicting you;\npray what clothes had he on?\n\n_Tho._ Nay, Sir, don't jest with me, he had no clothes on, he was\nclothed with fire and brimstone.\n\n_Gent._ Was it dark or day light when you saw him?\n\n_Tho._ O! it was very dark, for it was midnight.\n\n_Gent._ How could you see him then? did you see by the light of the fire\nyou speak of?\n\n_Tho._ No, no, he gave no light himself; but I saw him, for all that.\n\n_Gent._ But was it within doors, or out in the street?\n\n_Tho._ It was within, it was in my own Chamber, when I was just going\ninto bed, that I saw him.\n\n_Gent._ Well then, you had a candle, hadn't you?\n\n_Tho._ Yes, I had a candle, but it burnt as blue! and as dim!\n\n_Gent._ Well, but if the Devil was clothed with fire and brimstone, he\nmust give you some light, there can't be such a fire as you speak of,\nbut it must give a light with it.\n\n_Tho._ _No, no_, He gave no light, but I smelt his fire and brimstone;\nhe left a smell of it behind him, when he was gone.\n\n_Gent._ Well, so you say he had fire, but gave no light, it was a\ndevilish fire indeed; did it feel warm? was the room hot while he was in\nit?\n\n_Tho._ No, no, but I was hot enough without it, for it put me into a\ngreat sweat with the fright.\n\n_Gent._ Very well, he was all in fire, you say, but without light or\nheat, only, it seems, he stunk of brimstone; pray what shapes was he in,\nwhat was he like; for you say you saw him?\n\n_Tho._ O! Sir, I saw two great staring saucer eyes, enough to fright any\nbody out of their wits.\n\n_Gent._ And was that all you saw?\n\n_Tho._ No, I saw his _cloven-foot_ very plain, 'twas as big as one of\nour bullocks that goes to plow.\n\n_Gent._ So you saw none of his body, but his eyes and his feet? a fine\nvision indeed!\n\n_Tho._ Sir, that was enough to send me going.\n\n_Gent._ Going! what did you run away from him?\n\n_Tho._ No, but I fled into bed at one jump, and sunk down and pull'd the\nbed-clothes quite over me.\n\n_Gent._ And what did you do that for?\n\n_Tho._ To hide my self from such a frightful creature.\n\n_Gent._ Why, if it had really been the Devil, do you think the\nbed-clothes would have secur'd you from him?\n\n_Tho._ Nay, I don't know, but in a fright it was all I could do.\n\n_Gent._ Nay, 'twas as wise as all the rest; but come, _Thomas_, to be a\nlittle serious, pray did he speak to you?\n\n_Tho._ Yes, yes, I heard a voice, but who it was the Lord knows.\n\n_Gent._ What kind of voice was it, was it like a man's voice?\n\n_Tho._ No, it was a hoarse ugly noise, like the croaking of a Frog, and\nit call'd me by my name twice, _Thomas Dawson, Thomas Dawson_.\n\n_Gent._ Well, did you answer?\n\n_Tho._ No, not I, I could not have spoke a word for my life; why, I was\nfrighted to death.\n\n_Gent._ Did it say any thing else?\n\n_Tho._ _Yes_, when it saw that I did not speak, it said, _Thomas Dawson,\nThomas Dawson, you are a wicked wretch, you lay with_ Jenny S---- _last\nnight; if you don't repent, I will take you away alive and carry you to\nHell, and you shall be damned, you wretch_.\n\n_Gent._ And was it true, _Thomas_, did you lye with _Jenny S----_ the\nnight before?\n\n_Tho._ Indeed Master, why yes it was true, but I was very sorry\nafterwards.\n\n_Gent._ But how should the Devil know it, _Thomas_?\n\n_Tho._ Nay, he knows it to be sure; why, they say he knows every thing.\n\n_Gent._ _Well_, but why should he be angry at that? he would rather did\nyou lye with her again, and encourage you to lye with forty whores, than\nhinder you: This can't be the Devil, _Thomas_.\n\n_Tho._ Yes, yes. Sir, 'twas the _Devil_ to be sure.\n\n_Gent._ But he bid you repent too, you say?\n\n_Tho._ Yes, he threatn'd me if I did not.\n\n_Gent._ Why, _Thomas_, do you think the Devil would have you repent?\n\n_Tho._ _Why no_, that's true too, I don't know what to say to that; but\nwhat could it be? 'twas the Devil to be sure, it could be nobody else?\n\n_Gent._ No, no, 'twas neither the Devil, _Thomas_, nor any body else,\nbut your own frighted imagination; you had lain with that wench, and\nbeing a young sinner of that kind, your Conscience terrified you, told\nyou the Devil would fetch you away, and you would be damn'd; and you\nwere so persuaded it would be so, that you at last imagin'd he was come\nfor you indeed; that you saw him and heard him; whereas, you may depend\nupon it, if _Jenny S----_ will let you lye with her every night, the\nDevil will hold the candle, or do any thing to forward it, but will\nnever disturb you; he's too much a friend to your wickedness, it could\nnever be the Devil, _Thomas_; 'twas only your own guilt frighted you,\nand that was _Devil_ enough too, if you knew the worst of it, you need\nno other enemy.\n\n_Tho._ Why that's true, Master, one would think the _Devil_ should not\nbid me repent, that's true; but certainly 'twas the Devil for all that.\n\nNow _Thomas_ was not the only man that having committed a flagitious\ncrime had been deluded by his own imagination, and the power of fancy,\nto think the Devil was come for him; whereas the Devil, to give him his\ndue, is too honest to pretend to such things; 'tis his business to\npersuade men to offend, not to repent; and he professes no other; he may\npress men to this or that action, by telling them 'tis no sin, no\noffence, no breach of God's Law, and the like, when really 'tis both;\nbut to press them to repent, when they have offended, that's quite out\nof his way; 'tis none of his business, nor does he pretend to it;\ntherefore, let no man charge the Devil with what he is not concern'd in.\n\nBut to return to his Person, he is, as I have said, notwithstanding his\nlost glory, a mighty, a terrible and an immortal Spirit; he is himself\ncall'd a Prince, _the Prince of the Power of the Air_; the Prince of\nDarkness, the Prince of _Devils_, and the like, and his attending\nSpirits are call'd _his Angels_: so that however _Satan_ has lost the\nglory and rectitude of his Nature, by his apostate state, yet he retains\na greatness and magnificence, which places him above our rank, and\nindeed above our conception; for we know not what he is, any more than\nwe know what the blessed Angels are; of whom we can say no more than\nthat they are _ministring Spirits_, &c. as the Scripture has describ'd\nthem.\n\nTwo things, however, may give us some insight into the nature of the\nDevil, in the present state he is in; and these we have a clear\ndiscovery of in the whole series of his Conduct from the Beginning.\n\n     1. That he is the vanquish'd but implacable enemy of God his\n     Creator, who has conquer'd him, and expell'd him from the\n     habitations of bliss; on which account he is fill'd with envy,\n     rage, malice, and all uncharitableness; would dethrone God and\n     overturn the thrones of Heaven, if it was in his power.\n\n     2. That he is man's irreconcilable Enemy; not as he is a man, nor\n     on his own account simply, nor for any advantage he (the Devil) can\n     make by the ruin and destruction of man; but in meer envy at the\n     felicity he is supposed to enjoy as Satan's rival; and as he is\n     appointed to succeed Satan and his Angels in the possession of\n     those glories from which they are fallen.\n\n\nAnd here I must take upon me to say, Mr. _Milton_ makes a wrong judgment\nof the reason of _Satan_'s resolution to disturb the felicity of man; He\ntells us it was meerly to affront God his Maker, rob him of the glory\ndesign'd in his new work of creations and to disappoint him in his main\ndesign, namely, the creating a new species of creatures in a perfect\nrectitude of soul, and after his own image, from whom he might expect a\nnew Fund of glory should be rais'd, and who was to appear as the triumph\nof the Messiah's victory over the Devil. In all which Satan could not be\nfool enough not to know that he should be disappointed by the same\nPower which had so eminently counter-acted his rage before.\n\nBut, I believe, the Devil went upon a much more probable design; and\ntho' he may be said to act upon a meaner principle than that of pointing\nhis rage at the personal glory of his Creator; yet I own, that in my\nopinion, it was by much the more rational undertaking, and more likely\nto succeed; and that was, that whereas he perceived this new species of\ncreatures had a sublime as well as a human part, and were made capable\nof possessing the mansions of eternal Beatitude, from whence, he\n(_Satan_) and his Angels were expell'd and irretrievably banish'd; envy\nat such a rival mov'd him by all possible artifice, _for he saw him\ndeprived of capacity to do it by force_, to render him unworthy like\nhimself; that bringing him to fall into rebellion and disobedience, he\nmight see his Rival damn'd with him; and those who were intended to fill\nup the empty spaces in Heaven, made so by the absence of so many\nmillions of fallen Angels, be cast out into the same darkness with them.\n\nHow he came to know that this new species of creatures were liable to\nsuch imperfection, is best explain'd by the _Devil_'s prying, vigilant\ndisposition, judging or leading him to judge by himself; (for he was as\nnear being infallible as any of God's creatures had been) and then\ninclining him to try whether it was so or no.\n\nModern Naturalists, especially some who have not so large a charity for\nthe fair sex, as I have, tell us, that as soon as ever Satan saw the\nwoman, and look'd in her face, he saw evidently that she was the best\nform'd creature to make a Tool of, and the best to make a hypocrite of,\nthat could be made, and therefore the most fitted for his purpose.\n\n1. He saw by some thwart lines in her face, (legible, perhaps, to\nhimself only) that there was a throne ready prepar'd for the sin of\npride to sit in state upon, especially if it took an early possession:\nEVE you may suppose was a perfect Beauty, if ever such a thing may be\nsupposed in the human frame; her figure being so extraordinary, was the\ngroundwork of his project; there needed no more than to bring her to be\nvain of it, and to conceit that it either was so, or was infinitely more\nsublime and beautiful than it really was; and having thus tickl'd her\nvanity, to introduce Pride gradually, till at last he might persuade\nher, that she was really Angelic, or of heavenly Race, and wanted\nnothing but to eat the forbidden fruit, and that would make her\nsomething more excellent still.\n\n2. Looking farther into her Frame, and with a nearer view to her\nimperfections, he saw room to conclude that she was of a constitution\neasy to be seduc'd, and especially by flattering her; raising a\ncommotion in her Soul, and a disturbance among her passions; and\naccordingly he set himself to work, to disturb her repose, and put\ndreams of great things into her head; together with something of a\nnameless Kind, which (however, some have been ill-natur'd enough to\nsuggest) I shall not injure the Devil so much as to mention, without\nbetter evidence.\n\n3. But, besides this, he found, upon the very first survey of her\noutside, something so very charming in her mein and behaviour, so\nengaging as well as agreeable in the whole texture of her person, and\nwithal such a sprightly wit, such a vivacity of parts, such a fluency of\ntongue, and above all, such a winning prevailing whine in her smiles, or\nat least in her tears, that he made no doubt if he could but once delude\nher, she would easily be brought to delude _Adam_, whom he found set not\nonly a great value upon her person, but was perfectly captivated by her\ncharms; in a word, he saw plainly, that if he could but ruin her, he\nshould easily make a Devil of her, to ruin her husband, and draw him\ninto any gulph of mischief, were it ever so black and dreadful, that she\nshould first fall into herself; how far some may be wicked enough, from\nhence, to suggest of the _fair sex_, that they have been Devils to their\nhusbands ever since, I cannot say; I hope they will not be so unmerciful\nto discover truths of such fatal consequence, tho' they should come to\ntheir knowledge.\n\nThus subtle and penetrating has Satan been from the beginning; and who\ncan wonder that upon these discoveries made into the woman's inside, he\nwent immediately to work with her, rather than with _Adam_? not but that\none would think, if _Adam_ was fool enough to be deluded by his wife,\nthe Devil might have seen so much of it in his countenance, as to have\nencourag'd him to make his attack directly upon him, and not go round\nabout, beating the bush, and ploughing with the Heifer; setting upon the\nwoman first, and then setting her upon her husband, who might as easily\nhave been imposed upon as she.\n\nOther Commentators upon this critical Text suggest to us, that _Eve_ was\nnot so pleased with the hopes of being made a Goddess; That the pride of\na Seraphic Knowledge did not so much work upon her imagination to bring\nher to consent, as a certain secret Notion infus'd into her head by the\nsame wicked instrument, that she should be wiser than _Adam_, and should\nby the superiority of her understanding, necessarily have the government\nover him; which, at present, she was sensible she had not, he being\nmaster of a particular air of gravity and majesty, as well as of\nstrength, infinitely superior to her.\n\nThis is an ill-natur'd suggestion; but it must be confess'd the\nimpatient desire of government, which (since that) appears in the\ngeneral Behaviour of the sex, and particularly of governing husbands,\nleaves too much room to legitimate the supposition.\n\nThe Expositors, who are of this opinion, add to it, that this being her\noriginal crime, or the particular temptation to that crime; Heaven\nthought fit to shew his justice, in making her more entire subjection to\nher husband be a part of the Curse, that she might read her sin in the\npunishment, (_viz._) _he shall rule over thee_.\n\nI only give the general hint of these things as they appear recorded in\nthe annals of _Satan_'s first Tyranny, and at the beginning of his\ngovernment in the World; those that would be more particularly inform'd,\nmay enquire of him _and know farther_.\n\nI cannot however, but observe here _with some regret_, how it appears by\nthe consequence, that the Devil was not mistaken when he made an early\njudgment of Mrs. _Eve_; and how _Satan_ really went the right way to\nwork, to judge of her; 'tis certain the Devil had nothing to do but to\nlook in her face, and upon a near steady view he might easily see there,\nan instrument for his Turn; nor has he fail'd to make her a Tool ever\nsince, by the very methods which he at first proposed; to which,\nperhaps, he has made some additions in the corrupting her composition,\nas well as her understanding; qualifying her to be a compleat snare to\nthe poor _weaker vessel_ MAN; to wheedle him with her _Syren_'s voice,\nabuse him with her smiles, delude him with her crocodile tears, and\nsometimes cock her crown at him, and terrify him with the thunder of her\nTREBLE; making the effeminated _Male Apple-eater_ tremble at the noise\nof that very Tongue, which at first commanded him to Sin. For it is yet\na debate which the Learned have not decided, whether she persuaded and\nentreated him, or like a true she-tyrant, exercised her authority and\noblig'd him to eat the forbidden fruit.\n\nAnd therefore a certain author, whose name, _for fear of the Sex's\nresentment_ I conceal, brings her in, calling to _Adam_ at a great\ndistance, in an imperious haughty manner, beckoning to him with her\nhand, thus; _Here_, says she, _you cowardly faint-hearted wretch, take\nthis branch of heavenly fruit, eat and be a stupid fool no longer; eat\nand be wise; eat and be a God; and know, to your eternal shame, that\nyour wife has been made an enlightn'd Goddess before you_.\n\nHe tells you _Adam_ hung back a little at first, and trembl'd, _afraid\nto trespass_: _What ails the_ SOT, says the new Termagant? _what are you\nafraid of? did God forbid you! yes, and why? that we might not be\nknowing and wise like himself! What reason can there be that we, who\nhave capacious souls, able to receive knowledge, should have it\nwithheld? take it, you Fool, and eat; don't you see how I am exalted in\nsoul by it, and am quite another Creature? Take it_, I say, _or, if you\ndon't, I'll go and cut down the Tree, and you shall never eat any of it\nat all, and you shall be still a fool, and be governed by your wife for\never_.\n\nThus, if this interpretation of the thing be just, she Scolded him into\nit; Rated him, and brought him to it by the terror of her voice; a thing\nthat has retained a dreadful influence over him ever since; nor have the\ngreatest of _Adam_'s Successors, how light soever some husbands make of\nit in this age, been ever able, since that, to conceal their terror, at\nthe very Sound; nay, if we may believe history, it prevailed even among\nthe Gods; not all the noise of _Vulcan_'s hammers could silence the\nclamours of that outrageous whore his Goddess; nay, even _Jupiter_\nhimself led such a life with a termagant wife, that once, they say,\n_Juno_ out-scolded the noise of all his Thunders, and was within an ace\nof brawling him out of Heaven. But to return to the Devil.\n\nWith these views he resolv'd, it seems, to attack the woman; and if you\nconsider him as a Devil, and what he aim'd at, and consider the fair\nprospect he had of success, I must confess, I do not see who can blame\nhim, or at least, how any thing less could be expected from him; But we\nshall meet with it again by and by.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. V.\n\n_Of the station Satan had in Heaven before he fell; the nature and\n     original of his crime, and some of Mr._ Milton_'s mistakes about\n     it._\n\n\nThus far I have gone upon general observation, in this great affair of\n_Satan_ and his Empire in the World; I now come to _my Title_, and shall\nenter upon the historical part, as the main work before me.\n\nBesides what has been said Poetically, relating to the fall and\nwandering condition of the _Devil_ and his Host, which poetical part I\noffer only as an excursion, and desire it should be taken so; I shall\ngive you what I think is deduc'd from good originals on the part of\n_Satan_'s story in a few words.\n\nHe was one of the created Angels, form'd by the same omnipotent hand and\nglorious power, who created the Heavens and the Earth, and all that is\ntherein: This innumerable heavenly host, as we have reason to believe,\ncontain'd Angels of higher and lower stations, of greater and of lesser\ndegree, express'd in the Scripture by _Thrones_, _Dominions_, and\n_Principalities_: This, I think, we have as much reason to believe, as\nwe have, that there are Stars in the Firmament (or starry Heavens) of\ngreater and of lesser magnitude.\n\nWhat particular station among the immortal Choir of Angels, this\nArch-seraph, this Prince of _Devils_, call'd _Satan_, was plac'd in\nbefore his expulsion, that indeed, we cannot come at the knowledge of,\nat least, not with such an Authority as may be depended upon; but as\nfrom Scripture authority, he is plac'd at the head of all the Apostate\narmies, after he was fallen, we cannot think it in the least assuming to\nsay, that he might be supposed to be one of the principal Agents in the\n_Rebellion_ which happen'd in Heaven, and consequently that he might be\none of the highest in dignity there, before that Rebellion.\n\nThe higher his station, the lower, and with the greater precipitation,\nwas his overthrow; and therefore, those words, tho' taken in another\nsense, may very well be apply'd to him: _How art thou fallen_, O\nLucifer! _Son of the Morning!_\n\nHaving granted the dignity of his Person, and the high station in which\nhe was placed among the heavenly Host; it would come then necessarily to\ninquire into the nature of his fall, and _above all_, a little into the\nreason of it; certain it is, _he did fall_, was guilty of Rebellion and\nDisobedience, the just effect of Pride; sins, which, in that holy place,\nmight well be call'd wonderful.\n\nBut what to me is more wonderful, and which, I think, will be very ill\naccounted for, is, how came seeds of crime to rise in the Angelic\nNature? created in a state of perfect, unspotted holiness? how was it\nfirst found in a place where no unclean thing can enter? how came\nambition, pride, or envy to generate there? could there be offence where\nthere was no crime? could untainted purity breed corruption? could that\nnature contaminate and infect, which was always Drinking in principles\nof perfection?\n\nHappy 'tis to me, _that_ writing the History, _not_ solving the\nDifficulties of _Satan_'s Affairs, is my province in this Work; that I\nam to relate the Fact, not give reasons for it, or sign causes; if it\nwas otherwise, I should break off at this difficulty, for I acknowledge\nI do not see thro' it; neither do I think that the great _Milton_, after\nall his fine Images and lofty Excursions upon the Subject, has left it\none jot clearer than he found it: Some are of opinion, and among them\nthe great Dr. _B----s_, that crime broke in upon them at some interval,\nwhen they omitted but one moment fixing their eyes and thoughts on the\nglories of the divine face, to admire and adore, which is the full\nemployment of Angels; but even this, tho' it goes as high as imagination\ncan carry us, does not reach it, nor, to me, make it one jot more\ncomprehensible than it was before; all I can say to it here, is, that\n_so it was_, the fact was upon Record, and the rejected Troop are in\nbeing, whose circumstances confess the Guilt, and still groan under the\nPunishment.\n\nIf you will bear with a poetic excursion upon the subject, not to solve\nbut to illustrate the difficulty; take it in a few lines, thus,\n\n  Thou sin of Witchcraft! firstborn child of Crime!\n    Produc'd before the bloom of Time;\n  Ambition's maiden Sin, in Heaven conceiv'd,\n    And who could have believ'd\n  Defilement could in purity begin,\n  And bright eternal Day be soil'd with Sin?\n    Tell us, sly penetrating Crime,\n  How cam'st thou there, thou fault sublime?\n  How didst thou pass the Adamantine Gate;\n    And into Spirit thy self insinuate?\n    From what dark state? from what deep place?\n    From what strange uncreated race?\n  Where was thy ancient habitation found\n  Before void Chaos heard the forming sound?\n    Wast thou a Substance, or an airy Ghost,\n    A Vapour flying in the fluid waste\n      Of unconcocted air?\n    And how at first didst thou come there?\n  Sure there was once a time when thou wert not,\n  By whom wast thou created? and for what?\n  Art thou a steam from some contagious damp exhal'd?\n    How should contagion be intail'd,\n    On bright seraphic Spirits, and in a place\n  Where all's supreme, and Glory fills the Space?\n    No noxious vapour there could rise,\n  For there no noxious matter lies;\n    Nothing that's evil could appear,\n  Sin never could Seraphic Glory bear;\n  The brightness of the eternal Face,\n  Which fills as well as constitutes the place,\n  Would be a fire too hot for crime to bear,\n  'Twould calcine Sin, or melt it into air.\n    How then did first defilement enter in?\n  Ambition, thou first vital seed of Sin!\n  Thou Life of Death, how cam'st thou there?\n    In what bright form didst thou appear?\n    In what Seraphic Orb didst thou arise?\n  Surely that place admits of no disguise,\n    Eternal Sight must know thee there,\n    And being known, thou soon must disappear.\n    But since the fatal Truth we know,\n    Without the matter whence or manner how:\n  Thou high superlative of Sin,\n    Tell us thy nature, where thou didst begin?\n    The first degree of thy increase,\n  Debauch'd the Regions of eternal Peace,\n  And fill'd the breasts of loyal Angels there\n  With the first Treason and infernal War.\n\n    Thou art the high extreme of pride,\n  And dost o'er lesser crimes preside;\n  Not for the mean attempt of Vice design'd,\n  But to embroil the World, and damn Mankind.\n  Transforming mischief, now hast thou procur'd\n    That loss that ne'er to be restor'd,\n  And made the bright Seraphic Morning-star\n    In horrid monstrous shapes appear?\n    _Satan_, that while he dwelt in glorious light,\n  Was always then as pure as he was bright,\n  That in effulgent rays of glory shone,\n  Excell'd by eternal Light, by him alone,\n  Distorted now, and stript of Innocence,\n  And banish'd with thee from the high Pre-eminence,\n  How has the splendid Seraph chang'd his face,\n  Transform'd by thee, and like thy monstrous race?\n  Ugly as is the crime, for which he fell,               }\n  Fitted by thee to make a local Hell,                   }\n  For such must be the place where either of you dwell.  }\n\n\nThus, as I told you, I only moralize upon the subject, but as to the\ndifficulty, I must leave it as I find it, unless, _as I hinted at\nfirst_, I could prevail with Satan to set pen to paper, and write this\npart of his own History: No question, but he could let us into the\nsecret; but to be plain, I doubt I shall tell so many plain truths of\nthe _Devil_, in this History, and discover so many of his secrets, which\nit is not for his interest to have discover'd, that before I have done,\nthe _Devil_ and I may not be so good friends as you may suppose we are;\nat least, not friends enough to obtain such a favour of him, tho' it be\nfor public good; so we must be content till we come ont' other side the\n_Blue-Blanket_, and then we shall know the whole Story.\n\nBut now, tho' as I said, I will not attempt to solve the difficulty, I\nmay, I hope, venture to tell you, that there is not so much difficulty\nin it, as at first sight appears: and especially not so much as some\npeople would make us believe; let us see how others are mistaken in it,\nperhaps, that may help us a little in the enquiry; for to know _what it\nis not_, is one help towards knowing _what it is_.\n\nMr. _Milton_ has indeed told us a great many merry things of the Devil,\nin a most formal, solemn manner; till in short he has made a good PLAY\nof _Heaven_ and _Hell_; and no doubt if he had liv'd in our times, he\nmight have had it acted with our _Pluto_ and _Proserpine_. He has made\nfine Speeches both for _God_ and the _Devil_, and a little addition\nmight have turn'd it _a la modern_ into a _Harlequin Dieu & Diable_.\n\nI confess I don't well know how far the dominion of Poetry extends\nitself; it seems the Buts and Bounds of _Parnassus_ are not yet\nascertain'd; so that for ought I know, by vertue of their antient\nprivileges call'd _Licentia Poetarum_, there can be no _Blasphemy_ in\n_Verse_; as some of our Divines say there can be no _Treason_ in the\n_Pulpit_. But they that will venture to write that way, ought to be\nbetter satisfy'd about that Point than I am.\n\nUpon this foot Mr. _Milton_, to grace his Poem, and give room for his\nTowring Fancy, has gone a length beyond all that ever went before him,\nsince _Ovid_ in his _Metamorphosis_. He has indeed complimented GOD\n_Almighty_ with a flux of lofty words, and great sounds; and has made a\nvery fine Story of the _Devil_, but he has made a meer _je ne scay Quoi_\nof _Jesus Christ_. In one line he has him riding on a _Cherub_, and in\nanother sitting on a Throne, both in the very same moment of action. In\nanother place he has brought him in making a Speech to his _Saints_,\nwhen 'tis evident he had none there; for we all know _Man was not\ncreated till a long while after_; and no body can be so dull as to say\nthe _Angels_ may be called _Saints_, without the greatest absurdity in\nnature. Besides, he makes CHRIST himself distinguish them, as in two\nseveral Bands, and of differing Persons and Species, as to be sure they\nare.\n\n  Stand still in bright array, _ye Saints_------\n  ---- ------ -------- -------- Here stand,\n  _Ye Angels_. ------\n\n  _Par. Lost. lib._ vi. _fo._ 174.\n\nSo that CHRIST here is brought in drawing up his Army before the last\nBattle, and making a Speech to them, to tell them they shall only stand\nby in warlike order, but that they shall have no occasion to fight, for\nhe alone will engage the Rebels. Then in embattling his Legions, he\nplaces the Saints here, and the Angels there, as if one were the main\nBattle of Infantry, and the other the Wings of Cavalry. But who are\nthose Saints? they are indeed all of _Milton_'s own making; 'tis certain\nthere were no Saints at all in _Heaven_ or _Earth_ at that time; GOD and\nhis _Angels_ fill'd up the place; and till some of the _Angels_ fell,\nand Men were created, had liv'd, and were dead, there could have been no\n_Saints_ there. Saint _Abel_ was certainly the _Proto-Saint_ of all that\never were seen in _Heaven_, as well as the Proto-martyr of all that have\nbeen upon _Earth_.\n\nJust such another Mistake, not to call it a Blunder, he makes about\n_Hell_; which he not only makes LOCAL, but gives it a being before the\nFall of the _Angels_; and brings it in opening its mouth to receive\nthem. This is so contrary to the nature of the thing, and so great an\nabsurdity, that no Poetic License can account for it; for tho' Poesie\nmay form Stories, as Idea and Fancy may furnish Materials, yet Poesy\nmust not break in upon Chronology, and make things which in time were to\nexist, act before they existed.\n\nThus a Painter may make a fine piece of Work, the fancy may be good, the\nstrokes masterly, and the beauty of the Workmanship inimitably curious\nand fine, and yet have some unpardonable improprieties which marr the\nwhole Work. So the famous Painter of _Toledo_ painted the story of the\nthree Wisemen of the _East_ coming to worship, and bring their presents\nto our Lord upon his birth at _Bethlehem_, where he represents them as\nthree _Arabian_ or _Indian_ Kings; two of them are white, and one black;\nBut unhappily when he drew the latter part of them kneeling, which to be\nsure was done after their faces; their legs being necessarily a little\nintermix'd, he made three black feet for the _Negroe_ King, and but\nthree white feet for the two white Kings, and yet never discover'd the\nmistake till the piece was presented to the King, and hung up in the\ngreat Church. As this is an unpardonable error in Sculpture or Limning,\nit must be much more so in Poetry, where the Images must have no\nimproprieties, much less inconsistencies.\n\nIn a word, Mr. _Milton_ has indeed made a fine Poem, but it is _the\nDevil of a History_. I can easily allow Mr. _Milton_ to make Hills and\nDales, flowry Meadows and Plains (and the like) in Heaven; and places of\nRetreat and Contemplation in _Hell_; tho' I must add, that it can be\nallowed to no Poet on Earth but Mr. _Milton_. Nay, I will allow Mr.\n_Milton_, if you please, to set the _Angels_ a dancing in _Heaven_,\n_lib._ v. _fo._ 138. and the _Devils_ a singing in Hell, _lib._ i. _fo._\n44. tho' they are in short, especially the last, most horrid\nAbsurdities. But I cannot allow him to make their Musick in _Hell_ to be\nharmonious and charming as he does; such Images being incongruous, and\nindeed shocking to Nature. Neither can I think we should allow things to\nbe plac'd out of time in Poetry, any more than in History; 'tis a\nconfusion of Images which is allow'd to be disallow'd by all the\nCriticks of what tribe or species soever in the world, and is indeed\nunpardonable. But we shall find so many more of these things in Mr.\n_Milton_, that really taking notice of them all, would carry me quite\nout of my way, I being at this time not writing the History of Mr.\n_Milton_, but of the _Devil_: besides, Mr. _Milton_ is such a\ncelebrated Man, that who but he that can write the History of the\n_Devil_ dare meddle with him?\n\nBut to come back to the business. As I had caution'd you against running\nto Scripture for shelter in cases of difficulty, Scripture weighing very\nlittle among the people I am directing my Speech to; so indeed Scripture\ngives but very little light into any thing of the _Devil_'s Story before\nhis Fall, and but _to very little_ of it for some time after.\n\nNor has Mr. _Milton_ said one word to solve the main difficulty (_viz._)\nHow the _Devil_ came to fall, and how Sin came into Heaven; how the\nspotless Seraphic Nature could receive infection, whence the contagion\nproceeded, what noxious matter could emit corruption there, how and\nwhence any vapour to poison the Angelick Frame could rise up, or how it\nincreas'd and grew up to crime. But all this he passes over, and\nhurrying up that part in two or three words, only tells us,\n\n                 ------ his Pride,\n  Had cast him out of Heaven with all his Host\n  Of rebel Angels, by whose aid aspiring\n  He trusted to have equal'd the most High.\n\n  _lib._ i. _fo._ 3.\n\n_His pride!_ but how came _Satan_ while an Arch-angel to be proud? How\ndid it consist, that Pride and perfect Holiness should meet in the same\nPerson? Here we must bid Mr. _Milton_ good night; for, in plain terms,\nhe is in the dark about it, and so we are all; and the most that can be\nsaid, is, that we know the fact is so, but nothing of the nature or\nreason of it.\n\nBut to come to the History: The Angels fell, they sinn'd (wonderful!) in\nHeaven, and God cast them out; what their sin was is not explicit, but\nin general 'tis call'd a Rebellion against GOD; all sin must be so.\n\nMr. _Milton_ here takes upon him to give the History of it, as\nparticularly as if he had been born there, and came down hither on\npurpose to give us an account of it; (I hope he is better inform'd by\nthis time;) but this he does in such a manner, as jostles with Religion,\nand shocks our Faith in so many points necessary to be believ'd, that we\nmust forbear to give up to Mr. _Milton_, or must set aside part of the\nsacred Text, in such a manner, as will assist some people to set it all\naside.\n\nI mean by this, his invented Scheme of the Son's being declared in\nHeaven to be begotten then, and then to be declar'd Generalissimo of all\nthe Armies of Heaven; and of the Father's Summoning all the Angels of\nthe heavenly Host to submit to him, and pay him homage. The words are\nquoted already, page 32.\n\nI must own the Invention, indeed, is very fine; the Images exceeding\nmagnificent, the Thought rich and bright, and, in some respect, truly\nsublime: But the Authorities fail most wretchedly, and the miss-timing\nof it, is unsufferably gross, as is noted in the Introduction to this\nWork; for Christ is not declar'd the Son of God but on Earth; 'tis true,\n'tis spoken from Heaven, but then 'tis spoken as perfected on Earth; if\nit was at all to be assign'd to Heaven, it was from Eternity, and there,\nindeed, his eternal Generation is allow'd; but to take upon us to say,\nthat _On a day, a certain day_, for so our Poet assumes, lib. v. fol.\n137.\n\n        ------ 'When on a day,\n          ------ 'On such a day\n  'As Heaven's great Year brings forth, the empyreal Host\n  'Of Angels by imperial Summons call'd,\n  'Forthwith from all the ends of Heaven appear'd.\n\n\nThis is, indeed, too gross; at this meeting he makes God declare the Son\nto be _that day begotten_, as before; had he made him not begotten that\nday, but declared General that day, it would be reconcileable with\nScripture and with sense; for either the begetting is meant of ordaining\nto an office, or else the eternal Generation falls to the ground; and if\nit was to the office (Mediator) then Mr. _Milton_ is out in ascribing\nanother fix'd day to the Work; see lib. x. fo. 194. But then the\ndeclaring him _that day_, is wrong chronology too, for Christ is\ndeclar'd _the Son of God with power_, only _by the Resurrection of the\ndead_, and this is both a Declaration in Heaven and in Earth. _Rom._ i.\n4. And _Milton_ can have no authority to tell us, there was any\nDeclaration of it in Heaven before this, except it be that dull\nauthority call'd _poetic License_, which will not pass in so solemn an\naffair as that.\n\nBut the thing was necessary to _Milton_, who wanted to assign some cause\nor original of the _Devil_'s Rebellion; and so, _as I said above_, the\ndesign is well laid, it only wants two Trifles call'd _Truth_ and\n_History_; so I leave it to struggle for itself.\n\nThis Ground-plot being laid, he has a fair field for the _Devil_ to play\nthe Rebel in, for he immediately brings him in, not satisfy'd with the\nExaltation of the Son of God. The case must be thus; _Satan_ being an\neminent _Arch-angel_, and perhaps, the highest of all the Angelic Train,\nhearing this Sovereign Declaration, that the _Son of God_ was declar'd\nto be Head or Generalissimo of all the heavenly Host, took it ill to see\nanother put into the high station _over his head_, as the Soldiers call\nit; he, perhaps, thinking himself the senior Officer, and disdaining to\nsubmit to any but to his former immediate Sovereign; in short, he threw\nup his Commission, and, in order not to be compel'd to obey, revolted\nand broke out in open Rebellion.\n\nAll this part is a Decoration noble and great, nor is there any\nobjection to be made against the invention, because a deduction of\nprobable Events; but the Plot is wrong laid, as is observ'd above,\nbecause contradicted by the Scripture account, according to which Christ\nwas declared in Heaven, not then, but from Eternity, and not declared\nwith power, but on Earth, (_viz._) in his victory over Sin and Death, by\nthe Resurrection from the dead: so that Mr. _Milton_ is not orthodox in\nthis part, but lays an avow'd foundation for the corrupt Doctrine of\n_Arius_, which says, there was a time when Christ _was not_ the Son of\nGOD.\n\nBut to leave Mr. _Milton_ to his flights, I agree with him in this part,\n_viz._ that the wicked or sinning Angels, with the great Arch-angel at\nthe head of them, revolted from their obedience, even in Heaven it self;\nthat _Satan_ began the wicked defection, and being a Chief among the\nheavenly Host, consequently carry'd over a great party with him, who all\ntogether rebel'd against God; that upon this Rebellion they were\nsentenc'd, by the righteous judgment of GOD, to be expel'd the holy\nHabitation; this, besides the authority of Scripture, we have visible\ntestimonies of, from the Devils themselves; their influences and\noperations among us every day, of which Mankind are witnesses; in all\nthe merry things they do in his name, and under his protection, in\nalmost every scene of life they pass thro', whether we talk of things\ndone openly or in Masquerade, things done in--or out of it, things done\nin earnest or in jest.\n\nBut then, what comes of the long and bloody War that Mr. _Milton_ gives\nsuch a full and particular account of, and the terrible Battles in\nHeaven between _Michael_ with the royal Army of Angels on one hand, and\n_Satan_ with his rebel Host on the other; in which he supposes the\nnumbers and strength to be pretty near equal? but at length brings in\nthe _Devil_'s Army, upon doubling their rage and bringing new engines of\nwar into the field, putting _Michael_ and all the faithful Army to the\nworst; and, in a word, defeats them? For tho' they were not put to a\nplain flight, in which case he must, at least, have given an account of\ntwo or three thousand millions of Angels cut in pieces and wounded, yet\nhe allows them to give over the fight, and make a kind of retreat; so\nmaking way for the compleat victory of the Son of GOD: Now this is all\ninvention, or at least, a borrow'd thought from the old Poets, and the\nFight of the _Giants_ against _Jupiter_, so nobly design'd by _Ovid_,\nalmost two thousand years ago; and there 'twas well enough; but whether\nPoetic Fancy should be allow'd to fable upon _Heaven_, or no, and upon\nthe King of Heaven too, that I leave to the Sages.\n\nBy this expulsion of the _Devils_, it is allow'd by most Authors, they\nare, _ipso facto_, stript of the Rectitude and Holiness of their Nature,\nwhich was their Beauty and Perfection; and being ingulph'd in the abyss\nof irrecoverable ruin, _'tis no matter where_, from that very time they\nlost their Angelic beautiful Form, commenc'd ugly frightful Monsters and\n_Devils_, and became evil doers, as well as evil Spirits; fill'd with a\nhorrid malignity and enmity against their Maker, and arm'd with a\nhellish resolution to shew and exert it on all occasions; retaining\nhowever their exalted spirituous Nature, and having a vast extensive\npower of Action, all which they can exert in nothing else but doing\nevil, for they are entirely divested of either Power or will to do good;\nand even in doing evil, they are under restraints and limitations of a\nsuperior Power, which it is their Torment, and, perhaps, a great part of\ntheir Hell that they cannot break thro'.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. VI.\n\n_What became of the_ Devil _and his Host of fallen Spirits after their\n     being expell'd from Heaven, and his wandring condition till the\n     Creation; with some more of Mr._ Milton's _absurdities on that\n     subject._\n\n\nHaving thus brought the _Devil_ and his innumerable Legions to the edge\nof the Bottomless-pit, it remains, before I bring them to action, that\nsome enquiry should be made into the posture of their affairs\nimmediately after their precipitate Fall, and into the place of their\nimmediate Residence; for this will appear to be very necessary to\n_Satan_'s History, and indeed, so as that without it, all the farther\naccount we have to give of him, will be inconsistent and imperfect.\n\nAnd first, I take upon me to lay down some Fundamentals, which I believe\nI shall be able to make out Historically, tho', perhaps, not so\nGeographically as some have pretended to do.\n\n     1. That _Satan_ was not immediately, nor is yet lock'd down into\n     the Abyss of a _local Hell_, such as is supposed by some, and such\n     as he shall be at last; or that,\n\n     2. If he was, he has certain liberties allowed him for excursions\n     into the Regions of this Air, and certain spheres of action, in\n     which he can, and does move, to do, _like a very Devil as he is_,\n     all the mischief he can, and of which we see so many examples both\n     about us and in us; in the inquiry after which, I shall take\n     occasion to examine whether the Devil is not in most of us,\n     sometimes, if not in all of us one time or other.\n\n     3. That _Satan_ has no particular residence in this Globe or Earth\n     where we live; that he rambles about among us, and marches over and\n     over our whole country, he and his Devils in _Camps volant_; but\n     that he pitches his grand Army or chief Encampment in our\n     Adjacencies or Frontiers, which the Philosophers call _Atmosphere_;\n     and whence he is call'd the Prince of the Power of that Element or\n     part of the World we call _Air_; from whence he sends out his\n     Spies, his Agents and Emissaries, to get intelligence, and to carry\n     his Commissions to his trusty and well beloved Cousins and\n     Counsellors on Earth, by which his business is done, and his\n     affairs carried on in the World.\n\n\nHere, again, I meet Mr. _Milton_ full in my face, who will have it, that\n_the Devil_, immediately at his expulsion, roll'd down directly into a\nHell proper and local; nay, he measures the very distance, at least\ngives the length of the journey by the time they were passing or\nfalling, which, he says, was _nine days_; a good Poetical flight, but\nneither founded on Scripture or Philosophy; he might every jot as well\nhave brought _Hell_ up to the Walls of _Heaven_, advanc'd to receive\nthem, or he ought to have consider'd the space which is to be allow'd\nto any locality, let him take what part of infinite distance between\n_Heaven_ and a created Hell he pleases.\n\nBut let that be as Mr. _Milton_'s extraordinary genius pleases to place\nit; the passage, it seems, is just _nine days_ betwixt Heaven and Hell;\nwell might _Dives_ then see father _Abraham_, and talk to him too; but\nthen the great Gulph which _Abraham_ tells him was fix'd between them,\ndoes not seem to be so large, as according to Sir _Isaac Newton_, Dr.\n_Halley_, Mr. _Whiston_, and the rest of our Men of Science, we take it\nto be.\n\nBut suppose the passage to be nine Days, according to Mr. _Milton_, what\nfollow'd? why Hell gap'd wide, open'd its frightful mouth, and received\nthem all at once; millions and thousands of millions as they were, it\nreceived them all at a gulp, _as we call it_, they had no difficulty to\ngo in, no, none at all.\n\n    _Facilis desensus averni, sed revocare gradum\n  Hoc opus hic labor est._----          Virg.\n\n\nAll this, as Poetical, we may receive, but not at all as Historical; for\nthen come difficulties insuperable in our way, some of which may be as\nfollow: (1.) Hell is here supposed to be a place; nay a place created\nfor the punishment of Angels and Men, and likewise created long before\nthose had fallen, or these had Being; this makes me say, Mr. _Milton_\nwas a good Poet, but a bad Historian: _Tophet_ was prepar'd of old,\nindeed, but it was for the King, that is to say, it was prepar'd for\nthose whose lot it should be to come there; but this does not at all\nsuppose it was prepar'd before it was resolv'd whether there should be\nsubjects for it, or no; else we must suppose both Men and Angels were\nmade by the glorious and upright Maker of all things, on purpose for\ndestruction, which would be incongruous and absurd.\n\nBut there is worse yet to come; in the next place he adds, that _Hell_\nhaving receiv'd them, clos'd upon them; that is to say, took them in,\nclos'd or shut its Mouth; and in a word, they were lock'd in, as it was\nsaid in another place, they were lock'd in, and the Key is carry'd up to\nHeaven and kept there; for _we know_ the Angel came down from Heaven,\nhaving the Key of the Bottomless-pit; but first, see Mr. _Milton_.\n\n  'Nine days they fell, confounded chaos roar'd\n  'And felt ten-fold confusion in their fall:\n                      '----Hell at last\n  'Yawning receiv'd them all, and on them clos'd;\n  'Down from the verge of Heaven, eternal wrath\n  'Burnt after them----\n  'Unquenchable.\n\n\nThis Scheme is certainly deficient, if not absurd, and I think is more\nso than any other he has laid; 'tis evident, neither _Satan_ or his Host\nof _Devils_ are, _no not any of them_, yet, even now, confin'd in the\neternal Prison, where the Scripture says, he shall be _reserved in\nchains of darkness_. They must have mean thoughts of _Hell_, as a\nPrison, a _local_ Confinement, that can suppose the _Devil_ able to\nbreak Goal, knock off his Fetters, and come abroad, if he had been once\nlock'd in there, as Mr. _Milton_ says he was: Now we know that he is\nabroad again, he presented himself before _God_, among his neighbours,\nwhen _Job_'s case came to be discours'd of; and more than that, it's\nplain he was a prisoner at large, by his answer to God's question, which\nwas, _whence comest thou?_ to which he answer'd, _from going to and fro\nthro' the Earth_, &c. this, I say, is plain, and if it be as certain\nthat Hell closed upon them, I demand then, how got he out? and why was\nthere not a Proclamation for apprehending him, as there usually is,\nafter such Rogues as break prison?\n\nIn short, the true Account of the _Devil_'s Circumstances, since his\nFall from _Heaven_, is much more likely to be thus: That he is more of a\nVagrant than a Prisoner, that he is a Wanderer in the wild unbounded\nWast, where he and his Legions, like the Hoords of _Tartary_, who, in\nthe wild Countries of _Karakathay_, the Desarts of _Barkan_, _Kassan_,\nand _Astracan_, live up and down where they find proper; so Satan and\nhis innumerable Legions rove about _hic & ubique_, pitching their Camps\n(being Beasts of prey) where they find the most Spoil; watching over\nthis World, (and all the other Worlds for ought we know, and if there\nare any such,) I say watching, and seeking who they may devour, _that\nis_, who they may deceive and delude, and so destroy, for devour they\ncannot.\n\n_Satan_ being thus confin'd to a vagabond, wandring, unsettl'd\nCondition, is without any certain Abode; For tho' he has, in consequence\nof his Angelic Nature, a kind of Empire in the liquid Wast or _Air_;\nyet, this is certainly part of his punishment, that he is continually\nhovering over this inhabited Globe of Earth; swelling with the Rage of\nEnvy, at the Felicity of his Rival, Man; and studying all the means\npossible to injure and ruin him; but extremely limited in Power, to his\nunspeakable Mortification: This is his present State, without any fix'd\nAbode, Place, or Space, allow'd him to rest the Sole of his Foot upon.\n\nFrom his Expulsion, I take his first View of Horror to be that, of\nlooking back towards the Heaven which he had lost; there to see the\nChasm or Opening made up, out at which, as at a Breach in the Wall of\nthe holy Place, he was thrust Head-long by the Power which expel'd him;\nI say, to see the Breach repair'd, the Mounds built up, the Walls\ngarison'd with millions of Angels, and arm'd with Thunders; and, above\nall, made terrible by that Glory from whose Presence they were expel'd,\nas is Poetically hinted at before.\n\nUpon this sight, 'tis no wonder (if there was such a Place) that they\nfled till the Darkness might cover them, and that they might be out of\nthe View of so hated a Sight.\n\nWherever they found it, you may be sure they pitch'd their first Camp,\nand began, after many a sour Reflection upon what was pass'd, to\nconsider and think a little, upon what was to come.\n\nIf I had as much personal Acquaintance with the _Devil_, as would admit\nit, and could depend upon the Truth of what Answer he would give me, the\nfirst Question I would ask him, should be, what Measures they resolv'd\non at their first Assembly? and the next should be, how they were\nemploy'd in all that space of Time, between their so flying the Face of\ntheir almighty Conqueror, and the Creation of Man? as for the Length of\nthe Time, which, according to the Learn'd, was twenty thousand Years,\nand according to the more Learned, not half a Quarter so much, I would\nnot concern my Curiosity much about it; 'tis most certain, there was a\nconsiderable time between, but of that immediately; first let me enquire\nwhat they were doing all that time.\n\nThe Devil and his Host, being thus, I say, cast out of Heaven, and not\nyet confin'd strictly to _Hell_, 'tis plain they must be _some where_.\nSatan and all his Legions did not lose their Existence, no, nor the\nExistence of _Devils_ neither; GOD was so far from annihilating him,\nthat he still preserv'd his Being; and this not Mr. _Milton_ only, but\nGOD himself has made known to us, having left his History so far upon\nrecord; several expressions in Scripture also make it evident, as\nparticularly the story of _Job_, mentioned before; the like in our\nSaviour's time, and several others.\n\nIf Hell did not immediately ingulph them, as _Milton_ suggests, 'tis\ncertain, I say, that they fled Somewhere, from the anger of Heaven, from\nthe face of the Avenger; and his absence, and their own guilt, _wonder\nnot at it_, would make Hell enough for them wherever they went.\n\nNor need we fly to the Dreams of our _Astronomers_, who take a great\ndeal of pains to fill up the vast Spaces of the starry Heavens with\ninnumerable habitable Worlds; allowing as many _solar Systems_ as there\nare fix'd Stars, and that not only in the known Constellations, but even\nin _Gallaxie_ it self; who, to every such System allow a certain number\nof Planets, and to every one of those Planets so many _Satellites_ or\n_Moons_, and all these Planets and Moons to be Worlds; solid, dark,\nopaque Bodies, habitable, and (as they would have us believe) inhabited\nby the like Animals and rational Creatures as on this Earth; so that\nthey may, at this rate, find room enough for the _Devil_ and all his\nAngels, without making a Hell on purpose; nay they may, for ought I\nknow, find a World for every _Devil_ in all the _Devil'_s _Host_, and so\nevery one may be a Monarch or _Master-Devil_, separately in his own\nSphere or World, and play the _Devil_ there by himself.\n\nAnd even if this were so, it cannot be denied but that one _Devil_ in a\nplace would be enough for a whole systemary World, and be able, if not\nrestrained, to do mischief enough there too, and even to ruin and\noverthrow the whole body of People contain'd in it.\n\nBut, I say, we need not fly to these shifts, or consult the Astronomers\nin the decision of this point; for wherever _Satan_ and his defeated\nHost went, at their expulsion from _Heaven_, we think we are certain,\nnone of all these Beautiful Worlds, or be they Worlds or no, I mean the\nfix'd Stars, Planets, _&c._ had then any existence; for the Beginning,\nas the Scripture calls it, was not yet Begun.\n\nBut to speak a little by the rules of Philosophy, that is to say, so as\nto be understood by others, even when we speak of things we cannot fully\nunderstand ourselves: Tho' in the Beginning of Time all this glorious\nCreation was form'd, the Earth, the starry Heavens, and all the\nFurniture thereof, and there was a Time when they were not; yet we\ncannot say so of the Void, or that nameless _no-where_, as I call'd it\nbefore, which now appears to be a _some-where_, in which these glorious\nBodies are plac'd. That immense Space which those take up, and which\nthey move in at this Time, must be supposed, before they had Being, to\nbe plac'd there: As God himself was, and existed before all Being, Time,\nor Place, so the Heaven of Heavens, or the Place, where the Thrones and\nDominions of his Kingdom then existed, inconceivable and ineffable, had\nan existence before the glorious Seraphs, the innumerable company of\nAngels which attended about the Throne of God existed; these all had a\nBeing long before, as the Eternal Creator of them all had before them.\n\nInto this void or abyss of Nothing, however unmeasurable, infinite, and\neven to those Spirits, themselves Inconceivable, they certainly launch'd\nfrom the bright Precipice which they fell from, and here they shifted as\nwell as they could.\n\nHere expanding those Wings which Fear, and Horror at their Defeat\nfurnish'd them, as I hinted before, they hurried away to the utmost\nDistance possible, from the Face of GOD their Conqueror, and then most\ndreaded Enemy; formerly their Joy and Glory.\n\nBe this utmost remov'd Distance _where it will_, Here, certainly,\n_Satan_ and all his _Gang of Devils_, his numberless, tho' routed Armies\nretired. Here _Milton_ might, with some good Ground, have form'd his\n_Pandemonium_, and have brought them in, consulting what was next to be\ndone, and whether there was any room left to renew the War, or to carry\non the Rebellion; but had they been cast immediately into _Hell_, closed\nup there, the Bottomless pit lock'd upon them, and the Key carried up to\n_Heaven_ to be kept there, as Mr. _Milton_ himself in part confesses,\nand the Scripture affirms; I say, had this been so, the _Devil_ himself\ncould not have been so ignorant as to think of any future Steps to be\ntaken, to retrieve his Affairs, and therefore a _Pandemonium_ or Divan\nin Hell, to consult of it, was ridiculous.\n\nAll Mr. _Milton_'s Scheme of _Satan_'s future Conduct, and all the\nScripture Expressions about _the Devil_ and his numerous Attendants, and\nof his actings since that time, make it not reasonable to suggest that\nthe _Devils_ were confin'd to their eternal Prison, at their Expulsion\nout of _Heaven_; But that they were in a State of Liberty to act, tho'\nlimited in acting, of which I shall also speak in its place.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. VII.\n\n_Of the Number of Satan's Host; how they came first to know of the new\n     created Worlds, now in being, and their Measures with Mankind upon\n     the Discovery._\n\n\nSeveral things have been suggested to set us a calculating the number of\nthis frightful throng of _Devils_, who with Satan, the _Master-Devil_,\nwas thus cast out of _Heaven_; I cannot say, I am so much Master of\nPolitical Arithmetick as to cast up the Number of the Beast, no, nor the\nNumber of the Beasts _or Devils_, who make up this Throng. St.\n_Francis_, they tell us, or some other Saint, they do not say who, ask'd\nthe _Devil_ once, how strong he was? for St. _Francis_, you must know,\nwas very familiar with him; _The Devil_, it seems, did not tell him, but\npresently raised a great Cloud of Dust, by the help, I suppose, of a\nGust of Wind, and bid that Saint count it; He was, I suppose, a\nCalculator, that would be call'd grave, who dividing _Satan_'s Troops\ninto three Lines, cast up the Number of the _Devils_ of all sorts in\neach Battalia, at ten hundred times a hundred thousand millions of the\nfirst Line, fifty millions of times as many in the second Line, and\nthree hundred thousand times as many as both in the third Line.\n\nThe Impertinence of this account would hardly have given it a place\nhere, only to hint that it has always been the Opinion, that _Satan_'s\nName may well be call'd a Noun of Multitude, and that _the Devil_ and\nhis _Angels_ are certainly no inconsiderable Number: It was a smart\nRepartee that a _Venetian_ Nobleman made to a Priest who rallied him\nupon his refusing to give something to the Church, which the Priest\ndemanded for the delivering him from Purgatory; when the Priest asking\nhim, _if he knew what an innumerable Number of_ Devils _there were to\ntake him_? he answer'd, _yes, he knew how many_ Devils _there were in\nall_: _How many?_ says the Priest, his curiosity, I suppose, being\nrais'd by the novelty of the answer. _Why ten millions five hundred and\neleven thousand, six hundred and seventy five Devils and a half_, says\nthe Nobleman: _A half!_ says the Priest, _pray what kind of a Devil is\nthat? your self_, says the Nobleman, _for you are half a Devil already\n(and will be a whole one when you come there) for you are for deluding\nall you deal with, and bringing us Soul and Body into your Hands, that\nyou may be paid for letting us go again_. So much for their Number.\n\nHere also it would come in very aptly, to consider the state of that\nlong interval between the Time of their Expulsion from _Heaven_, and the\nCreation of the World; and what the Posture of the Devil's Affairs might\nbe, during that Time. The horror of their Condition can only be\nconceiv'd of at a Distance, and especially by us, who being embodied\nCreatures, cannot fully judge of what is, or is not a Punishment to\n_Seraphs_ and _Spirits_; But 'tis just to suppose they suffer'd all that\nSpirits of a Seraphic Nature were capable to sustain, consistent with\ntheir Existence; notwithstanding which they retain'd still the\n_Hellishness_ of their rebellious Principles; namely, their Hatred and\nRage against God, and their Envy at the Felicity of his Creatures.\n\nAs to how long their time might be, I shall leave that Search; no lights\nbeing given me that are either probable or rational, and we have so\nlittle room to make a Judgment of it, that we may as well believe Father\n_M----_, who supposes it to be a hundred thousand Years, as those who\njudge it one thousand Years; 'tis enough that we are sure, it was before\nthe Creation, how long before is not material to _the Devil's History_,\nunless we had some Records of what happen'd to him, or was done by him\nin the Interval.\n\nDuring the wandring Condition the Devil was in at that Time, we may\nsuppose, he and his whole Clan to be employ'd in exerting their Hatred\nand Rage at the Almighty, and at the Happiness of the remaining faithful\nAngels, by all the ways they had power to shew it.\n\nFrom this determin'd stated Enmity of _Satan_ and his Host against\n_God_, and at every thing that brought Glory to his Name, Mr. _Milton_\nbrings in _Satan_, (when first he saw _Adam_ in _Paradise_, and the\nFelicity of his Station there) swelling with Rage and Envy, and taking\nup a dreadful Resolution to ruin _Adam_ and all his Posterity, meerly to\ndisappoint his Maker of the Glory of his Creation; I shall come to speak\nof that in its Place.\n\nHow _Satan_, in his remote Situation, got Intelligence of the Place\nwhere to find _Adam_ out, or that any such thing as a Man was created,\nis Matter of just Speculation, and there might be many rational Schemes\nlaid for it: Mr. _Milton_ does not undertake to tell us the Particulars,\nnor indeed could he find room for it; perhaps, the _Devil_ having, _as I\nhave said_, a Liberty to range over the whole Void or Abyss, which we\nwant as well a Name for, as indeed Powers to conceive of; might have\ndiscovered that the Almighty Creator had form'd a new and glorious Work,\nwith infinite Beauty and Variety, filling up the immense Wast of Space,\nin which he, (the _Devil_) and his _Angels_, had rov'd for so long a\ntime, without finding any thing to work on, or to exert their Apostate\nRage in against their Maker.\n\nThat at length they found the infinite untrodden Space, on a sudden\nspread full with glorious Bodies, shining in self-existing Beauty, with\na new, and to them unknown Lustre, call'd Light: They found these\nluminous Bodies, tho' immense in Bulk, and infinite in Number, yet fixt\nin their wondrous Stations, regular and exact in their Motions, confin'd\nin their proper Orbits, tending to their particular Centers, and\nenjoying every one their peculiar Systems, within which was contain'd\ninnumerable Planets with their Satellites or Moons, in which (_again_) a\nreciprocal Influence, Motion and Revolution conspired to Form the most\nadmirable Uniformity of the whole.\n\nSurprized, to be sure, with this sudden and yet glorious Work of the\nAlmighty; for the Creation was enough, with its Lustre, even to surprize\n_the Devils_; they might reasonably be supposed to start out of their\ndark Retreat, and with a Curiosity not below the Seraphic Dignity; for\n_these are_ some of _the things which the Angels desire to look into_,\nto take a flight thro' all the amazing Systems of the fix'd Suns or\nStars, which we see now but at a Distance, and only make Astronomical\nGuesses at.\n\nHere the Devil found not subject of Wonder only, but matter to swell his\nrevolted Spirit with more Rage, and to revive the Malignity of his Mind\nagainst his Maker, and especially against this new encrease of Glory,\nwhich to his infinite Regret was extended over the whole Wast, and which\nhe look'd upon, as we say in human Affairs, as a _Pays conquis_, or, if\nyou will have it in the Language of the _Devil_, as an invasion upon his\nKingdom.\n\nHere it naturally occur'd to them, in their State of Envy and Rebellion,\nthat tho' they could not assault the impregnable Walls of Heaven, and\ncould no more pretend to raise War in the Place of Blessedness and\nPeace; yet that perhaps they might find Room in this new, and however\nglorious, yet inferior Kingdom or Creation, to work some despite to\ntheir great Creator, or to affront his Majesty in the Person of some of\nhis new made Creatures; and upon this they may be justly supposed to\ndouble their Vigilance, in the survey they resolve to take of these new\nWorlds, however great, numberless and wonderful.\n\nWhat Discoveries they may have made in the other and greater Worlds,\nthan this Earth, we have not yet had an account; possibly they are\nconversant with other Parts of God's Creation, besides this little\nlittle Globe, which is but as a Point in comparison of the Rest; and\nwith other of God's Creatures besides Man, who may, according to the\nOpinion of our Philosophers, inhabit those Worlds; but as no body knows\nthat Part but the _Devil_, we shall not trouble our selves with the\nEnquiry.\n\nBut 'tis very reasonable, and indeed probable, that _the Devils_ were\nmore than ordinarily surpriz'd at the Nature and Reason of all this\nglorious Creation, after they had, with the utmost Curiosity, view'd all\nthe parts of it; The Glories of the several Systems; the immense spaces\nin which those glorious Bodies that were created and made part of it,\nwere allow'd respectively to move; the innumerable fix'd Stars, as so\nmany Suns in the Center of so many distant _Solar Systems_; the\n(likewise innumerable) dark opaque Bodies receiving light, and depending\nupon those Suns respectively for such light, and then reflecting that\nlight again upon and for the Use of one another; To see the Beauty and\nSplendor of their Forms, the Regularity of their Position, the Order and\nExactness, and yet inconceivable Velocity of their Motions, the\ncertainty of their Revolutions, and the Variety and Virtue of their\nInfluences; and then, which was even to the Devils themselves most\nastonishing, That after all the rest of their Observations they should\nfind this whole immense Work was adapted for, and made subservient to\nthe Use, Delight and Blessing only of one poor Species, in itself small,\nand in Appearance contemptible; the meanest of all the Kinds supposed to\ninhabit so many glorious Worlds, as appeared now to be form'd; I mean,\nthat Moon call'd the Earth, and the Creature call'd Man; that all was\nmade for him, upheld by the wise Creator, on his account only, and would\nnecessarily end and cease whenever that Species should end and be\ndetermin'd.\n\nThat this Creature was to be found no where but (as above) in one little\nindividual _Moon_; a Spot less than almost any of the Moons, which were\nin such great Numbers to be found attendant upon, and prescrib'd with in\nevery System of the whole created Heavens; This was astonishing even to\nthe _Devil_ himself, nay the whole Clan of _Devils_ could scarce\nentertain any just Ideas of the thing; Till at last _Satan_,\nindefatigable in his Search or Enquiry into the Nature and Reason of\nthis new Work, and particularly searching into the Species of Man, whom\nhe found God had thus plac'd in the little Globe, call'd _Earth_; he\nsoon came to an _Eclairicissement_, or a clear Understanding of the\nwhole. _For Example_,\n\n     _First_, He found this Creature, call'd Man, was however mean and\n     small in his Appearance, a kind of a Seraphic Species; that he was\n     made in the very Image of God, endowed with reasonable Faculties to\n     know Good and Evil, and possess'd of a certain thing till then\n     unknown and unheard of even in Hell it self; that is, in the\n     Habitation of Devils, let that be where it would, (_viz._)\n\n     2. That GOD had made him indeed of the lowest and coarsest\n     Materials, but that he had breath'd into him the Breath of Life,\n     and that he became a living thing call'd SOUL, being a kind of an\n     extraordinary heavenly and divine Emanation; and consequently that\n     Man, however mean and Terrestrial his Body might be, was yet,\n     Heaven-born, in his spirituous Part compleatly Seraphic; and after\n     a Space of Life here, (determin'd to be a state of probation) he\n     should be translated thro' the Regions of Death into a Life purely\n     and truly Heavenly, and which should remain so for ever; being\n     capable of knowing and enjoying God his Maker, and standing in his\n     Presence, as the glorified Angels do.\n\n     3. That he had the most sublime Faculties infused into him; was\n     capable not only of knowing and contemplating God, and which was\n     still more, of enjoying him, as above; but (which the _Devil_ now\n     was not) capable of honouring and glorifying his Maker; who also\n     had condescended to accept of Honour from him.\n\n     4. And which was still more, that being of an Angelic Nature, tho'\n     mix'd with, and confined for the present in a Case of mortal Flesh;\n     he was intended to be remov'd from this Earth after a certain time\n     of Life here, to inhabit that Heaven, and enjoy that very Glory and\n     Felicity, from which Satan and his Angels had been expell'd.\n\n\nWhen he found all this, it presently occur'd to him, that God had done\nit all as an act of Triumph over him (Satan,) and that these Creatures\nwere only created to people Heaven, depopulated or stript of its\ninhabitants by his Expulsion, and that these were all to be made\n_Angels_ in the _Devil_'s stead.\n\nIf this thought encreas'd his Fury and Envy, as far as _Rage of Devils_\ncan be capable of being made greater; it doubtless set him on work to\ngive a Vent to that Rage and Envy, by searching into the Nature and\nConstitution of this Creature, call'd _Man_; and to find out whether he\nwas invulnerable, and could by no means be hurt by the Power of Hell, or\ndeluded by his Subtilty; or whether he might be beguil'd and deluded,\nand so, instead of being preserv'd in Holiness and Purity, wherein he\nwas certainly created, be brought to fall and rebell as he (_Satan_) had\ndone before him; by which, instead of being transplanted into a glorious\nState, after this Life in Heaven, as his Maker had design'd him to be,\nto fill up the Angelic Choir, and supply the Place from whence he\n(_Satan_) had fallen, he might be made to fall also like him, and in a\nWord, be made a _Devil_ like himself.\n\nThis convinces us that the _Devil_ has not lost his natural Powers by\nhis Fall; and our learned Commentator Mr. _Pool_ is of the same Opinion;\ntho' he grants that the _Devil_ has lost his moral Power, or his Power\nof doing Good, which he can never recover. _Vide_ Mr. _Pool_ upon _Acts_\nxix. 17. where we may particularly observe, when the Man possess'd with\nan evil Spirit flew upon the seven Sons of _Scaeva_ the _Jew_, who would\nhave Exorcis'd them in the Name of _Jesus_, without the Authority of\n_Jesus_, or without Faith in him; He flew on them and master'd them, so\nthat they fled out of the House from the Devil conquered, naked and\nwounded: But of this Power of the Devil I shall speak by it self.\n\nIn a Word, and to sum up all the _Devil_'s Story from his first\nExpulsion, it stands thus: For so many Years as were between his Fall\nand the Creation of Man, tho' we have no _Memoirs_ of his particular\nAffairs, we have Reason to believe he was without any Manner of\nEmployment; but a certain tormenting Endeavour to be always expressing\nhis Rage and Enmity against Heaven; I call it tormenting, Because ever\ndisappointed; every thought about it proving empty; every attempt\ntowards it abortive; Leaving him only Light enough to see still more and\nmore Reason to despair of Success; and that this made his Condition\nstill more and more a Hell than it was before.\n\nAfter a Space of Duration in this Misery, which we have no light given\nus to measure or judge of, He at length discovered the new Creation of\nMan, as above, upon which he soon found Matter to set himself to work\nupon, and has been busily employ'd ever since.\n\nAnd now indeed there may be room to suggest a Local _Hell_, and the\nConfinement of Souls (made corrupt and degenerate by him) to it, as a\nPlace; tho' he himself, as is still apparent by his Actings, is not yet\nconfin'd to it; of this Hell, its Locality, Extent, Dimensions,\nContinuance and Nature, as it does not belong to Satan's History, I have\na good excuse for saying nothing, and so put off my meddling with that,\nwhich if I would meddle with, I could say nothing of to the Purpose.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. VIII.\n\n_Of the Power of the Devil at the Time of the Creation of this World;\n     whether it has not been farther straitn'd and limited since that\n     Time, and what Shifts and Stratagems he is obliged to make use of to\n     compass his Designs upon Mankind._\n\n\nCunning Men have fabled, and tho' it be without either Religion,\nAuthority or physical Foundation, it may be we may like it ne'er the\nworse for that; that when God made the Stars and all the Heavenly\nLuminaries, the _Devil_, to mimick his Maker and insult his new\nCreation, made Comets, in Imitation of the fix'd Stars; but that the\nComposition of them being combustible, when they came to wander in the\nAbyss, rolling by an irregular ill-grounded Motion, they took Fire, in\ntheir Approach to some of those great Bodies of Flame, _the fix'd\nStars_; and being thus kindled (like a Fire-work unskilfully let off)\nthey then took wild and excentrick, as also different Motions of their\nown, out of Satan's Direction, and beyond his Power to regulate ever\nafter.\n\nLet this Thought stand by it self, it matters not to our purpose whether\nwe believe any thing of it, or no; 'tis enough to our Case, that if\nSatan had any such Power then, he has no such Power now, and that leads\nme to enquire into his more recent Limitations.\n\nI am to suppose, he and all his Accomplices being confounded at the\nDiscovery of the new Creation, and racking their Wits to find out the\nmeaning of it, had at last (_no matter how_) discover'd the whole\nSystem, and concluded, _as I have said_, that the Creature, _call'd\nMan_, was to be their Successor in the Heavenly Mansions; upon which I\nsuggest that the first Motion of Hell was to destroy this new Work, and,\nif possible, to overwhelm it.\n\nBut when they came to make the Attempt, they found their Chains were not\nlong enough, and that they could not reach to the Extremes of the\nSystem: They had no Power either to break the Order, or stop the Motion,\ndislocate the Parts, or confound the Situation of Things; they\ntraversed, no doubt, the whole Work, visited every Star, landed upon\nevery Solid, and sail'd upon every Fluid in the whole Scheme, to see\nwhat Mischief they could do.\n\nUpon a long and full Survey, they came to this Point in their Enquiry,\nthat in short they could do nothing by Force; that they could not\ndisplace any Part, annihilate any Atom, or destroy any Life in the whole\nCreation; but that as Omnipotence had created it, so the same\nOmnipotence had arm'd it at all Points against the utmost Power of Hell,\nhad made the smallest Creature in it invulnerable, as to _Satan_; so\nthat without the Permission of the same Power which had made _Heaven_,\nand conquer'd the _Devil_, he could do nothing at all, as to destroying\nany thing that God had made, no, not the little diminutive thing call'd\nMan, who _Satan_ saw so much reason to hate, as being created to succeed\nhim in Happiness in _Heaven_.\n\nSatan found him placed out of his Power to hurt, or out of his Reach to\ntouch; and here, by the way, appears the second Conquest of _Heaven_\nover the _Devil_; that having plac'd his Rival, as it were, just before\nhis Face, and shew'd the hateful sight to him, he saw written upon his\nImage, _Touch him if you dare_.\n\nIt cannot be doubted, but, had it not been thus, Man is so far from\nbeing a Match for the _Devil_, that one of Satan's least Imps or\n_Angels_ could destroy all the Race of them in the World, ay World and\nall in a moment;\n\nAs he is Prince of the Power of the Air, taking the Air for _the\nElementary World_, how easily could he, at one Blast, sweep all the\nSurface of the Earth into the Sea, or drive weighty immense Surges of\nthe Ocean over the whole Plane of the Earth, and deluge the Globe at\nonce with a Storm? Or how easily could he, who, by the Situation of the\nEmpire, must be supposed able to manage the Clouds, draw them up, in\nsuch Position as should naturally produce Thunders and Lightnings, cause\nthose Lightnings to blast the Earth, dash in Pieces all the Buildings,\nburn all the populous Towns and Cities, and lay wast the World;\n\nAt the same time he might command suited Quantities of sublimated Air to\nburst out of the Bowels of the Earth, and overwhelm and swallow up, in\nthe opening Chasms, all the Inhabitants of the Globe?\n\nIn a Word, _Satan_ left to himself as a Devil, and to the Power, which\nby virtue of his Seraphic Original he must be vested with, was able to\nhave made Devilish Work in the World, if by a superior Power he was not\nrestrain'd.\n\nBut there is no doubt, _at least to me_, but that with his fall from\nHeaven, as he lost the Rectitude and Glory of his Angelic Nature, I mean\nhis Innocence, so he lost the Power too that he had before; and that\nwhen he first commenc'd Devil, he received the Chains of Restraint too,\nas the Badge of his Apostacy, _viz._ a general Prohibition, to do any\nthing to the Prejudice of this Creation, or to act any thing by Force or\nViolence without special Permission.\n\nThis Prohibition was not sent him by a Messenger, or by an Order in\nWriting, or proclaimed from Heaven by a Law; but _Satan_, by a strange,\ninvisible and unaccountable Impression felt the Restraint within him;\nand at the same time that his moral Capacity was not taken away, yet his\nPower of exerting that Capacity felt the Restraint, and left him unable\nto do, even what he was able to do at the same time.\n\nI make no question, but the Devil is sensible of this Restraint, that is\nto say, _not_ as it is a restraint only, or as an effect of his\nExpulsion from _Heaven_; But as it prevents his Capital Design against\nMan, who, for the Reason I have given already, he entertains a mortal\nHatred of, and would destroy with all his Heart, if he might; and\ntherefore, like a chain'd Mastiff, we find him oftentimes making a\nhorrid hellish Clamour and Noise, barking and howling, and frighting the\nPeople, letting them know, that if he was loose he would tear them in\npieces; but at the same time his very Fury shakes his Chain, which lets\nthem know, to their Satisfaction, he can only Bark, but cannot Bite.\n\nSome are of Opinion that the Devil is not restrain'd so much by the\nsuperior Power of his Sovereign and Maker; but that all his milder\nMeasures with Man are the effect of a political Scheme, and done upon\nmature Deliberation; that it was resolved to act thus, in the great\nCouncil or P----t of Devils, call'd upon this very Occasion, when they\nfirst were inform'd of the Creation of Man; and especially when they\nconsidered what kind of Creature he was, and what might probably be the\nReason of making him, (_viz._) to fill up the Vacancies in Heaven; I\nsay, that then the _Devils_ resolv'd, that it was not for their\nInterest to fall upon him with Fury and Rage, and so destroy the\nSpecies, for that this would be no Benefit at all to them, and would\nonly cause another original Man to be created; for that they knew GOD\ncould, by the same Omnipotence, form as many new Species of Creatures as\nhe pleased; and, if he thought fit, create them in Heaven too, out of\nthe Reach of _Devils_ or evil Spirits, and that therefore, to destroy\nMan would no way answer their End.\n\nOn the other hand, examining strictly the Mould of this new made\nCreature, and of what Materials he was form'd; how mixt up of a Nature\nconvertible and pervertible, capable indeed of infinite Excellence, and\nconsequently of eternal Felicity; but subject likewise to Corruption and\nDegeneracy, and consequently to eternal Misery; That instead of being\nfit to supply the Places of Satan and his rejected Tribe (the expell'd\nAngels) in Heaven, and filling up the Thrones or Stalls in the Celestial\nChoir, they might, if they could but be brought into Crime, become a\nRace of Rebels and Traytors like the rest; and so come at last to keep\nthem Company, as well in the Place of eternal Misery, as in the Merit of\nit, and in a Word, become Devils instead of Angels.\n\nUpon this Discovery, I say, they found it infinitely more for the\nInterest of Satan's infernal Kingdom, to go another way to work with\nMankind, and see if it were possible, by the strength of all their\ninfernal Wit and Counsels, to lay some Snare for him, and by some\nStratagem to bring him to eternal Ruin and Misery.\n\nThis being then approv'd as their only Method, (and the _Devil_ shew'd\nhe was no Fool in the Choice) he next resolv'd that there was no time to\nbe lost; that it was to be set about immediately, before the Race was\nMultiplied, and by that means the Work be not made greater only, but\nperhaps the more difficult too; accordingly the diligent Devil went\ninstantly about it, agreeably to all the Story of _Eve_ and the serpent,\nas before; the belief of which, whether historically or allegorically,\nis not at all obstructed by this Hypothesis.\n\nI do not affirm that this was the Case at first, because being not\npresent in that black _Divan_, at least not that I know of, _for who\nknows where he was or was not in his pre-existent State?_ I cannot be\npositive in the Resolve that past there; but except for some very little\nContradiction, which we find in the sacred Writings, I should, I\nconfess, incline to believe it Historically; and I shall speak of those\nthings which I call Contradictions to it more largely hereafter.\n\nIn the mean time, be it one way or other, _that is to say_, either that\nSatan had no Power to have proceeded with Man by Violence, and to have\ndestroy'd him as soon as he was made; or that he had the Power, but\nchose rather to proceed by other Methods to deceive and debauch him; _I\nsay_, be it which you please, I am still of the Opinion that it really\nwas not the _Devil_'s Business to destroy the Species; that it would\nhave been nothing to the purpose, and no Advantage at all to him, if he\nhad done it; for that, as above, God could immediately have created\nanother Species to the same end, whom he either could have made\ninvulnerable, and not subject to the Devil's Power, or remov'd him out\nof _Satan_'s Reach, plac'd him out of the _Devil_'s Ken, in Heaven or\nsome other Place, where the Devil could not come to hurt him; and that\ntherefore it is infinitely more his Advantage, and more suited to his\nreal Design of defeating the End of Man's Creation, to debauch him and\nmake a _Devil_ of him, that he may be rejected like himself, and\nincrease the infernal Kingdom and Company in the Lake of Misery _in\naeternum_.\n\nIt may be true, for ought I know, that Satan has not the Power of\nDestruction put into his Hand, and that he cannot take away the Life of\na Man: and it seems probable to be so, from the Story of _Satan_ and\n_Job_, when _Satan_ appear'd among the Sons of GOD, as the Text says,\n_Job_ i. 6. Now when God gave such a Character of _Job_ to him, and\nask'd him _if he had consider'd his Servant Job_, ver. 8. why did not\nthe Devil go immediately and exert his Malice against the good Man at\nonce, to let his Maker see what would become of his Servant _Job_ in his\nDistress? On the contrary, we see he only answers by shewing the Reason\nof _Job_'s good Behaviour; that it was but common Gratitude for the\nBlessing and Protection he enjoy'd, ver. 10. and pleading that if his\nEstate was taken away, and he was expos'd as he (Satan) was, to be a\nbeggar and a Vagabond, going _to and fro in the Earth, and walking up\nand down therein_, he should be a very Devil too, like himself, and\ncurse God to his Face.\n\nUpon this, the Text says, that God answered ver. 11. _Behold all that\nhe hath is in thy Power_; now 'tis plain here, that God gave up _Job_'s\nWealth and Estate, nay his Family, and the Lives of his Children and\nServants into the Devil's Power; and accordingly, like a true merciless\nDevil, _as he is_, he destroy'd them all; he mov'd the _Sabeans_ to fall\nupon the Oxen and the Asses, and carry them off; he mov'd the\n_Chaldeans_ to fall upon the Camels and the Servants, to carry off the\nfirst, and murther the last; he made Lightning flash upon the poor\nSheep, and kill them all; and he blow'd his House down upon his poor\nChildren, and buried them all in the Ruins.\n\nNow here is (1.) a Specimen of Satan's good Will to Mankind, and what\nHavock the _Devil_ would make in the World, if he might; and here is a\nTestimony too, that he could not do this without leave; so that I cannot\nbut be of the Opinion he has some Limitations, some Bounds set to his\nnatural Fury; a certain Number of Links in his Chain, which he cannot\nexceed, or, in a Word, that he cannot go a Foot beyond his _Tether_.\n\nThe same kind of Evidence we have in the Gospel, _Matth._ viii. 31.\nwhere Satan could not so much as possess the filthiest and meanest of\nall Creatures, _the Swine_, till he had ask'd leave; and that still, to\nshew his good Will, as soon as he had gotten leave, he hurried them all\ninto the Sea and choak'd them; these, I say, are some of the Reasons why\nI am not willing to say, the _Devil_ is not restrain'd in Power; but on\nthe other side, we are told of so many mischievous things the Devil has\ndone in the World, by virtue of his Dominion over the Elements, and by\nother Testimonies of his Power, that I don't know what to think of it;\ntho', upon the whole, the first is the safest Opinion; for if we should\nbelieve the last, we might, for ought I know, be brought, like the\n_American Indians_, to worship him _at last_, that he may do us no Harm.\n\nAnd now I have nam'd those People in _America_, I confess it would go a\ngreat way in favour of Satan's Generosity, as well as in Testimony of\nhis Power, if we might believe all the Accounts, which indeed Authors\nare pretty well agreed in the Truth of, namely, of the Mischiefs the\n_Devil_ does in those Countries, where his Dominion seems to be\nestablish'd; how he uses them when they deny him the Homage he claims of\nthem as his Due; what Havock and Combustion he makes among them; and\nhow Beneficent he is (or at least negative in his Mischiefs) when they\nAppease him by their hellish Sacrifices.\n\nLikewise we see a Test of his wicked Subtilty in his Management of those\ndark Nations, when he was more immediately worship'd by them; namely,\nthe making them believe that all their good Weather, Rains, Dews, and\nkind Influences upon the Earth, to make it fruitful, was from Him;\nwhereas they really were the common Blessings of a higher Hand, and came\nnot from him, the _Devil_, but from him that made the _Devil_, and made\nhim a Devil or fallen Angel by his Curse.\n\nBut to go back to the Method the Devil took with the first of Mankind;\n'tis plain the Policy of Hell was right, tho' the Execution of the\nResolves they took did not fully answer their End neither; For _Satan_\nfastening upon poor, proud, ridiculous Mother _Eve_, as I have said\nbefore, made presently a true Judgment of her Capacities, and of her\nTemper; took her by the right Handle, and soothing her Vanity (which is\nto this Day the softest Place in the Head of all the Sex) wheedl'd her\nout of her Senses, by praising her Beauty, and promising to make her a\nGoddess.\n\nThe foolish Woman yielded presently, and that we are told is the Reason\nwhy the same Method so strangely takes with all her Posterity (_viz._)\nthat you are sure to prevail with them, if you can but once persuade\nthem that you believe they are Witty and Handsome; for the Devil, you\nmay observe, never quits any Hold he gets, and having once found a way\ninto the Heart, always takes care to keep the Door open, that any of his\nAgents may enter after him without any more Difficulty: Hence the same\nArgument, especially the last, has so bewitching an Influence on the\nSex, that they rarely deny you any thing, after they are but weak\nenough and vain enough to accept of the Praises you offer them on that\nHead; on the other hand you are sure they never forgive you the\nunpardonable Crime of saying they are Ugly or Disagreeable: It is\nsuggested that the first Method the Devil took to insinuate all those\nfine things into _Eve_'s giddy Head, was by creeping close to her _one\nNight_, when she was asleep, and laying his Mouth to her _Ear_,\nwhispering all the fine things to her, which he knew would set her Fancy\na Tip-toe, and so made her receive them involuntarily into her Mind;\nknowing well enough that when she had form'd such Ideas in her Soul,\nhowever they came there, she would never be quiet till she had work'd\nthem up to some extraordinary thing or other.\n\nIt was evident what the _Devil_ aim'd at, _namely_, that she should\nbreak in upon the Command of GOD, and so having corrupted her self,\nbring the Curse upon her self and all her Race, as GOD had threatn'd;\nbut why the Pride of _Eve_ should be so easily tickled by the Motion of\nher exquisite Beauty, when there then was no prospect of the use or want\nof those Charms? that indeed makes a kind of Difficulty here, which the\nlearn'd have not determined. For,\n\n     1. If she had been as Ugly as the _Devil_, she had no body to rival\n     her, so that she need not fear _Adam_ should leave her and get\n     another Mistress.\n\n     2. If she had been Bright and Beautiful as an Angel, she had no\n     other Admirer but poor _Adam_, and he could have no room to be\n     jealous of her, or afraid she should cuckold him; so that in short,\n     _Eve_ had no such Occasion for her Beauty, nor could she make any\n     use of it either to a bad purpose or to a good, and therefore I\n     believe the _Devil_, who is too cunning to do any thing that\n     signifies Nothing, rather tempted her by the Hope of encreasing her\n     Wit, than her Beauty.\n\n\nBut to come back to the Method of Satan's tempting her, _viz._ by\nwhispering to her in her sleep; 'twas a cunning Trick, that's the Truth\nof it, and by that means he certainly set her Head a madding after\n_Deism_, and to be made a Goddess, and then back'd it by the subtle talk\nhe had with her afterward.\n\nI am the more particular upon this Part, because, however the Devil may\nhave been the first that ever practised it, yet I can assure him the\nExperiment has been tried upon many a Woman since, to the wheedling her\nout of her Modesty, as well as her Simplicity; and the Cunning Men tell\nus still, that if you can come at a Woman when she is in a deep sleep,\nand Whisper to her close to her Ear, she will certainly Dream of the\nThing you say to her, and so will a Man too.\n\nWell, be this so to her Race or not, it was it seems so to her; for she\nwak'd with her Head fill'd with pleasing Ideas, and as some will have\nit, unlawful Desires; such, as to be sure she never had entertain'd\nbefore; These are supposed to be fatally infused in her Dream, and\nsuggested to her waking Soul, when the Organ Ear which convey'd them was\ndoz'd and insensible; strange Fate of sleeping in _Paradise_! that\nwhereas we have Notice but of two Sleeps there, that in one a _Woman_\nshould go out of him, and in the other, the _Devil_ should come into\nher.\n\nCertainly, when Satan first made the Attempt upon _Eve_, he did not\nthink he should have so easily conquered her, or have brought his\nBusiness about so soon; the _Devil_ himself could not have imagined she\nshould have been so soon brought to forget the Command given, or at\nleast who gave it, and have ventur'd to transgress against him, and made\nher forget that GOD had told her, it should be Death to her to touch it;\nand above all, that she should aspire to be as wise as him, who was so\nignorant before, as to believe it was for fear of her being like\nhimself, that he had forbid it her.\n\nWell might she be said to be the weaker Vessel, tho' _Adam_ himself had\nlittle enough to say for his being the stronger of the two, when he was\nover-persuaded (if it were done by Persuasion) by his Wife to do the\nsame thing.\n\nAnd mark how wise they were after they had Eaten, and what Fools they\nboth acted like, even to one another; nay, even all the Knowledge they\nattain'd to by it was, for ought I see, only to know that they were\nFools, and to be sensible both of _Sin_ and _Shame_; and see how simply\nthey acted, I say, upon their having committed the Crime, and being\ndetected in it.\n\n    'View them to Day conversing with their God,\n  'His Image both enjoy'd and understood,\n  '_To Morrow_ skulking with a sordid Flight,               }\n  'Among the Bushes from the _Infinite_,                    }\n  'As if that Power _was blind_, which gave them _Sight_;   }\n  'With senseless Labour Tagging Fig-Leaf Vests,\n  'To hide their Bodies from the sight of Beasts.\n    'Hark! how the Fool pleads faint, for forfeit Life,\n  'First he reproaches Heaven, and then his Wife;\n  '_The Woman which thou gav'st_ as if the Gift\n  'Could rob him of the little Reason left,\n  'A weak Pretence to shift his early Crime,\n  'As if accusing her would excuse him;\n  'But thus encroaching Crime dethrones the Sense,\n  'And intercepts the Heavenly Influence,\n  'Debauches Reason, makes the Man a Fool,\n  'And turns his active Light to Ridicule.\n\n\nIt must be confess'd that it was unaccountable Degeneracy, even of their\ncommon Reasoning, which _Adam_ and _Eve_ both fell into upon the first\ncommitting the Offence of taking the forbidden Fruit: If that was their\nbeing made as Gods, it made but a poor Appearance in its first coming,\nto hide their Nakedness when there was no body to see them, and cover\nthemselves among the Bushes from their Maker; but thus it was, and this\nthe Devil had brought them to, and well might he, and all the Clan of\nHell, as Mr. _Milton_ brings them in, laugh and triumph over the Man\nafter the Blow was given, as having so egregiously abused and deluded\nthem both.\n\nBut here, to be sure, began the _Devil_'s new Kingdom; as he had now\nseduc'd the two first Creatures, he was pretty sure of Success upon all\nthe Race, and therefore prepar'd to attack them also, as soon as they\ncame on; nor was their encreasing Multitude any Discouragement to his\nAttempt, but just the contrary; for he had Agents enough to employ, if\nevery Man and Woman that should be born was to want a _Devil_ to wait\nupon them, separately and singly to seduce them; whereas some whole\nNations have been such willing subjects to him, that one of his Seraphic\nImps may, _for ought we know_, have been enough to guide a whole\nCountry; the People being entirely subjected to his Government for many\nAges; as in _America, for example_, where some will have it, that he\nconvey'd the first Inhabitants, at least if he did not, we don't well\nknow who did, or how they got thither.\n\nAnd how came all the Communication to be so entirely cut off between the\nNations of _Europe_ and _Africa_, from whence _America_ must certainly\nhave been peopl'd, or else the _Devil_ must have done it indeed? I say,\nhow came the Communication to be so entirely cut off between them, that\nexcept the time, _whenever it was_, that People did at first reach from\none to the other, none ever came back to give their Friends any account\nof their Success, or invite them to follow? Nor did they hear of one\nanother afterwards, as we have Reason to think: Did _Satan_ politically\nkeep them thus asunder, lest News from Heaven should reach them, and so\nthey should be recover'd out of his Government? We cannot tell how to\ngive any other rational Account of it, that a Nation, nay a Quarter of\nthe World, or as some will have it be, half the Globe, should be peopled\nfrom _Europe_ or _Africa_, or both, and no body ever go after them, or\ncome back from them in above three thousand years after.\n\nNay, that those Countries should be peopled when there was no Navigation\nin use in these Parts of the World, no Ships made that could carry\nProvisions enough to support the People that fail'd in them, but that\nthey must have been starved to death before they could reach the Shore\nof _America_; the Ferry from _Europe_ or _Africa_, in any Part (which we\nhave known Navigation to be practised in) being at least 1000 Miles, and\nin most Places much more.\n\nBut as to the _Americans_, let the _Devil_ and they alone to account for\ntheir coming Thither, this we are certain of, that we knew nothing of\nthem for many hundred Years; and when we did, when the Discovery was\nmade, they that went from Hence found _Satan_ in a full and quiet\nPossession of them, ruling them with an arbitrary Government,\nparticular to himself; He had led them into a blind Subjection to\nhimself, nay, I might call it Devotion, for it was all of Religion that\nwas to be found among them) worshipping horrible Idols in his Name, to\nwhom he directed human Sacrifices continually to be made, till he\ndeluged the Country with Blood, and ripen'd them up for the Destruction\nthat follow'd, from the Invasion of the _Spaniards_, who he knew would\nhurry them all out of the World as fast as he (_the Devil_) himself\ncould desire of them.\n\nBut to go back a little to the Original of Things, It is evident that\n_Satan_ has made a much better Market of Mankind, by thus subtilly\nattacking them, and bringing them to break with their Maker as he had\ndone before them, than he could have done by fulminating upon them at\nfirst, and sending them all out of the World at once; for now he has\npeopled his own Dominions with them, and tho' a Remnant are snatch'd as\nit were out of his Clutches, by the Agency of Invincible Grace, of which\nI am not to discourse in this Place; yet this may be said of the\n_Devil_, without Offence, that he has in some Sense carried his Point,\nand as it were forc'd his Maker to be satisfied with a Part of Mankind,\nand the least Part too, instead of the great Glory he would have brought\nto himself by keeping them all in his Service.\n\nMr. _Milton_, as I have noted above, brings in the _Devil_ and all Hell\nwith him, making a _Feu de Joye_ for the Victory _Satan_ obtain'd over\none silly Woman; indeed it was a Piece of Success greater in its\nConsequence than in the immediate Appearance; nor was the Conquest so\ncompleat as Satan himself imagin'd to make, since the Promise of a\nRedemption out of his Hands, which was immediately made to the Man, in\nbehalf of himself and his believing Posterity, was a great\nDisappointment to Satan, and as it were snatch'd the best Part of his\nVictory out of his Hands.\n\nIt is certain the _Devils_ knew what the meaning of that Promise was,\nand who was to be the _Seed of the Woman_, namely, the incarnate _Son of\nGod_, and that it was a second Blow to the whole infernal Body; but as\nif they had resolved to let that alone, _Satan_ went on with his\nBusiness; and as he had introduc'd Crime into the common Parent of\nMankind, and thereby secured the Contamination of Blood, and the Descent\nor Propagation of the corrupt Seed, he had nothing to do but to assist\nNature in time to come, to carry on its own Rebellion, and act it self\nin the Breasts of _Eve_'s tainted Posterity; and that indeed has been\nthe Devil's Business ever since his first Victory upon the Kind, to this\nDay.\n\nHis Success in this Part has been such, that we see upon innumerable\nOccasions a general Defection has follow'd; a kind of a Taint upon\nNature, _call it what you will_, a Blast upon the Race of Mankind; and\nwere it not for one thing, he had ruined the whole Family; _I say_, were\nit not for one thing, namely, a selected Company or Number, which his\nMaker has resolv'd he shall not be able to corrupt, or if he does, the\nsending the promis'd Seed shall recover back again from him, by the\nPower of irresistible Grace; which Number thus selected or elected, call\nit which we will, are still to supply the Vacancies in Heaven, which\n_Satan_'s Defection left open; and what was before fill'd up with\ncreated Seraphs, is now to be restor'd by recover'd Saints, by whom\ninfinite Glory is to accrue to the Kingdom of the Redeemer.\n\nThis glorious Establishment has robb'd Satan of all the Joy of his\nVictory, and left him just where he was, defeated and disappointed; nor\ndoes the Possession of all the Myriads of the Sons of Perdition, who yet\nsome are of the Opinion will be snatch'd from him too at last; I say,\nthe Possession of all these makes no amends to him, for he is such a\n_Devil_ in his Nature, that the Envy at those he cannot seduce, eats out\nall the Satisfaction of the Mischief he has done in seducing all the\nrest; but _I must not preach_, so I return to things as much needful to\nknow, tho' less solemn.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. IX.\n\n_Of the Progress of Satan in carrying on his Conquest over Mankind, from\n     the Fall of_ Eve _to the Deluge._\n\n\nI doubt if the Devil was ask'd the Question plainly, he would confess,\nthat after he had conquer'd _Eve_ by his own wicked Contrivance, and\nthen by her Assistance had brought _Adam_ too (like a Fool as he was)\ninto the same Gulph of Misery, he thought he had done his Work,\ncompassed the whole Race, that they were now his own, and that he had\nput an End to the grand Design of their Creation; namely, of Peopling\nHeaven with a new Angelic Race of Souls, who when glorify'd, should make\nup the Defection of the Host of Hell, that had been expung'd by their\nCrime; in a Word, that he had gotten a better Conquest than if he had\ndestroy'd them all.\n\nBut in the midst of his Conquest, he found a Check put to the Advantages\nhe expected to reap from his Victory, by the immediate Promise of Grace\nto a Part of the Posterity of _Adam_, who, notwithstanding the Fall,\nwere to be purchased by the _Messiah_, and snatch'd out of his\n(_Satan_'s) Hands, and over whom he could make no final Conquest; so\nthat his Power met with a new Limitation, and that such, as indeed fully\ndisappointed him in the main thing he aim'd at, (_viz._) preventing the\nBeatitudes of Mankind, which were thus secur'd; (And what if the Numbers\nof Mankind were upon this account encreased in such a manner, that the\nselected Number should, by Length of Time, amount to just as many as the\nwhole Race, had they not fallen, would have amounted to in all?) And\nthus, indeed, the World may be said to be upheld and continued for the\nSake of those few, since till their Number can be compleated, the\nCreation cannot fall, any more than, that without them, or but for them\nit would not have stood.\n\nBut leaving this Speculation, and not having enquir'd of Satan what he\nhas to say on that Subject, let us go back to the Antediluvian World:\nThe _Devil_ to be sure, gain'd his Point upon _Eve_, and in her upon all\nher Race: He drew her into Sin; got her turn'd out of _Paradise_, and\nthe Man with her: The next Thing was to go to work with her Posterity,\nand particularly with her two Sons _Cain_ and _Abel_.\n\n_Adam_ having, notwithstanding his Fall, repented very sincerely of his\nSin; receiv'd the Promise of Redemption and Pardon, with an humble but\nbelieving Heart; Charity bids us suppose that he led a very religious\nand sober Life ever after; and especially in the first Part of his Time,\nThat he brought up his Children very soberly, and gave them all the\nnecessary Advantages of a Religious Education, and a good Introduction\ninto the World, that he was capable of; and that _Eve_ likewise assisted\nto both in her Place and Degree.\n\nTheir two eldest Sons _Cain_ and _Abel_; The one Heir apparent to the\nPatriarchal Empire, and the other Heir presumptive, I suppose also,\nlived very sober and religious Lives; and as the Principles of natural\nReligion dictated a Homage and Subjection due to the Almighty Maker, as\nan Acknowledgment of his Mercies, and a Recognition of their Obedience;\nso the receiv'd Usage of Religion dictating at that Time that this\nHomage was to be paid by a Sacrifice, they either of them brought a\nFree-will-offering to be dedicated to God respectively for themselves\nand Families.\n\nHow it was, and for what Reason that God had respect to the Offering of\n_Abel_, which the Learn'd say, was _a Lamb_ of the Firstlings of the\nFlock, and did not give any Testimony of the like Respect to _Cain_ and\nhis Offering, which was of the first Fruits of the Earth, the Offerings\nbeing equally suited to the respective Employment of the Men, that is\nnot my present Business; but this we find made Heart-burnings, and\nraised Envy and Jealousy in the Mind of _Cain_; and at that Door the\n_Devil_ immediately entred; for he, who from the Beginning, was very\ndiligent in his way, never slip'd any Opportunity, or miss'd any\nAdvantages that the Circumstances of Mankind offered him to do Mischief.\n\nWhat Shape or Appearance the Devil took up to enter into a Conversation\nwith _Cain_ upon the Subject, that Authors do not take upon them to\ndetermine; but 'tis generally supposed he personated some of _Cain_'s\nSons or Grandsons to begin the Discourse, who attack'd their Father, or\nperhaps Grandfather, upon this Occasion, in the following manner, or to\nthat Purpose.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n_D._ Sir, I perceive _your Majesty_ (for the first Race were certainly\nall Monarchs as great as Kings, to their immediate Posterity) to be\ngreatly disturb'd of late, your Countenance is chang'd, your noble\nChearfulness (the Glories of your Face) are strangely sunk and gone, and\nyou are not the Man you used to be; please your Majesty to communicate\nyour Griefs to us your Children, you may be sure, that if it be\npossible, we would procure you Relief, and restore your Delights, the\nLoss of which, if thus you go on to subject yourself to too much\nMelancholy, will be very hurtful to you, and in the End destroy you.\n\n_Cain._ It is very kind, my dear Children, to shew your Respect thus to\nyour true Progenitor, and to offer your Assistance: I confess, as you\nsay, my Mind is oppress'd and displeased; but tho' 'tis very heavy, yet\nI know not which way to look for Relief, for the Distemper is above our\nReach, no Cure can be found for it on Earth.\n\n_D._ Do not say so, Sir; there can be no Disease sure on Earth but may\nbe cur'd on Earth; if it be a mental Evil, we have heard that your great\nAncestor, the first Father of us all, who lives still on the great\nwestern Plains towards the Sea, is the Oracle to which all his Children\nfly for Direction in such Cases as are out of the Reach of the ordinary\nunderstanding of Mankind; please you to give leave, we will take a\nJourney to him, and representing your Case to him, we will hear his\nAdvice, and bring it to you with all Speed, for the Ease of your Mind.\n\n_Cain._ I know not whether he can reach my Case or no.\n\n_D._ Doubtless he may, and if not, the Labour of our Journey is nothing\nwhen plac'd in Competition with the Ease of your Mind; 'tis but a few\nDays travel lost, and you will not be the worse if we fail of the\ndesired Success.\n\n_Cain._ The offer is filial, and I accept your affectionate Concern for\nme, with a just Sense of an oblig'd Parent; go then, and my Blessing be\nupon you; but alas! why do I bless? can he bless whom God has not\nbless'd!\n\n_D._ O! Sir, do not say so, has not God bless'd you? are you not the\nsecond Sovereign of the Earth? and does he not converse with you Face to\nFace? are not you the Oracle to all your growing Posterity, and next\nafter his Sovereign Imperial Majesty Lord _Adam_, Patriarch of the\nWorld?\n\n_Cain._ But has not God rejected me, and refused to converse any more\nwith me, while he daily Favours and Countenances my younger Brother\n_Abel_, as if he resolv'd to set him up to rule over me?\n\n_D._ No, Sir, that cannot be, you cannot be disturb'd at such a thing;\nis not the Right of Sovereignty yours by Primogeniture? can God himself\ntake that away, when 'tis once given? are not you Lord _Adam_'s eldest\nSon? are you not the firstborn Glory of the Creation? and does not the\nGovernment descend to you by the divine Right of Birth and Blood?\n\n_Cain._ But what does all that signify to me, while God appears to\nfavour and caress my younger Brother, and to shine upon him, while a\nblack Dejection and token of Displeasure surrounds me every Day, and he\ndoes not appear to me as he used to do?\n\n_D._ And what need your Majesty be concern'd at that, if it be so? if he\ndoes not appear pleased, you have the whole World to enjoy your self in,\nand all your numerous and rising Posterity Adore and Honour you; what\nneed those remote Things be any disturbance to you?\n\n_Cain._ How! my Children, not the Favour of God be valued! yes, yes, in\nhis favour is Life; what can all the World avail without the Smiles and\nCountenance of him that made it?\n\n_D._ Doubtless, Sir, he that made the World and plac'd you at the Head\nof it all, to govern and direct it, has made it agreeable, and it is\nable to give you a full Satisfaction and Enjoyment, if you please to\nconsider it well, tho' you were never to converse with him all the while\nyou live in't.\n\n_Cain._ You are _quite wrong_ there, my Children, _quite wrong_.\n\n_D._ But do you not, great Sir, see all your Children as well as us\nrejoicing in the Plenty of all Things, and are they not compleatly\nhappy, and yet they know little of this great GOD? He seldom converses\namong us, we hear of him indeed by your sage Advices, and we bring our\nOfferings to you for him, as you direct, and when that's done, we enjoy\nwhatever our Hearts desire; and so doubtless may you in an abundant\nmanner, if you please.\n\n_Cain._ But your Felicity is wrong plac'd then, or you suppose that God\nis pleased and satisfied in that your Offerings are brought to me; but\nwhat would you say, if you knew that God is displeased? that he does not\naccept your Offerings? that when I sacrific'd to him in behalf of you\nall, he rejected my Offerings, tho' I brought a princely Gift, being of\nthe finest of the Wheat, the choicest and earliest Fruits, and the\nsweetest of the Oil, an Offering suited to the Giver of them all?\n\n_D._ But if you offered them, Sir, how are you sure they were not\naccepted?\n\n_Cain._ Yes, yes, I am sure; did not my Brother _Abel_ offer at the same\nTime a Lamb of his Flock, for he, you know, delights in Cattle, and\ncovers the Mountains with his Herds? over him, all the while he was\nsacrificing, a bright Emanation shone chearing and enlivening; a Pledge\nof Favour, and light ambient Flames play'd hovering in the lower Air, as\nif attending his Sacrifice; and when ready prepar'd, immediately\ndescended and burnt up the Flesh, a Sweet odoriferous Savour ascending\nto him, who thus testified his Acceptance; whereas, over my Head a black\nCloud, misty, and distilling Vapour, hung dripping upon the humble Altar\nI had raised, and wetting the finest and choicest Things I had\nprepar'd, spoil'd and defac'd them; the Wood unapt to burn by the\nMoisture which fell, scarce receiv'd the Fire I brought to kindle it,\nand even then, rather smother'd and choaked, than kindled into a Flame;\nin a Word, it went quite out, without consuming what was brought to be\noffer'd up.\n\n_D._ Let not our truly reverenc'd Lord and Father be disquieted at all\nthis; if he accepts not what you bring, you are discharg'd of the Debt,\nand need bring no more; nor have the Trouble of such labour'd\nCollections of Rarities any more; when he thinks fit to require it\nagain, you will have Notice, no Question, and then it being call'd for,\nwill be accepted or else why should it be requir'd?\n\n_Cain._ That may indeed be the Case, nor do I think of attempting any\nmore to bring an Offering, for I rather take it, that I am forbidden for\nthe present; but then, what is it that my younger Brother Triumphs in?\nand how am I insulted, in that he and his House are all Joy and Triumph,\nas if they had some great Advantage over me, in that their Offering was\naccepted when mine was not?\n\n_D._ Does he Triumph over your Majesty, our Lord and Sovereign? give us\nbut your Order, and we will go and pull him and all his Generation in\npieces; for to triumph over you who are his elder Brother, is a horrid\nRebellion and Treason, and he ought to be expell'd the Society of\nMankind.\n\n_Cain._ I think so too, indeed; however, my dear Children and faithful\nSubjects, tho' I accept your Offer of Duty and Service, yet I will\nconsider very well, before I take up Arms against my Brother; besides,\nour Sovereign Father and patriarchal Lord, _Adam_, being yet alive, it\nis not in my Right to act offensively without his Command.\n\n_D._ We are ready therefore to carry your Petition to him, and doubt not\nto obtain his Licence and Commission too, to empower you to do your self\nJustice upon your younger Brother; who being your Vassal, or at least\ninferior, as he is junior in Birth, insults you upon the fancied Opinion\nof having a larger Share in the Divine Favour, and receiving a Blessing\non his Sacrifices, on Pretence of the same Favour being denied you.\n\n_Cain._ I am content, go then, and give a just Account of the State of\nour Affairs.\n\n_D._ We shall soon return with the agreeable answer; let not our Lord\nand Father continue sad and dejected, but depend upon a speedy Relief,\nby the Assistance of thy numerous Issue, all devoted to thy Interest and\nFelicity.\n\n_Cain._ My Blessing be with you in your Way, and give you a favourable\nReception at the venerable Tent of our universal Lord and Father.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nNote, Here the cursed Race being fully given up to the Direction of the\nEvil-Spirit, which so early possess'd them, and swelling with Rage at\nthe innocent _Abel_ and his whole Family, they resolved upon forming a\nmost wicked and detestable lie, to bring about the Advice which they had\nalready given their Father _Cain_ a touch of; and to pretend that _Adam_\nbeing justly provok'd at the undutiful Behaviour of _Abel_, had given\n_Cain_ a Commission to chastise him, and by Force to cut him off and\nall his Family, as guilty of Rebellion and Pride.\n\nFill'd with this mischievous and bloody Resolution, they came back to\ntheir Father _Cain_, after staying a few Days, such as were Sufficient\nto make _Cain_ believe they had been at the spacious Plains, where\n_Adam_ dwelt; the same which are now call'd the blessed Valleys, or the\nPlains of _Mecca_ in _Arabia Faelix_, near the Banks of the _Red-Sea_.\n\nNote here also, that _Cain_ having received a wicked Hint from these\nMen, his Children and Subjects, as before, intimating that _Abel_ had\nbroken the Laws of Primogeniture in his Behaviour towards him, (_Cain_)\nand that he might be justly punish'd for it; Satan, that cunning Manager\nof all our wayward Passions, fan'd the Fire of Envy and Jealousy with\nhis utmost Skill all the while his other Agents were absent; and by the\nTime they came back had blown it up into such a Heat of Fury and Rage,\nthat it wanted nothing but Air to make it burn out, as it soon\nafterwards did in a furious Flame of Wrath and Revenge, even to Blood\nand Destruction.\n\nJust in the very critical Moment, while Things stood thus with _Cain_,\nSatan brings in his wicked Instruments, as if just arriv'd with the\nReturn of his Message from _Adam_, at whose Court they had been for\nOrders; and thus they, that is the _Devil_ assuming to speak by them,\napproach their Father with an Air of solemn but chearful Satisfaction at\nthe Success of their Embassy.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n_D._ Hail Sovereign, Reverend, Patriarchal Lord! we come with Joy to\nrender thee an Account of the Success of our Message.\n\n_Cain._ Have you then seen the venerable Tents where dwell the\nHeaven-born, the Angelic Pair, to whom all human Reverence highly due,\nis and ought always to be humbly paid?\n\n_D._ We have.\n\n_Cain._ Did you, together with my grand Request, a just, a humble Homage\nfor me pay, to the great Sire and Mother of Mankind?\n\n_D._ We did.\n\n_Cain._ Did you in humble Language represent the Griefs and Anguish\nwhich oppress my Soul?\n\n_D._ We did, and back their Blessing to thee bring.\n\n_Cain._ I hope with humblest Signs of filial Duty you took it for me on\nyour bending Knees?\n\n_D._ We did, and had our Share; the Patriarch lifting his Hands to\nHeaven express'd his Joy to see his spreading Race, and bless'd us all.\n\n_Cain._ Did you my solemn Message too deliver, my Injuries impartially\nlay down, and due Assistance and Direction crave?\n\n_D._ We did.\n\n_Cain._ What spoke the Oracle? he's God to me; what just Command d'ye\nbring, what's to be done? am I to bear the insulting Junior's Rage? and\nmeekly suffer what unjustly he, affronting Primogeniture and Laws of God\nand Man, imposes by his Pride unsufferable! Am I to be crush'd, and be\nno more the firstborn Son on Earth, but bow and kneel to him?\n\n_D._ Forbid it Heaven! as _Adam_ too forbids, who with a justice\nGod-like and peculiar to injur'd Parents, _Abel_'s Pride resents, and\ngives his high Command to thee to punish.\n\n_Cain._ To punish? say you, did he use the Word, the very Word? am I\ncommission'd then to punish _Abel_?\n\n_D._ Not _Abel_ only, but his rebel Race, as they alike in Crime alike\nare join'd in Punishment.\n\n_Cain._ The Race indeed have shar'd the Merit with him; how did they all\ninsult, and with a Shout of Triumph mock my Sorrow, when they saw me\nfrom my Sacrifice dejected come, as if my Disappointment was their Joy?\n\n_D._ This too the venerable Prince resents, and to preserve the Race in\nBounds of Laws subordinate and limited to Duty, Commands that this first\nBreach be not pass'd by, lest the Precedent upon Record stand to future\nTimes to encourage like Rebellion.\n\n_Cain._ And is it then my Sovereign Parent's Will?\n\n_D._ It is his Will, that thou his eldest Son, his Image, his belov'd,\nshould be maintain'd in all the Rights of Sovereignty deriv'd to thee\nfrom him; and not be left expos'd to injury and Power usurped, but\nshould do thy self Justice on the rebel Race.\n\n_Cain._ And so I will; _Abel_ shall quickly know what 'tis to trample on\nhis elder Brother; shall know that he's thus sentenc'd by his Father,\nand I'm commission'd but to execute his high Command, his Sentence,\nwhich is God's, and that he falls by the Hand of Heavenly Justice.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nSo now Satan had done his Work, he had deluded the Mother to a Breach\nagainst the first and only Command, he had drawn _Adam_ to the same\nSnare, and now he brings in _Cain_ prompted by his own Rage, and deluded\nby his, (Satan's,) Craft, to commit Murder, nay a Fratricide, an\naggravated Murther.\n\nUpon this he sends out _Cain_, while the bloody Rage was in its Ferment,\nand wickedly at the same Time bringing _Abel_, innocent and fearing no\nill, just in his Way, he suggests to his Thoughts such Words as these.\n\nLook you _Cain_, see how Divine Justice concurs with your Father's\nrighteous Sentence, see there's thy Brother _Abel_ directed by Heaven to\nfall into thy Hands unarm'd, unguarded, that thou may'st do thy self\nJustice upon him without Fear; see thou may'st kill him, and if thou\nhast a Mind to conceal it, no Eyes can see, or will the World ever know\nit, so that no Resentment or Revenge upon thee, or thy Posterity, can be\napprehended, but it may be said some wild Beast had rent him; nor will\nany one suggest that thou, his Brother, and Superior, could possibly be\nthe Person.\n\n_Cain_ prepar'd for the Fact, by his former avow'd Rage and Resolution\nof Revenge, was so much the less prepar'd to avoid the Snare thus\nartfully contriv'd by the Master of all Subtilty, the _Devil_; so he\nimmediately runs upon his Brother _Abel_, and after a little unarm'd\nResistance, the innocent poor Man expecting no such Mischief, was\nconquer'd and murther'd; after which, as is to be supposed, the\nexasperated Crew of _Cain_'s outrageous Race, over-run all his Family\nand Houshold, killing Man, Woman and Child.\n\nIt is objected here that we have no Authority in Scripture to prove this\nPart of the Story; but I answer, 'tis not likely but that _Abel_, as\nwell as _Cain_, being at Man's Estate long before this, had several\nChildren by their own Sisters, for they were the only Men in the World\nwho were allow'd the Marrying their own Sisters, there being no other\nWomen then in the World; and as we never read of any of _Abel_'s\nPosterity, 'tis likewise as probable they were all murther'd, as that\nthey should kill _Abel_ only, whose Sons might immediately fall upon\n_Cain_ for the Blood of their Father, and so the World have been\ninvolv'd in a Civil War as soon as there were two Families in it.\n\nBut be it so or not, 'tis not doubted the Devil wrought with _Cain_ in\nthe horrid Murther, or he had never done it; whether it was directly or\nby Agents is not material, nor is the Latter unlikely; and if the\nLatter, then there is no Improbability in the Story, for why might not\nhe that made Use of the Serpent to tempt _Eve_, be as well supposed to\nmake a Tool of some of _Cain_'s Sons or Grandsons to prompt him in the\nwicked Attempt of murthering his Brother? and why must we be oblig'd to\nbring in a Miracle or an Apparition into the Story, to make it probable\nthat the _Devil_ had any Hand in it, when 'twas so natural to a\ndegenerate Race to act in such a Manner?\n\nHowever it was, and by whatever Tool the _Devil_ wrought, 'tis certain\nthat this was the Consequence, poor _Abel_ was butcher'd, and thus the\n_Devil_ made a second Conquest in God's Creation; for _Adam_ was now, as\nmay be said, really Childless, for his two Sons were thus far lost,\n_Abel_ was killed, and _Cain_ was curst and driven out from the Presence\nof the Lord, and his Race blasted with him.\n\nIt would be a useful enquiry here, and worthy our giving an Account of,\ncould we come to a Certainty in it, namely, what was the Mark that God\nset upon _Cain_, by which he was kept from being fallen upon by _Abel_'s\nFriends or Relations? but as this does not belong to the _Devil_'s\nHistory, and it was God's Mark, not the _Devil_'s, I have nothing to do\nwith it here.\n\nThe _Devil_ had now gain'd his Point, the Kingdom of Grace, so newly\nerected, had been as it were extinct without a new Creation, had not\n_Adam_ and _Eve_ been alive, and had not _Eve_, tho' now 130 Years of\nAge, been a breeding young Lady, for we must suppose the Woman, in that\nState of Longevity, bare Children till they were seven or eight hundred\nYear old: This Teeming of _Eve_ peopled not the World so much as it\nrestored the blessed Race; for tho' _Abel_ was kill'd _Cain_ had a\nnumerous Offspring presently, which had _Seth_, (_Adam_'s third Son)\nnever been born, would soon have replenish'd the World with People, such\nas they were; the Seed of a Murtherer, cursed of God, branded with a\nMark of Infamy, and who afterwards fell all together in the universal\nRuine of the Race by the Deluge.\n\nBut after the Murther of _Abel_, _Adam_ had another Son born, namely,\n_Seth_, the Father of _Enos_, and indeed the Father of the holy Race;\nfor during his Time and his Son _Enos_, the Text says that Men began to\ncall on the Name of the Lord; that is to say, they began to look back\nupon _Cain_ and his wicked Race, and being convinc'd of the Wickedness\nthey had committed, and led their whole Posterity into, they began to\nsue to Heaven for Pardon of what was past, and to lead a new sort of\nLife.\n\nBut the _Devil_ had met with too much Success in his first Attempts, not\nto go on with his general Resolution of debauching the Minds of Men, and\nbringing them off from God; and therefore as he kept his Hold upon\n_Cain_'s cursed Race, embroil'd already in Blood and Murther; so he\nproceeded with his degenerate Offspring, till in a Word he brought both\nthe holy Seed and the degenerate Race to joyn in one universal Consent\nof Crime, and to go on in it with such aggravating Circumstances, as\nthat it repented the Lord that he had made Man, and he resolv'd to\noverwhelm them again with a general Destruction, and clear the World of\nthem.\n\nThe Succession of Blood in the royal original Line of _Adam_, is\npreserv'd in the sacred Histories and brought down as low as _Noah_ and\nhis three Sons, for a continu'd series of 1450 Years, say some, 1640\nsay others; in which Time Sin spread it self so generally thro' the\nwhole Race, and _the Sons of God_, so the Scripture calls the Men of the\nrighteous Seed, the Progeny of _Seth_, came in unto the _Daughters of\nMen_, that is, join'd themselves to the curs'd Race of _Cain_, and\nmarried promiscuously with them, according to their Fancies, the Women\nit seems being beautiful and tempting; and tho' the Devil could not make\nthe Women handsome or ugly in one or other Families, yet he might work\nup the Gust of wicked Inclination on either Side, so as to make both the\nMen and Women tempting and agreeable to one another, where they ought\nnot to have been so; and perhaps, as it is often seen to this Day, the\nmore tempting for being under legal Restraint.\n\nIt is objected here, that we do not find in the Scripture that the Men\nand Women of either Race were at that Time forbidden intermarrying with\none another; and it is true, that literally it is not forbid; but if we\ndid not search rather to make doubts than to explain them, we might\nsuppose it was forbidden by some particular Command at that Time; seeing\nwe may reasonably allow every Thing to be forbidden, which they are\ntax'd with a Crime in committing; and as the Sons of God taking them\nWives as they thought fit to choose, tho' from among the Daughters of\nthe cursed Race, is there charg'd upon them as a general Depravation,\nand a great Crime; and for which, 'tis said, GOD even repented that he\nhad made them, we need go no farther to satisfy our selves that it was\ncertainly forbidden.\n\n_Satan_ no doubt too had a Hand in this Wickedness; for as it was his\nBusiness to prompt Men to do every Thing which God had prohibited, so\nthe Reason given why the Men of those Days did this Thing was, they saw\nthe Daughters of Men, that is of the wicked Race or forbidden Sort,\n_were fair_, he tempted them by the Lust of the Eye; in a word, the\nLadies were beautiful and agreeable, and the _Devil_ knew how to make\nuse of the Allurement; the Men liked and took them by the meer Direction\nof their Fancy and Appetite, without regarding the supreme Prohibition;\n_They took them Wives of all which they chose_, or such as they lik'd to\nchoose.\n\nBut the Text adds, that this promiscuous Generation went farther than\nthe meer outward Crime of it, for it shew'd that the Wickedness of the\nHeart of Man was great before God, and that he resented it; In short,\nGod perceived a Degeneracy or Defect of Virtue had seiz'd upon the whole\nRace, that there was a general Corruption of Manners, a Depravity of\nNature upon them, that even the holy Seed was tainted with it, that the\nDevil had broken in upon them, and prevail'd to a great Degree; that not\nonly the Practice of the Age was corrupt, for that God could easily have\nrestrain'd, but that the very Heart of Man was debauch'd, his Desires\nwholly vitiated, and his Senses engag'd in it; so that in a Word, it\nbecame necessary to shew the divine Displeasure, not in the ordinary\nManner, by Judgment and Reproofs of such kind as usually reclaim Men,\nbut by a general Destruction to sweep them away, clear the Earth of\nthem, and put an End to the Wickedness at once, removing the Offence and\nthe Offenders all together; this is signify'd at large, Gen. vi. 5. _God\nsaw that the Wickedness of Man was great in the Earth, and that every\nImagination of the Thoughts of his Heart was only evil continually._ And\nagain ver. 11, 12. _The Earth also was corrupt before God; and the\nEarth was fill'd with Violence. And God look'd upon the Earth and\nbehold it was corrupt; for all Flesh had corrupted his Way upon the\nEarth._\n\nIt must be confess'd it was a strange Conquest the _Devil_ had made in\nthe Antediluvian World, that he had, as I may say, brought the whole\nRace of Mankind into a general Revolt from God; _Noah_ was indeed a\nPreacher of Righteousness, and he had preach'd about 500 Years to as\nlittle Purpose as most of the good Ministers ever did; for we do not\nread there was one Man converted by him, or at least not one of them\nleft, for that at the Deluge there was either none of them alive, or\nnone spar'd but _Noah_ and his three Sons, and their Wives; and even\nthey are ('tis evident) recorded, not so much to be sav'd for their own\nGoodness, but because they were his Sons; Nay, without Breach of Charity\nwe may conclude, that at least one went to the _Devil_ even of those\nthree, namely, _Ham_ or _Cham_ for triumphing in a brutal Manner over\nhis Father's Drunkenness; for we find the Special Curse reach'd to him\nand his Posterity for many Ages; and whether it went no farther than the\npresent State of Life with them, we cannot tell.\n\nWe will suppose now that thro' this whole 1500 Years the Devil having so\neffectually debauch'd Mankind, had advanc'd his infernal Kingdom to a\nprodigious Height; for the Text says, _the whole Earth was fill'd with\nviolence_; in a Word, Blood, Murder, Rape, Robbery, Oppression and\nInjustice prevail'd every where, and Man, like the wild Bear in the\nForest, liv'd by Prey, biting and devouring one another.\n\nAt this Time _Noah_ begins to preach a new Doctrine to them, for as he\nhad before been a Preacher of Righteousness, now he becomes a Preacher\nof Vengeance; first he tells them they shall be all overwhelm'd with a\nDeluge, that for their Sins God repented they were made, and that\nhe would destroy them all, adding, that to prevent the Ruin of himself\nand Family, he resolv'd to build him a Ship to have recourse to when the\nWater should come over the Rest of the World.\n\nWhat Jesting, what Scorn, what Contempt did this Work expose the good\nold Man to for above a 100 Years? for so long the Work was building, as\nantient Authors say; let us represent to our selves in the most lively\nManner how the witty World at that Time behav'd to poor old _Noah_; how\nthey took their Evening Walks to see what he was doing, and passed their\nJudgment upon it, and upon the Progress of it; I say, to represent this\nto our selves, we need go no farther than to our own Witicisms upon\nReligion, and upon the most solemn Mysteries of Divine Worship; how we\ndamn the Serious for Enthusiasts, think the Grave mad, and the Sober\nmelancholy; call Religion it self Flatus and Hyppo; make the Devout\nignorant, the Divine mercenary, and the whole Scheme of Divinity a Frame\nof Priestcraft; and thus no doubt the building an Ark or Boat, or\nwhatever they call'd it, to float over the Mountains, and dance over the\nPlains, what could it be but a religious Frenzy, and the Man that so\nbusied himself, a Lunatick? and all this in an Age when divine Things\ncame by immediate Revelation into the Minds of Men! the _Devil_ must\ntherefore have made a strange Conquest upon Mankind to obliterate all\nthe Reverence, which but a little before was so strangely impress'd upon\nthem concerning their Maker.\n\nThis was certainly the Height of the _Devil_'s Kingdom, and we shall\nnever find him arrive to such a Pitch again; he was then truly and\nliterally the universal Monarch, nay the God of this World; and as all\nTyrants do, he governs them with an arbitrary absolute sway; and had not\nGod thought fit to give him a Writ of Ejectment, and afterwards drown\nhim out of Possession I know not what would have been the Case, he might\nhave kept his Hold for ought I know till the Seed of the Woman came to\nbruise his Head, that is to say, cripple his Government, Dethrone him\nand Depose his Power, as has been fulfill'd in the Messiah.\n\nBut as he was, I say, drown'd out of the World, his Kingdom for the\npresent was at an End; at least, if he had a Dominion he had no\nSubjects, and as the Creation was in a Manner renewed, so the _Devil_\nhad all his Work to do over again: Unhappy Man! how has he, by his weak\nResistance, made the _Devil_, recovering his Hold too easy to him, and\ngiven him all the Advantages, except as before excepted, which he had\nbefore? Now whether he retired in the mean Time, and how he got footing\nagain after _Noah_ and his Family were landed upon the New Surface, that\nwe come next to enquire.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. X.\n\n_Of the Devil's second Kingdom, and how he got footing in the renew'd\n     World by his Victory over_ Noah _and his Race_.\n\n\nThe Story of _Noah_, his building the Ark, his embarking himself and all\nNature's Stock for a new World on board it; the long Voyage they took,\nand the bad Weather they met with, tho' it would embellish this Work\nvery well, and come in very much to the Purpose in this Place, yet as\nit does not belong to the _Devil_'s Story, for I cannot prove what some\nsuggest (_viz._) that he was in the Ark among the Rest, I say, for that\nReason I must omit it.\n\nAnd now having mention'd Satan's being in the Ark; as I say, I cannot\nprove it, so there are, I think, some good Reasons to believe he was not\nthere: _First_, I know no Business he had there; _secondly_, we read of\nno Mischief done there, and these joyn'd together make me conclude he\nwas absent; the last I chiefly insist upon, that we read of no Mischief\ndone there, which if he had been in the Ark, would certainly have\nhappen'd; and therefore I suppose rather, that when he saw his Kingdom\ndissolv'd, his Subjects all ingulph'd in an inevitable Ruin and\nDesolation, a Sight suitable enough to him, except as it might unking\nhim for a Time; _I say_, when he saw this, he took care to speed himself\naway as well as he could, and make his Retreat to a Place of Safety,\nwhere that was, is no more difficult to us, than it was to him.\n\nIt is suggested that as he is Prince of the Power of the Air, he retired\nonly into that Region. It is most rational to suppose he went no further\non many Accounts, of which I shall speak by and by: Here he stay'd\nhovering in the Earth's Atmosphere, as he has often done since, and\nperhaps now does; or if the Atmosphere of this Globe was affected by the\nIndraft of the Absorption, as some think, then he kept himself upon the\nWatch, to see what the Event of the new Phaenomenon would be, and this\nWatch, wherever it was, I doubt not, was as near the Earth as he could\nplace himself, perhaps in the Atmosphere of the Moon, or in a Word, the\nnext Place of Retreat he could find.\n\nFrom hence I took upon me to insist, that _Satan_ has not a more certain\nKnowledge of Events than we; I say, he has not a _more certain\nKnowledge_; that he may be able to make stronger Conjectures and more\nrational Conclusions from that he sees, I will not deny; and that which\nhe most outdoes us in is, that he sees more to conclude from than we\ncan, but I am satisfied he knows nothing of Futurity more than we can\nsee by Observation and Inference; nor, _for Example_, did he know\nwhether God would repeople the World any more or no.\n\nI must therefore allow that he only waited to see what would be the\nEvent of this strange Eruption of Water, and what God propos'd to do\nwith the Ark, and all that was in it.\n\nSome Philosophers tell us, besides what I hinted above, that the _Devil_\ncould have no Retreat in the Earth's Atmosphere, for that the Air being\nwholly condens'd into Water, and having continually pour'd down its\nStreams to deluge the Earth, that Body was become so small, and had\nsuffer'd such Convulsions, that there was but just enough Air left to\nsurround the Water, or as might serve by its Pressure to preserve the\nnatural Position of Things, and supply the Creatures in the Ark with a\nPart to breath in.\n\nThe Atmosphere indeed might suffer some strange and unnatural Motions at\nthat Time, but not (I believe) to that Degree, however, I will not\naffirm that there could be room in it, or is now for the Devil, much\nless for all the numberless Legions of Satan's Host; but there was, and\nnow certainly is, sufficient Space to receive him, and a sufficient Body\nof his Troops for the Business he had for them at that time, and that's\nenough to the Purpose; or if the Earth's Atmosphere did suffer any\nparticular Convulsion on that Occasion, he might make his Retreat to\nthe Atmosphere of the Moon, or of _Mars_, or of _Venus_, or of any of\nthe other Planets; or to any other Place, for he that is Prince of the\nAir could not want Retreats in such a Case, from whence he might watch\nfor the issue of Things; certainly he did not go far, because his\nBusiness lay here, and he never goes out of his Way of doing Mischief.\n\nIn particular, his more than ordinary Concern was, to see what would\nbecome of the Ark; he was wise enough doubtless to see, that GOD, who\nhad directed its making, nay even the very Structure of it, would\ncertainly take Care of it, preserve it upon the Water, and bring it to\nsome Place of Safety or other; tho' where it should be, the _Devil_ with\nall his Cunning could not resolve, whether on the same Surface the\nWaters drawing off, or in any other created or to be created Place; and\nthis State of Uncertainty being evidently his Case, and which proves his\nIgnorance of Futurity, it was his Business, _I say_, to watch with the\nutmost vigilance for the Event.\n\nIf the Ark was (as Mr. _Burnet_ thinks) guided by two Angels, they not\nonly held it from foundering or being swallow'd up in the Water, but\ncertainly kept the Waters calm about it, especially when the Lord\nbrought a strong Wind to blow over the whole Globe, which by the Way was\nthe first, and, I suppose, the only universal Storm that ever blew, for\nto be sure it blew over the whole Surface at once; I say, if it was thus\nguided, to be sure the _Devil_ saw it, and that with Envy and Regret\nthat he could do it no Injury, for doubtless had it been in the Devil's\nPower, as God had drown'd the whole Race of Man, except what was in the\nArk, he would have taken care to have dispatch'd them too, and so made\nan End of the Creation at once; but either he was not empower'd to go\nto the Ark, or it was so well guarded by Angels, that when he came near\nit he could do it no harm: So it rested at length, the Waters abating on\nthe Mountains of _Arrarat_ in _Armenia_, or some where else that Way,\nand where they say a Piece of the Keel is remaining to this Day; of\nwhich, however with Dr. ------ I say, I believe not one Word.\n\nThe Ark being safe landed, 'tis reasonable to believe _Noah_ prepared to\ngo on Shore, as the Seamen call it, as soon as the dry Land began to\nappear; and here you must allow me to suppose Satan, tho' himself\ncloth'd with a Cloud, so as not to be seen, came immediately, and\npearching on the Roof, saw all the Heaven-kept Houshold safely landed,\nand all the Host of living Creatures dispersing themselves down the\nSides of the Mountain, as the Search of their Food or other proper\nOccasions directed them.\n\nThis Sight was enough; Satan was at no Loss to conclude from hence that\nthe Design of God was to repeople the World by the Way of ordinary\nGeneration, from the Posterity of these eight Persons, without creating\nany new Species.\n\nVery well, says the _Devil_, then my Advantage over them, by the Snare I\nlaid for poor _Eve_, is good still; and I am now just where I was after\n_Adam_'s Expulsion from the Garden, and when I had _Cain_ and his Race\nto go to work with; for here is the old expung'd Corrupted Race still,\nas _Cain_ was the Object then, so _Noah_ is my Man now, and if I do not\nmaster him one way or another, I am mistaken in my Mark. _Pardon me for\nmaking a Speech for_ the Devil.\n\n_Noah_ big with a Sense of his late Condition, and while the Wonders of\nthe Deluge were fresh in his Mind, spent his first Days in the Extasies\nof his Soul, giving Thanks, and praising the Power that had been his\nProtection, in and thro' the Flood of Waters, and which had in so\nmiraculous a Manner, safely landed him on the Surface of the newly\ndiscover'd Land; and the Text tells us, as one of the first Things he\nwas employ'd in, _He built an Altar unto the Lord, and offered\nBurnt-Offerings upon the Altar_. Gen. viii. 20.\n\nWhile _Noah_ was thus employ'd he was safe, the _Devil_ himself could no\nwhere break in upon him; and we may suppose very reasonably, as he found\nthe old Father invulnerable, he left him for some Years, watching\nnotwithstanding all possible Advantages against his Sons and their\nChildren; for now the Family began to encrease, and _Noah_'s Sons had\nseveral Children; whether himself had any more Children after the Flood\nor not, that we are not arriv'd to any Certainty about.\n\nAmong his Sons the _Devil_ found _Japhet_ and _Shem_, good, pious,\nreligious, and very devout Persons; serving God daily, after the Example\nof their good old Father _Noah_, and he could make nothing of them or of\nany of their Posterity; but _Ham_ the second, or according to some, the\nyounger Son of _Noah_, had a Son who was nam'd _Canaan_, a loose young\nprofligate Fellow, his Education was probably but cursory and\nsuperficial, his Father _Ham_ not being near so religious and serious a\nMan as his Brothers _Shem_ and _Japhet_ were; and as _Canaan_'s\nEducation was defective, so he prov'd, as untaught Youth generally do, a\nwild, and in short a very wicked Fellow, and consequently a fit Tool for\nthe _Devil_ to go to work with.\n\n_Noah_, a diligent industrious Man, being with all his Family thus\nplanted in the rich fruitful Plains of _Armenia_, or wherever you\nplease, let it be near the Mountains of _Caucasus_ or _Arrarat_; went\nimmediately to work, cultivating and improving the Soil, encreasing his\nCattle and Pastures, sowing Corn, and among other Things planting Trees\nfor Food, and among the Fruit Trees he planted Vines, of the Grapes\nthereof he made no doubt, as they still in the same Country do make,\nmost excellent Wine, rich, luscious, strong, and pleasant.\n\nI cannot come into the Notion of our Criticks, who to excuse _Noah_ from\nthe guilt of what followed, or at least from the Censure, tell us, he\nknew not the Strength or the Nature of Wine, but that gathering the\nheavy Clusters of the Grapes, and their own weight crushing out their\nbalmy Juices into his Hand, he tasted the tempting Liquor, and that the\n_Devil_ assisting he was charm'd with the delicious Fragrance, and\ntasted again and again, pressing it out into a Bowl or Dish, that he\nmight take a larger Quantity; till at length the heady Froth ascended\nand seizing his Brain, he became intoxicate and drunk, not in the least\nimagining there was any such Strength in the Juice of that excellent\nFruit.\n\nBut to make out this Story, which is indeed very favourable for _Noah_,\nbut in it self extremely ridiculous, you must necessarily fall into some\nAbsurdities, and beg the Question most egregiously in some particular\nCases, which way of arguing will by no means suppose what is suggested;\nat first you must support there was no such Thing as Wine made before\nthe Deluge, and that no Body had been ever made drunk with the Juice of\nthe Grape before _Noah_, which, I say, is begging the Question in the\ngrossest Manner.\n\nIf the Contrary is true, as I see no Reason to question, if, _I say_, it\nwas true that there was Wine drank, and that Men were or had been drunk\nwith it before, they cannot then but suppose that _Noah_, who was a\nwise, a great and a good Man, and _a Preacher of Righteousness_, both\nknew of it, and without doubt had in his preaching against their Crimes,\npreach'd against this among the rest, upbraided them with it, reprov'd\nthem for it, and exhorted them against it.\n\n_Again_, 'tis highly probable they had Grapes growing, and consequently\nWines made from them, in the Antediluvian World, how else did _Noah_\ncome by the Vines which he planted? For we are to suppose, he could\nplant no Trees or Shrubs, but such as he found the Roots of in the\nEarth, and which no doubt had been there before in their highest\nPerfection, and had consequently grown up and brought forth the same\nluscious Fruit before.\n\nBesides, as he found the Roots of the Vines, so he understood what they\nwere, and what Fruit they bore, or else it may be supposed also he would\nnot have planted them; for he planted them for their Fruit, as he did it\nin the Provision he was making for his Subsistence, and the Subsistence\nof his Family: and if he did not know what they were, he would not have\nset them, for he was not planting for Diversion but for Profit.\n\nUpon the whole it seems plain to me he knew what he did, as well when he\nplanted the Vines as when he pressed out the Grapes; and also when he\ndrank the Juice that he knew it was Wine, was strong and would make him\ndrunk if he took enough of it: He knew that other Men had been drunk\nwith such Liquor before the Flood, and that he had reprehended them for\nit; and therefore it was not his Ignorance, but the _Devil_ took him at\nsome Advantage, when his Appetite was eager, or he thirsty, and the\nLiquor cooling and pleasant; and in short, as _Eve_ said, _the Serpent\nbeguilded her_, and she DID EAT, so the Devil beguiled _Noah_, and _he_\nDID DRINK; the Temptation was too strong for _Noah_, not the Wine; he\nknew well enough what he did, but as the Drunkards say to this Day, it\nwas so good he could not forbear it, and so he got drunk before he was\naware; or as our ordinary Speech expresses it, _he was overtaken with\ndrink_; and Mr. _Pool_ and other Expositors are partly of the same Mind.\n\nNo sooner was the poor old Man conquer'd, and the Wine had lighten'd his\nHead, but it may be supposed he falls off from the Chair or Bench where\nhe sate, and tumbling backward his Clothes, which in those hot Countries\nwere only loose open Robes, like the Vests which the _Armenians_ wear to\nthis Day, flying abroad, or the _Devil_ so assisting on purpose to\nexpose him, he lay there in a naked indecent Posture not fit to be seen.\n\nIn this juncture who should come by but young _Canaan_, say some; or as\nothers think, this young Fellow first attack'd him by way of Kindness\nand pretended Affection; prompted his Grandfather to drink, on Pretence\nof the Wine being good for him, and proper for the Support of his old\nAge, and subtilly set upon him, drinking also with him, and so (his Head\nbeing too strong for the old Man's) drank him down, and then, _Devil_\nlike, triumph'd over him; boasted of his Conquest, insulted the Body as\nit were dead, uncovered him on purpose to expose him, and leaving him in\nthat indecent Posture, went and made Sport with it to his Father _Ham_,\nwho in that Part, wicked like himself, did the same to his Brethren\n_Japhet_ and _Shem_; but they like modest and good Men, far from\ncarrying on the wicked Insult on their Parent, went and cover'd him, as\nthe Scripture expresses it, and as may be supposed inform'd him how he\nhad been abus'd, and by whom.\n\nWhy else should _Noah_, when he came to himself, shew his Resentment so\nmuch against _Canaan_ his Grandson, rather than against _Ham_ his\nFather, and who 'tis supposed in the Story the guilt chiefly lay upon?\nwe see the Curse is (as it were) laid wholly upon _Canaan_ the Grandson,\nand not a Word of the Father is mention'd, Gen. ix. 25, 26, 27, _Cursed\nbe_ Canaan, _a Servant of Servants shall he be_, &c.\n\nThat _Ham_ was Guilty, that's certain from the History of Fact, but I\ncannot but suppose his Grandson was the Occasion of it; and in this Case\nthe Devil seems to have made _Canaan_ the Instrument or Tool to delude\n_Noah_, and draw him in to Drunkenness, as he made the Serpent the Tool\nto beguile _Eve_, and draw her into Disobedience.\n\nPossibly _Canaan_ might do it without Design at first, but might be\nbrought in to ridicule and make a Jest of the old Patriarch afterward,\nas is too frequent since in the Practice of our Days; but I rather\nbelieve he did it really with a wicked Design, and on Purpose to expose\nand insult his Reverend old Parent; and this seems more likely too,\nbecause of the great Bitterness with which _Noah_ resented it, after he\ncame to be inform'd of it.\n\nBut be that as it will, the _Devil_ certainly made a great Conquest\nhere, and as to outward Appearance no less than that which he gain'd\nbefore over _Adam_; nor did the _Devil_'s Victory consist barely in his\nhaving drawn in the only righteous Man of the whole Antediluvian World,\nand so beginning or initiating the new young Progeny with a Crime; but\nhere was the great Oracle silenc'd at once; the Preacher of\nRighteousness, for such no doubt he would have been to the new World, as\nhe was to the old, I say, the Preacher was turn'd out of Office, or his\nMouth stopt, which was worse; nay, it was a stopping of his Mouth in the\nworst kind, far worse than stopping his Breath, for had he died, the\nOffice had descended to his sons _Shem_ and _Japhet_, but he was dead to\nthe Office of an Instructor, tho' alive as to his Being; For of what\nForce could his Preachings be, who had thus fallen himself into the most\nshameful and beastly Excess?\n\nBesides some are of the Opinion, tho' I hope without Ground, that _Noah_\nwas not only overtaken once in his Drink, but that being fallen into\nthat Sin it became habitual, and he continued in it a great while, and\nthat it was this which is the meaning of his being uncovered in his\nTent, and that his Son saw his Nakedness; that is, he continually\nexposed himself for a long Time, a hundred Years, say they, and that his\nSon _Ham_, and his Grandson _Canaan_ having drawn him into it, kept him\nin it, encourag'd and prompted it, and all the while Satan still\nprompting them, join'd their Scoffs and contempt of him, with their\nwicked Endeavours to promote the Wickedness; and both with as much\nSuccess as the Devil himself could wish for.\n\nThen as for his two Sons modestly and decently covering their Father,\nthey tell us, that Represents _Shem_ and _Japhet_ applying themselves in\nan humble and dutiful Manner to their Father, to entreat and beseech him\nto consider his ancient Glory, his own pious Exhortations to the late\ndrowned World, and to consider the Offence which he gave by his evil\nCourses to God, and the Scandal to his whole Family, and also that they\nare brought in effectually prevailing upon him; and that then _Noah_\ncursed the Wickedness of _Ham_'s degenerate Race, in Testimony of his\nsincere Repentance after the Fact.\n\nThe Story is not so very unlikely as it is certain that it is not to be\nproved, and therefore we had better take it as we find it (_viz._) for\none single Act; but suppose it was so, 'tis still certain that _Noah_'s\nPreaching was sadly interrupted, the Energy of his Words flatter'd, and\nthe Force of his Persuasions enervated and abated, by this shameful\nFall; that he was effectually silenc'd for an Instructor ever after, and\nthis was as much as the Devil had Occasion for; and therefore indeed we\nread little more of him, except that he lived three hundred and fifty\nYears after the Flood; nay, we do not so much as read that he had any\nmore Children, but the contrary, nor indeed could _Noah_ have any more\nChildren, except by his old and perhaps super-annuated Wife, who it was\nvery likely he had had four or five hundred Year, unless you will\nsuppose he was allow'd to marry some of his own Progeny, Daughters or\nGrandaughters, which we do not suppose was allow'd, no not to _Adam_\nhimself.\n\nThis was certainly a Master-piece of the _Devil_'s Policy, and a fatal\nInstance of his unhappy Diligence, (_viz._) that the Door of the Ark was\nno sooner open, and the Face of the World hardly dry from the universal\nDestruction of Mankind, but he was at work among them; and that not only\nto form a general Defection among the Race, upon the Foot of the\noriginal Taint of Nature, but like a bold _Devil_ he strikes at the very\nRoot, and flies at the next general Representative of Mankind, attacks\nthe Head of the Family, that in his Miscarriage the Rise and Progress of\na Reformation of the new World should receive an early Check, and should\nbe at once prevented; I say, like a bold Devil, he strikes at the Root,\nand _alas!_ poor unhappy _Noah_, he proved too weak for him, _Satan_\nprevail'd in his very first Attempt, and got the Victory over him at\nonce.\n\n_Noah_ thus overcome, and Satan's Conquest carried on to the utmost of\nhis own Wishes, the _Devil_ had little more to do in the World for some\nAges, than to carry on an universal Degeneracy among Mankind, and to\nfinish it by a like diligent Application, in deluding the Generality of\nthe Race, and them as they came on gradually into Life; this he found\nthe less difficult, because of the first Defection which spread like a\nContagion upon the Earth immediately after.\n\nThe first Evidence we have of his Success in this mischievous Design was\nin the Building that great stupendious Stair-case, for such it seems it\nwas intended, call'd _Babel_, which if the whole World had not been\ndrunk, or otherwise infatuated, they would never have undertaken; even\nSatan himself could never have prevail'd with them to undertake such a\npreposterous Piece of Work, for it had neither End or Means, Possibility\nor Probability in it.\n\nI must confess I am sometimes apt to vindicate our old Ancestors, in my\nThoughts, from the Charge it self, as we generally understand it,\nnamely, that they really design'd to build a Tower which should reach up\nto Heaven, or that it should secure them in case of another Flood; and\nFather _Casaubon_ is of my Opinion, whether I am of his or no, is a\nQuestion by it self; his opinion is that the Confusion was nothing but a\nBreach among the Undertakers and Directors of the Work, and that the\nBuilding was design'd chiefly for a Store-house for Provisions, in Case\nof a second Deluge; as to their Notion of its reaching up to Heaven, he\ntakes the Expression to be allegorical rather than little, and only to\nmean that it should be exceeding high; perhaps they might not be\nAstronomers enough to measure the Distance of Space between the Earth\nand Heaven, as we pretend to do now; but as _Noah_ was then alive, and\nas we believe all his three Sons were so too, they were able to have\ninform'd them how absurd it was to suppose either the one or the other\n(_viz_.) (1.) that they could build up to Heaven, or (2.) that they\ncould build firm enough to resist, or high enough to overtop the Waters,\nsupposing such another Flood should happen; I would rather think it was\nonly that they intended to build a most glorious and magnificent City,\nwhere they might all inhabit together; and that this Tower was to be\nbuilt for Ornament and also for Strength, or as above, and for a\nStore-house to lay up vast Magazines of Provisions, in Case of\nextraordinary Floods or other Events, the City being built in a great\nPlain, namely, the Plains of _Shimar_ near the River _Euphrates_.\n\nBut the Story, as it is recorded, suits better with Satan's Measures at\nthat Time; and as he was from the Beginning prompting them to every\nThing that was contrary to the Happiness of Man, so the more\npreposterous it was, and the more inconsistent with common Sense, the\nmore to his Purpose; and it shew'd the more what a compleat Conquest he\nhad gain'd over the Reason as well as the Religion of Mankind at that\nTime.\n\nAgain, 'tis evident in this Case, they were not only acting contrary to\nthe Nature of Things, but contrary to the Design and to the Command of\nHeaven; for God's Command was that they should replenish the Earth, that\nis, that they should spread their Habitations over it, and People the\nwhole Globe; whereas they were pitching in one Place, as if they were\nnot to multiply sufficient to take up any more.\n\nBut what car'd the Devil for that, or to put it a little handsomer, that\nwas what _Satan_ aimed at; for it was enough to him, to bring Mankind\nto act just contrary to what _Heaven_ had directed or commanded them in\nany thing, and if possible in every Thing.\n\nBut God himself put a stop to this foolish Piece of Work, and it was\ntime indeed to do so, for a madder thing the Devil himself never\nproposed to them; I say, God himself put a stop to this new Undertaking,\nand disappointed the Devil; and how was it done? not in Judgment and\nAnger, as perhaps the Devil expected and hop'd for, but as pitying the\nSimplicity of that dreaming Creature Man, he confused their Speech, or\nas some say, divided and confused their Councils, so that they could not\nagree with one another, which would be the same Thing as not to\nunderstand one another; or he put a new Shibboleth upon their Tongues,\nthereby separating them into Tribes or Families, for by this every\nFamily found themselves under a Necessity of keeping together, and this\nnaturally encreased that Differing Jargons of Language, for at first it\nmight be no more.\n\nWhat a Confusion this was to them we all know, by their being oblig'd to\nleave off their building, and immediately separating one from another;\nbut what a Surprize it was to the old Serpent, that remains to be\nconsidered of, for indeed it belongs to his History.\n\nSatan had never met with any Disappointment in all his wicked Attempts\ntill now; for first, he succeeded even to triumph upon _Eve_, he did the\nlike upon _Cain_, and in short upon the whole World, _one Man_ (Noah)\n_excepted_; when he blended the Sons of God, and the Daughters of Hell,\nfor so the Word is understood, together, in promiscuous voluptuous\nLiving as well as Generation.\n\nAs to the Deluge, Authors are not agreed whether it was a Disappointment\nto the Devil or no, it might be indeed a Surprize to him, for tho'\n_Noah_ had preach'd of it for a hundred Year together, yet as he\n(_Satan_) daily prompted the People not to heed or believe what that old\nFellow _Noah_ said to them, and to ridicule his whimsical Building a\nmonstrous Tub to swim or float in, when the said Deluge should come; so\nI am of the Opinion he did not believe it himself, and am positive he\ncould not foresee it, by any insight into Futurity that he was Master\nof.\n\n'Tis true the Astronomers tell us, there was a very terrible Comet seen\nin the Air, that it appeared for 180 Days before the Flood continually;\nand that as it approach'd nearer and nearer every Day all the while, so\nthat at last it burst and fell down in a continual Spout or Stream of\nWater, being of a watry Substance, and the Quantity so great, that it\nwas forty Days a falling; so that this Comet not only foretold the\nDeluge or drowning of the Earth, but actually perform'd it, and drown'd\nit from it self.\n\nBut to leave this Tale to them that told it, let us consider the Devil,\nsurpris'd, and a little amaz'd at the Absorption or Inundation, or\nwhatever we are to call it, of the Earth in the Deluge, not, I say, that\nhe was much concern'd at it, perhaps just the Contrary; and if God would\ndrown it again, and as often as he thought fit, I do not see by any\nthing I meet with in Satan's History, or in the Nature of him, that he\nwould be at all disturb'd at it; all that I can see in it, that could\ngive Satan any Concern, would be that all his Favourites were gone, and\nhe had his Work to do over again, to lay a Foundation for a new Conquest\nin the Generation that was to come; But in this his Prospect was fair\nenough, for why should he be discouraged, when he had now eight People\nto work upon, who met with such Success when he had but two? and why\nshould he question breaking in now where Nature was already vitiated and\ncorrupted, when he had before conquer'd the same Nature, when in its\nprimitive Rectitude and Purity, just come out of the Hands of its Maker,\nand fortify'd with the Awe of his high and solemn Command just given\nthem, and the threatning of Death also annext to it, if broken?\n\nBut I go back to the Affair of _Babel_: This Confusion of Language or of\nCouncils, take it which way you will, as the first Disappointment that I\nfind the Devil met with, in all his Attempts and Practices upon Mankind,\nor upon the new Creature, which I mentioned above; for now he foresaw\nwhat would follow; namely, that the People would separate and spread\nthemselves over the whole Surface of the Earth, and a thousand new\nScenes of Actions would appear, in which he therefore prepares himself\nto behave as he should see Occasion.\n\nHow the Devil learn'd to speak all the Languages that were now to be\nused, and how many languages they were, the several ancient Writers of\nthe _Devil_'s Story have not yet determined; some tell us they were\ndivided only into fifteen, some into seventy two, others into one\nhundred and eighty, and others again into several Thousands.\n\nIt also remains a doubt with me, and, I suppose, will be so with others\nalso, whether Satan has yet found out a Method to converse with Mankind,\nwithout the Help of Language and Words, or not: Seeing Man has no other\nMedium of Conversing, no not with himself: This I have not time to enter\nupon here; however, this seems plain to me (_viz._) that the _Devil_\nsoon learn'd to make Mankind understand him, whatever Language he spoke,\nand no doubt but he found Ways and Means to understand them, whatever\nLanguage they spoke.\n\nAfter the Confusion of Languages, the People necessarily sorted\nthemselves into Families and Tribes, every Family understanding their\nown particular Speech, and that only; and these Families multiplying\ngrew into Nations, and those Nations wanting Room, and seeking out\nHabitations wandred some this Way, some that, till they found out\nCountries respectively proper for their settling, and there they became\na Kingdom, spreading and possessing still more and more Land as their\nPeople encreased, till at last the whole Earth was scarce big enough for\nthem: This presented _Satan_ with an Opportunity to break in upon their\nMorals at another Door, (_viz._) their Pride; for Men being naturally\nProud and Envious, Nations and Tribes began to jostle with one another\nfor Room; either one Nation enjoy'd better Accommodations, or had a\nbetter Soil or a more favourable Climate than another; and these being\nnumerous and strong thrust the other out, and encroach'd upon their\nLand; the other liking their Situation, prepare for their Defence, and\nso began Oppression, Invasion, War, Battle and Blood, Satan all the\nwhile beating the Drums, and his Attendants clapping their Hands, as Men\ndo when they set Dogs on upon one another.\n\nThe bringing Mankind thus to _War_ and _Confusion_, as it was the first\nGame the Devil play'd after the confounding of Languages and Divisions\nat _Babel_ so it was a Conquest upon Mankind, purely devilish, born from\nHell, and so exactly tinctured with Satan's original Sin _Ambition_,\nthat it really transform'd Men into meer Devils; for when is Man\ntransform'd into the very Image of Satan himself, when is he turn'd into\na meer Devil, if it is not when he is fighting with his fellow\nCreatures and dipping his Hands in the Blood of his own Kind? Let his\nPicture be consider'd, the Fire of Hell flames or sparkles in his Eyes,\na voracious Grin sits upon his Countenance; Rage and Fury distort the\nMuscles of his Face; his Passions agitate his whole Body, and he is\nmetamorphos'd from a comely Beauteous angelic Creature into a _Fury_, a\n_Satyr_, a terrible and frightful Monster, nay, into a _Devil_; for\n_Satan_ himself is describ'd by the same Word which on his very Account\nis chang'd into a Substantive, and the Devils are call'd _Furies_.\n\nThis sowing the Seeds of Strife in the World, and bringing Nations to\nfight and make War upon one another, would take up a great Part of the\n_Devil_'s History, and abundance of extraordinary Things would occur in\nrelating the particulars; for there have been very great Conflagrations\nkindled in the World, by the Artifice of Hell, under this Head, (_viz._)\nof making War; in which it has been the _Devil_'s Master-piece, and he\nhas indeed shewn himself a Workman in it, that he has wheedled Mankind\ninto strange unnatural Notions of things, in order to propagate and\nsupport the fighting Principle in the World; such as Laws of War, fair\nFighting, behaving like Men of Honour, fighting at the last Drop, and\nthe like, by which killing and murdering is understood to be\njustifiable. Virtue and a true Greatness in Spirit is rated now by Rules\nwhich God never appointed, and the Standard of Honour is quite different\nfrom that of Reason and of Nature: Bravery is denominated not from a\nfearless undaunted Spirit in the just Defence of Life and Liberty, but\nfrom a daring Defiance of God and Man, fighting, killing and treading\nunder Foot his fellow Creatures, at the ordinary Command of the Officer,\nwhether it be right or wrong, and whether it be in a just Defence of\nLife, and our Country's Life, that is Liberty, or whether it be for the\nSupport of Injury and Oppression.\n\nA prudent avoiding causeless Quarrels is call'd Cowardice, and to take\nan affront Baseness, and Meanness of Spirit; to refuse fighting, and\nputting Life at a Cast on the Point of a Sword, a Practice forbid by the\nLaws of God and of all good Government, is yet call'd Cowardice; and a\nMan is bound to die duelling, or live and be laugh'd at.\n\nThis trumping up these imaginary Things call'd Bravery and Gallantry,\nnaming them Virtue and Honour, is all from the _Devil_'s new Management,\nand his subtil influencing the Minds of Men to fly in the Face of God\nand Nature, and to act against his Senses; nor but for his Artifice in\nthe Management, could it be possible that such Inconsistencies could go\ndown with Mankind, or they could pass such absurd Things among them for\nreasoning; for Example, A is found in Bed with B's Wife, B is the Person\ninjur'd, and therefore offended, and coming into the Chamber with his\nSword in his Hand, A exclaims loudly, _Why Sir, you won't murder me,\nwill you? as you are a Man of Honour let me rise and take my Sword_.\n\nA very good Story indeed! fit for no body but the Devil to put into any\nMan's Head; But so it is, B being put in mind, forsooth, that he is _a\nMan of Honour_, starts back and must act the honourable Part; so he lets\nA get up, put on his Clothes and take his Sword; then they fight, and B\nis kill'd for his Honour; whereas had the Laws of God, of Nature and of\nReason taken Place, the Adulterer and the Adulteress should have been\ntaken Prisoners and carried before the Judge, and being taken in the\nFact, should have been immediately sentenc'd, he to the Block and she to\nthe Stake, and the innocent abus'd Husband had no Reason to have run\nany Risque of his Life for being made a Cuckold.\n\nBut thus has _Satan_ abus'd the Reason of Man; and if a Man does me the\ngreatest Injury in the World, I must do my self Justice upon him, by\nventuring my life upon an even Lay with him, and must fight him upon\nequal Hazard, in which the injur'd Person is as often kill'd as the\nPerson offering the Injury: Suppose now it be in the same Case _as\nabove_, a Man abuses my Wife, and then to give me Satisfaction, tells\nme, he will fight me, which the _French_ call _doing me Reason_; _No\nSir_, say I, _let me lie with your Wife too, and then if you desire it,\nI may fight you; then I am upon even Terms with you_; but this indeed is\nthe Reasoning which the _Devil_ has brought Mankind too at this Day: But\nto go back to the Subject, _viz._ the Devil bringing the Nations to fall\nout, and to quarrel for Room in the World, and so to fight in order to\ndispossess one another of their Settlements: This began at a Time when\ncertainly there were Places enough in the World for every one to choose\nin, and therefore the _Devil_, not the want of Elbow-room, must be the\nOccasion of it; and 'tis carried on ever since, as apparently from the\nsame Interest, and by the same original.\n\nBut we shall meet with this Part again very often in the _Devil_'s\nStory, and as we bring him farther on in the Management of Mankind, I\ntherefore lay it by for the Present, and come to the next Steps the\n_Devil_ took with Mankind after the Confusion of Languages, and this was\nin the Affair of Worship; It does not appear yet that ever the _Devil_\nwas so bold, as either,\n\n1. To set himself up to be worship'd as a God, or which was still worse,\n\n2. To persuade Man to believe there was no God at all to worship.\n\nBoth these are introduc'd since the Deluge, _one_ indeed by the _Devil_,\nwho soon found Means to set himself up for a God in many Parts of the\nWorld, and holds it to this Day; but the _last_ is brought in by the\nInvention of Man, in which it must be confess'd Man has out-sin'd the\nDevil; for to do Satan justice, he never thought it could ever pass upon\nMankind, or that any Thing so gross would go down with them; so that,\n_in short_, these modern Casuists, in the Reach of our Days, have, _I\nsay_, out-sin'd the _Devil_.\n\nAs then both these are modern Inventions, _Satan_ went on gradually, and\nbeing to work upon human Nature by Stratagem, not by Force, it would\nhave been too gross to have set himself up as an Object of Worship at\nfirst, it was to be done Step by Step; _for Example_.\n\n     1. It was sufficient to bring Mankind to a Neglect of God, to\n     worship him by halves, and give little or no Regard to his Laws,\n     and so grow loose and immoral, in direct Contradiction to his\n     Commands; this would not go down with them at first, so the Devil\n     went on gradually.\n\n     2. From a Negligence in worshiping the true GOD, he by Degrees\n     introduc'd the worship of false GODs; and to introduce this he\n     began with the _Sun_, _Moon_, and _Stars_, call'd in the holy Text\n     the Host of Heaven; these had greater Majesty upon them, and seem'd\n     fitter to command the Homage of Mankind; so it was not the hardest\n     Thing in the World, to bring Men, when they had once forgotten the\n     true God, to embrace the Worship of such Gods as those.\n\n     3. Having thus debauch'd their Principles in Worship, and led them\n     from the true and only Object of Worship to a false, it was the\n     easier to carry them on; so in a few Gradations more he brought\n     them to downright Idolatry, and even in that Idolatry he proceeded\n     gradually too; for he began with awful Names, such as were\n     venerable in the Thoughts of Men, as BAAL or BELL, which, in\n     _Chaldaick_ and _Hebrew_, signifies Lord or Sovereign, or Mighty\n     and Magnificent, and this was therefore a Name ascrib'd at first to\n     the true God; but afterwards they descended to make Images and\n     Figures to represent him, and then they were call'd by the same\n     Name, as _Baal_, _Baalim_, and afterwards _Bell_; from which, by a\n     hellish Degeneracy, Saturn brought Mankind to adore every Block of\n     their own hewing, and to worshipping Stocks, Stones, Monsters,\n     Hobgoblins, and every sordid frightful Thing, and at last the\n     _Devil_ himself.\n\n\nWhat Notions some People may entertain of the Forwardness of the first\nAges of the World, to run into Idolatry, I do not enquire here; I know\nthey tell us strange Things, of its being the Product of meer Nature,\none remove from its primitive State; but I, who pretend to have so\ncritically enquir'd into _Satan_'s History, can assure you, and that\nfrom very good Authority, that the _Devil_ did not find it so easy a\ntask to obliterate the Knowledge of the true God, in the Minds and\nConsciences of Men, as those People suggest.\n\nIt is true he carried Things a great Length under the Patriarchal\nGovernment of the first Ages, but still he was sixteen hundred Years\nbringing it to pass; and tho' we have Reason to believe the old World,\nbefore the Flood was arrived to a very great Height of Wickedness, and\n_Ovid_ very nobly describes it by the War of the _Titans_ against\n_Jupiter_, yet we do not read that ever Satan was come to such a Length\nas to bring them to Idolatry; indeed we do read of Wars carried on among\nthem, whether it was one Nation against another, or only Personal, we\ncannot tell; But the World seem'd to be swallow'd up in a Life of\nWickedness, that is to say, of Luxury and Lewdness, Rapine and Violence,\nand there were _Giants_ among them, and Men of Renown, that is to say,\nMen fam'd for their mighty Valour, great Actions of War we may suppose,\nand their Strength, who personally oppos'd others. We read of no\nconsiderable Wars indeed, but 'tis not to be doubted but there was such\nWars, or else it is to be understood that they liv'd (in common) a Life\nsomewhat like the Brutes, the Strong devouring the Weak; for the Text\nsays, _the whole Earth was filled with Violence_, hunting and tearing\none another in Pieces, either for Dominion or for Wealth, either for\nAmbition or for Avarice, we know not well which.\n\nThus far the old Antediluvian World went, and very wicked they were,\nthere is no doubt of that; but we have Reason to believe that was no\nIdolatry, the _Devil_ had not brought them to that Length yet: perhaps\nit would soon have follow'd, but the Deluge interven'd.\n\nAfter the Deluge, _as I have said_, he had all his Work to do over\nagain, and he went on by the same Steps; _first_ he brought them to\nViolence and War, then to Oppression and Tyranny, then to neglect of\ntrue Worship, then to false worship, and then Idolatry by the meer\nnatural Consequence of the Thing; who were the first Nation or People\nthat fell from the Worship of the true God, is something hard to\ndetermine; the _Devil_, who certainly of all _God_'s Creatures is best\nable to inform us, having left us nothing upon Record upon that\nSubject, but we have Reason to believe it was thus introduc'd.\n\n_Nimrod_ was the Grandson of _Ham_, _Noah_'s second Son, the same who\nwas cursed by his Father for exposing him in his Drunkenness: This\n_Nimrod_ was the first who it seems _Satan_ pick'd out for a Hero: Here\nhe inspir'd him with ambitious Thoughts, dreams of Empire, and having\nthe Government of all the Rest, _that is to say_, universal Monarchy;\nthe very same Bait with which he has plaid upon the Frailty of Princes,\nand ensnar'd the greatest of them ever since, even from his most August\nImperial Majesty King _Nimrod_ the first, to his most Christian Majesty\n_Louis_ the XIV. and many a mighty Monarch between.\n\nWhen these mighty Monarchs and Men of Fame went off the Stage, the World\nhad their Memories in esteem many Ages after; and as their great Actions\nwere no otherwise recorded than by oral Tradition, and the Tongues and\nMemories of fallible Men, Time and the Custom of magnifying the past\nActions of Kings, Men soon fabl'd up their Histories, _Satan assisting_,\ninto Miracle and Wonder: Hence their Names were had in Veneration more\nand more; Statues and Bustoes representing their Persons and great\nActions were set up in public Places, till from Heroes and Champions\nthey made Gods of them, and thus (_Satan_ prompting) the World was\nquickly fill'd with Idols.\n\nThis _Nimrod_ is he, who according to the received Opinion, tho' I do\nnot find Satan's History exactly concurring with it, was first call'd\n_Belus_, then _Baal_, and worship'd in most of the eastern Countries\nunder those Names; sometimes with Additions of Sir-names, according to\nthe several countries, or People, or Towns where he was particularly\nset up, as _Baal Peor_, _Baal Zephon_, _Baal Phegor_, and in other\nPlaces plain _Baal_, as _Jupiter_ in after Times had the like Additions;\nas _Jupiter Ammon_, _Jupiter Capitolinus_, _Jupiter Pistor_, _Jupiter\nFeretrius_, and about ten or twelve _Jupiters_ more.\n\nI must acknowledge, that I think it was a Master-piece of Hell to bring\nthe World to Idolatry so soon after they had had such an eminent Example\nof the infinite Power of the true God, as was seen in the Deluge, and\nparticularly in the Escape of _Noah_ in the Ark, to bring them (even\nbefore _Noah_ or his Sons were dead) to forget whose Hand it was, and\ngive the Homage of the World to a Name, and that a Name of a mortal Man\ndead and rotten, who was famous for nothing when he was alive but Blood\nand War; I say, to bring the World to set up this Nothing, this meer\nName, nay the very Image and Picture of him for _a God_, it was _first_\na Mark of most prodigious Stupidity in the whole Race of Men, a\nmonstrous Degeneracy from Nature, and even from common Sense; and in the\nnext Place 'twas a token of an inexpressible Craft and Subtilty in the\n_Devil_, who had now gotten the People into so full and compleat a\nManagement, that in short, he could have brought them, by the same Rule,\nto have worship'd any thing; and in a little while more, did bring many\nof them to worship himself, _plain Devil as he was_, and knowing him to\nbe such.\n\nAs to the Antiquity of this horrible Defection of Mankind, tho' we do\nnot find the beginning of it particularly recorded, yet we are certain\nit was not long after the Confusion of _Babel_; for _Nimrod_, as is\nsaid, was no more than _Noah_'s great Grandson and _Noah_ himself, I\nsuppose, might be alive some Years after _Nimrod_ was born; and as\n_Nimrod_ was not long dead, before they forgot that he was a Tyrant and\na Murtherer, and made a _Baal_, that is a Lord or Idol of him, I say, he\nwas not long dead, for _Nimrod_ was born in the Year of the World 1847,\nand built _Babylon_ the Year 1879; and we find _Terah_ the Father of\n_Abraham_, who liv'd from the Year 1879 was an Idolater, as was\ndoubtless _Bethuel_, who was _Terah_'s Grandson; for we find _Laban_,\nwho was _Bethuel_'s Son, was so, and all this was during the Life of the\nfirst Post-Diluvian Family, for _Terah_ was born within one hundred\nninety three Years after the Flood, and one hundred fifty seven Years\nbefore _Noah_ was dead; and even _Abram_ himself was eight and fifty\nYears old before _Noah_ died, and yet Idolatry had been then, in all\nprobability, above an hundred Years practised in the World.\n\n     N. B. It is worth Remark here, what a terrible Advantage the Devil\n        gain'd by the debauching poor _Noah_, and drawing him into the Sin\n        of Drunkenness; for by this, as I said, he silenc'd and stop'd the\n        Mouth of the great Preacher of Righteousness, that Father and\n        Patriarch of the whole World, who not being able for the Shame of\n        his own foul Miscarriage, to pretend to instruct or reprove the\n        World any more, the _Devil_ took hold of them immediately, and for\n        want of a Prophet to warn and admonish, ran that little of Religion\n        which there might be left in _Shem_ and _Japhet_, quite out of the\n        World, and delug'd them all in IDOLATRY.\n\nHow long the whole World may be said to be thus overwhelm'd in Ignorance\nand Idolatry, we may make some tolerable guess at by the History of\n_Abraham_; for it was not till God call'd him from his Father's House,\nthat any such Thing as a Church was establish'd in the World; nor even\nthen, except in his own Family and Successors for almost four hundred\nYears after that Call; and till God brought the _Israelites_ back out of\n_Egypt_, the whole World may be said to be involv'd in Idolatry and\n_Devil_ worship.\n\nSo absolute a Conquest had the _Devil_ made over Mankind immediately\nafter the Flood, and all taking its Rise and Beginning at the fatal\nDefeat of _Noah_, who had he liv'd untainted and invulnerable, as he had\ndone for six hundred Years before, would have gone a great way to have\nstem'd the Torrent of Wickedness which broke in upon Mankind; and\ntherefore the _Devil_, I say, was very cunning and very much in the\nRight of it, take him as he is a meer _Devil_, to attack _Noah_\npersonally, and give him a Blow so soon.\n\nIt is true, the _Devil_ did not immediately raze out the Notion of\nReligion and of a GOD from the Minds of Men, nor could he easily\nsuppress the Principle of Worship and Homage to be paid to a Sovereign\nBeing, the Author of Nature and Guide of the World; the _Devil_ saw this\nclearly in the first Ages of the new World, and therefore, as I have\nsaid, he proceeded politically and by Degrees: That it was so, is\nevident from the Story of _Job_ and his three Friends, who, if we may\ntake it for a History, not a Fable, and may judge of the Time of it by\nthe Length of _Job_'s Life, and by the Family of _Eliphaz_ the\n_Temanite_, who it is manifest was at least Grandson or Great Grandson\nto _Esau Isaac_'s eldest Son, and by the Language of _Abimilech_ King of\n_Gerar_ to _Abraham_, and of _Laban_ to _Jacob_, both the Latter being\nat the same Time Idolaters; I say, if we may judge of it by all these,\nthere were still very sound Notions of Religion in the Minds of Men; nor\ncould Satan with all his Cunning and Policy deface those _Ideas_, and\nroot them out of the Minds of the People.\n\nAnd this put him upon taking new Measures to keep up his Interest and\npreserve the Hold he got upon Mankind; and his Method was like himself,\nsubtle and politick to the last Degree, as his whole History makes\nappear; for seeing he found they could not but believe the Being of a\nGod, and that they would needs worship something, it is evident, he had\nno Game left him to play but this, namely, to set up wrong Notions of\nWorship, and bring them to a false Worship instead of a True, supposing\nthe Object worship'd to be still the same.\n\nTo finish this Stratagem, he first insinuates that the true God was a\nterrible, a dreadful, unapproachable Being; that to see him was so\nfrightful, that it would be present Death; that to worship him\nimmediately, was a Presumption which would provoke his Wrath; and that\nas he was a _consuming Fire_ in himself, so he would burn up those in\nhis Anger that dar'd to offer up any Sacrifice to him, but by the\nInterposition of some Medium which might receive their Adorations in his\nName.\n\nHence it occur'd presently, that subordinate Gods were to be found out\nand set up, to whom the People might pay the Homage due to the supreme\nGod, and who they might worship in his Name; this I take from the most\nancient Account of Idolatry in the World; nor indeed could the Devil\nhimself find out any other Reason why Men should Cannonise or rather\nDeify their Princes and Men of Fame, and worship them after they were\ndead, as if they could save them from Death and Calamity, who were not\nable to save themselves when they were alive; much less could _Satan_\nbring Men to swallow so gross, so absurd a Thing as the bowing the Knee\nto a Stock or a Stone, a Calf, an Ox, a Lion, nay the Image or Figure\nof a Calf, such as the _Israelites_ made at Mount _Sinai_, and say,\n_These be thy Gods, O_ Israel, _who brought thee out of the Land of_\nEgypt.\n\nHaving thus, I say, brought them to satisfy themselves that they\nworship'd the true God and no other, under the Figures and Appearances\nwhich they made to represent him, it was easy after that to worship any\nthing for the true God; and thus in a few Ages they worship'd nothing\nbut Idols, even throughout the whole World; nor has the _Devil_ lost\nthis hold in some Parts of the World, nay not in most Parts of the World\nto this Day; He holds still all the Eastern Parts of _Asia_, and the\nSouthern Parts of _Africa_, and the Northern Parts of _Europe_, and in\nthem the vast Countries of _China_ and _Tartary_, _Persia_ and _India_,\n_Guinea_, _Ethiopia_, _Zanquebar_, _Congo_, _Angola_, _Monomotapa_, &c.\nin all which, _except Ethiopia_, we find no Vestiges of any other\nworship but that of Idols, Monsters, and even the _Devil_ himself; till\nafter the very coming of our Saviour, and even then, if it be true that\nthe Gospel was preach'd in the _Indies_ and _China_ by St. _Thomas_, and\nin other remote Countries by other of the Apostles; we see that whatever\nGround _Satan_ lost, he seems to have recovered it again; and all _Asia_\nand _Africa_ is at present overrun with Paganism or Mahometanism, which\nI think of the two is rather the worst; Besides all _America_, a Part of\nthe World, as some say, equal in Bigness to all the other, in which the\n_Devil_'s Kingdom was never interrupted from its first being inhabited,\n_whenever it was_, to the first Discovery of it by the _European_\nNations in the sixteenth Century.\n\nIn a Word, the _Devil_ got what we may call an entire Victory over\nMankind, and drove the Worship of the true God, in a Manner quite out\nof the World, forcing, _as it were_, his Maker in a new kind of\nCreation, the old one proving thus ineffectual to recover a certain\nNumber by Force and meer Omnipotence to return to their Duty, serve him\nand worship him; _But of that hereafter_.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XI.\n\n_Of God's calling a Church out of the midst of a degenerate World, and of\n     Satan's new Measures upon that Incident: How he attack'd them\n     immediately, and his Success in those Attacks._\n\n\n_Satan_ having, as I have said in the preceding Chapter, made, as it\nwere, a full Conquest of Mankind, debauch'd them all to Idolatry, and\nbrought them at least to worshiping the true God by the wretched Medium\nof corrupt and idolatrous Representations; God seem'd to have no true\nServants or Worshippers left in the World, but if I may be allow'd to\nspeak so, was oblig'd, in order to restore the World to their Senses\nagain, to call a select Number out from among the rest, who he himself\nundertook should own his Godhead or supreme Authority, and worship him\nas he requir'd to be worship'd; this, _I say_, God was oblig'd to do,\nbecause 'tis evident it has not been done so much by the Choice and\nCouncil of Men, _for Satan would have over-rul'd that Part_, as by the\nPower and Energy of some irresistible and invincible Operation, and this\nour Divines give high Names to; but be it what they will, it is the\nsecond Defeat or Disappointment that the _Devil_ he met with in his\nProgress in the World; the first I have spoken of already.\n\nIt is true, Satan very well understood what was threatn'd to him in the\noriginal Promise to the Woman, immediately after the Fall, namely, _thou\nshalt bruise his Head_, &c. but he did not expect it so suddenly, but\nthought himself sure of Mankind, till the Fullness of Time when the\nMessiah should come; and therefore it was a great Surprize to him, to\nsee that _Abraham_ being call'd was so immediately receiv'd and\nestablish'd, tho' he did not so immediately follow the Voice that\ndirected him, yet in him, in his Loins was all God's Church at that time\ncontain'd.\n\nIn the calling _Abraham_, it is easy to see that there was no other way\nfor God to form a Church, that is to say, to single out a People to\nhimself, as the World was then stated, but by immediate Revelation and a\nVoice from Heaven: All Mankind were gone over to the Enemy, overwhelmed\nin Idolatry, in a Word, were engag'd to the _Devil_; God Almighty, or as\nthe Scripture distinguishes him, _the Lord_, the true GOD, was out of\nthe Question; Mankind knew little or nothing of him, much less did they\nknow any thing of his Worship, or that there was such a Being in the\nWorld.\n\nWell might it be said the _Lord_ appeared to _Abraham_, Gen. xii. 7. for\nif God had not appear'd himself, he must have sent a Messenger from\nHeaven, _and perhaps it was so too_, for he had not one true Servant or\nWorshiper that we know of then on Earth, to send on that Errand; no\nProphet, no Preacher of Righteousness, _Noah_ was dead, and had been so\nabove seventeen Year; and if he had not, his preaching, as I observed\nafter his great Miscarriage, had but little Effect; we are indeed told,\nthat _Noah_ left behind him certain Rules and Orders for the true\nWorship of God, which were call'd the Precepts of _Noah_, and remain'd\nin the World for a long Time; tho' how written, when neither any\nLetters, much less Writing were known in the World, is a Difficulty\nwhich Remains to be solv'd; and this makes me look upon those Laws\ncall'd the Precepts of _Noah_ to be a modern Invention, as I do also the\n_Alphabetum Noachi_, which _Bochart_ pretends to give an Account of.\n\nBut to leave that Fiction, and come back to _Abraham_; God call'd him,\nwhether at first by Voice without any Vision, whether in a Dream or\nNight Vision, which was very Significant in those Days, or whether by\nsome awful Appearance, we know not; the second Time, 'tis indeed said\nexpressly GOD appeared to him; Be it which Way it will, GOD himself\ncall'd him, shew'd him the Land of _Canaan_, gave him the Promise of it\nfor his Posterity, and withal gave him such a Faith, that the _Devil_\nsoon found there was no room for him to meddle with _Abraham_. This is\ncertain, we do not read that the _Devil_ ever so much as attempted\n_Abraham_ at all; some will suggest that the Command to _Abraham_ to go\nand offer up his Son _Isaac_, was a Temptation of the _Devil_, if\npossible to defeat the glorious Work of GOD's calling a holy Seed into\nthe World; for the _first_, if _Abraham_ had disobey'd that Call, the\nnew Favourite had been overcome and made a Rebel of, or _secondly_, if\nhe had _obey'd_, then the promis'd Seed had been cut off, and _Abraham_\ndefeated; but as the Text is express that GOD himself proposed it to\n_Abraham_, I shall not start the Suggestions of the Criticks, in Bar of\nthe sacred Oracle.\n\nBe it one way or other, _Abraham_ shew'd a Hero-like Faith and Courage,\nand if the _Devil_ had been the Author of it, he had seen himself\ndisappointed in both his Views; (1.) by _Abraham_'s ready and bold\nCompliance, as believing it to be GOD's Command; and (2.) by the divine\nCountermand of the Execution, just as the fatal Knife was lifted up.\n\nBut if the _Devil_ left _Abraham_, and made no attack upon him, seeing\nhim invulnerable, he made himself amends upon the other Branch of his\nFamily, his poor _Nephew_ LOT; who, notwithstanding he was so\nimmediately under the particular Care of Heaven, as that the Angel who\nwas sent to destroy _Sodom_, could do nothing till he was out of it; and\nwho, tho' after he had left _Zoar_, and was retir'd into a Cave to\ndwell, yet the subtle _Devil_ found him out, deluded his two Daughters,\ntook an Advantage of the Fright they had been in about _Sodom_ and\n_Gomorrah_, made them believe the whole World was burnt too, as well as\nthose Cities, and that in short, they could never have any _Husbands_,\n&c. and so in their abundant Concern to repeople the World, and that the\nRace of Mankind might not be destroyed, they go and lie with their own\n_Father_; the _Devil_ telling them doubtless how to do it, by\nintoxicating his Head with Wine; in all which Story, whether they were\nnot as drunk as their Father, seems to be a Question, or else they could\nnot have supposed all the Men in the Earth were consum'd, when they knew\nthat the little City _Zoar_ had been preserv'd for their Sakes.\n\nThis now was the third Conquest _Satan_ obtain'd by the Gust of humane\nAppetite; that is to say, once by Eating and twice by Drinking, or\nDrunkenness, and still the last was the worst and most shameful; for\n_Lot_, however his Daughters manag'd him, could not pretend he did not\nunderstand what the Strength of Wine was; and one would have thought\nafter so terrible a Judgment as that of _Sodom_ was, which was, as we\nmay say, executed before his Face, his Thoughts should have been too\nsolemnly engag'd in praising God for sparing his Life, to be made drunk,\nand that two Nights together.\n\nBut the _Devil_ play'd his Game sure, he set his two Daughters to work,\nand as the _Devil_'s Instruments seldom fail, so he secur'd his by that\nhellish Stratagem of deluding the Daughters, to think all the World was\nconsum'd but they two and their Father: To be sure the old Man could not\nsuspect that his Daughters Design was so wicked as indeed it was, or\nthat they intended to debauch him with Wine, and make him drink till he\nknew not what he did.\n\nNow the _Devil_ having carried his Game here, gain'd a great Point; for\nas there were but two religious Families in the World before, from\nwhence a twofold Generation might be supposed to rise religious and\nrighteous like their Parents, (_viz._) that of _Abraham_ and this of\n_Lot_; this Crime ruin'd the Hopes of one of them; it could no more be\nsaid that just _Lot_ was in Being, who vex'd his _righteous Soul_ from\nDay to Day with the wicked Behaviour of the People of _Sodom_; righteous\n_Lot_ was degenerated into drunken incestuous _Lot_, LOT fallen from\nwhat he was, to be a wicked and unrighteous Man; no pattern of Virtue,\nno Reprover of the Age, but a poor fallen Degenerate Patriarch, who\ncould now no more reprove or exhort, but look down and be asham'd, and\nnothing to do but to repent; and see the poor mean Excuses of all the\nthree.\n\n     Eve says, _The Serpent beguil'd me, and I did eat_.\n\n     Noah says, ---- _My Grandson beguil'd me, or the Wine beguil'd me,\n     and I did drink_.\n\n     Lot says, _My Daughters beguil'd me, and I also did drink_.\n\n\nIt is observable, that as I said above, _Noah_ was silenc'd, and his\nPreaching at an End, after that one Action, so the like may be said of\n_Lot_; and in short, you never hear one Word more of either of them\nafter it; as for Mankind, both were useless to them, and as to\nthemselves, we never read of any of their Repentance, nor have we much\nReason to believe they did repent.\n\nFrom this Attack of the _Devil_ upon _Lot_, we hear no more of the\n_Devil_ being so busily employ'd as he had been before in the World; he\nhad indeed but little to do, for all the rest of the World was his own,\nlull'd asleep under the Witchcraft of Idolatry, and are so still.\n\nBut it could not be long that the _Devil_ lay idle; as soon as God\ncall'd himself a People, the _Devil_ could not be at Rest; till he\nattack'd them.\n\n  'Wherever God sets up a House of Prayer,\n  'The Devil always builds a Chapel there.\n\n\n_Abraham_ indeed went off the Stage free, and so did _Isaac_ too, they\nwere a Kind of first Rate Saints; we do not so much as read of any\nfailing they had, or of any Thing the _Devil_ had ever the Face to offer\nto them; no, or with _Jacob_ either, if you will excuse him for\nbeguiling his Brother _Esau_, of both his Birthright and his Blessing,\nbut he was busy enough with all his Children; for Example,\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n  He sent _Judah_ to his Sheep-shearing, and placed a Whore (_Tamar_)\n     in his Way, in the Posture of Temptation, so made him commit\n     Incest and Whoredom both together.\n\n  He sent incestuous _Reuben_ to lie with his Father's Concubine\n     _Billah_.\n\n  He sent _Dinah_ to the Ball, to dance with the _Sichemite_ Ladies,\n     and play the Whore with their Master.\n\n  He enrag'd _Simeon_ and _Levi_, at the supposed Injury, and then\n     prompted them to Revenge, for which their Father heartily cursed\n     them.\n\n  He set them all together to fall upon poor _Joseph_, first to\n     murther him intentionally, and then actually sell him to the\n     _Midianites_.\n\n  He made them shew the Party-colour'd Coat, and tell a lie to their\n     Father, to make the poor old Man believe _Joseph_ was kill'd by a\n     Lion, _&c._\n\n  He sent _Potiphar_'s Wife to attack _Joseph_'s Chastity, and fill'd\n     her with Rage at the Disappointment.\n\n  He taught _Joseph_ to swear by the Life of _Pharoah_.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn a Word, he debauch'd the whole Race, except _Benjamin_, and never Man\nhad such a Set of Sons, so wicked and so notorious, after so good an\nIntroduction into the World as they all of them had, _to be sure_; for\n_Jacob_, no doubt, gave them as good Instruction as the Circumstances of\nhis wandring Condition would allow him to do.\n\nWe must now consider the _Devil_ and his Affairs in a quite differing\nSituation: When the World first appeared peopled by the creating Power\nof God, he had only _Adam_ and _Eve_ to take care of, and I think he\nply'd his Time with them to purpose enough: After the Deluge he had\n_Noah_ only to pitch upon, and he quickly conquer'd him by the\nInstigation of his _Grandson_.\n\nAt the Building of _Babel_ he guided them by their acting all in a Body\nas one Man; so that in short he manag'd them with ease, taking them as a\nBody politic; and we find they came into his Snare as one Man; but Now,\nthe Children of _Israel_ multiplying in the Land of their Bondage, and\nGod seeming to shew a particular Concern for them, the _Devil_ was\noblig'd to new Measures, stand at a Distance, and look on for some Time.\n\nThe _Egyptians_ were plagued even without his Help, nor tho' the cunning\nArtist, as I said, stood and looked on, yet he durst not meddle; nor\ncould he make a few Lice, the least and meanest of the Armies of Insects\nraised to afflict the _Egyptians_.\n\nHowever, when he perceiv'd that God resolved to bring the _Israelites_\nout, he prepar'd to attend them, to watch them, and be at Hand upon all\nthe wicked Occasions that might offer, as if he had been fully satisfied\nsuch Occasions would offer, and that he should not fail to have an\nOpportunity to draw them into some Snare or another, and that therefore\nit was his Business not to be out of the Way, but to be ready (as we\nsay) to make his Market of them in the best Manner he could: How many\nWays he attempted them, nay, how many Times he conquer'd them in their\nJourney, we shall see presently.\n\nFirst he put them in a fright at _Baal-Zephon_, where he thought he had\ndrawn them into a Noose, and where he sent _Pharoah_ and his Army to\nblock them up between the Mountains of _Piahiroth_ and the _Red Sea_;\nbut there indeed _Satan_ was outwitted by _Moses_, so far as it appeared\nto be a humane Action, for he little thought of their going dry footed\n_thro' the Sea_, but depended upon having them all cut in Pieces the\nnext Morning by the _Egyptians_; an eminent Proof, _by the Way_, that\nthe _Devil_ has _no Knowledge of Events_, or any Insight into Futurity;\nnay that he has not so much as a second Sight, or knows to Day what his\nMaker intends to do to Morrow; for had _Satan_ known that God intended\nto Ford them over the Sea, if he had not been able to have prevented the\nMiracle, he would certainly have prevented the Escape, by sending out\n_Pharoah_ and his Army time enough to have taken the Strand before them,\nand so have driven them to the Necessity of travelling on Foot round the\nNorth Point of that Sea, by the Wilderness of _Etan_, where he would\nhave pursu'd and harrass'd them with his Cavalry, and in all Probability\nhave destroy'd them: But the blind short-sighted Devil, perfectly in the\nDark, and unacquainted with Futurity, knew nothing of the Matter, was as\nmuch deceiv'd as _Pharoah_ himself, stood still flattering himself with\nthe Hopes of his Booty, and the Revenge he should take upon them the\nnext Morning; till he saw the frighted Waves in an Uproar, and to his\nutter Astonishment and Confusion saw the Passage laid open, and _Moses_\nleading his vast Army in full March over the dry Space; nay even then\n'tis very propable Satan did not know that if the _Egyptians_ follow'd\nthem, the Sea would return upon and overwhelm them; for I can hardly\nthink so hard of the _Devil_ himself, that if he had, he would have\nsuffer'd, much less prompted _Pharoah_ to follow the Chase at such an\nExpence; so that either he must be an ignorant unforeseeing Devil, or a\nvery ungrateful false _Devil_ to his Friends the _Egyptians_.\n\nI am enclin'd also to the more charitable Opinion of Satan too, because\nthe Escape of the _Israelites_ was really a Triumph over himself; for\nthe War was certainly his, or at least he was auxiliary to _Pharoah_,\nit was a Victory over _Hell_ and _Egypt_ together, and he would never\nhave suffer'd the Disgrace, if he had known it beforehand; that is to\nsay, tho' he could not have prevented the Escape of _Israel_, or the\ndividing the Water, yet he might have warn'd the _Egyptians_, and\ncautioned them not to venture in after them.\n\nBut we shall see a great many weak Steps taken by the Devil in the\nAffair of this very People and their forty Years Wandring in the\nWilderness; and tho' he was in some things successful, and wheedled them\ninto many foolish and miserable Murmurings and Wranglings against God,\nand Mutinies against poor _Moses_, yet the _Devil_ was oftentimes\nbaulk'd and disappointed; and 'tis for this Reason that I choose to\nfinish the first Part of his History with the particular Relation of his\nBehaviour among the _Jews_, because also, we do not find any\nextraordinary Things happening any where else in the World for above one\nthousand five hundred Years, no Variety, no Revolutions; all the Rest of\nMankind lay still under his Yoke, quietly submitted to his Government,\ndid just as he bad them, worship'd every Idol he set up, and in a Word,\nhe had no Difficulty with any Body but the _Jews_, and for this Reason,\nI say, this Part of his Story will be the more useful and instructing.\n\nTo return therefore to _Moses_ and his dividing the _Red Sea_; that the\nPeople went over or thro' it, that we have the sacred History for; but\nhow the Devil behav'd, that you must come to me for, or I know not where\nyou will find a true Account of it, at least not in Print.\n\n1. It was in the Night they march'd thro', whether the _Devil_ saw it in\nthe Dark or no, that's not my Business.\n\nBut when he had Day-Light for it, and view'd the next Day's Work, I make\nno Question but _all Hell felt the Surprise_, the Prey being thus\nsnatch'd out of their Hands unexpectedly. 'Tis true the _Egyptians_ Host\nwas sent to him in their Room, but that was not what he aim'd at; for he\nwas sure enough of them his own Way, and if it was not _just at that\nTime_, yet he knew what and who they were; but as he had devour'd the\nwhole _Israelitish_ Host in his Imagination, to the Tune of at least a\nMillion and a half of Souls; Men, Women and Children; it was, no doubt,\na great Disappointment to the Devil to miss of his Prey, and to see them\nall triumphing on the other Side in Safety.\n\nIt is true, _Satan_'s Annals do not mention this Defeat, for Historians\nare generally backward to register their own Misfortunes; but as we have\nan Account of the Fact from other Hands, so as we cannot question the\nTruth of it; the Nature of the Thing will tell us it was a\nDisappointment to the _Devil_, and a very great one too.\n\nI cannot but observe here, that I think this Part of the _Devil_'s Story\nvery entertaining, because of the great Variety of Incidents which\nappear in every Part of it; sometimes he is like a hunted Fox,\ncurvetting and counter-running to avoid his being pursued and found out,\nwhile at the same time he is carrying on his secret Designs to draw the\nPeople he pretends to manage, into some Snare or other to their Hurt; at\nanother time, tho' the Comparison is a little too low for his Dignity,\nlike a Monkey that has done Mischief, and who making his own Escape sits\nand chatters at a Distance, as if he had triump'd in what he had done;\nso Satan, when he had drawn them in to worship a Calf, to offer strange\nFire, to set up a Schism, and the like; and so to bring the Divine\nVengeance upon themselves, leaving them in their Distress, kept at a\nDistance, as if he look'd on with Satisfaction to see them Burnt,\nswallow'd up, swept away, and the like; as the several Stories relate.\n\nHis indefatigable Vigilance is, on the other hand, a useful Caveat, as\nwell as an improving View to us; no sooner is he routed and expos'd,\ndefeated and disappointed in one Enterprize, but he begins another, and,\nlike a cunning Gladiator, warily defends himself, and boldly attacks his\nEnemy at the same time. Thus we see him, up and down, conquering and\nconquered, thro' this whole Part of his Story, till at last he receives\na total Defeat; of which you shall hear in its place: In the mean time,\nlet us take up his Story again at the _Red Sea_, where he receiv'd a\ngreat Blow, instead of which he expected a compleat Victory; for\ndoubtless the Devil and the King of _AEgypt_ too, thought of nothing but\nConquest at _Piahiroth_.\n\nHowever, tho' the Triumph of the _Israelites_ over the _Egyptians_ must\nneeds be a great Mortification to the _Devil_, and exasperated him very\nmuch, yet the Consequence was only this, _viz._ that _Satan_, like an\nEnemy who is baulk'd and defeated, but not overcome, redoubles his Rage,\nand reinforces his Army, and what the _Egyptians_ could not do for him,\nhe resolves to do for himself; in order then to take his Opportunity for\nwhat Mischief might offer, being defeated, and provok'd, I say, at the\nSlur that was put upon him, he resolves to follow them into the\nWilderness, and many a vile Prank he plaid them there; as first, he\nstraitens them for Water, and makes them murmur against GOD, and against\n_Moses_, within a very few Days, nay, Hours, of their great Deliverance\nof all.\n\nNor was this all, but in less than one Year more we find them, (at his\nInstigation too) setting up a _golden Calf_, and making all the People\ndance about it at Mount _Sinai_; even when God himself had but just\nbefore appear'd to them in the Terrors of a burning Fire upon the Top of\nthe Mountain; _and what was the Pretence?_ Truly, nothing but that they\nhad lost _Moses_, who used to be their Guide, and he had hid himself in\nthe Mount, and had not been seen in forty Days, so that they could not\ntell what was become of him. This put them all into Confusion; a poor\nPretence indeed, to turn them all back to Idolatry! but the _watchful\nDevil_ took the Hint, push'd the Advantage, and insinuated that they\nshould never see _Moses_ again, that he was certainly devour'd by\nventuring too near the Flashes of Fire in the Mount, and presuming upon\nthe Liberty he had taken before; in a word, that God had destroyed\n_Moses_, or he was starved to Death for want of Food, having been forty\nDays and forty Nights absent.\n\nAll these were, it's true, in themselves most foolish Suggestions,\nconsidering _Moses_ was admitted to the Vision of God, and that God had\nbeen pleased to appear to him in the most intimate manner; that as they\nmight depend God would not destroy his faithful Servant, so they might\nhave concluded he was able to support his Being without Food as long as\nhe thought fit; but to a People so easy to believe any thing, what could\nbe too gross for the _Devil_ to persuade them to?\n\nA People who could dance round a Calf, and call it their God, might do\nany thing; that could say to one another, that this was the Great\nJEHOVAH, _that brought them out of the Land of Egypt_; and that within\nso few Days after God's miraculous Appearance to them, and for them; I\nsay, such a People were really fitted to be imposed upon, nothing could\nbe too gross for them.\n\nThis was indeed his first considerable Experiment upon them as _a\nPeople_, or as _a Body_; and the Truth is, his Affairs requir'd it, for\n_Satan_, who had been a Successful Devil in most of his Attempts upon\nMankind, could hardly doubt of Success in any thing after he had carried\nhis Point at Mount _Sinai_: To bring them to Idolatry in the very Face\nof their Deliverer, and just after their Deliverance! It was more\nastonishing in the main than even their passing _the Red Sea_: In a\nWord, the _Devil_'s whole History does not furnish us with a Story\nequally surprising.\n\nAnd how was poor _Aaron_ bewilder'd in it too? He that was _Moses_'s\nPartner in all the great Things that _Moses_ did in _Pharaoh_'s Sight,\nand that was appointed to be his Assistant and Oracle, _or Orator\nrather_, upon all public Occasions; that he, above all the rest, should\ncome into this absurd and ridiculous Proposal, he that was singled out\nfor the sacred Priesthood, for him to defile his holy Hands with a\npolluted abominable Sacrifice, and with making the Idol for them too,\n(for 'tis plain that he made it,) how monstrous it was!\n\nAnd see what an Answer he gives to his Brother _Moses_, how weak! how\nsimple! _I did so and so, indeed_, I bad them bring the Ear-rings, _&c._\nand I cast the Gold into the Fire, and _it came out this Calf_.\nRidiculous! as if the Calf came out by meer fortuitous Adventure,\nwithout a Mould to cast it in; which could not be supposed: And if it\nhad not come out so without a Mould, _Moses_ would certainly have known\nof it; had _Aaron_ been innocent, he would have answered after quite\nanother manner, and told _Moses_ honestly that the whole Body of the\nPeople came to him in a Fright, that they forced him to make them an\nIdol; which he did, by making first a proper Mould to cast it in, and\nthen taking the proper Metal to cast it from: That indeed he had sinn'd\nin so doing, but that he was mobb'd into it, and the People terrified\nhim, perhaps they threatned to kill him; and if he had added, that the\n_Devil_ prompting his Fear beguil'd him, he had said nothing but what\nwas certainly true; for if it was in Satan's Power to make the People\ninsolent and outrageous enough to threaten and bully the old venerable\nProphet (_for he was not yet a Priest_) who was the Brother of their\nOracle _Moses_, and had been Partner with him in so many of his\nCommissions; I say, if he cou'd bring up the Passions of the People to a\nHeight to be rude and unmannerly to him (_Aaron_) and perhaps to\nthreaten and insult him, he may be easily suppos'd to be able to\nintimidate _Aaron_, and terrify him into a Compliance.\n\nSee this cunning Agent, when he has Man's Destruction in his View, how\nsecurely he acts! he never wants a handle; the best of Men have one weak\nplace or other, and he always finds it out, takes the Advantage of it,\nand conquers them by one Artifice or another; only take it with you as\nyou go, 'tis always _by Stratagem_, never _by Force_; a Proof that he is\nnot empower'd to use Violence: He may tempt, and he does prevail; but\n'tis all _Legerdemain_, 'tis all Craft and Artifice, he is still Diabole,\nthe _Calumniator_ and Deceiver, that is, the Misrepresenter; he\nmisrepresents _Man_ to GOD, and misrepresents GOD to _Man_, also he\nmisrepresents Things; he puts false Colours, and then manages the Eye to\nsee them with an imperfect View, raising Clouds and Fogs to intercept\nour Sight; in short, he deceives all our Senses, and imposes upon us in\nThings which otherwise would be the easiest to discern and judge of.\n\nThis indeed is in part the Benefit of the _Devil_'s History, to let us\nsee that he has used the same Method all along; and that ever since he\nhas had any thing to do with Mankind, he has practis'd upon them with\nStratagem and Cunning; also 'tis observable that he has carried his\nPoint better that way than he would have done by Fury and Violence, if\nhe had been allowed to make use of it; for by his Power indeed he might\nhave laid the World desolate, and made a Heap of Rubbish of it long ago;\nbut, as I have observed before, that would not have answered his Ends\nhalf so well, for by destroying Men he would have made Martyrs, and sent\nabundance of good Men to Heaven, who would much rather have died, than\nyielded to serve him, and, as he aimed to have it, to fall down and\nworship him; I say, he would have made Martyrs, and that not a few: But\nthis was none of _Satan_'s Business; his Design lies quite another Way;\nhis Business is to make Men _sin_, not to make them _suffer_; to make\n_Devils_ of them, not _Saints_; to delude them, and draw them away from\ntheir Maker, not send them away to him; and therefore he works by\nStratagem, not by Force.\n\nWe are now come to his Story, as it relates to the _Jewish_ Church in\nthe Wilderness, and to the Children of _Israel_ in their travelling\nCircumstances; and this was the first Scene of publick Management that\nthe Devil had upon his Hands in the World; for, as I have said, _till\nnow_, he dealt with Mankind either in their separate Condition, one by\none, or else carried all before him, engrossing whole Nations in his\nSystems of Idolatry, and overwhelming them in an ignorant Destruction.\n\nBut having now a whole People as it were snatch'd away from him, taken\nout of his Government, and, which was still worse, having a View of a\nKingdom being set up independent of him, and superior to his Authority,\nit is not to be wondred at if he endeavour'd to overthrow them in the\nInfancy of their Constitution, and tried all possible Arts to bring them\nback into his own Hands again.\n\nHe found them not only carried away from the Country where they were\neven in his Clutches, surrounded with Idols, and where we have Reason to\nbelieve the greatest part of them were polluted with the Idolatry of the\n_Egyptians_; for we do not read of any stated Worship which they had of\ntheir own, or if they did worship the true God, we scarce know in what\nmanner they did it; they had no Law given them, nothing but the Covenant\nof Circumcision, and even _Moses_ himself had not strictly observ'd\nthat, till he was frighted into it; we read of no Sacrifices among them,\nno Feasts were ordain'd, no solemn Worship appointed, and how, or in\nwhat manner they perform'd their Homage, we know not; the Passover was\nnot ordain'd till just at their coming away; so that there was not much\nReligion among them, at least that we have any Account of; and we may\nsuppose the _Devil_ was pretty easy with them all the while they were in\nthe House of their Bondage.\n\nBut now, to have a Million of People fetch'd out of his Hands, as it\nwere all at once, and to have the immediate Power of Heaven engaged in\nit, and that _Satan_ saw evidently God had singled them out in a\nmiraculous manner to favour them, and call them _his own_; this allarm'd\nhim at once, and therefore he resolves to follow them, lay close Siege\nto them, and take all the Measures possible to bring them to rebel\nagainst, and disobey GOD, that he might be provok'd to destroy them; and\nhow near he went to bring it to pass, we shall see presently.\n\nThis making a Calf, and paying an idolatrous Worship to it (for they\nacted the Heathens and Idolaters, not in the setting up the Calf only,\nbut in the manner of their Worshiping, _viz._ _Dancing_ and _Musick_,\nThings they had not been acquainted with in the Worship of the true God)\nI mention here, to observe how the Devil not only imposed upon their\nPrinciples, but upon their Senses too; as if the awful Majesty of\nHeaven, whose Glory they had seen in Mount _Sinai_, where they stood,\nand whose Pillar of Cloud and Fire was their Guide and Protection, would\nbe worship'd by dancing round a Calf! and that not a living Creature, or\na real Calf, but the mere Image of a _Calf_ cast in Gold, or, as some\nthink, in Brass gilded over.\n\nBut this was the _Devil_'s Way with Mankind, namely, to impose upon\ntheir Senses, and bring them into the grossest Follies and Absurdities;\nand then, having first made them Fools, it was much the easier to make\nthem Offenders.\n\nIn this very manner he acted with them thro' all the Course of their\nWilderness Travels; for as they were led by the Hand like Children,\ndefended by Omnipotence, fed by Miracles, instructed immediately from\nHeaven, and in all things had _Moses_ for their Guide; they had no room\nto miscarry, but by acting the greatest Absurdities, and committing the\ngreatest Follies in Nature; and even these, the _Devil_ brought them to\nbe guilty of, in a surprising manner: 1. As GOD himself reliev'd them in\nevery Exigence, and supply'd them in every Want, one would think 'twas\nimpossible they should be ever brought to question either his\nWillingness or his Ability, and yet they really objected against both;\nwhich was indeed very provoking, and I doubt not, that when the _Devil_\nhad brought them to act in such a preposterous Manner, he really hoped\nand believed God would be provok'd effectually: The Testimonies of his\nCare of them, and Ability to supply them, were miraculous and\nundeniable; he gave them Water from the Rock, Bread from the Air, sent\nthe Fowls to feed them with Flesh, and supported them all the Way by\nMiracles; their Health was preserv'd, none were sick among them, their\nclothes did not wear out, nor their Shoes grow old upon their Feet;\ncould any thing be more absurd, than to doubt whether he could provide\nfor them who had never let them want for so many Years?\n\nBut the _Devil_ managed them in spight of Miracles; nor did he ever give\nthem over till he had brought six hundred thousand of them to provoke\nGod so highly that he would not suffer above two of them to go into the\nLand of Promise; so that in short, Satan gained his Point as to that\nGeneration, for all their Carcasses fell in the Wilderness. Let us take\nbut a short View to what a Height he brought 'em, and in what a rude,\nabsurd Manner they acted; how he set them upon murmuring upon every\nOccasion, now for Water, then for Bread; nay, they murmured _at their\nBread_ when they had it; _Our Soul loaths this light Bread._\n\nHe sow'd the Seeds of Church-Rebellion in the Sons of _Aaron_, and made\n_Nadab_ and _Abihu_ offer strange Fire till they were strangely consumed\nby Fire for the doing it.\n\nHe set them a complaining at _Taberah_, and a lusting for Flesh at the\nfirst three Days Journey from Mount _Sinai_.\n\nHe planted Envy in the Hearts of _Miriam_ and _Aaron_, against the\nAuthority of _Moses_, to pretend GOD had spoke by them as well as by\nhim, till he humbled the Father, and made a Leper of the Daughter.\n\nHe debauch'd ten of the Spies, frighted them with sham Appearances of\nThings, when they went out to search the Land; and made them fright the\nwhole People out of their Understanding as well as Duty, for which six\nhundred thousand of their Carcasses fell in the Wilderness.\n\nHe rais'd the Rebellion of _Korah_, and the two hundred and fifty\nPrinces, till he brought them to be swallowed up alive.\n\nHe put _Moses_ into a Passion at _Meribah_, and ruffled the Temper of\nthe meekest Man upon Earth, by which he made both him and _Aaron_\nforfeit their Share of the Promise, and be shut out from the _Holy\nLand_.\n\nHe rais'd a Mutiny among them when they travelled from Mount _Hor_, till\nthey brought fiery Serpents among them to destroy them.\n\nHe tried to make _Baalim_ the Prophet curse them, but there the _Devil_\nwas disappointed: However, he brought the _Midianites_ to debauch them\nwith Women, as in the Case of _Zimri_ and _Cosbi_.\n\nHe tempted _Achan_ with the Wedge of Gold, and the _Babylonish_ Garment,\nthat he might take of the accursed thing, and be destroy'd.\n\nHe tempted the whole People, not effectually to drive out the cursed\nInhabitants of the Land of Promise, that they might remain, and be Goads\nin their Sides, till at last they often oppress'd them for their\nIdolatry; and, which was worse, debauched them to Idolatry.\n\nHe prompted the _Benjamites_ to refuse Satisfaction to the People, in\nthe Case of the Wickedness of the Men of _Gibeah_, to the Destruction of\nthe whole Tribe, four hundred Men excepted in the Rock _Rimmon_.\n\nAt last he tempted them to reject the Theocracy of their Maker, and call\nupon _Samuel_ to make them a King; and most of those Kings he made\nPlagues and Sorrows to them in their time, as you shall hear in their\nOrder.\n\nThus he plagued the whole Body of the People continually, making them\nsin against God, and bring Judgments upon themselves, to the consuming\nsome Millions of them, first and last, by the Vengeance of their Maker.\n\nAs he did with the whole Congregation, so he did with their Rulers, and\nseveral of the Judges, who were made Instruments to deliver the People,\nyet were drawn into snares by this _subtil Serpent_, to ruin themselves\nor the People they had delivered.\n\nHe tempted _Gideon_ to make an _Ephod_, contrary to the Law of the\nTabernacle, and made the Children of _Israel_ go a whoring (that is, a\nworshiping) after it.\n\nHe tempted _Sampson_ to debauch himself with a Harlot, and betray his\nown happy Secret to a Whore, at the Expence of both his Eyes, and at\nlast of his Life.\n\nHe tempted _Eli_'s Sons to lie with the Women, in the very Doors of the\nTabernacle, when they came to bring their Offerings to the Priest; and\nhe tempted poor _Eli_ to connive at them, or not sufficiently reprove\nthem.\n\nHe tempted the People to carry the Ark of God into the Camp, that it\nmight fall into the Hands of the _Philistines_. And\n\nHe tempted _Uzzi_ to reach out his Hand to hold it up; as if he that had\npreserved it in the House of _Dagon_ the Idol of the _Philistines_,\ncould not keep it from falling out of the Cart.\n\nWhen the People had gotten a King, he immediately set to work in diverse\nWays to bring that King to load them with Plagues and Calamities not a\nfew.\n\nHe tempted _Saul_ to spare the King of _Amaliek_, contrary to God's\nexpress Command.\n\nHe not tempted _Saul_ only, but possessed him with an evil Spirit, by\nwhich he was left to wayward Dispositions, and was forced to have it\nfiddl'd out of him with a Minstrel.\n\nHe tempted _Saul_ with a Spirit of Discontent, and with a Spirit of Envy\nat poor _David_, to hunt him like a Partridge upon the Mountains.\n\nHe tempted _Saul_ with a Spirit of Divination, and sent him to a Witch\nto enquire of _Samuel_ for him; as if God would help him when he was\ndead, that had forsaken him when he was alive.\n\nAfter that, he tempted him to kill himself, on a Pretence that he might\nnot fall into the Hands of the Uncircumcised; as if _Self-Murther_ was\nnot half so bad, either for Sin against God, or Disgrace among Men, as\nbeing taken Prisoner by _a Philistine_! A Piece of Madness none but the\n_Devil_ could have brought Mankind to submit to, tho' some Ages after\nthat, he made it a Fashion among the _Romans_.\n\nAfter _Saul_ was dead, and _David_ came to the Throne, by how much he\nwas a Man chosen and particularly savoured by Heaven, the _Devil_ fell\nupon him with the more Vigour, attack'd him so many Ways, and conquer'd\nhim so very often, that as no Man was so good a King, so hardly any good\nKing was ever a worse Man; in many Cases one would have almost thought\nthe _Devil_ had made Sport with _David_, to shew how easily he could\noverthrow the best Man _God_ could choose of the whole Congregation.\n\nHe made him distrust his Benefactor so much as to feign himself mad\nbefore the King of _Gath_, when he had fled to him for Shelter.\n\nHe made him march with his four hundred Cut-throats, to cut off poor\n_Nabal_, and all his Houshold, only because he would not send him the\ngood Chear he had provided for his honest Sheep-shearers.\n\nHe made him, for his Word's sake, give _Ziba_ half his Master's Estate\nfor his Treachery, after he knew he had been the Traitor, and betray'd\npoor _Mephibosheth_ for the sake of it; in which\n\n  'The good old King, it seems, was very loth\n  'To break his Word, and therefore broke his Oath.\n\n\nThen he tempted him to the ridiculous Project of numbring the People,\ntho' against God's express Command; a Thing _Joab_ himself was not\nwicked enough to do, till _David_ and the _Devil_ forc'd him to it.\n\nAnd to make him compleatly wicked, he carried him to the Top of his\nHouse, and shew'd him a naked Lady bathing her self in her Garden, in\nwhich it appear'd that the _Devil_ knew _David_ too well, and what was\nthe particular Sin of his Inclination; and so took him by the Right\nHandle; drawing him at once into the Sins of _Murther_ and _Adultery_.\n\nThen, that he might not quite give him over, (tho' _David_'s Repentance\nfor the last Sin kept the _Devil_ off for a while) when he could attack\nhim no farther personally he fell upon him in his Family, and made him\nas miserable as he could desire him to be, in his Children, three of\nwhom he brought to Destruction before his Face, and another after his\nDeath.\n\nFirst, he tempted _Ammon_ to ravish his Sister _Tamar_; so, there was an\nEnd of her (_poor Girl!_) as to this World, for we never hear any more\nof her.\n\nThen he tempted _Absalom_ to murther his Brother _Amnon_, in Revenge for\n_Tamar_'s Maidenhead.\n\nThen he made _Joab_ run _Absalom_ thro' the Body, contrary to _David_'s\nCommand.\n\nAnd after _David_'s Death he brought _Adonija_ (weak Man!) to the Block,\nfor usurping King _Solomon_'s Throne.\n\nAs to _Absalom_, he tempted him to Rebellion, and raising War against\nhis Father, to the turning him shamefully out of _Jerusalem_, and almost\nout of the Kingdom.\n\nHe tempted him, for _David_'s farther Mortification, to lie with his\nFather's Wives, in the Face of the whole City; and had _Achitophel_'s\nhonest Council been follow'd, he had certainly sent him to Sleep with\nhis Fathers, long before his time--But there _Satan_ and _Achitophel_\nwere both out-witted together.\n\nThro' all the Reigns of the several Successors of _David_, the _Devil_\ntook care to carry on his own Game, to the continual insulting the\nMeasures which God himself had taken for the establishing his People in\nthe World, and especially as a Church; till at last he so effectually\ndebauch'd them to Idolatry; that Crime which of all others was most\nprovoking to GOD, as it was carrying the People away from their\nAllegiance, and transposing the Homage they ow'd God their Maker, to a\ncontemptible Block of Wood, or an Image of a brute Beast; and this how\nsordid and brutish soever it was in it self, yet so did his Artifice\nprevail among them, that, first or last, he brought them all into it,\nthe ten Tribes as well as the two Tribes; till at last God himself was\nprovoked to unchurch them, gave them up to their Enemies, and the few\nthat were left of them, after incredible Slaughters and Desolation,\nwere hurried away, some into _Tartary_, and others into _Babylon_, from\nwhence very few, of that few that were carried away, ever found their\nWay Home again; and some, when they might have come, would not accept of\nit, but continued there to the very coming of the Messiah. See Epistles\nof St. _James_ and of St. _Peter_, at the Beginning.\n\nBut to look a little back upon this Part (for it cannot be omitted, it\nmakes so considerable a Part of the _Devil_'s History) I mean his\ndrawing God's People, Kings and all, into all the Sins and Mischiefs\nwhich gradually contributed to their Destruction.\n\nFirst, (_for he began immediately with the very best and wisest of the\nRace_) he drew in King _Solomon_, in the midst of all his Zeal for the\nbuilding God's House, and for the making the most glorious and\nmagnificent Appearance for God's Worship that ever the World saw; I say,\nin the middle of all this, he drew him into such immoderate and\ninsatiable an Appetite for Women, as to set up the first, and perhaps\nthe greatest _Seraglio_ of Whores that ever any Prince in the World had,\nor pretended to before; nay, and to bring whoring so much into\nReputation, that, as the Text says, seven hundred of them were\nPrincesses; that is to say, Ladies of Quality: Not as the Grand\nSeigniors, and Great Moguls, (other Princes of the Eastern World) have\nsince practised, namely, to pick up their most beautiful Slaves; but\nthese, it seems, were Women of Rank, King's Daughters, as _Pharaoh_'s\nDaughter, and the Daughters of the Princes and prime Men among the\n_Moabites_, _Ammonites_, _Zidonians_, _Hittites_, &c. 1 _Kings_ xi. 1.\n\nNor was this all; but as he drew him into the Love of these forbidden\nWomen (_for such they were, as to their Nation, as well as Number_) so\nhe ensnar'd him by those Women to a Familiarity with their Worship; and\nby degrees brought that famous Prince (famous for his Wisdom) to be the\ngreatest and most-impos'd-upon old Fool in the World; Bowing down to\nthose Idols by the Inticing of his Whores, whom he had abhorr'd and\ndetested in his Youth, as dishonouring that God for whom, and for whose\nWorship he had finish'd and dedicated the most magnificent Building and\nTemple in the World: Nothing but the invincible Subtlety of this _Arch\nDevil_ could ever have brought such a Man as _Solomon_ to such a\nDegeneracy of Manners, and to such Meannesses; no, not the _Devil_\nhimself, without the Assistance of his Whores, nor the Whores\nthemselves, without the _Devil_ to help them.\n\nAs to _Solomon_, _Satan_ had made Conquest enough there, we need hear no\nmore of him; the next Advance he made, was in the Person of his Son\n_Rehoboam_; had not the _Devil_ prompted his Pride and tyrannical\nHumour, he would never have given the People such an Answer as he did;\nand when he saw a Fellow at the Head of them too whom he knew wanted and\nwaited for an Occasion to raise a Rebellion, and had ripened up the\nPeople's Humour to the Occasion: Well might the Text call it _listening\nto the Council of the young Heads_; that it was indeed with a Vengeance!\nbut those young Heads too were acted by an old _Devil_, who for his\nCraft is called, as I have observ'd, the _Old Serpent_.\n\nHaving thus pav'd the Way, _Jeroboam_ revolts. So far God had directed\nhim; for the Text says expressly, speaking in the first Person of GOD\nhimself, _This Thing is of Me_.\n\nBut tho' God might appoint _Jeroboam_ to be King, (that is to say, of\nten Tribes,) yet GOD did not appoint him to set up the _two Calves_ in\nthe two extreme Parts of the Land, _viz._ in _Dan_, and in _Bethel_;\nthat was _Jeroboam_'s own doing, and done on purpose to keep the People\nfrom falling back to _Rehoboam_, by being obliged to go to _Jerusalem_\nto the publick Worship: And the Text adds, _Jeroboam made Israel to\nsin_. This was indeed a Master-piece of the _Devil_'s Policy, and it was\neffectual to answer the End, nothing could have been more to the\nPurpose; what Reason he had to expect the People would so universally\ncome into it, and be so well satisfied with a couple of Calves, instead\nof the true Worship of GOD at _Jerusalem_; or what Arts and Management\nhe (_Satan_) made use of afterwards, to bring the People in, to join\nwith such a Delusion, that we find but little of in all the Annals of\n_Satan_; not is it much to the Case: 'Tis certain the _Devil_ found a\nstrange kind of Propensity to worshiping Idols rooted in the Temper of\nthat whole People, even from their first breaking away from the\n_Egyptian_ Bondage; so that he had nothing to do but to work upon the\nold Stock, and propagate the Crime that he found was so natural to them.\nAnd this is _Satan_'s general Way of working, not with them only, but\nwith us also, and with all the World, even then, and ever since.\n\nWhen he had thus secur'd _Jeroboam_'s Revolt, we need not trace him\namong his Successors; for the same Reason of State that held for the\nsetting up the Calves at _Bethel_ and _Dan_, held good for the keeping\nthem up, to all _Jeroboam_'s Posterity; nor had they one good King ever\nafter; even _Jehu_, who call'd his Friends to come and see his _Zeal for\nthe Lord_, and who fulfill'd the Threatnings of God upon _Ahab_ and his\nFamily, and upon Queen _Jezabel_ and her Offspring, and knew all the\nwhile that he was executing the Judgment of the true God upon an\nidolatrous Race; yet he would not part with his Calves, but would have\nthought it to have been parting with his Kingdom, and that as the People\nwould have gone up to _Jerusalem_ to worship, so they would at the same\nTime have transfer'd their civil Obedience to the King of _Judah_,\n(whose Right it really was, as far as they could claim by Birth and\nright Line); so that by the way, _Satan_ any more than other\nPoliticians, is not for the _jus divinum_ of lineal Succession, or what\nwe call hereditary Right, any farther than serves for his Purpose.\n\nThus Satan ridded his Hands of ten of the twelve Tribes; let us now see\nhow he went on with the rest, for his Work was now brought into a\nnarrower Compass; the Church of God was now reduc'd to two Tribes,\nexcept a few religious People, who separated from the Schism of\n_Jeroboam_, and came and planted themselves among the Tribes of _Judah_\nand _Benjamin_: The first thing the Devil did after this, was to foment\na War between the two Kings, while _Judah_ was governed by a Boy or\nYouth, _Abija_ by Name, and he none of the best neither; but God's Time\nwas not come, and the Devil receiv'd a great Disappointment; when\n_Jeroboam_ was so entirely overthrown; that if the Records of those Ages\ndo not mistake, no less than 500000 Men of _Israel_ were kill'd, such a\nSlaughter, that one would think the Army of _Judah_, had they known how\nto improve as well as gain a Victory, might have brought all the rest\nback again, and have intirely reduc'd the House of _Jeroboam_ and the\nten Tribes that follow'd him to their Obedience; nay they did take a\ngreat deal of the Country from them, and among the rest _Bethel_ it\nself; and yet so cunningly did _Satan_ manage, that the King of _Judah_,\nwho was himself a wicked King, and perhaps an Idolater in his Heart, did\nnot take down the golden Calf that _Jeroboam_ had there, no nor destroy\nthe Idolatry it self, so that in short, his Victory signified nothing.\n\nFrom hence to the Captivity, we find the _Devil_ busy with the Kings of\n_Judah_, especially the best of them; as for such as _Manasseth_, and\nthose who transgress'd by the general Tenor of their Lives, those he had\nno great trouble with.\n\nBut such as _Asa_, _Jehoshaphat_, _Hezekiah_, and _Josiah_, he hung\nabout them and their Courts, till he brought every one of them into some\nMischief or another.\n\nAs first, good King _Asa_, of whom the Scripture says, his Heart was\nperfect all his Days, yet this subtle Spirit, that could break in upon\nhim no where else, tempted him when the King of _Israel_ came out\nagainst him, to send to hire _Benhadad_ the King of _Syria_ to help him;\nas if GOD who had before enabled him to conquer the _Ethiopians_, with\nan Army of ten hundred thousand Men, could not have saved him from the\nKing of the ten Tribes.\n\nIn the same manner he tempted _Jehoshaphat_ to join with that wicked\nKing _Ahab_ against the King of _Syria_, and also to marry his Son to\n_Ahab_'s Daughter, which was fatal to _Jehoshaphat_, and to his\nPosterity.\n\n_Again_, He tempted _Hezekiah_ to shew all his Riches to the King of\n_Babylon_'s Messengers; and who can doubt, but that he (_Satan_) is to\nbe understood by the wicked Spirit which stood before the Lord, 2\n_Chron._ xviii. 20. and offered his Service to entice _Ahab_ the King of\n_Israel_ to come out to Battle to his Ruin, by being a lying Spirit in\nthe Mouths of all his Prophets; and who for that Time had a special\nCommission, as he had another Time in the Case of _Job_? and indeed it\nwas a Commission fit for no body but the _Devil_: _Thou shalt entice_\nhim, _and thou shalt_ also _prevail: Go out and do_ even _so_, ver. 21.\n\nEven good _Josiah_ himself, of whom it is recorded, that _like him there\nwas no King before him_, _neither after him arose there any like him_, 2\nKings xxiii. 26. yet the _Devil_ never left him with his Machinations,\ntill finding he could not tempt him to any Thing wicked in his\nGovernment, he tempted or mov'd him to a needless War with the King of\n_Egypt_, in which he lost his Life.\n\nFrom the Death of this good King, the _Devil_ prevail'd so with the\nwhole Nation of the _Jews_, and brought them to such an incorrigible\nPitch of Wickedness, that _God_ gave them up, forsook his Habitation of\nGlory, the Temple, which he suffer'd to be spoil'd first, then burnt and\ndemolish'd; destroying the whole Nation of the _Jews_, except a small\nNumber that were left, and those the Enemy carried away into Captivity.\n\nNor was he satisfied with this general Destruction of the whole People\nof _Israel_, for the ten Tribes were gone before; but he follow'd them\neven into their Captivity; those that fled away to _Egypt_, which they\ntell us were seventy thousand, he first corrupted, and then they were\ndestroyed there upon the Overthrow of _Egypt_, by the same King of\n_Babylon_.\n\nAlso he went very near to have them rooted out, young and old, Man,\nWoman and Child, who were in Captivity in _Babylon_, by the Ministry of\nthat true Agent of Hell, _Haman_ the _Agagite_; but there _Satan_ met\nwith a Disappointment too, as in the Story of _Hester_, which was but\nthe fourth that he had met with, in all his Management since the\nCreation; I say, there he was disappointed, and his prime Minister\n_Haman_ was exalted, as he deserv'd.\n\nHaving thus far traced the Government and Dominion of the _Devil_, from\nthe Creation of Man to the Captivity; I think I may call upon him to set\nup his Standard of universal Empire, at that Period; it seem'd just then\nas if God had really forsaken the Earth, and given the entire Dominion\nof Mankind up to his outrageous Enemy the _Devil_; for excepting the few\n_Israelites_ which were left in the Territories of the King of\n_Babylon_, and they were but a few; I say, except among them, there was\nnot one Corner of the World left where the true God was call'd upon, or\nhis Dominion so much as acknowledg'd; all the World was buried in\nIdolatry, and that of so many horrid Kinds, that one would think, the\nLight of Reason should have convinc'd Mankind, that he who exacted such\nbloody Sacrifices as that of _Moloch_, and such a bloody cutting\nthemselves with Knives, as the Priests of _Baal_ did, could not be a\nGOD, a good and beneficent Being, but must be a cruel, voracious and\ndevouring Devil, whose End was not the Good, but the Destruction of his\nCreatures: But to such a Height was the blind demented World arriv'd to\nat that Time, that in these sordid and corrupt Ways, they went on\nworshiping dumb Idols, and offering human Sacrifices to them, and in a\nWord, committing all the most horrid and absurd Abominations that they\nwere capable of, or that the _Devil_ could prompt them to, till Heaven\nwas again put, as it were, to the Necessity of bringing about a\nRevolution, in favour of his own forsaken People, by Miracle and\nSurprize, as he had done before.\n\nWe come therefore to the Restoration or Return of the Captivity: Had\n_Satan_ been able to have acted any thing by Force, _as I have observ'd\nbefore_, all the Princes and Powers of the World, having been, as they\nreally were, at his Devotion, he might easily have made use of them,\narm'd all the World against the _Jews_, and prevented the Rebuilding the\nTemple, and even the Return of the Captivity.\n\nBut now the _Devil_'s Power manifestly received a Check, and the Hand of\nGod appear'd in it, and that he was resolv'd to reestablish his People\nthe _Jews_, and to have a second Temple built: the _Devil_, who knew the\nExtent of his own Power too well, and what Limitations were laid upon\nhim, stood still as it were looking on, and not daring to oppose the\nReturn of the Captivity, which he very well knew had been prophesied,\nand would come to pass.\n\nHe did indeed make some little Opposition to the Building, and to the\nfortifying the City, but as it was to no Purpose, so he was soon oblig'd\nto give it over; and thus the Captivity being return'd, and the Temple\nrebuilt, the People of the _Jews_ encreased and multiplied to an infinite\nNumber and Strength; and from this Time we may say, the Power of the\n_Devil_ rather declin'd and decreas'd, than went on with Success, as it\nhad done before; It is true the _Jews_ fell into Sects and Errors, and\nDivisions of many Kinds, after the Return from the Captivity, and no\ndoubt the _Devil_ had a great Hand in those Divisions; but he could\nnever bring them back to Idolatry, and his not being able to do that,\nmade him turn his Hand so many Ways to plague and oppress them; as\nparticularly by _Antiochus_ the Great, who brought the Abomination of\nDesolation into the holy Place; and there the Devil triumph'd over them\nfor some Time; but they were deliver'd many Ways, till at last they came\npeaceably under the Protection rather than the Dominion of the _Roman_\nEmpire: When _Herod_ the Great govern'd them as a King, and reedified,\nnay almost rebuilt their Temple, with so great an Expence and\nMagnificence, that he made it, as some say, greater and more glorious\nthan that of _Solomon_'s, tho' that I take to be a great ---- Fable, to\nsay no worse of it.\n\nIn this Condition the _Jewish_ Church stood, when the Fullness of Time,\nas 'tis call'd in Scripture, was come; and the _Devil_ was kept at Bay,\ntho' he had made some Encroachments upon them as above; for there was a\nglorious Remnant of Saints among _them_, such as old _Zacharias_ the\nFather of _John_ the Baptist, and old _Simeon_, who waited for the\nSalvation of _Israel_; I say, in this Condition the _Jewish_ Church\nstood when the _Messiah_ came into the World, which was such another\nmortal Stab to the Thrones and Principalities infernal, as that of which\nI have spoken already in Chap. III. at the Creation of Man; and\ntherefore with this I break off the Antiquities of the _Devil_'s\nHistory, or the antient Part of his Kingdom; for from hence downward we\nshall find his Empire has declin'd gradually; and tho' by his wonderful\nAddress, his prodigious Application, and the Vigilance and Fidelity of\nhis Instruments, as well human as infernal and diabolical, and of the\nHuman as well the Ecclesiastick as the Secular; he has many Times\nretriev'd what he has lost, and sometimes bid fair for recovering the\nuniversal Empire he once possess'd over Mankind; yet he has been still\ndefeated again, repulst and beaten back, and his Kingdom has greatly\ndeclin'd in many Parts of the World; and especially in the Northern\nParts, except _Great Britain_; and how he has politically maintain'd his\nInterest and encreased his Dominion among the wise and righteous\nGeneration that we cohabit with and among, will be the Subject of the\n_modern_ Part of _Satan_'s _History_, and of which we are next to give\nan Account.\n\n\n\n\n  PART II.\n  OF THE\n  MODERN HISTORY\n  OF THE\n  DEVIL.\n\n\nCHAP. I.\n\n\nI have examined the Antiquities of Satan's History in the former Part of\nthis Work, and brought his Affairs down from the Creation, as far as to\nour blessed Christian Times; especially to the Coming of the _Messiah_,\nwhen one would think the _Devil_ could have nothing to do among us. I\nhave indeed but touch'd at some Things which might have admitted of a\nfarther Description of Satan's Affairs, and the Particulars of which we\nmay all come to a farther Knowledge of hereafter; yet I think I have\nspoken to the material Part of his Conduct, as it relates to his Empire\nin this World: What has happen'd to his more sublimated Government, and\nhis Angelic Capacities, I shall have an Occasion to touch at in several\nsolid Particulars as we go along.\n\nThe _Messiah_ was now born, _the Fulness of Time was come_, that the old\nSerpent was to have his _Head broken_, that is to say, his Empire or\nDominion over Man, which he gain'd by the Fall of our first Father and\nMother in _Paradise_, receiv'd a Downfal or Overthrow.\n\nIt is worth observing, in order to confirm what I have already mention'd\nof the Limitation of Satan's Power, that not only his Angelic Strength\nseems to have received a farther Blow upon the Coming of the Son of God\ninto the World, but he seems to have had a Blow upon his Intellects; his\nSerpentine Craft and _Devil-like_ Subtilty seems to have been\ncircumscrib'd and cut short; and instead of his being so cunning a\nFellow as before, when, _as I said_, 'tis evident he outwitted all\nMankind, not only _Eve_, _Cain_, _Noah_, _Lot_, and all the Patriarchs,\nbut even Nations of Men, and that in their publick Capacity; and thereby\nled them into absurd and ridiculous Things, such as the Building of\n_Babel_, and deifying and worshiping their Kings, when dead and rotten;\nidolizing _Beasts_, _Stocks_, _Stones_, _any Thing_, and even _Nothing_;\nand in a Word, when he manag'd Mankind just as he pleased.\n\nNow and from this Time forward he appeared a weak, foolish, ignorant\n_Devil_, compar'd to what he was before; He was upon almost every\nOccasion resisted, disappointed, baulk'd and defeated, especially in all\nhis Attempts to thwart or cross the Mission and Ministry of the\n_Messiah_, while he was upon Earth, and sometimes upon other and very\nmean Occasions too.\n\nAnd first, how foolish a Project was it, and how below Satan's\ncelebrated Artifice in like Cases, to put _Herod_ upon sending to kill\nthe poor innocent Children in _Bethlehem_, in hopes to destroy the\nInfant? for I take it for granted, it was the _Devil_ put into\n_Herod_'s Thoughts that Execution, how simple and foolish soever; now we\nmust allow him to be very ignorant of the Nativity himself, or else he\nmight easily have guided his Friend _Herod_ to the Place where the\nInfant was.\n\nThis shews that _either_ the _Devil_ is in general ignorant as we are,\nof what is to come in the World, before it is really come to pass; and\nconsequently can foretel nothing, no not so much as our famous old\n_Merlin_ or _Mother Shipton_ did, _or else_ that great Event was hid\nfrom him by an immediate Power superior to his, which I cannot think\nneither, considering how much he was concern'd in it, and how certainly\nhe knew that it was once to come to pass.\n\nBut be that as it will, 'tis certain the _Devil_ knew nothing where\nChrist was born, or when; nor was he able to direct _Herod_ to find him\nout, and therefore put him upon that foolish, as well as cruel Order, to\nkill all the Children, that he might be sure to destroy the _Messiah_\namong the rest.\n\nThe next simple Step that the _Devil_ took, and indeed the most foolish\none that he could ever be charg'd with, unworthy the very Dignity of a\n_Devil_, and below the Understanding that he always was allow'd to act\nwith, was that of coming to tempt the _Messiah_ in the Wilderness; it is\ncertain, and he own'd it himself afterwards, upon many Occasions, that\nthe _Devil_ knew our Saviour to be the Son of God; and 'tis as certain\nthat he knew, that _as such_ he could have no Power or Advantage over\nhim; how foolish then was it in him to attack him in that Manner, _if\nthou beest the Son of_ GOD? why he knew him to be the _Son of_ GOD well\nenough; he said so afterwards, _I know thee who thou art, the holy One\nof_ GOD; how then could he be so weak a Devil as to say, _if thou art_,\nthen do _so_ and _so_?\n\nThe Case is plain, the _Devil_, tho' he knew him to be the Son of GOD,\ndid not fully know the Mystery of the Incarnation; nor did he know how\nfar the _Inanition_ of Christ extended, and whether, _as Man_, he was\nnot subject to fall as _Adam_ was, tho' his reserv'd Godhead might be\nstill immaculate and pure; and upon this Foot, as he would leave no\nMethod untried, he attempts him three Times, one immediately after\nanother; but then, finding himself disappointed he fled.\n\nThis evidently proves that the _Devil_ was ignorant of the great Mystery\nof Godliness, _as the Text calls it_, God manifest in the Flesh, and\ntherefore made that foolish Attempt upon Christ, thinking to have\nconquer'd his human Nature as capable of Sin, which it was not; and at\nthis Repulse _Hell_ groan'd, the whole Army of regimented _Devils_\nreceiv'd a Wound, and felt the Shock of it; 'twas a second Overthrow to\nthem, they had had a long Chain of Success, carried a _devilish_\nConquest over the greatest Part of the Creation of GOD; but now they\nwere cut short, _the Seed of the Woman_ was now come _to break the\nSerpent's Head_, that is, to cut short his Power, to contract the Limits\nof his Kingdom, and in a Word, to dethrone him in the World: No doubt\nthe _Devil_ receiv'd a Shock, for you find him always afterward, crying\nout in a horrible Manner, whenever Christ met with him, or else very\nhumble and submissive, as when he begg'd leave to go into the Herd of\nSwine, a Thing he has often done since.\n\nDefeated here, the first Stratagem I find him concern'd in after it, was\nhis entring into _Judas_, and putting him upon betraying Christ to the\nChief Priest; but here again he was entirely mistaken, for he did not\nsee, _as much a Devil as he was_, what the Event would be; but when he\ncame to know, that if Christ was put to Death, he would become a\nPropitiatory and be the great Sacrifice of Mankind, so to rescue the\nfallen Race from that Death they had incurr'd the Penalty of, by the\nFall, that this was the fulfilling of all Scripture Prophesy, and that\nthus it was that Christ was to be _the End of the Law_, I say, as soon\nas he perceiv'd this, he strove all he could to prevent it, and\ndisturb'd _Pilate_'s Wife in her Sleep, in order to set her upon her\nHusband to hinder his delivering him up to the _Jews_; for then, and not\ntill then, he knew how Christ was to vanquish Hell by the Power of his\nCross.\n\nThus the _Devil_ was disappointed and exposed in every Step he took, and\nas he now plainly saw his Kingdom declining, and even the temporal\nKingdom of Christ, rising up upon the Ruins of his (_Satan_'s) Power; he\nseem'd to retreat into his own Region the Air, and to consult there with\nhis fellow _Devils_, what Measures he should take next to preserve his\nDominion among Men; Here it was that he resolv'd upon that truly hellish\nThing call'd Persecution, by which, _tho' he prov'd a foolish Devil in\nthat too_, he flatter'd himself he should be able to destroy God's\nChurch, and root out its Professors from the Earth, even almost as soon\nas it was establish'd; whereas on the contrary, Heaven counter-acted him\nthere too, and tho' he arm'd the whole _Roman_ Empire against the\nChristians, _that is say_, the whole World, and they were fallen upon\nevery where, with all the Fury and Rage of some of the most flaming\nTyrants that the World ever saw, of whom _Nero_ was the first; yet in\nspight of Hell, GOD made all the Blood, which the Devil caus'd to be\nspilt, to be _semen Ecclesiae_, and the DEVIL had the Mortification to\nsee, that the Number of Christians encreased even under the very Means\nhe made use of to root them out and destroy them: This was the Case\nthro' the Reign of all the _Roman_ Emperors, for the first three hundred\nYears after Christ.\n\nHaving thus tried all the Methods that best suited his Inclination, I\nmean those of Blood and Death, complicated with Tortures and all Kinds\nof Cruelty, and that for so long a Stage of Time as above; the _Devil_\nall on a suddain, as if glutted with Blood, and satiated with\nDestruction, sits still and becomes a peaceable Spectator for a good\nwhile; as if he either found himself unable, or had no Disposition to\nhinder the Progress of Christianity in the first Ages of its Settlement\nin the World: In this interval the Christian Church was establish'd\nunder _Constantine_, Religion flourished in Peace, and under the most\nperfect Tranquillity: The _Devil_ seem'd to be at a Loss what he should\ndo next, and Things began to look as if Satan's Kingdom was at an End;\nbut he soon let them see that he was the same indefatigable _Devil_ that\never he was, and the Prosperity of the Church gave him a large Field of\nAction; for knowing the Disposition of Mankind to Quarrel and Dispute,\nthe universal Passion rooted in Nature, especially among the Church-Men\nfor Precedency and Dominion, he fell to work with them immediately; so\nthat turning the Tables, and reassuming the Subtilty and Craft, which, I\nsay, he seem'd to have lost in the former four hundred Years, he gain'd\nmore Ground in the next Ages of the Church, and went farther towards\nrestoring his Power and Empire in the World, and towards overthrowing\nthat very Church which was so lately establish'd, than all he had done\nby Fire and Blood before.\n\nHis Policy now seem'd to be edg'd with Resentment for the Mistakes he\nhad made; as if the Devil looking back with Anger at himself, to see\nwhat a Fool he had been to expect to crush Religion by Persecution,\nrejoyc'd for having discover'd that Liberty and Dominion was the only\nway to ruin the Church, not Fire and Faggot; and that he had nothing to\ndo but to give the zealous People their utmost Liberty in Religion, only\nsowing Error and Variety of Opinion among them, and they would bring\nFire and Faggot in fast enough among themselves.\n\nIt must be confess'd these were devilish Politicks; and so sure was the\nAim, and so certain was the _Devil_ to hit his Mark by them, that we\nfind he not only did not fail then, but the same hellish Methods have\nprevail'd still, and will do so to the End of the World. Nor had the\nDevil ever a better Game to play than this, for the Ruin of Religion, as\nwe shall have room to show in many Examples, besides that of the\nDissenters in _England_, who are evidently weaken'd by the late\nToleration: Whether the _Devil_ had any hand in baiting his Hook with an\nA--- of Parliament or no, History is silent, but 'tis too evident he has\ncatch'd the Fish by it; and if the honest Church of _England_ does not\nin Pity and Christian Charity to the Dissenters, straighten her Hand a\nlittle, I cannot but fear the _Devil_ will gain his Point, and the\nDissenter will be undone by it.\n\nUpon this new foot of Politicks the _Devil_ began with the Emperors\nthemselves: _Arius_, the Father of the Hereticks of that Age, having\nbroach'd his Opinions, and _Athanasius_ the orthodox Bishop of the East\nopposing him, the _Devil_ no sooner saw the Door open to Strife and\nImposition, but he thrust himself in, and raising the Quarrel up to a\nsuited Degree of Rage and Spleen, he involv'd the good Emperor himself\nin it first and _Athanasius_ was banish'd and recall'd, and banish'd\nand recall'd again, several times, as Error ran high, and as the _Devil_\neither got or lost Ground: After _Constantine_, the next Emperor was a\nChild of his own, (_Arian_) and then the Court came all into the\nQuarrel, as Courts often do, and then the _Arians_ and the _Orthodox_\npersecuted one another as furiously as the Pagans persecuted them all\nbefore. To such a Height the _Devil_ brought his Conquest in the very\nInfancy of the Question, and so much did he prevail over the true\nChristianity of the Primitive Church, even before they had enjoy'd the\nLiberty of the pure Worship twenty Years.\n\nFlush'd with this Success, the _Devil_ made one Push for the restoring\n_Paganism_, and bringing on the old Worship of the Heathen Idols and\nTemples; but like our King _James_ II. he drove too hard, and _Julian_\nhad so provok'd the whole _Roman_ Empire, which was generally at that\ntime become Christian, that had the Apostate liv'd, he would not have\nbeen able to have held the Throne; and as he was cut off in his\nBeginning, Paganism expir'd with him, and the _Devil_ himself might have\ncry'd out, as _Julian_ did, and with much more Propriety, _Vicisti\nGalileane_.\n\n_Jovian_, the next Emperor, being a glorious Christian, and a very good\nand great Man, the _Devil_ abdicated for a while, and left the Christian\nArmies to re-establish the Orthodox Faith; nor could he bring the\nChristians to a Breach again among themselves a great while after.\n\nHowever, Time and a diligent _Devil_ did the Work at last, and when the\nEmperors concerning themselves one way or other, did not appear\nsufficient to answer his End, he chang'd Hands again, and went to work\nwith the Clergy: To set the Doctors effectually together by the Ears,\nhe threw in the new Notion of _Primacy_ among them, for a Bone of\nContention; the Bait took, the Priests swallow'd it eagerly down, and\nthe _Devil_, a cunninger Fisherman than ever St. _Peter_ was, _struck\nthem_ (as the Anglers call it) with a quick Hand, and hung them fast\nupon the Hook.\n\nHaving them thus in his Clutches, and they being now, as we may say, his\nown, they took their Measures afterwards from him, and most obediently\nfollow'd his Directions; nay, I will not say but he may have had pretty\nmuch the Management of the whole Society ever since, of what Profession\nor Party soever they may have been, with Exception only to the Reverend\nand Right Reverend among our selves.\n\nThe Sacred, as above, being thus hook'd in, and the DEVIL being at the\nHead of their Affairs, Matters went on most gloriously his own way;\nfirst, the Bishops fell to bandying and Party-making for the\nSuperiority, as heartily as ever Temporal Tyrants did for Dominion, and\ntook as black and devilish Methods to carry it on, as the worst of those\nTyrants ever had done before them.\n\nAt last Satan declar'd for the _Roman_ Pontiff, and that upon excellent\nConditions, in the Reign of the Emperor _Mauritius_; for _Boniface_, who\nhad long contended for the Title of Supreme, fell into a Treaty with\n_Phocas_, Captain of the Emperor's Guards; whether the Bargain was from\nHell or not, let any one judge, the Conditions absolutely entitle the\n_Devil_ to the Honour of making the Contract, _viz._ That _Phocas_ first\nmurthering his Master (the Emperor) and his Sons, _Boniface_ should\ncountenance the Treason, and declare him Emperor; and in Return,\n_Phocas_ should acknowledge the Primacy of the Church of _Rome_, and\ndeclare _Boniface_ universal Bishop. A blessed Compact! which at once\nset the _Devil_ at the Head of Affairs in the Christian World, as well\nSpiritual as Temporal, Ecclesiastick and Civil. Since the Conquest over\n_Eve_ in Paradise, by which Death and the DEVIL, Hand in Hand,\nestablish'd their first Empire upon Earth, the _Devil_ never gain'd a\nmore important Point than he gain'd at this time.\n\nHe had indeed prospered in his Affairs tolerably well for some time\nbefore this, and his Interest among the Clergy had got Ground for some\nAges; but that was indeed a secret Management, was carried on privately,\nand with Difficulty; as in sowing Discord and Faction among the People,\nperplexing the Councils of their Princes, and secretly wheedling in with\nthe dignified Clergy.\n\nAlso he had raised abundance of little Church-Rebellions, by setting up\nHereticks of several Kinds, and raising them Favourers among the Clergy,\nsuch as _Ebion_, _Cerinthius_, _Pelagius_, and others.\n\nHe had drawn in the Bishops of _Rome_ to set up the ridiculous Pageantry\nof the KEY; and while he, the DEVIL, set open the Gates of Hell to\nthem all, set them upon locking up the Gates of Heaven, and giving the\nBishop the Key; a Cheat which, as gross as it was, the DEVIL so gilded\nover, or so blinded the Age to receive it, that like _Gideon's Ephod_,\nall the Catholick World went a whoring after the Idol; and the Bishop of\n_Rome sent_ more Fools to the _Devil_ by it than ever he pretended to\nlet into Heaven, though he open'd the Door as wide as his Key was able\nto do.\n\nThe Story of this Key being given to the Bishop of _Rome_ by St.\n_Peter_, (who, by the way, never had it himself,) and of its being lost\nby Somebody or other, (the _Devil_ it seems did not tell them who) and\nits being found again by a _Lombard_ Soldier in the Army of King\n_Antharis_, who attempting to cut it with his Knife, was miraculously\nforced to direct the Wound to himself, and cut his own Throat; that King\n_Antharis_ and his Nobles happened to see the Fellow do it, and were\nconverted to Christianity by it, and that the King sent the Key, with\nanother made like it, to Pope _Pelagius_, then Bishop of _Rome_, who\nthereupon assum'd the Power of opening and shutting Heaven's Gates; and\nhe afterwards setting a Price or Toll upon the Entrance, as we do here\nat passing a Turn-pike; these fine things, I say, were successfully\nmanaged for some Years before this I am now speaking of, and the Devil\ngot a great deal of Ground by it too; but now he triumph'd openly, and\nhaving set up a Murtherer upon the temporal Throne, and a Church Emperor\nupon the Ecclesiastic Throne, and both of his own choosing, the _Devil_\nmay be said to begin his new Kingdom from this Epocha, and call it the\n_Restoration_.\n\nSince this time indeed the Devil's Affairs went very merrily on, and the\nClergy brought so many Gewgaws into their Worship, and such devilish\nPrinciples were mixt with that which we call'd the Christian Faith, that\nin a Word, from this Time the Bishop of _Rome_ commenc'd _Whore of\nBabylon_, in all the most express Terms that could be imagin'd: Tyranny\nof the worst sort crept into the Pontificate, Errors of all sorts into\nthe Profession, and they proceeded from one thing to another, till the\nvery Popes, for so the Bishop of _Rome_ was now called, by way of\nDistinction; I say, the Popes themselves, their spiritual Guides,\nprofess'd openly to confederate with the _Devil_, and to carry on a\npersonal and private Correspondence with him at the same time, taking\nupon them the Title of Christ's Vicar, and the infallible Guide of the\nConsciences of Christians.\n\nThis we have sundry Instances of in some merry Popes, who, _if Fame lies\nnot_, were Sorcerers, Magicians, had familiar Spirits, and immediate\nConversation with the Devil, as well visibly as invisibly, and by this\nmeans became what we call _Devils incarnate_: Upon this account it is\nthat I have left the Conversation that passes between _Devils and Men_\nto this Place, as well because I believe it differs much now in his\nmodern State, from what it was in his ancient State, and therefore that\nwhich most concerns us belongs rather to this part of his History; as\nalso because, as I am now writing to the present Age, I choose to bring\nthe most significant Parts of his History, especially as they relate to\nour selves, into that Part of Time that we are most concern'd in.\n\nThe _Devil_ had once, as I observ'd before, the universal Monarchy or\nGovernment of Mankind in himself, and I doubt not but in that\nflourishing State of his Affairs, he governed them like what he is\n(_viz._) an absolute Tyrant; during this _Theocracy_ of his, _for_ Satan\n_is call'd the God of this World_, he did not familiarize himself to\nMankind so much, as he finds Occasion to do now, there was not then so\nmuch need of it; he governed then with an absolute Sway; he had his\nOracles, where he gave Audience to his Votaries like a Deity, and he had\nhis Sub-Gods, who under his several Dispositions receiv'd the Homage of\nMankind in their Names; such were all the Rabble of the Heathen Deities,\nfrom _Jupiter_ the Supreme, to the _Lares_ or Houshold Gods of every\nFamily; these, I say, like Residents, received the Prostrations, but the\nHomage was all Satan's; the Devil had the Substance of it all, which was\nthe Idolatry.\n\nDuring this Administration of _Hell_, there was less Witchcraft, less\ntrue literal Magick than there has been since; there was indeed no need\nof it, the DEVIL did not stoop to the Mechanism of his more modern\nOperations, but rul'd as a Deity, and receiv'd the Vows and the Bows of\nhis Subjects in more State, and with more Solemnity; whereas since that,\nhe is content to employ more Agents and take more Pains himself too; now\nhe runs up and down Hackney in the World, more like a Drudge than a\nPrince, and much more than he did then.\n\nHence all those Things we call Apparitions and Visions of Ghosts,\nFamiliar-Spirits and Dealings with the Devil, of which there is so great\na Variety in the World at this Time, were not so much known among the\nPeople, in those first Ages of the Devil's Kingdom; _in a Word_, the\nDevil seems to be put to his Shifts, and to fly to Art and Stratagem for\nthe carrying on his Affairs, much more now than he did then.\n\nOne Reason for this may be, that he has been more discover'd and expos'd\nin these Ages, than he was before; then he could appear in the World in\nhis own proper Shapes, and yet not be known; when the Sons of GOD\nappear'd at the divine Summons, Satan came along with them; but now he\nhas plaid so many scurvy Tricks upon Men, and they know him so well,\nthat he is oblig'd to play quite out of sight and act in disguise;\nMankind will allow nothing of his doing, and hear nothing of his saying,\nin his own Name; and if you propose any Thing to be done, and it be but\nsaid the _Devil_ is to help in the doing it, or if you say of any Man he\ndeals with the _Devil_, or the _Devil_ has a Hand in it, every Body\nflies him and shuns him, as the most frightful Thing in the World.\n\nNay, if any Thing strange and improbable be done or related to be done,\nwe presently say the _Devil_ was at the doing it: Thus the great Ditch\nat _Newmarket Heath_, is call'd the _Devil_'s _Ditch_; so the _Devil_\nbuilt _Crowland_ Abby, and the Whispering-Place in _Gloucester_\nCathedral; nay, the Cave at _Castleton_, only because there's no getting\nto the farther End of it, is call'd the _Devil_'s A---- and the like:\nThe poor People of _Wiltshire_, when you ask them how the great Stones\nat _Stonehenge_ were brought thither? they'll all tell you the _Devil_\nbrought them: If any Mischief extraordinary befalls us, we presently say\nthe _Devil_ was in it, and the _Devil_ would have it so; in a Word, the\n_Devil_ has got an ill Name among us, and so he is fain to act more _in\nTenebris_, more _incog._ than he used to do, play out of sight himself,\nand work by the Sap, as the Engineers call it, and not openly and\navowedly in his own Name and Person, as formerly, tho' perhaps not with\nless Success than he did before; and this leads me to enquire more\nnarrowly into the manner of the _Devil_'s Management of his Affairs\nsince the Christian Religion began to spread in the World, which\nmanifestly differs from his Conduct in more antient Times; in which if\nwe discover some of the most consummate Fool's Policy, the most profound\nsimple Craft, and the most subtle shallow Management of Things that can\nby our weak Understandings be conceiv'd, we must only resolve it into\nthis, that in short it is the DEVIL.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. II.\n\n_Of Hell as it is represented to us, and how the_ Devil _is to be\n     understood, as being personally in Hell, when at the same Time we\n     find him at Liberty ranging over the World._\n\n\nIt is true, as that learn'd and pleasant Author, the inimitable Dr.\n_Brown_ says, the _Devil_ is his own Hell; one of the most constituting\nParts of his Infelicity is, that he cannot act upon Mankind _brevi\nManu_, by his own inherent Power, as well as Rage; that he cannot\nunhinge this Creation, which, _as I have observ'd in its Place_, he had\nthe utmost Aversion to from its Beginning, as it was a stated Design in\nthe Creator to supply his Place in Heaven with a new Species of _Beings_\ncall'd _Man_, and fill the Vacancies occasion'd by his Degeneracy and\nRebellion.\n\nThis fill'd him with Rage inexpressible, and horrible Resolutions of\nRevenge, and the Impossibility of executing those Resolutions torments\nhim with Despair; this added to what he was before, makes him a compleat\n_Devil_, with a Hell in his own Breast, and a Fire unquenchable burning\nabout his Heart.\n\nI might enlarge here, and very much to the Purpose, in describing\nspherically and mathematically that exquisite Quality call'd _a devilish\nSpirit_, in which it would naturally occur to give you a whole Chapter\nupon the glorious Articles of _Malice_ and _Envy_, and especially upon\nthat luscious, delightful, triumphant Passion call'd REVENGE; how\nnatural to Man, nay even to both Sexes; how pleasant in the very\nContemplation, tho' there be not just at that Time a Power of\nExecution; how palatable it is in it self, and how well it relishes when\ndish'd up with its proper Sauces, such as Plot, Contrivance, Scheme, and\nConfederacy, all leading on to Execution: How it possesses a human Soul\nin all the most sensible Parts; how it empowers Mankind to sin in\nImagination, as effectually to all future Intents and Purposes\n(Damnation) as if he had sinned actually: How safe a Practice it is too,\nas to Punishment in this Life, namely, that it empowers us to cut\nThroats clear of the Gallows, to slander Virtue, reproach Innocence,\nwound Honour and stab Reputation; and in a Word, to do all the wicked\nThings in the World, out of the Reach of the Law.\n\nIt would also require some few Words to describe the secret Operations\nof those nice Qualities when they reach the human Soul; how effectually\nthey form a Hell within us, and how imperceptibly they assimilate and\ntransform us into _Devils_, meer human Devils, as really _Devils_ as\nSatan himself, or any of his Angels; and that therefore 'tis not so much\nout of the Way, as some imagine, to say, such a Man is an _incarnate_\nDevil; for as Crime made Satan a _Devil_, who was before a bright\nimmortal Seraph, or Angel of Light; how much more easily may the same\nCrime make _the same_ DEVIL, tho' every Way meaner and more\ncontemptible, _of a Man or_ a Woman either? But this is too grave a\nSubject for me at this Time.\n\nThe _Devil_ being thus, I say, fir'd with Rage and Envy, in consequence\nof his Jealousy upon the Creation of Man, his Torment is encreased to\nthe highest by the Limitation of his Power, and his being forbid to act\nagainst Mankind by Force of Arms; this is, I say, part of his _Hell_,\nwhich, as above, is within him, and which he carries with him wherever\nhe goes; nor is it so difficult to conceive of _Hell_, or of the\n_Devil_, either under this just Description, as it is by all the usual\nNotions that we are taught to entertain of them, by (the old Women) our\nInstructors; for every Man may, by taking but a common View of himself,\nand making a just Scrutiny into his own Passions, on some of their\nparticular Excursions, see a _Hell_ within himself, and himself a meer\n_Devil_ as long as the Inflammation lasts; and that as really, and to\nall Intents and Purposes, as if he had the Angel (_Satan_) before his\nFace, in his Locality and Personality; that is to say, all Devil and\nMonster in his Person, and an immaterial but intense Fire flaming about\nand from within him, at all the Pores of his Body.\n\nThe Notions we receive of the Devil, _as a Person_ being in Hell _as a\nPlace_, are infinitely absurd and ridiculous; the first we are certain\nis not true in Fact, because he has a certain Liberty, (_however\nlimited_ that is not to the Purpose) is daily visible, and to be trac'd\nin his several Attacks upon Mankind, and has been so ever since his\nfirst Appearance in _Paradise_; as to his corporal Visibility that is\nnot the present Question neither; 'tis enough that we can hunt him by\nthe Foot, that we can follow him as Hounds do a Fox upon a hot Scent: We\ncan see him as plainly by the Effect, by the Mischief he does, and more\nby the Mischief he puts us upon doing, _I say_, as plainly, as if we saw\nhim by the Eye.\n\nIt is not to be doubted but the _Devil_ can see us when and where we\ncannot see him: and as he has a Personality, tho' it be spirituous, he\nand his Angels too may be reasonably supposed to inhabit the World of\nSpirits, and to have free Access from thence to the Regions of Life, and\nto pass and repass in the Air, as really, tho' not perceptible to us,\nas the Spirits of Men do after their release from the Body, pass to the\nPlace (wherever that is) which is appointed for them.\n\nIf the _Devil_ was confin'd to a Place (_Hell_) as a Prison, he could\nthen have no Business here; and if we pretend to describe _Hell_, as not\na Prison, but that the Devil has Liberty to be there, or not be there as\nhe pleased, then he would certainly never be there, or _Hell_ is not\nsuch a Place as we are taught to understand it to be.\n\nIndeed according to some, _Hell_ should be a Place of Fire and Torment\nto the Souls that are cast into it, but not to the _Devils_ themselves;\nwho we make little more or less than keepers and Turnkeys to Hell, as a\nGoal; that they are sent about to bring Souls thither, lock them in when\nthey come, and then away upon the Scent to fetch more: That one Sort of\n_Devils_ are made to live in the World among Men, and to be busy\ncontinually debauching and deluding Mankind bringing them as it were to\nthe Gates of _Hell_; and then another Sort are Porters and Carriers to\nfetch them in.\n\nThis is, _in short_, little more or less than the old Story of _Pluto_,\nof _Cerberus_, and of _Charon_; only that our Tale is not half so well\ntold, nor the Parts of the Fable so well laid together.\n\nIn all these Notions of _Hell_ and _Devil_, the Torments of the first,\nand the Agency of the last Tormenting, we meet with not one Word of the\nmain and perhaps only Accent of Horror, which belongs to us to judge of\nabout Hell, I mean the Absence of Heaven; Expulsion, and Exclusion from\nthe Presence and Face of the chief Ultimate, the only eternal and\nsufficient Good; and this loss sustain'd by a sordid Neglect of our\nConcern in that excellent Part, in exchange for the most contemptible\nand justly condemn'd Trifles, and all this eternal and irrecoverable:\nThese People tell us nothing of the eternal Reproaches of Conscience,\nthe Horror of Desperation, and the Anguish of a Mind hopeless of ever\nseeing the Glory, which alone constitutes Heaven, and which makes all\nother Places dreadful, and even Darkness it self.\n\nAnd this brings me directly to the Point in Hand, (_viz._) the State of\nthat Hell which we ought to have in view when we speak of the _Devil_ as\n_in Hell_: This is the very Hell, which is the Torment of the _Devil_;\nin short, the _Devil_ is in HELL, and HELL is in the _Devil_; he is\nfill'd with this unquenchable Fire, he is expel'd the Place of Glory,\nbanish'd from the Regions of Light, Absence from the Life of all\nBeatitude is his Curse, Despair is the reigning Passion in his Mind, and\nall the little Constituent Parts of his Torment, such as Rage, Envy,\nMalice, and Jealousy are consolidated in this, to make his Misery\ncompleat, (_viz._) the Duration of it all, the Eternity of his\nCondition; that he is without Hope, without Redemption, without\nRecovery.\n\nIf any thing can inflame this _Hell_ and make it hotter, 'tis this only,\nand this does add an inexpressible Horror to the Devil himself;\n_namely_, the seeing Man (the only Creature he hates) placed in a State\nof Recovery, a glorious Establishment of Redemption form'd for him in\nHeaven, and the Scheme of it perfected on Earth; by which _this Man_,\ntho' even the _Devil_ by his Art may have deluded him, and drawn him\ninto Crime, is yet in a State of Recovery, which the Devil is not; and\nthat it is not in his (_Satan_'s) Power to prevent it: Now take the\nDevil as he is in his own Nature Angelic, a bright immortal Seraph,\nHeaven-born, and having tasted the eternal Beatitude, which these are\nappointed to enjoy; the Loss of that State to himself, the Possession\nof it granted to his Rival tho' wicked like and as himself; I say, take\nthe Devil as he is, having a quick Sense of his own Perdition, and a\nstinging Sight of his Rival's Felicity, 'tis _Hell enough_, and more\nthan enough, even for an Angel to support; nothing we can conceive can\nbe worse.\n\nAs to any other Fire than this, such and so immaterially intense as to\nTorment a Spirit, which is it self Fire also; I will not say it cannot\nbe, because to Infinite every Thing is possible, but I must say, I\ncannot conceive rightly of it.\n\nI will not enter here into the Wisdom or Reasonableness of representing\nthe Torments of Hell to be Fire, and that Fire to be a Commixture of\n_Flame_ and _Sulphur_; it has pleased God to let the Horror of those\neternal Agonies about _a lost Heaven_, be laid before us by those\nSimilitudes or Allegories, which are most moving to our Senses and to\nour Understandings; nor will I dispute the Possibility; much less will I\ndoubt but that there is to be a Consummation of Misery to all the\nObjects of Misery when the _Devil_'s Kingdom in this World ending with\nthe World it self, that Liberty he has now may be farther abridg'd; when\nhe may be return'd to the same State he was in between the Time of his\nFall and the Creation of the World; with perhaps some additional\nVengeance on him, such as at present we cannot describe, for all that\nTreason and those high Crimes and Misdemeanours which he has been guilty\nof here, in his Conversation with Mankind.\n\nAs his Infelicity will be then consummated and compleated, so the\nInfelicity of that Part of Mankind, who are condemn'd with him, may\nreceive a considerable Addition from those Words in their Sentence, to\nbe tormented _with the Devil and his Angels_; for as the Absence of the\nSupreme Good is a compleat Hell, so the hated Company of the Deceiver,\nwho was the great Cause of his Ruine, must be a Subject of additional\nHorror, and he will be always saying, as a _Scots_ Gentleman, who died\nof his Excesses, said to the famous Dr. _P----_, who came to see him on\nhis Death-bed, but had been too much his Companion in his Life,\n\n  _O tu fundamenta jecisti------_\n\n\nI would not treat the very Subject it self with any Indecency, nor do I\nthink my Opinion of that _Hell_, which I say consists in the Absence of\nhim, in whom is Heaven, one Jot less Solemn than theirs who believe it\nall _Fire_ and _Brimstone_; but I must own, that to me nothing can be\nmore ridiculous than the Notions that we entertain and fill our Heads\nwith about _Hell_, and about the _Devil_'s being there tormenting of\nSouls, broiling them upon Gridirons, hanging them up upon Hooks,\ncarrying them upon their Backs, and the like, with the several Pictures\nof _Hell_, represented by a great Mouth with horrible Teeth, gaping like\na Cave on the Sides of a Mountain; suppose that appropriated to _Satan_\nin the _Peak_, which indeed is not much unlike it, with a Stream of Fire\ncoming out of it, as there is of Water, and smaller Devils going and\ncoming continually in and out, to fetch and carry Souls the Lord knows\nwhither, and for the Lord knows what.\n\nThese Things, however intended for Terror, are indeed so ridiculous,\nthat the _Devil_ himself, to be sure, mocks at them, and a Man of Sense\ncan hardly refrain doing the like, only I avoid it, because I would not\ngive offence to weaker Heads.\n\nHowever, I must not Compliment the Brains of other Men, at the Expence\nof my own, or talk Nonsense because they can understand no other; I\nthink all these Notions and Representations of _Hell_ and of the\n_Devil_, to be as prophane as they are ridiculous, and I ought no more\nto talk prophanely than merrily of them.\n\nLet us learn to talk of these Things then, as we should do; and as we\nreally cannot describe them to our Reason and Understanding, why should\nwe describe them to our Senses; we had, I think, much better not\ndescribe them at all, that is to say, not attempt it: The blessed\nApostle St. _Paul_ was, as he said himself, carried up, or caught up\ninto the _third Heaven_, yet when he came down again, he could neither\ntell what he heard or describe what he saw; all he could say of it was,\nthat what he heard was _inutterable_, and what he saw was\n_inconceivable_.\n\nIt is the same thing as to the State of the _Devil_ in those Regions\nwhich he now possesses, and where he now more particularly inhabits; my\npresent Business then is not to enter into those grave Things so as to\nmake them ridiculous, as I think most People do that talk of them; but\nas the _Devil_, let his Residence be where it will, has evidently free\nLeave to come and go, not into this World only; (_I mean, the Region of\nour Atmosphere_,) but for ought we know, to all the other inhabited\nWorlds which God has made, where-ever they are, and by whatsoever Names\nthey are or may be known or distinguished; for if he is not confined in\none Place, we have no Reason to believe he is excluded from any Place,\nHeaven only excepted, from whence he was expell'd for his Treason and\nRebellion.\n\nHis Liberty then being thus ascertain'd, three Things seem to be\nmaterial for us to give an Account of, in order to form this Part of\nhis History.\n\n     1. What his Business is on this Globe of Earth which we vulgarly\n     call the World, how he acts among us, what Affairs Mankind and he\n     have together, and how far his Conduct here relates to Us, and Ours\n     is, or may be influenc'd by him.\n\n     2. Where his Principal Residence is, and whether he has not a\n     particular Empire of his own, to which he retreats upon proper\n     Occasions; where he entertains his Friends when they come under his\n     particular Administration; and where, when he gets any Victory over\n     his Enemies, he carries his Prisoners of War.\n\n     3. What may probably be the great Business this black Emperor has\n     at present upon his Hands, either in this World or out of it, and\n     by what Agents he works.\n\n\nAs these Things may perhaps run promiscuously thro' the Course of this\nwhole Work, and frequently be touch'd at under other Branches of the\n_Devil_'s History, so I do not propose them as Heads of Chapters or\nParticular Sections, for the Order of Discourse to be handled apart; for\n(by the way) as Satan's Actings have not been the most regular Things in\nthe World, so in our Discourse about him, it must not be expected that\nwe can always tie our selves down to Order and Regularity, either as to\nTime, or Place, or Persons; for Satan being _hic & ubique_, a loose\nungovern'd Fellow, we must be content to trace him where we can find\nhim.\n\nIt is true, in the foregoing Chapter, I shew'd you the DEVIL entred into\nthe Herd Ecclesiastick, and gave you some Account of the first\nsuccessful Step he took with Mankind since the Christian Epocha; how\nhaving secretly managed both Temporal and Spiritual Power apart, and by\nthemselves, he now united them in Point of Management, and brought the\nChurch Usurpation and the Army's Usurpation together; the Pope to bless\nthe General in deposing and murthering his Master the Emperor; and the\nGeneral to recognise the Pope in dethroning his Master Christ Jesus.\n\nFrom this time forward you are to allow the _Devil_ a mystical Empire in\nthis World; not an Action of Moment done without him, not a Treason but\nhe has a Hand in it, not a Tyrant but he prompts him, not a Government\nbut he has a ---- in it; not a Fool but he tickles him, not a Knave but\nhe guides him; he has a Finger in every Fraud, a Key to every Cabinet,\nfrom the _Divan_ at _Constantinople_, to the _Mississipi_ in _France_,\nand to the _South-Sea_ Cheats at ------; from the first Attack upon the\nChristian World, in the Person of the _Romish_ Antichrist, down to the\nBull _Unigenitus_; and from the Mixture of St. _Peter_ and _Confucius_\nin _China_, to the Holy Office in _Spain_; and down to the _Emlins_ and\n_Dodwells_ of the current Age.\n\nHow he has managed, and does manage, and how in all Probability he will\nmanage till his Kingdom shall come to a Period, and how at last he will\nprobably be managed himself, _Enquire within, and you shall know\nfarther_.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. III.\n\n_Of the Manner of_ Satan_'s acting and carrying on his Affairs in this\n     World, and particularly of his ordinary Workings in the dark, by_\n     Possession _and_ Agitation.\n\n\nThe Devil being thus reduc'd to act upon Mankind by Stratagem only, it\nremains to enquire how he performs, and which way he directs his\nAttacks; the Faculties of Man are a kind of a Garrison in a strong\nCastle, which as they defend it on the one hand under the Command of the\nreasoning Power of Man's Soul, so they are prescribed on the other hand,\nand can't sally out without Leave; for the Governor of a Fort does not\npermit his Soldiers to hold any Correspondence with the Enemy, without\nspecial Order and Direction. Now the great Enquiry before us is, How\ncomes the DEVIL to a Parley with us? how does he converse with our\nSenses, and with the Understanding? How does he reach us, which way does\nhe come at the Affections, and which way does he move the Passions? 'Tis\na little difficult to discover this treasonable Correspondence, and that\nDifficulty is indeed the _Devil_'s Advantage, and, for ought I see, the\nchief Advantage he has over Mankind.\n\nIt is also a great Enquiry here, whether the _Devil_ knows our Thoughts\nor no? If I may give my Opinion, I am with the negative; I deny that he\nknows any thing of our Thoughts, except of those Thoughts which he puts\nus upon thinking, for I will not doubt but he has the Art to inject\nThoughts, and to revive dormant Thoughts in us: It is not so wild a\nScheme as some take it to be, that Mr. _Milton_ lays down, to represent\nthe _Devil_ injecting corrupt Desires and wandring Thoughts into the\nHead of _Eve_, by Dreams, and that he brought her to Dream whatever he\nput into her Thoughts, by whispering to her vocally when she was asleep;\nand to this End, he imagines the DEVIL laying himself close to her Ear,\nin the Shape of a Toad, when she was fall asleep; I say, this is not so\nwild a Scheme, seeing even now, if you can whisper any thing close to\nthe Ear of a Person in a deep Sleep, so as to speak distinctly to the\nPerson, and yet not awaken him, as has been frequently tried, the Person\nsleeping shall dream distinctly of what you say to him; nay, shall dream\nthe very Words you say.\n\nWe have then no more to ask, but how the DEVIL can convey himself to the\nEar of a sleeping Person, and it is granted then that he may have Power\nto make us dream what he pleases: But this is not all, for if he can so\nforcibly, by his invisible Application, cause us to dream, what he\npleases, why can he not with the same Facility prompt our Thoughts,\nwhether sleeping or waking? To dream, is nothing else but to think\nsleeping; and we have abundance of deep-headed Gentlemen among us, who\ngive us ample Testimony that they dream waking.\n\nBut if the DEVIL can prompt us to dream, that is to say, to think, yet\nif he does not know our Thoughts, how then can he tell whether the\nWhisper had its Effect? The answer is plain, the DEVIL, like the Angler,\nbaits the Hook, if the Fish bite he lies ready to take the Advantage, he\nwhispers to the Imagination, and then waits to see how it works; as\n_Naomi_ said to _Ruth_, Chap. iii. 5, 18. _Sit still, my Daughter, until\nthou know how the Matter will fall, for the Man will not be at rest\nuntil he have finished the thing._ Thus when the DEVIL had whisper'd to\n_Eve_ in her Sleep, _according to Milton_, and suggested Mischief to her\nImagination, he only sat still to see how the Matter would work, for he\nknew if it took with her, he should hear more of it; and then by finding\nher alone the next Day, without her ordinary Guard her Husband, he\npresently concluded she had swallowed the Bait, and so attack'd her\nafresh.\n\nA small deal of Craft, and less by far than we have reason to believe\nthe _Devil_ is Master of, will serve to discover whether such and such\nThoughts as he knows he has suggested, have taken Place or no; the\nAction of the Person presently discovers it, at least to him that lies\nalways upon the Watch, and has every Word, every Gesture, every Step we\ntake subsequent to his Operation, open to him; it may therefore, for\nought we know, be a great Mistake, and what most of us are guilty of, to\ntell our Dreams to one another in the Morning, after we have been\ndisturb'd with them in the Night; for if the _Devil_ converses with us\nso insensibly as some are of the Opinion he does, _that is to say_, if\nhe can hear as far as we can see, we may be telling our Story to him\nindeed, when we think we are only talking to one another.\n\nThis brings me most naturally to the important Enquiry, whether the\n_Devil_ can walk about the World invisibly or no? The Truth is, this is\nno question to me; for as I have taken away his Visibility already, and\nhave denied him all Prescience of Futurity too, and have prov'd he\ncannot know our Thoughts, nor put any Force upon Persons or Actions, if\nwe should take away his Invisibility too, we should _undevil_ him quite,\nto all Intents and Purposes, as to any Mischief he could do; nay, it\nwould banish him the World, and he might e'en go and seek his Fortune\nsome where else; for if he could neither be visible or invisible,\nneither act in publick or in private, he could neither have Business or\nBeing in this Sphere, nor could we be any way concern'd with him.\n\nThe _Devil_ therefore most certainly has a Power and Liberty of moving\nabout in this World, after _some manner or another_; this is verify'd as\nwell by way of Allegory, as by way of History, in the Scripture it self;\nand as the first strongly suggests and supposes it to be so, the last\npositively asserts it; and, not to croud this Work with Quotations from\na Book which we have not much to do with in the _Devil_'s Story, at\nleast not much to his Satisfaction, I only hint his personal Appearance\nto our Saviour in the Wilderness, where it is said, _the Devil taketh\nhim up to an exceeding high Mountain_; and in another Place, _the Devil\ndeparted from him_. What Shape or Figure he appear'd in, we do not find\nmentioned, but I cannot doubt his appearing to him there, any more than\nI can his talking to our Saviour in the Mouths, and with the Voices of\nthe several Persons who were under the terrible Affliction of an actual\nPossession.\n\nThese Things leave us no room to doubt of what is advanced above,\nnamely, that he, (the _Devil_) has a certain Residence, or Liberty of\nresiding in, and moving about upon the Surface of this Earth, as well as\nin the Compass of the Atmosphere, vulgarly call'd the Air, in some\nmanner or other: That is the general.\n\nIt remains to enquire into the manner, which I resolve into two Kinds;\n\n     1. _Ordinary_, which I suppose to be his invisible Motions as a\n     Spirit; under which Consideration I suppose him to have an\n     unconfin'd, unlimited, unrestrain'd Liberty, as to the manner of\n     acting; and this either in Persons, by Possession; or in Things, by\n     Agitation.\n\n     2. _Extraordinary_; which I understand to be his Appearances in\n     borrowed Shapes and Bodies, or Shadows rather of Bodies; assuming\n     Speech, Figure, Posture, and Several Powers, of which we can give\n     little or no Account; in which extraordinary manner of Appearances,\n     he is either limited by a Superior Power, or limits himself\n     politically, as being not the Way most for his Interest or Purpose,\n     to act in his Business, which is more effectually done in his State\n     of Obscurity.\n\n\nHence we must suppose the _Devil_ has it very much in his own Choice,\nwhether to act in one Capacity, or in the other, or in both; that is to\nsay, of appearing, and not appearing, as he finds for his Purpose: In\nthis State of Invisibility, and under the Operation of these Powers and\nLiberties, he performs all his Functions and Offices, as _Devil_, as\nPrince of Darkness, as God of this World, as Tempter, Accuser, Deceiver,\nand all whatsoever other Names of Office, or Titles of Honour he is\nknown by.\n\nNow taking him in this large unlimited, or little limited State of\nAction, he is well call'd, _the God of this World_, for he has very much\nof the Attribute of Omnipresence, and may be said, _either by himself or\nhis Agents_, to be every where, and see every thing; that is to say,\nevery thing that is visible; for I cannot allow him any Share of\n_Omniscience_ at all.\n\nThat he ranges about every where, is _with us_, and sometimes _in us_,\nsees when he is not seen, hears when he is not heard, comes in without\nLeave, and goes out without Noise, is neither to be shut in or shut out,\nthat when he runs _from us_ we can't catch him, and when he runs _after\nus_ we can't escape him, is seen when he is not known, and is known when\nhe is not seen; all these things, and more, we have Knowledge enough\nabout to convince us of the Truth of them; so that, as I have said\nabove, he is certainly walking to and fro thro' the Earth, _&c._ after\n_some manner or other_, and in some Figure or other, visible or\ninvisible, as he finds Occasion. Now in order to make our History of him\ncomplete, the next Question before us is, how, and in what manner he\nacts with Mankind? how his Kingdom is carried on, and by what Methods he\ndoes his Business, for he certainly has a great deal of Business to do;\nhe is not an idle Spectator, nor is he walking about _incognito_, and\ncloth'd in Mist and Darkness, purely in Kindness to us, that we should\nnot be frighted at him; but 'tis in Policy, that he may act\nundiscover'd, that he may see and not be seen, may play his Game in the\ndark, and not be detected in his Roguery; that he may prompt Mischief,\nraise Tempests, blow up Coals, kindle Strife, embroil Nations, use\nInstruments, and not be known to have his Hand in any thing, when at the\nsame time he really has a Hand in every thing.\n\nSome are of Opinion, _and I among the rest_, that if the _Devil_ was\npersonally and visibly present among us, and we conversed with him Face\nto Face, we should be so familiar with him in a little time, that his\nugly Figure would not affect us at all, that his Terrors would not\nfright us, or that we should any more trouble our selves about him,\nthan we did with the last great Comet in 1678, which appear'd so long\nand so constantly without any particular known Event, that at last we\ntook no more Notice of it than of the other ordinary Stars which had\nappear'd before we or our Ancestors were born.\n\nNor indeed should we have much Reason to be frighted at him, or at least\nnone of those silly Things could be said of him which we now amuse our\nselves about, and by which we set him up like a Scare-Crow to fright\nChildren and old Women, to fill up old Stories, make Songs and Ballads,\nand in a Word, carry on the low priz'd Buffoonery of the common People;\nwe should either see him in his Angelic Form, as he was from the\nOriginal, or if he has any Deformities entail'd upon him by the supreme\nSentence, and in Justice to the Deformity of his Crime, they would be of\na superior Nature, and fitted more for our Contempt as well as Horror,\nthan those weak fancied Trifles contrived by our antient Devil-raisers\nand Devil-makers, to feed the wayward Fancies of old Witches and\nSorcerers, who cheated the ignorant World with a _Devil_ of their own\nmaking, set forth, _in terrorem_, with Bat's Wings, Horns, cloven Foot,\nlong Tail, fork'd Tongue, and the like.\n\nIn the next Place, be his frightful Figure what it would, and his\nLegions as numerous as the Host of Heaven, we should see him still, as\nthe Prince of _Devils_, tho' monstrous as a Dragon, flaming as a Comet,\ntall as a Mountain, yet dragging his Chain after him equal to the utmost\nof his supposed Strength; always in Custody of his _Jailors_ the Angels,\nhis Power over-power'd, his Rage cow'd and abated, or at least aw'd and\nunder Correction, limited and restrain'd; in a Word, we should see him a\nvanquish'd Slave, his Spirit broken, his Malice, tho' not abated, yet\nHand-cuff'd and overpower'd, and he not able to work any Thing against\nus by Force; so that he would be to us but like the Lions in the Tower,\nencag'd and lock'd up, unable to do the Hurt he wishes to do, and that\nwe fear, or indeed any hurt at all.\n\nFrom hence 'tis evident, that 'tis not his Business to be public, or to\nwalk up and down in the World visibly, and in his own Shape; his Affairs\nrequire a quite different Management, as might be made apparent from the\nNature of Things, and the Manner of our Actings, as Men, either with our\nselves or to one another.\n\nNor could he be serviceable in his Generation, as a public Person as now\nhe is, or answer the End of his Party who employ him, and who, if he was\nto do their Business in public, as he does in private, would not be able\nto employ him at all.\n\nAs in our modern Meetings for the Propagation of Impudence and other\nVirtues, there would be no Entertainment and no Improvement for the Good\nof the Age, if the People did not all appear in Masque, and conceal'd\nfrom the common Observation; so neither could _Satan_ (from whose\nManagement those more happy Assemblies are taken as Copies of a glorious\nOriginal) perform the usual and necessary Business of his Profession, if\nhe did not appear wholly in Covert and under needful Disguises; how, but\nfor the Convenience of his Habit, could he call himself into so many\nShapes, act on so many different Scenes, and turn so many Wheels of\nState in the World, as he has done? as a meer profess'd _Devil_ he could\ndo nothing.\n\nHad he been oblig'd always to act the meer Devil in his own Clothes, and\nwith his own Shape, appearing uppermost in all Cafes and Places, he\ncould never have preach'd in so many Pulpits, presided in so many\nCouncils, voted in so many Committees, sat in so many Courts, and\ninfluenc'd so many Parties and Factions in Church and State, as we have\nReason to believe he has done in our Nation, and in our Memories too, as\nwell as in other Nations and in more antient Times. The Share Satan has\nhad in all the weighty Confusions of the Times, ever since the first\nAges of Christianity in the World, has been carried on with so much\nSecresy, and so much with an Air of Cabal and Intrigue, that nothing can\nhave been manag'd more subtilly and closely, and in the same Manner has\nhe acted in our Times, in order to conceal his Interest, and conceal the\nInfluence he has had in the Councils of the World.\n\nHad it been possible for him to have raised the Flames of Rebellion and\nWar so often in this Nation, as he certainly has done? Could he have\nagitated the Parties on both Sides, and inflam'd the Spirits of three\nNations, if he had appears in his own Dress, a meer naked DEVIL? It is\nnot the Devil as a _Devil_ that does the Mischief, but the _Devil_ in\nMasquerade, _Satan_ in full Disguise, and acting at the Head of civil\nConfusion and Distraction.\n\nIf History may be credited, the _French_ Court at the Time of our old\nConfusions was made the Scene of Satan's Politicks, and prompted both\nParties in _England_ and in _Scotland_ also to quarrel, and how was it\ndone? Will any Man offer to scandalize the _Devil_ so much as to say, or\nso much as to suggest that _Satan_ had no Hand in it all? Did not the\n_Devil_, by the Agency of Cardinal _Richlieu_, send 400000 Crowns at one\nTime, and 600000 at another, to the _Scots_, to raise an Army and march\nboldly into _England?_ and did not the same _Devil_ at the same time, by\nother Agents, remit 800000 Crowns to the other Party, in order to raise\nan Army to fall upon the _Scots_? nay, did not the _Devil_ with the\nsame Subtilty send down the Archbishop's Order to impose the\nService-Book upon the People in _Scotland_, and at the same Time raise a\nMob against it, in the great Church (at St. _Giles_'s)? Nay, did not he\nactually, in the Person of an old Woman (his favourite Instrument) throw\nthe three-leg'd Stool at the Service-Book, and animate the zealous\nPeople to take up Arms for Religion, and turn Rebels for God Sake?\n\nAll these happy and successful Undertakings, tho' 'tis no more to be\ndoubted they were done by the Agency of _Satan_, and in a very\nsurprizing Manner too, yet were all done in secret, by what I call\nPossession and Injection, and by the Agency and Contrivance of such\nInstruments, or by the _Devil_ in the Disguise of such Servants as he\nfound out fitted to be employ'd in his Work, and who he took a more\neffectual Care in concealing of.\n\nBut we shall have Occasion to touch all this Part over again, when we\ncome to discourse of the particular Habits and Disguises which the\n_Devil_ has made use of, all along in the World, the better to cover his\nActions, and to conceal his being concern'd in them.\n\nIn the mean Time the Cunning or Artifice the _Devil_ makes use of in all\nthese Things is in it self very considerable; 'tis an old Practice of\nhis using, and he has gone on in diverse Measures, for the better\nconcealing himself in it; which Measures, tho' he varies sometimes, as\nhis extraordinary Affairs require, yet they are in all Ages much the\nsame, and have the same Tendency; namely, that he may get all his\nBusiness carried on by the Instrumentality of Fools; that he may make\nMankind Agents in their own Destruction, and that he may have all his\nWork done in such a Manner as that he may seem to have no Hand in it;\nnay he contrives so well, that the very Name _Devil_ is put upon his\nopposite Party, and the Scandal of the black Agent lies all upon them.\n\nIn order then to look a little into his Conduct, let us enquire into the\ncommon Mistakes about him, see what Use is made of them to his\nAdvantage, and how far Mankind is imposed upon in those Particulars, and\nto what Purpose.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. IV.\n\n_Of Satan's Agents or Missionaries, and their Actings upon and in the\n     Minds of Men in his Name._\n\n\nInfinite Advantages attend the _Devil_ in his retired Government, as\nthey respect the Management of his Interests, and the carrying on his\nabsolute Monarchy in the World; particularly as it gives him room to act\nby the Agency of his inferior Ministers and Messengers, call'd on many\nOccasions _his Angels_, of whom he has an innumerable _Multitude_, at\nhis Command, enough, for ought we know, to spare one to attend every Man\nand Woman now alive in the World; and of whom, if we may believe our\nsecond sight Christians, the Air is always as full, as a Beam of the\nEvening Sun is of Insects, where they are ever ready for Business, and\nto go and come as their great Governor issues out Orders for their\nDirections.\n\nThese, as they are all of the same spirituous Quality with himself, and\nconsequently invisible like him, _except as above_, are ready upon all\nOccasions to be sent to _and into_ any such Person, and for such\nPurposes, _superior Limitations only excepted_, as the grand Director of\n_Devils_, (The _Devil_ properly so call'd guides them;) and be the\nSubject or the Object what it will, _that is to say_, be the Person they\nare sent to, _or into, as above_, who it will, and the Business the\nMessenger is to do what it will, they are sufficiently qualified; for\nthis is a Particular to Satan's Messengers or Agents, that they are not\nlike us humane _Devils_ here in the World, some bred up one Way, some\nanother, some of one Trade, some of another, and consequently some fit\nfor some Business, some for another, some good for something, and some\ngood for nothing, but his People are every one fit for every Thing, can\nfind their Way every where, and are a Match for every Body they are sent\nto; in a Word, there are no _foolish Devils_, they are all fully\nqualified for their Employment, fit for any thing he sets them about,\nand very seldom mistake their Errand or fail in the Business they are\nsent to do.\n\nNor is it strange at all, that the _Devil_ should have such a numberless\nTrain of Deputy _Devils_ to act under him; for it must be acknowledged\nhe has a great deal of Business upon his Hands, a vast deal of Work to\ndo, abundance of public Affairs under his Direction, and an infinite\nVariety of particular Cases always before him; _for Example_.\n\nHow many Governments in the World are wholly in his Administration? how\nmany Divans and great Councils under his Direction? nay, I believe,\n'twould be hard to prove that there is or has been one Council of State\nin the World for many hundred Years past, down to the Year 1713, (we\ndon't pretend to come nearer home) where the _Devil_ by himself, or his\nAgents in one Shape or another, has not sat as a Member, if not taken\nthe Chair.\n\nAnd tho' some learn'd Authors may dispute this Point with me, by giving\nsome Examples where the Councils of Princes have been acted by a better\nHand, and where Things have been carried against _Satan_'s Interest, and\neven to his great Mortification, it amounts to no more than this;\nnamely, that in such Cases the _Devil_ has been out-voted; but it does\nnot argue but he might have been present there, and have push'd his\nInterest as far as he could, only that he had not the Success he\nexpected; for I don't pretend to say that he has never been\ndisappointed; but those Examples are so rare, and of so small\nSignification, that when I come to the Particulars, as I shall do in the\nSequel of this History, you will find them hardly worth naming; and\nthat, take it one Time with another, the _Devil_ has met with such a\nSeries of Success in all his Affairs, and has so seldom been baulk'd;\nand where he has met with a little Check in his Politicks, has\nnotwithstanding, so soon and so easily recover'd himself, regain'd his\nlost Ground, or replac'd himself in another Country when he has been\nsupplanted in one, that his Empire is far from being lessen'd in the\nWorld, for the last thousand Years of the Christian Establishment.\n\nSuppose we take an Observation from the Beginning of _Luther_, or from\nthe Year 1420, and call the Reformation a Blow to the _Devil_'s Kingdom,\nwhich before that was come to such a Height in Christendom, that 'tis a\nQuestion not yet thorowly decided, whether that Medley of Superstition\nand horrible Heresies, that Mass of Enthusiam and Idols call'd the\nCatholick Hierarchy, was a Church of God or a Church of the _Devil_;\nwhether it was an Assembly of Saints or a Synagogue of Satan: I say,\ntake that Time to be the _Epocha_ of Satan's Declension and of\nLucifer's falling from Heaven, that is, from the Top of his terrestrial\nGlory, yet whether he did not gain in the Defection of the _Greek_\nChurch about that Time and since, as much as he lost in the Reformation\nof the _Roman_, is what Authors are not yet agreed about, not reckoning\nwhat he has regain'd since of the Ground which he had lost even by the\nReformation, (_viz._) the Countries of the Duke of _Savoy_'s Dominion,\nwhere the Reformation is almost eaten out by Persecution; the whole\n_Valtoline_ and some adjacent Countries; the whole Kingdom of _Poland_\nand almost all _Hungary_; for since the last War the Reformation, as it\nwere, lies gasping for Breath, and expiring in that Country, also\nseveral large Provinces in _Germany_, as _Austria_, _Carinthia_, and the\nwhole Kingdom of _Bohemia_, where the Reformation once powerfully\nplanted, receiv'd its Death's Wound at the Battle of _Prague_, _Ann._\n1627, and languish'd but a very little while, died and was buried, and\ngood King POPERY reign'd in its stead.\n\nTo these Countries thus regain'd to Satan's infernal Empire, let us add\nhis modern Conquests and the Encroachments he has made upon the\nReformation in the present Age, which are, _however light we make of\nthem_, very considerable (_viz._) the Electorate of the _Rhine_ and the\n_Palatinate_, the one fallen to the House of _Bavaria_, and the other to\nthat of _Neuburgh_, both Popish; the Dutchy of _Deux Ponts_ fallen just\nnow to a popish Branch, the whole Electorate of _Saxony_ fallen under\nthe Power of popish Government by the Apostacy of their Princes, and\nmore likely to follow the Fate of _Bohemia_, whenever the diligent\n_Devil_ can bring his new Project in _Poland_ to bear, as 'tis more than\nprobable he will do so some time or other, by the growing Zeal as well\nas Power of (that House of Bigots) the House of _A----_.\n\nBut to sum up the dull Story; we must add in the Roll of the _Devil_'s\nConquests, the whole Kingdom of _France_, where we have in one Year\nseen, to the immortal Glory of the _Devil_'s Politicks, that his\nMeasures have prevailed to the total Extirpation of the Protestant\nChurches without a War; and that Interest which for 200 Years had\nsupported it self in spight of Persecutions, Massacres, five civil Wars\nand innumerable Battles and Slaughters, at last receiv'd its mortal\nWound from its own Champion _Henry_ IV. and sunk into utter Oblivion, by\n_Satan_'s most exquisite Management under the Agency of his two prime\nMinisters Cardinal _Richlieu_ and _Lewis_ the XIV, whom he entirely\npossess'd.\n\nThus far we have a melancholy View of the _Devil_'s new Conquests, and\nthe Ground he has regain'd upon the Reformation, in which his secret\nManagement has been so exquisite, and his Politicks so good, that could\nhe bring but one Thing to pass, which by his own former Mistake, (for\nthe _Devil_ is not infallible) he has rendred impossible, he would bring\nthe Protestant Interest so near its Ruin, that Heaven would be, _as it\nwere_, put to the Necessity of working by Miracle to prevent it; _the\nCase is thus_.\n\nAntient Historians tell us, and from good Authority, that the DEVIL\nfinding it for his Interest to bring his favourite _Mahomet_ upon the\nStage, and spread the victorious Half-Moon upon the Ruin of the Cross,\nhaving with great Success, rais'd first the _Saracen_ Empire, and then\nthe _Turkish_ to such a Height, as that the Name of Christian seemed to\nbe extirpated in those two Quarters of the World, which were then not\nthe greatest only, but by far the most powerful, I mean _Asia_ and\n_Africa_; having totally laid wast all those antient and flourishing\nChurches of _Africa_, the Labours of St. _Cyprian_, _Tertullian_, St.\n_Augustine_, and 670 Christian Bishops and Fathers, who govern'd there\nat once, also all the Churches of _Smyrna_, _Philadelphia_, _Ephesus_,\n_Sardis_, _Antioch_, _Laodicea_, and innumerable others in _Pontus_,\n_Bithynia_, and the Provinces of the lesser _Asia_.\n\nThe _Devil_ having, I say, finish'd these Conquests so much to his\nSatisfaction, began to turn his Eyes Northward, and tho' he had a\nconsiderable Interest in the _Whore of Babylon_, and had brought his\nPower by the Subjection of the _Roman_ Hierarchy to a great Height, yet\nfinding the Interest of _Mahomet_ most suitable to his _devilish_\nPurposes, as most adapted to the Destruction of Mankind, and laying\nwaste the World, he resolv'd to espouse the growing Power of the _Turk_,\nand bring him in upon _Europe_ like a Deluge.\n\nIn order to this, and to make Way for an easy Conquest, like a true\n_Devil_ he work'd under Ground, and sap'd the Foundation of the\nChristian Power, by sowing Discord among the reigning Princes of\n_Europe_; that so envying one another they might be content to stand\nstill and look on while the _Turk_ devoured them one by one, and at last\nmight swallow them up all.\n\nThis _devilish_ Policy took to his Heart's Content; the Christian\nPrinces stood still, stupid, dozing, and unconcern'd, till the Turk\nconquered _Thrace_, over-run _Servia_, _Macedonia_, _Bulgaria_, and all\nthe Remains of the _Grecian_ Empire, and at last the Imperial City of\n_Constantinople_ it self.\n\nFinding this politic Method so well answer his Ends, the _Devil_, who\nalways improves upon the Success of his own Experiments, resolv'd from\nthat time to lay a Foundation for the making those Divisions and\nJealousies of the Christian Princes immortal; whereas they were at\nfirst only personal, and founded in private Quarrels between the Princes\nrespectively; such as _Emulation_ of one another's Glory, _Envy_ at the\nextraordinary Valour, or other Merit of this or that Leader, or\n_Revenge_ of some little Affront; for which notwithstanding, so great\nwas the Piety of Christian Princes in those Days, that they made no\nScruple to sacrifice whole Armies, yea, Nations, to their Piques and\nprivate Quarrels, _a certain Sign whose Management they were under_.\n\nThese being the Causes by which the DEVIL first sow'd the Seeds of\nMischief among them, and the Success so well answering his Design, he\ncould not but wish to have the same Advantage always ready at his Hand;\nand therefore he resolv'd to order it so, that these Divisions, which,\nhowever useful to him, were only personal, and consequently temporary,\nlike an Annual in the Garden, which must be rais'd anew every Season,\nmight for the future be national, and consequently durable and immortal.\n\nTo this end it was necessary to lay the Foundation of eternal Feud, not\nin the Humours and Passions of Men only, but in the Interests of\nNations: The Way to do this was to form and state the Dominion of those\nPrinces, by such a Plan drawn in Hell, and laid out from a Scheme truly\npolitical, of which the _Devil_ was chief Engineer; that the Divisions\nshould always remain, being made a natural Consequence of the Situation\nof the Country, the Temper of their People, the Nature of their\nCommerce, the Climate, the Manner of living, or something which should\nfor ever render it impossible for them to unite.\n\nThis, I say, was a Scheme truly infernal, in which the _Devil_ was as\ncertainly the principal Operator, to illustrate great Things by small,\nas ever _John_ of _Leyden_ was of the High _Dutch_ Rebellion, or Sir\n_John B------t_ of the late Project, called the _South-Sea_ Stock. Nor\ndid this Contrivance of the _Devil_ at all dishonour his Author, or the\nSuccess appear unworthy of the Undertaker; for we see it not only answer\nthe End, and made the _Turk_ victorious at the same Time, and formidable\nto _Europe_ ever after, but it works to this Day, the Foundation of the\nDivisions remains in all the several Nations, and that to such a Degree\nthat it is impossible they should unite.\n\nThis is what I hinted before, in which the _Devil_ was mistaken, and is\nanother instance that he knows nothing of what is to come; for this very\nFoundation of immortal Jealousy and Discord between the several Nations\nof _Spain_, _France_, _Germany_, and others, which the _Devil_ himself\nwith so much Policy contriv'd, and which serv'd his Interests so long,\nis now the only Obstruction to his Designs, and prevents the entire Ruin\nof the Reformation; for tho' the reform'd Countries are very Powerful,\nand some of them, as _Great Britain_ and _Prussia_ is particularly, more\npowerful than ever; yet it cannot be said that the Protestant Interests\nin general are stronger than formerly, or so strong as they were in 1623\nunder the victorious Arms of the _Swede_; On the other Hand, were it\npossible that the Popish Powers, to wit, of _France_, _Spain_,\n_Germany_, _Italy_ and _Poland_, which are intirely Popish, could\nheartily unite their Interests, and should join their Powers to attack\nthe Protestants, the latter would find it very difficult, if not\nimpossible, to defend themselves.\n\nBut as fatal as such a Union of the Popish Powers would be, and as\nuseful as it would be to the _Devil_'s Cause at this time, not the\n_Devil_ with all his Angels are able to bring it to pass; no, not with\nall his Craft and Cunning; he divided them, but he can't unite them; so\nthat even just as 'tis with Men, so 'tis with _Devils_, they may do in\nan Hour what they can't undo in an Age.\n\nThis may comfort those faint-hearted Christians among us, who cry out of\nthe Danger of a religious War in _Europe_, and what terrible Things will\nhappen when _France_, and _Spain_, and _Germany_, and _Italy_, and\n_Poland_ shall all unite; let this Answer satisfy them, The _Devil_\nhimself can never make _France_ and _Spain_, or _France_ and the Emperor\nunite; jarring Humours may be reconcil'd, but jarring Interests never\ncan: They may unite so as to make Peace, _tho' that can hardly be long_,\nbut never so as to make Conquests together; they are too much afraid of\none another, for one to bear, that any Addition of Strength should come\nto the other. But this is a Digression. We shall find the _Devil_\nmistaken and disappointed too on several other Occasions, as we go\nalong.\n\nI return to Satan's Interest in the several Governments and Nations, by\nvertue of his Invisibility, and which he carries on by Possession; 'tis\nby this Invisibility that he presides in all the Councils of _foreign\nPowers_, (for we never mean our own, that we always premise;) and what\ntho' it is alledged by the Criticks, that he does not preside, because\nthere is always a President; I say, if he is not in the President's\nChair, yet if he be in the President himself, the Difference is not\nmuch; and if he does not vote as a Counsellor, if he votes in the\nCounsellor, 'tis much the same; and here, as it was in the Story of\n_Ahab_ the King of _Israel_, as he was a _lying Spirit_ in the Mouths of\n_all his Prophets_, so we find him a Spirit of some particular evil\nQuality or other, in all the Transactions and Transactors on that Stage\nof Life we call the State.\n\nThus he was a dissembling Spirit in _Char._ IX. a turbulent Spirit in\n_Char._ V. Emperors; a bigotted Spirit of Fire and Faggot in our Queen\n_Mary_; an apostate Spirit in _Hen._ IV.; a cruel Spirit in _Peter_ of\n_Castile_; a revengeful Spirit in _Ferdinand_ II.; a _Phaeton_ in\n_Lewis_ XIV.; a _Sardanapalus_ in _C------_ II.\n\nIn the Great Men of the World, take them a degree lower than the Class\nof Crown'd Heads, he has the same secret Influence; and hence it comes\nto pass, that the greatest Heroes, and Men of the highest Character for\nAtchievements of Glory, either by their Virtue or Valour, however they\nhave been crowned with Victories, and elevated by human Tongues,\nwhatever the most consummate Virtues or good Qualities they have been\nknown by, yet they have always had some Devil or other in them to\npreserve _Satan_'s Claim to them uninterrupted, and prevent their Escape\nout of his Hands; thus we have seen a bloody Devil in a _D'Alva_; a\nprofligate Devil in a _Buckingham_; a lying, artful, or politick Devil\nin a _Richlieu_; a treacherous Devil in a _Mazarin_; a cruel, merciless\nDevil in a _Cortez_; a debauch'd Devil in an _Eugene_; a conjuring Devil\nin a _Luxemburg_; and a covetous Devil in a _M---------h_: In a word,\ntell me the Man, I tell you the Spirit that reign'd in him.\n\nNor does he thus carry on his secret Management by Possession in Men of\nthe first Magnitude only, but have you not had Evidences of it among our\nselves? how has he been a _lying_ Spirit in the Mouths of our Prophets,\na factious Spirit in the Heads of our Politicians, a profuse _Devil_ in\na _B-----s_, a corrupt Devil in _M-----_, a proud Spirit in my Lord\n_Plausible_, a bullying Spirit in my Lord _Bugbear_, a talkative Spirit\nin his Grace the D---- of _Rattle-hall_, a scribling Spirit in my Lord\n_H------_, a run-away Spirit in my Lord _Frightful_; and so thro' a long\nRoll of Heroes, whose exceeding, and particular Qualifications proclaim\nloudly what Handle the _Devil_ took them by, and how fast he held them;\nfor these were all Men of ancient Fame, I hope you know that.\n\nFrom Men of Figure, we descend to the Mob, and 'tis there the same\nthing; Possession, like the Plague, is _Morbus Plebaei_; not a Family but\nhe is a Spirit of Strife and Contention among them; not a Man but he has\na Part in him; he is a drunken _Devil_ in one, a whoring _Devil_ in\nanother, a thieving _Devil_ in a third, a lying _Devil_ in the fourth,\nand so on, to a thousand, and a hundred thousand, _ad infinitum_.\n\nNay, even the Ladies have their Share in the Possession; and if they\nhave not the _Devil_ in their Heads, or in their Tails, in their Faces\nor their Tongues, it must be some poor despicable She-devil that Satan\ndid not think it worth his while to meddle with; and the Number of those\nthat are below his Operation, I doubt is very small. But that Part I\nhave much more to say to in its Place.\n\nFrom Degrees of Persons, to Professions and Employments, 'tis the same;\nwe find the _Devil_ is a true Posture-master, he assumes any Dress,\nappears in any Shape, counterfeits every Voice, acts upon every Stage;\nhere he wears a Gown, there a long Robe; here he wears the Jack-Boots,\nthere the Small-Sword; is here an _Enthusiast_, there a _Buffoon_; on\nthis Side he acts the _Mountebank_, on that Side the _Merry-Andrew_;\nnothing comes amiss to him, from the Great _Mogul_, to the _Scaramouch_;\nthe _Devil_ is in them, more or less, and plays his Game so well that he\nmakes sure Work with 'em all: He knows where the _Common Foible_ lies,\nwhich is UNIVERSAL PASSION, what Handle to take hold of every Man by,\nand how to cultivate his Interest so, as not to fail of his End, or\nmistake the Means.\n\nHow then can it be deny'd but that his acting thus _in tenebris_, and\nkeeping out of the sight of the World, is abundantly his Interest, and\nthat he could do nothing, comparatively speaking, by any other Method?\n\nWhat would this publick Appearance have signified? Who would have\nentertain'd him in his own proper Shape and Person? Even B---- _B----_\nhimself, tho' all the World knows him to have a foolish _Devil_ in him,\nwould not have been Fool enough to have taken him into his Service, if\nhe had known him: And my Lord _Simpleton_ also, who _Satan_ has set up\nfor a cunning Fool, seems to have it sit much better upon him now he\npasses for a Fool of Art, than it should have done if the naked DEVIL\nhad come and challenged him for a Fool in Nature.\n\nInfinite Variety illustrate the _Devil_'s Reign among the Sons of Men;\nall which he manages with admirable Dexterity, and a Slight particular\nto himself, by the mere Advantage of his present conceal'd Situation,\nand which, had he been obliged to have appear'd in Publick, had been all\nlost, and he capable of just nothing at all, or at least of nothing more\nthan the other ordinary Politicians of Wickedness could have done\nwithout him.\n\nNow, Authors are much divided as to the manner how the _Devil_ manages\nhis proper Instruments for Mischief; for Satan has a great many Agents\nin the Dark, who neither have the DEVIL in them, nor are they much\nacquainted with him, and yet he serves himself of them, whether of their\nFolly, or of that other Frailty call'd Wit, 'tis all one, he makes them\ndo his Work, when they think they are doing their own; nay, so cunning\nis he in his guiding the weak Part of the World, that even when they\nthink they are serving God, they are doing nothing less or more than\nserving the _Devil_; nay, 'tis some of the nicest Part of his Operation,\nto make them believe they are serving God, when they do his Work. Thus\nthose who the Scripture foretold should persecute Christ's Church in the\nlatter Days, were to think they do God _good Service_: Thus the\nInquisition, (for Example,) it may be, at this time, in all the acts of\nChristian Cruelty which they are so famous for (if any of them are\nignorant enough not to know that they are _Devils_ incarnate) they may,\nfor ought we know, go on for God's sake; torture, murther, starve to\nDeath, mangle and macerate, and all for God, and God's Catholic Church;\nand 'tis certainly the _Devil_'s Master-piece to bring Mankind to such a\nPerfection of Devilism as that of the _Inquisition_ is; for _if the_\nDevil _had not been in them_, could they christen such a _Hell-fire_\nJudicature as the _Inquisition_ is, by the Name of _the Holy Office_?\nAnd so in Paganism, how could so many Nations among the poor _Indians_\noffer human Sacrifices to their Idols, and murther thousands of Men,\nWomen and Children, to appease this God of the Air, when he is angry, if\nthe _Devil_ did not act in them under the Vizor of Devotion?\n\nBut we need not go to _America_, or to the Inquisition, not to Paganism\nor to Popery either, to look for People that are sacrificing to the\n_Devil_, or that give their Peace-offerings to him, while they are\noffer'd upon God's Altar; are not our Churches (ay, and Meeting-houses\ntoo, as much as they pretend to be more sanctified than their\nNeighbours) full of _Devil_ Worshipers? Where do his Devotees gratulate\none another, and congratulate him, more than at Church? where, while\nthey hold up their Hands, and turn up their Eyes towards Heaven, they\nmake all their Vows to Satan, or at least to the fair _Devils_ his\nRepresentatives, which I shall speak of in their Place.\n\nDo not the Sons of God make Assignations with the Daughters of Men in\nthe very House of Worship? Do they not talk to them in the Language of\nthe Eyes? And what is at the Bottom of it, while one Eye is upon the\nPrayer-book, and the other adjusting their Dress? Are they not\nsacrificing to _Venus_ and _Mercury_, nay, and the very _Devil_ they\ndress at?\n\nLet any Man impartially survey the Church-Gestures, the Air, the\nPostures and the Behaviour; let him keep an exact Roll, and if I do not\nshew him two _Devil_ Worshipers for one true Saint, then the Word\n_Saint_ must have another Signification than I ever yet understood it\nby.\n\nThe Church (as a Place) is the Receptacle of the Dead, as well as the\nAssembly of the Living; what relates to those below, I doubt Satan, if\nhe would be so kind, could give a better Account of than I can; but as\nto the Superficies, I pretend to so much Penetration as to tell you,\nthat there are more Spectres, more Apparitions always there, than you\nthat know nothing of the matter may be aware of.\n\nI happen'd to be at an eminent Place of God's most devout Worship the\nother Day, with a Gentleman of my Acquaintance, who, I observed, minded\nvery little the Business he ought to come about; first I saw him always\nbusy staring about him and bowing this Way and that Way, nay, he made\ntwo or three bows and Scrapes when he was repeating the Responses to the\nTen Commandments, and assure you he made it correspond strangely, so\nthat the Harmony was not so broken in upon as you would expect it\nshould; thus; _Lord_, and a Bow to a fine Lady just come up to her Seat,\n_have Mercy upon us_; ---- three Bows to a Throng of Ladies that came\ninto the next Pew altogether, _and incline_ ---- then stop'd to make a\ngreat Scrape to my Lord ----, _our Hearts_, just then the Hearts of all\nthe Church were gone off from the Subject, for the Response was over, so\nhe huddled up the rest in Whispers, for _God a Mighty_ could hear him\nwell enough, _he said_, nay, as well as if he had spoken as loud as his\nNeighbours did.\n\nAfter we were come home, I ask'd him what he meant by all this, and what\nhe thought of it?\n\nHow could I help it, _said he_, I must not be rude.\n\nWhat, _says I_, rude to who?\n\nWhy, _says he_, there came in so many she _Devils_ I could not help it.\n\nWhat, _said I_, could not you help bowing when you were saying your\nPrayers?\n\nO Sir! _says he_, the Ladies would have thought I had slighted them, I\ncould not avoid it.\n\nLadies! _said I_, I thought you call'd them _Devils_ just now.\n\nAy, ay, _Devils_, _said he_, little charming Devils, but I must not be\nrude to them however.\n\nVery well, _said I_, then you would be rude to _God a Mighty_, because\nyou could not be rude to the Devil?\n\nWhy that's true, _said he_, but what can we do? there's no going to\nChurch as the Case stands now, if we must not worship the _Devil_ a\nlittle between whiles.\n\nThis is the Case indeed, and Satan carries his Point on every Hand; for\nif the fair speaking World, and the fair looking World are generally\n_Devils_, that is to say, are in his Management, we are sure the foul\nspeaking and the foul doing World are all on his Side, and you have then\nonly the fair-doing Part of the World that are out of his Class, and\nwhen we speak of them, _O how few!_\n\nBut I return to the _Devil_'s managing our wicked Part, for this he does\nwith most exquisite Subtilty; and this is one Part of it, (_viz._) he\nthrusts our Vices into our Virtues, by which he mixes the Clean and the\nUnclean, and thus by the Corruption of the one, poisons and debauches\nthe other, so that the Slave he governs cannot account for his own\ncommon Actions, and is fain to be oblig'd to his Maker to accept of the\nHeart without the Hands and Feet; to take, as we vulgarly express it,\n_the Will_ for the _Deed_, and if Heaven was not so good to come into\nthat half in half Service, I don't see but the _Devil_ would carry away\nall his Servants: Here indeed I should enter into a long Detail of\ninvoluntary Wickedness, which in short, is neither more or less than the\n_Devil_ in every Body, ay, in every one of you, (our Governors excepted)\ntake it as you please.\n\nWhat is our Language when we look back with Reflection and Reproach on\npast Follies? _I think I was bewitch'd_, I was _posses'd_, _certainly\nthe Devil was in me, or else I had never been such a Sot_: _Devil_ in\nyou, Sir! Ay, who doubts it; you may be sure the _Devil_ was in you, and\nthere he is still, and next Time he can catch you in the same Snare,\nyou'll be just the same SOT that you say you were before.\n\nIn short, the _Devil_ is too cunning for us, and manages us his own Way;\nhe governs the Vices of Men by his own Methods; tho' every Crime will\nnot make a Man a _Devil_, yet it must be owned that every Crime puts the\nCriminal in some Measure into the Devil's Power, gives him a Title to\nthe Man, and he treats him magisterially ever after.\n\nSome tell us every single Man, every individual has a _Devil_ attending\nhim, to execute the Orders of the (Grand Signior) Devil of the whole\nClan; that this attending _evil Angel_, for so he is call'd, sees every\nStep you take, is with you in every Action, prompts you to every\nMischief, and leaves you to do every Thing that is pernicious to your\nself; they also alledge that there is a good Spirit which attends him\ntoo, which latter is always accessary to every Thing that we do that is\ngood, and reluctant to evil; If this is true, how comes it to pass that\nthose two opposite Spirits do not quarrel about it when they are\npressing us to contrary Actions, one good and the other evil? and why\ndoes the evil tempting Spirit so often prevail? Instead of answering\nthis difficult Question, I shall only tell you, as to this Story of good\nand evil Angels attending every particular Person, 'tis a good Allegory\nindeed to represent the Struggle in the Mind of Man between good and\nevil Inclinations; but as to the rest, the best Thing I can say of it\nis, _that_ I think _'tis a Fib_.\n\nBut to take Things as they are, and only talk by way of natural\nConsequence, for to argue from Nature is certainly the best Way to find\nout the _Devil_'s Story; if there are good and evil Spirits attending\nus, that is to say, a good Angel and a _Devil_, then 'tis no unjust\nReproach upon any Body to say, when they follow the Dictates of the\nlatter, the _Devil_ is in them; or they are _Devils_; nay, I must carry\nit farther still, namely, that as the Generality and greatest Number of\nPeople do follow and obey the evil Spirit and not the good, and that the\npredominate Power is allowed to be the nominating Power; you must then\nallow, that in short, the greater Part of Mankind has the Devil in\nthem, and so I come to my Text.\n\nTo this Purpose give me leave to borrow a few Lines of a Friend on this\nvery Part of the Devil's Management.\n\n  To Places and Persons he suits his Disguises,\n    And dresses up all his Banditti,\n  Who as Pickpockets flock to a Country Assizes,\n    Croud up to the Court and the City.\n\n  They're at every Elbow and every Ear,\n    And ready at every call, Sir;\n  The vigilant Scout plants his Agents about,\n    And has something to do with us all, Sir.\n\n  In some he has Part, and in some he's the Whole,\n    And of some (like the Vicar of _Baddow_)\n  It can neither be said they have Body or Soul,\n    But only are _Devils_ in Shadow.\n\n  The Pretty and Witty, are Devils in Masque,\n    The Beauties are meer Apparitions;\n  The homely alone by their Faces are known,\n    And the Good by their ugly Conditions.\n\n  The Beaus walk about like the Shadows of Men.\n    And wherever he leads 'em they follow,\n  But tak'em and shak'em, there's not one in ten\n    But's as light as a Feather and hollow.\n\n  Thus all his Affairs he drives on in Disguise,\n    And he tickles Mankind with a Feather:\n  Creeps in at our Ears, and looks out at our Eyes,\n    And jumbles our Senses together.\n\n  He raises the Vapours, and prompts the Desires,\n    And to ev'ry dark Deed holds the Candle;\n  The Passions enflames and the Appetite fires,\n    And takes ev'ry Thing by the Handle.\n\n  Thus he walks up and down in compleat Masquerade,\n    And with every Company mixes,\n  Sells in every Shop, works at every Trade,\n    And ev'ry Thing doubtful perplexes.\n\n\nHow Satan comes by this governing Influence in the Minds and upon the\nActions of Men, is a Question I am not yet come to, nor indeed does it\nso particularly belong to the Devil's History, it seems rather a\nPolemick, so it may pass at School among the Metaphysicks, and puzzle\nthe Heads of our Masters; wherefore I think to write to the learned Dr.\n_B----_ about it, imploring his most sublime Haughtiness, that when his\nother more momentous Avocations of Pedantry and Pedagogism will give him\nan Interval from Wrath and Contention, he will set apart a Moment to\nconsider human Nature Deviliz'd, and give us a Mathematical Anatomical\nDescription of it; with a Map of Satan's Kingdom in the Microcosm of\nMankind, and such other Illuminations as to him and his Contemporaries\n---- and, ---- _&c._ in their great Wisdom shall seem meet.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. V.\n\n_Of the_ Devil_'s Management in the Pagan Hierarchy by Omens, Entrails,\n     Augurs, Oracles, and such like Pageantry of Hell; and how they went\n     off the Stage at last by the Introduction of true Religion._\n\n\nI have adjourn'd, not finished, my Account of the _Devil_'s secret\nManagement by _Possession_, and shall reassume it, in its Place; but I\nmust take leave to mention some other Parts of his retir'd Scheme, by\nwhich he has hitherto manag'd Mankind, and the first of these is by that\nFraud of all Frauds call'd Oracle.\n\nHere his Trumpet yielded an uncertain Sound for some Ages, and like what\nhe was, and according to what he practised from the Beginning, he\ndeliver'd out Falshood and Delusion by Retale: The Priests of _Apollo_\nacted this Farce for him to a great Nicety at _Delphos_; there were\ndivers others at the same Time, and some, which to give the Devil his\ndue, he had very little Hand in, as we shall see presently.\n\nThere were also some smaller, some greater, some more, some less famous\nPlaces where those Oracles were seated, and Audience given to the\nEnquirers, in all which the _Devil_, or some Body for him, _Permissu\nSuperiorum_, for either vindictive or other hidden Ends and Purposes,\nwas allow'd to make at least a Pretension to the Knowledge of Things to\ncome; but, as publick Cheats generally do, they acted in Masquerade, and\ngave such uncertain and inconsistent Responses, that they were oblig'd\nto use the utmost Art to reconcile Events to the Prediction, even after\nthings were come to pass.\n\nHere the Devil was a _lying Spirit_, in a particular and extraordinary\nmanner, in the Mouths of all the Prophets; and yet he had the Cunning to\nexpress himself so, that whatever happen'd, the Oracle was suppos'd to\nhave meant as it fell out; and so all their Augurs, Omens and Voices, by\nwhich the Devil amus'd the World, not at that Time only, but since, have\nbeen likewise interpreted.\n\n_Julian_ the Apostate dealt mightily in these Amusements, but the Devil,\nwho neither wish'd his Fall, or presag'd it to him, evidenc'd that he\nknew nothing of _Julian_'s Fate; for that, as he sent almost to all the\nOracles of the East, and summon'd all the Priests together to inform him\nof the Success of his _Persian_ Expedition, they all, like _Ahab_'s\n_Prophets_, having a lying Spirit in them, encourag'd him and promis'd\nhim Success.\n\nNay, all the ill Omens which disturb'd him, they presag'd good from;\n_for Example_, he was at a prodigious Expence when he was at _Antioch_\nto buy up white Beasts, and white Fowls, for Sacrifices, and for\npredicting from the Entrails; from whence the _Antiochians_, in\ncontempt, call'd him _Victimarius_; but whenever the Entrails foreboded\nEvil, the cunning Devil made the Priests put a different Construction\nupon them, and promise him Good: When he entred into the Temple of the\n_Genij_ to offer Sacrifice, one of the Priests dropt down dead; this,\nhad it had any Signification more than a Man falling dead of an\nApoplectic, would have signified something fatal to _Julian_, who made\nhimself a Brother Sacrist or Priest; whereas the Priests turn'd it\npresently to signify the Death of his Colleague, the Consul _Sallust_\nwhich happen'd just at the same Time, tho' eight hundred Miles off; so\nin another Case, _Julian_ thought it ominous that he, who was _Augustus_\nshould be nam'd with two other Names of Persons, both already dead; the\nCase was thus, the Stile of the Emperor was _Julianus Foelix\nAugustus_, and two of his principal Officers were _Julianus_ and\n_Foelix_; now both _Julianus_ and _Foelix_ died within a few Days of\none another, which disturb'd Him much, who was the third of the three\nNames; but his flattering _Devil_ told him it all imported Good to him\n(_viz._) that tho' _Julianus_ and _Foelix_ should die, _Augustus_\nshould be immortal.\n\nThus whatever happen'd, and whatever was foretold, and how much soever\nthey differ'd from one another, the lying Spirit was sure to reconcile\nthe _Prediction_ and the _Event_, and make them at least seem to\ncorrespond in Favour of the Person enquiring.\n\nNow we are told Oracles are ceased, and the _Devil_ is farther limited\nfor the Good of Mankind, not being allow'd to vent his Delusions by the\nMouths of the Priests and Augurs, as formerly: I will not take upon me\nto say how far they are really ceas'd, more than they were before; I\nthink 'tis much more reasonable to believe there was never any Reality\nin them at all, or that any Oracle ever gave out any Answers but what\nwere the Invention of the Priests and the Delusions of the DEVIL; I have\na great many antient Authors on my Side in this Opinion, as _Eusebius_,\n_Tertullian_, _Aristotle_, and others, who as they liv'd so near the\nPagan Times, and when even some of those Rites were yet in Use, they had\nmuch more Reason to know, and could probably pass a better Judgment upon\nthem; nay _Cicero_ himself ridicules them in the openest manner; again,\nother Authors descend to Particular and shew how the Cheat was manag'd\nby the Heathen Sacrists and Priests, and in what enthusiastic manner\nthey spoke; namely, by going into the hollow Images, such as the brazen\nBull and the Image of _Apollo_, and how subtilly they gave out _dubious_\nand _ambiguous_ Answers; that when the People did not find their\nExpectations answer'd by the Event, they might be imposed upon by the\nPriests, and confidently told they did not rightly understand the\nOracle's Meaning: However, I cannot say but that indeed there are some\nAuthors of good Credit too, who will have it that there was a real\nprophetic Spirit in the Voice or Answers given by the Oracles, and that\noftentimes they were miraculously exact in those Answers; and they give\nthat of the _Delphic_ Oracle answering the Question which was given\nabout _Croesus_ for an Example, _viz._ what _Croesus_ was doing at\nthat time? _to wit_, that he was boiling a Lamb and the Flesh of a\nTortoise together, in a brass Vessel, or Boiler, with a Cover of the\nsame Metal; that is to say, in a Kettle with a brass Cover.\n\nTo affirm therefore, that they were all Cheats, a Man must encounter\nwith Antiquity, and set his private Judgment up against an establish'd\nOpinion; but 'tis no matter for that; if I do not see any thing in that\nreceiv'd Opinion capable of Evidence, much less of Demonstration, I must\nbe allow'd still to think as I do; others may believe as they list; I\nsee nothing hard or difficult in the Thing; the Priests, who were always\nhistorically inform'd of the Circumstances of the Enquirer, or at least\nsomething about them, might easily find some ambiguous Speech to make,\nand put some double _Entendre_ upon them, which upon the Event solv'd\nthe Credit of the Oracle, were it one way or other; and this they\ncertainly did, or we have room to think the DEVIL knows less of Things\nnow than he did in former Days.\n\nIt is true that by these Delusions the Priests got infinite Sums of\nMoney, and this makes it still probable that they would labour hard, and\nuse the utmost of their Skill to uphold the Credit of their Oracles; and\n'tis a full Discovery, as well of the Subtlety of the Sacrists, as of\nthe Ignorance and Stupidity of the People, in those early Days of\n_Satan_'s Witchcraft; to see what merry Work the _Devil_ made with the\nWorld, and what gross Things he put upon Mankind: Such was the Story of\nthe _Dordonian_ Oracle in _Epirus_, _viz_. That two _Pigeons_ flew out\nof _Thebes_ (_N. B._ it was the _Egyptian Thebes_) from the Temple of\n_Belus_, erected there by the antient Sacrists, and that one of these\nfled Eastward into _Lybia_, and the Desarts of _Africk_, and the other\ninto _Greece_, namely, to _Dordona_, and these communicated the divine\nMysteries to one another, and afterwards gave mystical Solutions to the\ndevout Enquirers; first the _Dordonian_ Pigeon perching upon an Oak\nspoke audibly to the People there, that the Gods commanded them to build\nan Oracle, or Temple, to _Jupiter_, in that Place; which was accordingly\ndone: The other Pigeon did the like on the Hill in _Africa_, where it\ncommanded them to build another to _Jupiter Ammon_, or _Hammon_.\n\nWise _Cicero_ contemned all this, and, as Authors tell us, ridiculed the\nAnswer, which, as I have hinted above, the Oracle gave to _Croesus_\nproving that the Oracle it self was a _Liar_, that it could not come\nfrom _Apollo_, for that _Apollo_ never spoke _Latin_: In a Word,\n_Cicero_ rejected them all, and _Demosthenes_ also mentions the Cheats\nof the _Oracles_; when speaking of the Oracle of _Apollo_, he said,\n_Pithia Philippiz'd_; that is, that when the Priests were brib'd with\nMoney, they always gave their Answers in favour of _Philip_ of\n_Macedon_.\n\nBut that which is most strange to me is, that in this Dispute about the\nReality of Oracles, the Heathen who made use of them are the People who\nexpose them, and who insist most positively upon their being Cheats and\nImpostors, as in particular those mentioned above; while the Christians\nwho reject them, yet believe they did really foretel Things, answer\nQuestions, _&c._ only with this Difference, that the Heathen Authors who\noppose them, insist that 'tis all Delusion and Cheat, and charge it upon\nthe Priests; and the Christian Opposers insist that it was real, but\nthat the _Devil_, not the Gods, gave the Answers; and that he was\npermitted to do it by a superior Power, to magnify that Power in the\ntotal silencing them at last.\n\nBut, as I said before, I am with the Heathen here, against the Christian\nWriters, for I take it all to be a Cheat and Delusion: I must give my\nReason for it, or I do nothing; my Reason is this, I insist Satan is as\nblind in Matters of Futurity, as we are, and can tell nothing of what is\nto come; these Oracles often pretending to predict, could be nothing\nelse therefore but a Cheat form'd by the Money-getting Priests to amuse\nthe World, and bring Grist to their Mill: If I meet with any thing in my\nWay to open my Eyes to a better Opinion of them, I shall tell it you as\nI go on.\n\nOn the other hand, whether the _Devil_ really spake in those Oracles, or\nset the cunning Priests to speak for him; whether they predicted, or\nonly made the People believe they predicted; whether they gave Answers\nwhich came to pass, or prevail'd upon the People to believe that what\nwas said did come to pass, it was much at one, and fully answer'd the\n_Devil_'s End; namely, to amuse and delude the World; and as to do, or\nto cause to be done, is the same Part of Speech, so whoever did it, the\n_Devil_'s Interest was carried on by it, his Government preserv'd, and\nall the Mischief he could desire was effectually brought to pass, so\nthat every way they were the _Devil_'s Oracles, that's out of the\nQuestion.\n\nIndeed I have wonder'd sometimes why, since by this Sorcery the _Devil_\nperform'd such Wonders, that is, play'd so many Tricks in the World, and\nhad such universal Success, he should set up no more of them; but there\nmight be a great many Reasons given for that, too long to tire you with\nat present: 'Tis true, there were not many of them, and yet considering\nwhat a great deal of Business they dispatch'd, it was enough, for six or\neight Oracles were more than sufficient to amuse all the World: The\nchief Oracles we meet with in History are among the _Greeks_ and the\n_Romans_, _viz._\n\n     That of _Jupiter Ammon_, in _Lybia_, as above.\n\n     The _Dordonian_, in _Epirus_.\n\n     _Apollo Delphicus_, in the Country of _Phocis_ in _Greece_.\n\n     _Apollo Clavius_, in _Asia Minor_.\n\n     _Serapis_, in _Alexandria_ in _Egypt_.\n\n     _Trophomis_, in _Baeotia_.\n\n     _Sybilla Cumaea_, in _Italy_.\n\n     _Diana_, at _Ephesus_.\n\n     _Apollo Daphneus_, at _Antioch_.\n\n     Besides many of lesser Note, in several other Places, as I have\n     hinted before.\n\n\nI have nothing to do here with the Story mentioned by _Plutarch_, of a\nVoice being heard at Sea, from some of the Islands call'd the\n_Echinades_, and calling upon one _Thamuz_, an _Egyptian_, who was on\nboard a Ship, bidding him, when he came to the _Palodes_, other Islands\nin the _Ionian_ Seas, tell them there that the great God PAN was dead;\nand when _Thamuz_ perform'd it, great Groanings, and Howlings, and\nLamentation were heard from the Shore.\n\nThis Tale tells but indifferently, tho' indeed it looks more like _a\nChristian Fable_, than a Pagan; because it seems as if made to honour\nthe Christian Worship, and blast all the Pagan Idolatry; and for that\nReason I reject it, the Christian Profession needing no such fabulous\nStuff to confirm it.\n\nNor is it true in fact, that the Oracles did cease immediately upon the\nDeath of Christ; but, as I noted before, the Sum of the Matter is this;\nthe Christian Religion spreading it self universally, as well as\nmiraculously, and that too _by the Foolishness of Preaching_, into all\nParts of the World, the Oracles ceas'd; that is to say, their Trade\nceas'd, their Rogueries were daily detected, the deluded People being\nbetter taught, came no more after them, and being asham'd, as well as\ndiscourag'd, they sneak'd out of the World as well as they could; in\nshort the Customers fell off, and the Priests, who were the Shopkeepers,\nhaving no Business to do, shut up their Shops, broke, and went away; the\nTrade and the Tradesmen were hiss'd off the Stage together; so that the\n_Devil_, who, it must be confess'd, got infinitely by the Cheat, became\nbankrupt, and was oblig'd to set other Engines at work, as other Cheats\nand Deceivers do, who when one Trick grows stale, and will serve no\nlonger, are forc'd to try another.\n\nNor was the _Devil_ to seek in new Measures; for tho' he could not give\nout his delusive Trash as he did before, in Pomp and State, with the\nSolemnity of a Temple and a Set of Enthusiasts call'd Priests, who plaid\na thousand Tricks to amuse the World, he then had Recourse to his old\n_Egyptian_ Method, which indeed was more antient than that of Oracles;\nand that was by Magic, Sorcery, Familiars, Witchcraft, and the like.\n\nOf this we find the people of the _South_, that is, of _Arabia_ and\n_Chaldea_ were the first, from whence we are told of the Wise Men, that\nis to say, Magicians, were call'd _Chaldeans_ and _Southsayers_. Hence\nalso we find _Ahaziah_ the King of _Israel_ sent to _Baalzebub_ the God\nof _Ekron_, to enquire whether he should live or die? This some think\nwas a kind of an Oracle, tho' others think it was only some over-grown\nMagician, who counterfeited himself to be a _Devil_, and obtain'd upon\nthat Idol-hunting Age to make a Cunning Man of him; and for that Purpose\nhe got himself made a Priest of _Baalzebub_, the God of _Ekron_, and\ngave out Answers in his Name. Thus those merry Fellows in _Egypt_,\n_Jannes_ and _Jambres_, are said to mimick _Moses_ and _Aaron_, when\nthey work'd the miraculous Plagues upon the _Egyptians_; and we have\nsome Instances in Scripture that support this, such as the Witch of\n_Endor_, the King _Manasses_, who dealt with the _Devil_ openly, and had\na Familiar; the Woman mentioned _Acts_ xvi. who had a Spirit of\n_Divination_, and who got Money by playing the Oracle; that is,\nanswering doubtful Questions, _&c._ which Spirit, or _Devil_, the\nApostles cast out.\n\nNow tho' it is true that the old Women in the World have fill'd us with\nTales, some improbable, others impossible; some weak, some ridiculous,\nand that this puts a general Discredit upon all the graver Matrons, who\nentertain us with Stories better put together, yet 'tis certain, and I\nmust be allow'd to affirm, that the _Devil_ does not disdain to take\ninto his Service many Troops of good _Old Women_, and Old Women-Men too,\nwho he finds 'tis for his Service to keep in constant Pay; to these he\nis found frequently to communicate his Mind, and oftentimes we find them\nsuch Proficients, that they know much more than the _Devil_ can teach\nthem.\n\nHow far our antient Friend _Merlin_, or the grave Matron his (Satan's)\nmost trusty and well-beloved Cousin and Counsellor, Mother _Shipton_,\nwere commissioned by him to give out their prophetic Oracles, and what\ndegree of Possession he may have arrived to in them upon their Midnight\nExcursions, I will not undertake to prove; but that he might be\nacquainted with them both, as well as with several of our modern\nGentlemen, I will not deny neither.\n\nI confess it is not very incongruous with the _Devil_'s Temper, or with\nthe Nature of his Business, to shift hands; possibly he found that he\nhad tried the World with Oracular Cheats; that Men began to be forfeited\nwith them, and grew sick of the Frauds which were so frequently\ndetected; that it was time to take new Measures, and contrive some new\nTrick to Bite the World, that he might not be expos'd to Contempt; or\nperhaps he saw the Approach of new Light, which the Christian Doctrine\nbringing with it began to spread in the Minds of Men; that it would\nout-shine the dim burning _ignis fatuus_, with which he had so long\ncheated Mankind, and was afraid to stand it, lest he should be mobb'd\noff the Stage by his own People, when their Eyes should begin to open:\nThat upon this foot he might in Policy withdraw from those old Retreats\nthe Oracles, and restrain those Responses before they lost all their\nCredit; for we find the People seem'd to be at a mighty Loss for some\ntime, for want of them, so that it made them run up and down to\nConjurers, and _Man-Gossips_, to brazen Heads, speaking Calves, and\ninnumerable simple Things, so gross that they are scarce fit to be\nnamed, to satisfy the Itch of having their Fortunes told them, as we\ncall it.\n\nNow as the DEVIL is very seldom blind to his own Interest, and therefore\nthought fit to quit his old way of imposing upon the World by his\nOracles, only because he found the World began to be too wise to be\nimposed upon that way; so on the other hand, finding there was still a\nPossibility to delude the World, tho' by other Instruments, he no sooner\nlaid down his Oracles, and the solemn Pageantry, magnificent\nAppearances, and other Frauds of his Priests and Votaries, in their\nTemples and Shrines; but he set up a new Trade, and having, as I have\nsaid, Agents and Instruments sufficient for any Business that he could\nhave to employ them in, he begins in Corners, as the learned and merry\nDr. _Brown_ says, and exercises his minor Trumperies by way of his own\ncontriving, lifting a great Number of new-found Operators, such as\nWitches, Magicians, Diviners, Figure-casters, Astrologers, and such\ninferior Seducers.\n\nNow it is true, as that Doctor says, this was running into Corners, as\nif he had been expell'd his more triumphant way of giving Audience in\nForm, which for so many Ages had been allow'd him; yet I must add, that\nas it seem'd to be the DEVIL's own doing, from a right Judgment of his\nAffairs, which had taken a new Turn in the World, upon the shining of\nnew Lights from the Christian Doctrine, so it must be acknowledged the\n_Devil_ made himself amends upon Mankind, by the various Methods he\ntook, and the Multitude of Instruments he employ'd, and perhaps deluded\nMankind in a more fatal and sensible manner than he did before, tho' not\nso universally.\n\nHe had indeed before more Pomp and Figure put upon it, and he cheated\nMankind then in a Way of Magnificence and Splendor; but this was not in\nabove eight or ten principal Places, and not fifty Places in all, public\nor private; whereas now fifty thousand of his Angels and Instruments,\nvisible and invisible, hardly may be said to suffice for one Town or\nCity; but in short, as his invisible Agents fill the Air, and are at\nhand for Mischief on every Emergence, so his visible Fools swarm in\nevery Village, and you have scarce a Hamlet or a Town but his Emissaries\nare at Hand for Business; and which is still worse, in all Places he\nfinds Business; nay even where Religion is planted and seems to\nflourish; yet he keeps his Ground and pushes his Interest according to\nwhat has been said elsewhere upon the same Subject, that wherever\nReligion plants, the Devil plants close by it.\n\nNor, as I say, does he fail of Success, Delusion spreads like a Plague,\nand the Devil is sure of Votaries; like a true Mountebank, he can always\nbring a Croud about his Stage, and that some Times faster than other\nPeople.\n\nWhat I observe upon this Subject is this, that the World is at a strange\nLoss for want of the Devil; if it was not so, what's the Reason, that\nupon the silencing the Oracles, and Religion telling them that Miracles\nare ceas'd, and that God has done speaking by Prophets, they never\nenquire whether Heaven has established any other or new Way of\nRevelation, but away they ran with their Doubts and Difficulties to\nthese Dreamers of Dreams, Tellers of Fortunes, and personal Oracles to\nbe resolv'd; as if when they acknowledge the Devil is dumb, these could\nspeak; and as if the wicked Spirit could do more than the Good, the\n_Diabolical_ more than the _Divine_, or that Heaven having taken away\nthe DEVIL's Voice, had furnish'd him with an Equivalent, by allowing\nScolds, Termagants, and old weak and superannuated Wretches to speak for\nhim; for these are the People we go to now in our Doubts and\nEmergencies.\n\nWhile this Blindness continues among us, 'tis Nonsense to say that\nOracles are silenced, or the _Devil_ is dumb, for the _Devil_ gives\nAudience still by his Deputies; only as _Jeroboam_ made Priests of the\nmeanest of the People, so he is grown a little humble, and makes use of\nmeaner Instruments than he did before; for whereas the Priests of\n_Apollo_, and of _Jupiter_, were splendid in their Appearance, of grave\nand venerable Aspect, and sometimes of no mean Quality; now he makes use\nof Scoundrels and Rabble, Beggars and Vagabonds, old Hags, superannuated\nmiserable Hermits, Gypsies and Strollers, the Pictures of Envy and ill\nLuck.\n\nEither the _Devil_ is grown an ill Master, and gives but mean Wages,\nthat he can get no better Servants; or else Common Sense is grown very\nlow priz'd and contemptible; that such as these are fit Tools to\ncontinue the Succession of Fraud, and carry on the _Devil_'s Interest in\nthe World; for were not the Passions and Temper of Mankind deeply\npre-engaged in favour of this dark Prince, we could never suffer our\nselves to accept of his Favours by the Hands of such contemptible Agents\nas these! How do we receive his Oracles from an old Witch of particular\nEminence, and who we believe to be more than ordinarily inspir'd from\nHell; I say, we receive the Oracle with Reverence; that is to say, with\na kind of Horror, with regard to the Black Prince it comes from, and at\nthe same time turn our Faces away from the Wretch that mumbles out the\nAnswers, lest she should cast an _Evil Eye_, as we call it, upon us, and\nput a Devil into us when she plays the _Devil_ before us? How do we\nlisten to the Cant of those worst of Vagabonds the _Gypsies_, when at\nthe same time we watch our Hedges and Hen-roosts for fear of their\nthieving?\n\nEither the DEVIL uses us more like Fools than he did our Ancestors, or\nwe really are worse Fools than those Ages produced, for they were never\ndeluded by such low-priz'd _Devils_ as we are; by such despicable\n_Bridewell_ DEVILS, that are fitter for a Whipping-post than an Altar,\nand instead of being receiv'd as the Voice of an Oracle, should be sent\nto the House of Correction for Pick-pockets.\n\nNor is this accidental, and here and there one of these Wretches to be\nseen, but in short, if it has been in other Nations as it is with us, I\ndo not see that the DEVIL was able to get any better People into his\nPay, or at least very rarely: Where have we seen any thing above a\nTinker turn Wizard? and where have we had a Witch of Quality among us,\nMother _Je------gs_ excepted? and if she had not been more of something\nelse than a Witch, 'twas thought she had never got so much Money by her\nProfession.\n\nMagicians, Southsayers, Devil-raisers, and such People, we have heard\nmuch of, but seldom above the Degree of the meanest of the mean People,\nthe lowest of the lowest Rank: Indeed the Word _Wise Men_, which the\n_Devil_ wou'd fain have had his Agents honour'd with, was used a while\nin _Egypt_, and in _Persia_, among the _Chaldeans_, but it continued but\na little while, and never reach'd so far Northward as our Country; nor,\nhowever the _Devil_ has managed it, have many of our great Men, who have\nbeen most acquainted with him, ever been able to acquire the Title of\nWise Men.\n\nI have heard that in older Times, I suppose in good Queen _Bess_'s Days,\nor beyond, (for little is to be said here for any thing on this Side of\nher time) there were some Counsellors and Statesmen who merited the\nCharacter of _wise_, in the best Sense; that is to say, _good_, and\n_wise_, as they stand in Conjunction; but as to what has happen'd since\nthat, or, as we may call it, from that Queen's Funeral to the late\nRevolution, I have little to say; but I'll tell you what honest _Andrew\nMarvel_ said of those Times, and by that you may, if you please, make\nyour Calculation or let it alone, 'tis all one.\n\n  \"To see a white Staff-maker, a Beggar, a Lord,\n  \"And scarce _a wise Man_ at a long Council-Board.\n\n\nBut I may be told this relates to wise Men in another Constitution, or\nwise Men as they are opposed to Fools; whereas we are talking of them\nnow under another Class, namely, as _Wisemen_ or Magicians,\nSouth-sayers, _&c._ such as were in former Times call'd by that Name.\n\nBut to this I answer, that take them in which Sense you please, it may\nbe the same; for if I were to ask the _Devil_ the Character of the best\nStates-man he had employ'd among us for many Years past, I am apt to\nthink that tho' Oracles are ceased, he would honestly, according to the\nold ambiguous Way, when I ask'd if they were Christians, answer they\nwere (his) _Privy-Counsellors_.\n\nIt is but a little while ago, that I happen'd (in Conversation) to meet\nwith a long List of the Magistrates of that Age, in a neighbouring\nCountry, that is to say, the Men of Fame among them; and it was a very\ndiverting Thing to see the Judgment which was pass'd upon them among a\ngreat deal of good Company; it is not for me to tell you how many white\nStaves, Golden Keys, Mareshals Batoons, Cordons Blue, Gordon Rouge and\nGordon Blanc, there were among them, or by what Titles, as Dukes,\nCounts, Marquis, Abbot, Bishop, or Justice they were to be\ndistinguish'd; but the marginal Notes I found upon most of them were\n(being mark'd with an Asterism) as follows.\n\nSuch a Duke, such eminent Offices added to his Titles (* in the Margin)\n------ _No Saint_.\n\nSuch an Arch---- with the Title of Noble added, ------ _No Archangel_.\n\nSuch an eminent Statesman and prime Minister, ------ _No Witch_.\n\nSuch a Ribbon with a Set of great Letters added, ------ _No Conjurer_.\n\nIt presently occurr'd to me that tho' Oracles were ceased, and we had\nnow no more double _Entendre_ in such a Degree as before, yet that\nambiguous Answers were not at an End; and that whether those Negatives\nwere meant so by the Writers, or not, 'twas certain Custom led the\nReaders to conclude them to be Satyrs, that they were to be rung\nbackwards like the Bells when the Town's on fire; tho' in short, I durst\nnot read them backward any where, but as speaking of foreign People, for\nfear of raising the _Devil_ I am talking of.\n\nBut to return to the Subject; to such mean Things is the DEVIL now\nreduc'd in his ordinary Way of carrying on his Business in the World,\nthat his Oracles are deliver'd now by the Bellmen and the\nChimney-Sweepers, by the meanest of those that speak in the Dark, and if\nhe operates by them, you may expect it accordingly; his Agents seem to\nme as if the DEVIL had singl'd them out by their Deformity, or that\nthere was something particular requir'd in their Aspect to qualify them\nfor their Employment; whence it is become proverbial, when our Looks are\nvery dismal and frightful, to say, I look like a Witch, or in other\nCases to say, as ugly as a Witch; in another Case to look as envious as\na Witch; now whether there is any Thing particularly requir'd in the\nLooks of the DEVIL's modern Agents, which is assisting in the Discharge\nof their Offices, and which make their Answers appear more solemn, this\nthe _Devil_ has not yet reveal'd, at least not to me; and therefore why\nit is that he singles out such Creatures as are fit only to fright the\nPeople that come to them with their Enquiries, I do not take upon me to\ndetermine.\n\nPerhaps it is necessary they should be thus extraordinary in their\nAspect, that they might strike an Awe into the Minds of their Votaries,\nas if they were Satan's true and real Representatives; and that the said\nVotaries may think when they speak to the Witches they are really\ntalking to the _Devil_; or perhaps 'tis necessary to the Witches\nthemselves, that they should be so exquisitely ugly, that they might not\nbe surpriz'd at whatever Figure the Devil makes when he first appears to\nthem, being certain they can see nothing uglier than themselves.\n\nSome are of the Opinion that the Communication with the _Devil_, or\nbetween the Devil and those Creatures his Agents, has something\nassimulating in it, and that if they were tolerable before, they are,\n_ipso facto_, turn'd into DEVILS by talking with him; I will not say but\nthat a Tremor in the Limbs, a Horror in the Aspect, and a surprizing\nStare in the Eyes may seize upon some of them when they really see the\nDEVIL, and that the frequent Repetition may make those Distortions,\nwhich we so constantly see in their Faces becomes natural to them; by\nwhich if it does not continue always upon the Countenance, they can at\nleast, _like the Posture-Masters_, cast themselves into such Figures and\nfrightful Dislocations of the Lines and Features in their Faces, and so\nassume a Devil's Face suitable to the Occasion, or as may serve the turn\nfor which they take it up, and as often as they have any use for it.\n\nBut be it which of these the Enquirer pleases, 'tis all one to the Case\nin Hand; this is certain, that such deform'd _Devil-like_ Creatures,\nmost of those we call _Hags_ and _Witches_, are in their Shapes and\nAspects, and that they give out their Sentences and frightful Messages\nwith an Air of Revenge for some Injury receiv'd; for Witches are fam'd\nchiefly for doing Mischief.\n\nIt seems the _Devil_ has always pick'd out the most ugly and frightful\nold Women to do his Business; _Mother Shipton_, our famous _English_\nWitch or Prophetess, is very much wrong'd in her Picture, if she was not\nof the most terrible Aspect imaginable; and if it be true that _Merlin_,\nthe famous _Welch_ Fortune-Teller, was a frightful Figure, it will seem\nthe more rational to believe, if we credit another Story, (_viz._) that\nhe was begotten by the Devil himself, of which I shall speak by it self:\nBut to go back to the Devil's Instruments being so ugly; it may be\nobserved, I say, that the Devil has always dealt in such sort of Cattle;\nthe _Sybils_, of whom so many strange prophetic Things are recorded,\nwhether true or no is not to the Question, are (if the _Italian_\nPainters may have any Credit given them) all represented as very old\nWomen; and as if Ugliness were a Beauty to old Age, they seem to paint\nthem out as ugly and frightful as (not they, the Painters) but even as\nthe Devil himself could make them; not that I believe there are any\noriginal Pictures of them really extant; but it is not unlikely that the\n_Italians_ might have some traditional Knowledge of them, or some\nremaining Notions of them, or particularly that antient _Sybil_ named\n_Anus_, who sold the fatal Book to _Tarquin_; 'tis said of her that\n_Tarquin_ supposed she doated with Age.\n\nI had Thoughts indeed here to have entred into a learned Disquisition of\nthe Excellency of old Women in all diabolical Operations, and\nparticularly of the Necessity of having recourse to them for _Satan_'s\nmore exquisite Administration, which also may serve to solve the great\nDifficulty in the natural Philosophy of Hell; namely, why it comes to\npass that the Devil is oblig'd for want of old Women, properly so\ncall'd, to turn so many antient Fathers, grave Counsellors both of Law\nand State, and especially Civilians or Doctors of the Law into old\nWomen, and how the extraordinary Operation is perform'd; but this, as a\nThing of great Consequence in Satan's Management of humane Affairs, and\nparticularly as it may lead us into the necessary History, as well as\nCharacters of some of the most eminent of these Sects among us, I have\npurposely reserv'd for a Work by it self, to be published, if _Satan\nhinders not_, in fifteen Volumes in Folio, wherein I shall in the first\nPlace define in the most exact Manner possible, what is to be understood\nby a _Male old Woman_, of what heterogeneous Kind they are produced,\ngive you the monstrous Anatomy of the Parts, and especially those of the\nHead, which being fill'd with innumerable Globules of a sublime Nature,\nand which being of a fine Contexture without, but particularly hollow in\nthe Cavity, defines most philosophically that antient paradoxical\nSaying, (_viz._) _being full of Emptiness_, and makes it very consistent\nwith Nature and common Sense.\n\nI shall likewise spend some Time, _and it must be Labour too, I assure\nyou, when 'tis done_, in determining whether this new Species of\nWonderfuls are not deriv'd from that famous _old Woman Merlin_, which I\nprove to be very reasonable for us to suppose, because of the many\nseveral judicious Authors, who affirm the said _Merlin_, as I hinted\nbefore, to have been begotten by the _Devil_.\n\nAs to the deriving his Gift of Prophesy from the Devil, by that\npretended Generation, I shall omit that Part, because, as I have all\nalong insisted upon it, that Satan himself has no prophetic or\npredicting Powers of his own, it is not very clear to me that he could\nconvey it to his Posterity, _nil dat quod not habet_.\n\nHowever, in deriving this so much magnified Prophet in a right Line from\nthe _Devil_, much may be said in favour of his ugly Face, in which it\nwas said he was very remarkable, for it is no new Thing for a Child to\nbe like the Father; but all these weighty Things I adjourn for the\npresent, and proceed to the Affair in Hand, namely, the several Branches\nof the _Devil_'s Management since his quitting his Temples and Oracles.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. VI.\n\n_Of the extraordinary Appearance of the_ Devil, _and particularly of the\n     Cloven-Foot._\n\n\nSome People would fain have us treat this Tale of the _Devil_'s\nappearing with a Cloven-Foot with more Solemnity than I believe the\n_Devil_ himself does; for Satan, who knows how much of a Cheat it is,\nmust certainly ridicule it, in his own Thoughts, to the last Degree; but\nas he is glad of any Way to hoodwink the Understandings, and bubble the\nweak Part of the World; so if he sees Men willing to take every\nScarecrow for a Devil, it is not his Business to undeceive them; on the\nother Hand, he finds it his Interest to foster the Cheat, and serve\nhimself of the Consequence: Nor could I doubt but the Devil, if any\nMirth be allow'd him, often laughs at the many frightful Shapes and\nFigures we dress him up in, and especially to see how willing we are\nfirst to paint him as black, and make him appear as ugly as we can, and\nthen stare and start at the Spectrum of our own making.\n\nThe Truth is, that among all the Horribles that we dress up Satan in, I\ncannot but think we shew the least of Invention in this of a Goat, or a\nThing with a Goat's Foot, of all the rest; for tho' a Goat is a Creature\nmade use of by our Saviour in the Allegory of the Day of Judgment, and\nis said there to represent the wicked rejected Party, yet it seems to be\nonly on Account of their Similitude to the Sheep, and so to represent\nthe just Fate of Hypocrisy and Hypocrites, and in particular to form the\nnecessary Antithesis in the Story; for else, _our whimsical Fancies\nexcepted_, a Sheep or a Lamb has a Cloven-Foot as well as a Goat; nay,\nif the Scripture be of any Value in the Case, 'tis to the _Devil_'s\nAdvantage, for the dividing the Hoof was the distinguishing Character or\nMark of a clean Beast, and how the Devil can be brought into that Number\nis pretty hard to say.\n\nOne would have thought if we had intended to have given a just Figure of\nthe _Devil_, it would have been more apposite to have rank'd him among\nthe Cat-kind, and given him a Foot (if he is to be known by his Foot)\nlike a Lion, or like a _red Dragon_, being the same Creatures which he\nis represented by in the Text, and so his Claws would have had some\nTerror in them as well as his Teeth.\n\nBut neither is the _Goat_ a true Representative of the Devil at all, for\nwe do not rank the Goats among the Subtle or cunning Part of the Brutes;\nhe is counted a fierce Creature indeed of his Kind, tho' nothing like\nthose other abovemention'd; and he is emblematically used to represent a\nlustful Temper, but even that Part does not fully serve to describe the\nDevil, whose Operation lies principally another Way.\n\nBesides it is not the _Goat_ himself that is made use of, 'tis the\nCloven-Hoof only, and that so particularly, that the _Cloven Foot_ of a\nRam or a Swine, or any other Creature, may serve as well as that of a\n_Goat_, only that History gives us some Cause to call it the _Goat_'s\n_Foot_.\n\nIn the next Place 'tis understood by us not as a bare Token to know\n_Satan_ by, but as if it were a Brand upon him, and that like the Mark\nGod put upon _Cain_, it was given him for a Punishment, so that he\ncannot get leave to appear without it, nay cannot conceal it whatever\nother Dress or Disguise he may put on; and as if it was to make him as\nridiculous as possible, they will have it be, that whenever _Satan_ has\nOccasion to dress himself in any humane Shape, be it of what Degree\nsoever, from the King to the Beggar, be it of a fine Lady or of an _old\nWoman_, (the Latter it seems he oftenest assumes) yet still he not only\nmust have this _Cloven-Foot_ about him, but he is oblig'd to shew it\ntoo; nay, they will not allow him any Dress, whether it be a Prince's\nRobes, a Lord Cha---r's Gown, or a Lady's Hoop and long Petticoats, but\nthe Cloven-Foot must be shew'd from under them; they will not so much as\nallow him an artificial _Shoe_ or a _Jack-Boot_, as we often see\ncontriv'd to conceal a _Club-Foot_ or a _Wooden-Leg_; but that the\n_Devil_ may be known wherever he goes, he is bound to shew his Foot;\nthey might as well oblige him to set a Bill upon his Cap, as Folks do\nupon a House to be let, and have it written in capital Letters, _I am\nthe_ DEVIL.\n\nIt must be confess'd this is very particular, and would be very hard\nupon the _Devil_, if it had not another Article in it, which is some\nAdvantage to him, and that is, that _the Fact is not true_; but the\nBelief of this is so universal, that all the World runs away with it; by\nwhich Mistake the good People miss the _Devil_ many times where they\nlook for him, and meet him as often where they did not expect him, and\nwhen for want of this Cloven-Foot they do not know him.\n\nUpon this very Account I have sometimes thought, not that this has been\nput upon him by meer Fancy, and the Cheat of a heavy Imagination,\npropagated by Fable and Chymny-Corner Divinity, but that it has been a\nContrivance of his own; and that, in short, the Devil rais'd this\nScandal upon himself, that he might keep his Disguise the better, and\nmight go a Visiting among his Friends without being known; for were it\nreally so, that he could go no where without this particular Brand of\nInfamy, he could not come into Company, could not dine with my Lord\nMayor, nor drink Tea with the Ladies, could not go to the Drawing-R----\nat ------, could not have gone to _Fountainbleau_ to the King of\n_France_'s Wedding, or to the Diet of _Poland_, to prevent the Grandees\nthere coming to an Agreement; nay, _which would be still worse than\nall_, he could not go to the Masquerade, nor to any of our Balls; the\nReason is plain, he would be always discover'd, expos'd and forc'd to\nleave the good Company, or which would be as bad, the Company would all\ncry out the _Devil_ and run out of the Room as if they were frighted;\nnor could all the Help of Invention do him any Service, no Dress he\ncould put on would cover him; not all our Friends at _Tavistock Corner_\ncould furnish him with a Habit that would disguise or conceal him, this\nunhappy Foot would spoil it all: Now this would be a great a Loss to\nhim, that I question whether he could carry on any of his most important\nAffairs in the World without it; for tho' he has access to Mankind in\nhis compleat Disguise, I mean that of his Invisibility, yet the Learned\nvery much agree in this, that his corporal Presence in the World is\nabsolutely necessary upon many Occasions, to support his Interest and\nkeep up his Correspondences, and particularly to encourage his Friends\nwhen Numbers are requisite to carry on his Affairs; but this Part I\nshall have Occasion to speak of again, when I come to consider him as a\nGentleman of Business in his Locality, and under the Head of visible\nApparition; but I return to the _Foot_.\n\nAs I have thus suggested that the Devil himself has politically spread\nabout this Notion concerning his appearing with _a Cloven-Foot_, so I\ndoubt not that he has thought it for his Purpose to paint this\n_Cloven-Foot_ so lively in the Imaginations of many of our People, and\nespecially of those clear sighted Folks who see the _Devil_ when he is\nnot to be seen, that they would make no Scruple to say, nay and to make\nAffidavit too, even before _Satan_ himself, whenever he sat upon the\nBench, that they had seen his Worship's Foot at such and such a Time;\nthis I advance the rather because 'tis very much for his Interest to do\nthis, for if we had not many Witnesses, _viva voce_, to testify it, we\nshould have had some obstinate Fellows always among us, who would have\ndenied the Fact, or at least have spoken doubtfully of it, and so have\nrais'd Disputes and Objections against it, as impossible, or at least as\nimprobable; buzzing one ridiculous Notion or other into our Ears, as if\nthe Devil was not so black as he was painted, that he had no more a\n_Cloven-Foot_ than a Pope, whose Apostolical Toes have so often been\nreverentially kiss'd by Kings and Emperors: but now alas this Part is\nout of the Question, not the Man in the Moon, not the Groaning-Board,\nnot the speaking of Fryar _Bacon_'s Brazen-Head, not the Inspiration of\n_Mother Shipton_, or the Miracles of Dr. _Faustus_, Things as certain as\nDeath and Taxes, can be more firmly believ'd: The Devil not have a\nCloven-Foot! I doubt not but I could, in a short Time, bring you a\nthousand old Women together, that would as soon believe there was no\nDevil at all; nay, they will tell you, he could not be a Devil without\nit, any more than he could come into the Room, and the Candles not burn\nblue, or go out and not leave a smell of Brimstone behind him.\n\nSince then the Certainty of the Thing is so well establish'd, and there\nare so many good and substantial Witnesses ready to testify that he has\na Cloven-Foot, and that they have seen it too; nay, and that we have\nAntiquity on our Side, for we have this Truth confirm'd by the Testimony\nof many Ages; why should we doubt it any longer? we can prove that many\nof our Ancestors have been of this Opinion, and divers learn'd Authors\nhave left it upon Record, as particularly that learned Familiarist\nMother _Hazel_, whose Writings are to be found in MS. in the famous\nLibrary at _Pye-Corner_; also the admir'd _Joan_ of _Amesbury_, the\nHistory of the _Lancashire_ Witches, and the Reverend Exorcist of the\n_Devil_'s of _London_, whose History is extant among us to this Day; all\nthese and many more may be quoted, and their Writings referr'd to for\nthe Confirmation of the Antiquity of this Truth; but there seems to be\nno Occasion for farther Evidence, 'tis enough, _Satan_ himself, if he\ndid not raise the Report, yet tacitly owns the Fact, at least he appears\nwilling to have it believ'd, and be receiv'd as a general Truth for the\nReasons above.\n\nBut besides all this, and as much a Jest as some unbelieving People\nwould have this Story pass for, who knows but that if _Satan_ is\nempower'd to assume any Shape or Body, and to appear to us visibly, as\nif really so shap'd; I say, who knows but he may, by the same Authority,\nbe allow'd to assume the Addition of the Cloven-Foot, or two or four\nCloven-Feet, if he pleased? and why not a _Cloven-Foot_ as well as any\nother Foot, if he thinks fit? For if the _Devil_ can assume a Shape, and\ncan appear to Mankind in a visible Form, it may, I doubt not, with as\ngood Authority be advanc'd that he is left at Liberty to assume what\nShape he pleases, and to choose _what Case of Flesh and Blood he'll\nplease to wear_, whether real or imaginary; and if this Liberty be\nallow'd him, it is an admirable Disguise for him to come generally with\nhis _Cloven-Foot_, that when he finds it for his Purpose, on special\nOccasions to come without it, as I said above, he may not be suspected;\n_but take this with you as you go_, that all this is upon a Supposition\nthat the _Devil_ can assume a visible Shape, and make a real Appearance,\nwhich however I do not yet think fit to grant or deny.\n\nCertain it is, the first People who bestow'd a _Cloven-Foot_ upon the\nDevil, were not so despicable as you may imagine, but were real\nFavourites of Heaven; for did not _Aaron_ set up the _Devil_ of a Calf\nin the Congregation, and set the People a dancing about it for a God?\nUpon which Occasion, Expositors tell us, that particular Command was\ngiven, _Levit._ xvii. 7. _They shall no more offer their Sacrifices\nunto_ Devils, _after whom they have gone a Whoring_; likewise King\n_Jeroboam_ set up the two Calves, one at _Dan_ and the other at\n_Bethel_, and we find them charg'd afterwards with setting up the\nWorship of _Devils_ instead of the Worship of _God_.\n\nAfter this we find some Nations actually sacrificed to the _Devil_ in\nthe Form of a Ram, and others of a Goat; from which, and that above of\nthe Calves at _Horeb_, I doubt not the Story of the _Cloven-Foot_ first\nderived; and it is plain that the Worship of that Calf at _Horeb_ is\nmeant in the Scripture quoted above, _Levit._ xvii. 7. _Thou shalt no\nmore offer Sacrifices unto Devils_: The Original is _Seghnirim_; that\nis, rough and hairy _Goats_ or _Calves_; and some think also in this\nShape the _Devil_ most ordinarily appeared to the _Egyptians_ and\n_Arabians_, from whence it was derived.\n\nAlso in the old Writings of the _Egyptians_, I mean their hieroglyphick\nWriting, before the Use of Letters was known, we are told this was the\nMark that he was known by; and the Figure of a _Goat_ was the\n_Hieroglyphick_ of the _Devil_; some will affirm that the _Devil_ was\nparticularly pleased to be so represented; how they came by their\nInformation, and whether they had it from his own Mouth or not, Authors\nhave not yet determined.\n\nBut be this as it will, I do not see that _Satan_ could have been at a\nLoss for some extraordinary Figure to have banter'd Mankind with, tho'\nthis had not been thought of; but thinking of the _Cloven-Foot_ first,\nand the Matter being indifferent, this took place, and easily rooted it\nself in the bewildred Fancy of the People, and now 'tis riveted too fast\nfor the _Devil_ himself to remove it if he was disposed to try; but as I\nsaid above, 'tis none of his Business to solve Doubts or remove\nDifficulties out of our Heads, but to perplex us with more, as much as\nhe can.\n\nSome People carry this Matter a great deal higher still, and will have\nthe _Cloven-Foot_ be like the great Stone which the _Brasilian\nConjurers_ used to solve all difficult Questions upon, after having used\na great many monstrous and barbarous Gestures and Distortions of their\nBodies, and cut certain Marks or magical Figures upon the Stone; so, _I\nsay_, they will have this Cloven-Foot be a kind of a Conjuring-Stone,\nand tell us, that in former Times, when _Satan_ drove a greater Trade\nwith Mankind in publick, than he has done of late, he gave this\n_Cloven-Foot_ as a Token to his particular Favourites to work Wonders\nwith, and to conjure by, and that Witches, Fairies, Hobgoblins, and such\nThings, of which the Antients had several Kinds, at least in their\nImagination, had all a _Goat's Leg_ with a _Cloven-Foot_ to put on upon\nextraordinary Occasions; it seems this Method is of late grown out of\nPractice, and so like the melting of Marble and the painting of Glass,\n'tis laid aside among the various useful Arts which History tells us are\nlost to the World; what may be practised in the Fairy World, if such a\nPlace there be, we can give no particular Account at present.\n\nBut neither is this all, for other wou'd-be-wise People take upon them\nto make farther and more considerable Improvements upon this Doctrine of\nthe _Cloven-Foot_, and treat it as a most significant Instrument of\nSatan's private Operation, and that as _Joseph_ is said to _Divine_,\nthat is to say, to _conjure_ by his Golden Cup which was put into\n_Benjamin_'s Sack, so the _Devil_ has managed several of his secret\nOperations, and Possessions, and other hellish Mechanisms upon the\nSpirits as well as Bodies of Men, by the Medium or Instrumentality of\nthe _Cloven-Foot_; accordingly it had a Kind of an hellish Inspiration\nin it, and a separate and magical Power by which he wrought his infernal\nMiracles; that the Cloven-Foot had a superior Signification, and was not\nonly emblematic and significative of the Conduct of Men, but really\nguided their Conduct in the most important Affairs of Life; and that the\nAgents the Devil employ'd to influence Mankind, and to delude them and\ndraw them into all the Snares and Traps that he lays continually for\ntheir Destruction, were equipp'd with this Foot in Aid of their other\nPowers for Mischief.\n\nHere they read us learn'd Lectures upon the sovereign Operations which\nthe Devil is at present Master of, in the Government of human Affairs;\nand how the Cloven-Foot is an Emblem of the true _double Entendre_ or\ndivided Aspect, which the great Men of the World generally act with, and\nby which all their Affairs are directed; from whence it comes to pass\nthat there is no such Thing as a single hearted Integrity, or an\nupright Meaning to be found in the World; that Mankind, worse than the\nravenous Brutes, preys upon his own Kind, and devours them by all the\nlaudable Methods of Flattery, Whyne, Cheat and Treachery; _Crocodile\nlike_, weeping over those it will devour, destroying those it smiles\nupon, and, in a Word, devours its own Kind, which the very Beasts\nrefuse, and that by all the Ways of Fraud and Allurement that _Hell_ can\ninvent; holding out a cloven divided Hoof, or Hand, pretending to save,\nwhen the very Pretence is made use of to ensnare and destroy.\n\nThus the divided Hoof is the Representative of a divided double Tongue,\nand Heart, an Emblem of the most exquisite Hypocrisy, the most fawning\nand fatally deceiving Flattery; and here they give us very diverting\nHistories, tho' tragical in themselves, of the manner which some of the\n_Devil_'s inspired Agents have manag'd themselves under the especial\nInfluence of the _Cloven-Foot_; how they have made War under the\nPretence of Peace, murther'd Garrisons under the most sacred\nCapitulations, massacred innocent Multitudes after Surrenders to Mercy.\n\nAgain, they tell us the _Cloven-Foot_ has been made use of in all\nTreasons, Plots, Assassinations, and secret as well as open Murthers and\nRebellions. Thus _Joab_ under the Treason of an Embrace, shew'd how\ndexterously he could manage the _Cloven-Foot_, and struck _Abner_ under\nthe fifth Rib: Thus _David_ play'd the Cloven-Foot upon poor _Uriah_,\nwhen he had a Mind to lie with his Wife: Thus _Brutus_ play'd it upon\n_Caesar_; and to come nearer home, we have had a great many retrograde\nMotions in this Country by this magical Implement the _Foot_; Such as\nthat of the Earl of _Essex_'s Fate, beheading the Queen of _Scots_, and\ndiverse others in Queen _Elizabeth_'s Time: That of the Earl of\n_Shrewsbury_ and Sir _Thomas Overbury_, _Gondamor_ and Sir _Walter\nRaleigh_, and many others in King _James_ the I.'s Time; in all which,\nif the Cloven-Foot had not been dexterously manag'd, those Murthers had\nnot been so dexterously manag'd, or the Murtherers have so well been\nskreen'd from Justice; for which and the imprecated Justice of Heaven\nunappeased, some have thought the innocent Branches of the Royal House\nof _Stuart_ did not fare the better in the Ages which follow'd.\n\nIt must be confess'd, the Cloven-Foot was in its full Exercise in the\nnext Reign, and the Generation that rose up immediately after them,\narrived to the most exquisite Skill for Management of it; here they\nfasted and pray'd, there they plunder'd and murther'd; here they rais'd\nWar for the King, and there they fought against him, cutting Throats for\n_God's Sake_, and deposing both King and kingly Government according to\nLaw.\n\nNor was the _Cloven-Foot_ unemployed on all Sides, for 'tis the main\nExcellency of this Instrument of Hell, that it acts on every Side, it is\nits denominating Quality, and is for that Reason call'd a cloven or\ndivided Hoof.\n\nThis mutilated Apparition has been so publick in other Countries too,\nthat it seems to convince us the Devil is not confin'd to _England_\nonly, but that as his Empire extended to all the sublunary World, so he\ngives them all Room to see he is qualified to manage them his own Way.\n\nWhat abundant Use did that Prince of Dissemblers, _Charles_ V. make of\nthis Foot? 'twas by the Help of this Apparition of the Foot that he\nbaited his Hook with the City of _Milan_, and tickled _Francis_ I. of\n_France_ so well with it, that when he pass'd thro' _France_, and was in\nthat King's Power, he let him go, and never get the Bait off of the Hook\nneither; it Seems the _Foot_ was not on King _Francis_'s Side at that\nTime.\n\nHow cruelly did _Philip_ II. of _Spain_ manage this Foot in the Murther\nof the Nobility of the _Spanish Netherlands_, the Assassination of the\nPrince of _Orange_, and at last: in that of his own Son _Don Carlos_\nInfant of _Spain_? and yet such was the _Devil_'s Craft, and so nicely\ndid he bestir his _Cloven-Hoof_, that this Monarch died consolated (tho'\nimpenitent) in the Arms of the Church, and with the Benediction of the\nClergy too, _those second best Managers of the said Hoof in the World_.\n\nI must acknowledge, I agree with this Opinion thus far; namely, that the\nDevil acting by this Cloven-Foot, as a Machine, has done great Things in\nthe World for the propagating his dark Empire among us; and History is\nfull of Examples, besides the little low priz'd Things done among us;\nfor we are come to such a Kind of Degeneracy in Folly, that we have even\ndishonour'd the _Devil_, and put this glorious Engine the Cloven-Foot to\nsuch mean Uses, that the _Devil_ himself seems to be asham'd of us.\n\nBut to return a little to foreign History, besides what has been\nmention'd above, we find flaming Examples of most glorious Mischief done\nby this Weapon, when put into the Hands of Kings and Men of Fame in the\nWorld: How many Games have the Kings of _France_ play'd with this\n_Cloven-Foot_, and that within a few Years of one another? First,\n_Charles_ IX. play'd the _Cloven-Foot_ upon _Gaspar Coligni_ Admiral of\n_France_, when he caress'd him, complimented him, invited him to\n_Paris_, to the Wedding of the King of _Navarre_, call'd him Father,\nkiss'd him, and when he was wounded sent his own Surgeons to take Care\nof him, and yet three Days after order'd him to be assassinated and\nmurther'd, used with a thousand Indignities, and at last thrown out of\nthe Window into the Street to be insulted by the Rabble?\n\nDid not _Henry_ III. in the same Country, play the Cloven-Foot upon the\nDuke of _Guise_, when he call'd him to his Council, and caus'd him to be\nmurther'd as he went in at the Door? The _Guises_ again plaid the same\nGame back upon the King, when they sent out a _Jacobin_ Friar to\nassassinate him in his Tent as he lay at the Siege of _Paris_.\n\nIn a Word, this Opera of the _Cloven-Foot_ has been acted all over the\nChristian World, ever since _Judas_ betray'd the Son of God with a Kiss;\nnay, our Saviour says expresly of him, _One of you is a Devil_; and the\nsacred Text says in another Place, _The Devil enter'd into Judas_.\n\nIt would take up a great deal of Time and Paper too, to give you a full\nAccount of the Travels of this _Cloven-Foot_; its Progress into all the\nCourts of _Europe_, and with what most accurate Hypocrisy _Satan_ has\nmade use of it upon many Occasions, and with what Success; but as in the\nelaborate Work of which I just now gave you a Specimen I design one\nwhole Volume upon this Subject, and which I shall call, _The compleat\nHistory_ of the _Cloven-Foot_; I say, for that Reason, and diverse\nothers, I shall say but very little more to it in this Place.\n\nIt remains to tell you, that this merry Story of the _Cloven-Foot_ is\nvery essential to the History which I am now writing, as it has been all\nalong the great Emblem of the _Devil_'s Government in the World, and by\nwhich all his most considerable Engagements have been answer'd and\nexecuted; for as he is said not to be able to conceal this Foot, but\nthat he carries it always with him, it imports most plainly, that the\n_Devil_ would be no _Devil_ if he was not a Dissembler, a Deceiver, and\ncarried a _double Entendre_ in all he does or says; that he cannot but\nsay one Thing and mean another, promise one Thing and do another, engage\nand not perform, declare and not intend, and act like a true _Devil_ as\nhe is, with a Countenance that is no Index of his Heart.\n\nI might indeed go back to Originals, and derive this _Cloven-Foot_ from\nSatan's primitive State as a Cherubim or a celestial Being, which\nCherubims, as _Moses_ is said to have seen them about the Throne of God\nin Mount _Sinai_, and as the same _Moses_, from the Original represented\nthem afterwards covering the Ark, had the Head and Face of a Man, Wings\nof an Eagle, Body of a Lion, and Legs and Feet of a Calf; but this is\nnot so much to our present Purpose, for as we are to allow that whatever\n_Satan_ had of heavenly Beauty before the Fall, he lost it all when he\ncommenc'd _Devil_, so to fetch his Original so far up would be only to\nsay, that he retain'd nothing but the _Cloven-Foot_, and that all the\nrest of him was alter'd and deform'd, become frightful and horrible as\nthe DEVIL; but his Cloven-Foot, as we now understand it, is rather\nmystical and emblematick, and describes him only as the Fountain of\nMischief and Treason, and the Prince of Hypocrites, and as such we are\nnow to speak of him.\n\n'Tis from this Original all the hypocritic World copy, he wears the Foot\non their Account, and from this Model they act: This made our blessed\nLord tell them, _the Works of your Father ye will do_, meaning the\n_Devil_, as he had express'd it just before.\n\nNor does he deny the Use of the _Foot_ to the meaner Class of his\nDisciples in the World, but decently equips them all upon every\nOccasion with a needful Proportion of Hypocrisy and Deceit; that they\nmay hand on the Power of promiscuous Fraud thro' all his temporal\nDominions, and wear _the Foot_ always about them as a Badge of their\nprofess'd Share in whatever is done by that Means.\n\nThus every Dissembler, every false Friend, every secret Cheat, every\nBearskin-Jobber has a _Cloven-Foot_, and so far hands on the Devil's\nInterest by the same powerful Agency of Art, as the _Devil_ himself uses\nto act when he appears in Person, or would act if he was just now upon\nthe Spot; for this _Foot_ is a Machine which is to be wound up and wound\ndown, as the Cause it appears for requires; and there are Agents and\nEngineers to act in it by Directions of _Satan_ (the grand Engineer) who\nlies still in his Retirement, only issuing out his Orders as he sees\nconvenient.\n\nAgain, every Class, every Trade, every Shopkeeper, every Pedlar, nay,\nthat meanest of Tradesmen, that Church Pedlar the Pope, has a\nCloven-Foot, with which he _Paw wa's_ upon the World, wishes them all\nwell, and at the same time cheats them; wishes them all fed, and at the\nsame time starves them; wishes them all in Heaven, and at the same time\nmarches before them directly to the Devil, _alamode de Cloven-Foot_.\n\nNay, the very Bench, the everliving Foundation of Justice in the World;\nhow often has it been made the Tool of Violence, the Refuge of\nOppression, the Seat of Bribery and Corruption, by this Monster in\nMasquerade, and that every where (our own Country always excepted)? They\nhad much better wipe out the Picture of justice blinded, and having the\nSword and Scales in her Hand, which in foreign Countries is generally\npainted over the Seat of those who sit to do Justice, and place instead\nthereof a naked unarm'd Cloven-Hoof, a proper Emblem of that Spirit that\nInfluences the World, and of the Justice we often see administred among\nthem; human Imagination cannot form an Idea more suitable, nor the\n_Devil_ propose an Engine more or better qualified for an Operation of\nJustice, by the Influence of Bribery and Corruption; it is this\nmagnipotent Instrument in the Hands of the Devil, which under the\nclosest Disguise agitates every Passion, bribes every Affection,\nblackens every Virtue, gives a double Face to Words and Actions, and to\nall Persons who have any Concern in them, and in a Word, makes us all\nDevils to one another.\n\nIndeed the Devil has taken but a dark Emblem to be distinguish'd by, for\nthis of a Goat was said to be a Creature hated by Mankind from the\nbeginning, and that there is a natural Antipathy in Mankind against\nthem: Hence the Scape Goat was to bear the Sins of the People, and to go\ninto the Wilderness with all that Burthen upon him.\n\nBut we have a Saying among us, in Defence of which we must enquire into\nthe proper Sphere of Action which may be assigned to this Cloven-Foot,\nas hitherto described: The Proverb is this; _Every_ Devil _has not a\nCloven-Foot_. This Proverb, instead of giving us some more favourable\nThoughts of the _Devil_, confirms what I have said already, that the\n_Devil_ rais'd this Scandal upon himself; I mean, the Report that he\ncannot conceal or disguise his Devil's Foot, or Hoof, but that it must\nappear, under whatever Habit he shews himself; and the Reason I gave\nholds good still, _namely_, that he may be more effectually conceal'd\nwhen he goes abroad without it: For if the People were fully persuaded\nthat the _Devil_ could not appear without this Badge of his Honour, or\nMark of his Infamy, _take it as you will_; and that he was bound also to\nshew it upon all Occasions, it would be natural to conclude, that\nwhatever frightful Appearances might be seen in the World, if the\nCloven-Foot did not also appear, we had no Occasion to look for the\n_Devil_, or so much as to think of him, much less to apprehend he was\nnear us; and as this might be a Mistake, and that the _Devil_ might be\nthere while we thought our selves so secure, it might on many Occasions\nbe a Mistake of very ill Consequence, and in particular, as it would\ngive the _Devil_ room to act in the Dark, and not be discover'd, where\nit might be most needful to know him.\n\nFrom this short Hint, thus repeated, I draw a new Thesis, namely, That\n_Devil_ is most dangerous that has no Cloven-Foot; or, if you will have\nit in Words more to the common Understanding, the _Devil_ seems to be\nmost dangerous when he goes without his Cloven-Foot.\n\nAnd here a learned Speculation offers it self to our Debate, and which\nindeed I ought to call a Council of Casuists, and Men learned in the\n_Devil_'s Politicks, to determine:\n\nWhether is most hurtful to the World, the _Devil_ walking about without\nhis Cloven-Foot, or the Cloven-Foot walking about without the _Devil_?\n\nIt is indeed a nice and difficult Question, and merits to be well\nenquir'd into; for which Reason, and diverse others, I have referr'd it\nto be treated with some Decency, and as a Dispute of Dignity sufficient\nto take up a Chapter by itself.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. VII.\n\n_Whether is most hurtful to the World, the_ Devil _walking about without\n     his Cloven-Foot, or the Cloven-Foot walking about without the_ Devil?\n\n\nIn discussing this most critical Distinction of Satan's private Motions,\nI must, as the Pulpit Gentlemen direct us, explain the Text, and let you\nknow what I mean by several dark Expressions in it, that I may not be\nunderstood to talk (as the _Devil_ walks) in the dark.\n\n     1. As to the Devil's walking about.\n\n     2. His walking without his Cloven-Foot.\n\n     3. The Cloven-Foot walking about without the _Devil_.\n\n\nNow as I study Brevity, and yet would be understood too, you may please\nto understand me as I understand my self, thus.\n\n     1. That I must be allow'd to suppose the _Devil_ really has a full\n     Intercourse in, and through, and about this Globe, with Egress and\n     Regress, for the carrying on his special Affairs, when, how, and\n     where, to his Majesty, in his great Wisdom, it shall seem meet;\n     that sometimes he appears and becomes visible, and that, like a\n     Mastiff without his Clog, he does not always carry his Cloven-Foot\n     with him. This will necessarily bring me to some Debate upon the\n     most important Question of Apparitions, Hauntings, Walkings, _&c._\n     whether of _Satan_ in human Shape, or of human Creatures in the\n     _Devil_'s Shape, or in any other manner whatsoever.\n\n     2. I must also be allow'd to tell you that Satan has a great deal\n     of Wrong done him by the general embracing vulgar Errors, and that\n     there is a Cloven-Foot oftentimes without a _Devil_; or, in short,\n     that Satan is not guilty of all the simple Things, no, or of all\n     the wicked Things we charge him with.\n\n\nThese two Heads well settled will fully explain the Title of this\nChapter, answer the Query mentioned in it, and at the same time\ncorrespond very well with, and give us a farther Prospect into the main\nand original Design of this Work, _namely, The History of the Devil_. We\nare so fond of, and pleased with the general Notion of seeing the\n_Devil_, that I am loth to disoblige my Readers so much as calling in\nquestion his Visibility would do. Nor is it my Business, any more than\nit is his, to undeceive them, where the Belief is so agreeable to them;\nespecially since upon the whole 'tis not one Farthing matter, either on\none Side or on the other, whether it be so or no, or whether the Truth\nof Fact be ever discovered or not.\n\nCertain it is, whether we see him or no, here he is, and I make no doubt\nbut he is looking on while I am writing this Part of his Story, whether\nbehind me, or at my Elbow, or over my Shoulder, is not material to me,\nnor have I once turned my Head about to see whether he is there or no;\nfor if he be not in the Inside, I have so mean an Opinion of all his\nextravasated Powers, that it seems of very little Consequence to me what\nShape he takes up, or in what Posture he appears; nor indeed can I find\nin all my Enquiry that ever the _Devil_ appear'd (_Qua Devil_) in any\nof the most dangerous or important of his Designs in the World; the most\nof his Projects, especially of the significant Part of them, having been\ncarried on another way.\n\nHowever, as I am satisfied no Body will be pleas'd if I should dispute\nthe Reality of his Appearance, and the World runs away with it as a\nreceiv'd Point, and that admits no Dispute, I shall most readily grant\nthe General, and give you some Account of the Particulars.\n\nHistory is fruitful of Particulars, whether Invention has supply'd them\nor not, I will not say, where the _Devil_ is brought upon the Stage in\nplain and undeniable Apparition: The Story of _Samuel_ being rais'd by\nthe Witch of _Endor_, I shall leave quite out of my List, because there\nare so many Scruples and Objections against that Story; and as I shall\nnot dispute with the Scripture, so on the other hand, I have so much\nDeference for the Dignity of the _Devil_, as not to determine rashly how\nfar it may be in the Power of every old (_Witch_) Woman, to call him up\nwhenever she pleases, and that he must come, whatever the Pretence is,\nor whatever Business of Consequence he may be engaged in, as often as\n'tis needful for her to _Pa wa_ for half a Crown, or perhaps less than\nhalf the Money.\n\nNor will I undertake to tell you, till I have talk'd farther with him\nabout it, how far the _Devil_ is concern'd to discover Frauds, detect\nMurthers, reveal Secrets, and especially to tell where any Money is hid,\nand shew Folks where to find it; 'tis an odd thing that Satan should\nthink it of Consequence to come and tell us where such a Miser hid a\nStrong Box, or where such an old Woman buried her _Chamber Pot_ full of\nMoney, the Value of all which is perhaps but a Trifle, when at the same\ntime he lets so many Veins of Gold, so many unexhausted Mines, nay,\nMountains of Silver, as, we may depend upon it, are hid in the Bowels of\nthe Earth, and which it would be so much to the Good of whole Nations to\ndiscover, lie still there, and never say one Word of them to any Body.\nBesides, how does the _Devil_'s doing Things so foreign to himself, and\nso out of his way, agree with the rest of his Character; namely, shewing\na kind of a friendly Disposition to Mankind, or doing beneficent Things?\nThis is so beneath _Satan_'s Quality, and looks so little, that I scarce\nknow what to say to it; but that which is still more pungent in the Case\nis, these Things are so out of his Road, and so foreign to his Calling,\nthat it shocks our Faith in them, and seems to clash with all the just\nNotions we have of him, and of his Business in the World. The like is to\nbe said of those little merry Turns we bring him in acting with us, and\nupon us, upon trifling and simple Occasions, such as tumbling Chairs and\nStools about House, setting Pots and Vessels Bottom upward, tossing the\nGlass and Crokery Ware about without breaking; and such like mean\nfoolish Things, beneath the Dignity of the _Devil_, who, in my Opinion,\nis rather employ'd in setting the World with the Bottom upward, tumbling\nKings and Crowns about, and dashing the Nations one against another;\nraising Tempests and Storms, whether at Sea, or on Shore; and, in a\nword, doing capital Mischiefs suitable to his Nature, and agreeable to\nhis Name, _Devil_; and suited to that Circumstance of his Condition,\nwhich I have fully represented in the primitive Part of his exil'd\nState.\n\nBut to bring in the _Devil_ playing at Push-pin with the World, or like\n_Domitian_ catching Flies, that is to say, doing nothing to the\npurpose; this is not only deluding our selves, but putting a Slur upon\nthe _Devil_ himself; and, I say, I shall not dishonour Satan so much as\nto suppose any thing in it: However, as I must have a care too how I\ntake away the proper Materials of Winter Evening Frippery, and leave the\ngood Wives nothing of the Devil to fright the Children with, I shall\ncarry the weighty Point no farther. No doubt the _Devil_ and Dr.\n_Faustus_ were very intimate; I should rob you of a very significant [6]\nProverb, if I should so much as doubt it; no doubt the _Devil_ shew'd\nhimself in the Glass to that fair Lady who look'd in it to see where to\nplace her Patches; but then it should follow too that the _Devil_ is an\nEnemy to the Ladies wearing Patches, and that has some Difficulties in\nit which we cannot so easily reconcile; but we must tell the Story, and\nleave out the Consequences.\n\nBut to come to more remarkable Things, and in which the _Devil_ has\nthought fit to act in a Figure more suitable to his Dignity, and on\nOccasions consistent with himself; take the Story of the Appearance of\n_Julius Caesar_, or the _Devil_ assuming that murthered _Emperor_, to the\ngreat _Marcus Brutus_, who notwithstanding all the good Things said to\njustify it, was no less than a King-killer and an Assassinator, which we\nin our Language call by a very good Name, and peculiar to the _English_\nTongue, a _Ruffian_.\n\nThe Spectre had certainly the Appearance of _Caesar_, with his Wounds\nbleeding fresh, as if he had just receiv'd the fatal Blow; he had\nreproach'd him with his Ingratitude, with a _Tu Brute! tu quoque, mi\nfili_: \"What Thou _Brutus_! Thou, my adopted Son!\" Now History seems\nto agree universally, not only in the Story itself, but in the\nCircumstances of it; we have only to observe that the _Devil_ had\ncertainly Power to assume, not a human Shape only, but the Shape of\n_Julius Caesar_ in particular.\n\nHad _Brutus_ been a timorous _Conscience-harry'd_, weak-headed Wretch,\nhad he been under the Horror of the Guilt, and terrify'd with the\nDangers that were before him at that time, we might suggest that he was\nover-run with the Vapours, that the Terrors which were upon his Mind\ndisorder'd him, that his Head was delirious and prepossess'd, and that\nhis Fancy only plac'd _Caesar_ so continually in his Eye, that it\nrealiz'd him to his Imagination, and he believ'd he saw him; with many\nother suggested Difficulties to invalidate the Story, and render the\nReality of it doubtful.\n\nBut the contrary, to an Extreme, was the Case of _Brutus_; his known\nCharacter plac'd him above the Power of all Hypocondriacks, or fanciful\nDelusions; _Brutus_ was of a true _Roman_ Spirit, a bold Hero, of an\nintrepid Courage; one that scorn'd to fear even the _Devil_, as the\nStory allows: Besides, he glory'd in the Action; there cou'd be no\nTerror of Mind upon him; he valued himself upon it, as done in the\nService of Liberty, and the Cause of his Country; and was so far from\nbeing frighted at the _Devil_ in the worst Shape, that he spoke first to\nhim, and ask'd him, _What art thou?_ and when he was cited to see him\nagain at _Philippi_, answer'd, with a Gallantry that knew no Fear, _well\nI will see thee there_. Whatever the _Devil_'s Business was with\n_Brutus_, this is certain, according to all the Historians who give us\nthe Account of it, that _Brutus_ discover'd no Fear; he did not, _like\nSaul at Endor_, fall to the Ground in a Swoon, 1 _Sam._ xxviii. 20.\n_Then Saul fell all along upon the Earth, and there was no Strength in\nhim, and was sore afraid._ In a word, I see no room to charge _Brutus_\nwith being over-run with the _Hyppo_, or with Vapours, or with Fright\nand Terror of Mind; but he saw the _Devil_, that's certain, and with\nEyes open, his Courage not at all daunted, his Mind resolute, and with\nthe utmost Composure spoke to him, reply'd to his Answer, and defy'd his\nSummons to Death, which indeed he fear'd not, as appear'd afterward.\n\nI come next to an Instance as eminent in History as the other; this was\nin _Char._ VI. of _France_, sirnamed, _The Beloved_; who riding over the\nForest near _Mans_, a ghastly frightful Fellow (that is to say, the\n_Devil_ so clothed in human Vizor) came up to his Horse, and taking hold\nof his Bridle, stop'd him, with the Addition of these Words, _Stop King,\nwhither go you? You are betray'd!_ and immediately disappear'd. It is\ntrue, the King had been distemper'd in his Head before, and so he might\nhave been deceived, and we might have charg'd it to the Account of a\nwhimsical Brain, or the Power of his Imagination; but this was in the\nFace of his Attendants, several of his great Officers, Courtiers, and\nPrinces of the Blood being with him, who all saw the Man, heard the\nWords, and immediately, to their Astonishment, lost Sight of the\nSpectre, who vanish'd from them all.\n\nTwo Witnesses will convict a Murtherer, why not a Traitor? This must be\nthe _Old Gentleman_, emblematically so called, or who must it be? nay,\nwho else could it be? His Ugliness is not the Case, tho' _ugly as the\nDevil_, is a Proverb in his Favour; but vanishing out of sight is an\nEssential to a Spirit, and to an evil Spirit in our Times especially.\n\nThese are some of the _Devil_'s Extraordinaries, and it must be\nconfess'd they are not the most agreeable to Mankind, for sometimes he\ntakes upon him to disorder his Friends very much on these Occasions, as\nin the above Case of _Cha._ VI. of _France_; the King, they say, was\nreally demented ever after; that is, as we vulgarly, but not always\nimproperly, express it, he was really _frighted out of his Wits_.\nWhether the malicious _Devil_ intended it so, or not, is not certain,\ntho' it was not so foreign to his particular Disposition if he did.\n\nBut where he is more intimate, we are told he appears in a manner less\ndisagreeable, and there he is more properly _a familiar Spirit_; that\nis, in short, a _Devil_ of their Acquaintance: It is true, the Antients\nunderstand the Word, _a familiar Spirit_, to be one of the kinds of\nPossession; but if it serves our turn as well under the Denomination of\nan intimate _Devil_, or a _Devil_ visitant, it must be acknowledg'd to\nbe as near in the literal Sense and Acceptation of the Word, as the\nother; nay, it must be allow'd 'tis a very great Piece of Familiarity in\nthe _Devil_ to make Visits, and shew none of his Disagreeables, not\nappear formidable, or in the Shape of what he is, respectfully\nwithholding his dismal Part, in Compassion to the Infirmities of his\nFriends.\n\nIt is true, _Satan_ may be oblig'd to make different Appearances, as the\nseveral Circumstances of Things call for it; in some Cases he makes his\npublick Entry, and then he must shew himself in his Habit of Ceremony;\nin other Cases he comes upon private Business, and then he appears in\nDisguise; in some publick Cases he may thing fit to be _incog._ and then\nhe appears dress'd _a la Masque_; so they say he appear'd at the famous\nSt. _Bartholomew_ Wedding at _Paris_, where, he came in dress'd up like\na Trumpeter, danc'd in his Habit, sounded a _Levet_, and then went out\nand rung the Alarm-Bell (which was the Signal to begin the Massacre)\nhalf an Hour before the Time appointed, lest the King's Mind should\nalter, and his Heart fail him.\n\nIf the Story be not made upon him, (for we should not slander the\n_Devil_) it should seem, he was not thoroughly satisfied in King\n_Charles_ IX.'s Steadiness in his Cause; for the King, it seems, had\nrelax'd a little once before, and Satan might be afraid he would fall\noff again, and so prevent the Execution: Others say, the King did relent\nimmediately after the ringing the _Alarm-Bell_, but that then it was too\nlate, the Work was begun, and the Rage of Blood having been let loose\namong the People, there was no recalling the Order. If the _Devil_ was\nthus brought to the Necessity of a secret Management, it must be owned\nhe did it dexterously; but I have not Authority enough for the Story, to\ncharge him with the Particulars, so I leave it _au croc._\n\nI have much better Vouchers for the Story following, which I had so\nsolemnly confirm'd by one that liv'd in the Family, that I never doubted\nthe Truth of it. There liv'd, in the Parish of St. _Bennet Fynk_, near\nthe _Royal Exchange_, an honest poor Widow Woman, who, _her Husband\nbeing lately dead_, took Lodgers into her House; that is, she let out\nsome of her Rooms in order to lessen her own Charge of Rent; among the\nrest, she let her Garrets to a working Watchwheel-maker, or one some way\nconcern'd in making the Movements of Watches, and who work'd to those\nShop-keepers who sell Watches; as is usual.\n\nIt happened that a Man and Woman went up, to speak with this\nMovement-maker upon some Business which related to his Trade, and when\nthey were near the Top of the Stairs, the Garret-Door where he usually\nworked being wide open, they saw the poor Man (the Watch-maker, or\nWheel-maker) had hang'd himself upon a Beam which was left open in the\nRoom a little lower than the Plaister, or Ceiling: Surpriz'd at the\nSight, the Woman stop'd, and cried out to the Man who was behind her on\nthe Stairs that he should run up, and cut the poor Creature down.\n\nAt that very Moment comes a Man hastily from another Part of the Room\nwhich they upon the Stairs could not see, bringing a Joint-Stool in his\nHand, as if in great Haste, and sets it down just by the Wretch that was\nhang'd, and getting up as hastily upon it pulls a Knife out of his\nPocket, and taking hold of the Rope with one of his Hands, beckon'd to\nthe Woman and the Man behind her with his Head, as if to stop and not\ncome up, shewing them the Knife in his other Hand, as if he was just\ngoing to cut the poor Man down.\n\nUpon this, the Woman stopp'd a while, but the Man who stood on the\nJoint-Stool continued with his Hand and Knife as if fumbling at the\nKnot, but did not yet cut the Man down; at which the Woman cried out\nagain, and the Man behind her call'd to her. Go up, _says he_, and help\nthe Man upon the Stool! supposing something hindred. But the Man upon\nthe Stool made Signs to them again to be quiet, and not come on, as if\nsaying, I shall do it immediately; then he made two Strokes with his\nKnife, as if cutting the Rope, and then stopp'd again; and still the\npoor Man was hanging, and consequently dying: Upon this, the Woman on\nthe Stairs cried out to him. What ails you? Why don't you cut the poor\nMan down? And the Man behind her, having no more Patience, thrusts her\nby, and said to her. Let me come, I'll warrant you I'll do it; and with\nthat runs up and forward into the Room to the Man; but when he came\nthere, behold, the poor Man was there hanging; but no Man with a Knife,\nor Joint-Stool, or any such thing to be seen, all that was Spectre and\nDelusion, in order, no doubt, to let the poor Creature that had hang'd\nhimself perish and expire.\n\nThe Man was so frighted and surpriz'd, that with all the Courage he had\nbefore, he drop'd on the Floor as one dead, and the Woman at last was\nfain to cut the poor Man down with a Pair of Scissars, and had much to\ndo to effect it.\n\nAs I have no room to doubt the Truth of this Story, which I had from\nPersons on whose Honesty I could depend. So I think it needs very little\nTrouble to convince us who the Man upon the Stool must be, and that it\nwas the _Devil_ who plac'd himself there in order to finish the Murther\nof the Man who he had, _Devil_-like, tempted before, and prevail'd with\nto be his own Executioner. Besides, it corresponds so well with the\n_Devil_'s Nature, and with his Business, _viz._ that of a _Murtherer_,\nthat I never question'd it; nor can I think we wrong the _Devil_ at all\nto charge him with it.\n\n     _N. B._ I cannot be positive in the remaining Part of this Story,\n        _viz._ whether the Man was cut down soon enough to be recover'd,\n        or whether the _Devil_ carry'd his Point, and kept off the Man and\n        Woman till it was too late; but be it which it will, 'tis plain he\n        did his Devilish Endeavour, and stay'd till he was forc'd to\n        abscond again.\n\n\nWe have many solid Tales well attested, as well in History as in the\nReports of honest People, who could not be deceived, intimating the\n_Devil_'s personal Appearance, some in one Place, some in another; as\nalso sometimes in one Habit or Dress, and sometimes in another; and it\nis to be observed, that in none of those which are most like to be real,\nand in which there is least of Fancy and Vapour, you have any Mention of\nthe _Cloven Foot_, which rather seems to be a mere Invention of Men (and\nperhaps chiefly of those who had a Cloven Understanding) I mean a\nshallow kind of Craft, the Effect of an empty and simple Head, thinking\nby such a well-meant, tho' weak Fraud, to represent the _Devil_ to the\nold Women and Children of the Age, with some Addition suitable to the\nWeakness of their Intellects, and suited to making them afraid of him.\n\nI have another Account of a Person who travell'd upwards of four Years\nwith the _Devil_ in his Company, and convers'd most intimately with him\nall the while; nay, if I may believe the Story, he knew most part of the\nTime that he was the _Devil_, and yet convers'd with him, and that very\nprofitably, for he perform'd many very useful Services for him, and\nconstantly preserv'd him from the Danger of Wolves and wild Beasts,\nwhich the Country he travell'd thro' was intolerably full of. Where, by\nthe way, you are to understand, that the Wolves and Bears in those\nCountries knew the _Devil_, whatever Disguise he went in; or that the\n_Devil_ has some Way to fright Bears and such Creatures, more than we\nknow of. Nor could this _Devil_ ever be prevail'd upon to hurt him or\nany of his Company. This Account has an innumerable Number of diverting\nIncidents attending it; but they are equal to all the rest in Bulk, and\ntherefore too long for this Book.\n\nI find too upon some more ordinary Occasions the _Devil_ has appear'd to\nseveral People at their Call: This indeed shews abundance of good Humour\nin him, considering him as a _Devil_, and that he was mighty\ncomplaisant: Nay some, they tell us, have a Power to raise the _Devil_\nwhenever they think fit; this I cannot bring the _Devil_ to a Level\nwith, unless I should allow him to be _Servus Servorum_, as another\n_Devil_ in Disguise calls himself; subjected to ever old Wizard's Call;\nor that he is under a Necessity of appearing on such or such particular\nOccasions, whoever it is that calls him; which would bring the _Devil_'s\nCircumstances to a pitch of Slavery which I see no Reason to believe of\nthem.\n\nHere also I must take Notice again, that tho' I say the _Devil_, when I\nspeak of all these Apparitions, whether of a greater or lesser Kind, yet\nI am not oblig'd to suppose Satan himself in Person is concern'd to shew\nhimself, but that some of his _Agents_, Deputies and Servants, are sent\nto that Purpose, and directed what Disguise of Flesh and Blood to put\non, as may be suitable to the Occasion.\n\nThis seems to be the only Way to reconcile all those simple and\nridiculous Appearances which not _Satan_, but his Emissaries, (which we\nold Women call Imps) sometimes make, and the mean and sorry Employment\nthey are put to: Thus Fame tells us of a certain Witch of Quality, who\ncall'd the _Devil_ once to carry her over a Brook where the Water was\nswell'd with a hasty Rain, and lash'd him soundly with her Whip for\nletting her Ladyship fall into the Water before she was quite over. Thus\nalso, as Fame tells us, she set the _Devil_ to work, and made him build\n_Crowland_ Abbey, where there was no Foundation to be found, only for\ndisturbing the Workmen a little who were first set about it. So it\nseems another laborious _Devil_ was oblig'd to dig the great Ditch cross\nthe Country from the Fenn Country to the Edge of _Suffolk_ and _Essex_;\nwhich who ever he has preserv'd the Reputation of, and where it crosses\n_New-Market_ Heath, 'tis call'd _Devil_'s _Ditch_ to this Day.\n\nAnother Piece of Punishment no doubt it was, when the _Devil_ was\noblig'd to bring the Stones out of _Wales_ into _Wiltshire_, to build\n_Stone-heng_: How this was ordered in those Days, when it seems they\nkept _Satan_ to hard Labour, I know not; I believe it must be registred\namong the antient Pieces of Art which are lost in the World, such as\nmelting of Stone, painting of Glass, _&c._ Certainly they had the\n_Devil_ under Correction in those Days; that is to say, those lesser\nSorts of _Devils_; but I cannot think that the _muckle Thief Devil_, as\nthey call him in the _North_, the Grand Seignior _Devil_ of all, was\never reduced to Discipline. What _Devil_ it was that _Dunstan_ took by\nthe Nose with his red hot Tongs, I have not yet examin'd Antiquity\nenough to be certain of, any more than I can what Devil it was that St.\n_Francis_ play'd so many warm Tricks with, and made him run away from\nhim so often: However, this I take upon me to say, in the _Devil_'s\nBehalf, that it cou'd not be our _Satan_, the Arch _Devil_ of all\n_Devils_, of whom I have been talking so long.\n\nNow is it unworthy the Occasion, to take notice that we really wrong the\n_Devil_, and speak of him very much to his Disadvantage, when we say of\nsuch a Great Lord, or of such a Lady of Quality, _I think the_ Devil _is\nin your Grace_: No, no, Satan has other Business, he very rarely\npossesses F--ls: Besides, some are so far from having the _Devil_ in\nthem, that they are really transmigrated into the very Essence of the\n_Devil_ themselves; and others again not transmigrated, or assimilated,\nbut Indeed and in Truth shew us that they are to have mere native\n_Devils_ in every Part and Parcel of them, and that the rest is only\nMasque and Disguise. Thus if _Rage_, _Envy_, _Pride_ and _Revenge_ can\nconstitute the Parts of a _Devil_, why should not a Lady of such\nQuality, in whom all those Extraordinaries abound, have a Right to the\nTitle of being a _Devil_ really and substantially, and to all Intents\nand Purposes, in the most perfect and absolute Sense, according to the\nmost exquisite Descriptions of Devils already given by me or any Body\nelse; and even just as _Joan_ of _Arc_, or _Joan_ Queen of _Naples_\nwere, who were both sent home to their native Country, as soon as it was\ndiscovered that they were real _Devils_, and that _Satan_ acknowledg'd\nthem in that Quality.\n\nNor does my Lady D----ss's wearing sometimes a Case of Humanity about\nher, call'd _Flesh and Blood_, at all alter the Case; for so 'tis\nEvident, according to our present Hypothesis, _Satan_ has been always\nallow'd to do, upon urgent Occasions; ay, and to make his Personal\nAppearance as such, among even the Sons and Daughters of God too, as\nwell as among the Children of Men; and therefore _her Grace_ may have\nappeared in the Shape of a fine Lady, as long as she has been suppos'd\nto do, without any Impeachment of her just Claim to the Title of\n_Devil_; which being her true and natural Original, she ought not, nor\nindeed shall not, by me, be denied her Shapes of Honour, whenever she\npleases to declare for a Re-assumption.\n\nAnd farther, to give every Truth its due Illustration, this need not be\nthought so strange; and is far from being unjust; _her Grace_ (as she,\nit may be, is now stiled) has not acted, at least that I never heard of,\nso unworthy her great and illustrious Original, that we should think she\nhas lost any thing by walking about the World so many Years in\nApparition: But to give her the due Homage of her Quality, she has acted\nas consonant to the Essence and Nature of _Devil_, which she has such a\nClaim to, as was consistent with the needful Reserve of her present\nDisguise.\n\nNor shall we lead the Reader into any Mistake concerning this part of\nour Work, as if this was or is meant to be a particular Satyr upon the\nD-----ss of -----------, and upon her only, as if we had no DEVILS among\nus in the Phenomena of fair Ladies, but this one: If Satan would be so\nhonest to us as he might be (and 'twou'd be very ingenuous in him, that\nmust be acknowledg'd, to give us a little of his Illumination in this\nCase) we should soon be able to unmasque a great many notable Figures\namong us, to our real Surprize.\n\nIndeed 'tis a Point worth our further Enquiry, and would be a Discovery\nmany ways to our Advantage, were we bless'd with it, to see how many\nreal _Devils_ we have walking up and down the World in Masque, and how\nmany Hoop-Petticoats compleat the entire Masque that disguises the Devil\nin the Shape of that Thing call'd Woman.\n\nAs for the Men, Nature has satisfied her self in letting them be their\nown Disguise, and in suffering them to act the _old Women_, as old Women\nare vulgarly understood, in Matters of Council and Politicks; but if at\nany time they have Occasion for the _Devil_ in Person, they are oblig'd\nto call him to their Aid in such Shape as he pleases to make use of _pro\nhac vice_; and of all those Shapes, the most agreeable to him seems to\nbe that of a Female of Quality, in which he has infinite Opportunity to\nact to Perfection, what Part soever he is call'd in for.\n\nHow happy are those People who they say have the particular Quality, or\nacquir'd Habit, call'd the _Second Sight_; one Sort of whom they tell us\nare able to distinguish the _Devil_, in whatever Case or Outside of\nFlesh and Blood he is pleas'd to put on, and consequently could know the\n_Devil_ wherever they met him? Were I blest with this excellent and\nuseful Accomplishment, how pleasant would it be, and how would it\nparticularly gratify my Spleen, and all that which I, in common with my\nfellow Creatures carry about me, call'd Ill-Nature, to stand in the\n_Mall_, or at the Entrance to any of our _Assemblies of Beauties_, and\npoint them out as they pass by, with this particular Mark, That's a\n_Devil_; that fine young Toast is a _Devil_; There's a _Devil_ drest in\na new Habit for the Ball; There's a _Devil_ in a Coach and Six, _cum\naliis_. In short, it would make a merry World among us if we cou'd but\nenter upon some proper Method of such Discriminations: but, _Lawr'd_,\nwhat a Hurricane would it raise, if, like -------, who they say scourg'd\nthe _Devil_ so often that he durst not come near him in any Shape\nwhatever, we cou'd find some new Method out to make the _Devil_ unmask,\nlike the Angel _Uriel_, who, Mr. _Milton_ says, had an enchanted Spear,\nwith which if he did but touch the _Devil_, in whatever Disguise he had\nput on, it oblig'd him immediately to start up, and shew himself in his\ntrue original Shape, mere _Devil_ as he was.\n\nThis would do nicely, and as I who am originally a Projector, have spent\nsome Time upon this Study, and doubt not in a little Time to finish my\nEngine, which I am contriving, to screw the _Devil_ out of every Body,\nor any Body; I question not when I have brought it to Perfection, but I\nshall make most excellent Discoveries by it; and besides the many\nextraordinary Advantages of it to human Society, I doubt not but it will\nmake good Sport in the World too; wherefore, when I publish my\nProposals, and divide it into Shares, as other less useful Projects have\nbeen done, I question not, for all the severe Act lately pass'd against\nBubbles, but I shall get Subscribers enough, _&c._\n\nIn a Word, a secret Power of discovering what Devils we have among us,\nand where and what Business they are doing, would be a vast Advantage to\nus all; that we might know among the Crowd of _Devils_ that walk about\nStreets, who are _Apparitions_, and who are not.\n\nNow I, you must know, at certain Intervals when the Old Gentleman's\nIlluminations are upon me, and when I have something of an\n_Eclaricissement_ with him, have some Degrees of this discriminating\n_Second Sight_, and therefore 'tis no strange thing for me to tell a\ngreat many of my Acquaintance that they are really _Devils_, when they\nthemselves know nothing of the Matter: Sometimes indeed I find it pretty\nhard to convince them of it, or at least they are very unwilling to own\nit, but it is not the less so for that.\n\nI had a long Discourse upon this Subject one day, with a young beautiful\nLady of my Acquaintance, who the World very much admired; and as the\nWorld judges no farther than they can see, (and how should they, you\nwould say) they took her to be, as she really was, a most charming\nCreature.\n\nTo me indeed she discover'd her self many Ways, besides the Advantage I\nhad of my extraordinary Penetration by the magic Powers which I am\nvested with: To me, _I say_, she appear'd a Fury, a Satyr, a fiery\nlittle Fiend as could possibly be dress'd up in Flesh; in short, she\nappear'd to me what really she was, a very DEVIL: It is natural to human\nCreatures to desire to discover any extraordinary Powers they are\npossess'd of superior to others, and this Itch prevailing in me, among\nthe rest, I was impatient to let this Lady know that I understood her\nComposition perfectly well, nay, as well as she did her self.\n\nIn order to this, happening to be in the Family once for some Days, and\nhaving the Honour to be very intimate with her and her Husband too, I\ntook an Opportunity on an extraordinary Occasion, when she was in the\nHeight of good Humour, to talk with her; You must note, that as I said,\nthe Lady was in an extraordinary good Humour, and there had been a great\ndeal of Mirth in the Family for some Days; but one Evening, Sir _E----_\nher Husband, upon some very sharp Turn she gave to another Gentleman,\nwhich made all the Company pleasant, run to her, and with a Passion of\ngood Humour takes her in his Arms, and turning to me, says he, Jack,\nThis Wife of mine is full of Wit and good Humour, but when she has a\nMind to be smart, she is the keenest little _Devil_ in the World: This\nwas alluding to the quick Turn she had given the other Gentleman.\n\nIs that the best Language you can give your Wife, says my Lady? O Madam,\nsays I, such _Devils_ as you, are all _Angels_; ay, ay, says my Lady, I\nknow that, he has only let a Truth fly out that he does not understand:\nLook ye there now, _says Sir_ Edward, could any thing but such a dear\n_Devil_ as this have said a thing so pointed? Well, well, adds he,\n_Devil_ to a Lady in a Man's Arms, is a Word of divers Interpretations.\nThus they rallied for a good while, he holding her fast all the while in\nhis Arms, and frequently kissing her, and at last it went off, all in\nSunshine and Mirth.\n\nBut the next Day, for I had the Honour to lodge in the Lady's Father's\nHouse, where it all happen'd; I say, the next Day my Lady begins with me\nupon the Subject, and that very smartly, so that first I did not know\nwhether she was in jest or earnest: Ay, ay, _says she_, you Men make\nnothing of your Wives after you have them, _alluding to the Discourse\nwith_ Sir Edward _the Night before_.\n\nWhy Madam, says I, _we Men_, as you are pleas'd to term it, if we meet\nwith good Wives worship them, and make Idols of them, what would you\nhave more of us?\n\nNo, no, says she, before you have them they are Angels, but when you\nhave been in Heaven, _adds she and smil'd_, then they are Devils.\n\nWhy Madam, _says I_, Devils are Angels, you know, and were the highest\nSort of Angels once.\n\nYes, _says she_, very smartly, all _Devils_ are Angels, but all Angels\nare not _Devils_.\n\nBut Madam, _says I_, you should never take it ill to be call'd _Devil_,\nyou know.\n\nI know, _says she_, hastily, what d'ye mean by that?\n\nWhy Madam, _says I_, and look'd very gravely and serious, I thought you\nhad known that I knew it, or else I would not have said so, for I would\nnot offend you; but you may depend I shall never discover it, unless you\norder me to do so for your particular Service.\n\nUpon this she look'd hard and wild, and bid me explain my self.\n\nI told her, I was ready to explain my self, if she would give me her\nWord, she would not resent it, and would take nothing ill.\n\nShe gave me her word solemnly she would not, tho' like a true _Devil_\nshe broke her Promise with me all at once.\n\nWell however, being unconcern'd whether she kept her Word or no, I\nbegan, by telling her that I had not long since obtain'd the second\nsight, and had some years studied Magic, by which I could penetrate into\nmany things, which to ordinary Perception were invisible, and had some\nGlasses, by the Help of which I could see into all visionary or\nimaginary Appearances in a different Manner than other People did.\n\nVery well, _says she_, suppose you can, what's that to me?\n\nI told her it was nothing to her any further than that as she knew her\nself to be originally not the same Creature she seem'd to be, but was of\na sublime angelic Original; so by the Help of my recited Art I knew it\ntoo, and so far it might relate to her.\n\nVery fine, says she, so you would make a _Devil_ of me indeed.\n\nI took that Occasion to tell her, I would make nothing of her but what\nshe was; that I suppos'd she knew well enough God Almighty never thought\nfit to make any human Creature so perfect and compleatly beautiful as\nshe was, but that such were also reserved for Figures to be assum'd by\nAngels of one Kind or other.\n\nShe rallied me upon that, and told me that would not bring me off, for I\nhad not determined her for any thing Angelic, but a meer _Devil_; and\nhow could I flatter her with being handsome and a _Devil_ both at the\nsame time?\n\nI told her, as Satan, whom we abusively call'd _Devil_, was an immortal\nSeraph, and of an original angelic Nature, so abstracted from any thing\nwicked, he was a most glorious Being; that when he thought fit to encase\nhimself with Flesh, and walk about in Disguise, it was in his Power\nequally with the other Angels to make the Form he took upon himself be\nas he thought fit, beautiful or deform'd.\n\nHere she disputed the Possibility of that, and after charging me faintly\nwith flattering her Face, told me the Devil could not be represented by\nany thing handsome, alledging our constant picturing the _Devil_ in all\nthe frightful Appearances imaginable.\n\nI told her we wrong'd him very much in that, and quoted St. _Francis_,\nto whom the _Devil_ frequently appeared in the Form of the most\nincomparably beautiful naked Woman, to allure him, and what Means he\nused to turn the Appearance into a _Devil_ again, and how he effected\nit.\n\nShe put by the Discourse, and returned to that of Angels, and insisted\nthat Angels did not always assume beautiful Appearances; that sometimes\nthey appear'd in terrible Shapes, but that when they did not, it was at\nbest only amiable Faces, not exquisite; and that therefore it would not\nhold, that to be handsome, should always render them suspected.\n\nI told her the _Devil_ had more Occasion to form Beauties than other\nAngels had, his Business being principally to deceive and ensnare\nMankind. And then I gave her some Examples upon the whole.\n\nI found by her Discourse she was willing enough to pass for an _Angel_,\nbut 'twas the hardest thing in the World to convince her that she was a\nDEVIL, and she would not come into that by any means; she argued that I\nknew her Father, and that her Mother was a very good Woman, and was\ndelivered of her in the ordinary Way, and that there was such and such\nLadies who were present in the Room when she was born, and that had\noften told her so.\n\nI told her that was nothing in such a Case as hers; that when the Old\nGentleman had occasion to transform himself into a fine Lady, he could\neasily dispose of a Child, and place himself in the Cradle instead of\nit, when the Nurse or Mother were asleep; nay, or when they were broad\nawake either, it was the same thing to him; and I quoted _Luther_ to her\nupon that Occasion, who affirms that it had been so. However I said, to\nconvince her that I knew it, (for I would have it that she knew it\nalready) if she pleas'd I would go to my Chamber and fetch her my Magick\nLooking-glass, where she should see her own Picture, not only as it was\nan angelick Picture for the World to admire, but a _Devil_ also\nfrightful enough to any Body but herself and me that understood it.\n\nNo, no, _said she_, I'll look in none of your conjuring Glasses; I know\nmy self well enough, and I desire to look no otherwise than I am.\n\nNo, Madam, _says I_, I know that very well; nor do you need any better\nShape than that you appear in, 'tis most exquisitely fine; all the World\nknows you are a compleat Beauty, and that is a clear Evidence what you\nwould be if your present appearing Form was reduced to its proper\nPersonality.\n\n_Appearing Form!_ says she, why, what would you make an _Apparition_ of\nme?\n\nAn _Apparition!_ Madam, said I, yes, to be sure; why you know, you are\nnothing else but an _Apparition_; and what else would you be, when it is\nso infinitely to your Advantage?\n\nWith that, she turn'd pale and angry, and then rose up hastily, and\nlook'd into the Glass, (_a large Peer-glass being in the Room_) where\nshe stood, surveying her self from Head to Foot, with Vanity not a\nlittle.\n\n     I took that Time to slip away, and running up into my Apartment, I\n        fetch'd my _Magic Glass_ as I call'd it, in which I had a hollow\n        Case so framed behind a Looking-glass, that in the first; she would\n        see her own Face only; in the second, she would see the _Devil_'s\n        Face, ugly and frightful enough, but dress'd up with a Lady's\n        Head-Clothes in a Circle, the _Devil_'s Face in the Center, and as\n        it were at a little Distance behind.\n\n\nI came down again so soon that she did not think the Time long,\nespecially having spent it in surveying her fair self; when I return'd,\nI said, Come, Madam, do not trouble your self to look there, that is not\na Glass capable of shewing you any thing; come, take this Glass.\n\nIt will shew me as much of my self, _says she, a little scornfully_, as\nI desire to see; so she continued looking in the Peer-glass; after some\ntime more (for seeing her a little out of Humour, I waited to see what\nObservations she would make) I ask'd her if she had view'd her self to\nher Satisfaction? She said she had, and she had seen nothing of _Devil_\nabout her. Come, Madam, said I, look here; and with that I open'd the\nLooking-glass, and she look'd in it, but saw nothing but her own Face;\nWell, _says she_, the Glasses agree well enough, I see no Difference;\nwhat can you make of it? With that I took it a little away; Don't you?\n_says I_, then I shou'd be mistaken very much; so I look'd in it my\nself, and giving it a Turn imperceptible to her, I shew'd it her again,\nwhere she saw the _Devil_ indeed, dress'd up like a fine Lady, but\nugly, and _Devil_ like as could be desired for a _Devil_ to be.\n\nShe started, and cry'd out most horribly, and told me, she thought I was\nmore of a _Devil_ than she, for that she knew nothing of all those\nTricks, and I did it to fright her, she believ'd I had rais'd the\n_Devil_.\n\nI told her it was nothing but her own natural Picture, and that she knew\nwell enough, and that I did not shew it her to inform her of it, but to\nlet her know that I knew it too; that so she might make no Pretences of\nbeing offended when I talk'd familiarly to her of a Thing of this\nNature.\n\nVery well; so, _says she_, I am a real frightful _Devil_, am I?\n\nO, Madam, says I, don't say, _Am I?_ why you know what you are, don't\nyou? A _Devil_! ay, certainly; as sure as the rest of the World believes\nyou a Lady.\n\nI had a great deal of farther Discourse with her upon that Subject, tho'\nshe would fain have beat me off of it, and two or three times she put\nthe Talk off, and brought something else on; but I always found Means to\nrevive it, and to attack her upon the Reality of her being a Devil, till\nat last I made her downright angry, and then she shew'd it.\n\nFirst she cried, told me I came to affront her, that I would not talk so\nif Sir _Ed----_ was by; and that she ought not to be used so. I\nendeavour'd to pacify her, and told her I had not treated her with any\nIndecency, nor I would not; because while she thought fit to walk Abroad\n_incog._ it was none of my Business to discover her; that if she thought\nfit to tell Sir _Ed----_ any thing of the Discourse, she was very\nwelcome, or to conceal it, (_which I thought the wisest Course_) she\nshould do just as she pleas'd; but I made no question I should convince\nSir _E----_ her Husband, that what I said was just, and that I was\nreally so; whether it was for her Service or no for him to know it, was\nfor her to consider.\n\nThis calm'd her a little, and she look'd hard at me a Minute without\nspeaking a Word, when on a sudden she broke out thus: And you will\nundertake, _says she_, to convince Sir _Ed----_ that he has married a\n_Devil_, will ye? A fine Story indeed! and what follows? why then it\nmust follow that the Child I go with (for she was big with Child) will\nbe a _Devil_ too, will it? A fine Story for Sir _Ed----_ indeed! isn't\nit?\n\nI don't know that, Madam, said I, that's as you order it; by the\nFather's Side, _said I_, I know it will not, but what it may by the\nMother's Side, that's a Doubt I can't resolve till the _Devil_ and I\ntalk farther about it.\n\nYou and the Devil talk together! _says she_, and looks rufully at me;\nwhy do you talk with the _Devil_ then?\n\nAy, Madam, _says I_, as sure as ever you did your self; besides, said I,\ncan you question that? Pray who am I talking to now?\n\nI think you are mad, _says she_; why you will make _Devils_ of all the\nFamily, it may be, and particularly I must be with Child of a _Devil_,\nthat's certain.\n\nNo, Madam, _said I_, 'tis not certain, as I said before, I question it.\n\nWhy you say I am the DEVIL, the Child, you know, has always most of the\nMother in it, then that must be a Devil too I think, what else can it\nbe, _says she_?\n\nI can't tell that, Madam, _said I_; that's as you agree among your\nselves, this Kind does not go by Generation; that's a Dispute foreign to\nthe present Purpose.\n\nThen I entred into a Discourse with her of the Ends and Purposes for\nwhich the Devil takes up such beautiful Forms as hers, and why it always\ngave me a Suspicion when I saw a Lady handsomer than ordinary, and set\nme upon the Search to be satisfied whether she was really a Woman or an\n_Apparition_? a Lady or a Devil? allowing all along that her being a\nDevil was quite out of the Question.\n\nUpon that very Foot, she took me up again roundly, and so, _says she_,\nyou are very civil to me through all your Discourse, for I see it ends\nall in that, and you take it as a thing confest, that I am a Devil! A\nvery pretty piece of good Usage indeed! _says she_; _I thank you for\nit_.\n\nNay, Madam, _says I_, do not take it ill of me, for I only discover to\nyou that I knew it; I do not tell it you as a Secret, for you are\nsatisfied of that another way.\n\nSatisfied of what? says she, that I am a Devil? I think the Devil's in\nyou: _And so began to be hot_.\n\nA Devil! yes, Madam, says I, without doubt a meer DEVIL; take it as you\nplease, I can't help that: And so I began to take it ill that she should\nbe disgusted at opening such a well-known Truth to her.\n\nWith that she discover'd it all at once, for she turn'd _Fury_, in the\nvery Letter of it; flew out in a Passion, rail'd at me, curst me most\nheartily, and immediately disappeared; which you know is the particular\nMark of a Spirit or Apparition.\n\nWe had a great deal of Discourse besides this, relating to several other\nyoung Ladies of her Acquaintance, some of which, I said, were mere\n_Apparitions_ like her self; and told her which were so, and which not;\nand the Reason why they were so, and for what Uses and Purposes, some\nto delude the World one way, and some another; and she was pretty well\npleased to hear that, but she could not bear to hear her own true\nCharacter, which however, as cunning as she was, made her act the Devil\nat last, as you have heard; and then vanished out of my sight.\n\nI have seen her in Miniature several Times since; but she proves her\nself still to be the Devil of a Lady, for she bears Malice, and will\nnever forgive me, that I would not let her be an Angel; but like a very\nDevil as she is, she endeavours to kill me at a Distance; and indeed the\nPoison of her Eyes, (Basilisk-like) is very strong, and she has a\nstrange Influence upon me; but I that know her to be a Devil, strive\nvery hard with my self to drive the Memory of her out of my Thoughts.\n\nI have had two or three Engagements since this, with other _Apparitions_\nof the same Sex, and I find they are all alike, they are willing enough\nto be thought Angels, but the Word Devil does not go down at all with\nthem: But 'tis all one, whenever we see an _Apparition_, it is so\nnatural to say we have seen the Devil, that there's no prevailing with\nMankind to talk any other Language. A Gentleman of my Acquaintance, the\nother Day, that had courted a Lady a long time, had the Misfortune to\ncome a little suddenly upon her, when she did not expect him, and found\nher in such a Rage at some of her Servants, that it quite disorder'd\nher, especially a Footman; the Fellow had done something that was indeed\nprovoking, but not sufficient to put her into such a Passion, and so out\nof her self; nor was she able to restrain her self when she saw her\nLover come in, but damn'd the Fellow, and rag'd like a Fury at him.\n\nMy Friend did his best to compose her, and begg'd the Fellow's Pardon of\nher, but it would not do; nay, the poor Fellow made all the Submissions\nthat could be expected, but 'twas the same thing: And so the Gentleman,\nnot caring to engage himself farther than became him, withdrew, and came\nno more at her for three Days, in all which time she was hardly cool.\n\nThe next Day my Friend came to me, and talking of it in Confidence to\nme, I am afraid, _says he_, I am going to marry a She _Devil_, and so\ntold me the Story; I took no Notice to him, but finding out his\nMistress, and taking proper Measures, with some of my particular Skill,\nI soon found out that it was really so, that she was a mere\n_Apparition_; and had it not been for that accidental Disorder of her\nPassions, which discover'd her Inside, she might indeed have cheated any\nMan, for she was a lovely Devil as ever was seen; she talk'd like an\nAngel, sung like a Syren, did every thing, and said every thing that was\ntaking and charming: But what then? it was all Apparition, for she was a\nmere _Devil_. It is true, my Friend marry'd her, and tho' she was a\n_Devil_ without doubt, yet either she behav'd so well, or he was so\ngood, I never could hear him find Fault with her.\n\nThese are particular Instances; but alas! I could run you a Length\nbeyond all those Examples, and give you such a List of Devils among the\ngay Things of the Town, that would fright you to think of; and you would\npresently conclude, with me, that all the perfect Beauties are Devils,\nmere Apparitions; but Time and Paper fails, so we must only leave the\nMen the Caution, let them venture at their Peril. I return to the\nSubject.\n\nWe have a great many charming _Apparitions_ of like kind go daily about\nthe World in compleat Masquerade, and, tho' we must not say so, they are\nin themselves mere _Devils_, wicked dangerous murthering Devils, that\nkill various Ways, some, Basilisk-like, with their Eyes; some\nSyren-like, with their Tongues; all _Murtherers_, even from the\n_Beginning_: It is true, 'tis pity these pretty _Apparitions_ should be\nDevils, and be so mischievous as they are; but since it is so, I can do\nno less than to advertise you of it, that you may shun the Devil in\nwhatever Shape you meet with him.\n\nAgain, there are some half Devils, they say, like the _Sagittarii_, half\nMan, half Horse, or rather like the _Satyr_, who, _they say_, is half\nDevil, half Man; or, like my Lord Bishop, who, _they say_, was\nhalf-headed; whether they mean half-witted or no, I do not find Authors\nagreed about it: But if they had voted him such, it had been as kind a\nthing as any they cou'd say of him, because it would have clear'd him\nfrom the Scandal of being a Devil, or half a Devil, for we don't find\nthe Devil makes any Alliance with F----ls.\n\nThen as to merry Devils, there's my Master _G------_, he may indeed have\nthe Devil in him, but it must be said, to the Credit of Possession in\ngeneral, that Satan would have scorn'd to have entred into a Soul so\nnarrow that there was not room to hold him, or to take up with so\ndiscording a Creature, so abject, so scoundrel, as never made a Figure\namong Mankind greater than that of a Thief, a _Moroder_, moulded up into\nQuality, and a Raparee dress'd up _a-la-Masque_, with a _Robe_ and a\n_Coronet_.\n\nSome little Dog-kennel Devil may indeed take up his Quarters in or near\nhim, and so run into and out of him as his Drum beats a Call; but to\nhim that was born a _Devil_, Satan, that never acts to no purpose, cou'd\nnot think him worth being possess'd by any thing better than a Devil of\na dirty Quality; that is to say, a Spirit too mean to wear the Name of\n_Devil_, without some Badge or Addition of Infamy and Meanness to\ndistinguish it by.\n\nThus what _Devil_ of Quality would be confin'd to a _P--------n_, who\ninheriting all the Pride and Insolence of his Ancestors, without one of\ntheir good Qualities; the Bully, the _Billingsgate_, and all the\nhereditary ill Language of his Family, without an Ounce of their\nCourage; that has been rescued five or six times from the Scandal of a\nCoward, by the Bravery, and at the Hazard of Friends, and never fail'd\nto be ungrateful; that if ever he committed a Murther, did it in cold\nBlood, because no body could prove he ever had any hot; who possess'd\nwith a Poltroon _Devil_, was always wickeder in the Dark, than he durst\nbe by Day-light; and who, after innumerable passive Sufferings, has been\nturned out of human Society, because he could not be kick'd or cuff'd\neither into good Manners or good Humour.\n\nTo say this was a _Devil_, an Apparition, or even a half _Devil_, would\nbe unkind to _Satan_ himself, since tho' he (the _Devil_) has so many\nMillions of inferior _Devils_ under his Command, not one cou'd be found\nbase enough to match him, nor one _Devil_ found but what would think\nhimself dishonour'd to be employ'd about him.\n\nSome merry good-for-nothing _Devils_ we have indeed, which we might, if\nwe had room, speak of at large, and divert you too with the Relation,\nsuch as my Lady _Hatt's Devil_ in _Essex_, who upon laying a Joiner's\nMallet in the Window of a certain Chamber, would come very orderly and\nknock with it all Night upon the Window, or against the Wainscot, and\ndisturb the Neighbourhood, and then go away in the Morning, as well\nsatisfied as may be; whereas if the Mallet was not left, he would think\nhimself affronted, and be as unsufferable and terrifying as possible,\nbreaking the Windows, splitting the Wainscot, committing all the\nDisorders, and doing all the Damage that he was able to the House, and\nto the Goods in it. And again, such as the Druming _Devil_ in the Well\nat _Oundle_ in _Northamptonshire_, and such like.\n\nA great many antick _Devils_ have been seen also, who seem'd to have\nlittle or nothing to do, but only to assure us that they can appear if\nthey please, and that there is a Reality in the thing call'd Apparition.\n\nAs to Shadows of _Devils_, and imaginary Appearances, such as appear,\nand yet are invisible at the same time, I had thought to have bestow'd a\nChapter upon them by themselves, but it may be as much to the Purpose to\nlet them alone, as to meddle with them; 'tis said our old Friend\n_Luther_ used to be exceedingly troubled with such invisible\nApparitions, and he tells us much of them, in what they call his\nTable-talk; but with Master _Luther_'s leave, tho' the _Devil_ passes\nfor a very great Lyar, I could swallow many things of his own proper\nmaking, as soon as some of those I find in a Book that goes by his Name,\nparticularly the Story of the Devil in a Basket, the Child flying out of\nthe Cradle, and the like.\n\nIn a word, the walking _Devils_ that we have generally among us, are of\nthe female Sex; whether it be that the _Devil_ finds less Difficulty to\nmanage them, or that he lives quieter with them, or that they are fitter\nfor his Business than the Men, I shall not now enter into a Dispute\nabout that; perhaps he goes better disguis'd in the fair Sex than\notherwise; Antiquity gives us many Histories of She-Devils, such as we\ncan very seldom match for Wickedness among the Men; such now as in the\nText, _Lot_'s Daughters, _Joseph_'s Mistress, _Sampson_'s _Dalilah_,\n_Herod_'s _Herodias_, these were certainly _Devils_, or play'd the\n_Devil_ sufficiently in their Turn; one Male Apparition indeed the\nScripture furnishes you with, and that is _Judas_; for his Master says\nexpresly of him, _One of you is a Devil_; not has the _Devil_, or is\npossess'd of the DEVIL; but really is a DEVIL, or is a real DEVIL.\n\nHow happy is it, that this great Secret comes thus to be discover'd to\nmankind? Certainly the World has gone on in Ignorance a long time, and\nat a strange rate, that we should have so many _Devils_ continually\nwalking about among us in humane Shape, and we know it not.\n\nPhilosophers tell us that there is a World of Spirits, and many learned\nPieces of Guess-work they make at it, representing the World to be so\nnear us, that the Air, as they describe it, must be full of Dragons and\n_Devils_, enough to fright our Imaginations with the very Thoughts of\nthem; and if they say true, 'tis our great Felicity that we cannot see\nany farther into it than we do, which if we could, would appear as\nfrightful as Hell itself; but none of those Sages ever told us, till\nnow, that half the People who converse with us are _Apparitions_,\nespecially of the Women; and among them especially this valuable Part,\nthe Woman of Figure, the fair, the beautiful, or patch'd and painted.\n\nThis unusual Phaenomenon has been seen but a little while, and but a\nlittle way, and the general Part of Mankind cannot come into the same\nNotions about it; nay, perhaps they will all think it strange; but be\nit as strange as it will, the Nature of the Thing confirms it, this\nlower Sphere is full of _Devils_; and some of both Sexes have given\nstrange Testimonies of the Reality of their pre-existent _Devilism_ for\nmany Ages past, tho' I think it never came to that Height as it has now.\n\nIt is true, in former times Satan dealt much in old Women, and those, as\nI have observ'd already, very ugly, _Ugly as a Witch_, _Black as a\nWitch_, _I look like a Witch_, all proverbial Speeches, and which\ntestify'd what Tools it was Satan generally work'd with; and these old\nSpectres, they tell us, us'd to ride thro' the Air in the Night, and\nupon Broomsticks too, all mighty homely Doings; some say they us'd to go\nto visit their Grand Seignior the _Devil_, in those Nocturnal\nPerambulations: But be that as it will, 'tis certain the _Devil_ has\nchang'd hands, and that now he walks about the World cloth'd in Beauty,\ncover'd with the Charms of the Lovely, and he fails not to disguise\nhimself effectually by it, for who would think a beautiful Lady could be\na Masque to the Devil? and that a fine Face, a divine Shape, a heavenly\nAspect, should bring the _Devil_ in her Company, nay, should be herself\nan _Apparition_, a mere DEVIL.\n\nThe Enquiry is indeed worth our while, and therefore I hope all the\nenamour'd Beaus and Boys, all the Beauty-hunters and Fortune-hunters,\nwill take heed, for I suppose if they get the _Devil_, they will not\ncomplain for want of a Fortune; and there's Danger enough, I assure you,\nfor the World is full of Apparitions, _non rosa sine spinis_; not a\nBeauty without a _Devil_, the old Women Spectres, and the young Women\nApparitions; the ugly ones Witches, and the handsome ones _Devils_;\nLord ha' Mercy, and a [Illustration: Cross] may be Set on the Man's Door\nthat goes a courting.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. VIII.\n\n_Of the Cloven-Foot walking about the World without the_ Devil, (viz.) _of\n     Witches making Bargains for the_ Devil, _and particularly of selling\n     the Soul to the_ Devil.\n\n\nI have dwelt long upon the _Devil_ in Masque as he goes about the World\nincog. and especially without his Cloven-Foot, and have touched upon\nsome of his Disguises in the Management of his Interest in the World; I\nmust say some of his Disguises only, for who can give a full account of\nall his Tricks and Arts in so narrow a Compass as I am prescrib'd to?\n\nBut as I said, that every _Devil_ has not a Cloven-Foot, so I must add\nnow for the present Purpose, that every Cloven-Foot is not the Devil.\n\nNot but that wherever I should meet the Cloven-Hoof, I should expect\nthat the _Devil_ was not far off, and should be apt to raise the Posse\nagainst him, to apprehend him; yet it may happen otherwise, that's\ncertain; every Coin has its Counterfeit, every Art its Pretender, every\nWhore her Admirer, every Error its Patron, and every Day has its DEVIL.\n\nI have had some thought of making a full and compleat Discovery here of\nthat great Doubt which has so long puzzl'd the World, namely, whether\nthere is any such Thing, as secret making Bargains with the Devil, and\nthe first positive Assurance I can give you in the Case, is, that if\nthere is not, 'tis not his Fault, 'tis not for want of his Endeavour,\n'tis plain, if you will pardon me for taking so mean a Step, as that of\nquoting Scripture; I say, 'tis evident he would fain have made a\nContract with our Saviour, and he bid boldly (_give him his due_)\nnamely, _all the Kingdoms of the World for one bend of his Knee_:\nImpudent Seraph! To think thy Lord should pay thee Homage! How many\nwould agree with him here for a less Price! They say, _Oliver Cromwell_\nstruck a Bargain with him, and that he gave _Oliver_ the Protectorship,\nbut would not let him call himself King, which stuck so close to that\n_Furioso_, that the Mortification Spread into his Soul, and 'tis said,\nhe dy'd of a Gangreen in the Spleen. But take Notice and do _Oliver_\nJustice; I do not vouch the Story, neither does the Bishop say one Word\nof it.\n\nFame us'd to say, that the old famous Duke of _Luxemburg_ made a Magic\ncompact of this Kind; nay, I have heard many an (old Woman) Officer of\nthe Troops, who never car'd to see his Face, declare that he carry'd the\nDevil at his Back. I remember a certain Author of a News Paper in\n_London_ was once taken up, and they say, it cost him 50_l._ for\nprinting in his News, that _Luxemburg_ was _Humpback'd_. Now if I have\nresolv'd the Difficulty, namely, that he was not hump'd, only carry'd\nthe _Devil_ at his Back; I think the poor Man should have his 50_l._\nagain, or I should have it for the Discovery.\n\nI confess, I do not well understand this compacting with such a Fellow\nas can neither write nor read; nor do I know who is the Scrivener\nbetween them, or how the Indenture can be executed; but that which is\nworse than all the rest is, that in _the first Place_, the _Devil_ never\nkeeps Articles; he will contract perhaps, and they say he is mighty\nforward to make Conditions; but who shall bind him to the Performance,\nand where is the Penalty if he fails? if we agree with him, he will be\napt enough to claim his Bargain and demand Payment; nay, perhaps before\nit is due; but who shall make him stand to his.\n\nBesides, he is a Knave in his Dealing, for he really promises what he\ncannot perform; witness his impudent Proposal to our Lord mentioned\nabove. _All these Kingdoms will I give_ thee! _Lying Spirit!_ Why they\nwere none of thine to give, no not one of them; for the Earth is the\nLords and the kingdoms thereof, nor were they in his Power any more than\nin his Right: So (I have heard that) some poor dismal Creatures have\nsold themselves to the Devil for a Sum of Money, for so much Cash, and\nyet even in that Case, when the Day of Payment came, I never heard that\nhe brought the Money or paid the Purchase, so that he is a Scoundrel in\nhis Treaties, for you shall trust for your Bargain, but not be able to\nget your Money; and yet for your Part, he comes for you to an Hour: _Of\nwhich by it self_.\n\nIn a Word, let me caution you all, when you trade with the Devil, either\nget the Price or quit the Bargain; the _Devil_ is a cunning Shaver, he\nwill wriggle himself out of the Performance on his Side if possible, and\nyet expect you should be punctual on your Side. They tell you of a poor\nFellow in _Herefordshire_, that offer'd to sell his Soul to him for a\nCow, and though the _Devil_ promised, and as they say, sign'd the\nWritings, yet the poor Countryman could never get the Cow of him, but\nstill as he brought a Cow to him, some body or other came and challeng'd\nit, proving that it was lost or stolen from them; so that the Man got\nnothing but the Name of a Cow-stealer, and was at last carried to\n_Hereford_ Goal, and condemn'd to be hang'd for stealing two Cows, one\nafter the other: The wicked Fellow was then in the greatest Distress\nimaginable, he summon'd his _Devil_ to help him out, but he failed him,\nas the _Devil_ always will; he really had not stolen the Cows, but they\nwere found in his Possession, and he could give no Account how he came\nby them; at last he was driven to confess the Truth, told the horrid\nBargain he had made, and how the _Devil_ often promis'd him a Cow, but\nnever gave him one, except that several Times in the Morning early he\nfound a Cow put into his Yard, but it always prov'd to belong to some of\nhis Neighbours: Whether the Man was hang'd or no, the Story does not\nrelate; but this Part is to my Purpose, that they that make Bargains\nwith the _Devil_, ought to make him give Security for the Performance of\nCovenants, and who the Devil would get to be bound for him, I can't\ntell, they must look to that who make the Bargain: Besides, if he had\nnot had a Mind to cheat or baffle the poor Man, what need he have taken\na Cow so near home? if he had such and such Powers as we talk of, and as\nFancy and Fable furnish for him, could not he have carried a Cow in the\nAir upon a Broom-stick, as well as an old Woman? Could he not have stole\na Cow for him in _Lincolnshire_, and set it down in _Herefordshire_, and\nso have performed his Bargain, saved his Credit, and kept the poor Man\nout of Trouble? so that if the Story is True, as I really believe it is,\neither it is not the Devil that makes those Bargains, or the Devil has\nnot such Power as we bestow on him, except on Special Occasions he gets\na Permit, and is bid go, as in the Case of _Job_, the _Gadaren Hogs_,\nand the like.\n\nWe have another Example of a Man's selling himself to the _Devil_, that\nis very remarkable, and that is in the Bible too, and even in that, I\ndo not find, what the _Devil_ did for him, in Payment of the Purchase\nPrice. The Person selling was _Ahab_, of whom the Text says expresly,\n_there was none like_ him, _who did sell himself to work Wickedness in\nthe Sight of the_ LORD, 1 _Kings_ xxi. 20, and the 25. I think it might\nhave been rendred, if not translated _in Spight of the Lord_, or _in\nDefiance of God_; for certainly that's the Meaning of it; and now\nallowing me to preach a little upon this Text, my Sermon shall be very\nshort. _Ahab_ sold himself, who did he sell himself to? I answer that\nQuestion by a Question; who would buy him? who, _as we say_, would give\nany thing for him? and the Answer to that is plain also, you may judge\nof the Purchaser by the Work he was to do; he that buys a Slave in the\nMarket, buys him to work for him, and to do such Business as he has for\nhim to do: _Ahab_ was bought to work wickedness, and who would buy him\nfor that but the _Devil_?\n\nI think there's no room to doubt but _Ahab_ sold himself to the Devil;\nthe Text is plain that he sold himself, and the Work he was sold to do\npoints out the Master that bought him; what Price he agreed with the\n_Devil_ for, that indeed the Text is silent in, so we may let it alone,\nnor is it much to our Purpose, unless it be to enquire whether the\n_Devil_ stood to his Bargain or not, and whether he paid the Money\naccording to Agreement, or cheated him as he did the Farmer at\n_Hereford_.\n\nThis buying and selling between the _Devil_ and us, is, I must confess,\nan odd kind of Stock-jobbing, and indeed the _Devil_ may be said to sell\nthe _Bear-skin_, whatever he buys; but the strangest Part is when he\ncomes to demand the transfer; for as I hinted before, whether he\nPerforms or no, he expects his Bargain to a Tittle; there is indeed\nsome Difficulty in resolving how and in what Manner Payment is made; the\nStories we meet with in our Chimney-Corner Histories, and which are so\nmany Ways made Use of to make the _Devil_ frightful to us and our Heirs\nfor ever, are generally so foolish and ridiculous, as, if true or not\ntrue, they have nothing Material in them, are of no Signification, or\nelse so impossible in their Nature, that they make no Impression upon\nany body above twelve Years old and under seventy; or else are so\ntragical that Antiquity has fabled them down to our Taste, that we might\nbe able to hear them and repeat them with less Horror than is due to\nthem.\n\nThis Variety has taken off our Relish of the Thing in general, and made\nthe Trade of Soul-selling, like our late more eminent Bubbles, be taken\nto be a Cheat and to have little in it.\n\nHowever, to speak a little more gravely to it, I cannot say but that\nsince, by the two eminent Instances of it above in _Ahab_, and in Christ\nhimself, the Fact is evidently ascertain'd; and that the Devil has\nattempted to make such a Bargain on one, and actually did make it with\nthe other. The Possibility of it is not to be disputed; but then I must\nexplain the Manner of it a little, and bring it down, nearer to our\nUnderstanding, that it may be more intelligible than it is; for as for\nthis selling the Soul, and making a Bargain to give the _Devil_\nPossession by Livery and Seisin on the Day appointed, that I cannot come\ninto by any Means; no nor into the other Part, namely, of the Devil\ncoming to claim his Bargain, and to demand the Soul according to\nAgreement, and upon Default of a fair Delivery, taking it away by\nViolence _Case and all_, of which we have many historical Relations\npretty current among us; some of which, _for ought I know_, we might\nhave hop'd had been true, if we had not been sure they were false, and\nothers we had Reason to fear were false, because it was impossible they\nshould be true.\n\nThe Bargains of this Kind, according to the best Accounts we have of\nthem, used to consist of two main Articles, according to the ordinary\nStipulations in all Covenants; namely,\n\n     1. Something to be perform'd on the Devil's Part, buying.\n\n     2. Something to be performed on the Man's Part, selling.\n\n\n1. The _Devil_'s Part: This was generally some poor Trifle, for the\nDevil generally bought good Penny-worths, and oftentimes like a compleat\nSharper, agreed to give what he was not able to procure; that is to say,\nwould bargain for a Price he could not pay, as in the Case of the\n_Hereford_ Man and the Cow; for Example, 1. _Long Life_: This tho' the\ndeluded Chapman has often had folly enough to contract for, the Devil\nnever had Power to make good; and we have a famous Story, how true I\nknow not, of a Wretch that sold himself to the DEVIL on Condition he,\n_Satan_, should assure him (1.) That he should never want Victuals; (2.)\nThat he should never be a cold; (3.) That he should always come to him\nwhen he call'd him; and (4.) That he should let him live one and twenty\nYears, and then Satan was at Liberty to have him; that is, I suppose, to\ntake him wherever he could find him.\n\nIt seems, the Fellow's desire to be assur'd of 21 Years Life, was\nchiefly, that during that Time, he might be as wicked as he would, and\nshould yet be sure not to be hang'd, nay, to be free from all\nPunishment; upon this Foot 'tis said he commenc'd Rogue, and committed a\ngreat many Robberies and other villanous Things; now it seems the\n_Devil_ was pretty true to his Bargain in several of those things;\nparticularly, that two or three times when the Fellow was taken up for\npetty Crimes, and call'd for his old Friend, he came and frighted the\nConstables so, that they let the Offender get away from them: But at\nLength having done some capital Crime, a Set of Constables, or such like\nOfficers, seiz'd upon him, who were not to be frighted with the _Devil_,\nin what Shape soever he appear'd; so that they carry'd him off, and he\nwas committed to _Newgate_ or some other Prison as effectual.\n\nNor could Satan with all his Skill unlock his Fetters, much less the\nPrison Doors; But he was try'd, convicted, and executed. The Fellow in\nhis Extremity, _they say_, expostulated with the _Devil_ for his\nBargain, the Term of 21 Years it seems not being expir'd. But the\n_Devil_, it is said, shuffl'd with him, told him a good while, he would\nget him out, bid him have Patience and stay a little, and thus led him\non, till he came as it were within Sight of the Gallows, that is to say,\nwithin a Day or two of his Execution; when the _Devil_ cavill'd upon his\nBargain, told him, he agreed to let him live 21 Years, and he had not\nhindred him, but that he did not Covenant to cause him to live that\nTime; that there was a great deal of Difference between doing and\nsuffering; that he was to suffer him to live, and that he did; but he\ncould not make him live when he had brought himself to the Gallows.\n\nWhether this Story were true or not, for you must not expect we\nHistorians should answer for the Discourse between the _Devil_ and his\nChaps, because we were not privy to the Bargain: I say, whether it was\ntrue or not, the Inference is to our Purpose several Ways.\n\n     1. It confirms what I have said of the Knavery of the _Devil_ in\n     his Dealings, and that when he has Stock-jobb'd with us on the best\n     Conditions he can get, he very seldom performs his Bargain.\n\n     2. It confirms what I have likewise said, that the _Devil_'s Power\n     is limited; with this Addition, that he not only cannot destroy the\n     Life of Man, but that he cannot preserve it; _in short_, he can\n     neither prevent or bring on our Destruction.\n\n\nI may be allow'd, I hope, for the Sake of the present Discourse, to\nsuppose that the _Devil_ would have been so just to this wicked, tho'\nfoolish Creature, as to have sav'd him from the Gallows if he could; but\nit seems, he at last acknowledg'd that it was not in his Power; nay, he\ncould not keep him from being taken and carry'd to Prison, after he was\ngotten into the Hands of a bold Fellow or two, that were not to be\nfear'd with his Bluster, as some foolish Creatures had been before.\n\nAnd how simple, how weak, how unlike any Thing of an Angelick Nature,\nwas it to attempt to save the poor Wretch, only by little Noises and\nsham Appearances, putting out the Candles, rushing and josteling in the\nDark, _and the like_! If the _Devil_ was that mighty Seraph, which we\nhave heard of, if he is a God of this World, a Prince of the Air, a\nSpirit able to destroy Cities and make Havock in the World; if he can\nraise Tempests and Storms, throw Fire about the World, and do wonderful\nThings, as an unchain'd _Devil_ no Doubt could do; what need all this\nFrippery? and what need he try so many ridiculous Ways, by the\nEmptiness, nay, the silly nonsensical Manner, of which, he shews, that\nhe is able to do no better, and that his Power is extinguish'd? _In a\nWord_, he would certainly act otherwise, if he could. _Sed caret\npedibus_, he wants Power.\n\nHow weak a thing is it then, for any Man to expect Performance from the\n_Devil_? If he has not Power to do Mischief, which is his Element, his\nvery Nature, and on many Accounts, is the very sum of his Desires; How\nshould he have Power to do Good? how Power to deliver from Danger or\nfrom Death? which Deliverance would be in itself a Good, and we know it\nis not in his Nature to do Good to or for any Man?\n\nIn a Word, the _Devil_ is strangely impudent, to think that any Man\nshould depend upon him for the Performance of an Agreement of any Kind\nwhatever, when he knows himself, that he is not able, if he was honest\nenough, to be as good as his Word.\n\nCome we next to his expecting our Performance to him; tho' he is not so\njust to us, yet, it seems, he never fails to come and demand Payment of\nus at the very Day appointed: He was but a weak Trader in Things of this\nNature, who having sold his Soul to the _Devil_, so our old Women's\nTales call the Thing, and when the _Devil_ came to demand his Bargain,\nput it off as a Thing of no Force, for that it was done so long ago, he\nthought he (_the Devil_) had forgot it. It was a better Answer, which\nthey tell us, a _Lutheran_ Divine gave the _Devil_ in the Name of a poor\nWretch, who had sold himself to the _Devil_, and who was in a terrible\nFright about his coming for his Bargain, as he might well be indeed, if\nthe _Devil_ has such a Power, as really to come and take it by Force.\n_The Story (if you can bear a serious one) is this._\n\nThe Man was in great Horror of Mind, and the Family fear'd he would\ndestroy himself; at length they sent for a _Lutheran_ Minister to talk\nwith him, and who after some Labour with him, got out the Truth (_viz._)\nthat he had sold himself to the _Devil_, and that the Time was almost\nexpir'd, when he expected the _Devil_ would come and fetch him away, and\nhe was sure he would not fail coming to the Time to a Minute; the\nMinister first endeavour'd to convince him of the horrid Crime, and to\nbring him to a true Penitence for that Part; and having as he thought\nmade him a sincere Penitent, he then began to encourage him, and\nparticularly, desir'd of him, that when the Time was come, that the\n_Devil_ should fetch him away, he, the Minister, should be in the House\nwith him; accordingly, to make the Story short, the Time came, the\n_Devil_ came, and the Minister was present, when the _Devil_ came; what\nShape he was in, the Story does not say; the Man said he saw him, and\ncry'd out; the Minister could not see him, but the Man affirming he was\nin the Room, the Minister said aloud, _in the Name of the_ living God,\n_Satan, what comest thou here for?_ The _Devil_ answer'd, _I come for my\nown_; the Minister answer'd, _He is not thy own, for Jesus Christ has\nredeem'd him, and in his Name I charge thee to avoid and touch him not_;\nat which, says the Story, the _Devil_ gave a furious Stamp (with his\nCloven-Foot I suppose) and went away, and was never known to molest him\nafterward.\n\nAnother Story, tho' it be in it self a long one, I shall abridge (for\nyour reading with the less Uneasiness) as follows.\n\nA young Gentleman of _----berg_, in the Elector of _Brandenburgh_'s (now\nthe King of _Prussia_'s) Dominions, being deeply in Love with a\nbeautiful Lady, but something above his Fortune, and whom he could by no\nMeans bring to love him again, apply'd himself to an _old thing_ call'd\n_a Witch_, for her Assistance, and promised her great Things, if she\ncould bring the Lady to love him, or any how compass her, so as he might\nhave his Will of her; nay, at last he told her he would give up his Soul\nto her, if she would answer his Desire.\n\nThe old Hag, it seems, having had some of his Money, had very honestly\ntried what she could do, but all to no Purpose, the Lady would not\ncomply; but when he offer'd such a great Price, she told him, she would\nconsider farther against such a Time, and so appointed him the next\nEvening.\n\nAt the Time appointed he comes, and the Witch made a long Speech to him\nupon the Nicety of the Affair; I suppose to prepare him not to be\nsurpriz'd at what was to come; for she suppos'd he was not so very\ndesperately bent as he appear'd to be; she told him it was a Thing of\nvery great Difficulty; but as he had made such a great Offer, of\n_selling his Soul for it_, she had an Acquaintance in the House, who was\nbetter skill'd (than she was) in such particular Things, and would treat\nwith him farther, and she doubted not but that both together they might\nanswer his End. The Fellow it seems was still of the same Mind, and told\nher, he car'd not what he pawn'd or sold, if he could but obtain the\nLady; well, says the old Hag, sit still a while, and with that she\nwithdraws.\n\nBy and by she comes in again with a Question in her Mouth; pray, says\nshe, do you seek this Lady for a Wife, or for a Mistress, would you\nmarry her, or would you only lie with her? The young Man told her _no,\nno_, he did not expect she would lie with him, therefore he would be\nsatisfied to marry her, but asks her the Reason of the Question; why\ntruly, says the old Hag, my Reason is very Weighty; for if you would\nhave her for your Wife, I doubt, we can do you no Service; but if you\nhave a Mind to lie with her, the Person, I speak of, will undertake it.\n\nThe Man was surpriz'd at that, only he objected that this was a\ntransient or short Felicity, and that he should perhaps have her no\nmore; the old Hag bid him not fear, but that if she once yielded to be\nhis Whore, he might have her as often as he pleased; upon this he\nconsents, for he was stark mad for the Lady; He having consented, she\ntold him then, he should follow her, but told him, whoever he saw, he\nmust speak to no body but her, till she gave him leave, and that he\nshould not be surpriz'd, whatever happen'd, for no hurt should befall\nhim; all which he agreed to, and the old Woman going out he follow'd\nher.\n\nBeing upon this led into another Room, where there was but very little\nLight, yet enough to let him see that there was no body in it but\nhimself and the Woman, he was desired to sit down in a Chair next to a\nTable, and the old Woman clapping the Door too after her, he asked her\nwhy she shut the Door, and where was the Person she told him of? At\nwhich she answer'd _there he is_, pointing to a Chair at a little\nDistance: The young Gentleman turning his Head, saw a grave Kind of a\nMan sitting in an Elbow-Chair, tho' he said, he could have sworn there\nwas no body in the Chair when the old Woman shut the Door; however,\nhaving promis'd not to speak to any body but the old Woman, he said not\na Word.\n\nBy and by the Woman making abundance of strange Gestures and Motions,\nand mumbling over several Things which he could not understand, on a\nsuddain a large Wicker-Chair, which stood by the Chimney, removes to the\nother End of the Table which he sat by, but there was no body in the\nChair; in about two Minutes after that the Chair remov'd, there appear'd\na Person sitting in that too, who, the Room being, as is said, almost\ndark, could not be so distinguish'd by the Eye, as to see his\nCountenance.\n\nAfter some while, the first Man, and the Chair he sat in, mov'd, as if\nthey had been one Body, to the Table also; and the old Woman and the two\nMen seem'd to talk together, but the young Man could not understand any\nThing they said; after some Time the old Witch turn'd to the young\nGentleman, told him his Request was granted, but not for Marriage, but\nthe Lady should love and receive him.\n\nThe Witch then gave him a Stick dipt in Tar at both Ends, and bid him\nhold it to a Candle, which he did, and instead of burning like a Stick\nit burnt out like a Torch; then she bid him break it off in the Middle,\nand light the other End; he did that too, and all the Room seem'd to be\nin a light Flame; then she said, deliver one Piece here, pointing to one\nonly of the Persons, so he gave the first Fire-stick to the first Man or\n_Apparition_; now says she, deliver the other here, so he gave the other\nPiece to the other Apparition, at which they both rose up and spoke to\nhim Words, which he said he understood not, and could not repeat, and\nimmediately vanish'd with the Fire-sticks and all, leaving the Room full\nof Smoke: I do not remember that the Story says any Thing of Brimstone,\nor the Smell of it, but it says the Door continu'd fast lock'd, and no\nBody was left in the Room but the young Gentleman and the Witch.\n\nNow the Ceremony being over, he ask'd the Witch if the Business was\ndone? She said _yes_. Well, but says he, have I sold my Soul to the\nDevil? Yes, says she, you have, and you gave him Possession, when you\ndeliver'd the two Fire-sticks to him. _To him!_ says he, why, was that\nthe _Devil_? Yes, says the old Hag. At which the young Man was in a\nterrible Fright for a while, but it went off again.\n\nAnd what's next, says he, when shall I see the Lady for whose sake I\nhave done all this? You shall know that presently, said she, and opening\nthe Door, in the next Room she presents him with a most beautiful Lady,\nbut had charg'd him not to speak a Word to her: She was exactly dress'd\nlike, and he presently knew her to be the Lady he desir'd; upon which he\nflew to her and clasped her in his Arms, but that Moment he had her\nfast, as he thought, in his Arms, she vanish'd out of his sight.\n\nFinding himself thus disappointed, he upbraids the old Woman with\nbetraying him, and flew out with ill Language at her, in a great Rage;\nthe _Devil_ often deluded him thus, after this, with Shews and\nAppearances, but still no Performance; after a while he gets an\nOpportunity to speak with the Lady her self in Reality, but she was as\npositive in her Denial as ever, and even took away all Hopes of his ever\nobtaining her, which put him into Despair; for now he thought he had\ngiven himself up to the _Devil_ for nothing, and this brought him to\nhimself; so that he made a penitent Confession of his Crime to some\nFriends, who took great Care of him, and encourag'd him, and at last\nfurnish'd him with such an Answer as put the _Devil_ into a Fright, when\nhe came for the Bargain.\n\nFor Satan, it seems, _as the Story says_, had the Impudence to demand\nhis Agreement, notwithstanding he had fail'd in the Performance on his\nPart; what the Answer was I do not pretend to have seen, but it seems\nit was something like what is mention'd above, (_viz._) that he was in\nbetter Hands, and that he durst not touch him.\n\nI have heard of another Person that had actually sign'd a Contract with\nthe _Devil_; and upon a Fast kept by some Protestant or Christian\nDivines, while they were praying for the poor Man, the Devil was oblig'd\nto come and throw the Contract in at the Window.\n\nBut I vouch none of these Stories, there may be much in them and much\nUse made of them, even whether exactly such in Fact, as they are\nrelated, or no; the best Use I can make of them, is this, if any wicked\ndesperate Wretches have made Bargain and Sale with _Satan_, their only\nWay is to repent, if they know how, and that before he comes to claim\nthem; then batter him with his own Guns; play Religion against Devilism,\nand perhaps they may drive the _Devil_ out of their Reach; at least he\nwill not come at them, which is as well.\n\nOn the other Hand, how many Stories have we handed about of the Devil's\nreally coming with a terrible Appearance at the Time appointed, and\npowerfully or by violence carrying away those, that have given\nthemselves thus up to him; nay, and sometimes a Piece of the House along\nwith them, as in the famous Instance of _Sudbury_, _Anno_ 1662. It seems\nhe comes with Rage and Fury upon such Occasions, pretending he only\ncomes to take his own, or as if he had leave given him to come and take\nhis Goods, _as we say_, where he could find them, and would strike a\nTerror into all that should oppose him.\n\nThe greatest Part of the Terror we are usually in upon this Occasion, is\nfrom a Supposition, that when this _Hell-Fire Contract_ is once made,\nGod allows the _Devil_ to come and take the wicked Creature, how and in\nwhat manner he thinks fit, as being given up to him by his own Act and\nDeed; but in my Opinion there's no Divinity at all in that; for as in\nour Law we punish a _Felo de se_, or Self-murtherer, because, _as the\nLaw suggests_, he had no Right to dismiss his own Life; that he being a\nSubject of the Common-wealth, the Government claims the _Ward_ or\nCustody of him, and so 'twas not Murther only, but Robbery, and is a\nFelony against the State, robbing the King of his Liege-Man, as _'tis\njustly call'd_; so neither has any Man a Right to dispose of his Soul,\nwhich belongs to his Maker in Property and in Right of Creation: The Man\nthen having no Right to sell, Satan has no Right to buy, or at best he\nhas made a Purchase without a Title, and consequently has no just Claim\nto the Possession.\n\nIt is therefore a Mistake to say, that when any of us have been so mad\nto make such a pretended Contract with the Devil, that God gives him\nleave to take it as his Due; _'tis no such thing_; the _Devil_ has\nbought, what you had no Right to sell, and therefore, as an unlawful\nOath is to be repented of, and then broken; so your Business is to\nrepent of the Crime, and then tell the _Devil_, you have better\nconsider'd of it, and that you won't stand to your Bargain, for you had\nno Power to sell; and if he pretends to Violence after that, I am\nmistaken; I believe the _Devil_ knows better.\n\nIt is true, our old Mothers and Nurses have told us other Things, but\nthey only told us what their Mothers and Nurses told them, and so the\nTale has been handed down from one Generation of old Women to another;\nbut we have no Vouchers for the Fact other than Oral Tradition, the\nCredit of which, I confess, goes but a very little Way with me; nor do I\nbelieve it one Jot the more for all the frightful Addenda which they\ngenerally join to the Tale, for it never wants a great Variety of that\nKind.\n\nThus they tell us the Devil carried away Dr. _Faustus_ and took a Piece\nof the Wall of his Garden along with them: Thus at _Salisbury_ the\n_Devil_ as it is said, and publickly printed, carried away two Fellows\nthat had given themselves up to him, and carried away the Roof of the\nHouse with them, _and the like_; all which I believe my Share of;\nbesides, if these Stories were really true, they are all against the\nDevil's true Interest, _Satan_ must be a Fool, which is indeed what I\nnever took him to be in the Main; this would be the Way not to encrease\nthe Number of Desperadoes, who should thus put themselves into his Hand,\nbut to make himself a Terror to them; and this is one of the most\npowerful Objections I have against the Thing, for the Devil, I say, is\nno Fool, that must be acknowledg'd; he knows his own Game, and generally\nplays it sure.\n\nI might, before I quit this Point, seriously reflect here upon our _Beau\nmond_ (_viz._) the gay Part of Mankind, especially those of the Times we\nlive in, who walk about in a Composure and Tranquillity inexpressible,\nand yet as we all know, must certainly have all sold themselves to the\nDevil, for the Power of acting the foolishest Things with the greater\nApplause; it is true, to be a Fool is the most pleasant Life in the\nWorld, if the Fool has but the particular Felicity, which few Fools\nwant, (_viz._) to think themselves wise: The learned say, it is the\nDignity and Perfection of Fools, that they never fail trusting\nthemselves; they believe themselves sufficient and able for every Thing;\nand hence their want or waste of Brains is no Grievance to them, but\nthey hug themselves in the Satiety of their own Wit; but to bring other\nPeople to have the same Notion of them, which they have of themselves,\nand to have their apish and ridiculous Conduct make the same Impression\non the Minds of others, as it does on their own; this requires a general\nInfatuation, and must either be a Judgment from Heaven, or a Mist of\nHell; nothing but the Devil can make all the Men of Brains applaud a\nFool, and can any Man believe, that the Devil will do this for nothing?\nno, no, he will be well paid for it, and I know no other Way they have\nto compound with him, but this of Bargain and Sale.\n\n'Tis the same thing with Rakes and Bullies, as 'tis with Fools and\nBeaus; and this brings me to the Subject of _buying_ and _selling_ it\nself, and to examine what is understood by it in the World, what People\nmean by such and such a Man selling himself to the Devil: I know the\ncommon Acceptation of it is, that they make some Capitulation for some\nIndulgence in Wickedness, on Conditions of Safety and Impunity, which\nthe Devil promises them; tho' as I said above, he is a _Bite_ in that\ntoo, for he can't perform the Conditions; however, I say, he promises\nboldly, and they believe him, and for this Privilege in Wickedness, they\nconsent, that he shall come and fetch them for his own, at such or such\na Time.\n\nThis is the State of the Case in the general Acceptation of it; I do not\nsay 'tis really so, nay 'tis even an Inconsistency in it self; for one\nwould think, they need not capitulate with the Devil to be so, and so,\nsuperlatively wicked, and give him such a Price for it, seeing, unless\nwe have a wrong Notion of him, he is naturally enclin'd, as well as\navow'dly willing to have all Men be as superlatively wicked as possibly\nthey can, and must necessarily be always ready to issue out his Licenses\ngratis, as far as his Authority will go in the Case; and therefore I do\nnot see why the Wretches that deal with him, should article with him for\na Price; but suppose, for Argument sake, that it is so, then the next\nThing is, some capital Crime follows the Contract, and then the Wretch\nis forsaken, for the Devil cannot protect him, as he promised; so he is\n_Trust up_, and like _Coleman_ at the Gallows, he exclaims that _there\nis no Truth in_ Devils.\n\nIt may be true, however, that under the powerful Guard and Protection of\nthe Devil, Men do sometimes go a great Way in Crime, and that perhaps\nfarther in these our Days of boasted Morals than was known among our\nFathers; the only Difference that I meet with between the Sons of\n_Belial_ in former Days, and those of our Ages, seems to be in the\nDevil's Management, not in theirs; the Sum of which amounts to this,\nthat Satan seems to act with more Cunning, and they with less; for in\nthe former Ages of Satan's Dominion, he had much Business upon his\nHands, all his Art and Engines, and Engineers also, were kept fully\nemploy'd, to wheedle, allure, betray and circumvent People, and draw\nthem into Crimes, and they found him, as we may say, a full Employment;\nI doubt not, he was call'd the Tempter on that very Account; but the\nCase seems quite alter'd now, the Tables are turned; then the Devil\ntempted Men to sin, _But now, in short_, they tempt the Devil; Men push\ninto Crimes before he pushes them; they out shoot him in his own Bow,\nout run him on his own Ground, and, as we say of some hot Spurs who ride\nPost, they whip the Post-Boy; in a Word, the Devil seems to have no\nBusiness now but to sit still and look on.\n\nThis, I must confess, seems to intimate some secret Compact between the\nDevil and them; but then it looks, not as is they had contracted with\nthe Devil for leave to sin, but that the Devil had contracted with them,\nthat they should sin so and so, up to such a Degree, and that without\ngiving him the Trouble of daily Solicitation, private Management, and\nartful screwing up their Passions, their Affections and their most\nretir'd Faculties, as he was before oblig'd to do.\n\nThis also appears more agreeable to the Nature of the Thing; and as it\nis a most exquisite part of Satan's Cunning, so 'tis an undoubted\nTestimony of his Success; if it was not so, he could never bring his\nKingdom to such a height of absolute Power as he has done; this also\nsolves several Difficulties in the Affair of the World's present Way of\nsinning, which otherwise it would be very hard to understand; as\nparticularly how some eminent Men of Quality among us, whose upper Rooms\nare not extraordinary well furnished in other Cases, yet are so very\nwitty in their Wickedness, that they gather Admirers by hundreds and\nthousands; who, however heavy, lumpish, slow and backward, even by\nNature, and in force of Constitution in better things, yet in their Race\nDevil-wards they are of a sudden grown nimble, light of Foot, and outrun\nall their Neighbours; Fellows that are as empty of Sense as Beggars are\nof Honesty, and as far from Brains as a Whore is of Modesty; on a sudden\nyou shall find them dip into _Polemicks_, study _Michael Servetus_,\n_Socinus_, and the most learned of their Disciples; they shall reason\nagainst all Religion, as strongly as a Philosopher; blaspheme with such\na Keenness of Wit, and satyrise God and Eternity, with such a Brightness\nof Fancy, as if the soul of a _Rochester_ or a _Hobbs_ was\ntransmigrated into them; in a little length of Time more they banter\nHeaven, burlesque the Trinity, and jest with every sacred thing, and all\nso sharp, so ready, and so terribly witty, as if they were born\nBuffoons, and were singl'd out by Nature to be Champions for the Devil.\n\nWhence can all this come? how is the Change wrought? who but the Devil\ncan inject Wit in Spight of natural Dullness, create Brains, fill empty\nHeads, and supply the Vacuities in the Understanding? and will Satan do\nall this for nothing? _No, no_, he is too wise for that; I can never\ndoubt a secret Compact, if there is such a thing in Nature; when I see a\nHead where there was no Head, Sense in _Posse_ where there is no Sense\nin _Esse_, Wit without Brains, and Sight without Eyes, 'tis all\n_Devil-Work_: Could _G----_ write Satyrs, that could neither read\n_Latin_ or spell _English_, like old Sir _William Read_, who wrote a\nBook of Opticks, which when it was printed, he did not know which was\nthe right Side uppermost, and which the wrong? Could this eminent\nuninform'd Beau turn Atheist, and make wise Speeches against that Being,\nwhich made him a Fool, if the Devil had not sold him some Wit in\nexchange for that Trifle of his, call'd Soul? Had he not barter'd his\nInside with that Son of the Morning, to have his Tongue tip'd with\nBlasphemy, he that knew nothing of a God, but only to swear by him,\ncould never have set up for a Wit, to burlesque his Providence and\nridicule his Government of the World.\n\nBut the Devil, as he is God of the World, has one particular Advantage,\nand that is, that when he has Work to do he very seldom wants\nInstruments; with this Circumstance also, that the Degeneracy of human\nNature supplies him; as the late King of _France_ said of himself, when\nthey told him what a Calamity was like to befal his Kingdom by the\nFamine: _Well_, says the King, then I shall not want Soldiers; _and it\nwas so_, want of Bread supplied his Army with Recruits; so want of Grace\nsupplied the _Devil_ with Reprobates for his Work.\n\nAnother Reason why, I think, the _Devil_ has made more Bargains of that\nKind we speak of, in this Age, is, because he seems to have laid by his\nCloven-Foot; all his old Emissaries, the Tools of his Trade, the\nEngineers which he employ'd in his Mines, such as Witches, Warlocks,\nMagicians, Conjurers, Astrologers, and all the hellish Train or Rabble\nof human _Devils_, who did his Drudgery in former Days, seem to be out\nof Work: I shall give you a fuller Enumeration of them in the next\nChapter.\n\nThese, I say, seem to be laid aside; not that his Work is abated, or\nthat his Business with Mankind, for their Delusion and Destruction is\nnot the same, or perhaps more than ever; but the _Devil_ seems to have\nchang'd Hands; the Temper and Genius of Mankind is alter'd, and they are\nnot to be taken by Fright and Horror, as they were then: The Figures of\nthose Creatures was always dismal and horrible, and that is it which I\nmean by the _Cloven-Foot_; but now Wit, Beauty and gay Things, are the\nSum of his Craft, he manages by the Soft and the Smooth, the Fair and\nthe Artful, the Kind and the Cunning, not by the Frightful and Terrible,\nthe Ugly and the Odious.\n\n  When the _Devil_ for weighty Dispatches,\n    Wanted Messengers cunning and bold,\n  He pass'd by the beautiful Faces,\n    And pick'd out the _Ugly_ and _Old_.\n\n  Of these he made _Warlocks_ and _Witches_,\n    To run of his Errands by Night,\n  Till the over wrought Hag-ridden Wretches,\n    Were as fit as the _Devil_, to fright.\n\n  But whoever has been his Adviser,\n    As his Kingdom encreases in Growth;\n  He now takes his Measures much wiser,\n    And Trafficks with Beauty and Youth.\n\n  Disguis'd in the Wanton and Witty,\n    He haunts both the Church and the Court,\n  And sometimes he visits the City,\n    Where all the best Christians resort.\n\n  Thus dress'd up in full Masquerade,\n    He the bolder can range up and down,\n  For he better can drive on his Trade,\n    In any one's Name than his own.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. IX.\n\n_Of the Tools the_ Devil _works with,_ (viz.) _Witches, Wizards or\n     Warlocks, Conjurers, Magicians, Divines, Astrologers, Interpreters\n     of Dreams, Tellers of Fortunes; and above all the rest, his\n     particular modern Privy-Counsellors call'd Wits and Fools._\n\n\nTho', as I have advanc'd in the foregoing Chapter, the _Devil_ has very\nmuch chang'd Hands in his modern Management of the World, and that\ninstead of the Rabble and long Train of Implements reckoned up above, he\nnow walks about in Beaus, Beauties, Wits and Fools; yet I must not omit\nto tell you that he has not dismiss'd his former Regiments, but like\nOfficers in Time of Peace, he keeps them all in half Pay, or like\nExtraordinary Men at the Custom-House, they are kept at a Call, to be\nready to fill up Vacancies, or to employ when he is more than ordinarily\nfull of Business; and therefore it may not be amiss to give some brief\nAccount of them, from Satan's own Memoirs, their Performance being no\ninconsiderable Part of his History.\n\nNor will it be an unprofitable Digression to go back a little to the\nprimitive Institution of all these _Orders_, for they are very antient,\nand I assure you, it requires great Knowledge of Antiquity, to give a\nParticular of their Original; I shall be very brief in it.\n\nIn order then to this Enquiry, you must know that it was not for want of\nServants, that Satan took this Sort of People into his Pay; he had, as I\nhave observ'd in its Place, Millions of diligent _Devils_ at his Call,\nwhatever Business, and however difficult, he had for them to do; but as\nI have said above, that our modern People are forwarder than even the\n_Devil_ himself can desire them to be; and that they come before they\nare call'd, run before they are sent, and crowd themselves into his\nService; so it seems it was in those early Days, when the World was one\nuniversal Monarchy under his Dominion, as I have at large describ'd in\nits Place.\n\nIn those Days the Wickedness of the World keeping a just Pace with their\nIgnorance, this inferior Sort of low priz'd Instruments did the\n_Devil_'s work mighty well; they drudg'd on in his Black-Art so\nlaboriously, and with such good Success, that he found it was better to\nemploy them as Tools to delude and draw in Mankind, than to send his\ninvisible Implements about, and oblige them to take such Shapes and\nDresses as were necessary upon every trifling Occasion; which, perhaps,\nwas more Cost than Worship, more Pains than Pay.\n\nHaving then a Set of these Voluntiers in his Service, the true _Devil_\nhad nothing to do but to keep an exact Correspondence with them, and\ncommunicate some needful Powers to them, to make them be and do\nsomething extraordinary, and give them a Reputation in their Business;\nand these, in a Word, did a great Part of, nay almost all the _Devil_'s\nBusiness in the World.\n\nTo this Purpose gave he them Power, if we may believe old _Glanville_,\n_Baxter_, _Hicks_, and other learn'd Consultors of Oracles, to walk\ninvisible, to fly in the Air, ride upon Broom-sticks, and other Wooden\nGear, to interpret Dreams, answer Questions, betray Secrets, to talk\n(Gibberish) the universal Language, to raise Storms, sell Winds, bring\nup Spirits, disturb the Dead, and torment the Living, with a thousand\nother needful Tricks to amuse the World, keep themselves in Veneration,\nand carry on the _Devil_'s Empire in the World.\n\nThe first Nations among whom these infernal Practices were found, were\nthe _Chaldeans_; and that I may do Justice in earnest, as well as in\njest, it must be allow'd that the _Chaldeans_, or those of them so\ncall'd, were not Conjurers or Magicians, only Philosophers and Studiers\nof Nature, wise, sober and studious Men at first, and we have an\nextraordinary Account of them; and if we may believe some of our best\nWriters of Fame, _Abraham_ was himself famous among them for such\nMagick, as Sir _Walter Raleigh_ expresses it, _Qui Contemplatione\nCreaturarum Cognovit Creatorem_.\n\nNow granting this, it is all to my Purpose, namely, that the Devil drew\nthese wise Men in, to search after more Knowledge than Nature could\ninstruct them in; and the Knowledge of the true God being at that Time\nsunk very low, he debauch'd them all with Dreams, Apparitions,\nConjurers, _&c._ till he ruin'd the just Notions they had, and made\n_Devils_ of them all, like himself.\n\nThe learned _Senensis_, speaking of this _Chaldean_ Kind of Learning,\ngives us an Account of five Sorts of them; you will pardon me for being\nso grave as to go this Length back.\n\n     1. _Chascedin_ or _Chaldeans_, properly so call'd, being\n     Astronomers.\n\n     2. _Asaphim_ or _Magicians_, such was _Zoroastres_ and _Balaam_ the\n     Son of _Beor_.\n\n     3. _Chatumim_ or Interpreters of Dreams and hard Speeches,\n     Inchanters, _&c._\n\n     4. _Mecasphim_ or Witches, call'd at first Prophets, afterwards\n     _Malefici_ or _Venefici_, Poisoners.\n\n     5. _Gazarim_ or _Auruspices_, and Diviners, such as divin'd by the\n     Entrails of Beasts, the Liver in particular; mention'd in _Ezek._\n     or as others, call'd Augurs.\n\n\nNow, as to all these, I suppose, I may do them no wrong, if I say,\nhowever justifiable they were in the Beginning, the _Devil_ got them all\ninto his Service at last, and that brings me to my Text again, from\nwhich the rest was a Digression.\n\n     1. The _Chascedin_ or _Chaldean_ Astronomers turned Astrologers,\n     Fortune-Tellers, Calculators of Nativities, and vile Deluders of\n     the People, as if the Wisdom of the holy God was in them, as\n     _Nebuchadnezzar_ said of _Daniel_ on that very Account.\n\n     2. The _Asaphim_ or Magi, or Magicians; _Sixtus Senensis_ says,\n     they were such as wrought by Covenants with Devils, but turn'd to\n     it from their Wisdom, which was to study the practical Part of\n     Natural Philosophy, working admirable Effects by the mutual\n     Application of Natural Causes.\n\n     3. The _Chartumim_ from being Reasoners or Disputers upon difficult\n     Points in Philosophy, became Enchanters and Conjurers. So,\n\n     4. The _Mecasphim_ or Prophets, they turn'd to be Sorcerers,\n     Raisers of Spirits, such as wounded by an evil Eye, and by bitter\n     Curses, and were afterwards fam'd for having familiar Converse with\n     the _Devil_, and were called Witches.\n\n     5. The _Gazarim_, from the bare observing of the good and bad\n     Omens, by the Entrails of Beasts, flying of Birds, _&c._ were\n     turn'd to Sacrists or Priests of the Heathen Idols and Sacrificers.\n\n\nThus, I say, first or last the _Devil_ engross'd all the Wise-Men of the\nEast, for so they are call'd; made them all his own, and by them he\nwork'd Wonders, that is, he fill'd the World with lying Wonders, as if\nwrought by these Men, when indeed it was all his own, from Beginning to\nthe End, and set on Foot meerly to propagate Delusion, impose upon\nblinded and ignorant Men; the God of this World blinded their Minds, and\nthey were led away by the Subtilty of the _Devil_, to say no worse of\nit, till they became _Devils_ themselves, as to Mankind; for they\ncarried on the Devil's Work upon all Occasions, and the Race of them\nstill continue in other Nations, and some of them among our selves, as\nwe shall see presently.\n\nThe _Arabians_ follow'd the _Chaldeans_ in this Study, while it was kept\nwithin its due Bounds, and after them the _Egyptians_; and among the\nLatter we find that _Jannes_ and _Jambres_ were famous for their leading\n_Pharaoh_ by their pretended magic Performances, to reject the real\nMiracles of _Moses_; and History tells us of strange Pranks the\nWise-Men, the Magicians and the Southsayers plaid to delude the People\nin the most early Ages of the World.\n\nBut, as I say, now, the _Devil_ has improv'd himself, so he did then;\nfor the _Grecian_ and _Roman_ Heathen Rites coming on, they outdid all\nthe Magicians and Southsayers, by establishing the _Devil_'s lying\nOracles, which, as a Master-Piece of Hell, did the _Devil_ more Honour,\nand brought more Homage to him, than ever he had before, or could arrive\nto since.\n\nAgain, as by the setting up the Oracles, all the Magicians and\nSouthsayers grew out of Credit; so at the ceasing of those Oracles, the\n_Devil_ was fain to go back to the old Game again, and take up with the\nAgency of Witches, Divinations, Inchantments and Conjurings, as I hinted\nbefore, answerable to the four Sorts mention'd in the Story of\n_Nebuchadnezzar_, (viz.) _Magicians_, _Astrologers_, the _Chaldeans_ and\nthe _Southsayers_: How these began to be out of Request, I have\nmention'd already; but as the _Devil_ has not quite given them over,\nonly laid them aside a little for the present, we may venture to ask\nwhat they were, and what Use he made of them when he did employ them.\n\nThe Truth is, I think, as it was a very mean Employment for any thing\nthat wears a human Countenance to take up, so I must acknowledge, I\nthink, 'twas a mean low priz'd Business for _Satan_ to take up with;\nbelow the very _Devil_; below his Dignity as an Angelic, tho' condemn'd\nCreature; below him even as a _Devil_; to go to talk to a parcel of\nugly, deform'd, spiteful, malicious old Women; to give them Power to do\nMischief, who never had a Will, after they enter'd into the State of\n_old Woman-Hood_, to do any thing else: Why the _Devil_ always chose the\nugliest old Women he could find; whether _Wizardism_ made them ugly,\nthat were not so before, and whether the Ugliness, as it was a Beauty in\nWitchcraft, did not encrease according to the meritorious Performance in\nthe Black-Trade? These are all Questions of Moment to be decided, (if\nhuman Learning can arrive to so much Perfection) in Ages to come.\n\nSome say the evil Eye and the wicked Look were Parts of the Enchantment,\nand that the Witches, when they were in the height of their Business,\nhad a powerful Influence with both; that by looking upon any Person they\ncould bewitch them, and make the _Devil_, _as the Scots express it_,\nride through them booted and spurr'd; and that hence came that very\nsignificant Saying, _to look like a Witch_.\n\nThe strange Work which the _Devil_ has made in the World, by this Sort\nof his Agents call'd Witches, is such, and so extravagantly wild, that\nexcept our Hope that most of those Tales happen not to be true, I know\nnot how any one could be easy to live near a Widow after she was five\nand fifty.\n\nAll the other Sorts of Emissaries which Satan employs, come short of\nthese Ghosts; and Apparitions sometimes come and shew themselves, on\nparticular Accounts, and some of those Particulars respect doing\nJustice, repairing Wrongs, preventing Mischief; sometimes in Matters\nvery considerable, and on Things so necessary to publick Benefit, that\nwe are tempted to believe they proceed from some vigilant Spirit who\nwishes us well; but on the other Hand, these Witches are never concern'd\nin any thing but Mischief; nay, if what they do portends good to one, it\nissues in hurt to many; the whole Tenour of their Life, their Design in\ngeneral, is to do Mischief, and they are only employ'd in Mischief, and\nnothing else: How far they are furnish'd with Ability suitable to the\nhorrid Will they are vested with, remains to be describ'd.\n\nThese Witches, 'tis said, are furnish'd with Power suitable to the\nOccasion that is before them, and particularly that which deserves to be\nconsider'd, as Prediction, and foretelling Events, which I insist the\nAuthor of Witchcraft is not accomplish'd with himself, nor can he\ncommunicate it to any other: How then _Witches_ come to be able to\nforetel Things to come, which, 'tis said, the _Devil_ himself cannot\nknow, and which, as I have shewn, 'tis evident he does not know himself,\nis yet to be determin'd; that Witches do foretel, is certain, from the\nWitch of _Endor_, who foretold Things to _Saul_, which he knew not\nbefore, namely, that he should be slain in Battle the next Day, which\naccordingly came to pass.\n\nThere are, however, and notwithstanding this particular Case, many\nInstances wherein the _Devil_ has not been able to foretel approaching\nEvents, and that in Things of the utmost Consequence, and he has given\ncertain foolish or false Answers in such Cases; the DEVIL's Priests,\nwhich were summon'd in by the Prophet _Elija_, to decide the Dispute\nbetween God and _Baal_, had the _Devil_ been able to have inform'd them\nof it, would certainly have receiv'd Notice from him, of what was\nintended against them by _Elija_; that is to say, that they would be all\ncut in pieces; for Satan was not such a Fool as not to know that _Baal_\nwas a Non-Entity, a Nothing, at best a dead Man, perish'd and rotting in\nhis Grave; for _Baal_ was _Bell_ or _Belus_, an ancient King of the\n_Assyrian_ Monarchy, and he could no more answer by Fire to consume the\nSacrifice, than he could raise himself from the dead.\n\nBut the Priests of _Baal_ were left of their Master to their just Fate,\nnamely, to be a Sacrifice to the Fury of a deluded People; hence I infer\nhis Inability, for it would have been very unkind and ungrateful in him\nnot to have answer'd them, if he had been able. There is another\nArgument raised here most justly against the _Devil_, with Relation to\nhis being under Restraint, and that of greater Eminence than we imagine,\nand it is drawn from this very Passage, thus; 'tis not to be doubted but\nthat _Satan_, who has much of the Element put into his Hands, as Prince\nof the Air, had a Power, or was able potentially speaking, to have\nanswer'd _Baal_'s Priests by Fire; Fire being in Vertue of his airy\nPrincipality a Part of his Dominion; but he was certainly _withheld_ by\nthe Superior Hand, which gave him that Dominion, I mean _withheld_ for\nthe Occasion only: So in another Case, it was plain that _Balaam_, who\nwas one of those Sorts of _Chaldeans_ mention'd above, who dealt in\n_Divinations_ and _Inchantments_, was withheld from cursing Israel.\n\nSome are of Opinion that _Balaam_ was not a Witch or a Dealer with the\n_Devil_ because 'tis said of him, or rather he says it of himself, that\nhe saw the Visions of God, _Numb._ xxiv. 16. _He hath said_, who _heard\nthe Words of_ GOD, _and knew the Knowledge of the most High, which saw\nthe Visions of the Almighty, falling into a_ TRANCE, _but having his\nEyes open_: Hence they alledge he was one of those Magi, which St.\n_Augustin_ speaks of, _de Divinatione_, who by the Study of Nature, and\nby the Contemplation of created Beings came to the Knowledge of the\nCreature; and that _Balaam_'s Fault was, that being tempted by the\nRewards and Honours that the King promised him, he intended to have\ncurs'd _Israel_; but when his Eyes were open'd, and that he saw they\nwere God's own People, he durst not do it; they will have it therefore,\nthat except, _as above_, _Balaam_ was a good Man, or at least that he\nhad the Knowledge of the true God, and the Fear of that God upon him,\nand that he honestly declares this, _Numb._ xxii. 18. _If_ Balak _would\ngive me his House full of Silver and Gold, I cannot go beyond the Word\nof the Lord_ MY GOD: Where tho' he is call'd a false Prophet by some, he\nevidently owns God, and assumes a Property in him, as other Prophets\ndid; MY GOD, and I cannot go beyond his Orders; but that which gives me\na better Opinion of _Balaam_ than all this is, his plain Prophesy of\nChrist, Chap. xxiv. 17. where he calls him the Star of _Jacob_, and\ndeclares, _I shall see him, but not now, I shall behold him, but not\nnigh; there shall come a Star out of_ Jacob, _and a Scepter shall rise\nout of_ Israel, _and shall smite the Corners of_ Moab, _and destroy all\nthe Children of_ Seth, all which express not a Knowledge only, but a\nFaith in Christ; but I have done preaching, this is all by the by, I\nreturn to my Business, which is the History.\n\nThere is another Piece of dark Practice here, which lies between Satan\nand his particular Agents, and which they must give us an Answer to,\nwhen they can, which I think will not be in haste; and that is about the\nobsequious _Devil_ submitting to be call'd up into Visibility, whenever\nan old Woman has her Hand cross'd with a white Six-pence, _as they Call\nit_: One would think that instead of these vile Things call'd Witches,\nbeing sold to the _Devil_, the _Devil_ was really sold for a Slave to\nthem; for how far soever Satan's Residence is off of this State of Life,\nthey have Power, it seems, to fetch him from home, and oblige him to\ncome at their Call.\n\nI can give little Account of this, only that indeed so it is; nor is the\nThing so strange in its self, as the Methods to do it are mean, foolish,\nand ridiculous; as making a Circle and dancing in it, pronouncing such\nand such Words, saying the Lord's Prayer backward, and the like; now is\nthis agreeable to the Dignity of the Prince of the Air or Atmosphere,\nthat he should be commanded forth with no more Pomp or Ceremony than\nthat of muttering a few Words, such as the old Witches and he agree\nabout? or is there something else in it, which none of us or themselves\nunderstand?\n\nPerhaps, indeed, he is always with those People call'd Witches and\nConjurers, or at least some of his _Camp Volant_ are always present, and\nso upon the least call of the Wizard, it is but putting off the misty\nCloak and showing themselves.\n\nThen we have a Piece of mock Pageantry in bringing those Things call'd\nwitches or Conjurers to Justice, that is, first to know if a Woman be a\nWitch, throw her into a Pond, and if she be a Witch, she will swim, and\nit is not in her own Power to prevent it; if she does all she can to\nsink her self, it will not do, she will swim like a Cork. Then that a\nRope will not hang a Witch, but you must get a With, a green Osyer; that\nif you nail a Horse-Shoe on the Sill of the Door, she cannot come into\nthe House, or go out, if she be in; these and a thousand more, too\nsimple to be believ'd, are yet so vouch'd, so taken for granted, and so\nuniversally receiv'd for Truth, that there is no resisting them without\nbeing thought atheistical.\n\nWhat Methods to take to know, who are _Witches_, I really know not; but\non the other Side, I think there are variety of Methods to be used to\nknow who are not; _W--- G---_, Esq; is a Man of Fame, his Parts are\ngreat, because his Estate is so; he has threescore and eight Lines of\n_Virgil_ by rote, and they take up many of the Intervals of his merry\nDiscourses; he has just as many witty Stories to please Society; when\nthey are well told, _once over_, he begins again, and so he lives in a\nround of Wit and Learning; he is a Man of great Simplicity and\nSincerity; you must be careful not to mistake my Meaning, as to the Word\nSimplicity; some take it to mean Honesty, and so do I, only that it has\na Negative attending it, in his particular Case; in a Word, _W----\nG----_ is an honest Man, and no _Conjurer_; a good Character, I think,\nand without Impeachment to his Understanding, he may be a Man of Worth\nfor all that; take the other Sex, there is the Lady _H----_ is another\nDiscovery; bless us! what Charms in that Face! How bright those Eyes!\nHow flowing white her Breasts! How sweet her Voice? add to all, how\nheavenly, divinely good her Temper! How inimitable her Behaviour! How\nspotless her Virtue! How perfect her Innocence! and to sum up her\nCharacter, we may add, the Lady _H----_ is no _Witch_; sure none of our\nBeau Critics will be so unkind now as to censure me in those honest\nDescriptions, as if I meant that my good Friend _W---- G----_ Esq; or my\nador'd Angel, the bright, the charming Lady _H----_ were Fools; but what\nwill not those Savages, call'd Critics, do, whose barbarous Nature\nenclines them to trample on the brightest Characters, and to cavil on\nthe clearest Expressions?\n\nIt might be expected of me, however, in justice to my Friends, and to\nthe bright Characters of abundance of Gentlemen of this Age, who, by the\nDepth of their Politics, and the Height of their Elevations might be\nsuspected, and might give us Room to charge them with Subterranean\nIntelligence; I say, it might be expected that I should clear up their\nFame, and assure the World concerning them, even by Name, that they are\nno _Conjurers_, that they do not deal with the _Devil_, at least, not by\nthe Way Witchcraft and Divination, such as Sir _T---k_, _E--- B---_,\nEsq; my Lord _Homily_, Coll. _Swagger_, _Jeoffry Well with_, Esq; Capt.\n_Harry Go Deeper_, Mr. _Wellcome Woollen_, Citizen and Merchant Taylor\nof _London_, _Henry Cadaver_, Esq; the D---- of _Caerfilly_, the\nMarquess of _Sillyhoo_, Sir _Edward Thro' and Thro'_ Bart. and a World\nof fine Gentlemen more, whose great Heads and Weighty Understandings\nhave given the World such Occasion to challenge them with being at least\ndescended from the _Magi_, and perhaps engaged with old Satan in his\nPolitics and Experiments; but I, that have such good Intelligence among\n_Satan_'s Ministers of State, as is necessary to the present\nUndertaking, am thereby well able to clear up their Characters: and I\ndoubt not, but they will value themselves upon it, and acknowledge\ntheir Obligation to me, for letting the World know the _Devil_ does not\npretend to have had any Business with them, or to have enroll'd them in\nthe List of his Operators; _in a Word_, that none of them are\n_Conjurers_: Upon which Testimony of mine, I expect they be no longer\ncharg'd with, or so much as suspected of having an unlawful Quantity of\nWit, or having any Sorts of it about them, that are contraband or\nprohibited, but that for the future they pass unmolested, and be taken\nfor nothing but what they are, (_viz._) very honest worthy Gentlemen.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. X.\n\n_Of the various Methods the Devil takes to converse with Mankind._\n\n\nHaving spoken something of Persons, and particularly of such as the\n_Devil_ thinks fit to employ in his Affairs in the World, it comes next\nof course to say something of the Manner how he communicates his Mind to\nthem, and by them to the rest of his Acquaintance in the World.\n\nI take the _Devil_ to be under great Difficulties in his Affairs on his\nPart, especially occasion'd by the Bounds which are set him, or which\nPolicys oblige him to set to himself, in his Access to the conversing\nwith Mankind; 'tis evident he is not permitted to fall upon them with\nForce and Arms, that is to say, to muster up his infernal Troops, and\nattack them with Fire and Sword; if he was not loose to act in this\nManner as he was able, by his own seraphic Power to have destroy'd the\nwhole Race, and even the Earth they dwelt upon, so he would certainly,\nand long ago have effectually done it; his particular Interests and\nInclinations are well enough known.\n\nBut in the next Place, as he is thus restrain'd from Violence, so\nPrudentials restrain him in all his other Actings with Mankind; and\nbeing confin'd to Stratagem, and soft still Methods, such as Persuasion,\nAllurement, feeding the Appetite, prompting, and then gratifying corrupt\nDesires, and the like; he finds it for his Purpose not to appear in\nPerson, except very rarely, and then in Disguise; but to act all the\nrest in the Dark, under the Vizor of Art and Craft, making Use of\nPersons and Methods conceal'd, or at least not fully understood or\ndiscover'd.\n\nAs to the Persons whom he employs, I have taken some Pains you see to\ndiscover some of them; but the Methods he uses with them, either to\ninform and instruct, and give Orders to them, or to converse with other\nPeople by them, these are very particular, and deserve some Place in our\nMemoirs, particularly as they may serve to remove some of our Mistakes,\nand to take off some of the frightful Ideas we are apt to entertain in\nPrejudice of this great Manager; as if he was no more to be match'd in\nhis Politics, than he would be to be match'd in his Power, if it was let\nloose; which is so much a Mistake, that on the contrary, we read of\nseveral People that have abused and cheated the _Devil_, a Thing, which\nI cannot say, is very honest nor just, notwithstanding the old Latin\nProverb, _Fallere fallentem non est fraus_, (which Men construe, or\nrather render, by way of Banter Upon Satan) 'tis no Sin to cheat the\n_Devil_, which for all that, upon the whole I deny, and alledge, that\nlet the _Devil_ act how he will by us, we ought to deal fairly by him.\n\nBut to come to the Business, without Circumlocutions; I am to enquire\nhow Satan issues out his Orders, gives his Instructions and fully\ndelivers his Mind to his Emissaries, of whom I have mention'd some in\nthe Title to Chap. IX. In order to this, you must form an Idea of the\n_Devil_ sitting in great State, in open Campaign, with all his Legions\nabout him, in the height of the Atmosphere; or if you will, at a certain\nDistance from the Atmosphere, and above it, that the Plan of his\nEncampment might not be hurried round its own Axis, with the Earth's\ndiurnal Motion, which might be some Disturbance to him.\n\nBy this fix'd Situation, the Earth performing its Rotation, he has every\nPart and Parcel of it brought to a direct Opposition to him, and\nconsequently to his View once in twenty four Hours: The last time I was\nthere, if I remember right, he had this Quarter of the World, which we\ncall Christendom, just under his Eye; and as the Motion is not so swift,\nbut that his piercing Opticks can take a strict View of it _en passant_;\nfor the Circumference of it being but twenty one thousand Miles, and its\ncircular Motion being full twenty four Hours performing, he has\nsomething more than an Hour to view every thousand Miles, which, to his\nsupernatural Penetration, is not worth naming.\n\nAs he takes thus a daily View of all the Circle, and an hourly View of\nthe Parts, he is fully Master of all Transactions, at least such as are\ndone above Board by all Mankind; and then he dispatches his Emissaries\nor _Aid du Camps_ to every Part with his Orders and Instructions: Now\nthese Emissaries, you are to understand, are not the _Witches_ and\n_Diviners_, who I spoke of above, for I call them also Emissaries; but\nthey are all _Devils_ or (as you know they are call'd) _Devil_'s Angels;\nand these may, perhaps, come and converse personally with the\nSub-emissaries I mention'd, to be ready for their Support and Assistance\non all Occasions of Business: These are those _Devils_ which the Witches\nare said to raise; for we can hardly suppose the Master _Devil_ comes\nhimself, at the Summons of every ugly old Woman.\n\nThese run about into every Nook and Corner, wherever Satan's Business\ncalls them, and are never wanting to him; but are the most diligent\n_Devils_ imaginable; like the _Turkish Chaiux_, they no sooner receive\ntheir Errand, but they execute it with the utmost Alacrity; and as to\ntheir Speed, it may be truly written as a Motto, upon the Head of every\nindividual _Devil_,\n\n  _Non indiget calcaribus._\n\n\nThese are those, who they tell us our Witches, Sorcerers, Wizards, and\nsuch Sorts of Folks converse freely with, and are therefore call'd their\n_Familiars_; and as they tell us, come to them in human Shapes, talk to\nthem with articulate plain Voices, as if Men, and that yet the said\nWitches, _&c._ know them to be _Devils_.\n\nHistory has not yet enlighten'd us in this Part of useful Knowledge, or\nat least not sufficiently for a Description of the Persons or Habits of\nthese Sorts of Appearances; as what Shapes they take up, what Language\nthey speak, and what particular Works they perform, so we must refer it\nto farther Enquiry; but if we may credit History, we are told many\nfamous Stories of these Appearances; for Example, the famous Mother\n_Lakland_, who was burnt for a Witch at _Ipswich_, _Anno_ 1646,\nconfessed at the Time of her Execution, or a little before it, that she\nhad frequent Conversation with the _Devil_ himself; that she being very\npoor, and withal of a devilish passionate, cruel and revengeful\nDisposition before, used to wish she had it in her Power to do such and\nsuch mischievous Things to some that she hated; and that the _Devil_\nhimself, who, it seems, knew her Temper, came to her one Night as she\nlay in her Bed, and was between sleeping and waking, and speaking in a\ndeep hollow Voice, told her; if she would serve him in some Things he\nwould employ her to do, she should have her Will of all her Enemies, and\nshould want for nothing: That she was much afraid at first, but that he\nsolliciting her very often, bad her not be afraid of him, and still\nurg'd her to yield, and as she says, struck his Claw into her Hand, and\ntho' it did not hurt her, made it bleed, and with the Blood wrote the\nCovenants, that is to say, the Bargain between them: being ask'd what\nwas in them, and whether he requir'd her to curse or deny God or Christ?\nShe said no.\n\n     N. B. I do not find she told them whether the _Devil_ wrote it with\n        a Pen, or whether on Paper or Parchment, nor whether she sign'd it\n        or no, but it seems he carry'd it away with him. I suppose, if\n        Satan's Register were examin'd, it might be found among the\n        Archives of Hell, the Rolls of his _acta Publica_; and when his\n        Historiographer Royal publishes them, we may look for it among\n        them.\n\n\nThen he furnish'd her with three _Devils_, to wait upon her (I suppose)\nfor she confess'd they were to be employ'd in her Service; they attended\nin the Shapes of two little Dogs and a Mole: The first she bewitch'd\nwas her own Husband, by which he lay a while in great Misery and died;\nthen she sent to one Captain _Beal_ and burnt a new Ship of his just\nbuilt, which had never been at Sea; these and many other horrid Things\nshe did and confess'd, and having been twenty Years a Witch, at last the\n_Devil_ left her, and she was burnt as she deserv'd.\n\nThat some extraordinary Occasions may bring these Agents of the _Devil_,\nnay, sometimes the _Devil_ himself, to assume human Shapes, and appear\nto other People we cannot doubt; he did thus in the Case of our Saviour\n_as a Tempter_, and some think he did so to _Manasses_ as a Familiar,\nwho the Scripture charges with Sorcery, and having a Familiar or Devil;\nFame tells us that St. _Dunstan_ frequently converst with him, and\nfinally, took him by the Nose; and so of others.\n\nBut in these modern Ages of the World, he finds it much more to his\nPurpose to work under Ground as I have observ'd, and to keep upon the\nReserve; so that we have no authentick Accounts of his personal\nAppearance, but what are very antient or very remote from our Faith, as\nwell as our Enquiry.\n\nIt seems to be a Question that would bear some debating, whether all\nApparitions are not _Devils_ or from the _Devil_; but there being so\nmany of those Apparitions which we call Spirits, which really assume\nShapes and make Appearances in the World, upon such Accounts as we know\n_Satan_ himself scorns to be employ'd in, that I must dismiss the\nQuestion in favour of the _Devil_; assuring them, that as he never\nwillingly did any good in his Life, so he would be far from giving\nhimself the Trouble of setting one Foot into the World, on such an\nErrand; and for that Reason we maybe assur'd those certain Apparitions,\nwhich we are told came to detect a Murther in _Gloucestershire_, and\nothers who appear'd to prevent the ruining an Orphan for want of finding\na Deed, that was not lost, was certainly some other Power equally\nconcern'd, and not the _Devil_.\n\nOn the other Hand, neither will it follow that _Satan_ never appears in\nhuman Shape; for tho' every Apparition may not be the _Devil_, yet it\ndoes not follow that the _Devil_ never makes an Apparition: All I shall\nsay to it is, as I have mention'd before, that generally speaking, the\n_Devil_ finds it more for his Purpose, to have his Interest in the World\npropagated another Way; namely, in private, and his personal Appearances\nare reserv'd for Things only of extraordinary Consequence, and, as I may\nsay, of evident Necessity, where his Honour is concern'd, and where his\nInterest could be carried on no other Way; not forgetting to take Notice\nthat this is very seldom.\n\nIt remains to enquire, what then those Things are which we make so much\nstir about, and which are call'd _Apparitions_, or Spirits assuming\nhuman Shapes, and shewing themselves to People on particular Occasions?\nwhether they are evil Spirits or good? and tho', indeed, this is out of\nmy Way at this Time, and does not relate at all to the _Devil_'s\nHistory, yet I thought it not amiss to mention it; (1.) Because, as I\nhave said, I do not wholly exclude Satan from all Concern in such\nThings; and (2.) Because I shall dismiss the Question with so very short\nan Answer, namely, that we may determine which are and which are not the\n_Devil_'s, by the Errand they come upon; every one to his own Business;\nif it comes of a good Errand, you may certainly acquit the _Devil_ of\nit, conclude him innocent, and that he has no hand in it; if it comes of\na wicked and devilish Errand, you may e'en take him up upon Suspicion,\n'tis ten to one but you find him at the Bottom of it.\n\nNext to Apparitions, we find Mankind disturb'd by abundance of little\nodd reserv'd Ways which the _Devil_ is shrewdly suspected of having a\nHand in, such as _Dreams_, _Noises_, _Voices_, &c. smells of Brimstone,\nCandles burning blue, and the like.\n\nAs to Dreams, I have nothing to say in Satan's Prejudice at all there; I\nmake no Question but he deals very much in that Kind of Intelligence,\nand why should he not? we know _Heaven_ it self formerly converst very\noften with the greatest of Men, by the same Method, and the _Devil_ is\nknown to mimick the Methods, as well as the Actions of his Maker;\nwhether Heaven has not quite left off that Way of working, we are not\ncertain; but we pretty well know the _Devil_ has not left it, and I\nbelieve some Instances may be given where his Worship has been really\nseen and talk'd to in sleep, as much as if the Person had been awake\nwith his Eyes open.\n\nThese are to be distinguish'd too, pretty much by the Goodness or\nBadness of the Subject; how often have Men committed Murther, Robbery\nand Adultery in a Dream, and at the same time except an extraordinary\nAgitation of the Soul, and express'd by extraordinary Noises in the\nSleep, by violent Sweating and other such Ways, the Head has never been\nremov'd from the Pillow, or the Body so much as turn'd in the Bed?\n\nWhether in such Cases, the Soul with all the Passions and Affections\nbeing agitated, and giving their full assent to the Facts, of whatever\nKind soever, the Man is not as guilty as if the Sins so dream'd of his\ncommitting, had been actually committed? tho' it be no Doubt to me, but\nthat it is so, yet as it is foreign to the present Affair, and not at\nall relating to the _Devil_'s History, I leave it to the Reverend\nDoctors of the Church, as properly belonging to them to decide.\n\nI knew a Person who the _Devil_ so haunted with naked Women, fine\nbeautiful Ladies in Bed with him, and Ladies of his Acquaintance too,\noffering their Favours to him, and all in his Sleep; so that he seldom\nslept without some such Entertainment; the Particulars are too gross for\nmy Story, but he gave me several long Accounts of his Night's _Amours_,\nand being a Man of a virtuous Life and good Morals, it was the greatest\nSurprize to him imaginable; for you cannot doubt but that the cunning\n_Devil_ made every thing be acted to the Life with him, and in a manner\nthe most wicked; he own'd with Grief to me, that the very first Attack\nthe _Devil_ made upon him, was with a very beautiful Lady of his\nAcquaintance, who he had been really something freer than ordinary with\nin their common Conversation; This Lady he brought to him in a Posture\nfor Wickedness, and wrought up his Inclination so high in his Sleep,\nthat he, as he thought, actually went about to debauch her, she not at\nall resisting; but that he wak'd in the very Moment, to his particular\nSatisfaction.\n\nHe was greatly concern'd at this Part, namely, that he really gave the\nConsent of his Will to the Fact, and wanted to know if he was not as\nguilty of Adultery, as if he had lain with her; indeed he decided the\nQuestion against himself, so forcibly, that I, who was of the same\nOpinion before, had nothing to say against it; however, I confirm'd him\nin it, by asking him these Questions.\n\n     1. Whether he did not think the _Devil_ had the chief Hand in such\n     a Dream? he answer'd, it could certainly be no body else, it must\n     be the _Devil_.\n\n     2. I then ask'd him what Reason the _Devil_ could have for it, if\n     his Consent to the Fact in Sleep had not been criminal? _That's\n     true indeed_, says he, _I am answer'd_: But then he ask'd another\n     Question, which, I confess, is not so easy to answer, namely, How\n     he should prevent being serv'd so again.\n\n\nNor could all my Divinity or his own keep the _Devil_ from attacking him\nagain; on the other Hand, as I have said, he worried him to that Degree,\nthat he injur'd his Health, bringing naked Women to him, sometimes one,\nsometimes another, sometimes in one Posture of Lewdness, sometimes in\nanother, sometimes into his very Arms, sometimes with such Additions as\nI am not merry enough, and sometimes such as I am not wicked enough to\nput into your Heads; the Man, indeed, could not help it, and so the\n_Devil_ was more Faulty than he; but as I hinted to him, he might bring\nhis Mind to such a stated Habit of Virtue, as to prevent its assenting\nto any wicked Motion, even in Sleep, and that would be the Way to put an\nEnd to the Attempt; and this Advice he relish'd very well, and\npractised, I believe, with Success.\n\nBy this same Method, the same _Devil_ injects powerful Incentives to\nother Crimes, provokes Avarice, by laying a great Quantity of Gold in\nyour View, and no body present, giving you an Opportunity to steal it,\nor some of it, at the same time, perhaps, knowing your Circumstances to\nbe such as that you are at that Time in a great want of the Money.\n\nI knew another, who being a Tradesman, and in great Distress for Money\nin his Business, dream'd that he was walking all alone in a great Wood,\nand that he met a little Child with a Bag of Gold in its Hand, and a\nfine Necklace of Diamonds on its Neck, upon the Sight, his Wants\npresently dictated to him to rob the Child; the little innocent\nCreature, (just so he dream'd) not being able to resist; or to tell who\nit was, accordingly he consented to take the Money from the Child, and\nthen to take the Diamond Necklace from it too, and did so.\n\nBut the _Devil_, (a full Testimony, as I told him, that it was the\n_Devil_, not contented with that, hinted to him, that perhaps the Child\nmight some time or other know him, and single him out, by crying or\npointing, or some such Thing, especially if he was suspected and shew'd\nto it, and therefore it would be better for him to kill the Child,\nprompting him to kill it for his own Safety, and that he need do no more\nbut twist the Neck of it a little, or crush it with his Knee; He told me\nhe stood debating with himself, whether he should do so or not; but that\nin that Instant his Heart struck him with the Word Murther, and he\nentertain'd a Horror of it, refus'd to do it, and immediately waked.\n\nHe told me, that when he wak'd, he found himself in so violent a Sweat\nas he never had known the like; that his Pulse beat with that Heat and\nRage, that it was like a Palpitation of the Heart to him, and that the\nAgitation of his Spirits was such, that he was not fully composed in\nsome Hours; tho' the Satisfaction and Joy that attended him, when he\nfound it was but a Dream, assisted much to return his Spirits to their\ndue Temperament.\n\nIt is neither my Business or Inclination to turn Divine here, nor is the\nAge I write to sufficiently Grave to relish a Sermon, if I was disposed\nto preach, though they must allow the Subject would very well bear it;\nbut I shall only ask them, if they think this is not the _Devil_, what\nthey think it is? If they believe it is the _Devil_, they will act\naccordingly I hope, or let it alone, as Satan and they can agree about\nit.\n\nI should not oblige the _Devil_ over much, whatever I might do to those\nthat read it; if I should enter here upon a Debate of Interests,\n(_viz._) to enquire whether the _Devil_ has not a vast Advantage upon\nMankind this Way, and whether it is not much his Interest to preserve\nit; and if I prove the Affirmative, I leave it to you to enquire whose\nInterest it is to disappoint and supplant him.\n\nIn short, I take Dreams to be the second Best of the Advantages the\n_Devil_ has over Mankind; the first, I suppose, you all know (_viz._)\nthe Treachery of the Garrison within; by Dreams he may be said to get\ninto the Inside of us without Opposition; here he opens and locks\nwithout a Key, and like an Enemy laying siege to a fortified City,\nReason and Nature, the Governor of the City, keep him out by Day, and\nkeep the Garrison true to their Duty; but in the Dark he gets in and\nparlees with the Garrison (the Affections and Passions) Debauches their\nLoyalty, stirring up them to Disloyalty and Rebellion, so they betray\ntheir Trust, Revolt, Mutiny, and go over to the Besieger.\n\nThus he manages his Interest, I say, and insinuates himself into the\nInside of us, without our Consent, nay, without our Knowledge; for\nwhatever Speculation may do, 'tis evident Demonstration does not assist\nus to discover which Way he gets Access to the Soul, while the Organ\ntied up, and dozed with Sleep has lock'd it up from Action; that it is\nso is clear, but how he does it is a Secret which I do not find the\nAntients or Moderns have yet made a Discovery of.\n\nThat Devil of a Creature, Mother _Lakland_, whose Story I mention'd\nabove, acknowledg'd that the first Time the _Devil_ attempted to draw\nher in to be a Witch was in a Dream, and even when she consented, she\nsaid, she was between sleeping and waking; that is, she did not know\nwhether she was awake or asleep, and the cunning Devil it seems was\nsatisfied with her Assent given so, when she was asleep, or neither\nasleep or awake, so taking the Advantage of her Incapacity to act\nrationally.\n\nThe Stories of her bewitching several People, and the manner in which\nthey died, are so formidable and extravagant, that I care not to put any\none's Faith to the stretch about them, tho' publish'd by Authority, and\ntestified by Abundance of Witnesses; but this is recorded in particular,\nand to my Purpose, whether from her own Mouth or not, I do not say,\nnamely, the Description of a Witch, and the Difference between Witches,\nand those other of Satan's Acquaintance who act in his Name.\n\n     1. They have consulted and covenanted with a Spirit or _Devil_.\n\n     2. They have a Deputy _Devil_, sometimes several to serve and\n     assist them.\n\n     3. These they employ as they please, call them by Name, and command\n     their Appearance in whatever Shape they think fit.\n\n     4. They send them abroad to or into the Persons who they design to\n     bewitch, who they always torment, and often murther them, as Mother\n     _Lakland_ did several.\n\n\nAs to the Difference between the several Devils that appear, it relates\nto the Office of the Persons who employ them; as Conjurers, who seem to\ncommand the particular _Devil_ that waits upon them with more Authority,\nand raise them and lay them at Pleasure, drawing Circles, casting\nFigures, and the like; but the Witch, in a more familiar manner,\nwhispers with the Devil, keeps the _Devil_ in a Bag or a Sack, sometimes\nin her Pocket, and the like, and like Mr. _Faux_ shews Tricks with him.\n\nBut all these Kinds deal much in Dreams, talk with the Devil in their\nSleep, and make other People talk with him in their Sleep too; and 'tis\non this Occasion I mention it here; in short, the Devil may well take\nthis Opportunity with Mankind, for not half the World that came into his\nMeasures would comply, if they were awake; but of that hereafter.\n\nAnd yet his thus insinuating himself by Dream, does not seem sufficient,\nin my Opinion, to answer the _Devil_'s End, and to carry on his\nBusiness; and therefore we must be forc'd to allow him a Kind of actual\nPossession, in particular Cases, and that in the Souls of some People,\nby different Methods from others; _Luther_ is of the Opinion that the\n_Devil_ gets a Familiarity with some Souls just at, or rather before\ntheir being embodied; as to the Manner and Method how he gets in, that\nis another Question, and may be spoken of by it self; besides, why may\nnot he, that at Satan's Request to enter into the Herd of Swine, said\n_go_, give the same Commission to possess a sort of Creatures so many\nDegrees below the Dignity of the _Gaderenian_ Swine, and open the Door\ntoo? but as for that, when our Lord said _go_, the _Devil_ never\nenquir'd which Way he should get in.\n\nWhen then I see Nations, or indeed Herds of Nations set on Fire of Hell,\nand as I may say, enflam'd by the _Devil_; when I see Towns, Parties,\nFactions and Rabbles of People visibly possess'd; 'tis enough to me that\nthe great Master of the Devils has said to him, GO; there's no need to\nenquire which Way he finds open, or at what postern Gate he gets in; as\nto his appearing, 'tis plain he often gets in without appearing, and\ntherefore the Question about his appearing still remains a Doubt, and is\nnot very easy to be resolv'd.\n\nIn the Scripture we have some Light into it, and that is all the Help I\nfind from Antiquity, and it goes a great Way to solve the Phaenomena of\nSatan's appearing; what I mean by the Scripture giving some Light to it,\nis this; 'tis said in several Places, and of several Persons, God came\nto them in a Dream, _Gen._ xx. 3. _God came to_ Abimelech _in a Dream by\nNight_, Gen. xxxi. 24. _And God came to_ Laban _the_ Syrian _in a\nDream_, Matt. ii. 13. _The Angel of the Lord appear'd to_ Joseph _in a\nDream_; short Comments are sufficient to plain Texts, applying this to\nmy Friend when he wanted to be satisfied about the How, relating to his\nDream (_viz._) how he should come to Dream such wicked Things? I told\nhim, in short, the Case was plain, _the Devil came to him in a Dream by\nNight_: How and in what manner he form'd the wicked Representations, and\nspread debauch'd Appearances before his Fancy, by real Whispers and\nVoice, according to _Milton_, or by what other Methods, the Learned are\nnot arriv'd to any Certainty about it.\n\nThis leads me necessarily to enquire whether the _Devil_ or some of his\nAgents are not always in our Company, whether they make any visible\nAppearances or no? For my Part I make no Question of it, how else could\nhe come at the Knowledge of what we do; for as I can allow him no\nPrescience at all, as for many Reasons I have observ'd already, he must\nbe able to see and know us, and what we are about when we know nothing\nof him, or else he could know nothing of us and our Affairs, which yet\nwe find otherwise; and this gives him infinite Advantage to Influence\nour Actions, to judge of our Inclinations, and to bring our Passions to\nclash with our Reason, as they often do, and get the better of it too.\n\nAll this he obtains by his being able to walk about invisible, and see\nwhen he is not seen, of which I have spoken already; hence that most\nwise and solid Suggestion, that when the Candles burn blue the _Devil_\nis in the Room, which great Secret in Nature, that you may more fully be\nconvinc'd of its imaginary Reality, I must tell you the following Story\nwhich I saw in a Letter directed to a particular Friend, take it Word\nfor Word as in the Letter; because I do not make my self accountable for\nthe Facts, but take them _ad referendum_.\n\n\nSIR,\n\nWe had one Day, very early in the Morning, and for the most Part of the\nDay a great deal of Rain with a high Wind, and the Clouds very thick and\ndark all Day.\n\nIn the Evening the cloudy thick Weather continued, tho' not the Rain,\nwhen being at a Friend's House in ---- Lane _London_, and several Ladies\nand some Gentlemen in the Room, besides two or three Servants (for we\nhad been eating) the following Interlude happen'd for our Entertainment:\nWhen the Cloth was taken away, two large Candles were brought upon the\nTable and plac'd there with some Bottles and Glasses for the Gentlemen,\nwho, it seems, were intending to drink and be very merry; two large\nWax-Candles were also set on another Table, the Ladies being going to\nCards, also there were two large Candles in Sconces over or near the\nChimney, and one more in a Looking-Glass Sconce, on a Peer by the\nWindow.\n\nWith all this _Apparatus_, the Company separating sat down, the\nGentlemen at their Table, and the Ladies at theirs, to play _as above_;\nwhen after some time the Gentleman of the House said hastily to a\nServant, _what a P---- ails the Candles_? and turning to the Servant\nraps out an Oath or two, and bids him snuff the Candles, for they burnt\nas if the Devil was in the Room.\n\nThe Fellow going to snuff one of the Candles, snuffs it out, at which\nhis Master being in a Passion the Fellow lights it again immediately at\nthe other Candle, and then being in a little hurry, going to snuff the\nother Candle snuffed that out too.\n\nThe first Candle that was relighted (as is usual in such Cases) burn'd\ndim and dull for a good while, and the other being out, the Room was\nmuch darker than before, and a Wench that stood by the Ladies Table,\nbawls out to her Mistress, _Law Madam!_ the Candles _burn blue_; an old\nLady that sat by says, _ay Betty!_ so they do; upon this one of the\nLadies starts up, _Mercy upon us_, says she, _what is the Matter!_ In\nthis unlucky Moment another Servant, without Orders, went to the great\nPeer Sconce, and because, _as he thought_, he would be sure to snuff the\nCandle well, he offers to take it down, but very unhappily, I say, the\nHook came out and down falls the Sconce Candle and all, and the\nLooking-Glass broke all to pieces, with a horrible Noise; however, the\nCandle falling out of the Sconce did not go out, but lay on the Floor\nburning dully, and as it is usual on such Cases, all on one Side,\n_Betty_ cries out again, _Law Madam_, that Candle burns blue too; the\nvery Moment she said this, the Footman that had thrown down the Sconce,\nsays to his fellow Servant, that came to his Assistance, I _think_ the\nDevil _is in the Candles to Night_, and away he run out of the Room, for\nfear of his Master.\n\nThe old Lady, who, upon the Maid _Betty_'s Notion of the Candles burning\nblue, had her Head just full of that old _Chimney-Corner Story_, the\nCandles _burn blue when the Spirits are in the Room_, heard the Footman\nSay the Word _Devil_, but heard nothing else of what he said; upon this\nshe rises up in a terrible Fright, and cries out that the Footman said\nthe _Devil was in the Room_; as she was, indeed, frighted out of her\nWits, she frighted the Ladies most terribly, and they all starting up\ntogether, down goes the Card Table, and put the Wax-Candles out.\n\nMrs. _Betty_, that had frighted them all, runs to the Sconce next the\nChimney, but that having a long Snuff, she cried out it burnt blue too,\nand she durst not touch it; in short, tho' there were three Candles left\nstill burning in the Room, yet the Ladies we're all so frighted, that\nthey and the Maids too run out of the Parlour screaming like mad Folks.\nThe Master in a Rage kick'd his first Man out of the Room, and the\nsecond Man was run out to avoid, as I said before, the like, so that no\nServant was to be had, but all was in Confusion.\n\nThe two other Gentlemen, who were sitting at the first Table, kept their\nSeats composed and easy enough, only concern'd to see all the House in\nsuch a fright; it was true, they said, the Candles burnt dim and very\noddly, but they could not perceive they _burnt blue_, except one of\nthose over the Chimney, and that on the Table, which was relighted\nafter the Fellow had snufft it out.\n\nHowever, the Maid, the old Lady and the Footman that pull'd down the\nSconce, all insist that the Candles _burnt blue_, and all pretend that\nthe Devil was certainly in the Room, and was the Occasion of it; and\nthey now came to me with the Story, to desire my Opinion of it.\n\nThis put me upon Enquiry into the Notion of Candles _burning blue_ when\nSpirits are in a Room, which upon all the Search into Things, that I am\nable to make, amounts to no more than this; that upon any extraordinary\nEmission of sulphureous or of nitrous Particles, either in a close Room,\nor in any not very open Place, if the Quantity be great, a Candle or\nLamp, or any such little Blaze of Fire will seem to be, or to _burn\nblue_; and if then they can prove that any such Effluvia attends or is\nemitted from a Spirit, then when SATAN is at Hand it may be so.\n\nBut then 'tis begging the Question grossly, because no Man can assure us\nthat the Devil has any sulphureous Particles about him.\n\nIt is true, the Candles burn thus in Mines and Vaults, and damp Places;\nand 'tis as true that they will do so upon Occasion of very damp, stormy\nand moist Air, when an extraordinary Quantity of Vapours are supposed to\nbe dispers'd abroad, as was the Case when this happen'd; and if there\nwas any Thing of that in it on that _Monday_ Night, the Candles might,\nperhaps, burn blue upon that Occasion; but that the _Devil_ was abroad\nupon any extraordinary Business that Night, that I cannot grant, unless\nI have some better Testimony than the _old Lady_ that heard the\nFootman's out-cry but by halves, or than Mrs. _Betty_, who first fancied\nthe Candles _burnt blue_; so I must suspend my Judgment till I hear\nfarther.\n\nThis Story however may solve a great many of those Things which pass for\nApparitions in the World, and which are laid to the Devil's Charge, tho'\nhe really may know nothing of the Matter; and this would bring me to\ndefend _Satan_ in many Things, wherein he may truly be said to suffer\nwrongfully; and if I thought it would oblige him, I might say something\nto his Advantage this Way; however, I'll venture a Word or two for an\ninjur'd _Devil_, take it as you will.\n\nFirst, it is certain, that as this Invisibility of the _Devil_ is very\nmuch to our Prejudice, so the Doctrine of his Visibility is a great\nPrejudice to him, as we make Use of it.\n\nBy his Invisibility he is certainly vested with infinite Advantages\nagainst us; while he can be present with us, and we know nothing of the\nMatter, he informs himself of all our Measures, and arms himself in the\nbest and most suitable manner to injure and assault us, as he can\ncounteract all our secret concerted Designs, disappoint all our Schemes,\nand except when Heaven apparently concerns it self to over-rule him, can\ndefeat all our Enterprizes, break all our Measures, and do us Mischief\nin almost every Part of our Life, and all this, because we are not privy\nto all his Motions, as he is to ours.\n\nBut now for his Visibility and his real Appearance in the World, and\nparticularly among his Disciples and Emissaries, such as Witches and\nWizards, Demonaists, and the like: Here, I think Satan has a great deal\nof Loss, suffers manifest Injury, and has great Injustice done him; and,\nthat therefore I ought to clear this Matter up a little, if it be\npossible, to do Justice to Satan, and set Matters right in the World\nabout him, according to that useful old Maxim of setting the Saddle upon\nthe right Horse, or _giving the_ Devil _his due_.\n\nFirst, _as I have said_, we are not to believe every idle Head, who\npretends even to converse Face to Face with the _Devil_, and who tells\nus, they have thus seen him, and been acquainted with him every Day:\nMany of these Pretenders are manifest Cheats; and, however, they would\nhave the Honour of a private Interest in him, and boast how they have\nhim at their Beck, can call him this Way, and send him that, as they\nplease, raise him and lay him when and how, and as often as they find\nfor their Purpose; I say, whatever Boasts they make of this Kind, they\nreally have nothing of Truth in them.\n\nNow the Injuries and Injustice done to the _Devil_, in these Cases, are\nmanifest; namely, that they entitle the _Devil_ to all the Mischief they\nare pleased to do in the World; and if they commit a Murther or a\nRobbery, fire a House, or do any Act of Violence in the World, they\npresently are said to do it by the Agency of the _Devil_, and the\n_Devil_ helps them; so Satan bears the Reproach, and they have all the\nGuilt; this is, (1.) a grand Cheat upon the World, and (2.) a notorious\nSlander upon the _Devil_; and it would be a public Benefit to Mankind,\nto have such would-be-Devils as these turn'd inside out, that we might\nknow when the _Devil_ was really at work among us, and when not; what\nMischiefs were of his doing, and which were not; and that these Fellows\nmight not slip their Necks out of the Halter, by continually laying the\nBlame of their Wickedness upon the _Devil_.\n\nNot that the _Devil_ is not very willing to have his Hand in any\nMischief, or in all the Mischief that is done in the World; but there\nare some low priz'd Rogueries that are too little for him, beneath the\nDignity of his Operation, and which 'tis really a Scandal to the _Devil_\nto charge upon him. I remember the _Devil_ had such a Cheat put upon\nhim in _East-Smithfield_ once, where a Person pretended to converse with\nthe _Devil_ Face to Face, and that in open Day too, and to cause him to\ntell Fortunes, foretel Good and Evil, _&c._ discover stollen Goods, tell\nwhere they were who stole them, and how to find them again, nay, and\neven to find out the Thieves; but _Satan_ was really sandered in the\nCase, the Fellow had no more to do with the _Devil_ than other People,\nand perhaps not so much neither: This was one of those they call'd\nCUNNING-MEN, or at least he endeavour'd to pass for such a one, but\n'twas all a Cheat.\n\nBesides, what had the _Devil_ to do to detect Thieves, and restore\nstollen Goods? Thieving and Robbing, Trick and Cheat, are part of the\nCraft of his Agency, and of the Employments which it is his Business to\nencourage; they greatly mistake him, who think he will assist any Body\nin suppressing and detecting such laudable Arts and such diligent\nServants.\n\nI won't say, but the _Devil_, to draw these People we call\n_Cunning-Men_, into a Snare, and to push on his farther Designs, may\nencourage them privately, and in a manner that they themselves know\nnothing of, to make use of his Name, and abuse the World about him, till\nat last they may really believe they do deal with the _Devil_, when\nindeed 'tis only he deals with them, and they know nothing of the\nMatter.\n\nIn other Cases he may encourage them in these little Frauds and Cheats,\nand give them leave, as above, to make use of his Name to bring them\nafterwards, and by Degrees to have a real Acquaintance with him; so\nbringing the Jest of their Trade into Earnest, till at length prompting\nthem to commit some great Villany, he secures them to be his own, by\ntheir very Fear of his leaving them to be exposed to the World; thus he\nputs a _Jonathan Wild_ upon them, and makes them be the very Wretches\nthey only pretended to be before: So old _Parsons_ of _Clithroe_, as\nFame tells, was twenty five Years a _Cunning-man_, and twenty two Years\na Witch; that is to say, for five and twenty Years, he was only\npretending to deal with the _Devil_, when Satan and he had no manner of\nAcquaintance, and he only put his _Leger-de-main_ upon the People in the\n_Devil_'s Name, without his leave; but at length the _Devil_'s Patience\nbeing tir'd quite out, he told the old Counterfeit, that in short, he\nhad been his stalking Horse long enough, and that now, if he thought fit\nto enter himself, and take a Commission, well and good; and he should\nhave a Lease to carry on his Trade for so many Years more, to his\nHeart's content; but if not, he would expose his Knavery to the World,\nfor that he should take away his Peoples Trade no longer; but that he\n(Satan) would set up another in his Room, that should make a meer Fool\nof him, and carry away all his Customers.\n\nUpon this, the old Man consider'd of it, took the _Devil_'s Counsel, and\nlisted in his Pay; so he, that had plaid his Pranks twenty five Years as\na Conjurer, when he was no Conjurer, was then forc'd really to deal with\nthe DEVIL, for fear the People should know he did not: Till now he had\n_ambo dexter_, cheated the Devil on one Hand, and the People on the\nother; but the _Devil_ gain'd his Point at last, and so he was a real\nWizard ever after.\n\nBut this is not the only way the Devil is injur'd neither, for we have\noften found People pretend upon him in other Cases, and of nearer\nConcern to him a great deal, and in Articles more Weighty, as in\nparticular, in the great Business of Possession; it is true this Point\nis not thoro'ly understood among Men, neither has the Devil thought fit\nto give us those Illuminations about it, as I believe he might do;\nparticularly that great and important Article, is not, for ought I can\nsee, rightly explain'd, namely; whether there are not two several Kinds\nof Possession, (_viz._) some wherein the Devil possesses us, and some in\nwhich we really possess the Devil; the Nicety of which I doubt this Age,\nwith all its Penetration, is not qualified to explain, and a\nDissertation upon it being too long for this Work, especially so near\nits Conclusion, I am oblig'd to omit, as I am also all the practical\nDiscourses upon the Usefulness and Advantages of real Possession,\nwhether consider'd one Way or other to Mankind, all which I must leave\nto hereafter.\n\nBut to come back to the Point in Hand, and to consider the Injustice\ndone to the Devil, in the various Turns and Tricks which Men put upon\nhim very often in this one Article (_viz._) pretending to Possession,\nand to have the Devil in them, when really it is not so; certainly the\nDevil must take it very ill, to have all their demented, lunatick Tricks\ncharg'd upon him; some of which, nay, most of which are so gross, so\nsimple, so empty, and so little to the Purpose, that the _Devil_ must be\nasham'd to see such Things pass in his Name, or that the World should\nthink he was concern'd in them.\n\nIt is true, that Possession being one of the principal Pieces of the\nDevil's Artifice in his managing Mankind, and in which, with the most\nexquisite skill he plays the Devil among us, he has the more Reason to\nbe affronted when he finds himself invaded in this Part, and angry that\nany Body should pretend to possess, or be possess'd without his leave,\nand this may be the Reason for ought we know, why so many Blunders have\nbeen made, when People have pretended to it without him, and he has\nthought fit not to own them in it; of which we have many Examples in\nHistory, as in _Simon Magus_, _the Devil of_ London, _the fair Maid of_\nKent, and several others, whose History it is not worth while to enlarge\nupon.\n\nIn short, Possessions, as I have said, are nice Things, as it is not so\neasy to mimick the _Devil_ in that Part, as it may be in some other;\ndesigning Men have attempted it often, but their manner has been easily\ndistinguish'd, even without the Devil's Assistance.\n\nThus the People of _Salem_ in _New-England_ pretended to be bewitch'd,\nand that a black Man tormented them by the Instigation of such and such,\nwhom they resolv'd to bring to the Gallows: This black Man they would\nhave be the _Devil_, employ'd by the Person who they accus'd for a\nWitch: Thus making the _Devil_ a Page or a Footman to the Wizard, to go\nand torment whoever the said Wizard commanded, till the _Devil_ himself\nwas so weary of the foolish Part, that he left them to go on their own\nWay, and at last they over-acted the murthering Part so far, that when\nthey confess'd themselves to be Witches, and possess'd, and that they\nhad Correspondence with the Devil, _Satan_ not appearing to vouch for\nthem, no Jury would condemn them upon their own Evidence, and they could\nnot get themselves hang'd, whatever Pains they took to bring it to pass.\n\nThus you see the _Devil_ may be wrong'd, and falsely accus'd in many\nParticulars, and often has been so; there are likewise some other sorts\nof counterfeit _Devils_ in the World, such as _Gypsies_,\n_Fortune-Tellers_, Foretellers of good and bad Luck, Sellers of Winds,\nRaisers of Storms, and many more, some practis'd among us, some in\nforeign Parts, too many almost to reckon up; nay I almost doubt whether\nthe Devil himself knows all the Sorts of them; for 'tis evident he has\nlittle or nothing to do with them, I mean not in the Way of their Craft.\n\nThese I take to be Interlopers, or with the _Guinea_ Merchants leave,\nseparate Traders, and who act under the Skreen and Protection of Satan's\nPower, but without his License or Authority; no doubt these carry away a\ngreat deal of his Trade, that is to say, the Trade which otherwise the\n_Devil_ might have carried on by Agents or his own; I cannot but say,\nthat while these People would fain be thought _Devils_, tho' they really\nare not, it is but just they should be really made as much _Devils_ as\nthey pretended to be, or that _Satan_ should do himself Justice upon\nthem, as he threaten'd to do upon old _Parsons_ of _Clithroe_\nabovemention'd, and let the World know them.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. XI.\n\n_Of Divination, Sorcery, the Black-Art, Pawawing, and such like Pretenders\n     to Devilism, and how far the_ Devil _is or is not concern'd in them._\n\n\nTho' I am writing the History of the _Devil_, I have not undertaken to\ndo the like of all the Kinds of People, Male or Female, who set up for\n_Devils_ in the World: This would be a Task for the _Devil_ indeed, and\nfit only for him to undertake, for their Number is and has been\nprodigious great, and may, with his other Legions be rank'd among the\nInnumerable.\n\nWhat a World do we inhabit! where there is not only with us a great\n_Roaring-Lyon-Devil_ daily seeking whom of us he may devour, and\ninnumerable Millions of lesser Devils hovering in the whole Atmosphere\nover us, nay, and for ought we know, other Millions always invisibly\nmoving about us, and perhaps in us, or at least in many of us; but that\nhave, besides all these, a vast many counterfeit _Hocus Pocus Devils_;\nhuman _Devils_, who are visible among us, of our own Species and\nFraternity, conversing with us upon all Occasions; who like Mountebanks\nset up their Stages in every Town, chat with us at every Tea-Table,\nconverse with us in every Coffee-House, and impudently tell us to our\nFaces that they are Devils, boast of it, and use a thousand Tricks and\nArts to make us believe it too, and that too often with Success.\n\nIt must be confess'd there is a strong Propensity in Man's Nature,\nespecially the more ignorant part of Mankind, to resolve every strange\nThing, or whether really strange or no, if it be but strange to us, into\nDevilism, and to say every Thing is the Devil, that they can give no\nAccount of.\n\nThus the famous Doctors of the Faculty at _Paris_, when _John Faustus_\nbrought the first printed Books that had then been seen in the World, or\nat least seen there, into the City, and sold them for Manuscripts: They\nwere surpriz'd at the Performance, and question'd _Faustus_ about it;\nbut he affirming they were Manuscripts, and that he kept a great many\nClarks employ'd to write them, they were satisfied for a while.\n\nBut looking farther into the Work, they observ'd the exact Agreement of\nevery Book, one with another, that every Line stood in the same Place,\nevery Page a like Number of Lines, every Line a like Number of Words; if\na Word was mis-spelt in one, it was mis-spelt also in all, nay, that if\nthere was a Blot in one, it was alike in all; they began again to muse,\nhow this should be? in a Word, the learned Divines not being able to\ncomprehend the Thing (and that was always sufficient) concluded it must\nbe the _Devil_, that it was done by Magick and Witchcraft, and that in\nshort, poor _Faustus_ (who was indeed nothing but a meer Printer) dealt\nwith the _Devil_.\n\n     N. B. _John Faustus_ was Servant, or Journeyman, or Compositor, or\n        what you please to call it, to _Koster_ of _Harlem_, the first\n        inventor of Printing; and having printed the Psalter, sold them at\n        _Paris_ as Manuscripts; because as such they yielded a better\n        Price.\n\n\nBut the learned Doctors not being able to understand how the Work was\nperform'd, concluded as above, it was all _the Devil_, and that the Man\nwas a _Witch_; accordingly they took him up for a _Magician_ and a\n_Conjurer_, and one that work'd by the _Black Art_, that is to say, by\nthe help of the _Devil_; and in a Word, they threaten'd to hang him for\na Witch, and in order to it, commenc'd a Process against him in their\ncriminal Courts, which made such a Noise in the World as rais'd the Fame\nof poor _John Faustus_ to a frightful Height, till at last he was\noblig'd, for fear of the Gallows, to discover the whole Secret to them.\n\n     N. B. This is the true original of the famous Dr. _Faustus_ or\n        _Foster_, of whom we have believ'd such strange Things, as that it\n        is become a Proverb, _as great as the_ Devil _and Dr._ Foster:\n        Whereas poor _Faustus_ was no Doctor, and knew no more of the\n        _Devil_ than another Body.\n\n\nThus the Magistrates of _Bern_ and _Switzerland_, finding a Gang of\n_French_ Actors of Puppet-shew open'd their Stage in the Town, upon\nhearing the surprizing Accounts which the People gave of their wonderful\nPuppets, how they made them speak, answer Questions, and discourse,\nappear and disappear in a Moment, pop up here, as if they rise out of\nthe Earth, and down there, as if they vanish'd, and Abundance more Feats\nof Art, censur'd them as Demons; and if they had not pack'd up their\nTrinkets, and disappeared almost as dextrously as their Puppets, they\nhad certainly condemn'd the poor Puppets to the Flames for _Devils_, and\ncensur'd, if not otherwise punished their Masters. See _the Count de\nRochfort's Memoirs_, p. 179.\n\nWonderful Operations astonish the Mind, especially where the Head is not\nover-burthen'd with Brains; and Custom has made it so natural to give\nthe _Devil_ either the Honour or Scandal of every Thing, that we cannot\notherwise Account for, that it is not possible to put the People out of\nthe Road of it.\n\nThe _Magicians_ were, in the _Chaldean_ Monarchy, call'd the Wisemen;\nand tho' they are joined with the Sorcerers and Astrologers in the same\nPlace, _Dan._ ii. 4. yet they were generally so understood among those\nPeople; but in our Language we understand them to be People that have an\nArt to reveal Secrets, interpret Dreams, foretel Events, _&c._ and that\nuse Enchantments and Sorceries, by all which we understand the same\nThing; which now in a more vulgar Way we express by one general coarse\nExpression, _Dealing with the_ DEVIL.\n\nThe Scripture speaks of a Spirit of _Divination_, _Acts_ xvi. 16. and a\nWench that was possess'd by this Spirit _brought her Master much Gain by\nSouthsaying_, that is to say, according to the Learned, by _Oracling_ or\nanswering Questions; whence you will see in the Margin, that this\nsouthsaying _Devil_ is there call'd _Python_, that is, _Apollo_, who is\noften call'd _Python_, and who at the Oracle of _Delphos_ gave out such\nAnswers and _double Entendres_, as this Wench possibly did; and hence\nall those Spirits which were call'd Spirits of Divination, were in\nanother Sense call'd _Pythons_.\n\nNow when the Apostle St. _Paul_ came to see this Creature, this Spirit\ntakes upon it to declare that _those Men_, meaning St. _Paul_ and\n_Timotheus_, _were the Servants of the most high God, which shew'd unto\nthem the Way of Salvation_; this was a good turn of the _Devil_, to\npreserve his Authority in the possess'd Girl; she brought them Gain by\nSouthsaying, that is to say, resolving difficult Questions, answering\nDoubts, interpreting Dreams, _&c._ Among these Doubts, he makes her give\nTestimony to _Paul_ and _Timotheus_, to wheedle in with the new\nChristians, and perhaps (tho' very ignorantly) even with _Paul_ and\n_Timotheus_ themselves, so to give a Kind of Credit and Respect to her\nfor speaking.\n\nBut the _Devil_, who never speaks Truth, but with some sinister End, was\ndiscover'd here and detected; his flattering Recognition not accepted,\nand he himself unkennel'd as he deserv'd; there the _Devil_ was\nover-shot in his own Bow again.\n\nHere now was a real Possession, and the evil Spirits who possess'd her,\ndid stoop to sundry little Acts of Servitude, that we could give little\nor no Reason for, only that the Girl's Master might get Money by her;\nbut perhaps this was a particular Case, and, prepar'd to honour the\nAuthority and Power the Apostles had over evil Spirits.\n\nBut we find these Things carried a great Way farther in many Cases, that\nis to say, where the Parties are thus really possess'd; namely, the\n_Devil_ makes Agents of the possess'd Parties to do many Things for the\npropagating his Interest and Kingdom, and particularly for the carrying\non his Dominion in the World: But I am for the present not so much upon\nthe real Possession as the pretended, and particularly we have had many\nthat have believed themselves possess'd, when the _Devil_ never believed\nit of them, and perhaps knew them better; some of these are really poor\n_Devils_ to be pitied, and are what I call _Diables Imaginaire_; these\nhave notwithstanding done the _Devil_ good Service, and brought their\nMasters good Gain by Southsaying.\n\nWe find Possessions acknowledg'd in Scripture to be really and\npersonally the _Devil_, or according to the Text, Legions of _Devils_ in\nthe Plural. The _Devil_ or _Devils_ rather, which possessed the Man\namong the Tombs, is positively affirm'd to be the _Devil_ in the\nScripture; all the Evangelists agree in calling him so, and his very\nWorks shew it; namely, the Mischief he did, as well to the poor Creature\namong the Tombs, who was made so fierce, that he was the Terror of all\nthe Country, as to the Herd of Swine and to the Country in the Loss of\nthem.\n\nI might preach you a Lecture here of the _Devil_'s Terror upon the\nApproach of our Saviour, the Dread of his Government, and how he\nacknowledg'd that there was a Time for his Torment, which was not yet\ncome: _Art thou come to torment us before our Time?_ It is evident the\nDevil apprehended that Christ would chain them up before the Day of\nJudgment; and therefore some think the Devil here, being, as it were,\ncaught out of his due Bounds, possessing the poor Man in such a furious\nmanner, was afraid, and petition'd Christ not to chain him up for it,\nand as the Text says, _They besought him to suffer them to go away_, &c.\nthat is to say, when they say, art thou come to torment us before the\nTime? the Meaning is, they begg'd he would not cast them into Torment\nbefore the Time, which was already fix'd; but that if he would cast them\nout of the Man, he would let them go away, _&c._\n\nThe Evangelist St. _Luke_ says, the _Devil besought him that he would\nnot command them to go out into the Deep_: Our learned Annotators think\nthat part is not rightly render'd; adding, that they do not believe the\n_Devil_ fears drowning; but with Submission, I believe the meaning is,\nthat they would not be confin'd to the vast Ocean, where no Inhabitants\nbeing to be seen, they would be effectually imprison'd and tied down\nfrom doing Mischief, which would be a Hell to them; as to their going\ninto the Swine, that might afford us some Allegory; but I am not\ndisposed to jest with the Scripture, no nor with the _Devil_ neither,\nfarther than needs must.\n\nIt is evident the _Devil_ makes Use of very mean Instruments sometimes,\nsuch as the Damsel possess'd with a Spirit of Divination, and several\nothers.\n\nI remember a Story, how true I know not, of a weak Creature next Door to\nan Ideot, who was establish'd in the Country for an Oracle, and would\ntell People strange Things that should be, long before they came to\npass; when People were sick, would tell them whether they should live or\ndie; if People were married, tell how many Children they should have;\nand a hundred such Things as fill'd the People with Admiration, and they\nwere the easier brought to believe that the Girl was possess'd; but then\nthey were divided about her too, and that was the finest spun Thread\nthe Devil could work, for he carried a great Point in it; some said she\nhad a good Spirit, and some a bad, some said she was a Prophetess, and\nsome that she was the _Devil_.\n\nNow had I been there to decide the Question, I should certainly have\ngiven it for the latter; if it were only upon this Account, namely, that\nthe Devil has often found Fools very necessary Agents for the\npropagating his Interest and Kingdom, but we never knew the good Spirits\ndo so; on the other Hand, it does not seem likely that Heaven should\ndeprive a poor Creature of its Senses, and as it were take her Soul from\nher, and then make her an Instrument of Instruction to others, and an\nOracle to declare his Decrees by; this does not seem to be rational.\n\nBut as far as this kind of Divination is in Use in our Days, yet I do\nnot find room to charge the Devil with making any great Use of Fools,\nunless it be such as he has particularly qualified for his Work, for as\nto _Ideots_ and _Naturals_, they are perfectly useless to him; but a\nsort of Fools call'd the Magi, indeed, we have some Reason to think he\noften works with.\n\nWe are not arriv'd to a certainty yet, in the settling this great Point,\nnamely, what Magick is? whether a diabolical Art or a Branch of the\nMathematicks? Our most learned _Lexicon Technicum_ is of the latter\nOpinion, and gives the _Magic Square_ and the _Magic Lantern_, two Terms\nof Art.\n\nThe _Magic Square_ is when Numbers in _Arithmetical Proportion_ are\ndispos'd into such Parallels or equal Ranks, as that the Sums of each\nRow as well _Diagonally_ as _Laterally_ shall be all equal; for Example,\n2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Place these Nine in a Square of three, they\nwill _directly_ and _diagonally_ make 18. Thus,\n\n  +------------+\n  | 5 | 10 | 3 |\n  -------------|\n  | 4 |  6 | 8 |\n  -------------|\n  | 9 |  2 | 7 |\n  +------------+\n\nThis he calls the _Magic Square_, but gives no Reason for the Term, nor\nany Account of what infernal Operations are wrought by this Concurrence\nof the Numbers; neither do I see that there can be any such Use made of\nit.\n\nThe _Magic Lantern_ is an optic Machine, by the Means of which are\nrepresented, on a Wall in the Dark, many Phantasms and terrible\nAppearances, _but no_ Devil _in all this_, only that they are taken for\nthe Effects of Magic, by those that are not acquainted with the Secret.\n\nAll this is done by the help of several little painted Pieces of Glass,\nonly so and so situated, plac'd in certain Oppositions to one another,\nand painted with different Figures, the most formidable being plac'd\nforemost, and such as are most capable of terrifying the Spectators; and\nby this all the Figures may be represented upon the opposite Wall, in\nthe largest Size.\n\nI cannot but take Notice, that this very Piece of optic Delusion seems\ntoo much akin to the mock Possessions and infernal Accomplishments,\nwhich most of the Possessionists of this Age pretend to, so that they\nare most of them meer Phantasms and Appearances, and no more; Nor is the\nSpirit of Divination, the Magic, the Necromancing, and other Arts which\nwere call'd Diabolical, found to be of any Use in modern Practice, at\nleast, in these Parts of the World; but the Devil seems to do most of\nhis Work himself, and by shorter Methods; for he has so compleat an\nInfluence among those that he now Lists in his Service, that he brings\nall the common Affairs of Mankind into a narrower Compass in his\nManagement, with a Dexterity particular to himself, and by which he\ncarries on his Interest silently and surely, much more to the Detriment\nof Virtue and good Government, and consequently much more to his\nSatisfaction, than ever he did before.\n\nThere is a Kind of _Magic_ or _Sorcery_, or what else you may please to\ncall it, which, tho' unknown to us, is yet, it seems, still very much\nencourag'd by the _Devil_; but this is a great Way off, and in Countries\nwhere the politer Instruments, which he finds here, are not to be had;\nnamely, among the _Indians_ of _North-America_; This is call'd\n_Pawawing_, and they have their Divines, which they call _Pawaws_ or\nWitches, who use strange Gestures, Distortions, horrid Smokes, Burnings,\nand Scents, and several such Things which the Sorcerers and Witches in\nancient Times are said to use in casting Nativities, in Philtres, and in\ndetermining, or as they pretended, directing the Fate of Persons; by\nburning such and such Herbs and Roots, such as _Helebore_, _Wormwood_,\n_Storax_, _Devilwort_, _Mandrake_, _Nightshade_, and Abundance more\nsuch, which are call'd noxious Plants, or the Product of noxious Plants;\nalso melting such and such Minerals, Gums, and poisonous Things, and by\nseveral hellish Mutterings and Markings over them, the like do these\n_Pawaws_; and the _Devil_ is pleased, it seems, (or is permitted) to\nfall in with these Things, and as some People think, appears often to\nthem for their Assistance upon those Occasions.\n\nBut be that as it will, he is eas'd of all that Trouble here; he can\n_Pawaw_ here himself, without their aid, and having laid them all aside,\nhe negotiates much of his Business without Ambassadors; he is his own\nPlenipotentiary, for he finds Man so easy to come at, and so easy when\nhe is come at, that he stands in no need of secret Emissaries, or at\nleast not so much as he used to do.\n\nUpon the whole, as the World, within the Compass of a few pass'd Years\nis advanc'd in all Kinds of Knowledge and Arts, and every useful Branch\nof what they knew before improv'd, and innumerable useful Parts of\nKnowledge, which were conceal'd before are discover'd; why should we\nthink the _Devil_ alone should stand at a stay, has taken no Steps to\nhis farther Accomplishment, and made no useful Discoveries in his Way?\nThat he alone should stand at a Stay, and be just the same unimprov'd\nDevil that he was before? No, no, as the World is improv'd every Day,\nand every Age is grown wiser and wiser than their Fathers; so, no doubt,\nhe has bestirr'd himself too, in order to an encrease of Knowledge and\nDiscovery, and that he finds every Day a nearer Way to go to work with\nMankind than he had before.\n\nBesides, as Men in general seem to have alter'd their manner, and that\nthey move in a higher and more exalted Sphere, especially as to Vice and\nVirtue; so the _Devil_ may have been obliged to change his Measures, and\nalter his Way of working; particularly, those Things which would take in\nformer Times, and which a stupid Age would come easily into, won't go\ndown with us now: As the taste of Vice and Virtue alters, the _Devil_ is\nforc'd to bait his Hook with new Compositions; the very Thing call'd\nTemptation is alter'd in its Nature, and that which serv'd to delude our\nAncestors, whose gross Conceptions of Things caused them to be\nmanageable with less Art, will not do now; the Case is quite alter'd; in\nsome Things, perhaps, as I hinted above, we come into Crime with ease,\nand may be led by a Finger; but when we come to a more refin'd Way of\nsinning, which our Ancestors never understood, other and more refin'd\nPolitics must be made Use of, and the _Devil_ has been put upon many\nuseful Projects and Inventions, to make many new Discoveries and\nExperiments to carry on his Affairs; and to speak impartially, he is\nstrangely improv'd either in Knowledge or Experiment, within these few\nYears; he has found out a great many new Inventions to shorten his own\nLabour, and carry on his Business in the World currently, which he never\nwas master of before, or at least we never knew he was.\n\nNo wonder then that he has chang'd Hands too, and that he has left of\npawawing in these Parts of the World; that we don't find our Houses\ndisturb'd as they used to be, and the Stools and Chairs walking about\nout of one Room into another, as formerly; that Children don't vomit\ncrooked Pins and rusty stub Nails, as of old, the Air is not full of\nNoises, nor the Church-Yard full of Hobgoblins; Ghosts don't walk about\nin Winding-Sheets, and the good old scolding Wives visit and plague\ntheir Husbands after they are dead, as they did when they were alive.\n\nThe Age is grown too wise to be agitated by these dull scare-crow Things\nwhich their Fore-Fathers were tickled with; _Satan_ has been obliged to\nlay by his Puppet-shews and his Tumblers, those things are grown stale;\nhis morrice-dancing Devils, his mountebanking and quacking won't do now;\nthose Things, as they may be supposed to be very troublesome to him,\n(and but that he has Servants enough would be chargeable too) are now of\nno great Use in the new Management of his Affairs.\n\n_In a Word_, Men are too much Devils themselves, in the Sense that I\nhave call'd them so, to be frighted with such little low priz'd\nAppearances as these; they are better acquainted with the old\nArch-Angel than so, and they seem to tell him they must be treated after\nanother manner, and that then, as they are good-natur'd and tractable,\nhe may deal with them upon better Terms.\n\nHence the _Devil_ goes to work with Mankind a much shorter Way; for\ninstead of the Art of Wheedling and Whining, together with the laborious\nPart of Tricking and Sharping, Hurrying and Driving, Frighting and\nTerrifying, all which the _Devil_ was put to the Trouble of before; in\nshort, he acts the GRAND MANNER as the Architects call it (I don't know\nwhether our Free-Masons may understand the Word) and therefore I may\nhereafter explain it, as it is to be Diabolically as well as\nmathematically understood.\n\nAt present my meaning is, he acts with them immediately and personally\nby a magnificent Transformation, making them meer _Devils_ to\nthemselves, upon all needful Occasions, and _Devils_ to one another too,\nwhenever he (Satan), has Need of their Service.\n\nThis Way of embarking Mankind in the _Devil_'s particular Engagement, is\nreally very modern; and tho' the Devil himself may have been long\nacquainted with the Method, and as I have heard, began to practise it\ntowards the Close of the _Roman_ Empire, when Men began to act upon very\npolite Principles, and were capable of the most refin'd Wickedness, and\nafterwards with some Popes, who likewise were a kind of Church Devils,\nsuch as Satan himself could hardly expect to find in the World; yet I do\nnot find that he was ever able to bring it into Practice, at least, not\nso universally as he does now: But now the Case is alter'd, and Men\nbeing generally more expert in Wickedness than they were formerly; they\nsuffer the smaller Alteration of the Species, in being transmigrated;\nin a Word, they turn into _Devils_, with no trouble at all hardly,\neither to the _Devil_ or to themselves.\n\nThis Particular would want much the less Explanation, could I obtain a\nLicense from Sir _Hellebore Wormwood_, Bart. or from my Lord\n_Thwartover_, Baron of _Scoundrel Hall_ in the Kingdom of _Ireland_, to\nwrite the true History of their own Conduct; and how early, and above\nall, how easily they commenc'd _Devils_, without the least Impeachment\nof their Characters, as wise Men, and without any Diminution of that\nPart of their Denomination which establish'd them for Fools.\n\nHow many mad Fellows appear among us every Day in the critical Juncture\nof their Transmigration, just when they have so much of the Man left as\nto be known by their Names, and enough of the _Devil_ taken up to settle\ntheir Characters? This Easiness of the _Devil_'s access to these People,\nand the great Convenience it is to him in his general Business, is a\nProof to me that he has no more Occasion of Diviners, Magicians,\nSorcerers, and whatever else we please to call those People who were\nformerly so great with him; for what Occasion has he to employ _Devils_\nand Wizards to confound Mankind, when he is arriv'd to such a Perfection\nof Art as to bring Men, at least in these Parts of the World, to do it\nall themselves; upon this Account we do not find any of the old\nSorcerers and Diviners, Magicians or Witches appear among us; not that\nthe _Devil_ might not be as well able to employ such People as formerly,\nand qualify them for the Employment too, but that really there is no\nneed of them hereabout, the _Devil_ having a shorter Way, and Mankind\nbeing much more easily possess'd; not the old _Herd of Swine_ were\nsooner agitated, tho' there was full 2000 of them together; Nature has\nopen'd the Door, and the _Devil_ has egress and regress at Pleasure, so\nthat Witches and Diviners are quite out of the Question.\n\nNor let any Man be alarm'd at this Alteration, in the Case as it stands\nbetween Mankind and the _Devil_, and think the _Devil_ having gain'd so\nmuch Ground, may in time, by Encroachment, come to a general Possession\nof the whole Race, and so we should all come to be _Devils_ incarnate; I\nsay, let us not be alarm'd, for Satan does not get these Advantages by\nEncroachment, and by his infernal Power or Art, no not at all; but 'tis\nthe Man himself does it by his Indolence and Negligence on one Hand, and\nhis Complaisance to the _Devil_ on the other; and both Ways he, as it\nwere, opens the Door to him, beckons him with his very Hand to come in,\nand the Devil has nothing to do but enter and take Possession: Now if it\nbe so, and Man is so frank to him; you know the _Devil_ is no Fool not\nto take the Advantage when 'tis offer'd him, and therefore 'tis no\nwonder if the Consequences which I have been just now naming follow.\n\nBut let no Man be discourag'd by this, from reaffirming his natural and\nreligious Powers, and venturing to shut the _Devil_ out; for the Case is\nplain he may be shut out; the Soul is a strong Castle, and has a good\nGarrison plac'd within to defend it; if the Garrison behave well, and do\ntheir Duty, it is impregnable, and the cowardly _Devil_ must raise his\nSiege and be gone; nay, he must fly, or, as we call it, make his Escape,\nlest he be laid by the Heels, that is, lest his Weakness be exposed, and\nall his Lurking, lying in Wait, ambuscade-Tricks; this Part would bear a\ngreat Enlargement, but I have not room to be witty upon him, so you must\ntake it in the Gross, the DEVIL lies at _Blye Bush_, as our Country\nPeople call it, to watch your coming out of your Hold; and if you happen\nto go abroad unarm'd he seizes upon and masters you with ease.\n\nUnarm'd, you'll say, what Arms should I take? what Fence against a\nFlail? What Weapons can a Man take to fight the _Devil_? I could tell\nyou what to fight him with, and what you might fright him with, for the\n_Devil_ is to be frighted with several Things besides _Holy Water_; but\n'tis too serious for you, and you'll tell me I am a preaching and a\ncanting, and the like; so I must let the _Devil_ manage you rather than\ndisplease you with talking Scripture and Religion.\n\nWell, but may not the _Devil_ be fought with some of his own Weapons? Is\nthere no dealing with him in a Way of human Nature? This would require a\nlong answer, and some Philosophy might be acted, or at least imitated,\nand some Magic, perhaps; for they tells us there are Spells to draw away\neven the Devil himself; as in some Places they nail Horse-Shoes upon the\nThreshold of the Door, to keep him out; in other Places old pieces of\nFlint, with so many Holes and so many Corners, and the like: But I must\nanswer in the Negative, I don't know what _Satan_ might be scar'd at in\nthose Days, but he is either grown cunninger since or bolder, for he\nvalues none of those Things now; I question much whether he would value\nSt. _Dunstan_ and his red hot Tongs, if he was to meet him now, or St.\n_Francis_ or any of the Saints, no not the Host itself in full\nProcession; and therefore, tho' you don't care I should preach, yet in\nshort, if you are afraid he should charge upon you and attack you, if\nyou won't make Use of those Scripture Weapons I should have mention'd,\nand which you may hear of, if you enquire at _Eph._ vi. 16. you must\nlook for better where you think you can find them.\n\nBut to go on with my Work, the Devil, I say, is not to be fear'd with\nMaukins, nor does he employ his old Instruments, but does much of his\nWork himself without Instruments.\n\nAnd yet I must enter a Caveat here too, against being misunderstood in\nmy saying the Devil stands in no need of Agents; for when I speak so, I\nam to be taken in a limited Sense; I don't say he needs them no where,\nbut only that he does not need them in those polite Parts of the World\nwhich I have been speaking of, and perhaps not much here; but in many\nremote Countries 'tis otherwise still; the _Indians_ of _America_ are\nparticularly said to have Witches among them, as well in those Countries\nwhere the _Spaniards_ and the _English_ and other Nations have planted\nthemselves, as amongst those where the _European_ Nations seldom come:\n_for Example_, the People of _Canada_, that is, of the Countries under\nthe _French_ Government of _Quebeck_, the Equimeaux, and other Northern\nClimates, have Magicians, Wizards and Witches, who they call _Pilloatas_\nor _Pillotoas_; these pretend they speak intimately and familiarly with\nthe Devil, and receive from him the Knowledge of Things to come; all\nwhich, by the Way, I take to be little more than this; that these\nFellows being a little more cunning than the rest, think, that by\npretending to something more than human, they shall make the stronger\nImpressions on the ignorant People; as _Mahomet_ amus'd the World with\nhis Pigeon, using it to pick Peas out of his Ear, and persuaded the\nPeople it brought him superior Revelations and Inspirations from\nParadise.\n\nThus these _Pillotoas_ gaining an Opinion among the People, behave like\nso many Mountebanks of Hell, pretending to understand dark Things, cure\nDiseases, practise Surgery, Physick and Necromancy altogether; I will\nnot say, but _Satan_ may pick out such Tools to work with, and I believe\ndoes in those Parts, but I think he has found a nearer Way to the Wood\nwith us, and that is sufficient to my present Purpose.\n\nSome would persuade me the _Devil_ had a great Hand in the late\nreligious Breaches in _France_, among the Clergy, (_viz._) about the\nPope's Constitution _Unigenitus_, and that he made a fair Attempt to set\nthe Pope and the _Gallican_ Church together by the Ears, for they were\nall just upon the Point or breaking out into a Church War, that for\nought we knew might have gone farther than the _Devil_ himself car'd it\nshould; now I am of the quite contrary Opinion, I believe the _Devil_\nreally did not make the Breach, but rather heal'd it, for fear it should\nhave gone so far among them as to have set them all in a Flame, and have\nopen'd the Door to the Return of the _Hugonots_ again, which it was in a\nfair Way to have done.\n\nBut be it one Way or t'other, the historical Part seems to be a little\nagainst me; for 'tis certain, the _Devil_ both wanted and made Use of\nLegions of Agents, as well human as infernal, visible and invisible in\nthat great and important Affair, and we cannot doubt but he has\ninnumerable Instruments still at work about it.\n\nLike as in _Poland_, I make no Question but the _Devil_ has thousands of\nhis Banditti at work at this Time, and in another Country not far from\nit, perhaps, preparing Matters for the next General Diet, taking care to\nprevent giving any Relaxation to the Protestants, and to justify the\nmoderate Executions at _Thorn_, to excite a Nation to quarrel with every\nBody who are able to fight with no body; to erect the Apostate Race of\n_S----y_ upon a Throne which they have no Title to, and turn an elective\nThrone into an hereditary, in favour of Popery.\n\nI might anticipate all your Objections, by granting the busy _Devil_ at\nthis Time employing all his Agents and Instruments (for I never told you\nthey were idle and useless) in striving to enflame the Christian World,\nand bring a new War to overspread _Europe_; I might, perhaps, point out\nto you some of the Measures he takes, the Provocatives which his State\nPhysicians administer to the Courts and Counsellors of Princes, to\nfoment and ferment the Spirits, and Members of Nations, Kingdoms,\nEmpires and States in the World, in order to bring these glorious Ends\nof Blood and War to pass; for you cannot think but he that knows so much\nof the _Devil_'s Affairs, as to write his History, must know something\nof all these Matters more than those that do not know so much as he.\n\nBut all this is remote to the present Case, for this is no Impeachment\nof Satan's new Methods with Mankind, in this Part of the World, and in\nhis private and separate Capacity; all this only signifies that in his\nmore general and national Affairs, the _Devil_ acts still by his old\nMethods; and when he is to seduce or embroil Nations, he, like other\nConquerors, subdues them by Armies, employs mighty Squadrons of\n_Devils_, and sends out strong Detachments, with Generals and\nGeneralissimos to lead them, some to one Part of the World, some to\nanother; some to influence one Nation, some to manage and direct\nanother, according as Business presents, and his Occasions require, that\nhis Affairs may be carried on currently, and to his Satisfaction.\n\nIf it were not thus, but that the _Devil_ by his new and exquisite\nManagement, of which I have said so much, had brought Mankind in general\nto be the Agents of their own Mischiefs, and that the World were so at\nhis Beck, that he need but command them to go and fight, declare War,\nraise Armies, destroy Cities, Kingdoms, Countries and People; the World\nwould be a Field of Blood indeed, and all Things would run into\nConfusion presently.\n\nBut this is not the Case at all, Heaven has not let go the Government of\nthe Creation to his subdu'd Enemy, the Devil; that would overturn the\nwhole System of God, and give Satan more Power, than ever he was or will\nbe vested with; when, therefore, I speak of a few forward Wretches in\nour Day, who are so warm in their Wickedness, that they anticipate the\nDevil, save him the Trouble to tempt, turn Devils to themselves, and\ngallop Hellward faster than he drives; I speak of them as single\nPersons, and acting in their own personal and private Capacity, but when\nI speak of Nations and Kingdoms, there the Devil is oblig'd to go on in\nthe old Road, and act by Stratagem, by his proper Machinery, and to make\nuse of all his Arts, and all his Agents, just as he has done in all\nAges, from the beginning of his politic Government to this Day.\n\nAnd if it was not thus too, what would become of all his numberless\nLegions, of which all Ages have heard so much, and all Parts of the\nWorld have had so much fatal Experience? They would seem to be quite out\nof Employment, and be render'd useless in the World of Spirits, where it\nis to be supposed they reside; not the Devil himself could find any\nBusiness for them, which by the Way, to busy and mischievous Spirits, as\nthey are, would be a Hell to them, even before their Time; they would\nbe, as it were, doom'd to a State of Inactivity, which we may suppose\nwas one Part of their Expulsion from Blessedness and the Creation of\nMan; or as they were for the surprising Interval between the Destruction\nof Mankind by the Deluge and _Noah_'s coming out of the Ark, when\nindeed they might be said to have nothing at all to do.\n\nBut this is not Satan's Case, and therefore let me tell you too, that\nyou may not think I treat the Case with more Levity than I really do,\nand than I am sure I intend to do; tho' it is too true that our modern\nand modish Sinners have arrived to more exquisite Ways of being wicked,\nthan their Fathers, and really seem, as I have said, to need no Devil to\ntempt them; nay, that they do Satan's Work for him as to others also,\nand make themselves Devils to their Neighbours, tempting others to crime\neven faster than the Devil desires them, running before they are sent,\nand going of the _Devil_'s Errands _gratis_; by which Means Satan's Work\nis, as to them, done to his Hand, and they may be said to save him a\ngreat deal of Trouble; yet after all, the Devil has still a great deal\nof Business upon his Hands, and as well himself as all his Legions, find\nthemselves a full Employment in disturbing the World, and opposing the\nGlory and Kingdom of their great Superior, whose Kingdom it is their\nwhole Business, however vain in its End, to overthrow and destroy, if\nthey were able, or at least to endeavour it.\n\nThis being the Case, it follows of course that the general Mischiefs of\nMankind, as well national and public, as family Mischiefs, and even\npersonal, (except as before excepted) lie all still at the _Devil_'s\nDoor, as much as ever, let his Advocates bring him off of it if they\ncan; and this brings us back again to the manner of the Devil's\nManagement, and the Way of his working by human Agents, or if you will,\nthe Way of human Devils, working in Affairs of low Life, such as we call\nDivination, Sorcery, Black-Art, Necromancy, and the like; all which I\ntake to consist of two material Parts, and both very necessary for us to\nbe rightly inform'd of.\n\n     1. The Part which Satan by himself or his inferior _Devils_\n     empowers such People to do, as he is in Confederacy with here on\n     Earth; to whom he may be said, like the Master of an Opera or\n     Comedy, to give their Parts to act, and to qualify them to act it;\n     whether he obliges them to a Rehearsal in his Presence, to try\n     their Talents, and see that they are capable of performing, that\n     indeed I have not enquir'd into.\n\n     2. That Part which these empower'd People do voluntier or beyond\n     their Commission, to shew their Diligence in the Service of their\n     new Master, and either (1.) to bring Grist to their own Mill, and\n     make their Market of their Employment in the best manner they can;\n     or (2.) to gain Applause, be admir'd, wonder'd at, and applauded,\n     as if they were ten Times more _Devils_ than really they are.\n\n\nIn a Word, the Matter consists of what the _Devil_ does by the Help of\nthese People, and what they do in his Name without him; the Devil is\nsometimes cheated in his own Business; there are Pretenders to\nWitchcraft and Black-Art, who Satan never made any Bargain with, but who\nhe connives at, because at least they do his Cause no harm, tho' their\nBusiness is rather to get Money, than to render him any Service, of\nwhich I gave you a remarkable Instance before.\n\nBut to go back to his real Agents, of which I reckon two.\n\n     1. Those who act by Direction and Confederacy, as I have said\n     already many do.\n\n     2. Those whom he acts in and by, and they (perhaps) know it not, of\n     which Sort History gives us plenty of Examples, from _Machiavel_'s\n     first Disciple ---- to the famous Cardinal _Alberoni_, and even to\n     some more modern than his Eminence, of whom I can say no more till\n     farther Occasion offers.\n\n\n1. Those who act by immediate Direction of the Devil, and in Confederacy\nwith him; these are such as I mention'd in the beginning of this\nChapter, whose Arts are truly black, because really infernal; it will be\nvery hard to decide the Dispute between those who really act thus in\nConfederacy with the _Devil_, and those who only pretend to it; so I\nshall leave that Dispute where I find it; but that there are, or at\nleast have been, a Set of People in the World, who really are of his\nAcquaintance, and very intimate with him; and tho', as I have said, he\nhas much alter'd his Schemes and chang'd Hands of late; yet that there\nare such People, perhaps of all Sorts; and that the Devil keeps up his\nCorrespondence with them; I must not venture to deny that Part, lest I\nbring upon me the whole Posse of the conjuring and bewitching Crew, Male\nand Female, and they should mob me for pretending to deny them the\nHonour of dealing with the _Devil_, which they are so exceeding willing\nto have the Fame of.\n\nNot that I am hereby oblig'd to believe all the strange Things the\nWitches and Wizards, who have been allow'd to be such, nay, who have\nbeen hang'd for it, have said of themselves; nay, that they have\nconfess'd of themselves, even at the Gallows; and if I come to have an\nOccasion to speak freely of the Matter, I may perhaps convince you that\nthe Devil's possessing Power is much lessen'd of late, and that he\neither is limited, and his Fetter shortened more than it has been, or\nthat he does not find the old Way (as I said before) so fit for his\nPurpose as he did formerly, and therefore takes other Measures, but I\nmust adjourn that to a Time and Place by itself: But we are told that\nthere are another Sort of People, and, perhaps, a great many of them\ntoo, in whom and by whom the Devil really acts, and they know it not.\n\nIt would take up a great deal of Time and Room, too much for this Place,\nso near the Close of this Work, to describe and mark out the involuntary\n_Devils_ which there are in the World; of whom it may be truly said,\nthat really the _Devil_ is in them, and they know it not: Now, tho' the\n_Devil_ is cunning and managing, and can be very silent where he finds\nit for his Interest not to be known; yet it is very hard for him to\nconceal himself, and to give so little Disturbance in the House, as that\nthe Family should not know who lodged in it; yet, I say, the Devil is so\nsubtle and so mischievous an Agent, that he uses all manner of Methods\nand Craft to reside in such People as he finds for his Purpose, whether\nthey will or no, and which is more, whether they know it or no.\n\nAnd let none of my Readers be angry or think themselves ill used, when I\ntell them the Devil may be in them, and may act them, and by them, and\nthey not know it; for I must add, it may, perhaps, be one of the\ngreatest Pieces of human Wisdom in the World, for a Man to know when the\nDevil is in him, and when not; when he is a Tool and Agent of Hell, and\nwhen he is not; in a Word, when he is doing the Devil's Work, and under\nhis Direction, and when not.\n\nIt is true, this is a very weighty Point, and might deserve to be\nhandled in a more serious Way than I seem to be talking in all this\nBook; but give me leave to talk of Things my own way, and withall, to\ntell you, that there is no Part of this Work so seemingly ludicrous, but\na grave and well weigh'd Mind may make a serious and solid Application\nof it, if they please; nor is there any Part of this Work, in which a\nclear Sight and a good Sense may not see that the Author's Design is,\nthat they should do so; and as I am now so near the End of my Book, I\nthought it was meet to tell you so, and lead you to it as far as I can.\n\nI say, 'tis a great Part of human Wisdom to know when the _Devil_ is\nacting in us and by us, and when not; the next and still greatest Part\nwould be to prevent him, put a Stop to his Progress, bid him go about\nhis Business, and let him know he should carry on his Designs no farther\nin that manner; that we will be his Tools no longer; in short, to turn\nhim out of Doors, and bring a stronger Power to take Possession; but\nthis, indeed, is too solid a Subject, and too great to begin with here.\n\nBut now, as to the bare knowing when he is at work with us, I say this,\ntho' it is considerable, may be done, nor is it so very difficult; _for\nExample_, you have no more to do but look a little into the Microcosm of\nthe Soul, and see there how the Passions which are the Blood, and the\nAffections which are the Spirit, move in their particular Vessels; how\nthey circulate, and in what Temper the Pulse beats there, and you may\neasily see who turns the Wheel; if a perfect Calm possesses the Soul; if\nPeace and Temper prevail, and the Mind feels no Tempests rising; if the\nAffections are regular and exalted to vertuous and sublime Objects, the\nSpirits cool, and the Mind sedate, the Man is in a general Rectitude of\nMind, he may be truly said to be _his own Man_; Heaven shines upon his\nSoul with its benign Influences, and he is out of the Reach of the evil\nSpirit; for the divine Spirit is an Influence of Peace, all calm and\nbright, happy and sweet like it self, and tending to every Thing that is\ngood both present and future.\n\nBut on the other Hand, if at any Time the Mind is ruffled, if Vapours\nrise, Clouds gather, if Passions swell the Breast, if Anger, Envy,\nRevenge, Hatred, Wrath, Strife; if these, or any of these hover over\nyou, much more if you feel them within you; if the Affections are\npossess'd, and the Soul hurried down the Stream to embrace low and base\nObjects; if those Spirits, which are the Life and enlivening Powers of\nthe Soul, are drawn off to Parties, and to be engag'd in a vicious and\ncorrupt manner, shooting out wild and wicked Desires, and running the\nMan headlong into Crime, the Case is easily resolv'd, the Man is\npossess'd, the _Devil_ is in him; and having taken the Fort, or at least\nthe Counterscarp and Out-Works, is making his Lodgment to cover and\nsecure himself in his Hold, that he may not be dispossess'd.\n\nNor can he be easily dispossess'd when he has got such hold as this; and\n'tis no wonder, that being lodg'd thus upon the Out-Works of the Soul he\ncontinues to sap the Foundation of the rest, and by his incessant and\nfurious Assaults, reduces the Man at last to a Surrender.\n\nIf the Allegory be not as just and apposite as you would have it be, you\nmay, however, see by it in a full View, the State of the Man, and how\nthe _Devil_ carries on his Designs; nothing is more common, and I\nbelieve there are few thinking Minds but may reflect upon it in their\nown Compass, than for our Passions and Affections to flow out of the\nordinary Channel; the Spirits and Blood of the Soul to be extravasated,\nthe Passions grow violent and outragious, the Affections impetuous,\ncorrupt and violently vicious: Whence does all this proceed? from Heaven\nwe can't pretend it comes; if we must not say 'tis the _Devil_, whose\nDoor must it lie at? Pride swells the Passions; Avarice moves the\nAffections; and what is Pride, and what is Avarice, but the _Devil_ in\nthe Inside of the Man? ay, as personally and really as ever he was in\nthe Herd of Swine.\n\nLet not any Man then, who is a Slave to his Passions, or who is chain'd\ndown to his Covetousness, pretend to take it ill, when I say he has the\n_Devil_ in him, or that he is a _Devil_: What else can it be, and how\ncomes it to pass that Passion and Revenge so often dispossess the Man of\nhimself, as to lead him to commit Murther, to lay Plots and Snares for\nthe Life of his Enemies, and so to thirst for Blood? How comes this but\nby the Devil's putting those Spirits of the Soul into so violent a\nFerment, into a Fever? that the Circulation is precipitated to that\nDegree, and that the Man too is precipitated into Mischief, and at last\ninto Ruin; 'tis all the _Devil_, tho' the Man does not know it.\n\nIn like manner Avarice leads him to rob, plunder and destroy for Money,\nand to commit sometimes the worst of Violences to obtain the wicked\nReward. How many have had their Throats cut for their Money, have been\nmurther'd on the Highway, or in their Beds, for the Desire of what they\nhad? It is the same Thing in other Articles, every Vice is the Devil in\na Man; Lust of Rule is the _Devil_ of great Men, and that Ambition is\ntheir _Devil_ as much as whoring is Father ------'s _Devil_, one has a\n_Devil_ of one Class acting him, one another, and every Man's reigning\nVice is a _Devil_ to him.\n\nThus the _Devil_ has his involuntary Instruments, as well as those who\nact in Confederacy with him; he has a very great Share in many of us,\nand acts us, and in us, unknown to our selves tho' we know nothing of\nit, and indeed tho' we may not suspect it of our selves; like _Hazael_\nthe _Assyrian_, who when the Prophet told him how he would act the\n_Devil_ upon the poor _Israelites_, answer'd with Detestation, _is thy\nServant a Dog that he should do this Thing_, and yet he was that Dog,\nand did all those cruel Things for all that; the _Devil_ acting him, or\nacting in him, to make him wickeder than ever he thought it was possible\nfor him to be.\n\n\n\n\nThe CONCLUSION.\n\n_Of the_ Devil_'s last Scene of Liberty, and what may be supposed to be\n     his End, with what we are to understand of his being tormented for\n     ever and ever._\n\n\nAs the _Devil_ is a Prince of the Power of the Air, his Kingdom is\nmortal, and must have an End; and as he is call'd the God of this World,\nthat is, the great Usurper of the Homage and Reverence which Mankind\nought of right to pay to their Maker, so his Usurpation also, like the\nWorld it self, must have an End: Satan is call'd the God of the World,\nas Men too much prostrate and prostitute themselves to him, yet he is\nnot the Governor of this World; and therefore the Homage and Worship he\nhas from the World is an Usurpation; and this will have an End, because\nthe World it self will have an End; and all Mankind, as they had a\nbeginning in Time, so must expire and be remov'd before the End of Time.\n\nSince then the _Devil_'s Empire is to expire and come to an End, and\nthat the _Devil_ himself and all his Host of _Devils_ are immortal\nSeraphs, Spirits that are not embodied and cannot die, but are to remain\nin being; the Question before us next will be, what is to become of him?\nwhat is his State to be? whether is he to wander, and in what Condition\nis he to remain to that Eternity to which he is still to exist?\n\nI hope no Man will mistake me so much in what I have said as to Spirits,\nwhich are all Flame, not being affected with Fire, as if I supposed\nthere was no Place of Punishment for the _Devil_, nor any Kind of\nPunishment that could affect them; and so of our Spirits also when\ntransform'd into Flame.\n\nI must be allow'd to speak there of that material Fire, by which, as by\nan Allegory, all the Terrors of an eternal State are represented to us\nin Scripture, and in the Writings of the learned Commentators, and by\nwhich the Pain of Sense is describ'd; this, perhaps, I do not understand\nas they seem to do, and therefore have said,\n\nWhen we're all Flame (that is all Spirit) we shall all Fire (that is,\nall such Fire as this) despise. And thus I claim to be understood.\n\nIt does not follow from hence, neither do I suggest, or so much as think\nthat infinite Power cannot form a something (tho' inconceivable to us\nhere) which shall be as tormenting, and as insupportable to a Devil, an\napostate Seraph, and to a Spirit, tho' exalted, unembodied and rarified\ninto _Flame_, as Fire would be to other Bodies; in which I think I am\northodox, and do not give the least Occasion to an Enemy to charge me\nwith profane Speaking, in those Words, or to plead for thinking\nprophanely himself.\n\nIt must be Atheistical to the last Degree to suggest, that whereas the\n_Devil_ has been heaping up and amassing Guilt ever since the Creation\nof Man, encreasing in hatred of God and Rebellion against him, and in\nall possible endeavour to dethrone and depose the Majesty of Heaven;\nthat yet Heaven had not prepar'd, or could not prepare a just Penalty\nfor him; and that it should not all end in God's entire Victory over\nHell, and in Satan's open Condemnation: Heaven could not be just to its\nown Glory, if he should not avenge himself upon this Rebel, for all his\nsuperlative Wickedness in his modern as well as ancient Station; for the\nBlood of so many millions of his faithful Subjects and Saints whom he\nhas destroy'd; and if nothing else offer'd it self to prove this Part,\nit would appear undoubted to me; but this, I confess, does not belong to\nSatan's History, and therefore I have reserv'd it to this Place, and\nshall also be the shorter in it.\n\nThat his Condition is to be a State of Punishment, and that by Torment,\nthe _Devil_ himself has own'd, and his calling out to our blessed Lord\nwhen he cast him out of the furious Man among the Tombs, is a Proof of\nit, _What have we to do with thee_, and _art thou come to torment us\nbefore the Time?_ Luke viii. 28. where the _Devil_ acknowledges four\nThings, and three of them are directly to my present Purpose, and if you\nwon't believe the Word of God, I hope you will believe the _Devil_,\nespecially when 'tis an open Confession against himself.\n\n1. He confess Christ to be the _Son of God_ (that by the Way) and _no\nThanks to him_, for that does not want the _Devil_'s Evidence.\n\n2. He acknowledges he may be tormented.\n\n3. He acknowledges Christ was able to torment him.\n\n4. He acknowledges that there is a Time appointed when he shall be\ntormented.\n\nAs to _how_, in _what Manner_, and by _what Means_, this tormenting the\nDevil is to be performed or executed, that I take to be as needless to\nus as 'tis impossible to know, and being not at present inclined to fill\nyour Heads and Thoughts with weak and imperfect Guesses, I leave it\nwhere I find it.\n\nIt is enough to us that this Torment of the _Devil_ is represented to us\nby Fire, it being impossible for our confin'd Thoughts to conceive of\nTorment by any Thing in the World more exquisite; whence I conclude,\nthat _Devils_ shall at last receive a Punishment suitable to their\nSpirituous Nature, and as exquisitely Tormenting as a burning Fire would\nbe to our Bodies.\n\nHaving thus settl'd my own Belief of this Matter, and stated it so, as I\nthink will let you see 'tis rightly sounded, the Matter stands thus.\n\nSatan having been let loose to play his Game in this World, has improv'd\nhis Time to the utmost; he has not fail'd on all Occasions to exert his\nHatred, Rage, and Malice at his Conqueror and Enemy, _namely, his\nMaker_; he has nor fail'd, from Principles of meer Envy and Pride, to\npursue Mankind with all possible Rancour, in order to deprive him of the\nHonour and Felicity which he was created for, namely, to succeed the\n_Devil_ and his Angels in the State of Glory from which they fell.\n\nThis Hatred of God and Envy at Man, having broken out in so many several\nWays in the whole Series of Time from the Creation, must necessarily\nhave greatly encreased his Guilt; and as Heaven is righteous to judge\nhim, must terminate in an encrease of Punishment, adequate to his Crime,\nand sufficient to his Nature.\n\nSome have suggested, that there is yet a Time to come, when the _Devil_\nshall exert more Rage, and do more Mischief than ever yet he has been\npermitted to do; whether he shall break his Chain, or be unchain'd for a\nTime, they cannot tell, nor I neither; and 'tis happy for my Work, that\neven this Part too does not belong to his History; if ever it shall be\ngiven an Account of by Mankind, it must be after it is come to pass, for\nmy Part is not Prophesy of foretelling what the Devil shall do, but\nHistory of what he has done.\n\nThus, good People, I have brought the History of the Devil down to _your\nown Times_; I have, as it were, _rais'd him_ for you, and set him in\nyour View, that you may know him and have a Care of him.\n\nIf any cunninger Men among you think they are able now to _lay him_\nagain, and so dispose of him out of your Sight, that you shall be\ntroubled no more with him, either here or hereafter, let them go to work\nwith him their own Way; you know Things future do not belong to an\nHistorian, so I leave him among you, wishing you may be able to give no\nworse an Account of him for the Time to come, than I have done for the\nTime past.\n\n\nFINIS.\n\n\n\n\nFootnotes:\n\n[1] N. B. He never refus'd setting his hand to any opinion, which he\nthought it for his interest to acknowledge.\n\n[2] Mean't of nothing.\n\n[3] _Mr._ Pool's _words are these_: Some refer the words, _This day have\nI begotten thee_, to the incarnation of the Son of GOD, others to the\nResurrection: our Translators lay the stress on the preposition of which\nthe verb is compounded, and by adding _again_, (viz.) _rais'd up Jesus\nagain_, Acts xiii. 33. intend it to be understood of the Resurrection;\nand there is ground for it, in the context, for the Resurrection of\nChrist, is that which St. _Paul_ had propounded in v. 30. of the same\nChapter, as his theme or argument to preach upon.\n\nNot that Christ at his Resurrection began to be the Son of God, but that\nhe was manifested then to be so.\n\n[4] Satan.\n\n[5] The meaning of the word Devil is Destroyer. See _Pool_ upon _Acts_\nxiii. 10.\n\n[6] _As great as the Devil and Doctor_ Faustus. Vulg. Dr. _Foster_.\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Notes:\n\nPassages in italics are indicated by _underscore_.\n\nAdditional spacing after some of the quotes is intentional to indicate\nboth the end of a quotation and the beginning of a new paragraph as\npresented in the original text.\n\nLong \"s\" has been modernized.\n\nThe original text includes Greek characters. For this text version these\nletters have been replaced with transliterations.\n\nThe text includes two instances of unmatched round brackets; as these\nrequire interpretation to close, they have been left unmatched.\n\nThe following misprints have been corrected:\n  \"Origiual\" corrected to \"Original\" (Table of Contents)\n  \"34\" corrected to \"31\" (Table of Contents)\n  \"259\" corrected to \"159\" (Table of Contents)\n  extraneous \"a\" removed (page 1)\n  \"blinding\" corrected to \"binding\" (page 9)\n  \"decrib'd\" corrected to \"describ'd\" (page 57)\n  \"Battels\" corrected to \"Battles\" (page 76)\n  \"inconcievable\" corrected to \"inconceivable\" (page 91)\n  \"Devils\" corrected to \"Devil's\" (page 101)\n  \"hut\" corrected to \"but\" (page 120)\n  \"that that\" corrected to \"that\" (page 127)\n  \"opposs'd\" corrected to \"oppos'd\" (page 152)\n  \"notwitstanding\" corrected to \"notwithstanding\" (page 162)\n  \"a as Body\" corrected to \"as a Body\" (page 172)\n  \"Peoples\" corrected to \"People's\" (page 184)\n  \"Asia\" corrected to \"Asa\" (page 187)\n  \"was\" corrected to \"saw\" (page 213)\n  \"faling\" corrected to \"falling\" (page 229)\n  \"Christain\" corrected to \"Christian\" (page 230)\n  \"what's is\" corrected to \"what is\" (page 233)\n  \"disapointed\" corrected to \"disappointed\" (page 234)\n  \"been\" corrected to \"seen\" (page 235)\n  \"momentons\" corrected to \"momentous\" (page 244)\n  \"Chritians\" corrected to \"Christians\" (page 250)\n  \"Egyytian\" corrected to \"Egyptian\" (page 252)\n  \"Magnifience\" corrected to \"Magnificence\" (page 256)\n  \"whereever\" corrected to \"wherever\" (page 267)\n  \"compliasant\" corrected to \"complaisant\" (page 294)\n  \"coul'd\" corrected to \"cou'd\" (page 298)\n  \"Acquiantance\" corrected to \"Acquaintance\" (page 299)\n  \"Oportunity\" corrected to \"Opportunity\" (page 300)\n  \"har'd\" corrected to \"hard\" (page 301)\n  \"distingush\" corrected to \"distinguish\" (page 312)\n  \"whereever\" corrected to \"wherever\" (page 322)\n  \"the the\" corrected to \"the\" (page 330)\n  \"CHAP. VII\" corrected to \"CHAP. IX\" (page 339)\n  \"Businses\" corrected to \"Business\" (page 370)\n\nOther than the corrections listed above, printer's inconsistencies in\nspelling, punctuation, and hyphenation usage have been retained.","title":"The History of the Devil, As Well Ancient as Modern: In Two Parts","tradition":"philosophy-ethics","translated_text":null,"word_count":129321}